Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted last August that a drop in the importance of the U.S. dollar was "irreversible"—but there appears to be no sign that the global economy is turning its back on the greenback. "The U.S. Dollar was used in 48% of international payment transactions last year, the highest level in more than a decade. But Brics...," it said next to the graph, which showed the euro making 23.2 percent of transactions and the Chinese yuan way behind at 3.47 percent. "BRICS countries would like their currencies to be used in world trade, but each has a major...

Video at link....massive infrastructure initiatives by CCP. America meanwhile can't even drill for its own oil and gas.

When in Vietnam, Build Boats as the Romans Do Richard Stone INDO-PACIFIC PREHISTORY ASSOCIATION CONGRESS, 20-26 MARCH 2006, MANILA In December 2004, researchers drained a canal in northern Vietnam in search of ancient textiles from graves. They found that and a whole lot more. Protruding from the canal bank at Dong Xa was a 2000-year-old log boat that had been used as a coffin. After a closer look at the woodwork, archaeologists Peter Bellwood and Judith Cameron of Australia National University in Canberra and their colleagues were astounded to find that the method for fitting planks to hull matched that...

Under President Joe Biden, the number of Chinese nationals crossing the nation’s borders has increased by more than 37,000 percent in just three years, new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data reveals. In the last six months, which represents the first half of Fiscal Year 2024, nearly 25,000 Chinese nationals crossed United States borders and were encountered by Border Patrol agents. During the same period in Fiscal Year 2021, just 65 Chinese nationals were encountered by Border Patrol while crossing U.S. borders. By the first half of Fiscal Year 2022, Chinese crossings had increased to 432 in the same period.

(snip) "Made in PRC" is an abbreviation for "Made in the People's Republic of China." It's a way of subtly indicating a product's Chinese origin while avoiding direct association with the full country name. China, known for producing both high-quality and low-quality goods, has faced challenges related to its reputation for mass-producing inexpensive products. To counteract negative perceptions and cater to consumer preferences, many Chinese manufacturers have turned to the "Made in PRC" label.

A former senior employee at TikTok said he was ordered to send American user data to Beijing-based parent company ByteDance, contradicting TikTok’s public claims of operating independently from China, according to a Fortune report published Monday. Evan Turner, a senior data scientist for TikTok from April to September in 2022, told Fortune that every two weeks TikTok had him email spreadsheets containing millions of American users’ data to ByteDance employees in Beijing, including the users’ names, email addresses, IP addresses, and demographics. Turner said he "literally worked on a project that gave U.S. data to China" even though TikTok had...

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Iranian and Saudi counterparts late Monday night, following Iran’s attack on Israel, describing the aerial bombardment as Tehran’s “right to self-defense.” Russia had issued a similar response as China, recognizing the Iranian claim of acting in self-defense following an alleged Israeli strike in Damascus which killed several high-ranking military officials at an embassy compound site used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). During the phone call with the Iranian foreign minister, Wang strongly condemned the attack in Syria and said Iran will be able to handle the situation well in order...

Are you a betting man? As we look at the next six to nine months, as Americans, we know the many possibilities surrounding the coming election. President Trump could be returned to office, or Joe Biden could remain in place, or one or both could somehow be replaced on their respective party’s tickets. Anything is possible. We see the polls, which say President Trump is ahead. We also know our history, the history of the American electorate often voting against their own interest, and we know of the corrupt political machines famous for fabricating votes and stealing elections. All the...

FIRST ON FOX: Then-Vice President Biden boasted about his Harvard-educated niece previously studying Chinese and living in China while delivering a speech in 2011 touting "a rising China" being "a positive, positive development, not only for China but for America…"

So what changed the policy in Tehran? Mikhail Podolyak, the head of the Ukraine Presidential Office, blamed Iran for agreeing to be "directly complicit in the mass murder of Ukrainians." Why?, he asked: "Russia offered something important to Iran in exchange for killer drones and a ballistic missile contract. It is one of these options: uranium and other materials; nuclear technology; regional guarantees from the Russian Federation."

Sergey Lavrov has affirmed that Russia supports Iran's response against Israeli aggression. In a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov emphasized that Russia would vehemently back Iran's response against "Israel" at the United Nations Security Council. Lavrov additionally affirmed that the Iranian response was "responsible and within an interval of self-control," and noted that Russia never doubted Iran's intention to retaliate against "Israel's" aggression against its consulate and officials in Syria. He also described the aversion of certain countries to condemn "Israel's" attack against the Iranian consulate as "unfortunate". On his part, Amir-Abdollahian...

TUGUEGARAO CITY, CAGAYAN, Philippines — Two Cagayan Valley lawmakers have filed separate resolutions asking the appropriate committee of the House of Representatives to look into the reported surge of Chinese students in colleges and universities in this city amid the country’s tension with China over the West Philippine Sea. Representatives Joseph Lara of Cagayan’s third district and Faustino “Inno” Dy V of Isabela’s sixth district said the presence of large numbers of Chinese nationals in this region and other parts of the country pose a risk to the country’s national security and economy, particularly since these foreigners had been involved...

On July 14, 2022, Al-Qaeda's official media outlet Al-Sahab released a video featuring an audio address by the organization's leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. The video is the sixth part in a series titled "Deal of the Century or Crusades Spanning Centuries," whose first part was released on September 11, 2020. The fifth part was released on June 14...

A noble tomb has been found in a cemetery dating back to the Six Dynasties period (222-589) in the city of Zhenjiang, east China's Jiangsu Province, according to the city's cultural relics and archaeology institute.The owner of the tomb, named Zhao Xuanzhi, was the uncle of an emperor during the Southern Dynasty (420-589).Archaeologists found a bronze seal in Tomb No. 6 that helps identify the owner of the tomb. "The bronze seal found in Tomb No. 6 has been confirmed as Zhao Xuanzhi's personal seal. The age of the tomb is consistent with historical records," said Li Xidong, deputy director...

I read this on a "Spring Valley" vitamin bottle at Walmart the other day... Sobriety Check Update lets play the song... Does that song make you angry or did it make you angry when you first heard it... Getting back to "DEI" I didn't say it wasn't a problem or isn't a problem I would be denying my own experience. I worked in television news and right before I was drummed out as a drunk in 1990 I could see corporate efforts to bring in "Minority" hires. Marxist-Leninist thinking was in the heart of one of those hires she did...

Drug shortages have reached an all-time high in the United States, pharmacists are warning.During the first three months of 2024, there were 323 active medication shortages, according to American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and Utah Drug Information Service. Previously, the record high was 320 shortages in 2014.This ASHP started tracking shortages in 2001.MORE: Patients, health care providers face shortages of critical drugs, Senate report finds"All drug classes are vulnerable to shortage," Dr. Paul Abramowitz, CEO of ASHP, said in a statement. "Some of the most worrying shortages involve generic sterile injectable medications, including cancer chemotherapy drugs and emergency medications...

As Brazil rapidly descends into authoritarianism, courting the favor of the world’s worst dictatorship (Chinese Communists), meanwhile, journalist Michael Shellenberger warns Americans that we, too, are heading down Brazil’s path. From allegedly aiming to criminalize “lying” to threatening to arrest those who exposed the country’s increasingly tyrannical judiciary, Brazil’s government under President Lula is trying to turn itself into a perfect Orwellian dystopia. That’s exactly why Shellenberger, who wrote the Twitter Files that exposed the corruption, is so concerned. Brazil might be more rapid in crushing rights and freedoms, but the US government is also blatantly violating rights while pandering...

The US Air Force has 140 of its biggest warplanes – its heavy bombers – in active service: 76 Boeing B-52Hs, 44 Boeing B-1Bs and 20 B-2 stealth bombers built by Northrop Grumman. .. Any other air force might content itself with 140 bombers and redistribute the lost bomber’s operating budget. But the US Air Force is counting on the B-1 to play a lead role in a possible air war over the Taiwan Strait. It’s such a high priority that the service is spending millions of dollars recovering, from long-term storage, a surplus B-1 nicknamed “Lancelot” that’s been sitting...

In Israel today hundreds of Jewish residents storming into a Palestinian village killing one... A federal judge denying Hunter Biden's motion to dismiss... After many weeks of talk a transitional council for Haiti ... The Democrat Governor of Kansas Laura Kelly vetoing legislation stopping gender changing medical treatments... Israeli politics...latest "Lazar" poll... "This is a sad day for America" Congressman Thomas Massie Reacts...Speaker Mike Johnson breaking a 212-212 tie... President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson each expressing support for the other... Trump supportive of the notion that more aid to Ukraine is going to be a "loan"... A barrage...

In the midst of all its other woes, the Islamic Republic of Iran has just suffered the worst economic collapse of its existence: the Iranian rial has lost 30% of its value overnight.