Free Republic

More whistleblowers have stepped forward to tell Congress that high-ranking FBI officials are targeting agents, specifically former military members, for their political beliefs and trying to force them out of the bureau. A Marine and other military veterans at the FBI have been accused of disloyalty to the U.S. because they fit the profile of a supporter of former President Donald Trump, according to two disclosures sent to lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee. The Washington Times obtained copies of the disclosures. The whistleblowers said Jeffrey Veltri, deputy assistant director of the bureau’s security division, and Dena Perkins, assistant section...

What is ‘hook and loop‘? well it’s exactly like velcro but you can’t call it velcro. the manufacturer of mechanical based fastening products explains why in their new don’t say velcro campaign, an all-singing music video with all the vital traits to go viral – a confrontational title, an annoyingly catchy song and the most important, shock factor.

Is this the end of the line for Velcro? According to USA Today, the US army has decided to ditch that once most fashionable and space-age of fasteners from the pockets of trousers issued to soldiers in Afghanistan, and replace it with the humble button. The Velcro fasteners have, apparently, been failing to cope with bulging pockets – as well as collecting dirt and sand and even, with that unmistakable, fingers-on-blackboard ripping sound, betraying soldiers' positions to the enemy. US sergeant Kenny Hatten wrote on an army website, "Buttons are silent, work just fine in the mud, do not clog...

In a move that has the Web buzzing, the U.S. Army has decided to banish Velcro from uniform pants and bring back buttons. Replacing the fastener on uniforms isn't your traditional front-page news, but the shift has captured the attention of many. A buzzy article from USA Today explains that soldiers told their superiors that the Velcro's stickiness was being affected by the sand of the Afghanistan desert. Pockets weren't staying shut. The Army surved 2,700 soliders, and 60% of them said they would prefer buttons for their cargo pockets (only 11% wanted to "stick" with Velcro). Authorities listened, and...

Hook-and-loop tape is the generic name. But everyone knows the plastic fastener that can be reused and repositioned endlessly as Velcro. Now, German engineers have developed industrial-grade analogs for automotive and other applications. Made from steel, the newly patented fasteners can operate at temperatures as high as 800° Celsius and at tensile loads of up to 35 metric tons per square meter. Industrial companies approached the Technical University of Munich’s Institute of Metal Forming and Casting four years ago about developing the new connectors. They’re patterned on the burrs that some plants have evolved to adhere to the coats of...

A steel version of Velcro that is strong enough to hold together buildings has been developed by German scientists.The new invention, called Metaklett, uses the same hook-and-loop fastening system as Velcro but can support loads of up to 35 tonnes per square metre at temperatures as high as 1,472F (800C). Like the popular fabric fastener, Metaklett is designed to be peeled apart and reused, making it a potentially useful and cost-effective engineering component.

An exotic form of silicon that can be stuck together and then peeled apart has been developed by German researchers. The material, dubbed "silicon Velcro", could be used to manufacture microprocessors and devices that manipulate fluids on microscopic scales. Researchers at the Technical University of Ilmenau in Germany created the material from "black silicon". This is generated when normal silicon is hit with a powerful laser beam or bombarded with high-energy ions, producing a dense, microscopic array of needle-like structures on its surface. Light bounces around between the needles without escaping to give the material its black appearance. The German...

Minuscule shapes sculpted on metal surfaces could have a profound impact in many fields of engineering. By training intense electron beams on the surface of metals, Bruce Dance and his team have found a way to fashion delicate metal projections that will act like ultra-strong Velcro to form much tougher joints between metals and lightweight composite materials in aircraft and cars. The projections could be used to encourage bone to grow onto artificial hips. They could also be used in electronics to produce heat sinks of just about any shape. Developed at the Welding Institute (TWI) in Great Abington, near...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Slick Willie doesn't fit. Bill Clinton was more like Velcro, a president who couldn't escape controversy, said Margaret Scranton, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock political science professor teaching the state's first college course devoted to Clinton. The class began Thursday evening at the university's administrative offices. "When we thought of Reagan, we often thought of Teflon," Scranton told the class of 25 students. "But I have often used the term Velcro to describe what happens to Bill Clinton," she said. "All of us know that Clinton is a controversial president. ... People have...