Free Republic

Target stores are getting looted, and it's taking a huge bite out of profits. The discount retailer told reporters on a call to discuss its third quarter earnings results that inventory shrinkage — or the disappearance of merchandise — has reduced its gross profit margin by $400 million so far in 2022. "There's a handful of things that can drive shrink in our business and theft is certainly a key driver," Target CFO Michael Fiddelke said. "We know we're not alone across retail in seeing a trend that I think has gotten increasingly worse over the last 12 to 18...

Now they'll have to explain to a federal judge how this isn't a violation of the First Amendment. The North Carolina ABC's decision to prohibit sales of Flying Dog's Freezin' Season Winter Ale over the beer's label design "seems like a blatant violation of the First Amendment to me," Officially, however, all Flying Dog has been told is that the label is "inappropriate" and "in bad taste." That is all it takes for North Carolina to prohibit the beer from being marketed, sold, and distributed.

The continued decline in Treasury yields has prompted many short-sighted arm-chair analysts to declare that the Fed was right about inflationary pressures being “transitory”. Of course, as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen herself admitted, a little inflation is necessary for the economy to function long term – because without “controlled inflation,” how else will policymakers inflate away the enormous debts of the US and other governments. As policymakers prepare to explain to the investing public why inflation is a “good thing”, a report published this week by left-leaning NPR highlighted a phenomenon that is manifesting in grocery stores and other retailers...

When Target announced that it was opening a store in Mondawmin, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Baltimore, a city struggling with crime and poverty, it seemed like a ticket to a turnaround. And from the start, it was a practical success and a point of community pride. The store, which opened in 2008, carried groceries, operated a pharmacy and had a Starbucks cafe — the only one in this part of Baltimore’s west side. People came from across the city to shop there, helping to soften the Mondawmin area’s reputation for crime and the looting that followed protests over the...

Last summer, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci was reportedly sent mail containing white powder that "literally blew up in his face," Politico writes, per a preview of the new book Nightmare Scenario by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta. Fauci believed the mysterious white substance to be one of three things: a prank "to scare him;" anthrax, which would make him "seriously ill but which he could probably survive;" or ricin, which would make him a "dead duck." Luckily, chemical testing came back negative for both anthrax and ricin, but not before Fauci was hosed "down...

Mask Burning Will Commence In Cooperation With Law Enforcement... American freedom lovers will gather in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Saturday April 10 to protest for Face Freedom... “You are invited to the Million Maskless March and Mask Burning, Saturday April 10, 2021 at 3pm at the Corner of A1A and Las Olas in Ft Lauderdale!,” writes protest organizer Chris Nelson, who has organized viral flash mobs at chain stores that re-popularized Twisted Sister’s protest anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” “April 10 marks one year of mask tyranny in Broward County and we will mark that date with a celebration...

There are lots of reasons not to use plastic – but this one might come as a shock. Chemicals in everyday items, from household cleaners to food packaging, can damage a man’s penis – and make it smaller. Phthalates, BPA and parabens are to blame for a rise in the number of baby boys being born with genital defects, experts have warned. Dr. Andrew Pask and Dr. Mark Green, from the University of Melbourne, said in Australia penis birth defects have doubled in recent years, due to plastic use. To prove the link, they looked at the results when humans...

You have placed your country above a stupid game. Isn't it great a number of Freepers here put their money where their mouths are and when they say they boycott the NFL..they actually do. Unlike some..well, never mind ;)

November 27, the Denver Post set into motion its latest round of layoffs just over a year after shrinking the newsroom staff by 26 employees through the combination of a buyout offer and supplementary dismissals. Seven positions included in the Post's contract with the Denver Newspaper Guild are affected, and another four employees working non-union gigs also appear to have been discharged. "The Post gave the required two-week notice of layoff in seven union covered positions," notes the DNG's Tony Mulligan, corresponding via email. "Four are in the newsroom and three are in advertising support." ... As for why the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Global warming shrank certain animals in the ancient past, and scientists worry it could happen again.Warm-blooded animals got smaller at least twice in Earth's history when carbon dioxide levels soared and temperatures spiked as part of a natural warming, a new study says.

"I found, as somebody from Hawaii, the water is still a little cold."

It's the Joe Biden you didn’t know — and might not want to see. Secret Service agents dread being assigned to protect the vice president, in part because Biden’s a big fan of skinny dipping, according to a new tell-all book. In “The First Family Detail,” author Ronald Kessler quotes unnamed Secret Service agents dishing about the supposedly “hidden lives” of Presidents and the other important people they protect.

Charlotte It's been raining every afternoon here during the Democratic convention, but from talking to the locals here, short afternoon showers are pretty common this time of year. One imagines that way back when Democrats booked the 74,000 seat Bank of America stadium for Obama's acceptance speech, someone did the due diligence to inquire what the weather might be like in Charlotte this time of year. The possibility of rain must have been considered. So when the Obama campaign announced today that they were moving the President's acceptance speech from the outdoor stadium to the indoor 20,000 seat Time Warner...

In 2008, standing between artificial columns designed to recall the White House Rose Garden, then-Senator Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president at Denver’s Invesco Field in front of a record crowd of 84,000. It’s clearly not 2008 any more. Bank of America stadium and the 73% smaller Time Warner Cable ArenaA similar-sized venue was chosen for now-President Obama’s acceptance speech this year’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, where .... Bank of America Stadium seats 73,298. That’s ten thousand less than Invesco, but still a sizable venue — and one which, if enthusiasm were even remotely close to 2008...

Researchers have uncovered a direct link between global temperatures and body size, leading them to conclude that future climate change could mean species getting smaller. A team led by scientists from the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska followed the evolution of the earliest horses about 56 million years ago, and found that as temperatures increased, their body size decreased. "Horses started out small, about the size of a small dog like a miniature schnauzer," says Jonathan Bloch, associate curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "What’s surprising is that after they first appeared,...

From the mighty polar bear to the tiny house sparrow, many of Earth's species appear to be shrinking in size, a new study reports. And the authors think it's probably due to global warming, a little like wool sweaters that shrink when washed in hot water. But other experts say that conclusion goes too far, blaming global warming for what may be natural changes. ... The shrinking victims, according to the study, include cotton, corn, strawberries, bay scallops, shrimp, crayfish, carp, Atlantic salmon, herring, frogs, toads, iguanas, hooded robins, red-billed gulls, California squirrels, lynx and wood rats. Two years ago,...

Scientists say climate change will eventually claim many victims -– including, according to a new report, chocolate. As temperatures increase and weather trends change, the main growing regions for cocoa could shrink drastically, according to new research from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. Ghana and the Ivory Coast –- which produce more than half of the global cocoa supply –- could take a major hit by 2050. Currently, the optimal locations to grow the crop are about 330 feet to 820 feet above sea level, with temperatures of about 72 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees. That range will soar...

Geithner’s explanation of the administration's small-business tax plan came in an exchange with first-term Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.). Ellmers, a nurse, decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 after she became active in the grass-roots opposition to President Barack Obama’s proposed health-care reform plan in 2009. “Overwhelmingly, the businesses back home and across the country continue to tell us that regulation, lack of access to capital, taxation, fear of taxation, and just the overwhelming uncertainties that our businesses face is keeping them from hiring,” Ellmers told Geithner. “They just simply cannot.” She then challenged Geithner on...

BigGovernment has learned from a confidential source on Capitol Hill that, starting tomorrow, Rep. Weiner’s DC staff will depart for other Congressional offices. According to our source, staff from Democrat leadership assembled Rep. Weiner’s staff and offered to assist them finding positions in other offices. Finding positions for everyone in Weiner’s DC office could take a week or two.

DEVELOPING: NEW CASTLE, Del. -- Police on Friday afternoon came to the home of a 17-year-old high school junior to ask her about direct online communications she has had with Rep. Anthony Weiner. Two officers from the New Castle County Police Department arrived at the girl's home around 4:30 p.m. and asked to speak with the girl's mother about the daughter's contact with Weiner. Another officer appeared at the home a short time later. A FoxNews.com reporter was at the home when the police arrived. The girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, told FoxNews.com, "I'm...