Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued to plead for Western assistance against Russian airstrikes Tuesday — a day after he warned that there could be dire consequences for the rest of the world if it doesn’t support the country’s fight for freedom. “While Russians are to blame for the killings, responsibility is shared by those who for 13 days in their Western offices haven’t been able to approve an obviously necessary decision, who didn’t save our cities from these bombs and missiles — although they can,” Zelensky said. [cut] In an interview with ABC’s David Muir on Monday night, Zelensky said...

... The CIA director said Putin premised his war on four false assumptions: he thought Ukraine was weak, he believed Europe was distracted and wouldn't mount a strong response, he thought Russia's economy was prepared to withstand sanctions, and that Russia's military had been modernized and would fight effectively. "He's been proven wrong on every count," said Burns, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2005-8.

In his USAWatchdog.com interview just two weeks ago, legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong said, The New World Order’s so-called ‘Great Reset’ plan for humanity is ‘falling apart,’ and pointed out, “They are basically desperate at this stage. I don’t think they anticipated the amount of resistance they are getting.” The Russian invasion of Ukraine is enormous resistance to the New World Order plans. Armstrong, who has new data from his Socrates computer analysis, is out with a fresh critical update. Armstrong explains, “It’s just total insanity. They are, really at this stage, completely collapsing the world economy....

Russia is considering handing out licenses to use foreign software, database, and chip design patents, and legalizing software copyright violations, in response to sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. According to Russian business publication Kommersant, a government document drafted on March 2 outlines possible actions to support the Russian economy, which faces extensive trade restrictions from the US, the UK, and Europe, and business withdrawals. With companies like Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP halting sales (though not ending service to existing customers), Russia has instituted tax breaks for technology firms and conscription deferments for IT workers to retain its...

Democratic Assemblymember Jim Cooper, who represents the 9th District — which includes parts of Sacramento and San Joaquin counties — was found with a loaded pistol last week, Transportation Security Administration officials confirmed to Politico. Cooper, a former sheriff’s deputy, told the political news outlet he was legally able to possess a firearm in an airport. His office also said that the pistol was in his bag by accident. TSA regulations forbid the possession of a loaded firearm in checked or carry-on baggage but permit carrying a firearm and ammunition separately in checked baggage. Politico also notes that “a retired...

The threat of further sanctions on Russia has caused global crude oil prices to surge. U.S. business cycle history suggests that a sharp spike in oil prices may portend a recession. That the Federal Reserve missed the window of opportunity last year to painlessly remove monetary accommodation and initiate monetary tightening has made the current situation particularly dicey. With inflation rates already at 40-year highs, and yet to peak, a stagflationary outcome is hard to rule out.

Iran reports unusually: Two Revolutionary Guards fighters killed in Israeli attack yesterday morning in Damascus pic.twitter.com/to3EEmKeGp— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) March 8, 2022

There is a known $41 billion in Credit Default Swaps (CDS) on Russian debt. There is likely many billions more in unknown amounts. There are also billions more in Credit Default Swaps on state-owned Russian corporate debt and non state-owned Russian corporate debt. In addition to Wall Street not knowing which global banks and other financial institutions are on the hook to pay out on the Credit Default Swap protection they sold in case of a Russian sovereign debt default (or Russian corporate debt default), there is also approximately $100 billion of Russian sovereign debt (whose default is looking more...

The first Israeli special forces veterans arrived in Ukraine to fight on the side of Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said she expects COVID-19 to become seasonal like influenza. “I do anticipate that this is probably going to be a seasonal virus,” she told NBC News on Monday. Her comment appears to be her first public acknowledgment that CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus cases increase or drop depending on the season. COVID-19 is caused by the CCP virus. Walensky further said that she believes that U.S. officials will likely recommend or mandate masks, coming more than a week after the CDC moved to loosen its mask recommendation requirements for most...

There are some pretty prominent bugs on Truth Social. It's clear it's still very much a beta app. Like I mentioned earlier, there doesn't appear to be a working direct messages feature. The search function doesn't appear to work particularly well either. For example, when I searched for the user "Trump," I was inundated with profiles from fans of the former president. Yet, not a single profile belonging to the Trump family – not even Donald Trump himself – appeared in the results. After publishing a "truth," it took quite a few refreshes for my post to show up on...

*** Not just for the reason Brzezinski illustrated, but because of a concept known as ‘nuclear primacy’ - a nuclear power can defeat another by eliminating its nuclear weapons before they can be launched against them. The reason why NATO ABM sites have been built in Poland and Romania is to push their reach closer to Russia’s European borders, the part where most Russian citizens live. This already increases the threat to Russia immensely, and has informed their military tech research and manufacturing to focus on anti-missile defence and away from conventional threats. *** This crisis was not about Ukraine....

California will soon lift the mask mandate for children in schools and child care facilities, but experts say the move is premature.

In January 1937, the University of Lausanne (UNIL) awarded Benito Mussolini an honorary doctorate. A group of Vaud politicians on Tuesday called for the academic title to be revoked. Mussolini was awarded the university honorary doctorate “for having conceived and realised in his homeland a social organisation which has enriched sociological science and which will leave a profound mark on history”. The award was made to coincide with the university’s 400th anniversary. The academic title sparked criticism at the time - and continues to do so. On Tuesday a leftwing group of politicians filed a motion in the Vaud parliament...

A medium-chain fatty acid found in energy drinks might one day help protect against heart attack injuries. "Heart attacks are still a leading cause of death worldwide, that often come with devastating complications," said Zhong Wang, Ph.D., an associate professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center, who is the senior author on a recent preclinical study in eLife. "Better options are needed to reduce injury to the heart after a heart attack, and even improve heart function. In this publication, we target the interplay between energy metabolism and epigenetics mediated by the medium chain fatty...

Starbucks suspends all business in Russia as Putin’s forces attack Ukraine This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

Gasoline is now at the highest price ever recorded. The average cost of a retail gallon of unleaded gasoline hit $4.173, according to the AAA, with many regions far exceeding that price

Ok fellow Freepers. Drag out the junk box and dust of the Key and Dipole. I believe this is about to get nasty and communications in a cyberattack will be target one.

President Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on all imports of Russian oil, gas and energy to the United States, targeting "the main artery" of Russia’s economy amid President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine.

THE CATHOLIC MONITOR Roaming Catholics - ROSARY POWER On October 12/13/1960 another major intercession by Mary is believed to have possibly prevented the world from nuclear destruction. Well, here is what happened. On the night between October 12 and 13, right after his shoe-pounding episode, Khrushchev suddenly pulled up stakes and enplaned in all haste for Moscow, cancelling all subsequent engagements, Why? Marshall Nedelin, the best minds in Russia on nuclear energy and several government officials were present for the final testing of the missile that was going to be presented to Khrushchev. When countdown was completed, the missile, for...