Free Republic

With these results, there is not anything to suggest a business will benefit from woke activism.In the press industry it is not just accepted but now expected that a corporation will engage in social activism. A new poll is out that shows how foolish the practice is, prompting not just a tendency of consumers to resist this activity by a company but outright resistance — and a resulting probable financial backlash. The decision of a company to go public with a position on a social or political topic is not just risky, but outright foolish, the poll shows.Journalists, meanwhile, will...

First Finland and now Sweden have announced their plans to apply for membership in the North American Atlantic Treaty Organization after decades of neutrality. The move immediately incensed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who threw a hissy fit by reportedly sending nukes to the Finnish border.From DailyMail:Sweden has said it will join Finland in bidding for membership of NATO, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted an ‘historic’ shift away from decades of neutrality.Magdalena Andersson, the Swedish prime minister, announced the move on Monday – just a day after Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin tabled her own bid.Finland and Sweden have been bound...

Club-going Mayor Eric Adams is a man who likes to boogie. Now he also apparently believes in the boogeyman. Adams turned his attention from the Bronx Bombers to the Manhattan boo-ers as he broke news in the Yankees press box during Tuesday’s game: Gracie Mansion is haunted. “I don’t care what anyone says, there are ghosts in there, man,” Hizzoner told Yankees announcers Michael Kay and Cameron Maybin, who invited him into the booth after the mayor tossed out the first pitch. Adams laughed while confirming he sees stuff moving around and hears footsteps in the stately 223-year-old country house...

A PR nightmare for a beleaguered administration has finally led to a possible remedy for the baby formula quandary.You got the sense of just how disorganized the Biden administration is when one of their prominent mouthpieces on the most current crisis was — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg?! I don’t know too many people who saw the former mayor with such limited transport experience he could not fix potholes, as the logical choice to weigh in on Enfamil rationing. Maybe he was regarded as an expert because he launched his new career with a two-month paternity leave.Adding to the incompetence was...

Last Friday (May 13th), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis issued a ruling declaring unconstitutional California Senate Bill 826. The bill attempted mandating glass ceiling-breaking by requiring one or more female members on all corporate boards within the state. Judicial Watch filed the case in August 2019. From the Judicial Watch website:The verdict follows a similar ruling in Judicial Watch’s favor last month finding California’s diversity mandate for corporate boards unconstitutional.Judicial Watch filed the gender quota lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2019, on behalf of California taxpayers, Robin Crest, Earl De Vries and Judy De Vries....

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese netizens have uncovered evidence that the gunman behind the deadline shooting of a Taiwanese church in Orange County may be a member of a radical Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pro-unification group in Las Vegas. During a Monday press conference, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes identified the lone gunman as David Wenwei Chou (周文偉), 68, of Las Vegas. Barnes said that based on information collected, the shooting "was a politically motivated hate incident, a grievance that this individual had between himself and the Taiwanese community at large,” and added that “It is believed the suspect involved...

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced on Monday that his nation had “run out” of petroleum-based fuel during a national address in which he predicted that the next two months will be “the most difficult ones of our lives,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. “We have run out of petrol. … At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day,” Wickremesinghe said on May 16. The prime minister revealed his government had likewise run out of foreign currency reserves needed to pay for three oil shipments on vessels docked outside Colombo’s harbor on Monday and “14 essential...

A Comparison of Obama 2008 with Biden 2020 Blue highlighted counties were won by the Democrat. pop column is the county population rank in the state. A negative number in the Obama minus Biden column means that Biden "turnout" was greater than Obama 2008 Metropolitan areas [grouped counties] follow the main table.pObamaBidenominusdivObama 2008McCain 2008BidenTrumppBidenObamaAdams40%17,63359%26,34944,491Adams32%18,20766%37,52356,540-574103%Allegheny57%373,15342%272,347651,436Allegheny60%429,06539%282,324719,7332-55,912115%Armstrong37%11,13862%18,54230,081Armstrong23%8,45776%27,48936,3702,68176%Beaver48%40,49951%42,89584,488Beaver41%38,12258%54,75994,122212,37794%Bedford27%6,05972%16,12422,443Bedford16%4,36784%23,02527,5741,69272%Berks54%97,04745%80,513180,000Berks45%92,89553%109,736205,54094,15296%Blair37%19,81362%32,70853,102Blair28%17,63671%45,30663,5952,17789%Bradford40%10,30658%15,05725,787Bradford27%8,04672%21,60030,1592,26078%Bucks54%179,03145%150,248332,924Bucks52%204,71247%187,367396,2344-25,681114%Butler36%32,26063%57,07490,425Butler33%37,50866%74,359113,30519-5,248116%Cambria49%32,45149%31,99565,670Cambria31%21,73068%48,08570,57410,72167%Cameron39%87959%1,3232,245Cameron26%63473%1,7712,43424572%Carbon50%13,46448%12,95726,923Carbon33%11,21265%21,98433,6292,25283%Centre55%41,95044%32,99275,763Centre52%40,05547%36,37277,4931,89595%Chester54%137,83345%114,421254,354Chester58%182,37241%128,565314,5027-44,539132%Clarion38%6,75660%10,73717,766Clarion24%4,67875%14,57819,4932,07869%Clearfield43%14,55555%18,66233,813Clearfield25%9,67374%29,20339,4224,88266%Clinton48%7,09751%7,50414,791Clinton31%5,50268%11,90217,6251,59578%Columbia47%13,23052%14,47728,063Columbia34%10,53264%20,09831,1712,69880%Crawford44%16,78054%20,75038,134Crawford31%12,92468%28,55942,0043,85677%Cumberland43%48,30656%63,739113,304Cumberland44%62,24555%77,212141,59516-13,939129%Dauphin54%69,97545%58,238129,529Dauphin54%78,98345%66,408147,36814-9,008113%Delaware60%178,87039%115,273297,004Delaware63%206,42336%118,532327,9315-27,553115%Elk51%7,29047%6,67614,271Elk27%4,52272%12,14016,9062,76862%Erie59%75,77539%50,351127,691Erie50%68,28649%66,869137,083157,48990%Fayette49%25,86650%26,08152,560Fayette33%20,44466%41,22762,1395,42279%Forest42%1,03856%1,3662,444Forest28%72871%1,8822,64631070%Franklin33%21,16966%41,90663,641Franklin28%22,42271%57,24580,783-1,253106%Fulton25%1,57674%4,6426,306Fulton14%1,08586%6,8247,97749169%Greene49%7,82949%7,88915,976Greene28%4,91171%12,57917,6692,91863%Huntingdon36%6,62163%11,74518,632Huntingdon24%5,44575%17,06122,7921,17682%Indiana46%17,06553%19,72737,302Indiana31%12,63468%28,08941,1984,43174%Jefferson34%6,44764%12,05718,802Jefferson20%4,52779%17,96022,8241,92070%Juniata32%3,06867%6,4849,711Juniata19%2,25380%9,64912,04381573%Lackawanna63%67,52037%39,488107,876Lackawanna54%61,99145%52,334115,410175,52992%Lancaster44%99,58655%126,568228,137Lancaster41%115,84757%160,209280,2396-16,261116%Lawrence47%19,71152%21,85142,103Lawrence35%15,97864%29,59746,0763,73381%Lebanon40%23,31059%34,31458,297Lebanon33%23,93265%46,73171,652-622103%Lehigh57%87,08942%63,382152,473Lehigh53%98,28846%84,259184,71310-11,199113%Luzerne54%72,49245%61,127135,175Luzerne42%64,87357%86,929153,321137,61989%Lycoming37%18,38162%30,28049,237Lycoming29%16,97170%41,46259,2541,41092%Mckean41%6,46558%9,22415,947McKean26%5,09872%14,08319,4661,36779%Mercer49%26,41149%26,56553,821Mercer36%21,06762%36,14357,9545,34480%Mifflin33%5,37566%10,92916,502Mifflin21%4,60378%16,67021,50277286%Monroe58%39,45341%28,29368,443Monroe53%44,06046%38,72683,82920-4,607112%Montgomery60%253,39339%165,552422,419Montgomery63%319,51136%185,460510,1573-66,118126%Montour42%3,36457%4,5748,023Montour39%3,77160%5,8449,771-407112%Northampton56%75,25543%58,551135,587Northampton50%85,08749%83,854170,94213-9,832113%Northumberland42%14,32956%19,01833,939Northumberland30%12,67768%28,95242,2831,65288%Perry32%6,39666%13,05819,745Perry24%5,95074%18,29324,65244693%Philadelphia83%595,98016%117,221717,329Philadelphia81%603,79018%132,740741,3771-7,810101%Pike47%11,49352%12,51824,284Pike40%13,01959%19,21332,554-1,526113%Potter31%2,30068%5,1097,507Potter19%1,72680%7,2399,06457475%Schuylkill45%28,30054%33,76763,057Schuylkill29%20,72769%48,87170,6037,57373%Snyder35%5,38264%9,90015,479Snyder26%4,91073%13,98319,14047291%Somerset37%12,87862%21,68635,168Somerset21%8,65478%31,46640,5434,22467%Sullivan40%1,23359%1,8413,120Sullivan26%92173%2,6193,59531275%Susquehanna43%8,38155%10,63319,286Susquehanna29%6,23670%15,20721,7522,14574%Tioga36%6,39063%11,32617,984Tioga24%4,95575%15,74221,0751,43578%Union42%7,33357%9,85917,400Union37%7,47561%12,35620,115-142102%Venango40%9,23859%13,71823,307Venango29%7,58570%18,56926,5281,65382%Warren46%8,53752%9,68518,517Warren29%6,06669%14,23720,6502,47171%Washington47%46,12252%50,75298,047Washington38%45,08861%72,080118,478181,03498%Wayne43%9,89256%12,70222,835Wayne33%9,19166%18,63728,08970193%Westmoreland41%72,72158%102,294176,873Westmoreland35%72,12964%130,218204,6971159299%Wyoming46%5,98553%6,98313,138Wyoming32%4,70467%9,93614,8581,28179%York43%82,83956%109,268194,210York37%88,11462%146,733238,4718-5,275106%3,276,3632,655,8853,458,2293,377,674pObamaBidenominusdivPittsburghObama 2008McCain 2008BidenTrumppBidenObamaAllegheny57%373,15342%272,347651,436Allegheny60%429,06539%282,324719,7332-55,912115%Butler36%32,26063%57,07490,425Butler33%37,50866%74,359113,30519-5,248116%Beaver48%40,49951%42,89584,488Beaver41%38,12258%54,75994,122212,37794%Washington47%46,12252%50,75298,047Washington38%45,08861%72,080118,478181,03498%Westmoreland41%72,72158%102,294176,873Westmoreland35%72,12964%130,218204,6971159299%pObamaBidenominusdivHarrisburgObama 2008McCain 2008BidenTrumppBidenObamaDauphin54%69,97545%58,238129,529Dauphin54%78,98345%66,408147,36814-9,008113%Cumberland43%48,30656%63,739113,304Cumberland44%62,24555%77,212141,59516-13,939129%Lebanon40%23,31059%34,31458,297Lebanon33%23,93265%46,73171,652-622103%Franklin33%21,16966%41,90663,641Franklin28%22,42271%57,24580,783-1,253106%Adams40%17,63359%26,34944,491Adams32%18,20766%37,52356,540-574103%York43%82,83956%109,268194,210York37%88,11462%146,733238,4718-5,275106%Perry32%6,39666%13,05819,745Perry24%5,95074%18,29324,65244693%pObamaBidenominusdivWilliamsportObama 2008McCain 2008BidenTrumppBidenObamaMontour42%3,36457%4,5748,023Montour39%3,77160%5,8449,771-407112%Lycoming37%18,38162%30,28049,237Lycoming29%16,97170%41,46259,2541,41092%Northumberland42%14,32956%19,01833,939Northumberland30%12,67768%28,95242,2831,65288%Snyder35%5,38264%9,90015,479Snyder26%4,91073%13,98319,14047291%Union42%7,33357%9,85917,400Union37%7,47561%12,35620,115-142102%pObamaBidenominusdivPhiladelphiaObama 2008McCain 2008BidenTrumppBidenObamaPhiladelphia83%595,98016%117,221717,329Philadelphia81%603,79018%132,740741,3771-7,810101%Bucks54%179,03145%150,248332,924Bucks52%204,71247%187,367396,2344-25,681114%Delaware60%178,87039%115,273297,004Delaware63%206,42336%118,532327,9315-27,553115%Chester54%137,83345%114,421254,354Chester58%182,37241%128,565314,5027-44,539132%Montgomery60%253,39339%165,552422,419Montgomery63%319,51136%185,460510,1573-66,118126%Lancaster44%99,58655%126,568228,137Lancaster41%115,84757%160,209280,2396-16,261116%pObamaBidenominusdivAllentownObama 2008McCain 2008BidenTrumppBidenObamaLehigh57%87,08942%63,382152,473Lehigh53%98,28846%84,259184,71310-11,199113%Berks54%97,04745%80,513180,000Berks45%92,89553%109,736205,54094,15296%Northampton56%75,25543%58,551135,587Northampton50%85,08749%83,854170,94213-9,832113%Monroe58%39,45341%28,29368,443Monroe53%44,06046%38,72683,82920-4,607112%Pike47%11,49352%12,51824,284Pike40%13,01959%19,21332,554-1,526113%

@HawleyMO Spending $40 billion on Ukraine aid - more than three times what all of Europe has spent combined - is not in America’s interests. It neglects priorities at home (the border), allows Europe to freeload, short changes critical interests abroad and comes w/ no meaningful oversight

The emergence of COVID-19 had doctors racing to define and treat the new disease, but they soon discovered it was not the only novel illness caused by SARS-CoV-2. A subset of children infected by the virus also experienced abdominal pain, headaches, rashes and vomiting. This new set of symptoms was labeled multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and had many of its pediatric patients requiring intensive care. As MIS-C rates rose, physicians began to note its similarities to a pre-pandemic illness, Kawasaki disease (KD), which has puzzled pediatricians for more than 50 years. MIS-C and KD share many symptoms, including...

@ElectionWiz TUCKER: Dan Crenshaw is “Eyepatch McCain". Clip...

Aftermath of alleged US airstrike in Somalia in prior years, file image. White House officials have announced that President Biden will reverse Trump’s Somalia withdrawal of US forces as the fight with al-Shabaab Islamic militants heats up. This includes talk of a return to a policy of indefinite “boots on the ground” – or as one senior official was quoted as saying – “a persistent US military presence” there. “President Biden has approved a request from the Secretary of Defense to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabaab, which has increased...

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday ratcheted up his objection to Sweden and Finland joining NATO. Erdogan accused the countries of failing to take a clear stance against Kurdish militants and of imposing military sanctions on Turkey. “Neither country has an open, clear stance against terrorist organizations,” Erdogan said at a joint news conference with the visiting Algerian president. “We cannot say ‘yes’ to those who impose sanctions on Turkey, on joining NATO which is a security organization.”

A global study of asthma patients found a combination of two drugs dramatically reduces the chances of suffering an asthma attack. Results from the clinical trial show that a combination of albuterol, which provides relief from an asthma attack by relaxing the smooth muscles and is used for immediate asthma relief, and the corticosteroid budesonide, taken via an inhaler, lower the number of sudden episodes of shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing in patients. Such incidents, known as asthma attacks, can often lead to an emergency room visit. "This represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of asthma. We see...

Although immunotherapy has become the standard therapeutic method for fighting liver cancer, also called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), its response rate has only been approximately 30% in patients with advanced disease. The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) is the area inside the tumor in which various immune cells and other cell types interact and send/receive messages and signals. Within the TIME, the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, one type of white blood cells, is critical because they can recognize tumor cells and help fight them. Additionally, expression levels of immune checkpoint proteins are also important, because these are targets of many immunotherapy drugs....

President Xi Jinping is expected to promote more technocrats to key positions in the Chinese Communist Party to spearhead his technological ambitions. Whether they can deliver his goals remains unclear, but analysts said their ascendancy will redefine the party’s politics for years. Moreover, they said that many technocrats – who have background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – already hold key ministerial and provincial positions. The party will undergo a major leadership shake-up at the party congress later this year , and more technocrats are expected to be elevated to the 200-member Central Committee, which is responsible for all...

As many as three Hillary Clinton donors — including one who also supported US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — are among the prospective jurors for former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann’s trial. Special counsel John Durham’s team objected to putting one Clinton contributor on the panel after the man said he would “strive for impartiality as best I can.” But the prosecution was overruled by Washington, DC, federal Judge Christopher Cooper, who said the man — who works in public policy for Amazon and appeared to be in his 40s — “expressed a high degree of confidence” that he could be...

One shocking fact that has come to light as the nation wrestles with a baby formula shortage is that half of U.S. infants receive WIC (federal food assistance). According to the USDA website, “The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.” “WIC serves 53 percent of all infants born in the United States,” the USDA proudly tells us....

Immunotherapy has transformed treatment for patients with stage 4 metastatic esophageal and gastric cancers. In patients with these malignancies, immunotherapy has been shown to prolong survival when patients' tumors exhibit a high expression of an immune-related protein called PD-L1. Researchers are now investigating whether immunotherapy benefits patients who do not have stage 4 metastatic disease. In these patients, tumors have not spread to distant organs. A study highlighting this research is published in Clinical Cancer Research. "The current standard of care for patients with nonmetastatic gastroesophageal cancer involves preoperative chemotherapy plus radiation and subsequent surgical resection of the primary cancer...

Ezra Miller admonished a police officer for calling them 'sir' and explained they identified as 'transgender non-binary' during their arrest in Hawaii back in March. In newly-released body cam footage from the arrest obtained by TMZ, Miller warned the officer that failing to refer to them by their proper pronouns again would be an 'intentional act of bigotry' and a technical 'hate crime.' Miller, 29, who uses they/them pronouns and came out as queer in 2012, and said in a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter: 'Queer just means no, I don't do that. I don't identify as a man....