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A mob broke into a Pakistani police station and burned a man accused of desecrating the Koran alive, police said Saturday, in the latest violence focusing attention on the country’s blasphemy laws. … At least 53 people have been killed in Pakistan since 1990 after being accused of blasphemy, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, and accusations are becoming more frequent. Blasphemy in Pakistan is punishable by death, but it is not specifically defined by law. …

My review of 'Jack Reacher'. No major spoilers.

A study by the UK-based biotech company Lycotec found that blue cheese may have anti-inflammatory properties that protect against many diseases. Blue cheeses like Roquefort and Bleu d'Auvergne are being credited with helping reduce cardiovascular disease in France. A studyby the UK-based biotech company Lycotec found that blue cheese may have anti-inflammatory properties that protect against many diseases. The anti-inflammatory properties increased the longer the cheese was ripened, said the Globe and Mail. AFP reported that the benefits of the cheese work best in the gut and just underneath the skin, which may help slow signs of aging. The researchers...

The war medals were stolen from a home in Vista sometime between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15San Diego County sheriff’s detectives are looking for the suspect or suspects responsible for stealing several World War II medals from a veteran's home in Vista. According to detectives, the war medals were stolen during a residential burglary in the 1000 block of Prospect Place sometime between November 27 and December 15. They were the only item taken from the home. The medals have no real monetary value, detectives said, but they do hold great sentimental value to the owner, a World War II...

The two mountain lions that California Department of Fish and Game wardens shot and killed in Half Moon Bay on Dec. 1 were a lot younger than officials had estimated. A necropsy revealed the mountain lions were four-month old cubs — not the 10-month old adolescents that officials described as behaving strangely. The two females, apparently orphaned, were in poor shape: they had empty stomachs and weighed only 13 and 14 pounds, Fish and Game officials said it was unlikely the cubs could have survived on their own, and that if they had not been killed they most likely would...

Garlic smugglers disguised the pungent Chinese bulbs as ginger to avoid paying UK import taxes–and received six years in jail for their troublesEver thought of making an entry into the lucrative world of...garlic smuggling? That's what hardened garlic-smugglers Murugasan Natarajan, and Lakshmi Suresh decided to do in an effort to make a quick buck or two. The duo told customs officials that a few thousands pounds of Chinese garlic was ginger, which isn't taxed in the UK, says the BBC. That mean the canny garlic smugglers managed to dodge a cool $3,218,400 or 2 million pounds in custom taxes—not an...

The NRA executive vice president has just proposed a plan that many predicted the NRA would come up with: The solution to guns is more guns. Liberal commentators are already lambasting it, but I think the news that the NRA is even discussing the matter is a positive sign. They have put a proposal on the table, and that implies that there is a problem. What was really worrying about Wayne LaPierre's remarks was the return of a very old trope — blaming Hollywood violence for real-life death. LaPierre even mentioned "celebrities" in his talk — as if Megan Fox...

Still recovering from gunshot wounds incurred during a months-long gang war on the East Side, Charles Dwayne Williams had only been out of the hospital about two weeks in April 2011 when he returned to the streets to exact revenge, prosecutors said Friday as he was sentenced to life in prison. Williams, 43, who was known on the streets as “Gat Daddy,” was convicted by a jury last month of using an assault rifle to ambush Michael Whitley — described as a rival gang member — at a gas station. He opted to have state District Judge Maria Teresa Herr...

A global activist group is targeting two large hotel chains because they give discounts to members of the National Rifle Association. The organization is putting pressure on the hotel chains to force them to disassociate from the gun-rights group after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The group, Avaaz, described as a "a global campaign network of 17 million people" is pressuring "Wyndham Hotels Worldwide – which owns Ramada, Days Inn, Wingate and Super 8 – and Best Western" because both organizations are listed as "friends of the NRA" on the NRA's website. Joseph Huff-Hannon, a senior campaigner at Avaaz,...

I can’t wait to see a friendly WaPo write-up on a Santa who lectures little girls who want Tonka trucks and Transformers about how they can only have toys that adhere to traditional gender roles. Political Santas who frown upon your toy choices are great! Every year, the children ask Santa for dolls, cars, games and puppies. They also ask for guns. Nerf guns, pistols, air rifles, shotguns. Even assault weapons. And that breaks this 82-year-old Santa’s heart, especially this year… “You might get a gun from your father or your mother or grandfather, but you won’t get one from...

Explanation: Comet Hale-Bopp, the Great Comet of 1997, became much brighter than any surrounding stars. It was seen even over bright city lights. Away from city lights, however, it put on quite a spectacular show. Here Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed above Val Parola Pass in the Dolomite mountains surrounding Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Comet Hale-Bopp's blue ion tail, consisting of ions from the comet's nucleus, is pushed out by the solar wind. The white dust tail is composed of larger particles of dust from the nucleus driven by the pressure of sunlight, that orbit behind the comet. Observations showed that Comet...

MARLBORO, NJ(CBSNewYork) — The National Rifle Association caused a firestorm with its proposal to put armed guards in every school, but one district in New Jersey is already heeding that call. “I believe that having an armed police officer, law enforcement official present in our schools will give our students comfort, our town, our community comfort, and will have anybody think twice about coming into Marlboro schools,” Mayor Jon Hornik told CBS 2′s Drew Levinson. Mayor Hornik said that he made his decision to place armed police officers in all of the district’s schools when they re-open in the New...

Hiring is expected to pick up in the New Year, according to career counselors, but uncertainty surrounding the strength of the economy will likely prevent the hiring season from being as robust as in years past. Last month, the economy added 146,000 jobs, well beyond the expected 85,000 experts predicted. And a strong holiday shopping season is buoying hopes that December will beat expectations as well. "Historically, the first quarter of any fiscal year is always the best time to expect hires because of the normal cycle of business," says Robert Meier, president of Job Market Experts, a Florida-based firm...

A Harris County gun shop owner received a letter Saturday threatening him, his family and his employees. "Live by the gun. Die by the gun. You will not live to see Easter," reads the typed letter that was mailed Thursday in Houston and arrived Saturday at Jim Pruett's Guns & Ammo. Jim Pruett was photographed and quoted in the Houston Chronicle last week saying that restricting sales of military-style arms wouldn't prevent tragedies like the Connecticut massacre. "All it's going to do is make it difficult for law-abiding citizens to get the best protection they can for their home against,...

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Pat Quinn’s push to ban semiautomatic weapons is again raising questions about the loss of manufacturing jobs in western Illinois. A handful of gun manufacturers clustered near the Quad-Cities have threatened to leave the state when previous attempts to ban so-called assault weapons were floated by the governor, his predecessor or individual lawmakers. Since 2008, however, only one of five companies has left the state. Les Baer Customs, which had about two dozen employs, crossed the Mississippi from its Hillsdale location and settled in LeClaire, Iowa. Mark Westrom, owner of Geneseo-based ArmaLite, said the manufacturers are still...

With President Obama's triumph in November, many political observers sounded the death knell for the "full repeal" movement fighting against ObamaCare. Despite lingering controversy and general unpopularity, the president's victory and a large Democratic majority in the Senate made the law appear safe at last. Is it? In a sense, it is. Full repeal almost certainly won't happen while President Obama is in office, and attempts to reform the law will struggle to gain traction as long as progressives keep their hold on the Senate. If the law won't be repealed before its true implementation in 2014, and if reform...

Ryan Freel, who last appeared in the major leagues in 2009, has died at age 36 of what a representative from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office tells the Florida Times-Union is a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to Sgt. Mike Paul, Freel's body was discovered in his home around 4 p.m. ET on Saturday. Freel spent parts of eight seasons in the majors, including six with the Reds. He was a career .268/.354/.369 hitter with 143 stolen bases. Freel also played five different positions during the course of his career. A Jacksonville native and product of Tallahassee Community College, he was originally...

The nurse who committed suicide after answering a hoax phone call about the Duchess of Cambridge made two attempts to kill herself last winter, and had been prescribed antidepressants. Jacintha Saldanha, who took her own life days after the call from Australian DJs pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, attempted to commit suicide last December with an overdose of pills during a family visit to India. She survived after being rushed to hospital, but tried to commit suicide again just nine days later by apparently jumping from a building. … Although Saldanha’s family have previously said she did...

December 23, 2012 Fourth Sunday of Advent   Reading 1 Mi 5:1-4a Thus says the LORD:You, Bethlehem-Ephrathahtoo small to be among the clans of Judah,from you shall come forth for meone who is to be ruler in Israel;whose origin is from of old,from ancient times.Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the timewhen she who is to give birth has borne,and the rest of his kindred shall returnto the children of Israel.He shall stand firm and shepherd his flockby the strength of the LORD,in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;and they shall remain, for now his greatnessshall...

At least 39 people have been killed in fresh clashes between rival communities in the Tana River district of Kenya's Coast province, police say. The attack by ethnic Pokomo farmers on an Orma village, Kipao, came in the early hours of the morning, they say. Thirteen children and six women were among those killed.Police say the latest attack was revenge for the killing of more than 100 villagers earlier this year, but some say the raids are political. Elections are due in March 2013. Police say there have been casualties on both sides. Houses were reportedly burnt and villagers cut...