Free Republic

After being adopted and returned four different times, it seemed as though Bandit would be at the Gwinnett Jail Dogs Program in Georgia for the rest of his life. The wheelchair-bound dog is so sweet and friendly, but his special needs require a lot of care and have scared off many potential adopters over the years... It seemed the right family would never come along — until finally, a couple saw a Facebook post about Bandit, and knew they could give him the love and care he needed. As soon as Darrell and Sue Rider learned about Bandit, they were...

This cemetery in Yekaterinburg is a final resting place for many local stars and war heroes. But one section of the cemetery surrounded by pine trees is special. It is full of huge granite grave-stones with giant realistic portraits of people – many of them wear leather jackets or expensive suits, have thick gold chains and tattoos, hold cigarettes or keys from a Mercedes… All of them belong to representatives of the criminal world murdered in the 1990s – early 2000s. –nextpage–

Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack Thursday morning at a hospital in Florida, according to multiple reports. Reynold was 82. Burt was transported a Florida hospital after going into cardiac arrest. His family was by his side when he passed. Burt was a star in the moves and on TV -- appearing in classics like "Smokey and the Bandit," "Boogie Knights" and "Cannonball Run."

On Friday, Hillary Clinton attended a fundraiser hosted by George Kaiser, a noted businessman and philanthropist who was a major bundler for resident Obama in 2008. He is also the founder of Argonaut Private Equity, a hedge fund that poured $270 million into the now bankrupt solar company Solyndra. In 2009, Solyndra received more than half a billion dollars in taxpayer guaranteed loans. When the company went belly up in 2011, Kaiser and other investors were given a soft landing when they were guaranteed certain tax breaks that would kick in if Solyndra went bankrupt. Kaiser is a curious choice...

Short man robs bank in supermarket FALLBROOK, Calif. — A diminutive man in sunglasses robbed a North County supermarket banking desk Friday, authorities reported. The thief, who appeared to be in his early 30s, handed a demand note to a teller at the U.S. Bank office at the Albertsons store in the 1100 block of South Mission Road in Fallbrook shortly after 10 a.m., according to the FBI. The bandit fled with an undisclosed amount of money. Witnesses described him as a roughly 5-foot-4-inch, 110-pound white man with short brown hair, freckles and protruding ears. The same man is believed...

A buxom bandit is on the run after holding up a petrol station on Queensland's Gold Coast in the early hours of this morning. However, it's likely that she won't evade capture for long. The curvaceous blonde, who is believed to be in her 20s, made a series of schoolgirl blunders.

COUPEVILLE, Wash. (AP) — At times, Colton Harris-Moore's two years on the run were euphoric — the nights of beatific solitude in the woods, the soaring adrenalin rush of his first moments airborne in the cockpit of a stolen plane. But most other times were far less glamorous: sleeping in portable toilets or culverts as he sought shelter from the elements and the police. The youthful thief who rocketed to international notoriety as the "Barefoot Bandit" is done with both extremes for the moment. He was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in a Washington state prison after pleading...

A would-be robber in a Spider-Man mask received a beating from store clerks early this morning when he tried to stick-up a local convenience store with a sword, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said. Dale Foughty, 56, of Wilmington Highway, has been charged by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office with attempted armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and injury to personal property. His bond was set at $100,000. Foughty, allegedly wearing a Spider-Man mask, stuck a Samurai sword a female clerk’s face and said “give me your money and I will not hurt you,” Onslow County...

Colton Harris-Moore - the 19-year-old from Washington state known as the “Barefoot Bandit” - stole planes, boats and thousands of dollars and was on the run from authorities for more than two years. ~snip~ Colton eventually left Washington State and the FBI became involved when he was on the run in Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming. It turned into an international manhunt when Colton crossed Canadian borders, and even managed to fly a stolen plane all the way to the Bahamas. After stealing four planes, luxury cars, power boats, thousands of dollars, while being barefoot the entire time, his signature lifestyle...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado (AFP) – A billboard depicting Barack Obama as an Islamist suicide bomber, a gay and a Mexican bandit has triggered a storm of criticism in a western US city weeks ahead of crucial polls. The colourful poster of the US president -- under the ironic slogan "Vote DemocRAT" -- is attracting attention from media worldwide and from people clogging a local parking lot for a closer look.

MIDWEST CITY, Oklahoma (Reuters) – An unemployed woman who said she was desperate for money has been arrested on charges she robbed an Oklahoma McDonald's with a white stretch girdle wrapped around her face as a makeshift mask. Authorities said 51-year-old Sharon Lain of Midwest City admitted to being the underwear-masked bandit who made off with the contents of a cash drawer from the fast-food restaurant around 3 a.m. Tuesday. A surveillance video captured the woman on tape and was broadcast on local television, prompting several tips that led police to a condemned home on Wednesday night where Lain was...

A man who wrapped his head in toilet paper was caught on surveillance video as he calmly pulled off the knifepoint robbery of a Nebraska convenience store Saturday night.

Brightly colored women's thong underwear disguised the identities of two men during the robbery of an Arvada Diamond Shamrock earlier this month. Arvada police believe two Latinos entered the gas station at 6802 Wadsworth Blvd. just before 5 a.m. on May 16, donning the underwear over their faces and demanding cash from the clerk on duty. The suspects fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money and cigarettes.

NEW DELHI - Indian police killed one of the country's most notorious bandits Sunday — a man who ruled the ravines and forests of central India through a mixture of fear and love for three decades, with many hailing him as a modern-day Robin Hood. Shiv Kumar, also known by the alias Dadua, led one of the few remaining bands of outlaws that have roamed central India for centuries, their exploits romanticized in Bollywood movies. Kumar, thought to be in his 60s, was wanted in more than 200 cases of kidnapping, extortion and murder and had a bounty on his...

SAN DIEGO - A man dubbed the "FedEx Bandit" because he used envelopes from the delivery company to stash money during dozens of bank heists was sentenced today to 34 years in state prison. Farzad Farhbaksh, also known as Ernest Lozano, pleaded guilty on May 17 to 32 counts of robbery. "I'm sincerely sorry for what I've done, your honor," the defendant told San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen before he handed down the sentence. "I ask for your mercy." The judge gave Farhbaksh consecutive sentences because the 32 counts represented separate victims and separate crimes. Danielsen also made...

Police in Northern Virginia said today they have identified the woman known as the "cell phone bandit" and are looking for her in connection with four bank robberies conducted while using a cell phone. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said the woman is Candice Rose Martinez, 19, of Chantilly, Va., and said arrest warrants have been issued."

SAN DIEGO – After an exhaustive search, authorities say they've captured a man suspected of being the "FedEx bandit." Farzad Farhbaksh, 40, was caught entering Mexico Monday at a Tijuana border checkpoint, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Farhbaksh was being pursued for six months, Mack said. He is accused of being the bandit who robbed 41 banks in Southern California, using a Fed Ex box to carry away his stolen cash. San Diego police are expected to announce the arrest and the charges they plan to pursue at a news conference later in the day. Immigration...

I recently set out to learn more about Islam. I had no agenda at the time except to broaden my knowledge on the subject. What I have learned sickened me. I had previously been accepting of the notion that Islam was a peaceful religion and that the Muslim terrorists who inflict so much pain and death around the world represented a fringe element outside of mainstream Islam. I was wrong. The Islamic deity, Allah, is a false god. While the term "Allah" does indeed carry the same meaning as "God," Mohammed's Allah is nothing more than a construct of a...

Are these the words of a sane man? The words of a statesman? The words of a man with class?: "The Cardinal (Castillo Velazco) is a pantomine, it makes me sad and fills me with disgust, he is a coupster, the Pope has to know this, the Vatican's Ambassador has to know this, the Apostolic nuncio has to know this, the devil does not respect a priest's robes, he is a bandit, immoral, a coupster...may God forgive him and the devil receive him when the time comes.." All of this because the Cardinal called Chavez' Government "ominous", the CNE a...

An armed robber with a proclivity for the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants struck his sixth bank Wednesday, working at what authorities call a "dramatic" pace and showing dangerous aggression. The suspect robbed the Hastings TCF Bank branch at Cub Foods, 1729 Marquette Blvd., about 7:10 p.m. He displayed a long-barreled handgun, demanded money and threatened to kill the teller, according to the FBI. He stashed an undisclosed amount of money in a SpongeBob gift bag and fled on foot. Authorities believe he is responsible for a string of robberies in the past three months at Cub Foods TCF banks in...