Free Republic

MOSCOW — Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired Sunday. Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. There is, thus far, little end in sight to the war. The Kremlin says it will fight until all its aims are achieved while Kyiv says it will not rest until...

Conservative GOP senators blasted Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday for joining with Democrats to shepherd a $1.7 trillion year-end spending bill into law over the objections of House Republicans, saying it was an act of "arrogance" that betrayed promises to voters. "Our party leadership turned on Republican voters, turned on the Republican base, turned on most Republican senators," Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told "The Cats Roundtable" and host John Catsimitidas on WABC radio in New York. "It has happened before, but this is one too many times. For me, this is the final straw." Lee called the omnibus spending...

The clandestine campaign is behind many unexplained explosions and fires that have hit strategic or prominent facilities in recent months, says US expert Jack Murphy, an eight-year Army Special Operations veteran. Separately other European intelligence services have allegedly been 'running operatives into Russia to create chaos without CIA help', as has Ukraine. His claims follow as a new fire struck a shopping mall in Krasnodar region, in southern Russia, the latest in dozens of such incidents. It comes as Putin issued another chilling warning to the West on Christmas day. In Ukraine today, air raid sirens have been going off...

Elon Musk became the most influential CEO in the world this year. Some people will even go so far as to say that he is the most powerful boss in the world. He is involved in companies that are at the heart of technological innovations such as Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report and SpaceX. And He is the owner of Twitter (TWTR) - Get Free Report, considered the town square of our time. Musk is simply the star of CEOs. He is one of the few bosses who can claim more than 100 million followers on Twitter. The personality...

Three buses carrying migrants from Texas arrived in Washington, D.C., late Saturday evening, including one which dropped its passengers near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris. The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) is the official residence of the vice president of the United States and the Christmas Eve dropoff is the latest of several instances in which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bussed migrants to Washington, D.C. The migrants were then helped by the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network and taken to a local church, according to 7News reporter Christian Flores.

Germany’s foreign office is reportedly paying a freelance stylist nearly $8,000 a month to keep its minister looking presentable. Claude Frommen, a renowned freelance make-up artist who has reportedly worked with major clients such as Porsche and TUI, is reportedly being paid just under $8,000 a month by the government to keep its Minister of Foreign Affairs looking windswept and interesting. The expenditure comes at a time when many Germans are struggling under massive inflation which has seen the price of fuel, food and other amenities rise substantially this year. Nevertheless, according to a report by Bild, Germany’s Foreign Affairs...

Power went out at 530. I am right in the middle of this. Federal and local law enforcement is investigating.

Merry Christmas all. I am interested in the make/model of the firearms borne by the 2 Bedouin warriors (the one in the middle and the one on the far right) in this 1876 photograph from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam: High resolution image here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Three_bedouins_sheikhs%2C_c_1867-1876.jpg I am curious as to the type of firearms in the possession of these Bedouin Sheikhs at that time. Location: Syria, approx. dates - between 1867 and 1876. Any insights appreciated.

By way of comic relief for Christmas, I present a video tour of my offbeat Christmas village. Some may remember last year’s offering. This is all new. Merry Christmas, FRiends. We can hit the trenches of Liberty again tomorrow https://youtu.be/tnFiX2X2W_U

On Friday it was revealed that the Biden administration failed to pay numerous National Guard troops their final year end pay on time during the week of Christmas. The failure came after approving a contoversial additional $45 billion aid package to Ukraine, and the House passing a $1.7 trillion spending plan. "Hello gents," began a letter sent to members of the National Guard, obtained by The Post Millennial, "if you have been tracking, the pay issue that has been plaguing the unit and the division as well." Reports came in from Pennsylvania, Georgia, and South Carolina from troops angered and...

Dr. Naomi Wolf sits down with husband and private investigator Brian O’Shea to get to the bottom of what’s exactly in this bill. https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=676930&post_id=92575963&utm_source=podcast-email&play_audio=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo0OTkyNjMwOCwicG9zdF9pZCI6OTI1NzU5NjMsImlhdCI6MTY3MTg0MjQ4OSwiZXhwIjo .

The comments from the Russian leader follow intense Russian shelling on the Ukrainian city of Kherson on Christmas Eve that killed at least 10 people and injured more than 50 others. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russia as “absolute evil” on Saturday following the deadly strikes, which he said were for “the sake of intimidation and pleasure.” Zelensky and President Biden discussed what a “just peace” would look like when Zelensky visited the United States on Wednesday for his first international trip since the war started in February.

You have to understand the way the government prosecutes its cases. If you look closely, all cases are charged with CONSPIRACY. That means the proof is NOT the crime itself, but only an AGREEMENT to commit a crime. Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, who was also the CEO of Alameda Research, a privately-controlled hedge fund, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, have both pleaded guilty earlier this week, according to newly unsealed court documents. That means the case is already over. Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang cut deals so they get less time, or even no time, in return for throwing...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

Woubshet Dedbar’s white Tesla Model Y matched the crunchy coat of stale snow and ice covering Grand Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. The Uber and Lyft driver had 90 miles left on his charge after running people around King and Snohomish counties all morning in freezing temperatures. How much did the cold affect his car’s performance? Not much, he said. On Tuesday, Dedbar made countless trips up and down I-5 and on messy, slippery residential roads. He took some people home from the airport and others on their errands. With all-season tires and a full charge, he can help those leery...

Question for Freeper experts.

Addressing the country from the Windsor Castle chapel where his mother, Elizabeth II, was interred in September, the 74-year-old also thanked people for the "love and sympathy" expressed following her death. Standing aside a sparkling Christmas tree, the sovereign noted in the annual royal message -- broadcast at 1500 GMT -- that it is a "particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones". He then turned to the impact of the country's growing economic woes, as decades-high inflation eats into earnings and escalates strikes over pay across the public and private sectors. "I particularly want to...

Sunday 25 December 2022Christmas Day Solemnity Grotto of the Nativity, the Holy Land Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(I).Readings for the Vigil Mass, celebrated during the afternoon or evening before Christmas DayReadings for the Midnight Mass, celebrated during the night before Christmas DayReadings for the Dawn Mass, celebrated at dawn on Christmas DayReadings for the daytime Mass on Christmas DayReadings for the Vigil Mass, celebrated during the afternoon or evening before Christmas Day:First readingIsaiah 62:1-5 ©The bridegroom rejoices in his brideAbout Zion I will not be silent,about Jerusalem I will not grow weary,until her integrity shines out like the...

A Harvard professor and author stunned podcast host Joe Rogan by telling him that almost every lithium battery-powered tech device relied on today by the western world is powered by slavery in cobalt mines in the Congo. Siddharth Kara, the author of the book Cobalt Red: How The Blood of The Congo Powers Our Lives, insists there is no such thing as 'clean cobalt' - the term given to describe ethically mined cobalt. Appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast earlier this week, he told the Spotify host that in fact, almost every single device used today that relies on a lithium...

An ex-FBI agent believed that the bloody massacre of four University of Idaho students could be a case of femicide – with three victims being women. Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, were stabbed to death - with Xana's freshman boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, also killed on November 13. Christmas Day marks six weeks since the brutal slayings which have rocked the tiny town of Idaho, Moscow, as cops have yet to name a suspect or make a single arrest.