FLAG OFFICER ENDORSEMENTS

Obama’s victory aside and Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement of the president notwithstanding, it is crystal clear that Romney had the overwhelming support of the military’s flag officers

I suspect that about the same ratio of support between Obama and Romney applies to lower ranking commissioned officers and to the enlisted personnel of the nation’s armed forces.

Flag Officers who endorsed Obama
General Wesley Clark, USA, (Ret)
General Colin Powell, USA (Ret)
Major General Paul Eaton, USA (Ret)
Admiral Donald Gutter, USN, former JAG of the Navy, (Ret)
Admiral John Nathman, USN, (Ret)

Flag Officers who endorsed Romney
Admiral James B. Busey, USN, (Ret.)
General James T. Conway, USMC, (Ret.)
General Terrence R. Dake, USMC, (Ret)
Admiral James O. Ellis, USN, (Ret.)
Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, USM, (Ret.)
General Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF, (Ret)
General Tommy Franks, USA, (Ret)
General Alfred Hansen, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Ronald Jackson Hays, USN, (Ret)
Admiral Thomas Bibb Hayward, USN, (Ret)
General Chuck Albert Horner, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Jerome LaMarr Johnson, USN, (Ret)
Admiral Timothy J. Keating, USN, (Ret)
General Paul X. Kelley, USMC, (Ret)
General William Kernan, USA, (Ret)
Admiral George E.R. Kinnear II, USN, (Ret)
General William L. Kirk, USAF, (Ret)
General James J. Lindsay, USA, (Ret)
General William R. Looney III, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Hank Mauz, USN, (Ret)
General Robert Magnus, USMC, (Ret)
Admiral Paul David Miller, USN, (Ret)
General Henry Hugh Shelton, USA, (Ret)
General Lance Smith, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Leighton Smith, Jr., USN, (Ret)
General Ronald W. Yates, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Ronald J. Zlatoper, USN, (Ret)
Lieutenant General James Abrahamson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Edgar Anderson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Marcus A. Anderson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Buck Bedard, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral A. Bruce Beran, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Lyle Bien, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Harold Blot, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Mike Bowman III, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Mike Bucchi, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Walter E. Buchanan III, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Richard A. Burpee, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William Campbell, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General James E. Chambers, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward W. Clexton, Jr., USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General John B. Conaway, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Marvin Covault, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Terry M. Cross, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William Adam Dougherty, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Brett Dula, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Gordon E. Fornell, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral David Frost, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Henry C. Giffin III, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Peter M. Hekman, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Richard D. Herr, USCG, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thomas J Hickey, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Walter S. Hogle, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Ronald W. Iverson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Donald W. Jones, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Douglas J. Katz, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Jay W. Kelley, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Tom Kilcline, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Timothy A. Kinnan, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Harold Koenig, M.D., USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Albert H. Konetzni, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Buford Derald Lary, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Frank Libutti, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Stephen Loftus, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Michael Malone, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward H. Martin, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John J. Mazach, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Justin D. McCarthy, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William McCauley, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Fred McCorkle, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thomas G. McInerney, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Joseph S. Mobley, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Carol Mutter, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Dave R. Palmer, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John Theodore "Ted" Parker, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Garry L. Parks, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles Henry "Chuck" Pitman, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Steven R. Polk, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William E. Ramsey, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Joseph J. Redden, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Clifford H. "Ted" Rees, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Edward Rowny, USA (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Dutch Schultz, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles J. Searock, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General E. G. "Buck" Shuler, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Alexander M. "Rusty" Sloan, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward M. Straw, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General David J. Teal, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Billy M. Thomas, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Donald C. "Deese" Thompson, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Alan S. Thompson, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Herman O. "Tommy" Thomson, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Howard B. Thorsen, USCG, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William Thurman, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert Allen "R.A." Tiebout, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John B. Totushek, USNR, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General George J. Trautman, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Garry R. Trexler, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Jerry O. Tuttle, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Claudius "Bud" Watts, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William "Bill" Welser, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thad A. Wolfe, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General C. Norman Wood, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Michael W. Wooley, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Richard "Rick" Zilmer, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Chris Adams, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Henry Amos, USN (Ret.)
Major General Nora Alice Astafan, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Almon Bowen Ballard, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General James F. Barnette, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Robert W. Barrow, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John R. Batlzer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jon W. Bayless, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John E. Bianchi, USA, (Ret.)
Major General David F. Bice, USMC, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Linda J. Bird, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James H. Black, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Peter A. Bondi, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John L. Borling, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Tom Braaten, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Robert J. Brandt, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jerry C. Breast, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Bruce B. Bremner, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas F. Brown III, USN, (Ret.)
Major General David P. Burford, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John F. Calvert, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jay A. Campbell, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Henry Canterbury, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James J. Carey, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Nevin Carr, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Stephen K. Chadwick, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral W. Lewis Chatham, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Jeffrey G. Cliver, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Casey Coane, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Isaiah C. Cole, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Stephen Condon, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Richard C. Cosgrave, USANG, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert Cowley, USN, (Ret.)
Major General J.T. Coyne, USMC, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert C. Crates, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Tommy F. Crawford, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James P. Davidson, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Kevin F. Delaney, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James D. Delk, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Robert E. Dempsey, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jay Ronald Denney, USNR, (Ret.)
Major General Robert S. Dickman, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James C. Doebler, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Douglas O. Dollar, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Hunt Downer, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Thomas A. Dyches, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Jay T. Edwards, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General John R. Farrington, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Francis L. Filipiak, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James H. Flatley III, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Charles Fletcher, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Bobby O. Floyd, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Veronica Froman, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Vance H. Fry, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral R. Byron Fuller, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral George M. Furlong, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Frank Gallo, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Ben F. Gaumer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harry E. Gerhard Jr., USN, (Ret.)
Major General Daniel J. Gibson, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Andrew A. Giordano, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Richard N. Goddard, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Fred Golove, USCGR, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harold Eric Grant, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Jeff Grime, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Robert Kent Guest, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Tim Haake, USAR, (Ret.)
Major General Otto K. Habedank, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas F. Hall, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Donald P. Harvey, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Leonard W. Hegland, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John Hekman, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John A. Hemphill, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General Wilfred Hessert, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Don Hickman, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Geoffrey Higginbotham, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Jerry D. Holmes, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Weldon F. Honeycutt, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steve Israel, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James T. Jackson, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John S. Jenkins, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Tim Jenkins, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Ron Jesberg, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Pierce J. Johnson, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steven B. Kantrowitz, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John T. Kavanaugh, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Dennis M. Kenneally, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Michael Kerby, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral David Kunkel, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General Geoffrey C. Lambert, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Arthur Langston, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas G. Lilly, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James E. Livingston, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Al Logan, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General John D. Logeman Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Noah H. Long Jr, USNR, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Don Loren, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Andy Love, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas C. Lynch, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steven Wells Maas, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert M. Marquette, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Larry Marsh, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Clark W. Martin, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General William M. Matz, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Gerard Mauer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William J. McDaniel, MD, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral E.S. McGinley II, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Henry C. McKinney, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert Messerli, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Douglas S. Metcalf, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John W. Miller, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Patrick David Moneymaker, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Mario Montero, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Douglas M. Moore, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Walter Bruce Moore, USA, (Ret.)
Major General William Moore, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Burton R. Moore, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James A. Morgart, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Stanton R. Musser, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John T. Natter, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert George Nester, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General George W. Norwood, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert C. Olsen, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Raymund E. O’Mara, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert S. Owens, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John F. Paddock, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert W. Paret, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert O. Passmore, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Earl G. Peck, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Richard E. Perraut Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Gerald F. Perryman, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral W.W. Pickavance, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John J. Prendergast, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Fenton F. Priest, USN, (Ret.)
Major General David C. Ralston, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Bentley B. Rayburn, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harold Rich, USN , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Roland Rieve, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Tommy F. Rinard, USN , (Ret.)
Major General Richard H. Roellig, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Michael S. Roesner, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William J. Ryan, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Loran C. Schnaidt, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Carl Schneider, USAF , (Ret.)
Major General John P. Schoeppner, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Edison E. Scholes, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert H. Shumaker, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William S. Schwob, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General David J. Scott, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Hugh P. Scott, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Richard Secord, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William H. Shawcross, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Joseph K. Simeone, USAF and ANG , (Ret.)
Major General Darwin Simpson, ANG , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic, USN , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral David Oliver "D.O." Smart, USNR, (Ret.)
Major General Richard D. Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Donald Bruce Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Paul O. Soderberg, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert H. "Bob" Spiro, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Henry B. Stelling, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Daniel H. Stone, USN, (Ret.)
Major General William A. Studer, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Hamlin Tallent, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Hugh Banks Tant III, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Larry S. Taylor, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General J.B. Taylor, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Thomas R. Tempel, USA , (Ret.)
Major General Richard L. Testa, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jere Thompson, USN (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Byron E. Tobin, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Larry Twitchell, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Russell L. Violett, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General David E.B. "DEB" Ward, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Charles J. Wax, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Donald Weatherson, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John Welde, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Gary Whipple, USA , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James B. Whittaker, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Charles Williams, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral H. Denny Wisely, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Theodore J. Wojnar, USCG, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral George R. Worthington, USN, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Arthur Abercrombie, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John R. Allen, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Loring R. Astorino, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard Averitt, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Garry S. Bahling, USANG,(Ret.)
Brigadier General Donald E. Barnhart, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Charles L. Bishop, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Clayton Bridges, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jeremiah J. Brophy, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General R. Thomas Browning, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David A. Brubaker, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Chalmers R. Carr, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Fred F. Caste, USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert V. Clements, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Christopher T Cline, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General George Peyton Cole, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard A. Coleman, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Mike Cushman, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Peter Dawkins, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Sam. G. DeGeneres, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General George Demers, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Howard G. DeWolf, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Arthur F. Diehl, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David Bob Edmonds, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Anthony Farrington, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Norm Gaddis, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert H. Harkins, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas W. Honeywill, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stanley V. Hood, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General James J. Hourin, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jack C. Ihle, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas G. Jeter, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General William Herbert Johnson, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Kenneth F. Keller, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Wayne W. Lambert, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jerry L. Laws, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas J. Lennon, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John M. Lotz, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert S. Mangum, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Frank Martin, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Joe Mensching, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard L. Meyer, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Lawrence A. Mitchell, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Michael P. Mulqueen, USMC, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Ben Nelson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jack W. Nicholson, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Maria C. Owens, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Dave Papak, USMC, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Gary A. Pappas, USANG, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert V. Paschon, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Allen K. Rachel, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jon Reynolds, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Edward F. Rodriguez, Jr., USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Roger Scearce, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Dennis Schulstad, USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John Serur, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Joseph L. Shaefer, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Graham Shirley, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Raymond Shulstad, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stan Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Ralph S. Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Donald Smith, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David M. Snyder, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Michael Joseph Tashjian, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard Louis Ursone, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Earl Van Inwegen, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Terrence P. Woods, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Mitchell Zais, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Allan Ralph Zenowitz, USA, (Ret.)

POOR, POOR DEUTSCHE BANK EXECUTIVE BRIAN MULLIGAN

First LA cops helped the banker get a motel room; later, high on ‘white lightning,’ he attacked the cops and received a fractured nose and other facial injuries for his efforts

When you chose to fight with the police, you’re most likely to come out second best. Because a combative person under the influence of drugs like bath salts, PCP or meth are very difficult to control, I believe the LAPD officers acted properly in this case … but I predict that the City of Los Angeles will cave in and settle for several million dollars with this dirtbag bank executive.

THE BATH SALTS BANKER
To the cop, there are few human foibles that come as a surprise; this one did

By Jack Dunphy

PJ Media
November 2, 2012

The protestation is a familiar one to police officers: “My son (or, brother, husband, friend, neighbor, or what have you) would never do that!” And “that” refers to whatever affront to the commonweal the son (or brother, etc.) had committed to bring himself to the attention of the police. The cop’s response most often goes something like this: “He apparently would, and he apparently did, which is why he’s on his way to jail right now.” To the cop, there are few human foibles that come as a great surprise.

But once in a great while there comes along a man whose downfall is so radically divergent from his ostensible station in life that even the most jaded police officer cannot help but look on and ask, “Who would have thought it?”

Witness the case of Brian Mulligan, 53, an executive with Deutsche Bank in Los Angeles. To the casual observer it would have appeared Mr. Mulligan had it all: a high-paying job, a loving family, a nice home in a pricey suburb, and all the many trappings attendant to prosperity and success. So when back in May he found himself hospitalized after a violent confrontation with officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, Mr. Mulligan responded as one would expect: with indignant attorneys threatening legal action. Very, very costly legal action, of course.

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Mulligan’s version of his encounter with the LAPD, as related by his attorneys, can be summed up thus: On the night of May 15, Mulligan went to the Highland Park area of Los Angeles to buy medical marijuana, which, he claims, helps him sleep. While there, he was detained by police officers and ordered under threat of death to check into a motel. When he tried to escape, the officers chased him and savagely beat him without the slightest justification, resulting in serious injuries to his face and to his reputation.

The prudent reader is at this point curious. Out of all the people out and about in Highland Park that evening, why would these police officers choose this respected businessman and mistreat him so? Needless to say, the officers’ version of events is in conflict in key details with that of Mr. Mulligan. The officers say they responded to a radio call of a man wearing a pink shirt and tan pants trying to break into a car, a call that was soon followed by a second, similar one in the same area. While searching the neighborhood, the officers found Mr. Mulligan, dressed as described in the radio calls, near the entrance to Occidental College. He was drenched in sweat and appeared unsteady, but he passed a sobriety test.

Mulligan told the officers he had smoked marijuana and taken “white lightning,” a term for a relatively new street drug more commonly referred to as bath salts. He had not slept in four days, he said, and he believed people were chasing him. He also told the officers he was depressed and going through a divorce.

He was exhausted, Mulligan said, and he asked the officers to drop him at a local motel where he could get some rest. Lacking any reason to arrest or further detain him, the officers took him to the motel and assisted him in checking in.

Later that night, the same officers saw Mulligan out on the street trying to open the passenger’s side door of an occupied van. The van sped off, and when the officers went to investigate, Mulligan tried to run away. The officers caught up to him, at which time Mulligan took up what the police report described as a “fighting stance” before charging at and attempting to tackle one of the officers. There then followed what neither side disputes, to wit, a fracas that saw Mr. Mulligan come out very much on the losing end.

Come, come, say Mr. Mulligan’s attorneys. Mr. Mulligan made no admissions about using bath salts, and the mere suggestion that he did so is nothing but a further attack on his reputation, no doubt requiring an extra zero or two to be added to the eventual damage award.

Ah, but here is where the tale gets even more interesting, for along comes a witness who speaks of Mr. Mulligan’s use of bath salts and the psychological consequences that frequently accompany such use. And that witness is none other than Mr. Mulligan himself.

On May 13, two days before his encounter with the LAPD, Mr. Mulligan was in Glendale, a city adjacent to the LAPD patrol division where the incident occurred. He was in front of the Glendale police station when he spoke to an officer who, inconveniently for Mr. Mulligan, recorded the conversation, which can be heard here, on the Los Angeles Times website.

In that conversation Mr. Mulligan said that had used “white lightning” about 20 times and that he believed people were following him, possibly in a helicopter. The officer demonstrated some familiarity with bath salts and their harmful effects, and he cautioned Mr. Mulligan against further use, the effect of which advice on Mr. Mulligan was evidently short-lived.

Naturally, Mr. Mulligan’s lawyers are crying foul about the release of the Glendale officer’s tape. In a letter sent to the chiefs of police of Los Angeles and Glendale, attorney Skip Miller demanded an investigation into how the media obtained the tape, claiming it was leaked “out of context” so as to discredit Mr. Mulligan and his allegations of police abuse.

No doubt there was some intrigue that saw the tape land in the hands of reporters, but “out of context”? Here we have a man claiming he was beaten by police for no reason, and the officers counter that the man was under the influence of bath salts, a drug known to make people act bizarrely and sometimes violently. And then, in the purported victim’s own voice, we hear him describe his use of that very substance to a police officer who wisely counsels him against its further use, this occurring only two days before his run-in with the LAPD. Out of context? It’s hard to imagine a circumstance where the context could be more apt.

All of this is not to say the force used on Mr. Mulligan was necessarily justified. Even drug-addled maniacs have a constitutional right to be arrested by means of reasonable force. Mr. Mulligan surely took a beating, but it will be up to him to prove the now dubious proposition that the force used against him was unreasonable. And the tape wholly discredits any claim Mr. Mulligan might make that he was not a drug user and could not have posed a threat to the officers who found him acting strangely on the street last May 15.

Sure, Mr. Mulligan will press his case in court and lay out lots and lots of money to the platoon of attorneys now busying themselves in salvaging whatever might remain of his reputation. But in the end, the most damning witness against Mr. Mulligan will be Mr. Mulligan himself.

“I guarantee you,” said the Glendale officer to Mulligan two days before his encounter with the LAPD, “that if you continue using that stuff it will change who you are and it will destroy your family. I absolutely guarantee, ‘cause you will stop being who you are and you will become something totally different.”

“I’ve already felt that,” said Mulligan,

“And it’s gonna happen quickly,” continued the officer. “You will reach a point very quickly when those things will become permanent and there will be no fixing them.”

Little did Mr. Mulligan or the officer know just how prophetic those words would soon prove to be. Mr. Mulligan’s injuries will heal but his reputation very likely will not, no matter how many indignant lawyers he engages in the cause.
__________

“Jack Dunphy” is the pseudonym of an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.

BARCODE SWITCH DIDN’T QUITE WORK

Scheme to buy TV set for two bucks didn’t pan out for this clever-by-a-half thief.

THINGS WALMART FROWNS ON: TRYING TO PAY $2 FOR A $228 TV
By John Nova Lomax

Houston Press Hair Balls
November 5, 2012

Fans of the old BBC comedy Blackadder will remember Blackadder's humorously idiotic servant Baldrick and his evermore ridiculous "cunning plans."

Baldrick's spirit lives on in an Abilene Walmart, where on Friday 52-year-old William Keltner had a "cunning plan" of his own.

According to KTXS, Keltner's alleged plan was as follows.

1. Take a TV worth $228 and put it in a cart.
2. Take off the TV's real barcode and replace it with one valued at $1.17 and take it through a self-checkout line.
3. ????
4. Profit!

(Okay, we're mixing our comedies here. Sorry.)

Alas, poor Keltner was foiled by Walmart's loss prevention team, who took him to their office, where he allegedly attempted to hide the low-value price tag to no avail.

After Abilene police arrived and took the grizzled West Texan to jail, Keltner was charged with state-jail felony theft, destruction of evidence, and class A misdemeanor destruction of writing. Thanks to numerous previous theft convictions, his latest charge was enhanced.

150,000 GERMAN SOLDIERS AND UP TO ONE MILLION RUSSIAN TROOPS LOST THEIR LIVES DURING THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD

Of the 110,000 Germans who surrendered, only 5,000 survived the Soviet prison camps to make it back home after the war’s end

The deaths at Stalingrad make our casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars pale by comparison. What surprised me in this report is that German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus and his staff were living in waist-deep shit at the time of their surrender. That was how the most decisive battle of WWII, if not history, ended.

‘HUMAN EXCREMENT WAS PILED UP WAIST-HIGH’: FULL HORROR OF STALINGRAD REVEALED FOR FIRST TIME AS INTERVIEWS WITH RUSSIAN SOLDIERS FINALLY SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY
Stalingrad Protocols gathers interviews with hundreds of troops that Russia had suppressed after the Second World War as only heroism was lauded

By Allan Hall

Mail Online
November 5, 2012

A new book has finally laid bare the full horrors of the Battle Of Stalingrad in the words of ordinary Russian soldiers, whose memories were suppressed by the Soviet authorities for 70 years.

The Stalingrad Protocols gathers interviews with hundreds of veterans that Russia had deemed too graphic to publish after the Second World War because only heroism was lauded.

Historians believe the book, compiled by the German historian Jochen Hellbeck, will change the way the world views the six-month 1942-43 battle that cost over a million men their lives and forever destroyed Hitler's ambitions to colonize the Soviet Union.

Professor Hellbeck gained access to nearly 10,000 pages of documents in the history department archives at the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

He claims the interviews demolish the myth that the Red Army only fought out of fear and that over 13,000 soldiers were executed for cowardice - in fact, the real number was lower than 300.

And the book has graphic and illuminating details about the disintegration of the German 6th Army - the conquerors of Poland and France - at Stalingrad, some of whom were reduced to cannibalism in order to stay alive in the ruins of the city as the mercury plunged to -40c below.

The bloodiest battle in Second World War came to an end on January 31, 1943 when Field Marshall Friedrich Paulus surrendered, disobeying the orders of his Fuhrer to kill himself.

Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Vinokur was the first to catch sight of Paulus and his recollection is published for the first time in the book.

He said: 'Paulus lay on the bed when I entered. He lay there in his coat, with his cap on. He had two-week-old beard stubble and seemed to have lost all courage.'

His aide, Major Anatloy Zoldatov, recalled: 'The filth and human excrement and who knows what else was piled up waist-high. It stank beyond belief. There were two toilets and signs above them both that read: "No Russians allowed".'

'They could have easily shot themselves,' said Major General Ivan Burmakov. 'But Paulus and his staff chose not to do that. They had no intention of dying - they were such cowards. They didn't have the courage to die.'

Hitler was obsessed with the city that bore the name of his Communist nemesis and wanted it taken at all costs. Equally, the Russians decided to hold it at all costs, and did so.

The battle for Stalingrad became a primitive slugging match in ruined houses, cellars and bunkers.

Between half and a million Russian men lost their lives, and 150,000 Germans. Of the 110,000 Germans who surrendered, only 5,000 would survive Stalin's gulags to return to a defeated Germany.

The battle cost the German army a quarter of everything it possessed by way of material - guns, tanks and munitions. It was a defeat from which it never recovered and for days afterwards in Berlin all shops and restaurants were closed as a mark of respect.

The Stalingrad Protocols adds a human dimension to 'Private Ivan', who has for decades been portrayed in the West as a man who fought with a Communist gun at his back. While there were executions, they were far below Western estimates.

The papers show that many Russians fought with a fanatical fervor because of the Nazi atrocities they had seen on the road to Stalingrad.

'One sees the young girls, the children, who hang from the trees in the park,' said sniper Vasily Zaytsev, adding that 'this has a tremendous impact'.

AS YOU GO TO VOTE, THINK ABOUT THE WORDS OF GEN. PATRICK BRADY, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT

If what Gen. Brady says is true, anyone concerned about America's need for a decisive and fearless Commander-in-Chief during a time of crisis should not hesitate to vote against President Obama.

U.S. GENREAL: OBAMA PARALYZED BY FEAR
Gen. Patrick Brady explains why president abandoned Americans in Benghazi

By Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, U.S. Army (ret.)

WND
November 5, 2012

Now I understand! For years, many veterans and active military have been alarmed about the idiocy of the changes in battlefield aeromedical evacuation known as Dust Off. For reasons having nothing to do with patient care, Dust Off has been removed from the control of the professionals, the medics, and put under the control of amateurs, aviation staff officers, or ASOs. This is the first such change since the Civil War.

I document the unparalleled excellence of Dust Off, and the effects of the changes, in my book, “Dead Men Flying.” Needless to say, it was the most outstanding battlefield operating system of that war – some one million souls saved and unprecedented survival rates. No warrior of Vietnam is more revered than the Dust Off crews.

In the words of Gen. Creighton Abrams, former U.S. Army chief of staff and former supreme commander in Vietnam: “A special word about the Dust Offs … Courage above and beyond the call of duty was sort of routine to them. It was a daily thing, part of the way they lived. That’s the great part, and it meant so much to every last man who served there. Whether he ever got hurt or not, he knew Dust Off was there. It was a great thing for our people.”

Fast forward to current battlefields. We hear horror stories about patients waiting and dying because Dust Off didn’t launch or came too late. The launch standard in my unit in Vietnam was two minutes; today it is 15 minutes! Can anyone imagine a fire truck taking 15 minutes to get under way? I could go on and on, but one has to ask, why? Why the changes to an excellent, proven system?

The answer is the Obama-Panetta Doctrine. In response to the horrible abandonment of dying Americans in Benghazi, Defense Secretary Panetta said: “(The) basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on; without having some real-time information about what’s taking place.”

On its face, that is a remarkable, indeed incomprehensible, change from America’s doctrine in past wars. By that standard, there would have been no Normandy or Inchon. In fact, I can’t think of a war we fought in which we didn’t go into harm’s way without real-time information or to save lives – something the president refused to do in Benghazi. Dust Off would never launch in Vietnam under that doctrine.

To fully understand the doctrinal change, one has to understand President Obama. He has a dearth of understanding of our military and military matters. We hear he is uncomfortable in the presence of ranking military and seldom meets with them. He is not a person who can make decisions, and he takes an extraordinary amount of time to do so, leading to such unseemly labels for a commander in chief as “ditherer in chief.”

President Obama may have set records for voting “present” on important issues. He cowers from crisis decisions. He is a politician who thinks only in terms of votes and his image. Although I was a psychology major back in the day (I’d love to hear a professional analyze risk and Obama), I won’t try to define his insides, but I believe he is risk-averse – fearful of risk – and that is the basis of the Obama-Panetta doctrine.

This aversion for risk dominates Dust Off rescue operations where, in addition to an unconscionable reaction time, risk assessment is the primary consideration for mission launch – not patient care. In two years flying Dust Off in Vietnam, I never heard that term, nor did any Dust pilot I know. The ASOs, remote from the battle, have developed time-consuming algorithms to analyze risk while the patient bleeds, something that’s impossible to do by anyone other than the pilot and the ground forces at the scene.

And Obama’s terror of risk contributed to the massacre of Americans by terrorists in Benghazi. We hear that the president did not even convene the Counterterrorism Security Group while the Benghazi terrorist massacre was visually and verbally available in real time. That is like ignoring FEMA during Hurricane Sandy. But once you bring in a group labeled anti-terrorist, you have to acknowledge terror exists, something the president is loath to do.

My veteran friends are horrified by the Obama-Panetta doctrine. At least 359 retired flag officers support Mitt Romney – only five that I know of support Obama. Some 150 former prisoners of war also support Romney; I know of none who support Obama.

America needs to listen to these veterans. They understand leadership. They know how to deal with risk in war. They would not want this man with them in combat or crisis. They never left a needy comrade behind. Obama did.

THE ONION'S ISSUE-BY-ISSUE CANDIDATE GUIDE

The Onion
October 31, 2012

As Election Day nears, inform your vote with The Onion’s definitive issue-by-issue guide to the presidential candidates.

U.S. Presidential Candidates Barack Obama (Democrat) and Mitt Romney (Republican)

Entitlement Programs

O: At this point is just working on making sure all elderly Americans have something to shit into.

R: Romney is firmly against all entitlement programs except unemployment insurance, which he was forced to rely on in his mid-20s when he was an out-of-work manufacturing laborer in Massachusetts.

Abortion

O: Seeks to ensure that all women have unimpeded access to family planning resources and abortion providers, particularly Ann Barrows of Roanoke, VA, whom he met at a hotel bar on a campaign swing several months ago and whom he believes should definitely go to Planned Parenthood and really give some good, solid thought to terminating this pregnancy.

R: Pro-government-choice.

Israel

O: Recognizes there are 41 actual U.S. states that demand less of his attention than this obnoxious, self-important little puke of an ally.

R: Adamantly “pro-Heeb” and lovingly refers to the nation as “his little Jew-Jew-Be.”

Gun Control

O: Would like to see stricter gun controls laws but admits that giving post-shooting spree speeches is his time to shine.

R: Any weapons that help kill off the burgeoning deer population always running out in the middle of fucking traffic in Belmont, MA are fine by him.

Stance on Torture

O: Since he’s not running against torture-survivor John McCain this time around, he can finally express his true feelings on the subject: absolutely loves it.

R: Favors multiple forms of torture, including subjecting Americans to campaign stops, political rallies, commercials, and convention speeches.

Iran

O: Policy involves a lot of sighing and telling Hillary Clinton to please just fix it.

R: Is open to World War III if it increases GDP.

Education

O: Actually does believe copies of the Quran should be available in schools for its teachings on morality, but will probably wait another year or so to bring it up.

R: Romney is a spokesman for “It Gets Even Better,” a national PSA campaign targeted at bullies.

Taxes

O: See page 226 of ‘Mein Kampf.’

R: Has a tax plan that would take way too long to explain, but will totally work, so please just elect him president.

Immigration

O: Believes all individuals who come to the United States seeking a better life deserve the right to be pandered to by Democratic leaders for a few months once every two years.

R: Illegal immigrants who were brought to the country as small children will be granted citizenship, but their parents will be executed and they will be forced to watch.

The Environment

O: Has spoken at length about clean air and water and low carbon emissions, aiming to lull the environment into a false sense of trust and complacency, at which point he can frack the shit out of it.

R: Will reduce our contribution to greenhouse gases and harmful pollutants by closing down thousands of manufacturing plants and factories across the country.

The Economy

O: Considers the economy a distraction from other issues he considers important, such as being considered a success and having people like him.

R: Plans on implementing an economic policy that is better in every way imaginable and will also save you money, all while costing the government nothing. He’s just that good.

Health Care

O: Wonders what ideas Romney has on health care, as the Republican nominee has come up with some pretty great ones in the past – such as an individual mandate and insurance exchanges – so the president thinks it would be great to just pick his brain about what else to pursue.

R: Working on plan to provide Americans with affordable body bags.

IS SPAIN BRITAIN’S MEXICO?

Apparently, Spain is home to gangs that smuggles drugs originating in North Africa into Britain, just as Mexican cartels smuggle drugs originating in South America into the U.S.

Spain had better hope that it won’t have an outbreak of gang warfare like Mexico is expeirnecing.

51 PEOPLE ARRESTED IN SPAIN FOR ROLE IN DRUG GANG ‘THAT FLOODED BRITAIN WITH CANNABIS’
Operation saw raids in Malaga, Seville, Alicante, Girona, Barcelona and Cadiz against international gang made up of Spaniards, Moroccans, Russians, Brits, Germans, Dutch and Romanians

By Tom Worden

Mail Online
November 2, 2012

Two Brits were among 51 people arrested as police smashed a huge international drug trafficking gang flooding the UK with cannabis.

Spanish police seized 1640 kilos of cannabis worth £5 million as well as four speed boats, 17 cars, vans and motorbikes used to smuggle the narcotics.

Police said the organisation was made up of Spaniards, Moroccans, Russians, Brits, Germans, Dutch and Romanians.

They allegedly smuggled millions of pounds worth of cannabis from north Africa into Europe.

Armed officers swooped on 11 properties and seized computers, mobile phones and machinery for packaging the drugs.

The police operation, codenamed Mirka, was launched in August 2011 by the Civil Guard and National Police.

It is thought the two Brits were arrested in Coin, near Malaga.

Spain's interior ministry said in a statement: 'This network transported the drugs in speedboats from Morocco, unloading the boats on beaches on the Spanish coast which was later hidden in vehicles to be transported to other EU countries.

'The drugs heading to the United Kingdom were packaged in a warehouse in Coin, Malaga, where police discovered a secret room, hidden behind some shelving, used to vacuum pack the cannabis resin.'

Drugs were seized in the provinces of Malaga, Seville, Alicante, Girona, Barcelona and Cadiz.

UNCLE – 1, NEPHEW ON PAROLE – 0

Nephew on parole goes after uncle he believed had ratted him out as committing a string of burglaries, gets shot with a load of rock salt.

GUT-SHOT PAROLEE WALKS AWAY FROM HOSPITAL
By Bob Walsh

PACOVILLA Corrections blog
November 2, 2012

Jimmy Blake Terry, 25, of Murphys, was in the hospital in Modesto in custody on a parole violation when he walked away. It is a noteworthy feat as his uncle had earlier blasted him in the gut with a 12-gague loaded with rock salt and metal scrap.

Robert Terry had loaded up the shotgun with the intent of protecting himself from his nephew if necessary, but not killing him. Young Jimmy thought his uncle had implicated him in a string of local burglaries. Robert knew his nephew thought that he had fingered him, and was afraid that young Jimmy would come after him.

Robert was initially arrested for shooting Jimmy, but the DA kicked him loose after determining it was indeed self-defense. The cops are still looking for young Jimmy according to the Modesto Bee.

MAN KILLED ON GOLF COURSE

Struck in head by lightning-fast swing of 4-Wood

The Unconventional Gazette
November 4, 2012

A foursome of men is waiting at the men's tee while a foursome of women is hitting from the ladies' tee. The ladies are taking their time.

When the final lady is ready to hit her ball with a 4-Wood, she hacks it 10 feet. Then she goes over and whiffs it completely. Then she hacks it another ten feet and finally hacks it another five feet. She looks up at the waiting men and says apologetically, "I guess all those fucking lessons I took over the winter didn't help."

One of the men immediately responds, "Well, there you have it. You should have taken golf lessons instead of fucking lessons!"

He never even had a chance to duck. He was only 43. Funeral services are pending.

IDIOTS AMONG CONSERVATIVES CRITICIZE CHRIS CHRISTIE FOR BEING A DECENT MAN

Some conservatives, among them buffoon Rush Limbaugh and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, are criticizing Gov. Chris Christie for thanking President Obama for his promises of government relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy while they toured devastated areas of New Jersey together.

Christie did what any decent man, or governor for that matter, would do when the President of the United States promises that the federal government will provide all available resources to help the people that have been devastated by the ravages of a natural disaster.

Roach Limburger, that Texas blivot (10 pounds of shit in a 2 pound bag), was quick to shoot his big mouth off with a barrage of criticism aimed at Christie’s bipartisanship during a period of crisis. We’ve come to expect Roach’s idiotic rants for the edification of his dodoheads, but Rupert Murdoch taking a cheap shot at Christie for thanking Obama by tweeting “Now Christie, while thanking O, must re- declare for Romney, or take blame for next four dire years,” that is outrageous!

We can dismiss Limbaugh’s entertaining rants for what they are. But Murdoch implying that Christie endorsed Obama when he praised the president for coming to the aid of hurricane victims and blaming the New Jersey governor for Romney’s probable defeat?

I’ve got news for Mr. Murdoch. If Obama is reelected, it won’t be because Christie praised the president. It’ll be because the Republican Party’s positions on abortion and contraceptives weakened Romney, and then Hurricane Sandy came along and blew him away.

God save America and the Republicans from the idiots in the GOP.

EX-CON PASTOR KILLS AGAIN

Turned to God to atone for past sins, but evidently you can’t teach an old dog new tricks

Congregation knew their pastor had served 12 years in prison for killing a woman. Before that, in 1981, he had been convicted of choking and stabbing a 17-year-old girl.

PASTOR CHARGED IN MURDER OF FIANCEE’S DAUGHTER HAD HISTORY OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

International Business Times
November 2, 2012

The murder confession of John D. White, a Michigan pastor who admitted to killing his fiancée’s daughter in what is being described as a sexually-motivated crime, has left a community in Broomfield Township stunned.

White, an ex-convict, has been a pastor at the small town’s Christ Community Fellowship for three years. He reportedly asked his congregation of 14 members to start a prayer chain for 24-year-old Rebekah Gay when she was still missing, before making his startling murder confession to investigators, said a friend of White’s to the Associated Press.

"He was pretty shook up. He said the police were giving him a hard time,” said Donna Houghton, 76, a church elder who helped hire White back in 2009.

The 55-year-old pastor was charged with first-degree murder on Thursday, and remained jailed without bond on Friday at the Isabella County Courthouse.

"We are all absolutely floored," said Houghton, who claimed that she had defended White’s innocence up until she was told that he had already confessed to the murder. “Then he had no leg to stand on.”

Houghton said that White was close with Gay and had frequently babysat her 3-year-old son while she was away at work. White told investigators that after burying Gay’s naked body in a wooded area nearby, he went back to her trailer and dressed up her son in a costume so that the child’s father could pick him up for Halloween.

White also admitted to repeatedly striking Gay’s head with a mallet and strangling her with a zip tie, allegedly in pursuit of a sexual fantasy of having sex with her dead body. He said that he could not remember if he had had intercourse with her after she lost consciousness.

According to the Lansing State Journal, it’s not the first time White has been charged with a similar crime against a young woman. Houghton said that she and the entire congregation had all been aware of White’s criminal history when he applied for the pastor position at the church.

White served almost 12 years in prison for manslaughter, after killing a 26-year-old woman in Kalamazoo County. He had previously been sentenced to probation in 1981, for choking and stabbing a 17-year-old girl in Battle Creek, Mich.

"He was absolutely contrite," said Houghton. "All kinds of people turn around and meet the Lord and they are a different person. He was doing a lot of good in the community. ... He was doing a lot of good and Satan did not want him doing good, and Satan got to him."

10,500 DEATHS THUS FAR THIS YEAR IN WAR AGAINST MEXICAN CARTELS

There’ll be no end in sight so long as there is this great divide in Mexico between a massive poverty-stricken class and a tiny ruling class of extremely wealthy Mexicans.

NEARLY 60,000 DRUG WAR DEATHS IN MEXICO UNDER CALDERON
According to Monterrey's Milenio daily, organized crime-related violence has claimed 57,449 lives in Mexico during the six-year presidency of Felipe Calderon, including 10,485 so far this year

Borderland Beat
November 2, 2012

Organized crime-related violence has claimed 57,449 lives in Mexico during the presidency of Felipe Calderon, whose six-year term ends on Dec. 1, according to a tally published Thursday by the Milenio daily.

Based on its own calculations, the Monterrey-based newspaper also put the number of drug war-related homicides thus far in 2012 at 10,485 and said 888 people were killed in October, the second-lowest monthly total this year.

Seven of Mexico’s 32 federal entities accounted for 72 percent of the homicides last month, according to Milenio. In October, the country’s most violent state was Guerrero with 145 murders, followed by Chihuahua with 139, Sinaloa with 94 and Nuevo Leon and Jalisco with 68 each.

The states that saw the biggest drop in homicides last month relative to September were Michoacan, Baja California and San Luis Potosi, in that order.

The last time the government updated the country’s drug war death toll was on Jan. 11, when it said 47,515 people had been killed in organized crime-related violence between Dec. 1, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2011.

In August, the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, which poet-turned-peace activist Javier Sicilia founded after his son was murdered by suspected drug-gang members, put the death toll from Mexico’s drug war at roughly 70,000.

Calderon, of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, militarized the struggle against Mexico’s heavily armed, well-funded drug mobs shortly after taking office in December 2006, deploying tens of thousands of troops across the country.

The strategy has led to headline-grabbing killings or captures of 25 of the country’s 37 most-wanted criminal leaders – including Los Zetas cartel leader Heriberto Lazcano, killed in a shootout with marines on Oct. 7 – but the violence has continued unabated.

Calderon will be succeeded in a month by Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which will return to power after a 12-year hiatus.

Peña Nieto, who has vowed to bring down the violence during his six-year term, says he will keep the army on the streets in Mexico’s most insecure areas while bolstering the Federal Police’s capacity to fight crime.

The president-elect has said he will not seek accords or truces with drug gangs, as the PRI is widely suspected of doing in the past.

Calderon suggested in an interview with The New York Times in October 2011 that members of the PRI, which ruled Mexico uninterruptedly for 71 years, would be susceptible to making deals with organized crime the party regained power.

‘IN ORDER TO KEEP FROM LOOKING SUSPICIOUS,’ THAT IS LOOKING LIKE COPS

Fighting crime or having a good time at the taxpayers’ expense? For the past three years, 170 Houston vice officers have been investigating the Treasures strip club

It is not unusual for vice cops to find violations a number of times at a particular club or for narcotics officers to buy drugs a number of times from the same dealer before filing any charges. The reason for making numerous investigations before filing charges is to show that the violations were not isolated incidents.

In the Treasures case, the HPD vice officers may have crossed the line by engaging in lap dances. And 170 cops investigating the same club over a three-year period seems a bit over the top and hard to justify. Were they fighting crime or having a good time at the taxpayers’ expense?

FIGHTING CRIME OR CROSSING THE LINE?: TWO HPD VICE COPS PAID $850 FOR DRINKS AND LAP DANCES AT POPULAR STRIP CLUB
by Jeremy Rogalski

khou.com
October 31, 2012

HOUSTON -- The City of Houston and Harris County are quick to call Treasures, the Galleria-area cabaret, a haven for criminal activity that needs frequent police attention.

But some say crime has nothing to do with it.

"They're in there drinking beer, having a good time and getting dances from pretty girls," said attorney Casey Wallace, who represents Treasures.

So who is Wallace talking about? Houston vice cops, who he claims come into Treasures not to police, but to partake.

"You can clearly see him groping her," Wallace said of a club security video, in which an undercover HPD sergeant is getting a table dance.

And it’s not just any dance, Wallace said.

"There you can see where he's kissing on her breasts in the club, in public," Wallace said.

Under the law, that could be considered misdemeanor public lewdness, according to Wallace.

In the September 2009 video, the sergeant’s partner also is seen groping another dancer on the same night.

In fact, police records show during their investigation, the two cops over two days, bought alcohol and table dances totaling $850 of taxpayer money.

And the reason for all of it: “In order to keep from looking suspicious,” according to the police report.

And what was the result of the two-day operation?

“(There was) not a single arrest, not a single criminal charge, nothing but some officers inside having a good time in Treasures," Wallace claimed.

In fact, police records obtained by the I-Team reveal similar visits to the club. In April, three undercover officers got table dances, and "observed numerous sexually-oriented business violations,” but chose not to arrest anybody. They did write "investigation to continue.” Three days later, the same cops went in again, and again they got table dances and observed violations. But again, no arrests were made. And again they determined, “investigation to continue."

And then there’s a case in May, where undercover cops came to the club and officers negotiated for two dancers "to engage in oral sex with each other.” But instead of arresting them immediately, the cops "observed the suspects" doing the sex act and "waited for this to be completed."

"Is this really where we need our city resources spent?" Wallace said.

He called it a pattern of targeted harassment.

"One hundred and seventy officers have been investigating Treasures for the past three years, 170 officers have not investigated any of the other clubs in Houston," Wallace said.

So what happens when police do make arrests? The I-Team checked court records and found that three out of every four prostitution cases from Treasures are dismissed.

And yet, “It is the biggest whorehouse in Texas," according to Terry O’Rourke, second in command to Vince Ryan at the Harris County Attorney’s Office.

The County Attorney’s office recently joined City of Houston's attorneys, who've been battling Treasures for years in court. They call the club a public nuisance.

As for the vice cops in those club security videos, Executive Assistant Chief Martha Montalvo said nothing illegal happened, but the two officers were transferred to another division for not following department policy.

In her statement, Montalvo said HPD has since revised its guidelines to ensure the behavior of its officers is appropriate.

TOO BAD ISRAELIS CANNOT VOTE IN AMERICA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

If Israelis could vote in our November 6 election, they would secure the presidency for Romney

It’s a shame that America’s Jews aren’t as smart as Israel’s Jews. I don’t have a doubt that America’s liberal Jews would vote for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan if that rabid anti-Semite were to be the Democratic Party’s candidate for president.

ISRAEEL IS ROOTING FOR ROMNEY DAYS BEFORE U.S. ELECTION
By Ryan Jones

Israel Today
November 1, 2012

Just days before American voters go to the polls to elect the next US president, Israelis have again voiced loud and clear that they would prefer to see the challenger, Mitt Romney, take up residence in the White House.

A survey conducted on behalf of Israel Radio found that 45 percent of Israelis would choose Romney for president, while only 29 percent would vote for the incumbent, Barack Obama.

The same poll again confirmed that Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to win Israel's upcoming election in January of next year, and many Israelis fear that mounting tensions between their leader and Obama would result in undue American pressure on the Jewish state.

Netanyahu himself has publicly voiced no preference, but the warm way he received Romney in Israel earlier this year and the chemistry between the two men was evidence enough that Netanyahu is hoping for a Romney win as much or more so than his countrymen.

Israel itself has been a major election topic between Romney and Obama, and has featured prominently in televised debates.

While Obama maintains that he has been good and fair to Israel, Romney accuses Obama of "throwing Israel under the bus" in his quest to appease the Muslim world.

Furthermore, Romney has cautioned that if Obama is re-elected, Iran will almost certainly attain nuclear weapons, and that is a message that resonates strongly with Israelis.

NOT THE FINEST MOMENTS FOR SOME OF SAN ANTONIO’S FINEST

Cops pay a price for showing drunken and possibly doped-up fellow cop ‘professional courtesy’

This sad tale is reminiscent of the Keystone Cop sagas and not that of a professional police force.

SAN ANTONIO COPS SUSPENDED FOR ATTEMPTED COVER-UP OF DRUNKEN COP, HIS WRECKED TRUCK, AND THE PORN AND ‘SEXUAL DEVICE’ INSIDE
By John Nova Lomax

Houston Press Hair Balls
November 2, 2012

A trio of San Antonio cops have been suspended and several more are under investigation for their roles in the cover-up of a police sergeant's allegedly drunken wreck of a city-owned truck.

According to internal police disciplinary documents released to WOAI, the cops also removed alcohol, pornography, and a "sexual device" from the crashed vehicle.

The documents state that around 5:30 a.m. on February 2, SAPD dispatchers started receiving garbled transmissions from one of their own -- Sergeant Joseph Myers of the narcotics squad. The cop claimed that he was being followed by parties unknown, and SAPD's graveyard shift flew into action.

While a citywide search was underway, at 6 a.m. police received a call about a man clad only in underwear wandering a way from a wrecked gold-colored truck on busy Highway 281 near St. Mary's Street. The man was reportedly stumbling and creating a danger to himself and members of the public.

Forty-five minutes later some security guards called in to report a "disoriented and intoxicated man" in a parking garage, where he was "creating a disturbance, and attempting to gain entry in to various parked vehicles, claiming they were his."

That was where SAPD sergeants Andrea Klauer and Ramiro Garcia found the man -- Myers -- and they took him into custody. Myers could neither explain why he was in the parking garage nor ascertain the whereabouts of the truck.

By that time, the truck had been found, wrecked into a guardrail but still running with the keys in the ignition and requiring a tow.

"A number of suspicious items were found in the truck, including alcohol and empty alcohol containers, pornography, and a sexual device," the document states. "Rather than secure the contents of the truck as evidence, the suspicious items were removed from the truck."

On-duty cops called Lieutenant Steven Velasquez, Myers's immediate supervisor on the narcotics squad. Velasquez reportedly ordered that Myers be taken home instead of to jail, even though, as the report states, "by [Velasquez's] account, Sergeant Myers was incoherent and even though no plausible explanation was given as to why he was there in his underwear or how he even got there."

By that time, cops still higher up the chain of command had gotten wind of Myers's shenanigans. Captain Jimmy Reyes, commander of the narcotics unit, found out that a Sergeant Berrigan had Myers in his cruiser and was taking him home. Reyes radioed Berrigan and told him to turn around and meet him in the Alamodome parking lot.

There, Myers's "odd behavior and manner of dress" was observed not just by Reyes but also Deputy Chief Janae Florance and Assistant Chief Jose Banales (who was acting chief that day, as Police Chief Bill McManus was away.) Banales ordered that Myers undergo drug testing.

For their actions in this debacle, Velasquez was suspended for 45 days, Klauer for five, and Garcia for 15 days.

Placed on administrative leave immediately following the incident, Myers retired from the force later that month. He is eligible for a partial pension, as he served slightly more than 20 years.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A retired police lieutenant offered this comment:

I have given and received professional courtesy during my career usually for allowing a rowdy drunk cop to be taken home by his buddies. The case of the San Antonio officer is a different matter.

He was DWI.

Wrecked a vehicle.

Clearly a danger to himself and others.

Attempting to break in vehicles.

Running around the city in his underwear.

I think professional courtesy turned into a cover up in this situation. But why?

I want to know who picked up the dildo? Now that's the ultimate in professional courtesy!

He should have been booked into jail and the sex toy placed in his property.

JUSTICE FOR RAPIST MEXICAN CARTEL STYLE

Swift justice with no appeals for suspect in rape of young girls

Had this rapist been brought before the Mexican courts, he probably would have gotten no more than six months with conjugal visits in a lockup, that is if in the unlikely event he had been convicted.

ACCUSED OF RAPE: MAN EXECUTED AND HANGED ON ACAPULCO BRIDGE WITH NARCO MESSAGE

Borderland Beat
November 1, 2012

A man executed with a shot to the head, was hanged on a bridge on the Autopista del Sol, Cuernavaca-Acapulco at Km 346 +200, towards the port of Acapulco

Authorities were alerted by motorists circulating at an early hour on the Highway of the Sol.. Preventive police arrived to the scene with the ministerial prosecutor to record the facts and seek the services of forensic medical personnel and experts to initiate appropriate investigations and remove the body hanging from the bridge. The bridge connects to Sabaniña village, just outside the port of Acapulco.

Narcomensaje

The body had a card containing a message which read: “This happened to me for raping young girls, and is also going to happen to YOU Victor Garcia, Jose Garcia and Javier Garcia"

The body of the deceased was identified as Lamberto Carmen Flores, by his CURP card which was found in his wallet. (CURP is a federal ID similar to Social Security)

On different parts of his body were tattoos, mostly pertaining to Santa Muerte. Also observed was a single 9 mm bullet hole in the front part of his head. A cap found near by, apparently slipped from his head, also displayed a bullet hole, that aligned with the head bullet hole. His hands were bound with rope behind his back.

The body was taken to the Forensic Medical Service facilities instead, where his family claimed it, and gave their statements to the prosecutor.

REPORT: ONLY WAY NATION WILL PAY ATTENTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE IS IF JULIA ROBERTS DIES IN HURRICANE

The Onion
October 31, 2012

TALLAHASSEE, FL—As the nation recovers from Hurricane Sandy, Florida State University researchers released a report Wednesday revealing that the only circumstance in which Americans would ever pay any attention at all to the issue of climate change would be if film actress Julia Roberts were killed in a hurricane.

“Our data suggest that Julia Roberts will either have to drown in rising floodwaters or be crushed to death as 170-mile-per-hour winds demolish her home before the country even acknowledges global warming,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Brooke Langley, adding that the widely beloved star of Erin Brockovich and Pretty Woman would need to be killed in no less than a Category 1 tropical cyclone for the populace to notice that irregular climate shifts pose a very real threat to humanity. “Even if millions are killed and entire cities are washed away, only the sight of Ms. Roberts’ pale, lifeless corpse lying amid storm wreckage will convince Americans to have open and frank discussions about the disastrous effects of greenhouse-gas emissions. And even then, there’s no telling if it will be enough for the country to actively take any steps to reduce them.”

At press time, disappointed climatologists confirmed that Julia Roberts remains alive and was entirely unharmed by Hurricane Sandy.

HURRICANE SANDY HAS OBAMA LOOKING PRESIDENTIAL

The devastating super storm helps Obama’s reelection chances

All the polls show Obama slightly ahead of Romney in the swing states of Ohio, Virginia and Florida. If the polls are correct, Obama is a cinch to be reelected.

Now that Hurricane Sandy has devastated much of the East Coast, the super storm has given Obama the chance to look presidential and the President has taken full advantage of it. His televised appearances with federal emergency management officials, his podium declarations and his tour, together with Gov. Chris Christie, of devastated New Jersey communities enhanced the President’s image.

Here is an example of looking presidential – a somber but decisive take charge leader. Standing in front of the Washington headquarters of the Red Cross, Obama declared: "My message to the federal government … no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they’re needed as fast as possible, as hard as possible, and for the duration. My message to the governors and the mayors, and through them to the communities that were hit so hard, is that we'll do everything we can to get resources to you and [get] any unmet need identified."

If Obama wins on November 6, he can thank Hurricane Sandy’s ‘October Surprise’ for helping him attain another four years in office. With only five days left until the election, there simply isn’t enough time for people to get pissed off at the Obama administration when the federal bureaucracy and red tape start screwing up those relief efforts.

SCOTUS REVISITING LEGALITY OF SEARCHES BY DRUG SNIFFER DOGS

A major problem?: Researchers have found that the behavior of the dog handler affects the behavior of the animal

I’ve personally been present a number of times when sniffer dogs detected the presence of drugs. It will be a shame if the Supreme Court renders a decision that deprives the police of a valuable weapon in the war on drugs.

SUPREME COURT TO REVISIT USE OF DOGS AS BASIS FOR DRUG SEARCHES
In two Florida cases, the court will decide whether a police dog’s alert is cause for searches. Some caution against using canines in place of search warrants

By David G. Savage

Los Angeles Times
October 31, 2012

WASHINGTON — Researchers at UC Davis set up a simple experiment to test police dogs and their fabled ability to detect drugs. They told 18 police dog handlers they had hidden small amounts of illegal drugs in four rooms of a church.

Over two days of testing, the drug-sniffing dogs alerted their handlers repeatedly and in every room — 225 times in all. And they were twice as likely to alert on spots marked with red construction paper that the handlers had been told would indicate drugs.

But in fact, no drugs were in any of the rooms, suggesting the "handler's beliefs" and their "hidden cues" may trigger the dog to alert on a target of suspicion, the researchers said.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit the constitutionality of using police dogs to trigger searches of cars and homes in a pair of cases from Florida. The justices will decide whether the 4th Amendment's ban on "unreasonable searches" requires the police to have more than an alert from a drug-sniffing dog before they open the trunk of a car or enter a home.

Nationwide, dogs are the leading weapon in the government's war on drugs. Florida alone has more than 1,000 K-9 units, and they were responsible for more than 130,000 arrests last year.

In the past, the high court has given the police a green light to conduct searches whenever a "well-trained narcotics detection dog" gives an alert. No one disputes that canines have an extraordinary ability to detect odors, and they can be invaluable in finding items such as hidden explosives or human remains.

But some experts in animal science are urging the justices to be cautious before allowing police dogs to serve as a substitute for search warrants.

Alerts from drug-detecting dogs "should be viewed with a healthy skepticism," said Auburn University professor Lawrence J. Myers, who has studied canines for decades. He said some dogs and their handlers were highly reliable, while others were not.

The UC Davis study "got an enormous reaction in the field," he said, because it showed the handlers, not the dogs, may be responsible for some of the alerts. "This is a major problem, and we've known it for a long time. The behavior of the handler affects the behavior of the animal," he said.

But Florida prosecutors and police dog handlers say that evidence of a dog's good training and certification should be enough to demonstrate their reliability. "If a dog is tested in a controlled setting, you know if the dog is wrong or right," said Arthur Daus, a lawyer for the National Police Canine Assn.

Last year, the Chicago Tribune reported on data from several suburban police districts, which found only 44% of the car searches that were triggered by an alert from sniffer dogs resulted in the discovery of drugs or drug paraphernalia in the vehicle.

Police officers usually discount these "false" alerts, suggesting they are probably triggered by "residual odors" in the vehicle. The dog may have detected the odor of marijuana or cocaine that had been kept in the trunk weeks before, they say.

But Myers said experiments in a controlled environment — like the church in the UC Davis study — also found some dogs and their handlers were wrong more often than right in detecting narcotics.

Last year, the Florida Supreme Court said it was not convinced drug-sniffing dogs were always reliable enough to justify searches of cars on the highway. "There is no uniform standard in this state or nationwide for acceptable level of training, testing or certification for drug-detection dogs," the state justices said. And the "potential for false alerts and for handler error" means that innocent motorists may be subjected to embarrassing searches, they said.

To justify a search that is triggered by a drug-sniffing dog, the police must furnish a trial judge with the canine's "field performance records, including any unverified alerts," as well as evidence of its training and certification, the state justices said.

The case to be heard Wednesday began when a police officer went on patrol near Tallahassee with "his K-9 partner Aldo," a German shepherd. The officer stopped a pickup with an expired tag. The nervous motorist, Clayton Harris, refused to permit a search of his truck.

After Aldo circled the vehicle and alerted next to a door, the officer said he had probable cause to search inside. He found a bag of pseudoephedrine pills, thousands of matches and other ingredients for making methamphetamine.

Harris pleaded no contest to the drug charges, but the state justices ruled the search of his truck was unconstitutional because the police had not furnished objective evidence of Aldo's reliability.

In a second case, the Florida court overturned the conviction of a Miami man for growing marijuana in his house. An officer had taken a drug-sniffing dog to the man's front porch, and the alert furnished the probable cause to obtain a search warrant.

However, the Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals from Florida's attorney general in the cases, Florida vs. Harris and Florida vs. Jardines.

Kenneth Furton, a chemist at Florida International University in Miami, led a group of scientists who studied police dogs. He said it was not good enough to allow police agencies to test their own dogs.

A dog and his handler must be tested on multiple vehicles, and "they need to be correct nine out of 10 times," he said.

BNG, BANG, OOPS, THAT SET OF HANDCUFFS WAS NO GUN

The second guessers and anti-police types will never buy the story that the cops mistook a set of handcuffs for a gun, especially since the shooting victim was on his stomach, hands cuffed behind his back. But since he was underneath an SUV, the police saw things from a different perspective. What makes this case look worse than it may be is the fact that LAPD withheld details from its press releases.

LAPD WITHHELD KEY DETAILS IN USE-OF-FORCE CASE
Public was not told that suspect critically wounded by officers was handcuffed and face down when shot

By Joel Rubin

Los Angeles Times
October 31, 2012

The Los Angeles Police Department's news release on an Oct. 12 officer-involved shooting seemed fairly routine.

Officers searching for several suspects who had fled after being stopped for questioning found one hiding under an SUV on Woodlawn Avenue in South L.A. The officers pulled the suspect out by his ankles, saw what looked like a metallic object in his hands and opened fire, critically wounding him.

But one crucial piece of information was left out of the release: The suspect's hands were cuffed behind his back at the time and he was lying on his stomach.

In response to questions by The Times, LAPD officials acknowledged this week that before the suspect was shot, he had escaped the custody of other officers who had handcuffed him earlier.

LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said investigators are trying to understand the circumstances that led to an officer shooting a restrained and unarmed man. The inquiry will focus, in part, on radio transmissions that will show what the officers had been told about the situation before they confronted the suspect.

The case marks the second time in as many months that the LAPD has withheld important and potentially unfavorable information from the public in cases involving serious uses of force by officers.

Last month, the department released an account of an incident in which a woman died after several officers forced her into the back seat of a police car. The news release made no mention of the fact that a female officer was under investigation for berating the woman and stomping on her genitals during the encounter. Police officials confirmed those details after the Times inquired about the case.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday that the news release on the shooting was not an attempt to distort the incident. Rather, he said, the information was withheld to preserve the integrity of the investigation and not taint potential witnesses.

"I am concerned about any time one of our officers is involved in a shooting. If a suspect is handcuffed, I am even more concerned, not only with the shooting itself but with the circumstances that led up to the shooting," he said.

"The details of the use of force will be made public when the investigation is complete," he said. "Many times our desire to give out information on an incident has to be tempered with the needs of the investigation. When there is the possibility of misconduct in any investigation, we need to be even more circumspect."

The events that led to the shooting began around 8:30 p.m., when two patrol officers reportedly saw a man spray-painting gang graffiti on a wall near 41st Place and Woodlawn Avenue, according to the LAPD account. As the suspected vandal tried to leave in a waiting vehicle, the officers intervened and ordered him and an unknown number of other men out of the car, Smith said. The officers were in the process of handcuffing the men when one of them, 23-year-old Kennedy Garcia, bolted, according to the LAPD account.

One officer gave chase on foot and the other pursued in their patrol car. As they radioed for additional police to be sent to the scene, the officers described the situation to the dispatcher as a disturbance involving a man with a gun, according to the LAPD account.

The officers told investigators afterward that they had done so because they saw Garcia holding his waistband as he ran and so believed he had a gun concealed there, the department account said. No gun was recovered, Smith said. The radio transmission recordings are expected to show what information the officers gave to dispatchers about Garcia and the other men they left behind.

Among the officers who responded to the call for backup were Jonathan Rocha and Louis Garcia, both of whom joined the LAPD less than four years ago. In the 4000 block of Woodlawn Avenue, the officers saw a man on the ground trying to conceal himself beneath an SUV, according to the LAPD's account. One of the officers pulled the man out by his ankles, the police statement said, and they "observed what they believed was a chrome/stainless steel handgun in the detainee's hand at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred." Both officers fired their weapons. The man was struck once in the lower back.

It is not known whether Rocha and Garcia mistook the metal of the handcuffs for a gun, Smith said.

As in all officer-involved shootings, investigators will spend months collecting witness statements and other evidence and will then submit their findings to an internal review board that will suggest to Beck whether the officers' decision to use deadly force fell within department policies. After the chief makes his decision, the Police Commission, which oversees the department, will vote whether to uphold or overturn it.

Rocha and Garcia did not respond to emails seeking comment.

The LAPD publishes news releases on all officer-involved shootings. Their content releases must be kept vague, Smith said, to not interfere with the investigations into the shootings.

Connie Rice, a longtime L.A. civil rights attorney and observer of the LAPD, said the department's caution in releasing information about shootings was plausible "but raised as many questions as it answered."

Do they also keep troubling information out of news releases, Rice questioned, "so an investigation can go on smoothly without the department having to deal with the community's ire?"

17 STRIPPERS IN HAIR YANKING, CLAWING, SHOE SLINGING, KNOCK-DOWN-DRAG-OUT BRAWL

Spiked heel lands in strip club patron’s eye; man may lose sight of injured eye

Further proof that everything in Texas is bigger and better. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for this brawl.

VICTORIA PEREZ, EXOTIC DANCER, HALF-BLINDS STRIP CLUB PATRON WITH HIGH-HEELED SHOE, POLICE SAY
By John Nova Lomax

Houston Press Hair Balls
October 31, 2012

A stripper was jailed and a man might lose his left eye after a huge Friday night melee at southeast Austin gentlemen's club Hot Bodies.

According to KXAN, Austin police responded to a call about a dressing room fight involving no fewer than 17 of the dancers -- that's what is known as a binder of strippers. When they arrived, they found a man clasping both of his hands to his left eye. He told police he had been hit in the face by the spike-heel of a flung shoe. (The man had to be hospitalized, and might lose the use of his eye.)

Security cam footage led police to a suspect.

After carefully viewing the video evidence of the scantily-clad women fighting, police eventually were led in the direction of 21-year-old Victoria Perez, who cagily allowed that she "may have" thrown the offending footwear.

Her arrest affidavit claims that the shoe could have been a deadly weapon. Perez was charged with aggravated assault, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Bail was set at $50,000.

No word yet on what set the binder of babes a-brawling.

THE MORAL TO A VERY TOUCHING STORY

The Marine Corps F/A-18 woman pilot

The Unconventional Gazette
November 1, 2012

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.

The next day, the kids came back and, one by one, began to tell their stories. There were all the regular types of stuff: spilled milk and pennies saved. But then the teacher realized, much to her dismay, that she had missed Janie.

“Janie, do you have a story to share?”

"Yes ma'am. My daddy told me a story about my Mommy. She was a Marine Corps pilot in Desert Storm, and her F/A-18 got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory, and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol, and a survival knife. She drank the whiskey on the way down so the bottle wouldn't break, and then her parachute landed her right in the middle of 20 Iraqi troops. She shot 15 of them with the pistol, until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last Iraqi with her bare hands.”

''Good Heavens!” exclaimed the horrified teacher. “What did your Daddy tell you was the moral to this horrible story?”

"Stay away from Mommy when she's been drinking."

‘THE MOST ANTI-ISRAEL U.S. PRESIDENT IN HISTORY’

The unwavering and overwhelming support for Obama by American Jews flies in the face of the Obama Administration’s record in its dealings with Israel, the current joint military exercises by U.S. and Israeli military forces notwithstanding. Shame on those liberal fools!

Obama’s policy toward Israel is rooted in his determination to establish better relations with the Muslim world. I see bad days ahead for Israel if Obama is reelected, which he probably will be. In his second term, Obama will be a lame-duck president freed from the charade of being Israel’s friend..

From Israel Today: The following is a guest post by local Messianic leader Ron Cantor, a concerned Jewish immigrant from America who today resides in Tel Aviv.

OBAMA: 8 REASONS THOSE WHO SUPPORT ISRAEL SHOULD BE CONCERNED
By Ron Cantor

Israel Today
October 29, 2012

Is Obama good for Israel?

Seems like a silly question, right? But a Jewish person who is involved in the Obama campaign told someone close to me that the answer to that question is, yes, Obama is better for Israel than Mitt Romney.

I said to my friend, “This Jewish person wants to believe that Obama is better for Israel than Romney, because he is a Democrat, but no unbiased person could genuinely believe that.” I get it—the person is liberal and could not bear to vote Republican. So, despite the mountain of evidence that shows Obama’s hostility toward Israel and Netanyahu, he must convince himself that Obama is good for the Jewish state. He chooses to believe Obama’s positive statements on Israel, while ignoring his negative actions.

My name is Ron Cantor and I am an Israeli-American who is deeply concerned over the overwhelming Jewish support that the most anti-Israel US president in history continues to enjoy. If Israeli Jews could vote, they would choose Romney by a 3-to-1 margin[1]. Israeli Arabs, however, would choose Obama by a similar margin.

Below are a few highlights that reveal President Obama’s naivete when it comes to the Middle East and his contempt for Netanyahu, if not Israel herself.

1) Netanyahu’s Treatment at White House

In May of 2009, just a few months after Barack Obama was elected President, he met for the first time as President with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The President’s treatment of the leader of one of America’s closest allies was deplorable, and filled with disdain.

Netanyahu was quietly led into the White House through a side door. He was treated more like a secret mistress than an esteemed friend. There was no photo-op with Netanyahu (highly unusual), but when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (who denied the Holocaust in his PhD dissertation) visited, he was treated as “an honored guest with photo-ops and a smiling president gifting him with an extra hundred million dollars.”[2]

After he was unable to get Netanyahu to commit in writing regarding Jewish settlements, a frustrated Obama left the meeting and went to dine with his family. Edward Klein gives this account: “‘I’m going upstairs,’ the president told Netanyahu, according to my sources. ‘Call me when you’re ready to talk substance.’ Netanyahu and his entourage were then left to cool their heels in the Roosevelt Room. At one point, the Israeli delegation asked for something to drink and food. They were served non-kosher food, which some of them wouldn't eat.”[3] I can only wonder if Abbas was served food that was not halal, lawful for Muslims to eat.

2) His Speech in Cairo

The newly elected Obama sought to make good on a campaign promise, which was, “to give a major address to Muslims from a Muslim capital during his first few months as president.”[4] His goal was to “repair ties that were severely damaged under his predecessor George W. Bush.”[5] (For the record, ties were severally damaged when 19 Middle Eastern Muslim terrorists turned jets into missiles, killing nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11!) The speech was titled "A New Beginning."

The problem with the speech wasn't the wording per se, but the naivete of the President to think that radical Islam’s anger toward the West is because of George W. Bush or American arrogance. (In France he actually declared that “there have been times where America has shown arrogance.”) He still fails to understand that the issue is not our arrogance, but their religious fanaticism.

Take for example Malala Yousufzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who campaigned for the right of girls to be educated. The Taliban shot the young teen, nearly killing her. She isn’t American or Israeli—she’s Muslim! More Muslims die at the hands of Islamic radicals than Westerners.

Or we can look to Benghazi. The insistence for nearly two weeks by Obama and his team that the attacks in Libya were not a planned assault against America (because, hey… we’re all friends now!), but the result of “hurt… religious feelings of Muslims”[6] reveals that they still don’t get radical Islam.

If Christians began to burn down buildings and kill people because of the plethora of Hollywood attacks against them and their values, would the President even think of rebuking Hollywood? Mrs. Clinton told the grieving father of Ty Woods, the Navy Seal who was killed while protecting American diplomats in Benghazi, not that they would capture the murderers of his son, but that they would jail the filmmaker! He was incredulous.

3) Publicly demanding Israel go back to '67 borders

On May 19th, 2011 the President went on TV and called for Israel to return to the suicidal borders of 1967. Just to give some perspective, as I write this I am four miles from the Mediterranean Sea to the right. To the left, I am about five miles from the border that President Obama wants me to embrace. Yes, a nine-mile distance from our eastern border to our western border—and if I were a few miles north, it would be even narrower!

Some may say, “But you stole that land!” Not true. First of all the pre-67 borders were not sacred by any means. When Israel declared statehood in 1948, we were attacked by five Arab nations. The borders were defined simply by where everyone was when the attacking Arab nations cried uncle. These were called the 1949 Armistice Agreements, between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. But make no mistake, this was no peace treaty. Had the Arabs been winning the war they would have annihilated us in our infancy. None of those nations recognized Israel as a state or the borders as permanent. It was merely to stop the fighting.

Secondly, we gained the West Bank when Jordan attacked Israel in the middle of the Six Day War. Our government had given Jordan assurances that we would not attack her if she stayed out of the war. However, King Hussein, believing the false reports that Egypt was marching on Tel Aviv, decided that he, too, wanted more land. They attacked and Israel pushed Jordanian forces out of Judea and Samaria, over the Jordan River. Why would we give that land back and return to an eight-mile width?

4) Hillary Threatened Bibi

When Israel decided to build housing in our capital, Obama was angry. He sent Secretary of State Clinton to deal with it. In a bureaucratic blunder, a low-level official granted the permits for those apartments on the very day that Joe Biden arrived. Netanyahu quickly apologized to VP Biden. However the President was infuriated and instructed Clinton to read him the riot act.

“The following day, during a 43-minute harangue, Hillary delivered a set of ultimatums to Netanyahu. Prefacing each remark with the phrase ‘I have been instructed to tell you,’ Hillary demanded that Israel release a substantial number of Palestinian prisoners as a token of goodwill; lift its siege of Gaza; suspend all settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem; accept that a symbolic number of Palestinians be given the ‘right of return’ to Israel under a future peace treaty; and agree to place the question of the status of Jerusalem at the top of the peace-talks agenda.”

Now get ready for this next part…

“‘If you refuse these demands,’ Hillary told Netanyahu, according to our sources, 'the United States government will conclude that we no longer share the same interests.'”[7]

This was all about Israel’s desire to build apartments in Jerusalem, our capital. My dear readers, can there be any doubt that relations between Israel and the US have chilled since Obama entered the White House? Even Bill Clinton, who rolled out the White House red carpet for the notorious terrorist, Yasser Arafat, didn’t use such language with the Israeli Prime Minister.(During President Clinton’s two terms in office, Arafat was invited to the White House more than any other international political figure.[8])

5) Obama’s Conversation with the French President

I am far less concerned with Obama’s rhetoric when speaking from a teleprompter to people he is seeking to appease, than I am with what he says when he thinks no one is listening.

During the G20 Summit in 2011, French President Sarkozi privately said to Obama, “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” Sarkozy was not aware that his mic was still on! And neither was President Obama, as he fired back, “You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”

6) Yes to the ‘Pimp with a Limp’… No to Israeli Prime Minister

In September of this year, Netanyahu asked to meet with Obama while he was in New York for the annual UN meetings. Obama said he was too busy. The president has time for not only Leno and Letterman, but also to do radio with Miami’s “Pimp with a Limp.” The very word pimp is connected to prostitution and is more commonly used today in a way that is disparaging to African-American women. How could the first African-American President affirm such language by doing an interview with this man? And yet, he has no time for the leader of the United State’s most strategic partner in the Middle East. Or maybe he simply doesn’t view the US-Israel friendship as so strategic (see next point).

Netanyahu’s goal was to show Iran that the US and Israel were united against allowing her to get nukes. It would appear that Obama did not want to send that same message to the sociopath Ahmadinejad.

7) Obama: Israel is One Of Our Closest Allies in Middle East

Recently on 60-Minutes, President Obama said that Israel is “one of our closest allies in the region.” I thought Israel was Americas closest ally in the Middle East. I mean, who are we competing with? Libya? Egypt? Iraq? Syria? Sudan? Iran!? Sure a case could be made for Jordan and Saudi Arabia, but you cannot compare America’s recent associations with these undemocratic monarchies to her long-term friendship with Israel. That is like comparing your new girlfriend to your faithful spouse of many years.

8) Jerusalem and the Democratic Party

“The Democratic Party platform doesn’t state that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, a change from prior years that could provide fuel to critics who say President Barack Obama’s commitment to Israel is weak.”[9] That was written just before the Democratic Convention and as the story spread, Obama realized he had miscalculated. He instructed the convention leaders to hastily organize a vote to put Jerusalem back on the platform. The vote was a farce with a predetermined outcome. Who can forget the way the voters were strong-armed and manipulated to make this change (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIXvbSL83RM). The poor fellow leading this gathering seemed to have a gun to his back from the woman behind him!

But how shocking, that if the Democratic leaders had not ridden roughshod over the will of the people, their official platform would not have affirmed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel... and 78 percent of American Jews voted for Obama. And make no mistake; it was only because of the national attention given to the fact that they had taken out Jerusalem, that Obama demanded that it be reinserted—along with God, by the way.

The Terrifying Conclusion

If President Obama wins reelection he can’t run again in 2016. This is it. He will have nothing to fear during his lame-duck administration. Each time he has acted against Israel in the past, he knew that he could only go so far if he wanted to be reelected.

Thus, after each act of contempt against Israel or Netanyahu, he would grant an interview with an Israeli journalist or speak to a pro-Jewish group about America’s ‘unshakable commitment to Israel’ and how ‘relations have never been better between the two countries.’ But in a new Obama administration it’ll be open season on the pesky, little Jewish state—the cause of all the problems in the Middle East.
________________________________________
[1] http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=289600
[2] http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Opinion/Article.aspx?id=278995
[3] http://edwardklein.com/the-jewish-problem-with-obama-part-3/
[4] Obama to reach out to Muslims in Egypt speech, Reuters.com
[5] ibid
[6] From the infamous Cairo apology tweet
[7] http://edwardklein.com/the-jewish-problem-with-obama-part-3/
[8] http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/ArafatArticles.html
[9] Obama Attacked Over Party Platform on Jerusalem, WSJ.com