Free Republic

A petition in Ukraine calling for same-sex marriage to be legalised has gained enough signatures for the president to consider the proposal. The petition has more than 28,000 signatures, meaning President Volodymyr Zelensky now has 10 days to respond. Homosexuality is not illegal in Ukraine, but same-sex marriages and civil partnerships are not recognised. This has caused particular problems for LGBT people signing up for the military following Russia's invasion. For example, under Ukrainian law if someone in a same-sex relationship dies, their partner cannot collect their body or bury them. The online petition says: "At this time, every day...

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee will take up proposed legislation next week that would ban certain assault weapons, the panel said on Friday, citing a string of recent mass shootings across the United States.The committee will meet on Wednesday to mark up the bill, which "would ban the sale, import, manufacture or transfer of certain semi-automatic weapons," it said in a statement.A spate of gun massacres since May at a New York grocery store, a Texas elementary school and an Illinois Independence Day parade have renewed fierce U.S. debate over gun regulations.

White House spokesperson John Kirby walked back that remark, reassuring Israel that there had been no change in U.S. policy after Sullivan made the error in briefing reporters on Air Force One en route to Israel on Biden’s Middle East trip.The Times of Israel reported:Asked about the potential of reopening the Jerusalem consulate that served Palestinians, Sullivan said that it is the US’s position “that we would like a consulate in East Jerusalem, obviously that requires engagement with the Israeli government, that requires engagement with the Palestinian leadership as well, and we will continue that engagement on this trip.”...Kirby said...

The radical Christians are found in the rural areas. Their towns are defenseless, they have almost no cops and their firemen are volunteers. They have to borrow cops and firemen from neighboring jurisdictions miles away in order to handle anything big. And they think they're safe out there. Forget burning cities, cities are on our sides. It's time for rural areas to feel the heat. You show up 100 deep in every rural town in a 50 mile radius intent on revolution, you'll crash their system and make them pay. And if you all think I'm kidding, I'm dead serious....

Russia is being hit hard by Ukraine‘s Javelin anti-tank missiles. What makes this weapon so powerful? The U.S.-made FGM-148 Javelin is one of the premier portable anti-tank missile systems in the world. It’s also an expensive piece of kit, with each missile typically costing more than the targets it eliminates. However, corruption is the main problem that every country has to fight with and the Ukrainians are no different! The expensive javelins have allegedly found their way into the black market on the Internet. Telegram channels have repeatedly reported that military equipment is being sold by the Ukrainians. The sales...

Now It’s the “Ninja” Variant of Covid They Want You to Be Scared Of: WILL IT EVER END? It almost reads like satire, but the corporate-controlled media claims that a brand new variant of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), which they are hilariously calling “ninja,” is on the move – and it is the most dangerous one yet, we are told. BA.5, as they are also calling it, is said to be a “subvariant” of the “Omicron” variant, which is an anagram for the Moronic variant. Yes, they really expect people to believe that a Moronic Ninja will kill us all...

The Fed said the “fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong” but that the coronavirus “poses evolving risks to economic activity.” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will be holding a press conference at 11 a.m.

President Trump on Tuesday renewed his attacks on the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jay Powell, after a key U.S. manufacturing gauge signaled the second consecutive month of sector-wide contraction. "As I predicted, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have allowed the Dollar to get so strong, especially relative to ALL other currencies, that our manufacturers are being negatively affected. Fed Rate too high. They are their own worst enemies, they don’t have a clue. Pathetic!" Driving the news: The ISM U.S. manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell from 49.1 in August to 47.8 in September, CNBC reports. Any reading below 50...

President Donald Trump is calling on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by at least a full percentage point "over a fairly short period of time," saying that such an action would make the U.S. economy even better and would also "greatly and quickly" enhance the global economy. In two tweets Monday, Trump kept up his pressure on the Fed and its chairman Jerome Powell, saying the U.S. economy was strong "despite the horrendous lack of vision by Jay Powell and the Fed." Powell is Trump's hand-picked choice for the top Fed job. He said Democrats were trying to...

Much has been written about the need for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, even beyond the July cut, the first one in eleven years. Indeed, the latest escalation of trade tensions with China and its concomitant currency depreciation might make further cuts more compelling. Or not. The principal purpose of a rate cut is to provide liquidity to foster greater consumption and business investment that stimulate economic growth in the face of sustained opposition forces. But rate cuts without sufficient justification, such as those based on transitory developments, reaction to presidential jawboning, miming other central banks, or inadequate...