Shoppers entering the Wal-Mart Supercenter here got a reminder not to try anything funny: Two shoplifters stood outside with signs reading "I am a thief, I stole from Wal-Mart." Oh the inhumanity!
Attalla City Judge Kenneth Robertson Jr. ordered the two people to wear the signs for four hours each during two successive Saturdays. Cruel! I yearn for sharia!
"The only comments we've heard so far have been positive," said store manager Neil Hawkins. "Most of them thought it was a good thing." Really? I'd rather have thieves in our midst.
One of the shoplifters, Lisa King Fithian, 46, wore the sign from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to avoid a 60-day jail sentence. Another convicted shoplifter was at the store from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. You mean they had a choice? They must have not known what they were choosing. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Fithian maintained her innocence. She said her conviction was based on a misunderstanding: She said she was taking a $7 item to the service desk because it would not scan. In her pocket. Outside the store. To a customer service desk in another Target because the lines there were long. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Outside the store, she said people who saw her wearing the sandwich board commented that the punishment was "cruel." Suppose for the sake of argument that these morons did exist and did tell you just that. Did you explain to these mirages that you had a choice?
Hawkins noted how embarrassing it would be for the public to see someone who got caught shoplifting. "Maybe they'll think twice about doing it," he said. I'll bet they do. And the cruelty, too. And how the judge is saving some bucks by not having to pay your room and board. And how you can get on with your life and maybe even learn a lesson in the process.
#2
If this doesn't work and they get caught again, try a pillory with a good supply of turkey feathers. Passersby can be encouraged to tickle the perp's nose.
Leave it to a lefty nematode to make an ass of itself trying to score some absurd political points off the very real suffering of its constituents.
GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) -- The rebuilding effort in tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas, likely will be hampered because some much-needed equipment is in Iraq, said that states governor. Governor Kathleen Sebelius said much of the National Guard equipment usually positioned around the state to respond to emergencies is gone. That is not actually its purpose.
She said not having immediate access to things like tents, trucks and semitrailers will really handicap the rebuilding effort. It is very hard to believe that the Kansas National Guard is so short of these items that it cannot provide the relatively small amounts that would be needed for relief in what is, after all, a very small community.
There are more than 12000 troops in the Kansas Guard and twice that many regular Army troops at Fort Riley alone. Even a tiny percentage of their stores of the specified items should be more than sufficient for this purpose.
The Greensburg administrator estimated that 95 percent of the town of 1500 was destroyed by Friday's tornado. The Kansas National Guard has about 40 percent of the equipment it is allotted because much of it has been sent to Iraq. Note that AP makes this bald statement on its own authority and absolutely nothing else. Where does it come from? How was this conclusion reached? Where are the figures and sources to support it? What journalism school did this fool attend?
Greensburg residents will be allowed to return Monday morning to recover what they can. They will be bused in and must leave by 6 p-m. BTW, there are currently no Kansas Guard units in Iraq.
#2
Another incompetent, Democratic governor, blaming everyone else.
And what this? A female, too? So she picked up a trick from Blanco's playbook. And the author of the article, unnamed, must have a better-than-even-chance of being of a similar sex, not to mention from San Franciso.
But, just to show I'm not chauvanistic, she was one of the five bestGovernors of the year, according to her website's version of a Time Magazine article.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/07/2007 12:28 Comments ||
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#3
So, neighboring states aren't chipping in?
Has she bothered asking?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/07/2007 12:39 Comments ||
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#4
The story that will not be reported * at all * is that there will be no New Orleans style Lord of the Flies re-ennactment in Kansas...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/07/2007 12:41 Comments ||
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#5
You know that nothing stops you Ms. Sebelius from establishing a separate state militia which is not beholding to the federal government for porkpatronage funding and therefore not subject to federal requirements. Some states in fact do have a militia infrastructure just because they understand that fact.
Oh, and by the way, it is the National Guard Bureau which insists that most of the Guard remain composed of combat formations rather than combat support or combat support services which contain the skills that most governors need like MPs, communications, medical, transportation, etc. Those are usually found in the federal Army Reserve. Just because the NGB thinks itself as a co-equal branch of DoD along with the Army, Navy and Air Force, and your political good o'boys keep it that way.
#6
On Fox yesterday the Director of Kansas Emergency Responce and Homeland Defence, when asked what she needed, said, "We have everything we need. We just need people to stay away right now". Somebody is really playing another anti-war angle here to get more control over the National Guard. Form a State Militia, Kathleen.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/07/2007 14:11 Comments ||
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#7
And what this? A female, too?
Yeah. Dem dames is dumber'n rocks. Belch. Hey! My coffee's gettin' cold here, toots!
#8
Too bad Tom Brown and FEMA aren't available to bring in the unused trailers from Katrina-land......Ray probably wouldn't allow them to leave the state anyway.
#9
Hey mister the 721st. KNG transportation company out of Hays Kansas is in Iraq right now pulling convoy from Kuwait to Anaconda. Second tour mister and they had a 98% volunteer to go back. The one that didn't go was pregnant.
Posted by: Sherebmanper Scourge of the Platypi1150 ||
05/07/2007 16:25 Comments ||
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#10
That would be the 731st KNG, but SSCP is right about the numbers. Saw for myself when they left after Thanksgiving (Thank you Patriot Guard!).
Greensburg had elements of volunteer fire/rescue from communities more than 70 miles away there nearly immediately after the tornado. They had a General from KNG there in the morning, Representative Moran and Senator Roberts arrived shortly afterwards. In fact, there was so much help they had to refuse it (had my bunker gear, ready to go). I think Governor Sebelius' comments were delayed because she needed to be briefed that there is indeed Kansas west of Wichita. She seems to be the only Kansan who can't handle the situation.
Unit Deployment
731st Transportation Company Operation Iraqi Freedom
714th Security Force Company Operation Iraqi Freedom
635th Regional Support Group Operation Enduring Freedom
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 130th Field Artillery Brigade Operation Enduring Freedom
Embedded Training Team Operation Enduring Freedom
1st Battalion, 108th Aviation Operation Iraqi Freedom
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery,
35th Division Artillery Operation Enduring Freedom
Battery B, 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery Operation Iraqi Freedom
35th Military Police Company Operation Enduring Freedom
This is probably 50% of the total personnel. Most of the heavy equipment in Iraq is "stay behind equipment," taken over from units that are cycling out. It is not packed up and taken half way around the world with each unit. There are exceptions but these generally apply to combat vehicles and aircraft, not ordinary logistics and support gear that would be relevant to disaster relief.
In any case, the governor did not name heavy engineer equipment in her list of alleged deficiencies. The types of KNG units deployed wouldn't have a lot of this in their TOE even if they took it all with them, certainly not a lot compared to, say, the state highway department. The kinds of items she did name (trucks, tents, etc.) would almost certainly be supplied in theater and not brought all the way from the Kansas armories.
It is up to her to provide the facts and figures that would support her contention, but the media are obviously giving her a pass on it.
#12
IIRC a few months ago it was winter (seems to come around every year, conincidence?!?) and there didn't seem to be too many complaints about missing equipment; nor any from Colorado where they were using front end loaders to feed cattle.
Just when you think global warming is responsible for everything, this lameness spews out.
PS - the cognescenti already realize this governor is the daughter of former Gov. Gilligan (brought in the state income tax) of Ohio.
#13
This makes me sick, I have a number of family in Greensburg including an Aunt and Uncle who, like most of the towns people, lost everything. The family is alright, but I just wish the Dems would leave politics out of this and shut the f*** up.
Thomas and Rosemarie Uva were not exactly criminal geniuses.
The couple liked to rob Mafia-run social clubs in Little Italy and elsewhere around the city, which, as just about everyone knows, is a really good way to get killed.
They even had the audacity to force mobsters to drop their pants as they swiped their cash and jewelry and cleaned out their card games.
Continued on Page 49
#2
...This reminds me of the story some years ago where a particularly dim street criminal in NYC knocked down a little old Italian lady and stole her purse. The lady in question turned out to be the mother of Vincent 'The Chin' Gigante.
The lad did not last long, I understand.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/07/2007 12:59 Comments ||
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#3
They whacked him! I can't believe they freakin' whacked him!
Posted by: Jimmy Conway ||
05/07/2007 13:42 Comments ||
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There was an almost audible sigh of relief in parts of America's capital this weekend after a TV network said it would not reveal the identities of scores of clients of the alleged "DC madam" because they were not well enough known to be "newsworthy". IOW: Would have been more damage to the Donks than the Trunks. Or perhaps there was an ABC exec in the mix . . . . ABC News said Aha! that, the execs immedately confiscated the evidence upon its arrival at the office and having locked themselves in a room with it ploughed through 46lbs of phone records, it had discovered that among the clients of Deborah Palfrey's alleged prostitution ring were senior business executives, Nasa officials and at least five military officers. And among the women working for Ms Palfrey - who ran the network in Washington DC from her home in California - were an instructor at the US Naval Academy and a legal secretary at a prominent law firm. The secretary was suspended after telling her bosses she worked for Ms Palfrey "for spa money". Now that's saucy! How about a 'burger Friday night? And bring the Little Bo Peep outfit this time, eh? You'll never know when that might come in handy.
Ms Palfrey, 51, faces federal charges of racketeering and money-laundering associated with prostitution. She claims she offered only "fantasy sex" and she was not breaking the law. Standard Reply #36 for those in the trade, I'm sure.
The only government official known to have been a client was Randall Tobias, at the State Department. He resigned after being confronted by ABC. Just couldn't resist, eh? So did he use a condom?
Another client named was Harlan Ullman, a columnist for the Washington Times and a senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. I'm shocked. Awed, really.
In one case, a man who told the escort service he was a White House economist turned out to have engaged in résumé inflation. He actually works across the street as an analyst for the Office of Thrift Supervision, Ross said.
"One guy swore to me up and down it couldn't have been him, he loves his wife," Ross said. The man, a well-known member of a conservative think tank, was right: Palfrey, Ross said, had repeatedly misdialed his number by confusing the 202 and 301 area codes.
Unbelievable. Here's the transcript from 20/20 with no mention from Ross of his errors. And what's worse, he kept silent prior to the airing of his segment because without his two top outs, a Bush admin. economist and the head of a conservative think tank, nobody would have watched
Posted by: Mike ||
05/07/2007 6:28 Comments ||
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#3
The last two or three paragraphs are the most distressing to me. One gal was a professor and divorced mother of two. She commited suicide because she was outed as a prostitute. Shouldn't need to happen. Some day people will look back at this attitude of shame as crap. It didn't change who she was or how she did her job. If it did, it was because of the shame thing.
There's a reason this is the world's oldest profession. And it will probably be the last, too. I don't see why people need to try to make it go away. Legalize it, regulate it, and tax it. Be done with it.
#5
It's a lot like abortion. It's not something society should promote, it's not something society will eradicate. So society makes it illegal and puts the burden on the woman. If Ms Palfrey is going to be put through the wringer like this, then so should the Johns.
We still have something that you can't get at your precious internet: investigative reporting. Did you know our reporters recently obtained a secret database containing a list of over 20,000 clients of the notorious "Quint State Madame" Destinee Hills? And did you know what phone number we found on that list? 746-555-7314. Does it ring any bells? It should. It's your cell phone.
So may I suggest renewing with the Claxon-Ledger today? For the low, low price of $499.95 per month you'll get money saving coupons and our promise that this information doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
I guess what I meant by this is that chances are she doesn't have a huge host of mental problems that may lead to suicide no matter what. Nobody knows for sure, but I think it would be over the line when people with well-developed mentalities are pushed over the edge by this.
And no, as a society I don't think we should help this along, but I don't think we should be actively harming people either, which I think the present system does. It will be there in one form or another regardless of you opinion, so why not at least clean it up? The cost to society is too great. If somebody's spouse finds out they haven't been coming home for dinner, that's where you don't have to help. But don't harm. What a mess.
#11
I hate the double standard and think prostitution should be legalized to protect the women and tax their services. I think Palfrey is smart and there may be a little more to it for ABC to air this, other than to humiliate innocent people. I heard Dick Morris was one she wanted called to trial, hinting that contracted services went back to '93 and included a very prominent private citizen. Also, it wasn't a protitution crackdown per se, but came out of the Abramoff and Cunningham corruption investigations.
#12
prostitution should be legalized to protect the women and tax their services
Legalizing prostitution, like legalizing abortion, will be a net loss for women because all it will do is validate the use of women by certain men (we generally call them "pigs" in these parts) as disposable sex objects.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/07/2007 18:00 Comments ||
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#14
I've had good relations with call girls and prostitutes during my younger years mostly. No one was hurt and everyone was a winner... and It never stopped me from having girl friends and a wife either!
lotsa booze and sex -->releases bad spirts, It is good medicine for horned dawgs!
The Iranian embassy and cultural office in Pakistan prevented the screening in Islamabad of the historically inaccurate Warner Brothers film 300. Officials of the COMSAT Institute of Technology in Islamabad had announced last week that the screening would take place on Saturday. However, Irans cultural attaché Mehrdad Rakhshandeh persuaded the director of the institute not to show the film.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Thomas and Rosemarie Uva were not exactly criminal geniuses.
There was an almost audible sigh of relief in parts of America's capital this weekend after a TV network said it would not reveal the identities of scores of clients of the alleged "DC madam" because they were not well enough known to be "newsworthy". 
ABC News said 
And among the women working for Ms Palfrey - who ran the network in Washington DC from her home in California - were an instructor at the US Naval Academy and a legal secretary at a prominent law firm. The secretary was suspended after telling her bosses she worked for Ms Palfrey "for spa money".
The Iranian embassy and cultural office in Pakistan prevented the screening in Islamabad of the historically inaccurate Warner Brothers film 300. Officials of the COMSAT Institute of Technology in Islamabad had announced last week that the screening would take place on Saturday. However, Irans cultural attaché Mehrdad Rakhshandeh persuaded the director of the institute not to show the film.
