Free Republic

Jurors have reached a verdict in the racketeering trial of James "Whitey" Bulger, and their decision is expected to be announced soon.

A federal court handed a big defeat to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Police Department today, ruling that the controversial “stop and frisk� program infringed on constitutional rights. Judge Shira Scheindlin appointed a federal monitor to oversee the NYPD and “reform� the practice, although that might prove impossible: A federal judge appointed an independent monitor Monday to oversee changes to the New York Police Department’s contentious policy known as stop, question and frisk, a significant judicial rebuke for what the mayor and police commissioner have defended as a life-saving, crime-fighting tool. …Four men had sued saying they were...

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Twenty-six-year-old Raymond Widstrand was walking on Payne Avenue Sunday evening when he came across a large group of people, who were watching a fight. Police say it happened Aug. 4, 2013, at about 11:30 p.m. When police arrived, Widstrand was on the ground with his legs and arms spread out. Blood was coming from his nose and mouth. His pants were off and his shirt torn. Police questioned several people who were on the scene. One witness told police she had been a party at an address on Preble, near Minnehaha Avenue in St Paul. She said that some...

Bloody end for gun kid: Cop shoots armed 14-year-old dead in Bronx By KIRSTAN CONLEY and C.J. SULLIVAN Last Updated: 6:08 AM, August 5, 2013 Posted: 1:56 AM, August 5, 2013 An armed 14-year-old with a violent rap sheet was shot dead in The Bronx yesterday by a cop who had been on the job for less than a month, officials said. Surveillance video shows Shaaliver Douse, a suspected gang member, chasing and shooting at a young rival on Courtlandt Avenue near East 151st Street just before 3 a.m., police said. Two rookie cops on patrol heard the gunfire and...

Rakes, 59, of Quincy, had been attending Bulger's racketeering trial in Boston and, at one point, was expected to be called as a witness for the prosecution. Rake's body was found around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Mill Street in Lincoln, Mass., according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan

Stevie Wonder to BOYCOTT FLorida "I decided today that until the Stand Your Ground law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again," Wonder said Sunday while performing in Quebec City. "As a matter of fact, wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world." WIll be Sharpton Be Appearing WITH Lil Stevie at his next concert? I could be REAL CRUEL with this but I wont GO THERE Stevie ....Wake Up and smell the coffee

After George Zimmerman was found not guilty of all charges on Saturday evening, New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz sent a threatening tweet that has since been deleted from his account. He tweeted, "Thoroughly confused. Zimmerman doesn't last a year before the hood catches up to him."

While a nude female swimmer in his Camelot subidivision home's backyard pool had him distracted, the woman's accomplice was inside the victim's home stealing his personal property. Both made a clean getaway.

Teresa Heinz Kerry was in critical but stable condition at a Boston hospital after being transferred there from a hospital in Nantucket, where she and husband Secretary of State John Kerry were vacationing. A family spokesman said that Heinz Kerry was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital from Nantucket Cottage Hospital, where she was taken by ambulance earlier today.

<p>FL Conservative- Those pics are about the funniest thing I've seen in some time. The Egyptians get it. Why can't the majority of Amurkans??? Maybe cuz they're all too happy to get some handouts (individual OR corporate)?</p>

In his prepared text for a speech he is delivering today at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Ky.) said to illegal aliens who want to live and work in the United States: “[W]e will find a place for you.” Paul also said he envisions today’s illegal aliens becoming additional “taxpayers.” “Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers,” said Paul.

A 10-year-old Brooklyn boy picked up a gun that was dropped by a would-be robber dressed as a delivery man and fired a shot, police said Tuesday. No injuries were reported. Two men in disguise knocked on the door to the house at around 5:30 pm Monday, and two teenage sisters opened the door, police said.

Uh Oh….. The IRS scandal is “about to explode.” There’s a paper trail that leads “all the way to top levels” in D.C. Hat Tip Joseph Curl

It was the most serious in a string of beaver attacks on humans in Belarus, as the rodents have turned increasingly aggressive when confronted by humans after wandering near homes, shops and schools.The fisherman wanted his photo shot with a beaver. The beaver had other ideas: It attacked the 60-year-old man with razor-sharp teeth, slicing an artery and causing him to bleed to death. It was the most serious in a string of beaver attacks on humans in Belarus, as the rodents have turned increasingly aggressive when confronted by humans after wandering near homes, shops and schools. “The character of...

Henry Morgentaler, abortion crusader, dead at 90 Doctor opened first abortion clinic in Canada in Montreal in 1970, followed by more clinics across the country. Henry Morgentaler, hated and loved in equal measure across Canada for four decades, died this morning, an abortion activist was told by the family. He was 90. Carolyn Egan, with the Ontario Coalition of Abortion Clinics, told Canadian Press she spoke with members of Morgentaler's family, who told her he died early this morning. She was told he was surrounded by family and it was a peaceful death at his Toronto home. Photos View gallery...

During his visit to the Jersey Shore with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday, President Obama referred to the wrong city in Oklahoma devastated by a tornado last week. Even though Mr. Obama had just visited the city of Moore, Okla. Sunday and toured the path of destruction the tornado left, in remarks in Asbury Park, New Jersey Tuesday he sent a shout-out to the victims in Monroe, Okla., which is more than 200 miles to the east of Moore. “When you look out at the beach here, even in the rain it looks good,” he said. “You can count...

<p>Fire officials say a CSX freight train crashed into a trash truck near Baltimore, causing an explosion that rattled homes at least a half-mile away and collapsed nearby buildings, setting them on fire.</p>

An Oregon woman was told by a 911 dispatcher that authorities wouldn’t be able be able to help her as her ex-boyfriend broke into her place because of budget cuts. Oregon Public Radio reports that an unidentified woman called 911 during a weekend in August 2012 while Michael Bellah was breaking into her place. Her call was forwarded to Oregon State Police because of lay-offs at the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office only allows the department to be open Monday through Friday.

The Doors' founding keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, died in Germany Monday after a long fight with cancer, his publicist said in a statement. He was 74. The artist had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer. The Doors formed in 1965 after Manzarek happened to meet Jim Morrison on California's Venice Beach. The legendary rock group went on to sell 100 million albums worldwide, establishing five multiplatinum discs in the U.S Morrison died in 1971, but Manzarek carried on The Doors' legacy, continuing to work as a musician and an author.

Actor and comedian Jay Mohr waded into the gun debate on Twitter after Monday’s deadly terrorist attacks at the Boston Marathon. “What bothers me most about today is that we’re getting used 2 it. ENOUGH. 2nd amendment must go. Violence has 2 stop. Culture MUST change,” the Jerry Maguire actor tweeted Monday night. What bothers me most about today is that we’re getting used 2 it. ENOUGH. 2nd amendment must go. Violence has 2 stop. Culture MUST change.

is story is developing. The stabbings occurred at the Cy-Fair campus at Lone Star College located at 9191 Barker Cypress. One suspect has been detained and possibly another at large Stay tuned, next the liberals will be demanding a national knife registry. Posted by Gateway Guest Blogger on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 1:25 PM By: Rachel Pulaski This story is developing. The stabbings occurred at the Cy-Fair campus at Lone Star College located at 9191 Barker Cypress. One suspect has been detained and possibly another at large Stay tuned, next the liberals will be demanding a national knife registry. Via...

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense

He wore the English crown, but he ended up defeated, humiliated and reviled. Now things are looking up for King Richard III. Scientists announced Monday that they had found the monarch's 500-year-old remains under a parking lot in the city of Leicester -- a discovery Richard's fans say will inspire new research into his maligned history. University of Leicester researchers say tests on a battle-scarred skeleton unearthed last year prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that it is the king, who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and whose remains have been missing for centuries. "Richard III, the last...