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Just a heads up

In 2020, a Black Lives Matter organizer characterized looting as “reparations” and claimed that labeling someone a criminal was “based on racism.” Now a writer has echoed this, insisting in a recent piece that the only solution to “white supremacism” is to “take things from white people.” Worse still, Yahoo! News decided to republish the article, thus giving it vast exposure. The piece, bluntly titled “Take things from white people,” was authored by an angry man named Michael Harriot and originally published at the grio. It’s essentially a very long rant that opens with the question, “What is the opposite...

Jim needs prayers.

In March 2020, most of the world implemented non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) including the use of face masks, social distancing, school closures, and teleworking to prevent the spread of Covid-19. We don’t yet know exactly how well these interventions worked to slow the Covid-19 pandemic. But we do know now that they have helped to slow the spread of influenza. Ideally, the effectiveness of an intervention (e.g. wearing a face mask), is measured by looking at the outcomes one is trying to affect (e.g. the number of cases of Covid-19). With seasonal diseases like flu, the ability to compare the current...

Twenty years ago, Bill Clinton gave us “it depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” James Comey has now given us it depends what the meaning of “vindicated” is. The former FBI director sat down with Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday over the weekend, and it didn’t go well. Wallace repeatedly pressed Comey on critical findings in the Horowitz IG report, and Comey shimmied and dodged, in a master class in slipperiness and evasion. Throughout the interview, Comey sought to minimize what had gone wrong in 2016, fighting a rearguard action on behalf of a position...

This glitzy site popped up second from the top on Google after I read a Washington Post article. My mind said, "That is just wrong".

1T. Rasmussen (11/1-3)** 1T. Pew (10/29-11/1)** 3. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1) 4. Harris Interactive (10/20-27) 5. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)* 6T. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)* 6T. ARG (10/25-27)*8T. CNN (10/30-11/1) 8T. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1) 10. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3) 11. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27) 12. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2) 13. FOX (11/1-2) 14. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27) 15. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3) 16. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2) 17. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2) 18. Marist College (11/3) 19. CBS (10/31-11/2) 20. Gallup (10/31-11/2)21. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3) 22. CBS/Times (10/25-29) 23. Newsweek (10/22-23)

Some rich Americans will not rest until Washington boosts their taxes. Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, Earth's second-wealthiest inhabitant, complains that last year he paid $6,938,744 in federal income taxes, just 17.4 percent of his taxable income. Twenty of his staffers earned much less than he did, but "their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent," Buffet recently wrote ("Please Tax Me. I Can Take It," August 16). Rather than work to cut his colleagues' taxes, the $50 Billion Man wants Uncle Sam to hike his liability. < snip > Assistant House Democratic Leader James Clyburn of South...

Egyptian cleric: The Jews "are enemies not because they occupied Palestine. They would have been enemies even if they did not occupy a thing." [March 6, 2009 ] They keep telling us that it isn't about "stolen land," and that land concessions and even the creation of a Palestinian state will not end the conflict. And we keep refusing to believe it."Egyptian Cleric Muhammad Hussein Ya’qoub: The Jews Are the Enemies of Muslims Regardless of the Occupation of Palestine," from MEMRI TV, January 17 (just posted), with thanks to Sr. Soph:Following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Egyptian...

Profile Of A Memphis Belle Tennessee drunk driving bust yields one very special mug shot MARCH 12--Meet Anna Clifford. The Tennessee woman, 25, was arrested early this morning on a drunk driving rap. According to Memphis cops, Clifford was weaving across the road in a 2000 Chevy when she was pulled over at around 2:30 AM. A subsequent Breathalyzer test showed her blood alcohol content to be .10, above the state maximum of .08. Nothing special there. But the bust of Clifford, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, is notable for the view she afforded Shelby County sheriff's deputies when posing...

The data to make this table came from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and was last revised on October 15,2004. It is the most current annual information regarding government spending and came from table 3.16. The BEA’s Estimated population in 4th qtr 2003 is 292,217,000 and came from table 2.1. A full list of the BEA tables can be found here. Government Current Expenditures by Function Item # Federal Government Function Amount (in $billions) % of total spending Per capita (in actual $s) 42          Federal 2,241.60 100.0% $7,671.01 43 General public service (items 44-47) 284 12.7% $971.88 44    Executive and legislative 55.7 2.5% $190.61...

Saw a commercial for the new Mazda RX-8 tonight, which highlighted that brand's use of the Wankel Rotary engine. Hadn't thought about that engine in a long time and started wondering if any motorcycle company had ever tried using it as a power plant. You'd think the Rotary engine would be a natural -- no valves to adjust, fewer moving parts, less vibration (with counterbalancers), possibly better gas mileage, etc. Did a search and found out that it HAS been tried briefly by at least one (and probably more) company, Suzuki, during the mid 70s. Turn out the design didn't...

NEW YORK - More people with mounting debt are turning to their employers for help, and companies are responding by offering workshops, call centers, and online tools to help their employees get a handle on their finances. That's because helping their employees' bottom lines also helps protect their own. With household debt and personal bankruptcies at record levels, companies could soon find themselves spending more time and money dealing with their work forces' problems. Total consumer debt in America is now over $1.7 trillion, up from $1.2 trillion in 1997, according the Federal Reserve (news - web sites). And an...

Those are Governor Bush's own words in our title this month. "We're on the right track." referring to the great job his administration has done And, without stadium size hand gestures, the Governor did an excellent job in the first debate, and congrats to everyone at Free Republic who contributed to the Live Debate Thread. It's a whopper! After I write a few words, it's going to take awhile for me to post photos. Jump in at any time if you feel like being first today and add your favorite pictures, political cartoons and someone PLEASE post the McBridisms. Not...

No, you are not banned. Visitors to http://beta.freerepublic.com/ are greeted with the error message: An Error Occurred 403 Forbidden I fiddled with the knobs for a few minutes but could not elicit a friendlier response. I tried configuring Apache with ErrorDocument 403 "Sorry, the beta is offline." but it simply refuses to register (if you know why, please tell me!) Not too many people used the beta since it had gone completely away some time ago after I discovered a serious flaw in all branches of the code. Beta is back now, but only for me, to assist me in...