Free Republic

They used to live in caves, hunt their food and were generally tougher than modern-day humans. But a new study finds if you have Neanderthal genes, you are twice as likely to develop a life-threatening form of Covid. DNA from the species that went extinct around 40,000 years ago is associated with autoimmune diseases, type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer. A team of Italian researchers found people with three Neanderthal gene variations were twice as likely to have severe pneumonia and three times as likely to be hospitalized with a ventilator after contracting the virus. While the findings were part...

“My doctor was a conservative. He got crankier and crankier the older he got. When I was 50, I went in, he was a heart doctor, Cedar-Sinai, and he had signs up all around his office at this point [saying] ‘We do not accept Obamacare,’ and I f---ing hated this side of him that I only learned over time," Odenkirk explained. “So, I’d been with him for 20 years, and he said, ‘You need to start taking statins right now,’” Odenkirk continued, referring to the group of medicines that are known to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood....

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Pope Francis called for stronger measures to protect children, stop war and tackle climate change as he urged the world to "take action before it's too late" in comments Monday during a virtual conversation with former President Bill Clinton in New York City

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Fort Novosel, AlabamaFort Novosel (formerly Fort Rucker) is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It is named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously named for a Civil War officer, Confederate Colonel Edmund Rucker.The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) and the United States Army Aviation Museum.The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the...

Hard-right Rep. Lauren Boebert has parted ways with the man seen groping her during a frisky date at a Colorado theater while enjoying a family-friendly performance of the musical “Beetlejuice.” The self-described “eccentric” pol returned to Washington D.C. on Monday and told TMZ that “all future date nights have been canceled” between her and bar owner Quinn Gallagher. “I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date,” Boebert told the outlet, referring to Gallagher, who co-owns an Aspen bar that hosts drag shows. Although she alluded to her date’s affiliation as a Democrat, the GOP stalwart said...

New footage has emerged showing Rhode Island police fending off drunken wedding guests who started a brawl when a bar refused them entry, with one woman attempting to grab an officer's gun in the melee. Newport Police officers were called to The Landing, a seafood restaurant on Bowen’s Wharf, around 1am on Sunday, after the unruly group demanded entry. New video shows the moment police were swarmed by the party-goers as they tried to arrest one of the men in the group, who'd punched a member of the bar's staff. That's when all hell broke loose. One of the men...

NEW YORK -- It’s been a central argument for the United Auto Workers union: If Detroit's three automakers raised CEO pay by 40% over the past four years, workers should get similar raises. UAW President Shawn Fain has repeatedly cited the figure, contrasting it with the 6% pay raises autoworkers have received since their last contract in 2019. He opened negotiations with a demand for a similar 40% wage increase over four years, along with the return of pensions and cost of living increases. The UAW has since lowered its demand to a 36% wage increase but the two sides...

It is suddenly and increasingly plausible – even likely – that a drum beat is going to start in which party elders, grassroots activists and major Democratic donors will try to persuade Michelle Obama to run in order to “save the party from ruination” and “save the country from Donald Trump.” Now, imagine if Biden voluntarily bows out of the race and Michelle Obama gets into the race and Biden endorses her, and throws his whole machinery and support and financing behind her. Suddenly, that's a very different dynamic and one that could really catch Republicans completely off guard.

Videos showing thousands of illegal aliens storming a Texas border town caught the attention of Elon Musk who warned that “anyone from Earth” is flooding the U.S. during the Biden mass migration crisis.On Monday, Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin posted stunning footage shot from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border as more than 2,000 illegal aliens swarmed Eagle Pass, Texas, in a matter of hours.“One of the largest mass illegal crossings we have ever seen took place in Eagle Pass, TX this morning, w/ Border Patrol sources telling us over 2,200 people crossed there since midnight,” Melugin wrote on X.“It...

The 80-year-old commander-in-chief fears he won’t live to see the end of his son Hunter’s legal jeopardy, NBC News reported over the weekend — days after the 53-year-old was indicted in Delaware on federal gun charges. The president and first lady Jill Biden are “resigned to the fact that Hunter’s legal problems will likely worsen in the months ahead,” according to the outlet — with a source close to the family saying Joe Biden has lamented out loud “that he might be dead before his son’s case would be resolved.” Other reports have highlighted Biden’s near-fanatical devotion to his only...

Republicans are divided on helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. Most Republicans in Congress have voted to support Ukraine. While some have lost their confidence, most have not. This report card assigns each Republican in the House of Representatives a letter grade from A to F based on their votes on five key provisions relating to helping Ukraine win. The grades also reflect each member’s public statements (or lack thereof) on the war, because leadership requires explaining clearly and consistently why a Ukrainian victory and a Russian defeat is in America’s best interests.

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: We must be constantly vigilant in guarding the deposit of faithThe faithful cleric stressed that in an age of lies, it is vital that each of us speak the Truth of Jesus Christ, the only one who keeps us from despair.TYLER, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Joseph Strickland challenged Catholics to “constant vigilance” in prayer and guarding the deposit of faith while encouraging them to stay joyful during a recent conference in his home diocese.During this year’s “Defending Our Faith Catholic Conference” in Tyler, Texas, Bishop Strickland stressed that because we are living in a time of...

Illiteracy is a serious and growing problem in the United States: 21% of adults were illiterate in 2022, and 54% of adults have a literacy below sixth-grade level. Illiteracy traps people (and nations) in poverty. This, despite the fact that the United States spends more money on primary and secondary education than any other industrial nation. One of the main reasons our literacy skills are so abysmal is the rejection of traditional phonics-based pedagogy in favor of trendier, "ground-breaking" or "leading edge" methodologies pushed by prominent schools of education at prestigious universities. Educational fads pushed by highly credentialed advocates and...

SPENCER, Iowa — Vivek Ramaswamy said he regrets taking the two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine he’s received. He also said at a recent campaign stop that he and his wife, surgeon Apoorva Ramaswamy, “disagree on things sometimes,” and that’s OK. One of those things is their feelings about the Covid-19 vaccine, Apoorva Ramaswamy told NBC News in an interview. Dr. Ramaswamy, who is a laryngologist at Ohio State University, said she has no regrets about taking the jabs to protect against Covid, putting her decision in terms of her responsibility to the patients she sees. “For my young, healthy...

On Sunday, September 17 – Constitution Day here in the USA – the most recent former President was on television being interviewed by Kristen Welker for NBC’s Meet the Press. During the interview, the former president was asked why he continued to fight; why he continued to insist that he had actually won the 2020 election. In response to her questions, President Trump replied, “It was my decision, but I listened to some people.” This sentence was within the context of a few minutes of back-and-forth in which President Trump described how he received tons of advice from tons of...

An Illinois woman was arrested after allegedly battering four Chicago Police Department officers over the weekend. Cicero resident Esmeralda Aguilar, 24, was charged with four felony counts of aggravated battery to a peace officer over the incident, according to FOX 32 Chicago. Chicago Police Department said the altercation took place in the 200 block of North Wabash Avenue early on Sunday. Authorities have not disclosed exactly what Aguilar is accused of doing. The suspect was arrested moments after the incident. Aguilar was scheduled to appear in bond court on Monday.

Moreover, the rabidly anti-natal propaganda of the policy has helped to create a culture in which children are no longer valued but rather rejected as expensive luxuries. When the government finally ended the one-child policy in 2016, it rosily predicted that the total fertility rate — defined as the number of births per woman over her reproductive lifetime — would rebound to 1.8. But China’s birthrate not only did not recover, it continued to fall. In 2022, only 9.56 million children were born.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Authorities found a debris field Monday from a Marine Corps F-35 stealth fighter jet that crashed in South Carolina after the pilot ejected and parachuted to safety. The debris field was located in rural Williamsburg County, according to the Marine Corps’ Joint Base Charleston. The field is about two hours northeast of the base, and residents were being asked to avoid the area while the recovery team worked to secure it.

Calling the case of a still-missing F-35 jet a "mishap" may be one of the greater understatements made by a U.S. government entity in recent memory, but the Marine Corps announced Monday afternoon that it was taking rather drastic action as the search continues for their runaway aircraft.

Very interesting speech given by Col Douglas Macgregor at the Ron Paul Institute on a variety of topics that relates to the problems the U.S. is currently facing. Running time is 28 minutes.