Free Republic

ransomnote: Below are several of John A Konrad V's detailed posts. There are another 14 posts in this thread series at the link which I did not copy.Here's the source of the x.com thread posts below:DataRepublican (small r) repostedJohn Ʌ Konrad V@johnkonradLet's unpack this..What if the White House has no intention of reopening the Strait of Hormuz?What if this war is really about ships & tariffs?I had a long discussion with senior DOE official yesterday on background. I can’t share any details but it’s clear everyone’s Strait of Hormuz calculus is wrong.We need to go back to the drawing boards.That's...

A 15-foot crescent moon that was created by students to commemorate Ramadan was destroyed on top of an Arizona mountain. The City of Tempe announced Tuesday that the symbol atop A Mountain, where other religious symbols have been displayed, was found 'completely destroyed' after being reinstalled just years ago. 'A student group designed and built a 15-foot-tall crescent moon to shine a light on the holiday [of Ramadan] for the entire community,' read a statement from the city posted on X. 'It stood on A Mountain, just like religious symbols of other faiths have done in the past. It was...

Anewly released document from Sen. Chuck Grassley adds a significant and troubling dimension to what was previously known about the conduct of former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, a central figure in the surveillance of Trump campaign associates during the Russia collusion investigation. Clinesmith had already pleaded guilty to falsifying evidence in connection with a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant targeting Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The new information shows that his misconduct was not limited to a single target, but was part of a broader, systematic pattern of abuse that extended to another investigation against Trump adviser Walid Phares. Phares,...

ransomnote: Video quality is much better at the link. I broke it in two parts for the clips below.Joshua Reid | Redpills.tv@realjoshuareid·4hWhite House through history.3/18/2026

Enten on Tuesday morning reported the polling shows MAGA overwhelmingly backs Operation Epic Fury. “Look at this! Nearly 9 in 10, 89% approve of the U.S. military action in Iran. That is the MAGA GOP base,” Enten said during a segment on CNN News Central. “Just 9% disapprove of it. This is tremendously popular among the Republican base.”

[Catholic Caucus] UNEARTHED: 1995 photo shows Pope Leo[ XIV participating in Pachamama ritualExclusive to LifeSiteNews, this explosive revelation will feature prominently in Fr. Charles Murr's forthcoming book on the new pontiff.Fr. Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV) present at a Pachamama ritual in 1995 LifeSiteNewsIn an explosive revelation that will feature prominently in his forthcoming book on the new pontiff, Faith & Reason co-host Fr. Charles Murr has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV — then Fr. Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A. — actively participated in a pagan Pachamama “Mother Earth” agricultural ritual while attending an official Augustinian theological symposium.The story was...

In the wake of sexual abuse allegations against civil rights icon Cesar Chavez, groups began pushing to rename some of the dozens of California sites and events named for the labor leader. San Francisco’s Cesar Chavez Day Parade has been renamed to the Dolores Huerta Parade and Festival, and it will be held on April 11, organizers told the Chronicle. San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who represents the Mission, said she “will support community efforts to remove Cesar Chavez’s name from any District 9 institutions.” Her district includes Cesar Chavez Street, Cesar Chavez Elementary School and is the site of...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer – buttoned-up, lawyerly, reserved – is not a man prone to effusiveness. But when he sat next to US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last February, he began to speak like his host. “This is really special,” said Starmer, as he brandished a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump for a second state visit to Britain. “This has never happened before. This is unprecedented… This is truly historic – an unprecedented second state visit.” Starmer’s uncharacteristic gushing showed how his government planned to handle the US president in his second term: play...

Afroman, once world famous for his song about being high (though I always preferred "Crazy Rap" myself), has emerged as a new kind of internet folk hero in the aftermath of an incident in 2022 with Ohio police, when Adams County sheriff's deputies broke down the door to his home and raided the place under a warrant for drug trafficking and kidnapping. The search turned up nothing incriminating, and Afroman, real name Joseph Foreman, was never arrested or charged with anything. Because he had been unjustly targeted by the police and felt his rights and privacy had been trampled on,...

Despite a long, entrenched Democratic reign over California politics, a new poll shows two Republicans leading by slim margins in the state’s 2026 race for governor as the June primary election fast approaches. The confounding results appear to be mostly due to the state’s left-leaning electorate feeling uninspired by any single candidate in the crowded field of eight top Democrats. Because of California’s top-two primary rule, that lethargy could lead to Democrats being shut out of a November election that will determine the next leader of the largest state in the union, though that is still considered unlikely. Conservative commentator...

John Solomon is reporting on previously suppressed information indicating that, as early as 2020, we knew the Chinese were trying to interfere in our elections and that this intelligence was covered up. The burning question is, of course, why that happened. [Youtube video at source link] Solomon’s report is based on a 7 April 2020 National Intelligence Council Assessment. That report reads in part: “We assess that China and Russia are increasing their ability to analyze and manipulate large quantities of personal information in ways that will allow them to more effectively target and influence, or coerce, individuals and groups...

You know that satisfying moment when President Trump lays down the law, tells Europe to stop free-riding, and suddenly the “allies” start scrambling like their lives depend on it? That’s exactly what just happened with the Strait of Hormuz. After Trump publicly called out NATO countries for refusing to send ships to help secure the critical waterway — and straight-up threatened to pull the U.S. back entirely and let Europe handle it themselves — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte folded fast. In a new statement, Rutte admitted allies are now **rushing** to find a way forward:

The world spent fifty years and hundreds of billions of dollars building Strategic Petroleum Reserves so that no geopolitical rupture could fully sever modern civilization from energy. The United States alone holds just over 400 million barrels of crude oil in salt caverns beneath the Gulf Coast. On March 11, 2026, the International Energy Agency authorized a record 400-million-barrel emergency release from member-country reserves, the largest coordinated drawdown in the Agency’s history. Energy insecurity has institutions, stockpiles, and doctrine. Fertilizer insecurity does not. No country appears to maintain a fertilizer reserve system remotely comparable in scale, doctrine, or strategic importance...

Pittsburgh police officers did not intervene as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents struggled to detain a suspect near a police station, and claims circulated that officers were told to stand down.

Two top intelligence officials directly contradicted one of the Trump administration’s justifications for going to war with Iran, repeating on Wednesday the intelligence community’s conclusion that Iran was years away from developing missiles capable of hitting the United States. Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, would not say whether the intelligence community had determined that Iran would be able to launch such long-range missiles within six months. Ms. Gabbard said that Iran “could” combine technology from its existing space program with its missile development capabilities to “begin...

It began, as so many unpredictable events did, on Oct 7, 2023, with the terror invasion of southern Israel. An army regiment's worth of Hamas swept through Israel's largely unmanned Gaza defenses, on foot, in trucks, and even paragliders. They murdered in kibbutzes, at a music festival, and in the streets. The mass murder was as well organized as anything the Nazis achieved before establishing death camps at places like Auschwitz. mas prepared for months, relying on in-person meetings between trusted members to evade Israeli electronic and human intelligence. It achieved complete surprise. Before IDF troops could mobilize and force...

A year after the actor’s death, a generative AI version of Val Kilmer will co-star in an independent film, in one of the boldest uses yet of artificial intelligence in moviemaking. First Line Films announced Wednesday that Kilmer has posthumously joined the cast of a film titled “As Deep as the Grave.” The producers said that, before his death, Kilmer had signed on to perform in the movie but was unable to because of his health. Kilmer’s estate gave permission for his digital replication, and is being compensated for it. Mercedes Kilmer, the actor’s daughter, said the role resonated with...

Iran is threatening to execute retaliatory strikes on oil and gas facilities near the Persian Gulf after Israel launched an attack on its South Pars gas field on Wednesday. No one was harmed in the strike by Israel on one of the world's largest natural gas fields. Qatar also operates facilities in the South Pars gas field. Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al Ansai, was critical of Israel over the attack, calling it "reckless and irresponsible." Several potential targets are bracing for retaliation by Iran. Saudi Arabia, which is across the Persian Gulf from Iran, has at least four major...

The man convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old mother of two from North Port, was executed on Tuesday. At the scheduled execution time of 6 p.m., the curtain went up, and King gave a nearly inaudible statement ... He did not apologize for the murder or seek forgiveness. The incident happened in 2008 when Lee saved her kids after Michael King, 54, broke into her home and took her. King then took Lee to his home and raped her before driving her out to a remote area, shooting her and burying her. At one point,...

Scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have crossed a terrifying new line. In a study just published in Science Advances, Wuhan researchers engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to become flying weapons of mass destruction. They irradiated the insects to sterilize them, then fed them blood containing recombinant viruses. These modified viruses carry proteins from deadly pathogens like Nipah, which kills 40 to 75 percent of infected people, and rabies. The engineered viruses replicate inside the mosquitoes and accumulate in their salivary glands. When the mosquito bites, it delivers this viral payload directly into the bloodstream, like a flying hypodermic needle...