Free Republic

<p>As they sit in the comfortable living room of their Nashville home, members of the Tayip family say the horrors they experienced in their northern Iraq homeland seem further away every year.</p> <p>But to this day, they say, their suffering and hardships continue to shape their lives and how they see the world.</p>

The Recording Industry Association of America apparently took a page from the military handbooks of coalition forces in Iraq this week when it attempted to "shock and awe" college music pirates by hitting them with hefty lawsuits. The trade group is suing four students for operating Napster-like file-sharing services on their campus networks. "This round of suits is intended to send a message to other students who are engaging in this type of behavior," said Matt Oppenheim, senior vice president of business and legal affairs at the RIAA. "There will be no one free pass. "You cannot expect to infringe...

Researchers have concluded a six-month public smoking ban saw heart attack rates plummet by 60% in an American midwestern town. The strict ban imposed in Helena, Montana, outlawed smoking in public places from June 5 last year. It was suspended six months later following a legal challenge. But while the ban was in force, researchers used the opportunity to investigate the effect of such policies on public health. The study focused on St Peter's Community Hospital, which serves almost all heart patients in the community of 66,000 people. Researchers compared the number of heart attack patients admitted from the Helena...