Free Republic

Five Iowa cities have imposed face mask-muzzle orders in the last ten days..... A protest in Moscow, Idaho this weekend following arrests at a worship service there over wearing masks and social distancing...... "scared" and "confused" Thousands of university students locked down in their residence halls in the UK...... Meanwhile in Ireland Professor Dolores Cahill says that a positive COVID-19 test may mean the presence of the common cold..... After yesterday's show of strength by the "Proud Boys" of the "Right" in Portland who were opposed by the "Left" the "Left" took its protest into downtown Portland Saturday night. Police...

Republicans are preparing to release a report in a matter of days on their investigation focused on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, a move they hope will put fresh scrutiny on the Democratic nominee just weeks from the election. The controversial probe, spearheaded by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is focused broadly on Obama-era policy and Hunter Biden's work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings. The GOP report, which is set to be released this week, is expected to argue that Hunter Biden’s work impacted Obama-era Ukraine policy and created a conflict...

<p>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that 550,000 acres of Iowa corn will not be harvested this fall due to damage caused by the Aug. 10 wind storm that swept across the state.</p> <p>That estimate in a report released Friday places the value of the lost corn crop based on the yield and price anticipated before the storm at around $344 million. Corn prices have gone up due to the crop losses so farmers will likely get more money for the corn they do harvest. Most farmers also have crop insurance to cover some of the loss and other federal programs may help.</p>

DES MOINES - Kamala Harris appeared virtually in a prerecorded message, and addressed a field of cars, trucks and SUVs. Other than that, it was business as usual for the Steak Fry. The Polk County Democrats’ annual fundraiser was held Saturday evening at Des Moines Waterworks Park. The Steak Fry had a new look amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held drive-in style, with attendees sitting in their cars and listening to the speakers, some of whom spoke in person, and others who appeared via video. Applause lines in speeches were replaced by honk lines - people honked their car...

After refusing to rule out a potential 2020 primary challenge to President Donald Trump, “Never Trump” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) spoke to about 200 Republicans in Story County, Iowa on Friday evening. Sasse’s excuse was that he was in Iowa because he lost a college football bet and his kids were participating in a triathlon this weekend in the state.. In an interview before his Iowa trip, the insufferable and sanctimonious Sasse would not rule out a potential 2020 presidential run. When CNN asked about his potential presidential ambitions on Sunday, Sasse punted in a way that would have made...

NOTE: The Obama administration approved the Biden-connected sale; Hunter partnered w/ co-buyer, AVIC,..... identified as a front for Communist China's military....... The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is a Chinese state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate. It is ranked 151st in the Fortune Global 500 list as of 2019, and has over 100 subsidiaries, 27 listed companies and 500,000 employees across the globe. ============================================== As he was sewing up the Democrat nomination this spring, Joe Biden surprised many in foreign policy circles by publishing an essay arguing it was time to "get tough with China" and to stop its "robbing...

But for U.S. security experts, it was remarkable for another reason: An investment fund named Bohai Harvest RST (BHR) partly owned and directed by Biden's son, Hunter, and Secretary of State John Kerry's stepson, Chris Heinz, had just a few years earlier played a vital role in facilitating the sale of the Michigan-based auto parts maker Henniges Automotive to one of China's main military aircraft makers, Aviation Industry Corporation of China or AVIC. That 2015 transaction approved by the Obama administration and its Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) came just 15 months after the United States...

Dordt University, a Christian college in Sioux Center, is requiring students to sign a COVID-19-updated covenant prior to beginning the academic year. In addition to an email that requests students not attend a local church (except for virtual services), the covenant says Dordt “may require” a flu vaccine along with a COVID vaccine and leaves the door open to anything else Dordt may see fit during the year. Students will also receive a handstamp if they pass random temperature checks entering Dordt buildings. “In my opinion, the university has blatantly overstepped its boundaries and seeks to bind students’ consciences by...

A state judge has invalidated more than 50,000 absentee ballot application forms sent to voters in Linn County, Iowa, the second-largest county in the state. The county auditor’s office almost completely filled out the ballot applications, despite the secretary of state’s directions that only the election date be included. The auditor’s actions may have also been against a state law that forbids government workers from filling out the forms. Judge Ian Thornhill agreed with the Trump campaign, which had sued the county over the ballot applications.CNN: The judge sided with the Trump campaign and the Republican Party, which filed a...

A court in Berlin will allow a freedom protest in Germany's capital city tomorrow.... An emergency ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a preliminary injunction from a federal district judge restricting federal law enforcement in Portland..... An Illinois judge putting a 30-day hold on an extradition hearing for Kyle Rittenhouse..... A march in Washington today called in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis back in May..... A full pardon from President Trump today for Alice Johnson.... In Belarus some 264 people detained by authorities yesterday..... Russia says that one of its fighters intercepted...

Graham and his staff kept Republican members of the Judiciary Committee in the dark about an interview of key Russiagate figure Joe Pientka on Thursday, multiple sources told The Federalist. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his staff kept Republican members of that committee in the dark about a pivotal interview of key Russiagate figure Joe Pientka, multiple sources familiar with Thursday’s proceedings told The Federalist. Graham and his committee investigative staff, helmed by chief investigative counsel Zach Somers, did not inform Republican members of the committee about the interview, multiple Judiciary Committee sources...

Noem, ok. The rest of them are like watching paint dry. Nikki is very much a pre-Trump, pre-MAGA Republican. Paul Ryan in a dress. Much McConnell with makeup.

The Trump campaign is suing three Iowa counties over their absentee ballots, which arrived “pre-filled with information” — something the campaign claims violates Secretary of State Paul Pate’s (R) instruction to mail blank forms to voters. The Trump campaign has launched lawsuits against Johnson, Linn, and most recently, Woodbury County over the mailing of absentee ballot request forms featuring pre-filled information, including “names, dates of birth and a voting pin number that few people know,” according to the Associated Press (AP). In March, Pate announced that absentee ballot request forms would be mailed out to every active registered voter in...

An English professor at Iowa State University warned students that they might get dismissed from the class if they argue against abortion or criticize the Black Lives Matter movement, according to her syllabus. The syllabus, which was obtained by Young America’s Foundation, was written by professor Chloe Clark, a 2016 Iowa State University graduate, for students who will be attending her English 250 class. The student who sent the syllabus to the organization wanted to remain anonymous, fearing retribution. Clark notified students that “othering” is prohibited in her class, as well as “any topic that takes at its base that...

I have lived most of my life in Cedar Rapids Iowa. Cedar Rapids is as about as Midwestern as you can get. Situated in lush, verdant Eastern Iowa, along the Cedar River. The people are known for a hard work ethic, mostly responsible, sober minded, with midwestern sensibilities, many are church goers, and generally a conservative outlook on life for the most part. (Obviously the toxic culture is eating away from all of that here as everywhere else). Every Summer in Iowa, there are often severe thunderstorms, and even tornadoes, as the arctic fronts from Canada sweep down the natural...

The Iowa Department of Agriculture is estimating that ten million acres of cropland was impacted by Monday’s derecho windstorm. The storm flattened millions of acres of corn in the central part of the state, but Iowa ag secretary Mike Naig says it’s too soon to say how much of the crop has been lost. “The next week will tells us a lot about the fate of the crop,” Naig says. “There’s a lot of corn that’s laying down and some of that corn will still make a crop. It will be able to stand up and still produce. And other...

Cardboard cutouts are life size replicas of a person, typically famous, perfect for parties, events, and photoshoots, as Amazon describes for a cardboard cutout of President Trump. As Amazon explains, these cutouts are easy to assemble, stand on their own, won’t break or damage easily and best of all come with a 30-day money back guarantee. Joe Biden is a cardboard cutout candidate. He was easy to assemble. He did no work on his own with his handlers at CNN and MSNBC assembling his candidacy out of the ash heap of the Democrat primaries. Granted Biden’s primary opponents were as...

DES MOINES – Republican Randy Feenstra has jumped out to a 20-point lead over second-time Democratic nominee J.D. Scholten in the race for Iowa's 4th District, a new poll shows. "It looks like Republicans can breathe a sigh of relief in the 4th District with Steve King out of the picture,” said Patrick Murray, director of Monmouth University Polling Institute, which released the independent poll Thursday morning. Feenstra, a state senator from Hull, defeated King, a nine-term incumbent, in the June primary. Scholten, of Sioux City, is hoping to improve on his narrow 3-point loss to King in 2018. However,...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order Wednesday granting convicted felons the right to vote after they complete their sentences, ending Iowa’s place as the only remaining state to broadly deny voting rights to felons. Reynolds, a Republican, fulfilled a promise she made to issue the order. She said she'll continue to push the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment preventing future governors from overturning it. Her order will not automatically restore voting rights to felons convicted of certain crimes, including first- and second-degree murder, attempted murder, fetal homicide and some sex offenses. Such felons would still need to...

**SNIP** In a major upset, activist, nurse, and pastor, Cori Bush won her second attempt to win the Democratic nomination for the 1st Congressional District against 10-term incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay. Clay is the seventh House incumbent to lose renomination from his own party this cycle, along with Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Rep. Steve King (R-IA), Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO), and Rep. Steve Watkins (R-KS), who also lost his primary the night of August 4. Bush is part of a wave of progressive candidates cropping up around the country seeking to...