Free Republic

The Russian army is suffering high casualties in the war against Ukraine and Vladimir Putin badly needs fresh troops. He wants to avoid a general mobilization, so the military is relying on other methods. -snip- The hidden mobilization has been particularly intense in Buryatia. The army has been using the messenger service Viber to send attractive offers, which include generous salaries, social benefits and a healthy pension – the complete package. "They have called everyone I know: Don’t you want to participate in the special operation?" reports one woman from the region who asked to remain anonymous. "As if it...

Extreme dry conditions contributed to the decline of the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Himyar... the droughts left behind a region in disarray, thereby creating the conditions on the Arabian peninsula that made possible the spread of the newly emerging religion of Islam.On the plateaus of Yemen, traces of the Himyarite Kingdom can still be found today: terraced fields and dams formed part of a particularly sophisticated irrigation system, transforming the semi-desert into fertile fields. Himyar was an established part of South Arabia for several centuries.However, despite its former strength, during the sixth century AD the kingdom entered into a...

During an appearance on this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) urged Congress not to legislate under the “heat of the moment,” referring to the emotions resulting from gun violence in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX. Lee told host Shannon Bream he had yet to see the language of legislation from a reported compromise between the “gang of 20” and said the disagreement could come on terms like what constitutes an “assault rifle.”

Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) form part of a team of Chinese, Spanish, and French scientists that has just published a study of what may prove to be China's most ancient human fossil, in the Journal of Human Evolution. The researchers employed microCT, geometric morphometry, and classical morphology techniques to investigate the remains of the maxillary and five teeth from the skull unearthed at the Chinese site of Gongwangling.This site is on the vast plains on the northern slopes of the Quinling Mountains (province of Shaanxi, in central China) and was discovered by...

Sometimes even Democrats have to pretend the United States is a nation. Nations, of course, have borders. And normal nations defend those borders. Except for the U.S., when Democrats want cheap votes and their friends in business, including Republicans, want cheap labor. We know what happens then. We’ve been living it for years. Borders? We don’t need no stinkin’ borders. Migrants, criminals, would-be terrorists, carriers of disease — it doesn’t matter who you are, bienvenidos, come on in. Except now, with miles of holes in the Border Wall That Trump Built, even Democrats are quietly reacting. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro...

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Texas needs to find “common ground” on gun control by respecting the Second Amendment while also requiring safety measures on firearms. O’Rourke, the 2022 Democratic candidate for governor of Texas, slammed current Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for what he described as “extreme” gun policies in the interview with KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas, citing a Quinnipiac poll that found only 6 percent of Texans agree with Abbott’s policy of no background checks.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said on Sunday that former President Trump knows he is guilty for his actions ahead of the Jan 6, 2021, attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” moderator George Stephanopoulos asked Kinzinger, a member of the House select committee investigating the riot, if Trump should be prosecuted.

President Joe Biden might think he is the president of "unity," but this is another high-pressure election year, and legal expert Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax predicts a "summer of violence," with more unconstitutional abuses of power and politicized justice in America. "I'm afraid we will have a summer of violence if the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade, and we will see the Justice Department and this administration selectively enforcing the law," Dershowitz told "Saturday Agenda." "You won't find congressional committees controlled [by] Democrats evaluating whether there was incitement, whether by Black Lives Matter — or women's groups." Dershowitz denounced...

This is a tale of two presidential elections, one close, one not close; a tale of two candidates, one a patriot who put the good of the country first, the other an apparent congenital liar who always put himself first, ahead of anything including country. It’s a tale of Al Gore and Donald Trump.

The men whose centuries-old remains were found buried under a landmark Cork city pub with their hands tied behind their backs “met a violent and gruesome end”, archaeologists have confirmed.And it has also emerged that a second major archaeological discovery, a 1,000-year-old defensive ditch, found nearby on the site of the former Nancy Spain's pub on Barrack Street suggests that the mediaeval city was bigger than previously thought...The nature of the gruesome find made headlines around the world.It has now been confirmed that the skeletal remains of six people in total, all male, were found on the site.Four were dumped...

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who helped lead efforts to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, said on Sunday that this year’s celebration is a moment to reflect on both the “jubilation of freedom” and the “brutality of slavery.” “It is a moment of great emotion,” Jackson Lee told co-anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Happy Fathers Day, to all the dads that don't shower with their daughters.

Every year on Father’s Day, we honor the men who help shape our character through their love, guidance, and devotion. Dads and father figures across the country sacrifice so much to support their families and to ensure that their children can lead fulfilling lives. I remember my own father, who instilled in me some of the most important values that guide me to this day. He taught me to treat all people with dignity, and that there is no higher calling than to be a good parent. He informed the way that I raised my own children — and how...

Ruins of a wall built during the Mauryan empire have been recovered during an excavation in Tilaurakot, Kapilvastu. Maurya era bricks measuring 47 cm long, 26 to 28 cm wide and 7 cm thick were used to build the wall.According to archeologists involved in the excavation, the findings of the wall ruins have archaeological significance...The Department of Archaeology and Lumbini Development Trust started excavating and exploring Tilaurakot, an ancient Shakya capital city where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely life before he became the Buddha, and its surrounding areas in 2012.A geophysical survey of the Tilaurakot premises conducted in 2014 showed...

The U.S. Navy has awarded a $536 million contract to a Marinette shipyard for a third Constellation-class frigate tied to a $5.5 billion shipbuilding program.Fincantieri Marinette Marine will design and build the 7,300-ton frigate that’s expected to be a key part of the Navy’s anti-submarine warfare and one of 10 frigates built in Marinette. The work will support thousands of jobs at the shipyard for many years to come.The Navy also says it could transfer decommissioned littoral combat ships built in Marinette to other countries.Ultimately, it’s up to Congress to decide whether the ships are pulled from active service. Still,...

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he believes it was “unlikely” former President Donald Trump will be prosecuted for his role in the events surrounding the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Anchor George Stephanopoulos said, “Let’s start with the January 6 committee. You’re a former prosecutor. You talked about the difficulties in prosecuting the former president, what was the committee was trying to do this week is demonstrate clearly that President Trump knew or at best should have known what he was doing was wrong, was not legal.”

Ukraine intensified artillery and missile strikes against the Russian-controlled parts of the Donbas region, targeting weapons depots and military bases in an effort to stall a Russian offensive, while Moscow unleashed new salvoes of long-range missiles—some of them shot down by air defenses—on cities across Ukraine. ... That Russian offensive is likely to have been further stalled by a successful Ukrainian missile strike on an ammunition storage facility used by Russia and its proxy forces in the town of Krasny Luch, deep in the rear of Russian-controlled Luhansk. While the strike, using the Tochka-U ballistic missile, took place on Thursday,...

VIDEOHigh gas prices are driving people crazy. But are they any crazier than the people who have caused the rapid rise in gas prices with their crazy leftist energy policies?

In a long Twitter thread on Thursday, a Marquette University assistant professor of journalism suggested young reporters may fabricate stories because newspaper journalism standards are too high and because minority reporters might feel racism on the job. “In my few years as a journalism educator, I’ve found that the younglings engage in unethical practices (ie, fabricating quotes, etc.) mostly out of desperation mixed with inexperience,” wrote Dr. Ayleen Cabas-Mijares, who describers herself as a “Critical/Cultural and Feminist Media scholar” in her Twitter biography. “Their failure to meet standards says as much about the unmanageable pressure they deal with and the...

Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he believes former President Donald Trump was guilty of “seditious conspiracy.” Kinzinger said, “What we can do from the committee’s perspective is show, as we have so far, for instance, the pressure that was coming down on Mike Pence and how the president knew what he was doing.”