Free Republic

By: Hassan Mahmoudi Iranians hold and celebrate many different events and festivals all year round. “Charshanbe Soori,” is an ancient Persian a nearly 4,000-year-old Persian tradition “Festival of Fire” and one of the most beloved celebrations among the Iranian people. This festival has historic and ceremonial roots. Special table of Chaharshanbe Suri The Iranians will hold the fire festival, on March 17, 2020. It always begins at the sunset of the last Wednesday of the Persian year, which will happen this year, too. In this fire festival, ordinary Iranians pile tinder from bushes and pieces of wood in public places...

What happens when the supposed dictator won’t dictate? This is the conundrum confronted by the harshest critics of President Trump, who have gone from warning he is a budding despot to complaining he hasn’t done enough to impose his will during the coronavirus crisis. They can’t believe that he didn’t urge sports leagues to cancel their seasons, call for school systems to close or tell bars and restaurants to shutter before this wave of closures began.

No candidates in sight – no campaigning – and no canvassing. Welcome to the first presidential primary during a pandemic in modern times. Voters in three states will briefly head to the polls with trepidation on Tuesday - with the country facing an unprecedented crisis as the coronavirus has forced most Americans to self-isolate in their homes in hopes of stemming the spread of the outbreak.

In an extraordinary move, six Bay Area counties issued a sweeping “shelter in place” order Monday, directing residents to stay at home as much as possible to quell the spread of coronavirus. The directive, set to take effect at midnight and would last through April 7, bans all non-essential travel and social activities, even having friends over for dinner. Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article241236871.html#storylink=cpy

Morgues in some areas of Italy are working to deal with the dramatic increase in bodies as the result of the coronavirus pandemic that has swept through the country. The New York Times reported that the Lombardy region, which is in the northern part of the country, has been hit particularly hard. Brother Marco Bergamelli, one of the priests at the Church of All Saints in Bergamo, told the paper that the church cannot keep up with the demand.

House lawmakers approved a revamped multibillion-dollar coronavirus relief package Monday that was initially passed over the early morning hours of the weekend after negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration. Lawmakers OK'd the measure containing technical corrections via unanimous consent. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation Tuesday. Senators will have to approve both plans to avoid sending the fixed bill back to the House.

March 17 2020 Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent Reading 1 Dn 3:25, 34-43 Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever, or make void your covenant. Do not take away your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, your beloved, Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one, To whom you promised to multiply their offspring like the stars of heaven, or the sand on the shore of the sea. For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in...

60 Minutes Australia gives viewers an eye-opening if not frightening look at the wet markets where coronavirus began. The experts go with the 60 Minutes Australia crew into the hot zones and tell us what animal they believe started the worldwide pandemic. They also share why they believe this is not the only deadly virus that could emerge from these wet markets. This is informative investigative journalism you’ll want to watch to better understand the drastic measures US leaders are taking to get this deadly virus contained. A strict ban on the consumption and farming of wild animals is being...

Northern California supermarket chain Raley’s is mass hiring for personal shoppers at many of its locations, as millions of Californians are limiting exposure to the public due to the rapidly developing coronavirus crisis. Safeway also announced a surge of hiring for in-store employees and delivery drivers at its Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii stores. The supermarket chain, a subsidiary of Albertsons, in a news release Monday said it has more than 2,000 immediate openings across more than 280 Safeway, Adronico’s, Vons and Pak ‘N Save locations in those three states. Those interested can apply online or in person at their...

When the Irish call the snakes back home, and show St. Pat the door, and you get out you Naz'reth Babe, don't show your face no more, then the ghost of Cromwell laughs from hell, "I couldn't kill you but just as well, you'll do the job quite well yourselves, and soon be joining me here!" Snakes Again, piano, flute and voice

Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them. After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act’s hollow promises of security. It is ironic to see the same Democrats who tried to impeach President Trump last month for abuse of power demanding that the Administration grab more power and authority in the name of fighting a virus that thus far has killed less than 100 Americans. Declaring a pandemic emergency on Friday, President...

Sweeping new federal recommendations announced on Monday for Americans to sharply limit their activities appeared to draw on a dire scientific report warning that, without action by the government and individuals to slow the spread of coronavirus and suppress new cases, 2.2 million people in the United States could die. To curb the epidemic, there would need to be drastic restrictions on work, school and social gatherings for periods of time until a vaccine was available, which could take 18 months, according to the report, compiled by British researchers. They cautioned that such steps carried enormous costs that could also...

The Progressive believes in precisely two things: his own magnificence and the constructive power of brute force. In combination, they lead him naturally from the role of pestiferous busybody to brutal dictator. Where the productive man dreams of the things he might create if only left alone by his fellows, the Progressive dreams of the world he could create if only the lives and property of his fellows were at his disposal. The roots of his pathology lie in that oldest and most destructive of all human vices, the desire for the power to rule over other men. As naked...

In a rare piece of good news about Covid-19, a team of infectious disease experts calculates that the fatality rate in people who have symptoms of the disease caused by the new coronavirus is about 1.4%. Although that estimate applies specifically to Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak began, and is based on data from there, it offers a guide to the rest of the world, where many countries might see even lower death rates.

In fact in recent years archaeologists equipped with sophisticated methodological means have discovered 17 previously unnoticed sites in the Basque region that have art from the late Palaeolithic period, some of which may be as old as 40,000 years. The finds debunk the void theory and bring the total known Stone Age graphic sites there to 23, Ochoa confirms in conversation with Haaretz. Danbolinzulo Cave, which lies on the slopes of Mount Ertxiña by the town of Zestoa in northern Spain, has a dazzling view of the surrounding area, the archaeologists enthuse. Analyzing the faint, eroded images at Danbolinzulo within...

San Juan (AFP) - Puerto Rico was under 24-hour isolation Monday, governor Wanda Vazquez told local media, leaving the island the first major US jurisdiction to take such drastic measures against the coronavirus pandemic. "All citizens should stay in their homes 24/7 until March 30," Vazquez told WKAQ 580 AM radio. The comments came a day after she announced by video message a 9:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew, and the different directives left some residents confused about whether or not they could go out in the daytime.

Music, songs and dance have been part of Indian culture. But was there music during the Indus Valley Civilisation? "Yes.... very much...music was there more than 5,000 years ago," says musicologist and computer technology expert Shail Vyas. With the help of the 'Songs of Mystery' project, he has managed to recreate instruments and music of those times. "More work is being done," he said, adding that 20 possible instruments from the Indus Valley Civilisation have been created as Phase-1 of the project, that includes a multi-disciplinary approach involving archaeology, archaeo-musicology, organology, anthropology and advanced mordern technologies. Vyas, a Homi Bhabha...

A metal detectorist has amazed experts after finding an incredibly rare Roman artifact in a Lincolnshire field. Jason Price, from Grantham, was searching in a field near Leasingham when he unearthed a colourful horse brooch. The 48-year-old, who is an armed forces veteran, was left gobsmacked by the find, which one local expert says has rewritten the understandings of Roman brooches. The brooch, which is only the second of its kind to be found in the UK, was unearthed when Jason was on a 'Detecting for Veterans' weekend, and is set to go on display later this year... Dr Lisa...

Seattle will provide $800 each in vouchers to more than 6,000 families to help them buy food, cleaning supplies and other household goods at Safeway supermarkets during the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Jenny Durkan said Monday. Pending City Council approval this week, the funding will come from Seattle’s sugary beverage tax revenues, the Mayor’s Office said. “We know that working families in Seattle are already struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Durkan said in a statement, referring to the illness caused by the virus. “As schools and child care facilities close, we need to do everything we can to support families...

Archaeologists are now in a race against time to fully excavate and preserve the site at Newark on Orkney mainland which is being protected in the short term by sandbags. The site is particularly vulnerable to the impact of south easterly winds with the ground, which is formed of soft boulder clay, now prone to landslides as it holds on to high volumes of rainwater... In 2016 a Carved Pictish Type 2 stone was exposed and excavated by ORCA Archaeology. It is believed that the cemetery could hold invaluable information about the little-understood transition between the Pictish era and the...