Free Republic

China faces an omicron “tsunami” that could overwhelm hospitals and kill more than 1 million people if it abandons its “zero-Covid” strategy, according to a new study published in Nature Medicine on Tuesday, as officials double down on the controversial policy despite worsening social and economic damages of such strict lockdowns.

Top Republicans are mounting a last-ditch, behind-the-scenes effort to stop state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a leading voice in the movement to overturn the 2020 election results, from winning the party nomination for governor in Pennsylvania. With only days to go before the May 17 primary, GOP gubernatorial campaigns and leading state and county officials have been in discussions about uniting behind a single candidate to avoid a scenario in which Mastriano wins the crowded race by taking advantage of a splintered vote. If that doesn’t work, another option is persuading the candidates in single-digits in the polls to drop out.(snip)...

Flood 75% Roddenberry 9%

As we told you earlier, a very confused President Joe Biden doubled down on the use of “Ultra MAGA” to describe Republicans like Sen. “Rick Scott of Wisconsin” who continue to support former President Donald Trump. . . Biden goes on another unhinged rant against the "Ultra MAGA" crowd… pic.twitter.com/TgWtW1HxMm — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 10, 2022 . . .and, apparently, he thought the Ultra MAGA supporters were just transitory or something: “I never expected the ultra MAGA Republicans who seem to control the Republican Party now to be able to control the Republican Party. I never anticipated that happening”:...

Amplified aurora displays are possible if a coronal mass ejection of charged particles emerges from the "mixed-up" sunspot AR3006, which pointed its flaring blast toward Earth Tuesday (May 10) at 9:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT). The flare was caught on camera by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and spurred a radio emission alert by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), amid a reported shortwave radio blackout in the Atlantic Ocean region. AR3006's polarity is the reverse of what scientists are expecting, which makes the sunspot "interesting and dangerous," SpaceWeather.com stated. (Sunspot polarity is governed by the current solar cycle.) "If...

It’s called SpinLaunch, and it’s a novel approach to launching small payloads into orbit. The idea of a kinetic launch system translates to spinning a payload in a centrifuge to over 1,000 miles an hour and then releasing it for its journey to the stars. The concept requires no onboard fuel, so there’s no danger of explosions, and since it’s completely electrical, it offers a sustainable solution that doesn’t pollute the environment. “The SpinLaunch Orbital Launch System is a fundamentally new way to reach space,” states the company website. “The velocity boost provided by the accelerator’s electric drive results in...

Behavioral health co-responders will be working with law enforcement in four cities by the end of this year.... The $10 million co-responder program will be piloted in Peoria, Springfield. Waukegan, and East St Louis through 2029.

Posting another Metal Music thread - this time an atmospheric nightmare of a song. If you love mean, slow burn and sludgy metal, with a dose of horror movie, give this a try. Please be warned, the video is disturbing as hell and not your typical metal song. Settle back and listen with headphones.

Am Mittwoch, dem 11. Mai 2022 veröffentlicht die EU-Kommission voraussichtlich den Gesetzesentwurf zur sogenannten Chatkontrolle. Geplant ist eine KI-basierte Prüfung aller Nachrichteninhalte und Bilder direkt auf unseren Geräten. Das so genannte Client-Side-Scanning wäre ein Angriff auf jegliche vertrauliche Kommunikation.

The Trump-endorsed Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) defeated Rep. David McKinley in the contentious battle for West Virginia’s second congressional district. The West Virginia primary tested the political will of the Republican Party base. After the 2020 census, the state lost one congressional district, forcing a primary battle between McKinely from the first congressional district and Mooney from the second congressional district.

Rep. Alex Mooney defeated Rep. David McKinley in the GOP primary for West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, a victory for former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Mooney in the race. In a rare matchup of incumbents, McKinley and Mooney faced off after the state lost one of its congressional seats amid declining population and saw their districts combined. Trump backed Mooney after McKinley voted in favor of the bipartisan infrastructure package and the effort to create a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Catholic church weddings continue to be the most popular type of marriage ceremony in Ireland according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office. According to new CSO figures, 39 per cent of all marriages in 2021 were Catholic ceremonies, a rise from 34.6 per cent in 2020 but lower than 2019. Civil ceremonies accounted for 34 per cent of ceremonies. In 2021, a total of 17,217 marriages took place compared to 9,523 in 2020. The 2020 figure was much lower due to the Covid-19 pandemic which saw significant restrictions on weddings. However, the new figures also show...

“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death” (Proverbs 11:3-4).

ROME — Pope Francis’s secretary of state reaffirmed the pope’s offer to go to Moscow personally to try to convince President Vladimir Putin to stop his war on Ukraine but said the Kremlin had yet to respond. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state, told reporters late May 4, “There has been an offer from the Holy Father to go to Moscow to meet personally with President Putin. We are waiting for them to tell us what they want, what they intend to do.” “I think that at this point there are no other steps to take,” the cardinal said. In...

The 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations will take place on May 8, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said on Thursday that “the Church must become increasingly synodal.” The Pope made the comment in his annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations message, published May 5, as Catholics worldwide participate in a global consultation process leading to the 2023 Synod on Synodality. In the message, he emphasized that vocations have a communal as well as a personal dimension. He wrote: “Each of us shines like a star in the...

The House on Tuesday approved a resolution that allows staffers in the lower chamber to unionize. The resolution, which passed along party lines in a 217-202 vote, officially gives House staffers the legal protection to unionize and take part in collective bargaining. Three Democrats and seven Republicans did not vote.Rather than as a standalone measure, the resolution passed as part of a rule that also pertained to a number of other measures.

While the perpetrators haven’t yet been identified, some are speculating a connection to a radical pro-abort group’s recent threat to burn the Eucharist.KATY, Texas (LifeSiteNews) ― A Texas Catholic church’s tabernacle was stolen sometime during the night, the church’s pastor reported Monday morning. Father Christopher Plant, pastor of St. Bartholomew the Apostle Catholic Church in Katy, Texas, announced the crime Monday morning on Twitter, calling it a “criminal sacrilege” and revealing that police are investigating the theft. While the perpetrators have not been identified, some are speculating that members of the radical pro-abortion group Ruth Sent Us may be responsible,...

Trump informed Mooney leads Manchin endorsed McKinley. Newsmax has already called race for Mooney.

Of late, Chinese military observers have been increasingly concerned about the potential of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network in helping the US military dominate space, especially so, in the wake of the Ukraine war, where Elon Musk activated Starlink satellites to restore communications that had stopped because of shelling by the Russian troops. A recent commentary in the official newspaper of the Chinese armed forces suggested that the international community should be on high alert for the risks associated with the Starlink satellite internet system, as the US military could potentially use it for dominating outer space. The commentary came one...

Princeton professor Eddie Glaude, Jr., on Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline,” called for Democrats to have struggles in the street to combat the agenda of white Evangelicals implemented by former President Donald Trump. When asked what voters the Democrats can get energized, Glaude said, “We see it among workers who have seen their quality of life deteriorate. We know that there are opportunities among young people who are coming of age in a world that’s broken. We know there are opportunities among black and Latino voters for the Democratic Party to begin to put forward a vision.”