Free Republic

A group of wealthy donors is preparing to draft retired Marine Gen. James "Mad Dog" Mattis to run for president and taken down Donald Trump, according to reports. Nearly a dozen donors are willing to throw their resources behind the former head of U.S. Central Command. The group has delivered six memos to Mattis outlining how he could win the race in the hope that it will encourage him to run, the Daily Beast reported. The game plan would be for Mattis to win enough states to keep Trump and Hillary Clinton from getting the 270 electoral votes needed to...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel who was the world's most powerful drug lord was captured overnight by U.S. and Mexican authorities at a condominium in Mazatlan, Mexico, The Associated Press learned Saturday, ending a bloody decades-long career that terrorized swaths of the country.A senior U.S. law enforcement official said Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was taken alive overnight by Mexican marines in the beach resort town. The official was not authorized to discuss the arrest and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Morelia (Mexico) (AFP) - Vigilante militias that have fought a drug cartel in western Mexico for a year entered a key gang bastion on Saturday, manning checkpoints and helping federal forces find criminals. The civilian self-defense forces had their eye on Apatzingan for months, saying it was the "crown jewel" of the Knights Templar gang and a vital trade hub for the region's lime and avocado farmers. Vigilante leader Estanislao Beltran said that hundreds of his colleagues manned checkpoints outside the Michoacan state city of 120,000 to "check who goes in and out

24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY is a thrilling new tent-pole event series which will restart the clock on the groundbreaking and Emmy Award-winning drama franchise starring Kiefer Sutherland. Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television and Howard Gordon’s Teakwood Lane Productions, 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY will make its historic debut in the summer of 2014 on FOX. The high-octane saga reunites showrunner Howard Gordon with Sutherland and retains the real-time, fast-paced format with split screens and complex interweaving storylines, with 12 episodes representing 24 hours. The suspenseful event series once again follows the exploits of heroic agent JACK BAUER (Sutherland),...

PHOENIX – A federal judge has rejected arguments by the Department of Justice that she cannot intercede in a congressional bid to investigate how and why the agency first lied about the Operation Fast and Furious “gun walking’’ operation in Arizona. Judge Amy B. Jackson said federal courts are entitled to determine whether the Obama administration is wrongfully withholding documents from a House panel looking into the now-abandoned practice of letting illegally purchased weapons make their way to Mexico. That practice came to light when “walked’’ guns ended up at the scene where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed...

Garrett is the worst play caller in the history of the NFL. I know Pop Warner coaches who would make better Offensive Coordinators. How is it you have one of the best RBs in the NFL and you only call 13 running plays? If you know the Redskins are gonna blitz on every frikin 3rd down, why don't you run a few screens or draws to slow them down? Garrett sucks! Fire him now!

Former Bears coach and Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka was hospitalized Friday after suffering what he said doctors told him was a "very minor stroke." Contacted Friday evening, Ditka said, "I feel good right now and it's not a big deal." Ditka was at a suburban country club playing cards Friday when he noticed his hands "weren't working quite right," and then he had a problem speaking.

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Daniel Rodriguez is as proud of fulfilling a promise to a friend as he's been of his decorated military career. Rodriguez has been cleared by the NCAA and the Atlantic Coast Conference to join Clemson's football team. He spent four years in the U.S. Army, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal of Valor for his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rodriguez took part in the Battle of Kamdesh in October 2009 that saw a force of 300 Taliban overwhelm the American outpost of fewer than 40 soldiers. Rodriguez saw friend Kevin Thompson die...

In what can only be described as one of the most bizarre lawsuits ever filed, a New Jersey woman is suing an area 13-year-old because she suffered injuries after he made an errant throw at a Little League game. Making the case more extreme is the fact that the prospective defendant wasn't even 13 when he made the throw that accidentally struck the victim: He was 11. The accident which eventually led to Lloyd's suit came when a catcher, then 11-year-old Matthew Migliaccio, attempted to throw a ball back to a pitcher in the bullpen while he was warming up...

After a lengthy deliberation, a North Carolina jury has reached a verdict in the John Edwards mistress-and-money trial. The verdict is expected to be read shortly. The jury began deliberating on May 18 after a month of testimony, which at times sounded more like a steamy soap opera than a trial on the intricacies of campaign finance rules. Charged with six counts of violating federal campaign laws, Edwards was accused by the government of soliciting nearly $1 million from wealthy backers to finance a cover up of his illicit affair and illegitimate child while running for president in 2008.

A Connecticut town is caught up in a heated debated over whether a proposed gun range should be built just hundreds of feet from a local elementary school. "I'd say total insanity. A gun range should not be put next to a school, period. Put it on the outskirts of Waterbury, or somewhere else," community activist Lisa Lessard said in a video posted by NBC Connecticut. Proponents of the development say the gun range and accompanying gun store would post no actual risk to young students next door at the Sprague Elementary School in Waterbury, Connecticut. Nonetheless, the local Board...

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Adapt and overcome is a common phrase in the Marine Corps, and Cpl. Sean Castillo, a welder with Maintenance Company, 1st Maintenance Battalion (-) Reinforced, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), is embodying those words everyday in Afghanistan and saving the Marine Corps millions of dollars while doing so. Castillo, 23, a native of Yuma, Ariz., is the son of a retired Marine and the brother of an Army Ranger. He joined the Marine Corps to serve his country and do his part. He became a welder because he loves the trade. “I had a job prior...

Happy birthday to all my fellow Marines past and present. The eagle born to those who pledged their lives and sacred honor, was smiled upon by God and freed from chains and iron collar. He is held aloft on unity and by history revered; for preserving peace through strength his wings now reach across two hundred years. But for each of those and one year more, God has smiled upon The Corps, from the Barbary Coast to the Eastern Sand, by sword, by gun, or by bare hand. So it's been, and shall be weighed: though many are born, few...

NFL owners voted on Thursday evening to ratify a proposal to end the lockout, the first step in ending the longest work stoppage in NFL history. The final vote was 31-0 with Oakland Raiders abstaining, according to a source inside the room. The focus will next shift to the players, who will also have to ratify the proposal. NFL.com senior writer Steve Wyche reported that a football operations meeting will start Friday at 8 a.m. ET, according to a league source.

Now that NFL owners appear to have cleared a significant hurdle on the way to labor peace with the players, the question for the league is simple: How fast can they get the league year started? The short answer is sometime on or just before July 15. By that point, the league may be reopen for business on a permanent basis, meaning free agents could get signed and draft picks could start to meet with coaches for the first time in hopes of catching up as much as possible by the start of training camp. “That kind of timeline is...

PHOENIX — Federal appellate judges have refused to overturn the civil verdict against a Cochise County rancher found guilty of illegally imprisoning 16 border crossers. In a brief and unsigned opinion, the three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by Roger Barnett that the Tucson jury that found him liable should have been told by the trial judge that they could consider his claim of self-defense. The judges said Arizona law allows someone to use or threaten to use physical force against another when a reasonable person would believe that is necessary to protect against the...

An irate Staten Island mom blasted a grade school principal Wednesday for treating her son like a pint-sized Plaxico Burress after he brought a 2-inch-long toy gun to school. "This principal is a bully and a coward, and needs to be held accountable," said Laura Timoney, 44, after her teary fourth-grader was nearly suspended for playing with the tiny toy at lunch. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/02/04/2010-02-04_big_trouble_over_this_tiny_toy_mom_fuming_at_a_lack_of_common_sense_as_son_buste.html#ixzz0eb3gUwhC

PHOENIX — A Senate panel agreed Monday that any Arizona adult should be able to carry a concealed weapon without special training or background check. The 4-3 vote would create a major loophole in the existing laws that require those who want to have a hidden weapon to undergo special training. This includes classes on when people can legally use deadly force as well as marksmanship.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- A University of Connecticut student committed an act terrorism by posting Internet messages telling people to "stop the snitching" after the stabbing death of football player Jasper Howard, university police said Thursday.

So now the geniuses who run the BCS have decided that the answer to their problems is better spinning. A story in yesterday's Sports Business Journal reports that the BCS is considering hiring someone whose job would be to defend the BCS against people like me--and many, many others--who think it is a complete and utter shame. In fact, John Marinatto, the new commissioner of The Big East, who as of now would be in charge of the BCS next year--the ACC's John Swofford is doing it right now--is quoted as saying that the BCS commissioners believe they have not...