Take it to the bank!

Pay $300 to make $11 in profit over a two year period?

I guess that only makes sense to a government bureaucrat.

Philly requiring bloggers to pay $300 for a business license

By: Mark Hemingway - Commentary Staff Writer - Washington Examiner

It looks like cash hungry local governments are getting awfully rapacious these days:

Between her blog and infrequent contributions to ehow.com, over the last few years she says she’s made about $50. To [Marilyn] Bess, her website is a hobby. To the city of Philadelphia, it’s a potential moneymaker, and the city wants its cut.

In May, the city sent Bess a letter demanding that she pay $300, the price of a business privilege license.
“The real kick in the pants is that I don’t even have a full-time job, so for the city to tell me to pony up $300 for a business privilege license, pay wage tax, business privilege tax, net profits tax on a handful of money is outrageous,” Bess says.

It would be one thing if Bess’ website were, well, an actual business, or if the amount of money the city wanted didn’t outpace her earnings six-fold. Sure, the city has its rules; and yes, cash-strapped cities can’t very well ignore potential sources of income. But at the same time, there must be some room for discretion and common sense.

When Bess pressed her case to officials with the city’s now-closed tax amnesty program, she says, “I was told to hire an accountant.”

She’s not alone. After dutifully reporting even the smallest profits on their tax filings this year, a number — though no one knows exactly what that number is — of Philadelphia bloggers were dispatched letters informing them that they owe $300 for a privilege license, plus taxes on any profits they made.

Even if, as with Sean Barry, that profit is $11 over two years.

To say that these kinds of draconian measures are detrimental to the public discourse would be an understatement.

BOLO for Britain's most disgusting woman!

I haven't seen her in person, but what she did was pretty reprehensible.

Police hunt 'Britain's most disgusting woman'

Breitbart

A hunt was on Sunday for the woman branded "Britain's most disgusting person" for urinating on a war memorial after she fled court following a public shaming by elderly veterans. 

An arrest warrant is out for Wendy Lewis, 32, who was given a "guard of dishonour" by angry veterans when she appeared at Blackpool Magistrates Court.

She was caught on security cameras relieving herself on the seaside town's Cenotaph, before performing a sex act on a man nearby.

Lewis was found guilty of outraging public decency and was due to be sentenced Friday.

But after turning up 40 minutes late at court, she vanished before her case began.

Veterans wearing smart uniforms and campaign medals lined up outside to give her a slow handclap. They shouted "Disgusting!" at she went inside.

"It is unforgivable what she did in the face of these dead men," said former Royal Marine James Baker, 88, who was one of few from his unit who survived the Normandy Landings.

"It can be neither forgiven nor forgotten by the ex-services' community and the wider community as well.

"If she had expressed remorse, and meant it, we could forgive then, if not forget. But I'm sorry, she is just beyond the pale."

Alongside him was Don Aiken, 85, who also saw action on D-Day.

He said: "We have all come to show our disgust at the actions of this woman on the Cenotaph, which is sacred to ex-servicemen personally, because it holds the names of so many of our comrades who died in two world wars to defend the freedom of our nation."

If Lewis is arrested Sunday she will be held in the cells until court resumes Monday.

Lewis was dubbed "Britain's most disgusting person" by Ian Coleman, of the Royal British Legion veterans' charity, after an earlier court appearance.

A Museum for the Mexican Drug Wars

The Narco-Bling Museum!

Unfortunately not yet open to the public.

The men with the golden guns: Mexican museum displays 'narco bling' weaponry confiscated from drug lords

By Mail Foreign Service

This gleaming display of weaponry reveals the increasingly extravagant lifestyles of Mexican drug barons.

The confiscated items, which include several guns and high-precision rifles lavishly decorated with gold, jewels and even religious symbols, feature in a Mexican military museum.

The private museum, which is located in the country’s Ministry of Defence, opened in 1985 and is used by the military to educate soldiers to the lifestyles and culture of drug cartels.

Open only to military officials and officer cadets in drug enforcement, the Museo de los Enervantes also serves to chronicle Mexico’s war on drugs.

When it first opened, the museum featured a single room of confiscated cocaine and heroin.

Since then, it has expanded to ten rooms in order to hold an increasingly vulgar array of ill-gotten gains reflecting the curious 'narco bling' fascination among gangsters.

Among the items is a diamond encrusted mobile phone and a solid gold medal bearing the crest of one of the drug gangs.

The rest of the story:

Another casualty in the Mexican Drug Wars

Police do not equal trust.

Mexican police help murder their own mayor

By Ioan Grillo/Mexico City  Time/Yahoo

The murder scarred a part of Mexico that was supposed to be reasonably safe from violence and crime. Santiago is a picturesque town of waterfalls, colonial churches and holiday homes for the rich. Its mayor Edelmiro Cavazos was a blue-eyed 38-year old, educated in the United States. But it seems that no corner of the country is shielded from the relentless rain of drug-related bloodshed.

The killers came for Mayor Cavazos in the early hours of Aug. 16 when seven SUV's rolled up and men in police uniforms descended on his palatial home. Servants stood back terrified, as their boss was forced away at gunpoint. On Aug. 18, his corpse was dumped on a nearby road. There was a mercy of sorts in the manner of his killing - shot dead with two bullets in the head and one in the chest, and spared the mutilation and rape inflicted on so many other victims. The following day, hundreds of residents wept over his coffin in Santiago's central plaza, lining the stairs up to the church with candles and holding signs calling for peace. (See pictures of Culiac[a {a}]n, the home of Mexico's drug-trafficking industry.)

Then on Aug. 20, more disturbing news broke. State agents arrested six of the mayor's own police officers and said they confessed to involvement in the murder. The suspects had been working for a drug cartel that is fighting a bloody turf war with its rival throughout northeast Mexico, state prosecutors said. Another four alleged gunmen were arrested with automatic rifles and grenade launchers in their possession and accused of being involved in the plot. The revelation had very concerning implications: in Mexico's drug war, officials are now killing officials.

The rest of the story:

Drinking, driving, killing

The other driver ran away.  Let me guess, he had no insurance, had been drinking, and maybe even was not here legally.

Man arrested on intoxication manslaughter charge

By Valentino Lucia - Express-News

A San Antonian has been arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter in a crash June 5 that killed his passenger.

Larry Weidner, 47, was booked into Bexar County Jail on Saturday morning. His bail was set at $30,000.

Weidner was driving a 1994 Dodge Spirit west on West Commerce Street when the car stuck another vehicle at South Picoso Street, an arrest warrant affidavit says. Witnesses said they had to pull Weidner and the passenger, Richard S. Alvarado, from the burning car.

The rest of the story:

A Hero passes

As time inexorably marches on it does what man was unable to do.

Stop a man of great spirit and fortitude.

Man o' Law salutes Captain Eric Barr as he embarks on his final journey.  One we will all eventually take.

Thank you Sir for your service.

Captain Barr is pictured as a Commander in this WWII photo taken at a party in Perth, Australia.  It is  from the website ussbluegill.org.

He is seated on the left, the third person from the bottom of the photo.  (Three stripes on his jacket sleeves)

Submarine commander never lost a man

By Elaine Ayala - Express-News

As highly decorated as retired Navy Capt. Eric L. Barr Jr. was during World War II, the submarine commander always said his greatest accomplishment was never losing a man.

The longtime San Antonian died Monday. He was 98.

“He was a perfect gentleman,” said Najmieh Barr, his wife of 24 years. “He had a lot of integrity and honesty, the core things he learned at the Naval Academy.”

The rest of the story:

Got Goat?

Okay so what did the authorities think the four passengers were going to do with the goat when they got home?

Keep it as a pet or eat it?

Maybe they were just pre-heating him prior to the roasting?

Driver fined $100 in Va. for having goat in trunk 

Express-News 

BEDFORD, Va. (AP) -- A driver has been convicted of animal cruelty and fined $100 after Virginia authorities found a goat stuffed in the trunk of her car.

Bedford County sheriff's deputies discovered the goat bound and in the trunk during a drunken driving checkpoint in June.

Fiona Ann Enderby of Washington, D.C., told police she bought the goat from a farmer to give to four passengers in her car, who are from Kenya but reside in Lynchburg in central Virginia. The goat was panting heavily and animal control officers say the temperature in the trunk was 94 degrees.

The goat is now living at a Bedford County farm.

Tragedy

What should have been a wonderful time in their lives is turned into a tragedy by his hand.

Man dead after shooting pregnant girlfriend

By Peter J. Holley - Express-News

A man shot his pregnant girlfriend before killing himself early Friday as police converged on him at a house northwest of downtown, officers said.

James Sada, 18, shot himself in the head in the 1500 block of West Craig Place just after 1 a.m., according to the Bexar County medical examiner's office.

His girlfriend, Sunni Danielle Corona, 18, was shot in the chest and was in stable condition at University Hospital.

The rest of the story:

Double-Dipping?

Would it be okay if they reimbursed their campaign funds from the stipend received? 

Would it be income then?

Lawmaker use of stipends disposal

By Gary Scharrer - Express-News

AUSTIN — Most San Antonio and Houston state legislators pay for lodging and related living expenses here out of their campaign accounts and then pocket the $168 per diem from taxpayers — a practice an ethics watchdog called “de facto fraud.”

Lawmakers say their conduct is both ethical and legal. But the handling of their per diem, totaling at least $23,520 each in legislative session years, could put them in a gray area with the IRS.

Dave Palmer filed complaints this week with the Travis County district attorney and the Texas Ethics Commission against lawmakers who pay lodging and utility expenses with campaign money instead of using the per diem they get every day they're in the Capitol on state business.

The rest of the story:

Plea deal reached

You may not think so but I think both Libby Weiderman and Eric DeWalt sure got a hell of a plea offer from the State on this case.

Forty years for a murder?  Sudden passion may have been a concern?  Even though she drove to the place of work of the victim who was in a relationship with the defendant's ex-husband?

Woman is handed 40-year term

By Valentino Lucio - Express-News

A San Antonio woman was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday afternoon for shooting and killing her ex-husband's former girlfriend in the parking lot of an animal clinic last year.

Leticia Arcos, 37, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Kristy Appleby in February 2009.

Arcos accosted Appleby, 32, in the parking lot of the animal clinic where she worked, then chased and shot her multiple times as at least six people watched.

The rest of the story:

Saints vs. Sinners

I don't see them being able to reach some common ground do you?

Meeting fails to end Ohio church-strip club feud 

Express-News - 

WARSAW, Ohio (AP) -- The leader of an Ohio church feuding with a nearby strip club says a meeting failed to bring a truce.

Pastor Bill Dunfee of New Beginnings Ministries says he and Fox Hole club owner Tommy George found no common ground during their roughly two-hour sit-down at a diner Wednesday night.

Dunfee says he would have accepted nothing less from George than an offer to shut down his business.

The pastor says church members will continue to gather outside the club on weekend nights, as they've done for years.

He says he expects George and women from the club will keep up the Sunday protests they began several weeks ago at the church in Warsaw, 60 miles northeast of Columbus.

George says he'll shut down his business if Dunfee steps down from the pulpit.

Deliciously Ironic

The Gods of Irony are highly amused.

I mean no extended Gulf vacation due to problematic oil spill, so you go to Martha's Vineyard and the seafront is full of fecal bacteria.

Priceless!

Will bacteria count beach Barack Obama?

Boston Herald.com

TISBURY - Welcome to Martha’s Vineyard, Mr. President - but don’t go in the water!

President Obama, who took a plunge in the Gulf last week to show Americans it was safe to swim the oil spill-plagued area, arrived on this supposedly pristine island yesterday in the midst of a rash of bacteria-induced beach closings.

Portions of Tisbury Great Pond, the salt-water lagoon fronting the first family’s vacation estate Blue Heron Farm, were closed earlier this week due to high levels of enterococci, an indicator that the water is contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria. Ew.

The rest of the story:

WTF !! #2

This freak is just sick!!

What in the hell is wrong with people??!!

Man Arrested For Putting Semen in Female Co-Worker's Water Bottle!

MYFOXDC

FULLERTON, Calif. - A man was arrested Tuesday in California for ejaculating twice into a female co-worker’s water bottle.

Officers say that in January 2010, 31 year old Michael Kevin Lallana entered a female co-workers office at the Northwestern Mutual Mortgage Company in Newport Beach, California and ejaculated into a water bottle that was on her desk. The semen-filled water bottle was left on the office desk. The female later returned and drank the contents of the water bottle. The victim reported feeling ill after drinking the water.

Police say that approximately three months later in April 2010, Lallana again ejaculated into a water bottle that the same female co-worker left on her desk. Again the victim returned to her office and drank from the semen-filled water bottle.

This time, after feeling ill again, the victim sent it to a private lab to be tested.

In June 2010, the female was contacted by the private lab who confirmed that the water bottle contained semen. The victim reported the incidents to the Orange Police Department.

In early July, following further investigation by the police and the Orange County Crime Lab, the defendant was linked through DNA to the crimes. Lallana was arrested Tuesday outside of his home.

Lallana was charged with two misdemeanor counts each of releasing an offensive material in a public place and assault, with sentencing allegations for committing a crime for sexual gratification.

If convicted, he faces a sentence ranging from a minimum of three months to a maximum of three years in jail with mandatory sex offender registration.

In a disturbing story out of Maryland, a man was arrested in July for throwing semen on women who were shopping in a Michael’s Craft store and in a Giant super market.

In this case police believe the suspect, Michael Wayne Edwards, Jr., used a spray bottle to spray the semen on the women’s backs!

Reading, writing, gang-banging, and drug-dealing

Wow tell me something we don't know.

This is like a dog bites man article.  No new news here, nothing to see just move along.

Now get out the effort to stop it.

Maybe FLOTUS, Michelle  Obama, can stop the war on Obesity and take up the banner for this war.


Shocking School Drug and Gang Survey

BY LUKE FUNK

MYFOXNY.COM - A new survey claims that 27 percent of public school students aged 12 to 17 attend schools that are both gang and drug-infected. That means 5.7 million students attend schools which are both gang and drug dominated.

Nearly 50 percent of all public school students report drug use or sales on school grounds.

The Columbia University survey claims that one in three middle schoolers say that drugs are used, kept or sold at their school. That number is up 39 percent in the past year.

The rest of the story:

An embarassment

I'm rapidly becoming of the opinion that these funds should go into a general fund reserved for each county and the funds get distributed for use by a District Attorney's office upon approval by an independent board or agency at the State level.

Many will disagree with me on this but I would hope it would cut down on the shenanigans.

Get the politics out of the situation.

Ex-Jim Wells County DA accused of misusing forfeiture funds

By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News

BROWNSVILLE — A former Jim Wells County district attorney was indicted Wednesday on a charge of using funds forfeited from criminals to boost pay for himself and others.

Joe Frank Garza, 63, is charged with one count of misapplication of fiduciary duty, a first-degree felony. The state attorney general's office will be prosecuting the case.

Court documents say Garza spent more than $200,000 of the funds between 2002 and 2008 without getting approval of the county commissioners' court. Texas law prohibits district attorneys from supplementing their salaries with forfeiture funds without county approval.

The rest of the story: