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As the mask mandate debate rages on, epidemiologists and medical specialists suggest looking to countries where citizens are perfectly happy to wear them to see how powerful the simple infection-control measure can be. Nearly two-and-a-half years into the Covid-19 pandemic, countries where mask-wearing is a cultural norm are seeing some signs of success as the persistent Omicron sub-variants spread throughout their communities. University of Otago public health professor and epidemiologist Michael Baker said underlying the widespread acceptance of masks in some counties was a sense of personal responsibility to protect others from Covid-19. "I'm looking at the countries that appear,...

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A 'straight pride' march held in front of a California abortion clinic descended into violence as attendees clashed with counter-protesters and police. The National Straight Pride Coalition touted the event as a celebration of 'heterosexuality, masculinity, femininity, babies - born and unborn and Western straight civilization, our wonderful country and Christianity.' Founder Don Grundmann promised a calm organized march, telling the Modesto City council in early August: 'We're a peaceful group, we wanted to have a meeting. We're attacked as racist. We're a totally peaceful racist group.' But it quickly descended into violence, as angry pro-LGBT rights groups clashed with...

Visitors forced to spend 17% more last year as price of hotels, passes and even Mickey ears rocket Since reopening in April of last year, the company has made a host of changes to its preeminent parks in Florida and California, nixing perks and raising prices Those efforts, recent earnings reports reveal, have seen the parks' bottom lines swell - but has also alienated visitors been priced out by the increased costs Implementing changes such as a $15 a day pass on top of admission and a $32 charge for its airport shuttles, customers are complaining of Disney's practices The...

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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government is backing the construction of new reactors for the first time since the Fukushima disaster in 2011. It will have to convince a skeptical public first, says Bloomberg Opinion’s Gearoid Reidy.Just over a decade on from Fukushima, the northern Japanese region that became globally synonymous with the dangers of nuclear power, Tokyo seems ready to embrace atomic energy once more. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to push not just for the restart of operations including Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the largest nuclear power facility in the world — he’s also looking to reverse...

The sworn affidavit presented to secure the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago used by the FBI to raid Donald Trump’s home had what appears to be a crucial error in it, one that could be easily debunked. If the facts detailed by independent journalist Paul Sperry are accurate, this could be enough to obliterate the Department of Justice’s case against Trump. In a post on Gettr, Sperry said: BREAKING: The FBI affiant who swore to the Mar-a-Lago search warrant appears to have made a critical factual error by stating in the unsealed affidavit: “I do not believe that any spaces within...

Former US basketball star Shaquille O'Neal will help Australia's new government implement reforms for an Indigenous voice to parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday (Aug 27) said, standing alongside NBA Hall of famer. Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party government is seeking a referendum, needed to change the constitution, on recognising Indigenous people in the constitution and mandating consultation with them on decisions that affect their lives. Details on the so-called Indigenous voice to parliament will follow the national referendum on the question, which the government wants to hold in the parliament’s current term.

A State Department employee was killed this week while riding her bike in Maryland. The Montgomery County Police Department confirmed Sarah Joan Langenkamp, 42, was struck by a flatbed truck on the afternoon of Aug. 25 while riding a bicycle at the 5200 block of River Road in Bethesda. Langenkamp was a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Numerous offices have cited her as the head of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section at the embassy.

Editor's note: This story was updated on August 18 to reflect that Juan Hernandez served a 40-hour suspension for the offensive social media posts. Three years after a sergeant's bigoted Facebook posts helped spark a scandal in the Phoenix Police Department, an appeals court has allowed his lawsuit against the city, which alleges First Amendment violations, to move forward. In 2013 and 2014, current Phoenix police sergeant Juan Hernandez shared a multitude of offensive memes on his personal Facebook page. "The most common name for a convicted gang rapist in England is Muhammad," one of the posts read. "These gangs...

It seems like every vintage building still standing in Arizona has a story to tell – and sometimes these tales include a ghost or two. Just ask the proprietors of Casey Moore’s in Tempe, Tombstone’s Birdcage Theatre, or the Hotel Monte Vista in Flagstaff, all of whom claim their places are the domain of specters, spirits, or other supernatural phenomena. You could also hit up Marshall Shore, the local “hip historian” who's familiar with many of these tales. It’s one of the reasons he conducts walking tours around downtown Phoenix every October that explores some of the city's more infamous...

WARSAW/BOGDANKA, POLAND — In Poland's late summer heat, dozens of cars and trucks line up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as people fearful of winter shortages wait for days to stock up on heating fuel in queues reminiscent of communist times. Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 kilometers from the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday, hoping to buy several tons of coal for himself and his family. "Toilets were put up today, but there's no running water," he said, after three nights of sleeping in his small red hatchback in a crawling queue...

The FBI has responded to an explosive claim by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook algorithmically censored references to Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 election after receiving a warning from the agency about “Russian propaganda.”Zuckerberg said on an Aug. 25 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that Facebook actively reduced the reach of social media posts discussing Hunter Biden’s laptop in response to an advisory from the FBI to some Facebook staffers to be on guard for Russian disinformation ahead of the presidential election.“The background here is the FBI I think basically came to some folks on our...

Business owners in San Francisco's Castro district have absolutely had it with the city's inaction over burglaries, vandalism, and violent homeless people camping on the sidewalks in front of storefronts and residences.As the American Thinker's Olivia Murray notes:San Francisco has an established reputation as a capital for fringe culture and leftism, much of which converges in the enclave of Castro. The first "Drag Queen Story Hour" event ever took place in the Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library in the neighborhood and was "well received."Now, under Democrat leadership, the iconically left community is ready to take drastic measures toward radical American...

Perhaps Republicans Could Learn Something HereI despise the term RINO — Republican in Name Only. It splits the Republican Party year after year, and its persistence hands the Democrats power in Congress they would not otherwise be able to earn. I never hear the term DINO — Democrat in Name Only — because the Democrats are too smart for that. Within the Democratic Party are avowed socialists (Bernie Sanders) together with senators and representatives who represent Montana, Arizona, and other generally red states — states that have long traditions of independence and free-market values. In other words, the Democratic Party...

How confident is the unelected Governor of New York that she can’t possibly be defeated by a Republican in an election in her state? Based on one of her stump speeches yesterday, her confidence is off the charts. In one of the more shocking displays of vile partisanship I can recall hearing in my lifetime, Kathy Hochul delivered a message to the state’s more than five million registered Republicans. Get out. She literally said that all New York Republicans should “jump on a bus” and move to Florida “where you belong.” She topped that demand off with a claim that...

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Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum threads labeled “Prayer” are closed to debate of any kind.

We’re doomed. Let’s call it what it is – a bribe to the youngest demographic of voters and a sop to black and brown voters. Joe Biden’s decision to cancel student loan debt was bone-headed at best, cynical at worst. To make a bad decision even worse – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Jill Biden ( that’s Dr. Jill to you) advised the dazed and confused president not to do it. Instead of listening to a couple of people who might actually know a little something about the subject, Joe Biden decided to listen to Kamala Harris. That’s right. Biden...

California plans to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. In 2021, California required 12 percent of total new vehicle sales to be powered by batteries or hydrogen. By 2026, their goal is to reach 35 percent. By 2030, 68 percent. And in 2035, 100 percent powered by batteries or hydrogen.Democrat-run California is banning gas-powered cars by 2035. The average cost of an electric vehicle is around $67,000, & the state’s electric grid already can’t keep the lights on. This will be an energy disaster. No wonder people keep leaving California! https://t.co/09svGLF3GP— Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (@RepDLesko) August 25, 2022President...