Free Republic

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on large private businesses through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Thursday, but upheld a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate. The decision on the OSHA mandate was 6-3; the decision on the CMS mandate was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the court’s three Democratic appointees in upholding it. As Breitbart News reported last week, the Court had appeared skeptical of the mandates during oral arguments, especially the OSHA mandate, as Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar struggled to identify the statutory...

President Biden on Tuesday predicted Democrat Terry McAuliffe would win the closely watched Virginia gubernatorial race, even as polls have shown him even or trailing heading into Election Day. "We’re going to win. I think we’re going to win in Virginia," Biden said at a press conference in Scotland, acknowledging it would be a close race between McAuliffe and Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin and would come down to voter turnout. The president also expressed confidence New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) would win re-election on Tuesday.

The HBO star claimed Friday that red states were "a joy" to visit these days while blue states were "a pain in the a--" because of coronavirus rules... Bill Maher railed against ongoing COVID restrictions, declaring the pandemic "over." ... "Just resume living," Maher ... "I know some people seem to not want to give up on the wonderful pandemic, but you know what? It's over. There's always going to be a variant. You shouldn't have to wear masks. I should be to … I haven't had a meeting with my staff since March of 2020. Why?" "I know some...

“We’re not going to … take lectures from Minister Hajdu, particularly when it appears that she and her boss (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau are hell-bent on a federal election campaign,” Kenney said Friday at a news conference in Bowden, Alta., about drought support for farmers. “If they really are that concerned about COVID, then why is she getting ready to put up campaign signs?” Kenney went on to describe Hajdu’s letter as a political ploy and criticized her handling of COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic. He said the federal government should respect the advice of Alberta’s top...

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said it’s possible that the US could turn the corner in the COVID-19 pandemic in the next few weeks — and follow the same trajectory as the United Kingdom, which has started to see cases plunge again. Gottlieb said the US appears to be about three or four weeks behind the United Kingdom in the latest wave of cases, which has been driven by the highly contagious Delta variant. “If you look at the UK, they do in the last seven days appear to be turning a corner. You’re starting to see a downward...

Former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett said Friday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that she supported coronavirus vaccine mandates. Jarrett said, “I’m all for mandating it. I know in this country, it’s hard to mandate things. I think what we can do is say, look, if you want them to make their own decision, fine, but we’re not going to let you come to sporting events or schools.”

The COVID-19 vaccines will never be perfect; fully vaccinated people can still get infected, though they’re much less likely to be hospitalized or die from the disease. Yet, the Delta coronavirus variant first discovered in India has some experts concerned. The World Health Organization suggested on Friday that fully vaccinated people still wear face masks whenever possible, citing the Delta variant’s increased transmissibility and risk of serious COVID-19 across the globe. “People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves… vaccines alone won’t stop community transmission,” Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is widely regarded in the media as the ultimate authority on climate change. Created by two divisions of the United Nations, and recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, its pronouncements are received as if they come down from Mount Olympus or Mount Sinai. The common presumption is that the IPCC has assembled the best scientific knowledge. Let’s take a closer look at this organization to see whether it merits such uncritical deference. The IPCC’s Feb. 2007 report stated: It is “very likely” that human activity is causing global warming. Why then, just...