Free Republic

War drives innovation. Weapons systems that were cutting edge at the beginning of a great power war often are obsolete by the end because the enemy learns how to counter them. A little-appreciated challenge of the Ukraine war is that it is making many of the United States’ best weapons systems obsolete. As a result, the next president and Congress need to do a major push in defense weapons innovation. For example, according to a confidential Ukrainian weapons assessment that was leaked to the Washington Post and summarized by Yahoo news:The assessment said that Ukraine stopped using the Excalibur shells...

Many readers are interested in how various handgun calibers have performed in defense against bears. This is a complicated subject. Sometimes, any caliber will do. Sometimes a level of power may be required. Sometimes, a level of accuracy or speed may be required. Many permutations exist.The most important aspect, if a confrontation occurs, is to have a firearm available, easily and quickly accessible. The specific caliber is less important.These updates include all the incidents we have been able to document to the date of the update, after several years of intense searches. We have always asked for examples of failures....

On Saturday, May 4th, 2024, Ethan Daubs surprised a large boar black bear in an oak brush patch near his house. Ethan is 23 years old. The boar climbed a tree as Daubs drew his Ruger Security 9 from his military-style holster. The bear was about seven yards away. Ethan yelled at the bruin, and it took off at speed across a field. Ethan considered the speed of the respectful bear as it retreated through the woods. He made a policy decision. In the future, if he heard strange noises in the brush, he would draw first, evaluating as events...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- A former CIA officer pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Honolulu on Friday to conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information for China. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, was arrested in 2020 https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/08/17/former-cia-operative-arrested-honolulu-charged-with-helping-china-spy-us/ on charges of spying and selling state secrets to China. Prosecutors say Ma admitted that he and a relative provided Chinese intelligence officers with a “large volume of classified U.S. national defense” matierals at a Hong Kong hotel room. In exchange, they were handed $50,000 in cash. Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989. He subsequently served as a linguist...

Interest payments on the nation’s ballooning debt just eclipsed spending on defense and Medicare, worrying policy experts who have warned this threatens to undermine U.S. economic stability. In the first seven months of fiscal year 2024, which began in October, spending on net interest surged to $514 billion, surpassing spending on both national defense ($498 billion) and Medicare ($465 billion). In fact, interest costs have topped spending on veterans, education and transportation combined. Rising debt will continue to put upward pressure on interest rates," the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonpartisan group that advocates for lowering the...

Political leaders in Saudi Arabia are pressing the administration of leftist President Joe Biden to help the country develop a nuclear program as part of a larger “security” deal that may ultimately include a pathway to normalizing ties with Israel, Reuters reported on Monday. The discussions regarding helping Riyadh develop nuclear energy, potentially the construction of a reactor and uranium enrichment capacity, reportedly occurred during National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend. Sullivan met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday to discuss “strategic relations” between Washington and Riyadh, according to the...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A man has been charged after he was shot while reportedly trying to break into a home Tuesday morning. The incident took place around 4 a.m. Tuesday in the 2200 block of Empress Drive. According to St. Louis County police, a man forced entry into a home when the homeowner shot him. The suspect ran off on foot but was tracked down by a police K9. He was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries following the shooting. First Alert 4 spoke to the homeowner who didn’t want to go on camera but did...

Many readers are interested in how various handgun calibers have performed in defense against bears. This is a complicated subject. Sometimes, any caliber will do. Sometimes a level of power may be required. Sometimes, a level of accuracy or speed may be required. Many permutations exist. The most important aspect, if a confrontation occurs, is to have a firearm available, easily and quickly accessible. The specific caliber is less important. These updates include all the incidents we have been able to document to the date of the update, after several years of intense searches. We have always asked for examples...

Many readers are interested in how various handgun calibers have performed in defense against bears. This is a complicated subject. Sometimes, any caliber will do. Sometimes a level of power may be required. Sometimes, a level of accuracy or speed may be required. Many permutations exist. The most important aspect, if a confrontation occurs, is to have a firearm available, easily and quickly accessible. The specific caliber is less important. These updates include all the incidents we have been able to document to the date of the update, after several years of intense searches. We always appreciate readers who help...

Wherin Ukies neglect to fortify the Kharkov region and then embark upon a maximal campaign of provocation in the region...

The use of handguns as a defense against bears has been shown to be effective 98% of the time. In this study, all cases that can be documented, where a handgun was fired in defense against a bear, are included. This is done by design to guard against selection bias. All cases cite the source for the case information. Unlike other attempts to put a number on how effective handguns, long guns, or bear spray are in defending against bears, every case is described to readers so they can come to their own conclusions. Readers may disregard any incidents at...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in a Cabinet shakeup that comes as he begins his fifth term in office. In line with Russian law, the entire Russian Cabinet resigned Tuesday following Putin’s glittering inauguration in the Kremlin, and most members have been widely expected to keep their jobs, while Shoigu's fate had appeared uncertain. Putin signed a decree on Sunday appointing Shoigu as secretary of Russia's Security Council, the Kremlin said. The appointment was announced shortly after Putin proposed Andrei Belousov to become the country’s defense minister in place of Shoigu. The announcement...

The fatal shooting of a male at 1415 West Gulf Bank Road about 12:30 a.m. today (May 9) will be referred to a Harris County grand jury. The identity of the deceased male is pending verification by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The male shooter, 53, was not injured in the incident. HPD Homicide Division Detectives M. Perez and S. Overstreet reported: HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting at an apartment complex at the above address and were directed to an unresponsive male near a dumpster across the parking lot from one of the apartment buildings. Houston...

Conservative attorney George Conway suggested Thursday that the cross-examination of adult film actor Stormy Daniels by former President Trump’s legal team in his hush money trial this week was a “complete disaster.” “My takeaway was that the continued cross-examination of Stormy Daniels was a complete disaster and fiasco for the defense,” Conway said during a panel appearance on CNN, adding, “It just went on and on, and … they didn’t have anything on her.” Conway, who is going through a divorce with former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, has been a staunch critic of the former president. Still, he praised Trump’s...

Former President Donald Trump’s defense on Thursday seemingly worked to paint the picture that porn actress Stormy Daniels attempted to financially benefit from his wealth and fame, according to reports. Daily Caller courts reporter Katelynn Richardson noted that during the defense’s cross-examination of the porn star, who nearly blew the trial for the prosecution on Tuesday, Trump attorney Susan Necheles was “pushing to show Daniels was motivated by money when she entered into her 2016 NDA [non-disclosure agreement].” Daniels notes she did the 2018 Anderson Cooper interview for free. Necheles: After the interview, you negotiated a book contract for $800,000?...

OPINION China’s recent outcry over the alleged breach of ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ with the Philippines reveals a profound irony, given the history of its coercion and deceit There is a huge amount of insincerity and gall involved in the Chinese complaint that the Philippines had torn up the bilateral ‘Gentleman’s Agreement,’ between Beijing and Manila. While the term ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ has an implicit assumption of ‘trust’ as a fundamental tenet besting a relationship, which may otherwise not be legally binding -- to even imagine that there has been any element of ‘trust’ between these two sparing countries, is to put oneself...

On Friday, April 26, 2024, Governor Bill Lee signed the popular school reform bill that would allow a few voluntary, highly regulated school staff to carry concealed firearms to protect the children under their care. The reform bill moves Tennessee from the few states that completely ban school staff from carrying concealed firearms to those states that allow staff to protect their children but with extreme restrictions. Most states have programs that are much less restrictive than the bill signed by Governor Lee. The bill, SB1325/HB1202, was popular in the state legislature, where it was passed with veto-proof majorities. The...

On March 8, 2024, the Florida legislature overwhelmingly voted for the HB0087: Taking of Bears. The Bill restores the ability of people in Florida to protect themselves, their pets, and dwellings from Florida black bears, which were administratively taken from them in 2012. The population of Florida black bears has skyrocketed, along with complaints and damage done by bears, particularly in Northern Florida.Florida legislative procedures require the governor to sign bills (after the legislature adjourns) within 15 days, or they become law without his signature. The timing starts when the governor receives the bill from the legislature.SECTION 8. Executive approval...

Attempting to quantify the effectiveness of defensive methods for use against bears suffers from significant selection bias. It is impractical to enlist large numbers of volunteers, randomly select half, give half a method of protection, leave the others as a control group, and place both in equal chances of being attacked. Instead, we rely on gathering data from people who were attacked and who had various types of defensive weapons. Obtaining a valid sample is nearly impossible because successful defenses have a strong bias of not being reported. The more spectacularly a defense fails, the more likely it is to...

Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday implored the judge in charge of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago documents case not to force the government into complying with defense discovery motions. In January, attorneys for the 45th president accused Smith and his office of myriad discovery violations in a rambling defense filing that also asserted that the genesis of the federal Florida case could be traced to “politically motivated operatives” within President Joe Biden’s administration who launched a “crusade” against their client to hamstring his chances in the 2024 presidential election. In the government’s response in opposition, Smith aims to methodically...