I know there are two sides to every story and this is only one side. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire and there is an awful lot of smoke here. A teacher offers to translate and the cop pulls a gun on him. And the next day, when this jerk and his supervisor went to the principal’s office to apologize, he flew into a rage because the teacher asked why he reached for his gun.
Come to think about it - this asshole embodies the fear people have about how Arizona’s new immigration law will be enforced.
DEPUTY CONSTABLE ACCUSED OF BEATING, EXPOSING WOMAN AT SCHOOL, SUIT SAYS
Grandmother targeted because of ethnicity, document says
By Isadora Vail
Austin American-Statesman
July 8, 2010
A federal lawsuit filed Thursday accused a Travis County deputy constable of beating a woman and exposing her breast in front of an elementary school with her grandchildren watching in May 2009.
Lawyers with the Texas Civil Rights Project filed the suit against Deputy Constable Richard Furrs on behalf of the woman, who used a pseudonym in the court filings. Furrs targeted the woman because she is a Mexican immigrant, according to the suit.
Misdemeanor criminal charges that Furrs filed against the woman were later dropped, the suit said. It said Furrs was suspended for five days, but the constables office would not confirm that. Gwendolyn Doyle, a manager at the office, would only say that Furrs was still employed there. Furrs could not be reached for comment.
The woman went to Sims Elementary School off Springdale Road in East Austin to pick up her grandchildren on May 21, 2009, the suit said. She pulled into the school's driveway, where Furrs was directing traffic, the suit said. It said Furrs began to show the woman where to wait, and as she did, he began yelling at her.
The woman thought he was asking for identification, so she reached for her license, the suit said. Furrs then dragged her out of her truck, the suit said.
The lawsuit contained three sworn affidavits by witnesses. One was from Lorena Sanchez, who said she was walking with her daughter from the school to their car and saw Furrs yelling at the woman.
Sanchez said she knew the woman and saw Furrs yank her from her truck so forcibly that Sanchez was able to see the woman's feet.
She said she saw Furrs beat the woman with his baton and dragged her on the hot pavement, while the woman was yelling in Spanish that she did not know what she did wrong.
Furrs was overheard calling the woman an ethnic epithet and told her she needed to speak English because she was in America, the documents said.
Another witness said Furrs was yelling slurs at the woman while throwing her around like a rag doll.
Sanchez said a few people were trying to take video and photos of the incident, but the constable and other responding officers ordered them not to, the suit said.
Jon Saucedo, a teacher, said he saw the woman on her knees and bleeding from her lip. His statement also said one of her breasts was exposed and that she was crying.
Witnesses said the woman begged Furrs to cover her up, and he responded by saying, "I don't care. I like it."
Saucedo said he stepped forward and offered to help translate for the woman, but Furrs reached for his gun and told him to back up.
Saucedo's statement said that Furrs and his supervisor went to the principal's office to apologize for the incident. Yet, when Saucedo asked Furrs why he thought it was appropriate to reach for his gun, Saucedo said Furrs became enraged and yelled at him.
"I felt very intimidated by Mr. Furrs. I thought this meeting was an effort to apologize for this officer's actions the day before, but it quickly turned into another situation where this officer was out of control," Saucedo wrote in his sworn statement.
Maria Jaramillo said her children who witnessed the incident are now traumatized and are afraid of police officers. She said when they see a police car, they try to take off their seat belts and hide.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
JESSE JAMES OF PUGET SOUND (2)
He’s sure come a long way since I posted a story about him on May 9, 2010
BAREFOOT BANDIT ON THE RUN IN THE BAHAMAS: TEENAGE FACEBOOK ‘HERO’ FLIES TO CARIBBEAN AFTER STEALING PLANE
Mail Online
July 9, 2010
_Has stolen cars and FOUR planes to get from West Coast in U.S. to Bahamas
_His mother says: 'I'm glad he's able to enjoy beautiful islands'
_Learnt how to fly by playing computer games and reading instruction manuals
_Police after him since 2007 when he broke out of a juvenile detention centre
A teenage Facebook cult hero, known as the Barefoot Bandit, is believed to have crash-landed a plane in the Bahamas to continue his crime spree.
Colton Harris-Moore, 19, has more than 70,000 followers on Facebook and has been at large in the U.S. since escaping from a juvenile detention centre in 2007.
He has been dubbed the 'Barefoot Bandit' for allegedly committing some crimes while shoeless and during one break-in drew footprints on a shop floor in chalk with the remark 'C-YA!'.
The teenager has been steadily moving eastwards across from his home state in Washington on the U.S. West Coast stealing cars and planes as he goes.
The Cessna he took to the Bahamas is believed to be the fourth plane he has stolen, including one belonging to a Seattle radio DJ.
He has had no flight training and is said to be self-taught through playing flight-simulator games and reading instruction manuals.
The 6ft 5in teenager is now said to be on the run on Great Abaco Island and surviving by breaking into homes and businesses at night to get food.
For the past five days soldiers and police armed with shotguns on the Caribbean island have been hunting him. They have now put up a $10,000 (£6,600) reward for information leading to his arrest.
Police and soldiers were patrolling the island's coastlines and airports as investigators followed a trail of seven break-ins leading north from the mangrove-lined inlet where the Cessna was abandoned on Sunday in knee-deep water.
Burglary victims say the thief appeared to be looking mainly for cash and Internet access. At the Curly Tails restaurant in Marsh Harbour, where Harris-Moore was apparently videotaped by security cameras during a Tuesday morning break-in, owner Alistair McDonald said the burglar moved cables on the modem and carried his own laptop computer.
He has been linked to dozens of burglaries [since 2007] and at least four other airplane thefts. He earned the Barefoot Bandit nickname because he allegedly went shoeless for some of his crimes and left behind footprints.
The latest saga began when Harris-Moore allegedly stole the single-engine Cessna from an airport in Bloomington, Indiana, and flew it more than 1,000 miles to the low-lying island chain off the Florida coast.
BAREFOOT BANDIT ON THE RUN IN THE BAHAMAS: TEENAGE FACEBOOK ‘HERO’ FLIES TO CARIBBEAN AFTER STEALING PLANE
Mail Online
July 9, 2010
_Has stolen cars and FOUR planes to get from West Coast in U.S. to Bahamas
_His mother says: 'I'm glad he's able to enjoy beautiful islands'
_Learnt how to fly by playing computer games and reading instruction manuals
_Police after him since 2007 when he broke out of a juvenile detention centre
A teenage Facebook cult hero, known as the Barefoot Bandit, is believed to have crash-landed a plane in the Bahamas to continue his crime spree.
Colton Harris-Moore, 19, has more than 70,000 followers on Facebook and has been at large in the U.S. since escaping from a juvenile detention centre in 2007.
He has been dubbed the 'Barefoot Bandit' for allegedly committing some crimes while shoeless and during one break-in drew footprints on a shop floor in chalk with the remark 'C-YA!'.
The teenager has been steadily moving eastwards across from his home state in Washington on the U.S. West Coast stealing cars and planes as he goes.
The Cessna he took to the Bahamas is believed to be the fourth plane he has stolen, including one belonging to a Seattle radio DJ.
He has had no flight training and is said to be self-taught through playing flight-simulator games and reading instruction manuals.
The 6ft 5in teenager is now said to be on the run on Great Abaco Island and surviving by breaking into homes and businesses at night to get food.
For the past five days soldiers and police armed with shotguns on the Caribbean island have been hunting him. They have now put up a $10,000 (£6,600) reward for information leading to his arrest.
Police and soldiers were patrolling the island's coastlines and airports as investigators followed a trail of seven break-ins leading north from the mangrove-lined inlet where the Cessna was abandoned on Sunday in knee-deep water.
Burglary victims say the thief appeared to be looking mainly for cash and Internet access. At the Curly Tails restaurant in Marsh Harbour, where Harris-Moore was apparently videotaped by security cameras during a Tuesday morning break-in, owner Alistair McDonald said the burglar moved cables on the modem and carried his own laptop computer.
He has been linked to dozens of burglaries [since 2007] and at least four other airplane thefts. He earned the Barefoot Bandit nickname because he allegedly went shoeless for some of his crimes and left behind footprints.
The latest saga began when Harris-Moore allegedly stole the single-engine Cessna from an airport in Bloomington, Indiana, and flew it more than 1,000 miles to the low-lying island chain off the Florida coast.
Friday, July 09, 2010
ATTENTION PRESIDENT OBAMA: ABBAS SHOWS HIS TRUE COLORS What he tells the West in English is the opposite of what he says in Arabic
During an interview on Wednesday, when asked by Yonit Levy from Israel’s Channel 2 for his reaction as to why most Israelis do not trust him, Obama replied that "some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion."
The Israelis could care less if his name were Adolf Hitler Obama. They distrust Obama simply because he has been siding with the Palestinians whose avowed goal is the destruction of the Jewish state. It’s too bad Obama won’t be paying attention to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ call in Arabic for a pan-Arab military invasion of Israel.
Here is a report from Israel Today showing Abbas’ true colors:
ABBAS CALLS FOR ARAB INVASION OF ISRAEL
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
July 8, 2010
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, branded a "moderate" by the international community, let his true colors show during a recent meeting with writers and journalists when he stated that he would favor a pan-Arab military offensive against the Jewish state.
The official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Tuesday wrote that when Abbas met recently with media figures at the home of the Palestinian ambassador to Jordan, he recounted that during an Arab League Summit in Libya in March he told his fellow leaders that he still preferred war against Israel, but could not do it alone.
"We are unable to confront Israel militarily, and this point was discussed at the Arab League Summit," said Abbas. "There I turned to the Arab States and I said: 'If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it.'"
The Arab states of the Middle East have tried at least three times to militarily destroy Israel, but each time ended up losing territory to the Jewish state.
The "Palestinian crisis" that was birthed after Israel's liberation of Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") in 1967 is seen by many Israelis as nothing more than a more calculated and patient approach to ultimately removing Israel from the map.
Yasser Arafat admitted as much in 1993 when he told fellow Palestinians in a pre-recorded message played on Arab television as he signed the "Oslo Accords" that his PLO's guerilla tactics and eventual land-for-peace diplomacy was a phased strategy that would lead to the complete replacement of Israel with another Arab Muslim state:
"Do not forget that our Palestine National Council accepted the decision in 1974. It called for the establishment of a national authority on any part of Palestinian land that is liberated or from which the Israelis withdrew... This is the moment of return, the moment of gaining a foothold on the first liberated Palestinian land."
The 1974 decision referenced by Arafat was the PLO's official acceptance of a phased strategy for destroying Israel, as opposed to the more direct strategy of military conquest that had been employed up until the Yom Kippur War a year earlier.
Despite co-founding the PLO with Arafat, Abbas has long been whitewashed by an international community eager to impose its idea of peaceful conflict resolution on the region. That is why Abbas' remarks in Arabic, such as the one above, are regularly ignored by the world media and Western leaders. But Israelis warn that his views, and the influence they have an the Palestinian general public, ensure that a genuine and lasting peace is impossible to achieve.
The Israelis could care less if his name were Adolf Hitler Obama. They distrust Obama simply because he has been siding with the Palestinians whose avowed goal is the destruction of the Jewish state. It’s too bad Obama won’t be paying attention to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ call in Arabic for a pan-Arab military invasion of Israel.
Here is a report from Israel Today showing Abbas’ true colors:
ABBAS CALLS FOR ARAB INVASION OF ISRAEL
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
July 8, 2010
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, branded a "moderate" by the international community, let his true colors show during a recent meeting with writers and journalists when he stated that he would favor a pan-Arab military offensive against the Jewish state.
The official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Tuesday wrote that when Abbas met recently with media figures at the home of the Palestinian ambassador to Jordan, he recounted that during an Arab League Summit in Libya in March he told his fellow leaders that he still preferred war against Israel, but could not do it alone.
"We are unable to confront Israel militarily, and this point was discussed at the Arab League Summit," said Abbas. "There I turned to the Arab States and I said: 'If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it.'"
The Arab states of the Middle East have tried at least three times to militarily destroy Israel, but each time ended up losing territory to the Jewish state.
The "Palestinian crisis" that was birthed after Israel's liberation of Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") in 1967 is seen by many Israelis as nothing more than a more calculated and patient approach to ultimately removing Israel from the map.
Yasser Arafat admitted as much in 1993 when he told fellow Palestinians in a pre-recorded message played on Arab television as he signed the "Oslo Accords" that his PLO's guerilla tactics and eventual land-for-peace diplomacy was a phased strategy that would lead to the complete replacement of Israel with another Arab Muslim state:
"Do not forget that our Palestine National Council accepted the decision in 1974. It called for the establishment of a national authority on any part of Palestinian land that is liberated or from which the Israelis withdrew... This is the moment of return, the moment of gaining a foothold on the first liberated Palestinian land."
The 1974 decision referenced by Arafat was the PLO's official acceptance of a phased strategy for destroying Israel, as opposed to the more direct strategy of military conquest that had been employed up until the Yom Kippur War a year earlier.
Despite co-founding the PLO with Arafat, Abbas has long been whitewashed by an international community eager to impose its idea of peaceful conflict resolution on the region. That is why Abbas' remarks in Arabic, such as the one above, are regularly ignored by the world media and Western leaders. But Israelis warn that his views, and the influence they have an the Palestinian general public, ensure that a genuine and lasting peace is impossible to achieve.
MEL GIBSON LOVES ..........
Look for Sheriff Lee ‘Pepe LePew’ Baca to come to the aid of his good buddy Mel if any charges are filed in the brawl with Gibson's girlfriend.
MEL GIBSON WAS FRAMED
By Pete Vonder Haar
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 8, 2010
Who will speak for the Road Warrior?
I know you've all heard the...allegations by now: Mel Gibson knocked out a few of his girlfriend's teeth; Mel Gibson threatened to set fire to her house (but not before securing some...oral satisfaction first), Mel Gibson is a virulent racist:
"If you get raped by a pack of [n-words], it will be your fault," Gibson says on the audio clips, according to RadarOnline.com.
And that's not even counting the time he blamed the Jews for "all the wars in the world," an incident which -- when compared to his recent remarks -- almost seems quaint. Well, unless you're Jewish.
More shocking than any of the claims brought against him by ex-girlfriend/baby mama Oksana Grigorieva, however, is the fact that they are all totally false, and I can prove it.
1. MEL GIBSON LOVES BLACK PEOPLE
If the Lethal Weapon franchise taught us anything, it was that the love between an African-American cop and his white, bipolar killing machine partner is a beautiful thing. Riggs loved Murtaugh...as a partner, as an aging detective coming to grips with his advancing years, and as a strong, beautiful black man. And there's no better evidence than this clip of the two of them sharing a moment in Roger's bathroom.
What I'm saying is: no man who would shoot the aquarium of the South African Minister of Affairs can possibly be a racist.
2. MEL GIBSON LOVES CHILDREN
He must, right? For in spite of the claims he punched Oksana while she was holding their baby daughter, Gibson has seven other kids by his ex-wife. And as we all know, nobody with a horde of offspring can possibly be a bad person.
3. MEL GIBSON LOVES WOMEN
Don't take my word for it, let the man speak for himself:
"I have tremendous respect for women. I love them. I don't know why they want to step down. Women in my family are the center of things. And good things emanate from them. The guys usually mess up... Women are just different. Their sensibilities are different."
See, and...oh, wait..there's more:
When asked for an example, he responded "I had a female business partner once. Didn't work." When asked why, he said that "she was a cunt." Gibson also said "Feminists don't like me, and I don't like them. I don't get their point. I don't know why feminists have it out for me, but that's their problem, not mine."
I think the obvious thing we can take away from this is: feminists aren't women. Especially if they take offense at something as innocuous as "sugar tits."
4. MEL GIBSON ABHORS VIOLENCE
As we've learned from his movies, Gibson only resorts to ass-kickery when someone murders his wife and son, or murders his son, or murders his daughter, or...well, you get the idea. Given his past tendencies with regards to family, is it so hard to believe the guy might get...confused when his girlfriend held up their baby girl?
5. MEL GIBSON WOULDN’T SET FIRE TO A HOUSE
He'd drive a goddamned truck through it.
MEL GIBSON WAS FRAMED
By Pete Vonder Haar
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 8, 2010
Who will speak for the Road Warrior?
I know you've all heard the...allegations by now: Mel Gibson knocked out a few of his girlfriend's teeth; Mel Gibson threatened to set fire to her house (but not before securing some...oral satisfaction first), Mel Gibson is a virulent racist:
"If you get raped by a pack of [n-words], it will be your fault," Gibson says on the audio clips, according to RadarOnline.com.
And that's not even counting the time he blamed the Jews for "all the wars in the world," an incident which -- when compared to his recent remarks -- almost seems quaint. Well, unless you're Jewish.
More shocking than any of the claims brought against him by ex-girlfriend/baby mama Oksana Grigorieva, however, is the fact that they are all totally false, and I can prove it.
1. MEL GIBSON LOVES BLACK PEOPLE
If the Lethal Weapon franchise taught us anything, it was that the love between an African-American cop and his white, bipolar killing machine partner is a beautiful thing. Riggs loved Murtaugh...as a partner, as an aging detective coming to grips with his advancing years, and as a strong, beautiful black man. And there's no better evidence than this clip of the two of them sharing a moment in Roger's bathroom.
What I'm saying is: no man who would shoot the aquarium of the South African Minister of Affairs can possibly be a racist.
2. MEL GIBSON LOVES CHILDREN
He must, right? For in spite of the claims he punched Oksana while she was holding their baby daughter, Gibson has seven other kids by his ex-wife. And as we all know, nobody with a horde of offspring can possibly be a bad person.
3. MEL GIBSON LOVES WOMEN
Don't take my word for it, let the man speak for himself:
"I have tremendous respect for women. I love them. I don't know why they want to step down. Women in my family are the center of things. And good things emanate from them. The guys usually mess up... Women are just different. Their sensibilities are different."
See, and...oh, wait..there's more:
When asked for an example, he responded "I had a female business partner once. Didn't work." When asked why, he said that "she was a cunt." Gibson also said "Feminists don't like me, and I don't like them. I don't get their point. I don't know why feminists have it out for me, but that's their problem, not mine."
I think the obvious thing we can take away from this is: feminists aren't women. Especially if they take offense at something as innocuous as "sugar tits."
4. MEL GIBSON ABHORS VIOLENCE
As we've learned from his movies, Gibson only resorts to ass-kickery when someone murders his wife and son, or murders his son, or murders his daughter, or...well, you get the idea. Given his past tendencies with regards to family, is it so hard to believe the guy might get...confused when his girlfriend held up their baby girl?
5. MEL GIBSON WOULDN’T SET FIRE TO A HOUSE
He'd drive a goddamned truck through it.
EARLY RELEASES AND POOR PAROLE SUPERVISION CAN BE VERY COSTLY (2)
A sharp parole agent with a police background would have been very suspicious of Jaycee and her 12-year-old daughter living with a convicted sex-offender and would have conducted the appropriate investigation. Accepting Garrido’s explanation that the young girl was his niece is an example of piss-poor parole supervision and having a large case load is no excuse for that kind of a fuck-up.
PAROLE OFFICERS SPOKE TO KIDNAP VICTIM JAYCEE DUGARD DURING HER CAPTIVITY – BUT DIDN’T BOTHER TO FOLLOW IT UP
Mail Online
July 8, 2010
A new report has revealed that parole agents spoke to kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard while she was being held captive by a convicted rapist, but never bothered to follow it up.
Ms Dugard, now 30, says parole agents spoke with her during her 18 year captivity and also to the elder of the two daughters she bore to Phillip Garrido.
The report was prepared by the California attorney general's office and was sent to authorities ahead of a decision last week to grant a £13.2million [$20 million] settlement to the Dugard family after police failed to find her.
Ms Dugard and her daughters, aged 15 and 12, claimed state parole agents failed to properly supervise Garrido from 1999 and did not follow up on reports and observations that might have led to their rescue.
Previous reports from the state corrections department and an independent inspector said parole agents had discovered one of the girls Garrido fathered with Ms Dugard, but accepted the explanation that she was a niece.
That contact was made in 2008 when the girl was 12.
But those reports made no mention of any contact between parole agents and Ms Dugard while she was being held captive.
The report highlights the reasons behind the decision to settle the £13.2million claim.
It says the claim is supported by a number of allegations, including 'that agents saw and spoke to Ms Dugard and her eldest daughter but failed to investigate their identities or their relationship to Garrido'.
Attorney general spokesman Christine Gasparac said the allegations were made by Ms Dugard through her lawyers during the settlement negotiations.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he will sign the settlement.
PAROLE OFFICERS SPOKE TO KIDNAP VICTIM JAYCEE DUGARD DURING HER CAPTIVITY – BUT DIDN’T BOTHER TO FOLLOW IT UP
Mail Online
July 8, 2010
A new report has revealed that parole agents spoke to kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard while she was being held captive by a convicted rapist, but never bothered to follow it up.
Ms Dugard, now 30, says parole agents spoke with her during her 18 year captivity and also to the elder of the two daughters she bore to Phillip Garrido.
The report was prepared by the California attorney general's office and was sent to authorities ahead of a decision last week to grant a £13.2million [$20 million] settlement to the Dugard family after police failed to find her.
Ms Dugard and her daughters, aged 15 and 12, claimed state parole agents failed to properly supervise Garrido from 1999 and did not follow up on reports and observations that might have led to their rescue.
Previous reports from the state corrections department and an independent inspector said parole agents had discovered one of the girls Garrido fathered with Ms Dugard, but accepted the explanation that she was a niece.
That contact was made in 2008 when the girl was 12.
But those reports made no mention of any contact between parole agents and Ms Dugard while she was being held captive.
The report highlights the reasons behind the decision to settle the £13.2million claim.
It says the claim is supported by a number of allegations, including 'that agents saw and spoke to Ms Dugard and her eldest daughter but failed to investigate their identities or their relationship to Garrido'.
Attorney general spokesman Christine Gasparac said the allegations were made by Ms Dugard through her lawyers during the settlement negotiations.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he will sign the settlement.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
AFTER ALL, IT'S SAN FRANSICKO, THE JEWEL OF KOOKFORNIA
PASS THE POT BROWNIES, BUT DROP THAT SODA
By Valerie Richardson
The Washington Times
July 7, 2010
In the City by the Bay, it may soon be easier to get a pot-laced brownie than a can of Pepsi.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently intensified his surge against soda pop just as the city's health department issued regulations to guide medical marijuana shops in how to prepare "edible cannabis products."
Which prompts the question: Does Mr. Newsom believe that Sprite and Dr Pepper are more hazardous to your health than a marijuana milkshake? Certainly the mayor, who is running as a Democrat for lieutenant governor, has done little to dispel that perception with his single-minded assault on sugary beverages.
"San Francisco is a very unique environment," said Bob Achermann, executive director of the California/Nevada Soft Drink Association, who is less than thrilled with the city's soda assault. San Franciscans "are very progressive in their politics, very progressive in their lifestyle, and they push the envelope consistently."
The mayor issued an executive order in April banning Fanta and its ilk from vending machines on city property. The order, now being implemented, also limits diet sodas to no more than 25 percent of the machine's offerings.
The directive encourages "soy milk, rice milk and other similar dairy or non-dairy milk." Juice is permitted as long as it is 100 percent fruit, and vegetable juice cannot include added sweeteners.
The mayor hasn't issued an outright ban on sugary beverages yet, but the trend should be disturbing for all San Francisco-based Coke addicts. Mr. Newsom issued a June 21 proclamation declaring this a Soda Free Summer, the third such directive in as many years.
The mayor has also proposed a tax on retailers that sell carbonated sugary beverages in an effort to compel Coke-drinking consumers to think with their wallets.
"San Francisco has some of the best water in the world," said Mr. Newsom in a statement. "Grab a reusable bottle and fill it up. You're being good to your body, your pocketbook and the environment all at once."
The anti-soda crusade comes as the latest in a series of nanny-state moves on the part of San Francisco lawmakers.
In 2007, the city became the first in the nation to ban plastic shopping bags. Also that year, the mayor issued a directive barring the city from purchasing bottled water, saying the containers clog the city's landfills.
Two years later, the San Francisco Chronicle spotted an almost-empty case of bottled water in back of the mayor's hybrid SUV, prompting critics to point out that Mr. Newsom doesn't always practice what he preaches.
These days, better that the mayor be caught with a marijuana ice-cream cone than a can of Mountain Dew.
The city has led the way in setting regulations for baked goods, candy and other edibles containing marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Larry Kessler, senior environmental health inspector for the city health department, said the regulations were crafted during the spring after finding that the California and San Francisco medical marijuana laws failed to take into account pot-based munchies.
He said the department is now implementing and enforcing the two-page rules, which contain regulations on packaging, sanitation, and warning labels.
"We were looking for the edible portion of the ordinance, and found that there was none," said Mr. Kessler. "We needed to find a way to allow this to happen while addressing some of the concerns."
Such products include the standard marijuana brownies as well as ice cream, cookies, cakes, even olive oil. So far, the list doesn't mention soda pop, which could present an interesting ethical and political dilemma for Mr. Newsom.
A call and e-mail to the mayor's press office were not returned Wednesday.
By Valerie Richardson
The Washington Times
July 7, 2010
In the City by the Bay, it may soon be easier to get a pot-laced brownie than a can of Pepsi.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently intensified his surge against soda pop just as the city's health department issued regulations to guide medical marijuana shops in how to prepare "edible cannabis products."
Which prompts the question: Does Mr. Newsom believe that Sprite and Dr Pepper are more hazardous to your health than a marijuana milkshake? Certainly the mayor, who is running as a Democrat for lieutenant governor, has done little to dispel that perception with his single-minded assault on sugary beverages.
"San Francisco is a very unique environment," said Bob Achermann, executive director of the California/Nevada Soft Drink Association, who is less than thrilled with the city's soda assault. San Franciscans "are very progressive in their politics, very progressive in their lifestyle, and they push the envelope consistently."
The mayor issued an executive order in April banning Fanta and its ilk from vending machines on city property. The order, now being implemented, also limits diet sodas to no more than 25 percent of the machine's offerings.
The directive encourages "soy milk, rice milk and other similar dairy or non-dairy milk." Juice is permitted as long as it is 100 percent fruit, and vegetable juice cannot include added sweeteners.
The mayor hasn't issued an outright ban on sugary beverages yet, but the trend should be disturbing for all San Francisco-based Coke addicts. Mr. Newsom issued a June 21 proclamation declaring this a Soda Free Summer, the third such directive in as many years.
The mayor has also proposed a tax on retailers that sell carbonated sugary beverages in an effort to compel Coke-drinking consumers to think with their wallets.
"San Francisco has some of the best water in the world," said Mr. Newsom in a statement. "Grab a reusable bottle and fill it up. You're being good to your body, your pocketbook and the environment all at once."
The anti-soda crusade comes as the latest in a series of nanny-state moves on the part of San Francisco lawmakers.
In 2007, the city became the first in the nation to ban plastic shopping bags. Also that year, the mayor issued a directive barring the city from purchasing bottled water, saying the containers clog the city's landfills.
Two years later, the San Francisco Chronicle spotted an almost-empty case of bottled water in back of the mayor's hybrid SUV, prompting critics to point out that Mr. Newsom doesn't always practice what he preaches.
These days, better that the mayor be caught with a marijuana ice-cream cone than a can of Mountain Dew.
The city has led the way in setting regulations for baked goods, candy and other edibles containing marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Larry Kessler, senior environmental health inspector for the city health department, said the regulations were crafted during the spring after finding that the California and San Francisco medical marijuana laws failed to take into account pot-based munchies.
He said the department is now implementing and enforcing the two-page rules, which contain regulations on packaging, sanitation, and warning labels.
"We were looking for the edible portion of the ordinance, and found that there was none," said Mr. Kessler. "We needed to find a way to allow this to happen while addressing some of the concerns."
Such products include the standard marijuana brownies as well as ice cream, cookies, cakes, even olive oil. So far, the list doesn't mention soda pop, which could present an interesting ethical and political dilemma for Mr. Newsom.
A call and e-mail to the mayor's press office were not returned Wednesday.
UNBELIEVABLE: 'CAUSE HIS MIDDLE NAME IS 'HUSSEIN'
Yesterday, one day after his meeting with Netanyahu, President Obama was interviewed by Yonit Levy from Israel’s Channel 2.
When questioned about the distrust that most Israelis feel toward him, Obama replied that "some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion."
Because his middle name is Hussein? Can you believe that? If that’s not the must stupid thing I’ve ever heard anyone say, I’ll eat my John Deere cap.
When questioned about the distrust that most Israelis feel toward him, Obama replied that "some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion."
Because his middle name is Hussein? Can you believe that? If that’s not the must stupid thing I’ve ever heard anyone say, I’ll eat my John Deere cap.
HELPING TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
The Econuts strike again. What more can I say?
BELGIUM PLANS TO DISSOLVE BODIES IN CAUSTIC SOLUTIONS… AND FLUSH THEM INTO SEWAGE SYSTEMS
By Allan Hall
Mail Online
July 7, 2010
The EU is considering proposals from Belgian undertakers to be allowed to dissolve dead bodies in caustic solutions to help save the environment.
The remains could then be flushed into the sewage systems of towns and cities to be recycled at water processing plants.
If approved in Belgium, EU law would allow for the procedure to be used in the UK.
Those behind the controversial new method say it is less expensive and more environmentally-friendly than running highly-polluting crematoria or using up valuable land for graves.
But critics say it smacks of 'Frankenstein callousness' towards the dead and that people will find the idea disturbing.
A spokesman for the Flemish Association of Undertakers told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine: 'The idea is for the deceased to be placed in a container with water and salts and then pressurised and after a little time, about two hours, mineral ash and liquid is left over.
The European Commission is checking whether the liquid could be flushed into the sewage system.
Authorities in the northern Belgian region have yet to decide whether to approve the process.
The process of reducing a body to ash is called chemical hydrolysis and has been used on a large scale in recent years in the destruction of cattle found to have BSE.
Known as 'resomation', the process significantly reduces the 573lb of carbon dioxide that the burning of a single body puts into the atmosphere.
The body is placed in a steel chamber along with potassium hydroxide at high pressure and a temperature of 180C - 80 per cent cooler than a standard crematorium.
The increased pressure and temperature means the body reaches a similar end point to standard cremation in two or three hours.
Six states in the U.S. - Maine, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon and Maryland - recently passed legislation which allowed for resomation.
Although experts insist that the ashes can be recycled in waste systems, the residue from the process can also be put into urns and given to the relatives of the dead.
BELGIUM PLANS TO DISSOLVE BODIES IN CAUSTIC SOLUTIONS… AND FLUSH THEM INTO SEWAGE SYSTEMS
By Allan Hall
Mail Online
July 7, 2010
The EU is considering proposals from Belgian undertakers to be allowed to dissolve dead bodies in caustic solutions to help save the environment.
The remains could then be flushed into the sewage systems of towns and cities to be recycled at water processing plants.
If approved in Belgium, EU law would allow for the procedure to be used in the UK.
Those behind the controversial new method say it is less expensive and more environmentally-friendly than running highly-polluting crematoria or using up valuable land for graves.
But critics say it smacks of 'Frankenstein callousness' towards the dead and that people will find the idea disturbing.
A spokesman for the Flemish Association of Undertakers told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine: 'The idea is for the deceased to be placed in a container with water and salts and then pressurised and after a little time, about two hours, mineral ash and liquid is left over.
The European Commission is checking whether the liquid could be flushed into the sewage system.
Authorities in the northern Belgian region have yet to decide whether to approve the process.
The process of reducing a body to ash is called chemical hydrolysis and has been used on a large scale in recent years in the destruction of cattle found to have BSE.
Known as 'resomation', the process significantly reduces the 573lb of carbon dioxide that the burning of a single body puts into the atmosphere.
The body is placed in a steel chamber along with potassium hydroxide at high pressure and a temperature of 180C - 80 per cent cooler than a standard crematorium.
The increased pressure and temperature means the body reaches a similar end point to standard cremation in two or three hours.
Six states in the U.S. - Maine, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon and Maryland - recently passed legislation which allowed for resomation.
Although experts insist that the ashes can be recycled in waste systems, the residue from the process can also be put into urns and given to the relatives of the dead.
STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES
GEOFF BLUM JOINS BASEBALL’S STUPID-INJURY LIST: HERE ARE 11 OTHERS
By John Royal
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 7, 2010
Astros utility player Geoff Blum popped his elbow putting on his shirt last week.Yes, that's right, putting on his shirt. Not his jersey. Not during the game. But his shirt. After the game. He's currently on the disabled list, and he might end up requiring surgery. So Blum joins that ever-expanding list of stupid baseball injuries.
Lots of Astros players have ended up on this list, like Mike Hampton cutting his pitching hand while using a soap dispenser at Wrigley Field. Or J.R. Towles cutting a finger on his ceiling fan. And let's not forget about Hunter Pence running into a glass door. But those are nothing when compared to some of the greatest of stupid baseball injuries.
1. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Marty Cordova had to miss multiple games because of doctor's orders to stay out of the sunlight. Why did he have to stay out of sunlight? Simple: he burned his face while using a tanning bed.
2. While with the Milwaukee Brewers, first baseman Richie Sexson wrenched his neck trying to put on his hat for his official team photo. Apparently the hat was too small, and he pulled too hard trying to make it fit.
3. Colorado Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes broke his collarbone lugging a package of deer meat up a flight of stairs to his apartment.
4. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Glenallen Hill landed on the disabled list after he tumbled out of his bed, onto a glass table, then fell down a flight of stairs. This happened because of a nightmare he was having in which he was trying to escape spiders.
5. Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, and former Houston Astro, Jeff Juden missed a start because of an infected tattoo.
6. Speaking of pitchers, San Diego Padres starter Adam Eaton missed a start because of a self-inflicted cut to his stomach. He cut his stomach trying to open DVD packaging with a knife.
7. Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs once missed seven games because he strained his back trying to put on a pair of cowboy boots.
8. Speaking of back injuries, Sammy Sosa once sneezed so hard that he started suffering back spasms and has to miss a game while receiving treatment.
9. Brett Barberie, then a second baseman for the Florida Marlins, had to miss a game because he was making nachos. Not that the nachos did him in, but he cut up some chili peppers and failed to adequately wash his hands because he then rubbed his eyes, which then started burning and ruined his contact lenses.
10. Speedster Vince Coleman of the St. Louis Cardinals had to miss the 1985 World Series because of an inability to outrun an automatic tarp machine. Coleman was, for some reason, not paying attention while in the area of the tarp, and got trapped when the machine was activated, injuring his knee.
11. My all-time favorite stupid injury is one that might not have actually happened. The story is that Atlanta Braves great John Smoltz supposedly had to miss a start because he burned his chest. He burned his chest, the story goes, because he was trying to iron a shirt, while wearing it. This is a story that Smoltz denies, but it's one that it is at the top of just about every stupid baseball injury list.
When compared to some of the injuries on this list, Blum's is rather pedestrian. Still, that's probably about the only way Blum is ever going to get mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Smoltz, Boggs, Sosa, and Coleman.
By John Royal
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 7, 2010
Astros utility player Geoff Blum popped his elbow putting on his shirt last week.Yes, that's right, putting on his shirt. Not his jersey. Not during the game. But his shirt. After the game. He's currently on the disabled list, and he might end up requiring surgery. So Blum joins that ever-expanding list of stupid baseball injuries.
Lots of Astros players have ended up on this list, like Mike Hampton cutting his pitching hand while using a soap dispenser at Wrigley Field. Or J.R. Towles cutting a finger on his ceiling fan. And let's not forget about Hunter Pence running into a glass door. But those are nothing when compared to some of the greatest of stupid baseball injuries.
1. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Marty Cordova had to miss multiple games because of doctor's orders to stay out of the sunlight. Why did he have to stay out of sunlight? Simple: he burned his face while using a tanning bed.
2. While with the Milwaukee Brewers, first baseman Richie Sexson wrenched his neck trying to put on his hat for his official team photo. Apparently the hat was too small, and he pulled too hard trying to make it fit.
3. Colorado Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes broke his collarbone lugging a package of deer meat up a flight of stairs to his apartment.
4. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Glenallen Hill landed on the disabled list after he tumbled out of his bed, onto a glass table, then fell down a flight of stairs. This happened because of a nightmare he was having in which he was trying to escape spiders.
5. Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, and former Houston Astro, Jeff Juden missed a start because of an infected tattoo.
6. Speaking of pitchers, San Diego Padres starter Adam Eaton missed a start because of a self-inflicted cut to his stomach. He cut his stomach trying to open DVD packaging with a knife.
7. Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs once missed seven games because he strained his back trying to put on a pair of cowboy boots.
8. Speaking of back injuries, Sammy Sosa once sneezed so hard that he started suffering back spasms and has to miss a game while receiving treatment.
9. Brett Barberie, then a second baseman for the Florida Marlins, had to miss a game because he was making nachos. Not that the nachos did him in, but he cut up some chili peppers and failed to adequately wash his hands because he then rubbed his eyes, which then started burning and ruined his contact lenses.
10. Speedster Vince Coleman of the St. Louis Cardinals had to miss the 1985 World Series because of an inability to outrun an automatic tarp machine. Coleman was, for some reason, not paying attention while in the area of the tarp, and got trapped when the machine was activated, injuring his knee.
11. My all-time favorite stupid injury is one that might not have actually happened. The story is that Atlanta Braves great John Smoltz supposedly had to miss a start because he burned his chest. He burned his chest, the story goes, because he was trying to iron a shirt, while wearing it. This is a story that Smoltz denies, but it's one that it is at the top of just about every stupid baseball injury list.
When compared to some of the injuries on this list, Blum's is rather pedestrian. Still, that's probably about the only way Blum is ever going to get mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Smoltz, Boggs, Sosa, and Coleman.
BRAVE BUT STUPID
Where were the cops when he needed them?
74-YEAR-OLD FLA. MAN CHASES DOWN ROBBERS
Chased suspects for 20 minutes, ramming them several times with his Lincoln Navigator
By Mike Clary
The Lakeland Ledger
July 6, 2010
PLANTATION, Fla. — Until the moment he pulled into his driveway, it seemed like one lucky night for 74-year-old Thomas Gigliotti.
After several hours playing Texas Hold 'em poker at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Gigliotti and his wife Josephine came home to Plantation early Saturday with about $4,000 in cash. But just steps from their front door, at least two armed, masked men ran toward them, pulled Gigliotti from his car, knocked him to the ground and stole the cash.
The robbers' quick retreat did not end the drama, however. More angered than intimidated by the assault, Gigliotti, a feisty retiree, jumped back into his 2000 Lincoln Navigator and took off on a tire-squealing pursuit of the thieves. He had spotted them piling into a white getaway car near the intersection of Peters Road and Southwest 69th Avenue.
For the next 20 minutes, with Josephine Gigliotti, 71, safely in the couple's house and on the phone to police, her husband tailed the thieves as they raced through the streets of Plantation.
At one point, Gigliotti attempted to ram the smaller vehicle with his SUV. And, in an effort to force the white car to spin out, he twice bumped it from behind while both were traveling at 60 mph.
"I've seen it on TV," he said of his reckless bravado. "On 'COPS' or some police show like that."
About 2 a.m. Saturday, with Gigliotti in hot pursuit eastbound on Cypress Road, the men bailed out of the car. Gigliotti said he cautiously approached the vehicle and found it empty.
Police would not confirm Sunday that they had recovered the car. The men are still at large.
Back at the house during the chase, meanwhile, Josephine Gigliotti said she was frantic with worry.
"I was crying, thinking, 'They took my husband; they're going to kill him,'" she said.
Saturday's incident was not Gigliotti's first encounter with criminal violence. In 1994, when he and his wife operated Antonio's, an Oakland Park pizza parlor, he was mugged by a teenager who pounded him in the head with a claw hammer and nearly severed his ear before robbing him.
Gigliotti suffered months of dizziness and partial paralysis along his path to recovery. His assailant was later arrested and convicted of attempted first-degree murder.
Plantation police said Gigliotti's decision to chase the robbers is not recommended, no matter how many cop shows a victim has watched.
74-YEAR-OLD FLA. MAN CHASES DOWN ROBBERS
Chased suspects for 20 minutes, ramming them several times with his Lincoln Navigator
By Mike Clary
The Lakeland Ledger
July 6, 2010
PLANTATION, Fla. — Until the moment he pulled into his driveway, it seemed like one lucky night for 74-year-old Thomas Gigliotti.
After several hours playing Texas Hold 'em poker at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Gigliotti and his wife Josephine came home to Plantation early Saturday with about $4,000 in cash. But just steps from their front door, at least two armed, masked men ran toward them, pulled Gigliotti from his car, knocked him to the ground and stole the cash.
The robbers' quick retreat did not end the drama, however. More angered than intimidated by the assault, Gigliotti, a feisty retiree, jumped back into his 2000 Lincoln Navigator and took off on a tire-squealing pursuit of the thieves. He had spotted them piling into a white getaway car near the intersection of Peters Road and Southwest 69th Avenue.
For the next 20 minutes, with Josephine Gigliotti, 71, safely in the couple's house and on the phone to police, her husband tailed the thieves as they raced through the streets of Plantation.
At one point, Gigliotti attempted to ram the smaller vehicle with his SUV. And, in an effort to force the white car to spin out, he twice bumped it from behind while both were traveling at 60 mph.
"I've seen it on TV," he said of his reckless bravado. "On 'COPS' or some police show like that."
About 2 a.m. Saturday, with Gigliotti in hot pursuit eastbound on Cypress Road, the men bailed out of the car. Gigliotti said he cautiously approached the vehicle and found it empty.
Police would not confirm Sunday that they had recovered the car. The men are still at large.
Back at the house during the chase, meanwhile, Josephine Gigliotti said she was frantic with worry.
"I was crying, thinking, 'They took my husband; they're going to kill him,'" she said.
Saturday's incident was not Gigliotti's first encounter with criminal violence. In 1994, when he and his wife operated Antonio's, an Oakland Park pizza parlor, he was mugged by a teenager who pounded him in the head with a claw hammer and nearly severed his ear before robbing him.
Gigliotti suffered months of dizziness and partial paralysis along his path to recovery. His assailant was later arrested and convicted of attempted first-degree murder.
Plantation police said Gigliotti's decision to chase the robbers is not recommended, no matter how many cop shows a victim has watched.
WELCOME TO AMERICA'S THIEVING BAGGAGE HANDLERS
Of course, the guns could have been stolen by a thieving Transportation Security Administration screener.
REPORT: FOUR GUNS BELONGING TO NETANYAHU’S SECURITY GO MISSING IN U.S.
NBC News reports that four guns were lost when one of the Israeli delegation’s suitcases mistakenly got sent to Los Angeles
Haaretz Service
July 7, 2010
Four Glock handguns belonging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security officers were lost en route to his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, NBC News reported Wednesday.
According to the report, one of the suitcases belonging to the official Israeli delegation was mistakenly transferred by American Airlines from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to LAX in Los Angeles.
The bag, which was sent via checked luggage as protocol requires, was eventually found - however, four of the handguns in it were missing.
Port Authority police in New York are currently investigating whether the weapons went missing before or after the suitcase was transferred to LAX, NBC reported.
One source told NBC that the suitcase was inspected and cleared for shipment by Transportation Security Administration screeners who put a seal over the bag at Kennedy Airport.
A spokesman for the Israeli Consulate referred all calls about the lost bag and the missing handguns to American Airlines.
REPORT: FOUR GUNS BELONGING TO NETANYAHU’S SECURITY GO MISSING IN U.S.
NBC News reports that four guns were lost when one of the Israeli delegation’s suitcases mistakenly got sent to Los Angeles
Haaretz Service
July 7, 2010
Four Glock handguns belonging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security officers were lost en route to his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, NBC News reported Wednesday.
According to the report, one of the suitcases belonging to the official Israeli delegation was mistakenly transferred by American Airlines from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to LAX in Los Angeles.
The bag, which was sent via checked luggage as protocol requires, was eventually found - however, four of the handguns in it were missing.
Port Authority police in New York are currently investigating whether the weapons went missing before or after the suitcase was transferred to LAX, NBC reported.
One source told NBC that the suitcase was inspected and cleared for shipment by Transportation Security Administration screeners who put a seal over the bag at Kennedy Airport.
A spokesman for the Israeli Consulate referred all calls about the lost bag and the missing handguns to American Airlines.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME (2)
Yesterday, for the 19th time, Leslie Van Houten was denied parole. Robert Doyle, chairman of the parole board, said Van Houten was not yet suitable for parole because she had failed to gain complete insight into her crime and its motivation.
I’m not surprised her parole was denied. But Doyle’s reasoning is a big crock of shit. The real reason Van Houten was denied parole is that her release would have set off a political tsunami.
I’m not surprised her parole was denied. But Doyle’s reasoning is a big crock of shit. The real reason Van Houten was denied parole is that her release would have set off a political tsunami.
TIME OUT FOR A COUPLE OF JOKES
ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
A teenage boy had just passed his driving test and inquired of his father as to when they could discuss his use of the car.
His father said he'd make a deal with his son: 'You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut. Then we'll talk about the car.'
The boy thought about that for a moment, decided he'd settle for the offer, and they agreed on it.
After about six weeks his father said, 'Son, you've brought your grades up and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, but I'm disappointed you haven't had your hair cut.'
The boy said, 'You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair, Moses had long hair...and there's even strong evidence that Jesus had long hair.'
To this his father replied, 'Did you also notice they walked everywhere they went?'
IT’S THURSDAY
A business man got on an elevator.
When he entered, there was a blonde already inside who greeted him with a bright, "T-G-I-F."
He smiled at her and replied, "S-H-I-T."
She looked puzzled and repeated, "T-G-I-F" more slowly.
He again answered, "S-H-I-T."
The blonde was trying to keep it friendly, so she smiled her biggest smile, and said as sweetly as possibly, "T-G-I-F."
The man smiled back to her and once again repeated, "S-H-I-T."
The exasperated blonde finally decided to explain. "T-G-I-F means 'Thank God, It's Friday.' Get it, duuhhh?"
The man answered, "S-H-I-T means 'Sorry, Honey, It's Thursday'-- duuhhh."
A teenage boy had just passed his driving test and inquired of his father as to when they could discuss his use of the car.
His father said he'd make a deal with his son: 'You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut. Then we'll talk about the car.'
The boy thought about that for a moment, decided he'd settle for the offer, and they agreed on it.
After about six weeks his father said, 'Son, you've brought your grades up and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, but I'm disappointed you haven't had your hair cut.'
The boy said, 'You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair, Moses had long hair...and there's even strong evidence that Jesus had long hair.'
To this his father replied, 'Did you also notice they walked everywhere they went?'
IT’S THURSDAY
A business man got on an elevator.
When he entered, there was a blonde already inside who greeted him with a bright, "T-G-I-F."
He smiled at her and replied, "S-H-I-T."
She looked puzzled and repeated, "T-G-I-F" more slowly.
He again answered, "S-H-I-T."
The blonde was trying to keep it friendly, so she smiled her biggest smile, and said as sweetly as possibly, "T-G-I-F."
The man smiled back to her and once again repeated, "S-H-I-T."
The exasperated blonde finally decided to explain. "T-G-I-F means 'Thank God, It's Friday.' Get it, duuhhh?"
The man answered, "S-H-I-T means 'Sorry, Honey, It's Thursday'-- duuhhh."
WORK DEFINED AS 'PARTYING UNTIL THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING': And if you don't buy that, my finger has a message for you
Lindsay Lohan has continually failed to attend court-mandated alcohol education classes and she has missed or shown up late for a number of court hearings. Yesterday, during a probation hearing, L.A. Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel finally had it with Lohan thumbing her nose at the court and probation for the pas three years.
Judge Revel sentenced Lohan to serve 90 days in the L.A. County jail for violating her probation, to be followed by 90 days in a locked-down drug rehabilitation facility. After three years, I think the Judge was a day late and a dollar short!
Just before the sentence was handed down, a sobbing Lohan pleaded for another chance, telling the judge that work prevented her from attending the mandated classes. Apparently Lohan thinks that partying until the wee hours of the morning constitutes work.
There was something else she told Judge Revel. Lohan pointed a special message at the judge and she had it painted on her fingernail. On the ‘birdie’ finger of Lohan's left hand, which she often held to her lips, was the message "Fuck U."
A number of TV commentators expressed the opinion that the sentence was way too harsh. As a matter of fact, the prosecutor had asked for only 30 days. I wonder what Judge Revel would have done had she been able to see the "Fuck U’ message on Lohan’s middle finger?
But to all of you weeping and wailing for this spoiled and pampered Hollywood piece of trash, fear not. A spokesman for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department explained that "generally, a female inmate in Lindsay's situation only serves 25% of their sentence" ... which means LiLo will most likely spend around 23 days behind bars. And you can bet that Sheriff Lee ‘Pepe LePew’ Baca, sheriff to the stars, will do everything he can to have Lohan released sooner than that.
Judge Revel sentenced Lohan to serve 90 days in the L.A. County jail for violating her probation, to be followed by 90 days in a locked-down drug rehabilitation facility. After three years, I think the Judge was a day late and a dollar short!
Just before the sentence was handed down, a sobbing Lohan pleaded for another chance, telling the judge that work prevented her from attending the mandated classes. Apparently Lohan thinks that partying until the wee hours of the morning constitutes work.
There was something else she told Judge Revel. Lohan pointed a special message at the judge and she had it painted on her fingernail. On the ‘birdie’ finger of Lohan's left hand, which she often held to her lips, was the message "Fuck U."
A number of TV commentators expressed the opinion that the sentence was way too harsh. As a matter of fact, the prosecutor had asked for only 30 days. I wonder what Judge Revel would have done had she been able to see the "Fuck U’ message on Lohan’s middle finger?
But to all of you weeping and wailing for this spoiled and pampered Hollywood piece of trash, fear not. A spokesman for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department explained that "generally, a female inmate in Lindsay's situation only serves 25% of their sentence" ... which means LiLo will most likely spend around 23 days behind bars. And you can bet that Sheriff Lee ‘Pepe LePew’ Baca, sheriff to the stars, will do everything he can to have Lohan released sooner than that.
I DON'T BLAME THEM FOR SUING
Police arrested this convicted murderer at least six times while he was on parole but, according to the family's lawsuit, their 4-year-old daughter died because his parole officer did nothing to investigate or to put him back behind bars.
I don’t blame the family for suing and I hope the state’s assertion of qualified immunity doesn’t fly.
CIVIL SUIT AGAINST PAROLE OFFICER IN KENTUCKY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
July 2, 2010
By most reasonable standards Kenielle Finch would be considered a parole failure. The family of the late Riley Lawrence, killed at the age of 4 by Finch, also consider his parole officer to be a failure. And they are suing.
Young Riley and her cousin Claudia Wadlington, 5, were killed in July 2008 when Finch, who was fleeing from police, ran over them as they left swimming practice.
What really pisses the parents off is that Finch was arrested at least six times that they know of while he was on parole yet he was never rolled up. They have tried to get answers from the parole brass at Louisville, Kentucky, with no luck. So they are going the legal route.
The state is asserting that the parole officer, Allan George, has qualified official immunity for his actions and can not be sued.
I don’t blame the family for suing and I hope the state’s assertion of qualified immunity doesn’t fly.
CIVIL SUIT AGAINST PAROLE OFFICER IN KENTUCKY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
July 2, 2010
By most reasonable standards Kenielle Finch would be considered a parole failure. The family of the late Riley Lawrence, killed at the age of 4 by Finch, also consider his parole officer to be a failure. And they are suing.
Young Riley and her cousin Claudia Wadlington, 5, were killed in July 2008 when Finch, who was fleeing from police, ran over them as they left swimming practice.
What really pisses the parents off is that Finch was arrested at least six times that they know of while he was on parole yet he was never rolled up. They have tried to get answers from the parole brass at Louisville, Kentucky, with no luck. So they are going the legal route.
The state is asserting that the parole officer, Allan George, has qualified official immunity for his actions and can not be sued.
FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME
After all these years I now have mixed feelings on this case. In 1969, at the time of the Tate-La Bianca killings, I wanted Charlie Manson and everyone of his followers who participated in the seven murders executed.
But 41 years later and knowing that Manson had cast a Svengali spell over the immature pot-polluted women in his clan, I now feel the time may be ripe for Van Houten’s release on parole. On the other hand, Manson and Charles ‘Tex’ Watson, the Svengali’s right-hand man in the murders, should never see the light of day outside the prison walls.
Despite her exemplary behavior in prison and the optimism of her new attorney, I’ll be very surprised if Van Houten will be granted parole this go-around.
CHARLES MANSON FOLLOWER LESLIE VAN HOUTEN UP FOR PAROLE FOR 19TH TIME
Mail Online
July 6, 2010
Leslie Van Houten, the one-time Charles Manson follower and convicted murderer, faces her 19th parole hearing in what is her best chance yet for release.
The killer has a new lawyer and new case law, but even if there is a finding of suitability for parole at today's hearing, freedom would not be immediate.
The entire state parole board would review the decision within 120 days and it would then be submitted to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a final ruling.
Van Houten, 60, remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Women at Frontera, the same prison where another Manson follower, Patricia Krenwinkle, is imprisoned.
Susan Atkins, the third woman convicted of murder in the crimes directed by cult leader Manson, died in prison last year after parole officials denied her dying request for freedom.
Van Houten last appeared before a parole board in 2007. Her chances for parole are enhanced by the fact that she has been discipline free since her incarceration in the early 1970s, has positive psychological reports and has been active in self-help groups at the prison including 'Golden Girls,' a group for elderly women inmates.
She has a new lawyer, Brandie Devall, who said she will refer to rulings by the California Supreme Court in 2008 and 2009 affecting standards for parole.
Most significant is the case of Sandra Lawrence, a convicted murderer who was paroled after 23 years in prison after the court held that to refuse parole there must be evidence that a prisoner is currently a danger to public safety.
The court said the board could not base a refusal only on the details of the crime committed by the inmate long ago.
Ms Devall said the finding has also been upheld in federal court.
Another recent case, she said, deals with inmates who are between 16 and 20-years-old at the time of their crimes and holds that they are more likely to be rehabilitated.
Van Houten was 19 when she joined other members of the Manson cult in the killings of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.
Many lawyers have argued over the years that Van Houten is rehabilitated and not a danger to anyone.
Christie Webb, the lawyer who represented Van Houten in prior parole hearings for nine years said, 'It was time for Leslie to get someone with new ideas to persuade the board to do the right thing and grant her parole. I'll continue to help her in any way that I can.'
Ms Devall said the cases she will cite had not been decided at the time of Van Houten's last parole hearing.
She said she will cite Van Houten's age, her youth at the time of the crimes and her extreme remorse. 'There is no evidence of current dangerousness,' she said.
The prosecutor who will argue against Van Houten's parole, Patrick Sequiera, was not available for comment.
Van Houten was convicted of murder and conspiracy for her role in the killings of the wealthy grocers.
The La Biancas were stabbed to death in August 1969, one night after Manson's followers killed actress Sharon Tate and four others including celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, filmmaker Voityck Frykowksi and Steven Parent, a friend of the Tate estate's caretaker.
Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings but went along the next night when the La Biancas were murdered in their home.
During the penalty phase of her trial she confessed to joining in stabbing Mrs La Bianca after she was dead.
The Tate-La Bianca killings became one of the most notorious murder cases of the 20th century and continues to rivet public attention 41 years later.
Van Houten was sentenced to death along with Manson, Atkins and Krenwinkle but their sentences were reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole when the death penalty was briefly outlawed in the 1970s.
Van Houten's first conviction was overturned due to legal errors and her second trial ended in a jury deadlock.
But a third jury convicted her of murder again. Her lawyers had argued she was brainwashed by cult leader Manson.
She was portrayed as the youngest and least culpable of those convicted with Manson, a young woman from a good family who had been a homecoming princess and showed promise until she became involved with drugs and was recruited into Manson's murderous 'family.'
In past parole hearings she has apologised to the victims' families and expressed remorse for her actions.
Her record of good works in prison has been reviewed extensively. She earned college degrees while behind bars and has worked to help other women prisoners.
Decades ago, one of the original prosecutors in the case, Stephen Kay, said there would come a time when Van Houten would be ready for parole.
But parole officials, while giving her high marks for her accomplishments, have refused her 18 times already.
Another former Manson follower, Bruce Davis, convicted in a related murder case, was granted a parole date this year only to have the decision reversed last month by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
If Van Houten is refused parole, it is unclear when she would get another chance.
Under a new law, the board can set the length of time between parole hearings at three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years. Prison officials said Van Houten is in good health.
But 41 years later and knowing that Manson had cast a Svengali spell over the immature pot-polluted women in his clan, I now feel the time may be ripe for Van Houten’s release on parole. On the other hand, Manson and Charles ‘Tex’ Watson, the Svengali’s right-hand man in the murders, should never see the light of day outside the prison walls.
Despite her exemplary behavior in prison and the optimism of her new attorney, I’ll be very surprised if Van Houten will be granted parole this go-around.
CHARLES MANSON FOLLOWER LESLIE VAN HOUTEN UP FOR PAROLE FOR 19TH TIME
Mail Online
July 6, 2010
Leslie Van Houten, the one-time Charles Manson follower and convicted murderer, faces her 19th parole hearing in what is her best chance yet for release.
The killer has a new lawyer and new case law, but even if there is a finding of suitability for parole at today's hearing, freedom would not be immediate.
The entire state parole board would review the decision within 120 days and it would then be submitted to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a final ruling.
Van Houten, 60, remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Women at Frontera, the same prison where another Manson follower, Patricia Krenwinkle, is imprisoned.
Susan Atkins, the third woman convicted of murder in the crimes directed by cult leader Manson, died in prison last year after parole officials denied her dying request for freedom.
Van Houten last appeared before a parole board in 2007. Her chances for parole are enhanced by the fact that she has been discipline free since her incarceration in the early 1970s, has positive psychological reports and has been active in self-help groups at the prison including 'Golden Girls,' a group for elderly women inmates.
She has a new lawyer, Brandie Devall, who said she will refer to rulings by the California Supreme Court in 2008 and 2009 affecting standards for parole.
Most significant is the case of Sandra Lawrence, a convicted murderer who was paroled after 23 years in prison after the court held that to refuse parole there must be evidence that a prisoner is currently a danger to public safety.
The court said the board could not base a refusal only on the details of the crime committed by the inmate long ago.
Ms Devall said the finding has also been upheld in federal court.
Another recent case, she said, deals with inmates who are between 16 and 20-years-old at the time of their crimes and holds that they are more likely to be rehabilitated.
Van Houten was 19 when she joined other members of the Manson cult in the killings of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.
Many lawyers have argued over the years that Van Houten is rehabilitated and not a danger to anyone.
Christie Webb, the lawyer who represented Van Houten in prior parole hearings for nine years said, 'It was time for Leslie to get someone with new ideas to persuade the board to do the right thing and grant her parole. I'll continue to help her in any way that I can.'
Ms Devall said the cases she will cite had not been decided at the time of Van Houten's last parole hearing.
She said she will cite Van Houten's age, her youth at the time of the crimes and her extreme remorse. 'There is no evidence of current dangerousness,' she said.
The prosecutor who will argue against Van Houten's parole, Patrick Sequiera, was not available for comment.
Van Houten was convicted of murder and conspiracy for her role in the killings of the wealthy grocers.
The La Biancas were stabbed to death in August 1969, one night after Manson's followers killed actress Sharon Tate and four others including celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, filmmaker Voityck Frykowksi and Steven Parent, a friend of the Tate estate's caretaker.
Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings but went along the next night when the La Biancas were murdered in their home.
During the penalty phase of her trial she confessed to joining in stabbing Mrs La Bianca after she was dead.
The Tate-La Bianca killings became one of the most notorious murder cases of the 20th century and continues to rivet public attention 41 years later.
Van Houten was sentenced to death along with Manson, Atkins and Krenwinkle but their sentences were reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole when the death penalty was briefly outlawed in the 1970s.
Van Houten's first conviction was overturned due to legal errors and her second trial ended in a jury deadlock.
But a third jury convicted her of murder again. Her lawyers had argued she was brainwashed by cult leader Manson.
She was portrayed as the youngest and least culpable of those convicted with Manson, a young woman from a good family who had been a homecoming princess and showed promise until she became involved with drugs and was recruited into Manson's murderous 'family.'
In past parole hearings she has apologised to the victims' families and expressed remorse for her actions.
Her record of good works in prison has been reviewed extensively. She earned college degrees while behind bars and has worked to help other women prisoners.
Decades ago, one of the original prosecutors in the case, Stephen Kay, said there would come a time when Van Houten would be ready for parole.
But parole officials, while giving her high marks for her accomplishments, have refused her 18 times already.
Another former Manson follower, Bruce Davis, convicted in a related murder case, was granted a parole date this year only to have the decision reversed last month by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
If Van Houten is refused parole, it is unclear when she would get another chance.
Under a new law, the board can set the length of time between parole hearings at three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years. Prison officials said Van Houten is in good health.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
IS THIS ANY WAY TO TREAT YOUR OCTOGENARIAN GRANDPARENTS?
Distractions? Shit, I’ll bet that like me, most ‘Octos’ can’t figure out how to operate a GPS or other newfangled gadget. And if we could figure them out, we do not see well enough to punch those tiny little keys. The only thing that distracts us while we’re driving is some hot-looking chick that may appear within our view. And I’ll also bet that in Italy, just like in the U.S., it’s the young whippersnappers that cause most of the serious accidents.
DRIVERS OVER 80 FACE ITALIAN BAN IN BID TO SLASH HIGH DEATH TOLL
Mail Online
July 5, 2010
Italian drivers are renowned for their cavalier attitude to the rules of the road.
But with one of the highest death tolls in Europe - more than 5,000 last year alone --the authorities have decided something needs to be done.
Their solution is to propose a ban on all drivers aged over 80, because they are considered less alert and more easily distracted.
Mario Valducci, chairman of the Italian parliament's transport committee, said: 'We must look at setting an age limit.'
Currently driving licences must be renewed every ten years until the age of 50, every five years until 70 and then every three years. Drivers-have to provide medical certificates but there is no practical test.
Sandro Salvati, of Italy's Road Safety Association, said: 'Cars of today have a lot of additional extras and gadgets which can be rather distracting if you are at the wheel.
'There are mobile phones, sat navs [GPSs], TV monitors, laptop and iPod connectors as well as old-time distractions such as lighting a cigarette or putting make-up on.
'We estimate 30 per cent of accidents are caused by these types of distraction. Looking at how fit and capable elderly people are while at the wheel is something that should be seriously considered.'
DRIVERS OVER 80 FACE ITALIAN BAN IN BID TO SLASH HIGH DEATH TOLL
Mail Online
July 5, 2010
Italian drivers are renowned for their cavalier attitude to the rules of the road.
But with one of the highest death tolls in Europe - more than 5,000 last year alone --the authorities have decided something needs to be done.
Their solution is to propose a ban on all drivers aged over 80, because they are considered less alert and more easily distracted.
Mario Valducci, chairman of the Italian parliament's transport committee, said: 'We must look at setting an age limit.'
Currently driving licences must be renewed every ten years until the age of 50, every five years until 70 and then every three years. Drivers-have to provide medical certificates but there is no practical test.
Sandro Salvati, of Italy's Road Safety Association, said: 'Cars of today have a lot of additional extras and gadgets which can be rather distracting if you are at the wheel.
'There are mobile phones, sat navs [GPSs], TV monitors, laptop and iPod connectors as well as old-time distractions such as lighting a cigarette or putting make-up on.
'We estimate 30 per cent of accidents are caused by these types of distraction. Looking at how fit and capable elderly people are while at the wheel is something that should be seriously considered.'
AREN'T SHOPLIFTERS CLASSIFIED AS 'NON-VIOLENT' CRIMINALS?
Bob Walsh says, "Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t figure out why they didn’t shoot him." Neither can I. Taser him, my ass! They should have killed the son-of-a-bitch!
SHOPLIFTING SUSPECT GRABBED GUN AFTER BEING HANDCUFFED, SHOOTING TWO OFFICERS, POLICE SAY
By Sam Allen and Andrew Blankstein
Los Angeles Times
July 2, 2010
The routine arrest of a shoplifting suspect at a Kmart in Burbank went badly awry Friday when the man grabbed a gun and shot two police officers, bouncing three shots off one officer’s bullet-proof vest before being subdued, authorities said.
Neither of the Burbank Police officers suffered life-threatening injuries in the shooting, which broke the quiet of a routine lunchtime as shoppers prepared for the holiday weekend. Authorities did not immediately identify the suspect or the officers, one of whom underwent surgery after being shot in the hand and leg.
One witness to the shooting, Burbank resident Joseph Hoage, said he had just walked out of the Kmart store at 1000 N. San Fernando Blvd. when he saw a handcuffed man with two police officers. Suddenly, he said, he heard someone say, "He’s got a gun!" Hoage said he dove behind a car and heard four or five shots fired. When he looked up, one of the officers was holding his right hand, which was bleeding profusely. The other officer was struggling with the suspect, wrestling until he finally pinned him down. Hoage said the second officer emptied his Taser weapon in the struggle, but that didn't immediately subdue the suspect.
Another witness, Frank Galuppo, 50, of Burbank, said he saw the first officer stagger backwards, and the second officer struggle with the alleged gunman. Galuppo, who owns a nearby Curves Fitness center, said the suspect was wrestled to the ground and then shot with the Taser.
A Burbank police spokesman, Sgt. Robert Quesada, confirmed that a Taser was used, although he could not say who fired it. He said the second officer is the one who was shot three times in the chest, with the impact absorbed and deflected by his vest. That officer also sustained a minor gunshot wound to his leg, for which he was treated at a hospital and released.
SHOPLIFTING SUSPECT GRABBED GUN AFTER BEING HANDCUFFED, SHOOTING TWO OFFICERS, POLICE SAY
By Sam Allen and Andrew Blankstein
Los Angeles Times
July 2, 2010
The routine arrest of a shoplifting suspect at a Kmart in Burbank went badly awry Friday when the man grabbed a gun and shot two police officers, bouncing three shots off one officer’s bullet-proof vest before being subdued, authorities said.
Neither of the Burbank Police officers suffered life-threatening injuries in the shooting, which broke the quiet of a routine lunchtime as shoppers prepared for the holiday weekend. Authorities did not immediately identify the suspect or the officers, one of whom underwent surgery after being shot in the hand and leg.
One witness to the shooting, Burbank resident Joseph Hoage, said he had just walked out of the Kmart store at 1000 N. San Fernando Blvd. when he saw a handcuffed man with two police officers. Suddenly, he said, he heard someone say, "He’s got a gun!" Hoage said he dove behind a car and heard four or five shots fired. When he looked up, one of the officers was holding his right hand, which was bleeding profusely. The other officer was struggling with the suspect, wrestling until he finally pinned him down. Hoage said the second officer emptied his Taser weapon in the struggle, but that didn't immediately subdue the suspect.
Another witness, Frank Galuppo, 50, of Burbank, said he saw the first officer stagger backwards, and the second officer struggle with the alleged gunman. Galuppo, who owns a nearby Curves Fitness center, said the suspect was wrestled to the ground and then shot with the Taser.
A Burbank police spokesman, Sgt. Robert Quesada, confirmed that a Taser was used, although he could not say who fired it. He said the second officer is the one who was shot three times in the chest, with the impact absorbed and deflected by his vest. That officer also sustained a minor gunshot wound to his leg, for which he was treated at a hospital and released.
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZEN MOVEMENT
Last May, Jerry Kane Jr., 45, of Forest, Ohio and his 16-year-old son Joseph were shot to death in an exchange of gunfire with Arkansas State Police officers at a West Memphis Walmart parking lot. About 90 minutes earlier, on Interstate 40, Joseph had killed West Memphis police Sgt. Brandon Paudert, 39, and Officer Bill Evans, 38, with an AK-47 assault rifle during a routine traffic stop of the Kane minivan.
Jerry Kane was an active member of The Sovereign Citizen Movement, a group of dangerous anti-government nut cases. Here is some information on this group from the FBI’s Headline Archives:
DOMESTIC TERRORISMThe Sovereign Citizen Movement
April 13, 2010
Domestic terrorism—Americans attacking Americans because of U.S.-based extremist ideologies—comes in many forms in our post 9/11 world.
To help educate the public, we’ve previously outlined two separate domestic terror threats—eco-terrorists/animal rights extremists and lone offenders.
Today, we look at a third threat—the "sovereign citizen" extremist movement. Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or "sovereign" from the United States. As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.
This causes all kinds of problems—and crimes. For example, many sovereign citizens don’t pay their taxes. They hold illegal courts that issue warrants for judges and police officers. They clog up the court system with frivolous lawsuits and liens against public officials to harass them. And they use fake money orders, personal checks, and the like at government agencies, banks, and businesses.
That’s just the beginning. Not every action taken in the name of the sovereign citizen ideology is a crime, but the list of illegal actions committed by these groups, cells, and individuals is extensive (and puts them squarely on our radar). In addition to the above, sovereign citizens:
_Commit murder and physical assault;
_Threaten judges, law enforcement professionals, and government personnel;
_Impersonate police officers and diplomats;
_Use fake currency, passports, license plates, and driver’s licenses; and
_Engineer various white-collar scams, including mortgage fraud and so-called "redemption" schemes.
Sovereign citizens are often confused with extremists from the militia movement. But while sovereign citizens sometimes use or buy illegal weapons, guns are secondary to their anti-government, anti-tax beliefs. On the other hand, guns and paramilitary training are paramount to militia groups.
During the past year, we’ve had a number of investigative successes involving sovereign citizens. A few recent cases:
_In Sacramento, two sovereign citizens were convicted of running a fraudulent insurance scheme. Operating outside state insurance regulatory guidelines, the men set up their own company and sold "lifetime memberships" to customers, promising to pay any accident claims against their "members." The company collected millions of dollars, but paid out very few claims.
_In Kansas City, three sovereign citizens were convicted of taking part in a conspiracy using phony diplomatic credentials. They charged customers between $450 and $2,000 for a diplomatic identification card, which would bestow upon the holder "sovereign" status—meaning they would enjoy diplomatic immunity from paying taxes and from being stopped or arrested by law enforcement.
_In Las Vegas, four men affiliated with the sovereign citizen movement were arrested by the Nevada Joint Terrorism Task Force on federal money laundering, tax evasion, and weapons charges. The investigation involved an undercover operation, with two of the suspects allegedly laundering more than a million dollars from what they believed was a bank fraud scheme.
You can help. First, "be crime smart"—don’t fall for the bogus claims and scams of sovereign citizens. And second, if you have information on any suspicious activities or crimes, please contact us.
Jerry Kane was an active member of The Sovereign Citizen Movement, a group of dangerous anti-government nut cases. Here is some information on this group from the FBI’s Headline Archives:
DOMESTIC TERRORISMThe Sovereign Citizen Movement
April 13, 2010
Domestic terrorism—Americans attacking Americans because of U.S.-based extremist ideologies—comes in many forms in our post 9/11 world.
To help educate the public, we’ve previously outlined two separate domestic terror threats—eco-terrorists/animal rights extremists and lone offenders.
Today, we look at a third threat—the "sovereign citizen" extremist movement. Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or "sovereign" from the United States. As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.
This causes all kinds of problems—and crimes. For example, many sovereign citizens don’t pay their taxes. They hold illegal courts that issue warrants for judges and police officers. They clog up the court system with frivolous lawsuits and liens against public officials to harass them. And they use fake money orders, personal checks, and the like at government agencies, banks, and businesses.
That’s just the beginning. Not every action taken in the name of the sovereign citizen ideology is a crime, but the list of illegal actions committed by these groups, cells, and individuals is extensive (and puts them squarely on our radar). In addition to the above, sovereign citizens:
_Commit murder and physical assault;
_Threaten judges, law enforcement professionals, and government personnel;
_Impersonate police officers and diplomats;
_Use fake currency, passports, license plates, and driver’s licenses; and
_Engineer various white-collar scams, including mortgage fraud and so-called "redemption" schemes.
Sovereign citizens are often confused with extremists from the militia movement. But while sovereign citizens sometimes use or buy illegal weapons, guns are secondary to their anti-government, anti-tax beliefs. On the other hand, guns and paramilitary training are paramount to militia groups.
During the past year, we’ve had a number of investigative successes involving sovereign citizens. A few recent cases:
_In Sacramento, two sovereign citizens were convicted of running a fraudulent insurance scheme. Operating outside state insurance regulatory guidelines, the men set up their own company and sold "lifetime memberships" to customers, promising to pay any accident claims against their "members." The company collected millions of dollars, but paid out very few claims.
_In Kansas City, three sovereign citizens were convicted of taking part in a conspiracy using phony diplomatic credentials. They charged customers between $450 and $2,000 for a diplomatic identification card, which would bestow upon the holder "sovereign" status—meaning they would enjoy diplomatic immunity from paying taxes and from being stopped or arrested by law enforcement.
_In Las Vegas, four men affiliated with the sovereign citizen movement were arrested by the Nevada Joint Terrorism Task Force on federal money laundering, tax evasion, and weapons charges. The investigation involved an undercover operation, with two of the suspects allegedly laundering more than a million dollars from what they believed was a bank fraud scheme.
You can help. First, "be crime smart"—don’t fall for the bogus claims and scams of sovereign citizens. And second, if you have information on any suspicious activities or crimes, please contact us.
Monday, July 05, 2010
YOU CAN BET THEY ALL VOTED FOR OBAMA
Those polled by the Marist Poll who were clueless about America’s independence must have been the same people Jay Leno interviews on his ‘Jay Walking’ routines. And you can bet those dumb-asses all voted for Obama.
China? They obviously don’t realize that America will not be able to gain its independence from China until we’ve paid off our national debt.
26% DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY
Marist Poll
July 2, 2010
There’s good news for American education. About three-quarters of residents — 74% — know the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776.
The bad news for the academic system — 26% do not. This 26% includes one-fifth who are unsure and 6% who thought the U.S. separated from another nation.
That begs the question, "From where do the latter think the U.S. achieved its independence?" Among the countries mentioned are France, China, Japan, Mexico, and Spain.
China? They obviously don’t realize that America will not be able to gain its independence from China until we’ve paid off our national debt.
26% DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY
Marist Poll
July 2, 2010
There’s good news for American education. About three-quarters of residents — 74% — know the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776.
The bad news for the academic system — 26% do not. This 26% includes one-fifth who are unsure and 6% who thought the U.S. separated from another nation.
That begs the question, "From where do the latter think the U.S. achieved its independence?" Among the countries mentioned are France, China, Japan, Mexico, and Spain.
GUEST COLUMN
I HAVE A SOLUTION FOR CALIFORNIA’S BUDGET CRISIS
By Trey Rusk
California's Governor recently lowered 200,000 state workers pay to the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour. This happened because the state legislature and the Governor could not agree on a budget and Oh Yeah, California is broke.
Visit California. Don’t miss it because it is worth a toll. What? A toll! Those are fighting words in Texas. Just ask Governor Perry or the Texas Department of Transportation.
My solution to the budget crisis in California is to charge each automobile occupant a $10 toll to enter the state. It would be good for one week. Then charge every airline, train and bus passenger the same toll.
I would gladly pay because my wife and I traveled extensively in California in 2006 and 2007. The state is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
We lived in Fresno and saw Yosemite National Park, drove the high Sierra Mountains and the Sequoia National Park. These were all in driving distance of our apartment. I fished the crystal clear San Joaquin River while surrounded by the most beautiful scenery I had ever witnessed.
Our next stop was Yuma on the California border. Our apartment overlooked the Imperial Sand Dunes that dwarf the surrounding landscape. We visited the Great Salton Sea and Palm Springs, which has to be the cleanest city I have ever visited. We spent the weekend at Big Bear Lake and played in the snow. We drove to San Diego with its magnificent beaches, then we hugged the coast and saw seals and otters while visiting Encinitas and Oceanside. The diverse landscape always amazed me.
Our last stop was Santa Rosa, forty miles north of San Francisco. We visited the Golden Gate City many times. We enjoyed Fisherman’s Wharf and looked upon all sorts of marine life while dining. We walked the Marina District, visited Telegraph Hill and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove the coast highway and visited Half Moon Bay, Big Sur and Monterey.
We lived near Napa Valley and enjoyed the constantly changing landscape with rolling hills covered in vineyards. There were mountain lion warnings, wildfire alerts and the ground rumbled constantly. Living in Texas, I always wondered why people would live under those conditions. Now I know. Besides, is it any worse than hurricanes and tornadoes?
Taxing the medical marijuana industry hasn’t saved the state. Who ever thought that a bunch of ‘legal’ drug dealers would keep California from going broke anyway?
I’m sure some federal statute forbids my idea of tolls, but I think it would work.
[Trey Rusk retired as a lieutenant with the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission. Denise, his wife, was a travelling nurse while they lived in California. Trey is currently an agent with the Galveston County auto theft task force.]
By Trey Rusk
California's Governor recently lowered 200,000 state workers pay to the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour. This happened because the state legislature and the Governor could not agree on a budget and Oh Yeah, California is broke.
Visit California. Don’t miss it because it is worth a toll. What? A toll! Those are fighting words in Texas. Just ask Governor Perry or the Texas Department of Transportation.
My solution to the budget crisis in California is to charge each automobile occupant a $10 toll to enter the state. It would be good for one week. Then charge every airline, train and bus passenger the same toll.
I would gladly pay because my wife and I traveled extensively in California in 2006 and 2007. The state is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
We lived in Fresno and saw Yosemite National Park, drove the high Sierra Mountains and the Sequoia National Park. These were all in driving distance of our apartment. I fished the crystal clear San Joaquin River while surrounded by the most beautiful scenery I had ever witnessed.
Our next stop was Yuma on the California border. Our apartment overlooked the Imperial Sand Dunes that dwarf the surrounding landscape. We visited the Great Salton Sea and Palm Springs, which has to be the cleanest city I have ever visited. We spent the weekend at Big Bear Lake and played in the snow. We drove to San Diego with its magnificent beaches, then we hugged the coast and saw seals and otters while visiting Encinitas and Oceanside. The diverse landscape always amazed me.
Our last stop was Santa Rosa, forty miles north of San Francisco. We visited the Golden Gate City many times. We enjoyed Fisherman’s Wharf and looked upon all sorts of marine life while dining. We walked the Marina District, visited Telegraph Hill and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove the coast highway and visited Half Moon Bay, Big Sur and Monterey.
We lived near Napa Valley and enjoyed the constantly changing landscape with rolling hills covered in vineyards. There were mountain lion warnings, wildfire alerts and the ground rumbled constantly. Living in Texas, I always wondered why people would live under those conditions. Now I know. Besides, is it any worse than hurricanes and tornadoes?
Taxing the medical marijuana industry hasn’t saved the state. Who ever thought that a bunch of ‘legal’ drug dealers would keep California from going broke anyway?
I’m sure some federal statute forbids my idea of tolls, but I think it would work.
[Trey Rusk retired as a lieutenant with the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission. Denise, his wife, was a travelling nurse while they lived in California. Trey is currently an agent with the Galveston County auto theft task force.]
NON-HISPANIC WHITES COMMIT ONLY 5% OF NEW YORK'S VIOLENT CRIMES, 1.4% OF ALL SHOOTINGS AND LESS THAN 5% OF ALL ROBBERIES
Whenever a white police officer conducts a ‘stop and frisk’ on a black person, he is immediately suspected of being racially biased. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and civil rights groups have long thrived on complaints that disproportionate stops of minorities prove that America’s police are racists. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that blacks and Hispanics are victimized by black and Hispanic criminals. Thus, the stop and frisks serve to protect the minority communities from the thugs within their midst.
The only thing Jackson, Sharpton and their ilk have accomplished with their charges of police racism is to stir up a lot of animosity between the races. But then, that’s how Reverend Jesse and Reverend Al make their living.
In a New York Times op-ed column, Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of "Are Cops Racist?," put to rest the myth that cops conducting stop and frisks of minorities are racially biased. Here are some excerpts from Mac Donald’s column:
FIGHTING CRIME WHERE THE CRIMINALS ARE
By Heather Mac Donald
The New York Times
June 25, 2010
THERE was a predictable chorus of criticism from civil rights groups last month when the New York Police Department released its data on stop-and-frisk interactions for 2009. The department made 575,000 pedestrian stops last year. Fifty-five percent involved blacks, even though blacks are only 23 percent of the city’s population. Whites, by contrast, were involved in 10 percent of all stops, though they make up 35 percent of the city’s population.
According to the department’s critics, that imbalance in stop rates results from officers’ racial bias. The use of these stops, they say, should be sharply curtailed, if not eliminated entirely, and some activists are suing the department to achieve that end.
Allegations of racial bias, however, ignore the most important factor governing the Police Department’s operations: crime. Trends in criminal acts, not census data, drive everything that the department does. Given the patterns of crime in New York, it is inevitable that stop rates will not mirror the city’s ethnic and racial breakdown.
Such stops happen more frequently in minority neighborhoods because that is where the vast majority of violent crime occurs — and thus where police presence is most intense. Based on reports filed by victims, blacks committed 66 percent of all violent crime in New York in 2009, including 80 percent of shootings and 71 percent of robberies. Blacks and Hispanics together accounted for 98 percent of reported gun assaults. And the vast majority of the victims of violent crime were also members of minority groups.
Non-Hispanic whites, on the other hand, committed 5 percent of the city’s violent crimes in 2009, 1.4 percent of all shootings and less than 5 percent of all robberies.
Given these facts, the Police Department cannot direct its resources where they are most needed without generating racially disproportionate stop data, even though the department’s tactics themselves are colorblind. The per capita rate of shootings in the 73rd Precinct — which covers Brooklyn’s largely black Ocean Hill and Brownsville neighborhoods — is 81 times higher than in the 68th Precinct in largely white Bay Ridge. Not surprisingly, the per capita stop rate in the 73rd Precinct is 15 times higher than that in the 68th.
Some critics charge that the more than half a million stops last year indicate that the department is out of control. But the ratios of stops to population and of stops to total arrests in New York are very close to those in Los Angeles, where last summer a judge lifted a federal consent decree under which the police department had operated for the last eight years. The police stop data in Los Angeles are as racially disproportionate as New York’s, yet the judge deemed them consistent with civil rights.
For several years, the ratio of stops in New York that resulted in an arrest or summons — about 12 percent of the total — was identical for whites, blacks and Hispanics, suggesting that the police use the same measure of reasonable suspicion in stopping members of different racial and ethnic groups.
The attack on the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk data is based on the false premise that police activity should mirror census data, not crime. If the critics get their way, it would strip police protection from the New Yorkers who need it most.
The only thing Jackson, Sharpton and their ilk have accomplished with their charges of police racism is to stir up a lot of animosity between the races. But then, that’s how Reverend Jesse and Reverend Al make their living.
In a New York Times op-ed column, Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of "Are Cops Racist?," put to rest the myth that cops conducting stop and frisks of minorities are racially biased. Here are some excerpts from Mac Donald’s column:
FIGHTING CRIME WHERE THE CRIMINALS ARE
By Heather Mac Donald
The New York Times
June 25, 2010
THERE was a predictable chorus of criticism from civil rights groups last month when the New York Police Department released its data on stop-and-frisk interactions for 2009. The department made 575,000 pedestrian stops last year. Fifty-five percent involved blacks, even though blacks are only 23 percent of the city’s population. Whites, by contrast, were involved in 10 percent of all stops, though they make up 35 percent of the city’s population.
According to the department’s critics, that imbalance in stop rates results from officers’ racial bias. The use of these stops, they say, should be sharply curtailed, if not eliminated entirely, and some activists are suing the department to achieve that end.
Allegations of racial bias, however, ignore the most important factor governing the Police Department’s operations: crime. Trends in criminal acts, not census data, drive everything that the department does. Given the patterns of crime in New York, it is inevitable that stop rates will not mirror the city’s ethnic and racial breakdown.
Such stops happen more frequently in minority neighborhoods because that is where the vast majority of violent crime occurs — and thus where police presence is most intense. Based on reports filed by victims, blacks committed 66 percent of all violent crime in New York in 2009, including 80 percent of shootings and 71 percent of robberies. Blacks and Hispanics together accounted for 98 percent of reported gun assaults. And the vast majority of the victims of violent crime were also members of minority groups.
Non-Hispanic whites, on the other hand, committed 5 percent of the city’s violent crimes in 2009, 1.4 percent of all shootings and less than 5 percent of all robberies.
Given these facts, the Police Department cannot direct its resources where they are most needed without generating racially disproportionate stop data, even though the department’s tactics themselves are colorblind. The per capita rate of shootings in the 73rd Precinct — which covers Brooklyn’s largely black Ocean Hill and Brownsville neighborhoods — is 81 times higher than in the 68th Precinct in largely white Bay Ridge. Not surprisingly, the per capita stop rate in the 73rd Precinct is 15 times higher than that in the 68th.
Some critics charge that the more than half a million stops last year indicate that the department is out of control. But the ratios of stops to population and of stops to total arrests in New York are very close to those in Los Angeles, where last summer a judge lifted a federal consent decree under which the police department had operated for the last eight years. The police stop data in Los Angeles are as racially disproportionate as New York’s, yet the judge deemed them consistent with civil rights.
For several years, the ratio of stops in New York that resulted in an arrest or summons — about 12 percent of the total — was identical for whites, blacks and Hispanics, suggesting that the police use the same measure of reasonable suspicion in stopping members of different racial and ethnic groups.
The attack on the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk data is based on the false premise that police activity should mirror census data, not crime. If the critics get their way, it would strip police protection from the New Yorkers who need it most.
HEMET USED TO BE SUCH A SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN
When I worked in the area back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Hemet was a sleepy little town of retirees with the usual property crimes, but with hardly any crimes against persons. Today, many residents who live there work in Los Angeles, thus bringing L.A.’s problems home.
TWO MEN ARRESTED IN ATTACKS ON HEMET POLICE
Nicholas John Smit is suspected of attempting to murder a police officer and of building a potentially deadly booby trap. Steven Hansen, a convicted arsonist, is arrested on a parole violation.
By Phil Willon
Los Angeles Times
July 4, 2010
Reporting from Hemet, Calif. — Hemet police announced the arrest Saturday of two men in connection with seven violent attacks against local authorities in this small Riverside County city.
Nicholas John Smit, 40, of Hemet, was booked on suspicion of attempting to murder a police officer and of building a potentially deadly booby trap. Smit already faces charges for cultivating marijuana, the result of an earlier arrest made by Hemet police, said Chief Richard Dana.
Also arrested was Steven Hansen, 36, a convicted arsonist from nearby Homeland, who was taken into custody on a parole violation for weapons possession. Hansen has not been booked in connection with any of the attacks, although Dana said charges may be filed this week.
The attacks on Hemet police started six months ago and include arson fires and a booby-trapped zip gun rigged to shoot an anti-gang investigator. As a precaution, officers were told to inspect their squad cars daily and to remain vigilant. Roadblocks went up behind the main police station, and blast-proof glass, barricades and fences were installed as well.
Dana said 78 officers, sheriff's deputies and federal agents raided the two suspects' homes Friday. At least two other suspects remain at large, he said. He said Smit and Hansen know each other, but he declined to discuss the nature of their relationship.
Since the attacks began in December, investigators have speculated that the crimes were the work of the Vagos motorcycle gang or a band of white supremacists. Police are still trying to determine whether Smit or Hansen are connected to any gangs.
The arrests on Friday come less than a week after a suspected arson fire damaged a Hemet Police Department building that housed evidence gathered from the previous attacks, as well as evidence for thousands of pending and past criminal cases.
It was the seventh attack, and the third suspected arson.
In January, the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley Gang Task Force discovered that a natural gas line had been diverted into its office on New Year's Eve, although the gas never ignited. A month later, a booby-trapped zip gun, or improvised pistol, fired a bullet at an officer when he opened a security gate.
In March, a suspicious device was attached to a gang enforcement officer's unmarked vehicle; two weeks later, four city code-enforcement trucks were torched in the Hemet City Hall parking lot. In April, an early-morning fire damaged the Hemet police shooting range.
And in June, authorities found a vintage military rocket on the roof of a nearby market, pointed in the direction of the police station.
TWO MEN ARRESTED IN ATTACKS ON HEMET POLICE
Nicholas John Smit is suspected of attempting to murder a police officer and of building a potentially deadly booby trap. Steven Hansen, a convicted arsonist, is arrested on a parole violation.
By Phil Willon
Los Angeles Times
July 4, 2010
Reporting from Hemet, Calif. — Hemet police announced the arrest Saturday of two men in connection with seven violent attacks against local authorities in this small Riverside County city.
Nicholas John Smit, 40, of Hemet, was booked on suspicion of attempting to murder a police officer and of building a potentially deadly booby trap. Smit already faces charges for cultivating marijuana, the result of an earlier arrest made by Hemet police, said Chief Richard Dana.
Also arrested was Steven Hansen, 36, a convicted arsonist from nearby Homeland, who was taken into custody on a parole violation for weapons possession. Hansen has not been booked in connection with any of the attacks, although Dana said charges may be filed this week.
The attacks on Hemet police started six months ago and include arson fires and a booby-trapped zip gun rigged to shoot an anti-gang investigator. As a precaution, officers were told to inspect their squad cars daily and to remain vigilant. Roadblocks went up behind the main police station, and blast-proof glass, barricades and fences were installed as well.
Dana said 78 officers, sheriff's deputies and federal agents raided the two suspects' homes Friday. At least two other suspects remain at large, he said. He said Smit and Hansen know each other, but he declined to discuss the nature of their relationship.
Since the attacks began in December, investigators have speculated that the crimes were the work of the Vagos motorcycle gang or a band of white supremacists. Police are still trying to determine whether Smit or Hansen are connected to any gangs.
The arrests on Friday come less than a week after a suspected arson fire damaged a Hemet Police Department building that housed evidence gathered from the previous attacks, as well as evidence for thousands of pending and past criminal cases.
It was the seventh attack, and the third suspected arson.
In January, the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley Gang Task Force discovered that a natural gas line had been diverted into its office on New Year's Eve, although the gas never ignited. A month later, a booby-trapped zip gun, or improvised pistol, fired a bullet at an officer when he opened a security gate.
In March, a suspicious device was attached to a gang enforcement officer's unmarked vehicle; two weeks later, four city code-enforcement trucks were torched in the Hemet City Hall parking lot. In April, an early-morning fire damaged the Hemet police shooting range.
And in June, authorities found a vintage military rocket on the roof of a nearby market, pointed in the direction of the police station.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
Here is a letter by world-class boxer Juan Diaz exemplifying why we are celebrating our great nation’s 234th birthday today, that was published in the July 3 edition of the Houston Chronicle:
AMERICAN DREAM IS NOT DEAD
I am a Houston native, the son of Mexican immigrants and a professional boxer with a college diploma. I have earned three world titles in my career, and I am training to fight Juan Manuel Marquez for the Unified Lightweight World Championship on July 31. I also own a construction business with my brother and am taking steps to become a lawyer.
This is because my parents had the foresight to move to the United States so that I could have these opportunities. As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, it is important to remember that we live in a country where anything is possible, and the American dream is real.
As a young boy, I saw the troubles my immigrant family and friends faced while working to become citizens and acquire the same rights that Americans often take for granted. There are millions of Mexican immigrants in this country, and I know that there are others out there like me who are on the brink of greatness and could even be the missing link in solving some of this country’s toughest problems.
We have reached a crossroads in the way our country handles immigration. In some ways, it seems as though we are taking a step backward with the passage of Arizona SB 1070, which I feel violates basic rights. Despite my feelings about this specific law, I believe in our system of government. I believe in the people’s right to vote and to choose who represents them. I believe in checks and balances.
After my days in the ring are over, I want to be a successful lawyer who champions rights for the people. I want to contribute to our democracy and pay my good fortune forward to those who are seeking the opportunities that our Founding Fathers had in mind. I want to help people see that the American dream is not a thing of the past, but a thing of the present, and I hope that the Fourth of July is a reminder of how lucky we are to live in this country.
__Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz, Houston
AMERICAN DREAM IS NOT DEAD
I am a Houston native, the son of Mexican immigrants and a professional boxer with a college diploma. I have earned three world titles in my career, and I am training to fight Juan Manuel Marquez for the Unified Lightweight World Championship on July 31. I also own a construction business with my brother and am taking steps to become a lawyer.
This is because my parents had the foresight to move to the United States so that I could have these opportunities. As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, it is important to remember that we live in a country where anything is possible, and the American dream is real.
As a young boy, I saw the troubles my immigrant family and friends faced while working to become citizens and acquire the same rights that Americans often take for granted. There are millions of Mexican immigrants in this country, and I know that there are others out there like me who are on the brink of greatness and could even be the missing link in solving some of this country’s toughest problems.
We have reached a crossroads in the way our country handles immigration. In some ways, it seems as though we are taking a step backward with the passage of Arizona SB 1070, which I feel violates basic rights. Despite my feelings about this specific law, I believe in our system of government. I believe in the people’s right to vote and to choose who represents them. I believe in checks and balances.
After my days in the ring are over, I want to be a successful lawyer who champions rights for the people. I want to contribute to our democracy and pay my good fortune forward to those who are seeking the opportunities that our Founding Fathers had in mind. I want to help people see that the American dream is not a thing of the past, but a thing of the present, and I hope that the Fourth of July is a reminder of how lucky we are to live in this country.
__Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz, Houston
WHO WAS HAYIM SOLOMON?
As we celebrate the Fourth of July, here’s how you can learn a historical fact about the birth of our great nation that’s not taught in our schools:
Look at the back of a One Dollar bill and you will see two circles. Together they comprise the Great Seal of the United States. In the right-hand circle, above the Eagle, you have the thirteen stars representing the thirteen original colonies. You will see that the stars are arranged as a Star of David.
This was ordered by George Washington who, when he asked Hayim Solomon, a wealthy Philadelphia Jew, what he would like as a personal reward for his services to the Continental Army, Solomon said he wanted nothing for himself but that he would like something for his people.
The Star of David arrangement was the result.
Few people know that it was Solomon who saved the Continental Army through his financial contributions but died a pauper. The money Hayim Solomon gave to Washington’s army was extremely important in the fight for our independence from Great Britain.
Look at the back of a One Dollar bill and you will see two circles. Together they comprise the Great Seal of the United States. In the right-hand circle, above the Eagle, you have the thirteen stars representing the thirteen original colonies. You will see that the stars are arranged as a Star of David.
This was ordered by George Washington who, when he asked Hayim Solomon, a wealthy Philadelphia Jew, what he would like as a personal reward for his services to the Continental Army, Solomon said he wanted nothing for himself but that he would like something for his people.
The Star of David arrangement was the result.
Few people know that it was Solomon who saved the Continental Army through his financial contributions but died a pauper. The money Hayim Solomon gave to Washington’s army was extremely important in the fight for our independence from Great Britain.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
2nd AMENDMENT (3)
Mayor Richard Daley has put America’s gun owners on notice that he will do everything in his power to circumvent the 2nd Amendment’s right to bear arms. Daley took a shot at the five Supreme Court justices who voted to extend gun rights to the states and cities by accusing them of being an "accessory to street violence" and vowed that "As long as I’m mayor, we will never give up or give in to gun violence that continues to threaten every part of our nation, including Chicago."
Daley ignores the fact that despite a total ban on gun ownership, Chicago still had one of the highest rates of gun violence in the nation. When you take guns away from law abiding citizens, only the criminals will have guns. Nevertheless, Daley rammed some tough new laws through the city council which are designed to prevent Chicagoans from acquiring or possessing guns. The council vote was 45-0.
Here are some excerpts from an Associated Press report on Chicago’s new anti-gun laws:
CHICAGO APPROVES THOUGH NEW HANDGUN RESTRICTIONS
By Don Babwin
Associated Press
July 3, 2010
CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council on Friday approved what city officials say is the strictest handgun ordinance in the nation, but not before lashing out at the Supreme Court ruling they contend makes the city more dangerous because it will put more guns in people's hands.
The new ordinance bans gun shops in Chicago and prohibits gun owners from stepping outside their homes, even onto their porches or in their garages, with a handgun. It becomes law in 10 days, Corporation Counsel Mara Georges said.
It was swift action for a council that typically takes far longer to pass ordinances, but Mayor Richard Daley — who promised the city would not "roll over" if the court ruled against the city's handgun ban — clearly wanted to give police a law they could begin enforcing as quickly as possible.
Daley and Georges said they expect lawsuits but that they were confident they could withstand legal challenges.
The ordinance also:
_ Limits the number of handguns residents can register to one per month and prohibits residents from having more than one handgun in operating order at any given time.
_ Requires residents in homes with children to keep handguns in lock boxes or equipped with trigger locks and requires residents convicted of a gun offense to register with the police department, much as sex offenders are now required to do.
_ Prohibits people from owning a gun if they were convicted of a violent crime, domestic violence or two or more convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
_ Requires prospective gun owners to be fingerprinted, take a four-hour class and one-hour training at a gun range.
_ Calls for the police department to maintain a registry of every registered handgun owner in the city, with the names and addresses to be made available to police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders.
Those who have handguns, illegal under the ban, would have 90 days from the day the ordinance is enacted to register those weapons.
Residents convicted of violating the ordinance face a fine of up to $5,000 and be locked up for as long as 90 days for a first offense, and a fine of up to $10,000 and as long as six months behind bars for subsequent convictions.
EDTIOTR’S NOTE: Daley forgot to include a 'Jessica’s Law’ for gun owners that would prohibit Chicagoans convicted of a gun offense from residing anywhere within 2,000 feet of any schools, daycare centers, parks or any other place where children might congregate.
Daley ignores the fact that despite a total ban on gun ownership, Chicago still had one of the highest rates of gun violence in the nation. When you take guns away from law abiding citizens, only the criminals will have guns. Nevertheless, Daley rammed some tough new laws through the city council which are designed to prevent Chicagoans from acquiring or possessing guns. The council vote was 45-0.
Here are some excerpts from an Associated Press report on Chicago’s new anti-gun laws:
CHICAGO APPROVES THOUGH NEW HANDGUN RESTRICTIONS
By Don Babwin
Associated Press
July 3, 2010
CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council on Friday approved what city officials say is the strictest handgun ordinance in the nation, but not before lashing out at the Supreme Court ruling they contend makes the city more dangerous because it will put more guns in people's hands.
The new ordinance bans gun shops in Chicago and prohibits gun owners from stepping outside their homes, even onto their porches or in their garages, with a handgun. It becomes law in 10 days, Corporation Counsel Mara Georges said.
It was swift action for a council that typically takes far longer to pass ordinances, but Mayor Richard Daley — who promised the city would not "roll over" if the court ruled against the city's handgun ban — clearly wanted to give police a law they could begin enforcing as quickly as possible.
Daley and Georges said they expect lawsuits but that they were confident they could withstand legal challenges.
The ordinance also:
_ Limits the number of handguns residents can register to one per month and prohibits residents from having more than one handgun in operating order at any given time.
_ Requires residents in homes with children to keep handguns in lock boxes or equipped with trigger locks and requires residents convicted of a gun offense to register with the police department, much as sex offenders are now required to do.
_ Prohibits people from owning a gun if they were convicted of a violent crime, domestic violence or two or more convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
_ Requires prospective gun owners to be fingerprinted, take a four-hour class and one-hour training at a gun range.
_ Calls for the police department to maintain a registry of every registered handgun owner in the city, with the names and addresses to be made available to police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders.
Those who have handguns, illegal under the ban, would have 90 days from the day the ordinance is enacted to register those weapons.
Residents convicted of violating the ordinance face a fine of up to $5,000 and be locked up for as long as 90 days for a first offense, and a fine of up to $10,000 and as long as six months behind bars for subsequent convictions.
EDTIOTR’S NOTE: Daley forgot to include a 'Jessica’s Law’ for gun owners that would prohibit Chicagoans convicted of a gun offense from residing anywhere within 2,000 feet of any schools, daycare centers, parks or any other place where children might congregate.
EARLY RELEASES AND POOR PAROLE SUPERVISION CAN BE VERY COSTLY
California corrections officials still will not admit they blew the Phillip Garrido case, but the state legislature recognized that his parole supervision wasn’t worth a shit. Early prison releases, which are budget saving measures, and poor parole supervision not only endanger the public’s safety, but they can end up costing money-strapped California a bundle of money. And ditto for all the other states that try to save money by early releases or that exercise piss-poor parole supervision.
LAWMAKERS PASS $20M SETTLEMENT FOR KIDNAPPED GIRL
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
July 1, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A woman held captive for nearly two decades by a rapist out on parole will receive $20 million from the state of California for her ordeal, during which she bore two children to the man whom officials were supposedly monitoring.
Lawmakers approved the settlement Thursday for Jaycee Dugard, now 30, and her two daughters, who resurfaced last August after being held in a secret backyard by a suspect identified by authorities as Phillip Garrido.
"It is compensation for three people for the rest of their lives who have been horribly damaged over a period of 17 or 18 years," mediator Daniel Weinstein told The Associated Press.
Dugard and her daughters, ages 15 and 12, filed claims in February, saying parole agents with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began supervising Garrido in 1999 but didn't discover them.
The Dugard family members claimed psychological, physical and emotional damages.
"I can't emphasize enough that we've got to be much more prudent in terms of how we provide oversight for released prisoners in the state of California," Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Granite Bay, said.
The money will be used to buy the family a home, ensure privacy, pay for education, replace lost income and cover what will likely be years of therapy, said Weinstein, a retired San Francisco County Superior Court judge. In addition, much of the money will be placed in long-term investments, he said.
"It was not an effort to make reparations for the years of abuse and incarceration or imprisonment against their will, because ... the damages to these people were incalculable," Weinstein said in a telephone interview. "Part of this was a prudent effort by the state to shut off liability from a catastrophic verdict."
Weinstein praised the state for quickly accepting responsibility, and the Dugards for accepting a reasonable settlement at a time when the state faces a $19 billion budget deficit. He said the scope of the claim was unprecedented in his 20 years as a mediator because of the duration of the crime and that it led to the birth of two children.
The money will come from the state's hard-hit general fund, which pays for most state operations.
Dugard's mother Terry Probyn filed a claim with the state in February but was not included in the settlement, Weinstein said. Her claim is pending and under negotiation by the corrections department and attorney general's office, said Lynn Margherita, a spokeswoman for the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.
Lawmakers approved the settlement with a 30-1 vote in the Senate and a 62-0 vote in the Assembly.
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Yuba City, said it was wise for the state to pay the claim quickly rather than fight a court battle that he said "exacerbates the grievous loss of the victims and the lifelong condemnation and pain of their families."
He predicted the state also will pay claims in the case of John Albert Gardner III, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to killing two San Diego County teenagers. Parole agents were also faulted in that case for failing to send Gardner, a convicted sex offender, back to prison.
The parents of one of Gardner's victims, 14-year-old Amber Dubois, filed claims against the state last month, the AP confirmed Thursday.
(Associated Press Writer Cathy Bussewitz contributed to this story.)
LAWMAKERS PASS $20M SETTLEMENT FOR KIDNAPPED GIRL
By Don Thompson
Associated Press
July 1, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A woman held captive for nearly two decades by a rapist out on parole will receive $20 million from the state of California for her ordeal, during which she bore two children to the man whom officials were supposedly monitoring.
Lawmakers approved the settlement Thursday for Jaycee Dugard, now 30, and her two daughters, who resurfaced last August after being held in a secret backyard by a suspect identified by authorities as Phillip Garrido.
"It is compensation for three people for the rest of their lives who have been horribly damaged over a period of 17 or 18 years," mediator Daniel Weinstein told The Associated Press.
Dugard and her daughters, ages 15 and 12, filed claims in February, saying parole agents with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began supervising Garrido in 1999 but didn't discover them.
The Dugard family members claimed psychological, physical and emotional damages.
"I can't emphasize enough that we've got to be much more prudent in terms of how we provide oversight for released prisoners in the state of California," Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Granite Bay, said.
The money will be used to buy the family a home, ensure privacy, pay for education, replace lost income and cover what will likely be years of therapy, said Weinstein, a retired San Francisco County Superior Court judge. In addition, much of the money will be placed in long-term investments, he said.
"It was not an effort to make reparations for the years of abuse and incarceration or imprisonment against their will, because ... the damages to these people were incalculable," Weinstein said in a telephone interview. "Part of this was a prudent effort by the state to shut off liability from a catastrophic verdict."
Weinstein praised the state for quickly accepting responsibility, and the Dugards for accepting a reasonable settlement at a time when the state faces a $19 billion budget deficit. He said the scope of the claim was unprecedented in his 20 years as a mediator because of the duration of the crime and that it led to the birth of two children.
The money will come from the state's hard-hit general fund, which pays for most state operations.
Dugard's mother Terry Probyn filed a claim with the state in February but was not included in the settlement, Weinstein said. Her claim is pending and under negotiation by the corrections department and attorney general's office, said Lynn Margherita, a spokeswoman for the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.
Lawmakers approved the settlement with a 30-1 vote in the Senate and a 62-0 vote in the Assembly.
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Yuba City, said it was wise for the state to pay the claim quickly rather than fight a court battle that he said "exacerbates the grievous loss of the victims and the lifelong condemnation and pain of their families."
He predicted the state also will pay claims in the case of John Albert Gardner III, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to killing two San Diego County teenagers. Parole agents were also faulted in that case for failing to send Gardner, a convicted sex offender, back to prison.
The parents of one of Gardner's victims, 14-year-old Amber Dubois, filed claims against the state last month, the AP confirmed Thursday.
(Associated Press Writer Cathy Bussewitz contributed to this story.)
THE 'LITTLE PEOPLE' WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD THIS
The ‘little people’ would have to settle for Motel 6 in a nearby town after a night out with their married lovers.
SWEDISH BP CHAIRMAN ‘WHISKED MARRIED LOVER ON LUXURY CRUISE AS OIL SPILL CHAOS ERUPTED’
By Daniel Bates
Mail Online
July 2, 2010
He was brought in as a steady hand to make BP's troubles go away.
But chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg has put the company back into the spotlight, this time with embarrassing revelations about his personal life.
The gaffe-prone Swede is said to have begun an affair with a married mother-of-three just as his own marriage collapsed.
So enamoured was he with Louise Julian that within days of the oil spill erupting, he allegedly whisked her away for a cruise on board his 77-foot luxury yacht, the Cygnus Montanus II.
As millions of gallons spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, the 58-year-old and the Swedish-born blonde were believed to have been sunning themselves on a tour of Thailand, Australia, Bali and Singapore.
They even stopped off at BP's crisis headquarters in Houston as they made their way home from their trip around Asia.
Svanberg was brought in as BP's public face after chief executive Tony Hayward made a string of gaffes including moaning that he 'wanted his life back'.
But he has also blundered and sparked fury when he called those affected by the spill 'little people' whom BP would look after.
In recent weeks he has also shied away from his promise to become the company's figurehead and allowed other directors to take the lead in interviews and TV shows.
SWEDISH BP CHAIRMAN ‘WHISKED MARRIED LOVER ON LUXURY CRUISE AS OIL SPILL CHAOS ERUPTED’
By Daniel Bates
Mail Online
July 2, 2010
He was brought in as a steady hand to make BP's troubles go away.
But chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg has put the company back into the spotlight, this time with embarrassing revelations about his personal life.
The gaffe-prone Swede is said to have begun an affair with a married mother-of-three just as his own marriage collapsed.
So enamoured was he with Louise Julian that within days of the oil spill erupting, he allegedly whisked her away for a cruise on board his 77-foot luxury yacht, the Cygnus Montanus II.
As millions of gallons spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, the 58-year-old and the Swedish-born blonde were believed to have been sunning themselves on a tour of Thailand, Australia, Bali and Singapore.
They even stopped off at BP's crisis headquarters in Houston as they made their way home from their trip around Asia.
Svanberg was brought in as BP's public face after chief executive Tony Hayward made a string of gaffes including moaning that he 'wanted his life back'.
But he has also blundered and sparked fury when he called those affected by the spill 'little people' whom BP would look after.
In recent weeks he has also shied away from his promise to become the company's figurehead and allowed other directors to take the lead in interviews and TV shows.
Friday, July 02, 2010
HOW THE LEFT SEES THE TEA PARTY
The Haaretz Daily is the newspaper of choice for Israel’s far-left. Bradley Burston is one of its columnists. A native of Los Angeles, he moved to Israel after graduation from the University of California at Berkeley, that hotbed of Marxist professors. From his columns one would have to conclude that his professors succeeded in getting Burston to accept the far-left’s hatred of Israel.
If you read his columns, you will see that he criticizes every move and policy of Israel’s conservative government. He is an ardent supporter of Peace Now, the group that seeks peace at any price and turns the other cheek whenever Israel gets attacked by Palestinian terrorists. He favors dismantling of all Israeli settlements and wants Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza strip. Burston either seems oblivious to or supports the vows of Abbas and Fatah that there will be only ‘one state from the river to the sea.’
By ignoring the Palestinian vows to eradicate the Jewish state, I suspect that had Burston lived in Europe during the Holocaust, he would have volunteered to be first in line to the gas chambers and ovens of the Nazi extermination camps.
Name calling of its opponents is what the left does best. In his blog, A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL, Burston accuses America’s Tea Party of being exactly like Israel’s right-wing. Here is how he described both movements:
"That distinctive brew of left-baiting, Obama-hating, poorly veiled racism, clergy-driven jingoism, clergy-fanned derision of the Supreme Court, the Luddite insertion of anti-government bile where an ideology should go, a majority which feels victimized and discriminated against and threatened by minorities of indeterminate legal status."
It is obvious that Blurston is clueless about the Tea Party. While there are individuals in the loosely organized group who fit his descriptions, the overwhelming majority of party followers are ‘none of the above.’ They are merely fed up with the direction our government is going and with the members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. I am sure that the left in our country sees the Tea Party in the same way Burston sees it.
I suspect that if the Tea Party succeeds in defeating the incumbent members of Congress, the party will fade away once its followers discover that ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’
If you read his columns, you will see that he criticizes every move and policy of Israel’s conservative government. He is an ardent supporter of Peace Now, the group that seeks peace at any price and turns the other cheek whenever Israel gets attacked by Palestinian terrorists. He favors dismantling of all Israeli settlements and wants Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza strip. Burston either seems oblivious to or supports the vows of Abbas and Fatah that there will be only ‘one state from the river to the sea.’
By ignoring the Palestinian vows to eradicate the Jewish state, I suspect that had Burston lived in Europe during the Holocaust, he would have volunteered to be first in line to the gas chambers and ovens of the Nazi extermination camps.
Name calling of its opponents is what the left does best. In his blog, A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL, Burston accuses America’s Tea Party of being exactly like Israel’s right-wing. Here is how he described both movements:
"That distinctive brew of left-baiting, Obama-hating, poorly veiled racism, clergy-driven jingoism, clergy-fanned derision of the Supreme Court, the Luddite insertion of anti-government bile where an ideology should go, a majority which feels victimized and discriminated against and threatened by minorities of indeterminate legal status."
It is obvious that Blurston is clueless about the Tea Party. While there are individuals in the loosely organized group who fit his descriptions, the overwhelming majority of party followers are ‘none of the above.’ They are merely fed up with the direction our government is going and with the members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. I am sure that the left in our country sees the Tea Party in the same way Burston sees it.
I suspect that if the Tea Party succeeds in defeating the incumbent members of Congress, the party will fade away once its followers discover that ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’
GETTING STONED IN THE MIDDLE EAST AIN'T THE SAME AS GETTING STONED IN THE U.S.
An Iranian mother-of-two faces death by stoning after being convicted of adultery. Come to think of it, stoning would be much more appropriate for America's child-molesting killers, rapist-murderers and other particularly vicious killers than putting them to sleep with a needle.
Here is a report from Mail Online on executions in Iran [and Saudi Arabia]:
Under Iran’s Islamic penal code adultery is punishable by stoning to death or flogging, while hanging is the penalty for murder and other capital crimes such as drug trafficking.
According to the country’s law the stones must be neither too big nor too small, so that death is neither mercifully quick nor endlessly prolonged. Some stoning victims are said to have taken 20 minutes to die.
Stoning sentences were widely carried out in the early years after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, but have been rare in recent years.
The Iranian judiciary officially placed a moratorium on stoning in 2002, although the punishment remained on the books.
A group of Iranian lawyers – including prominent women's rights activists, have been campaigning for years to have stoning as a penalty removed from Iranian law.
The majority of those stoned are women, who suffer disproportionately from such punishment, human rights groups say.
One reason, activists say, is that women are not treated equally before the law and the courts.
Also, men stoned to death are buried to the waist, while women are buried deeper, to stop the stones from hitting their breasts.
This apparent regard for a woman's modesty actually has a negative impact for women.
If a prisoner manages to pull free during a stoning, he or she is acquitted or jailed, but is not executed. It is easier for a man to drag himself free because he is not buried so deeply.
In December 2008 a man convicted of adultery escaped death by stoning by dragging himself out of the pit he had been buried in for the punishment.
But two other alleged male adulterers were killed by the barbaric method in the same incident, which took place in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.
Iranian activists against stoning say it is not prescribed in the Koran.
In terms of its population Iran has the highest execution rate in the world.
Amnesty International has recorded no fewer than 126 executions between January and June – among them five political prisoners.
Here is a report from Mail Online on executions in Iran [and Saudi Arabia]:
Under Iran’s Islamic penal code adultery is punishable by stoning to death or flogging, while hanging is the penalty for murder and other capital crimes such as drug trafficking.
According to the country’s law the stones must be neither too big nor too small, so that death is neither mercifully quick nor endlessly prolonged. Some stoning victims are said to have taken 20 minutes to die.
Stoning sentences were widely carried out in the early years after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, but have been rare in recent years.
The Iranian judiciary officially placed a moratorium on stoning in 2002, although the punishment remained on the books.
A group of Iranian lawyers – including prominent women's rights activists, have been campaigning for years to have stoning as a penalty removed from Iranian law.
The majority of those stoned are women, who suffer disproportionately from such punishment, human rights groups say.
One reason, activists say, is that women are not treated equally before the law and the courts.
Also, men stoned to death are buried to the waist, while women are buried deeper, to stop the stones from hitting their breasts.
This apparent regard for a woman's modesty actually has a negative impact for women.
If a prisoner manages to pull free during a stoning, he or she is acquitted or jailed, but is not executed. It is easier for a man to drag himself free because he is not buried so deeply.
In December 2008 a man convicted of adultery escaped death by stoning by dragging himself out of the pit he had been buried in for the punishment.
But two other alleged male adulterers were killed by the barbaric method in the same incident, which took place in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.
Iranian activists against stoning say it is not prescribed in the Koran.
In terms of its population Iran has the highest execution rate in the world.
Amnesty International has recorded no fewer than 126 executions between January and June – among them five political prisoners.
BUT WHAT ABOUT PRISON?
It's a good thing the makers of those handy Trojan heroin and cocaine packs [penny balloons are cheaper] didn't survey me. I would have dragged the city down even further. A lady of the evening once told me "You're Important." When I asked her why she would think I was important, she yelled at me, "Not important! Impotent! Impotent, you old fart!"
HOUSTON, YOU ARE NO LONGER THE MOST SEXED-UP CITY, AMAZINGLY SCIENTIFIC SURVEY SAYS
By Craig Malisow
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 1, 2010
If you're reading this, it means you're one of the few Houstonians who is not outside right now, having sex. Or at least that's how we're thinking after having read the results of an extremely informative survey brought to us by the jimmyhat experts at Trojan.
The "Trojan Degrees of Pleasure Survey" (which is not online, apparently) found that Houston is tied with Atlanta "for having the most frequent sex" -- 88 days. That's only two weeks behind Miami, where apparently people don't do anything except get it on all day long. (Unfortunately, we're 13 days down from our 2009 ranking. Have Houstonians gotten uglier, or lazier, or both?)
And you probably already know this, but the survey revealed that, of the ten cities surveyed, people in Houston "report the highest preference for cold weather (versus hot) for optimal sexual intercourse" -- 78 percent, compared to 67 percent nationally. But still, 66 percent of Houstonians are "always up for sex, regardless of temperature."
But the stat we should be most proud of is the "had sex in the rain outdoors" category, where we lead the other cities surveyed with a whopping 47 percent. You people are incorrigible.
The survey also reveals that "the most frequent places Americans have had sex beyond the bedroom walls include next to a fireplace, in a hot tub, and at the beach." (But what about prison?)
"The study also found that one in ten Americans have had sex in cold places, such as a ski lodge, on the slope, or in an igloo." (While there really is nothing as hot and passionate as igloo-sex, we frankly don't believe that one in ten Americans have experienced such a carnal thrill).
Ultimately, this means we need to beat Miami and reclaim our 2009 crown for most frequent sex. Hair Balls is on our way to find an igloo right now...
HOUSTON, YOU ARE NO LONGER THE MOST SEXED-UP CITY, AMAZINGLY SCIENTIFIC SURVEY SAYS
By Craig Malisow
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 1, 2010
If you're reading this, it means you're one of the few Houstonians who is not outside right now, having sex. Or at least that's how we're thinking after having read the results of an extremely informative survey brought to us by the jimmyhat experts at Trojan.
The "Trojan Degrees of Pleasure Survey" (which is not online, apparently) found that Houston is tied with Atlanta "for having the most frequent sex" -- 88 days. That's only two weeks behind Miami, where apparently people don't do anything except get it on all day long. (Unfortunately, we're 13 days down from our 2009 ranking. Have Houstonians gotten uglier, or lazier, or both?)
And you probably already know this, but the survey revealed that, of the ten cities surveyed, people in Houston "report the highest preference for cold weather (versus hot) for optimal sexual intercourse" -- 78 percent, compared to 67 percent nationally. But still, 66 percent of Houstonians are "always up for sex, regardless of temperature."
But the stat we should be most proud of is the "had sex in the rain outdoors" category, where we lead the other cities surveyed with a whopping 47 percent. You people are incorrigible.
The survey also reveals that "the most frequent places Americans have had sex beyond the bedroom walls include next to a fireplace, in a hot tub, and at the beach." (But what about prison?)
"The study also found that one in ten Americans have had sex in cold places, such as a ski lodge, on the slope, or in an igloo." (While there really is nothing as hot and passionate as igloo-sex, we frankly don't believe that one in ten Americans have experienced such a carnal thrill).
Ultimately, this means we need to beat Miami and reclaim our 2009 crown for most frequent sex. Hair Balls is on our way to find an igloo right now...
DON'T BBQ WHEN YOU CAN GO TO BURGER KING
BRIAN BLEDSOE AND ESTHER SUSTAITA: HOME-GRILLED MEAT SPELLS DOOM FOR BRYAN PAIR’S ALLEGED MOTEL DRUG SPREE
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 1, 2010
Brian Bledsoe and Esther Sustaita had made all the arrangements, and their alleged Tuesday evening drug bender was going well. They had rented a room at the Travel Lodge on Bryan's Texas Avenue, and the pharmaceutical cornucopia they had on hand would have (mildly) impressed Hunter S. Thompson.
And in a rare touch of suburban domesticity, one of the pair was availing themselves of a charcoal grill just outside the motel-room door. Meat was sizzling and smoke was rising when the cops came by on routine patrol.
And unfortunately, that fragrant grill proved their downfall.
Fearing it was a fire hazard, a patrolman got out and knocked on the door to Sustaita and Bledsoe's room. Sustaita answered. She was issued a warning for the grill, and it was subsequently discovered she was wanted on two Brazos County traffic warrants.
Things continued to unravel for the pair when police were able to search the room, whereupon they discovered that somewhat considerable drug stash: an assortment of "several" kinds of pills, recreational amounts of weed and meth, and an array of the paraphernalia necessary to ingest said substances.
Both were arrested on four charges of possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of marijuana, one count of possession of a dangerous drug and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
And both were left wondering why they couldn't have just gone to Burger King instead.
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
July 1, 2010
Brian Bledsoe and Esther Sustaita had made all the arrangements, and their alleged Tuesday evening drug bender was going well. They had rented a room at the Travel Lodge on Bryan's Texas Avenue, and the pharmaceutical cornucopia they had on hand would have (mildly) impressed Hunter S. Thompson.
And in a rare touch of suburban domesticity, one of the pair was availing themselves of a charcoal grill just outside the motel-room door. Meat was sizzling and smoke was rising when the cops came by on routine patrol.
And unfortunately, that fragrant grill proved their downfall.
Fearing it was a fire hazard, a patrolman got out and knocked on the door to Sustaita and Bledsoe's room. Sustaita answered. She was issued a warning for the grill, and it was subsequently discovered she was wanted on two Brazos County traffic warrants.
Things continued to unravel for the pair when police were able to search the room, whereupon they discovered that somewhat considerable drug stash: an assortment of "several" kinds of pills, recreational amounts of weed and meth, and an array of the paraphernalia necessary to ingest said substances.
Both were arrested on four charges of possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of marijuana, one count of possession of a dangerous drug and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
And both were left wondering why they couldn't have just gone to Burger King instead.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
2nd AMENDMENT (2)
There is no more reason to believe Elena Kagan’s testimony on gun rights than there was to believe Sonia Sotomayor’s testimony during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. That’s why I maintain that with one more Supreme Court appointment by Obama, the most anti-gun president ever, we can kiss our gun rights away.
From The New York Times: When Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, demanded to know why Ms. Kagan had described two recent Supreme Court 5-to-4 rulings in favor of gun rights as "settled law," Ms. Kagan kept her answer simple. "Because the court decided them as they did," she said. "And once the court has decided a case, it is binding precedent." She later described the rulings [Washington D.C. vs. Heller and McDonald vs. The City of Chicago] as "settled law, entitled to all the weight precedent usually gets."
However, gun owners CANNOT take any comfort in Kagan’s testimony. I, for one, would not bet the farm on her "settled law" pronouncement. All you have to do is look at Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation testimony. When asked whether after Heller it is now a matter of settled law that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to own a gun. Her answer was clear and direct: "Yes, sir." But once she was seated on the Supreme Court, Sotomayor did a complete 180 degree turn from her sworn testimony.
An article on the BIGGOVERNMENT blog by Supreme Court reporter Ken Klukowski concerning the McDonald decision notes Sotomayor’s gun rights deception during her confirmation hearings:
In the 2008 case D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court held 5−4 that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to own a gun. But because the Bill of Rights only applies directly to federal laws (such as those in D.C.), Heller only made the Second Amendment a right against the federal government.
On June 28 of this year in McDonald v. Chicago, a new 5−4 Supreme Court decision held that the individual right to own a gun from Heller is a fundamental right, and as such extends through the Fourteenth Amendment as a right against state and local governments as well.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a dissent that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor joined in full. (Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a separate dissent.) That dissent contains a telling revelation about Barack Obama’s Supreme Court.
When Sotomayor was nominated for the High Court last year, she was asked by Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D−VT) whether after Heller it is now a matter of settled law that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to own a gun. Her answer was clear and direct: "Yes, sir."
Yet Monday, Justice Sotomayor joined in full the following statement: "I can find nothing in the Second Amendment’s text, history, or underlying rationale … to protect the keeping and bearing arms for private self-defense purposes."
The dissent went on to argue that the Court should "reconsider" the Heller decision, meaning that the Court should overrule Heller’s holding that the Second Amendment applies to American citizens.
This is completely consistent with Sonia Sotomayor’s record as a Second Circuit judge, where she repeatedly ruled against gun rights. She argued that the Second Amendment does not apply to individuals, does not apply to states, and that any gun-control law should be upheld if it’s rational. (She then added that because guns are deadly, any law restricting them is rational. Hence, all gun-control laws are automatically constitutional, even complete bans.)
From The New York Times: When Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, demanded to know why Ms. Kagan had described two recent Supreme Court 5-to-4 rulings in favor of gun rights as "settled law," Ms. Kagan kept her answer simple. "Because the court decided them as they did," she said. "And once the court has decided a case, it is binding precedent." She later described the rulings [Washington D.C. vs. Heller and McDonald vs. The City of Chicago] as "settled law, entitled to all the weight precedent usually gets."
However, gun owners CANNOT take any comfort in Kagan’s testimony. I, for one, would not bet the farm on her "settled law" pronouncement. All you have to do is look at Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation testimony. When asked whether after Heller it is now a matter of settled law that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to own a gun. Her answer was clear and direct: "Yes, sir." But once she was seated on the Supreme Court, Sotomayor did a complete 180 degree turn from her sworn testimony.
An article on the BIGGOVERNMENT blog by Supreme Court reporter Ken Klukowski concerning the McDonald decision notes Sotomayor’s gun rights deception during her confirmation hearings:
In the 2008 case D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court held 5−4 that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to own a gun. But because the Bill of Rights only applies directly to federal laws (such as those in D.C.), Heller only made the Second Amendment a right against the federal government.
On June 28 of this year in McDonald v. Chicago, a new 5−4 Supreme Court decision held that the individual right to own a gun from Heller is a fundamental right, and as such extends through the Fourteenth Amendment as a right against state and local governments as well.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a dissent that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor joined in full. (Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a separate dissent.) That dissent contains a telling revelation about Barack Obama’s Supreme Court.
When Sotomayor was nominated for the High Court last year, she was asked by Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D−VT) whether after Heller it is now a matter of settled law that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to own a gun. Her answer was clear and direct: "Yes, sir."
Yet Monday, Justice Sotomayor joined in full the following statement: "I can find nothing in the Second Amendment’s text, history, or underlying rationale … to protect the keeping and bearing arms for private self-defense purposes."
The dissent went on to argue that the Court should "reconsider" the Heller decision, meaning that the Court should overrule Heller’s holding that the Second Amendment applies to American citizens.
This is completely consistent with Sonia Sotomayor’s record as a Second Circuit judge, where she repeatedly ruled against gun rights. She argued that the Second Amendment does not apply to individuals, does not apply to states, and that any gun-control law should be upheld if it’s rational. (She then added that because guns are deadly, any law restricting them is rational. Hence, all gun-control laws are automatically constitutional, even complete bans.)
THOSE RICH JEWS BLAMED FOR ALL THE SUFFERING OF POOR BLACKS
More anti-Semitic crap from the Minister of Hate.
FARRAKHAN ASKS ‘DECEITFUL’ JEWS TO ‘REPAIR DAMAGE TO BLACKS’
by Hana Levi Julian
IsraelNationalNews.com
June 30, 2010
Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan is turning to Jews and the gentiles whom they "influence" to help in the "repair" of his people.
Farrakhan, whose fiery rhetoric in past years has never shied away from using blunt terms, wrote a back-handed letter of appeal to Jewish groups across the religious spectrum last Thursday. Each group also received two books from the Nation of Islam Historical Research Team, which Farrakhan claimed provided documentation of "an undeniable record of Jewish anti-Black behavior." The books, "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews," and "Jews Selling Blacks" allegedly document the role of Jews in the slave trade and the Jim Crow laws.
"We could charge you with being the most deceitful so-called friend, while your history with us shows you have been our worst enemy," wrote the 77-year-old cleric. "This is an offer asking you and the gentiles whom you influence to help me in the repair of my people from the damage that has been done by your ancestors to mine."
The letter, which appeared to be a direct appeal for money, went on to repeat the old stereotype about all Jews being at the top of the financial ladder, and all Blacks being at the bottom. It was clear from the text that the economic crash has taken its toll on the Nation of Islam members as well as other Americans.
"Your present reality is sitting on top of the world in power, with riches and influences, while the masses of my people... are in the worst condition of any member of the human family," he wrote.
Among the groups who received Farrakhan's letter were organizations in the Orthodox and Reform movements, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the American Jewish Committee.
Farrakhan's "anti-Semitism is obsessive, diabolical and unrestrained," reaching "a new chapter in his ministry where scapegoating Jews is not just part of a message, but the message," said the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in a statement issued Tuesday in response.
Farrakhan has in the past referred to Judaism as a "gutter religion," and Adolf Hitler as "wickedly great."
But the cleric went even further on Saturday, telling a crowd of more than 5,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia that the State of Israel is populated by usurpers. Jews are not the true Biblical children of Israel, he claimed.
Quoting his mentor, Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, Farrakhan said, "Almighty G-d Allah revealed.... the Black people of America are the real children of Israel and we are the choice of G-d and that unto us, He will deliver His Promise...This question says that somebody has usurped our position. This question says that somebody has taken the promise of G-d to the children of Israel and claimed it for themselves... To all of those who feel that the children of Israel are over in that place they call Israel, you are mistaken. To the Christian right who feel that if you bless Israel you will be blessed, but for over 60 years, that nation has not been blessed."
Farrakhan also denied that Jews were enslaved in Egypt, an historic fact that forms the basis for the traditional Judeo-Christian belief in the parting of the Sea of Reeds as they fled Egyptian slavery and began their trek through the desert, towards Israel, their Promised Land.
"While the Jewish people have claimed the Biblical prophecy of Abraham's children being lost and afflicted in a strange land, and many misguided Christians have repeated that claim, there is no historical record of Jews in bondage in Egypt for four centuries," Farrakan said, adding that the prophecy instead refers to the Blacks in America.
FARRAKHAN ASKS ‘DECEITFUL’ JEWS TO ‘REPAIR DAMAGE TO BLACKS’
by Hana Levi Julian
IsraelNationalNews.com
June 30, 2010
Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan is turning to Jews and the gentiles whom they "influence" to help in the "repair" of his people.
Farrakhan, whose fiery rhetoric in past years has never shied away from using blunt terms, wrote a back-handed letter of appeal to Jewish groups across the religious spectrum last Thursday. Each group also received two books from the Nation of Islam Historical Research Team, which Farrakhan claimed provided documentation of "an undeniable record of Jewish anti-Black behavior." The books, "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews," and "Jews Selling Blacks" allegedly document the role of Jews in the slave trade and the Jim Crow laws.
"We could charge you with being the most deceitful so-called friend, while your history with us shows you have been our worst enemy," wrote the 77-year-old cleric. "This is an offer asking you and the gentiles whom you influence to help me in the repair of my people from the damage that has been done by your ancestors to mine."
The letter, which appeared to be a direct appeal for money, went on to repeat the old stereotype about all Jews being at the top of the financial ladder, and all Blacks being at the bottom. It was clear from the text that the economic crash has taken its toll on the Nation of Islam members as well as other Americans.
"Your present reality is sitting on top of the world in power, with riches and influences, while the masses of my people... are in the worst condition of any member of the human family," he wrote.
Among the groups who received Farrakhan's letter were organizations in the Orthodox and Reform movements, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the American Jewish Committee.
Farrakhan's "anti-Semitism is obsessive, diabolical and unrestrained," reaching "a new chapter in his ministry where scapegoating Jews is not just part of a message, but the message," said the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in a statement issued Tuesday in response.
Farrakhan has in the past referred to Judaism as a "gutter religion," and Adolf Hitler as "wickedly great."
But the cleric went even further on Saturday, telling a crowd of more than 5,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia that the State of Israel is populated by usurpers. Jews are not the true Biblical children of Israel, he claimed.
Quoting his mentor, Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, Farrakhan said, "Almighty G-d Allah revealed.... the Black people of America are the real children of Israel and we are the choice of G-d and that unto us, He will deliver His Promise...This question says that somebody has usurped our position. This question says that somebody has taken the promise of G-d to the children of Israel and claimed it for themselves... To all of those who feel that the children of Israel are over in that place they call Israel, you are mistaken. To the Christian right who feel that if you bless Israel you will be blessed, but for over 60 years, that nation has not been blessed."
Farrakhan also denied that Jews were enslaved in Egypt, an historic fact that forms the basis for the traditional Judeo-Christian belief in the parting of the Sea of Reeds as they fled Egyptian slavery and began their trek through the desert, towards Israel, their Promised Land.
"While the Jewish people have claimed the Biblical prophecy of Abraham's children being lost and afflicted in a strange land, and many misguided Christians have repeated that claim, there is no historical record of Jews in bondage in Egypt for four centuries," Farrakan said, adding that the prophecy instead refers to the Blacks in America.
EX-COP SOLICITS WOMEN TO HAVE SEX WITH HIS DOG
On top of everything else, he was just trying to keep his Bow Wow happy.
Bob Walsh notes: It may sound strange but neither bestiality or necrophilia are specifically illegal in California. He is technically being charged with sexual assault on an animal, which is a misdemeanor offense. I would think that a male dog having sex with a female human would, by definition, be voluntary on the dog’s part.
I’m not surprised that bestiality and having sex with a corpse (necrophilia) are NOT illegal in California. After all, they don’t call it the LAND OF NUTS AND FRUITS for nothing.
EX-POLICE OFFICER SURRENDERS IN BESTIALITY, FRAUD CASE
By Robert J. Lopez
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2010
A former Orange County police officer surrendered to authorities Tuesday after he was charged with defrauding clients while working as a private investigator and engaging in a conspiracy to commit sexual assault of an animal by posting ads on Craigslist to have women engage in bestiality with his dog, authorities said.
Kevin Michael Sianez, 53, turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to appear for a court hearing, the Orange County district attorney's office said. From 1979 to 1986, Sianez worked for the Santa Ana Police Department and the now-defunct Stanton Police Department.
A Fountain Valley resident, Sianez was charged this month in a 63-count criminal complaint. Prosecutors said the felony charges include 20 counts of grand theft by false pretense, 12 counts of fraudulently using an access card, two counts of second-degree commercial burglary, five counts of possession of a firearm by a felon stemming from a 1998 conviction for stalking and four counts of obtaining electricity services through false representation.
Sianez is also facing misdemeanor charges including three counts of conspiracy to commit sexual assault upon an animal, two counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, three counts of obtaining electricity services through false representation and one count each of criminal threats, unlawful representation as a private investigator, engaging in the business of private investigation and doing business without a valid license, according to prosecutors.
As district attorney investigators began digging into the case, they uncovered evidence of a bestiality conspiracy, prosecutors said.
Sianez is accused of posting ads on Craigslist seeking women to engage in acts of bestiality with his Labrador retriever. The ads were posted between October 2009 and January 2010, the district attorney's office said. He is accused of conspiring with several unknown co-conspirators via e-mail to set up meetings in order for the bestiality to occur.
Sianez opened his private investigator's office in 2005 and employed five people, most of whom were family members, the district attorney’s office said. He allegedly posted false reviews of his business on the Internet, misleading potential clients into believing his business had nationwide offices and investigators.
He is also accused of attempting to dissuade two former employees who tried to report his actions to the police, the district attorney’s office said.
Sianez allegedly said he would use his contacts as a former police officer to file false police reports against them, and he allegedly threatened to burn down the home of a private investigator who posted Internet comments alerting people to Sianez’s fraudulent activities, authorities said.
Bob Walsh notes: It may sound strange but neither bestiality or necrophilia are specifically illegal in California. He is technically being charged with sexual assault on an animal, which is a misdemeanor offense. I would think that a male dog having sex with a female human would, by definition, be voluntary on the dog’s part.
I’m not surprised that bestiality and having sex with a corpse (necrophilia) are NOT illegal in California. After all, they don’t call it the LAND OF NUTS AND FRUITS for nothing.
EX-POLICE OFFICER SURRENDERS IN BESTIALITY, FRAUD CASE
By Robert J. Lopez
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2010
A former Orange County police officer surrendered to authorities Tuesday after he was charged with defrauding clients while working as a private investigator and engaging in a conspiracy to commit sexual assault of an animal by posting ads on Craigslist to have women engage in bestiality with his dog, authorities said.
Kevin Michael Sianez, 53, turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to appear for a court hearing, the Orange County district attorney's office said. From 1979 to 1986, Sianez worked for the Santa Ana Police Department and the now-defunct Stanton Police Department.
A Fountain Valley resident, Sianez was charged this month in a 63-count criminal complaint. Prosecutors said the felony charges include 20 counts of grand theft by false pretense, 12 counts of fraudulently using an access card, two counts of second-degree commercial burglary, five counts of possession of a firearm by a felon stemming from a 1998 conviction for stalking and four counts of obtaining electricity services through false representation.
Sianez is also facing misdemeanor charges including three counts of conspiracy to commit sexual assault upon an animal, two counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, three counts of obtaining electricity services through false representation and one count each of criminal threats, unlawful representation as a private investigator, engaging in the business of private investigation and doing business without a valid license, according to prosecutors.
As district attorney investigators began digging into the case, they uncovered evidence of a bestiality conspiracy, prosecutors said.
Sianez is accused of posting ads on Craigslist seeking women to engage in acts of bestiality with his Labrador retriever. The ads were posted between October 2009 and January 2010, the district attorney's office said. He is accused of conspiring with several unknown co-conspirators via e-mail to set up meetings in order for the bestiality to occur.
Sianez opened his private investigator's office in 2005 and employed five people, most of whom were family members, the district attorney’s office said. He allegedly posted false reviews of his business on the Internet, misleading potential clients into believing his business had nationwide offices and investigators.
He is also accused of attempting to dissuade two former employees who tried to report his actions to the police, the district attorney’s office said.
Sianez allegedly said he would use his contacts as a former police officer to file false police reports against them, and he allegedly threatened to burn down the home of a private investigator who posted Internet comments alerting people to Sianez’s fraudulent activities, authorities said.
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