Free Republic

Since Hamas’s brutal attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and the resulting Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, tensions and hostilities across the Middle East have reached fever pitch. And with such a complex regional crisis playing out, it should not come as a surprise that the Biden administration is reconsidering its military priorities in the region.It should be cause for significant concern, however, that this could involve a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. While no definitive decision has been made to leave, four sources within the Defense and State departments said the White House is no...

Israeli officials have vowed to crush Hamas in response to its brutal terror attacks earlier this month, signaling that the way to ultimately do this is through a major ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. That's easier said than done though. In Gaza, invading Israeli forces will face a complex and dangerous urban environment, in which Hamas' well-armed and well-prepared forces can hide, set up traps, and launch surprise assaults. And some of the most difficult fighting could be underground, in the city-like labyrinth of tunnels that are vital to the militant group's defensive and offensive operations. Although it is...

In an op-ed posted on The Daily Reckoning on Tuesday, former CIA and Department of Defense advisor and investment banker James Rickards predicted that August 22 will be the day the U.S. dollar’s status, as the world reserve currency and medium for exchange will formally collapse.Many factors are worth considering, including the weaponization of the dollar against Russia’s economy amid the conflict in Ukraine, the U.S.’ own national debt of $31 trillion, and recent talks on the part of the BRICS+ group to create an alternative trade and reserve currency that would rival the dollar.“On August 22, about two-and-a-half months...

New York spent nearly $1 billion over the past decade on Elon Musk’s ambitious plan for what was supposed to be the largest solar-panel factory in the Western Hemisphere, one of the largest-ever public cash outlays of its kind. “You almost have to pinch yourself, right?” New York’s then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a construction ceremony for the factory in 2015. “That this is too good to be true.” Eight years later, that looks like a pretty good assessment. New York state paid to build a quarter-mile-long facility with 1.2 million square feet of industrial space, which it now owns...

President Joe Biden said on Monday the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real", days after denouncing Russia's deployment of such weapons in Belarus. On Saturday, Biden called Putin's announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus "absolutely irresponsible". "When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. "They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons....

For now, life is flourishing on our oxygen-rich planet, but Earth wasn't always that way – and scientists have predicted that, in the future, the atmosphere will revert back to one that's rich in methane and low in oxygen. This probably won't happen for another billion years or so. But when the change comes, it's going to happen fairly rapidly, according to research published in 2021. This shift will take the planet back to something like the state it was in before what's known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) around 2.4 billion years ago. What's more, the researchers behind...

Polticians from outgoing coalition say Likud chief's agreement to put Avi Maoz in charge of Israel's Jewish identity is a 'slap in the face,' could 'plunge Israel into the abyss' The prospect of a hardline, ultra-conservative, anti-pluralistic, homophobic nationalist being appointed as the next government's head of "Jewish identity" was met with staunch rebuke from politicians from the outgoing coalition on Sunday, with lawmakers slamming the move by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu as "insanity," "racist" and "unreal". Avi Moaz, the single lawmaker of the fringe Noam party, is one of the Knesset's most far-right politicians, holding non-pluralist Jewish views and...

The Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Office of the Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, the Provincetown Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, are announcing that after nearly a half-century, the oldest, unidentified homicide victim in Massachusetts, dubbed the “Lady of the Dunes,” has been identified as Ruth Marie Terry of Tennessee.

Incidents of electric vehicles catching on fire after hurricanes are becoming common according to reports The storm surges and flooding from Hurricane Ian in Florida are reportedly again exposing the vulnerability of electric vehicle catching fire after being submerged in saltwater. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently wrote in a letter to Jimmy Patronis, the chief financial officer of Florida Department of Financial Services, that such incidents are not uncommon, according to the Epoch Times. "We are tracking Florida EV fires through news reports, fire department social media sites, and other sources, and we can confirm your experience in...

In a recent op-ed, the Washington Post outlines how Tesla’s battery issues and fires may not just be due to poor design and manufacturing but a side effect of electric vehicles relying on lithium-ion batteries. The Washington Post reports in an op-ed titled “Tesla’s Big Batteries Aren’t the Fire Problem. Lithium Is,” that Americans should be questionubg whether lithium-ion powerpacks should be used for applications such as electric vehicles. The piece argues that the science of lithium-ion batteries make them inherently dangerous.

Abstract The electric vehicle (EV) market, together with photovoltaic (PV) installations continues to develop at a pace. However, there are concerns that EV and PV installation fires may create more harmful substances than other types of fire. PV modules and car battery fires emit a range of carcinogenic and highly toxic compounds that are not yet fully understood and may pose a threat to firefighters’ health. This also raises the question of the impact on firefighters’ clothing and the safe handling and cleaning after such fires. This article presents a literature and standards review of the firefighters’ protective clothing maintenance...

Authorities said two recent fires in Blue Springs were both caused by lithium-ion batteries that are commonly found in most homes. No one was hurt in the fires. Rechargeable batteries are found in a variety of products. The fire department said to make sure your smoke detectors work and take action. The pictures show what's left of a Dyson vacuum that caught fire from a third-party battery purchased on Amazon. The fire started in the primary bedroom closet while the family was at home. "They burn at really high heat. It takes a lot of water," said fire Capt. Derrick...

Cobalt mining is still fraught with danger and unethical practices, and our dependency is only growing. Cobalt is a problem material and it's one that lithium-ion batteries can use a lot of. As EV factory production ramps up for nearly all automakers, EVs have become the main driver of demand for cobalt, surpassing smartphones, which also rely on the metal. Mobile devices have driven demand for cobalt until now because lots of little batteries still need a cathode and anode in each one. A phone battery doesn't need anywhere near as many materials as an electric or hybrid car battery,...

Ever wondered what types of batteries are used to power electric and hybrid vehicles (EHVs)? Well, the majority of EHVs being driven on our roads today will use lithium-ion (Li-ion) or lithium polymer batteries. ... They pose a potentially lethal chemical hazard to anyone working on or near EHVs. ... Since the electrolyte is a liquid, there is always the possibility that it could leak from inside the battery – we’ve all seen standard AA batteries that have leaked leaving white potassium hydroxide crystals on their outer casing, right? Well, that’s the danger with lithium-ion batteries. If the electrolyte inside...

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation into electric and hybrid vehicle batteries after five automakers issued recalls due to possible defects that could cause fires or stalling. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the probe covers more than 138,000 vehicles with batteries made by LG Energy Solution of South Korea. General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Stellantis and Volkswagen have issued recalls since February of 2020, most due to internal battery failures that can increase the risk of fires. The investigation is another bug in a growing global rollout of electric vehicles by all automakers to replace...

House Republicans have called on Hunter Biden to testify before Congress later this week, according to a letter from a senior House Republican. "House Committee on Oversight and Reform Republicans request the attendance and testimony of Hunter Biden," Ranking Member James Comer said in a letter to House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney. The committee hearing, titled "It’s Electric: Developing the Postal Service Fleet of the Future," is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5.

The U.S. Coast Guard is warning about the hazards of transporting discarded lithium batteries after a container illegally loaded them caught fire while en route to the Port of Virginia, where it was set to be loaded onto a ship.

Firefighters are struggling to extinguish a fire that broke out last week on a cargo ship that is carrying thousands of luxury cars and is adrift off the coast of Portugal's Azores islands. A port official said it was unclear when crews would succeed. The vessel, Felicity Ace, which is carrying about 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some electric with lithium-ion batteries, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. The 22 crew members on board were evacuated on the same day. "The intervention [to put out the blaze] has to be done very slowly,"...

We may never know if an EV started the fire, but even if the EVs didn’t start the fire, they are certainly making it a lot more difficult to extinguish the fire. EV battery fires are chemically comparable to thermite fires, hot enough to melt steel, so there may not be much left to analyse by the time the ship fire finally burns itself out. This disaster could have real consequences for the EV market, both transporting EVs by sea or land, and consumer desire for a product which is potentially such a severe fire hazard. I would not be...

Rescuers are racing to salvage a US-bound cargo ship in the Atlantic engulfed in flames with 4,000 cars on board including Bentleys, Audis and Lamborghinis. The operation is taking place off the Azores archipelago where the 'Felicity Ace' cargo ship caught ablaze at sea on Wednesday. Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board have caught fire and the blaze requires specialist equipment to extinguish. Investigators are probing whether the batteries started the onboard inferno. The ship is still ablaze and plumes of white smoke are billowing from the vessel as a Portuguese navy ship works to stop it sinking...