Free Republic

Day 265 Of The Dictatorship Of COVID-19: Tyranny Came Before The Election Welcome to the weekend. This post title about "Game Over" in Venezuela once the late Hugo Chavez was elected President in 1998 the freedom of the country and its economy doomed to their eventual fate. We've experienced this tyranny before our 2020 election that is said to have elected Joe Biden as our President here in the USA. The COVID-19 tyranny first unleashed in March and then lessened for a bit back again. Big Government like colleges, universities, public schools being kept open and Big Business like chain...

Republican Beats Rhode Island House Speaker Tue Nov 3, 2020 Daniel Greenfield The one obvious thing about this election is that it's playing out more like an insurgency than an incumbency election for Republicans. Republican Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung on Tuesday defeated Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, one of Rhode Island’s most powerful politicians, in an election that set a new state record for voter turnout. Republicans are vastly outnumbered in the state Legislature, but the victory is sure to trigger a power struggle among House Democrats. Mattiello, an attorney and a conservative Democrat, has been House speaker since 2014 and...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Republican Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung has ousted Rhode Island’s Democratic House speaker, Nicholas Mattiello.

Guest Piece by America’s History Teacher, Larry Schweikart Confession: I rarely watch conservative, or so-called conservative, news sites. You can get some information that way, but I find it much more instructive to watch the reactions of liberals to the stories of the day. That is an instant indicator of who is winning and losing. For example, if the Washington Post says “Trump must change tone or face loss,” you know that Trump’s tone is deadly effective. Or, if Politico headlines “Some Senator Say McConnell Moving Too Fast on Barrett Nomination,” you know that Yertle is moving at light speed...

Rarely has our nation seen a judge more competent and qualified to serve on the Supreme Court than Amy Coney Barrett. During her confirmation hearing, she held me in thrall with the magnificence of her mind. Only once before has anyone inspired the thought, "Greatness walks amongst us." His name is Trey Gowdy. In Amy Coney Barrett, I feel the same awe and chills once again. With Amy's confirmation, Lady Justice will no longer peek from underneath her blindfold. No longer will there be a finger surreptitiously pushing down on one side of her Scales of Justice. When Barrett's Senate...

Cars blocking roads, fireworks thrown at cops, riot police respond with charge. At least 6 arrest so far. Seconds ago ongoing. Not too major yet, but they aren't dispersing either. Line of riot police across road now.

**SNIP** RUSH: So Sheldon Whitehouse, who is a Democrat senator from - I don’t know - Connecticut or he’s from New Hampshire, Rhode Island, wherever. Sheldon Whitehouse. He’s probably one of these guys in high school and college that was just a nerd that ran everybody ragged, irritated ’em. He’s now a United States senator. (interruption) “Rhode Island.” Figures. He was going to destroy Amy Coney Barrett. He was gonna destroy Amy Coney Barrett on the subject of dark money. Now, dark money in this case, he wanted to show how (sinister) “There’s a secret network out there that’s getting...

Supreme Court fight pushes Senate toward brink BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 09/26/20 01:02 PM EDT The burgeoning fight to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat is pouring fuel onto already simmering tensions in the Senate and threatening to fundamentally reshape the institution. Senators in both parties acknowledge the level of dysfunction in a chamber where the bulk of their time is spent processing nominations amid failures to break stalemates on pressing national issues such as coronavirus relief and police reform. “I’m praying to God that the better angels start flying with my colleagues. That’s all I can tell...

A Rhode Island professor with a history of incendiary comments against conservatives is under fire this week for appearing to suggest that the fatal shooting of a Patriot Prayer supporter during unrest in Portland last month was morally justified. The comment from Erik Loomis, a history professor at the University of Rhode Island, came in response to a comment on his blog post: “Why Was Michael Reinoehl Killed?” The post questioned whether police deliberately “murdered” 48-year-old Michael Reinoehl, the man who fatally shot Aaron “Jay” Danielson on Aug. 29, the night Trump supporters clashed with backers of Black Lives Matter...

The University of Rhode Island recently announced plans to remove two murals depicting the events of World War II due to their lack of diversity. The decision was prompted after students complained that the mural was not compatible with the university’s values of inclusivity. According to the school’s Vice President of Student Affairs, “Some of our students have even shared with us they didn’t feel comfortable sitting in that space.”

Economist Steve Moore says that people are migrating out of states like New York, Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Michigan, and into other states like Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, South Carolina and Florida. "People are voting with their feet against the policies of blue state America," he said during an interview on the John Solomon Reports podcast Moore, the author of the book "Trumponomics," noted the U.S. economy's strong performance prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and said he believes that president Trump will secure reelection. He said that when voters cast their ballots, "it's not gonna be a popularity...

Rhode Island is now considered a high-risk state and anyone traveling to or from the Ocean State will be required to quarantine for two weeks, produce a negative test result or face fines beginning on Friday, state health officials announced. The Department of Public Health confirmed in a tweet late Tuesday afternoon that Rhode Island was removed from its lower-risk state list “due to increases in both RI’s positive test rate and cases per 100,000.” Rhode Island is the first Northeast state added to Massachusetts’ travel advisory list, which requires anyone traveling from all but seven states to complete a...

A 14-year-old girl has been charged with the murder of a contractor, who was gunned down while doing work on a Rhode Island home earlier this month. Jorge Gonzalez Colon, was shot five times outside the Providence residence, located in the city’s Silver Lake neighborhood, on July 1. The 37-year-old victim was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

389 In the early years of the 20th century, tuberculosis ravaged American cities, taking a particular and often fatal toll on the poor and the young. In 1907, two Rhode Island doctors, Mary Packard and Ellen Stone, had an idea for mitigating transmission among children. Following education trends in Germany, they proposed the creation of an open-air schoolroom. Within a matter of months, the floor of an empty brick building in Providence was converted into a space with ceiling-height windows on every side, kept open at nearly all times. The subsequent New England winter was especially unforgiving, but children stayed...

The sweeping hack of verified Twitter accounts Wednesday night was one of the largest security lapses in the platform’s history and led to thousands of users being partially locked out for hours. But the social media giant, and its users, may have gotten off easy. Now lawmakers and top officials are mulling how to ensure Twitter is not hacked by groups with more malicious intentions and how to protect other potential cyber targets from the same fate. The conversation has taken on a particular urgency as geopolitical tensions increase during the COVID-19 pandemic with only months left until a presidential...

Rhode Island is dropping the latter part of its official name on state documents, per an executive order signed by Gov. Gina Raimondo (D). The state, formally known as the “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,” will be removing “and Providence Plantations” due to its connection to the history of slavery, officials say. Raimondo signed an executive order on Monday, citing ongoing public discussion of the word “plantations” in Rhode Island’s official name, which was established in 1790.

What’s in a name? For the state of Rhode Island, years of acrimony over an official designation with connotations of slavery. But change is brewing in the union’s smallest state, as Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order on Monday taking the "first steps" to change the state’s full name: "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." The "plantations" part of the name has come under increased scrutiny following widespread protests after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

The smallest state in the country has the longest name, and it’s not sitting well with some. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo announced plans to sign an executive order Monday afternoon to remove the phrase “Providence Plantations” from all gubernatorial orders and citations, executive agency websites, official correspondence, and state employee pay stubs. “Our work to dismantle systemic racism in Rhode Island did not start today and it will not end today, but we can rise together and make meaningful progress toward racial equity now,” Raimondo said. Officially, Rhode Island was established as “The State of Rhode Island and Providence...

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE): A parent started a petition, which thousands have signed, to help save a Pawtucket teacher’s job after he was arrested over the weekend. However, not everyone is agrees with the cause. Derrick Garforth, 34, was charged over the weekend following vandalism at the Christopher Columbus statue on Elmwood Avenue. According to Police, Garforth with the help of 2 others, splattered paint towards the statue, which had already been boarded and fenced off out of precaution. Garforth was charged with desecration of grave/monument, which is a felony. Garforth teaches social studies at Joseph Jenks Junior High School. He’s...

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WJAR) — Military and police discounts will no longer be offered at Allie's Donuts, according to a statement posted on its Facebook and Instagram pages. "A note to the officer who profiled the Providence firefighter the other night: That is an example of terrible job performance," Allie's wrote in a story on its Instagram page Saturday. "If you were an athlete, you'd be cut from your team. If you were our employee, we would fire you immediately. But, you are a police officer. And despite being the ones responsible for protecting the law, you may be considered...