Free Republic

French voters have cast their votes to fill the 577-seat National Assembly, the French parliament’s lower-house chamber, and shorn President Emmanuel Macron of his parliamentary majority. The latest estimations show Macron’s centre-right alliance Together won 234 seats, the leftwing bloc NUPES has taken 141, and the far-right National Rally has won 90 seats, among others. Reacting to the night's first estimates, Macron's Budget Minister Gabriel Attal said, "It's less than what we hoped for. The French have not given us an absolute majority. It's an unprecedented situation that will require us to overcome our divisions."

The Biden administration’s push for Americans to buy electric vehicles even as they confront skyrocketing gas prices when they go to fill up their cars reflects a “smug superiority,” said Sen. John Barrasso in a new interview. Barrasso (R-WY) blasted President Biden’s energy policies as gasoline continues to hover around $5 a gallon and inflation, which is at 40-year highs, has caused the cost of groceries and everyday goods and services to soar.

Pro-choice activists protested outside Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s house over the weekend, donning fake-blood-stained clothes and holding baby dolls. The protesters marched to the judge’s Falls Church, Va., home Saturday and held signs including one with a coat hanger on it that said, “Not going back.”

Why Food Inflation Is Only Getting StartedTake a look at this: Chart of Food Production vs Food Prices The US has just experienced an 8.8% increase in food prices. The problem (and there are many, actually) is that this doesn’t take into account the spiraling costs farmers are now experiencing. It’s worth remembering that because farmers pay upfront and only recoup their expenses at the point of sale/harvest months later, all the opex they’ve experienced has a lag. This lag is dependent on produce but certainly, we’re looking at a tsunami of food inflation 12 to 18 months out. Then...

Authorities in California are investigating a smash-and-grab robbery at a Macy’s in Walnut Creek Saturday morning after three suspects stole high-end watches before fleeing the scene, officials said. The Walnut Creek Police Department said "three black male adult suspects" entered the store located in the Broadway Plaza shopping center at approximately 10:48 a.m., when they began "smashing jewelry display cases with hammers." The suspects, all wearing hoods and masks to obstruct identifying elements, stole the valuables and fled the scene. Last year, dozens of suspects robbed the Broadway Plaza Nordstrom in what witnesses described as a brazen theft like something...

President Biden on Sunday marked Juneteenth as “a day of profound weight and power.” “It is a day of profound weight and power that reminds us of our extraordinary capacity to heal, hope, and emerge from our most painful moments into a better version of ourselves. Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments,” Biden said in a statement. “They confront them to grow stronger. And that is what this great nation must continue to do.”

The incoming commander of the British Army has reportedly told his troops to prepare to fight a land war in Europe, citing Russia as a significant threat to peace. General Sir Patrick Sanders, the British Army’s newly appointed overall commander, is said to have told his troops to prepare for potential deployment in Europe in order to counter the threat of Russia. According to a report by the Daily Mail, General Sanders — who only assumed full command of the UK’s army last week — told his troops that they are now facing the possibility of having to fight a...

ro-abortion protests have been popping up all over the country, disrupting Catholic churches, doctor offices and pro-life centers all in hopes of keeping their “right” to kill an innocent baby before it even gets a chance at life. In the latest event, pro-choice protestors gathered outside of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s home in Virginia holding signs that read “Abortion on demand and without apology,” while also having baby dolls taped to their wrists. The group, Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, were dressed in white clothing with what appears to be fake blood soaked onto the pants between the...

US Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chain, Janet Yellen, admitted on ABC’s This Week that US inflation is “unacceptably high”and prices are likely to stick with consumers through 2022, and that the US economy is likely to slow down. “We’ve had high inflation so far this year, and that locks in higher inflation for the rest of the year,” she said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “I expect the economy to slow,” she said, adding: “But I don’t think a recession at all inevitable.” US inflation accelerated to 8.6% in May, a fresh 40-year high that signals price pressures...

2 killed, 2 more injured in shooting at South Carolina nightclub, sheriff’s office says Police crime scene. (Dreamstime/TNS) JUNE 19, 2022 NOAH FEIT - THE STATE Two men were killed and two other people were injured Sunday in an early-morning shooting at a South Carolina nightclub, the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies responded to reports of a shooting at the Hang Time Grill & Lounge, at 1109 Rivers St., in Walterboro at about 2:40 a.m., the sheriff’s office said in a news release. At the scene, deputies found two men who had been shot and began rendering aid, according...

When a franchise sets out to compete with other companies that have a superior market or branding presence, they will sometimes exploit a strategy called “market saturation” in order to undermine their opponent’s visibility. An example of this is Starbucks, which sought to co-opt and then destroy the concept of the neighborhood hipster coffee shop by flooding every city and town with their own stores. After several years, there was at least four Starbucks within a mile of every other Starbucks store and often these franchises would sit right across the road from each other. Every coffee house was now...

New York(CNN Business)US drivers got a slight — very slight — break on prices this weekend as the AAA average for a gallon of unleaded gas fell below the $5 mark. The average price Sunday was $4.98 a gallon, down from $4.99 in Saturday's reading. The average gas price had been $5 or above for the previous seven days, the first time on record prices crossed that mark. It hit a high of $5.02 a gallon on Tuesday and has declined by a fraction of a penny each day since then.

Louisville’s Democrat Mayor Greg Fischer, who is white, got punched by a random person on Saturday night while attending a Juneteenth event. The incident took place at Fourth Street Live, a dining an entertainment venue, which was hosting Juneteenth celebrations throughout the weekend. The mayor had participated in the “Race for Justice” in honor of Breonna Taylor and the “Kentuckiana Pride Parade” earlier in the day. In social media posts about the assault, the Louisville Metro Police Department released photos of the attacker and asked for the public to help identifying him. The suspect appears to be a black male....

Kentucky Police has launched a manhunt for a man who punched Democrat Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. The attack happened while Fischer was at an event at the Fourth Street Live entertainment complex located in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. Officials confirmed that Fischer 'is doing fine' after the unprovoked assault. Police said an investigation has been opened and more information will be released as it becomes available. Surveillance footage stills show the moment that Fischer was attacked. It then shows the suspect fleeing southbound on Fourth Street. Surveillance footage stills show the moment that Fischer was attacked Kentucky Police has...

Fairfax Co. police seek suspect after Tysons mall shooting Joshua Barlow June 19, 2022, 3:15 PM Fairfax County police are seeking a D.C. man in connection with Saturday’s shooting at the Tysons Corner Center mall in Virginia. A law enforcement source told WTOP on Sunday that 22-year-old Noah Settles, a District resident, is sought on charges of attempted malicious wounding, discharging a weapon into an occupied building and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Surveillance footage reviewed by police showed a man, believed to be Settles, brandishing a firearm within the mall around the time of the...

TheHill.com SUNDAY TALK SHOWS Biden team pushes back on recession fears BY ZACH SCHONFELD - 06/19/22 2:26 PM ET SHARE TWEET ... MORE Senior Biden administration officials on Sunday pushed back on some economists’ projections of an impending recession, arguing that it is possible to curb inflation without causing a major economic slowdown. “It’s President Biden’s top priority to bring it down, and [Federal Reserve] Chair [Jerome] Powell has said that his goal is to bring inflation down while maintaining a strong labor market,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday. “That’s going to take skill and luck, but I...

The mission of the Federal Reserve is to foster the stability of US monetary systems. It's the reason the central bank was created in 1913, and it's the reason it still exists today. So when inflation threatens to potentially destabilize the dollar, it's the Fed's job to spring to action.

From Liberalism to Neoliberalism Sri Lanka Guardian •May 22, 2022 Neoliberalism had problematic consequences in its support of free trade. The basic doctrine is correct: countries that lower trade barriers with one another will see markets and efficiency expand, leading to higher aggregate incomes for all parties concerned. by Francis Fukuyama Following excerpts adapted from author's new book, Liberalism and Its Discontents published by Profile Books One of the critical domains in which liberal ideas were taken to extremes lay in economic thought, where liberalism evolved into what has been labeled “neoliberalism.” Neoliberalism is often used today as a pejorative...

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) predicted on Sunday that the 2024 elections will be a “mess” when asked how worried he was about the next time the U.S. votes for president given how divided the country is over who is to blame for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. ABC’s “This Week” moderator George Stephanopoulos said all signs pointed to controversy similar to that seen in the aftermath of the 2020 election, especially with some of former President Trump’s allies in charge of certifying election results on the state level this time, before asking, “How worried are you about 2024?”

Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who smashed women's records this year, will be banned from competing against biological women in international events after the world swimming's governing body announced on Sunday that it is barring transgender athletes who went through male puberty. FINA, the international federation sports federation for swimming, announced on Sunday that it is changing its policies so that transgender women can only compete in the organization's women's races if they have completed their transition by the age of 12. They will then have to prove to the federation that they have continuously suppressed their testosterone levels since...