Free Republic

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Healthy and in their 30s, Christina and Josh Tidmore figured they were low-risk for COVID-19. With conflicting viewpoints about whether to get vaccinated against the virus filling their social media feeds and social circles, they decided to wait. On July 20, Josh came home from work with a slight cough initially thought to be sinus trouble. On Aug. 11, he died of COVID-19 at a north Alabama hospital as Christina Tidmore witnessed a doctor and her team frantically try to resuscitate her husband. “She would say, ’I need a pulse. ’I would hear, ‘no pulse,’ “Christina...

Daily Covid-19 cases in the US moved above 100,000 a day for the first time since February, higher than the levels of last summer when vaccines were not available, and came as health officials sounded alarm over lagging rates of vaccination driving the surge of the infectious Delta variant. The seven-day average of hospital admissions has also increased more than 40% from the week before, with health workers describing frustration and exhaustion as hospitals in Covid hotspots were again overwhelmed with patients, almost 20 months into the pandemic in the US. “As we look at our hospitalizations and as we...

BRETT GIROIR: Anyone who’s not vaccinated and who did not have COVID previously, the Delta variant is so contagious that you’re going to get it. It is just a matter of time. If you have prior immunity you do have some protection, but more and more data are telling us that that protection is not so good against Delta. Remember, you can get the Flu every year. It’s not because your immunity isn’t good. It’s because the Flu changes and Delta is really a new strain that is different than everything we’ve seen. So, I am really concerned that natural...

State data shows there are only 13 intensive care unit beds available in the 11-county Austin region. That means more than 98% of all ICU beds in the area are currently occupied... On Thursday, more than 6,300 new confirmed cases were reported in the state. With the increased transmissibility of the delta variant, hospitals in the area say the surge in cases is “putting extraordinary pressure on [their] hospitals, emergency departments and healthcare professionals.”

A major Texas hospital system has reported its first case of the lambda COVID-19 variant, as the state reels from the rampant delta variant. Houston Methodist Hospital, which operates eight hospitals in its network, said the first lambda case was confirmed Monday.

As the highly transmissible delta Covid variant continues to spread rapidly across the United States and elsewhere around the world, scientists and other health experts are warning that indoor mask mandates and other public health measures will likely make a return in the U.S. this fall. The country, which just celebrated the Fourth of July with some of its first large gatherings in more than a year, is headed toward a "dangerous" fall season when delta is expected to cause another surge in new coronavirus cases, health experts say. Already the dominant variant in the U.S., delta will hit the...

Patrick N. Hunt discusses his new book on Hannibal and how much of his success was based on solid financing. Audio Player Few military leaders hold as much allure for historians as Hannibal Barca of Carthage (today’s Tunisia). Born in 247 B.C., he is still studied today because of his unparalleled ability to strategize and get inside the mind of his opponent in battle. Archaeologist Patrick N. Hunt, who had been the director of Stanford’s Alpine Archaeology Project, has written a new book about the legendary figure that is simply titled Hannibal. He joined the Knowledge@Wharton show on SiriusXM channel...

DONALD Trump has been mocked for behaving like a cowardly Monty Python character by his fiercest rival for ducking out of a crucial TV debate. Ted Cruz tweeted a video of "Brave Sir Robin" from The Holy Grail film after the billionaire said he would not participate in tomorrow's Fox News event for Presidential candidates, due to a row with one its hosts...

Brigadier General Barack H. ObamaSupreme Allied Commander-in-Chief, Operation Minivan PoolAt ease, men.As your battalion commanders and General Axelrod have already briefed you, you embark today on an important mission to the Af-Pak Theater. The success of this mission will not only insure the future of democracy and human civilization, but also my Gallup net favorable index. I have every confidence that you will succeed in this great educational field trip, because you represent the finest right-sized, nonviolent time killing force ever assembled. Continued

With Barack Obama and even more Democrats in Congress come 2009, doesn't having a Freeper Island to escape to sound awfully tempting? I mean, if we only had one? It reminds me of a line from the Watchmen trailer: "God help us all."

Clinton blindsided by scheduled event with Palin By DEVLIN BARRETT – 19 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has canceled an appearance at a New York rally next week after organizers blindsided her by inviting Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, aides to the senator said Tuesday. Several American Jewish groups plan a major rally outside the United Nations on Sept. 22 to protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The other day I was driving past a very busy Intersection in my neck of the woods and I noticed a Ron Paul Revolution sign had gone up. There were a couple more on the toll way that some farmer had put up. These were put there on private property by people that most likely were not paid to do so. That’s the way Ron Paul supporters are. They don’t have to be asked to do something for their candidate. They don’t have to be told to go out and campaign. They simply do what they can, or what they...

KUWAIT CITY: THE UNITED STATES IS PLANNING TO ATTACK IRAN'S NUCLEAR REACTORS AND OTHER NUCLEAR FACILITIES BY THE END OF THIS MONTH, SOURCES IN WASHINGTON TOLD THE ARAB TIMES TUESDAY. THESE SOURCES ADDED THAT VARIOUS WHITE HOUSE DEPARTMENTS HAVE ALREADY STARTED PREPARING THE POLITICAL SPEECH, WHICH WILL BE DELIVERED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. LATER THIS MONTH, ANNOUNCING THE MILITARY ATTACK ON IRAN. THE SOURCES SAY THAT THE U.S. WILL NOT RESORT TO A GROUND ATTACK BECAUSE THEY PLAN TO ACHIEVE THEIR AIM THROUGH AIR ATTACKS...

Feb. 13, 2007 — The story tonight in Iraq is not the arrival of more U.S. troops, but the departure of one of the country's most powerful men, Moqtada al Sadr and members of his army. According to senior military officials al Sadr left Baghdad two to three weeks ago, and fled to Tehran, Iran, where he has family. Al Sadr commands the Mahdi Army, one of the most formidable insurgent militias in Iraq, and his move coincides with the announced U.S. troop surge in Baghdad. Sources believe al Sadr is worried about an increase of 20,000 U.S. troops in...

Hundreds of Georgians lost their homes Tuesday. The houses, taken from debt-laden homeowners, were sold to bidders on courthouse steps statewide. The increasingly busy monthly auctions show that not all of the residential market is in decline. Foreclosures are rising. More than 115,000 properties across the country were in the foreclosure process in October — up 42 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks foreclosures. Foreclosures in Georgia are up a stunning 99 percent in the past year...

Prices remain the story in home sales, with Sarasota-Bradenton prices falling 18 percent in October, the second biggest drop in the state. The median sales price in the Sarasota-Bradenton market was $277,900 last month, compared with $340,700 during the same month in booming 2005. The Charlotte County-North Port market was not far behind, with a drop of 17 percent, from $243,900 to $202,800. Only Fort Myers-Cape Coral took a bigger fall, posting a 44 percent decline in median sales price, from $445,100 to $249,200, the Florida Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday. The median is the point where half the...

It seems like every month, I'm running into people passing out a slick new business card that announces them as a real estate agent or mortgage broker. Who wouldn't want to get a piece of the action? On certain Portland streets, housing prices are doubling in a matter of months. And when there's this kind of temptation to make quick money, greed can't be far behind.Insiders call it land flipping. Silent second. Straw buyers. Foreclosure fraud. Equity skimming. Air loans. If there's a thought to do it, there's a scheme attached to it."It's the fastest-growing white collar crime in the...

As rates creep up, borrowers with interest-only loans face sharply higher mortgage payments: Tina Gren Clarence saves $600 a month with an interest-only loan she took out about a year ago for a Petaluma home, yet already is considering heading off the financial hit when her monthly payments could jump. And Peter Shidler, whose low-payment-option loan could turn from a sweet deal into a potentially bitter one, is refinancing and still will pay $500 more monthly on his Santa Rosa home. Gren Clarence and Shidler, like two out of three Sonoma County home buyers and owners, joined the fast-growing club...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of homes entering into some stage of foreclosure is surging, according to a survey released Wednesday. In August, 115,292 properties entered into foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure sales. That was 24 percent above the level in July and 53 percent higher than a year earlier. Where foreclosures are jumping Year over year gain in homes in foreclosure. Click for more stats on each state. Nevada: Up 255% California: Up 160% Florida: Up 62% It was the second highest monthly foreclosure total of the year; in February, 117,151 properties entered foreclosure....