Free Republic

As Americans discuss black livelihood in the context of recent high-profile black deaths at the hands of police officers, a merciless villain is quietly snatching away thousands of black lives each year: infant mortality. To be sure, medicine has gone a long way toward keeping black babies alive. In 1850, the black infant-mortality rate was 340 per 1,000 (compared with 217 per 1,000 for whites). Still, despite progress, last year over 7,000 black babies died in the United States before reaching one year of age — one baby for every 87 born. Troublingly, the infant-mortality rate is far higher for...

As COVID-19 continues to spike in the South, so does the peril to college football. South Carolina governor Henry McMaster illustrated the coronavirus’ threat to the game in a Thursday news conference while addressing college and high school football in his state. “If these numbers continue to rise and the danger persists, I can't do it,” McMaster said. “I won't do it.” “Do it” in the instance means allow the game to be played.

It’s just the flu, bro. What is happening in Texas!? Are masks really mandatory? I had to wear a mask when I went to buy a few things last night in Galveston. My understanding is that I need to wear a mask in public if social distancing is not possible, or I get fined. Governor Abbott even banned protests that don’t have masks and social distancing. He is every bit as bad as the lefty Governors right now. At least the lefty Governors don’t fine protests. - The concept of communal health and socialized health is seen in Canada. Everything...

Since the city agreed to divert up to a billion dollars in NYPD funding Tuesday, the #OccupyCityHall protest has waned at City Hall Park - yet some protesters are sticking around, insisting that they are “prepared for war” if they’re told to leave. Participants in the continuing #OccupyCityHall sleep-in at City Hall on Centre Street are now preparing for an anticipated clash with police as an exit strategy similar to that of the Occupy Wall Street encampment in 2011. At that time, the protestors who took up residence in Zuccotti Park on Broadway and Liberty Street at that time were...

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden very nearly survived his first press conference in three months without a single goof. Almost, but not quite. At the very end of the question-and-answer session, asked by a reporter if he had been tested for “cognitive decline,” he answered, “I’ve been tested. I’ve been tested constantly.” Biden went on to say he could “hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against.” Pretty snappy answer for a fellow thought by 38 percent of likely voters to be suffering a mental decline. Except, of course, that...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday that public protests are likely causing the number of citywide coronavirus cases to spike, just two days after claiming there wasn’t “any conclusive evidence” showing a connection between the two. Garcetti, a Democrat, was speaking at a press conference concerning the recent Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles when he was asked if the demonstrations were contributing to the spread of COVID-19. He claimed he’d consulted with Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County’s director of public health, and determined the protests were in fact contributing to the spread of the virus. “I talked...

The anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine lowers the death rate of COVID-19 patients, U.S. researchers have said. Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of over 2,500 patients hospitalized between March 10 and May 2 in the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan. Over 2,000 of the patients were given hydroxychloroquine or the anti-malarial with azithromycin, an antibiotic. The study found 13 percent of those who received hydroxychloroquine alone died compared to 26.4 percent who didn’t receive the drug. Hydroxychloroquine alone decreased the mortality hazard ratio by 66 percent and the anti-malarial with the antibiotic decreased the ratio by 71 percent, researchers said. The...

Texas has joined other, mostly Democrat run, states in requiring face masks in most public places, including retail, services, and restaurants, except when eating or drinking. This is despite the fact that the GOP holds all statewide offices, as well as both houses of the Legislature, both Senate seats, and a majority of the U.S. House seats. Our rulers understand one thing above others: the almighty dollar. They also respect the voices of major financial donors. Texans and residents of all mask mandatory states should not buy anything other than food or items absolutely necessary, like a needed car repair...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly said Thursday she’s “trying to save the world from coronavirus” after a Republican lawmaker accused her of being too busy to comment on the rioters tearing down statues in her district. She made the comments after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday his California colleague should condemn protesters who knocked down the Golden Gate Park statue of St. Junipero Serra in her home district. “Given that today is the Feast Day of Saint Junipero Serra, her condemnation of mob violence would be especially timely,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a statement. Pelosi was dismissive of...

As Portland protests enter their fifth week Wednesday, the state speaker of the House sent a sharp letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler over police use of force the previous night, saying police were escalating tensions with their tactics. Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, call police actions in her district Tuesday “completely unacceptable.” Officers used tear gas and other force to disperse protesters near the Portland Police Association headquarters in North Portland. “From the reports I’ve read and from what I’ve heard from neighbors - counter to what the PPB is officially saying - there was no risk to the...

Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been widely misrepresented in both clinical reports and public media, and outpatient trials results are not expected until September. Early outpatient illness is very different than later hospitalized florid disease and the treatments differ. Evidence about use of hydroxychloroquine alone, or of hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin in inpatients, is irrelevant concerning efficacy of the pair in early high-risk outpatient disease. Five studies, including two controlled clinical trials, have demonstrated significant major outpatient treatment efficacy. Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been used as standard-of-care in more than 300,000 older adults with multicomorbidities, with estimated proportion diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmias attributable to the medications 47/100,000...

Susan Anderson remembers feeling some labor pain, but she couldn’t have imagined how surprisingly fast her daughter was born. She and her husband made the short trip from their Coral Springs home to a birthing center. She was footsteps from the center’s front door Thursday, but didn’t make it: She gave birth to her second daughter right there in the parking lot. Her baby girl, Julia Anderson, was born healthily — now with a very interesting story to tell when she gets older. “My first daughter was a normal length, I would say, about two hours of pushing. I thought...

Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties in the city and surrounding area as part of a disturbing contest to see who can catch the virus first, a city council member told ABC News on Wednesday. Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students have been organizing "COVID parties" as a game to intentionally infect each other with the contagion that has killed more than 127,000 people in the United States. She said she recently learned of the behavior and informed the city council of the parties occurring in the city.

“The coronavirus surge is real, and it’s everywhere” says Axios and most of the DNC media. Time to panic. They pile on, “The coronavirus pandemic is getting dramatically worse in almost every corner of the U.S.” We are told new cases are rising by double-digit percentages, including: “The number of people hospitalized with coronavirus.” Hospitalized with or from coronavirus? Is this really a surge or simply fear-mongering fake news? Texas features prominently in the surge scare. Coincidently Texas is a red state that if flipped to blue would prevent a Republican from ever winning the White House for the foreseeable...

The NFL is trying to figure out ways to mitigate the risk of a lawsuit if fans are allowed back into stadiums. In order to do that, the league is considering asking fans to sign a COVID-19 liability waiver if they want to attend games, according to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic. That proposal is expected to be sent to teams in early July as the league considers its options for reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. The waiver could be done electronically, according to Kaplan’s report.

It’s just the flu, bro. In Texas we have over 5 times the daily new CV cases that we had in early May. But in early May we were having more daily deaths than we have now. A similar pattern is playing out in Florida and California. Keep an eye on the deaths and not on the cases. Normally you could say cases are a leading indicator of deaths. But in this case we have double counting of cases and we have a much younger population infected. We should thank the now infected BLM and Antifa protestors for doing their...

About 300 teens were exposed to Covid-19 at a "pong fest" party in Lakeway, Texas, on June 20, local officials say. At the time of the party, several teens were waiting for their Covid-19 test results, and have since tested positive, according to Shelly Parks, a spokesperson with Austin Homeland Security & Emergency Management.

Rudy Giuliani sits down with Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, MD, Board Certified in Family Medicine, to discuss the protocol he used to achieve a 97%+ survival rate for his COVID19 patients. Dr. Zelenko urges America can continue to reopen and have maximum participation with the fallback of a very effective treatment regimen.

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said New Mexico will begin aggressively enforcing its mandate that people wear face masks in public settings — a necessity, she said, as the state hit the “grim milestone” of 500 deaths. With infections surging throughout the state, she said, New Mexicans will face $100 fines if they don’t wear a mask. Businesses must require customers wear one. The state, the governor said, will also impose a requirement that travelers into the state go into quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they arrive by plane or car. She also reported three more...