Free Republic

“Now, there is a serious discussion … about our capacity to defend ourselves, whether we can do it ourselves, or whether we should be part of a larger alliance,” Sandu said. “And if we come, at some point, to the conclusion as a nation that we need to change neutrality, this should happen through a democratic process.” Sandu stressed that Chisinau’s strengthening of its own defense, contrary to Russia's claims, is not a provocation against anyone, including against the unrecognized Transnistria – a region of Moldova which hosts a Russian military base. “Moldova is a peaceful country,” she said.

President Biden would lose to either of the top Republican rivals if he tries for a second term in 2024, according to a new survey. Both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would beat Biden if the 2024 presidential election was held today, the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll found Friday — while nearly two-thirds of those polled, 65%, said Biden should not run for re-election at all. The online survey of 2,050 registered voters found that 46% would support Trump in a rematch of the 2020 election, with 41% favoring Biden and 13% unsure. Trump’s 5-point edge was...

"Fired CNN talking head Brian Stelter landed a fellowship at Harvard, the former host of the since-canceled “Reliable Sources” said Monday. Stelter broke the news on social media that he’ll be joining the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School this fall. “Personal news: I’m joining the @ShorensteinCtr at Harvard Kennedy School,” Stelter tweeted. “This fall I’ll be the Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow, convening discussions, some of which will be live-streamed. Grateful to @nancygibbs and her team for the home!” According to Harvard, Stelter “will convene a series of discussions about threats to...

he U.S. and allied countries around the world are sending armored vehicles, advanced air defenses and billions of dollars in other weapons to Ukraine in hopes of quickly bolstering its forces ahead of a potential Russian offensive later this year. The latest tranche of American aid was unveiled Thursday, including a brigade's worth of armored Stryker vehicles, and was valued at $2.5 billion -- following a $3 billion package with Bradley Fighting Vehicles on Jan. 6. Defense leaders from about 50 countries huddled at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday to discuss the aid and the path forward."Russia is...

“The People Dwelling in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light” (Matthew 4:12-25) In our Gospel reading for today, St. Matthew describes the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. And to do so, he quotes a passage from our Old Testament reading from Isaiah. Matthew writes: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” And this gives us our theme for this morning’s...

The Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia - known as 'ground zero' for the city's drug epidemic - is in crisis due to widespread abuse of an animal tranquilizer called xylazine. Addicts are shooting up in broad daylight, hunched over in a stupor or passed out on the streets. Many have raw, gaping wounds in desperate need of medical attention. And there are needles, syringes and garbage littered across the sidewalks. 'I've never seen human beings remain in these kinds of conditions,' said Sarah Laurel, who runs outreach organization Savage Sisters.

President Biden's decision to revoke pipeline's permits hurt 'working families,' Montana senator says The Biden administration published a congressionally mandated report highlighting the positive economic benefits the Keystone XL Pipeline would have had if President Biden didn't revoke its federal permits. The report, which the Department of Energy (DOE) completed in late December without any public announcement, says the Keystone XL project would have created between 16,149 and 59,000 jobs and would have had a positive economic impact of between $3.4-9.6 billion, citing various studies. A previous report from the federal government published in 2014 determined 3,900 direct jobs and...

Since Russia’s surprise decision to voluntarily withdraw from west bank Kherson in the first week of November, there has been little in the way of dramatic changes to the frontlines in Ukraine. In part, this reflects the predictable late autumn weather in Eastern Europe, which leaves battlefields waterlogged and clogged with mud and greatly inhibits mobility. For hundreds of years, November has been a bad month for attempting to move armies any sort of significant distance, and like clockwork we started to see videos of vehicles stuck in the mud in Ukraine. The return of static positional warfare, however, also...

Top PA official accuses Israel of providing social security to the son of '#1 terrorist Yigal Amir' while trying to stop terrorist stipends. .....

According to police estimates, 100,000 protestors are currently participating in the demonstration. Additional demonstrations are planned to take place outside the President's residence in Jerusalem, in Be'er Sheva, and Herzliya.

President Trump transmitted a message to congress, warning them not to cut Social Security and Medicare {Direct Rumble Link}. Many politicians and pundits will look at Trump’s position from the perspective of it being good to campaign for older voters, but that’s not the core of his reasoning.In 2016 CTH was the first place to evaluate the totality of President Trump’s economic policies; specifically, as those policies related to the entitlement programs around Social Security and Medicare. We outlined the approach Trump was putting forth and the way he was approaching the issue. In the years that followed, he was...

Excusing his tendency to hyperbole, one finds it hard to disagree when Donald Trump talks about how much better things were before the “China virus” ruined his reelection effort and set the country on a path of decline. The America that existed before COVID, the George Floyd revolution, and the rigged 2020 election is not so far in the past, but it was a completely different world. Gas was cheap, crime was down, the border was secure, and the country was a lot freer. Words like “misinformation” were seldom heard on the lips of bureaucrats or neighbors deputized by them,...

'Where woke goes to die' is more than a slogan in Ron DeSantis's state of Florida. Need some good news? Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, has a way of always delivering good news. On the culture wars front, he's gotten the steamroller out, flattening wokester investing in public pensions on what's known as the ESG model. According to the Daily Wire: (Daily Wire excerpt in Post #1) SNIP The good news doesn't stop there, though. In a move that brought unusually loud screams from the left, DeSantis junked another problem besetting Florida and the rest of the country -- woke...

The World Economic Forum in Davos has quite the reputation for gathering industry and policy bigwigs together to discuss serious topics such as the climate crisis, as well as sharing ideas on pressing issues… and listen to weird singing, apparently. Singer-songwriter Achinoam Nini (also known as Noa) and guitarist Gil Dor, both from Israel, gave a (very) memorable performance on Thursday ahead of a conversation with climate advocate Carla Gomez Briones on the subject of “music as a catalyst for change”. The bizarre music featuring whistling and almost operatic singing from Noa has since gone viral online, with many wondering...

President Donald Trump unveiled his policy plans regarding China and warned against its influence in the United States in a special video message released Wednesday. Captioning his video on Truth Social, the 45th president stated, “When I’m president, I will ensure that America’s future remains firmly in American hands, not in China’s. We need to enact aggressive new restrictions on Chinese ownership of any vital infrastructure in the United States, including energy, technology, telecommunications, farmland, natural resources, medical supplies, and other strategic national assets.”In his video message to the American people, Trump warned that China is “buying up” the United...

Friends, in today’s Gospel, relatives of Jesus claim that he is mad. In cases like this, the basic problem is always the fearful ego. Ego-addicts know that sometimes the best defense is a good offense. If you want to protect the ego and its prerogatives, you must oppress and demoralize those around you. There is a very unsubtle version of this method: you attack, put down, insult, and undermine those around you. This is the method of the bully. But the religious version is much subtler and thus more insidious and dangerous. It takes the law itself—especially the moral law—and...

Two Republican lawmakers introduced a bill on Friday to defund any university that offers students chemical abortion pills, according to its press release. Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines introduced the “Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2023” on the same day as the 50th anniversary of the March for Life, which was also the first March for Life since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The bill would prohibit federal funding being given to universities which provide students or employees with abortion medication. Universities would be required to submit an annual report to...

American track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson was kicked off an American Airlines flight following an altercation*** The 23-year-old claimed the flight attendant, whom Richardson identifies as “John,” disrespected her while she was speaking on her phone prior to takeoff. *** “I stated to him I didn’t like the tone he used with me. Following that while standing in front of me doing the safety protocols he continued to lean over to look at my phone.” *** Multiple passengers can subsequently be heard growing aggravated with Richardson, telling her to stop arguing with the flight attendant. “Y’all see him right?...

The media have been largely silent on a Biden administration energy project that one conservationist said would be "armageddon" for public lands. It’s a far cry from how reporters covered similar proposals under former president Donald Trump. In December 2022, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that her department would expedite plans to build solar energy farms on up to 100 million acres of untouched public land in five Western states, in a bid to "tackle climate change." The announcement has garnered little to no national attention, save for the occasional report that the Biden administration is expanding renewable energy production.

... Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison slapped the gun control law with a temporary restraining order after former Republican candidate for attorney general Tom DeVore sued to block the law. DeVore said in a press release that he's representing citizens from 87 Illinois counties who are challenging the law, which he called, "an outright attack on the constitutional rights of lawful gun owners across the state."Morrison's ruling only applies to 850 plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit in Effingham County and four licensed gun dealers.Pritzker said he was not surprised by the decision and accused the plaintiffs of advancing "ideology over...