Free Republic

Federal judges have significant discretion in handing down sentences, but in politically charged cases it’s important that they don’t give the impression that criminal defendants are being treated differently because of their politics… that’s what federal Judge Tanya Chutkan did this week in a sentencing hearing for a defendant who pleaded guilty to “parading, demonstrating, or picketing” in the Capitol without authorization during the Jan. 6 riot. The prosecutor recommended that Matthew Mazzocco serve three months of home confinement for the misdemeanor charge. Judge Chutkan imposed a 45-day jail sentence… Judge Chutkan’s commentary during sentencing suggested that her decision was...

BIDEN: "When you see headlines and reports of mass firings, and hundreds of people losing their jobs, look at the bigger story...United went from 59% of their employees [vaccinated] to 99%..."

Fox News anchor Bret Baier described the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol carried out by supporters of former President Trump as a "dark day" for the country, one that he likened to "what we saw in 1876" amid a post-Civil War political crisis. Baier appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Wednesday to promote his new book on former President Ulysses S. Grant, which opens with the Jan. 6 riot in 2021. “I was ending the book and putting all of these things together and I was covering Jan. 6 and covering all of the riot...

Workers at several airlines, including AmericanAirlines (AA) and Southwest Airlines (SWA), have started protesting their companies' COVID-19 vaccination mandates for workers. Both airlines have told workers that they must be vaccinated or else face termination by November 24, before the busy holiday travel season begins. Both airlines allow employees to request religious or medical vaccine exemptions, though it's unclear how many will be granted. Hundreds of AA workers and allies protested outside the company's Fort Worth, Texas headquarters on Thursday. The protesters told The Dallas Morning News that they are skeptical of the vaccines' effectiveness and their unreported side effects.

[Catholic Caucus] To Banish the TLM to the CatacombsRecently, I heard a middle-aged exorcist give a talk about how all the elderly exorcists in the world agree that something happened in 1963 that tanked the power of the Church in exorcisms. The middle-aged exorcist did not say what this event was. I asked his friend, and his friend suspected it was this event that happened in 1963, reported even [barely] by Wikipedia: “Windswept House describes a satanic ritual – the enthronement of Lucifer – taking place at Saint-Paul’s Chapel inside Vatican City, on June 29, 1963. The book gives a...

Saule Omarova attended Moscow State University on a Lenin scholarship. President Joe Biden’s pick for the nation’s top banking regulator, who received a scholarship named for Vladimir Lenin, scrubbed her résumé of a reference to a thesis she wrote on Karl Marx while a student at Moscow State University. Saule Omarova, who Biden tapped to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, listed a paper titled "Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital" on her résumé as recently as 2017. But the paper was not disclosed on the version of the résumé reported...

A new study from the University of California, Davis, Genome Center and UC San Francisco shows no significant difference in viral load between vaccinated and unvaccinated people who tested positive for the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. It also found no significant difference between infected people with or without symptoms.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is asking Ms. Saule Omarova, President Biden’s nominee to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), to turn over a copy of her thesis, “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital,” to allow the Committee to fully assess her nomination. Ms. Omarova’s thesis, which she authored while studying at Moscow State University on the V.I. Lenin Personal Academic Scholarship, recently disappeared from her resume. “While it appears that you have deleted any reference to your thesis in the version of...

Former President Donald Trump indicated on Thursday that he will try to assert executive privilege to prevent a House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol from getting information from certain witnesses. A source familiar with the former President's legal strategy confirms to CNN that an attorney for Trump sent letters to some of the subpoena targets, informing them of his plan to defend executive privilege. The letters were first reported by Politico. "Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of President Trump and his administration, but also on behalf of the Office of the...

The "diet" in diet drinks may be a false promise for some soda lovers. True, they deliver the fizz and taste of a soda experience, without the calories. Yet, new research shows they also can leave people with increased food cravings. A study published recently in JAMA Network Open adds to the evidence that drinks made with sucralose may stimulate the appetite, at least among some people, and the study gives some clues as to why. "We found that females and people with obesity had greater brain reward activity" after consuming the artificial sweetener, says study author Katie Page, a...

Vaccines currently are the primary mitigation strategy to combat COVID-19 around the world. For instance, the narrative related to the ongoing surge of new cases in the United States (US) is argued to be driven by areas with low vaccination rates [1]. A similar narrative also has been observed in countries, such as Germany and the United Kingdom [2]. At the same time, Israel that was hailed for its swift and high rates of vaccination has also seen a substantial resurgence in COVID-19 cases [3]. We investigate the relationship between the percentage of population fully vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases...

Haugen is a regular donor to Democrats.. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who pushed for more censorship of social media misinformation in Senate testimony Tuesday, is linked to several Democrat operatives. Haugen is being advised on public relations and strategic communications by Bill Burton, a former Obama administration official and founder of Democrat-linked consulting firm Bryson Gillette and political action committee Priorities USA Action, The Washington Free Beacon reported Monday. Burton is also listed as a public affairs representative for the non-profit Center for Humane Technology, which has criticized Facebook and other social media platforms for permitting misinformation and harmful content....

Missouri and Arkansas became the latest states to say they would not comply with a Biden proposal to force banks to hand over transaction data over $600 to the IRS on Wednesday. 'I will stand up to this government overreach and protect the privacy of those account holders,' state treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick said in a statement Wednesday morning. 'Turning over their transaction data to the federal government is illegal under Missouri law and a gross violation of Missourians’ expectation of privacy when it comes to their personal financial records.' 'I will not turn this information over to the IRS voluntarily...

It's no secret that Elon Musk puts a tremendous number of hours into his work, famously working upwards of 120 hours per week, and sharing his opinion that founders need to work 80-plus hours a week. The astronomical number leaves many wondering how he finds time to sleep and exhausted by the thought of working so much. It appears as though the founder of multiple companies and father of seven has more hours in the day than others. And, of course, while this isn't so, there is something Musk has that others don't. Those who put in a great deal...

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (SBG) — UPDATE 10/5/21: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed their 2021 holiday guidance Tuesday and said the update was a mishap. The agency said its recommendations for virtual gatherings that mirrored 2020 guidance does not reflect this year's, and new suggestions are coming soon. Original story from Monday below. Despite vaccinations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends people celebrate Thanksgiving virtually this year. Updated guidance states that attending gatherings for events and holidays still increases the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19, especially with the threat of the highly transmissible delta...

Nolensville mother says Williamson County School (WCS) System officials suspended her two children indefinitely because they won’t wear their COVID-19 masks on campus. Both children attend Mill Creek Middle School. Kristin Benton said her children’s In-School Suspension (ISS) started Monday. She said the WCS will only take her children back into regular school if they either agree to wear COVID-19 masks or sign a religious exemption. As of Wednesday, they remain suspended. Benton cited the work of an industrial hygienist who says masks are ineffective against the spread of COVID-19 and even cause harm when worn over long periods of...

Tesla is moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas, CEO Elon Musk announced at the company’s shareholder meeting on Thursday. The meeting took place at Tesla’s vehicle assembly plant under construction outside of Austin on a property that borders the Colorado River, near the city’s airport. However, the company plans to increase production in its California plant regardless of the headquarters move. “To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California,” Musk said. “Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory...

A leading Syrian Kurdish politician said on Thursday the United States will stay on in Syria to destroy Islamic State, build infrastructure and remain a player in the search for a political settlement after more than 10 years of civil war. The Kurds, who live in the mountainous region straddling the borders of Syria, Armenia, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, carved out self-rule across northeast Syria during the civil war that began in 2011. President Bashar al-Assad was supported by Russia and Iran while the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia was backed by the United States. But in 2019 then-President Donald Trump...

The Marine Corps has filed six charges against Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller over his passionate attack on the leadership mistakes that marked the debacle of the Afghanistan withdrawal. Scheller will face a misdemeanor-level special court-martial, according to Fox News. The charges were referred by Maj. Gen. Julian D. Alford, and came a day after Scheller was released from the brig at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. Scheller ripped into senior military leadership in a series of videos and posts that began on the day a terrorist attack killed 13 U.S. service members in Kabul. He noted in his final Facebook...

Joe Biden's approval rating is not good. Sad! Not good! Here are seventeen things with higher approval ratings than Joe Biden: 1. Candy corn - Even these tasteless cones of wax fare better in the polls than Sleepy Joe. 2. Prostate exams - Uncomfortable but at least they don't last four years. 3. The restrooms at Walmart - Unsanitary but they've never tried to sniff our hair. 4. The decision to cancel Firefly - Next time Joe Biden wants to stab us in the back, he should have the guts to do it to our face. 5. DMV employees -...