Free Republic

Babylon has seen it all. From its peak as the Neo-Babylonian capital under King Nebuchadnezzar through its heavy-handed 1987 reconstruction by Saddam Hussein to its post-invasion demise when American and Polish troops ran roughshod over its ruins and ISIS threatened its very existence, the ancient city has witnessed empires come and go. The 2500-acre site, 50 miles south of Baghdad, comprises both the ruins of the ancient city as well as surrounding villages and agricultural areas. Between 626 and 539 BCE, the city was the capital of the Neo-Babylonian empire and the largest metropolis in the world. It was here...

As the funeral for Qasem Soleimani began Saturday, two blasts were heard throughout Baghdad. It turns out that a rocket attack took place on the heavily fortified Green Zone which houses the United States embassy, The Jerusalem Post reported. According to Reuters , the Iraqi military revealed that the rockets also fell in the city's Jadriya neighborhood and the Balad air base, which houses American troops. “Several rockets targeting Celebration Square and the Jadriya area in Baghdad, and the Balad air base in Salahuddin province, with no loss of life. Further details to come,” the Iraqi military said in a...

Dear President Trump, As a proud Persian-American, please accept my infinite gratitude for your valiant and courageous act of eliminating Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. He was one of the most dangerous individuals in the region and responsible for taking many American lives. Please rest assured that the Iranian people are standing with you. Thank you for hearing and supporting the freedom-loving voices of Iranians who despise the rule of terrorist mullahs and wish to end their reign of terror and mischief in the Middle East. Your courageous support is invaluable for and in the...

President Donald Trump gave the order to kill Iran's Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani a few days ago following a Hazbollah mob's attacks on the United States' embassy in Baghdad. Now that Soleimani is dead, we're learning that this isn't the first opportunity a nation has had to kill the Iranian terrorist. According to a January 2018 report from the Israel newspaper Haaretz, leaders in Israel were prepared to kill Soleimani back in 2015 but the Obama administration put an end to the plan. Just as Israel was "on the verge" of killing Soleimani, the Obama administration alerted Iranian officials...

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam speaks to gun control activists at a rally by Moms Demand Action and other family members of shooting victims outside of the Virginia State Capitol Building in Richmond, Va., July 9, 2019. (Michael A. McCoy/Reuters) His attempt to enforce unpopular and unconstitutional gun-control laws is doomed to failure.Ralph Northam is about to make the biggest tactical mistake in Virginia since Cornwallis decided to park his army at Yorktown. With his attempt to force local commonwealth’s attorneys and sheriffs in Second Amendment sanctuaries to enforce his unconstitutional gun laws, Governor Northam is setting himself up for...

MORE THAN HALF OF Americans think President Donald Trump's behavior warrants his removal from office and 57% think he's committed an impeachable offense, according to a poll released Friday morning – unwelcome news for a president facing a Senate trial that could begin this month. [ SEE: Photos of Trump’s Impeachment Hearings on Capitol Hill ] Further, the survey found that 57% of Americans want the Senate to hear from new witnesses to shed light on Trump's conduct, a demand Democrats have made – so far without success – of the GOP Senate majority. The FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll reflects a partisan...

Happy New Year, everyone!! Here's hoping 2020 is the best year yet!! President Trump should take the win in the Senate trial without dragging it out, then concentrate on winning the 2020 election with wide coattails, then bide his time as the cases against the various coup plotters wind their way through the justice system. Win the election, hold the senate, take back the house!! And then continue the work of making America great again: Build the wall, enforce the law, deport them all!! End DACA!! End sanctuary cities!! End anchor babies!! Continue cutting regulations, cutting government, cutting spending and...

he traveling chair is intended for use in “enclosed campuses such as airports, theme parks and malls,” according to a press release. Gizmodo notes the wheelchair — which is being marketed to able-bodied individuals — also looks quite a bit like an adult stroller. Still, Segway insists the tech is “game-changing” in the field of personal transport. A navigation panel controls the ambulant seat, the speed of which is adjusted through a knob, which changes the pod’s center of gravity. “The rider does not need to physically lean forward and back to accelerate or slow down,” Segway says, noting the...

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Two Katyusha rockets fell inside Iraq’s Balad air base, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, which houses U.S. forces on Saturday but caused no casualties, two security sources told Reuters.

During a recent interview with CNN, Mallett, who is a respected physics professor, claimed that he had written a scientific equation that could serve as the basis for time travel - a concept that he became obsessed with as a young boy after reading The Time Machine by author H.G. Wells. It's a goal that he has been pursuing for most of his life and although the 74-year-old admits that he is unlikely to see time travel became a reality during his lifetime, there's a chance that his efforts will have contributed in no small part to the creation of...

Democrats Bernie Sanders: $34.5 million Pete Buttigieg: $24.7 million Joe Biden: $22.7 million Elizabeth Warren: $21.2 million Andrew Yang: $16.5 million Amy Klobuchar: $11.4 million Cory Booker: $6.6 million Tulsi Gabbard: $3.4 million Republicans Donald Trump: $46 million

Despite its three summer heatwaves 2019 was only the fourth warmest year since records began in 1833. The average temperature at the KMI’s Ukkel (Brussels) weather centre in 2019 was 11.5°C. The warmest year since records began is shared between 2014 and 2018. Then the average temperature was 11.9°C. The third warmest year on record was 2011 in which the average temperature at the Ukkel Weather Centre 11.6°C. 2019 had the same annual average temperature as 2007. There were a lot of hours of sunlight in 2019. The sun shone for a total of 1,757 and 30 minutes. This is...

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam nra-ila image U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Politicians and journalists often portray fiction as fact. It is easy to be opinionated, but hard to be informed. This came to mind as I listened to Virginia Democrats tell us we’d be safer if we were disarmed. What is the truth about gun-control laws? What politicians say a law will do might have nothing to do with what the law actually does. Lives are at stake when gun-control laws fail. Saying that the next gun-control law is necessary to stop violent crime admits that the 23 thousand firearms regulations already...

A Canadian man says he was fired from a job he held for six years because he complained on Twitter about receiving a $6 bottle of barbecue sauce as a holiday gift. Hussien Mehaidli, 27, worked as a general manager for Fastenal, a U.S.-based wholesaler of construction materials that operates across Canada. When he first joined the company back in 2013, he said he and his coworkers usually received a box of goodies for the holidays.

The teenage environmental activist — who has netted 3.8 million followers on the social networking site since she joined in June 2018 — changed her Twitter bio to “Sharon” Friday in a riff on the game-show contestant who failed to recognize her. The stumped guest on the BBC’s Celebrity Mastermind guessed “Sharon” when the host showed her a photo of Thunberg — who graced Time magazine covers a month earlier as its “person of the year” — causing a stir on Twitter. “Our climate change global superstar will always be Sharon Thunberg to me from now on,” @WolfWhoWanders tweeted. As...

Today's Quotefall Puzzle features a quote by Roman Schweizer. Click puzzle (or click here) for full size rendition, then use your browser's print command to print puzzle. Roman Schweizer is the managing director for aerospace and defense at the Cowen Washington Research Group. He has extensive knowledge of politico-military synergies around the world. All hints, along with the answer, are provided in the first reply comment below, using filtered font to prevent accidental spoilers. Please refrain from disclosing the full answer in comments to prevent spoilers.To solve the puzzle: Enter the letters in the top half (letter columns) of the puzzle into...

A lot of foreign-policy wonks and elected officials responded to last night’s strike that killed Qasem Soleimani with an “on the one hand, on the other hand,” tone — expressing satisfaction that a man with blood of so many innocent people and U.S. soldiers on his hands had been killed, but concern for the ramifications of the act. But not everyone. Here is the statement from House speaker Nancy Pelosi: “American leaders’ highest priority is to protect American lives and interests. But we cannot put the lives of American servicemembers, diplomats and others further at risk by engaging in provocative...

The United States is sending nearly 3,000 additional troops to the Middle East from the 82nd Airborne Division as a precaution amid rising threats to American forces in the region, the Pentagon said on Friday.Iran promised vengeance after a US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday killed Qasem Soleimani, Tehran's most prominent military commander and the architect of its growing influence in the Middle East.The overnight attack, authorized by US President Donald Trump, was a dramatic escalation in the "shadow war" in the Middle East between Iran and the United States and its allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia.As former commander of US forces in Iraq and...

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg (D) is rising in the polls, tying Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for third place, a Hill-HarrisX survey released on Friday revealed. The survey, taken December 27-28, 2019, among 1,004 respondents, showed Bloomberg rising, tying Warren for third place with 11 percent support each. The change reflects a six-point jump for Bloomberg and a two-point loss for the Massachusetts senator. The poll showed former Vice President Joe Biden (D) leading the field with 28 percent support, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who came in second place with 16 percent support. Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) fell to...

Full title: EXCLUSIVE - Revealed: 'Rank hypocrisy' of globetrotting Extinction Rebellion jet setter's lifestyle after she shed 'crocodile tears' over climate protest that stopped son seeing his dying dad Zoe Jones cried when she heard that a man couldn't see his dying father in hospital because he was stuck in traffic caused by a climate protest in Bristol Extinction Rebellion activist apologised for 'affecting his life in that way' - but added: 'I still believe we are doing the right thing' Now the 23-year-old English graduate, from Shropshire, faces claims of hypocrisy over her jet set lifestyle Photos have emerged...