Free Republic

Economists no longer expect inflation to come down as rapidly as they forecast earlier this year. The median expected rate of inflation moved up to 4.2 percent in 2023, higher than the forecast of 3.9 percent the survey predicted in February, the National Association for Business Economics survey found. That is more than twice the Fed’s target inflation rate of two percent. The Fed raised its interest rate target rapidly last year in an effort to bring down inflation.

Fox News is reportedly pushing aggressively to become a “woke” network, leaked internal documents have revealed. The Daily Signal’s Mary Margaret Olohan obtained the leaked Fox News docs that may help explain the recent shift at the network. Olohan wrote on social media: “I obtained Fox’s policies on gender transition for employees. “Fox employees are allowed to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, permitted to dress in alignment with their preferred gender, and must also be addressed by their preferred name and pronouns.” Olohan said a “former Fox News employee” told her that “Fox News devotes hours of...

The practice of “greenwashing” is set to be targeted by the European Union, with a new directive to protect consumers. Lots of companies make claims about their environmental sustainability, but there is no simple way for consumers to know if what is claimed is true or may qualify as “greenwashing”. There are many definitions of what greenwashing is, but it basically involves entities making inaccurate or even false claims about the environmental impacts of their businesses, services or products. In Ireland, consumers can complain to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) if they think a claim is untrue. The...

What the heck was this man trying to accomplish? The dude just saw a fire truck and decided to steal it?? He had five different police, sheriff, and highway patrol agencies chasing him for hours across three counties but he wasn't going to let his dream of owning a fire engine die! Miami Fire Rescue crews were conducting a training exercise in North Miami Beach at around 6:30 p.m. when one of their trucks drove off. Police identified the man inside as Lekambrick Hanna, 31, of Miami, NBC affiliate WPTV reports. Imagine driving down the Florida Turnpike and seeing cops...

Former President Donald Trump’s social media company is seeking $3.78 billion in damages in a defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post for publishing “an egregious hit piece” earlier this month that accused the company of securities fraud and other wrongdoings. Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the owner of Truth Social, filed the lawsuit on Saturday in a Sarasota County, Florida state court house, which accuses The Post’s article of causing an “enormous” loss that created an “existential threat” to the social media platform. “WaPo has been on a years-long crusade against TMTG characterized by the concealment of relevant information...

It might seem like the weather’s getting warmer here on Earth, but Mars appears to have an even bigger global warming problem. High-resolution images snapped by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor show that levels of frozen water and carbon dioxide at the Red Planet’s poles have dwindled dramatically — by more than 10 feet — over a single Martian year (equivalent to 687 days or about two Earth years).

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boycott have such a sustained, multi-layered effect on a company as the boycott against Bud Light. Now there’s more evidence that it’s gotten worse. As we’ve reported, they’ve been boycotted by a significant segment of their former customers and some famous entertainers, causing their sales to plunge by 26 percent. The boycott has even hit other brands sold by Anheuser-Busch once former patrons became aware of the brands owned by the beverage giant. Moreover, Anheuser-Busch InBev had their stock downgraded by analysts at HSBC because of the controversy, saying the brand was “in...

A big mystery is unfolding right now in the Ukraine war: where the hell is Valeri Zaluzhny? The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army hasn’t been seen in weeks, fueling speculations into his whereabouts and the reason for his sudden disappearance.The rumors started in Russian Telegram channels, but now news outlet RIA Novosti also reported on it, referencing a viral message from the hacker group ‘Joker DPR’:“General Zaluzhny was seriously wounded in early May during a missile attack on the headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Pavlograd, Dnepropetrovsk region. Several severe surgical operations were carried out after which, if...

We’ve seen a few concerning train stories under the Biden administration and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, including the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that caused environmental damage in the town. Despite Joe Biden making a bizarre comment and then saying he would go, he has yet to visit the town. The administration hasn’t exactly inspired a lot of confidence with the way they have been handling things and they’ve caught a lot of justifiable flak for their delayed and deficient reaction to the disaster. Now add to that a truly weird story on their watch. About 30 tons — or...

(Last Updated On: May 18, 2023) NATIONAL VANILLA PUDDING DAY | MAY 22 May 22nd is the day we recognize National Vanilla Pudding Day. Enjoy it with a delicious dish of cold, creamy vanilla pudding. #VanillaPuddingDay The puddings we enjoy as desserts today are not what was commonly known as pudding at ancient dinner tables. Most medieval puddings were meat-based and seasoned with herbs and spices. Even sweetened cooks usually served them hot. Toward the end of the 18th century, people more than likely made puddings from grains or day-old bread with nuts, fruit, or meats. They used these puddings...

The mayor of Anaheim has invited a group of self-described queer and trans “nuns” to the Los Angeles Angels’ Pride Night after they were abruptly uninvited from the pride event being hosted by the crosstown Dodgers. “I’m inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to join me for @Angels Pride Night at Anaheim Stadium on June 7,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken tweeted on Saturday. “Pride should be inclusive and like many, I was disappointed in the Dodgers decision.”

At least 22 people were shot, four of them fatally, Friday into Sunday night in Democrat-run Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The weekend’s first fatal shooting occurred around 8:00 p.m. at a barbershop “in the 2000 block of Kensington Avenue,” the Philadelphia Inquirer noted. The shooting victim, 43-year-old Adinson Suarez-Marte, was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The Associated Press has been running wild with leftist climate change propaganda while being paid millions by eco-extremist organizations. And yet AP still has the audacity to pretend it's engaging in objective reporting. MRC Business analysts found that from Feb. 15, 2022 through Feb. 15, 2023, The Associated Press (AP) pushed climate change alarmism and promoted woke environmental, social, governance (ESG) efforts across 64 climate-related stories after the legacy outlet received an $8 million grant from leftist nonprofit organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation, Quadrivium (the activist organization of News Corp. Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s estranged son and climate activist James...

SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER John 16:29–33Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus candidly tells his disciples that they will abandon him but that he will not be alone because the Father is with him. Then he encourages them: “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”In Jesus of Nazareth, the divine and the human have come together in a salvific way, and this reconciliation is the long-awaited kingdom of God. Though there are many themes that run through the Hebrew Scriptures, there...

MIAMI -- Another advocacy group is warning people of color about traveling to Florida – but for different reasons. The NAACP issued a travel advisory for the state "in direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis' aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools," the group said in a written statement Saturday. The announcement came days after LULAC – the League of United Latin American Citizens – issued a travel advisory for Florida after DeSantis signed a new immigration law that will go into effect in July. Both LULAC and the NAACP...

A judge on Monday entered not guilty pleas for the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death last year. Bryan Kohberger, 28, has been charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the November 2022 deaths. He declined to enter pleas on his own, and the judge in Latah County District Court entered them on his behalf. Kohberger, who was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University at the time of the killings, was arrested and charged last year and indicted by a grand jury last week.

[Catholic Caucus] Humanae Vitae: have the first shots been fired in a coming war?Italy’s current birthrate is 392,598 newborns per year, a staggering 30 percent drop since 2008, unsustainably low for any country. To avert catastrophe Italy must reach 500,000 newborns annually by 2033.Ever since his “Catholics shouldn’t breed like rabbits” comment in 2015, Pope Francis has not been popularly perceived as a person sympathetic to pro-natalist policies and attitudes. But in fact, for the second year in a row, he has spoken at the “General State of the Birthrate” conference in Rome. Even more strikingly, this year he shared...

The University of Minnesota is re-evaluating its controversial summer internship program that excludes white students, the school said Monday — after an Ivy League professor filed a discrimination complaint. The current program is intended “to prepare students of color and Native Americans for graduate school” and comes with a $6,000 stipend for them, according to university literature. It is also illegal, according to Cornell University security law Professor William Jacobson, whose conservative nonprofit advocacy group, The Equal Protection Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, filed a complaint with the federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Friday.

Below is a slightly modified version of my column in The Hill on the call of Democrat members for Joe Biden to circumvent Congress and simply raise the debt limit unilaterally. It is more than a flawed constitutional theory. It is an abandonment of the core premise of our constitutional system that each branch would jealously protect its own institutional interests and powers. It is reminiscent of when Democrats applauded wildly when Barack Obama told them that he was going to circumvent Congress entirely after it refused to approve his immigration and environmental legislation. They were applauding their own institutional...

The White House on Monday threatened to veto a Republican-led bill in the House that would block the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program. In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House expressed its concerns with a House resolution to disapprove of the student loan forgiveness plan, which provides up to $20,000 in relief for millions of eligible student loan borrowers. ADMINISTRATION White House threatens to veto GOP measure blocking student loan debt relief program BY BRETT SAMUELS - 05/22/23 1:32 PM ET SHARE TWEET The White House on Monday threatened to veto a Republican-led bill in the House...