Free Republic

Canadian protesters have impeded access to the busiest international crossing in North America again Tuesday as frustration over their ongoing demonstrations against Covid-19 rules continues to roil the nation.

The restaurant business is a tough one, and the COVID-19 pandemic almost all but destroyed it. Even before closures became mandatory, restaurants came and went with regularity. Statistics on restaurant failure rates vary widely. Oneestimatesuggests that up to 90% of independent eating places close within their first year of operation. Unmanageable rent increases, changes in customer demographics or consumer tastes, fires or the effects of natural disasters, and the deaths and divorces (or simply retirement) of owners are among the many reasons that even thriving eating places fail.< P>

Protests over vaccine mandates and Covid-19 restrictions widened across Canada, with truck blockades halting commercial traffic at critical border crossings including the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit. The structure that connects to Windsor, Ontario, was shut down in both directions late Monday. The land crossing is the most important link for goods moving between Canada and the U.S. and a crucial artery for auto parts suppliers and manufacturers. Another border crossing at Coutts, Alberta, which had already been partly blocked by truckers, was also completely closed for a time, the Canadian border agency said. It’s the main route for the province’s...

The Biden Department of Homeland Security is not focused on the record 2 million illegal aliens who crossed the open US southern border in the last 12 months. The Biden DHS is not focused on the 100,000 deaths from overdose last year as illegal drugs were smuggled across the border in record amounts.That’s not an issue. In fact, it’s part of their plan.Instead, the Biden DHS declared a heightened terrorism threat due to “several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified...

Excerpt: When asked how likely the state would revert back to a masking requirement, Sidelinger said a return to mandatory masking was unlikely because of the wide availability of vaccines and boosters, as well as preventative medicines that are being developed and distributed.

On November 20th, 2021, Capitol Police entered my office without my knowledge and photographed confidential legislative products protected by the Speech and Debate clause enshrined in the Constitution, Article 1 Section 6.

Over 300 city workers and others marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Monday protesting the city’s announcement that municipal employees without a COVID-19 vaccination would be fired by week’s end. Gathering in front of FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn, protesters chanted, “No medical tyranny, no vaccine mandates” and “My body, my choice. The vaccine you will not force,” before marching across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall. Firefighter Paul Schweit, 31, founder of Braves for Choice, an FDNY anti-mandate group, led the chants. “We’re destroying the narrative that we’re anti-vaxxers, we’re destroying the narrative that we’re spreading misinformation, we are here for...

Fed up with his party’s kowtowing to its “progressive” wing with soft-on-crime policies, a former conservative Democratic Brooklyn lawmaker switched his party registration to Republican as he plots a run for his old Assembly seat in the borough’s red-trending southern precincts, The Post has learned. Alec Brook-Krasny’s switch comes as Democrats flee the party nationally, with 29 House Democrats deciding to retire or not seek re-election instead of fighting against the GOP’s “defund the police” attacks and President Biden’s policies. “I can’t believe everything that’s going on in the Democratic party, all the calls to ‘defund the police,’ the cancel...

Democrats in Florida have a while to go to decide who they’ll vote for during the primary election scheduled for Aug. 23. So far, six candidates are running ahead of the filing deadline of June 17. Three have held public office, three have never run for any public office. Long-term Florida politician Charlie Crist is running for governor a third time after having lost his bid in 2014. He’s the only candidate in state history to run for governor as both a Republican and a Democrat. Crist was elected as Florida’s 44th governor as a Republican in 2006. He ran...

[Snip] The full-year trade deficit for 2021 increased 27% to $859.1 billion, larger than the previous record of $763.53 billion in 2006. [Snip] American consumers have spent heavily on imported goods such as computers, game machines and furniture, flush with stimulus money while less willing to splurge on travels and dining out due to health concerns. [Snip] Trade deficit with China grew 14.5% for the full year to $355.3 billion, as U.S. demand for Chinese goods surged amid the post-pandemic economic recovery. A trade pact with China implemented by former President Donald Trump to reduce the bilateral deficit with Chinese...

I need to begin by mentioning that my mother was Canadian. She was a missionary in Japan after the Second World War, and there she met my dad, an American naval officer, in the course of his involvement in the Korean War. How they got together is quite the story, but let us not get sidetracked. What matters for us today is that a Canadian and an American did in fact get together, and so I grew up in a home that was very much aware of “all things Canada.” As a result, I have to say that I had...

WASHINGTON — In normal times, a politician could hardly do something less controversial than pose for a photo with kids. But these are not normal times. Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat making her second run for governor, faced intense blowback Monday after sharing — and then quickly deleting — a photo of her smiling unmasked face surrounded by masked elementary school children. Abrams visited a Decatur elementary school to promote reading and Black History Month. But not since George W. Bush continued reading "The Pet Goat" to Florida students on Sept. 11, 2001, has such a benign event turned into...

Netflix-backed The Power Of The Dog secured 12 nods including best picture, directing and cinematography as well as four acting nominations for lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch, supporting actors Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smith-McPhee, and actress Kirsten Dunst....Sci-fi blockbuster Dune received 10 nominations including best picture and across the technical categories for sound, visual effects, cinematography and costume design among others.Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story both secured seven nominations, including best picture and directing, while King Richard received six, including best picture and for leading actor for Will Smith, who plays the father of tennis stars Venus...

An obscure portion of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says that public officials cannot serve in any future federal, state, or military office if they engaged in “insurrection or rebellion.” Would that apply to people who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on Congress? Some legal experts say the clause could be used against former officeholders — up to and including former President Donald Trump — who supported the events of that day. In a notable test case, plaintiffs in North Carolina are seeking to apply the clause to GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who spoke at the rally...

And the nominees are … The 2022 Academy Awards are almost upon us — the night when A-list actors, singers and other members of the Hollywood elite will descend upon the steps of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles next month. While the telecast is set to air on March 27 on ABC, the nominations were announced by Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross on Feb. 8. The pair revealed the nominees across 23 categories in the announcement, which streamed on the Oscars website and the Film Academy’s social media accounts.

As the anti-pandemic rule protest in Ottawa continues into its second week, many residents in the downtown core say they have been living a nightmare, constantly under siege and with many terrified to leave their homes — except to seek refuge elsewhere. Residents described being bombarded by relentless honking, fireworks, being choked by diesel fumes, seeing hate symbols openly displayed, subjected to racial, homophobic and transphobic slurs, attacked for wearing masks, and feeling let down by all levels of government and police since the first vehicles set up Jan. 28. While there may be some reprieve to the horns after...

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Lawmakers in the Vermont House of Representatives are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a proposal to amend the state constitution to protect reproductive rights, including abortion. If approved, the proposal will go before state voters in November, the final step needed to amend the Vermont constitution. Supporters of the proposal say it enshrines the right for individuals to make their own reproductive decisions. Opponents say the proposal is vaguely worded and could have unintended consequences. Vermont’s proposed amendment does not contain the word “abortion.” Proponents say that’s because it’s not meant to authorize only abortion, but...

DETROIT - Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 485,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outdoors because they can catch fire even when stopped. The recalls from the two Korean automakers are another in a long string of fire and engine failure problems that have dogged the companies for the past six years. This time the problem is contamination in the antilock brake control module that can cause an electrical short. Affected are certain Kia Sportage SUVs from 2014 through 2016, and the 2016 through 2018 K900 sedan. Recalled Hyundais include certain 2016 through 2018 Santa...

Key factors contributing to the current heightened threat environment include: The proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions: For example, there is widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding unsubstantiated widespread election fraud and COVID-19. Grievances associated with these themes inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021. Malign foreign powers have and continue to amplify these false or misleading narratives in efforts to damage the United States.

NEW YORK (AP) — Not satisfied with urging fellow musicians to leave Spotify, Neil Young wants the company’s employees to jump ship, too. In a message posted on his website Monday, Young said to Spotify employees that company CEO Daniel Ek is a bigger problem than Joe Rogan, who has stirred outcry over vaccine skepticism and his past use of racial slurs on his podcast. “Ek pulls the strings,” Young said. “Get out of that place before it eats up your soul. The only goals stated by Ek are about numbers — not art, not creativity.”