Free Republic

Kamala Harris on Friday night flew to Singapore to begin an Asia trip that will see her away from Washington DC for a week, in the midst of the biggest crisis to hit the Biden presidency so far. As she left the city for her second international trip as vice president, Harris, 56, insisted that the administration remained focused on Afghanistan, despite criticism over her absence from public view all week. -snip- Her departure at a time of crisis will fuel criticism of her as an ineffective and inconsequential vice president. Last week, when likely voters were asked in a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials. Though federal officials have arrested more than 570 alleged participants, the FBI at this point believes the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to the sources, who have been either directly involved in or briefed regularly on the wide-ranging investigations. "Ninety to ninety-five percent of these are one-off cases," said...

A common concern among Article V opponents is fear that a convention of the states to propose constitutional amendments will result in an oppressive constitution. Instead, all we need to do is enforce the constitution we have. Elect the right people to implement our written constitution and all will be well. As logical and appealing as that approach appears to be, it ignores some horrible realities, and actually promotes our headlong dive into tyranny, for the anti-constitution, the unwritten constitution rules. First, aside from the occasional heat politicians take from an outraged populace, our legislative, executive and judicial branches in...

Aerial views showed protesters breaking through police lines and being met with pepper spray, as they continued to march through the city streets. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews on Saturday expanded a lockdown in that city to the entire state as he reported 61 new locally acquired cases.

Washington state is now requiring that all teachers and school staff be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment—marking the strictest school vaccine mandate in the United States. Gov. Jay Inslee made the announcement at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Changing tastes and trends can be a death sentence for companies and even entire industries. The United States Postal Service (USPS) knows this too well having delivered an ever-dwindling supply of mail over the past couple of decades. In fact, the agency has lost more than $80 billion over the past 15 years and has had a tough time keeping expenses below revenues. Fortunately, the agency is doing some much needed soul-searching and examining the experiences of other businesses and industries to see how it can turn its ship around. This is a good idea for America’s mail carrier if...

Event: Because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a U.S. government representative to do so. U.S. citizens requesting assistance in departing the country who have not yet to completed the Repatriation Assistance Request for each traveler in their group should do so as soon as possible. Spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens in Afghanistan who are awaiting immigrant visas should also complete this form if they wish to depart....

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) – The Las Vegas Raiders are the first team in the National Football league to implement a vaccine policy for fans during home games. Seeing the Silver and Black faithful in person has been a long time coming for Raider Nation, however it’s a fan base now split with the new vaccine mandate at Allegiant Stadium this season. "I completely agree with that. I'm vaccinated and I'm ready to get in," Raiders fan Louis Zabala said. Some season ticket holders said the vaccine is choice. “Not being vaccinated is a choice. I don’t see why the government...

The University of Washington Medical Center denied organ transplants to patients who refuse a COVID vaccine as early as June 2021. And hospital officials refuse to answer basic questions about their policy. In fact, they won’t even directly acknowledge they have a policy. The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH has learned that UW Medicine removed a 64-year-old patient from the transplant waitlist. He says he was on the list for two and a half years. The hospital made the decision after they learned the patient refused to be vaccinated against COVID. They said they would consider adding him back to...

...And much of the blame lies squarely with Joe BidenIf the propagandists of the Taliban had scripted the collapse of America’s 20-year mission to reshape Afghanistan, they could not have come up with more harrowing images. As insurgents swept into Kabul, desperate Afghans, terrified about what the victorious zealots might do, chased departing American cargo planes down the runway, trying to clamber into the landing gear and inevitably falling to their deaths. The American-backed government had surrendered without a fight—something that American officials were insisting would not happen only days before. Afghans were left in such a horrifying bind that...

“They believed it because they had to; they couldn’t bring themselves to admit that this might not be real, it was just a sham,” said Graham Platner, who served in Iraq and then Afghanistan as a US soldier, and later as a security contractor. “Military officers are not trained to admit that maybe we can’t do this.” In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Platner reveals the deeply troubling levels of corruption, waste and myths that underpinned the US role in Afghanistan, and explains why the country fell to the Taliban in just a few days. The Taliban captured their...

"That means it's working!" From News.com.au, "Victor Dominello diagnosed with Bell's Palsy after concerning Covid-19 press conference": New South Wales' Customer Service Minister has taken to social media to confirm the reason for his "droopy eye", which sparked concern after Wednesday's press conference. Victor Dominello, who was there to speak about business grants, said people had reached out to him wondering if he was "winking at the camera" or if he had suffered a stroke. But on Wednesday night he confirmed via Instagram that he had been diagnosed with Bell's Palsy, a temporary facial paralysis that has no known exact...

KENOSHA — Gov. Tony Evers' re-election campaign is trying to get an attack ad, targeting how the Democrat responded to riots in Kenosha last summer, pulled off the air. The ad in question features a Kenosha businesswoman who claims that Evers did not send help to Kenosha until after two people — Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum — died; the two men were killed by Kyle Rittenhouse on Aug. 25, the third night of unrest in the city. Tony for Wisconsin, Evers' campaign, claims the statements in the ad should be considered false advertising, since National Guard troops were deployed...

According to many on the left, a policy is considered racist if it has a disparate impact on a “protected” minority group. For instance, many on the left accuse states’ voter ID requirements as being racist, because they claim these laws have a disparate impact on minority groups, including blacks and Hispanics. So, how does the left justify vaccine mandates? In New York City, far-left Mayor Bill DeBlasio recently introduced one of the nation’s first citywide vaccine mandates. Per DeBlasio’s emergency executive order 225, “I hereby order that a covered entity shall not permit a patron, full- or part-time employee,...

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Today marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most significant events in world history. On August 15, 1971, Richard Nixon announced he was “closing the gold window,” thus ending the U.S. dollar’s convertibility to gold. This ended the post-World War II Bretton Woods monetary system where the world operated on a gold-backed U.S. dollar with other world currencies pegged to the dollar. It also began the new era of fiat currency and sowed the seeds of the next great financial crisis. Fiat currency is not backed by commodities such as gold or silver. Its only value comes from the...

If I did not believe in the Rapture and the following seven-year tribulation, that would not deter me from anticipating God’s judgment on America at some point in the near future. Because I am sure that Scripture teaches Jesus’ imminent appearing followed by the wrath of the day of the Lord, I am all the more certain that the U.S. now rests in God’s crosshairs. After reviewing a chapter in her husband’s book on the evil in America at the time, Ruth Graham replied, “Billy, if God doesn’t come soon and bring judgment upon the United States, He’s going to...

Thousands have gathered outside the international hub as global leaders scramble to evacuate diplomats and nationals following the Taliban takeover. Footage has captured tense scenes as the military desperately tried to control the chaos, with shocking images showing infants being passed over razor wire to American soldiers on barricades. Speaking from the ground in Kabul, chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay said today is the "worst day so far" as people queuing in their thousands are crushed at the front of growing crowds. He said he believes people have died this morning, adding: "I've seen a lot of people getting medical attention."...

What just happened in Afghanistan undermines Taiwan’s assumptions about its protection from and defenses against China. There is a grave danger that the U.S. public will take away the wrong lessons from the Afghan debacle, both regarding Afghanistan and Taiwan. The media are now trumpeting that withdrawal was the right move but incompetently executed. Is that really true? SNIP The First Question is “How many nuclear silos has Taiwan?” The answer is “zero,” which means that China has no skin in the game. If an attempted invasion failed, China can simply pull back, regroup, and try again later. There is...

Pressure is building to send American military forces outside of Kabul's airport in order to extricate U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from elsewhere in the city. I understand the concern to get as many at-risk allies to safety as soon as possible. Still, the risks entailed in operations outside of the airport are underestimated. Yes, there are unconfirmed reports that British and French special forces are recovering personnel from the city. But I strongly suspect this activity is far more limited than is assumed. These movements likely involve the recovery of only the very highest-value or at-risk assets, such as...