Free Republic

More evidence on how social media works to promote Islamic radicalization — while suppressing its victims ... Facebook created over 100 pages for ISIS (Islamic State), as well as pages for other terror organizations, including the group behind the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., Al-Qaeda. ... Facebook has failed to catch Islamic State group and al-Shabab extremist content in posts aimed at East Africa as the region remains under threat from violent attacks. ... [Facebook] repeatedly failed to act on sensitive content including hate speech in many places around the world. Posts calling for violence and murder "in languages including...

Researchers recently completed a phase 3 clinical trial that assessed the efficacy and safety of two different classes of oral agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in young people aged 10-17 years. The findings represent a new treatment option for young people with type 2 diabetes and also underscore the differences in disease progression between young people and adults with type 2 diabetes. "Type 2 diabetes was once called 'adult-onset diabetes,' but it is increasingly common among children," said Lori M. Laffel, MD, MPH. Laffel and colleagues assessed the efficacy and safety of empagliflozin and linagliptin—two well-studied oral...

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Friday claimed the security of the United States is dependent on Ukraine’s border security from Russian invasion.Speaking in Finland upon ending his taxpayer funded European tour, McConnell alleged the strongest nation on earth, the United States, is dependent on Ukraine, a non-NATO nation, for its security.“As my fellow leading Republicans and I have explained, it is not an act of charity for the United States and our NATO allies to help supply the Ukrainian people’s self-defense,” McConnell said. “It is a direct investment in our own core national interests. America is a world power with...

Diocese Promotes Valentine’s Day Blessings with Photo of Queer Couple Kissingi> Photo posted by the Diocese of Aachen to promote blessings for couples around Valentine’s DayA German diocese has promoted blessings for couples, including same-gender ones, even posting a photo of two men kissing with the words “Love is everything.”The Diocese of Aachen posted on Facebook earlier this week about the blessings to mark Valentine’s Day. The text accompanying the photo read:“This one goes out to all couples and newlyweds: We wish you a wonderful Valentine’s Day!“If you would like to have your love blessed: In the Diocese of Aachen...

Mayor Pete Buttguy (SOT) today explained why it took her three weeks to show up at the trail wreck in Ohio. She stated that she had so many things going that she finally got around to showing up. Because of the chest feeding requirements of the children, it took a week to train her husband to perform the task and the icky diaper changing routine. Because she didn't know what the proper attire to wear to a train wreck, she consulted with Dr Jill and VP Harris. Neither of them had a clue so she contacted Sam Brinton for fashion...

Mistletoe extract has been widely used to support cancer therapy and improve quality of life, but there has been a lack of clinical trials to support its use. Researchers completed what is believed to be the first phase I trial of intravenous Helixor M in the U.S. aimed at determining dosing for subsequent clinical trials and to evaluate safety. Channing Paller, M.D. also documented improved quality of life and some disease control. Mistletoe extract (ME), known as Helixor M, was studied in 21 patients with advanced and treatment-resistant cancers of various types. The phase I trial used dose escalation to...

Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex saw three fires in one day at three separate facilities that it operates in Mexico and the United States. Pemex reported on Thursday a fire at the storage facility Tuzandepetl in the state of Veracruz. The fire started in the drilling equipment for reasons that are yet unknown, the Mexican company said... Later on Thursday, the company said that there was a fire at the Minatitlán refinery in the same state, Veracruz. The fire was contained and later extinguished, but five workers were injured, Pemex said. The third fire in one day at a Pemex...

Investigator Jaqueline Breger testifies to the Arizona state legislature about widespread corruption involving public officials.

Multisite chronic pain is causally associated with a higher risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but not with other autoimmune diseases (AIDs), according to a study. Yidan Tang and colleagues used a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method to determine the causal relationship between chronic pain and AIDs, namely amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), celiac disease (CeD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), MS, RA, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), type 1 diabetes (T1D), and psoriasis using genome-wide association study summary statistics. The researchers identified associations between multisite chronic pain and a higher risk for MS and RA (odds ratios, 1.59 and...

Swiss bishop says the Church must be ‘exclusive’ in matters of sin, heresyBishop Marian Eleganti also said that it may be 'necessary to remove from office bishops who obviously hold heretical views.'Swiss Bishop Marian Eleganti warned about heresies entering into the Church through the Synodal process in a Lenten reflection. He also criticized the repeated use of the term “inclusivity” and stressed that the Church is also exclusive when it comes to sin.“Major synodal processes are underway around the world,” Eleganti said in a video message, “and the term inclusivity comes up very often.” “All should come to know the...

"Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation." Matthew, Chapter 23 1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that...

“Elon is correct,” Gosar wrote in a tweet on Thursday, responding to Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s comments in which he accused the US Under Secretary of State (War Vampire) Victoria Nuland of “pushing this war” in Ukraine. “Both Nuland and Blinken have a deeply rooted irrational hatred of Russia, and they seek to get the US involved in another world war,” the US lawmaker said. “These are dangerous fools who can get us all killed.” In a follow-up tweet, Gosar wrote that “as a non-soldier, Nuland is quite willing to endorse violence and war.” He added that she has “endorsed...

Bovine meat and milk factors (BMMFs)—initially identified by de Villiers et al. in 2014—represent a class of infectious agents in beef and cow's milk that have been linked to the development of cancer. New research published in Molecular Oncology suggests that monitoring the presence and rate of expression of a BMMF-encoded replication protein (Rep) in inflammatory sites of the tissues may help identify individuals at risk for developing colorectal cancer subsequently after decades-long latency periods. The study compared the presence of Rep and specific immune cells in tissues from people with and without colorectal cancer. In addition to observing differences...

A new bill in the Florida House of Representatives would squeeze diversity efforts and consolidate control over public universities, building on many of Gov. Ron DeSantis' stated aims. House Bill 999, introduced this week by Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican representing Pensacola, would allow the state Board of Governors to give direction to universities on removing majors and minors in such subjects as critical race theory and gender studies and bar spending on programs or activities that support such curricula. The Board of Governors oversees the state's public universities, and 14 of the board's 17 members are appointed by the...

Krugman sees benefit cuts as "a choice" but believes that implementing a massive tax increase on American employers and workers would be "of course" no big deal.For The New York Times' Paul Krugman, the real crisis facing America's entitlement programs is that the media isn't working hard enough to ignore their impending collapse. "I've seen numerous declarations from mainstream media that of course Medicare and Social Security can't be sustained in their present form," Krugman wrote in a Times op-ed this week. "And not just in the opinion pages." Perhaps that's because the unsustainable trajectories of Social Security and Medicare...

Former Vice President Mike Pence condemned "apologists" for Russian President Vladimir Putin within the Republican Party, an indirect dig at former President Donald Trump, during a foreign policy address delivered on the first anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine. "While some in my party have taken a somewhat different view, let me be clear," he told the University of Texas at Austin's Clements Center for National Security Friday. "There can be no room in the leadership of the Republican Party for apologists for Putin. There can only be room for champions of freedom." Pence described Russia's war in Ukraine as "unprovoked"...

What does the Titanic have in common with NFTs? Not much. One lives on in the collective psyche as a monument to hubris while the other refuses to just sink already. Still, apropos of nothing except the smell of filthy blockchain-adjacent lucre, RMS Titanic Inc (RMST), which has been collecting artifacts associated with the ship since the 1980s, has hooked up with NFT flinger Artifact Labs and Venture Smart Financial Holdings to "bring the RMS Titanic and its physical artifacts into Web3." The ship sank into the frigid Atlantic in 1912, taking the lives of more than 1,500 people aboard....

Somehow, people seem legitimately confused that they can't avoid laws with pictures.The financial industry used to be able to make 💩 up so 🤷‍♂️ investors would hand over their 💵. Then the United States passed securities laws and started to crack down on people ginning up public investment based on wild or outright false promises of future returns. This made Wall Street very 🤬. As decades passed, those folks eventually had to accept the SEC, but a new generation of finance bros have shaken off the strictures of Wall Street and moved to the crypto industry (which doesn’t have...

Cardinal Grech: ‘tracing the Catholic path to synodality’Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, addressed the Asia Continental Assembly. In his remarks, he related that he recently told Pope Francis he would be coming for the Assembly. The Pope, the Cardinal said, “sent his father blessing and he is following our activity very closely. The Holy Father would like to tell you, 'You are not forgotten.'” Cardinal Mario Grech addresses the Asian Continental Assembly on Synodality The Cardinal then characterized the Continental Stage of the Synod as “a further moment of listening to which the Church is called: ‘mutual...

For the first time, a researcher has determined that the naturally occurring dietary supplement known as nicotinamide riboside (NR) can enter the brain. The discovery was made by Christopher Martens and Dr. Dimitrios Kapogiannis. The finding is significant because it supports the idea that NR, upon reaching the brain, can alter the metabolism of relevant biological pathways involved in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Upon consumption, NR is readily converted into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which is critical to cellular repair and the repair of damaged DNA. "NAD+ is gradually lost as we get older or develop chronic diseases. Loss of...