Free Republic

Saudi Arabia may be briefly wearing the world's most advanced Eagle crown with their new F-15SAs, but Qatar will assume that honor when the first of its 36—or possibly 72 if they execute an option for more—F-15QAs are delivered in the next couple of years. Along with a totally remodeled cockpit featuring large panel touch screen displays, Qatar's F-15s will also do away with the Strike Eagle's iconic green-glowing, wide-angle heads up display (HUD), replacing it with an innovative new design from BAE Systems. When the Strike Eagle arrived on the scene in the late 1980s, its massive HUD was...

The Vatican sealed off part of St Peter's Basilica after chunks of plaster rained down on worshippers at the height of the Easter holiday season. No one was injured by the falling plaster, which fell near Michelangelo's famed Pieta statue, near the main entrance.

President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Wednesday that makes it illegal to pay for portraits of government officials with taxpayer money. Trump, his Cabinet, any current or future member of Congress, and any future president or vice president or government official will have to seek private donations to pay for a portrait, or fund it themselves. The Eliminating Government-funded Oil-painting Act, abbreviated as the EGO Act, stipulates that no government money “may be used to pay for the painting of a portrait of an officer or employee of the Federal Government, including the President, the Vice President, a...

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he had chosen former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton to succeed U.S. Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as head of the National Security Council and chief foreign policy adviser. To say that Bolton’s tough conservative outlook toward our nation’s enemies does not sit well with the left is an understatement, and it didn’t take long before rumors began to circulate that Bolton plans to “purge” the NSC once he takes command in April, Breitbart reported Wednesday. Those rumors largely stemmed from an article in Foreign Policy that claimed Bolton is expected to...

The Combine is a huge part of the NFL Draft process for prospects, and in addition to position drills and basic athletic testing, prospects are asked to take the Wonderlic test. The scores of these tests are supposed to remain private, but every year some of them get leaked. This year, most of the quarterback scores have been made public by former NFL scout John Middlekauff. He listed off the scores on a recent Fox Sports Radio podcast appearance on "The Herd With Colin Cowherd."

Parkland shooting survivor Cameron Kasky ignited Twitter this week with what appeared to be an inaccurate claim regarding the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In the wake of last month’s Parkland school shooting that left 17 people dead, Kasky and some of his classmates have emerged as vocal proponents of stricter gun control measures. As part of that push for more gun control, Kasky tweeted Tuesday that the “second amendment has no restrictions,” a claim that was quickly debunked on Twitter and elsewhere.

A recent academic journal article claims that "meritocratic ideology" and "depoliticized" classroom environments contribute to a sense of exclusion and isolation among female students. The professors argue that the emphasis on "meritocracy," "individualism," and "technical prowess" in engineering all contribute to a "masculine culture" that marginalizes women. Four professors are warning that the “hegemony of meritocratic ideology” and other manifestations of “masculine culture” in engineering courses are detrimental to women. Led by Carroll Serron, who teaches at the University of California-Irvine, the March 1 study contends that the sense of exclusion and isolation felt by female engineering students is exacerbated...

He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53; 700 B.C.

Apple releases iOS 11.3 Apple today released iOS 11.3 which introduces new features including ARKit 1.5 with support for more immersive augmented reality experiences, iPhone Battery Health (Beta), new Animoji for iPhone X users, and more. This update also includes stability improvements and bug fixes.Augmented Reality • ARKit 1.5 allows developers to place digital objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors in addition to horizontal surfaces • Adds support for detecting and incorporating images like movie posters or artwork into AR experiences • Supports a higher resolution real world camera view when using AR experiencesiPhone Battery Health (Beta) •...

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is back in New Jersey Thursday for a rare public appearance since she lost in her bid for the White House against President Donald Trump. Clinton is expected to talk politics, American democracy and her role in shaping women's political history. Rutgers will pay Clinton $25,000 from an endowment but use no money from tuition or state aid, according to the university. A Clinton spokesperson told NBC the former secretary of state plans to donate the honorarium for the speech to charity. Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics will host the event to be held...

The Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts have had male cheerleaders who perform stunts, but, until now, none that have danced. Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies found out that they made the Rams cheerleading squad this week. According to The Wrap: Peron and Jinnies have been performing their entire lives. They were among the 76 finalists chosen for the 40-person squad, and Jinnies says this audition was unlike anything he had done before. ‘This one was about three weeks long and we had a bunch of rehearsals in between and an extensive interview process, but it was really humbling and amazing...

ometime over the next few weeks the small Chinese space station Tiangong-1 will re-enter Earth's atmosphere and (mostly) burn up. The big questions are where and when. Unfortunately, because we don't know when, we can’t know where. The most likely date is around April 1, but the timing is uncertain — and because of that, we don't know where it will come down. We also don't know how much of it will make it to the ground, but the better news is that the majority of it will burn up. It's unlikely very much will survive to make it down....

Inherent to any democracy is robust debate and an understanding of all the options available before reaching a solution. For a democracy to work, people from all walks of life must participate in the process. If just one person were to make all the decisions in a society, that society would be a dictatorship. Without debate and healthy, robust interaction with those who disagree, we would have little opportunity for reflection, learning and improvement. This also means that democracies are inherently messier than other forms of government. But we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we were to try...

Mass murderer Nikolas Cruz is getting stacks of fan mail and love letters sent to the Broward County jail, along with hundreds of dollars in contributions to his commissary account. Teenage girls, women and even older men are writing to the Parkland school shooter and sending photographs — some suggestive — tucked inside cute greeting cards and attached to notebook paper with offers of friendship and encouragement. Groupies also are joining Facebook communities to talk about how to help the killer. The South Florida Sun Sentinel obtained copies of some of the letters showing that Cruz, who had few friends...

He announced it was his birthday and that he was from London. Drinking at the bar at the Willard InterContinental hotel, police said, he was overheard plotting — perhaps in a boozy swagger — to jump the White House fence. At the Old Ebbitt Grill, the manager said the man with the crew cut blended in like a “regular kind of guy” and made quick friends ordering rounds at a bar once patronized by presidents. And at the Ritz-Carlton, police said, he topped a dinner of grilled octopus and rack of lamb with a $156 bottle of cabernet sauvignon and...

Yulia Skripal, the daughter of ex-spy Sergei Skripal, is improving rapidly and no longer in a critical condition, says the hospital treating her. She and her father were admitted nearly four weeks ago after being exposed to a nerve agent in Salisbury. The BBC understands from separate sources that Ms Skripal is conscious and talking. However Mr Skripal remains in a critical but stable condition, Salisbury District Hospital said. Doctors said Ms Skripal, "has responded well to treatment but continues to receive expert clinical care 24 hours a day".

“Chappaquiddick” tells the story of a relatively unknown scandal involving one of the most glorified families in American history: the Kennedys. So, it is not surprising that the cast, executive producers, and director felt some nerves taking on the project. For Byron Allen, Entertainment Studios CEO and co-founder and executive producer of the film, the pushback to tell this story came when he first decided to produce the film. “Unfortunately, there are some very powerful people who tried to put pressure on me not to release this movie,” Allen said. “They went out of their way to try and influence...

Judge Stephen Reinhardt, the liberal face of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, died Thursday afternoon, a court spokesman said. He was 87.

The thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft just did what we thought was impossible. After 37 years of inactivity, NASA just received response from spacecraft 13 billion miles away, NASA said in a statement on its website. Voyager 1 is NASA’s farthest and fastest spacecraft. It was launched on September 5, 1977. Having operated for 40 years, 6 months and 14 days as of March 19, 2018, the spacecraft relies on small devices called thrusters to orient itself so it can communicate with Earth. These thrusters fire in tiny pulses, or “puffs,” lasting mere milliseconds, to subtly rotate the spacecraft...

A GoFundMe fundraiser set up to cover the legal bills of fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe raised six figures within just a few hours Thursday, exceeding expectations and prompting the organizers to increase the goal of the campaign from $150,000 to $250,000. As of 7 p.m. Thursday, the fund had raised more than $200,000. McCabe was fired from the FBI two days before his retirement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the recommendation of FBI officials. An upcoming Department of Justice Inspector General report is expected to be critical of him. But Mr. Trump had long blasted McCabe...