Free Republic

The U.S. has increased its volume of crude oil imports from Russia by 40.6 percent when comparing the two-year average across the first 24 months of the Biden administration against the four-year average of the Trump administration, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest data. The annual average total of crude oil imports between 2016 and 2019 was 157,523,000 barrels, which rose 40.6 percent to 221,457,000 barrels per year, on average, across 2020 and 2021. Breitbart News reported that purchases of Russian oil exports by American companies have grown rapidly during the tenure of the Biden administration following U.S....

Justin Trudeau has faced criticism after he was photographed on Monday wearing a mask for Labour’s leader Keir Starmer and other political dignitaries but opted not to wear one while meeting 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth II. The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, 50, decided to wear a mask when meeting the head of Britain’s socialist Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, 59, despite both gentlemen not being classified as an at-risk group in regards to developing severe coronavirus symptoms upon contracting the virus.

In the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, those warning of the possible dangers of U.S. involvement were assured that such concerns were baseless. The prevailing line insisted that nobody in Washington is even considering let alone advocating that the U.S. become militarily involved in a conflict with Russia. That the concern was based not on the belief that the U.S. would actively seek such a war, but rather on the oft-unintended consequences of being swamped with war propaganda and the high levels of tribalism, jingoism and emotionalism that accompany it, was ignored. It did not matter...

Hamilton County (Ohio) Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey opposes Ohio residents being able to exercise the Second Amendment right to bear arms without first acquiring a permit from the government. McGuffey’s opposition comes as legislation to remove the permit requirement for concealed carry has made its way to Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) desk. On March 3, 2022, Breitbart News reported constitutional carry legislation was headed to DeWine’s desk, giving Ohio the opportunity to become the 22nd constitutional carry state. The Hill reports that Sheriff McGuffey is opposed to the move. She suggests constitutional carry will lead to vigilantism and greater challenges in...

A man was reportedly booted from a JetBlue flight for wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” mask. Video posted on social media shows the man changing the mask, but he was still ordered off the flight. Criticizing the Biden Administration is a big no-no on some domestic air carriers. Although, it’s possible the man’s name is Brandon — and the mask could be a sign of self-affirmation

Republicans were absolutely fooled when Lindsey Graham used his Kavanaugh, pro-Trump, “give me money to fight for you” schtick to win re-election in 2020. Republicans need to remember who betrays them and act accordingly. Stop rewarding betrayal during primaries.— Prince of Doges 🇺🇸 (@princeofdoges) March 8, 2022Is there a "Brutus" out there who will primary Lindsey Graham?— Coop (@ClownPopper) March 4, 2022Lindsey “Sissy” Graham is a maggot. Any South Carolinian that votes for him is a moron. There are better Republicans out there. Primary this swamp sucker. https://t.co/PCrSOv8Brt— Jim Martin (@JimMart94591668) March 5, 2022Let’s not forgot that Lindsey Graham also...

Ukrainian women have sent a chilling Women’s Day message in which they say they will avenge every child killed in Russia’s invasion of their country. Posting a video on TikTok, the six women holding machine guns and assault rifles and dressed in combat fatigues against the backdrop of a Ukrainian flag say they will ‘destroy the enemy on every inch of Ukrainian land.’ The video begins with a woman whose face is covered by a battle scarf saying: ‘We are women of Ukraine. ‘We have blessed our men to protect our land. ‘We have already taken our children to safety,...

Humankind has a responsibility to exercise good stewardship over this creation. Our world is God's gift to us. So we should look to our greatest minds for inspiration in this task. Thomas Paine is one of those intelligences.

McDonald’s announced Tuesday it will temporarily close 850 locations in Russia, nearly two weeks after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. CEO Chris Kempczinski wrote in a letter to franchisees and employees that the chain will pause all operations in Russia. However, it will continue to pay its 62,000 Russian employees, and its Ronald McDonald House Charities will continue to operate. In recent days, the fast-food giant has drawn criticism for staying silent on the war, given its relatively large Russian footprint. McDonald’s restaurants in Russia and Ukraine account for 2% of its systemwide sales, roughly 9% of its revenue and 3%...

President Joe Biden said the ban is a 'powerful blow to Putin's war machine' during White House remarks The ban will be levied by the US alone without European Union allies, which rely more on Russian energy Biden used their reliance on Russian oil and gas as a reason to accelerate the move toward clean energy, which he said 'will mean that no one has to worry about price at the gas pump in the future' American markets only bought 3.5 percent of their crude oil from Russia last year, with most from Canada Domestic gas prices have skyrocketed since...

Among executives, board members, analysts and others in the business world in recent days, a “who’s who” list has been floating around, showing which companies have pulled out of Russia amid its attack on Ukraine — and which ones have stayed put. The spreadsheet, compiled by Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team, has become a naughty-or-nice list of sorts, with CEOs trying their best to avoid being placed on the roster of “Companies That Remain in Russia With Significant Exposure.” Sonnenfeld, who founded the nonprofit Chief Executive Leadership Institute, said he has fielded calls from CEOs asking...

Communism and Nazism Are Now Legally Synonymous in Ukraine The ruling appears to pave the way for the removal of most of the remaining communist monuments and landmarks bearing Soviet names. It also prohibits the use of Nazi and communist symbols. heir names still haunt us. Chelmno. Belzec, Sobibor. Treblinka. Auschwitz. Dachau. Majdanek. They stir images of the horrors of Nazi killing centers, where millions of Jews, Poles, Soviet POWs, and gypsies were systematically killed in one of the great horrors of the twentieth century. For many of us, this imagery is associated exclusively with Hitler and his Nazi minions....

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles and equipment of both sides can be seen below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.

Andrey Kozyrev laid out reasons why Putin may have misjudged his invasion of Ukraine. He says Putin overestimated Russia's military, not realizing its budget had been embezzled. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has stalled amid tough Ukrainian resistance. A former Russian foreign minister claimed that widespread corruption is among the reasons for the Russian military's apparently poor performance in the invasion of Ukraine. Andrey Kozyrev, who served as foreign minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, put forward what he said were misjudgments made by President Vladimir Putin in ordering the invasion. In the thread, he claims Putin overestimated the...

Justice Clarence Thomas issued a statement on Monday about the denial of certiorari in the Jane Doe v. Facebook case. In his statement, Justice Thomas called for the Supreme Court to “address the proper scope of immunity under §230 in an appropriate case” available to Big Tech. Justice Thomas narrated that it’s “hard to see” why section 230 is protecting the Big Tech from liability for companies’ “own ‘acts and omissions.’ “It is hard to see why the protection §230(c)(1) grants publishers against being held strictly liable for third parties’ content should protect Facebook from liability for its own “acts...

Email on communications policy reminds worker of responsibility to ‘be impartial’ The United Nations has emailed staff advising them not to refer to the situation in Ukraine as a “war” or “invasion”, in a move to balance political sensitivities as powerful member state Russia cracks down domestically on those who use the words. Instead, UN staff have been instructed to use the terms “conflict” or “military offensive” to describe Russia’s invasion of its neighbour, which has killed hundreds of civilians and forced two million people to flee the country. In an email to staff on Monday, the UN communications department...

New CNN boss Chris Licht has issued warnings to key figures at the network, including agents of the stars and reporters, according to multiple media reports. Licht has reportedly told top CNN hosts, including Don Lemon and Jim Acosta, that they must “tone down” their “opinionated reporting.” Sources tell The Daily Beast that Licht, who officially takes over in May, is also calling for a truce with Fox News. Such a truce has already been evidenced by Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s Reliable Sources and one whose job is rumored to be on the chopping block, who has mentioned Fox...

Why is Putin doing this?...The driving forces behind it, that gain most attention in the Western media, are: hankering after restoring the lost empire of the Soviets and the tsars; fear of further eastern expansion of NATO; opposition to the growing influence of the EU and its democratic and law-based principles in Moscow’s backyard (given the authoritarian nature of the Putin regime); desire to crush a democratic state which embodies principles alien to the present regime in Russia; an attempt to rally support for Putin as the coalition of the dissatisfied grows in Russia; the desire of an ageing authoritarian...

The Ohio attorney who published Department of Defense (DOD) data to expose spikes in vaccine injuries has put the Biden administration on legal notice. Lawyer Thomas Renz revealed the DOD data in January during a panel hosted by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). The Defense Department data exposes a massive spike in serious injuries and illnesses among military personnel when the vaccines were rolled out in 2021. On Monday, Renz issued a special notice to the federal government with nearly 200 pages of evidence. Renz says the evidence of government corruption regarding COVID-19 amounts to the “greatest fraud” in history. Renz...

MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, COLLEEN LONG and MICHAEL BALSAMO Tue, March 8, 2022, 6:49 PM·4 min read WASHINGTON (AP) — A leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was arrested Tuesday on a conspiracy charge for his suspected role in a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Henry “Enrique” Tarrio wasn’t there when the riot erupted on Jan. 6, 2021. Police had arrested Tarrio in Washington two days before the riot and charged him with vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a protest in...