Free Republic

Democrats and their labor union big-money donors hate the gig economy, where people work as independent contractors, doing as much or as little work as they wish, setting their own hours, providing their own workspace and equipment, and getting paid in full directly with no fringe benefits. There are roughly 10.6 million independent contractors in the U.S. today, and labor unions want them changed into prospects for unionization by forcing them and their employers to revert to full-time employee status, with less flexibility, much higher overhead, and non-cash compensation costs.California, a one-party state dominated by Democrats, tried to force such...

Mitch McConnell made a subtle dig at Donald Trump as he branded Republicans' losses in the Georgia Senate runoff election a 'fiasco'. The Republican alluded to the former president's baseless claims of voter fraud which tainted much of the lead-up to the crucial votes and is thought to have helped suppress GOP votes. Trump's refusal to concede split the party ahead of the runoff which resulted in the Republicans losing their Senate majority. McConnell told The Wall Street Journal: 'Georgia was a fiasco. We all know why that happened. 'Getting candidates who can actually win in November,' is the priority,...

Two days removed from his second impeachment acquittal, former President Donald Trump was returning from a day of golf when he was greeted by a throng of flag-waving fans as he neared his Mar-a-Lago estate. The President's Day scene in West Palm Beach, Fla., which included jubilant supporters with signs that declared "Trump won," even impressed Dan Scavino, a veteran of many of his boss' sold-out rallies. "This is unbelievable," the longtime aide tweeted Monday. The spontaneous event was a not-so-subtle reminder that the Twitter-banished, twice-impeached 45th president remains a continuing force inside the GOP. Anyone who thinks otherwise does...

There are currently two dominant narratives about K-12 education in America: The first is the fact that many teachers in huge urban school districts are refusing to return to their classrooms. The second is the fact that the schools that are back in business are using their power over people’s children to indoctrinate both the children and their families in hard-left ideologies, especially about race and sexuality.In many Republican-run regions across America, schools are back in session and nothing bad has happened. There hasn’t been a mass teacher or student die-off. Instead, the kids are once again learning and socializing...

A new Rice University study points out that Texas’ environment — which produces sufficient wind and solar power — is ideal to greatly reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. The report should open politicians’ eyes to the potential for a Green New Deal to boost the nation’s economy by creating alternative energy jobs. The Rice study said with better integration of the state’s wind and solar resources Texas would no longer need coal, which currently produces about 25 percent of the state’s electricity. Natural gas generates 45 percent. “Wind and solar are easily capable of picking up the slack,”...

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) may have learned a painful lesson about straddling the political fence. After he strongly rebuked President Trump, accusing him of inciting the January 6 riot, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in turn, rebuked McConnell, accusing him of dereliction of duty, for not casting (non-decisive) vote to convict Trump on impeachment. McConnell should know that trying to please both sides does not work — it only makes enemies of both. In politics, there is a legitimate role for compromise, but only if both sides engage in good faith. The Democrats have discovered, much to their delight, that they...

When it comes to pizza, toppings are incredibly important. No matter how good the crust and sauce are, it doesn’t matter if a terrible topping is added to the pizza. A new survey says that it has determined America’s least favorite pizza topping, according to a post on YouGov.com. The results are based on a poll that included 6,000 adults from the United States. According to the results, America’s most disliked topping is anchovies. The small fish has a big taste and is often the butt of bad-pizza-topping jokes. While people not liking anchovies on pizza may not be surprising,...

“ Our purpose is to mobilize support for a new long-term care facility visitation policy by the New Jersey Department of Health (and the US), given COVID vaccinations. Please end one year of debilitating isolation and reunite families.” “ This page is the hub of a week-long advocacy effort from March 8 to 13 throughout New Jersey to send a peaceful, passionate, and powerful message to the New Jersey Department of Health. “What’s the plan to end our loved ones living in isolation given vaccinations?”

... Q: Do you think plant-based and lab-grown meats could be the full solution to the protein problem globally, even in poor nations? Or do you think it’s going to be some fraction because of the things you’re talking about, the cultural love of a hamburger and the way livestock is so central to economies around the world? A: For Africa and other poor countries, we’ll have to use animal genetics to dramatically raise the amount of beef per emissions for them. Weirdly, the US livestock, because they’re so productive, the emissions per pound of beef are dramatically less than...

Another new COVID-19 variant has been detected in the US, UK and other countries, according to scientists. The B1525 variant is similar to B117 — the highly contagious strain found in Britain in mid-December that’s since made its way to the US, the Guardian reported. The new variant has popped up in 10 countries so far, including Denmark, the US, Nigeria and Australia. Thirty-two cases have been reported in the UK. No cases of the new mutant have so far been reported in the US.

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Today, December 4, is the feast of Saint Clement of Alexandria who, though little remembered today, was lauded in antiquity for his combination of erudition and sanctity. Theodoret, the Christian historian of the mid-5th century, deemed Clement a man who, "surpassed all others and was a holy man." Saint Jerome included Clement in his work, On Illustrious Men, saying, "he is the author of notable volumes, full of eloquence and learning, both in sacred Scripture and in secular literature." The life of Clement, whose full name was Titus Flavius Clemens, straddled the late 2nd and early 3rd century AD. He...

How a leading corporation knowingly organized all six phases of the Holocaust. Twenty years ago this week, my book, IBM and the Holocaust exposed with crystal clarity—backed up with a literal tower of physical documentation—that IBM knowingly organized all six phases of the Holocaust: identification, exclusion, confiscation, ghettoization, deportation, and even extermination, all under the micromanagement of its celebrated CEO, Thomas Watson, Sr., operating from his New York office on Madison Avenue, and later through European subsidiaries. Without IBM, there would have always been a Holocaust of hundreds of thousands. Einsatzgruppen murder squads and their militia cohorts would still have...

William Shakespeare, thou hast been getting canceled. An increasing number of woke teachers are refusing to study the Bard — accusing his classic works of promoting “misogyny, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-Semitism, and misogynoir.” A slew of English literature teachers told the School Library Journal (SLJ) how they were ditching the likes of “Hamlet,” “Macbeth” and “Romeo and Juliet” to instead “make room for modern, diverse, and inclusive voices.” “Shakespeare was a tool used to ‘civilize’ Black and brown people in England’s empire,” insisted Shakespeare scholar Ayanna Thompson, a professor of English at Arizona State University.

Although Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu is facing a long-delayed trial, his party - the Likud - is rising in the polls. Six weeks to Election Day, on March 23, 2021, is a long time in Israeli politics, and it has the potential for many surprises. The discernible trend has been an upward climb for the Likud, which remains the largest party with a wide margin between it and the next party. Netanyahu, moreover, has been polled consistently as the most qualified to serve as prime minister. The Irony about the upcoming election is that it is more than...

Dems fail again - and build a haunting model for years to come. As the overpowering stench of hypocrisy invaded their nostrils, Democrat senators voted for a second time in a year to convict President Donald John Trump, now out of office three weeks, on make-believe charges that sought to criminalize his lawful activities as president. Now that the show trial is complete, we may soon witness an era of presidential impeachments as a regular occurrence in America. "We've opened Pandora's box to future presidents," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, according to The Blaze. "If you use this model, I...

WASHINGTON, Friday, Feb. 15. The report of the Committee of One from each State to the Peace Conference to-day was presented and ordered printed. The members of the Committee who disagree with the majority, stated at length their objections to the propositions of settlement, but declined making any minority report. Col. SEDDON, of Virginia, Judge RUFFIN, of North Carolina, and Gen. DONIPHAN, of Missouri, refused to sign the report, and it is understood that the delegations from these States will vote against it. Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee will vote for it, and it will probably be adopted by a majority...

At least eleven deaths have been linked to a dangerous winter storm system that's breaking records across the country. Some four million homes and business in Texas were without power early Tuesday as the electric system struggled to meet demand. The record cold snap turned Texas into a tundra. Flurries fell in south Texas, blanketing Galveston's sandy beaches in white. Galveston's city manager warned infrastructure damage caused by the extreme temperatures could rival the cost of a hurricane. Frozen roads sent an 18-wheeler careening out of control near Austin. A man nearly lost his life, jumping out of the way...

The most likely source of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. It is “extremely unlikely” that the virus causing Covid-19 leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), but for the World Health Organization there’s more to the story. According to WHO mouthpiece Peter Ben Emerek, the issue does not even warrant further study. “Phew. That’s China off the hook, then,” wrote Miranda Devine of the New York Post. Contrary to Emerek, a food safety and nutrition specialist, not a virologist, the WIV warrants plenty of further study. Consider, for example, recent revelations from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “Two Canadian government...

Critical race theory watchdog Christopher F. Rufo reported on Monday that the principal of a New York school sent a list of white identities to white parents so that they could try to convert themselves from white supremacists to white abolitionists. The East Side Community School teacher even included a white supremacism spectrum for parents to self-identify.