Free Republic

“Doctors are being paid to vaccinate, not to evaluate,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a recent video.“They’re pressured to follow the money, not the science.”Doctors administer dozens of vaccines to many children in the United States. Adults are also advised to receive multiple shots.Here’s what to know about vaccines and payments.What Does the Literature Say?A review of studies confirms that some doctors profit from vaccinating.In a 2020 paper, researchers found when analyzing three years’ worth of vaccination claims for five Colorado clinics that reimbursements averaged 125 percent of costs, making administering vaccines “financially favorable across the practices.”Another...

A nasal spray typically used to relieve allergy symptoms may help combat COVID-19, according to a new study. People who received the azelastine nasal spray in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Germany were less likely to test positive for COVID-19, researchers reported on Sept. 2.Only 5 participants administered the spray had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, compared to 15 in the placebo group, they said.Spray recipients also had a lower incidence of rhinovirus infections.The single-center trial involved 450 people receiving the spray or a placebo three times a day for 56 days. The trial lasted from March 2023 to July 2024.“Azelastine nasal spray...

We're all guilty of saving something 'for a special occasion' - but it turns out when doing so, we might just be ruining the very thing we're waiting for. One man learnt this the hard way after keeping a bottle of whisky for 17 long years, only to be left gutted when he finally came to open it to savour its taste. Taking to Reddit, he revealed how he tucked away a bottle of Johnnie Walker Green Label almost two decades ago - and completely forgot about it until recently. However, when he went to open it, he found the...

President Donald Trump is riding a wave of strong public support, with a new poll showing his highest approval rating yet since returning to office. According to a Daily Mail/J.L. Partners survey released Thursday, Trump holds a 55 percent approval rating among registered voters—a six-point jump from July. “This is the highest approval figure we have ever shown for Donald Trump,” said J.L. Partners co-founder James Johnson. The poll, conducted between August 21 and September 1 with 867 registered voters, has a margin of error of 3.3 percent. Despite constant media attacks and left-wing outrage over his policies, Trump’s America...

Dear Chuck, My parents are retired and have a very low interest rate on a small amount of remaining mortgage. They told me they want to sell their home and rent, thinking they will save money. I am gathering information to help them. Would you suggest they rent or keep owning their home? Retired: Rent or Buy?Dear Retired: Rent or Buy?It depends. I don’t have the full financial picture of your parents, so I don’t want to give advice based on false assumptions. Let me disclose a few assumptions from your question:They are feeling financially insecure.Their home value is...

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s sister and nephew called on the secretary to resign Friday after he questioned the safety of vaccination while testifying before a congressional committee.

For many high school students returning to class, it may seem like geometry and trigonometry were created by the Greeks as a form of torture. So imagine our amazement when we heard two high school seniors had proved a mathematical puzzle that was thought to be impossible for two thousand years. We met Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson at their all-girls Catholic high school in New Orleans. And, as we first reported last year, we expected to find two mathematical prodigies. Instead, we found at St. Mary's Academy, all students are told their possibilities are boundless. Come Mardi Gras season,...

A Purdue University professor has confirmed the historical existence of 53 biblical figures mentioned in the Bible, lending new weight to discussions about the Bible’s connection to real-world history. Lawrence Mykytiuk, emeritus professor of library science, has spent decades analyzing ancient inscriptions to determine whether they refer to the same biblical figures recorded in Scripture. His findings include kings, pharaohs, governors, and scribes — names that appear both in archaeological records and biblical accounts. The confirmed names span multiple ancient empires, including Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Mykytiuk’s list includes well-known rulers such as King...

Note: View a copy of the criminal complaint.Four people were charged for their roles in a scheme to smuggle children from Mexico into the United States, sometimes using candy laced with THC to sedate them during smuggling events.“This Department of Justice is investigating and prosecuting human smuggling more aggressively than ever before, and Joint Task Force Alpha is the tip of the spear,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will not rest until those who profit from the suffering of vulnerable people — including many unaccompanied children — face severe, comprehensive justice.”“These defendants allegedly risked the lives of children...

Crafting a resume can be a stressful affair, and job seekers often rack their brains thinking of ways to stand out from other candidates. One TikToker, who goes by the handle Justcreatingmything, decided that the best way to apply for a job at F&B company BreadTalk would be to do a little arts and crafts. In a video uploaded last Monday (Sept 1), he showed how he had made a 'sponge cake' as his application for the bakery. "Everyone sends resumes... I sent BreadTalk a cake," he said in the caption. To create the 'sponge cake', he took a yellow...

Federal authorities say 475 people were detained this week in what Homeland Security Investigations called the largest single-site enforcement operation in its history.The raid took place Thursday at the HLGA battery plant site in southeast Georgia, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, as part of a months-long probe into alleged unlawful employment practices and other federal crimes. U.S. Attorney Meg Heap and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Steve Schrank said the operation followed a judicial search warrant and focused on employers suspected of exploiting undocumented workers. Officials stressed the effort was not a...

Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, faces five felony charges related to voter fraud for registering her dog to vote. According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Yourex submitted mail-in ballots under the name Maya Jean Yourex, her dog’s name, during the 2021 gubernatorial recall election and the 2022 primary. The first ballot was successfully counted, while the second was challenged and rejected, officials said. Last October, Yourex self-reported the crime to the Orange County Registrar of Voters, which in turn reported it to local authorities. An investigation was launched which determined that Yourex had registered Maya Jean...

A U.S. Department of State (DOS) employee was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for conspiring to collect and transmit national defense information to individuals he believed to be working for the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).“The defendant threw away his career, betrayed his country, and abused the trust the United States placed in him by granting his Top-Secret security clearance. He will spend years of his life in prison for passing classified information to individuals he believed to be Chinese government agents,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Today’s sentence serves...

It was one of the most horrific stories of the entire Israel-Hamas conflict, or any conflict. Back in late May, a retired Green Beret named Anthony Aguilar, who had been working with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), claimed that he witnessed an incident of such shocking heartlessness and inhumanity that it seemed destined to be remembered as one of the most cruel war crimes in the entire history of the world. There was just one catch: it has now been definitively established that not a word of it was true.Aguilar said that while he was working with the GHF, he...

[H/T CheshireTheCat]New VAERS study finds major signals for fetal death, preterm birth, paralysis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, heart failure, thrombocytopenia, and mini-strokes.A new peer-reviewed pharmacovigilance study just published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics analyzed nearly 18,000 adverse event reports tied to the three FDA-approved RSV vaccines — Pfizer’s Abrysvo, GSK’s Arexvy, and Moderna’s mRESVIA.The findings are alarming: Pfizer’s vaccine generated 103 positive safety signals, including fetal death, hemorrhage in pregnancy, and preterm birth, while GSK’s vaccine generated 91 signals, including paralysis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and mini-strokes. Both carried strong signals for immune destruction (thrombocytopenia) and serious neurological damage — in some cases appearing...

“House Speaker Mike Johnson has claimed that President Donald Trump was once an 'FBI informant' in relation to Jeffrey Epstein's illegal activities. Johnson made the stunning comments in the halls of Congress on Friday after being pressed by CNN's Manu Raju about Trump routinely calling the Epstein files controversy a Democrat-invented 'hoax'.”

resident Donald Trump warned on Friday that Venezuelan planes will be "shot down" if they put the United States in a "dangerous position." Why It Matters Trump's warning comes after the Pentagon said two Venezuelan planes flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters amid an expanded U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean. The comment comes as Washington and Caracas trade increasingly sharp warnings following a U.S. strike this week on a boat the administration says was tied to the Venezuelan-linked Tren de Aragua gang. The exchange raises questions about the risk of further military escalation in the...

Ilhan Omar promotes socialist nonsense as her wealth skyrockets. What a hypocrite.B (Can only be linked to, according to FR rules.)

At 87, Academy Award-winning actor Jane Fonda is pouring her energy into activism. Earlier this year, she made headlines after delivering a fiery critique of the Trump administration while accepting a SAG-AFTRA award for lifetime achievement. "This is not the time to go inward," Fonda says of the current political climate. "We have to go out, we have to speak, we have to shout, we have to find nonviolent ways to avoid what's happening — which we're very, very close to becoming fascist in this country." Fonda is no stranger to politics — or controversy. In the 1970s she received...

Donald Trump has signed an executive order to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War.