Free Republic

Illinois could soon be the first state in history to have its bonds rated as “junk.” Last month, both Moody’s MCO and Standard & Poor’s downgraded Illinois debt to just one notch above junk status. Last week, the Illinois State Senate President Don Harmon (D-Chicago) wrote a letter to Congress requesting a $41.6 billion bailout. Critics balked. In many ways, Illinois may have already crossed the Rubicon. Our analysis at OpenTheBooks.com shows that an Illinois family of four now owes more in unfunded pension liabilities ($76,000) than they earn in household income ($63,585). In a state of 13 million residents,...

Today, President Donald J. Trump unveiled the Opening Up America Again Testing Overview and Testing Blueprint designed to facilitate State development and implementation of the robust testing plans and rapid response programs described in the President’s Opening Up America Again Guidelines. The President’s Blueprint sets forth the partnership between Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, along with the private-sector and professional associations, all of which will play important roles in meeting the Nation’s testing needs. On April 16, 2020, the President unveiled the Opening Up America Again Guidelines, a three-phased, data-driven approach based on the advice of public health experts...

Last month, as the nation’s movie theaters were days from closing down, executives at Comcast Corp. CMCSA 0.08% ’s Universal Pictures moved on a decision that would soon pay off handsomely. A massive marketing campaign was already under way for the studio’s April 10 release, “Trolls World Tour,” an animated sequel to the 2016 hit. The studio decided not to postpone the opening, instead making the movie available as a digital rental on platforms like Apple Inc.’s Apple TV for $19.99. Three weeks later, “Trolls World Tour” has racked up nearly $100 million in rentals.

VIDEO CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir (Weird?) made a video chock full of schlock featuring his newborn son in order to hype climate change propaganda. So what was his son's reaction? In this video we find out.

Forget the thirst trap -- this packed house party in Chicago featuring a stripper is more like a potential coronavirus trap with all the guests blatantly ignoring quarantine guidelines. It turns out there was even more reckless behavior going down in Chi-Town over the weekend -- this party seemed to have several dozen guests swarming around a stripper wearing a top, but nothing down below. The partygoers, packed in shoulder-to-shoulder, made it rain on her and even got a little handsy. That might be great for her bottom line, but not so great for health. The video shows no one...

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that hospitalizations are still trending downward in the state and there were 335 new deaths. A total of 17,638 people have died in the state from the COVID-19 crisis. As far as reopening, the governor said that it is not for areas with hospitals at 70% capacity or where the rate of transmission reaches an outbreak level of Rt 1.1.

Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams is ramping up her pressure campaign to be Joe Biden's vice presidential pick. According to Politico on Tuesday, Abrams has been calling Democratic power brokers and asking that they tell the Biden campaign she should be chosen as his running mate. . . . Abrams has cited her experience in the private sector as well as her "independent study" of international affairs as qualifications for the role.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sparked outrage by referring to the Sunshine State as “God’s waiting room” during a briefing about the coronavirus pandemic. “Florida is ground zero for the nursing home — we’re God’s waiting room,” DeSantis said Sunday, using an old joke about the number of retirees who flock to his state, WPLG Local 10 reported. “We have a huge number of facilities, a huge number of residents,” he said, adding that Florida had acted swiftly to protect the elderly. DeSantis said he realized from the beginning, by paying attention to statistics from South Korea, “that not all age groups...

Presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden is reportedly taking the advice of Reverend Al Sharpton about his pick for a running mate.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made head-scratching remarks during a CBS Miami interview on Monday night, suggesting that the United States needed more “economic intercourse around the world.” “I would get much more engaged in the world, we can’t step back,” Biden said. “If in fact, for example, we solve the problem in the United States of America and you don’t solve it in other parts of the world, you know what’s going to happen?” “You’re going to have travel bans, you’re going to not be able to do, have economic intercourse around the world,” Biden continued. WATCH:

A new Michael Moore-produced documentary that takes aim at the supposed hypocrisy of the green movement is “dangerous, misleading and destructive” and should be removed from public viewing, according to an assortment of climate scientists and environmental campaigners. The film, Planet of the Humans, was released on the eve of Earth Day last week by its producer, Michael Moore, the baseball cap-wearing documentarian known for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine. Describing itself as a “full-frontal assault on our sacred cows”, the film argues that electric cars and solar energy are unreliable and rely upon fossil fuels to function. It...

This current balance of power in America is unsustainable and will not hold much longer. We just slinked past the 245th anniversary of the "shot heard round the world," and most Americans were too busy hunkering down and obeying government directives to remember how heavy the price for liberty always is. There is a rumbling right now below our feet, though, and these tremors may well split the earth around us if our elected leadership do not yield to common sense and shared American purpose. This moment in history is opening up before us two paths — one in which...

Mapping China's Biggest Trading Partners - Is Your Country One of Them? The United States and China recently signed Phase I of a trade deal designed to thaw relations between the world’s two largest economies. The ongoing trade war between these two countries led to an overall slowdown of global growth in 2019, with continued weakness in global trade and investment. Despite this, China has maintained a positive trade balance overall and continues to be a major exporter to countries around the world. Our new series of visualizations maps out the relationship between China and its biggest trading partners. The...

Pressure is mounting for 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden to unseal documents related to his time in the Senate as he faces increased scrutiny for allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by Tara Reade. Reade, who worked as a Senate staffer for Biden in 1993, has accused the then-senator of kissing her, touching her and penetrating her with his fingers without her consent. Reade has said that she made harassment complaints to three Biden staffers, none of whom reportedly took action, and that she filed a written complaint with a “Senate personnel office” in 1993, according to The New...

As astronauts explore the Moon during the Artemis program, they may need to make use of the resources that already exist on the lunar surface. Take water, for instance: Because it's a heavy and therefore expensive resource to launch from Earth, our future explorers might have to seek out ice to mine. Once excavated, it can be melted and purified for drinking and used for rocket fuel. But how much water is there on the Moon, and where might we find it? This is where NASA's Lunar Flashlight comes in. About the size of a briefcase, the small satellite —...

So that long farewell from Bernie Sanders wasn't such a long farewell. Actually, Bernie never left the race, even though he said he had suspended his campaign, and New York state, doing what seemed logical, called off its one-candidate primary. Now Joe Biden has another problem. Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign blasted the New York State Board of Elections’ announcement on Monday that his name would not appear on the ballot for the state's presidential primary in June, calling the move an "outrage" and "a blow to American democracy." "Just last week Vice President Biden warned the American people that President...

SANTA FE – New Mexico crossed a grim threshold Monday – more than 100 dead in the coronavirus outbreak, just 35 days after the first fatality in Artesia. The death toll reached 104 on Monday as the state announced five more deaths, all men, ranging in age from their 60s to their 80s. For the most part, New Mexico’s 104 virus victims were older adults with underlying medical conditions – such as diabetes or heart problems. At least 34 lived in group care facilities, where virus outbreaks have proved deadly and difficult to contain. But otherwise healthy New Mexicans in...

<p>It’s hard to decide which one of these takes the cake for being the most deranged, but Sirius/XM radio host Howard Stern’s remarks to Trump voters were remarkably terrible. Over the weekend, the radio shock jock skewered Trump’s comments on experimental coronavirus treatments and invited his supporters to try them so that they might incidentally kill themselves.</p>

By inserting DNA obtained from the mushroom, the scientists were able to create plants that glow much brighter than previously possible. This biological light can be used by scientists for observing the inner workings of plants. In contrast to other commonly used forms of bioluminescence, such as from fireflies, unique chemical reagents are not necessary for sustaining mushroom bioluminescence. Plants containing the mushroom DNA glow continuously throughout their lifecycle, from seedling to maturity. The new discovery can also be used for practical and aesthetic purposes, most notably for creating glowing flowers and other ornamental plants. And while replacing street lights...

The Democrats are taking their stand on the coronavirus crisis in an untenable position. It is like building a defensive redoubt in a valley surrounded by hills in the hands of the enemy (like the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1955, as President Eisenhower warned them). Whether this is tactical stupidity by the president’s enemies or strategic genius by the president or — more likely — a bit of both, is not clear except to insiders. Readers will recall that the Democrats charged out of the gate on the issue of taking science seriously and reacting comprehensively; the president...