Free Republic

Norton reports that cybercrime is costing the global economy $338 billion a year, overtaking a still a lucrative trade in the underground drugs market. For every second that goes by, 19 people worldwide fall victim to some form of online crime, most commonly social network hacking and credit card fraud. The report suggests that more than 69 percent, at two-thirds of online adults, have fallen victim to cybecrime; a figure that is still on the rise. Symantec, the anti-virus maker who issued the report, noted that it takes U.S. authorities nearly twice as long to resolve cybercrime than its British...

ELBERTA, Summerdale -- President Obama's decision to talk gun control and discuss a ban on assault weapons are hot topics along the Gulf Coast. Despite the tragic, shooting massacre in Colorado, gun shops continue to sell AR-15's and AK-47's to gun enthusiasts and sportsmen. The AR-15 is NOT widely used in crime. According the FBI, of the 199 homicides recorded in Alabama in 2010, handguns were used in 112, hands, fists or feet were used in 17, knives were used in 23....none were committed with a rifle. Gun control has and will be debated for decades...an issue now on presidential...

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - A home invasion suspect who escaped from authorities at a hospital before being captured a few hours later now faces robbery charges for a separate incident. Birmingham Police have obtained two robbery warrants against Deandre Miles, a 19-year-old from Birmingham. The latest charges are in connection to an April 20 robbery on Indian Summer Drive, a community off of Pinson Valley Parkway. Police say Miles and his accomplice robbed a homeowner and a contractor who were meeting for a home repair estimate around 2:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. The homeowner had a surveillance video system...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Just before 2:30pm Friday afternoon, deputies were dispatched to investigate a report of a home invasion on Jupiter Drive in Pinson. The homeowner told deputies that he had noticed two men acting suspiciously in front of his home and watching him while he worked in his garage. When he went to put some tools in his truck, one of the men approached him wearing a mask and pointing a gun. A second armed man then entered the house. The homeowner drew his own hand gun, pointed it at the suspect and fired. Both got into a car...

A 72-year-old man shot an intruder at his home in Holt early Monday morning. The man told investigators that he was awakened by a 27-year-year old man pounding on his back door at 2 a.m. The younger man knocked him to the ground and forced his way inside when he opened the door, said Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit commander Capt. Loyd Baker. The suspect ran back into the yard when he realized another person was inside the home, Baker said. The resident retrieved a gun and fired a shot at the suspect, Baker said. No charges had been filed...

A top al Qaeda leader and longtime Osama Bin Laden confidant with a $1 million price tag on his head was targeted in a U.S. drone strike this morning in Pakistan, according to a senior U.S. official. Pakistan officials say that Abu Yahya al-Libi, second-in-command to current al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, was among the 15 people killed when a U.S. drone fired four missiles into a suspected militant hideout in Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan, at 5:30 a.m. local time Monday. The senior U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that al-Libi was the target of a strike,...

Q: What are the state and local laws regarding open carry of weapons? A concealed carry permit is required to carry a concealed handgun on your person or GUNS.JPGThe Birmingham News/ File PhotoPistols on display at a gun shop in Birmingham a loaded handgun in your vehicle. What are the laws regarding having a holstered handgun visible in public? Let's assume we are all smart enough to know that you can't openly carry a loaded gun into the courthouse, a bank, or a school. If open carry is legal, what venues are exempt? A: Brent Patterson, investigator with the Madison...

Louisiana House approves bill banning abortions after 20 weeksBy Kathy Finn Fri Jun 1, 2012 7:50pm EDT NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The Louisiana state House of Representatives on Friday unanimously approved a bill that would prohibit abortion beyond 20 weeks after fertilization unless the mother's life is in danger. Georgia a month ago became the seventh state to ban most or all abortions after 20 weeks. Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska and North Carolina also have such restrictions. Under the Louisiana measure, doctors who violate the 20-week provision could face up to two years in prison.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAAY) - Huntsville Police say a clerk at Atlantis Corner shot and killed a robber Thursday night. Police responded to the convenience store at 1176 Old Monrovia Road just before 9:00 p.m. Police say a masked man armed with a handgun demanded cash from the store clerk. The clerk then shot the man. Officials say the man died at Huntsville Hospital. We will update you as more information becomes available

He was afraid his seasonal migrant workforce might not return for the summer picking season, opting to stay away rather than risk running afoul of Alabama's stringent immigration law. The crew he awaits is picking the Florida harvest. "I had to cut back my planting not knowing if the labor is going to be available," said Copeland, 47, who planted just two-thirds of his 30 acres on the far side of Straight Mountain in northeastern Blount County. "I don't know what we're going to do if they run every illegal out of here. It's going to be hard to stay...

Police in Enterprise are looking for a Dothan man in connection with the robbery of a barber shop, which ended with the barber shop owner shooting the robbery suspect in the thigh. According to information from Enterprise police, the incident happened around 7 p.m. Monday at Creative Hair Masters located at 2950 Rucker Boulevard. The barber shop owner told police that two men came into the shop and asked for haircuts. One of the men pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money and jewelry from the owner, who grabbed his own gun and fired at least one round at...

The mother of a 13-year-old boy fatally shot when police say he tried to rob a couple said she is in shock that her son is dead -- and even more so at the circumstances surrounding his death. "I don't want it put out like he was a bad person or a mean person, because he wasn't," Latonya Walker, 38, said Tuesday. "This is not him, not who he was. Anybody that knew Ja'Quares knows that." Birmingham police said Ja'Quares Cortez Walker was in a car that pulled into the parking lot of the gated Skyview Condominiums at 407 Skyview...

BIRMINGHAM - AL - Family and friends are in mourning, the funeral service was held at Living Stone Temple church, community members tell me they're not too happy that no arrests have been made. During the service, Walkers family was overcome with emotion during the ceremony and had to step outside. Many mourners wore red, black and white t-shirts with walker's picture saying "In loving memory of Tez". Dr. Al B. Sutton Jr. led a sermon preaching out the book of mark and had a direct message to young adults as well as the parents in the building. "Our son's,...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Shortly after holding a press conference this afternoon to say that authorities are not giving her the information she deserves about the shooting death of her 13-year-old son, Latonya Walker met with Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls. Falls said Walker had not contacted him before she and community activist Frank Matthews held today's press conference. Falls said he met with her and Matthews today for 45 minutes. Normally, Falls said, the DA's office will not contact family members after a decision made not to file charges in a case. They never meet with family's of defendants...

Imagine the horror of having your home or business plundered by thieves. Not a good feeling, but even harder to fathom that the bad guys who did it could end up suing you in court. State lawmakers say an existing legal loophole allows thieves to file civil lawsuits against home and business owners if they end up getting injured while intruding. But a bill working its way through the Alabama State Legislature would put an end to the practice. If approved, House Bill 46 would grant immunity to property owners from civil lawsuits by criminals in almost all circumstances. State...

It's a Clint Eastwood kind of country, a go-ahead-and-make-my-day-and-age. I get it. I do. With the blessing of the founders and the High Court, you have the undisputed, undefeated right to bear-hug all the arms you want. I don't want to take your guns. I'm not trying to outlaw your guns. And I wouldn't pry them from your cold dead hands if I could. But Lord knows -- even Charlton Heston's ghost knows -- we need to talk about guns. Because the biggest threats to the Second Amendment are not the anti-gun, tree-hugging Greenpeace hippies. The biggest threats to responsible...

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - Birmingham police say a 13-year-old robbery suspect was shot and killed by the person he tried to rob in Birmingham Friday night. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office confirms the teen's identity as Jaqures Cortez Walker of Birmingham. He was a 7th grade student at Martha Gaskin Middle School and the quarterback for the football team, according to a family member. BPD Sgt. Johnny Williams said the teen suspect approached a couple as they pulled into their home at the gated Skyview Condominiums in the 400 block of Skyview Drive around 11:10pm. Friday, April 27. Skyview Drive...

DALLAS, Texas -- Hammad Memon was charged with murder as a 14-year-old. Now 16, he became the subject of a national manhunt that ended Friday in Dallas. Facing trial for the deadly shooting of a young classmate at Discovery Middle School, Memon had been allowed to live at home with his parents for nearly t two years. But Madison police this week, tipped that Memon may have received a passport from Pakistan, couldn't find him in the Madison area. The search, with the help of several police agencies and the FBI, ended late Friday with a foot chase in Dallas,...

Most of us have heard about how the media won't report on black-on-white crime. We also may know that authorities sometimes sweep it under the rug due to political pressure, usually with a wink and a nod. But not so in rural Alabama, where the police actually told a white crime victim that they "don't mess" with a local black motorcycle gang. The tragic event that led to this shocking admission occurred on March 28, as truck driver Nick Stokes and neighbor Johnathan Cooper were heading out of Birmingham hauling a portable cabin. While rounding a curve, one of Stokes'...

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Mobile police say a robbery suspect got an unexpected surprise when his intended victim started shooting at him. It happened around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday on Chinquapin Street in Mobile. When it was all over, the suspect was the one who ended up in the hospital. A holster was still on the hood of the victim's car hours after the shooting. One neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, said he was in bed when he heard gunfire. "I can't say what time it was, but I heard about six or seven gunshots go off. You know...