Free Republic

The ill-fated talks between befuddled opposition leaders and the Chavista regime have collapsed and the repression of protesters has increased."Dialogue" with ChavistasThe Chavista regime has not engaged in meaningful dialogue with the opposition and will continue to evade it. The regime has also increased its attacks on those who demonstrate against its repression. According to The Devil's Excrement, Venezuela’s Dictatorship No Longer Cares About Appearances. For two and a half months, the Venezuelan Government had been extremely careful with the students and their protests. While it was aggressive and repressive at attacking those protesting in the streets, it had been respectful of the student...

The White House welcomed the overwhelming victory of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, offering its congratulations to the BJP on its “historic” win and assuring, “We look forward to working with [the new Indian government] once formed to advance our partnership.” However, while numerous world leaders, including Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Australia’s Tony Abbott reportedly called Mr. Modi to personally congratulate him, U.S. President Barack Obama had not yet done so, at the time this story was filed, at around 11am on Friday Eastern Standard Time.(Here's the catch) An official at the White House’s National...

Beijing, May 7 (IANS) If BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi comes to power, it could bring India and China closer, says an influential state- run Chinese daily. The Global Times in a write up says that Modi was once a "practical businessman". After he became chief minister of Gujarat he established good relations with China. "A large number of Chinese enterprises invested in Gujarat, contributing to the economic development of the state. Therefore, ties between China and India may become closer under Modi's leadership," says the daily. The article, titled 'Modi victory could cause disquiet in West', says that...

In March 2011, Reuters announced a secret order signed by Barack Obama to provide covert support for Libyan rebel forces. The operation became known as Zero Footprint, but after Obama finished with it, Big Foot was identified. For about 18 months before the attacks on our Benghazi Special Mission, intelligence had successfully identified terrorist factions inside the rebel factions. Those terrorists included the Muslim Brotherhood as well as al-Qaeda. Nevertheless, Senator John McCain said the rebels were his heroes. Qadhafi made a fatal mistake, literally, by working toward one currency for Africa, which threatened the West. The idea of a...

Russia should respond to the situation in the Ukraine by following the precedent set by the United States in a comparable situation. Russia should offer to purchase the Russian populated areas whose residents want to leave Ukraine much like the United States purchased California from Mexico. In the 1840's people from the United States had settled in parts of Mexico, but were not happy with the Mexican government. U.S. citizens in the Texas region had openly revolted and gained independence from Mexico. People in California were also interested in leaving Mexico. The United States annexed Texas and a border dispute...

A growing number of Syrian Christian leaders are traveling to the United States to plead with lawmakers to stop sending arms to the rebels. The most recent visitor is the Patriarch of the Church of Antioch, His Beatitude Gregorios III, who is based in Damascus. For the first three years of the civil war, Syria’s Christian leaders have not been frequent visitors to the U.S., in part fearing reprisals when they return to Syria, but also because they have been reluctant to engage in what they see as political issues. But with the civil war now in its fourth year,...

In a crass and ill-timed intervention, the unelected president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy has warned Vladimir Putin that the EU intends ultimately to control every country on the western flank of Russia. In an interview with De Standaard newspaper, Van Rompuy speaks about his “dreams” that all the Balkan states will join the EU. He calls it an “inspiring thought” that in the long term “the whole of European territory outside Russia” will be tied in some way to the EU. He admits he does not know if there is public support for such a move, “But we do...

(Reuters) - Romania has called for the United States and NATO to boost their military presence in the Balkan country to promote stability in the Black Sea region following Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Israel Police spokesman denies claim, says, "The police are working around the clock on this issue."

It's not very often you get to see inside a US Air Force nuclear silo—but CBS recently got to take a peek for us. In this video, Lesley Stahl finds that they're not quite as high-tech as you might like to think. This segment, which you can watch below, appeared on 60 Minutes, and it provides a rare glimpse into the inner working of America's nuclear bunkers. Cozying up with the ageing rockets, two things are striking. First, the staff don't seem wildly experienced. Second, the technology down there still relies on 5.25-inch 8-inch floppy disks from the 70s. Thank...

The visit of US Vice President Joseph Biden to Kiev this week and the subsequent restart of a military operation against protesters is evidence the US is controlling the actions of Ukrainian authorities, Russian Foreign Minister Segei Lavrov said Wednesday. “Now that Joe Biden visited Kiev this counterterrorist operation was declared in the active phase again,” Lavrov said during an English-language interview with the RT news channel. “It’s quite telling that they chose the moment of the Vice President of the United States to announce the resumption of this operation, because the launching of this operation happened immediately after [CIA...

US to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt

The US who invested $5 billion in "supporting democracy" in Ukraine was seeking for a more radical settlement of the Ukrainian crisis than the EU, which resulted in a regime change in the country, Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said in an interview with "Rossiya 24" TV channel Tuesday, RIA Novosti reports. "I think that it is Americans who tried to conduct the most radical scenario. A compromise between [Ukraine's President] Yanukovych and the opposition didn't suit them, so, it seems to me, they made a conclusion that it’s time to compensate those $5 billion and to drive the situation...

With a margin of error +/- 3%, Rasmussen found “Americans’ belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ remains strong.” 86% of American adults believe that Jesus Christ walked the Earth 2,000 years ago, while just seven percent (7%) don’t share this belief. Furthermore, 77% of those polled believe Jesus rose from the dead.  This is only a percentage point lower (within the margin of error) than in 2011 and 2010, when 78% espoused the same belief. Rasmussen claims a 95% level of confidence in their report.

As we reported last Friday, a second US warship, the destroyer Donald Cook, crossed the Bosphorus last week and entered the Black Sea at precisely the time when NATO was arguing that its encroaching presence around Russia should not spook anyone. Apparently it spooked someone, Russin, which over the weekend decided to give the Americans a warm welcome. As AP reports, "A U.S. military official says a Russian fighter jet made multiple, close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region."

All of a sudden, the Ring of Fire is starting to tremble violently. Last month, we had a whole bunch of major earthquakes along the Ring of Fire, and this month volcanoes all over the Ring of Fire are erupting. Of course, there has always been seismic activity within this giant band that stretches around the Pacific Ocean. After all, approximately 75 percent of all volcanoes are located in the Ring of Fire and approximately 90 percent of all global earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. But what is alarming is that the level of activity appears to be...

The U.S. government is finalizing a plan to increase training and small-arms shipments for Syrian rebels, two U.S. security sources said on Friday, as Syrian government troops gain momentum following the collapse of U.S.-backed peace talks.

NEW DELHI — The resignation of the United States ambassador, Nancy J. Powell, was greeted by many in New Delhi’s diplomatic community Tuesday with a sense of hope that some of the grinding disputes between the United States and India might soon be settled. In the wake of December’s arrest and strip-search in New York of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian consular official, Indian diplomats have begun a series of investigations into the American Embassy School, the United States duty-free commissary and the American Community Support Association, a recreational club for expatriates on the United States Embassy compound. The more the...

British writer Robert Miller's expose´of religion's founder L. Rob Hubbard finds US publisherA British book the Church of Scientology managed to block in America is finally on sale in the US 27 years after it was published elsewhere in the world. The book, Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, written by Russell Miller, a British journalist, and originally published in 1987, appeared in print and tablet editions in the US earlier this month. The book exposes many of the boasts of Mr Hubbard, the late founder of Scientology, about his early life and achievements as outright lies....

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld Texas' tough abortion restrictions that have led to the closure of nearly 20 clinics around the state, saying the new rules don't jeopardize women's health. A panel of judges at the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court judge who said the rules violate the U.S. Constitution and served no medical purpose. Despite the lower court's ruling, the appeals court already had allowed some rules to go into effect while it considered the case. The latest decision means more regulations will begin later this year, as scheduled, and sets...