Free Republic

Frontpage Mag 1-800-INFORM Report your neighbors to the authorities: it’s the un-American way. Tue Apr 28, 2020 Daniel Greenfield 96 Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism. "How do I report a non-essential business that's still open?" Mayor Eric Garcetti asks. But the real question is what sort of people want an answer to that question? Informing on your friends and neighbors used to be something that the socialists on the other side of the Iron Curtain used to do. What kind of...

President Trump warned Democrats Tuesday that he will demand “adjustments” for sanctuary cities as a condition of bailout aid for states, as both parties take increasingly partisan paths toward the next round of emergency coronavirus relief. With Democrats demanding at least $500 billion to fill state coffers drained by business shutdowns, Mr. Trump said he doesn’t want to reward mostly Democrat-controlled states “to recover 25 years of bad management.” “If it’s COVID-related, I guess we can talk about it,” the president told reporters at the White House. “But we want certain things also, including sanctuary city adjustments. We have so...

The nation's two biggest teachers unions say they would consider strikes or major protests if schools reopen without the proper safety measures in place or against the advice of medical experts — raising the possibility of yet more school disruptions. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, previewing a reopening plan first with POLITICO, said funding is needed for a host of public health measures for schools, including personal protective equipment. Collective bargaining, strong enforcement of safety standards and protections from retaliation will be important for teachers and staff so they feel safe to speak up as schools try new...

Operation Underground Railroad, founded by Tim Ballard, is an organization existing for the sole purpose of freeing children caught in the global web of human trafficking. These guys, including Ballard himself, risk their lives to go into the deepest, darkest corners of the world to rescue children of all ages who are abducted and sold into the sex slave market. Two days ago the trailer for the upcoming movie based on Ballard’s experiences, “Sound of Freedom”, could be accessed and viewed easily on the web. Today it’s gone. The sites that used to contain the trailer are now linking to...

ormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic “would be a terrible crisis to waste” by not creating “universal health care.” Clinton, the Democratic Party nominee in the 2016 presidential election, was speaking to former Vice President Joe Biden in a virtual women’s “town hall” meeting, during which she endorsed him for president. Biden nodded in agreement as Clinton spoke about exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to bring about the left’s dream of “universal health care”: This is a high-stakes time, because of the pandemic. But this is also a really high-stakes election. And every form of...

Starting in the fall of 2016 and continuing into 2018, researchers at Columbia University in Manhattan began collecting nasal swabs from 191 children, teachers, and emergency workers, asking them to record when they sneezed or had sore throats. The point was to create a map of common respiratory viruses and their symptoms, and how long people who recovered stayed immune to each one. The research included four coronaviruses, HKU1, NL63, OC42, and C229E, which circulate widely every year but don’t get much attention because they only cause common colds. But now that a new coronavirus in the same broad family,...

After the Force Majeure Michael Pakaluk Tuesday, April 28, 2020 In the 2014 Swedish film, Force Majeure, a violent avalanche just about reaches and almost engulfs a family enjoying lunch on the deck of a ski resort in the French Alps. The film’s director, Ruben Östlund, had formerly made ski films. As you would expect, both the scenery and the setting, the resort of Les Arcs near Mont Blanc, are stunningly beautiful. In fact, much of the film’s power comes from the contrast it draws between the glorious beauty of nature and luxurious ski vacation, and the poverty of the...

US intelligence officials believe that the true scale of China’s coronavirus outbreak is at least FIFTY times worse than the communist state is admitting to, and that 60,000 dead bodies per month could have been processed by the funeral homes in Wuhan.

Encouraging private-sector solutions through targeted deregulation and public-private partnerships is a critical part of the Trump Administration’s COVID-19 response. This approach has successfully expanded testing development, healthcare capacity, and the use of telehealth. Telehealth has grown as the United States continues responding to COVID-19’s challenges, leading to public health benefits.Telehealth allows patients to connect remotely with medical professionals. Because of advances in smartphones and remote diagnostic testing capabilities, its use recently started to increase. But more comprehensive telehealth adoption was limited due in part to issues with internet access, HIPAA requirements, State licensing laws, provider liability, quality standards, and...

A broad majority of Georgia voters support a statewide shelter-in-place to combat the spread of the coronavirus, according to a University of Georgia survey released as Gov. Brian Kemp debates whether to extend stay-at-home orders set to expire Thursday night. The survey found about one-half of registered Georgia voters support the mandate that took effect April 3, and an additional one-quarter of voters “somewhat back it.” Only about 10% of Georgians oppose the idea; the rest are neutral or undecided. And roughly 62% of Georgia voters disapprove of Kemp’s decision to ease restrictions on restaurants, theaters and close-contact businesses such...

Hilary Clinton endorsed Joe Biden’s White House bid on Tuesday, continuing Democrats’ efforts to coalesce around the former vice president as he takes on President Donald Trump. Clinton made her announcement during a Biden campaign town hall to discuss the coronavirus and its effect on women. Without mentioning Trump by name, Clinton assailed the Republican president’s handling of the pandemic and hailed Biden’s experience and temperament in comparison. Biden, as a former vice president and six-term senator, “has been preparing for this moment his entire life,” Clinton said. “This is a moment when we need a leader, a president like...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The coronavirus could be a literal game changer once America's casinos reopen. Many decisions remain to be made. But prepare to have your temperature scanned at the door. Maybe a half or third of slot machines will work. Every other table could be closed, and there could even be plexiglass barriers between dealers and customers or separating slot machines. Dealers and servers and customers - including those who smoke - all could be required to wear masks in many places. Workers may be standing by to wipe down slot machines, kiosks and even elevator buttons as...

Stage 1, beginning May 1st: Beginning May 1st, Stage 1 continues the prohibition on gatherings of more than 10 people, the quarantine of all people entering or returning to Maine for a period of 14 days, and the special precautions for older Mainers and others at risk of COVID-19. .... Stage 2, beginning June 1st: Tentatively beginning June 1st, Stage 2 contemplates revising the limitation on gatherings from less than 10 people to less than 50 people. It also calls for people who can work from home to continue to do so but allows for employees in certain fields to...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The governor of North Carolina said Tuesday that NASCAR can go forward with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway without fans in attendance at the end of May unless health conditions deteriorate in the state. Gov. Roy Cooper said he and state public health officials have had discussions with NASCAR and the speedway regarding safety protocols for staging the race. Cooper said the state offered input on NASCAR's plan, but he believes the race can go forward on Memorial Day weekend for the 60th consecutive year. “We believe that unless health conditions go down, we...

People who hate freedom were much too hard on Donald Trump for his disinfectant comment. He was wondering out loud if the corona-killing properties of disinfectants could be used medically. He could have phrased it better. But in the current climate thinking outside the square should be encouraged not ridiculed. Who agrees? Is it possible that Corona-virus is God’s way of a human cull in an over populated world? You can see a little more from me on these questions here: https://freedom-demokrasi-and-civilised-humanity.com/2020/04/29/obeying-the-law-but-staying-free-to-be-as-smart-as-we-can/

Lenox Square and at least eight other malls and shopping centers in the Atlanta region plan to reopen Friday, the latest sign of businesses reviving after the coronavirus shutdown. Lenox Square will open on a reduced schedule, General Manager Robin Suggs said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Other malls in the area owned by Simon Property Group, including Phipps Plaza, Mall of Georgia, Town Center at Cobb and Sugarloaf Mills in Gwinnett County, will also open, Suggs said. All of the Simon malls will open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 6...

Waffle House anticipates operating with limited dine-in service for “some time” as some U.S. states lift restrictions on businesses, CEO Walt Ehmer told CNBC on Tuesday. “I think we’ll gradually start welcoming more and more customers back,” Ehmer said on “The Exchange.” Waffle House on Monday began to offer limited dine-in capacity at 330 of its restaurants in Georgia and around 70 in Tennessee, following the relaxation of some coronavirus-related restrictions in those states. The locations that now have partial dine-in service had remained open for carryout during the Covid-19 crisis, Ehmer said. He said those that were temporarily shuttered...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom provided a road map Tuesday for how the state will reopen businesses, schools and childcare facilities with a "phased and thoughtful approach" to support social distancing and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He said modifications to the stay-at-home order will occur in four distinct stages, and while specific dates weren't provided, he said "we are weeks, not months away" from making changes if the spread of the coronavirus continues to decline. Offering more clues into the timeline, Newsom said the state is currently in Stage 1 and will be at Stage 2 within weeks. Stage...

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WBAY) - An Oshkosh dog groomer was taken into custody Monday for violating the governor's Safer at Home orders restricting non-essential business during the coronavirus pandemic. It happened not long before the state adjusted its guidelines to allow dog groomers to open up again. Dog Depot Arrest. Screen shot from Facebook video. On April 24, the Winnebago County Health Department contacted Oshkosh Police to inform them the Dog Depot, 1225 S. Main Street, was open even though the Winnebago County Public Health Department has deemed the business non-essential. A sergeant with the Oshkosh Police Department went to the...

...Well, we are all Peugeot-owners now. The nationwide CCP COVID-19 lockdown may have been plausible at the start, but within weeks, maybe days, it was obvious we’d been misled by the tyranny of experts, no better than smooth 90-day wonder new car showroom salesmen. How soon will president Trump and his inner circle, including the so-called public health experts, admit we’ve been led on a snipe hunt with grievous consequences? Or will he and the gaggle of totalitarian governors, ignoring independently sourced data contravening all of their advisories and directives, continue to justify their faulty prescriptions, denying their culpability?...