Free Republic

Full Title: Why do you MANSPREAD? Woman with her tape measure confronts splay-legged men on the subway about the space they consume It is a gripe that frustrates subway riders daily: men with their legs splayed. So one woman decided to confront male commuters about the amount of space they consume. The investigation comes a month before New York City's MTA launches a campaign targeting 'manspreaders'.

A fight over a bill at a popular South Florida restaurant spiraled into a brawl Sunday, as angry patrons hurled glass mugs, chairs and Christmas ornaments in a melee that left a waiter hospitalized, police say. ---- snip When police arrived, the party that had started the fight left the restaurant and were outside in the parking lot. Multiple witnesses identified several of the patrons as being involved in the brawl, including 29-year-old Roosevelt LaGuerre, 29-year-old Claude Galland, 25-year-old Eurasha Fonseca and 19-year-old Abby Gay Thompson.

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has measured a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the robotic laboratory's drill. "This temporary increase in methane -- sharply up and then back down -- tells us there must be some relatively localized source," said Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a member of the Curiosity rover science team. "There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock."

The rally is for Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is running to become the next governor of Maryland. Video at the link

HATTIESBURG -- A year-long investigation by the district attorney's office into alleged voter irregularities in the 2013 Hattiesburg Mayoral Election has resulted in seven indictments by the Forrest County Grand Jury, WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg is reporting. --- snip -- District Attorney Patricia Burchell...says the names of the individuals cannot be released right now, because the indictments have not been served.

Here is something you don’t see every day, a satellite image showing a sizable amount of snow cover on the big island of Hawaii. While snowfall on the big island is nothing new, commonly seen on the mountains on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, (top and bottom arrows respectively in the photo) seeing snow this early in the season on the mounatins is somewhat rare.

JACKSON COUNTY -- Sheriff's officials said a woman caught burglarizing students' cars at East Central High School claimed she was looking for members of ISIS, the world's deadliest terrorist group. Deputies arrested Lisa Carol Roche, 41, of Hurley, Friday afternoon.

--- snip “For two bloody months, an armed jihadist serial killer ran loose across the country. At least four innocent men died this spring and summer as acts of “vengeance” on behalf of aggrieved Muslims, the self-confessed murderer has now proclaimed.”

JACKSON, Mississippi -- A trial is set to begin Sept. 15 for a lawsuit that seeks to undo a Republican runoff victory by Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran. Retired Chancellor Hollis McGehee, who's presiding over the case, filed a scheduling order Thursday in Jones County Circuit Court in Laurel. He specifies that the trial must be finished by Oct. 3. It will take place at the Jones County Courthouse.

Biofuel manufacturer KiOR’s financial struggles might leave Mississippi holding the title to another failed green energy project. According to the company’s quarterly report, without additional financing KiOR won’t be able to meet its financial obligations past Sept. 30. One of its biggest creditors is the state of Mississippi. The company owes the state $69.275 million on a no-interest loan to build a first-of-its kind plant to convert wood pulp into gasoline, fuel oil and diesel fuel in Columbus, Miss. It missed its most recent semi-annual payment of $1.875 million to the state, which granted forbearance June 3. But that ends...

Actor Robin Williams has died, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday. He was 63. The Sheriff’s Office was called to a home in unincorporated Tiburon just after noon Monday, the office stated in a news release.

On Friday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin recorded a video for her new website to talk about her brief encounters with slain Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. Last week, another former governor, Minnesota’s Jesse Ventura won $1.8 million from Kyle’s widow in a defamation suit against Chris Kyle’s estate. This did sit well with Gov. Palin. Palin called Ventura a “jackass” and questioned how a former Navy SEAL like himself would go after a widow and the legacy of an “American hero.” ‘”You turn around and sue, expecting $2 million from a military widow and her fatherless children? Yeah, like that...

I was driving through northern Illinois last night listening to a call-in program on WGN in Chicago. People were calling in all upset about the goat's head sent to Cubs owner Tom Ricketts at Wrigley Field. Some guy called in from Indiana and said, "Why are you all so upset because someone sent a goat's head to Wrigley Field? Aren't you the guys that sent a horse's ass to the White House?" I almost ran off the road!

A Daytona Beach father beat an 18-year-old man unconscious after finding him sexually abusing his 11-year-old son early Friday morning, police said. The father called 911 around 1 a.m. after he walked in on the alleged abuse, police said. When officers arrived, they found Raymond Frolander motionless on the living room floor. He had several knots on his face and was bleeding from the mouth. "He is nice and knocked out on the floor for you," the father told the 911 dispatcher. "I drug him out to the living room."

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Marine who was declared a deserter nearly 10 years ago after disappearing in Iraq and then returning to the U.S. claiming he had been kidnapped, only to disappear again, is back in U.S. custody, officials said Sunday. Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, 34, turned himself in and was being flown Sunday from an undisclosed location in the Middle East to Norfolk, Va. He is to be moved Monday to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, according to a spokesman, Capt. Eric Flanagan. Maj. Gen. Raymond Fox, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Lejeune, will determine whether...

BILOXI, MS (WLOX) - At the Ocean Springs Civic Center, the lines were long as voters waited to cast their ballots. The turnout surprised some poll workers, like Paula Clifford. "I am. I'm very surprised at what we've had so far. We've had more people come in and vote this time than we had the last time," Clifford explained. Voters, like Robert Kline, seem to sense that something big is about to happen, no matter who wins. "This is very important to our state, picking out the congressman we want to continue, and I just felt like it was a...

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Full Title: "Taliban claim captured U.S. solider has converted to Islam and is teaching its fighters bomb-making skills A captured American soldier is training Taliban fighters bomb-making and ambush skills, according to one of his captors and Afghan intelligence officials. Private Bowe Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is thought to be the only U.S. serviceman in captivity. The 24-year-old has converted to Islam and now has the Muslim name Abdullah, one of his captors told The Sunday Times.

Sudanese authorities are to free a woman who was sentenced to death for having abandoned the Islamic faith, a foreign ministry official says. Meriam Ibrahim, who gave birth to a daughter in custody, will be freed in a few days' time, the official said. Abdullahi Alzareg, an under-secretary at the foreign ministry, said Sudan guaranteed religious freedom and was committed to protecting the woman.