Free Republic

WASHINGTON—One of America’s most powerful regulators of business and finance has, at first glance, a relatively small job. Rohit Chopra’s title is director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which regulates consumer finance. From that perch, he has built substantial sway at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which oversees about 5,000 banks, and the Federal Trade Commission, the antitrust watchdog.

Recent violent crimes and staffing shortages are prompting demand for private security officers. Johnathan Long is chief of operations at Home State Security, located in the Tri-State. He says it’s not just the latest shootings in Buffalo and Texas that are driving demand for businesses like is, it’s also lack of police officers. “Because of the increase in that, and in the criminal activity, we have seen an increase in business,” Long said. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has allocated $70 million to help with first responder and officer recruitment and retention. While those efforts are underway, Long says companies like...

very year, the Norwegian Police Security Service (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste, or PST) issues a National Threat Assessment report. Its objective is to identify what kinds of individuals or groups, either domestic or foreign, are likely to commit acts of terrorism in Norway in the year to come. Since I live in Norway and care about this question, I try to keep up with these annual documents. Granted, they tend to be rather exasperating — leaving the absurd impression, for example, that neo-Nazism is as prevalent as jihadist Islam. But this year’s report, published on February 11, proved even more vexing than...

<p>As China faces a scenario of negative population growth, the government has started to force its citizens to marry early and have at least three children each. The administration has also begun rolling out various contests as bait, reported Geo Politica.</p>

The latest report on funding for social security benefits did not give a financially positive outlook for the future to federal lawmakers. Instead, a report by the Social Security Administration said benefits will cost more than the income collected to pay for it. By 2035, the SSA's Social Security Board of Trustees reported that the money in the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance (OASI and DI) Trust Funds will be depleted, putting funds toward insolvency, meaning it is unable to pay its debts. Slightly sooner, SSA reported the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund would be empty by...

BATON ROUGE - Two brothers accused in a shooting that left three people dead, including a toddler, were captured several days after their mother drove them to another state so they could avoid law enforcement. On Thursday, the Baton Rouge Police Department announced the arrests of David Williams, 19, and his 15-year-old brother, LeDarrius Coleman. Arrest records suggest the brothers fired gunshots that left at least two of the three victims dead. Earlier this week, police arrested another 15-year-old suspect and two adults in the fatal shooting. The two adults arrested are Latoya Coleman and Christopher Stovall. Coleman, the mother...

MIAMI - A Hialeah woman is facing disturbing charges after police said her nail polish helped track her down. Christina Marie Hernandez is charged with 13 counts of possessing child pornography images. Investigators said the 29-year-old would upload the videos on the messaging app "Kik" through her own account. That account also reportedly held pictures of Hernandez and her unique nails. According to our partners at the Miami Herald, police said the nail pictures were uploaded on Hernandez's Instagram and Tiktok accounts, on the same day -- providing more evidence that linked her to the child pornography video uploads. Hernandez...

The Shake Shack chain has become synonymous with smashed burgers, crinkle-cut fries, and Martin's Potato Rolls. But the latter has become a cause for concern among customers after local Pennsylvania news site Billy Penn reported that the people behind the bun company have donated thousands of dollars to the front-running Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor, Sen. Doug Mastriano. Mastriano is regarded as a far-right Republican and recently received President Trump's backing in the race for governor, according to NBC News. Billy Penn reported that he gained popularity as a Trump-supporting election denier with Christian nationalist beliefs. Mastriano was also subpoenaed...

"And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and...

Belmont stakes updated odds. 80-1 Winner of Kentucky Derby Rich Strike running today. Live on NBC now.

Lucretia Hughes, whose son was killed by a convicted felon using an illegal firearm, addressed Congress at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday to argue against more gun control laws. Read her testimony below. Hughes testified against expansions on gun control alongside many pro-gun control advocates, (snip) She shared her family's story about losing her son.(snip) "I am a walking testimony of how the criminal justice system and gun control laws, (which are steeped in racism by the way) have failed the black community. By the age of 25, I had been to 18 funerals for young black men....

CHICAGO, June 6 (Reuters) - A fifth-generation cattle rancher and consultant plans to build the country's largest beef plant in South Dakota with capacity to slaughter 8,000 head of cattle a day. The $1.1 billion project could help address the Biden administration's concerns about rising food prices and a lack of competition in the meat sector, though it would not be up and running until at least 2026. read more The project is spearheaded by Kingsbury and Associates and Sirius Realty, both run by Megan Kingsbury of a South Dakota ranching family. She told Reuters she expects construction on the...

A left-wing group is hosting a "shut down SCOTUS" protest on June 13, with plans to "blockade" the streets surrounding the Supreme Court in light of a potential decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade being released. The group, ShutDownDC, announced the protest on its website and states that it will begin at 7 a.m. on June 13 at Stanton Park in Washington, D.C. As part of the "shut down SCOTUS" protest, the group will "blockade" the streets around the Supreme court, according to the website.

A man who was open-carrying an AR-15-style rifle at a Missouri supermarket had his firearm stolen at gunpoint, according to police. Then, in a surprising twist, he retrieved another gun from his vehicle, and opened fire on the man accused of robbing him, North County Police Cooperative said on Facebook. Officers responded on May 27 after a call for "shots fired" at Wellston Food Market in St Louis, Missouri. Officers said that a man had been carrying his rifle around the supermarket in a non-threatening manner. When he stepped out of the store, a 31-year-old man held a pistol to...

Wickr Me, an encrypted messaging app owned by Amazon, has reportedly become a popular app for people sharing images of child sexual abuse. NBC News reports that Wickr Me, an encrypted messaging app owned by Amazon, has become popular amongst individuals sharing images and videos of child sexual abuse. Data gathered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) shows that it is not the only online platform being used to share such imagery. However, Amazon appears to be doing little to address the issue according to experts and law enforcement officials. As a result, the app has...

Drivers at a gas station in Rancho Cordova, California, were ecstatic Thursday when something unexpected happened. A glitch on its pumps was selling fuel for $0.69 per gallon at the Shell station located on Sunrise Boulevard and White Rock Road, CBS Sacramento reported. According to the outlet, Darryl Surita posted about the error on his social media profile. “I looked at the numbers and it was 69 cents a gallon,” he recalled, adding, “So you know what I did, I hit that button and it started pumping and the dollar sign just stayed low.” --SNIP-- “I started looking around and...

COPY LINK BUSINESS Smithfield Foods, Citing High Costs of Operating in California, to Close Pork Plant The U.S.’s largest hog processor says it isn’t worth doing business in the state due to higher inflation, taxes Smithfield Foods said it would close its Vernon, Calif., plant in early 2023, citing higher costs than at other locations. PHOTO: DAVID MCNEW/GETTY IMAGES By Patrick ThomasFollow June 11, 2022 8:33 am ET PRINT TEXT Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest pork processor in the U.S. by volume, is closing an 1,800-person plant in California and shrinking the size of its hog herd in the region,...

The FBI deceived the House, Senate and the Justice Department about the substance and strength of evidence undergirding its counterintelligence investigation of President Trump, according to a recently declassified document and other material. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta A seven-page internal FBI memo dated March 8, 2017, shows that “talking points” prepared for then-FBI Director James Comey for his meeting the next day with the congressional leadership were riddled with half-truths, outright falsehoods, and critical omissions. Both the Senate and the House opened investigations and held hearings based in part on the misrepresentations made in those FBI briefings, one of which...

An official with the Social Security Administration said seniors and others who rely on the benefits program are likely to receive a cost-of-living adjustment "closer to 8%" at the end of 2022 due to the current rate of inflation, which is the highest in four decades. That increase would represent the biggest-cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, since 1981. The average monthly Social Security check is about $1,658, which means beneficiaries could see an increase of $132.64 per month in early 2023, bringing the average check to about $1,790. The agency's COLA takes effect in December, with the updated benefits paid out...

Joe Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ is not working as planned, or is it? .........snip......... As the Gateway Pundit previously reported, at least 18 major fires have erupted at food industry facilities and plants over the past six months. All of the fires have been officially listed as accidental or inconclusive. Now this… A Gateway Pundit reader sent us an updated list of US-based food manufacturing plants that were damaged from 2021 to 2022 under the Biden administration. These data were first published at Think Americana. Below is the list of America’s 95 plants that have been destroyed, damaged or impacted...