Free Republic

A high sodium diet may increase the risk of eczema, according to researchers, who found that eating just one extra gram of sodium per day—the amount in a Big Mac—increases the likelihood of flares by 22%. Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a chronic disease that causes dry, itchy skin. It has become increasingly common in recent years, especially in industrialized countries, implicating environmental and lifestyle factors like diet. Sodium, which most people consume in the form of salt, increases the risk of hypertension and heart disease. And scientists recently discovered that sodium is stored in the skin, where...

Merrick Garland is no “by-the-book” attorney general. Even now, Garland is refusing to hand over audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur over the president’s hoarding of classified documents, despite a congressional subpoena. As the Department of Justice stonewalls Congress, it is also prosecuting the Republican Party’s presidential candidate for the very crimes the Hur tape supposedly “exonerates” Biden from. Considering the Hur transcript has already been released — and we know that Biden lied about it — there is even less justification for withholding the audio. And considering the DOJ has apparently cleaned...

Dartmouth councillor says trees ‘spread a little joy,’ but could not withstand Maritime wintersIt appears, perhaps predictably, that palm trees cannot survive in Nova Scotia. In 2018, Halifax Regional Municipality experimented with planting seven palm trees across Dartmouth, a community of just under 100,000 people that borders the eastern shore of Halifax harbour. The trees normally associated with sandy beaches and coconuts stood out in the landscape, drawing the curiosity of locals. Municipal spokesperson Ryan Nearing said the intent of the project was to see if the tropical trees could adapt to the province's Maritime climate, known for its wild...

A Minnesota transgender high school student had her jaw broken in two places after she used the men's bathroom. Cobalt Sovereign, 17, says she was assaulted by a fellow student as she left the bathroom at Hopkins High School on May 30. She said the student looked over the stall and called her a '******' and then punched her in the face as she was leaving. Sovereign, who uses she/her pronouns, told KARE: 'I was hit in the jaw and at the time one of my teeth exploded, pieces in my mouth.' She was rushed to hospital and had three...

This freepathon donation result is pathetic. You wanna give your two cents but don't wanna contribute because somebody hurt your widdle feelings? That's pathetic and juvenile. I wouldn't mind going to a paid service and get rid of some of the dead weight around here. I'm living on SS. So, I'm barely making it (Thanks Biden!). But I still budget for FR.

Joe Biden on Sunday spoke to reporters at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, Northern France. Biden told reporters that being in France reminded him of his uncle Bosie whom he has repeatedly claimed was eaten by cannibals in New Guinea. Of course, Joe Biden had to make the visit to the Aisne-Marne American cemetery about himself. “You know, I don’t want to make this personal but when I show up at a military site where veterans are buried, it brings back memories of hearing my grandfather and my mother talk about the loss of their son and brother in...

Exit polls show a historic win for Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France and is on course to trounce President Macron's party Far-right parties have also made substantial gains in Austria and Germany, exit polls say We will have a first projection of the new European Parliament at around 19:30 BST as the mammoth four-day, 27-country European election is coming to a close About 360 million eligible voters are choosing 720 new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)

Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity) announced on Sunday that he, together with his party, would be leaving the emergency government which he joined at the onset of the war. "Months after the October tragedy, the situation in the country and in the room of the decision-makers has changed. Netanyahu and his partners have turned unity into a moving call, without real-world action. Fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitancy and procrastination due to political considerations," Gantz stated in an address announcing his decision. He claimed that "Netanyahu prevents us from proceeding to true victory. Therefore, today, we are leaving the...

A Gaza journalist who wrote for Al Jazeera was holding three hostages in his home with his family before he was killed by Israeli commandos during a rescue operation on Saturday, according to the Israeli military. Abdallah Aljamal, who also worked as a spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry, was killed when special forces soldiers stormed his home in central Gaza and rescued hostages Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andri Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, the Israeli military said. Aljamal’s death was originally reported by Rami Abdu, the head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, who claimed Israel Defense Forces...

I've been asked to chime in, so I'm chiming. But you're not gonna like it. The state of discourse on FR is totally up to you. You know the guidelines and rules. I don't need to repeat them again and again and again. We are mostly adults here and mostly Christian conservatives. We all know how to behave in a mixed public setting. We don't need and don't want to be supervised. Before you post that next profane post or personal attack just ask yourself, what would Jesus do. Can't we all just get along? Thank you all very much...

Facing the toughest election since his first win in 2006, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mt) is investing $640,000 in an ad campaign aimed at convincing voters that his Republican opponent Tim Sheehy "will be a puppet for shady special interests. He's taking thousands of dollars from special interests. He won't be an independent voice for the common people of our state like I am." Ironically, lobbyists have donated more than $458,000 to Tester in the last two years making him the biggest Congressional recipient of lobbyist cash over for the time span. Tester was also the intended beneficiary of $6 million...

Declaring that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “preventing us from reaching true victory,” National Unity chairman Benny Gantz says that his party is pulling out of the government, making good on an ultimatum. His party joined the coalition following October 7 for the sake of the country even though “we knew it was a bad government” and has since seen strategic considerations pushed aside for political reasons, he says.

A member of Israel's three-man War Cabinet announced his resignation on Sunday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza. Benny Gantz, a popular former centrist military chief and one of the prime minister's most prominent critics, joined Netanyahu's government shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in a show of unity. His presence also boosted Israel's credibility with the country's international partners as he has good working relations with U.S. officials. Gantz said Netanyahu is making "total victory impossible" and that the government needs to put the return of the hostages seized Oct. 7 by Hamas...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem shrugged off reports that she hasn’t made the cut for finalists in former President Donald Trump’s veepstakes — but appeared to throw her support behind one candidate for the job. Noem, 52, who has continued to campaign for the 45th president, was adamant that she will continue to back him nonetheless and urged him to tap a woman for his ticket. “I’ve told President Trump over and over again he needs to pick whoever helps him win. I have been loyal to him since the very beginning,” Noem told CNN’s “State of the Union” on...

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation” that if elected “on day one President Trump will deport people here illegally by the tens of thousands.” Partial transcript as follows: BRENNAN: In this past year, the Biden administration deported, expelled or repatriated more than 740,000 people, which they say is more than any year since 2010. You this week said there need to be mass deportations. Aren’t those numbers mass deportations? GRAHAM: Well look. They’ve had 10 million people coming to this country illegally. It’s the highest level of ill- illegal immigration in the last three years...

ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz confronted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday over the Biden administration’s failure to secure the border. Partial transcript as follows: RADDATZ: But that’s been something you’ve been doing all along. You’ve been trying to do that with people. I want — I want to go back to an interview I did with you in March… MAYORKAS: Yes. RADDATZ: … of 2021, two months into your tenure as DHS secretary. You seemed totally confident then that you had that under control. Let’s listen to what you told me.

Working with the AI bot Claude is, in no particular order, amazing, frustrating, and hilarious. On the one hand, when “he” gets things right, the knowledge base is beyond staggering. (Yes, I know I’m dealing with an “it,” but Claude has so much personality that I’ll stay with “he.”) I asked Claude some questions from my wife Nancy about types of soil, and Claude responded in massive accurate detail, as confirmed by Nancy, who is quite expert in landscaping related issues. I then asked Claude to translate his answers into Mandarin Chinese, which he did instantly, although I couldn’t verify...

VLADIMIR Putin's new despicable pal has bizarrely dubbed the despot "God's child" who was sent to Earth to save humanity from World War Three. Professor Sergei Karaganov, Putin's new right hand, claimed the tyrant is the saviour of the world who will not only win against Ukraine but will also thwart a global war. Putin, who has killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers as well as civilians in his illegal war in Ukraine, was also compared to Russia’s most famous emperor, Peter the Great. In an address scripted by the Kremlin, Karaganov chillingly told Putin:...

Going back to Carter, the Democrats never grasp that, if you negotiate with hostage-takers, you get more hostages. In Joe Biden’s proposed agreement to end The Israeli Military Offensive (and Defensive) actions, he puts releasing the hostages as the third stage in his preferred sequences of events. For Biden, now and before October 7, 2023, releasing the hostages has been a very low priority. Evidently, terrorist activities are rewarded, not punished. When the world was stable (before Joe Biden), Western nations, including America, understood that negotiating with terrorists was not an option. The reason for this rule of thumb is...

A former Atlanta city attorney who was sentenced to seven years in prison over a massive $15 million pandemic loan fraud donated to Trump prosecutor Fani Willis’s campaign after applying for the government handouts, records show. Shelitha Robertson, 62, used some of her ill-gotten windfall for lavish purchases — including a massive 10-carat diamond ring and a Rolls Royce, according to federal prosecutors. But, she also donated $1,000 to Willis’s Democratic primary election campaign around the time she got the massive payouts from the Paycheck Protection Program, Georgia campaign filings show. **SNIP** A judge ruled that the relationship did not...