Free Republic

Goldman Sachs reported significantly lower profit for the second quarter, hurt by write-downs in its consumer and asset-management businesses. The bank on Wednesday said quarterly profit was $1.22 billion, down 58% from a year ago. That amounted to $3.08 per share, which missed the $3.16 per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue was $10.9 billion, down 8% from a year ago. That still beat the $10.61 billion expected by analysts. Goldman is the only one among its big-bank peers to miss per-share earnings expectations. And while Citigroup and Morgan Stanley also reported profit declines, Goldman’s was the biggest....

Pedophiles roam where they can sexually abuse children with impunity. Unfortunately, Ukraine – with its lax law enforcement, shaky economy and endemic corruption – may provide just the haven they seek.“It’s very widespread,” said Walid Harfouch, publisher of Kyiv’s Paparazzi magazine and a leading socialite.The depth of the problem, however, is hard to gauge. From time to time, stories emerge that hint at a strong appetite among adults – including some members of the nation’s political elite — for sex with children.One story that got recent publicity involved an investigation into a rumored sexual relationship between a Kyiv city official...

@Nigel_Farage Many thanks to Jacob Rees Mogg MP for raising this issue at #PMQs.

The needle on my schadenfreude meter jumped so hard to the right that it’s stuck there in red zone, where my soul is endangered by excessive pleasure in the suffering of another. It must be because I find Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau such a phony doofus, pretending to be a model of unpretentious tolerance while destroying the civil liberties of his opponents (as in the brutal repression of the Ottawa Freedom Convoy demonstrations against his extreme Covid lockdown). The former high school drama teacher certainly loves role playing, including costumes, as in his notorious familial cosplay during a trip...

Frantic 911 calls captured the moment police responded to the scene where ​Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell reported that she found a male toddler wandering on a busy highway — only to find the 25-year-old nursing student missing. “A 3- to 4-year-old child walking on the side of the interstate,” the Hoover police dispatcher is heard saying in audio obtained this week by AL.com and WVTM 13. The dispatcher advises that the caller’s red Mercedes was left running with its hazards on along I-459. “Child is going to be a white male wearing a white T-shit and a diaper,” he tells...

After the success of 2023’s The Little Mermaid, Disney’s next live-action project is a remake of Snow White — but not everyone is excited about the new movie. A live-action version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been in development since at least 2016, but production didn’t kick off in earnest until 2021. In June of that year, Deadline reported that Rachel Zegler had landed the role of the titular princess, who made her Disney debut in 1937. (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney’s first full-length animated film.) After the success of 2023’s The Little Mermaid,...

Moses had a disposition like many of us today, so there was only one way for him to stay in victory. He continually communed with the Lord. “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11, NKJV). I believe the secret to holiness is very simple: Stay close to Jesus! Keep looking into his face until you become like the image you behold. “But you are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3). The Lord makes his dwelling with his people who are worshipping; and where the Lord is,...

"You once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Pet. 2:10). Because of God’s compassion, He withholds the just punishment of your sin. Hosea had a unique role among the prophets. God used him and his adulterous wife, Gomer, as living illustrations of His love for unfaithful Israel. When Gomer gave birth to a daughter, the Lord told Hosea to name her Lo-ruhamah, which means "No mercy," because His mercy for Israel would soon come to an end. When Gomer later gave birth...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia launched an intense series of night-time air attacks sending drones and missiles toward places across Ukraine, and targeting the southern port city of Odesa for a second night in a row, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russian emergency officials in Crimea said that over 2,200 people were evacuated from four villages because of a fire at a military facility. The fire also caused the closure of an important highway, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the region, which was annexed in 2014. He did not specific a cause for the fire at the...

National Security Council Coordinator and spokesman John Kirby admitted that UFOs and UAPs are beginning to cause problems for the U.S. Air Force. During the Monday White House press briefing, Kirby was asked if increased sightings of unexplained flying objects are a “legitimate issue” for the administration. “Yeah, I mean, we wouldn’t have stood up an organization at the Pentagon to analyze and try to collect and coordinate the way these sightings are reported if we didn’t take it seriously,” Kirby replied likely referencing the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — a group aimed at analyzing and cataloging unidentified...

In an announcement that has sent shockwaves through the nation, former president Donald Trump declared that his arrest is imminent. This declaration, shocking as it is, should be a cause for concern for anyone who values the principles upon which our nation was built. As citizens, it is our duty to scrutinize the implications of this ongoing political assault. In Mr. Trump's words, this investigation is a "witch hunt," an attempt to weaponize the law enforcement apparatus against him. It appears to be an unprecedented attack on a former president, transforming political disagreements into legal battles, an alarming trend that...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies in South Africa in August "by mutual agreement", South Africa's presidency said on Wednesday. Russia will instead be represented by its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Johannesburg summit, alongside the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa, the presidency said in a statement. South Africa faced a dilemma in hosting the summit because, as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it would theoretically be required to arrest Putin for alleged war crimes if he were to attend.

Pray For The Peace of JerusalemLuke 22 Jesus Arrested 47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And...

Video: this would be a nearly hilarious take down of Asa and Pence if they simply were not so pathetic.

'The idea that you should be unbanked because of your political views in a democratic system is outrageous and wrong.' Grant Shapps MP says it's 'unacceptable' that banks are able to close people's accounts, after Coutts axed Nigel Farage because his values didn't 'align'.

19 July 20233Wednesday of week 15 in Ordinary TimeChapel at Mount St. Macrina, Uniontown, PAReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(I).First readingExodus 3:1-6,9-12 ©The burning bushMoses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the shape of a flame of fire, coming from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but it was not being burnt up. ‘I must go and look...

Voter discontent with Germany's coalition government has reached a high point. The far-right populists are the only opposition party to benefit from this trend, according to the latest Deutschlandtrend survey.

WASHINGTON—The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability today released a timeline of the Biden family’s influence peddling schemes. The timeline includes significant dates beginning in the Obama-Biden Administration, including when then-Vice President Biden traveled to Ukraine, Romania, and China on official business and Biden family influence peddling schemes in those countries.

Just Stop Oil protests took a shocking turn in London this morning after a 21-year-old activist was punched and kicked to the floor after the group blocked a road in South Kensington 'causing a pregnant woman to crash her car'. The victim, Daniel Knorr, 21, a student from Oxford had previously gained notoriety after being carried off the pitch at Lords by England cricketer Johnny Bairstow. In the graphic clip, a silver Mercedes can be seen pulled halfway across Cromwell Road in west London having apparently crashed. .....

It is astounding how bizarrely distorted our 'representation' in the Senate has become. Lisa Murkowski is the perfect mascot for Senate Republicans. She is a Democrat in all but name, an aristocrat who inherited her office, and a beneficiary of rigged elections. She has more in common with Nancy Pelosi than the average Republican voter, and every time Alaskan Republicans attempt to throw her out of office, Mitch McConnell's minions manipulate the rules to save her. For McConnell, Murkowski is another beholden senator kept securely in his pocket who will vote how he wants on any given day. That might...