Free Republic

25-year-old man from Minneapolis has been federally charged for being in possession of and manufacturing auto sears, devices that are used to convert a semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun.The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Andrew Luger, says that Aaron Malik Cato had four 3D printers at his residence and was in possession of several 3D-printed auto sears.In addition to the homemade devices, authorities say Cato also possessed the parts to make up to 10 more devices. Customs and Border Patrol agents intercepted a package sent from Taiwan to Minneapolis destined for Cato, and law enforcement conducted a controlled delivery of...

A team of treasure hunters could be on the verge of unearthing the “world’s largest treasure hoard,” said to be worth over $20 billion.The team, known as the “Temple Twelve,” have been searching in Finland for the “Lemminkainen Hoard,” which consists of gold, jewels and artifacts, since 1987.If the hoard is discovered, it is thought it will be the most valuable haul ever found.

The mysterious Tarim mummies of China's western Xinjiang region are relics of a unique Bronze Age culture descended from Indigenous people, and not a remote branch of early Indo-Europeans, according to new genetic research.The new study upends more than a century of assumptions about the origins of the prehistoric people of the Tarim Basin whose naturally preserved human remains, desiccated by the desert, suggested to many archaeologists that they were descended from Indo-Europeans who had migrated to the region from somewhere farther west before about 2000 B.C.

Builders discovered a stash of 239 gold coins at a manor in northwestern France which could earn up to 300,000 euros ($356,490) at auction later this month.The three craftsmen found the treasure while working on the restoration of a house in Plozévet, Brittany, in the coastal area of Bigouden in 2019, according to a press release from auctioneers Deloys ahead of the sale. The property had been purchased by a couple in 2012.

“Black dwarf supernovae”. They sound quite dramatic! And indeed, they may be the last really exciting events in the Universe.It’s too early to be sure. There could be plenty of things about astrophysics we don’t understand yet—and intelligent life may throw up surprises even in the very far future. But there’s a nice scenario here:• M. E. Caplan, Black dwarf supernova in the far future, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 497 (2020), 4357–4362.First, let me set the stage. What happens in the short run: say, the first 1023 years or so?For a while, galaxies will keep colliding. These...

A team of researchers with the Westfalen-Lippe Landscape Association revealed during a presentation in the city of Schmallenberg that one of the largest hoards of Iron Age weapons in western Germany had been unearthed at a nearby dig site on a small mountain in Wilzenberg. In their press release, the researchers note that they found approximately 100 Celtic Iron Age artifacts—primarily through the use of a metal detector.

Copper futures topped $4 a pound on Friday for the first time since 2011, with expectations for a global economic recovery and a rise in renewable energy sources lifting the industrial metal’s demand outlook.Copper demand and prices “should continue to benefit from a recovering global economy and [a] transition to “green” energy sources,” said Brent Cook, an economic geologist and senior adviser for the newsletter Exploration Insights.

Even in modern times we are fascinated by crystals – from the diamonds we use as a sacred symbol of partnership, to the plethora of ‘healing’ gems that can be found in a New Age gift shop. So we can only imagine how ancient people viewed these transparent rocks with hidden structure. Evidence of the esteem in which crystals were held can be found in a “remarkable set” of ‘crystal weapons’ found in the megalithic tombs of southwestern Spain. At the site of Valencina de la Concepci
on, archaeologists have uncovered crystal arrowheads, an exquisite dagger blade, and cores used for...

American B-52 bombers are due to fly into Britain this week amid mounting tensions between Russia and the West. Up to eight of the Stratofortress warplanes are expected to touch down at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Friday. Support aircraft, including a giant C-17 Globemaster transport plane, have already arrived at the airfield. The anticipated arrival of the monster bombers comes ahead of a planned NATO exercise in Georgia, though it is unclear whether the B-52s will be involved.

A Youtube video presentation from LLL on Russia's geopolitical posture. Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack | Russia: Resurgent or Declining Power?

My FreeRepublic born on date is 20 years old today, may FR last another 20 years!

Introduction: On Deterrence Carl von Clausewitz writes that the nature of war has enduring continuities, but its characteristics change with different circumstances.[1] Similarly, the fundamental nature of deterrence has endured for millennia: a threatened response to an adversary’s prospective provocation causes that adversary to decide against the provocation i.e., the adversary is deterred from attack because it decides that the prospective costs outweigh the gains. The character of deterrence, however, must adapt to different circumstances. In one case, the necessary deterrent threat may be to punish the adversary; in another, to deny the adversary its objectives; in yet another, a...

Radioactive Fallout: "Radiological Defense" 1961 US Department of Defense, Civil DefenseOld Time Civil Defense movie for explanation of the effects of nuclear weaponry and radiation. Enjoy!

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has some interesting videos on a range of topics but some of their videos on nuclear deterrence and war fighting are good. Enjoy watching China's Strategy and US Nuclear Weapons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAhCIiNmjv0&list=PLvGO_dWo8VfdUS_shFCmhSTNOcEdroPJ5&index=7 A great Youtube video detailing credible Korean scenarios.

ANXIOUS TO test the safety and reliability of its nuclear arsenal without nuclear testing, Russia has acquired five American made supercomputers, according to Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy (MINATOM). The acquisitions of the supercomputers for use in simulating nuclear explosions were deliberately publicized at a January 13 press conference by the head of MINATOM, Viktor Mikhailov. Russia claims to have four Silicon Graphics "Power Challenge L" deskside servers, together capable of more than 4,400 million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS), and one IBM Corporation RS 6000 SP system capable of 10,000 MTOPS. Russian attempts to buy similar machines directly from...

Adding to the latest in a series of military drills, Beijing has said a branch of its coast guard is holding live-fire exercises from Monday to Wednesday (22 - 24 August). The drill is being staged at the Gulf of Tonkin, the northern arm of the South China Sea, home to several territorial disputes among Asian countries. Despite fresh tensions in the disputed waters, China's Maritime Safety Administration said it was banning vessels from entering the area between China's southern island province of Hainan and the northern coast of Vietnam. The Tonkin Gulf has historical significance over the Vietnam War...

Premeditated war between the United States and China is very unlikely, but the danger that a mishandled crisis could trigger hostilities cannot be ignored. Thus, while neither state wants war, both states' militaries have plans to fight one. As Chinese anti-access and area-denial (A2AD) capabilities improve, the United States can no longer be so certain that war would follow its plan and lead to decisive victory. This analysis illuminates various paths a war with China could take and their possible consequences. Technological advances in the ability to target opposing forces are creating conditions of conventional counterforce, whereby each side has...

The Western Pacific “island chains” are a persistent feature of Asia’s maritime geography. While their underlying fundaments remain constant, their specific strategic importance has evolved over time. Different major powers have thus interpreted, then re-interpreted and re-evaluated, the value of particular islands, the role they play in national military strategy, and their operational significance in a warfighting context. Chinese naval strategists such as former naval commander Admiral Liu Huaqing have devoted considerable attention to the island chains since the mid-1980s, examining how and where the island chains can hinder or support China’s maritime goals. Yet Chinese strategists are hardly unique...

More than halfway through his five-year term as president of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party—expected to be the first of at least two—Xi Jinping’s widening crackdown on civil society and promotion of a cult of personality have disappointed many observers, both Chinese and foreign, who saw him as destined by family heritage and life experience to be a liberal reformer. Many thought Xi must have come to understand the dangers of Party dictatorship from the experiences of his family under Mao’s rule. His father, Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002), was almost executed in an inner-Party conflict in 1935,...