Free Republic

A warrant, detailing how a dozen FBI officers ended up raiding a spa in Alaska under false pretenses, has been released. The story first came to major national attention after an interview with Paul and Marilyn Hueper, whose home and business was raided last week in an apparent case of mistaken identity. The 38 page document, below, reveals how poor a job the FBI did in identifying a woman they say was in Speaker Pelosi’s office on the afternoon of January 6th, 2021. In summary, the warrant appears to rely on Marilyn Hueper wearing a black coat and having brunette...

A year into the pandemic, a lot has changed. And we're reminded of that every time we go outside (if we go outside). Masks have joined the traditional don't-leave-home-without-them trifecta of keys, wallets and phones - and they are here to stay. There are folks who hate them, who can't breathe through them, or who think they're a sign of political oppression. But for others, the widespread use of masks has made the past year one of liberation. With a mask, you can sing in the grocery store, talk to yourself on a walk, grimace in the gym, leave the...

Masks should fit better or be doubled up to protect against coronavirus variants, CDC says Making the seals tighter to prevent air leakage can reduce people’s exposure by more than 95 percent in laboratory tests.

Dr. Steve LaTulippe is a family physician in Dallas, Ore., who specializes in pain management that bypasses reliance on opioids. He has practiced family medicine at his small-town clinic for over 20 years with what he describes as a spotless record with the Oregon Medical Board. So it came as quite a shock to him when the medical board suspended his license to practice medicine over a viral video of his speech at a Stop the Steal rally on November 7. Now, Dr. LaTulippe is sounding the alarm over the consequences of exercising his First Amendment rights, and how politics...

...Vice President-elect Kamala Harris says there will be "no punishment" for people who violate President-elect Joe Biden's 100-day mask mandate...

George Clooney wants you to know that if you don’t agree with his stance on mask etiquette, you are a “dumba**.” The Batman star told radio shock jock Howard Stern all about how the government forcing anyone to cover up their face is NOT a violation of their freedom. Clooney has a long history of “Hollywood-splaining” to the average American. The Hollywood elite likes to fancy himself as an average guy from Kentucky, but the basic fact is that he is all left coast liberal.

A western Kansas mayor announced her resignation Tuesday after receiving threats for publicly supporting a mask mandate in her city during the coronavirus pandemic. Dodge City Mayor Joyce Warshaw said she had concerns about her safety after encountering threatening phone calls and emails following an interview she did with USA Today Friday endorsing a mask mandate, the Dodge City Globe reported.

The CDC on Friday issued its strongest mask guidance yet during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling for "universal mask wearing" in all activity outside of one's home. The new recommendation comes at the end of a week when the U.S. saw its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with more than 3,100 lives lost on Thursday alone.

Mask scolds have been monomaniacal about this virus as if there is no other way to die. What they don’t seem to understand is that this is no way to live.Those of us who are unsettled by mask mandates often cite the loss of freedoms as the reason behind our concerns, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. Mask mandates are not just dehumanizing in the context of today’s society, preventing us from reading the faces of others. There is yet another level of dehumanization. Getting “used to” masks suggests something more spiritually sinister: a Borg-like facelessness...

FLORIDA — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that while vaccines for COVID-19 are coming soon, he won’t require anyone to get vaccinated if they don’t want to. But a GOP state lawmaker said that state law, as currently written, could allow him or any other governor to mandate vaccinations, and he will file legislation in the coming days to repeal that law. “Right now in Florida, under the public health emergency statute chapter 381, they can literally take you, test you, quarantine you, but also force you to take a vaccine. They can restrain you and force you to...

Democrat New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was confronted by several angry people as he ate outside a restaurant with his family, a video posted Sunday shows. ... The video showed Murphy taking a bite of food as a woman said, “Oh my God, it is,” apparently discovering that the person sitting at the table was indeed the governor of New Jersey. “Oh my God, Murphy, you are such a dick,” the woman said, as another woman can be heard saying repeatedly, “How you doing? How you doing? You having fun with your family in the meantime? You’re having all kind...

Washington, D.C.- If it becomes official and Biden is president, then be prepared to wear your mask at home. According to Jay Inslee, Washington’s governor, Biden will institute policies to save Americans from Covid-19 by getting people to wear masks at home and to reconsider Thanksgiving. That’s right – wear your masks at home. “…re-energize the kind of personal, moral commitment of Americans” on coronavirus “that we need right now to get people to start wearing masks at home, reconsider their dinner plans at Thanksgiving, save ourselves”. -Washington Governor Jay Inslee According to Inslee, Biden will provide Americans with the...

Statewide mask mandate could mean immediate fines for violators HONOLULU (KHON2) — As the state moves toward passing a statewide mask mandate, there’s also a push to change the law so that violators are issued a fine on the spot rather than having to appear in court. State Attorney General Clare Connors says that it would be easier to enforce the mask mandate if law enforcers can issue a fine to violators right away, similar to a parking violation. But that means the state legislature has to change the law, either through a special session or next year’s legislative session....

The Democratic governor's office tweeted on October 3: 'Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don't forget to keep your mask on in between bites. Do your part to keep those around you healthy.'

The plastic tents, which take a minute to set up and take down, have become an attraction at Café du Soleil on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, especially as the weather gets colder and wetter in the fall. “With everything going on in this world, eating in a bubble is about one of the best experiences we can have,” said Valerie Worthy, as she dined with two coworkers. “They have everything safe, clean. Everything is six feet apart. Love it.” New York is committed to making outdoor dining a permanent option for the thousands of restaurants that have embraced the concept...

The Mills Administration has updated prevention checklists for several types of businesses under stage three of the state's reopening plan. Affected businesses include restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, museums and campgrounds. In movie theaters, so called household groups that do not have to adhere to distancing requirements may consist of to up to 10 people. Most of the updates are just a few additions or clarifications to previously released checklists. For example, front-of-house staff in restaurants who choose to wear face shields must now wear them upside down so that they are attached at the collar instead of the forehead, so...

Health experts won’t ask Americans to take off their masks any time soon. That’s the take of Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He has been preparing for an outbreak like the novel coronavirus as part of his work for years. [cut] “I think that mask wearing and some degree of social distancing, we will be living with — hopefully living with happily — for several years,” he said. “It's actually pretty straightforward. If we cover our faces, and both you and anyone you're interacting with are wearing a mask, the risk of...

SEATTLE -- Washington state will require people to wear facial coverings in public settings, under a statewide public health order announced Tuesday by Gov. Jay Inslee in response to ongoing COVID-related health concerns. The order, issued by Secretary of Health John Wiesman, takes effect Friday. The order requires face coverings when people are indoor in a public area, and outdoors in a public area when six feet of physical distancing can’t be maintained. Washington joins several other states that already have statewide mask orders in place, including California, which issued its order last week. "Even though we have been resourceful...

Mask-wearing for some people is an identifier of broader beliefs and political leanings. Like so many issues rooted in science and medicine, the pandemic is now fully entangled with ideological tribalism. This has played out before: helmets for motorcyclists, seat belts in cars, smoking bans in restaurants. All of those measures provoked battles over personal liberty. Now it’s masks and the coronavirus, with face coverings emerging as an emblem for what cleaves the nation. A flurry of recent studies supports wearing cloth face coverings as a means to limit transmission of the novel coronavirus, which causes the illness covid-19. To...

To mask or not to mask? That’s the question many of us are constantly asking ourselves as we go about our days in various public and non-public spaces, right? Does this store require masks? What about this restaurant or salon? Sure there’s a sign (there’s usually a sign), but will they really enforce it? What about a trip to the park or the local biking trail? Will you be accosted by some mask-shaming Karen if you go for a walk outside? Even for those of us who know it’s mostly nonsense, the sense of others’ negative perception can be real,...