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OMAHA, Neb. -- A unique case in an Omaha courtroom involved U.S. attorneys trying to use an unusual method to convict a man. KETV in Omaha reported that attorneys had a conundrum on their hands -- they had the evidence to prove the convicted felon was in possession of a gun, but they couldn’t prove the gun was a gun. What attorney’s had on their hands was an American double-action revolver that was manufactured between 1880 and 1941. The problem is that federal code states that the weapon is not a firearm unless it was manufactured after 1896. Without a...

University of Tennessee student who is the son of a Memphis legislator has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of hacking Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail. David C. Kernell, 20, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Knoxville for intentionally accessing without authorization the e-mail account of Palin, the governor of Alaska and Sen. John McCain's running mate, according to U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick. Dedrick said Kernell, the son of state Rep. Mike Kernell, D-Memphis, turned himself in to federal authorities today for arrest.

FULL STORY ON HILLCAP.ORG BRIEF SUMMARY: 1. Ed Rendell, Chairman of the DNC, invited Peter Paul to attend an Algore fundraiser of Los Angeles attorneys 2. At the event, Rendell told him that he could sponsor such an event for Algore if he gave 150K 3. Paul agrees to give 150K in stock that can be cashed out in September; the FEC requires that an immediate memorandum for that pledge be filed. No such memorandum was filed. That is probably not signicant because they ultimately never received the cash from the stock pledge. 4. Peter Paul puts on the...

Jeremy Hinzman Jeremy Hinzman was a U.S. soldier in the elite infantry division, the 82nd Airborne. He served in Afghanistan in a non-combat position after having applied for conscientious objector status. After being refused CO status and returning to America, he learned that they would be deployed to Iraq. Hinzman did not believe the stated reasons for the Iraq war. In January 2004 he drove to Canada to seek asylum. He is currently living in Toronto with his wife Nga Nguyen and son Liam. His refugee claim was turned down in March 2005 by the Immigration and Refugee Board. That...

Kidnapped girl and suspected abductor found in Arkansas Dan Viens Web Producer Created: 6/10/2005 8:36 AM MDT - Updated: 6/10/2005 11:10 AM MDT CLARK COUNTY, Ark. - A girl kidnapped in Michigan and her suspected abductor were found in Clark County Arkansas Friday. Authorities believed they may have been heading to Colorado. Fourteen-year-old Nicole Poddig is now with authorities in Arkansas. Her suspected abductor, 28-year-old Jamie Channer, has been taken into custody. Law enforcement officials say Poddig was taken at gunpoint from Michigan by Channer. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation put out an alert Friday that they may be headed...

British man accused of breaking into military, NASA computers LONDON - A British man accused by the United States of hacking into scores of military computers and disrupting operations was arrested in London on Tuesday to face an extradition hearing, police said. Unemployed programmer Gary McKinnon, 39, is accused of gaining illegal access to 53 computers owned by the Pentagon, NASA and the U.S. Army and Navy between February 2001 and March 2002. He was taken to a central London police station and is due to appear in court on Wednesday for an extradition hearing brought on behalf of the...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) Jurors in a federal vote fraud case will decide in the coming weeks whether East St. Louis Democratic Committee leaders attempted to buy votes in the November elections, or if committee members were set up, as a defense attorney alleges. Committee Chairman Charles Powell Jr. and others are accused of trying to buy the election using cash, liquor and cigarettes. But Powell's lawyer Bruce Cook said in opening statements Tuesday that ``the FBI engaged in picking sides during an election'' by arresting his client two weeks before he was up for re-election to the City...

SPOKANE -- The FBI has opened an inquiry into a possible "public corruption" case involving accusations that Mayor James West offered city jobs to young men he met online, a federal prosecutor confirmed yesterday as West began a temporary leave. The FBI involvement was confirmed by Thomas Rice, chief criminal prosecutor for the U.S. attorney's office here, The Spokesman-Review reported in a copyright story posted late yesterday on its Web site. Agents were expected to interview Ryan Oelrich and another man, both 24, who said they were independently offered City Hall jobs after online chats with a man who turned...

Secession, which didn't work very well when it was tried once before, is suddenly red hot in the blue states. In certain precincts, anyway.      One popular map circulating on the Internet shows the 19 blue states won by Sen. John Kerry — Washington, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland and the Northeastern states — conjoined with Canada to form the "United States of Canada." The 31 red states carried by Mr. Bush are depicted as a separate nation dubbed "Jesusland." The idea isn't just a joke; one top Democrat says, "The segment of the country that pays...

Secession, which didn't work very well when it was tried once before, is suddenly red hot in the blue states. In certain precincts, anyway. One popular map circulating on the Internet shows the 19 blue states won by Sen. John Kerry -- Washington, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland and the Northeastern states -- conjoined with Canada to form the "United States of Canada." The 31 red states carried by Mr. Bush are depicted as a separate nation dubbed "Jesusland."

(11/04/04 - HOUSTON) — There's an unusual case in a federal court in Houston. Two men who have already done time for beating a man last year find themselves back behind bars for the same crime facing even more serious charges. This time Douglas Brannan, 21, and Mark Fletcher Smith, 25, are facing federal charges for the beating of an Hispanic man at a gas station in Spring last year. Buying gas is a constitutionally protected right of everyone.The pair of assailants was accused of severely beating the man, kicking him with their steel-toe boots. They plead guilty to that...

If you remember the story, Kerry did not want to be seen carrying the dead goose he shot in the photo op. So while exiting the field he had a birdboy run on up ahead out of the camera shot carrying the goose. When asked, he said each hunter shot one, but in all pictures, he is the only one not shown carrying a dead goose. Duckhunters on the website the Duckhunter's Refuge pointed out this was a violation of federal law, it involved not "maintaining field possession" of the game. When this question arose, I emailed the head waterfowl...

Note: Newsweek is reporting that the source for the CBS allegations against Bush is Bob Burkett, someone with a grudge against the National Guard and Bush. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5974040/site/newsweek/ Six months ago, the Boston Globe reported major "issues" with another Burkett story that was posted on FR at the link noted. Link to original boston.com (Globe) article is here: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/02/13/doubts_raised_on_bush_accuser?mode=PF First few paras: ++++++++ For at least six years, a retired Texas National Guard officer has maintained that President Bush's record as a member of the Guard was purged of potentially embarrassing material at the behest of high-ranking Bush aides laying the...

Dan Rather came under criticism after it was revealed by the Washington Post that he had given a keynote speech at a fund-raiser for Texas Democrats: GERALDO RIVERA: Let me just read you this news account, April 5th, USA Today: "Conservatives and pundits had a field day at Dan Rather's expense Wednesday after the CBS anchor apologized for being the star attraction at a recent Democratic fundraiser in Texas that raised 20 grand." Was that one of the worst mistakes you've made at least recently? DAN RATHER: Well, it certainly was one of the dumbest mistakes I ever made. But...

September 9, 2004 Documents Suggest Special Treatment for Bush in Guard By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and RALPH BLUMENTHAL ASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the National Guard came under renewed scrutiny on Wednesday as newfound documents emerged from his squadron commander's file that suggested favorable treatment. At the same time, a once powerful Texas Democrat came forward to say that he had "abused my position of power" by helping Mr. Bush and others join the Guard. Democrats also worked to stoke the issue with a new advertisement by a Texas group that featured a former lieutenant colonel,...

Have at him!

Excerpts.... The Kerry end is near? At this precise time every four years, the most media-savvy members of the Gang of 500 begin to think about their roles in the premiere post-election forum that revisits the actions and players of the presidential race. But if nothing changes in the race as it now stands — with President Bush winning a decent-sized victory — much of the talk will be about the greater technical proficiency of the Bush-Cheney effort.Democrats, who deny up and down that they had anything to do with the documents, tell ABC News that they plan to continue...

<p>September 10, 2004 -- THE populist revolu tion against the so- called mainstream media continues. Yesterday, the citizen journalists who produce blogs on the Internet — and their engaged readers — engaged in the wholesale exposure of what appears to be a presidential-year dirty trick against George W. Bush. What the bloggers and their audiences did was call into profound question the authenticity of four documents proudly trumpeted by CBS News in a much-heralded investigative report on Wednesday night's edition of "60 Minutes" about the president's National Guard service in the early 1970s.</p>

This is a serious crime, altering military records to not only slander a war-time President, but that also suggest criminal activity. These forged memos suggested serious charges against our President, and should not be taken lightly. Whenever the Democrats suggest the Republicans might have done something wrong, they demand a full-scale congressional investigations. These memos are linked to sources inside the DNC, and it is important to get to the bottom of this. Whomever did this commited a serious crime. Our limp-wristed Representives must grow a backbone and demand that this be thoroughly and quickly investigated. I can guarentee you,...

Protesters have been targeting government and corporate websites for years. But when online activists strike at Republican domains during the G.O.P.'s convention later this month, the digital demonstrations might turn out to be more than symbolic, for once. In the past, activists have been able to shut down the website of, say, the World Economic Forum for a few hours. But the impact of such a takedown was nebulous at best: It's hard to argue the organization really suffered from a few-hour lag in posting its press releases online. In this year's presidential race, however, campaign websites have moved beyond...