Free Republic

Police are in the process of towing hundreds of cars in the West Village section of New York to clear the way for an Obama fundraiser at the townhouse of "Sex & the City" star, Sarah Jessica Parker. Anna Wintour of The Devil Wears Parda hatefulness will host. Expected guests: Justin Timberlake, Harvey Weinstein, Tommy Hilfiger. Several blocks west of Greenwich Ave. to the river are being cleared of cars and lined with metal barricades. Hundreds of "special detail" police are to run interferencefor the $40,000 per plate event. Cost to taxpayers - an estimated $2.5 to $3 Million.

DEVELOPING: Baltimore police shot a man multiple times Monday in the same area where massive riots broke out last week over the death of Freddie Gray.

GARLAND, Texas – An officer who was part of the heavy security for a free-speech event called the “Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest” featuring Dutch politician Geert Wilders was shot outside the building shortly after the event ended at approximately 7 p.m. Central Time. Two suspects, who got out of their car and started shooting, were shot and killed by police. The injured officer, with the Garland Independent School District, was shot in the lower leg. Identified as Bruce Joiner, his injuries were not life threatening, and he was released from the hospital. A SWAT officer told WND two...

Hannity talking with anonymous cop making breaking news. Cop says Freddy tested positive for drugs, including heroin, thus supporting story by cops and the other criminal in the van that Freddy was trying to cause harm to himself. The drugs would certainly make it easier for him to do it. Cop also says they were explicitly told not to confront looters and robbers "direct from commander."

The parent company of Assurant Health said Tuesday that it will sell or shut down the Milwaukee health insurer — which employs 1,200 people in the area — by the end of next year. Assurant Health has struggled to adjust to changes in the health insurance market imposed by the Affordable Care Act and is expected to report an operating loss of $80 million to $90 million in its first quarter. That comes after it lost $64 million last year. The company, whose headquarters is in downtown Milwaukee, specializes in health insurance for small employers and individuals, the two market...

Russia is currently building up forces near the Ukrainian border, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt wrote on Twitter on Thursday. "Russia has continued to ship heavy weapons into eastern Ukraine since the 'Minsk 2' ceasefire took effect on February 15," Pyatt tweeted. "These forces will give Russia its largest presence on the border since Oct. 2014. It has redeployed elements near Belgorod, opposite Kharkiv." According to Pyatt, the Russian military deployed additional air defense systems in eastern Ukraine and set up several of them closer to the front line. "This is the highest amount of Russian air defense equipment...

Authorities at Fort Benning, the U.S. Army post in west Georgia, say they're dealing with an ongoing "emergency situation" at the post's Warrior Transition Battalion. Fort Benning officials said Wednesday afternoon on the base's official Facebook account and on Twitter that officials have secured the area and that personnel were safety evacuated as a precaution. Officials at the scene have determined that there is no longer a threat to anyone on base, according to a Facebook post. Base officials said in the social media posts that children in a child development center were safe but were being moved to another...

Iranian Warships Arrive Near Yemen Comes just days after U.S. announced it would send its own warships A fleet of Iranian warships arrived near the southern coast of Yemen on Wednesday in a move likely to add greater tension in a developing U.S.-Iranian standoff in the region, according Iranian military leaders. Just days after the United States announced it would send its own warships to Yemen in order to prevent Iran from smuggling weapons to terror forces fighting there, a flotilla of Iranian destroyers docked in the same area. Iran’s military moves are likely to increase tensions between the two...

The 'proxy' war is escalating very rapidly. As AP reports, Navy officials confirm that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is headed to Yemeni waters to intercept an Iranian weapons shipments. Just as we warned 10 days ago, the probability of a major escalation over the latest proxy Middle Eastern civil war escalated substantially when Iran parked two warships off the Yemeni coast.

[snip] link above

A verdict has been reached in the Boston Marathon bombing trial. The jury deliberated for 11½ hours before reaching Wednesday's verdict, which is expected to be read soon.

NCAA National Championship Wisconsin v Duke (+1, 140 o/u) CBS TV 9:18pm EDT thread

Sarah Brady, who became a tireless gun control activist after her husband, the White House press secretary James S. Brady, was shot and left partly paralyzed in the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, died on Friday in Alexandria, Va. She was 73.

WASHINGTON — Senator Robert Menendez was indicted on federal corruption charges on Wednesday, setting the stage for a bitter court fight and putting his political future in doubt. Mr. Menendez was charged with eight counts of bribery, which carry up to 15 years in prison on each charge. He was also charged with conspiracy, fraud, and making false statements on government documents, the Justice Department said. Mr. Menendez is the first senator to face federal bribery charges since another New Jersey Democrat, Harrison A. Williams Jr., was indicted in 1980 in the Abscam scandal. The charges had long been expected...

ARKANSAS GOVERNOR IS REFUSING TO SIGN THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT.

A driver of a vehicle tried to ram a gate at the National Security Agency building in Fort Meade Monday morning, resulting in a shooting, authorities say. It is not clear if anyone has been injured. There are two vehicles with damage outside the gate. Anne Arundel County police say the National Security Agency is handling the investigation, WUSA9 reports. The incident happened around 9:30 a.m. local time.

On Wednesday, after entirely sitting out the three-week offensive, U.S. forces began carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Tikrit at the request of the Iraqi government, according to Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was taken captive by the Taliban after abandoning his post in Afghanistan and freed five years later in exchange for five Guantanamo detainees, will be charged with desertion, officials told Fox News. The development comes nearly one year after his May 2014 release -- which initially was a joyous occasion, with his family joining President Obama in celebrating the news in the Rose Garden. But that gave way to controversy in Washington as Bergdahl was accused of putting his fellow soldiers in danger by abandoning his post five years earlier. The trade of five hardened...

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz announced that he will run for president in 2016 via a Twitter post early Monday, becoming the first major candidate to officially declare. "I'm ready to stand with you to lead the fight," Cruz says as the video concludes. Shortly after midnight Monday, the campaign had launched its website.  Cruz had been expected to make the official announcement later Monday during a speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. He is expected to start his campaign immediately rather than launch an exploratory committee, which many do as a precursor to a campaign. 

Behind a small desk sits the chair Cheney occupied for eight years as vice president in the White House, and above the white-trimmed fireplace hang three framed swords. One was a gift from the cadets at West Point when Cheney was secretary of defense; the second came from the U.S. Marine Corps commandant when Cheney was guest of honor at the Marine Corps ball two months after 9/11; the third belonged to Samuel Fletcher Cheney, the vice president’s great-grandfather, who fought for the Union in the Civil War—enduring 34 battles, some of the conflict’s bloodiest fighting—only to lose part of...