Free Republic

BERLIN (AP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday that ensures basic protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic are continued during the fall and winter when more virus cases are expected. The presentation of the rules – which also include the new obligation to wear N95-type face masks during all long-distance travel by train and bus as well as on planes – coincided with the publication of photos showing the chancellor and German Economy Minister Robert Habeck flying to Canada earlier this week without wearing masks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced his long-awaited plan to deliver on a campaign promise to provide $10,000 in student debt cancellation for millions of Americans — and up to $10,000 more for those with the greatest financial need — along with new measures to lower the burden of repayment for their remaining federal student debt. If his plan survives legal challenges that are almost certain to come, it could offer a windfall to a swath of the nation in the run-up to this fall’s midterm elections. Proponents say cancellation will narrow the racial wealth gap —...

Is Joe Biden one of the most successful presidents in American history? White House chief of staff Ron Klain suggested as much while touting the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (Fact check: It won't reduce inflation) in an interview with Politico last week. "The president has delivered the largest economic recovery plan since Roosevelt, the largest infrastructure plan since Eisenhower, the most judges confirmed since Kennedy, the second largest health care bill since Johnson, and the largest climate change bill in history," Klain boasted. FDR, the general who led the D-Day invasion, JFK, LBJ, and … Sleepy Joe? Klain is hardly...

On July 21, members of the Ukrainian parliament decided to increase their salaries by 70 percent raise. After the bill for this decision had only been submitted on July 18, the parliamentarians were able to carry out the vote unusually quickly, reported the Overton magazine. According to the magazine, this decision, which was unanimously approved by all the remaining parties, would have been possible so quickly in the absence of a lack of opposition. Instead of 28,800 hryvnia as before, the “servants of the people”, as Vladimir Zelensky’s party is called, now earn 49,600 hryvnia per month. Since July 15,...

The northern section of a previously damaged set of grain silos in Beirut collapsed Tuesday after a fire slowly burned in the block for weeks when grains trapped inside ignited. The silos were first damaged in August 2020 when a nearby port warehouse storing ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded in a blast that killed over 200 people, wounded 7,000 and destroyed 77,000 apartments. The Tuesday collapse created a cloud of dust over the port city and took down eight other damaged silos in the site’s northern block. The silo’s norther section had been slowly tipping over since the first explosion two...

President Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt for certain borrowers making less than $125,000 per year, and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, while extending the pause on federal student loan payments through the end of the year. "In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023," Biden tweeted. Biden is expected to give remarks on the plan Wednesday afternoon.

Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies found the woman on the ground when they arrived at the scene in Interlachen Lake Estates on Sunday afternoon, sheriff’s officials said in a Facebook post. They also found the dogs inside a fence at a nearby home. A nearby resident told deputies they heard the woman screaming for help and saw five dogs attacking her. Several neighbors tried pulling the dogs off the woman and one shot a gun into the air to scare the dogs away, the report said. The Putnam County Animal Control Unit has taken custody of the dogs. Authorities said that...

A Super PAC supporting Nevada Republican Gubernatorial candidate Sheriff Joe Lombardo is planning to spend at least $1 million on its effort to appeal to Hispanic and Asian voters, NBC News reported Monday. Better Nevada PAC is spending on print and radio advertisements, as well as bilingual door knockers and direct mailers, according to the outlet. The mailers will come in several languages, including Spanish, Tagalong, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Filipino, and print ads will be shown in Filipino, Chinese, and Hispanic papers across the Silver State.

The last time we had an energy crisis coupled with inflation (like we have right now) was the 1970s. Back then, President Lyndon Johnson had begun massive spending and took on huge budget deficits to pay for the Vietnam war and his “Great Society” benefits: Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, urban renewal, environmental issues, and new immigration policies, just to name a few. Sure sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it? Then…OPEC banned oil exports to the U.S. in October of 1973. Gas prices quickly shot up 37 percent. Gas was rationed. Many stations ran out. Others locked up their pumps...

A specially appointed prosecutor dropped charges Tuesday, including murder, against Atlanta, Georgia, police officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan, who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in a June 2020 incident that led to Black Lives Matter riots. Brooks, 27, a black man, had fallen asleep in his vehicle in a Wendy’s drive-thru and was questioned by the officers, who had been called to the scene. After speaking with the officers, he resisted arrest and stole an officer’s Taser, firing it at them. Rolfe fired at Brooks, who was killed. A mob then arrived and burned the Wendy’s. Democrats, including failed...

Joe Biden capped off his lengthy vacation without stepping out of his beach house for three straight days, and the self-proclaimed “defenders of democracy” in legacy media do not seem to care that much as to what exactly he is doing behind closed doors. ... All week/weekend long, the White House reporters camped out in Rehoboth Beach, Del., waited for Biden to leave for a nice bike ride or walk on the beach. And waited. But after decamping from Wilmington for his beach house in Rehoboth on Saturday evening, the president didn’t do much of anything,” Politico’s writers observed. “As...

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he will forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers, fulfilling a campaign pledge and delivering financial relief to tens of millions of Americans. Biden will also cancel up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants, he said in a tweet on Wednesday. The relief will be limited to Americans earning under $125,000 per year.

For several years there was German supremacy: Joseph Ratzinger, alias Pope Benedict XVI, had established an influential network in Rome. Now this system is collapsing - and the former Pope can hardly hope for support. The relationship with Pope Francis seems to have broken down. The downfall of the German supremacy in the Vatican is observed every morning by many. It is quiet at St Peter's this winter, unusually quiet. The pandemic has silenced St Peter's Square. The otherwise usual background noise of pilgrims streaming to St Peter's does not disturb the peace in the Vatican at the moment.

It's now official: Rep. Val Demings won the Florida Democratic primary on Tuesday night to challenge Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, come the fast-approaching November midterm elections. The race was called 8:00pm. With an estimated 84 percent of the vote in, Demings has 85.32 percent. The second place finisher, Brian Rush, trails far behind with 5.82 percent. In a statement about Demings' win, Elizabeth Gregory, the communications director for Marco Rubio for Senate, said that "Marco Rubio has consistently delivered huge wins for Florida families, working across the aisle to improve the lives of people throughout the state. Meanwhile, Pelosi...

Over the years, American universities and colleges have slowly drifted away from their central concerns, teaching and learning. This shift is perhaps best seen in the increased number of administrators in higher education and the exponential growth in the portion of institutions’ budgets dedicated to administrative salaries. The educational data service IPEDS categorizes administrators as “management,” defined as “those staff whose job it is to plan, direct, or coordinate policies [and] programs, [tasks that] may include some supervision of other workers.” Though IPEDS further states that “Postsecondary Deans should be classified in this category as well,” the vast majority of...

Len Dawson, the legendary quarterback who led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory, has died, his family said Wednesday. Dawson was 87. Dawson’s family released a statement to KMBC-TV, where the retired NFL star worked as a broadcaster. "With wife Linda at his side, it is with much sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Len Dawson. He was a wonderful husband, father, brother and friend. Len was always grateful and many times overwhelmed by the countless bonds he made during his football and broadcast careers," his family said in a statement.

A hail of shrapnel from kamikaze drones ripped through the tent where off-duty Ukrainian border guards were sleeping near a crossing with Belarus, three hours north of Ukraine’s capital. Viktor Derevyanko woke to scalding pain, his body burning. Blood spilled from his hand as he tried to wipe his face. A piece of metal had traveled through his arm and stomach and into the muscle around his heart. “I couldn’t get my bearings,” said Derevyanko, the deputy head of the unit. “Only on the third explosion did I manage to fall out of bed and try to find at least...

Move over rage quitting, “quiet quitting” is the latest workplace phenomenon. It may sound like the act of someone silently resigning, but it actually refers to the rejection of “hustle culture” — the expectation to go above and beyond in your job, rather than simply doing the requirements of the job. It’s a term that has gained traction since a wave of TikTok posts recently emerged from people who consider themselves quiet quitters. TikTok creator Zaid Khan, @zkchillin, posted on TikTok about his own discovery of the term in late July — a video that went viral. In the video...

The leftists at MSNBC see a massive red wave on the Horizon. McConnel is doing his best to thwart the wave but he won't be successful.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is headed to Harvard this fall as a teaching fellow at the university’s schools of government and public health. De Blasio, a Democrat who served as mayor from from 2014 to 2021, will take part in “a variety of discussions, events, and programming” at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and will teach classes on leadership and public service.