Ashley Cowan

National: Ex-church music leader to prison for child porn
In Bridgeport, Connecticut, a former music director at a Greenwich church, was sentenced Thursday to 5 1/2 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. Robert Tate, 66, must also pay a $50,000 fine and participate in sex offender treatment. Tate pleaded guilty in January 2007 to possessing child pornography and then spent several weeks at long-term treatment centers for sexually deviant behavior. "I've struggled all my life with sexual attraction to young boys," Tate said during his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport. "I was abused myself, but that is no excuse for what I did. I'm deeply ashamed of it."

Opinion: PERVO!!!!! O my gosh! If I hear about one more church leader molesting more children I'm going to go crazy! How can these people who are supposedly leading others to the Lord be running around doing things like this?! They need to pray for God's guidance! And I don't give a darn if he was abused himself! That is no excuse to be ruining the lives of other young children due to his past experiences.

International: Taliban bomb expertise becomes deadlier
In Kabul, Afghanistan, a ruthless new generation of Afghan rebels is casting aside Taliban doctrine that opposed killing large numbers of civilians, instead using more powerful explosives and packing bombs with ball-bearings to maximize deaths. Just this week, some 140 people died in two bombings. Afghan security officials say the militants have started using C-4, a powerful explosive not seen before in Afghanistan.

Opinion: HA! Wow! This is just what we needed, even more powerful explosives coming from Afghanistan! PAUSE NOT!!! O goodness, I honestly just wish we could go in there and NOT kill anyone, but just take all their equipment that they are using to create these bombs! I mean come on! I have no idea what kind of religion these crazy people are following but I know my God wouldn’t approve of me killing anyone.

National: Wis. man convicted in antifreeze poison case
In Elkhorn, Wisconson, a man was convicted Thursday of poisoning and suffocating his wife. Mark Jensen, 48, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Julie Jensen, and faces a mandatory life prison sentence, with the judge to determine if he should ever be eligible for parole. Julie Jensen, 40, was found dead in her Pleasant Prairie home on Dec. 3, 1998, after being sick for a few days. Mark Jensen was charged with killing her in 2002, but legal wrangling over evidence repeatedly delayed the trial.

Opinion: Stories like this freak me out! Just the thought that if my husband was to ever get mad at me and possibly plan to poison me is honestly one of the scariest thoughts ever! I have no idea what goes on in these peoples' heads when they plot to kill someone like this, however for killing your wife I agree that he should've gone to prison for life.

International: Witness for bin Laden driver: Ex-prosecutor
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, In a stunning turnaround, the former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay said Thursday he would be a defense witness for the driver of Osama bin Laden. Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who resigned in October over alleged political interference in the U.S. military tribunals, told The Associated Press he will appear at a hearing for Salim Ahmed Hamdan. "I expect to be called as a witness ... I'm more than happy to testify," Davis said in a telephone interview from Washington. He called it "an opportunity to tell the truth.

Opinion: Well I'm very tired at the moment so I have little opinion over this article. Choosing the driver of Osama bin Laden is a very interesting task to take on, I myself would not choose to do something like this. I am also surprised that the person representing him is a former chief military prosecutor.