Free Republic

n his many articles for Tablet and other outlets, Jacob Siegel, a journalist and war veteran, has focused on how rulers and elites use digital tools to calibrate information and control people. His new book, The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control, traces the evolution—from 9/11 to the advent of AI—of a mammoth alliance between government and Big Tech that subverts our constitutional republic and enslaves Americans. According to Siegel, the foundation of the information state is a “whole-of-society” approach to governance that aligns “the most powerful institutions behind the dictates of the state.” Tech platforms, NGOs,...

On June 30, 2026, a ransomware group has reportedly compromised Tata Electronics, Apple's manufacturing partner in India, leaking sensitive data including supplier lists and unreleased iPhone 18 Pro images on the dark web. This incident poses a significant threat to Apple's carefully constructed global supply chain, which relies on numerous suppliers for its components. The leaked information could potentially damage Apple's relationship with Tata and provide competitors and counterfeiters with critical insights into Apple's manufacturing processes...The leaked documents, which include over 200,000 files detailing exclusive suppliers for key components, underscore both the strengths and vulnerabilities of Apple's supply chain. This...

Super Micro Computer shares dropped over 8% Monday after Taiwanese prosecutors raided its local offices as part of an expanding investigation into the alleged smuggling of NVIDIA AI chip-equipped servers to China. The operation searched 12 locations including the offices of Chief Telecom and distributor Albatron Technology, and summoned six individuals for questioning. The raids widen a case that began in May with arrests over falsified export documents. The actions follow US indictments alleging a $2.5 billion smuggling scheme involving Super Micro’s co-founder. Taiwan currently lacks specific criminal statutes for AI chip re-exports but is considering legislation to close that...

Democratic Socialists of America members, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political organization, have been cultivating connections with Chinese Communist Party officials and agreeing to take pro-China positions, according to extensive minutes of internal meetings seen by Newsweek. The minutes of the DSA meetings show participants discussing contacts with officials from China’s ruling party in the name of “anti-imperialism,” with some members saying the organization should avoid topics that are sensitive for Beijing, such as China’s threats to invade Taiwan, its security crackdown in Hong Kong and abuses of the Uyghur Muslim minority. They also discuss visits to China. Chinese...

China is closing in on the US in the AI race after the superpower developed its cybersecurity capabilities to match those of its American rivals. Beijing-based tech firms 360 Security Technology and Z.ai, also known as Zhipu AI, have narrowed the gap with American competitors when it comes to finding bugs. 360 Security Chief Executive Zhou Hongyi told a cybersecurity conference in the Chinese capital that the company's bug-finding tool, called Tulongfeng, is now comparable to Anthropic's Mythos, which serves the same function. 'This kind of powerful weapon that can alter the landscape of cyberwarfare can't remain solely in American...

The man accused of bribing a top Eric Adams adviser in a $120,000 scheme has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Yan Po Zhu, 51, also known as Andy Zhu, and Frank Carone, a lawyer and Adams’ former chief of staff, were arrested this week along with three others on fraud and money laundering charges. Zhu — who allegedly made payments to Carone in exchange for a contract to house migrants at his Queens hotel in 2022, per court documents — donated $100,000 to American Changle Association in 2018 and has long associated with suspected CCP agent Linda Sun....

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Democrats, among them some of the most recognizable names in politics, have accepted millions of dollars in campaign contributions from top employees at firms the Pentagon recently designated as "Chinese military companies" operating in the U.S. The Department of War on June 8 designated Alibaba, Baidu and BYD as "Chinese military companies," meaning that the three firms, in the eyes of the U.S. government, are providing assistance to the People’s Liberation Army through its military-civil fusion strategy or other means. Senior employees at these companies, including executives, have donated roughly $2.6 million to Democratic political committees since 2020, a Fox...

Yesterday, we were all sort of stunned to find that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping had summarily dismissed and had placed under investigation General Zhang Youxia, the now-former vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission; see New Round of Purges Wrack the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Defense Establishment – RedState. The removal of Zhang meant 37 of the 81 generals appointed since October 2022 were either under arrest or had simply disappeared. The initial reports said Zhang was removed because he “undermined Xi’s authority, abetted political and corruption problems that impaired the party’s leadership over the armed forces, and damaged...

Almost all media commentators seem convinced that Donald Trump’s foreign policy in his second term is a disaster. He is bogged down in Iran, snookered in Ukraine, his tariff agenda has failed and he has alienated his NATO allies. But this consensus has been too hastily formed. Looking at the bigger global picture, Trump’s foreign policy has been a spectacular success. Take the western hemisphere. We have the so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” the updated version of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine. In 1822, president James Monroe, having welcomed South America’s overthrow of Spanish and Portuguese imperial rule, stated that Latin American nations...

In this episode, John and I got to do a real deep-dive with Elon. We discuss the economics of orbital data centers, the difficulties of scaling power on Earth, what it would take to manufacture humanoids at high-volume in America, xAI’s business and alignment plans, DOGE, and much more. Elon Musk -- "In 36 months, the cheapest place to put AI will be space" | 2:49:45 Dwarkesh Patel and Stripe | 1,628,229 views | February 5, 2026

The First Amendment forbids the government from forcing you to disclose the groups or organizations that you support. That is because the First Amendment guarantees our right to associate with others, and associational privacy is fundamental to that freedom. Nevertheless, in complete disregard for these associational rights, the Securities and Exchange Commission currently requires investors to disclose the businesses they support financially. No government agency has the authority to compel Americans to disclose the companies in which they invest. Yet for several years, the SEC has done exactly that through a surveillance program called the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). The...

A Chinese tracking device was discovered in the Prime Minister's official car, MPs were told yesterday. The bug is believed to have been found in a sealed part of the vehicle imported from China. Its discovery during a sweep first emerged in 2023, sparking fears that Beijing was aggressively spying on ministers in the then-Conservative government. Now it has been revealed that the device was in fact found in the Prime Minister's car the previous year. Charles Parton, of think-tank the Council on Geostrategy, told the Commons Business and Trade Committee yesterday: 'The prime minister's car in 2022 was emanating...

Midway through 2026, energy is the issue of the moment. The standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, soaring gas prices, the race to build AI data centers, and intensifying competition with China all point to the same question: Who will produce the energy that powers the modern world? That question is headed to the US Supreme Court. In a few months, the justices will hear arguments in one of the most consequential energy cases in decades, Suncor v. Boulder County. It’s one of dozens of lawsuits brought by progressive state and local governments seeking to make oil and gas companies...

Pope Francis has accused Britain of placing greed over humanity by refusing to hand over a disputed island archipelago in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius. In an unusually muscular foreign policy intervention, the pope suggested that Britain’s failure to heed a United Nations vote calling on it relinquish sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory was uncivilised. “Not all things that are right for humanity are right for our pocket, but international institutions must be obeyed,” the pope told journalists as he left Mauritius at the end of a three-nation tour of Africa. “If there is an internal dispute or...

The Chagos Islands may be little more than specks in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but they are at the center of a looming diplomatic row over a key American military base and the rise of Chinese power. Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic have raised fears that the British government's decision to begin negotiations to hand over the islands to Mauritius could allow China the chance to build its own military facility on the archipelago — right under the nose of American forces at Diego Garcia. The issue is one of the most important strategic locations in...

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) warned the United Kingdom that it could damage its relationship with the United States if it threatens the future of the joint U.S.-U.K. military base on the island of Diego Garcia by ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Key excerpts of the speech are below: “Do you know who is loving all of this? China, because China has a close relationship with Mauritius. And do you know what? It is going to get a lot closer. “This is insane. This is cell-deep stupid. This is bone-deep, down-to-the-marrow stupid. Because the United Nations...

A recent report exposes the concerning ways in which the Chinese Communist Party has leveraged the University of California system to shape California’s climate and energy policies — prioritizing China’s strategic interests while undermining American economic independence, energy stability, and national security. Titled “Behind the Climate Curtain: China’s Hidden Role in California’s Energy Mandates and University Partnerships,” this report by Ian Oxnevad, senior fellow at the National Association of Scholars (NAS), examines how California’s aggressive climate agenda, facilitated through partnerships between the University of California (UC) and China’s Tsinghua University, has benefited Beijing’s economic and military ambitions at the expense...

Australian beef exports to China could be hit with a 55 per cent tariff within days. Earlier this year, Beijing announced a quota on Australian beef of 205,000 tonnes a year...

... nations failed to establish or effectively enforce comprehensive legal prohibitions against importing goods produced wholly or partly through forced labour.While a subset of countries — including Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the European Union — will see 10% tariffs imposed due to specific enforcement failures, Australia has been grouped with jurisdictions like China and India under the higher 12.5% tariff bracket...