Free Republic

It doesn't get any better in the U.S. Senate race where former party state chair Jane Timken, perennial right-wing candidate Josh Mandel and author J.D. Vance are fighting over who is the most Trumpian. Ohio State Sen. Matt Dolan jumped into the race, giving the anti-Trump forces an outside shot if the others split their vote. It'll be interesting to see if retiring Sen. Rob Portman — who didn't stand up to Trump for four years — will show political courage now that he’s not facing voters. It’s not much better in neighboring Pennsylvania, where the leading Republican U.S. Senate...

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the results of last year’s Census and shared the news that my home state of North Carolina will be getting a 14th seat in Congress. It’s a welcome bit of news that we’ll soon have another voice in Washington, D.C., but more importantly, it provides an opportunity to re-evaluate what exactly it is we want from our representatives in Washington and how they can finally take meaningful action to help the people they represent. It’s no surprise that Washington isn’t particularly productive; simply put, Americans are fed up with Congress. Approval ratings are consistently...

An apparent anti-COVID-19 vaccine digital billboard had Charlotte residents and social media buzzing Sunday afternoon. But it wasn't anti-vaccine at all. Quite the opposite. The billboard was on the side of a truck being driven around uptown Charlotte as thousands walked the streets during Sunday's Carolina Panthers game at Bank of America Stadium. The message featured simple white lettering on a black background and read, "Don't get vaccinated." Under it was the name "Wilmore Funeral Home." It also included a web address for WilmoreFuneralHome.com. But the funeral home doesn't exist. The billboard was the brainchild of David Oakley, owner of...

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) on Tuesday likened President Joe Biden’s recently announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates to “modern-day segregation,” saying that they should be “rescinded” as they infringe upon the personal liberties of Americans. During an appearance on Newsmax, the Republican lawmaker was pressed by host Chris Salcedo about a viral video that showed a scuffle between a hostess at a New York City restaurant and three tourists, who are black, over a vaccine requirement. Individuals dining indoors in the city are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. According to attorney...

Under the guise of a funeral home, a North Carolina advertising agency launched an unconventional advertising campaign early this week, with a goal to persuade the vaccine-hesitant to take the coronavirus shot. According to The Washington Post, digital billboards on the sides and back panels of a black truck that looped around Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte during Sunday’s Carolina Panthers game were emblazoned with the words “Don’t get vaccinated.” In white lettering, under the words of warning, were the name and web address of a business appearing to be a funeral home, including a 10-digit phone number, according...

A North Carolina health care system said it suspended hundreds of its employees after the firm implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, adding that workers who refuse to get vaccinated after five days will be fired.“Beginning this week, approximately 375 team members—across 15 hospitals, 800 clinics and hundreds of outpatient facilities—have been confirmed to be non-compliant and are not able to report to work,” stated a press release from Novant Health, which is based in North Carolina but operates in other states.“They will have an opportunity to comply over a five day, unpaid suspension period,” the release said. “If a team...

DURHAM, N.C. — Two people died in a shooting on the North Carolina Central University campus on Saturday night. The shooting did not involve NCCU students, according to a statement from university officials. Campus police sent an alert to the NC Central community after a report of shots fired around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night at the Latham Parking Deck on East Lawson Street. The men were injured and later died in the hospital. More than 5,600 attendees at the NCCU football game were placed on lockdown in the nearby O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium when the shooting happened. Surrounding roads were closed...

Two (North Carolina Judges)Two North Carolina judges on Friday struck down a law that required identification to vote, alleging it “was enacted with the unconstitutional intent to discriminate against African American voters.”[snip]Defendants, including North Carolina House Speaker Timothy Moore, failed to show that racial discrimination was not a substantial or motivating factor behind enactment of the law, Superior Court Judges Michael O’Foghludha and Vince Rozier Jr., both Democrats, wrote in (a 102-page ruling) permanently blocking the measure.

North Carolina judges struck down the state’s latest photo voter identification law on Friday, agreeing with minority voters that Republicans rammed through rules tainted by racial bias as a way to remain in power. Two of the three trial judges declared the December 2018 law is unconstitutional, even though it was designed to implement a photo voter ID mandate added to the North Carolina Constitution in a referendum just weeks earlier. They said the law intentionally discriminates against Black voters, violating their equal protections. The law “was motivated at least in part by an unconstitutional intent to target African American...

Will prolonged disruptions shift the pattern of trade? Agiant ship wedged across the Suez canal, record-breaking shipping rates, armadas of vessels waiting outside ports, covid-induced shutdowns: container shipping has rarely been as dramatic as it has in 2021. The average cost of shipping a standard large container (a 40-foot-equivalent unit, or feu) has surpassed $10,000, some four times higher than a year ago (see chart). The spot price for sending such a box from Shanghai to New York, which in 2019 would have been around $2,500, is now nearer $15,000. Securing a late booking on the busiest route, from China...

You've probably heard about monoclonal antibodies—a therapeutic treatment that has been highly successful at treating COVID-19. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for instance, aggressively championed the procedure in his state, which saw such promising results that even Dr. Anthony Fauci came out strongly in support of it. Now, however, the Biden administration is announcing that it will begin rationing the treatment throughout the U.S., citing an alleged fear of shortages: An HHS spokesperson said seven states have accounted for 70% of orders for the therapy. Those seven states are Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. "Given this reality, we...

A leaked Zoom call between doctors and marketing staff at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in North Carolina has gone viral. It shows staff plotting to “scare” the public with inflated COVID numbers. “I guess my feeling at this point and time is maybe we need to be completely a little bit more scary [sic] to the public,” says Dr. Mary Rudyk, who served as the former chief of medical staff. “There are many people still hospitalized that we are considering post-covid but we’re not counting in those numbers, so how do we include those post-covid people in...

Senior doctors discuss inflating COVID numbers by counting recovered patients as active COVID patients. "We need to be more scary to the public. If you don't get vaccinated, you know you're going to die."

A 3-year-old boy was killed and his 4-year-old sister was wounded when several gunmen fired nearly 150 rounds into a North Carolina home — in what police believe was tied to a high school feud. Asiah Figueroa was asleep just before midnight Tuesday when the suspected teenage gunmen pulled up in two cars to his great-grandmother’s Charlotte home and squeezed off hundreds of bullets, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said. Asiah was struck by the gunfire and later died at a hospital. His 4-year-old sister was also struck, but is expected to survive, police said. Investigators released two videos of the suspects pulling...

Asiah was shot dead, while his 4-year-old sister was grazed by a bullet, but she is expected to recover. ‘It was heartbreaking’: Community mourns death of 3-year-old killed in Charlotte drive-by shooting(WBTV) CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A Charlotte community is in pain. They are angry. A 3-year-old child was fatally shot during a drive-by in their neighborhood. Asiah Figueroa was at home Tuesday evening when bullets sprayed into the home on Richard Rozzelle Drive. Upwards of 150 rounds were shot into the home, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. Asiah was shot dead, while his 4-year-old sister was grazed by a bullet,...

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) is describing those in law enforcement custody for allegedly storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's election victory as "political hostages" while repeating false claims that the 2020 election was "stolen." Cawthorn made the remarks over the weekend during an event with supporters that was streamed on Facebook by the Macon County Republican Party. During the event, which included a question-and-answer session with constituents, Cawthorn cast doubt on Biden's legitimate electoral victory over former President Trump and warned of violence "if our election systems continue to be...

A Republican House member wrote a letter Thursday to Vice President Kamala Harris, asking that she seize power under the 25th Amendment. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina Republican, urged Ms. Harris to begin the process of removing President Biden from office as “no longer capable of discharging the duties of his office.” In the letter, Mr. Cawthorn says Mr. Biden has a “declining mind” and is “not even the Joseph R. Biden of two years ago” and thus cannot oversee such crises as the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Mr. Cawthorn urges Ms. Harris to “find your courage” and...

Sawyer sponsored a bill that would have raised the age to 18. Instead, a compromise measure that won unanimous support from the Senate in May and the House this week would raise the minimum marriage age to 16 with no exceptions, including pregnancy. And even those 16 or 17 would need parental permission or a judge’s decision that the marriage would “serve the best interest of an underage party.” Rep. Kristin Baker of Cabarrus County, who helped shepherd the bill through the House, explained that “as a conservative Christian, I am a strong supporter of the sacrament of marriage.” “As...

Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday in a disclosure that was more than a year overdue that his wife in February 2020 bought up to $15,000 worth of shares in Gilead, a biotech company that brought to market the first drug designed to treat COVID-19. Paul’s mandatory filing with the Senate shows that his wife purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Gilead stock on Feb. 26, 2020. Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir became the first COVID-19 specific treatment to win an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration less that three months after the purchase in May 2020.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Hundreds of heathcare workers and supporters are marching to Atrium Health - Main Sunday afternoon to express their displeasure at the healthcare system’s new policy. Atrium Health, one of the biggest healthcare systems in Charlotte, recently announced that all of its employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Atrium, Novant Health requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 On Sunday, a peaceful protest started at Freedom Park and ended at Atrium Health - Main. The protest was organized to stand against the mandated vaccinations issued for Atrium Health employees.