Free Republic

The United States would achieve three objectives by purchasing a number of Shortfin Barracuda submarines from France and then giving them to Vietnam. First, the Biden administration would repair relations with America's oldest ally. Second, it would supply a rising security partner with newly potent means of challenging China's imperialism. Third, it would test President Emmanuel Macron's commitment to international security in the South China Sea. This option bears note as France rages over Australia's cancellation of a submarine contract worth tens of billions of dollars. France is mixing justifiable anger (it has lost a lucrative contract worth thousands of...

You had to be there to remember – and to understand – so here’s a refresher. In 1964, group of young Pontiac engineers created the GTO by pairing an expensive big-car’s engine with an inexpensive medium-sized car – thereby creating the first mass-market muscle car. Which was mass-market because it wasn’t just about muscle. That had been done before, by Chrysler (letter series cars) and Oldsmobile, too. What made the GTO different – and dangerous, in the view of a certain kind of killjoy – was that it was cheap. Or at least, affordable. You didn’t have to be a...

Comedian Kevin Hart and his driver suffered "major back injuries" in a car crash in the Malibu Hills late Saturday night, a report said. Police sources told TMZ a Plymouth Barracuda belonging to Hart, 40, veered off the road on the Mulholland Highway. The vehicle turned up in a ditch about 10 feet off the side of the winding road after it smashed through a wooden fence. Hart was not driving at the time and his driver was not drinking, the report said. The roof of the Barracuda was almost completely crushed in the crash.

Kevin Hart bought himself a birthday present fitting of a movie star. A movie car. The actor/comedian picked up a famous custom 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda to celebrate turning 40 on July 6. The blue hardtop was built by Speedkore Performance Group and appeared in “The Fate of the Furious” with several of the company’s other creations. The two-door has been heavily modified with “shaved” styling, carbon fiber body parts, a modern supercharged 6.4-liter Hemi V8 tuned to produce 720 hp, a lowered suspension, high performance wheels with foot-wide rear tires and a fully updated interior. It’s nicknamed “Menace” and was...

Just 14 Hemi Cuda convertibles were built in 1970, and the Lemon Twist yellow example is one of three that were delivered to our northern neighbor. The fully restored car is powered by a 426/425 V8 that breathes through an iconic Shaker hood scoop and sends its power to the rear wheels through a 4-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission. Those wheels are steel and painted yellow for added visual impact, while the interior is a subdued saddle tan, but the high bid was an eye-popper at $1,980,000 (which is $2,700,000 Canadian, if you must know.)That makes it among the most expensive Hemi...

A barracuda bit a man on the leg when he was snorkeling off Key Largo Saturday afternoon. The man was swimming within John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park when he was bitten, Officer Bobby Dube with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Sunday. Chief Don Bock, with the Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Corps, which treated the man's injuries when he was brought to shore, said he was bitten below the knee. "It wasn't anything life-threatening," Bock said.

A think tank commissioned by the South Korean Navy to study possible options for a nuclear-powered attack submarine procurement has pointed to France’s 5,300 ton Barracuda-class submarine as a model candidate. Manufactured by French industrial group DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales), the Barracuda-class is a modern class of nuclear attack submarine, notable for its extremely low noise signature, enhancing the submarine’s survivability. According to Defense News, a South Korean Navy spokesperson noted that they are reviewing the report, which was produced by the Korea Defense Network over five months. “After thorough review, we’ll report it to the defense minister and...

AUSTRALIA’S 12 new submarines will be the most “potent weapon” the nation has ever known featuring lethal technology designed to assert the nation’s space in the world. That’s according to Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne who said the addition of 12 Shortfin Barracuda submarines to Australia’s arsenal will reassure President-elect Donald Trump the country is not shirking its military duties by being “strategic bludgers”. Mr Pyne’s visit to the sprawling military-style factory was a chance for the Minister to see for himself the kind of facilities that will be built in Adelaide where the submarines will be created over the...

While catches of exotics are on the rise, these Toothy Fish have been mysteriously absent. Could they return?The last couple of years have seen unprecedented action for California saltwater anglers due to a strong El Niño. Highly desirable pelagics like yellowtail and tuna, along with true exotics like wahoo and blue marlin, have been dominating the headlines and anglers' attention. Over the past 50 years, barracuda catches have fluctuated up and down considerably, as has the species' popularity. In non-El Niño years, the barracuda would start to show up in San Diego waters in early April. They continued to move...

More than half of the country has a message for former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin: enough. That's the result from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Annenberg poll in which 54 percent of voters say they've heard enough from Palin and would prefer that she be less outspoken in political debates. That includes nearly two-thirds of Democrats, a majority of independents, and even nearly four-in-10 Republicans. And the results come as Palin has called for President Barack Obama's impeachment. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)But Palin isn't the only former politician voters wish would stay away from politics. Fifty-one percent of voters say they've heard...

In Sept. 2008, Roger Fisher said that he was happy to receive the publicity for the song "Barracuda", co-written with the Wilson sisters from Heart, which was being used by the McCain/Palin campaign. The Wilson sisters said that "Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women." Roger told Reuters back then that he pledged to give part of the royalties from the song's use by McCain/Palin campaign to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's campaign. I wonder if he and the Wilson sisters feel the same way about Barack Obama these days...

She was hands-on and averse to partisan politics. She championed openness in government and had normal relations with the media. She was a little starstruck by her interactions with national politicians but unafraid to do battle with the chief executives of the world’s largest oil companies The emails from her governorship, released Friday, brought back the memory of a long-lost Palin: the popular, charismatic, competent woman of the people. Far from being a knee-jerk partisan, she praises then-Sen. Barack Obama for his energy ideas — “pretty cool,” even though he is the “wrong candidate.” She derides the Republican establishment just...

The Mama Grizzly is coming out of hibernation. This weekend, Sarah Palin is launching her "One Nation" bus tour, visiting historical sites across the country. Palin will start on Memorial Day at the Rolling Thunder weekend motorcycle rally that starts at the Pentagon. Where it will end has yet to be announced. But given Palin's other recent move—the announcement of a feature-length film on her tenure as governor—it looks as if her ultimate destination may be the White House. Whatever Mitt Romney had on his plate for Memorial Day, he'd better make room. If we assume—for the purposes of page...

I do.

If she decides to run... With both Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump announcing that they will not be running for President, it eliminates two major variables from the scrambled GOP primary field. Huckabee, in particular, would have been one of the frontrunners had he decided to run, so his decision to sit out has major ramifications on the rest of the field. Huckabee would have once again been the favorite to win Iowa. His departure leaves a major void with Iowa's large Republican evangelical Christian base, a group that is now up for grabs. Sarah Palin likely won't run, but...

If I was younger and still serving I would be honored to have her as my commander in chief. You can keep the phony tough guy men that get trotted out as candidates. I saw REAL leadership up close and I know what it looks like. Sarah Palin has “IT.”

Sarah Palin, one of the best known and most controversial figures in American politics, told BBC Newsnight she was weighing up whether the US was ready for an "unconventional" presidential candidate like her. "You run the race to win the race. That's for sure." Speaking in Alaska, the state's former governor said if she did decide to run she would be fully committed. But the cost together with whether voters were ready to make a win a reality, were issues she still needed to think about. "Obama has already said he's going to spend a billion dollars (£615.4m) on...

The vicious fish jumped into her kayak and bit her in the chestA woman is hospitalized after being bitten in the chest by a barracuda while kayaking in the Florida Keys. The Coast Guard says the 45-year-old woman and a male companion were kayaking Sunday evening near Big Pine Key when the fish jumped into the vessel and bit her. The man told emergency dispatchers that he could not row the two-person kayak to shore without causing further harm to the woman. The Coast Guard says paramedics administered first aid to the woman, who appeared to have suffered a possible...

KEY WEST - A woman remains hospitalized after being bitten in the chest by a barracuda while kayaking in the Florida Keys. The Coast Guard says the 45-year-old woman and a male companion were kayaking Sunday evening near Big Pine Key when the fish jumped into the vessel and bit her....

Koral Wira, 14, was fishing with her parents and a friend near Venice, Fla., when a barracuda went for her dad's bait and ended up biting her instead. Her dad, Rob Parker, submitted these photos and Wira told the story. After anchoring the boat 4 miles off shore, Parker baited his rod with herring. Wira switched seats to get out of the hot sun, and watched as her dad cast. Moments later, she heard a splash and saw a long silver flash in the air. A barracuda jumped from the water and opened its mouth. As it hit her left...