Free Republic

All but one of the eight family members slain on isolated Ohio farms last week died from multiple gunshot wounds, and one victim was shot nine times, according to autopsy results released Tuesday. The gruesome findings emerged as investigators reportedly examined a potential Mexican drug cartel connection for the executions on properties used for marijuana growing operations. Local station 10TV, citing anonymous law enforcement sources, said authorities are examining whether a cartel turf war or family feud sparked the slaughter of eight members of the Rhoden family. The victims — seven adults and a 16-year-old — had gunshot wounds to...

PIKE COUNTY, Ohio — Investigators are remaining tight-lipped about whether there’s a connection between the massacre of eight Pike County family members Friday and three marijuana "grow operations" found near their homes. Ohio Attorney General announced over the weekend that investigators found “sophisticated” marijuana grow sites spread across three of the four locations where eight members of the family were found shot to death “execution-style.”... Were these “executions” motivated or enabled by the drug trade?... Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader told reporters Sunday that he knew the Rhoden family well -- bust did not know they were involved in any...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The slayings of eight family members in rural southern Ohio "was a pre-planned execution" and the investigation will be lengthy, the state's attorney general told reporters Sunday... Authorities said it was clear that the Rhoden family was targeted, and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said he's told relatives to be armed. Reader said he did not believe there was a safety issue for other residents. But "If you are fearful, arm yourself," he said. Authorities have been scrambling to determine who targeted the clan and why. Investigators have interviewed between 50 and 60 people in hopes...

Joe Scarborough reacts to the debate surrounding the revelation of "two Donald Trumps" -- a conservative primary Trump giving way to a centrist general election Trump. JOE SCARBOROUGH: [Trump] is going back to what he has always been. We have said on this air nonstop. He is a Democrat. He is a centrist Democrat. Who gave money to Democrats for years. He has never been a conservative. That's not been a secret to anybody. And yet he has blown the doors off every Republican primary. And when he goes into the general election, it is going to be harder for...

If you think the Trump campaign is full of amateurs, you are correct. Donald Trump’s social media director Dan Scavino, eager to prove that his boss was an expert on tax reform, posted a link to an appearance Trump made in 1991 before the House Budget Committee: There’s one problem: in his testimony, not only did Trump bash Ronald Reagan’s Tax Reform Act of 1986, calling it a catastrophe and saying income taxes should be raised to increase investment in real estate, but Trump actually compared the United States to the Soviet Union. Why, you’d almost think Trump is a...

More than two months after Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump claimed to have raised $6 million for veterans' charities at a fundraiser held on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, most of the organizations targeted to receive the money have gotten less than half of that amount. The Wall Street Journal, citing a survey of the 22 groups listed by Trump's campaign as prospective recipients for the money, reported that 19 organizations had obtained a total of $2.4 million from Trump's foundation or associates. Of the three other charities, one declined to disclose how much it had received, another said...

Donald Trump attacked Wisconsin governor Scott Walker for failing to raise taxes in order to properly fund schools and roads on Tuesday, in a startling new break from rightwing orthodoxy from the Republican frontrunner. The comments came after Walker endorsed Trump’s rival, Texas senator, Ted Cruz, in the GOP race. Walker became a conservative hero for his efforts to crush public sector unions and cut government spending in the Democratic-leaning state in Wisconsin, something that led to an attempted recall of the Wisconsin governor in 2012 and became a national cause célèbre. But, in a radio interview with talkshow host...

Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Breitbart, has quit the company following an incident where one of its reporters accused GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign manager of violently grabbing her. "When you reach a point where you can't give 100% to people you represent, it's not tenable to continue representing them,” Bardella said in a statement to The Hill. Bardella, a former spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), also implied that Breitbart’s handling of the incident at the Trump event was his main reason for leaving. “My own personal observation is that there is a cycle of behavior that is...

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Monday endorsed Ted Cruz for president on the eve of that state's primary. MORE FROM WSBT.COM Politicians remember #BloodySunday on Twitter Some Rubio advisers say get out before Florida Nancy Reagan's funeral set for Friday Mr. T honors Nancy Reagan in a series of heartfelt tweets Florida poll: Donald Trump leads Marco Rubio Bryant, elected in 2011, is the second state governor to back the Texas senator, who previously won the support of his home state governor, Greg Abbott, in addition to the governor or the territory of Guam, Eddie Calvo. Those are the most...

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump will no longer speak at the annual conservative confab CPAC this weekend, he announced Friday. Trump was scheduled to speak at the annual gathering of the who's-who of the conservative world Saturday, but said he would be campaigning, instead. In a statement, the Trump campaign said the GOP front-runner will instead attend rallies in Kansas and Florida. "Because of this, he will not be able to speak at CPAC as he has done for many consecutive years," the campaign said. "Mr. Trump would like to thank Matt Schlapp and all of the executives at CPAC and looks...

I’m done. Until the fundamental dynamic of the GOP primary race changes, I’m done with parsing debate winners and losers. So long as Donald Trump dominates an overly-large field of ambitious, fratricidal competitors, we will continue to see absurdities like the following: 1. Trump — the Republican front-runner, no less — borrowing language from MoveOn.org and Daily Kos to advance the absurd “Bush lied, people died” Iraq War narrative, attacking his fellow Republicans with far more fury than even Hillary Clinton can muster. 2. Trump repeatedly and loudly holding George Bush responsible for 9/11 and the fall of the World...

WIBW) - A new poll shows tough battles shaping up for incumbents on the November ballot in Kansas. SurveyUSA conducted the poll for KSN Television in Wichita. In the governor's race, Republican incumbent Sam Brownback continues to trail Democrat Paul Davis. The margin of 48 percent to 40 percent is the same as that found in a Survey USA poll done before the August primary... In the U.S. Senate race, Survey USA says Independent candidate Greg Orman continues to cause a wrinkle for both three-term Republican incumbent Pat Roberts and Democrat Chad Taylor. The poll found Roberts with 37 percent,...

<p>CARNEYS POINT, N.J. (AP) – The ruddy-cheeked, camouflage-clad boy in the photo smiles.., proudly holding a gun his father gave him as a present for his upcoming 11th birthday.</p> <p>The weapon in the photo, posted by his dad on Facebook, resembles a military-style assault rifle but, his father says, is actually just a .22-caliber copy. And that, the family believes, is why child welfare case workers and police officers visited the home in Carneys Point last Friday and asked to see his guns.</p>

TUESDAY, March 19, 2013 (Kaiser Health News) — When visiting the doctor, there may be strength in numbers. In recent years, a growing number of doctors have begun holding group appointments — seeing up to a dozen patients with similar medical concerns all at once. Advocates of the approach say such visits allow doctors to treat more patients, spend more time with them (even if not one-on-one), increase appointment availability and improve health outcomes. Some see group appointments as a way to ease looming physician shortages. According to a study published in December, meeting the country's health-care needs will require...

NEWTOWN, Conn. – The gunman who slaughtered 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school may have snapped because his mother was planning to commit him to a psychiatric facility, according to a lifelong resident of the area who was familiar with the killer’s family and several of the victims’ families. Adam Lanza, 20, targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown after killing his mother early Friday because he believed she loved the school “more than she loved him,” said Joshua Flashman, 25, who grew up not far from where the shooting took place. Flashman, a U.S. Marine,...

Adam Lanza's hard drive, which was found destroyed in his Connecticut home, may be beyond repair police say, leaving them at a loss to explain the shooter's motive. When police first discovered the tainted hard drive, they believed that it could serve as a key piece of evidence in discovering why a 20-year-old man would terrorize an elementary school filled with children. It appears, however, that the shooter did not want his motive unveiled. "The computer's hard drive appeared to have been badly damaged with a hammer or screw driver," law enforcement authorities told ABC News on Monday. Two other...

How desperate is hurricane-ravaged New Jersey? Not desperate enough to suspend a union monopoly that keeps the state in the bottom ten states for economic competitiveness (and #48 for business friendliness). Relief crews from Alabama who were specifically called to New Jersey found themselves diverted to Long Island, NY after they arrived because they use non-union labor. Alabama is a right to work state. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WAFF-TV of Hunstville, AL reports: Crews from Huntsville, as well as Decatur Utilities and Joe Wheeler out of Trinity headed up there this week, but Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, said they were...

Vice President Joe Biden claims at a campaign event in Wisconsin that Republicans voted for a "$500 Trillion Tax Cut" "But you can't erase what you've already done, they've voted to extend tax cuts for the very wealthy, giving a $500 trillion dollar tax-cut to 120,000 families.

· President Obama currently leads Governor Romney by 4 percentage points in Iowa, 50 to 46 percent. · Governor Romney leads President Obama with independent voters by a margin of 48 to 36 percent. Both candidates received more than 90 percent support from members of their own party. · There is a wide gender gap in this survey. Romney leads by 18 percent among men while President Obama leads by 23 percent with women. · Iowans are divided nearly equally on whether they approve of President Obama’s job performance. 47 percent approve of his performance while 46 percent do not...

Incumbent Republican Dean Heller continues to earn 50% support against Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Nevada voters shows Heller with 50% of the vote to Berkley’s 45%. One percent (1%) prefers some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)