Free Republic

It is often said that China’s government plans decades ahead, carefully playing the long game as democracies flip-flop and dither. But in Shanghai right now there is not much sign of strategic genius. Even as the rest of the world has reopened, 25m people are in a citywide lockdown, trapped in their apartments and facing food and medical shortages that not even China’s censors can cover up. The zero-covid policy has become a dead end from which the Communist Party has no quick exit. t is one of a trio of problems faced by China this year, alongside a misfiring...

The sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not spared from death because of any merit or worthiness or innocence of their own, but for the sake of the Lamb that was sacrificed in their stead. The blood of that Lamb covered them from death, it shielded them from the Angel of Death. And the flesh of that Lamb fed them for the journey out of bondage into freedom. All of this on account of divine and holy Love, the grace and mercy of the Lord their God. And that is already to speak of Christ Jesus. It’s all about...

The “private business” or “build your own internet” argument in defense of Big Tech censorship was always a garbage excuse to let Silicon Valley silence speech it disagrees with, and the meltdown about Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter (making the platform a truly private company) makes it more obvious than ever. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who became Twitter’s biggest shareholder earlier this month after purchasing 9.2 percent of the company’s stock, sent a letter to Twitter Wednesday night offering to buy the rest of Twitter’s stock at $54.20 per share in cash.

Montana Sen. Steve Daines (R) and Ukrainian-American Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) this week became the first American lawmakers to travel to Ukraine in the aftermath of the Russian invasion, with Daines concluding after their visit that there is “indisputable evidence of war crimes” in the country. The pair spoke with Ukrainian officials on the ground and traveled to various sites of destruction from the war.

Many goods are stuck in China at the moment and a “big problem looms” for the global economy, says IMA Asia’s Richard Martin. In the last few weeks, China has been battling its most severe Covid outbreak on the mainland since the initial shock of the pandemic in early 2020. Many goods are stuck in China right now as a result of the Covid lockdowns and it could become a “big problem” for the global economy, according to business consultant Richard Martin. “Many of the things that we use around the world that’re manufactured, have components from China and we’re...

For Catholics and other Christians who mark Lent by giving up something, this often means alcohol, sugary sweets or another item they like to nosh or quaff. This wasn't enough for the Rev. Marc J. Roselli, who had already cut back on some favorite foods for health reasons. So the Jesuit priest made his ears, not his stomach, the focus of his Lenten sacrifice. From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, he won't listen to Beatles music. "You know, you're giving up a part of yourself," Roselli said in an interview. "Chocolate is not a part of me." Roselli, who came...

For the first 23 years of his life, Pastor Douglas Ponder had never heard of the word “Lent” because he was raised in a Southern Baptist household. Now, over a decade later, the 38-year-old pastor can’t get enough of the Lenten season. Lent is an annual season of fasting that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends the day before Easter Sunday. This is a period of 40 days plus Sundays, as Sunday is a day of rest and is not considered part of the observance. Although more commonly practiced among Catholic and mainline Protestant denominations, some Evangelical and non denominational...

The third attempt at a final prelaunch test for NASA's Artemis I mega moon rocket began Thursday morning, but the trial hit some snags and ended prematurely at 5:10 p.m. ET. The agency will host a news conference on Friday to share updates and next steps for the test. The mission team had been attempting to fuel the 322-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) Artemis I rocket stack, including NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but encountered a number of delays.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke about the importance of an active conservative movement in America’s education systems, telling Breitbart News, “One of the most important battlefields for the future is on the campuses of our colleges and universities.” Breitbart News sat down with Pence in Pavilion IV on the Lawn at the University of Virginia, part of Thomas Jefferson’s historic Academical Village, which he designed to be the physical representation of the “intellectual frontiers that lay open to discovery” — an apt location given the topics he was set to address later in the evening to...

Charitable discussions with Chinese energy giant CEFC that evolved into lucrative business deals fit classic foreign influence operation, ex-FBI intel chief says. With his father's eight-year tenure as Barack Obama's vice president waning, Hunter Biden received a remarkable overture in 2015: One of China's richest businessmen wanted to make a sizable donation to the World Food Program USA (WFP USA), which was led by the VP's son. WFP USA is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to raising funds and building U.S. support for the World Food Program, the United Nations organization that fights global hunger. But soon, memos gathered by the...

US District Court Judge Reggie Walton said Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. Walton made the comments Thursday following the conviction of a January 6 defendant. Walton was appointed by former President George W. Bush. A federal judge on Thursday called Donald Trump a threat to democracy, accusing the former president of instigating a mob of "weak-minded" followers to attack the US Capitol on January 6, Politico reported. "I think our democracy is in trouble," US District Judge Reggie Walton said, "because, unfortunately, we have charlatans like our former president who doesn't, in my view, really care about democracy...

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the failed Democrat presidential primary candidate and former New York City mayor, is paying less than half the federal income tax rate the average American taxpayer pays, newly published Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data reveals. The revelation is part of a broad investigation by ProPublica that gives a glimpse into the tax loopholes that the richest 400 Americans utilize every year to dodge billions in federal income taxes that most Americans are required to pay. “To make it into the top 400, each person on this list had to make an average of at least $110 million...

I have never understood businesses that intentionally engage in partisan politics to the point that they effectively attack half of their potential customers. I spent my life in business, and this idea never occurred to me. It must be some kind of new woke business theory, but it makes no sense. That’s why I just cannot understand what the Walt Disney Company is doing. Disney used to be the happiest place on Earth, now it’s just woke central. It’s on the losing side of an issue that the majority of families, regardless of political ideology, agree with. In many ways,...

The push to unionize Amazon, Starbucks and other major U.S. companies is spreading to another employment sector that historically has resisted worker efforts to organize: America's colleges. Students employed as residential advisers, assistant instructors and in campus dining halls are uniting to demand better pay and working conditions, as well as pushing more broadly for a seat at the table in setting policies that affect their lives.

Restaurant and bar operators spent much of the pandemic pivoting to adhere to everchanging safety guidelines, adjusting business models and feeding their communities to keep the lights on amid staff shortages, regular recurring closures and reopenings, disruptions in the supply chain and cost increases from food to rent.

The Readings for the Holy Thursday Mass focus on the continuity between the ancient Jewish Passover and the institution of the Eucharist. As the Passover was the meal that marked the transition from slavery to Egypt to the freedom of the Exodus, so the Eucharist is the meal that marks the transition from slavery to sin to the glorious freedom of the children of God. 1. Our First Reading is from Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14: The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it...

CIA Director William Burns said Thursday the United States should not dismiss the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine. Following a speech at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Burns said, "Given the potential desperation of (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons." "While we've seen some rhetorical posturing on the part of the Kremlin about moving to higher nuclear alert levels, so far we haven't...

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) has put crime on “hyper blast” thanks to left-wing measures like little-to-no bail for criminal suspects, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti says. During an exclusive interview with SiriusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Daily, Ronchetti blasted Grisham for what he describes as a mix of lax immigration enforcement and a far-Left no-bail agenda that has culminated into a Catch and Release policy for criminals in New Mexico

Atlanta rapper Archie Eversole, best known for his stadium anthem "We Ready," was fatally shot, and his brother has been accused in the slaying, police said Thursday. Officers were called to a gas station March 25 and found the mortally wounded performer, DeKalb County police said. The victim, Arthur "Archie" Eversole was taken to a hospital before he died from his wounds April 3, police said. Eversole's brother, Alexander Kraus, has been charged with murder. He was arrested without incident less than a quarter-mile away the night of the shooting, officials said.

Ukraine claims responsibility for attack on flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, though Moscow says cause of explosion yet to be determined.