Free Republic

Successful public health campaigns and medical advances have enabled the United States to conquer a range of disfiguring and damaging diseases. Polio, which paralyzed thousands of Americans annually, was wiped out by widespread vaccinations. In 1999 the nation’s last hospital for lepers closed its doors in Louisiana. A global campaign eradicated smallpox, while lethal tuberculosis, the “consumption” that stalked characters in decades of literature, seemed beaten by antibiotics. Measles outbreaks still occur from time to time, but they are small, local, and easily contained.Recently, however, some of these forgotten but still formidable infectious diseases have begun to reappear in the...

An Associated Press-NORC survey released this week found that some 32 percent of Republican voters believe votes likely won't be counted correctly ahead of the 2024 primaries and election.About a third of GOP voters told pollsters that they have a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that votes in the Republican primary elections and caucuses will be counted correctly. Around three in 10 Republicans have a "moderate" level of confidence, while 32 percent said they have either "only a little" confidence in elections or "none at all."The AP poll found that 72 percent of Democrat voters have high...

Chinese-owned video streaming platform TikTok has reportedly been asking users for their iPhone passwords in order to view content, sparking concern among individuals using the app.Reports that the platform began asking users to enter their iPhone passwords in order to watch videos on the app first began emerging in November, according to Dexerto, with the publication noting users took to social media to raise the alarm.Yet TikTok—which is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020—has not explained the reasoning behind the need for users to enter their highly personal and sensitive information.Dexerto noted...

The ongoing scarcity of critical medications has trapped Americans between a rock and a hard place.Active national drug shortages hit a 10-year high this year, leaving many health care providers, pharmacies, and hospitals without enough life-saving and supportive medications, according to data collected by the University of Utah Drug Information Service.A survey by the same university in July found that 99 percent of the 1,123 pharmacists who responded—many of whom work in hospitals—reported shortages. One-third of the pharmacists listed the shortages as "critically impactful," which is defined as being forced to ration medication or delay or even cancel medical treatments.The...

A Bay Area serial thief who has been busted a stunning 90 times for shoplifting was arrested again just hours after he was released from jail, according to a local report. *snip* He rarely steals more than $950 worth of products, according to police, which keeps him out of jail due to a 2014 change in state law.

Home Alone 2 is a popular family-friendly holiday movie. In the sequel to the original Home Alone, Donald Trump made a cameo appearance. The movie was released in 1992. In one scene, the main character, a boy named Kevin, finds himself wandering around the lobby of the Plaza Hotel in NYC. Trump is walking by and Kevin stops him to ask for directions. Trump answers and Trump continues walking. That’s the scene. It’s just a cameo. This is 2023 and nothing is normal. So, of course, there is a controversy over Trump’s cameo appearance. Trump owned the Plaza Hotel back...

It seems that every few weeks, we're treated to the findings of a poll showing that the nation might be in trouble when the younger generation takes control. In this instance, an alarming percentage of young adults have a favorable view toward Osama Bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 terrorist attacks.The Daily Mail published the results of a survey revealing how various groups of Americans view the terrorist leader, who was killed by U.S. forces in 2011.One in five young Americans has a positive view of 9/11 mastermind and Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, according to disturbing results of...

In three days and a few hours, we ring in 2024. In New York City, as per tradition, there will be an event in Times Square, including the famous "ball drop." But this year, things are liable to be different. The NYPD is mustering what strength it has left, and there's a report that Mayor Eric Adams is "sure" pro-Palestinian protestors will try to disrupt the event. He's not wrong about the disruption part. He is wrong about the "pro-Palestinian" part.Mayor Eric Adams said he is “sure” pro-Palestinian protesters will try to interrupt the New Year’s Eve ball drop in...

As RedState reported, another state has "removed" Donald Trump from the ballot following accusations of violating the 14th Amendment. I put the word "removed" in quotes for a reason, which I'll get to in a moment, but in the aftermath, the Maine Secretary of State behind the move is getting destroyed. I'll start with a more official-sounding condemnation from Sen. Thom Tillis before we get to the less kind responses.Maine’s Democrat Secretary of State just removed Trump from the ballot. This is an egregious abuse of power and why I will be introducing the Constitutional Election Integrity Act as soon...

Earlier on Thursday, I wrote about cabinet-level members of the Biden Administration meeting up with the president of Mexico to give in to that country's policy of aiding illegal immigrants to overwhelm our sovereign border without a whimper of complaint. Among the belated Christmas presents--which Secretaries Mayorkas and Blinken came bearing on bended knee--were as yet unspecified promises to make trade concessions, dole out monies across the hemisphere to fix the "root causes" of illegal immigration, and "regularizing the situation of long-term undocumented Hispanic migrants and DACA recipients." As my colleague Ward Clark correctly guessed, when he wrote on Dec....

The victim was also punched and kicked by the suspects, police said. She was taken to the hospital for life-threatening injuries. Four suspects assaulted the woman with the broom and ran away, according to SFPD. Police searched for the suspects but have yet to locate them. SFPD says three of the four suspects are minors between 16 and 18 years old. Two of the three juvenile suspects are girls.

The Vatican declared in 2021 that same-sex relationships cannot be blessed because God “cannot bless sin.” And now less than three years later, Pope Francis has authorized blessings for same-sex couples. What exactly does Pope Francis want LGBTQ Catholics to do in response to his shocking declaration? The Pope has a huge responsibility to clarify his hopes and dreams for LGBTQ Catholics, especially since “some Catholic bishops in Africa, Poland and elsewhere say they will not implement the new Vatican policy allowing blessings for same-sex couples.”Does the Pope want these couples to view homosexual behavior as less sinful than fornication...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly endorsed expelling all Palestinians from Gaza. Israeli news outlets report Netanyahu told a group of Israeli lawmakers on Monday, “Regarding voluntary immigration … This is the direction we are going in.” Palestinian leaders denounced Netanyahu for embracing what they describe as ethnic cleansing. The 11-week Israeli assault has already forced more than 85% of Palestinians in Gaza to leave their homes — and many have no homes to return to. Displaced Palestinians say there are no safe places remaining in Gaza.

As questions arise as to whether Jack Smith was even legally appointed as President Trump's special prosecutor, and a judge messes up Smith's Super Tuesday timetable for Trump's trial, Smith is showing signs of desperation now. He's asked the court to wipe out President Trump's defense of himself from insurrection-related charges, and wants his court to allow Trump to defend himself only as Smith wants him to defend himself. NEW: Jack Smith, in likely vain attempt to keep March 4 trial date, filed another pretrial related to what the jury should be allowed to consider. (All pretrial deadlines now on...

A transgender 10-year-old girl in Ohio has described her concern at her state's bid to block access to gender-affirming care for minors. On Friday, Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine, a Republican, will announce his decision on whether to ban the treatments. DeWine had 10 days to make a decision on the bill, House Bill 68, that was approved by the Ohio House and Senate earlier this month. Astrid Burkle told ABC News, in an interview with her family, that she was angry at the 'mean' people who sought to prevent the treatments. Her mother, Alicia Burkle, said that while her daughter...

The flight on 15 January, which involved an ATR 72, was the flight crew's third sector of the day, shuttling between Kathmandu and Pokhara. The pilots had likely put the condition levers, which control power, in the feathering position instead of selecting the flap lever... The report also listed a lack of appropriate technical and skill based training, high workload and stress, and non-compliance with standard operating procedures as contributing factors to the accident. It added that the aircraft had been properly maintained, had had no known defects and that the cockpit crew had been qualified in accordance with the...

A Kentucky man faces rape and several other serious charges after a missing North Carolina 16-year-old was found inside a trap door hidden underneath the rug at his house. Zackary Jones, 34, was arrested after Lincoln County deputies responded to a report of domestic violence at his home on Christmas Day. Jones answered the door of his home on Robertstown Road in Kings Mountain and told authorities the victim was not there. Deputies were soon after taken through the home by Jones, according to a police citation. The officers noticed drugs in plain view, which Jones then tried to get...

How can this Dr. Seuss drawing be "racist," when it looks exactly like real life Africans? If progressives want "diversity," how can they be against this drawing?

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Nicaraguan migrants sent relatives back home record remittances this year through November, data from the country's central bank showed on Wednesday, fueled by massive waves of migration leaving the Central American nation in recent years. In a statement, the bank noted a record haul of about $4.24 billion in remittances for the 11-month period, 47% more than the amount sent home during the same period last year. The 2023 remittances tallied by Nicaragua's central bank showed that nearly 60% came from the senders in the United States and almost 20% from neighboring Costa Rica.

Hospitals in places across the United States have reimplemented mask mandates because of what officials say is an uptick in COVID-19 and other respiratory infections. For example, the NYC Health + Hospitals—officially the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation that operates public hospitals and clinics in New York City—announced that mask mandates will be reimplemented at its hospitals. "Due to an uptick in respiratory illnesses like COVID-19, flu & RSV in our communities & our hospital, we must return to mandatory masking. Please wear a mask when you visit us!" the hospital operator wrote on X, formerly known as...