Free Republic

He made 13 people disappear into thin air during his Kravis Center show Sunday night, but magician David Copperfield couldn't duplicate the feat with armed teens who robbed him and two women near the venue two hours later. ... The illusionist and assistants Cathy Daly and Mia Volmut were walking near CityPlace toward their tour bus parked at the Kravis when thugs approached them about 11:15 p.m. The group had gone to a steakhouse for dinner after Copperfield's sixth and last show here. According to the police report, this is what happened next: The Malibu pulled up behind the group,...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A red Hyundai sports coupe graces Iraq's first new car showroom, opened last week as violence rose to levels not seen since the war began. "We have sold 38 Hyundais already, but no coupes. They are considered too flashy in these circumstances," said Nihad Abdul Rahman, assistant general manager of Al-Kasid, exclusive agents for selling Hyundai Motor Company cars in Iraq. "Iraqis are looking for something affordable and reliable, and Hyundai fits the bill," he said after selling a $10,200 Elantra to a retired officer. ... But Khalaf Ganabi, the retired officer who bought the Elantra, was...

WASHINGTON - President Bush quietly signed legislation Tuesday that would extend for 10 years a ban on plastic guns that can be slipped past airport metal detectors or through X-ray machines. The legislation bans the manufacture, sale or possession of such firearms, but exempts military and intelligence agencies.

<p>A Japanese corporation wants to thrust the Interior community of Galena into international limelight by donating a new, unconventional electricity-generating plant that would light and heat the Yukon River village pollution-free for 30 years.</p> <p>There's a catch, of course. It's a nuclear reactor.</p>

SCO Preparing Legal Action Against CustomerBy Matthew Aslett SCO Group Inc is preparing to take a Linux user to court to speed up the legal process in its claim Unix code has been illegally copied into Linux, and also encourage Linux users to take out a license for its intellectual property. The company has signed one large customer up to its Intellectual Property License for Linux, but faces opposition from many more who believe SCO must prove its claims in a court of law before they will hand over the $700 per CPU for the license. Speaking at SCO's Forum...

A friend at NASA's Marshall Space flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama told me today that all his engineer friends were working on their resumes. After the Challenger disaster, NASA dithered for 2.5 years before using the shuttle again. How long this time? Quite probably, a year--if ever. This second wreck calls into question the entire shuttle program. Voices already are calling for a wholly new approach. The shuttle has the worst safety record of any launch vehicle, and is the most expensive, costing half a billion dollars per mission. And we now contemplate a war in Iraq that depends on...

For Immediate Release: 1/16/2003 DC-Area Sniper Victims Sue Gun Shop and Gun Maker for Negligence NRA-Backed Legislation Aims to Rob Victims of Their Rights The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence announced today that its Legal Action Project is filing a civil lawsuit on behalf of the families of several victims of the D.C.-area sniper against the gun dealer and manufacturer who made it possible for the snipers to terrorize the Washington, D.C. region last fall. The suit charges Bull's Eye Shooter Supply with operating its gun shop in such a grossly negligent manner that scores of guns, including the...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A man who made a remark about a "burning Bush" during the president's March 2001 trip to Sioux Falls was sentenced Friday to 37 months in prison. Richard Humphreys, of Portland, Ore., was convicted in September of threatening to kill or harm the president and said he plans to appeal. ... Humphreys said he got into a barroom discussion in nearby Watertown with a truck driver. A bartender who overheard the conversation realized the president was to visit Sioux Falls the next day and told police Humphreys talked about a "burning Bush" and the possibility of...

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court ruling upholding California's ban on assault rifles was being portrayed Friday as a landmark in the constitutional debate over the right to bear arms. In a 72-page ruling issued Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the Second Amendment only guarantees the rights of states to organize a militia, and doesn't say anything about citizens being allowed to own semi-automatic weapons or any other firearms. "With the federal assault weapons ban scheduled to sunset next Congress, the California law stands as one example of how to more effectively restrict...

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - A former San Angelo doctor who challenged a federal law in a Second Amendment case was convicted Monday of firearm possession charges. A federal jury convicted Timothy Emerson of three counts of possessing a firearm. He was charged in 1998 after buying a pistol while under a restraining order during a divorce proceeding. U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings originally dismissed the charge against Emerson, ruling that the federal statute used to charge Emerson violated his Second Amendment right to bear arms. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the judge's ruling in October 2001....