Free Republic

During his 2002 testimony before Congress, then-Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan wryly observed: “There may be more forecasting of exchange rates, with less success, than almost any other economic variable.” Two-plus decades later, predicting the future path of exchange rates continues to pose a challenge, especially as currency matters take centerstage in policy debates. The dollar was expected to weaken in 2024, with markets initially pricing in six or more Fed rate cuts. Reality, however, played out differently, and the dollar actually rose sharply. U.S. economic growth was more robust than expected and the disinflationary process stalled out in the...

However, former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore told The Post Friday that [Todd] Blanche’s hiring may present “a conflict,” given that the lawyer is also representing Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, who was reportedly grilled by prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s office in April.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least three presidents. A vice president, a secretary of state, an attorney general. The mishandling of classified documents is not a problem unique to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The matter of classified records and who, exactly, has hung onto them got more complicated Tuesday as news surfaced that former Vice President Mike Pence also had such records in his possession after he left office. Like Biden, Pence willingly turned them over to authorities after they were discovered during a search he requested, according to his lawyer and aides. The revelations have thrust...

A culinary conundrum over two salads and a rice bowl has two restaurants at odds; ‘deconstructed Mexican salad symbolism’ Cafe Rio, a neighboring fast-casual Mexican chain, has argued in court filings that Chop Stop’s offerings violate a provision in its lease that no other restaurant in the same shopping center can make more than 10% of its sales from Mexican or Tex-Mex food. Chop Stop has said in response that its menu items are generic offerings that don’t belong in any culinary category. For Ms. Sada, an assistant professor at the Culinary Institute of America, one potential consideration in the...

But one innocuous sign near Bakersfield has long inspired curiosity, befuddlement and hundreds of online dispatches from travelers passing. The sign, just outside the oil derrick town of Lost Hills, reads “Tom McCleod slept here” in an austere sans-serif font. It raises the question asked again and again by drivers: Who is Tom McCleod? ...After days of failed phone calls and redirected emails, the fourth Tom McLeod, a Vietnam War veteran who now works as the curator at the Museum of the Pacific in Texarkana, Texas, got back to me. This Tom is closely linked to Pacific Wrecks, a group...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s refusal to meet with US National Security Advisor John Bolton has become the latest episode of what are now periodic US-Turkey tensions over the Syrian Kurds. Erdoğan declared that he would not “accept or swallow” Bolton’s earlier comments that Turkey should provide security guarantees for Syrian Kurds as a precondition for US troops’ withdrawal from northern Syria. This has obviously become unsure as the withdrawal of these troops has actually begun. The “non-paper” that Bolton delivered to the Turkish presidential office included the statement that “the United States opposes any mistreatment of opposition forces who...

Wow, so I was actually tuned in to KPCC - the local NPR branch affiliate for Los Angeles. And one analyst gave a thorough rundown about California voter registration and polling trends. Here are some points: * Voters registering Independent of either party is up 169% as opposed to 25% for Dem and down 9% for Republican. This is especially true for new, young voters. Independents are the 2nd largest voting constiuent. * Independent candidate for Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is currently leading against his Democratic counterpart by 6 points. * Californians express fiscally conservative views with socially moderate policies....

What kind of fire are the Boy Scouts teaching kids to start? Angry parents want to know now that the organization is making condoms an official part of its World Jamboree. Almost five years to the day that it threw open doors to homosexuality, BSA leaders are making their leftward lurch complete with the announcement that birth control would be provided at their next 12-day jamboree where 12- to 17-year-olds will convene

A day after the parents of Rachel Dolezal, the President of the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP, said she has been misrepresenting herself as black for years, the NAACP says they are standing by Dolezal. In a statement released Friday, the organization said: "For 106 years, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has held a long and proud tradition of receiving support from people of all faiths, races, colors and creeds. NAACP Spokane Washington Branch President Rachel Dolezal is enduring a legal issue with her family, and we respect her privacy in this matter. One's racial identity...

Common Core State Standards could be the under-the-radar issue of the 2014 campaign. Business leaders and politicians had their hearts in the right place. We are a highly mobile society. People are likely to move more than once for jobs. Often they move their whole families to new school districts. Sometimes families move across the country. Children, particularly children whose parents are in the military, are prone to be disadvantaged in education if they move around. A school in one part of the country may be ahead of, behind or on altogether different subjects than a former school is. Because...

A new op-ed prompted by his interview with ABC over the weekend, which generated headlines like, “Rand Paul: Don’t dismiss containment option for nuclear Iran.”He’s not for containment, he now says, but nor is he irrevocably against it. What he’s for is strategic ambiguity, not telegraphing your intentions towards a bad actor lest you inadvertently limit your options later. Does America have any recent experience with that? I am not for containment in Iran. Let me repeat that, since no one seems to be listening closely: I am unequivocally not for containing Iran.I am also not for announcing that the...

Believe it or not, even in the age of Obama and Pelosi there are still "Yellow Dog Democrats." Incredible. Why don't these "conservative" "I'm not like the national Dems" Dems just start their own party? Evidently they can never forgive Mr. Lincoln for kicking their fannies, but that doesn't explain why they insist on being fully affiliated with the national Democrat party. Any thoughts?

Just in time for Earth Day, Palo Alto must decide which grass is greener - composting within city limits or creating a new park. Residents insistent on seeing the Byxbee Park landfill become parkland - as required in the Baylands Master Plan - could force the city to start trucking out its compost to a regional location, such as the Sunnyvale station. The trucks would add 1,100 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to a feasibility study released last week. To put that sum in context, city staff members estimated that the city's entire fleet of vehicles emits...

Terrorism and the threat of an attack has been a Republican strong point with the voter since 9/11. I’m not sure why. The Bush Administration has dropped the ball in so many areas of Homeland Security that if the Democrats had any brains, they would attack Bush not for making terrorism a political issue but for the spectacular failures of his administration on issues such as border and port security, airport screening procedures, and improving the security around soft targets like chemical and electric plants. (Talking about the fact that the Department of Homeland Security itself is a bureaucratic mess...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

Yaa, you repukes are not doing so well, huh? Imagine, you repukes control the presidency, both houses of Congress, and appointed 7 of the 9 Supreme Court justices. Yet the Supreme Court thre out sodomy laws in all 50 states and recognized the right of government to seize land for any reason. And you couldn't pass your Social Security changes could you? Sorry, that was your last shot. Come November, we're going to start seeing more Democratic faces in the House. It's the end for you guys. You guys are celebrating when Bush's numbers go *up* to 45%. Then Faux...

Bush’s giant Right Wing Noise Machine (RWNM) loves to preach about the Bush economic miracle. In fact, the RWNM’s current thinking is Bush doesn’t spend enough time talking about his economic triumphs. If only he did, then everyone would fall in line and believe in the great Bush economic miracle. There is one problem with this argument: it’s a lie. Any way you look at the Bush economy, it comes up short. Today, I want to compare Bush’s job creation record with other economic recoveries. As usual, Bush comes up way short. The national Bureau of Economic Research has identified...