Free Republic

Ellie in Space interviews Christian Davenport, author of Rocket Dreams. Moon vs Mars, SpaceX IPO & The China Question w/ Christian Davenport | 45:11 Ellie in Space | 217K subscribers | 4,809 views | February 16, 2026

"I think it’s really unfair. I think it’s punishing excellence, to be completely honest with you," Gu added. "Because I dare to do three events, and this is making it completely impossible to train fairly for the third event." FIS scheduled three training sessions before qualifying – an increase from two for a typical World Cup event. The organization’s spokesman, Bruno Sassi, said, "Every effort has been made to facilitate the best possible training" for the athletes.

China is about to send humanoid robots to work at a busy border with Vietnam. UBTECH Robotics has won a $37 million contract, to deploy its Walker S2 machines there starting this month. The assignment is led by UBTECH Robotics Corp., a Shenzhen-based company that builds full-size humanoid robots for industry and public services. EarthSnap Its engineers focus on embodied intelligence, which is artificial intelligence that controls a physical robot body, so these machines can handle messy, real-world environments. Fangchenggang is a coastal city in Guangxi near the border with Vietnam, where cargo trucks, coaches, and day travelers constantly cycle...

American-born Olympian Eileen Gu scored millions from China in 2025 – a staggering payout exposed in a public budget before officials quickly scrubbed her name from the record, according to a report. The champion freestyle skier, who competes for China, cashed in on a jaw-dropping $6.6 million from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau last year – a hefty sum that was shared with fellow US-born Olympian figure skater Zhu Yi, according to the country’s budget, the Wall Street Journal reported. Yi – who renounced her US citizenship – also performs under China’s flag.

According to the latest public opinion poll released by the Associated Press, about 70 percent of Americans oppose the United States taking control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Among Republicans who support U.S. President Donald Trump, about 50 percent are opposed to the United States acquiring Greenland. The Associated Press noted that, so far, very few people in the United States have publicly expressed support for the plan to take control of Greenland. Only about 24% of American adults approve of Trump’s approach to Greenland. Among Republicans, opinions are notably more divided; roughly half disapprove of the attempt...

Taiwan has told Washington that its proposal to move 40% of the island’s semiconductor supply chain to the U.S. was “impossible,” Taipei’s top tariff trade negotiator said in an interview. Speaking on a local television broadcast Sunday, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said she had made it clear to Washington that the island’s semiconductor ecosystem, built over decades, could not simply be relocated. Taiwan’s international expansion, including its investments in the U.S., is predicated on the notion that the industry remains’ rooted in Taiwan and continues to expand domestic investments, she said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Irresponsible Trump, responsible China: that is the message the BBC’s climate editor seemed to be sending us by juxtaposing the news that the President had repealed Barack Obama’s “endangerment finding” and that China’s carbon emissions fell slightly last year. Trump’s critics like to portray him as a rogue figure in a world which is otherwise committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. But is there any truth in that? The endangerment finding was a piece of legalese issued in a 2009 ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It stated that six greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,...

The vessel's captain was ordered to stop for an inspection, but failed to comply and fled, Japan's fisheries agency said.Japan seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper, authorities said on Friday (Feb 13), an incident that could deepen a spat between the Asian giants. The episode on Thursday off southern Japan came three months after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force. "The vessel's captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled," Japan's fisheries agency...

The State Department has just reported to Congress that the far left group ‘Code Pink’ is linked to the Chinese Communist Party. This should come as a surprise to no one. Code Pink began making a nuisance of themselves during the presidency of George W. Bush. They portrayed themselves as an anti-war group. Of course, once Obama became president and continued most of Bush’s foreign policy and the wars, they became curiously silent. Some of them were even guests at Obama’s inauguration. Now that Trump, a Republican, is president again, they are back to their old tactics of showing up...

Tariffs Fall and Investment SurgesTrade shapes power structures, and when two economies tighten bonds, the ripple spreads far beyond shipping lanes and customs desks. On Feb. 12, 2026, the Trump administration finalized a sweeping trade agreement with Taiwan that cuts tariffs, boosts American exports, and pours hundreds of billions into U.S. industry.Taiwan agreed to eliminate or sharply reduce tariffs on nearly all American goods, as duties on U.S. beef, dairy, and corn were reduced immediately to 0%. Pork belly tariffs fell from 40% to 10%, and ham fell from 32% to 10%. Taiwan also removed non-tariff barriers on motor vehicles,...

SPECIAL SERIES: Religious Liberty Around The World. In deteriorating health and 78 years old, Jimmy Lai is not likely to survive the 20-year prison sentence that Hong Kong’s kangaroo court handed him on Jan. 9. The Chinese Communist Party has ensured that the voice of this prominent media mogul and ardent defender of democracy will never be publicly heard from again, on anything. It accomplished this by distorting the territory’s formerly celebrated judicial system and rule of law. Over a thousand democracy defenders have been imprisoned since Hong Kong’s draconian national security law was imposed in 2020 and, as a...

“I always tell people the day Latinos, African-American, Asian and other communities realize that they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning. Because we are the majority in this country. We have the ability to take over this country,” State Rep. ‘Gene’ Yuanzhi Wu, who serves as the Texas Democrat House Minority Leader, recently declared. Who is oppressing Wu? The Chinese immigrant came here from Guangzhou, graduated from law school and became one of the top officials in the state. Good luck to any American who wants to move to China, become a lawyer and run for...

Washington’s answer to China’s Belt and Road Initiative begins in Armenia, and Vice President JD Vance is in the South Caucasus to pave the way. The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) may serve as the foundation stone of a broader network of transportation and economic corridors designed to secure critical Eurasian supply chains for the United States and to counter Chinese and Russian influence. However, the region lies on the periphery of U.S. geopolitical engagement; therefore, TRIPP’s implementation will require pragmatic solutions and a return to realpolitik in order to avoid aggressive countermeasures by other regional powers....

Former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has quietly taken a role as a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an institution long entangled with Chinese influence networks, foreign government funding, and open-borders activism. Previously led by former CIA Director William Burns, the think tank has whitewashed his historically awful tenure at DHS: “In that position, he led 260,000 employees to achieve transformational change in a diverse set of missions, including counterterrorism and physical security, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, trade and travel, immigration, and response to natural disasters. He has been lauded for his leadership skills, raising employee morale to...

"The market has indicated this is not investment-grade debt." It’s 2026, and tech companies continue to insist they need to spend staggering amounts of money on AI data centers. Yet for all of its enthusiasm over the past few years, Wall Street is finally starting to squint at the numbers. According to new reporting by Business Insider, JPMorgan Chase is running into trouble finding investors interested in servicing billions in debt backing two of the first five Stargate data centers. Stargate is Donald Trump’s $500 billion AI project led by tech companies Oracle and OpenAI. Its vague goal, OpenAI has...

A foreign-born Democrat went completely mask-off during an interview that is going viral with a borderline genocidal statement against white people. Social media users are in a total frenzy after discovering an interview Texas State Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) did with liberal journalist Jose Antonio Vargas of Define American back in December 2024. At one point in the discussion, Vargas asked Wu what it would take for Democrats to start winning again in Texas and across America. His response was horrifying. Wu, who was born in China, responded by saying that voters of color will start winning only when they...

With former intelligence officials warning of 1,000 Chinese spies for every ten from the West, reports of 1,200 Chinese spies embedded in Australia, and Chinese spies being “everywhere” in the U.K., China is very busy trying to push its will and policies on the world—which brings me to Minnesota.AdvertisementIf the agitators in Minnesota are merely protesting removal of U.S. criminal illegal aliens, doesn’t it seem odd that BreakThrough News, a “nonprofit” propaganda arm of the People’s Forum, would circulate a video showing the struggle between federal agents and an armed Alex Pretti, alongside a call to support the People’s Republic...

A US official accusing China of conducting secret nuclear explosions... A drone attack repelled in southern Russia's Rostov Region... Explosions in several Ukrainian cities early Saturday... President Trump tightening sanctions on Iran... An Arizona state judge striking down three abortion laws.. . US Navy Secretary John Phelan was on Jeffrey Epstein's plane... Members of Congress being given access to unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files... President Trump signing an executive order increasing the importation of beef from Argentina... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...dismissing any link between Epstein and Israel... Opening Ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy... British police searching...

The earthquake in Shaanxi China on January 23, 1556 was not, by any means, the most powerful earthquake experienced in human history. Still, an inscription from the time ends, simply, "Since the beginning of time, there has been no earthquake comparable to this one." Note: Just because you can think up a reason to criticize doesn't mean that you are obligated to do so. Pedantic is not a compliment folks. Humanity's Deadliest Day: Shaanxi 1556 | 16:28 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.62M subscribers | 311,949 views | January 23, 2026

Korean War hero Royce Williams is being awarded the Medal of Honor, and his actions are something not even Hollywood could have dreamed up. Congressman Darrell Issa announced on Wednesday that President Donald Trump officially informed Williams of his MoH. The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military award. It is only awarded for actions so heroic that oftentimes, the person earning it is killed. Williams is still with us in 2026, and his once-secret actions are now out in the public. Buckle up for one of the most insane war stories you'll ever hear.