Free Republic

For Daniel Guerra, an aspiring Brazilian sailor keen to travel the world, the job ad was a dream come true. A British yacht owner was seeking two deck-hands to help sail his boat from Brazil across the Atlantic, one of the great ocean journeys. There would be no salary, but all expenses paid - and, crucially, Mr Guerra would gain some of the sailing experience he needed to qualify as a sea captain. "My dream was to become a captain and go work in Europe," remembers the 43-year-old, who saw the advert from an online sailing recruitment agency. "So I...

The Manhattan apartment and Southampton mansion of a Russian oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir Putin were raided by federal agents on Thursday, according to the FBI and a report. An FBI spokesperson confirmed agents “conducted law enforcement activity” at the Upper East Side high-rise and Long Island estate linked to billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, but declined to comment further. FBI officials and Homeland Security Investigation agents were seen carrying boxes out of Vekselberg’s 515 Park Ave. apartment building and his Southampton mansion at 19 Duck Pond Lane, according to NBC New York, which first reported the searches. The US...

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas just told the Turkish parliament that "America is the plague, and the plague is America." Will the United States tolerate such attacks? What do Palestinian leaders say when they are not speaking in English? For decades, Yasser Arafat spoke of peace in English—but only in English. In Arabic, not a word about peace and compromise. In Arabic, not a word about peace and compromise. (Here, from 1997, is an example of the many articles about this phenomenon.) But Arafat has been dead since 2004, and Mahmoud Abbas has been the leader of the PLO, Fatah Party,...

Radical leftist president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used his opening speech to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday to condemn the government of Israel for allegedly seeking “revenge” against Hamas terrorists and to defend widespread censorship of conservatives. Brazil opens the speeches at the General Assembly every year, a tradition that began in 1955 when Brazil’s leaders offered speak first as other countries hesitated. Lula began his speech, the second since he took office for a third term in January 2023, by making special mention of the Palestinian delegation and welcoming the presence of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud...

The X account of Elon Musk in seen blocked on a mobile screen in this illustration after Brazil's telecommunications regulator suspended access to Elon Musk's X social network in the country. Can’t stop the signal,” a famous line from the movie “Serenity”, has become something of a catchphase among geeks — meaning that messages of truth cannot be contained. But stopping the signal is exactly what a lot of governments are trying to do these days, with mixed but depressing results. Under Article 19 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion...

The Arizona Supreme Court ruling that 98,000 people whose citizenship documents aren't confirmed can vote... In Brazil the "X social media platform naming a legal representative. This meets... US Central Command announcing destruction of a Houthi ... South Carolina executing Freddie Owens... The US Navy announcing that Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti was treated for Stage 1 breast cancer... US Army Private Travis King who defected to North Korea getting a one-year sentence and a dishonorable discharge... A fire explosion and evacuation of civilians in southern Russia after a drone attack... 16 Ukrainian drones destroyed by air defenses...

A sacred cloak that had been in the holdings of the National Museum of Denmark for more than 300 years was returned to Indigenous leaders in Brazil, reported the BBC. The nearly six-foot-long cloak was constructed using 4,000 scarlet ibis feathers. It was taken from the Tupinambá people during Portuguese colonial rule. Since 1698, it has been on display in Copenhagen. The cloak was unveiled at an official ceremony in Rio de Janeiro that was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and indigenous leaders, as well as 200 Tupinambá people. “I felt sadness and joy. A mixture between...

Urged on by beleaguered ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, tens of thousands of demonstrators from Brazil's political right took to the streets Saturday amid a free speech tussle that has seen social media platform X suspended in the country. Arch-conservative Bolsonaro denounced the judge who ordered the suspension of X, the former Twitter which is popular among Brazil's conservatives, as a "dictator." "We must put a stop to those who exceed the limits of our constitution," he told the sea of protesters clad in the yellow and green colors of the Brazilian flag, referring to Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro began flooding Sao Paulo’s main boulevard for an Independence Day rally Saturday, buoyed by the government’s blocking of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s X platform, a ban they say is proof of their political persecution. A few thousand demonstrators, clad in the yellow-and-green colors of Brazil’s flag, poured onto Av. Paulista. References to the ban on X and images of Musk abounded. Saturday’s march is a test of Bolsonaro’s capacity to mobilize turnout ahead of the October municipal elections, even though Brazil’s electoral court has barred him from running for office until 2030. It’s...

US Central Command reporting destruction of a Houthi drone and... Iran's mission to the United Nations denying reporting by mainstream media outlets about transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia... Italy's Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano quitting after a controversy... Brazil's Human Rights Minister fired by President Lula da Silva... The US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro violated the "Hatch Act" when he praised.... More talk about the 14-year-old suspect in the attack at a Georgia high school... The troubled Boeing Starliner spacecraft returning to Earth without any crew... Citing increased Anti-Semitism London Mayor Sadiq Khan starting direct bus service between...

Sergio Mendes, the innovative and influential pianist, composer and arranger who was one of Brazil’s earliest contemporary crossover artists, died Friday in Los Angeles, his family has confirmed. No cause of death was announced, although he recently suffered from long-term COVID. He was 83. Mendes “passed away peacefully” in his hometown of Los Angeles, according to a statement from his family cited in the Guardian. “His wife and musical partner for the past 54 years, Gracinha Leporace Mendes, was by his side, as were his loving children. Mendes last performed in November 2023 to sold out and wildly enthusiastic houses...

What happened in Brazil this past week — a magistrate suspended Twitter and threatened telecommunication companies, as well as Apple and Google — did not happen in a vacuum. To briefly sum up the order handed down: Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered that Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) be completely de-platformed, citing government speech rules against hate and “disinformation.” Any Brazilian citizen caught using a VPN to skirt the legal order could face fines that equal about $9,000. Moraes has also attempted to freeze Starlink accounts in the country, Musk’s satellite and internet service. What is happening...

VIDEOIs the Brazilian Censorship Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who took down X (always to be known as Twitter) in Brazil and who threatened to arrest anyone using that platform, the Spawn of Satan? When you watch him in action he definitely gives off strong Demonic vibes as you can see.

The moves show how Musk’s legal dispute about X is affecting SpaceX and its Starlink satellite-internet service.. SpaceX has moved to evacuate employees from Brazil and warned others against traveling to the country, a sign of how Elon Musk’s ongoing battle against Brazil’s highest court over his social-media company X is spilling out to affect some of his other businesses.

BREAKING: Alexandre de Moraes ordered the freezing of Starlink's assets in Brazil, including cars and aircraft.

We have previously discussed the anti-free speech views of Clinton’s former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, who has tried to sell citizens on the perfectly Orwellian view that more freedom means tyranny when it comes to the freedom of expression. He also demanded that former president Donald Trump be banned from ballots as a “traitor” — all in the name of protecting democracy from itself. Last week, Reich wrote a column declaring Elon Musk “out of control” in his refusal to censor citizens and appeared to call for his arrest.Reich has long been a prominent voice in the anti-free speech movement...

X, the social-media giant owned by Elon Musk, has officially been banned in Brazil. Last night, X failed to meet a deadline set by a Supreme Court judge to block vast swathes of content and appoint a local legal representative for the company. It has now gone offline to its 22million Brazilian users – roughly one tenth of the national population. The Brazilian elites loathe X for precisely the same reason as the elites across the rest of the democratic world do – they blame it for the spread of so-called disinformation, particularly since it was taken over by Musk...

Former State Department official, Mike Benz, the founder of the Foundation for Freedom Online posted a very interesting tweet today on the CIA, former President Jair Bolsonaro, the US State Department, and electronic voting machines in Brazil.Mike Benz sat for an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier in the week where he first discussed the Biden regime’s efforts to interfere in the 2022 reelection of populist favorite Jair Bolsonaro.The Gateway Pundit posted this morning on the Biden regime, the US Military, the State Department, and the CIA’s efforts to alter the election results in Brazil in 2022. The Biden regime decided...

Your host with you again on this holiday weekend getting together with some of my friends today in the 12-steps feeling great about being a sober host. But wow I am just overwhelmed El Rushbo used to speak of: "Talent On Loan From God" I am just overwhelmed by God's grace to me before getting the talent... Give Me a F Give Me a B Give Me a I What does that spell?... Why Do You And I Have To Eat Bugs Is It Really About "Carbon Emissions"? Farmers have to cut back on production fewer cows and all that...

SAO PAULO (AP) — The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Sunday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence.... “I’ve got the feeling that I have no idea what’s happening in the world right now. Bizarre,” entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads...“Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!,” Cardi B said Friday on X... De Moraes...set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using...