Free Republic

BEIJING—The extent of China's soil pollution, long guarded as a state secret, was laid out in an official report that confirmed deep-seated fears about contaminated farmland and the viability of the country's food supply. Nearly one-fifth of the country's arable land is polluted, officials said in the report, shedding unexpected light on the scale of the problem—a legacy of China's three decades of breakneck economic growth and industrial expansion.

Water insecurity. China is home to about 20 percent of the world’s population but only 7 percent of its freshwater sources. Overuse has led to severe shortages, and industry along China’s major water sources has polluted supplies. Construction of hydropower dams along major rivers has also damaged ecosystems. The government released a plan in 2015 for preventing water pollution that included placing controls on polluting industries. The quality of surface waters—bodies such as lakes, rivers, and streams—has since improved. However, groundwater continues to fall short of targets, with more than 80 percent categorized as “bad to very bad.” Desertification. More...

China has increased its reliance on food imports over the past two decades, prompting concerns among officials who worry that disruptions to food supply chains could trigger domestic unrest. In particular, this reliance has heightened China’s sensitivity to food supply disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine. What is China’s current food security situation? With less than 10 percent of the planet’s arable land, China produces one-fourth of the world’s grain and feeds one-fifth of the world’s population. Data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that in 2022, China’s grain output reached a record...

The United Nations General Assembly’s general debate begins on Tuesday, expected to bring over 140 leaders to New York to discuss this year’s theme of “restoring trust” – and resist Western pressure for the Ukraine war to dominate the conversation. The General Assembly typically offers presidents and other world leaders a vague theme as a discussion prompt – this year, “Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Solidarity” – but otherwise lets them decide what global problems to emphasize. This year, observers predict many speakers, particularly those whose countries are allied or friendly with Russia, will choose to use their platforms to divert...

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki predicted Sunday that President Joe Biden’s first cat would “dominate the internet” when it is publicly revealed for the first time. Psaki responded to questions about the cat in a video posted to social media where she answered questions from users on Twitter.

Aided by a politically correct culture of “tolerance”, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is secretly building a “parallel” society in Sweden by infiltrating organisations and political parties, a government report has concluded. Surprisingly, the document takes aim at “political elites” for fostering a doctrine of multiculturalism and silence, which can help and facilitate the nefarious ends of anti-democratic organisation like the Brotherhood. Somewhat predictably, however, the publication of such claims in Sweden – where open criticism of liberal, multicultural ideals is rare – has caused a row, with critics labelling the report “conspiratorial” and claiming it misrepresents Islam. Published Friday, the...

President Obama used his weekly address to appeal to families counting their blessings on Thanksgiving, reminding Americans that the holiday isn’t only about turkey but a tribute to the deep immigration history that led to the nation’s founding. In 1620, a small band of pilgrims came to this continent, refugees who had fled persecution and violence in their native land, Obama says. Nearly 400 years later, we remember their part in the American story and we honor the men and women who helped them in their time of need. The Obama administration said Wednesday that states can't legally block the...

Tuesday at a press conference with French President Francois Hollande, President Barack Obama declared it “our humanitarian duty” to help out with refugees fleeing the Middle East. Obama said, “Americans will not be terrorized. I say all this because another part of being vigilant, another part of defeating terrorists like ISIL is upholding the rights and freedoms that define our two great republics. That includes freedom of religion.

Let us share a trend from Christian Action Network’s Facebook page, where supporters “Like” the things we do and haters bombard us with profanity and/or insults. When we announced our recent petition drive to keep Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe from settling Syrian refugees in our home state (it’s still open; sign it here), the negative reactions all had a similar tone: that we are “unchristian” for opposing a huge, hasty and very political importation of strangers into our midst from a region known for terrorism and extremist violence. Here are some choice examples: How Christian of you.. WWJTA? (Who would...

Ted Nugent talks about his soon-to-be appearance at the SOTU tonight and how he’s gonna take on the media tsunami and dominate them with facts. Yeah, he’s not that modest, but he’s right and it should be fun to watch:

Time to unfurl Old Glory and break out the red, white and blue...

Join up today, this seasons gonna be a blast. We are opening things up at bit to make ours a more realistic FF league. Please join us or let Obama isolate us and we all die'

VIPR Searches and the American Citizen: 'Dominate. Intimidate. Control.' By John W. Whitehead 7/5/2011 "They're trying to scare the pants off the American people that we need these things... Fear is a commodity and they're selling it. The more they can sell it, the more we buy into it. When American people are afraid, they will accept anything."--Kate Hanni, passengers' rights advocate "Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government...Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and...

Napolitano’s V.I.P.R. Vows to “Dominate,Intimidate and Control”the American People BY COACH COLLINS,ON JULY 15TH,2011 By Doug Book,staff writer Since its inception in 2002,the Department of Homeland Security has grown increasingly contemptuous of the rights of the American people. Indeed,the Gestapo-like tactics of one of the Department’s better known masters of overreach–the TSA–are responsible for countless examples of the organizations daily assault on the Constitution. But recently,another of Janet Napolitano’s handmaidens of harassment has begun to make news…albeit only on the web,of course. It is the TSA’s Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response task force–or VIPR. Organized into mobile swat teams,VIPR has...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Democratic Party's 2010 congressional election campaign is looking to an elite group of lobbyists for bundled political contributions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a study released on Monday. The study by the non-partisan watchdog Center for Public Integrity found that four of the five biggest bundlers of campaign contributions among lobbyists were Democrats who raised a combined $1 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee alone. Other beneficiaries were the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Senator Charles Schumer, the study showed. Bundlers,...

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Somalia government soldiers, joined by troops from neighboring Ethiopia, advanced toward Somalia's capital Tuesday as Islamic fighters dug in and promised a "new phase" in the war - a chilling pronouncement from a movement that has threatened suicide attacks. Somalia called on the Council of Islamic Courts militias, bloodied by a week of artillery and mortar attacks, to surrender and promised amnesty if they lay down their weapons, government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said. As many as 1,000 people may have been killed and 3,000 wounded in the fighting, many of them foreign radicals, Ethiopian Prime Minister...

Last week, George W. Bush took the oath of office and began his second term. With 150,000 troops still in Iraq, Iran developing nuclear weapons and new leadership in the Palestinian Authority, the Middle East will continue to dominate White House attention.To what extent will Bush's second term be different from his first? For better or worse, not much.Pundits who keep a scorecard of second-term appointments forget three factors: First, this president remains firm in his views. When he speaks about freedom, liberty and democracy, he is sincere. Second, the rank-and-file of not only the CIA, but also of the...

"The creation of the United States of America is the central event of the past four hundred years." Thus does Walter A. McDougall of the University of Pennsylvania begin the first volume of his acclaimed new American history, Freedom Just Around the Corner (HarperCollins).Not surprisingly, this central event has evoked a wide range of opinions. Tens of millions of immigrants have voted with their feet to slough off prior allegiances and join the boisterous experiment that makes "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" its official goal.The result has been an astounding success. "We dominate every field of human endeavor...

The Palestinian Authority hatred of the US, which is expressed at many levels of Palestinian leadership and media often has a common repeating theme: the US wants to dominate and exploit the world. This is particularity noteworthy when understanding that a central theme of PA ideology, having appeared in school books, sermons and TV lectures, is that Islam is destined to ultimately defeat, dominate, and rule over the world. PMW has seen repeatedly, that many of the lies and libels that the PA directs at both Israel and the US are actually various odious aspects of their own ideology that...

- When Rebecca Sealfon won the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in 1997, she launched a trend. Since Sealfon glued thousands to their television sets to watch her nervously spell her way to triumph, two other students who have been home-schooled for all or part of their academic careers have followed her to victory. In 2000, the final three finishers - winner George Thampy of Maryland Heights, Mo., runner-up Sean Conley of Shakopee, Minn., and third-place finisher Alison Miller of Niskayuna, N.Y., were home-schooled. Conley - who attended a Minnesota school the next year - won the bee in 2001....