Free Republic

Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is launching a full-scale attack against state Republican leaders in defense of his closed-door deal with an electric vehicle (EV) battery company with substantial ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In a letter to Republican state Senate Minority Leader John Curran and other GOP state lawmakers this week, Pritzker accused critics of his recently-announced deal with Gotion Inc. of "resorting to xenophobia" in an effort to attain a "grotesque short-term political gain." Pritzker's sprawling letter defended the deal, arguing it would boost economic growth and create thousands of jobs. "You and your members express...

The United States will not lift any existing travel restrictions “at this point” due to concerns over the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant and the rising number of U.S. coronavirus cases, the White House confirmed on Monday. The decision, which was first reported by Reuters, comes after a senior level White House meeting late on Friday. It means that the long-running travel restrictions that have barred much of the world’s population from the United States since 2020 will not be lifted in the short term. “Given where we are today … with the Delta variant, we will maintain existing travel...

Germany and France will today attempt to introduce a mandatory two-week quarantine for all British tourists travelling to the EU. Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron have relaunched a bid to enforce a Europe-wide rule for UK residents travelling to any country in the bloc. Under the proposed plans, even fully vaccinated holidaymakers would be forced to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. Ms Merkel is pushing to designate the UK as a ‘country of concern’ amid rising cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant, which has spread across the entire country. However, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and...

(CNN) — The Biden administration has confirmed that the US will restrict travel from India starting on Tuesday in response to the surge of coronavirus cases and variants being observed in the country. "On the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Administration will restrict travel from India starting immediately," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Friday. "The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the India. The policy will take effect on Tuesday, May 4." ~SNIP~ The policy will not apply to...

"I feel quite strongly that Guantánamo doesn’t have a place in our world"Benedict Cumberbatch says he wants Guantánamo Bay closed after working on ‘The Mauritanian’ "I feel quite strongly that Guantánamo doesn’t have a place in our world" Benedict Cumberbatch has said he wants Guantánamo Bay closed following his work on recent film The Mauritanian. The film, which is being produced by SunnyMarch – an independent film and television company that Cumberbatch jointly owns – explores the experiences of Mohamedou Ould Slahi who was incarcerated at Guantánamo Bay for 14 years without charge. After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the...

President Joe Biden reportedly said "Indian-descent Americans are taking over the country" while talking to a NASA official on Friday. Biden made the off-the-cuff remark during a conversation with Dr. Swati Mohan, NASA’s guidance and controls operations head for the Perseverance Mars rover, according to the Times of India.“It’s amazing. Indian-descent Americans are taking over the country — you, my vice president [Kamala Harris], my speechwriter, Vinay [Reddy]," Biden said. "I tell you what. But thank you. You guys are incredible."

Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States JANUARY 26, 2021 • PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS Advancing inclusion and belonging for people of all races, national origins, and ethnicities is critical to guaranteeing the safety and security of the American people. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric has put Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) persons, families, communities, and businesses at risk. The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to...

If democracy dies in darkness, as the Washington Post proclaims, the corporate media giants are the ones flipping off the lights. By doing so, those giants help a nation that seeks to destroy the United States. The Post, the New York Times, CNN, NBCUniversal and many other large media corporations forged business relationships with Chinese companies. Those companies are affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Meanwhile, major outlets participate in a cultural-exchange program funded by that party. As a result, those outlets mold opinion to fit their own interests, not the public’s. “You often see representatives from American companies...

A renowned Japanese jazz pianist has been robbed of his ability to play his instrument after he was attacked by eight teenagers at a train station in New York City. Tadataka Unno, 40, who may never be able to play the piano again, was exiting the West 135th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue subway station in Harlem on September 27 when the suspects blocked the turnstiles and confronted him. The musician attempted to walk around the group, but was yelled at and pushed from behind. He was eventually punched in the face and body. According to Unno's wife, racial slurs...

A NEW OPPRESSED CLASS - CHILDREN As a child I have come face to face with oppression. I call it Parentism or Adultism – since it bleeds over into other adults. My parents give commands and expect obedience. They say they love me. But then tell me what I am to eat. What I am to wear. When to go to bed. Whether or not I go to school. Whether I can take meth – and a lot more you wouldn’t even believe. It’s total oppression. I think they are afflicted with, yes! Pedophobia – Ugh! As an oppressed child...

On this date in 1865, the Japanese samurai Okada Izo was dispatched by crucifixion. He was one of* the “Four Hitokiri“ — manslayers — whose legendary blades coruscated in the Bakumatsu era that marked Japan’s pivot from an isolationist feudal state, one where samurai were big men on prefectures, to a burgeoning modern power ruled by industry and mass conscription. The irony was that dinosaurs like the Hitokiri helped bring the asteroid down on their own heads. During the chaotic Bakumatsu period, triggered by Japan’s becoming involuntarily opened to the outside world, the emperor — long a figurehead marginalized by...

Former Vice President Joe Biden faced a number of distracting interruptions Monday during a virtual speech: honking geese, chirping birds, a ringing iPhone and what was assumed to be a Secret Service agent standing in the background of his shot. Nevertheless, Biden virtually addressed the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Victory Fund to knock President Trump’s virus response and accuse him of fanning flames of “hate, fear and xenophobia” against Asian-Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic has unleashed familiar forces of hate, fear and xenophobia that he always flames and fans. The flames have always existed in our...

This hasn’t gotten much attention in the U.S. media before now, but one result of the coronavirus outbreak in China has been a wave of anti-foreigner sentiment. It may seem ironic given that the virus first arose in China, but as the number of cases in China has dropped and the number of cases in Europe and the U.S. has increased, many people in China have started to see foreigners as a threat. The Guardian reported on this trend three weeks ago: Over the past few weeks, as Chinese health officials reported new “imported” coronavirus cases almost every day,...

AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time in its 34-year history, South by Southwest has been canceled as the City of Austin declares a local disaster due to concerns about coronavirus spreading. In an announcement on Friday by Mayor Steve Adler, Judge Sarah Eckhardt, Dr. Mark Escott of the Interim Health Authority and Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden, the City of Austin declared a local disaster, canceling the spring festival event as the COVID-19 virus causes worldwide concern. Judge Eckhardt also signed a companion declaration of disaster to apply county-wide in Travis County to festival gatherings that have guests...

Africans have come out to boycott South Africa after days of looting and violence targeting foreigners in which five people died. Nigerian singers and Zambia's football team are among those in the boycott. South Africa's Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu told the BBC the rioters feared losing their jobs to foreigners. The country has become a magnet for migrants from other parts of Africa. Who has boycotted South Africa? Nigerian Afrobeats star Burna Boy vowed to never go to South Africa again until the government "wakes up". He tweeted that he himself had had his own "xenophobic experiences at...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police in Kentucky say a Hindu temple in Louisville has been vandalized in a hate crime, its windows broken and walls covered in hateful messages. Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad tells The Courier Journal that “repugnant messages of hate” were spray-painted on its walls during a break-in this week. He says xenophobic and sexist messages were scrawled along with images of crosses and phrases such as “Jesus Is The Only God.” Someone spray-painted the eyes of a Hindu religious figure, with black paint dripping down the image’s face. Swaminarayan Temple officials say there is no...

(CNN) Chinese TV personality Jing Boran has something on his ear that authorities don't want you to see. In the latest episode of the popular Chinese reality TV show "I, Actor," the young star's face is digitally altered to blur out his earrings. Jing, who held lead roles in Chinese box office hits "Monster Hunt" and "Time Raiders," is not the only victim of the alleged "earring ban." Images circulating on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, show several other young male stars with blurred circles on their ears. It's unclear if Chinese regulators have issued a specific directive barring men...

An American man has been killed by an endangered tribe in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands. Fishermen who took the man to North Sentinel island say tribespeople shot him with arrows and left his body on the beach. He has been identified as John Allen Chau, a 27 year old from Alabama. Contact with the endangered Andaman tribes living in isolation from the world is illegal because of the risks to them from outside disease. Estimates say the Sentinelese, who are totally cut off from civilisation, number only between 50 and 150.

<p>An American tourist was killed by arrows shot by protected tribesmen living in one of the world's most isolated regions tucked in India's Andaman islands, police said Wednesday.</p> <p>John Chau, 27, had taken a boat ride with local fishermen before venturing alone in a canoe to the remote North Sentinel Island where the indigenous people live cut off completely from the outside world.</p>

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s closing argument is now clear: Build tent cities for migrants. End birthright citizenship. Fear the caravan. Send active-duty troops to the border. Refuse asylum. Immigration has been the animating issue of the Trump presidency, and now — with the possibility that Republicans could face significant losses in the midterm elections on Tuesday — the president has fully embraced a dark, anti-immigrant message in the hope that stoking fear will motivate voters to reject Democrats. In a rambling speech on Thursday afternoon that was riddled with falsehoods and vague promises to confront a “crisis” at the border,...