Free Republic

Small businesses are struggling to pay rent due to higher rent inflation and fewer customers. The struggles vary by type of business. ... Record Surge in Small Business Delinquencies Alignable reports Record Surge In Rent Delinquency: Up 7% In October, Totaling 37% For U.S. SMBs Due to ongoing economic challenges, small business owners' ability to pay their full rent on time in October took a major hit based on a new Alignable poll. In fact, the U.S. rent delinquency rate among small businesses jumped 7% in just one month, marking the largest, most rapid increase in 2022. In September, rent...

The average credit card interest rate for retail stores has hit a record high of 26.72 percent while general purpose credit cards now charge an average of 22.6 percent, according to a study released Monday by industry group Creditcards.com. The rise in annualized percentage rates (APRs) comes as the Federal Reserve is raising the rates at which banks can borrow money from each other, making financing more expensive throughout the economy. Twenty-four credit cards on the market now charge 30 percent, including cards from retailers Dick’s Sporting Goods, Burlington and Wayfair. That’s ten times what the Fed was telling banks...

Thirty-second week in Ordinary Time Luke 17:1–6Friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus speak about faith. Faith is powerful, for it is a link to the reality of God, the power that made and sustains the cosmos. Sometimes, the power of faith is manifested in spectacular and immediately obvious ways. For example, there is a long tradition of faith healing stretching back to Jesus himself and through many of the saints. There is also the power of prayer. When some people ask in a spirit of trust, really believing that what they are asking for will happen, it happens.But more...

The Biden administration will not say when the president plans on calling newly elected Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his victory, drawing accusations the U.S. administration is trying to isolate the conservative Jewish leader before he even takes office. Asked on Thursday afternoon if President Joe Biden has any plans to phone Netanyahu following his victory this week in the Israeli elections, a White House spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon, "We don’t have any call to preview at this point." he Israeli media reported on Thursday that Biden is expected to call Netanyahu some time...

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is in talks with external partners to use funds from major companies to sponsor developing countries’ transition away from fossil fuels, a source confirmed to The Hill. A person familiar with the discussions said Kerry will announce further details at an event at the upcoming COP27 United Nations climate summit, emphasizing that the proposal is for a partnership rather than a specific initiative of the U.S. government. Initial reporting by The Financial Times, which the person familiar confirmed to The Hill is “overall” accurate, would involve an independent, to-be-determined accrediting organization to certify the credits....

In 2020, voters elected the first three Korean American women to serve in Congress: Marilyn Strickland, Young Kim and Michelle Steel. Strickland is a Democrat — like the majority of the 67 Asian Americans who have ever held congressional seats. But Kim and Steel defied that norm as Republicans. They also did more than simply win: Both congresswomen flipped seats in Orange County, California, quickly reversing the gains Democrats made in those districts, which are predominantly Asian American, during the blue wave of 2018. The share of voters in both districts who voted for former President Donald Trump also increased...

The wholesale price of used cars is falling off a cliff while the prices that car shoppers are paying is way up, suggesting dealers are making a killing while consumers are taking a bath. Wholesale used car prices declined 2 percent from September in the first half of October and are down 10.3 percent from a year ago, according to The Manheim Used Vehicle Index published on Monday. Wholesale used luxury car prices are down 13.5 percent while used sport utility vehicles are down 12.3 percent and pickup trucks are down 8.4 percent. Meanwhile, the retail price that car shoppers...

Something very curious happened with the Paul Pelosi Hammer story… and no, I am not talking about the NBC story that totally and completely contradicted everything Dems and the media told us happened that night between Paul and some nudist hippy from Berkley, who magically turned into a “Trump supporter.” Although, truth be told, that NBC story was the likely catalyst for what happened next… So what’s going on with Pelosi story now? Well, nothing, actually. Because this sobering story of so-called “political violence” has magically disappeared from the headlines. And it went FAST. It disappeared as fast as NBC...

The corporate media spent years denying the results of the 2016 presidential election and are already laying the groundwork to question and deny the 2022 mid-term election results. The election deniers at the far-left Politico, an outlet that pushed the Russia Collusion Hoax like few others, have already published a list of “6 security threats to watch for on Election Day.” The list includes everything from “hacking” to “misinformation.”

Russia removed a top military commander in Ukraine following criticism from some of President Vladimir Putin’s top allies over the officer’s responsibility for a recent chaotic retreat in the country’s northeast that underscored Russian weaknesses on the battlefield. Col. Gen. Alexander Lapin, responsible for the Central Military District, Russia’s largest, was the last of Russia’s regional commanders still in place amid Moscow’s faltering invasion. It was unclear whether he had been suspended or removed from his post. Gen. Lapin was the top Russian commander for a part of Ukraine’s northeast that Kyiv’s forces retook in a lightning offensive in September....

A democrat strategist got it right when she said ‘We Did Not Listen to Voters’“I’m a loyal Democrat, but I am not happy,” Rosen said. “I just think we did not listen to voters in this election and I think we’re going to have a bad night.”She added, “when voters tell you over and over and over again that they care mostly about the economy, listen to them! Stop talking about democracy being at stake! Democracy is at stake because people are fighting so much about what elections mean. Voters have told us what they wanted to hear. I don’t...

Technology capable of collecting solar power in space and beaming it to Earth to provide a global supply of clean and affordable energy was once considered science fiction. Now it is moving closer to reality. Through the Space-based Solar Power Project (SSPP), a team of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researchers is working to deploy a constellation of modular spacecraft that collect sunlight, transform it into electricity, then wirelessly transmit that electricity wherever it is needed. They could even send it to places that currently have no access to reliable power. “This is an extraordinary and unprecedented project,” says Harry...

Man who identifies as a baby gets kicked out of children's park (BARF ALERT he's wearing a onesie in the video)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said she was confident she would win her race against incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) — provided voters were able to overcome the "difficulties" implemented by state Republicans. Abrams made the comment while appearing on MSNBC Saturday morning, after being asked by host Ali Velshi for her thoughts on the state of the race given that she is trailing Kemp by double-digits in the polls. Abrams replied by arguing that polls had inaccurately portrayed what was truly happening in the race, going on to claim that it was an issue of voter suppression if...

Freespoke just launched a really good Midterm Election Portal. You can see voting information, breaking news, and real-time results from ALL sources - not just those picked by big tech. Definitely going to check this out this year

A medium-intensity solar flare hit the Earth's magnetosphere in the early hours of Monday, Spaceweather.com reported. It is unlikely that a coronal discharge will follow the solar activity, and if it does, whether will head toward Earth. The recent solar flare came from the sunspot AR 3141, which has grown in size in the past 24 hours, EarthSky.org said in its report. The eruption was classified as an M5.2, even where M denotes the class of solar flares and is a medium-intensity eruption. In comparison, classes A, B, and C are low-intensity events, while Class X flares are wildly the...

Footage showed thousands of Russian conscripts shouting at Major-General Kirill Kulakov at a training base in Kazan, a city in Russia, with some yelling 'let's go home'. Russian marines have said their 'incompetent' generals are treating them as 'cannon fodder' after their unit suffered devastating losses, with 300 men reportedly killed or wounded in four days of heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine. Marines from Russia's 155th Naval Infantry Brigade wrote a scathing letter to their regional governor, claiming they had lost 300 servicemen in a four-day massacre in Pavlivka thanks to the catastrophic planning of Generals Rustam Muradov and Zurab...

At a glance Four days from Election Day, Democratic pollster John Zogby said that Republicans maintain “a clear advantage” with voters. Women are deserting Democrats – one of the most striking midterm developments – and even the friendly media is questioning Biden and his mental competence. “It’s the House and Senate Republicans that are making the most gains on issues including inflation, crime, and immigration,” Zogby said. Rasmussen Reports noted that Biden also is losing a slew of independent voters. “The Republican lead is due mainly to a 13-point advantage among independent voters,” Rasmussen said. “Among voters not affiliated with...

Populist politicians are to keep an eye out for “election manipulation” as part of a multinational mission to monitor and protect the integrity of the U.S. Midterm elections. Populist MPs from Europe have said that they will keep a lookout for “election manipulation” as part of a mission to monitor the United States’ midterm elections this coming Tuesday. The parliamentarians will be stationed in the United States as part of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission in the country, which will send over 100 politicians to America in order to ascertain that the nationwide polling has been...