Free Republic

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday night said a “very close encounter” at the Capitol riot left her thinking she would die. Ocasio-Cortez disclosed the incident in an Instagram live stream, without providing specific details due to security concerns. “I can tell you that I had a very close encounter, where I thought I was going to die,” the Queens-Bronx Democrat told viewer

(CNN)Black newborn babies in the United States are more likely to survive childbirth if they are cared for by Black doctors, but three times more likely to die when looked after by White doctors, a study has found. The mortality rate of Black newborns shrunk by between 39% and 58% when Black physicians took charge of the birth, according to the research, which laid bare how shocking racial disparities in human health can affect even the first hours of a person's life. By contrast, the mortality rate for White babies was largely unaffected by the doctor's race. The findings support...

The hand-to-hand combat lasted hours, on steep, jagged terrain, with iron bars, rocks and fists. Neither side carried guns. Most of the soldiers killed in the worst fighting between India and China in 60 years lost their footing or were knocked from the narrow Himalayan ridge, plunging to their deaths. A day after reports of the “violent face-off” in the western Himalayas emerged, Indian news outlets began naming some of the dead and a clearer picture started to build of what transpired on Monday night on the high, steep ridge lines above the fast-flowing Galwan River. SNIP Reinforcements from...

An estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This means it was the deadliest season in more than four decades -- since 1976, the date of the first published paper reporting total seasonal flu deaths, said CDC Spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. In previous seasons, flu-related deaths have ranged from a low of about 12,000 during the 2011-2012 season to a high of about 56,000 during the 2012-2013. Flu caused an estimated 80,000 deaths last fall and winterThe 2017-18 season ranks as the deadliest in more than four...

Last November, the voters of Washington State shocked their betters in board rooms, editorial offices, university administrations, and the leadership of both parties by rejecting Referendum 88, an attempt by state Democrats to bring back affirmative action, which had been prohibited in a 1998 referendum. This new, revived affirmative action, they claimed, would not permit quotas or preferential treatment. Referendum 88 disingenuously defined preferential treatment as using race, sex, or ethnicity “as the sole qualifying factor to select a less qualified applicant over a more qualified applicant” in public education, employment, or contracting. This would have offered an open door...

The University of California has been requiring prospective faculty members to affirm that they support diversity. This was Orwellian in its own right—reminiscent of the university system's 1950s loyalty oaths, which required faculty to attest that they were not members of the Communist Party. It now appears that at one campus, UC-Berkeley, the diversity initiative goes much further than previously understood. Whether a candidate has proposed a specific, concrete plan to advance diversity is now being used as a litmus test for some positions. No candidate who fails the test can even be considered for employment. Abigail Thompson, a UC-Davis...

We’ve recently been discussing the use of mandatory “diversity statements” for academic job candidates, and the University of California’s commitment to not just using them in all searches, but giving these statements precedence in the hiring process, so that if your statement doesn’t exceed a minimum numerical cutoff for promoting diversity, increasing it in your past, and promulgating it in the future should you be hired, your candidacy is terminated (see here and here). This practice of making candidates not only swear fealty to diversity, but also show a history of concerted efforts to increase it, has been controversial, deemed...

The Trump administration last week announced plans to ban most flavored e-cigarettes. New York just announced an emergency order to ban flavored vaping. A sixth person has died from vaping-related lung disease, according to the alarmists in news media. CNN has proudly signaled its virtue by announcing it will no longer run Juul and other e-cigarette ads. A few weeks ago, my son shared with me that his public school anti-drug program focused almost entirely on discouraging vaping. That’s right, our leaders have prioritized the “threat” of vaping over heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and smoking.

So much injustice everywhere. Those deserving of severe punishment and/or execution don't receive it, and yet this man with all of his wealth and connections does die? Now, reports say his cell mate was transferred prior to his death. If all of those inmates who haven't been executed for crimes far worse than Jeffrey's haven't been executed, isn't it time for prison reform?

The mantra of Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity (DIE) perhaps constitutes the primary identifying factor of the tiny minority of radical collectivist ideologues that nonetheless have come to dominate the humanities and social sciences in Western universities (and, increasingly, the HR departments of corporations). Of these three, equity is the most egregious, self-righteous, historically-ignorant and dangerous. “Equity” is a term designed to signal “equality,” in some manner, and is a term designed to appeal to the natural human tendency toward fairness, but it does not mean the classic equality of the West, which is equality before the law and equality of...

NEW YORK — Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Russian meddling “certainly had an impact” on the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Feeling a bit optimistic today . . The Left Wins Big with Covington and Smollett

After the assassination attempt on Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and other Republican members of Congress, I wrote that “the caustic and toxic gasoline of hate speech” was inviting someone “to light the match that will ignite a bond fire of political assassinations…” A year later the rhetoric and actions of the left have gotten worse and borders on incitement to violence against those who implement and support the Trump agenda. Unfortunately, it is encouraged by little condemnation and therefore tacit approval of much of the Democratic and mainstream media leadership. A few examples: Entertainer Samantha Bee calling the President’s daughter...

In March 2017, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) successfully delayed for 11 days Senate ratification of Montenegro's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). America's leading advocate for NATO expansion, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) responded by accusing Paul of "achieving the objectives of Vladimir Putin...of trying to dismember this small country." "I repeat again," McCain said then, remarkably. "The senator from Kentucky is now working for Vladimir Putin." Perhaps even more remarkably, though not very surprisingly, McCain is unapologetic about that accusation in his valedictory new memoir, The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations. "Senator...

GENEVA — An unexpected snowstorm coupled with high winds killed four climbers in the Swiss Alps and left five others in critical condition early Monday after they became trapped overnight and couldn’t reach shelter, officials said. A total of 14 hikers from France, Germany and Italy were left stranded in the Pigne d’Arolla region, police in southwestern Valais canton said. Authorities deployed seven helicopters as part of rescue efforts. The climbers were caught off-guard by high winds, snow and bitter cold, and were forced to spend the night outdoors, Valais police spokesman Markus Rieder said.

N. Korea lambasts Russel for his 'immediately die' comment 2016/10/15 20:37 SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Saturday vehemently shot back at a comment made by a top U.S. official on East Asia. In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, reported by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday evening, Pyongyang called Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Russel's comment "hurting the dignity" of its leader and threatened to pay it back. Previously, Russel told U.S. defense reporters "Put yourself in Kim Jong-un's place. That is not a good place to be. Perhaps he's got an enhanced...

Someone please give me some tips on how to close my Facebook account.

An effective way to fight terrorism...let the terrorists know that when they are killed committing an act of terrorism, their bodies will be covered with pig skins and buried for eternity covered in pig skin. Maybe even with a pig's genitalia placed inside their mouth and sewn shut. And remind them that no virgins will want anything to do with them after that.......

A north Alabama family is trying to pick up the pieces after six children lost their parents to separate circumstances in the same weekend. Jennifer and Toby Norsworthy were known as a loving and generous couple who put their family above all else. That family is quite extensive, with many of them traveling to Huntsville to be with them during this time. "Toby and Jennifer were all about family," said his mother, Tami Norsworthy. Jennifer Norsworthy, 40, had a history of blood clots. The family said one formed in her sleep last Friday. She was rushed to Madison Hospital where...