Free Republic

Several congressmen sent another letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Wednesday, months after first requesting information about a failed undercover operation with similarities to Operation Fast and Furious. “Not only have you yet to provide us with any information or documents about this operation, but, months after ATF shut down the operation, you have refused to respond at all,” the letter states. House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R., Va.), and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R., Wis.) signed the letter. Operation Fearless,...

SAN DIEGO A radical environmentalist pleaded guilty Friday to distributing information on firebombs while giving a speech. The plea by Rodney Coronado, 41, came after his trial on the charge ended in September with a hung jury. His lawyers argued his innocence under the First Amendment. As part of the plea agreement, Coronado won't be prosecuted in other incidents, according to Gerald Singleton, his lawyer. "He really wants to give them a minimal pound of flesh and move on," Singleton said. Coronado is scheduled to be sentenced March 27. He could face up to 20 years in prison under post-Sept....

Distributing water DR. T. V. PADMA How did the people of the Indus manage to water their cities? In Indus cities, each house or group of houses had a private well, made with wedge-shaped bricks that slotted together in a cylindrical shape strong enough to withstand the weight of water when the well was full. This is not a simple matter, and required calculation — otherwise a well could collapse once it was full of water. How did the Indus people keep wells and bathing facilities watertight? First, they used bricks that fitted together tightly. Second, they coated the outer...

Mexican authorities have arrested the leader of a wide-reaching organization that allegedly made and distributed forged immigration and identification documents in numerous U.S. cities, U.S. officials said Monday. Pedro Castorena, 42, was arrested Saturday in the western city of Guadalajara while carrying two counterfeit Mexican identification documents that bore his photograph but an assumed name, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said in a statement. Castorena's arrest "deals a serious blow to one of the largest fraudulent document organizations in the United States," said Julie Myers, the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs...