Free Republic

May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc.’s head of global public policy, Andrew McLaughlin, is leaving the company to become deputy chief technology officer for the Obama administration, a person familiar with the matter said.

... Head said she will not post e-mails subject to various kinds of legal privilege, or "e-mails that are strictly person including those relating to my small children, parents and church." She said she "will continue to post batches of e-mails every few days." Head has said her posting is an effort to put an end to the "political games" of Tracie Washington, a civil-rights lawyer who obtained tens of thousands of council e-mails through irregular channels and recently published messages that Head wrote on a Web site, seemingly to cause the councilwoman maximum political damage and personal embarrassment. The...

This extraordinary X-ray shows how 27-year-old Anthony Liu was brutally murdered with a nail gun. Up to 30 nails were fired into his head, the three-inch spikes penetrating vital areas of the brain. Police in Sydney have released the graphic photo in the hope that it will lead to the identity of Mr Liu's killer. Someone, they believe, has information about the murderer who will have had a grudge against the dead man - and be in possession of a nail gun.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The severed head of King Badu Bonsu II is going home to Ghana, around 170 years after it was hacked off in retaliation for the slayings of two Dutch emissaries whose skulls were hung from the tribal leader's throne. Bonsu's head was discovered last year in a jar of formaldehyde at the Leiden University Medical Center's anatomical collection by a Dutch author. Ghana immediately asked for it to be returned and the Dutch government asked the hospital to cooperate.

Rebecca Vaughns, 36, is seen with an image of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. and the word 'Change' shaved on the back of her head as she attends a campaign rally in Miami, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008.

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — A man claiming to be the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq vowed in an audiotape released Saturday to launch a monthlong offensive against U.S. troops. There was no independent confirmation that the voice belonged to Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, but it sounded exactly like the one heard on previous audiotapes. Al-Muhajir has been the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq since his predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad in 2006. "We call on our beloved ones ... that each unit should present the head of...

Summary: Brain Researchers Link Mental Woes, Alcoholism To Long-Ago Blows. ...That severe head injuries can lead to cognitive and behavioral problems is widely accepted. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 5.3 million Americans suffer from mental or physical disability that is due to brain injury. What's new is the contention of some researchers that there are many other cases where a severe past blow to the head, resulting in unconsciousness or confusion, is the unrecognized source of such problems. "Unidentified traumatic brain injury is an unrecognized major source of social and vocational failure," says Wayne A. Gordon,...

(IsraelNN.com) IDF Special Forces killed the head of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in Judea and Samaria Wednesday morning. The top terrorist, Walid Abeidi, was hiding out in the village of Kabatiya, south of Jenin. The IDF unit came to arrest Abeidi, but a shootout ensued as he and his men attempted to prevent the force from entering the hideout. The 44-year-old terror chief ran out of the building at a certain point, opening fire on the soldiers, who returned fire. He was hit and eliminated. Four accomplices were arrested as well. Two were wounded in gunfighting with the IDF...

What do you do when your firewall melts? That's the problem Hillary Clinton now confronts. New Hampshire was the place that Team Clinton hoped would sustain them even if they lost Iowa. Clinton has led here for months, has the support of many key players in the power structure, and benefits from a reservoir of good will for her husband. Still, in the wake of Barack Obama's surprisingly strong victory in the Iowa caucuses, Clinton's advantage has crumbled -- and her campaign hasn't found an effective way to respond. In Saturday night's debate, her attempts to draw a legitimate difference...

Mystery over ceramic head finds The head found near Dumfries resembles The Scream painting Archaeologists are trying to solve the riddle of three mysterious ceramic heads that have been uncovered in Edinburgh and Dumfriesshire. A bodiless male head was found after St Margaret's Loch in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, was partially drained. A smaller female head was later discovered on grassland in the nearby Spring gardens. A third disembodied head said to resemble The Scream painting by Edvard Munch was then found near Dumfries. The ceramic head with bulging eyes and a scar was found on the river bank close to...

Manish Rajpurohit has been hailed the luckiest teenager in India after he survived being skewered by a metal pole in a bus crash. The 18-year-old student was riding a bus in Andhra Pradesh state when it was hit by a lorry. The force of the smash rammed the four foot safety rail into Rajpurohit's forehead and through his skull - only missing his spine by a few millimetres. Rajpurohit said: "It struck my head and embedded me into the seat. I was stuck there crying 'Help me' as loud as I could." Brave Rajpurohit had to slide his head...

NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Two teens have been charged in the brutal decapitation death of a registered sex offender in Michigan whose headless body was left to burn in a subdivision in what prosecutors are calling a "thrill kill."

French museum tries to return Maori head By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer Wed Oct 24, 11:47 PM ETAP Photo: This photo provided Wednesday Oct. 24, 2007 by the Rouen townhall, Normandy, shows a drawing... PARIS - The Normandy museum only wanted to do what was right: It offered to return a preserved, tattooed Maori head to New Zealand, an attempt to restore dignity to human remains that were long put on display as an exotic curiosity. Instead, authorities in the Normandy city of Rouen got a scolding from the culture minister for not checking with national authorities first. A...

LEHI, Utah - An Arkansas company is offering $100 to a Utah woman who found a severed mouse head in a can of green beans if she pledges not to take legal action. The letter from Allens Inc. of Siloam Springs, Ark., describes it as a "gesture of goodwill." Marianne Watson isn't interested. "I won't sign it under any circumstances," she said. Allens spokesman James Phillips said the mouse probably was picked up during the harvest and did not originate in the canning factory. He called it an isolated incident. "We apologize as much as we can, but we also...

DETROIT (AP) - A tipster told Detroit police where to find a headless, armless torso and legs in the garbage. Police found the decomposed body parts in a bag inside a large, round outdoor trash container behind a home on the city's west side. Authorities say they're working to identify the body. Detroit police are investigating whether a head found on a porch in June is related.

ISKANDARIYAH — Shiite and Sunni Muslims came from far and wide Sept. 2 to begin working together for the greater good of their country. Sparked by a successful recruiting campaign, these Iraqis crossed over their sectarian boundaries and started their journey toward becoming the newest members of the Iraqi Army. Congregating at the compound of 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division, located adjacent to Forward Operating Base Iskandariyah, home of 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, these new recruits arrived by the truck load to be processed and transported to their basic...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has awarded 3,000 euros ($4,100) in damages to a man who had to have the top of his skull replaced with plastic because of a faulty hospital fridge. ADVERTISEMENT Doctors removed the top of the man's head and put it in cold storage while they operated on his brain, the court in the western city of Koblenz said Tuesday. Because the refrigerator was defective, the section of skull was not kept cool enough and could not be reattached. Doctors replaced the bone with a plastic prosthesis. The man sought compensation of at least 20,000...

A headless skeleton found in a Peruvian tomb is adding new wrinkles to the debate over human sacrifice in the ancient Andes. The decapitated body was found in the Nasca region, named for the ancient civilization that thrived in southern Peru from A.D. 1 to 750. Known for producing "Nasca lines" in the earth that depict giant figures, the culture is also noted among archaeologists for practicing human sacrifice and displaying modified human heads called trophy heads. But experts have been divided over whether the heads were taken from enemies in war or from locals offered up for ritual sacrifice....

LA HABRA, Calif. — An Orange County man cut off his mother's head with a circular saw and then died after trying to decapitate himself, authorities said. Police answered a 911 report of a family dispute at a Pinehurst Avenue home just after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, entered a locked bedroom and found the body of 60-year-old Guadalupe Ruiz on a bed, police spokeswoman Cindy Knapp said. Arthur Ruiz Jr., 32, was on another bed with the saw nearby. He had died of neck injuries, police said. It was unclear why Ruiz attacked his mother, police said. A child and three...

How about telling us all your age, gender and location. Also, if you want, who you like in the upcoming presidential primary.

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) injured his forehead two weekends ago dumpster diving, a Washington Post blogger is reporting. Mary Ann Akers said in her "The Sleuth" column Friday that the Senator returned to Washington D.C. last week with a "prominent gash" on his forehead. Coleman was reportedly knocked nearly unconscious while dumpster diving in St. Paul. Coleman defended his actions, telling Akers he was not digging for food, rather was "looking for something his wife accidentally threw in the dumpster." Coleman later elaborated he was diving for an antique lamp in the dumpster behind his St. Paul home, which...

The tattoo artist is searching for someone willing to turn themselves into a live exhibition of the classic bacon and eggs way to start the day. Mr Dickinson, from Penmaenmawr, Conwy, wants to take his model around UK tattoo competitions. It would include a knife and fork behind each ear.

Head of MI5 quits her post By Paul Willis and PA Last Updated: 7:17am GMT 15/12/2006 The head of MI5 is to leave her post after four and a half years. Eliza Manningham-Buller at the CBI conference in November Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, who has been director general of the security service since October 2002, said she had been planning the move since before last year's terrorist attacks on the London Underground. Her replacement will be appointed by the Home Secretary John Reid in the New Year. The daughter of a former Conservative Lord Chancellor, Dame Eliza became only the second...

PORTLAND, Ore. - A man who ended up at the hospital with an arrow in his head underwent surgery on Friday and is in critical condition. The victim told those at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) that his name is Kevin Evans, but KATU News discovered he has been living at a Gresham motel under a different last name. The circumstances of how he ended up with an arrow in his head are still unclear, but police are hoping to talk with him further once he is able to speak to them. Police said Evans did not try to...

A 12-year-old boy whose head was severed from his neck in a racing car crash has made a miraculous recovery. Chris Stewart suffered an internal decapitation - which kills or disables most people - during a 40mph smash on a track near Alton, Hampshire, in September. Firefighters spent an hour and a half cutting him free from the wreckage of his 1000cc Mini after the accident. The force of the crash had separated his head from his neck internally and detached his tongue at the root. Surgeons re-attached his head to his spine with metal plates and bone grafts during...

An Austrian carpenter accidentally shot a four inch nail into his brain and didn't even get a headache.Tom Schoenitz, 30, was working on a roof in Salzburg when he bumped into a colleague who was holding a nail gun. His head knocked against the gun and the pressure accidentally activated it - shooting a nail through the carpenter's skull and into his brain. Schoenitz, who told emergency workers he felt no pain, was rushed to hospital where the nail was removed after being embedded in his head for 90 minutes. Doctors said they are running tests on the man to...

HOUSTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The Democratic candidate for Texas comptroller has ignited a passionate firestorm by calling his opponent's bodice-ripping romance novel "pornography." Fred Head, who the Houston Chronicle said was a long shot to beat Republican rival Susan Combs, has focused his campaign on her steamy 1990 novel, "A Perfect Match," which he says makes her support of abstinence education hypocritical. Romance novel writers, publishers and fans have flocked to Combs' defense and are vociferously attacking his portrayal of her as a "pornographic book writer," the Chronicle said. Combs, currently the state's agriculture commissioner, said she has been...

Does anyone here think is is fishy that a claimed 400kt was a 5kt poof? Does anyone here think this is a conventional detonation of a few thousand tons in a shallow surface location to create the appearance of a nuke? No nuclear signature, no leak. Is that suspicious? Is North Korea simply trying to save face and collect money?

LONDON (AFP) - Police have revealed they were investigating the dumping of a pig's head outside a mosque on the first full day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The head was found outside the Jamia Mosque in Newport, southeast Wales, on Saturday. The Koran strictly forbids Muslims to eat pork. "We treat all incidents of hate crime seriously and are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry to identify the offender," said Gwent Police Superintendent Simon Prince on Friday. Nobody at the mosque was available for comment but Sheikh Mohammad Thair Ullah, the chairman of the nearby Shah...

The devil got his due yesterday. An American penny with a mark thought to resemble the devil sold for $170.10 through an online auction yesterday. A Winnipeg man topped 13 other bidders when he bought the coin, which has a mark on its surface that looks like a demon's face, complete with horns, to the right of former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. Dieter Hoch said he bought the penny on behalf of a friend who lives in Germany. Hoch said his friend -- a holistic medicine practitioner -- wanted to add the demon coin to his collection of strange and...

So, the other day I was talking with a neighbor who lives around the corner from us on Chestnut Street. And there was a juvenile bird (I think it may be a male robin) who decided to imprint himself on me. He jumped on my head and there was nothing I could do to get him off, so I decided to walk home. He just stayed on my head for the short walk back. Now he is hanging out in the tree in front of our place, and whenever I go out the front door and he is around, he...

Royal Navy ships head for Lebanon HMS Illustrious is currently in Gibraltar Defence Secretary Des Browne has given orders for HMS Illustrious and HMS Bulwark to "make ready" for operations off Lebanon. The pair will depart as soon as necessary, possibly within 24 hours. No order for evacuating UK citizens has yet been given, but ministers and defence staff are considering a plan to evacuate those trapped in Lebanon. It comes as Israel has stepped up its strikes in Lebanon after Hezbollah militants seized two Israeli soldiers. 'Contingency planning' HMS Illustrious is currently in Gibraltar and HMS Bulwark is close...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A man celebrating the Fourth of July fatally shot himself while playing with a handgun, police said. Casey Neal, 36, was drinking during a cookout at his house early Wednesday, police said. Neal pointed the semiautomatic handgun at his head and told friends he would pull the trigger after counting down from five. Police said it appeared to be an accident. Other Fourth of July incidents in the area were less serious. Another man in St. Petersburg was hospitalized after being struck in the face by fireworks, authorities said. In Tampa, a woman and a 6-year-old...

Veterans Affairs head says stolen data possibly erasedNicholson reports agency's security remains vulnerable. HOPE YEN Associated Press Writer June 09. 2006 6:59AM Veteran Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson testifies about the theft of personal information of military personnel and veterans Thursday on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP Photo/PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS WASHINGTON -- Stolen personal data for 26.5 million veterans and military personnel may have been erased by teenagers who sold the computer equipment, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Thursday. In testimony to Congress, Nicholson accepted responsibility for the May 3 burglary at a VA data analyst's home. He said the...

Bolivia head starts land handout By James Read BBC News Evo Morales handed out land titles Bolivia's president has given more than 30,000 square km (18,600 sq miles) of land to indigenous peasant communities under a programme of agrarian reform. Evo Morales launched the programme after landowners walked out of talks with the government, warning they would take action to defend their estates.Thousands of peasants gathered in the centre of Santa Cruz to see Mr Morales launch his agrarian revolution. They cheered and waved rainbow flags symbolising indigenous resistance. The venue for the ceremony was carefully chosen: Santa Cruz is...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

Thieves nab head and leave earrings behind 2 hours, 1 minute ago TORONTO (Reuters) - A distraught Canadian family is offering a reward for the return of their mother's head, hacked from her body in a funeral home a year ago by thieves who left cash, and her earrings behind. Canadian newspapers reported on Thursday someone broke into a funeral parlor in Longueuil, Quebec in July last year, where the body of Cecile Lemay was awaiting burial. The thief or thieves made off with the 68-year-old's head, but left her earrings and a cash charity donation behind. "Each morning, when...

LONGUEUIL, Que. — A distraught family is offering $10,000 for clues to help solve a gruesome mystery involving a 68-year-old woman whose body was decapitated in a funeral home last July. “Every morning we wake up and we say `Where is the head?’ ” said 63-year-old Ghyslaine Lemay, a sister of Cecile Lemay whose family has lived in torment ever since the bizarre incident. Several of Lemay’s relatives held a news conference Wednesday to appeal for help after police admitted their investigation is no further advanced than it was last summer when the funeral home was vandalized. While the family...

PORTLAND, Ore. - An Oregon man who went to a hospital complaining of a headache was found to have 12 nails embedded in his skull from a suicide attempt with a nail gun, doctors say. Surgeons removed the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill, and the man survived with no serious lasting effects, according to a report on the medical oddity in the current issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery. The unidentified 33-year-old man was suicidal and high on methamphetamine last year when he fired the nails into his head one by one. The nails were not visible when...

RAMADI, Iraq - The young Marine had just shot a suspected insurgent and was walking back across the villa's rooftop when he keeled over from a terrific thud to the back of his head. A sniper had fired a single, well-aimed bullet that tore through the top of Lance Cpl. Richard Caseltine's helmet, traced a path along the edge of his skull and buried burning bullet fragments in the back of his neck. Less than a minute later, the 20-year-old from Aurora, Ind., was up on his feet — crouching, shaking and miraculously, still alive. "You expect when somebody gets...

USS NASSAU, At Sea (March 24, 2006) -- The flight line at Al Asad Air Base was a flurry of rotor blades and wrench-toting men and women while Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 (Reinforced) was in Iraq. Night and day for months, these mechanics, avionics and air frame specialists and a myriad of other supporting personnel of HMM-261 (Rein) enabled the squadron’s 1,845 sorties of more than 3,000 combat flight hours. Even though those on the flight line rarely saw the direct benefits of their job, their hard work kept Marines throughout Iraq safe. “We delivered a lot of bullets...

A man is being held by German police after walking into a petrol station with his wife's severed head in a bag. The 40-year-old man, of Turkish origin, was covered in blood when he approached the night counter at about 0400 GMT and asked the attendant to call the police. Hamburg police said officers found the head in a bag on a grass verge and arrested the man, who was in a confused state and admitted killing his wife. The body of the woman, aged 39, was found in their nearby flat. Hamburg police spokeswoman Ulrike Sweden said the man...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Two people died Saturday in an early morning crash on Interstate 485, and troopers say a wrong-way driver is to blame. The wreck happened near exit 67, close to Interstate 77, at about 12:30 a.m. The Highway Patrol said a Jeep driven by an 18-year-old man was on the westbound side of the highway going the wrong way when it slammed head-on into a silver Nissan Altima. That car flipped around and burst into flames, killing 23-year-old Eddel Rivera and 22-year-old Richard Bryant, both from Charlotte. The driver of the Jeep, whose name has not been released,...

Enigmatic discoveryThe discovery of a red granite head of a king with Nubian features in the precinct of Amenhotep III's temple on Luxor's West Bank has puzzled Egyptologists, writes Nevine El-Aref "This really is a very surprising discovery," Hourig Sourouzian, director of the German conservation project for the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III's temple, told Al-Ahram Weekly. She explained that since excavation of the site began in 1998 the mission had consistently stumbled upon homogenous New Kingdom statuaries until last week, when a well-preserved red granite royal head with Kushite features -- full cheeks and bulging lips -- was...

A woman faces charges after a US baggage search found a human skull with teeth, hair and skin in her luggage at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida officials have said. Haitian Myrlene Severe, 30, a permanent US resident, arrived on Thursday afternoon from Cap Haitien, Haiti, aboard a Lynx International Airlines Flight, said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.

Italians Unveil Secret of Bulgaria's Precious Thracian Head Lifestyle: 22 January 2006, Sunday. Italy's restorers have unveiled the secret hidden in the eyes of King Sevt III's unique bronze mask discovered in Bulgaria, archeologist Georgi Kitov has said. The sculptors who have worked on the mask probably knew a lot about chemistry too, Kitov was quoted as saying by actualno.com. Italian restorer Edilberto Formili has discovered that the eyes of the unique Thracian mask were made from a glass paste mixed with alabaster and iron, which produced the brownish tint in Sevt III's look. The bottoms of the eyeballs were...

PORT ORANGE — A man who woke up and found his head bleeding, drove to work and left a note for his boss before going to the hospital to find he had a bullet lodged in his brain, authorities said. His girlfriend later apparently killed herself when contacted by police. When Glen Thomas Betterley, 53, noticed the blood Thursday morning, he asked Emma Lorene Larsen if she had struck him. Larsen, 65, said she didn’t know. He cleaned himself up and laid down to rest, but when the bleeding wouldn’t stop he drove to work, left the note and then...

Chief ousted as British troops head for Afghan drug region By Ahmed Rashid in Kabul (Filed: 23/12/2005) Britain has had a feudal chief removed from the region at the heart of Afghanistan's drug trade in an effort to calm the violent region before some 3,000 British troops deploy there next year. Sher Mohammed Akhunzada was removed from office as governor of the south-western province of Helmand, bordering Pakistan, last week. His family, who have governed the province for more than 25 years, has long been suspected of heavy involvement in drug trafficking. The combination of drug and Taliban activity in...

KUT, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2005 – Multinational Division Central South bid farewell to troops from Ukraine, one of the unit's mainstay nationalities, during a ceremony today at Camp Delta here. Polish Army Maj. Gen. Piotr Czerwinski said the Ukrainian contingent has done excellent work in the area and helped provide stability to the region and training to Iraqi troops, who now pick up the mission. Ukraine will not end its affiliation with the coalition, Multinational Force Iraq officials said, but large troop deployments will end. Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Anatoliy Pushniakov, a staff officer with the division, said more than 5,000...

The decapitated head of a cat was placed at the entrance to Knesset member Talab el-Sana's office, believed to be threat on MK's life by political rivals The decapitated, blood-covered head of a cat, and one of the animal's legs were placed on the doorstep of Knesset Member Talab el-Sana's office in the southern town of Beer Sheva. The MK discovered the horrifying sight Thursday, upon arriving at his workplace. The dreadful display was apparently placed in response to el-Sana's speech at the Knesset Wednesday, in which the he claimed that a national state plan works to establish Jewish settlements...