Free Republic

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 has threatened to take away $3 billion in federal grants from Harvard University and redirect the money to trade schools, escalating a months-long battle with the Ivy League institution. "I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land," Trump posted Monday on his social media platform, Truth Social. "What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!"

Under a new mandate, Colorado residents will now be forced to fund lip injections, cheek implants, nose jobs, breast augmentations, and other elective cosmetic procedures—not for burn victims, not for cancer survivors, but for one legally privileged group: men who claim to be women and women who claim to be men.

National Public Radio on Tuesday sued President Donald Trump over his executive order to cease all federal funding for the nonprofit broadcaster. Trump’s May 1 order violates the First Amendment’s protections of speech and the press and steps on Congress’ authority, NPR and three other public radio stations wrote in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. The order “also threatens the existence of a public radio system that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital news and information,” according to the legal complaint against Trump and a handful of top officials and federal agencies....

Joe Biden’s stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis raises many questions, not least why a U.S. president with access to the best healthcare in the world didn’t have routine blood screenings that could have caught the disease before it turned deadly. One possible culprit is an excessive deference to so-called experts, many of whom believe older people shouldn’t be screened for cancer because they are likely to die in short order anyway. This is the view of liberals like Ezekiel Emanuel, an Obama and Biden adviser, who want to put government in control of all Americans’ healthcare. A Biden spokesperson last...

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reveals some of the top agenda items during her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Russian forces have taken four border villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, a local official said Tuesday, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had issued an order to establish a buffer zone along the border. Meanwhile, a Russian bombing campaign that had escalated in recent days slowed overnight as far fewer Russian drones targeted Ukrainian towns and cities. Moscow's invasion has shown no signs of stopping despite months of intense U.S.-led efforts to secure a ceasefire and get traction for peace talks. Since Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey earlier this month for their first direct talks...

Despite the massive input of cash from Disney, the BBC’s famed Doctor Who sci fi series seems to be struggling in the UK ratings with numbers coming in lower than even the previous low numbers from last season as the show becomes mired in accusations of ultra woke story telling. The British state-run broadcasting service reports that the sci fi show’s seven-day viewing figures are not auspicious at all for the first half of season 15, the second for the “queer” Doctor portrayed by actor Ncuti Gatwa. The press has also been a disaster for the show. Over the past...

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. - A man was attacked after walking into a Mississippi club and using racial slurs, police said. According to police, the attack happened at C.J. Lounge in Marshall County. Police said the man walked into the venue and started using the "N-word" when referring to patrons. Officers told FOX13 that the man went to the hospital Wednesday, believing he may have a broken jaw. The incident happened late Saturday night. Police are trying to determine if the attack is a hate crime. Holly Springs Police provided cell phone footage to FOX13, showing a Tippah County man who...

A majority of U.S. senators and representatives receive campaign funding from pharmaceutical companies — an important part of the expanding national conversation about navigating conflicts of interest. ... Open Secrets (formerly the Center for Responsive Politics) is a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on providing trustworthy data about money in U.S. politics. And STAT is a media company started by Boston Globe Media. These two organizations aggregate and publish some of the most reliable numbers to help answer these questions. Congressional payments... A 2020 STAT analysis found more than two-thirds of Congress receiving a check from pharmaceutical companies that year. More recent...

A homeowner on Long Island made a shocking discovery when uncovering his pool for the summer, finding a body floating in the water after pulling off his pool cover.The East Shoreham, New York, homeowner called 911 Sunday afternoon after making the disturbing find of a man's body in his pool. He did not wish to comment Monday, though neighbors are now trying to figure out who the person may have been and what could have happened.

President Trump is unhappy with Vladimir Putin. The Russian isn’t heeding the President’s entreaties to stop the killing in Ukraine, and Mr. Trump is nonplussed. “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social. Separately, Mr. Trump told reporters: “I’m not happy with what Putin is doing. He’s killing a lot...

A man suspected of domestic violence was arrested Monday following a lengthy pursuit through multiple cities, an officer-involved shooting and a vehicle collision that injured an officer, police said. ... The man eventually stopped in 4400 block of Parks Avenue and backed into the front of the police vehicle stopped behind him. The impact caused the passenger officer preparing to exit the vehicle to hit his head, injuring him, authorities added. Police said the officer then fired his handgun multiple times in the direction of the suspect vehicle, but the suspect was not struck. ... The pursuit concluded in the...

President Donald Trump on Monday again trained his ire on Harvard University, accusing the school of “judge shopping” during its legal battle with the administration and threatening to cut off $3 billion in federal grant funding over the university’s handling of anti-Israel protests. “I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land,” Trump wrote on social media. “What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” Trump’s newest threats come as Harvard begins its spring commencement week in...

Free speech and Grooming Gang fighter, Tommy Robinson, has been released from prison. Now the State has charged him with 'causing fear' of two 'journalists' from the Daily Mail, that doxed him and his family while on vacation, for merely naming who doxed him.

Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe said Monday on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” that “obviously unhinged” President Donald Trump was attacking Harvard University because he “hates intellect.” Host Lawrence O’Donnell said, “What is your response to Donald Trump’s latest attack?” Tribe said, “Well, it’s really hard to know where to begin. He’s obviously unhinged. He has no idea what he’s talking about. He just thinks that slinging around frankly, BS about the people at Harvard and other institutions will somehow substitute for taking the law into account. He has been throwing everything he can at Harvard and courts have put...

Ghana's embassy in Washington, D.C., has been temporarily shut down after an investigation found that staff members were collecting illegal extra charges for at least five years. The country's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, posted about the probe on Facebook on Monday, calling his actions "drastic and decisive." Why It Matters Some 172,558 Ghanaians live in the United States, according to 2023 figures published in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Many of them will rely on the Washington embassy for passport services, visa services, citizenship matters and emergency assistance. Besides not having traditional access to these...

A U.S. district judge has ruled that the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) exceeded its authority when it inserted abortion accommodations into the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) — and must now remove them. KEY TAKEAWAYS: A U.S. District judge said changes made to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act by the Biden administration were ‘unlawful’ and must be removed. The lawsuit was brought by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which had originally supported the Act as written and passed in 2023. The USCCB argued that if Congress had intended to include abortion in the PWFA in 2023,...

Legislators in Illinois are working to quietly legalize assisted suicide by attaching pro-assisted death language to a food preparation sanitation bill as an amendment. The move comes after a proposed assisted suicide bill appears to have stalled in the House and Senate as the 2025 legislative session comes to a close. KEY TAKEAWAYS: An assisted suicide bill introduced in Illinois in January appears to have stalled in both the House and Senate, and the legislative session will close on May 31. Democratic Rep. Robyn Gabel has attached the stalled assisted suicide bill’s language to a food preparation safety bill as...

A Nevada bill that would have legalized assisted suicide in the state is no longer moving forward after Governor Joe Lombardo stated that if lawmakers passed it, he would not sign it. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo says he would not sign a bill legalizing assisted suicide because it is “unnecessary” due to palliative care expansion and improvements in pain management. The bill’s sponsor has attempted multiple times to pass the bill and vowed to continue trying. Eleven states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized assisted suicide, with Delaware the most recent. THE DETAILS: Assembly Bill 346 would have legalized...