Free Republic

A new study reveals a unique look at how junk food rewires the brain's memory hub—leading to risk of cognitive dysfunction. This new research opens the door to early interventions that can prevent even long-term memory loss associated with obesity. Led by Juan Song, Ph.D., researchers found that a special group of brain cells in the hippocampus, called CCK interneurons, become overly active after eating a high-fat diet (HFD), due to an impaired ability of the brain to receive glucose (sugar). This overactivity disrupts how the hippocampus processes memory, even after just a few days of high fat diet. This...

An Israeli survivor of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on the Nova musical festival who saw his girlfriend murdered in front of him has been found dead. Roei Shalev's body was recovered on Friday evening near Tel Aviv. Hours earlier the 30-year-old wrote on social media that "I just want this suffering to end. I'm alive, but inside everything is dead". He also asked for forgiveness. Shalev's mother took her own life two weeks after the Hamas attack. Shalev died three days after the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack. During the attack he tried to shield his girlfriend...

A research team has discovered that atorvastatin, a widely used cholesterol-lowering drug, could become a powerful new weapon in the fight against liver cancer. Liver cancer is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide and is often diagnosed at an advanced stage when surgery is no longer an option. Current treatments such as targeted drugs and immunotherapy have limited success. For patients with advanced liver cancer, especially those with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, formerly known as NAFLD), which is caused by a high-fat diet, treatment options are limited and outcomes are poor. The research team uncovered a novel therapeutic...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We’re into day two of National Guardsmen in the city of Memphis, and already, they have boots on the ground in communities across the city. They join the hundreds of federal agents and Tennessee State Troopers who have already made their presence known in the city. “I feel like all the criminals are hiding right now, and when all of this goes away, all of those rats are coming out,” said Rosa Avina, Memphis resident. “I feel like the Hispanic community really doesn’t have a voice right now. Why? Because everybody is really scared,” said Avina. “A...

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that he will direct Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th” as the government shutdown nears its third week. After the Senate failed to approve spending legislation this week, military members were preparing to go without their paychecks on Wednesday for the first time in U.S. history. We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS,” the president wrote in the social media post Saturday. “I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military,...

A federal appeals court has ruled that US President Donald Trump's administration cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois. The Chicago-based US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit also ruled that the force could remain under federal control for now. The decision partially upheld a lower court ruling that blocked the deployment of troops in the Chicago area, which said it was "likely to lead to civil unrest" and "only add fuel to the fire". Trump has previously sent the National Guard to other Democratic-led cities, such as Los Angeles, Washington DC and Portland, Oregon. He has argued troops...

Firefights broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late on Saturday, with the Afghan Taliban attacking Pakistani posts, according to security officials from both countries, following a Pakistani airstrike in Kabul this week. Pakistani security officials said that they were responding "with full force" to what they called unprovoked firing from Afghanistan. The exchange of fire took place at more than six locations along the border, they said.

Israel moves prisoners ahead of Gaza deal exchangeIsrael has begun transferring prisoners to two jails ahead of their release as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, designed to lead to the release of hostages held by Hamas, the prison service said on Saturday.Thousands of staff, including prison officers, “operated throughout the night in order to implement the government’s decision: ‘The framework for the release of all Israeli hostages’,” a statement said, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).Under the truce deal Israel is supposed to release 250 prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks. In exchange, Hamas has until Monday to...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Harvard University can be sued by families who allege the school mishandled the bodies of their loved ones donated to its medical school, allowing body parts to be sold on the black market. In a unanimous decision, Justice Scott Kafker wrote that a lower court judge erred in dismissing the lawsuits, saying the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged that Harvard failed to act in good faith in handling the remains. "It had a legal obligation to provide for the dignified treatment and disposal of the donated human remains, and failed miserably in this regard,...

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin on Friday encouraged New Yorkers to vote for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee in the New York City mayoral race, just weeks ahead of Election Day. "He’s running to make NYC more affordable for everyone and has captured the nation’s attention with his incredible campaign," Martin, who was elected by fellow Democrats to his position earlier this year, wrote in a post on X in a thread highlighting downballot Democratic candidates with election coming up soon. "Go vote for Zohran this November!" Asked Saturday if Friday’s tweet was an endorsement of Mamdani from Martin,...

Veterans of shutdowns of the past 30 years say there’s little passion, among lawmakers and constituents, over this shutdown.Congress’s impasse over funding the government has now left federal agencies partially shuttered for more than 10 days, with no end clearly in sight. Yet the vibes on Capitol Hill were almost standard operating procedure.Thursday night, senators debated and voted on a defense-spending bill. Then, at 9:35 p.m., the Senate closed up shop for the week. Senators went home for the holiday weekend, with next votes slated for Tuesday evening.And before 11 a.m. Friday, House leaders sent notice they had formally canceled...

Silver is spiking simultaneously across the globe: China’s e-commerce platform JD.com lists silver at $59 per ounce. London’s lease rate rockets to a historic 19%. Physical shortages in Asia &The West. -$50 dollars is the new floor on Silver with no resistance above. -Silver short sellers will get their faces ripped off. (polite way of saying it) -Earlier this week the SLV lease rate spiked to over 12% -Today LBMA lease rate hit 19% -China industrial silver users hoarding physical silver All indicating a global silver shortage China’s state-run Chengtong Precious Metals—the direct descendant of the State Council Ministry of...

Six years after Democrats pursued the impeachment case, many of the allegations have crumbled in the face of two convictions, the pardons of Hunter Biden and others, as well as new evidence uncovered by Congress from the FBI, the Justice Dept and the CIA. Two powerful committee chairmen in Congress tell Just the News it is time to declassify evidence submitted by an alleged intelligence community whistleblower that prompted the first impeachment trial against President Donald Trump for his efforts to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings in Ukraine. Six years after Democrats pursued the impeachment case over a...

In women with type 2 diabetes (T2D), use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) skin patches is not associated with a higher risk of blood clots or stroke. However, an increased cardiovascular risk was found for oral HRT, according to a large real-world study. Among the findings are an analysis revealing women with T2D who took the oral form of HRT doubled their risk of developing a pulmonary embolism (PE—when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lung) and faced a 21% increased risk of heart disease compared with those receiving transdermal HRT (skin patches). "Our study suggests that up...

More than 500 migrants crossed the Channel in just one day, taking this year's total to over 36,000 in a humiliating blow to Labour's 'one in, one out' policy. Around 1,659 migrants in 23 boats arrived on British shores in the past three days, Home Office figures say. And, on Wednesday alone, over a thousand people made the perilous journey across the English Channel. Now, a total of 58,718 migrants have entered the UK by boat since Labour took office, with 36,060 making the crossing so far this year. It comes as the Government's 'one in, one out' scheme was...

Financial problems at the maker of spark plugs, wiper blades, brake calipers, brake shoes, tow hitches and motor oil has caused intense anxiety on Wall Street in recent weeks. Car parts are not usually something that causes finance chiefs to lose much sleep. But the potentially multi-billion dollar financial crisis surrounding First Brands has them rattled. As ever in finance, it’s what investors don’t know that scares the most, and with First Brands, there appears to be plenty. What is First Brands?First Brands was founded by the Malaysian-born businessman Patrick James. Starting life as Ohio-based Crowne Group, James acquired Trico,...

It is becoming harder to get away with lying in the age of independent media. Progressives in particular are struggling to safeguard the sacred belief that the planet is on the verge of melting because naughty plebeians keep driving SUVs and using air conditioning.Climate change devotees are willing to lie to defend this article of faith. Ray Sanders, an engineer by trade, realized this as he double-checked the calculations of the Met Office, the U.K. government agency responsible for guessing whether it will rain in Blighty tomorrow.The Met is also known for making bold prognostications about the conditions expected half-a-century...

CAIRO (AP) — As the Middle East broadly welcomes a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Iran finds itself at one of its weakest moments since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tehran has operated its self-described “Axis of Resistance” over several decades, supporting militant groups and nations allied with it against Israel and the United States. But as Israel bombed the Gaza Strip, it also turned its crosshairs toward top leaders abroad in militant groups like Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and even the top echelon within Iran’s military and nuclear program — killing many and disrupting their ability to fight back....

This video on Rare Earth Minerals explains a lot of what is unfolding with China. China was blackmailing other countries to stop them from shipping rare eart elements to the US.

Republicans are on the defensive as Democrats have successfully made the shutdown fight about health care. Most Republicans said they don’t want to see insurance premiums spike, but neither are they willing to openly support the extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits Democrats are asking for. While the GOP has remained united in refusing to even entertain the idea of an extension in the context of ending the shutdown, Republicans don’t appear to have an alternate plan for what happens next. “We’re open to a lot of different things. And the president wants to make health...