Free Republic

The US economy has a case of the summertime blues. Bull steepenings in the yield curve are generally seen as a precursor to a recession, but they are often preceded by bear steepenings. The 3m30y curve is currently bear steepening, indicating a recession could begin as early as the summer. In fact, the 3m30y curve is now inverted at -94.628 basis points pointing to a recession in summer 2023.

The internet is a weird place made even weirder by the emergence of the Search Wars. While Google’s opening salvo proved an astounding dud as its experimental Bard AI flubbed a rudimentary astronomy question (and its parent company subsequently lost $100 billion in market value), Microsoft’s Bing AI—powered by OpenAI’s Chat GPT—seemed to emerge as the unlikely pack leader. Then, Sydney arrived. Last week New York Times journalist Kevin Roose had a two-hour-long conversation with Microsoft’s Bing AI that slowly devolved into a tech-induced nightmare. During the extended tête-à-tête, the chatbot assumed an alter-ego named “Sydney” who confessed its love...

BOSTON (AP) — Dr. Seuss fans might find their hearts growing three sizes this coming holiday season with the release of a sequel to the 1957 classic children’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” The new book picks up one year after the original, and like the first, teaches a valuable lesson about the true spirit of the holiday. In the sequel, the Grinch wants to show how much he loves the holiday by winning Who-ville’s Christmas Crown with the most spectacular Christmas tree ever seen, according to Dr. Seuss Enterprises. But when his plan goes awry, the Grinch turns...

Posted on 7/20/2003, 8:19:08 AM by PJ-Comix (President Clinton is sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. A voice is heard on his intercom. It is his secretary.) SECRETARY: Mr. President, Lieutenant Columbo is here to see you. (The Oval Office door opens a bit. Columbo peeks in tentatively.) COLUMBO: I hope I'm not disturbing you, Mr. President. CLINTON (smiling broadly): Not at all! I heard that you were visiting the White House. That's why I had my people take you off the tour line to see me. I've always been a big fan of yours. (Columbo, puffing on...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) edges Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) in one of the first polls conducted in the race to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who announced her retirement earlier this month. Schiff received 22 percent of support in the University of California, Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll, with Porter garnering 20 percent — a difference that is within the poll’s 2.5 percent margin of error. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who launched her campaign for the seat earlier this week, polled at 6 percent and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is rumored to be considering a bid, came in at...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is nominating former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday, crediting him with critical experience on global challenges including climate change. The news comes days after Trump appointee David Malpass announced plans to step down in June from his role leading the 189-nation poverty reduction agency. His five-year term was due to expire in April 2024. Addressing the impacts of climate change at the multilateral bank is a priority for the U.S. And leading climate figures have urged the Biden administration to use Malpass’ early departure...

Clinton White House aide Mark Middleton killed himself on a ranch in Arkansas.. A Perry County sheriff now says a gun WAS found, 30 feet from his body.. ... A shotgun WAS found near the body of the Clinton White House aide who killed himself on a ranch in Arkansas, the local sheriff is now saying. ... Heifer Ranch in Perryville, an hour west of Little Rock, after an abandoned BMW SUV was found there specifically said there was no gun in the car. ... a Stoeger 12-gauge coach gun – was found on the ground 30 feet from Middleton’s...

Nearly 30 million Americans who got extra government help with grocery bills during the pandemic will soon see that aid shrink — and there’s a big push to make sure they’re not surprised. Officials in 32 states and other jurisdictions have been using texts, voicemails, snail mail, flyers and social media posts — all in multiple languages — to let recipients know that their extra food stamps end after February’s payments. “One of the scenarios you don’t want to see is the first time they’re aware of it is in the checkout line at the grocery store,” said Ellen Vollinger,...

An array of U.S. Jewish leaders are sounding alarms about what they see as a threat to Israel’s democracy posed by its new government, fearing it will erode the independence of its judiciary and legal protections for minority groups. While some Jewish leaders dismiss such fears are overblown, a solid majority of mainstream Jewish American groups are voicing unprecedented criticism of the Israeli government, raising fears about a growing rift between Israel and the predominately liberal American Jewish population. Some progressive voices have gone even further, saying Israel can never truly be a democracy as long as it rules over...

Astronomers have sighted a supermassive black hole traveling through space that appears to have been ejected from its host galaxy. Researchers observing the dwarf galaxy designated RCP 28, roughly 7.5 billion light years away from our solar system, noticed an aberrant streak of light via the Hubble telescope. The “streak” appears to be a collection of stars being dragged out of their home galaxy by the immense gravitational force of a black hole. The “runaway” black hole is the first of its kind to be observed, and appears to have been ejected from its original galaxy. “We found a thin...

VIDEOThe new CORRUPT Project Veritas might think they can post videos while escaping the wrath of James O'Keefe supporters. The problem with that is that their first video posted after they got rid of the Project Veritas founder revealed a solid wall of ANGER towards both the corrupt Project Veritas and their board. As you can see, 100% of the comments posted below the video were completely NEGATIVE. If the new Project Veritas thinks they can post more videos without blowback, the HUMILIATION they got on their last video shows just how sadly delusional they are.

Prayer for the End of the Francis Pontificate Many of you may be familiar with the musical, Fiddler on the Roof, about life in a small Jewish community of a pre-revolutionary Russian village. One by one the Jewish father of five daughters watches painfully as the religious and cultural traditions of the village collapse around him. In the opening scene of the musical, the rabbi’s son asks, “Is there a proper blessing for the czar?” The rabbi responds: “A blessing for the czar? Of course! May God bless and keep the czar . . . far away from us!”Like...

National Public Radio announced this week that it will cut roughly 10% of its workforce as the station struggles to cope with falling revenues. CEO John Lansing announced the cuts in a memo that The Hill obtained, indicating that the firm is in dire financial straits. "We had created a plan to address a $20M sponsorship revenue falloff for FY23 but we are now projecting at least a $30M shortfall. The cuts we have already made to our budget will not be enough," he said. "Unlike the financial challenges we faced during the worst of the pandemic, we project increasing...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he was briefed on the flight diversion due to the "Level 4 disruption on board." An American Airlines flight bound overnight to Washington, D.C., was diverted Wednesday afternoon after a passenger tried to breach the cockpit. The flight departed from Jacksonville, Florida, and was forced to land at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, in North Carolina. American Eagle flight 3444 was diverted "due to a security concern involving an unruly customer," the airline told CBS News later Wednesday. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted Wednesday night that he had been briefed on the flight diversion due to...

Russia is not the only country with grievances about Ukraine. Hungary and Romania also accuse the country of persecuting ethnic groups living in Ukraine and now forcibly conscripting them into military service. Now the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission will investigate Ukraine for violations of minority rights.

Rolling Stone once covered rock and roll music and counted among its contributors Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Matt Taibbi. This week, it platformed a defense of horizontal despotism and the mobbing of nonconformists. The magazine, which paid out $1.65 million in 2017 for its part in a defamatory episode of cancel culture and previously ran a critique of efforts to "cancel Liz Cheney," published an article by LGBT activist Ernest Owens on Monday entitled, "Why Cancel Culture Is Good For Democracy." Twitter CEO Elon Musk was among those who ridiculed the publication over the article, calling its defense...

Doctors are speaking out against a new law that arguably paves the way for the FDA to prohibit treatments for purposes it hasn't expressly authorized, going far beyond highly politicized subjects such as treating COVID-19 with ivermectin. The authority to ban off-label uses was buried on page 3,542 of the 4,155-page omnibus appropriations bill signed into law at year's end, though it's specifically applied to "banned devices." The FDA requested this "very unprecedented" update after a string of court losses, Endpoints News senior editor Zachary Brennan told WBUR earlier this month, while cautioning that it's not clear whether the agency...

Yesterday, we saw The Federal Reserve release the minutes of the last meeting. In a nutshell, The Fed is going to keep raising rates. The terminal Fed Funds target rates is now 5.363% for the July FOMC (Fed Open Market Committee) meeting in 2023. This comes as US Q4 GDP was revised lower on weaker consumer spending, revised downward to 1.4% With the revision of Personal Consumption, real GDP was revised downward to 2.7% annualized QoQ. The Taylor Rule estimate for The Fed Funds Target rate is 10.15%. The Fed is only at 4.75%, so there is a long way...

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The US Government has told i that it is “deeply concerned” by reports of a Kremlin-backed coup to overthrow the Government of Moldova. The message from Washington comes as fears grow that Vladimir Putin is plotting to take the capital city and use its airport to open a western front the war in Ukraine. “The United States firmly supports Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a US State Department spokesperson told i. “We are deeply concerned by reports of a plot by Russia to destabilise Moldova’s democratically elected government. Russia has a long history of malign influence, both in Moldova and...