Free Republic

On Friday June 3, as the Jewish holiday weekend of Shavuot began, an unusual website appeared: It showed a map of Massachusetts chock-full of dots interconnected by multicolored lines, like the corkboard of an overzealous detective or, perhaps, a conspiracy theorist. Each dot represented an institution — a school, a corporation, a police department, a nonprofit — and the lines showed their ties to one another and to Jewish organizations or philanthropists. The institutions and their purported relationships were highlighted, the Mapping Project’s anonymous creators wrote, “so we can dismantle them.” In the Boston-area Jewish community, the Mapping Project has...

Clinton-connected lobbyist Tony Podesta knew he was working with Paul Manafort on behalf of a Ukrainian politician, according to an indictment released Friday by the special counsel’s office. Podesta, Manafort and Mercury Public Affairs all failed to register as foreign agents of Ukraine for the work. Manafort entered a plea agreement with the special counsel Friday. Two lobbying firms, including one owned by Democratic superlobbyist Tony Podesta, knowingly worked with Paul Manafort at the direction of the Ukrainian government, according to an indictment released Friday by the special counsel’s office. The indictment, which was released ahead of an expected plea...

With Paul Manafort now being arrested along with his protégé Rick Gates by Robert Mueller, and indicted by a Grand Jury on 12 criminal counts (in particular conspiracy against United States and to launder money, tax/wire fraud etc.) thus potentially facing life in jail, we now have to ask the obvious question: why is Robert Mueller and his team leaking to the Clinton News Network? CNN announced on Friday that indictments/arrests are coming on Monday, and they're the sworn  political enemies of President Trump. The second point is this: after reading all the indictments, 31 pages, President Trump's name is...

The lobbying firms the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs are the unnamed companies in the grand jury indictment of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, according to three sources with knowledge of the investigation. The indictment, unsealed Monday, refers to "Company A" and "Company B" as the firms Manafort and Gates solicited in 2012 to lobby on behalf of the Ukranian government. Company A is Mercury Public Affairs and Company B is the Podesta Group, the sources said. The revelation of the companies’ identities points to more details about the players involved in the...

Twenty-nine years after they entered service, the Indian Navy’s Tupolev Tu-142M long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft will be retired this week. On March 29, the INAS 312 ‘Albatross’ squadron will operate only Boeing P-8Is. Ahead of the ceremonial retirement, the Indian Navy’s excellent frontman & spokesperson CAPTAIN DALIP SHARMA sent Livefist this exclusive piece. The Journey of ‘Mighty Props’ With the era of Grand Old Lady, the Super constellation coming to an end in 1983, the Nation and the Indian Navy had realised the value of having a multi engine LRMR – ASW aircraft and negotiations were commenced with our...

The UK is set to announce plans to obtain nine Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, as well as extend the service life of the Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoon fighters. The P-8 acquisition and Typhoon life extenstion will be part of a £178 billion ($270 billion) investment that will be made in defence equipment and support over the next ten years, says a statement from the prime minister’s office. Prime Minister David Cameron will outline the plans when he unveils the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) in the House of Commons later today. With the last of the...

The Il-114 testbed that has now been converted as a maritime patrol aircraft demonstrator (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov) The Russian naval air arm has accepted a fifth upgraded Ilyushin Il-38N maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and ordered some more conversions. But service chief Maj. Gen. Igor Kozhin said that the navy is also looking for “a modern and suitable universal platform” to replace the aging Il-20/Il-38 fleet. A selection will be made in 2015-16, he continued. A version of the Il-114 twin-turboprop airliner now seems the most likely candidate. The Il-38N upgrade features the Novella-P38 maritime mission set from Leninets. It is...

Canadian forest fires, which delivered unto us a Fourth of July weekend pall, seem to have inspired the release of a new report from the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. We are being told that air pollution is killing about 2,000 people a year, a figure so preposterously guessed at it that they might as well have made it 175,000 people a year if it's alarm they are trying to sound. The following words were used: likely, estimates and roughly. Air pollution likely contributes to thousands of deaths each year, a state study estimates. The...

Ilyushin has delivered the first upgraded Il-38N anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft to the Russian navy following a modernisation effort that began in 2012. Handed over on 15 July, the turboprop-powered type is the first of five examples to receive the enhancements under a Rb3.5 billion ($100 million) contract. Ilyushin The upgrades focus on the addition of a new Novella P-38 target track and search system developed by St Petersburg-based Leninets, giving the 1960s-era aircraft what the manufacturer calls “a second life”. The P-38 broadens the area a single Il-38N can cover, while allowing it to track 32 targets simultaneously. Ilyushin...

My youngest brother has been diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA).He's been "out of sorts" for the last 6 months, but when he noticed some rather disturbingly large blood blisters on his lower legs and feet, he went to the doctor at 1030 in the morning. At 1045, he was in the emergency ward.

LAAD Defence and Security 2013: US mulls P-3 MPA sale to Vietnam By Gareth Jennings 4/12/2013 The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is expected to request from the US government the sale of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), a senior company official told IHS Jane's on 10 April. Speaking at the LAAD Defence and Security 2013 exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Clay Fearnow, director maritime patrol programmes, said the Vietnamese Navy was keen to buy up to six surplus P-3s to help patrol the country's nearly 3,500 km coastline and 1,396,299 km2 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). "The Vietnamese...

Japan unveils new antisubmarine patrol planes English.news.cn 2013-03-26 21:03:13 TOKYO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) received the first two of a fleet of next generation P-1 antisubmarine patrol aircraft on Tuesday, with the planes scheduled to be deployed at Atsugi Air Base in Kanagawa Prefecture later this month, local media reported. The official delivery ceremony held earlier in the day in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, heralds the beginning of the JMSDF's plans to acquire seven of the high-tech planes to be deployed by March 2014 and a total of 70 P-1s in the long-run, officials said....

Northern Fleet Gets Modernized Anti-Submarine Plane The Russian Navy's Northern Fleet has accepted into service a modernized Ilyushin Il-38N anti-submarine warfare aircraft, which will also carry out electronic intelligence (ELINT) duties, the Northern Fleet's press spokesman Captain Vadim Serga said on Monday. "A modernized Il-38N was accepted into service at a Northern Fleet air base" he said. "It has a wider range of combat capabilities. These aircraft can be used for mapping the magnetic and gravitational fields of the Northern Ice sea, and also for conducting scientific oceanographic research and underwater and air reconnaissance," he added. He did not specify...

PICTURE: India's first 737-based P-8I nears flight debut By Craig Hoyle Boeing is close to conducting the first flight of a 737-800-based P-8I maritime patrol aircraft for the Indian navy, with its first example having emerged at the manufacturer’s Renton Field assembly site in Washington. Photographed by AirSpace user Brandon Farris earlier this month, the aircraft has already been painted in Indian markings and assigned the registration IN320. It is the first of eight P-8Is on order as replacements for the navy’s current Tupolev Tu-142 turboprops. The aircraft was last pictured as it entered final assembly in June. © Brandon...

PICTURES: Kawasaki XP-1 sports anti-ship missiles By Greg Waldron on September 19, 2011 The Japan Security Watch blog has published images of the Kawasaki XP-1 maritime patrol aircraft conducting flight tests with two Type-91 anti-ship missiles on its inboard missile pylons. The two outboard pylons, between engines 1-2 and 3-4, are empty in the photos. Japan currently has two aircraft for flight tests and two for ground tests. In August we reported that the ground testing aircraft developed cracks in their wings and fuselage, though Japan's defence ministry was unable to tell us how this would affect testing or procurement...

Saab's 'special mission' aircraft searches for customers By Lucy Burton Business reporter, BBC News, Sweden Framed by huge hangar doors, the planes in Saab's service and maintenance hangar sit together like actors on a stage. Every morning these aircraft at Sweden's Scavsta airport are provided fuelled and fully serviced for Saab's military and civilian customers. "It's our responsibility to keep the planes operational,'' says Bo Soderling, marketing director for Saab Services and Support. "If we're lucky," he says, "at the end of the day we get them back in working order". Any minor damage or small glitches are sorted by...

£3.6 billion Nimrods dismantled for scrap Nine brand new Nimrod surveillance aircraft, which cost taxpayers £3.6 billion, will be dismantled and scrapped without ever having flown. By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent The MRA4 planes, only one of which has ever left the ground, will be stripped of their equipment and abandoned following Coalition defence cuts. The decision led to the Nimrods being branded “the world's most expensive pile of scrap metal". Hundreds of jobs could also be lost, according to BAE Systems, which built the Nimrods. The Strategic Defence and Security Review in October terminated the £3.6 billion order for...

Two Russian ASW jets interrupt U.S.-Japanese drills Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft © RIA Novosti.Vitaliy Ankov A joint U.S.-Japanese military exercise in the Sea of Japan was suspended when two Russian Il-38 May anti-submarine aircraft flew over the area, the NHK channel said on Wednesday citing the Japanese defense ministry. The biennial Keen Sword drills were suspended amid fears that the Russian aircraft may obtain top-secret data, the channel reported. Around 34,000 Japanese military personnel with 40 warships and 250 aircraft joined more than 10,000 U.S. troops with 20 warships and 150 aircraft in the drills in the Sea of Japan, off...

In October of this year, Newzbin reported that it was anticipating legal action against its Usenet indexing service by a yet unnamed entity. Over a month later, Newzbin reports that it has been sued by the MPA (Motion Picture Association). The MPA is the international version of its US-based counterpart, the Motion Picture Association of America. According to Newzbin, the indexing service has been suspending some reports due to complaints - something that community members have noticed over the last several months. "You may have noticed that recently we suspended a number of existing reports. This was done after receiving...

SEATTLE, Washington, July 25, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Permitting same-sex “marriages” could lead to a serious loss of religious freedom, Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett warned Thursday in a legal brief filed in the ongoing battle over the state’s ban on homosexual “marriages.” The court hearing the case, however, rejected the brief on account of the fact that it comes over a year too late; oral arguments were heard in the state Supreme Court in March 2005. The archbishop was finally convinced to file the brief after witnessing the legalization of homosexual "marriage" in other states and its possible legal ramifications on...