Free Republic

Full title is " PM ErdoÄŸan uses hologram to address Ä°zmir party members for first time in Turkey " The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has introduced the latest state-of-the-art innovation to Turkish politics, resorting to a tool usually found only in science-fiction books: The hologram. 3D holographic beams reflected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸanÂ’s image as he addressed a party meeting in Ä°zmir on Jan. 26.

Bloomfield police took a man into custody on Monday afternoon after he pulled out what appeared to be a rifle as President Barack Obama's motorcade passed by, according to police. The man, whose name has not been released, actually had a BB gun, according to police.

#SecKerry will start tweeting from @StateDept. Tweets from him will have his initials -JK

Two law enforcement officers fired a total of 33 rounds at an armed man who had threatened suicide Sunday, striking him with four or five shots, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. James Jacob Jardina, 45, who had addresses in Myersville and Smithsburg, remained hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday night at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Jardina was shot when he pointed a handgun at a Washington County sheriff's deputy and a Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police officer at a park-and-ride off Md. 66 near Boonsboro, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Responding...

SANFORD, Florida (CNN) - As the special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case works to sort out the facts of the incident in Florida, much of the attention shifts Tuesday to Washington. Martin's parents and family attorney are expected to attend a forum on racial profiling, hate crimes and "stand your ground" deadly force laws, sponsored by Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile, a home school association for high school students is organizing a march and protest at the White House calling on President Barack Obama to demand a full-scale civil rights investigation into the February 26 incident.

Our Fisker Karma cost us $107,850. It is super sleek, high-tech—and now it’s broken. We have owned our car for just a few days; it has less than 200 miles on its odometer. While doing speedometer calibration runs on our test track (a procedure we do for every test car before putting it in service by driving the car at a constant 65 mph between two measured points), the dashboard flashed a message and sounded a “bing“ showing a major fault. Our technician got the car off the track and put it into Park to go through the owner’s manual...

A coconut lying next to a column near the Frederick County courthouse caused police and fire personnel to evacuate the outside area and one inside office for about 20 minutes today. A courthouse deputy on his morning perimeter check spotted the coconut about 7:55 a.m. It looked like it had been sliced down the center and put back together, according to a Frederick County Sheriff’s Office press release. The Maryland State Fire Marshal’s bomb squad was called in to assist members of the sheriff’s office, the Frederick Police Department and the Frederick County Fire and Rescue Services in determining whether...

After Kim Gaines found a small nativity scene in a box of old Christmas decorations, she decided it would look nice on her desk in the main office at Urbana High School. Almost a week after she placed the figures on her desk, the school's secretary of eight years said she was called into Principal Kathy Campagnoli's office, where Campagnoli said staff members had told her the display promotes Christianity and that Gaines should take it down. Gaines obliged and removed the nativity scene. "I didn't want a big fight on my hands, but I was very upset over it,"...

ABC believes there are "crazies" out there who have a thing against Chaz Bono ... and network execs have taken precautions by ordering security for Chaz both on and off the "Dancing with the Stars" set. Sources connected with the show tell TMZ ... there have not been any specific threats against Chaz, but the honchos know there's an element of hatred out there and they feel it's necessary to block Chaz from harm. As a result, we're told Chaz will get security while he's on the CBS Television City lot -- where the show is filmed -- and off...

A San Fernando Valley adult entertainment studio began construction this month on what it calls a “post-apocalyptic” underground bunker in anticipation of a global catastrophe rumored to take place in late 2012. A spokesman for Van Nuys-based Pink Visual said the bunker will be “far more than a mere bomb shelter or subterranean survivalist enclave” with amenities such as multiple fully-stocked bars, an enormous performing stage and a sophisticated content production studio.

Yesterday, it was announced that an astounding 1 in 6 Americans are living in poverty. President Obama's response? To demand a tax on donations to soup kitchens and other charities that help people desperately in need. The President's proposal will impact approximately 40% of all the tax deductible contributions, and essentially penalize soup kitchens, hospitals, and churches that provide essential services to those who need them most. It’s no wonder this tax hike has been rejected on both sides of the aisle.

EL PASO, Texas — Starbucks Coffee Company has agreed to pay $75,000 and provide other significant relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged Starbucks Coffee Company with unlawfully denying a reasonable accommodation to a barista with dwarfism at one of its El Paso stores and firing her because of her disability.

Information about voters who signed a petition to overturn a law granting in-state college tuition to some undocumented immigrants has been released to an immigrant advocacy group and other Maryland residents, including several state delegates. CASA de Maryland, which opposes the petition, and delegates Michael Smigiel, Neil Parrott and Pat McDonough -- all Republicans who support the petition -- received copies of a database that includes petition signatories' names and addresses and reasons for rejection, if applicable, according to Donna Duncan, election management director for the Maryland State Board of Elections, which released the information.

A Frederick man is charged with wielding a 3-foot-long sword as he walked down a city sidewalk, telling frightened witnesses he intended to kill two people he said attacked him. Orlando DeJesus Martinez-Navas, 30, is charged with carrying a dangerous weapon with intent to injure and concealing a dangerous weapon. He is also being held on a warrant for a failure to appear from January 2009 on charges of driving without a license. snip Martinez-Navas is being held at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center in lieu of two separate bails totaling $7,600. He also has an immigration detainer, according...

High school seniors in Maryland will have to be literate on environmental matters to graduate from now on. Maryland’s Board of Education passed the environmental literacy graduation requirement on Tuesday. Gov. Martin O’Malley says Maryland is now the first state in the nation to have such a requirement. The No Child Left Inside Coalition, which pushed for the requirement, says 48 other states are considering similar requirements, a sign of the increasing popularity of environmental education. Under the graduation requirement, public schools will be required to infuse core subjects with lessons on conservation, smart growth and other environmental topics. School...

A Kennesaw State University part-time instructor was arrested for allegedly exposing himself to students in a classroom. Raymond Devaughn Taylor, 57, is accused of taking off his clothes during a class he was teaching, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the AJC. The incident occurred on Nov. 30 between 4:35 and 4:45 p.m., the university police department states in the warrant. A student in the class reported the incident to school officials Friday, Arlethia Perry-Johnson, vice president of external affairs for the university, told the AJC.

As organized labor faces declining membership, one of the country's most storied unions is looking to a new growth industry: marijuana. The Teamsters added nearly 40 new members earlier this month by organizing the country's first group of unionized marijuana growers. Such an arrangement is likely only possible in California, which has the nation's loosest medical marijuana laws. But it's still unclear how the Teamsters will safeguard the rights of members who do work that's considered a federal crime. "I didn't have this planned out when I became a Teamster 34 years ago, to organize marijuana workers," said Lou Marchetti,...

....two congressional hopefuls have gone on hunger strike to demand a debate with Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.). "The hunger has almost disappeared except when there's food around and TV ads and stuff. The Hometown Buffet commercial is one of the worst. They are an all-you-can-eat buffet," said Mike Benoit, the libertarian candidate in the three-way race. The strike started with Democrat Ray Lutz, who said he got the idea from former California Rep. Jim Bates. Benoit immediately joined in. The pair are on their fifth day of a hunger strike they started at sundown on Aug. 12. Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41193.html#ixzz0wxccdx3P

Nearly 3 million overseas and military voters from at least 33 states will be permitted to cast ballots over the Internet in November using e-mail or fax, in part because of new regulations proposed last month by the federal agency that oversees voting. The move comes as state and federal election officials are trying to find faster ways to handle the ballots of these voters, which often go uncounted in elections because of distance and unreliable mail service.

Oh this truly is sad. Image at link.