Free Republic

Prayers up. FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who love and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. No 501c or other IRS non-profit status. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No third-parties -- not even the IRS -- trying to control what we do or say. We are self-funded, fiercely independent and enjoy our freedom to speak plainly in the support of God,...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) reacted to President Joe Biden’s ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil and gas by stating that Congress should monitor the profits of oil companies and “profit margins should not go up. That’s just oil companies gouging when they do that. So, we’re going to be on them on this.”

MANILA, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Cerberus will acquire for $300 million a debt-laden shipyard in the Philippines at a former U.S. navy base close to the South China Sea, the facility's trustee and two sources with knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday.The fate of the strategically located Subic Bay shipyard has been a national security concern for defence chiefs, with fears it could be taken over by state-run firms from China, with which the Philippines has a long history of mistrust.In 2019, at least eight foreign companies had expressed interest in the shipyard including two...

WASHINGTON — The first Jan. 6 defendant to take his case to trial has been found guilty on five counts related to his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who attempted to storm the U.S. Capitol while allegedly armed with a gun and zip ties, was convicted of all five counts he was charged with, including transport of a firearm in support of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding. Jurors began deliberating on Tuesday morning after a week-long trial in which they heard testimony from Reffitt's teenage son Jackson Reffitt, who...

The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Goverment, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America. At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes. The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the...

Something very strange is happening in Hong Kong. I am not the first to write about it, but I wanted to do a good job compiling the information and informing my readers so this post is somewhat complete. I will include additional reading below. Hong Kong’s stringent “Zero Covid” policy, stopped to work in mid-February and a “wall of cases” curve exploded in the territory. Now, we have seen such “walls of cases” before, but nothing close ever happened to deaths: [ MANY CHARTS AT LINK...............................] You can see that deaths per million in Hong Kong are basically three TIMES...

President Joe Biden announced his decision to ban oil imports from Russia at the White House on Tuesday, just days after his administration argued against the idea. “We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war,” Biden said, painting the decision as a moral one after Russian president Vladimir Putin escalated his war in Ukraine.

A captured Russian soldier has described how he was shot at and his comrade killed after fellow troops opened fire on them when they tried to protect Ukrainian civilians. In a video, the POW described how he and a lieutenant tried to save a woman in her 20s, and her mother, after Russian soldiers were given orders to fire on civilians on February 24 in Kharkiv. In the clip, the captured soldier claimed he was shot in the foot, and the lieutenant killed, when other troops realised the pair weren't shooting at civilians. It comes as a separate video showed...

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....