Free Republic

For the fourth consecutive year, the Atlantic hurricane season kicks off without a named storm forming before June 1, and there are no immediate signs of formation. The Atlantic Basin hurricane season spans 183 days, running from the start of June through Nov. 30. Historically, the basin’s first named storm tends to form around June 20, with an average season producing around 14 named systems. However, in years that are expected to be busier than usual, named storms generally need to form before their letter’s climatological date to meet seasonal projections.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed Wednesday to spend $1 billion per year on the state’s failing high-speed rail project through cap-and-trade programs, even as his budget drowned in massive deficits. As Breitbart News reported, the governor’s revised budget plan sought cuts to a variety of programs to make up a $12 billion deficit. He even proposed cutting off new enrollees for “free” health care to illegal aliens. But high-speed rail — a program that is decades late and $100 billion over budget without a single station being built — will continue to be funded, as Newsom continues to embrace...

President Donald Trump is proposing staggering spending cuts. In his budget request for fiscal year 2026, the president demands that Congress slash an eye-popping 20% of spending which lawmakers allocate each year. "You're going to see $150 billion (in cuts) passed in the House and the Senate. That is real money," said Budget Director Russ Vought on Fox News. "I think for the first time, this budget is not dead on arrival." To be clear, the budget which Mr. Trump sent to Capitol Hill is aspirational. All presidential budgets are. It’s what a president proposes that lawmakers – and his...

A top economic adviser to President Trump confidently predicted Monday the US would not experience a recession this year — despite widespread uncertainty over the administration’s tariff regime. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Fox Business Network “100% not, 100% not” when asked by host Maria Bartiromo about the possibility of a sustained downturn. “If you look at the jobs numbers, they’re very, very strong,” Hassett explained. “When I talk anecdotally to CEOs, I say things like, ‘Well, jeez, is the uncertainty over tariffs looking like it’s gonna be a big drag?’ And they’re saying things like, ‘No, in...

Rest easy, everyone — Obamacare has completely taken care of the American health care system. It's done. It's completely fixed. In fact, it's so fixed that Americans had to borrow $74 billion last year to get the medical care they needed. From CBS News: Health care is so expensive that 31 million U.S. adults, or 12%, had to borrow a total of $74 billion last year to obtain medical care, new data shows. That includes people with health insurance, making such numbers even more troubling. Yes, even health insurance isn't enough to keep people from going into debt.

Fourth quarter economic growth eased to an annualized rate of 2.3 percent, shy of an expected 2.6 percent, as the economy heads into uncertain territory. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed from an impressive 3.1 percent in the third quarter and 3 percent in the second quarter, according to data released Thursday by the Commerce Department. Real GDP increased at 2.8 percent on the year, above the non-inflationary growth rate. Economists said the number was an excellent one in light of a downturn that many expected in 2024, but that they anticipate more moderate growth in coming quarters. “The economy...

A year-to-date after three Kansas City Chiefs fans were last seen alive, it is still unclear why they died in their friend’s snowy backyard — and authorities have not handed down any criminal charges in their deaths. Clayton McGeeney, 37; Ricky Johnson, 38; and David Harrington, 36, visited their longtime friend Jordan Willis’ home in Kansas City, Missouri, on Jan. 7, 2024 to watch the Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers. Two days later, the three men were found dead on Willis’ property by McGeeney’s fiancée. Willis could not be reached by phone and did not answer his door in...

Happy New Year!

:-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!!! A Happy and quiet New Year here in the woods. Best to you and yours.

Just hours after the shooting at Madison, Wisconsin’s, Abundant Life Christian School, CNN claimed there have been “83 school shootings” during 2024 alone. CNN claimed, “As of December 16 – the 351st day of the year – there have been 83 school shootings in the United States in 2024.” CNN did not provide any links to the myriad school shootings they claim have occurred. Rather, they pointed out that they pulled their information from the “CNN school shooting database.”

Time is planning to name President-elect Trump its annual “Person of the Year,” according to a new report. The legacy news magazine plans to announce the decision Thursday morning, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing three people familiar with the plans and noting Trump would be in New York City that morning to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. In a statement to The Hill, Time said it “does not comment on its annual choice for Person of the Year prior to publication. This year’s choice will be announced tomorrow morning, Dec. 12, on Time.com.” In a...

Last month, former President Jimmy Carter marked one year in hospice. After entering end-of-life care in February 2023, he celebrated his 99th birthday and grieved the death of his wife of 77 years and former first lady, Rosalynn Carter. Even then, Carter was able — with help — to attend her funeral. Even at the end of life, the nation’s longest-living president — someone who “practically no one ever thought” would be elected president, writes the New York Times’ Peter Baker — is defying the odds. According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 90% of patients who enter...

ACLJ Chief Counsel and lifelong musician Jay Sekulow has assembled this award-winning, all-star lineup, led by two of the most powerful voices in rock ’n’ roll – John Schlitt of the iconic Christian rock group Petra and legendary singer/songwriter John Elefante of Kansas. The Jay Sekulow Band is ringing in the New Year with a stellar night of classic rock anthems and original tunes.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Considering how pessimistic Western analysts and policymakers have recently become about Ukraine’s chances in Russia’s imperialist war, Ukrainians should be even gloomier. They’re the ones doing the fighting and the dying. Russian missiles are destroying their country. Their people are the targets of the Kremlin’s genocidal urges. In fact, Ukrainians remain bullish about their country’s future. To be sure, not quite as bullish as a year ago, but bullish nonetheless.

This year will be both earth’s warmest year on record and the conclusion of the warmest nine-year period on record, the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO) projected Thursday. The past year has already set a number of temperature records, and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service earlier said 2023 was on track to be the warmest known year. Despite the remaining time in the year, the WMO said in a statement that 2023’s temperatures have already outflanked the previous warmest years, 2016 and 2020, to the point that it is almost certain to break the record. WMO data...

Family incomes dropped by about $2,000 last year on average, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated on Tuesday. Median family income has dropped every year since 2019, adjusted for inflation. The figure stood at $74,580 as of 2022, according to Census data, a 2.3 percent drop from 2021 levels. The change may reflect rising inflation, which has cooled in recent months but nonetheless hurt families’ bottom lines. Last summer saw inflation hit a forty-year high. Inflation slowed to 3.2 percent in July, down from over 9 percent a year before.

COVID-19 cases are on the rise and raising anxiety around the possibility that schools could implement mask mandates or close down again. Surges of COVID-19 cases in Texas and Kentucky have caused three school districts to briefly suspend in-person classes. But few schools have taken those steps so far, and superintendents contend that without national guidance, it is highly unlikely we’ll see a return of mass closures or mask mandates. In the post-emergency era of COVID-19, schools no longer have the comprehensive surveillance data that was readily available during the pandemic, though some local data remains available to inform their...

In 1992, a Texas billionaire had had enough with both parties and decided to use his considerable fortune to run for president as an independent. The billionaire part might have been unique, but the third party part wasn’t, every election cycle, there are third party candidates who manage to get their names on the ballot. Most don’t amount to anything and history quickly forgets them. But 1992 was different. H. Ross Perot was different. Maybe Perot just came along 32 years too early. Things are far from set for the 2024 election, but at this point, it sure looks like...