Free Republic

First, let me say it is amazing to compare a Putin press conference with their media to a Biden press conference with our media. How did we let this happen to ourselves...:-( ----------------------------------------------- President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good evening, I am listening. Question: Now that the SCO summit is over, summing it up, can you tell us how you regard the SCO’s development prospects and what the most important thing is for Russia in the SCO? Vladimir Putin: The most important thing always and everywhere is economic development. And the SCO, cooperation with the SCO countries, creates conditions for...

Much like a plant or any living thing, the more care and attention given to friendships, the stronger they grow and the more connected people feel.​ So when COVID-19 came along, and the term “social distancing” became the new norm, friendships were put to the test. Some bonds, because of the pods people formed in an effort to limit virus exposure, grew stronger. Others, after months of limited or no interaction, faded away or were lost entirely.​ ​“People were forced to reconcile the value of friendship, because you can really understand the value of something when it’s taken away,” says...

“When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’” (John 2:3–5). Returning to the wedding at Cana we come across a major crisis—the wine ran out because the supply was insufficient. This potential embarrassment for the couple and their families could have stigmatized them for the rest of their lives. Mary was apparently helping to oversee the catering of the...

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. – At least one person on this oasis of leftist elites blames federal officials for the illegal immigration crisis that thrust Martha’s Vineyard into the national spotlight. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent 50 migrants by plane Wednesday to the Massachusetts island, which boasts one of the wealthiest and most hard-left voting blocs in the nation. "I think it was a political stunt," Paul Sinclair of Rhode Island told Fox News Digital on Saturday, as he sold t-shirts and surf gear during a street festival on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, one of the commercial hubs of Martha’s...

THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK Sowing a thought reaps an act. Sowing an act reaps a habit. Sowing a habit reaps a character. Sowing a character reaps a destiny. The battle for the soul and the very essence of life goes on in our thought life. We are what we think (Proverbs 23:7). What we think, therefore, needs protection and can be controlled. II Corinthians 10:5 tells us to bring every thought into captivity. Good thoughts will produce good habits. For believers there are four keys in helping to develop good habits: 1. Follow God's Word daily, because it is...

An Ohio police chief personally thanked four good Samaritans who swooped in and helped an officer who was being attacked by a man during a traffic stop. The suspect, David Koubeck, 64, was pulled over for speeding by Officer Stacee Wright, 30, along Lost Nation Road in Willoughby in suburban Cleveland. Wright pulled Koubeck over for speeding on September 10. The suspect was going 57 mph in a 35 mph zone, Wright is heard telling him in the dashcam footage.

Vatican Takes ‘Good Faith’ Stance With ChinaEDITORIAL: On the surface, it’s difficult to find many observers who support the Holy See’s assumption of the Chinese government’s good faith.The controversial provisional agreement between the Vatican and the People’s Republic of China on the appointment of bishops that was first signed in September 2018 is up for renewal again this fall, and questions abound about the wisdom of Rome’s willingness to proceed.Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and the point man on dialogue with China, defended the accord with China’s atheistic and authoritarian communist regime earlier this month. In...

District Attorney George Gascon has criminally charged a Los Angeles County sheriff’s lieutenant as punishment after Gascon was criticized in the media over lax prosecution standards against international drug cartels, Sheriff Alex Villanueva says. “Justice is supposed to be blind, but with Gascon in office, anything goes,” Villanueva said. “This appears to be happening because we challenged Gascon’s soft-on-cartel policies. ”Villanueva is referring to a Washington Examiner investigation that exposed a bevy of marijuana growers that seemingly operate with impunity in the desert region of Los Angeles County. The growers suck dry valuable water from wells to feed their thirsty...

FBI whistleblowers–in this case, the term is probably warranted–have come forward to say that the Bureau is pressuring them to come up with “white supremacists” to investigate, in order to advance the Biden administration’s agenda:Current and former FBI agents have come forward saying the Biden administration is deliberately exaggerating the danger posed by white supremacists. They claimed that high-ranking FBI officials were pressuring field agents to fabricate domestic terrorism cases and label people as white supremacists in order to “meet internal metrics.”To the best of my knowledge, I have never met a white supremacist, so this doesn’t surprise me. What...

City officials are discussing putting a “dead or alive” bounty on the large lizards in an effort to spark some cold-blooded killing of the cold-blooded invasive species that’s wreaking havoc in the Sunshine State. ...“If we don’t do something and take action seriously, every single day these iguanas are multiplying,” she added. Some residents liked the idea of going to war with the animals. “We have a serious situation with these endangered species, and right now, we need to take action, and it is far bigger than the $200K we currently have allocated in our budget,”

Vladimir Putin built his dictatorship on two core foundations: ruthless control of his nation, whether fleecing its wealth with his pals or silencing dissident voices, and restoration of Russian glory in the wake of the Soviet Union unravelling. So the diminutive despot posed as the modern-day successor to Peter the Great, that 18th Century giant who created the Russian empire, while rehabilitating Joseph Stalin, stepping up repression and strengthening his armed forces. Six of the first 11 decrees he passed after becoming President in 2000 focused on the military – and since then he has almost tripled defence spending to...

Video shows Democrat official Robert Telles, accused of murdering an investigative reporter this month, being arrested in 2020 in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas police body camera video showed Telles, who at the time was taken into custody regarding accusations of domestic battery and subsequently resisting arrest, with officers outside his home, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday.

It was a Big Mac attack! An ax-wielding wingnut ran amok inside a Delancey Street McDonald’s, terrorizing patrons and causing thousands of dollars worth of property damage, officials said. What started as a nothing burger — a 2:25 a.m. dispute between the suspect, Michael Palacios, 31, of the Bronx, and three other men — escalated into a rampage. The three men smacked a smirking Palacios, who then is seen on video putting his right arm against his head before calmly walking over to his backpack, where he pulled out an axe and then threatened his combatants and frightened patrons.

Vice President Kamala Harris accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of “dereliction of duty” over their recent transports of migrants to Democratic-led cities. “I think it is the height of irresponsibility … frankly, a dereliction of duty, when you are an elected leader, to play those kinds of games with human life and human beings,” Harris said in an interview with Vice News. “If you think there is a problem, be part of the solution.” While Abbott has bused thousands of migrants to Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago since April, he and...

On Friday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said the Inflation Reduction Act is going to work to reduce inflation “in the longer run.” And “probably the center of that bill” is reducing prescription drug costs, which won’t be fully put in place for a few years. Himes responded to a question on how the act will reduce inflation by stating, “Well, first of all, let’s be very clear, it’s going to work in the longer run. So, the answer to your question is, probably the center of that bill was about reducing senior citizens’ prescription drug...

In a pine forest at the edge of Izyum the stench of death filled the air as a mass exhumation got under way. The earth is giving up its secrets. Ukrainian officials believe war crimes have been committed, which they are determined to document. Around 100 Ukrainian emergency service workers wearing blue plastic coverings dug into the earth, opening makeshift graves. They are trying to establish the cause of death of hundreds of people buried in a forest at the edge of the city, recently liberated by advancing Ukrainian forces. Izyum, invaded in April, was used by Russia as a...

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is running for US Senate, but his floundering performance on the campaign trail has left many questioning whether he is fit to run for office — or even serve in the upper chamber of the house. [cut] Democrats who attended that speech said they are becoming uneasy about Fetterman. “Some tricky, cute tweet coming at the people of Pennsylvania again and again and again, with scarcely a word on substantive issues — if that is all his brain can remember, that is unacceptable,” one Democrat told me. “He seems to think he can ride out...

The front line is now a river, the Oskil, that runs through the middle of the eastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk. On one side are the charging Ukrainian forces who have pushed their Russian enemies almost entirely out of the northeastern Kharkiv region during a sweeping counteroffensive this month. From her bedroom window, Liza Udovik, 26, has a view of the other side, to where the Russians have retreated. The sound of outgoing fire from the Ukrainians rocked her apartment these past few days, when the Ukrainian military moved into Kupiansk and the town became a battleground. Russian tanks and...

The newly appointed special master who will review the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago directed lawyers for former President Trump and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to meet with him in New York on Tuesday for their first conference. Judge Raymond Dearie, who was appointed as special master in the case on Thursday, called on Friday for a meeting and invited the two parties to suggest items for discussion, according to a court filing. Dearie has until Nov. 30 to complete his review of the documents. As the special master process moves forward, the Justice Department is continuing its legal battle...

Republican governors who are shipping migrants to liberal cities are committing “crimes against humanity,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fumed. “It’s appalling that far-right politicians seem to have decided that fall before an election is their regularly scheduled time to commit crimes against humanity on refugees,” she said in a tweet Friday evening. “Don’t normalize this. Lying to & trafficking people for TV and clicks isn’t politics as usual. It’s abuse.” For months, Texas has been busing migrants to so-called “sanctuary cities” like New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago in what they say is an effort pressure the Biden administration for more...