Free Republic

The COVID-19 Crisis has turned the world upside down. In an effort to “flatten the curve” of infection and avoid disastrously overburdening our health care system, more than half of Americans are now subject to “shelter-in-place” orders. Meanwhile, the massive economic slowdown caused by these orders has cost millions of jobs. Afraid for the future, many women will face more pressure than ever to get abortions if they become pregnant at this time. And the abortion industry is doing everything they can to exploit this crisis. How can pro-life activists continue to be a voice for our unborn brothers and...

As we head in to the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in North Carolina, social distancing has become absolutely necessary to reduce exposure for everyone. Many stores that are still open have started announcing new measures this week for tightening social distancing requirements. Harris Teeter has announced that they will be implementing customer capacity limits at all stores to further protect associates and shoppers. According to their press release, "Beginning April 8, Harris Teeter will limit the number of customers to 50% of building code capacity to further support physical distancing in its stores. Store associates will monitor the number...

CHARLOTTE, April 8, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – David Benham, one of the evangelical Benham Brothers, told the story of his Saturday arrest outside a North Carolina abortion center this week on The Van Maren Show, warning that exploitation of the coronavirus crisis to shut down safe pro-life speech is a sign of growing dangers to come. “I was sipping coffee with my wife one Saturday morning when I got a phone call from our sidewalk team that said ‘hey guys, we’re out here at the abortion clinic, we’ve only got three sidewalk counselors, and yet there’s fifteen officers, they’re threatening arrest...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ChurchMilitant.com) - Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is accusing North Carolina police of overstepping their bounds — even in the midst of the Wuhan virus scare — by arresting pro-life Christians as they prayed outside a Charlotte abortion facility. More and more pro-lifers around the country are being harassed and arrested for doing what is constitutionally protected activity, Cruz claims, which is praying and sidewalk counseling in front of killing centers. While in the midst of the Wuhan virus pandemic it is deemed "non-essential" to quietly protest the killing of innocent children, in many states the killing itself...

The federal government is classifying the deaths of patients infected with the coronavirus as COVID-19 deaths, regardless of any underlying health issues that could have contributed to the loss of someone’s life.

Several hospitals in Sweden have reportedly stopped administering chloroquine to coronavirus patients following reports the drug was causing adverse side effects. According to the national paper Expressen, hospitals in the Västra Götaland region are no longer offering the antimalarial medication, with side effects reported to include cramps and the loss of peripheral vision. One of the patients affected was Carl Sydenhag, a 40-year-old Stockholm resident. According to Expressen, Sydenhag was prescribed two tablets of chloroquine to take daily after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 23. But instead of making him feel better, the medication produced unpleasant side effects....

Declaring his authority over the weather and his ability to command it, Texas-based prosperity preacher and televangelist Kenneth Copeland called forth a “supernatural heatwave” last Thursday to kill the new coronavirus in New York City and “the rest of the world where it’s needed.” Speaking on the first day of his Virtual Victory Campaign on Facebook Live, the leader of Kenneth Copeland Ministries called the weather “God’s weapon” and revealed that “we learned … 45 years ago that we have command, authority over the weather.” He also shared a number of stories of how he commanded tornadoes and other weather...

April 09 2020 - Lord's Supper Holy Thursday – Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper Reading 1 Ex 12:1-8, 11-14 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reportedly taken down advice for doctors on prescribing a controversial anti-malarial drug to treat COVID-19 patients. Hydroxychloroquine and its analog chloroquine has been used experimentally on coronavirus patients as there is currently no specific drug or vaccine against the disease. The Reuters news agency reported that the CDC website previously stated on its "Information for Clinicians on Therapeutic Options for Patients with COVID-19" page: "Although optimal dosing and duration of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 are unknown, some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally" on how to use it. Currently, the...

So, is it effective? Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug that has been reported to be effective against the symptoms of the Wuhan coronavirus. Yet, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of President Trump’s top officials working to curb the outbreak in the U.S., has warned against saying this is full proof. He’s a professional. This is a new virus. This drug has not been tested in this regard, but thousands of doctors are saying it works.  In Michigan, Democratic State Representative Karen Whitsett contracted the disease and was given the...

DENVER (CBS4)– Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette wants the FDA to look into the hoarding of drugs used to treat coronavirus. She said the prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine can take away the drugs from those who really need them. Hydroxychloroquine has been touted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 patients. There is a dispute among medical professionals about the effectiveness of the drug for coronavirus. Using it for coronavirus has also resulted in a huge demand and shortage.

President Trump hoping for higher oil prices coming out of the OPEC+ nations video conference tomorrow.... Word tonight is that the price of Brent Crude Oil already rising to over 33 dollars a barrel..... The energy ministers of the G20 nations set to convene Friday...... The Afghan government said today that its going to release 100 Taliban prisoners..... The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claim to have killed dozens of Saudi coalition soliders and militia in a missile attack in Yemen.... In Syria, US military patrols in the northeast have again been confronted..... Today a report alleging the Syrian military staged chemical...

Anthony Fauci, America’s most-listened-to medical professional on the coronavirus, and apparently on all the political, economic, cultural and social precautions every man, woman and child in the nation should take on the coronavirus, has just warned what cooler-head coronavirus watchers have suspected all along: that this country may never, no never, go back to normal. Never, that is, Fauci suggested, until a vaccine is developed. And by logical extension, that’s to say — never, until a vaccine is developed that must then be included on the required list of shots for all children to attend school. What great news for...

A hospital in France has had to stop an experimental treatment using hydroxychloroquine on at least one coronavirus patient after it became a "major risk" to their cardiac health. The University Hospital Center of Nice (CHU de Nice) is one of many hospitals trialing hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients. It announced it had been selected for the trial on March 22. A statement from the hospital said it was testing four experimental treatments, one of which included hydroxychloroquine. It hoped to establish its effectiveness and side effects of this and the other treatments being tested. In an interview with the French...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis approves new bishops’ body to remake regional church with ‘amazonian face’ Cardinal Hummes announced a new Pan-Amazonian episcopal body that was based on recommendations in the Amazon Synod's final document. April 8, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Despite the current corona crisis, the Pan-Amazonian ecclesial network REPAM announced on 3 April that Pope Francis has approved of the establishment of a new episcopal body of the bishops of the Amazon region which had been proposed by the Amazon Synod's final document.  This is the first proof that Pope Francis did not abrogate or censor the Synod's final documents...

One of President Donald Trump's leading trade advisors slammed Big Pharma's attempts to lobby against an executive order he is preparing to push companies to relocate medical supply chains to the United States. When asked about the push by lobbying group PhRMA against the executive order, Peter Navvaro told CNBC, "This Big Pharma spin is simply a desperate attempt to stop President Donald J. Trump from moving the production of our essential medicines and medical equipment and supplies to the U.S."

Santa Clara County (California) Health Office has issued an order asking for the inventory of large amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE)/any ventilators in SCC. This ensures that the County knows what resources exist. If you have large amounts of PPE or any ventilators, please fill out the survey by April 15: www.sccgov.org/cv19ppe. Survey results are confidential. The situation with Santa Clara County beds, ICU, a Ventilators, and surge capacity does not look bad so far:

April 09 2020 - Chrism Mass Holy Thursday - Chrism Mass Reading 1 Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, To announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn; To place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, To give them oil of gladness...

Bailout of bailouts. Bailout all state budgets, student loan debt, infrastructure, long-term care and hospice, and general public debt. IN EXCHANGE FOR Terminating all government programs, agencies, and departments associated with the bailouts. Returning the Federal Government strictly to national defense, immigration, and running the Post Office. Turning over all state-related functions (education, housing, WIC programs, etc back to the states) Would conservatives and Constitutionalists support this?

A Chinese reporter from a Hong Kong outlet aligned with the Communist Party of China is a member of the White House Foreign Press Group and has rotating access to White House press briefings. Richard Latendresse, a Canadian journalist who serves as the White House Foreign Press Group’s secretary, told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an email that the Phoenix TV reporter is a member of the organization with rotating access to the foreign press’ seat for press briefings. “The Phoenix TV reporter in question is a member of the White House Correspondents’ Association. As a result, she became...