Free Republic

It would be easy to underestimate Valeriy Zaluzhny. When not in uniform, the general prefers T-shirts and shorts that match his easygoing sense of humor. When he first heard from aides to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late July 2021 that he was being tapped to lead the country’s armed forces, his stunned response was, “What do you mean?” As it sank in that he would become commander in chief, he tells TIME in his first interview since the Russian invasion began, he felt as if he had been punched “not just below the belt but straight into a knockout.”...

Armed police are going door-to-door while gun-toting mercenaries are guarding polling stations as Russian stages sham referendums in occupied Ukraine. 'Voting' is now underway in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions on whether or not to become provinces of Russia - with the results fixed by Moscow. But, just to make extra sure, Kremlin officials, military police and hired guns are keeping a careful eye over the process - with Ukrainian politicians reporting that they are kicking front doors in to force people to cast their ballots. Serhiy Haidai, governor of occupied Luhansk, said some towns under Russian occupation have...

Four Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine are expected on Friday to begin voting in referendums on joining Russia, in a move that raises the stakes of Moscow’s invasion seven months after fighting began. The referendums, which are illegal under international law, could pave the way for Russian annexation of the areas, allowing Moscow to frame the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive as an attack on Russia itself. Such a move could provide Moscow with a pretext to escalate its faltering war, which has seen Kyiv regain thousands of square miles of territory this month. In an address Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised...

Russia had already declared its intent in spring, and is now going ahead with plans to annex the territories it has occupied in the south and east of Ukraine on a fast-track basis. Simultaneous votes in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have been scheduled from September 23 to September 27. In a speech on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Moscow would recognize the results. Just as it did with the Crimean annexation in 2014, Russia is making a point of appearing not to be involved. It was local Ukrainian politicians supported by the Russian military who...

Russia on Tuesday gave support to plans by separatists which it backs in Ukraine to hold referendums paving the way for the annexation of swathes of additional territory, a direct challenge to the West that could sharply escalate the conflict. After nearly seven months of war, including a critical battlefield defeat in northeastern Ukraine, Putin is pondering his next steps. In what appeared to be choreographed requests, Russian-backed officials across 15% of Ukrainian territory - an area about the size of Hungary or Portugal - lined up to request referendums on joining Russia. The self-styled Donetsk (DPR) and the Luhansk...

When Pennsylvania voters head to the polls on Tuesday, May 18, for the primary election, they will find three questions on the ballot regarding amendments to the state Constitution and one referendum. The first two constitutional questions deal with disaster emergency declarations while the third addresses racial equality. The ballot referendum asks about allowing municipal fire and EMS companies to share access to the existing Fire and Emergency Services Loan Fund with volunteer companies. Why Are These Questions Important? For more than a year, Pennsylvania has been operating under two long-term disaster emergency declarations imposed by Gov. Tom Wolf. One...

Soros' bleak 2017 forecast: Billionaire warns EU will FALL after elite 'STOLE democracy'GEORGE Soros has warned voters have turned away from mainstream political parties as “many people felt that the elites have stolen their democracy”, in an alarming forecast for the European Union in 2017.

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is about to be rocked by a “political tsunami” with right-wing parties across the continent calling for dozens of in-out referendums. A study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) revealed so-called extreme “insurgent parties” are calling for a total of 34 public votes - with matters ranging from their countries’ membership of the EU to refugee policy. The ECFR report blamed Europe’s fear of Turkey joining the EU and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “refugees welcome” policy as major reasons behind a rapid rise in support for both right-wing and far-left, anti-EU parties and...

The Maryland Senate narrowly overrode Gov. Larry Hogan's final veto from last year's General Assembly session, paving the way to reinstate voting rights to felons before they complete probation or parole. The 29-18 vote on Tuesday puts the law on the books 30 days from now and represents a political defeat for Hogan, a Republican. The bill was the sixth that Hogan vetoed last year, and the sixth the Democrat-controlled General Assembly reinstated. The vote, twice delayed in order to muster enough support, followed an expansive debate that touched on resolving racial disparities in the criminal justice system and protecting...

OSCOW, May 12, /ITAR-TASS/. RF President Vladimir Putin will formulate his attitude to the referenda, held on Sunday, on the status of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, "on the strength of their results", presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the newspaper Kommersant. What the RF President's decision will be "is difficult to forecast", Peskov added. Asked by the newspaper whether Putin's attitude would be influenced by the fact that he himself had asked the federalization supporters to postpone the referendum until a later date, the presidential press secretary pointed out as follows: "Not asked but made such a recommendation". "However,...

(CNN) -- Voters in Maine will decide next week whether to overturn the legislation signed by Gov. John Baldacci nearly six months ago that allows same-sex couples to wed. Baldacci, who originally opposed the legislation, said upholding the bill comes down to a fundamental understanding of equal protection and constitutional responsibility. "Initially, I had the opinion for several years that civil unions were the limitations of what I was willing to support," Baldacci said. "But, the research that I did uncovered that a civil union didn't equal a civil marriage." On May 6 when Baldacci signed the legislation, he did...

RACE NAME EARLY VOTES PERCENT TOTAL VOTES PERCENT Prop 1. Officials to enforce U.S. immigration laws. IN FAVOR 505,868 96.56% 1,137,390 96.34% AGAINST 18,009 3.43% 43,117 3.65% ----------- ----------- Race Total 523,877 1,180,507 Early Provisional Ballots Reported 2,095 Total Provisional Ballots Reported 4,896 Precincts Reported 6,176 of 7,959 Precincts 77.60% Statewide Turnout 9.25% 12,752,417 Registered Voters ---------------------------------------- RACE NAME EARLY VOTES PERCENT TOTAL VOTES PERCENT Prop 2. Require photo ID to cast ballot in elections. IN FAVOR 493,560 94.11% 1,110,528 93.86% AGAINST 30,841 5.88% 72,542 6.13% ----------- ----------- Race Total 524,401 1,183,070 Early Provisional Ballots Reported 2,095 Total Provisional Ballots...

TRENTON, Sept. 24 — A state judge ruled on Monday that a $450 million bond proposal to finance stem cell research must stay on the November ballot, dealing a blow to abortion opponents. Judge Neil H. Shuster of Superior Court in Mercer County ruled that abortion opponents who challenged the initiative on the grounds that it would permit human cloning waited too long to file their case and did not made a convincing enough claim of imminent harm. Saying that an injunction was the “strongest weapon” available to the court and should be used sparingly, Judge Shuster declined to stop...

Ric Williamson, a former state legislator and longtime pal of Gov. Rick Perry, runs the monthly meetings of the Texas Transportation Commission like a traffic cop. Staff members give brisk status reports before Williamson dismisses them so the next bureaucrat can take the podium. If members of the public embark on a diatribe, Williamson will let them prattle on with an air of friendly indulgence. Then, rounding his shoulders and leaning forward—using body language no doubt perfected when he and Perry were freshmen state representatives harrying their elders—he’ll pleasantly announce that their time is up. As commission chairman, Williamson sits...

...Anti-abortionists have been craving a test case to put before the U.S. Supreme Court, in hopes of overturning Roe vs. Wade — and thought they had it when the South Dakota Legislature passed a ban on abortion. Instead of challenging the law in court, though, pro-choice forces cleverly put the matter to a popular referendum. Even in that socially conservative, anti-abortion state, a decisive majority Tuesday preserved a woman's right to choose. To some extent, they were bothered by the ban's extraordinary lack of compassion, refusing to exempt even the victims of rape and incest. But a frequently voiced complaint...

BERLIN, June 1 - Some are calling it a divorce; others, a disenchantment. Whatever you call it, the French "non" on Sunday and the Dutch "nee" on Wednesday have clearly left the European Union's proposed constitution a dead letter for now, frustrating the efforts of Europe's leaders to move to the next stage of integration. The impasse could stall efforts to develop common foreign policies and push the euro, a potent symbol of unification, into a downward spiral. But there is something at stake here far broader than the constitution itself, which the Dutch rejected emphatically on Wednesday, 61.6 percent...

Updates the fingerprint to 21st century technology.

If there's a big puddle of water in the middle of the basement, a homeowner checks for leaking pipes and calls the plumber. If there's a pool of oil in the garage, a driver gets a mechanic to inspect the car's plugs and seals right away. And when three different groups, two of them grass-roots and one a statewide governmental association, say they're holding petition drives for referendums on tax reform, voters could justly conclude that something's broken in the way the state collects and disburses its revenues. OK, so that's not exactly a secret. The state is $240...