Free Republic

A man with a machete was shot after he attacked a security officer at Louis Armstrong International Airport Friday evening, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said. The man walked down a TSA Pre-Check security line into Concourse B at about 7:30 p.m. and was challenged by an officer who was checking for his boarding pass, Normand said. The man then pulled out a can of wasp spray and sprayed the officer, he said. He ran past two other officers and pulled out a machete, cutting a female TSA officer in the arm, Normand said. A sheriff's officer opened fire, striking...

Business is booming, fuel prices are down. So it’s time to start thinking about the next threat to the industry: 3D printing. Advocates of 3D printing have said it can transform manufacturing. This week, a new startup company announced a new 3D printing technique it says may actually deliver on that promise. In traditional 3D printing, the machine "prints" layers of material to create a 3D object. This takes time and leaves ripples showing where those layers were laid down. But what if you could "grow" an object out of a pool of liquid, much like the T-1000 rising from...

The California Transplant Donor Network hailed California’s policy of granting driver’s licenses to persons in the country illegally for boosting organs available for transplant by an estimated 30 percent. Marcella Corona, community development liaison for the Transplant Donor Network, cited two factors she felt were “critical components of this good news. Obviously, by putting more drivers on the road there will be more potential crashes resulting in brain-dead victims—the prime source of organs for transplant. But the gains are likely to be even greater than mere numbers portend. On average, the driving skills of people from Latin America are decades...

Lawyers for the Obama Administration filed suit in the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, asking it to overturn federal Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction prohibiting further executive action granting additional rights and privileges to amnestied illegal aliens. “Judge Hanen’s order is unprecedented and wrong,” claimed Administration attorney Abby Lyon. “First of all, a mere district court judge lacks the standing to impede a policy ordered by the president of the United States,” Lyon said. “Second, Judge Hanen was appointed by former President Bush, who is no longer this country’s reigning chief executive. Consequently, Hanen has no mandate to...

The IRS has announced plans to follow up President Obama’s illegal grant of amnesty to persons in this country illegally with a program that will permit illegal aliens to receive tax refunds for taxes they never paid. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen defended the move as “a necessary component of the President’s vision for America’s future. The vast majority of these immigrants are poor. They will need substantial help if the President’s dream of transforming our culture is to become a reality. Diverting some of America’s excess wealth to these people via tax refunds is one way of making this happen.”...

Elio Motors today announced it has unveiled its new 0.9 liter, 3-cylinder engine prototype, completing one of the company's most important stages of development. With a goal of up to 84 MPG and a projected top speed of more than 100 MPH, the enclosed, three-wheeled Elio requires an engine with a unique blend of power and efficiency that simply doesn't exist on the market today. Elio Motors, which plans to sell the vehicle for $6,800 when it launches in the first half of 2016, turned to world-class engine developer IAV to create a new technology that would meet the company's...

One thing you can depend on, Apple is going to pack all kinds of goodies into its technology that offer the potential to transform the functionality of these devices and transform how you communicate with your customers. A case in point is Apple’s Indoor Positioning functionality, which Apple has updated for iOS 8 to provide facility owners with indoor latitude, longitude and floor level via API. To utilize Indoor Positioning in their own app, facility owners will need to survey their facility using Apple tools and upload a map to the Maps Indoor interface. Once that is done, the technology...

I stumbled on a neat little trick which has had me mesmerized for the past few days.Is anyone else doing this?

I'm coming to Tennessee for a week's vacation. I still don't know what I will be doing when I'm down there. What is there to do that is of interest to a visitor? Anything I shouldn't do that might get me killed by the locals? Any little places that are pleasant that most people don't know about? I'd appreciate any assistance for this.

"nothing whatsoever"

Nepalese officials said Wednesday they are changing the route that climbers take up Mount Everest after an avalanche killed 16 guides last year, the deadliest accident in the mountain's history, AFP writes.. The new route will take climbers through the centre of the treacherous Khumbu Icefall just above Everest base camp, avoiding the section to the left of the glacier where last year's avalanche occurred.

Planning a 4 day trip to New Orleans. Tourism Suggestions please?

Secretaries of state from Ohio and Kansas say that the documents—driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers—being provided to the illegal immigrants granted amnesty by President Obama open a “loophole” that will make it easy for these non-citizens to vote in our elections. Presidential Press Secretary Josh Earnest questioned the characterization of potential voting by these persons as a “loophole. I would say it would be more accurately described as a ‘feature’ of the President’s executive action regarding the ‘dreamers’ he is trying to aid.” Earnest also took issue with the premise that the “dreamers” being granted these privileges are “non-citizens....

Earlier today we heard that the new Lutz Pathfinder driverless car would be launching in the UK later in the year, trials will begin on footpath routes in the UK at first and are then expected to be rolled out to roads. Now the UK government has approved the use of driverless cars in the UK, and legislation to allow the technology to we widely used in the UK will be brought in some time in 2017. UK Transport minister Claire Perry said the following about driverless cars in the UK:- "Driverless cars are the future. I want Britain to...

Though initially heralded by Elon Musk as Tesla’s biggest potential market after the United States, China is shaping up to be an enormous blind spot for the electric car maker. Tesla sold just 120 cars in China last month, according to Reuters -- a dismal figure that has Musk seeing red. He allegedly blasted out an email to managers in China in January threatening to fire and demote executives who were “not on a clear path to positive long-term cash flow.” And so it is. Today, June Jin, Tesla’s vice president of communications in China, has left the company, Bloomberg...

Daniel Nocera's artificial leaf splits water using the sun's energy, but the world isn't yet set up to use the hydrogen gas it produces. New research uses bacteria to convert the hydrogen to liquid fuel. Daniel Nocera pioneered an "artificial leaf" that mimics the real thing, using only the sun and water to produce energy. He's touted the silicon cell as a breakthrough that could allow every home to become its own power station. His compelling concept, unveiled a few years ago, attracted a lot of publicity but hasn't quite taken off. The leaf—a cheap, wafer-thin device—works well, Nocera says,...

IT has always been the case that knowledge is power. A guiding force. But unlike the discipline of mathematics where fuzzy math bullsh-t doesn't compute, certain areas of study lend themselves to a more fungible interpretation. In essence, they are open to "ideological" spin. Critical thinking (and facts), be damned. SUCH is the case when it comes to (revisionist) history, as well as its lessons learned - or not. YES, within teaching the history of Islam, especially re the attendant contributions of Muslims to the world - with special emphasis placed on America - the fabrications are particularly mendacious. Demonstrably,...

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) castigated the media for its “lackadaisical support of the President’s innovative solution to this chronic problem.” As Gutierrez sees it, “the vilification of amnesty opponents and the glorification of illegal immigrants the media have been doing is too mild. They still go through the motions of pretending that there is another side to this issue rather than accepting that the President has laid down a new law.” The Congressman warned that “President Obama may have to institute strict controls over what is reported if the media doesn’t fall in line. Their job is to help the...

It’s a day of wild stories in the tech sector, with Amazon (AMZN) reportedly looking to open a huge chain of stores and Google (GOOGL) said to want to compete with Uber in the ride sharing market. Neither blockbuster story has been confirmed. Amazon isn’t commenting on the report that it might want to take over stores from near-bankrupt RadioShack. And Google is indirectly denying the report it would take on Uber, a company it has backed via its venture capital unit. But would either move make sense? Both are certainly debatable and full details obviously are not available. There’s...

Any millionaire can buy themselves a fancy yacht, but if you want a conversation piece ... well, it helps if it has a story behind it, and the Lockheed Martin-built Sea Slice certainly does. Launched in 1996 by the US Navy as a military support vessel, the experimental watercraft features a unique hull design that reportedly allows it to remain as stable as a conventional ship three times its size. It cost US$15 million to design and build, but you can have it now for the low, low price of just $180,000. The Sea Slice utilizes a variation on the...