Free Republic

(Reuters) - France has ordered special forces to protect uranium sites run by state-owned Areva in Niger as the threat of attacks on its interests rises after its intervention against rebels in Mali, a military source said on Thursday. ... Seven workers, including five French nationals, were kidnapped in Arlit by al Qaeda's north African arm AQIM in September 2010. It later released three of the hostages but four French citizens are still being held. ... According to a parliamentary committee enquiring into France's supplies of uranium, about 18 percent of the raw material used to power France's 58 nuclear...

(STR - Reuters) QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Look at your first story about the flooding in Australia. Today is the three month anniversary of superstorm Sandy here. Two years ago in my home city Nashville, massive flooding. These storms – it’s like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation on the news every day now and people are connecting the dots.”

Hundreds of British troops will be deployed to Mali and West Africa, Number 10 has now confirmed. According to reports, approximately 350 personnel will be deployed. 200 British soldiers are expected to train soldiers in African countries outside of Mali, whilst 40 advisers are to be sent into the country to train troops. The UK would be "contributing to both Malian training and training forces that are involved in providing a regionally-led approach", a Number 10 spokesman was quoted as saying by the BBC. 70 Royal Air Force personnel are also to be used for the operation of Sentinel surveillance...

A decision on whether or not members of a New Mexico gun dealer family will get a new trial on charges of lying on federal firearm purchase forms could happen as early as this week, Las Cruces Sun-News reported yesterday. Judge Robert C. Brack of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico indicated in yesterday’s hearing that he will make his decision “soon” following a day of testimony that revealed the extent of corruption a key law enforcement witness against the Reese family was under investigation for – a fact the prosecution withheld from the defense...

The Iranians have unveiled an amputating machine that will be used to cut off fingers of thieves. The authorities recently exhibited the machine and gave a demonstration of its efficiency as stern warning to would-be-thieves under Islamic penal code. The photos published by the Iranian Press Agency, appear to show a public amputation. According to The Telegraph, the sweatsuit-clad prisoner in the photo was convicted of theft and adultery by a court in the southwest city of Shiraz, last Wednesday. France24 reports he was also accused of leading a criminal organisation. Three masked executioners dressed in black are shown implementing...

The implications of the cross being carved onto Marissa Kucuk's corpse are not explored (no surprise there) in this Economist story: the Economist has never shown any willingness to discuss the jihad against non-Muslims. "Horrific attacks against Armenians," from the Economist, January 29 (thanks to Lookmann): MARISSA Kucuk was a little old Armenian lady who lived on her own in Samatya..., a picturesque neighbourhood of Istanbul where Christians and Muslims used to rub along peacefully. On December 28th Ms Kucuk, 85, was found dead in her apartment. She had been stabbed, repeatedly. Relatives said a crucifix was carved onto her...

The founders of our Republic understood the fact that government is a necessary evil, the unimpeded growth of which always leads to human suffering on a mass scale. Thinking of not only themselves but their posterity, they bound government with the ‘chains’ of the Constitution, for the first time in history codifying into law rights that had always been understood by right-thinking people as God-given. Their thoughts were that if these rights were written into law they could not be taken away by evil people who inevitably get into and use government to trample the individual liberties of those with...

Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that said that the labor force participation rate (LFPR) dropped to 63.6%, the lowest rate since Jimmy Carter was in office. Essentially that means that of the population of 16 year and older, 37.4% of them decided not to work or not to seek work. That’s 88.8 million people! To put that in perspective, when George Bush took office the LFPR was 67.2% and eight years later it was 1.5% lower at 65.7%. It has dropped 2.1% in Barack Obama’s first four years, the most precipitous drop in workforce participation...

Who wants to be a ‘death panelist’? Jonathan Gruber was one of the Obama administration’s key advisers during the health-care reform debate. As the economist who conceived the ideas at the heart of the Massachusetts health-care law, he is arguably the intellectual godfather of the Affordable Care Act. All of which would make him a natural fit for the Independent Payment Advisory Board, the new, 15-member panel that has the authority to reduce Medicare doctors’ reimbursements and pilot new ways to deliver high quality care for less. There’s just one tiny problem: Gruber has absolutely no interest in serving on...

The pro-gun-control super-PAC bankrolled by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) is going after former Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.) for her support of gun rights, a move that could badly damage her chances at returning to Congress. Halvorson has clung to a tenuous lead in the Democratic primary so far because of her high name identification in the fractured field. But the deep-pocketed group could prove to be a major player in a district where gun control is highly popular. The Feb. 26 Democratic primary will chose the party's nominee to contend in a March special election to fill...

An Hidalgo County Judge had ruled a teenager jailed on attempted murder charges will stand trial as an adult. Marquez Alvardo is accused shooting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Kelton Harrison in Hargill back in July 2012. According to reports, Alvardo was 16-years-old when he fired several shots at the federal agent striking him once. Officials say the teen, an older brother and his father pursued and shot Harrison while he was conducting surveillance in the area The former Economedes High School student, who is now 17-years-old, and will be transferred to the Hidalgo County jail. Judge Jesse...

(Reuters) - China's largest auto parts maker won U.S. government approval to buy A123 Systems Inc (AONEQ.PK), a maker of electric car batteries, despite warnings by some lawmakers that the deal would transfer sensitive technology developed with U.S. government money. The sale of the lithium-ion battery maker to a U.S. unit of Wanxiang Group was approved by a U.S. government committee on foreign investment, according to a statement from the Chinese company. Last month, Wanxiang's U.S. unit agreed to pay $257 million for A123's automotive battery business and related assets in a bankruptcy auction, beating U.S. rival Johnson Controls Inc...

A man in Wisconsin viewed it as a technical challenge. Another, in New Hampshire, was looking to save some money. And in Texas, a third wanted to make a political point. The three may have had different motivations but their results were the same: each built a working gun that included a part made in plastic with a 3-D printer. What they did was legal and, except for the technology and material used, not much different from what do-it-yourself gunsmiths have been doing for decades. But in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., and the intensified debate over...

A handful of vulnerable Democratic senators running for reelection in red states are seeking to insulate themselves from political fallout if the Obama administration rejects the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline from Canada. Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), joined 44 of their Republican colleagues in signing a letter last week urging Obama to expedite the pipeline's approval. Although Democrats say the controversial pipeline may not linger as an issue at the ballot box in 2014, the senators’ full-throated support for the controversial project could shield them from GOP attacks...

'An animal lover nicknamed 'Kangaroo Dundee' is set to star in a BBC star documentary that follows his life in the Australian Outback mothering orphaned marsupials. Chris Barnes gave up life in the city to build a shack with no running water or boiler, where he cares for the animals. The 6ft 7" Australian, nicknamed Brolga, cares for the babies 24 hours-a-day, taking them to the supermarket in nearby Alice Springs and even letting them sleep at the end of his bed. His amazing story has been documented in a two-part BBC2 series Kangaroo Dundee. The film shows Brolga -...

.22 LR ammo is on back order at all wholesellers. Who is buying it up? Oil speculators? Late to come to the party preppers? The Feds? Price on the secondary market has gone up 5 times here in Texas.

Inspired by the #ObamaWarFilms game on Twitter...

An attempted stickup was confounded by a car’s stick shift, when would-be carjackers failed to understand the mechanics behind a manual transmission. Randolph Bean tells WOFL FOX 35 that two men attempted to steal his 2002 yellow Corvette at gunpoint outside an Orlando hospital, but they ended up running away after they couldn’t figure out how to drive his car. "They apparently couldn't start it,” Bean 51, is quoted as saying in a police report. “I had to tell him four different times to push in the clutch, because it's a standard transmission." After several failed attempts, the thieves eventually...

Is the current immigration reform push a step in the right direction? Yes No

While Part 1 of this series laid out the significant benefits in safety and savings that could come from a driverless car, there is an old saying: One man’s savings are another man’s lost revenue. The fact is that a driverless car would slash hundreds of billions of dollars of annual revenue, or even trillions, from all sorts of entities: car makers, parts suppliers, car dealers, auto insurers, auto financiers, body shops, emergency rooms, health insurers, medical practices, personal-injury lawyers, government taxing authorities, road-construction companies, parking-lot operators, oil companies, owners of urban real estate, and on and on and on.