Free Republic

Are our secular universities, especially those leaning most radically left, soon to collapse – or at least, soon to lose their current positions of power and influence? A good case can be made that the answer could well be yes.First, there has been a serious dip in enrollment in our colleges and universities across the nation. As noted in a March 9, 2023 headline on the Fortune website, “The labor shortage is pushing American colleges into crisis, with the plunge in enrollment the worst ever recorded.”Yes, “What first looked like a pandemic blip has turned into a crisis. Nationwide, undergraduate...

The fabric of our society is coming apart at the seams, and you can see it with your own eyes. If you live in a major city, all you have to do is walk around, and you’ll find many signs that our core urban centers are decaying, and just about every sort of evil that you can possibly imagine is exploding all around us. Our so-called leaders continue to make stupid decisions, and now we are all going to reap the consequences. Predators are roaming our streets. American families are collapsing. Traditional moral values have been completely discarded. Young people...

The US housing market is truly bizarro world! San Francisco and Seattle are down near 10% year-over-year (YoY) while Chicago and Cleveland lead in price gains. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported 0.0% annual change in June, up from a loss of -0.4% in the previous month. Notice that The Fed’s balance sheet is slowly unwinding (green line) and real weeky “usual” earnings are finally positive after two long years of decline (red line). No growth or loss in home prices at the national level. How about at the...

We’ve covered the idea of an urban doom loop in places like San Francisco and New York. Today the Washington Post has a story up which argues that it’s actually midsized cities which are in the most danger of falling into a doom loop.In Indianapolis, the technology giant Salesforce is paring back a quarter of its office space in the tallest building in Indiana, where it has been a key tenant for the past six years. In Atlanta, the private investment giant Starwood Capital defaulted on a $212 million mortgage on a 29-story office tower. And in Baltimore, a landmark...

Chinese property developer Evergrande defaulted in 2021 and recently filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. But it wasn’t until today that the company’s stock resumed trading after 17 months of absence from the Hong Kong stock exchange. The results were about what you’d expect.Shares of the world’s most indebted property developer plunged as much as 87% on its open on Monday, trading for the first time since March 21, 2022.Shares fell to as low as 22 Hong Kong cents on Monday, compared to its last close at 1.65 Hong Kong dollars per share on March 18, 2022.The resumption...

As the 2024 Election season approaches, polls abound. Putting the concerns of most Americans in order looms large in the scheme of things. Most polls show us that we are more concerned about the economy. After that, the integrity of the election, failing schools, and a plethora of other woes seem to be on our minds.

The NY Times published a lengthy and interesting story today about the homeless problem in Portland. The story is titled “Fighting for Anthony: The Struggle to Save Portland, Oregon.” Anthony Saldana is the central character in this tale. He moved to Portland from Las Vegas back in 2018 on the advice of his sister.Anthony got a job at Home Depot and for a while lived alone. Later he moved in with his sister and her partner. At some point he began using drugs and though we’re not told exactly why, he eventually moved into a tent.As the pandemic wore into...

A Newfield High School football player has been taken off life support after he collapsed during a summer workout. Robert Bush, 17, suffered sudden cardiac arrest after a 4-minute conditioning drill on July 3. His teammates and coach desperately tried to save him when he collapsed on the field. "We're at the beginning of the final stages of my brother," said Steven Bush. "We haven't said our goodbyes, but that's what we are preparing to do, talk about organ donation." Robert's family says he was taken off life support Friday night so that his organs could be donated. The grieving...

There is so much wrong with America’s cities, it’s hard to see why any contributing member of society would live and/or work in one of them. Some of the issues arise from far-Left local governance while others are generated by more widespread Leftist policy. These are coupled with an organic workforce evolution, as the United States transitions from an industry-based to an information-based economy. The result is urban areas caught in a downward spiral — and, as with any sinking vessel, threatening to suck everyone nearby down with them.

A failure to resolve twin strikes of the writers’ and screen actors’ guilds could lead to “devastating effects” if no deal is reached soon, according to billionaire media mogul Barry Diller. snip Mr. Diller, a former Paramount Pictures CEO, said on July 16 that the situation could compound if not resolved quickly. “These conditions will potentially produce an absolute collapse of an entire industry,” he told CBS News. “I would call for a September 1 deadline. There’s a strike deadline. I think there should be a settlement deadline, because unless it happens by September 1 … The truth is, this...

Attorneys general from 10 states, including New York, plan to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying its failure to review and ensure emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves has allowed the continued sale of appliances that could worsen pollution. That means programs that encourage people to trade in older stoves and other wood-burning appliances, such as forced-air furnaces, haven’t necessarily improved air quality, the states say. “If newer wood heaters do not meet cleaner standards, then programs to change out old wood heaters may provide little health benefits at significant public cost,” the states wrote Thursday in a 60-day...

Rioting and looting spread across Europe last night after the 'execution' killing of a teenager in Paris - as pictures emerged of President Emmanuel Macron partying with Elton John while his country burnt, triggering a furious backlash. Mr Macron was filmed at Paris's Accor Arena on Wednesday evening, watching the singer on his farewell tour, while rioters caused mayhem in the capital following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old identified as Nahel on Tuesday. The French President was snapped arm in arm with the legendary 76-year-old artist - who he bestowed France's Legion of Honour award - alongside his wife...

Figures published today reveal beekeepers in the U.S. lost an estimated 48% of their honey bee colonies in 2022-23. According to an annual survey that tracks the state of managed hives, this is the second highest death rate on record after 2020-21's 51%. Honey bees are crucial to our food supply, pollinating over 100 different crop types. As reported by Bee Informed, a national collaboration of leading research labs and universities in agricultural science, the most prominent cause of colony death reported by commercial beekeepers over the year was “varroa destructor” - a parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on...

I’ve telecommuted for over 30 years, which was a choice I made once home computers and the internet enabled me to establish a virtual law office. However, there’s a huge difference between individuals and small offices making lifestyle and economic choices and the lockdown’s brute force transition from an office-place economy to a telecommuting economy. The former is an organic workplace diversification; the latter is the breakdown of the commercial real estate marketplace with unfathomable consequences for the American economy. The climate changistas have long dreamed of a virtual business environment, one in which people in white-collar professions work from...

The FDIC has accidentally released a list of companies it bailed out for billions in the Silicon Valley Bank collapse A document from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which the agency said it mistakenly released unredacted in response to a Bloomberg News Freedom of Information Act request, provides one of the most detailed glimpses yet into the bank’s big customers. BY Lizette Chapman , Jason Leopold , AND Bloomberg June 23, 2023 10:43 AM EDT Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg - Getty Images When federal regulators stepped...

The Dominican basketball community mourns the loss of Óscar Cabrera Adames, a talented player who passed away at the young age of 28. Tragically, his untimely demise occurred during a stress test conducted at a health center in Santo Domingo. It is believed that Cabrera Adames was battling myocarditis, a condition that poses significant risks to the heart's function and blood circulation. The impact of this disease on individuals can be severe, as highlighted by the American Heart Association. Following his untimely demise, social media posts emerged in which Cabrera Adames hinted at a possible connection between his myocarditis and...

A growing number of countries are coming forward to join BRICS and accept the new currency for global trade. The South African ambassador Anil Sooklal hinted that the alliance could expand this year becoming BRICS+. The move could add pressure on the U.S. dollar as developing nations would end their reliance on the greenback. The global financial order could tilt from the West to the East creating a new multipolar economy. According to the latest report, the BRICS alliance has formally received applications from 25 countries to join the bloc. The 25 nations that expressed their interest to join are...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a television interview on Thursday that the United States could face the "collapse of NATO" or a direct conflict with Russia if Ukraine does not win the war."Is he ready to go to war? To fight, to send his kids? Are they ready to die?" Zelenskyy asked. "Because anyway, they will have to do this if NATO gets involved."Former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, would not commit to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, during a CNN town hall last month. Instead, Trump pledged to end the...

(CPC)Chairman Xi might play the malevolent doppelganger of a much loved children’s cartoon character in memes, but in real life, he’s becoming the guy who yuans to keep control so badly, he seems willing to let it all crash down around him. In an interesting metric, millionaires have already been leaving China with for quite a while, and, unsurprisingly, that pace has picked up. What’s surprising to me is that Xi allows them to leave. China, with the world’s second-largest economy and the second-highest population, will again see the biggest exodus of millionaires this year, according to new research. According...

A section of the I-95 collapses in Philadelphia. (Credit: Washington's ghost) A massive fire caused a section of Interstate 95 to collapse Sunday morning in Northeast Philadelphia, causing both directions of travel to be shut down. Although no fatalities have been reported, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said that a person may still be trapped inside a vehicle underneath the rubble.Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Brad Rudolph said the cause of the disaster was still under investigation but that it did not appear to be due to foul play. Fox News, however, is reporting that a tanker tank may have...