Free Republic

At least 12 men had hands or feet cut off after MUJAO (Movement for Jihad and Unity), and its allies in AQIM (al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb), took control of Gao last April. The exact number is not known because some were amputated in the military base... The mayor's office, a few yards from the punishment ground, was turned into a sharia court... Suspects were confined to a small room where they were tied up and beaten, before being brought before Islamic judges, known as marabous, who sat every Monday and Thursday. Ali Altini and Mohammed Aklini were due to...

Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have for the first time visualised the molecular changes in a critical cell death protein that force cells to die. The finding provides important insights into how cell death occurs, and could lead to new classes of medicines that control whether diseased cells live or die. Cell death, called apoptosis, is important for controlling the number of cells in the body. Defects in cell death have been linked to the development of diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative conditions. Insufficient cell death can cause cancer by allowing cells to become immortal while...

According to respected political analysts, this election was a crushing defeat for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose own party suffered a loss of 25% of its Knesset representation. Or it was a solid vote of confidence for Netanyahu, as he will remain prime minister of a coalition potentially stronger than before. This election was a huge victory for secular Israel. And the incoming Knesset will have the most religious representation ever. The country moved to the right. The country moved left. The center is now stronger. The extremes are stronger. The security hawks, skeptical of the Palestinian Authority's "peace process"...

Sheriff Stanley Sniff, Riverside County, California February 1, 2013 The Honorable Dianne Feinstein Washington DC Re: Opposed to "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013" Dear Senator Feinstein: I serve as the elected Sheriff of Riverside County and have done so since 2007. Riverside County, at nearly 2.3 million residents, is California's 4th most populous, as well as the 4th largest in sheer physical size at 7,300 sq miles, of our State's 58 counties. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department, at nearly 2,200 sworn employees and nearly 4,000 full-time employees is the 5th largest of California's police and sheriff's departments. In addition to...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said emphatically Saturday that the Boy Scouts of America shouldn’t soften its strict no-gays membership policy, and dismissed the idea of bending the organization to the whims of “popular culture.” Perry is an Eagle Scout and in 2008 he authored the book “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For.” It detailed the governor’s deep love for the organization and explained why it should continue to embrace traditional, conservative values—including excluding openly gay members and Scout leaders. … Even though the Boy Scouts reaffirmed the no-gays policy just seven...

TOKYO, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consulate General in Fukuoka confirmed that Japanese coast guard detained a Chinese fishing boat Saturday for alleged unauthorized coral fishing in Japanese waters. The incident took place at around 8: 53 a.m. local time at waters 44 km northeast of Japan's Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture, according to the consulate. A total of 13 Chinese crew members were on board when the boat, which registered in China's Hainan Province, was detained. The captain, along with two other sailors, was transferred to Miyako Island by Japan's patrol vessels, while the other sailors and the...

Oprah Winfrey's OWN network has been sued by a former employee who claims she is the victim of sex and pregnancy discrimination. In a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Carolyn Hommel claims she was hired in 2010 as senior director of scheduling and acquisitions at the network, co-owned by Discovery Communications. But despite receiving a favorable performance review and being told she was on-track to become a vice president, she was replaced by a temporary employee when she was forced to take a medical leave during her pregnancy. Hommel says her duties were gradually taken away from...

MUNICH — The leader of the Syrian opposition council, Mouaz al-Khatib, met here today with key representatives of the United States and Russia — who fundamentally disagree on how to resolve Syria's civil war — but the meetings were separate and there was no indication, officials said, that any progress had been made toward a workable plan to bring the violence to an end. snip Senior European officials here said Britain and France were both urging the Obama administration to stop blocking allies in the Persian Gulf, like Qatar, from providing rebels with more sophisticated arms and intelligence assistance. snip...

Chris Kyle, Another Brother Lost by Jack Murphy · February 2, 2013 · Posted In: SOF News I am saddened to have to announce the tragic loss of another one of our own. This has been a hard year for the Special Operations community, perhaps the SEAL community most of all.Today Chris Kyle was shot and killed at a shooting range at the Rough Creek Lodge in Texas, murdered along with a second individual.Chris had been volunteering his time to help Marine Corps veterans suffering from PTSD and mentoring them. Part of this process involved taking these veterans to the...

<p>Seven years ago, I was hired by the Environmental Defense Fund to fight against more than 100 new coal-fired power plants proposed across the United States. Today, these plants are dead. New coal construction has ground to a halt, and our focus has shifted from fighting new coal plants to pressuring existing coal plants to close.</p>

EDITORIAL: ‘Assault weapons’ are popular with the young. Are gamers key? In a recent Reason-Rupe poll a slim majority of American supported the private ownership of “assault weapons” (51 percent in favor, 44 opposed) and a slightly larger majority of Americans believe that the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School is being exploited for political means (52 percent see it as politicking, 41 as responsible governing). But there were some other findings that are sure to surprise many people, especially politicians. Specifically that age, not politics, has a greater bearing on whether or not a person has the right to...

The window of opportunity for diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program “will not be opened indefinitely,” US Vice President Joe Biden warned in an interview with the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday. snip Biden set out on a European tour during which he was to meet with Syrian opposition leader Mouaz Alkhatib on Saturday to discuss US concerns about the Syrian conflict with representatives from Russia and the UN. He was scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday, French President François Hollande on Monday, and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday. On Thursday, outgoing...

Justice Dept. chopper used for football drop at HS homecoming • State agents investigate apparent unauthorized use of police helicopter SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —California taxpayers shelled out hundreds of dollars for the apparent unauthorized use of a police helicopter at a high school football game. The helicopter incident involved a high school homecoming event that top law enforcement supervisors at the Department of Justice knew nothing about, KCRA 3 has learned. The incident took place last November, when a DOJ helicopter hovered over El Dorado Hills for a homecoming game at Oak Ridge High School. In a video later uploaded...

Via Michael Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, [ZH: We have discussed this threat over the past several years (must read).] The obvious concept is that when the government runs out of money, or they face a drying up in interest for its debt, they will come for the $19.4 trillion in American’s retirement accounts. It seems that day may be finally drawing near. I stopped contributing to my 401k back when I worked at Bernstein, and I will probably now have to give more serious consideration whether I want to take the penalty and move the funds out of my...

France’s president, François Hollande paid a triumphant visit to this ancient city on Saturday, receiving a rapturous welcome from thousands of people who gathered next to a 14th-century mosque to dance, play drums and chant “Vive la France!” The muezzin, whose singing calls residents to pray five times a day, wore a scarf in the colors of the French flag as he shouted, “Vive Hollande!

A former Tarleton State University student who wrote the best-selling book, "American Sniper," was one of two victims shot and killed at Rough Creek Lodge late Saturday afternoon. Chris Kyle and a friend were found dead at Rough Creek's shooting range.

Someone altered Fulton County voter records after last year’s presidential election, using a red pen to add names to tally sheets of voters using paper ballots and marking that their votes all counted. Who is responsible remains a mystery, but it happened after managers from at least two precincts had signed off on the documents and submitted them to the main county elections office. “I know for certain that these additional names were added after,” Rosalyn Murphy, who served in November as an assistant poll manager at Church of the Redeemer in Sandy Springs, told the State Election Board during...

Pirro has let loose. This thread may not make it far but she nailed it.

(WXYZ) - Police say an attempted robbery and shooting happened at a bus stop on Detroit's west side. Officers say a man tried to rob another man waiting to get on the bus. That's when the victim shot the robber. No word on whether he was arrested. Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/national/man-shoots-robber-at-detroit-bus-stop#ixzz2JnWKiQPu

About 9:00PM Friday evening my pal Tim called and let me know that there was to be a town hall meeting in Chicago at IIT for the 3rd district. I was quite interested to learn why Illinois is the last state in the union to provide some sort of legal means to conceal carry a firearm so I gladly accepted the invitation to join him and Tom, another brave pal of mine, on a journey into the city from the far western suburbs along the Fox River. I had grown up in Chicago on the south side and went to...