Free Republic

Prices barely climbed in April, pulling the annual rate of inflation down toward the Federal Reserve’s two percent target, even while personal income climbed at a rapid rate. The personal consumption price index climbed 0.1 percent in April, the second month in a row in which consumers got relief from inflation that had plagued the economy throughout the Biden administration. In March, the index showed prices were flat. Compared with a year ago, prices are up just 2.1 percent. That just one-tenth above the two percent rate of inflation the Fed says it targets. In March, prices were up 2.3...

U.S. consumers just delivered a clear message: they’re not as worried as the experts thought. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index jumped by 12.3 points in May, the largest monthly gain in four years, as Americans grew more upbeat about the economy, the job market, and their own financial prospects. The reading came in at 98.0, up sharply from April’s 85.7, and blew past all forecasts by economists. Econoday’s survey had a range of forecasts from 84.0 to 91.3, with the consensus at 87.3. It wasn’t just a bounce—it was a breakout. The Expectations Index, which measures how consumers see...

President Donald Trump this week enjoyed one of his biggest legislative victories during his second administration. "THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL" has PASSED the House of Representatives!" Trump touted in a social media post Thursday. The president's post came soon after the GOP-controlled House passed Trump's sweeping tax and spending cuts package by a razor-thin margin. The Republican-crafted measure is full of Trump's campaign trail promises and second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit. Ahead of the House vote, two surveys released earlier in the week indicated that the president's poll numbers remained underwater.

President Donald Trump signed four bills on Friday to roll back Biden-era regulations on appliances like water heaters, refrigerators, walk-in coolers, and household appliances. The first bill Trump signed, H.J.R. 20, rolled back regulations on consumer gas-powered water heaters, White House staff secretary Will Scharf noted. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) introduced the legislation, which was also backed by Rep. Brian Jack (R-GA). Jack noted that the new law “saves a factory” in his district.

Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler slammed Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday for alleging President Joe Biden was stronger than President-elect Donald Trump on securing the southern border. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the southern border remained open: Nearly two million known gotaways evaded U.S. Border Patrol under the Biden-Harris administration, according to numbers released by Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security in April. The administration allows up to 650,000 criminal migrants and suspects — including at least 13,099 migrant convicted murderers and 222,141 migrants facing criminal charges — to roam through American communities, according to data released...

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to kill all of Hamas’s top leaders as he says Israel has eliminated the group’s “number four”.

A group of House Democrats called for legislation on Monday that would add four seats to the Supreme Court, lamenting a "ultra right-wing" branch that just overturned the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights. The eight lawmakers cited recent Supreme Court decisions that rolled back Miranda rights, threw out a New York gun control law and allowed religion to surface in schools - as well as the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision that overturned the right to abortion in Roe - in saying there was a need to add new justices to the court. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.),...

The U.S. winter wheat crop has emerged from dormancy in miserable condition following a historically dry winter in key production states, almost guaranteeing that the harvest will not rank among the country’s better ones. The timing is not great since tensions in the wheat market are running high. Global wheat prices hit record levels last month after war broke out among top exporters Russia and Ukraine, and that came on the heels of an already-tight supply situation. The United States is also among the world’s leading suppliers of wheat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture late on Monday said 30% of...

Four young international soccer stars died this week after suffering a sudden heart attack.Croatian footballer Marin Cacic, Oman international player Mukhaled Al-Raqadi, Egyptian goalkeeper Ahmed Amin, and Algerian football player Sofiane Loukar all died this week, the COVID world reported.On December 22, Oman international player Mukhaled Al-Raqadi, aged 29, tragically died after collapsing during a warm-up ahead of a domestic match with Al-Suwaiq.Al-Raqadi was rushed to the nearest hospital by ambulance. The reason for his death was a heart attack, Oman observer reported.Mukhaled Al-Raqadi of Oman’s Muscat FC died after he collapsed while warming up before his team’s match yesterday....

Protests have finally erupted in Israel as it has slowly dawned on people there that the goalposts for vaccine passports keep being shifted by the government.It is now expected to be announced that at least FOUR vaccinations will be needed to be considered ‘fully vaccinated’ and able to engage in society.Over the weekend marches took place in the streets of Tel Aviv against the so called ‘Green Pass’:Protest in Tel Aviv, Israel against govt health pass. pic.twitter.com/CYb9uG0gij — 🧢מאק (@beingrealmac) September 26, 2021HUGE PROTEST ISRAEL TEL AVIV: NO GREEN PASS COVID RESTRICTIONS. Protesters demonstrate against vaccine coercion, green passports in...

Police from the northern district on Friday evening captured four of the six terrorist prisoners who escaped from the Gilboa Prison at the start of the week. The two were captured near Nazareth and were detained without resistance. They are currently being interrogated and will be transferred to an Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) facility. The terrorists who were captured are Yacoub Qadri and Mohammed Ardah of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. Ardah is the leader of the squad who planned and led the escape operation. The second group of two included Fatah's Zakaria Zubeidi, and Islamic Jihad's Mahmad Ardah,...

It feels like we're at another turning point with the COVID pandemic. After weeks of declining coronavirus case numbers nationwide, we've had a change of luck and cases are now climbing in 32 states across the U.S., The New York Times reports. But it's not all bad news, according to Anthony Fauci, MD. In a conversation with Wired editor at large Steven Levy published on Sept. 30, Fauci actually sounded optimistic, particularly when discussing the COVID vaccine. In fact, Fauci said the positive words you've likely been waiting to hear: "This outbreak will end." He added, "We will get a...

SHAMEFUL: Nancy Pelosi Calls for Trump Family Intervention During Weekly Presser Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stumbled her way through another press conference Thursday, this time calling for the Trump family to hold an intervention with President Donald J. Trump. “But the president again stormed out, I think, um, first, pound the table, walk out the door,” she said. “Next time have the TV cameras in there while I have my say. That didn’t work for him either. Now, this time, another temper tantrum, again. I pray for the president of the United States. I wish his family...

<p>The first of four adults charged in January with the hate crime of a white special needs 18-year-old has been freed on probation in what many people are likely to believe is a rather light sentence compared to the crime. Ed initially wrote about this story when it broke.</p>

The US attorney general has said four people have been charged over leaks as the Trump administration launched a crackdown on embarrassing disclosures. Jeff Sessions said the suspects were accused of divulging classified material or concealed contacts with foreign intelligence officers. America's top prosecutor said the administration has tripled the number of active leak probes since January. {..snip..}

Adam West — an actor defined and also constrained by his role in the 1960s series “Batman” — died Friday night in Los Angeles. He was 88. A rep said that he died after a short battle with leukemia. “Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight, and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ lives. He was and always will be our hero,” his family said in a statement. With its “Wham! Pow!” onscreen exclamations, flamboyant villains and cheeky tone, “Batman” became a surprise hit with its premiere on ABC in 1966, a virtual symbol of...

Fantastic Four begins quite promisingly, with a schoolboy standing up in front of his classmates and telling them about the science experiment he's conducting in his garage. He's trying to build a teleporter that will beam human beings from one location to another, like in Star Trek. As you'd expect, his schoolmates laugh and his teacher tells him to stop fibbing, but one boy's curiosity is piqued. This is Ben Grimm and the science nerd turns out to be Reed Richards, a brainiac to rival Albert Einstein.

Sitting astride his Pale Horse, Obama has introduced Death into the heart of our nation Six years ago Obama unleashed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse upon a largely unsuspecting nation. The merciless work of Death, War, Conquest, and Famine is nearly complete. Hope Earlier this week the results of the mid-term elections coaxed a timid light from the darkness. Hope flickered. Perhaps Republicans might once again adopt the Conservatism always victorious in past contests with evil. Perhaps in doing so Conservatism might belay the six-year reign of terror unleashed by our President. Actions Needed To forestall the consummation of...

SEATTLE — A man accused of shooting to death two men in Seattle on June 1 and a man in New Jersey later that month was charged Wednesday with gunning down a 30-year-old in the Skyway area in April — all, he allegedly told police, as “vengeance” for U.S. actions in the Mideast. Ali Muhammad Brown, 40, is quoted in charging documents as saying that he they were “just kills” and that he was “just doing my small part” as a self-styled jihadist. He was charged Wednesday with aggravated first-degree murder by the King County Prosecutor’s Office for the slaying...

Commander John W Price, 42, oversaw SEAL Team Four, which was training Afghan police in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan Father of a young daughter Jillian, 9, is also survived by his wife Stephanie SEALs have suffered heavy casualties in Afghanistan The leader of Navy SEAL Team Four, one of the most senior commanders in the elite world of special operations, has died after apparently committing suicide in Afghanistan, it was reported today. Commander John W Price, 42, was found dead in his quarters with a gunshot wound on Saturday - just three days before Christmas. Cmdr Price was based in Naval...