Free Republic

This piece by Jack Shafer at Politico today was always inevitable. The only real surprise here is that CNN’s Brian Stelter didn’t write it first. But no matter, you can be sure that this vague and pathetic defense of the media’s credibility will be widely admired and imitated by other “media reporters” and a whole phalanx of column writers who want to defend the honor of journalism even if it makes no sense to do so. About a month ago, Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer for Joe Biden in the early 1990s, appeared on Katie Halper’s podcast and...

Two suspected shoplifters were caught in a wild brawl with staffers at a besieged Yonkers supermarket that says it has already lost $34,000 to thieves this year.

Facebook is used to being grilled by lawmakers over its handling of misinformation, but the company received a rare kudos from Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who has called on Google and Twitter to step up their own efforts in the battle against disinformation related to the coronavirus. In a letter shared on Twitter, Schiff congratulated Google and Twitter for their early commitment to fighting misinformation, but went on to criticize both platforms for not doing more to provide the right information, too. "Among the harmful misinformation currently on YouTube, recent reporting has shown that it is easy to...

WhatsApp has alleged in new court filings that an Israeli spyware company used US-based servers and was “deeply involved” in carrying out mobile phone hacks of 1,400 WhatsApp users, including senior government officials, journalists, and human rights activists. The new claims about NSO Group allege that the Israeli company bears responsibility in serious human rights violations, including the hacking of more than a dozen Indian journalists and Rwandan dissidents. For years, NSO Group has said that its spyware is purchased by government clients for the purpose of tracking down terrorists and other criminals and that it had no independent knowledge...

How do you track the spread of COVID-19 in real time? That's the question Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger set out to answer when they created RT.live. How do you track the spread of COVID-19 in real time? That's the question Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger set out to answer when they created RT.live, a website that tracks the rate of infection in all 50 states. They said it's meant to be an at-a-glance score for evaluating our progress in the fight against coronavirus. "The goal for us was, what if we tried to boil it down to...

On The Ingraham Angle Wednesday, Fox News host Laura Ingraham blasted the media for blaming President Trump for the bizarre case of a man who died from ingesting fish tank cleaner in March, supposedly thinking it was Hydroxychloroquine. But Ingraham highlighted a recent report in the Washington Free Beacon which found there may be more to this story than initially reported, even as the local police open an investigation. After playing clips of CNN and MSNBC journalists eagerly blaming Trump for Gary Lenius, of Mesa, Arizona’s death, she sighed, saying, "That is just despicable.” Ingraham then brought on Free Beacon...

At least two Louisiana parishes are set to defy Gov. John Bel Edwards’ coronavirus stay-at-home order with West Feliciana and LaSalle planning to reopen Friday. West Feliciana President Kenny Havard said he and other parish leaders will allow restaurants to operate, while LaSalle Sheriff Scott Franklin said there will be a wider opening of businesses there. Edwards announced Monday he will extend his statewide stay-at-home order to May 15 with only minor revisions on the advice of his medical team. Edwards said he had hoped to begin reopening the state May 1, but too many regions showed COVID-19 case growth....

[snip] Pediatricians across the country are sounding the alarm: The stress of unemployment and financial insecurity has strained relationships between children and those who care for them. The closures of schools and day cares have forced children closer to adults who may not be safe. In a world without school, doctors and advocates say, no one is there to watch, to speak up, until it’s too late. The American system of catching child abuse relies on kids venturing outside their homes. Year after year, most referrals to child protective services come from professionals — police officers, lawyers, doctors, anyone who...

Sparsely populated Modoc County in California’s northeast corner plans to allow the reopening of its schools, hair salons, churches, restaurants and the county’s only movie theater Friday, becoming the first county in the state to ease out of stay-at-home orders and flout the governor’s mandate.

Big money donors are pressuring Joe Biden to not choose Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate, even while the centrist former vice president tries to appeal to progressive voters. Those conversations have recently included attempts to push the campaign away from picking Warren and encouraging the choice of other candidates purportedly on his list, such as Sens. Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “She would be horrible. He would lose the election,” said a Wall Street executive who was once backing others running in the Democratic primary and later joined Biden’s donor ranks. GP: CNN/NYT...

The two divisions of the May 2 Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park continue to lose starters. Originally drawn with 11 horses apiece, they have nine-horse fields as of April 30. The connections of four horses - Shooters Shoot and Wrecking Crew (first division) and Saratogian and Fast Enough (second division) - have informed the Oaklawn racing department they will be scratched. According to a news release issued by Oaklawn Park publicity, official scratch cards for Shooters Shoot and Wrecking Crew had already been submitted. Cards for Saratogian and Fast Enough are expected to be submitted Friday. **SNIP** If the...

Air pollution kills around 200,000 Americans each year even when pollution levels remain below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's current guidelines, a report published in JAMA Network Open has found. A team of scientists identified nine causes of death associated with exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including three not previously recognized—chronic kidney disease, hypertension and dementia. Cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type 2 diabetes, lung cancer, and pneumonia also contributed to the count. PM2.5 are pollution particles (or droplets) equal or smaller to 2.5 microns—a size so minuscule it is roughly 30 times smaller than a...

<p>Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, reacting to news that he and his TV anchor brother were voted the two most desired men in New York City in a matchmaker’s poll, told a news reporter “I am eligible” during a live broadcast Thursday.</p>

The basic national divide between conservative America and liberal/left America that has existed for decades – really since the 1960s – is continuing on in the new environment caused by the coronavirus crisis. The American Right continues to want a society informed by its Judeo-Christian heritage, given force by a government in which the original intent of the Constitution prevails, and its objective of limited government. The American Left continues to want an expansive government with a messianic character, empowered to do whatever is deemed necessary for its vision of “a better world,” and aided by science and technology. The...

I'm looking for recommendations from those of you who are seasoned in studying the Bible. If you use a specific study Bible, which do you like? I've used Homan and Life Application. Both are good. I also have e Sword which is a good study tool.

President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act on Tuesday to keep livestock processing facilities open, a decisive action that will keep our nation’s food supply chain intact and food on kitchen tables. America’s farmers and ranchers — of which I am one — cheer the president’s bold action. Something drastic had to be done. Meat producers were headed for the proverbial cliff. Processing of pigs has drastically slowed, swelling herds to the tune of roughly half a million a week! Pig and chicken producers have started “depopulating” their herds, a $2 word for slaughtering and disposing of an otherwise viable...

“I look forward to a return not only to normalcy but also to ecclesiasticalism,” said Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, speaking on SKAI TV, ahead of the prime minister’s announcements about the gradual lifting of restrictions imposed due to the conoravirus. “Since the problem is overcrowding, we will take all the necessary measures, we will do what they have instructed us to do. I don’t know if they have other reasons,” the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos stressed. He commented on the statements made by the government spokesman that the churches would be opened gradually and that the request expressed in the letter...

The Trump administration has ensured that no coronavirus funding will go to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, according to a senior administration official. No funding from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a program created to assist small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, will go to the nation’s largest abortion provider, the official told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday. “Through the Paycheck Protection Program, President Trump is delivering vital relief to help small businesses keep employees on payroll,” a senior administration official told the DCNF. “It’s clear that the abortion industry shouldn’t be able to qualify for those funds,...

The flyby is expected to occur at 5:56 a.m. ET, according to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. The center tracks Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs, that could collide with Earth. They have been tracking this particular asteroid for 20 years, according to NASA. You can watch it live on The Virtual Telescope's website.

On March 17 and 18, Christopher Steele testified in a British court where he revealed both 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice knew about his anti-Trump dossier research. According to a transcript obtained by Just the News, Steele told a British court he was hired by Fusion GPS through the Democratic National Committee (DNC) linked law firm Perkins Coie to work for the Clinton campaign. Steele said Fusion GPS owner Glenn Simpson tipped him to the DNC’s role in the anti-Trump dossier. “I presumed it was the Clinton campaign, and Glenn Simpson had...