Free Republic

The state-wide shutdowns have only been in place for a couple of weeks at most, but people are already starting to get understandably jumpy. Even if we assume that the governments, both state and federal, are handling this pandemic in the wisest way possible, when does it all end? When can we declare this emergency to be in our rearview mirror and have our lives return to some semblance of normality? This weekend, the Boston Globe put that question to some experts in epidemiology and the answers aren’t terribly comforting, at least in my opinion. “That’s one of the hardest...

That’s Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard explaining to Bloomberg News why he sees the U.S. unemployment rate hitting 30% in the coming months as the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. If his gloomy jobs projection proves to be true, unemployment would be worse than it was during the Great Depression and three times worse than the 2007-’09 recession, according to Reuters. Bullard also said he expects an unprecedented 50% plunge in gross domestic product. “Everything is on the table,” he said, referring to additional lending programs from the Federal Reserve. “There is more...

While ruling out cancelation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday it will consider delaying the Games and plans to reach a decision within the next four weeks. Sunday’s announcement by IOC president Thomas Bach came as USA Swimming and USA Track and Field have called for delay and several national Olympic committees, including those of Great Britain and Norway, have endorsed postponing the Tokyo Games because of the new coronavirus pandemic. World Athletics, which oversees track and field worldwide, said it “welcomes discussions with the IOC to postpone” from the scheduled July 24 start. Also,...

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room1:00 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT:   Thank you very much.  A lot of things going on, and we’re going to be going over to the Hill, and we’re having a lot of meetings.  And, from the financial — this is a medical situation, not a financial situation.  The financial, though, is moving along very nicely.I want to thank you for being here and update you on the progress we’ve made after a week of extraordinary mobilization in our war against the virus.  Governors, mayors, the businesses, charities, and citizens are all working with urgency and speed...

On Sunday, Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan took issue with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s claims that Trump’s administration continues to ignore the coronavirus pandemic. “Just know that people all over the place are working as hard as they possibly can to fight this hidden enemy and it’s going to take all of us, not only the local government, the cities like the mayor and state governments, the federal government, but it takes every one of our citizens as a part of this and we can’t stop it without them cooperating,” Hogan told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,”...

Season 10 episode 13 "What We Become":

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pushed a conspiracy theory on Sunday, rejecting the possibility of any U.S. aid amid the coronavirus outbreak and suggesting the novel virus was a "poison" designed specifically to kill Iranians. Already suffering under the weight of stringent sanctions imposed by the order of President Donald Trump, Iran has become one of the worst-hit countries in the world in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompoe announced that more sanctions would be added for Iran, despite reports that the Persian Gulf nation was already struggling to obtain much needed medical supplies...

The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) killed 27 Taliban militants in northern Kunduz province, the Afghan military said. The 217th Pamir Corps in a statement said the security forces responded killed the militants while reacting to Taliban Taliban attacks in Khanabad and Dasht-e Archi districts. The statement further added that a large number of Taliban militants had also gathered in Imam Saheb district where they were planning a large scale attack against the security forces. The 217th Pamir Corps also added that a local commander of Taliban, Qari Hafiz, was also among those killed and 19 other militants...

"Life, Liberty & Levin" host Mark Levin accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., of "exploiting this crisis to advance her radical agenda," after she announced Sunday that Democrats would be introducing their own stimulus bill to address the ongoing economic collapse amid the coronavirus -- all while the Republican-controlled Senate considered its own legislation."1. Pelosi’s poisonous politics feeds the Wuhan virus. She’s exploiting this crisis to advance her radical agenda.  She must be exposed and condemned for the diabolical huckster that she is," Levin wrote on Twitter, referencing the city in China where the virus originated.  "2. People are sick and dying and Pelosi is playing games. Apparently the TRILLIONS the...

Sweet, uplifting little video:Firefighter Adopts Baby He Delivered On Rescue Call: 'We're Thick As Thieves'

Congress was unable to reach an agreement Sunday on a $1 trillion-plus stimulus package that gives cash to families and keeps small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, deepening fears of economic chaos as Rand Paul of Kentucky became the first U.S. senator to confirm he’s contracted the disease. Democrats balked at the Senate GOP’s push to set aside $425 billion for loans to select companies and industries, dubbing it a “slush fund” for the Treasury to direct as it sees fit. They said the bill is tilted toward corporations instead of working people. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dared...

It’s human nature during one of the bleakest moments in American history to lunge at promising news about drug treatments. We’d probably be in the midst of a public uproar about chloroquine even if Trump had never mentioned it; the encouraging anecdotal reports from China and France about its effect on coronavirus were destined to go viral among frightened people even if they weren’t mentioned by big fish like Tucker Carlson and small fish like me. We need hope.But we also need perspective. The chloroquine hype comes at a cost, potentially. And that cost will be terrible if the...

We may not understand why pandemics happen or the means by which GodÂ’s glory will ultimately be magnified through them. However, I have found people very interested in how God protected the nation of Israel from contagious diseases and sicknesses through many of the commandments given by Moses in the Law. No other nation around them had anything other than superstition, rituals, and often deadly traditions to deal with these things. GodÂ’s law includes regulations concerning cleanliness, health testing (inspections), quarantines, dietary restrictions, covering disease-causing refuse, sexual prohibitions, etc. all of which protected the health of the nation. Astoundingly these...

This video from the 80s kinda says it all for right now!

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~SGT John F. Baker, Jr. (Info found here.)             John F. Baker, Jr. (October 30, 1945 - January 20, 2012) is a retired United States Army Sergeant who served in the Vietnam War and received the Medal of Honor. John Baker was born in Davenport, Iowa and attended Moline...

This strikes me as a bad idea for the country though it will probably be popular with the resistance which long ago patented the phrase “not my president” and the idea of setting up a shadow government. Joe Biden is planning a regular shadow briefing on coronavirus to start as early as Monday to show how he would handle the crisis and address what he calls the lies and failures of President Trump.Biden gave a preview of what’s to come in a conference call with reporters Friday, where he listed a litany of false and misleading statements from Trump,...

Gov. Jared Polis announced order that non-critical workplaces in Colorado temporarily reduce their in-person workforce by 50%. The order, announced Sunday, goes into effect Tuesday. It does not apply to businesses that can prove employees can remain six feet apart during the workday. Critical businesses that Polis said will not be subject to the order include: healthcare operations, critical infrastructure, critical manufacturing, critical retail, critical services, news media, financial institutions, provider of necessities to the economically disadvantaged, construction, defense, public safety, vendors to the public sector and critical services and critical government functions.

A must-see. The Times gave its feature the anodyne headline “How the Virus Got Out,” but scroll through it and the culpability of the ChiCom regime becomes bracingly clear. Seven million people, many infected, left Wuhan and started seeding outbreaks around the world during the first three weeks of January while the Chinese government was busy assuring everyone that there was no cause for alarm.Two months later, we’re staring at a global depression and potentially millions of people dead before this thing burns itself out. However much we end up punishing them, it’ll never be enough. The coronavirus numbers...

Gamers, bitcoin "miners" and companies large and small have teamed up for an unprecedented data-crunching effort that aims to harness idle computing power to accelerate research for a coronavirus treatment. The project led by computational biologists has effectively created the world's most powerful supercomputer that can handle trillions of calculations needed to understand the structure of the virus. More than 400,000 users downloaded the application in the past two weeks from "Folding@Home," according to director Greg Bowman, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis, where the project is based.

UPDATE 3/22/20: Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio is refusing to comply with the Ohio Attorney General’s order to halt elective surgical procedures in order to ensure vital personal protective equipment (“PPE”) is available to hospital workers dealing with patients who have contracted COVID-19. In a post on their Facebook page, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio claimed it is “complying” with the order to stop providing non-essential surgeries and procedures. However, it then stated: Under that order, Planned Parenthood can still continue providing essential procedures, including surgical abortion […] Our doors remain open. The Ohio Attorney General’s office sent a letter...