Free Republic

"Definitely we're selling to a lot of governments around the world, not only in Europe," sales and marketing director Poven Kumaresan told reporters. He added that Inflatech's three dozen employees currently produce 30-40 decoys a month. These decoys including tanks, armoured vehicles and even jet fighters, weigh between 25 and 90 kilos and take two to four people to handle in the battlefield. The engine used to inflate the weapons also emanates heat that will fool the enemy's infrared sensors.

The 380 crew of a US warship ­attacked by rebels off the coast of Yemen may have been saved from death or injury by a world-beating missile defence system developed in Australia. The guided missile destroyer USS Mason was operating in the Red Sea about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen on October 9, when it was fired on by Houthi rebels believed to have used two land-based anti-ship cruise ­missiles. A week earlier, a similar attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis badly damaged a fast, twin-hulled vessel leased by the United Arab Emirates to transport troops and help...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Mall of America was used as "a decoy" to start a protest that quickly moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and blocked a terminal on a busy holiday travel day, one organizer of the demonstration said. Access to one of two terminals was closed after more than 100 protesters gathered inside and blocked roads leading to the airport Wednesday, airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said. He said the protest caused some flight delays but no cancellations. Protesters hoping to draw attention to the police shooting last month of a black man in Minneapolis had described in advance...

The concept is an old one.  In biology, it is called Batesian mimicry, where an animal that is not very dangerous mimics one that is, with the result that it is attacked far less often.  Jonathan at Perceived Carry Decoys has produced a prototype and expects to have production of the first models in the spring of 2015.  From  Perceived Carry Decoys: What are Perceived Carry Decoys? We're glad you asked! Perceived Carry Decoys is a veteran owned entity that offers the worlds first and only way to exercise your 2nd amendment right, without the stigma or concerns associated...

I have always thought that answering a door with a gun at hand was a reasonable precaution.  In this recent case in Kentucky, the homeowner was able to reach his firearm, but it was a close thing. It was a set-up home invasion.   The decoy, Raven Edwards, above, contacted the homeowner, Bill Jolley, on social media and was invited over a bit after midnight.  It is unknown if they knew each other previously; but the addresses are all in Harrison County, KY, and there is only one high school in the County.  After Raven arrived at the house and...

only headline is available now.

first glance, the takeover by the Israeli Navy of the "humanitarian flotilla" heading towards Gaza is just one more of the disputed crises between Israel and its foes. As in all previous incidents, the spiral of accusations will eventually reach bottom. While media attention will highlight the tactical events—seizure of the ships, rules of engagement, who fired first, the legal location of the incident and the other dramatic details—the rapidly expanding debate will soon reach the strategic intent of the "flotilla." After all the governments involved issue their condemnations and warnings in all directions, after the UN conferences and issues...

Lodewijk Asscher, Amsterdam's mayor, has ordered the new decoy strategy to cut the number of verbal and physical attacks on Jews, amid fears that anti-Semitic "hate crime" is on the rise. "Jews in at least six Amsterdam neighbourhoods often cannot cross the street wearing a skullcap without being insulted, spat at or even attacked," according to local reports. Amsterdam police already disguise officers as "decoy prostitutes, decoy gays and decoy grannies" in operations to deter street muggings and attacks on homosexuals or the city's red light district. Police in the Dutch city of Gouda have claimed the use of officers...

This morning I noted the lame Star Tribune story by Dane Smith on Keith Ellison's vehicular infractions. Smith seemed not to realize that the story was the number of infractions combined with nonpayment of fines and the suspension or revocation of his driver's license to an extent Ellison himself could not recall. Minnesota Democrats Exposed remains on top of the story, updating it tonight to note 38 parking violations and 17 moving violations for a total of 55 tickets. All in all, it is a picture of an attorney who does not have much respect for the law. Also lying...

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's hardline leadership branded the United States a "decaying power," brushing off Washington's call for strong UN Security Council action to stop the Islamic regime's controversial nuclear drive. The tough rhetoric came after the regime also dismissed a personal appeal from UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei to freeze uranium enrichment and calm suspicions it is seeking the atomic bomb. "The enemy should know Iran is not comparable to any country in the world. Now we are much more powerful than before," senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran. "The United States...

A new method – developed by the IDF to make the roads of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) safe for the quarter-million Jews who use them daily – has come under attack. The Israeli newspaper Maariv published an “exclusive expose” revealing an IDF security tactic used to pinpoint ambushes along Yesha’s roads and then neutralize them. The new tactic has been to assign elite IDF soldiers civilian vehicles and, with their guns hidden from view, patrol stretches of road frequently targeted by terrorists for rock, firebomb, and shooting attacks on Jewish civilians. Referring to the IDF’s method as “Operation Sitting...

High-tech analysis of the video recently released by Iraq has allowed me to conclusively identify the body-double portraying Saddam Hussein: