Free Republic

Rank-and-file workers are getting bigger raises this year—at least in percentage terms—than bosses. Wages for the typical worker—nonsupervisory employees who account for 82% of the workforce—are rising at the fastest rate in more than a decade, a sign that the labor market has tightened sufficiently to convey bigger pay increases to lower-paid employees. Gains for those workers have accelerated much of this year, a time when the unemployment rate fell to a half-century low. A short supply of workers, increased poaching and minimum-wage increases have helped those nearer to the bottom of the pay scale. Pay for the bottom 25%...

The topic of God is among the plethora of topics that I’ve enjoyed discussing over the last few months with a new friend of mine. She has only recently attended to the question of God’s existence. Up to this point she had been, if not an avowed atheist, then an agnostic who, as such, was an atheist in practice. Today, though, she has concluded that God does exist. However, as to what else this entails, it’s clear that she is still very much uncertain. It also appears that she is certain that she will remain uncertain. “We can’t ever be...

What a great holiday season it is. Know why? Congress is on vacation, which means all the rest of us get a break from politics. We're in the middle of what amounts to a national Christmas ceasefire in our never-ending, 24/7 political civil war. Political bombshells, childish name-calling, stupid tweet battles, partisan posturing, congressional hearings, Democrat primary debates, FBI leaks, trade wars, Brexit, Jeffrey Epstein's "suicide" ... all are almost totally absent from the news media. The best present I received this year was that no one talked politics at my house all Christmas day. The "Trump" word was never...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In 2008, the Newseum — a private museum dedicated to exploring modern history as told through the eyes of journalists — opened on prime Washington real estate. Sitting almost equidistant between the White House and the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue, the glass-walled building became instantly recognizable for its multi-story exterior rendition of the First Amendment. Eleven years later that experiment is coming to an end. After years of financial difficulties, the Newseum will close its doors Tuesday. “We’re proud of how we did our storytelling,” said Sonya Gavankar, the outgoing director of public relations. “We changed the...

Navid Behboudi (23) finished work at his bookstore on Saturday morning, Nov. 16. He joined a group of people protesting the gasoline price hike. The regime security agents ruthlessly shot him in the head. According to his friends, Navid was polite, kind, energetic, active, and full of desire. He was the eldest child in the family. He ranked 70 in the admission test in mechanical engineering. His Instagram account had 22,000 followers. Despite his admission to the university, he opted to operate a book gallery. He was an athlete and had passed the TOEFL test. On Saturday morning, Nov. 16,...

As we end another year, our popular culture still revolves around President Donald Trump, and our news and entertainment conglomerates continue to be outraged that conservative Christians stick with him, so much so they are summarily ignored. Support him as, say, Franklin Graham and a vast majority of evangelicals have done and ... crickets. But what happens when evangelicals don't? Happy days are here again. The left has lunged to promote an editorial by Christianity Today magazine that insists Trump must be removed from office. What the left understands -- and some on the right still ignore -- is that...

You won't hear young Democrats deride Bernie Sanders with the "OK, boomer" dig. At 78, he's actually too old for the cohort, but that's not why he won't get dinged. He's the most popular Democrat among the under-35 crowd, and judging by recent polling, he's the second-most popular Democrat overall. Sanders has raised nearly twice as money as the frontrunner, Joe Biden, and seems to have scooped up support from a declining Elizabeth Warren in the past 60 days. Despite a heart attack that sidelined him for a week, he marches on, now buoyed by a poll showing that in...

WINNING. Sooooo much WINNING. – Guess what? Every major U.S. stock index rose yet again on Thursday as the wealth of positive economic news just kept rolling in. The NASDAQ saw it 11th consecutive record high close, and the Dow and S&P 500 also closed at new all-time high levels. On the passage of President Trump’s tax cuts two years ago almost to the day, we here at the Campaign Update told you that those tax cuts, targeted as they are towards stimulating capital investment and economic growth, would quickly create a situation in which the economy’s largest problem would...

Ukrainian industries are in decline. In November recorded a decline of industrial output by 7%, and this trend has continued for the past six months. "Apostrophe" understood what happens, who is to blame for the crisis, and what to do in this situation. The government has no coherent development policy

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The deep state and the Democrat party have, from the moment Donald Trump announced his candidacy, set out to destroy the man, his candidacy, and then his presidency. They did this, as the Horowitz report has shown and the Barr/Durham report will expand upon, by attempting to frame Trump with a despicable, treasonous plot that would, they were certain, invalidate his campaign and subsequently his presidency. When Trump won, their plot became both plan B and a cover-up of their pre-election illegal, unconstitutional activities. Talk about abuse of power! This bunch, from Brennan, Comey and Clapper and all those who...

Today’s Cryptogram C IVCZNZX FSCF AVEFE NY SHE RVCFSVAE HE BTEF CYNFSVA FTAXVJ. —LNWWJ ICAFNY You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated. PLEASE DO NOT post the answer in general comments, but DO post your time and any tips you might give the group on how you solve...

The report of the I.G.'s findings on the use of FISA in the FBI Crossfire Hurricane investigation is an outrage. As a 22 year FBI Agent, I have personally conducted multiple investigations using both Title III "wiretaps" and FISA authorized intercepts. From this perspective, I can only see two possible interpretations of the actions of the FBI and DOJ. Either scenario should anger and frighten every fair minded citizen who takes the time to read the report and understand its implications. . . snip If the heinous abuses documented in the I.G.s report result in a weakening or loss of...

**SNIP** Banners advertising a Delaware casino hang from a domed ceiling above tables where patrons can enjoy quick bites from restaurants like Panda Express, Popeye’s, and Pret a Manger. In the bathrooms, signs over air hand dryers informing that the building is “an environmentally friendly ‘Green’ building” have letters missing and rewritten in fading black sharpie. “There’s a lot of broken toilets,” one woman complained. Several patrons hardly noticed the name of the building, while others chuckled at realizing that the rest stop bears the name of the former vice president and 2020 Democratic front-runner. “I was just laughing as...

**SNIP** Pelosi's best option would be a "pocket veto." Legislative leadership, of course, can't execute a "pocket veto." That's an executive function. But something very much like a "pocket veto" would serve Pelosi and her party's interests well. She could say: "I'm not sending these articles of impeachment over to the Senate. There's no point in doing so. The majority leader has made it clear that he has no interest in a 'fair trial.' There's no point in wasting everyone's time and taxpayer money to arrive at a decision that Republican senators have already made. Everyone, including each and every...

... The new ruling prevents the government from slashing more than 30% of an unemployed person's benefits under the program. That guarantees unemployed residents at least 300 euros ($333) per month. Even then, the punishment can be waived if it threatens to cause extreme hardship. The three-month suspension can also be shortened if an individual works with their government-appointed adviser to seek employment or enroll in a training program. Housing and healthcare assistance will continue to be provided under the new policy. The decision followed a complaint from a resident who turned down a warehouse job because he wanted to...

Police have developed a laser-based defense system, similar in essence to the Iron Dome system and intended to thwart incendiary balloons and drones launched from Gaza toward Israel, Yisrael Hayom reported. The laser system is known as the "Light Blade", and police say it is the first in the world to demonstrate operational capability to blast balloons and drones. The balloons and kite threat from Gaza that sparked fires in the south and hilly localities and that have the capability to carry payloads and other explosive devices, led the Border Patrol and the Police Means Development Department - in collaboration...

Today the DC U.S. Attorney requested a one week delay prior to submitting a second briefing for the sentencing of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. According to the filing, the DOJ is seeking a one week delay, from Dec 30th to January 6th, in order to gather more material for a new sentencing memorandum. Due to Flynn’s non-cooperation, it is anticipated the DOJ will enhance the prior memo from December 2018 and ask for a more severe sentence.

Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson revealed in a new book titled, “Crime in Progress” which is set to be released next month that he was first hired to investigate Donald Trump “in the fall of 2015.” Simpson also claims that memos from the Christopher Steele dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton and her camp made its way directly “to President Obama.” Hillary Clinton and the DNC during the 2016 presidential election hid their payments to oppos research firm Fusion GPS and Steele through their law firm Perkins Coie. Perkins Coie paid Fusion GPS who then paid former British spy Christopher...

A new paper by three top researchers has revealed public health researchers are “are much more supportive of gun control than are either criminologists or economists.” The report, authored by John R. Lott, Arther Z. Berg. MD, and Gary A. Mauser, is headlined “Expert Views on Gun Laws.” Lott is founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, Berg is at the Harvard University Department of Psychiatry and Mauser is with the Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business. The eight-page report appears in the Winter edition of Regulation, the Cato Institute’s review of Business and Government. The trio...