Free Republic

Whatever Trump did after the 2016 presidential election, it seems safe to say that it did not retroactively promote his victory.Last January, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg summed up his case against Donald Trump this way: "We allege falsification of business records to the end of keeping information away from the electorate. It's an election interference case." That gloss made no sense, because the records at the center of the case—11 invoices, 11 checks, and 12 ledger entries that allegedly were aimed at disguising a hush-money reimbursement as payment for legal services—were produced after the 2016 presidential election. At that...

Aardwolves — the "weird cousin" of the hyena world that has peg teeth and only eats insects — are an evolutionary mystery, stemming from a ghost lineage that scientists haven't been able to figure out. Aardwolves, which translates as "earth wolves" in Afrikaans, are the smallest of the four hyena species. (Image credit: pjmalsbury via Getty Images) Name: Aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) Where it lives: Savannah and grasslands in eastern and southern Africa What it eats: Termites and ants Why it's awesome: Unlike their meat-eating relatives, these solitary, nocturnal little hyenas survive on a diet almost entirely made up of termites....

The Nazi occupying forces massacred civilians in Crete. Credit: Bundesarchiv, CC BY-SA 3.0 de/Wikipedia Greek scientists have recently identified 18 people who were executed by the Nazis in Crete through DNA analysis. In the Battle of Crete during the World War II occupation of Greece, the German forces faced substantial civilian resistance. The inhabitants of Adele, a prosperous lowland village in the northeastern part of the Rethymnon regional unit, resisted fiercely and had formed an armed resistance group. As a consequence, the German forces surrounded the village on June 2, 1941, and arrested 18 male civilians (including two fathers with...

Researchers are investigating the effects ellagic acid, an antioxidant found in some fruits and vegetables, could have on halting and potentially reversing the damage caused by fatty liver disease. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the physiological manifestation of obesity in the liver. The prevalence of NAFLD has increased from 25.24% in 2015 to 29.38% in 2021, and this condition now accounts for 45.8% of all cases of chronic-liver-disease-related deaths worldwide. There currently exists no treatment for the long-term management of NAFLD; however, dietary interventions have been investigated for the treatment of this disease, including several polyphenolic compounds such as...

Not only is the Biden administration bent on turning a blind eye to terror-supporter Iran’s world-dominating nuclear ambitions, it’s pushing our allies to ignore them, too. The Wall Street Journal reports that European diplomats say US officials have been trying to talk Britain and France out of censuring Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board meeting next week, though Iran has grown its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to record highs, on the brink of enough to fuel three nuclear weapons — a blatant middle finger to the West after the IAEA warned Iran to cool its nuke program...

A judge in Michigan was baffled when a man appearing in court via Zoom for a suspended driver’s license case attended the hearing while driving his car. Court footage that has gone viral on X shows District Judge Cedric Simpson in complete disbelief as defendant Corey Harris attends court via Zoom while driving on a suspended license. In the video, Simpson asks Harris, “Mr Harris, are you driving?” Harris responded, “Actually, I’m pulling into my doctor’s office.” After Harris responded, his public defender immediately asked for an adjournment for up to four weeks, to which Simpson replied, “Okay, so maybe...

Members of a Mississippi family are traumatized after carjackers opened fire at them while trying to make off with their car — all while their young children were still inside the vehicle.

TOM COTTON SENATOR FOR ARKANSAS January 6, 2021 Cotton Statement on Violence at Capitol Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R- Arkansas) released the following statement after violence broke out at the U.S. Capitol earlier today: “Last summer, as insurrection gripped the streets, I called to send in the troops if necessary to restore order. Today, insurrectionists occupied our Capitol. Fortunately, the Capitol Police and other law- enforcement agencies restored order without the need for federal troops. But the principle remains the same: no quarter for insurrectionists. Those who attacked the Capitol today should face the full extent of federal...

The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be associated with improved pulmonary hypertension in women, according to research. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a type of pulmonary vascular disease—disease that affects blood vessels along the route between the heart and lungs. Pulmonary hypertension is classified by the World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension (WSPH) into five groups (G1-5PH) based on its suspected cause. The heart's right ventricle accepts blood from the body's veins and propels it to the lungs, where it is oxygenated, and its carbon dioxide is eliminated. For this study's purposes, endogenous hormones were deemed to be those that...

The American people may finally learn the truth about Joe Biden's heartless campaign to deny the existence of his seventh grandchild this summer when Hunter Biden's former mistress publishes a "tell-all memoir" in the middle of the Democratic convention. The forthcoming book by Lunden Roberts—a former stripper who gave birth to Hunter's daughter, Navy Joan Roberts, in 2019—will offer a "brave and honest" account of her "tumultuous relationship" with the crack-addled first son, including "revelations that could well impact the outcome of the 2024 election," according to a description from Skyhorse Publishing. Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the...

Jack Poso 🇺🇸 @JackPosobiec Thank you, Tom - very cool! 9:17 PM · May 28, 2024

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden used a post to X to renew his call for an “assault weapons” ban and was mocked in response. Biden posted: He was immediately mocked on X, with one user responding, “It’s time for a new president.” Another user wrote, “You’re advocating for the disarming of citizens while you try to imprison your opponent. How fascist of you.” Yet another added, “‘Shall not be infringed’ means ‘Shall not be Infringed.’ End of discussion.”

Antihypertensive drugs are associated with an increased risk for eczematous dermatitis in older adults, and the effect sizes are largest for diuretics and calcium channel blockers, according to a study. Morgan Ye, M.P.H. and colleagues examined whether antihypertensive drug use is associated with eczematous dermatitis in a longitudinal cohort study of individuals aged 60 years and older without eczematous dermatitis at baseline. The researchers found that the overall prevalence of eczematous dermatitis was 6.7% among 1,561,358 older adults during a median follow-up of six years. The incidence of eczematous dermatitis was higher among those receiving versus those not receiving antihypertensive...

Many have seen their hours reduced—or have lost their jobs entirely.California now leads the nation in imposing dumb wage laws. The state just raised the hourly minimum wage for fast food workers to $20. Gov. Gavin Newsom said, "We saw the inequities….We had a responsibility to do more." Unions pushed for the higher minimum, and in Democrat-run states, unions usually get what they want. CNN announced, "Half a million California fast food workers will now earn $20 per hour." Gullible leftists at the Center for American Progress claim, "A higher minimum wage would boost millions of families out of poverty...

New York Attorney General Letitia James has already lost the first battle in corut after she tried to shut down pro-life pregnancy centers. The New York attorney general is facing multiple lawsuits for using her power to censor pro-life pregnancy centers because they tell women about the option of using progesterone for abortion pill reversal. Progesterone is a safe and naturally occurring hormone that can be used to counteract the life-ending effects of abortion drugs. James recently sued 11 faith-based pro-life pregnancy centers and a network of affiliated centers in the state, alleging—despite evidence to the contrary—that the centers are...

Remember that catchy NYC tourism campaign, “I loooove New Yoork!” I can almost picture President Biden croaking out the catchy tune, but with one word changed: “I loooove Iraaan!”Iran is the number one state sponsor of worldwide terrorism. They call America the ”Great Satan,” and their stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map. But don’t tell that to Joe Biden, who doesn’t want to upset the Mullahs in case it might hurt his increasingly remote reelection chances. The befuddled octogenarian president actually is demanding that European countries concerned about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons program stand down and...

Only 14.5% of adult patients with moderate or severe asthma are prescribed the recommended SMART combination inhaler regimen and over 40% of academic pulmonary and allergy clinicians have not adopted this optimal therapy, according to research. By 2021, both the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and Global Initiative for Asthma had updated their guidelines to recommend the use of a single combination corticosteroid (ICS) and formoterol (a long acting beta agonist) inhaler for both Maintenance And Relief Therapy for moderate to severe asthma, or SMART. In the United States, ICS-formoterol inhalers include Symbicort (budesonide-formoterol) and Dulera (mometasone-formoterol). Under the...

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — WARNING: The story contains graphic details. A Flowery Branch man was sentenced to 30 years in prison last week in Gwinnett County for raping a teenage girl and stabbing her 86 times. Zachary Iona, 22, pleaded guilty to rape, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, statutory rape, child molestation, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony in Gwinnett County Superior Court. Iona and his attorneys negotiated a plea for a life sentence of 30 years in prison, followed by five years of parole and mandatory sex offender registration. [snip] After he left, the girl...

“Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Cori Bush (D-MO) appeared to confuse Memorial Day — a day to honor fallen American service members — with Veterans Day, a day to honor those who have served. Omar posted on X from her congressional account: On #MemorialDay, we honor the heroic men and women who served our country. We owe them more than our gratitude — they have more than earned access to quality mental health services, job opportunities, housing assistance, and the benefits they were promised. Bush posted on her congressional X account: This #MemorialDay & every day, we honor...

The “massive immigration wave” on President Joe Biden’s watch is straining public schools across the United States, the Wall Street Journal details. Since 2021, the Journal reports, “as many as one million children … have arrived with their families or on their own” to the United States, most through the nation’s porous southern border where nearly eight million migrants total have been encountered thus far under Biden. As a result, public schools where migrant children are resettling have been hit with financial and staffing burdens they have not experienced before. Specifically, the Journal chronicles the school district of Stoughton, Massachusetts,...