Free Republic

WAVY, the NBC affiliate in Hampton Roads, Virginia asks “has zero tolerance gone too far?” as it reports this story: A suspended seventh grade Virginia Beach student will find out soon if he is expelled for the rest of the year for shooting an airsoft gun. Like thousands of others in Hampton Roads, Khalid Caraballo plays with airsoft guns. Caraballo and his friend Aidan were suspended because they shot two other friends who were with them while playing with the guns as they waited for the school bus. The two seventh graders say they never went to the bus stop;...

George Zimmerman was today questioned by police after allegedly threatening his estranged wife with a handgun in an altercation sparked by claims he has been having an affair, MailOnline can reveal. Friend and key defense witness John Donnelly told MailOnline: 'George has been having an affair with his ex-fiancee. Shellie believes it flared back up after the acquittal.' Zimmerman was engaged to beautician Veronica Zuazo, who herself filed a domestic violence complaint against him in a messy series of counter complaints that led to their split. Police were called to the Lake Mary, Florida residence owned by Shellie Zimmerman's parents,...

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Monday the New York Police Department's "stop-and-frisk" crime-fighting tactic was unconstitutional, dealing a stinging rebuke to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who vowed to appeal the ruling. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin called it "indirect racial profiling" because it targeted racially defined groups, resulting in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of tens of thousands of blacks and Hispanics while the city's highest officials "turned a blind eye," she said. "No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life," Scheindlin wrote in her...

A typical diagnosis it was not. A woman has filed a complaint with the Tennessee Department of Health after a doctor attributed her back pain to her "ghetto booty." Terry Ragland, 55, said she "couldn't believe" that Dr. Timothy Sweo, who she had never visited before, made the comment about her posterior. "I think I blacked out after he said 'ghetto booty'," Ragland said. After complaining to the office manager, Ragland received a letter three weeks later in which Sweo wrote, "I was trying to take technical conversation regarding your lower back and make it less technical." Ragland was offended...

Keith Olbermann, late of current TV, late of MSNBC, late of CNN - well, you get the picture. Keith can't hold a job because he's got a big mouth and no sense. That combination fits perfectly on ESPN. Olbermann will make his return to television at the network where he first made a name for himself. Paired with Dan Patrick in the 1990's to anchor ESPN's signature broadcast, "Sportscenter," Olbermann's snarky cynicism about professional sports and athletes was a breath of fresh air from the usual fare of hero worship and highlight reels offered by local news outlets. Olbermann willl...

Stevie Wonder plans to avoid Florida at all costs following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a Sanford, Fla., gated community. While performing in Quebec City, Canada, on Sunday, the 63-year-old singer said he wouldn't perform in the state so long as the Stand Your Ground law is still in existence. "I decided today that until the Stand Your Ground law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again," Wonder told the crowd. "As a matter of fact, wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that...

Rep. Michele Bachmann — the tea-party firebrand and former presidential candidate, facing investigations and a daunting reelection race — announced in a video on her website Wednesday morning that she will not seek reelection to a fifth term. Bachmann, 57, who took office in 2007, says on the video: “My good friends: After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I have decided next year I will not seek a fifth congressional term to represent the wonderful people of the Sixth District of Minnesota. After serious consideration, I am confident that this is the right decision.”

<p>WHITE MARSH, Md. (AP) -- A cargo train derailed Tuesday in a Baltimore suburb and an explosion could be heard for miles, collapsing nearby buildings and setting them on fire, officials and witnesses said.</p>

Since news broke that the IRS targeted conservative organizations due to their political views, some on the left have celebrated the actions. The latest to do so is Bette Midler, who took to Twitter Thursday to thank the IRS for going after the small government movement, Twitchy reported. "The IRS overtaxing The Tea Party? I never thought I'd say this to the IRS - THANK YOU! THANK YOU FOR DENYING 501C-4 to any group who hates," she wrote. Some of her followers expressed support for her position.

JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. (CBS Seattle) — An Oregon woman was told by a 911 dispatcher that authorities wouldn’t be able be able to help her as her ex-boyfriend broke into her place because of budget cuts. Oregon Public Radio reports that an unidentified woman called 911 during a weekend in August 2012 while Michael Bellah was breaking into her place. Her call was forwarded to Oregon State Police because of lay-offs at the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office only allows the department to be open Monday through Friday. “Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told...

Do teenagers still go through a Doors phase? I mean, is that still possible? Jesus, I think it is. It’s not as if the Doors’ music is any more dated now than it was in the early ’90s, back when I went through my Doors phase and a lot of other kids at my middle school when through their Doors phases. Deciding at a certain age that the Doors are the coolest band that ever existed seems like a rite of passage on par with getting drunk in a park on a bottle of blackberry brandy — it might be...

iera Wilmot got good grades and had a perfect behavior record. She wasn't the kind of kid you'd expect to find hauled away in handcuffs and expelled from school, but that's exactly what happened after an attempt at a science project went horribly wrong. On 7 a.m. on Monday, the 16 year-old mixed some common household chemicals in a small 8 oz water bottle on the grounds of Bartow High School in Bartow, Florida. The reaction caused a small explosion that caused the top to pop up and produced some smoke. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.

-- IMAGE HERE -- Aging comedian/actor Jay Mohr managed to generate some publicity for himself on Monday by exploiting the Boston Marathon explosions to push his anti-Second Amendment agenda. Mohr, who those from my generation might remember from Tom Cruise’s hit 1996 film Jerry Maguire, and younger readers might remember from absolutely nowhere, sent his first clueless tweet Monday night. “What bothers me most about today is that we’re getting used 2 it. ENOUGH. 2nd amendment must go. Violence has 2 stop. Culture MUST change.” When questioned on the connection between the Second Amendment and the Boston explosions, he just...

At least 12 people were wounded Tuesday in stabbings on the campus of Lone Star College Cy-Fair near Houston, local media outlets are reporting. As many as 14 people were hurt in the stabbing spree. Police say they have arrested a suspect. One victim is reportedly in critical condition. It was initially thought that there was a second attacker still at large, but officials now believe the attacks have ended. Officials put the school on lockdown in the aftermath of the attacks, telling students to stay away from the area. Those already on campus were told to seek shelter immediately....

BLAIRSVILLE, Pa.- Authorities in Pennsylvania said a man faces charges including reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting a white-tailed deer in a Walmart parking lot. The Pennsylvania Game Commission said Arcangelo Bianco Jr., 40, used a handgun to shoot the deer in the parking lot of the Resort Plaza Walmart in Blairsville in November and bagged the buck on the other side of the road, The Indiana (Pa.) Gazette reported Wednesday. In addition to misdemeanor reckless endangerment, Bianco faces five hunting-related summary charges, including hunting without a license, shooting on or across highways and unlawful killing or taking of big game....

The History Channel miniseries "The Bible" has been a hit in the ratings, but it's also grabbing attention because of the actor playing Satan -- and the public figure some viewers think he resembles. After actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni's first appearance as Satan in "The Bible" aired on Sunday, a number of viewers took to Twitter to say that he bears a resemblance to President Barack Obama. One person who took notice was conservative commentator Glenn Beck, who tweeted on Thursday, "The bible on the history channel Sunday. Best episode yet. Don't miss it. Does satan look EXACTLY like Obama?...

"Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the Democratic Party’s leadership in the House of Representatives, suggested to Jason Mattera at a Feb. 13 women’s rights rally that plans for an assault weapons ban and private-sales background checks were only the beginning of a broader gun control agenda extending to handguns as well."..............

By KOMO Staff and News Services May 8, 2008 ST. ANTHONY, Idaho -- A man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who later gave birth in eastern Idaho. The girl gave birth less than two weeks ago by caesarian section at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Fremont County Sheriff Ralph C. Davis and other authorities said. Officials would not disclose the gender, date of birth or paternity of the baby. "I wouldn't have believed a 10-year-old could conceive in the first place," Davis said. A hospital spokeswoman would not discuss the condition of the girl or the baby...