Free Republic

The World Health Organization and its partner organization, the Bill Gates-controlled GAVI, announced Wednesday that they will be flooding Africa with 18 million doses of malaria vaccines.During a Wednesday press conference, WHO director Tedros Adhanom declared that 12 African countries will be receiving 18 million doses of malaria vaccine in the coming months, declaring that climate change is largely responsible for the continuing disease burden in the continent.While it seems like great news at the surface, considering Africa’s continuing malaria epidemic, we’ve again encountered a situation in which the “cure” appears to be more threatening than the disease itself…

As a long-standing free speech advocate, the last few years have been alarming and, frankly, depressing. The censorship efforts of the government are, unfortunately, not new. However, what is new is the support of the media and the Democratic Party in such censorship. That was on display on various channels after the recent opinion finding that the Biden Administration had violated the First Amendment in “the most massive attack against free speech in United States history.” However, the New York Times immediately warned that the outbreak of free speech could “curtail efforts to combat disinformation.” Yet, no one expressed more...

The list of participants for the October meeting of the Synod on Synodality has been released, with Pope Francis’ personal choices including Cardinals McElroy, Cupich, and Gregory and Father James Martin. Issued July 7, the several-hundred strong list of participants for the upcoming 16th General Assembly of the Ordinary Synod of Bishops – or the Synod on Synodality – was distributed by the Vatican and the Synod press office. It is comprised of normal members, as governed by the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio, but also of the participants specifically appointed by Pope Francis. (snip) There are fifty names among the...

Meta-owned Facebook has handed US users the controls over fact-checked content, in a potentially significant move that the platform says will give them more power over its algorithm but some analysts insist could benefit purveyors of misinformation. For years, Facebook's algorithm automatically moved posts lower in the feed if they were flagged by one of the platform's third-party fact-checking partners, including AFP, reducing the visibility of false or misleading content. Under a new "content reduced by fact-checking" option that now appears in Facebook's settings, users have flexibility to make debunked posts appear higher or lower in the feed or maintain...

Robots presented at an AI forum said on Friday they expected to increase in number and help solve global problems, and would not steal humans' jobs or rebel against us. But, in the world's first human-robot press conference, they gave mixed responses on whether they should submit to stricter regulation. The nine humanoid robots gathered at the 'AI for Good' conference in Geneva, where organizers are seeking to make the case for Artificial Intelligence and the robots it is powering to help resolve some of the world's biggest challenges such as disease and hunger.

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

A national defense analyst says NATO and the West need to pay attention to Russia’s repeated warnings about using nuclear weapons, this time from a notable academic who concludes Russia must consider nukes to stop NATO expansion and to “save humanity” from the West. “Russia and its leadership seem to be facing a difficult choice,” begins the academic paper by Sergei Karaganov. “It becomes increasingly clear that a clash with the West cannot end even if we win a partial or even a crushing victory in Ukraine.” That frightening document, which published in late June, goes on for another 2,900...

(Daily readings from the USCCB)“No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16–17The parable above teaches us that even if someone were to faithfully understand and live the authentic Law that was given through Moses and the prophets, Jesus’ new teaching of grace, the New Law, was so...

... As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. Farm workers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries, according to the National Institutes of Health, but there is no federal heat standard that ensures their health and safety. Climate change makes extreme heat more likely and more intense. Farm work is particularly dangerous because workers raise their internal body temperature by moving, lifting...

A British cancer charity is under fire after suggesting that vaginas be alternatively referred to as “front holes” or “bonus holes.” Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, a UK charity dedicated to providing support to both “women and people with a cervix,” partnered with the LGBT Foundation to publish a new glossary of “inclusive” terms in order to cater to trans-identified individuals. “Using the correct language when referring to someone’s gender identity is a simple and effective way to demonstrate support and recognition,” the charity states on their website. “If incorrect language is used without being corrected, it can cause someone to...

It is 11:40 on a Thursday morning when I decide to go to my bank. I will deposit a check which I received as a result of a real estate sale. I also want to withdraw money which I deposited long ago, from the same account because I have some purchases in mind that I would prefer to make in cash; nothing illicit, illegal, or out of the ordinary. Before the Noon Rush When the bank line dwindles to one, me, I'm in front of a teller who cheerfully accepts my requests. Great, I've avoided the noon rush hour, as...

Sweden has figured out a way to produce reliable energy without fossil fuels. It’s looking to build new nuclear power plants. The European Union has been extremely aggressive in pushing to reduce carbon emissions. By 2030, it wants to reduce emissions by 55 percent compared with 1990 levels. Then, it wants to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Not surprisingly, this hasn’t gone well. Some countries worry about job losses from eliminating gas-powered cars. Prices on things from food to air travel are likely to increase, perhaps dramatically. The cost pressure is contributing to a destabilization in European politics. [...] Sweden...

Ukraine deserves to have NATO membership, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia said it was closely watching. Zelensky spent this week visiting NATO countries, courting support ahead of a NATO summit in Lithuania next week where members are expected to reaffirm that Ukraine will eventually join. “Without a doubt, Ukraine deserves to be in NATO,” Erdogan said. Zelensky said he was “happy to hear” that Turkey supports Ukraine’s bid to join during a joint press conference.

Volodymyr Zelensky has posted a video of himself visiting an island that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance - as the war enters its 500th day. At the start of the war, Ukrainian soldiers defending Snake Island famously defied an order from a Russian warship to surrender. The Black Sea island was seized by Russia but later reclaimed by Ukraine. In a video, the Ukrainian president called it a "place of victory" that would never be reconquered. In the undated clip, posted on Telegram, Mr Zelensky described it as proof that Ukraine will return every inch of its territory taken...

Joe Biden on Friday delivered remarks on ‘lowering costs for Americans.’ At one point during his remarks, Biden veered off-script and began telling a story about his childhood home. “My sister, the princess, had her own bedroom,” Biden said recalling his childhood home. “The boys…there were two sets of bunks and there was a closet that ran…if you walked straight down the hall from the boys’ room, all three of us.” Biden continued, “On the left, there was a closet on that whole wall. My parent’s bed, the headboard was against where that closet was and every once in a...

Key Democratic lawmakers are breaking with President Joe Biden over the controversial decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine, arguing that providing the weapons, which are banned by more than 120 countries, cedes the moral high ground and will end up indiscriminately killing civilians. Top Democrats on the House Rules Committee and the panels that fund the Pentagon and State Department lashed out in rare public statements broadcasting their break with their party’s president. “The decision by the Biden administration to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine is unnecessary and a terrible mistake,” said Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Mo.), the ranking member...

Pray For The Peace of JerusalemLuke 20 The Authority of Jesus Questioned 20 One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?” 3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” 5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’...

It's almost laughable, but whenever I turn on my TV, I'm confronted by an alternate reality: white males are dotards, whereas minorities, seemingly the majority in every commercial, are practically perfect. Maybe that's true in the White House, but not at large. This representation of minorities as over-achieving heroes may assuage DIE sensibilities, but it will not narrow the persistent achievement gaps. In the movie Being There, Peter Sellers plays Chance (Chauncey) Gardiner. Chauncey has connections, is presentable, and dons nice clothes. He is also really stupid, which may be why the intelligentsia hang on his every word. His "wisdom"...

Arms to "ukraine".....I've BEEN saying this, i.e. that there is no accountability in any of our arms for ukraine deals and those arms are gonna end up in the hands of drug cartels and street gangs not just in LA and Chicago, but in middle America. Your local police are gonna have pistols and the hoodlums will be driving tanks and self-propelled howitzers...

It's called 'Trauma-Informed Schools,' and it's infecting even one of the reddest legislatures in the country. For conservatives, Democratic infiltrations of state agencies to swing coming elections represent an immediate threat. But another infiltration accomplishes similar ends by longer-term means: creating "Trauma-Informed Schools" for teachers to shape children's personalities by instructing them to locate past trauma in problems like racism, sexism, and even climate change — problems that only big government can solve. Today this project is spreading through schools, pushed by nonprofits with funding from the Biden administration for "social and emotional learning" but also with the encouragement of...