Free Republic

American action film star Steven Seagal will become the face of a new Russian firearm, the actor announced at a Moscow news conference Friday. Seagal also used the occasion to practice some local phrases, give two thumbs up to the Russian army and criticize the weapons used by President Vladimir Putin's bodyguards. The U.S. actor has established friendly relations with Putin, who shares a penchant for martial arts with Seagal, and Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. One of Putin's associates, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, asked the American star earlier this year to lobby for easing restrictions on the sale of...

The rising value of the yuan has had a curious side effect: It is often cheaper for Chinese tourists to travel to exotic foreign destinations than it is to travel to China's popular resorts. A Beijing resident looking for an island break, for example, may find it more economical to go to Sri Lanka than to Hainan. Over the next year, the number of outbound trips from China will top the 100 million mark for the first time in history. The rising number of Chinese people traveling abroad has grown even faster than predicted. The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)...

(Reuters) - A funeral parlor switches into gold mining; a steel trader turns into a property developer; and a food packaging firm ventures into resources. Reverse takeovers and shifting corporate business strategies on Singapore's stock market have come under the spotlight in the wake of a recent collapse in the share prices of three companies listed on Southeast Asia's biggest bourse. One of the companies, Blumont Group Ltd (BLUM.SI), lost as much as S$6.2 billion ($4.96 billion) in market value in the past week. Prior to that, Blumont had surged as much as 12-fold this year, making it Singapore's top...

BUSAN – Taiwan may impose a 5% tax on all cinema tickets sold in the island territory. The proceeds will be channeled into a fund to help support the local movie industry. The proposal was put forward Wednesday by the Ministry of Culture at a meeting with local film-makers and industry bodies. The ministry positioned the move as an amendment to the existing Motion Picture Act. It said that the tax would be levied on ticket sales for all films, domestic and foreign. The support fund would provide subsidies for Taiwanese film-makers and screenwriters, and encourage them to make more...

This clip is from Västerås, Sweden. Each year, a festival celebrating classic American cars is held in this Nordic city. See link below.

These newly created “Just Move” stamps are allegedly all slated for destruction [by USPS] because some of the activities depicted are unsafe......That might pose a problem for this new "running with scissors" stamp....

Mimicking the 'bump fire' technique that can be utilized to fire a semi-auto rifle nonstop (from the hip), a new $6000 rifle from Slide-Fire keeps the stock (and your trigger finger) steady while the rest of the gun moves with the recoil, pulling the trigger against your stationary finger and producing the desired hail of gunfire...  The weapon utilizes loopholes in federal firearms law, whereas the stock of such a gun is simply not regulated as to it's movement/or lack of, nor how this is now being utilized to produce a full-auto effect... just the traditional mechanical elements of...

Former contractor of the U.S. intelligence service Edward Snowden travels in Russia freely and looks forward to finding a job, his attorney said Wednesday. "He feels okay, travels and reads," Anatoly Kucherena, who acted as Snowden's solicitor during the American's month-long confinement in the transit zone of a Moscow airport, told reporters, adding the whistleblower does not work at the moment. The former employee of the National Security Agency will make up his mind "shortly," Kucherena said, explaining that Snowden's savings and donations from supporters allow him to lead "a modest life." The lawyer also said Snowden's father was coming...

<p>Businessman Abdul Haji and a small group of plain-clothes policemen helped to rescue dozens of people from the Westgate mall. He had gone in search of his brother, armed only with a pistol..</p> <p>He had packed an SSK heavy blaster pistol with 14 rounds of ammunition.</p>

Well, the 50th is in the books. The same kid won, but he was riding a different horse. There was good, there was bad, and there was not a lot of ugly, thankfully. Let’s get started with the review. The UWRC (AKA Unlimiteds) competitors were few and far between, with only 15 racers showing up for race week. But, the big iron was there. Returning champ, Strega, along with Voodoo, Rare Bear, Czech Mate, 232 and Dreadnaught all have the pedigree. All of them could win; nearly all of them HAVE won. But, it was Bob Button’s year --- finally.

Holy hell, that is a LOT of starships. This comparison chart, compiled by DeviantARTist Dirk Loechel, presents what he says is an accurate size-comparison between famous sci-fi starships. As far as I can tell it's got more or less every single sci-fi starship ever, from Star Wars to Warhammer to EVE Online to Halo and way, way beyond. In an update this month, Loechel added a ton more ships to what already must have been a huge collection.

More shooting and showing the cool little XDs in 9mm, as well as a reminder about the recall. I'm anxious to get this pistol back from Springfield, as it is definitely a fine shooter.http://www.springfield-armory.comhttp://www.springfieldrecall.com

When Seoul’s city government decided to embrace “participatory budgeting” last year, many hailed the move as a meaningful step toward engaging the public in civic affairs and their bottom line. A total of 250 randomly selected Seoulites were put on the civil participatory budget committee, which was asked to decide budgets for local projects worth 47 billion won ($43.7 million) last year. The amount rose to 50 billion won this year. A year into implementation, however, the system doesn’t appear to be following rules set up to avoid reckless spending or half-baked proposals, according to a JoongAng Ilbo analysis of...

The Yomiuri ShimbunSouth Korean clothing, cosmetics and other brands are rapidly making a name for themselves in the Japanese fashion market. With an established reputation for craftsmanship, South Korean firms are also known to quickly adopt cutting-edge fads. They appear confident that Japan’s affection for South Korean music, television and other forms of popular culture will translate into success in the fashion world. The South Korean women’s clothing brand Dolly & Molly opened its first store in Japan in Parco department store in Shibuya, Tokyo, on Aug. 23. Featuring colorful, fun designs, the brand’s popularity was boosted after its products...

Former President George W. Bush says the current occupant of the White House should be allowed to play golf without being chastised. "I see our president criticized for playing golf. I don't. I think he ought to play golf," Bush told "In Play with Jimmy Roberts," in an interview obtained by The Hill to air on Tuesday. "I know the pressures of the job," he said, adding, "and to be able to get outside and play golf with some of your pals is important for the president. It does give you an outlet." "I think it's good for the president...

Ningxia has also become a wine hub in China and, increasingly, wine experts are coming around to the idea of Chinese wine. In December 2011, a panel of 10 wine experts found, in a blind tasting, that of a total of 10 wines made in Ningxia and Bordeaux in France, four out of the top five were Ningxia reds. Ningxia is home to some of the country’s top wineries and they are really make an impact, including Helan Qing Xue and Silver Heights, while the Shanxi-based Grace Vineyard has wineries in Ningxia. “Grape planting is now our main income,” said...

In cleaning out my deceased brother in law's things, I found a Ka-Bar with USMC stamped on it in what looks like the original sheath, WWII era. It's in pretty good shape but needs restoring. Anything I need to know as I set about the task?

Friday, September 20, 2013 Beta Testing CUSTOM STOVE ART with the Kopp Family Click image to enlarge The Woodstove Design Challenge has focused our attention on questions that we hadn’t really addressed before: 1. Can we make a really high performance woodstove that is completely affordable? 2. We don’t have the chutzpah to think we can produce a stove design that will make everyone happy.  So, how do we make a flexible design that can harness our owners’ creativity? 3. How can we have fun with this product? How can our owners have fun too? Part of the answer is...

I don't think I have ever posted a Vanity, but there is a first time for everything.I just wanted to extend my thanks to Free Republic and all of the FReepers who make this site worth while.I joined on this date 5 Years Ago, so you could say I have been FReeping 1/5th of my Entire life.I knew it meant something special that I joined on Constitution Day (and the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam) Never in a Million Years would I have thought I would have enjoyed it they way I do now.I first Found FR. sometime in...

Thailand is on its way to becoming a shopping mecca like Hong Kong and Singapore, as the Cabinet is expected to cut import duties on designer goods in a couple months. "The government has a policy for Thailand to be a shopping paradise so it will reduce the tax on luxury imports to a competitive level with other countries like Singapore and Hong Kong, which have zero tariff on luxury goods like perfumes and cosmetics," Areepong Bhoocha-oom, permanent secretary at the Finance Ministry, said yesterday. Lower customs taxes on luxury goods, which local shopping-mall operators have been waiting for years,...

Joe with first hunt bagIntroducing young people to the traditions of hunting is important for members of the gun culture.   Hunting is a rewarding activity that teaches significant lessons about reality, responsibility, and ethics.It is a life changing activity that requires considerable thought, judgement, moral decisions, and actions. Joe's father has some medical problems, and had not been hunting for five years.  Joe had accompanied his father on a previous dove hunt, but had never shot at live targets before.   He had shot a shotgun one time before this, at a stationary target.    Joe is 16 years old.I was more...

<p>LONDON (AP) — Call them relics of the 1960s or hippy home accessories, lava lamps have been casting their dim but groovy light on interiors for a half-century, having hit British shelves 50 years ago on Tuesday.</p> <p>A British company began marketing their original creation as an “exotic conversation piece” in 1963. Since then, millions of models of the much-copied invention have been sold worldwide.</p>

(Reuters) - Byun Mi-kyong sat quietly with her hands in her lap as she listened closely to every word the fortune-teller said about her daughter's chances of getting into the right university. Dealing with intensely competitive college entrance exams has driven South Korean students to despair, and sometimes to suicide, as they fight for the few places in the best programs that are seen as the key to a successful career. Anxious parents have long sought hints from fortune-tellers about how well their children will do in school. But now Byun and others are turning to divination for specific guidance...

Many wealthy Chinese today drape themselves in European luxury-brand jewelry made of gold, platinum, diamonds and other glittering gemstones. By contrast, ancient Chinese of means and taste often preferred creamy white hard jade that did not advertise wealth but symbolized beauty, purity, nobility, perfection, constancy, durability, power and immortality. Jade was the ultimate understated symbol of luxury. It is said by Chinese that "gold has value but jade is invaluable." The medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics were set in white jade mined in the Kunlun Mountains of Qinghai Province. Hard jade (jadeite) is difficult to carve and chisel and...

Young women are emerging as the new face of gun ownership in the U.S., with a new survey indicating young females are taking up arms now more than ever, comprising one out of every five shooters in the country. The National Shooting Sports Foundation report, released this month, indicates women between the ages of 18 and 34 are purchasing guns at a drastically higher rate, causing analysts to take note of a shift in America’s gun culture. . . . The cause of this rise is largely the subject of speculation, although Second Amendment advocates claim it has something to...

Russia's President Vladimir Putin proved he is equally happy befriending animals as he is hunting them when he shook hands with a walrus on Sunday. Putin was visiting an aquarium on Russky Island near the eastern city of Vladivostok when he was introduced to the giant sea creature. The president even broke his famously-steely demeanour to laugh as the walrus covered its eyes with its flippers in mock surprise and then gobbled down a fish.

Silk figurine is an art form of soft sculpture that originated in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Making one of the figurines requires the use of iron wire, cotton, gauze as well as satin and natural silk. The dolls are typically fashioned after characters from popular Chinese folk stories and legends. The art form was added to the list of crafts under Beijing's Municipal Level Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009. Craftsman Hua Shulin was chosen to be the inheritor for silk figurines in Beijing. A source of inspiration Born in 1950, Hua had been working as a technical director...

It's that time again. The crews are making the final touches on the race planes and the pilots are testing and growing more focused every day. The drama that is Air Racing is ready to play out in front of our incredibly loyal fans. Let’s take a look at who will be there and what to expect...

Anyone in the market for .223 and 5.56 ammo: I just got an email from Natchez Shooters Supplies saying they're having a Labor Day weekend sale. 1000 round case of American Eagle .223 for $499.50 or 1000 round case of Lake City 5.56 Green Tips for $549.50 Not the greatest prices ever but there it is. I'm not giving a link because this isn't an ad for them. Just a heads up if anyone's interested.

Companies have long been able to insure their most valuable assets against loss. In sports this means that teams can take out insurance policies that protect them against injuries to their marquee players.But apparently, player injury insurance is no longer available solely to real team owners but also to fantasy team owners as well. Fantasyplayerprotect.com now allows fantasy football owners to salvage their season in case of injuries to their key players. For example, for a mere $16.50, you can insure a $100 league entry fee against a season-ending injury to Adrian Peterson.Kudos to the company for providing a market where...

A girl poses for a photo at a 3D painting exhibition in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 29, 2013. Some 40 pieces of 3D work were displayed in the exhibition which will last till Oct. 22. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – Policemen shot and wounded a man near St. Petersburg Wednesday after he tried to attack them with a chainsaw, a Russian Interior Ministry spokesman said. Police received a telephone alert that a man from Kazakhstan was threatening a woman in the Leningrad Region village of Taitsy with a running chainsaw, apparently while under the influence of alcohol, the spokesman said. After two policemen arrived at the scene the suspect turned the chainsaw on them, and after firing three warning shots one of the officers fired several rounds at the assailant.

One of Indonesia's most influential Islamic groups is urging the government to cancel the Miss World pageant scheduled for next month, saying the exposure of skin by women in a competition violates Muslim teachings, an official said Monday. A top-level meeting of clerics was held earlier this month by the Indonesian Ulema Council to respond to protests from some groups over Indonesia's hosting of the event, even after organizers agreed to cut the bikini competition and instead outfit contestants in more conservative sarongs, council chairman Amidan Shaberah said. "Our position is clear, we reject Indonesia being the host of Miss...

Over half a million middle- and high-school students in Japan are feared to be strongly addicted to the Internet, prompting authorities to try a revolutionary solution to help teens who cannot voluntarily unplug from the web: Internet ‘fasting’ camps. The camps are one facet of the Japanese education ministry’s investigation and research program into Internet addiction among children slated for the next fiscal year. The ministry has requested that the government funds the immersion programs, which are designed to pull children away from their computers, cell phones and hand-held gaming devices. "It's becoming more and more of a problem," Akifumi...

Soldiers have discovered a cross-border pipeline shuttling alcohol between the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. "Preliminary investigation of the pipeline found that it was used for pumping the spirit from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan," prosecutors from the Zhambylsky region said in a statement. The 200-meter-long plastic pipe measuring 35-50 millimeters in diameter was spotted in a restricted border zone, Interfax reported Tuesday. The pipe runs under water along the bed of the river Chu, which forms the border between the two countries. Earlier this month BBC reported that Kazakhstan is one of the biggest grain producers in Central Asia...

Mr. Lee, at 31, has hit the typical marriage age for a Korean man, especially for a conglomerate employee like himself. But Lee doesn’t have any intention of tying the knot. He’s happy as he is living with his pet dog named Camus. “My life is preoccupied with work,” Lee says, “and I just feel more comfortable when I’m with my dog. For the time being, I’m satisfied and don’t want to get married.” Lee is one of an emerging type known as “herbivore men,” which was first coined in Japan, referring to guys who are kind of interested in...

In Taiwan, an unusual kind of massage is given - to those who are brave enough. Knife massages date back more than 2,000 years to China, where they originated. Now Taiwan is one of the few places where they are still practiced. Cindy Sui put herself on the chopping block at a knife massage parlour to give the treatment a try.

Something that’s no the usual. Not an AR, Not 5.56 . . . something interesting:“Just got my Mini back from John at Great West Gunsmithing and wanted to show it off.  I know you all like to see your suppressors on unique hosts and I can’t find many people that have a SDN-6 on a Ruger Mini in 6.8 SPC.  Enjoy the pictures.I had the barrel cut to 14.5″ and the Blackout FH pinned on.  He also remounted the front sight, bedded the action, tuned the trigger, and installed a recoil buffer.  I’m pleased to say the least, and...

Saw these on Vsauce2 just now and thought they were pretty cool. Apparently these skateboard wheels have LEDs in them that light up when the wheels spin. The LEDs have a 100,000 hour life expectancy and there are no batteries. The spinning of the wheels generates the current necessary. I have no idea how durable they are, though. The website says a set of 4 wheels is $40. A whole board is $100. I'm not gonna link directly. I will put a picture or two for people who don't YouTube.

Say what you will about S.C. state Sen. Lee Bright — he's a ban-the-Fed loon, a purveyor of right-wing paranoia porn, a goofball politico shunned by some members of his own party for his utter bubba-batshattery — the dude knows how to deliver a punch to his opponents. First, there was his classic Star Wars themed re-election ad which positively eviscerated his opponent Herni Thompson, and now there's his latest email blast in which he plays the "Is Lindsey Graham gay?" card. The email reads: Senator Lindsey Graham is not what he seems. He has been hiding a dark secret...

Shinjuku Ward in Tokyo, home to one of the country’s largest nightlife districts, is set to ban any kind of soliciting in the street not only for sex clubs but also karaoke parlors, pubs and bars from September. The move comes in the wake of growing incidents involving trouble with touts in the ward, particularly in the Kabukicho area, ward officials said. A metropolitan ordinance already bans aggressive solicitation such as pulling at the clothing of passersby, but the ward’s new ordinance, set to be enforced Sept. 1, will ban any kind of street solicitation. Although the ordinance carries no...

One of Thailand's leading universities apologized in July after its students displayed a large billboard depicting Adolf Hitler among a host of comic book superheroes during graduation celebrations. Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University expressed its "deep regret" over the painting, which appeared in July and featured Superman, Batman and the Incredible Hulk as well as the genocidal Nazi leader. In a letter to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Jewish human rights and Holocaust memorial organization, the university said the students who created it were "unaware of its significance" and had received a verbal warning. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the center,...

If you call the customer service line of a major business or corporation these days, there’s a good chance you’ll end up talking to someone thousands of miles away (or to a computer, if the company is really trying to cut costs). If you go shopping for new clothes, it’s likely that some of shirts and dresses you try on were made by people who are also thousands of miles away, in shops far less glamorous than the ones in which the finished products end up. Outsourcing is so commonplace in certain industries, we don’t even think twice about it...

Not counting rumors that Anthony Weiner's marriage has hit a rocky patch, it may be the worst-kept secret in politics: Joe Biden wants to be president. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the vice president's inner circle is swabbing the decks, battening down the hatches and hoisting the mainsails for USS Bidenpalooza 2016. "Everyone involved in his world," a Democratic official told the Journal, "is engaged in taking all the steps that make sense to prepare for a run, if he does run." Biden's people are apparently willing to go for it even if the allegedly inevitable nominee,...

Undeniable PROOF that Barack Hussein Obama is in FACT the 12th Imam

Veteran Japanese rockers Mr. Children attracted so many fans to this year’s edition of the Summer Sonic music festival that they made Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan upset. “Thank-you for the warm reception,” he said sarcastically in Osaka on Saturday, in response to the legions of Mr. Children fans who crowded the area just ahead of the Japanese group’s set. Ah, the trials of being an opening act. Despite Corgan’s rage, Mr. Children’s supporters were one of the reasons the 14th Summer Sonic, held simultaneously in Chiba (representing Tokyo) and Osaka, sold out both legs of the event (as well...

“I used to think wearing even just lip balm was too feminine,” said Choi Jung-hwan, 24, as he pulled a tube of gloss from his bag and smeared it across his lips. He replaced the cap, smacked his lips together and smiled. “Primping has become a necessity for men,” he continued. “It’s a testament to how much a man would do to win over a girl.” Grooming is no longer just for women. Members of K-pop boy bands Infinite and BEAST are rarely seen on stage without a little eye shadow and liner. In a survey of 2,880 Clio makeup...

Doug E. Fresh, Matisyahu and more hip-hop stars are hoping their vocals can get kids moving. The artists join Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America and Hip Hop Public Health to create an album focused on getting kids to stay active and be healthy. MTV RapFix reports the ‘Songs for a Healthier America’ LP features voices from other rap stars like Run-DMC and singers like Jordin Sparks, Ashanti and Ariana Grande. Even health experts like TV doc Doctor Oz join in on the rapping fun. “So many kids listen to Hip Hop so why not give these messages to...

With all the drama surrounding the transition from the old Unlimited Class to the new, the fans are forgetting about the other five classes of racing. I've decided to give focus this month’s column on the other classes, the innovators and racers who we don’t hear about on the forums. Who they are and what to look for this year – but let’s start with why the fans aren't as enamored with these classes, and why maybe they should be. Air Racing through the years was always about technical advancements -- especially for civil aviation. Among the first races in...

The sun is out! The birds are singing! The open road calls! Your vinyl interior is burning itself into your thighs! Yes, summer is here and it's time to go on some road trips. What car do you take, though?