Free Republic

Are California Democrats—responsible for the state’s new anti-gig-worker law, AB5—so out of touch that they’re not aware of the growing anger of their constituents? It appears so. Since AB5 took effect on January 1, hundreds of thousands of Californians are finding their businesses in tatters. Musicians can’t join bands for a one-night gig, chefs can’t join forces with caterers, nurses can’t work at various hospitals, and writers must cap their submissions per media outlet to 35 per year. Under the law, these freelancers can no longer conduct the same business-to-business transactions they have for years or even decades. Clients with...

Did Pope Francis defend Pachamama idolatry at Vatican in new Amazon synod exhortation? The pope wrote that it is 'possible to take up an indigenous symbol in some way, without necessarily considering it as idolatry February 12, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – In his new exhortation released today on the Amazon Synod, Pope Francis made statements about “indigenous” symbols and “certain religious practices” that could be interpreted as a defense of the use of the controversial “Pachamama” statues during the synod in Rome last year. In section 78 of Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis states that people should “not be quick to describe...

A new poll found a majority of respondents classified former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s job at Burisma as “inappropriate.” A Politico/Morning Consult poll found 52 percent of participants found the fact that Hunter Biden sat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma “inappropriate,” compared to 18 percent of people who thought it was appropriate. A total of 57 percent of registered voters in the survey said his position amounted to a scandal, while 19 percent said it did not. Independents, an important group to watch during an election year, found Hunter Biden’s position inappropriate at...

Sen. Bernard Sanders’ supporters have been stricken with an acute case of paranoia about the Democratic Party hijacking the nomination from their guiding light at the national convention this summer. The fears persist despite party bosses rewriting the nomination rules after the nasty 2016 primary race to quell a backlash from Sanders’ supporters, including scaling back the influence of the “superdelegates” who backed Hillary Clinton en masse. Shaun King, a top Sanders surrogate, took to Twitter this week to question whether the Vermont socialist’s top 2020 rivals would back him if he enters the convention with a plurality of support,...

The Trump administration responded to criticisms from Attorney General William Barr on Thursday after Barr told ABC News that the president was making it “impossible” to do his job by constantly tweeting about the Department of Justice. CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge reported that White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham made the following statement in response to Barr’s criticisms: “The President wasn’t bothered by the comments..he has the right, just like any American citizen, to publicly offer his opinions. #POTUS uses social media very effectively to fight for the American people…(and) has full faith and confidence in AG Barr.” BREAKING:...

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — When Panama City Beach resident, Jeff Elkins, was a kid, he says he knew one thing for sure. “I knew there would be flying cars by the year 2000,” he said in an interview. The year 2000 came and went without flying cars, so, Elkins took matters into his own hands. With screws and sheet metal, propellers and joysticks, he created an early version of the “Air-board.”

A pair of Russian YouTubers claim that they have nabbed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in another prank call from a pair posing as Greta Thunberg and her father, according to their latest video. The video opens with an individual who sounds like and identifies himself as Sanders, one of the frontrunners in the Democrats’ presidential primary, asking to speak with Greta Thunberg, the teen climate activist who was named TIME Person of the Year. “I just wanted to congratulate you on the extraordinary role you are playing in rallying young people and people throughout the world on this terrible, terrible...

... Justice sources tell me that interim U.S. Attorney Tim Shea had told the department’s leadership he and other career officials in the office felt the proposed sentence was excessive. As the deadline for the filing neared, the prosecutors on the case nonetheless threatened to withdraw from the case unless they got their demands for these stiffest of penalties. Mr. Shea—new to the job—suffered a moment of cowardice and submitted to this ultimatum. The filing took Justice Department leaders by surprise, and the decision to reverse was made well before Mr. Trump tweeted, and with no communication with the White...

Newt Gingrich discusses the money Michael Bloomberg is spending on his campaign and slams him for cutting deals with the Chinese dictatorship. #FoxNews

Four years after Chile embraced the world’s most sweeping measures to combat mounting obesity, a partial verdict on their effectiveness is in: Chileans are drinking a lot fewer sugar-laden beverages, according to study published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine.

AB5, California’s new gig economy law, has left the state’s performing artist community in a state of fear and confusion. The law is intended to reduce worker misclassification, making it harder for companies to treat workers as independent contractors. It establishes a test to determine whether workers are employees who should receive minimum wage, paid sick days and other benefits. But the law’s ambiguous language — specifically the use of the phrase “fine artist” without actually defining the term — already had led arts organizations to postpone or cancel productions and has sent others scrambling to raise more money to...

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days before the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Registerand transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date.  In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to the southern border of the United States declared in Proclamation 9844 of February 15, 2019,...

On February 15, 2019, by Proclamation 9844, I declared a national emergency concerning the southern border of the United States to deal with the border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests.The ongoing border security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border of the United States continues to threaten our national security, including the security of the American people.  The executive branch has taken steps to address the crisis, but further action is needed to address the humanitarian crisis and to control unlawful migration and the flow of narcotics and criminals across the southern border of the United States.For these reasons, the...

[Barf Alert] Pope shares with U.S. bishops his frustration with reaction to Amazon text VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis told a group of U.S. bishops that, like them, he is accused of not being courageous or not listening to the Holy Spirit when he says or does something someone disagrees with — like not mentioning married priests in his document on the Amazon.“You could see his consternation when he said that for some people it was all about celibacy and not about the Amazon,” said Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee.“He said some people say he is not courageous...

~Favorite Island or City Songs~ Christian Island *Video* Journey - Lights *Video*

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has repeatedly touted his support from black voters as a sign of his electability in the general election, but he reportedly caused frustration during a meeting last year when he said black "parents can't read." Biden's remarks, which were first reported by The New York Times on Thursday, came during a private gathering with prominent black mayors from Georgia. Three people with direct knowledge of the meeting confirmed the account to the newspaper, noting that Biden had said that black communities face a problem because "parents can't read or write themselves." Many of the attendees...

A U.S. District Court Judge in Washington, D.C., issued a statement Thursday obtained by The Hill rejecting the notion that outside pressure will influence the court’s ruling on Roger Stone’s case. Judge Beryl A. Howell responded to President Trump’s attacks on Stone’s sentencing judge, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, assuring “public criticism or pressure is not a factor” in the court’s decision. Howell and Berman Jackson are both Obama appointees. SNIP Howell further underscored that judges do not take sentencing lightly and said that his colleagues take all aspects of the case into consideration when they make a decision....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkawJcYBhXA&feature=emb_title  

I think those of us on the left need to take a long look in the mirror and have an honest conversation about what’s going on. If you had told me three years ago that I would ever attend a Donald Trump rally, I would have laughed and assured you that was never going to happen. Heck, if you had told me I would do it three months ago, I probably would have done the same thing. So, how did I find myself among 11,000-plus Trump supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire? Believe it or not, it all started with knitting....

For 25 years in Georgia, I watched my mom make the same batch of six light, fluffy biscuits for breakfast almost every Sunday. Then I moved to New York, never to see a light, fluffy biscuit again. I arrived in the city in 2011, just in time for southern food to get trendy outside its region, and for three years, I bit into a series of artisanal hockey pucks, all advertised on menus as authentic southern buttermilk biscuits. With every dense, dry, flat, scone-adjacent clump of carbohydrates, I became more distressed. I didn’t even realize biscuits could be bad, given...