Free Republic

There is no evidence shutdowns did anything but deepen the economic suffering, increase suicides, and prevent lifesaving medical tests and treatments.The government response to COVID-19 has mostly been a failure. Theatric, yes—see New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Emmy. Symbolic, yes. But there is no evidence shutdowns did anything but deepen the economic suffering, increase suicides, and prevent lifesaving medical tests and treatments.With the exception of former President Trump’s effort to speed research, approval, and rollout of a COVID vaccine through Operation Warp Speed, and efforts to discourage the spread of the virus through border restrictions (now abandoned by President Biden),...

If a child doesn't have to die to save grandma from coronavirus, why would we ever let that child die? A heartbreaking longread from ProPublica challenges the nation.One year ago, when lockdowns began, Americans were told we had to make a terrible choice akin to the climax of the superhero movies in which a villain threatens two things the hero loves, forcing him to choose which to save and which to sacrifice. We were told that millions of Americans were going to die from a Chinese supervirus, and the only way to reduce that death toll from inflating even higher...

The weakness and stupidity of America’s right has allowed false narratives to cement in the minds of the public. It’s killing our freedoms. It’s killing our jobs. It’s killing our families.Did you know that you can see The Great Wall of China from outer space? Is that not absolutely incredible? I heard this cool little fact from a friend some time ago and began telling everyone I knew about this cool trivia nugget.What really blew me away was how almost everyone I told had already heard this and agreed with me that it is a very cool fact. A man-made...

We need a full, thorough, and independent investigation with subpoenas to Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, the governor’s staff, and the governor himself.A few weeks ago, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, without a hint of self-awareness, said, “Incompetent government kills people. More people died than needed to die in COVID.” Sadly, I couldn’t agree more. While many in corporate media glorified Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping create a cult of personality for him among Democrats across the country, an examination of his decision-making reveals that he failed New Yorkers on many fronts. Cuomo was given near-unilateral emergency...

The county even regulates what meets the standard of a 'bonafide meal' each group of customers is required to buy if they would like to order beer. All this, we're told, fights COVID.Bart Avery started Bravery Brewing Company just 10 years ago, in 2011. Today, his son does the brewing, and it’s a full-on family business. You can find their beers in restaurants, liquor stores, gas stations, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes in the surrounding area, but the main profits come from happy customers enjoying beer on tap in the tasting room. And that’s where the problems start.With even New...

‘[I]f Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter California’s churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry.’In a Friday night 6-3 injunction responding to emergency petitions from two California churches, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion that California’s restrictions against worship services have gone too far. The court gave a short, unsigned opinion demanding California lift its restrictions on in-person, indoor church services while allowing California to keep banning singing and limiting attendance to 25 percent of church buildings’ capacity. The decision allows churches to present evidence...

Joe Biden is falling back into nakedly partisan politics in which teachers’ unions get what they want no matter what the evidence shows or common sense dictates.Outside of his family, few people believe Joe Biden will seek a second term in 2024, at age 82. Thus, he is uniquely positioned to rise above partisan politics, stand up to the special interests and put regular Americans first. But if the debate about re-opening schools is any guide, Biden is wasting that opportunity and falling back into nakedly partisan politics in which the Democratic Party’s biggest donors—here, teachers’ unions—get what they want...

Edelbrock Group, a Southern California-based manufacturer and distributor of aftermarket auto parts, will soon be shuttering its Torrance headquarters which employs 270 workers. In a recent notice sent to the state Employment Development Department, the company said employee layoffs would begin Jan. 15 and end March 31. The closure will affect 217 hourly workers and 53 salaried employees. The Torrance facility includes executive offices as well as sales, advertising and marketing departments. The facility also has a state-of-the-art research and development department, testing facilities and manufacturing operations. Neva Burke, Edelbrock’s vice president of human resources, didn’t give a reason for...

America welcomed a new president last week. As predicted, the theme of Joe Biden’s inaugural address was unity. That’s not surprising after five years of toxic political discourse, in which families splintered and relationships were broken off by the mere admission that somebody supported Donald Trump. But just talking about unity isn’t enough. President Biden needs actions to match those lofty words, and he needs to make sure others in his administration and party do the same. He can start by calling for an end to the lockdowns that governments have ordered since last March in response to COVID-19.As I...

MINNEAPOLIS—Overseeing sober living homes for newly recovering drug addicts is difficult in the best of times. But the endless shutdowns have created conditions that are challenging for healthy people, let alone those who are fresh out of rehab, vulnerable, and still reeling. Matt Royce, 35, oversees seven sober-living homes in Minneapolis. All of his houses, each holding between 9 and 13 people, have been “pretty full the whole time.” No overdose deaths had occurred in his homes in almost three years, but last summer he lost two people, while another three were revived from overdoses with opioid-blocker Narcan. Depression has...

As an adult who teaches, I got to choose an open school. Union politics have now barred millions of families from a similar privilege.I don’t blame schools for closing in March. Very little was known about COVID-19 then, so closures seemed the safest decision amid the uncertainty. Neither do I blame schools for a meager showing that semester. My own district threw together online curricula and instructional materials practically overnight. The results were dismal, but it’s the best many could have done given the situation. However, we’ve now had nine months to understand this virus, and all the evidence favors...

California’s fiscal squeeze tightened up Sunday when congressional leaders reached agreement on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that did not include direct aid to state and local governments. It means that Gov. Gavin Newsom faces fewer choices in fashioning a 2021-22 fiscal year budget that he must propose to legislators by Jan. 10 and that California cities struggling with budget deficits won’t be getting help from Washington. However, Newsom, et al, have since gotten some good news from California taxpayers. Administration forecasts that revenues would plummet into the abyss as pandemic-spawned recession struck the state proved to be too...

Here, life has felt incredibly normal. It's also revealed how abnormal the lifestyle I followed in Virginia really was.OCALA, Fla. — Last Sunday I plopped a steaming hashbrown casserole and a bowl of freshly sliced oranges down on one of a row of endless folding tables covered in those flimsy plastic tablecloths you get at the dollar store. The casseroles were outnumbered only by the pans of homemade cinnamon rolls, and the fruit section was meager: it was a good Southern Baptist potluck. Church ladies buzzed around, removing tin foil from tin pans and putting serving spoons in each dish,...

The quality of life here has dwindled, and mental health has taken a hit. I had to start seeing a therapist because every other coping outlet has been eliminated.It’s more than eight months after the March 20, 2020 lockdown orders Gov. Gavin Newson placed on California. Most of the state is in a lockdown again, and we are now subject to a curfew, although no one can explain how that is going to “slow the spread.” Every freedom that I enjoy feels impeded upon, and simple outings can lead to a storm of frustration as I feel like everyone around...

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — Hermosa Beach resident and swimmer Ana Fradkin can often be found at an outdoor pool in El Segundo. Swimming gives her peace of mind, so-much-so she makes in into the pool before dawn about five times a week. “I’m a butterflier, and a freestyler. But now I’m a nothing, I’m a survivor who just swims", said Fradkin. Fradkin is doing everything she can to survive today, because in August, she lost her 14-year-old son Scotty to an accidental drug overdose. The tragedy has uprooted her world, along with her husband and younger daughter Juliet. Fradkin says...

The idea that bars should remain open yet schools remain closed runs counter to any sense of logic, not to mention good public policy.The past nine months have seen more than a quarter-million Americans die from the coronavirus. Each and every death represents a tragedy — a life cut short, an empty place at the family table this holiday season, children mourning their parents, even parents mourning their children. But a separate and ongoing tragedy has also struck at countless more than another quarter-million Americans: Children who have disappeared from school following last spring’s COVID-19 closures. A survey conducted by...

One of the things happening in South Dakota is an infection rate that's among the worst in the nation, at about 8,000 cases per 100,000 people. In Vermont, another small, rural state with a Republican governor, Gov. Phil Scott has embraced safety measures, and the differences are pretty stark. Like South Dakota, Vermont has fewer than 1 million residents, most of whom don't live in cities. It has about 500 cases per 100,000 people. That's the lowest rate in the nation.

Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.. One thing should be abundantly clear by now, after ten months of this pandemic: our political leaders hate us and they think we’re stupid. Nothing else can explain the blatant hypocrisy we’ve seen, mostly from Democrat governors and mayors who are eager to impose harsh lockdowns and strict rules for the public at large but then turn around and do whatever they please with their own families, friends, and cronies. Examples abound, but this week brought a fresh spectacle of hypocrisy in the form of a nervous, patently disingenuous apology from California Gov. Gavin Newsom,...

During Connecticut’s ongoing second wave of COVID-19, Gov. Ned Lamont has taken a noticeably different approach to restrictions than he did during the first wave last spring. Whereas in March the governor closed schools and businesses as part of a widespread lockdown, this time he has pledged to avoid similar measures and has resisted the types of sweeping closures that governors in Washington, Michigan, California and elsewhere have recently announced.

While 'little people' told to cancel Thanksgiving, Speaker plans lavish party. The office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is responding to backlash over a planned dinner she is hosting with new Democratic members of Congress as coronavirus cases continue to spike throughout the country.