Free Republic

CORAL SPRINGS— A Fort Lauderdale man was arrested over the weekend after he tried to saw a cast off his son's hand and severely cut the teenager, according to a Coral Springs police affidavit released on Monday. Lawrence Roberts, 33, was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated child abuse, a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama often discussed his mother's struggle with cancer. Ann Dunham spent the months before her death in 1995, Obama said, fighting with insurance companies that sought to deny her the coverage she needed to pay for treatment. "I remember in the last month of her life, she wasn't thinking about how to get well, she wasn't thinking about coming to terms with her own mortality, she was thinking about whether or not insurance was going to cover the medical bills and whether our family would be bankrupt as a consequence," Obama said in September...

A website launched on Tuesday, which published the names of 200 Israeli soldiers who participated in the Cast Lead counterror operation in 2008 and 2009 in Gaza, as well as their photographs, ranks, positions, birthdates, identity numbers and addresses, was taken down briefly Thursday for violating the terms of its use. The site was back up later, referring to the soldiers as war criminals.

Martin Freeman is set to star as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's two-movie adaptation of The Hobbit... Thorin Oakenshield...Richard ArmitageFili...Aidan TurnerKili...Rob Kazinskyetc...

Pics on site

(IsraelNN.com) IAF jets attacked more than 100 targets Tuesday in Gaza, on Day 18 of Operation Cast Lead, and an anti-aircraft gun was discovered in a mosque. [See video below.] The targets included about 55 tunnels used for smuggling weapons and 20 spots used for launching rockets. IAF aircraft aided by ground forces hit 22 crews of armed gunmen. In one case, a ground force spotted terrorists laying an explosive device and called in the IAF which hit the terrorists. Troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip encountered several gunmen armed with anti-tank missiles and light weapons. The troops directed...

Drudge has a photo up of Cindy McCain with a "bright pink" wrist cast. Haven't heard of any recent accidents or wrist surgeries, hope she gets better.

A strange ugly sea monster was cast ashore in Guinea.

Bags of cocaine are seen in a plaster cast on a woman's leg on this photo released by Dutch customs police on Friday, May 11, 2007. Dutch customs police stopped the woman trying to smuggle 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cocaine into the Netherlands in a plaster cast on her leg, a police spokesman said. The woman, whose name was not released, acted nervously while her passport was being checked and agents became suspicious about the thickness of the cast. A sniffer dog quickly indicated that the cast contained more than plaster. The woman was taken to hospital, where an...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2005 – With Iraqi election officials and Iraqi security forces leading the way, millions of Iraqis streamed to the polls today to vote on their country's constitution. Officials reported that scattered incidents of violence early on in the voting that were quickly squelched by Iraqi security forces. Coalition forces are supporting the Iraqis with perimeter checkpoints and crowd control. Officials in Iraq said security has been tight and involves a three-stage inspection system that kicks in before voters arrive at the polling sites. No one with bags, cell phones or packages may enter the polling areas, they...

Despite initial controversy surrounding "The Kingdom of Heaven," Ridley Scott's new film about the Crusades, it is getting generally positive reviews from Muslims in the United States and in Arab countries. "It was really nice to go into a movie and feel so dignified, not feeling that you have to be ashamed or anything and feel proud of your history and your heritage," said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council of American-Islamic Relations, after seeing the film, which opened May 7. Laila al-Qatami of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Center in Washington also walked away happy. "He provided a...

Braving bullets and bombs, millions of Iraqis cast their ballots yesterday in Iraq's first free elections in half a century. First reports suggested turnout in excess of 70%. While the Independent Election Commission of Iraq will not announce the official results for another two weeks, the encouragingly high voter turnout undercuts the cynicism of a press corps that questioned the election's legitimacy before the first ballots were even cast. The Associated Press, for example, opined, "If the vast majority of the Sunnis shun the polls--either out of fear or lack of confidence in the process--it would undercut the new government's...

The Denver Post Felons will get to cast special ballot By Susan Greene Denver Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - Secretary of State Donetta Davidson is asking Colorado counties not to turn felons away from the polls, but to let them cast emergency ballots that likely won't count on Election Day. "The goal is not to disenfranchise anyone needlessly or accidentally," she said at an emergency meeting held Monday, a legal holiday. Davidson convened the state's 64 county clerks after The Denver Post reported Sunday that Colorado's registration rolls include as many as 6,000 state prisoners and...

<p>Despite fears that it could promote anti-Semitism, the new film by Mel Gibson "The Passion of the Christ'' may have made Americans less likely to blame Jews for the death of Jesus, according to a new survey.</p> <p>Among those interviewed for a new national poll who had seen or knew about the film, 83 percent said the movie and its surrounding controversy had no effect on the extent they believe contemporary Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus. Only 2 percent said the movie made them more likely to blame Jews, while 9 percent said the movie made them less likely to hold Jews responsible.</p>

<p>Given that most Orange County Assembly and Senate seats are safe Republican districts, the most contentious legislative elections took place in the GOP primaries on Tuesday, rather than in the general election in November.</p> <p>The races for the four open Assembly seats and one open Senate seat shaped up as a test between traditional Orange County conservatives and liberal-to-moderate Republican activists who believe the party is too far to the right to be effective in Sacramento.</p>

Cast of hundreds gathers for Hollywood's electoral farce Governor of California faces recall vote Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Wednesday August 6, 2003 The Guardian (UK) One candidate is famous for her pouting lips, cleavage and pink Corvette. Another is best known as a hustling pornographer who survived an assassination attempt. A third is a former punk rocker who had a hit 20 years ago with a song called Property is Theft. And a fourth is a bodybuilder whose catchphrase is "I'll be back". All would-be candidates for the governorship of California have to file their nomination papers by Saturday....

OMG, what a cast. Click here

US casts an ever-darkening shadow on Syria question By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 15 April 2003 For all the intense American and British pressure on Syria, no one seriously believes that the two allies plan to unleash military force any time soon. But the very talk of it has underlined how lonely a place the Middle East must now seem to President Bashar al-Assad. As never before, American power, money and troops bestride the region. Egypt, traditionally the Arab world's leading power, is the second-largest recipient of US foreign aid after Israel. Jordan, the other Arab state that has signed...