Free Republic

‘How many people do you employ this month?” might sound like the kind of question an employer can easily answer, but it’s not. Especially for large businesses, the exact number of employees in a given month is hard to pin down. The media report layoffs and hires in round numbers, but for calculating total employment in the country, it really matters whether “500” means 478 or 523, because those discrepancies multiplied across millions of businesses make a huge difference. Within government, Donald Trump’s appointee as BLS commissioner, William Beach, has been a leader in calling for modernizing the surveys that...

In 2020, a disgruntled litigant posing as a deliveryman opened fire at the New Jersey home of District Judge Esther Salas, killing her 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl. Five years later, as President Donald Trump steps up hiscriticism of federal judges who have blocked some of his agenda, dozens of judges have had unsolicited pizzas delivered to their homes, often in Daniel Anderl’s name.District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, who stalled Trump’s initial round of across-the-board spending cuts, is among those who received pizzas in Anderl’s name. His courtroom also has been flooded by threatening calls, including one...

An atomic cloud is captured by a bomber over Nagasaki in 1945; tourists visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima on June 28, 2025. August 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Japan and the end of the Pacific theatre of World War II. Aug. 6 marks the 80th anniversary of the United States dropping an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima – and three days later, on Nagasaki – during World War II. Today, most Americans (83%) say they know a lot or a little about these events, according to a new Pew Research...

In 2020, a disgruntled litigant posing as a deliveryman opened fire at the New Jersey home of District Judge Esther Salas, killing her 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl. Five years later, as President Donald Trump steps up hiscriticism of federal judges who have blocked some of his agenda, dozens of judges have had unsolicited pizzas delivered to their homes, often in Daniel Anderl’s name.District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, who stalled Trump’s initial round of across-the-board spending cuts, is among those who received pizzas in Anderl’s name. His courtroom also has been flooded by threatening calls, including one...

Russian soldiers call the practice a sacrifice to Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch from Slavic folklore who feasts on her victims. A Russian serviceman is seen on video being tied up to a tree and abandoned to his fate – possibly death – at the hands of one of Ukraine’s large attack drones. Why this is happening is clear from a radio intercept about a similar incident, shared with CNN, in which a Russian commander can clearly be heard ordering a subordinate be tied up in this way as punishment for desertion. The instruction is given twice: “Hide him somewhere...

The Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights organization, is taking its LGBTQ equality message on the road with a multicity tour focused on changing more hearts and minds, particularly in red states. The “American Dreams Tour” will kick off Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, and travel to cities in predominantly Republican-led states through November. The tour’s goal, according to HRC, is to amplify LGBTQ people’s stories “at a time of rising political attacks and cultural erasure” and “celebrate the communities pushing back against hate and fighting for a future of equality for all.” “For half a century, our movement...

It’s easy to think of American voters as hopelessly polarized, with few true Independents or undecided voters. But when you look beyond how people vote, to what they actually believe, the picture is more complex. In 2025, we expanded our Political Quadrants to include a third dimension gauging Anti-Establishment sentiment. We then took the combined responses and clustered them, uncovering eight Political Tribes in the American Electorate. ============ Download detailed report here.

Poor diets at age 56 associated with higher risks 10 years laterKey Takeaways -Diets high in ultraprocessed foods were tied to prodromal Parkinson's disease, incident Parkinson's, and Parkinson's-specific mortality. -The study followed 120,000 U.K. Biobank participants for a median of 10.5 years. -Ultraprocessed food intake has been tied to dementia, but data about Parkinson's disease were sparse until recently. A diet high in ultraprocessed foods was tied to a higher risk of Parkinson's disease, prospective data from the U.K. Biobank suggested. Over a median follow-up of 10.5 years, the highest quartile of ultraprocessed food consumption was associated with three or...

When Elon Musk sued Media Matters in 2023, the law firm of Democratic super-lawyer Marc Elias swooped in to represent the liberal media group. It made little headway against the lawsuit before submitting millions of dollars in legal bills, prompting Media Matters officials to lash out at the firm as they faced financial ruin, according to a new report. According to the New York Times, Elias Law Group originally represented Media Matters against Musk’s lawsuit, which accused the group of manipulating X posts to falsely link the social media platform to white nationalists and anti-Semites, part of what Musk alleged...

Some people may call it the chickens coming home to roost. Media Matters for America (MMfA), a George Soros-funded left-wing censorship group, reportedly may be on the verge of collapse. The organization is reeling after a series of lawsuits and government investigations, which are straining its already frazzled finances. (MMfA raised $19 million in 2023 — and somehow spent $20 million.) But here’s what some may consider poetic justice: The group essentially claims the government is now doing the Right’s bidding in an effort to destroy it.This is the same group, a 2012 report held, that was previously coordinating with...

Social Security's retirement fund is set to run short in just seven years — which could end up slashing benefits for millions of Americans by thousands of dollars a year. According to latest projections, retirees could face automatic 24 percent benefit cuts as early as the end of 2032. Social Security relies on its trust fund to provide monthly benefit checks to around 70 million Americans. Once the reserves are exhausted, federal law requires that benefits be cut to match incoming revenues

More than 100 aid agencies and rights groups, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading across Gaza, adding to calls for Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave. The joint statement is the latest attempt to draw attention to a growing hunger crisis in Gaza. It was released after the European Union and at least 28 governments, including Israeli allies like Britain, France and Canada, on Monday condemned the “drip feeding of aid” and said that civilian suffering had “reached new depths.” Doctors Without Borders in Gaza...

"The Late Show" wasn't just a platform for Democrats under Stephen Colbert's tenure, it was also one for left-wing journalists and hosts. Fox News Digital has counted at least 200 episodes of "The Late Show" that featured members of the liberal media. The far-left politics of "The Late Show" have been facing scrutiny after CBS announced last week that it was pulling the plug on Colbert's program, which will officially wrap up in May 2026. According to IMDB search results, CNN anchor and "60 Minutes" correspondent Anderson Cooper holds the record with 20 formal guest appearances on "The Late Show."...

History forgot the horrors endured by laborers on the automaker’s massive cattle ranch in the Brazilian Amazon. But a priest had recorded it all. SANTANA DO ARAGUAIA, Brazil When Ricardo Rezende Figueira saw the headline, he felt a chill run through him. It was about Volkswagen. The company said it was finally ready to atone for its past. After admitting that its staff had cooperated with Brazil’s military dictatorship to target workers for political persecution, the automaker had begun to negotiate reparations. Rezende read to the bottom of the article, then sat for a moment, quiet. The story didn’t say...

...The protest addressed issues such as voter suppression laws, including "The Save Act,....The protest coincided with the anniversary of Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis's passing, with participants nationwide taking action to defend democracy and honor his legacy of "good trouble."...More than 1,600 similar protests were planned to occur across the country...

"CBS has announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026, bringing the show’s historic run—and the Late Show franchise itself—to a close."Colbert addressed the show’s cancellation himself while taping tonight’s show."

On a daily basis, ICE officers battle protesters who oppose the enforcement of immigration law. These attacks are coming from multiple sources, and challenge not only the effectiveness of ICE, but endanger the agents’ lives. June 9 was the onset of the protests in Los Angeles, which are actually being funded by our tax dollars:Los Angeles descended into turmoil this weekend as left-leaning activist organizations, funded by taxpayer dollars, are believed to have intensified protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). What started as a relatively small demonstration opposing the Trump administration’s crackdown on criminal illegal immigrants rapidly escalated into...

Adam Swart, the CEO of Crowds on Demand, a company known for organising paid demonstrators, claims he was offered $20 million to recruit demonstrators for Thursday’s anti-Trump protests. Notably, tens of thousands of individuals nationwide are gearing up for the ‘Good Trouble Lives On’ protests honouring civil rights icon and longtime Congressman John Lewis. Axios says the Democratic Georgia lawmaker was one of Donald Trump's most vocal critics in his first term in the Oval Office and was one of the few members of Congress who decided not to attend his inauguration, the first one Lewis ever missed in his...

It takes the undeveloped ego of a toddler to pout this long. But if Elmo on Sesame Street can learn how to share, surely these three can too. For all its concern about a peaceful transfer of power, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) are probably not planning a story about the three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) who have refused to leave the board after Trump removed them in April.Not so long ago — in 2020 and 2021 — PBS and NPR were spreading propaganda that President Donald Trump was going...

You can visit the website to see what the insurrectionists have to say. Look at the map, enlarge it to see if a protest Thursday. July 17 is going to affect you. If it is, call your local sheriff's office to inform them of this right away. I called the one near me. Please ask them to make sure no one blocks highways. The website tells protestors NOT to bring weapons, but the demographic represented does anyway. I am personally completely fed up with the distinct minority trying to stop changes that we, the MAJORITY, voted for and want implemented....