Free Republic

The Producer Price Index (PPI) report published Wednesday reported 6.0 percent producer inflation year-over-year in April. This is the highest since December 2022 under the Biden Administration. The month-over-month reading also increased to 1.4 percent, a similar high to that of March 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report said that the “40 percent of the April advance in prices for final demand goods can be attributed to a 15.6-percent increase in the index for gasoline,” noting that fuels and industrial chemicals also rose significantly. Producer inflation runs ahead of increased consumer prices, as higher costs in production costs are...

CNN’s top data cruncher Harry Enten delivered a sobering message for Democrats on Tuesday, warning that Republicans remain firmly competitive ahead of the November midterms despite President Trump’s sagging poll numbers and voter frustration over the rising cost of living.Appearing on “CNN News Central,” Enten pointed to fresh polling showing that a large majority of Americans blame Trump for the higher cost of living — but said Democrats have failed to translate that dissatisfaction into a commanding political advantage.“I think this poll serves as a big-time reality check for Democrats, and that is it ain’t over yet, especially with the...

Capital One, the corporate banking giant, has an advertising tagline that asks, “What’s in your wallet?” For one Maryland gun shop, the answer to that question appears to be a banking giant that ignores a White House executive order and dismisses Treasury Department regulations that forbid banking discrimination. Capital One Financial Corporation has been in business since 1994 and the McLean, Va., international banking giant with over $475 billion in assets boasts that it offers credit cards, auto loans, checking and savings accounts and commercial banking services. That is, unless the customer happens to be a firearm retailer. Just ask...

Whiny New York University students are in an uproar after renowned social psychologist and bestselling author Jonathan Haidt — who has argued that Gen-Zers are coddled and anxious — will deliver their commencement speech. Haidt, a psychologist at NYU’s Stern School of Business, was chosen by the school to deliver the 2026 graduation address at Yankee Stadium on Thursday — with administrators hailing him as one of the “most consequential scholars of the 21st century.” But an ultra-woke group of student government leaders quickly tried to derail his address, arguing in a lengthy and nonsensical statement that NYU’s selection proves...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently made a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he met with Mohammed bin Zayed, the country's president, sources told CBS News. Netanyahu's office acknowledged the trip, saying in a statement Wednesday that it "resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates." Sources told CBS News that the meeting occurred in late March. But hours later, the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the meeting took place, saying in a statement that the UAE's "relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known...

Naftali Bennett, a former Netanyahu aide who is seeking to replace him as prime minister for a second time, is offering voters a straightforward promise: a “rebuild.” Israel’s main anti-Netanyahu alliance, led by Bennett and Yair Lapid…offered a conservative, hawkish vision that carries echoes of Netanyahu — but none of his baggage. Their pitch will be tested in a momentous election this year that will reveal whether voters want younger faces to lead Israel through a period of growing domestic division and international isolation… Lapid’s centrist supporters say they do not agree on all issues with Bennett…But he is someone...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly failing to comply with a new state law regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement cooperation. Dallas County ICE Agreement What we know: Senate Bill 8, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, requires local sheriff’s offices to cooperate with ICE operations in their counties. More specifically, sheriffs must request partnerships with ICE, known as 287(g) agreements. The agreements allow ICE to authorize local authorities to perform certain types of immigration enforcement in local jails, including allowing officers to question inmates about their immigration status...

HOUSTON, Texas (WKRC) - A constable's office is facing criticism from community members and social media users after posting a mugshot in connection with an arrest. According to a statement issued by Harris County Constable Precinct 2 on Facebook, 28-year-old Fant Jomecia was taken into custody after she allegedly attempted to enter an apartment without permission. Authorities said deputies responded to an apartment complex at 8625 Winkler Drive in Houston, Texas after receiving a report of a suspicious person. Per the statement, management reportedly noticed Jomecia jumping from a balcony in an attempt to enter an apartment unit without the...

A major explosive volcanic eruption is ongoing, the largest so far of 2026, and yet the media is largely missing it. What I am referring to is a volcano which few people have ever heard of located within the central Bismarck Sea. Going by the same name of that area, it is currently producing its largest eruption on record, having already generated abundant pumice rafts and an eruption plume that rose 13,000 feet above the ocean surface. This is all due to the planet's largest deep submarine volcanic eruption in more than a decade! A Major Explosive Eruption in Ongoing;...

The service plans to buy 15 Trump-class battleships over 30 years while also expanding its fleet of autonomous medium unmanned surface vessels.The U.S. Navy on Monday unveiled fresh details about its future Trump-class battleship program. For the first time, officials confirmed that the large warship will use nuclear power and act as a heavily armed command ship for future naval operations.This information was included in the Navy’s new 30-year shipbuilding plan. The plan also describes major changes to the fleet, such as adding many autonomous ships, buying new submarines, and retiring older aircraft carriers and submarines.The proposed battleship is expected...

US stocks rallied to record highs on Wednesday as investors shrugged off a hotter-than-expected reading of wholesale inflation. Meanwhile, Kevin Warsh was confirmed by the Senate to be the next Fed chair. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed 1.2% to hit fresh record highs. The tech sector lifted the market, led by semiconductors and the “Magnificent Seven” stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell just below the flat line.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called himself a "gooner" during a speech to parliament Wednesday, seemingly unaware of the derogatory meaning in the U.S. The slang term has two meanings in the U.K. and U.S., respectively. When a Brit calls themselves "gooners," they are emphasizing their support for the Arsenal Football Club. However, Americans refer to "gooners" as impulsive *********** addicts who are known to be chronic ************. Starmer's innocent intention to connect with sports fans across his native country prompted comical reactions from users on X. "Mr. speaker, I am a gooner," the British premier told his colleagues.

Amid an active war, Pope Leo XIV has bestowed the Vatican's highest diplomatic honor on the Islamic Republic's envoy. Critics say it validates a regime that murders Christians, kills protesters by the thousands, and fires missiles at Western allies. In a move that has ignited controversy across religious, political, and human rights circles, Pope Leo XIV has decorated Iran's ambassador to the Vatican with the most prestigious diplomatic honor the Holy See can confer. Pope Leo XIV has awarded the Grand Cross of the Pontifical Order of Pius IX, the highest active diplomatic distinction of the Vatican, to the ambassador...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has technically been banned from visiting China by its communist government, but he accompanied President Donald Trump on his trip to Beijing on Tuesday using a bureaucratic loophole created by the Chinese to let him in. Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles to Florida who was elected to the Senate in 2011, was one of several congressional representatives banned from traveling to China in July 2020 because they spoke out against China’s brutal oppression of the Uyghur Muslims of occupied East Turkistan. The U.S. had previously sanctioned four Chinese officials for herding the Uyghurs into...

A decorated CIA officer testified before the U.S. Senate on Wednesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci deliberately manipulated intelligence community analyses on COVID-19's origins, steering federal investigators away from the lab leak theory and toward a predetermined conclusion of natural origin. The fix was in from the beginning: Fauci hand-picked the experts, shaped the process, and leveraged a network of grant-dependent researchers to make sure the intelligence community reached the answer he wanted. The hearing confirmed what millions of Americans long suspected: The government lied, and it knew it was lying. CIA special operations officer James Erdman III, a 13-year Agency...

Sounds like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has conceded defeat in the 2026 redistricting battle, but like George Costanza and the Jerk Store, he’s already plotting his revenge in 2028. If you take a deep breath, you can smell the failure laced with no small amount of humiliation… “In advance of 2028, where we will have additional states that will come online, including but not limited to New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Maryland,” says Jeffries. “That’s at least seven states. We will be able to unleash a decisive and forceful response to what they are...

The King and Queen of Pop resume their royal residences together on the Billboard Hot 100, as Michael Jackson charts four classics sparked by the new hit biopic Michael, and Madonna returns with her new collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, “Bring Your Love.” When did MJ and Madge last share spots on the Hot 100? More than 22 years ago. On the Jan. 3, 2004, chart, Madonna ranked at No. 83 with another high-profile team-up: “Me Against the Music,” with Britney Spears (the Princess of Pop). Jackson that week held the anchor spot, No. 100, with “One More Chance.” They first...

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF/Gray News) - An Alabama woman was arrested after calling 911 and admitting to fatally shooting her husband of 15 years. Investigators say she later told them she was simply bothered and annoyed by him. Franklin County deputies responded to a Russellville home after receiving a 911 call from 65-year-old Sheri Mitchell-Clutts just before 7:30 p.m. Sunday. There, they found 69-year-old Timothy Clutts dead in his recliner with a single gunshot wound to the chest. Investigators say when Mitchell-Clutts called 911, she told dispatchers she felt threatened throughout the day leading up the shooting, but when investigators...

Are Israeli prisons deploying trained dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners? According to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, the answer appears to be yes. In a lengthy column published Monday, Kristof recounts a sordid tale from a source he identifies as a “Gaza journalist.” He writes that on one occasion, the journalist “was held down, stripped naked, and as he was blindfolded and handcuffed, a dog was summoned. With encouragement from a handler in Hebrew, he said, the dog mounted him.”

Kevin Warsh was confirmed as the next Federal Reserve chairman on Wednesday — even as surging inflation has begun to box the central bank into one of its toughest corners in years. The Senate on Wednesday voted 54-45 to elevate President Trump’s pick to Fed chairman, with Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) the only Democrat to cast a vote in his favor. A day earlier, lawmakers approved Warsh to a 14-year term on the Fed’s Board of Governors in a narrow 51-45 vote. Warsh is expected to replace outgoing Chair Jerome Powell by the end of the week — inheriting an...