Free Republic

In the tiny Texas town of Harrold, children and their parents do not give much thought to their safety at the community's only school, because they know that some of the teachers are carrying concealed weapons. In the remote town, the nearest law enforcement office is 30 minutes away and the residents know each other and trust each other, so the school board made the momentous decision to allow teachers to arm themselves at their work around children. Desperate to avoid the deadly consequences of their own school shooting incident, Harrold Independent School District has utlized armed teachers since 2007...

Holiday travelers faced a literal nightmare on Sunday morning when the line for security checks at Midway Airport in Chicago was reportedly over a mile long. KOMO reporter Denise Whitaker said that the line was 1.2 miles long. An airport spokespersonsaid that she wasn't surprised by the crowds. “This happens sometimes,” Chicago Aviation Department rep. Karen Pride told the Chicago Sun-Times. “There was a period of time earlier this morning, between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., that lines were long because that is when most people are traveling for the holiday period.” Twitter users posted pictures of the hellish scene....

No one is quite sure yet if a grand jury will indict Darren Wilson, the officer who fatally shot Michael Brown. But one thing is almost for sure: If they don’t, Ferguson and surrounding St. Louis, Missouri, areas will face widespread protests and looting once again. Local businesses have been bracing themselves for the possible fallout, many of which have called in armed forces to help them out. More than 300 private military contractors have been hired by Ferguson-area locals in anticipation of more looting, reported Vice News. Jared Ogden, director of operations for Asymmetric Solutions, a private military contractor...

Legion: No amnesty for illegal immigrants November 20, 2014 Featured in National Security, Citizenship Legion: No amnesty for illegal immigrants American Legion National Commander Michael D. Helm today questioned the wisdom of the White House putting politics above national security if it carries through with its plan to give amnesty to as many as 5 million illegal immigrants through an executive order. “At a time when ISIS, al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations are killing innocent Americans, it makes no sense to let our guard down and send a message that the United States is an open, soft target,” Helm...

After security researcher Jeffrey Paul upgraded the operating system on his MacBook Pro last week, he discovered that several of his personal files had found a new home — on the cloud. The computer had saved the files, which Paul thought resided only on his own encrypted hard drive, to a remote server that Apple controls. “This is unacceptable,” thundered Paul, an American based in Berlin, on his personal blog a few days later. “Apple has taken local files on my computer not stored in iCloud and silently and without my permission uploaded them to their servers — across all...

Two explosives were found near an Arizona bridge approximately 30 miles from the U.S. border with Mexico, according to a leaked report exclusively obtained by Breitbart Texas. The items were made from water gel commercial explosives and were ammonium nitrate based, according to the leaked official report from the Joint Intelligence Operations Center (JIOC). The materials were found near Amado, Arizona by two Arizona Department of Transportation employees who were reportedly inspecting the bridge.

After about 10 years with gmail.com, I've decides to migrate to a new email address. I figure it will take few months, and will insert a forward rule in my current gmail account. I'd like to find another free provider if possible. I don't mind using a service that wraps advertising around received message, but I don't want to use a provide that wraps around sent messages. I know about reagan.com but they charge. I know they advertise explicitly that they do not browse messages for social engineering, advertising ... etc. That attracts me and if I do choose a...

For most of the iPhone's lifespan, it's been effectively immune to malware. There were theoretical attacks and viruses targeting jailbroken phones, but thanks to the tight controls of the App Store, finding iOS malware in the wild has been nearly impossible. If you didn't jailbreak your phone and you weren’t targeted by the NSA, you simply didn't have to worry about catching a virus. Yesterday, that changed. A security firm called Palo Alto Networks discovered a malware program they’re calling Wirelurker, which sneaks into computers through unauthorized Chinese apps, then attacks iOS devices when they connect over USB. It’s an...

U.S. Sen. David Vitter has been named a “Champion of National Security” by the Center for Security Policy. Vitter was one of only five U.S. Senators to receive a 100 percent score – the other four being Republicans Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Tim Scott and Montana Democrat John Walsh. The Center’s rankings are based on legislators’ voting records on issues from border security to terrorist threats. “ISIS and the Ebola virus are huge national security threats right now – but the biggest problem is that this Administration hasn’t put forward any real or comprehensive national security strategy on any...

SIERRA VISTA — Motorists traveling on to Fort Huachuca for work in the morning are advised to give themselves more time than usual after a change in policy has resulted in a more thorough check of identification cards for people entering the installation. On Monday morning, congestion at the Main Gate was backed up far enough that drivers were blocking the intersection of Buffalo Soldier Trail and Fry Boulevard. Sierra Vista police officers issued at least two verbal or written warnings to motorists, and are hoping that driver’s will remember not to block the intersection in the future. After Monday’s...

A man appearing in court on charges that he scaled a White House fence was found incompetent to stand trial Monday and screamed for help as marshals forcibly removed him from the courtroom. Dominic Adesanya, 23, of Bel Air, Maryland, began screaming after he was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation and treatment for the next 45 days. Adesanya has been charged with two federal offenses: unlawfully entering the restricted grounds of the White House and harming two law enforcement dogs that were released to apprehend him. Don't "do this to me," Adesanya yelled at the end of a five-minute court...

Here they are, the Secret Service agents who take down White House intruders and protect your president, regardless of Party. The Secret Service tweeted out their photos Thursday. I see them around the grounds. Definitely two of my favorite White House employees.

Summary: Windows 10 will build in standards-based two-factor authentication to every device, effectively neutering most phishing attacks and password database breaches. The company also announced new features aimed at securing corporate machines from malware attacks and data leaks. Most of the early coverage of the Windows 10 Technical Preview has focused on the new Start menu, virtual desktops, and other highly visible parts of the user experience. But even in these early builds there are hints of much more momentous changes to come, especially in the crucial realm of security.The most tantalizing hint so far has been a new service...

MOSCOW, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Russia has begun a large-scale militarization of the Arctic Ocean region, with a military command structure planned by 2017. It comes after recent discoveries of oil and natural gas reserves under the ocean floor, and the possibility a potential Northern Sea Route -- an alternative to the Suez Canal -- could soon be established as global climate change causes melting of Arctic ice.

October is stacking up to be a bumper Patch Tuesday update with nine bulletins lined up for delivery — three rated critical. Cloud security firm Qualys estimates two of the lesser "important" bulletins are just as bad however, as they would also allow malicious code injection onto vulnerable systems. Top of the critical list is an update for Internet Explorer that affects all currently supported versions 6 to 11, on all operating system including Windows RT. Vulnerabilities discovered in most versions of Windows Server, Windows 7 and 8, and the .NET framework are covered in the other pair of critical...

An email has been making the rounds for at least 3-4 years which claims the world's best airport security team at Ben Gurion, Israel has deployed a next generation 'simple solution' for a complex problem... Namely, a special bomb-proof security booth that requires passengers to enter with sealed-doors behind them, as an electronic device detonates any explosives they may have on their person (better hope you left that Bic lighter in the tray!). And although some seemed to have bought into it, the truth is that the story was long-ago disproven -if Snopes is to be believed, anyway. I've never travelled...

samples:  TV Tropes,  Deviant Art,  WaPo

Protests from Muslims that dogs are “unclean” has prompted United Kingdom Transport officials to ban the use of dogs to sniff out explosives that terrorists might attempt to smuggle onto transportation vehicles. Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin explained that “for Muslims contact with a dog or even being in the presence of a dog is a certain and serious defilement. Since this is a religious belief rather than just a personal quirk it ought to merit the full protection of the law. I mean, we can’t trample this right merely on the theoretical possibility that without these dogs...

Three Afghan soldiers who vanished during training in Massachusetts last month and resurfaced days later at the Canadian border said they want asylum because returning to the homeland they are sworn to defend could mean death at the hands of the Taliban. “They catch us, they kill us,” Maj. Jan Mohammad Arash, 48, told the Boston Globe of the Taliban, the terrorist government driven into exile by coalition forces. “They tip those who kill us.” Arash and the others, Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada and Capt. Noorullah Aminyar, say the lives of their relatives back home have been threatened. The soldiers...

Are the lives of police officers in Ferguson worth less than that of the President of the United States? It appears that the same media, which object to police in Ferguson, Missouri arming and protecting themselves and their community members against mobs, are in favor of making the area around the White House into an armed camp, walled off from the public. According to John Martin of ABC News, the White House is already a fortress that includes: An iron fence Guard stations Bullet-resistance windows Alarms and infrared sensors Snipers on the roof Groups of armed agents—many hidden around lawns...