Free Republic

Mark Keam, a long-serving Democratic member of the House of Delegates from northern Virginia, has resigned his seat, a move that will set up a special election to fill the vacancy in the blue-leaning district. An attorney who was first elected to his Fairfax County-based seat in 2009, Keam said in an interview Tuesday that he had stepped down to take a job in the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Keam said he will serve as a deputy assistant secretary running the National Travel and Tourism Office, which is focused on bringing foreign travelers to the...

Tourists who do not stay overnight in hotels or seek other accommodation, will have to sign up online for the day of their visit and pay a fee that ranges from between $3 and $10.50 per day, city officials said. Those who ignore the new rules will risk fines of more than $300. More than 80 percent of visitors to Venice arrive just for the day — more than 30,000 to 40,000 people per day, Bloomberg reported. In 2019, there were more than 19 million “day-trippers” to the city. Last year, Italy’s government approved measures last year to ban large...

Travelers to Hawaii will now have to show proof of having received the coronavirus booster shot in order to be considered fully vaccinated. Under the state’s current “Safe Travels” program, visitors to the state must quarantine for five days or test negative for the coronavirus within one day of travel if they are not fully vaccinated, which previously meant two doses of the Pfizer/Moderna vaccines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The new guidelines will now include booster shots in order for people to skip quarantine.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will lift long-running COVID-19 travel bans against residents of most European countries on Nov. 8 and implement a new vaccination-and-testing rule — while also making travel tougher for Americans who are unvaccinated. Under the new policies, most travelers to the US must get tested for the virus within three days if they took one of the World Health Organization’s approved vaccines. The new rules tighten restrictions on unvaccinated US citizens and permanent residents, who will have to get tested within one day of travel — versus three days currently. The slow repeal of the nearly...

President Joe Biden is reportedly readying a plan that will require foreign visitors to the United States to show proof of vaccination for the Chinese coronavirus before entering the country. A report by Reuters on Wednesday details a plan by the Biden administration that would “require nearly all foreign visitors” to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a White House official with knowledge of the plan. Reuters reports: The Biden administration has interagency working groups working “in order to have a new system ready for when we can reopen travel,” the official said, adding it includes “a phased...

DARE COUNTY, NC (WITN) - Dare County says it is keeping visitors out due to concerns with the coronavirus.While the county says they have had no cases of the pandemic yet, they made the decision to limit the spread of coronavirus.Checkpoints were set up at 2:00 p.m. at entry points into the county, and no visitors will be allowed.Dare County says only permanent residents, non-resident property owners and non-resident employees of businesses within the county will be allowed.Those with valid driver's license with a Dare or Currituck county address or a government-issued ID card with a local address will be allowed...

A high-speed transit system through the mountain corridor could serve as a major economic boon to communities on the Western Slope, according to a new study recently published by Development Research Partners. A high-speed transit system — likely in the form of a train that would carry passengers and light freight between Denver International Airport and Eagle County Regional Airport — was listed in the 2011 Record of Decision issued by the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Federal Highways Administration as a potential long-term solution to dealing with congestion on Interstate 70. Late last year, stakeholders — including the...

For more than four hours Saturday night, Mayor Bill Peduto sent multiple messages on Twitter, warning residents and visitors that towing would start at midnight for vehicles parked along the route of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon. Problem is, towing started at 11 p.m., courtesy of the Pittsburgh police and city contractor McGann and Chester Towing & Recovery. Mr. Peduto said he was in Cappy’s Cafe on Walnut Street in Shadyside when people came in about 11:30 p.m. complaining about cars being towed from streets in the area. “People were enraged,” the mayor said Monday, when asked about the...

President Barack Obama’s staff and visitors now have the option of using a gender-neutral restroom, a White House spokesman said Wednesday — the latest in a series of symbolic steps the Obama administration has taken to work the priorities of the LGBT community into its broader themes of inclusiveness and tolerance. The newly designated restroom is an example of how the administration has been advancing the discussion by raising the profile of transgender issues, an area of debate that is especially hotly contested right now. The restroom will be located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where much of the...

Yosemite Valley is a national treasure that was set aside in 1864 with the promise it would be preserved for the express purpose of “Public Use, Resort and Recreation.” Ever since, Americans have enjoyed a host of recreational opportunities and amenities as they have come to celebrate the splendor of the Valley. Now, the National Parks Service, at the urging of leftist environmental groups, is proposing eliminating many of those amenities, including bicycle and raft rentals, horseback riding rentals, gift shops, snack facilities, swimming pools, and iconic facilities including the Ice Skating Rink at Curry Village, the art center and...

The White House continues to bar average Americans from touring “The People House” but nevertheless lavishes spending on all sorts of special invitees – from diners at last week’s Iftar dinner breaking the Muslim fast to sports teams and foreign diplomats. Obama basketball 2Soon after the outcry over the cancellation of tours due to the sequester, the White House promised to see what could be done to allow some visits to resume. But nothing was done and no one can visit – unless President Obama finds you useful or amusing. Favored guest have poured in this month, even though Obama...

On Friday, March 30, 2012, Hisham Y. Altalib visited the White House. According to visitor logs, Altalib was received by Joshua DuBois, the director of President Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Four days later, White House officials welcomed a foreign delegation of the radical Sharia-enforcing Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt. The White House meeting with overseas Muslim Brotherhood leaders was reported in April by a few mainstream journalists and questioned loudly by conservative media. But the White House confab in March with U.S.-based Altalib -- which appears to be a prep session with the global Muslim Brotherhood's American...

Officials warn DNC visitors of hotel, ticket scamsBy Meghan Cooke The Charlotte Observer Posted: Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 **SNIP** Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont President Tom Bartholomy said credentials to see President Barack Obama deliver his acceptance speech at Bank of America Stadium, which were handed out recently, will likely go on sale on Craigslist and eBay. But the BBB warns that some credentials sold by third parties could be counterfeit. Bartholomy said legitimate credentials have security features. People with fake tickets will be turned away, he said.

V --- Season 2 - ongoing thread 9 EST - ABC

Life originated in a nebular cloud, over 10 billion years ago, but may have had multiple origins in multiple locations, including in galaxies older than the Milky Way. Multiple origins could account for the different domains of life: archae, bacteria, eukaryotes. The first steps toward life may have been achieved when self-replicating nano-particles initially comprised of a mixture of carbon, calcium, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, sugars, and other elements and gasses were combined and radiated, forming a nucleus around which a lipid-like permeable membrane was established, and within which DNA-bases were laddered together with phosphates and sugars; a process which may...

BAGHDAD – As the orange sun rises above Camp Taji, Soldiers of the 1192nd Engineer Company (Vertical), a National Guard unit based out of Ohio, bustle around, gathering protective equipment and tools to begin another day of work on a new, safer road through Taji. Taji, once an Iraqi military base located approximately 15 miles north of Baghdad, is now considered one of fourteen remaining "enduring bases" providing U.S. and Iraqi forces with air travel, barracks for troops that provide security, and housing for Iraqi detainees. The Camp Taji Theater Internment Reconciliation Center provides detainees with programs to help learn...

More government releases sneaked out as the country begins to celebrate the New Year. Today, the White House has posted 25,000 additional records of those visiting the White House. It's all about investment bankers, union leaders and climatologists, judging by the visitors of President Obama and the President's chief economic advisor Larry Summers. According to AP: General Electric chief executive Jeffrey Immelt visited roughly a dozen times. Climate change expert Jonathan Lash visited as did Paul Hanrahan, the chief executive of major energy company AES. Further research shows that Goldman Sach's CEO Lloyd Blankfein pretty much spent the entire day...

Bill O'Reily reports on the Top Visitors to the White House. The head of a union with ties to ACORN head tops the list: THE White House released last week a partial list of visitors since Jan. 20. It is fascinating and highlights what kind of house the Obamas are running. Topping the visitor chart is Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, who has been received there 22 times... Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, clocks in with 14 visits. This has to be a Michelle Obama play. I know the president is a...

Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care. The news media swoons in admiration. The public is likewise smitten, except for a few patriots who circulate disturbing rumors on the Internet about the leader's origins and intentions. The leader, undismayed, offers assurances that are soothing, if also just a tiny bit condescending: "Embracing change is never easy." So, does that sound like anyone...

<p>Political figures include former Sen. Thomas Daschle, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, former Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. Al Franken, former Vice President Al Gore, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, and Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf.</p>