Free Republic

Veteran homicide investigators in New York and Washington, DC, on Monday questioned the way local and federal authorities in Texas handled the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. "It's not unreasonable to ask for an autopsy in this case, particularly knowing who he is," retired Brooklyn homicide Detective Patricia Tufo told The Post. "He's not at home. There are no witnesses to his death, and there was no reported explanation for why a pillow is over his head," Tufo said. "So I think under the circumstances it's not unreasonable to request an autopsy. Despite the fact that he has...

The award winning Texas BBQ place in Houston, Brooks Place, LLC, offered a 25% discount for open carriers on the first effective day of open carry reform.Brooks says that it is "not a political thing".  I suspect he is right.  It is a business thing.  After the initial surge, the discount was reduced to 10%.  From yourhoustonnews.com: There is a place where Houstonians can get BBQ at a discount simply for exercising their right to openly carry their gun. The BBQ trailer located in the parking lot with ACE Hardware and Kroger on FM 529 is owned and operated...

While I was in Texas this past December, I attended a mounted shooting competition about 50 miles from Fort Worth.  The competition was organized by Texas Smoking Guns. I had not attended one before.  The event was held at Salt Creek Arena and Stables, on FM 51, just south of Boyd, Texas.Several things are different about Mounted Shooting compared to more conventional shooting competitions.  The most obvious is that they do not use conventional ammunition.  They use blanks.  Special blanks, that are not provided by the shooters, but are issued to them by the organization holding the meet. This...

Picture from click2houston.com In the video, you see the armed suspect bring the pistol very close to the victim.  It is just the opportunity for the victim to successfully attempt a disarm.  The victim uses both hands to grab the pistol to lever it away from the suspect.  Eventually, the suspect flees the scene, chased by the now armed victim. From click2houston.com: The man then pulled out a gun and demanded money. The owner, who asked to be called Enrique, and the man began to struggle, and the man punched Enrique multiple times in the face. The two men...

In January of 2016, on the first day of the restoration of some open carry rights in Texas, I stood in front of the Benbrook Police Station, looking at the recently placed 30.06 and 30.07 signs. I noticed that the signs were not of the required dimensions, so they are likely not enforceable in a court of law.  But police, like fire in the quote attributed to President Washington,  (employed in various forms since the 1500's) are "dangerous servants and a fearful master".  I tread lightly around police, just as I do around high explosives or high powered machinery. ...

Almost every top official in a remote South Texas city was arrested on Thursday under a detailed federal indictment that accuses them of taking bribes from contractors and sending city workers to help an illegal gambling operator nicknamed Mr T. Crystal City's mayor, city manager, mayor pro tempore, one of three current councilmen and a former councilman were all arrested under an indictment obtained by the U.S. attorney's office in San Antonio, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney said. A second councilman is already charged in a separate case with smuggling Mexican immigrants. That leaves just one councilman not facing...

Picture from Brave New Books Brave New Books, a book store in Austin, Texas has welcomed open carriers and held a symposium on open carry on January 30th, 2016.  The store is said to be the only book store in Austin that has not banned open carry from their store. From kvue.com: AUSTIN -- Brave New Books is offering a 10 percent discount to all customers open-carrying in their store. The store is also hosting an open-carry symposium on Jan. 30 to help Texas residents learn more about open-carry legislation. Brave New Books is doing more than simply not...

Rick Perry just endorsed Ted Cruz and I posted that news in a thread this morning. It's gotten over 100 comments. On it I posted Rick Perry's comment in defense of Ted Cruz about the "New York Values" dust-up [Comment #84 at the link above]. [Rick Perry: "...."Mr. Trump took umbrage by Ted Cruz talking about New York values, and, you know, became very serious about - as we all were - what happened on September the 11th of 2001," he said. "We were all New Yorkers that day - don't get confused with that, but you know, I would...

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is endorsing Ted Cruz in the Republican presidential primary, Perry told POLITICO in an interview Sunday night. Perry, who also sought the GOP nomination before dropping out in September, said he now sees the race as one that is between Cruz, a fellow Texan, and Donald Trump. Through phone calls and during a December day spent driving around his Round Top, Texas, home in his truck with Cruz, Perry said he found the senator to be a good listener who respects the Tenth Amendment, "knows what he does not know" and is more conservative than...

There was an unusual shooting in Garland, Texas on 15 January, 2016 .  It involved an old girl friend, a home security system, and a warning phone call.  It seems the homeowner and the person he shot knew each other.  The person had been told to leave the property an hour earlier.  Then the homeowner received a phone call from the person's ex girlfriend, that he was returning, and was a threat. From cbslocal.com: Tampered home surveillance equipment is the first sign that this was not an ordinary crime. Police say that and a warning phone call is what...

Some of House Speaker Paul Ryan's guests for the State of the Union address were sisters from the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic religious order dedicated to caring for the elderly poor. The order is suing the federal government over the HHS Mandate, because the sisters do not want to provide contraception to their employees via their insurance plans. (The group does not qualify as a "religious employer" because they employ and serve people of all faiths.) Naturally, Planned Parenthood took offense to this. Never missing an opportunity, @SteveKingIA & @SpeakerRyan used tonight's #SOTU address to send an...

DALLAS - By most accounts, census tract 166.05 is not a particularly desirable place to live. Tucked between two major highways in southwest Dallas, the neighborhood is characterized by clusters of ramshackle, one-story houses, huge swaths of vacant land and big warehouses and storage centers. More than 40 percent of people living in the census tract have incomes below the poverty level, a proportion that more than doubled since 2000, according to U.S. Census data. Crime rates and levels of slum and blight are also high, according to the Dallas-based housing advocacy group the Inclusive Communities Project. Such placement "perpetuates...

When Texas passed the shall issue concealed carry law in 1995, part of the deal concerned how people would be notified that a business did not allow concealed carry on the premises.  A compromise was worked out that an entity that chose not to allow concealed carry on its premises was required to post a sign on all entrances, clearly showing people entering, that concealed carry was not allowed.  The sign had to be large and highly visible, in both English and Spanish.  The letters had to be at least one inch tall.   An example of the "30.06" sign...

Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders told an invite-only group of Latino activists and politicians Wednesday night that he plans to use executive orders as a means of bypassing Congress to guarantee a path to legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants. Sanders spoke to a crowd of supporters at the Village Leadership Academy near the UIC campus, flanked on stage by progressive activists such as Atlanta rapper Killer Mike, academic Cornel West, and Ben and Jerry's cofounder Ben Cohen. But hours before Sanders reached the stage, he met with community members at Little Village's El Pollo Feliz restaurant. Sanders first spoke...

HOUSTON — A Texas father has been released from jail after police say he brought a gun to a hospital to stop the staff from taking his son off of life support. George Pickering II’s son was declared "brain-dead" after he suffered a massive stroke in January. The hospital ordered a "terminal wean" which is a process that slowly ends a person’s life by removing life support. The staff had even notified an organ donation organization that Pickering’s son was a donor. Pickering, however, wasn’t ready to let go — now, his son, George Pickering III, is still alive and...

I just got back from the North Dallas Wal-Mart just off the George W. Bush freeway and Marsh rd, consistently had 5 cent .22 ammunition when I visited my Daughter in October.  When I checked on 29 November, there were five boxes of Winchester copper-plated .22 LR, 333 round boxes for $14.97.  That translates to 4.5 cents a cartridge.   I suspected that it was a fluke.Today, at 11:30 on 11 December, I checked again.  This time the shelves were full of .22 at Wal-Mart, including quite a few bulk packs.  The Remington ammo today was 4.9 cents a round;...

A WalMart in North Dallas, Texas, just off the George W. Bush freeway and Marsh rd, consistently had 5 cent .22 ammunition when I visited my Daughter in October.  When I checked in late November, there wasn’t any more on the shelves.  I was disappointed, and believed that the .22 bubble was re-inflating.  I was gone for a couple of days, but checked out the display again on 29 November.In October, a WalMart employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told me that the same people came in when .22 bulk packs were available and bought them all up.  They...

Former neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination among Colorado voters, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday which also finds that he is one of a number of Republicans who would soundly beat Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the Centennial State in a general election match-up. In the race for the Republican nomination, the poll finds Carson leads in Colorado with 25 percent of the vote, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with 19 percent, business mogul Donald Trump with 17 percent, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 14 percent, Carly Fiorina...

AUSTIN, Texas — The wife of a jogger who was slashed to death on a popular Dallas hiking trial this month has died of an apparent suicide, police said on Monday, nearly two weeks after the killing in which a former Texas A&M football player has been charged.

The 603 alliance had their caucus today at the Hopkinton State Fair grounds in Contoocook NH. The idea was to get conservatives in NH to unite behind a single candidate via a caucus. Ted Cruz has won, Ben Carson came in 2nd Carly Fiorina 3rd. Donald Trump failed to make the first cut not managing 25 votes, Jeb bush didn’t manage a single vote. Under the rules if the winner of the 603 alliance caucus drops out of the presidential race the people pledge to support the 2nd place finisher and so forth. Expect updates Update 1 I arrived at...