Free Republic

Main Street may be more resilient than Wall Street during the coronavirus crisis. Former Office of Management and Budget director David Stockman warns the pandemic is exposing risky speculation and shaky market fundamentals. “Wall Street is toast,” he told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Thursday. “It’s going to end as a financial crisis because the illusion that central banks always have your back and the economy would keep expanding and growing forever and ever ... was complete nonsense.” Stockman, who served under President Ronald Reagan, has been forecasting an epic market decline for years. Last March on CNBC, he blamed “day...

Promises made, promises — not kept? Failed 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate Michael Bloomberg is now backtracking on his promise to use his multimillion-dollar campaign to support the presumptive Democratic nominee, according to NBC News’ Maura Barrett. Barrett stated in a tweet that “@MikeBloomberg is scrapping his plan to fund an independent expenditure campaign to support the Democratic nominee (he's endorsed @JoeBiden).” Bloomberg had promised to spend “$2 billion on either his own campaign or to help finance a Democratic nominee to unseat President Trump in the 2020 general election,” according to Fox Business Jan. 17.

Coal miners including Consol Energy (CEIX -13.9%) and Contura Energy (CTRA +2.1%) must shut their mines in Pennsylvania by tonight after the governor ordered "non-life-sustaining" to close in an attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus. The state's list of "life-sustaining businesses" included oil and natural gas extraction, steel mills and metal production but specifically excluded coal mining. The move has the potential to remove a large volume of coking coal from the global market. B. Riley FBR analyst Lucas Pipes says the worst-case scenario would have operations down through Q2 but "a shutdown lasting a week to several...

While many watched the coronavirus spread across the globe with disinterest for months, in the last week, most of us have finally realized it will disrupt our way of life. A recent (analysis from Imperial College) is now making some Americans, (including many experts, panic.) The report projects that (2.2 million people) could die in the United States. But the analysis also provides reason for hope—suggesting a path forward to avoid the worst outcomes. We can make things better; it’s not too late. But we have to be willing to act.(Polly J. Price: How a fragmented country fights a pandemic)Let’s...

Police have arrested a man in the 2008 death of Brittany Zimmermann, a college student who was killed in her downtown Madison home. The Madison Police Department said 53-year-old David A. Kahl was charged Friday with party to first-degree intentional homicide with use of a dangerous weapon. Acting Chief of Police Victor Wahl announced the arrest in a YouTube video Friday. “This was truly a senseless crime; taking the life of a young woman with a bright future,” Wahl said. “Nothing we do can change that. But my hope is that what happens today will be a significant step in...

Walmart has a steady workforce of full-time and part-time workers helping meet the every day needs of its customers. As part of responding to the current environment, Walmart is also hiring 150,000 new associates through the end of May to work in stores, clubs, distribution centers and fulfillment centers. These roles will be temporary at first, but many will convert to permanent roles over time. Walmart is also implementing a new process to dramatically expedite hiring for key roles, such as cashiers and stockers. What is usually a two-week application cycle will be reduced to a 24-hour process. Anyone interested...

College professors who are now pivoting to online teaching amid the coronavirus pandemic are concerned that students might give right-wing publications a glimpse into their lessons. The story: College and university professors are expressing concerns on social media that their material could be misused. Some have shared the measures they’re taking to ensure that only their students get access to recorded lessons, though noting that their methods have flaws.

SEOUL -- Since its first outbreak of the novel coronavirus in late January, South Korea has been waging a hard battle to contain the virus infections by preaching a "social distancing" drive and tracing all potential cases. Months later, its virus cases are showing signs of a slowdown. What is drawing much attention from peer nations is, among others, its virus testing capability. Since Jan. 3, the country has conducted some 316,000 tests and identified more than 8,600 COVID-19 cases, according to data from Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The country reported its first COVID-19 case on...

Larry the Cable Guy has slammed a number of Hollywood stars who he believes are out of touch with the current homeless situation in Los Angeles, Calif., amid the coronavirus pandemic. "Wonder Woman" actress Gal Gadot and other celebrities, including Kristen Wiig, James Marsden and Natalie Portman, posted a cover of John Lennon’s famous song “Imagine” on social media in an effort to inspire hope. “We’re all in this together,” Gadot captioned the video. She said she recorded it on Day 6 of her home quarantine. But the comedian from Nebraska has called them out on Twitter for being "clueless"...

Oh wow...look what I found in an image search. It is a prayer I wrote back in 2010, when we had a daily prayer for the Troops. 
Our Father In Heaven 
Hallowed Be Your Name. How we long for Your Kingdom to Come, And For Your Will To Be Done Here on Earth, Just As It Is In Heaven. We Lift Up Our American Heroes To You, And Humbly Ask That You Touch Their Hearts, So That They Will believe and Be Justified According to Your Word. We Pray That You Will Be For Them So That NOBODY can stand...

The U.S. State Department on Thursday released two timelines: The first about the coronavirus outbreak and the second about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) coverup of the outbreak. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained to Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this week to talk about China’s “disinformation campaign” regarding the coronavirus. “This disinformation campaign, which began when we began to call out this risk that was created not only for the Chinese people, but now we can see people all across the world where the Chinese Government knew about this risk, had identified it, they were the first to know,...

Notices posted at Costco this week indicate the store is no longer accepting returns on key items that many are stocking up on the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The signs, posted by several Costco Instagram accounts (not affiliated with the store itself), indicate that returns are not being accepted on toilet paper, paper towels, rice, water, sanitizing wipes, and Lysol. It's not clear if the new policy is store-by-store or part of a national corporate push. Costco announced limits earlier this week on certain items that have seen a spike in purchases as customers stock up. This could be...

Queensland researchers are set to begin clinical trials of a potential treatment for COVID-19 – using two existing drugs. University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research Director and Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) Professor David Paterson said the drugs proved highly effective when first used against the virus in test tubes. “We’re now ready to begin patient trials with the drugs, one of which is an HIV medication and the other an anti-malaria drug,” Professor Paterson said. “Prior to the clinical trials going ahead, the medications were given to some of the first...

HARRISBURG, Pa, (WHTM) — The Pennsylvania State Health Department said during Friday’s coronavirus briefing that the spread of COVID-19 is spreading at a rapid pace.BreakWhen asked about the role of law enforcement’s role in implementing the closure of nonessential businesses, Governor Wolf mentioned “We will use the state police to enforce the rules we put into place”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told cafes, pubs, restaurants, gyms and cinemas across the country to close and stay shut indefinitely to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. "We are telling cafes, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can and not to open tomorrow," Mr Johnson told reporters in Downing Street. "I do accept that what we're doing is extraordinary. We're taking away the ancient, inalienable right of free-born people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub, and I can understand how people feel about that. "Though to be clear,...

I’d hate it to be said I’m being ambiguous about what I’m arguing. I’ll be plain: I believe the Left worked to help cause a crisis, worked to maximize the psychological impact of the crisis, and now have been given the means to determine the extent of the crisis. And if we do nothing, they may do tremendous harm to the country. For years I’ve written that the Left has at least passively been programmed to hate the country and works against its interests. I’ve detailed at length how the well-intentioned rank-and-file Democrats contribute to this, and speculated extensively about...

On March 18, Synairgen plc, a respiratory drug discovery and development company, announced that it received approvals from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Health Research Authority (HRA) to conduct a trial of SNG001 (inhaled interferon-beta-1a) in Covid-19 patients. A pilot phase of the study will take place across a number of National Health Service (NHS) trusts, initially testing 100 Covid-19–positive patients. Following successful completion of this pilot phase, a Phase II double-blind, placebo-controlled trial would start imminently to assist with the global outbreak of the virus. Angad Lotay MPharm, Infectious Diseases Analyst at GlobalData, a leading...

An active-duty airman and an Air Force contractor who both visited the Pentagon in recent weeks have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Air Force said Friday, in the first confirmed cases of the virus inside the world’s biggest office building. The active-duty member works for the Defense Health Agency in Falls Church, Va., and was in the Pentagon “for less than an hour” on Monday, the Air Force said in a news release. The airman “has since received medical treatment and self-quarantined at home,” it said. Military health and local civilian officials have notified individuals who came into contact...

While America as a whole is at war with the global coronavirus pandemic, it appears Fox News host Tucker Carlson is at war with Senate Judiciary Committee chair Lindsey Graham. In a stunning segment Thursday evening, the celebrated FNC host accused the South Carolina senator of trying to expand a visa program during a time when the United States ought to be tightening borders restrictions, not loosening them. “At this very moment, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is pressuring the White House to respond to this epidemic by passing out residency documents to rich Chinese, nearly all of whom,...

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume ripped NBC's Peter Alexander on Friday, calling his question to President Trump a "bullsh*t gotcha question." Alexander asked if Trump was giving Americans a false sense of hope with his "impulse" to focus on the positive, and later asked what Trump had to say to Americans who were scared. Much of the back and forth centered over comments Trump has made about a malaria medicine that he hopes might be effective for coronavirus. Time columnist David French called the question by Alexander legitimate, prompting Hume to respond on social media. "Legitimate question my...