Free Republic

It appears that Elon Musk is able to deliver in ways that the Biden administration can’t when it comes to Ukraine – and ostensibly faster, too. After Ukraine’s vice prime minister asked Musk to deliver Starlink internet service to Ukraine – in a conveyed tone that wasn’t exactly courteous – Musk was able to deliver in approximately 10 hours. On February 26th, Ukraine Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov took to Twitter to highlight the rocket fire they’re coming under and asking Musk if he could get Starlink internet services running in Ukraine. Elon Musk], while...

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday evening that the company's Starlink satellites are now active in Ukraine to alleviate some of the connectivity challenges the country is facing amid the Russia invasion. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov appealed to Musk on Saturday morning, saying that while his "rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!"

The White House held a brainstorming session on how to combat climate “denialism and delay” even as the Russian invasion of Ukraine fueled pressure on President Biden to end his crackdown on domestic oil-and-gas production. The White House released Friday a readout from the previous day’s first-ever roundtable discussion held by the Office of Science and Technology Policy [OSTP] on “the scientific understanding of why arguments for delaying action on climate change are appealing and how they can be countered effectively.” “It’s clear that a variety of special interests have had a vested interest in sowing doubt on climate change...

Byron Goldstein closely monitors the energy usage at his Glenside home. So when he got a $651 bill from Peco Energy for combined electric and gas usage in January, 37% more than the $477 he paid the previous January, he knew something was off. Goldstein discovered that Peco’s gas supply charge skyrocketed since January 2021, accounting for most of the increase. Goldstein, 74, was unsatisfied by the company’s response to his phone calls, so he filed a formal complaint to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, urging the state regulator to roll back Peco’s “outrageous and irresponsible” price increase. He was...

Early Thursday, an authoritarian ruler deployed troops into an embattled democracy in clear defiance not only of that country’s sovereignty, but of condemnation and threats from the rest of the democratic world. The Putin regime’s incursion into Ukraine is just the latest symptom of a much larger pattern of antidemocratic aggression. In 2021, for the 16th consecutive year, Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report found that respect for political rights and civil liberties declined globally. Military coups proliferated, and authoritarian regimes staged utterly uncompetitive elections in Hong Kong, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, and elsewhere. An astonishing 8 out of 10...

Carter 2.0 Why did the Russians invade Ukraine? One reason is that they could afford to. Vladimir Putin’s neo-Tsarist empire has piled up an estimated $631 billion in currency reserves. That’s a lot of mad money, or should we say, conquest money. And a principal reason that Putin has all that wealth is that the Biden administration has been helping him, however inadvertently. How did Joe Biden help Putin? Biden imposed energy scarcity on this country, thereby opening up more of the world market for the Russians to sell their energy. And because energy is scarcer, it’s more expensive—all good...

… If we took this seriously, all news coverage of warfare would include its environmental impacts and the extent to which military activity, cyber warfare and sanctions inhibit nations’ ability to meet climate mitigation targets necessary for human survival. The consequences for human life include millions of people alive today. Polluting events — the burning and demolition of power plants, industrial facilities, mines, water systems, and the ecological impact of bombardments, fires and fuel spills — are all just an introduction. The long-term climatic effects of war include appalling greenhouse gas emissions. There are estimates that 2 to 3 percent...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a dramatic escalation of East-West tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces put on high alert Sunday in response to what he called “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers. The order means Putin has ordered Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch, raising the threat that the tensions could boil over into a nuclear war. In giving it, the Russian leader also cited hard-hitting financial sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, including Putin himself.

News Flash: The first 56 volumes are compiled into a book titled “Bible Study For Those Who Don’t Read The Bible.”Thanks for joining us. Today we study a Bible passage encompassed in the lyrics of a 1960’s classic rock song. Could it be, “Ebony and Ivory living together in perfect harmony side by side on my piano keyword, oh Lord, why don’t we?” No, because that 1982 song is not the Word of God, but a nice sentiment nonetheless.The correct answer is The Byrds’ 1965’s hit, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” based on Old Testament verses from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. So here is...

Why can’t the American security establishment shoulder responsibility for its role in the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine? Because to discuss American responsibility openly would mean exposing the national security establishment’s role in two separate, destructive coups: the first, in 2014, targeting the government of Ukraine, and the second, starting two years later, the government of the United States.

It’s all fun and games till they seize your Italian villa Soloviev learned this week that the latest sanctions imposed against the Kremlin’s regime and its accomplices would impact him personally. His access to properties in Europe is now being impacted, and perhaps his ownership as well. During Friday’s edition of The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, the host raged: “I was told that Europe is a citadel of rights, that everything is permitted, that’s what they said… I know from personal experience about the so-called ‘sacred property rights.’ With every transaction I was bringing paperwork demonstrating my official salary, income,...

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (FL) 100 LAPS | 180 MILES The 1.8-mile, 14-turn (5 lefts, 9 rights) circuit incorporates streets of downtown St. Petersburg and a section of runway of Albert Whitted Airport. After the long front stretch, there's a tight right-hander into Turn 1 and then a quick left-hand turn. Plenty of drivers have gotten into trouble in these two turns over the years. There are two other long straights with heavy braking zones that afford opportunities to overtake. Broadcast by NBC & Peacock Networks, 12 noon ET.

President Biden will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday to a deeply pessimistic nation, one that largely sees the economy worsening under his watch, disapproves of his leadership on key issues and currently prefers that Republicans control Congress after the November elections, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll finds Biden’s presidential approval rating at a new low, with 37 percent saying they approve of the job he is doing and 55 percent saying they disapprove. Overall, 44 percent say they strongly disapprove. Predictably, Republicans overwhelmingly disapprove (86 percent) of his job performance, but most...

Last June, while being interviewed on the “The Ezra Klein Show" podcast, Obama said: “I think that what we’re seeing now, is Joe and the administration are essentially finishing the job. Ninety percent of the folks who were there in my administration, they are continuing and building on the policies we talked about."

Biden could stop Putin today. All he needs to do is use the proven tactics President Reagan used to take down the Soviet Union. President Reagan's strategy against the Russians in the 1980s would be a great lesson for the Biden administration today if they cared to look at what worked in the past. No shots had to be fired and the United States became much stronger because of it. Reagan’s multi-pronged Cold War against the Soviet Union was genius and effective. President Reagan famously ramped up military spending. He increased the defense budget by over 40 percent, and that...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half of the 500 million free COVID-19 tests the Biden administration recently made available to the public still have not been claimed as virus cases plummet and people feel less urgency to test. Wild demand swings have been a subplot in the pandemic, from vaccines to hand sanitizer, along with tests. On the first day of the White House test giveaway in January, COVIDtests.gov received over 45 million orders. Now officials say fewer than 100,000 orders a day are coming in for the packages of four free rapid tests per household, delivered by the U.S. Postal...

The eyes of the world are now fixed on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The motivations of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, are now the biggest unanswered question of this geopolitical event. One prominent line of thinking is that Putin is looking to reclaim the territory lost after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and the Russian leader’s own words appear to support this claim: Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. Since time immemorial, the people living in the south-west of...

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The term Russian oligarch conjures images of posh London mansions, gold-plated Bentleys and sleek superyachts in the Mediterranean, their decks draped with partiers dripping in jewels. But the raft of sanctions on oligarchs announced by President Joe Biden this week in response to the invasion of Ukraine may do little to dim the jet-setting lifestyles of Russia’s ultra-rich and infamous – much less force a withdrawal of tanks and troops. U.S. sanctions target Russian President Vladmir Putin and a handful of individuals believed to be among his closest security advisers, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. But the...