Free Republic

So, Bernie wins the Nevada caucuses going away, featuring young people and Hispanics. Oh dear. And we thought Hispanics were sensible moderates. So they are, writes Steve Sailer, but they tend to be kind of poorly informed and not that interested in politics, but basically open to voting themselves some benefits at other people’s expense in a no-hard-feelings but-this-is-good-for me-and-mine way that I don’t take personally either. But really, why oh why are all those youngsters going again for the crazy Marxist dream? And why is the sensible Hispanic culinary union worker going for free everything? Fortunately, I just found...

The World Health Organization is sharing social media posts to debunk widely circulated rumors about coronavirus cures. Updated on Feb. 24 at 5:54 p.m. ET to include comments from Twitter and Facebook.The coronavirus outbreak has sparked what the World Health Organization is calling an "infodemic" — an overwhelming amount of information on social media and websites. Some of it's accurate. And some is downright untrue.The false statements range from a conspiracy theory that the virus is a man-made bioweapon to the claim that more than 100,000 have died from the disease (as of this week, the number of reported...

Over two decades and 2 million miles, Karl Williams has driven practically every diesel-powered truck brand on the road. Now behind the wheel of an electric-powered rig, he relishes keeping his place in stop-and-go traffic and misses neither the engine clatter nor the smell of diesel fuel Unless compelled, he won't be going back to diesel trucking. In about four months, NFI's fleet of nine electric day cabs has racked up about 50,000 miles. "I would have the space of two diesel trucks in front of me. By the time I get going, five cars jump in front of me,"...

In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, America is coming to terms with a grim reality: thanks in large part to the federal government’s destructive, centrally planned healthcare initiatives, the healthcare industry is deteriorating rapidly. The system doesn’t have the resources to address the United States’ growing medical needs -- and nowhere is this more acutely felt than in rural America. A December Fox News report highlighted how fixing the rural healthcare crisis has become a top campaign issue for many states. Since 2005, over 160 rural hospitals have closed their doors, and no less than 430 more are...

Appearing Monday on CNN, former National Intelligence Director James Clapper said President Donald Trump’s desire to have administration officials who are on board with his policies reminds him of North Korea.

Drain the swamp, baby, and Make America Great Again and Keep America Great Always!! Prayers up for continuing progress and success. FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who love and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. No 501c or other IRS non-profit status. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No third-parties -- not even the IRS -- trying to control what we do...

DoesnÂ’t anyone actually care enough about this obviously impaired man to stage an intervention? Joe Biden told an audience on Friday that his son was once the Attorney General of the United States; Before the same puny audience, he confused the 2010 mid-term elections with the 2016 presidential contest; On Saturday, he claimed to have been arrested in South Africa while visiting Nelson Mandela at some point in the 1970s, an incident none of his traveling companions remember and that was not reported in the news media, mainly because it never happened; Also on Saturday, he forgot which state he...

Like many people, I’ve been watching House Hunters and its cousin House Hunters International on HGTV with considerable interest, though perhaps not for the usual reasons. I understand the charm the program has for its viewers: the pleasure of visiting houses and their locales, the ideas one may get for redecorating one’s own dwelling, the information about places one may wish to visit or move to, the guessing game regarding which of the inevitable three houses the purchasers will settle for, or simply abundant material for one’s fantasy life. But I do wonder how many viewers realize that the whole...

A new study of the genetic history of Sardinia... tells how genetic ancestry on the island was relatively stable through the end of the Bronze Age, even as mainland Europe saw new ancestries arrive. The study further details how the island's genetic ancestry became more diverse and interconnected with the Mediterranean starting in the Iron Age, as Phoenician, Punic, and eventually Roman peoples began arriving to the island. The people of Sardinia have long been studied by geneticists to understand human health. The island has one of the highest rates of people who live to 100 years or more, and...

Bernie Sanders’ nomination could drag down vulnerable House Democrats trying to hold onto their competitive districts, according to a new poll conducted for Mike Bloomberg's campaign that is circulating among members — providing fresh data for moderates warning about a wipeout if Sanders emerges to lead their ticket against President Donald Trump. The poll of voters in more than 40 battleground House districts currently held by Democrats — conducted by Global Strategy Group for the Bloomberg campaign and obtained by POLITICO from two sources — found that Sanders is less popular than Trump and loses significant support when hit for...

For many years I’ve avoided writing about “West Side Story.” As a Puerto Rican critic, I resent the expectation that I have something to say about a musty old musical from 1957. Just as the U.S. government bestowed second-class American citizenship upon islanders in 1917 without popular consent, “West Side Story” continues to recruit us as extras even when we never intended to audition for the show. The Puerto Rican writer Nelson Rivera once recalled studying abroad in Paris, where he was greeted by “Oui, ‘West Side Story’!” at every turn, as if collecting stamps in the passport of an...

As of November 2019, Democrat presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg was “the 12th richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated at $61.8 billion.” That quote came from this paragraph, which also gives one a sense of how quickly Mr. Bloomberg’s net worth has grown. On Valentine’s Day 2020, Forbes’ profile listed Bloomberg as the 8th richest person in America, and the magazine’s “real time net worth” gizmo calculated his wealth at $62.8B. Pretty soon we’re gonna be talking “real money.” In March of 2009, Forbes pegged Bloomberg’s wealth at $16B, a $4.5B bump-up from the previous year, and...

Former New York mayor and multibillionaire Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, four years ago at Oxford, England, dismissed farming, ancient and modern. He lectured that agriculture was little more than the rote labor of dropping seeds into the ground and watching corn sprout — easy, mindless, automatic. “I could teach anybody,” Bloomberg pontificated, “even people in this room, no offense intended, to be a farmer.”

Can President Trump invoke emergency powers that would wave many of the non-essential permits and red tape issues and begin rapidly ramping up Factories in the United States? It would seem to me that if we act NOW (not three months from now) we can accomplish two major things to avoid Catastrohpie. 1) Reduce reliance on non US Made Goods. 2) Put people to work who lost jobs due to supply chain collapse. Even if Coronavirus is kept in control here (and that's not likely) the economic collapse coming is going to be significant, and worse, medicines and other essential...

Jim Acosta calling the president a liar to his face in front of a foreign audience on the basis of nothing is a bad look. He came all the way around the world to make a jerk out of himself. Acosta is a DNC activist. He should no longer consider himself a journalist and should not be called one. What he did today, in a foreign land is tantamount to treason. Today he proved that he is now a journalist again. President Trump fired back at CNN’s Jim Acosta after the reporter accused him of lying. While holding an afternoon...

You know it’s NFL scouting combine week when we hear talk of how big a quarterback’s hands are. One of the more curious phenomena of the combine coverage is the overreaction to hand size. Good or bad, you’re going to hear more about how big a quarterback’s hands are than you ever expected. In the case of presumptive first overall pick Joe Burrow, the news of his hand measurement will be a part of the conversation surrounding his draft stock. And the news was not great.

An 11-year-old girl toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon appeared Monday at a legislative hearing with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits. Charles Nielsen addressed the committee that voted to send the legislation to the full House as Bailey Nielsen stood at his side with the weapon slung over her right shoulder, but did not say anything. “Bailey is carrying a loaded AR-15,” Charles Nielsen told lawmakers. “People live in fear, terrified of that which they do not understand. She’s...

The only thing that can be said about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's first appearance with his fellow Democratic presidential candidates in Las Vegas Wednesday night was that Mike did not get it done, as his campaign ads promise he will if he becomes president. He was boring, expressionless and could not defend himself against past racist, sexist and misogynistic comments, including one mentioned by Elizabeth Warren, who said Bloomberg once referred to women as "fat broads" and "horse-faced lesbians." During the debate he also refused to release women who worked for him from sexual harassment nondisclosure agreements,...

A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 80,000 people globally. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it. The latest figures reported by each government’s health authority as of Tuesday in Beijing: — Mainland China: 2,663 deaths among 77,658 cases, mostly in the central province of Hubei — Hong Kong: 81 cases, 2 deaths — Macao: 10 cases — South Korea: 977 cases, 11 deaths — Japan: 860 cases, including 691 from a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, 4 deaths — Italy:...

Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Monday doubled down on his praise of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and added praise for aspects of the Chinese authoritarian regime. “Truth is truth. All right?” Sanders said at a CNN town hall event when challenged on his previous praise for Castro’s regime. “If you want to disagree with me, if somebody wants to say that—and by the way, all of the Congress people you mentioned just so happen to be supporting other candidates…but you know, the truth is the truth. And that is what happened on the first years of the Castro regime.”...