Free Republic

Plagued by delays in ship repairs and outdated design practices, the US Navy faces mounting challenges in maintaining readiness and keeping pace with China’s rapid shipbuilding advancements. This month, USNI News reported that the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that fewer than 40% of US Navy ships had completed repairs on time, despite the availability of shipyard space. The GAO ranked shipyard conditions second only to F-35 Lightning II air fighter sustainment costs as the most problematic readiness issue facing the US armed services.

Chinese electric auto-giant BYD has released a bold supercar concept through its premium Fang Cheng Bao brand. The Super 9 rocks no roof, the barest hint of windscreen, and lascivious scissor doors – and it's apparently headed for production. BYD is the world’s largest EV producer. It produced 20% of the 10 million EVs sold globally last year, from Tesla (13%), Volkswagen (9%) and General Motors (6%) – those are all very rough figures for simplification purposes. For stats – go here. It is also the dominant brand in the world’s largest and fastest growing automotive market, at a time...

A North Korean delegation led by the cabinet minister for international trade is visiting Iran, the North’s official media says in a rare public report of an exchange between the two countries believed to have secret military ties. The minister for external economic relations, Yun Jong Ho, left Pyongyang on Tuesday by air leading a ministry delegation to visit Iran, the North’s KCNA news agency says. It gives no other detail. North Korea and Iran have long been suspected of cooperating on ballistic missile programs, possibly exchanging technical expertise and components that went into their manufacture.

Smoke machines, same as you'd use on gophers only bigger...

An F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing (FW) takes off during an Agile Combat Employment exercise on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, July 13, 2021. Agile Combat Employment exercises ensure the 354th FW is able to deploy, disperse and maneuver combat capability to create dilemmas for near-peer adversaries. Photo: US Air Force / Airman 1st Class Jose Miguel T Tamondong The Warzone reported that the full-rate production decision came more than four years later than planned, with the primary reason for the latest holdup being delays with the Joint Simulation Environment tests. Those tests, the source mentions,...

Shark Tank star and investor Kevin O’Leary said Friday on Fox News Channel’s “The Story” that he or somebody else American will buy TikTok so it is not shut down. Guest host Gillian Turner said, “Some folks are saying I depend on TikTok to run my marking for my small business. I even run TikTok as a platform to sell and close transactions. If it’s banned eventually, what does that mean for the small business economy?” O’Leary said, “It not going to get banned. I’m going to buy it. Somebody will buy it. It won’t be Meta and Google. A...

If NATO is so much against sending troops to Ukraine, why doesn’t NATO demand that the soldiers already there be sent home? On Monday, February 26, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany would not provide its Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine because doing so would require German troops to be sent there to operate them, just as the British are operating the Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles. The British cried foul and accused Scholz of a “flagrant abuse of intelligence” – meaning that Scholz confirmed what everyone already knows, that NATO officers and trained personnel are in Ukraine...

The battery will not catch fire or explode in response to punctures or even gunshots, unlike some current batteries that can be unsafe if damaged or exposed to high temperatures, says Chinese startup Betavolt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chinese company Betavolt claims to have developed a battery that could power mobile phones that never need to be charged and drones that can fly forever. Photo: Betavolt.tech ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Chinese startup claims to have developed a new battery that could power smartphones for 50 years without the need for charging. Beijing-based Betavolt said its nuclear battery is the first in the world to realise...

According to what Bloomberg News describes as a US intelligence report, Chinese authorities discovered that some of their missiles’ fuel tanks were filled with water – and that this was a marquee example of corruption whose unraveling led to Chinese President Xi’s recent military purge. Bloomberg reported that it got the information from unnamed people who were “familiar with” a US intelligence assessment and that those US sources also said that new Xinjiang missile field silos were fitted with lids that were not installed properly and would not work – taken as another example of corruption. Pentagon officials and “experts”...

U.S. military forces conducted strikes on facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq, the U.S. Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday. These strikes are a response to a series of strikes against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias, including an attack by Iran-affiliated Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups on Erbil Air Base earlier on Monday, which led to three injuries to U.S. personnel, the statement said.

President Joe Biden is pushing hard for more Ukraine money and resisting, at least so far, Republican efforts to put strong border security provisions into the aid bill. There are negotiations between the White House and Republicans on the border issue, but so far there has been no breakthrough. It looks more and more as if Biden will try and stonewall the Republicans and get his Ukraine money without strings. That helps explain why Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington. Zelensky just attended the inauguration for Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei. His appearance in Argentina (where he...

Western pundits like to make fun of the supposedly “no limits” partnership between China and Russia. But if they really want to know what no limits means in a state-to-state relationship and how tremendous self-harm can result, they need to look no further than that between the United States and Israel. What Israel wants, Israel gets; and does not even have to ask first when it comes to emergency financial aid and weapons. As Israel bombs its way across the Gaza Strip and Jewish settlers commit murder to seize Palestinian land in the West Bank, the weapons they are using...

... The misunderstanding has historical, cultural and political roots but fundamentally it can be attributed to the universalist, Manichean (good vs evil) worldview of what Brown refers to as the Enlightenment West – and the projection of that attitude onto a civilization that doesn’t share the same history. “The distinctiveness of the intellectual and cultural history of inhabitants of the space now occupied by the People’s Republic of China is undeniable,” Brown writes. “In terms of language, modes of governance, economic behavior, and fundamental view about how the world operates and how society should be shaped, the Chinese tradition is...

A number of people have asked why does Socrates say that the United States will lose this war. One states: “The standalone American firepower without UK/ France, etc, itself is tremendous. How does Socrates say that America will lose the war? It may lose financially. The Chinese have the worst track record in any war.” Perhaps I should just say, cyclically – it’s just TIME. The Neocons are in charge of this war. They are trying conventionally for their constant goal of REGIME CHANGE. They are doing what Khrushchev had threatened Communism would win and we will bury you. This...

Central European countries like Croatia, Hungary, and also recently Austria too are beginning to emerge as voices of reason in the West after their de facto New Cold War bloc’s proxy war on Russia through Ukraine over the past year failed to defeat that Great Power. They rightly realize how counterproductive this NATO-led campaign has been for their collective interests, ergo why they’re urging restraint and even an outright reversal of policy at this point in time. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic is unexpectedly giving Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a run for his money when it comes to being the...

The United States is now publicly discussing the "containment" of China with its Asia-Pacific vassals. On January 8, the Financial Times reported that the supreme US Marine Corps commander for Japan gave very direct statements regarding Pentagon's China strategy. Lieutenant General James Bierman thinks there are "numerous parallels" between Ukraine and Taiwan and admits the US is preparing what he dubbed "a counter-China theater" by strengthening coordination with its regional satellite states. "The US and Japanese armed forces are rapidly integrating their command structure and scaling up combined operations as Washington DC and its Asian allies prepare for a possible...

China has beat the U.S. to become the world’s richest nation, according to a new report. -- Key findings: Global net worth soared from $156 million in 2000 to $514 trillion in 2020, making the world wealthier than it was at any point in history. China accounted for nearly a third of the increase, the report from management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company stated. McKinsey analyzed the national balance sheets of 10 countries that represented 60% of the world’s income. Of these nations, China accounted for 50% of the growth in net worth, followed by the U.S. (22%) and Japan...

So much research has been done we essentially know the majority of the background details. The SARS-CoV-2 virus commonly known as COVID-19 was made in a lab by scientists. The virus then went from a lab to the global population in late 2019/early 2020. The epicenter of the outbreak appears to be one of the labs working on the virus in Wuhan, China. Those essential big picture items are no longer debated; although the Chinese government do not agree for obvious reasons.

This is the full post, minus the photos and some formatting. If you don't know who Jimmy Lai is, how the NED is funded through the CIA, and what John Bolton is all about, this article is for you. Here, in this article, we look at the United States involvement with HK. We [1] study how the United States uses Hong Kong to exert pressure on China for trade and geopolitical advantage. We also [2] take a look at the various people “behind the scenes” that are pushing for American involvement, for their own personal gain. Finally, [3] we study...

The use of “technicals” by military forces to round up citizenry as part of genocide. This post looks into the role that (so called) “technicals” play in national upheavals. A “technical” is a pickup truck that has been modified into a mobile heavy weapons platform. These machines have been commonly used in just about every national conflict over the last two decades. Here, we look at the role that they have, and why there are used. As opposed to other vehicles constrained for other purposes. Summary A technical is a light improvised fighting vehicle, typically an open-backed civilian pickup truck...