Free Republic

Morgan Stanley will bar employees and clients who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from entering the bank’s New York offices, according to an internal memo.“Starting July 12 all employees, contingent workforce, clients and visitors will be required to attest to being fully vaccinated to access Morgan Stanley buildings in New York City and Westchester,” chief human resources officer Mandell Crawley said in the memo, which was obtained by the Financial Times.After July 12, those who don’t attest to being fully vaccinated will lose building access, the memo said. Those who are not fully vaccinated would continue to work...

ALBANY (TNS) — Homeowners in a few years could be seeking alternatives when they want to patch or seal their driveways. Lawmakers this week passed a bill that, if signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, would ban the use of coal tar, the dense, acrid-smelling goo that is used in domestic and commercial pavement sealing. A ban has been discussed for a decade and some municipalities already prohibit its use. Additionally, most highway or road builders have switched to other petroleum-derived products to put down pavement. But coal tar is still used in driveways and parking lots. Environmentalists say the suspected...

Highlights-On June 3, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted comments to the Oregon Secretary of State challenging the ballot title language of Initiative Petition 13 (IP 13), which seeks to end all hunting, fishing, and trapping in Oregon. -IP 13, if passed, would prohibit the injuring or killing of all mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, unless it occurs as an act of self-defense. In addition to prohibiting hunting and fishing, this sweeping initiative would impact common animal breeding practices, research, and education. -Once the final ballot title language is certified, initiative proponents can begin gathering the 112,020 signatures required to...

A federal judge has ruled that California's 32-year-old assault weapons ban is unconstitutional -- and that the state cannot limit civilian access to weapons he considered to be "fairly ordinary, popular, modern rifles."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) on Friday expressed support for Facebook’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump for two years.

An online trend that involves using tiny magnets as fake tongue piercings has led the NHS to call for them to be banned amid people swallowing them.Ingesting more than one of them can be life-threatening and cause significant damage within hours.In England, 65 children have required urgent surgery after swallowing magnets in the last three years.The NHS issued a patient safety alert earlier this month and is now calling for the small metal balls to be banned.It said the "neodymium or 'super strong' rare-earth magnets are sold as toys, decorative items and fake piercings, and are becoming increasingly popular".It added...

The governor called Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin's executive order "an irresponsible, self-serving political stunt" that subverted the decisions of local officials. Idaho Gov. Brad Little repealed an executive order banning mask mandates across the state Friday morning, 24 hours after Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued the surprise action while the governor was out of town. In a statement, Little slammed McGeachin issuing the executive order as "an irresponsible, self-serving political stunt" that subverted the decisions of local officials and the people of Idaho. McGeachin was serving as acting governor when she issued the order banning mask mandates statewide among state...

Idaho Governor Brad Little repealed an executive order that prohibits the enforcement of mask mandates in the state, calling it "an irresponsible, self-serving political stunt," according to a statement the Republican released Friday. The face mask ban was signed by Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin, also a Republican, while Little was out of town. "An executive order that was issued while I was out of state this week runs contrary to a basic conservative principle – the government closest to the people governs best," said Little said in his statement. "I do not like petty politics. I do not like political...

The Texas Senate on Thursday approved a bill to ban homeless encampments throughout Texas — a response to the city of Austin lifting a similar local ban two years ago that was recently reinstated by voters. House Bill 1925 would make camping in an unapproved public place a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500. The bill calls for law enforcement officers to redirect homeless people to available local resources — such as a shelter or nonprofit group — “before or at the time” they issue a citation. The House approved the bill earlier this month....

TORONTO (AP) — Ontario’s premier is keeping outdoor recreational activities like golf courses closed for at least two more weeks despite calls by health officials and mayors to resume them for physical and mental health. Premier Doug Ford on Thursday extended what he calls a “stay-at-home” order for Canada’s largest province until at least June 2. Retail stores are open for curbside pickup and highways and roads are busy, but restaurants — including outdoor patios — are closed, as are in-class schooling and gyms. Most nonessential workers are working from home amid a third wave of coronavirus infections fueled by...

1:03 On Wednesday’s “CNN Newsroom,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said that people can dance at weddings “if you’re socially distanced and you’re wearing a mask and you meet the other requirements with our level of vaccinations,” and praised D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who has implemented an outright ban on dancing at wedding receptions, by stating that “it takes courage to be really clear about what constitutes high-risk activities and behaviors.” Host Alisyn Camerota asked, “Is there dancing allowed in New Mexico, governor?

The board’s decision is expected within days. Trump was indefinitely banned from the social media site ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Biden administration has announced a ban on pumpkin spice-flavored beverages for the good of the white girl community, sources confirmed Thursday. Joe Biden made the announcement in his speech last night and signed an executive order banning the beverage this morning. "Look, we want the white girls to be per---pretty, to be pretty and nice and healthy and smell, you know, the thing, to smell good," Biden said in his speech, which was heralded as "clear and coherent" and a "refreshing return to normalcy" by the press. "So, we're getting rid of the pumpkin spice Fraps. You know,...

Hong Kong passed a new immigration law on April 28 that gives authorities the power to prevent people from entering and leaving the city, raising concerns that Chinese mainland style “exit bans” will be implemented in the financial hub. The United States expressed that it is “deeply concerned” about the new law. Meanwhile, a recent study shows that more than half of the local youth that took part in the survey want to leave Hong Kong in the future. According to the public broadcasting service Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) passed the “Immigration Amendment...

HONG KONG, April 28 – Hong Kong’s legislature passed on Wednesday a controversial immigration bill, which lawyers, diplomats and right groups fear will give authorities unlimited powers to prevent residents and others from entering or leaving the Chinese-ruled city. The government has dismissed those fears as “complete nonsense,” saying the legislation, which will come into effect on Aug. 1, merely aims to screen illegal immigrants at source amid a backlog of asylum applications and does not affect constitutional rights of free movement.

Last June, as part of the response to the pandemic, President Trump imposed a ban on new H1-B visas. For those not familiar, that program allows employers to bring skilled, nonimmigrant workers into the country to fill jobs that the employer allegedly can’t fill with citizens. It was a sensible decision, both in terms of preventing additional COVID cases from arriving on our shores and the fact that so many people were unemployed that employers shouldn’t have had any trouble finding workers to fill their ranks here at home. But for some reason, according to one source who spoke to...

An editor employed by USA Today has suggested that Oral Roberts University, a Christian institution that has made a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, should be banned from NCAA competition over its policies on sexuality. A private Christian school based in Oklahoma founded by Charismatic televangelist Oral Roberts, ORU has an honor code that prohibits students from engaging in homosexuality or same-sex marriage. Hemal Jhaveri, editor and columnist at For The Win, which is part of USA Today, penned a column published Tuesday claiming that “the university’s deeply bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ polices [sic] can’t...

Senate Democrats introduced legislation that would ban 205 “assault weapons” Thursday, just hours after the House passed two other gun control bills. Introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the legislation called the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2021” would also outlaw magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and is co-sponsored by 34 other Senate Democrats. According to a press release from Feinstein, the bill “bans any assault weapon with the capacity to utilize a magazine that is not a fixed ammunition magazine and has one or more military characteristics including a pistol grip, a forward grip, a barrel shroud,...

Sri Lanka has announced plans to ban the wearing of burqas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools known as madrassas, citing national security. “The burqa has a direct impact on national security,” Weerasekara told a ceremony at a Buddhist temple on Saturday. “In our early days, we had a lot of Muslim friends, but Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,” Weerasekara said, according to video footage sent by his ministry. “It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently....” The wearing of burqas was temporarily banned in 2019 after the Easter Sunday...

Maryland lawmakers advanced a bill Monday that would prohibit stores from providing plastic bags to customers starting July 2022. An iteration of this legislation passed the House and was voted out of the Senate Finance Committee last year, but it did not reach the Senate floor due to the abbreviated legislative session. With an amendment from Del. Brian Crosby (D-St. Mary’s) that would allow orchard farmers to provide plastic bags to customers for its fruits and vegetables, the Plastic Bag Reduction Act, sponsored by Del. Brooke Lierman (D-Baltimore City) and Sen. Malcom Augustine (D-Prince George’s), moved out of the House...