Free Republic

Hi-Power, meet the High Power.The Hi-Power — known as the Browning Hi-Power, the Browning Automatic Pistol, the Grande Puissance, P-35, Pistole 640(b), and so many other names — is arguably the most widely-used military handgun of all time. Present in historic conflicts from both sides of the toughest battles of World War II to the Iranian embassy siege in London that made the British Special Air Service a household name, this single-action semi-automatic pistol was unbelievably innovative for its time, boasting a number of features that made it truly higher power than other options of the day.Now, 87 years after...

Programme called 'Simply Naked' is being televised by public broadcaster NOS Audience of children aged 10 to 12 are invited to ask questions of naked adults Makers say it was 'very carefully produced' and is intended to educate kids Critics, including leading politicians, have called it 'disgusting' and 'ridiculous' On Stage: The Audience:

Former US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said she has a 'political crush' on Marion Marechal-Le Pen of France's National Front. Ms. Palin, writing for the conservative news website Breitbart, described the Frenchwoman as a 'clear voice of courage and common sense in a country and continent in need of both'. The young far-right candidate reminded her of Joan of Arc, she said. The FN failed to win control of any of France's regions in Sunday's elections....... Ms. Palin.......highlighted the acheivements of both Ms. Marechal-Le Pen and her aunt, FN leader Marine Le Pen. She praised the younger French politician...

Even though French right lost Sunday, a counterrevolution is growing in Europe and America Right-wing, national-conservative parties are seeing stunning success and growth as Europeans become disillusioned with the politically correct, globalization-backing, pro-immigration and pro-EU European Establishment. The Front National in France, led by Marine Le Pen, dominated the first round of voting in the country's Dec. 6 regional elections, polling first in six of 13 regions and taking 27.96 percent of the vote. The party has seen its popularity skyrocket in the past few years, but during a second round Sunday it failed to win any region as moderate,...

Paris (AFP) - France's far-right National Front (FN) appears to be on course for an historic breakthrough in regional elections this weekend, with the country still traumatised by last month's Paris terror attacks. The party's leader Marine Le Pen looks set to take the former Socialist heartland in the economically depressed northern region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, while her 25-year-old niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen is ahead in the race for the vast southeastern region that includes the French Riviera. The anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant FN -- which has never before controlled a region -- has been climbing in the polls since 130 people were...

Critics said the M-14 was what happened when the U.S. government took many years and spent millions of dollars designing a rifle that was really just a glorified M-1 Garand from World War II. The M-14 was the U.S. military’s last battle rifle. It appeared in 1959—the contemporary of the Pentagon’s first jet fighters and ICBMs. With its heavy steel parts and walnut stock, the M-14 looked positively archaic. It was hardly a Space Age weapon. And it only endured as America’s battle rifle until 1970, when the M-16 completely superseded it—the shortest service record of any U.S. military rifle...

France's ruling Socialist Party suffered humiliating losses on a day dubbed "Black Sunday" in a local vote marked by breakthrough successes for the far-right National Front and the historic election of a first female mayor of Paris. On a day dubbed "Black Sunday" by one Socialist lawmaker, the National Front (FN) won control of at least fourteen towns, according to the interior ministry and was on track to claim 1,200 municipal council seats nationwide, its best ever showing at the grassroots level of French politics. It was also a night to savour for France's main opposition, the centre-right Union for...

Does anyone have first hand experience with the FN PS 90? Would it be a 'good' self defense choice for a woman who is not comfortable with a 5.56×45mm carbine due to weight and recoil? (Not me.) Does it feed reliably? Or is this a gun designed for a full auto machine pistol role which loses value when confined to a semi auto capability?

The U.S. Army has finally addressed years of complaints about the M-4 and M-16 assault rifles. The M-4 is a short barrel M-16, and has become very popular with the troops. The army has asked the Department of Defense for permission to spend a few hundred million dollars on upgrades for its 400,000 M-4 assault rifles. The big change is replacing the main portion of the rifle with a new component that contains a short stroke piston gas system (to reduce buildup of carbon inside the rifle) and a heavier (by five ounces) barrel (which reduces barrel failure from too...

ARLINGTON, VA. — The Marine Corps has moved one step closer to selecting a next-generation light automatic rifle. On Friday, the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., announced contract awards for three competing weapons manufacturers to produce and deliver their final entries to the Corps by the middle of next year, in what signifies a final round of competition that began with ten candidates. The lighter, magazine-fed Infantry Automatic Rifle — or IAR — is intended to replace the belt-fed M249 Squad Automatic Weapon — or SAW — in “the Marine Rifle Squad within infantry battalions and in the...

Bay State Republicans are circling like vultures around a politically weakened John Kerry, vowing to field a strong challenger that may be able to capitalize on his fractured image and snatch his coveted U.S. Senate seat. One potential GOP challenger, state Sen. Scott Brown, said last night that he "would consider" a run against Kerry in 2008 and that the senator is ripe for the picking. "I think he'll get a challenge this time. I don't think he'll get a free ride," Brown (R-Wrentham) said. "His handling of himself during this Iraq situation has been outrageous. He needs to be...

The puff piece starts out: “John Kerry starts by showing the entry in a log he kept from 1969: “Feb 12: 0800 run to Cambodia.” Right off the bat, this is the first piece where the Swift Boat Vets were 100% correct. At the time, John Kerry stated that his trip took place on Christmas Eve in 1968. The SBV were right at the time, he was NOT iN Cambodia on Christmas Eve of 1968. Kerry had said that this moment was “seared” into him. After the Vets came out, Kerry had his personal biographer come out and it changed...

It looks like a political oxymoron, but Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front is poised to strike an alliance with France's large immigrant Muslim community. A generation after France's right-wing party began its surge with a tough anti-immigration campaign tinged with both racism and anti-Semitism, three factors are coming into play that could spell a strategic realignment.

The Elm City will soon be losing another of its links to history. US Repeating Arms Company announced last Tuesday, 1/17, that it will be closing the Winchester firearms factory in New Haven on March 31st. More than 19,000 men once worked in the Winchester plant. Their numbers had dwindled recently to under 200, and only 80,000 guns were produced last year in a facility that still had a capacity of 300,000. Sales of hunting rifles have declined precipitously, along with America’s hunting traditions. What was once a Nation of Riflemen is today a nation of metrosexuals and Dilberts.

The Sun-Times has put this article into their archives to be viewed for a fee. So to recap: in his last Friday article, Thomas Lipscomb said: "In the midst of the controversy between the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and Kerry campaign representatives about Kerry's service in Vietnam, new questions have arisen. "The Kerry campaign has repeatedly stated that the official naval records prove the truth of Kerry's assertions about his service. "But the official records on Kerry's Web site only add to the confusion. The DD214 form, an official Defense Department document summarizing Kerry's military career posted on johnkerry.com,...

It was autumn 1996. Four men were sitting around me in a central London pub. Little distinguished them from the passing commuters. Other than their baseball caps, jailbird tattoos, or talk of white revolution, they might have been just about anyone. Those four men were the leaders of a notorious neo-nazi gang called Combat 18 - the 1 and 8 in the name signify the position of “A” and “H” ("Adolf Hitler") in the alphabet. The gang was connected to Loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, a violent “white power” music scene, numerous football hooligan “firms”, and the British National Party...

The 'Counselor'...and the WAN DON?

WASHINGTON — As part of a four-state bus tour stressing job creation, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry will visit Michigan on Wednesday. “There is no group of Americans that felt the pain of the Bush economy more strongly than the citizens of these four states,” said Kerry, who also will tour West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Kerry’s bus tour, which starts Monday, hits four of 17 swing states that both parties are targeting. Of the four states, Michigan by far has the highest jobless rate — 6.6 percent, the third highest in the country. Most analysts say it would...

Some Duplicates. 1985-1986 S885 - Prohibits the obligation of funds during FY 1985 and 1986 for the testing of anti-satellite weapons against objects in space unless the President certifies to the Congress certain findings on actions taken by the Soviet Union. (Way to react instead of Act Johnny) S.1363 - A bill to prohibit the use of the mails to send dangerous martial arts weapons (We need Karate Control!!!) S.1553 - Prohibits the sale of beverage containers without a minimum refund vale. Prohibits the sale of metal beverage containers with detachable openings. (Like Michigan's refund system, but federalized) S1920 -...

On The EdgeWith the New FN P90 5.7x28mm by Al Paulson Military organizations have struggled for generations with two frequently overlapping problems: (1) how to arm troops whose primary mission is something other than the use of small arms; and (2) how to arm troops who need compact firepower for conducting special operations. A remarkable array of pistols, submachind guns and carbines have been fielded over the years in an, attempt to give people such as vehicle drivers, operators of crew-served weapons, support personnel and special operators a weapon with the optimum mix of compact size, hit probability, sustained...