Free Republic

"[American leaders] don’t think the balance of power matters any more…. If you think we’ve had trouble with the Russians, just wait for the trouble we are going to have with the Chinese. I am very popular in China. I go to China quite often. I usually start my talks by saying, ‘It’s good to be back among my people.’ Because when I get to China I’m intellectually more at home there than I am in Washington…." PROFESSOR JOHN MEARSHEIMER, 2016 Will there be a war over Ukraine? Have recent negotiations opened a path to peace? Unfortunately, the diplomats have...

Explanation: This is a sky filled with glowing icons. On the far left is the familiar constellation of Orion, divided by its iconic three-aligned belt stars and featuring the famous Orion Nebula, both partly encircled by Barnard's Loop. Just left of center in the featured image is the brightest star in the night: Sirius. Arching across the image center is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. On the far right, near the top, are the two brightest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way: the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Also on the far...

Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda, the Governor of the U.S. bordering Mexican state of Baja California, announced this week that she gave birth at a hospital in California, receiving criticism from Mexicans and Americans alike.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (TND) — A Democrat who is running to be the next governor of Florida is facing criticism after she openly compared the state's current Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., to Adolf Hitler. Appearing on NPR's Friday Roundup Podcast, Nikki Fried was asked by the show's co-host Melissa Ross to explain a tweet Fried had made in which she called DeSantis a "dictator". Ross questions Fried, hoping to clarify: “Are you comparing DeSantis to Hitler?” Ross asks. “In a lot of ways, yes,” Fried says in response. “I have studied Hitler and how he got to power, you know, wanting...

This past Saturday I submitted an editorial to the South Bend Tribune that pertains to election integrity. I cannot post the editorial here because it is pending publication and would not be put into print if I were to publish it here. A phone call from one of their editors this afternoon sought clarification regarding an assertion I made in the editorial, namely that there were irregularities in the 2020 elections. I used the word, "shenanigans." To my surprise, the editor demanded that I provide a "credible source" for my assertion. Apparently, the raft of affidavits available for any interested...

eople are paying a lot more for food, gas, cars and services, and inflation isn't over yet as the pandemic continues to distort the economy. So should governments consider setting the price of essential goods? t's been done before, typically during times of crisis, but for most mainstream economists, the answer to this question is a resounding "no." Limiting how much companies can charge will distort markets, they argue, causing shortages and exacerbating supply chain problems while only temporarily reducing inflation. "Price controls can of course control prices — but they're a terrible idea," David Autor, a professor of economics...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., released a new report Tuesday on the troubling effects of inflation on low and middle-income families as well as small businesses. Paul, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, blames the 7% spike in consumer prices – a 40-year high – on excessive coronavirus relief spending by Congress, and warns the rising prices are "only going to get worse." "In recent months, prices on nearly everything from gas, food, and clothes to electricity, car prices, and rent, have all increased, and unfortunately it's only going to get worse," Paul said in...

Little is known about the cause, but an explosion at a pipeline connecting Northern Iraq and the port of Ceyhan in the Mediterranean has taken 450kb/d of supply offline in an already very tight crude oil market

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced on Tuesday he will not run for governor of New York, ending speculation about his intentions to do so. “No, I am not going to be running for governor in New York State, but I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fight inequality in the state of New York,” he said in a video posted to social media Tuesday morning.

A convoy of truck drivers took to the streets on Highway 75, Emerson, Manitoba near the U.S.-Canada border on Jan. 17 following the introduction of new COVID-19 vaccination requirements on truckers put in place by the Canadian and U.S. governments. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that a “large number of vehicles” were involved in the “demonstration” near the Emerson Port of Entry, affecting both northbound and southbound lanes. The RCMP was monitoring traffic flows onsite. In a video shared on Twitter, protestors in the fleet can be seen flashing signs such as “Last year’s heros, this year’s zeros”...

Union Pacific, the nation’s largest railroad franchise, is considering rerouting its trains around Los Angeles amid a spike in railcar thefts, according to a CBS News affiliate. In the past year, Los Angeles County has seen a 160 percent jump in criminal rail theft, with October 2021 showing a 356 percent increase from the year before. Offenders have stolen from, assaulted, and even committed armed robbery of Union Pacific employees, amounting to “$5 million in claims, losses, and damages,” according to the company. The railroad is faulting L.A. County district attorney George Gascón’s (D.) “well-intended social justice goals,” such as...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the non-release of visitor logs from President Biden’s Delaware homes Tuesday — despite the fact that the commander-in-chief was in his home state for more than a quarter of all days during his first year in office. The Post asked Psaki at her regular press briefing if the White House’s decision not to make the Delaware logs public still stands after Biden spent long stretches of time at his Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach residences.

A violin-maker has used components including steamed pear, berries and spring water to create a vegan violin. Padraig O'Dubhlaoidh made the instrument, entirely free of animal products, in his Malvern Hills workshop during the coronavirus lockdown. The body of the bespoke instrument is the first in the world to be registered with The Vegan Society's trademark, said the organisation. Natural replacements for animal-based glues were used on the £8,000 violin.

In a surprise to no one, the radical Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax school boards in Virginia are ignoring the state’s governor’s executive order to eliminate masks in their districts. Yesterday the new governor in Virginia signed an executive order eliminating mandatory face masks across the state like most sane states have recently done. Now WTOP reports: Virginia’s freshly inaugurated governor, Glenn Youngkin, signed executive orders removing school masking requirements across the state on Saturday afternoon. Since that moment, Arlington and Alexandria school systems have joined Fairfax County Public Schools in reminding families that masking policies remain in place. Youngkin’s list...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with his Russian counterpart in Switzerland this week as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalate over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, the State Department said Tuesday. The State Department said Blinken will travel to Kyiv on Wednesday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, move on to Berlin and then meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday. The hastily arranged trip aims to show U.S. support for Ukraine and impress on Russia the need for de-escalation. White House press secretary Jen Psaki underscored the urgency. “We’re now at a...

Daniel Radcliffe is set to star as Grammy-winning musician ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in the Roku original movie “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” The film is Roku’s first original biopic and will be available to stream exclusively on The Roku Channel. The project is produced by Funny Or Die and Tango. Yankovic co-wrote the film’s script with Eric Appel, who is also set to direct the project. The official “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” synopsis from Roku reads: “The biopic holds nothing back, exploring every facet of Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Health Director Dr. Raul Pino has been placed on administrative leave. Sources tell WFTV Pino was placed on paid administrative leave after he sent an email on Jan. 4 to Orange County Department of Health staff about employee COVID-19 vaccination rates. >>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<< READ: Orange County opening county-employee only COVID-19 testing site In it, he wrote, “I have a hard time understanding how we can be in public health and not practice it…” He wrote that he had an analyst run vaccination data for employees, and that out...

The 120-year-old crocodile is now on display at the schoolWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info A 120-year-old crocodile has been put on display at a Rhondda primary school after being discovered underneath the floorboards of a classroom. Pupils at Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Bodringallt, in Ystrad, arrived at school on Wednesday to see the giant saltwater crocodile, which was discovered by workmen in June 2019 when work...

ew vaccine mandates for truck drivers are likely to increase the cost of produce. The cost of transporting fruit from California and Arizona to Canada climbed 25% last week, the CEO of Canadawide Fruits, George Pitsikoulis, told Bloomberg on Monday. The Montreal-based executive pointed to a lack of truck drivers who are able to cross the border between the US and Canada due to a vaccine mandate that cuts US trucking capacity in half, according to data from the American Trucking Association. The group estimates that only about 50% to 60% of US truck drivers have been fully vaccinated. Stephen...

Video of a commercial (at link) down in Florida. Wait until the end.