Free Republic

Dedicated viewers of Fox News are likely familiar with Lear Capital, a Los Angeles company that sells gold and silver coins. In recent years, the company’s ads have been a constant presence on Fox airwaves, warning viewers to protect their retirement savings from a looming “pension crisis” and “dollar collapse.” One such ad caught the attention of Terry White, a disabled retiree from New York. In 2018, White invested $174,000 in the coins, according to a lawsuit by the New York attorney general — only to later learn that Lear charged a 33 percent commission. Over several transactions, White, 70,...

The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has officially opened an investigation into Harvard University’s use of donor and legacy preferences in its admissions process, following a federal civil rights complaint filed earlier this month just days after the Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action in higher education. A spokesperson for the US Department of Education confirmed the open investigation into Harvard’s admissions practices Tuesday. The investigation will focus on whether Harvard “discriminates on the basis of race by using donor and legacy preferences in its undergraduate admissions process,” according to a letter from the Department of...

A panel of international experts investigating the 2014 abduction of 43 students in southern Mexico said on Tuesday that it was ending its inquiry after being repeatedly lied to and misled by the Mexican armed forces about their role in the crime. Members of the Mexican military misrepresented their whereabouts during the crime, denied access to key documents and withheld details about their involvement in the disappearance and its subsequent cover-up, the experts said in a report released on Tuesday, their sixth and final assessment of a notorious event that remains shrouded in mystery. ---- “It’s all lies, one after...

A group of cybersecurity researchers has uncovered what they believe is an intentional backdoor in encrypted radios used by police, military, and critical infrastructure entities around the world. The backdoor may have existed for decades, potentially exposing a wealth of sensitive information transmitted across them, according to the researchers. While the researchers frame their discovery as a backdoor, the organization responsible for maintaining the standard pushes back against that specific term, and says the standard was designed for export controls which determine the strength of encryption. The end result, however, are radios with traffic that can be decrypted using consumer...

The lengthy absence from public view of China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang has sparked furious online speculation, while once again highlighting China's secrecy. The 57-year-old has not been seen in public for 23 days - his last reported engagements were on 25 June. Appointed to his post last December, Mr Qin was seen as a trusted aide of Chinese President Xi Jinping. As one of the best known faces of the Chinese government, Mr Qin's prolonged absence has not only been scrutinised by diplomats and China watchers, but also ordinary Chinese people. When asked about his whereabouts on Monday, Foreign...

From its inception, the Littoral Combat Ship, or LCS, has been one of the Navy’s most controversial procurement programs. Questions have been continuously raised about its costs, survivability, lethality, and range limitations.

The Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs is eschewing the terms “felon” and “convict” when officials refer to individuals convicted of crimes, opting instead for less “disparaging labels,” Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason announced Wednesday. The Office of Justice Programs plans to substitute terminology such as “person who committed a crime” and “individual who was incarcerated” in speeches and other communications as part of an effort to remove barriers that officials say hinder progress of those who re-enter society after completing their prison sentences. “I have come to believe that we have a responsibility to reduce not only the physical...

From the article: Keating “was struck by direct fire, and although he was medevaced within the all-important golden hour, his wound was not survivable,” Warren said. “No other coalition or American forces were injured, though both medevac helicopters were damaged by small arms fire.”

A pair of stories out of Germany today illustrates the persistent gap between the lofty, ambitious rhetoric and small, faltering actions on government and defense in Europe today. The Telegraph reports: German soldiers taking part in a four-week Nato exercise in Norway earlier this year had to leave after just 12 days because they had gone over their overtime limits, it has emerged. Troops have complained to a parliamentary watchdog that they are being forced to spend entire days doing nothing under the new rules. “It can’t be that we can’t fulfil our Nato obligations because of overtime,” Hans-Peter Bertels,...