Free Republic

Is this the last gasp from America’s liberal elites before the November mid-terms on Tuesday? This is what economist Paul Krugman has to say in The New York Times today, predicting “political chaos”, with the hysterical warning – “if the elections go as expected next week, here’s my advice: Be afraid. Be very afraid.” This is going to be terrible. In fact, future historians will probably look back at the 2010 election as a catastrophe for America, one that condemned the nation to years of political chaos and economic weakness. Krugman then goes on to blame George W. Bush for...

tell the story of the Great Mancession of 2007-2010 and how men were disproportionately affected by the recessionary conditions that adversely impacted male-dominated industries (construction and manufacturing), while employment in female-dominated industries actually increased throughout the entire recession. And according to the employment report yesterday, there is still a 2% male-female jobless rate gap of 10.6% for men and 8.6% for women, so the Great Mancession is not yet close to ending. Bottom Line: Maybe it’s not such a good time to be man, now that men are on the wrong side of the jobless rate gap by 2%, the...

Council "bin police" are punishing hundreds of households with bigger fines than those given by police to shoplifters, it can be revealed. Councils are issuing fines of up to £110 for such infringements as putting their bins out for collection at the wrong time, over filling bins, or putting recycling into the wrong boxes Photo: ALAMY Figures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph have revealed that local authorities issued more than 1,240 fixed penalty notices last year for breaking rules on recycling and putting out rubbish. Councils are issuing fines of up to £110 for such infringements as putting their bins...

Foreclosures up 18 percent over last year Filings expected to remain high amid 9.4 percent unemployment WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes dipped in May from April, and the annual increase was the smallest in three years. Foreclosure filings rose nearly 18 percent in May compared with the same month last year, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. It was the smallest yearly gain since June 2006, and a 6 percent decline from April. But don't expect a quick end to the foreclosure crisis. Foreclosures are likely to remain elevated this year and into...

Microchips in dustbins spy on three million By Brendan Carlin, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 2:20am BST 24/05/2007 More than three million households in Britain have rubbish bins equipped with "waste stealth tax" technology, it was claimed last night. The microchips could be used to charge households for the amount of non-recyclable waste produced Ahead of today's publication of the Government's national waste strategy, a survey revealed that 68 town halls have spent millions of pounds buying bins with microchips. The figure is double previous estimates and will fuel fears that Labour has been moving secretly towards a European-style "bin tax"....

WASHINGTON - The net worth of U.S. households climbed to a record high in the final quarter of last year, boosted mostly by gains on stocks, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday. Net worth — the difference between households' total assets, such as houses and bank accounts, and their total liabilities, such as mortgages and credit card debt, totaled $55.6 trillion in the October-to-December quarter. That marked a 2.5 percent growth rate from the third quarter, the previous quarterly record high. Stocks gains helped fuel the increase in net worth, although real-estate gains played a role, too. For all of last...