Free Republic

President Donald Trump’s temporary suspension of the immigrant inflow includes the routine inflow of non-immigrant visa workers, according to the New York Times.

Markus Soeder, the governor of Bavaria, along with Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, announced on Tuesday that the region’s annual Oktoberfest festivities would be canceled due to the health risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic. “Difficult decision with Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter,” Soeder wrote on social media, per a translated tweet. “The Oktoberfest 2020 must be canceled. The risk is just too high. You can neither keep your distance there nor wear a face mask. Living with [coronavirus] means living cautiously until there is a vaccine or medication.” The festivities, which were scheduled to begin on Sept. 19 and...

President Trump clashed with MSNBC personalities Tuesday morning as he went on a tear against the media and host Joe Scarborough in particular. “Watched the first 5 minutes of poorly rated Morning Psycho on MSDNC just to see if he is as 'nuts' as people are saying. He’s worse. Such hatred and contempt! I used to do his show all the time before the 2016 election, then cut him off. Wasn’t worth the effort, his mind is shot!” Trump tweeted, referring to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program hosted by Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. “It is amazing that I became President of...

The FDA has authorized the first diagnostic test with a home collection option for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. In a statement released Tuesday, the FDA said that it had reissued an Emergency Use Authorization for LabCorp to COVID-19 RT-PCR Test to permit testing of samples that were self-collected by patients at home using LabCorp's Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home collection kit. "Throughout this pandemic we have been facilitating test development to ensure patients access to accurate diagnostics, which includes supporting the development of reliable and accurate at-home sample collection options," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.

About-face in Columbus, New Mexico not affecting construction of steel bollard fence at Mexican border. Conservationists are claiming a small victory after the removal of a dozen trailers that would’ve housed crews working on a nearby stretch of border wall. The trailers were hauled off to undisclosed locations after activists, residents and some public officials complained of a heightened risk of COVID-19 spread posed by the influx of dozens of out-of-town workers into Columbus. “We take this as a win for our community and our families. We have bought some time, but we remain ever vigilant because they could very...

A new documentary reveals that the U.S. had an opportunity to kill Usama bin Laden in the 1990s after tracking his location with the help of Afghan tribal informants, but were unable to do so because of an order signed by then-President Bill Clinton. That order allowed the CIA to engage in "lethal activity" against the Al Qaeda leader, but the purpose of the strike could not be to kill him. “We were being asked to remove this threat to the United States essentially with one hand tied behind our backs,” said now-former CIA station chief Bob Grenier in Showtime’s...

Monday marked the lowest number of coronavirus-related fatalities in the U.S. in two weeks, just days after the number of deaths had spiked to 4,591 in a single day. According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. lost 1,433 people to coronavirus on April 20, adding to the overall death toll of 42,364. According to the data, nearly 93 percent of all U.S. deaths from the pandemic have occurred in the past three weeks, 44 percent of which have occurred over the last seven days. But after several sharp spikes last week, the number seems to be slowing, with the data...

VIDEO In all of North Korea there is just one, count them, ONE fat person. And that person "coincidentally" happens to be its Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un. Nobody else in that country, not even his generals or even his sister is fat. In fact they are all rail thin skinny. As a result morbid obesity is not a problem in North Korea except for Kim who is now reportedly fighting for his life due to health problems because of obscene overeating. Therefore, in honor of Kim, the DUmmie FUnnies is presenting this buffet tribute to him. BTW, you...

The skies are eerily empty these days, presenting a new challenge for the world’s embattled airlines as they work to safeguard thousands of grounded planes parked wingtip to wingtip on runways and in storage facilities. More than 16,000 passenger jets are grounded worldwide, according to industry researcher Cirium, as the coronavirus obliterates travel and puts unprecedented strain on airline finances. Finding the right space and conditions for 62% of the world’s planes and keeping them airworthy have suddenly become priorities for 2020. Aircraft can’t simply be dusted back into action. They need plenty of work and attention while in storage,...

Hydroxychloroquine is being tested around the world to see if it can be used as a treatment for the coronavirus pandemic. As the debate intensifies on whether or not it works, 25 percent of physicians around the world believe health care workers should take the drug to prevent COVID-19 infections, according to a new survey. The survey, conducted by Sermo, a health care data collection company, found that one-quarter (5,158) of more than 20,000 physicians around the world believe the anti-malarial drug should be used to prevent infections. Separately, 50 percent of the physicians surveyed have used the anti-malarial drug...

Leave it to CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta to look for any opportunity, even a coronavirus-induced oil crash, to get in an amateurish zinger at the president. When the price of oil crashed below $0 to mark the lowest level for a contract on record, Acosta took to Twitter to find an older April 2 Trump tweet to prepare his one-liner. Trump tweeted: “Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, & I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe...

On Monday, U.S. oil prices fell below zero for the first time ever, shocking observers and raising doubts about the solvency of oil and gas companies coming out of the coronavirus crisis and the oil selling war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. These negative prices were distressing news for the U.S. economy, threatening livelihoods of oil and gas workers and the availability of the gasoline Americans will need after the crisis ends. Yet Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) saw them as a reason to celebrate. "You absolutely love to see it," AOC tweeted. "This along with record low interest rates means...

Facebook didn't provide much confidence in its ability to navigate the uncharted waters of a pandemic in the age of Big Tech on Monday. Experiencing a pandemic on the scale of the Wuhan coronavirus in the age of Big Tech is a journey into uncharted territory, making the industryÂ’s often cozy relationship with the political class a recipe for new abuses of personal data and speech policing. Facebook didnÂ’t provide much confidence in its ability to navigate these waters on Monday. At first, the company seemed to be bragging about its work with state governments to remove posts promoting protests...

Hundreds of National Guard personnel are being activated in Iowa as coronavirus sweeps through meat-processing plants in a state that accounts for about a third of U.S. pork supply. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said 250 National Guard members have been moved to full-time federal duty status and could help with testing and contact tracing for workers at plants operated by Tyson Foods Inc. and National Beef Packing Co. ...

The U.S. government has extensive contingency plans in place for an eventual death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that factor in expectations of a mass-scale humanitarian crisis inside the country, Fox News has learned. Sources discussed those plans amid conflicting reports about the reclusive North Korean leader's health. Those same sources urge caution about these reports, which have claimed he's facing serious health issues after a cardiovascular procedure. While his condition is unclear, a well-placed defense intelligence source told Fox News on Tuesday that the U.S. government has extensive plans in place for when Kim is gone, taking...

Learn How To Make Compost. Save money, have a healthier garden, and healthier soil. WATCH THE VIDEO...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered key figures in his administration to put together a plan to get funding to the struggling U.S. oil and gas industries as a historic selloff in crude continued. “I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future!” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning, as West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May delivery again traded in negative territory.

I was out this beautiful Tennessee morning, walking in the yard, on the street, amongst the weeds and flowers. The sun is shining. It rained again last night. It’s clean. I began to pick and taste the wild greens and flowers. Then I did some easy calisthenics, and some Greek Yoga™. I thought about the simplicity of it all, and how I’ve always been like this. I realized—dang, I’m a conservative hippie! I try to live close to nature. I eat raw food (sometimes!). I don’t take many supplements, and those of those only natural like apple cider vinegar. I...

In a world of "lies, damned lies, and statistics," we should consult the SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19) source data to understand the current numbers and the methodology for classifying new cases and deaths. According to the CDC website, as of April 18, there were 690,714 total cases and 35,442 total deaths. A footnote says the total cases include 1,282 probable cases and the total deaths include 4,226 probable deaths, which is 12% of the total deaths after only four days of counting probable deaths. This is probably the result of the new definition of "probable death" (see below). The CDC began counting...