Free Republic

Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern whose affair with President Bill Clinton shook the nation, is now offering 25 ways to “calm the f—k down” before the election — including an eyebrow-raising recommendation to relieve stress by reading literature on feminism and abortion and through having “sex” — a suggestion seen as tone-deaf given her own controversial past. In a recent piece in Vanity Fair, Lewinsky offers a slew of tips to ease election season stress, covering topics from playing board games to spending time outdoors. However, her closing recommendation — a suggestion to use sex as a “distraction”...

Lockdown restrictions in China’s most populous city will soon be lifted in areas that go two weeks without reporting new cases of COVID-19, authorities confirmed Saturday. Large swaths of Shanghai have been under lockdown since March 28, and nearly all of its 26 million residents are confined at home, leading to complaints about shortages of food and other basic necessities.

The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission...

Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” network host Al Sharpton addressed what he referred to as “latte liberals,” who he described as liberals who are not aware of the progress being made in the black community as they sit in the Hamptons and drink lattes. Sharpton lamented that a particular group of liberals has “taken advantage” of the “pain” of black people and people of the LGBTQ community rather than trying to ease their pain.

Former President Jimmy Carter said Sunday during a church service in Plains, Georgia, that he “was absolutely and completely at ease with death” after doctors informed him in 2015 that his cancer had spread to his brain. “I assumed, naturally, that I was going to die very quickly,” the 39th president said while delivering a church sermon. “I obviously prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death.”

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has recently translated interviews with released terrorists and their families broadcasted on official Palestinian Authority (PA) TV. The interviews reveal that the terrorists have no regrets, lived a life of ease in jail, and had easy access for familial visits. The televised testimony contrasts sharply with PA libel claiming prisoners suffer harsh conditions and their families have a hard time seeing them. In 2010, PA government supervisor of prisoners Issa Keraka called for an international investigation of Israeli "violations" against PA prisoners. The interviews came after the second batch of 26 terrorists was released on October...

Three people who came into contact with France's only confirmed case of coronavirus have tested negative for the SARS-like disease, with results pending on two others, Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Saturday. Lab results were expected later in the day on a friend or family member of the infected man, who remains in serious condition, and another patient who shared his hospital room, the minister and doctors told reporters in Lille, northern France. A doctor, a nurse and a third health professional who had come into contact with the 65-year-old confirmed to have coronavirus are in the clear

Gold prices are plunging as investors grow more confident about the global economy. Gold fell $104, or 5.6 percent, to settle at $1,757 an ounce Wednesday. It's the steepest percentage drop since March 2008. Gold is still is up 24 percent for the year. Investors have been buying gold because of concerns about economic weakness in the United States and Europe .. Recent economic news has been more encouraging...

Wouldn't Russian intelligence and their buddies in the Russian mafia just love this? From Novosti Russia and the United States may ease or even cancel visa regime fairly soon, the head of the State Duma's committee on international affairs said on Wednesday. Vladimir Putin told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in early March that Russia and the United States would take an "historic step" by abolishing visas. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said some two weeks later that Moscow is currently persuading the U.S. to sign an agreement to scrap visas for visits lasting under 90 days. "The idea...

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration Friday said it will allow for more U.S. travel to Cuba, making it easier for schools, churches and cultural groups to visit the island. A senior Obama official told The Miami Herald the much-expected move to expand cultural, religious and educational travel to Cuba is part of the administration's continuing ``effort to support the Cuban people's desire to freely determine their own future. President Barack Obama is also restoring the amount of money ($2,000) that can be sent to nonfamily members to the level they were at during part of the Clinton and Bush administrations.

US Mideast envoy George Mitchell's first endeavor upon landing in Israel Monday night was to try and lower the volume in the US dispute with Israel over settlement construction. Mitchell emphatically denied he had said, as was reported Sunday in the Hebrew press, that the days of Israel lying to the US over settlements were over.

With more people turning to Apple products, and the holiday season just around the corner, Microsoft is keen to emphasize the fact that users looking to switch from Microsoft face the “Apple tax.” In an interview with CNET’s Ina Fried, Microsoft’s vice president of Windows Consumer Product Marketing Brad Brooks was keen to point out the hidden costs that face those making the switch. In fact, he outlines four different taxes: * Choice tax * Application tax * Technology tax * Upgrade tax

SACRAMENTO — Hoping to resurrect an idea voters rejected in last year's special election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to offer lawmakers a deal: He'll support an easing of term limits if they'll agree to change the way California draws voting districts. Schwarzenegger said in an interview Thursday he does not believe term limits have improved Sacramento's political culture. Allowing legislators to stay in office longer would be worthwhile, he said, if it induced them to put a proposal on the ballot that would strip them of the power to carve political boundaries. The governor reasons that lawmakers may not want...

THURSDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- A magnetic device that seems to help depression and seizures may also short-circuit migraine headaches in their earliest stages, a new study finds. The transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device, about the size of a hair dryer, was able to interrupt the development of migraines, according to data to be presented Thursday at the American Headache Society's annual meeting, in Los Angeles. The study was funded by the device's maker, NeuraLieve, of Sunnyvale, Calif. About 28 million Americans suffer migraine headaches and about 20 percent experience migraine with aura, characterized by changes in vision before...

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia-Montenegro - Getting a good night's sleep in the Balkans can be rough for peacekeepers bunking in a military camp far from home and family for months at a time. So Danish researchers are testing an unusual solution — MusiCure, a soft pillow that chirps like a bird and is designed to lull soldiers to sleep in Kosovo, Iraq and other hotspots. With built-in speakers, the white pillows release sounds from nature combined with acoustic instruments such as cellos to provide a serenade designed to help stressed-out minds shed unpleasant thoughts. Its designers say that if it works,...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. military plans to ease conditions for some detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — housing them in a renovated section with televisions, stereos and a view of the Caribbean, the detention center's commanding officer said in court papers. For the past several weeks, the military has been renovating Camp Iguana for detainees who are deemed no longer a threat to the United States, Brig Gen. Jay Hood said in an affidavit filed late Tuesday in federal court in Washington. The renovations are scheduled to be finished around Aug. 15, and some of those designated...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican or Democrat, most governors have two things in common. First, they want to be president. And they know that to be president they must find new policies and language — presumably both — that help voters feel less anxious about their place in a rapidly changing society. "People sense that there are enormous changes going on in the world and they don't see Washington providing any answers," said Democratic Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia. Warner is the outgoing chairman of the National Governors Association, which held a weekend meeting in this hotbed of presidential politics....

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Goats grazing on 12 acres of brush at San Pedro's Peck Park Canyon for the past two weeks should have the wildfire danger eliminated this week. "The goats were happy, the city was happy and the park looks beautiful. We look forward to welcoming them back," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said. The city's pilot program brought in 143 goats on June 28 to clear away the brush. Oregon-based Nanny & Billy's Vegetative Management was paid $11,500 to clear the park's Hernandez Ranch area in advance of the wildfire season. "Basically, the department likes the goat idea," area...

Texas is the only state that prohibits voters who participate in a political party's primary election or a local party convention from signing ballot access petitions for political parties or independent candidates for office. Since 1972, the six other states that had a similar provision have dropped it. Now, the Libertarian Party of Texas is working with state legislators to get a bill passed to eliminate this facet of election law, which is called "primary screenout." On Feb. 28, State Representative Todd Baxter, a Republican, filed the bill (HB 1721) for consideration by the state House's Elections Committee after Libertarians...

At least some of the Sept. 11 terrorists, all Arabs, obtained illegal driver's licenses and used them to board airliners on that horrific day. Which is why the issue of granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants is a matter of pressing national security concern. Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, has led a long-running campaign to enact a bill allowing illegal immigrants to obtain California driver's licenses freely. His efforts run counter to post 9-11 initiatives at the federal, state and local levels to strengthen homeland security against terrorist infiltration. The sweeping intelligence overhaul passed by Congress this week recognizes the...