Free Republic

It is untenable to lock down much of the country until a proven-safe vaccine is available in a year or more. Thus, we need to adapt and prepare for life in the time of coronavirus. By the time we get back to normal, normal will be different. The Chinese coronavirus is a once in a generation plague, perhaps once in a century. Humanity is better equipped to respond to it than at any time in history, but there is still no easy way through this pestilence. A time of death and economic hardship was inevitable once the Chinese communists tried...

Whether you’re watching TV or reading the news, you’d be hard-pressed to avoid a story about coronavirus. And it’s no wonder, since the outbreak — which now affects more than 27 countries outside of China, where the Wuhan coronavirus originated — has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). But there’s another major health threat that seems to be getting lost in the fray: the flu. An estimated 19 million Americans have been infected with the flu so far this season, and 180,000 of them have been hospitalized because of the illness, according to the...

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities activated a newly created “serious response” level as fears spread about a mysterious infectious disease that may have been brought back by visitors to a mainland Chinese city. Eight possible cases have been reported of a viral pneumonia that has also infected at least 44 people in Wuhan, an inland city west of Shanghai, about 900 kilometers (570 miles) north of Hong Kong. The outbreak, which emerged last month, has revived memories of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic that started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in the mainland, Hong Kong...

Left-wing Hollywood figures carried their resistance rage into the new decade, dumping on President Donald Trump and wishing for a year that “doesn’t include an ignorant corrupt soulless liar occupying the People’s House.” Director Rob Reiner, for example, wished for a new year that “doesn’t include an ignorant corrupt soulless liar occupying the People’s House” — a direct reference to the president. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and a 2020 that doesn’t include an ignorant corrupt soulless liar occupying the People’s House. — Rob Reiner (@robreiner) January 1, 2020 Prominent horror author Stephen King kicked off the year with...

GUATEMALA CITY The Latest on an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy who died in U.S. custody (all times local): 10:30 p.m. New Mexico authorities say an autopsy performed on the 8-year-old Guatemalan boy who died in U.S. custody shows he had the flu. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator says in a statement late Thursday that more tests need to be done before a cause of death can be determined for Felipe Gomez Alonzo.

Authorities in Southern Los Angeles are searching for multiple suspects shown in a video using a brick to brutally beat a 92-year-old man to the ground on Wednesday. The victim, Rodolfo Rodriguez, went for a walk around the block after dinner when a woman with a young child confronted him, KTLA reported. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials said the woman allegedly confronted the elderly man because he bumped into the child. Investigators said the woman and several men began attacking Rodriguez with the piece of concrete.

A California university professor died during a bondage session at the home of a Hollywood executive that went horribly wrong. Doran George, 48, was found dead inside the home of Skip Chasey, an executive for Hollywood’s William Morris Endeavor agency and known in the BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Dominance and Submission) community as “Master Skip,” on Nov. 19, 2017. George, who was born Duncan Gilbert and did not use gendered pronouns, had been wrapped “head to toe in plastic wrap and gaffer’s tape, with small breathing holes at the nose and mouth,” according to an autopsy report obtained late last week...

There are those who believe he should never have been allowed to be born. He came into this world prematurely with severe spina bifida, Chiari II malformation, hydrocephalus, autonomic dysreflexia, central sleep apnea, dysphagia, hypotonia and paralyzed vocal cords. He would develop chronic lung disease, anemia, kyphosis, knee contractures, osteopenia and so much more. In layman's terms, he was paralyzed, except for partial movement of his arms. He couldn't speak because his vocal cords were paralyzed, nor could he eat or even breathe on his own. His own family can't remember how many times the ambulance raced him to the...

Three times this year I've been hit with a sudden and strong bout of some kind sickness. It's gone like this: Severe chills, extreme drowsiness, weakness to the point being unable to move for about a half a day. Then the chills turn into a higher temp but not feverish, slight nausea, but still so drowsy and weak. Usually by 2 or 3 am I finally throw up and start feeling better. The first time I toughed it out and didn't go to the quack. In a couple of days I was fine. The second time a couple weeks ago...

Until now, most people thought you caught the flu after being exposed to droplets from an infected person’s coughs or sneezes, or by touching contaminated surfaces. But a study released Thursday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that we may pass the flu to others just by breathing. The study — which included researchers who are now working at San Jose State University and UC Berkeley — offers new evidence on the importance of the flu’s airborne qualities and how it can easily be transmitted to others. Researchers found large quantities of infectious viruses in the...

“This is the first year we have had the entire continental U.S. be the same color on the graph.” Now new strains may be coming. The influenza virus that’s sickened millions of Americans is already the most widespread outbreak since public health authorities began keeping track more than a dozen years ago. Now, with the threat of more strains emerging, it might get even worse. “Flu is everywhere in the U.S. right now,” said Dan Jernigan, director of the influenza division at the national Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “This is the first year we have had the entire...

The latest data — for the week ending Jan. 6 — suggest the season may be peaking right now, the CDC’s director, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, told reporters Friday. But she warned that many more people will be infected before the season is over. There’s a difference between an active flu season — when a large number of people get sick — and a severe season, when the numbers of people hospitalized for flu or who die from the infection are unusually high. It can be hard to tell in real time where a flu season will fall on the severity...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The betting was that law-and-order Attorney General Jeff Sessions would come out against the legalized marijuana industry with guns blazing. But the task force Sessions assembled to find the best legal strategy is giving him no ammunition, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, a group of prosecutors and federal law enforcement officials, has come up with no new policy recommendations to advance the attorney general’s aggressively anti-marijuana views. The group’s report largely reiterates the current Justice Department policy on marijuana.

As I sit at my desk with two alternately bleeding/clotting nostrils, mild chest pain and throat discomfort-and twinges of pain in my left shoulder blade-I’ve come to realize that I’m not the best long term planner. Take this as a cautionary tale about the general perils of neglecting your health, or perhaps as a specific indictment of my own stupidity/hubris. Over 2 years ago I visited a free clinic located around Union Square in order to investigate what can only be described as colorectal problems. After examining me, the physician told me that I probably had hemorrhoids. However, she wrote...

Rosie O’Donnell’s reconciliation with daughter Chelsea didn’t last long. Chelsea, 19, accused Rosie, 55, of nearly attacking her with a wine bottle, noting that the former “View” host had the bottle handy “because she was drinking, as she did frequently.” “It was pretty late at night,” Chelsea told The Daily Mail in an interview released Wednesday. “A couple of weeks prior, I had gotten a tattoo. [Rosie] had spyware on my phone so she could see pretty much everything I did. She called me into her room and asked me about the tattoo. I denied it. She asked me to...

I see a man aware and humbled by the job placed upon his shoulders, committed to getting it done; committed to keeping his campaign promises; committed to making America great again While piddling around in my work shop, I heard this sound bite on the radio of Trump talking about his upcoming speech to congress that evening. President Trump said, “All I can do is speak from the heart and say what I want to do.” I thought, “Wow, what a concept.” Involved as an activist in the business of politics since 2008, I can tell you that Trump has...

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, On November 9, 2013, this reporter wrote an Open Letter to Pope Francis “On a Papal Commission of Inquiry into Homosexuality, Pederasty An open letter to Pope Francis - RenewAmerica www.renewamerica.com On a Papal Commission of Inquiry into Homosexuality, Pederasty and La Lobby Gay in The Catholic Church . A member of the pope’s Council of Eight brought the Open Letter to the attention of the pontiff, and a short time later the Vatican announced the creation of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (and vulnerable adults). At the end of my...

The sculpture — which cost $750,000 — sent more than a dozen people to the hospital due to serious health complications... Several people suffered severe allergic reactions to cedar dust the sculpture constantly shed, and a dozen workers were hospitalized... “One employee required an 11-day hospital stay and none have been able to return to work at the new field office.”

FREEHOLD, N.J. — A college professor was arrested and charged with child pornography-related offenses Thursday. Robert Berardo, 56, was charged with one count of second degree endangering the welfare of a child for distribution of child pornography, one count of second degree endangering the welfare of a child for possession of child pornography with intent to distribute, and one count third degree endangering the welfare of a child for possession of child pornography, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Bob BryanSeptember 25,2015As summer turns to fall, the medical community is ramping up for their annual fight against the flu. One Wall Street firm thinks this flu season could be a bad one. William Quirk and Alexander Nowak at Piper Jaffray use the number of flu cases from Australia and New Zealand to forecast the US season, and they say the numbers from the southern hemisphere point to a massive increase in sicknesses this year. 'The Southern hemisphere just went through one of the worst flu seasons on record (despite the vaccine targeting the correct strains)," wrote Quirk and Nowak...