Free Republic

The war between Russia and Ukraine is the first drone war. Not the first war in which drones have been used (that was arguably WWII), but the first war in which drones may have accounted for the most significant proportion of casualties. Defense against drones is an imperative, and many different approaches are being tried.One approach this correspondent has considered is using Tungsten Super Shot (TSS) in ordinary shotguns. On one forum, a commenter stated a Ukrainian soldier had obtained a Keltec KS7 to use for drone defense. Shotguns have obvious utility for close-in drone defense against small-sized drones. Many...

Newly declassified CIA files have shed light on the extent of the agency’s notorious MKUltra program, a series of mind control experiments conducted during the Cold War era. On December 23, the National Security Agency (NSA) declassified a total of 20 documents spanning over 1,200 pages, shedding light on covert CIA activities conducted between 1953 and 1964. This covert initiative involved a staggering 144 projects that explored the use of drugs, psychological torture, and sensory manipulation to alter human behavior. CIA Deputy Director Allen Dulles spearheaded the initiative, justifying it as a response to perceived threats from Soviet and Chinese...

London (PTI) -- Anjem Choudary, a radical Islamist preacher with dual British and Pakistani nationality, was on Tuesday jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years behind bars by a UK court for directing a terrorist organisation.Choudary, 57, had been found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of directing Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) and encouraging support for the proscribed organisation through online meetings. Sentencing him at the same court to a prison term means he would be in his 80s by the time he can seek parole. Justice Mark Wall told Choudary his behaviour was of the “highest culpability”. “Organisations such...

The widespread, pathogenic microbe Staphylococcus aureus can colonize the skin and mucous membranes throughout the body, particularly the vagina and gastrointestinal tract. A virulent strain of the bacterium produces toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a disease characterized by the quick onset of fever, a telltale rash, and, without treatment, multi-organ failure. Probiotics may help prevent the disease before the cytokine cascade ever begins. A study reports that strains of two bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, successfully inhibited the production of the superantigens that cause TSS, in lab experiments. L. Acidophilus, in addition, inhibited the growth of the S. aureus strains...

HILLSBORO, Ohio — Across southern Ohio, northern Kentucky and other parts of the Cincinnati media market, actor George Clooney’s father was a celebrity long before his now-famous son. In the 1960s and ’70s, Nick Clooney hosted variety shows out of Cincinnati — in the days when the city was a hotbed of local programming that was syndicated live to Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis and other locales — before becoming a top-rated local news anchor and a fine journalist. Consequently, local residents watched George grow up and take a special pride in his success. George has always shared his father’s ability to...

I No Longer Understand My Country by Jeff Snyder On October 30, Eliane Yvonne Marcele Aguillaume, 56, of Paris, was arrested in the Evansville, Indiana, Regional Airport on charges of disorderly conduct at an airport, public indecency and resisting law enforcement after she stripped to the waist in response to a security screener’s attempt to search her with a wand. Mme. Aguillaume had visited southwest Indiana to attend her nephew’s wedding, and was on her way home. According to the AP news report of this incident: "During a routine security screening, authorities say Aguillaume kept reaching inside her sweater forcing...