Free Republic

For three years now, the used-car market has been booming, after the pandemic disrupted new car supply chains, sending secondhand vehicle prices skyrocketing.But which cars have the best resale value?In the graphic below, Visual Capitalist's Marcu Lu and Pallavi Rao show the top 10 vehicles with the lowest depreciation rates over five years, based on data from iSeeCars.They analyzed over 1.1 million used cars from model year 2018, sold between November 2022 to October 2023. Models no longer in production as of the 2022 model year were excluded.Porsche is Still (Almost) Perfect After Five YearsHeading the list, Porsche has two...

Nobel Prize winner Dr. Drew Weissman talked recently about using mRNA technology to prevent the development of cancers among vulnerable people.Dr. Weissman suggested using mRNA vaccines to prevent cancers during his Nobel Prize lecture on Dec. 7. “The idea here is that you treat people before they develop cancer,” he said. Dr. Weissman won the Nobel Prize for medicine this year along with Dr. Katalin Karikó for developing a method to prevent the immune system from launching inflammatory attacks when lab-made mRNA is injected into the body, thus enabling the therapeutic use of the medical technology.This allowed for the rapid...

Another missile launch by North Korea this time it was a long-range Intercontinental Ballistic Missile... In Chile a proposed constitution rejected by voters... A Ukrainian parliament member says three lines of defense are being prepared... Two Syrian soldiers hurt in an Israeli airstrike in the Damascus area tonight... Pakistan shut down access to social media today as imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan's PTI Party... The fighting continues in the civil war in Sudan... Heavy rains from the remnants of a cyclone causing major flooding in northeastern Australia... The French President Emmanuel Macron seeking out support from "the Right" ahead...

Joe Biden is not closing out 2023 on a high note. Democrats are in a panic over dismal poll numbers and a genuine lack of enthusiasm for Biden’s re-election. The vast majority of voters want a different choice than Biden and Trump. Yet, that is where we are headed.Barack Obama is the latest prominent Democrat to weigh in with reservations about Biden’s chances for re-election.Those with concerns include former President Barack Obama, who “knows this is going to be a close race” and “feels that Democrats very well could lose” the 2024 election, according to a person familiar with his...

Argentinian President Javier Milei has rolled out a program of austerity measures designed to bring Argentina's economy out of the death spiral that it is in. Once the wealthiest nation in South America, Argentina suffers from a Bidenesque annual inflation rate of 180%. Despite population increases, its economy has shrunk by almost half the years since 1980. Credit for businesses and consumers is nearly impossible to come by...thanks to the triple-digit inflation. Needless to say, there is virtually no foreign investment. Local businesses are hamstrung by regulations that seem designed to prevent business creation or growth. The public sector is...

“You break it, you bought it.” That’s a sign displayed in some stores that feature fragile merchandise. “You reap what you sow,” meanwhile, is an old proverb that means “you eventually have to face up to the consequences of your actions.” You take your blue-collar beer brand and do an advertising tie-in with a flamboyant transgender star, and your sales fall through the floor. That’s not a saying -- that’s what happened to Bud Light.Harvard University is finding out the hard way that actions (and inactions) have consequences as early admissions applications plummeted 17 percent this autumn in the wake...

Browsing through social media but never liking or commenting on posts may be a sign of a mental health condition, a new study has revealed. Researchers at the Central China Normal University found that people who use platforms 'passively' are more likely suffer from social anxiety compared to people who use it actively - uploading posts and sharing life updates. The team surveyed more than 500 college students on their mental health and social media use, finding that 'voyeurs' were more afraid of unfamiliar situations in their physical lives. On the other hand, those who used social media actively found...

An inmate who allegedly brought fentanyl into the Gladwin County Jail, sickening himself and two others, is facing two new felony charges. Paul Kotyk, 53, of Gladwin, is set for arraignment in Gladwin County Circuit Court on Monday, Dec. 18 on charges of delivery/manufacturing a controlled substance and a prisoner possessing contraband. He was bound up from 80th District Court on Thursday and remains lodged in the jail on a $100,000 cash bond. Gladwin County Sheriff Mike Shea said that on Sept. 24, three inmates at the Gladwin County Jail were experiencing life-threatening symptoms, allegedly including Kotyk. One inmate was...

[Catholic Caucus] When “Inclusive Accompaniment” Means Police BrutalityProbably everyone reading this knows by now that Pope Francis has been very tough on Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, removing him from his see without due canonical process. The main reason, it seems, is that Strickland has outspokenly criticized the constant stream of doctrinal and disciplinary novelties that have marked the present pontificate. And if you read on, you’ll see here that this intolerant crackdown is now extending even to the bishop’s supporters.Is there a touch of paranoia here? The incident described below I think reveals the depth of the enmity...

A man who turned to trafficking drugs in Connecticut after his family fled war-ravaged Bosnia was sentenced to 6½ years in prison, federal authorities said Friday. Denis Murtic, 38, was indicted in November 2021 on charges of possession and trafficking of narcotics. In January, Murtic pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine, federal officials said. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency's Hartford Task Force had been investigating Murtic since late 2020. On Oct. 18, 2021, investigators made a controlled purchase of 50 grams of fentanyl from Murtic and another...

Aging poses a number of challenges to the body's well-being, one of the most important being an increased susceptibility to multiple diseases, including urinary tract infections (UTIs). The connection between aging and more prevalent UTIs is not well understood, but now researchers have found an explanation. Compared to the younger counterpart, the aging urinary tract in animal models changes how it functions at the cellular level in ways that seem to favor the establishment and recurrence of UTIs. Furthermore, the researchers also found that the sugar D-mannose reduces the severity of aging-associated decline in urinary tract functionality, suggesting that this...

The remains of an Arkansas World War II soldier are finally home. The US Army Air Force veteran traveled 170 miles before receiving a hero's welcome. Roller-McNutt Funeral Home brought home 2nd Lt. Kenyon Brindley was escorted by the Army from the Memphis Airport to Conway. Lt. Brindley served in the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in the European Theater.

[Catholic Caucus] A Sacrificial and Royal Liturgy A Sacrificial and Royal LiturgyPaix LiturgiqueLetter 986December 15, 2023From December 1 to 3, 2023, 600 seminarians from all French dioceses gathered in Paris. On the occasion of this gathering, Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort answered the questions they freely put to him. One of them asked: "Does the Church in France have a problem with traditionalists?" Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort replied: "Yes, no doubt because of our turbulent history since the Revolution. If there's a central question, it's one of political theology and our relationship with the world. Vatican II's decree on religious freedom is very...

Hard-to-detect colorectal pre-cancerous lesions known as serrated polyps, and tumors that develop from them, depend heavily on tramped-up production of cholesterol, according to a preclinical study. The finding points to the possibility of using cholesterol-lowering drugs to prevent or treat such tumors. The researchers analyzed mice that develop serrated polyps and tumors. They confirmed their findings in analyses of human serrated polyps and tumors and showed in mouse models that replicate the human cancer that blocking cholesterol production prevented the progression of these types of intestinal tumors. Cholesterol is considered a pro-growth molecule. "Trials of statins to prevent colorectal cancer...

The NHL made history before Saturday night’s Winnipeg Jets game against the Colorado Avalanche. The Jets were celebrating South Asian Heritage Night at the Canada Life Centre, which featured a beautiful rendition of O Canada sung in Punjabi, a first for the league. The singers were students from the local Amber Trails School’s kindergarten to grade 8 choir, which is the first school in Manitoba to offer a bilingual English-Punjabi program. This marks another incredible and unique way that NHL teams have celebrated Canada’s diverse nation of hockey fans. Though it may seem like a small gesture, it can help...

Elvis Costello gave shape to his own budding career with a rebellious move on Saturday Night Live, switching mid-song into a diatribe against corporate-controlled broadcasting -- and getting himself banned from the show for a dozen years. Thing is, Costello was never supposed to be there in the first place, and he's admitted he got the idea from a legendary classic rocker, not the punk scene. The Sex Pistols were actually booked for the Dec. 17, 1977, show, but couldn't make it. That opened the door for Costello, whose debut, My Aim Is True, had just come out in the...

Research has revealed how, in diabetics, high levels of blood sugar disrupt the function of key cell subsets in the lungs that regulate the immune response. It also identifies a potential strategy for reversing this susceptibility and saving lives. Prof. Eran Elinav's team subjected multiple mouse models of types 1 and 2 diabetes to a variety of viral lung infections. The immune reaction, which in nondiabetics eliminates the infection and drives tissue healing, was severely impaired in the diabetic mice, leading to uncontrolled infection, lung damage and eventual death. "High blood sugar levels severely disrupt certain subsets of dendritic cells...

Former President Donald Trump is assembling his policy team with familiar faces from his first term and signaling they would have roles in his potential 2025 Republican presidential administration. Trump and his allies have been meeting and talking by phone for months, sculpting the policies that will define his second term should he win the presidency in 2024. The names of the inner circle were revealed Friday in the latest effort by the Trump campaign to counter outside conservative organizations' efforts to vet and staff a future 2025 administration. Among these aides are former trade representative Robert Lighthizer, former White...

Charges have been brought against a man accused of attacking an elderly Jewish couple on their way to synagogue in Beverly Hills. Jarris Jay Silagi, 44, was charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney with one count attempted second-degree robbery; one count elder or dependent adult abuse, infliction of injury; one count assault with a deadly weapon; and two counts assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. It is further alleged that Silagi caused great bodily injury during the commission of the crime. The incident occurred on Saturday morning, December 9 at 9:03 am, according...

Well, as I’ve said before, Democrats never change their objectives, they simply change their tactics. Segregation is now done in the name of tolerance to provide a “safe space” for snowflakes to melt. Victimhood is the Bitcoin of the left, and every Democrat was an early adopter who got rich in social capital off it. Only the market is crashing, and they’re still spending like Hunter Biden during tax season. The most common button on the “progressive clicker,” and their favorite, is the race button. They wear it to a nub on an average day on MSNBC with the fervor...