Free Republic

You probably don’t remember the Humane Pin, despite its dominating the tech-news cycle a few months ago. It’s an elegant AI-powered square that sticks to your lapel and can send messages, search for information and tell you about what you’re seeing, all through voice commands. The Humane company raised more than $230 million in venture backing, and its rollout included a runway appearance at Paris Fashion Week, a TED talk and a chic announcement video where the pin repeatedly misinformed its user. According to the pin, almonds have far more protein than they do, and April’s solar eclipse would have...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is no longer recommending Americans stay home from work or school for five days after testing positive for COVID-19, a major shift in policy that comes as much of the country has moved on from the height of the pandemic. The new guidance aligns COVID recommendations with other respiratory viral illnesses such as flu and RSV. The simplified guidance recommends that even if they don’t know what virus is causing the illness, people should stay home when they are sick and symptomatic and resume normal activities if their symptoms have been improving...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to drop its five-day Covid isolation guideline, reports suggest — nearly four years after the pandemic began. Under new guidelines, the health agency will instead urge people who test positive for the virus to end isolation based on their symptoms. Those whose symptoms are mild and improving will no longer be urged to stay away from work and school, but those who have a fever or cough in the past 24 hours should stay away from others. The new recommendation will tell people they should only consider themselves to be OK...

Nearly four years after the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon drop the advice that people need to stay home for five days after testing positive for the virus. The change comes as most people have some sort of immunity to the virus either through vaccination or having COVID-19 in the past. “Public health has to be realistic,” infectious disease expert Michael T. Osterholm told the Post. “In making recommendations to the public today, we have to try to get the most out of what people are willing to do. …...

CNN — People who test positive for Covid-19 in California and Oregon are no longer expected to isolate for a set period of time — and those without symptoms don’t have to isolate at all, state policies now say. People with symptoms can return to school or work once their symptoms are improving and they’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours, according to the state policies. These two states — which have tended to take a more precautious approach to pandemic policies — are the first to break from federal guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and...

The sobering truth from Peter is that suffering for what’s right as God defines it is an essential part, an indispensable part, of the normal Christian life. So intent is the Apostle on getting this message across to us that he mentions it in every chapter of his first letter (1:6-7; 2:19-20; 3:13-17; 4:12-16; 5:8-10). This is his message because he’s well aware that, according to many in this world, Christians should be shamed and pressured to conform or be canceled. Peter says, “Don’t give in. Brace yourself to face whatever trials come your way with joy.” Wait, what? Please...

Almost a century ago, the psychologist Jean Piaget defined the stages of cognitive development. Up until about age 2, children learn about cause and effect through their actions. For the next five years, they learn through pretend play but struggle with logic. By middle school, they're in the "concrete operational stage." Their thinking is more logical but still rigid. Then around age 12, children enter the "formal operational stage," becoming capable of theoretical and abstract reasoning. This progression isn't just about acquiring knowledge; it's about a change in the very nature of how we think. Madeline Levine, a psychologist and...

Happening Now: The New York Appellate Division has ruled in favor of Governor Kathy Hochul in a landmark case for government overreach. Rule 2.13: “Isolation and Quarantine Procedures” will give the state of New York the ability to come in your home and take you away to quarantine without any notice and for any virus or infection they deem necessary. You won’t have any option to fight it. No court date. Nothing. The rule has no age limit and they can keep you as long as they’d like. The rule also allows them to treat you as they see fit,...

Republican presidential hopefuls don’t see eye-to-eye over how much the US should support Israel in its all-out war against Hamas — with some candidates, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy tacking toward isolationism and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley vowing to give Israel “anything they need.” In addition to Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have expressed more hawkish views — including openness to US troop involvement — while former President Donald Trump has largely been ambiguous about his policies. Ramaswamy has been...

A family whose members are still "shielding" due to COVID more than three years after the pandemic started said they feel "forgotten" as the rest of the world moves on. Rob Boxall and his family, who live in the U.K., said that visitors have to isolate for two weeks before the family can see them, as SWNS, the British news service, reported. Boxall's wife, Mandy, has had seven COVID jabs — but still reportedly has no protection from the coronavirus.

A man who works at the front desk at a rock climbing gym said in a viral TikTok that people who work from home all day are now bringing "insane energy into public spaces." Speaking on behalf of fellow hospitality and retail workers, the TikToker Alec Flynn told 1.4 million viewers last week: "If you're working from home all day, you need to have at least one more conversation or interaction before you come to a public place."

There is no evidence that shielding benefited vulnerable people as a COVID pandemic response, according to a new study. A new study of health data has examined the policy of shielding those deemed “Clinically Extremely Vulnerable” (CEV) to the virus, with the study’s main author claiming the UK government policy “was sort of made up at the time and implemented.” The shielding practice involved minimising interaction between CEV persons and others. Top oncologist Angus Dalgleish, who is now speaking out against COVID vaccine boosters, told The Epoch Times that he was not surprised by the results of the study, and...

Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James is appealing a 2022 court ruling throwing out a state regulation over its glaring illegality. If successful, James' appeal will restore the power to Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration to arbitrarily detain American citizens for indefinite periods and force them into quarantine camps. What is the background? The regulation, Section 2.13 "Isolation and Quarantine Procedures," was adopted and enshrined in the New York Code, Rules and Regulation in February 2022. It went into effect April 22, 2022. This regulation enabled the state commissioner of health to "issue and/or ... direct the local health authority...

Most people like to travel to exotic places, especially tropical islands, which make for excellent vacation spots. But, if you want to gamble with death, you’ll avert this island at all costs. For starters, it’s also patrolled by the Indian Navy, which enforces a three-to-five-mile exclusion zone around the island. It sounds like something from Jurassic Park, which does share one real-life comparison: the inhabitants will kill you. No, it’s not dinosaurs, but native peoples who have yet to experience the Bronze Age in terms of technology. It’s no exaggeration—these island people are considered “uncontacted” and are viciously protective of...

Masking and social distancing should be encouraged or even mandated once more in public in order to protect people from COVID-19 and from the possibility of suffering from "Long COVID," according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. The report, commissioned by HHS and produced by research agency Coforma, calls for a broad range of government policies to help people who continue to deal with the lingering effects of COVID. Those policies include an awareness campaign, funding for long COVID support groups, financial support for students and workers, and new health benefits for COVID victims....

This is the fight for freedom we Americans never dreamed we would have to fight. Imagine a land where the government has the power to lock you up because the unelected bureaucrats in the Health Department think that you might, possibly have a communicable disease. They don’t have to prove you are sick. They don’t have to prove you are a health threat to others. They just need to think that, maybe, you were possibly exposed to a disease. And when I say “lock people up,” I mean lock you in your home or force you from your home into...

Russia’s ocean container imports continue to collapse as shipping lines wind down the last remnants of their services to the country’s ports. Russia — now effectively a pariah within Western logistics circles — still has cargo import options. Yet the loss of virtually all of its ocean shipping links makes obtaining consumer goods and components much more difficult. Elvira Nabiullina, Russia’s Central Bank chairwoman, recently warned that the range of consumer goods available in her country is already shrinking and Russian companies needing foreign components are facing “serious problems.” Top carriers wind down serviceThe world’s top container lines paused bookings...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced on Monday that she has tested negative for COVID-19 and will exit isolation on Tuesday. Pelosi, who tested positive for the virus on Thursday, said she is exiting isolation at the direction of the Capitol’s attending physician and in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for asymptomatic individuals.

ANALYSIS: Students no longer know how to relate to one another face to face College students are isolated. A Harvard study from last year found 61 percent of young adults ages 18 to 25 feel “serious loneliness,” with 43 percent of these respondents reporting increases since the pandemic. The Healthy Minds Study, which surveyed students at 36 schools during fall 2020, also found 66 percent felt isolated from others. Every month or so, I see a new post on my university Reddit board from a student, who has nowhere else to turn, asking how to make friends. The college subreddit...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s isolation during the pandemic could be affecting his decision-making as he pushes on with his deadly invasion of Ukraine.