Free Republic

LATEST March 10, 5:14 p.m. After the publication of this article, Michael Tilson Thomas' publicist told SFGATE that while Thomas lost the opportunity to guest conduct Alexander Malofeev — who was scheduled to open the three shows in question — he was still able to conduct the rest of the symphony.March 10, 2:55 p.m. Michael Tilson Thomas, the former music director of the San Francisco Symphony who now serves as music director laureate, was collateral damage when the Montreal Symphony Orchestra canceled performances by a popular Russian pianist whom Thomas was slated to perform with. 20-year-old Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev...

US President Joe Biden has announced a ban on imports of Russian diamonds, seafood and vodka in the latest response to Russia's war in Ukraine. He also said Western allies plan to revoke Russia’s status as an equal trade partner, paving the way for further economic punishment. The moves add to sanctions that have isolated Russia economically since the invasion. Its currency has collapsed, while global firms rush to exit the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin has likened Western sanctions on banks and oligarchs to a declaration of war. Moscow has also threatened to nationalise production plants or factories where...

On top of everything else, now a highly pathogenic avian influenza pandemic is ripping across the United States, and it has already resulted in the deaths of almost 2.8 million birds. Most of the birds that have died have been chickens or turkeys. With new outbreaks in Iowa and Missouri, nearly 2.8 million birds — almost entirely chickens and turkeys — have died in one month due to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the Agriculture Department said on Monday.Since 1997, bird flu has had about a 50 percent death rate in humans.

LOWELL — Jack Kerouac was born March 12, 1922, and Lowell’s native son would go on to inspire the Beat Generation. To officially mark the life and legacy of Kerouac’s work, three federal lawmakers are introducing a resolution to remember Kerouac in advance of his 100th birthday on Saturday. U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Third, of Westford, will shepherd the resolution in the House. Democrat Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren will sponsor the resolution in the Senate. In an interview Wednesday, Trahan said the Mill City can be seen throughout Kerouac’s writings. She recalls Kerouac’s description of the St. Jean...

The first stop of Kamala’s two-day trip to Europe was Poland. She met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and President Andzrej Duda. Later in the day, she met refugees from Ukraine and the US embassy in Ukraine’s staff. Her last meeting was with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was also in Warsaw. The idea of sending Kamala to Poland to show American commitment to our relationship with Poland, especially after the botched fighter jet transfer may have been ill-considered.

Indian news agency Asian News International reports the Indian military accidentally fired an unarmed missile into Pakistan, calling the incident "deeply regrettable." The defense ministry said the "accidental firing" was due to a "technical malfunction."On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry: Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence went on to say the missile landed in Pakistan, but there was no loss of life due to the accident.India has said the...

We recently spoke to Kamala Harris, and she agreed to explain complex concepts to our readers. Now, you can learn about everything from Bitcoin to Batman in terms even you can understand. Thanks, Kam— KAMALA: I'm SPEAKING. Oh. Sorry, Madame Vice President. Anyway, here are her explanations: Water: Water is wet. It is not dry. We call water from the sky "rain". You can drink it. Traffic lights: Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow is kind of a gray area. The skinny man in the light pole changes the signal. He is probably racist. Speaking: I'm speaking. Okay, I'm...

<p>There are a lot of bad decisions you might make if a deer appears in front of you in the road while you’re driving. You’ll be startled, it will freeze, and your brain will sound the alarm that you should do something now—but please, avoid the urge to swerve around it.</p>

After briefly rising above $40,000 this morning following the earlier (and now forgotten) report of some soothing words from Putin over the Ukraine conflict, Bitcoin and the broader crypto sector has slumped to session lows...... following a Reuters report that crypto firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are being flooded with requests to "liquidate billions of dollars of virtual currency" as Russians seek a safe haven for their fortunes.According to the report - which cites company executives and financial sources - some Russians are using cryptocurrency to "invest in real estate" in the UAE, while others want to use...

In a primetime Oval Office address, President Donald Trump announces a 30-day travel ban on foreign travel to the U.S. from most European countries as COVID-19 cases surge across the globe. --SNIP-- Spreading to almost every country, more than 450 million people have contracted the virus worldwide, and 6 million have died from it

Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff has been forced to defend her decision to contact the State Attorney about Jussie Smollett prior to his 16 charges being suddenly dropped. Tina Tchen issued a statement saying she was simply putting ‘the chief prosecutor in the case in touch with an alleged victim’s family’ when she contacted Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Tchen said: ‘Shortly after Mr. Smollett reported he was attacked, as a family friend, I contacted Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who I also know from prior work together. ‘My sole activity was to put the chief prosecutor...

As The Gateway Pundit reported last night — Russia called to convene the United Nations Security Council this morning to present evidence of military biological activities by the United States in Ukraine. ** The presentation will start at 11 AM ET on Friday morning. Russian Mission asked for a meeting of #SecurityCouncil for 11 March to discuss the military biological activities of the US on the territory of #Ukraine https://t.co/51LOJwi6zy — Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) March 10, 2022 US officials have offered varying responses to Russia’s claims. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, for example, told lawmakers on...

The overuse of financial sanctions risks much of the world losing confidence in the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.America cutting off Russia’s central bank from its U.S. dollar reserves could carry huge consequences that the D.C. establishment hasn’t considered.Here’s how the Wall Street Journal’s Jon Sindreu framed what happened: “After Moscow attacked Ukraine last week, the U.S. and its allies shut off the Russian central bank’s access to most of its $630 billion of foreign reserves. Weaponizing the monetary system against a Group-of-20 country will have lasting repercussions.”Reserves are globally accepted foreign currency that a foreign central bank holds...

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept an offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin, which would require Kyiv to make significant consessions in order to end Moscow's invasion, the Walla news site report. Walla does not divulge the details of Putin's offer, but pervious reports from the news site said that Putin is demanding an independent Donbas region, but stopping short of regime change in Ukraine. "If I were you, I would think about the lives of my people and take the offer," Bennett told Zelensky during a phone call on Tuesday, according to a senior...

Late last night and as Rebecca reported, Congress passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package. It clocked in at 2,741 pages, which lawmakers didn't have a chance to read before voting. As usual, the bill is packed with non-essential, pet projects funded by the American taxpayer. Just tipsy skimming through the omnibus.$200,000,000 for the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund$50,000,000 for the Women’s Leadership Fund.We are thirty f**king trillion dollars in debt pic.twitter.com/9ZRKTFUudq— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) March 10, 2022Help me understand this one....the Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection fees get hit by COVID.And therefore taxpayers have to give them a $250...

Remember how Republicans "pounced" in so many news articles that it became a laughable cliché to the extent that, in order to avoid more mockery, it was replaced by "seized?" Well, perhaps "seized" has also worn out its welcome because now Politico has a new term to mean the same as the other two: "pile."That is the term Politico used on Wednesday to describe what those nasty Republicans are doing in reaction to Joe Biden now begging Venezuela for oil in "Venezuela talks strike political nerve in Florida."

Stepping up the economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as he continues to attack Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced Friday that in conjunction with other G-7 nations and the European Union, the U.S. will move to revoke "most favored nation" trade status for Russia. "As Putin continues his merciless assault, the United States and allies and partners continue to work in lockstep to ramp up the economic pressures on Putin and to further isolate Russia in the global stage," Biden said from the White House. "Revoking PNTR (permanent normal trade relations) for Russia is gonna make it harder for...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul blamed the recent shooting death of Jason Rivera, a New York City police officer, on “a shot from an illegal gun.” In this strange passive voice, the Democratic governor didn’t mention the officer by name, but concluded that the true threat facing New York City was “the scourge of illegal guns on our streets.” By refusing to state that an actual person acted viciously and illegally in killing a police officer, Hochul asked us to believe in a lie. Obviously, that lie’s utility rests in its redefinition of violent crime as a problem stemming from...

President Biden on Friday warned that Russia would pay a severe price if it launched a chemical weapons attack during its invasion into Ukraine. “I’m not going to speak about the intelligence… but Russia would pay a severe price if they use chemical weapons,” Biden said when asked if the U.S. would have a military response if Russian President Vladimir Putin launched such an attack. He didn’t comment further or mention if that response would include U.S. military involvement.

The elected officials who claim to champion women’s rights aren’t taking women’s justified fears seriously. It’s no accident that when Frank Abrokwa allegedly smeared his feces on a victim in a Bronx subway station on Feb. 21, the victim was a woman. Before the attack, the suspect tried to hit on his victim, saying, “How come you don’t want to talk to me?” She ignored him — so he committed a premeditated act of retaliation designed to humiliate and degrade. He fled the scene to poop into a bag, returned, and smeared the poop across his victim’s face, hair and...