Free Republic

A North Carolina woman says she is happier than ever after fulfilling her lifelong wish of becoming blind. Shuping said that her fascination with blindness began when she was about 6-years old. “By the time I was six I remember that thinking about being blind made me feel comfortable,” she told Barcroft TV. As a teen Shuping said she began wearing thick, black sunglasses and walking with a cane. By the age of 20, she was even fluent in braille. “I was ‘blind-simming’, which is pretending to be blind, but the idea kept coming up in my head and by...

A new state law requires those who buy drain cleaners and other caustic substances to provide photo identification and sign a log.

One of Illinois' new laws requires consumers to reach for their identification as well as their cash when they have a clogged drain. 

The law that took effect Sunday requires a valid identification to buy products containing chemicals listed within the Federal Caustic Poison Act in concentrations that require the warning "causes severe burns" on the packaging. Targeted substances include hydrochloric and sulfuric acids. 

Purchasers also must sign a log with their name and address. 

"We're looking at Drano, Liquid-Plumr -- those are the big ones," Rep. Rich Morthland, R-Cordova, said. 

The law was proposed after acid was used as...

Investigation Into Alleged NYC Bomb Plot Includes Nearly All of the Bureau's U.S. Field OfficesCriminal Complaint Suggests Cops May Have Tipped-Off Zazi By Questioning New York Imam, Seizing CarThe FBI is expanding its investigation into an alleged terror plot targeting New York City, and nearly every one of the FBI's 57 field offices in the country and several overseas are now in on the case, working along with local police. On Wednesday, the NYPD was showing a new training video in precincts citywide detailing the intelligence from the agencies. Bomb Squad Commander Lt. Marc Torre narrates the video, giving regular...

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — A 2-year-old boy was severely burned Saturday after he went down the slide at an elementary school playground. Someone had broken into the school, stolen several bottles of industrial-strength drain cleaner and splashed it all over the playground equipment, authorities said. Peyton Duschl was scheduled for surgery Sunday morning and likely will be hospitalized for several weeks, said Carol Duschl, the boy's mother. "I just don't understand what would draw somebody to do something like that," Duschl told WMAR-TV. "What kind of sick joke is that?" Peyton suffered second- and third-degree burns, mostly on his legs,...