Free Republic

Are we about to see a disruption of the avocado supply chain? It's possible. Violent criminal drug cartels are connected with much that goes on in our neighbor to the south, Mexico — and that includes the highly lucrative market for avocados in the United States. At least four drug cartels — designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration — operate in the region, profiting not only from narcotics trafficking but also from extortion schemes targeting the lucrative avocado industry. Security threat shuts down avocado pipeline from Mexico to the US https://t.co/zrY4Kn4q3a pic.twitter.com/XGGYFTgr0r— New York Post (@nypost) August...

We are finally getting a clearer picture of what happened during COVID. Not because the people who locked us up, masked our faces and forced unproven chemicals into our bodies have suddenly become transparent, but because Anthony Fauci’s COVID-era diary is coming into public view. This long document makes one thing painfully clear: the people who forced us to surrender our lives to their expertise did not have the expertise they claimed. At best, they were guessing. And when their guesses failed, they did not retreat. They didn’t come clean. They doubled down. Arrogance unbridled.. Our health, our freedoms, our...

A billionaire biohacker who wanted to live forever is seemingly questioning his life choices after being diagnosed with an 'uncurable' disease. Bryan Johnson, whose viral stunts in pursuit of eternal life have included injecting himself with his son's blood plasma and tweeting details reports on his wife's vagina, recently revealed that he has developed autoimmune gastritis. It's an incurable chronic condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in the stomach lining. And the diagnosis appears to have left the 48-year-old venture capitalist questioning whether his pursuit for better health and a longer life was worth all the effort....

Young progressives are more likely to consider normal day-to-day struggles — like difficulty sleeping and feeling blue — as mental health problems, per a new analysis. Is it any wonder, given the left-leaning ideology that convinces Americans that the system is simply stacked against them? Data from the US General Social Survey, analyzed by the Financial Times, revealed that younger people and more progressive people were more likely to believe that everything from feeling worried, trouble sleeping and feeling a little sad were symptomatic of a disorder. Asked if a theoretical person with those symptoms was experiencing mental illness, 6...

More than a year after a woman was found dead in a wellness house in Miami Beach, the doctor accused of giving her drugs as part of a "heart protocol" ceremony is facing criminal charges. Samuel Lee, 44, is facing a manslaughter charge in the Feb. 10, 2025 death of Tina Sodhi, court records show. Lee, a medical doctor certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, describes himself as a "holistic, integrative psychiatrist who uses a Spiritual approach towards mental health." But according to an arrest warrant, Lee used the alternative healing practices in a so-called "heart protocol"...

Cardiologist says warning signs can develop years before symptoms appearHeart disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, but doctors say many cases can be prevented through early screening and lifestyle changes. New cholesterol guidelines are calling for screenings to begin earlier and for high-risk patients to reach lower LDL targets. Dr. Ajay Mhatre, a cardiologist at Cardiovascular Institute of Northwest Florida, said the risks often build silently over time. “Coronary disease or cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death for men and women in America,” Mhatre said. Smoking, diabetes,...

Dear Readers, I know many of you have been hoping for more time. So was I. Today I write with news none of us wanted to receive. Jon Rappoport passed away peacefully on the evening of Wednesday, July 8, 2026. One week ago I wrote to let you know that Jon could no longer continue his daily publishing schedule. Two days ago I shared how I intend to steward his work. I now fulfill the final responsibility Jon personally entrusted to me. Several weeks before his passing, Jon recorded the message you are about to hear and asked me to...

More late-stage diagnoses add to higher cancer mortality burden for menKey Takeaways: -Men have a significantly higher likelihood of late-stage cancer diagnosis across 20 different tumor types. -The largest disparities involved tongue, thyroid, and salivary gland cancers. -The reasons for the disparity appear to be multifactorial, involving biological, social, and cultural determinants. Men had a higher likelihood than women for late-stage diagnosis of 20 different types of cancer, data from a national registry network showed. The analysis of 30 nonreproductive organ cancers showed men had higher odds ratios for regional or distant metastasis at diagnosis in two-thirds of the cancer...

Several Republicans said they spoke with Senator Mitch McConnell this week, who remains hospitalized after being admitted on June 14. The comments from Senate Majority Leader Thune, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, and Republican strategist Scott Jennings are the first to shed any light on McConnell’s condition since his hospitalization last month. McConnell’s office has so far only released very limited information, which has fueled speculation about his diagnosis and condition online. Jennings described a 20-minute call with the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican in which he said they discussed several key political issues.

Even brief periods of light or moderate physical activity were associated with a reduced riskProlonged, uninterrupted sedentary behavior was associated with a significantly increased likelihood of dying of cancer, a study of more than 90,000 people showed. Every additional hour of prolonged sedentary behavior per day was linked with a 10% higher hazard of cancer mortality. Replacing an hour of sedentary behavior daily with light physical activity or with 30 minutes of moderate physical activity was associated with reduced cancer mortality risk -- which was 22% lower with an additional 5 minutes of vigorous physical activity. Similar associations were observed...

Key takeaways: The declarations for drugs and biologics will end in 1 year and medical devices in 180 days. HHS said it will work with manufacturers seeking FDA approval or clearance through traditional regulatory pathways. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is moving to terminate COVID-19 emergency use authorization declarations for drugs, biologics and medical devices, the agency announced. “Americans deserve a regulatory system that is transparent, accountable and rooted in the rule of law,” Kennedy Jr. said in a press release. “By ending these COVID-19 emergency use authorization declarations, we’re reinforcing public confidence that emergency authorities are temporary and...

For years, a South Florida nursing school operator sold a simple proposition: Skip the schooling, buy the diploma, become a nurse. Nearly 3,000 people took her up on it. On Monday, the scheme caught up with her. Carleen Noreus, 52, of Plantation, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering following a two-week trial in Fort Lauderdale. She had taken her chances before a jury rather than accepting a plea deal, changing her mind mid-trial, a decision prosecutors say will factor in her favor at sentencing. Noreus served as president of Carleen Home Health...

Recommendation could pave the way for approval of the mRNA vaccine in adults 50 and upAn FDA advisory panel on Thursday unanimously endorsed the use of Moderna's trivalent flu vaccine candidate, which uses mRNA technology that's come under fire from the nation's top health official. In two 9-0 votes, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee said the benefits of the mRNA vaccine outweigh its risks for preventing the flu in adults 50 to 64 years and in those 65 and up. "I do believe the data presented support that the benefits of the vaccine in both age groups...

JD Vance, RFK Jr. and other officials swear by a diet of grass-fed meat and fermented foods, even when the sulfurous odors cause friction at homeA new diet is sweeping through President Trump’s cabinet—and it involves heaping portions of sauerkraut. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Vice President JD Vance have all embraced the diet, drawn by the promise of slimmer waistlines and glowing skin. They all apparently have determined the health benefits outweigh the slightly sulfurous odors that have been the cause of some domestic friction. “Within 30 days I...

Glyphosate-based formulations (GBFs), such as Roundup, are the most heavily used herbicides in the world. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that glyphosate and GBFs are probably carcinogenic to humans, mainly for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)... In 2021, the French Institute of Health and Medical Research... also found that many studies demonstrated genotoxic damage (DNA breaks or structural changes) consistent with the induction of oxidative stress by glyphosate/GBFs, sometimes at exposure levels experienced by human populations... In a recent study of Thai farmers, a high frequency (97.6%) of those spraying GBFs with backpack sprayers had high...

Businessman Zach Lahn’s win in Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial primary over President Donald Trump’s pick, Rep. Randy Feenstra, delivered a rare electoral setback for Trump in a primary season that had handed him back-to-back victories... Members of the MAHA movement...cheered the win as a sign their political message was resonating with voters. “This election is a signal that pro-pesticide does not mean pro-farmer,” said Tony Lyons, president of Kennedy-aligned MAHA PAC, which endorsed Lahn. “Zach Lahn made transitioning away from toxic chemicals the cornerstone of his campaign and won this election decisively with strong farmer support.” “Iowa has the fastest growing...

Nearly 115 million Americans are on the road to diabetes. New research suggests an inexpensive, widely available supplement could slow that journey, but only for some of them. A genetic quirk in roughly 70 percent of prediabetic adults may determine whether high-dose vitamin D can meaningfully lower their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. The research builds on the D2d trial. More than 2,000 U.S. adults living with prediabetes were randomized to either take 4,000 units of vitamin D or a placebo for up to 3.5 years. Initially, the trial did...

THE STRUGGLE to breastfeed is a defining feature of early motherhood for many women. Of the approximately 90% of mothers in rich countries who start breastfeeding, a quarter give up within a few weeks, often because they fear they are not producing enough milk to feed their babies. For many years doctors have assumed that true cases of poor supply are rare, occurring in no more than 5% of mothers. The prevailing advice to worried parents from health authorities in places such as England and America has, therefore, been to stimulate the release of milk by either putting the baby...

In A Nutshell Researchers found bacteria with probiotic potential in three British artisan cheeses. The hay-aged cheese had the biggest increase in bacterial diversity as it matured. Lactose was largely gone by maturity, which may matter for lactose-sensitive readers. The study is promising, but it does not prove these cheeses improve gut health in people. ========================================================================== For most people, cheese is a guilty pleasure: something delicious but probably not great for you. That assumption may be worth revisiting. A recent study took a close look at three traditional British artisan cheeses and tracked how their bacterial communities and chemical profiles...

“Former Attorney General Pam Bondi has quietly undergone treatment for thyroid cancer. She was one of the first key members of the Trump administration to depart, having been let go in April. Bondi has been replaced on an interim basis by Todd Blanche. Axios reported the diagnosis having occurred shortly after she left the Department of Justice, citing an anonymous source. Katie Miller, the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, wrote Tuesday night that Bondi is doing well.”