Free Republic

Minsk, April 13, Interfax - Byelorussian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that he will not prohibit Byelorussians to do anything on Easter and will attend the church service. "Those who want will pray and go to church. I will be in church. This is my tradition. I rarely go but I am always in church on Christmas and Easter. I usually travel to the regions and visit those small churches," Lukashenko said as quoted by BelTA state news agency. "I want to stress once more: we are not closing the road to church to anyone. That is my strong demand....

The Strategic National Stockpile has sent out 19.1 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug that some doctors have prescribed to Covid-19 patients, a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed. The tablets, sent out in two shipments, are heading to cities around the country. About 10.1 million are going to the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, as well as Washington, D.C.; Baton Rouge; St. Louis; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Miami; Milwaukee; Indianapolis; Houston and Pittsburgh. Another shipment, of 9 million tablets, is headed for Detroit, New Orleans, New York City and Chicago, according to the spokesperson. Those last four...

Suits challenging COVID-19 orders that ban group church services are proliferating. Sacramento Bee reported yesterday: A group of Inland Empire pastors is suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom in federal court, alleging that his administration is “criminalizing the free exercise of religion” with stay-at-home directives that have prevented people from attending church services.... One of the plaintiffs is Dean Moffatt, a Riverside County pastor who was fined $1,000 for holding a Palm Sunday church service, according to the complaint filed. KRQE News reported yesterday: An Albuquerque [New Mexico] megachurch is now suing the state claiming the governor violated the first amendment...

If you’re a regular reader of FiveThirtyEight, you’re probably used to looking at data in sports — where basically everything that happens on a basketball court or a baseball diamond is recorded — or in electoral politics, when polls (in theory, anyway) survey a random sample of the population. COVID-19 statistics, especially the number of reported cases, are not at all like that. The data, at best, is highly incomplete, and often the tip of the iceberg for much larger problems. And data on tests and the number of reported cases is highly nonrandom.... if you’re not accounting for testing...

In less than a month, Abbott Laboratories has shipped 566,000 of its highly touted “rapid” molecular tests for the Coronavirus strain COVID-19 to all 50 U.S. states. The effort to get the ID NOW COVID-19 test to doctor’s offices, urgent care centers and temporary testing sites like drive-thru parking lot locations is a snapshot into the massive diagnostic effort under way in the U.S. Abbott’s ID NOW COVID-19 test can deliver “positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes.” The test, hailed by Donald Trump from the White House and praised by commercial companies...

Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear oral arguments by phone next month. Justices will hear arguments from lawyers remotely across six dates in the first two weeks of May in an effort to keep the business of the court moving during the coronavirus outbreak. A statement from the Supreme Court, released April 13, said that ten cases would be assigned dates in the first two weeks of May. "The Court will hear oral arguments by telephone conference on May 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13," the...

After logging over 1,000 COVID-19 deaths, Sweden has faced a rash of criticism for having perhaps the least restrictive rules in the world regarding social distancing, as restaurants and bars and some schools remain open while staying at home is urged but not mandated.  But don’t let that fool you because Sweden is still a different place from what it used to be, said Johan Norberg, an economics writer who lives in Stockholm and most recently the author of the award-winning book “Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future.” “Most people stay at home, don’t travel, rarely go...

The mayor of Auburn is facing backlash and calls for his removal from office following posts and comments he made last week on Facebook, which appeared to compare supporters of President Donald Trump to the Ku Klux Klan amid criticism of the president’s response to the coronavirus. Dr. Bill Kirby, the mayor of Placer County’s seat and a urologist, announced Monday evening that he intends to hand over the mayoral duties to a fellow council member, Auburn Journal reported. Kirby allegedly shared a reposted meme last Thursday from his personal Facebook account. The image depicted a hooded KKK member and...

Farmer had to destroy his crop amid food shortage fears Florida farmer Sam Accursio explains why he has to destroy so much of his squash crop as fears of a food shortage begin to grow during the coronavirus pandemic.Source: CNN

~ Freeper Canteen ~ --Canteen Mission Statement-- Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies' military and family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. Today We Want You To Take The..... What Twilight Zone Episode Is This Quiz Click HERE and take the quiz!To share your results, click on the "HTML" button, then copy and paste the code into a "Reply" box. Have fun! Please remember that The Canteen here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

Cabinet Room3:30 P.M.  EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you very much.  And I want to welcome many of our nation’s top hospital CEOs to the White House.  It’s an honor to have you.  Friends of mine for a long time, in many cases.  We’re glad to be joined by Vice President Pence, who’s in the other room — he’ll be coming in a little while; and Seema Verma, who you deal with all the time, Administrator; Jared Kushner; CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Adam Boehler; Rear Admiral John Polowczyk; Army Colonel Pat Work.  We appreciate everybody for...

Today, President Donald J. Trump announced many of the esteemed executives, economists, scholars, and industry leaders who together will form various Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups.  These bipartisan groups of American leaders will work together with the White House to chart the path forward toward a future of unparalleled American prosperity.  The health and wealth of America is the primary goal, and these groups will produce a more independent, self-sufficient, and resilient Nation.Agriculture American Farm Bureau Federation – Zippy DuvallSysco Corporation – Kevin HouricanTyson Foods, Inc. – Dean BanksPerdue Farms, Inc. – Randy DayCargill, Inc. – David MacLennanArcher-Daniels-Midland...

Go figure that high-minded public engagement like this from China’s media orgs hasn’t won hearts and minds around the world. Senator Josh Hawley promoted a bill that would strip sovereign immunity from China to allow for COVID-19 lawsuits, a proposal that would face numerous obstacles anyway. Instead of shrugging it off, China Daily editor Chen Weihua decided to pick a fight, much to Hawley’s delight.The end result made Chen look less like a journalist and more like a paid troll: Because you are a joke— Chen Weihua (@chenweihua) April 14, 2020 The nearly desperate effort to shift focus away...

Cabinet Room12:02 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you very much, everybody.  This is a group of people who, in many cases, became quite famous because they went through a lot having to do with the coronavirus.  A tremendous amount.  And a lot of them were covered, and we know them from the media.  They’ve all got very interesting and very different stories to tell.And I thought what I’d do is I’d go around the room.  It’s an honor to have them at the White House.  And they really are — they’re very brave.  Some were right at the edge;...

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE SUBJECT: Delegation of Authorities under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 and the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authorities vested in the President by section 1250A(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92) and section 205(d) of the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy...

You know what this is about. We’ve written several times about the frightening increase in NYC this past month of residents dying in their homes. According to data provided by the city to the Times, in the first five days of April alone no fewer than 1,125 people were already dead when paramedics responded to a 911 call at their apartments. That was more than eight times the number in the first five days of April last year, a difference of nearly 1,000 souls in less than a week.That’s the single most frightening detail about the disease I’ve encountered...

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Facebook, saying the company has “repeatedly and openly” violated state campaign transparency laws by selling political ads without providing legally required details of the spending. The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, is the second such case against the online social media giant by Ferguson’s office. A similar lawsuit in 2018 resulted in Facebook paying $238,000 to the state in penalties and legal costs. The new lawsuit comes after the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) in February rejected a proposed $75,000 settlement to address continuing violations, and referred...

Two local doctors were arrested Tuesday after deputies say they stole a Trump 2020 flag from their neighbor. Geoffrey Michael Fraiche, 41, Laura Ann Webb-Fraiche, 38, were arrested and charged with criminal mischief, trespassing, larceny and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Fraiche and Webb-Fraiche are accused of stealing the man’s flag on April 7, according to a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. Ring surveillance video shows the two driving up to the man’s house on a golf cart with at least two children with them, according to deputies. The report says Fraiche and Webb-Fraiche used a...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345et seq., it is hereby ordered that:Section 1.  Subject to the provisions of section 3 of this order, the officers named in section 2, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) during any period when both the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior have died, resigned, or are otherwise unable to perform the...

This is a rumor, coming from someone pretty plugged in to things. She said that the corona virus is man made, in China, and the purpose was population control through male infertility. It rings true because we keep hearing that this virus is affecting men at a much higher rate. There's considerable info out there, including the article linked here https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/07/coronavirus-hits-men-harder-evidence-risk, that discusses the high rate of affected men. Men are scrambling to 'bank' sperm because of one of the symptoms of this virus. It also rings true because Gates' main focus is population control and being so invested in...