Oh yeah, let them get nukes too

Our stupidity when it comes to Iran will kill us eventually, I believe.

Iran Launches Rocket, Opens Space Center

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran launched a research rocket Monday and unveiled its first major space center, which will be used to launch research satellites, state-run television reported.
The report said the rocket was the first launched by Iran "into space." But analysts have expressed doubts about similar technological achievements announced by the country in the past.

Iran launched its first domestically built rocket last February, which did not reach orbit level.
"The first Iranian rocket Explorer-1 was fired into space," reported state TV, which showed live images of the event at the space center, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issuing the launch order. "With the launch, Iran has joined the world's top 11 countries possessing space technology to build satellites, and launch rockets into space."

The report did not specify the altitude reached by the research rocket. Space is considered to begin at 60 miles above ground. Ham radio satellites - the lowest flying satellites - orbit between 100-300 miles, while communication, weather and global-positioning satellites fly between 250-12,000 miles up.

Some Western experts also have raised the possibility that Iran's space program may be a cover to more fully develop its military ballistic missiles, a prospect many find troubling at a time when the U.S. and others worry Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. (Ya think?)

Before the launch, Ahmadinejad opened the space center, which includes an underground control station and space launch pad, according to state TV.

and its cheaper than getting a divorce, too!

More legal news from Iran, home of enlightened civilization and laws.

Nice! Note the evidence consists of one husband filming them in the company of other men! Good heavens! What if they were at Starbuck's?

Iranian sisters face stoning for adultery: report


Two Iranian sisters convicted of adultery face being stoned to death after the supreme court upheld the death sentences against them, the Etemad newspaper Monday quoted their lawyer as saying.

The two were found guilty of adultery -- a capital crime in Islamic Iran -- after the husband of one sister presented video evidence showing them in the company of other men while he was away.
"Branch 23 of the supreme court has confirmed the stoning sentence," said their lawyer, Jabbar Solati.

The penal court of Tehran province had already sentenced the sisters identified only as Zohreh, 27, and Azar (no age given) to stoning, the daily said.

Solati explained that the two sisters had initially been tried for "illegal relations" and received 99 lashes. However in a second trial they were convicted of "adultery."

The pair admitted they were in the video presented by the husband but argued that there was no adultery as none of the footage showed them engaged in a sexual act with other men.

"There is no legal evidence whereby the judge could have the knowledge for issuing a stoning sentence," Solati said, adding that he had appealed to the state prosecutor.

"The two sisters have been tried twice for one crime," Solati protested.
Under Iran's Islamic law adultery is theoretically punishable by stoning, although in late 2002 judiciary head Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi issued a writ suspending such executions.

However in July 2007, Jafar Kiani was stoned to death for adultery in a village in the northwestern province of Qazvin in a rare execution by stoning that provoked a wave of international outrage.

Capital offences in Iran include murder, rape, armed robbery, serious drug trafficking and adultery. Iran currently makes more use of the death penalty -- almost always by hanging -- than any other country apart from China.

Zohreh's husband -- who accused his wife and her sister in January 2007 of having extra-marital affairs -- had planted a camera in his house in a bid to catch them in the act.
"She did not treat me well and her actions made me feel she did not want to live with me any more," said the husband, who was not named.

"To make sure I planted a camera in the house... When I watched the tape two days after, I found out that she and her sister brought over men after I left and had relationships with them," he said.

Zohreh said she had an edgy relationship with her husband because of the strict limits he imposed on her life.

"I was a teacher and loved my job but my husband did not let me work... he was always suspicious of me and thought our differences were because I had an affair," she was quoted as saying by the daily.

"I do not approve the confessions that I made in the investigation phase and I deny what I said," she said.

Etemad reported that the husband of the other sister, Azar, had not filed any complaint against her.

Re-open the Case!

What a nice guy, doesn't lose sleep over it and now of course, says he was just kidding when he told someone, which was recorded, that he had someone dump Holloway's body offshore and lied to the police.

More pressure needs to be put on him and others to get this resolved and him put away.

Holloway Suspect: 'I Know What Happened'

Dutch Student Said Natalee Holloway's Body Was Dumped in the Ocean

In surveillance recordings aired on a Dutch TV special this evening, Joran van der Sloot, a former suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, said the American teen appeared lifeless on an Aruban beach three years ago during a romantic tryst, and "she'll never be found."
Video
Van Der Sloot on Tape

"I know what happened to that girl," van der Sloot announced during 20 hours of private conversations secretly recorded by crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.

Her body, van der Sloot said, had been dumped in the ocean by a friend with a boat.
"We're on the beach," he said on the recordings, according to the Dutch TV show. "Suddenly, she wasn't moving any more."

Nowhere on the recordings does van der Sloot display any emotion about the young woman he said he disposed of that night on the beach so far from home.

"I didn't even feel bad about it," he said at one point. "I didn't lose a night of sleep over it. I thought, 'I have to go on.' "

read more: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4222253&page=1

Pay whether you want to or not

Oh really, buy the health plan or we will force you to pay anyway?

I'm not going to get into a long discussion of this but what if you have a better medical plan you want to buy into? I guess you wouldn't probably have a chance to do it as there probably wouldn't be anything other than her plan.

Clinton health plan may mean tapping pay

WASHINGTON - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans.

The New York senator has criticized presidential rival Barack Obama for pushing a health plan that would not require universal coverage. Clinton has not always specified the enforcement measures she would embrace, but when pressed on ABC's "This Week," she said: "I think there are a number of mechanisms" that are possible, including "going after people's wages, automatic enrollment."

Clinton said such measures would apply only to workers who can afford health coverage but refuse to buy it, which puts undue pressure on hospitals and emergency rooms. With her proposals for subsidies, she said, "it will be affordable for everyone."

Some weird news

Dognapping and other news of the weird:

The Purloined Pooch

Mayor Grace Saenz-Lopez (Alice, Texas, pop. 19,000) and her twin sister were indicted in January for hiding evidence in a dognapping case. Saenz-Lopez had agreed to baby-sit a shih tzu but, alarmed by the dog's sickliness, she kept it and lied to the owners that it had died. When it was spotted at a local grooming service, Saenz-Lopez and her sister allegedly began a cover-up that included the mayor's once pretending to be her sister. The mayor told her lawyer that if not for her husband, she would go to jail "for the rest of (my) life" rather than give the dog back. Most recently, Saenz-Lopez reported that the dog had run away, but many of her constituents are skeptical.

The left ham doesn't know what the right ham is doing

A commercial, pre-packaged ham-and-cheese sandwich using one slice of bread is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which conducts daily inspections under its jurisdiction, but a ham-and-cheese sandwich on two slices of bread falls to the Food and Drug Administration, which inspects plants about once every five years. That anomaly surfaced in the current presidential campaign and was verified by a Congressional Quarterly-St. Petersburg Times "Politifact" researcher in December. A USDA official admitted to the Times that there "is no rationale or logic" behind the distinction: "(I)t's an issue that makes it look like we don't know what we're doing."

Beheading for Dummies

Samina Malik, 23, was convicted in a British court in December and given a suspended nine-month sentence for having amassed a large collection of how-to books on terrorism. She came to authorities' attention as the self-described "lyrical terrorist" who writes poetry glorifying the Islamic mujahadeen fighters who specialize in beheadings. (From her "How to Behead": "Tilt the fool's head to its left / Saw the knife back and forth / No doubt that the punk will twitch and scream / But ignore the donkey's ass / And continue to slice back and forth."

Out of the Closet

The Austin (Texas) Police Department announced in January that it had suspended Officer Scott Lando, 45, based on preliminary indications that he had been hiring a prostitute while on duty. According to a search warrant affidavit (disclosed in the Austin American-Statesman), Lando had paid for the woman's services in part by giving her free rein over part of Mrs. Lando's closet, declaring that his wife "would never miss" some of the items.

Oops, did I really say that, I was just foolin'

According to police in Honolulu in January, it was Ellis Cleveland who robbed four banks within a five-day span, and that's what an officer said to him as they arrested him. Responded Cleveland, "Four. I didn't do four. I only robbed three banks. But it doesn't matter because I'm not talking to you guys. I want a lawyer." Police later said that Cleveland was not counting the attempted robbery on Dec. 31 of the Bank of Hawaii because, after three different tellers tried unsuccessfully to decipher his holdup note, Cleveland gave up and walked out empty-handed.

if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at'tall

Good game last night between the now Super Bowl champion new York Giants and the New England Patriots. Neither team has anything to be ashamed about in a game marked by defensive prowess and shutting down the highly rated Patriot offense.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins retain their title as being the only NFL team to have a perfect season remaining undefeated for the season and winning the Super Bowl.

Also I believe this is the first time the Super Bowl was won, back to back by brother quaterbacks. Peyton Manning last year and Eli Manning this year.

My run of bad luck continues with breaking a bridge this morning at 5:30 a.m. while driving to work and then stopping to fill up my car when the automatic fuel shut off failed overflowing my car and splattering me with gasoline. I'm glad there was no one around smoking. So I am trying to get in to see the dentist as quickly as possible this a.m., as even though Court is scheduled this morning two other attorneys have it covered because I am working on replies to a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus and a direct appeal.

Why can't these guys take their punishment like men?





You did the crime;


You were punished with time;


Now make like a mime. (In other words STFU)





I'm just sayin'

The devil made me do it

It was a pretty funny routine when Flip Wilson said it.

Not so funny now.

Man Says Exorcism Led to Wife's Death

ODESSA, Texas (AP) - A man accused of killing his wife says he was trying to exorcise a demon from her when the devil entered his body and caused her to die, according to a police probable cause statement.

Jan David Clark, 60, was arrested Friday after authorities went to his home and found Susan Kay Clark's body wrapped in a bed sheet with a cross and sword on top of it.

Officers had gone to the home after being told that Clark had called a friend and said his 59-year-old wife was dead, said Sgt. Gary Duesler said the Ector County Sheriff's Office.

Clark told investigators he had his wife pinned face down on a carpeted floor when she died.

Clark was charged with murder and remained in the Ector County jail on Sunday in lieu of $300,000 bail.

He had declined to comment at the jail and it was unclear whether he had an attorney to speak for him.

The woman's body was taken to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
Taryn Beck said the couple had seemed to be close.

"They were like an old married couple," said Beck, 29, whose late grandfather was married to Susan Clark. "They would just roll their eyes at each other, but I never thought something like this would've happened."

Donuts equals life

Man, I don't like donuts this much!

Perhaps the DA's office might reconsider on this?

I'm just sayin'

Man facing life sentence for stealing doughnuts

He was busted for not paying for a small package of donuts, and now he could spend the rest of his life in prison.Friday in court, Robert Fassbender’s attorney, Michael Webb, tried to get the charges dropped before having to go to trial.

But the District Attorney’s Office plans to prosecute the case to the hilt, even if it means life in prison for Fassbender under California’s controversial three strikes law.

"I just hate to think that he's going to have to do the rest of his life in prison, but then that means he'll die in there and I don't want that,” said his mother, Marceline Fassbender.

The family said Fassbender is a reformed convict leading a Christian life, and is sometimes tortured by drug use."It's just hard and he's going to do life over donuts,” said Fassbender’s Brother, Eric.

“It's just that my brother did so good for years and years and he took people from prison into his Christian home"

But Kern County District Attorney Ed Jagels said Fassbender has earned his third strike, with two previous felonies dating back to 1977 and 1999 for robbery.

Fassbender is scheduled for another hearing on Feb. 11.

Oh, the stupidity!

What numbnuts would even think to use this as a name for a bed marketed to young pre-teen girls?

How many numbnuts bought them before they pulled it off the market?

Shop pulls "Lolita" bed for young girls

LONDON (Reuters) - A chain of retail stores in Britain has withdrawn the sale of beds named Lolita and designed for six-year-old girls after furious parents pointed out that the name was synonymous with sexually active pre-teens.
Woolworths said staff who administer the web site selling the beds were not aware of the connection.

In "Lolita," a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the narrator becomes sexually involved with his 12-year-old stepdaughter -- but Woolworths staff had not heard of the classic novel or two subsequent films based on it.

Hence they saw nothing wrong with advertising the Lolita Midsleeper Combi, a whitewashed wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard intended for girls aged about six until a concerned mother raised the alarm on a parenting website.

"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either," a spokesman told British newspapers.

"We had to look it up on (online encyclopedia) Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now."
Woolworths said the product had now been dropped.

"Now this has been brought to our attention, the product has been removed from sale with immediate effect," the chain said.

"We will be talking to the supplier with regard to how the branding came about."

Killed him a bar when he was only 3, Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier

Jeeze, see the post below. I think this is getting a bit carried away here.



US state weighing gun lessons for schoolchildren

West Virginia is considering a bill to teach schoolchildren how to handle a gun and hunt safely its proponent hopes will increase state revenues from hunting licenses, a state lawmaker said Thursday.
"
We will teach a hunting safety course during their physical education class," state senator and bill sponsor Billy Wayne Bailey told AFP. The courses would be imparted in secondary schools, from the eighth to 10th grade (13-16 years of age).

"They will learn gun safety, the proper use of fire arms. All the weapons will be disabled so there is no chance of discharging," he said, adding that the state Senate was expected to take up the bill next week.

"Hunting is an economic and cultural thing and we have seen a decline of hunting licenses over the past years," said the lawmaker, explaining that his bill would boost interest in hunting in West Virginia.

Children 10 years and older can already apply for a hunting license in West Virginia, which makes 1.5 billion dollars a year from hunting-related activities, the senator said.

Moral bankruptcy

Is there any other way to describe the use of mentally retarded individuals to act as unwitting explosive devices? At least with someone who knows he is doing this and has a purpose, i.e. to commit "holy jihad" an argument can be made that it was done for "noble purposes". What is this then? How does this serve a cause?

Are the cowards that do this willing to do it themselves? No, of course not.

Babies will be next.

Mentally Retarded Women Used in Bombings

BAGHDAD (AP) - Two mentally retarded women strapped with remote-control explosives—and possibly used as unwitting suicide bombers—brought carnage Friday to two pet bazaars, killing at 73 people in the deadliest day since Washington flooded the capital with extra troops last spring.
The coordinated blasts—coming 20 minutes apart in different parts of the city—appeared to reinforce U.S. claims al-Qaida in Iraq may be increasingly desperate and running short of able-bodied men willing or available for such missions.
But they also served as a reminder that Iraqi insurgents are constantly shifting their strategies in attempts to unravel recent security gains around the country. Women have been used in ever greater frequency in suicide attacks.
The twin attacks at the pet markets, however, could mark a disturbing use of unknowing agents of death.
Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Iraq's chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said the women had Down syndrome and may not have known they were on suicide missions. He said the bombs were detonated by remote control.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the bombings prove al-Qaida is "the most brutal and bankrupt of movements" and will strengthen Iraqi resolve to reject terrorism.
The first bomb was detonated about 10:20 a.m. in the central al-Ghazl market, the home of a weekly pet bazaar with various small animals but mostly birds. At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded, said police and hospital officials.
Police said the woman wearing the bomb sold cream in the mornings at the market and was known to locals as "the crazy lady."
The pet bazaar has been bombed repeatedly, but with violence declining in the capital, the market had regained popularity as a shopping district and place to stroll on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer.
But on Friday, it was returned to a scene straight out of the worst days of the conflict. Firefighters scooped up debris scattered among pools of blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses.
A pigeon vendor said the market had been unusually crowded, with people taking advantage of a pleasantly crisp and clear winter day after a particularly harsh January.
"I have been going to the pet market with my friend every Friday, selling and buying pigeons," said Ali Ahmed, who was hit by shrapnel in his legs and chest. "It was nice weather today and the market was so crowded."
He said he was worried about his friend, Zaki, who disappeared after the blast about 40 yards away.
"I just remember the horrible scene of the bodies of dead and wounded people mixed with the blood of animals and birds, then I found myself lying in a hospital bed," Ali said.

read more: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8UHNN081&show_article=1

Woe is me

Sorry no posts yesterday. I was not feeling up to the task and I am still feeling a little bit "punky" today. On top of that I had to get a new dryer for the house, a bunch of shingles are down off of my roof, and my bridge is loose and I'll have to go to the DDS to look at it. When it rains it pours I guess.

I hate going to the dentist.

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