Free Republic

More than six million Americans have been infected with flu and nearly 3,000 have died from the disease so far since October — in the worst outbreak in a decade. Latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also show there have been 53,000 hospitalizations in that time. A total of 18 states reported 'very high' flu levels in the week ending November 19, four more than in the previous seven-day spell. New Mexico, Texas and Tennessee are the worst affected. America's flu season began early this year, with seasonal viruses returning with a vengeance after lockdowns,...

Explanation: This colorful skyscape spans about four full moons across nebula rich starfields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy in the royal northern constellation Cepheus. Near the edge of the region's massive molecular cloud some 2,400 light-years away, bright reddish emission region Sharpless (Sh) 155 is at the center of the frame, also known as the Cave Nebula. About 10 light-years across the cosmic cave's bright walls of gas are ionized by ultraviolet light from the hot young stars around it. Dusty reflection nebulae, like vdB 155 to the right, and dense obscuring clouds of dust also abound...

A Comparison of Arizona 2018 with Arizona 2022 The "pop" column shows the population rank of each county in the state. Number 1 is Maricopa County. The "garcia minus hobbs" column shows the increase in the Democrat "vote" from 2018 to 2022 [a negative number]. The "hobbs divided by garcia" column shows the percentage increase in the Democrat "vote" from 2018 to 2022.The "douchey minus Lake" column shows the increase (or decrease) in the Republican vote in that county from 2018 to 2022. The "Lake divided by douchey" column shows the percentage increase (or decrease) in the Republican vote in...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is condemning white nationalist Nick Fuentes and defending former President Trump... She said she spoke with Trump and talked with people on his staff after news of the dinner broke. "President Trump had no idea he (Fuentes) was even coming. So that's unfortunate," Greene said. She said that Trump's team is making "big changes over who can come in and the vetting process, which I think is smart. Any former president should have that in place." Greene says that knowing what she knows now about Fuentes, she would not have spoken at his conference---but does not...

“Ukraine lost more than 100 thousand servicemen since the war started,” said the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, News.az reports citing UNIAN.He stressed that Russia should pay for the crimes it committed: “Occupation of Ukraine by Russia led to death, destructions, in short, sufferings that can not be expressed with words. All of us remember Bucha events. It is estimated that more than 20 thousand civilians and more than 100 thousand Ukrainians. Russia should pay for these horrific crimes.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is confident he can narrowly win the speakership in January, even if it takes multiple rounds of voting for it happen. McCarthy said Tuesday that if he does not reach the number of votes needed on January 3 to win on the first ballot — that is, 218 votes if all voting members are present and vote for a person, rather than vote “present” — then he plans to put up a fight to win on subsequent ballots.

The White House on Wednesday laughed off an invitation by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to visit the Southern border. McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday after meeting the president that he invited him to come and see the effects of his disastrous open border policies for himself. When reporters asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for Biden’s reaction to the invitation, she only laughed.

[Catholic Caucus] A Unified Theory of “Backwardism”What was so awful about the pre-Vatican II Church that its memory needs to be obliterated and those who hold to doctrines that are ancient in provenance must be labeled as “rigid” and psychologically damaged?Pope Francis has presented many of his key initiatives as pope as efforts to “move the Church forward,” as the saying goes. As you probably also know by now, he is vehemently opposed to anything that takes the Church “backward.” In recent months, he started using an Italian neologism—“indietrismo” or “backwardism”—to describe those Catholics who are opposed to progress in...

Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, unable to run for another term due to term limits, is holding two fundraisers on Wednesday to look for support and fund future political activity amid speculation of a possible 2024 presidential bid. Hogan, looking to position himself as an “alternative” to former President Donald Trump, has two fundraisers scheduled for Wednesday at a hotel and casino outside Maryland’s state capital.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead” that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s speech about the Oath Keepers’ conviction for seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot was a direct message to former President Donald Trump and those who worked with him that the Department of Justice can prove sedition. Guest anchor Kasie Hunt said, “Let me ask you about what we saw in the trial. Do you think the events of the last 24 hours have changed the calculation for the Justice Department in terms of whether or not to prosecute...

Update from Ukraine | Ruzzia is one step closer to Bakhmut city Zelenskyi says he Hopes it ends soon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHB8H9PSeQw Follow on Instagram up to date uploads. https://www.instagram.com/denys_pilot/ Military maps & Summary Invasion Day 280 – Summary November 30, 2022 Jerome News https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-280-summary/ The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the last 48 hours, as of 30th November 2022 – 22:00 (Kyiv time). Briefly: Russian forces, despite the losses in manpower and equipment, managed to advance south of Bakhmut. It’s becoming clear that the enemy is trying to cut the Ukrainian supply roads and at least...

Traffickers Exploiting Illegal Child Labor with Social Security Fraud

House Democrats just picked a successor for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who has decided to give up the gavel at the end of this term. Their choice is Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), a progressive. On the surface, this choice makes sense. However, in one key way, going with Jeffries makes hypocrites out of the Democratic establishment. Why? Well, Democrats have rightly lambasted former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. They have decried, albeit often painting with far too broad a brush, Republicans as the party of “election deniers” and made the GOP out to...

Database latency -- a geeky term, but that’s how they did it! A policeman pulls over a speeder. The police computer reports that three hours ago a similar vehicle and person held up a liquor store -- so the police are on alert. No database latency. County election managers change the zip code of 31,000 voters on September 3. Ballots go out that week. Those 31,000 are undeliverable. Someone collects those valid ballots. On September 15th, those addresses are quietly changed back. National Change of Address Database (NCOA) will not pick up those address changes. They didn’t happen because there...

Get out your Bible and turn to Daniel 9:24-27. If the Antichrist is not actually found in this passage, dispensationalism unravels. While dispensationalists may have different systems to find the Antichrist in this passage, here’s one way that they interpret this: Per Daniel 9:26 the prince (who was to come) that destroyed the city and sanctuary must be a future descendent of the Romans who destroyed the city and sanctuary in AD 70. It is merely ASSUMED that this person is the Antichrist. It is the Antichrist who, sometime in our future, will make (“confirm”) a covenant with Israel, and...

The "Not Your Father's Oldsmobile" marketing effort alienated people of all ages with strange nepotism.When Ransom E. Olds lent his moniker to one of America's first automakers all the way back in 1897, he couldn't have known that 90 years into the future the Oldsmobile brand would make an ill-fated attempt to distance itself from the geriatric associations of the Olds surname. At the end of the 1980s, Oldsmobile was determined to shake the image that it built boring cars for sleepy seniors. The end result was the indelible "This Is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile" catchphrase, birthed from one of...

Diversity is not always a strength. In this context, diversity means fewer white people, fewer Englishmen, and fewer Christians. There are those who would celebrate that. I would call them racists.Perhaps my mixed heritage provides me with a different perspective on the topic of immigration. My father’s family are from Jamaica, originally Nigeria, and my mother’s family are from England. I am, therefore, ethnically half Afro-Caribbean and half English. Most liberals would defend my father’s family in their right to self-determination, whether in Jamaica or in Africa. Why, then, do they not afford my mother’s family the same privilege? Surely,...

Suspect captured after machete attack on 60-year-old Rancho Cordova cyclist, official says Officials say 42-year-old James Hall was considered danger to public and officers Share KCRAUpdated: 3:28 PM PST Nov 30, 2022 Jonathan Ayestas A man suspected of attacking a 60-year-old electric bicyclist with a machete in Rancho Cordova on Monday has been apprehended, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said on Wednesday. The victim, who has not yet been named, was "gravely" wounded in the assault and officials said his injuries are "not survivable." The suspected attacker, 42-year-old James Hall, who is unhoused, was found at Shasta Community Park...

America’s most daring and insightful playwright tried to warn us that we were going haywire. By making him a hate object, American theater has made us all poorer. In response to a positive review in The New York Times of the recent revival of David Mamet’s American Buffalo, one young theater maker, @harharharbour wrote, “F**k Mamet, there’s nothing he has to say worth hearing. Stop giving racist transphobic playwrights platforms. This show is shit.”This tweet epitomizes what is now an entirely mainstream, and in some circles mandatory, view of David Alan Mamet, 74, of Chicago, the great American writer of...

Sens. Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, and Mike Braun are warning Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell against greenlighting Democrats’ massive omnibus spending bill before the newly elected, GOP-controlled House of Representatives is officially sworn in.The coalition of senators sent a letter on Wednesday urging the GOP head to ignore pleas to extend the government’s funding beyond when the new Congress takes office to encompass the entire 2023 fiscal year, including increased spending on Ukraine.“We must not accept anything other than a short-term Continuing Resolution that funds the federal government until shortly after the 118th Congress is sworn in,” the...