Free Republic

That Bidenflation is really hurting Americans. Start with the UMich Buying Conditions for Houses. It “rose” to 83. Unfortunately, 100 is the baseline and any number below 100 is bad. The reason? The massive increase in US home prices since 2020. But retail sales are hurting thanks to higher prices. Retail sales less food services and auto are DOWN 3.1% MoM. Meanwhile, US industrial production fell to -0.3%. Mission accomplished?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday reversed the state parole board's decision to grant parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy more than 50 years ago, saying he remains a threat to society. Sirhan was convicted and originally sentenced to death but was commuted to life in prison for fatally shooting Sen. Robert Kennedy, the former attorney general under his brother, President John F. Kennedy, on June 5, 1968, at the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel. Five bystanders were also shot, all of whom survived. The presidential hopeful was slain in front of his family, friends...

A model of COVID-19 is seen ahead of a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the plan to research, manufacture and distribute a coronavirus vaccine, known as Operation Warp Speed, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 2020. Pool Photo by Saul Loeb/UPI | License Photo *************************************************************************** Vaccination is still the best way to protect someone from COVID-19, but new research suggests that immune system activation of T-cells by common colds may offer some cross-protection. The study might also provide a blueprint for a second-generation, universal vaccine that could prevent infection from current and future variants, the research...

Santa Clara County officials and advocates are rejoicing as the federal government agrees to reassess the use of leaded aviation gasoline nationwide. During a news conference Wednesday, County Counsel James Williams announced the Environmental Protection Agency approved a petition from the county and several environmental organizations to evaluate whether leaded fuel used by airplanes is a threat to public health and welfare. Leaded fuel for cars was banned in the U.S. more than two decades ago, but it is still used by some airplanes, including those at the Reid-Hillview and San Martin airports in Santa Clara County. "Today is a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is threatening to recoup COVID-19 relief funds sent to Arizona over state provisions that it says discourage families and school districts from following federal guidance recommending face coverings in schools. At issue are two state programs meant to help schools and students but direct funding away from jurisdictions with mask requirements. Arizona’s Education Plus-Up Grant Program provides $163 million in funding to schools, but districts that require face coverings are ineligible. And its COVID-19 Educational Recovery Benefit Program provides for up to $7,000 for parents if their child’s school requires face coverings. In a...

It's hard to imagine a worse 48-hour stretch for any first-year president than the one Joe Biden endured over the past two days. On Wednesday, Quinnipiac University released a devastating poll placing the president's public approval at 33 percent, his lowest approval in any poll since his presidency began. What makes just one-third of the country supporting this president even more remarkable is that Biden received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history: 81 million, or more than 10 million more votes than the previous record holder, Barack Obama. The drop has been unprecedented: Biden sat at 55...

The White House on Friday announced a new program to repair and replace the nation's bridges through funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law that passed Congress in November. The announcement comes 60 days after President Joe Biden signed the bill into law and ahead of remarks he will deliver Friday afternoon updating the nation on the law's implementation. There are more than 43,000 bridges in poor condition across the country, according to 2021 data from the National Bridge Inventory. The US Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration is launching the Bridge Formula Program, which will provide $26.5 billion to states,...

Joe Biden is the gift that keeps on giving. First he promised to make Americans poorer which he quickly accomplished through high energy costs, paying people not to work and inept leadership. Now Joe is unwrapping a brand new plan. Apparently, our el presidente not only wants Americans to be poorer but he also wants us to forget about COVID. It's called misdirection. Don't worry about being sick peasants because very soon you will be starving and quarantined. Clever. Biden recently pivoted from solving the COVID crisis and turned his focus on solving the supply line crisis. Joe thinks that...

At this point in the vaccine rollout, most believe that there’s nothing that can be done to convince those who refuse to get vaccinated to change their minds. President Biden’s attempts to force a federal mandate on workers via OSHA was blocked by the courts. But that hasn’t stopped Wall Street from barring the unvaccinated from its facilities, even though vaccinated employees are just as likely to spread the virus. Not long after Citi became the first megabank to announce plans to fire workers who refused to comply with vaccination policies, private equity giant Blackstone will now prohibit any workers...

It’s a good rule of thumb to avoid looking like an idiot in front of children.I mention this because New York’s governor and government are about to do exactly that. They are currently muddling through the implementation of an absolutely idiotic move.Namely, a ban on extracurricular activities for students 12 and over who are vaccinated, but not boosted, and who are exposed to someone with covid.This has “dumbass” written all over it.And students know that.Students know that this new rule is illogical, punitive and ineffective, that it isn’t about public health, it is about submission to government authority. It’s not...

Mini The Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19, common cold and flu share some common symptoms as they all affect the upper respiratory system. It is of course always advisable to get tested if the symptoms persist. ************************************************************************************* Omicron, Delta, common cold or flu? Comparing the symptoms Currently, India is in the middle of the third wave of COVID-19. To add to the two dominant COVID-19 variants, Omicron and Delta, the cold wave across large swathes of the country has led to an increase in cases of flu and common cold. This is leading to a lot of confusion as...

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury of 4 felonies related to her purchase of a home in Florida. Mosby was among the first law enforcement officials supported by left-wing billionaire George Soros in his quest to remake the criminal justice system in the United States. Federal prosecutors allege that Mosby lied to falsely obtain a withdrawal from her savings account based on a policy related to the coronavirus pandemic. She is also accused of lying on a mortgage application for the home purchase. Investigators subpoenaed financial records from Mosby and her husband, City...

French holiday bookings have jumped after Paris said it would ease restrictions on UK travellers, travel firms have said. Airline Jet2 said it had seen a "sharp" rise in bookings and searches for flights to French skiing destinations. And Tour operator Tui said ski bookings doubled on Wednesday following reports the rules would change. Many UK holidaymakers had to cancel holidays when France banned all but essential travel last month. But from Friday, vaccinated Britons will no longer need a compelling reason to enter France or self-isolate when they arrive. They will only need to present a negative Covid-19 test...

Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has used his discretionary ministerial power to cancel tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa on the grounds of health and good order, saying it was in the public interest to do so. “This decision followed orders by the Federal Circuit and Family Court on 10 January 2022, quashing a prior cancellation decision on procedural fairness grounds,” Hawke said in a statement on Jan. 14. "In making this decision, I carefully considered information provided to me by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr Djokovic. “The Morrison Government is firmly committed to protecting...

How do I know if I have a cold, the flu or COVID-19? Experts say testing is the best way to determine what you have since symptoms of the illnesses can overlap. The viruses that cause colds, the flu and COVID-19 are spread the same way — through droplets from the nose and mouth of infected people. And they can all be spread before a person realizes they’re infected. The time varies for when someone with any of the illnesses will start feeling sick. Some people infected with the coronavirus don’t experience any symptoms, but it’s still possible for them...

Countless news reports during the past year have bemoaned the increasing hostility people are expressing towards each other in their everyday interactions. We have seen this lack of civility and respect come to a boil locally as well, especially towards Black women. This past week, Chicago Teacher’s Union President Jesse Sharkey said Mayor Lori Lightfoot was “relentlessly stupid” in her positions during negotiations of the dispute between the Chicago Public Schools and CTU. We see this at the national level too. No vice president in American history has endured more ferocious criticism than Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden has...

My, my. The world seems shocked that the Supreme Court’s ruling on vaccine mandates for private employers was based (mostly) on the Constitution. I’m so old that I remember when that was the minimal expectation for such rulings. The more interesting question was which clause/amendment the majority Justices would twist to justify their unconstitutional ruling. (NOTE: it was usually the Commerce Clause)Of course the bigger concern should be that there were three Justices who felt the mandate should stand (Constitution be damned). Suffice to say the Potato President agrees with those three and hence encourages employers to ignore the ruling...

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large private employers but temporarily allowed a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers to take effect while challenges continue in lower courts. In Biden v. Missouri, which concerns a vaccine mandate for healthcare employees at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities, the justices were split 5-4. The Department of Health and Human Services issued the rule, which applies to more than 10 million workers, in November, but two federal district courts – in Missouri and Louisiana – put the rule on hold in roughly half the states. In an unsigned...

Chances are unless you're a JavaScript programmer, you've never heard of the open-source Javascript libraries 'colors.js' and 'faker.js." They're simple programs that respectively let you use colored text on your node.js, a popular JavaScript runtime, console, and create fake data for testing. Faker.js is used with more than 2,500 other Node Package Manager (NPM) programs and is downloaded 2.4 million times per week. Colors.js is built into almost 19,000 other NPM packages and is downloaded 23 million times a week. In short, they're everywhere. And, when their creator, JavaScript developer Marak Squires, fouled them up, tens of thousands of JavaScript...

Friday, January 14, 2022 The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, sponsored by Miranda Devine’s LAPTOP FROM HELL: Hunter Biden, Big Tech, and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide, for Friday shows that 38% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Biden’s job performance. Sixty percent (60%) disapprove. The latest figures include 18% who Strongly Approve of the job Biden is doing and 49% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -31. (see trends)