Free Republic

There’s no doubt that this is the largest Iranian warship to ever sail. But what is it for? Meet the Markan. What Iran Is Doing Iran recently commissioned what is by far their largest ship ever, the Makran, a former oil-tanker-turned-warship. The Islamic Republic calls the Makran a forward operating base ship, intended to extend Iranian reach farther out to sea by acting as a do-it-all launchpad that can keep helicopters and drones fueled and supplied, especially in the shallower littoral waters to the country’s southwest.

A near power grid outbreak on January 8, 2021 cut Europe’s power grid into a south-eastern and a north-western part for about an hour was described as one of the most critical near-blackout situations since the region’s last major blackout in 2006. A day after, on January 9, 2021, Pakistan and most of its 210 millions inhabitants were plunged into darkness during several hours. This was Pakistan’s second major power breakdown since May 2018, when the country remained without electricity for more than nine hours. A disturbance in the synchronised European high-voltage power grid on Friday, 8 January 2021, resulted...

Long the provenance of science fiction, laser weapons are quickly becoming the new norm. At the forefront? U.S. Navy destroyers. Coming to a Destroyer Near You It almost sounds like something from a sci-fi plot or Star Trek: A U.S. Navy destroyer is underway in the Arabian Sea, full steam ahead toward the Gulf of Oman. Meanwhile, a group of Iranian fast-attack boats approaches, disregarding calls from the destroyer to change their course. They’re armed with various anti-ship missiles and are ready to blow an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer out of the water. But before they’re able to lob their missiles...

The Lockheed SR-71 spy plane was – and still is – the fastest plane on the planet. The Goal Known unofficially as the “Blackbird” for its black paint job, which was developed to dissipate heat, the jet featured sleek lines that certainly were “futuristic” when it was flying top secret missions years before American astronauts headed to the moon. It was developed in secret in the late 1950s to cruise to 80,000 feet above the earth, near the edge of space, and out fly any missile that was launched at it.

The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) is preparing for a war in the Pacific against a near-peer adversary–that means China. One of their go-to weapons in the future could be a new type of long-range loitering munition or what could be described as a sort of kamikaze bomb. Changing Times In an effort to become more expeditionary and better prepared for combat in a littoral environment, big changes are coming to the United States Marine Corps. At the heart of the USMC’s pivot from land-based counterinsurgency warfare to their traditional maritime expeditionary role is a need to counter an increasingly aggressive...

As news of an international conspiracy involving the Italian government to remove President Donald Trump picks up steam, a massive blackout just hit the Vatican. The timing of this suggests something very big is happening, especially following the release of a sworn affidavit revealing the Italian government played a huge part in the US presidential election....

The odd-looking De Lisle carbine was the Frankenstein monster of rifles, made up of pistol, rifle, and submachine gun parts. Origins The De Lisle rifle was designed to arm British Commandos for secret, silent operations in Europe during the Second World War. And the rifle, actually a carbine, filled a special niche role: it was small, light-weight — and most importantly, one of if not the quietest rifle produced during the Second World War.

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I'd like to offer a retraction. On Wednesday, I mistakenly stated Bill Cosby was the last person whose opinion on Wednesday's Capitol event we need to hear. That was said in error, and for that, I apologize. Turns out O.J. Simpson had some thoughts on the matter too. At this point, the only person left to opine is Joe Exotic. Someone else that the Juice has unironic things to say about. It's been a week. Let's get the chuckles where we can find them. Will it be justice for all? pic.twitter.com/ukS7wLtcRZ — O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) January 7, 2021 [Wednesday] was...

... If you are one of the roughly 141 million Americans whose body produces sperm, the substance likely seems abundant and cheap. For the rest of us, it is very much neither. That has always been true, especially if one is discerning. But now, the coronavirus pandemic is creating a shortage, sperm banks and fertility clinics said. Men have stopped going in as much to donate, even as demand has stayed steady at some banks and increased rapidly at others. “We’ve been breaking records for sales since June worldwide not just in the U.S. — we’ve broken our records for...

I want to get this down while it is still fresh in my mind so no responses tonight. I'll answer any questions, as I can, tomorrow. People need to hear what happened to keep abreast of the media narrative that is being formulated. Drove into D. C. and got into town around 4:30 PM. Since I have never been to DC I did the usual tourist thing of walking around and taking pictures of various historical monuments. I even scouted out the are around the National Christmas Tree where the main event was supposed to take place. I waved at...

The Lord said to Moses: “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel—are to assemble before you. When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be...

Cosmopolitan is featuring multiple “plus-size,” “fat” women in a magazine issue that commends every body size as “healthy.” The February 2021 edition of Cosmopolitan features women of various body sizes with superimposed text reading “This is healthy! 11 women on why wellness doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all.” Callie Thorpe, a “plus size” blogger and model is among the featured women, and described to Cosmopolitan her involvement with the “body neutrality movement, which focused on what your body can do rather than how it looks.” “Plus-size people often feel like they can’t be part of the wellness space,” Thorpe told Cosmopolitan....

Dead voters—or at least votes recorded in the name of someone who has died—have drawn much attention in the disputed outcome of the presidential election. Ballots apparently cast by dead registered voters make up one of many fraud allegations lodged by President Donald Trump’s campaign legal team either in court or in press conferences. As expected, former Vice President Joe Biden won the Electoral College vote Dec. 14 to choose the next president. However, the Trump campaign still disputes the outcome and Trump has not conceded the Nov. 3 election to Biden. Congress is scheduled to certify the Electoral College...

Why is everyone losing their sh1t over covid when iatrogenic deaths kills far more people every year? I mean with the hyped numbers, we have health people admitting that no matter what people die of, if they test positive for covid, its automatically regarded as a covid death, so car crashes, falls, accidents, heart attacks, gunshots, all will be marked as a covid death if they test positive for covid. So the covid death numbers are so totally wrong to begin with. Consider society doesnt go apes1t, or are drivn crazy hysterical be the mediass, about iatrogenic deaths, which conservatively...

VIDEOWhen I was a kid, space flight announcers were no-nonsense type guys who spoke in an almost matter of fact neutral manner. How that has completely changed! An example of this change was the recent flight of the SpaceX Starship SN8 launch in Texas during which the highly emotional announcers wore their hearts on their sleeves and sounded almost identical to the famous Double Rainbow Guy.

2020 has been a year that none of us will ever forget. We experienced the worst global pandemic in 100 years, we witnessed the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, civil unrest erupted in major cities all over America, and we had one of the wildest presidential elections in our history. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet year. For a few moments, let’s take one more look back at the past 12 months. The following are 20 numbers from 2020 that are almost too crazy to believe…#1 When 2020 began, nobody had ever heard...

In Yukon, Canada, a perfectly preserved wolf puppy, hidden away for 57,000 years in permafrost and identified by researchers as “the oldest, most complete wolf,” has been discovered in Yukon, Canada. At the Klondike goldfields, near Dawson City, a miner had seen something in the frozen mud wall, and he had to blast through it to get to it to see what it was. He found a creature that was named the Zhùr by the local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation people.

Developed as the “big brother” to the Browning M1919 .30 caliber machine gun, the .50 caliber M2 was introduced in 1933 and nearly 90 years later it is still in service around the world The M2 “Ma Deuce” remains the primary heavy machine gun throughout NATO and has been in conflicts around the world. Weighing in at more than 127 pounds with tripod and T&E (Traverse and Elevation Mechanism), the M2 is truly a “heavy machine gun” in every sense of the word. But with a muzzle velocity of 2,810 feet per second and an effective range of 2,000 yards...

Ricky Ricardo is attacked by feral covid mask.