BERLIN (Reuters) - A hapless German thief snapped his credit card in two while prying open a lock, inadvertently leaving behind his name and account details for police. That didn't work out as planned...
"He tried to copy what he'd seen them do on television, but the flat-owner woke up and the criminal ran away," a police spokesman said Wednesday. "The victim called up and read us the details off the card." Not quite like TV, eh?
"When we got round to the burglars house, the other half of his credit card was sitting on his kitchen table." If this was TV, it would have to be a comedy.
The 29-year-old burglar was trying to open the door to his neighbor's apartment in Moenchengladbach in western Germany, police said.
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- A man accused of gunning down a teenager over an affair with his teacher wife admitted to the shooting in a jailhouse interview aired Thursday but said it was an accident. "It wuz a accident! I wuz aimin' fer her, an' he got in the way!"
Eric McLean, charged with first-degree murder in the death of Sean Powell, told NBC's "Today" show that he knew "for a long time" that his wife was having an affair with the young man, but he refused to believe it. "She was talking on the phone with him all of the time and talked about him a lot," McLean said. "It was like in a friendship way, but it was odd. I didn't think it was normal, and I told her it's not normal for you to be talking to students like this on the phone so much every day."
He said he also heard about the relationship from his two young sons a few weeks before the shooting: "They said that they went to the park with her and Sean, and that they were holding hands."
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Did I see this here on RB a few days ago? Well, this seems to lend some kind of closure to this case.
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- A 24-year-old man has been arrested, suspected of cutting the head off of a 17-year-old girl's pet dog and leaving it at her front door in a gift-wrapped box. The man, who is expected to be arraigned Friday, was being held on suspicion of terrorist threats. Police said he may be charged with animal cruelty. Ya think?
"I think I can sleep a lot better now," said Crystal Brown. "It will make me feel way safer. Now we can walk around the whole block."
Crystal was devastated last month when Chevy, her 4-year-old Australian shepherd mix, went missing. Two weeks after the dog disappeared, a gift box addressed to Crystal was found at the front door of a house she shares with her grandmother. Inside, Crystal found Valentine's Day candy and a garbage bag containing her pet's head. Lovely. That ought to win her heart.
Police said the man they arrested lived a few blocks from Crystal and may have had a romantic interest in the girl. Err, oh, nevermind creep. Hope you end up with a felony on your record and a good public humiliation. Perhaps a few months in prison might give you a bit of appreciation for other people's feelings. And if you ever have any kids, they should watch you like a hawk.
The case drew widespread media attention. The television show "America's Most Wanted" posted the case on its Web site, and donations pushed a $2,500 reward offered by the Humane Society of the United States to $20,000. Too bad CNN didn't close its story very well. How'd they bust the guy? Psychic? Fingerprints on the box match some guy with a previous conviction? Return address? I'm guessing they checked out whose credit cards nearby bought the same kind of candy.
#1
Gorb , the guy has a record, but the evidence used to obtain the arrest warrant has not yet been disclosed. Excerpts from Admirer arrested in dog's slaying. St. Paul police executed a search warrant and arrested (Anthony) Gomez on Thursday. He is in the Ramsey County jail on suspicion of terroristic threats. Gomez hasn't been charged, but a sergeant investigating the case said he hopes Gomez will be charged with animal cruelty. Gomez was convicted of fifth-degree assault in 2001 and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, causing substantial bodily harm, in 2005, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Both cases occurred in St. Paul. He has been arrested in the past on suspicion of domestic assault and disorderly conduct.
I suspected it, but I guess this makes it official!
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An unmanned plane helped border agents net a man wanted on child sex abuse charges in Washington state, federal officials said Thursday. The aircraft was flying along the Arizona-Mexico border late Tuesday when it detected and tracked six suspected aliens, including Leopoldo Aparicio-Lopez, a Mexican national.
Prosecutors in Kent, Washington, issued warrants for Aparicio-Lopez, 25, last May on a charge of third-degree rape of a child, alleging that he had consensual sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend. Aparicio-Lopez was 23 at the time. In Washington, third-degree rape of a child, once known as statutory rape, involves sex between a person under the age of 16 by a person who is at least four years older, prosecutors said.
The sexual relations came to light when police were called to a home in Kent because of a verbal dispute between the 15-year-old, who had just learned she was pregnant, and her mother. The girl disclosed that she had been in a six-month relationship with Aparicio-Lopez, records say.
Prosecutors issued a warrant for Aparicio-Lopez, but neither prosecutors nor Kent police could say Thursday if Aparicio-Lopez had been arrested, or if so, under what conditions he had been released. Records show that prosecutors recommended bail be set at $25,000 and that Aparicio-Lopez be required to surrender his passport, saying that "it is reported that the defendant is planning to return to Mexico." Such recommendations, however, can precede a person's arrest, spokesman Dan Donohoe said.
Border Patrol arrested Aparicio-Lopez and the five other suspected aliens Tuesday, according to Michael Friel, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Aparicio-Lopez was identified during a routine computerized fingerprint check after he was apprehended, Friel said.
Five people were returned voluntarily to Mexico, and Aparicio-Lopez was turned over to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, according to Border Patrol spokesman Chuy Rodriguez. King County prosecutors said Aparicio-Lopez has waived extradition, and will be brought back to Washington.
The incident also resulted in the seizure of 395 pounds of marijuana, but, Rodriguez said, because the six people had merged with another group, authorities "couldn't tie the dope into that group."
CBP issued a statement quoting Commissioner W. Ralph Basham as saying, "The unmanned aircraft is an important tool among many that CBP applies to our border security efforts." Unmanned aircraft have flown nearly 2,000 hours, directly contributing to more than 3,900 arrests and the seizure of approximately 13,660 pounds of marijuana, CBP said. But the systems are costly and authorities have had difficulties integrating them into civil airspace, where the possibility of colliding with private aircraft must be minimized.
#3
Unmanned aircraft have flown nearly 2,000 hours, directly contributing to more than 3,900 arrests and the seizure of approximately 13,660 pounds of marijuana
Lots of arrests, some pot. I wonder what else turned up?
#4
You try to sell stuff like this with a high profile bust. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy was as predictable as clockwork, so they were pretty much guaranteed a pinch.
TMZ has learned Mel Gibson exploded in anger last night on a college campus after an expert on Mayan culture accussed him of racially stereotyping the Mayans in the movie "Apocalypto." Hey, it's not like an expert on Mayan culture has much else to do besides split hairs to prove that their lives endeavors have been worthwhile.
It happened last night at Cal State University at Northridge in the San Fernando Valley. Gibson was speaking to a film class about his movies, and several members of the Mayan community came to hear the famous director. Let's face it, they didn't come to "hear" the famous director.
After Gibson's presentation, the crowd was allowed to ask questions. Alicia Estrada, an Assistant Professor of Central American Studies at CSUN, challenged Gibson, asking him if he had read about the Mayan culture before shooting the controversial film. Gibson said he had. Gibson did not, however, decided to focus on the mundane details of their day-to-day lives. I'm glad he didn't, or there wouldn't really be a movie to watch.
Estrada persisted, stating that representations in the movie that the Mayans engaged in sacrificial ceremonies and had bloodthirsty tendencies were both wrong and racist. Estrada and others tell TMZ that Gibson exploded in anger, responding, "Lady, F**k off." Australians can be very practical when it's practical.
We're told Gibson also became extremely angry when members of the Mayan community tried to rewrite the past protested on how they were portrayed in the film. The denial-ridden emotional Mayan members were escorted out of the room, and we're told Gibson screamed a parting shot -- "Make your own movie!" I love it! Able to think on his feet! OK, that was then and this is now. Get over it!
UPDATE: Gibson's publicist [who Gibson doesn't really seem to need], Alan Nierob, told TMZ, "This person was a heckler who was rude and disrupted the event, so much so that the event organizers had to escort her out." For the record, Nierob, not Howard Rubenstein, reps Gibson.
On another note, I don't watch movies in order to quote them as fact. I watch them for entertainment. Doesn't an assistant professor know the difference between entertainment and the study of history?
These people need to learn life is too short to go through it being offended.
#2
Estrada persisted, stating that representations in the movie that the Mayans engaged in sacrificial ceremonies and had bloodthirsty tendencies were both wrong and racist.
Yeah, I guess prolonged ritualistic public torture followed by beheading [the preferred sacrificial method of the Maya - attested to by their own records] doesn't qualify as "sacrificial ceremonies and had bloodthirsty tendencies."
#3
I am so embarrassed for CSUN... I got my English degree from there, back in the day when you could be fairly sure of getting a good education from a state school.
There was a small radical fringe, in the 70ies, but they mostly behaved themselves.
#4
Disclaimer: I have only suoperficial knowledge of the Mayan civilization.
The Mayan civilization at its peak ws not a bloodthirsty one. I am not even sure it practiced human sacrifice. However when decadebnce began and perhaps because of influence of Aztecs human sacrifice on large scale beacme common.
Movie depicts Mayan civilization when it was near its downfall so it is accurate.
#9
I am not even sure it practiced human sacrifice.
JFM - visit Chichen Itza and Uxmal - see the sacrificial sites. They were not quite as bad as the Aztecs, but that's like being called a "humanitarian - compared to Stalin"...I've visited, seen the evidence
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2007 22:51 Comments ||
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#10
I don't see the problem. F&ck off is just Strine for 'Have a nice day (d!ckhead)'.
Volunteers for life in the Third World.
Perhaps Al Gore could try it.
Welcome to Walden Pond, Fifth Avenue style. Colin Beavan, 43, a writer of historical nonfiction, and Michelle Conlin, 39, a senior writer at Business Week, are four months into a yearlong lifestyle experiment they call No Impact. Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan; (mostly) no shopping for anything except said food; producing no trash (except compost, see above); using no paper; and, most intriguingly, using no carbon-fueled transportation.
Ms. Conlin is clearly more than just a good sport giving up toilet paper seems a fairly profound gesture of commitment. I presume they've got the Arab left hand toilet - right hand food practice down pat.
#1
So, they use nothing manufactured, they don't cook their food (burning wood creates greenhouse gasses and particulates), and they don't wear clothes (synthetic fibers are mostly carbon and natural fibers take energy to produce, thus releasing CO2). Bugwits.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/23/2007 12:07 Comments ||
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#2
what's bad is that the US taxpayers are probably paying for it
#4
BS. B
Bet they still live in a heated and cooled building. Walk around on concrete sidewalks.
Protected by cops riding around in cars.
Have their doors opened by people who wipe their ass with TP.
#5
Ms. Conlin, acknowledging that she sees her husband as No Impact Man and herself as simply inside his experiment, said she saw An Inconvenient Truth in an air-conditioned movie theater last summer. It was like, Jaccuse! she said. I just felt like everything I did in my life was contributing to a system that was really problematic. Borrowing a phrase from her husband, she continued, If I was a student, I would march against myself.
#7
Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan;
Let's ignore the fact that that method could barely support 1% of Manhattan's population at best.
#8
IF they truly want to reduce their carbon footprint, they should: turn off the electricity to their apartment, meaning they would have no heat or air conditioning. Turn off the water, and walk to Hudson or East River to draw water. Walk everywhere - no fossil fueled transportation at all. Grow ALL their own food in their apartment, in dirt that they hauled in on foot.
Or they could move to North Korea. I understand that the ordinary people there live a pretty low carbon life style. (Nasty, brutish and short, but at least it's low carbon.)
#11
These bugwits want to cut their carbon footprint to the bone? Check into the Hotel California and quit breathing. Someone put their carcasses out for the scavengers, or the body decay will produce CO2.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Hooper Bay, AK ||
03/23/2007 17:10 Comments ||
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#12
Just to keep the argument alive, it's entirely possible to use NO toilet paper, You can either use cloth washrags, (Wash and dry each use) or do as I did growing up, my grandparents had an outhouse (No it didn't smell at all)and used the newspapers (You take and quarter each sheet, then you rub each quarter sheet between your hands a few seconds(Softens the paper) wipe, then put the soiled paper in an airtight can (They had a 5 gallon wastebucket with a close fitting metal top, later all such paper was burned, and the ashes scattered)very little actual waste.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/23/2007 17:50 Comments ||
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#13
phil_b - you called it: using no carbon-fueled transportation leaves out walking as the body uses a lot of carbon-based molecules as fuel for the cells (carbon-based molecules get broken down into six-carbon sugars which get broken down still further in cellular respiration cycles).
All this low carbon footprint BS leaves out of the equation the biological fact that we are carbon-based creatures and depend upon carbon-based molecules in order to survive at the most basic levels. We exhale carbon dioxide, for example, and that simply cannot be stopped except via death and even then the decomposition gives off greenhouse gasses and generates heat.
#16
Burning paper and biological wastes creates all sorts of nasty pollutants, or so I understand. Lots of carbon compounds there, not to mention the heavy metals in the inks. It's a quandery. Better to ensure one was never born. ;-)
Raj, if you get a subscription you'll significantly increase their sales.
#17
Redneck Jim-It's possible, but not desirable. After the Soviet Union broke up, I lived in Latvia. They also relied on the newspaper/paperback book method-when paper was provided at all. It's better than nothing, but I wouldn't want to live my entire life that way.
And if my family were using rags, you can be darned sure that Northern would be immediately back in the home if EVERYONE in the family wasn't doing their own "rags" laundry.
this service is sorely needed for the WOT WOP Authorities in Japan have cracked down on the sex trade in recent years, which has prompted operators to create an innovative set of new law-abiding services that are aimed at providing pleasure. killjoys
'Our sales point is that we also offer variations, including having the service performed by multiple workers (groups of two or three women), or you can have it performed by a shy woman or another who'll do it while talking dirty.' the spice of life heh
For the service, a sink is filled warm water and wine as these will supposedly improve circulation. I swear it does..really
Instead of the customer putting his face into the basin, he needs to sit in the sink, allowing his penis and bum to soak. Damn..must be a BIG sink..if ya know what..
The washing is performed by at least one woman, who's in her 20s, or 30s at the oldest. key woid = woman, yes!
Once the sink soak is complete, the genitals are covered with mud and massaged, which is supposed to cleanse the skin. check out the first comment @ link, lol
#1
a certain limit of wine promotes circulation.... more than that, promotes ...er... unable to perform. To quote Spinal Tap (a font of knowledge): "It's a fine line between clever and stupid"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2007 0:07 Comments ||
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#2
WOT, war on terror. WOP, war on penis
You've just returned from a week of business in Tokyo and Miss Featherbottom from the Comptroller's office calls asking why you submitted 5 separate reimbursement chits on your expense account for a Pud-Mud-Packing service in Tokyo.
Your answer: [sincere demeanor required]
Health reasons, I was in dire need of circulation relief Ma'm, you see my Pud needed the Mud inorder to circulate my Blood Miss Featherbottom.
The monster from the deep faces the ultimate indignity: being microwaved in the interests of science. Donate your body to SCIENCE!
The colossal squid landed by New Zealand fishermen last month is now officially the largest caught, after weighing in at 1,089lb (540kg), nearly 100lb heavier than initial estimates. But scientists itching to study it more closely face the challenge of how to thaw it out. The creature was frozen to preserve it during its journey from Antarctica to New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, in the capital, Wellington. Now the international BIG SQUID museum.
The problem with leaving the 33ft-long (10m) squid to defrost naturally at room temperature, experts say, is that the process would take so long - probably several days - that its outer tissue would rot while they waited for inner sections to thaw.
Continued on Page 49
#1
It looks like this was already posted on page 5, so please delete. I did search the judge's name before posting, but it wasn't mentioned in the excerpt posted. Sorry.
#2
Our prophet never struck a woman, and he is our example, Ayyub Axel Köhler, the head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, said in an interview.
"He struck me on the chest which caused me pain"
quote from child bride Ayesha, Muslim, book 4, no. 2127.
"I have not seen anyone suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!"
Bukhari. vol. 7, book 72, no. 715. green= bruising from the beating.
He beat her and threatened her with murder. But because husband and wife were both from Morocco, a German divorce court judge saw no cause for alarm. Its a religion thing, she argued, according to a report published on the German news site, SPIEGEL ONLINE.
The case seems simply too strange to be true. A 26-year-old mother of two wanted to free herself from what had become a miserable and abusive marriage. The police had even been called to their apartment to separate the two both of Moroccan origin after her husband got violent in May 2006. The husband was forced to move out, but the terror continued: Even after they separated, the spurned husband threatened to kill his wife.
A quick divorce seemed to be the only solution the 26-year-old was unwilling to wait the year between separation and divorce mandated by German law. She hoped that as soon as they were no longer married, her husband would leave her alone. Her lawyer, Barbara Becker-Rojczyk agreed and she filed for immediate divorce with a Frankfurt court last October. They both felt that the domestic violence and death threats easily fulfilled the hardship criteria necessary for such an accelerated split. In January, though, a letter arrived from the judge adjudicating the case. The judge rejected the application for a speedy divorce by referring to a passage in the holy Quran that some have controversially interpreted to mean that a husband can beat his wife. Its a supposed right which is the subject of intense debate among Muslim scholars and clerics alike. The husband can beat his wife: The right to castigate means for me: the husband can beat his wife, Becker-Rojczyk said, interpreting the judges verdict.
In an interview with the news site, Becker-Rojczyk said the judge indicated to her that it made no sense to insist on an accelerated divorce. The judges advice? Wait for the yearlong waiting period to elapse. The lawyer and her client were shocked. Immediately, they filed a claim alleging that the judge should have recused herself due to a conflict of interest. They felt that, because of the point of view presented by the judge, she was unable to reach an objective verdict. In the reply sent to Becker-Rojczyk, the judge expressly referred to a holy Quran verse, which indicates that a mans honour is injured when his wife behaves in an unchaste manner. Apparently the judge deems it unchaste when my client adapts a Western lifestyle, Becker-Rojczyk said.
On Tuesday evening, Becker-Rojczyk expressed amazement that the judge was still on the bench, given that the controversial verdict was handed down weeks ago. Becker-Rojczyk had elected to go public with the case to attract attention to the judges conduct. It seems to have worked. On Wednesday, numerous politicians in Berlin voiced their horror at the verdict and demanded disciplinary action against the judge.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
I would consider doing the same in a jiu-jitsu move.
In some instances it is best to let Moslem irrationality and bestiality run its course under full public scrutiny.
If that judge had applied German law, most people would still not pay attention to what the Koran teaches. Now a lot of Germans will know.
#2
Ronald Pofalla, the party's general secretary, told Bild: "When the Koran is put above the German constitution, I can only say: Good night, Germany."
#5
On Wednesday, numerous politicians in Berlin voiced their horror at the verdict
That's an important bit, and I agree with Kalle's point. The judge was only making de jure a situation that had been accepted for decades. If changes are actually made, there's hope yet for Europe.
#1
The next skirmish in this war is taking place next week, on Thursday March 29th, in Kansas City, under the auspices of the Department of Justice. The event sounds innocuous enough A First Freedom Project Seminar: Federal Laws Protecting Religious Freedom but the significance of the occasion is revealed by the inordinate interest in it displayed by MPAC and other Muslim advocacy groups. The fact that these organizations are anxious to get their members to this meeting and intend to have an impact on it tells you a lot about what they hope to accomplish.
The last ship my grandfather helped build (though not the last in service - USS Enterprise lives yet.)
MAYPORT, Fla. - Sailors hung flags and banners and cleaned and removed equipment as they prepared the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy for its last hurrah Friday. "Big John" is being decommissioned after nearly 40 years of service.
The ship was christened in May 1967 by Kennedy's then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and entered Navy service the next year. The cabin will be headed to a Navy museum. The carrier will be towed to Philadelphia, where it will be placed on inactive status.
One of two remaining fossil fuel-powered aircraft carriers in the Navy, ... What's the other one? This is undoubtedly the key reason for its retirement.
... the ship supported Operation Desert Shield in Iraq in 1990, and was deployed in February 2002 to the North Arabian Sea during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. It also supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2004, and its airwing dropped more than 54,000 pounds of bombs on Iraq.
The Kennedy, based in Florida since 1995, recently served as a training platform for Navy pilots to obtain carrier landing qualification. A duty WW II carrier Lexington performed until ~15 years ago?
The Navy suspended the ship's flight operations about a year ago, citing faulty landing equipment. (Not repaired or maintained due to scheduled decommissioning - sort of like Walter Reed Medical Center.)
#1
I still think it would be a lot better idea to sell the Kennedy to India, for them to reverse engineer to design their own carriers.
It would be a big jump for their technology, but no threat to us, as we are two generations ahead of that technology.
It would, however, put tremendous pressure on China, who can't match the Kennedy's technology, and would put a major crimp in their plans to dominate the western Pacific and Indian oceans.
#2
Kitty Hawk's the only oil burner left, based out of Yokasuka. Due to be replaced by the George Washington next year.
Got a chance to tour JFK when it was up here a few weeks ago. Well worth the 3 hour wait. There's already noise about getting it back up here as an exhibit, maybe at the JFK Library ( that'd take A LOT of dredging) or someplace else on the waterfront.
#6
JFM: Scary thought, though if anyone could reprogram Ted Kennedy's brain, my money would be on the Hindu computer geeks. (Never, ever, bet against the Hindu computer geeks.)
Posted by: Mike ||
03/23/2007 11:21 Comments ||
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#7
why are we decommisions shitps when then WOT keeps growing around the world?
#8
Sinse,
Carriers are hideously expensive in both terms of costs to operate and manpower to run them. JFK was more so than most on both counts - she had been ordered as a nuclear carrier but Robert MacNamara ordered her built as a conventional ship to save money. That meant more men than most CVs and higher mainetnance costs, because of her conversion she was always a maintenance problem.
On top of all that, in recent years JFK gained a reputation as a problem ship - right around 911, she was in such bad shape that the words 'near derelict' were used to describe her. (Her half-sister USS America was almost as bad) It was only through the superhuman efforts of her skipper and crew that she's held on this long. She is a very tired ship that has served her country well. She'll be replaced by the George Bush, and this should be the last carrier to go before Enterprise and Kitty Hawk around 2010.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/23/2007 14:34 Comments ||
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#9
A ship that size uses a huge ammount of oil so it has to have oilers with it. The oilers are very vulnerable plus the maintenance on the burners, boilers, etc. is also very large. The JFK did it's duty.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/23/2007 17:41 Comments ||
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#10
A ship that size uses a huge ammount of oil so it has to have oilers with it.
An aircraft carrier will be using huge amounts of oil even if it has nuclear power plant.
#11
There is another reason the USN is ditching its old ships instead of mothballing them. Congress invariably says, "Instead of your getting *new* ships, we will just pay for refitting rust buckets."
That doesn't work if the old ships are now working as fish hatcheries.
#12
An aircraft carrier will be using huge amounts of oil even if it has nuclear power plant.
Yes, but we're talking bunker fuel in addition to aircraft fuel. That is a very large amount of fuel to take on - try around 4 hours of alongside refueling time.
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.