Free Republic

Medically-assisted dying – also known as voluntary euthanasia – accounted for 4.7% of deaths in Canada in 2023, new government data shows. The country's fifth annual report since euthanasia was legalised in 2016 showed around 15,300 people underwent assisted dying last year after being successful in their applications. The median age of this group was more than 77. The vast majority – around 96% - had a death deemed "reasonably foreseeable", due to severe medical conditions such as cancer. In the small minority of other cases, patients may not have been terminally ill, but sought an assisted death due to...

Fear of spiders becomes a phobia when it consumes your thoughts, interferes with your daily activities and keeps you from socializing with your family and friends. Symptoms of arachnophobia include sweating or shaking and tightness in your chest or rapid heartbeat. Behavior therapies along with relaxation and breathing exercises are the main treatment options

[Catholic Caucus] What Do We Make of the Rainbow-Colored Signs of Apostasy in Rome?The pro-LGBTQ movement and the anti-Catholic movement are arguably the two driving forces of the Synodal religion. Almost every week, we hear reports of some persecution of Traditional Catholicism along with some promotion of the pro-LGBTQ movement.In a December 10, 2024 article about the Vatican’s inclusion of “an LGBTQ+ pilgrimage event during the upcoming Jubilee Year of 2025,” the pro-LGBTQ New Ways Ministry reflected on how much LGBTQ initiatives had advanced in recent years:“While 2025’s event may seem like a small step, when compared with how the...

A UCLA student is suing multiple California health care providers and hospitals for medical negligence, alleging she was wrongly diagnosed with gender dysphoria and then “fast-tracked onto the conveyor belt of irreversibly damaging” puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery, according to her lawsuit. Kaya Clementine Breen, 20, said she experienced sexual abuse as a young child, and by the time she was 11, she “began struggling with the thought of developing into a woman and began to believe that life would be easier if she were a boy,” according to her suit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior...

Jill Biden caught herself during an event at the White House after making an ill-considered reference to the “joy” Americans are feeling after entering the holiday season following the presidential election. The first lady claimed attendees were “reading into” her remarks during the event on Wednesday, December 11. Speaking at a conference on advancing women’s health research, Jill talked about the “joy” of the holidays, which is a buzzword that had defined Kamala Harris’ short campaign. Jill said the attendees must take note of the White House décor and “feel, I don’t know, a little, a sense of joy. Because...

LeBron James is having a questionable week. First, the NBA star was called out by Colby Covington, and now he's dealing with a mysterious absence from the Lakers, apparently due to "fatigue." Only the Lakers brass know why LeBron took time off, while the rest of the fans concocted their own theories on what's happening. On Wednesday, Lakers coach J.J. Redick commented on LeBron James' absence from practice. He said James, turning 40 at the end of this month, was away from Lakers for "personal" reasons and that James is excused, as if the first-year coach had any other option....

A British intelligence chief has warned Russian spies could soon launch a fresh wave of drones at military HQs across the UK in a bid to cause mayhem - amid alarm over sightings worldwide. Last month saw a mysterious swarm of drones targeting three air bases used by the US Air Force, which triggered a scramble by British troops and police. The unmanned aerial vehicles - or UAVs - were seen hovering over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, over several days, in a what defence sources described as a 'coordinated' operation.

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Officials in Bend, Ore., are asking residents to stop attaching googly eyes to the city's sculptures, despite support for the whimsical practice from some locals. The city's official account said on Instagram that the oversized plastic eyes attached to eight public art installations by unknown pranksters could end up costing Bend a lot of money. "While the googly eyes placed on the various art pieces around town might give you a chuckle, it costs money to remove them with care to not damage the art," the post said. "While we don't condone the wreaths, leis and...

Amazon is planning a $1 million donation to president-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, as founder Jeff Bezos and other tech leaders shore up ties with the incoming administration. The Wall Street Journal reports that the donation is being prepared as Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s executive chairman, is slated to visit Donald Trump next week at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to people familiar with the matter. Bezos and the company decided on the contribution earlier this week and communicated it to Trump’s team. “Bezos is donating through Amazon,” according to a person close to Bezos.

EXCLUSIVE: New cardinal says banning divorced, ‘re-married’ from Communion an ‘enormous injustice’Denying Holy Communion to some people who are divorced and ‘re-married’ is a ‘huge, enormous injustice,’ Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers told LifeSite.The new cardinal of Algiers has welcomed Amoris Laetitia’s openness for the divorced and “re-married” to receive Holy Communion, saying that for him adultery is only “when you have two people in your life at the same time.”In 2015, Bishop Jean-Paul Vesco, OP of the Diocese of Oran in North Africa made waves in the Catholic Church for his harsh criticism of the Church’s teaching regarding divorced...

North Korean troops have seized their first village from Ukrainian soldiers in Russia's Kursk region, according to reports.Between December 6 and 7, North Korean soldiers captured the village of Plekhovo, which had a prewar population of 627. More than 300 Ukrainian soldiers were reportedly killed in the attack."Plekhovo was taken exclusively by special operations forces of North Korea. In two hours, they passed through like a hurricane, did not take prisoners. The enemy lost more than 300 servicemen," the Telegram channel "Romanov Light" reported."Now two brigades are trying to share the laurels - who was the first to enter the...

At a time when most current and former Republican officials are mouthing Trump’s lies or keeping quiet — because they’ve sold their souls to their political ambitions or they’re intimidated by potential violence from Trump and his MAGA thugs — Cheney continues to serve the nation with courage and honor by telling the truth about the despicable traitor who will become president six weeks from now. She doesn’t need a pardon from Biden because Trump’s claim wouldn’t last an instant in federal court. What she deserves from Biden is a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian forces are just 1.5 km (1 mile) outside the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk after Russian units pushed up from the south, and some advance groups of special forces have even entered the road and rail hub, pro-Russian war bloggers said on Friday.Russia controls a large chunk of Ukraine and is advancing at the fastest pace since the early days of its invasion in 2022, according to open source maps.The focus of Russia's advance since Ukraine carved out a slice of Russia's Kursk region in August is on the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk where Russia currently...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Cupich discourages kneeling for Holy Communion, says standing is the ‘norm’Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, has written a letter discouraging the laity from kneeling to receive the Eucharist, instead favoring standing, which he described as the ‘norm established by Holy See for the universal church.’Cardinal Blaise Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, has all but forbidden Catholics from kneeling to receive the Blessed Sacrament. “[N]o one should engage in a gesture that calls attention to oneself or disrupts the flow of the procession [to and from Holy Communion],” he wrote. Cupich expressed this interdict – and other...

The Satanic Temple of Iowa is hosting the “family-friendly” “Satanic Holiday Joy” at the Iowa State Capitol this coming Saturday, where they tell attendees to expect, along with handing out coloring pages and an ornament decorating station for the kids, “Satanic holiday carols, a large Satanic altar and display, a devilish Sol Invictus/Saturnalia ornament making station, and ritual!” They will also have a costume contest with prizes for whoever dresses up as the best ‘Krampus,’ which is a horned, half-goat, half-demon figure from Central and Eastern European folklore who punishes children who misbehave. We last wrote about TST after they...

HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEAPONIZED THE BANK SECRECY ACT TO SPY ON AMERICANS Posted Dec 13, 2024 By Martin Armstrong | SPREAD THE LOVE https://twitter.com/i/status/1865108551611396247 A Congressional investigation committee released an extremely concerning report this week entitled: “FINANCIAL SURVEILLANCE IN THE UNITED STATES: HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEAPONIZED THE BANK SECRECY ACT TO SPY ON AMERICANS” that details how the US government has been monitoring American citizens through bank transactions, with an emphasis on citizens who have expressed conservative viewpoints. “Financial data can tell a person’s story, including one’s “religion, ideology, opinions, and interests” as well as one’s “political leanings,...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sparked controversy Thursday with her remarks on the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson when she suggested that those shocked by people’s lack of sympathy toward the slain CEO simply don’t understand Americans’ frustration with the healthcare system. “This is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them,” the New York congresswoman told CBS News’ Jaala Brown Thursday. Ocasio-Cortez maintained that systemic...

Leading scientists have issued an urgent warning over the 'unprecedented' risk posed by a lab-made life which could wipe out mankind. So-called 'mirror life' are synthetic organisms that are constructed out of mirrored versions of the molecules found in nature. Experts warn that these mirror organisms would be 'invisible' to life on Earth, allowing them to slip past the immune defences of all known organisms. If mirror bacteria were to escape from the lab, there would be nothing to prevent them from establishing themselves in the wild and threatening plants, animals, and humans with lethal infections. The creation of mirror...

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “sustained an injury” during a congressional delegation trip to a World War II battlefield in Luxembourg, her office revealed on Friday. Pelosi, 84, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in the Western European nation — but was injured and later “admitted to the hospital for evaluation,” according to her spokesman Ian Krager. “Speaker Emerita Pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals,” Krager said in a statement. “She continues to work and regrets that she is unable to attend the remainder...

Crystal Mangum, the former exotic dancer who accused three Duke men’s lacrosse players of rape in 2006, igniting a national firestorm, now says she lied about the encounter. “I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong. And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said on the web show “Let’s Talk with Kat,” hosted by Katerena DePasquale. The interview took place at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is serving time for a 2013 second-degree murder conviction for stabbing...