Free Republic

The exchange rate reached 57.67 rubles per dollar at 08:13 GMT, its firmest against the US currency since March 2018, according to data from the Moscow Exchange. The ruble also gained nearly 5% on the euro, with the exchange rate now below 60 rubles per euro, hitting a seven-year high. According to Bloomberg, the Russian currency has become the world’s best-performing currency this year despite its sharp drop in April sparked by unprecedented economic sanctions placed on Russia.

I’m a lifelong Democrat. I voted for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. I used to have an inherent aversion to Republicans, as I joke with colleagues, similar to how the vaccinated feel about the unvaccinated today. But as the pandemic unfolded, and I discussed with doctors across the country and around the world my experience treating patients, I met many new conservative colleagues and friends who put politics aside to focus on doing our best at the bedside. It made me more tolerant and understanding of their worldviews. At the same time, I used to view Democrats, and...

https://brownstone.org/articles/a-primer-on-the-who-the-treaty-and-its-plans-for-pandemic-preparedness/ Proposed International Health Regulations (IHR) amendments The IHR amendments, proposed by the United States, build on the existing IHR that were introduced in 2005 and are binding under international law. While many are unaware of their existence, the IHR already enables the WHO DG to declare public health emergencies of international concern, and thereby recommend measures to isolate countries and restrict movement of people. The draft amendments include proposals to: Establish an ‘emergency committee’ to assess health threats and outbreaks and recommend responses. Establish a ‘Country review mechanism’ to assess compliance of countries with various recommendations / requirements of...

On Tuesday, May 10, the leader of Islamic jihad group Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik, pleaded guilty to all charges leveled against him before a Delhi Court. Arrested in 2019 during the crackdown against anti-India elements in the Valley after the Pulwama attack, Malik was being tried for raising funds for the terrorist act, conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, being a member of a terrorist gang and organization, criminal conspiracy, and sedition. Malik has been involved in terror activities against India since the 1980s, and was one of the chief Islamic separatists responsible for the Kashmiri...

It’s the scariest moment of the year for many homeowners – that first really hot day, usually in May, when we turn on our air conditioners for the first time since the previous summer and cross our fingers that it still works. If not, it will need to be repaired or possibly replaced, and the 2022 air conditioning season is shaping up to be a very expensive one thanks to environmental regulations. Meanwhile, the Senate is busy considering a United Nations climate treaty called the Kigali Amendment that would make things worse. The news is bad whether your air conditioner...

A group that has singled out journalists and Democrats in undercover operations contends that prosecutors misled a federal court and sought unwarranted gag orders during a federal investigation of the group’s ties to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley. In November, the FBI conducted predawn raids at the home of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and the homes of two other individuals who worked with the group. The agents acted with warrants that allowed them to seize phones and computers to search for evidence of trafficking in interstate property. The raids generated controversy...

You have all seen the videos of Israeli police appearing to be beating back, for no apparent reason, Palestinian mourners trying to hold onto, or to reach, the coffin of Shireen Abu Akleh. The videos make the police look bad, because the viewer has not been provided with any context: why are the police doing what they are doing? But if you investigate further and find out what the police felt they had to do for the sake of Shireen Abu Akleh’s family, your mind will change. A report on what the Israeli police were trying to do, and ultimately...

Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter, vowing to bring free speech back to the platform, the billionaire has warned that attacks against him will only increase. After a pathetic attempt at a hit piece by The New York Times over his childhood in South Africa, Business Insider is now running with a story about a sexual misconduct claim against Musk. Musk didn’t give Insider much in the way of a response, other than noting there is “a lot more to this story.” "If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in...

In January 2020, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mi) retweeted an unverified tweet by professional agitator and former Palestinian Authority diplomat Hanan Ashrawi, in which she claimed that Jews had kidnapped and killed a Palestinian boy by throwing him into a pond where he drowned. As it turns out, the boy’s death was accidental and Israeli rescue teams resorted to superhuman efforts to retrieve the boy from the pond’s cold, murky waters and revive him. Ashrawi deleted her tweet and surprisingly apologized for citing unverified sources. Tlaib on the other hand deleted the tweet but without apology. She was quick to accuse...

LONDON (AP) — Scientists who have monitored numerous outbreaks of monkeypox in Africa say they are baffled by the disease’s recent spread in Europe and North America. Cases of the smallpox-related disease have previously been seen only among people with links to central and West Africa. But in the past week, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, U.S., Sweden and Canada all reported infections, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously traveled to Africa. France, Germany, Belgium and Australia confirmed their first cases of monkeypox on Friday. “I’m stunned by this. Every day I wake up and there are more countries infected,”...

In Thursday's installment of her MSNBC Show "Deadline: White House," Nicolle Wallace had what the mainstream media would likely consider a brilliant idea to reduce the number of shootings taking place in America: simply make illegal guns... more illegal. And Wallace is apparently peeved that Democrats haven't thought of taking such action before. "If the Supreme Court has green-lit vigilantism," Wallace claimed, "why hasn't the left come out with laws about illegal guns?" she questioned. Yes, really: First, how does she think a gun becomes illegal? Laws, of course. So the firearms she's speaking of have already had laws passed...

‘HB 1878 is the most comprehensive election integrity bill to come out of the [Missouri] General Assembly,’ said bill sponsor Rep. John Simmons.The Missouri General Assembly successfully passed legislation on Wednesday that restricts state and local election officials from receiving and using private funds to conduct elections. The bill now heads to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk for signature. Passed by the state House (97-47) and Senate (23-11), the measure (HB 1878) mandates that “neither the state of Missouri nor any political subdivision thereof that conducts elections shall receive or expend private moneys, excluding in-kind donations, for preparing, administering, or conducting...

This is not subtle. Incompetence or Nefarious Evil Intent? Hard to tell the difference.As the sitting POTUS and his entourage is about to head over to the UN and WHO for a little quality time and a vote on circumventing the constitution, this seems a good time to briefly review the current state of affairs. Ask yourself, have these people earned our trust? Do they have any right to set and police global health policies? Apparently Joe Biden (or whoever is his current puppet master) and Tony Fauci think so.A brief list of some of the COVID lies we have...

Whether lab or market origin, anyone trying to cover for China should remember both scenarios are humiliating for the Chinese government.<The only Covid narrative that doesn’t directly aim to control people has to do with determining the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Discovering the origin of the virus should have been a top priority, but it was not. Why? Perhaps, instead of controlling people, the goal in this case was to cover for complicit behavior. There are only two plausible competing virus origin hypotheses: “lab leak” and “wet market.” Instead of imploring scientists to work together and discover the truth, then-National Institutes...

A document that has now been deleted from the Internet shows Barack Obama meeting with Dr. Tedros of Ethiopia and terrorist leaders of that country. A few years later Dr. Tedros was elected to lead the World Health Organization (WHO). In March 2020 the China coronavirus was attacking and terrorizing the world. It was at this time that we learned about the WHO Director General’s past. TGP reported that Dr. Tedros was fourth in line of leadership in Ethiopia. We also learned that the leadership of Ethiopia was a terrorist regime. This regime and China were closely connected as well....

Twitter on Thursday announced it will put warning labels on tweets that contain so-called ‘misinformation’ in a time of war, natural disasters or pandemics. Yoel Roth, the woke, far-left hack behind the new policy to suppress conservatives, has a history of attacking Trump and he even blocked the Hunter Biden laptop story in an effort to influence the 2020 election. The Free Beacon reported: Twitter’s pick to stop the spread of misinformation in times of crisis has a history of pushing falsehoods. TRENDING: BIDEN'S AMERICA: Mother Caught Hoarding Baby Formula to Feed Her Infants (VIDEO) Yoel Roth, the head of...

How often do you give white supremacists a second thought? The answer is likely, until very recently, none at all. But if you listen to Joe Biden, or somebody in there administration, or somebody in their party, you would get the impression that America is crawling with white supremacists. They're under every bed – just look in the mirror, you racist! Is there any truth to it? None whatsoever. I hate 'em – just as I don't like anti-Semites. Just like most Americans don't. The reason we don't think about white supremacists is because they are politically, culturally and socially...

SitRep 5/20 as reported on The Saker It is visible! It is palpalable! Morale in the both the Armed Forces of the Ukraine as well as in the general society is dropping like a stone. Soldiers are laying down their weapons, surrendering or simply try to walk home after Azovstal, because the fairy tale, the fantasy of proud and committed nazi soldiers bravely resisting, has shattered. The will to resist from the Ukrainian side is crumbling fast. These are just a few and reports of Ukrainian forces surrendering are many and increasing...... RusVesna Reports: There is a mass surrender of...

Bentley's first EV is terrifyingly fast — 0 to 60 in 1.5 seconds We're not even sure we believe the claims We already knew that Bentley is entering the electric car business, promising that an all-electric SUV would launch sometime in 2025. Now the company has revealed some of the first details about the car, and it sounds absolutely terrifying — but in a good way. During an interview with Automotive News Europe, Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark confirmed just how powerful the automaker's first EV will be. We’re looking at 1,400 horsepower (1,044 kW) with a 0-60 time of just...

After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, the US and its allies slapped sanctions on Moscow while issuing calls to reduce dependence on Russian energy resources. The move exacerbated a situation where gas prices were already soaring, and prompted Russia to demand that “unfriendly countries” pay for its gas exports in rubles. Russia may receive a record $100Bln for gas supplies to Europe this year against the backdrop of surging prices for the fuel, claims a columnist for French newspaper Les Echos, citing data from Citi analysts. Despite “sanctions, aggressive statements and promises of an embargo,” Vincent Colin...