Free Republic

Russian president Vladimir Putin will hold a ceremony “annexing” four Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine today (in a move widely seen as illegitimate), and will also give a speech. Get the latest on Putin’s annexation ceremony and speech in our LIVE COVERAGE.The four Ukrainian territories which Putin is planning to annex (i.e. declare to be parts of Russia) are Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Most of the world will not recognize the purported Russian annexation as legitimate, and will instead see it as Putin attempting to take by force another country’s sovereign territory. Russia last week held what are widely believed...

Have you had enough of: U.S. Government now approaching 23 Trillion dollars in debt, and still borrowing about One Trillion more dollars every year. That’s about 3 Billion new dollars borrowed every day. Congress funding abortions with your tax dollars Government taking one-fourth of the average paycheck, while sending money to other people who refuse to work…and occasionally bailing out companies like General Motors and CIT Group, who have failed to repay billions of dollars to the taxpayers Courts forcing private business owners to fill orders that violate their ethical standards...

Misidentification: An Arab carried out a stabbing attack in Jaffa and stabbed another Arab News 0404, 15/09/2021 . A stabbing attack was carried out today (Wednesday) in Jaffa, just before the beginning of the Yom Kippur fast. An Arab terrorist from the PA came to stab Jews but accidentally stabbed another Arab and wounded him moderately. The terrorist was arrested by the police.A Palestinian was arrested on suspicion of stabbing a 49-year-old man in Jaffa Liran Levy, Walla, Wednesday, September 15, 2021. The suspect, a 20-year-old resident of the Occupied Territories, was arrested and told police he had come to...

The entire Middle East is torn by sectarian animosity and violence, yet the relatively calm territorial dispute with the Palestinians is made into a key issue. ‘Welcome to a settlement,” I announced, at an elevated observation point in the redroofed community of Tzufim. Having left Route 6, one of Israel’s major highways, only minutes earlier, and having crossed no physical barrier, this came as a surprise. “I thought settlements were shabby caravans in remote, illegal outposts,” someone commented. The term “settlement” is commonly used to describe Jewish presence in what the international community considers “occupied” territories. Scores of neighborhoods, villages...

Where America’s Day BeginsTumon–While the rest of the country debates President Trump’s Twitter use, health care reform, tax reform, border security, the war on terrorism, and the 2018 midterms, it’s easy for some stories to fall by the wayside.The 2016 election was dominated by many issues, but trade was a key factor that helped push Donald Trump over the top. The main villain was China. Yet, trade isn’t the only arena where we’re going to do battle with this Asian economic powerhouse.In the Pacific, China is spreading dollars, subsidizing building projects across Tonga and the Federated States of Micronesia. The...

Every US state has a motto. Some are interesting, like “Live Free of Die,” in New Hampshire, and some are sadly truthful, like, “Our Government is Vampiric” in Massachusetts. Just kidding. It’s more along the lines of “We’ll Tax You to Death,” or something like that. Anyway, some, like the motto for the 49th state, Alaska, are very upbeat and offer a sense of adventure. In Alaska, politicians tell us to look, “North, to The Future.” But, a shocking move by the federal government might inspire Alaskans to change their motto to, “Our Land Is Being Stolen By The Feds!”...

The road to the White House doesn't get much longer than this. On Saturday, some 8,000 miles from the nation's capital, voters in the far-flung U.S. Pacific Ocean territories will get their say in this hotly-contested and often whacky presidential primary season. Republicans in Guam get the contests underway, with the Northern Mariana Islands' Democratic caucuses following a few hours later. GOP conventions in Wyoming and Washington, D.C., come later in the day, making for almost 27 hours of non-stop voting. Want to know more? You should. Where are the Northern Mariana Islands? About 5,800 miles south-southwest from California's Pacific...

As Israeli politicians and organizations continue to rail against the European Union for its decision to label products made in Judea and Samaria, MK Stav Shaffir said that Israel - and especially the current government - had no one to blame but itself for the situation. “The 'right wing' government in this country long ago sold the settlements down the river for a long list of benefits from the European Union,” Shaffir wrote on her Facebook page Thursday. “Israel has signed many agreements that exclude Judea and Samaria as entities within Israel.” Shaffir was referring to scientific, economic, and academic...

Groups of pastors and their congregations were at the forefront of the American Revolution and now it’s time for Christians to retake leadership positions in government and restore the nation to the “values” the Constitution was founded upon, Pastor Rafael Cruz said Monday as he brought the message of his son’s presidential campaign to the territory. An afternoon meet and greet in Emancipation Garden on St. Thomas allowed Ted Cruz’s father to huddle with a small V.I. contingent that he said were “integral” to the campaign process. While residents in the territory are not able to vote for president, local...

The Obama administration issued yet another waiver to get out of Obamacare — for all the U.S. territories. The exemption, posted Thursday on a Department of Health and Human Services website, frees U.S. territories from a host of Obamacare regulations on health insurance markets. The territories already weren’t subject to much of the health care law — the individual mandate doesn’t apply to the territories and premium subsidies aren’t available. What did apply were a host of regulations on the health insurance markets operating in the territories. Obamacare’s rules for insurance companies — providing mandated health benefits to all customers,...

Obamacare’s supporters have long insisted that it is the “law of the land,” implicitly suggesting that it is immutable and permanent. Evidently, it hasn’t occurred to these people to mention that to their dear leader. His Majesty, Barack I, obviously thinks of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a collection of royal decrees, any one of which may be altered at his pleasure. Thus, in a proclamation issued last week through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, His Highness declared that all U.S. territories are now exempt from most of PPACA’s morass of rules and regulations. Neither...

Pass this on. I am, although I haven't checked the website. Delta Airlines has a frequent flyer program and a website which tells you how many miles one must have to get a free ticket from one place to another. With regard to the Middle East, the site is: http://dmn.delta.com/skymiles/direct/charts/middleeast On this site, there is a chart which begins as follows: “For Travel From the Middle East: Bahrain; Egypt; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Occupied Palestinian Territory; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Syrian Arab Republic; United Arab Emirates (composed of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras El...

Third Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Jonesboro, Illinois September 15, 1858 MR. DOUGLAS' SPEECH. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I appear before you today in pursuance of a previous notice, and have made arrangements with Mr. Lincoln to divide time, and discuss with him the leading political topics that now agitate the country. Prior to 1854 this country was divided into two great political parties known as Whig and Democratic. These parties differed from each other on certain questions which were then deemed to be important to the best interests of the Republic. Whig and Democrats differed about a bank, the...

Note: The following text is a quote: Eight Area Men Sentenced on Federal Racketeering Charges Involving Conspiracy to Transfer Cash and Checks to the Palestinian Territories ST. LOUIS, MO—The United States Attorney’s office announced today that eight members of a criminal enterprise operating out of five St. Louis area convenience stores have been sentenced on charges of federal racketeering or related charges. As far back as 2000, the RICO conspiracy has involved bank fraud, receipt of stolen property, conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, purchasing contraband cigarettes for resale, evading reporting requirement on exporting monetary instruments, and transporting monetary instruments...

Some years ago, Tom Clancy wrote a novel that included elements of the Arab-Israeli conflict. One of his best, he came up with what seems to be an option to be explored.

For decades, efforts to give the District of Columbia a voting representative in Congress have run into a brick wall. Constitutional amendments failed to win the states' support. Ad campaigns about "taxation without representation" did not help the cause. Now, unexpected political forces are aligning behind a plan to give the district a House vote — along with a new seat in Congress for Utah — when lawmakers return for their lame-duck session in early December. "This is closest we've come in at least 30 years," said Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote, an umbrella lobbying group. "The stars...

Terror leader says rocket attacks at Israeli towns to intensify Hamas is "very satisfied" with reports here some Israelis in communities near the Gaza Strip are ready to flee their rocket-plagued towns while students reportedly have been skipping school for fear of being caught in regular Palestinian attacks, a senior leader of Hamas' military wing told WND in an interview yesterday. "The importance of what is happening in Sderot proves to the Palestinians, especially those who say rockets bring no results, that rocket attacks do bring big benefits," said Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational...

By Fili Sagapolutele Samoa News Correspondent American Samoa's "high risk" designation by the U.S. Department of Interior will not be lifted anytime soon even though the FY2005 audit was submitted on time. "One of the conditions for lifting the high-risk designations is that the ASG have two consecutive years of timely, clean single audit reports," DOI's deputy director for Insular Areas, Papali'i David B. Cohen told Samoa News by e-mail from Washington late last week. "The fiscal year 2005 audit was timely, but not clean. It therefore cannot be counted towards the lifting of the high-risk designation." "That does not...

Hawaiian Air seeking the federal government's intervention to respond to American Samoa's concerns was anticipated by his administration Governor Togiola said on his weekend radio program. Togiola said it is his personal opinion that Hawaiian does not want to respond directly to local concerns, especially on the issue of reducing air fares for the Pago Pago route, because the airline does not want to reduce the current high fares. So instead of addressing the high fares and excessive charges imposed on American Samoa's passengers, Hawaiian Air is dragging the issue around by asking DOT for a ruling on the executive...

Tours of the canneries and part of the National Park of American Samoa in Vatia is being planned for members of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations that are arriving on Wednesday. Their actual time of arrival has not yet been confirmed. The delegation, headed by committee chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), includes Congressman Faleomavaega Eni, Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and support staff, will be on island for five to six hours. They have already visited the Philippines and South Korea. The governor said on his weekend radio program the delegation will be hosted...