Free Republic

Newly-confirmed Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. is pressuring Israel to give up on the idea of eliminating the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, claiming a prolonged war risks turning more of the Palestinian population into terrorists. Gen. Brown, whose nomination stalled amid concerns about his “woke” record — including support for Black Lives Matter radicals and racial promotions in the military — expressed skepticism despite rapid Israeli gains on the ground against Hamas. The Times of Israel reported: The top US military official indicated Thursday that Israel will have a harder time eradicating Hamas...

A measure of U.S. supply-chain pressures rose to a record, adding to already stiff inflationary headwinds from logistics amid dwindling warehouse space and unprecedented inventory costs. The Logistics Managers’ Index, released Tuesday, advanced for a third straight month in March, reaching 76.2 from 75.2 in February. The monthly survey, released by Colorado State University and affiliated with four other American universities, asks logistics managers about inventories, warehousing and transportation. “Continued inventory congestion has driven inventory costs, warehousing prices, and overall aggregate logistics costs to all-time high levels,” the report stated. “This is putting even more pressure on already-constrained capacity.” Inventory...

The number of job openings in the U.S. rose to what would have been a record level in January–if not for the upward revision to an all-time high for December. There were 11.3 million jobs posted at the end of January, exceeding the consensus forecast of 10.9 million and the prior month’s preliminary estimate of 10.925 million, Department of Labor data showed Monday.

In the autumn of 2013 I was in my first term of school in a decade. I had two jobs; my husband, Tom, was working full-time; and we were raising our two small girls. It was the first time in years that we felt like maybe things were looking like they’d be OK for a while. After a gruelling shift at work, I was unwinding online when I saw a question from someone on a forum I frequented: Why do poor people do things that seem so self-destructive? I thought I could at least explain what I’d seen and how...

President Barack Obama stepped up his efforts Sunday to limit Israel’s gradual destruction of Hamas’ tunnel network in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza, which now conceals many of the rockets and jihadi units that attack Israelis. In a morning call to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Obama “reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself [but] also raised serious concern about the growing number of casualties, including increasing Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza and the loss of Israeli soldiers,” said a 2.00 p.m. statement from the White House. Israel’s government did not officially respond to Obama’s statement, which came after Israel ground...

With 30 year bond yields set to close their lowest in 10 months, CNBC's Rick Santelli is concerned at the signals that the Treasury yield curve is sending.If yesterday's minutes from the Fed were supposed to walk back their 'hawkish' tone, then Santelli slams they are "gonna need a really big billboard" because the term structure is still flattening. "When 'flattening' is the theme, that is not painting a rosy outlook for the long-term economy," and as Santelli warns, this is when the Fed is pulling out of its extraordinary policies. Santelli screams, "the entire monetary policy side has to...

A new campaign that seeks to pressure the Jewish campus group Hillel into partnering with anti-Israel organizations is being hailed as a way to “a “liberate young Jews from the vice grip of Zionism” by anti-Zionist activist Max Blumenthal. Blumenthal, who recently wrote a book that compared Israel with the Third Reich, praised the new campus movement “Open Hillel” during a speech at Brandeis University, according to video posted by a group called Safe Hillel. “There is a movement afoot, an organic movement on campuses now … which I consider to be a movement to liberate young Jews, from the...

WASHINGTON — A key measure of wholesale inflation rose in July by the most in six months. The measure, called core wholesale inflation, excludes volatile food and energy prices. It surged 0.4 percent last month. But most economists say they aren’t concerned about the increase. One reason is that it was driven largely by costlier tobacco products and pickup trucks, which economists say are probably one-time events. Raw material prices also fell in July. Those figures should lead to lower wholesale prices in coming months.

With the economy rapidly weakening, some senior Democrats are having second thoughts about raising taxes on the nation's wealthiest families and are pressing party leaders to consider extending the full array of Bush administration tax cuts, at least through next year. This rethinking comes barely a month after Democrats trumpeted plans to stage a high-stakes battle over taxes in the final weeks before the November congressional elections.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama on Monday pressed the chief executives of the nation's largest banks to lend more to small businesses, increase their assistance to troubled homeowners and end their opposition to bank regulatory reform legislation moving on Capitol Hill. "I urged these institutions here today to go back and take a third and fourth look about how they are operating when it comes to small business and medium-sized business lending," Obama said after meeting at the White House with the bankers. "Banks could be doing more to lend to small businesses." See full text of Obama's remarks....

I admit I was mistaken about the direction the relationship between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government would take. It seemed consensual that the two-state solution was on its way to the freezer with a tag attached: "See under 'solutionism.'" This would have placed the differences between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the level of principle. On the ground, Obama would avoid confrontation with Israel and work with Netanyahu to accelerate economic cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis. Instead, Obama chose to embark on a collision course. Among Netanyahu's advisers there are some who believe that...

WASHINGTON – Hailing the House, President Barack Obama put pressure on senators Saturday to follow its lead and pass legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions, helping usher the U.S. into a new age of energy efficiency. "Now my call to every senator, as well as to every American, is this: We cannot be afraid of the future. And we must not be prisoners of the past," the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth. It's just not...

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats face conflicting pressures as John Roberts' nomination as chief justice advances, prodded by liberal groups to oppose the appointment yet considering whether a vote in favor might temper President Bush's choice for a second Supreme Court vacancy. "In three days of testimony, Judge Roberts gave no reason for optimism that he would vote to uphold a woman's right to choose," the National Women's Law Center said in a memo circulated Monday, part of a sustained effort by liberal groups to maximize Democratic opposition to the nomination. "There's been extensive outreach to senators and their staffs by...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - After months of scathing reports and hearings detailing shortcomings in California's correctional system, a flurry of bills designed to spark reforms began moving through Senate committees Tuesday. One of the most controversial requires the attorney general to review allegations of employee conduct in state prisons, potentially second-guessing local prosecutors such as those in San Joaquin County. The district attorney's office there declined to file charges against California Youth Authority employees internal investigators say beat two youths and filed false reports about the January incident. Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office already is reviewing that decision to see if...

<p>LEWISTON, Maine (AP) Somali leaders and Mayor Larry Raymond pledged Friday to work together to resolve friction after the mayor warned of a strain on resources if more Somalis moved to the city.</p> <p>The meeting was behind closed doors, and Somali leaders said afterward that they understand the social and economic pressures facing the city.</p>