Free Republic

An extensive investigation based on declassified government documents and previously suppressed scientific research has uncovered compelling evidence that U.S. biological weapons programs contributed to the emergence of Lyme disease, which now affects hundreds of thousands of Americans annually. The investigation reveals a pattern of concealment spanning six decades, including the systematic suppression of critical medical research and the release of nearly 300,000 radioactive ticks across Virginia to study how the disease-carrying insects would spread. In 2014, researchers discovered extensive unpublished materials in the garage of deceased scientist Willy Burgdorfer, who identified bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The materials revealed that...

In public, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia says his country’s growing friendship with China is unshakable — a strategic military and economic collaboration that has entered a golden era. But in the corridors of Lubyanka, the headquarters of Russia’s domestic security agency, known as the F.S.B., a secretive intelligence unit refers to the Chinese as “the enemy.” The threats are laid out in an eight-page internal F.S.B. planning document, obtained by The New York Times, that sets priorities for fending off Chinese espionage. The document is undated, raising the possibility that it is a draft, though it appears from...

The roughly $900 billion stimulus package is on its way to President Donald Trump for his signature, though it’s unclear whether he will sign the bill that would deliver aid to Americans, mutliple news outlets reported on Thursday. The massive 5,593-page bill, which includes the $1.4 trillion omnibus, is being flown on the plane to Florida, where Trump is staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort for Christmas...