Free Republic

CNN Business)The standoff between the United States and Russia over the conflict in Ukraine has so far mainly played out on diplomatic and economic fronts. But now, as Russia invades Ukraine and the United States imposes new sanctions on Russia, there are concerns that may change. The US government is on high alert for the possibility of the conflict spilling over into cyberspace, where Russia has shown an ability to cause significant disruption and damage in the past. On Tuesday, a senior FBI cyber official warned US businesses and local governments that they should be vigilant against potential ransomware attacks,...

Is CNN a fount of journalist corruption? Right after the cable broadcaster fired its star journalist, Chris Cuomo for collaborating with his brother in a bid to fend off sex harassment charges, it now comes to light that CNN's Don Lemon was essentially caught doing the same thing. According to the Washington Examiner:Following reports that Chris Cuomo helped his brother with his high-profile sexual harassment scandal, another one of CNN's prime-time anchors faces controversy.Actor Jussie Smollett revealed during his testimony Monday that CNN anchor Don Lemon texted him during the early stages of the Chicago Police Department's investigation into his...

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz discuss double standard regarding Hunter Biden's business deals.

Recently, three major summits in the Western world—those of the G-7 (Group of Seven), NATO, and the U.S.–EU—have been held back-to-back, highlighting a significant strategic shift to confront the systemic threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). If 2020 was a year marked by a pandemic ravaging the world and the emergence of a new Cold War between the United States and China, 2021 will be one in which a strategic reorganization is being forged in the West to fight communist China. Since the start of 2021, the CCP has become more bluntly assertive in advancing its global ambitions—by...

War between Russia and Ukraine looks imminent. Israel and Iran are engaging in tit for tat maritime altercations. And China is ratcheting up provocative incursions into the airspaces and waters of Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines. Any one of these regional conflicts is incendiary enough to ignite World War III (or, more accurately, each one is capable of transforming the cold, hybrid warfare of cyberhacks, technology thefts, financial markets manipulation, and perhaps even biological attacks that has been underway for many years into total and unrelenting global bloodshed), yet trading markets and news media are largely ignoring what's unfolding. It's...

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - LGBTQ-rights advocates warned Kansas legislators Tuesday that their discussion of a proposed ban on transgender students in girls’ and women’s school sports would lead to bullying, and one group promised to sue the state if such a law is enacted. The state Senate Education Committee had a hearing on a bill backed by some athletes, Republican lawmakers and conservative groups. It would apply to K-12 school and college sports. Supporters portrayed it as an attempt to ensure competition remains fair and that girls and woman aren’t deprived of scholarships and other opportunities in sports. (Please see...

The takeover of the country by an amalgamation of bad characters representing fascist corporatism, collectivism, billionaire oligarchs, social media tyrants, pandemic peddlers, and Deep State snake oil surveillance state salesmen has marked a turning point for the country. Battle lines are being drawn, a propaganda war is already being waged, enemies are preparing for conflict, rage is rising, and the country is headed towards some level of dissolution. Events since the inception of the release of the China virus from the Wuhan bio-weapon lab, have been accelerating towards an epic struggle between those constituting the true power in the country...

A THINK TANK has warned a conflict between Washington and Beijing is just weeks away as tensions in the South China Sea reach boiling point. he South China Sea is a highly contested region and faces claims from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Diplomatic relations between the nations are already extremely strained. he South China Sea is a highly contested region and faces claims from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Diplomatic relations between the nations are already extremely strained.

For decades, foreign policy experts—the blob—assumed much about the Middle East that has turned out to be completely wrong. It’s been remarkable to watch the mainstream press and official Washington try to downplay the significance of the peace deal the Trump administration brokered between Israel and two Arab states this week.The signing of the Abraham Accords on Tuesday between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain at the White House, which for the first time normalized relations between Israel and the two Persian Gulf states, is by any measure historic. It’s been 26 years since any Arab state recognized Israel,...

Key point: The risk of war may be low, but it is ever present. As the United States enters an election year, prospects for global stability remain uncertain. President Trump’s foreign policy stood at odds with those of his predecessor, and will likely a central point of contestation in the election. At this point, several crises might emerge that would not only turn the election, but potentially bring about a wider global conflict. Iran-Israel Iran and Israel are already waging low-intensity war across the Middle East. Turkey The state of the relationship between the U.S. and Turkey has decayed to...

The U.S. ordered the abrupt closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston. The Wall Street Journal reports that the State Department is accusing China of conducting massive illegal spying and influence operations throughout the US against our government officials and citizens. The State Department adds that such activities have increased in recent years. The closure order coincided with Washington’s unveiling on Tuesday of indictments against two hackers in China. They are accused of targeting American firms involved in coronavirus research and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in sensitive information from companies around the globe. This was done, according to...

The most likely detonator for major conflict with China is Taiwan. Hong Kong cannot be viably contested. India can defend itself. Beijing would be foolish to rerun the Korean war. That leaves Taiwan. If Taiwan declares independence it might be enough to light the fuse because China has long declared that any such efforts would be met by force. The question arises: what if Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong precipitates a rush to Taiwanese independence? “Taiwan has moved to assure Hongkongers of “proactive rescue and possibly residency’ to help them through the precarious time facing their city.” This must rankle...

Author's Note: I use “Red China” and “Communist China” to make sure that criticism falls squarely on the evils of the government, not the proud and good people of China or their millennia old history. As of January of this year, large segments of the so-called People’s Republic of China seemed poised to upend the authoritarian state that had ruled over the country since just after the Second World War. Hong Kong protestors defied totalitarian Red China’s efforts to further roll back rights and privileges agreed to when they assumed control from Britain. Then came the virus and a series...

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., told "Fox & Friends" on Sunday it was an "unprecedented" step for U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to hire a personal attorney as an appeals court reviews his decision not to immediately grant the Justice Department's request to dismiss its case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. "He's wanting to play every position, he wants to play the defense attorney, the prosecutor... the judge, he wants to bring in his own hearings here. This is something that's very concerning," Collins told co-host Griff Jenkins. "It's no shock to me that he finally had...

One of the premier national unions for liberal outlets such as NBC News Digital, The Washington Post and The New York Times actually voted to request the government finance the news industry with taxpayer dollars. Surprisingly, it was The Times that released the story Sunday May 3. The article noted how the president of the “most prominent journalists’ union in the country, the NewsGuild, crossed a line that once seemed unimaginable: He asked the government for money.” Then came the kicker: “The guild’s leaders voted to request “‘public financing for journalism.’” NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss said that “One thing we...

An internal report presented to Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders concludes that global anti-China sentiment is at a level not seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, and recommends preparing for a worst-case scenario of armed conflict with the United States, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the content of the document. The report, created by the China Institutes of Contemporary Internal Relations (CICIR) – which is affiliated with the Ministry of State Security – suggests that the wave of anti-China sentiment is led by the United States, which sees China’s rise as a global superpower...

It's nothing new for American mainstream media outlets to unabashedly slobber all over their chosen Democratic candidates -- that kind of overt bias is commonplace. Covert bias -- not talking about a politician and thereby giving him or her a free pass -- is a far more insidious thing. It is also essentially the current business model for Bloomberg News and its myriad media offerings. When a media entity is avoiding reporting about a candidate seeking his party's nomination for president because said candidate is the company's namesake and founder, we're getting into some Inception levels of bias. Let's be...

In 2018, the Trump Administration withdrew from the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), and since mid-2019 has taken several steps in its campaign of applying “maximum pressure” on Iran. Apparently in response to the maximum pressure campaign, Iran and Iran-linked forces have attacked and seized commercial ships, caused destruction of some critical infrastructure in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, attacked facilities used by U.S. military personnel in Iraq, and downed a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle. As part of an effort its leaders term “maximum resistance,” Iran has also reduced its compliance...

How many FReepers have lost or strained relationships with family, friends, co-workers, etc. because of your support for Trump and/or for being a conservative? Clearly, there is a lot of actual hatred out there, and it has already turned violent. The left want to remove a duly elected US President, because they don't like him. They don't care about the opinions of their fellow citizens who voted for him and support him, and they are perfectly willing to disenfranchise them - or worse. I thought having people weigh in about their experiences would help to understand how widespread this is,...

KYIV, Ukraine—As the Russian shells and rockets rained down on them in the frontline town of Debaltseve in February 2015, Ukrainian troops began to receive curious, anonymous text messages on their cellphones. “Your comrades nearby already left their positions, so you should leave yours as well,” one message read. The messages also claimed that Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president at that time, as well as Ukrainian military commanders, had “betrayed” their soldiers. The Ukrainian military later concluded that Russian military forces had taken over the local cellphone network with mobile jamming stations. The text messages were part of a psychological operation...