Free Republic

A new California law is supposed to help millions of freelancers by dictating that they be hired as employees. “It makes sure that the 1 million independent contractors in California get the wages and benefits that they deserve,” says the law’s author, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez. But freelancers like musician Ari Herstand tell John Stossel, “You’re thinking you’re helping us, but you’re not … this could single handedly crash the California music economy.” He points out that he’ll now have to put every musician he hires “on payroll, W2 him, get workers’ comp insurance, unemployment insurance … pay payroll taxes. I...

The top Communist Party official in Wuhan suggested Saturday that the government conduct “gratitude education” to teach citizens how to properly thank the party and general secretary Xi Jinping for the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. “The people of Wuhan are heroic people who understand gratitude,” Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin said in comments published by Changjiang Daily. “[We] must through various channels carry out gratitude education among the citizens of the whole city as well as cadres so that they thank the general secretary [Xi Jinping], thank the communist party, listen to the party’s words, follow the party’s...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited Wuhan for the first time since the city emerged as the centre of the coronavirus epidemic in January - a major sign that Beijing believes the outbreak is under control. The timing of Xi's visit indicates that China is ready to declare victory over the health crisis, which has killed at least 3,136 people in the nation and 4,062 worldwide, according to experts. Xi today inspected a 1,000-bed hospital constructed in 10 days to fight the deadly disease before touring a local community to call on residents in quarantine. His visit came as Wuhan...

COPENHAGEN - Denmark should sharply increase its carbon tax to help meet the cost of reaching its 2030 target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels, the Danish Council on Climate Change said on Monday. The council is the main independent adviser to the Danish government on climate change and its proposal for a much higher carbon tax immediately drew criticism from industry, with business representatives saying some companies would be forced to leave Denmark. “We can make the green transition happen without it costing a whole lot or affecting our welfare to a significant degree,” said...

Immigration court staff nationwide were ordered by the Trump administration to take down all coronavirus posters from courtrooms and waiting areas. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which falls under the Department of Justice, told all judges and staff members in an email Monday that all coronavirus posters, which explain in English and Spanish how to prevent catching and spreading the virus, had to be removed immediately. “This is just a reminder that immigration judges do not have the authority to post, or ask you to post, signage for their individual courtrooms or the waiting areas,” wrote Christopher A. Santoro,...

VIDEO As we draw ever closer to the Democrat convention, more and more signs keep piling up that Hillary Clinton is AGAIN angling to be on their 2020 ticket. Does she ever go AWAY? Apparently not. And from the comments of folks like Cenk Uygur, as you can see here, if Hillary was on the ticket she would again be a sure LOSER.

The clash of oil titans Saudi Arabia and Russia sparked a 25% slump in crude prices on Monday, triggering panic selling and heavy losses on Wall Street's main stock indexes, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a call on Monday to discuss global energy markets, the White House said on Tuesday. Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco said the oil giant would increase supply to 12.3 million barrels per day in April for customers inside the kingdom and abroad. That's 300,000 bpd above its maximum production capacity, indicating Aramco may also free...

Joe Biden needs to win Michigan. It’s a swing state the President won in 2016, so winning the primary will do more than give Biden more delegates. It will solidify his reputation as being better than Bernie Sanders at defeating President Trump. But at a campaign stop at a factory today, Biden got a little agitated over a question about the 2nd Amendment. So far, we’ve found two versions of the video. The one above is longer and seems to have better audio, while the one below from Benny Johnson gives a clearer picture of Biden’s angered facial features as...

An undercover reporter has been arraigned in California and charged with ten felonies for secretly recording conversations, and it’s time to revisit how the judiciary and the law can stifle the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.The accused, David Daleiden, used standard media undercover techniques to investigate and expose Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted fetus body parts. While the use of undercover techniques like Daleiden’s is a controversial practice even within journalism circles, Daleiden’s upcoming jury trial has far wider implications for journalists.Namely, can and should government criminalize undercover reporting, which historically has revealed otherwise hidden wrongdoing...

... "You are actively trying to end our Second Amendment right and take away our guns," the worker told Biden. Biden replied: "You're full of sh**." "I support the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment — just like right now, if you yelled 'fire,' that's not free speech," Biden continued. "And from the very beginning — I have a shotgun, I have a 20-gauge, a 12-gauge. My sons hunt. Guess what? You're not allowed to own any weapon. I'm not taking your gun away at all." ...

Antifa defines themselves as anti-fascists who focus on “promotional, informative and practical ways of struggle against all authoritarian ideologies.” Antifa is recognized as a “Violent Political Social Experiment” with an emphasis on ‘Violent.’ Remember, every TEA Party gathering was peaceful but the fascists went after them. But every Antifa gathering turns violent and bloody! They are the same all over the world. Even our southern neighbor has a huge problem with Antifa. Masked persons who were allegedly members of Antifa joined a feminist protest and made a huge mess as always. The march was organized by feminist groups, and according...

Today's Quotefall Puzzle features a quote by Goose Gossage. Click puzzle (or click here) for full size rendition, then use your browser's print command to print puzzle. Goose Gossage was an American major leage baseball player whose flamboyant style and fierce reputation as a closer for the Yankees and Padres was as fiery as his conservative political views. All hints, along with the answer, are provided in the first reply comment below, using filtered font to prevent accidental spoilers. Please refrain from disclosing the full answer in comments to prevent spoilers.To solve the puzzle: Enter the letters in the top half (letter...

While there are plenty of critics of President Trump’s handling of the Wuhan virus, one person who is not complaining is progressive California Gov. Gavin Newsom—and that should be telling. Speaking to reporters about the administration's cruise ship response, Newsom said Trump delivered on all of his promises to him during a private phone call to help California, which is in a state of emergency over the virus. "We had a private conversation, but he said, 'We're gonna do the right thing' and 'You have my support, all of our support, logistically and otherwise,'" Newsom said at a news conference....

An imam who spoke at a Bernie Sanders rally in Michigan over the weekend has previously said that ISIS was ‘somehow connected’ to Israel. Imam Sayed Hassan Qazwini has also previously decried the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage and called homosexuality ‘a form of disorder.’ Qazwini, who operates the Islamic Institute of America, also once praised Sanders as an ‘honorable man, even though he is a Jew.’ A Michigan-based Islamic cleric who spoke at a Bernie Sanders rally on Saturday has claimed in sermons that the terrorist group ISIS is “somehow connected to Israel,” and that homosexuality is “a...

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on her Monday broadcast accused President Donald Trump of being “willing to lie to the people about things that will keep them alive,” referring to the coronavirus outbreak. Reading from an Associated Press report, Maddow said, “As bungled, is that the right word? That’s the nice word for it. As bungled as the response has been from our federal government, this is actually a problem of a different kind. And this is, this is the thing that I’ve sort of most been worried about. And it is apparently come to pass. Quote, ‘The White House overruled...

A famous Catholic priest who was formally trained as an exorcist is recounting how he came face to face with the devil.Though he is now deceased, the story of Father Gabriel Amorth has been captured in a new memoir penned by author Marcello Stanzione. In The Devil Is Afraid of Me: The Life and Work of the World's Most Famous Exorcist, Stanzione describes the life of this priest in Rome, who is said to have performed over 60,000 exorcisms over the course of his 30 years as an exorcist priest.During one such exorcism in 1997, Amorth reportedly encountered not...

Brevity. Biden's event in St. Louis, framed by the Gateway Arch, clocked in at about seven minutes Saturday. A short time later, at a windswept event in Kansas City, people were streaming toward their cars after Biden wrapped up in 12 minutes. His longest speech of the weekend, in the gym of Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, didn't quite make 15 minutes. It is a seismic shift for Biden, 77, who in five decades of political office and three White House runs has never had a reputation for breviloquence. It's a habit perhaps nurtured in the Senate, which prides itself...

"the king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress Shushan alone the Yehudim have killed a total of five hundred men, as well as the ten sons of Haman. Esther 9:12 (The Israel Bible™)"Referring to the high number of government officials in Iran who were infected with coronavirus, Rabbi Yaakov Yagen said: “Maybe those idiots are his gilgul (reincarnation) already. A lot of them in their government are dead from (coronavirus) it that they admitted to – imagine what they’re not admitting to.” Rabbi Yagen however did imply that it’s possible that there are more higher up officials in Iran...

Almost 200 North Korean soldiers have reportedly died from COVID-19, the deadly disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and thousands of others are being quarantined. According to the Daily NK, a South Korean news outlet, 180 North Korean soldiers were killed by the virus in the months of January and February, and another 3,700 have been quarantined. The Daily NK quoted a source, allegedly from North Korea’s military, who on March 6 cited figures from a report that detailed the impact of the virus on North Korea’s soldiers. The Epoch Times has not been able to independently verify the reports....

China has closed most of the makeshift hospitals opened to receive coronavirus patients in the epidemic’s epicentre as the number of new infections in the country hit a record low. There were 40 new cases nationwide, the National Health Commission said Monday, the lowest number of fresh cases since it started reporting the data in January. READ MORE...