Free Republic

Two Lyndhurst brothers in the U.S. illegally will spend little more than a year in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl from age 5 to 12. Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian sentenced Mauro Cedeno-Blondet, 53, and Gustavo Cedeno-Blondet, 55, to three years in state prison each. But because they’ve been behind bars for 691 days, they get nearly two years of jail credit. They will then be deported back to Ecuador. The Cedeno-Blondets will serve their time in general population because neither qualifies for sex offender treatment at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel, the...

Correction April 12, 2014 An earlier version of this story said that the methane emissions associated with livestock come from their farts. In fact, most of those methane emissions come from belches. Sorry to ruin your appetite, but it's time to talk about cow belches. Humans the world over are eating meat and drinking milk — some of us a little less, some of us a lot more, than years past. Farmers are bringing more and more cows into the world to meet demand, and with them escapes more methane into the atmosphere. In 2011, methane from livestock accounted for...

Among the many political messages that resonate in the African-American community, President Obama knows that calls to protect voting rights will rouse many of his most loyal supporters. In an election year in which fairness and equity are Democratic themes, and motivating the party’s base is essential by November, Obama on Friday expressed alarm about rights threatened and justice denied, stirring 1,600 people packed inside a New York City ballroom to stand and cheer.

Protesters gathered at the site of a Hillary Clinton event in San Diego. The group included Pat Smith, the mother of Sean Smith who was one of four Americans killed in a terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Smith says she holds Clinton accountable for what happened to her son. "They abandoned my son," she said. "And that's exactly what it was, an abandonment. They abandoned the guys on the roof top also. Please everybody, don't let Hillary be president. Don't let Hillary be president, whatever you do!"

The president nominated Sylvia Burwell, the current director of the Office of Management and Budget, to succeed Sebelius. Burwell has long career in government, but she’s actually much more interesting than your typical bureaucrat. Here’s nine things you might not know about the woman who is likely to be the next HHS Secretary: She’s really smart. Obama is not the first president she’s worked for. She accidentally ran a half marathon. She was forced to get involved in last year’s government shutdown. She knows how to handle money — and crises. Her fifth date was a bit unusual. She engages...

The Senate Intelligence Committee has opened an investigation into how McClatchy obtained the classified conclusions of a report into the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, the panel’s chairwoman said Friday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she was also referring the case to the Justice Department for investigation. “If someone distributed any part of this classified report, they broke the law and should be prosecuted,” Feinstein said in a prepared statement. “The committee is investigating this unauthorized disclosure and I intend to refer the matter to the Department of Justice.”

At a restaurant just off the San Jose State University campus Thursday evening, a young waitress, exasperated by the sudden crush of customers ordering salads and a white wine, paused from her exertions to explain why she was so slammed. "They're all going to see Hillary Clinton," she said, sizing up the room.. "Everywhere you look, it's the same demographic." A mostly middle-aged, conspicuously Caucasian crowd of women filled the university's Event Center for Clinton's appearance as part of Unique Lives & Experiences. That was the demographic that was clearly top of mind for the former first lady, senator and...

An Alabama state lawmaker, Rep. Alvin Holmes, who rocked national headlines with his perceived racist claim that few whites in the nation would ever adopt black children — and who then backed his view with a $100,000 bet — may now have to pay up, or at least shut up. Faces of Families in Alabama started a Facebook page for families in the state to post their pictures and stories about their mixed-race adoptions. So far, the page has more than 7,000 “likes,” and the group is fielding new photos on a daily basis that show how families come in...

Boston Marathon bombing survivor Adrianne Haslet-Davis allegedly walked out of the set of Meet the Press with David Gregory. A survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing stormed off the set of NBC’s Meet the Press in tears on Friday after being asked to comment on Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev — after she was allegedly promised their names would not be mentioned. Adrianne Haslet-Davis, a dancer who lost part of one leg during the attack, tweeted after the taping: I feel so disrespected @meetthepress I asked politely yesterday and you said yes. Now you choose to use the name instead.

Say what you will about Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), but they know a train wreck when they see it. They also know when to separate themselves from the cranks and the losers on the right. Although both supported the shutdown and were heartily supported by tea party groups in their own Senate races, neither one has endorsed Matt Bevin in Kentucky, Milton Wolf in Kansas or Chris McDaniel in Mississippi. In fact, Cruz’s office confirms he hasn’t endorsed anyone in the primaries. There are a few important lessons here. First, neither one of these guys wants...

--snip-- As a result of the rulings in Heller and McDonald, the Second Amendment, which was adopted to protect the states from federal interference with their power to ensure that their militias were “well regulated,” has given federal judges the ultimate power to determine the validity of state regulations of both civilian and militia-related uses of arms. That anomalous result can be avoided by adding five words to the text of the Second Amendment to make it unambiguously conform to the original intent of its draftsmen. As so amended, it would read:   “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the...

Finance chiefs from around the globe on Friday gave the United States until year-end to ratify long-delayed reforms to the International Monetary Fund and threatened to move forward without it if it fails to do so. The inability to proceed with giving emerging markets a more powerful voice at the IMF and shoring up the lender's resources appeared the most contentious issue. In a final communiqué, G20 finance ministers and central bankers said they were "deeply disappointed" with the delay. "I take this opportunity to urge the United States to implement these reforms as a matter of urgency," Australian Treasurer...

Unions and employers in France have come to a labor agreement that employees are not allowed to check their work-related emails once the work day is done, the Guardian reports. Although the country adopted the 35-hour work week in 1999, workers have complained about having to clock in at home. The deal, which is legally binding, affects 250,000 employees in the tech and consultancy industries, including workers at the French branches of Google, Facebook, and Deloitte. Under the new law – which does not have a particular time requirement – employees cannot look at their computers, phone, or anything else...

A semi truck reportedly crossed the center divide and crashed into a tour bus, causing a fire, injuring up to 50 people, killing at least nine people and leading to the closure of all lanes of Interstate 5 lanes near Orland this evening.

Enrollment for the president's health care law has grown to 7.5 million Americans, the Obama administration announced Thursday, handing President Barack Obama and the Democrats bigger coverage numbers to tout in the face of election-year attacks. Sebelius said she expects the figure to continue to grow. The original number already exceeded expectations, a surprise success after a disastrous roll-out and welcome news for Democrats who've been forced to defend their support for the unpopular law derided by critics as "Obamacare." Democratic senators took turns Thursday praising the robust sign-up numbers.

BERLIN — It’s Plan B in the fight against climate change: cooling the planet by sucking heat-trapping CO2 from the air or reflecting sunlight back into space. Called geoengineering, it’s considered mad science by opponents. Supporters say it would be foolish to ignore it, since plan A — slashing carbon emissions from fossil fuels — is moving so slowly. The U.N.’s expert panel on climate change is under pressure from both sides this week as it considers whether geoengineering should be part of the tool-kit that governments use to keep global warming in check.

Black female lawmakers have now weighed in on an Army controversy over what one soldier calls “racially biased” hairstyle regulations. Sixteen female members of the Congressional Black Caucus signed a letter Thursday to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, stating that the changes are “discriminatory rules targeting soldiers who are women of color.” The rule in question, Army Regulation 670-1, bans hairstyles that require twists and dreadlocks, among other options preferred by minority soldiers. The Army contends that the grooming requirement is needed to “maintain uniformity.”

Minnesota lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure raising the state's minimum wage from one of the lowest in the nation to one of the highest. The measure to bump the hourly wage to $9.50, one of dozens of wage proposals debated by lawmakers around the country this year, passed the Democrat-controlled House by a vote of 71-60. The Democrat-run Senate approved the measure on Wednesday. It now goes to Democratic Governor Mark Dayton, who supports the bill.

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit teenager was charged Thursday with assault and a hate crime in the brutal mob beating of a suburban motorist who stopped to help a boy he accidentally struck with his pickup truck. The 16-year-old boy is the only one of five people charged in the April 2 attack on Steve Utash to face an ethnic intimidation count. Utash, 54, is white. The teen and four adults charged in his beating are black.

LONDON - Today's British people are "the least active generation in history" and that lack of exercise is leading to around 37,000 premature deaths a year, according to a parliamentary report published on Tuesday. Published by the All Party Commission on Physical Activity, the report calls for radical changes to "turn back the toxic tide of inactivity," including altering the way schools are run to ensure that children take more exercise, and changes in town and transport planning in order to make it easier for people to make more journeys on foot or by bicycle.