Free Republic

“But who?” The strongest argument against replacing President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic nominee is the notion that no suitable successor exists. But there is, and not just a good one but one of the most qualified people ever to run for the office: Hillary Rodham Clinton. For what feels like longer than two weeks, we have publicly and endlessly debated about Biden’s candidacy. Democrats have repeatedly called on him to make a decision. It is damaging, divisive and only serves to further improve Donald Trump’s chances. I have ferociously defended Biden in the past and demanded that Democrats...

Thinking of buying precious metals for SHTF (economic collapse)scenario. In a SHTF scenario would one ounce of silver be worth more or less if it were an American Silver Eagle (coin), a one ounce silver round, or a one ounce silver bar? Same goes for gold. Also, in an American SHTF scenario , would a silver coin minted in Canada or Australia be worth more or less provided their economies had not collapsed. As far as I know the US mint only mints Silver Eagles and Gold Eagles. Why are some other rounds called coins. I understand that in order...

Japan’s military requested a record defense budget for 2023 Wednesday following several moves designed to improve its defenses against a rising threat from China. The 5.6 trillion yen request, equivalent to roughly $40.4 billion, could grow to as much as 6.5 trillion yen once procurement costs for some weapons can be defined after the government adopts a new national security strategy in December, The Associated Press reported. Concerns over China’s military buildup has accelerated Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s drive to expand Japan’s military over the next five years and deepen security cooperation with the U.S., Israel and neighbors in the...

The world's biggest freshwater fish, a giant stingray, that weighs 661 pounds (300 kilograms) is pictured with International scientists, Cambodian fisheries officials and villagers at Koh Preah island in the Mekong River south of Stung Treng province, Cambodia June 14, 2022

Fires raged. Rivers flooded. Ice melted. Droughts baked. Storms brewed. Temperatures soared. And people died. Climate change in 2021 reshaped life on planet Earth through extreme weather. World leaders are gathering in Scotland to try to accelerate the fight to curb climate change. So far, it’s not working, as the world keeps getting hotter and its weather more extreme, scientists and government officials say. They don’t have to point far back in time or far off for examples. There have been deadly floods in Belgium, Germany, China and Tennessee. Fire blazed in parts of the U.S. West, Greece and even...

“Right now, the feedback looks like we are going to a 6.8 caliber round,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said recently. The service has a list of its top six modernization priorities and “soldier lethality” is one of the items. The most high-profile program in that category is the squad automatic rifle. Army Secretary Mark Esper at the Association of the United States Army annual conference — while promising the service is speeding up the way it does acquisition — singled out the program as one that would see prototypes in the near future. “The bottom line is...

Have you noticed that nobody loves modern churches? Nobody. I mean NOBODY.Seriously. Have you ever met anyone who sees a church like this and and heard them whisper, “I just love that church! It is so inspiring!”.No. Never.Have you ever gone into a “worship space” like this and heard someone say how awed they were to be in the presence of God? I doubt it.  That’s because these buildings were not designed to inspire awe or to remind you about the presence of God. They are people centered, not God centered. They are auditoria not temples.There is a gut level...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Here's more fallout from the health care law: Until now, customers could walk into an insurance office or go online to buy standard health care coverage any time of year. Not anymore. Many people who didn't sign up during the government's open enrollment period that ended Monday will soon find it difficult or impossible to get insured this year, even if they go directly to a private company and money is no object. For some it's already too late. With limited exceptions, insurers are refusing to sell to individuals after the enrollment period for HealthCare.gov and the...

LONDON — It was a vast boat that saved two of each animal and a handful of humans from a catastrophic flood. But forget all those images of a long vessel with a pointy bow — the original Noah’s Ark, new research suggests, was round. A recently deciphered 4,000-year-old tablet from ancient Mesopotamia — modern-day Iraq — reveals striking new details about the roots of the Old Testament tale of Noah. It tells a similar story, complete with detailed instructions for building a giant round vessel known as a coracle — as well as the key instruction that animals should...

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today traveled to Rochester to sign the NY SAFE Act (Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act) that will give New York State the power to keep guns out of the hands of potential, felons and/or, potentially dangerous "mental health patients"... New York will ban any weapon without a magazine, as well as any magazine capable of containing a round. Also require, instant background checks on each round ammunition purchases at the time of sale.. The legislation will allow authorities to track ammunition purchases in real time to alert law enforcement , will closes a private sale...

The combat zone just got a little more high-tech as soldiers in Afghanistan began testing and training on five prototype weapons that fire smart bullets. Army officials are calling the XM25 Counter Defilade Targeting Engagement System revolutionary since it is the first time soldiers will have a smart weapon in their hands. Smart weapons have some form of a processing unit that allows them to be self-guided or, in this case, have self-adjusting sights and programmable rounds. The XM25 — which is not much bigger than a standard service rifle — fires 25 mm rounds that can be programmed to...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pro-immigration activists took to the streets of Chicago on Friday, in the first of a week of marches nationwide to step up pressure on a returning U.S. Congress to move forward with a stalled immigration overhaul. Dozens of marchers waving U.S., Mexican and other flags set off from Chinatown, at the start of a four-day trek to the district offices in Batavia, Illinois, of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican. Organizers said they planned to make the 50-mile (80-km) trek in stages, holding rallies along the way. They hope to pressure Hastert to push...

U.S. Army Sgt. Steven Gonzales, a combat engineer assigned to E Company, 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion, unearths a 155mm round buried in a field in south Muqdadiyah, Iraq, during Operation Dirty Harry, Feb. 20, 2006. U.S Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Wojciechowski More Photos Operation Dirty Harry Joint Search of Farmland Yields Mortar Round By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Wojciechowski 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment MUQDADIYAH, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2006 — As part of continuous efforts to thwart anti-Iraqi forces and find hidden weapons caches, Operation “Dirty Harry” recently searched a neighborhood and farmlands in south Muqdadiya...

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (Dec. 1, 2005) -- The Marine Corps’ newest addition to the Shoulder Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon family of munitions, designed to root out al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the caves of Afghanistan, is proving its worth on the streets of Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq. Although the SMAW-Novel Explosive round functions just like the 21-year-old SMAW High Explosive Dual-Purpose round, the SMAW-NE boasts a much larger explosive fill. The SMAW-NE contains four pounds of PBXN-113, an aluminized high explosive composition with similar characteristics to the 2.4-pound load of Aluminized Composition A3 fill in the...

The old excuse 'I've left my wallet at home' will soon no longer hold when it's your round. A nightclub is about to offer its regulars the option of having a microchip implanted in their arm that will obviate the need to carry cash or plastic. Queuing for entry or a drink at the bar would also become a thing of the past when the 'digital wallet' is introduced by Bar Soba in Glasgow. The chip is already proving popular with VIP members at two nightclubs in Barcelona and Rotterdam. While the concept strikes critics as Orwellian, others believe that,...

Muslims round on 'British way' minister By George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 22/11/2003) A Foreign Office minister caused outrage yesterday when he told Muslims they must make a choice between the "British way" of political dialogue and Islamic terrorism. The comments by Denis MacShane, which came the day after 27 people died in two bomb blasts at Istanbul, were described as "outrageous" and "disgraceful". Mr MacShane urged imams and other Muslim leaders to use "clearer, stronger language" to speak out against terrorism. "It is time for the elected and community leaders of British Muslims to make a choice: it is...

Clinton rallies round California's Davis By Hugh Davies (Filed: 07/08/2003) Bill Clinton has become a behind-the-scenes adviser to California's Democratic governor, Gray Davis. Mr Clinton is becoming a regular visitor to Los Angeles and is said to be "micro-managing" Mr Davis's fight to survive a recall election in October. The ex-president is seen as determined to use all his efforts to keep the Republicans from grabbing power in a state that is often crucial in influencing the outcome of presidential campaigns. His wife, Hillary, now a senator, is teeing herself up to run for election as America's first woman president...

WASHINGTON, DC -- President Bush's support for renewing a Clinton administration ban on so-called assault rifles sends the wrong message to terrorists and other criminals, Libertarians say. "Politicians who want to disarm vulnerable Americans at a time like this are a threat to homeland security," said Geoffrey Neale, Libertarian Party chairman. "The government simply can't protect everyone, all the time, but at least it can allow Americans to protect themselves." The 1994 assault weapons law, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, and then-Rep. Charles Schumer, D-NY, banned the manufacture and importation of certain types of semi-automatic rifles and prohibited magazines...

US to round up all Muslim and Arab asylum-seekers By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles 19 March 2003 The United States has ordered the detention of all political asylum-seekers from a long list of Arab and Muslim countries, infuriating immigrant advocates who say it violates international human rights law. The Department of Homeland Security announced the policy shift as part of its tightening of security in anticipation of a war with Iraq, codenamed Operation Liberty Shield. "Asylum applications from nations where al-Qa'ida, al-Qa'ida sympathisers and other terrorist groups are known to have operated will be detained for the duration of...

Kurds flee as Iraqis round up men of military age By Patrick Cockburn in Qush Teppa, northern Iraq 15 March 2003 Kurds have started to flee the northern Iraqi oil province of Kirkuk to escape arrest by authorities, who have begun detaining men of military age to prevent a Kurdish rebellion when the US invades Iraq. "I ran away because Saddam's people are taking young men who could carry a gun in an uprising," said Zama Fathi, 23, a labourer, who reached Qush Teppa in Kurdish-held territory north of Kirkuk yesterday. "People just disappear." At least a thousand Kurds have...