Free Republic

Steve Neal, Chicago's premiere political columnist for decades, famous for his encyclopedic knowledge of history and political lore, for endlessly swapping stories with political junkies and for his books that ranged from a biography of Wendell Wilkie to the correspondence between Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman, died Wednesday at his Hinsdale home. He was 54 and had been hospitalized overnight this week at Northwestern Hospital for a heart problem, his family said. Hinsdale police said they responded to a “carbon monoxide alarm’’ Wednesday afternoon at the home. Mr. Neal was among the city's most savvy political analysts, but unlike many...

Teacher who stomped on flag receives $85,000 settlement The South Carolina teacher placed on administrative leave after throwing an American flag on the floor and stomping on it was paid $85,000 as part of an out-of-court settlement in a case arising out of that incident. The settlement does not include the salary that Chapin High School English teacher Scott Compton will continue to receive until June 7, according to The State. He continues to get paid although he was placed on leave in January and submitted his resignation on Mar. 27. “Prior to his resignation, attorneys for Mr. Compton informed...

Suspected tagger found dead, hanging 9 stories up on office tower A man whose body was found hanging from a downtown Sacramento building Monday, nine stories up, appears to be a tagger who was attempting the vandalize the property, authorities say. The man had used rope to tie himself in a seated position like a rappeller, authorities said. The rope was tied off with a window washing anchor, and fire officials believe that that anchor could have held his weight. But they don't think he was a window washer.

Local child molester slain in L.A. prison An inmate serving a life sentence stemming from the sexual assault of a child in Oceanside was killed Tuesday in his prison cell in Los Angeles County. Francisco Javier Aguilar, 36, was found dead in his cell at the California State Prison in Lancaster after 1 a.m., authorities said. He had a cable wrapped around his neck, The Los Angeles Times reported. The cause of death has not been released. An autopsy was set for Thursday, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. Aguilar’s cellmate, Aaron Alvarez, 42, has been arrested in...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – John Glenn fever has taken hold of Cape Canaveral once again. Three days before the 50th anniversary of his historic flight, the first American to orbit the Earth addressed employees at Kennedy Space Center. The NASA auditorium was packed Friday with hundreds of workers, many of whom stood along the walls to see the space legend. The 90-year-old Glenn was joined on stage by Scott Carpenter, 86, the only other survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. Glenn recalled how he and his fellow Mercury astronauts traveled to Cape Canaveral to watch a missile blast off....

Father held for killing infant BEHRAMPORE: A man allegedly hurled his one-and-half- month-old daughter at Mangaljone Mathpara in Raghunathgunj on Sunday night. Manoyara Khatun's forehead was badly injured and she died of heavy bleeding. As the news spread, the villagers informed the police. Majibar Rahman was had been upset with his wife for having giving birth to a girl. Kohinoor Bibi, the baby's grandmother said, "When he came yesterday with some medicines and baby food, we forgave him. How could we suspect that he would kill his own child? Such cruelty is unacceptable to us and even to Allah! Allah...

Ohio Democrat Congressman Charlie Wilson was first elected to Congress in the Democrat wave year of 2006. Prior to that, he had been a long-time member of the Ohio state legislature, first elected to the Ohio House in 1996 and the Ohio Senate in 2004. (One of his four grown sons succeeded him in the legislature and is currently an Ohio State Senator.) He was also married for 27 years to his wife, Clara. The marriage ended in divorce in 1990. BigGovernment has obtained a trial brief filed by Mrs. Clara Wilson prior to the formal divorce proceedings. The brief...

<p>Saiqa Akhter, 30, has been charged with a single count of capital murder in the deaths of her 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, police said. Dallas County Police spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield said the single count covered a child under 5 and would probably be changed either to include multiple victims or to add a count.</p>

Che Guevara spawns tourism industry with 'Che Trail' In life, Ernesto "Che" Guevara fought to overthrow a corrupt, capitalist elite. In death, he is spawning his own tourism industry – soon to include a three-country "Che Trail." Tourism officials in Argentina, Cuba and Bolivia are collaborating on a historic route that will allow Guevara buffs to retrace the footsteps of the Argentine medical student turned revolutionary in Cuba who was killed in a failed mission to foment an uprising in Bolivia. Bolivia's vice minister of tourism, Marco Antonio Peredo, said that the international "Caminos del Che" trail will include sites...

Status: Terrorist By SIMON HUGHES, Chief Investigative Reporter Published: 16 Apr 2010 OSAMA bin Laden has a page on Facebook. The al-Qaeda leader is using it as a platform to show videos and speeches to Islamic militants. His address is given as "the mountains of the world". Last night, security experts urged Facebook's US owners to shut down the profile page, named "The leader of the Mujahideen, Osama bin Laden." A Sun investigation revealed it became active less than a month ago but had already attracted nearly 1,000 extremists. Access is via the Taliban's own Facebook presence. Although the language...

After taking time out of his last few broadcasts to try to clarify his Feb. 8 remarks that the "snowpocalypse" was because of global warming, one would hope MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan would have learned his lesson. Ratigan spent a portion of his Feb. 10 and now a portion of his Feb. 11 shows trying to clarify his statement - that "these ‘snowpocalypses' that have been going through D.C. and other extreme weather events are precisely what climate scientists have been predicting, fearing and anticipating because of global warming," as he said - but that he didn't necessarily believe that premise....

(IsraelNN.com) Former minister Rafi Eitan, who recruited Jonathan Pollard as a spy for Israel in the US, expressed regret over the espionage debacle in an interview on Channel 2. "I admit the failure and I regret it,” he said. In an interview to Maariv in 2008, Eitan said that the US intelligence services made a joint decision not to permit Pollard ever to be released until the end of his life. “The reason isn't Pollard. It's Israel... It's connected to the relationship system between the American intelligence services and the state of Israel.” Eitan went on to confirm that the...

Sex felon haunts jail at age 100 Here's proof that only the good die young. Meet Theodore Sypnier, the oldest inmate in New York. The geriatric jailbird celebrated his 100th birthday in upstate Groveland Correctional Facility in May and has spent most of his 90s in prison after pleading guilty to attempted sodomy of a child. Sypnier said he is treated no differently than the spring chickens behind bars with him. He catches Z's in a standard prison bed, wears a two-piece forest-green uniform and chows down on regular mess-hall slop. "It's probably just as bad as being the youngest...

Date goes from bad to worse By Michael P. McConnell Daily Tribune Staff Writer Police say man skipped out on restaurant bill, stole woman's car. FERNDALE — A first date went from bad to worse when police say a man not only skipped out on a restaurant bill but stole his new girlfriend's car while she was still seated at the table. A Detroit man faces trial on charges he stole his date's car after they ate and he asked her for her keys so he could get his wallet out of her vehicle. "She gave him her keys and...

How appropriate that U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter finds himself at the back of the Democratic Party bus. Did he really expect a hero's welcome and continuance in chairman positions after renouncing his own party at a time of crisis? History shows that nobody trusts or respects a turncoat and a traitor. Arlen should have learned that from the treatment Benedict Arnold received from the British after changing sides in the midst of a fight. Arnold joined with the British but was never accepted or respected by his peers, many officers despised him and his military career was relegated to the...

Aguanga man to serve seven life sentences Friday, February 20th, 2009. Issue 08, Volume 9. An Aguanga polygamist received seven life sentences for torturing and endangering seven of his 19 children and abusing and imprisoning his three wives. Mansa Musa Muhummed, 55, also known as Richard Boddie Jr., sat in the courtroom last Friday looking unmoved as the judge issued his decision. A jury found Muhummed guilty of such acts as beating his children with hoses and boat oars, starving them and forcing them to eat their own vomit and feces. In addition, he imprisoned two of his wives in...

On the day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, President Barack Obama repealed a Reagan-era policy that prohibited foreign nongovernmental family-planning groups from receiving U.S. funds if they provided abortions or even lobbied for abortion rights in their country. It is an action his abortion-rights supporters have waited eight years for and one they had encouraged him to waste no time taking. But by first issuing a statement urging support for common-ground efforts to reduce abortion rates and then waiting to sign the Executive Order late on a Friday afternoon — a time...

Bogus doctor, 25, sexually assaulted pensioner in home Saturday, January 10, 2009 BOGUS doctor Yaqub Hussain sexually assaulted an 82-year-old widow in her own home while "examining" her. The 25-year-old managed to get hold of the pensioner's phone number and called to arrange to visit her bungalow in the south of Stoke-on-Trent on January 8 last year. The city's crown court heard yesterday how the elderly woman suffers from deep vein thrombosis, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – for which she requires oxygen and has several tanks – and depression. Hussain called her on four occasions before he arrived, telling...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday the GOP lost the White House because the party was tainted by corruption, overspending and "sometimes came across as a bunch of grumpy old men." . . . . . "All we have to do is go back to the basics of fiscal conservatism, with a smile and come up with new ways to communicate with the younger voter," said Graham, who captured 58 percent of the vote in winning re-election against a little-known opponent.