Free Republic

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was noticeably missing from President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. The self-described democratic socialist claimed that security concerns were a factor in her skipping the inauguration, adding that she and fellow Democratic lawmakers don’t feel safe around Republicans. Ocasio-Cortez appeared on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” where she was asked about her absence at President Biden’s inauguration. “You knew that people would ask why you weren’t there,” CNN host Chris Cuomo said Thursday evening. “This was a good cause, from your perspective, of dealing with your constituency. But this was supposed to be a show of force,...

Sometimes the costs associated with home security can be daunting. When you buy a monitored home security system, you’re looking at a monthly monitoring fee, plus an installation fee, plus any equipment charges. Considering the financial commitment, buying a home security system may not be the right home security tactic for everyone. Although a home security system is a great asset for those who can afford it, there are lots of ways you can fortify your home without breaking the bank. Here are some low cost home security tactics for making your home a safer place. 1. Neighbors Your neighbors...

14 December 2020 Washington, D.C. Yon-Genre, unedited mind dump: This is intended for journalists -- the few still on the field -- and peaceful people. I spent all day Saturday, 12 December 2020, with various protest groups in Washington, D.C. I believed the probability for violence was 90 percent. And it happened. Numerous stabbings, beatings, large fireworks, pepper spray, arrests, etc. Long time readers know that I spent years in serious wars, and more years in serious conflicts short of war but that were often as violent as war. And yet more time in lower-level conflict. This stuff is second...

Safety mandates taking the fun out of childhood

The Great Barrington Declaration offers a way forward, but do most Americans have the courage to risk their sense of security to maintain enduring liberty?In an era in which every dubious decision is “due to COVID-19,” we hear policymakers repeating the same mantra: “If just one life is saved,” it’s worth relinquishing our freedoms, our sanity, and possibly our future. More often than not, this ethical dilemma is presented without mentioning the obvious trade-offs or long-term consequences.Imagine you’re an administrative dictator. If you could “save just one life” — or even thousands — by crippling the youth, vaporizing a million...

Fully informed consent of any abortion event, whether surgical or chemical, should include the long-term implications for women's health and fertility. poiler Alert: For fans of Amazon Prime, trending now is season one of a show called “Utopia,” in which John Cusack plays a billionaire madman who wants to “solve” overpopulation by tricking the world into believing in a global pandemic so he can sell a vaccine that actually sterilizes people. For most of humanity, a medical event ends a person’s ability to have a family.With abortion, the parallels between fact and this fiction are uncomfortably close.Why women have abortions...

With Covid-19 vaccines currently in the final phase of the study, you’ve probably been wondering how the FDA will decide if a vaccine is safe and effective.Based on the status of the Phase 3 trials currently underway, it is unlikely that the results of these trials will be available before November. But it is likely that not just one but several of the competing Covid-19 vaccines will be shown to be safe and effective by the end of 2020.I am a scientist and infectious diseases specialist at the University of Virginia, where I care for patients with Covid-19 and conduct...

A reminder of how physical security and awareness are essential to your literal safety.

The pandemic has left everyone with lots of give and take. In educating our children, however, don't let teachers' unions take from our children to give to themselves. As the Wuhan virus pandemic persists and wild rhetoric along with it, teachers unions are threatening to strike if schools reopen, but they’re also pushing to limit online teaching. These unions have long incentivized all the wrong things in education, but demanding teachers be paid to do virtually nothing is a new low. As a New York Times headline announced this week, teachers are “Wary of Returning to Class, and Online Instruction...

According to new research published in the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020, the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) among outpatients in clinical trials, without high-risk factors for cardiac arrhythmia, is safe, with gastrointestinal side-effects being the most common side effects and no fatal adverse outcomes. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues all around the world, with over 630,000 deaths so far, scientific research has focused on finding effective medications against the virus. A strong contender, right from the very beginning, has been HCQ, mainly because of the heavy backing given by political heavyweights. Positive Profile, Negative Side Effects HCQ has been...

Voters worry about their safety more these days and have more confidence in Joe Biden than President Trump to make things better. But once again party affiliation makes a big difference. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters feel personally less safe than they did four years ago. Nineteen percent (19%) feel more safe now, while 26% say their feeling of personal safety is about the same. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Forty-nine percent (49%) of all voters believe Biden, the putative Democratic presidential nominee, will make America a...

President Trump spoke at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday. The president had planned to speak to supporters outside the BOK Center, a 19,000-seat arena, due to limited capacity inside the venue. But campaign officials said they were forced to cancel outside remarks by both President Trump and Vice President Pence due to interference from protesters. "President Trump is rallying in Tulsa with thousands of energetic supporters, a stark contrast to the sleepy campaign being run by Joe Biden from his basement in Delaware," said Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh in a statement. "Sadly, protesters interfered with...

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday that President Trump will be holding “full rallies” with safety precautions in place now that coronavirus restrictions across the country are being lifted. **SNIP** “There are a lot of things we can do to make sure this is safe, but people want to get out and rally. They want to get out and start campaigning and being part of this election for this president and the enthusiasm for him is through the roof,” McDaniel added. She also weighed in on the nationwide search for a new site...

Safe Boating Tips No matter how much experience you have, it’s always a good idea for everyone to review boating safety rules before departures. Below you will find 10 basic boating safety tips to help you stay safe: 1.Be Weather-Wise Always check local weather conditions before departure; TV and radio forecasts can be a good source of information. If you notice darkening clouds, volatile and rough changing winds or sudden drops in temperature, play it safe by getting off the water. 2.Follow a Pre-Departure Checklist Proper boating safety includes being prepared for any possibility on the water. Following a pre-departure...

In a recent "Fireside Chat," my weekly talk show on the PragerU platform, I commented on society's increasing fixation on being "safe." The following is a condensed version of what I said:We have a meme up at PragerU: "'Until it's safe' means 'never.'" The pursuit of "safe" over virtually all other considerations is life-suppressing. This is true for your own individual life, and it is true for the life of a society. I always give the following example: I have been taking visitors to Israel for decades, and for all those decades, people have called my radio show to say,...

A new study shows that an experimental procedure that uses convalescent plasma—essentially blood from recovered patients—to treat COVID-19 is safe.Researchers from Mayo Clinic, Michigan State University, and Johns Hopkins University, tracked 5,000 patients who received convalescent plasma transfusions and found few side effects and low mortality in those receiving the experimental treatment.The study, a pre-print version not yet peer-reviewed, was posted Thursday on a health sciences server called Medrxiv (pdf). Pre-print studies report new medical developments that are not yet approved to be used to guide medical practice. The researchers measured the impact of convalescent plasma transfusions on hospitalized...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has been one of the most tyrannical governors during the Wuhan coronavirus. In fact, part of her shelter-in-place order was so ridiculous it banned the sale of "non-essential" items, like seeds for gardening. She even went so far as banning people from traveling between two residences. But, in her mind, her orders were "one of the nation's more conservative" stay-at-home orders. For someone who is convinced she knows what is best for Michiganders, on Monday she proved that she is not as up-to-date on health care practices as she claimed. While lecturing residents on how...

Would you live behind the wall? The democrat-socialist vision of Utopia? The end result from years of communal indoctrination? The Walls of governmental safety? Where would you want to live? It’s been almost a decade since we first asked the question. You might not have to make the choice, but progressive-socialists are ensuring your children or grandchildren are going to have to decide…. Where is the best hope for their dreams, inside the walls or outside? How will liberty and freedom be defined, and considering the direction, where will it be located in the future? Think about it….. Where would...

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced that he signed an emergency order which involves Oahu residents to stay at home and work from home. This will go into effect on Monday, March 23, at 4:30 p.m. and will end on April 30 at 4:30 p.m. The mayor says that the April 30 date can be extended even further, or shortened, depending on the situation or shortened. “I believe that in all likelihood that it’ll be extended beyond April 30,” he said. This is with the exception of essential activities. The mayor says that these activities include: Tasks essential...

As of this writing, 6,400 people all over the world have died from the coronavirus. In the United States, 68 people have died. Some perspective: Chinese deaths (3,217) account for half of the worldwide total. If you add Italy (1,441) and Iran (724), two countries where many Chinese were allowed in until recently, that totals another 2,165. In other words, outside of China, Italy and Iran -- with 5,382 deaths collectively -- 1,018 people have died. There are 7.8 billion people in the world. Regarding Italy, the Jerusalem Post of March 16 reported that according to Nobel Prize-winning chemist Michael...