Free Republic

Japan appears to be transitioning from a homogenous society to embrace ‘diversity and inclusivity’ by ushering in “an era of mass foreign immigration.”It’s set to be a massive change for a country that was still up until recently 97.5% ethnic Japanese, according to the CIA World Factbook.A Bloomberg report details how rapidly declining native birth rates, an aging society and a chronic labor shortage is fueling the importation of millions of foreigners who “are changing the face of Japan.”The number of foreign workers in Japan has now exceeded 2 million, a 12.4% increase on 2022. The East Asian country needs...

Liberals are mounting a pressure campaign to force liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to retire from the bench so President Joe Biden, who faces a tough reelection fight in November, can appoint a younger liberal successor before the election.Democrats fear that the 6–3 conservative majority on the nation’s highest court could become a 7–2 conservative majority if President Donald Trump wins the election in November and she dies during his second term of office.They point out that President Trump was able to replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of pancreatic cancer complications on Sept. 18, 2020, at...

American forces have been placed on "high alert" as of Friday, in anticipation of a possible attack by Iranian forces on either U.S. or Israeli assets in the Middle East. The attack, if it happens, is expected to come as soon as next week.Senior US officials currently believe that an attack by Iran is “inevitable” – a view shared by their Israeli counterparts, that official said. The two governments are furiously working to get in position ahead of what is to come, as they anticipate that Iran’s attack could unfold in a number of different ways – and that both...

MRI of the prostate, combined with a blood test, can help determine if a prostate lesion is clinically significant cancer, research suggests A new meta-analysis suggests doctors and patients can avoid unnecessary prostate biopsies by combining MRI of the prostate findings with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) density. To doctors, clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) is prostate cancer that has a high chance of threatening a patient's life. MRI of the prostate can provide some of this information. Still, a biopsy is traditionally needed to determine how aggressive the cancer cells look. This study tested a new approach: combining MRI-based prostate imaging...

An Indiana court has ruled that the state's abortion ban violates the religious freedom of several Jews and religiously unaffiliated people who might seek abortions as the law's supporters remain confident it will withstand scrutiny from the Indiana Supreme Court. Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Leanna Weismann published an opinion Thursday siding with five anonymous plaintiffs and the group Hoosier Jews for Choice. The plaintiffs asserted that the state's 2022 law prohibiting almost all abortions with exceptions in cases of a fetal anomaly or where the life or health of the mother is at risk violated the state's Religious Freedom...

Consistently exercising 2–3 times a week over the long term is linked to a lower current risk of insomnia as well as the ability to clock up the recommended 6–9 hours of shut-eye every night, suggests an international 10-year study. The researchers assessed the frequency, duration, and intensity of weekly physical activity and symptoms of insomnia, nightly sleep clocked up, and daytime sleepiness among middle-aged adults. The 4,399 study participants (2,085 men; 2,254 women) were drawn from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. They had answered questions on the frequency and duration of physical activity at baseline (ECRHS II;1998–2002) and...

A century ago today, a Polish army major had 35 Jews executed in Pinsk. After the devastation of World War I, Poland and now-Soviet Russia fell into war in early 1919 over the oft-trod lands between them. In late March of that year — still the opening weeks of the conflict — the Polish 34th Infantry Regiment commanded by Major Aleksander Narbut-Luczynski captured the town of Pinsk which today lies just on the Belarus side of the Belarus-Ukraine border. This town had seen occupying armies cross it to and fro during the recent bloody years: Germany captured it from Russia...

For people living with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, standard treatment with antipsychotic medications can be a double-edged sword. Now, a pilot study has found that a ketogenic diet not only restores metabolic health in these patients as they continue their medications but it further improves their psychiatric conditions. Sethi remembers when she saw a patient with treatment-resistant schizophrenia whose auditory hallucinations quieted on a ketogenic diet. In the four-month pilot trial, Sethi's team followed 21 adult participants who were diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, taking antipsychotic medications, and had a metabolic abnormality—such as weight gain,...

A drug used to treat diabetes slowed the progression of motor issues associated with Parkinson's disease, a study said. Researchers have been interested in exploring a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists—which mimic a gut hormone and are commonly used to treat diabetes and obesity—for their potential to protect neurons. In the new paper, 156 patients with early-stage Parkinson's were recruited across France and then randomly chosen to receive either lixisenatide, which is sold under the brand names Adlyxin and Lyxumia and made by Sanofi, or a placebo. After one year of follow up, the group on the treatment,...

When Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that he had a “good” talk with President Joe Biden on Thursday, he was hiding a bombshell. It soon emerged that Biden’s words to Netanyahu were harsh and uncompromising. Biden demanded that Israel address the humanitarian situation in Gaza immediately, that it takes concrete steps to protect civilians and aid workers and that it reaches a ceasefire deal with Hamas. This was an ultimatum. Biden threatened to reassess American policy towards the war in Gaza if Netanyahu does not comply immediately. In other words, he refused to guarantee that the strong support he...

The Biden administration is bracing for a second Trump term by rolling out a rule that would complicate Donald Trump’s pledge to fire tens of thousands of federal workers if he wins in November. The new rule is also a huge gift to the public-sector unions that Joe Biden needs firmly in his corner.The latest edict, issued by the US Office of Personnel Management, is an almost direct response to Trump’s stated plans to purge the bureaucracy. That’s not how the OPM is framing it, of course; instead, OPM deputy director Rob Shriver said it “is about making sure the...

IT is ChINA’S gravest economic test since the most far-reaching of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms began in the 1990s. Last year the country achieved growth of 5%, but the pillars of its decades-long miracle are wobbling. Its famously industrious workforce is shrinking, history’s wildest property boom has turned to bust and the global system of free trade that China used to get richer is disintegrating. As our reporting explains, President Xi Jinping’s response is to double down on an audacious plan to remake China’s economy. Blending techno-utopianism, central planning and an obsession with security, this sets out China’s ambition to dominate...

An increased serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) is independently associated with a lower risk for bowel resection with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study. Lintao Dan and colleagues examined the association between serum vitamin D levels and the risk for bowel resection in individuals with IBD. The analysis included 5,474 individuals with IBD followed for a mean 13.1 years. The researchers found that compared with participants with vitamin D deficiency, nondeficient participants showed a significantly reduced bowel resection risk in IBD (hazard ratio [HR], 0.72), Crohn disease (CD; HR, 0.74), and ulcerative colitis (UC; HR, 0.73). For...

High levels of glucose and triglycerides are associated with future risk for depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, according to a study. Charilaos Chourpiliadis, M.D. and colleagues conducted a population-based cohort study with longitudinal data collection involving 211,200 participants from the Apolipoprotein-Related Mortality Risk cohort who underwent occupational health screening to examine whether biomarkers of carbohydrate, lipid, and apolipoprotein metabolism are associated with the risk for depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders. The researchers found that 16,256 individuals were diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders during a mean follow-up of 21.0 years. High levels of glucose and triglycerides were associated with...

Here we go. Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg says Jack Smith is close to using a ‘nuclear button’ to remove Judge Aileen Cannon from the Trump classified documents case over her jury instruction order. “He is close to pushing the nuclear button,” said Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg, according to NBC News. “It is a high burden to reach, and it is rarely done, but her proposed jury instructions may have pushed him to the breaking point.” Last month Judge Aileen Cannon issued a jury instruction order in Jack Smith’s classified documents case and the leftist...

The Philippines announcing joint military maneuvers with the US, Australia and Japan tomorrow... "Some have been sent naked images, and two MP's are reported to have responded by sending images of themselves"...a few of the details...emerging 'sexting' scandal...in the UK... "Stay away so you won't get hurt" The message from Iran to the US ahead of...attacks on Israeli targets... ...messaging from Joe Biden today...Israel is doing what he wants... ...Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia calling for sanctions on Israel... In the African nation of Zimbabwe a new "structured currency" launched amidst rampant inflation... The Dutch naval support ship "Karel Doorman"...

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed Friday to appoint a special counsel to review cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot against rival Donald Trump and his supporters if Kennedy wins the Oval Office — arguing one can oppose the former president but still be “disturbed by the weaponization of government against him.”“As President, I will appoint a special counsel — an individual respected by all sides — to investigate whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends in this case, and I will right any wrongs that we discover. Without the impartial rule of law,...

President Biden vowed on Friday that the federal government would cover the cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore – and that the work would be done by union labor, potentially setting up a funding fight with the conservative wing of the House of Representatives. Biden has promised from the outset that the federal government would pay for the bridge to be rebuilt. His comments on Friday came after the House Freedom Caucus — the conservative wing of the House of Representatives — released a series of conditions for federal funding for the bridge. The conditions include...

She’s the best they can find? The village of Dolton, Illinois, is considering hiring former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate its own scandal-ridden leader, “dictator” Tiffany Henyard, as residents demand her resignation. Lightfoot, who lost her reelection bid in a landslide last year, would be tasked with probing numerous allegations against the self-proclaimed “Super Mayor” — including misusing taxpayer funds for lavish trips and sexual assault accusations, Fox 32 reported.

Bandages from brands such as Band-Aid and Curad have been found to contain dangerous levels of toxic “forever chemicals,” allowing direct contact with the bloodstream through open wounds, according to a new report. Of the 40 bandages from 18 different brands tested by environmental health and consumer watchdog Mamavation and Environmental Health News, 26 had detectable levels of organic fluorine, an indicator of harmful “forever chemicals,” also known as PFAS.