Free Republic

After botching a series of executions by lethal injection, the State of Alabama is planning to use nitrogen gas to put condemned prisoners to death. The first execution will amount to a human experiment, because neither Alabama nor any other state has ever tried to kill people this way. Late last month, prison guards distributed the state’s new execution protocol to prisoners in solitary confinement on Alabama’s death row. One hundred and sixty men and five women await execution in Alabama. They would be secured to a gurney, their nose and mouth would be covered by a mask, and nitrogen...

Videos show desperate Russian troops fleeing from their burning tanks and a group of soldiers being blown up by Ukrainian missiles during a disastrous assault on a town in eastern Ukraine that saw 300 soldiers reportedly killed or wounded. Footage shows Russian marines from the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade driving a burning T-80BVM tank, along a road in the largely destroyed town of Pavlivka, as flames and black smoke erupted from the vehicle following a Ukrainian strike. A group of Russian soldiers can be seen climbing on top of the tank and jumping down before they ran away from the...

<p>A Russian colonel has been run over and killed by his own troops, apparently angry over the devastating losses the unit suffered in combat, a Western security official said during a briefing to reporters on Friday.</p><p>The official said the incident occured in Russia’s 37th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade that had been fighting outside Kyiv.</p>

Around 71 per cent of people have had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, and 62 per cent have been fully vaccinated. Of these, 57 per cent have received the Sinopharm vaccine, and 43 per cent AstraZeneca. Despite this, there has been a recent surge in cases, with 37 per cent of new active cases and 20 per cent of hospital cases being fully vaccinated.

Photos of a female hunter from Kentucky proudly showing off the results of her “dream hunt” – a dead black giraffe in South Africa – have ignited a firestorm across social media after being picked up by a local African media outlet. “White American savage who is partly a Neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe courtesy of South Africa stupidity,” read the June 2018 tweet, posted by Africa Digest. “Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share.” The controversial images, which were posted by a Kentucky woman identified as Tess Thompson Talley a year...

Three men, including two British soldiers, have appeared in court charged under terror laws with being members of a banned neo-Nazi group. L/Cpl Mikko Vehvilainen, Alexander Deakin and Pte Mark Barrett are accused of being part of National Action. When asked to enter a plea, Mr Deakin said: "I'm a prisoner of conscience. I believe I'm innocent of these charges."

Scripture teaches us that “when pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Prov 11:2). During the 2016 election, I was adamantly opposed to Donald Trump. Much of the media cited a piece I wrote in mid-February planting my flag against Trump as one of the major pieces to spark the #NeverTrump movement. I wrote in that piece that if the GOP went with Trump that the party was not only going to lose the White House, but see devastation down ballot. All the polling showed it. The polling had been right during the primaries. Trump was the...

Social media is a great innovation. But even great things can be used for nefarious purposes and social media is no exception. Take the images below for example. They were downloaded from a Twitter account belonging to a Saudi national who has pledged to join the jihad against the Assad regime. The flag in each of these three pictures is that of Al Qaeda. The Jihadis are using social media, such as Twitter, to communicate, recruit and spread their propaganda. This brings us to the conflict in Syria. Many in the West seem to want America and its allies to...

MONTERREY, Mexico—A surge of drug violence in Mexico's business capital and richest city has prompted an outcry from business leaders who on Wednesday took out full-page ads asking President Felipe Calderón to send in more soldiers to stem the violence. The growing violence in Monterrey, long one of Mexico's most modern and safe cities, is a sign that the country's war against drug gangs is spreading ever further from poorer battlegrounds along the border and into the country's wealthiest enclaves.

13 Things Your Burglar Won't Tell You: 1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator. 2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier. 3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste... and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they...

Police have charged six people in the death of a woman whose tortured body was found in a plastic garbage container in a Greensburg school parking lot. Police say Jennifer Daugherty was stabbed repeatedly in a second-floor Greensburg apartment where some of the suspects live. Ms. Daugherty's age and address weren't available; she'd been missing since Monday. According to police, Ms. Daugherty's hair was shaved and she was bound with Christmas decorations and clothing. Police say she was beaten, her face painted with nail polish and she was fed vegetable oil, spices, detergent, urine and medications.

About an hour ago, the Associated Press reported that the crew of the US-flagged merchant vessel Maersk Alabama repelled a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia.  This is the same ship that was boarded by pirates last April.  At that time, the captain of the ship was taken hostage and was held by pirates in a lifeboat for five days.  The incident ended when US Navy SEAL snipers simultaneously killed all three pirates aboard the lifeboat in a nighttime action.  This time, the pirates never got aboard the ship. What was the difference?  Guns.As the AP report makes abundantly clear,...

Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles. In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory.

THE Taliban have deployed 10,000 fighters for a spring offensive of "bloody attacks" against foreign troops in Afghanistan, a rebel commander said today. More than 4000 people, a quarter of them civilians, were killed in fighting last year, the most violent year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. NATO commanders and analysts warn this year could be just as bad or worse. As the harsh winter snows melt, the insurgents have resumed their attacks, mostly in the south, where they have captured a major town and have threatened a key hydroelectric dam. Mullah Abdul Rahim, the Taliban's operational commander...

An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified. The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross"...

RAMADI, Iraq (AP) -- Weapons locked, loaded and ready, a U.S. Marine platoon runs through this troubled Iraqi city's war-wrecked streets, hurling yellow, gray and violet smoke grenades to shroud their path.

Three news bulletins catch the eye. The first touches on Jonathan Pollard. We knew he was an American spy. When he was apprehended in 1984 it transpired that he had been sending American national secrets to Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. It is nice that Israel was an ally of the United States, but that was not exonerative in U.S. vs. Pollard. He was sentenced to life in prison. The news today is of his handler back then, Rafi Eitan of Mossad. What the hell — it's all behind us now, Mr. Eitan is quoted as saying in an article...

On Assisted Suicide, Gov. Says Voters Should Decide # The issue is too important to be left to elected officials only, Schwarzenegger says. By Robert Salladay and Jordan Rau, Times Staff Writers SACRAMENTO — In a blow to California lawmakers attempting to legalize doctorassisted suicide this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that such a momentous decision is better left to voters rather than to elected officials. Thirteen years ago, California rejected an initiative that sought to let a doctor supervise the death of a critically ill patient. But with the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Oregon's assisted suicide law this...

A SWISS hospital will allow terminally ill patients to commit suicide within its walls, becoming the first in the country to allow the practice. The university hospital in Lausanne had previously sent patients wishing to die home, where they could call on one of the country's assisted suicide organisations to help them take their lives. The hospital has decided to allow such organisations access from next year to patients who are so ill they cannot be transported to their homes, but will not itself help people take their lives. "We're not asking our doctors to assist ... suicide, but we...

Owner Shoots, Kills Dog After It Attacks Girl Girl Receives 38 Stitches From Dog AttackPOSTED: 11:40 am EDT September 8, 2005 DETROIT -- An owner was apparently forced to shoot her dog after it attacked a 7-year-old girl in her Detroit neighborhood, Local 4 reported. Lajoy Morgan said her daughter, Rebecca, was playing in the back yard of a neighbors house when the dog jumped a fence and lunged at her. "When I seen my child, it's just blood running everywhere, from her legs, from her chest, from her side," said Morgan. Morgan said the owner of the dog was...