Free Republic

They politicized the central bank under Obama and Biden, including by appointing Lisa Cook.It’s hard not to gag over the dirges in the press for the Federal Reserve’s “independence.” Or the encomiums to Gov. Lisa Cook, the Biden appointee President Trump fired last week, who has become a martyr for a cause Democrats didn’t much care about when they were in charge of Washington. “How the Future of the Fed Came to Rest on Lisa Cook” was a front-page New York Times headline on Saturday. Please. Democrats during the Obama and Biden presidencies tried to co-opt the central bank to...

From those who elevated the instrument from a mere time-keeping role, to versatile pathfinders and visionary composers, these are the 50 best jazz bassists in history.In jazz, as in most music, the bass is the bottom line. It’s both part of the rhythmic foundation of the music (along with the drums) and the sonic glue that binds everything together. In the New Orleans-style jazz ensembles of the early 20th Century, basslines were usually played by the tuba – reflecting jazz’s marching-band roots – but that instrument was eventually superseded by the upright, four-string double bass. As the jaunty 2/4 meter...

A major liberal dark money group is reportedly paying Democratic social media influencers thousands of dollars a month to promote progressive messaging online, WIRED reported Wednesday. Influencers who participated in the program could receive up to $8,000 per month, according toWIRED. The program, run by Chorus, a nonprofit arm of the influencer marketing platform Good Influence, is funded by theSixteen Thirty Fund, a major Democrat-aligned dark money group. In June, dozens of Democratic influencers with a combined following of at least 13 million were contacted about the Chorus Creator Incubator Program, which was pitched as a way to “expand their...

How ancient Rome was excavated in Italy in the 1920s. Unique rare videos and photos. | 10:03 World Treasures | 16.8K subscribers | 582,835 views | June 11, 2021

A beauty queen and cheerleader at the University of Kentucky was arrested after giving birth and hiding her newborn's body in a closet. Laken Snelling, 21, was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. Officers with the Lexington Police Department were called to a home on the 400 block of Park Avenue for a report of an unresponsive infant on Wednesday morning, LEX 18 reported.

Will British-style online age verification for social media sites crash through America’s First Amendment?As social media companies begin to navigate the patchwork of age verification laws in parts of the United States, people in Great Britain are dealing with the frustrating reality of those diktats.The Online Safety Act (OSA) requires all websites to ensure that users are over the age of 18. The sites have to use facial recognition, ID scans, digital identity wallets, or bank documents to confirm someone’s identity, instead of the usual box-ticking exercises that Americans check when they visit certain sites.Kids Online Safety Act …...

BREAKING Video of middle school children playing soccer in Chicago being forced to drop to the ground and flee as a shootout erupted near the field is going viral. Chicago, you don’t have to live like this.

When Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the new Texas maps into law, the scoreboard in the redistricting battle showed a likely 5-seat gain for the GOP and zilch for Democrats. From here, things could get worse for Democrats. Democrats have found hope in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to have California voters decide whether they want to switch out the work of the state’s independent redistricting commission in favor of a more Democratic-friendly map to offset the GOP gains in Texas. However, Mr. Newsom’s effort faces stiff opposition from a unique coalition that includes President Trump, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former...

Thousands of union members and others participated in marches, rallies and picnics on Labor Day throughout the Los Angeles region and across the country on Monday, decrying actions by the Trump administration that they say weaken unions and harm workers while strengthening and emboldening major corporations and the wealthy.A White House proclamation Monday said President Trump’s actions are “reversing decades of neglect and finally putting American Workers first” by rewriting tax laws and creating a better economic climate for businesses. His critics say he is undermining, in historic ways, the government and labor-union infrastructure established to protect workers — and...

Chaos erupted Friday in the checkout lanes of a Walmart in Indianapolis, Indiana, frightening shoppers. The incident happened at the store on Keystone Avenue, and Fox 59 reported that a witness, Kind Butler, said he was inside the building and heard the family of an alleged rape victim looking for someone they claimed was involved.

I hope our American and Canadian readers had a good Labor/Labour Day weekend. Herewith, a brisk survey of the passing scene: ~Today the 47th president appeared, finally, to break with the 45th president on what he had continued to insist was his great achievement - the Covid vaccines: This makes me want to cry. Thank you @POTUS. Finally. pic.twitter.com/eUPOLnZZQ0 — Mary Talley Bowden MD (@MdBreathe) September 1, 2025 As RFK Jr and I have discussed, Americans are the most medicated population on earth: it seems to be pretty lousy for, among others, life expectancy, childhood obesity, and ameliorating the homicidal...

US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would be awarding former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “As President of the United States of America, I am pleased to announce that Rudy Giuliani, the greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American Patriot, will receive THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, our Country’s highest civilian honor. Details as to time and place to follow,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. The announcement comes as Giuliani is recovering in hospital following an accident in New Hampshire....

The Trump administration is scrapping satellite observations of Earth that officials say go beyond the essential task of predicting the weather.Two satellite instruments that track Earth’s carbon dioxide levels will soon go offline, deemed “beyond their primary mission.” Two others meant to monitor water contamination and air pollution, including from greenhouse gases, will be removed from a future satellite mission based on orders to “deliver a weather-only instrument manifest.” The Trump administration is scrapping satellite observations of Earth that officials say go beyond the essential task of predicting the weather, according to budget documents that outline plans to reshape government...

If President Trump’s actions were intended to drive a law-and-order wedge between Democratic big-city leaders and their constituents, it has also exposed a division in his own coalition.The Trump administration’s crackdown on crime in Washington has been propelled, in part, by an aggressive clampdown on guns, with city and federal officials confiscating around 150 weapons since the president declared a crime emergency in the capital nearly three weeks ago.“I’m pleased to report another 105 arrests have been made and 12 illegal guns taken off the streets of Washington, DC,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on social media on Thursday. It...

NASHVILLE (BP) – The years-long efforts of New Jersey’s attorney general to force crisis pregnancy centers to provide internal documents as well as donors’ personal information is unconstitutional and the latest case of pro-life groups being persecuted for their beliefs, said attorneys for Alliance Defending Freedom on Aug. 22. An opening brief filed on behalf of First Choice Resource Centers to the Supreme Court asks that the plaintiffs receive their day in a federal court instead of being the subject of an investigation certain to drag through the state levels. “New Jersey’s attorney general is targeting First Choice – a...

Protesters hold signs along Duff Avenue during the Workers Over Billionaires protest rally against Trump adminstration on Labor Day at Bandshell Park, Sept. 1, 2025, in Ames, Iowa.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee investigating the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case has withdrawn a subpoena to former FBI Director Robert Mueller, citing the state of his health.The House Oversight Committee last month scheduled Mueller to appear Tuesday for a deposition, but the subpoena was withdrawn after the panel learned of unspecified health issues that precluded him from being able to testify, according to a committee statement.The New York Times, citing a statement from Mueller’s family and people close to him, reported Sunday night that Mueller had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the...

The Sisters of Life have launched a new website offering support and resources for women considering abortions, women whose children have an adverse prenatal diagnosis, and women seeking healing after an abortion. The website is named the Vis Center, for the Latin word for force or power. “As women, we know that real power is unleashed when we feel listened to,” the website states. The Sisters of Life offer to spiritually and emotionally accompany women throughout their pregnancies, and connect women with resources such as legal advice, housing, and medical assistance. They also provide opportunities for healing for women who...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Olympic champion Imane Khelif has appealed against a World Boxing decision barring her from upcoming events unless she undergoes genetic sex testing. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Monday that the Algerian boxer filed the appeal last month. Khelif was bidding to compete in the world boxing championships which start on Thursday, but CAS added that on Monday it dismissed a request to suspend the World Boxing decision until the case was heard. Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, another gold...

Good thing Jackie Alemany, co-host of MSNBC's The Weekend, wasn't being dramatic on Sunday. Otherwise, she might have said something like "The continued existence of all life on earth hangs in the balance!" Instead, the utterly undramatic Alemany merely said that if Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook was fired, "The stability of the global economy hangs in the balance." Alemany warned that global markets could enter a "red zone" if Cook's tenure went kaput.Get the rest of the story and view the video here.