Free Republic

Beneath the gold onion domes of the Danilov Monastery a few miles south of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin’s chief shaman explains why Russia is hell-bent on destroying Ukraine. “If we see [Ukraine] as a threat, we have the right to use force to ensure the threat is eradicated,” Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill recently preached to his church’s 90 million faithful followers. “We have entered into a conflict which has not only physical but also metaphysical significance. We are talking about human salvation, something much more important than politics.” The wartime coalition between Putin and his patriarch is called symphonia, an...

The percentage of white-collar workers in New York City office buildings remains abysmal. Workers aren't returning, and it's crushing the local economy.NYC's 7.6% unemployment rate is shockingly high compared with the rest of the country (nationwide average of 3.8%) as an economic recovery is slow to materialize, according to Bloomberg. There could be a muted recovery without five-day-a-week commuters because their impact on the local economy is substantial. Keycard swipes tracked by security company Kastle Systems show NYC offices are about 36% occupied, far below pre-COVID levels. Even as companies announced return-to-office dates, many implemented a hybrid work model that...

The Biden administration is preparing to unveil as early as this week a plan to expedite and streamline the resettlement of some Ukrainian refugees in the U.S., three sources familiar with the plan said. The plan would allow vulnerable Ukrainians, specifically activists, journalists and those who are part of the LGBTQ community, to safely enter the U.S. at least temporarily. It would also expedite the reunification of Ukrainians with U.S.-based family members, the sources said. The exact authority President Joe Biden would use to speed the passage of Ukrainians remains unclear, the sources said.

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday that it "strongly condemns" what it called Russia's "orchestration of a sham trial" against Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny after a court found him guilty of large-scale fraud and contempt of court, a move likely to extend Navalny's jail time by years.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson came up against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as her SCOTUS hearing continued on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It did not go well.Cruz exposed multiple contradictions in her statements during questioning.According to Townhall, Jackson was asked about Critical Race Theory (CRT) and she denied having anything to do with it. “I’ve never studied Critical Race Theory, and I’ve never used it, it doesn’t come up in the work that I do as a judge,” Jackson declared.But Cruz pointed out that she gave a speech in 2015 saying CRT was a factor in sentencing, like other...

ALEXANDR DUGIN, top Russian philosopher, on the war in Ukraine: "... This is not a war with Ukraine. It's a comparison with globalism as a whole planetary phenomenon. It’s a comparison on all levels - geopolitical and ideological. Russia rejects everything in globalism - unipolarism, atlantism, on the one hand, and liberalism, anti-tradition, technocracy, Grand Reset in one word, on the other. It is clear that all European leaders are part of the Atlantic liberal elite. And we’re at war with this exactly. Here's their legitimate reaction. Russia is now excluded from the globalist networks. She has no choice anymore:...

System set up outside Iran’s borders conducted tens of billions in banned trade, according to documents, intelligence officials WASHINGTON—Iran established a clandestine banking and finance system to handle tens of billions of dollars in annual trade banned under U.S.-led sanctions, enabling Tehran to endure the economic siege and giving it leverage in multilateral nuclear talks, according to Western diplomats, intelligence officials and documents. The system, which comprises accounts in foreign commercial banks, proxy companies registered outside the country, firms that coordinate the banned trade, and a transaction clearinghouse within Iran, has helped Tehran resist the Biden administration’s pressure to rejoin...

(from our own FReeper, LS - news and links) !~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN POLITICAL NEWS 1) The Trumpster continues with winning picks, as Russell Fry, his selection for a House seat in South Carolina, is now leading Tom Rice, an impeachment supporter, by 20 points. 2) Predictably, The Hill has proclaimed that Republicans have ramped up support for candidates snubbed by Trump. -Yep. And we’re seeing what their “ramped up” support is worth. 3) Biteme proclaims there will be a New World Order. -Well, not if voters have any say. ...more!

A district judge, appointed by former President Donald Trump, has blocked President Joe Biden’s so-called “sanctuary country” orders that have successfully protected millions of illegal aliens from arrest and deportation over the last year.

A woman has been charged with murder and driving under the influence in a fatal interstate collision that killed two state troopers and a pedestrian in Pennsylvania. Jayana Tanae Webb, 21, was hit with a battery of felony charges on Tuesday after she allegedly rammed the troopers on I-95 just moments after they had pulled her over on suspicion of drunk driving. In January, Webb had boasted on Twitter: 'If you ask me, I'm the best drunk driver ever.' Surrounded by steely-faced troopers, Webb hunched over silently in a grey hoodie as she was escorted out of the Pennsylvania State...

Disney has been facing both internal and external backlash for CEO Bob Chapek not doing enough to fight Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which blocks educators from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with students in third grade or below. On Monday, Chapek told employees about the company’s plan for the task force. “We know the moment requires urgency – and words are not enough,” said Chapek, according to a recording of his remarks obtained by Reuters. “So we are taking some actions right now.” According to Reuters, “The company said the task force will enlist the help of...

“Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom” (Proverbs 23:4).

Republican Representative Jim Jordan is demanding FBI Director Christopher Wray appear before Congress to answer allegations the agency improperly spied on political figures and others. Jordan, along with two other GOP representatives, sent a letter to Wray on Monday in response to a Washington Times' report that the agency violated its own safeguards on preventing undue spying. Jordan, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has previously accused the FBI of launching politically motivated investigations. The letter references a March 11 report by The Washington Times based on an audit...

The US Attorney's Office on Tuesday accidentally published a list of alleged clients of the student prostitute in the Sarah Lawrence 'sex cult' case DailyMail.com acquired a copy of the list of 121 names which was taken down nearly as fast as it was put up The list, which was entered into evidence in the trial under seal, includes lawyers and businessmen and socialites throughout the Tri-state area Alleged clients include a Metropolitan Transit Authority executive, an account executive at Amazon, and a former New York State Supreme Court judge The Justice Department later sent out an email admitting the...

President responds to any criticism with reprisals, leaving business leaders with diminished influence. Vladimir Putin gathered the country’s top businessmen in the Kremlin’s ornate Hall of the Order of St Catherine to discuss their response to the economic shocks that would follow. The Russian president, seated about 20ft away in a conspicuous social-distancing measure, told them he had “no other choice” but to invade Ukraine — and, if they wanted to keep their businesses, neither did they, according to people briefed on the meeting. “It was a pointless meeting. The main idea was to explain himself. The explanation was: ‘I...

We reported earlier about the second day of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee for SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. I wrote earlier about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) exposing some of the problems in Judge Jackson’s answers. But Jackson also got into some trouble when she was asked about why she imposed lenient sentences for child porn offenders. Here’s one of the troubling answers that she gave on Monday, suggesting that the reason that she may have gone lighter on some of the sentences was that she thought the sentencing guidelines were outdated or not keeping up with the nature...

Joe Biden’s Executive Order on March 09, 2022, reenergized the social media buzz over digital currencies to the point that many far-left national socialist media sources began talking as though this dangerous threat to liberty is now inevitable. Part of the problem is that we have a classic case of bait and switch in progress, replacing the anonymity and ease of use of cash and coin with a technological nightmare that will eviscerate freedom and individual civil rights. Your friendly neighborhood government oligarchs are only too happy to cynically exploit the goodwill built up over the years by Bitcoin and...

U.S. companies has struggled with supply chain congestion, bottlenecks, and the inability to adequately re-stock certain items that roiled the automotive industry. As a result, new car production has been hindered as consumers panic bought used cars, sending prices sky-high. On Feb. 9, we outlined a major inflection point for the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, a wholesale tracker of used car prices, possibly topping as peak supply chain constraints had passed and more parts would be readily available for automakers to restart and or increase output for new vehicles. At the time, we said this could reverse used car...

Charlie Kirk, founder of TPUSA, talk radio host and outspoken conservative commentator, was suspended from Twitter on Tuesday after identifying President Joe Biden's assistant health secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services as a man. "Richard Levine," Kirk wrote, "spent 54 years of his life as a man. He had a wife and family. He 'transitioned' to being a woman in 2011, Joe Biden appointed Levine to be a 4-Star Admiral, and now USA Today has named 'Rachel' Levine as a 'Woman of the Year'[.] Where are the feminists??" Twitter said that the tweet was in violation of...

New video captured by bystanders showed a group of assailants using what appeared to be sledgehammers to smash a Beverly Hills jewelry store's windows before snatching the jewelry on display and running Tuesday. Police were investigating in the 200 block of south Beverly Dr. Beverly Hills police said about five robbers rolled up in a stolen vehicle, and then used sledgehammers to smash the windows of a jewelry store. After quickly smashing the window, the group snatched handfuls of jewelry and ran. Aerial images from NewsChopper4 showed the business is called Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills. The thieves got away...