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Texas executed by lethal injection on Wednesday a Mexican citizen who was convicted of bludgeoning a man to death and repeatedly raping the man's wife. Ramiro Hernandez, 44, was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m. CDT at the Texas state death chamber in Huntsville after receiving a dose of lethal drugs, the Texas Department o Texas executes Mexican national for murder and rapef Criminal Justice said. Hernandez was the sixth convict executed in Texas this year and the 16th in the United States.

(CNN) -- At the annual rattlesnake roundup in Sweetwater, Texas, in early March, Jaycee sponsors and volunteers slaughtered 3,890 pounds of rattlesnakes. The event is billed as "Fun for the whole family," and children take their turns to skin a snake, and afterward, press their hands covered with snake blood onto a wall of handprints. The Jaycees, short for the U.S. Junior Chamber, bills itself as a group that gives young people "the tools they need to build the bridges of success." The Sweetwater branch has been holding what it calls "The World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-Up" for 56 years on...

by John Urban | Top Right News After a disgraceful wait of 16 years since he brutally murdered a former Baylor University history professor and attacked his wife, a Mexican illegal alien was executed tonight in Texas, despite the protests of the Mexican government and attorneys.Ramiro Hernandez-Llanas, 44, was lethally injected in the state's death chamber in Huntsville. He was in the U.S. illegally when he was arrested for the October 1997 slaying of 49-year-old Glen Lich. Just 10 days earlier, Lich had given Hernandez-Llanas a job helping with renovations at his ranch near Kerrville, about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio, in exchange...

Today, U.S. Congressman Blake Farenthold (TX-27) attended a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Attorney General Eric Holder was the sole witness. Today marked the seventh time General Holder has testified before the Judiciary Committee since his confirmation in 2009. Congressman Farenthold did not question Holder during the hearing because he felt that, since the Attorney General has been held in contempt of Congress, it was not appropriate for him to appear before Congress as if nothing was wrong. Instead, Congressman Farenthold made the following remarks during his designated questioning round in today’s hearing:...

Today, three Republican U.S. Senators and one Representative who feel stymied on their investigation into the Benghazi, Libya Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks are calling for House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) to convene a Select Congressional Committee. “Segmenting the investigation will never get to the truth,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is holding a news conference on the effort today with Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC). There have been multiple hearings in the nearly 17 months since the terrorist attacks that killed four Americans including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. The hearings, subpoenaed...

KILLEEN, Tex. — In the hours and days after a deadly shooting at Fort Hood last week, Army officials have not shied away from talking about terrorism — to contrast it with the 2009 attack and to ease fears about the motive behind the second mass shooting on the base in nearly five years.

Even as the IRS faces growing heat over Lois G. Lerner and the tea party targeting scandal, a government watchdog said Wednesday it’s pursuing cases against three other tax agency employees and offices suspected of illegal political activity in support of President Obama and fellow Democrats. In one case the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates federal employees who conduct politics on government time, said it was “commonplace” in a Dallas IRS office for employees to have pro-Obama screensavers on their computers, and to have campaign-style buttons and stickers at their office. In another case, a worker at the tax...

On April 1, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray was denied a second term, defeated in the primary by upstart city councilwoman Muriel Bowser. The beginning of the end came on March 10, when U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen struck a plea bargain with a wealthy businessman who confessed he'd spent $668,000 on an illegal "shadow campaign" to fund get-out-the-vote efforts that helped Gray win the mayoral office in 2010. So the corrupt mayor of America's most important city is thrown out. A political scandal? The same networks that were utterly breathless over the local story of Gov. Chris Christie's aides slowing traffic...

memorial service Wednesday at Fort Hood — the site of last week’s shooting rampage. The memorial is also the same day Obama will reportedly attend a Democratic fundraiser in Houston for House and Senate candidates. The Associated Press obtained an invitation to the April 9 event where tickets start at $16,200 a person and go up to $64,800 for a couple. Democratic leaders Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are also expected to attend. The AP reports that the money raised at the fundraiser will go to

The US Senate has unanimously passed a bill barring known terrorists from entering the United States as ambassadors to the United Nations. The move came in response to the decision by Iran to appoint Hamid Aboutalebi, who participated in the 1979 hostage-taking of Americans in Tehran, as its UN ambassador. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf had called the decision "extremely troubling", and at least 29 Republican Senators had appealed to the Obama administration to deny Aboutalebi a visa to enter the US. One of those Senators was Ted Cruz (R-TX), who said he would not make do with a simple...

When I look at the paintings of George W. Bush, it’s like seeing an incubus on America, as freakish and off-putting as his presidency was. Yet the art critic in me has to grant that if I stumbled on three or four of Bush's paintings in a flea market by an anonymous artist, I'd snap them right up. The first batch of his paintings we saw, in 2012, were of landscapes, churches, Bush himself in the bathtub, and other scenes, and I liked them for their sheer weird obliviousness, their zonked-out earnest attempts at figuration, the odd feel for form...

The Senate unanimously passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz Monday night, which would block known terrorists from getting visas to enter the United States as U.N. ambassadors. He thanked several senators by name on the Senate floor he said were “instrumental in the passage,” including Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat and a very unlikely ally. Iran’s newest U.N. ambassador, Hamid Aboutalebi, was an active participant in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days in Tehran. He was appointed earlier this year by Iranian President Hasan Rouhani. Shchumer said in a statement...

After getting grilled at the House Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Eric Holder wished one of his outspoken critics “good luck with your asparagus.” It was a not-so-subtle dig at Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, inspired by the congressman’s flub last year when he warned Holder not to “cast aspersions on my asparagus.” Holder has had a testy relationship with several Republican lawmakers since the Republican-led House held him in contempt of Congress two years ago for failing to turn over certain documents tied to the Fast and Furious scandal involving botched firearms sting operations, despite a congressional subpoena seeking those...

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — The Senate approved a bill Monday to bar a former hostage-taker tapped to be Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations from entering the United States. By voice vote, Republicans and Democrats united behind the legislation sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that reflected congressional animosity toward Tehran and its selection of Hamid Aboutalebi. Iran’s envoy choice was a member of a Muslim student group that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days in the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran....

After watching Congressman Ron Paul get booed at Tampa, we were struck with the thought that it could be, in effect, his last address. The congressman from Texas had been winning his share of the Republican debates by focusing on limited government, constitutional fundamentals, and sound money, the virtues of which are thrown into ever sharper relief with each lunge by the Democrats for federal power. But the booing he got last night was no small thing, coming as it did when he suggested that al Qaeda had attacked us because America has not only occupied Muslim holy lands at...

Army officials say one thing that could have helped prevent last week’s shooting at Fort Hood is better information sharing with commanders about the mental and behavioral health histories of incoming soldiers.The shooter, Spc. Ivan Lopez, 34, had arrived at Fort Hood, Texas, in February after being stationed for four years at Fort Bliss, Texas. By the time of his transfer, Lopez had a history of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, and was prescribed a number of prescription drugs, including Ambien. But receiving commanders at Fort Hood would not have been privy to Lopez’s health history.“Here's the biggest...

If Sen. Rand Paul has any hope of capturing the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, he'll have to convince the conservative base he can be trusted on foreign policy -- which is exactly why Sen. Ted Cruz is his most dangerous critic.Though they have often been allies on domestic policy, anybody paying close attention knew that there was always a big gulf on foreign policy issues between Cruz, R-Texas, and Paul, R-Ky.Whereas Cruz has a much more traditional Reaganite view of a strong role for America in the world, Paul seeks to advance his father's brand of non-interventionism, which advocates...

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is done being patient. There was a time when an Oval Office meeting with President Obama could buy their silence. But no longer. On Friday April 4, the CHC sent a six-page letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson demanding that Obama use "all legal means available" to "suspend, delay, or dispense with the deportations of immigrants who would qualify for legal status and protection under S. 744." At no point does the letter bother to call for new legislation or the passage of S.744. Instead, the CHC just demands that Obama enforce current...

Jere Brower, his wife Clara, and his 4-year-old daughter Ana, have a very good reason to believe Texas Congressman Ron Paul when he said people view his supporters as "dangerous." The 38-year-old Atlanta man and his family have been targeted by militant Ron Paul supporters, one of whom threatened to "kneecap" him, then rape his wife and young daughter. Mr. Brower said he has also received death threats from supporters of Ron Paul. The trouble started when Brower and some of his Facebook friends decided to have a laugh over Ron Paul's ties to racist and anti-semitic groups. He wrote...

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Monday seeking to bar Iran's proposed U.N. ambassador, Hamid Abutalebi, from entering the United States. The legislation, introduced by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, would prevent "known terrorists" from entering the United States to serve as U.N. ambassadors. The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the measure by a voice vote. The possibility that Abutalebi may have played a role in the 1979-1981 hostage crisis has outraged some of the U.S. Embassy workers held by the Iranians for 444 days. Several lawmakers had said they were infuriated that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani would make such...