Free Republic

In crises like the coronavirus pandemic, it’s only natural that people look to government. The American framework of federalism has been critical, with local, state, and federal governments all taking on different roles in the response. But government alone cannot get the job done. As critical as the work of government has been, its efforts to get out of the way of business and the civil society – by lifting regulations that inhibit our ability to quickly develop cures or help those in need – are just as important and show how indispensable these other sectors are to the solution....

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has signed several new gun restrictions he championed during this year's legislative session, cementing gains by gun control advocates they hope will serve as a “blueprint” for states around the country. The Old Dominion has been the epicenter of the nation’s gun debate after Democrats took full control of the General Assembly last year on an aggressive gun control platform. Tens of thousands of gun owners from around the country rallied against new gun restrictions at the state Capitol in January while lawmakers ultimately approved 7 out of 8 of Northam's gun-control...

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THE BLOOMBERG-OWNED FIRM Hawkfish, which ran the presidential campaign of Mike Bloomberg, is in serious talks to serve the presidential campaign of Joe Biden, according to sources with knowledge of the ongoing negotiations. Along with Biden’s campaign, the firm is courting a wide swath of other progressive and Democratic organizations, opening up the possibility of Bloomberg gaining significant control over the party’s technology and data infrastructure. The digital consulting firm has had little political experience outside of the Bloomberg campaign, a trial by fire in which the former New York City mayor burned through nearly $1 billion in less than...

This will be a weekly post. Count remains at 191 judges confirmed. 138 District Court judges 51 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices

The U.S. Postal Service will run out of operational funds by the end of September unless Congress intervenes, Postmaster General Megan Brennan told members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a Thursday video conference. Mail volume has dramatically slowed during the coronavirus crisis due to widespread business closures, and the USPS is bracing for a steep drop in revenue. But its postal workers remain on the front lines of the crisis, handling prescription drug shipments, lab test materials and medical supplies that are crucial to efforts to contain the virus. Mail-in voting has also allowed the democratic...

Los Angeles (AFP) - Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was charged by Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday with sexually assaulting a third woman, as authorities there build their own case against the convicted rapist. Weinstein, 68, is already in prison in New York state after being sentenced to 23 years in jail for rape and sexual assault. The new charge of "sexual battery by restraint" will form part of a separate trial he faces in Los Angeles over allegations he assaulted multiple women in local hotels, with extradition proceedings under way. **SNIP** The new charge alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted an...

**SNIP** The stakes were high: In an email to senior staff, Tulchin said that moderate voters were beginning to unify behind Biden and that the consolidation would intensify if he won South Carolina, according to people familiar with the message. But on the stage that night, Sanders didn’t take his aides’ advice. Instead, he largely gave Biden a pass, bashed Bloomberg sometimes - but not over stop-and-frisk - and mostly stuck to his standard talking points. It wasn’t the first nor the last time Sanders eschewed his staffers’ suggestions to be more aggressive with his top rival. Their warnings proved...

Indonesia’s Krakatoa volcano has erupted, lighting up the night sky with bursts of lava and ash in what is said to be its most active phase since 2018, when it caused a deadly tsunami that killed over 400 people. Videos showing the world-famous volcano spewing a cloud of lava, ash, and smoke have inundated social media. The seismic activity at the top of the mountain began late Friday night and proceeded till Saturday morning, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. The volcano spewed thick clouds of black ash...

In a message to employees Friday, aircraft manufacturer Boeing said it planned to resume operations on a limited basis, possibly as soon as Monday, according to reports. The company plans to recall about 2,500 employees to work at some of its sites in Washington state, where coronavirus mitigation efforts have been among the most successful in the nation. “There will be new policies and procedures for social distancing and work area cleaning,” the Boeing message read, accordiing to The Seattle Times. “If you are able to support continued production, please reach out to your manager.” **SNIP** Boeing plans to provide...

Tucker Carlson states that Dr. Michael Ryan, Leader of the WHO, announced that in response to the spread of this virus, authorities may have to enter homes and and remove family members presumably by force... Video then shows Dr. Ryan stating: “...in most parts of the world due to lockdown, most of the transmission that’s actually happening in many countries now is happening in the household at family level." “In some senses, transmission has been taken off the streets and pushed back into family units. Now we need to go and look in families to find those people who may...

Recyclable items are going straight to landfills during the coronavirus pandemic as area haulers move to protect workers at facilities where they say maintaining 6-foot social distancing is impossible. “Some of the waste processing and recycling work we do is labor-intensive, involving hundreds of employees working in sort lines handling materials,” Alex Oseguera, a director of government affairs for Waste Management’s California operations, wrote in a March 18 letter to the city of Newport Beach. “While we have already instituted measures designed to protect our employees at these facilities — both office staff as well as those involved with operations...

Apple and Google have unveiled a rare partnership to add technology to their smartphone platforms that will alert users if they have come into contact with a person with COVID-19. People must opt in to the system, but it has the potential to monitor about a third of the world's population

We can define a lockdown in today's world as a government-ordered shutdown of businesses, schools, public facilities and of the free movement of people in general. Lockdowns are taking away human freedom under the rationale of trying to "save lives." This is no different from the argument used for banning guns, e.g. "if it will save just one life, we have to do it." Neither policy actually works for similar reasons. A. Both guns and the virus are already out there. In theory, a ban on importing or making guns and on letting someone with the virus into the country...

Invigorated by rival Sen. Bernie Sanders exit from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Vice-President Joe Biden turned his attention to the general election with a flurry of health policy initiatives that he says "will differentiate me from the failed incumbent." "Statistics show that more men than women are dying from the coronavirus," he observed. "Yet, at the same time sex-change surgery has been classified as 'elective' rather than 'essential' medical care. One of the first actions I will take as president will be to reclassify these surgeries as 'essential.' Men should have the option to increase their...

In announcing the extension of Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home order Friday, officials issued a grim warning: Nearly 96% of the county’s population could be infected with coronavirus by summer if social distancing measures stop. “Virtually all residents in the county” would be infected by August 1 if residents stopped distancing themselves from others and everything returned to business-as-usual, the county’s Department of Health Services director Christina Ghaly said at a news conference. Projections by the county and the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center found that social distancing measures taken by state and local officials have clearly delayed and lowered the peak of...

President Trump on Friday described the decision on when and how to reopen the country as the most difficult one he’s had to make in his life, underscoring the careful line he is walking between concerns about the economy and public health during the coronavirus outbreak. “I don’t know that I’ve had a bigger decision. But I’m going to surround myself with the greatest minds. Not only the greatest minds, but the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason...” “And we’re going to make a decision, and hopefully it’s going to be the right...

A fire has engulfed large parts of a prison in Russia's Siberia region following a riot by inmates who accused guards of mistreating them. The area around the high-security Penal Colony No 15 in Angarsk has been sealed off and security forces deployed. There are reports of casualties but their number is unclear. Russia's penal service said inmates had "attacked a guard" who had to be taken to hospital. Officials said the unrest was under control and investigators had opened an investigation.

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