Free Republic

We are increasingly seeing a new term being used by thinking writers when it comes to both global and national politics. What is it, and how should we look at it? The term The Big Picture basically answers the question: “If we continue to follow this societal, economical, and cultural path, where do we end up as a society?” In reverse, you can use the concept to define the desired end state and work backward to see the necessary steps to attain it. There are two Big Pictures at play in America today, and they are totally incompatible. I call...

Odessa (Ukraine) (AFP) – Air strikes rocked Ukraine's strategic Black Sea port of Odessa early Sunday, AFP reporters said, but there were no casualties, according to the army. The Russian defence ministry confirmed the strike. "This morning, high-precision sea and air-based missiles destroyed an oil refinery and three storage facilities for fuel and lubricants near the city of Odessa, from which fuel was supplied to a group of Ukrainian troops in the direction of Mykolaiv," it said. At least three huge columns of black smoke and flames rose into the sky over an industrial zone. The rocket attacks came as...

The sixth stage of aligning NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's mirrors to its scientific instruments so they will create the most accurate and focused images possible has concluded. While the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) continues its cool down, optics teams have successfully aligned the rest of the observatory's onboard instruments to Webb's mirrors.

It was an optimistic Marine Le Pen campaigning in the Alsace region of France on Friday. Le Pen, the National Rally candidate for President, saying there is a "great dynamic" on the ground in her favor. She believes that with just over a week to go before the first round of voting many of the French are beginning to realize that Emmanuel Macron's re-election is not a foregone conclusion. Le Pen indicating that the old "demonizaton" of her as "far-right" will not work this time around. She says Macron has to answer for a record she calls "deplorable" when it...

The images of bodies lining the streets in a town outside of Kyiv have sparked horror in Ukraine and beyond. Meanwhile, efforts to evacuate residents from Mariupol continue to stall. DW has the latest. Images reveal mass graves and bodies lining streets in towns outside Kyiv Residents say departing Russian troops are killing civilians A Red Cross evacuation mission hopes to reach Mariupol later on Sunday This article was last updated at 11:09 GMT/UTC. EU Council President accuses Russia of massacre in Bucha Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, blamed Russia for "atrocities" committed in Bucha on...

Obamacare costs have more than tripled since its passage, according to a market observer. That's Joe Biden's 'big f---ing deal.' This wouldn't exactly be news to anyone who has to buy Obamacare health care insurance... But for perspective, here's the latest on the 2010 government health care takeover that had been so vaunted in the press as Your-Government-Here-To-Help: (tweet at link) Tripled? We've got 7.9% inflation at last count, so this 'tripling,' even over the course of 12 years, with compounding increments, tops that. So much for President Obama's claim that his signature health care bill would cut insurance costs...

The Talk Shows April 3rd, 2022 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Guest host Martha MacCallum: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas); Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.); Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. Panel: Ben Domenech; Susan Page; Whine Williams. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Hosted by Chuck U. Toad: Cankles - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Panel: Cornell Belcher; Leigh Ann Caldwell; Brad Todd; Amy Walter—just another easily forgotten group of angry Leftists slinging anti-American balderdash. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Margaret Brennan anchors: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. New York City Mayor Eric Adams; Rep. Jamie...

,/A>I first heard the phrase “Great Reset” way back in 2014. Christine Lagarde, who was head of the IMF at the time, was suddenly becoming very vocal about global centralization. It was an agenda that was generally only whispered about in the dark corners of institutional white papers and the secretive meetings of banking elites, but now these people were becoming rather loud about it. Lagarde was doing a Q&A at the World Economic Forum and the notion of the “Reset” was very deliberately brought up; what the project entailed was vague, but the basic root of it was a...

What hath Brandon wrought? It has been unseasonably cold in Washington D.C. this spring. The blossoms on the cherry tree on my front lawn had barely bloomed when a cold snap and heavy wind-driven rain scattered the petals all over my front lawn. I stepped out front to pick up a box of herbs left there to be planted when a neighbor passed by. I don’t know him very well, but his virtue signaling was a rather good clue as to where his sympathies lay. His lawn was peppered with signs: ”Biden-Harris,” “Hate has no Home Here,” “Build Bridges not...

KYIV OBLAST HAS BEEN LIBERATED! through the resilience and might of the Ukrainian military to now, on day 38 the Russians have been pushed out of northern ukraine near Kyiv where just days ago they had withdrawn 20% of their armed forces. Join me tonight as we discuss this amazing news that I cannot even believe!

New requirement comes as border agents are bracing for historic surges of illegal migrants Battered by COVID-19, waves of illegal immigrants and fears of even larger surges ahead, Customs and Border Protection officers have a new burden: they must now be sure to use proper pronouns for LGBTQI+ migrants. The new requirement was included Thursday at the bottom of a much larger announcement by the Homeland Security Department concerning changes instituted on International Trans Day of Visibility. “Facilitating effective communication at U.S. ports of entry and beyond: CBP has provided a job aid and memorandum to all staff that will...

In California, the first reparations panel in the nation has spent two years trying to decide which African-Americans are eligible for reparations. According to the Associated Press, the state’s panel on reparations, which was first created following a law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) in 2020, has been plagued with internal divisions over how many black Americans should receive financial compensation for alleged “racism.” Since it was first fomed in June, some of the panel’s nine members have argued that only direct descendants of actual slaves prior to the Civil War should receive handouts, while others call for a...

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The ban on entry to Sweden from countries outside the European Union/European Economic Area will not be extended and will cease to apply on Friday April 1, the country’s Ministry of Justice announced. This also means that the requirement to present vaccination and test certificates when entering Sweden will be removed. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, a temporary ban on entry into Sweden for foreign nationals traveling from countries outside the E.U./E.E.A. was introduced in March 2020. It has been regularly extended and the current entry ban applies until March 31, 2022. The Swedish government in its announcement...

Earlier this week, Denmark lifted the last of its COVID-19-related travel restrictions. Entry restrictions have been continuously relaxed and since March 29, the last restrictions have been removed removed. Since March 1, the only remaining COVID-19 entry restriction has been a requirement for testing within 24 hours of entry into Denmark for persons who have not been vaccinated with a recognized vaccine or previously infected and who enter from countries outside the European Union and Schengen Area. This requirement was lifted at midnight on the night of March 29. As a result, there are no longer COVID-19 restrictions on...

**SNIP** The key in any influence peddling scheme is to protect the principle. People apparently were told to avoid directly referring to President Biden. In one email, Tony Bobulinski, then a business partner of Hunter’s, was instructed by Biden associate James Gilliar not to speak of the former veep’s connection to any transactions: “Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u [sic] are face to face, I know u [sic] know that but they are paranoid.” Instead, the emails apparently refer to President Biden with code names such as “Celtic” or “the big guy.” In one, “the big guy”...

Is it possible that the Biden sanctions scheme is backfiring badly enough to create famine conditions in the West? https://steemit.com/politics/@gungasnake/the-breadline-joe-biden-story

Estelle Harris, who hollered her way into TV history as George Costanza’s short-fused mother on “Seinfeld” and voiced Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise, has died. She was 93. As middle-class matron Estelle Costanza, Harris put a memorable stamp on her recurring role in the smash 1990s sitcom. With her high-pitched voice and humorously overbearing attitude, she was an archetype of maternal indignation. Trading insults and absurdities with her on-screen husband, played by Jerry Stiller, Harris helped create a parental pair that would leave even a psychiatrist helpless to do anything but hope they’d move to Florida —...

For the first time in nearly two years, people in Berlin will not have to wear face masks in many shops, and other restrictions have been lifted. Here's a look at what's changed in the capital. For some people it’s ‘freedom day’, and for others it’s reckless. But regardless of what you think, the powers that be have spoken: several Covid-19 measures have been relaxed in Germany’s Hauptstadt Berlin as of Friday April 1st. What’s changed? From this date, masks are no longer compulsory in shops, museums, restaurants or schools – unless the business or facilities issues their own mask...

The biggest cooking oil bottler for UK shops has said it only has a few weeks' supply of sunflower oil left. Ukraine and Russia produce most of the world's sunflower oil and the war is disrupting exports, said Edible Oils. The company, which packages oil for 75% of the UK retail market, is ramping up supplies of other oils for shoppers. ... "From a UK consumer perspective, sunflower oil is the biggest oil. It's used more than anything else."