Free Republic

This week the dominoes started to fall with Germany declaring war on Russia on August 1. Today the 3rd, Germany declares war on France. Tomorrow Britain will declare war on Germany for violating the Treaty of London guaranteeing Belgium neutrality. A century of technological progress will be turned on its creators. The self-confidence of Europe will be shattered to be replaced by the nihilism and moral decadence that we still live with today. I am currently reading Anna Karenina. In the back of my mind this world so brought to life by Tolstoy will be destroyed within the lifetimes of...

The backstory: Nicolas Sarkozy, the diminutive, energetic son of a Hungarian immigrant to France, works hard, climbs the greasy pole of politics, and is elected president in 2007. He seems to have it all: a bagful of the right conservative ideas about how to bring the reluctant French kicking and screaming into the 21st century by working more to make more, freeing up the country's ossified labor market, lowering taxes, and becoming America's friend again. But Sarkozy has tragic personality flaws. He upsets people with his nervous, unpredictable ways. His harum-scarum love life -- his wife leaves him only weeks...

LONDON – Ryan Lochte had exactly one day to enjoy being recognized by many as the “World’s Greatest Swimmer.” Team USA’s newly crowned champion in the 400-meter individual medley relay on Saturday, Lochte quickly transformed from hero to goat Sunday when France’s Yannick Agnel jetted past him over the final 50 meters of the 4 X 100-meter freestyle relay at the Olympic Aquatic Centre. A French Connection anchored by Agnel struck for gold with a time of 3:09.93 in the final, roughly a half-tick ahead of the American silver-medal crew (3:10.38), which was led-off by Nathan Adrian (47.89 for his...

<p>PARIS (AP) - It's a July evening on the terrace of the legendary Cafe Flore. A coiffed woman sips chilled wine, another savors her chocolate eclair.</p> <p>The one thing to complete a perfect picture of Parisian life? A dash of French rudeness.</p>

Angela Merkel and François Hollande pledged on Friday "to do everything to protect" the European Union's single currency, papering over deep divisions between them over how to tackle the Spanish and Italian debt crisis. The German chancellor and French president issued a joint statement following a crisis telephone call echoing Mario Draghi's promise on Thursday that the European Central Bank would do whatever it took to save the euro. "France and Germany are fundamentally tied to the integrity of the euro area," they said in the statement. "They are determined to do everything to protect it. "Member states, like the...

  After performing for only 45 minutes, the pop star incurred the wrath of concertgoers who gathered in front of the Paris concert venue to demand their money back. French fans took Madonna’s “Express Yourself” lyrics seriously on Thursday night when they booed and expressed anger at the singer for cutting her show at famed Paris concert hall l’Olympia short after around just 45 minutes. After Madonna left the stage, fans remained in their seats booing and yelling insults like “salope,” the French word for “slut.” PHOTOS: Madonna's Iconic Career and Life in Pictures Madonna took the stage around 10:15 p.m....

French admit they are 'rude, stroppy, and slothful' The French have admitted they are "rude, stroppy, and slothful" in a new survey about what they think of their own behaviour. The poll revealed 97 per cent of Paris public transport users believed fellow travellers were "ill-mannered" and lacked civility. The biggest gripe was people forcing their way onto trains before other passengers had got off. Other irritations were passengers talking too loudly on mobile phones, and people sprawling over two seats in packed carriages. Also included in the list of annoyances were queue-jumping at ticket counters, leaping over barriers without...

Police in the south of France have launched an investigation after a woman claimed she was beaten up by seven men in Viviez for attending a party during Ramadan. The young woman, originally from Morocco, was driving home from the party on Friday night when two other cars trapped hers ... On her way to the station, the seven men tracked her down again and assaulted her a second a time.

Germany has clearly taken the decision to expel Greece from the euro, whatever the new Greek government does. Vice-Chancellor Philipp Roesler says the "horror" of Greek exit has worn off. The markets will hardly miss a beat when the day comes. Greece has already failed to complete 210 targets imposed by the EU-IMF Troika. "Unfortunately it is likely that Greece will not be able to fulfil the requirements. And I say quite clearly, if Greece fails to comply, there should be no more payments to Greece. I have to say I am more than sceptical," he said. Before we all...

As regular readers in this column know, my reporting senior and lawful sovereign is His Imperial Majesty Kaiser Wilhelm II. When I finally report in to that great Oberste Heeresleitung in the sky, I expect to do so as the Kaiser’s last soldier. Why? Well, beyond Bestimmung, the unhappy fact is that Western civilization’s last chance of survival was probably a victory by the Central Powers in World War I. Their defeat let all the poisons of the French Revolution loose unchecked, which is the main reason that we now live in a moral and cultural cesspool.

Last week, before an audience of millions of Americans, the new president made a telling statement. Alluding to the American founders, President Barack Obama, in his Inaugural Address, stated: “The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” This seemed to be a reference to the Declaration of Independence, or at least to the principles in that sacred...

DCNS continues BPC (Mistral LHD) design modifications for Russian Navy DCNS is supplying two BPC-type projection and command vessels to Russia under a contract that came into effect at the end of 2011. Three of these vessels are already in service with the French Navy. The design modifications needed to adapt the BPC concept to Russia's specific requirements are progressing as planned. The design modifications are being conducted in two phases. The first phase ended in April 2012 with the successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review. Detailed design studies were launched immediately afterwards, and this second phase is scheduled...

President Francois Hollande of France said, Sunday, that his country would do all it could so that its Jewish citizens could live safely and peacefully there. During a speech at a memorial observance marking the roundup of the Jews of Paris and their being sent to the Nazi death camps, Hollande declared that the French government would fight Antisemitism since not to do so is to accept it. Hollande added that generations of blindness and lies allowed the Holocaust to happen, and noted that its memory must be memorialized and taught...

Almost four years since the signing of the global political agreement (GPA) that brought Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) into a lopsided power-sharing arrangement with Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, the country is once again heading towards elections, now expected within a year. The GPA has achieved some stability, enabling modest progress on reform, but an array of problems remain. Spoiler behaviour, especially by Zanu-PF, has not been adequately dealt with, although the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), as co-guarantor with the African Union of the political agreement, has consistently rejected Zanu-PF efforts to fast-track elections without reforms. The EU will...

The Central government is hopeful of concluding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) by the end of this year. According to Union Commerce Secretary S.R. Rao, the final leg of negotiations between the two parties is likely to be held in September. The deal was likely to be concluded as "we have closed most of the issues". India was exploring options for widening its engagement with ASEAN countries while negotiations with Pakistan on FTA were well on way. Mr. Rao, who was talking to reporters here on Saturday, said, "They (the EU) want us to take...

France's first couple are leading 'separate lives' and could even announce their break-up over summer, France's GALA Magazine has revealed. The prediction comes after Valerie Trierweiler, the partner of President Francois Hollande, was attacked for sending a Twitter message supporting a rival of Segolene Royale, the mother of his four children, in parliamentary elections last month. The controversial Twitter message was posted in June, less than a month after Francois Hollande was elected to president, causing a national outcry in France.

Here's my latest video recorded by the good folks at FreedomTalkNetcast.com down in Pueblo, Colorado. This presentation covers the almost unknown war and genocide against the people of the Vendee region of France during the proto-Marxist French Revolution. This genocide by the atheist, godless, totalitarian French Revolutionaries against the Church killed 450,000 people, and has served as a the tactical template for Marxist governments who have fomented statist schisms and then entered into open war against the Church over the last century, including the Soviets and Mexicans in the early 20th century, and the Red Chinese and Vietnamese, and Marxist...

The higher the tax rate, the greater the length people will go to avoid it. France is a case in point. An 'Exodus' of Wealthy is underway even before French parliament has passed Hollande's proposed top tax rate of 75%. The latest estate agency figures have shown large numbers of France's most well-heeled families selling up and moving to neighbouring countries. Many are fleeing a proposed new higher tax rate of 75 per cent on all earnings over one million euros. (£780,000) The previous top tax bracket of 41 per cent on earnings over 72,000 euros is also set to...

The deposits at Etricourt Manancourt in the Picardie region of France documents the history of early European settlements, revealing at least five prehistoric levels, ranging between 300,000 and 80,000 years old... Archaeologists from Inrap looked at 17 hectares in 2010, which revealed a Palaeolithic level and more evidence was found in 2012, when 3,200 square metres were excavated over 4 month period. The most recent occupation comes from the Middle Paleolithic (80,000 years old) and belongs to the Neanderthals. Twenty sites of this period are already known in northern France. The next two levels are also Neanderthal and belong to...

Scientists reported Thursday on the strongest sign yet that Saturn's giant moon may have a salty ocean beneath its chilly surface. If confirmed, it would catapult Titan into an elite class of solar system moons harboring water, an essential ingredient for life. Titan boasts methane-filled seas at the poles and a possible lake near the equator. And it's long been speculated that Titan contains a hidden liquid layer, based on mathematical modeling and electric field measurements made by the Huygens spacecraft that landed on the surface in 2005. The latest evidence is still indirect, but outside scientists said it's probably...