Free Republic

Two little-noticed news stories capture the true picture of the state of the global culture war today. The first is from the American deep red state of Idaho, where The Satanic Temple is holding a "Pride" event that features a "Drag Dance Party" and "Unbaptisms" – a ritual in which people who were once baptized as Christians publicly renounce Jesus Christ.The other is from Russia, where the national Duma (legislature) has just introduced legislation to expand its 2013 ban on LGBT propaganda to children to include ALL LGBT propaganda throughout the society.To my knowledge, I am the only culture war...

Senior Democratic Party politicians are the chief "ideologists" of America's illegal operations in biolabs operating throughout Ukraine, and have involved major multinational biotech companies in their activities, Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops, has indicated. Citing an MoD analysis of seized documents, the RCB Troops chief said the profits politicians earn for the US private biotech sector helps to pay for their reelection via campaign donations. According to Kirillov, the US executive branch has also worked to create a "legislative framework to finance military biological research directly from the federal budget," with "funds of...

Every time gas prices spike, the same questions get asked: Why are gas prices so high? Who’s to blame? What will bring them down? These aren’t terrible questions, and they’re logical in a country where the majority of people are car owners. But the fact that we keep having these questions, decade after decade, suggests they’re also insufficient. A better question may be: Why does gas price volatility have the power to cause so much pain? The answer, of course, is parked in America’s driveways. What this tells us is when it comes to costs, gas isn’t the crux of...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN Friday that "all of the countries of the world" should be prepared for the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine. Zelensky told CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive interview from the office of the president in Kyiv on Friday that Putin could turn to either nuclear or chemical weapons because he does not value the lives of the people of Ukraine. "Not only me -- all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it can be not real information,...

LVIV, Ukraine -- Under relentless bombardment and a Russian blockade, the key port of Mariupol is holding out, but weapons and supplies shortages could weaken the resistance that has thwarted the Kremlin's invasion plans. More than six weeks after the Russian siege began, Ukrainian troops are continuing to fight the vastly superior Russian forces in ferocious battles amid the ruins of what once was a bustling city on the Sea of Azov. The mayor says an estimated 120,000 people remain in the city, out of Mariupol’s prewar population of about 450,000. The Ukrainians' fight has scuttled Moscow's designs, tying up...

<p>Former National Security Council Director for European Affairs U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman said Thursday former President Trump has “spiraled down” mentally and therefore was not a viable candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.</p><p>Vindman said, “Honestly, it was word vomit, is what we heard, what that clip showed. It’s shocking that he didn’t have the intellect, the intelligence to have the self-preservation to criticize somebody that the vast majority of the American public despises and identifies as a barbarian, as a war criminal. So, I mean, he’s always been his own worst enemy, and he continues to do so now.</p>

Russia has moved its warships away from the Ukrainian coast, a United States defence official said today, after a double missile strike is believed to slammed into the navy's Black Sea flagship and caused it to 'start sinking'. In a sign the Kremlin may be withdrawing its naval forces out of missile range, the senior official said that Moscow's vessels are now 80 nautical miles from the coast after the Moskva - a Soviet-era Slava class guided missile cruiser - was 'seriously damaged' overnight by a fire and explosion. Russia's Defence Ministry attempted to downplay the damage to the warship,...

The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland, Magdalena Andersson and Sanna Marin, both signaled Wednesday that they will likely be applying for membership in NATO. The "prospect" is most "welcome," says The Washington Post: "Finland and Sweden Should Join NATO." The editorial was titled "A Way to Punish Putin." Before joining the rejoicing in NATO capitals, we might inspect what NATO membership for these two Nordic nations would mean for the United States. Finland is a nation the size of Germany, but with a population only 4% of that of Russia and a border with Russia that is 830 miles...

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has rejected a request by the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to visit Kyiv along with other European politicians on Wednesday. Steinmeier, a former foreign minister and erstwhile ally of the ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder, is on a state visit in Poland, where he is discussing the implications of the Russian war in Ukraine with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda. According a report in the German newspaper Bild, Steinmeier had planned to travel to Kyiv with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland on Wednesday. However, his request for a meeting was rejected by Zelenskiy, with Bild...

Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion investment in his private equity firm from Saudi Arabia's state-owned sovereign wealth fund just six months after the end of the Trump administration, a new report claimed on Sunday. Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and former White House senior adviser, secured the massive deal despite being flagged for its 'inexperience' and 'public relations risks' by a panel of economics experts who screen the wealth fund's investments, the New York Times reports. During his time in the White House, Kushner was known for his close personal relationship with Saudi Arabia's de facto leader Mohammed bin-Salman and...

Thousands of Palestinians attempted to visit the site in Jerusalem for morning Ramadan prayers as tensions remain high. Clashes broke out between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli security forces on the Temple Mount on Friday morning after a small group of protesters gathered stones and wood chunks to throw at Jewish worshipers and Israeli security forces. According to the Red Crescent, 150 have been injured so far, as well as eight Israel Police officers. According to Palestinian reports, police used tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets to break up the crowd that continued to protest after prayers ended. Some Palestinians...

It's unclear whether the relic — a piece of the "true cross" — was on board when the Moskva sank. The Russian Orthodox Church announced in February 2020 that the relic had been delivered to the then-commander of the Black Sea fleet, Vice Admiral Igor Osipov, and was at the fleet's headquarters in readiness for delivery to the ship "shortly," the state-run Tass news agency reported at the time. The Moskva had a chapel on board for sailors to pray in, Sergiy Khalyuta, archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church's Sevastopol District, told Tass. He said the fragment was to be...

Since the West has declared a hybrid war against Russia, Moscow has to search for opportunities in other regions, the diplomat said. The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will be at the heart of a new world order, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said. "In all respects ... these countries will become the basis of a new world order," the deputy foreign minister told RT when asked whether the BRICS countries would take a more important role in the world. Russia is working to establish contacts with any country that is interested in cooperation, he...

ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted on Sunday when he lost a vote of confidence in parliament, after being deserted by coalition partners who blame him for a crumbling economy and failure to deliver on his campaign promises. The result of the vote, which was the culmination of a 13-hour session that included repeated delays, was announced just before 0100 (2000 GMT on Saturday) by the presiding speaker of parliament's lower house, Ayaz Sadiq. Khan, 69 was ousted after 3-1/2 years as leader of the nuclear-armed country of 220 million, where the military has...

Russia's Black Sea flagship which sank yesterday after an explosion on board may have been carrying nuclear warheads, analysts and experts have warned today, as a Russian politician said more than 400 sailors could have gone down with the ship. The Moskva, a Soviet-era guided missile cruiser, sank near the port of Sevastopol on Thursday after Ukraine said it hit the ship with two cruise missiles. Today, Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defence Express all warned that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed...

COMMENT #1: Thank you for trying to tell the truth about Zelensky. He is not defending his own people. We elected him because he promised the opposite. Why does the West only listen to this traitor?…. This is clearly a war against Russia and it has been the dream of the Neocons. It is hard to imagine why Zelensky is putting his entire country at risk over simply honoring the Minsk Agreement and lettering the Donbas to vote on their separation. Zelensky has been part of the corruption – all Ukrainians thought they were getting rid of no doubt. Zelensky...

"The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia or regime change."

President Biden on Saturday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t remain in power and hit the autocrat over the destruction the American leader says Putin is wreaking on the Ukrainian people. “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness. We will have a different future, a brighter future, rooted in democracy and principals, hope and light, of decency and dignity, of freedom, and possibilities,” Biden said during a speech in front of the Polish presidential palace Saturday night, local time. “For God’s sake, this man cannot...

Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer, but santions have dented demand for its products. As a result, Russian oil is trading extremely cheaply, making it more competitive as global oil prices surge. Price-sensitive buyers from China and India are buying cheap Russian oil. Sweeping sanctions against Russia have hit the country's oil exports, sending prices down so much that some buyers from China and India are enticed to snap up some cargoes. Russia is the world's third-largest producer oil producer, but the country has fallen out of favor with buyers and investors after its invasion of Ukraine. The US...

Ukraine captures one of Russia's most advanced electronic warfare systems, which could reveal military secrets, reports say.