Free Republic

Japan's government has renewed its claims in a territorial dispute with Russia over the Pacific archipelago of the Southern Kuril Islands. Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday described the four islands as an "integral part" of Japan, the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun reported. Previously, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had also used this wording. In view of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, his government is returning to language that Kishida's predecessor Shinzo Abe had avoided for 10 years in the hope of reaching an agreement with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. snip Abe dispensed with the phrase "integral part" of Japan...

Citizens of Lithuania are taking advantage of the country's relatively relaxed gun laws and are buying firearms in droves in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Euronews reported Lithuania gun stores are experiencing sales surging up to eight times and applications for gun licenses doubling, along with more people visiting gun ranges to brush up on their skills: "Sales have shot up for all categories of weapons but the largest demand is for handguns used for self-defence and semi-automatic weapons that could also be used in military situations. Some stores have reported selling as many handguns in a week as...

Former President Donald Trump's most loyal allies in Congress have been relegated to the political wilderness for the past few years. Now they're plotting their comeback. With the growing likelihood that Republicans will take over the House after elections this fall -- and the prospect of Trump running for president again in 2024 -- members of the Trump-loving House Freedom Caucus are preparing to flex their muscles in the next era. Under the new leadership of Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the group is hoping to use its hardline tactics, connections to Trump and friendlier relationship with GOP leadership to...

WEST OF EDEN—A double-blind study conducted by angel scientists has confirmed that 100% of men would eat any fruit given to them by a naked woman. The study seems to suggest that the fall of Adam and Eve was unavoidable. "Our results were conclusive," said the angel Gabriel, who led the study. "Of the 30,000 male test subjects we studied, we found literally 100% of them would happily accept and eat any piece of fruit handed to them by a woman who was naked. Even in cases where it wasn't fruit—or even edible—all the males gratefully accepted every single...

Exhausted passengers rush into the train car after waiting for hours at Kyiv’s central railway station on March 1, 2022. (Asami Terajima National Kyiv train station mayhem as thousands rush to flee March 7, 2022 11:57 pm by Asami Terajima Exhausted passengers rush into the train car after waiting for hours at Kyiv’s central railway station on March 1, 2022. (Asami Terajima) Editor’s Note: Ukrainians mentioned in this story were reluctant to have their full names published in the press due to security risks brought by the Russian invasion. Thousands of people spend hours at Kyiv’s central railway station, each...

LISBON/BERLIN (Reuters) - Already struggling with rising living costs, Europeans now face an even deeper hit to their livelihoods as the conflict in Ukraine pushes fuel and food prices higher and threatens to undermine a fragile economic recovery. The surging price of crude oil on world markets has led to the biggest ever weekly jump in gasoline prices at some service stations around Europe, pushing them in some cases above 2 euros for a litre ($8.25/gallon) of unleaded fuel. "The problem is not the price it will be tomorrow, but how much it (gasoline) will cost 15 days from now,...

Rick Bickling, The How Do Gardener, describes how inflation, rising fuel costs, and the Russia/Ukraine conflict will cause food prices to rise dramatically and how many items will just not be available. See what the experts are forecasting and see why you must start a garden now.

We were all shocked and horrified when the Daily Wire broke the story about the Loudoun County dad who was dragged out of a school board meeting for trying to speak out about the massive coverup of the rape of his daughter that occurred in the girls’ bathroom by a gender-fluid boy in a skirt. But that’s not the only horror Loudoun County schools have been hiding. Luke Rosiak, the same reporter who broke the rape story is back at it again, and this time he uncovered how a Loudoun County school official called Child Protective Services on a dad...

Two New York state lawmakers have proposed an ammunition excise tax of .02 to .05 per round. If passed, the bill would make New York the only state in the nation to enforce a tax on ammo. Revenue from the measure, introduced by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Pat Fahy (D-Albany) would pay for the newly created research fund dedicated to studying gun violence under the state Department of Health and the State University of New York. The state has seen a sharp increase in violent crimes, especially in New York City, which officials blame in part on...

FIRST WEEK OF LENT MATTHEW 6:7-15 Friends, the Gospel for today is of great significance, for in it the Son of God teaches us to pray. We hear from not just a guru, a spiritual teacher, or a religious genius, but from the very Son of God. This is why the Our Father, the Lord’s Prayer, is the model of all prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer for the Christian journey which has been offered up consistently for the past two thousand years. Think for a moment how this prayer links us to all of the great figures in...

Honestly, did you think Joe Biden could be as incompetent as he has been? I knew he would be bad, his combination of senility and stupidity was never going to lead anywhere good, but to be this systemically bad on everything is almost more of a skill than an accident. You’d really have to try to suck as badly as he does. You would think that sooner or later he’d hit bottom, after all, there’s only so much sucking someone can do, right? You’d be right to think that, but wrong if you did. Every single day, when the President...

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - Sky-high oil prices resulting from a potential Russian oil import ban could force governments to pour more cash into fossil fuel subsidies to shield consumers from rising energy bills, rather than use the money to fight climate change. Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising energy costs had triggered a wave of subsidies despite countries agreeing to rein them in at the COP26 climate conference in November. "The last thing that governments want to do is increase any subsidies for fossil fuel use but they have to be sensitive to the price shock," said Ben...

Last night was our monthly prepping zoom call with preppers from all around the country participating. This group consists of about 300 preppers ranging from complete novices to grizzled veterans. Of course the subject of Ukraine/Russia conflict was the main point of discussion. The first speaker is a well-established prepper in the group who has family ties back to Ukraine. His report was sobering. He has family in various parts of Ukraine that he has managed to stay in touch with you during this almost 2 week crisis. It is his take that people that are in the cities are...

​A South Korean naval ship fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that crossed into contested waters west of the Korean Peninsula, according to a report on Tuesday. ​ The patrol boat retreated after the South Korean vessel opened fire, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Seoul’s military. ​

Former California Governor Jerry Brown urged the U.S. not to expand domestic oil and gas production to help in the crisis triggered by the ongoing Russian war because climate change is like a war that will kill people over a long period of time. Brown, who made climate change the focus of his last two terms in office before leaving office in 2019, has not made many forays into public debate since leaving the political scene. But he wants the U.S. to keep restricting fossil fuel production.

America has become a nation of pernicious lies, and it is increasingly mandatory that the citizens not only embrace the lies, but also espouse and defend them. Those who dare refuse to comply are ostracized and publicly castigated by the led-by-the-nose politically correct, who are as legitimately ignorant as they are illegitimate to all that made America a nation of godly values. Lies and ignorance are the order of the day, and both malignancies are cultivated from the womb. Such was the conversation our son and I had a few days ago. I'm cut from the DNA of my parents...

A large study of more than 36,000 high-quality MRI brain scans has found that drinking four units of alcohol a day – two beers, or two glasses of wine – causes structural damage and brain volume loss equivalent to 10 years of aging. The science on alcohol consumption can be confusing and overwhelming. A quick scroll through our coverage over the years will tell you it directly causes cancer, but also reduces inflammation and helps to flush toxins out of the brain. It stunts growth in developing brains by nearly 50 percent, it permanently damages your DNA and is confidently...

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Gas prices are now the most expensive in United States history after another jump overnight, according to AAA. AAA said early Tuesday morning, the national average rose to $4.17 per gallon up from $4.06 per gallon. We’re told the rise in prices is all due to high demand, inflation, and the war in Ukraine. The spike is impacting the Upstate too, which normally has lower than average prices. The Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) says a national average of $5 dollars per gallon is possible.

A federal judge last week ruled that a cellphone dragnet used to find bank robbery suspects was unconstitutional. Judge M. Hannah Lauck, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, ruled Thursday that authorities violated the Constitution when they used Google location data to find people who were near the scene of a 2019 bank robbery, NBC News reported. Lauck said the policing approach, by gathering information on innocent people without evidence that they might be suspects violated the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable searches.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov say Russia will halt military action if Kiev meets four conditions. In an interview on Monday, Peskov said Moscow could “end war immediately” if Ukraine agreed to sign a neutrality agreement that would bar it from entering NATO, recognized Crimea as Russian, recognized the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent, and ceased all military action.