Free Republic

Last Saturday (April 15), the Yankee Air Museum announced it was grounding its World War II-vintage Boeing B-17G “Yankee Lady” in anticipation of an FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD), expected within a few weeks. Online sources, including a detailed article at Aerovintage.com, anticipate the AD will likely ground all currently flying B-17s due to “wing spar issues” cited by the Yankee Air Museum. The Michigan-based museum posted on its Facebook page: “Hello, The Yankee Air Museum decided to proactively cease flight operations of the B-17G Flying Fortress ‘Yankee Lady.’ Recent inspections of other B-17s have discovered wing spar issues. As a...

I just passed my 20 mark here at Free Republic! Wow. Kind of sneaks up you. I joined during the 2000 election endless recount circus. And it looks like we’re in for another chaotic mess of an election this year. Let’s see how many 20+ FR veterans I can get to respond!

Veterans, gamers, history buffs and gun enthusiasts are shelling out to take part in military simulations. In February, a group of several hundred military enthusiasts gathered to play-fight in Clovis, Calif., at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. They had come for an event called the Road to Kharkiv, a simulation of a fictional NATO mission into Eastern Ukraine, hosted by a company called MilSim West. Roughly half of the participants played NATO troops; the other half, Russian forces. Visually, they were almost indistinguishable from a real-life military unit.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court bench handed down a ruling Thursday approving the death penalty for people who comment on articles without reading them. In the highly publicized case, State of Texas v. Wilbur, state authorities had found internet user Edward Wilbur guilty of posting a comment on a story linked on his Facebook page, a news story Wilbur “had clearly never read.” While most of those convicted under Texas’ recent state law banning commenting on news stories or opinion pieces without reading them get off with a few months of community service or a stiff...

Which Tech Gadgets Will Be Phased Out This Decade? Hindsight may always be 20-20, but you don’t need particularly great foresight to know many of the gadgets on today’s market won’t be around in 2020 given how quickly the tech industry keeps changing. In the first half of the 2000s, retailers were buzzing about the prospects of MP3 players and netbooks, but by the end of the decade, those products had largely been replaced by smartphones and tablets. As tempting as it may be to imagine otherwise, some of the gadgets you may rely on most right now will likely...

Today is my ten year anniversary at Free Republic. What a decade it's been, I didn't even have an internet connection when I first joined, and I was using the connection at work. Over the years I learned that if you need information on ANY subject, you will find someone here who can tell you what you need to know or find it for you. The diversity and depth of knowledge of the people here never ceases to amaze me. I remember being at a hotel one morning many years ago, and when I was getting breakfast in the lobby,...

Rescuers searched Thursday for a 16-year-old Southern California girl feared missing while attempting a solo sail around the world. Family spokesman Christian Pinkston said the search began for Abby Sunderland somewhere between Africa and Australia after emergency beacons were activated overnight and there was a loss of communication.

Was just watching Laura Ingraham on O'Riley. They were discussing the socialist/redistributive nature of "universal health care", and when the fact that Canadians live on average three years longer than Americans was brought up, she said it wasn't necessarily due to them having better health care...and then she said "We have guns". I'm still in shock. When did she turn anti gun? And if she's not, what the heck is she thinking.

A California dad is refusing to take down the tattered and torn American flag that's been flying on his lawn in Fresno for almost a year, despite complaints from neighbors on his military-heavy block and from a national veterans group that says he's mistreating the Stars and Stripes.

This thread is for posting descriptions and reviews of Science Fiction Literature, and discussion of the same. In order to give a sufficient amount of information if you would like to recommend a book, please provide a summation of the plot along with your thoughts, and an assessment of it’s political leanings either conservative or liberal. An objectionable content warning would be appreciated as well for those who may not wish to encounter said content unaware. Please limit it to one book or series recommendation per thread per person. Feel free to offer opinions of books others have recommended, and...

This will be the firs in what will hopefully be regular threads dedicated to the discussion of Sci Fi Literature.How many times have you bought what appeared to be a promising Science Fiction novel, only to discover it laden with heavy liberal bias or overt enviro wacko propaganda?Here's the place to get and give recommendations, and warnings for all the FR Sci Fi book readers out there.I have no idea if this will work, or how frequent these threads will be, but let's just give it a shot and see how it goes.So if you'd like to be on the...

I have an idea involving promoting open carry of firearms that I’d like to get some input from Freepers on. I’d like it to be thoroughly thought out, and the best group of thinkers I know is right here on FR. I live in Wisconsin, and I’m sure everyone is up to date regarding the issue of open carry here that has been in the news recently. I’d like to do something that would promote the image of people who openly carry firearms, get the public in our local community used to seeing people carrying weapons, which I feel would...

Redneck Houseboat

GOD LIVES UNDER THE BED I envy Kevin. My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed..." I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in. He was...

CINCINNATI — WKRP is back on the air in Cincinnati — but this time it's for real. A low-power TV station has changed its call letters to WKRP, the same as the fictional radio station in the 1970s hit series "WKRP in Cincinnati."

By Marianna G. Dyson and Michael M. Lloyd From the October 2006 edition of Thompson's Employer's Guide to Fringe Benefits Rules In the past 17 years, the number of cellular telephone users in the U.S. has skyrocketed. No longer resembling suitcases or hardwired into automobiles, people transport them in handbags, clipped to belts and in pockets. Many cell phones now resemble Star Trek communicators while others resemble miniature computers (e.g., Blackberry devices). In fact, technology has evolved to such a degree that most cell phones now tout features such as global positioning systems (GPS), Internet access, cameras, email and MP3...

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military regime distributed international aid Saturday but plastered the boxes with the names of top generals in an apparent effort to turn the relief effort for last week's devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise. The United Nations sent in three more planes and several trucks loaded with aid, though the junta took over its first two shipments. The government agreed to let a U.S. cargo plane bring in supplies Monday, but foreign disaster experts still were being barred entry. Despite international appeals to postpone a referendum on a controversial proposed constitution, voting began Saturday in all...

Go to Michelle Malkin's site, click on the link, and flag this POS blogg as having objectionable content. The more flags, the better the chance of it getting removed.Also, when you hold your cursor on the flag button, you'll see a linkable "objectionable content". Click on it, and follow the maze of links to report this dirt bag. Even call the FBI if you're so inclined This is a terrorist threat against a peacefully gathering group of veterans. It cannot be tolerated.

Link

(CBS/AP) A United Nations committee said Friday that use of Taser weapons can be a form of torture, in violation of the U.N. Convention Against Torture. Use of the electronic stun devices by police has been marked with a sudden rise in deaths - including four men in the United States and two in Canada within the last week. Canadian authorities are taking a second look at them, and in the United States, there is a wave of demands to BAN them. The U.N. Committee Against Torture referred Friday to the use of TaserX26 weapons which Portuguese police has acquired....