Free Republic

The maximum pay rate for staffers will be higher than that of elected officials House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced a major pay boost for top House staff members that will allow them to make more money than elected members of Congress. Pelosi, D-Calif., said the new maximum pay rate for staff will be $199,300, up 15% from the current cap of $173,900 annually. The pay boost means that top staffers will be allowed to make more money than their bosses. The pay for a member of Congress has been $174,000 since 2009 with some variance for leadership positions....

As Venezuela falls into the abyss of economic collapse – the economy has halved in five years, a contraction worse than the Great Depression or the Spanish Civil War – a simplistic narrative in the American press has formed, which starts with the Chavez regime seizing control of the country in 1998. (The charismatic populist Hugo Chavez is, after all, the leader most Americans are familiar with when talking about Venezuela, as he made worldwide headlines with his 2006 UN speech where he called U.S. President Bush "a devil" while celebrities like Sean Penn and Michael Moore cheered him on.)...

(CNN)There is no indication two weeks after Lollapalooza that the music festival contributed to a spike in Covid-19 infections, a Chicago health official said Thursday, despite attracting an estimated 385,000 attendees.... Among vaccinated attendees, there were 127 diagnosed with Covid-19, Arwady said. That's just 0.04%, or four in 10,000 vaccinated attendees. "Among unvaccinated attendees we did, as expected, see a higher rate of Covid cases, but it was still low," she said. There were 76 unvaccinated attendees who reported testing positive, Arwady said -- 0.16% or 16 in 10,000 unvaccinated attendees. "And as of yesterday we had no hospitalizations or...

Tuesday evening, the US Senate approved an amendment proposed by Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio for the administration of President Joe Biden to provide free Internet to Cubans on the island. On a Twitter post, Senator Rubio said “Tonight the Senate unanimously passed my amendment to provide internet access to the people of #Cuba.” The amendment creates a Deficit Neutral Reserve Fund (DNRF) in the next reconciliation bill that would be used to develop and deploy existing technology for the purpose of providing internet access to the island nation. Senator Rick Scott also joined Rubio in the proposal. The amendment was...

At the symposium earlier today, Lindell screamed for Hannity and Laura today to report (or talk about) the Nov 3rd election theft and the evidence provided at the symposium. Lindell told them to talk about it even if it cost them their jobs. I don't watch FOX anymore but if you know, did any of them mention it?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines to authorize a booster shot for certain immunocompromised patients. HIV and cancer patients, organ transplant recipients and those taking immunosuppressant drugs comprise about 2.7% of the U.S. adult population. Growing evidence had suggested select immunocompromised patients mount a diminished protective immune response, even after two doses of vaccine.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban captured two major Afghan cities, the country’s second- and third-largest after Kabul, and a strategic provincial capital on Thursday, further squeezing the embattled government just weeks before the end of the American military mission there. The seizure of Kandahar and Herat marks the biggest prizes yet for the Taliban, who have taken 12 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals as part of a weeklong blitz.

The U.S. became more diverse and more urban over the past decade, and the non-Hispanic white population dropped for the first time on record, the Census Bureau reported Thursday as it released a trove of demographic data that will be used to redraw the nation’s political maps. The new figures offered the most detailed portrait yet of how the country has changed since 2010, and they are sure to set off an intense partisan battle over representation at a time of deep national division and fights over voting rights. The numbers could help determine control of the House in the...

Amid the rise of Socialism in the United States, most self-proclaimed “Democratic-Socialists” have been dismissed as fringe radicals. Now, a concerning new poll shows that the majority of Democrat voters now prefer socialism to capitalism. Between August 7-10 of this year a Fox poll showed that 59% of registered Democrat voters who participated now have a positive view of socialism, compared to 49% of Democrats that felt the same way about capitalism: The data has only suggested socialism’s rise in popularity. The same poll was taken in February of 2020 where then 50% of Democrats approved of capitalism, with just...

The US Food and Drug Administration added a warning about the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis to fact sheets for Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines Friday. The warning notes that reports of adverse events following vaccination – particularly after the second dose – suggest increased risks of both types of heart inflammation. The FDA said at the time it would update the fact sheets the reflect the findings.

One of the men recently charged in the November 2020 shooting death of an 18-year-old Bridgeton resident was released from prison two days before the killing as part of an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey detention facilities, Jerry D. Crawford, 25, who was serving time on burglary charges, was released on “public health emergency credits” to mandatory parole supervision on Nov. 4, state Department of Corrections officials confirmed.

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 2:1-2Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. VJ Day – August 14, 1945 Kissing the war goodbye: Remembering iconic photo 70 years after VJ day Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents...

(CNN) — Two visitors to Hawaii from the United States mainland were arrested Sunday for falsifying vaccination cards, the governor posted on social media Wednesday afternoon. In the post, Governor David Ige said that the two were violating the Emergency Proclamation that allows fully vaccinated travelers from the mainland to avoid taking a Covid-19 test and quarantining upon arrival to the islands. Ige said the Attorney General's office was tipped off by a community member, and the arrests were made at the airport in Honolulu. ...Ige said the two were arraigned on Wednesday morning and could face a fine of...

Israel weighs booster for people as young as 40 * 445 patients in serious condition The health ministry advisory committee on COVID vaccines was set to meet on Thursday night to explore offering a booster to individuals as young as 40. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asked Pfizer CEO Robert Bourla to speed up the process to receive approval for a corona vaccine for children under 12, amid a spike in cases...

Short video, distressed woman warning re severe actions by gov. Md license removal for opposing vax, green vax passport, forced vaccines on children, loss of job for no vax, ecomomic retaliation on opposition, ankle braclets for returning travelers. Warning that it will come here. Serious stuff coming this way. Lockdown and reset. Sad situation! warning from Israel

Law enforcement officers in Texas were deputized Thursday and will "immediately" begin working to track down Democratic lawmakers whose extended absence from Austin has denied the state House of Representatives a quorum for a month. The House sergeant-at-arms, who received 52 civil arrest warrants for the missing lawmakers from Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan earlier in the week, took the initiative after the Texas Supreme Court blocked more attempts to keep top Republican officials from ordering the Democrats' arrest. Three Harris County judges had granted orders, which the state Supreme Court stayed, to block the arrests of the 45 Democrats....

A cargo ship ran aground and broke into two off northern Japan, the coast guard said Thursday, with the crew of the Panama-flagged vessel taken to safety. Aerial images showed the separated stern of the Crimson Polaris tipped upwards and the other part of the stricken boat listing into the sea.... ..Authorities were trying to contain the oil leak but had not yet been able to erect an oil fence around the boat, the spokesman said...

Alexander Kuranov is suspected of passing secret information to a foreign citizen Russia has reportedly detained the head of a hypersonic technology research facility on suspicion of treason in the latest high-profile arrest targeting a senior scientist for allegedly selling state secrets. Alexander Kuranov, 73, the general director of the St Petersburg-based Hypersonic System Research Institute (HSRI), was arrested in Moscow on Thursday. A Moscow court ruled he be held for two months in pre-trial detention. Kuranov is an expert in hypersonic technology and oversaw work on a hypersonic aircraft concept called Ajax (or Ayaks), according to the facility’s website.......

The Health Ministry's advisory panel recommended on Thursday that Israel expand its COVID booster shot campaign to people aged 50 and up and health workers two weeks after the ministry decided to begin booster shots for those over 60 – making Israel the first country to provide booster shots for parts of its population. Israel's largest health maintenance organization, Clalit, said before the recommendation was announced that it would begin offering the shots to those over 50 next week. In a statement, Clalit said that scheduling appointments for the third dose would be possible starting Friday on its website.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement that U.S. troops will be gone from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 will remove the most formidable obstacle to total Taliban takeover of the country. The Taliban claim they already control as much as 85 percent of Afghan territory. In the absolute best-case scenario, the Afghan government and the Taliban might share power, but that seems increasingly like wishful thinking. Amid all of this regional angst, China is quietly attempting to secure its interests in post-U.S. Afghanistan. Beijing has reportedly been actively engaging with Kabul on construction of the Peshawar-Kabul motorway, which would connect Pakistan to...