LAKEHURST, N.J. - Lakehurst police didn't have to go far to make a marijuana arrest. An officer heading home early Saturday smelled pot burning in the police station parking lot.
Authorities said Sergeant Ronald Heinzman asked some other officers to take a whiff. Police said they heard a conversation centered on the irony of smoking pot next to the station from a home separated from the parking lot by a chain-link fence.
Police knocked on the door and arrested Benjamin Gordon, 18, of Farmville, Va.
The threat of witchcraft has scared looters into returning goods they stole during unrest which followed last month's disputed Kenyan elections. TV stations broadcast pictures of people returning to places they robbed in the coastal city of Mombasa carrying beds, sofas and other items.
A police commander confirmed the reports and said the rumours of witchcraft had made his job "easy".
One woman said the curse had prevented people from going to the toilet. "I am telling the truth. I am not lying. There are some people who are not able to pass urine nor faeces," she told Kenyan broadcaster NTV. Other looters attributed "mystery" illnesses to the curse.
Widespread looting followed a breakdown in law and order after President Mwai Kibaki was sworn in after being declared the winner of the disputed poll. But word spread around Mombasa that a timber merchant had brought in a community elder to place a curse on the thieves. "He gave us 10 days to return the timber. I will return them at night because people really laugh at us when we do so during the day," an unidentified man told the TV station.
Other victims of looters have also reportedly followed suit.
John Joash confessed to stealing a bed during the mayhem. "I am fearful for my life because of the ghosts, that is why I decided to return the property," the AFP news agency quotes him as saying.
A local police commander welcomed the looters' second thoughts. "Whether ghosts exist or not, our work has been made easy. I wish there were ghosts all over the country," he said. Call TAPS in! They know how to handle that!
The BBC's Odhiambo Joseph in Mombasa says people turned to witchcraft when they realised the police were powerless to prevent their livelihoods being destroyed. And it worked, too! I think I'll become a wiccan or something.
A 10-year-old Mexican boy was so determined not to return to school after the Christmas holiday that he glued his hand to his bed.
Sandra Palacios spent nearly two hours on Monday morning trying to free her son Diego's hand with water, oil and nail polish remover before calling the authorities in the northern city of Monterrey, said police chief Jorge Camacho.
"I didn't want to go to school because vacation was so much fun," Reforma newspaper quoted the boy as saying. However, paramedics managed to release him in time for class.
Palacios said her son smothered his right hand in industrial glue.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/08/2008 12:05 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
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#3
Back about 40 years ago Big Earnie, Punkinhead Reed's cousin, didn't want to go to school so he took a logging chain and locked it around his neck with a big lock that the key had been lost to. His Daddy and Uncle got a cutting torch, some sheet metal and cut the cahin off. Big Earnie did get some burns but the sheet metal between the chain and his neck kept him from getting really bad burns.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/08/2008 12:16 Comments ||
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#2
Tumbleweeds was very popular in the 1970s, but then overnight became politically incorrect because it depicted Native Americans, the "Poohawk" tribe, so it was pulled from most newspapers.
It depicted life in a miserable and isolated Old West town, "Grimy Gulch", populated by an assortment of stereotypical and moronic western characters. Near to the town was an 'F-Troop' type US Cavalry stockade and their enemy the Poohawk tribe, both of which were filled with fools and ne'er-do-wells.
The main character, Tumbleweeds, was a shiftless slacker cowboy with a broken down horse. He was pursued by the town's only adult woman, the homely, cross-eyed and desperate Hildegarde Hamhocker, who expressed her affection for Tumbleweeds with flying tackles and attempts to drag him to the office of the Justice of the Peace, the disreputable Judge Horatio Curmudgeon Frump, for marriage.
#9
Cast of Characters:
Tumbleweeds
Ace
Limpid Lizard
Hildegard Hamhocker
Bucolic Buffalo
Lotsa Luck
Judge Horatio Curmudgeon Frump
Screaming Flea
The Chief
Claude Clay
His horse's name is the same as mine. Ace. Dopey me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/08/2008 13:37 Comments ||
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#10
More characters:
Col. G. Armageddon Fluster
Snookie McFoul
Snake-Eye McFoul
Echo
Pajamas
Wart Wimble
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/08/2008 13:39 Comments ||
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H/T The Corner
With Barack Obamas meteoric rise topping the news these days, many people have forgotten the bizarre series of events that paved the way to his stunning ascendance. Its especially interesting given that some personal and minor details, thought at the time to be insignificant, could now eventually shape the world we live in - given that Obama has a realistic chance to win the presidency. In retrospect, Obamas presidential run was the candidacy that almost never happened.
Back in 2004, Barack Obama was an Illinois state senator with some modest accomplishments on his resume. He spearheaded welfare reform in the Illinois statehouse, and took the lead in passing a law that required interrogations in murder cases to be videotaped.
After unsuccessfully challenging strong Democratic incumbent Bobby Rush in a Congressional primary in 2000, Obama returned in 2004 to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald.
Obama emerged from a crowded Democratic primary that included multi-millionaire Blair Hull, who spent $29 million of his own money in the primary alone (including paying homeowners $75 a day to keep his signs in their yards). In an 8-candidate race, Obama garnered 53% of the vote, routing his opponents.
Yet despite running away with the primary, Obama still had a formidable challenge in Republican Jack Ryan. Ryan was an impressive candidate - attractive and wealthy, with law and business degrees from Harvard. After making a fortune at Goldman Sachs, Ryan left to teach in an inner city school.
Yet Ryan had a problem - during the campaign, he was going through a messy divorce from actress Jeri Ryan, of Star Trek: Voyager fame. Details of Jeri Ryans testimony contained lurid details about Ryan forcing his wife to go to sex clubs in Paris. These details were toxic to Jack Ryans campaign, and he saw his poll numbers plummet - eventually, Republican leaders pressed Ryan to quit the race, fearing he was toxic to the statewide ticket.
Eventually, Ryan bowed out, leaving the Illinois Republican Party to find a candidate to run against Obama. This led to the national embarrassment of Alan Keyes moving to Illinois to run. Naturally, Obama won 70%-27%, buoyed by his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention.
The rest is history. Certainly, Obama deserves all the credit for the way he has excited Democratic crowds around the country - leading to his rout of Hillary Clinton in Iowa. And he may have beaten Jack Ryan on his own. But its fascinating to think that the salacious testimony of a woman scorned could one day fundamentally alter the path of the world in which we live. Without it, Barack Obama could still be sitting in the Illinois statehouse, planning his next political move.
#1
Ha. Nice whitewash (no pun intended). Remember this is Illinois politics writ national. In Illinois it's all one big "Combine" to use the local jargon. The Chicago Tribune got Ryan's divorce proceedings opened and revealed the stories. The point was to get Ryan out of the race. The Illinois Republicans then went out of state and got Alan Keyes to run in his place (ignoring the 2nd placer in the primary). All to get the Combine's man Obama in place to run for President. If he gets elected, watch out.
#3
The first time I really heard about sirocco bama was that crappy ad he put on Monday Night Football in December '06 - way before there 'was talk about a presidency running' but then why the ad from the freshman senator?
#4
The black community has been voting democrat for years and what has it gotten them? Try nothing.
Now they have a black candidate and I cant help but feel like we are getting the "we deserve a black president to atone for long past wrongs" vibe from the democrats. Has anyone else sensed this?
#6
The other theory is Jack Ryan was a slime ball from the beginning.
Posted by: ed ||
01/08/2008 14:50 Comments ||
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#7
Thinkin the same thing bigjim-ky. The motto 'change' from the d-nuts I know seems 'so long as it isn't another white male'. My personal opinion, watching headward's numbers, is that many voting don't like either la bamba or hillarity so fall back on '04 lines.
#8
Having lived in Illinois through this, I note that Jack Ryan was indeed a man with some slimeball tendencies. He portrayed himself in the primary campaign as the usual upright, moral Republican, only he wasn't.
And the Tribune went after his divorce proceedings after refusing to do the same in other cases of politicans with troubled personal histories in the recent past. The Tribune did the usual weasel explanation, but most people understood that they did it because they wanted to go after Ryan. I don't think the Tribune is part of the Combine, myself, but they're certainly willing to carry water when deemed appropriate.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2008 17:04 Comments ||
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#9
Isn't it interesting that the "Black Candidate" NEVER acknowledges white mother and grandparents. The folks who raised him and paid all the bills. And why hasn't the media mentioned this.
A few days old.
Scores of soldiers flying home from Afghanistan on Christmas leave were ordered to change out of their uniforms on a freezing runway before being allowed into a civilian airport terminal. Troops were told not to be seen in public in their uniforms - which they had worn with pride while risking their lives during months of intense fighting against the Taliban.
Last night the Ministry of Defence and bosses at Birmingham International Airport blamed each other for the indignity suffered by the soldiers - which comes amid mounting anger over the treatment of British troops returning from war.
One soldier, who was ordered to undress for "security reasons", said: "It is an insult to the entire Army to force guys who've been fighting in Afghanistan to obey some jobsworth rule when all they want to do is get home to their families.
"So much for a nation proud of its servicemen. The temperature was Baltic on the runway but most of just wanted to get home so we cracked on."
The December 23 flight, carrying 200 personnel, had been diverted from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to Birmingham because of bad weather. The troops were told they could either wait for coaches to take them back to Brize Norton or else travel home via public transport - in which case they must change into civilian clothes before entering the terminal.
Around 50 chose the latter option and, because there was no room in the cabin, most changed outside.
Last night the airport authorities denied responsibility, saying: "We support our Armed Forces and whatever form of dress they choose to wear at our airport."
The MoD eventually confirmed it has a ban on troops wearing uniform in civilian airports, claiming it was because a small number of airlines ban all uniforms on flights for security reasons. A spokesman said: "In this case, it appears it was applied a little too rigidly." The policy will now be reviewed.
The incident brought criticism in unofficial military chatrooms. One soldier wrote on the Army Rumour Service forum: "This shows an utter lack of leadership. Who allowed this to happen? Who failed to stand up for his/her men?"
MPs and former military commanders urged defence chiefs to ease restrictions on wearing uniform in public to reflect public support for the military. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, a former infantry commander, said: "This is just the sort of thing that gets seriously up the noses of fighting troops."
Colonel Jorge Mendonca, who was decorated in Iraq but quit the Army after being charged - and cleared - over mistreatment of detainees, said: "How would it feel to be on an operational tour and then to come home and be told to take off their uniform before being seen in public?
"It's a typical policy order from some desk-bound staff officer."
"Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
When Granite State voters go to the polls Tuesday in the nation's first primary, there will be the names on the ballot everyone knows: Giuliani, Obama, Romney, etc. And there will be several, such as Marchuk, that ring familiar only to the candidates, their friends and their mothers.
That's because New Hampshire has some of the easiest entrance requirements to get on its official ballots. You must meet the Constitutional qualifications to be president: U.S. born, at least 35 years old, U.S. resident for the last 14 years -- and pay $1,000. That's it.
-----
Since becoming secretary of state in 1976, Gardner has seen his share of interesting fringe candidates. In the 1980 primary there was an Indian chief, Chief Burning Wood, who tried (unsuccessfully) to pay his registration fee in "500 dollars in wampum," a.k.a. 4-feet of rattlesnake skin. One man once filled out his application dressed like Abraham Lincoln. Another was denied the opportunity to run as Mark Twain: Candidates must use their legal names.
Perhaps the most memorable attempt was in 1980, when a New Hampshire animal sanctuary tried to run a 475-pound gorilla, Colossus G. Benson, as a presidential candidate. Knowing the gorilla was too wild to walk in the statehouse and sign his filing forms, keepers kept him on a truck trailer in the parking lot and sent in a white-tuxedoed chimpanzee, who carried a note that declared Benson's candidacy.
Not that the chimp was any better behaved.
"These ceilings are high," Gardner said from his Concord office. "And he went up this pipe and ended up hanging on a light.
--------
Then there is Vermin Supreme -- yes that's his legal, changed name -- of Massachusetts who is running for the fifth time.
"I'm the only candidate that will fund time-travel research," said Supreme, who is very much in on the joke, and is sort of a merry prankster politician, often appearing in public with a boot on his head.
"Of course I'm also in favor of a pony-based economy!" Yes! We have a weiner winner! Ponies for everyone!
Former Conrad judge and cyber sleuth Shannen Rossmiller is vying for the title of Reader's Digest Hero of the Year for her efforts to catch terrorists. Laid up with a broken hip, Rossmiller began her mission in the days after the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks. The married mother of three spends the early morning hours logged onto Arabic Web sites, posing as an angry Middle Eastern man.
At first, she relied on translation software she purchased, but eventually she learned Arabic, reading more than 50 books on the Middle East, including the Koran. The research helped her establish contacts among the mujahedin, a brotherhood fighting for jihad. When a Pakistani arms dealer offered to sell her U.S. Stinger missiles, she turned the information over to the FBI. She has been classified as an official FBI intelligence asset for more than three years. By her count, she has given the FBI more than 200 packets of information on terrorism trends and potential suspects. At least eight have been arrested.
Rossmiller, who was the city judge in Conrad, retired from the bench in 2006 to work as a senior civil litigation specialist for the Montana Attorney General. She continues to hunt terrorists on the Internet, without a salary. She also travels the country as a professional speaker and has been featured in the Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, the Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America.
The 2008 winner, determined by Internet votes, will be announced at a special ceremony in April. To vote for Rossmiller or learn more about her competition, go (here).
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/08/2008 07:10 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
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#1
And the CIA can't? Why wasn't George Tenet doing this before 9/11? Oh, that's right, they're busy attempting to overthrow a government along with the State Department. The elected US government.
#3
It is a shame that her cover is blown. There could be safety issues.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/08/2008 14:55 Comments ||
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#4
She got my vote.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/08/2008 15:59 Comments ||
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#5
She also travels the country as a professional speaker and has been featured in the Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, the Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America.
The bad guys will have to work hard to keep up with her, Alaska Paul.
A 15-year-old Boy Scout intervened to stop a man from stabbing Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom with a kitchen knife on Tuesday, a move the leader's spokesman said saved him from assassination.
Gayoom, who was unharmed in the incident, paid tribute to teenager Mohamed Jaisham, who was wearing the characteristic green Scout uniform with scarf and woggle at the time and foiled the attack by wrestling with the man and grabbing the blade.
The boy's hand was badly wounded.
"I have been saved thanks to Mohamed Jaisham and Allah," Gayoom said in a national radio address after the incident.
In a twist of fate, Gayoom holds the honorary title of "Chief Scout of the Maldives".
The attack took place on the island of Hoarafushi, which with 3,000 residents is one of the most populated in the northern Maldives, as Gayoom met supporters after the inauguration of a renewable energy project.
"He was shaking hands with supporters, when a young man came and tried to stab him with a large kitchen knife," Presidential spokesman Mohamed Shareef told Reuters by telephone from the president's yacht.
"He was saved by a boy who moved in the way and tried to grab the knife and suffered a serious injury to his hand," he added. "The President was not hurt, but the knife did catch his shirt. It was definitely an assassination attempt on his life."
#1
Gayoom, 70, has ruled this Indian Ocean atoll of 1,190 coral islands since 1978 and helped turn it into a major destination for tourists seeking a quiet vacation on virgin beaches surrounded by crystal blue waters. But he has also faced opposition protests to his previously unchallenged rule in recent years.
Shareef said the attacker is a resident of Hoarafushi islet where Gayoom was visiting.
"We believe that there could be a political motive," Shareef said, but stopped short of naming suspects.
An academic delegation of Columbia University professors and deans of faculties plans to visit Tehran to officially apologize to Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
The delegation plans to express regret for the insulting remarks Columbia University President Lee Bollinger directed at Ahmadinejad on September 24 in his introductory speech, the Mehr News Agency correspondent in New York reported.
Since the incident, the deans and professors from the faculties of history, anthropology, Middle Eastern studies, philosophy, and Islamic studies have criticized Bollingers behavior toward Ahmadinejad.
A member of the delegation, who requested anonymity, said the main goal of the visit is to meet the Iranian president and officially apologize to him.
The delegation has also prepared its itinerary, he noted.
He went on to say that the delegation also plans to visit Iranian universities in various cities and to hold talks with professors and students, and may even sign memoranda of understanding with some universities. He also said the delegation is interested in visiting seminaries and the shrine city of Qom.
However, Bollinger has warned the delegation that their trip to Iran should be a private visit and should not be undertaken as an official visit endorsed by the university.
Bollinger has so far refused to meet the Mehr News Agency correspondent to explain his disrespectful behavior toward Ahmadinejad when introducing him to the students and professors at Columbia.
#1
If the president of the university rejects their position, they aren't official, although they definitely are dhimmis. He can also refuse to pay their travel expenses from university funds, or honour any of their understandings. And then he'll get to find out if the board backs him.
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.
LAKEHURST, N.J. - Lakehurst police didn't have to go far to make a marijuana arrest. An officer heading home early Saturday smelled pot burning in the police station parking lot. 
The threat of witchcraft has scared looters into returning goods they stole during unrest which followed last month's disputed Kenyan elections. TV stations broadcast pictures of people returning to places they robbed in the coastal city of Mombasa carrying beds, sofas and other items. 
A 15-year-old Boy Scout intervened to stop a man from stabbing Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom with a kitchen knife on Tuesday, a move the leader's spokesman said saved him from assassination.
