Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Trying to save his money

I guess any money he saved will now be spent on attorneys?



Miser kills and buries injured wife to save money
From China Daily Website -

A man who had reported his wife missing in March recently confessed to killing her and burying her body near their house in Xiamen, Fujian province, "to save money that would be required for her treatment".

During a quarrel on March 18, the accused, surnamed Lin, pushed his wife, who hit her head on the doorpost. Seeing her bleed profusely, Lin admittedly hit her on the head with a hammer until she was dead.

"She was injured so seriously that it would cost a lot to treat her. I thought I'd rather save the money for our children," Lin told the police.

Lin buried his wife's body beside a road 500 meters from their house. The body has been recovered.

Lin said he refused to tell the police of his wife's death initially so that he could save the money that would be spent on her funeral.

Three strikes and your outta here, I hope

Jeeze, three bombs in several weeks at the same house?

You figure he got someone really angry at him?  Someone who really, fortunately, sucks at making bombs and/or incendiary devices?


Pipe bomb is third attempt 
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

For the third time in several weeks, a bomb was discovered Monday morning at a Northwest Bexar County home, prompting the evacuation of eight households, authorities said.

A man who lives in the 10300 block of Timber Country, near Braun Road and Loop 1604, called 911 around 8 a.m. when he noticed damage to his SUV before he left for work.

The side of the SUV was burned, said Lt. Dennis Casillas, and when officers arrived, the resident pointed out a pipe bomb beneath the vehicle.

The rest of the story:

The cuckolded husband killed

Not quite the story you'd expect to read if you glance at the headline below.

The friends were her lover and his friends and she had gotten him drunk that particular evening. 

BTW I am not saying the deceased husband should have started hitting his wife.



Battered wife, friends kill drunken husband
The Times of India -

BANGALORE: For four months, no one knew the whereabouts of Cheluvaraju, 32, an employee of a garment factory. His wife also did not bother to look for him. Only when his mother voiced her suspicion did police swing into action.

On Sunday, Talaghattapura police in Ramanagaram district exhumed the remains of Cheluvaraju's body buried near the water pipeline at Gantakandoddi, an isolated place. Ramanagaram DySP Devaraj said he was murdered on May 2. The remains have been sent for post mortem and forensic analysis.

Cheluvaraju, of Karikaldoddi near Harohalli, had married Nagaveni, 23, and they have two children. They lived in a rented house in Nittagere.

Cheluvaraju started drinking regularly and Nagaveni entered into an illicit relationship with Shivakumar, who had a laundry near Konanakunte. On learning about the affair, Cheluvaraju started beating his wife. On May 2, Nagaveni got Cheluvaraju so drunk that he became unconscious. Then Shivakumar, along with his friends Venugopal, Mahalinga and Sridhar, strangled him.

They took the body to Gantakandoddi and buried it. However, Cheluvaraju's mother wondered why her son hadn't visited her for three months. She enquired in the neighbourhood and learnt that his neighbours too had not seen him for a while. On August 17, she went to the police.

Talaghattapura inspector Mahadev said initially police thought Cheluvaraju may have died in some accident and that the body had not been identified. But, when his mother told them he had marital problems, they grew suspicious about Nagaveni and kept a watch on her. When they learnt about the illicit relationship, they took her for questioning during which she confessed to the crime.


Barbie captured

I think the biggest worry would be that he gets "sprung" from a jail in Mexico before he makes it hereto the U.S. to stand trial.

Good catch fellas.


'La Barbie' captured in Mexico
By Dane Schiller - Houston Chronicle

Mexican authorities Monday captured a notorious Texan who is accused of a bloody climb to the top echelon of one of the hemisphere's most powerful drug cartels.

Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as “La Barbie” for his looks, faces a slew of charges in Mexico but also is wanted in the U.S., where he has been indicted on charges of smuggling thousands of pounds of cocaine into this country.

The U.S. government has offered a reward of up to $2 million for his capture.

The rest of the story:

Monday, August 30, 2010

The lowest circle of Hell

Surely if there is a God there'll be a special place in Hell for folks who sexually prey on little children using the Bible as cover to gain the trust of the parents.

Yes, I know its allegedly sexually preys.  We'll see, won't we?


Man charged in sex assault of boy
By Vianna Davila - Express-News

A man accused of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old boy allegedly used Bibles to earn the trust of the victim's father, an arrest warrant affidavit said.

Robert Ceja, 48, was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child early Sunday. He was held at the Bexar County Jail on a $150,000 bond.

The victim's mother first called police Aug. 4, shortly after she was released from jail on an unrelated charge, after getting a strange feeling about Ceja and questioning her son, police spokesman Matthew Porter said.

The rest of the story:

I mean, who knew? I just ordered Bologna.

The moral of this story?

Never, ever order your bologna from Puerto Rico.  You never know what might be inside of it.


Coke hidden in meat lands Mass. man in trouble
Boston.com

HOLYOKE, Mass.—A Massachusetts man has been arrested after a kilogram of cocaine hidden inside a hollowed out chunk of bologna was delivered to his home.

Holyoke police say they were tipped off by postal inspectors in Puerto Rico who had been investigating similar shipments. A dog confirmed the presence of drugs and the bologna was cut open.

The meat was then repackaged and an undercover postal inspector delivered it to a Holyoke address at about 4:45 p.m. on Thursday where a woman sitting on the front steps signed for it.
Police then executed a search warrant and arrested 30-year-old Juan Rodriguez on a cocaine trafficking charge.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
Police say the cocaine had a street value of $100,000. The investigation is ongoing.

Did he steal some cold milk too?

Must've been some damn good brownies.


Alleged "Brownie Bandit" nabbed with bag of treats
MyWayNews.com

GONZALES, La. (AP) - Police arrested the suspected 'Brownie Bandit,' a man accused of repeatedly breaking into a bakery, stealing freshly baked brownies and leaving behind crumbs and broken windows.

Gonzales police said Jamon J. Simoneaux, 18, had a bag full of brownies when he was arrested Thursday in Jumonville's Bakery.

Bakery owner Lynn Jumonville told The Advocate he called police after the cost of broken windows and screens began to mount. He said the burglar would break in about 8:30 or 9 p.m.

Police booked Simoneaux on six counts of simple burglary and four of simple criminal damage to property.

Lynn and wife Pat Jumonville estimate that he took about 12 dozen brownies and about two dozen sugar cookies.

Simoneaux remained in the Ascension Parish jail Saturday and it was not clear whether he had an attorney. Bond was set at at $90,000.

What a drag

A whole lot of questions are being raised about the actions of the two officers.

Time and an investigation will, hopefully, get them sorted out.


Off-duty officer fires shots at driver who dragged deputy
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

An off-duty Sabinal policeman fired two shots at a motorist early Saturday after the suspect dragged a Bexar County sheriff's deputy with his car, authorities said.

San Antonio police are investigating the shooting, which occurred about 2:40 a.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Ridgecrest Drive at Broadway Street.

Deputy Timothy Brandon, 30, and a Sabinal police officer were sitting in Brandon's personal vehicle working traffic enforcement near a nightclub when a car struck the deputy's vehicle, a police report states. Both officers were uniformed, the report states.

The rest of the story:

Who invited Death to the party?

I hope they catch the folks that did this.

Don't go to parties where you get a mass texting about and especially if you do not know the folks throwing the party.

Two men killed.  One leaves behind a nearly two year old daughter who will grow up not knowing him.


Two killed at East Side party
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News


The day two young men were killed in a hail of gunfire that also injured three others at an East Side party, the families of those who died were left with more questions than answers.

Manuel Camarillo Jr., 22, was fatally shot in the head and was left lying in front of the home at Sherman and North Olive streets where the party was held, officials said.

Andrew Ramirez, 17, was shot in the chest and died at a Shell gas station at Interstate 35 and New Braunfels Avenue. His girlfriend and her friends stopped there to call police when they realized they couldn't make it to the hospital in time to save him.

The rest of the story:

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Rest stop

He found a train alright.


Amateur NC ghost hunter looking for 'ghost train' hit and killed by real train
By Jeff Rivenbark - email

STATESVILLE, NC (WBTV) - A man who was with about a dozen people who were looking for a legendary "ghost train" in Iredell County was hit by a locomotive and killed early Friday morning. 

The incident happened on a train trestle at 2:45 a.m. near the 900 block of Buffalo Shoals Road.

Robin Chapman, a spokesperson for Norfolk-Southern Railroad, said the eastbound train consisted of three locomotives and no freight cars. 

Got Change?

Change for a Million?

Sorry, I'm all tapped out this week.





Man nabbed with fake $1 million bills in Abu Dhabi


ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Can you break a $1 million?

Not a chance. But the story is rich in audacity.

A man from the Ivory Coast is in police custody in Abu Dhabi after allegedly persuading a woman to try to exchange two phony $1 million bills at the UAE's Central Bank.

Police say the suspect promised the woman a 30 percent cut after the bills were traded - presumably for U.S. bills or UAE dirham. The suspect was identified in press reports Sunday only by the initials A.B.

The phony notes feature the $1 portrait of George Washington and are mostly black and white on the front.

The National newspaper quotes Col. Rashid Mohammed Bursheed, the head of the organized crime unit, as saying the suspect claims he thought the bills were real.

Keep your eye on the ball

Nope, its not about Baseball, Football, Tennis, Golf, or Soccer.

Its....nevermind.


Kangaroo testicle? Chefs in Serbia say, 'Yes!'
DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press Writer

OZREM, Serbia (AP) -- In a remote Serbian mountain village, they're cooking up delicacies to make your mouth water - or your stomach churn.

At the seventh annual World Testicle Cooking Championship, visitors watch - and sometimes taste - as teams of chefs cook up bull, boar, camel, ostrich and even kangaroo testicles.

"This festival is all about fun, food and bravery," said Ljubomir Erovic, the Serbian chef and testicles gourmand specialist who organizes the bizarre cooking festival and has published a testicle cookery book.

The food - politely called "white kidneys" in Serbian - is believed to be rich in testosterone. In the Balkans, it is considered to help men's libido.

"The bulls' testicles are the best, goulash style," said last year's winner Zoltan Levai, stirring a metal pot heated by a wood fire and filled with vegetables and large testicles that he said were provided from a state-run slaughter house.

The festival - which includes dishes like testicle pizza and testicles in bechamel sauce flavored with a variety of herbs found in the region.

Visitors eat the dishes with plenty of wine or beer, and cool themselves in a small mountain river that flows beside the makeshift cooking stands blasting folk music. The stalls also sell roasted pig or lamb, "as a side dish".

"I came here last year, and decided to come back," said Anna Wexler, an Israeli citizen originally from New York who's now a member of the festival's jury. "It was delicious. There was testicle moussaka, goulash, stallion, boar, bull and many other things."

The festival also gives prizes to to those who have made the news for being "ballsy". This year one of the unsuspecting winners is U.S. President Barack Obama.

"He's the bravest man in the world," said Erovic. "Obama took over the world at the most difficult economic and political times," Erovic said. "He showed he has balls."

The other prize went to American pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger who last year glided a passenger jet into the Hudson river in New York rather than risk crashing in a densely populated area trying to reach an airport.

A rose by any other name

Another "junk" case for the Supremes.


Planet K 'junked vehicle' battle to reach Supreme Court
By Jeorge Zarazua - Express-news

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider an appeal next month from the owner of Planet K stores over his long-running battle with the city of San Marcos about his right to display an adorned junked vehicle.

In 2007, Michael Kleinman paid two artists to transform a wrecked car in front of his San Marcos store into a painted cactus planter. City officials objected, saying the Oldsmobile 88 was in violation of a city ordinance declaring such displays public nuisances.

Kleinman is appealing a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in February that found the car-planter to be “ultimately a junked vehicle.”

The rest of the story:

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Toot toot!

The train wrecks continue.


Police: Paris Hilton arrested on cocaine charge
Associated Press -

LAS VEGAS – Police arrested Paris Hilton on cocaine possession charges late Friday night after stopping the car she was in on a Las Vegas street, authorities said.

Hilton was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of possession of cocaine, Las Vegas police spokesman Marcus Martin said.

The 29-year-old Hilton was in a car driven by a friend that was stopped when officers noticed what they suspected to be marijuana smoke coming from it, he told The Associated Press.

The rest of the story:

A little too far to go

 Anything, anything to raise money?


This politician has gone a bit too far in my mind in his search to raise funds.


Politician holds breast implant raffle to fund campaign
Breitbart.com

An opposition candidate in next month's Venezuelan legislative elections is holding a breast implant raffle to fund his campaign, he said in a newspaper interview published Friday. 

"The raffle is a legal method. We decided on breast implants because we wanted to target a specific public sector," Gustavo Rojas told El Universal.

"Raffle tickets on sale now: win a breast implant operation for yourself or your partner," Rojas announces on his website.

The interview does not mention either the cost of a breast implant operation or how much money Rojas expects to get with the raffle.

Some 30,000 breast implant procedures are carried out yearly in Venezuela.

On September 26 Venezuelans will vote to renew all 167 seats in the single-chamber National Assembly, which since 2005 is dominated by President Hugo Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

Rojas is running for the opposition Justicia Primero (Justice First) party.

Self-defense argument rebuked

Self-defense ruled out by the jury.

Good job Rita.



Jurors reject stabbing self defense claim
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

Murder defendant Lawrence Peña told jurors from the witness stand Friday that he was trying to break up a fight between his brother and a man in a postal service cap two years ago when he accidently stabbed the stranger in the heart.

Jurors didn't buy it. It took them about 30 minutes of deliberation to return a guilty verdict.

Peña, 49, could now face up to life in prison for the conviction. The punishment phase of his trial is expected to begin Monday in state district court.

The rest of the story:

Another baby dies

I am of the opinion that one of the leading causes of death in babies is the boyfriend of the mother of the child.

I am sorry little child that we weren't able to save you.  May your innocent soul rest in peace.


Shaken baby dies; capital murder possible 
By Peter J. Holley and Valentino Lucio - Express-News

A San Antonio man accused of injuring a 3-month-old could face a capital murder charge following the infant's death, authorities said Friday.

Bobby Fernandez, 21, was booked into the Bexar County Jail on Thursday and was charged with one county of injury to a child intentionally causing serious bodily injury. Bail initially was set at $75,000, but may increase, authorities said.

Authorities said the charge likely will be upgraded following the death Thursday of Emerald Rodriguez, who arrived at University Hospital in a coma Tuesday afternoon.

The rest of the story:

Justice achieved in France

I am glad that the French Court ruled in the mother's favor now, find the boy!


French jurists side with S.A. mom
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A French court has ordered that Jean Paul Lacombe, an 11-year-old who disappeared from San Antonio last year during an international custody dispute, be returned to his mother.


“My heart is bumping,” Berenice Diaz said by phone Friday afternoon as she raced with her lawyers from the courthouse in Marseille to Nice in the French Riviera, where authorities believe the boy has been living with his millionaire fugitive father. “I'm just in a hurry to get my son back.”

But by late Friday in France, authorities had yet to locate the boy.

The rest of the story:

Friday, August 27, 2010

Coming to a 3DTV near you soon

I'm sure the Porn Industry has some thoughts on putting this technology to 'good' use.

Get out the re-runs of Sex and the City!!


Japan develops 'touchable' 3D technology
Breitbart.com

A Japanese research team said Thursday it had developed the world's first 3D television system that allows users to touch, pinch or poke images floating in front of them. 

"It is the first time that you can feel images in the air," said Norio Nakamura, senior scientist with the research team at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

"You can have the sense of touch like poking a rubber ball or stretching a sticky rice cake" when manipulating images, he told AFP by telephone.

The technology changes the shape of three-dimensional images in response to "touches", aided by cameras that monitor how the fingers move, Nakamura said.

It is not known when the technology will be put to practical use but its creators see it being used to simulate surgical operations and in video game software allowing players to experience the sensation of holding weapons or sports equipment.

It could even use scanned images to supplement existing realities, said Nakamura.

"This technology could create a virtual museum where visitors, including vision-impaired people, can put their hands on valuable sculptures that are usually untouchable," Nakamura said.

Give the boy back

What a mess this is.

I sure hope custody is given back to the mother.  If nothing else but because the father mislead the courts here in order to get Judge Casseb to rule as he did which allowed him access to his son so he could kidnap him.

He should not profit by his misdeed bring it back to court here.


School bus kidnapping case heard in France
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

Ex-spouses embroiled in a high-profile international custody dispute met in a French courtroom Thursday for the first time since their 11-year-old son, Jean Paul Lacombe, disappeared after being pulled off a San Antonio school bus.

During the hearing, in Marseille, attorneys for Berenice Diaz of San Antonio and Jean Philippe Lacombe, who has French and Mexican citizenship, butted heads over which of them was granted final custody of the child by a Mexican court.

The three-judge panel is expected to announce its decision today.

The rest of the story:

Sounds like fraud to me

Hey!  Nice work if you can get it!

I mean really?  REALLY??  The employee hasn't shown up to work for twelve years and has been paid for it?

5...4...3...2...1...Cue the outrage and denials.

Heads should roll over this.  All of that money wasted on salary and benefits, just wasted.


A no-show for 12 years, worker in Norfolk still paid
NORFOLK
A Community Services Board employee collected a salary with benefits for 12 years and never showed up for work, several City Council members said Wednesday.

The head of the agency refused to identify the employee but acknowledged in response to inquiries from The Virginian-Pilot that an employee was "on the board's payroll who had not reported to work in years."

Maureen Womack, the agency's executive director, said she fired the employee, informed the board that governs her agency and asked City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko to investigate the matter earlier this summer.
Pishko's investigation is nearly complete and will soon be turned over to the Norfolk police, she said.
Womack also refused to divulge the employee's salary.

The council also was told in a recent closed meeting that at least one other staffer, a Community Services Board supervisor, is being investigated for alleged complicity.

Council members described the investigation as unbelievable and unprecedented.
"It's so astounding to me, I don't know what to say," Councilman Barclay C. Winn said. "I'm embarrassed."

Mayor Paul Fraim, who has been on the council for 24 years, said he has never heard of an employee of the city or any related agency being paid without showing up for work. The Community Services Board "does tremendous work in Norfolk," he said.

But "this is just flat-out terrible," Fraim said. "We'll find out eventually why this occurred. But it's beyond me right now how this could have happened."

The Community Services Board is an independent agency that receives funding from the city, state and federal governments. Its governing board, which hired Womack, is appointed by the council.

With a budget of nearly $24 million, the agency provides about 6,000 of Norfolk's poorest residents annually with medication, counseling and other psychiatric services.

Its roughly 300 employees have an average salary of about $35,000, spokeswoman Mary Keough said.
Councilman Tommy Smigiel said recent revelations about the Community Services Board employee and other matters, including the profligate use of a city credit card by the Commissioner of Revenue and the purchase of a cell phone with city funds for a gang member by an assistant to the city manager, are doing "serious damage" to Norfolk's image.

"At some point the citizens of Norfolk are going to expect accountability," he said. "City officials cannot continue to make excuses for mismanagement. It's making Norfolk look bad, and Norfolk is a great city."

He said the council needs to publicly discuss the recent revelations at its retreat next month. "We need to send a message to the citizens that they can trust us," he said.

Fraim noted that the Community Services Board is not controlled by City Manager Regina V.K. Williams nor the council. "They are autonomous from us," he said.

Community Services executive board member Kenny Bryant, pastor of Tabernacle Church in Norfolk, said
Womack has worked diligently to fix deficiencies in the organization.

She was hired in February 2009 from Davis County, Utah, where she was head of Davis Behavioral Health for 10 years. She replaced George Pratt, who retired.

"She came in with fresh eyes," he said. "That's one of the reasons we hired her."

Bryant said that as soon as Womack learned the employee was being paid without working, she "came to the board and told us we need to turn this over to the city attorney immediately."

"There was no politicking, no hesitation whatsoever," he said. "The primary issue was to do what was morally and legally right."

Heidi and Erica remembered


It is hard to believe twenty years have gone by since heidi Seeman and Erica Botello were murdered in seperate incidents.

Both however, had their funerals on the same day.

Somewhere, someone knows who did these deeds, or that they did it.

I hope they will be found and both cases get resolved.


 
20-year cold case slaying still haunts city
By Peter J. Holley - Express-News

Former Hays County Sheriff Paul Hastings doesn't dwell on his 38 years in law enforcement — 14 years into retirement, the soft-spoken 73-year-old would rather tend to his parched plot of Hill Country oaks and sun-baked pasture just outside Dripping Springs.

A widower, his only companions are 11 goats and a one-eyed mule named Nick.

Hastings' long career yielded few notable regrets, but occasionally a nightmarish pang rouses him from sleep, filling his weary brown eyes with unexpected tears.

Her name is Heidi Lynn Seeman.

The rest of the story:

Thursday, August 26, 2010

WTF??!! #5

What can anyone say about this?

This couple needs to be put in prison for this.


Saudi couple hammer 24 nails into Sri Lankan maid
Reuters.com

(Reuters) - A Saudi couple tortured their Sri Lankan maid after she complained of a too heavy workload by hammering 24 nails into her hands, legs and forehead, officials said on Thursday.

Nearly 2 million Sri Lankans sought employment overseas last year and around 1.4 million, mostly maids, were employed in the Middle East. Many have complained of physical abuse or harassment.

L.T. Ariyawathi, a 49-year old mother of three, returned on Friday after five months in Saudi Arabia.

Her family only realized what had happened to her when she complained of pain and they took her to see the doctor, Foreign Employment Bureau officials said.

"The landlord and the wife of the landlord hammered 24 nails into her when she complained of the heavy workload," Kalyana Priya Ramanayake, media secretary of the Foreign Employment Bureau, told Reuters.

Ariyawathi has been taken to hospital for surgery to remove the nails, which according to the maid were hammered in when they were hot.

X-rays showed one- to two-inch nails in her hands and legs, with one over her eyes, officials said.

The Foreign Employment Bureau is consulting the Attorney-General while the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry is to take the matter up with the Saudi government, officials said.

Rite of passage?

I guess she passed her gang initiation huh?

Welcome to the big leagues, Arteesha.


Young female murder suspect fired shot after robbery victim laughed, police say
Baltimore Sun -

The 14-year-old girl charged with fatally shooting a man during a robbery attempt earlier this month fired her gun when one of the victims laughed at her because she was so young, according to police charging documents filed this morning.

Prosecutors, in seeking the young suspect be held without bail, described Arteesha Holt (left) in court papers as a "flight risk and a danger to the citizens of Baltimore." The young girl is charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, using a handgun in the commission of a violent crime and several other offenses.

Police have said the girl may have tried to rob two men on Linwood Avenue on Aug. 13 as part of a gang initiation. The victims were among three Latino men killed in recent weeks in a spate of crimes that has shaken the community in Southeast Baltimore.

The rest of the story:

No greater love hath a man

A grateful nation salutes you, Private Benjamen Chisholm.

God rest your soul, and may He bring peace to your family, your wife and your unborn child.


Fredricksburg honors war casualty
By Zeke MacCormack  - Express-News

FREDERICKSBURG — Army Pfc. Benjamen Chisholm's family celebrated his life and mourned his death Wednesday, recalling him as a free spirit and their go-to guy.

“He was always so energetic and happy, no matter what,” nephew Julian Frolov said of Chisholm, 24, who died in Afghanistan with a fellow soldier when a roadside bomb flipped their vehicle Aug. 17.

During the service at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, tears flowed freely for the fallen soldier, whose bride of five months, Amber Chisholm, is pregnant.

The rest of the story:

How the mighty hath fallen

He was a Vice-President at the world-renowned Southwest Research Institute.

Now he is Convict number ___________________ (fill in the blank) in the Federal Pen.


Child porn king gets 8 years
By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News

A former Southwest Research Institute vice president, who admitted having the largest stash of child pornography ever seized in Bexar County, was sentenced Wednesday to eight years and one month in prison.

Nigel F. Gale, 63, who was vice president of engine, emissions and vehicle research at the institute, had more than 350,000 images and more than 2,500 videos and animated child porn. He resigned in April 2008 amid an FBI investigation, which found he had amassed the collection over eight years by visiting Internet child porn “news groups.”

The father of two was caught in 2007 when his work laptop was having trouble running applications, and he turned it in to technicians at SWRI. They found 600 images of adults sexually assaulting young children and notified authorities.

The rest of the story:

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

A finger in the dike

Its a start on trying to stop the flow of weapons to the drug cartels.

I imagine its like putting your finger in the dike to stop the flow of water.

And a shame a former agent for the FBI was involved.


Ex-FBI Agent sentenced to two years
By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News

A former FBI agent in El Paso, three men in Del Rio and one in San Antonio all were part of a busy week in which authorities tried to stanch the flow of guns smuggled into Mexico.

On Tuesday, ex-FBI agent John Shipley was sentenced to two years in prison for buying and selling numerous firearms, including .50-caliber Barrett guns, without a license.

The case against Shipley began in March 2008, after a .50-caliber sniper rifle was recovered following a gunbattle between narco traffickers and the Mexican military near Chihuahua, according to a news release from federal officials.

The rest of the story:

More news from the Southern Front of the War on the Drug Cartels

The answer?

Send in more Marines.


Marines find 72 bodies in northern Mexico
By Mark Stevenson - Associated Press

MEXICO CITY  -- Mexican marines found the dumped bodies of 72 people at a rural location in northern Mexico following a shootout with suspected drug cartel gunmen that left one marine and three suspects dead, the Navy reported late Tuesday.

The cadavers of 58 men and 14 women were found at a spot near the Gulf coast south of the border city of Matamoros. It appears to be the largest drug-cartel body dumping ground found in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug trafficking in late 2006.

"The federal government categorically condemns the barbarous acts committed by criminal organizations," The Navy said in a statement. "Society as a whole should condemn these type of acts, which illustrate the absolute necessity to continue fighting crime with all rigor."

The rest of the study:

The consequences of a mistake

Another tragedy writ large.

Five years in prison and a victim imprisoned in a wheelchair for life.

Is it Justice?  Will folks stop drinking, or taking drugs and drinking, and then driving intoxicated?


Driver gets 5 years for wreck
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

After a night of partying two years ago that included alcohol, marijuana and Xanax, two teenage Churchill High School sweethearts from well-to-do families decided to drive home.

On Tuesday, Chris Adkisson, now 20, was sentenced to five years in prison for the one-car rollover that resulted along Loop 1604.

His former girlfriend, Lainy Loyola, watched the sentencing from a pink wheelchair. Paralyzed when she was ejected from Adkisson's BMW 325i, the petite former cheerleader, now 19, had told a crowded courtroom Monday that she fears nobody will want to marry her.

The rest of the story:

Congratulations Captain Ed Whitson!

A great honor and well-deserved.



Whitson named 'Lawman of the Year'


NEW BRAUNFELS — Capt. Ed Whitson, of the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, was selected by Breakfast Lions Club as the Ed Murphy Memorial award winner Tuesday morning.

The honor goes to the club’s Lawman of the Year.

The award is named after a former CCSO detective who died after he crashed his helicopter into a power line in 1981 while trying to chase a robbery suspect in the Startzville area, Lion Ronald Zipp said.

The rest of the story:

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Facebook: The Social and Death network? or Its Complicated

FaceBook.

Stay connected and die?


3 Colombian teens on Facebook hit list killed in last 10 days
By Arthur Brice, CNN

(CNN) -- Three teens who were on a 69-name hit list posted on Facebook have been killed in the past 10 days in a southwestern Colombian town, officials say.

Police say they do not know who posted the list or why the names are on it.

"It is still not clear," Colombian national police spokesman Wilson Baquero told CNN. "This is part of the investigation."

But officials note that a criminal gang known as Los Rastrojos and a Marxist guerrilla group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia operate in the area.

The hit list on Facebook, which was posted August 17, gave the people named three days to leave the town of Puerto Asis or be executed, said Volmar Perez Ortiz, a federal official whose title is defender of the public.

Police at first thought the posting was a joke, Perez said in a statement issued Saturday. But the publication of a second list with 31 additional names led authorities to convene a special security meeting Friday, Perez said.

The posting of the lists and the meetings occurred after the first two killings, which took place August 15, Perez said.

On that day, officials say, 16-year-old student Diego Ferney Jaramillo and 17-year-old CD retailer Eibart Alejandro Ruiz Munoz were shot and killed while riding a motorcycle on the road between Puerto Asis and the town of Puerto Caicedo.

Both their names were later found on the first published hit list.

The rest of the story:

No matter how you slice it its a tax!!

OMG!!

Taxing a bagel with a schmear?  What has the world come to?

Is there no shame!!??


Bagels With a Slice of Tax
Little known tax clause boosts prices for New York bagels
NBCnewyork.com

Have you noticed bagel shops tacking on a few more cents to your beloved pumpernickel and cream cheese? Blame Albany.

Bagels – however you slice them – most likely haven't been subject to tax at your favorite neighborhood shop.
But, desperate for cash, Albany began enforcing a little known clause in its sales tax code that calls for a tax on sliced bagels or whole bagels consumed at the place of purchase, according to The Wall Street Journal.

When an audit found New York chain Bruegger's Bagel in violation of this often unenforced clause, the state demanded owner Kenneth Greene cough up a "significant" amount in taxes to cover what the state figured he owed, according to the Journal.

Customers bristled at the additional charge – roughly 8 cents a bagel -- blaming the franchise for trying to squeeze every penny out of patrons in a tough economy. The backlash prompted Greene to post signs near the cashiers explaining the cost increase.

"New York State is requiring that all sliced bagels and all food eaten on our premises be taxed. We apologize for this change and share in your frustration on this additional tax," the signs read, according to the Journal.

Bruegger's appears to be the only major franchise cracked down on thus far, and Florence Wilpon, one of the founding owners of Manhattan's Ess-a-Bagel, told the Journal she hoped it stayed that way.

In the meantime, a spokesman for the tax department told the paper the state "will provide additional guidance via our Web site and publications in the near future."

Earlier this month, the state passed one of its latest budgets ever to contend with a $9.2 billion deficit. The budget included hikes on cigarette taxes, eliminating the sales tax emeption on clothing and shoes costing under $110 and slicing charitable deductions for New Yorkers making $10 million a year in half, among other clauses.

A whole new meaning to the term "Electric" car

I think there will be many cars set on fire.



Hemp drives green vehicle prototype
Calgary firm’s material will make lighter electric car
By Kim Guttormson, Calgary Herald

Nathan Armstrong envisions a day when drivers will be rolling up to the curb in a car powered by an electric motor and covered with a body made from hemp.

The green vehicle’s design will be unveiled next month at the Electric Mobility trade show in Vancouver, but the Kestrel is part of a bigger plan by a Canadian consortium — including Armstrong’s Calgary-based Motive Industries — to build an environmentally friendly car in this country.

“It’s a design program that will put all the good eggs we’ve been thinking about into one basket,” said Armstrong, Motive’s president.

Project Eve, as the currently nameless group is called, isn’t starting from scratch.

Motive had been working on an entry for the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition, which will pit vehicles that get mileage of 2.4 L/100 km or better against each other in a race.

Motive’s entry included exploring the use of a hemp-fibre composite that’s as strong as fibreglass, but lighter and less expensive.

The material will be used to replace other metal components, Armstrong said, except for the structural frame.
Steve Dallas, president of Toronto Electric, has already built a prototype two-seater electric car called the A2B that he drives to meetings.

TM4, the Quebec-based maker of electric drivetrains, is another of the 15 companies signed up to the project.

Armstrong says the first Kestrel prototype — a four-seater and the vanguard of a three-year plan that would see five models built, including a passenger van and a commercial vehicle — should be finished this year, with 20 following next year. Red Deer College would build the bodies, while SAIT would assemble the vehicles, he said.

“The idea behind it was that we weren’t just going to develop a single vehicle, we’re going to develop technologies and an architecture that would be suitable for different vehicle platforms,” Armstrong said, adding they hope to have 50 companies on board by the end of the year. “To essentially create a philosophy where we can build vehicles in Canada, but not using the very expensive business model that’s been in place for the last 20 years.”

“The core focus of the company isn’t to develop the Kestrel or other vehicles, but develop advanced transportation technologies,” Armstrong said.

John Wolodko, advanced material program manager for Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, which has developed the hemp composite using plants grown near Vegreville, said producing the hemp mats, which are then fused with plastics, uses far less energy than more traditional car parts.

While the obvious jokes about a hemp car abound — hemp is cannabis but contains negligible amounts of THC — Armstrong points out that Henry Ford built a car with a hemp body in 1940.

“It’s not a direct replacement,” Armstrong said of swapping the hemp for existing materials.

“You have to design the cars differently, which is where we come in.

“The real savings are in the manufacturing. When you look at the big picture, the big (factors) to consider are manufacturing costs and energy requirements.”

He added that because the hemp composite would already be processed, it could be exported to the United States.

Dallas says the idea of electric cars is gaining momentum.

“Everybody wants to know more,” he added.

Enmax, for example, has launched a three-year pilot project to replace 10 of its vehicles and another 10 City of Calgary vehicles with electric cars.

Kidnapping/Extortion for Dummies

More fun at the Border.

Thank god she was released unharmed.



Police: San Juan teen randomly kidnapped, released in Reynosa
Jared Taylor - The Monitor -

SAN JUAN —Police reunited a teenage woman with her family Monday afternoon, nearly 19 hours after she was abducted, blindfolded and dumped in a Reynosa field.

The 18-year-old woman, whose name was not disclosed by police, was walking to a friend’s house about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

A black van pulled up alongside her and three men hopped out, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said.

They snatched the girl, blindfolded her and took her to Reynosa.

The kidnappers began calling the woman’s family demanding ransom money.

“The kidnappers somehow missed it that she had a cell phone,” Gonzalez said. “We were able to keep communicating with her.”

The chief said police investigators, FBI agents and Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies negotiated with the kidnappers. Once the abductors realized their victim’s family would not be able to pay a ransom, they dumped her in a random field.

She had her cell phone, but police still had no idea where she was.

The rest of the story:

Rant

Dear Readers;

Man o' Law is pissed off this a.m.  My new car, which I just made my first payment on, was struck some time yesterday, while it was parked in the parking garage at the Courthouse, by an unknown person who proceeded to drive off.

My first clue?  The large gouged out plastic/rubber mark in my car's bumper and the paint of another car on it.

Now I realize in the grand scheme of things it is minor and I will have to pay out the $250 deductible, but it is extremely irritating that some one didn't have the decency to at least leave me a note.


Grrrrrr!

Man o' Law

P.S. that's not a picture of my car or damage.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Minneopolis? Why its a city in Zombieland

So I figure after attorney fees each zombie gets about $17,000.

That'll buy a bunch of brains to eat.


Minneapolis will pay $165,000 to zombies
Minneapolis will pay seven people who were jailed after a street theater protest.

The Minneapolis city attorney's office has decided to pay seven zombies and their attorney $165,000.

The payout, approved by the City Council on Friday, settles a federal lawsuit the seven filed after they were arrested and jailed for two days for dressing up like zombies in downtown Minneapolis on July 22, 2006, to protest "mindless" consumerism.

When arrested at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and 6th Street N., most of them had thick white powder and fake blood on their faces and dark makeup around their eyes. They were walking in a stiff, lurching fashion and carrying four bags of sound equipment to amplify music from an iPod when they were arrested by police who said they were carrying equipment that simulated "weapons of mass destruction."

However, they were never charged with any crime.

Although U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen had dismissed the zombies' lawsuit, it was resurrected in February by a three-judge panel of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which concluded that police lacked probable cause to arrest the seven, a decision setting the stage for a federal trial this fall. The settlement means there will be no trial.

The rest of the story:

Grandpa Rocks!!

Good grief!!

Grandpas taking pot to his grandson in prison!

He shoulda baked brownies.

Authorities: Grandfather accused of smuggling pot
Express-News -


LEBANON, Ohio (AP) -- An 85-year-old Ohio man was arrested for trying to smuggle pot to his grandson in prison, authorities said. Prison records show Richard Heritz was arrested at the Warren Correction Institution in southwestern Ohio earlier this month before he got to see his grandson, Gregory Heritz, who was serving time for a burglary conviction.

Someone had tipped off state troopers that the elder Heritz tried to bring in a package with more than 20 grams of marijuana.

He's charged with attempting to convey drugs at a detention facility and possessing criminal tools. He could face up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine if convicted.

It wasn't clear if either of the Heritzs had a lawyer. The younger Heritz had been incarcerated for two years and is scheduled to serve eight more.

"Attempting to smuggle forbidden items into prison has been ongoing since inmates have been incarcerated," said Julia Bush, a spokeswoman for the prison where Heritz allegedly tried to smuggle drugs.

State Highway Patrol officials say prisons have investigated 168 smuggling incidents at detention centers so far this year.

Attempted smugglers are usually a relative or spouse, officials said. Prisons keep records of all approved visitors.

Police say prisoners - like Heritz's grandson - don't face additional criminal charges as long as authorities arrest the attempted smuggler before the inmate gets the drugs.

But prisoners who have someone try to smuggle drugs usually face disciplinary action in the prison - like a temporary transfer to an area with more rules.

Duck and Run!

Well I would certainly expect it to.

I usually like to anticipate that I will get to finish my drink and meal without worrying if I'll be killed in the cross-fire.


Fear of drug violence hurts Ciudad Acuna
By Vivanna Davila - Express-News

CIUDAD ACUÑA, Mexico — Sitting in this border town's famed bar, Crosby's, sipping his second margarita, David Elliott felt safer than if he were in downtown San Antonio.

“They cater to the Texas tourist,” said Elliott, a San Angelo resident and Del Rio businessman who's been a longtime Crosby's patron.

As if to prove it, the restaurant speakers churned out a steady stream of English-language songs, including George Strait's “Blame it on Mexico,” which early on mentions Crosby's.

The rest of the story:

School Board out of control?

This is ridiculous.

Is it any wonder that California is going belly-up?  I mean a half-Billion dollar school for 4200 students?

Not to mention the idiocy of having one campus for K-12 students.  I don't care if it has gold-plated toilets its worthless unless you get good teachers and programs in the classrooms.  The school district has a 50% drop out rate.

Will this school help decrease that rate?  I sincerely doubt it.
 

LA unveils $578M school, costliest in the nation
By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – Next month's opening of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools will be auspicious for a reason other than its both storied and infamous history as the former Ambassador Hotel, where the

Democratic presidential contender was assassinated in 1968.
With an eye-popping price tag of $578 million, it will mark the inauguration of the nation's most expensive public school ever.

The K-12 complex to house 4,200 students has raised eyebrows across the country as the creme de la creme of "Taj Mahal" schools, $100 million-plus campuses boasting both architectural panache and deluxe amenities.
"There's no more of the old, windowless cinderblock schools of the '70s where kids felt, 'Oh, back to jail,'" said Joe Agron, editor-in-chief of American School & University, a school construction journal. "Districts want a showpiece for the community, a really impressive environment for learning."

Not everyone is similarly enthusiastic.

"New buildings are nice, but when they're run by the same people who've given us a 50 percent dropout rate, they're a big waste of taxpayer money," said Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution who sits on the California Board of Education. "Parents aren't fooled."

The rest of the story: