Free Republic

ABEDE ISAAC, though riddled with bullets that were still blasting into the East Germantown rowhouse, saw the 9-year-old son of his girlfriend coming down the stairs into the hail of bullets. Isaac yelled at the boy, "Get up the stairs!" said Clinton Rogers, the homeowner, who witnessed the incident. Then, despite his wounds, Isaac struggled up the steps behind the boy, forcing him upward. Even so, the boy, Nyger Page, was grazed by one of 11 shots that were fired into the house. Isaac, 33, blood streaming down his face, made it to the top of the stairs, where he...

Charges 'ridiculous' Mischief investigation targets plans for mock gunfight at mall By KENNETH JACKSON, SUN MEDIA An Ottawa teen believes cops were too quick to pull the trigger on a mischief investigation that involved shaping his hand into a gun and yelling bang in a mock gunfight. Henrick Vierula told the Sun he doesn't deserve to be charged with multiple criminal offences after participating in a phenomena known as a "flash mob" at the Rideau Centre on Friday. "The whole thing is ridiculous," said Vierula, 19. Vierula and other participants were to shape their hands into a gun, point them...

Attention, TV executives: The Force may soon be with you. Filmmaker George Lucas said Tuesday that he has "just begun work" on a live-action television series rooted in the "Star Wars" universe, which is huge news not just for fans of the science-fiction epic but also for networks looking for a piece of the Lucas magic that has grossed $4.3 billion in theaters worldwide. There is a caveat, though: The proposed series doesn't have anyone named Luke or Anakin in it, a story path that Lucas concedes is "taking chances" as far as connecting with an audience expecting the familiar...

All 11 officers and sheriff’s personnel who fired more than 100 shots at a man on Aug. 27 acted properly “to protect their lives and the lives of others,” officials announced Friday. The man shot to death, 24-year-old Jesus German Sarabia, pointed a gun at the lawmen after they tried for nearly four minutes to get him to drop the weapon, said Sheriff Donny Youngblood. He and Bakersfield Police Chief Bill Rector answered questions about the shooting at a news conference at Sheriff’s Department headquarters Friday morning. Asked if 104 shots were excessive, Youngblood said there’s no magic number for...

Is anyone else sick and tired of the endless idiotic pieces about "Why the Republicans Lost", "How Conservative Lost Their Way"...blah blah blah. Where were all these geniuses BEFORE the election?

A fugitive gunman accused of killing a Florida sheriff’s deputy was shot 68 times by SWAT team officers who found him hiding in the woods, according to autopsy results. Police fired 110 shots at Angilo Freeland, 27, the target of a massive manhunt in central Florida following the shooting death of Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Williams Thursday. “That’s all the bullets we had, or we would have shot him more,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- Two men who took fruit and vegetables out of a garbage can have been sentenced to six months in jail, a punishment they say is harsh and the only choice they had to avoid a felony on their records. Giles Charle, 24, of Sumersworth, N.H., and David Siller, 27, of Wayne, Pa., were on their way to the Rainbow Family's annual gathering when they were arrested in June and charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor theft. Authorities said they took five cucumbers, four or five apricots, two bundles of asparagus spears and a handful of cherries...

When oursupposedly compassionate federal government pokes its nose into areas that, under our principle of federalism, should be none of its business, the result is often unintended consequences, gross injustices, and of course massive costs. A prime example is the 1986 federal Bradley Amendment, which mandates that a child support debt cannot be retroactively reduced or forgiven even if the debtor is unemployed, hospitalized, in prison, sent to war, dead, proved to not be the father, never allowed to see his children, or loses his job or suffers a pay cut.

State child-welfare officals are backing a House bill(2706) that would suspend the driver's licenses of parents who fall more than $500. behind in their court-ordered child support payments. The officals also support a Senate bill(468)(459) that would block deadbeats from buying hunting and fishing licenses and camping permits. The goal, the officals say, is not to punish these debtors but encourage them to pay their obligations on time and in full. In a another news article(The Wichita Eagle)(Bills: Pay child support to hunt,drive) more details are provided. http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/legislature/13816191.htm "Garnisheeing a debtor's personal INJURY insurance or worker's compensation payments to make...

First, we have the media overkill on whatever Delay may or may have not done over the last twenty years. Rich Lowry shows how the NYTimes is dredging up news from years ago and putting it on the front page. Next, we have people like the DLC saying things like it's ridiculous for Republicans to think this is a Soros plot cause we're in on it too! Well, I'm glad to know that other wealthy Democratic financiers are behind it as well. The "Get DeLay" campaign remains a base, partisan smear campaign, not a genuine pursuit of the truth. There...

A mercury spill at Farrington High School sent students and a teacher to the health office. It happened when a ninth-grader cracked a 12-inch thermometer during a science experiment. Hazmat crews say about a teaspoon of mercury spilled onto the floor. A handful of students were exposed before the teacher cleaned up the mess. No one complained of itching skin or headaches -- effects of extended exposure to mercury. But the teacher and eight students were taken to the health office as a precaution. The classroom remained off-limits until an environmental firm did a thorough clean-up. Farrington uses mercury thermometers...

The Brooklyn Park man killed early Tuesday in a Minneapolis apartment had up to 26 wounds from being shot in a botched deal to sell ecstasy, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday. James A. Barnett, also known as James A. Benett and Charles "Spanky" Barnett, was found dead about 1:30 a.m. in a building in the 2400 block of Golden Valley Rd. in the Willard-Hay neighborhood. Thomas D. Clair was charged Thursday with second-degree murder and second-degree assault and is being held in the Hennepin County jail without bail. Clair told investigators that he set up the buy between...

Pols swim against tide of DNC `overkill' By Dave Wedge Saturday, July 17, 2004 While angry parents fumed over the shutdown of some public pools during the Democratic National Convention, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano blasted the state agency in charge, calling the decision ``overkill.'' ``To close down a pool on what is on average the hottest week of the year is nuts,'' Capuano said. ``These kids have no other place to go. It's unnecessary.'' The Department of Conservation and Recreation - the agency formerly known as the oft-criticized Metropolitan District Commission - decided to close pools in Somerville and Cambridge...

HOUSTON -- A jury Wednesday convicted a woman of murder for stabbing her husband 193 times, rejecting her claim that she acted in self-defense after years of abuse. Susan Wright, 27, could get up to 99 years in prison. The sentencing phase was to begin in the afternoon. Prosecutors said she killed Jeffrey Wright in 2003 to collect on his $200,000 life insurance policy. Jeffrey Wright, 34, was found buried in the couple's back yard after Susan Wright's attorney reported the body to authorities. Wright, a former topless dancer, testified that her husband beat her repeatedly and that right before...

I have a new favorite recall candidate......