Free Republic

I’m standing on the sand of La Jolla Shores on Friday morning. Out in the water, a blind man stands up on his surf board, and for a moment I feel like I actually might burst into tears. A guy who can’t see has shown me that anything is possible. Derek Rabelo does not stay up long on this first ride of the day. No one would have. The wind is mild. The water is glassy, its waist-high waves more crumbling than crashing. But these few seconds are enough to confirm for me that too much time is spent focused...

EL PASO, Texas — An alleged Mexican gang leader named to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list may have surgically altered his face and changed his finger prints to hide his identity, federal investigators said Wednesday. Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo was added earlier this week to the wanted list that includes the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger. "From what I've heard, it's my understanding he may have had ... plastic surgery and manipulated his finger prints," said Samantha Mikeska, the FBI's lead investigator in a 5-year-old probe of Ravelo's Barrio Azteca gang. If Ravelo...