Free Republic

Dear Diary: Some people look like their dogs; some like their spouses. You see they belong together, and you smile. This subway rider looked like, and belonged to, his thick book. Ginger hair, pulled back in a tail away from his ruddy baby face, matching his scruffy beard. Youthful and burly, rustic and earthy, dressed for the outdoors in a jacket and a pale red flannel shirt. Not yet spoiled by city life, innocent, unadventured, but poised to begin, clutching his treasured story in readiness. What was that book to him? Fiction? History? Autobiography? No clue from his silent eyes,...

One dead, two critical and 82 hurt as DC Metro fills with smoke from huge electrical fault: Terrified passengers lie in the dark for an HOUR before help arrives - as announcers tell them to 'stay calm' *Passengers described being stuck inside a pitch-black train for 40 minutes with some lying down to avoid the smoke *One female passenger was reportedly taken to hospital after paramedics found her unresponsive. She later died *Two other passengers are said to be in a critical condition at George Washington Hospital *A firefighter was also hurt during the evacuation and was transported to hospital....

""Manspread" - the habit some male NY subway riders have of spreading their legs beyond the confine of their hips to take up two, or even three, seats - is a source of increasing irritation for polite riders concerned about the comfort of others."

A hardworking father of two was killed Sunday when a stranger shoved him off a Bronx subway platform and into the path of a train — as his horrified wife looked on, family and police sources said. A suspect was spotted minutes later boarding a city bus — and then hopping off to coolly smoke a cigarette. --SNIP-- Police released surveillance video of a middle-aged, balding man dressed in a black leather jacket, black pants and white sneakers calmly sauntering outside the station after the crime.

First, he was cleared by the DA — and now he wants to be cleared by the fashion police. The man who was attacked on an F train by women who mocked his 1980s-style 8-ball jacket will not be charged with assault for hitting one of them because he acted in self-defense, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said on Wednesday. Jorge Peña, 25, hailed the news that he’s been cleared criminally. He also insisted that he was in the right from a fashion perspective. He told The Post that the jacket is actually highly fashionable right now and was worn...

The stars of a viral video of their subway brawl have been slapped with assault charges. In the video, 21-year-old Danay Howard can be seen taunting Jorge Pena, 25, over his clothing before the argument turn physical. Howard and Pena were both arrested at the West Fourth Street subway station at about 5am Saturday along with Howard's friends Kevin Gil, 21, and Shanique Campbell, 20, who had jumped into the fight to support her. Howard, the woman who was shockingly slapped across the face, has been hit with the most severe charges - including a felony.

The man killed in Thursday’s shooting was identified by police as Kevin Michael Murray, 36, of Plano. Police said Murray and one of his coworkers, Alireza Nikmanesh of Dallas, began arguing outside the Subway restaurant on Custer Road about 6:20 p.m. During the argument, Nikmanesh took a handgun out of his car and shot Murray several times, police said. An off-duty fire captain saw Murray and began CPR until paramedics arrived and took him to a nearby hospital, where he died.

"They are both registered Democrats with a history of working in public health. Both Spencer and Dixon are professional do gooders according to their LinkedIn and professional websites. Spencer boasts a degree from Columbia’s University Mailman School of Public Health, according to his since deleted LinkedIn page. So why did health care professionals decide to go bowling just days after Spencer returned from Ebola-infected Guinea?"

US officials have no indication of a plot by Islamic State militants to attack underground rail systems in the US and Paris.

Islamic State terrorists are plotting an attack on US and Paris subway systems, Iraq’s prime minister warned Thursday morning at the United Nations. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he was told of the plot by his intelligence in Baghdad, and that it was from foreign ISIS fighters in Iraq, according to the Associated Press. “I’m receiving accurate reports from Baghdad that there were arrests of a few elements and there were networks from inside Iraq to have attacks … on metros of Paris and US,” he said. He said the attacks had not been thwarted yet, and he had alerted...

PATERSON, NJ -- A disabled veteran was thrown out of a fast food restaurant because of his service dog. The incident itself is troubling enough, but you won't believe what happened after the Eyewitness News investigators arrived at the restaurant to demand answers. It's one of the most bizarre exchanges Eyewitness News has ever had on a story. Federal law is very clear: Dogs are recognized as service animals and all businesses open to the public, including restaurants, must allow them in. But a U.S. Army veteran says a Subway restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey, blatantly ignored the law, and...

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - The federal government will spend $2 billion to extend a subway line under Los Angeles' storied Wilshire Boulevard, an effort to ease congestion in one of the country's most transited corridors and to eventually link downtown to the beach with a "Subway to the Sea." The project is meant to improve traffic in a part of the city where it can take hours to go just a few miles, with train stations to be built at major cultural attractions, including museums and the glitzy shopping areas of Beverly Hills. Backers hope at some point to expand...

A Gastonia woman, upset about the way Subway employees made her flatbread pizza, called 911 Thursday night to report that the restaurant wouldn’t refund the money she paid for a “flatizza.”

The FBI secretly kept tabs on Nicholas Michael Teausant for six months, having a confidential informant meet with him repeatedly in Stockton at breakfast joints, a park and a flea market as the 20-year-old student allegedly spun his vision of jihad against the United States. Federal court papers say Teausant talked for months of his desire to train fighters in Syria, to bomb the Los Angeles subway system over the New Year’s Day holiday and to spark a civil war that would topple the U.S. government. :snip: In Internet postings quoted in the complaint, as well as conversations Teausant had...

Subway removes ham and bacon from nearly 200 stores and offers halal meat only after 'strong demand' from Muslims Almost 200 branches of Subway have cut ham and bacon from their menus, serving halal meat in response to calls from their Muslim customers. The sandwich chain said 'following a strong demand from our Muslim customers', 185 outlets in the UK and Ireland have introduced the meat, which is prepared under strict Islamic rules. In Arabic the word halal means 'permitted' or 'lawful' and defines anything that is allowed or lawful according to the Qur'an. It is often used to indicate...

Were they six-inches or a FOOT-long? Subway worker caught using the bread oven to dry her WET SOCKS and gloves after she posted a picture of it on her Instagram account. Woman laid her soggy clothes on heated metal racks used to cook bread. Jessica Hinton, a regular customer at the Subway store in the St John’s area of Worcester, spotted the image online and complained. The 29-year-old was then offered vouchers by the store manager - who called her the next day. And she was even private messaged on Facebook by the member of staff in question - who...

A National Guard reservist has been arrested at the Canadian border in Washington for allegedly trying to aid al-Qaida in a plot to attack a Southland subway. Nicholas Teausant, 20, of Acampo, Calif., was charged Monday with attempting to provide material to support a foregoing terrorist organization, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office said. He made his first appearance in a federal courtroom in Seattle Monday afternoon.

The National Guard reservist charged on Monday with attempting to blow up the Los Angeles subway allegedly possessed terrorist manuals on how to be a “lone wolf” terrorist and was a frequent reader of al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine, which provides tips on how to make and detonate various bombs, according to FBI court documents. The FBI charged Nicholas Teausant, a 20-year-old National Guard reservist, with attempting to help al Qaeda carry out a plot to attack the subway system in Los Angeles. Teausant was a frequent Internet contributor to forums for would-be terrorists and is said to have owned a...

… Subway set up a big booth at the convention center in downtown Austin, right outside the hall where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange spoke via Skype on Saturday. In it, Subway employees strapped brain monitors onto convention-goers and asked them to “think” about the Flatizza. The person who thought the hardest won some swag. …

Riders, state legislators and transit advocates spoke out Sunday against Governor Cuomo’s proposed raid of $40 million in transit funds for subway and bus services. In his January executive budget, Cuomo proposed that the state use that money to pay off bonds it originally took out to help the MTA financially, but promised to pay back using state money.Advocates say the raid breaks earlier vows the state made to the MTA and its riders. …