Free Republic

TORONTO -- Justin Verlander took the mound for the ninth inning, fully aware of the no-hitters he had finished -- and his near misses, too. Zeroed in, he wouldn't be denied this time. Verlander pitched his third career no-hitter, punctuating a dominant season by striking out 14 to lead the Houston Astros past the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Sunday.

Cops have busted twin brothers from the Bronx for allegedly stockpiling explosive materials and crafting bombs inside their home — with help from high school students. Christian Toro, a former teacher at Harlem Prep, and his brother, Tyler Toro, were arrested by the FBI on Thursday as part of a joint investigation with the NYPD. The two 27-year-olds had been forging explosive devices inside their Pelham Parkway apartment since last October — using gunpowder from fireworks as the base for their bomb-making, according to the complaint. A search of the residence turned up a slew of dangerous chemicals, including 20...

Teenage Spanish matador kills 6 bulls By DANIEL WOOLLS Associated Press Writer CACERES, Spain (AP) - A 16-year-old Spanish matador killed six bulls in one afternoon Saturday, pulling off a feat normally attempted only by seasoned veterans and winning trophies for his skill—ears from animals he had just slain. Jairo Miguel Sanchez Alonso, who nearly died from a horrific goring in Mexico in 2007, smiled broadly and waved to a friendly hometown crowd after a pageant that took about two and a half hours. A tall and slender boy who is also amazingly articulate for his age, he showed off...

ATLANTA – A riding lawn mower may have four wheels, a powerful engine and can cost as much as a used car. If it's stolen, however, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded Monday that it's not a motor vehicle. The 4-3 decision overturned the conviction of Franklin Lloyd Harris, who was convicted of felony motor vehicle theft after he loaded a Toro riding mower in 2006 from a Home Depot in Dalton into his van and sped away. Because Harris was a repeat offender, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Public defender Michael McCarthy told the justices that while...

Another “think tank,” this one called the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), has come out for total civilian disarmament and repeal of the Second Amendment. What’s new about that? ISPU is openly pro-Muslim, and the ISPU writer is a criminal defense attorney who argues for repealing parts of the Bill of Rights. You can read the whole article, entitled “In the Fight Against Terrorism, Some Rights Must Be Repealed,” by Junaid Afeef, on the ISPU website: http://www.ispu.us/pages/articles/2914/articleDetailPB.html A JPFO supporter sent us the link, and we did read the article, looking for: a. Inaccurate “facts” b. Missing data...

VERMILION, Ohio A northern Ohio man is accused of operating a lawnmower while drunk. Dondi Bowles of Vermilion was arrested Friday night as he drove the mower on a sidewalk. Police say he drove the mower to a store about a mile from his home and was arrested on his way back. The lawn mower was towed. Police say a breath test showed that Bowles' blood alcohol level was point-one-four-four percent, which is over the legal limit of point-zero-eight percent. Police say it was Bowels' third drunken-driving-related arrest in six months.

Ken Melrose will leave at the top of his game Tuesday when he wraps up his 21-year run as CEO at Toro Co. His move caps a tenure almost unmatched by any of his big-company peers here. For Melrose personally, the success has turned out to be too much. So great are the riches the Bloomington company's achievements have showered onto him that he now finds himself facing a new challenge: how best to reduce his wealth. Under his leadership, Toro grew exponentially. On a compounded basis, sales rose an average 8 percent annually from 1983 to 2004 and net...

<p>MALAGA, Spain &#8212; I have been tooling around the south of Spain in search of anti-Americanism and the perfect bullfight. The anti-Americanism does not seem to be much in evidence. There was a homunculus waiter in Seville who became unpleasantly abrupt when my tip did not live up to his expectations &#8212; expectations that perhaps become a bit elevated when a Yank swaggers in. Yet, that is about it. Of course, I have been in the company of ordinary Spaniards, not university professors or parlor intellectuals, and those are the types that incubate such brilliant ideas as anti-Americanism.</p>