Free Republic

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 70. I got my shingles vaccination in 2018. I took two doses of the Shingrix vaccine. I was invited to dinner at someone’s house where someone just got shingles. Am I still protected? -- S.C. ANSWER: About 99% of North Americans are immune to the varicella-zoster virus that causes chicken pox and shingles, either because they had it as a child or because they got the vaccine. Exposure to the virus, whether it was due to chicken pox or shingles, can cause chicken pox in a person who does not have immunity.

This opossum had a big day at LAX! The little critter didn't quite make his way through TSA though, eventually getting nabbed by animal control. All's well that ends well, however ... we were told he would be released in a local park!

When the International Criminal Court needed a top adviser to justify an appalling arrest warrant for Bibi Netanyahu, its members turned to Amal Clooney. The ultra-liberal British human rights lawyer – and the wife of George Clooney – was happy to comply. In a statement referring to "Palestine," she said both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar are guilty of war crimes. Think about that for a moment. Hamas murders civilians deliberately, as we saw with the Oct. 7 massacre that started this war, the largest one-day death toll since the Holocaust. Israel at least tries to minimize civilian casualties...

Already facing scandal, the Washington Post's new-ish CEO and publisher, Will Lewis, has announced that the newspaper will be pivoting to artificial intelligence to turn around its dismal financial situation. As Semafor media industry editor Max Tani tweeted, Lewis told Post staffers today that the newspaper will be looking for ways to use AI in its reporting as it seeks to recoup some of the $77 million it lost last year.

“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin argued that “White privilege” and “pretty privilege” played a role in Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s popularity during the ABC talk show Wednesday. “I do think that there is a thing called pretty privilege. There is a thing called White privilege. There is a thing called tall privilege, and we have to acknowledge that, and so part of it is about race, because if you think about the Brittney Griners of the world, why did she have to go to play in Russia? Because they wouldn’t pay her,” Hostin said, referring to the WNBA. The...

Dove, 2017 Jaws dropped when Dove debuted a three-second Facebook advertisement in which an African-American woman removed her shirt and magically transformed into a white woman. Critics decried that it was reminiscent of racist soap ads from the last century that showed black people scrubbing their skin to become white. Dove removed the clip almost immediately and apologized, saying the post had “missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully.”

Anglo-Catholicism, movement that emphasizes the Catholic rather than the Protestant heritage of the Anglican Communion. It was an outgrowth of the 19th-century Oxford Movement (q.v.), which sought to renew Catholic thought and practice in the Church of England. The term Anglo-Catholic was first used in some of the writings of leaders of the Oxford Movement who wished to demonstrate the historical continuity of the English (Anglican) Church with Catholic Christianity.

Alas, the poor phone book. Once, it was the cornerstone of American connection, an indispensable resource people relied on to find pizza shops, plumbers, and the number of the cute girl in math class. But now, when a new phone book lands on a homeowner’s doorstep, the tome most often gets tossed in the recycling bin. They might be used to press flowers, or as a booster seat or a door stop, but fewer and fewer phone books are used for what they were originally intended, to look up telephone numbers.

Since 1948, Palestinians living in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza have remained effectively stateless, caught in the limbo of a decades-long peace process that has yielded neither peace nor a state to call their own. But on Wednesday, three European countries—Ireland, Norway, and Spain—announced their decision to officially recognize a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The decision is set to go into effect on May 28. Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Simon Harris, who announced the decision in a press conference, likened Palestinians’ bid for self-determination to the Irish people’s history seeking international recognition of their independence in 1919. “Today,...

State and local governments across the US are grappling with a growing problem: Expensive drugs to treat diabetes and obesity are threatening to drain their health-care budgets. State health plans and Medicaid offices are seeing eye-popping bills for Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic, its sister drug Wegovy and similar medications known as GLP-1s. They’re a breakthrough for treating two of the most complex chronic health conditions. But with list prices stretching above $1,000 a month, the costs threaten to empty government coffers. “It’s not sustainable,” North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell, who oversees state workers’ health insurance, lamented at a recent board...

For those who are looking to slim down and achieve an all-around healthier lifestyle, Ozempic and other popular weight-loss drugs are currently all the rage. But as with any weight-loss method, it's essential to make some serious life changes to support the journey and healthily maintain your new goal weight. This includes implementing necessary diet tweaks. Get excited, because Nestlé is making the entire task a whole lot simpler with their new food line, "Vital Pursuit," for Ozempic users, which will launch in the latter part of 2024.

The downturn of the pandemic economy has hit many groups hard. But for many millennials — those born between 1981 and 1996 — and Generation Z, who follow them, that pain — plus a number of other factors — are creating questions about who is responsible. Over the next few nights, economics correspondent Paul Solman is going to examine this. He begins tonight from the perspective of some millennials.

The rotary dial phone was once the be all and end all of the telephones. Like the cellphone of today, everybody had one, and they ruled domestic communications for decades. But that all changed in the 1980s when they were supplanted by a new upstart, push-button telephones. Their days were numbered (pun intended). Many born after the 1990s have likely never seen one, which is a shame. But for those who do remember, join us as we take a trip back in time in remembrance of this glorious piece of telecommunications history.

This was written by the husband and wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Mann had just signed a record deal and recorded this song himself, but his version was pulled when The Animals released the song. Mann and Weil were very productive in the mid-'60s, as they made the transition from writing fluffy pop songs like "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" to songs with more of a message, which appealed to rock bands like The Animals. The Animals producer Mickie Most heard this song and had the band record it. He was looking for American material...

Ivan F. Boesky, the flamboyant stock trader whose cooperation with the government cracked open one of the largest insider trading scandals in the history of Wall Street, has died at the age of 87. A representative at the Marianne Boesky Gallery, owned by Ivan Boesky’s daughter, confirmed his death. No other details were given.

That’s a wrap. An Indiana judge has seemingly settled the highly-disputed sandwich definition debate after ruling that tacos and burritos fit the bill during a recent legal case. “Tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches,” hero-ic Allen Superior Judge Craig J. Bobay declared in the ruling, per a court document blowing up online. The wrap battle was sparked in 2022 after restaurateur Martin Quintana unveiled plans to open his restaurant The Famous Taco Mexican Grill in the 11,000-square-foot Quintana strip mall in Fort Wayne, CBS 4 reported. The Allen County Planning commission rejected his bid based on a prior “written commitment”...

We all came out to Montreux On the Lake Geneva shoreline To make records with a mobile We didn't have much time But Frank Zappa and the Mothers Were at the best place around But some stupid with a flare gun Burned the place to the ground

Edible Spiders: Can you eat tarantula? Why, yes you can. In this article I’ll be eating spiders in Cambodia (Deep fried tarantulas) – In the capital city, Phnom Penh. Surprisingly, this once hugely common dish has all but disappeared from major cities. We had to do some serious internet research to discover where to chew some tarantulas, without having to go out to rural areas. We finally tracked down a restaurant that keeps many a live edible tarantula on the premises so that edible spiders are a permanent menu option

Prosecco is Italy's answer to champagne—a white sparkling wine that's available from dry to semi-sweet. Prosecco has protected status to ensure quality and is only produced in the Veneto region in northeast Italy. The bright and effervescent wine features flavors of melon, pear, and honeysuckle, and is lovely for toasts, sipping, pairing with foods, and making cocktails. It is relatively low in alcohol.

DONGYANG, China (Reuters) - It's the end of a school day in the eastern Chinese city of Dongyang, and eager parents collect their children after a hectic day of primary school. But that's just the start of busy times for dozens of egg vendors across the city, deep in coastal Zhejiang province, who ready themselves to cook up a unique springtime snack favored by local residents. Basins and buckets of boys' urine are collected from primary school toilets. It is the key ingredient in "virgin boy eggs", a local tradition of soaking and cooking eggs in the urine of young...