Free Republic

Katheryn Speck said she used to be a Canadian nationalist, travelled the world with a maple leaf on her backpack and once lived in Quebec so she could become fluently bilingual. But on Saturday she was among hundreds of people who rallied at the Alberta Legislature to support separation from Canada, with many in the crowd waving Alberta flags and a few even displaying the U.S. Stars and Stripes. "I thought it was a beautiful, fantastic country. But now I'm so disappointed. I'm literally crushed that we'll never be represented in this country and there's never a chance of changing...

So far, American consumers have been shielded from much of the impact. But as the world of international shipping adjusts to his policies, the president is facing a potential reckoning. With the US-China trade war starting to gum up container traffic between the world’s two biggest economies, freight companies are warning of plunging bookings and a surge in “blank sailings” – where ports are skipped or voyages are called off altogether. Earlier this week, America’s most powerful retail executives trooped into the White House to deliver a blunt prognosis: tariffs on Chinese goods risked causing “empty shelves” in two weeks...

Australia’s cattle industry is experiencing a significant boost in exports to China as US beef shipments have ground to a halt amid escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The US’ $2.5 billion beef trade to China has effectively ceased after about 300 abattoirs failed to have their export licenses renewed, creating an unexpected opportunity for Australian producers. Statistics from Meat and Livestock Australia show Australian grain-fed beef exports to China have surged nearly 40% in February and March compared to the same period last year, with 21,886 tonnes shipped during those months. “Australia is now the lone...

President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted there will be no exemptions in the tariffs after there was some confusion when it came to electronics. 'NOBODY is getting “off the hook” for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!' the president posted on Truth Social. A notice released late on Friday suggested gadgets would avoid Trump's 125 percent import tax on Chinese goods and even his sweeping 10 percent global tariffs. But his administration clarified on Sunday that electronics would be subject...

When his camera stopped working on his iPhone recently, New Yorker Richard Medina didn't waste any time. With the threat of tariff-fuelled price hikes on smartphones bearing down, he quickly called his phone company for a new one. "I said, 'We've got to switch this out now,'" the 43-year-old recalled. "Let's take care of it." The move was a sign of the pressure rising across the US, where households are being buffeted by what could be staggering price rises, and even possible shortages triggered by the sweeping tariffs that US President Donald Trump announced this month. Some are trying to...

The formula used by the Trump administration to levy reciprocal tariffs contains a serious math error that over-inflates the impact by about a factor of four, economists at the American Enterprise Institute said. Why it matters: The conservative think tank says the error led to tariff rates massively higher than they should have been to achieve the goals the administration sought.

Believing that a country is in bad shape if it imports more goods than it exports — i.e., if it has a trade deficit — is, in most cases, a harmless error in reasoning. It’s the sort of thing that seems to make sense at first glance, but any halfway decent economics professor can train it out of students in one or two lectures. That error in reasoning becomes harmful when the person who believes it is the president of the United States, and he is willing to claim emergency powers to act on it unilaterally. That’s what Donald Trump...

If you think President Trump is just goofing around about Greenland or just using it for some sort of negotiation leverage, you would be wrong. And President Trump FULL TRANSCRIPT: We need Greenland, very importantly, for international security. We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of “Do you think we can do without it?” We can’t. If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place. And we’re not going to be able to do that. We’re not relying on Denmark or anybody else to...

President Donald Trump's goal is to eliminate taxes for people earning less than $150,000 per year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said. "I know what his goal is — no tax for anybody making under $150,000 a year. That's what I'm working for," Lutnick told CBS News on Wednesday. He said that major tax cuts could be implemented without causing spiraling national debt through tackling overseas tax fraud. Why It Matters The proposal to remove taxes for people earning less than $150,000 per year would impact the vast majority of Americans. In 2022, around 93 percent of Americans aged 15...

No RFK files. No JFK files. No Epstein client list. No arrests. Just strongly worded letters and Fox news interviews. Have we been duped?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to President Trump’s latest rebuke, calling out Trump for living in a Russian “disinformation space.” “Unfortunately, President Trump, I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us, unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told reporters early Wednesday. His claim follows Trump’s news conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort Tuesday evening, where he criticized the Ukrainian leader and claimed his approval ratings were low. Zelensky also pressed Trump and U.S. officials to “be more truthful.” The request follows a high-stakes...

President Donald Trump has announced plans to open a facility on Guantanamo Bay to house 30,000 illegal migrants. The U.S. military base in Cuba has historically been used to hold terror suspects since 9/11 and detainees include some of the accused masterminds. Trump's move is part of his unprecedented crackdown on the border on illegal migration since the moment he entered office last week. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted raids across the country and deportation flights have left the United States daily. Trump said the facility with 30,000 beds will be used to keep the 'worst of the worst'...

A controversial 2020 study that claimed the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine showed promise for treating COVID-19 has been retracted, after sparking widespread criticism from scientists ever since its publication. The study was originally published online in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents on March 20, 2020. With a small sample size of just 36 total participants, the trial had involved treating 20 COVID-19 patients with 600 milligrams of hydroxychloroquine, a drug best known as an antimalarial. Some of the patients were also given the antibiotic azithromycin. Based on the results, the authors concluded that hydroxychloroquine was “significantly associated with viral load...

The budget motel chain Motel 6 is being acquired by the parent company of Oyo, a hotel operator based in India. The New York-based investment firm Blackstone , which owns Motel 6′s parent company G6 Hospitality, announced Friday that the deal would be an all-cash transaction worth $525 million. Oyo, which launched in India just over a decade ago, has been expanding its footprint in the U.S. over the past few years. The company says it currently operates 320 hotels across 35 states and is aiming to add 250 more this year.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro denied on Monday that antisemitism played a role in his not becoming the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee, as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has charged. Shapiro said Trump was the “least credible person” when it came to standing up against hatred and bigotry, in comments quoted by NBC News. “He’s trying to use me and he’s trying to use other Jews to divide Americans further,” Shapiro said. He then clarified, “Antisemitism played absolutely no role in my dialogue with the vice president. Absolutely none. It is also true that antisemitism is present in our commonwealth,...

Vice President Kamala Harris earned Democrats their highest lead over former President Donald Trump in nearly a year, according to a poll from Morning Consult.The pollster released its latest survey on the 2024 election on Monday, which found Harris leading Trump 48 percent to 44 percent among registered voters across the country. Morning Consult said the poll was conducted between August 2 and 4 and is based on the responses of 11,265 voters.Morning Consult said that Harris' 4-point lead is a "record-high margin in her favor" and is the "largest advantage for a Democratic presidential candidate over Trump in nearly...

With the Democratic base seemingly mobilized after replacing President Biden at the top of the ticket, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are dead even in the battleground states, a new poll revealed. Trump and Harris notched 50% apiece in the battleground state average, and the vice president scored a one-point lead over the Republican nominee in a national head-to-head matchup, a CBS News/YouGov poll found, garnering 50% to Trump’s 49%. Republicans haven’t won the national popular vote in a presidential election since 2004. In the battleground states, Michigan went 48% Harris to 48% Trump, with Pennsylvania...

Live at 8pm on the CW Network from Los Angeles. Miss Maryland USA is Trans & Married. Last year's Miss USA quit due to 'workplace harassment'. Should be a fun night. Grab your popcorn! According to Wikipedia, the new rule in the Miss Universe Organization (which owns Miss USA) is that only women 28 years of age and over are allowed to participate. They can be married. Past editions only had single women between 18-28 years of age participating. Ahhh... remember the good 'ol days when Donald Trump owned these pageants? Those were the days!

Donald Trump distanced himself Friday from Project 2025, a massive proposed overhaul of the federal government drafted by longtime allies and former officials in his administration, days after the head of the think tank responsible for the program suggested there would be a second American Revolution. “I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump posted on his social media website. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to...

Former President Donald J. Trump over the weekend escalated his vows to prosecute his political opponents, circulating posts on his social media website invoking “televised military tribunals” and calling for the jailing of President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer and former Vice President Mike Pence, among other high-profile politicians. Mr. Trump, using his account on Truth Social on Sunday, promoted two posts from other users of the site that called for the jailing of his perceived political enemies. One post that he circulated on Sunday singled out Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman who...