Free Republic

A grey-haired man wearing a face mask lies dead on the pavement at ground zero of China's virus epidemic, a plastic shopping bag in one hand...there are only a few passersby and they dare not go near him...A woman standing near the man...said she believed he had died from the virus. "It's terrible," she said. "These days many people have died."...In the two hours that AFP observed the scene, at least 15 ambulances passed by, attending other calls. Finally, a white van with blacked-out windows arrived to take away the man. The body was zipped into a yellow surgical bag,...

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 10:15 A.M. EST MS. CONWAY: Good morning. Thank you for being here. We come before you bearing good news. For the first time in four years, life expectancy in the United States of America has increased. And for the first time in 29 years, the number of drug overdose deaths has decreased. This has not happened through coincidence. It’s happened through causation. It’s owing in large part to a whole-of-government approach to treat the whole person, led by President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and really, the entire administration. Nearly 70,000 of our fellow...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A perjury charge has been filed against Susan Holmes, the woman who recently tried to use Colorado’s new “red flag” law to have a Colorado State University officer’s weapons confiscated. Earlier this month, Holmes filed an extreme risk protection order against Cpl. Phillip Morris. It was denied. Morris shot and killed Holmes’ son in 2017. The district attorney found the shooting to be “clearly justified.” A petition for an extreme risk protection order requires the petitioner to have a connection to the respondent, such as being a blood relative, a marriage or domestic partner, or having...

Key takeaways The unemployment rate is extremely low, which means people are switching jobs more frequently for opportunities that better fit their needs.Switching jobs in a strong economy can give you more negotiating power.Employers are hiring already-employed candidates at a higher rate than unemployed candidates.Job switchers often change industries, but not at a higher rate than usual.Job hopping doesn’t always look bad on your resume (and, in some instances, can even help increase your hireability). Have you been considering leaving your current employer for another opportunity? If so, you’re not alone. In recent years, the job switching rate has...

As worsening traffic has put a stranglehold on New York, the country’s largest city has moved to squeeze out cars, taking away street space to make room for bikes and pedestrians, and all but banning vehicles from a major Manhattan thoroughfare. Now, New York is considering an even more startling step: eliminating one-third of the lanes on one of the city’s busiest highways. That is the key recommendation from a panel appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio that was tasked with coming up with a rescue plan for a key stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which is rapidly falling apart...

“There is no need for more evidence to prove that the president asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter; he said this on television on October 3, 2019, and during his July 25, 2019, telephone call with the president of Ukraine. There is no need for more evidence to conclude that the president withheld United States aid, at least in part, to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens; the House managers have proved this with what they call a ‘mountain of overwhelming evidence.’ There is no need to consider further the frivolous second article of impeachment that...

The Senate will acquit President Trump on both House articles of impeachment. That much even Adam Schiff knows. The Senate trial is now all about the election and impeachment precedents, which are two of many good reasons for cleaning up the trial distortions and wrapping up the show this week. Start with the media claim that defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz said a President can do anything to further his re-election as long he thinks it is in the national interest. This isn’t what he said. The Harvard professor said explicitly that a President can be impeached for criminal acts. He...

The president speaks the truth — not even Brian Stelter or Oliver Darcy watch Lemon’s show. Lemon and Ali are textbook examples of socially-acceptable racists. The bosses turn a blind eye to the hate spewing nightly from Lemon’s mouth. Help us champion truth, freedom, limited government and human dignity. Support The Stream » Imagine what would have happened had a white news anchor giggled uncontrollably as his guests mocked black people. They would’ve been run out of the country. “I’m Sure You Won’t Be So Smug” “Arrogant, elitist snobs w/ noses so high in the air a good rain would...

To all who prayed for premature baby Colt- THANK YOU! Yesterday he was finally able to go home with his parents after 52 days in NICU. He will still be hooked up to some sort of monitoring but it is a major blessing for his parents. You will never know how your words lifted these young parents as they essentially lived at the hospital wondering if this day would come so THANK YOU AGAIN for your kind prayers and well wishes and support!! It was so very very appreciated!!

The thousands of people who descended upon the Jersey Shore town for President Donald Trump's 'Keep America Great' rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center left behind a sea of trash in the parking lot — including their abandoned beach chairs and blankets — after the rally wrapped up.Rally-goers were allowed to bring chairs as they waited in line — some for up to 48 hours before the event — but they weren't allowed to bring them inside the venue.Factor in the blankets they used to stay warm, and all their drinks and food they were snacking on during the long wait...

A Maryland doctor familiar with highly infectious diseases says U.S. residents should be more concerned about catching the flu rather than the coronavirus that’s making headlines. “We’re in the middle of flu season,” said Dr. Brian Garibaldi, medical director of Johns Hopkins Hospital’s biocontainment unit. “It is much more likely that you’re going to come in contact with the flu than you are with the novel coronavirus at this stage of the game. I hope it stays that way.” The same precautions taken to prevent the flu can also help avoid coronavirus, Garibaldi said. He urges everyone to wash their...

In January 1999, then-Sen. Joe Biden argued strongly against the need to depose additional witnesses or seek new evidence in a memo sent to fellow Democrats ahead of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. Biden circulated the four-page document, titled “Arguments in Support of a Summary Impeachment Trial,” on Jan. 5, 1999. In his memo, obtained by POLITICO, Biden cited historical precedents from impeachment cases going back to the establishment of the Senate and asserted “The Senate need not hold a ‘full-blown’ trial.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic prosecutors and Republican defenders at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Thursday barreled toward a confrontation over new witnesses, something that would deny Trump the swift conclusion of the matter that he seeks.As U.S. senators spent a second day firing questions at both legal teams, Republicans, who control the chamber, said they were confident they could hold a final vote and acquit Trump as early as the weekend.

It's a statement that's as predictable as it is infuriating: President Donald Trump's administration lacks diversity. On Tuesday, Trump tweeted photos of a briefing he'd received on the new coronavirus spreading out of China. "We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments," the President said in his post. "We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7!" Who are these experts? They're largely the same sorts of white men (and a couple women on the sidelines) who've dominated the Trump administration from the very beginning. By contrast, former President Barack Obama's circle...

Number of confirmed cases jumps by almost 2,000 in one day, as total figure tops 9,600 in China From CNN's Steven Jiang in Beijing China's National Health Commission has announced that as of the end-of Thursday January 30, the total number of confirmed Wuhan coronavirus cases in mainland China had risen to 9,692.That's a jump of 1,982 from the previous day, with the total figure now far exceeding the number of cases associated with severe respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 -- previously among Asia's worst outbreaks.The death toll in mainland China has now reached 213, with 42 new deaths occurring...

Critical swing-vote Sen. Lamar Alexander says he will announce Thursday night whether he’s voting to call witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial. The retiring Tennessee Republican’s stance could dictate the outcome of a high-stakes vote on Friday and determine if Trump’s trial ends quickly or is extended weeks with witnesses. ... “I have spoken to Lamar a number of times,” Cruz told reporters during the dinner break Thursday. “In terms of the votes, all 47 Democrats have been clear that they will vote to call additional witnesses. The big question is will four Republicans join the 47 Democrats? Two Republicans,...

In a press conference on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the opportunity to grandstand rather than responding to a reporter's question. She insisted that even if the U.S. Senate votes against convicting and removing President Donald Trump, he would not be acquitted. Pelosi also went on to say Trump does not know right from wrong. The reporter asked whether Pelosi expects Trump to be "chastened" by the impeachment process or "emboldened because the Senate will have acquitted him." Rather than answering the question, the House speaker launched into a diatribe against Republicans. "Well, he will not be acquitted. You...

Proving Purgatory The doctrine of Purgatory, central to Christianity, is brutally attacked by certain non-Catholic polemicists. Their typical view of the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory is that it was either concocted by the Church in the Middle Ages for filthy lucreÂ’s sake, or that, if there are any ancient precedents for it among the Church Fathers, it gradually developed in scope and meaning so as to become something the early Church did not believe it to be. 1This was done, it is alleged, so that the Church could make money from the sale of indulgences, or to keep Catholics in...

At least two thieves have stolen items from an art gallery in Stockholm, police said, with Swedish media reporting that they include 10 to 12 table-size bronze sculptures by Spanish artist Salvador Dali. Gallery owner Peder Enstrom told the Swedish news agency TT that the alarm went off after 4 a.m. and police arrived shortly after. The sculptures — including several of Dali’s famous melting watches on a tree — had been on display at the gallery for 10 days. The exhibition was to close Saturday. The statues came from Switzerland.

[...] The sergeant pursued the suspect’s truck about a block south to Wilcox Street, where the suspect fired twice and hit the sergeant in the wrist, police said. Harrison District tactical officers in the area met up with the sergeant and started driving him east toward Stroger(Hospital), police said. “We have the officer in our car, we’re driving him to Stroger right now,” an officer radioed. “He’s got a gunshot wound to his left forearm.” On the way, the sergeant spotted the suspect and the tactical team started chasing the truck. “While en route to the hospital, the officer and...