Free Republic

The George Pell story is a fiasco that combines incompetence and malevolence. It had every aspect of tragedy — a big man who polarised opinion, a church engaged in criminal behaviour, victims who demanded justice, and police, media and legal institutions that failed to honour their obligations. It is a particular Australian tragedy that originates in the horrific crimes of the Catholic Church. These crimes and their cover-ups were worse than normal crimes because they ruined the lives of children and violated the raison d’etre of the church — to proclaim God’s mission. The earthquake that engulfed the church did...

SEPTA says it will no longer enforce a short-lived policy requiring riders to wear facial coverings after a widely shared video showing a man being dragged off a bus, allegedly for not wearing one, prompted confusion about whether masks were mandatory while riding public transit. The video shows several Philadelphia police officers forcibly removing the man, who is later heard saying he was taken off the bus for not wearing a mask.

Many infectious diseases are more common during specific seasons. “It’s a very old question, but it’s not very well studied,” Martinez says....But what’s known about other diseases doesn’t offer much support for the idea that COVID-19 will suddenly disappear over the next few weeks... Different diseases have different patterns. Some peak in early or late winter, others in spring, summer, or fall. Some diseases have different seasonal peaks depending on latitude. And many have no seasonal cycle at all. So no one knows whether SARS-CoV-2 will change its behavior come spring... Investigating a hypothesis over several seasons can take 2...

Without a vaccine, it’s the only safe pathway back to something resembling normal life.

Bundy, who participated in the iconic 2014 stand against federal thugs at Bundy Ranch in Nevada, believes that it is time to push back once more now that Idaho Governor Brad Little has issued his stay-at-home order. “I will be there, and I will bring as many people as I can,” Bundy said to a group of supporters on March 26, one day following the order issued by the governor. “We will form a legal defense for you. We will perform an active political defense for you. And we will also, if necessary, provide a physical defense for you, so...

A large magmatic eruption is taking place at the volcano right now. Based on satellite imagery, VAAC Darwin spotted a high-level ash and SO2 plume reaching 47,000 ft (15 km) altitude moving WNW. A strong thermal hot spot is detected as well. Both the webcam on Anak Krakatau Island and from the coast (in 40 km distance) show strong lava fountaining from the volcano. This seems to be the strongest eruptive phase since the violent phreatomagmatic activity following the partial collapse of the volcano on 22 Dec 2018, which had triggered a deadly tsunami that killed hundreds of people on...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Anyone who participates in mass gatherings of any type this weekend will be required to self-quarantine for two weeks, Gov. Andy Beshear said Friday. License plate information will be collected from cars in parking lots and forwarded to local health departments, who will then present an order to self-quarantine for 14 days at the owners' homes, he said. "If you're going to expose yourself to this virus and you make that decision to do it, it's not fair to everybody else out there that you might spread it to," Beshear said. Beshear has frequently urged churches...

Coronavirus and the Killing of the U.S. Economy Department of State/Justice Department Tells Appeals Court it Should Reject Clinton Effort to Avoid Testimony Judicial Watch Sues to Force North Carolina to Clean Its Voter Rolls Happy Easter! Coronavirus and the Killing of the U.S. Economy As I said in my recent video update segment on the Coronavirus, you can’t cure or end the pandemic by killing our economy – pure and simple. When it comes to the coronavirus, the best way to get people on their feet is to get them back to work. While the “giant” stimulus package...

IRS.gov feature helps people who normally don't file get payments; second tool next week provides taxpayers with payment delivery date and provide direct deposit information IR-2020-69, April 10, 2020 WASHINGTON — To help millions of people, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today launched a new web tool allowing quick registration for Economic Impact Payments for those who don’t normally file a tax return. The non-filer tool, developed in partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, provides a free and easy option designed for people who don't have a return filing obligation, including those with too...

A gun-safety group aligned with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending $1.5 million on a new virtual organizing program that aims to register 100,000 young voters. The push from Students Demand Action, shared first with CNN, replaces the group's planned in-person voter-registration efforts, which were derailed by the coronavirus outbreak and the widespread shutdowns it has triggered around the nation. The new program focuses on 13 battleground states and marks the group's first large-scale effort to use online-only tools to encourage young people to head to the polls. So, as most people know, political activity is prohibited in...

Scientists around the world are racing to study the novel coronavirus strain severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Now, it appears that there are eight strains of SARS-CoV-2 circulating the globe. The good news is that according to infectious disease physician and clinical microbiologist Charles Chiu, “The virus mutates so slowly that the virus strains are fundamentally very similar to each other.” Scientists studying the virus have shared their knowledge to compile a genetic sequence map at NextStrain.org, an open-access website that shows how the various strains have traveled to different regions and countries. This finding is based on...

The amazing thing about COVID-19 is how much we still don't know. Even the experts don't quite understand the nature of the virus or how we should respond. Due to their evolving understanding, we have seen quite a bit of change in the guidance they give to the public -- which is fine, as long as they remain transparent. More than anything else, we need more explanation and more honesty from our authorities. Our government began the coronavirus health communications with a lie. The surgeon general of the United States tweeted on Feb. 29: "Seriously people -- STOP BUYING MASKS!...

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals bizarrely ruled that Lori Rodriguez had no right to keep her firearms, though they also noted that there was nothing illegal about her buying a gun either. The court argued that because police believed that her husband (who according to Rodriguez did not have access to her firearms) could pose a threat to public safety, firearms that had been seized from their home when her husband was taken into custody under a mental health hold did not have to be returned to her.

The nation’s reaction to the current CCP Virus epidemic has been fascinating. It has revealed an impressive ability of many businesses to adjust their operations at a moment’s notice. It has demonstrated the great advantages offered by modern technology as tools like Microsoft Teams, Webex, GoToMeeting and Facebook Live have enabled employees and students to move their tasks from office to home. It has shown the flexibility of the logistics network as we switched over to home delivery at a moment’s notice. It has reminded the world, once again, of the huge generosity of the American people, as Americans make...

...According to former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson the state of Massachusetts has suddenly changed the way they are counting coronavirus deaths.

Here’s the Deal similarly falls short of its other goal of humanizing Biden. Its most mocked moment involves Biden discussing his love of Fig Newtons, which he likes because he can “sneak” them without aides or family members chastising him. The story only makes him sound roughly 900 years old. It does, I suppose, get points for authenticity, the antithesis of Hillary Clinton’s “I keep hot sauce in my bag” shtick. But that’s the problem: The authentic Biden, a 78-year-old who loves Fig Newtons and Congress, seems increasingly divorced from life in America, and even more so in post-coronavirus America....

“Recently I have got the news that mosques are being set on fire, mosques are being burnt for the last two days. I think something is going to happen within a month. May Allah accept our prayers. May Allah send such a terrible virus to India that ten to twenty to fifty crore people die in India. Am I saying something wrong? It is absolutely blissful.” In what context would this statement be innocuous? And how long are Muslim clerics and spokesmen going to claim they were quoted “out of context” every time they are caught saying something hateful and...

A Justice Department internal investigation has found that there were at least two surveillance warrant applications in 2019 with material errors, according to a newly unsealed court filing. In the 54-page filing to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) laid out not only the errors that were made but also gave a lengthy explanation of how it is working to address issues in its surveillance warrant process. According to the court documents, the DOJ's National Security Division conducted 30 accuracy reviews last year, and while it is still working on its final results...

What a deal for Democrats: They get to hold the economy for ransom, and the media blithely cover for them. On Thursday, Senate Democrats nixed a simple but urgent request to boost cash in the emergency small business loan program Congress set up this month from $350 billion to $600 billion. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin requested the cash because funds are running low, just weeks after the program launched. Rather than comply, Democrats issued demands: They insisted the new money include $60 billion for “community-based lenders” that serve minorities, women, nonprofits and other groups. And the bill also had to OK an...

Planned Parenthood and its allies in the abortion industry once again received the backing of Judge Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, who rebuked Texas officials for including abortions as banned elective procedures during the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, Yeakel, a George W. Bush appointee, said he was allowing some abortions to continue after his initial ruling was reversed by a 2-1 decision of a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. Responding to Yeakel’s decision Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released the following statement:...