Way to Go!!

Congratulations to the Canyon HS Cougarettes!


Headed for Austin
By Chris Hoffman The Herald-Zeitung

Punch those tickets to Austin because the Canyon Cougarettes are headed back.

The defending 4A state champions proved to still have enough championship blood running through their collective veins, as the Cougarettes battled back from a Game 2 loss to streak past Corpus Christi Moody 3-1 to win the Region IV-4A championship series and earned the right to defend its state championship in Austin next week.

“This feeling is awesome,” Canyon’s Sara Mireles said. “I feel like we won state already. I’m so glad we’re going back, but we’re not finished yet. We’ve still go two games to go.

“It was a tough loss (in Game 2), but we went into the locker room to refocus and came out rejuvenated.”
Canyon will play Midway, who swept Frisco Wakeland on Saturday, in the UIL 4A state championship tournament at McCombs Field on Friday.

Time is to be determined.

Canyon coach Kevin Randle could hide his smiles after the final out and celebrated with his team, but told them that their journey isn’t over.

“I told the girls that we’re not done. We still have two more games,” Randle said. “I give Moody all the credit.
They are a great softball team. They had a ton of pitching and hitters all the way down the lineup. They gave us everything we could handle and more.”

After losing Game 2, the Cougarettes came out ready to let their bats do the talking, as they scored two runs on two hits in the first inning for a 2-0 advantage.

After Brittany Gomez was called out at second after trying to stretch a single into a double, Becca Wall reached on a Moody fielding error and senior catcher Mandy Ogle single into right.

Stephanie Peace smashed a double off the center field wall to score Wall and Sarah Crockett’s sacrifice fly to left drove in Ogle for the two-run lead.

Moody got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first when Jessica Mendez hit an RBI groundout with two on, but Wall snagged an easy grounder for the force at third to end the inning.

Mireles, who gave up just five hits and one run, while striking out four, was in command from the first, as she gave up just four hits and five base runners from that point on.

The only trouble the junior hurler would face from Moody was in the sixth when Mendez hit a leadoff triple, but Mireles forced a pop-up and struck out the next two to end the inning.

Peace’s double in the fifth drove in an insurance run for the margin of victory.

Mireles took care of the Moody hitters in the seventh, as she forced a grounder, a shallow flyout and Aby
Kester pulled in a shallow pop-up for the final out and the celebration began.

“This is awesome, but I couldn’t overestimate that it isn’t over,” Randle said. “We still have a week to go. We have another week of work and preparation that will challenge us. But this is still a special feeling to go to state two years in a row.

“We’re going to be ready.

The seniors had a busy day, as they attended graduation in the morning and came out ready to play against the Lady Trojans in the regional finals, but hit a speed bump on the way to Austin.

The Lady Trojans took advantage of some cold bats from the Cougarettes in a 3-0 loss that saw Canyon shutout for the first time this season, Mireles gave up her first home run — a two-run shot by Mariena Gallardo in the sixth — and Canyon’s first loss since March 5.

The loss didn’t sit well with the team, as they secluded themselves in their locker room.

“When we lost (Game 2), that really brought back every feeling we didn’t like,” Ogle said. “We didn’t want to make Thursday our last practice ever, so we came out and left it all on the field.

“It is indescribable when talking about going to state a second straight year. And being a senior, which makes it even more special. I want to go out strong.”

Resistance is futile!

I just couldn't resist he's adorable.

It's Iron Baby!

Sorry the You Tube video was taken down. You can find it here!

Iron Baby Video

Stealth nominee?

I don't think she is Harriet Miers but I do think there are issues concerning her qualifications.

I still have a problem with her not having any judicial experience and such a thin record.

The Next Harriet Miers?

by Paul Campos Info - The daily beast
Top Supreme Court contender Elena Kagan, is an able administrator with a shamefully thin record of legal scholarship. Paul Campos compares her to the hapless Bush nominee who got laughed out of town.
 
As the rumblings become louder that President Obama is going to choose U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan as our next Supreme Court justice, somebody needs to ask a rather impolitic question: How, precisely, is Kagan's prospective nomination different from George W. Bush's ill-fated attempt to put Harriet Miers on the nation's highest court?

On its face, the question seems absurd. Five years ago, Miers was derided as a careerist mediocrity whose primary qualification to be on the Supreme Court was a slavish devotion to President Bush. Kagan, by contrast is a purportedly "brilliant" legal scholar who was granted tenure at the University of Chicago and Harvard, before becoming dean of the latter's law school.

Kagan's work reminded me of Orwell's observation that, if book reviewers were honest, 19 of 20 reviews would consist of the sentence, "this book inspires in me no thoughts whatever."

• Read Our Full Coverage of Elena Kagan

Yesterday, I read everything Elena Kagan has ever published. It didn't take long: In the nearly 20 years since Kagan became a law professor, she's published very little academic scholarship—three law review articles, along with a couple of shorter essays and two brief book reviews. Somehow, Kagan got tenure at Chicago in 1995 on the basis of a single article in The Supreme Court Review—a scholarly journal edited by Chicago's own faculty—and a short essay in the school's law review. She then worked in the Clinton administration for several years before joining Harvard as a visiting professor of law in 1999. While there she published two articles, but since receiving tenure from Harvard in 2001 (and becoming dean of the law school in 2003) she has published nothing. (While it's true law school deans often do little scholarly writing during their terms,

Kagan is remarkable both for how little she did in the dozen years prior to becoming Harvard's dean, and for never having written anything intended for a more general audience, either before or after taking that position.)
Kagan's handful of publications touch on topics like regulating offensive speech, analyzing legislative motivations for speech regulations, and evaluating the process of administrative law-making. But on the vast majority of issues before the court,

Kagan has no stated opinion. Her scholarship provides no clues regarding how she would rule on such crucial contemporary issues as the scope of the president's power in wartime, the legality of torture, or the ability of Congress to rein in campaign spending by corporations. (Of course cynics have noted that today Supreme Court nominees are often better off not having an extensive "paper trail" regarding their views on controversial legal issues. Who would have guessed it would be possible to retain this virtue while obtaining tenure at two of the nation's top law schools?)

At least in theory Kagan could compensate somewhat for the slenderness of her academic resume through the quality of her work. But if Kagan is a brilliant legal scholar, the evidence must be lurking somewhere other than in her publications. Kagan's scholarly writings are lifeless, dull, and eminently forgettable. They are, on the whole, cautious academic exercises in the sort of banal on-the-other-handing whose prime virtue is that it's unlikely to offend anyone in a position of power.

Take, for example, Kagan's article, "Presidential Administration," which appeared in the Harvard Law Review in 2001. The piece is dedicated largely to reviewing the extant literature on the power of Congress and the president to control the actions of administrative agencies. Kagan's thesis consists of presenting a fairly standard view within administrative law scholarship—that relatively tight presidential oversight of administrative agencies can have beneficial regulatory effects—as if it were a novel argument. She maintains, on the basis of thin evidence, that such oversight increased significantly under the Reagan and Clinton presidencies, and concludes with the tautological insight that presidential oversight can be a good thing if it doesn't go too far.

Kagan's work reminded me of Orwell's observation that, if book reviewers were honest, 19 of 20 reviews would consist of the sentence, "this book inspires in me no thoughts whatever." The bottom line regarding Kagan's scholarly career is that there's no there there. This is a problem not only because we have no evidence regarding what her views might be on almost any important legal question, but also because Kagan's supposed academic achievements are being touted as the primary justification for putting someone who has never been a judge on the nation's highest court. Now the fact that Kagan is more or less an academic nonentity would be of merely academic interest if she possessed unrelated but compelling qualifications for ascending to the nation's highest court. But what else, exactly, has she done?

Besides her law-school career, Kagan's resume consists of four years in the Clinton White House, where she was associate White House counsel—a full rung down from Harriet Miers' position in the Bush White House—and deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, and six years as the dean of Harvard's law school. (Last year, Obama chose her as his solicitor general.)

Apparently her main accomplishment as dean at Harvard was raising a lot of money, which, given that it's the Harvard Law School, sounds roughly as impressive as managing to sell a lot of pot at a Grateful Dead concert. (She's also been given credit for improving the collegial atmosphere at the school, aka, getting a bunch of egomaniacs to engage in less backstabbing, which anyone familiar with law school faculties can attest is not a negligible accomplishment. Whether it's a sufficient basis for putting somebody on the Supreme Court is another matter.)

It seems clear Kagan is a bright person and an able administrator. But Harriet Miers was those things as well: She had a long and successful career in the private practice of law, she was the first woman president of the Texas Bar Association, and she was the top lawyer in the White House for several years prior to her nomination to the Court.

Miers' nomination was derailed by two complaints: that her primary qualification was that she was a "crony" of the president, and that nobody knew what views she had, if any, on the vast majority of questions facing the Supreme Court. Both criticisms are just as relevant to Kagan's potential selection.

Consider that Obama and Kagan joined the Chicago law faculty in the very same year, after both were Harvard Law students and members of the Harvard Law Review. (The difference between a "crony" and a "colleague" is often something of a sociological mystery.) Indeed, the most impressive thing about Kagan is that she seems to have a remarkable ability to ingratiate herself with influential people across the ideological spectrum.

The second criticism of the Miers nomination applies with even greater force to Kagan. As a private lawyer, Miers, after all, had a fairly good excuse for having no public views on the great legal issues of our day. For most of the past 20 years, Kagan's job has been to both develop and publicize such views. That she has nevertheless managed to almost completely avoid doing so is rather extraordinary.

Semper Fi, Corporal Leicht

This Memorial day we cannot forget the sacrifices so many men and women made to keep us free and safe.

It a day to remember all of them.

Marine Corporal Jacob Leicht paid the ultimate price in service to us and the Country.

Rest in Peace Corporal

Kerrville Marine marks 1,000 death in Afghan war

While serving in Iraq 3 years ago, he was severely injured in a bomb
By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press

KERRVILLE — The 1,000th American serviceman killed in Afghanistan had already fallen once to a hidden explosive, driving his Humvee over a bomb in Iraq in 2007. The blast punched the dashboard radio into his face and broke his leg in two places.

Marine Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht didn't survive his second encounter with a bomb this week. The death of the 24-year-old Texan born on the Fourth of July marks a grim milestone in the Afghanistan war.

Leicht, who spent two painful years recovering from the Iraq blast, was killed Thursday when he stepped on a land mine in Helmand province that ripped off his right arm. He had written letters from his hospital bed begging to be put back on the front lines, and died less than a month into that desperately sought second tour.

The rest of the story:

Tube fight?

Great, just great.

Let's find the pendejo.

Men stabbed in fight at New Braunfels tube chute  

By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

Two San Antonio men were stabbed in a fight at a New Braunfels tube chute late Sunday night, according to authorities.

An anonymous tipster called 911 around 7:15 p.m. Sunday to report that several men were fighting at the Prince Solms Park chute, located at 100 Liebscher Drive, according to a New Braunfels Police Department news release.

While officers were en route to the fight, the caller told police the men physically fought and then dispersed.

The rest of the story:
                 

Boosh did it!!

Oh brother!

For a president that the Dems said couldn't do anything he sure did a lot.

Also, I thought President Obama took responsibility for this and under his Administration, BP got variances and the drilling permits.

So what's the deal?

Pelosi blames Bush administration for BP oil spill.

By: Joel S. Gehrke Jr. - Special to the Washington Examiner


Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blamed the Bush administration for any lack of oversight leading up to the Gulf oil spill. The Obama administration, on the other hand, is blameless.
From Talk Radio News Service:

“Many of the people appointed in the Bush administration are still burrowed in the agencies that are supposed to oversee the [oil] industry,” Pelosi said when asked if Democrats could have prevented or mitigated the crisis by keeping a closer watch on the industry.

Added the Speaker, “the cozy relationships between the Bush administration’s agency leadership and the industry is clear…I’ve heard no complaints from my members about the way the president has handled it,” Pelosi stated.

On Friday, the Washington Examiner requested that Speaker Pelosi’s office release the list of Bush appointees to whom she was referring. We’ll let you know when we hear back.

Left hanging

This isn't good.  Was there any indication he was suicidal?

Was he supposed to be watched?

Bexar County Jail inmate commits suicide

By Peter J. Holley - Express-News

An inmate at the Bexar County Jail is dead after he hanged himself in his cell Friday night, authorities said.

The county medical examiner's office identified the man as Nicholas Tucker, 22. He had been housed at the jail for three days when he was found about 11 p.m., county spokeswoman Linda Tomasini said.

“Right now the death is still under investigation,” she said, noting authorities were releasing few details.

The rest of the story:

Dear, what did you do in your substitute teacher job today?

Where do they finds folks like this?

Pervs-R-Us?

Substitute teacher accused of viewing porn

Houston Chronicle -

Spring ISD officials are investigating allegations of inappropriate actions by an elementary substitute teacher.
 “The administration at Jenkins Elementary School and the Spring ISD police are investigating reports made regarding alleged inappropriate behavior by a substitute,” district spokeswoman Karen Garrison said Saturday.

“I can tell you that the substitute is not working at the school and has been deactivated from the district’s substitute list while the investigation is under way.”

Garrison declined to discuss the nature of the claims or any other details of the allegations citing privacy concerns.

The rest of the story:

Trial to begin Tuesday

This ought to be a good trial.

Go Steve.

Child sex assault trial scheduled to begin Tuesday

By Bryan Shettig The Herald-Zeitung 

A child sexual assault trial is set for Tuesday.

The accused man was arrested in 2008 and has been out on bond since.

Wayne Denton Dickerson, 36, faces two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, each a first-degree felony.

Dickerson is not in custody, said Steven Harkins, Comal County assist district attorney.

According to jail records Dickerson bonded out of Comal County jail Sept. 9, 2008, on a $200,000 bond and was arraigned in October of that year.

His jury trial was originally set for July 13, 2009, according to court documents but was reset after attorneys filed a motion for continuance.

Dickerson is set to appear in 274th District Court with Judge Gary Steel presiding.

Is she or her husband paying their fair share?

Is she?

How about the approximately 50% of all Americans who do not pay Income Tax?

Are they?

Clinton: 'The rich are not paying their fair share'

Politico.com

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a rare foray into domestic politics today, offering her view that — given America's high unemployment — wealthy Americans don't pay enough taxes.

"The rich are not paying their fair share in any nation that is facing the kind of employment issues [America currently does] — whether it's individual, corporate or whatever [form of] taxation forms," Clinton told an audience at the Brookings Institute, where she was discussing the administration's new National Security Strategy.

Clinton said the comment was her personal opinion. "I'm not speaking for the administration, so I'll preface that with a very clear caveat," she said.

Clinton went on to cite Brazil as a model.

"Brazil has the highest tax-to-GDP rate in the Western Hemisphere and guess what — they're growing like crazy," Clinton said. "And the rich are getting richer, but they're pulling people out of poverty."

Both Clinton and Obama campaigned for the presidency on promises to allow the Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans to expire this year, a plan that is now part of Obama's budget. The move will effectively raise taxes sharply on people earning more than $250,000.

The administration's new formal strategy document makes the case that domestic economic strength is crucial to influence abroad.

You fake it you brake it

What a wonderfully responsible entrepreneur she is.

Learn CPR please.

Woman accused of selling fake CPR certifications

By Peter J. Holley - Express-News  

A San Antonio woman has been accused of providing fraudulent first aid certification cards to people seeking employment at child care facilities, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced Friday.

In a civil lawsuit, state investigators allege that Maria L. Olivarri falsely claimed she was authorized by the American Red Cross to provide first aid certification. The state alleges she sold fake certification cards to people who lacked state-mandated first aid training.

Investigators said certification cards show that a person has completed the number of first aid and CPR training hours required to work with children.

The rest of the story:

What a Maroon!

Is anyone surprised by this?

I'm not.

What a way to really screw up your life.  He's looking at a possible 5 years to life, in prison, when the Judge sentences him in July.

Ex-Poteet mayor's probation revoked

By Vianna Davila - Express-News
An Atascosa County judge revoked the probation of former Poteet Mayor Lino Donato, three years after he pled guilty to several charges of indecency with a child.

Donato, 60, was remanded without bail to the county jail Thursday, the same day his probation was revoked at a court hearing, said Chief Deputy David Soward of the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office.

Donato's sentencing for violating his probation is July 26, according to the district attorney's office.

The rest of the story:

BUY ARIZONA PRODUCTS!! UN-BOYCOTT THE STATE!! BOYCOTT THOSE THAT BOYCOTT ARIZONA!!

You know what?  When the folks protesting this are so ignorant of the law as to say this we are in La-La Land:

"Opponents of Senate Bill 1070, as critics refer to the law, call it racist and unconstitutional, giving police the power to stop anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. They say such legalized racial profiling unfairly targets Latinos, U.S. citizens included. The controversy has galvanized civil rights groups, spurring several legal challenges and boycotts against the state."

Well, it doesn't, in fact it specifically prohibits this action.  But what does it matter?

Never let something like the actual language of the law get in the way of the narrative of the story you're trying to peddle.

Therein folks lies the true danger to a democratic society.

I will tell you that I am so sick of the lies and mis-truths spoken about the bill and the boycotting of Arizona that I  perosnally want to start a campaign to buy Arizona.

That's it!!

Un-boycott Arizona, and boycott those that do.  If its war they want its war they shall get.

S.A. activists joining Phoenix march against Senate Bill 1070

By Elaine Ayala - Express-News

At least 50 South Texas activists, most of them from San Antonio, are in Phoenix today for the “National Day of Action against SB 1070,” a protest drawing participants from across the United States opposed to Arizona's new immigration law.

Representing a coalition of social justice organizations in San Antonio, Austin and the Rio Grande Valley, the caravan was organized by the San Antonio-based Southwest Workers Union, which stopped in El Paso on Friday to pick up additional protesters.

Among them are members of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, Inmigrantes Unidos Sin Fronteras, Fuerza Unida and MEChA and the Dream Act Alliance, whose members are from Our Lady of the Lake University and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The rest of the story:

Yessir, that's some nice Ass

He apparently didn't have safety search on.

No wonder so many folks are addicted to doing crossword puzzles.

Web Porn?  But I was only after wild Asisan Ass

By Kamie Pyatt- thesun.co.uk

A Crossword fan aged 89 used an internet search to solve a clue about a donkey - and was bombarded with hard-core porn.

Jack Sedgewick got stuck on 14 across: "Wild asian ass."

The great-grandad typed "asian ass" into Yahoo's search engine in the hope of finding the answer to the newspaper poser.

But he was stunned when it threw up dozens of porn sites displaying photos of naked Asian girls. One offered "the hottest spicy asian ass you'll ever see".

Ex-engineer Jack said: "I was shaken. The images were horrendous. I didn't know this sort of stuff existed."

After trying variations on the theme with the same result, frantic Jack finally found the answer by changing his search to "donkey sanctuaries".

It was "onager" - sometimes known as "Wild Ass Asian" and found in deserts from the Mid East to Tibet.

Weeders of the world Unite!

What would be a great name for this union?

How about WEED?

Workers Extolling Effed-up Diversions?

Oakland Pot Club Says Union, Yes!

Oaksterdam University employees join UFCW Local 5
By JACKSON WEST
www.nbcbayarea.com

At a ceremony hosted by Oakland City Council's Rebecca Kaplan, 100 employees at medical marijuana dispensary and education hub Oaksterdam University turned in their membership cards to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 5.

It may well be the first union pot shop in the country, if not the world.

While it will help employees collectively bargain and resolve disputes with management, it also gives owner Richard Lee political allies with labor organizations.

Lee is responsible for the Tax Cannabis 2010 ballot measure, which would decriminalize recreational use of cannabis, which polls suggest has neatly divided California voters.

As legitimization of the multi-billion dollar business in marijuana could set the stage for a growth industry, one that UFCW is now in on the ground floor of. Which could help sway other growth-oriented unions like the Service Employees International Union.

Of course, police officer associations and the correctional officers union are unlikely to throw their support behind the ballot measure, since more drug arrests means more money and jobs for law enforcement and prisons.

It remains to be seen if the ballot measure will pick up a new string of labor endorsements, or whether it will pay off politically for the likes of Kaplan, who's running for Mayor of Oakland.

What a turd!

Jesus!

What a horrible thing to do.

New Jersey Teen Admits Defecating in Classmate's Soda

CAMDEN, N.J.;(AP/ 1010 WINS)  -- His lawyer calls it a foolish prank, but a judge isn't laughing.

A 17-year-old high school student from Haddon Township admitted in family court Thursday that he defecated in a classmate's soda during an auto-shop class.

Prosecutors dropped an aggravated assault charge in exchange for the boy's guilty plea to a charge of tampering with a food product.

Authorities say the victim sipped the soda, then spit it out as his classmates laughed on March 29.

A judge ordered the boy to serve probation, serve 200 hours of community service, write a letter to the victim to apologize -- and to write a 1,000-word report on why it's unhealthy to ingest fecal matter.

Please keep her away from bridges

Boy, I used to think it would have been a great thing to have been a Kennedy.

No, thank you.

RFK Jr.'s wife pleads Not Guilty to Westchester DWI

nbcnewyork.com

The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pleaded not guilty Thursday to a drunken-driving charge and will be evaluated to see if she needs treatment for alcohol abuse.

Mary Richardson Kennedy, 50, was arraigned in Bedford Town Court, near her home 45 miles north of New York City. Her husband, son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, was not in court.

Mary Kennedy was arrested May 15 after a police officer reported seeing her drive her car over a curb outside a Bedford school. Police said she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent; the legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Kennedy had a dog in the car but no passengers. She was charged with driving while intoxicated.

Town Justice Kevin Quaranta suspended Kennedy's license, released her without bail and ordered an assessment by a private agency.

Kennedy's lawyer, Kerry Lawrence, said outside court that the assessment is "to determine if treatment is needed."

Lawrence said the judge would receive a report from the agency at Kennedy's next court appearance on July 15. He said he hoped the case would be resolved then.

The judge emphasized that he was treating Kennedy's case "like any other case." At the end of the session he said, "Ms. Kennedy, good luck to you."

Police said they had responded to Kennedy's home twice in the week before her arrest but no crimes had been committed.

Lt. Jeff Dickan said that in one call Kennedy reported a dispute between children. He said the other visit resulted in a state domestic incident report but there were "no crimes committed, no report of assault, no arrests and no need for follow-up."

Robert Kennedy, a prominent environmental lawyer, did not return telephone calls to his White Plains office.

Left home alone

What is up with folks that do this?

I just don't understand them.  Is it because they weren't your kids?  Really?

2-year old found wandering alone

By Ariel Barkhurst - Express-News

A San Antonio man is wanted on child endangerment charge after a 2-year-old boy was found wandering alone on a North Side street Wednesday night, officials said.

The Bexar County district attorney's office obtained an arrest warrant Thursday evening for Luis Alcantar, 50.

Alcantar is accused of leaving the child alone with a 1-year-old sibling in an apartment to go to the store. The 2-year-old was later found wandering alone on Fresno Drive just before 11 p.m.

The rest of the story:

New Chief Judge

Congratulations Judge Biery on being selected as the Chief Judge for the Western District of Texas.


Biery named chief judge
By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News

The federal court district that includes San Antonio will have a new chief judge beginning June 1 — Fred Biery.

Bill Putnicki, court clerk for U.S. courts for the Western District of Texas, announced this week that Biery will succeed U.S. District Judge Walter Smith Jr. of Waco, who is ending his tenure as chief at the maximum of seven years.

The Western District has the largest caseload of the country's 94 federal districts, with 8,000 felony cases and 3,000 civil cases filed each year. The district also includes Austin, Del Rio, Alpine, Midland/Odessa and El Paso.

The rest of the story:

Smack down in Seguin

If you have any information please contact the Seguin police department at 830-379-2123.

Thanks!

Police seek information on assault

By Ron Maloney -The Gazette-Enterprise

SEGUIN — A local man was beaten into critical condition late Wednesday night, and police are working to determine why.

Seguin Police Detective Sgt. Aaron Seidenberger said officers were called to a home in the 1500 block of North Milam Street at 11:30 p.m. to investigate an alleged aggravated assault.

When they arrived, they found the victim, a 20-year-old local man Seidenberger did not identify, had suffered major head injuries.

“It appeared he had been assaulted,” Seidenberger said.

The victim was treated at the scene by Seguin Fire Department paramedics and was flown to University Hospital in San Antonio, where an official told police Tuesday he remained in critical condition.

Seidenberger said he didn’t know the motive for the beating.

“We don’t have a whole lot right now,” Seidenberger said. “I don’t think the victim was able to converse with the officers, and at least as of right now, he can’t help me.”

Seidenberger asked that anyone with information on the incident call the police department at 830-379-2123 and ask to speak to any detective.

The future is now

Wow!

The future has officially arrived.

Scientist ‘infects himself’ with computer virus

By Maija Palmer, Technology Correspondent-FT.com


Dr Gasson deliberately introduced a computer virus into an electronic chip that had been implanted into his left hand last year, in order to study its effects.

“We are moving towards these devices being small computers that are able to store information, communicate with other devices, and perform simple computations. But with these new abilities come new risks, such as being attacked by computer viruses,” Dr Gasson said.

“There are very serious implications for medical devices. Imagine if someone developed a virus that stopped a pacemaker working.”

The chip in Dr Gasson’s hand is a high-end radio frequency identification chip, a sophisticated version of the technology used in shop security tags and for identifying pets. The device, the size of the grain of rice, allowed him secure access to University buildings and his mobile phone.

Once infected with the virus, the microchip contaminated the system that was used to communicate with it and tried to spread to other chips in contact with the system.

Dr Gasson said that the experiment had offered a “glimpse at the problems of tomorrow”.

“Developers of this technology need to consider technology from the outset, which they don’t do at the moment,” he said.

“Much like people with medical implants, after a year of having the implant, I very much feel that it is part of my body,” he said. “While it is exciting to be the first person to become infected by a computer virus in this way, I found it a surprisingly violating experience because the implant is so intimately connected to me but the situation is potentially out of my control.”

Implanted technology is starting to become more common in the United States, where it is used for example, for storing patients’ medical records. There has been some limited adoption of the technology for security purposes by the Mexican attorney general’s office, surveillance companies and a Barcelona night club.

Not feelin' the love

Gee thanks Mr. President.

Still no word on troops to Texas

Perry's request goes ignored for more than a year
By OMAR VILLAFRANCA -nbcdfw.com

National Guard troops will be headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, but Texas is still waiting for an official answer to its request for help.

President Barack Obama has agreed to send 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico. The White House said it has not decided where along the Southwest border, which includes parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, the troops will be deployed.

Gov. Rick Perry has sent letters to Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano requesting National Guard troops for the Texas-Mexico border.

The rest of the story:

Bummer Dude!

Woah!

That's a buncha weed!

Good job Border Patrol!

A B- for the attempted fake Deputy Sheriff line.

Feds nab $4.4 million in pot

By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News
BROWNSVILLE — The Border Patrol seized more than 5,000 pounds of marijuana, worth about $4.4 million, in three busts across South Texas, including some from a bogus sheriff's vehicle, officers said.


Agents in the Freer area Wednesday stopped a pickup with lights and decals indicating it belonged to the Webb County Sheriff's Department after verifying that the department didn't have one there and all its vehicles were accounted for.

The driver said he was a deputy, then admitted that he was not, Border Patrol officers said. He was arrested after 1,018 pounds of pot were found in the cab, the Border Patrol said.

The rest of the story:

Pedophiles not welcome

(sarcasm on)

Gee with all the outrage about the Arizona bill which enforces the Federal law you'd think the same folks would be upset because this law denies both legal or nonlegal immigrants, or even American citizens from residing in Boerne.

Oh the injustice and the unconstitutionality!!

(sarcasm off)

You may resume your day now.

Boerne expands buffer zones
By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News 

BOERNE — A newly adopted city ordinance, aimed at registered sex offenders whose victims were 17 and under, restricts their movements and puts roughly 75 percent of the city off-limits to them for residency.

City Council approved the controversial code on a 4-1 vote Tuesday, saying state laws provide inadequate protection against proven predators.

“Child Area” signs soon will be erected at local schools, day cares, parks and other public and private sites. Sex offenders regulated by the code may be present in those zones only if accompanied by their own children.

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Time flies

Its not necessarily the TSA agent or agents which did this.  I've had other folks pick up my computer when I'm being checked because my artificial knee always rings.

Baker County woman sues after Rolex goes missing at Norfolk airport

She says the $24,000 watch was lost at Virginia security checkpoint. 
By Paul Pinkham - Jacksonville.com

Imagine being ordered by airport security workers to put your very expensive watch on a scanning belt, over your objections. Then imagine going to retrieve it and it’s gone.

A Baker County woman says that experience at Norfolk International Airport in Virginia last year  cost her a $24,000 Rolex her husband saved up to buy her on her 50th birthday.

Now she’s suing the U.S. Transportation Security Administration after the agency rejected her claim letter and her congressman unsuccessfully attempted to intervene.

The lawsuit, filed in Jacksonville federal court this month, accuses TSA of negligence and bailment,  a legal term that makes someone holding another’s property responsible if it is lost.

“Basically they called me a liar. They treated me like crap,”  said Paulene Showalter,  63, of Glen St. Mary. Showalter is secretary to Duval County Public Defender Matthew Shirk.

TSA spokeswoman Lauren Gaches  said Friday  the agency couldn’t comment on a specific case in litigation. She said about 2.5 million pieces of luggage pass through screening daily at U.S. airports, and missing property reports total about 45 a day, less than a hundredth of 1 percent.

In a November letter denying Showalter, TSA’s claims office in Virginia said there were “no legally sustainable grounds” for a finding of liability against the agency.

Showalter’s attorney, Howard Coker,  said TSA contends Showalter never had a Rolex on her wrist that day, something she vehemently denies. Security cameras apparently weren’t working, according to Showalter and TSA’s response to inquiries by U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla.

“We have eyewitnesses who say she did have this type of watch, including one who saw it on the day in question,” Coker said.

Showalter said she was preparing to board a return flight to Jacksonville last February  when she was ordered by security officers to put her watch in a bin and place it on a conveyor belt. She said she objected several times but was told she had no choice if she wanted to board her flight, so eventually she complied.

“I said, 'If I take it off, will you hold it?’ 'No.’ ” she recalled.

When she was put through an additional security check, she again asked to be allowed to retrieve her watch first. Again, the answer was no, she said.

When she finally returned to the conveyor belt, the Rolex was gone.

“She did everything that they asked her to do. She wasn’t belligerent in any way,” Coker said. “All she wanted to do was get her property before they took her through the scanner.”

In its response to Crenshaw, TSA said passengers can choose to wear jewelry through the walk-through metal detector or can retrieve it immediately after exiting the X-ray. If it requires additional screening, it is inspected in view of the owner, the agency said.

If the passenger receives secondary screening, as Showalter did, TSA policy doesn’t require property be brought to them if they can see it, the agency told Crenshaw.

Showalter said she became hysterical after realizing the watch was gone. She called Shirk for advice. She asked for police to be called, but security officers told her she was disrupting the area and had to leave.

Eventually police were called after she ran into a lawyer co-worker at the airport, she said.

Coker said Showalter did everything she could to resolve the matter through non-legal channels. He said the lawsuit was filed before the statute of limitations ran out last week to preserve her claim.

He said if the statements made to Crenshaw are true, then TSA violated its own policies.

“They have a duty to be certain that all items are to be returned to the traveler,” Coker said. “They can’t abdicate that duty.

"Quick" thinking

Find those cameras in contempt of Court!!

Cameras no show in court

By BLAKE AUED - Athens Banner-Herald

Lawyer Regina Quick, defending two clients from charges that they were photographed running red lights, subpoenaed five traffic cameras at the West Broad Street-Alps Road intersection to testify that her clients did indeed barge through on red.

"I didn't observe them as they came in, so I don't believe they'll be appearing," Quick said.

Jim Davis, the assistant county attorney who prosecuted the cases, said Quick should have subpoenaed county officials to produce the cameras if she needed them to make her case.

"It's not proper to serve an inanimate object, such as a camera," Davis said.

Municipal Court Judge Kay Giese found the defendants not guilty because Athens-Clarke County failed to produce any evidence that they are the registered owners of the cars caught on film illegally turning left on red, she said - not because the cameras did not come to court.

But Quick's tactic spoke to what many people loathe about red-light cameras: That they can essentially be ticketed by a machine, not a human being. The cameras snap a picture of a car's license plate when it runs a red light, then a citation is mailed to the car's registered owner.

Usually, the only way for the owner to get out of the ticket is to sign a legal document stating that he or she wasn't driving the car and naming who was. The tickets are not a criminal offense, so they are tried under different rules than most crimes.

Quick questioned a police lieutenant who signed off on the citations mailed to her client and a civilian technician who printed and mailed the images, both of whom said they do not know how the technology works. Therefore, she said, the cameras themselves are the only witnesses.

"It is Orwellian at best," she said.

State law, though, says that the picture is all the county needs to fine someone for running a red light, Davis said.

"The citation speaks for itself," he said. "There is no other evidence required."

Since they were installed, red-light cameras at the Lexington-Cherokee-Gaines School Road and Alps-Broad-Hawthorne Avenue intersections have drastically reduced the number of drivers who run those lights, especially young drivers who "caravan" through the intersections 10 or 12 at a time, Athens-Clarke Manager Alan Reddish said.

The number of tickets issued dropped from 1,791 in 2005 to 667 in 2009 at the Eastside intersection and from 13,222 in 2007 to 4,043 last year at the Westside intersection because drivers now know the cameras are there, Reddish said.

Rear-end collisions are up slightly at those intersections, he said, but sideswipes that often result in more serious injuries are down, he said.

The cameras work so well at deterring drivers from running red lights that they no longer generate revenue for the county government. Money from fines is set aside to operate the cameras, and officials expect them to run a $53,000 deficit next year. Funding left over from past years' fines will be used to plug the hole, Reddish said.

County officials are considering adding red-light cameras to more intersections, he said.

Ass Bomb

Exploding donkeys?

What will they dream of next?

Note the Man o' Law exclusive photo of the preparation to test fire the new donkey missile.

Donkey detonated on Gaza border

By ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JPOST.COM STAFF
Animal dead, no human casualties; 200 kg of dynamite heaped on cart.

A small Syrian-backed terrorist group in Gaza said its activists blew up a donkey cart laden with explosives close to the border with Israel on Tuesday, killing the animal but causing no human casualties.

Abu Ghassan, spokesman for the terrorist group, said more than 200 kilograms of dynamite were heaped on the animal-drawn cart. He added that the explosives were detonated 60 meters from the concrete security barrier that separates the territory from Israel.

The donkey was killed in the blast, but there were no reports of human casualties. Israeli troops routinely patrol the border, and impoverished Gazans often gather rubble in the area.

The Israeli military confirmed the blast, but had no further comment. The IDF said Gaza terrorists also fired two mortar shells into Israel on Tuesday, which fell in the Netiv Ha'asara area without causing damage or casualties.

Earlier this week, masked gunmen from an Islamist group torched a UN-run summer camp for children and teens in Gaza.

The head of UNRWA in Gaza, John Ging, said the assailants tied up the guard, burned tents and vandalized bathrooms at the campgrounds. UN officials said the attackers left behind three bullets and a note threatening to kill Ging and others unless the UN cancels its activities for some 250,000 Gaza children.

Two days before the incident, the previously unknown "The Free of the Homeland" group issued a statement criticizing the camp's organizer, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for "teaching schoolgirls fitness, dancing and immorality." 

Gun trade

Gee, I wonder who those weapons were going to?

He might have other problems with the intended recipients which might concern him more.

Dallas man accused in S. Texas weapons case

By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News

A Dallas man is scheduled for a court hearing in Del Rio today in connection with one of the largest weapons seizures in South Texas, according to federal officials.

Border Patrol agents came across a 2003 Ford pickup stopped on the side of a road last week. They found nearly 60 assault-type rifles and 49 cartridges concealed in load of plywood, according to a criminal complaint.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are leading an investigation with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about where the weapons came from and where they were headed.

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Beautiful Canyon Lake

Please be safe and enjoy the upcoming holiday.

The weather should be nice and the tubing great.

Oh and please be sure to enjoy the concert if you can make it!

Practice safety over Memorial Day Weekend
By Bryan Shettig The Herald-Zeitung


SATTLER — While organized events won’t be aplenty at Canyon Lake during Memorial Day Weekend, visitors and residents alike will be out on the water and at concerts. Canyon Lake officials are urging tubers and those enjoying the lake to be   careful and follow some guidelines.

Many will take to the water, where the South Central Texas Water Safety Coalition suggests residents and visitors can stay safe by wearing life jackets, avoiding alcohol and using designated drivers.

Chamber officials also encourage people enjoying the water to enroll in boater education courses and pay attention to others on the water, said Mandy Stewart, president of the Canyon Lake Area Chamber of    Commerce.

According to figures from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, there were 38 boating-related deaths on Texas public waters last year, down from 62 deaths in 2008.

The majority of those accidents involved capsizing, running aground, crashing into fixed objects or falling overboard, all of which can happen to a boater driving alone, according to the department.

The most common citation handed out by game wardens inspecting boats in 2009 was for insufficient life vests.

Memorial Day Weekend events in the Canyon Lake area don’t generally draw as many residents because of water attractions, Stewart said, but concerts that    weekend could bring in hundreds, if not thousands of spectators.

Three nights of shows during the Rock Float at the WhiteWater Amphitheater on Farm-to-Market 306, which will include the Black Crowes, Cross Canadian Ragweed and the Spazmatics. Last year’s Spazmatics show during Memorial Day Weekend drew about 5,000 people, Stewart said.

Officials from the Water Oriented Recreation District did not return multiple phone calls Tuesday for information regarding water levels and dock openings during Memorial Day Weekend.

To a more secure future

I am glad they are looking at alternative plans and ideas.

Its a great Commissioner's Court and I appreciate the hard work they do.


Commissioner's to discuss better courthouse security

By Chris Cobb The Herald-Zeitung 

After voters rejected the construction of a downtown justice center at the polls, Comal County Commissioners will discuss the need for better courtroom security Thursday during a closed-door executive session.

One of commissioners’ primary reasons for pushing for a new judicial facility was a lack of security in the current courthouse annex on Seguin Ave.

During the campaign, county staff, judges and sheriff’s deputies all said security at the facility was inadequate and potentially unsafe for jurors, judges and the general public.

But after 65 percent of voters opted against building a new justice center on May 8, commissioners are now forced to find ways to secure the existing facility.

“The threat has not gone away just because the justice center was turned down,” said Comal County Judge Danny Scheel, citing a bomb threat at the annex building on May 4. “We want to do whatever is necessary to make our employees and the public more secure.”

In addition to several county departments, the annex building houses two district courtrooms serving four judicial districts, as well as a county court-at-law.

None of the entrances into the courthouse annex are secured.

Metal detectors are only used for high-profile cases, and unsecured hallways offer defendants potential access to judges and attorneys.

Scheel said courthouse security personnel and the fire marshal’s office are currently looking for ways to secure the building until the county can settle on a long-term plan to build a new justice center.

Commissioner Jan Kennady said Thursday’s discussions likely would center around the need to seal off as many entrances as the fire marshal deems safe, as well the need for more metal detectors and more deputies in both the annex building and Commissioners’ Court. Commissioners’ Court will serve as the temporary home for County Court at Law No. 2 until the two-year restoration of the Comal County Courthouse is complete.

“Having not been successful in our effort to build a justice center, our first priority is to now make our facilities as safe as possible,” Kennady said.

How the mighty have fallen

Sorry but I don't think that telling an elected official that you're held to a higher standard is tantamount to treating him differently under the law.

Kilpatrick gets 1.5 to 5 years in prison, loses job

Doug Guthrie and George Hunter / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to 18 months to five years in prison today by Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner, who said the former mayor engaged in "contemptible behavior" by hiding assets from the court in violation of his probation.

Groner chastised Kilpatrick before imposing the sentence, and several people in the courtroom gasped when the judge handed down his decision. Kilpatrick's sister, Ayanna, was told by sheriff's deputies to sit down.

"Probation is no longer an option. The terms of your earlier probation no longer apply. That ship has sailed," Groner said. "This is all because of the actions of you, Mr. Kilpatrick. You were convicted ... all because you lied under oath. That lie ... was part of a broader attempt to cover up your misdeeds while serving as mayor.

"You challenged this court's authority," Groner said. "You attempted to utilize semantics and exploit loopholes. The broader context of this issue is that your family living expenses -- including living in a million-dollar home, driving a brand new Escalade and purchasing elective surgery for your wife -- you have made it perfectly clear that it's more important to pacify your wife than comply with my orders."

Kilpatrick will get 120 days credit for time he served in 2008-09 in the Wayne County Jail. That means he will serve 14 months in a Michigan prison before he can apply for parole.

"Sergeant, can you secure the defendant, please," Groner commanded as four sheriff's deputies moved in to handcuff Kilpatrick and led him from the courtroom.

Compuware cuts ties

Immediately following the sentencing, Kilpatrick's employer, Detroit-based Compuware, announced in a release that "Kwame Kilpatrick will be off the Compuware Corporation payroll at the end of the month."

"We don't have any choices. It's an unfortunate situation, and we feel bad for his family, but our hands are tied," the release said.

Kilpatrick had been working as a medical record security software salesman for Covisint, a subsidiary of Compuware. He had been earning $120,000 a year, and the firm had said he had the potential of tripling that figure with bonuses and commissions. However, in more than a year on the job, it is believed Kilpatrick has yet to close a deal.

Appeal coming

Kilpatrick and his lawyers now have 42 days to file an appeal. Kilpatrick's attorney, Michael Alan Schwartz, said he will seek an emergency stay of the sentence from the Michigan Court of Appeals. If granted, Kilpatrick would be free until a decision is made on the appeal. Schwartz said he won't be able to file for the stay right away because Kilpatrick will first have to be processed and placed within the Michigan Department of Corrections system.

Schwartz said the appeal will be based, in part, on Groner's statement that he treated Kilpatrick differently than other defendants. Groner said he was holding Kilpatrick to a higher standard because he was formerly the mayor of Detroit.

"You have asked to be treated no differently than others in the system," Groner said. "The problem is you are different. As an elected official, we expected you to set an example. ... You have failed."

'I sincerely apologize'

Prior to Groner's sentencing, the former mayor pleaded for leniency from the court.

"Whatever I did ... I sincerely apologize," he said. "It's hard to speak to some of the things that have been said about me. Let me start by saying I'm a human being, a real-life, flesh-and-blood person. Often when I hear about myself from the media, I'm extraordinarily confused because it's not me. I'm not the mayor of the city; the city has a new mayor."

Kilpatrick also owned up to what he called mistakes: "I cheated on my wife, your honor. I don't think anyone in this courtroom can know what it's like to be on the global newswire with text messages to someone that your wife is reading, as well.

"Sending your kids to school after you get ridiculed; getting in fights; things that are totally out of their character, and you did it. I accept responsibility for what I did. I spent a whole year feeling an enormous amount of guilt for what I did to my wife, my children and this city. And I still feel it."

Schwartz said after the sentencing that Groner listened to the prosecutors "but ignored all the things the defense has said."

He also said prosecutors, who sought a penalty that exceeded sentencing guidelines of zero to 17 months, and the judge want to "destroy" Kilpatrick because, "they don't like this man."

Lawyers' pleas

Groner announced Kilpatrick's prison sentence after hearing last-minute arguments from Schwartz and Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Athina Siringas.

During the hour-long proceeding, Siringas made an impassioned plea to discontinue the probation of Kilpatrick and send him to jail for up to five years.

"He has intentionally, maliciously hidden assets from the court so they could not be used for restitution," she said. "There's information that he was going to senior citizen houses asking seniors to come forward to pay his restitution. Is that what probation is all about?"

In response, Schwartz, denied the claim the former mayor went to senior citizen homes seeking money and asked Groner to continue his probation.

"These are people who felt in their own hearts that he was a man in distress and wanted to help him," he said. "He didn't even know who they were."Kilpatrick's spokesman, Mike Paul, issued a written statement following the decision, also warning Groner's reasoning in the sentencing could "come back to bite him in an appeal."

"With this sentence, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was clearly not treated equal to all citizens under the law," he said. "As a result, treating him differently is unconstitutional."

Before today's sentencing, Groner hinted at incarceration last month, warning the former mayor to have his affairs in order when he returned today to Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

Groner found Kilpatrick guilty of hiding finances from the court, in violation of the terms of his probation, which allowed him to live in lavish style in Texas. Groner had authority to imprison Kilpatrick for any amount of time up to the maximum five years for the obstruction of justice charges Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to in 2008 in connection with the text message scandal.

Kilpatrick's lawyers had said any time behind bars could cost the man's job, which it ultimately did, and would end any hope of paying the city $1 million restitution. So far, Kilpatrick has paid about $140,000 of his restitution with three and a half years to go before he's supposed to have it paid off.

Tone-deaf

I really think they don't get it.

California Democrats unveil tax-increase package

SAN FRANCISCO,  (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers in California unveiled a plan on Monday for nearly $5 billion of tax and fee increases to help fill the state government's $19.1 billion budget gap.

The plan by state Senate Democrats would raise $4.9 billion by raising California's vehicle registration fee, suspending corporate tax breaks scheduled to begin next year and boosting the state's tax on alcoholic beverages.

Democrats control both chambers of the state's legislature and have said they would seek new revenue to help plug the shortfall.

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, by contrast, has ruled out tax increases and is relying largely on deep spending cuts in his plan for balancing the state's books. He has called for $12.4 billion of cuts and would scrap the state's welfare system, a plan Democrats have rejected.

Republicans in the legislature's minority immediately criticized the proposed tax increases, signaling they will use their votes to block them. Democrats lack the votes to pass tax measures on their own.

Analysts expect budget negotiations between Schwarzenegger and lawmakers will drag on and press into the state's next fiscal year, which begins in July.

California's leaders are facing another year of weak revenue as a result of the recession and the downturns in financial and real estate markets. (Reporting by Jim Christie; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Parental kidnapping

Probably a smart thing for her to plead on.

Mom pleads guilty to kidnapping daughter

By Zeke MacCormick - Express News

A former University of Texas Health Science Center instructor jailed last month for fleeing with her daughter to Central America in 2008 plead guilty to one count of international parental kidnapping, officials said Monday.

Lynanne J. Foster, who surrendered daughter Camille when tracked down by her ex-husband in Costa Rica in December, entered the plea Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Nowak.

No sentencing date was set for Foster, who vanished with Camille during a court-authorized visitation. The former assistant professor of orthopedics, who'd moved to Boerne in 2006, faces up to three years in prison, but she could receive probation.

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Chutzpah

Seems kinda nervy, no?

I mean you take off of work on medical leave, dip into the County Employee sick leave pool all while you are running for office?

Now you're suing Kendall County under the FMLA?

Oh well, good luck with that.

Former candidate files complaint

SA Express News -

BOERNE — Complaints of discrimination and retaliation have been filed against Kendall County by a former deputy county clerk who was dismissed this month after exhausting her sick days and not returning to work, officials say.

County Attorney Don Allee defended the handling of Angie San Miguel, who went on medical leave in January but campaigned unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for district clerk in the March primary.

“We’ve bent over backwards to accommodate her,” said Allee, noting county commissioners allowed fellow workers to donate to San Miguel 200 hours of their sick leave, which expired last week.

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