Free Republic

Sandra Bland’s family has reached a $1.9 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit — an agreement that has brought “joy” after a year of grief, Bland’s mother said. The settlement includes compensation for Bland’s death in custody as well as several changes to jail procedures in Waller County, Texas. Bland was found dead in her jail cell three days after she was pulled over for failing to use her turn signal in July 2015. Bland family attorney Cannon Lambert said the jail procedure changes include: — Using automated electronic sensors to ensure timely cell checks — Providing an on-duty...

MARGRATEN, Netherlands — They haven't forgotten. For 70 years, the Dutch have come to a verdant U.S. cemetery outside this small village to care for the graves of Americans killed in World War II. On Sunday, they came again, bearing Memorial Day bouquets for men and women they never knew, but whose 8,300 headstones the people of the Netherlands have adopted as their own. For the American relatives of the fallen, it was an outpouring of gratitude almost as stunning as the rows of white marble crosses and Jewish Stars of David at the Netherlands American Cemetery. Each grave has...

Andrew Moore lived alone and died alone. He was raised in an orphanage, never married and outlived his friends. For his last 40 years, the World War II veteran slept on a couch in a rent-­controlled efficiency apartment in the nation’s capital. The 89-year-old pensioner died in December with no will, no instructions and no next of kin. He lay in a cold room at the D.C. medical examiner’s office, where the unclaimed dead are usually destined for a nameless pauper’s grave. Instead, on Friday, Moore was given a hero’s sendoff at Arlington National Cemetery. A uniformed honor guard escorted Moore’s...

HEMPSTEAD, Tex. The state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland, the Chicago-area woman who three days later was found hanged in her cell at the Waller County jail, has been indicted on a perjury charge, a special prosecutor said here Wednesday. The charge against the Texas state trooper, Brian T. Encinia, is a Class A misdemeanor, and was announced at the end of a day of grand jury deliberations. The charge carries a possible penalty of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine, prosecutors said. The charge stemmed from a one-page affidavit that Trooper Encinia filed with jail officials justifying...

COPPERAS COVE – Elizabeth Laird ‘The Hug Lady’ passed away Thursday at Metroplex Hospital. Laird made it her mission to hug every single soldier as they boarded planes to deploy and waited with a hug when they returned to welcome them home. She was 83 years-old. Services are pending with Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home of Copperas Cove.

STARKVILLE, Miss. — She was a cheerleader, an honor student, the daughter of a police officer and a member of the high school homecoming court who wanted to be a doctor. He was a quiet but easygoing psychology student. His father is a well-known Muslim patriarch here, whose personable air and habit of sharing food with friends and strangers made him seem like a walking advertisement for Islam as a religion of tolerance and peace. Today, the young woman, Jaelyn Young, 19, and the young man, her fiancé, Muhammad Dakhlalla, 22, are in federal custody, arrested on suspicion of trying...

January 27, 1967 The Apollo I fire R.I.P.

Great pic, but begs some questions. Doesn't this look a bit too close for comfort, or is it not as close as it appears? Who would be flying that close to a refueling op, and why? The cockpit frame visible in the lower righthand corner suggests that it's not the other Aussie 18E/F that has flown thus far.

A civilian fatally shot a sailor aboard a docked U.S. Navy destroyer in Virginia on Monday night before he was shot dead by security forces, officials said. The suspect had authorized access to Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base, where he was able to wrestle a handgun from a security guard, U.S. Navy officials told NBC News. He shot dead a sailor aboard USS Mahan, which was docked at Pier 1, before being fatally gunned down by security forces, the officials said. Both the victim and suspect were male. The shooting happened at about 11:30 p.m. and the...

1967: Three astronauts die in Apollo 1 tragedy Three American astronauts have died after fire swept through the Apollo spacecraft designed for a manned flight to the Moon during rehearsals at Cape Kennedy. It is thought an electrical spark started in the area holding oxygen supplies and other support systems. The fire spread quickly in the oxygen-filled atmosphere of the capsule, killing the crew within seconds. The space crew, flight commander Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, were taking part in a test run for the launch of the first Apollo mission. Navy Lieutenant Commander Chaffee, aged 31, had...

"We should be seeing 12,500 cases a year." So spoke Jennifer Hammat, Title IX coordinator for the University of Texas. As FIRE's Peter Bonilla tweeted, "That quote put differently: 'we should be seeing 250-300 rapes/sexual assaults per week.'" Does anyone (apart, it seems, from Hammat) believe that there are 300 rapes each week at UT? To provide some statistical context, consider that FBI crime figures for the most recent year (2012) indicate that in New York state (population 19.5 million) there were 2848 instances of forcible rape. In the state of Texas--including the university, of course, and with a total...

"On the morning of November 8, 1942, a force of over 70,000 American and British soldiers went ashore on the coast of Vichy French North-West Africa, and a period of close Anglo-American co-operation began. Altogether over 500 ships had carried and guarded the assault force: 102 of them crossing the Atlantic from America; the remainder sailing in two convoys - one fast and one slow - from Britain. They all arrived at their destinations within a few hours of each other and a pattern of smooth timing and organisation had been set."

<p>AUSTIN, Texas — A federal appeals court on Thursday issued a ruling reinstating most of Texas' tough new abortion restrictions.</p> <p>A panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling a day after District Judge Lee Yeakel said one provision serves no medical purpose.</p>

WASHINGTON - Taking on one of the United States’ most prominent Israel critics Wednesday, Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who is mulling a presidential run, defended the special relationship with Israel as essential for U.S. security. The sparring came when, at a Homeland Security Committee hearing on the threat posed by Somali al-Qaida affiliate Al Shabaab, former CIA al-Qaida analyst Michael Scheuer said that al-Qaida would leave the U.S. alone if they were to abandon their alliance with Israel. “If it was up to me I’d dump the Israelis tomorrow,” Scheuer said. “All I worry about is the...

I've seen a pic of B Hussein & Mobama, on the WH lawn, iirc. It's of a Sumo wrestling demonstration, and shows their reaction to a classic Sumo collision. Mobama is watching like she loves it, but B Hussein is recoiling in horror, leaning back and leg drawn up. Basically looking like a pussy. Anyone have a copy I can borrow? Thanks!

ISLAMABAD -- A suspect has been captured in connection with the brutal murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, a Pakistani official said. A spokesman for Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations Directorate confirmed the arrest by a paramilitary unit known as the Sindh Rangers and said the suspect had been transferred to police custody.

The Tour starts next Saturday, June 30th! Now I need to find my ping list & html templates!

In Dearborn Mich., a Detroit suburb known for its concentration of Muslim Americans, anti-Islam leaders from around the country are gathering to discuss how to rescue women from that faith. The "Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference on Honor Killings" on Sunday is named for a local Muslim woman murdered one year ago. But Muslims, civil rights groups and other religious leaders say the conference is merely another event put on by well-known bigots to attack the minority religion. Their response was to schedule a town hall meeting just a few miles away on Sunday called "Rejecting Islamophobia: A Community Stand...

BEIJING – Overseas tourists often find the menus here befuddling, for good reason. After all, what Westerner has experience with foods like these? “Cowboy leg,” “Hand-shredded ass meat,” “Red-burned lion head,” “Strange flavor noodles,” “Blow-up flatfish with no result,” or “Tofu made by woman with freckles.” As proud as the Chinese people are of their thousands of years of gastronomic culture, even a Chinese native can feel disoriented when going to another province, given all the different styles of cooking. Many of the food names, often unique to different provinces, get lost in translation, especially in booming cities starting to...