Free Republic

Get ready to learn more Greek letters. Scientists warn that omicron’s whirlwind advance practically ensures it won’t be the last version of the coronavirus to worry the world. Every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate, and omicron has an edge over its predecessors: It spreads way faster despite emerging on a planet with a stronger patchwork of immunity from vaccines and prior illness. That means more people in whom the virus can further evolve. Experts don’t know what the next variants will look like or how they might shape the pandemic, but they say there’s no guarantee...

THE West must "prepare for the worst" as conflict with Russia looms, the Defence Secretary gravely warned tonight. Russia has told the US to back off over mounting tensions with Ukraine or "endanger not only its own security but that of Europe" as World War Three fears mount. And in his darkest intervention yet as tensions rise in Eastern Europe, Ben Wallace vowed that Britain would "stand up to bullies" amid fears of a Russian invasion into Ukraine. Mr Wallace said distance should "not deter Britain" from seeking to "defend those who cannot defend themselves" as the West confronts Russia...

Whether it's a shortage of grocery items or prices skyrocketing at stores—shoppers aren't happy. Due to supply chain issues that have caused strain on major retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Food Lion, Costco, customers are experiencing frustrations while shopping for food and other daily essentials at their local stores. We reached out to our readers on Facebook and Twitter and asked them to share about the specific grocery shortages that are currently frustrating them the most. Customers from around the U.S. wrote in their current frustrations at stores—and a few repeated items popped up from shopper complaints.

So I find out today I've been cancelled by "neighborly" NextDoor. This is absurd - and perhaps I was "reported" (snitched) by the last jerk I replied to last week. He was telling everyone how there aren't many of us (around here - indeed) and we're just posting alot (not true) and WE SHOULD REPORT THEM AND GET THEM BANNED. I gave him a piece of my mind in public. That goes for ND - and FB, and YT also.

As the lockdown in Xi’an continues through its second week, 13M residents are getting a taste of what life was like for the millions in Wuhan who suffered through that city’s 70+ day lockdown back in the spring of 2020.Xi’an has counted more than 1,000 cases, with none confirmed to be omicron (China has found some omicron cases in Shanghai and the southern part of the country). As a result, the city has been on total lockdown – with people only allowed to leave once every few days to buy essential goods like groceries. According to a report in the...

Cops in New York City were called to a Brooklyn corner after a mob swarmed a spot where the city was giving out free at-home COVID-19 tests. According to the New York Post, on Friday, "tempers flared as the larger-than-expected crowd descended on Flatbush and Church avenues, one of five spots in the Big Apple where city health officials were doling out tests amid a surge in demand over the holidays and lack of supply." "We've opened new city-run testing sites in all five boroughs and have been handing out at-home #COVID19 tests to those waiting in line," Mayor Bill...

You can see it in their eyes, you can hear it in their voices, you can read it in their words, intrusively controlling your life for the five billionth time. Anti-liberty leftists are afraid of Omicron, it haunts them at night while it provides copious excuses for their power by day. This kind of extreme panic was a ‘collective’ experience in the early days of the COVID crisis. With everyone running out en masse to buy toilet paper and hand sanitizer before cowering in their homes.It is different this time around. There’s a giant divide between the believers in the...

A fifth coronavirus wave has started in Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday night. He addressed the public at a press briefing as the number of Omicron cases identified in the country rose to 175, up 40 from Friday. “We were the first in the world to close the entry to Israel to foreigners,” Bennett said in his opening remarks. “We needed to buy time and keep the variant as far away from Israel as possible. The time we bought is running out. “Omicron is already in the country, from the Knesset to kindergartens, and it is spreading fast,”...

The first real-world study looking at 78,000 Omicron cases in South Africa found the risk of hospitalisation is 29 per cent lower compared to the Wuhan strain, and 23 per cent lower than delta, with vaccines holding up well. Far fewer people have also needed intensive care from Omicron, with just five per cent of cases admitted to ICU compared to 22 per cent of delta patients, the study shows. Professor Robert Dingwall, a government COVID advisor from Nottingham Trent University, said it was clear from the South African data that panic was unjustified ... “The Omicron situation seems to...

As noted earlier, consumer inflation stayed red hot in November as core CPI rose a robust 0.53% mom, which boosted the yoy rate to 4.93% from 4.56% yoy—the highest since 1991. Headline CPI jumped 0.78% mom as energy prices spiked 3.5% mom and food rose 0.7% mom. Headline % yoy similarly soared to 6.81% yoy from 6.22%—the highest since 1982.In its post-mortem breakdown of today’s CPI print, BofA’s Alexander Lin notes that in core goods, new cars picked up 1.1% mom and used cars surged 2.5% mom – just as the Manheim Used Vehicle Index had predicted – as the...

Investigating the cause of a disease is like investigating the cause of a crime. Just as the detection of a suspect’s DNA at a crime scene doesn’t prove they committed the crime, so the detection of the DNA of a virus in a patient doesn’t prove it caused the disease.Consider the case of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) for example. It can cause serious diseases like arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer. A Japanese study in 2003 found that 43% of patients suffering from Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus (CAEBV) died within 5 months to 12 years of infection.Yet EBV is one of the...

The Early History of humansSince the olden days, humans have looked up in the sky and blamed astronomical events for the unpleasant things happening to them (which was purely a coincidence). Not only this, but humans had also praised the occasions when a good thing happened after a few astronomical sightings (which was also coincidental). I am talking about the events that include sighting a comet, meteor shower or Northern lights, and even novas. In the 15th century, Pope Callixtus III excommunicated comets as an ‘Instrument of the Devil’. In 1835-36, when Halley’s Comet arrived, people assumed that it had...

I haven’t abused any old song lyrics lately, but couldn’t resist the urge in such a target rich rhyming environment. (long fade out chorus of original omitted).Omicron (to the tune of Kodachrome. Sorry, other Paul)

President Biden on Monday described the omicron variant of COVID-19 as a "cause for concern" but not a cause for panic, saying Americans getting vaccinated and getting their booster shots is the best defense against the virus. He also said officials would release more guidance on how they plan to fight the spread of COVID-19 this winter, but promised it wouldn't include lockdowns. "This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic," Biden said in prepared remarks at the White House. "We have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists, and we're...

'Fox & Friends' hosts discuss the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the possibility of lockdowns being reinstated.

The United Kingdom is temporarily suspending flights from six countries as a new Covid variant with more than 30 mutations spreads in South Africa.

Hollywood celebrities let loose a collective wail of despair after Republicans won big in Tuesday’s election, with Glenn Youngkin handily beating former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in the race for Virginia governor. Stars including Rosie O’Donnell, Cher, Amber Tamblyn, Jeffrey Wright, Sophia Bush, Bradley Whitford, and Rosanna Arquette expressed their panic and anger at the electoral trouncing.

US restaurant chain Caribou Coffee Co. is panic hoarding coffee beans as a global supply deficit grips the world and fuels inflation. “We continue to increase safety stock on key items,” CEO John Butcher told Bloomberg. Besides coffee beans, he said the company is loading up on cups, lids, packaging, chocolate, and anything that comes to mind as supply chains remain snarled. Butcher said, “my gut tells me to hope for the best and to prepare for the worst. I personally don’t see any reason to believe that supply-chain disruptions are going to go away anytime soon.” “Everybody is in...

The global supply chain is in complete tatters. Tens of thousands of items and services are in short supply or can’t be found at all. This is leading to higher prices, a/k/a cost-push inflation, and a general decrease in the purchasing power of all fiat currencies, be it the US Dollar, the Japanese Yen or the Euro. The choice of items to include here could fill volumes. We picked things that often appear very obscure, such as ketchup or pallets and yet are staples of modern life. Pallets Wooden shipping pallets are required to transport almost anything imaginable including: paper...

Venice, a city deserted. Filming while wearing protective masks, filming in a northern Italy that has been devastated by the coronavirus. Markus Frings and Marco Polo, both from South Tyrol, needed special permission to travel through northern Italy. They wore masks and gloves to protect themselves from the virus. They filmed checkpoints and nighttime disinfection crews cleaning the streets. They talked to virologists, local business people and of course the residents themselves. Cameraman Marco shows us how his family in Bolzano has come to terms with these exceptional times of closed schools and restricted movement. And we learn that many...