Free Republic

The notion the United Kingdom government, its people, or way of life are something worth fighting for appears to be in decline, with a survey finding that less than half of the nation would be willing to fight and defend their country for any reason. According to a poll from Ipsos released to coincide with Victory in Europe (VE) Day, which marks the formal surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied nations in 1945, some 48 per cent of Britons would not fight for their country “under any circumstances.” Conversely, a paltry 35 per cent said that they would be...

More than half of American voters have voted early or plan to vote before Election Day, a new Gallup poll revealed Thursday. Out of 933 registered voters surveyed between October 14 and October 27, 20 percent said they had already voted, and another 34 percent said they are planning to do so before November 5, bringing the total to 54 percent. While the pollster found that the number of early voters is lower than what it was in 2020 — 64 percent — the rate is still higher compared to pre-coronavirus election years, before the popularity of voting by mail...

MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart said Friday on “Chris Jansing Reports” it was “frightening” that roughly half the country supports former President Donald Trump. Capehart said, “I’ve been watching Donald Trump’s press conference since before we were doing the segment before you jumped to it as the Q&A portion. I have to tell you, listening to him and particularly that answer, one word that comes to mind is reprehensible. A former president of the United States isthat basically poo-pooing the concerns of the elected officials in the affected city, in Springfield, Ohio. The Republican governor of the state debunked this and...

A consumer research group surveyed electric vehicle (EV) owners all around the world and found 46 percent of American EV owners regret their purchase and are “very likely” to switch back to the internal combustion engine (ICE). Around the world, 29 percent of EV owners said they will go back to the ICE. The top concerns are the lack of a reliable charging infrastructure, the costs involved in owning an EV, and anxiety about long-distance trips. Philipp Kampshoff, leader of the consulting firm Center for Future Mobility, told Automotive News he was surprised by the 49 percent number in the...

This situation could be quite concerning for several reasons: Credit Score Damage: When people default on their student loans, it can wreak havoc on their credit scores. This means they’ll have trouble accessing credit in the future for things like buying a home, a car, or even just getting a credit card. It’s like a financial scar that can take years to heal. Financial Instability: Defaulting on loans often leads to financial instability. Borrowers may struggle to make ends meet, and this can impact their overall financial well-being. They might have to put off important life decisions like getting married...

Nearly half of Americans opine in a recent survey that they would avoid a store — any store, apparently — that doesn’t have a drive-thru. The finding comes from Dutch Bros, a beloved drive-thru coffee chain based in Oregon. The Bros commissioned a random survey of 2,000 Americans in July by the market researcher OnePoll. Americans love a drive-thru, and the pandemic seems to have sweetened their taste for takeout. Much of the nation migrated to pickup and delivery in the peak months of COVID-19, and surveys suggest the preference endures. The Dutch Bros poll found that customers favor the...

President Joe Biden delivered another word salad on Thursday when he proudly proclaimed, “More than half the women in my administration are women,” according to a video of his speech. “But here’s what matters: more than half the women in my cabinet, more than half the people, more than half the women in my administration are women,” Biden said: BIDEN: "More than half the women in my administration are women." pic.twitter.com/VAM3Udb3fx — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 2, 2023 Biden spoke at the White House to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). That piece of legislation...

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — More than 300 employees from five state agencies have resigned since Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Virginia’s new telework policy in early May, according to records obtained by 8News. This includes 183 Virginia Department of Transportation employees, 28 of whom cited “telework options” as the reason for leaving. Two VDOT workers who listed telework as the reason did move to another state agency, records obtained by 8News after filing a Freedom of Information Act request show.On May 5, Youngkin ordered all state workers to begin working in-person full-time by July 5, a change the governor said would...

While more than six in 10 registered voters continue to believe the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade, the latest Fox News poll also finds over half favor banning abortions after 15 weeks.

Even as more Americans seem optimistic that life is returning to normal, half of U.S. adults are worried that another surge of COVID-19 infections could threaten the country, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. With states dropping pandemic restrictions and the most transmissible coronavirus variant so far on the rise, the concern about another wave is most pronounced among 74 percent of Democrats. Forty-nine percent of U.S. adults are not concerned, including 72 percent of Republicans, reflecting the pervasive partisan divide that has hindered the nation’s pandemic response.

* HSBC on Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings that missed expectations after the bank set aside more money for potentially larger loan losses due to the coronavirus pandemic and weakening oil prices. * The bank, Europe’s largest by assets, said its pre-tax profit fell 48% year-over-year to $3.23 billion in the first quarter of 2020, below an average analyst forecast of $3.67 billion. * HSBC shares in Hong Kong were flat after the earnings release when trading was resumed following a lunch break. The bank said it increased its expected credit impairment charges by $2.4 billion to $3 billion “due to...

The COVID-19 outbreak has spurred not just a health crisis, but also an economic one. With millions of Americans now out of work and countless small businesses shut down, a large number of U.S. adults are already scrambling to pay their bills.While emergency savings can be a lifeline in situations like the one we're facing, 50% of Americans expect that their savings will run out by the end of April, according to a new survey by real estate service Clever. And given that the crisis is showing no signs of letting up in the near future, that's extremely troubling.Americans are feeling the crunch Unemployment...

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could be walking away from an estimated £5.5 million in Royal funds after they announced they would be 'stepping back' from their duties as senior Royals in a bid to become 'financially independent'. But just how do the couple, who have an estimated combined net worth of £34 million, fund their lavish lifestyle which in the past has included their six-week Christmas break to Canada and solo trips to the US, such as when Meghan flew to America to watch Serena Williams play tennis. In terms of what the couple receive from the Royal household,...

[SATIRE] WASHINGTON, D.C. — At a press conference held on Capitol Hill Friday, mourning Democrat leaders called for flags to be flown half-mast to honor the death of Qasem Soleimani. Flags were spotted flying at half-mast around the country, notably at The Washington Post, The New York Times, and in front of several celebrities' homes. The celebrities went out and bought an American flag for the first time just to fly it at half-mast for this important time of grief. "The grieving process is painful but necessary," said Rep. Ilhan Omar. "As a nation, we need to stop and grieve this great,...

It takes 1 trillion times the age of the universe for a xenon-124 sample to shrink by half For the first time, researchers have directly observed an exotic type of radioactive decay called two-neutrino double electron capture.The decay, seen in xenon-124 atoms, happens so sparingly that it would take 18 sextillion years (18 followed by 21 zeros) for a sample of xenon-124 to shrink by half, making the decay extremely difficult to detect. The long-anticipated observation of two-neutrino double electron capture, reported in the April 25 Nature, lays the groundwork for researchers to glimpse a yet unseen, even rarer version...

DNA extracted from bone fragments found in the cave show the girl was the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. The discovery, reported in Nature, gives a rare insight into the lives of our closest ancient human relatives. Neanderthals and Denisovans were humans like us, but belonged to different species. "We knew from previous studies that Neanderthals and Denisovans must have occasionally had children together," says Viviane Slon, researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig, Germany. "But I never thought we would be so lucky as to find an actual offspring of...

Monday on the campaign trail in Reno, NV, Republican presidential candidateSen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 79% said if his opponent Donald Trump becomes the nominee, the GOP cannot win in November, because half of the Republican Party “hates” him. Rubio said, “We can’t win if we nominate someone, if we nominate someone that half of the Republican Party hates. We are going to be fighting against each other all the way to November. I don’t care how much you may think they’re funny or how interesting they may sound. If we nominate someone that 40 to 50 percent of our party can’t stand, we...

Oxfam study also finds richest one per cent on the planet is now worth more than the rest of everyone else put together The world's richest 62 people are worth as much as the planet's poorest 3.6 billion put together, according to new research. Oxfam study also finds richest one per cent on the planet is now worth more than the rest of everyone else put together And the richest one per cent on the planet is now worth more than the rest of everyone else put together. The report - highlighting "runaway inequality" - was published by Oxfam ahead...

On Friday, alongside China's announcement that it had bought over 600 tons of gold in "one month", the PBOC released another very important data point: its total foreign exchange reserves, which declined by $17.3 billion to $3,694 billion. We explained all of his on Friday in "China Dumps Record $143 Billion In US Treasurys In Three Months Via Belgium", and frankly we have been surprised that this extremely important topic has not gotten broader attention. Then, to our relief, first JPM noticed. This is what Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, author of Flows and Liquidity had to say on the topic of China's...

President Obama ordered flags be lowered to half staff in honor of service members killed on July 16 by a gunman in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Mohammad Abdulazeez, 24, shot four Marines, a sailor and a police officer. The Marines and sailor died from their injuries. "Our thoughts and prayers as a Nation are with the service members killed last week in Chattanooga. We honor their service," President Obama said in a statement on Tuesday. "We offer our gratitude to the police officers and first responders who stopped the rampage and saved lives. We draw strength from yet another American community that