Free Republic

The pandemic caused counties across the state to issue varying levels of business shutdown orders meant to slow the spread of a life-threatening virus. Now businesses that lost their ability to make money during the pandemic want a tax refund for the time they were forced to hang “closed” signs. Lawmakers heard competing arguments about property tax rebates this week. Businesses say the closures put them on the brink of shutting down for good. Local governments warn they don’t have the resources to be offering mass tax refunds. A pending bill is a first step in a larger discussion looming...

(Author is a pseudonym to protect his identity) (...) OMNS Feb 14, 2021) It's a very bizarre state of affairs when, as a doctor for over 30 years, I suddenly find myself completely isolated from people I know, and from humanity. In this situation, there seems to be no way to help with healing or caring or treating, because I have been expelled like a priest excommunicated from the church. I have been cancelled. This happened because I was not conforming to the religion of medicine. I said things that were against the perceived modus vivendi. I was immediately suspended...

Mitch McConnell has said he is open to opposing any 'unelectable' candidates in 2022, even if they are strongly backed by Donald Trump, as he wrestles with how to handle a deeply-divided party following Trump's impeachment hearing. McConnell voted on Saturday to acquit the former president, but then publicly attacked him, accusing him of a 'disgraceful dereliction of duty' in his most critical remarks ever uttered. His tightrope walk between defending and demonizing the former president impressed few.

(...) Bill Gates’ daughter told her social media followers that the first dose of the COVID-19 “did NOT implant my genius father into my brain.” (...)

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum threads labeled “Prayer” are closed to debate of any kind.

theadvocate.com i think it's important for people to understand the rank arrogance. However I can't link to direct letter; an opinion piece by Cassidy containing his reasons he voted to convict in today's paper. Please someone post correct link. I'm a dinosaur I know. Let's see who can count the most lies!! He never said a word as cities burned, cops murdered, businesses destroyed, people paralyzed in fear. Not a word. He never said a word during 5 years of nonstop slander & libel against Trump. He passes himself off as a born again Christian & teaches Sunday school. Yet...

Colt, the longtime American gun manufacturer whose single-action Peacemaker revolver has been dubbed "the gun that won the West," has been sold to a Czech firearms firm. The gun group CZG said in a blog post this week that it had "signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interest in Colt Holding Company."

Even the most casual student of the U.S. Civil War will know of Confederate Gen. George Pickett, namesake of Pickett’s Charge during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. But it was for what Pickett did on this date in 1864 — much less well-recalled today but to the 1864 New York Times correspondent exemplifying “the madness of rebel leaders” — that he had to flee to Canada after the war, for fear of being prosecuted for committing a war crime. General Pickett is far removed now from the high-water mark of the Confederacy, scrapping in eastern North Carolina, where loyalties in...

“The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29).

Oil prices soared on Monday to their highest in about 13 months as fears of heightened tensions in the Middle East prompted fresh buying, while hopes that a U.S. stimulus and an easing of lockdowns will buoy fuel demand provided support. Brent crude was up $1.09, or 1.8%, at $63.52 a barrel at 0428 GMT, after climbing to a session high of $63.76, the highest since Jan. 22, 2020. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.28, or 2.2%, to $60.75 a barrel. It touched the highest since Jan. 8 last year of $60.95 earlier in the session. Oil...

This article offers a list of seven suggested "common core" actions deemed essential for election integrity. These actions need to be accomplished by state legislatures prior to the upcoming November 2022 congressional elections. Most, if not all, of the suggested actions could possibly be included in a single, comprehensive regulation or item of legislation, etc. (It is recognized that some legislatures most likely will not favorably consider many of the suggested "common core" actions, but concerned citizens should try to convince them!) [SNIP]The following seven actions are suggested as a "common core" for election integrity in national elections. As such,...

[Catholic Caucus] Bergoglio’s Broken Chain of WitnessIn Pope Francis’s church, truth can contradict truth so long as you have false witnesses who are bold or foolish enough to make that claim. ________In his epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul presented an idea on which the credibility of our Faith depends entirely:But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: if anyone preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be...

South Korea and the US will begin their biannual joint military exercises in the second week of March, carrying out computer simulations of war against North Korea for nine days, sources said Sunday. Seoul and Washington, which have held them to deter aggression from Pyongyang since the 1953 Korean War armistice, now take part in computer-based war games rather than all-out field exercises. The two allies still do not see eye to eye on testing Korea’s readiness to take over the wartime operational command from the US, which has been responsible since the war broke out. They skipped stage two...

Recent studies have shown that I.Q. scores have been declining in Western nations for decades. Evan Horowitz, director of research and communication at FCLT Global, wrote a post for nbcnews.com in which he stated: “A range of studies using a variety of well-established IQ tests and metrics have found declining scores across Scandinavia, Britain, Germany, France and Australia.” Horowitz added that this plunge in cognitive ability could well lead to “fewer scientific breakthroughs, stagnant economies and a general dimming of our collective future.” Duh.And there are others.These findings have led some to issue dire predictions of a general dumbing down...

Far underneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there’s more life than expected, finds a recent study in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. During an exploratory survey, researchers drilled through 900 meters of ice in the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, situated on the south eastern Weddell Sea. At a distance of 260km away from the open ocean, under complete darkness and with temperatures of -2.2°C, very few animals have ever been observed in these conditions. But this study is the first to discover the existence of stationary animals — similar to sponges and potentially several previously unknown species — attached...

(...) Experts say people can still spread and even develop COVID-19 after getting a vaccine. They note the immunity from the vaccine doesn’t begin to emerge until at least 12 days after inoculation. They add the vaccine doesn’t prevent coronavirus infection. It helps protect against serious illnesses. Experts advise people who get vaccinated to continue wearing a mask, washing their hands, and maintaining proper physical distancing. (...)

To say that last year was a game-changer seems silly really. It was revealing. For many who don’t follow the financial world, it revealed the incurable monetary problems in the Western led financial system. For many who don’t follow politics, it revealed the deep state, as from country to country the people’s will was overturned by vested interests. For many who don’t follow big business, it revealed silicon valley for what it is. A cesspool of Marxist, power hungry technocrats with maniacal tendencies. What last year was more than anything else, was an accelerant for many of the underlying trends...

Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne was deeply involved in the analysis of the 2020 U.S. general election, leading a team of ‘white hat’ hackers to delve into exactly what happened. Now he has preliminary results of where the foreign interference (cyber attacks, acts of war) came from. His preliminary data is below…you be the judge.About a week ago I published some preliminary numbers regarding vote flipping, prepared by some very deep diving dolphin-speakers. They had only located, analyzed, And reconstructed about 18 of them at the time. They had found just short of 300,000 votes flipped. Now they have worked...

There are all sorts of warning labels on all sorts of products, many of which fall somewhere in between common sense and downright silly. However, as most of us are aware by now, it appears that the makers of Gorilla Glue should have included a warning on their industrial-strength glue: Do not apply to your body or in your hair. The saga began when Louisiana resident Tessica Brown ran out of her usual hairspray, göt2b Glued. So Tessica did what any rational person would do: she sprayed Gorilla Spray Adhesive all over her head. Bad, bad, bad, bad, idea. Which...

The impeachment trial is hurtling toward a conclusion, after brief drama over potentially calling witnesses. Former President Trump is almost certain to get acquitted, but it won’t be much of a vindication. His conduct in the post-election period and on January 6 will blight his reputation forevermore. He waged a dishonest and poisonous campaign to overturn the election that culminated in a mob disrupting the counting of electoral votes at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The new videos played by the House managers at the trial brought home again the national embarrassment of that day, with top elected officials...