Free Republic

The Navy is failing to build warships on time or on budget. Putting campaign donations and local employment interests above national security, members of Congress have been unwilling to take bold action to fix things. An absence of skilled workers, inefficient unions, and COVID-19-related challenges have further complicated matters. The next president and Congress thus face a choice. Either they accept China’s dominance of the western Pacific Ocean or they do the once unthinkable and appropriate funds to build warships in the dockyards of allied nations such as South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Time is not a luxury...

China launches "military drills," sending planes and ships to encircle Taiwan — AFP

Richard Nixon’s presidency is a study in contrasts. He achieved significant foreign policy successes and domestic environmental and social progress, yet Watergate ultimately tarnished his legacy, overshadowing all that came before it. The thirty-seventh American commander-in-chief is remembered as both a consequential president and one who brought down his own administration and legacy. The year 1968 would go down in history as one of chaos and violence. With the disastrous Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, civil rights unrest, political polarization, and violence at the Democratic Convention stemming from President Lyndon...

* The European Union on Friday voted to adopt definitive tariffs on China-made battery electric vehicles (BEVs). * "Today, the European Commission's proposal to impose definitive countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China has obtained the necessary support from EU Member States for the adoption of tariffs," the EU said in a statement. * The EU added that it was still working in China to look for "an alternative solution" even as the tariffs are adopted.The European Union on Friday voted to adopt definitive tariffs on China-made battery electric vehicles (BEVs). "Today, the European Commission's proposal...

What A Lousy Zelection.. Tonight’s vice presidential debate may be amusing because it pits an alpha male against a beta male. Vance had a chaotic childhood as his mother went through husbands and addictions. He joined the Marines to leave the madness behind. He used the GI Bill to get into Ohio State. He went on to Yale Law School. He became a successful high-tech lawyer, best-selling author whose book was turned into a major movie. Walz is the mincing and prancing retired schoolteacher. He is the National Guard NCO who retired rather than be deployed to Iraq. He is...

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has subpoenaed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about unspecified allegations of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) connections against Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. In a letter accompanying the subpoena released on Thursday, Comer said the House Oversight and Accountability Committee received information from a whistleblower about “serious concern among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel regarding a longstanding connection between” Tim Walz and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The letter was issued just one day before Walz is set to debate Trump vice-presidential pick JD Vance in the televised debate on Tuesday. Per the Hill: Specifically, Comer...

Mexico is building the Interoceanic Corridor railway to compete with the Panama Canal and ease international trade. The new railway would aim to relieve the burden on the Panama Canal, which is struggling to receive shipments due to a drought. The Panama Canal has raised toll prices nearly eight-fold, and water levels at an all-time low make ship passage through the canal challenging. Mexico’s Interoceanic Corridor The $7.5 billion dollar project will stretch 188 miles across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The railway will move containers from ships to the train and transport them to ships on the other side that...

A woman in China's type 1 diabetes has been reversed thanks to a novel treatment that retools cells extracted from the patient's own body. The breakthrough cure converted these cells into personalized stem cells that were then used to grow clusters of fresh 'islets', hormone-producing cells in the pancreas and liver that help to regulate sugars in the body. 'I can eat sugar now,' said the 25-year-old, who lives in the city of Tianjing, where researchers say her body has successfully produced its own insulin for over a year. The treatment, which outside experts have called stunning and 'wonderful,' builds...

China unveiled some of its boldest measures in years on Tuesday (Sep 24) aimed at boosting its struggling economy as leaders grapple with a prolonged property sector debt crisis, continued deflationary pressure and high youth unemployment. The world's second-largest economy has yet to achieve a highly anticipated post-pandemic recovery and the government has set a goal of five per cent growth in 2024 - an objective analysts say is optimistic given the headwinds it is facing. On Tuesday, central bank chief Pan Gongsheng told a news conference in Beijing that it would cut a slew of rates in a bid...

Song Binbin, who has died, probably aged 77, became a poster girl for the bloody Chinese “Cultural Revolution” when on August 18 1966 she was photographed overlooking an immense rally in Tiananmen Square, pinning a red armband, symbol of the Red Guards, on the arm of the Chinese dictator Mao Zedong. Two weeks earlier she had taken part in the murder of Bian Zhongyun, deputy principal of the Beijing high school she attended, one of the first – and one of the most notorious – of the murders that inaugurated a decade of slaughter in which between one and...

In 1980, the Chinese government instituted what became known as the "one child" policy, forbidding families from having two or more children without special permission from the government. The government in Beijing feared what they described as an impending "demographic disaster" if the nation's population continued to grow at the current rate seen during that time. It was a brutal approach to what was being seen as an intractable problem. The rules were enforced vigorously, with many women being forced to have abortions or be sterilized. At first, the policy appeared to be having the intended effect and the country's...

WASHINGTON – A Chinese company installed intelligence gathering equipment on cranes used at seaports across the US that could allow Beijing to spy on Americans and cripple key infrastructure, according to a new congressional report. The Republican majorities on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and House Homeland Security Committee found that the Shanghai-based, state-owned ZPMC engineering company had pressured American port authorities to allow remote access to its cranes, “with a particular focus on those located on the West Coast.” “If granted, this access could potentially be extended to other [People’s Republican of China] government entities,...

Jim Sasser has died. The former U.S. senator, lawyer and military man who served as U.S. ambassador to China during the Bill Clinton administration was respected for his pleasant demeanor and quick intellect. He was 87. A former Tennessee Democratic Party chairman, Sasser served Tennessee in the U.S. Senate from 1977 to 1995, partly with Republican Howard Baker and partly with fellow Democrats Al Gore and Harlan Mathews. The state has seen no Democrat hold the position since Sasser left. Clinton appointed Sasser in 1996 to serve as the sixth U.S. ambassador to China.

https://metallicman.com/laoban4site/what-the-progressive-liberals-have-in-store-for-conservatives/ I Read this page from Metallica Man. Written 8 years ago. Looks prophetic today

Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. [Photo/Agencies] ================================================================= A domestic monkeypox vaccine candidate developed by Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm received clearance from the top drug regulator for clinical trials on Monday, representing the nation's first experimental dose to win the trial approval, said the company. The vaccine candidate is created by Shanghai Institute of Biological Products administered by Sinopharm and is expected to play an important role in preventing and controlling monkeypox infections, said the company in a statement released on Monday afternoon. In China, a vaccine candidate typically goes...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent greetings to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the occasion of North Korea's founding anniversary, state media KCNA said on Monday. "I am sure that the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and the DPRK will be strengthened in a planned way thanks to our joint efforts," Putin said, according to KCNA.

China, Tanzania and Zambia signed an initial agreement to rehabilitate a decades-old railway aimed at improving the rail-sea transportation in resource-rich East Africa, Chinese state media said on Wednesday. President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding on refurbishing the 1,860 kms (1,156 mile) Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway with the Tanzanian and Zambian presidents, who were in Beijing attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation... The single-track TAZARA railway was built between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China, offering a cargo transport route from Zambia's copper and cobalt mines to the sea on Tanzania's...

Former President Donald Trump is facing backlash for holding rallies in places described as "sundown towns." A TikTok user pointed out a "troubling pattern" in the locations of Trump's recent rallies in a video that has gone viral on social media. It was also shared on X, formerly Twitter, where it amassed millions of views. "Howell, Michigan; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Johnstown, Pennsylvania," the man said in the video. "What do these places have in common? They're all sundown towns." He added: "This is where Donald Trump is choosing to hold his rallies... You got a presidential candidate for the GOP...

Volkswagen is contemplating factory closures in Germany for the first time as it grapples with increasing pressure from cheaper Asian competitors. This development signifies a major conflict between Chief Executive Oliver Blume and influential company unions, which have a history of blocking management decisions.The company's works council has identified a large vehicle plant and a component factory as obsolete, vowing strong opposition to the executive board's plans. Lower Saxony, Volkswagen's second-largest shareholder, supports a review of potential closures, increasing tensions within the company.Facing decreased competitiveness, a challenging economic environment, and aggressive Chinese automakers entering Europe, Volkswagen plans to cut costs...