Free Republic

Bioterrorism threat said real Oct 17, 2002 12:00 PM, Harry Cline There are 7,000 unaccounted for former Soviet Union biological warfare scientists and technicians in the world today. Before 9/11/01, that fact would be filed away under "So what...just left over Cold War paranoia." Now, though, that fact is cause for considerable concern to Americans, and a panel of experts on bioterrorism and radical environmental groups speaking at the recent California Plant Health Association and CropLife America joint annual convention in Palm Desert, Calif., only served to heighten that concern when they addressed biological warfare issues facing America today. According...

Last week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris officially became the Democratic nominee for US president. The symbolic and celebratory event — which included a live concert and dance party with rapper Lil Jon — was the culmination of a carefully choreographed, by-the-powers-that-be process unprecedented in American politics. President Joe Biden was removed from the race, dubiously replaced by Harris to run against GOP nominee Donald Trump. In an unusual virtual roll call, Harris secured 99% of the participating delegates’ votes — along with hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign funding that donors had...

By September 1, the school administration demanded that toilet paper, napkins, and liquid soap be brought in. The mayor's office conducted an inspection and stated that this was unacceptable. A shopping list was given to parents of students at School No. 38. It included liquid soap, at least 200 napkins, two rolls of toilet paper and paper towels, and copy paper. It was noted that all purchases had to be put in a separate bag and signed. The parents were not told what purposes this was all being collected for. The press service of the Petrozavodsk administration told Pod’yom that...

President Joe Biden on Thursday hailed the complex prisoner-swap deal with Russia that freed unjustly imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and two others in exchange for prisoners including Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov as a prodigious “feat of diplomacy.” Biden said all four of the recovered prisoners were “convicted in show trials” by Russia “for absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever.” In addition to Gershkovich and Whelan, the freed detainees included Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Muza, a U.S. green-card holder and Washington Post contributor who was sentenced to 25 years in prison...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed his government’s support for the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, expressing during a visit to Caracas on February 20 Moscow's commitment to strategic cooperation in numerous sectors...

Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, says that the plan to isolate Iran has been abandoned, and today "Israel and the US are the most isolated and hated in the world." "Defending our country's borders today is not just about guarding the border. Blocking the border of the Islamic Republic of Iran means blocking the global policies of our enemies against Iran," he claimed. He added that "Iran does not base its security on a narrow territorial margin but seeks to establish security across all borders of Islam, and this is a great task entrusted to the military...

Finally! Putin Showed Off A New Terrifying Hypersonic Missile That Shocked NATO The diamond in the crown of the Russian Empire and Putin’s Joker are both quite appropriate epithets. In military terms, we are discussing a hypersonic glide vehicle that flies to the target at hypersonic speed. It has a nuclear warhead of between 0.8 and 2 megatons. Three hypersonics, Zircon, Kinzhal and now the Avanguard.

Vladimir Putin plans to send Russian children to a summer camp in North Korea where activities include polishing the statues of leaders. Grigory Gurov, the head of Putin’s Movement of the First youth organisation, announced the plan despite opposition from worried Russian parents. “We will now form our delegation,” he said. “Conditions there are good.” The children will be the first Russian group for five years to visit the Songdowon camp, built on North Korea’s eastern shore by dictator Kim Jong-un’s grandfather in 1960. Accounts from Russian adult leaders on previous trips described Songdowon camp as a cross between a...

Today, on June 28th, 2024, a significant event occurred in my life that I will always remember. My name is Ryan Samsel, and last night, I witnessed Donald J. Trump’s victory over Joe Biden. As always, I said my nightly prayer and woke up feeling a sense of goodness that I can’t quite explain. Then, someone informed me that the Supreme Court overturned the 1512(c) charges. I was in a state of shock and disbelief, unable to fully comprehend the news. Let me begin by sharing that I have endured immense suffering and hardships throughout this entire ordeal since January...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is readying to go to North Korea on Tuesday for his first trip to the country in 24 years. The Russian leader is set to visit the isolated nation for two days at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, state-run Korean Central News Agency said. The talks are expected to focus on expanding military cooperation between the countries

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The leader of Armenia on Wednesday declared his intention to pull out of a Russia-dominated security alliance of several ex-Soviet nations as tensions rise between the two allies. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government will decide later when to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a grouping that includes Russia and the former Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Amid the widening rift with Russia, Armenia earlier froze its participation in the alliance, canceled its involvement in joint military drills and snubbed CSTO summits. Pashinyan said Wednesday for the...

About Sergey Karaganov (from Wiki): Karaganov Doctrine Karaganov is known as the progenitor of the Karaganov Doctrine, which states that Moscow should pose as the defender of human rights of ethnic Russians living in the 'near abroad' for the purpose of gaining political influence in these regions. This idea was first brought into domestic Russian Federation politics by Boris Yeltsin in 1992, although it was only a fringe ideology in Yeltsin's Russia. It has become a mainstream ideology in Putin's Russia after 2012. After Karaganov published an article advocating this stance in 1992, Russia's foreign policy position linked Russian troop...

The presence of the nuclear-powered submarine, along with a frigate and two support vessels, is part of an upcoming visit to the port of Havana aimed at strengthening the friendship between Cuba and the Russian Federation. As tension in Europe increases due to the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, the Russian Navy will deploy a flotilla in the Caribbean Sea in the coming days as part of an official visit to Cuba; which can be seen as a challenge to the United States government. The information released by the Cuban government yesterday, June 6, gains relevance as this flotilla is...

Disclaimer: Lots of f-bombs in the audio. NSFW. To see the interview with Scott Ritter please skip to the 4:00 mark. Scott Ritter responds to questions by the host. Per Ritter his passport was seized without a stated reason. Ritter speculates as to the reason for the passport seizure. He also says he expects a nuclear war between the US and Russia in the next forty days. The gist of his commentary is that he was going to Russia to appeal to the Russian people not to start a nuclear war, clearly implying that Russia wants to start a nuclear...

What is at stake in our ability to see the threat plainly? Nothing less than the preservation of our way of life.If you wonder why I—a woman of color, an African, a former Muslim, a former asylum seeker, and an immigrant—look at the antics of today’s anti-Israel, anti-American protesters with such fear and trembling, allow me to explain.I was born in Somalia in 1969. The country had achieved independence nine years before. But less than a month before I was born—on October 21, 1969—a junior member of the brand-new Somali armed forces seized power with the help of the Soviet...

Russia has announced plans to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy as it scrambles for additional revenue to fund its invasion of Ukraine. -snip- “The changes are aimed at building a fair and balanced tax system,” Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said in a statement, adding that the extra funds would bolster Russia’s “economic wellbeing”. -snip- Income tax is currently 13 percent for the majority of Russians, with some higher earners paying a rate of 15 percent. The Finance Ministry said under the amendments that the 15 percent rate would apply for annual incomes between 2.4 and 5 million...

The last few weeks have arguably been a period of change for the war in Ukraine, both on and off the battlefield. In Moscow, long serving Defence Minister Shoigu has been removed from that post, while a number of Russian Generals and senior figures have been arrested or otherwise removed. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Russia has escalated the previously quiet Kharkiv front, edging slightly closer to Ukraine's second city. In this episode, I want to unpack some of the current political and economic context and ask what may be next for a Russia war effort that is now 'under new management'

Commander Daryl Caudle said breaches are seen every week amid an 8,000% surge in Chinese migrants at the southern border...Commander Caudle said attempted infiltrations are happening 'two or three times a week' - at Navy bases alone....the perpetrators often claiming to be innocent tourists when caught...A lot of times they have passports, they have papers, but they are in no way shape or form authorized to be on our base. Operatives from Communist China have been caught scuba diving close to Cape Canaveral, wandered on to a missile launch site in New Mexico, and claimed to be looking for Holiday...

Video footage of Vladimir Putin's press conference yesterday with Alexander Lukashenko. Russian President Putin Visits Belarus, Discusses Tactical Nuclear Exercises with Lukashenko

Russia's war in Ukraine has revealed to the world in graphic detail the smorgasbord of lethal technologies that can be used to destroy one's enemy in a large-scale 21st-century clash. But despite all the capabilities of such cutting-edge military tech, Moscow's primary frontline tactic appears ripped from the playbook of World War I generals - batter Ukrainians with artillery before dispatching waves of soldiers to secure territory inch by blood-soaked inch. It's a style of warfare reminiscent of the Battle of Passchendaele - but it has proved nonetheless effective with Vladimir Putin's forces gaining territory hand over fist in eastern...