Free Republic

Texans are battling a colossal challenge—an invisible enemy that has tested our lives and our livelihoods—but overcoming challenges is part of who we are as Texans. We have shown that Texas can continue our efforts to contain COVID-19 while also adhering to safe standards that will allow us to begin the process of opening this great state. The Strike Force to Open Texas brings together nationally recognized medical experts with public- and private-sector business leaders to help achieve this mission. But it will take more than experts to win this battle for our families, for our community, and for this...

Dallas Mavericks Owner and billionaire investor Mark Cuban pushed back Wednesday on Tesla CEO Elon Musk for reportedly calling states' coronavirus shelter-in-place orders “fascist.” “Anything that negatively impacts Tesla, Elon hates, period, end of story,” Cuban said on “Fox News @ Night” on Wednesday. “I don’t think he has other people’s interests at heart. I mean, I don’t really know him at all, but that’s just my take.” During an earnings call on Wednesday, The Verge reported that Musk said, “The expansion of shelter-in-place, or as we call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes, against all their constitutional rights,...

Oil prices surged for a third straight day Thursday amid evidence that fuel demand is starting to return, compounding the benefit from production cuts by the world’s largest producers starting on May 1. West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, was trading up 17 percent at $17.65 per barrel while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was higher by 13 percent at $25.43 per barrel. The energy components fell 75 percent and 65 percent, respectively, this year through Wednesday.

Whereas it’s officially Throwback Thursday we pause today to remember with awe - and more than a bit of nostalgia – the ways people once spent their time in America.Dining out:Without social distancing:Throwing Weddings (with guests):Attending Concerts (live):Getting their hair cut:Shopping (with friends):Shopping for something other than toilet paper and sanitizers (without masks):Going to the beach:Working out (at the gym):Sports:This well-meaning social experiment in protecting us from ourselves and others has been brought to you by your government overlords and…Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

Despite the growing uproar from many of his progressive supporters over the sexual assault allegation leveled against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has remained quiet on the matter in recent days. The only time Sanders mentioned the allegation against Biden was earlier this month during an interview with CBS, in which the Vermont lawmaker asserted that “any woman who feels that she was assaulted has every right in the world to stand up and make her claims." But Sanders added that he did not know enough about the claims to comment further. “I think that...

With medical supplies in high demand, federal authorities say health workers can wear surgical masks for protection while treating COVID-19 patients — but growing evidence suggests the practice is putting workers in jeopardy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently said lower-grade surgical masks are “an acceptable alternative” to N95 masks unless workers are performing an intubation or another procedure on a COVID patient that could unleash a high volume of virus particles. America’s health care workers are dying from the coronavirus pandemic. These are some of the first tragic cases. But scholars, nonprofit leaders and former regulators in...

Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano reacted with outrage on Thursday to FBI documents that show officials discussed their motivations for interviewing Michael Flynn in the White House in January 2017 — and openly questioned if their "goal" was "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired." Napolitano told “Fox & Friends” that any person who believes that the “laws should be applied fairly should be utterly scandalized and outraged” by the FBI’s scheme to set up the then-national security adviser to be prosecuted. “Whether they like him or not, whether he’s guilty...

President Trump blasted what he called the “scam” against Michael Flynn as newly released FBI files revealed agents discussing their motivations for interviewing the former national security adviser -- in turn, raising serious questions about the future of the case against him. As speculation about a possible pardon or other scenarios ramped up, Trump also tweeted in all-caps: "DIRTY COP JAMES COMEY GOT CAUGHT!" Comey, who has been at sharp odds with Trump ever since his 2017 firing, oversaw the bureau at the time of Flynn's fateful FBI interview.

COVID-19 has emboldened American tech platforms to emerge from their defensive crouch. Before the pandemic, they were targets of public outrage over life under their dominion. Today, the platforms are proudly collaborating with one another, and following government guidance, to censor harmful information related to the coronavirus.

Good Morning And WELCOME TO THE WILL MARROTTI SHOW!

The flags are raised manually by UN Security officers every weekday morning at approximately 8 am and lowered every weekday at around 4 pm, except in the cases of bad weather. The flags are organized in English alphabetical order from north to south. On weekends, only the UN flag is raised. Further information can be found in this 1992 article from the UN Chronicle. On Wednesday morning one Twitter user Valerie Gilbert wrote: An anon had posted that UN flags were down. I just confirmed it in person. What does it mean? Interesting… This photo was taken at 9:48AM, Wednesday,...

Captain Tom Moore, a retired army officer who shot to fame after raising more than £29 million ($NZ59 million) by walking laps around his garden, has been promoted to a honorary colonel and will be honoured with a military fly-by ahead of his 100th birthday. The veteran drew attention around the world this month with his goal to raise £1000 for the NHS while walking 100 laps around his garden. In the end, he raised more than £29.3 million ($NZ59.5 million) with his efforts.

Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie on Wednesday defended the department's use of an unproven anti-malaria drug for treating patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, saying that the drug was only being administered for high-risk veterans. In a letter sent to veterans organizations, Wilkie claimed that a recent analysis of those hospitalized in Veterans Health Administration medical centers led to "misinformation" about what was taking place at its facilities. He said that hydroxychloroquine was only being given to veterans at the "highest risk prior to receiving medication." SNIP "VA is adhering to these guidelines, only using...

Democrats are happy because... ...Joe Biden is hidden in a basement and is not yet exposed as the elderly, frail and going senile disaster candidate that he really is. Democrats are happy because... ...Americans have forgotten about their disastrous impeachment hoax for the most part. ...their ridiculous primary process that resulted in Joe Biden being given the nomination has been mostly forgotten. Democrats are happy because... ...totalitarianism is cool again! Americans are willing to give up their freedoms, including agreeing to mass house arrest, under the guise of a public health crisis. ...the idea of totalitarian government in America is...

The long-awaited ruling on the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York, was issued on 27 April, 2020.  The Supreme Court resolved almost nothing.  The Court held the case was moot, because the City of New York and the State of New York changed their law, so as to prevent the Court from ruling on the case. The Court merely maintained the unsatisfactory status quo of the Second Amendment in the lower courts. This is exactly what those who oppose a meaningful Second Amendment demanded of the Court.Here is a brief summation of the history...

We reported earlier on the bombshell revelations showing documents that indicate the FBI was trying to set up Gen. Michael Flynn. The documents are shocking as they actually set out in writing whether their “goal” should be to set him up to arrest him or get him fired, “Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” Now, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is pointing out a devastating segment that just ran on Martha MacCallum’s show on Fox, given now the evidence of it being a perjury trap to get Flynn. Elise Stefanik ✔...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s extension of a statewide stay-at-home order continued to face pushback, with a second Republican state lawmaker challenging the order in a lawsuit accusing the governor of creating “a police state.” The lawsuits, along with more rallies later this week to protest the governor’s order, reflect a growing frustration over the state shutdown in some quarters even as state officials said the number of known COVID-19 cases in Illinois had pushed past 50,000. Rep. John Cabello, a Rockford police officer, said he seeks broader results from the lawsuit he filed Wednesday in Winnebago County. “Once we heard the...

In our exultation, we forgot to finish the job. Communism lived on in mainland China, and is once again challenging the free world for dominance. When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union dissolved, the Western world thought, with considerable justification, that the generational struggle with communism had ended. But in our exultation, we forgot to finish the job. Communism lived on in mainland China and is once again challenging the free world for dominance.This time, theyÂ’re doing it with our money. As we have begun to realize these past few years, and as the coronavirus outbreak has made...

An overriding theme of the historian Thucydides’ monumental history of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.) is the fragility of civilization. In extremis, when both the elites and masses lose their thin veneer of culture, society can turn feral quickly. During a horrific war, plague, or revolution, even a wealthy and sophisticated civilization such as that of the classical Greek city-states regresses in a second to its innate state. And what follows from these natural and man-made disasters is not pretty. Still, these calamities can be tragically instructional. Hypocrisies arise. Pretexts vanish. Fundamental but forgotten truths, easily masked in times of...

The US Navy Blue Angels and US Air Force Thunderbirds performed a very rare joint flyover above New York City, Trenton, Newark, and Philadelphia on April 28, 2020 to honor health care and essential workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.The teams departed from NAS Pensacola in Florida and were refueling mid-flight by four KC-10 Extenders before returning back to Pensacola.Flyovers will continue around the country under the name Operation America Strong. https://youtu.be/1JESy0CnYPw