Free Republic

In his first address to the Bundestag parliament on Wednesday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to rearm Germany so that the country would have the “strongest” military force in Europe. Following years of chronic underinvestment in defence and relying on the United States for protection, Chancellor Merz told lawmakers that “strengthening the Bundeswehr is our top priority” and will make “every effort to continue to achieve the greatest possible agreement between the European and American partners.” In this context, Merz promised to expand Germany’s military forces “into the strongest conventional army in Europe,” Die Welt reports.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) stated that President Donald Trump hasn’t brought down costs after “Joe Biden handed Donald Trump the strongest economy in the entire world.” And is undoing work “to make sure that the climate change that is crushing economies across the country is going to start to help improve.” Wasserman Schultz said, “Joe Biden handed Donald Trump the strongest economy in the entire world. He is the only president in modern times that had positive job numbers in every single year he was president. We passed the CHIPS and...

Hunter Biden was “one of the strongest voices” in the Biden family who reportedly encouraged President Joe Biden to remain in the presidential race after his performance at the presidential debate. President Joe Biden was previously reported to be meeting with several members of the Biden family at Camp David to discuss the future of his presidential campaign after he appeared to look confused, froze, had trouble getting through his prepared closing statement, and referenced several false claims.

President Biden offered his biggest hint to date that he plans to run for re-election in 2024 during his meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron last week. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted Macron and his wife for a state dinner at the White House on Friday, and the first lady told Macron that she and her husband are ready for a re-election campaign, the New York Times reported Wednesday. The two couples then toasted Biden's as yet unannounced effort. While Biden still has not made a formal decision to run for president, his White House has long stuck...

President Joe Biden declared on Wednesday that despite record inflation and a record trade deficit, he has the “strongest first-year economic track record of any president in the last 50 years.” “We’re ending 2021 with what one analyst described as the strongest first-year economic track record of any president in the last 50 years,” the president tweeted, adding, “Let’s keep the progress going”:

President Biden on Wednesday touted the number of unemployment insurance claims, stating that the number represents one of the strongest jobs recoveries ever. “Today, we received further evidence that our jobs recovery is one of the strongest ever. The average number of Americans filing for unemployment over the last four weeks is now at its lowest level since 1969,” Biden said in a statement. The four-week moving average for claims fell by 16,000 to 203,750, the lowest level since Nov. 15, 1969. New applications for jobless aide rose slightly last week, totaling 206,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous...

After months of grueling tests, a species of horned dung beetle takes the title for world's strongest insect. The beetle, called Onthophagus taurus, was found to be able to pull a whopping 1,141 times its own body weight, which is the equivalent of a 150-pound (70 kilogram) person lifting six full double-decker buses. While the study researcher knows of a mite that can take on a hair more, that organism is an arachnid, not an insect. The finding, published in the current issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, does more than elevate the beetle's status, as...

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, May 28, 2009 – The U.S. military holds its servicemembers to high physical standards, and some take those standards to the next level, pushing themselves above and beyond what’s expected of them. Navy Seaman Chris Spencer lifts a 150-pound dumbbell over his head during the Strongest Man competition at Hero's Hall gym aboard Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, May 16, 2009. Spencer won all six challenges in the competition and was named Al Asad's Strongest Man. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Triah Pendracki  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Seven such servicemembers rose...

What can lift a tree trunk, tote an 800-pound tire and eat a dozen eggs? A very strong man - in fact, America's strongest. Meet Derek Poundstone, the 315-pound, 6-foot-1 cop from Connecticut who snagged the America's Strongest Man title at last year's annual competition. He'll be showcasing his superhuman powers at "The World's Strongest Man Super Series" (a qualifier to the World's Strongest Man championship) at the Theater at Madison Square Garden tonight, competing against 11 other musclemen who have won national and international competitions. Each man will test his might by, among other things, pulling a 50,000-pound double-decker...

Yesterday, at the gym, I had an interesting talk with a senior executive of a Fortune 500 manufacturing company that is #1 in its industry. He said that in a few years we will look back and wonder why we allowed global trade to make China, a country that wants to destroy our way of life, the strongest nation on earth. The man was sincere when he said that the quest for cheap labor will destroy our nation. He was not favorably impressed with our political or business leaders. A few moments of candor on his part were revealing.

China hit by strongest typhoon for half a century · 1.5 million evacuated, state of emergency declared· Summer of damage for storm-devastated region Jonathan Watts in Beijing Friday August 11, 2006The Guardian (UK) The most powerful typhoon to strike China for half a century tore into one of the country's manufacturing heartlands yesterday, killing at least two people, injuring 80 and forcing the evacuation of 1.5 million residents. With winds of up to 135mph, typhoon Saomai hit the coastal town of Mazhan in Zhejiang province, dumping a torrent of rain on a region still recovering from earlier floods. A dozen...