Free Republic

A transformer explosion in Queens sent an eerie blue light flooding the nighttime sky over New York City Thursday night, startling residents. Con Edison says a couple of transformers tripped offline at the substation at 20th Avenue and 32nd Street, sparking a fire. The explosion lit the sky so brightly that it briefly appeared to be daytime in neighborhoods like Astoria and Woodside, residents reported. Smoke arose from the source of the blue light, visible from as far as Manhattan.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ A Gulf War veteran from Tennessee who murdered four children with an assault rifle has been executed. Death row inmate Daryl Holton was pronounced dead at 1:25 a.m. CDT Wednesday. He is the first Tennessee inmate put to death by electrocution since 1960. The 45-year-old Holton had confessed to shooting his three young sons and their half-sister in 1997 in the town of Shelbyville, about 50 miles south of Nashville. Holton told police he killed the children because his ex-wife had denied him from seeing them. He also said he intended to kill his ex-wife and...

If you listened closely this week, you might have heard Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign crack. Like the hard smack of a pebble against a car windshield, Rudy’s reiteration of his support for public funding of abortion put a knick in his veneer that will keep snapping, crackling, and popping in all directions if there isn’t some serious repair work done, but quick. First of all, let’s get something straight. I’m a Rudy fan. I like the smile and the strut and the machismo, and all that they portend for both my constant entertainment and consistent protection under a Giuliani administration....

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