Free Republic

This comforting dish makes an appearance online every winter, and we're not mad about it.Cultures around the world turn to specific drinks and dishes when they’re sick, using food as medicine. Soup as a source of comfort when we aren’t feeling well is a theme that crosses continents, and there’s one healing bowl of broth that’s now enjoyed by households far outside its home country, thanks to social media. If you’ve scrolled through food content on TikTok or Instagram in the past few years, you’ve likely spotted — and perhaps saved — a recipe colloquially known as “Italian penicillin soup.”...

ccording to the latest vital statistics report from Kansas, which was made available on Wednesday, abortions reached a record high in the state in 2024, with a notable increase among minor girls. Key Takeaways: * Kansas' vital statistics report for 2024 was released on the last day of 2025, showing the highest number of abortions in the state since 1973. * There were 19,811 abortions in Kansas in 2024. * Among minors, abortions in the state increased by 47%. * 76% of the abortions were committed on women from other states. * In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court found that...

We need to revisit institutionalizing the mentally ill before more victims are hurt, or worse, murderedI truly feel sorry that Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered in cold blood by their own son. It doesn’t matter to me that I did not agree with Reiner’s politics. Besides being a severe drug addict, Reiner’s son had been in drug rehab some 18 times in his life. It makes one wonder if the therapy protocols were any good or if he was, in fact, incorrigible. I was surprised that Reiner and his wife practiced tough love to some extent as they...

In 2000, a landmark study claimed to set the record straight on glyphosate, a contentious weedkiller used on hundreds of millions of acres of farmland. The paper found that the chemical, the active ingredient in Roundup, wasn’t a human health risk despite evidence of a cancer link. Last month, the study was retracted by the scientific journal that published it a quarter century ago, setting off a crisis of confidence in the science behind a weedkiller that has become the backbone of American food production. - snip - The 2000 paper, a scientific review conducted by three independent scientists, was...

The Trump administration on Monday doled out billions to states from a fund Congress created to “transform” rural health care. The funds, however, will be lavished more generously on small states and states that adopt administration friendly policies. “The purpose of this $50 billion investment in rural health care is not to pay off the bills,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told reporters Monday. “The purpose of this $50 billion investment is to allow us to rightsize the system and to deal with the fundamental hindrances of improvement in rural health care.” Over...

(LifeSiteNews) — Samantha recently became pregnant and, as her baby grew, eventually had to admit that regular jeans were not going to cut it. So she set out to buy a few maternity basics, only to find that every department store she walked into had quietly ditched its maternity section. Stores that used to have full aisles now had nothing but one sad little rack. Plus-sized clothing now hung where expectant mamas once shopped. As an employee of the Population Research Institute (PRI), she was well aware of the falling fertility rate in the U.S. She also knew that supply...

Baby populations have hit an all-time low in the United States - and surprisingly, family-friendly Utah is leading the decline, new data reveals. The baby boom helped shape modern American housing after World War II, fueling rapid suburban expansion, the rise of single-family homes and the birth of roughly 79 million babies nationwide. Fast forward to today, and the US fertility rate has fallen to 1.6 children per woman in 2024, according to a Realtor.com analysis. The gap is striking: the US fertility rate of 1.6 is well below the replacement rate of roughly two - the number of children...

(LifeSiteNews) — An Ohio woman force-fed abortion pills by her ex-boyfriend cannot sue him for wrongful death of her child and other damages unless she surrenders her anonymity, a judge has ruled. Last month, a grand jury indicted Dr. Hassan Abbas of University of Toledo Medical Center on six felony charges related to allegedly force-feeding his pregnant girlfriend abortion drugs. He allegedly ordered mifepristone and misoprostol under his estranged wife’s name, then crushed them and attempted to force them into her mouth last December, taking away her phone when she tried to call 911. Upon learning of the allegations, the...

A possible new treatment for impaired brain blood flow and related dementias is on the horizon. Research by scientists provides novel insights into the mechanisms that regulate brain blood flow and highlights a potential therapeutic strategy to correct vascular dysfunction. Their preclinical findings suggest that adding a missing phospholipid back into a person's circulatory system could restore normal brain blood flow and reduce symptoms of dementia. Alzheimer's disease and related dementias affect 50 million people around the world and numbers are rising, placing immense burdens on families and health care systems. Research in the Harraz lab focused on the control...

Two complementary studies reveal how an insufficient supply of energy in macrophages, key immune cells in artery walls, drives the progression of atherosclerosis—and how this knowledge could lead to better diagnostics and future therapies. Atherosclerosis—the buildup of fatty plaques inside arteries—is the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes worldwide. Although the role of cholesterol in plaque formation has long been a focus, scientists increasingly recognize that the immune system plays a decisive role in determining whether plaques remain stable or become unstable and thus prone to rupture, which can lead to heart attacks or strokes. In two newly published...

A judge has approved a class-action settlement requiring Aetna to cover IVF and other fertility procedure costs for single individuals and same sex couples in the same way it covers those expenses for heterosexual couples. The decision will not end discrimination; it will only serve to fuel it. More children will be graded for quality, tested for traits, intentionally destroyed, and even aborted for not meeting expectations. The real win would be that no adult is given the power to ignore children's rights and treat children as consumer products. Key Takeaways: * U.S. District Judge gave preliminary approval to a...

Iron deficiency without anemia is a common feature of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a study.. Małgorzata Ponikowska and colleagues characterized iron status in patients with AD and examined its relationship with disease severity and quality of life. The analysis included 86 adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD. The researchers found that abnormalities in circulating iron biomarkers, indicative of iron deficiency, were prevalent in patients with AD: 45% of patients had low transferrin saturation (Tsat; <20%), 37% low ferritin, and 26% reduced serum iron, despite largely normal hemoglobin. Patients with pro-inflammatory activation (as measured by elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein >5...

More human beings died from abortions than any other cause of death in 2025. A heartbreaking reminder about the prevalence of abortion, statistics compiled by Worldometers indicate that there were over 73 million abortions world-wide in 2025. The independent site collects data from governments and other organizations and then reports the data each day, along with estimates and projections, based on those numbers. Worldometers bases its daily abortion figures on a May 2024 fact sheet from the World Health Organization, which estimates a tragically high number of babies killed in abortions. “Around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide each...

To some people, earbuds are life. Girl was probably just trying to enjoy some Modern English on the job when one of her earbuds fell out and dropped right into the deep fryer. And then, reportedly, she reached in to try to get it out. Believe it or not, the woman suffered burns to her hand and was treated by an EMS crew and promptly transported to the hospital. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go ahead and just assume they cleaned out that fryer.

Over 500 women have sued Virginia’s Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, alleging that the health system had "enabled" former physician Javaid Perwaiz, who is currently in prison, to perform unnecessary surgeries on them. Perwaiz was convicted of Medicaid fraud and is serving a 59-year sentence for performing unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including hysterectomies, on women without their consent. In total, 510 plaintiffs are each seeking $10 million. The 204-page complaint alleges that despite "repeated reports and clear evidence" of prior misconduct by Perwaiz, who is from Pakistan and came to the US in the 1980s, at his own OBGYN practice, the...

Good news, dark chocolate lovers: the treat is rich in an ingredient that slows down biological aging in the body, according to a new study. The compound theobromine is an alkaloid produced in significant quantities by the beans of the Theobroma cacao tree. A team of researchers led by scientists from King's College London (KCL) found that people with more theobromine in their blood tended to also have signs of slower biological aging, as measured by two key biomarkers. Related: Microbe Recipe Could Be The Secret to Perfect Chocolate However, the study authors stopped short of permitting us to scoff...

If you want to live longer and feel better, stop chasing food fads. Every few months, a new “miracle” plan — keto, intermittent fasting, carnivore, raw — promises to fix everything. Most don’t. Even those that show modest benefits rarely deliver results worth the time, effort, and mental energy they demand. As an Harvard-trained oncologist and world leader in health policy, I’ve spent decades researching what actually improves health outcomes. The answer to a longer life is so simple: Good nutrition is about building about habits you can sustain for years, not weeks. While you should consult your physician before...

🚨NEW: @ScottAdamsSays shares devastating health update😞🙏 "I talked to my radiologist yesterday and it’s all bad news. So the odds of me recovering are essentially zero." "You should prepare yourself that January will probably be a month of transition one way or the other." VIDEO AT LINK.......................

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Thursday that it suspended 6,900 Minnesota borrowers after uncovering what it says is widespread suspected fraud. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency reviewed thousands of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loans approved in Minnesota, and identified nearly $400 million in potentially fraudulent loans tied to borrowers in Minnesota. "These individuals will be banned from all SBA loan programs, including disaster loans, going forward," Loeffler wrote on X. Loeffler said the agency will refer appropriate cases to federal law enforcement for prosecution and repayment. "After years, the American people...

For over a century, Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been considered irreversible. Now, research has challenged this long-held dogma in the field. Through studying diverse preclinical mouse models and human AD brains, the team showed that the brain's failure to maintain normal levels of a central cellular energy molecule, NAD+, is a major driver of AD, and that maintaining proper NAD+ balance can prevent and even reverse the disease. NAD+ levels decline naturally across the body, including the brain, as people age. Without proper NAD+ balance, cells eventually become unable to execute critical processes required for proper functioning and survival. The...