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Scully, 92, called Dodgers games for 67 seasons, spanning 13 National League pennants, six World Series championships, and a move across the country. He began in 1950 when the team was in Brooklyn. He retired at the end of the 2016 season after 59 years in Los Angeles. Vin Scully took a fall in his home on Tuesday afternoon. He is hospitalized and is resting comfortably.

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day -- something of an ecological feast day -- journalistic, philanthropic and religious leaders echoed the spirit of the original celebration: The human race is a cancer on the planet. In the sternly reinforced quiet of stay-at-home orders, this Team Earth reveled in how the world is such a better, cleaner, calmer place when most humans can't commute or commit tourism. CBS reporter John Blackstone found a silver lining in the pandemic, saying, "From goats in a deserted town in Wales to lions lounging on a road in South Africa, nature seems to be...

President Trump on Friday signed legislation providing $484 billion to replenish a popular small business lending program and support hospitals and COVID-19 testing amid the coronavirus pandemic. The measure includes an additional $310 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), $60 billion of which is reserved for community banks and small lenders; $75 billion for hospitals; $25 billion to support testing efforts; and $60 billion for emergency disaster loans and grants. Trump signed the legislative package during an Oval Office ceremony. The legislation came out of several days of negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and congressional Democrats....

MIAMI — A shipment of 1 million face masks en route to South Florida for firefighters was confiscated last week by the federal government, Miami-Dade’s top emergency management official said. Frank Rollason, the director of emergency management for Miami-Dade County, told WLRN on Wednesday that the masks were for firefighters who planned to begin at-home new coronavirus testing for homebound Miami-Dade residents who can't make it to drive-thru testing sites.

When the COVID-19 crisis began, it induced panic because of a lack of information about the disease and how deadly it was. Since then, data has been collected while much of the country has remained in lockdown. That data now appears to support the case that the worst is past us and it is time to re-open America. A huge national contingent of people make a vague claim that the lockdown "saves lives" yet never quantify it. So let’s do that. Using data from the LA County Department of Health and the NY City Health Department, the odds of catching...

“We’ve been competing against other states, against other nations, against our own federal government for PPE — coveralls, masks, shields, N95 masks — and we’re not waiting around any longer. And we’re no longer interested in the progress that we were seeing in the past.” That was California governor Gavin Newsom in an April 7 MSNBC appearance with Rachel Maddow. As Newsom added, “In the last 48 hours we have secured –through a consortia of nonprofits and a manufacturer here in the state of California – upwards of 200 million masks on a monthly basis that we’re confident we can...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning doctors against prescribing a malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus outside of hospitals or research settings. In an alert Friday, regulators flagged reports of serious side effects and death among patients taking hydroxychloroquine and the related drug chloroquine. The drugs, also prescribed for lupus, can cause a number of side effects, including heart rhythm problems, severely low blood pressure and muscle or nerve damage.

video at link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0nfRlkEW3w

"War is the health of the state," wrote the progressive Randolph Bourne during the First World War, after which he succumbed to the Spanish flu. America's war on the coronavirus pandemic promises to be no exception to the axiom. However long this war requires, the gargantuan state will almost surely emerge triumphant. Currently, the major expenditures of the U.S. government, as well as a growing share of total federal spending, are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. None of these programs will be curtailed or reduced this year or next. And if the Democrats win in November, the nation will likely...

First off, I pay $25 a month to support Free Republic and maybe that gives me one free vanity a month :) Second - I don't need anyone telling me that free advice is worthless so go away if that's you. Third - I appreciate the wisdom and experience of FReepers everywhere and I know that in between beebers and manatees will be some genuine help. Thank you.

Today, we join the global community in memorializing the lives lost during the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century.  Beginning in 1915, 1 and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.  On this day of remembrance, we pay respect to those who suffered and lost their lives, while also renewing our commitment to fostering a more humane and peaceful world.Every year on April 24, we reflect on the strong and enduring ties between the American and Armenian peoples.  We are proud of the founders of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, a ground-breaking effort established in...

Arbor Day is an opportunity for all Americans to acknowledge the important role that our Nation’s forests and woodlands play in supporting our economy, health, and environment. Today, we celebrate the remarkable contributions that America’s wide variety of trees make to our way of life. Let us also use this day to reflect on the sacrifices that Americans have made during these difficult times, and to look forward to the days—in the near future—when we will once again spend time outdoors with our friends and families. In this spirit, the First Lady and I planted a maple tree on the...

Since Fakebook and our Social Media overlords have determined to squelch any talk of rebellion, I thought FR should probably start a daily thread to act as sort of a clearinghouse on protests going on at the state and local level. Presuming the management is OK with that, post your reports here.

AT&T revealed longtime CEO Randall Stephenson would step down from his post sooner than expected, with COO John Stankey (pictured) to take the helm on 1 July. While Stephenson will retire as CEO he will retain a role with the operator, as executive chairman of the board, until January 2021. Though Stankey will join the board in June, the company stated it would elect a new independent director after Stephenson departs. Stephenson steps down after 13 years as CEO. His departure comes months earlier than expected: he previously told CNBC he would stay on as CEO until at least the...

Why have the Democrats in Congress decided to punish small businesses? Make no mistake, that is exactly what Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the congressional Democrats are doing in their latest politically tone-deaf move by denying funding for the small business loan program. As of last week, the program officially ran out of money, leaving millions of small business owners and their employees wondering how they’ll survive the government-mandated lockdowns. It makes you wonder why Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues would possibly risk being so out of touch with the needs of our country’s small businesses—despite small businesses being the driver...

In my previous column, posted on April 6, I lamented that the actions of some police officers, ordered to carry out some of the sillier or more onerous restrictions attendant to the pandemic, will further erode the already strained relationships their departments have within their communities. As one might have predicted, things have only gotten worse. Since that column was posted, we have seen police officers issuing $500 citations for the crime of attending a drive-in church service, and others arresting an Idaho woman who dared take her kids to a closed playground. Indeed, social media is awash with similar...

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room5:48 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Later this evening, we expect the House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.  I’m grateful that Congress is answering my call to deliver these additional $320 billion in relief for the American worker and for small businesses.At a time when many Americans are enduring significant economic challenges, this bill will help small businesses to keep millions of workers on the payroll.  You see states are starting to open up now, and it’s very exciting to see.  I think it’s very awe-inspiring. ...

Despite the devastating economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Britain is making scant effort to negotiate a far-reaching free trade deal in the wake of Brexit that would stave off a costly final separation at the end of the year, the European Union said Friday. EU negotiatior Michel Barnier said his British counterparts keep insisting on unrealistic deadlines and demands that could only lead to a chaotic trade rupture which would mount economic losses on both sides on top of those already expected from the coronavirus crisis. “I am worried,” Barnier said after what he described as another week of...

A reporter at The Washington Post learned that size does matter after trying to pin the exorbitant price of isopropyl alcohol on President Trump and his administration. The Post’s Amber Phillips posted and then deleted a tweet on Thursday announcing that the cost of isopropyl alcohol on Amazon was shockingly $2,375. Her tweet came after Trump’s coronavirus task force briefing at the White House Thursday where a Department of Homeland Security official spoke about the use of the product against the coronavirus.

Hillsdale College and its Barney Charter School initiative have launched a series of more than 40 free YouTube videos for parents and their children engaged in at-home learning during the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The video series is specifically focused on at-home learning during this time and is based on an American classical approach to education. In one of the opening videos, Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, assistant provost for K-12 education at Hillsdale College, said, “Classical education, at its root, is common-sense education.”