Free Republic

Anyone who listened to Vladimir Putin’s TV broadcast to his nation on September 21 had to be shocked by the Russian leader’s tone, incoherence and threat. US President Joe Biden, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, only made matters worse, not better, by putting all of the burden unequivocally on Putin’s head. There are many impacts from these events, including the bitter possibility of a wider war that will spill over into Europe. Both Biden and Putin seem to think they can play this kind of poker. Not only will they both lose, but the world will be...

There is being caught between a rock and a hard place, and then there’s Europe. The continent’s squeeze between a severe energy shortage and a policy of phasing out fossil fuels — the world’s most widely available energy source — got tighter Sept. 2 when Russia’s Gazprom stopped its natural gas supply to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline due to “oil leakage.” Experiencing astronomical power prices and anticipating an energy-starved winter, citizens are saddled with their leaders’ pursuit of a green utopia that has denied them access to adequate supplies of coal, natural gas and oil. Consumers are...

A 2019 Rand Corporation study commissioned by the US Army laid out exactly what the plan to undermine and weaken Russia through military support would be. The study suggested arming Ukraine, imposing sanctions on Russia, ramping up economic warfare, and taking a more aggressive and militaristic posture toward the United States international rival - all while warning this could lead to a military invasion of Ukraine. ...

The green movement’s rush to transform the energy economy while ignoring the laws of nature and economics calls to mind China’s ruinous Great Leap Forward. By 1957, Mao Zedong had grown impatient with his country’s slow industrial development relative to the West. He sought to transform China quickly from an agricultural society to an industrial powerhouse through forced industrialization and agricultural collectivization. Steel production was a priority of the Great Leap Forward. Mao wanted China to surpass the U.K. in steel output within 15 years. Across the country, including in the village where my father lived, people tried to contribute...

In less than two weeks, one of the world's biggest democracies will hold what many are describing as its most important presidential election in years. The US has been watching this vote in Brazil closely. Why? There aren't many issues that staunch opponents in Washington ever agree on. But they are united on this. "This is going to be one of the most intense and dramatic elections in the 21st Century," former Trump aide Steve Bannon tells the BBC. "The fate of Brazil's democracy and of US relations with Brazil will be decided in the upcoming election," says Senator Patrick...

It’s not every day that a small hamlet in the Missouri Ozarks is in the middle of everything, but that was the case for tiny Wright County on Wednesday as officials from the nation’s capital unveiled a marker designating a spot there as the center of population in the United States. Dignitaries from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau, including the agency’s director, Robert Santos, celebrated the debut of the red granite marker in Hartville. With a population of 594 residents in 2020, the county seat is 14.6 miles (23.5 kilometers) from the actual spot...

Increased levels of exercise could help reduce frailty in patients with the most common form of leukemia, chronic lymphocytic (CLL), according to new research. The discovery of a link between frailty and "good cholesterol" (high-density lipoprotein (HDL)) could help identify people most at risk. Researchers found that higher levels of the HDL were directly associated with better physical fitness amongst patients, reducing their risk of frailty. Known factors that increase levels of HDL are a healthy diet and increased physical activity and exercise. CLL is a type of cancer associated with a decline of major bodily systems, which decreases survival...

Police wearing blacked-out helmets are dragging anti-mobilisation protestors off the streets of Russia tonight, as thousands come out to demonstrate against being sent to the front lines in Ukraine. More than 1,000 people have been arrested tonight in 37 cities across Russia, including Moscow and St Petersburg, as they voiced their anger at President Vladimir Putin's order to mobilise 300,000 reservists. There have been angry clashes between activists and security forces, with protestors being forcefully taken to the ground and removed from the streets as the government cracks down on vocal dissent. Demonstrators tonight chanted anti-war slogans, with some calling...

Republican challenger Michael Henry has a slight lead ahead of New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), according to a recent poll. Henry is polling at 44.2 percent among likely New York general election voters, compared to James’ 43 percent. “This is a winnable race. We have to keep our energy high & keep telling our neighbors and friends to vote in November,” Henry tweeted. Michael Henry @michaelhenry4ag · Follow 🚨MAJOR NEWS🚨 I am beating Letitia James in the latest @trafalgar_group poll. This is a winnable race. We have to keep our energy high & keep telling our neighbors and...

Moscow’s already-eroding influence in Central Asia is set to decline even more rapidly. Vladimir Putin’s stature shrank in Samarkand. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan last week, Russia’s beleaguered leader essentially apologized to his Chinese counterpart, faced verbal reprimands from India’s Prime Minister, and waited uncomfortably for the Kyrgyz President to arrive late to a bilateral meeting. The SCO summit provided visual, real-time evidence of Russia’s diminished standing in Central Asia, which has faded due to the Kremlin’s foolish and poorly executed invasion of Ukraine. While Moscow’s already-eroding influence in Central Asia is set to decline even...

The black hole considered until now as “the closest to Earth” was discovered in 2020 just a thousand light years from our planet. However, a group of scientists concluded that it consists of a “vampire two-star system” in a rare and short-lived evolutionary stage. The theory of the experts is that the binary system was captured shortly after one of the stars sucked the atmosphere of the other. In this line and according to the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, they would be two luminous stars, but with very different angular separations and orbital movements. The study was carried out...

In November 2020, the priest expressed his support for a group of activists from the San Isidro Movement, who were on a hunger strike.The Cuban dictatorship has expelled Father David Pantaleón, who served as superior of the Jesuits, from the island by not renewing his residency permit. “On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 13, Father David Pantaleón, superior of the Jesuits in Cuba, left the island because his residency permit was not renewed,” a statement from the Jesuits of Latin America announced. The communiqué noted that the priest, who is from the Dominican Republic, “is also the president of the...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14

About 40 million adults in the United States regularly take statins. However, many of them don't stand to benefit from these drugs based on research from David Diamond. Diamond and his co-authors reviewed literature from medical trials. They then narrowed their review to look at study participants with elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL), the so-called "bad cholesterol," which can be reduced with a statin. Some individuals with high LDL also had high triglycerides (fat in the blood) and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good cholesterol," which put them at the highest risk of having a heart attack. But others...

ROME – Willy Bombeek, the head of a new “contact point” for gay Catholics that’s backed by the Flemish bishops, says he is confident that his ministry is something the pope would approve. Bombeek is the coordinator of a new “Homosexuality & Faith” contact point which was announced by the Flemish bishops Tuesday with an accompanying document that included proposed blessings for same-sex couples. Flemish is the dialect of Dutch spoken in Flanders, one of the three autonomous regions of Belgium. Speaking to Crux, Bombeek, who pitched the idea of the ministry to the bishops with the help of a...

Despite its earlier decision to ban the international EuroPride parade in Belgrade, citing security concerns, the Serbian government informed the European Commission and EuroPride last week that the march would be held on Saturday, though with a shorter route than initially planned. EuroPride is a pan-European LGBT event, held in a different city every year. This year it was held in the Serbian capital from the 12th to the 18th. Of course, the week of events caused strong protest from both the Serbian Orthodox Church and traditional Serbian society. Tens of thousands of Orthodox faithful came out to St....

It's been awe-inspiring to see the bottomless generosity of Martha's Vineyard residents after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent them 50 illegal immigrants from Venezuela last week. WE LOVE YOU, YOU'VE ENRICHED OUR LIVES, NOW GET THE F--K OUT OF HERE. Unlike angry, white MAGA voters upset about their towns being flooded with illegals, Vineyard residents would LOVE to be sort of a -- what's the word? -- "sanctuary" for illegals. Really, they would. But that won't be possible. As Lisa Belcastro, manager of the Vineyard's homeless shelter, succinctly put it: "We are definitely supplying them with a lot of love...

“Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips” (Proverbs 22:17-18).

Joe Biden spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, but the most disturbing part of his day happened afterward. The president took that stage at an event sponsored by The Global Fund, which does work regarding AIDS and other diseases, and things went off the rails. In this case, quite literally. A video is circulating showing Biden appearing to be completely dazed and confused, fumbling around the stage as his handlers attempt to talk him down. Meanwhile, another man is speaking, trying to thank him for being there while the president appears to have no idea what’s happening....

Two new polls from Morning Consult and Concerned Veterans for America show at least a plurality of Americans are tired of interventionism. The results show twice as many Americans want to send less aid to Ukraine than those who would support sending more. Meanwhile, only 17% of Americans are concerned about defending democracy around the globe. ... Only 17% of respondents told the pollsters that “upholding global democracy” was a top five concern, ranking 11th behind drugs, climate, immigration, terrorism and the economic crisis. ...