Free Republic

Tens of thousands flocked to Orange County beaches that are still open during the coronavirus pandemic as the hot weather settled over the region. Surfers and crowds of people were seen along the Huntington Beach coast as the region is experiencing a heat wave that is expected to last through the weekend. Officials urged individuals to continue practicing physical distancing when outside, but that didn't seem to be the case Friday afternoon. Many beach goers were seen with less than six feet between them and many weren't wearing face coverings. While the beach may be open, the parking lots aren't...

While Texas is one of the more aggressive states in its reopening schedule, one town has made the decision to outpace even Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s ambitious timeline. Colleyville, Texas has become the first city in the state to reopen several “non-essential” businesses and organizations, including churches, gyms and salons. “Colleyville Mayor Richard Newton became the first in Texas to issue a proclamation allowing churches, retail stores, gyms, salons, massage parlors and restaurants to reopen Friday — with social distancing — ahead of an order by the Texas governor expected next week,” The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. The L.A....

Government authorities, advisers and analysts who are calling for a continuation of the near-total lockdown of the economy are ignoring five key facts, contends a former top health official at the Stanford Medical Center. Dr. David Atlas, now a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, argued in an column for The Hill that Americans "are now desperate for sensible policymakers who have the courage to ignore the panic and rely on facts." "Leaders must examine accumulated data to see what has actually happened, rather than keep emphasizing hypothetical projections; combine that empirical evidence with fundamental principles of biology established for...

Sedalia knife shop owner Hal Van Herke on Tuesday posted a Declaration of Business Independence on Facebook saying he would reopen CastleGate Knife and Tool Tuesday in defiance of Governor Polis’ stay-at-home order. Van Herke’s declaration says in part: “WHEREAS: Small businesses have carried the burden of this effort more heavily than special interests, large corporations and major banks who once again received preferential treatment and largess from the Federal Government at the further cost of small business tax payers, and WHEREAS: Non-essential Government, Academic, and Corporate staff continue to remain unconscionably fully paid at the same time that Small...

There is simply no other way to state this. Nearly everything we’ve been told about models, rates of infection, deaths, and recoveries was inaccurate. I’m not here to argue that it was malfeasance or ignorance — both are unacceptable. But the one thing that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s stunning announcement made clear on Thursday is that there are some pretty shocking — and what should be — reassuring truths. Cuomo announced that antibody testing in New York state, which only began four days previous, was already demonstrating that at minimum 13.9% of New Yorkers, had COVID-19 late stage antibodies. The implication...

In my previous column, posted on April 6, I lamented that the actions of some police officers, ordered to carry out some of the sillier or more onerous restrictions attendant to the pandemic, will further erode the already strained relationships their departments have within their communities. As one might have predicted, things have only gotten worse. Since that column was posted, we have seen police officers issuing $500 citations for the crime of attending a drive-in church service, and others arresting an Idaho woman who dared take her kids to a closed playground. Indeed, social media is awash with similar...

Hillsdale College and its Barney Charter School initiative have launched a series of more than 40 free YouTube videos for parents and their children engaged in at-home learning during the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The video series is specifically focused on at-home learning during this time and is based on an American classical approach to education. In one of the opening videos, Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, assistant provost for K-12 education at Hillsdale College, said, “Classical education, at its root, is common-sense education.”

Tucker Carlson asked a crucial question last night, making the case that the ‘lockdowns’ haven’t worked as advertised. Which leads to all-important follow up: If they haven’t worked, why are we causing the death by other means while destroying the economy in keeping its ‘non-essential’ parts locked down? Defining terms: How much of the economy has been ‘locked down’? Let’s begin by pointing out that was never a total ‘lockdown’ or ‘shut down’ as implied in the authoritarian leftist media. Trying to obtain a precise valuation on how much of the economy was ‘locked down’ has been difficult. Estimates as...

At Peachtree Battle Barber Shop in Buckhead, customers waited in line shortly after 7 a.m., Channel 2 Action News reported. And at Studio 151 in Dallas, the first appointment was at 6:30 a.m., according to the salon’s owner. A sign on the door spelled out salon protocols, including those required by the state and additional measures to keep employees and customers safe.

Waves of people are trying to leave New York for the suburbs and smaller cities amid growing fears that the city may never return to its former glory or that it will take years to get there. Among those fleeing are parents with young children who had already been eyeing moves to suburbs and were give a push when the pandemic hit, and frustrated singletons who no longer see the point in paying exorbitant rent prices for small apartments when there is no city beyond their homes for them to enjoy. It has sparked questions of whether New York will...

The tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be entering the containment phase. Tens of thousands of Americans have died, and Americans are now desperate for sensible policymakers who have the courage to ignore the panic and rely on facts. Leaders must examine accumulated data to see what has actually happened, rather than keep emphasizing hypothetical projections; combine that empirical evidence with fundamental principles of biology established for decades; and then thoughtfully restore the country to function. Five key facts are being ignored by those calling for continuing the near-total lockdown. Fact 1: The overwhelming majority of people do not...

Everyone who has been paying attention knows that the epidemiological models on which the current shutdown mania is based have been proved to be wrong, wrong, wrong. Yet, zombie-like, they continue to influence our ill-informed policymakers. A reader who prefers to remain anonymous despite her apparent qualifications writes: I just want to follow up yet again on how extraordinarily wrong the projections for hospital demand have been, along with some detail about what’s going on in hospitals. In a number of states they’re about to reopen for nonemergency procedures. But over the past month they’ve been so empty that they’ve...

Facebook is trying to prevent in-person gatherings, but there are too many posts to block. A spokesperson with Facebook had initially said hey received instructions by the state governments advising that in-person gatherings break lockdown and social distancing laws in place as a reaction to the coronavirus, and those events should be removed. Anti-quarantine posts have been removed for protests in California, Nebraska, and New York. Facebook faces issues enforcing the removal of posts and events that violating social distancing due to to the number of posts being made, and the differences in laws state-by-state. Anti-quarantine protests being organized through...

Jim Bopp, Jr. filed two lawsuits in federal court this week — one in Nevada and one in Virginia — to stop officials in those states from mailing out ballots to everyone on the voter rolls, not just those who request them. “I don’t use the word ‘voters,’” he says, “I use the word ‘people on the registration rolls’ because many of them are ineligible to vote. They’re not voters. They’re people that are on the registration rolls that are ineligible to vote.” As the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the nation, Democratic officials and activists began pushing states to switch to...

A group of protesters showed up at a law enforcement officer’s home on Tuesday evening shortly after a woman was hauled off in handcuffs and arrested for taking her children to a playground. Two uniformed law enforcement officials can be seen outside of the home and interacting with protesters who are outraged with the lockdown tyranny that has arisen as a result of the coronavirus panic. The home belongs to one of the officers responsible for carrying out the brazenly tyrannical order. “They need to know this is not okay,” one concerned citizen told police. “We the people are not...

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued guidance Tuesday reminding colleges that financial assistance provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was never intended for illegal immigrant students. As reported by Politico, the rule states that only students who qualify for federal financial aid, which includes U.S. citizens and some legal immigrants, are eligible for the more than $6 billion in emergency aid funding intended to go directly to students impacted by the pandemic. The $6 billion is part of the more than $14 billion Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which is part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act....

It is that time again, dear Morning Briefing readers, for me to express my dismay about some of the more heavy-handed government responses to our current coronavirus crisis. I will forego the disclaimers this time. Whiners are going to whine and we have important freedom-loving things to discuss on this fine Thursday morning. There has been more talk this week about eventually reopening businesses and relaxing some stay-at-home orders but that doesn’t seem to be resonating with many people who are just tired of this, already. They want things to happen now. Restlessness abounds in the Quarantine States of America,...

Gradually it is dawning on people that the big losers in COVID-19 are fracking, airlines, hotels, restaurants, newspapers, and New York City. The first three are resilient because they have weathered many a business cycle but he latter three are devastated. One industry in peril that does not get mentioned is the automotive industry, particularly those who service vehicles. Automobiles are sturdier and last longer. My car is 10 years old and I see no reason for it not to go another 10 years, especially as I have averaged less than 10,000 miles annually in the last 6 years. Projecting...

ussia's Severnoye Design Bureau has stopped development entirely of its Project 23560 destroyers, also known as the Lider class, and the Project 22350M frigate, an expanded derivative of the Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov class. The company has said these ships are among its most promising future offerings and the halting of the two programs has raised questions about its long-term financial stability. Russian newspaper Interfax reported the new developments at Severnoye, which is part of the country's state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation, on Apr. 18. The information was reportedly contained in an annual review of the shipbuilder's activities in 2019, which...

Gov. Mike Parson said Wednesday most businesses would be able to reopen their doors when the state begins to loosen restrictions on movement early next month. Until May 4, Parson said at his daily briefing, the current state stay-at-home order remained in effect. And he said Franklin County, where officials plan to loosen restrictions this weekend, is still be under the state order. "We're working on the policy and the guidelines for that, but I will tell you almost every business in the state of Missouri will be able to open their doors," Parson said. "People will go back to...