Free Republic

With no significant breakthrough after six weeks, it is worth asking whether Ukraine’s counter-offensive can ever succeed, for it certainly doesn’t look to be succeeding now. (clip) The question to be asked is: are the Ukrainians prepared – militarily, politically, financially – to carry out months and potentially years of these (frontal assault) attacks to penetrate 1914-18 style defensive belts of tank traps, barbed wire, minefields, bunkers and trench lines? The UK Ministry of Defence has described these Russian fortifications as “some of the most extensive systems of military defensive works seen anywhere in the world”. (clip) Ukraine is already...

Former President Trump’s campaign described Iowa State Senator Jeff Reichman (R) as “lily-livered,” for flipping his endorsement to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) following Trump’s attack on Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) earlier this week. In a statement to The Hill, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung stated, “There is no room for weak-kneed and lily-livered people on Team Trump.”

President Biden was spotted soaking up the sun Saturday during a beach outing that came after a tough four-day workweek. The commander-in-chief caught some rays at the beach near his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Biden, 80, sported blue swim trunks adorned with sea turtles and a white polo shirt as he sunk his toes in the sand alongside First Lady Jill Biden.

China's President Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow next week to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials say. The Kremlin said they would discuss a "comprehensive partnership and strategic co-operation". The visit comes as Beijing, an ally of Russia, has offered proposals to end the war in Ukraine, to which the West has given a lukewarm reception. Western countries have warned Beijing against supplying Moscow with weapons. This will be President Xi's first visit to Russia since Russian troops invaded Ukraine. He is due to have lunch with Mr Putin on Monday followed by talks on Tuesday. A...

Hosts at Fox News had serious concerns about allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election being made by guests who were allies of former President Donald Trump, according to court filings in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network. “Sidney Powell is lying,” about having evidence for election fraud, Tucker Carlson told a producer about the attorney on Nov. 16, 2020, according to an excerpt from an exhibit that remains under seal. The internal communication was included in a redacted summary judgment brief filed Thursday by attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems. Carlson also referred to Powell in...

Ukrainian forces struck a power plant in multiple attacks on Russia’s Kursk region on Tuesday, causing some electricity outages, a local governor said. “In total, there were about 11 launches. A power plant was hit,” Roman Starovoyt, the governor of the Kursk region, said on the Telegram messaging app. “Because of this, there are partial power outages in the Sudzha and Korenevo districts.” The districts are part of Russia’s Kursk region and sit over Ukraine’s northeast border. There was no immediate information on possible injured or casualties, he added.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on Sunday that House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is a “very weak leader” of the GOP conference and predicted “chaos” when Republicans take control of the House next year. “He’s a very weak leader of his conference,” Schiff told co-anchor Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week,” saying McCarthy will follow Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) direction.

Joe Biden wanted to give a stirring speech to rouse Americans to angry purpose about the threats to democracy represented by “election deniers” running for office across the country. He was, according to CNN’s reporting, spurred to action by the horrible attack last week on the husband of the speaker of the House, which Biden believes is a direct result of Donald Trump’s effect on the United States over the past seven years. So … that’s what he wanted. But, as the great philosopher Mick Jagger once said, you can’t always get what you want. The address he delivered Wednesday...

I found a Stanford course used to train doctors worldwide on how to overcome vaccine hesitancy. Basically, they tell doctors to give false information. They truly believe the false narrative.Steve Kirsch16 hr agoHere’s the link for the Stanford course that teaches doctors how to overcome vaccine hesitancy: It’s a series of short YouTube videos. It’s free to watch all the videos.Here is the outline of the cases covered: I viewed a number of the lessons to save you the pain and agony.Some takeaways:They don’t expect to turn people around to support the vaccine in a single session. They admit it...

China’s zero Covid policy is wreaking fresh havoc with its economy and daily life. Chengdu, a Southwestern metropolis of 21 million, has been largely locked down the past two weeks, in reaction to 1,800 reported infections. That’s just the biggest of 70 cities enduring some form of restriction lately. Xi Jinping’s government shows no sign of changing course. “Senior health officials continue parroting what Xi said a few months ago,” says Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. “They don’t see any reason for shifting away.”

Seven more Republican leaders have announced their endorsement for Pennsylvania's Democratic candidate for governor Josh Shapiro, following photos of GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano wearing a Confederate military uniform. This comes one month after nine Republicans vowed to support the Democratic candidate and called Mastriano an "extremist" who threatens American democracy. According to a statement released by the Shapiro campaign on Tuesday, the group includes Michael Chertoff, the former US Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, and Mario Civera, a former state representative. Shapiro, the state's attorney general said he was proud to receive the endorsement from...

Radical left California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wants to transform the “free state of Florida” into blue California, proudly pledging on Thursday to donate $100,000 to Rep. Charlie Crist’s (D) gubernatorial campaign. “Time to make Ron DeSantis a one-term governor. I’m pledging $100k right now to @CharlieCrist. Who will join me in helping Charlie become the next Governor of Florida?” the Democrat governor asked:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday called for a “thorough and immediate explanation” after the FBI executed a search warrant at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence Monday. “Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately,” McConnell said in a statement. The Tuesday evening comments were the first time McConnell had weighed in the Florida raid.

Russian troops in Ukraine lack proper cold weather clothing and some have been taken out of the fight by frostbite, a senior U.S. defense official revealed on Tuesday. The official cited it as another example of how Moscow had failed to adequately prepare for the invasion of Ukraine, along with continuing fuel, ammunition and food shortages. Nearly a month into the war, Russian troops have failed to seize a single major city and their advance has been halted on nearly all fronts by staunch Ukrainian defense. Now Ukrainian forces are preparing to retake captured territory as Russian forces battle declining...

In a video circulating on social media on Thursday, a Russian soldier appeared to claim he and other soldiers deployed in Ukraine were being ordered by their superiors to sign papers retroactively firing them in what may be a move to deny their involvement in the invasion. The Moscow-based Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), which has conducted open-source reporting on Russian involvement in conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, tweeted, “This rare video was filmed by a (non-captured) Russian soldier complaining about losses and harsh conditions. What caught our attention is a claim that they are forced to ‘sign papers’ to be...

Russia's military is weak and backwards. Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine produced this paradigm-shifting surprise—one that should transform the West's view of Russia's prowess, the threat that the country represents, and the Kremlin's future in the global arena.

The Reality Is…There are threats that face the Christian Church, and the cause of those threats is sin. Sin affects every member of the Christian faith, no matter the status. Sin causes us to stumble and sets us back in our cause for Christ. Ultimately, it should remind us how desperate we need the forgiveness and guidance of God.But which sin seems to set us back the most? What are we glossing over, pushing under the rug, and pretending isn’t there? That, my friends, is sexual sin. In 2016, Josh McDowell told CBN News, “pornography is probably the greatest threat...

Danny De Urbina also captured video of Dr. Jill Biden leading her husband down from the podium by the hand. It’s kind of sweet. Actually, it’s not kind of sweet — watching him shuffle off like that is kind of scary.

Earlier today Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded to the Biden administration’s political effort to stop Floridians from receiving COVID-19 treatment. [Press Release Here] …”the appointments for more than 2,000 Floridians to receive this treatment were canceled on January 25, 2022, alone”… Late yesterday evening, without notice, the Biden FDA blocked monoclonal antibody treatments by revoking the emergency use authorization for the therapeutic. Today thousands of Floridians wake up to hear they are no longer eligible for treatment. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is furious. WATCH: FLORIDA – Governor Ron DeSantis is demanding the Biden Administration reverse its sudden and reckless decision...

Glenn Youngkin, the Republican Governor-elect of Virginia, will be allowing localities in the state – including cities, counties, and public school systems – to implement mask and vaccine mandates