Free Republic

AUSTIN, TX — In a landslide victory during a special statewide referendum this week, Texans overwhelmingly voted to have a giant airship pick up Austin via tow cables and drop the city off in California. As the city is mostly inhabited by Californians who left their state due to the cost of living, high taxes, and crime - and then proceeded to vote for the same policies in Texas - the move is just "setting things right" by sending immigrants from the Golden State "back where they belong," according to the bill's sponsors. The act took effect immediately, and a...

October 14 (October 1 O.S.) is a liturgical feast celebrating the protective intercession of the Virgin Mary, a date of particular significance in Russia and Ukraine. Indeed, Red Square’s St. Basil’s Cathedral is actually the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos [i.e., Mary] on the Moat, just one of many Orthodox churches so named. Also known as Pokrov — a quaint Slavic term for covering, denoting safeguarding — the holiday celebrates an incident from 10th century Byzantium when a saint beheld Mary descend through the dome of the church, then spread her garment protectively over the entire...

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that any direct confrontation with NATO troops would result in “global catastrophe,” as he claimed that his divisive mobilization was nearly complete. The Russian leader warned Kyiv’s allies against any military presence in Ukraine while speaking with reporters from the Kazakh capital of Astana. “The introduction of troops into a direct confrontation with the Russian army is a very dangerous step that could lead to a global catastrophe,” he said when asked if the conflict could eventually involve NATO and Russian troops in direct combat.

16 October 2022 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time St Hedwig Catholic Church, Chicago, Illinois Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(II).First readingExodus 17:8-13 ©As long as Moses kept his arm raised, Israel had the advantageThe Amalekites came and attacked Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, ‘Pick out men for yourself, and tomorrow morning march out to engage Amalek. I, meanwhile, will stand on the hilltop, the staff of God in my hand.’ Joshua did as Moses told him and marched out to engage Amalek, while Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. As...

The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) on Thursday extended the COVID emergency declaration with an order from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. As Becerra's order notes, the declaration has been renewed every 90 days by him and Trump's HHS Secretary Alex Azar since January 27, 2020. This order goes until January 11, a report from CNBC's Spencer Kimball mentioned on Friday. This is despite how President Joe Biden declared in a "60 Minutes" interview last month that "the pandemic is over." While he also stated that "we still have a problem with COVID," it was that "the pandemic is...

After the untimely and tragic death of iconic lead singer/song-writer Jim Morrison in 1971, The Doors found themselves casting about for a new sound. In 1972, The Doors were still a relatively young band with a recording contract to fulfill and many concert dates to perform. One of their post-Morrison singles from the 1972 album "Full Circle" was this little ditty called "The Mosquito" with decidedly un-Morrison lyrics such as this: No me moleste mosquito Just let me eat my burrito No me moleste mosquito Why don't you go home?Some of us may wish to debate the artistic merit of...

On her podcast, Fast Politics, author and journalist Molly Jong-Fast asked Gisele Barreto Fetterman, wife of Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate, John Fetterman, about an interview of her husband that resulted in controversy and accusations of ableism this week. Mrs. Fetterman expressed outrage that the reporter has not faced any “consequences” for it. When NBC News reporter Dasha Burns interviewed the Pennsylvania candidate, he relied on a closed-caption display as a visual aid, due to what he and his campaign have characterized as “audio processing” issues he’s experienced following a stroke this year. While talking about the interview, Burns noted that...

15 October 2022Saint Teresa of Ávila, Virgin, Doctor on Saturday of week 28 in Ordinary Time Iglesia Santa Teresa de Avila, Avila, Spain Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingEphesians 1:15-23 ©Paul’s prayer for the enlightenment of the faithfulI, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give...

A collaboration study has found that advanced dementia patients with feeding problems initiated on careful hand feeding had a risk of pneumonia 40% lower than those on nasogastric tube feeding. Patients with advanced dementia with feeding problems such as poor oral intake and dysphagia are often initiated on tube feeding. Feeding tubes are inserted due to the perceived benefits of reducing the risk of aspiration pneumonia and improving survival. However, this has not been shown in previous observational studies conducted overseas. In recent years, some geriatric wards in Hong Kong have begun to offer the option of careful hand feeding...

An NBC News correspondent who interviewed Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman says an on-air remark she made about him having difficulty following part of their conversation should not be seen as a commentary on his fitness for office after he suffered a stroke. But reporter Dasha Burns’ comment that Fetterman appeared to have trouble understanding small talk prior to their interview has attracted attention — and Republicans have retweeted it as they seek an advantage in the closely followed Senate race between Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz. SNIP Burns’ Friday interview with Fetterman, which aired Tuesday, was his first on-camera...

Prosecutors of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz called for an investigation Friday after a juror said another panelist threatened her during the deliberations that ended with a life sentence for Cruz's murder of 17 people four years ago at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Prosecutor Carolyn McCann told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer during a brief hearing that prosecutors are not trying to invalidate Thursday's jury vote and reported the threat only for safety reasons and so the Broward County Sheriff's Office can investigate. In their written motion asking for the hearing, prosecutors said the juror told them another juror...

A common clinical practice may be inadvertently harming patients, according to research. The team behind the study suggest that administration of antibiotics with activity against anaerobic bacteria has a profound effect on the gut microbiome and, ultimately, an adverse impact on critically ill patients. Researchers found that, in critically ill patients, the practice of early administration of anti-anaerobic antibiotics is commonplace—about two-thirds of the 3,032 patients observed in the study's cohort received such treatment. "For sick patients in the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit, there has been a lot of focus on 'time-to-antibiotics' as a quality improvement measure," said...

"Some uppity foreigner in a t-shirt demanding money for his 'critical economic needs.' We have critical economic needs too, buddy. Who are you troll? Go away." Video: https://twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1580717198703611904?cxt=HHwWgMCi8dn66u8rAAAA

Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, said this means thousands of Ukrainians are now living in collective centers or damaged buildings without enough resources to protect them against the freezing weather. Too many people in Ukraine are living precariously, moving from location to location in substandard structures, or without access to heating," Kluge told reporters. "This can lead to frostbite, hypothermia, pneumonia, strokes and heart attack. Destruction of houses and lack of access to fuel or electricity due to damaged infrastructure could be a matter of life if people are unable to heat their homes." The country has...

Emily Hanford became famous over the last several years for talking constantly about the Science of Reading. That's where children learn to read in the simplest, most efficient way and go on to enjoy many hundreds of books. Long story short, what she means by the Science of Reading is phonics — nothing less, nothing else. The problem is that the left in our country forced phonics into oblivion starting in 1931. So what was going on for those 90 years from 1931 to now? A titanic and quite stupid con, that's what. Basically, the professors of education at Harvard...

FORT MYERS, Fla. – In the month before Hurricane Ian hurtled into southwest Florida, shredding Lee County and destroying or damaging more than 32,000 homes, the area reigned as having the most overvalued real estate in the nation. Two weeks after Ian’s Category 4 wrath, economists and Realtors said the Sept. 28 storm may be a pause in Florida’s humming housing market but is unlikely to have long-term impacts because “people want to live near saltwater in a warm and business-friendly climate,” said Ken H. Johnson, an FAU housing economist. In the near term, however, Ian could bolster unaffordability in...

One of Hong Kong’s last remaining pro-democracy activist groups has had its account with online payments processor PayPal terminated. The League of Social Democrats says that PayPal, a multinational financial technology company headquartered in California and Nebraska, sent an email stating it can no longer provide its services to the activist group. The text of PayPal's email sent to the League of Social Democrats in September has been seen by VOA. It outlines the termination and says the decision is “final.”

California’s State Water Resources Control Board, (AKA the State Board), has released a draft of its Racial Equity Action Plan and is soliciting public comments. The board is one of the more powerful of California’s bureaucracies. Members are appointed by the governor and according to its website, “...the five-member State Water Board allocates water rights, adjudicates water right disputes, develops statewide water protection plans, establishes water quality standards, and guides the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards.” According to Executive Director Eileen Sobeck, “There could not be a more critical challenge facing us at this time than the challenge of...

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald J. Trump responded on Friday to a promised subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault with a lengthy, rambling letter that attacked the panel’s work, reiterated false claims of widespread voting fraud and presaged a potentially bruising battle over whether he would be compelled to testify about his role in the riot and his efforts to subvert the 2020 election. In a 14-page missive that did not address whether he would comply with the subpoena, Mr. Trump perpetuated the same lies that had fueled the attack and boasted about the size of...

In light of Elon discontinuing Space X Starlink services to Ukraine until the Pentagon agrees to pay for the service, Elon made a temporary appearance on Ukraine’s unofficial kill list (snip)There are multiple reports that Elon has been taken off the list. Musk as of late has come under fire from Ukrainian officials for suggesting an off-ramp to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict