Free Republic

Power-hungry Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York is singlehandedly starving New York City’s restaurants. By executive edict, Cuomo ordered the city’s restaurants, which were barely getting along as it was, to once again shut down their indoor dining services completely. Cuomo the grinch did so just in time for the holidays, when restaurants were hoping to make up for at least some of the revenue they have lost this year. By decimating the restaurant industry, Cuomo is also destroying the livelihoods of low and middle-income New Yorkers. For many restaurants, Cuomo’s draconian order is their death sentence. Restaurants are closing...

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced this week that the Office of the Secretary of State would be partnering with the University of Georgia on a statewide review of signature match in the Peach State. The partnership will help instill confidence in Georgia’s absentee ballot system in future elections. “We are confident that elections in Georgia are secure, reliable, and effective,” said Raffensperger. “Despite endless lawsuits and wild allegations from Washington, D.C. pundits, we have seen no actual evidence of widespread voter fraud, though we are investigating all credible reports. Nonetheless, we look forward to working with the University of...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) has leaked a notice set to be published in the federal register today that purports to provide guidance to gun owners on whether the addition of a stabilizing brace transforms a pistol into an NFA-regulated short-barreled rifle (SBR). The proposed new rule comes after the ATF reversed their position on stabilizing braces in October, telling gun company Q, Inc., that their “Honey Badger” pistol would be considered an SBR while fitted with a brace. After an uproar from gun owners and manufacturers, the agency promised to clarify their ruling. According to today’s...

I have elderly parents in New York who rarely get to see their grandson. I'm totally OK with getting tested before travel, to make sure we don't bring COVID home. But I don't get New York's travel restrictions... we have to quarrantine for 4 days after arrival? Well, there goes Christmas. I've tried to get more information about this from the state, but I get the sense they WANT everyone to feel defeated and stay home. And how do I demonstrate I've complied? Can they really do anything to me if I can't demonstrate I've quarrantined for 4 days AFTER...

Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department, senior administration officials tell Axios. Behind the scenes: A top Biden official was unaware of the directive. Administration officials left open the possibility cooperation would resume after a holiday pause. The officials were unsure what prompted Miller's action, or whether President Trump approved. Why it matters: Miller's move, which stunned officials throughout the Pentagon, was the biggest eruption yet of animus and mistrust toward the Biden team from the top level of the Trump administration. What happened:...

The United States Supreme Court on Friday, by a vote of 6-3, said an effort to block President Donald Trump from excluding undocumented immigrants from a key Census count was "premature," effectively allowing the administration to move forward with its plans even as the justices left the door open to future challenges.

Stacey Abrams is a 47-year-old attorney who launched her political career as a Democrat in 2006 when she was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where she held a seat until August 2017. Since losing a 2018 gubernatorial bid in Georgia, she has emerged as a leading promoter of fellow Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who seek to win the upcoming Georgia runoff elections that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. On Monday, Abrams boasted to CBS This Morning that 1.2 million Georgians – including 85,000 who did not vote in the November elections six...

Al-Shabaab does not pose a threat to America that cannot be handled more effectively by our global intelligence networks and ability to strike direct threats to our country.On Dec. 4, President Trump ordered most of the approximately 700 U.S. troops out of Somalia. The move wasn’t a full withdrawal, however, as the White House specified the forces will be moved to neighboring countries to continue targeting the al-Shabaab terror group. While addressing the tactical actions our troops would continue to perform in Africa, there was no mention of the strategic justification for our presence—because there is none. Al-Shabaab is unquestionably...

Is there a major bombshell about to drop the demonstrates a reason to not trust Joe Biden and his team? Does this have something to do with the massive hacks ongoing across the federal government right now? Or is it just an awkward holiday protocol? So many questions. ===================================================================== Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller has ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with former Vice President Joe Biden’s transition team. This stunning news could mean many things and speculation is already running wild. Axios reported this morning that the move caught the Biden team by surprise. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday evening that he had turned down an offer to join President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet, despite speculation that he would be rewarded for his early endorsement of the former vice president with a post. “Joe Biden has told me for the last two years that he was very interested in me coming to Washington, D.C., and there were things on the table for me,” Garcetti said.

The NYPD’s tactics during the George Floyd protests earlier this year “heightened tensions” between cops and protesters — and “inconsistent” enforcement of the curfew by cops led to unnecessary use of force, a new report says. “NYPD use of force and crowd control tactics often failed to discriminate between lawful, peaceful protesters and unlawful actors, and contributed to the perception that officers were exercising force in some cases beyond what was necessary under the circumstances,” the city’s Department of Investigation found. The long-awaited 100-page report, which was released Friday morning, doesn’t address individual officer allegations but the systemic issues in...

WASHINGTON - President-elect Joe Biden brings more Capitol Hill experience than any president in decades, but his transition has stumbled in ways large and small, exposing the challenges of navigating a Congress that is a different place than when he last served in 2009. He rolled out an almost all-white national security team when allies were expecting diversity. He filled top posts with familiar Washington hands rather than fresh newcomers. His team clumsily floated some names and retracted others for the Cabinet. None of the setbacks has been politically devastating. But taken together, the slights and slip-ups of Biden’s interactions...

@ggreenwald In 2018, when @AOC was running against Joe Crowley, I interviewed her and asked whether she thought Nancy Pelosi (and Steny Hoyer) should continue in their leadership roles or be replaced, and whether she'd agitate for replacements. Here's what she said: Watch...

RAINSVILLE, Ala. - Sheriff’s officials say they’ve busted an illegal winery that was operating at a municipal sewage plant in a small north Alabama town. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement it received an anonymous tip about an alcohol operation at a municipal building in the town of Rainsville on Thursday. Investigators then uncovered what’s described as a large illegal winery inside the Rainsville Waste Water Treatment Plant. Photos released by investigators show glass containers, buckets, a fermenting rack and other equipment often used by people who make wine at home. The agency says officers seized a...

You don’t have to cancel Christmas this year — just keep gatherings small, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday. The country’s top infectious disease specialist responded to critics who slammed him for being Grinch-like about scrapping the holiday completely — saying he never recommended such extreme measures, according to FOX News.

The press scoffed at Trump's vaccine timeline. They said it would take a 'miracle.' The miracle came, and the press just shrugged.The Food and Drug Administration approved a COVID-19 vaccine this week from Moderna, the second one to be approved after a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech SE was authorized last week. This past Monday, the first COVID vaccination took place in Queens, New York. As of this writing, the Pfizer vaccine is being administered to health-care workers all over the country. The Moderna vaccine, which in addition to protecting individuals from infection might help curb transmission of the virus,...

The current situation over the Presidential Election of 2020 is the greatest test of our American system, which, if it doesn’t pass this test, our system of the Rule of Law, Checks and Balances, Freedom of Speech, and Democracy will be over. As the book, THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF JAMES MADISON shows, our Founding was premised on the Christian appreciation of human weakness and sin, lust for power, corruption, and evil. Madison’s whole argument for Separation of Power and Pluralism in Federalist Paper #10 was that Freedom with Law and Justice could only be maintained if our Constitutional system checked...

(J. Hermans, Curtis's Bot. Mag., 2020) ================================================================ Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but a newly discovered orchid isn't likely to be the top choice for many as a corsage centrepiece. Gastrodia agnicellus, from the forests of Madagascar, has been given the label of the world's ugliest orchid by botanists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK. And yet the plant is a fascinating one, unusual among orchids, and indicative of just how much we may miss of what's hiding in the forest undergrowth. In turn, this highlights how important it is to protect...

Beijing (AFP) - A citizen journalist detained in China after reporting from the Covid-19 ground zero of Wuhan will face trial later this month, her lawyer said Friday, as fears grow for her health. Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February and livestreamed her experiences on social media. She also wrote essays critical of the government's response -- including the strict lockdown of millions of people. Zhang was detained in May and is accused of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", according to a court notice seen by AFP -- a charge routinely used to suppress dissidents, with...

The only recoil-cancelling pistol made, this first successful British automatic may be largely forgotten today given the rise of the M1911, but it sported notable features for its time. Recoil and muzzle bounce are a fact of life for pistol shooters firing powerful calibers. The time taken to recover from that muzzle bounce is the biggest limiting factor on accurate rapidfire. Only one pistol has successfully engaged this problem and eliminated it: the Webley & Scott .455 automatic pistol. It accomplishes this miracle with its unique locking system. More on that later, but rapidfire is furthered by perhaps the best...