Free Republic

Our present age is one in which “love,” as we refer to it, has become so distorted as to be hardly recognizable. Acts of flagrant rebellion against God are gleefully sanctioned in the name of love; evil is everywhere celebrated, supposedly, for the sake of love; oppression is promulgated for the cause of love; and lies are disseminated throughout every corner of society under the guise of love. And lest we risk falling into abstraction, what I am referring to here are things like Torontostreets being filled with all manner of public sexual deviance in the month of June, libraries...

he much-anticipated recession of 2023 has yet to materialize. Some of the latest economic data point to more signs of strength than weakness. One strategist has a term for what that says about the state of the US economy. "We're calling that a rolling recession," David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Global Wealth Investments, told Yahoo Finance. He explained how some sectors of the economy are already in decline, while others, like travel and leisure, are still strong. "Clearly commercial real estate is in recession," he said. "Some of our manufacturing, basic consumer manufacturing is in recession right now."

The world's central bank umbrella body, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), called on Sunday for more interest rate hikes, warning the world economy was now at a crucial point as countries struggle to rein in inflation. Despite the relentless rise in rates over the last 18 months, inflation in many top economies remains stubbornly high, while the jump in borrowing costs triggered the most serious banking collapses since the financial crisis 15 years ago. "The global economy is at a critical juncture. Stern challenges must be addressed," Agustin Carstens, BIS general manager, said in the organisation's annual report published...

We know America is experiencing a mental health crisis, but the Youth Risk Behavior Survey recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) illustrates just how serious the problem has become for America’s young people. In 2021, almost three in five teenage girls felt persistent sadness. Girls are twice as likely to be depressed as boys, and one in three girls said they seriously considered suicide. This is a real crisis, and several factors are relevant.Social media had negatively impacted mental health long before the response to COVID-19 made the problem worse. But a new, perhaps surprising...

Jack Poso 🇺🇸 @JackPosobiec Biden doesn’t need to campaign when he has a ballot harvesting apparatus in every key state Lesson in that 9:41 AM · Apr 25, 2023

Heeere we goooo. Fingers toes and eyes crossed for a successful test flight of the 33-Raptor engine Superheavy booster and Starship first time into space. Both vehicles are planned to splash down...the booster in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship off of Hawaii.

It was once a symbol of hope. Haiti: the first black republic and first Caribbean state to declare independence. Now, it symbolises only death and despair. The poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, devastated by disasters both natural and man-made, plagued by disease, stalked by hunger, and now over-run by gangs. There has effectively been no government here since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated last year, a crime which continues to go unpunished. Into that power vacuum have moved hundreds of highly organised and extremely violent criminal groups which often have links to politicians and police - meaning they are...

Kati Pannwitz spends her evenings at home alone in a darkened and unheated apartment, watching old movies while worrying about the new reality of life in a country that is being drawn ever closer to the war in Ukraine. Surging inflation and fears about an energy crisis are hitting home for Pannwitz, 34, taking a heavy toll on her finances and the futures of both her and her 17-year-old son. No more vacations, no more trips abroad, no more going out, no more saving and an outlook that has grown increasingly bleak for Pannwitz — and millions of fellow Germans...

Almost four in five US employees fear losing their job during a potential upcoming recession, pointing to a high level of anxiety among workers amid increasing talk of an economic downturn. That’s according to a recent survey from staffing company Insight Global, which also found that 54% of workers would take a pay cut if it meant staying employed. A similar share don’t think their job is recession-proof. A growing chorus of economists are predicting a US recession within the next 12 months as the Federal Reserve ramps up its fight against decades-high inflation. Price increases are outpacing wage gains...

(CNN)Ashley Judd and her family wanted the world to hear from them how Naomi Judd died. The younger Judd appeared in an interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on Thursday on "Good Morning America." She said her family had agreed that she share the cause of death of her mother. "She used a weapon," Ashley Judd said. "A firearm. So that's the piece of information we are very uncomfortable sharing." She and her sister Wynonna Judd announced on April 30 that they had lost their mother "to the disease of mental illness." She was 76. Ashley Judd said she and...

Late one night in January, Jonathan Coffino, 78, turned to his wife as they sat in bed. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” he said. Coffino was referring to the caution that has come to define his life during the COVID-19 pandemic. After two years of mostly staying at home and avoiding people, his patience is frayed and his distress is growing. “There’s a terrible fear that I’ll never get back my normal life,” Coffino said, describing the feelings he tries to keep at bay. “And there’s an awful sense of purposelessness.” Despite recent signals that...

"Christianity is not reconciliation with death. It is the revelation of death, and it reveals death because it is the revelation of Life. Christ is this Life. And only if Christ is Life is death what Christianity proclaims it to be, namely the enemy to be destroyed, and not a “mystery” to be explained. Religion and secularism, by explaining death, give it a “status,” a rationale, make it “normal.” Only Christianity proclaims it to be abnormal and, therefore, truly horrible. At the grave of Lazarus Christ wept, and when His own hour to die approached, “he began to be sore...

There’s a fascinating video available on YouTube (embedded below) of an October, 1972 episode of William F. Buckley’s Firing Line TV show with the title “Hating America.” The guests that day were radical Leftist Dotson Rader (really, look this dude up) and political scientist and anti-Communist Arnold Beichman.There are a couple of things Rader says during the show that I had to transcribe: Dotson Rader: “We’re talking about that part of the Left that seeks to break down liberal democracy, and the corporate liberal democracy in the United States, by so dividing the country – that is a proportion of...

It is past time for some despair. DJT was not allowed the extra four years needed to pull us back from the brink. He failed in that. The communists have succeeded. The “struggle” for the individual has now been lost. And, the history of that struggle, that hope, will be erased. Ignore semantics games. Don’t doubt this: Progressive=DemocraticSocialist=Socialist=Communist/Marxist. Think on ducks: looks like, sounds like, yada,yada. If a progressive touts BS like the GreenNewDeal, remember that it had been a platform of the US communist party for ages. Whatever they call themselves, their stated goals are the same: put themselves...

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed Wednesday that young adults aged 25-44 years saw the largest increase in “excess” deaths from previous years, a stunning 26.5% jump. The notable increase even surpassed the jump in excess deaths of older Americans, who are at much higher risk of COVID-19 fatality. Moreover, according to the CDC, 100,947 excess deaths were not linked to COVID-19 at all. Since such young people are at very low risk for COVID-19 fatality — 20-49-year-olds have a 99.98% chance of surviving the virus, per CDC data — it has been suggested that the shocking...

Some years ago, while flying back to Seattle from Washington, D.C., I sat next to a young marine, who, as we were landing, asked if I would permit him to accompany me to my shuttle, as he “had a personal matter that was weighing heavily” on his heart. While being in our nation’s capital I had already come into contact with many soldiers, all of whom I personally thanked for their service to our country, and all of whom were young enough to be my grandchildren. The young marine reached out to me, not unlike I had with my grandfather,...

'You take rehab.com—our website traffic is up 382 percent in the past 30 days with people looking for treatment for either substance abuse or mental health.' This is a “pandemic within a pandemic,” according to addiction expert Tim Ryan, who’s watched the coronavirus outbreak exacerbate the preexistent opioid and mental health crises with devastating effect. Ryan, the star of A&E’s 2017 “Dope Man” special, is the founder of “A Man In Recovery Foundation,” which partners with Rehab.com. A former heroin addict, his mission is to assist others struggling with substance abuse.In a Friday interview, Ryan explained how the stresses of...

The AP’s statement has no basis in reality. There is currently no body of research that demonstrates people are less likely to take their lives in time of economic hardship. The pace of information during the COVID-19 crisis has been extraordinary. Last week President Trump said thousands could die by suicide as a result of the economic crisis created by the coronavirus.The Associated Press (AP) immediately released a “fact check” on the president’s prediction, saying it was false. Over the weekend, The Federalist’s Tristan Justice reported more people died from suicides in east Tennessee than from the coronavirus. In the...

div class="article_body top mrf-hidden"> One can feel the existential anguish oozing off every page and pixel at The New York Times.  That's not because the coronavirus is approaching apocalyptic proportions, with mass die-offs comparable to the year 1348, when the Black Death was at its apex.  Instead, the Times is confronting a different problem: President Donald Trump's poll numbers are doing very well.  His recent town hall was the most watched town hall in cable history.  His daily press conferences enthrall so many people that the media are desperate to stop televising them. Clearly, the Times had to bring out the big guns to ensure that Americans understand that not only is...

rA banner reading "memento mori" hangs over a winged skull on this grave marker in the Old Granary Burying Ground in Boston, 18th century.As much of the world reacts with hysteria to the COVID-19 plague, Catholics continue our journey through Lent. Indeed, the two events coalesce very appropriately. Lent is a penitential season when we are meant to reflect on our life and remember the inevitability of our death. Few things help to focus the mind on this topic more effectively than a deadly, fast-spreading viral outbreak. We should recall that in the past our ancestors suffered through numerous plagues...