Free Republic

The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in mice with malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, accelerated their metastatic bone growth, likely because the drugs depleted the mice's intestinal flora and weakened their immune response, according to a new study. The findings underscore the importance of the gut microbiome in overall health and suggest that doctors should carefully weigh the gastrointestinal effects when they use antibiotic therapies while treating cancer or other diseases, said one of the study's authors, Subhashis Pal, Ph.D. "In our study we found that the gut microbiome restrains the progression of melanoma bone lesions in mice...

The raid on former President Trump’s home in Florida was unprecedented and Trump has made his objections known in legal and social statements, proclaiming his distrust of those involved.Trump’s request for a special master to independently review the documents seized is an effort on his part to ensure more integrity in the review process.The DOJ had opposed that request, saying a team of agency officials had already completed a privilege review of the documents, and that a special master could harm the government’s national security interests.This week U.S. District Judge from the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen M. Cannon...

The far right appears close to causing an earthquake in Swedish politics, the Sweden Democrats becoming the country’s second-largest party while the wider rightwing bloc that it leads edged towards a slim victory over the incumbent centre-left. Exit polls on Sunday night at first suggested a narrow victory for the Social Democrats and their centre-left allies. But as the votes were counted the tally swung towards the right. With more than 90% of the vote counted, the right bloc of four parties had a share of the vote corresponding to 176 of 349 seats in parliament, with the left bloc...

A sexual assault complaint has been filed against pop star Ricky Martin, who recently sued his nephew over what he said were false allegations of sexual abuse. The complaint was filed on Friday at a police precinct in the capital of San Juan, police spokesman Edward Ramírez told The Associated Press on Saturday. A person who was not authorized to speak about the case confirmed that Martin's nephew, Dennis Yadiel Sanchez Martin, filed the complaint. It appears to be a response to Martin filing a $20 million lawsuit against his nephew after he claimed he had an incestuous relationship with...

A few weeks ago, Alaska held a special election using ranked choice voting. This was Alaska’s first general election using ranked choice voting, and it also made the state one of the first major jurisdictions in the United States to employ the new voting system. For years many, election experts have pushed ranked choice as a way to fix the problems in America’s elections. In their view, this new system would create more excitement and give more people a voice by offering marginalized candidates a fighting chance. Over the last few years, three major jurisdictions have held ranked choice voting...

Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second largest city and is the biggest population center closest to Russia's border, has been plunged into total darkness Sunday night amid alleged Russian attacks on key infrastructure sites, including large power stations."The center of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv was plunged into darkness on Sunday evening by an electricity blackout," Reuters has confirmed of the large-scale outage. It's further being reported that some city districts are also without water, creating a severe crisis for residents."The cause and extent of the blackout in the northeastern city were not immediately clear. There were also unconfirmed social media reports...

How the Situation in Ukraine Could Get Far More DangerousAfter days of a withering Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Russian defense ministry announced that it was withdrawing its forces from two areas in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. In a video statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quipped, “The Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do — showing its back.” Ukrainians celebrated, and rightly so. While Russian spokesmen said that Russian forces were “repositioning” ahead of a new offensive, reporters on the ground cast doubt on such pronouncements both because they mirror Russian statements as it abandoned its drive...

Saturday, I posted on the new Ukrainian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast that has liberated several hundred square miles of territory and threatens to unravel the entire Russian invasion; see Russia’s Disaster in Kharkiv Turns Into an Avalanche of Failure as Ukraine’s Army Advances Without Opposition.The main effort in yesterday’s report was Kupiansk, a critical rail and highway node on the Oskil river. That city is firmly in Ukrainian hands. As I noted yesterday, this places the main railroad line from Russian forces in Ukraine to Russia within range of Ukrainian tube artillery.The Ukrainian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast shows some signs...

Europeans faced with the prospects of a difficult winter due to a looming energy crisis are booking hotels and apartments in Türkiye to spend the cold months here. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sent electricity and gas prices skyrocketing while governments are imposing rules to lower energy consumption. Fearing that the situation may get even worse in the coming months, Europeans are now making plans to avoid further hardship with some of them looking for accommodation in Türkiye. After Russia cut gas supplies to Europe, people are considering spending the winter in Türkiye, they are already making reservations, said...

The federal E-Verify program has an online searchable database showing the businesses with at least five employees who have gone to the trouble to make certain that they are not employing illegal aliens. These businesses need to be rewarded.The E-Verify program is a largely voluntary employment verification program that was instituted in the 1990s. At the federal level, it is mandatory for some federal contractors and sub-contractors. At the state and local levels, states and their political subdivisions may also use the program. Currently, there are four states — AL, AZ, MS, and SC — who require that all employers...

Project Veritas responds to CT AG's office threats to subpoena reporters emails and other communications. Excellent response.

The US Supreme Court delivered a temporary victory for a Jewish university under assault by the alphabet people.Yeshiva University in Manhattan is the oldest Jewish university in America. Like Catholic and other religious-based universities, It accepts students from all denominations and awards degrees in a variety of disciplines.While inclusive, Yeshiva University expects all students to uphold certain orthodox Jewish practices on campus, such as observing rules concerning dietary restrictions and Shabbat.As former RedState Erick Ericksson is fond of saying, “you will be made to care.” In 2020, a small number of Yeshiva students and alumni banded together to pummel the...

The largest and most comprehensive survey of American gun owners ever conducted suggests that they use firearms in self-defense about 1.7 million times a year. It also confirms that AR-15-style rifles and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, frequent targets of gun control legislation, are in common use for lawful purposes, which the Supreme Court has said is the test for arms covered by the Second Amendment. The online survey, which was conducted by Centiment in February and March of 2021, was based on a representative sample of about 54,000 adults, 16,708 of whom were gun owners. Georgetown University...

Ronald Reaan was noted for his jokes. This is one of them.

Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker and incumbent GOP Gov. Brian Kemp are both widening their leads over their Democratic opponents, according to a poll.Former NFL star Walker is ahead of incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock by 47-44%, an InsiderAdvantage/FOX 5 Atlanta poll released Thursday shows. Libertarian nominee Chase Oliver is receiving 4% support with 5% of voters still undecided.An Emerson College poll last month showed that Walker, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, led Warnock 46-44%."Warnock is winning among younger voters and seniors but trails badly among those 40-64. Men support Walker at 60%, while women support...

For girls who were depressed, drinking, skipping school or fighting with their families, Trinity Teen Solutions claimed to offer a cure. Desperate parents paid $6,000 a month to send their children to the Christian therapeutic program at a working ranch in a remote area of Wyoming, often without visiting first. What girls encountered once they got there, according to 22 women who spent time at the ranch as teens from 2007 to 2020, was a nightmare of hard labor and humiliating punishments that left some injured and others with post-traumatic stress disorder. In recent interviews and court filings, the women...

No one likes getting this kind of call. “Father John, my mother’s got covid. We’re taking her to the hospital, now. Can you come to see her?” So you drop what you’re doing, get your things together, get the black leather bag which contains what we Orthodox call the Reserved Gifts, dried Holy Communion, and drive moderately over the speed limit (it’s Massachusetts where even the police speed) and arrive at one of the largest hospitals in Worcester. By this time I was well aware that Covid-19 was not nearly as dangerous as the media had made it out to...

Exchange of knowledge and expertise, bartering and wooing. Kirkhellaren Cave on Sanna in Træna is one of Norway’s oldest meeting places, having first been used about 10,000 years ago.So far west out at sea that witty people claim that the gulls here speak English, it is midsummer on the Arctic Circle and we are on the island of Sanna in Træna Municipality.A 10 to 15-minute walk from the quay we find Kirkhellaren, a very famous cave where, throughout repeated ice ages, the frost and sea have carved out a cathedral in a crack of the mountainside...The first archaeological excavations in...

Erbil (Agenzia Fides) - The shadows of civil war loom again over Iraq and some of the small and divided political parties, led by Christian politicians, are trying to find forms of coordination to face together the new threat. In the last few weeks, representatives of several parties founded and led by Chaldean, Assyrian and Syrian Christians have met several times in Erbil (Autonomous Province of Kurdistan) to work out common political strategies and proposals, given the confrontation with the institutions and the political majority blocs that shape the distorted political scene in Iraq. The most recent meeting, held on...

Using chemical analysis of ancient, and incredibly well-preserved pottery found in the waters surrounding small artificial islands called crannogs in Scotland, the team were able to discern that cereals were cooked in pots and mixed with dairy products and occasionally meat, probably to create early forms of gruel and stew. They also discovered that the people visiting these crannogs used smaller pots to cook cereals with milk and larger pots for meat-based dishes...Cereal cultivation in Britain dates back to around 4000 BCE was probably introduced by migrant farmers from continental Europe. This is evidenced by some, often sparse and sporadic,...