Free Republic

More whistleblowers have stepped forward to tell Congress that high-ranking FBI officials are targeting agents, specifically former military members, for their political beliefs and trying to force them out of the bureau. A Marine and other military veterans at the FBI have been accused of disloyalty to the U.S. because they fit the profile of a supporter of former President Donald Trump, according to two disclosures sent to lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee. The Washington Times obtained copies of the disclosures. The whistleblowers said Jeffrey Veltri, deputy assistant director of the bureau’s security division, and Dena Perkins, assistant section...

— However, observations do not fall into territory of harm, according to exercise physiologistsSmall physiological changes can result from wearing an N95 mask all day, including during light exercise, a small trial found. Whether this has practical implications for mask users is unclear, however, as exercise physiologists said they were not convinced by the data. Compared with unmasked controls, 15 young healthy volunteers randomized to wear an N95 mask for 14 hours (from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.) in a metabolic chamber had a reduced respiration rate and lower oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry within the first hour, while...

The British actor Tilda Swinton has stated that she will not wear a Covid face mask on the set of her new film. Working on a new movie in Ireland, Swinton said of her experience at SXSW Film and TV Festival: “I’m about to shoot a picture in Ireland, and I was told to wear a mask at all times, and I’m not”. Having contracted the virus several times, Swinton continued, stating: “I’m sure this is being recorded. I’ve had Covid-19 multiple times, so I’m full of antibodies and very healthy”. Most recently lending her voice to the recent ‘Best...

Rayne Barton, 62, didn’t expect that her first visit to the doctor in months would end in arrest, but there she was on July 22, in the waiting room with her wrists handcuffed behind her back. She would not be seeing the doctor that day. Barton, of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, would not leave as requested after she refused to wear a COVID-19 face mask, which is required at Hypertension and Kidney Specialists in Lancaster. Hypertension and Kidney Specialists is an independent practice with an office on the Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Suburban Pavilion property. At the request of the office...

VIDEOHe can do it! Just put one foot in front of the other. Be careful. Don't stumble. Concentrate! Concentrate! YES! HE DID IT! And nothing projects bold confident leadership like wearing a mask outdoors when nobody is anywhere near you.

In response to Purdue University moving to an optional face mask policy, an English professor complained the move would give people “more freedom.” Purdue announced on February 16 that beginning last Friday, face masks in indoor settings would be optional “except for instructional, research and health care settings, as well as where contractually required.” The campus currently has a five percent COVID positivity rate, according to the statement. Professor Robert Marzec, whose specialization is contemporary British and postcolonial literature, didn’t think much of the announcement. “I’m curious what folks think about today’s announcement concerning masks on our campus,” Marzec wrote...

A face mask may be one of the most debilitating learning barriers for young children. We have dedicated much of our careers to fighting and overturning heavy-handed government mandates. One thing we’ve learned over the years is that when Democrats have power in Washington, they typically use it to impose freedom-restricting rules, whether it be on small businesses, family farmers or innovators. But we’ve never seen Democrats try to regulate the behavior of toddlers – until now. As parents ourselves, we are outraged that the federal government is using taxpayer money to make children as young as 2 years old...

The latest example of why people shouldn't blindly follow 'the science...as decreed by bureaucrats', arrived Friday, when Bloomberg reported that a study undertaken by the British government to justify forcing children to wear masks in schools has forced them to admit that the evidence for the efficacy of face masks stopping the spread of COVID-19 in schools is "not conclusive."Data from the Department of Education stated that whilst not conclusive, there are now a number of scientific studies which consider the association between COVID-19 and the use of face coverings specifically in education.The study cited by the department didn’t provide...

University of Oxford Professor Jim Naismith asserts that despite England dropping its mask mandate in July and Scotland keeping its rules in force, official data shows this “has made no meaningful difference” to infection rates.Naismith goes on to argue that new face mask mandates imposed in England today are “unlikely to have much of an impact” in fighting off the spread of the Omicron variant.Despite flatlining case numbers and declining deaths, partly achieved because England chose to lift lockdown restrictions in the summer unlike many European countries, mask mandates are once again back in force.Face coverings are compulsory in shops,...

After being denied entry into a convenience store for being unmasked, a Taiwanese man lost his cool, fatally stabbing the store clerk who asked him to put on a face mask. The stabbing took place outside a convenience store in Taoyuan early Nov 21 morning, FocusTaiwan reported. Police said that the suspect, a 41-year-old man surnamed Chiang, tried to enter the convenience store at 4am, but was stopped and asked to put on a mask by the store clerk Tsai. Shortly after, Chiang put on a mask and returned to the store. After browsing some shelves, he got into an...

The government’s own scientific advisor admitted that face masks do practically nothing. The mayor of London Sadiq Khan is lobbying the government to make it illegal to get on the London underground train system without wearing a mask. Since July 19th it has not been legally mandatory to wear masks on public transport in the UK, however some train companies have decided to impose their own mandates, and now Khan is seeking to go even further with the underground, which is used by almost 4 million people per day. Khan wants to make it a criminal offence, punishable by fines,...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Tuesday that it had fined a passenger $10,500 for refusing to wear a face mask during a February flight. In a press release, the agency said that a passenger had taken an Allegiant Air flight on Feb. 27 going from Provo, Utah, to Mesa, Ariz., and allegedly refused to wear the mask properly over both his nose and mouth. "Flight attendants instructed him seven separate times to wear his facemask properly, and each time he moved it off of his nose after the flight attendant walked away," the release said. "When told that he...

White House climate envoy John Kerry was photographed without a face mask while walking through Boston Logan International Airport on Monday morning—the second time he has been snapped apparently flouting the mask mandate during air travel this year—according to photographs obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. In photos, Kerry can be seen walking through an airport body scanner without wearing a mask. The source who provided the photos said they were taken at 11:41 a.m. on Monday at Logan Airport. Kerry previously denied that he went maskless on an American Airlines flight after a picture emerged in March, calling the...

Police confirmed multiple fatalities after a mass stabbing in Wurzburg on Friday.. The suspect has been identified as a 24-year-old Somali man living in Wurzburg.. Videos showed pedestrians holding the attacker at bay with chairs and sticks .. A witness reported that the knifeman shouted 'Allahu Akbar' before the attack.. A Somali knifeman yelled 'Allahu Akbar' before killing three people and wounding six more in a street rampage before German police arrested him alive, according to local reports. Police identified the suspect, who was wearing a face mask and is now being questioned in a hospital, as a 24-year-old Somali...

Social distancing measures costing some businesses over 40 per cent of their normal turnover.. England is set to drop all face mask rules on July 19th after it was revealed that keeping such restrictions in place is costing the economy billions and will force many businesses to close. “The requirement to wear facemasks on public transport and in shops will be replaced with guidance advising people to wear masks in certain circumstances, rather than compelling them,” reports the Times. The decision follows the findings of an internal economic impact assessment produced by the government’s Events Research Programme which detailed the...

Prime Minister Sánchez announces the relaxation of the anti-pandemic law a week in advance Weeks of speculation regarding a possible lifting of the legal requirement to wear facemasks in public throughout Spain was ended on Friday morning by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who announced that the obligatory anti-pandemic measure will at last be relaxed on Saturday 26th June. Despite opposition from various regional health authorities, notably those of Andalucía and the Basque Country, an extraordinary meeting of Cabinet will be held on Thursday 24th June to approve the move, Sr Sánchez stated. The announcement is almost certain to draw strong...

On this day in history:Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go,On June 3, 1965, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H. White II opens the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling his movements with a hand-held oxygen jet-propulsion gun, White remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes.Thanks to all the research and development in space, 56 years later we find ourselves able to wander...

If you're a Californian looking to attend a social function without being forced to wear a pesky face mask, there's good news: All you have to do is get yourself invited to the Oscars on Sunday. That's right, according to Variety, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that Oscar attendees in the state that has some of the most severe and onerous pandemic lockdowns in the nation will not have to wear masks during the telecast of the ceremony — well, at least as long as the cameras are rolling. But when it's time for...

Posh dinners at a cost of €490 euros per head as rest of Paris struggles under lockdown. Even as Parisians continue to struggle under lockdown, members of the French elite, potentially including government ministers, have been caught attending rulebreaking secret restaurants in the French capital. French TV channel M6 aired secretly recorded footage of clandestine dinners taking place at an “underground restaurant located in a beautiful part” of Paris. The clip shows guests at the restaurant without masks openly kissing each other and violating social distancing rules. There also appears to be no restrictions on the number of guests allowed....

Researchers in Mexico have introduced a new coronavirus mask that covers only the nose, allowing those terrified over the virus to participate in the mask fad while nominally eating at the same time. CBS News touted the game-changing innovation in a video on Twitter. It’s totally unclear how this is even going to reduce transmission of the virus. Obviously, if you’re eating, viral molecules can still escape your open mouth or even your eyes. The science attesting to the utility of masks was always dubious, with death rates roughly the same- or even more- in jurisdictions that utilized mandatory mask...