Free Republic

Rainer Zitelmann's book, How Nations Escape Poverty, is particularly interesting for American veterans who served as G.I.s in Vietnam or for those who may have lost their fathers or family members in the conflict. The irony of history is that the communists initially won — however, upon establishing their socialist regime across Vietnam, they came to realize what a huge mistake they had made. Today, young Vietnamese in particular admire the USA and capitalism, as Zitelmann’s book shows. He asked the Vietnamese which economic systems they admire and which they reject. According to the survey data, people in Vietnam have...

VIDEOThe Biden-directed prosecution of President Donald Trump in the Manhattan trial is so pathetically weak that even the MSNBC Legal Correspondent Lisa Rubin was forced to admit that the prosecution presented NO EVIDENCE of Trump's personal guilt. You just know that if the prosecutors had slam dump evidence of Trump's supposed guilt, they would have presented it at the get-go of this CORRUPT trial. This trial is starting to resemble the EVIDENCE=FREE impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last year when the case completely fell apart in the state senate when the prosecution's witnesses were forced to admit...

King County filed charges against 6 people for the blockade which trapped motorists and emergency vehicles for over 5 hours. Two Seattle public school teachers and an Antifa militant with ties to the MS-13 gang were among those charged for shutting down the Interstate 5 freeway in January as part of an anti-Israel demonstration. On Friday, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) filed misdemeanor charges against six people in connection with the January 6 blockade, during which hundreds of anti-Israel activists flooded the northbound lanes of the freeway and trapped thousands of motorists and emergency vehicles for over 5...

House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly apologized to President Joe Biden for rolling his eyes at the president’s angry State of the Union address in March. Johnson’s office did not deny his apology when Breitbart News asked for comment. The apology is the latest revelation that suggests Johnson’s sympathies lie with the establishment and Washington, DC, elites, rather than with the voters who elected him to Congress and the Republican conference.

It started off like countless other Uber rides in downtown Boston. A group of friends piled into a car after hanging out at a bar. Then, they started arguing. Most of the friends got out at their hotel, and the man offered to drive the remaining rider around to "collect herself." But when the woman asked the driver to drop her back off at the hotel, he refused. Instead, he took her to his apartment in Dorchester that Saturday in July 2016 and sexually assaulted her, police alleged in court records. A DNA test identified the suspect as Alvin Campbell...

A lost album that Johnny Cash recorded in 1993 has been unearthed and will be released next month. (Supplied) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Early in 1993, Johnny Cash was at something of a career lull. The late country legend, who died in 2003, aged 71, was in between recording contracts when he decamped to LSI Studios, a Nashville recording studio owned by his stepdaughter, Rosey Adams, and son-in-law, Mike Daniel, to record some songs he'd been writing. Mere months later, Cash would meet producer Rick Rubin, who helped the country legend completely revitalise his career with the American series of albums. The sessions...

China is angling to deploy laser-propelled submarines. Image: Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ China may be moving closer to the holy grail of submarine stealth technology – a propulsion system with no mechanical moving parts. Such technology would eliminate all detectable vibrations, allowing for unprecedented underwater stealth capabilities. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Chinese scientists have found a way to significantly improve the efficiency of laser propulsions, which could one day drive submarines. The report says the new technology can produce nearly 70,000 newtons of thrust, using 2 megawatts of laser power emitted through the submarine’s coating of optical fibers,...

Political turmoil in Haiti has significantly increased the possibility of a surge in migration from that country to the United States...The figures reported here are based on Center for Immigration Studies analysis of the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), and Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey (ASEC CPS).

Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of California blasted her Democratic colleagues for weakening a bill that would make buying a child for sex a felony offense. The bill, which Grove introduced in February, would have made soliciting a minor for sex a felony charge with the potential for up to four years of prison time, a fine of up to $25,000 and required those convicted to register as sex offenders. Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Public Safety Committee passed amendments to the bill Wednesday, without Grove’s approval, that dropped chances of prison time to a max of one year in...

Since the 2021 admissions cycle, Cornell University’s eight undergraduate colleges have adopted test-optional and test-blind policies. However, starting in the 2026 admissions cycle, all colleges will mandate prospective students to submit a standardized test score with their applications. Although colleges will continue test-optional and test-blind policies for the Fall 2025 admissions cycle, students are encouraged to submit SAT and/or ACT scores. Cornell initially suspended standardized test requirements for applicants in April 2020 due to SAT and ACT test cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many peer institutions — including Yale and Dartmouth — recently announced that they would reinstate the...

Well, that headline probably set a record for invoking Godwin's Law, now didn't it? But sadly, in this case it does not seem to be inappropriate. To back up a bit, even before their party became completely radicalized, Democrats liked to use the condescending term "Voting against their own interests" to describe any group of people who generally voted Republican. Of course, aside from the EVIL super wealthy, everyone benefits for voting Democrat instead of Republican! Or so the story goes, anyway. Some years back a popular mantra among The Left was "What's the matter with Kansas?", from the leftist...

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an “obstacle” in a two-state solution between Israel and Gaza and said he should resign. In an interview with RTÉ’s Six One News during a visit to Ireland, Pelosi spoke about the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Netanyahu’s deadly counteroffensive that has left more than 34,000 Palestinians dead, according to local health officials. “We recognize Israel’s right to protect itself. We reject the policy and the practice of Netanyahu,” she said. “Terrible. What could be worse than what he has done in response?” “He should...

The Biden administration’s National Science Foundation (NSF) is dumping more than $2 million in taxpayer funds to back efforts aimed at diversifying marine biology and climate science, deriding the fields as “some of the least diverse STEM disciplines.” The NSF, which controls $9.9 billion of federal money and exists to “promote the progress of science,” “advance the national health,” and “secure the national defense,” is backing four different universities engaged in the study aimed at diversifying the two scientific disciplines. “The program supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science,...

The Biden administration could allow California to implement a rule designed to push green locomotives, but a growing list of stakeholders are warning that the regulation would severely impact the state’s economy and the national rail industry. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could soon determine whether it will allow the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to move forward with a state regulation that would ban the use of locomotives that are more than 23 years past their manufacturing date unless they run using zero-emissions technology, according to Progressive Railroading. The rule could disrupt supply chains and saddle the state’s railway...

Dr. Charles Buhler, a NASA engineer and the co-founder of Exodus Propulsion Technologies, has revealed that his company’s propellantless propulsion drive, which appears to defy the known laws of physics, has produced enough thrust to counteract Earth’s gravity. A veteran of such storied programs as NASA’s Space Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS), The Hubble Telescope, and the current NASA Dust Program, Buhler and his colleagues believe their discovery of a fundamental new force represents a historic breakthrough that will impact space travel for the next millennium. “The most important message to convey to the public is that a major...

Former President Donald Trump offered words of praise for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., saying he is "trying very hard" and is "a very good person." His comments came Monday evening during an interview with Real America's Voice radio host John Fredericks. "Look, we have a majority of one [in the House]," Trump said. "It's not like he can go and do whatever he wants. I think he's a very good person. I think he's a very good man. I think he's trying very hard. And, again, we have to have a very big election" to increase the Republican majority...

One has to wonder from the USSC arguments the other day. Legal experts said the Biden administration was "on the ropes" in Tuesday’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court in a case questioning whether a Jan. 6 rioter can be charged with a federal "obstruction" crime, which carries implications for former President Trump. On Tuesday, Jeffrey Green, lawyer for Joseph Fischer – who is one of more than 300 people charged by the Justice Department with "obstruction of an official proceeding" in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol – argued that the federal statute shouldn’t apply and that...

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said the quiet part out loud during a discussion with Alex Jones, which is that if Democrats had their way former President Donald Trump may not be long for this world. While Jones is infamous for his conspiracy theories, he may not have been too far off base when he said of the 2024 election, “We could lose this thing, ladies and gentlemen. And God forbid Trump doesn’t win. Can you imagine what they’re going to do? They have said it. They’re literally going to come after Trump supporters and the people who are...

Anti-Israel protesters armed with flares marched toward NYPD headquarters late Monday after the number of students arrested at NYU reportedly rose to over 150. Videos of Monday night’s protests show demonstrators holding bright flares over their heads while marching toward One Police Plaza while others waved flags, banged drums and chanted, “Gaza.” Other clips show NYPD officers in riot gear monitoring protesters who chant, “We will free Palestine, within our lifetime.” By late Monday, more than 150 protesters had been arrested as the NYU camp was broken up, sources told PIX 11. Sources told The Post that when the tally...

The Biden administration Friday rolled out three decisions aimed at greatly restricting oil and gas drilling, as well as mining activities needed for renewable energy, on public land. The decisions include shutting down the Ambler Access Road project, which would have opened up part of Alaska to mining needed for renewable energy, and blocking oil and gas drilling on up to 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Conservation Leases The third action the Interior Department took Friday was the finalizing of the Public Lands Rule. According to a statement from the Department of the Interior, the rule is...