Free Republic

U.S. President Joe Biden is caught in a quadfecta of corruption, cognitive decline, a failed agenda and eroding polls. Amid this apparent vacuum, an opportunistic Barack Obama, who used to be more discreet in managing his third term, is re-entering the arena. Last week, he came out as the overseer of the Biden administration’s AI agenda, even as his foundation’s “Democracy Forum” was warning Americans about the need for “inclusive capitalism” and the pathologies of “material consumption”—all this from a multi-mansioned multimillionaire. Now, Obama is weighing in on the Gaza war by undercutting his third-term presidential proxy. Yet just as...

NEW DELHI -- At a time when even friendly governments are quick to distance themselves from the United States and its pugnacious, embattled president, India is a strategic maverick. The former firebrand of the Non-Aligned Movement has chosen this moment to forge a close partnership with Washington and to speak up positively about American power in world affairs. "This lack of nuclear cooperation is the last remaining cobweb from our old relationship, and we can now sweep it aside," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said with an expressive wave of his hand. "There are no other barriers to a more productive,...

Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al at a Damascus Mosque: The Nation of Islam Will Sit at the Throne of the World and the West Will Be Full of Remorse – When it's Too Late The following are excerpts from an address by Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al at the Al-Murabit Mosque in Damascus. The address was delivered following the Friday sermon at the mosque, and was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 3, 2006. "We Say to This West... By Allah, You Will Be defeated" Khaled Mash'al: "We apologize to our Prophet Muhammad, but we say to him: Oh Prophet of Allah,...

PATNA, India — The drug that could have cured Munia Devi through a series of cheap injections was identified decades ago but then died in the research pipeline because there was no profit in it. So Mrs. Devi lay limp in a hospital bed here recently, her spleen and liver bulging from under her rib cage as a bilious yellow liquid dripped into her thin arm. The treatment she was receiving can be toxic, and it costs $500. But it was her best hope to cure black fever, a disease known locally as kala azar, which kills an estimated half-million...

For the past 20 years, the best minds in Washington and Jerusalem treated Hamas as a pragmatic political operator whose leaders were satisfied living in the same world as the rest of us. Their charter, first adopted in 1988, endorsed a set of bloodcurdling millenarian goals. But despite the open madness and world-making ambitions of their public pronouncements, Hamas remained a semi-legitimate player, treated as just one unremarkable thread in the Middle East’s rich tapestry of mildly threatening, gun-toting political dreamers. Even to the most hardened Israeli security officials they were a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot whose extreme rhetoric and regrettably...

Friday on CNN’s “The Lead,” anchor Jake Tapper asked Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan if his country could “hold all 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza responsible” for the Hamas terror attacks in Israel by bombing Gaza. Erdan said, “Sadly, it’s very sad, because I really feel sorry for the suffering of the people of Gaza. But we should all remember, they elected Hamas 18 years ago. Hamas is the only one responsible for everything that is happening there. Hamas embedded its terrorist infrastructure within the civilian population under public facilities and there’s no other way to eradicate...

Russia's richest woman sues Forbes magazine MOSCOW, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Russia's richest woman, who is also the wife of Moscow's mayor, is suing the Russian edition of Forbes magazine for defamation over a story detailing her business interests, her company said on Wednesday. A spokesman for Yelena Baturina's Inteko firm said it had filed a suit against the magazine and its editor in Russian courts seeking compensation totalling 213,000 roubles ($8,100). "The article published in the December edition of Forbes magazine contains information which is not true," said Inteko spokesman Gennady Terebkov. That information included "the incorrect reproduction of...

The bodies of Altynbek Sarsenbaev, a co-chairman of the Naghyz Ak Zhol opposition party, his bodyguard, and his driver were found in the Almaty outskirts early today. The three were reportedly shot dead. A former information minister and a former ambassador to Russia, Sarsenbaev was a fierce critic of Kazakhstan's current regime.

Earth has a new moon - or at least a 'quasi-moon', a new study has revealed. A quasi-moon is a space rock that circles the Earth, but is gravitationally bound by the sun. This quasi-moon, called 2023 FW13, was discovered by experts using the Pan-STARRS telescope at the top of the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii, and is one of a handful of known quasi-moons. Experts think the ancient cosmic companion has been in Earth's vicinity since 100 BC and will keep circling our planet for at least another 1,500 years, until AD 3700. Thankfully, neither 2023 FW13 or a similar...

BREAKING: Katie Hobbs and Runbeck election services have been named as recipients of Sinaloa cartel bribes via deeds of trust and phony mortgages in AZ senate investigation. When are the criminals running this country going to be held accountable? A California-based law firm has accused Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Runbeck Election Services, and a slew of other election officials, mayors, judges, city councilman, and county supervisors in the state of receiving bribes from the Sinaloa cartel. During a Thursday hearing before the Senate Elections and Municipal Oversight & Elections Joint Committee, the principal investigator for...

On July 20th, 2006, Tom Tilley of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada was on a canoeing trip with his dog, Sam. A predatory black bear stalked them during a portage. Sam, an American Staffordshire, warned his owner Tom of the bear’s presence. As the bear closed in, Tom’s dog Sam interposed himself between the bear and Tom. When the bear attacked Sam, Tom leaped on the bear’s back, Tarzan style, and killed the bear, using a hunting knife with a six-inch blade.Wawa is a township not far from Lake Superior, about 400 miles North and West of Waterloo. It is about a...

U.S. Sen. Joe Biden really got into the Q and A with his audience at the Columbia, SC, Rotary Club Monday (Nov. 27, 2006), wading out into the crowd to answer a question about immigration.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — A current FBI special agent and a former bureau analyst who both served on Robert Mueller’s team testified that the special counsel’s office declined to investigate and never interviewed Charles Dolan, the Clinton-allied business associate of the main source for Christopher Steele, despite their urging. Supervisory special agent Amy Anderson and former FBI intelligence analyst Brittany Hertzog both testified Friday that, as members of Mueller’s team who were specifically tasked with scrutinizing the allegations within the Trump dossier, they believed the FBI should interview and further investigate Dolan, a longtime ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton, partly...

A Democrat running for election to serve as California state controller, the state's independent fiscal watchdog, traveled to Venezuela in 2006 to learn about Hugo Chavez's socialist revolution. Malia Cohen, a Democrat running for the position who has received praise from Democratic leadership, currently serves as a member of the California State Board of Equalization and made the 10-day trip to the socialist country for $1,250. Cohen's trip to the country was documented in a CNN story about the group's tour, with Cohen claiming that "revolutionary thought" is "generational" as it showed an image of her gazing at a mural...

I discussed the Igor Danchenko indictment here, laying out some of the more eye-raising parts of the facts and charges against Christopher Steele’s primary sub-source. Taking a closer look at the Danchenko indictment, there is a curious question presented by the FBI to Danchenko in June 2017. A question that indicates the FBI might have known more about the true sources to the Steele Dossiers sooner than they have let on. FBI Questions about Danchenko source Charles Dolan On June 15, 0217, the FBI interviewed Danchenko regarding the Dossiers (labeled “Company Reports” in the indictment). Here’s the line of questioning...

A presenter on Russian state television has issued an apparent threat to "traitors" living in Britain. Kirill Kleymenov warned of the dangers of spying on Russia and advised those who betrayed their country: "Don't choose Britain as a place to live." The comments, made on Channel One's Vremya news programme on Wednesday evening, came amid speculation over who was behind the attempted murder of a double agent on British soil. "I don't wish death on anyone, but, purely for educational purposes, I have a warning for anyone who dreams of such a career," he reportedly said. "The profession of a...

It's estimated that more than 107,000 people in the United States died due to opioid overdoses in 2021. Washington Post journalist Scott Higham notes it's "the equivalent of a 737 Boeing crashing and burning and killing everybody on board every single day." In the new book, American Cartel, Higham and co-author Sari Horwitz make the case that the pharmaceutical industry operated like a drug cartel, with manufacturers at the top; wholesalers in the middle; and pharmacies at the level of "street dealers." What's more, Higham says, the companies collaborated with each other — and with lawyers and lobbyists — to...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Friday’s shocking assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in one of the world’s safest country stunned the world and drew condemnation, with Iran calling it an “act of terrorism” and Spain slamming the “cowardly attack.” (snip) “We are shocked and saddened to hear about the violent attack against former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,” the White House said in a statement. “We are closely monitoring the reports and keeping our thoughts with his family and the people of Japan.” (snip) Other former world leaders also condemned the appalling attack on Abe, who was...

Australia issues Solomons threat Mr Sogavare became prime minister after riots in April Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has threatened to withdraw some visa privileges for Solomon Islands politicians, local media said. The threat came in retaliation for the Solomons' expulsion of Australia's top diplomat, in a growing row over a police investigation into April riots. High Commissioner Patrick Cole was officially told to leave on Tuesday. A senior Australian envoy is in the Solomons' capital, Honiara, to protest against the decision. Mr Downer told Sky News that the government was seeking a measured response. "We can't just have our...

Last night John rendered his "Verdict: The New York Times blew the story." The "story" was the testimony of five federal judges -- Magistrate Judge Allan Kornblum and four former FISA court judges -- on Senator Specter's proposed revision of the FISA statute. According to yesterday's New York Times story by Eric Lichtblau: In a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the secretive court, known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, several former judges who served on the panel...voiced skepticism at a Senate hearing about the president's constitutional authority to order wiretapping on Americans without a court order. They...