Free Republic

Rep. Ilhan Omar has once again exposed a rift in the Democratic caucus. A dozen House Democrats rebuked the polarizing Minnesotan for appearing to equate the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban, adding that her comparison "at best discredits one's intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice." Omar's fellow members of the Squad were incensed. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) alleged that, by "skipping private conversations" and publicly chastising Omar in a way that will likely draw news coverage, they put Omar in danger. "Freedom of speech doesn't exist for Muslim women in Congress. The benefit of...

FOOTAGE has emerged of a migrant brazenly climbing over Donald Trump's new of US-Mexico border wall. It comes just weeks after the US president bragged his wall as “virtually impenetrable” during a trip to the exact same $150million stretch of the barrier in California.

<p>“We did not hack the election at all,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin to “Snowden” director Oliver Stone in the fourth and final part of Showtime’s fascinating series, “The Putin Interviews.”</p> <p>The Russian leader was more fiery than ever in a conversation that took place in February of this year — after Donald Trump had been inaugurated and after conspiracy theories about Russia’s potential hacking of the presidential election became the favorite expression of upset over the election results among Democrats and the media.</p>

The whole world has gone hyper-stupid at light speed It’s another trophy week for the planet Earth. Here in the United States a 56-year-old has-been comedienne joined a burgeoning crowd of other has-been celebrities in garnering press on the beat-to-death “I hate Trump” train. It seemed that when she discovered her beheading stunt backfired into her wallet, she got real sorry - for a moment. The tears fell like rain. Then she obviously hooked up with a lawyer who encouraged her to push even harder instead of apologizing.

The minefields laid in the Falkland Islands were intended to kill or maim British soldiers, but over the last 35 years they have become de facto nature reserves for penguins. For better or worse, however, the time has now come for their home to be demined, reports Matthew Teller.{snip}Fortunately, the landmines aren't a problem for the penguins - at least, not the little Magellanics and Gentoos of Yorke Bay. "They don't seem to be heavy enough to set them off," says Esther Bertram, chief executive officer of Falklands Conservation.

States are now releasing their preliminary 2015 Obamacare premiums, which means price hikes could become another negative talking point right before the midterm elections. The difference between now and previous moments of bad health care PR is that Democrats insist they're getting ahead of it this time. But even then, there are a number of other issues coming up: the left's increasing aversion to the employer mandate, questions about how young and healthy this year's enrollees are and, as always, whether the Affordable Care Act is actually affordable. As Politico noted Monday, the White House's "internal health care enrollment outreach...

In her last moments of life, Army nurse Capt. Jennifer Moreno heard two orders. One was a call to help a wounded soldier struck by a blast in a booby-trapped killing field at an Afghanistan bomb-making compound. The other was a command to stay put lest she strike another mine in the bomb belt. The nurse from Madigan Army Medical Center chose to help the wounded soldier, and gave her life trying. (snip) Moreno heard a call from a staff sergeant to help a wounded soldier. At the same time, the battle’s ground commander told all of the soldiers to...

The Syrian military in the past month planted a band of anti-personnel mines along stretches of the border with Turkey, where last year more than 10,000 Syrian refugees fled the Assad regime's crackdown on the pro-democracy "Arab Spring" uprising, Syrian witnesses said. After a family of five were reported severely injured in a new minefield last month, Syrian civilians, operating with primitive means — an axe, a rope and the guidance of a volunteer who'd had mine- clearance training in military service — unearthed hundreds of those mines and reopened the way to safety, volunteers said. The mines were Russian...

A farmer in Russia's Far East has been handed a suspended prison sentence for planting explosives in his field to ward off potato thieves.

Analysis: Military imbalance in the Taiwan Strait HONG KONG, Aug. 31 ANDREI CHANG During the past seven to 10 years China's rapid buildup of military power has tipped the balance in the Taiwan Strait strongly in its favor. Since 1999, when former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui announced his "two states" theory -- daring to say that the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China are two different states, precipitating the PRC's aggressive stance against the island's independence -- there have been drastic changes in the balance of military power on the two sides. This includes the navies, air...

Immigration reform is a predicament wrapped in a dilemma. While it is common for issues to separate Republicans and Democrats, immigration is an issue that opens yawning divides within each group. "We are engaged in a struggle for the soul of the party," Mel Martinez, the general chairman of the Republican National Committee, told me. Martinez said Republicans must back more than border security if they are to survive politically. The party, he believes, must back legislation that will lead to the "regularization" of illegal immigrants already in this country. Alex Castellanos, media strategist for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney,...

An area Congressman who advocates tighter border control, Duncan Hunter, is trying to counter reports that the well-publicized fence along the border with Mexico will cost tens of billions of dollars. Bob Costantini has details from Capitol Hill, where Hunter claims his numbers are much lower. It is known as the 700 mile fence, though proponents now figure the border barriers approved by Congress in the waning days of republican control will total more than 850 miles. One of its staunchest supporters, San Diego Republican Duncan Hunter wants to counter last week’s estimate by the Congressional Research Office that construction...

Overview The Self-Healing Minefield is an antitank landmine system that does not rely on antipersonnel landmines for dismounted breach protection. Instead the Self-Healing Minefield employs a novel breach response mechanism that can determine both mounted and dismounted enemy assaults on the minefield and respond to maintain obstacle integrity. Contrary to the current mixed minefield systems (Volcano, RAAM/ADAM, and Gator) which require antipersonnel landmines co-located with an antitank minefield to complicate dismounted breaching of the antitank minefield, the Self-Healing Minefield employs intelligent, mobile antitank mines alone to defeat all enemy breaching.Concept The Self-Healing Minefield system is designed to achieve an increased...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan -- Staff Sgt. Michael Klinkert (right) and Airman 1st Class Christopher Coble were driving this heavily armored Humvee at about 8 p.m. Jan. 5 when they entered an unmarked minefield here. Explosions rocked the vehicle and they were stranded for about two hours until a mine-clearing vehicle was sent in. Sergeant Klinkert and Airman Coble are security forces specialists assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group here. Both are deployed from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian Davidson) BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Two security forces airmen...

<p>The soldier being held in a deadly grenade attack on a 101st Airborne Division command center in Kuwait spent much of his youth in California and was described by family and friends Sunday as a brilliant student and mild-mannered practicing Muslim.</p>