Free Republic

The U.S. economy added 194,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percent to 4.8 percent, Labor Department reported Friday. The September numbers are even worse than the disastrous report from August, showing only 235,000 jobs created. (August’s reported gains were revised up, however, from 235,000 to 366,000.) The sluggish pace of jobs created surprised experts again, as they predicted about 500,000 jobs created, but the economy fell short again. The jobs numbers were expected to rise significantly in September, as expanded unemployment checks from the federal government expired. But the report shows that Americans continue to...

"Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace joined "The Brian Kilmeade Show" Thursday, weighing in on President Biden and his team's continuous claims the president's Build Back Better agenda "costs zero dollars." The administration has repeated the claim despite loud condemnations from the Washington Post's fact-checker, budget analysts and at least one columnist who supports the infrastructure bills associated with the agenda.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Fifteen-year-old Shamara Young was identified Thursday by her mother as the Oakland girl who was fatally shot Wednesday night in a road-rage incident, making her the 109th homicide victim of the year in the East Bay city.

The teenage student who fired gunshots in an Arlington, Texas, school on Wednesday hosted a party at home with his family after being freed on a $75,000 bond. Meanwhile, the teenage shooter’s victims, a 25-year-old teacher and a 15-year-old boy, are still in the hospital, with one of them clinging to life. Simpkins’ family defended their son saying his classmates envied him because he has a nice car that $35,000 and wears nice clothes.

NEW DELHI -- An energy crisis is looming over India as coal supplies grow perilously low, adding to challenges for a recovery in Asia’s third largest economy after it was wracked by the pandemic. Supplies across the majority of coal-fired power plants in India have dwindled to just days worth of stock. Federal Power Minister R. K. Singh told the Indian Express newspaper this week that he was bracing for a “trying five to six months.” “I can’t say I am secure … With less than three days of stock, you can’t be secure,” Singh said. The shortages have stoked...

We have reached a critical juncture in our nation’s history. As once hallowed institutions decay before our eyes, parallel structures struggle to arise. Cryptocurrencies, Fintechs, and private equity funds hedge against financial system collapse. Private security continues to grow in the face of police defunding crusades. And in K-12 education, charter, parochial, and private schools strive to excel where government schools have failed. Innovations in higher education have also occurred but clearly have been insufficient to stop the downward spiral of increased cost and decreased value that many have warned about for decades. It is time to get serious about...

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was unleashed on the world from China. The evidence is now growing that the bioweapons laboratory in Wuhan, China was the original source of the virus. If this theory is true, the virus was either accidentally or intentionally released on an unsuspecting world. Of course, the government of communist China is not cooperating with an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, so the world may never know the truth. The mere fact that China is blocking this investigation should lead everyone to question what China is trying to hide. The pandemic has killed over 700,000...

More than 20 federal agencies released reports Thursday detailing the biggest implications of the changing climate for all Americans and the agencies themselves. The reports, stemming from a January executive order by President Biden, show how climate change will affect nearly every aspect of daily living and address how each agency is preparing. "By taking action now to better manage and mitigate climate risks, we will minimize disruptions to federal operations, assets and programs while creating safer working conditions for employees," the White House said Thursday. In 2020, the United States experienced a record-breaking 22 natural disasters with at least...

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2). True confession involves a proper understanding of sin. King David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). He was far from perfect, however. He was not an effective father (1 Kings 1:5-6), nor did he always trust God (1 Sam. 21:10—22:1). But by far his greatest failings were his horrible sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband (2 Sam. 11—12). After Nathan the prophet confronted him with his sin, David poured out his heart in confession to God....

On September 27, 2021, David Sibley, a birdwatching celebrity, posted the following on his Facebook page. "The outdoors is for *everyone* and has felt unsafe to many LGBTQIA2S+ folks for too long … Today, ask yourself 'What could I do better?'" Sibley "warned" that birders were liable to make "hurtful and dangerous comments" and that "sensitive" and "vulnerable" people should "avoid the comments section." LGBT people "struggle to feel and BE safe in the outdoors." Mind – Sibley was not condemning very real and reprehensible anti-LGBT violence. Sibley was specifically accusing birdwatchers of violence. Follow-up comments from Sibley's fans...

Paul was completely captivated by his Lord, and yet he wrote, “What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8, NKJV, emphasis added). Why would he feel the need to “win” Christ? Christ already had revealed himself clearly and not just to the apostle but in his life. Even so, Paul felt compelled to...

During a Thursday interview with Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sounded off on the Senate voting to raise the debt ceiling. Graham lamented that the GOP “blinked” after initially vowing not to help the Democrats raise the debt ceiling. He added that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) striking a deal with the Democrats shows them the Republican side is “all talk and no action.”

Pope Pius V and the Mass Reproduced with permission from the Voice of the Family Digest. To subscribe to this weekly newsletter, scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address.----------------------------In 1570 Pope St Pius V promulgated a new edition of the Missale Romanum, the Roman Missal, as mandated by the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The event was an important one, but it has often been misunderstood. At a moment of liturgical crisis, it would be good to remind ourselves of its real significance. Superficially, there is a strong parallel with what happened in 1969, when...

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has reassured settler leaders in the West Bank that he is willing to stand up to American pressure, describing his three “No’s” to President Biden’s requests made at their meeting on August 26. A report on Bennett’s description of his pushback is here: “Bennett tells settlers he said no 3 times to Biden, on Iran, consulate, building,” by Shalom Yerushalmi, Times of Israel, September 27, 2021: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently told settler leaders that he pushed back against United States President Joe Biden on Iran’s nuclear program, the reopening of the American consulate...

Question for military experts. I just saw a raw satellite feed of Sleepy Joe's sidekick Kamala getting on an airplane. The military guys at the bottom of the stairs were standing still in a salute. Um, maybe it is just me, but I do not recall ever seeing a person presumed to be the vice-president being saluted by men in uniform....that person is not the commander in chief. Am I wrong?

Colombo (AFP) - The Sri Lankan government on Friday ended price controls on essential foods in a bid to end black market trading as food shortages worsen amid a foreign currency crisis. The cabinet decided to free prices for milk powder, wheat flour, sugar and liquified petroleum gas hoping it would increase supplies. "Prices could go up by as much as 37 percent across the board, but it is hoped dealers will not make unconscionable profits," a trade ministry official told AFP. A shortage of foreign currency caused by a pandemic recession has unleashed the shortages of food, medicines and...

Anal cancer, like cervical cancer, is usually caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is among the most common sexually transmitted infections, and most people acquire one or more strains of the virus not long after they become sexually active. Previous research has shown that people with HIV have more types of cancer-causing HPV and are less likely to naturally clear the virus. What’s more, they tend to experience more rapid progression from low-grade cell changes to precancerous dysplasia (known as high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, or HSIL) to invasive cancer. Even people on effective antiretroviral therapy with an undetectable viral load...

Our shocking slide into the surreal world of leftist leadership has led to this: American parents are the enemy. Big Education and a weaponized Department of Justice are going after the very people who should have the most say in public education. School boards and public school administrators, like in Loudoun County, Virginia, where I live, have faced unprecedented informed dissent from parents of every background. Instead of acting like public servants, they act like the petty gods of Mount Olympus recklessly wielding their (unconstitutional) power as they try to strike down (e.g. silence, fire, dox and demonize) anyone who...

President Biden bragged that he personally called a Pennsylvania hospital emergency room to know “what the situation was” after a friend’s wife failed to receive immediate care because the waiting room was so backed up. Biden said Thursday he intervened after a “good friend” called him Wednesday night to say he’d rushed his partner to the hospital because she was having trouble breathing and had a high fever. “They got her into the hospital, but the waiting room was so crowded, things were so backed up, they couldn’t even get her to be seen initially,” Biden said during a speech...

A parents group is questioning Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to open an investigation into purported threats and acts of violence against school boards across the U.S. after the group discovered that the attorney general’s son-in-law is the co-founder of an education company that uses critical race theory in its work. ... “His daughter is married to the cofounder of @PanoramaEd which is under fire for its multimillion contracts with school boards,” she added. “At @DefendingEd, parents sent us tips. We raised the alarm. Now Garland is trying to silence parents.”