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Associated Press — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Wednesday that will allow authorities to confiscate money, valuables and other assets from people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the country’s military. The bill sailed through the lower and upper houses of the Russian parliament, and was unanimously endorsed by the upper house last week. The speaker of the lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the measure includes harsher punishment for “traitors who sling mud at our country and our troops” and would “strip those scoundrels of honorary titles, confiscate their assets, money and other valuables.” Russian officials have...

The idea was that China's regime, given a stake in the existing system, would then defend it... By now, however, that bet looks like a mistake history will remember. For as the Communist Party grew stronger, it did not align itself with its Western supporters. On the contrary, it came to believe it could avenge centuries-old grievances and remake the world in its own image. The West's generous approach created the one thing it had hoped to avoid: an aggressive state redrawing its borders by force, attacking liberal values around the world, and undermining institutions at the heart of the...

All private sector employers will be subject to vaccine mandate in the state, and children over the age of five will need proof of vaccine to dine indoors. Children who want to take part in school activities like band, sports teams, orchestra or others will also have to receive at least one shot of a Covid vaccine by December 14 . Currently, all people aged 12 or older have to show proof of vaccination to dine indoors or attend indoor events in the city. The city was averaging nearly 1,600 new Covid cases every day when data was last updated...

Full Title: Treasury: Employers must “self-attest” that ObamaCare not behind staffing decisions – under penalty of perjury Old and busted: Businesses will love ObamaCare for its cost savings in health care! New hotness: Businesses had better not make staffing decisions based on cost savings from ObamaCare-fueled price spikes! After its latest delay in implementing the employer mandate, the Obama administration rebuffed criticisms that the law incentivizes employers to shift to part-time work by announcing the Treasury Inquisition — ahem, excuse me, the Treasury Attestation Department: The latest announcement comes after the administration heard from businesses about their concerns with the...

The Turkish Parliament’s General Assembly adopted on Friday an alcohol bill proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), tightening restrictions on the sale and advertising of alcoholic beverages, the daily Hurriyet reported. The approval came despite strong objections against the bill by the opposition on the grounds of personal freedom and respect for lifestyle choices. Secularist opponents accused the Islamic-rooted ruling party of gradually imposing an Islamic agenda on Turkey. According to the bill, retailers will no longer be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Advertising campaigns will be completely banned, such as...

This should be a wakeup call to our own Fedzilla (Congress and the rest of the federal government in Washington, D.C.) that the American people are also sick and tired of our own version of an oppressive government as evidenced by the American Tea Party movement.

It's time to close the Federal Communications Commission. This week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a speech outlining his push for net neutrality, the absurd notion that the Internet should be "open and free" when in fact it's quite expensive to build. Net neutrality will straitjacket the U.S. economy's single most important driver of productivity and transformation. Besides the obvious question of whether the FCC even has the authority to regulate the Web—in April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said it doesn't—the agency has a long history of restraining trade. Founded in 1934 partly to regulate...

In his Saturday remarks during his campaign train ride, President-elect Barack Obama issued some soaring rhetoric about the state of the country today. At least the Old Media thought it was soaring rhetoric, anyway. Typically, the media was overawed by his mellifluous tones, of course. But during these remarks in Baltimore Obama made a startling suggestion. He said we need a "new Declaration of Independence." Apparently the original one isn't good enough for the new president, but it also seems a silly rhetorical flourish. After all, what is it that we are declaring independence from this time? Recall that the...

President Hillary Clinton started making policy today. At the DNC winter meetings in Washington she began to reveal some of the Clinton Part Deux agenda, which will kick into gear after her inauguration. Yesterday Exxon declared the biggest profit in the entire history of capitalism — $39 billion — and that did not escape Hillary's notice. Today she promised to tax Exxon on those huge profits, and tax those greedy capitalist pigs big time. Here's her quote: "I want to take those profits and put them into an alternative energy fund that will begin to fund alternative smart energy alternatives...

<p>FOR THE second year in a row...the population of Massachusetts has shrunk.</p> <p>It was one of only three states to end the year with fewer people than it had at the start -- New York and Rhode Island were the others -- and the only one to do so for the second year running.</p>

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

A California man is about to lose his property. Help.Here is Mr. Avery's letter grasping for straws in a flood of overpowering big government. The property is in a flood plane on Bethel Island, CA, but no one lives there. They want to tear down his trailer because it might flood. How can this type of oppressive government be stopped?. Can Mr. Avery be helped? Here is Mr. Avery's cry for help. His property is directly across the street from me and I am merely trying to help. What can be done?Good Hunting... from Varmint Al To Whom It May...

< Do I Need My Husband's Permission to Cut My Hair?  Date of Fatwa 25/ February/ 2003  Date of Reply 25/ February/ 2003  Topic Of Fatwa Relationship Between Husband and Wife   Question of Fatwa Dear scholars, As-Salamu `alaykum. If a woman wants to cut her hair, should she seek the permission of her husband? Jazakum Allah khayran.  Name of Mufti European Council for Fatwa and Research    Content of Reply Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon...

The Baghdad-Havana Axis of Jew Hatred By Myles Kantor FrontPageMagazine.com | November 5, 2002 http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=4381 Saddam Hussein's staunchest ally is 90 miles from America, and his name is Fidel Castro. In the late 1980s, Cuban orthopedic surgeon Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras removed a lethal tumor in Hussein's back. Hussein generously remunerated Cambras-also head of the Cuban-Iraqi Friendship Association-who gave the money to Castro and received a mansion in Havana's elite Miramar area. Cambras visited Baghdad in July to give Hussein a message from Castro. Cuba's 43-year long despot expressed "the solidarity of Cuba" with Hussein and congratulated him on the 34th...