Free Republic

So if you've been sick, you know that intensive care is not something that doctors recommend lightly. Boris Johnson is clearly in danger, and that's a bad sign. Johnson is in his mid-50s and hale enough to lead a country. If coronavirus can happen to him, a lot of us should be worried. And we are worried -- worried enough to endure things that just a month ago would have seemed preposterous. Last week, Dr. Michael Ryan, a leader at the World Health Organization, announced that in response to the spread of this virus, authorities may have to enter people's...

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The House on Friday voted along party lines to freeze federal funding for Planned Parenthood after weeks of escalating tension surrounding its use of fetal tissue. In a 241-187 vote, nearly all Republicans and two Democrats approved legislation that would block Planned Parenthood's federal funding for one year, giving time for Congress to fully investigate claims of wrongdoing by the provider. Lawmakers also passed a bill tightening restrictions on abortion doctors who violate infant protections in a 248-177 vote. “What we’ve learned about Planned Parenthood is appalling, barbaric and indefensible,” Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-Pa.) said. Three Republicans broke ranks to...

On Monday, renowned author and humanitarian Dr. Jim Garrow made a shocking claim about what we can expect to see in Obama's second term. Garrow made the following Facebook post: I have just been informed by a former senior military leader that Obama is using a new “litmus test” in determining who will stay and who must go in his military leaders. Get ready to explode folks. “The new litmus test of leadership in the military is if they will fire on US citizens or not.” Those who will not are being removed. So, who is the source? Garrow replied:...

School's out at John Marshal High School, and exiting the facility are your typical cliques: cheerleaders, nerds, jocks and Goths… and werewolves? "We're not to be feared,” said Argus, his ghost-white, eyes staring at the camera. Argus is one of several members of the wolf pack, one of several packs scattered about San Antonio's north side. His friend Katze Lupus Burn added, "We're not a gang at all. Gangs are like posers. They just want attention, that's why they go along tagging stuff. The pack? We're a family. We go to each other for our problems." [SNIP] Northside School District...

PITTSBURGH -- Despite some downtown streets being closed, a rally for clean energy jobs attracted a few thousand people to Pittsburgh's Point State Park on the eve of the G-20 economic summit. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers and Kathy Mattea were among the acts playing the "Clean Energy Jobs Now" event downtown. "We're trying to send a message with this event. Obviously the leaders of the world, the G-20 countries, are coming to Pittsburgh tomorrow. Energy and climate are on the agenda for that meeting," said Alan Meyer, of...

BEAVER, Pa. -- A Beaver County jury needed two days of deliberations to acquit a man who carried a gun near a presidential campaign rally for then-Sen. Barack Obama, but John Noble never doubted that his name would be cleared. "Followed the law, and a jury of 12 saw that I did that," Noble told Channel 4 Action News outside Judge Harry Knafelc's courtroom on Friday.

Two men were arrested Wednesday night by Charleroi police after a confrontation that ended with shots being fired by one of the accused. Arrested were Roy K. Cowden III, 27, of 831 Oakland Ave., Charleroi, and Jesse Aaron Snyder, 24, of 101 Ida Ave., Donora. Charleroi police were called just before 10 p.m. to 1215 Upper Meadow Ave. for a report of a possible drug violation. The caller, Jonathan Sphar, told police that he and his friend, Cowden, were in a garage working on all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles. They saw a black Jeep pull into the parking lot next to...

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a Marine cannot sue Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha for defamation after the congressman accused his squad of war crimes and murdering Iraqi women and children. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., claimed Murtha damaged his reputation by saying the squad he was leading killed women and children "in cold blood" in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005. Wuterich is charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter and other allegations for the attack. Murtha and the Justice Department argued the congressman has immunity from the lawsuit because he was acting in...

A Memphis based online news website, CommercialAppeal.com, has posted Tennessee’s right to carry permit holder list online! CommercialAppeal.com apparently feels that the “public’s right to know” outweighs your right to privacy. Their irresponsible decision to publish this list has made it easier for criminals to target law-abiding gun owners. Shockingly when the list was first published, it even included permit holders home address! However, bowing to criticism, CommercialAppeal.com removed the address but still included a permit holder’s full name, birth date, city, zip code, and the issue and expiration date of their permit.

President Obama has been "AWOL" in negotiations over the economic stimulus package, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday in a scathing rebuke of the new president. The South Carolina Republican told FOX News that Obama has not been providing leadership, and he criticized the president for giving TV interviews and writing an editorial touting the package, rather than addressing the complaints of lawmakers. "This process stinks," Graham told FOX News, before repeating a lot of his criticisms on the Senate floor. "We're making this up as we go and it is a waste of money. It is a broken process, and...

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Gov. Ed Rendell outlined a $29 billion budget Wednesday that would expand spending on education, prisons and health coverage while drawing from federal aid and state surpluses, increasing some taxes and cutting other programs. The plan, a 2.5 percent increase from what was originally approved for the 2008-09 budget, also would withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars from the state's "rainy day" contingency fund without draining it completely. It does not call for increasing any broad-based tax. "The budget I propose requires considerable sacrifice and pain, so that we can close the deficit and put our fiscal...

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – After months of will-he or won't-he speculation, MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews has opted not to run for the U.S. Senate in his native Pennsylvania. Matthews told his producers during a meeting just before Wednesday's "Hardball" that he isn't seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat occupied by moderate Republican Arlen Specter, who is up for re-election in 2010.

PITTSBURGH -- A woman who killed a Pittsburgh FBI agent during a drug raid is asking to be released on bail, but prosecutors are playing tapes of her jail conversations that they say show "extreme hostility and lack of remorse" about the deadly shooting. With Special Agent Sam Hicks' family inside the courtroom, Christina Korbe's family members are holding a small rally outside while the detention hearing continues Monday in U.S. District Court. Defense attorney John Elash said that Korbe is not a flight risk and should be allowed to go back to her home on Woods Run Road in...

The Capitol Visitors Center, which opened this morning, may have tripled its original budget and fallen years behind schedule, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a silver lining for members of Congress: tourists won't offend them with their B.O. anymore. "My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway," said Reid in his remarks. "In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true." But it's no longer going to be true, noted Reid, thanks to...

PITTSBURGH -- Would you allow your son or daughter to room with someone at college who carries a gun? What about students carrying concealed guns on campus for protection? It's an issue taking place at a college near you. "The only time it is not on me or with me is when I'm going to class," said one University of Pittsburgh student of his weapon. "Carrying concealed. If you are carrying concealed, then no one even knows you have the gun until you need to use it," said another student who also carries a gun. These Pitt students are part...

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California—and she won't be paying the state a dime.

Will the goddamned carpetbagger triumph? Or will this reckless, bullying fossil actually be returned to Congress for his thousandth term? The answer rests in your goddamned hands.

Police are investigating vandalism reported at a McCain-Palin campaign office in Port Vue. Campaign workers tell police someone threw a brick and a tire through the front plate-glass window of the storefront office in a small shopping center sometime Wednesday night. Port Vue police say they don't know who smashed the window or what might have motivated them. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama had a nationally televised debate Wednesday night. The office remained open on Thursday. The damage estimate is about $1,000.