Free Republic

The pace of global recoveries since 1975 has been slower and weaker, consistently evey time, according to the OECD. Recoveries take longer and happen slower. At the same time, periods of crisis are less aggressive albeit more frequent than prior to 1975. Another interesting evidence of the crises and recoveries since 1975 is that almost all economies end the recession period with more debt than before.Global debt has ballooned to all-time highs, more than three times the world GDP. For the economy to really recover, we must stop the race of perverse incentives created by the wrong analysis of the...

Trade will not play a central role when the Washington delegation meets with their China counterparts in Alaska next week, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on March 12. Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join talks with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi and senior foreign policy diplomat Yang Jiechi on March 18, marking the two countries’ first top-level meeting in person since President Joe Biden took office. Asked about trade sanctions on China, he said that he doesn’t expect “the phase one trade deal is going to be a major topic of conversation next week.” “This...

Scientists will likely discover the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic within the next few years, after they pursue and zero in on an animal source for the new coronavirus, a member of an international team of investigators led by the World Health Organization said Wednesday. “I’m convinced we’re going to find out fairly soon,” said Peter Daszak, a member of the WHO-led team and a zoologist who specializes in hunting for viral origins in animals. “Within the next few years we’ll have real significant data on where this came from and how it emerged.” Dr. Daszak was one of three...

The amount of fentanyl seized while coming through the southern border during the first 5 months of fiscal year 2021 is already higher than all of fiscal year 2020, according to the latest statistics from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP has seized more than 5,000 pounds of fentanyl since Oct. 1, 2020, said acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller during a March 10 media call. “We are seeing a dramatic increase in fentanyl seizures this fiscal year, more than 360 percent higher than this time last year,” Miller said. “Nationwide drug seizures increased 50 percent in February from January. Cocaine...

Despite the U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports, some Chinese refiners are buying so much Iranian crude that the ports in the Shandong province, where most independent refiners are based, are experiencing tanker traffic congestions, analysts and traders have told Bloomberg. China has never actually stopped buying crude oil from the Islamic Republic, even after the Trump Administration slapped sanctions on Iran’s oil sales in 2018, warning buyers to stay away from Iranian crude and risk being sanctioned and cut off from the U.S. banking system. Various reports, media investigations, and tanker-tracking firms suggest that China has been receiving much...

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich announced that he is back on Twitter after being locked out for a week following a disputed tweet regarding the Biden administration’s immigration policies. Gingrich defended his tweet and announced that he had been reinstated in an op-ed that ran in the Washington Times Wednesday. He noted that both Texas Republicans and Democrats have been critical of the administration’s refusal to track where undocumented migrants are being released on the southern border as the coronavirus persists. In a tweet that was later deleted, Gingrich wrote, "If there is a COVID surge in Texas,...

...this weekend we mark the year of tyranny known as DC 19 (The Dictatorship of COVID-19). Day 362 Of The Dictatorship Of COVID-19, Day 362 Of America And The World Held Hostage "Just in the last 12 months in the United States of America we were under the threat of the force of law for losing our liberties if we decided to go outside our homes, if we decided to travel, if we decided that we were going to open our businesses and trade with each other, if we decided that we wanted to go to church and worship. These...

Rob Hoogland, a resident of Surrey, British Columbia, is the brave father of a young teenage girl who has been essentially stolen from him by the medical community and by the Canadian courts. Rob, whose daughter decided in 7th grade that she wanted to be a boy, believed that at 14-years-old, she was too young to make the decision to medically transition to a male. The doctors, school officials, and now the Supreme Court have decided that her father does not have the authority to make that decision, and furthermore, he is to always refer to his daughter by “his”...

If one were to listen to most of the "experts," they'd believe that the novel which became known as Covid-19 was a naturally occurring mutation. But the experts who are brave enough to break from the Chinese Communist Party narrative know the truth and are starting to say it.A common sense evaluation of the evidence surrounding the Wuhan Flu reveals that it almost certainly originated at the Wuhan Virology Lab as part of bioweapons research, accidentally infected some who were working in the lab, and spread to the world following a botched coverup by the Chinese Communist Party. But common...

Terry Hartzell, band member of Piper's Request, stopped by virtually Saturday morning to talk all things bagpipes and the difference between Highland bagpipes vs. Uileann bagpipes. "A lot of the pipes you hear in movie soundtracks, and even the Scottish movies, or Scottish themed movies, the pipes you hear are the Uileann pipes," Hartzell explains. "They are quieter, more melodic." Hartzell also played a tune for our viewers, similar to the pipes heard in popular blockbuster movie Titanic. For more information on the band, visit pipersrequest.com.

Migrant families coming across the border into Texas amid a new illegal immigration wave are testing positive for COVID-19 at a much higher rate — up to 10 times higher in some quarters — than the positive test rate among the U.S. population. The Washington Times reports that its survey of jurisdictions that are doing the testing has found that Brownsville, Texas, has reported a 12% positive rate for the novel coronavirus among incoming migrant families. And a homeless shelter in Harlingen has seen a 25% positive rate among the migrants it has helped. The current positivity test rate for...

The Alaska Republican Party State Central Committee voted to censure Sen. Lisa Murkowski during its quarterly meeting in Anchorage on Saturday. The vote was 77 percent in favor of the censure resolution, which was offered by House District 23 Chairman Kris Warren.

When realtor Ben Dixon caught sight of his face during an early morning Zoom call with a client in January, he was distracted by what he perceived were bags and discoloration under his eyes. “I thought, ‘You could do with a little help here!’” the 42-year-old admitted to The Post, noting how he’d become more bothered by his appearance while working remotely during the pandemic. So, like a growing number of dudes who are increasingly horrified by their appearance on countless Zoom calls, he consulted a friend with seemingly perfect skin, who generously shared his secret: concealer for men.

Berea College, a small Christian school in Kentucky, will host a seminar that associates “white citizenship” with terrorism. The flyer also takes a critical approach to the “Make America Great Again” slogan. “Despite calls for multiculturalism and color-blindness, segments of white America mourn their so-called loss of privilege, consistently begging to return to the nostalgic past in which their esteemed value as white citizens went unquestioned,” read a promotional poster obtained by Young America’s Foundation. “Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ appears to follow suit by offering a seemingly benign promise to return America to a previously ‘great’ past,” the poster...

On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized President Joe Biden’s remarks about the possibility of reinstating COVID-19 lockdowns in the United States if people are not “vigilant.” “To even contemplate doing any type of lockdown, honestly it’s insane,” said the Republican governor. DeSantis vowed to protect his state from possible Washington mandates. “That’s not gonna happen in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said, referring to lockdowns. “We’re gonna continue doing what works, but under no circumstances would we entertain anything of the sort.” Epoch Times Photo Supporters of former President Donald Trump gather along Southern Blvd near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home...

Disillusioned staffers are abandoning embattled Gov. Cuomo, sources said. “I hear that most people aren’t even coming into work, and the offices at the Capitol are empty,” said one well-placed insider in touch with staffers in recent days. “He’ll fight and fight and fight, but the staffers I’ve talked to are ready for him to hang up the gloves. Everyone feels like there is an inevitable conclusion — I mean at some point will Biden call on him to step down? They [staffers] just want this torture to stop.” Rebellion in the ranks deepened as Cuomo on Friday defiantly refused...

“John 3:16, Up Close and Personal” (John 3:14-21) It’s perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible. People know what it says simply by the reference, “John 3:16.” It’s so well known that folks will hold up a sign with just the reference on it, and people will remember what the verse says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” A brief, concise, beautiful summary of the gospel. In fact, this verse is often called “The gospel in a nutshell.” Well, let’s take...

Campaigners have accused the government of not moving quickly enough towards banning LGBT+ "conversion therapy" in England and Wales. MPs from across the political spectrum called during a Westminster debate for the practice to be made illegal. Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch said the government was "committed" to "ending" it, and took the issue "very seriously". But equality campaigners and some MPs said targeted action was needed. "Conversion therapy" refers to any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice is already outlawed in Switzerland and parts of Australia, Canada and...

ROME – Several prominent Vatican personalities marked International Women’s Day by celebrating the contribution a feminine touch can bring to their work and calling for more space to be created for lay people in general within the ranks of the Roman Curia. Speaking during a March 8 panel organized by the Australian Embassy to the Holy See, Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, said Pope Francis is calling the Church “to recognize the legitimate place of women” at all levels of the Church in order to achieve “greater justice and equality, and he...

Alejandra Frausto, the Mexican government’s Secretary of Culture, lamented the March 7 destruction of the church on social media.MORELIA, Mexico — St. James the Apostle church in Nurio, in the Mexican state of Michoacán, was destroyed by a fire on Sunday. The church building which dates to 1639, contained historical works of indigenous art preserved there for centuries. Its exterior walls are standing, but the roof and interior have been gutted. Nurio is located about 80 miles west of Morelia. Alejandra Frausto, the Mexican government’s Secretary of Culture, lamented the March 7 destruction of the church on Twitter. “Devastating images...