Free Republic

An instant classic from The Police, here’s the story behind the song recorded by everybody from Grace Jones to Manfred Mann.The Police first recorded the driving, hard-edged “Demolition Man” for their fourth album, 1981’s Ghost In The Machine, yet the song was actually written by Sting before the release of the band’s third album, 1980’s Zenyatta Mondatta. “Demolition Man” initially came together in rural Ireland, during the summer of that year, when Sting was living in Peter O’Toole’s house in Connemara. The renowned actor reputedly liked the lyrics, especially the lines “I’m a three-line whip/I’m the sort of thing they...

Police in Rome have sniffed out a cannabis factory in an abandoned metro tunnel built during the rule of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, in the 1930s. Officers reportedly stumbled across the factory after smelling the pungent crop near an entrance, not far from the Italian central bank. The tunnel, just over half a mile (1km) long, was also being used to cultivate mushrooms. But behind a makeshift wall, police discovered rows of marijuana plants. Video released by Italy's financial police showed an underground greenhouse with thriving marijuana plants lit by halogen lights, and irrigated via a system of underground cisterns....

For nearly 30 years, Flora Westbrook owned a salon in Minneapolis. In June, rioters took over the neighborhood and destroyed her livelihood by burning the business to the ground. Months later, she's still received no help from local officials. In fact, they've made things worse by sending her a $200,000 bill for building removal. "Here we are 100 days after your place was torched and how much help have you gotten from your local and state officials," Fox and Friends co-host Steve Doocy asked during an interview Thursday morning. "I haven't gotten anything, not a penny," Westbrook said. "They never...

We know the drill: Read the teleprompter for a few minutes, take questions from a few plants in audience, total of twelve or thirteen questions in an hour, filibuster, end to rave reviews from the state run media. White House propaganda e-mail sent to NextGov.com

... Schwarzenegger will need the same people skills to repair another fracture on his right — his deteriorating relationship with the legislative wing of the Republican Party. Right now, that relationship is headed from critical condition to "do not resuscitate." LEGISLATIVE Republicans have every reason to gripe. The governor's most notable "conservative" accomplishments are defensive in nature: He hasn't raised taxes (now debatable, depending on how one interprets the revenue provisions of his universal healthcare plan); he hasn't signed a same-sex marriage law; and he refuses to provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. ... There is an underlying irony to...