Free Republic

Law enforcement officials are investigating a threat against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who was vaulted into national prominence with his push to defund ObamaCare. A person identifying himself as Troy Gilmore Jr., posted on Twitter Friday morning: “Take down Ted Cruz, at his home” and listed Cruz’s home address in Houston. “What goes around comes around CRUZ!!” the person wrote. The author of the threat uses the Twitter handle @ArmyVet54 and identifies himself as having served in the U.S. Army and Navy. Sean Rushton, Cruz’s spokesman, said, “We’re aware of it and have alerted the proper authorities.” “I can’t comment...

CHICAGO (AP) — Our food was a little less safe, our workplaces a little more dangerous. The risk of getting sick was a bit higher, our kids' homework tougher to complete. The federal government shutdown may have seemed like a frustrating squabble in far-off Washington, but it crept into our lives in small, subtle ways — from missed vegetable inspections to inaccessible federal websites. The "feds" always are there in the background, setting the standards by which we live, providing funds to research cures for our kids' illnesses, watching over our food supply and work environment.

HOPKINTON — A safe full of fireworks and an acetylene torch caused an explosion that took the lives of two men who police said were attempting an early morning burglary at a landscaping company. Lucas Burke, 21, of Allenstown and Ethan Keeler, 20, of Epsom died in a blast at New Yard Landscaping at 67 Farrington Corner Road. According to the state fire marshal’s office, “the two males were attempting to gain entry into a closed metal container which contained consumer fireworks using an oxy-acetylene cutting torch when the blast occurred. The investigation has revealed that the two victims did...

With the Just Move! stamp issuance the U.S. Postal Service hoped to raise awareness about the importance of physical activity in achieving a healthy lifestyle. However, according to Linns Stamp News, the USPS will be destroying the entire press run after receiving concerns from the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition over alleged “unsafe” acts depicted on three of the stamps...

Dishonesty, lying and cheating are not treated with the right amount of opprobrium in today's society. To gain an appreciation for the significance of honesty and trust, consider what our day-to-day lives would be like if we couldn't trust anyone. When we purchase a bottle of 100 pills from our pharmacist, how many of us bother to count the pills? We pull in to a gasoline station and pay $35 for 10 gallons of gasoline. How do we know for sure whether we in fact received 10 gallons instead of 9 3/4? You pay $7 for a 1-pound package of...

<p>I’ve always considered this a loaded question (what does “safe” actually mean, anyway?). It’s rarely the right question to ask. But it comes up pretty often for an average investor, and rarely for the right reasons.</p> <p>“Bank officials hit on the idea of raising capital and cleaning debts off their books by getting people with savings accounts to invest in their banks instead,” the Times article recounted. “For many savers, the first hint of trouble — and understanding that they had bought into risky investments — was when some of these banks essentially failed about two years ago. Overnight, they were unable to withdraw their money. Soon, they came to understand that they had purchased complex financial products, originally designed for sophisticated investors.”</p>

Preliminary autopsy results on two New Brunswick boys who were killed after an African rock python escaped its enclosure in Campbellton, N.B., show they died from asphyxiation, RCMP say. The pathologist completed the autopsies on Noah and Connor Barthe on Tuesday. "At least right now we have a cause of death. Even though we still need some reports from the pathologist to be forwarded, that's going to help the investigation to move forward," RCMP Sgt. Alain Tremblay told CBC News. Tremblay said in a statement that police are aware the case has "touched the hearts of people across the world"...

Two children died after a python got into an apartment in Campbellton, N.B., RCMP say. "Police are investigating two sudden deaths of two young boys," Const. Julie Rogers-Marsh said Monday. It's believed the snake escaped from a pet store called Reptile Ocean. The victims were boys aged five and seven. They were visiting a friend in the apartment above the store, police said in a statement released Monday. Initial information indicates the snake got into the ventilation system and then into the apartment upstairs. "It's believed the two boys were strangled by the snake," she said, noting that autopsies are...

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Animation-214-Crash220137-1.html A Florida company that specializes in animations that re-create crimes and accidents has released its animated take on the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 at SFO earlier this month. Eyewitness Animations, which has been doing the animations for court cases and accident investigations for 23 years, shows the final 40 seconds of the Boeing 777's flight to San Francisco and includes a "ghost airplane" in the sequence showing the proper flight path of the airliner.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that generic drugmakers cannot be sued under state law for adverse reactions to their products, a decision that consumer advocates called a blow to patient safety. In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled for Mutual Pharmaceutical Co, owned by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, overturning a multimillion-dollar jury award to a badly injured patient in New Hampshire who alleged a generic drug she had taken was unsafe based on its chemical design. The majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, said the state's law could not run against...

Images like those below are chilling to those of us in the shooting community, as they should be. Sometimes we forget just how dangerous our hobby can be and we become lax. When we become lax we accidentally double charge a round while reloading, or we hear a pop vs. a bang and fail to check the bore of our firearm before firing the next round. We sweep others with the muzzle. We put our finger on the trigger when we shouldn’t. And sometimes we forget to wear eye protection. The AR15 pictured here exploded unexpectedly on its owner this...

WAPELLO, Iowa -- The winds came to Wapello on Monday. Damages to trees and some roofs were evident around the Wapello area. Probably the most devastating damage hit grain bins in this rural area. Farmers Elevator and Exchange sits along highway 61. They had two grain bins succumb to the high winds. A 200,000 bushel grain bin was totally disintegrated while a second bin of the same size was seriously damaged. The second bin was close to being lifted off of its foundation too.

Folks, I need some advice here. I own two weapons, a Ruger 9, and a Mossberg 500. Both are primarily for home defense, although I have a CC and take the 9 with me occasionally. I live in the city, South Philadelphia, in a three story row home, and there are very few break-ins, not a great deal of crime in my neighborhood. I also have a wife, who has no interest in fire arms, and two children, a daughter 13 and son 11, who also have no interest in firearms. Now I keep the Mossberg in the bedroom (3rd...

This week, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the National Security Agency's data mining violates our Fourth Amendment right to be "secure in their persons, houses, papers" and is "tyranny that our founders rebelled against." Good for him. In an op-ed, he adds, "We fought a revolution over issues like generalized warrants, where soldiers would go from house to house, searching anything they liked," and wonders "which parts of the Constitution this government will next consider negotiable." Good for him. I'm glad at least one senator reminds Big Government that our Constitution limits federal power. And many libertarians are furious at...

Arc flash, a release of heat energy that includes molten metals, hot metallic oxides and toxic burning smoke, is often violent, resulting in serious injury and sometimes death, according to GE's Industrial Solutions business. Arc flash temperatures exceed 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than the sun's surface, with 700 miles per hour projectile-producing pressure, which can throw a person across a room. An estimated five to 10 arc flashes occur each day in the United States, according to a report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. One arc flash incident can cost up to $15 million, including healthcare...

The revelation that the National Security Agency is gathering millions of phone calls every day re-stokes the ongoing debate the country has been having since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: What is the right balance between protecting our privacy and protecting our country? It's the same argument that happened around the passage (and reauthorization) of the Patriot Act, the use of drones against American citizens and the targeting of leakers by the Obama administration. And, time and again, the American public makes clear that their desire to feel safe from attacks foreign and domestic trumps their desire for...

Schools not obligated legally to protect students from each other, appeals court rules Public schools don't have a “special relationship” with students that would make them legally obligated to protect students from each other, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in a 10-4 decision upholding a ruling in a Beaver County case. Bradley and Diedre Morrow of West Mayfield sued the Blackhawk School District in 2010 after the district refused to expel a student who repeatedly attacked one of their daughters, even after the attacker was twice adjudicated delinquent because of the assaults. In a precedential ruling, a 10-judge majority...

Here's a bit of advice real "safety experts" are giving kids — and parents. It's poisonous. But first, the back story: The other day, a blogger named Lisa Flam wrote on a popular parenting website that her seventh-grader came home one day and announced he "didn't do it." Didn't do what? He and his friend were walking home from school (points for that!), when a white-haired lady stood in her doorway and requested the boys' help. "She asked them to move a medium-size package from her front step into her house," Flam wrote. "On the sidewalk, the boys wondered what...

Even the most ardent liberal defenders of Eric Holder acknowledge that the embattled Attorney General "is in a mess of his own making," as Dana Milbank of the Washington Postput it. Under fire for his Justice Department going after AP reporters' personal records, Holder testified in May 2013 to Congress: "With regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material, that is not something that I have ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be a wise policy."But, Holder was caught in a lie when the Washington Post exposed an affidavit bearing Holder's signature naming...

Today while I was planting the garden, a neighbor started shooting his guns. He is known to do this during the summer and for his bachelor party he and his crew shot constantly for four hours. I do not mind the noise and before today my only concern was how he could afford all the rounds he fires. Today was different because he would shoot and then I would hear a bullet "whiz" through the air above the swamp and then thwack into the woods on the other side. This was right behind my property and I knew the bullets...