Free Republic

More than two dozen Democrat lawmakers recently reintroduced a bicameral resolution hailing the “courage, compassion, and dedication” of abortionists. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) led 24 of their colleagues in reintroducing The Abortion Provider Appreciation Day Resolution on March 12. Part of the resolution calls for limitless abortions, confirming Democrats’ position that abortions should be available throughout pregnancy for any reason. The resolution calls on Congress to declare “a vision for a future liberated from all abortion restrictions and bans” and affirm “the commitment of Congress to working toward that goal...

Ukrainians living in regions illegally annexed by Russia are being coerced to vote in the presidential election of their wartime occupier, Vladimir Putin — an exercise denounced by Ukraine as an illegitimate effort by Moscow to tighten control over its neighbor. Polls don't open in Russia until Friday, but they are open in four annexed regions of Ukraine close to the front line, some of which are not fully in Putin’s control. *snip* In the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, said his city was a symbol of Russia’s “military nightmare” and of an “electoral process in...

Ukraine has “de-occupied” 130 square kilometres (50 square miles) of national territory in its southern region since the start of the counter-offensive, real progress but a statement that perhaps underlines recent admissions that things are not moving as quickly as initially hoped. Kyiv’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar put the previous week’s fighting into context in a statement published early Monday morning, saying in Ukraine’s military eastern region of operations the Russian lines had been pushed back one-to-two kilometres (up to a mile-and-a-quarter) in battles pushing eastwards towards Donetsk and Bakhmut. Ukrainian soldiers are now entrenched at the new forward...

Ukrainian forces continue to make significant territorial gains in multiple sectors of the frontlines and appear to be greeted everywhere with open arms by civilians, some of which spent over six months under the thumb of Russian occupiers.Videos like the one below have proliferated online as Ukrainian troops push rapidly through Russian lines in the north around Kharkiv and in the south around Kherson. Ukrainian forces in most places appear to be greeted with hugs, handshakes, and tears of joy by their liberated countrymen.

Reverse deportations are being carried out by the Russian invasion forces: UKRAINIANS who have now being returned from Pskov to the practically destroyed city on the Sea of Azov because the groups of deportees have apparently become an ISSUE for local authorities. That’s according to Petro Andryushchenko, an advisor to the legitimate Mariupol Mayor, who reported the news on Telegram, Ukrinform saw. "The first fact of reverse deportation from Russia… From the Russian city of Pskov, where Mariupol residents became a problem for the local authorities, they are being returned home. On Saturday, 60 residents of Mariupol were ‘voluntarily’ put...

Three months after Russia’s brutal months-long siege of Mariupol came to an end, life hangs by a thread for those who stayed behind. Russian airstrikes and artillery pounded Mariupol, reducing what was once a vibrant port city into a landscape of rubble. More than 20,000 people are believed to have been killed in Russia’s siege but the real number could be much higher, according to the Mariupol City Council. There are mass graves with unidentified bodies outside of the city. Though incessant shelling ceased after the last Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol fell to Russia in mid-May, those who survived the...

In Mariupol, which has been temporarily occupied by the Russian military, patients lie outside the hospital waiting for medical care, and people queue up to get a plate of food. It was reported on telegram by Counselor to Mariupol Mayor Petro Andryushchenko, he posted the corresponding videos, informs Censor.NЕТ. "In occupied Mariupol, sick people lie directly in the street. And they don't even hide it during interviews on propaganda TV. This level of medicine is responsible for the fact that the death rate in Mariupol has increased fivefold. That is how Russians "take care" of the people of Mariupol. And...

Russia’s capture of the strategic city of Lysychansk means the front line in Ukraine’s east will shift as Russian forces regroup before pushing further south and west, military analysts and Ukrainian officers said Sunday, ensuring that the next phase of the battle will be just as bloody as the last. To take Lysychansk and its neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk, Russian forces moved in from the north, east and west and created a pocket of territory that became indefensible toward the end of June. Now those Russian forces are in a position to attempt a similar maneuver on other Ukrainian-held cities...

Ukraine's military has confirmed that the eastern city of Lysychansk has fallen to Russian forces. "After heavy fighting for Lysychansk, the defence forces of Ukraine were forced to withdraw from their occupied positions and lines," the army general staff said. Earlier Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his forces had captured Lysychansk and taken full control of Luhansk region. Its general staff said that "in order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, a decision was made to withdraw".

“…. While elaborating on the damage suffered by Ukraine during the war, Zelensky also highlighted Russian causalities, claiming that over 30,000 Russian soldiers have been killed thus far. “The occupiers’ death toll is already more than 30,000 soldiers. That's greater than the death toll of the Soviet Union in 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Greater than Russia’s death toll in two Chechen wars. But this does not stop Russia. This state is still ready to lose and kill, kill people.” NATO estimates of Russia’s casualties are roughly half of those offered by Zelensky, with the British Defense Ministry estimating...

US-backed fighters in Syria say they have removed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) from Raqqa’s Old City, bringing them closer than ever to the armed group’s most well-defended positions. “Our forces today seized full control of the Old City in Raqqa after clashes with Daesh,” Talal Sello, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told AFP news agency on Friday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL. Sello said the SDF was now on the edges of ISIL’s “security quarter in the city centre, where most of its main bases are”. Most...

Today is a great day not only in Australian history, but also in world history. It marks the day when people of character and sensibility pushed back against an overwrought and pointless green agenda, and pushed back in a big way. They’ve had enough, and they’ve scraped the Krudd off their shoes and are moving forward. Tony Abbot has won the Australian election in a landslide, and vows to abolish the carbon tax as a first order of business. Abbott has declared Australia is “once more open for business” in claiming victory in Saturday’s election. It is a huge blow...

"IN SEDUCTION, the rapist often bothers to buy a bottle of wine," proclaimed radical feminist Andrea Dworkin in 1976. If you're a woman born 20 years ago, you probably don't even recognize Dworkin's name. Yet, there's a good chance you've had some seriously frustrating dates with her unwitting progeny: the guy who waits until date three or four—not to grab you, throw you up against the wall and suck face—but to politely inquire, "May I kiss you?" Equal pay for equal work? It's a beautiful thing. Equal opportunity? Thrilled to have it. We women owe an enormous debt to Susan...

(Author's Note: This article contains graphic descriptions of torture, degradation, and human suffering. It also contains language that most lib/dem/soc/commies will find offensive. It is called the truth.)Well, we've got a new congress starting up operations. The freshmen have been sworn in, they've been given the guided tour, and they should (hopefully) be able to find the bathrooms without too much difficulty. Committee assignments have been handed out in both houses, and with any luck at all we as a nation might actually see some real progress coming out of that 535-member coffee klatch that passes for a legislature. However,...

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 13 -- As senior Iraqi officials declared Fallujah liberated, U.S. forces on Saturday continued intense combat operations aimed at securing the last section of the city from an insurgent force fighting with surprising discipline, organization and the trappings of a professional army, American commanders said. In the southernmost section of Fallujah, where a showdown still loomed, U.S. soldiers discovered an underground bunker and steel-enforced tunnels connecting a ring of houses filled with weapons, medical supplies and bunk beds.

Former Iraq Hostage Reunited With Wife 02:31 PM EST - May 05, 2004 The Associated Press LANDSTUHL, Germany Former American hostage Thomas Hamill was reunited Wednesday in Germany with his wife, who brought his favorite cowboy boots, red shirt and jeans - and promised him steak and chocolate cake for dinner.Hamill, a 43-year-old truck driver for a Halliburton subsidiary who escaped his Iraqi captors Sunday, has been treated since Monday at this facility in Germany for a wounded arm.Kellie Hamill flew from Mississippi to the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said."It was a very emotional...

BAGHDAD — Wedged between the reports of murder and mayhem, the headline in the local paper was eye-catching: "Should you change your wallpaper for lighter tones?" it asked. "Do it once and you'll see the results." Although there are no lifestyle magazines yet, no Baghdad style mavens and little cause for celebration until some basic security is in place, people are starting to improve a part of life they can control — the world behind their high walls and locked front doors. Slowly but surely, ordinary Iraqis are redoing floors, hanging curtains, buying new pictures and feathering their nests after...

- Kuwait, liberated from Iraqi occupation more than 12 years ago by a US-led coalition, joyously welcomed the end of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime. Kuwaitis largely spent the day glued to the nearest television screen, watching intently as US tanks rolled into central Baghdad and a jubilant Iraqi population received them with open arms. The Kuwaitis had given American soldiers the very same welcome when their country was freed from a seven-month Iraqi occupation in February 1991 after the Gulf War (news - web sites). For many here, the most symbolic of events was the tearing down...

Militia shells liberated villagers given food by British troops By Jack Fairweather in Gul Ashab (Filed: 04/04/2003) The villagers of Gul Ashab yesterday paid a terrible price for the welcome they have shown to British forces distributing aid in the newly liberated village. On Wednesday the entire village, just outside Basra, had gathered to thank A Squadron of the Queen's Dragoon Guards as they handed out much needed food and water. But early yesterday the village centre was in flames after an artillery and mortar attack by Iraqi militia groups Nine shells fell on the village, taking off the leg...

March is Women's History Month. It's a month during which the exploits and accomplishments of women are remembered and celebrated. One group of women who are sometimes overlooked in American history classes, except in their own state, are the women of old Hawaii. Hawaii is especially unique because it had the distinction of being an autonomous kingdom before it became a republic, a United States Territory, and ultimately our 50th State. When European explorers and later New England missionaries encountered Hawaiian women, they were surprised at the social and political freedom which Hawaiian women enjoyed. One of the first things...