Free Republic

Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker said Friday that his “heart is broken in a thousand pieces” after his daughter and son-in-law were taken hostage then later killed by a gang in Haiti. Natalie and Davy Lloyd were among a group of missionaries who were ambushed as they left a church on Thursday, the nonprofit Missions in Haiti Inc. wrote on Facebook. A gang of “3 trucks full of guys” whisked the group away, the nonprofit, which is run by Davy’s parents, David and Alicia Lloyd, wrote in a frantic Facebook post calling for “urgent prayers.” “Davy was taken to the...

[Catholic Caucus] Why doesn’t Pope Francis Celebrate Mass? Part IIForgive me for returning to a question that I have asked once before—and only a few weeks ago, at that. But frankly I am dumbfounded, and wonder why the same question is not on the lips of all believing Catholics.Why has Pope Francis not celebrated Mass in public for well over a year? He will frequently “preside” at a Mass—which means he sits enthroned at the side of the altar in liturgical vestments, often delivering the homily—but he has not been the principal celebrant since sometime in mid-2022.When I asked this...

A clinical trial has found that intravenous acetaminophen reduced sepsis patients' risk of having organ injury or developing acute respiratory distress syndrome. Sepsis is the body's uncontrolled and extreme response to an infection. The researchers found that acetaminophen gave the greatest benefit to the patients most at risk for organ damage. With the therapy, those patients needed less assisted ventilation. Limited research has suggested that acetaminophen might work better for patients with the most severe sepsis—those with higher levels of cell-free hemoglobin. To test the therapeutic potential of acetaminophen more fully in a mid-stage clinical trial, researchers enrolled 447 adults...

Biden’s handlers thought it was a sly Machiavellian move to coordinate local, state, and federal prosecutors to wear down Trump, bankrupt him, destroy him mentally and physically, and brand him as a criminal felon—through a long winter, spring, summer, and fall of lawfare of the sort never witnessed in America before.But the latest Michael Cohen iteration—Liar, Crook, Spy, Grifter, and now Thief—along with Judge Merchan’s one-sided, adolescent pouts, have blown up Alvin Bragg’s circus—even if the biased judge warps the proceedings and a slanted jury were to nullify the evidence and convict Trump. (snip) The prosecutors, the judges—and the White...

Long gone are the days when Ukraine was at least winning the war on the western news sites’ headlines.Now, slowly but surely, the MSM has had to face the fact that the outmanned, outgunned and outmaneuvered Ukrainian forces will not win this war on the battlefield, will not get back to pre-war borders, much less reincorporate the Crimean peninsula.And up until a minute ago, to state the obvious fact that Ukraine will have to cede territory during peace negotiations with Russia got you branded as a ‘Kremlin stooge’ or worse, and only the most courageous politicians, such as Hungarian Viktor...

It has long been known that a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and most other neurodegenerative diseases, is the clumping together of insoluble protein aggregates in the brain. During normal disease-free aging, there is also an accumulation of insoluble proteins. Researchers have recently completed a systematic study in worms that paints an intricate picture of the connections between insoluble proteins in neurodegenerative diseases and aging. Furthermore, the work demonstrated an intervention that could reverse the toxic effects of the aggregates by boosting mitochondrial health. "Our study shows how maintaining healthy mitochondria can combat protein clumping linked to both aging and Alzheimer's,"...

The Victim Hierarchy by Matt Walsh

Congressional Democrats on Thursday accused oil companies of inflating the cost of gasoline and vowed to investigate them, pushing back on who's to blame for rising prices hurting President Joe Biden's reelection chances. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats were flanked by supporters in matching blue shirts holding signs that read, "Stop gouging us at the pump." Schumer criticized recent billion-dollar oil company mergers, such as one between ExxonMobil and Pioneer Natural Resources, as potentially "disastrous for consumers." He said previous mergers in the industry decreased competition and led to higher prices. Schumer said he had already...

Former President Donald Trump said his campaign will hold rallies at Madison Square Garden and the South Bronx. Threat Alert: Christians and Jews Faith Under Siege Speaking outside a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, said the rally at Madison Square Garden will honor police, firefighters, and teachers. "We'll be honoring the people who make New York work," Trump said. "We're honoring a lot of people. It will be very exciting." Trump did not say when the rallies will be held. In a statement to Newsmax, an MSG Entertainment spokesperson said: "We do not have any...

We are living through the most destructive bout of inflation in 45 years, one that threatens to become worse and perhaps just as ruinous in the long run as the last one.And yet daily and for years, we’ve been told it’s not so bad and that it’s nearly over anyway.How can we reconcile these two realities? They cannot both be true.An image of verified accuracy has been circulating all over social media lately: A list showing the price increases from the end of 2019 to now at major fast-food outlets. It fits with your own experience. It indicates that in...

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker says Boeing is in the beginning stage of fixing safety issues.. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Thursday that Boeing has a "long road" ahead of it as the planemaker readies a plan aimed at assuring regulators it is adequately addressing safety concerns in its manufacturing. The FAA in February ordered Boeing to develop a comprehensive plan to correct quality-control issues after a door plug flew off a 737 MAX-9 mid-flight during an Alaska Airlines flight the month before. Boeing is slated to deliver that plan on May 30. ... FAA Administrator Mike...

When I woke one recent morning to severe pain from a bout of kidney stones, I knew I had an excruciating day ahead of me. I didn’t realize how excruciating until I arrived at George Washington University Hospital’s emergency room where one of the ER’s resident physicians greeted me wearing a pin: “Ask Me About My Pronouns.” The remainder of my morning became a real-life demonstration of how woke physicians prioritize ideology over patient care. The bloodwork taken upon my arrival showed a high white blood cell count, and during my stay, I complained of pain in both my kidneys....

The U.S.-built temporary "humanitarian pier" on Gaza's Mediterranean coast — announced by President Joe Biden in his March State of the Union address and completed last week — has quickly turned into a chaotic, dangerous place. In addition to American troops injured in non-combat accidents, the pier is not moving aid to residents in the enclave at the level hyped by Pentagon officials. Earlier this week, the Department of Defense said that none of the hundreds of metric tons of aid delivered across the pier to Gaza had made it to Gazans. Even worse, the pier has been the target...

Autoimmune diseases occur when the body's immune system attacks healthy cells instead of protecting them. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is one such autoimmune condition characterized by faulty circulatory and immune systems, leading to the occurrence of fibrosis (hardening and scarring of healthy tissue) of the skin and internal organs. Countering oxidative stress using antioxidant compounds, is therefore, being increasingly explored as a therapeutic strategy. To this end, a team of researchers has investigated the effectiveness of Twendee X (TwX)—a dietary supplement comprising of a combination of eight active antioxidants—in reducing oxidative stress in SSc mouse models. Prof. Inufusa says, "Studies have...

This week, former South Carolina governor and GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley finally endorsed Donald Trump. And, boy, the news was an unpleasant surprise to a political media that’s convinced themselves Trump is the next Hitler. On outlets like CNN and MSNBC, Haley was disparaged as if she were a traitor to the American republic. The American left, it seems, continues to believe a sizable contingent of Never-Trump Republican voters can sink the former president. It’s all just wishcasting.

A former United Methodist Church pastor who was defrocked about 20 years ago for being in a same-sex romantic relationship has been reinstated by the mainline Protestant denomination. The UMC Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference voted overwhelmingly during a closed session of around 200 clergy on Tuesday evening to readmit Beth Stroud. Bishop John Schol, head of both the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey annual conferences, said he was “deeply grateful for the discernment of the clergy” and “grateful that the church has opened up to LGBTQ persons.” “I couldn’t be prouder as your bishop, and you couldn’t have given...

Volodymyr Zelenesky's constitutionally-mandated term as Ukraine's president expired on May 21. The leader canceled elections planned for March or April last November, claiming it was "utterly irresponsible" to discuss such matters amid the ongoing conflict with Russia. President Zelensky's legitimacy has expired, and Russia will proceed from this fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said."Of course, we are aware that the legitimacy of the current head of state [of Ukraine] has ended," Putin said at a press conference in Minsk on Friday after talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin recommended anyone looking for answers regarding Zelensky's legal status to...

Trans-identifying adults who underwent body-mutilating surgeries as part of an effort to look like the opposite sex had an elevated suicide attempt risk, according to a recent study.The study, titled “Risk of Suicide and Self-Harm Following Gender-Affirmation Surgery,” was published in April in the medical science journal Cureus. Researchers conducted the study by assessing over 90 million adults aged 18 to 60. According to the study, individuals who underwent “gender-affirming surgery” had a 12-fold higher suicide attempt risk than those who did not. The researchers found that 3.5% of people who had an elective trans surgery were treated for attempting...

The massive "doomsday glacier" known for its rapid destabilization is undergoing a "vigorous ice melt" that scientists say could reshape sea level rise projections. In a new study, glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine, found that warm, high-pressure ocean water is seeping beneath West Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier, making it more vulnerable to melting than previously thought. The glacier is roughly 80 miles across, the widest on Earth. It packs so much ice that if it were to completely collapse, it could singlehandedly cause global sea levels to rise by more than two feet, according to the International Thwaites Glacier...

Oscar-nominated documentary maker Morgan Spurlock, best known for his 2004 fast food film Super Size Me, has died at the age of 53. Super Size Me saw Spurlock live on a diet of McDonald’s food for an entire month to test the health impact on his body. It sparked a huge debate and earned him an Oscar nomination for best documentary. He directed more than 20 films and documentaries in total, including 2008's Where in the World is Osama bin Laden, and the 2013 One Direction tour movie This Is Us. He died of complications from cancer, his family said...