Free Republic

Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said Monday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that Republicans were opposing Ukraine aid for their war against Russia because they “reflexively” did what former President Donald Trump wants. Swalwell said, “Republicans are soft on Russia. They see it as Trump likes Russia, Russia likes Trump, so we have to go with Trump. And that is how they’re going to view this all the way through. And it is too bad because if you really took a step back, you could see that Ukraine’s freedom ultimately is America’s freedom. That is the story of history when it comes to...

CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa said Sunday “Face the Nation” that he had noticed on the campaign trail that Republican voters support for former President Donald Trump was “noticeably soft.” Partial transcript as follows: MARGARET BRENNAN: To the campaign trail. Bob Costa, I know you’ve been out there a fair amount. What are you taking away from what people across the country are hearing? They’ve already written off Washington as broken a long time ago, right? But what are they focused on and concerned about?

A key annual inflation metric fell below 3 percent in November, the latest sign that the U.S. is coming in for a rare soft landing from high price growth without a recession. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index dropped to 2.6 percent year-over-year in November, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The October PCE price index was also revised down to a 2.9 percent annual gain. The Federal Reserve uses the PCE price index as its main measure of inflation. The bank aims for 2 percent annual inflation when adjusting interest rates.

This holiday season, many of us will be shopping in malls, joining holiday gatherings at entertainment venues, frequenting restaurants for holiday events and attending services in houses of worship. All these events have one thing in common: they will be held in public places, often with easy access by anyone. What they also have in common is that they are soft targets. Soft targets are public locations that do not have any obvious security protections in place. This is in contrast to hard targets, which are well guarded and fortified. Airports fall within the group of hard targets, with the...

Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen said she is “feeling very good” about the U.S. making a soft economic landing without a recession. “I am feeling very good about that prediction,” Yellen told Bloomberg when asked whether the U.S. would avoid a recession while still containing inflation. “I think you’d have to say we’re on a path that looks exactly like that.” While inflation has dropped since its peak of 9.1 percent last June, it ticked up for the first time this year in July at 3.2 percent. This was the first increase after 13 months of falling inflation, but that...

The prospects of a soft landing seem more remote by the day. Economists and CEOs say a recession is likely, if not imminent. Even Fed Chairman Jerome Powell now calls a downturn “a possibility,” extraordinarily bearish talk for a central banker. Add to that an energy crunch, a food crisis, war, runaway inflation, profit warnings, layoffs, and you can see why stocks have tumbled into a bear market, giving investors the worst start to a year in a half-century. And yet equities analysts look out on the benchmark S&P 500 and see no reason for investors to change strategy. They...

This is a rare combination thread with another Asked & Answered thread on Vortex-L combined with some Vanity Level thoughts on LENR. Asked & Answered on Vortex-L -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recently the sidebar moderator posted this about LENR: Updated No Internal Trolling Rules for FR per Jim Robinson If someone says stop, then stop. Do not enter onto a thread on a topic you don't like just to disrupt, rattle cages, poke sticks, insult the regulars, or engage in trolling activities, etc. ~Jim Robinson ---------------------------------------------------- The issue isn't whether we allow skepticism, it is whether we allow hyperskeptics and skeptopaths to ruin...

According to American officials on condition of anonymity, the United States will adjust the sanctions against other countries so that they are targeted and do not entail collateral economic damage, do not bring discomfort to ordinary citizens. Decisions on the use of restrictive measures will be made based on the views of America's allies, and not at their own discretion, as did former President Donald Trump. Under the current conditions, the easing of anti-Russian sanctions is undesirable for Ukraine. Crash of Ukraine's expectations After the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of the armed conflict in Donbas in 2014, a...

The Army has disabled the ability to comment on a series of YouTube videos that critics have labeled “woke” and soft, with military officials saying the Pentagon’s newest recruitment spots generated a massive amount of negative feedback online. The series, dubbed “The Calling,” follows the life and path to the military for enlisted men and women across the country. The videos show service members from a variety of backgrounds and tell the story of how they ended up pursuing a career in the Army. But some critics — including prominent conservative lawmakers such as Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas...

A team of paleontologists from the United States, Canada and Argentina has analyzed the fossilized eggs of two different non-avian dinosaurs, Protoceratops and Mussaurus, and found that the eggs resembled those of turtles in their microstructure, composition, and mechanical properties. They've also found that hard-shelled eggs evolved at least three times independently in the dinosaur family tree. For many years there was scant fossil evidence of dinosaur eggs, and all known examples were characterized by thick, calcified shells -- leading paleontologists to speculate that all dinosaur eggs were hard-shelled, like those of modern crocodiles and birds. "The assumption has always...

The media is missing the point about the president’s inherent and delegated authority to deny entry at the border and the most prudent way to use it. Through statute and case law, the president’s 212(f) authority overrides all other immigration processes, including asylum requests, but it’s important to remember that it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. It’s not an on-or-off circuit breaker on the operation of our border. There are modules on that switch that the president can engage to strategically address the current situation. Let’s again review the language of the relevant statute, 8 U.S.C. §1182(f): Whenever the President finds...

This budget does not fund the wall, but it funds planned parenthood and sanctuary cities. We're told it will get dealt with in October. Oh Really? why not now? Also—Where is the appeal on the travel ban? Gorsuch is in place. So what is the hold up? Same with the sanctuary cities ruling. Where is the appeal? No wall, no travel ban, sanctuary cities fully funded, and planned parenthood funded as well. I’m pretty sure that’s NOT what we voted for. Where is Trump the fighter? Where did he go?

Historic: Heavily Armed Idaho 3 Percenters Roll Up On FBI Compound (Pacific Patriot Network) This is the very first time in U.S. History that the Federal Bureau of Investigations has ever been confronted by heavily armed members of the Patriot community. The leadership team of the Pacific Patriot Network rolled up on the FBI compound with approximately 20 vehicles and entered into firm, but diplomatic dialogue with FBI agents. Again, to emphasize the significance of this historic event; the Constitutional Crisis at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is being peacefully resolved with direct intervention by the PPN. More updates, analysis...

“The world is a mess, and while there is no simple pill America can administer to fix things, what we know is that there is significant room for progressives to articulate a foreign policy vision that is truly our own,” Murphy wrote in his op-ed article. A practical outcome, he wrote, could be the transfer of some resources now devoted to military expenditures, to diplomatic and foreign aid “so that our global anti-poverty budget, not our military budget, equals that of the other world powers combined.” ... Murphy said Clinton’s “strength is clearly going to be her experience on foreign...

Lockerbie Victim's Mom Calls Obama Response 'Soft' Susan Cohen 'Furious & Sick' Over Bomber's Release In Scotland CBS News Interactive: Pan Am Flight 103 The mother of a young woman killed in the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 was blunt in her anger over seeing the mastermind of the attack return home to cheering crowds. "I was furious and I was sick," Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora, then 20, died on the flight. Cohen reserved some of her anger toward the Obama administration as well. Thursday, President Obama called the release of Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi...

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani today raised doubts about Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden's own trust in Barack Obama; "He seems to be predicting some very serious incident that’s going to take place and he seems to think that the reaction isn’t going to be the right one," Giuliani said in a conference call with reporters. "This is an extraordinary statement." Obama's runningmate doesn't think he's ready to be president. The campaign used the opportunity with reporters and Biden's comments to further its contention that Obama was not ready to lead and referenced Biden's own comparison of...

Vitamin D Deficiency May Be To Blame For Soft Bones In Baby's Skull ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — Softening of the skull bones in normal-looking babies might reflect vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, according to a new study. Furthermore, breast-feeding without vitamin D supplementation could prolong the deficiency, which might lead to a risk of serious health problems later in life, including type 1 diabetes and decreased bone density. “Craniotabes, the softening of skull bones, in otherwise normal newborns has largely been regarded as a physiological condition without the need for treatment,” said Dr. Tohru Yorifuji, of Kyoto University Hospital...

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said yesterday that Republican leaders had not previously seen the more lurid Internet "instant messages" sent by disgraced ex-Rep. Mark Foley as influential conservatives began calling for party leadership resignations over the handling of the matter. Mr. Hastert said "No one in the Republican leadership ... saw those messages until last Friday when ABC News released them." Still, several well-known conservatives called for Republican resignations because Hastert and other leaders did not act aggressively enough when they first learned of a separate set of "overly friendly" e-mails that Mr. Foley had sent to another teenage...

this weeks "navy times" came out. it had the usual articles in it. one very touching one about the last carrier operations of the f-14s. then.....

Britain's pampered pooches are too soft to be police dogs By Elizabeth Day (Filed: 23/07/2006) Britain's policemen have long been used to handling lazy youngsters with no ambition - but that was the human variety. Now several forces across the country are having to import police dogs from abroad because domestic canines lack the requisite motivation and drive. Over recent years, dog handlers have found that many adult canines in Britain prefer an easy life as cosseted family pets and fail to show the determination or physical energy required of a police dog. Sonny's father was imported from the Czech...