Free Republic

During a press conference on Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the Federal Reserve is taking drastic action to cushion the economy from the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak that has become a pandemic. According to Trump, the Federal Reserve will drop the interest rate to near zero.  "The effects of the coronavirus will weigh on economic activity in the near term and pose risks to the economic outlook. In light of these developments, the Committee decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate to 0 to 1/4 percent," the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement. "The...

Friends it's Sunday night again and time to relax. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio Americana. Listen Live Info *tonight's show will be available at the "Info" link starting tomorrow.

The young man handed her a stethoscope, opened his shirt, and pointed to where she should place it. Hesitantly, she reached forward, pressed it to his skin, and broke into tears. The heart Elisabeth Tilly heard inside the chest of a 25-year-old stranger was the same that once beat inside her son. Christopher, age 8, was killed more than two decades ago, by a truck barreling through a crosswalk in front of his elementary school. But the memory of her grievously injured son lying in a Salt Lake City hospital is still raw. A few doors down from Christopher, 4-year-old...

Some states and local governments are ordering businesses to close down and placing other restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.  Chicago Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt says Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will be ordering restaurants to stop serving dine-in customers in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. The order will take effect at the close of the business day on Monday.  BREAKING: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will order all restaurants across the state to be closed to dine-in customers in a further attempt to curb the coronavirus. Delivery and drive up will remain open....

All schools and daycare centres in the Netherlands are to be shut from Monday until at least April 6 in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, ministers decided on Sunday after a crisis meeting with health experts and education officials. In addition, cafes, restaurants, sex clubs, cannabis cafes, saunas and sports clubs will all close their doors at 6pm on Sunday for three weeks, health minister Bruno Bruins said in a televised news conference. The move is a u-turn on Friday’s position, when the government said that schools and daycare centres should remain open so that essential workers...

Mark Frilot took medicines to treat what he thought for several days was a case of the flu, but he just couldn’t turn the corner. His fever was spiking nightly. At one point, his wife, Heaven, found him on the edge of their tub talking to himself, delirious. When he went to East Jefferson General Hospital on Thursday, the staff diagnosed him with double pneumonia and the new coronavirus. Since then the Kenner lawyer has been sedated and attached to a breathing machine as doctors help him fight the potentially deadly respiratory disease that has caused a worldwide pandemic. Heaven...

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley argued now is the time to commute the sentences of some federal prisoners who are vulnerable to the coronavirus outbreak. Pressley, who is a member of the liberal contingent of four women in Congress known as “the Squad,” told Al Sharpton on his MSNBC show Saturday that she and some other Democrats are advocating for the “compassionate” releases of inmates.

The Federal Reserve, saying “the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States,” cut interest rates to zero on Sunday and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus. Facing highly disrupted financial markets, the Fed also slashed the rate of emergency lending at the discount window for banks by 125 bps to 0.25%, and lengthened the term of loans to 90 days. The Fed also cut reserve requirement ratios for thousands of banks to zero. In addition, in a global coordinated...

Whether we will collectively move away from fears that make us subservient .... By Philip Alcabes | March 10, 2020 Flights are canceled, airports are closed, conferences and conventions postponed, churches and mosques shuttered, soccer games played in stadiums empty of spectators. My university has called home the study-abroad students from Italy, Japan, South Korea, and China. It would be easy to look at the world in the face of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, and believe it is theater, penned by a playwright filled with xenophobia and fears of promiscuous mixing with other humans. Every epidemic is theater, a drama...

Members of the Coronavirus Task Force Hold a Press Briefing 15,799 watching now•Started streaming 26 minutes ago

A day after receiving a 23-year prison term in his New York City rape case, Harvey Weinstein was in medical and legal limbo on Thursday but indicated through a lawyer that he is still eager to fight looming criminal charges in Los Angeles. Weinstein, 67, suffered chest pains the day before at the Rikers Island jail complex, where the former movie mogul was initially taken after sentencing in his landmark #MeToo case, officials said. He was transferred to Bellevue Hospital to be evaluated, the second time he has been hospitalized since a jury found him guilty last month of rape...

A CORONAVIRUS patient in Kentucky has been placed under 24/7 armed guard after refusing to self-isolate. Gov. Andy Beshear said the state had to make the unusual move to protect others nearby. Deputies are now stationed outside the 53-year-old man's house around-the-clock in Nelson County. "It's a step I hoped I never had to take, but we can't allow one person who we know has this virus to refuse to protect their neighbors," Gov. Beshear told reporters. The unidentified man is the only coronavirus patient in the county, and officials were worried that he could infect others. A total of...

I am living in Italy, where my wife, Callista, is the ambassador to the Holy See.I have watched first-hand as the Italian government has worked hard to contain the coronavirus by imposing strong public health measures to try to get the epidemic under control. These measures will lead to significant economic challenges.As I write: All schools are closed in all of Italy.All churches are closed (including St. Peter's Basilica).All weddings and funerals are postponed.All restaurants are closed.In fact, all stores except grocery stores and pharmacies are closed.People are urged to work from home unless they work in special designated factories...

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that he was adopting plans from Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) campaigns. The moderate Democrat announced he would include two the progressive candidates’ plans involving education costs and bankruptcy. “Across the country, middle and working class families are being squeezed by debt,” he said. “This is a massive problem, and one that we need all of the best ideas to solve. That's why today, I'm adopting two plans from @BernieSanders and @ewarren to achieve this.” Biden announced over Twitter that he is adding Sanders’s idea to make public colleges...

The reason why you cannot find any toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or bleach anywhere is because of stupid anti-price gouging laws. There is nothing evil or sinister about price gouging, and to even call it that is disingenuous swill. You think toilet paper manufacturers are cheerfully going to call in employees and have them work double-shifts to produce more toilet paper out of charity? No, they're not. They are in a business to produce a good that makes them money. They are not going to sell their products at a loss. Whenever natural disasters like Hurricanes hit, what's the first...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An American Airlines flight from Dallas to Nashville took over eight hours to take off and was delayed three times after a man reportedly joked about having coronavirus. Flight #1076 to Nashville was supposed to arrive at 8:40 p.m. Saturday but did not finally arrive at BNA until 4:40 a.m. Sunday. The man, who has not been identified, reportedly wouldn’t lift his tray table up before the plane took off at which point he claimed he had coronavirus. “People were freaked out because nobody knew what was going on,” said passenger Brandon Kenney, “People didn’t know...

The following originally appeared on Facebook and is reproduced here in several different languages with the author’s permission. 1. PEACE- Pray against spirits of division, suspicion, anxiety, panic, and fear that grip our communities. 2. LEADERSHIP- Pray for wisdom, truth, direction, compassion, and strength for all leaders (political, medical, economic, ecclesial, etc) in authority. 3. PROTECTION- Claim the blood of Jesus as a shield and healing over people groups, institutions, systems, policies, processes, and over all areas of life and society against COVID-19 and its effects. 4. IMMUNITY- Daily speak strength and health to immune systems (personal, family, friends, etc.)...

The National Education Association (NEA) endorsed Joe Biden for president. The nation’s largest labor union was never going to endorse anyone else but Joe Biden so finally coming out and doing so isn’t exactly a surprise announcement. There is also the fact that a very high profile public figure is a member of the union – Jill Biden, wife of sleepy Joe. Last month the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the other teachers union, took a cowardly approach and endorsed three top candidates at the time – Biden, Sanders, and Warren. Then as Warren’s campaign was flaming out, the president...

After the first case of covid-19, the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus, was announced in the United States, reports of further infections trickled in slowly. Two months later, that trickle has turned into a steady current.

Italy on Sunday reported its biggest one-day increase in cases and deaths throughout the coronavirus outbreak. Italy recorded 3,590 cases and 398 deaths in a 24 hour period, Italy's Civil Protection chief Angelo Borelli announced Sunday, The Associated Press reported. In total, the country has confirmed more than 24,700 cases and more than 1,800 deaths. (Please see full story at the link)