Free Republic

Lt.Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commanding general of the US Army in Europe, told Insider that Russia lacks the resources and capabilities to make significant advancements in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region — where the 20-week-long war has turned into a grinding campaign. ... Russia's arsenal of artillery and rockets is the "only advantage" that President Vladimir Putin's forces have right now and said this is reflected in attacks on Ukrainian defense positions and civilian areas, which cause lots of casualties. A key to Ukrainian success will be to neutralize these weapons, he said. Without them, Russian victories will be hard...

An article published on the United Nations Chronicle website that promoted world hunger as a “great positive value” was taken down. Titled “The Benefits of World Hunger,” the post sparked outrage among Twitter users on Wednesday. Following criticism of the article, the link now leads to an error page. snip In a response to a tweet criticizing the publication for its inclusion of the article on its website, UN Chronicle confirmed that the 14-year-old article was “an attempt at satire.”

Twitter's legal complaint accusing Elon Musk of violating his $44 billion takeover agreement includes an unusual exhibit The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Delaware cites Musk's May 16 tweet, among others, as evidence that he publicly disparaged Twitter, in violation of the merger agreement, before he backed out of the deal entirely. Musk's tweet with the smiling poop emoji came in response to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who had sent several tweets explaining the company's procedures to combat spam and fake accounts, a battle Agrawal described as 'dynamic.' Last week, Musk said he was terminating the buyout deal over concerns...

by Joshua Ford | 24NewsIn a major announcement, the Florida Department of Education said they have rejected 41% of proposed K-12 mathematics books intended for use during the 2022-2023 public school year. These books did not meet state academic standards due to their apparent inclusion of Critical Race Theory principles and other controversial approaches to education.The statement from Florida’s Department of Education reads: “Reasons for rejecting textbooks included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics.”“The highest number of books rejected were for grade levels K-5, where...

After another two years of the current disaster, people will be begging for someone to get things back to normal, and that someone will be Donald Trump. We're going to get a massive red wave this fall. The 2021 results in Virginia, out of control inflation, Joe Biden’s dismal approval ratings in recent polls (for perspective, Obama’s approval rating was 44.7 percent in October 2010, just before the midterm mauling Democrats got that year), soaring gas prices, and a porous southern border indicate that even places Biden won by 20 points in 2020 are in play this fall. Perhaps that...

In Wednesday's release of Consumer Price Index data June showing prices jumping 1.3 percent from May to June and 9.1 percent in the last 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that inflation has not been as red-hot since November of 1981. To add some context to the four decade-high that inflation has hit, Townhall took a trip down memory lane and a look into the 1981 almanac to see what was going on the last time prices were as out of control as they are today. Here's what we found. In 1981, the federal minimum wage was $3.35...

Smart thermostats, those unassuming low-power gadgets designed to keep homes at comfortable temps, are having an impact far wider than most might have considered, according to recent data. A paper from Cornell University brings bad news for renewable energy enthusiasts – smart thermostats are secretly taxing the grid. Smart thermostats, which the paper said were present in around 40 percent of US homes in 2021, are programmed by default to have different night and day modes. In hundreds of thousands of homes across the US that means a sudden jump in electricity use right before residents wake up – if...

Scheduled for 2:30 EST on the Alex Jones Show.

Mr Tea and I received our primary ballots. Got governor (Kari), senator (Blake) and attorney general (Abe) but looking for opinions/advice on the rest. According to our ballot we’re in congressional district 7.

President Donald Trump said he has made up his mind about mounting another White House bid in 2024 and indicated that the only decision left is whether he announces before or after November’s midterm elections, a new report says. “Well, in my own mind, I’ve already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore. In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision,” Trump told New York magazine in an interview at his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J. Initially, the 45th president remained coy about the timing of his decision, but then continued. “I would say my big decision will...

STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a 300-mm semiconductor manufacturing facility that will help develop the fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technology ecosystem. The new facility will represent a multi-billion–euro investment and is expected to create about 1,000 jobs. The jointly operated fab will support GlobalFoundries’ 22FDX FD-SOI process technology and STMicroelectronics’ technology roadmap down to 18 nm for automotive, industrial, IoT, and communications infrastructure applications, companies said. The facility, which will be adjacent to STMicroelectronics’ existing 300-mm manufacturing site in Crolles, France, is set to reach full capacity by 2026, with up to...

Many of those who opposed lockdowns for the pandemic, predicted that the policy — if normalised — could one day be taken advantage of by opportunistic political forces to deal with almost any crisis. It was, as Lord Sumption once suggested, a potential pathway to authoritarianism. “If we confer despotic powers on government to deal with perils, which are an ordinary feature of human existence, we will end up doing it most or all of the time,” he wrote in November 2021.Well, we are now facing just such a crisis. And there is a not insignificant chance that lockdowns might...

At a press conference in Israel, Biden admits that he was given a list of pre-approved reporters to call on… ignoring anyone who’s not on the list During one of his very rare press conferences, this time in Israel, Joe Biden reveals that his staff gave him a list of pre-approved reporters to call on. VIDEO AT LINK................... “Mr. President you want to call on the next question?” Joe Biden: “Umm, sure. I-i was given a list, here. Uh… Steve Holland of Reuters.” Notoriously incompetent, reclusive, and gaff-prone, Joe Biden’s staff has seemingly decided to preemptively perform damage control. By...

Annie England Noblin, a 40-year-old resident of rural Missouri, had never had a problem filling her monthly prescription for methotrexate until this week. …… It also happens to be one of the first medicines prescribed by doctors to treat rheumatoid arthritis

The majority of Americans do not think President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump should run for reelection, according to polling released Tuesday. Forty-eight percent of voters in a Politico/Morning Consult survey say that Trump should definitely not run again in 2024, while a further 13 percent say he should probably not run. Meanwhile, 46% of voters say that Biden should definitely not run, while 18% say he probably should not run. The survey, which was conducted from July 8-10, comes in the wake of increasing discussion about the electability and popularity of the two presidents. According to recent...

Concerned that "unauthorized political speech constitutes a kind of pollution that erodes the foundations of democracy," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seeking legislation that would introduce strict government regulation of what can be said about government policies in public forums. "Many of those, particularly on the political right, aren't really qualified to comment on what the government does," the Prime Minister asserted. "As a result voters can easily be misled by enemies of the state to oppose policies that are for their own good. I feel strongly that it is my responsibility as the elected leader of this country to...

The jobs report and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting were the economic highlights of the week, but they are, respectively, a lagging indicator and old news. This column instead digs into the auto market, where there is an underappreciated ticking time bomb. Lucky Lopez is a car dealer who has been in the business for about 20 years. In recent meetings with bankers, where he bids on repossessed vehicles before they go to auction, he has noticed some common characteristics of the defaulted loans. Most of the loans on recently repossessed cars originated during 2020 and 2021, whereas...

If you’ve always wanted to wander the streets with the Windows XP bliss wallpaper strapped to your back, now is your time. The famous blue sky and green hill are emblazoned on a mustard or black tee, available for $60. The nine-piece collection of T-shirts, hats, sweats, jackets, and pants is part of a collaboration between Supervsn founder Gavin Mathieu and Microsoft. It’s Microsoft’s first capsule collection of clothing and merchandise, and the software maker clearly wanted to create a trendy nerd vibe with its collaboration. Microsoft has been selling Xbox-branded clothing for years, and the company also sells a...

Twitter’s suppression of key facts of a viral, reported rape incident in Ohio completely upends the platform’s claims that it protects against “misinformation.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly confirmed to Fox News Digital July 13 that a person who allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl in Ohio, Gerson Fuentes, was a “Guatemalan illegal immigrant.” The girl reportedly later sought an abortion in another state. But in Twitter’s “trending” page item on the story, the platform instead characterized Fuentes simply as a “Columbus man” charged for “allegedly impregnating a 10-year old girl,” leaving the “illegal immigrant” part out entirely. The...

“When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean’” (Matthew 8:1–2). Several more striking features marked the leper who came to Jesus. The man came expectantly but not demandingly, therefore he approached the Lord with humility. It’s clear he wanted to be healed, but he did not explicitly ask Jesus for this miraculous favor. That was almost too much for the leper to presume, hence his statement, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make...