Free Republic

Readers around the world have thrilled to Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, and Killing Jesus--riveting works of nonfiction that journey into the heart of the most famous murders in history. Now from Bill O’Reilly, anchor of The O’Reilly Factor, comes the most epic book of all in this multimillion-selling series: Killing Patton. General George S. Patton, Jr. died under mysterious circumstances in the months following the end of World War II. For almost seventy years, there has been suspicion that his death was not an accident--and may very well have been an act of assassination. Killing Patton takes readers inside the...

Discus­sions of English Language pet peeves pro­vide an enter­tain­ing forum for the expres­sion of ire. In fact, if a “pet” is some­thing we cher­ish, and a “peeve” is some­thing that annoys us, “pet peeves” are what we love to hate. Here’s a col­lec­tion of com­mon English solecisms—guaranteed not to lit­er­ally blow your mind:

As an urban center continues to grow and expand, so does its base of foreign-born residents. The rich and ever-evolving tapestry of multinational identities brings great benefit to the cultural, social, and economic fabric of a city. The dance of diverse populations brings new perspective and vibrancy to the makeup of an urban center; it gives the city character and depth. From Tokyo's modest 1.7% of foreign-born residents, to Dubai's whopping 87%, in this infographic we take a look at the dynamic landscape of city demographics around the world. The GOOD Cities Project is a five-month collaboration with Ford, exploring...

In light of recent mass shootings – primarily in so-called ‘gun-free zones’ – that have left dozens dead and even more injured, Americans have become increasingly divided regarding how such tragedies might be avoided in the future.While some have concluded that stricter gun control laws would keep citizens safe by limiting legal access to firearms, plenty of others recognize that a well-armed populace can act as a deterrent to would-be violent criminals. As federal authorities consider imposing legislation that would make the ownership of certain weapons illegal, local law enforcement officials are speaking out against such proposals. One such voice is...

The cameraman had this to say to after submitting the footage to FUNKER530: "This patrol was a relief in place and I was on point leading the new guys in for the RIP. We hadn't taken much contact in this area, and it was generally considered a "safe" zone in Logar Province. We patrolled the area frequently, and the locals would regularly thank us for pushing the Taliban away from their village so they could live their daily lives without constant threat. The Taliban that we came across during this patrol were actually setting up to shoot down our new...

Biological information: New perspectives from intelligent design By: Robert J. Marks II A diverse group of scientists gathered at Cornell University in 2011 to discuss their research into the nature and origins of biological information. The symposium brought together experts in computer science, numerical simulation, thermodynamics, evolutionary theory, whole organism biology, developmental biology, molecular biology, genetics, physics, biophysics, mathematics, and linguistics. The proceedings of this symposium have recently been published for public consumption in a book. There is a wrinkle, though, which may make this technical volume of unusual interest to Human Events readers. Most of these researchers, with Ph.D.’s...

Sometimes when I see just how ignorant many American politicians are of the Constitution of the United States, I get the urge to send them a copy along with some annotations. Perhaps now that more of those in the federal government are using Macs, we might begin to see them paying more attention to this document that outlines the supreme law of the land. Why? Well, there's a copy of the U.S. Constitution on each and every Mac in the Dictionary app. To see this information from The New Oxford American Dictionary, just launch the Dictionary app from your Applications...

I ran across a multifunctional search tool for both Pale Moon and Firefox that I use every day. It's free, and expands one's browsing experience quite nicely. To use it merely highlight the word/words you want info on, then right-click the highlight. A box pops up, you put your mouse on the term 'search for' and a list of your available search/info selections pops up. Pick your tool and a new tab will open up automatically with your info at hand. *Note: I have both my browser and FR set to open links in new tabs. YMMV but it works...

[Summary: Decline in American public schools is best explained by the far-left politics of our Education Establishment. These people prefer mediocrity.]-- Historically, Socialism and Communism were sometimes synonyms. But generally there was a sense that Socialism was softer. If you had enough power, you moved on to Communism, which was more coercive. One intellectual summed up the matter this way. Socialists persuade you with speeches. Communists persuade you with guns. In the days after the Russian Revolution, American leftists expended billions of hours trying to describe the perfect society. Fundamentally, all the debates turned on how much power the central...

(Videos) When sound hits an object, it causes small vibrations of the object’s surface. We show how, using only high-speed video of the object, we can extract those minute vibrations and partially recover the sound that produced them, allowing us to turn everyday objects—a glass of water, a potted plant, a box of tissues, or a bag of chips—into visual microphones. We recover sounds from highspeed footage of a variety of objects with different properties, and use both real and simulated data to examine some of the factors that affect our ability to visually recover sound. We evaluate the quality...

A brief introduction to password hashing for the uninitiated -- and why you should never trust a site that emails your password back to you!

Shooting and discussing the inexpensive Canik 55 TP9, a copy of the Walther P99.

A US government laboratory mistakenly mixed a common flu strain with a dangerous and deadly type of bird flu and shipped it to another lab, authorities said Friday. The latest news followed admissions of mishandled anthrax and forgotten smallpox vials at separate US government labs, and raised new concerns about the safety of dangerous agents which could be used as bioterror weapons. No one was endangered by the mixed flu strain, said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Tom Frieden, who nevertheless said he was "astonished" that protocols could have been violated in that way. "Everything we have looked...

Song was written in support of the Bundy Ranch. Performed by Wayne and Paula Carson. Pictures are actual Americans at the stand off with the Feds. Video created with patriotism in mind. Edward BUNKER American pioneer, Mormon, and community founder of Bunkerville, Nevada Born: on August 01, 1822 in Atkinson, Maine, USA Died: on November 17, 1901 in Colonia Morales, Mexico Bunker was born in Atkinson, Maine, the youngest of Silas and Hannah Berry Bunker's nine children. As a teenager in the fall of 1841, he struck out on his own with his brother-in-law John Berry to Wisconsin "to see...

A short documentary from Rockbridge Academy on the author of America's "Star Spangled Banner". Produced by ADG Creative. Francis Scott KEY American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" Born: on August 01, 1779 in Carroll County, Maryland, USA Died: on January 11, 1843 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA Francis Scott Key was born to Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Captain John Ross Key at the family plantation Terra Rubra in what was Frederick County and is now Carroll County, Maryland. His father John Ross Key was...

This thumbdrive hacks computers. “BadUSB” exploit makes devices turn “evil” Per FR posting rules, ars technica can not be posted, so a link to the article referring to USB thumbdrives hacking computers is listed instead. Ignore the "source url", it just points back to the FR website. Article here: http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/this-thumbdrive-hacks-computers-badusb-exploit-makes-devices-turn-evil/

Big thanks to Martin Archer for help with this episode. And thanks to Guy Larsen for his shadow magic.

"But when the men and women take off their uniforms and return to their homes and assume responsibility for their own and their families’ safety, suddenly the politicians don’t trust them to own a gun. This is pure elitism. … Gun control is not about guns or crime. It is about an elite that fears and despises the common people.“ .....;

With 148 counties out of 169 reporting, WRDW-TV in Augusta, GA has called this very, very close primary runoff for Perdue, a political "newcomer", his word. Details: Jack Kingston 234,238 votes 49% David Perdue 242,137 votes 51%This has been a particularly nasty campaign.