Author: Ring of Fire Staff

If the words “car accident news” are input into any major internet search engine, a listing of all of car accidents occurring over the past 48 hours would appear. The results will likely scare you as they reveal a huge problem on our highways. A review of the articles reveals that the majority of the automobile accidents involve young drivers.  Just over the past weekend, six teens were killed after striking a guardrail (no seat belts worn) , a baby boy delivered after parents were killed in hit and run car accident, Tampa teen killed after swerving to avoid...

In a 6-1 opinion issued this morning, the Florida Supreme Court has upheld the rights of thousands of litigants to pursue claims against the cigarette industry while “declin[ing] the defendants invitation to rewrite Engle.”  The court refers here to the landmark Engle class action.  In 2007 the Florida Supreme Court held that thousands of class members could proceed individually against the defendants, which include tobacco giants Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Liggett Group and Lorillard. The cigarette defendants appealed the original Engle ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that appeal in 2007 (552 U.S. 941). Despite a steady stream...

Despite stressing last May that gay marriage laws should be left to each individual state, President Barack Obama revised his previous statement in an interview released by ABC on Wednesday, admitting that he “could not imagine a circumstance in which a state banning gay marriage was legal.” In the interview hosted by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, Obama was asked if gay marriage should be a Constitutional right. “Well, I’ve gotta tell you that – in terms of practical politics, what I’ve seen is a healthy debate taking place state by state, and not every state has the exact same attitudes...

White smoke began wafting from the Sistine Chapel chimney shortly after 1 p.m. CT (7 p.m.)  today. Bells also rang, signaling that the Cardinals’ conclave had chosen a new leader of the Catholic Church. After only two days of deliberation, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected pope. Bergoglio has chosen the papal name “Francis.” He is the first non-European pope in the church’s history, and the first South American. Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he has spent all his years of service. Pope Francis asked the crowd to pray for each other and for the...

In other news concerning our previous story about the sexual assault case of Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, the Senate Armed Services Committee is meeting today to discuss the issue of rampant sexual assault in the military. The decision to hold a committee hearing, the first to address the subject in a decade, came after recent outrage over the decision by Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig A. Franklin to overturn Lt. Col. James Wilkerson’s aggravated sexual assault conviction. In response to the Wilkerson case, Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) demanded an investigation by the Air...