Free Republic

Republican governors issue orders to stay home giving them a new and different name but first.... "We discussed with each other whether our rights can be taken by an order from a governor or an agency, and if they can be, what good are our rights?" Ammon Bundy spoke those words Friday following a Thursday night meeting in Emmett, Idaho in response to the "stay at home" order issued by Idaho's Republican Governor Brad Little.... In Iraq the United States has deployed two Patriot missile batteries and is expected to eventually deploy at least four.... The Saudi-led coalition staging air...

everyone is running from the lockdowns they once supported, and that includes former presidents and governors, and probably mayors too. Apologies would be better so we can at least have an honest accounting rather than an attempt to rewrite the history that everyone knows. Jack Phillips of Epoch Times alerts readers in his article of August 31, 2023, of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ recent statement on the subject of lockdowns. The Iowa State Government’s website says the following: “Since news broke of COVID-19 restrictions being reinstated at some colleges and businesses across the U.S., concerned Iowans have been calling my...

Are we returning to normalcy? The word "normalcy," as history buffs know, was used (but not invented) by our only journalist president, Warren G. Harding, to sum up his 1920 campaign. Normalcy was political shorthand for returning to normal times after a European war, prosecutions of peaceful protesters, sharp inflation and depression, terrorist bombings at home, totalitarian revolutions abroad and a pandemic influenza that killed, proportionately, more than twice as many Americans as COVID-19. Normalcy was popular, too. Harding won the popular vote 60% to 34%, the largest percentage margin in history. The fighting ended; the economy grew; political protesters...

Massive 15 point swing in sentiment suggests trucker are not “fringe minority.”. After a massive 15 percentage point swing in the space of just two weeks and coinciding with the trucker revolt, the majority of Canadians now want all COVID rules to end. A poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute found that 54 per cent of Canadians agree “it’s time to end restrictions,” with the “strongly agree” category of answer rising by 11 points in just a fortnight. The survey also revealed that a majority of people in every area apart from Atlantic Canada “feel the time is now...

Police fired warning shots, injuring an unknown number of people, as riots broke out Friday night in downtown Rotterdam at a demonstration against plans by the government to restrict access for unvaccinated people to some venues. Police said in a tweet that "there are injuries in connection with the shots" during the violent unrest. Riot police used a water cannon in an attempt to drive hundreds of rioters from a central street in the port city. Video from social media shown on Dutch broadcaster NOS appeared to show a person being shot in Rotterdam, but there was no immediate word...

Jordan Peterson says he spoke to a senior government adviser who told him Canada’s COVID restriction policies are completely driven by opinion polls and not science. “In relation to the COVID restrictions, I talked to a senior adviser to one of the provincial governments a couple of weeks ago,” said Peterson. “He told me flat out that the COVID policy here is driven by nothing but opinion polls related to the popularity of the government,” he added. “No science, no endgame in sight, no real plan, and so what that means is that the part of the population that is...

The HBO star claimed Friday that red states were "a joy" to visit these days while blue states were "a pain in the a--" because of coronavirus rules... Bill Maher railed against ongoing COVID restrictions, declaring the pandemic "over." ... "Just resume living," Maher ... "I know some people seem to not want to give up on the wonderful pandemic, but you know what? It's over. There's always going to be a variant. You shouldn't have to wear masks. I should be to … I haven't had a meeting with my staff since March of 2020. Why?" "I know some...

As recently as late August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said private businesses in his state were free to require that their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. His press secretary explained that "private businesses don't need government running their business." Abbott evidently reassessed that premise because last week, he issued an executive order that says "no entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employee or a consumer." For anyone who genuinely cares about overweening government interference with free enterprise, Abbott's order is just as objectionable as the pending federal rule demanding that private...

While speaking about the vaccination rates in New South Wales, Australian chief health officer Kerry Chant expressed optimism that they’d soon reach a 90 percent vaccination rate for the 16 and over population. Even still, however, she quickly poured cold water on the idea of life returning to normal ever again. "We will not be going back to pre-COVID levels. We are always going to have to be mindful that COVID exists," she said. "We're going to have to engage with booster shots, we're going to have to engage with advice from time to time when we see outbreaks. We're...

Government’s decision to remove the strict COVID-19 restrictions comes 561 days after they were first introduced to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, with Norwegian health authorities also giving the green light for other restrictions, such as those on sports venues and travel to end in the coming weeks. Norway will “remove most of the infection control measures,” giving “a big thank you” to citizens for complying.While measures will be lifted in the next 24 hours, the Norwegian PM urged businesses to not start preparing for customers to return until tomorrow.However, Norwegian official urged eligible citizens to ensure they...

Prior to the pandemic, tens of thousands of people attended services at Jerusalem's Western Wall every night from before Rosh Hashanah though Yom Kippur but now the crowd is restricted to 8,000 people. The coronavirus cabinet approved on Monday new restrictions to halt the spread of the delta variant, including a plan proposed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to limit the number of worshippers at the Western Wall.... At the meeting the ministers also extended so-called Green Pass regulations to all of the staff at health and educational institutions, as well as employees at any location where customers are subject...

New South Wales facing mounting threat of far right extremism, with officials worries about possible physical attacks. Counter-terrorism police in New South Wales, Australia are reportedly tracking over 1,000 people linked to Neo Nazi groups and right wing extremism, along with mounting threats from Islamist radicalization, reported the Brisbane Times. Due to the growing threat, New South Wales (NSW) recently launched a $3 million law enforcement training facility for combating terrorism. Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson said that regarding the growth of neo-Nazi groups, a "known entity management model" was in place to monitor "over 1,000 people in the state...

Freedom is the reason why America is the greatest country on earth. Freedom is perhaps the biggest reason why immigrants come to the United States. And yet Arnold Schwarzenegger ... attacked freedom while pushing for masks and vaccines... As a freedom-loving immigrant and an American citizen, I found Schwarzenegger’s words to be condescending, hypocritical and hurtful. Freedom is bestowed by God and was enshrined in the United States Constitution by America’s Founding Fathers. No issue — public health or otherwise — must prevent law-abiding Americans from making decisions about their own lives. Freedom is the foundation of American society ......

A group of about 100 evacuees who fled the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan are in hotel quarantine in Perth after arriving in Australia overnight. The evacuees were on a chartered aircraft that landed in Perth about 1:30am, following a 10-and-a-half-hour flight from Australia's military base in the United Arab Emirates... Dozens of police officers were on hand to manage the passengers transfer to the Hyatt Hotel in Perth's CBD for 14 days of quarantine. Many officers were seen wearing full PPE, including face shields and disposal overalls. A number of floors at the hotel had been set aside for their...

Editor's Note: This piece was authored by Justin Begley.With renewed mask mandates and guidelines in place, our policymakers are showing Americans their abandonment of reason. In fact, we are currently living in an age where reason is no longer a virtue, but a vice. In our culture of confusion, elected policymakers, influenced by unelected government bureaucrats, have abandoned their duty to institute policies that actually help Americans, choosing instead to make policy performatively — that is, to impress (or appease) a small minority. They make policy, not on the basis of reason and scientific evidence, but on the basis of...

Early in the fifth century, a masterpiece of literature was produced. Entitled The City of God, the now classic consolation was composed by a man destined to become the foremost scholar of the early Christian Church. Saint Augustine wrote his renowned work under terrible conditions though, for the age he lived through was one nothing short of utter chaos and upheaval. Only a few short years had passed since Visigoth armies had taken the city of Rome by force—ransacking the symbolic headquarters of the civilized world in an earthshattering feat that no barbarian tribe had dared undertake for some eight...

The coronavirus cabinet approved Wednesday night a set of restrictions on gatherings, hoping to curb an ever-growing surge of COVID-19 infections nationwide in what looked like a last-ditch effort to avoid going into a devastating lockdown. The news measures include expansion of the Green Pass mandate, which requires people to present proof of vaccination or recovery at the entrance of public facilities, to include all Israelis from the age of 3 starting next Wednesday August 18...

Several ministers vote against rules in protest; Health Ministry to start pilot serological testing for children under 12 so as to include those with antibodies in pass system Ministers gave the final go-ahead to a plan that will significantly expand restrictions on gatherings under the Green Pass system meant to tamp down runaway coronavirus case numbers, despite misgivings over an 11th-hour decision to exempt places of worship. Starting Sunday, gatherings of any size, indoors and out, will be limited to those who have been vaccinated, recovered from the virus, or who present a negative COVID test, under the Green Pass...

Masks at outdoor gatherings, 50% of public sector employees to work from home: here is the full list of Israel's latest COVID-19 restrictions. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the Coronavirus Cabinet on Tuesday decided to enact a list of restrictions aimed at reducing the coronavirus infection rate across Israel. At the meeting, the Cabinet approved a list of guidelines, which will become mandatory beginning on Sunday August 8. 1. The Green Pass program will be expanded to include locations where less than 100 people gather, an it will apply to every age, including to children too young to receive...

Australia will reopen its borders and end lockdowns when 80 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed Friday, sketching a long road out of "Fortress Australia" virus restrictions...