Free Republic

Abstract Since 1977, U.S. states have passed laws steadily raising the age for which a child must ride in a car safety seat. These laws significantly raise the cost of having a third child, as many regular-sized cars cannot fit three child seats in the back. Using census data and state-year variation in laws, we estimate that when women have two children of ages requiring mandated car seats, they have a lower annual probability of giving birth by 0.73 percentage points. Consistent with a causal channel, this effect is limited to third child births, is concentrated in households with access...

The new Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in northeastern Moscow. Photo: v-resin.ruDespite the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus, the construction of new Orthodox churches in Moscow is ahead of schedule this year. “If in just one district we start building three churches, then we will exceed the overall plan of our program for building churches in 2020,” His Grace Bishop Paramon, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Financial and Economic Department, said during an inspection of building projects in Moscow’s Eastern district, reports Interfax-Religion. Nine churches have already been built and put into use this year, and another nine are...

CLEVELAND, OH—During last night's explosive and chaotic debate, Trump totally steamrolled that loser Biden, and Biden totally put that fat meanie Trump in his place as most pundits predicted would happen. In the middle of the fiery debate, moderator Chris Wallace suddenly excused himself and left the debate hall to go jump in a volcano. "Excuse me, Sir," Wallace said in his booming broadcasting voice to a local Cleveland resident outside the building. "Do you have any active volcanoes nearby in Ohio?" The helpful local motioned in the general direction of Mexico, where several active volcanoes are located. Wallace then...

Democrats, the media, and leftwing activists generally faun over former Vice President Joe Biden for his Catholic faith while claiming Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholicism is a threat that must not infiltrate the institution. This narrative continues even as people across the political spectrum have praised Barrett’s superior qualifications for joining the bench. Tax-payer funded and anti-Trump National Public Radio (NPR) provides one example of the double standard about the right and the wrong kind of Catholic. On September 20, NPR reported on Biden’s faith in an article titled, “How Joe Biden’s Faith Shapes His Politics”: When Joe...

One of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s staffers suggested Monday that Orthodox Catholics, Jews, and Muslims should be disqualified from serving on the Supreme Court due to their “intolerant” views. Biden campaign Deputy Data Director Nikitha Rai criticized Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s religious views in a Twitter conversation Monday night with Brookings Institute Senior Fellow Shadi Hamid. “Wait, why is this news? Isn’t this the standard position for any orthodox Catholic?” Hamid asked about a tweet saying that Barrett was a trustee at a Catholic school that opposed same-sex marriage and said homosexual acts are “at odds with...

U.S. immigration officials quietly announced they would resume regular apprehension and detention practices, an apparent reversal from an earlier temporary suspension of non-criminal enforcement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Late Friday afternoon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement updated its COVID-19 information webpage to say that the agency is “confident that our officers can properly and safely carry out operations.”... During the pandemic, the agency had said it would focus its enforcement on “public safety risks and individuals subject to mandatory detention based on criminal grounds.” Examples included investigations into child exploitation, gangs, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, human smuggling and terrorism....

Presidential debate moderator Chris Wallace devoted more time and forceful questioning, directed at President Trump, about white supremacy's role in sparking riots across America, than antifa and Black Lives Matter's already well-documented role... ...Wallace pressed Trump forcefully to condemn white supremacists a total of six times Tuesday night but did not once ask former Vice President Joe Biden to condemn violence from antifa or Black Lives Matter. . ...“Sure, I’m willing to do that,” Trump responded. Wallace continued to demand he do it "specifically" three more times.

MIAMI—A diverse group of supporters gathered outside President Donald Trump’s hotel in Doral, Florida, hoping to catch a glimpse of him during a recent Latinos roundtable event. Many were exiles from socialist or communist regimes such as Cuba and Venezuela. This personal backdrop—many having fled to America—and the notion that the Democratic Party has been shifting further left, are key factors behind their support. The administration’s repeated sanctions against the regimes of Venezuela and Cuba helped solidify their decisions. Jorde Lewis, a Venezuelan American, said he couldn’t comprehend why anyone from his home country would vote for the Democratic Party,...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill Wednesday that will establish a task force to study and develop proposals for paying reparations to the descendants of enslaved Black people. Assembly Bill 3121 calls for a nine-member body to make recommendations on what type of compensation, if any, should be awarded and who should be eligible. In addition, the group can recommend to the state Legislature how California can offer a formal apology "for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants" and the elimination of state laws that disproportionately...

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-joe-biden-1st-presidential-debate-transcript-2020 The transcript of the debate gives such a different picture of the topics and positions of the debaters and bias of Wallace.

Trump says Proud Boys should 'stand down' after backlash to debate comments BY BRETT SAMUELS - 09/30/20 03:05 PM EDT Trump says Proud Boys should 'stand down' after backlash to debate comments President Trump on Wednesday said he didn't know about the Proud Boys but that the group should "stand down" amid intense criticism of his remarks at the previous night's presidential debate that the far-right group should "stand back and stand by." Trump on Wednesday faced blowback from a number of Republicans who said he should have forcefully denounced white supremacy when he was given the chance. "I don't...

Lloyd Eddie Lasker Jr., 49, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a gun by a convicted felon...Mayflower is a town of less than 2,000 people about 30 minutes north of Little Rock, according to the latest U.S. Census records. The House of Refuge and Deliverance Ministries church, where Lasker is the pastor, is on a rural stretch of highway within the town’s city limits...Little said she found an emaciated 21-month-old child “with multiple bruises from head to toe,” his mother and Lasker at the church. The child is now in the...

nvestigators have arrested and charged a man in connection with the shooting of two Los Angeles county sheriff’s deputies earlier this month as they sat in a squad car. The District attorney, Jackie Lacey, said on Wednesday that attempted murder charges had been filed against 36-year-old Deonte Lee Murray.

Having forced myself to listen to most of the Republican National Convention (RNC) orations in late August, I was struck by what my daughter, who had done such work professionally, characterized as the program’s “underlying marketing strategy.” The GOP’s advisers seem to have pitched their message at the demographics among whom Trump has had the least support in the polls, namely suburban, college-educated women, and blacks. Trump, according to the polls, was losing the former group until recently by about 20 percentage points, and may be winning the votes of no more than 8 percent of blacks. The overall size...

QINGYANG, China (Reuters) - Red coal trucks zip up and down narrow dirt tracks, churning up clouds of dust in China's remote Gansu province. Nearby, the towering stanchions of a new railway bridge rise out of a muddy river winding through the hills. The Huaneng Group, one of five big Chinese state utilities, is building a $1.9 billion 4 gigawatt coal and power project in the northwestern region near the city of Qingyang, with the aim of delivering its electricity to the east of the country.... ...[China] added 11.4 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity in the first six months of 2020,...

UK bishops double down: COVID vaccine derived from aborted baby can be used in ‘good conscience’ MANCHESTER, England, September 25, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The bishops of England and Wales have walked back their controversial July statement declaring Catholics “have a prima facie duty to be vaccinated.” In a September 24 statement, the bishops now say it is a matter of individual conscience, while at the same time defending Catholics who choose to take a vaccine derived from an aborted baby as acting in “good conscience.” However, this position appears at odds with recent statements by several high-ranking prelates and lay...

The swarm happening now south of the Salton Sea, near Westmoreland is over 30 km south of the end of the San Andreas. It is in the Brawley seismic zone, a common source of swarms. So far largest is M4.4. Too far from the San Andreas to change the probability of a quake on it.

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ DANGLING FROM 350 FEET Marines are being lifted to a height of over 350 feet in the air to avoid any possible obstacles before flying around the area during insertion and extraction rigging training on Camp Pendleton, Calif., Nov. 19, 2015. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Briauna Birl Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. WELDING SHOP Navy Seaman Quinton Mems welds a handrail in the machinery shop aboard...

The day after the shouting heard around the world, we of course have all the armchair commentators telling you who won, who lost, and why it matters. Yet in the age of Facebook and Twitter pulling the FACT CHECKER card on anything being posted ( when they go after the Babylon Bee it is always a hoot) who is to check the fact-checkers and their fact-checking?Luckily, you have me. When a good friend of mine who happens to be an elected official dropped this Business Insider story entitled Fact-checking the first Trump-Biden debate of the 2020 election on a Facebook...

As a mother of four children, I’ve done A LOT of school shopping. I don’t mean the autumn ritual of purchasing school supplies. I mean shopping for schools – pouring over promotional materials, combing through websites, asking friends and community members for referrals to their favorite schools, attending open houses and orientations, comparing curriculums and educational philosophies, meeting teachers and principals and students who all claim that their school is the best. But keep in mind – I’m not just a mom of four children. I’m a mom of four Black children, and I’m also a psychologist who is very...