Free Republic

Federal authorities have dismantled a Houston Ecstasy-trafficking ring that used two popular downtown nightclubs to launder profits and was supplied by an international network considered among the largest in the world, officials said Tuesday. Authorities have charged 24 people in Houston and 10 members of the international organization -- most in Israel, the base of the operation, and in the Netherlands, where the Ecstasy was produced. Among those charged in Houston are two brothers, Sarabjeet "Rick" Singh and Amrik "Spiro" Singh, who authorities said oversaw a local network that distributed massive amounts of Ecstasy and opened the Spy Club and...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 August 3 The Galactic Center - A Radio Mystery Credit: N. E. Kassim, D. S. Briggs, T. J. W. Lazio, T. N. LaRosa, J. Imamura (NRL/RSD) Explanation: Tuning in to the center of our Milky Way galaxy, radio astronomers explore a complex, mysterious place. A premier high resolution view, this startlingly beautiful picture covers a 4x4 degree region around the galactic center. It was constructed from 1...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 7 The Galactic Center Across the Infrared Credit: 2MASS Project, UMass, IPAC/Caltech, NSF, NASA Explanation: The center of our Galaxy is obscured in visible light by dark dust that rotates with the stars in the Galactic Plane. In this century, however, sensors have been developed that can detect light more red that humans can see - light called infrared. The above picture shows what the Galactic...