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Draper » Ronnie Lee Gardner's head, covered by a black hood, remained upright. His body sat straight in the chair to which it was strapped. As my eyes traveled down Gardner's left arm, past his dark blue jumpsuit, I saw his pale white skin appear below his elbow. Half a faded blue tattoo, some kind of diamond shape, stuck out from the restraint around his wrist. At the bottom of his restraint, I focused on his fist. Gardner died much the way he lived -- with a clenched fist. Yes, this was my first time witnessing an execution. I...

Under pressure from Republican critics, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday the U.S. still hopes to capture and interrogate Osama bin Laden but expects the al-Qaida leader won't be taken alive. Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the attorney general was peppered with questions about terrorism issues, including the planned shutdown of the Guantanamo Bay detention center and where those suspects should be sent for trial. The hearing didn't have the confrontations that marked his appearance last month before House lawmakers, however. During the earlier hearing, questions about what legal rights might be granted to suspected terrorists led Holder to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top goal as he enters a second year in office is to lift U.S. job creation and revitalize the economy, the White House said on Tuesday. "The top priority is to continue to work hard on getting this economy back on track and creating jobs," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a news briefing.

The U.S. State Department has updated its 1998 file photo of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, digitally altering it to account for a decade of age and possible changes in his facial hair. There is a $25 million bounty on bin Laden's head for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Bin Laden is now 52. And he is believed to be hiding in the lawless Pakistan frontier bordering Afghanistan, though his exact whereabouts have been unknown since late 2001, when he and a small contingent of body guards walked out of...

A few curious facts for the new to Elvis: Elvis Aaron Presley was born January 8, 1935 in a little house in Tupelo, Mississippi. He had a stillborn brother Jesse Garon Presley. There was no doctor yet present during the birth and Elvis' parents put him in a shoebox in the oven to keep him warm. His real hair color as an adult was dark blond. His eyes were extremely blue.He was shockingly different for the 50's and stunningly talented: Heartbreak Hotel Elvis was one of the most beautiful (I would argue THE most beautiful person) ever photographed. Men and...

<p>A 44-year-old Texas man was executed Thursday evening for raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl, despite pleas from his attorneys he was too mentally impaired to qualify for capital punishment.</p> <p>Bobby Wayne Woods received lethal injection about a half-hour after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt his punishment, which was delayed briefly until the high court ruled in his case. His lawyers had argued Woods was mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution, and that previous appeals to spare Woods' life were unsuccessful because of shoddy work by his lawyer at the time.</p>

SNIPPET: "According to one of my most trusted sources, the blurry image seen on the tape is indeed Osama bin Laden. One of the reasons that this is convincing is that the blurry image remains in the video. As Sahab, which produces al Qaeda's propaganda, is very selective in the information it releases, and rarely leaves garbage in its videos. As Sahab intentionally leaves in this clip, for reasons unknown. Does al Qaeda want to generate a buzz? Is this a hidden message? Perhaps this is a precursor to a new bin Laden tape?"

John Evander Couey, convicted child rapist and murderer has died, depriving Florida and the family of Jessica Lunsford of seeing Couey's death sentence carried out. Mark Lunsford, the victim's father once said of Couey, that he wouldn't mind if Couey died at the hands of another inmate, saying “I would be buying a lot of cigarettes for someone.” Looks like Mr. Lunsford won't have to buy those cigarettes after all. Couey died of cancer today in prison.

Dawns on this poster -- that the ultimate "turnabout is fair play" would be to humiliate and bring down the one person who *invented* the left's politics of personal destruction: Saul Alinsky.

...evidence from the inquest suggested that she survived for hours due to a air pocket. If only Teddy would have called the police, had called for any kind of help, she might have survived...

47O44. I think I can see where the number comes from now. Its the 47th Copy Birth Certificate issued that year/month/day, by O for Oduya, the Deputy Registrar, and 44 refers to the Register/book it's recorded in.

A source close to the Jacksons has exclusively revealed to X17 Online that family will likely have a traditional Muslim burial for late Michael Jackson. "The family is considering following the Muslim burial traditions because they believe Michael would have wanted to be laid to rest in keeping with his new-found religious beliefs," says the source. "Michael's brother Jermaine is educating the family as to the special rites because he feels it's important to bury his brother according to the Muslim way," adds the source. Despite earlier reports that both public and private memorial services for the late music performer...

I wonder sometimes whether the Nixon tapes really will just continue to be the gift that never stops giving. I was in college when Richard Milhous Nixon was first elected president, and I can still remember the profound sense of loathing and disgust that I experienced at the mere sight, let alone the sound, of him and of his most especially repellent sidekick Henry Kissinger. Wiser and older people tell you that the passions of your youth will dry up and that a more sere and autumnal condition will overtake you as maturity advances, but the thought of the Nixon...

Law enforcement sources said they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. Virginia police say they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. (ABC News)The death was "an active investigation" and there were "no signs of foul play," Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Local police said they were called to Kellermann's home at 4:48am. Kellermann,...

Killing Osama may be a top priority for President Obama, but it's almost Mission Impossible - like it was for his predecessor - if the terror leader is holed up high in Pakistan's snowy peaks, experts say. "The new people are going to face the same problems," warned a top adviser to President Bush. The U.S. has been secretly training for years, however, in case the CIA scores that rarest prize: Bin Laden's home address. But they already know his neighborhood. It's been a challenge, however, gaining intel on the region. Bin Laden hunters have had to turn to Lonely...

HAVANA – Cuba on Wednesday presented a new book by Fidel Castro, who has not appeared in public since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006 but who authorities claim spent more than 400 hours working on the manuscript. "La Paz en Colombia," or "Peace in Colombia," explores Cuba's role in attempts to end Colombia's civil war, which has raged for more than four decades. The 265-page book was presented during a Havana ceremony that Castro did not attend, though one of his sons was there, as was Ricardo Alarcon, head of the country's rubber-stamp parliament. Several rounds of peace...

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — A death row inmate convicted of murdering two women 22 years ago was set to death Tuesday without any family members present. ~snip~ The 5-foot-7, 267-pound Cooey had tried to avoid execution by arguing that his obesity would prevent humane lethal injection because viable veins in his arms are hard to find. ~snip~Cooey dined Monday evening on the special meal he ordered, including T-bone steak with A-1 sauce, onion rings, french fries, four eggs over easy, toast with butter, hash browns, a pint of rocky road ice cream, a Mountain Dew soft drink and bear claw pastries.

SENIOR AL QAEDA COMMANDER ABU SAEED AL-MASRI KILLED IN PAKISTAN - SECURITY OFFICIAL

Medellin Execute For Rape, Murder of Houston Teens Link Only