Free Republic

BTS performs "DNA" at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017, in Los Angeles. In a bid to shore up its perceived strength as an ascendant global leader, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has banned effeminate men, which it refers to by a phrase in Chinese that translates roughly to “sissy men,” from the media. The ban affects a spectrum of Chinese males, ranging from full-on transgenders to pop music stars with silky smooth skin and boyish charm. It’s no exaggeration to say that East Asian “sissy men” are effeminate in the extreme....

The Whittakers are three siblings named Lorraine, Timmy, and Ray. Their parents were double first cousins, The Sun reported - first cousins, twice, because they share both sets of grandparents. The genetic complications have caused a host of behavioral issues Laita was first acquainted with the West Virginia family in 2004 when he took pictures of them. He decided to come back years in 2020 In an interview with Koncrete podcast, recorded before Christmas, Laita recalled the most bizarre moments with the family. 'It was out of control,' he said. 'There's these people walking around and their eyes are going...

The United States and other supposedly advanced and intelligent countries are working as fast as they can to destroy companies that produce oil, coal, natural gas and all the products derived from them. They are doing it because of the predictions that these products cause temperatures to rise and massive climate damage. What the media and other pushers of radical green energy policies never show is scientific data that show a direct link between our consumption of these products and warming temperatures. Because there is none. The U.S and other countries are trying to stop allowing us to buy reasonably...

Part of the great devolution of American power is not just related to depletion of military stores and the lack of enlistments for the service, but also our economic power. The latest monetary threat is coming from both East and West and may be the coup de grâce for the U.S. dollar, which has long been the dominant global currency for international financial transactions.This initiative is a serious concern for American interests. The countries in the BRICS alliance have a combined population of 3.1 billion. That's about 40% of the world's population and 20% of the world gross domestic product...

Jesse Donnison and his dog Otto were walking along Blackwattle Bay in Glebe when he spotted an expensive dog toy floating in the water. But Mr Donnison got more than he bargained for when he picked up the ball, thinking he was going to score a free toy for his dog. “I just thought it had algae or something like that on it but then a tentacle popped out,” he told NCA NewsWire. “As soon as that tentacle came out, I knew there was only one creature it could be,” he said of the blue-ringed octopus. “I dropped it pretty...

Beginning in the early 1960s, D.C. Comics introduced the idea of “Bizarro World,” a place in which everything on earth is in reverse. Most significantly, in Bizarro World, criminals are the good guys and those who try to fight crime are the bad guys. Or, as Bizarro World’s deliberately stupid denizens say, “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!” Manhattan under D.A. Alvin Bragg is Bizarro World. It’s not just that this out-of-control politician indicted Donald Trump for a non-crime; it’s also that he’s...

When the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant is finally announced by the Israeli government, it will be the greatest archaeological bombshell in the history of the world. Authorities in Israel have known where it is located for a long time, but trying to remove an object of such immense importance from deep under the Temple Mount was always going to be complicated. In fact, when the Israelis finally unveil the Ark they may not even admit where it was hidden all this time due to conflicting claims of jurisdiction over the Temple Mount. If the Israelis openly admit...

Oil prices have surged after several of the world's largest oil exporters announced surprise cuts in production. The price of Brent Crude oil jumped by more than $5 a barrel, or 7%, to above $85 as trading began. The increase came after Saudi Arabia, Iraq and several Gulf states said on Sunday they were cutting output by more than one million barrels a day. Oil prices soared when Russia invaded Ukraine, but are now back at levels seen before the conflict began...

In December 2022, Tesla delivered its first semi-trucks to PepsiCo. Since then, keen-eyed Californians have noticed at least eight trucks seemingly nonoperational, either by the side of the road or being towed home. While Tesla has no media department, sources say the truck problem is as simple as the Semi’s infotainment screens going dead. If so, this would not be a first for Tesla. -snip So Pepsi bought the first round of $200,000 Tesla Semis to augment its truck fleet hauling products out of its Modesto, California plant. PepsiCo immediately put its new Tesla trucks to use, hauling both Frito-Lay...

More than half of people with chronic hepatitis B have a form of the disease in which the immune system almost never achieves sustained control. Those affected therefore require lifelong drug therapy. In the world's first study on the discontinuation of treatment with the common antiviral drug for the severe form called HBeAg-negative hepatitis B, scientists have shown that some patients can achieve sustained immune control if they discontinue the antiviral therapy after a certain period of time. Hepatitis B is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus. People with chronic hepatitis B usually have to...

Black Republican Missouri state Rep. Justin Hicks was yelled at this week by black Democrat state Rep. Marlene Terry over his opposition to the state government funding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. On Thursday, House Bill 6, an appropriations bill for Missouri’s departments of agriculture, natural resources, and conservation, was sent to the state Senate by the Republican-controlled state House by a vote of 105-46. The bill says that the departments cannot spend funds “for staffing, vendors, consultants, or programs associated with ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion’ or ‘Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging.’” The bill also blocks funds for initiatives that go toward initiatives...

A newly published study paves the way for some patients with testicular cancer to avoid chemotherapy and radiation. Seminoma is a slow-growing form of testicular cancer that, if untreated, typically metastasizes (spreads) to lymph nodes in an area behind the abdomen lining called the retroperitoneum. The standard treatment for patients at this stage is chemotherapy and radiation to shrink and kill the cancerous lymph nodes. While effective, chemotherapy and radiation are associated with long-term side effects. Now, however, the results of a multi-institutional clinical trial show that surgically removing the affected lymph nodes in the retroperitoneum is an effective alternative...

Avaya Holdings Corp, Tuesday Morning, Sorrento Therapeutics—what’s the common thread between these very different companies? Avaya is in a telecom equipment business. Tuesday Morning is a discount retailer; and Sorrento is a biopharmaceutical group. Still, these three companies have a lot in common: within a few days, the three of them went bankrupt. The Chapter 11 filings, which took place in mid-February, illustrate the rebounding of the insolvency wave, after two unusual years of a low bankruptcy diet. The most recent statistics from American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the analysis expert on that topic, revealed a very active January 2023. Total...

New research has found that eating a handful of wild blueberries daily has health benefits, including lowered blood pressure, faster reaction time, and improved memory and brain cognition. The study involved a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial of 61 healthy men and women aged 65 to 80, who drank a beverage made with 26 grams of freeze-dried wild blueberry powder (equivalent to about 178 grams of whole berries). Over twelve weeks, researchers found that volunteers who consumed the berry powder in drinks experienced better memory and an improved accuracy on attention tasks, as well as lower blood pressure. Also during...

Finland’s left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin conceded defeat on Sunday in the Nordic country’s parliamentary election as the opposition right-wing National Coalition Party (NCP) claimed victory in a tightly fought contest. The pro-business NCP was expected to win 48 of the 200 seats in parliament, narrowly ahead of the nationalist Finns Party with 46 seats and Marin’s Social Democrats on 43 seats, justice ministry election data showed with all ballots counted. “We got the biggest mandate,” NCP leader Petteri Orpo said in a speech to followers, vowing to “fix Finland” and its economy.

There's important information for the owners of tens of thousands of electric bikes. Stop using and charging them, because they're being recalled. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Jetson Electric Bikes announced the recall of about 53,000 electric bikes. The bikes are 42-volt Jetson Rogue self-balancing scooters/hoverboards, and the problem is with their lithium-ion battery packs. The batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard. ... The CPSC reported two sisters, 10 and 15 years old, were killed in a fire, and a 42-volt Jetson Rogue was the point of origin. The tragedy happened April 1, 2022, near Allentown, Pa.,...

April 2 (Reuters) - Israeli forces carried out air strikes on outposts in Syria's Homs province in a raid early on Sunday, Syria's defence ministry said, while Western intelligence sources said a series of air bases in central Syria where Iranian personnel are based were hit in the bombings. The Israeli military declined to comment on the reported strikes in Syria, the third since Thursday. An Israeli attack near Damascus on Friday killed two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. Without referring to any specific places or strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday...

The U.S. has overtaken Russia as the top crude oil supplier to Europe, data shows, capping a remarkable 12-month period in which Moscow’s plan to weaponize its position as an energy superpower collapsed from strong Western opposition to the war in Ukraine...One sign of Russia’s diminished status as an energy superpower is futures trading. Russia’s premier Urals crude oil hit a two-year low of $48.40 a barrel last week while the global benchmark Brent crude was trading for more than $75.

McDonald’s Corp is temporarily closing its US offices this week as it prepares to inform corporate employees about layoffs undertaken by the burger giant as part of a broader company restructuring, ... McDonald’s said in an internal email last week to US employees and some international staff that they should work from home from Monday through Wednesday so it can deliver staffing decisions virtually, ... During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,” the Chicago-based fast-food chain said

A new study has found vedolizumab can induce remission in patients who have chronic pouchitis after surgery for ulcerative colitis. Twelve percent of people with ulcerative colitis need surgery to have their colon removed (colectomy). Most of those have an ileo-anal pouch surgically constructed from their small bowel, which means that they don't have to live with a stoma bag. Sadly, after surgery there is a risk of inflammation developing in the lining of the pouch, a condition known as pouchitis. Antibiotics are the first line treatment to reduce the inflammation, but one fifth will go on to develop chronic,...