Free Republic

A real-world, retrospective analysis by the Family Heart Foundation, a leading non-profit research and advocacy organization, found that high-risk Americans who do not maintain levels of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) recommended in the 2018 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cholesterol treatment guidelines, had a 44% higher rate of cardiovascular events compared to those who did achieve and maintained recommended LDL-C levels. The study findings were based on data from the Family Heart Database of more than 300 million Americans. "This real-world evaluation shows how important it is for people at high risk for cardiovascular events to get the care they need...

...In multiple interviews, Macgregor has confidently predicted that the conflict will end with Russia "annihilating" Ukrainian forces and winning the war. One such interview, with Carlson, was aired on Russia's state-controlled TV. ..."The battle in eastern Ukraine is really almost over, all of the Ukrainian troops there have been largely surrounded and cut off. You have a concentration down in the Southeast of 30 or 40,000 of them, and if they don't surrender in the next 24 hours, I suspect Russia will ultimately annihilate them." Macgregor added that he believed Zelensky needed to "negotiate the best deal he can get,"...

Explanation: How far can you see? The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy, over two million light-years away. Without a telescope, even this immense spiral galaxy appears as an unremarkable, faint, nebulous cloud in the constellation Andromeda. But a bright white nucleus, dark winding dust lanes, luminous blue spiral arms, and bright red emission nebulas are recorded in this stunning fifteen-hour telescopic digital mosaic of our closest major galactic neighbor. But how do we know this spiral nebula is really so far away? This question was central to the famous Shapley-Curtis...

San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Shamann Walton urged his colleagues Tuesday to approve $50 million for an “Office of Reparations” in anticipation of eventual approval of a bigger reparations plan. As Breitbart News has reported, San Francisco’s reparations committee, created at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, is considering a proposal to pay $5 million to each long-term black resident. Though California entered the Union as a free state in 1850, and there is no mathematical calculation behind the $5 million figure, proponents of the plan are eager to see it implemented as an example...

In a rare move, the Biden administration summoned Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog over a bill striking down parts of a “discriminatory and humiliating” 2005 law that call into question Israel’s historical right to the land. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told Herzog (pictured) during the summons at the State Department that the decision to “rescind important aspects of the 2005 Disengagement Law, including the prohibition on establishing settlements in the northern West Bank,” could further “inflame tensions leading into the Ramadan, Passover, and Easter holidays.” The summons comes on the heels of scathing statements about...

Russia has taken tanks from the 1940s out of storage, according to new images from a monitoring group, as it continues to lose large numbers of tanks in Ukraine. The Conflict Intelligence Team, a group that monitors Russia's military, shared images of the antique tanks on a train. It said that the images show T-54 tanks, which the Soviet Union started producing in 1947, moving west from the far east of Russia. While other old tanks have been used by Russia in Ukraine, none have been as old as the T-54, the group said.

A Pennsylvania lawmaker on Tuesday issued what free speech advocates are calling a veiled threat to withhold funding from the University of Pittsburgh over the school's decision to allow several conservative speakers on campus. During an appropriations hearing on university funding, Pennsylvania state representative La'Tasha Mayes (D.) demanded that Pitt disinvite Cabot Phillips, Riley Gaines, and Michael Knowles from upcoming campus events. All three speakers have a history of "targeting transgender students," Mayes claimed—especially Knowles, whom she accused of saying that "transgender people should be eradicated."

Snowfall and rain expected until end of week in Southwest Colorado.. Southwest Colorado residents expecting warmer spring temperatures may want to hold onto their winter jackets a little longer as more snow is expected throughout the week. Yet another atmospheric river is passing through Southwest Colorado bringing snow primarily to the higher elevations. Storms earlier this week have increased Durango’s snow total by 1 to 3 inches, said Scott Stearns, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. Cortez received about the same amount while Pagosa Springs received slightly more at 5 to 8 inches. Wolf Creek Pass received...

I'm under final consideration for a great job in mid-management for a mid to large sized distribution company. The problem is the main corporate office is based in Sunnyvale, CA, a suburb in the San Francisco/San Jose area. I haven't dug in deep enough to know the corporate culture yet, but considering the area, I have a lot of trepidation on company-wide requirements, many probably mandated in KKKalifornia. I would be working remote from Texas, with occasional trips to the mothership. I would have several reports under me. My concern is that I would be required to subscribe to insane...

The dock to the 'cement ship' in Aptos, California, was damaged in this year's severe stormsCrews arrived Monday with excavators and a crane to begin the multiweek process of demolishing the pier that connected a Santa Cruz County town with its cherished “cement ship” for nearly a century but could not withstand the impact of the destructive 2023 California storms. The pier was a major attraction for outsiders to visit Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, California. It was built in 1930 to allow visitors to walk out to the SS Palo Alto, a permanently stationed amusement ship, but faced irreparable...

Among the senators who shrugged off defending Trump from the potential “unprecedented abuse of authority” were Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and John Thune (R-SD). Speaking with Punchbowl News, each senator had a varying degree of indifference to calls for transparency from House leadership. Cornyn suggested the leadership should mostly ignore Bragg’s potential indictment and focus on legislative priorities. “I would hope they would stick to the agenda they ran on when they got elected to the majority,” Cornyn suggested. Capito appeared to shrug off altogether the House’s attempted oversight: “The House is gonna...

South Carolina teachers and local leaders slammed conservative Charleston County school board officials, labeling them ‘White Christian’ nationalists at a recent rally. The "Protect Education Rally" took place March 13 outside the Gaillard Center, a performing arts theater, before the school district's board of trustees met to discuss issues such as increasing wages and compensation for teachers. "They're all based in a particular brand of religious identities that sociologists are calling ‘White Christian nationalism,'" progressive activist and psychologist Bonnie Cleaveland aud at the rally. "In schools, White Christian nationalists are targeting social-emotional learning, sex education, Black history, and LGBTQ students,"...

Rep. Matt Gaetz on Wednesday called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to resist any attempt to haul former President Donald Trump back to New York to face criminal charges. In an interview with News Nation, the Fort Walton Beach Republican said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s efforts to indict Trump are politically motivated and will likely make Trump stronger in the long run.

Former President Donald Trump reached number one on Billboard’s digital song sales chart with his debut single, “Justice For All,” featuring the J6 Prison Choir. Released this month, “Justice For All” is a tribute to the January 6 prisoners that features the “J6 Prison Choir,” an ensemble of prisoners who can be heard singing the national anthem while Trump recites the Pledge of Allegiance. These prisoners reportedly sing the anthem each night before going to bed. Their audio was recorded over the phone and then mixed with Trump’s vocals by an audio engineer. The song was “produced by a major...

Jaw-dropping video captured a ginormous alligator sauntering through an upscale Florida community to the horror of residents. WINK meteorologist Matt Devitt posted footage on Facebook of the “big boy” waddling across the road at the Forest Glen Golf & Country Club in Naples late last week. “Dios mio!” a woman is heard saying in Spanish – meaning “My God!” “Is it really here? It’s gigantic!” another woman cries out about the 10-foot-long roving reptile that turned the neighborhood into a scene out of “Jurassic Park.” The scaly jaywalker, which apparently arrived from a nearby river, took all the attention in...

Federal Reserve officials expect the unemployment rate to reach 4.5 percent by the end of 2023 as interest rate hikes slow the economy, according to projections released Wednesday. That’s an uptick from the current 3.6 percent unemployment rate, indicating that Fed officials predict that millions of Americans could lose their jobs this year as the U.S. economy grapples with higher interest rates and the aftereffects of a banking crisis. However, the jobless figure is lower than the Fed’s 4.6 percent estimate released in December. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released its projections after the panel agreed to increase interest...

Fourth Week of Lent John 5:17–30Friends, in today’s Gospel, we see Jesus as the judge who shows mercy and love. It is hard to read any two pages of the Bible—Old Testament or New—and not find the language of divine judgment.Think of judgment as a sort of light, which reveals both the positive and the negative. Beautiful things look even more beautiful when the light shines on them; ugly things look even uglier when they come into the light. When the divine light shines, when judgment takes place, something like real love is unleashed.Someone might avoid seeing the doctor for...

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday enacted a quarter percentage point interest rate increase, expressing caution about the recent banking crisis and indicating that hikes are nearing an end. Along with its ninth hike since March 2022, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee noted that future increases are not assured and will depend largely on incoming data. “The Committee will closely monitor incoming information and assess the implications for monetary policy,” the FOMC’s post-meeting statement said. “The Committee anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to...

In an effort to foster “support and belonging,” Pierce Transit leadership expects employees to use pro-nouns selected by coworkers, including “ze/zir/zirs” and “they/them/theirs.” If you don’t, you may be subject to discipline. Amy Cleveland, the Executive Director of Administration, distributed a memo titled “Pronoun Use in the Workplace” on March 8. It read that the agency, “recognizes the importance of using an individual’s preferred pronouns at work as a form of respect and courtesy.” The memo outlined employer expectations. In addition to using a person’s name or requested pro-noun, it says if you mistakenly use the incorrect pronoun, you should...

Michael Cohen‘s attorney, Robert Costello, was on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show and Rob Schmitt’s show on Newsmax, making the same comments each time. He explained that the Manhattan prosecutor had 321 emails and cherry-picked six to show to the grand jury. The prosecutor shared INCOMPLETE EVIDENCE with the grand jury. That’s not justice. Mr. Costello absolutely shredded Michael Cohen as a serial liar and completely untrustworthy. Cohen’s former attorney was shocked that the Manhattan DA was going forward since their case depends on Michael Cohen, a convicted perjurer. Schmitt asked him about the cherry-picked emails and if that amounted...