Free Republic

A distorted view of COVID control measures has become an obstacle for quality science, researchers reveal Researchers have found that preventing COVID-19 deaths has been elevated to a “sacred value” in society, such that those who question pandemic restrictions are morally condemned. Meanwhile deaths, abuses of power, and public shaming that occur in the name of “preventing COVID” are deemed acceptable. The unprecedented restrictions placed upon Western civilizations in 2020 would likely have been met with protest a year earlier. But, when issued in the name of COVID-19 mitigation, people are more likely to accept what otherwise might be regarded...

The Biden administration has waived ethics rules to allow a top Department of Homeland Security official to make policy in areas on which she lobbied for her former employer, Amnesty International. A memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget, dated Feb. 9 and released publicly on Friday, spelled out the rationale for waiving those rules for Charanya Krishnaswami, the senior counselor to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "Without this waiver, the adjustments that would be necessary to maintain Ms. Krishnaswami’s recusal are anticipated to result in serious limitations and inefficiencies in the Department," acting OMB director Robert Fairweather...

Yes, they were feverishly working on a vaccine. But why were they not as frantically looking for a cure or treatment? And why were they continuous knocking down every possible treatment that was suggested? I knew something was amiss when the pandemic hit. I have four degrees in the field of psychology including a PhD. My years of training and experience were telling me something wasn’t right. My BS detector as all the best psychologists would call it kept going off. I just kept wondering why our National health leaders kept putting the burden of handling the spread on us?...

Globalization has afforded non-governmental organizations, the ultra wealthy, and Big Tech power and influence on a global scale once reserved for the world’s superpower states. The World Economic Forum, which describes itself as an international organization for public-private co-operation, has proposed a “Great Reset” initiative to rework global economics to address the challenges of the post-pandemic world. The WEF paints a picture of a 2030 in which America will lose its place as the preeminent superpower, a billion people will be displaced by climate change, carbon will be taxed globally, and “you will own nothing and be happy.” The WEF...

"With great power comes even greater responsibility." Though this maxim most-likely was born in French politics of the 18th century, it very much applies to our elected officials in the 21st century. But, far from just a hopeful, high-minded missive, in our system of government there are actually built-in laws and rules that require this “greater responsibility“ from our political leaders--our ethics laws. Though not nearly as high-profile as votes, floor speeches, and TV interviews, Members must be aware they are now governed by a set of rules designed to ensure integrity and transparency and it's critical they follow them....

..... For pro-life Americans, however, there remains the serious ethical concern over the use of cells harvested from aborted fetuses in testing and developing the various coronavirus vaccines. How is one to make a moral judgment in weighing the cost of taking one of these two vaccines against the cost of waiting for the release of others in which fetal cell lines played no role at all? Neither of the two pro-life advocates I spoke with on the topic — Dr. Joseph Meaney, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, or Dr. Tara Sander Lee, a senior fellow at the...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced a new set of physical requirements for its field officers in 2015. For the first time since the year 2000, the Bureau established a fitness test. It is puzzling that over those 15 years, agents have not had such a test, whereas in the 1980s and 1990s physical fitness testing was mandatory. As if announcing that such tests somehow represent a revelation, the director of the FBI cited that protecting the lives of American citizens, as well as FBI colleagues, "may well depend" on FBI agents' physical abilities, such as running, fighting, and...

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof uses poor thinking about abortion to misunderstand why for many Christians it is a paramount issue. In his recent New York Times op-ed, “Er, Can I Ask a Few Questions About Abortion?” Nicholas Kristof makes a case against Christian pro-lifers. He writes that many Christians “support Trump, despite reservations about him, because their be-all issue is the unborn.”No Christian cares only about abortion as if other issues like religious liberty, taxes, and foreign policy don’t matter. But many Christians hold that abortion can disqualify a candidate. I think most people have issues that are...

How should genuine Christians vote in the up-coming presidential election? Recently a group called “pro-life evangelicals for Biden” sought to answer that question. The group includes many prominent evangelical leaders whom I respect who believe “that a biblically shaped commitment to the sanctity of human life compels us to a consistent ethic of life that affirms the sanctity of human life from beginning to end.”[1] Essentially in using the formulation, “from beginning to end,” they mean that (apart from abortion, which they oppose), the socialist state in Biden’s program is “pro-life,” supported by the Bible, whereas Trump’s system kills. I...

Integrity is apparently a myth with the journalists at NBC News. The network’s insufferable Business Correspondent Stephanie Ruhle was just exposed for filming promotional videos for a bank she covers. The Washington Post, which broke the story, wrote that Ruhle “doesn’t promote banks when she’s anchoring for the cable network. But on the Internet, it may be a different story.” In a September 22 clip produced and sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, Ruhle said: “‘Hey, this is Stephanie Ruhle, and I’m looking forward to my conversation with Chase, where we talk about life’s unpredictable moments and how important it is to...

A new drug offers children with dwarfism the chance at a life with fewer medical issues and closer-to-average height — but there is controversy over whether normalizing dwarves’ bodies is ethical. A study published this month in the journal the Lancet reported that a once-daily injection of growth drug vosoritide “is an effective treatment to increase growth in children with achondroplasia,” which is the most common form of dwarfism. “The main purpose of the drug is to improve the quality of life for children with achondroplasia,” Dr. Melita Irving, a consultant clinical geneticist and the leader of the UK trial...

Democratic voting naturally pressures politicians to endorse policies that will get them the most votes. But you almost never hear a politician admit that. Have you ever heard a politician say, “In the next election I will support whatever policies the polls tell me are most likely to get me elected”? I bet you haven’t. If a candidate for office did say something like that, almost everyone would find it distasteful.If you find this paradoxical, it’s a paradox with a long history. Our notions of democracy come from ancient Greece. Our notions of good government come from the same place.For Aristotle,...

Teleios conducted a survey regarding the benefits of Christian society. Respondents (n=565) indicated that living in a Christian society was important and advantages to living in a Christian society are: stronger moral and ethical base, and a greater amount of love among people. While the advantages of a Christian society to government were: keeping societal order, maintaining individual rights and reducing corruption. In summary, young Christians believe the importance of living in a Christian society and that it provides multiple advantages to the country’s population and government in keeping a strong moral and ethical base and maintaining order. More at...

John Hickenlooper, the Democrat Senate candidate, will be forced by a “team” from the Attorney General’s office to appear before the state’s Independent Ethics Commission after refusing their subpoena. ... Commissioner Bill Leone on Hickenlooper: "I believe our subpoena was very clear ... he currently is in contempt of that subpoena." Leone asks Grueskin if he, Grueskin, will take part in the hearing. The attorney says he will ... Colorado's Independent Ethics Commission votes 5-0 to have the Attorney General's Office enforce its subpoena of U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper ... Hickenlooper had been subpoenaed to appear on Thursday morning...

To File a Complaint Click to download Acrobat Reader Download a version of the complaint form from the list below. English (two pages, 26.85 KB pdf) Spanish (two pages, 42.21 KB pdf) Chinese (two pages, 141.61 KB pdf) Italian (two pages, 41.66 KB pdf) Korean (two pages, 123.35 KB pdf) Vietnamese (two pages, 41.05 KB pdf) Farsi (three pages, 64.19 KB pdf) Complete and print the form (signed and dated). Attach any relevant documents you have and send it by fax to (202) 638-0862, by email to odcinfo@dcodc.org, or by mail to: Office of Disciplinary Counsel Board on Professional Responsibility...

It’s often said that most of what the academic elites call “philosophy” is nothing but some underutilized minds worrying themselves about questions that common-sense folk find obvious. The saying came to mind as I listened recently to some of these folks straining to fit their various theories to the Age of Trump. More precisely, they were double-helixing themselves trying to explain why the amoral, relativist, truth-denying theories they’ve championed for so long are actually good reasons for hating the supposedly amoral, relativist, truth-defying current President. Listening to this theorizing crystallized (at least for this initially reluctant Trump supporter) why President...

A private university in Kentucky is the latest Christian school to draw criticism for adhering to biblical sexual ethics. Asbury University – like so many others in Christian academia – is being hard-pressed by the culture to adopt pro-LGBTQ doctrine. Ever since Asbury University reportedly declined to renew the contract of two "LGBTQ-affirming" educators – professor Jon Roller, founder of the school's Worship Arts Program; and assistant professor of music education and voice Jill Campbell – it has been under major scrutiny. "Jon was told in his tenure meeting, 'You do not belong here,'" worship leader Derek Chilton – who...

Rep. Matt Gaetz said he will be working to get an investigation going into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi because she tore up a copy of President Trump’s State of the Union address. “I will be filing charges against Nancy Pelosi in the House Ethics Committee,” the Florida Republican told Laura Ingraham on Fox News. “She disgraced the House of Representatives, she embarrassed our country, and she destroyed official records." “The law does not allow the speaker of the House to destroy the records of the House, and the rules of the House do not permit some little temper tantrum just...

by Sheri Urban In an unexpected announcement made today, ethics complaints were delivered to Rep. David Skaggs, calling for an investigation into allegations that Rep. Omar married her biological brother, among a host of other Federal and state crimes. David Skaggs is the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics. The investigation will look into potential crimes committed when Omar married her brother. The ethics complaints were filed by Judicial Watch.

SPJ Code of Ethics Revised September 6, 2014 at 4:49 p.m. CT at SPJ’s National Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Preamble Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity. The Society declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media. The code should be read as a whole; individual principles should not...