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Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, hasn’t been seen since the Feb. 28 strikes that blew up his father, baffling US and Israeli officials as to his current whereabouts and whether he’s actually running the Iranian regime. Since the strikes that took out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the younger Khamenei has issued two written statements, but no one has so much as heard his voice. It’s left Iranians speculating whether he’s even alive — and earned him the moniker “the cardboard ayatollah” — after an AI-generated video of supporters hailing a cardboard cutout of him went viral. But intelligence from both...

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is little more than an "empty entity" who is not at the helm of the regime, according to Israeli national security sources. The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a targeted Israeli strike on Feb. 28, is also linked to what officials describe as a "misfunctioning" regime. "The new leader is an empty entity," Kobi Michael, a defense analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital. "Mojtaba Khamenei does not appear in public, but we also have reliable information that he does not...

IRAN’s new supreme tyrant has reportedly been flown to Moscow for leg surgery “personally offered by Putin” after suffering serious injuries during airstrikes.

“Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following his assassination on February 28, but a string of reports have said he has been in a coma following an airstrike with some observers, including President Donald Trump, suggesting he is dead. Khamenei is apparently unaware both that there is a war on and that he is the country's new leader. His injuries have required him to be flown to Russia for an operation 'personally offered by Putin', according to news outlet Al-Jarida.”

President Donald Trump said Iran must “surrender” to end the war and claimed he is hearing the country’s new supreme leader may already be dead. “I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender,” Trump said of Mojtaba Khamenei in a phone interview with NBC News. Trump added he is unsure whether the Iranian leader is still living. “I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him,” he said. The president also said Iran is seeking negotiations but that he is not...

Mojtaba Khamenei has stepped out from the bunker to make his first comments as Iran’s new supreme leader, more or less. It was on state media, the same propaganda tool that tried to claim his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was still alive after we turned him into an ashtray in the initial wave of attacks during Operation Epic Fury. Mojtaba was reportedly badly injured in an airstrike, losing one or both legs and being put into a medically induced coma. He is unaware of his new role as leader, the deaths of his family members, or the broader war. We’re...

The studied Psittacosaurus under natural (upper half) and UV light (lower half). (Zixiao Yang, Author provided) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Strong but light, beautiful and precisely structured, feathers are the most complex skin appendage that ever evolved in vertebrates. Despite the fact humans have been playing with feathers since prehistory, there's still a lot we don't understand about them. Our new study found that some of the first animals with feathers also had scaly skin like reptiles. Following the debut of the first feathered dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx prima, in 1996, a surge of discoveries has painted an ever more interesting picture of feather evolution....

IF you think the air travel experience generally stinks now, consider what it was like before smoking was banned on domestic flights 25 years ago. Tracy Sear, a flight attendant with US Airways, was looking over some Facebook posts from colleagues recalling those bad old days when a third or more of passengers on any flight puffed away, and cabins were foul with smoke. When I spoke with her the other day, she read one of those posts to me: “Suitcases, uniforms, hair — all stunk from cigarette smoke. And it’s astounding that we didn’t have more cabin fires.” ~snip

I have tried all the usuals. How can I truly find that great air-fare deals that don't tack on all the tax in the end? Thanks ahead.

My cellphone has not stopped ringing for the past ten minutes. Various sources inform that an announcement will come within the next few minutes from the Cuban government on Cuban TV and media. Stay tuned and we'll see if we've been manipulated once again or if today is the birth date of Cuba's liberty. Update: Here's the deal and what I know up to now, as of 1500 hours, August 24, 2007: First, South Florida Law Enforcement is on alert. An EOC (Emergency Operations Center) has been set-up and manned somewhere in Homestead. Im also told Local and State government...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that Fidel Castro is in a "great battle for life," but added that he's been given reason by the Cuban leader's aides to be optimistic about a quick recovery.

A South American parrot which died in quarantine in the UK had avian flu, it has been revealed. The parrot, which was imported from Suriname in mid-September, was infected with the H5 strain of the virus. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) insists there is no cause for alarm. Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds said: "The confirmed case does not affect the UK's official disease free status." That was because "the disease has been identified in imported birds during quarantine."She said further tests were needed to see if the parrot had picked up the deadly HN51 strain...

Two pet pigeons were hanged and six others decapitated in two separate incidents at the same home, town police said. A Clark Street family called police at 6 p.m. Friday to report that someone had broken into a pigeon coop and decapitated one pigeon and hung another with a burlap rope. The family called again at 6 p.m. Saturday to report that five pigeons had been decapitated and a sixth hanged with a wire. South Windsor police said they have a lead in the eight bird deaths, but did not provide details.

Riyadh, 29 April (AKI) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah's visit to the United States this week to discuss oil matters with President George W. Bush, took place amid growing speculation back home that the bed-ridden King Fahd's condition has worsened with the monarch slipping out of conciousness. Speculation is rife among Riyadh's ruling elite of Fahd's clinical death - but even if this were true, any official announcement would delayed until a final decision on Fahd's successor has been taken. Sources close to the Saudi royal family told Adnkronos International about the "suspicious" disappearance of King Fahd from public...

now im not a betting man, but i know landrovers and there space caps are not made of wood. This clearly looks like a wooden plank to me. Unless someone hacked Nasa.gov's website and put up a photoshop'ed photo, this looks kinda odd.

per cbs radio news

Artists back effort to unseat Bush Several leading Norwegian artists are donating works to a local campaign aimed at driving US President George W Bush out of office. The campaign, called "Tellhim.no," is raising money to place an ad in the Washington Post just before the US election in November. The artists include painter Frans Widerberg and photographer Morten Krogvold. One of Widerberg's paintings, for example, will be auctioned in August over the campaign's web site, with proceeds from a sale going towards efforts to unseat Bush. "We are frustrated and shaken over what's been going on," Widerberg told Norwegian...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

my own opinion

...according to a study by the University of Maryland: 57 % of those surveyed "believe that before the war Iraq was providing substantial support to al-Qaida", and 45% "believe that evidence that Iraq was supporting al-Qaida has been found". Moreover, 65% believe that "experts" have confirmed that Iraq had WMD.