Free Republic

Continuation of Coronavirus live Thread. 4.

WeWork is going meat-free and taking every one of its employees with it. The startup cited environmental concerns in announcing its immediate company-wide ban on meat. In an email sent Thursday, WeWork cofounder Miguel McKelvey told his 6,000 or so employees the company will no longer serve meat at employee events or reimburse them for meals that include red meat, poultry and pork. It's a bold move for the real estate behemoth believed to be worth $20 billion -- and the most assertive in a series of recent steps large companies have taken to promote sustainability.

President Donald Trump will meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin next month in Helsinki, the White House confirmed on Thursday. ​”​President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will meet on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland​,” the statement said. “The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia and a range of national security issues.​”​

An Air Force F-16 jet crashed Wednesday at Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas, defense officials told Fox News. The status of the pilot, or pilots, was not immediately clear. In a statement, the Air Force said, “Emergency responders are on the scene. As soon as additional details become available, they will be provided. The accident is under investigation." The jet crashed around 10:30 a.m. during routine training at Nevada Test and Training Range, officials said.

Steve Sando, the owner of Rancho Gordo New World Specialty Food, spends more than half a million dollars each year shipping his heirloom beans to destinations worldwide. Until Monday, FedEx shipped the lion’s share. But not anymore. Sando, who said he was fed up with gun violence, stopped using FedEx as his main shipper. Sando said he could no longer work with FedEx because it provides discounts to National Rifle Association members. “The NRA is a really powerful machine that doesn’t allow dialog about gun violence,” said Sando.

March 8 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday, joined by steel and aluminum workers at the White House, imposed his promised industrial tariffs -- 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on foreign-made aluminum. Trump signed the tariff proclamations Thursday afternoon in a meeting with industry workers and officials -- ushering in fiscal penalties that have drawn ire from world leaders and sparked fears of a possible trade war. "A nation that does not protect property at home cannot protect its property abroad," Trump said. The White House said Canada and Mexico will initially be excluded from the...

Lyft has been called "the woke alternative to Uber," a reputation the company apparently decided to embrace on Friday when it announced it would be offering free rides to people attending a prominent gun control rally later this month. The rally in question, the March for Our Lives, was organized by students in the aftermath of the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine's Day. It is scheduled to take place on March 24 in cities around the country. --SNIP-- Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green announced the policy in...

Amid heightened concerns about firearms in the wake of last month’s Parkland, Florida, high school shooting massacre, Santa Clara County officials are taking another look at banning gun shows from the county fairgrounds. The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds currently hosts two gun shows a year. But county Supervisor Ken Yeager said gun shows conflict with the county’s mission of “promoting the health and well-being of our residents” and have drawn complaints from residents. “More and more often, I am getting approached by people who tell me how disturbed they are when they see billboards or signs advertising gun shows at...

SAN RAMON (CBS SF) – A seldom sung third verse of the National Anthem has led to the patriotic song being removed from rallies at San Ramon’s California High School. The decision has sparked a controversy among local residents and students. In a letter to the student body published in the school newspaper, Associated Student Body President Ariyana Kermanizadeh wrote the decision to drop “The Star Spangled Banner” from the school’s winter rally was made after students became aware of the third verse.

At least one gunman has attacked a church in the Helwan district of southern Cairo, say reports. At least two police officers were killed in the attack, say local reports, before the gunman was himself killed by police. Another gunman may have escaped.

BELMONT, the Bronx — Twelve people are dead and several others injured as a massive fire ripped through an apartment building in the Bronx on a frigid night, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a press conference on Thursday. About 170 firefighters responded to the blaze at the five-story, walk-up apartment building at 2363 Prospect Ave., near East 187th Street around 7 p.m. It quickly escalated to a 5-alarm fire.

SALINAS, Calif. — Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal announced Monday that he will no longer allow a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to have a desk in the Monterey County Jail. A new California law going into effect January 1, 2018, SB54, declares California as a "sanctuary state." Bernal said his decision to remove the ICE agent's desk was a result of complying with SB54, as well as consulting with several stakeholders who advocate for immigrants' rights on the Central Coast. An ICE agent was given a desk at the Monterey County Jail two years ago, shortly after Bernal...

--SNIP-- Today the bicycle is a mixed bag, usually with more negatives than positives. In many cities, bike lanes now consume more road space than they free up, they add to pollution as well as reducing it, they hurt neighbourhoods and business districts alike, and they have become a drain on the public purse. The bicycle today — or rather the infrastructure that now supports it — exemplifies “inappropriate technology,” a good idea gone wrong through unsustainable, willy-nilly top-down planning. London, where former mayor Boris Johnston began a “cycling revolution,” shows where the road to ruin can lead. Although criticism...

An Israel Defense Forces tank and aircraft carried out strikes on two Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening in retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks. The strikes came as a terrorist group in the Strip launched a rocket that hit an open field in the south of the country, after two previous attacks that failed to reach Israeli territory, the army said.

Oakland’s elected leaders said Tuesday the city’s police should provide no assistance to federal immigration agents - even if the agents are working on a case that centers on violent crime. They said so much as allowing officers to block off a street creates the perception that Oakland is anything but a sanctuary city. The new red line came after a controversial operation by officers with Homeland Security Investigations — the criminal division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — at which Oakland police provided traffic enforcement.

WASHINGTON – Rep. John Conyers will step aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee pending the investigation into allegations ​he ​sexual​ly​ harass​ed staffers. In a statement released through ​Democratic Minority ​Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office on Sunday, Conyers said he would like to keep his leadership position but realized that he may “undermine” the committee’s work if he stays at the helm.

ATLANTA - The NAACP has called for a boycott of the NFL. The organization says the league treated free agent Colin Kaepernick unfairly for his headline grabbing protest during the national anthem. --SNIP-- Kaepernick has not been signed by an NFL team. This boycott is not just here in Georgia. It is nationwide. The NAACP says they are planning to send a strong message to not only commissioner Rodger Goodell, but NFL owners like Arthur Blank.

A van has been involved in a "massive crash" in the city centre of Barcelona, with "several" injured. Police said a white van mounted the pavement and struck several people. Pictures from the scene show emergency services and civilians attending to at least two people on the ground. The Ministry of the Interior said on Twitter: "There has just been a massive trampling on the Ramblas in Barcelona by a person with a van. There are injured."

SAN FRANCISCO — In what one aviation expert called a near-miss of what could have been the largest aviation disaster ever, an Air Canada pilot on Friday narrowly avoided a tragic mistake: landing on the San Francisco International Airport taxiway instead of the runway. Sitting on Taxiway C shortly before midnight were four airplanes full of passengers and fuel awaiting permission to take off, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the “rare” incident. An air traffic controller sent the descending Air Canada Airbus 320 on a “go-around” — an unusual event where pilots must pull up and...

Cops once again turned their backs on Mayor de Blasio at a police funeral. Scores of officers who assembled for assassinated police officer Miosotis Familia on Tuesday showed Hizzoner their backs during the mayor’s eulogy — a move reminiscent of the funeral for slain officer Wenjian Liu in 2015. --SNIP-- The protest comes after de Blasio skipped town for Germany Thursday — the day after Familia was assassinated by cop-hating gunman Alexander Bonds.