Free Republic

MOSCOW, May 7 (UPI) -- A newly modernized AK-47 assault rifle is being debuted in Russia this weekend by its maker, Kalashnikov Concern. The upgraded weapon features a universal kit, with increased firing capabilities within a range of 300 yards in all weather conditions, an upgrade to the rifle's stock and receiver cover, a modernized handguard and forearm units, a new belt, the translator-fuse and ergonomic grip fire control.

HOWARD COUNTY, Ark. (KTHV) -- A young couple died while shielding their daughter from debris during Sunday night's storms. According to Howard County Coroner John Gray, the storm moved through the county around 11:20 p.m., and left two dead in Nashville, Ark. That daughter, a 1-year-old infant, is the only one that made it out of this mix of metal and memories alive on the 1000 block of W. Sypert Street. Her mother, and Linda Purtell's friend, Melissa and her 29-year-old husband Michael are the reason she survived

One in three Americans with private health insurance has been hit with a surprise medical bill, according to a new survey by Consumers Union. The study of 2,200 individuals also found consumers overall are confused when it comes to how to fight a surprise bill. Among the surprises: bills that were for higher amounts than customer’s expected, bills for out-of-network services that customers believed were in-network, and bills from doctors they did not expect would send them a bill. Betsy Imholz of Consumers Union says few people who receive surprise bills ever file a complaint with a state agency. “Nobody...

If the American Dream is defined as upward mobility, than Contra Costa County is one of the few places in California where it is alive and well. But if you were born in a low-income family in San Francisco, your chances of being better off when you grow up is much less. If you were born poor in Los Angeles, the chances of living the American Dream is slim to none. Researchers for The Equality of Opportunity Project asked ‘Is America the Land of Opportunity?’ In a series of studies they examined America’s largest counties and metropolitan areas to determine...

A Redwood City car wash is taking water conservation during California’s drought, cleaning cars with just one cup of water. “We do use a cup of water. When you say waterless, people start thinking ‘hey, where’s the lubrication?’ So, there is water, but only a cup,” Eco Green Auto Clean owner Anton VanHappen said. The car wash is located in the high tech haven of Silicon Valley, but uses low tech solutions to savewater, like spray bottles instead of hoses, and customers appreciate it. “With our drought going on, this is gonna be the best thing since sliced bread,” Tesla...

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 11 (UPI) -- Israel is acquiring four advanced Sa'ar-class corvettes from Germany over the next five years under a $480 million deal signed on Monday. The ships, which will be built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems but fitted with Israeli-made weapon systems, Israeli news reports said. The deal was signed in Israel by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and visiting German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. The ships will be used as part of a program to protect Israel's expanded Economic Exclusion Zone in the Eastern Mediterranean, where recent explorations discovered major oil and gas...

A noisy stowaway woke Michael Duffy as he was docked at the San Diego Yacht Club on Saturday. The San Diego sailor woke in the middle of the night to sneezing, but didn’t think much of it and went back to sleep. He woke the next morning at 6 to a curious sea lion asleep on a bunk bed in his sailboat. In adorable video captured by Duffy, you can hear him urging the sea lion, “You gotta go, buddy” as he nudged the animal out of the boat. Once the two got to the dock, Duffy had to nudge...

NEW YORK – A prominent lawyer and a top government watchdog in the nation’s capital are calling for the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation to be shut down as a Wall Street analyst prepares to issue a second report documenting what he believes is systematic financial fraud warranting a criminal investigation. Wall Street analyst and investor Charles Ortel, in his first report of his in-depth probe of the Clinton Foundation, found what he characterizes as an elaborate system devised by the Clintons to enrich themselves through schemes such as skimming tens of millions of dollars from U.N. levies imposed...

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) is going on a hiring spree as many of its veteran employees get ready to retire. The company is looking for people who can create new ways to provide service members with the latest technology in communications, networks, information, logistics and the growing field of cyber security. “We have a high percentage - I think it is somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of our employees -- will be retirement eligible within the next five years,” said Mimi Farrell, the director of Total Force Management. Right now, some 4,500 people work at...

anta Barbara County sheriff's officials were responding to reports Monday night of a shooting in the Isla Vista area near UCSB. The shooting occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m. in the 6500 block of Sabado Tarde Road, according to an emergency alert issued by UC Santa Barbara. A county fire captain said in a tweet that three people were wounded by gunfire. The suspected gunman was believed to be a man driving a white sedan, according to the university, which placed all dorms on lockdown and advised those in the area to shelter in place. The latest violence comes nearly a...

Outspoken Pope Francis is taking on the arms industry, lashing out at the “industry of death”—and condemning those who “live off war.” The remarks came Monday in response to a question from one of the 7,000 teachers, parents and children participating in an audience with the Pontiff, ANSA reports. “This is serious,” Francis said. “Some powerful people make their living with the production of arms. It’s the industry of death.” […] “When we see that everything revolves around money—the economic system revolves around money and not around the person, men and women, but money—so much is sacrificed and war is...

An Apache Cobra Marine helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in the Los Angeles River bed Monday after experiencing electrical problems, police said. No one was hurt. The attack helicopter out of Camp Pendleton made a soft landing about 1:15 p.m. on the east bank of the river in South Gate, between Imperial Highway and the 105 Freeway, the South Gate Police Department said. Aerial footage showed several personnel working on the helicopter as curious onlookers stood by.

Fast track will increase our trade deficits, which reduce economic growth. Economists have estimated that the last trade deal, which we made with South Korea and which is the template for TPP, wiped out 50,000 American jobs. Sen. Sessions called on Obama to rewrite the deal. Sessions said, “We don’t need a fast track but a regular track” so we can evaluate the false promises. Fast track turns over some of our authority as a sovereign nation to international authorities, which is a major longtime goal of the internationalists, the so-called kingmakers, and big business lobbyists. The code language that...

I ran across this heavily edited article at USA Today written by Susan Page.  In it, she reports a new book coming out by a man she describes as having a "33-year career with the CIA."  This man is Michael Morell who praises Barack Obama as "extremely thorough" but claims that Governor Palin had "no understanding of national security issues" back when he claims to have met her in 2008. Everything from the headline to the image Susan Page uses indicates who the USA Today writer was interested in spotlighting.  (Yep, Governor Palin remains the left’s ultimate bogeyman).  Furthermore, when one digs a tad...

The hottest new pizza places are convenience stores Pizza chains these days are watching customers drive right by, then filling up on pizza when they fill up at the gas station. Market research company the NPD Group says that the amount of pizza dough and crust shipped to convenience stores shot up by 27% in only a year. We’re collectively buying 20% more servings of pizza from these outlets than we were a year ago, while servings at traditional carry-out pizza chains are just treading water. Convenience stores have ramped up their food offerings and gotten more aggressive at courting...

May 12, 2015Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 16:22-34 The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,and the magistrates had them strippedand ordered them to be beaten with rods.After inflicting many blows on them,they threw them into prisonand instructed the jailer to guard them securely.When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost celland secured their feet to a stake. About midnight, while Paul and Silas were prayingand singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,there was suddenly such a severe earthquakethat the foundations of the jail shook;all...

Jeb Bush told Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly that he would not attempt to immediately reverse President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration should he succeed him in the Oval Office. The former Florida governor said he would instead wait for Congress to pass a law to make changes in immigration policy. That sets Bush apart from many of his Republican counterparts who have said they would take immediate action. Obama in November issued an executive action to prevent millions of illegal immigrants from being deported. Bush suggested that GOP voters “can be persuaded” to his way of thinking on...

The Codex Gigas is the largest surviving medieval manuscript in the world. At nearly nine inches (22cm) thick and 36 inches (92cm) tall, the book is so large that it is said to have required more than 160 animal skins to complete. But it's not just its size that has surprised historians. Inside is a menacing full-page colour image of the Devil, leading many to believe the pages themselves are cursed. [SNIP] It is thought to have been created in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia, which today is the Czech Republic. [SNP] Inside...

Watch as Jetman Yves Rossy and his protege, Jetman Vince Reffet, take their crazy jetpacks to the skies of Dubai and tour the city like Superman would. It’s unbelievable every time I see them soar through the air like fighter jets, busting moves and tricks that only stunt planes dare to try. Except they’re not in a plane and they aren’t Superman, they’re humans with jetpacks strapped to their backs.

MIAMI – Union leader Dolores Huerta prefers a woman in the White House in 2016, saying that “there’s a lot at stake for Latinos” if one of the current Republican hopefuls wins the election, even if he has “a Latino name or speaks Spanish.” The tireless 85-year-old activist said in an interview with Efe that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) “took two steps back” when he could have used his “influence to pass immigration reform” in 2013. “Some of those candidates who are Latinos in reality don’t represent the values of the Latino community, who for the most part are working...