Fat-Free

You have got to be kidding me. I won't be able to eat anywhere in Mississippi if they pass this. Use the Interstate Commerce Clause to block this, Feds! How can I drive through the State and not be allowed to eat there?

BTW that is NOT me in the picture.

WTF? This is apparently for real?

House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors are Bobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist.

The full text reads:

HOUSE BILL NO. 282
An act to prohibit certain food establishments from serving food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the state department of health; to direct the department to prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese and to provide those materials to the food establishments; to direct the department to monitor the food establishments for compliance with the provisions of this act; and for related purposes. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi:

SECTION 1.
(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers.

(2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

(3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.

Semper Fi!

You know what I think?

I think the United States Government, yes, the Feds, should IMMEDIATELY STOP all Federal funding to anything that involves the City of Berkeley, California. No food stamp programs, no funding to law enforcement, no funding to education, nothing until they rescind this absolutely ridculous proclamation and stop looking at tossing the U.S. Marines out.

Why don't the Commissars of the People's Republic of Berkeley read the history of the United States Marine Corps? It is because folks who join the Marines provide the thin red line that protects democracy which allows them to do assinine things like pass that law. Members of the Marine Corps have bled and died protecting these very freedoms they now enjoy.

Well, don't give them any tax dollars, then.

I mean it.

Berkeley council tells Marines to leave

Hey-hey, ho-ho, the Marines in Berkeley have got to go.
That's the message from the Berkeley City Council, which voted 6-3 Tuesday night to tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

In addition, the council voted to explore enforcing its law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the Marines because of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. And it officially encouraged the women's peace group Code Pink to impede the work of the Marines in the city by protesting in front of the station.

In a separate item, the council voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m.

Councilman Gordon Wozniak opposed both items.

The Marines have been in Berkeley for a little more than a year, having moved from Alameda in December of 2006. For about the past four months, Code Pink has been protesting in front of the station.

"I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates after votes were cast.
A Marines representative did not respond to requests for comment.
The resolution telling the Marines they are unwelcome and directing the city attorney to explore issues of sexual orientation discrimination was brought to the council by the city's Peace and Justice commission.

The recommendation to give Code Pink a parking space for protesting and a free sound permit was brought by council members Linda Maio and Max Anderson.

Code Pink on Wednesday started circulating petitions to put a measure on the November ballot in Berkeley that would make it more difficult to open military recruiting offices near homes, parks, schools, churches libraries or health clinics. The group needs 5,000 signatures to make the ballot.

Even though the council items passed, not everyone is happy with the work of Code Pink. Some employees and owners of businesses near the Marines office have had enough of the group and its protests.

"My husband's business is right upstairs, and this (protesting) is bordering on harassment," Dori Schmidt told the council. "I hope this stops."

An employee of a nearby business who asked not to be identified said Wednesday the elderly Code Pink protesters are aggressive, take up parking spaces, block the sidewalk with their yoga moves, smoke in the doorways, and are noisy.

"Most of the people around here think they're a joke," the woman said.
Wozniak said he was opposed to giving Code Pink a parking space because it favors free speech rights of one group over another.

"There's a line between protesting and harassing, and that concerns me," Wozniak said. "It looks like we are showing favoritism. We have to respect the other side, and not abuse their rights. This is not good policy."

Ninety-year-old Fran Rachel, a Code Pink protester who spoke at the council meeting, said the group's request for a parking space and noise permit was especially important because the Marines are recruiting soldiers who may die in an unjust war.

"This is very serious," Rachel said. "This isn't a game; it's mass murder. There's a sickness of silence of people not speaking out against the war. We have to do this."

Anderson, a former Marine who said he was "drummed out" of the corps when he took a stand against the Vietnam War, said he'd love to see the Marines high tale it out of town.
"We are confronted with an organization that can spend billions of dollars on propaganda," Anderson said. "This is not Okinawa here; we're involved in a naked act of aggression. If we can provide a space for ordinary people to express themselves against this kind of barbarity, then we should be doing it."

Oopsies, did I say that?

Well, seems like she thought her boyfriend was too drunk to drive so she drove instead is what she says. The interesting fact seems to be that the officers went to her house and gave her the field sobriety test there and then arrested her. So it would seem they are relying on her statement that she was driving at the time of the call to establish the driving facts.


Drunk driver calls police on herself


FOX LAKE, Wis., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Authorities in Fox Lake, Wis., said a woman called 911 from her pickup truck to report a drunk driver -- herself.

Pat Dykstra, 51, called the emergency number while driving early Sunday morning and informed the dispatcher that she might need a sheriff's squad to follow her home because she had been drinking, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Wednesday.

Dykstra said her boyfriend told her to call."He wanted me to call 911 'cause he thinks I'm too drunk to drive," she told the dispatcher.

Dykstra gave her full name, car description and estimated arrival time at home over the phone."When the deputies pulled up in the driveway, she met them out on the porch and said, 'I know why you're here,'" said Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls. Deputies administered a breath test on Dykstra that registered a blood alcohol content of 0.14.

Dykstra now faces a $740 fine and possible revocation of her driver's license.

A video here: http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1396506300&channel=294971792

More financial shennaigans from Clinton, Inc.

Oh yeah. she can control him and stop the funny money and the appearance of impropriety.






An Ex-President, a Mining Deal and a Big Donor
By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.: New York Times

Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them.

Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Upon landing on the first stop of a three-country philanthropic tour, the two men were whisked off to share a sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the country has all but quashed political dissent.
Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton’s public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton’s wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Within two days, corporate records show that Mr. Giustra also came up a winner when his company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom.
The monster deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world’s largest uranium producers in a transaction ultimately worth tens of millions of dollars to Mr. Giustra, analysts said.

Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra’s more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton’s inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges.

Mr. Giustra was invited to accompany the former president to Almaty just as the financier was trying to seal a deal he had been negotiating for months.

In separate written responses, both men said Mr. Giustra traveled with Mr. Clinton to Kazakhstan, India and China to see first-hand the philanthropic work done by his foundation.
A spokesman for Mr. Clinton said the former president knew that Mr. Giustra had mining interests in Kazakhstan but was unaware of “any particular efforts” and did nothing to help. Mr. Giustra said he was there as an “observer only” and there was “no discussion” of the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev or Mr. Clinton.

But Moukhtar Dzhakishev, president of Kazatomprom, said in an interview that Mr. Giustra did discuss it, directly with the Kazakh president, and that his friendship with Mr. Clinton “of course made an impression.” Mr. Dzhakishev added that Kazatomprom chose to form a partnership with Mr. Giustra’s company based solely on the merits of its offer.

After The Times told Mr. Giustra that others said he had discussed the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev, Mr. Giustra responded that he “may well have mentioned my general interest in the Kazakhstan mining business to him, but I did not discuss the ongoing” efforts.

As Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign has intensified, Mr. Clinton has begun severing financial ties with Ronald W. Burkle, the supermarket magnate, and Vinod Gupta, the chairman of InfoUSA, to avoid any conflicts of interest. Those two men have harnessed the former president’s clout to expand their businesses while making the Clintons rich through partnership and consulting arrangements.

Mr. Clinton has vowed to continue raising money for his foundation if Mrs. Clinton is elected president, maintaining his connections with a wide network of philanthropic partners.

read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html?ei=5065&en=6a843530898e147a&ex=1202446800&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

yeah sure, and if you believe that i have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to ya

Umm.....Yeah.......Right.......Sure.

Even if I thought I might consider voting for Hillary Clinton, because I was in a state of feverish delirium and I was kidnapped and taken to a voting place where rabid Democrats held my hand and pushed the voting button as I feebly plead with them to stop.

The thought of Hill and Bill in the White House again would make me even sicker.

I'm just saying.

Clinton Says She Can Control Her Husband

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Senator Hillary Clinton, in an interview with ABC News' Cynthia McFadden for ABC News' Nightline, was asked about President Clinton’s controversial comments about race and Senator Obama in the past weeks. Clinton apologized for her husband.

“I think whatever he said which was certainly never intended to cause any kind of offense to anyone,” Clinton said, “if it did give offenses then I take responsibility and I’m sorry about that.”

"Can you control him?" asked McFadden.

“Oh of course,” Clinton replied.

He can be forgiven but should he stay as Mayor?

Being Detroit, they will forgive him. Being Detroit, they will never learn. Being Detroit, they will continue the slow, and sometimes, not so slow, decay of a once proud and mighty industrial part of America and the arsenall of Democracy.

Note: by they I mean the citizens of Detroit and the surrounding communities. Don't even try to make this a race issue.

From Tenfootman Blog:

"seems like the darling mayor of detroit did it again. now after the reports of dead strippers at the mayor's mansion were silenced, the scandal involving city SUVs being given to his wife subsided, he has come back with perjury. seems that he lied under oath about sleeping with an aide. lying under oath is bad, might cost him his job, the city of detroit a lot more money than the millions already paid out in the settlement of the case where it appears he lied, and his license to practice law. the best part is that he got caught because of text messages. 14,000 text messages detailing his affair which he adamantly denied under oath."

Show him to the door Detroit.

Detroit Mayor Pleads for Forgiveness

DETROIT (AP) - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded for forgiveness from his family and his constituents Wednesday in an emotional televised speech, his delayed response to recently revealed racy text messages that contradict his sworn testimony that he did not have a physical relationship with a key aide.

"I truly apologize to you," Kilpatrick said, turning to his wife, Carlita, who sat by his side, holding his hand, at their family church.
"I am the mayor. I made the mistake," Kilpatrick told Detroit residents, looking into the camera. "I am accountable."

He did not publicly specify, however, what he was apologizing for, saying legal matters prevented him from doing so.

A prosecutor is investigating whether the mayor and chief of staff Christine Beatty lied under oath during a whistle-blower's lawsuit last summer in which both denied having a physical relationship. A conviction of lying under oath can bring up to 15 years' imprisonment.

Kilpatrick vowed to remain mayor in the carefully orchestrated speech, which aired live in prime time on local television and radio stations.

"Make no mistake about it; since 2002, I have been in charge of the city. There have been ups and downs. There have been hills and mountains and valleys. But through it all, I remain in charge of the city," he said during the speech at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ.

There was no audience and no reporters or photographers, save for the operator of the sole video camera used. Kilpatrick made no mention of the text messages or Beatty.
The mayor closed by saying, "God bless you, Detroit. I love you. I will see you at work tomorrow."

The speech ended a week of seclusion for Kilpatrick since the Detroit Free Press reported on the text messages. His only public response had been a written statement a week ago.

Carlita Kilpatrick also spoke Wednesday, describing the pain her husband had caused, but urging the city to remain committed to him.
"I am angry, hurt and disappointed," she said. "But no question I love my husband."

Kwame Kilpatrick, 37, is in his second term and could run again next year, but the revelation of the text messages from 2002 and 2003 could end his political career.
The messages call into question testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

In court, Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having a physical relationship, but the text messages reveal that they carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts.

Kilpatrick wrote Beatty in 2002: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."
Beatty submitted a letter of resignation Monday, effective Feb. 8.

At a pro-Kilpatrick rally outside the mayor's office a few hours before his speech, supporters held signs reading "Leave Kwame Alone,""Protect the mayor - protect your city" and "Mayor Kilpatrick Progress."

"He is our mayor. We choose to judge this man by his entire character," said the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, pastor of New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church. "What the mayor has done is unexplainable but not unforgivable."

After another crowd gathered a short time later to call for the mayor's resignation, shouts of "resign" were drowned out by retorts of "We love Kwame."
"I feel he should go to jail for lying on the stand. He's embarrassing for everyone," said Joann Jackson, 63, who carried a white T-shirt bearing a depiction of Kilpatrick's face and the words: "JUST QUIT."

Controversy has surrounded Kilpatrick since his 2001 election as mayor.

Embraced by many Detroit residents for his boldness and confidence, Kilpatrick, then 31, embodied the new black politician and wore a diamond stud earring that helped foster his unofficial title as "Hip-Hop Mayor."

His first four years were marred by use of his city-issued credit card for expensive travel, the city's lease of a luxury Lincoln Navigator for his wife and unsubstantiated allegations of a wild party involving his security team and strippers at the mayor's mansion.

At the start of his second term, Kilpatrick vowed to not make the same mistakes and announced a residential redevelopment along Detroit's dormant riverfront, a successful Super Bowl that shone a light on the city's renewal efforts and other improvements.

No car is worth this price

Okay, talk about Ironic and such a waste.

Russia's most famous - and glamorous - female bodyguard killed as her Porsche is carjacked in Moscow

Russia's most famous female bodyguard Anna Loginova has been killed after failing to prevent her own Porsche being carjacked.

The glamorous 29-year-old died from head injuries after clinging on to the door handle of the Cheyenne and being dragged along the street at high speed as the car screeched away.
"She suffered serious injuries and died at the scene," said a police spokesman.

Police believe that she was killed in a random carjacking and was not the victim of an attack based on her work for wealthy high-profile Russian clients.
Loginova ran an agency for female bodyguards, some trained by the ex-KGB, to give discreet protection to Moscow's billionaires and their wives and mistresses.

The glamorous bodyguard was killed as her Porsche was carjacked
In a recent magazine interview, she insisted that she and her team of glamorous bodyguards gave better protection than the more traditional beefy male security men.

Loginova, 29, had recently foiled a thief by using her Jujitsu moves before pulling a gun on him
"I do think that a girl should be a girl, not a Terminator," she said. She posed semi-naked for a Moscow men's magazine to make it clear that she was feminine as well as good with a gun.
She was highly respected for her bodyguard skills. "A normal man gets sick and tired of male bodyguards around him all the time," she said.

"In addition, many restaurants now do not allow a guard inside. They can come in and check everything but then they are asked to wait in the lobby.

"In contrast, you can take female bodyguards inside, she will sit down at the table and nobody would guess that she's a weapon herself - and can react appropriately in any dangerous situation."

She spoke of a recent carjacking incident in Moscow.

"I got out, locked the car and at that moment a man ran up and squeezed my hand with keys. I reacted immediately with a Jujitsu move, bending back his hand and hitting his face with my elbow.

"He did not expect such a reaction. The next moment, I took out my handgun but a Honda car passed by and he jumped in."

Last year, 50 Porsche cars were stolen in Moscow, including 12 within the last two months. Only three were ever found.

Cleaning up

Some call it "Art", I call it Bullshit. Way to go NBPD, keep up the good work!

City cracking down on vandalism
By Mitzie Stelte: Herald-Zeitung


Four juveniles were taken into custody by the New Braunfels Police Department Tuesday for allegedly vandalizing Panther Canyon in Landa Park.The offenders, who allegedly are responsible for some of the graffiti on the nature trail, were taken in for delinquent conduct and were released to juvenile authorities.





According to Det. Mike Penshorn, information from the public has been extremely instrumental in identifying those responsible.





Eleven juveniles have been taken in this month as part of an ongoing campaign against graffiti orchestrated by the NBPD. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern to the graffiti or any gang affiliations, said Penshorn.





In addition to the four juveniles apprehended for the vandalism at Panther Canyon, three others have been taken into custody for graffiti at Canyon Middle School, two in the Savannah Hills subdivision and two at the Comal Farms subdivision.

I'm trying to get some help, Y'all!

Here's hoping she gets some much needed help. Our local morning DJ's are giving her less than 2 years before she goes belly-up. Some thought more like 1-2 months.

Britney Spears Hospitalized Again for Evaluation

Britney Spears was hospitalized at UCLA Medical Center for a psychiatric hold early Thursday morning, after being transported by ambulance from her Studio City home around 1 a.m.

A LAPD source tells PEOPLE: "Spears was escorted by police and is on her way to get help." The singer, 26, was transported to UCLA for a 72-hour emergency hold, known as a 5150. Police or a mental health professional can request one if a person is deemed to be a danger to him and herself or others. (Spears was held at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on such an order earlier this month, following her Jan. 3 custody standoff with police.) Spears's mother, Lynne – who's in the midst of a tense reunion with her daughter – friend Alli Sims and confidant Sam Lutfi were all inside the gated mansion when police and the fire department arrived.

What brought on the hospitalization? "She was driving around her neighborhood like a mad-woman," says a Spears family source. "Britney has been prescribed medication which she refuses to take. This is just another sad, sad evening."

Earlier in the evening, Internet rumors claimed that the singer had attempted suicide, but Lutfi and Sims both denied those claims to PEOPLE. Since the January standoff, Spears has been stripped of visitation rights for her two sons Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1. Two sources have said she suffers from a psychological disease, with one source saying, "there is no question she is bipolar... she's had manic episodes for years." As last night's incident unfolded, a Spears source told PEOPLE simply, "Pray, please."

A raw deal

Hmm? Sounds a bit fishy to me.

No stinky sushi, please.

Japanese restaurants invited to win approval of the sushi squad

It may look like sushi, taste like sushi and wriggle like sushi, but for the gourmet in London, Paris or New York, the question remains: just how Japanese is this raw fish?

Officials in Tokyo are offering a worldwide “authenticity screen” for restaurants that purport to be Japanese. The scheme, they say, may lead to an equivalent of the Michelin star system for the world’s 25,000 Japanese restaurants. The kitchens of these establishments will soon be visited by teams of experts, run under the auspices of Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, who will assess the provenance of ingredients and how far they offer a real taste of Japan.

The origins of the wasabi horse-radish (preferably from the Izu peninsula), miso paste (preferably from the Nagano mountains) and pickled ginger (preferably from Tochigi) will all be scrutinised. Rice is expected to be the most frequent area of failure: a true sushi master will insist on Japanese koshihikari rice grown in Japan.

The same variety grown in California might, just, be acceptable. Faux pas may include serving Chinese soy sauce, or miso soup in a porcelain cup.

The organisers, who see the campaign as promoting Japanese food and its health benefits, are anxious not to appear to be unleashing a squadron of international “sushi police”.

When an authenticity screen was mooted last year it was condemned by chefs round the world as “meaning-less”. The popularity today of Japanese food was self-evident without diners being bothered about authenticity, it was argued. Officials at the Japanese Foreign Ministry admitted that the original plan had soon become a “PR catastrophe”.

But organisers of the new scheme emphasised that certification would not be used to denounce as “fakes” those restaurants that did not meet their standards. Instead, establishments that serve genuine Japanese food will receive a seal of authenticity to act as an assurance of high quality.

The seal will be useful for those drawn to the food’s health benefits, which depend on the genuineness of ingredients, particularly the fish and the tofu. The life expectancy of Japanese people has caught the eye of Russia’s billionaires, and miso soup, once just a staple of the ordinary Japanese home, has become a red-hot export market.

The seal’s design, displayed yesterday, resembles a coat of arms, with chopsticks, a Rising Sun background and the petal of a cherry blossom. The award will go to restaurants that meet five criteria of authenticity and can show that they have mastered the classics of Japanese cuisine.
The scheme is to be administered locally. The inspectors are already in Bangkok, Shanghai and Taipei. They will arrive this year in London, Amster-dam, Los Angeles and Paris.

Don't Taze me Bro, Number 8

Hmm? I wasn't there but could it have been excessive on the part of the officer? After further review, Naah! Good job, Officer.

Bicyclist tased when he runs for minor infraction

HAMILTON CITY -- A man riding a bicycle with improper lighting equipment was shot with a Taser stun gun Wednesday night as he ran from a deputy who tried to stop him for the infraction.

After repeated attempts, Glenn County sheriff's deputy Cale Smith said he finally got the attention of the rider on Sierra Street, who jumped from the bike and began running.

After a half-block chase and several warnings from Smith that he would use the Taser, he did.
Sgt. Scott James said only one probe struck the man, identified as Omar Herrada Rivera, 39, and he received no shock.

Smith caught up with him near the garage of a home, and took him into custody after a brief struggle.

James said Smith was fully justified in firing his Taser, because Rivera was running toward a home, and could have endangered people inside.

"We consider the Taser as being at the same level of force as other weapons, including pepper spray and batons," James said.

He added that deputies don't deploy Tasers against subjects who are driving or riding a bike because of the risk factor.

Rivera was transported to Glenn Medical Center, where he was cleared for booking into the Glenn County Jail on suspicion of resisting arrest, riding a bicycle without proper lighting, riding under the influence of alcohol and use of false citizenship/government documents.

Another cockroach caught II

It must be cockroach day in our area. Another scumbag fleecing poor unsuspecting folks who were being kind-hearted.

Seguin man is eyed in funeral-funds scam
Roger Croteau: Express-News

A Seguin man is suspected of bilking area residents out of their money with a made-up story about needing to cover funeral expenses for a dead infant.

"It's really strange," Seguin police Detective Aaron Seidenberger said. "But if you think about it, people are generally softhearted. When it comes to children, people have deep pockets. He picked what is probably the most rotten scam I've heard of, but for sure, one that would get him some money."

Scott Teel, assistant manager at Goetz Funeral Home, said he started getting calls last week from people inquiring about money being raised for funeral expenses for a dead baby. He didn't know anything about it and assumed that people were calling the wrong funeral home.

Then on Friday, one caller said a man was at her door soliciting money. Later, another caller identified the man as Fidencio Magallanes Jr., 26. Some callers said the man showed them a photo of an infant while making his appeal.

"We knew right away it was a scam," Teel said. "It's about the most despicable thing a person could do, to try to capitalize on a tragedy like that."

Teel went to the Seguin Police Department, and officers picked up Magallanes late Friday. He was detained at the Police Department on a probation violation, police Lt. Juan San Miguel said.

He since has been released.

San Miguel said investigators are hoping someone who gave money to Magallanes will come forward.

"We just need one person to give us an affidavit," he said.

Magallanes was arrested several times between 2001 and 2007 on charges including burglary, theft, assault, evading arrest and possession of marijuana. He most recently was released from jail in October.

The angels weep

I hope they find the creep and he rots in jail, then Hell. Its crap like this that just wants to make me cry. A child, tossed out like some unwanted piece of garbage on the side of the road.

Baby boy's body found on side of Galveston road

GALVESTON — Police began a nationwide search Tuesday night for the father of a 3-month-old boy who matches the description of a body found Tuesday near a child's car seat on the side of a Galveston road.

Galveston police wanted to question Travis Mullis, 21, after the child's mother viewed a photo and identified the child as hers, Detective Jeremy Schwartz said.

The body, described as a blond, blue-eyed child wearing a disposable diaper, was discovered about 9 a.m., Galveston police Lt. Jorge Trevino said.
The body is the second in three months to be discovered on or near Galveston Island.

"One death is too many, and the fact that we've now had two in such a short time span is beyond comprehension," Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said.
Trevino said a couple hoping to view wildlife stumbled across the body.

"A couple was driving ... and saw what they thought was a doll," he said.
But something looked odd, and they stopped and discovered the body next to a child's car seat, he said.

Trevino said it appeared that the child may have been thrown from the car while sitting in the car seat. He said it was unlikely that the child could have somehow fallen out of the car without the driver knowing it.

An Alvin woman whose 3-month-old was last seen with Mullis between 6 and 6:30 a.m. Tuesday began phoning hospitals in the area, and a hospital contacted Galveston police, Trevino said.

Volunteer search organization Texas EquuSearch also called police with the same information about 15 minutes later, he said.

read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA013008.01B.baby-killed.36e1348.html

True Lies (not)

WOW! Call me naive, I guess I just would not believe so many folks would outright lie on their resumes. I can understand some "puffery" but not outright lying on jobs, schools and the like. This situation arose out of the finding out that the City Manager of eagle Pass, lied on his resume about prior jobs and where he went to school. He listed the University of Maryland instead of a "school" that gives you a diploma based on life experiences and $ paid.

I disagree with Professor Chang who says it is the responsibility of the employer to "catch" the lies on a resume! How about its the responsibility of the job seeker not to lie on their resume?

Eagle Pass: Padded resumes common deception
Vincent T. Davis: Express-News

The recent firing of Eagle Pass City Manager Glen Starnes for lying on his resume has the business and political communities buzzing. People from both camps said they understand how false document scandals can happen even in an age of the Internet and technological advances when almost anybody can check credentials.

According to a recent survey from Hire Right, an online employment screening service, inflated credentials are prevalent across the country. The study showed that 80 percent of resumes are misleading, 30 percent claim distorted work dates and 27 percent included false references.

Mike Perez, president of the Texas City Management Association, said incidents similar to the one in Eagle Pass are rare among the 1,093 members of his organization. A city manager from McAllen, Perez said stringent rules prevent applicants from getting hired based on false resumes.

Members are required to take an ethics class within six months and a refresher course every two years, he said.

"Those of us in this profession understand that we work for a public entity that's funded by tax dollars," Perez said. "We need to be transparent. People have a right to know where we went to school (and worked.) We knew when we decided to get into this profession that's part of the way it works."

Dr. Susan Dollar, director of career services at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said she tells her students that a resume is their face to the world. She helps them list prior jobs as transferable skills and if they were ever laid off or fired. Being truthful on a resume about prior offenses or convictions, she said, would make her want to interview an applicant.

"You cannot embellish a 2.8 GPA," Dollar tells her students. "It doesn't round up to a 3.0."
Dollar said some people enhance their identity because it's easy to do and they don't think anyone will check their claims.

"The consequences can be devastating," Dollar said. "Like anything, there's a percentage that never get caught, but are you willing to risk that?"

She said she encourages her students to attach cover letters, which can address any points that might be confusing.

Pepe Lee Chang, a business ethics professor at UTSA, said that when it comes to resumes, it's all about being competitive, which leads to applicants padding resumes to increase their marketability. She said it's the responsibility of the person reviewing the resume to catch inflated entries and verify the claims.

"It's fine to make what you've done seem as great as possible," she said. "But it has to be true."

Another cockroach caught

Ok, more cockroaches inserting themselves into trusted positions and preying on hapless children. If found guilty I do not envy his time spent in prison where child sex abusers are ranked by the inmates below used car salesmen and the defense attorneys who lost their cases causing them to be locked up.

Also, why does the guy look so dang happy in the picture, was he happy he got caught?

Elementary school principal jailed
Colin McDonald, Michelle Mondo And Michelle De La Rosa: Express-News

An elementary school principal who has worked as a San Antonio educator for nearly two decades was arrested Tuesday in connection with the molestation of a 13-year-old student, authorities said.

Michael Alcoser, the 41-year-old principal of Carrillo Elementary School in the South San Antonio Independent School District, was charged with aggravated sexual assault. He remained jailed Tuesday evening on a $75,000 bond. And school administrators said he was placed on administrative leave pending an outcome of the criminal investigation.

The arrest came several days after authorities searched Alcoser's home and took computers, digital cameras and videos, including images that they said depicted the teenage boy. That search, executed last Thursday, was the result of an investigation that began this month after the boy's mother told police about her son's claims.

According to the affidavit, detectives found at Alcoser's home two compact discs that "depicted adult men having sex with adolescent male children" and handwritten notes from children that were "inappropriate and sexual in nature."

Authorities also seized pictures of other unidentified children, and police on Tuesday said they believe other victims might exist.

"In these cases, historically, we are never done with one victim," said San Antonio Police Sgt. Gabe Trevino. "Odds are good there may be more victims."

read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA013008.01A.principalcharged.3764cc4.html