Free Republic

<p>This has been a strange and deadly week in America. On Monday, two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon, the first successful terrorist attack on a civilian target on American soil since 9/11. And yet a mere two days later, Boston’s death toll was surpassed by a freak fertilizer accident at a small town in Texas.</p>

Gun-control advocates hoped the shattering December murder of 20 first-graders in Newtown, Conn., would upend the de facto non-aggression pact on federal gun laws that both political parties have consented to in the last decade. But now that expanded background checks seem to be the only initiative that may pass Congress, the most powerful bloc of gun-control proponents in the country is conceding that the gripping sense of outrage following the Sandy Hook massacre has ebbed. Democratic governors fault Washington lawmakers for not acting more aggressively but, more strikingly, some even point a finger at Americans themselves for not keeping...

THE grieving process is in danger of being branded a medical condition if a mourner feels sad for more than two weeks and consults a GP, according to an international authority on death and dying. At present, mourners can feel sad for two months before being told they have a mental disorder, says Professor Dale Larson. Decades ago, a diagnosis could be made after a year.In a keynote address at an Australian Psychological Society conference in Melbourne on Saturday, Prof Larson will express his anger about the American Psychiatric Association's new diagnostic manual, DSM 5, which is used in many...

Sen. Marco Rubio’s delivery of the GOP response to the State of the Union shows he’s a force the Democrats must reckon with, says former White House advisor Van Jones. The Florida Republican poses a “dangerous” political threat to Democrats because of his keen ability to emotionally connect with voters, Jones said.

Just when the controversy over the banned FourLoko has died down, a beverage company has come out with straight Scotch in a can, just like soda pop. Though there’s been no uproar so far, as was the case with the alcohol-caffeine combo FourLoko, Scottish Spirits’ “Scotch in a Can” is being marketed as a “distilled and matured in Scotland for a minimum of 3 years in oak casks.” It has notes of “honey, vanilla, butterscotch, apples and pears,” and a “hint of peat and smoke in the background,” as described on their site. Each can contains about eight shots or...

Streaming available. I just can't believe how incredibly awesome this radio station is!!!! Yes, I've had several beers tonight...

As gun control talks heat up in Washington, more than 1,000 people lined up Saturday morning outside the exhibit hall at Jim Miller Park in Cobb County for the Eastman Gun Show. Many hoped to walk away with assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines they fear may soon be outlawed. “This is awesome,” said Kevin Law, a gun enthusiast and surveyor from Woodstock. He attended the show with his brother Keith Law. “We knew it was going to be like this. People want to protect their rights.” Like many in line in the freezing temperatures, the Law brothers had planned to...

A 21-year-old Gwinnett man allegedly under the influence of bath salts was arrested this week after he tried to fight a police officer and consumed his own feces, police said. Officers arrived at a residence on the 2100 block of Worrall Hill Drive around 4 p.m. on July 3 after a woman told police her son, Matthew Hammond, was "walking around out of his mind, armed with a knife," according to a police incident report. When the officer pulled up to a house, the man sprinted towards his car. Hammond chased after the car as the officer pulled away. When...

At a few minutes before 8 in the morning on the eve of Russia Day last month — the holiday that since the demise of the old Soviet Union has marked the birth of the new, free Russia — eight men, some armed, swept silently into an upscale apartment building in the heart of Moscow. When the knock came, Ksenia Sobchak, a 30-year-old native of St. Petersburg who many believe is Vladimir Putin’s goddaughter (she says she isn’t), answered the door in a negligee. If you read the tabloids, whether in Moscow or London, Sobchak is “the Paris Hilton of...

<p>In less than a week, the city’s $50 million “crown jewel’’ pool in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park has turned into a mini-war zone, where frightening melees have injured two cops and a lifeguard.</p> <p>The Greenpoint pool reopened last week with a splashy ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Mayor Bloomberg speaking of its “illustrious past and bright future.’’</p>

HOUSTON (AP) — A man who claimed Texas' version of a stand-your-ground law allowed him to fatally shoot a neighbor after an argument about a noisy party was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison for murder. Raul Rodriguez, 46, had faced up to life in prison for the 2010 killing of Kelly Danaher. He will be eligible for parole in 20 years. "I think it sends a clear message that this was not a case of stand your ground," prosecutor Kelli Johnson said of the sentence. Rodriguez, a retired Houston-area firefighter, was angry about the noise coming from a...

HOLLAND, Mich.—Mitt Romney said Tuesday his campaign is vetting Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as a potential vice presidential candidate, contradicting several reports suggesting otherwise. Romney told reporters Rubio is being "thoroughly vetted" for the VP job and described stories reporting contrary news as "false."...Snip... "...The story was entirely false. Marco Rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of our process."

WASHINGTON -- It’s been more than 50 years since a candidate has won the White House without carrying at least two of the three swing states of Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, and a new poll shows Mitt Romney neck and neck with President Obama in two of them. Romney, who trailed Obama 49% to 42% in Florida and 47% to 41% in Ohio in late March, is now statistically tied with the president, 44% to 43% in Florida and 42% to 44% in Ohio, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll of voters in the three states. Obama, however, has...

Zooming along at 170 mph in a fighter jet carrying thousands of pounds of volatile fuel, two Navy pilots faced nothing but bad choices when their aircraft malfunctioned over Virginia's most populated city. "Catastrophic engine system failure right after takeoff, which is always the most critical phase of flying, leaves very, very few options," said aviation safety expert and decorated pilot J.F. Joseph. "You literally run out of altitude, air speed and ideas all at the same time," he said. Somehow, however, the student pilot and his instructor and everyone on the ground survived Friday when the men ejected from...

The man who gave rock one of its key visual and sonic props has died. Jim Marshall, known as "The Father of Loud" for inventing the Marshall amplifier, was 88 years old. Marshall was a drummer and drum teacher who used his earnings to set up a music shop in west London in 1960. Among his customers were the likes of Ritchie Blackmore and Pete Townshend, and it was through talking to them that Marshall realised there was a gap in the market for a guitar amplifier cheaper than the American-made models popular at the time. When, at Townshend's request,...

One of the three Mega Millions jackpot winners says her winning ticket remains stashed away inside the Baltimore McDonald's where she works. But some of Marlinde Wilson's co-workers think she is telling a Big Lie. "I left my ticket there, and it's somewhere safe that only I know about," Wilson told the New York Post. "I'm waiting for things to calm down so I can go back to McDonald's and get it. The people [at McDonald's] are too excited. I want their heads to cool down before I go back." Wilson claims to have purchased one of the three winning...

Bin Laden is back... As a zombie! Osombie (Warning: some blood and guts)Is this thing for real?

Portlandia, the frequently hilarious sketch comedy show whose second season began last week, creates a dilemma for its audience: How to react to a TV show that mocks you, and yet - by its status as a buzzed-and-blogged-about cult hit - reaffirms you at the same time? The show, which airs at 10 p.m. Friday on IFC, stars creators Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live and Carrie Brownstein of the rock band Wild Flag. And its principal intention is to satirize the preciousness of the hipster lifestyle that has reached its drizzly apotheosis in Portland, the mad-about-coffee, indie-rock and cycling...

Details surrounding the divorce settlement between Terry Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, and ex-wife Linda Bollea have surfaced in an article in the St. Petersburg Times. The two were divorced in 2009, but specifics of their financial settlement were unknown until now. So much for 50/50. Linda Bollea received more than 70% of the couple's liquid assets. But the pain doesn't stop there for the Hulkster. His ex also received a 40% ownership stake in Hulk's companies. Plus, she received a $3 million property settlement (more on that below). The St. Petersberg Times writes that "the confidential financial settlement...

If all you wanna do is ride around, the classic convertible can be yours for $15,000. Ford Motor Co. will soon sell brand-new 1965 Ford Mustangs for just $15,000 each. The only hitch: There's some assembly required. As part of its Ford Reproduction business, Ford revealed today it had approved a new stamping of the steel bodies for first-generation Mustang that buyers could then build into their own 1964 1/2 through 1966 Mustang, using whatever engine, axles, interior and other parts they can find on their own...

There are dozens of reasons that Amanda Knox's and Raffaele Sollecito's convictions for murder were overturned in Perugia, Italy today. Here are the 10 of the most compelling. 10. No motive. Amanda Knox was a typical college student on a study-abroad trip in Italy, and was, by all accounts, having the time of her life. Convincing her boyfriend (of about a week) and a complete stranger to kill her roommate, Meredith Kercher, would have benefited Knox is no way imaginable, other than to bring her good times in Italy to a screeching halt. 9. A case built entirely on character....

HARPER WOODS, Mich. – A dispute between two rival groups of teenagers escalated into gunfire Saturday when members of one of the groups opened fire inside a shopping mall, critically injuring one teenager and a clothing store worker as holiday shoppers dashed for cover, police said. The shooting happened around 6 p.m. at Eastland Mall, east of Detroit, on the heels of Black Friday, traditionally the kickoff for what retailers hope is the busiest weekend of the holiday season. The mall was closed for the night as police searched for suspects, said Harper Woods deputy police chief Jim Burke. The...

Teens from a of Brooklyn housing complexes are locked in an ongoing turf war that has left two dead and several others wounded in recent months, police sources said. The clashes began as innocently as staredowns, growing into fist fights and then gunplay. The gang wanna-bes - some as young as 12 - hang out at the developments separated by about four blocks. Police said the fisticuffs have exploded into gunfire between the Hood Starz, of Marcus Garvey Village, and the Brownsville Fly Guys, of the Marcus Garvey Houses. The two groups, police said, used to be allies. But there...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Connecticut man was condemned to death Monday for a night of terror inside a suburban home in which a woman was strangled and her two daughters tied to their beds, doused in gasoline and left to die in a fire. Jurors in New Haven Superior Court voted unanimously to send Steven Hayes to death row after deliberating over the span of four days. Judge Jon Blue will impose the sentence on Dec. 2. "You have been exposed to images of depravity and horror that no human being should have to see," Blue said in thanking...

<p>A Halloween party for college-age guests in downtown Oakland erupted into violence early today when a gunman opened fire on a crowd, hitting nine people, police said.</p> <p>All nine victims were in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries at hospitals this afternoon, police said.</p>

How easy is it to pop the bubble of safety we all walk around in? How suddenly can a town of smiling friends and neighbors turn into a den of contorted-faced ghouls? It only takes a moment. I realized this when I got a letter from a local family who wanted to recount a horrifying incident. The young parents — who asked that their full names not be printed — were visiting Columbia’s Activity & Recreation Center on a recent Sunday. Their 20-month-old son is learning to swim, and they spent the afternoon splashing in the indoor pool. But as...

More than 100 people grieved together in northeast Charlotte at a memorial Saturday for two men who were shot and killed while police say they were trying to rob a Pizza Hut. Many of the people gathered said they had mixed emotions – mourning the loss of two young men while abhorring the violent acts that led to their deaths. The two men – Gregory James Hardy and Dauntrae Wallace – were both 21-year-old felons, one on probation and one awaiting trial on unrelated charges. But family members and friends tried to portray them as more Saturday night – as...

CHULA VISTA — It can be a tough place for a cop to find a drunken driver. Traffic checkpoints in Chula Vista funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the federal government are netting an average of four arrests each, according to police, and many have yielded no drunken drivers. Police aren’t complaining. They say the main thrust of a checkpoint is to serve as a deterrent. “People are just getting use to the idea that if you drive drunk, you’re going to get caught,” said Chula Vista police Agent Rusty Rea. The numbers Rea really cares about...

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. The tragedy of Joaquin Phoenix's self-destruction has been made into "I'm Still Here," a sad and painful documentary that serves little useful purpose other than to pound another nail into the coffin. Here is a gifted actor who apparently by his own decision has brought desolation upon his head. He was serious when he said he would never act again. He was serious when he announced a career as a hip hop artist. He wasn't goofing when he was on the Letterman show. He was flying into pieces. For reasons which are...

An 18-year-old San Francisco man arrested soon after the Sunday night slaying of a German tourist - in a clash of rival groups partly caught on video - will not be charged with murder "at the present time," authorities said Tuesday. Phillip Stewart was in a car that police later stopped after a Luxor cab driver spotted suspects enter the vehicle following gunfire at Mason and Geary streets that left Mechthild Schröer dead, police say. Four others in the same car were released Monday without being charged. A 50-year-old rector of an elementary school in Minden, near Hanover, Schröer was...

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- 32-year-old John Moore of San Marcos had a security clearance and a six-figure salary when suddenly it was all gone. From nuclear subs to other naval ships, one man charged with making sure they ran at their peak was John Moore, a technician for Clarus Technologies in San Diego. "I think it's safe to say my job was my life," said Moore. Moore jumped up the corporate ladder at defense contractor Clarus Technlogies and went from entry-level to management within two years. "It's 100 percent devastating," said Moore. Moore was let go after he disclosed to...

OLYMPIA — Sarah Harris goes through the motions of her day trying hard not to think about what life was like a year ago — or what it would be like now if not for "the incident." She feels guilty leaving the house, even if only for a couple of hours to visit her mom or sister, to run errands, or go grocery shopping. She still cries every night. Her husband, the first boy she kissed and the only man she's ever loved, suffered a catastrophic brain injury when his head slammed into a concrete wall after a brief footchase...

NEW YORK (CBS) Four ruthless young men promised a 14-year-old boy they would stop picking on him if he let them tattoo his buttocks with an image of a penis and the words "poop d**k" -- and then they proceeded to do exactly that, say police. According to The Smoking Gun, a New Hampshire boy was enticed to a Concord home on May 10, where three Concord High School students and one former student warned the teen that he'd be getting the tattoo "whether he liked it or not," said investigators. Investigators said the boy asked what would happen if...

Apple wants your money -- just not the paper kind as one Bay Area woman discovered recently while trying to buy an iPad. Diane Campbell, who is disabled on a fixed income, saved up enough cash for an iPad, according to ABC7 consumer reporter Michael Finney. She was about to plunk down $600 greenbacks at the Palo Alto Apple store for the new tablet computer when she was reportedly told the store would not accept cash. Stunned, she walked away iPad-less and with a backpack full of cash. In fact, Apple's iPad purchase policy states the company only takes two...

Message from Wendy Dio Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever. - Wendy Dio

WINSTON- SALEM - Demario James Atwater, one of two men charged with murdering UNC-Chapel Hill's student body president, will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty Monday to federal carjacking, kidnapping and weapons charges. What remains unclear is whether his death behind bars will be a natural one or whether the state will execute him. Atwater, whose plea agreement with federal prosecutors allows him to avoid the death penalty in federal court, still faces capital charges in state court of kidnapping and murdering Eve Carson. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for next week in Orange County...

Police have charged a convicted robber with fatally shooting an honored Jacksonville sailor who surprised him during a burglary Friday night near Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The victim's 3-year-old daughter escaped unharmed, a family member said. Deangelo Thomas, 30, is charged with killing David Gilbert, 40. Gilbert, the father of three young children, was found slain in his apartment at Savannah Oaks, 6017 Roosevelt Blvd. Gilbert, a chief petty officer with the Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202, joined the Navy in 1987 and served two tours of duty in Iraq, said Gail Dickey, his aunt. Gilbert worked around the world...

<p>FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- When Maurice Johnson was laid off a year ago from his six-figure salary as a managing director at GE Capital, it wasn't his future he was worried about.</p> <p>It was his children's.</p> <p>The family income of the Johnsons is a fifth of what it used to be. And the children are about to feel the pain. Mr. Johnson's two oldest are attending his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, at an annual cost of $50,000 apiece. And his youngest daughter, 15 years old, recently began her own college search. Mr. Johnson isn't sure whether he'll be able to help her to go to college, or even to get the older kids to graduation.</p>

A rapist who was paralyzed from the neck down in a prison stabbing may still be dangerous and can be kept behind bars under a state law that allows the release of some permanently disabled inmates, a state appeals court ruled today. Although Steven Martinez is no longer capable of assaulting anyone, his past crimes and later verbal abuse of prison nurses show he is "an evil, angry and violent person" who might enlist others to commit attacks after release, said the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. "Quadriplegics ... are capable of committing violent crimes," the court said...

An unusual and much-heralded program that gave poor families cash to encourage good behavior and self-sufficiency has so far had only modest effects on their lives and economic situation, according to an analysis the Bloomberg administration released on Tuesday. The three-year-old pilot project, the first of its kind in the country, gave parents payments for things like going to the dentist ($100) or holding down a full-time job ($150 per month). Children were rewarded for attending school regularly ($25 to $50 per month) or passing a high school Regents exam ($600). When the mayor announced the program, he said it...

Gun play becomes Atlanta area rapper Waka Flocka Flame. His most recent mix tape is called "Salute Me or Shoot Me, Vol. 2," and the "L" in his logo is shaped by an upright semi-automatic handgun. And Tuesday evening, the 23-year-old rapper was recovering after being shot earlier in the day during an apparent robbery. Born Juaqin Malphurs, the rapper was washing his car at the Bubble Bath Car Wash at 5220 Old National Highway around 1:30 p.m. when he was approached by an armed man demanding Malphurs' jewelry, police said. "A scuffle broke out, then shots were fired," Fulton...

Order at the link.Judge Gonzalez's 25 page opinion here.

CHULA VISTA — Letty Soriano and her 16-year-old daughter, Janel, made a pact for their trip to Dubai to limit their international roaming charges on the girl’s cell phone: Janel could text-message her friends but not call them. If she got lost, Janel could call or text her mom. Surfing the Internet on her smart phone was left to Janel’s discretion. As Soriano understood it from a phone call with her carrier, there would be no additional cost for that, other than the standard charges included in the family’s data plan. But two days after returning from visiting her sister...

President Barack Obama received a failing grade this year from The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence on Monday . The Brady Campaign blasted the president, whom the group endorsed in 2008, for not having taken significant steps to advance gun control laws. "It's been a very disappointing year for us, especially considering what he campaigned on," the group's president, Paul Helmke, said during an appearance on MSNBC. "This year they ran away from the issue, and actually signed two repeals of good gun legislation." Those changes, which would allow guns in national parks and on Amtrak trains, were attached...

Since the story of Townshend sex offender past broke nationally a week ago, which has been a subject of debate and argument, only one question matters. Was Pete Townshend a registered sex offender in the UK from 2003 to 2008? Answer: Yes. Well that’s that then. Sorry Pete. This precludes you from not only playing at the Super Bowl, it also stops you from entering the United States to begin with. Since the NFL decided to hire Pete Townshend for the upcoming Super Bowl event all hell has broken loose. Child AbuseWatch, the international child prevention group, have been trying...

ST. PETERSBURG — Now that surveillance cameras are watching virtually every store and parking lot, it's increasingly common to see footage of robberies, fights and even shootings. But the disturbing video of a double murder in downtown St. Petersburg is something different. In graphic detail, with eight different cameras and relatively good sound, the video shows the entire August 2008 robbery of Central Food Mart, and the shootings of three men. Even in an era when video has become ubiquitous, prosecutors say this stands out as perhaps the clearest and most complete recording ever of a local murder — and...

Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood was arrested this morning on suspicion of assault. “I can confirm that there was an incident last night and that Ronnie Wood was arrested,” a spokesperson for Wood said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “He has since been released on police bail. We have no further statement to make at this time.” Rolling Stone also verified that the victim of the suspected assault was Wood’s 21-year-old girlfriend Ekaterina Ivanova. “We can confirm that a 62-year-old man from Esher was arrested last night on suspicion of assault in connection with a domestic incident in Claygate...

You can be excused for thinking that "Steven Seagal: Lawman" is another in the action movie star's canon of B-movies. You know, the kind of film where breaking bones with martial arts and aiming to kill (and succeeding) are part of the script. But for most people, finding out that Seagal has been a real-life deputy for nearly 20 years in the Jefferson Parish sheriff's office in Louisiana might come as a mind-rattling shock. The beefy tough guy is not just a martial arts expert who has helped train officers while being a member of their force, he's also an...

Federal agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local police today seized wood, guitars, computers and boxes of files from Gibson Guitar's Massman Road manufacturing facility. Sources say the Nashville-based guitar manufacturer is being investigated for violating the Lacey Act, a key piece of environmental law, for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar. Rosewood is widely used in the construction of guitars and sells for $5,000 per cubic meter, more than double the price of mahogany. The island nation off Africa's east coast is a key producer of the hardwood, the export of which has links to...

Single page Notice of Appeal at link. Off to the 9th Circuit.