Free Republic

'Even if the Constitution has taken a holiday during this pandemic, it cannot become a sabbatical,' wrote Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.Late on the night before Thanksgiving, the Supreme Court granted an injunction against New York state’s restriction on religious services, with 10- or 25-person occupancy limits depending on whether the gathering is in a “red” or “orange” zone, respectively, according to viral prevalence. Although the justices split 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts voting to deny the injunction on a technicality, it seemed like a no-brainer: Houses of worship were treated differently than many similarly situated secular facilities, so...

This Star Wars property reaches out to us as a familiar friend who wants to talk about more than the times long past. As many have pointed out, the Skywalker story and the galaxy of interconnected characters and legends amounts to the great modern myth of our time. Right now, however, being a Star Wars fan hurts. Marvel will continue to gain on and outpace Star Wars in popularity with younger generations and make more money at the box office (remember those?), but it will never mean what Star Wars does to the Force faithful. That’s why Star Wars fans...

Prince Harry admits his world view has changed since parenthood, urging humans to care more and be “like raindrops” which “relieve the parched ground” to tackle climate change. The Duke of Sussex, 36, who lives with his family on a $14.65-million estate in California, spoke of his passion for nature and Africa during a television exchange to feature in an upcoming documentary, continuing his love of offering advice on climate matters that peaked 12 months ago with his enthusiastic endorsement of Greta Thunberg, as Breitbart News reported. Speaking about his son Archie, now 19 months, the Daily Mail reports Harry...

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai said he plans to leave the commission on Jan. 20, 2021. This opens the door to President-elect Joe Biden to select a new head of the telecommunications regulator. While best known for wrecking network neutrality, in his resignation letter Pai largely ignored that issue. His only comment relating to it was "this FCC has not shied away from making tough choices. As a result, our nation's communications networks are now faster, stronger, and more widely deployed than ever before." Few would agree with his rosy view. While according to the FCC's 2020 Broadband...

California Democrat Christy Smith conceded to GOP Congressman Mike Garcia for the second-time on Monday night, after the contentious congressional race’s result became clear. Smith and Garcia previously competed in a special election last spring, to fill the seat vacated by disgraced former Congresswoman Katie Hill, who resigned in light of a sex scandal. Garcia upset Smith to flip the seat from blue-to-red ahead of the general election. An official call from the Associated Press has not yet been made in California’s 25th congressional district, but Smith told supporters that her path to victory is no longer viable.

Several people have been killed and a number of others injured after a car drove into pedestrians in the German city of Trier, police say. At least two people died and 15 others were injured in the collision, which happened in a pedestrianised area of the city centre on Tuesday, Trier Mayor Wolfram Leibe said. The 51-year-old driver, who is from the Trier-Saarburg district, has been arrested and the large hatchback vehicle seized, police added. Police have not established the motive behind the attack, which comes on the same day Germany went into a second lockdown. A force spokesman said...

Home | Politics Tags: 2020 Elections | Supreme Court | pennsylvania | general assembly | appoint | electors | contested Pennsylvania GOP Introduces Resolution to Dispute Election a graphic illustration showing a ballot box with pennsylvania 2020 and mail-in ballots flying into the ballot box (Dreamstime) By Brian Trusdell | Monday, 30 November 2020 10:38 PM Short URL|Email Article|Comment|Contact|Print| A A Republicans in the Pennsylvania General Assembly formally introduced a joint resolution Monday declaring the general elections results in dispute and reserving the power to designate presidential electors for the Electoral College. The introduction was the latest step in a...

The ability to 'keep on believing' is an important lesson during these difficult times. Yet, ultimately, masks can’t hide our dreams and wishes.I learned an important lesson during three days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Magic Kingdom last week: Masks are not magical. Yes, every guest to Walt Disney World is required to wear a mask (I had to wear a traditional surgical mask until spending $8.99 on a lovely Minnie-themed mask). Every guest we saw — from children tucked into their strollers to seven-year-olds dressed up as Snow White — wore masks. Cast members operating the rides, serving...

Among the many Hollywood celebrities who hotly opposed Donald Trump, Alyssa Milano has been one of the most consistent. Now, as she believes that the election of Joe Biden is a fait accompli, she is offering an olive branch. How should we respond? On November 24 she tweeted, “I’d like to extend an olive branch to Trump supporters. “I am ready to move #ForwardTogether. “There’s so much work to do to heal the nation. Let’s be a part of the solution and not add to the problems we face. “My comments are open. Please reply with #ForwardTogether. ❤️” She also...

THE HAGUE - A group of environmental organizations backed by thousands of Dutch citizens launched a civil case Tuesday against the energy giant Shell, asking a court to order the multinational to commit to reining in its carbon emissions 45% by the year 2030. Lawyer Roger Cox told a panel of three judges at The Hague Court that Shell’s corporate policy is “at odds” with global climate goals. “The claimants therefore conclude that Royal Dutch Shell’s corporate policy is on collision course with global climate targets,” Cox said as he opened four days of hearings spread over the coming weeks....

At least two people were killed and several others injured Tuesday when a car plowed into pedestrians in the southwestern German city of Trier, according to reports. The 51-year-old driver from the area was arrested and the car was impounded after it slammed into the crowd in the pedestrian zone in the city, located about 120 miles west of Frankfurt, police said. Mayor Wolfram Leibe told the SWR broadcaster that the driver had gone on “a rampage,” saying that in addition to the two fatalities, 15 people had suffered serious injuries. According to local reports, the car was driven “at...

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s (R) bad day is about to get even worse. Early on Monday morning, news broke that a Dominion voting machine server crash delayed the third Georgia recount. Just after noon, the Donald Trump campaign sent its fifth request for a signature audit involving absentee ballots. “Until the signatures are matched, the vote count in Georgia is a complete fraud,” former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani declared in a statement. “There is no way of knowing which ballots are honest and which ballots are fraudulent.” The Trump campaign claimed that between...

Why does Hollywood get a pass on lockdowns from Cuomo and Newsom? Follow the money. Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism. Before Thanksgiving, Los Angeles imposed a curfew and, in a shocking oversight, asked Hollywood to follow it. While the entertainment industry isn't as big a part of the local economy as it would like you to think, its producers, directors, and stars provide a disproportionate share of the capital that the Democrats politicians who run the place use to get elected...

The Federalist staff and writers spent some time thinking over what we've missed in 2020: big things, little things, surprising things. What are yours?The Federalist staff and writers spent some time thinking over what we’ve missed in 2020: big things, little things, surprising things. What are yours?Rachel BovardThe lockdowns didn’t bother me, at first. I am a homebody who is almost never at home, so an enforced pause to the relentless pace of travel, work events, and social engagements was something of a welcome relief. I don’t need to see people to “see” people, I told myself. Virtual check-ins and...

Orange is the New Black star speaks of shock, saying: ‘You’re not safe if you are a trans person’ Laverne Cox, a star of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, has spoken of her shock after she and a friend were targeted in a transphobic attack in Los Angeles.In a 10-minute video posted on Instagram, Cox said she had been out for a walk with her friend when a man “aggressively” asked them for the time. As the friend was looking at their watch, Cox said the man asked her if she was a “guy or girl”.The friend, whom Cox...

Scientist, Hugo Award winner, and prolific science fiction author and editor Ben Bova passed away on Sunday, November 29, 2020 at the age of 88, Tor.com is able to confirm. The author of more than one hundred books, Bova also edited some of the genre’s best-known publications and served as the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Word of Bova’s passing first came from Kathryn Brusco, who revealed that Bova had passed due to complications from COVID-19 and a stroke. Born in 1932, Bova brought experience to the science fiction genre that few authors could match:...

1. Black Hebrew Israelites are not Jews, they are a racist and antisemitic hate group that preaches hatred of white people whose members carried out two recent murderous attacks against Jews in New York and New Jersey. They were also responsible for the ugly hate in the Covington incident even as the New York Times and Washington Post defended the racist hate group and whitewashed their ugly track record. 2. These attacks were made possibly by pressure from Democrats, including Senator Cory Booker and Senator Kamala Harris not to have the FBI monitor "black identity extremists". 3. The widespread...

WASHINGTON - President-elect Joe Biden’s promise to end U.S. fossil fuel subsidies worth billions of dollars a year for drillers and miners could be hard to keep due to resistance from lawmakers in a narrowly divided Congress, including from within his own party. The challenge reflects just one of the obstacles that Biden will need to overcome as he seeks to usher in sweeping measures to combat climate change and transform the nation’s economy to net-zero emissions within three decades. Biden has said axing fossil fuel subsidies will generate money to help pay for his broader $2 trillion climate plan....

CNN’s Moment of “Duh”Happy March 276th, 2020, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. None of this is real.Remember way back around March 90th or so when we were all so optimistic that we thought the end of the year and the change of the calendar might bring some respite?GOOD TIMES.As we move inexorably toward what will probably be a nightmarish sequel year rather than a relief, things just seem to get weirder and weirder.There is, however, one thing that we can rely on to remain the same: CNN is the Enemy of the People and everyone who works for them is...

Millions of borrowers in the federal student loan program are defaulting on their loans. The Education Department now estimates the cost of student loan losses at more than $400 billion. That exceeds the losses of banks during the sub-prime mortgage crisis. As such, progressives are now pressuring Joe Biden to forgive student debt entirely. The losses in the student loan crisis increase the federal deficit, imposing heavier tax burdens on current as well as future generations. Citizens need to understand why the federal student loan program failed, and what impact this failure has on our society. The federal student loan...