Free Republic

According to an analysis from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the minimum wage does not suffice to pay for a typical set of living expenses in any state of the United States.Hawaii, Georgia and Utah, where the living wage gap exceeded $10 per hour, fared the worst.While Georgia and Utah only apply the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, Hawaii has a substantially higher minimum wage of $12 - once more to be increased to $14 on Jan. 1, 2024. Yet, the extremely high living costs on the inland group have created the highest living wage gap in all...

We have said that Adam West is the best Batman ever. A big reason for that is the gallery of rogues that popped up on the television series from 1966–68. Celebrities lined up for the chance to play nefarious baddies on William Dozier's camp classic. In fact, Frank Sinatra and Mickey Rooney almost played the Joker and Penguin, respectively. While that casting never came to fruition, the actors who eventually filled the roles came to define these comic book villains in the flesh

If there was no other reason -- and there are plenty -- not to vote for Joe Biden, the fact that his administration has opened the door to more and more governmental control would be a great one. Climate change is a big excuse to make all kinds of societal transformative change and control our actions--not to mention, destroying or building up industries with those controls and restrictions. Coal and oil are bad, electrical vehicles (except those from that evil Elon Musk) are good. Government shouldn't be in the business of picking winners and losers, yet that's what they doing...

Tensions are increasing between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to a new report at Axios, a frustrated Biden hung up on Netanyahu after a dispute about how to handle tax revenues the Israeli government collects for the Palestinian Authority. I wrote earlier this week about a report that Biden allegedly talked Netanyahu out of a "preemptive strike" on Hezbollah that Israel was reportedly planning in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. That report comes at a time when Biden needs to be seen as more of a competent leader, and...

If you have read my articles for a while, you would know I am a big fan of studies that give a perspective of where the average American stands financially. Now, let me be clear: I wouldn’t use these as a basis for a financial plan by any stretch of the imagination. These studies don’t mean people are in a good or bad financial situation. Plus, they include a large contingent that lives below or at the poverty line.However, why I like these studies is twofold. First, finances are still taboo to talk about. Thus, most people have no sense...

For young children with febrile urinary tract infection (fUTI), a five-day amoxicillin-clavulanate course is noninferior to a 10-day course for recurrence of UTI within 30 days after completion of therapy, according to a study published. Giovanni Montini, M.D. and colleagues conducted a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial involving children aged 3 months to 5 years with a noncomplicated fUTI to assess the noninferiority (5 percent threshold) of a five- versus 10-day antibiotic course. A total of 142 children were randomly assigned to receive amoxicillin-clavulanate 50 + 7.12 mg/kg/day orally in three divided doses for five or 10 days (72 and 70...

“Departing in Peace” (Luke 2:22-40) Are you ready to go? What I mean is, are you ready to leave? No, I don’t mean right now. It would be nice if you’d stick around until the end of the service. But then, at the end of the service, will you be ready to leave? Will you be ready to depart in peace, satisfied and content and ready for whatever comes next? What makes you ready to leave, to leave any situation? For instance, this year is coming to an end. Are you ready to put 2023 behind you and move on...

An American destroyer shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Yemen Saturday as it responded to a call for help from a container ship that was hit separately, the US Central Command (Centcom) said. Centcom said the US destroyers Gravely and Laboon responded to a request for assistance from the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned and operated container ship that reported being struck by a missile while transiting the Red Sea. While responding, missiles were launched toward the ships from territory controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Centcom said.

A randomized controlled trial finds that the synbiotic drug SIM01 relieves multiple symptoms of long COVID, or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). SIM01 contains strains of anaerobic Bifidobacterium bacteria (which are probiotics) and soluble fibers (prebiotics) to alter the gut microbiome and possibly modify immune response. From June 2021 to August 2022, researchers from randomly assigned 463 adult long COVID patients at a single hospital in a 1:1 ratio to receive SIM01 or a vitamin C placebo by mouth twice daily for six months. The median interval between infection and random assignment was four months. "Decreased abundance of short-chain fatty acid-producing...

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Thursday she would pardon former President Donald Trump if he is convicted of federal crimes. Her comments came during a campaign event in Plymouth, New Hampshire, MSNBC noted Friday. The outlet reported: “A leader needs to think about what’s in the best interest of the country,” Haley went on. “What’s in the best interest of the country is not to have an 80-year-old man sitting in jail that continues to divide our country. What’s in the best interest of our country is to pardon him so that we can move on as a country...

Winning a BAFTA for 'The Full Monty,' Wilkinson also appeared in 'Shakespeare in Love,' 'In the Bedroom,' 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' and 'Batman Begins' and won an Emmy for his role as Benjamin Franklin in the 'John Adams' miniseries. Actor Tom Wilkinson, known for his BAFTA-winning role in The Full Monty and Oscar-nominated turns in Michael Clayton and In the Bedroom, died Saturday. He was 75. Wilkinson died “suddenly” at home, according to a statement from the actor’s family, who were with him when he died as was his wife. “The family asks for privacy at this time,” the...

On Friday’s “CNN This Morning,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that local economies are going to be crushed by the migrant “crisis” and that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is “governing out of fear.” Johnson said, “[W]e have infrastructure in our local communities that [is] not designed to carry such a burden. Local municipalities are not structured to be able to carry the weight of a crisis like this. And I’ve sent a delegation to the border to see firsthand what our bordering cities are experiencing, and what we have said repeatedly is that there has to be better coordination....

Masashi Ozawa, best known to WWE and pro wrestling fans as Killer Khan, has died at the age of 76. WWE announced Ozawa's passing Saturday and remembered him for his multiple stints with the company in the 1980s. Khan began wrestling in the United States in 1979 and remained in North America for a large portion of the 1980s. He memorably feuded with André the Giant in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1980, which led to him signing a deal with WWE. Khan was instantly utilized as one of WWE's top villains, feuding with WWE champion Bob Backlund, intercontinental champion Pedro...

My friend Glenn Reynolds, who also has an excellent Substack you may want to subscribe to, just released a piece called Civilizational Jenga. The main focus of it was the Colorado Supreme Court’s foolish decision to pull Trump’s access to the ballot in Colorado over his supposed “insurrection” on January 6, 2021. Setting aside the fact that a large percentage of the country, myself included, doesn’t believe the Jan 6. riot was an “insurrection,” it puts the cart before the horse. Trump has yet to be put on trial for insurrection. For a handful of leftwing judges (and yes, they’re...

The meaning behind Kim Carnes’ 1980s classic “Bette Davis Eyes” actually holds a warning. The song starts out enticing, but soon turns sour, becoming a tune of advice to anyone lured in by the woman depicted in the lyrics. A song brimming with mystery, “Bette Davis Eyes” answers a few questions – like Who is she? What makes her so dangerous? Why must we stay away? – but maybe things are better left to the imagination. The Origins “Bette Davis Eyes” was written in 1974 by singer/songwriters Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon. The latter initially recorded the song, releasing it...

60 personalities in the entertainment industry coming out in support of legendary actor Gerard Depardieu. Depardieu dealing with a rape case in the criminal justice system and other accusations leveled in a recent TV documentary... 2,500 signatories on a manifesto this weekend condemning Depardieu and denouncing a 'law of silence'... On Christmas Day the plane with alleged ties to human trafficking was allowed to leave France... For New Year's Eve in France a mobilization of 90,000 police including 6,000 in Paris... Many protesters today with their Yellow Vests others not wearing vests. A yellow flag used in the protest today....

It was 40 years ago this month when the biggest battle on movie screens took place not between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, but improbably enough, between James Bond and… James Bond. In 1983, audiences got to choose between two films starring Ian Fleming’s famous secret agent: Octopussy, the sixth film to feature the debonair Roger Moore as British spy 007, and Never Say Never Again, the first movie in 12 years to star the original James Bond, Sean Connery. This was following his second departure from the wildly successful film franchise in 1971. How did this come to pass?...

WEF admits it’s behind the LGBTQA+ agenda, working with news, business, entertainment, “faith leaders”, sports, govt & individual activists to push their propaganda - which launched when? 2019 - right before they also pushed the covid hysteria

To help reduce retail thefts and to hold those committing these crimes accountable, the San Francisco Police Department Burglary Unit (Fencing & Organized Retail Crime investigators) and Field Operations Bureau, pre-planned a shoplifting enforcement operation. A retail store located on the 700 block of Mission Street and the 200 block of Winston Drive were chosen for the operation due to the high number of shoplifting incidents the businesses were experiencing. On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the operation was successful in arresting a total of 18 suspects listed below. Two were booked at San Francisco County Jail #1 for outstanding warrants...

Drug maker Abbvie recently won a court case in which they sued Takeda Pharmaceutical, the company responsible for the production of their drug Lupron. In the case, Abbvie alleges that Takeda created a shortage of the drug by intermittently shutting down one of its plants. A judge found that Takeda Takeda was in breach of its contract with Abbvie and has ordered the to pay most of the $480.6 million it sought. Lupron may sound familiar to you because it has been at the center of the debate art whether or not children should be allowed to suppress puberty to...