Free Republic

SANTA CATARINA, Mexico — Sex never has been safer since a motel called the Thunderclap Ranch reinforced its cinder-block rooms and started advertising them as bulletproof. For $5 an hour, guests here in the gritty outskirts of violence-plagued Monterrey needn't worry about jealous spouses — or more to the point, drug cartel hit men, who usually are better armed. Employee Lucy Regalado, 50, stands inside a room at the 'armored' Thunderclap Ranch hotel in the violent Monterrey area. Business is booming at the $5-per-hour establishment, which also will supply six-packs of beer for $4 and snacks through a porthole in...

Friday Morning Autopsy Expected To Shed More Light (CBS) LOS ANGELES -- CBS 2 has learned that while searching Anna Nicole Smith's hotel room late Thursday afternoon investigators found two key pieces of evidence -- illegal narcotics and prescription medications. Now, a toxicology report will determine whether one of these drugs or a combination of both substances contributed to her death. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Smith, 39, collapsed and was unresponsive while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino, said the attorney, Ron Rale. She was rushed to Memorial Regional...

On April 15 Russian border guards began their long-awaited withdrawal from the "Moskva" patrolled areas of the Tajik-Afghan border, handing over control of the sensitive area to Tajikistani border units. Despite Russia's apparent step back from its well-established role in Tajik border security, Moscow will retain an important advisory role in the future development of the independent border arrangements now placed in the control of Dushanbe. What was once regarded as a regional issue, with the problems of illegal narcotics transiting the border areas, has become internationalized, resulting in less economic strain on Moscow. Tajik border officials will continue to...