Free Republic

Human rights activists were generally downbeat about the global state of affairs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, often pointing to 2020 as one of the worst years in memory for declining civil liberties. Here are seven ways governments have used the Chinese coronavirus pandemic to diminish human rights and civil liberties. Freedom of Speech: The United Nations was among many agencies and advocacy groups to worry about the damage inflicted on freedom of speech during the pandemic, which included both rampant disinformation and ham-handed restrictions on speech in the name of controlling “disinformation.” “People have died because governments...

(CNN)President-elect Joe Biden's transition team has criticized Twitter's decision to not allow the millions of followers of the White House Twitter accounts to be automatically retained when the accounts are handed over to the new administration. "Twitter's reluctance to transfer millions of followers from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration unnecessarily politicizes what otherwise should be a routine transfer of communication from one administration to the next," Biden-Harris transition spokesperson Cameron French told CNN in a statement on Wednesday. When President Donald Trump took office in 2017, his administration inherited the millions of followers of each account handed over...

An explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings and wounding three people. Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional. The FBI is leading the investigation. The police came across a suspicious RV parked outside a nearby AT&T building near Second Avenue and Commerce Street before 6 a.m., when initially responding to calls of shots fired in the area, said Metro police spokesperson Don Aaron. There was no immediate evidence of any shooting but officers alerted the department’s bomb squad, which was en route when a “significant explosion” happened about 30...

Merry Christmas! I need help picking out some recording equipment. I am planning to record myself singing in small church. I have an air pad. I’m not looking to spend a lot of money but looking for a basic system that records at least 2 channels/mics. I am very new to this. I would need a primer on the setup. Like mics, phantom power, etc. Thanks in advance.

“The vaccine may not be a panacea for the cruise line industry versus airlines or leisure hotels, where the outlook is a little bit better,” Jason Ader, CEO of SpringOwl Asset Management, tells Yahoo Finance Live. “The perception of the cruise industry is that it's a floating petri dish. And that's a bad perception.” “I don't think you'll see a return to peak profitability in the cruise industry until 2030,” says Ader. “And that's just not a function of demand coming back, because I do think the cruise industry will see people want to go on cruises. But the prices...

Christmas is not cancelled. We all know President Trump won the 2020 election. Rudy Giuliani offers his thoughts to date. Rudy Giuliani in his most recent ‘Common Sense’ discussion shared the following: You’re going to find out all at once. It’s going to be very shocking to the country. The people at “WeLoveTrump.com” share this about the current state of the 2020 Presidential race: We’ve been telling you for weeks. Let’s put 2 + 2 together. The White House has instructed Trump staff to STOP packing… The Pentagon has stopped giving Joe Biden intelligence briefings… More Republican representatives are on...

A federal judge in California ordered the video journalists who exposed Planned Parenthood’s practices in the harvesting and sales of aborted baby body parts to pay the abortion giant $13.6 million to cover its legal costs in its case against them. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Orrick III ordered David Daleiden and his associates at Center for Medical Progress (CMP) to pay $13.6 million over the $2 million in damages they were ordered to pay last year for recording the abortion vendor’s officials while they discussed how they harvest the fetal tissue for sale. Daleiden and his advocates have...

Our favorite Russian collusion classic horn cover band will have a live Christmas concert today at 2pm eastern

When Antifa and BLM came to ravage your city, what did you do? Some seized their chance to loot the nearest Walmart. Others watched helplessly as Democratic mayors and governors let their own communities burn. But among us there are patriots—righteous men of action. Kyle Rittenhouse is one such man. On the night of Aug. 25, as riots engulfed Kenosha, Wisconsin, Kyle Rittenhouse ran toward the danger armed only with an AR-15 and a first aid kit. In an interview just hours before a confrontation that would leave two men dead and another wounded, Rittenhouse told a reporter: "So people...

An explosion that shook downtown Nashville and injured at least three people Friday appears to have been "an intentional act," police said, as officials pointed to a suspicious vehicle that blew up at approximately 6:30 a.m. local time.

Just You 'n' Me - Leonid & Friends

A judge from Fulton County which includes Atlanta has dismissed a lawsuit by the Republican Party seeking to limit the use of voter drop boxes for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoff races saying the state has immunity from being sued, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday. Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams ruled she doesn’t have jurisdiction because of sovereign immunity that protects governments from lawsuits, the Journal-Constitution said. Republicans had argued that drop boxes should be limited to the same hours as county election offices, which typically close at 5 p.m. on weekdays. But an attorney for the Georgia secretary...

Like many others who have been glued to political blogs and podcasts since election night, I have been constantly checking for any news that might "break the dam" and, effectively, "stop the steal" in it's tracks. And like many others, it's been a 7 week long emotional rollercoaster, with some occasion highs, but an overall sense of frustration and anger. After weeks of public hearings, rumors about gunfights between the CIA and Special Forces, speculation about the DNI report, Electoral college challenges, SCOTUS, etc, etc, I feel that it's time to take a step back, recalibrate, and try to see...

Roger Stone, President Donald Trump’s longtime political adviser who received a pardon on Wednesday, said Thursday he plans to sue the Justice Department for $25 million, as well as multiple members of the department involved in the investigation and prosecution that convicted him.In an announcement on the social media site Parler, Stone wrote:TRENDING: Barack Obama Relaxes as Michelle Obama Does All the Work and Muscles Through Christmas Kayak Trip in Hawaii “The terms of my pardon allow me to sue the Department of Justice, Robert Mueller, James Comey, John Brennan, Rod Rosenstein, Josnathan Kravis, Aaron … Zelinsky, Jeanie Rhee and...

Nearly 40% of voters say they'll be ready to stop wearing masks in public in three months or less, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen. Among the 39% of respondents who indicated as much, the largest share — 27% — said they were "already comfortable" doing so, while 5% said it would be "a month or so" before they felt that way and 7% said it would be "two to three months." A 53% majority of voters, meanwhile, said they'd feel comfortable discarding their masks in three to six months (14%), more than six...

As people leave the State of California in record numbers, Progressive lawmakers in that state are moving ahead with plans to enact a wealth tax that will tax a person’s net worth and even follow them out of state should they move. Many businesses and wealthy executives are leaving the State of California because of an overreaching tax code that is bleeding the states population of their ability to accrue wealth. But that’s not stopping some state lawmakers from supporting a wealth tax proposal, even as a growing number of Californians are calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), to be...

As the countdown to the Electoral College vote certification in a joint session of Congresses continues, one Georgia Congressman has stepped forward to lead the charge against his own state’s slate of certified Electors.Georgia’s certified Electoral College votes will be challenged January 6, 2021, at a joint meeting of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate convenes to tally the vote.US Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), announced late Monday in Twitter, “I will lead an objection to Georgia’s electors on Jan. 6. The courts refuse to hear the president’s legal case. We’re going to make sure the people can!”Big...

Watch the guy on the right take off!

There are seven registered Democrats for every one registered Republican in New York City. In fact, there are almost twice as many registered with no-party-affiliation than with the GOP. But the city has been in freefall on multiple fronts under Democratic leadership and residents of the Big Apple may be ready for a change.Are they ready to return to the days when Republican Mayors had the city humming? That’s what Dr. David Samadi is contemplating as he looks at the field and considers running in the upcoming primary as a Republican.I have been thinking about running for Mayor of New...