Free Republic

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Monday ordered the New York State Police to increase surveillance and protection for at-risk communities in the wake of the deadly shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo. “I have directed the New York State Police to ramp up monitoring and increase support for communities that are potential targets of hate crimes. Here in New York, we will not tolerate violence or bigotry toward any community,” Hochul said in a statement. A gunman on Sunday killed five people and wounded 25 others at Colorado’s Club Q nightclub, on the eve of...

If you haven't gotten your Covid booster shot yet, public health experts say BA.5 is a prime reason to get it — and soon. The Covid subvariant appears to be the virus's most transmissible strain thus far, powering a nationwide surge in new cases that hasn't slowed since March. That's a problem, even as hospitalizations and deaths remain relatively low: The longer Covid circulates, the more likely it is to mutate into a form that's both transmissible and severe.

Amazon Studios released “All In: The Fight for Democracy” on Prime Video on Sept. 18. It’s directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmakers Garbus and Cortés and focuses on Stacey Abrams, who ran as the Democratic Party’s nominee in the 2018 gubernatorial election in Georgia and was the first Black woman to be a major-party gubernatorial nominee in the United States. She narrowly lost to Republican Brian Kemp, who was accused by Abrams of voter suppression activities after he refused to resign as secretary of state while campaigning for governor. The campaign for “All In” is targeting voter registration and education...

Last summer, two at-risk teens – Or, 18, and Ben, 17 – came to a unique sleepaway camp run by My Piece of the Puzzle, an Israeli nonprofit that integrates youth at risk and youth with special needs. From day one, these boys were aiming to get kicked out. UNCOVER ISRAEL - Get the ISRAEL21c Weekly Edition free by email Sign Up Now! “They didn’t follow directions at all, did whatever they wanted and weren’t nice to me or any of the counselors,” cofounder Jenna Elbaz tells ISRAEL21c. “They made fun of the rules, smoked cigarettes during activities, made fun...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Deer hunting could be a dangerous endeavor for men with heart disease or risk factors for it, research findings suggest. In a study of 25 middle-aged male deer hunters, researchers found that the activities inherent to hunting -- like walking over rough terrain, shooting an animal and dragging its carcass -- sent the men's heart rates up significantly. In some cases, this led to potentially dangerous heart-rhythm disturbances, or diminished oxygen supply to the heart. Of the 25 hunters, 17 had established coronary heart disease, while the rest had risk factors such as being overweight,...

The Chronicle for Higher Education is reporting that the National Academy of Sciences has published a paper on how terrorists could kill tens of thousands of people by dropping a few grams of botulinum toxin into a milk truck or storage silo. The Academy published the paper over protests by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The paper, authored by two Stanford University researchers, was scheduled to have been published in the academy's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences a month ago but the academy had held the paper because of the concerns leveled by HHS. The...

In the board game Jenga, a tower of wooden blocks is erected. Players remove one block at a time from the tower, and then stack it on top. As each successive block is removed, the tower becomes increasingly precarious. The game ends when the tower's foundation can no longer bear the weight of the structure built on top of it, and the tower falls. The Supreme Court's recent decisions in the Ten Commandments cases are a form of constitutional Jenga. Think of our system of government and the liberties it grants as a Jenga tower. In our analogy, the blocks...

This week, the Supreme Court of the United States once again proved that it is a feckless, dictatorial and altogether ridiculous body. Its latest spate of decisions reveals legislative usurpation, disingenuous deference and silly inconsistency. But, of course, what else should we expect from the court that tells us our Constitution protects pornography but not political advertising, sodomy but not the Ten Commandments, and mentally disabled murderers but not private property? For those disinterested enough not to gasp in horror at each new judicial outrage, it is fascinating to watch as the Supreme Court gradually turns the Constitution on its...

There was a short article in my local newspaper (The Home News Tribune) yesterday about our just-departed "Gay-American" Governor. Seems he donated blood-without disclosing his sexual preferences to the Blood Bank. The Blood Bank ,in this area,anyway,has a policy of not accepting blood donations from those who practice a gay lifestyle,because there is (in the Blood Bank's opinion) an increased risk of tainting the blood supply with HIV,and infecting someone down the line with AIDS. Heartwarming,isn't it ???

Statements by some trial lawyers that they are all but ready to oppose emerging measures to overhaul the state's dreadful workers' compensation insurance system seem to show intent to derail this critically important legislation -- even before a bill has been drafted. Obstinacy harms almost everyone when dealing with complex, contentious legislation like workers' compensation reform. The system as it exists is indefensible. Period. It must be changed. Now. At this critical juncture, no interested party -- trial lawyers, treatment providers and their professional associations, unions, non-represented workers, business groups, insurance companies -- should be taking absolutist positions. With that...