Free Republic

It's worth asking why Elizabeth Holmes is still leading the embattled blood testing company Theranos Inc. But there may be a good reason why she still is in charge, one that has little to do with the scandal-ridden company's performance to date. Forget what venture capitalist Tim Draper — one of the first to invest in the Palo Alto company — implied this week that Holmes is being attacked because she's a young, female entrepreneur. The simple fact is that Theranos has not been able to deliver on its technology from a commercial, scientific or regulatory standpoint, and that falls...

2016 has not been too kind to Elizabeth Holmes, the Steve-Jobs wannabe in charge of fraudulent Theranos. She has thus far been banned for 2 years from operating labs, removed from hosting fundraisers for Hillary and lost her entire net worth. And now, the Wall Street Journal has published the "tell-all" story of the whistle-blower, 26 year old Tyler Shultz, who brought the the whole Theranos farce crashing down. It's a sordid tale complete with all the expected twists and turns of a Jason Bourne thriller including intimidation, coercion and private detectives. Tyler Shultz is the grandson of George Shultz,...

Hospitals are to cancel thousands of operations and appointments in a desperate bid to stop the NHS "buckling" this winter, under Government plans. Health officials are drawing up contingency measures to attempt to safeguard emergency care by diverting senior doctors from operating theatres into wards and Accident & Emergency departments as winter sets in. The national plan, detailed in evidence to the Commons health select committee, comes amid concern that the NHS is already in the grip of the worst bed-blocking crisis on record. Last night, Britain’s most senior A&E doctor said hospitals were under such strain that a bad...

[...] This transaction in northern Mali shows what might seem an unusual preoccupation for a terror group: Al-Qaida is obsessed with documenting the most minute expenses. [...]

React To Contact, Break Contact and Insurgent Operational Planning I talked about Battle Drills awhile back. Recently Max Velocity talked about Reacting to Contact. We label the steps differently but basically do the same thing. I will get into it a bit but do not feel the need to write it from memory or get fancy paraphrasing FM 7-8. Either you know how to do it and I'm wasting my time or you don't and me writing about it for a couple paragraphs will not fix the problem so I'm wasting my time. For those without an Infantry or Special...

Posted at 9:09 pm on August 31, 2012 by Twitchy Staff | View Comments Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama A promise kept: pic.twitter.com/m7iLA3eF 31 Aug 12 Reply Retweet Favorite We’re certainly aware the president isn’t sitting in front of a copy of Photoshop putting these tweets together personally, but are we the only ones noticing a peculiar trend? The Obama campaign recently honored the late astronaut Neil Armstrong by posting a photo of … Obama. So what better way to mark the anniversary of the end of combat operations in Iraq than by posting another photo of Obama?

The NHS has begun rationing common surgical procedures such as hip replacements and cataracts removal in an effort to save money, it was revealed yesterday. New figures have found one in three Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England are reducing access to treatment for “non-urgent” operations. Examples of rationing include knee operations only being allowed to go ahead where patients are in severe pain, overweight patients being made to lose weight prior to procedures, and cataract patients being denied treatment until their sight problems seriously affect their ability to work. Chris Naylor, a senior researcher at the health think tank...

Hawaii, USA — Members of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (G Coy, 2 RCR) joined the US Marines for six weeks in a unique training environment. G Coy, which holds the non-combatant evacuation operations (NEO) task, came to the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) to participate in Exercise RIMPAC. No Club MedThe PTA is located on the Big Island of Hawaii between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and the Hualalai volcanoes. The extremely rough, austere area is made of old lava fields and hills where, even in the heat of the Hawaiian summer, the morning temperature is around 8ËšC...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2010 – Military officials have provided details on numerous recent operations in Afghanistan. -- An Afghan-international security force detained two suspected insurgents in Helmand province last night while pursuing a Taliban commander with ties to an insurgent network operating in southern Arghandab district of Kandahar province. The force found 5 pounds of heroin during the operation and protected women and children who were present. -- Afghan and international forces detained several suspected insurgents in the Tagab district of Kapisa province last night while pursuing a Taliban commander directly linked to a September 2008 ambush that wounded three...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2010 – The commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Afghanistan has made changes to improve command and control in the key province of Helmand. Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez also spoke about the civil-military cooperation and lessons learned from the Marja campaign in Helmand. A Marine battalion will replace British forces in the strategic town of Sangin along the Helmand River, Rodriguez said during a teleconference with Pentagon reporters today. “The British are committing their theater reserve for the next several months into the central Helmand River valley to increase the security...

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2010 – Afghan and international security forces conducted combined operations in Afghanistan’s Ghazni, Helmand and Logar provinces last night, detaining a Taliban commander and several suspected insurgents, military officials reported. An Afghan-international force detained two suspected insurgents in Ghazni while pursuing a Taliban facilitator responsible for providing money, munitions and guidance to the Taliban and to the Haqqani terrorist organization’s networks in Ghazni and Paktika provinces. The security force went to a compound in the Gelan district, and Afghan forces used a loudspeaker to call for the occupants to come out of the buildings before the combined...

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2010 – Afghan and international security forces conducted numerous operations last night, capturing a Taliban district chief and killing or capturing numerous other insurgents, military officials reported. A combined Afghan-international force captured the Taliban district chief of Now Zad and killed a large number of insurgents during an operation in Helmand province’s remote Baghran district. Numerous insurgents engaged the combined force with rocket propelled grenades and machine gun fire as the force approached a compound outside the village of Kariz-e Adamkhan. Throughout a four-hour fire fight, insurgent forces tried to use homemade bombs against the security force....

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2010 – Precision air strikes, a pitched battle with insurgents in Kunar province and the killing or capture of key enemy fighters highlight recent operations in Afghanistan, military officials reported. A precision air strike called in by a combined Afghan-international security force killed several insurgents, including a Haqqani terrorist network roadside-bomb cell leader, while the insurgents were planting a roadside bomb in Khost province last night. After international forces confirmed insurgent activity and that no civilians were at risk, they called for the air strike as the terrorist cell members were planting the bomb on a main...

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2010 – Military officials in Afghanistan have provided details of various recent operations that resulted in enemy fighters being killed or captured. -- A combined Afghan-international security force in Khost province’s Sabari district captured several Haqqani terrorism network commanders and other individuals last night and early this morning. The Haqqani network facilitators are believed to be responsible for planning and executing bombing attacks and militant operations against coalition forces, supplying weapons and directing attacks in Khost’s Sabari and Yaqubi districts. -- A separate Afghan-international force detained several individuals suspected of militant activity in Farah province’s Gulistan district...

COB ADDER – As the United States continues to prepare for the eventual withdraw of forces from Iraq, its service members are focused on training Iraqi Security Forces to assume the responsibility of securing their nation. To that end, a group of Iraqi Commandos and members of the Iraqi Tactical Support Unit received training here throughout April, when Soldiers with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade provided instruction on helicopter insertion techniques. The training, conducted with the help of two U.S. Special Forces Soldiers, was supervised by the 12th CAB's plans section. Capt. Igan O'Reilly, a coordinator for the section, said...

Since 2000 a total of 853 men have gone under the knife to become women while in the same time span 12 women have had an operation to become a man. Back in 2000 there were just 54 sex change operations carried out in the country while last year the figure stood at 143.

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2010 – International Security Assistance Force Joint Command officials in Afghanistan provided details on various operations conducted in Afghanistan in recent days: -- A combined Afghan-international patrol stopped a vehicle and found 1,600 pounds of hashish in Helmand province’s Registan district yesterday. Two people in the vehicle were detained. They admitted their intent was to deliver the drugs to Taliban members in Barham Chah, and that the route the combined forced was traveling was a main drug-smuggling conduit. -- An ISAF patrol found three 82mm mortar rounds in the Garm Ser district of Helmand province today. --...

CORONADO, Calif., March 5, 2010 – Addressing a group of Navy SEALs here yesterday, the nation’s top military officer said history would show the decisive contributions provided by special operations troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses sailors assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in Coronado, Calif., March 4, 2010. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I actually believe that when the story is told someday in history that the role of special forces in these wars will...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2010 – Afghan and international forces killed or detained suspected militants and found bomb-making materials, narcotics and weapons in recent operations, military officials reported. A combined Afghan and international security force searched a compound in Kandahar province yesterday after confirmed reports of militant activity and captured a Taliban facilitator and other insurgents suspected of bomb and suicide attacks. In Logar province last night, a force searched a compound, detained suspected insurgents and recovered explosive materials. A combined force killed several insurgents while searching for a terrorist cell commander in a rural house in Paktika province yesterday. The...

Under the shift in strategy, the teams now focus on targeting key Taliban figures rather than mainly hunting Al Qaeda leaders and have increased the number of raids they conduct, officials say. Reporting from Washington - The U.S. military command has quietly shifted and intensified the mission of clandestine special operations forces in Afghanistan, senior officials said, targeting key figures within the Taliban, rather than almost exclusively hunting Al Qaeda leaders.