Monday, February 28, 2011

Earth to Mother Plane.......Earth calling Mother Plane.......Hello?

Would somebody please call the Mother Plane back to collect Louis Farakhan??


Farrakhan: Mideast uprisings will come to US
By Becky Schilkerman - Chicago Tribune

Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan predicted on Sunday that America faces imminent uprisings that mirror those in the Middle East.

“What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt … Libya, in Bahrain … what you see happening there … you’d better prepare because it will be coming to your door,” Farrakhan said in a booming voice, thousands of followers cheering in his wake.

Farrakhan also called on President Barack Obama to allow protesters to march, urging the president not to attack innocent people when they do.

The controversial minster spoke to a packed house at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont as part of the 81st annual celebration of Saviours' Day, which marks the birth of the faith’s founder, W. Fard Muhammad.

The keynote address, titled “God will send saviours,” capped a weekend of workshops focused on health, preparing for natural disasters and unidentified flying objects. The Nation of Islam believes in a UFO called “the wheel” or “the Mother Plane.”

Farrakhan has described a 1985 religious experience in which he ascended into a flying saucer and heard the voice of Elijah Muhammad predicting historical events that came to pass.

For about four hours, Farrakhan spoke and jumped from topic to topic, citing religious texts.
He praised Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Farrakhan extolled the virtues of Scientology and its auditing process, which is considered spiritual counseling by its members.

“L. Ron Hubbard is so exceedingly valuable to every Caucasian  person on this earth,” Farrakhan said.

“… L. Ron Hubbard  himself was and is trying to civilize white people and make them better human beings and take away from them their reactive minds … Mr. Hubbard recognized that his people have to be civilized,” Farrakhan said to a cheering crowd.

Random Act of Violence?

This was a pretty brazen act of violence.

Shooting a Mom in front of her two children??

Jeeze, he sounds like he needs to go away for a very long time.



Robber shoots woman, leads police on chase
She is expected to survive arm wound; police chase down the fleeing suspect.
By Michelle Mondo - Express-News

A man who allegedly shot and robbed a woman as she left the Ingram Park Mall with her two children Sunday evening was caught by police after leading them on a chase shortly after the crime occurred.

The woman, 26, was leaving Dillard's around 6 p.m. when a man stopped her, pulled a gun and demanded she give him her car, said San Antonio police Sgt. Eric Schepis.

It wasn't known how close she was to her black Ford Fusion when the shooting occurred, but witnesses told police the man sped away toward Wurzbach Road.

The rest of the story:

The Drug Cartel War continues

It sure seems like it won't stop; doesn't it?

I'm more and more concerned it will spill over the border too.

Let's not forget this is all driven by US demand.


Weekend attacks leave at least 28 dead in Mexico
Express-News

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Suspected drug-related violence left at least 28 people dead across Mexico over the weekend, including 14 killed by gunmen in bars in the country's north, authorities said Sunday.

In Coahuila state, across the U.S. border from Texas, nine men died late Saturday when gunmen opened fire inside two bars in separate attacks, state prosecutors said in a statement. Eleven others were wounded.

Assailants killed another five men late Saturday in a bar in the cartel-plagued border city of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state prosecutors' spokesman Arturo Sandoval said.

The rest of the story:

Terrible fire

A terrible situation.

Did she have a permit and license?


Day-care operator will be charged with at least 1 felony
Houston fire that started when she allegedly was not at center killed four.
By Zain Shauk - Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON — A 22-year-old woman will face at least one felony charge after a fire at her west Houston day-care center last week claimed the lives of four toddlers and injured three others.

The Harris County district attorney's office accepted Sunday night a charge of reckless injury to a child involving serious bodily injury against Jessica Tata.

“We have requested that she be held at no bond,” said Donna Hawkins, spokeswoman for the Harris County District attorney's office.

The rest of the story:

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Quite the temper

That's quite the record for an 8 year old.


8-year-old Riverside Elementary student arrested – for fifth time
By Anika Myers Palm - Orlando Sentinel

The photo looks innocent enough: an 8-year-old boy with a stare indicating that he'd rather be anyplace else than in front of the camera.

But this picture is different. It's actually a mug shot taken when the boy was arrested and placed in handcuffs — something that's happened to him five times in the past four months — for battering a school employee.

The Orlando Sentinel is not naming the boy because of his age.

The rest of the story:

Gross or what?

Free-range human breast milk???


UK company sells human breast milk ice cream
Associated Press -

LONDON (AP) — Gross or tasty? A London company is offering an unusual dessert — ice cream made with human breast milk.

Trendy London ice cream parlor The Icecreamists said its "Baby Gaga" ice cream sold out as soon as it launched Friday.

The company paid women who responded to an online ad to donate their breast milk. The milk — which the company said was screened in line with blood donor requirements — is then pasteurized and churned together with vanilla pods and lemon zest. The dish comes in a martini glass and sells for 14 pounds ($22.50) each.

Illegal cookie sale?

Oh c'mon now.


Ga. Girl Scouts fear arrest for cookie peddling
Associated Press -

VILLA RICA, Ga. (AP) — A Girl Scout leader says young members of her troop thought they were headed to jail when a Georgia police officer told them to quit selling cookies.

The girls had set up a stand at a strip mall in Villa Rica about 30 miles west of Atlanta on Wednesday when the officer asked them if they had a peddler's permit. They didn't.

Troop Leader Kathy Crook told WXIA-TV in Atlanta that she was stunned. She says the scouts were told to pack it up.

Scofflaw arrested and jailed

Over $16,000 in fines on her outstanding tickets?

Wow.

Women jailed on traffic charges
By Guillermo X. Garcia - express-News

A woman was behind bars Saturday following her arrest Friday on more than three dozen mostly traffic-related charges totaling more than $16,000 in fines.

The listing of charges against Priscilla Talamantez, 31, in magistrate's court took up one and one-half pages, included 39 different charges and totaled $16,910 in fines. Some of the charges dated back several years.

Among the charges: driving without a license; speeding; not having proof of insurance; driving without a seat belt; children riding unrestrained in a car; contributing to children's non-attendance at school; and more than a half-dozen counts of failing to appear for hearings in Justice of Peace Court No. 2, according to the magistrate's records.


The rest of the story:

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Sex, Voodoo, and Candles

Apparently a dangerous combination.


FDNY: Voodoo Sex Candles Caused Fatal Fire in Brooklyn
By ARUN KRISTIAN DAS - MyFox New York

MYFOXNY.COM - Candles used in a voodoo sex ceremony ignited a fast-moving fire that swept through a Brooklyn apartment building on the evening of February 19 and into early February 20, 2011, and killed a woman, according to FDNY fire marshals and a city official.

Also, an open door and a delay in calling 911 allowed the fire to get even bigger, the marshals determined.

"Time and time again we respond to tragedies that could have been so easily prevented," Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said. "This fire had so many of those elements -- candles left on the floor near combustible material, one of the occupants trying to douse the flames before calling 911 and an open door, which allowed fire to spread into the hallway. Hopefully others will learn from this tragedy."

The rest of the story:

Cold case heats up

DNA evidence can be a bitch can't it?

Hoping the victim is resting peace a little more now.

DNA ties suspect to slaying in 1986
Man is re-arrested after completing drug sentence at state jail.
By Guillermo X. Garcia - Express-News

Using a decades-old DNA sample, police announced Friday that they have cleared a 25-year-old murder case described by detectives at the time as one of the most vicious they ever had investigated.

Daniel Flores Garcia, 49, was arrested Friday as he was being released from the Dominguez State Jail here, where he had just completed a felony drug sentence, San Antonio police spokesman Sgt. Chris Benavides said.

He was charged in the death of Marilyn McDonald, who was 37 when she was beaten and stabbed to death June 25, 1986.

The rest of the story:

Big bucks

Man, you just got to declare it when you are carrying more than $10,000 in cash when you leave or enter the US.


Sure.  Y'all are thinking its drug money but maybe it was money they won in the lottery?


Georgia women caught with $1.5 million headed across border
By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News

BROWNSVILLE — Three women from Georgia are under investigation after being caught with $1.5 million in cash in luggage they carried on a bus bound for Mexico.

The seizure occurred Wednesday during an outbound inspection at the Hidalgo/Reynosa International Bridge.

The officers found the cash hidden in the bags of three women from Dalton, Georgia. Two were identified as U.S. citizens aged 22 and 35, carrying $404,126 and $554,121 respectively, the third as a 55-year-old Mexican citizen carrying $500,676.

The rest of the story:

Not a benign club

Gee, and here all along I thought they were just a group of guys that got together to ride their motorcycles around.

Who knew they were affiliated with the Zetas Cartel?

Well, apparently the DEA did.  Good job!


Drug raiders target Banditos
By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News

Saying they had “hit at the heart” of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, authorities here announced Friday they had arrested 10 of its members and closed a pipeline that had brought $600 million worth of methamphetamine to the area in the past decade.

The arrests were dubbed “Operation Screaming Eagle” and occurred this week during a national surge of arrests of people linked to Mexican drug cartels in response to the killing of a U.S. law enforcement officer in Mexico.

Federal, local and state officers arrested 15 affiliates of the Zetas drug cartel and seized $10,000 in cash, guns and drugs in the San Antonio and Austin areas as part of national sweep, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said was meant to send a message to the drug smuggling industry that it wouldn't tolerate an attack on its agents.

The rest of the story:

Friday, February 25, 2011

Pathetic in a way isn't it?

What we can't even make our own historic baubles anymore?


At Smithsonian, Americana 'Made in China'
World News' Found Many Patriotic Products Aren't Actually Made in the USA
By JONATHAN KARL and MATTHEW JAFFE - ABC News

Tens of millions flock to the Smithsonian museums in Washington each year to see Americana -- everything from Abraham Lincoln's top hat to Archie Bunker's chair.

But one thing you'll have a hard time finding is something American in the gift shop.

Take the miniature sculptures of presidents sold at the National Museum of American History, located right on the Mall in the nation's capital.

From the busts of George Washington to Barack Obama, they were made in China.

Last month Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, was so outraged by the situation that he fired off a letter demanding that the museum sell products made in the USA.

The rest of the story:

In the eye of the beholder

I wouldn't feel vindicated.

I might feel relief, but vindicated?

Not so much.


Former DA released early from probation
By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

JUNCTION — The high-profile public corruption case that saw former District Attorney Ron Sutton plead guilty in April to misusing office funds ended quietly and prematurely last month.

A Jan. 12 order by state District Court Judge Steve Ables vacated Sutton's two guilty pleas to reckless misapplication of fiduciary property, dismissed the underlying indictment and released Sutton from probation 16 months early.

“I feel vindicated,” said Sutton, repeating earlier assertions that he was politically persecuted.

The rest of the story:

"The Texas Tech Terrorist"

Jeeze!!  In Texas Tech of all places.

I guess the surrounding countryside reminded him of home.



Prosecutors: Saudi man planned attack for years
By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press, BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Moved by 9/11 and speeches by Osama bin Laden, Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari for years had secretly planned to launch a terrorist attack in the U.S., prosecutors allege.

In his journal, the college student from Saudi Arabia who studied chemical engineering in Texas described a plan to travel to New York City, place bombs in several rental cars for remote detonation and leave the vehicles in different places during rush hour, according to court documents released Thursday.

"After mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for jihad," or holy war, Aldawsari wrote in the journal, according to the documents filed by prosecutors.

The rest of the story:

Our heartfelt thanks

From the sounds of it these are well-deserved medals indeed!

Thank you Officers Robert Salinas and Kyle Williams and Corporal Joe Robles.  New Braunfels is a great place to live and work due to the efforts of men and women such as yourselves.

Man o' Law salutes you.



New Braunfels officers to get medals for saving woman's life
By J. Louise Larson - New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung

NEW BRAUNFELS — Medals of Valor will be presented at Monday’s New Braunfels City Council meeting to three New Braunfels Police Department officers who saved the life of a New Braunfels kidnap victim on Dec. 2, 2010.

On Thursday, authorities released the footage of the incident where Officer Robert Salinas, Officer Kyle Williams and Cpl. Joe Robles shot and killed gunman and would-be kidnapper Glenn Shane Godden, 39, after he turned his gun on them.
 
The rest of the story:

Link to videotape of incident:

Thursday, February 24, 2011

More idle threats?

I'll believe it when I see it.

I also would have told her to wear something else to court.



Judge tells Lohan day of reckoning coming soon
By Anthony McCartney - My Way News

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A judge on Wednesday gave Lindsay Lohan roughly two weeks to decide if she will fight or take a plea deal in a felony grand theft case, but either decision could send the troubled starlet back behind bars.

Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz told Lohan he would sentence her to jail if she accepted a plea deal involving the theft of a $2,500 necklace from an upscale jewelry store.

"If you plead in front of me, if this case is resolved in front of me, you are going to jail," Schwartz said. "Period."

The rest of the story:

Open mouth; remove doubt

It sucks to be him.

Go get  him Lorina Rummel! 

She's an outstanding prosecutor.


Attorneys: Man bragged about capital murder
With no prints or DNA, case built on his own words.
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

No fingerprints, DNA or surveillance footage connect Charleton Bradshaw to the robbery and fatal stabbing two years ago of an out-of-towner spending the night at the crime-ridden Alamo Lodge motel.

But where physical evidence fails, Bradshaw's own bragging links him directly to the slaying, prosecutors said Wednesday during opening statements for his capital murder trial.

Bradshaw, 27, is the first of four defendants to stand trial for the October 2009 death of Alabama resident James Jerome Holmes, 32. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, meaning that if convicted he will face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

The rest of the story:

Hope fades

That poor little baby.

My prayers are with him.

Please; if you have any information contact the New Braunfels PD at (830) 608-2179


No new leads in the case of missing toddler
18-month-old boy was lost Feb. 4 on a freezing night.
By Guillermo X. Garcia - Express-News

Authorities acknowledged Wednesday that they are no closer to locating missing toddler Joshua Davis Jr. than the evening he vanished without a trace from his New Braunfels home three weeks ago.

Police have interviewed all of the people who were at the mobile home that night, and all were cooperating with authorities, New Braunfels police Lt. Mark Penshorn said

“We are looking at all possibilities at this point,” he said. “We have been following up on all tips.”

The rest of the story:

Queen of all legal battles - Part III The Queen is dead, Long live the Queen. At least until the jury trial

Having lost the Temporary Restraining Order, the Miss Bexar County Organization Inc.wasted no time in stripping the crown from Domonique Ramirez and crowning the first runner-up, Ashley Dixon, as Miss San Antonio 2011.

In fact the coronation of the new Queen apparently took place in the courtroom itself!

That must've been a sight to see.

BYO popcorn to the trial in March I bet it'll be a hoot to watch.


Court rejects ousted Miss S.A.'s bid to reclaim title
Ashley Dixon, the first-runner up, was crowned in the courtroom
By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News

The Alamo City has a new Miss San Antonio 2011, at least for now: Ashley Dixon.

Dixon, the first-runner up at last year's pageant, received the crown in a courtroom Wednesday after state District Judge Cathy Stryker rejected a bid by ousted queen Domonique Ramirez to get it back.

The change will last at least until Ramirez's full lawsuit is heard at a jury trial set March 14.

The rest of the story:

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Thin mints are good, but Samoas are better IMHO

I guess she won't be living there when she gets out of jail.

On the bright side it did get her up and moving, so can she say it was just her exercising?


Hersha Howard busted for beating up roommate Jasmin Wanke over Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies
By Michael Sheridan - Daily News Staff Writer

A Florida woman allegedly went ballistic on her roommate because she believed the woman had gobbled her Girl Scout cookies.

Hersha Howard was arrested Sunday after a battle royale that ravaged the entire apartment, according to police.

The 31-year-old Naples resident allegedly first attacked Jasmin Wanke around 1 a.m. while she was sleeping – launching an angry rant about missing Thin Mints, Wanke told authorities.

The rest of the story:

Munch softly

I guess the shooter will lose his ability to practice law in Latvia.


Moviegoer killed in screening of 'Black Swan' over popcorn argument
BY Meena Hartenstein - Daily News Staff Writer


One man's attempt to watch "Black Swan" in peace and quiet ended tragically this weekend when he was killed for complaining about a fellow moviegoer's noise.

The 43-year-old man was attacked in a movie theater in Latvia on Saturday when he asked a particularly loud popcorn-munching member of the audience to keep it down.

The offending eater, 27, was apparently so insulted that he opened fire with a "legally registered" weapon, the Guardian reported.

Identified as "a graduate of the police academy who holds a doctorate in law from the University of Latvia," the shooter was then reportedly "overpowered by other audience members until cops arrived."

Initially, many sources incorrectly reported that it was the 42-year-old who had been eating loudly, and that he was shot for his distracting chewing.

The Register later clarified the story, crediting a Latvian reader who wrote in to correct the facts.

The reader, who translated the original report from Latvian news agency Leta, also revealed that the 27-year-old "waited until the end of the movie before making his fatal move."

Queen of all legal battles - Part II

The drama continues today.  Day 2 of the epic saga.

Also, seriously Dude, getting your picture taken with the 17 year old "Queen", in court??


Miss S.A. sponsor denies using F word -- 'fat'
By Guillermo Contreras - Express - News

For the record, the organization that runs the Miss San Antonio pageant did not call its ousted beauty queen, Domonique Ramirez, “fat.”

Irresponsible, yes. But not fat.

That's what lawyers for the Miss Bexar County Organization Inc. argued at a hearing Tuesday before state District Judge Cathy Stryker. Today they'll continue trying to convince Stryker not to give Ramirez her crown back.

The rest of the story:

When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town Down around San Antone ... the ICE agents are up and about China Grove

A full 40% of the work were either illegal immigrants or had papers out of order.

Yet other than being fired the illegal immigrant folks get to just walk away?

The company doesn't get fined?

I would certainly think that fining the company would put other businesses on notice not to engage in this practice.


Bakery fires 200 after ICE audit
By Jason Buch - Express-News

The firing of 200 employees at a China Grove company last week was the result of a government strategy targeting employers of illegal immigrants.

Lone Star Bakery Inc., which provides baked goods to restaurants and food service operators, laid off 200 of the 500 people it employs at two plants in the town southeast of San Antonio. A company official said an audit conducted last year found that about 200 bakery employees did not have proper documentation to work in the U.S.

Lone Star Bakery was alerted of that Feb. 2 and on Feb. 16 fired the employees, according to the company's attorney.

The rest of the story:

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Give her a rousing Bronx cheer!!

You have got to br kidding me!



Bronx juror Jennifer Mercado pleads not guilty to using fellow juror's credit card on shopping spree
By Brendan Brosh - DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A Bronx juror accused of stealing another juror's credit card - and then going on a brazen shopping spree -  pleaded not guilty to charges that could put her in jail up to four years.

Jennifer Mercado  stole fellow juror John Postrk's plastic and bought more than $500 worth of shoes and clothing at stores near the courthouse- while the two were serving on a burglary case involving a stolen credit card back in March, authorities said.

Mercado, 20, who was indicted by a grand jury on July 16 said nothing as she walked out of a Bronx courtroom.

The rest of the story:

How about a food for Nukes program?

Why not say, Yes, North Korea we will give you food you give us all your nukes?

Also make sure the food we give gets to those who need it, i.e. not North Korea's military.


Starving North Korea begs for food, but U.S. has concerns about resuming aid
By Chico Harlan - Washington Post

TOKYO - North Korea recently took the unusual step of begging for food handouts from the foreign governments it usually threatens.

Plagued by floods, an outbreak of a livestock disease and a brutal winter, the government ordered its embassies and diplomatic offices around the world to seek help.

The request has put the United States and other Western countries in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether to ignore the pleas of a starving country or pump food into a corrupt distribution system that often gives food to those who need it least.

The rest of the story:

Expect 31 appeals

Wow, 31 defendants found guilty!

That must've been on heck of a trial.


India hands down Godhra verdict
Court finds 31 people guilty of setting fire to a train in 2002, which sparked major religious violence in 
Gujarat.
Al Jazeera -

An Indian court has found 31 people guilty of the 2002 Godhra train burning, which killed 59 Hindu pilgrims and sparked religious violence that left 2,000 people dead.

The court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, also acquitted 63 people of participating in the attack, following a trial that ended in September 2010, after lasting for nearly nine years.

Prerna Suri, Al Jazeera's correspondent New Delhi, said: "This has been a very long drawn out process, a few men have actually died in custody waiting for this verdict.

"It is expected that this verdict will be appealed. Families of the accused say they will take this to the Supreme Court and the Higher Court as well.

The train fire at Godhra station in the western state of Gujarat triggered some of the worst religious violence in India since independence.

Hindus blamed Muslims for the blaze, leading protesters to seek revenge by rampaging through Muslims neighbourhoods in three days of bloodshed.

Muslims have always denied setting the train ablaze. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslim, were killed in the violence that engulfed the state until May of that year.

The rest of the story:

The Wild West?

Do we still hang cattle rustlers?

Of course not.  Besides it was a cattle sculpture not a live bull.

So perhaps, since it was a sculpture, can we hang the rustler in effigy?


South Texas artist on hunt for a 'cattle rustler'
By Veronica Flores-Paniagua - Express-News

As long as ranchers have raised cattle in Texas, there've been thieves in the rustling business. But several weeks ago, cattle rustling took on a unique dimension when someone made off with a nearly one-ton bronze sculpture of a Brahma bull from a Bayview ranch.

Rio Grande Valley artist Rogelio Tijerina considers the life-size sculpture, dubbed “Process,” a signature piece because it inspired other work connecting the ranch life of his childhood to his vocation. The 1980s work represents a year of Tijerina's life — it took at least that long from the time he butchered the bull at his parents' farm in Pharr to its bronze casting in Chicago, where he taught at the time at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

When the theft occurred, the sculpture was sitting in a pasture of Tijerina's 140-acre ranch northeast of Brownsville. That's where he had parked it 10 years ago following a 15-year national tour. Tijerina, who splits his time between South Texas and Chicago, first became aware on Jan. 31 that the bull was missing. He filed a report with the Cameron County Sheriff's Department the same day, and the theft gained a higher profile this past weekend with a news story broadcast on KRGV-TV.

The rest of the story:

Didn't get past the reasonable doubt hurdle

It looks like the Texas AG's office couldn't scale the BARD (beyond a reasonable doubt) hurdle.


John Paul Hernandez is acquitted of the charges and is now eligible to have his records expunged.  I am sure he feels an inordinate amount of relief today. 


Ex-Texas prison official acquitted of sex-abuse
By Betsy Blaney - Associated Press -

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A former principal of a West Texas juvenile prison who was accused of sexually abusing inmates in darkened classrooms, closets and storage rooms was acquitted Monday.

Jurors deliberated for about six hours before returning the not guilty verdicts on the 14 counts against John Paul Hernandez, who had testified that inmates had lied when they told investigators he sexually assaulted them. He had faced up to 20 years in prison on the case's most serious offenses — sexual assault and improper relationship between educator and student — which are second-degree felonies.

Hernandez was accused of sexually abusing the young men in 2004 and 2005 at the West Texas State School in Pyote.

The rest of the story:

Monday, February 21, 2011

Buh Bye Muammar. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!

Hah!  I said this would happen yesterday.

I hope it all doesn't go to s- %$ -t on us now.



Dictator on the run: Gaddafi may have fled Libya already and be on his way to Venezuela, says Foreign Secretary William Hague 
By Daily Mail Reporter
  • Protesters appear to have taken control of second city Benghazi
  • Up to 400 feared dead after dozens killed in clashes
  • Two Libyan fighter jets land in Malta as pilots request asylum
  • Gaddafi's own diplomats at the UN turn on dictator and say he should go
  • Justice minister resigns over 'excessive use of violence'
  • David Cameron declares regime response is 'appalling and unacceptable'
  • Gaddafi's son says: 'We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet'

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has fled Libya and may be heading for Venezuela, William Hague said today.

The Foreign Secretary said he had seen 'information' that suggests Gaddafi is on his way to the South American country - as Libya was up in flames today with reports of around 400 dead.

The dictator was said to have fled as Tripoli descended into chaos after anti-government demonstrators breached the state television building and set government property alight.

Even Gaddafi's own Libyan diplomats at the UN are calling for him to step down. Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi said that if the dictator does not relinquish power, 'the Libyan people will get rid of him'.


The rest of the story:

Oil price sticker shock coming to a gas pump near you soon

Expect oil prices to zoom exponentially just on this being reported.


Libyan tribe threatens to cut oil exports soon
Reuters -

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The leader of the Al-Zuwayya tribe in eastern Libya threatened on Sunday to cut oil exports to Western countries within 24 hours unless authorities stop what he called the "oppression of protesters".

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Shaikh Faraj al Zuway said: "We will stop oil exports to Western countries within 24 hours" if the violence did not stop.

The tribe lives south of Benghazi, which has seen the worst of the deadly violence in recent days.
Akram Al-Warfalli, a leading figure in the Al Warfalla tribe, one of Libya's biggest, told the channel:

"We tell the brother (Gaddafi), well he's no longer a brother, we tell him to leave the country."

The tribe live south of the capital Tripoli.

Year of the Rabbit

But..But, it's the Year of the Rabbit.

Be nice to them.



Bunny abuse at temple fairs worry many
By Zhang Lei - China daily

The temple fairs in Beijing attracted thousands of visitors during the Spring Festival, but they also stirred fierce criticism over their abuse of animals.

According to the Beijing News, the young rabbits locked in small cages at Lianhuachi Temple Fair on Feb 4 were the prizes for quoits games. Not only in this particular temple fair, similar games were also found in Ditan Temple Fair and other temple fair across the city.

Quoits has been a popular attraction at temple fairs for many years. In previous years, toy animals were usually the prizes, but this year some sellers replaced the toy animals with real rabbits.

At Daguanyuan Temple Fair, a mother told the paper that her daughter thought it was very cruel to let bunnies suffer. Although the game brought crowds and good business, she strongly suggested that next year the game should be dropped.

The rest of the story:

Owww!

You're having marital problems so you bite the 1 year old stepson on the leg?

That's going to solve it all won't it?


Woman accused of biting 1-year old stepson
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A San Antonio woman is accused of biting her stepson, a toddler, citing marital difficulties with the boy's father, on Wednesday.

Amber Kaylenn Lindner, 18, is being held in Bexar County Jail on $25,000 bail. She faces a charge of intentionally injuring a child, causing serious bodily injury, a felony.

An arrest warrant affidavit states on Wednesday, a Bexar County deputy called to investigate an injured child discovered a large bite mark and bruise on the right thigh of Lindner's stepson, 1.

The rest of the story:

An opportunist crime

You'd thinks folks would be more wary these days.

But Teens seem to think they are invulnerable, don't they?


Man accused of sexually assaulting teen he met online
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A relationship sparked on an online social media network resulted in the arrest of a 23-year-old man Saturday afternoon, according to authorities.

Arturo Teran Ramirez, 23, is being held in Bexar County Jail on one count of sexual assault of a child. A judge set bail at $50,000.

Ramirez allegedly met a 16-year-old girl last May on MocoSpace.com, which claims on its website to be the world's largest mobile social network.

The rest of the story:

Sunday, February 20, 2011

BREAKING NEWS

Is Qadaffi gone?

Al Arabiya has unconfirmed reports of a coup in Libya.

If true, this comes on the heels of a brutal crackdown on protesters which killed at least 140.

Running on empty

They're lucky they weren't killed on the spot.


Would-be robbers end up losing money as stickup goes wrong
By CHRISTINE VENDEL
The Kansas City Star

Two men Thursday used an unloaded revolver to try to rob a Northland gun store, even though the clerk wore a shoulder holster with a semiautomatic handgun in plain view.

Not surprisingly, the holdup failed miserably. In fact, the robbers lost $40.

They could have lost more, said the 65-year-old clerk, who didn’t want his name published.

The rest of the story:

Shopping the Un-Safeway

That's a huge amount of stuff to steal.

Why did it take so long for Safeway to note it?

It sounds like they need to upgrade their theft-prevention measures.


Couple shoplifted $5 Million from Portland Safeway stores, police say
By KGW staff - NWCN.com

PORTLAND -- Safeway officials say they have proof that a local couple stole more than $5 million in merchandise from stores in the Portland Metro area over the past several years.

Police arrested Richard Lavern Remington, 52, and Angela Rose Evans, 32, on Tuesday and the couple was arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court Wednesday.

The probable cause affidavit showed that Safeway began formally tracking the pair last November after suspicions surfaced they had been shoplifting.

The rest of the story:

Came within a hair of being found guilty

I'd like to thank the jury, my attorney, and most especially, my hairdresser.


Jury acquits Pa. man who uses wiry hair defense
Associated Press -

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A Philadelphia man's wiry hair has helped him beat a robbery rap.

The evidence against Timothy Corbett included surveillance footage and an eyewitness account, but his defense was that his stiff hair didn't match the tousled appearance of the man in the video. The Bucks County jury agreed Wednesday, finding him not guilty of charges including robbery and terroristic threats.

Defense attorney Louis Busico tugged on his client's hair during closing arguments, telling the jury that if he couldn't move it there was no way Corbett was the man with the mussed locks in the video.

Corbett had been charged with robbing the Bensalem convenience store on April 24.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Rees says prosecutors believed the evidence was solid but the jury found there was reasonable doubt.

Party in Malaysia

Sounds like they were expecting some major fun, huh?



Malaysia police nab 3 for stealing 725,000 condoms
Associated Press -

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police have arrested three suspects involved in the heist of some 725,000 condoms, which have not yet been found.

Mohamad Shukri Dahlan, the police chief of Malaysia's northern Perak state, says the heist was "an inside job." He said Friday the suspects work for the firm responsible for transporting the condoms from the factory to the port, where they were to be shipped to Japan.

Sagami Rubber Industries Co., one of Japan's biggest condom makers, said 85,000 boxes of ultra-thin condoms vanished last month in the heist. The merchandise was worth $1.5 million.

The suspects intended to sell the condoms in Malaysia, but Mohamad Shukri said they had probably not succeeded.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

WTF!! Four years in his head??

Is this a testament to the benefits of a State-run health care plan?


Doctors remove knife from man's head after 4 years
By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press

BEIJING – Surgeons in southern China successfully removed a rusty, 4-inch (10-centimeter) knife from the skull of a man who said it had been stuck in there for four years, the hospital said Friday.

Li Fuyan, 30, had been suffering from severe headaches, bad breath and breathing difficulties but never knew the cause of his discomfort, said the senior official at the Yuxi City People's Hospital in Yunnan Province.

Li told doctors he had been stabbed in the lower right jaw by a robber four years ago and the blade broke off inside his head without anyone realizing it, said the director of the hospital's Communist Party committee's office who would only give his surname, He.

The rest of the story:

No not Carmen Miranda rights

Many times there is not a bright line to distinguish when a voluntary interview of a person of interest crosses over to a custodial interrogation of a suspect.


Defense: witness was a suspect
Despite statement, defendant was not read Miranda rights.
By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

FREDERICKSBURG — Even after Shelby Moore told authorities he was present when Trey Noah was slain, and that he'd helped hide the body, Moore remained merely “a person of interest” rather than a criminal suspect.

That was Texas Ranger Wayne Matthews' testimony Thursday at a hearing on a defense bid to suppress the statements Moore made June 10.

Moore's remarks quickly led to charges of murder and evidence tampering being filed against him and Brandon Harber, both 19, over the Nov. 30, 2009, death of Noah, 20, of Kendalia.

The rest of the story:

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone

Religious consultants or soothsayers?

Its the 21st Century, man.


Man wins religious bias suit
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

Jurors awarded $263,000 Friday to a former manager at a San Antonio aviation business who said he was fired because he stopped going to his boss' church.

Steven Hecht worked for three years at Million Air San Antonio, which provides fueling and concierge services for private jets at San Antonio International Airport. He filed the religious discrimination suit in 2008, two years after he was dismissed from his $100,000-per-year job as the firm's general manager.

Hecht said he believes his rift with devoutly religious company President Mark Fessler and his father, part-owner Richard Fessler, began a week after he was hired.

The rest of the story:

Back at work

For the time being.

Although I'd imagine it might be hard to get clients right now.


Clark released, can practice law
By J. Louise Larson - New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung


NEW BRAUNFELS — Comal County attorney Mark Adrian Clark, convicted by a Comal County jury of attempted sexual performance of a child, is out on bond and remains an attorney “in good standing” for the foreseeable future.

At the Texas State Bar Association, special administrative counsel Maureen Ray works with the office of the chief disciplinary counsel. Interviewed Friday, she couldn’t talk about Clark’s case specifically in any detail, but she acknowledged her office is examining the case.

The rest of the story:

Friday, February 18, 2011

Don't try this at home

Bad Momma, Bad!
 

Mom arrested after showing police a photo of duct-taped toddler
The Associated Press -

BROOKHAVEN, PA.: A southeastern Pennsylvania woman who police say showed them a photo of her toddler duct-taped to a chair as part of an identity theft complaint is being held without bail.

Police arrested 21-year-old Caira Ferguson on child endangerment and other charges Wednesday.

Ferguson went to police earlier this month to complain that her identity had been stolen and someone had posted online a photo of her young daughter bound to a chair with duct tape covering her mouth.

Nether Providence Township police say Ferguson admitted taping the girl to a chair about seven months ago. 

Ferguson denied the allegations to reporters as she was transported to jail.

Ferguson's mother says she thinks another child was responsible.

The girl is in custody of child welfare workers.

Too many crimes?

Do we have too many crimes?

Maybe so, certainly there should be some common-sense used by Judges and prosecutors in seeking prison time for some sentences.

Do we want to fill up our prisons with folks who import orchids incorrectly or ship lobster tails in the wrong packaging?


Let's save prison space for the violent criminals, sex offenders and repeat and habitual criminals.

Wait!  What if they serve lobster tails with orchids??


Does Texas have too many crimes?
By Jim Forsyth - 103.5 Super X


The rate of violent crime in Texas has fallen sharply since the mid 1990s, and overall violent crime in Texas today is at its lowest level in more than thirty years, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the state’s prisons.

The Texas Department of Corrections Institutional Division is bulging with convicts, and the Bexar County Jail is overflowing to the point that costs to the county are skyrocketing.

A conservative and business group says the reason is simply...Texas has too many crimes.

“There are thousands of amazing things you can be sent to prison for today by both state and federal courts,” said State Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano).  “You can go to jail for importing orchids without the proper paperwork, shipping lobster tails in the wrong packaging, and even for failing to return a library book.”

The rest of the story:

A clusterfark of epic proportion

What the hell went wrong here?

Why did the dispatched units return?

Why did it take 40 minutes before help arrived?

Two children and her husband are missing their mother and wife today.  Some one is to blame for this apparent screw-up.



I-Team Investigation: Woman Dies While Waiting For Medical Treatment
CBS Philly -

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – An exclusive CBS 3 I-Team Investigation reveals that a 39-year-old mother, flying into Philadelphia for her son’s birthday, died after waiting nearly 40 minutes for medical treatment after she collapsed in a restroom inside Terminal “E”, early on the morning of January 17th.

Dispatch records obtained by CBS 3 show the lone medic unit assigned to the airport was busy on another assignment and unable to respond to “911″ calls and police radio calls seeking help for Jennifer Moore.

The records show, as Mrs. Moore’s condition worsened, and she lost consciousness, three other units were dispatched, but all returned to their stations without entering terminal “E” and providing care to the dying woman.

The rest of the story:

Repent! The end is near??

I'm waiting for Al Gore or someone like him to come running forward to say its due to "Global Warming!!!"


Arkansas cities feel unexplained surge in earthquakes
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Jim Sutterfield was briefly puzzled by a thumping sound that seemed to slam the back of his office chair. But when the small-town Arkansas fire chief turned and saw no one was around, he quickly realized it was just an earthquake — again.

"That was only my second time to feel one, but others here have felt them for three or four months now," Greenbrier chief Jim Sutterfield said after feeling the latest tremor on Wednesday. "Now when it happens, people say, 'Well, there's another one.'"

Several small earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 1.8 to 3.8 have rattled the north-central Arkansas cities of Greenbrier and Guy this week, and the cause is unknown.

The rest of the story:

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Killed in the line of duty another victim of the Mexican Drug Wars

An alarming reminder, as if such were necessary, to not be in Mexico during this time of drug battles and wars.

Rest in Peace Agent Zapata, rest in peace.



Agent battled with his killers
U.S. officials say gunmen will be hunted down.
By Dane Schiller, Dudley Althaus And Susan Carroll - The Houston Chronicle

MEXICO CITY — In his final moments, colleagues said, U.S. federal agent Jaime Zapata struggled to fight off his Mexican killers as they attempted to yank him from the armored embassy Suburban he was driving.

Zapata and Victor Avila, a fellow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, had been forced off the road Tuesday afternoon by two carloads of gunmen as they traveled the busy toll road connecting Mexico's heartland to the South Texas border.

They hoped to reason with the gunmen — as many as 15 of them — who surrounded the vehicle, U.S. officials said.

The rest of the story: