Free Republic

In the wake of mounting tensions between the US and Russia over Ukraine, one now finds countless media stories on the "China-Russia axis" and the "bond between Russia and China." The ideological benefit of connecting Russia to China is undoubtedly clear to anti-Russia hawks. Russia is a relatively weak state with a small economy. China, on the other hand, tends to look more formidable. By connecting Russia to China in a new version of George W. Bush's "axis of evil" it becomes easier to downplay calmer voices noting the many limitations Russia faces in terms of its geopolitical ambitions. But...

A squad of Chechen special forces 'hunters' has been unleashed in Ukraine to detain or kill a set of specific Ukrainian officials. Each soldier was reportedly given a special 'deck of cards' with Ukrainian officials' photos and descriptions on them, a Moscow Telegram channel with links to the security establishment reported. The list is of officials and security officers suspected of 'crimes' by the Russian Investigative Committee, the report added. It came as Ukraine's president admitted he is 'target number one' for Russian assassins in his capital, while his family is 'the number two goal' for Putin's hitmen. The Chechen...

We're not quite sure Meta understands the whole point of pivoting into the "metaverse" business means.That's because the artist formerly known as Facebook has officially dissolved its team developing a new augmented reality and virtual reality operating system, according to a report from The Information on Friday. There were more than 300 employees formerly working on the project, three people with knowledge of the situation said. Its intentions were to vertically integrate all of the necessities Meta would use to forge forward in the world of AR/VR. The company had been working on an operating system that it was developing...

COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates increased among people who got a COVID-19 vaccine following the emergence of the Omicron virus variant, according to newly published data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).According to the data, which is submitted to the CDC by health departments across the country, the COVID-19 case rate in fully vaccinated people rose by more than 1,000 percent between Dec. 11, 2021, and Jan. 8, 2022.Fully vaccinated refers to people who received two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.The CDC doesn’t count a person as...

Russian president vladimir putin pines for the old Russian empire and takes Ukraine’s independence as a personal affront. But the invasion of Ukraine is not a limited regional dispute between neighbors. Putin is also motivated by a deep opposition to democracy more broadly. That is why he has waged a long-running shadow war to destabilize free societies and discredit democratic institutions in the United States and around the world. Ukraine is one flash point in a larger global struggle between democracy and autocracy—one that stretches from the steppes of Eastern Europe to the waters of the Indo-Pacific to the halls...

Doctors have warned that people should try to avoid taking dissolving, fizzy paracetamol that contains salt, following findings from a large study that shows a link with a significantly increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, heart failure and death. Sodium, one of the main components of salt, is often used to help drugs such as paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) dissolve and disintegrate in water. However, effervescent and soluble formulations of 0.5 g tablets of paracetamol can contain 0.44 and 0.39 g of sodium respectively. If a person took the maximum daily dose of two 0.5 g tablets every six...

As we all know, fashion and beauty trends are cyclic—what goes around always comes back around. And Brooke Shields may’ve just begun the resurgence of an ’80s staple: crimped hair. The actress was an ’80s beauty icon (and let’s be real, will always be a beauty icon no matter the decade), and somehow still has the crimper she branded back then (in pristine condition!). So for old time’s sake, she decided to break it out and see if she could still rock the wavy style. (Spoiler alert: She totally can.) “I found my Brooke Shields hair equipment that we did...

Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the airwaves to try to speed up his victory in Ukraine. CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO This account is from The Guardian.Looking dead-eyed into the camera on Friday, Vladimir Putin gave one of the most bizarre speeches of his 22 years as Russia’s leader, a directive that managed to sound alarming even in a week when he has ordered tanks into Ukraine and missile strikes on Kyiv.“Once again I speak to the Ukrainian soldiers,” he said, addressing his enemy. “Do not allow neo-Nazis and Banderites to use your children, your wives and the...

Corrected: This article was updated to remove the claim that the Wisconsin Assembly voted to withdraw 10 electors from Biden. The Wisconsin Assembly voted unanimously in a voice vote in a privileged resolution to move forward Rep. Ramthun’s resolution to reclaim Wisconsin’s 10 electors for US President and Vice President who were certified under fraudulent purposes. The legislation will now move forward to the Wisconsin Rules Committee and to the Wisconsin Senate. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Timothy Ramthun. We updated this post to reflect the information as described to us from a Wisconsin attorney. We have their description...

SNIP President Ronald Reagan also cleared the way for advertising to be directed at children for the first time, Richman noted, which led to a boom of ads for sugary cereals with cartoon characters as mascots. “The shows that kids love began manifesting themselves in foods and treats, and we started seeing Mr. T's cereal, E.T. cereal and Pac Man cereal, and Donkey Kong candies,” he said. An increase in divorce rates and the explosion of women in the workplace also had a huge impact on the decade’s cuisine. “Suddenly, women had opportunities that they didn't have a decade prior,”...

Fox News is now reporting that the Russians are moving in on the city of Kyiv.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening speech that a lot of cities were under attack, although reportedly, none have fallen yet.Zelenskyy in his evening speech: "This night will be harder than the day. Many cities of our state are under attack: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, our boys and girls in the Donbas, the cities of the south, special attention to Kyiv. We can't lose the capital." https://t.co/QoEBDwV5ET pic.twitter.com/k5LfSowxiO— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) February 25, 2022The Ukrainians have put up a brave fight, taking out a...

The 46-year-old driver, a Mexican national who was not named, was arrested for the alleged narcotic smuggling attempt at the Otay Mesa port-of-entry commercial vehicle facility, officials said. The packages of meth — more than 1,336 pounds (606 kilograms) — were shaped into small globes with a white covering, the agency said, and meant to blend into the onions.

When Slap Shot was released on Feb. 25, 1977, it was a middling success. Despite mostly negative reviews that tended to focus on what they saw as the film's glorification of violence, it eventually went on to earn $28 million at the box office against a $6 million budget. In the following decades, its popularity exploded as it became a textbook example of what makes a cult-classic movie. The film was conceived of by screenwriter Nancy Dowd, whose brother Ned was playing for the Johnstown Jets minor-league hockey team in Pennsylvania. Her access to this world gave the film an...

According to the Canadian financial blog Armstrong Economics, the emergency powers activated by Justin Trudeau to cripple the trucker protests have sparked panic among citizens, which could lead to a devastating financial crisis. On Feb. 14, Trudeau enacted the Emergencies Act, which enabled Canadian banks to freeze the assets of anyone who donated to protests against the vaccine mandates — without due process or any court action. Trudeau then ordered the banks to unfreeze the accounts after the protesters had been cleared away. But what is reported to have happened after that is being ignored by the corporate press. Armstrong...

The normal functioning of human body requires a steady flow of energy. This energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is produced by breaking down carbon sources like glucose, lipids, or amino acids. The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, one of the most important ATP-producing processes in the mitochondria, is a major hub of metabolites and is known for ensuring a fine balance between its cyclic intermediates, referred to as the 'metabolic flux.' There is a general consensus that this metabolic flux is impaired in heart-related disorders. A common example is myocardial ischemia (MI), a condition in which blood flow...

A second Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles (85 kilometers) south of Kyiv, according to two American officials with direct knowledge of conditions on the ground in Ukraine.

Twitter is taking aggressive measures to provide clear and factual information on its platform in Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a war against his neighboring nation on Thursday. “We’re temporarily pausing advertisements in Ukraine and Russia to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it,” the social media company said Friday. Twitter also ran a list of precautions it was taking to stop misinformation from spreading as Putin’s troops spread their offensive into Ukraine cities. “Our top priority is keeping people on Twitter safe,” the social media giant said. “We’re actively monitoring...

An opinion poll released on Wednesday, February 23rd by the firm Electomania has populist party VOX in second place with 23 per cent, just four percentage points behind the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), and well ahead of the People’s Party (PP) which scored just 17 per cent in the poll. The poll shows that if an election were called, VOX would likely win as many as 92 seats in the Spanish parliament, nearly doubling its current number of seats, which stands at 52. Earlier this month, VOX polled ahead of the PP to become the second-largest political force...

The warnings began early on the morning of February 25th. Russian special forces were in Kyiv, the authorities said, and they were trying to seize power. Some of the visitors might even have acquired Ukrainian military vehicles; others could be pretending to be international observers. In Podil, a historic neighbourhood in the centre of the city, where the sound of church bells was periodically interrupted by explosions and gunfire, Ukrainian forces opened fire on two military vehicles believed to be Russian. Whether they were the enemy or not is debatable. The bullet-pierced windows and the pools of blood were not....

Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Friday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” that “at the invitation of Ukraine” we should declare Ukraine a no-fly zone “enforced by NATO and the United States.” Kinzinger said, “The Ukrainian people are fighting much harder than I think Putin expected. But they will be outmatched and outgunned ultimately by somebody that is very willing to lose his own troops, and he doesn’t care, Vladimir Putin.”