Free Republic

The December new home sales report is good news and bad news. The good news? US new home sales rose by 2.3% in December from November to 616k units sold SAAR. That is the good news. The bad news? Since December of 2021, new home sales fell -23% year-over-year (YoY). The median price of new home sales rose 7.8% YoY, but the trend as The Fed withdraws monetary stimulus (orange line) is not good. Perhaps there is a communications breakdown between the Biden Administration and The Federal Reserve.

(Daily readings from the USCCB)“For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.” Mark 4:22What a fascinating little line in the Gospel for today! What does this line mean? Though many have offered various commentaries upon the meaning of this line, let’s turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church for some insight:In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed...

Two German NGOs have launched a lawsuit against Twitter for failing to remove antisemitic tweets that include Holocaust denial and trivialization. The European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) along with HateAid gGmbH, which advocates against online hate and violence, have brought their case against Twitter in a civil lawsuit alleging that the platform’s lack of moderation of content violates German law. The suit centers around six comments that the NGOs described as antisemitic and illegal that were not removed despite being reported to Twitter. “In one case relating to Holocaust denial, Twitter had even explicitly refused to remove the content....

A coroner confirmed that Madi Brooks died from 'multiple traumatic injuries' when she was hit by a car after allegedly being raped. Two Good Samaritans reportedly stopped to perform CPR on the 19-year-old sophomore LSU student after the collision on January 15. East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office says that they were guided by first responders on the phone in the pouring rain after Madi was hit by the ride-share car. Before the incidents, she was reportedly raped by a 17-year-old boy, who has not been identified, and Kaivon Washingon, 18. Both have been arrested and charged with third-degree rape,...

The motion was granted after news organizations filed a court motion seeking access to evidence against David DePape, the man accused in the attack Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer at his San Francisco home in October DePape pleaded not guilty to state charges, including attempted murder, burglary, and elder abuse, and remains in jail *************************************************************** A San Francisco judge has granted a motion to release dramatic police bodycam footage from the night former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked by an assailant with a hammer at their home. The motion was granted on Wednesday,...

by Jim ClaybornThe National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report regarding the death of an airport worker at the Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama on New Year’s Eve. The report indicated that Courtney Edwards, 34, a ramp agent for American Airlines subsidiary, Piedmont Airlines, was killed after she was sucked into a plane engine despite being warned not to get close to the engine. At around 2:40 p.m., American Eagle flight ENY3408 from Dallas-Fort Worth arrived at the gate following an “uneventful flight,” according to the NTSB report via Alabama News Network. After stopping the plane, the crew...

Former President Donald Trump holds a whopping 35-point lead over the rest of the potential 2024 Republican primary field, according to a poll.The Premise Data poll conducted between January 19-23 found that 59 percent of U.S. adult participants who view themselves as Republicans back Trump in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, more than doubling the support of his nearest competitor, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), at 24 percent.No other potential candidate reached double-digit support. Former Vice President Mike Pence landed in third place at eight percent, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), and former...

An Indonesian family have been reunited with their drowned son after his body was carried to the surface of the Mahakam River by a crocodile. In footage shared to social media, the crocodile can be seen carrying the body of the 4-year old boy to a boat of rescuers, who retrieved him from the water and brought him back to his family. The boy, who was later identified as Muhammad Ziyad Wijaya, had gone missing two days before near the Jawa Estuary. Members of the East Kalimantan Basarnas Search and Rescue Agency had been searching for the boy. "Around seven...

Project Veritas goes undercover and finds another top-level Pfizer Research and Development executive admitting the company is mutating COVID viruses to create vaccines. Instead of calling it “gain of function” research, which is illegal, they are calling it “directed evolution.” This is very disturbing.[NEW YORK – Jan. 25, 2023] Project Veritas released a new video today exposing a Pfizer executive, Jordon Trishton Walker, who claims that his company is exploring a way to “mutate” COVID via “Directed Evolution” to preempt the development of future vaccines.Walker says that Directed Evolution is different than Gain-of-Function, which is defined as “a mutation that...

Joe Biden was a lousy Congressman. He was a lousy Senator. He's a lousy President. He is a liar. He is a grifter. He is plagiarist. The self-described poorest man in Congress is a multi-millionaire, owning several mansions. Biden Inc has made $31 million through deals with people having direct contact with the highest levels of Chinese intelligence. Hunter Biden scored millions from those Chinese deals, even enjoying free rides on Air Force 2 to cash in on Pop's office of VP which Joe made available. Joe has repeatedly denied knowing anything about his son's business dealings but a voicemail...

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least three presidents. A vice president, a secretary of state, an attorney general. The mishandling of classified documents is not a problem unique to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The matter of classified records and who, exactly, has hung onto them got more complicated Tuesday as news surfaced that former Vice President Mike Pence also had such records in his possession after he left office. Like Biden, Pence willingly turned them over to authorities after they were discovered during a search he requested, according to his lawyer and aides. The revelations have thrust...

This is TEXAS: Plano Retiree Fed Up With Men Seeking Sex Workers Knocking on Her Door "I have my Smith & Wesson 357 Magnum loaded 4-inch barrel next to me and I answer the door with it." By Maria Guerrero • Published January 25, 2023 • Updated 6 mins ago Men from across North Texas in search of sex workers are mistakenly traveling to a quiet Plano neighborhood and knocking on the door of a retired woman. It’s been nonstop since it started happening last year, Elaine White says. The latest "John" came knocking just last week, and she’s fed...

If you have followed the management and branding efforts of the team around Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the protestations today by campaign official and registered foreign agent Christina Pushaw are quite bizarre.The Daily Beast wrote an article [SEE HERE] about how Ms. Pushaw organized an astroturf campaign of support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which included the recruitment of several conservative influencers. The substance of the article is generally well known.In late 2021, early 2022, Ms. Pushaw invited a group of “influencers” to spend time with Governor DeSantis. It’s not a debatable event. Factually, the collective group took gleeful pictures...

Older people living with HIV who used cannabis within the past month were about twice as likely to sometimes miss doses of their antiretroviral medications, according to a study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. “[O]ur findings suggest that regular cannabis use by older people with HIV is associated with a greater risk of imperfect ART [antiretroviral therapy] adherence” compared with not using cannabis, the study authors concluded. Estimates suggest that one quarter to one half of people living with HIV use cannabis, substantially higher than the proportion in the general population.

The government's campaign to fight "misinformation" has expanded to adapt military-grade artificial intelligence once used to silence the Islamic State (ISIS) to quickly identify and censor American dissent on issues like vaccine safety and election integrity, according to grant documents and cyber experts.The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded several million dollars in grants recently to universities and private firms to develop tools eerily similar to those developed in 2011 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in its Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC) program.DARPA said those tools were used "to help identify misinformation or deception campaigns and...

California Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "We’re in the fight of our lives—a fight I’m ready to lead as California’s next U.S. Senator," Schiff tweeted, sharing a video announcing his campaign. Schiff joins Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., who announced she is running for the seat earlier this month.

A group of M1 Abrams tanks sit in a holding area after being offloaded from the freighter ship “Resolve” at the port of Antwerp April 24. The third-generation battle tanks will move onward to Coleman Barracks in Mannheim, Germany, and will become part of the European Activity Set, a combined-arms group of vehicles and equipment that are pre-positioned in Europe to outfit U.S Army regionally aligned forces when they rotate into Europe for training or contingency operations. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Warren W. Wright Jr., 21st TSC Public Affairs). US Army / Staff Sgt. Warren W. Wright Jr. / 21st...

CLAIM: On Wednesday Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said, “We have more people in America that have died in my short lifetime due to gun violence than in every single one of our wars.” VERDICT: False. Booker was born in 1969 and claims more people have died via gun violence in the U.S. since that time than have died in all U.S. wars combined. I’m 53 years old, and I’ve seen more Americans die from domestic gun violence than from all of our wars combined…let that sink in. pic.twitter.com/KI2svCuO0I — Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) January 25, 2023 There are two immediate...

Data show that in the first 10 months of 2022, European countries have reduced their holdings of U.S. debt by a total of $126.34 billion, while Asia has reduced its holdings by a whopping $521.38 billion. China has sold a total of $171.2 billion in U.S. debt, while Japan has sold a total of $240 million in U.S. debt. As of November 2022, the largest holders of U.S. debt are still Japan and China. Among them, Japan holds $1.0822 trillion in U.S. Treasuries, selling $14.6 billion in August alone; China has reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries for three consecutive...

The daughter of the Sultan of Brunei has tied the knot with her first cousin in an extravagant ceremony at her father’s Palace. Princess Azemah and her new husband, Prince Bahar ibni Jefri Bolkiah, kicked off their week of wedding celebrations in the independent sultanate on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia on January 8. Prince Bahar is the son of the sultan’s brother, Prince Jefri Bolkiah. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is not only Brunei’s absolute monarch and supreme leader of the Islamic faith, but also the country’s prime minister, finance minister, foreign affairs and trade minister, superintendent of police,...