Free Republic

The highest-paid U.S. federal official earned $8.16 million last year, and he may be in line for a big pay cut as populist outrage shapes a new infrastructure package intended to put people back to work after the coronavirus outbreak. There’s a bipartisan drive to cut compensation for Jeff Lyash, president of the Tennessee Valley Authority, as the White House and House Democrats begin talks on up to $2 trillion in infrastructure spending to offset a spike in joblessness. The TVA is a federally owned electricity provider that controls dozens of dams built during the Great Depression as a jobs...

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model cited by the White House Coronavirus Task Force lowered its projections for coronavirus deaths in the U.S. by 25 percent from 81,766 to 60,415 early Wednesday morning.The IHME model has come under withering criticism for vastly overstating projections of regular and ICU hospital beds needed, but its death projections to date have closely tracked with actual data.Wednesday’s dramatic reverse in the model’s projection of U.S. deaths was made without a press release from IHME explaining the reasons for the reduction. It marks the second reduction in the model’s U.S. deaths projections since April 1, when it...

China demanded an explanation from Brazil Monday after the far-right government's education minister linked the coronavirus pandemic to the Asian country's "plan for world domination," in a tweet imitating a Chinese accent. In the latest incident to strain ties between Brasilia and Beijing, Education Minister Abraham Weintraub insinuated China was behind the global health crisis. "Geopolitically, who will come out stronger from this global crisis?" he wrote on Twitter Saturday. "Who in Brazil is allied with this infallible plan for world domination?" In the original Portuguese, his tweet substituted the letter "r" with capital "L" -- "BLazil" instead of "Brazil,"...

As those who follow the gyrations of the stock market are well aware, human beings have a propensity for short-term thinking. They react on impulse to that which is recent; they magnify its significance; and they forget what previous generations learned through bitter experience.To this propensity, the study of history can be an antidote. But all too often historians ransack the past in support of current prejudice.For one who wishes to escape the prison of presentmindedness and gain perspective, there is no substitute for works written regarding circumstances similar to our own at a time our prejudices and predilections...

On 3 April, two weeks after the study was first published online, the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, which publishes the IJAA, said in a statement that the group’s board “believes the article does not meet the Society’s expected standard, especially relating to the lack of better explanations of the inclusion criteria and the triage of patients to ensure patient safety”.

All state and county parks and forests in New Jersey have been ordered closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Tuesday. “Don’t think I take this action lightly,” Murphy said at the Trenton War Memorial during his daily coronavirus press briefing. “We have seen far too many instances where people have gathered in groups in parks erroneously thinking since they are outside social distancing doesn’t matter," the governor said. “Nothing can be further than the truth.” New Jerseyans are allowed to go outside for exercise under the governor’s order to stay inside, though Murphy insisted they...

When dangers and discomforts of the present trump the greater ones of the future. Short-term thinking has been the bane of democracies since ancient Athens. Regularly scheduled elections and term-limits make it politically expedient, if not mandatory, for politicians to gratify the people’s desires, or assuage their present fears, even if the action or policy creates greater risks later. As Tocqueville wrote, “A clear perception of the future founded on judgment and experience” is “frequently wanting in democracies.” The dangers and discomforts of the present will trump the greater ones of the future. The current pandemic crisis illustrates this perennial...

During the White House Wuhan coronavirus task force briefing Tuesday evening, Dr. Deborah Birx said the United States has taken a "liberal approach" in the way doctors classify deaths from the virus. "The intent is right now if someone dies with COVID-19, we're counting that as a COVID-19 death," Birx said. "There are other countries that if you had a pre-existing condition and let's say the virus caused you to go the ICU and then have a heart or kidney problem. Some countries are recording that as a heart issue or a kidney issue and not a COVID-19 death."  Dr....

You’d think public universities would appreciate the fact that mandatory online classes during the COVID-19 outbreak are less valuable than in-person learning, where they can build professional connections and take advantage of networking opportunities. Oregon State University does not appreciate that fact. The taxpayer-funded institution’s Board of Trustees is raising tuition on incoming undergraduates by 3.2 percent as a purported compromise, The Daily Barometer reports. Trustees considered three options at a Friday teleconference:

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:10 KJV Man, vs God. We have seen what man can do for you with the Corona virus when God is left out of the equation. We heard all the screams and wailing from the scientists and politicians with the full power of the gummit thrown at it and people still died. The world saw the chaos and shutdowns with fear and trembling having no real results. Finally, you are seeing...

“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Proverbs 8:13 KJV).

The 1970 baseball season opened on Monday, April 6, and Tuesday April 7. On the 6th, Washington and Cincinnati held their traditional league openers. The rest of baseball followed on the 7th. Teams normally send out their best pitcher on Opening Day. 1970 was no exception. The following Hall of Famers pitched their team’s opener: Ferguson Jenkins (Cubs), Phil Niekro (Braves), Gaylord Perry (Giants), Bob Gibson (Cardinals), and Tom Seaver (Mets). Other notable aces who opened included Mickey Lolich (Tigers), Chris Short (Phillies), Jim Perry (Twins), Tommy John (White Sox), Dave McNally (Orioles), and Mel Stottlemyre (Yankees). There were twelve...

A little more than a week ago, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted how some in the media couldn’t contain their “glee & delight” in reporting that the U.S. has had more coronavirus cases than China. He called it “beyond being grotesque, it’s bad journalism.” “”Some in our media can’t contain their glee & delight in reporting that the U.S. has more #CoronaVirus cases than #China “”Beyond being grotesque,its bad journalism “”We have NO IDEA how many cases China really has but without any doubt its significantly more than why they admit to — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 29, 2020”” Then,...

A Labour Party mayor has said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson “completely deserves” to be admitted to intensive care after contracting the debilitating and deadly Chinese coronavirus. Mayor of Heanor in Derbyshire and Labour district councillor Sheila Oakes had responded to a Facebook post in a party group asking people to say a “little prayer” to Prime Minister Johnson who was admitted to the intensive care unit of St Thomas’ hospital in London on Monday after his condition had worsened.

A reader with a PhD in engineering and 35 years experience in advanced data analysis wrote to us regarding Sweden’s experience so far in dealing with the Wuhan coronavirus without locking down the country. He reports: I did a quick look at the data coming out of Sweden with the data obtained from Worldometer, and have plotted the data on a per capita basis (positive cases vs 1M population) for Sweden and the US as well as an exponential fit to the data. The exponential fit was obtained by using β-µ=0.3 for both countries, where β and μ are the...

[Catholic Caucus] BREAKING: Pope Francis appoints another commission to study female deacons Pope Francis has reopened the investigation into the possibility of women’s ordination as deacons. VATICAN CITY, April 8, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― Pope Francis has reopened the investigation into the possibility of women’s ordination as deacons.  This morning the Vatican released a memo stating that the pontiff had decided “during a recent audience granted to His Eminence Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF]” to appoint a new commission on the “study of the female diaconate.”  Francis appointed Cardinal Giuseppe...

Gov. Phil Murphy has closed all state and county parks in New Jersey until further notice, but not everyone is happy about the decision. According to the order from the governor, as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, all state and county parks have been shut down. The closure also includes Liberty State Park in Jersey City, one of the largest state parks in the state. Hundreds of people visit the more than 1,200-acre park every day. […] One group that immediately blasted the governor’s decision is the NJ Outdoor Alliance, calling the governor’s decision ridiculous, and urging the state to review...

Mrs. Yael Eckstein is the 35-year-old mother of four who is the President of one of Israel’s largest philanthropic organizations, The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. After serving in various senior capacities for a decade, Mrs. Eckstein took over the organization, founded by her father, the famous Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein upon his sudden passing just over a year ago. Yael now has the distinction of being one of the very few women in the world leading a religious non-for-profit and fewer still lead an organization with an annual budget exceeding one hundred million dollars.Interestingly, this Jewish-led organization is...

China has sold nearly four billion masks to foreign countries since March, officials said Sunday, as they tried to stem widespread fears over the quality of medical exports. Despite Chinese cases dwindling, Beijing has encouraged factories to increase production of medical supplies as the pandemic kills over 60,000 globally and parts of the world face a protective equipment shortage. China has exported 3.86 billion masks, 37.5 million pieces of protective clothing, 16,000 ventilators and 2.84 million COVID-19 testing kits since March 1, customs official Jin Hai said, with orders to more than 50 countries. She added the country's medical supply...

The man designated as the inventor of the email and MIT graduate, Dr. V.A. Shiva, laid out in simple terms the alleged motives and actions behind the WHO, the CDC, Bill Gates, the Gates Foundation, Big Pharma, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx and the Chinese. Dr. Shiva claims coronavirus is but a symptom of globalist initiatives. Bill Gates and his Foundation may not be what they are made out to be: