Free Republic

Charles Mackay wrote not of pandemics but “moral epidemics” 179 years ago in Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. “We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object,” he observed, “and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, [until] their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.” Mackay wrote of hopes overriding reason in the public’s manias for tulips and alchemy and so much else. Now, our fears override our reason. The Moscow boogeyman seizing our democracy this...

A second cadet has been found dead at the U.S. Air Force Academy, days after officials reported that a “firstie” who was due to graduate in May had died. Cadets and staff were told in an online briefing on Saturday of the latest death at the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based academy, several members of the institution’s community told Stars and Stripes, asking not to be named because they were not authorized to comment on the incident.

Edible cups made from seaweed. Shopping bags from cassava starch. Food containers from sugarcane fiber. These are some of the bioplastic alternatives being tried out in Indonesia, the world’s No. 2 producer of seaweed.It’s just after sunrise here in Bali, and a group of locals are preparing to sail their wooden boats out to a bay off Nusa Lembongan, a small island southeast of the tourism hotspot. They’re neither fishermen nor tour guides. They’re farmers, cultivating a watery crop that promises to be part of the solution to the increasingly urgent problem of marine plastic waste that’s become woven into...

In a CNN interview on Sunday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blamed the Wuhan coronavirus on President Trump, accusing the president of fiddling while Americans died. "I don't know what the scientist said to him," Pelosi told CNN's Jake Tapper. "When did the president know about this and what did he know? What did he know and when did he know it? That's for an after-action review. But as the president fiddles, people are dying and we just have to take every precaution." Pelosi's mention of an after-action review suggests the Democrats may already be mulling their next impeachment witch hunt....

Publicly acknowledging that reusable bags spread germs, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has temporarily lifted the City's ban on using disposable plastic bags to carry merchandise out of stores. Gov. Charlie Baker (R) bolstered this move by banning reusable bags statewide and allowing merchants to offer plastic bags in their place while the COVID-19 pandemic persists. Numerous studies have amply demonstrated that reusable bags are infested with pathogens. It is one thing to allow anti-plastic zealots to carry them around. It is yet another for such bags to be made the only legal option for shoppers. Plastic bags became dominant in...

President Donald Trump on Sunday, March 29 announced the extension of federal social distancing guidance for 30 days — until April 30 — as scientists warn virus continues to spread. The coronavirus outbreak could kill 100,000 to 200,000 Americans, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert warned on Sunday as smoldering hot spots in nursing homes and a growing list of stricken cities heightened the sense of dread across the country.

President Trump on Sunday issued a major disaster declaration for Washington, D.C., as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in the city and the country. The declaration allows the city to access federal funds to help D.C.’s efforts in combating the coronavirus. The president’s declaration for D.C. marks the 22nd territory that has received a major disaster declaration and federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Nineteen states, Puerto Rico and Guam have received the other designations. The funding will be available to the city government and certain private nonprofit organizations for "emergency protective measures." The declaration follows...

This is a story about bosses and their workers, in the dark days of COVID-19. It’s also a story about how one good turn deserves another and yet another. And this being New Jersey, it’s also a story about pizza. Bryan Morin and his brother Michael operate Federico’s Pizza in this Jersey Shore town. In the summer, they deliver cheese steak pizzas and 12-inch subs and garlic knots directly to the beach, a few blocks away. In winter, customers flock to the cozy, black-and-white tiled restaurant on Main Street.

Legacy media may be shutting down coverage of President Trump’s daily virus task force press conferences, but his message about getting the nation back on its feet by Easter is getting through anyway. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey found that 61% of Republicans share Trump’s confidence that some parts of the country not widely impacted by the coronavirus can begin rolling back precautions by Easter. As with virtually everything coming out of Washington and the White House, though, there is a huge partisan split. Democrats, who don’t agree with much of anything Trump does, also don’t have confidence in Trump’s...

CNN’s Jake Tapper set up the New York City Mayor by playing clip after clip of him telling New Yorkers to just go about their business up until a few weeks ago.De Blasio and others have been doing everything they can to try and damage President Trump even though it is the New York Mayor who was late to call for quarantining people. There was also a video on Twitter (see below) from Friday that showed a park packed with people in Queens, NY, who were ignoring the call for social distancing. While de Blasio points to Trump to place...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi toured San Francisco’s Chinatown back in late February. On the 25th of February, she said there’s no reason tourists or locals should be staying away from the area because of coronavirus concerns. “That’s what we’re trying to do today is to say everything is fine here,” Pelosi said. “Come because precautions have been taken. The city is on top of the situation.” Pelosi visited The Wok Shop, a temple and the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, which was started 58 years ago by owner Kevin Chan’s mother and uncle. She helped to spread the...

The latest presidential election polling has President Donald Trump in a statistical tie with former Vice President Joe Biden. Among registered voters, Biden leads Trump 49% to 47% in the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, well within the statistical margin of error of 3.5 points. The 2% represents a significant upsurge from the poll’s February gap of 7% — Biden’s 52% to Trump’s 45% — and comes at a time of positive polling regarding the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Inside the world of camel wrestling in TurkeyCamel wrestling festivals are held throughout the winter months in western Turkey, a tradition rooted in the nomadic culture of Yoruk tribes, a Turkic ethnic group. In the days when the nomads used camels as the primary means of transportation, male camels would compete for the opportunity to mate with female camels in heat by “wrestling” — nudging each other until one fell to the ground or ran away. These days, the wrestling matches are held in stadiums, in festivals attended by hundreds of locals. Camel owners spend thousands of dollars to feed...

Country star Joe Diffie has died at the age of 61 following a battle with coronavirus. The news was confirmed in a statement from Diffie's reps obtained by Fox News. “GRAMMY-winning country music legend Joe Diffie passed away today, Sunday, March 29, from complications of coronavirus (COVID-19),” the statement read. “His family respects their privacy at this time.” Diffie's rep offered a statement from Diffie last Friday, confirming his diagnosis with the virus.

CIUDAD JUAREZ - Faced with the threat of the increased spread of coronavirus across their borders, three northern Mexicans states are calling on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to do more to stop people entering Mexico from the U.S. The three states – Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon – border Texas, which has more than 2,500 confirmed cases of the virus as of Sunday, based on more than 25,000 tests. Combined, the three Mexican states have over 90 cases, though the number of tests is not clear. The urgent call comes just days before the April 5th - 12th Holy...

An emergency field hospital is being set up in Central Park by Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization, in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic in New York City. Volunteers from local churches helped the organization's church set up a 68-bed respiratory care unit in the park on Saturday, the organization said. A disaster assistance response team, including doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, will soon be on the ground as well, according to the organization. “People are dying from the coronavirus, hospitals are out of beds, and the medical staff are overwhelmed,” Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s...

Google is using AI to design chips that will accelerate AI A new reinforcement-learning algorithm has learned to optimize the placement of components on a computer chip to make it more efficient and less power-hungry. 3D Tetris: Chip placement, also known as chip floor planning, is a complex three-dimensional design problem. It requires the careful configuration of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of components across multiple layers in a constrained area. Traditionally, engineers will manually design configurations that minimize the amount of wire used between components as a proxy for efficiency. They then use electronic design automation software to simulate and verify...

Unmanned robots are patrolling the streets of Tunisia’s capital as part of the government’s measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The unmanned ground vehicles are called P-Guard and locally developed by Enova Robotics. They are being used by the Ministry of Interior to enforce its lockdown of Tunis. The city has been on lockdown since March 22. arabnews ✔ @arabnews Replying to @arabnews #WATCH: Man in Tunis confronted by unmanned robot patrolling the streets during #Coronavirus lockdown... Gets told to "hurry up" when he says he is "just buying cigarettes" #Tunisia #COVID19 More on the city's unmanned vehicles here:...

I have been using this time of social distancing to get many things done, not just for myself, but for my fellow man. I realized that when the coronavirus is finally behind us, there will be a huge problem for many people. That problem is, of course, massive quantities of hoarded items, which will take up space in people's homes while spoiling and decaying. Such items will not only be a tremendous economic waste, but an entirely new health hazard as well. Therefore, I worked hard and proactively in anticipation of this coming crisis, getting out ahead of the curve...

“Indeed, strong enthusiasm for Biden among his supporters – at just 24% – is the lowest on record for a Democratic presidential candidate in 20 years of ABC/Post polls. More than twice as many of Trump’s supporters are highly enthusiastic about supporting him, 53%.” Biden has only bare majority (51%) support among Democrats, and a 24% enthusiasm gap in a match up against Trump. From the ABC News poll write-up: Former Vice President Joe Biden has emerged as Democrats’ top choice for the presidential nomination in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, but with only bare majority support within his...