Free Republic

HOUSTON – Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says the budget for Fiscal Year 2021, which begins in June, will be worse than the 2016 budget when the city saw its first deficit in its history. The reason: The severe economic impact from the coronavirus. Turner said the casualties will include five full classes of police cadets -- among others. “Employees will be furloughed,” Turner said in a daily press briefing. “Payments, for example, even to the Houston Zoo, will be deferred.” KPRC 2 spoke to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo about the expected cancellation of next fiscal year’s cadet classes and...

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea has seen no unusual signs suggesting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is ill, government officials said Tuesday, after CNN reported that Kim is "in grave danger after a surgery." "There is nothing unusual going on in North Korea. It's not true," a government official told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity, referring to the CNN report that cited an unidentified "U.S. official with direct knowledge" of the matter. Presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok also said that nothing unusual has been detected in the North. "No unusual signs have been identified inside North Korea," Kang said....

With increasingly politicized debates raging across developed countries whether or not to reopen economies as new coronavirus cases and deaths appear to be plateauing, India has made the decision to ease one of the world’s strictest lockdowns to allow some manufacturing and agricultural activity to resume after the economy suffered a sharp slowdown in recent weeks. India’s shelter-in-place orders were imposed on March 24 and halted all but essential services, sparking an exodus of migrant workers and people who survive on daily wages out of India’s cities and toward villages in rural areas. Authorities picked up travelers in a fleet...

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is reportedly in “grave danger” following surgery, CNN reported on Monday evening, citing an anonymous U.S. official with direct knowledge of the situation. There have been rumors of the dictator’s declining health in recent days, after he reportedly missed the country’s most important political holiday last week — the birthday celebration of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather and founder of the communist tyranny. NBC’s Kathy Tur sparked further speculation after deleting a tweet citing two U.S. officials who purportedly claimed that the authoritarian is “brain dead.” “North Korean leader Kim ing Un is brain dead,...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. People have deeply corrupted themselves as they once did at Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them because of their sins. . . For the things they do in secret are shameful to even mention. (Hosea...

....PBS KIDS has been hosting read-alongs of favorite books with children's book authors on its Facebook page and YouTube channel in order to encourage reading while children are at home. Now, former First Lady Michelle Obama will join in on the fun, with a weekly series, Mondays with Michelle Obama. Every Monday from April 20 through May 11 at 11:00 am CT, Obama will read....

President Donald Trump was criticized Monday for having a campaign rally in March while the coronavirus was spreading in the United States. Former Vice President Joe Biden had eight campaign events in the same month. The president’s March rally took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, but Biden’s rallies were in future coronavirus hot spots such as Detroit, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. The Trump campaign called out PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor who criticized the president during the White House press briefing for having a campaign rally on March 2. “You held rallies in February and March,” she said to Trump, accusing...

With continuing protests surrounding California’s stay-at-home order and local governments asking to reopen their economies before statewide restrictions are lifted, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said he wants to keep the entire state on a similar timeline for reopening. Newsom’s statements came as dozens of demonstrators descended on the state’s capitol in Sacramento, after the governor says they were granted a permit by California Highway Patrol. “My understanding is the protest that CHP has supported has physical distancing that was allowable on the basis of people being in their vehicles and not congregating as a group,” Newsom said during his...

The South Korean government said Tuesday no unusual activity has been detected in North Korea after unconfirmed reports described leader Kim Jong Un as in fragile condition after heart surgery. The presidential Blue House says it had no information about the rumors on Kim’s health. Speculation often surfaces about North Korea’s leadership based on attendance at important state events. Kim, who is in his mid-30s, missed the celebration of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15, the country’s most important holiday. “We have no information to confirm regarding rumors about Chairman Kim Jong Un’s health...

During Monday's coronavirus task force meeting, President Donald Trump emphasized the importance of U.S. manufacturing in keeping supply chains secure during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond, particularly in the area of pharmaceuticals. China has imported pharmaceutical products to the U.S. since the 1990s, becoming the United States' second-largest exporter of medications and medical supplies. However, the Trump administration has looked at ways to diminish China's role in the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain. Defense Production Act policy coordinator and Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro said in March he was working in collaboration with Trump on an executive order...

On Oct. 5, 1962, Eon Productions released a project called Dr. No—a spy flick that screened the very first depiction of James Bond on screen. Starring Sean Connery as the British secret agent, the box office smash would go on to gross $59.6 million worldwide and $16.1 million domestically—which amounts to a whopping $215.1 million after inflation. Thus, the 007 series was born. And the success of that original film has continued through 2020, as last weekend was scheduled to premiere the 27th installment of the franchise with No Time to Die.

Far-left documentary filmmaker Michael Moore bashed President Trump’s call to “liberate Michigan” by posting a video montage of people punching and kicking a Trump dummy and calling for a party on Election Day. On April 17, President Trump tweeted an all caps call to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN.” It was a reply to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the autocratic Democrat whose arbitrary actions during this coronavirus pandemic brought out thousands to protest in the state capital. In response, the Bowling for Columbine director promoted acts of violence by posting a video of people punching and kicking a dummy made up to look...

While much of western Europe has struggled to contain the coronavirus pandemic, Germany has appeared to navigate the outbreak relatively smoothly, with widespread testing and contact tracing that has helped keep its death rate far lower than its peers. Perhaps, then, it’s time to look to Germany for how to lift the lockdown too. On Monday, Germany started to tentatively lift its restrictions, with smaller retailers of under 800 square meters being allowed to reopen, as long as hygiene and social distancing measures could be maintained. Larger car dealerships, bike shops and book shops have also been allowed to open...

During Monday's coronavirus task force meeting, President Donald Trump emphasized the importance of U.S. manufacturing in keeping supply chains secure during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond, particularly in the area of pharmaceuticals. China has imported pharmaceutical products to the U.S. since the 1990s, becoming the United States' second-largest exporter of medications and medical supplies. However, the Trump administration has looked at ways to diminish China's role in the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain. Defense Production Act policy coordinator and Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro said in March he was working in collaboration with Trump on an executive order...

Subway robberies are skyrocketing despite a plunge in ridership during the coronavirus crisis - forcing the MTA to call in outside contractors for backup, according to sources. March saw 51 robberies across the 472-station subway system - compared to 33 the previous year, according to NYPD stats. There was a mere 3.4 percent drop in overall major felonies on the system, even as ridership dropped by nearly 90 percent from pre-crisis levels. The surge came while the MTA and NYPD struggle with virus-induced personnel shortages, with 5,055 NYPD personnel still out of work due to the virus as of Sunday...

The possibility that pubs may not reopen until a vaccine for Covid-19 has been found has been described as a “nightmare scenario” by the body that represents Dublin publicans. The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) said many pubs will be put out of business permanently if such a lengthy closure occurs. It was commenting after Heineken Ireland put its staff on a four-day week for two months due to the falloff in demand for its beer products since the lockdown began. […] Minister for Health Simon Harris said at the weekend he could not see how people could return to “packed...

The New York Times has done some shameless things in its past, but exploiting a man’s death to serve its agenda has to be among its worst. That’s what it did in a recent portrait of, as New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait put it, “a man killed by Fox News”: Ginia Bellafante’s story of the COVID-19 death of Joe Joyce, owner of Brooklyn’s JJ Bubbles bar. On March 1, Joyce and his wife took a cruise to Spain. Joyce was a fan of Fox News, especially host Sean Hannity, who declared on air that Americans were getting “unnecessarily” scared by...

At a coronavirus-task-force briefing at the beginning of April, White House adviser Jared Kushner explained the approach that would — as events proved — get the country through its ventilator crisis. The media relentlessly pilloried and mocked him, distorting his words in the process. Kushner said at one point that states shouldn’t be drawing on the federal stockpile just to hold ventilators in their own reserves (the administration was worried about ventilators sent to New York state not making it to hard-pressed hospitals in the Big Apple).

The coronavirus quarantine has contributed to a surge in the demand for prescription tranquilizers and sleep aids in the United States, as Americans continue to feel on edge about the uncertainty of the disease, according to a new research report. The largest spike was in prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs, which rose 34.1 percent from mid-February to mid-March, per the pharmacy benefit management organization Express Scripts. From February 16 to March 15, prescriptions for antidepressants rose 18.6 percent, while sleeping medications ticked up by 14.8 percent.

A policeman has been suspended after he was filmed threatening to “make something up” so he could arrest a man for breaching coronavirus lockdown laws. Lancashire Police was forced to apologize for the unnamed officer’s behavior after footage of the incident in Accrington was shared online. Tonight they have confirmed he has been suspended from duty with immediate effect and the force has referred itself to the police watchdog over the clip. The video captured a young man being shouted at by a policeman in Accrington on Friday afternoon after he was pulled over for being out of his house....