Free Republic

(CNN) -- A teenager who died at a Florida boot camp was suffocated by guards who were restraining him, a medical examiner has determined. The teen's mother hailed the findings, saying "the truth is out," but a lawyer for one of the guards accused the examiner of giving in to political pressure. Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died in January after he was restrained and struck by workers at the boot camp for juvenile offenders. No charges have been filed in connection with Anderson's death. Initial autopsy results in February had determined Anderson died from complications from sickle cell trait, which...

A new study adds to evidence that while women with breast implants are not at greater risk of breast cancer, they do seem to have an elevated rate of suicide. The reason for the suicide risk is unclear, but several studies have now come to similar conclusions. Some researchers believe the link is explained by higher rates of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem among women who undergo breast augmentation. Supporting that theory, one recent study found that women who received cosmetic breast implants were more likely to have a history of psychiatric hospitalization than those who underwent other types of...

MEMPHIS, April 4 (UPI) -- Country music star Hank Williams Jr. Tuesday surrendered to police on charges he allegedly assaulted a Memphis waitress. Williams, 56, cut short a hunting trip after learning a warrant and an all-points-bulletin had been issued for him, E! Online reported. With his attorney in tow, he reported to Shelby County Sheriff's deputies and was booked on a charge of assault with intent to commit bodily harm. Holly Hornbeak, a 19-year-old Memphis hotel bar waitress, claimed Williams cursed at her, asked to kiss her, then lifted her up in a choke hold when she refused just...

A man has been arrested and charged with offering a $250,000 reward for killing Michael Schiavo. Richard Alan Meywes was arrested in Fairview, North Carolina by the FBI and the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office. On March 23, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office forwarded an email to the FBI in Tampa which purportedly offered a $250,000 bounty on "the head of Michael Schiavo." The email placed an additional $50,000 bounty for the elimination of a judge who recently denied a request to intervene in the Schiavo case.

A church says it will defy Panama City's rules on body art. David Spears is the leader of the Tattoo Tabernacle. He told city commissioners that the city ordinance violates his members' constitutional rights to practice its ritual of sacred skin. Commissioners nevertheless passed the ordinance. It prohibits body piercing establishments or tattoo parlors from locating within one-thousand feet of schools, churches, parks and each other. The law also bans stand-alone signs but they can be affixed to buildings. Establishments that practice only permanent makeup and ear piercing are exempt from the ordinance. Spears says his group won't comply with...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department said on Thursday its April 29 report that the number of international "terrorist" attacks and resulting deaths fell last year was wrong and both figures had in fact risen. The admission dented the claim by some U.S. officials that the report provided evidence that Washington was winning the "war on terrorism," whose success is critical to President Bush's reelection strategy. The department's "Patterns of Global Terrorism Report" said "terrorist" attacks fell to 190 last year, their lowest since 1969, from 198 in 2002. It also said those killed dropped to 307, including 35 U.S....

Just saw on the news, Janklow Guilty on all counts....

A bread vendor shot and killed an 18-year-old man who tried to rob him Tuesday morning as he made a delivery to a Harris Teeter supermarket on James Island, Charleston police said. Police said Jay Baldwin Wrenn, a former Hanahan police officer, grabbed a gun from his pickup truck and shot the robber twice in the chest. The robber claimed to have a gun, but police found only a pair of pliers in the man's jacket, police Chief Reuben Greenberg said. Investigators have determined that Wrenn, 27, acted in self-defense, Greenberg said. He was not arrested, and Greenberg said he ...

An Oklahoma U.S. representative -- who supports the aviation security bill scheduled for a vote this week -- violated security measures outside Will Rogers World Airport on Sept. 28, aides confirmed. U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts, R- Norman, was so angry about receiving a parking ticket outside the airport that he shoved the ticket under an Oklahoma City police officer's badge, two of his aides told The Oklahoman. Watts received the ticket for leaving his car unattended in a loading zone about 10 a.m. One of the new security measures implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration following the Sept. 11 terrorist ...