Free Republic

The consumer price index rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.6% for the month, putting the one-year pace at 3.8%, the highest since May 2023. Excluding food and energy, the core CPI increased 0.4% and 2.8%, respectively, keeping inflation well above the Federal Reserve's 2% goal. Though energy and in particular gasoline has been much of the headline story, inflation pressures also came from a variety of other areas. The report also contained bad news for workers, as real average hourly wages slipped 0.5% for the month and fell 0.3% annually. "Inflation is the key drag on the U.S. economy now,"...

The FBI and NSA jointly announced that Russia has been systematically compromising the security of home and small office routers since at least 2024. They obtained a court order to allow them to remotely reset thousands of affected devices in the US, but if yours is one of them, it needs to be urgently replaced … CNET reports. Federal agencies, including the FBI and NSA, disclosed on April 7 that a unit of Russia’s military intelligence directorate, the GRU group known as APT28 or Fancy Bear, has been systematically compromising home and small office routers since at least 2024, using...

This video provides an immersive tour of Shenzhen, showcasing the rapid transformation and high-tech integration that makes it one of the most advanced cities in the world. Key Highlights of Shenzhen's Tech Scene: Futuristic Payments & Logistics: The host demonstrates palm payments at a local convenience store (1:14) and experiences drone delivery for tea, which was significantly faster and more efficient than traditional methods (1:40 - 3:18). Autonomous Transportation: The video captures the experience of riding in a driverless taxi (5:21), observing how it handles complex traffic, turns, and obstacle avoidance (5:21 - 7:37). Domestic Innovation: The host explores the...

Robert Allerton Cushman III, the son of a Harvard-educated Canadian public health official, has flown under the radar as Platner casts himself as a blue-collar commercial fisherman Maine's far-left Democratic Senate nominee, Graham Platner, has leaned on his career as a "working-class" oyster farmer to cast himself as a blue-collar everyman. His Ivy League business partner—who owns the secluded island where the farm is based—is, well, anything but. Robert Cushman III is an elite New England boarding school graduate who has described his habit of drinking "foraged spring water with Redmond sea salt." He got into the oyster farming business,...

Federal prosecutors Tuesday said they were charging the international companies Synergy Marine Pte Ltd and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, as well as ship technical superintendent Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair. The charges included conspiracy and misconduct or neglect of shop officers that resulted in death and obstruction. The two companies and technical superintendent were also charged with conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and false statements, according to a statement announcing the charges. The companies were also accused of misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution...

Sorry, Hillary. Or congrats? It's one of the fiercest debates in politics these days: Who is the worst American politician of the 21st century? Some say Hillary Clinton, for obvious reasons. Others insist Kamala Harris is worse, also for obvious reasons. Correction: It was one of the fiercest debates in politics. For now, the matter has been settled. Kamala is definitely worse. Sorry, Hillary. Or congratulations. Our analysis is based on a recent NBC News report about Harris's ongoing flirtation with another presidential run in 2028, among other news items from the past several weeks. The NBC article contains one...

A Russian cargo vessel suspected of carrying components for two nuclear submarine reactors, possibly destined for North Korea, sank in the Mediterranean Sea under mysterious circumstances in December 2024, according to a CNN investigation published today. The Ursa Major (also known as Sparta 3), a heavy-lift ship linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” and previously used in military operations in Syria, went down approximately 60 miles (about 100 km) off the coast of Spain near Cartagena on December 23, 2024. The sinking followed a series of explosions that killed two crew members and left 14 others rescued by Spanish authorities. Spanish...

Donald Trump mocked 'little boy' JD Vance last night as he recalled Secret Service agents yanking the Vice President out of his chair and hoisting him to safety during the recent assassination attempt. The President did not spare Vance's blushes as he spoke in the White House Rose Garden, even polling guests on whether they preferred Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his 2028 successor. Trump, addressing the Secret Service, said: 'I thought you did a great job two weeks ago. You know why? Because I’m here.' 'But I will be the one to find fault if I think there...

Beloved, on this day, Sunday May 17, 2026; spiritually arm up in force to do battle in prayer in JESUS' NAME for the returning of America to Almighty God in RIGHTEOUSNESS and against her DEMONIC ENEMIES, especially those of the America Left, who have been a demonic tool against the Gospel outreach of Jesus Christ throughout this land, Beloved, please pass on this event, fast and pray for America's turning back to the God of our Founding Fathers as a nation, that hearts would be turned to Jesus for ETERNAL Salvation, and Psalm 64, praying offensively against the demonic forces...

Trinity Bible Church “pastor” Mark Driscoll is under fire for implying on X that Jesus’ mother may have considered aborting him if a Planned Parenthood had been nearby. The comment drew widespread condemnation from both Catholics and Protestants, who were united in their criticism of him. At the time of writing, Driscoll’s post had more than 126,000 impressions and only 129 likes; resulting in being heavily ratioed. Notably, while there was no Planned Parenthood 2,000 years ago, abortion was well known and widely practiced in the ancient Roman world. Physicians commonly prescribed herbs, bloodletting, fasting, and extreme physical duress, rather...

Dear friend, who or what do you personally agape love more: America or the LORD JESUS CHRIST? Seems like a simple enough question, but many agape love this nation and its temporal place in time on this passing world stage more than the ETERNAL RIGHTEOUS Creator and ETERNAL PROPITIATION and SAVIOR of their souls (Matt. 10:37-38, John 3:16-17, Heb. 1:2-3; 1 John 4:10). When we agape love Jesus more than anyone or any nation, we can only ever be the best citizen while on the pilgrim road. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” (Matthew 6:21)....

Prices that consumers pay for a wide range of goods and services increased at a faster-than-expected pace in April, as another burst in energy prices raised further concerns about inflation’s impact on the U.S. economy. The consumer price index rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.6% for the month, putting the one-year pace at 3.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The monthly rate was as forecast, but the annual rate was 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus.

Netflix has been sued in Texas over claims it collects data belonging to children and adults in the US state without their consent, and uses "addictive" design to keep them hooked. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the streaming giant of "spying" on citizens saying it "records and monetises billions" of pieces of information about how users behave on the platform, despite suggesting otherwise. "Every interaction on the platform became a data point revealing information about the user," his office said. Netflix has rejected the claims and says it will challenge them in court, according to a statement shared with...

Good News: Dems managed to spell Virginia correctly. Bad News: They sent their emergency application to SCOTUS to the wrong court. Baby steps.

PillsYou Didn't Get Sick. You Got Enrolled.Pills to wake, pills to sleepPills, pills, pills every day of the week Pills to walk, pills to thinkPills, pills, pills for the family- St. VincentIs the world losing its mind, or is everyone just on something? I look around and I sincerely can’t tell anymore. Your kid can’t sit still, so the doctor writes a script before asking what he eats or how many hours he stares at a screen. He’s not broken. He’s a seven-year-old boy.Your buddy can’t get it up, so he reaches for the blue pill instead of putting down...

The answer to the question in the headline is obviously no — it is impossible that any of us could hate Communism as much as we should. Unless you were a Chilean helicopter pilot back in the day, perhaps, you could almost certainly use a booster shot for your anti-Communism. This point was brought home by Data Republican: Is this clear enough? Too many of our Republican friends dismiss Bass as a dimwitted clown, dangerous only because of her incompetence. However, Bass has held positions of major influence, and was among the finalists in Biden’s search for a VP pick...

The top baby names of 2025 have finally been revealed. Olivia and Liam remain America’s most popular baby names for the seventh year, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). The new rankings marked Liam’s ninth consecutive year as the most popular name. Liam — an Irish form of William — first claimed the top spot in 2017 and has remained there ever since. Olivia, whose name derives from the Latin word for “olive tree,” joined Liam at No. 1 in 2019, ending Emma’s five-year streak as the most popular girls’ name. Here’s how the top baby names stacked up,...

A California mayor who has since resigned has been charged with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China and has agreed to plead guilty, according to federal prosecutors who say she secretly worked to push pro-Beijing messaging inside the United States before she took office.Eileen Wang, former mayor of Arcadia, California, has been charged with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China and has agreed to plead guilty to the felony offense, the Justice Department announced. She now faces up to 10 years in federal prison along with a potential $250,000 fine,...

A new poll revealed that a stunning number of Democrats believe the 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, was staged. Among respondents who identified as Democrats, 42% said they believed that the Butler attempt by would-be assassin Thomas Crooks was fake, according to a YouGov poll. Thirty-four percent believed the recent attempt by suspect Cole Allen at the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) dinner was also staged. Twenty-six percent said the same of Ryan Routh’s attempt at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in September 2024. Notably, the poll found that nearly a quarter...

Mason Hull, the Florida-based TikTok personality known online as “Hullo” who built a devoted following around the controversial practice of looksmaxxing, has been arrested and charged with 15 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). He is 18 years old. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Hull was taken into custody on May 6, 2026, in Sarasota, Florida. The arrest marked a swift and disturbing fall for one of the more prominent young voices in the looksmaxxing space....