Free Republic

Small businesses across the United States are experiencing a surge in bankruptcies, surpassing levels not seen since 2020. According to a UBS note reviewed by The Epoch Times, conditions could become worse as the knock-on effects from the recent banking crises begin to manifest.A person holds a sign advertising a sale at Century 21, a retail outlet that announced it was filing for bankruptcy and closing its stores due to the economic impact of the COVID pandemic, in New York City, on Sept. 26, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/File/Reuters)The note from UBS Evidence Lab shows private bankruptcy filings in 2023 have exceeded...

When a prosecutor takes the historically unprecedented step of indicting an American former president, especially one who is also a presidential candidate, then he better make damn sure he has a rock solid case. Unfortunately it appears that New York District Attorney has such an incredibly weak case that even very liberal New York magazine in its Intelligencer section has serious doubts about it, as you can see revealed by Ankush Khardori on Friday in an article with the downbeat title of "Michael Cohen Is Already Undermining the Trump Prosecution." To emphasize the point the subtitle states, "Immediately after the...

Heather McGhee’s book The Sum of Us reveals her muddled thinking and hypocrisy on race and ethnicity. Wanting to study modern leftist thought, I decided to read Heather McGhee’s bestseller The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. After all, it was festooned with blurbs by the likes of The New York Times, Oprah Daily, George Saunders, Ibram X. Kendi, Robert B. Reich, and David Axelrod. In her book, she argues that most American Whites are racists who believe in a zero-sum paradigm: if people of color gain, then Whites lose. As a consequence,...

<p>BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping called Thursday for peace talks over Ukraine after French President Emmanuel Macron appealed to him to “bring Russia to its senses,” but Xi gave no indication Beijing would use its leverage as Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic partner to press for a settlement.</p>

KEY POINTS: * Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday plans to announce a commitment between South Korean solar cell manufacturer Qcells and Virginia-based Summit Ridge Energy to deploy 1.2 gigawatts of community solar power. * Harris will make the announcement during a trip to the Qcells facility in Dalton, Georgia as part of the White House’s “Invest in America” tour. * The deal would be the largest community solar order in U.S. history and require the manufacturing of 2.5 million solar panels, Biden administration officials said.

Machiavelli and the Globalists: Why the Elites Despise Independent ThoughtThe most important two sentences in the history of political philosophy since the ancient Greeks appears towards the beginning of Machiavelli’s The Prince. ‘[A] wise ruler,’ the author informs his reader, ‘must think of a method by which his citizens will need the state and himself at all times and in every circumstance. Then they will always be loyal to him.’ The history of the development of modern governance is essentially a riff on this basic insight. It tells us almost everything we need to know about our current predicament: those...

On this date in 1571, the Archbishop of St. Andrews hanged in his clerical vestments at the Mercat Cross in Stirling. John Hamilton‘s fate was tied up in that of his Romish church during the strife-wearied years of Queen Mary. There was a sure reckoning for the Church due in those years, but whose? After the transition in England from the Catholic Queen Mary to the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, an alliance of Protestant Scottish nobles moved to overthrow the authority Mary of Guise, the French Catholic who ruled Scotland as regent for her expatriate daughter Mary, Queen of Scots. As...

A third teenage victim has died after being shot in rural Marion County, Florida, last week, according to those who knew her. Layla Silvernail 16, was one of three teenage friends shot and left for dead in the county north of Orlando between March 30 and April 1. Authorities transported her to a hospital in critical condition, and she has since died, according to a GoFundMe created by her softball league. "Southeastern Fastpitch and the Marion County softball players are grieving the loss of Layla Silvernail, who was taken from us too soon. Layla was a caring young lady, an...

As PJ Media’s Rick Moran reported, the Chicago mayoral runoff on April 4 went the way of the teachers unions, which drove a massive turnout campaign for their anointed radical candidate: The Chicago Teachers Union rode a massive turnout of its members and spent millions of dollars in union dues to win Chicago’s mayoral runoff.Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson was a beneficiary of that union largesse. His name was on the ballot, along with former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paull Vallas. Johnson won by three points.But no one doubts who is calling the shots in Chicago — the first major...

Walmart announced that it will add charging stations for electric vehicles to thousands of U.S. stores by 2030. The company plans to add 1,300 EV charging stations to various Walmart and Sam’s Club locations, said Vishal Kapadia, Walmart’s senior vice president of energy transformation. “With a store or club located within 10 miles of approximately 90% of Americans, we are uniquely positioned to deliver a convenient charging option that will help make EV ownership possible whether people live in rural, suburban or urban areas,” Kapadia said in a statement. Sales of electric vehicles surged in 2022, with purchases increasing by...

VIDEO If things are not quite optimal in your life, you will feel much better after watching this video about one Nathan Fletcher who is sort of like the Charlie Crist of California. Fletcher, like Crist, went from being a Republican and, after failing to gain political office under that label, then proceeded to become Independent until ultimately ending up as Democrat where he finally became successful by being elected to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and selected as its Chair. In that role, Fletcher acted as a Covid lockdown tyrant, accusing others of spreading "misinformation" on this...

Last term, in Carson v. Makin, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Maine could not prevent parents from using otherwise generally available state school choice funds at religious schools simply because those schools provided religious instruction. But the state is back at it again, discriminating against families and the religious schools they want to send their kids to. Crosspoint Church, which operates the Christian school that two of the Carson plaintiffs attended, is suing Maine state officials in response to a law that, once again, tries to keep private religious (or “sectarian”) schools from receiving tuition assistance program...

“Christian Questions with Their Answers: ‘This Do’” This is the night our Lord Jesus Christ gave his disciples to eat and to drink of his body and blood. And he didn’t mean just for that night. No, Christ was instituting a sacrament to be used often. Already in the pages of the New Testament, we see that the church partook of this sacrament whenever they met on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day. And that practice continued through the history of the church. Now tonight, on this night when our Lord instituted the Sacrament, we here intend...

The case against Donald Trump is weak. FEC Commissioner James E. Trainor rejected the idea that there was a violation of federal election law in the Stormy Daniels case. He said District Attorney Alvin Bragg “is really trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole.” The Washington Examiner reported: A key member of the Federal Election Commission today rejected the Manhattan district attorney’s indictment of former President Donald Trump as a violation of federal election laws. “It’s not a campaign finance violation. It’s not a reporting violation of any kind,” said FEC Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor....

Buckingham Palace announced its balcony lineup for the upcoming coronation of King Charles. But Harry and bitter Meghan Markle will did not make the cut. Only the working members of the royal family will be represented. Harry and Meghan were previously excluded from appearing on the royal balcony during the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The Daily Mail reported: King Charles and Camilla will celebrate their coronation on the Buckingham Palace balcony without Harry and Meghan if they decide to attend, it was revealed today. His Majesty is said to want to show the world how he is slimming down Britain’s...

The report delves into multiple instances over the years where the conservative justice and his wife, Ginni, were treated to lavish vacations, yacht cruises, and flights on a private jet, all on the dime of billionaire real estate developer [and Republican megadonor] Harlan Crow.

Political reporter Morgan Rynor says Gov. Gavin Newsom is using $10 million left over from his gubernatorial campaign to fund his effort for national recognition.

Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and scion of one of the country’s most famous political families, is running for president. Kennedy filed a statement of candidacy Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. The 69-year-old’s campaign to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination is a long shot. *** Kennedy released a book in 2021, “The Real Anthony Fauci,” in which he accused the U.S.’s top infectious disease doctor of assisting in “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy” and promoted unproven COVID-19 treatments such as ivermectin, which is meant to treat parasites, and the anti-malaria...

Country music legend Travis Tritt announced Wednesday that he is dropping all Anheuser-Busch products from his tour. "I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same," Tritt revealed on Twitter. According to Tritt, other country music artists are taking the same action as he is, but they aren't announcing it publicly "for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled." But Tritt declared, "I have no such fear." Tritt even offered a suggestion as to why Anheuser-Busch felt it was a good idea to sponsor Mulvaney: because the company...

A fire raged near the Kremlin yesterday as Vladimir Putin carried out secret talks with Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko. As the two leaders met, emergency services swarmed to the blaze at a defence ministry building at 19 Znamenka Street, Moscow. Dramatic footage shows smoke gushing from windows and rising into the sky. Around 50 people were evacuated, with the cause of the fire currently unconfirmed. Some reports said the section of the building on fire was a department of military property dealing with facilities across the country. No injuries were reported. As firefighters battle to extinguish the flames, Putin was...