Free Republic

Consider this a copy of Donald Trump’s Tuesday tweet in EO form. Remember this? …..This action is taken effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2020 Late yesterday, Trump formalized it into an executive order, but added a new provision. Local and state governments that don’t act to protect federal monuments can expect to kiss some of their federal grant money goodbye — at least to the extent Trump controls those pursestrings: President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the Justice Department...

For decades, the United States has worked with the World Health Organization and others to quash polio, beating back to near extinction a merciless disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children each year. That progress is in danger as the pandemic forces health-care providers to suspend door-to-door vaccination campaigns that have slashed the number of infections. New cases have emerged in ­Niger and Chad, and fears have mounted about a resurgence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although the number of new polio infections has been small — 155 confirmed cases since January — even blips are worrisome, public health...

The Kennedy Center reached a deal with its National Symphony Orchestra that includes pay cuts and wage freezes after the organization previously attempted to furlough the musicians. The center released a statement Tuesday announcing an agreement with the musicians that includes pay cuts of 35 percent for the next six months, a freezing of wages for the 2020-21 season and a delay of a planned pay increase. As part of the deal, the District of Columbia Federation of Musicians, the union that represents the orchestra members, said it will drop its grievance filed against the Kennedy Center, The Washington Free...

The Obama administration consistently sought to slice hundreds of tens of millions of dollars in funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), yearly spending plan requests clearly show — seemingly undercutting previous Vice President Joe Biden’s repeated assaults on the Trump White Residence for its pandemic preparedness. A lot of Democrats, which include Biden, have falsely claimed that Trump slashed the CDC budget, and Biden has advised that he would under no circumstances go after very similar cuts. The Associated Press has famous that those people promises “distort” the specifics, with FactCheck.org pointing out that CDC funding...

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear arguments in two Trump administration cases over a House subpoena to White House counsel Don McGahn and funding for a southern border wall. The court vacated previous rulings in both cases on Friday, according to Politico. Arguments for each are scheduled for April 28 in front of the full D.C. Circuit. House lawmakers petitioned the court last week to revisit a lawsuit to force McGahn through subpoena to testify to Congress. A divided three-judge panel ruled on Feb. 28 that the Judiciary could not decide what amounted to a political debate between...

...Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Their employees are three of the top 4 Bernie donors. Apple is in fifth place. These dot coms are not exactly organizations known to employ members of the proletariat. Google software engineers have sent thousands of dollars, individually, to Bernie. Google’s senior engineers, like the ones who have backed Bernie, make $250,000 a year...

Not many people would complain about a 60-degree day in February. But this winter’s temperature spikes could mean even earlier exposure to one of spring’s downsides: potholes. Tech gurus can’t stop the weather conditions that cause asphalt to weaken and crack — eventually opening up gaping holes large enough to swallow a Goodyear tire or mess up a Jeep’s alignment. But armed with smartphones, algorithms and self-healing asphalt, they’re trying to make road maintenance a little more manageable. While some are experimenting with high-tech ways to fill the pothole once it pops up — like using a 3D printer and...

Seven hundred kids. That’s how many students would have lost their scholarships—and a chance at a better life—if Fifth Third Bank hadn’t come to its senses. Instead, after a week of uncertainty, the company sat down with Florida parents and pastors and decided not to listen to Florida’s cultural bullies. It’s one thing for a company to support LGBT extremism. It’s quite another, the bank agreed, to hurt needy children in the process. Most kids had already left school for the weekend when they got the good news: One of the biggest contributors to the Florida voucher program wasn’t dropping...

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 31 (C-Fam) Last November at a summit in Nairobi, the UN Population Fund announced that it would take $264 billion to reduce global maternal deaths and protect women and girls from violence. The agency just released a publication outlining the details of how the billions would be spent—and the fine print includes abortion. One of the enduring legacies of ICPD in 1994 is the compromise that was struck among nations: that the legal status of abortion was for national governments to determine, and that where legal, it should be “safe.” In the past quarter century, the same...

The impeachment trial of President Trump rolls on, but back in the real world, signs of a different sort of trouble are growing. It now seems clear we are living in a new anti-Semitic moment. From American college campuses to the streets of New York, from the cities of Europe to the Arab countries of the Middle East, reports of anti-Semitism emerge on a daily basis. At Judicial Watch, we have been closely tracking developments. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton announced in May our legal action to shine a light on Arab government support for anti-Semitic activities at American universities....

ducation has long been considered an important part of the U.S. foreign assistance strategy. There is general agreement that education is crucial to bettering livelihoods and improving economic stability in developing countries. According to the World Bank, an increase of one standard deviation in student reading and math scores is associated with an increase of two percentage points in annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth. Access to and quality of education continues to pose a challenge to foreign aid donors. Approximately 263 million children and youth worldwide do not attend school. For those who attend school, the quality...

The Supreme Court returned Monday for oral arguments after a lengthy holiday break. During the court’s January sitting, the justices will hear arguments in eight cases, including ones dealing with school choice and the “Bridgegate” scandal. The justices already have heard arguments in cases involving the Second Amendment, Obamacare, and whether federal law covers claims of discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Later in the term, the court will take up cases involving the president’s ability to fire the head of an “independent” agency, regulation of abortion providers, and the dispute over a subpoena for President Donald Trump’s...

Houston is a faraway place on FM 1413 in southern Liberty County, where a driver is more likely to see a pony munching on grass than a shop on the corner. If not for the trees and an electrical transmission line, the sky would be unbroken, horizon to horizon. It soon could look a lot more like other parts of suburban Houston where the Grand Parkway has gone, with cul-de-sacs replacing horse pastures and retail centers sprouting at major intersections.

Pennsylvania Turnpike users can expect 6% toll increases in 2020 and 2021 but then — if the state Legislature follows through with plans to change how the state funds public transit — the rate of annual increases gradually will go down to 3% in 2028. Nikolaus Grieshaber, the turnpike’s chief financial officer, outlined the agency’s financial future recently in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the 6% toll hike that begins Jan. 5. The increase marks the 12th year in a row that rates have gone up and will increase the fee for a car traveling the length of...

A long-dormant commission charged with planning major road construction opted not to advance any projects after a five-year hiatus that ended Friday. The Transportation Projects Commission met for the first time since 2014 on Friday. The commission is charged with advancing planned highway projects to the Legislature and directing the study of others as part of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Major Highway Development program, typically among some of the biggest in the state. “This committee has been un-functioning for several years and we want to have an opportunity for a good group of people to think through transportation issues...

Development of a proposed hyperloop transportation system linking Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago would not only be a boon to communities along the travel corridors but also would be a strong business investment. That’s the conclusion of a 157-page feasibility study released Monday in Cleveland by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc., a California-based company developing the technology to move passengers and freight at more than 500 mph through low-pressure tubes. Consultant Transportation Economics and Management Systems performed the $1.3 million study of the proposed Great Lakes Hyperloop System. For the first time, the study estimated...

Close to one-third of a $1.5 million federal grant meant to fund HIV prevention efforts in DeKalb County could go unspent by an end-of-the-year deadline, state records show. Budget documents from the Georgia Department of Public Health, which won the money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund projects in DeKalb, show a projected balance of almost $462,000 when the grant expires at the end of December. Unless federal officials extend the funding deadline, both the county and the state could lose that money. “The DeKalb County Board of Health is actively working with our state and...

Three years after the colossal failure of demonetisation the Narendra Modi government has embarked on a similar venture, the FASTag programme, this time targeting road users across the country. But just a day before the November 30 deadline, by which date all vehicles plying the highways would have been mandatorily required to affix an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag on their vehicles, the government blinked. And, like demonetisation, the design of this scheme also reflects a simpleton’s naivete. The announcement that those without the tag would be charged double the tariff at the toll gates set off a firestorm of...

New analysis of projected provincial gas tax revenues in Ontario has revealed that that source of provincial funding will fall much more dramatically than predicted just five years ago due to increased use of electric vehicles and other factors. And so, concludes Trent University professor emeritus Harry Kitchen in a new report titled Ontario’s Downward Trend for Fuel Revenue: Will Road Pricing Fill the Gap?, the provincial government must look for other sources of revenues to build transportation infrastructure. Kitchen recommends road pricing, such as tolls and HOT lanes, with funds raised earmarked for future transportation improvements, and dynamic parking...

Leaders within the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation have approved a public-private partnership to reconstruct a portion of Interstate 81. PennDOT’s P3 Board approved the project, which will involve the reconstruction of a 4.5-mile section of the route near Wilkes-Barre, on Dec. 4. Wilkes-Barre, the seat of Luzerne County in northeastern Pennsylvania, is 20 miles southwest of Scranton. The project will involve widening a portion of I-81 to three lanes in both directions, realigning 2.5 miles of southbound interstate and replacing eight bridges. Other safety measures include eliminating a left-hand exit and improving a substandard weave distance between two routes that...