Free Republic

Matt Motta, Oklahoma State University and Timothy Callaghan, Texas A&M University American attitudes toward scientific expertise have become increasingly contentious in recent years. But many people across the political spectrum still place high levels of trust in their personal physicians. Correspondingly, both popular media and public health officials have encouraged physicians to serve as strong advocates for COVID-19 vaccination. At the same time, however, there have been several cases of doctors expressing skepticism about vaccines in the media. Though the American Medical Association found that 96% of physicians reported being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in June 2021, some high-profilephysicians have...

Is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war spreading beyond Ukraine? On Saturday, tensions flared in the South Caucasus in Nagorno-Karabakh, the location of a Russian-backed separatist state a thousand miles to the south. Internationally recognized as Azerbaijan, long-standing Russian ally Armenia has occupied the territory since the 1990s. As of 2020, so have Russian “peacekeepers.” Last weekend, Russia accused Azerbaijan of breaking a ceasefire agreement. A new front? Perhaps. But there is little doubt these events are tied to The unfortunate answer is that when it comes to the Caucasus many Western officials seem not to know where they stand. When...

In a desperate effort to alleviate pressure at the pump that’s left Americans coping with the highest gas prices on record compounded by inflation, the Biden administration is reportedly seeking ways to import more oil from Canada. Too bad President Joe Biden spiked the Keystone XL Pipeline that was expected to bring 830,000 barrels of Canadian crude to Gulf refineries upon inauguration. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday the White House is now facing the consequences of its own war on domestic energy projects using fossil fuels but refuses to reverse course. “Biden administration officials are seeking ways to boost...

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT JOHN 8:31-42 Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord tells some Jewish leaders that they are enslaved to sin and that the truth will set them free. Jesus was distinguishing between sins and sin, between the underlying disease and its many symptoms. When the Curé d’Ars was asked what wisdom he had gained about human nature from his many years of hearing confessions, he responded, “People are much sadder than they seem.” Blaise Pascal rests his apologetic for Christianity on the simple fact that all people are unhappy. This universal, enduring, and stubborn sadness is sin. Now,...

The 2021 project, reports Sarah Cascone for Artnet News, was a joint effort between Interpol, Europol and the World Customs Organization (WCO), and was led by the Spanish authorities.Officials recovered stolen statuettes, musical instruments, archaeological finds, pieces of pottery, paintings, furniture and more, according to the statement.Amateur metal detecting is a popular—and profitable—pastime for many Europeans in recent years, but some have employed the hobby illegally. Seven European countries confiscated a combined total of 90 metal detectors used for illicit looting at archaeological sites, per the Guardian.Highlights of the past four months include the recovery of a trove of golden...

Biden should be at home with a 'warm cup of soup' not 'pretending' to be leader of the free world US President Joe Biden is a man who is in “obvious physical and cognitive decline” and looked dazed and confused at an anniversary event for a healthcare build as the crowd fussed over Barack Obama, according to Sky News host Rita Panahi. “Just a pitiful spectacle; Biden is a man who should be resting at home with a warm cup of soup, not pretending to be the leader of the free world," Ms Panahi said. “And the indignities did not...

Archaeologists in Scotland shed "genuine tears" upon discovering a stone covered with geometric carvings that the Picts, the Indigenous people of the region, designed about 1,500 years ago.The team unexpectedly found the 5.5-foot-long (1.7 meters) carved stone while doing a geophysical survey in Aberlemno, a village with Pictish roots. The stone has several geometric shapes showing abstract Pictish symbols, such as triple ovals, a comb and mirror, a crescent and double discs. Some of the carved symbols overlap, suggesting that they were carved in different time periods, the researchers said.It's unclear what all of the symbols mean, but the "best...

On Tuesday night's The ReidOut on MSNBC, frequent guest and justice correspondent for The Nation, Elie Mystal doubled down on his claims that the criticism Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson received from Republicans was designed to get her killed. He even suggested Republicans oppose her nomination because she's black. "These attacks are designed to attack Ketanji Brown Jackson, not her record, but her personal character, and that we know that these attacks can put her life and the life of her family and children in danger. And we know they know that," Mystal said hysterically making the obviously...

In a written response she presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson put herself at odds with a 2,000-year-old understanding of the nature of the law and the foundation of human rights. A half-century before Christ was born, the Roman senator Cicero plainly explained the foundation of a just law. "There is a true law, a right reason, conformable to nature, universal, unchangeable, eternal, whose commandments urge us to duty, and whose prohibitions restrain us from evil," he said. "It is not one thing at Rome and another at Athens; one thing today and another tomorrow; but...

Russian women are videoing themselves scissoring their expensive Chanel bags in protest at being barred from new purchases by their favourite brand. Moscow models and influencers have accused the company of 'Russophobia' after Chanel pulled out of the country. -snip- TV presenter, PR agent and actress Marina Ermoshkina, 28, expressed outrage to her 299,999 followers that in foreign Chanel stories Russian women are asked to sign a pledge they will not wear or display the brand in Russia. 'Not a single item or brand is worth my love for my motherland and my self-respect,' she said, cutting her accessory bag...

President Joe Biden has nominated Adm. Linda Fagan to serve as the next commandant of the US Coast Guard. If confirmed, Fagan would be the first woman to lead a US armed service and to lead the Coast Guard. Fagan currently serves as the No 2. in the US Coast Guard, a role she's held since June 2021. Her nomination will be under consideration by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

VIDEOAre you being completely ignored by everyone around you? It is probably your own fault. Here are some reasons why everybody is ignoring you.

A Clark County School District student arrested in a targeted robbery and killing at a southwest Las Vegas home left his school homework in a car that police say was used to carry out the crime, according to a newly released arrest report in the case.

Biden ignored at WH gathering.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado—The U.S. intelligence community asked certain commercial satellite companies for help in the earliest days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and their imagery remains vital to countering Russia’s false claims, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Tuesday. But the partnership raises new questions about what protections those firms might be owed if their actions make them a target. “Early on, we also asked a few commercial companies….and those of you who helped know who you are, helped us to rapidly make available imagery like the buildup that was happening around Ukraine’s borders to...

Wine enriched with vanilla may have been popular among royals and high society in Jerusalem more than 2,500 years ago, suggest researchers in a new study.Researchers examining remnants of jars dating back to the kingdom of Judah found evidence that royal elites in Jerusalem may have been drinking wine ‘flavoured with vanilla’.It’s already known that wine has a long history in the region, and some studies suggest wines contained added spices or herbs.Yet researchers said they were surprised to find traces of vanillin in some of the ancient storage jars, which were excavated from debris caused by the Babylonian destruction...

MEDINA, Ohio — Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, announced his retirement Wednesday, a decision that follows a long and chaotic redistricting process that pushed him into a primary against a first-time candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump. "This circus has provided me the opportunity to assess my future," Gibbs said in an emailed statement that accused the Ohio Supreme Court of moving too slow in hearing challenges to proposed maps. "To that end, after considerable deliberation, I have decided to not seek re-election this year. This was a difficult decision, one which I did not make lightly." Gibbs, 67, is...

Russia on Wednesday said it had transferred $650 million worth of bond payments in rubles, raising fresh questions about whether the country is heading for an official default. The move came after the US on Monday banned Russia from making dollar debt payments from accounts at American financial institutions. Russia's Finance Ministry on Wednesday confirmed foreign banks had refused to process the $649.2 million payment in dollars, which were due Monday. It said it had instead sent the money to the country's National Settlement Depository in rubles. The Ministry said it believes its obligations "have been fulfilled in full." However,...

Motya, a small island that covers an area of just under 100 acres (40 hectares), sits off the western coast of Sicily. Bronze and Iron Age populations thrived there due to the abundant supply of fish, salt, fresh water and its protected location within a lagoon, Nigro wrote in the study. In the eighth century B.C., Phoenicians began settling there and integrating with locals, bringing their distinctive West Phoenician culture to the island.Just 100 years later, the settlement had grown into a bustling port city with a trade network stretching across the central and western Mediterranean. This brought Motya into...

[ASHVILLE, NC – Apr. 5, 2022] Shirley Teter, a woman who sued Project Veritas for defamation because of a bombshell investigation into the political action group, Democracy Partners, has been ordered by a federal judge to pay Project Veritas’ legal expenses. Democracy Partners was exposed by Project Veritas Action Fund for promoting violence at Trump rallies in 2016 and has been seeking revenge through litigation ever since.