Free Republic

As Americans struggle to keep up with the rising tide of prices and feel the squeeze of high interest rates on housing, President Joe Biden continues to claim that the economy is good. “Bidenomics” is working, there’s no recession to see here, so shut up and enjoy the drag queen performances at the White House. That narrative took a hit back in 2022, however, when America experienced two consecutive quarters of decline in gross domestic product—the traditional definition of a recession. In the first quarter of 2022, inflation-adjusted GDP declined in the U.S. by 1.6%, and it declined by an...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian forces have secured “combat control” of areas where Russian troops entered the northeastern Kharkiv region earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “Our soldiers have now managed to take combat control of the border area where the Russian occupiers entered,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Friday evening. Zelenskyy’s comments appeared to be at odds with those made by Russian officials.

In mid-2022, Gazprom restricted gas flows to Europe in what was seen as a move by Putin to get both leverage against Kyiv's allies ahead of the winter season and retaliate against Western sanctions and support of Ukraine. But the EU managed to find alternative long-term sources of gas imports and free itself from most Russian piped-gas imports ... Gazprom's revenue fell by 41 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2023, while sales profits dropped 71 percent and gas production by 25 percent... The report said the company's upstream gas-production base is now isolated because infrastructure connecting its main...

The California Senate passed a bill that would ban parental notification for gender changes in public TK-12 and provide more resources to increase parental support of LGBTQ pupils. While parents broadly support disclosure rules and have approved them in many school districts, state leaders, including the attorney general — who has supported lawsuits against districts with disclosure rules — say these efforts harm transgender children. In the past year, school districts across California have adopted measures requiring parents to be notified if their children request to officially change their pronouns, go by a different name, or use facilities or school...

“Affordable housing.” Who could be against that? Surely an energetic, well-intentioned government ought to be able to come up with some programs or initiatives to make housing more affordable for low and moderate-income residents. In practice, the State and City of New York have been pursuing the Holy Grail of “affordable housing” through government compulsion for close to a century. After all that, what we have is the most expensive housing market in the country. Somehow everything they try to generate more “affordable housing” proves only to make the situation worse. The latest initiatives in this arena involve compelling developers...

Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion Friday night demanding President Trump’s condition of release in the classified documents case be modified to include barring him from criticizing law enforcement for authorizing deadly force in the August 8, 2022 raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida in a search for disputed alleged classified documents from Trump’s presidency. Trump reacted to the news of the deadly force authorization on Tuesday by saying the government had plans to kill him. Introduction to Smith’s motion: The Government moves to modify defendant Donald J. Trump’s conditions of release, to make clear that...

On Saturday, May 4th, 2024, Ethan Daubs surprised a large boar black bear in an oak brush patch near his house. Ethan is 23 years old. The boar climbed a tree as Daubs drew his Ruger Security 9 from his military-style holster. The bear was about seven yards away. Ethan yelled at the bruin, and it took off at speed across a field. Ethan considered the speed of the respectful bear as it retreated through the woods. He made a policy decision. In the future, if he heard strange noises in the brush, he would draw first, evaluating as events...

During the hearing, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee grilled Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about the administration’s “war on energy.”. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told a House Oversight Committee Thursday that the pause on liquified natural gas (LNG) export permits would be rescinded by the first quarter of 2025. The statement was made in response to questions from Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., during a hearing. In January, the Biden administration had announced a pause on export permits of LNG to countries without a free trade agreement with the U.S., which includes European nations. The pause was to do a review...

A former CIA officer and contract linguist for the FBI accused of spying for China for at least a decade pleaded guilty Friday in a federal courtroom in Honolulu. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 72, has been in custody since his arrest in August 2020. The Justice Department said in a court filing it amassed “a war chest of damning evidence” against him, including an hourlong video of Ma and an older relative — also a former CIA officer — providing classified information to intelligence officers with China’s Ministry of State Security in 2001. The video shows Ma counting the $50,000...

The FBI and the Blacks In Government (BIG) Future Leaders in America’s Government (FLAG) program recently signed a memorandum of understanding to acknowledge their relationship and to encourage more cooperative activities between the two organizations. BIG’s FLAG mission is to create a formal youth structure within BIG’s membership, who BIG will prepare as the new generation of American leaders to act as advocates for the employment and general welfare of Blacks employed by the federal, state, and local governments. The FBI is an intelligence-driven and threat-focused national security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities. The FBI’s mission is...

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). The apostle Paul was a model believer who did not let his troubles steal His joy in the Lord. According to today’s verse, believers should never let a negative outlook replace our joy, no matter how bad life seems to be. The apostle Paul set an example that was far different. He wrote to the Philippians that in spite of being imprisoned in Rome, he was still rejoicing. Even though Paul was restricted under trying and harsh conditions, he was glad because the gospel message was being declared,...

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared tired and rundown during a recent press conference during which he said he was open to negotiating a ceasefire with Ukraine. Putin was joined on Friday by his closest ally in Europe, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, for a press conference in which the pair discussed the ongoing war against Kyiv, domestic nuclear drills and their continued cooperation. The Russian President who is turning 72 in October, looked worn down during the event, although no report of ill health has emerged in recent weeks. The health condition of Putin has been the subject of speculation and...

Over several decades of illegal immigration, Democrats have claimed there are 11 to 13 million illegal aliens in this country. It’s far more than that, but however many there are, Schumer demanded amnesty for them. That’s not a surprise.

As President Trump’s trial enters it’s 6th week in New York City, I have discovered that New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul (another Trump hater) is a client of New York Judge Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, who is the President of the Democrat Consulting Firm Authentic Campaigns Yesterday, when President Trump held a rally in the Bronx, NY, Governor Hochul went on CNN with Fake Tapper and called Trump supporters who showed up to the #Bronx rally “clowns”. According to records in the New York State Board of Elections database, Hochul has sent $689,974.35 to Loren Merchan’s personal home address...

Video posted to social media shows masked soldier calling on Gallant to quit, warns troops will not obey orders if government doesn’t pursue ‘complete victory’ over Hamas The Israeli military said Saturday that it was opening a criminal probe into a video shared online showing a masked reservist threatening mutiny if the government doesn’t pursue what he defined as “complete victory” over Hamas. “The behavior in the video is a serious violation of IDF orders and IDF values, and constitutes a suspicion of criminal offenses,” the military said in response to a query on the matter. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit...

Maybe another election somewhere had this much killing, but it's bad news down in Mexico. I spoke with a Canadian friend living in central Mexico and it was the violence that he kept talking about. This is another example: Tailed by trucks of heavily armed soldiers, four caskets floated on a sea of hundreds of mourners. Neighbors peered nervously from their homes as the crowd pushed past shuttered businesses, empty streets and political campaign posters plastering the small Mexican town of Huitzilac. Days earlier, armed men in two cars sprayed a nearby shop with bullets, claiming the lives of eight...

A staffer with Squad member Rashida Tlaib's tried to stop a Fox News reporter from asking her questions about the prospect of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the US Congress. Rep. Tlaib, the lone Palestinian-American in the House of Representatives, has been harshly critical of Israel's response to Hamas brutal assault on the Jewish state on October 7. Israel is fighting to wipe out Hamas militants who attacked Israel. Palestinian authorities say more than 35,000 people have been killed during Israel's campaign in Gaza. On Thursday, the Michigan Democrat was walking near the Capitol when Fox News' Chad Pergram...

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Murphy’s Law, or anything that can go wrong will go wrong, certainly sounds like it’s at play with all things “green” agenda. Think you’ve seen the extent of the damage? Well think again, because things seem to always just go from bad to worse. According to a new study out of the United Kingdom, drivers behind the wheel of electric vehicles/hybrid-electric (“E-HE”) vehicles prove to be more than twice as likely to hit a pedestrian than drivers behind the wheel of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, overall. But, when in urban settings, E-HE vehicles were “three times more dangerous” than...

UPDATE, May 24: This story has been updated to include more information and an interview with Trust Women’s board president. Abortion services have been halted for at least a week at the Trust Women clinic in Wichita, Kansas, after doctors began withholding their labor over an unexpected leadership shakeup and the appointment of a new medical director they believe is unqualified. Ten out of 16 physicians working at the clinic have resigned, a source said. “The clinic has been operating without medical oversight for the last month,” one source said. Rewire News Group confirmed the details of the situation with...