Free Republic

It’s not like this was a controversial position when you looked at the data. It’s not like there weren’t medical experts saying what The Washington Post has reported recently about schools in the COVID era. Instead, we got endless drama from teachers who didn’t want to work. We had to deal with their nonsense about dying on the job, how they’re signing wills in case they die, and the media did well in peddling the panic porn to make these people hysterical. Parents want their kids in school. And sorry, teachers, you need to get back to work. If you...

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider for the Eastern District of Michigan, and U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge for the Western District of Michigan issued the following statements:“Today’s decision by the Michigan Supreme Court is a victory for all Michiganders and the rule of law,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division.  “The United States Constitution guarantees a republican form of government to every state in our free country.  The Constitution does not permit any public official unlawfully to restrict our liberty.  All public officials must respect the right of...

California's larger counties will not be permitted to reopen their economies further unless they reduce coronavirus infections in the hardest hit places where the poor, Black people, Latinos and Pacific Islanders live. Under a new state requirement for reopening during the pandemic, counties with more than 106,000 residents must bring infections down in these places and invest heavily there in testing, contact tracing, outreach and providing means for infected people to isolate. Los Angeles is one county sure to be affected, along with others in Southern California. The measure is designed to ensure that test positivity rates in the most...

Opened in 1997, upscale Union Square restaurant Farallon was known as much for its wild decor as for its menu of tourist-pleasing seafood dishes. The restaurant shut its doors when San Francisco’s shelter in place began in March, saying then that it would reopen when it was “allowed to return to normal operating hours.” But with normalcy still a distant hope, the restaurant has closed for good, SF Gate reports, sending an email to workers saying that the spot will not reopen when the pandemic ends. In recent years, the decor might have been more of a draw that the...

I have spoken with several friends who are democrats over the past 3 days and even they have had enough. To a person they believe this is 1984 and it's wrong. If there is a single topic that unites all of us it's this. The whole thing is bunk The givernment is setting themselves up for something they won't be able to control once that fuse is lit or that fateful day they meet us "On The Green"

Since May, scores of Republican lawmakers and leaders have offered suggestions to fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to fully reopen the state. They have written numerous letters and made many phone calls expressing how extended executive orders requiring some businesses to remain closed are significantly hurting their constituents. More than 65 Republican legislators sent a letter to Abbott, which still remains unanswered, asking him to simply amend an order to allow some businesses to operate. The majority say they have not received even a response. Since March, more than 8,900 businesses have permanently closed in Texas according to a recent...

After Wednesday’s failed House attempt to override Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of a bipartisan-backed bill designed to give local school officials the final say on holding sports and setting crowd limits, some were left scratching their heads. How could a bill that passed the House by a 155-47 fall short of the 135 votes needed to override the governor’s veto? The answer: 24 of the Democratic legislators who voted “yes” on the bill originally apparently had a change of heart. One of the bill’s original supporters, Rep Mark Rozzi, D-Berks County, was absent on Wednesday. House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff,...

A new study has found minimal evidence that the novel coronavirus is transferring inside K-12 school buildings despite reports of students and faculty across the country contracting the disease. Brown University researchers collaborated with school administrators and released data Wednesday from a new National COVID-19 School Response Data Dashboard. COVID-19 cases recorded in the dashboard show a relatively small degree of spread among staff and students. The study looked at data collected from more than 550 schools across 46 states over a two-week period starting Aug. 31, with more than 300 schools maintaining some level of in-person classes. Researchers found...

COVID-19 Reopening Gov’ J Inslee signed Proclamation 20-25.4 and outlined his "Safe Start". All this year school closure,. The “order” brings Wa. State down directly all on public and private schools. closed… Facilities may remain accessible for use for those whom must and therefore will grovel.

We, Belgian doctors and health professionals, wish to express our serious concern about the evolution of the situation in the recent months surrounding the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We call on politicians to be independently and critically informed in the decision-making process and in the compulsory implementation of corona-measures. We ask for an open debate, where all experts are represented without any form of censorship. After the initial panic surrounding covid-19, the objective facts now show a completely different picture – there is no medical justification for any emergency policy anymore. The current crisis management has become totally disproportionate...

SANTA FE — Republican state Rep. David Gallegos and others filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging New Mexico’s refusal to authorize the reopening of schools in every county in the state, arguing it violates the constitutional right of students to an equal education. The lawsuit comes as Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration delays the return of in-person classes for students in some districts because their home counties exceed statistical thresholds on the spread and prevalence of COVID-19. Many of the affected districts are in the southeast quadrant of the state — a region with three times as many...

One by one, bishops slowly insisting Catholics go back to Mass. How many will listen? Having used their authority to stop lay Catholics from attending Mass, can bishops now invoke their authority to bring them back? Will this genie go back in the bottle? September 16, 2020 (CatholicCulture.org) — Starting this coming Sunday, it will be a serious sin for a Catholic in the Milwaukee archdiocese to miss Sunday Mass without a serious reason. Last week it was OK. It’s still OK in most other American dioceses and archdioceses. Can we expect ordinary Catholics to understand this situation? Can we...

House Republican legislative leaders say “a return to normalcy might be on the horizon” after reviewing U.S. Western District Judge William Stickman IV’s ruling that found Gov. Tom Wolf’s restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 to be unconstitutional. In a ruling issued on Monday, the federal judge ruled Gov. Tom Wolf’s and Health Secretary Rachel Levine’s congregate gathering, stay-at-home and business shutdown orders violated the First and Fourteenth amendments. In their reaction, House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County, and House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, cited an excerpt from the judge’s opinion that highlight that a response...

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued an order banning Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church from conducting, participating in or attending any indoor worship services. It is a stunning blow to religious liberty.

Take off the masks and remove the “social distancing” circles from the floors. Open the schools, liberate college campuses, fill the restaurants and the gyms and the churches and the salons. Enough. If 2020 wasn’t twisted enough, the current political imbroglio centers around a verboten visit to a California boutique for a routine blow-out. Americans are lining up either behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who claims she was “set up” to visit the San Francisco salon, or the salon’s owner, a woman struggling to keep her business alive amid cruel and unscientific edicts issued by her governor months ago....

Political tyrants Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo must not be allowed to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of people in New York City. It is a disgrace that it has come to this, in what was once the worlds greatest city. ... Restaurants in New York City filed a $2 billion class-action lawsuit against city and state officials on Thursday, alleging the indoor dining ban caused “irreparable harm” to the city’s food and beverage industry and pushing for the return to indoor dining — the lawsuit marks the latest attempt to normalize the city through legal action....

Gov. Cuomo says he won't allow reopening until the NYPD has a 4,000-officer social-distancing task force in place More than 350 New York City restaurants have joined a $2 billion class action lawsuit against Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) over the city's ban on indoor dining, arguing state and local officials have done "irreparable harm" with the coronavirus shutdown measure. What are the details? The state of New York has opened up indoor dining for everywhere except The Big Apple where only outdoor dining is allowed, leading (remaining) struggling New York City restauranteurs to take...

LOS ANGELES -- Owners of restaurants, gyms and nail salons criticized California's new rules guiding when businesses can reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the plan will bring financial misery to their industries and further weaken the state's battered economy. The California Restaurant Association said in a statement Friday that restaurants will continue to close permanently around the state because Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan will continue to keep most indoor dining rooms closed, while others will have strict limits on capacity. The group called on Newsom to hold a special session of the Legislature to work on an aid package.

All businesses in Maryland will be allowed to reopen with some capacity restrictions starting later this week, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Tuesday. Hogan's order to move into the third phase of reopening starting Friday includes movie theaters and indoor concert venues, which will be able to reopen at a maximum 50 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is smaller. Outdoor venues will be allowed to operate with a maximum of 200 people, and houses of worship will be allowed to expand capacity to 75 percent. Local governments will be allowed to keep the current restrictions in place for longer...

The US is the only nation among our peers that is keeping our children home from schools. Dr. Scott Atlas held a presser in Florida and he claimed the following: “We are the only nation among our peer nations that are hysterical about opening schools…the only country that seems to be willing to sacrifice our children out of our own fear” Dr. Scott Atlas: “We are the only nation among our peer nations that are hysterical about opening schools…the only country that seems to be willing to sacrifice our children out of our own fear” (this 8/31/20 FL presser https://t.co/SLvDKcLOJM)...