Free Republic

If you’ve followed the diplomacy over Ukraine closely, you may have noticed that the Biden administration has relied heavily on CIA Director William J. (Bill) Burns. In November it dispatched him to Moscow where, according to CNN, he served as a “key intermediary” between the US and Vladimir Putin. In January he flew to Germany to discuss Ukraine with the new government in Berlin. This all makes sense. Burns is the Biden administration’s highest-ranking Russia expert. He’s a fluent Russian speaker who has served twice in the US embassy in Moscow, the second time as ambassador. Which makes it all...

Call Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator. Call him an autocrat. Call him a totalitarian. Call him whatever you want, but make sure you understand he is serious. He also knows the West is not. He has brought war to the West’s doorstep. On Dec. 5, 1989, Putin was running a KGB office for the Soviet Union in Dresden, Germany. The Berlin Wall had fallen, and East German mobs were ransacking Stasi headquarters. They came for the KGB in Dresden. Putin called out to the approaching mob that he and his men would open fire. The mob held off. Putin...

FACEBOOK WILL TEMPORARILY allow its billions of users to praise the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi military unit previously banned from being freely discussed under the company’s Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy, The Intercept has learned. The policy shift, made this week, is pegged to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and preceding military escalations. The Azov Battalion, which functions as an armed wing of the broader Ukrainian white nationalist Azov movement, began as a volunteer anti-Russia militia before formally joining the Ukrainian National Guard in 2014; the regiment is known for its hardcore right-wing ultranationalism and the neo-Nazi ideology...

Drums, Marimba, Percussion: Barrie BarlowOrchestral Arranger: Dee PalmerConductor: Dee PalmerFlute, Producer, Saxophone: Ian AndersonAcoustic Guitar: Ian AndersonLead Vocals: Ian AndersonBacking Vocals: Ian AndersonBass Guitar: Jeffrey HammondAccordion, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer: John EvanElectric Guitar: Martin BarreGuitar: Martin BarreOrchestra Leader: Patrick HallingUnknown: Robin BlackProducer: Terry EllisWriter: Ian AndersonMarch, the Mad Scientist (2002 Remaster)November 6, 2014 | Jethro Tull

Scientists have made a key advance against dangerous and costly surgical site infections, the type of infection most commonly associated with health care procedures. Each year in the U.S. alone, the researchers note, roughly 300,000 surgical patients develop an infection within 30 days of their operation, and more than 13,000 of those people die. The infections account for an estimated $10 billion in additional health care costs. But researchers have uncovered a possible new preventative technique: adding an enzyme inhibitor to nanofiber-based wound dressings loaded with vitamin D, resulting in cells better producing an antimicrobial peptide. "Because these wound dressings...

Drugs that repair damage to a gel-like layer in the tiny blood vessels of the heart could present a much-needed treatment for heart failure in people with diabetes, according to research. The gel-like layer—called the glycocalyx—lines the inside of blood vessels and acts like a sieve to regulate how nutrients move from the blood to the heart and other tissues in the body. Professor Simon Satchell looked at mice with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and discovered that the glycocalyx in the small blood vessels of the heart became damaged. They found that this damage was associated with increased...

Piroshky Piroshky bakery owner Olga Sagan told the newspaper about the recent crime that happened at her store, including an individual being shot and wounded nearby and people abusing drugs at the front of her store. Sagan said she called the police about the incidents and alleged there was no response, according to the Times. ADVERTISEMENT Sagan also said she officially closed the store when a man was shot to death around the block from the bakery Sunday afternoon, telling her employees that she will try to find jobs for them at other locations in the city and adding that...

Patients who develop cervical cancer are often infected not only with the human papillomavirus (HPV) but also simultaneously with the bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis. The suspicion is, therefore, that the two pathogens work together as a kind of team to "reprogram" the cells they infect in such a way that they degenerate and multiply uncontrollably. Dr. Cindrilla Chumduri has now demonstrated for the first time that this is a concretely verifiable effect. HPV and chlamydia: A malicious alliance driving cellular transformation Virus DNA can be found in more than 90% of all cervical cancers. However, they are not the sole...

A former business partner of Hunter Biden was sentenced Monday to more than a year in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud a Native American tribe of some $60 million in bonds. The defendant, Devon Archer, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison by Manhattan Judge Ronnie Abrams, who said the crime was “too serious” to let him just walk. “There’s no dispute about the harm caused to real people,” Abrams said, noting that the defrauded tribe, the Oglala Sioux, is one of the poorest in the nation. Archer will also have to...

Russia, the biggest superpower in chess, has been effectively banned from the game it considers its own, alongside its neighbour Belarus. FIDE, the world governing body of chess, took the momentous step to take action against both countries at an emergency meeting of its FIDE Council held today. It follows the international outcry over Russia's invasion of Ukraine which FIDE responded to initially by stripped Moscow of the 190-nation Chess Olympiad, which was due to take place in July. The new measures FIDE agreed were: Russia and Belarus banned from holding official FIDE chess competitions and events Russian and Belarusian...

The effect of iron supplementation on skeletal muscle atrophy in cancer patients and sufferers from other wasting diseases has been investigated by a team of scientists which studied causes of these conditions in humans and mouse models. The findings shed light on wasting mechanisms in advanced stage cancer patients, for whom prevalence of devastating skeletal muscle atrophy known generally as cachexia reaches 80%. Furthermore, since at least 20% of all cancer-related deaths are estimated to be caused directly by cachexia, reversing the loss of muscle mass and function could at least prolong quality of life in such patients. Cancer patients...

A decision tree model may be used by clinicians to help identify patients who are most likely to experience a prolonged recovery following a sport-related concussion, according to a study. Michael Robinson, Ph.D., from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, and colleagues examined the 22 variables from the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5th Edition Symptom Evaluation using a decision tree analysis to identify those most likely to predict prolonged recovery after a sport-related concussion. The analysis included 273 patients (52% men; mean age, 21 years) initially assessed by either an emergency medicine or sport medicine physician within 14...

Very good commentary on latest

Putin fears death—like any 69-year-old. His fear, however, is particularly acute. He makes (or so the consistent rumour goes) visiting officials submit faeces test to ensure they are disease free. Since COVID-19, officials have to isolate several days before they see him. Those who don’t, like the visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, are seated down the other end of an absurdly long table. Is Putin immune-compromised? Maybe. He’s clearly petrified and paranoid of death. His extreme botox treatments, which gives his skin the look of melting wax, are yet another desire to turn back the clock. Unlike the rest of...

With Russian forces besieging Mariupol, in which 120,000+ ethnic Greeks live, SKAI news spoke with a Mr Kiouranas who lives in the city and exposed that Ukrainian “fascists” are killing people for trying to leave the city. When asked by SKAI news if he planned to leave the city, Kiouranas responded “how can I leave? When you try to leave you run the risk of running into a patrol of the Ukrainian fascists, the Azov Battalion.” “They would kill me and are responsible for everything,” he added. Who are the Azov Battalion? Azov Special Operations Detachment (Ukrainian: Окремий загін спеціального...

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion” (Proverbs 1:1-4).

Once Associate Justice Stephen Breyer was successfully hounded into announcing his retirement (and we all wonder if the full story of that announcement will ever be told), Joe Biden announced that he would only be considering black females for the appointment. Mr. Biden chose a tumultuous week to announce that name – a week in which Russia invaded Ukraine, energy prices hit new records, the stock market tumbled, and the news was finally starting to circulate that indictments were finally coming on the Obama-Clinton era “Russian collusion” hoax against President Trump. When the Biden-Harris regime most needed a distraction from...

OK I have watched all the Ukraine stuff and I need a break. What happened to Gutfeld? Deep state, Space aliens, the Jan 6th commission? Fox is getting really boring.

FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia’s national teams and clubs from international football until further notice due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The move makes it likely that Russia will be excluded from this year’s World Cup and the women’s Euro 2020 tournament. “FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice,” UEFA said in a statement. “These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively...

As Vladimir Putin launched his military assault on Ukraine, the country’s media censor issued a series of stark warnings. Any outlet that cited sources other than the Kremlin or its armed forces could be banned, even for using the words “attack, invasion, or declaration of war” to describe it. “We stress that it is Russian official information sources who have accurate and up-to-date information,” the censor Roskomnadzor said. snip “It’s like a movie. The super commandos are conducting a special military operation and everything is super,” said Tikhon Dzyadko, editor of TV Rain, one of 10 media outlets to be...