Free Republic

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Russia “would pay a severe price” if they used chemical weapons in Ukraine. Anchor Dana Bash said, “The U.S. said this week that Russia has the capacity for a chemical weapon attack in Ukraine. The Polish president said today that would be a game-changer. NATO would have to think seriously about what to do. Would the U.S. intervene more directly militarily if Russia uses chemical weapons in Ukraine?”

‘Equity’ is all the rage in education, but it might not be in the future. A legal case points the way. Louis K. Bonham writes at Minding the Campus: In the last few years, academia has utterly embraced the concept of “equity” as articulated by Ibram X. Kendi; i.e., that if a particular identity group is statistically under- or over-represented in anything, the reason for the imbalance is indisputably systemic discrimination, and thus positive discrimination to correct the imbalance is not only proper but mandatory. Indeed, many universities now require students and faculty to undergo indoctrination in this fallacious tripe...

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke spoke at SXSW (South by Southwest) on Saturday, a music festival and media event in Austin, Texas. O'Rourke is facing current Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a bid for governor, who he slammed as a "thug" in his SXSW discussion. "He's a thug, he's an authoritarian," O'Rourke said of Abbott on Saturday.

It was Read Across America week, and the second graders in the Hinds County School District in Mississippi were waiting for an administrator to read to them. The administrator had forgotten it was her turn, said Toby Price, the assistant principal at Gary Road Elementary School in Hinds County, who was in his office at the time. He decided to fill in. Mr. Price, 46, quickly grabbed a book — “I Need a New Butt!” by Dawn McMillan, one of his children’s favorites — and began reading it to the roughly 240 second graders over Zoom. Later that day, on...

...Between November 27, 2021, and January 12, 2022, a total of 886,774 eligible persons infected with the omicron variant, 204,154 eligible persons infected with the delta variant, and 1,572,621 eligible test-negative controls were identified...vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease was higher for the delta variant than for the omicron variant. No effect against the omicron variant was noted from 20 weeks after two ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 doses, whereas vaccine effectiveness after two BNT162b2 doses was 65.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 63.9 to 67.0) at 2 to 4 weeks, dropping to 8.8% (95% CI, 7.0 to 10.5) at 25 or more weeks. Among...

A man who was denied entry to the Museum of Modern Art because his membership had been revoked became enraged, jumped over a desk and stabbed a woman and a man who work at the Midtown institution Saturday afternoon, police said. The attack, which unfolded shortly after 4 p.m., sent patrons running for the exits. Both victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital, and their injuries were not life-threatening, sources said. The suspect recently had his membership revoked from the Museum of Modern Art, according to authorities. ------- His membership was nixed as a result of two separate incidents involving disorderly...

THE NIGHT WATCHMAN Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job. Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions,and one person to do time studies. Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and...

A man indicted on a murder charge has reportedly been freed without bail, thanks to a Manhattan judge, while many New Yorkers support tougher bail laws. The New York Post reported Thursday: Eugene Clark was on parole when he was initially charged by cops with assault for the Sept. 20, 2020, pummeling of Ramon Luna, 67, who was knocked into a coma before dying from his injuries last August, police sources said. Clark, 54, allegedly socked Luna in the head, causing the victim to fall to the ground and lose consciousness at the intersection of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue...

In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden promoted electric vehicles (EVs), trumpeting his plans to establish “a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.” In so doing, Biden is unwittingly supporting the worst humanitarian abuses in the world. This is because of the way in which the materials used in manufacturing the batteries that power today’s EVs are obtained. To obtain a reasonable amount of power per pound of battery weight, EV manufacturers generally use various forms of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, so named because the battery’s positive electrode, called the cathode, is largely made...

The People's DutyFor me, the convoy has ended. As much as I can tell, it completed its mission to raise awareness of the vaccine mandates and to demand our human and individual rights. It had to be big enough to get the attention of the people, albeit through the media. It did that. It had to create media personalities of otherwise little-known people bringing truth to the people. It did that. The larger issues might take time, might need a coordinated effort by other truckers who are willing to turn the keys off for a few days or weeks to...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s election-year fight with fellow Republicans in the Legislature has spurred criticism she is neglecting her job to angle for the White House, but the resistance could actually be helping her national brand rather than tarnishing it. The first-term governor in recent weeks jetted to Florida to speak at a major gathering of conservative activists, announced on Fox News the release of an autobiography and blasted President Joe Biden’s energy policy as Russia invaded Ukraine. Back home, the politician trying to corner the label as the nation’s most conservative governor has faced...

The problem with elected officials isn't always the elected politician themselves, but their behind-the-scenes crew of so-called advisers, counselors and strategists. It's been said, though not anymore, that "behind every great man is a great woman." Oh, is that sexist? Well, too bad. Take, for example, one of our Founding Fathers and second president of the United States, John Adams. He would have never reached the heights he did without the intelligent counsel of his wife Abigail. But the opposite is also true. Behind every bad politician, or bad leaders of any kind, are often even worse advisers. Heck, even...

AN AMERICAN journalist has been killed by Russian troops while covering the war in Ukraine, according to police in Kyiv. Reporter Brent Renaud was reportedly shot dead in Irpin, just outside the capital. Andrey Nebitov, the head of the Kyiv region police, said the 51-year-old filmmaker "paid his life" for reporting on the invasion. Another journalist, thought to be Mr Renaud's colleague, was also reportedly injured in the attack. "A 51-year-old world-renowned media correspondent was shot in Irpen today," Nebitov said. "Another journalist is injured. Now they are trying to remove the victim from the war zone. "Of course, the...

just saw this on CNN...breaking story...that is all...

Pray For The Peace of JerusalemJames 11 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.Trials and Temptations 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you....

Over the last couple of days, basic World War II history seemed to have eluded a pair of academics who were offering commentary on Ukraine and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. While comparing Putin to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” Stanford University political science professor Michael McFaul — “a leading expert on Russia, American foreign policy, and democratic development around the world” according to his website — claimed that even as evil as the der Führer was, at least he didn’t murder his own people.

We must mourn the death of leadership in America. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy cautiously but brilliantly managed the United States — nay, the world — through the Cuban Missile Crisis on the brink of a nuclear World War III. Watching Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, I felt compelled to watch again the movie Thirteen Days bringing these moments to life. I believe that every American and certainly every decision-maker should re-watch this excellent movie. If your writer may offer my over-simplified distillation, it is this: JFK and his brain trust rejected the choice between Option A, surrender to...

Thousands of Russian tourists in Thailand are struggling to find a route home, Thai officials said Sunday, as international sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine hit holiday-makers. Russia's invasion in February provoked a host of international measures targetting businesses and banks, with some Russian carriers cancelling flights and global payment firms suspending services. Russians tourists have been among the largest group of visitors to return to Thailand's beachside resorts since pandemic restrictions eased, but many now find themselves without a return ticket. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) official Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya said 3,100 Russians were stuck in Phuket,...

The Bible In Paintings 2 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S MESSAGE E X O D U S CHAPTER 32 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off...

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany should rethink its ban on allowing new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea as it tries to reduce its dependence on Russian energy due to the invasion of Ukraine, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Sunday. Germany, which depends on Russia for two thirds of its natural gas imports, is urgently trying to boost alternative energy sources, including building its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. Lindner, however, said at least for a transitional period, Europe’s biggest economy will still need oil and gas. “Against the changed geopolitical background, I think it is...