Free Republic

US personal savings are being exhausted as The Fed raises rates to fight inflation. I call this phenomenon “low riding” where consumers are being punished by The Federal Reserve and Biden Administration. Meanwhile, large bank loan volumes are shrinking. With money-market fund assets hitting new highs, and banks’ usage of The Fed’s emergency funds facility at record highs, we wonder how much longer The Fed can keep the dream of rising deposits alive (after last week’s massive NSA inflows). On a seasonally-adjusted basis, The Fed says that total deposits dropped $11BN last week (the first decline in 4 weeks). We...

Apparently confirming the view of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) that the U.S. is now regarded as just another one of its partners in a new global order that would see Beijing and its allies share the leadership position with Washington, Saudi Arabia last week reiterated its commitment to China as its “most reliable partner and supplier of crude oil,” along with broader assurances of its ongoing support in several other areas. That MbS seemingly now sees the U.S. as a partner just for its security considerations, with no meaningful quid pro quo on Saudi Arabia’s part, whilst...

The Salvation Army went woke, and now, at least in certain parts of the country, it’s going broke. Naturally, no one dares to admit that the Salvation Army’s outrageous decision to ask its white donors to apologize for being racists might be the cause of its troubles. Instead, the Christian group’s problems are blamed on the pandemic—which makes no sense. As you’ll see below, some of the Salvation Army’s donation and volunteer problems are down compared to last year. Some of you might recall that there was not only a pandemic last year, but that last year there was no...

There are many reasons why both financial and toy donations are down this year, not the least of which is likely pandemic fatigue and concerns about employment and the future,” said Colonel Cindy Foley of the NW Salvation Army Division. “We are actually trying to provide food, shelter, toys and clothing to double the number of families we served last Christmas, and in the midst of the growing need we are seeing fewer people donating at our virtual and physical kettles.”

Experts are warning that the United States is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack from adversaries such as China, and that time is running out to invest in defending the country from it. "That poses a real threat of possibly being able to win a war with a single blow by means of an EMP attack," Peter Vincent Pry, the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, said during a virtual forum hosted by the Universal Peace Federation Tuesday. "Moreover … they don’t envision employing an EMP by itself. It would be used in conjunction...

Iran is supporting its Houthi rebel allies and proxy in Yemen to conduct an increasing war against Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led Coalition, and also against Yemen government forces in Marib. Twenty four hours have seen an increased offensive against Marib in Yemen, a reported ballistic missile attack on Saudi Arabia on Saturday night and an attack on a ship in the Gulf of Oman. It is part of a series of tensions across the region linking Iran to conflicts in numerous places. This could be seen as a kind of “total war” that Iran is pushing across the Middle East....

South Africa will begin administering Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine to health-care workers. South African Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize said during a news briefing that the vaccine “has been proven effective against the 501Y.V2 variant and the necessary approval processes for use in South Africa are underway.” Mkhize said it will move forward with phase 1 of its vaccination strategy, which targets health-care workers, in the form of an “implementation study” in partnership with the Medical Research Council and vaccination sites across the country. In a statement to The Hill, Johnson & Johnson said it is in “advanced discussions...

It’s only racist when Trump does it. Joe Biden previously called Trump a xenophobe for imposing travel moratoriums on non-citizens from China, Europe and other countries deemed Covid hot spots. Shortly after Trump imposed a travel ban on China last year, Biden came out and labeled him a xenophobe. Biden also attacked Trump for his “Africa ban” in February. Here we are one year later and Joe Biden is banning travelers from Africa, Europe, Brazil and UK. Joe Biden is expected to reinstate the travel ban on the UK, parts of Europe and South Africa. NBC reported:

An elaborate hoax based on forged documents escalates the phenomenon of “fake news” and reveals an audience on the left that seems willing to believe virtually any claim that could damage Trump. In the third week of January, an Israeli named Yoni Ariel flew from Tel Aviv to Rome carrying $9,000 in cash on a secret mission to bring down Donald Trump. There, he met with an Italian businessman. Seated at a table toward the rear of a café, away from the street where they might attract unwanted attention, Ariel recalled, he handed over the cash. In exchange he was...

With several alarming indicators showing that more South Africans are leaving the country, an increasing number of people have started to research their options on how to move money offshore

A story broke last week that an Arabic journalist named Jamal Khashoggi who was working for the Washington Post had disappeared and was presumed dead. The official story is that Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on the afternoon of October 2. Immediately (and suspiciously) media stories that appeared to be coordinated appeared, pointing the finger of blame for Khashoggi’s disappearance at Saudi Arabia, in general, and at the country’s Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, in particular. It was alleged by anonymous sources for several days that Khashoggi had been abducted and then killed at...

Donald J. Trump ‏ Verified account @realDonaldTrump I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. “South African Government is now seizing land from White farmers.” @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews

South Africa's state-owned Land Bank said on Monday a plan to allow the state to seize land without compensation could trigger defaults that could cost the government 41 billion rand ($2.8 billion) if the bank's rights as a creditor are not protected. Land Bank is a specialist bank providing financial services to the commercial farming sector and other agricultural businesses. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Aug. 1 that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is forging ahead with plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as whites still own most of South Africa's land...

I have had a deal with a few of my friends who are farmers, that I will tell them when it is time to panic about the proposed expropriation without compensation. Until then, I advised them to relax. Last night after President Cyril Ramaphosa's address to the nation in which he announced the ANC's decision to propose an amendment to the Constitution to expropriate without compensation, I got many texts asking: "Is it time yet?" Let me say upfront that I think the ANC has been handling the land debate very clumsily (to put it politely). It is clear that...

Image from southafricatoday  On June 7th, 2018, the Constitutional Court in South Africa, overruled a lower court's decision that parts of South Africa's gun laws were unconstitutional. The laws were absolute, and did not allow for appeal or legitimate reasons for delay, such as hospitalization or death. From citizen.co.za: Section 24 of the Act requires that any person who seeks to renew a licence must do so 90 days before its expiry date. Section 28 stipulates that if a firearm licence has been cancelled‚ the firearm must be disposed of or forfeited to the state. A 60-day timeframe was...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards say Saudi Arabia was behind twin attacks in Teheran on Wednesday (June 7) that killed at least 12 people and injured 43, a statement published by the Guards said.

Leftist agitators employed fascist tactics at a Donald Trump fundraiser in Minneapolis on Friday night. Video shows protesters banging on the doors of the Minneapolis Convention Center where Trump was speaking to attendees. When the event concluded, Trump supporters were forced to run a “gauntlet,” with many, including elderly women, being punched and pelted with garbage.

Just as their precursors the SA did in the 20s, today's Democratic liberals attack anyone they don't agree with. The left attacks and kills those who oppose them. The song is Stormlied the official anthem of the Sturmabetelung. CAUTION: CONTAINS VIOLENT IMAGES VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED

For two decades after the Second World War, over half of all employees of the West German interior ministry were ex-Nazis, a new study shows. The research, carried out by the Center for Contemporary Historical Studies with the blessing of the Interior Ministry, shows that the number of ex-Nazi party members in both the West and East German postwar administrations was much higher than previously thought. In exact figures, an average of 54 percent of civil servants in the West German interior ministry were former Nazis, although at its high point between 1966 and 1961, two-thirds of all employees at...

Does the Environmental Protection Agency really need armed agents? Outside of law enforcement, federal agencies now employ over 25,000 people as armed agents. They are more than guards. They’ve become like private armies that can push around private citizens. Over 70 non-military federal agencies now have their own armed agents. You expect armed agents with the FBI, the U.S. Marshal Service and the Border Patrol. But the EPA? The Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, even the Social Security Administration and the National Institutes of Health? Even the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban...