Free Republic

Just a reminder to everyone about this Washington Post article from April 14, 2020. It says that two years earlier, U.S. visitors said the Wuhan lab was not taking the necessary steps to prevent COVID from leaking.

A fierce debate has broken out between President-elect Donald J. Trump’s very recent tech industry supporters and his long-standing America First base. At the core of the disagreement is the subject of legal immigration—specifically, how Trump should handle so-called “high-skilled” foreign worker programs like the H1B visa.One of the staunchest proponents of expanding the labor pool in this way is billionaire Elon Musk. In a Christmas Day post on X, Musk exclaimed America needs more than double the 160,000 semiconductor industry engineers said to be required by 2032.“No, we need more like double that number yesterday! The number of people...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business; The End to Abuse & Sex Trafficking, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14) 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. (Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are...

CNN contributor Scott Jennings said Friday on CNN’s “The Lead” that Republicans can comprise on immigration by going after fraud in the H-1B Visa program.Jennings said, “There’s always been a push and pull on this in the Republican Party and I think there’s a way to work this out and solve it. I mean, I think what a lot of people would say is, and Elon Musk was making this point, if you take, like, the top 1% or the top 0.1% of the most talented engineering people from other countries, that’s perfectly fine. Do H-1B Visas for that. They’re...

The majority of likely American voters says the United States does not need any more foreign H-1B visa workers to fill white-collar jobs, a new poll finds.A Rasmussen Reports survey reveals that 6-in-10 Americans say the U.S. “already has enough talented people to train and recruit” for white-collar jobs when asked whether Congress should increase the inflow of foreign workers, primarily those arriving through the H-1B visa program.Meanwhile, just 26 percent of Americans say Congress should increase the number of foreign visa workers taking white-collar jobs.Republicans and swing voters, in particular, say the U.S. has enough American talent for such...

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, including a Philadelphia drug lord who was convicted of killing a dozen people. Their punishments were converted to life in prison. Biden said the decision was guided by his conscience, and comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. "These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder," Biden said. One of those...

The Trump Administration announced on January 12, 2021 that it has promulgated a new, final rule that will significantly increase the wages that must be paid to holders of H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, though the rule might not ultimately go into effect with the incoming Biden Administration. Last month, an interim version of the rule was invalidated on procedural grounds by three federal district courts. The rule, announced by the Department of Labor (DOL) and titled Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States, would increase the prevailing wages that...

Green card ban extended through Dec. 31President Donald Trump signed an executive order June 22 restricting foreign nationals from outside the U.S. from using certain temporary employment-based visas through the end of the year and extending a green card ban enacted in April through Dec. 31.The order freezes access to new H-1B visas used by professional and technology workers; H-4 visas awarded to the spouses of H-1B holders; H-2B visas used by seasonal workers in landscaping and hospitality; L-1 visas for executives and managers transferred within companies; and J-1 visas issued to interns, trainees or people on work-study summer programs.Visa...

Elon Musk urged his supporters not to donate to the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia after the organization budgeted more than $50 million to spend on controversial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.“Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority,” Musk wrote Tuesday on X, where he has nearly 210 million followers.The Tesla mogul, and key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, was responding to a post by the right-leaning commentator “Libs of TikTok,” who shared a pie chart that showed 29% of Wikipedia’s $177 million budget for 2023-24 was targeted for “equity” and “safety & inclusion.“ 4...

The demand for racism continues to exceed the supplyThere were 21 campus hate crime hoaxes uncovered this year.A hate crime hoax occurs when a person admits to fabricating the attack or something that appears criminal turns out to not be, such as a noose that is really just a garage pulley at a NASCAR race. It can also include situations where the given facts suggest no one intended to harm someone on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, or religion.1. Police charge ‘black feminist theory’ PhD with theft for fundraising on false brick attackPolice accused Roda Osman, a University...

On April 3, 2017, the Trump Administration Will Suspend for up to 6 Months All Expedited or Premium Processing of H-1B Petitions. This is the latest in a series of changes or attempted changes to immigration policies and procedures during President Trump’s first 100 days. This change impacts adversely the business community, particularly high-tech companies, whether U.S. or foreign-owned, that recruit global talent using the H-1B program. Here are the key FAQs:What is an H-1B?The H-1B is a visa for specialty occupations requiring at least a four year B.S. or B.A. degree or its equivalent, such as software engineers, scientists,...

We live in a high crime society. Nobody can dispute that fact, and it has been this way for a long time. But the crime wave that we have witnessed in recent years has been truly breathtaking. Tens of thousands of gangs are running wild in our major urban areas, and the growth of those gangs has been supercharged during the past four years thanks to the reckless border policies of the Biden administration. Now we have rampant lawlessness in our streets, and it certainly isn’t going to be easy to clean up this mess. The following are 15 facts...

In this election cycle, the issue of immigration is not just about what is happening at the border. The direction of the H-1B visa program is also on the line.The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations to work temporarily in the United States. This in-demand program is the primary pathway by which employers can recruit and hire foreign workers with expertise in specialized fields such as technology, engineering and healthcare — often filling crucial skills gaps.Since many immigration policy changes are made through the executive branch, the winner of the election will...

When Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” was being filmed in 1945, just as the Second World War was closing and a few years before the Cold War was heating up, the FBI investigated it for its supposed anti-capitalist themes. A memo said:“With regard to the picture It’s a Wonderful Life, [redacted] stated in substance that the film represented rather obvious attempts to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a ‘scrooge-type’ so that he would be the most hated man in the picture. This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists. [In] addition, [redacted] stated...

Last year, global vehicle production reached 93.5 million units, representing a 2% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and a significant 17% rise from 2022.This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, visualizes the share of motor vehicles produced by the top 30 countries in 2023.The figures come from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, and includes both passenger and commercial vehicles.Which Country Produced the Most Cars in 2023?Below, we show the total number of motor vehicles produced by each of the top 30 countries, as well as their share of global production.RankCountry/RegionRegionTotal Car ProductionShare of Total Production1🇨🇳 ChinaAsia30,160,96632.2%2🇺🇸...

@elonmusk Wise words from a true genius

Gee, then who might be the "problem" most vexing the new regime in Syria? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?In the immediate aftermath of the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel moved quickly to destroy Assad's military assets. They also seized the demilitarized zone along their Syrian border to prevent some of the Islamist rebel groups from starting a war. Those moves got condemnation from the UN and some Western countries that have nominal alliance with Israel.According to the new regime's governor in Damascus, however, it's water under the bridge. Maher Marwan spoke to NPR as a representative of the new national government...

What a difference a day makes! Especially when that day was November 5th.For the last four years, Mexico stood by while Joe Biden threw open the borders and did nothing about the drug cartels. Millions of people illegally entered during that period and deadly narcotics flooded the country. Now that the American electorate voted for real border security and an end to narco-trafficking, the Mexican government has decided to act -- before Donald Trump and his hardliners act first: > With Trump and his allies this year floating the use of American military force against Mexico’s drug cartels, Mexican officials...

The H-1B visa program, created by former President George H.W. Bush, allows companies to import hundreds of thousands of foreign workers — primarily from India and China — to take white-collar American jobs under the guise that there is a “labor shortage,” particularly in STEM occupations.For years, Breitbart News has chronicled the abuses against white-collar American professionals as a result of the H-1B visa program. Americans are often laid off in the process and forced to train their foreign replacements, as highlighted by Breitbart News.Research, published in the September issue of the Journal of Business Ethics, reviewed wage data that...

As RedState previously reported, President Joe Biden decided to drop an unwelcome Christmas surprise on the families of murder victims whose killers were on federal death row by commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates to life in prison without the possibility of parole."... guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level," Biden's said in a statement posted to the White House website Monday.In...