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FBI woman sexually harassed me: 26/11 accused terrorist
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Forbes rates Chicago Third most Miserable City
Citing harsh weather, high sales taxes, and public corruption, Forbes Magazine named Chicago the third most miserable city in the country in its 2009 survey. Forbes list ranked Chicago more miserable than Buffalo, Detroit, and even Flint, Mich., the former auto manufacturing town whose gloom was immortalized in Michael Moore's "Roger and Me."

The city boasts being the hometown of President Barack Obama, a leading contender for the 2016 Summer Olympics and an impressive record for the Cubs last year, Forbes points out.

Nonetheless, Forbes complains: "Lousy weather, long commutes, rising unemployment and the highest sales tax rate in the country are to blame for the Windy City being near the top of our list. High rates of corruption by public officials didn't help either."

Forbes cites "a little corruption problem" as the major cause for their poor ranking of Chicago. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois has convicted 385 public officials of crimes in the past 10 years, and five of the past nine Illinois governors have been charged with crimes, Forbes points out.

Meanwhile, unemployment is expected to rise to 9.2 percent in Chicago, the Tribune Company has filed for bankruptcy, and major layoffs have hit local powerhouse employers including Midway Games, Motorola and the University of Chicago Medical Center, Forbes said.

"Residents have been showing their dissatisfaction with Chicago with their feet, perhaps fed up by the average low temperature of 17 degrees in January," Forbes' Kurt Badenhausen wrote. "There has been a net migration of people out of Chicago for seven straight years, a trend that is expected to continue."

On top of that, Forbes highlighted the fact that last year marked 100 years since the Cubs had won a World Series.

Forbes' most miserable city of all for 2009 Stockton, Calif., which was hit hard by the housing bust. Following Stockton is Memphis, Tenn., which suffers from a high crime rate and sales tax. Chicago comes third, followed by Cleveland; Modesto, Calif.; Flint, Mich.; Detroit; Buffalo, N.Y.; Miami; and St. Louis.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Thromong2805 || 02/10/2009 11:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorta missed a body count higher than our combat troops suffer in a war zone like Iraq. At least even the locals there are able to own guns to protect themselves.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/10/2009 17:04 Comments || Top||

#2  But "Hiz Honor" King Richard II makes up for all of that. Not only is Chicago inhabited by FIBs*, they're UberFIBs

*F*(&^%g Illinios Bastards
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 02/10/2009 17:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Pretty harsh treatment for The Land of Lincoln Obama.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/10/2009 17:50 Comments || Top||

#4  More miserable than Detroit? Man, that's one steaming pile!
Posted by: SteveS || 02/10/2009 22:49 Comments || Top||


Eight snakes, dead owner found in southwest Siberian hostel room
(RIA Novosti) - Eight snakes, most of them poisonous, and their dead owner have been found in a hostel in the southwest Siberian city of Kemerovo, a local emergencies service spokeswoman said on Monday.
"Legume, I have a theory about this!"
She said residents of the hostel had called the emergencies services to complain about the smell of a decaying body. Rescuers smashed the door open to find a corpse and five poisonous and three non-venomous snakes.
[SMASH!]
"Ow!"
"Don't worry, Yuri! That's one of the non-poinsonous... No. Wait..."
[THUD.]
"Yuri?"

The reptiles were kept in huge glass cages with climate control. Rescuers also found a container with live bugs and a calendar showing when to distribute the food. The snakes were reported to be in a good physical condition.
"Well fed, too, particularly the python..."
Long-term residents of the hostel said that although the man had rented a room for about ten years, most of them had no inkling of their neighbor's hobby. The cause of death is being established.
Posted by: Fred || 02/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  CSI: Miami Kemerovo

"It appears the vic was bitten by one of his own snakes."

Horatio took out his sunglasses. "So, then," he said, putting his shades on, "I think we're dealing with . . . a cold-blooded killer."

Yeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!
Posted by: Mike || 02/10/2009 9:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Boy, what kind of snake bites the hand that feeds it ... bugs?
Posted by: Adriane || 02/10/2009 17:20 Comments || Top||

#3  snakes....why does it have to be snakes?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/10/2009 19:01 Comments || Top||


Europe
Cycle of Thievery™ strikes Paris rental fleet
From the Dept. of Who Knew?
Vélib' -a cross between "velo" (bike) and "liberté" (freedom) - has transformed travel in the French capital since it was launched in July 2007. Its sturdy grey bikes have been used 42 million times since then.

But success has come at a high price: some 7,800 of the original 15,000 bikes (20,000 in summer) have "disappeared" – presumed stolen – and 11,600 have been vandalised. It is not uncommon to find them hanging from trees in Paris, while several were spotted in Romania last year.

JCDecaux, which looks after fleet and the 1,250 ranks around Paris, said that it can no longer afford the repair and maintenance bill, and has pleaded with the mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, to provide financial support.

In exchange for running the scheme, the town hall gave the company a ten-year licence to run 1,600 of the capital's billboards. But Rémi Pheulpin, JCDecaux's director general, said that he was losing out on the deal as "the extent of the vandalism could not have been foreseen".
*Ahem.*
"It is so high that a private business cannot handle it alone, especially as it's a problem of public order. If we want the Vélib' set-up to keep going, we'll have to change the business model," he told Le Parisien.

Every day, his staff repair or replace 1,500 bikes, and he warned that the problem would only get worse when the scheme was opened up to the suburbs, including those where the 2005 riots kicked off. The suburban extension, which began a week ago, will be complete by June.

JCDecaux is considering removing bike ranks in trouble spots, which include the Forum des Halles and Pigalle, near Montmartre.

Staff recover up to 20 abandoned bikes a day.

The town hall, which makes 20 million euros (£17.5 million) per year from the Vélib', has refused to bail out JCDecaux. But it is considering launching an "anti-vandalism" public awareness operation following a recent bike safety poster campaign.
Posted by: Seafarious || 02/10/2009 09:41 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah yes, the Tragedy of the Velocipedal Commons. Why take care of something if it's not yours?
Posted by: SteveS || 02/10/2009 22:51 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Indian women launch pink knicker protest against radical Hindu group
Posted by: tipper || 02/10/2009 12:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can someone insert the women's poster on the front page? It really deserves prominent display.

"The Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women — which had 7,422 members as of this afternoon — is also urging Indian women to defy the radicals by going to their nearest pub and enjoying a drink on Saturday."

"Join Us on February 14, Valentine's Day. Walk to the nearest pub and buy a drink. Raise a toast to the Sri Ram Sena."
Posted by: Frozen Al || 02/10/2009 16:47 Comments || Top||

#2  I hope that these women keep up the pressure and marginalize the up-tight moralists. Such people cannot tolerate being laughed at and scorned.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/10/2009 19:05 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Body of Yazidi girl found in Mosul
Aswat al-Iraq: A body of a Yazidi girl was found in northern Mosul city, a police source said on Monday. "Police forces found on Monday (Feb. 9) a body of a 17-year-old Yazidi girl in al-Ghabat region in northern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The body bore signs of several stab wounds," he noted. "The police opened investigation into the incident," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 02/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe she refused to strap on the boom vest.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/10/2009 12:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
USAF signs decision on bed down of Joint Strike Fighter at Eglin AFB
2/6/2009 - WASHINGTON -- The Air Force has decided to beddown 59 F-35 aircraft and to allow associated construction to begin implementing a Base Realignment and Closure 2005 decision. The decision also imposes temporary operational limitations on JSF flight training activities to both avoid and minimize noise impacts.

This decision requires a supplemental Environmental Analysis be conducted to study operational alternatives and noise mitigations for the 59 aircraft authorized to be delivered under this decision. The analysis is scheduled for completion in September 2010.

"The Air Force has heard the communities concerns and are taking them seriously. We are undertaking the supplemental analysis to evaluate alternatives to operating the F-35 as well as ways to mitigate the noise. As we move forward, the Air Force is committed to an open, transparent process to address and resolve beddown issues for the Joint Strike Fighter. We will ensure affected communities are involved through public scoping meetings, know what to expect, and understand timelines for development," said Kathleen Ferguson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Installations. "A decision on whether to beddown additional aircraft will be deferred until completion of the subsequent environmental analysis."

This decision allows for construction of facilities for the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Joint Training Site, which includes instructor pilots, operations and maintenance support personnel, front-line and instructor qualified maintenance technicians and logistics support personnel. The 59 aircraft provide an initial capability of one squadron each for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The first aircraft is scheduled to arrive in March 2010 and the aircraft would continue arriving through 2014.

It is anticipated that with the arrival of the 7th Special Forces Group and additional F-35 related activities there will be an increase of approximately 4,000 personnel and more than 6,000 dependents. Military construction is expected to bring another $700 million to the area.

Posted by: Besoeker || 02/10/2009 09:36 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmmm...they just moved the Special Ops group (27th) to Cannon AFB, Clovis NM from that area because Cannon had an environment close to what the AF has had to operate in the WOT, it is not subject to displacements because of hurricanes, and is already cleared of "training activities to both avoid and minimize noise impacts" because it has received the appropriate paperwork to do supersonic training [can we say big booms?]. So, why are they doing this? /rhetorical question understanding that 'political' considerations no matter how crippling to operational use have priority.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/10/2009 17:13 Comments || Top||

#2  12 squadrons are to split time between MCAS Miramar and Yuma
Posted by: Frank G || 02/10/2009 19:04 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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1Govt of Sudan
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1HUJI
1Abu Sayyaf
1Islamic Jihad
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan

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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.

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In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2009-02-10
  FBI woman sexually harassed me: 26/11 accused terrorist
Mon 2009-02-09
  Female Tamil Tiger bomber kills 28 after hiding among refugees
Sun 2009-02-08
  India wants Pak declared terrorist state
Sat 2009-02-07
  Russia allows transit of US military supplies
Fri 2009-02-06
  Islamabad High Court frees AQ Khan
Thu 2009-02-05
  Thirty dead in Pakistan blast: hospital
Wed 2009-02-04
  Bridge Attack Severs Afghan Supply Route
Tue 2009-02-03
  Somalia orders recapture of Baidoa
Mon 2009-02-02
  Bomber in police uniform kills 21 Afghan policemen
Sun 2009-02-01
  Sheikh Sharif elected as Somalia's president
Sat 2009-01-31
  Polls Close in Iraq Elections, No Major Violence
Fri 2009-01-30
  'Incompetent' Hamid Karzai's political future in doubt
Thu 2009-01-29
  Pakistan busts suicide bomb gang
Wed 2009-01-28
  Yar! French navy nabs 9 Somali pirates
Tue 2009-01-27
  Al-Shabaab fighters seize Somali parliament headquarters

Better than the average link...



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