Free Republic

Would someone please define "Neocon"? I can't quite figure it out based on the usage of the word here on FR. From what I can tell it seems to be anyone who doesn't think Putin is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I know it can't be that. Where did the term come from, and what exactly does it mean?

Is the world edging towards an ‘accidental’ nuclear war? UK National Security Adviser warns of warfare due to communication breakdown between the West, Russia and China. The West could accidentally stumble into a nuclear war with Russia or China, according to the United Kingdom’s national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove. He says communication channels between the West and its rivals have collapsed, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the clearest example of this breakdown.

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that Moscow and its allies now controlled all of Ukraine’s Luhansk region after capturing the last major city, Lysychansk. (cut) The ministry had said earlier on Sunday that its troops had captured the villages surrounding Lysychansk, encircling the area, and were fighting inside the city. Calls to the Ukrainian General Staff and Defence Ministry went unanswered. The ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh believes the political landscape in America makes it possible that the nation is “trending toward secession.” “I actually think that we’re trending toward secession,” Limbaugh surmised. “I see more and more people asking what in the world do we have in common with the people who live in, say, New York?” “What is there that makes us believe that there is enough of us there to even have a chance at winning New York, especially if you’re talking about votes?”

Governors across the United States have either ended their states’ COVID-19 mask mandate or are considering ending it soon—and have ordered rollbacks on capacity limits and restrictions on businesses.

So right now, United States is a representative democracy. People elect their congress to make, alter, abolish, or to do anything related to the bill. The problem for me is that, congress can make false promises, get pressured by small minority of people, simply vote for the wrong person, and so on. I propose that U.S. should have a semi-direct democracy system similar to Switzerland except the votes will be based on cities where ever the mayors have jurisdiction. If majority of people in that city votes for a law, then it would count as one vote for that city...

Russia-linked Twitter accounts are rallying in support of Fox News host Laura Ingraham. According to one website that tracks Russian propaganda on Twitter in near-real time, the hashtag #istandwithlaura saw a 2800% jump in 48 hours. Another website that monitors Russia's disinformation campaign found that @ingrahamangle, @davidhogg11 were among the top six Twitter handles that Russia-linked accounts have tweeted at in the last 24 hours. Russian-linked accounts' capitalization on the Ingraham controversy comes after they flooded Twitter with messages and disinformation related to the Parkland school shooting, which claimed 17 lives in February. In the days immediately following the shooting,...

Russian secret services may have executed the troops suspected of shooting down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, say sources involved in the investigation of the crash over eastern Ukraine. The Dutch-led probe is leaning towards a conclusion that a BUK missile fired from rebel-held territory downed the Boeing 777, killing all 298 on board. And it is highly likely the aircraft was shot out of the sky by Russian military personnel, according to a report by the Netherlands' state broadcaster NOS, citing anonymous sources in the police and the group of investigators working on the probe into the plane's loss.

Hello, everyone. I'm new to Free Republic and I'm looking forward to the discussions. There has been a good amount of coverage regarding Brittany Maynard's assisted suicide, and even more opinions thrown all over news websites and social media. After reading through a number of responses, I still didn't find the argument for the opposition of assisted suicide very clear. I understand that most Christians would be opposed to the act purely for religious reasons, but do those who oppose assisted suicide have any valid reasons without appealing to religious doctrine?

It's no secret that establishment Republicans are out to get Rand Paul, but the "darkest secret" on Wall Street, reports Politico, is that they'll happily vote Hillary in 2016 to do it. The Monday piece reveals that Wall Street Republicans won't think twice about voting for Hillary Clinton in a world where Jeb Bush and Chris Christie aren't running for president and Rand Paul holds the GOP nomination. "The bulk of the big money guys are either Big Boy [Christie] or Jeb," said a top GOP donor. "Rand Paul still is a grass-roots phenom and a boardroom horror show." The...

Apologies if this has already been postedAs you sit down with your family on Thanksgiving and consider offering a prayer of gratitude, be aware the turkey at the center of the table may have already been "blessed" – in the name of Allah. Customer service representatives from Butterball, one of America's most popular Turkey brands, confirmed to WND that the company's whole turkeys are – without being labeled as such – slaughtered according to Islamic "halal" standards. "Halal slaughter involves cutting the trachea, the esophagus and the jugular vein and letting the blood drain out while saying, 'Bismillah allahu akbar'...

Ethanol is Not About Energy Independence Have you figured out that the federal ethanol program is not about becoming energy independent, but about putting Midwest corn farmers on the government dole? If not, keep reading. If so, are you ready to help end it? That's in here, too. If you think ethanol lowers fuel prices, then I guess you don't know that each gallon of ethanol is subsidized 47.5 cents per gallon by our tax dollars. In fact, Brazil exports ethanol, but we put a 54 cents per gallon import tax on Brazilian ethanol and then limit its import to...

Islam is not the only religion that, when practiced in its orthodoxy, encourages and sometimes requires extreme modesty of its women. Hello, nun habits? Parents force their children to wear Catholic school uniforms. Conservative Christians wear long skirts and even higher necklines. Orthodox Jewish women don't show any skin aside from the ankles, wrists and neck, no matter the weather. Not all Muslim women wear a full burqa; they wear variations of head coverings dictated by their particular sect of Islam and their regional and cultural heritage. So we can point them out and decry the practice as barbaric, but...

CUPERTINO, CALIF. (TheStreet) -- AppleNASDAQ" PRIMARY="NO"/> makes changing the batteries of new iPod models increasingly difficult by soldering them to the device's casing. Consumers would know this if they repaired such items instead of replacing them. Apple's obstacles to repair and ToyotaNYSE" PRIMARY="NO"/> and Ford'sNYSE" PRIMARY="NO"/> recent spate of recalls highlight the deteriorating relationship between the buying public and the products it owns. Though Kelley Blue Book and Edmund's say the value of troubled Toyotas dropped more than 4% since recalls were announced, some consumers see replacement as a more viable option than addressing complex electrical and mechanical problems they...

Sarah's explanation of why she legitimized the birther conspiracy theorists feeds right into her victimhood storyline: Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask … which they have repeatedly. Ah yes... Palin was a victim of a massive left wing conspiracy that forced her to courageously step down as Alaska's governor.  So it's...

WASHINGTON -- A proposal to boost auto sales by offering government-funded discounts to consumers who trade in old cars for new, more efficient models got a boost Wednesday from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But the proposal, which also is supported by Detroit auto makers and the United Auto Workers, is coming under fire from some foreign auto makers critical of a provision limiting the vouchers to vehicles built in North America. That limitation would exclude some of the most fuel-efficient cars and trucks sold in the U.S., including the Prius from Toyota Motor Corp. A bill introduced Tuesday by Rep....

Carolyn Kennedy is a major contendor for the vacant senate seat in NY, because as George Stephanopoulos says, she can pony up more money for the republican party than anyone else. There is absolutely no word of scandal about that. That's not much different than Rod trying to get the person who can pony up the most money....Ok the cause is different, but it's the same thing!!!

Live Coverage of Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller's Macworld Expo 2009 Keynote Welcome announcement. Please silence iPhones...
 Still waiting for Phil...
 Phil Schiller takes the stage to healthy applause. (The protest failed).
 Phil: Thank you so much.
 Talks about successful openings of Apple Retail Stores around the world.
 No black mock turleneck. Blue jeans and a blue button-down open at the neck. Casual Phil.
 3.4 million visitors pr week to Apple Retail Stores.
 9.7 million Macs sold last year.
 Phil has 3 things for today.
 Phil announces iLife '09.
 iPhoto 09: Faces: face detection; automatically finds...

The recent bailout package being approved in the US Congress needs to be viewed in the context of the spurt in the accumulation of forex reserves of China by about $500 billion in the last six months to about $2 trillion in aggregate. This gargantuan build-up of forex reserves by China has strangely received very little attention of economists, policy analysts, currency traders and, of course, geo-strategists around the world. Why is China engaged in this exercise? What could be its implications on the on going global financial crisis? Could China trip the bailout package announced by the US last...