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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Saturday, June 13, 2009

Partly Cloudy

From Pixar

More Wing Nut Terrorists

Oh, I can't wait to hear the wing-nuts spinning this one ...

Head of a minuteman group arrested for double homicide

Three people have been arrested in connection with last months deadly double homicide in Arivaca that left a nine-year-old and her father dead. One of the people arrested for the homicide is the National Executive Director of the Minuteman American Defense group (M.A.D.), a group known for patrolling the border, and is dedicated to "Defending America's Borders" according to their website - http://minutemenamericandefense.org/

Jason Eugene Bush, 38, Shawna Forde, 42 and Albert Robert Gaxiola, 43, were all taken into custody and charged in connection with the murders of 29-year-old Raul Flores and 8-year-old Brisenia Flores. Both were killed during an alleged home invasion.

According to authorities, Bush, Forde, and Gaxiola broke into the home of the Flores family just after midnight on May 30th. At the time, the mother, father and daughter were home. The invaders reportedly shot the three members of the Flores family, killing the father, Raul, and the daughter, Brisenia. The invaders then left the scene.

The mother survived the shooting, called police, and found a gun. Sheriff Dupnik says the three returned moments later to make sure everyone was dead. At that point, the mother shot and injured Bush, and the three fled the scene.

The trio has been charged with two counts of First Degree Murder, one count of First Degree Burglary, and one count of Aggravated Assault.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik says, "Jason Bush was in fact the shooter of all three of these people under orders from Ms. Forde."

Dupnik says, "The husband who was murdered has a history in being involved in narcotics and there was an anticipation that there would be a considerable amount of cash at this location, as well as the possiblity of drugs."

Sheriff Dupnik adds, "To just kill a 9-year old girl because she could be a potential witness, to me, is one of the most despicable acts I have ever heard of."

Forde is known for being the head of the minutemen group M.A.D., where she is listed as the National Executive Director.

The photo above is of Shawna Forde during an operation along the border, courtesy the website of Andrew Ong.

"If you look at her history closely, and you know what we know, she is at best a pyschopath," says Sheriff Dupnik referring to Forde during a press conference Friday.

Forde's organization is not directly connected to the more commonly known minutemen organization, Minutemen Civil Defense Corps or the Minutemen project run by Chris Simcox and James Gilchrist.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik says, "We are not charging any of the minutemen groups with anything. But one of these individuals was involved with one of those groups."

Detectives say Bush was in the Kingman area when he was arrested on June 11th. He's at a Kingman hospital for an injury he received during the homicide on May 30, 2009.

Upon release from the hospital, he faces extradition for the murders. Bush is being held on a probation violation warrant out of Washington State for Auto Theft.

Forde was taken into custody without incident South of Sierra Vista. Gaxiola was taken into custody in Tucson.

Upon leaving the press conference, Forde stated to reporters, "I have nothing to do with the murder."

Sheriff Dupnik believes there may be additional arrests in this case.

*****

How fast do you think the right wing nuts will be claiming these right wing nut terrorists are from the left?

Man Blames Infant Son For Hit-And-Run Accident

Police in Portsmouth, N.H., said a man has been charged with lying about his involved in a hit-and-run accident by telling them his son was driving the vehicle.

Man Blames Infant Son For Hit-And-Run Accident

Umpire ejects entire crowd out of the stadium

In Iowa, Don Briggs, an umpire for the Winfield-Mount Union and West Burlington baseball game ejected the entire crowd of more than 100 fans for being unruly.

Umpire ejects entire crowd out of the stadium

Most overvalued U.S. cities

Most overvalued U.S. cities

Even with the severe slump, home prices in these metros areas are still too high.

Most overvalued U.S. cities

Also:

Household items that fend off bugs

Household items that fend off bugs

Your best defense against insect bites may be sitting in your pantry.

Household items that fend off bugs

Also:

'World's worst water' can eat a hole in jeans

'World's worst water' can eat a hole in jeans

Drips from one of the planet's most polluted sites acts like battery acid.

'World's worst water' can eat a hole in jeans

Also:

And I Quote

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you.
This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

~ Mark Twain

Saturday Jam

For today's Saturday Jam we go to Kentucky - Headhunters that is:

It's Chitlin' Time

The Ballad Of Davy Crocket

Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line

Oh, Lonesome Me

Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine
Kentucky Headhunters

Chinese censorware will expose every PC in the nation of malware, ID theft, botnetting

Green Dam, the mandatory censorware that will be installed on all Chinese PCs as of July 1, is remarkably insecure. J Alex Halderman from Freedom to Tinker and his colleagues Scott Wolchok and Randy Yao have released a paper, based on a mere 12 hours testing, detailing attacks that can be used to "steal private data, send spam, or enlist the computer in a botnet" and " install malicious code during the update process." They've released sample code demonstrating their findings.
The Chinese government has mandated that all PCs sold in the country must soon include a censorship program called Green Dam. This software monitors web sites visited and other activity on the computer and blocks adult content as well as politically sensitive material. We examined the Green Dam software and found that it contains serious security vulnerabilities due to programming errors. Once Green Dam is installed, any web site the user visits can exploit these problems to take control of the computer. This could allow malicious sites to steal private data, send spam, or enlist the computer in a botnet. In addition, we found vulnerabilities in the way Green Dam processes blacklist updates that could allow the software makers or others to install malicious code during the update process. We found these problems with less than 12 hours of testing, and we believe they may be only the tip of the iceberg. Green Dam makes frequent use of unsafe and outdated programming practices that likely introduce numerous other vulnerabilities. Correcting these problems will require extensive changes to the software and careful retesting. In the meantime, we recommend that users protect themselves by uninstalling Green Dam immediately.

Yeah, right!


Yeah, right!
And the the pope is jewish.

Science News

From BBC-Science:
A minke whale scarred by fishing gear is seen feeding in a way never before recorded.


THE BIG PICTURE
Click to reveal

Daily Almanac

Today is Saturday, June 13, the 164th day of 2009.
There are 201 days left in the year.

Today In History June 13, 2009

A gorilla escapes in South Carolina

No, not the governor ... this one is smarter!

A 390-pound gorilla grabbed some low-hanging bamboo to scale a wall at a South Carolina zoo Friday, escaping his enclosure and tackling a worker before returning to his pen about five minutes later.

Gorilla injures 1 during brief escape at SC zoo

Florida approves irradiating oysters

Irradiated oysters may be coming soon to an oyster bar near you. Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said on Friday that the state has licensed a Mulberry-based company to use a procedure designed to zap oysters with a small dose of radiation that reduces the amount of harmful bacteria without damaging their flavor and appearance.

Liars and Fools

From Crooks and Liars:

"What they're missing is: The pot in America is boiling. And this is just yet another warning to all Americans of things to come."
*****
This is what Brick on Faux News said about the Terrorist who killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum.
You want to talk irresponsibility and culpability - you have it starkly and plainly illustrated in the one statement cited above.

Not only is is wholly irresponsible, it is pure treason! When are we going to throw all these traitors behind bars and forget where the keys are? Or, better yet, treason is a capital offense during wartime so it would only be fitting to carry out the full penalty of law for these traitors during the war they started.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Today happens to be:

The Wicket World of Croquet Day
and
Raggedy Ann and Andy Day

President Obama's Weekly Address


Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Saturday, June 13, 2009

Last week, I spoke to you about my commitment to work with Congress to pass health care reform this year. Today, I’d like to speak about how that effort is essential to restoring fiscal responsibility.

When it comes to the cost of health care, this much is clear: the status quo is unsustainable for families, businesses, and government. America spends nearly 50 percent more per person on health care than any other country. Health care premiums have doubled over the last decade, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs have skyrocketed, and many with preexisting conditions are denied coverage. More and more, Americans are being priced out of the care they need.

These costs are also hurting business, as some big businesses are at a competitive disadvantage with their foreign counterparts, and some small businesses are forced to cut benefits, drop coverage, or even lay off workers. Meanwhile, Medicare and Medicaid pose one of the greatest threats to our federal deficit, and could leave our children with a mountain of debt that they cannot pay.

We cannot continue down this path. I do not accept a future where Americans forego health care because they can’t pay for it, and more and more families go without coverage at all. And I don’t accept a future where American business is hurt and our government goes broke. We have a responsibility to act, and to act now. That is why I’m working with Congress to pass reform that lowers costs, improves quality and coverage, and protects consumer health care choices.

I know some question whether we can afford to act this year. But the unmistakable truth is that it would be irresponsible to not act. We can’t keep shifting a growing burden to future generations. With each passing year, health care costs consume a larger share of our nation’s spending, and contribute to yawning deficits that we cannot control. So let me be clear: health care reform is not part of the problem when it comes to our fiscal future, it is a fundamental part of the solution.

Real reform will mean reductions in our long term budget. And I have made a firm commitment that health care reform will not add to the federal deficit over the next decade. To keep that commitment, my Administration has already identified how to pay for the historic $635 billion down payment on reform detailed in our budget. This includes over $300 billion that we will save through changes like reducing Medicare overpayments to private insurers, and rooting out waste in Medicare and Medicaid.

However, any honest accounting must prepare for the fact that health care reform will require additional costs in the short term in order to reduce spending in the long-term. So today, I am announcing an additional $313 billion in savings that will rein in unnecessary spending, and increase efficiency and the quality of care – savings that will ensure that we have nearly $950 billion set aside to offset the cost of health care reform over the next ten years.

These savings will come from commonsense changes. For example – if more Americans are insured, we can cut payments that help hospitals treat patients without health insurance. If the drug makers pay their fair share, we can cut government spending on prescription drugs. And if doctors have incentives to provide the best care instead of more care, we can help Americans avoid the unnecessary hospital stays, treatments, and tests that drive up costs. For more details about these and other savings, you can visit our website: www.whitehouse.gov.

These savings underscore the fact that securing quality, affordable health care for the American people is tied directly to insisting upon fiscal responsibility. And these savings are rooted in the same principle that must guide our broader approach to reform: we will fix what’s broken, while building upon what works. If you like your plan and your doctor, you can keep them – the only changes that you’ll see are lower costs and better health care.

For too long, we have stood by while our health care system has frayed at the seams. While there has been excuse after excuse to delay reform, the price of care has gone up for individuals, for business, and for the government. This time must be different. This is the moment when we must reform health care so that we can build a new foundation for our economy to grow; for our people to thrive; and for our country to pursue a responsible and sustainable path.

Thank you.

*****

Please find attached a fact sheet detailing the new savings proposed by President Obama today.

Headlines

Headlines:

Car seat change may be safer for kids

Using a rear-facing car seat for children as old as 4 could save lives and prevent injuries, a new study suggests.

Car seat change may be safer for kids

Also:

Decadent foods that are surprisingly healthy

Decadent foods that are surprisingly healthy

It turns out whole milk, bacon, and duck may be good for you after all.

Decadent foods that are surprisingly healthy

Also:

Vinegar's many surprising uses

Vinegar's many surprising uses

For just pennies, you can soak your feet, clean the sink, or keep pasta from getting sticky.

Vinegar's many surprising uses

Also:

'Fiona' won't be dinner

Yellow lobster is 1-in-30 million rarityA Cape Cod restaurant owner says he won't be serving "Fiona" to diners.

Yellow lobster is 1-in-30 million rarity

It's true you know ...

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

~ Napoleon Bonaparte

And I Quote

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.

~ Oscar Wilde

Detainee move to Palau is tentative

The president of Palau is flattered by all the publicity he's had since agreeing to take in more than a dozen Guantanamo detainees, but he said Saturday their transfer is not a done deal.

Detainee move to Palau is tentative

June 8th was a good day

David Letterman

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

New Delhi, Delhi, India
Rhenen, Utrecht, Netherlands
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Cali, Valle Del Cauca, Colombia
Auckland, New Zealand
London, England, United Kingdom

as well as Singapore, Brazil, Scotland, and all fifty of the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Your ordinarily businesslike personality will be a bit different now.
You'll be far more interested in tending to someone's emotional problems than in taking care of business.
Of course, those two things may end up being one and the same.
If anyone starts complaining -- or worse, whining about your lack of compassion -- tell them this is your new tough love approach and that, in the long run, they'll thank you for blending truth with toughness.

I have always been truthful and tough - Never cared for whiners anyway.