Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) - West Virginia ranked No. 1 among the 50 states for its homeownership rate in 2018, which was 74.7 percent, according to new housing data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. New York and California ranked 50th and 49th with homeownership rates of 51.0 and 55.1, according to Table 15 in the Census Bureau’s Annual Statistics on Housing Vacancies and Homeownership. The Census Bureau calculates the homeownership rate by dividing the number of owner occupied housing units by the total number of occupied housing units.

EAST LANSING, MI — Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley Jr. announced Thursday a series of budget reductions in response to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. In an email to staff, Stanley Jr. asked the university community “to continue to rally together as we face this challenge.” All MSU executives will be taking a 2% to 7% temporary pay cut based on salary levels, Stanley Jr. said in the email. The cuts are anticipated to remain in effect through May or June, but could last “possibly a full year,” he said in the email. Stanley Jr. said he will...

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday proposed federally funded subsidies for businesses to keep employees on payroll when they would otherwise need to lay them off in times of economic distress. Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president in the 2020 election, called for the national adoption of state-run “short-time compensation” programs amid a drastic spike in joblessness caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Such programs allow businesses facing financial peril to cut their workers’ hours with the federal government making up the difference in lost wages. Short-time compensation programs are intended to fend off business bankruptcies and keep workers...

Beginning Saturday, anyone going into a Dallas County business or riding public transportation will be required to wear a mask, County Judge Clay Jenkins announced Thursday afternoon. In a tweet, Jenkins said he expected Dallas County residents would comply with the new requirement without law enforcement needing to take action.

Lesbian YouTube creator Arielle Scarcella is critical of advocates for transgender athletes in women’s sports in a video exposing how these biological men mock and berate their female competitors. In her video titled, “Trans Athletes Call Women Competitors LOSERS & MOCK Female Sports,” Scarcella asked, “Do transgender women have an advantage by being born male?” “When trans women powerlifters are breaking female records, and young women are suing high school boards, we need to talk,” she said in her video. Scarcella pointed to a February tweet by Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU. “If you are...

Under Beijing's civil-military fusion strategy, the PLA is sponsoring research on gene editing, human performance enhancement, and more. We may be on the verge of a brave new world indeed. Today’s advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering have exciting applications in medicine — yet also alarming implications, including for military affairs. China’s national strategy of military-civil fusion (军民融合) has highlighted biology as a priority, and the People’s Liberation Army could be at the forefront of expanding and exploiting this knowledge. The PLA’s keen interest is reflected in strategic writings and research that argue that advances in biology are contributing to...

Brian Dennehy, the veteran actor of stage and screen, died on Wednesday, his daughter Elizabeth said. He was 81. “It is with heavy hearts we announce that our father, Brian passed away last night from natural causes, not Covid-related,” Elizabeth wrote on Twitter. “Larger than life, generous to a fault, a proud and devoted father and grandfather, he will be missed by his wife Jennifer, family and many friends.” The tall, imposing Dennehy, who was born in Bridgeport, Conn., was a fixture at the movies in the 1980s and ’90s, appearing in such films as “First Blood,” “Tommy Boy” and...

Chinese students are returning home in droves from European countries, convinced that it is now safer to be in China to avoid the new coronavirus. For municipalities such as Beijing, the arrivals pose a serious risk of a second wave of infections, as the students come back from virus-hit nations. Right as the battle against the invisible enemy looked as if it had turned a corner and given China a glimmer of hope, the second wave threatens to cancel hard-earned gains. The response toward the students has been harsh on Chinese social media. "They left the country in the first...

PBS NewsHour stands up to presidential diatribes and viewer complaints A global pandemic demands tough questions from journalists. Amid the coronavirus crisis, journalist Yamiche Alcindor has delivered robust and sober reporting that some PBS NewsHour critics mistake as political bias. On March 29th, in this Year of the Pandemic, the nation had ground to a halt. We were heeding orders and pleas to stay home and collectively disrupt deadly waves of COVID-19 infection. With the crisis deepening, President Donald Trump was on television, live, launching verbal salvos at the media. Once again, he’d been set off by a hint of...

We all know we are going thru a pandemic, State and Local Governments everywhere are coming up with new and crazy ideas to deal with the situation, many of the ideas shred the Constitution.....Valley County, MONTANA of all places is trying to force people to wear PINK armbands before a person could enter a store to purchase items. What's next, are they going to force Jews to wear Stars of David, oh wait that was tried once before with catastrophic results...

Birth: Oct. 11, 1811 Death: Apr. 16, 1890 2nd. Lieutenant CO. G. 10th Ind. Cavalry Nathaniel GRIGSBY. Son of Reuben Davis GRIGSBY Sr. & Nancy BARKER. Born 11 October 1811 in Nelson Co., KY. Died 16 April 1890 in Attica, Harper Co., KS. Buried in Attica, Harper Co., KS. He was a Civil War veteran, a 2nd Lieut., of Company G, 10th Indiana Cavalry. He was a farmer. Nathaniel was a dear friend of Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln moved to Illinois in 1830, Nathaniel moved with his father to Carroll Co., MO in 1855. In 1860, he was living in...

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Ohio will begin to open back up on May 1. “I am an optimist and am confident that Ohioans will also live up to the challenge of doing things differently as we open back up beginning on May 1st,” he said. DeWine said as the state open backs up, they will continue to monitor where Ohio is in the curve, the amount of PPE that’s available and Ohio’s testing capacity. “In re-opening any business, it will be essential to provide a safe environment for employees. We cannot have another large spike of...

TRENTON, New Jersey, April 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he “wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights” when he prohibited large gatherings of more than 50 people, including religious gatherings, in his state due to the coronavirus pandemic. “That’s above my paygrade,” he told Tucker Carlson during a Fox News interview on April 15. Carlson pressed the governor multiple times on the constitutionality of a move that effectively banned significant numbers of people from coming together for worship services. “How do you have the authority to order something that so clearly contravenes the Bill...

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign is planning a rollout for Michelle Obama’s endorsement, although there are questions around just how public a role the enormously popular former first lady will play in his campaign. Sources tell The Hill that the Biden campaign’s early plans include a focus on remote fundraising and voter registration efforts. The trick for Michelle Obama and the Biden campaign is finding the right balance for the pop culture icon, who could be a massive asset for the campaign but has never shown much enthusiasm for campaign politics. A source close to Michelle Obama said the...

Coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Thursday related to the global economy SEATBELTS FASTENED: The U.S. is offering airlines a $25 billion aid package, but damage to the sector will be extensive and long-lasting. Industry analysts say it could be five years before the industry fully recovers. — United Airlines’ flight schedule will be cut to 10% in May and it expects more of the same in June. In a letter to employees, CEO Oscar Munoz wrote that travel demand is “essentially zero and shows no sign of improving in the...

In the past 12 months, the administration opened 41 cases in federal court to seize land to build a wall along the southern border of Texas. Nearly half of those cases – 16, or 39 percent - were filed in the past two months. The bulk of the new filings came in March, when the administration opened 12 cases, the most in any month under Trump, a Reuters review of federal filings found. The administration wants immediate possession, bypassing traditional procedural steps and forcing landowners to move more swiftly, records show.

Prior to the economic downturn—or collapse—that we’re now experiencing, the trust fund was projected to run out of money by 2035. This has, practically overnight, gotten worse. Why? Because some 16 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last three weeks. This means there are a lot fewer—millions fewer—people paying those payroll taxes into the Social Security system. And on top of a lot less money coming in, a lot more will soon be going out. That’s because people who are now out of work and eligible to draw benefits may soon do so, out of sheer economic need....

I'm considering doing something I said I would never do. Indirectly/directly buy an Alexa or Google device. I've said multiple times that I think Google is the 3rd most evil entity on the planet behind North Korea and Iran so maybe I'm just looking at Alexa. For the wife I'm thinking about getting one for her to change the TV channel, audio and stuff. I looked at a Samsung device but you have to push a button so I was thinking about the 'special' word command used for Alexa and the like. And I'm here to ask if anybody has...

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, who wrote a book about sexual assault accusations made against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and defended Dr. Christine Blasey Ford in the pages of her newspaper, now says the “#BelieveAllWomen” and “#MeToo” movement are “dumb” — because a similar, but credible sexual assault allegation has been leveled against the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden. In a shocking editorial for the Washington Post, Marcus lashes out not just at Biden’s alleged accuser, Tara Reade — who has now filed a criminal complaint against Biden and who has a record of contemporaneous...

Petition to have Tedros resign, Almost at goal of one million signatures. Please sign petition https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-call-for-the-resignation-of-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-who-director-general?recruiter=1043481144&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=18e33070-51ee-11ea-ba92-a9c2dee67bb1