Free Republic

According to a statement released by The Australian National University (ANU), researchers have identified the earliest known evidence of rice in the Pacific Islands. Rice was originally domesticated in central China 9,000 years ago, but it took thousands of years for it to reach the Marianas Island in western Micronesia. Phytolith analysis of microscopic plant debris found on pottery from the Ritidian Beach Cave in northern Guam indicated that rice arrived there at least 3,500 years ago. Previously, the earliest known evidence of rice in the remote Pacific dated to between 1,000 and 700 years ago, so this discovery pushes...

An ex-CIA analyst was sentenced to more than three years in prison Wednesday for leaking top secret documents about Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran last year. Asif William Rahman, 34, had pleaded guilty in January to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information after he was arrested for absconding with records from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency last October that indicated Israel was planning to launch airstrikes in response to a massive Iranian missile attack. Rahman, who had been a CIA employee since 2016 and had access to top secret documents, leaked the stolen information on social...

The Democrats are having a hard time connecting with normal people, and one congressman decided that the best thing to do would be to grab a guitar and throw down an anti-Trump version of the Jimi Hendrix classic "Hey Joe." The only problem is that he doesn't know how to play guitar. Like, at all. **SNIP** The unbuttoned shirt, for instance, was 1,000 percent a decision made moments before his intern hit record. This may have even been take two after he stopped in the middle of tie-on take one. "Wait; hang on… (*Unbutons shirt*) …Now we're ready." But let's...

Six B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri appear to be en route to a U.S. Air Force base in Guam, according to flight tracking data and voice communications with air traffic control. The bombers apparently refueled after launching from Missouri, suggesting they launched without full fuel tanks due to a heavy onboard payload, which could be bunker-buster bombs. The B-2 can carry two 15-ton bunker-buster bombs—which only the U.S. possesses. Experts say the bombs could be critical to targeting Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear site: Fordow.

Under its new leader, Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee has been plagued by infighting and a drop in big donations, raising alarms from Democrats as they try to win back power. Just months into the tenure of a new party leader, Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee’s financial situation has grown so bleak that top officials have discussed whether they might need to borrow money this year to keep paying the bills. Fund-raising from major donors — some of whom Mr. Martin has still not spoken with — has slowed sharply. At the same time, he has expanded the...

Mold painted over, wires dangling and black rusted pipes framing the ceiling were part of everyday reality for Marines, sailors and airmen living in barracks on Guam. The conditions left the Navy’s top admiral in charge of barracks across the service baffled.Photos of the Palau Hall barracks at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and comments in an email from a senior Navy official were obtained by the Project on Government Oversight and shared with Task & Purpose.“It is baffling to discover sailors living in these conditions,” Vice Adm. Scott Gray, the head of Navy Installations Command, wrote in a May...

A Democratic congressman from the South is in hot water after claiming he did not defend migrants getting deported, 'because I'm not a Latino at the Home Depot.' 'First, they came for the Latinos outside of the Home Depots trying to get work so that they could feed their families,' Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. 'I didn't say anything about it, because I'm not a Latino at the Home Depot,' the Democrat continued. The lawmaker appears to have been making his own version of a poem by a Martin Niemöller. The work, titled 'First...

A Democratic House lawmaker, known for his jaw-dropping remarks, repurposed a Holocaust-era poem on Wednesday to argue that the Trump administration is targeting “Latinos outside of the Home Depots.” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who once worried Guam could sink from overpopulation, subjected lawmakers to his bizarre variation of German theologian Martin Niemöller’s famous “First They Came For …” poem during a House Judiciary Committee hearing – leaving some people stunned. “You know, first they came for the Latinos outside of the Home Depots, trying to get work so that they could feed their families,” Johnson began. “And I didn’t say...

China’s spying campaign is pervasive and relentless. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director, Christopher Wray said, ““The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist.” Well said by former Director Wray, but if the FBI and Department of Justice had spent less time spying on Catholics, Pro-Lifers, and School Board attendees, maybe they would...

The top United Nations court took up the largest case in its history on Monday, hearing the plight of several small island nations helpless in combating the devastating impact of climate change that they feel endangers their very survival. They demand that major polluting nations be held to account. After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on “the obligations of States in respect of climate change.” “The stakes could not be higher. The survival of...

CIA official Asif W. Rahman was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia on Tuesday and charged with disclosing classified documents allegedly showing Israel's retaliation plans against Iran, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. He was brought to a federal court in Guam to face charges. Rahman was indicted by a US federal court in Virginia with charges of willful retention and transmission of national defense information, the report said. According to the New York Times, the documents were prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes US spy satellite information and photos. CIA official had top-secret security clearance Rahman...

Vice President Kamala Harris edged out former President Donald Trump in the US territory of Guam's quadrennial straw poll. With all precincts reporting, Harris defeated Trump 49.46% to 46.22%. Four years ago, Joe Biden defeated Trump by 14 percentage points. Guam is a US territory and its straw poll results, which have been held every four years since 1980, are non-binding and don't count toward the Electoral College. The island's straw poll result has corresponded to the popular vote winner in every election since 2004.

The Republican Party in Guam flipped the legislature for the first time in nearly 16 years, according to exit polls and unofficial election results. In a post on Facebook, KUAM News posted an exit poll from the University of Guam in which “300 votes were collected from students.” The exit poll from the university found that out of 300 responses, the race to represent Guam’s At-Large Congressional District between Republican Del. James Moyan and Democratic candidate Ginger Cruz was essentially tied “right down the middle,” with a “difference” of three voters “between the two.”

"It’s a forward operating base for long-range bombers, and a port for ships, so that navy ships can sally forth from there," said Peter Layton, a defense and aviation expert at the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia. "Certainly places in Japan and the Philippines are a lot closer (to China)... but a lot more exposed."

In December 2023, for 17 continuous days, a fleet of drones appeared at night over Langley Air Force Base (AFB), Virginia and other facilities in the greater Virginia Beach area. This was reported at the time, but the story was fleeting. Two other events occurred in the area that are relevant to the story. In February 2023, a pair of F-22s from Langley shot down the Chinese spy balloon as it exited the United States over South Carolina into the Atlantic Ocean. In January 2024, a Chinese graduate student at the University of Minnesota, was arrested for flying a drone...

Guam faces a substantial threat from China's massive missile arsenal, and US Army officials say more air defense capabilities are desperately needed.Efforts to defend this strategic US territory in the Pacific from a barrage in the event of war are underway, but Army leaders say one of the biggest challenges is fielding integrated systems with deeper magazines to stop air and missile attacks.At a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel on the defense of Guam late last month, Army Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, the program executive officer for the US Army's Missiles and Space program, said that he'd called...

Rep. Hank Johnson attempts to insult Donald Trump's cognitive ability and is promptly reminded by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie that Johnson arguably said the dumbest thing in Congressional history when he suggested the island of Guam could "TIP OVER."

Last May I wrote about a group of Chinese hackers who'd been identified by Microsoft after malware was discovered in telecom systems on the island of Guam. Microsoft named the hacking group "Volt Typhoon."Microsoft called the hacking group “Volt Typhoon” and said that it was part of a state-sponsored Chinese effort aimed at not only critical infrastructure such as communications, electric and gas utilities, but also maritime operations and transportation. The intrusions appeared, for now, to be an espionage campaign. But the Chinese could use the code, which is designed to pierce firewalls, to enable destructive attacks, if they choose.Today,...

are not crossing into the U.S. illegally, but instead are sitting at the border and seeking asylum, despite record numbers of illegal entries into the country being reported along the southern border. Johnson was asked about the immigration crisis while passing through the halls of the Capitol building, particularly about the nearly 10,000 migrants who cross the border into the U.S. illegally each day. "Well, they’re not crossing into the U.S. illegally," Johnson responded when asked at what point the crossings would become an invasion. "They’re sitting at the border seeking asylum." People seeking asylum, though, must prove they suffered...

Microsoft has uncovered stealthy and targeted malicious activity focused on post-compromise credential access and network system discovery aimed at critical infrastructure organizations in the United States. The attack is carried out by Volt Typhoon, a state-sponsored actor based in China that typically focuses on espionage and information gathering. Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon campaign is pursuing development of capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises. Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021 and has targeted critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere in the United States....