Free Republic

When Joe Biden met with a group of mayors and governors last week he bluntly told them to get ready for a legislative defeat: his proposed minimum wage hike was unlikely to happen, he said, at least in the near term. “I really want this in there but it just doesn't look like we can do it because of reconciliation,” Biden told the group, according to a person in the room. “I’m not going to give up. But right now, we have to prepare for this not making it.” The comments, which were confirmed by two other people familiar with...

Places with highest daily reported cases per capita Seven-day average of daily new reported cases per 100,000 residents

CBS is in a full-court press for gun control on its evening entertainment television shows. The bad guys are always white supremacists who use machine guns — supposedly AR-15s — to commit mass public shootings. Criminals in Mexico supposedly get machine guns from the United States. A father’s desire to protect his family only leads to tragedy when his daughter gets into the gun safe and uses the weapon in a mass public shooting. And guns in the home pose a danger for children. Gun registration is necessary for solving crime. NBC isn’t to be left out, showing a woman...

The deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol has prompted calls to step up security around federal properties in Washington, but D.C. officials and locals say the idea of putting permanent fences around those sites is a step too far. Today, a steel-bar fence as high as 12 feet and topped with razor wire encloses a 3-square-mile area around the Capitol building, where rioters last month toppled bicycle-rack barriers and overwhelmed police officers to disrupt Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote. Armed National Guardsmen now patrol the fence perimeter, which is backed by concrete Jersey barriers in some...

On the Appointment of Bishops, China Is Doing Everything on Its Own. And the Pope Kowtows“A slap in the face for the Vatican.” This is how "Bitter Winter," the top online newspaper in the world for information on religion in China, presents the full text of the new directory issued by the State Administration of Religious Affairs for collecting in a single database all the information on religious personnel present in the country, to push its control to an almost Orwellian level:> Enter the “Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy”: Be Afraid, Be Very AfraidThe 52 articles in the directory have...

In the texts, Heidi Cruz noted that rooms were just $309 per night at the resort and that the venue had good security. She detailed a potential trip from Wednesday through Sunday, with direct flights to and from Cancun. Cruz’s offer reportedly drew little interest from neighbors. The senator’s wife offered the group help if they needed. "We have gas stove so at least we can heat water little that there is happy to help anyone we can too," she wrote. Representatives for Cruz did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the texts. Images of the senator’s...

Democrat lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a new bill on Thursday that would ban only former President Donald Trump from being buried in Arlington National Cemetery or having federal funds going to buildings bearing his names. The bill, introduced by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), applies all its prohibitions to “any former President that has been twice impeached by the House of Representatives on or before the date of enactment of this Act.” The bill would specifically target Trump, who is the only U.S. president to have been impeached twice by the House of Representatives. The bill states its...

Rep. Ted Cruz, R-TX, found himself in hot water after photos emerged of him flying to Cancun with his family. Cruz responds exclusively on 'Hannity'. #FoxNews​ #Hannity

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has reported an increase in fraudulent unemployment claims during the coronavirus pandemic as the department attempts to assist people who are struggling. An investigative department for the KUSA-TV has found the state has filed more fraudulent claims filed by scammers than legitimate claims filed by residents, the station reported. The state agency said 1.1 million fraudulent claims and 1,043,760 legit claims have been filed since the pandemic began in March. “We have to walk a tightrope from the demand and mission to get out these benefits quickly as possible to...

The Sermon on the Mount 5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the...

President Trump’s approval rating is up to 59% following Nancy Pelosi’s second failed impeachment attempt on the 45th President. Trump’s approval rating back on January 6th was 41% according to Morning Consult polling. And now, despite the poll being oversampled with Democrats, Trump stands at 59% approval rating.

In Naperville, Illinois, the school board announced it would distribute $10 million back to taxpayers this year. Yes. A tax refund. In a news release, Superintendent Dan Bridges told residents that he "understands the great burden many of our families have faced during the COVID-19 Pandemic and hopes that this reimbursement lessens that burden." The typical family will receive a refund of $200 to $500. Good for Naperville. The 10-month pandemic shutdown generated a savings of roughly $20 million, or about 6.5% out of a $300 million school budget. The Naperville Sun reported that the district's expenses for everything from...

At least half of London’s boroughs have bought and deployed China-made surveillance systems linked to the abuse of Uyghurs, according to data exclusively given to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, raising alarm among privacy advocates and lawmakers. Freedom of information requests filed in late 2020 with all 32 London councils and the next 20 largest UK city councils found about two-thirds owned technology made by two Chinese companies accused of links to the repression of Uyghurs. At least 28 councils owned technology made by Hikvision, the world’s largest purveyor of video surveillance systems and vendor to Xinjiang police agencies, revealed data...

Chinese authorities recently announced a crackdown on criminal rings involved in making fake COVID-19 vaccines, and revealed that some of the products were distributed to other countries. Arrested suspects were accused of gaining illicit profits totaling around 18 million yuan (about $2.78 million). As of Feb. 10, twenty-one vaccine-related cases were being investigated across the country, with 70 suspects arrested, according to a Feb. 15 report by Chinese state media Xinhua. In the early stages of China’s vaccine rollout, the report said, suspects made huge profits through manufacturing fake vaccines, selling and reselling them at high prices, and inoculating groups...

In a handwritten letter sent exclusively to Religion Unplugged, Cardinal Joseph Zen reflected on the Vatican’s continued cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party, declaring the Church in China “schismatic,” and placing the blame on Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin. “I will never fight with the Pope, but the Pope never tried to silence me, so [I] will continue to protest against Parolin,” Zen said. Cardinal Zen, a retired bishop from Hong Kong, has been an unwelcome commentator on the Vatican’s secretive and opaque deal with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the rights of the church in China. However,...

Former President Donald Trump on Feb. 17 expressed dismay at the Biden administration’s stance toward China, pointing to the Biden family’s business ties with the regime in Beijing. When asked about President Joe Biden’s comments on Feb. 16 that appeared to repeat Chinese Communist Party (CCP) talking points used to justify the government’s repression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, Trump noted the controversy surrounding Biden’s son, Hunter, and his dealings with China. “His family’s involved with the Chinese, certainly, a long time and a lot of money,” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax. “The whole thing is ridiculous: We...

A venture capitalist and political fundraiser was sentenced today to 144 months in federal prison for falsifying records to conceal his work as a foreign agent while lobbying high-level U.S. government officials, evading the payment of millions of dollars in taxes, making illegal campaign contributions, and obstructing a federal investigation into the source of donations to a presidential inauguration committee.Imaad Shah Zuberi, 50, of Arcadia, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who also ordered him to pay $15,705,080 in restitution and a criminal fine of $1.75 million.In November 2019, Zuberi pleaded guilty to a three-count information...

Beijing’s Belt and Road deal with the Australian state government of Victoria looks set to be torn up in weeks as the deadline for the states’ to inform the federal government of all foreign agreements draws nearer. Speaking to the Herald Sun, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he saw no benefit to Victoria’s deal with Beijing and signalled that the agreement would be unlikely to stand under the bill. “If there are benefits, what are they and what was paid for them? I don’t have the answers to those questions at this point, but the assessment of those arrangements will...

Melissa Rogers will be director of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and senior director for faith and public policyCatholic League president Bill Donohue comments on President Biden’s faith-based programs: President Biden’s decision to appoint Melissa Rogers to head the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is telling. She will also serve as senior director for faith and public policy in the White House Domestic Policy Council. He could not have chosen a more seasoned secularist to steer these faith-based entities. Rogers may be a Baptist, but it is her secular vision of faith-based programs that will direct her decision-making....

The Biden administration changed its position on an upcoming Supreme Court appeal dealing with Arizona’s electoral integrity laws, disavowing the previous administration’s interpretation of anti-discrimination provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Although the Biden administration won’t present oral arguments in the case or update a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Trump administration, it signaled to the justices and the public that it’s leaving the door open to adopting a more aggressive interpretation of the statute in the future. Section 2 of the law forbids voting practices that result “in a denial or abridgment of the right … to...