Free Republic

Turkish Aerospace's new attack helicopter exhibits the same configuration as the company's T129 Atak, but is considerably larger and more powerful. (photo: Turkish Aerospace) Turkey’s Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSB) signed a contract with Turkish Aerospace Industries on February 22 as part of the country’s effort to indigenously develop a new 10-tonne heavy attack helicopter, which is likely to compete in the future with the Boeing AH-64 Apache. The contract for the Heavy Class Attack Helicopter project has an undisclosed value, and how much this initial contract covers in terms of program deliverables has also not been released. Details so...

The Cook Islands in the South Pacific is considering a name change to reflect its Polynesian heritage. The nation was named after British explorer James Cook who landed on the islands in the 1700s. A committee is considering 60 options in Cook Islands Maori including Rangiaroa, meaning Love from the Heavens and Raroatua which translates as We Stand Under God.

Has Hillary changed her mind? Clinton now says she is 'surprised her announcement NOT to run in 2020 was taken at face value and is waiting for the Mueller report before making a final decision', sources claim Hillary Clinton ruled out a 2020 presidential bid on Monday night Less than 24 hours later, sources said she was surprised by the reaction to her interview and she was waiting to see Mueller's Russia report before deciding In an interview with a New York TV station, Clinton had ruled out running but said she was 'not going anywhere' when it comes to...

A Philadelphia man showed no emotion as a jury convicted him of fatally stabbing his pregnant girlfriend and killing their unborn child during a “brutal” attack inside the woman’s Cheltenham apartment. Tristian Jones, 36, of the 900 block of East Johnson Street, was convicted on Tuesday in Montgomery County Court of charges of first-degree murder, murder of an unborn child ---SNIP--- Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp argued for the consecutive life prison terms against Jones, suggesting such a sentence would be a “symbolic gesture” for the two precious lives that were lost. “We did not just have one life that...

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) - A group of local pain management clinics is being sued by the United States government for fraudulent claims among other issues. In October, the FBI raided Pain Management Associates offices in Spartanburg, Easley, and Greenville. Newly unsealed court documents reveal the federal government has been investigating the practices, their parent company Oaktree Medical Centre and its owner, Dr. Daniel McCollum, for years. They're accused of improperly billing federal programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. The investigation began after former Oaktree Medical Centre employees filed whistleblower lawsuits. Three former employees sued jointly in 2015. The fourth filed a...

First day of Lent. What Does the Word ‘Lent’ Mean? “‘Lent’ is a shortened version of the Old English word ‘lencten’, a word which simply means spring (in relation to the season). It is thought to have Germanic roots and seems likely to have been used to describe the season when the days began to lengthen, signifying new life and renewal. Over time, the word Lent came to be linked specifically to the Christian tradition of fasting before Easter, which always coincided with the spring.” Who Celebrates Lent? Both Catholics and Protestants celebrate Lent; Lent is more popular among Catholic...

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: . . . a lying tongue . . .” (Proverbs 6:16-17 KJV).

“My conscience is held captive by the Word of God. And to act against conscience is neither right nor safe.” These words formed a crucial part of Martin Luther’s fateful response to authorities of church and state when he was ordered to recant of his teachings at the Diet of Worms in 1521. He was pleading that his intention was to be neither rebellious nor obstreperous, but to be faithful to Scripture. What Luther was declaring was not so much that he would not recant but that he could not recant. Luther used the metaphor of the prisoner. He was...

Today’s Cryptogram SKHKA GPSZFOK X OESLWK JKZKXN VENU X ZESXW JKZKXN. Z. OGPNN ZENILKAXWJ You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications, unfortunately they are copyrighted so we can't use them here. So, we're just going to make up our own. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated. PLEASE DO NOT post the answer in general...

The president of the nation’s largest teachers’ union joined a man who identifies as a woman in teaching transgender ideology to an Arlington, Virginia, kindergarten class last week. Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association (NEA), joined with Sarah McBride, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), in reading the books I Am Jazz and Julián Is a Mermaid to young children at Ashlawn Elementary School. “I have a girl brain but a boy body,” McBride read from I Am Jazz, the Washington Post reported. “This is called transgender. I was born this way.” “I’m like Jazz,”...

A raging Nicolas Maduro calling on his supporters to come out after two days of massive protest across Venezuela for Interim President Juan Guaido.... Two French prison guards stabbed during a conjugal visit to a jihadist and seriously wounded. Authorities calling it a "terrorist attack"...... Police in London investigating three packages said to contain explosives. They arrived at Heathrow Airport, London City Airport and Waterloo Station..... And the big story in the mainstream media this morning is vague and indefinite information regarding satellite imagery from North Korea. Pictures of a rocket testing facility where construction is said to be underway,...

WORTHINGTON, Pa. - A message on a billboard in our area is upsetting some people. “First time I saw it was just complete and utter shock," said Michael Allshouse. He told Channel 11 he almost stopped dead in his tracks when he came across the billboard on Route 422 next to Worthington. “I don’t see it as thought-provoking. I don’t see it as instigating thoughtful discussion as much as it is provoking and agitating," he said. The messages dissolve from “whites have rights” to one about Jussie Smollett -- the actor involved in the hoax attack in Chicago. “I do...

A Florida parent who calls her one-year-old baby 'Theyby' in order to raise the infant as gender neutral so the child can decide its sex at an older age today accused Piers Morgan of 'childism' for questioning the decision. Ari Dennis and her partner said the family was inspired to raise Sparrow without a known gender after their older child, Hazel, decided to identify as non-binary aged four after being raised as a girl. She told Good Morning Britain: 'We do not know what Sparrow’s gender is yet and, as regards to her anatomy, we choose to keep that secret...

What should you top that AR-15 with? Scope selection varies by region, usual range to target, time of day you're afield. Hunting a natural predator can be an exhilarating and rewarding experience. There's nothing quite like hunting something that can be just as clever and canny as you are. Coyotes fit this bill nicely. They're smart, fast, tough creatures that also happen to be destructive to livestock and other game animals like pheasant and quail. All of this combines to make coyote hunts a popular and enjoyable pastime. That is, if you can actually hit the sneaky suckers. Coyotes are...

Top FBI official Andrew McCabe did not just investigate President Trump. As he notes in a little-publicized part of his new book, McCabe even investigated his department boss — then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions — after Senate Democrats asked McCabe to look into allegations Sessions perjured himself during his confirmation hearings when he denied meeting with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. Sessions had, in fact, met with the Russian ambassador. He later corrected the record and explained he had forgotten speaking with the official and was not trying to mislead Congress. Ordering the Sessions probe was “another unprecedented, partisan action...

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Three years after Democrats witnessed a vicious presidential primary battle between eventual nominee Hillary Clinton and one-time longshot Bernie Sanders, there are rising concerns that a revival of the war of words between their two camps could hurt the party in 2020. “I think there’s a small segment of people in both camps who harbor significant resentment,” a veteran New Hampshire-based Democratic campaign strategist told Fox News.

Has Hoda Muthana, 24, the so-called ISIS Bride who joined the terrorist group at 19 and was widowed twice, ever heard of Civil War-era writer Edward Everett Hale? I’d bet the answer is “No.” And that’s unfortunate. Because now I can’t very well ask Muthana about Hale’s famous story, “A Man Without a Country.” In part, that’s because she’s in a Syrian refugee camp, doing interviews and seeking pity from Americans as leverage against President Donald Trump, so she can get home to her family in Alabama and raise her baby boy in the good old U.S. of A. "I...

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- On Friday, 1 March 2019, Constitutional Carry, SB 150, passed the Kentucky House with a vote of 60-37.  On 14 February, two weeks earlier, SB 150 passed the full Kentucky Senate, 29-8. The bill was watched intently by Second Amendment supporters.  It passed the House just before 1 p.m.Gutshot II, a long-term, vigorous contributor to OpenCarry.org, was in the gallery of the House of Representatives in Kentucky when SB150 passed. From opencarry.org: Gutshot II: I am sitting in the gallery of the House Chamber now. They will start soon. garyh9900: The bill has passed and is being sent to the...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Donald Trump is going to be re-elected in a landslide in 2020. In reality, the Democrats are behaving as if they already know their fate is basically sealed. That’s what all these congressional investigations are really all about – a panicked effort to keep portraying a duly-elected President as if he’s a criminal in the wake of the impending end of the failed Mueller Witch Hunt. Those investigations will fail, just as Mueller has failed, to “get” the President, because the President is not a crook. Jerrold Nadler and his House Judiciary...

My Chickashay Gal (1946) by Roy Rogers is our tune today.We have 6 more tunes by Rogers at Ranch Radio. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/