Free Republic

Getting Guns Right by Michael Z. Williamson Once again lately, firearms are in the news. This seems odd. The news is about the unusual, and after 700 or more years in use, firearms are hardly unusual. In America, they've been a vital part of the culture since its inception. Yet we're still debating the subject, and the media almost always gets its facts wrong. At its basic level, a firearm is a piston engine. A propellant is ignited and powers a projectile down a bore. Instead of working a crank, it is forced out in a chosen direction. The impact...

Found a good deal for the Preppers out there: Woot! is selling a good Gamo Air Rifle, .177 caliber, for $135 bucks including shipping. Gamo Varmint Stalker with Scope I've been looking at Air Rifles/Pellet Guns to add to my collection of useful tools, and got this deal in the mail this morning. It won't last long: Woot's deal is 1 day or whenever they sell out, whichever comes first. . . . I grabbed one, many of you will probably like this deal too, about half retail, and about a third off of general online prices.

The headline: Buried, burned, and blown up: Bomb disposal crews explode chemicals in undisclosed location after officials found 'mind-boggling' stash of ammunition in killer's lair

An American Navy ship fired on a boat in the Persian Gulf today, killing one person and injuring three others aboard the craft, U.S. naval officials told ABC News. Lt. Greg Raelson, a spokesperson for the Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based in nearby Bahrain, said that a security team aboard the oil supply ship U.S.N.S. Rappahannock fired a .50 caliber machine gun at a "small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the U.S. ship" off the coast of Jebel Ali, a city approximately 30 miles from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

I don't like shilling my own stuff, but this is a little different. So here we go. . . Good evening, fellow Freepers. I’ve been here on FreeRepublic for 12 years now, and also the founder of a small informal organization that delivers support to the deployed troops in unit-size lots, instead of individual CARE packages. We’re kicking off our annual push tomorrow, and are asking for your support. . . I’m including our standard one-page “elevator pitch”. Our current outfit being supported is the 60th Ordnance Company, aka the Wolfpack, which recently deployed to Afghanistan. Please take a look...

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Sure, provide free contraception. But if you're getting taxpayer-paid contraception, you must provide sex on demand from any taxpayer. After all, the current system discriminates against the ugly, the fat, the shy. . . . (grinning like hell, diving for cover. . . )

Several of my friends have been discussing the Fluke issue, and the larger issue of the entire Mandate. It's flamingly obvious that this is to get the discussion away from the economy in general, and gas prices in particular. And THEN a friend had the idea: USE it to turn the talk back to the Economy: How bad is the economy when a young woman can’t even afford the price of a condom? or This poor young woman can’t afford to pay for her own birth control. Four years ago, she could have. . . . Any better ideas ??

Sumner looked up from the incident report to find Secretary of State Ernest Tyszczenko and Secretary of Defense Isaac Guillory staring down at him expectantly. "I wouldn't have believed it if it had been any less blatant or less well documented," Sumner said. Guillory nodded. "It was witnessed by more than thirty people, most of them First Division troops." "Where's the murderer now?" "The Afghan foreign minister claims he's in custody awaiting trial," Tyszczenko murmured. "Oh? Really?" Sumner rose and stood with arms akimbo. "Awaiting trial? We'll see about that." He stabbed at the intercom button on his desk phone....

Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation's Armed Forces at home. During a joint session of the Senate and House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, the Maine Republican referenced a letter from the Defense Department depicting the Fort Hood shootings as workplace violence. She criticized the Obama administration for failing to identify the threat as radical Islam. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/06/military-growing-terrorist-target-lawmakers-warn/#ixzz1fsu7tKoG

(Excerpt) President Obama has an unwelcome holiday gift for New Yorkers — he’ll be coming to Midtown the same day the streets will be impossibly clogged by the Rockefeller Plaza tree-lighting ceremony. He has picked Wednesday, one of the busiest gridlock-alert days of the year, to descend on the area with his motorcade for a fund-raiser and party. While throngs squeeze into the blocks around Rockefeller Center, where teen heartthrob Justin Bieber will be performing, the president and his entourage will be just a few blocks away at the Sheraton New York Hotel. It’ll be the double whammy of all...

(Excerpt: Full article at link above) You have the right to remain stupid, and what you say and do can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion. Unfortunately, the court of public opinion is expanding into a stupid-is-as-stupid-does joke. And it has a president and gang of thieves in the United States government to represent it. So goes the sheeping of America. Welcome to Euro II. With the level of dishonesty, fraud, abuse of power, corruption, rampant irresponsibility, downright criminal behavior and vehement refusal to be accountable, our government has clearly lost its collective mind...

Physicists say sunspot cycle is 'going into hibernation' What may be the science story of the century is breaking this evening, as heavyweight US solar physicists announce that the Sun appears to be headed into a lengthy spell of low activity, which could mean that the Earth – far from facing a global warming problem – is actually headed into a mini Ice Age. The announcement made on 14 June (18:00 UK time) comes from scientists at the US National Solar Observatory (NSO) and US Air Force Research Laboratory. Three different analyses of the Sun's recent behaviour all indicate that...

The business of memorializing our war dead done, President Obama headed out to the Fort Belvoir golf course today, finding his way onto the links for the ninth weekend in a row. Obama earlier today laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and met with families of those killed in battle. But he emerged from the day’s solemnity to go golfing for the 12th time this year and the 70th time of his presidency. The decision to golf on Memorial Day invites comparison with President George W. Bush, who gave up the game early in his presidency...

Looks like someone, probably a 4chan member, is having some fun at the Union's expense. Note who is "supporting" the Union Protestors. . .

Part 5 of Bill Whittle's ongoing "What We Believe" series, focuses on the right to Keep and Bear Arms. . . the whys and the real reason for the Second Amendment. . .

I come to defend Elizabeth Moon. Not because she really needs help—the lady is perfectly capable of standing on her own. Not because I’m a fan of hers. I have a couple of her books in the stack, but haven’t had time to read recreationally in years. Not because she’s a fellow vet, though that would be a good enough reason. Not because we agree politically. As I understand, she’s quite liberal, and I’m a militant anarchist. I come to defend her because she’s right. In dumbed-down America, being right is a social crime. Please note that the below blog...

Yep, a vanity. About Cheerleaders and Facebook Cheerleaders. OK, Facebook fluff. EXCEPT. . . They're in a challenge, and if they can get another ~2200 fans on Facebook, TODAY, their sponsor will donate $5K to a military charity chosen by the Cheerleaders. So I'm requesting your support here, and your asking your networks to support them as well. It's all good, and it's for the Troops in the end. . . All you need to do is friend them on Facebook. Link above, and link right here: FB USA Cheerleaders Page Now, back to your regularly scheduled FR. . .

At any major event, there's ALWAYS a way to make a drinking game out of it. And so. . . . How to get hammered by the second standing ovation of tonight's SOTU speech: Requirements: TV Set, tuned to the State of the Union Speech. Drinking vessel of your choice. Adult Beverage of your choice. Copious Quantities thereof. . . Rules: 1. At the mention of "I", "me", or "my", sip your beverage. 2. At the mention of any of these phrases, you chug the Adult Beverage of your choice and refill: * "let me be clear" * "make no...

Popping up on Facebook tonight, was an acquaintance flogging his blog. What was fascinating was what the liberals and netroots seem to think about how we on the Right do business. Consider it, in many ways, a guided tour through a Leftie's mindset. Included is the assumption that the Left can organize via social networks, but apparentely we cannot. As an EXTRA bonus, he even throws up a link to a group of blogs fighting "climate change" It shows me, how much has changed, and how far Blue America has gone from those of us in Red America. And what's...