Free Republic

Housing prices are soaring and there appears to be no end to the advance. Prices are now accelerating at the fastest rate in over 15 years. A combination of lockdown-related bottlenecks, limited labor availability (thanks to over-the-top unemployment payments that give potential workers incentive to just stay home) and, most significant, massive printing of money out of thin air by the Federal Reserve. In a monthly sentiment survey of builders, they reported higher costs for lumber, steel, gypsum and copper, some of which have hit record highs this year. Not to mention the limited labor. Construction employment stalled in April...

Border Patrol agents rescued nearly two dozen illegal aliens from what officials suspect was a smuggling boat in the early hours of Monday off the shores of Point Loma, California, Fox News reported. A Border Patrol representative told the outlet that the agency spotted the incoming unlawful entrants around 2:50 a.m. local time when an agent noticed a “panga type vessel” near the rocks off Sunset Cliff through vehicle-based video surveillance. The Coast Guard deployed a small boat to intercept the incoming vessel, and Coast Guard officials tried to get in contact with the operator of the panga. However, the...

The "Jerusalem Prayer Team" Facebook page, which has 77 million followers, was blocked last week (Friday) without warning. Dr. Mike Evans, director of the page and head of the Friends of Zion Association, claims that Facebook fell for an "anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist conspiracy," Channel 2 News reported. The subject was brought to the attention of the Foreign Ministry this morning (Tuesday), during a tour of Sderot, where Evans met Asif Elkayam. According to members of the Friends of Zion Association, Evans' Facebook page was blocked without warning last weekend (Friday). Evans, who is currently in Israel with the aim of...

This was a 60 Minute exposé on the swine flu shot

So I work for my local county (Upstate NY) and the new county administrator put out the edict as of tomorrow, if you are "fully vaccinated" (TM) then you don't have to wear a mask. All others do need to wear a mask on the job and social distance. Violators will be "disciplined" WWYD?

DarkSide, the hacker group behind the Colonial ransomware attack, received $90 million in bitcoin ransom payments, according to blockchain sleuths Elliptic. The cybercriminal gang shut down last week after losing access to its servers and as its cryptocurrency wallets were emptied. Elliptic said DarkSide's bitcoin wallet contained $5.3 million worth of the digital currency before its funds were drained.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott continues to express hope that former President Donald Trump won’t engage against Senate incumbents in 2022. Scott made the comments Tuesday on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show.” “What I’ve suggested to him is to let the citizens of that state pick their primary winner,” Scott said. “And then help those that win that he believes in.” “And so, but, you know, he believes in things that I believe in,” Scott said, returning to talking points about a “secure border” and so on. “That’s what I think the candidates are that we’re going to get, and...

Hunter Biden says he’s “absolutely certain” he’ll be cleared of any wrongdoing as the Department of Justice continues to investigate his business dealings in China and elsewhere, but while he waits to find out, the globetrotting scion is cooling his heels canal-side in a two-bedroom, 2.5-bath Venice rental for the Presidential sum of $17,500 a month. Biden—who recounts spending time “living in $59-a-night Super 8 motels off I-95 while scaring my family even more than myself” in his new addiction memoir, Beautiful Things—has upgraded his accommodations.

United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now says that there is a surge in fentanyl coming across the United States border, and the agency has seized more of the incredibly potent narcotic in the first several months of 2021 than it did in all of 2020. “Customs and Border Protection seized more fentanyl so far in 2021 than all of 2020,” ABC News reported Tuesday. “As of April, 6,494 pounds of fentanyl were seized by authorities at the border, compared to 4,776 pounds in all of 2020. In fact, fentanyl seizures have been increasing since 2018.” “Fentanyl is an...

An IDF aircraft attacked a Hamas terrorist cell in Shejaiya in Gaza immediately after the cell fired missiles into Israeli territory. The rocket launching station was also destroyed. "The position is located inside a school, which proves once again how the terrorist organization Hamas deliberately places its military assets in the heart of the civilian population," the IDF said. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have launched over 3,000 rockets at Israel since last Monday. According to Magen David Adom, 12 people have been killed...

Officials in Arizona’s largest county on Monday urged the state Senate to bring to an end an audit that is reviewing ballots cast and machines used in the 2020 presidential election. “It is time to end this. For the good of the Senate, for the good of the Country and for the good of the Democratic institutions that define us as Americans,” the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and two other county officials wrote to Arizona GOP Senate President Karen Fann. In the 14-page document, the board, which is mainly comprised of Republicans, attempted to counter accusations by auditors that...

Charles Grodin, the comic, scene-stealing actor of such films as The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run and Beethoven who later established himself as a curmudgeonly talk show guest without rival, died today at his home in Wilton, Conn. He was 86. His son, Nicholas, told The New York Times that the cause of death was bone marrow cancer. A spokesperson said Grodin died peacefully at his home. Born Charles Sidney Grodin in Pittsburgh, Grodin, who studied under Lee Strasberg, made his big-screen debut in the small role as the duped obstetrician who turns Mia Farrow’s Rosemary over to a coven of...

An online petition to rename Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, after teenage pop star JoJo Siwa has earned over 55,000 signatures — and even an endorsement from Siwa herself. The Change.org petition, succinctly titled "Rename Ronald Reagan Airport to Jojo Siwa Washington National Airport," was created by Georgetown University student Dylan Long, DCist reported in April. Currently addressed to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority John E. Potter, the text of the petition itself is brief: "why on earth is there an airport named after this war criminal."

Fauci, and the agency’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, have repeatedly stated that the update was based on science. "I am now much more comfortable in people seeing me indoors without a mask, before the CDC made the recommendation change, I didn’t want to look like I was giving mixed signals," Fauci said Tuesday on Good Morning America, as to why he continued to wear a mask indoors before the update.

“The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear” (Proverbs 18:14).

In what could have been a scene from a dystopian future nightmare movie, the Dallas County Health and Human Services brought the military with them to administer vaccines to people who were not expecting to be vaccinated. In a video shared on Twitter the DHHS showed the National Guard entered bars, convenience stores and other popular venues to administer the COVID-19 vaccines. “We’re going out tonight too administering the #COVID19 💉 to bar goers in Deep Ellum. By getting vaccinated you’ll be able to enjoy going out again knowing that you’re safe & protected. Register today,” the tweet said. (Video...

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that no new fossil fuel boilers should be sold from 2025 if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by the middle of this century. It's one of 400 steps on the road to net-zero proposed by the agency in a special report. The sale of new petrol and diesel cars around the world would end by 2035. The IEA says that from now, there is no place for new coal, oil or gas exploration or supplies. The report has been welcomed as an important contribution on the road to COP26 in Glasgow, when...

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush (R), said he would support former President Trump in a 2024 presidential run, but pushed back on the former president’s claims that the election was stolen. “I think there was fraud and irregularity, I just don’t think it was in a sum that would have overturned the election result,” the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) told Texas Tribune reporter Evan Smith. -snip- During the interview, Bush indicated he is considering a run for attorney general in Texas. -snip- George P. Bush is the son of Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor...

Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene delivered a blistering speech on Tuesday from the U.S. House floor. In her remarks, Greene called for “justice” for the killing of Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer on Jan. 6. “And lastly, when will the witch hunt of Donald J Trump come to an end and all of those who support him?” she said. (Video in story)

The Biden administration said Monday it will begin disbursing the monthly payments to families as a result of the child tax credit increase authorized in the recently enacted the American Families Plan. The money will starting July 15 go to low-and-moderate-income families – $250 a month for each child over 6 or $300 for each child under 6. "The American Rescue Plan is delivering critical tax relief to middle class and hard-pressed working families with children," said Biden, according to The Hill. "With today's announcement, about 90% of families with children will get this new tax relief automatically." Roughly 39...