Free Republic

Cables lying on the seafloor bring the internet to the world. They transmit 99 percent of international data, make transoceanic communication possible in an instant, and serve as a loose proxy for the international trade that connects advanced economies.Their importance and proliferation inspired Telegeography to make this vintage-inspired map of the cables that connect the internet. It depicts the 299 cables that are active, under construction, or will be funded by the end of this year. In addition to seeing the cables, you'll find information about "latency" at the bottom of the map (how long it takes for information...

Many leading Republicans and conservatives want someone other than Donald Trump to run for President in 2024. But this judgment requires an assessment of Trump’s vices and virtues in the context of our current political and cultural circumstances, as well as an assessment of other prospective Republican presidential candidates. Tom Klingenstein, Chairman of the Claremont Institute, explains Trump's Virtues.

Neoliberalism is out and neo-mercantilism in as US decoupling from China abandons adherence to rules-based, free market trade Speaking at the Brookings Institution in April 2023, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan declared national security and industrial policy as the guiding lights for US trade. Sullivan couched his prescriptions in soft tones and catchy phrases. “Decoupling” is out, “de-risking” is in. The goal is to “forge a new consensus” — something different to the market-oriented Washington Consensus of yesteryear. National security restrictions have their limits set in a “small yard, high fence.” US security is not trying to engage in...

Jane is a junior doctor working several extra locum shifts to make ends meet. Burnt out after the pandemic, and struggling with her physical and mental health, she would really like to take unpaid leave, but she cannot do so. Last month, her landlord hiked up her rent, then served her with an eviction notice when she said she couldn’t afford it. She now has to move for the fourth time in three years, and is back in a flat-hunting market where rents are higher everywhere. Trapped in her job, with her accommodation options diminishing and her time permanently constrained...

Hello Mr. President, The key to the continuation of MAGA after your 2024-2028 term will be your Vice President for your 2024-2028 term. Because your term will be successful, your VP will be almost a shoo-in for the President in the 2028 election. As I've said, your VP for the 2024 election doesn't have to be a RINO like Bush or Pence to capture a part of the vote. You will win 2024 in a landslide. Your VP MUST be a TRUE PATRIOT who is in your administration for only one reason: TO MAGA BY RECOVERING AMERICA'S FREE CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC....

I have some genuine questions and I have no malice against Ron DeSantis or his supporters but a few things trouble me about him! He has the tacit support of the Bushes. I know they want anyone but Trump but as one Freeper put it: Will he blow kisses back? What does having their support mean? Does it mean Karl Rove becomes an advisor? Campaign cash, staff and what not? Think about it. It's not just some throw away endorsement by them it comes with serious muscle, donors, etc. He's also visiting Texas instead of CPAC. Will he be hanging...

Billionaire Elon Musk, days after floating a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine that drew condemnation in Ukraine, suggested that tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved by handing over some control of Taiwan to Beijing...The Shanghai factory accounted for about half of Tesla's global deliveries last year. Musk also said China has sought assurances that he would not offer the Starlink internet service of his SpaceX rocket company there.

Free trade and open markets are great ideals. These principles, over the last few centuries, but especially since World War II, have created tremendous wealth, particularly in the developing world. But free markets were made for human society, not the other way around. Many thinkers on the right, however, have embraced a form of free-market fundamentalism that’s as ideologically brittle, entrenched, and impervious to critique as any Leftist vision of social utopia. These doctrinaire free-marketers believe that if China seeks to capture a huge industry like telecommunications through subsidies and protect their market, that will benefit us all. “Huawei’s a...

Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, running against Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), says the nation’s ruling class is interested in preserving its “managed decline” of the United States by weakening former President Trump’s tariffs on China. During an exclusive interview with SiriusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Daily, Vance detailed how Washington, DC, lawmakers, bureaucrats, and corporate special interests have kept the U.S. in a “managed decline” for decades while profiting for themselves. “I use this phrase a lot on the campaign trail, managed decline,” Vance said. “It feels sometimes like our leaders are just slowly allowing the country to slip into...

President Donald Trump took a lot of heat from the mainstream, business and free-market Republicans for implementing tariffs against China and other countries. The common criticism was that it was a populist, anti-free market move. They pointed to it as evidence that he is a populist, not a conservative (I recently addressed the differences between populists and conservatives, showing the accusation to be a red herring). The MSM jumped on it even more, declaring — as if they are the authority — that Trump was going against Republicans. Was he? Look at history. The Founding Fathers imposed tariffs. The first...

(Detroit Free Press/TNS) - Sky-high transaction prices and near nonexistent discounts for new and used cars — due to scarce vehicle stock — will be the new normal for the next couple of years. That’s even after the shortage of semiconductor chips abates, which is expected to start later this year and take all of next year as a recovery period, industry experts say. “We may never see normal in the near future or we’ve redefined normal,” said Jeff Schuster, LMC Automotive’s president of Americas Operations and Global Vehicle Forecasts.

ARLINGTON, Va.—Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today issued the following statement from Dan Pearson, AFP Trade Policy Fellow, on the Biden administration’s decision to suspend tariffs previously imposed on a number of UK products stemming from the Boeing-Airbus dispute. The suspension will last four months while the countries attempt to resolve the matter: “It is encouraging to see the Biden Administration provide relief from these tariffs. In addition to the benefits Americans will experience from this move, we are hopeful this will lead to a lasting settlement of the dispute between the US and the UK and EU. Freer trade increases...

Nothing less than a major milestone in global economic history and a huge victory for China over increasing US regional hegemony has been realized on Sunday with the signing of the biggest free trade deal ever among fifteen Asia Pacific Nations.Called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, the agreement was signed virtually during the annual summit of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and effectively establishes the world's largest trading block that is expected to encompass almost one-third of all global economic activity, crucially without the United States.Via Grain.orgIt's being further seen as a massive blow to...

After a solid nine-month stretch that was blissfully devoid of major Brexit-related news as the global COVID-19 pandemic raged on, we declared last night that Brexit talks "suddenly matter again" as the drop in the pound was blamed - incorrectly, as Bloomberg later determined - for triggering yesterday's intraday declines in US markets. But on Friday morning, American traders awoke to some surprisingly positive trade news out of Great Britain. A trade deal with Japan had been agreed to in principle, which would - if finally ratified by both countries - allow 99% of the UK's exports to Japan...

China will no longer be the world's manufacturing epicenter going forward, according to Apple's largest supply chain partner Foxconn, which has been gradually expanding its operations in other countries amid the U.S.-China trade war. "No matter if it's India, Southeast Asia or the Americas, there will be a manufacturing ecosystem in each," said Foxconn chairman Young Liu, according to Bloomberg. Liu boldly proclaimed that while China will continue to be a key location for Foxconn's factories, the country's "days as the world's factory are done." The report claims that Foxconn's manufacturing capacity outside China is now 30 percent of its...

Excerpt: COVID-19 shows the dangers that the Western world ignored when it embraced the CCP imperial dynasty The COVID-19 pandemic is the single greatest global peacetime catastrophe that humanity has suffered since the end of the Second World War. Barely months into what promises to be a multiyear disaster, the pandemic has already cost America alone over 100,000 lives, tens of millions of jobs, and trillions of dollars in lost output, income, and wealth. The ultimate toll for the world as a whole from this pandemic — both the direct and the indirect consequences — may still lie beyond imagining....

Forget face masks, toilet paper rolls are flying off the shelves...Newspapers and wet wipes are not designed to be flushed, but water is--and is the preferred method in many parts of the world, according to Metro UK,...The news outlet provides a hands-on guide on how to clean up after nature calls: --Fill the lota with lukewarm water. --After doing your business, remain on the throne and lean forward, back or to the side. --Pour copious amounts of water on the appropriate location. --Use your hand to aid in the cleansing. --Wash your hands thoroughly and dry up.

A grey-haired man wearing a face mask lies dead on the pavement at ground zero of China's virus epidemic, a plastic shopping bag in one hand...there are only a few passersby and they dare not go near him...A woman standing near the man...said she believed he had died from the virus. "It's terrible," she said. "These days many people have died."...In the two hours that AFP observed the scene, at least 15 ambulances passed by, attending other calls. Finally, a white van with blacked-out windows arrived to take away the man. The body was zipped into a yellow surgical bag,...

President Donald Trump’s United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is finally up for a vote this week—just in time for Christmas. After nearly a year of delay, this gift for the American people represents an opportunity for freer trade and a chance to grow our economy, reduce prices on many goods, and increase our exports to the world, creating more and higher-paying jobs in the process. As we all know, just like with other Christmas gifts, you also can get the occasional ugly sweater that you really didn’t want. The same is true here. Some compromises were made to get USMCA through Congress,...

Multiple forms of socialism, from hard Stalinism to European redistribution, continue to fail. Russia and China are still struggling with the legacy of genocidal communism. Eastern Europe still suffers after decades of Soviet-imposed socialist chaos. Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Venezuela are unfree, poor, and failed states. Baathism—a synonym for pan-Arabic socialism—ruined the postwar Middle East. The soft-socialist European Union countries are stagnant and mostly dependent on the U.S. military for their protection. In contrast, current American deregulation, tax cuts, and incentives, and record energy production have given the United States the strongest economy in the world. So why, then,...