Free Republic

I finally sat down watched the entire 40min video that was posted by JaydenX on youtube from the Capitol on January 6th and one thing jumped out at me: at 24:20 you see a man wearing a ushanka (hat with flaps) appear from behind the police line, the only person to do so. He announces himself and is quickly pushed into the crowd. When the crowd pushes past the police they are stopped by a locked door for several minute, but at 32:00 the crowd changes direction and goes down another hallway. Unfortunately you can't see who it was that...

TL:DR- Biden's numbers in PA mail-in votes are unbelievable. Compared to other states, he would have to have won 100% of all democrat party mail-ins, 7% of Republicans, and 98.5% of all independent mail-ins, completely out-of-line with other state returns. Ran some numbers (sources are https://www.electionreturns.pa.gov/ and https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/PA.html) The party break-down of returned mail-in ballots in PA was: 64.8% Democrat 23.7% Republican .8% minor parties 10.7% Independent. Returned numbers were: 1,694,719 Democrat ballots returned 620,282 Republican 19,873 Minors 280,171 Independent The current number of mail-in votes counted so far is 2,536,759. The total of the numbers I gave you previously...

Allow me the smallest of vanities, but I had to make this in honor of President-Elect Trump's victory on Election Day.

Just contacted Chris Carney's office, 10th district Pennsylvania, my representative. Took me about 20 minutes to get through, as the line was busy, and when I did get through, the conversation lasted approximately 5 seconds. I said I was a constituent of Representative Carney's, wanted to make my voice heard, and the lady on the phone asked me what my zipcode was. I told her and she replied in a delivery that would make an auctioneer proud, "Thank you very much, I'll pass this along", to which I replied, "I didn't tell you want I wanted to say". I suppose...

I spent an hour in an alternate reality on Thursday. In this grim place of long shadows and short tempers, paranoia is the coin of the realm. Fear trumps fact. Anger is virtue. Grievance is universal. Rage is a commodity. Dissent is throatily endorsed, so long as it conforms to majority opinion. The Mob rules here, fella. In this alternate reality, history is malleable. If the record doesn't match the Mob's memory or support its agenda, it must be hammered into shape. Nothing is what it seems, anyway, except of course those things that really are what they seem. In...

It is almost redundant to say that an impending presidential election is one of the most important in history. The election of a president is not simply about elevation of an individual to high office but about the future of the world’s oldest and greatest democracy. Even greater anticipation of this presidential election is abundantly justified, however, by the perfect storm of deeply troubling issues facing the United States, in terms of the economy, security and all of their related issues. The questions of how to reinvigorate the world’s most powerful economy and restore America’s standing in the world go...

DICKSON CITY — A Friday evening police incident spilled over into a Borough Council meeting Tuesday, with gun-rights advocates alleging harassment by two police officers. The regular monthly meeting erupted into a full-blown debate on the Second Amendment, with more than 20 Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association members — many of whom were openly armed — arguing their right to carry a weapon in public. Police have yet to release a report of the incident in which a group of customers at Old Country Buffet were questioned about openly carrying handguns in public. At least one of those customers, Rich Banks,...

Now that’s an expensive pie. When presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton had pizza at Revello’s Cafe in Old Forge on March 10, it cost borough taxpayers almost $400 a bite. Mrs. Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, spoke for less than 10 minutes during his appearance at the Society of Irish Women dinner on St. Patrick’s Day. The cost to Scranton taxpayers? About $90 for each minute he was on the dais. While the parade of presidential hopefuls through Northeastern Pennsylvania before the April 22 primary is expected to give the voting public an unprecedented firsthand look...

Maybe it’s a vast right-wing conspiracy, or maybe people really want a choice. Either way, it’s making work for the Lackawanna County Voter Registration Office. In the three weeks since it became clear Pennsylvanians would have a meaningful role in selecting the Democratic presidential nominee, 832 county voters — Republicans, independents or third-party members — have switched their registration to the Democratic Party. The number who have gone the other way, from Democrat, independent or third party to the Republican camp, is just 27. That’s a ratio of more than 30 to 1 in favor of the Democrats. “There’s obviously...

New taxes fuel Rendell's $27.3 billion budget By PETER JACKSON Associated Press Writer HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Gov. Ed Rendell asked Pennsylvania lawmakers Tuesday to approve higher taxes for consumers, employers, tobacco users and waste haulers to help finance a $27.3 billion budget that includes initiatives in health care, energy and property-tax relief. Rendell also suggested the possibility of leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private operator and levying a new tax on oil-company profits to raise the necessary $1.7 billion for highway and bridge improvements and mass transportation. The budget, the first of Rendell's second term, also calls for...

HARRISBURG — Gov. Ed Rendell is expected to outline a state spending plan today that will boost an array of taxes to fund health care reforms, property-tax reductions and other programs. Though the governor has been tight-lipped on details, in recent days he has revealed plans to: # Increase the 6 percent sales tax, perhaps to 7 percent, to fund property tax cuts for homeowners. These cuts would be in addition to any property-tax relief expected to come from slot-machine revenues. # Boost the state’s $1.35-a-pack cigarette tax by 10 or 11 cents and put a new tax on cigars...

Smoking fine may jump to $1,000 BY STACY BROWN STAFF WRITER Fines for violating Scranton’s new smoking ban could rise to as much as $1,000 if Scranton Councilwoman Sherry Nealon Fanucci has her way. “It’s insulting when you read the newspaper and turn on the television and see some restaurant and bar owners openly saying that they are going to break the law,” Ms. Fanucci said Wednesday. “(Tonight), I will ask for the ordinance to be amended to include either a $500 fine or a $1,000 fine to be levied against establishment owners who allow smoking.” Last month, City Council...

Scranton’s recent decision to ban smoking in almost all public places — coming on the heels of a similar bans in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — represents one of the biggest culture changes of our times. Such a ban would have been unthinkable 50 years ago, when cigarette commercials dominated the airwaves and glamorous movie stars lit up regularly on the silver screen. In recent years, 17 states and more than 500 local municipalities have enacted smoking bans. Cigarette sales have dropped 20 percent since 1998, when tobacco companies agreed to pay $248 billion to the states to help cover the...

Spc. Steve Griffiths scanned right and left of his Army humvee in Iraq on Thanksgiving, then looked again and saw only blackness. He turned his head as the improvised explosive device ripped through the thick window. “I heard the boom. It felt like it was happening in slow motion,” the 21-year-old soldier said. “It was ungodly hot.” The other two soldiers and an interpreter in the vehicle were unhurt, but Spc. Griffiths’ nose took the force of the blast. Unable to see from the smoke and blood, the Olyphant native felt for his arms and legs to make sure they...

On the same day Allegheny County was sued over its new law and one week after Erie County was advised by its solicitor against such an ordinance, Scranton City Council “rolled the dice” and approved a smoking ban Thursday. “Our solicitor wants to roll the dice, but it behooves us to proceed with caution, because I think we can ill afford more litigation in Scranton,” said Councilwoman Janet Evans, whose motion to table the ordinance failed. Council passed the ordinance by a 4-to-1 vote. Solicitor Amil Minora reiterated his belief that the panel was on solid footing in going forth...

Sex columnist Dan Savage’s crude definition of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum’s last name ranks on top in a Google search of the senator’s last name, but it’s just rank to Bob Casey Jr. The Democratic state treasurer said Monday he’s returning Mr. Savage’s $2,100 contribution because the sex columnist’s definition detracts from the way campaigns should be conducted. “It was the right thing to do,” Mr. Casey said after an appearance in Scranton. “Look, a contribution of that size in the context of millions of dollars that both campaigns will raise is obviously not a big percentage of what you’ll...

Led by a turnaround in manufacturing, the number of jobs in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre region hit its highest mark since the current method for counting jobs was created in 1990. Nonfarm jobs in the metropolitan statistical area hit 265,500, about 3,600 more than last year. As more Scranton/Wilkes-Barre residents found work, the region’s jobless rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point to a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent in June, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry. Despite the decline in the area’s jobless rate, it remained greater than the state rate of 4.7 percent — also a 16-year record...

Montage Tobacco Co. owner Mark Brier says there’s no denying little cigars have become an appealing alternative to cigarettes for smokers on a budget. The 49-year-old Dunmore resident pulled a pack of Smokin’ Joes little cigars off a rack Thursday at his Davis Street shop and flipped it over to reveal the price: 89 cents. A pack of the least expensive cigarettes he sells sets a smoker back more than three bucks. “It’s price. It’s strictly the price,” Mr. Brier said of the popularity of little cigars. “They’re not overtaking cigarettes by any means, but they are going.” Wrapped in...

April 21, 2006: 8:45 AM EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some gasoline distribution terminals from Virginia to Massachusetts are seeing shortages as the industry phases out a water-polluting additive, the U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday. The Energy Department has reported shortages at terminals near Richmond, Virginia, as well as the Tidewater area near Chesapeake Bay and Virginia Beach which distribute gasoline to service stations . Average cost for a gallon of regular will be 25 cents higher than last year, U.S. says; strong driving season expected. Critics say ill-timed legislation is partly responsible for prices at the pump, but others...

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Jorge bristles at the thought of being called a criminal. He works full time at a Lancaster city store, where he manages all the incoming stock -- verifying the contents and preparing them for shelving in the appropriate departments. With his earnings, Jorge, who moved to the United Staes six years ago from South America, pays taxes and supports his wife and three young children. In his spare time, he volunteers for a youth sports program. As college graduates, Jorge and his wife want their children to grow up bilingual and be well educated so they...