Rhettorical

Spring Cleaning

2006-08-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Who the heck abandoned this place? There's mice and vermin all over! Someone needs to quit neglecting their blog and clean this dump up and get more active!

Oh...wait!

Burning Both Ends

2006-08-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, I am still around but the duties that all realms of my life has brought upon me has given me 16 to 18 hour days. And the fun part of having 4 hour sleep sessions! I am still fairly happy and optomistic and no where near burn out, yet. So hopefully I will not be overwhelmed and beat someone to death with a cluebat.

Jamestown Archaeological Discoveries

2006-07-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

Awesome read! Atleast for those like me who are history buffs.

Misdemeanor for Murder.

2006-07-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

Sounds like my home town.

What happened to my I?

2006-07-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, my little post on Miami Vice below definitly had an "I" at the end of Miam. I am a typo-personality who has one pop up occassionally. But I proofread that puppy pretty good before I pushed submit. I wonder if this is a software error.

Miami Vice!

2006-07-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

An interesting read on the drug trade that goes through Miama today. Kind of in line with a current plug to the movie, which will never really reflect anything from the show looking at the actors, dress, or style.

I would like to interview a few of those officers. I own a season plus a few random episodes of the original show. It is pretty fascinating, some accurate. Some outlandish. Their comments on it being close are interesting. But my LEO experience has taught me the most outlandish thing can happen. So hearing un-trumpted up, non news, first hand accounts would be nice.

2nd Ammendment Stops Madman

2006-07-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

This is a read that makes you feel all warm inside.

ARLINGTON, Tennessee (AP) -- A knife-wielding grocery store employee attacked eight co-workers Friday, seriously injuring five before a witness pulled a gun and stopped him, police said.
The 21-year-old suspect, whose name was withheld pending charges, was arrested and then taken to a hospital after complaining of chest pains, Memphis Police Sgt. Vince Higgins said. The attack apparently stemmed from a work dispute, police said.
Five victims, one in critical condition, were admitted to the Regional Medical Center, the main trauma hospital for the Memphis area. Three others were less badly hurt and treated at another hospital.
The attacker, chasing one victim into the store's parking lot, was subdued by Chris Cope, manager of a financial services office in the same small shopping center, Higgins said.
Cope said he grabbed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol from his pickup truck when he saw the attacker chasing the victim "like something in a serial killer movie."
"When he turned around and saw my pistol, he threw the knife away, put his hands up and got on the ground," Cope told The Associated Press. "He saw my gun and that was pretty much it."
Police arrived within minutes and took the attacker into custody.
"He just kept saying, 'I'm insane. I wish I was never born' and that kind of stuff," Cope said.
The attack started in an employee area of the Schnucks supermarket on the outskirts of Memphis and no customers were involved, Higgins said.
Police said two large kitchen knives used in the attack were found at the scene.
Witness Frank Rector said the attacker held a knife high in a stabbing position as he chased a victim into the parking lot. The victim, Rector said, "was circling, trying to get away from him."
The ages of the victims were not immediately released. Higgins and a company spokeswoman said all the victims were employees of the store.
The spokeswoman said officials from the St. Louis-based company were on their way to the scene.
Higgins said police were pulling into the parking lot as Cope was confronting the attacker.
"We commend him," Higgins said. "But we don't encourage people to take that kind of risk. He could have been hurt."

Bravo! I can understand the police skittishness in telling people to stop other armed felons, but I am glad they gave him a bit of praise.

Jack The Ripper Identified?

2006-07-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

I received this interesting article in my inbox a few days ago. HT to 308 Mike!

PRIVATE handwritten notes by the man who led the hunt for Jack the Ripper naming the chief suspect were given to Scotland Yard’s Black Museum yesterday.
Chief Inspector Donald Swanson kept quiet for years but in retirement, frustrated that the murderer had escaped justice, could not resist scribbling notes in the margin of his boss’s memoirs, naming the man that they both believed had become the world’s most famous serial killer.

The man he named was Aaron Kosminski, a Polish-Jewish hairdresser living in Whitechapel, East London, who was eventually committed to a lunatic asylum, where he died.
According to Swanson the police were so convinced that Kosminski was the killer of at least five prostitutes in the 1880s that they organised a secret identity parade at a police rest home. The witness was a Jew who was said to have refused to give evidence.
Swanson made his notes in a book called The Lighter Side of My Official Life by Sir Robert Anderson, who was an assistant commissioner, for whom Swanson became staff officer.
Sir Robert said as a “definitely ascertainable fact” that the killer was a Polish Jew. He said that the only person who ever had a good view of the killer “unhesitantly identified the suspect the instant he was confronted but refused to give evidence”.
Mr Swanson wrote: “Because the suspect was also a Jew and also because his evidence would convict the suspect and witness would be the means of murderer being hanged — which he did not wish to be left on his mind.”
He said that the suspect had been taken by police to the rest home for the identification and that Kosminski knew he had been identified. He was taken back to his brother’s home in Whitechapel and police kept a secret watch.
Eventually he had to be taken, bound, to a workhouse and then to an asylum where he died “shortly afterwards”. Swanson wrote: “Kosminski was the suspect.”
Yesterday as the Swanson family handed over the book with its margin notes to the Yard’s refurbished Crime Museum, Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Lovelock, who heads detective training and the museum, said that the identification was very interesting.
Mr Lovelock said that the name had been mentioned before and the margin notes were revealed some years ago but he believed that they were significant.
Nevill Swanson, the Victorian detective’s grandson, said; “My grandfather thought he had got his man but never nailed him.”
Yard researches suggested that Kosminski was arrested by police after he threatened his sister with a knife and they were struck by his resemblance to descriptions of the Ripper.
But he was considered too mentally ill to be questioned, He was taken in the care of his brother to a Yard police rest home in Brighton and the identity parade was held there.

I am slightly skeptical because something like this should have come up decades ago. But it is still a fascinating read and a very strong possibility. The rub about the whole historic happenings is there will be no way to ever prove who it was so this is the most decent thing to go on.

A Lawsuit Waiting To Happen.

2006-07-16T01:52:00.000-07:00

That is what I said about the don'tdatehim site when I first read it. Now it is fact.

Down with the Sickness

2006-07-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

Well I have some sort of cold that has been zapping my energy. I came down with it in the middle of work last night and it has been a real killer. Oddly enough when I forced myself through an hour of exercise it felt very beneficial. I almost felt full-blown healthy. I think I'll attempt working through all my colds.

In some very awesome training I got the chance to play around with a police bike and learn a few tools of the trade. I originally had a big interest in becoming a Bike Officer but after a while I thought it would be too much work. But after going through what I did Sunday I am absolutly craving ownership of a mountain bike. (As opposed to a Wal Mart cheapy.) I need to shop around.

Christian Group Can Remain at University

2006-07-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

This is a rather angering read. Despit the fact that all sorts of colleges and universities have thousands of student groups nation wide that require pledges, Southern Illinois University revoked a Christian group from being allowed to meet and use resources on campus. And the more idiotic part of this story is that they stopped the support because someone outside the university objected.

Atleast the court system made the right decision.

Kapton?

2006-07-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

NASA uses space-age duct tape to assist space walk.

Where did they come up with that name? It sounds like a name of a planet from some 1950's sci-fi movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

2006-07-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

I just saw Pirates 2 on Saturday night. It was very good. I prefer the first over the original. There is less story building and it seems to me that it jumps from one thing to another way too fast. But it was enjoyable none-the-less.

Going to Work!

2006-07-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

Well I assisted the Police Department for the first time on Independence Day. Part of the local code is to remove illegal fireworks. That is a hard job to do. We made a lot of people upset and really disapointed a lot of kids. I felt like a jerk and don't neccesarily agree with the law but it is part of the job. Most people were curtious and some were rather rude. (Duh!) But it ended up being a very safe and good fourth of July.

Happy Independence Day!

2006-07-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well I have been pretty busy. I'll even be working tonight! I still want to wish my readers a great Fourth of July! Regular updates will resume soon.

Transformers! Robots in Disguise!

2006-06-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

I really hope they don't mess this up!

Of course, with the Japamation remakes I can't see them do any worse.

Supreme Court Ruling

2006-06-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Kansas Death Penalty is Constitutional.

I am glad they ruled that way. Atleast the Carr Brothers will meet their fate much sooner.

The language was very ambigious, if I was the legislatures I would consider changing the law in Kansas incase someone finds a new way to challenge it. Of course a new law could also be miss-phrased and a new challenge could be found.

More Efficient Ways of Killing People

2006-06-23T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Switchblade.

When completed (target date: 2020), it will
cruise with its 200-foot-long wing perpendicular to its engines like a normal
airplane. But just before the craft breaks the sound barrier, its single wing
will swivel around 60 degrees (hence the name) so that one end points forward
and the other back.

The concept art is pretty neat, too!

Missile Testing

2006-06-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

It appears our allies from Japan are helping out on our anti missile test in the Pacific.

If I recall correct;y, we had a rape incident happen in Japan involving some U.S. Army personnel. I won't justify their actions. What those men did were wrong and are paying for it. But Japan and South Korea both wanted us out of their countries. And that year the North sent a Missile sailing over Japan. Japan shut up and S.K. did a 180 and started posting and writing and lavishing Americans and how awesome we were.

At that point I wanted to pull out. Because all they are are fair weather friends. And I still think that way.

Government Idiots!

2006-06-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

Only the United States Government can turn a $5 debt into a 1.1 million dollar debt.

Why couldn't they just redeem it? Stupid morons!

Saber Rattling

2006-06-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

North Korea Places Missile On Launch Pad. United States Activates Missile Defense System.

Bush: Rummy! Raise Shields!

Rumsfield: Aye Captin! The Klingons are massing at the border...

If anyone fired a missile over my territory, I think I'd be obliged to fire a few hundred over theirs.

The sky is blue, water is wet....

2006-06-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

...And old people are more likely to get hurt on the job.

There are some problems with the Eternal Work Plan:
Working until you drop just isn't as much fun as it sounds.
You may have difficulty finding or keeping a job that you'd want to do at that age. The American Association of Retired Persons found in a recent survey that 80% of those responding had encountered age bias when job hunting.
You may not be able physically to work as long as you'd like. The number of disability claims rises sharply as people age. Data from the Social Security Administration indicates that 63% of disability claims were filed by those 50 and over.
According to Elise Gould, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute, many people stop or are forced to quit working long before so-called retirement age. Some people are wealthy enough to retire early voluntarily, Gould acknowledges, "but that's not true for the vast majority," she says.Rather, health problems and other life events, like needing to care for an aging relative or spouse, often prevent people from working. "There's also the fact of age discrimination in the market," she adds.

Duh! Could the possibility of one problem and one reason for that problem be found within a paragraph of each other? Let us be reasonable here. Even menial secretarial work can be very hard on a person who is over 70. Plus the fact that a lot of these people want to start out at a very high pay grade, and are highly medicated they can be rather costly to employ. It will be much harder to obtain a job in the far future so you need to find a good one and plan ahead from the get go. Another funny thig is people don't realise but when someone is disabled out of a ob that employer has to pay for an employee who is no longer at the company. That is what creates "age biase."

I am getting into a job that won't neccesarily be awesome for retirement, but I have guaranteed employment and the retirement benefits are the best for state workers. If I was really smart I'd get into a field in a higher value state where income is more and then retire in Kansas. But I don't want to move around a lot.

Boy 6, Falls from Ferris Wheel.

2006-06-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

Bad parenting? Stupid employees? You decide.

STOCKTON, California (AP) -- A 6-year-old boy
plunged 90 feet to his death from the top of a Ferris wheel while his mother
watched from below at the San Joaquin County Fair, authorities said.
Ruben
Castillo was riding alone in his gondola, which was near the top of the 100-foot
Giant Wheel when he fell Sunday afternoon, authorities said.He was pronounced
dead at a hospital.
California Occupational Safety and Health Administration
officials, who are investigating the incident, were told that the boy tried to
climb out of his seat, said spokesman Dean Fryer. It was not immediately clear
why he climbed out or whether he was properly secured in the seat, Fryer said.
The fair's rides have no age restrictions, only a height requirement, which
Ruben met for the Giant Wheel, said Forrest White, the fair's executive
director.

When I get to work, with access to high speed internet I'll be checking on the Mom's reasoning. To be honest, I don't know why you would let a 6-year-old alone on a Ferris wheel. I imagine she'll sue for $8 million, they'll find her half negligent and the company half negligent and she'll get half the payout.

This is why no one under 15 can go on one in most areas. Because of socialite stupidity on the part of others.

Hobbits are Real?

2006-06-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm.......

Could the genetic trait have nothing to do with intelligence? I have heard in class that one person had half her brain removed and the rest of her brain took over all functions. Brain size is not necessarily a sign of intelligence. Albeit that it helps!

STUPID STUPID PEOPLE!

2006-06-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

Look! A footprint on Mars!

Idiots!

Is there intelligent life on Mars? Well we are gaining more evidence that Earth is quite lacking.

Who says there's not one around when you need 'em?

2006-06-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

An officer patrolling a neighborhood finds lady under attack by pit bulls. Tasers dogs and saves lady.

Reporter Doesn't Know Firearms.

2006-06-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

Who calls a bullet a "pellet?"

Police arrived at the scene were inhumanoids were having pit bulls fight when they got out of control. When the police arrived to find the animals attacking people one dog charged the three officers and the officers opened fire. Sadly, in the heat if battle someone wasn't taking care of their aim and an officer received a ricochet.

Assistant Chief of Police Charged with Fatal Accident

2006-06-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

That flush is his career going down the drain.

Supreme Court on Knock and Announce.

2006-06-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of bruhaha on this ruling.

I am conflicted on it. As I was trained in CJ at a Juko we are not to kick anyone's door in at every opportunity. He said if he sees any of us on cops with battering ram in hand, taps the door and knocks it in, then he'd hunt us down and beat our brains in. I agree.

But as Scalia said, I agree with him on it, too.

Scalia added that police might put their lives in danger
if they were uncertain when and if entry was legally permissible. "If the
consequences of running afoul of the law were so massive, officers would be
inclined to wait longer than the law requires -- producing inevitable violence
against officers in some cases, and the destruction of evidence in many
others."

I think it can be helpful to have police discretion. But I think that every agency needs to train the way I was trained. That everyone is a human being and everyone has a right to privacy and only to use no knocks if you have an articulable reason.

Supreme Court Issues 2 Death Penalty Rulings.

2006-06-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

No word yet on my interest in Kansas.

Supreme Court Ruling News.

One ruling is based on DNA evidence that may help exonerate or release a man.

The other has to do with the painfulness of lethal injection. It might be a valid complaint. But my solution is dump 10 times the pain killer needed to numb a criminal. That way no doctor needs to be on hand to see if that person is unconscious,(a big stickler because a doctor cannot ethically assist a execution.) It will be less painful than the suspect caused the victim and he'll still die. All parties happy!. /cynism.

Judge: Baldwin For Psych Exam

2006-06-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

This will be an interesting interview.

Court Rules That 12-year-olds Can Marry

2006-06-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

I find this ruling a bit over-reaching. The whole thing was over-reacted by the prosecution because mommy had already consented and the 15-year-old daughter had already established legal separation from her parents. (Whatever the heck that means!) I don't see why the courts had to rule that any girl 12 and any boy 15 years of age can be legally wed by living together.

For the definition of "Common Law" it basically means that nothing is set in writing, but that traditionally you are allowed or not allowed to do this or that. For instance, it is common law not to bring a weapon in church out of respect. A stational scenario on this is one of the FBI not arresting someone inside a church but rather waiting until they leave the church. Of course that historic precedence has changed and nothing is ever set in stone. I recall stories of the early American settlers bringing firearms to church In case of Native American attacks. Plus, my Criminal Justice instructor has stated when I posed such a question that he would not hesitate to arrest someone in church and had done so in the past. In fact, he stated: "Just because you go to church doesn't mean you're not an @** ****!" So the court system did not have to go so broad.

Pursuit Ends When Dog Bites.

2006-06-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

A poor pit bull owned by a man who decided to evade the police via vehicle decided that he had had enough of the ride and bit into the nose of his owner.

I wonder if the po-po gave poochy a treat.

Range Report

2006-06-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

Well I have had range the past few saturdays. This passing one I finally qualified and will be able to ride soon. We have had causalties. The session before last I pinched my fingers in the gun while loading a magazine and it caused a bubbled up blood blister. Well the same week the other reservist scrapped off a small amount of flesh into the magazine while loading up. After a bit of doctering there were some pretty sick jokes made at his expense. (Off-color humor #1!)

I am signed up to go out for the Independence Day Celebration. We usually go to a smaller town to watch the fireworks show but this week I will be in my home town and I bet my family will go to that show too since I am working. We prefer the other town because we can shoot off, and watch others shoot off fireworks before the main show. In our town shooting fireworks is illegal. We live out in the country so we will be able to shoot them afterwards.

Triple Murderer Killed by Officers

2006-06-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

Nothing to see here. A job well done and a free, fresh brew is what the officer should get.

Trooper Sprayed in Face With Ammonia

2006-06-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

There's a special place in hell for people like that.

$$$$$$$

2006-06-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well I found out I did a real stupid thing. Well, not stupid, but ignorance of mechanical issues and driving a vehicle before having it checked cost me a transmission. Part of it sucks because I asked several mechanic shops to look at it and either they were two weeks backlogged or they don't do transmissions. The kicker is anyone with a hint of mechanical prowless who would have looked at my problem could have saved me $800 by replacing an 80 cent piece of plastic.

So, to Ford, you guys really suck for making such a shitty design.

So, to local mechanics, you guys suck. I know you can't walk everyone over every little thing on the phone but the one mechanic I did ask about it diagnosed the problem in ten seconds and gave me the part I needed for free. May God Bless his family but if one of the mechanics I would have called would have asked a follow up question a week or two before I would be saved.

And to me, for being an idiot and following other peoples' advice and ignoring my gut instinct.

Luckily the job is now giving me a bit more hours. I need to drop a sheet to volunteer for more hours in hope that I can pay for a new transmission before I start doing reserve stuff.

Dispatchers Charged

2006-06-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

Remember the five-year-old who called 911 about Mommy being passed out and was ignored? And how the mother died? Well both dispatchers involved are being charged with a crime that they may serve up to one year in jail.

I think that is a pretty fair way to handle it. Their careers are over, but their lives shouldn't. They should definitely feel bad about it.

Not Dead.....

2006-06-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

No, not dead, just got busy putting off house hold work, actually getting in hours at work, and attempting to like Hitman Blood Money on X-Box 360.

My biggest complaint is the game is an exercise in tedious controls. You can do some neat things, but if you don't execute (heh) each operation perfectly things go bad. I think I'm going to stay away from the Hitman titles in the future.

It Could Always Be Worse!

2006-06-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well I was out driving to work last night. I had my little sister with me since she wanted to see what I did for a living. Well I also found I was having car problems. So paying attention to both my sister and how the car sounded I accidently went over the center line. A deputy was assisting a city officer with someone pulled over so the deputy got behind me and pulled me over.

This is in my town, after the city officer was done he went to back the deputy. He was back there for about ten seconds and went on through. The deputy recognised me after seeing my DL, (I had done a ride-along with him 2 years prior.) I got a warning and was advised to drive more careful and was sent on my way.

My agency is very small. So small in fact I would not believe it if one person did not hear about me getting stopped. So this was the beginning of a not-s-good-evening.

On the way back from work I did hear about the female Salina officer accidently shooting a burglary suspect in the leg.

Grover was the first officer to respond to a burglar
alarm at the business. She checked the front of the building, then shined her
flashlight on the south side, where there are numerous garage doors. Her view of
the two doors closest to Ohio Street was obstructed because of pallets piled on
the parking, so she parked her patrol car, got out and approached the
building.
Grover saw a box on the ground and, above that, a hole about three
feet tall had been cut in the garage door. At that point, Grover didn't know
whether the damage had been done previously, or whether it was an entry point
for a burglar.
A stumble, a soft pop
Grover peered into the hole from a
few feet away and saw quick movement.
"She saw legs moving, and she saw a
gloved hand," Hill said, and she was "very startled."
Grover used her left
hand to push the button on her radio microphone, to tell dispatchers someone was
inside the building. At the same time, she stepped backward, away from the
building, and drew her gun from its holster.
She stumbled.
"At that time,
she heard what she described as a soft pop, and her weapon discharged," Hill
said.

It could always be worse! I felt a bit better.

Memorial Day

2006-05-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of relatives serve in the armed forces. My Grandpa on Mom's side was a WW2 Army Vet who worked on B-17's. I lost a Great Uncle in the Battle of the Bulge. My grandpa on Dads' side, whom I never met, served in the Army somewhere in Europe. That tradition ended pretty much after WW2. My father almost joined the Air Force during Vietnam but backed out and said he regretted it at times. I almost joined right before college but a combination of the Army recruiter not being consistent and bad-mouthing me made me decide to stay away. I regret that a little too but the job I do plan on going into will be public service for the rest of my life so I should be able to get all the adrenal rush that I need from there. I currently have a cousin on my Dads' side who is in the United States Coast Guard and is just loving it. He almost had me signed up for his branch, too. I am always thinking several times a week about the people in our armed forces serving over seas. And I also have the foreign soldiers, sailors, and airmen who are part of NATO helping us overseas in my thoughts and prayers too. The UK along with some of their polititical leaders is one of many countries that has supplied soldiers and equipment in unwaivering numbers to us at the cost of their political ambitions. And to their servicemen, their lives. So remember if you see a vet in any uniform, or know anyone overseas, please thank them for their support to this great country.

Tasers in the News

2006-05-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

Cocaine use may reduce vetrical fibrillation (heart stopping) effects caused by electrical currents.

Of course. Since Taser funded the study everything is considered biased and will likely be looked upon with doubt until someone independent verifies the findings.

Florida officer suffers Taser use on himself by suspect.

That would really suck! The article was poorly written. I would guess the officer was using a drive stun on him, which is just using the Taser as a stun gun without the probes. The stun gun effects do not normally override the neural pathways so all the suspect felt was pain. He probably grabbed the Taser from the officer and started using it to stun him, that is when the officer "drew his weapon" which I would guess would be his service pisol and that is when the suspect decided it was time to skedaddle.

OMG! DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE STUDY PROVES TASERS ARE LETHAL! SUE DEM STUPID COP JERKS!

The headline is funny, until you read this part:

"Based upon input from our scientific and medical advisors, in Professor Websters latest study he cracked open the chest, removed the protective skin and muscle tissue layers which can disperse 98 percent of the electrical charge density, drilled a canal down to the surface of the heart, filled the canal with a conductive fluid, and placed the TASER® probe inside the canal, very close to the heart.
"Professor Webster's independent study is significant as it shows the extreme to which it is required to get VF to occur. Clearly, this doesn't represent any situation that occurs during actual field uses whatsoever and is an unrealistic real world worst case approach that can greatly magnify the currents at the heart.
"This research is akin to testing a directed laser beam versus the dispersion of an incandescent bulb. Under these same conditions of removing the protective skin and muscle tissue you could defibrillate the heart with a 9-volt battery."

OUTRAGE!

2006-05-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

I read this while at work one night earlier in the week but forgot all about it until I was exploring Ravenwood's Universe once again. I was glad I was a lone in that office because I was fuming for a while.

Congress says serving search warrants on congressional offices is bad form and un-ethical.

Mr. Hastert thinks the publicly-paid for offices are some sort of raid free zone for criminal activity. Listen her, buddy. The Constitution has provided a test called probable cause that a judge is presented and signs off on. When a judge does that the area in question is free game. This includes private homes, places of worship, private business meeting rooms, and of course, Congressional offices. American history has proved that there is no where that is too sacred for a search warrent. Not even death and a grave are above it. So why should Congress get an excemption?

They don't and your buddy is screwed, and so is anyone else who partakes in illegal activity while working for the taxpayers!

Parental Control

2006-05-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

So my younger sister and I are watching this MTV show. Very fascinating. The parents do not like the person their son/daughter is dating so they get a bunch of other dating candidites in and interview them. Then each parent picks someone for son/daughter to go out with and at the end of the show the original date, along with the two choices from mom and dad are sent through the ringer about the positives and negatives about them and you find out if they stay with the old _____friend or go with the parent pick.

So I am watching this and was thinking of my character high points and flaws. On this show it is the guy who is the child of the parents and with prissy girlfriend watching the parents roll out their choices for who should date their sone. One guy is going out with two girls and one of them is very attractive. They play volleyball and the girl, who wins, makes the boy take a dip in the ocean. I was thinking this girl is to die for. And then she takes him to the family restaurant where he ends up eating her recipe for guacamole.

ARGH!!!!

This whole thing is perfect up until then. But that would be the point that got me. I am a very finicky eater and it would take me baby steps to get me to guac. Even if it did taste awesome I would have to try out her pizza and then her cheeseburgers out first and work my way up to her guac sauce. My younger sister was laughing at me because she knows food is my one weakness when it comes to anything! Man! No wonder why I'm single.

This girl though. I just might have bottled everything up and tried leaping forward anyway.

Mosque Raises Fears in Italian City.

2006-05-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well the plans to build a Muslim religious center has caused the populace to get very cranky with their government.

I find it odd that the city mayor expects everyone to share in the building. This isn't exactly a Shriner building. The muslims would consider such a thing a holy place and would be ticked if outsiders would come in to play volleyball after the daily prayer routine. And does the tax payers have to pay for it? That was never clarified and it would be a talking point for me. I wouldn't want my tax dollars paying for something the public cannot use.

TOO SHORT FOR PRISON?!

2006-05-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

A Sidney Nebraska Judge has ruled that a 5 foot 1 inch man is too short, and wimpy, to be placed in prison. So as long as I am small I can do most any crime and be alright?

The idiocy of the court system knows no bounds nor decency.

Not Playing Favorites

2006-05-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

I bet this Nebraska Sheriff gets re-elected.

It is sad that a relative can be arrested for such a thing. But atleast we know that law enforcement agency isn't biased like droves of people claim.

Woot!

2006-05-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Went in and passed my use of force test this morning. Then we went over the basics of handling, shooting, and fixing jams in the firearm. I knew a lot and thought I knew a lot but this was a awesome course. I found a lot I didn't know and it should make me more accurate. Next weekend we go to the range and after a few sessions we'll be certified.

LEO Work

2006-05-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well I've been taking some class room work and got issued my sidearm. In two weeks we will be going to the range and then I'll be able to start riding with my department.

I did one screw up. I forgot about a reserve police officer meeting and was absent. I brought in a letter of apology and explaination and hopefully, it won't happen again in the future.

Ancient Mayan Treasure Found!

2006-05-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

I always had an interest in Archaeology. Perhaps I should seek a job as security officer for one of these places. With the looting and all I might be able to get good pay and good finds.

Sony shoots self in head.

2006-05-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sony really messed up when they announced that they were going to sell thePS3 for $499 and 599. I think Nintendo and Microsoft will be laughing themselves all the way to the bank over the E-3 announcement. Why buy one console when you can buy two for the cost of a PS3?

I also love how PS3 developers made a controller that rips off Nintendos' new innovation in designing a controller that uses movement to control the game.

Nintendo pretty much wins out on the publicity with this quote: Nintendo shrugged off the similarities, with a spokesperson saying "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".

Celebrities for Felons

2006-05-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

::yawn:: Let them sit in jail. bludgeoning 8-year-olds to death is notcexactly something that society wants to reward.

teen Dies of Rabies

2006-05-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

This is a great tragedy. But with this tragedy we do have two positives to look at. One is the works of Mr. Pasteur who developed the first antibody and the cure for rabies. One of the greatest accomplishments of mankind. The second positive is it is one more case where they can experiment and study a new method to cure rabies in people who are not vaccinated.

No Promotions for This Department.

2006-05-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

They tossed out $30,000!

Historic Mysteries

2006-05-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

Was Christopher Columbus an Italian or a Spaniard?

We may never find out, but I love it when scientist do these projects.

Illegal Immigrants and SCOTUS

2006-05-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well the justices also have to rule if it is proper to use the RICO anti-crime syndicate law against businesses that employee illegals. On one hand, this isn't what the statute was for. On another, I bet the cheaper illegal labor has put other law-abiding companies out of business. So I could see it going both ways.

Supreme Court and the Kansas Death Penalty.

2006-05-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

I see this as not going the way I want it to go. I want the people convicted of death in Kansas to die. Especially the Carr Brothers and their inhuman actions on their victims. But our Constitution and rule of law makes it simple that when in doubt over something you go with the lesser evil. With our law written up as:"When aggravating and mitigating factors for and against the death penalty are equal you must chose death." come up I see the Supreme Court ruling against that. It ticks me off to no end that none of the factors equal out in any of the death cases, or that murdering monsters would get off from the highest punishment. (They all would still face life in prison.) But to uphold the Constitutional standard the Justices will likely rule this way and not be wrong. If anything. The legislatures should have seen this coming with the language and change the law. They really screwed up.

I do not know if they ruled on it yet. I wrote this almost a week ago but haven't had internet access to post it. Usually they rule on them every wednesday but I haven't heard anything on it in the papers or the internet.

Supreme Court on Forced Crimes

2006-05-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

This is interesting. The S.C. was asked to look at a battered wives defense and instead they are looking at it as a "forced by a criminal to do a crime under duress" defense. I want to know why the boyfriend was not prosecuted. Is he already facing life? Did they go after him for kidnapping? I agree with Scalia that the boyfriend needed shot, but not wounded. Holding kids hostage to get weapons? Talk about a dirtbag.I can see why the Justices are wary of a ruling. On one hand, more and more people would claim their drug dealer forced them to do a crime, or the drugs made them do it. Our society loves putting others to blame. But on the other hand she did what in her thoughts would keep her and her children safe. I don't think she should have got a conviction but I don'tthink a rule of law absolving everyone of responsibility should also be passed.

Terrorist Getting Life

2006-05-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like Moussaoui will spend the rest of his days surrounded by infidels with no contact with the outside world for the rest of his life. I would have rather seen him die via execution for what he and his group was going to do but this is probably the best. Let him rot away, not as a martyr but as an aged delusional cultist.

And it appears he is also against the decision himself of keeping him alive. Another reason to agree with it. Our poor little terrorist won't become a martyr for the cause.

Kennedy

2006-05-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

I didn't comment on the Kennedy situation because everyone else has. But there is a lot of ignored information that is worthy to note on the police report.

He hit a stationary barricade, he was ping-ponging over the lanes, he was making wide swerves. Definitly under the influence. And even though they said he wasn't drinking alcohol. He is just as guilty of DUI for driving impaired under legal drugs, just as much as illegal drugs or booze.

Sheriff Creates Posse

2006-05-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

We need one of these in every county in every state.

PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's decision to send
deputies and volunteers out looking for illegal immigrants is drawing strong
criticism from some in the Hispanic community.
The sheriff says it's an
attempt to slow the tide of illegal immigrants into the county.
Former state
senator and Hispanic community leader Alfredo Gutierrez says "Every act like
this contributes to the angst and anger and desperation" in the
community.
Gutierrez says arresting illegal immigrants under the smuggling
law is a violation of human rights.

Hmm, a head Law Officer enforces the law and the people complain about civil rights. What an idiot.

Spanking Revisited

2006-05-02T23:46:00.000-07:00

The lady who sued for being spanked won.

I think that is BS. She knew what she was getting into when she went along with it. I could at times be easily peer pressured into some things but I also turn down stuff I know I wouldn't want to go through.

Dubai

2006-05-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

I found a very enlightening read on The Dubai Country. Very long, but fascinating.

I don't know if I would put them in charge of my ports. If they would sell and modify their culture off as fast as they did they could do the same for a foreign country and the security of that country in exchange for cash. But after reading about their efficiency and business model I know if I would let any Middle Eastern Country Handle it it would likely be them. (Outside of Israel of course.)

Paper Boy

2006-05-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

Looks like one job catagory is falling on the wayside. Paper Boy

Kinda a shame, really. But the possiblity exist of a rebound. What adult can afford the gas to drive five or six times a week for $20-40?

Blood Boiling

2006-04-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

My take on the illegal issue is you have to have a visa or be an American citizen to be here. End of discussion. The illegals are costing us billions of dollars in funding our schools, healthcare, unemployment; (they cost us because what they make they send back to Mexico, it doesn't stay here,) and legal hassles. If I recall correctly 65 percent of all inmates across all of California prisons are illegal immigrants. 75 percent of all gang members are illegals.

The hypocrisy of the Mexican Government also plays in on this. I could be slightly sympathetic but they demand we get more lax on our already flaccid restrictions when they themselves have some of the strictest anti-immigration laws out there. If you don't hold certain degrees or trades you can't come into the country to work. If you come in the country illegal you have no due process. You can be locked up without trial or lawyer. They even specifically state that all illegals are a lower class than legal immigrants, and all natural-born citizens are above legal immigrants. I could go on about anti-immigration in Mexico but anyone can do a two minute search and find out more details that are even more angering.

And the even more enraging thing I came upon today is all this self-entitlement everyone thinks they have. Look at this story.

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Thousands of illegal immigrants stayed home
this week amid rumors of immigration roundups that federal officials say were
unfounded, leaving some industries scrambling for workers.
Len Mills,
executive vice president of Associated General Contractors of South Florida,
estimated at least 50 percent of workers on construction jobs in the region had
not shown up for work.
"This is costing millions of dollars a day, and I
don't know who is going to pay for it," he said.

ARGH!!! The law says they could be fined thousands of dollars for each illegal a business has and all he fears is losing millions of dollars in lost labor due to a walk out? I am to the point where I think all illegals in prison should be forced to make a wall between America and Mexico and afterwards we should do a round-up and toss them all over. This is utter BS how they are running rampart in our country and the only thing they find inconvenient is how hard it is to make money!

Supreme Court Reviews the Death Penalty

2006-04-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting and hoping this will get settled. But like any S.C. decision, I do not know if the results will be good or bad either way it goes.

The problem is is the jury system should be lenient when it can be. Just in case they are wrong on one point. The stickler on this law is it forces the worse consequence if a jury is tied on the mitigating factors vs the henious crime.

Now here is the kicker.

Do we allow the system to be a tad more merciful just in case a jury gets it wrong and someone might be innocent because they were crazy? Or do we let 2 cop-killers and 2 mass-murdering brothers go? Even if the cases in the past were clear-cut. If the state death penalty gets overturned for being un-Constitutional all death penalty convictions are removed.

A second, unrelated injustice is a lot of people have made racial hate sites for the Carr Brother killings. I think they should have been charged with a hate crime, but because they haven't doesn't mean everyone needs to don white robes and shout zion conspiracy. That is another thing that ticks me off is I can't find a non-racist site that has details of the killings. Once you read one-tenth of what the Carr Brother victims' went through you'd be surprised that they made it alive to the trial.

That's an 'Xpensive Spankin'!

2006-04-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

A woman is suing her employer for 1.2 million dollars for being spanked.

FRESNO, California (AP) -- Lawyers for a woman spanked in front of
co-workers as part of what her employer said was a team-building exercise asked
a jury Wednesday for at least $1.2 million for the humiliation she says she
suffered.
Janet Orlando, 53, quit her job at the home security company Alarm
One Inc. and sued, alleging discrimination, assault, battery and infliction of
emotional distress.
Employees were paddled with rival companies' yard signs
as part of a contest that pitted sales teams against each other, according to
court documents. The winners poked fun at the losers, throwing pies at them,
feeding them baby food, making them wear diapers and swatting their
buttocks.

Why didn't she just say "this is juvenile" or something like that and walk off. If she was so peeved about it why go with the flow? Idiot!

Biting the Hand that Feeds You

2006-04-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

The poster boy for living the American dream via loosened immigration law has a bit of a problem. And now his face is appearing on a different kind of poster.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A young illegal immigrant who became a
cause celebre in Minnesota after secretly living in a high school for weeks has
been arrested here on home invasion charges, months after he was supposed to
have left the country.
Francisco Javier Serrano, 22, had waved goodbye to
supporters and journalists who saw him off at the Minneapolis airport in
January, but he apparently never boarded his plane for his home country of
Mexico.
Two weeks ago, police arrested him after finding him with a knife in
an apartment in Boston's North End, struggling with the tenant, who was
unharmed, The Boston Globe reported Thursday. He remained in Suffolk County Jail
facing home invasion charges and eventual deportation.

Yeah, he sure would make a worthy American citizen, now wouldn't he?

When they drop-kick him over the border, I hope they make it very painful.

BWUHAHAHAHA

2006-04-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

I love dumb criminals, and I love thick irony. This story has both.

PORTLAND, Ore. - The director of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission abruptly
resigned Thursday after she was charged with drunken driving.

It doesn't get any better than that!

Hedgie!

2006-04-26T22:58:00.000-07:00

I just bought a Albino Pygmy Hedgehog from a student at the college I work for. I blew a buttload of money on him, a vehicle, groceries, and gas. I kinda want to name him Snowball, but it seems to be an injustice to me to name a guy THAT name. My sister; who could have cared less about my announcement of getting him, fell in complete love with him after viewing the sticker ball. She has probably spent more time playing with him than I have. She thinks I should name it Spike. I'm still not sure. I'll sleep on it.

I had an alternative name I still may use if I get another. Since a hedgehog is nature's equivalent of a M1 Abrams tank. I wanted to call a "salt and pepper" candidate of ownership Patton.

Funny

2006-04-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

A Navy Chief and an Air Force General were getting shave sin a barbershop.

As the barbers were reaching for some after-shave to slap on their faces, the General
shouts, "Hey, don't put that crap on me! My wife will think I've been in a whorehouse!"

Whereupon the Chief turns to his barber and says, "Go ahead and put it on me, my wife doesn't know what the inside of a whorehouse smells like."

Supreme Court looks at Insanity

2006-04-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

Just look in the mirror....

Actually, I gained a new bit of knowledge reading this. I didn't know my state did not allow a insanity defense. I did not know a state could deny a insanity defense.

Really, if you plead insane it usually hurts you more than it helps. Not coonsidering death penalty cases you will likely do more time in a insane asylume than you would in prison on murder. Then after they "cure" the person they still may face prison terms. It will be interesting to see how they rule on this.

Supreme Court Stay of Execution

2006-04-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

These are very rare.

That would scare me to death. Talk about 11th hour rulings. I would pee my gurny.

So, does he get two last meals if they go forward later on?

Rein Fair

2006-04-25T23:24:00.000-07:00

I went to The 3rd Annual Great Plain Renaissance Fair. An interesting thing happened. A bunch of girls underage drinking got into a wee bit of trouble. Someone was going to the puke booth and buying alcohol and passing it off to them. Well when it is plus 90 degrees out and if all that you drink is alcohol bad things will ensue. A 15-year-old passed out very close to my group and I was returning with someone's food order when I found out so I missed the significant exchange. (truth be told that was a good thing because I have been stand-offish lately with people who do wrong in my eyes.) She turned very pale and slumped over and her two"friends" said she'd be alright, don't worry about her. By the time I arrived EMS was already there and they had her on a table. My Mom was out by the road and I went up to her and she told me to fetch one of her friends so they could locate the dad of the girl who passed out. I went up to both friends and they both didn't know what her Dad looked like. Mind you they said this without making eye-contact so I was suspicious. When I heard the "she'll be alright" part of it I was royaly enraged. No wonder why they didn't want to meet up with Daddy. If I was her dad and heard the truth I would have boxed their ears in. Surprisingly the on-scene deputy didn't arrest or cite for the consumption. He probably did this to keep the festival from getting bad publicity but I'm not going to Tuesday-morning quarterback a fellow LEO with more experience than I. But a ticket(s) would help the festival liability-wise. Someone needs to get a higher quality group of friends.

Party Crashers

2006-04-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

We had loud, severe storms late last night and while we were all sleeping some of the puppies we had pushed the door open and came in. In short we had 2 big grown outdoor dogs inside. Along with 8 puppies, and a half dozen cats. Muddy paw prints were everywhere and a bag of chips became a casualty in the destructive gathering of fun at the expense of the dumb humans.

And I am very happy because today we are down two less. Someone picked a few of our free puppies up.

Prison Privileges

2006-04-24T22:54:00.000-07:00

BTK Killer Dennis Rader has earned TV and writing material priviliges for good behavior.

The public is horrified at the thought of this, but I remind them that they are the ones that made the prison system a cozy little place. When I see crappy run down jails and state prisons that look like Dungeons I know it is a environment I don't want to work at, nor live in. But the hospital and dormitory look with cable tv is too much.

Not Dead

2006-04-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

I am still alive. I just had a lot of Police Department training that happened on a lot of the days I worked this week. I got a few nifty certificates out of my effort and a lot more knowledge on traffic stops, alcohol and drug impairment.

We are going to a Renaissance Fair(e) on the morrow! So updates may be slow, but I might post some pics of my sexy bod in costume. Oh yeah, I am only operating on one hour of sleep since yesterday. So I am in pretty rough shape.

Happy delayed Easter Greetings!

2006-04-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty busy. Isn't everyone? Well anyway I want to tell everyone I had a happy Easter visiting relatives and I hope everyone else experienced the same. One of the strange things I noticed after getting home late at night was the awesome, almost beyond belief clear night we had tonight. With stars and constellations of all kinds visible for light years. Just another great marvel from God.

Unions and Retail

2006-04-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

And to go on further with my retail venting today...

I have friends and classmates who used/still do work for Kroger.

Kroger is unionized retail.

Some places are different, but at our Kroger brand store you start out at minimum wage and get a raise every 1,000 hours worked. People who are really good at their job get cross-trained in several fields and are groomed for management if it comes up and if they want it. Those who are related to people higher up also get a pass. But if you are dumber than a box of hammers they will only put up with you for so long and than go out of there way to fire you. In the world today you can be wrote up and fired for anything with a cruel employer. Wasting too many sacks? Write-up! Making sacks them heavy and then breaking on customers? Write-up! You can see where this goes. So that means that for the worker that performs, his job is safe and he gets fast raises and company recognition. For those who don't want more responsibility, or are incompetent they will get rid of you. They don't want a $15-an-hour cashier. Or $16-an-hour plant-moisterizer. So those that want unions had better be a good worker. Because when a company gets unionized, jobs get cut and incompetent people get tossed because the company can afford less and will only take people who will do a honest day of work.

And I have found that those that complain about needing a "Union" the most are the crappiest, unhappiest workers out there. The girl that works the girly-things aisle complaining about needing a "Union." She spends an hour in the break room every day when the allotted time is two 15 minute breaks. She eventually gets fired for not showing up, re-hired and fired again.

The one guy I worked with wouldn't do squat, he got fired for stealing from the company. he needed a "Union" less than he needed an ethics class.

Wal Mart Worker on Health Care

2006-04-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

This article here actually interviews a Wally World worker about healthcare.

I don't want to be cruel. But I actually worked at Wal Mart. And I can tell you I do not see a need or reason to give an employee who works in the flower shop for 30 years of their life huge benefits. In all likelihood that someone has been with a company for that long without being bored and advancing to an elite position shows an air of incompetence. I have met some who have been in the company but outside the managerial realm but they had properly invested in company stocks because they knew that raises wouldn't be coming in fast enough and they are worth $500,000 or s0. When I got my current job I got the same pay starting out that my sister has had with 3 years in retail. I worked at that place for the ease of schedule change and the fact that I have some customer service skills I can toss on my resume. And you to be honest, I got that and more when I got done working there. I had such a glowing review from the company that I was taken on ASAP at my other two places of work. I thought about going managerial or loss prevention. But I am really not bossy or mean enough to get things done in a store. And when you realize that you can stay with a company with an annual $.50 raise, or get professionalized and get a job at $14 an hour starting out, you really have to think ahead here instead of go with the easy path in life. If I was thinking even farther ahead I would get a degree in an un-related field so if I get hurt on the job I could fall back on something. But I am so tired of school and bills and living at home that I want to start in my career path.

In short:

Retail is a lousy way to raise a family unless you plan on going admi.

Retail is good way to get college out of the way and started on a high-paying field.

Thinking otherwise without planning ahead is stupidity on your part. Unless both family members plan on working together and not seeing retail work as the bread-winner of life.

ARGH!

2006-04-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

That loud, awful sucking sound you hear once a day is another freedom; realized or otherwise, being removed.

I was reading the paper today and found in an advice column a parent complaining about a school random drug test policy. The complaint was not about the testing itself, but about the fact that they give them a week or so notice before they implement it.

I remember way back when people had a cow about drug-dog screening at schools. Hey, I am a bit cool with those. The dog walks up and down and only finds/invades the space of a student who had drugs on school grounds. But making every student prove they are not doing drugs is utter Bullshit! There is no sugar coating it. I cannot believe they are honestly doing stuff like this and no one is stopping it.

And it is double-stupid that they give the offenders notice to get around the policy. That makes it even more unfair for the innocent.

You know you're crazy when.....

2006-04-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

....you have a schizophrenic Defense.

Moussaoui claims one thing, his defense lawyers claim another. It is almost comical how the trial is going. And now he wants his life spared so he can be traded for American lives. Which is also funny because captured A.Q. said he was the most incompetent person they worked with. We can't do it anyway because we do not negotiate with terrorist.

Death on a Disney Ride

2006-04-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

Great! People are going to be screaming that rides kill people, they need banned, etc. It is Taser syndrome all over again. (Mind you, I did pull a muscle inside my chest from the Taser, but I'm not complaining because I VOLUNTARILY subjected myself to it.) We'll have to wait and see if people litigate everything out of exist but the Tunnel of Love and Pirates of the Caribbean. Oh wait, I don't have a date! Therefore I should sue since the T.o.L. is not sensitive to me. I should also sue because women chase pirates on P.o.t.C. ride. That is so sexist!

Fatty Fries

2006-04-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

McDonalds is really screwing themselves over. Everyone saw this coming back in 2000. And the controversy in 2002 helped flame it on even more. They should have grabbed hold of it and made their stuff as safe as it is in foreign countries and just charge a little more. The one big problem is people would still attack them for not changing even earlier or advertising fast food as health food. But public opinion will make them change and the faster they do it the better.

Shuttle Flight Quiz

2006-04-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

Quiz!

I got four of seven right. The last three I blame on faulty memory, and the fact that I was 4-6 when the memory was created for some of those people in existence.

He's baaaaaack!

2006-04-13T00:31:00.000-07:00

One of the best bloggers that I visited religiously is finally back!

Blogging Meme

2006-04-12T23:56:00.000-07:00

This is also my first one. Thanks to Lawdog for the tag. (Do you thank someone for tagging you?)

Four jobs I've had in my life:

1.) Prep/Line Cook
2.) Cashier
3.) Lawn and Garden Worker
4.) Reserve LEO (I'm still in training, but with 550 hours of prior internships I know, and have experienced a lot!)

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1.) Anything with "Star Trek" in the title
2.) Rat Race
3.) Ice Age
4.) Grosse Pointe Blanke

Four websites I visit regularly:

1.) Kim du Toit
2.) MorningGlory
3.) Officer.com
4.) Itsyourturn.com

Four of my favorite foods:

1.) Pizza - Canadian Bacon/Pepperoni Combo
2.) Garlic-Broiled Pork Chops - Anything less is a waste of pork!
3.) Cookie Dough Ice Cream
4.) Ham

Four most wonderful places I've been:

1.) Flint Hills of Kansas
2.) Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center
3.) Snake River in Idaho/Oregon
4.) The Museum of Ancient Treasures

Apology to Steve for not listing the World's Largest Ball of Twine.

Four songs I could listen to every day:

1.) Its My Life - Bon Jovi
2.) Shine - Newsboys
3.) Where I am - Rich Mullins
4.) How Do You Like Me Now - Toby Keith

Four people I'm tagging:

1.) Cori!
2.) MorningGlory
3.) Ravenwood's Universe
4.)... I am out of friends who haven't done this.

EDIT: in light of the return of R.U. I did a small edit to the tag.

Flight Humor

2006-04-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

l
These are pretty good.

There's a story about the military pilot calling for a priority landing, because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit peaked." Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. "Ah", the fighter pilot remarked, "The dreaded Seven-Engine approach."

And one more for civvy pukes.

"TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees." "Center, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?" "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"

Federals Charge Sheriff for Helping his Citizenry

2006-04-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

This just really frost my donut!

You have supplies sitting around, going to waste with out a destination of any kind and you get ticked off and try to stop a person in authority from distributing it? The soldier is lucky he didn't get his butt shot from the first moment of resistance! (Since when do U.S. soldiers surpass local authority?) He grew a brain and backed down when the cuffs came out. But then the feds sent out a team to trail and take back the trailer. Which turned out to be a bad idea with the large gathering of happy supporters of the same Sheriff.

A good while ago I posted an open letter to the Right Wing crew. Which, admittedly, could be tweaked. But it is about their anti-LEO stance. At the time I pretty much dropped off of my forum radar for a while because of 80 hour work weeks that included 21 hours of college, 18 ride along hours, and 35 hours of work. That is not including weekly commute times of 8 hours. When I came back and announced my criminal justice studies and soon-to-be LE work I faced a load of negativity and distrust. Some forums I haven't even returned to and never will. My point of the posting was that LEO's are distrusted because they work for the government but the military is a high and supreme agency that must be worshipped because they operate overseas and everyone has had or currently has a family member in the armed forces. My closing statement was that when it all boils down to it. Local law enforcement will be less likely to do the whole-sale violation of rights. And in all likelihood the person doing the violating will likely be camouflaged and taking their orders from The Pentagon. Now this isn't an "I told you so" moment. Because I will acknowledge that the logical possibilities of the same thing happening with local law enforcement exist. But with that said I want you to read over this article. It is just something more for us to digest.

Gospel of Judas Revisited:

2006-04-10T23:09:00.000-07:00

This CNN article has more info than my previous one on the Judas article.

Posted for posterity.

Text might be hidden 'Gospel of Judas'
Manuscript authenticated by carbon dating to 300 A.D.

Thursday, April 6, 2006; Posted: 10:55 p.m. EDT (02:55 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For 2,000 years Judas has been reviled for betraying Jesus. Now a newly translated ancient document seeks to tell his side of the story.
The "Gospel of Judas" tells a far different tale from the four gospels in the New Testament. It portrays Judas as a favored disciple who was given special knowledge by Jesus -- and who turned him in at Jesus' request.
"You will be cursed by the other generations -- and you will come to rule over them," Jesus tells Judas in the document made public Thursday. The text, one of several ancient documents found in the Egyptian desert in 1970, was preserved and translated by a team of scholars. It was made public in an English translation by the National Geographic Society.
Religious and lay readers alike will debate the meaning and truth of the manuscript.
But it does show the diversity of beliefs in early Christianity, said Marvin Meyer, professor of Bible studies at Chapman University in Orange, California.
The text, in the Coptic language, was dated to about the year 300 A.D. and is a copy of an earlier Greek version.
A "Gospel of Judas" was first mentioned around 180 A.D. by Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon, in what is now France. The bishop denounced the manuscript as heresy because it differed from mainstream Christianity. The actual text had been thought lost until this discovery.
Elaine Pagels, a professor of religion at Princeton University, said, "The people who loved, circulated and wrote down these gospels did not think they were heretics."
Added Rev. Donald Senior, president of the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago: "Let a vigorous debate on the significance of this fascinating ancient text begin."
Senior expressed doubt that the new gospel will rival the New Testament, but he allowed that opinions are likely to vary.
Craig Evans, a professor at Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia, Canada, said New Testament explanations for Judas' betrayal range from money to the influence of Satan.
"Perhaps more now can be said," he commented. The document "implies that Judas only did what Jesus wanted him to do."
Christianity in the ancient world was much more diverse than it is now, with a number of gospels circulating in addition to the four that were finally collected into the New Testament, noted Bart Ehrman, chairman of religious studies at the University of North Carolina.
Eventually, one point of view prevailed and the others were declared heresy, he said, including the Gnostics who believed that salvation depended on secret knowledge that Jesus imparted, particularly to Judas.
The newly translated document's text begins: "The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot."
In a key passage Jesus tells Judas, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."
This indicates that Judas would help liberate the spiritual self by helping Jesus get rid of his physical flesh, the scholars said.
"Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom," Jesus says to Judas, singling him out for special status. "Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star."
The text ends with Judas turning Jesus over to the high priests and does not include any mention of the crucifixion or resurrection.
National Geographic said the author believed that Judas Iscariot alone understood the true significance of Jesus' teachings. The author of the text is not named in the writings.
Discovered in 1970, the papyrus was kept in a safety deposit box for several years and began to deteriorate before conservators restored it. More than 1,000 pieces had to be reassembled.
The material will be donated to the Coptic museum in Cairo, Egypt, so it can be available to all scholars said Ted Waitt of the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery, which helped finance the restoration.
In addition to radio carbon dating, the manuscript was also authenticated through ink analysis, multispectral imaging, content and linguistic style and handwriting style, National Geographic reported.

Like I said before. The whole thing is fascinating and it possibly turns everything around that we knew about Judas. Instead of him being the great betrayer he may have been the most loyal apostle of them all. And what is more Christian than inproperly judging people by their actions? Or before all the facts are in? There is a deep lesson hidden in this thick mojo.

S.C. Revisited

2006-04-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

Officer.com is revisiting the Supreme Court decision restricting searches when both parties conflict on consent.

Like I said I agree with the S.C. in siding with the least-intrusion to investigate a crime, even to the point of losing a case. But they did not give any guidance in a domestic dispute situation where people go to hosptals and die. I guess that guarantees them a few more years of assured bench salary to wait until a case-law trial comes up to them.

And yeah, that officer writing the article is a bit negative on being restricted. Who isn't when it comes to job restrictions? He just doesn't realise what makes his life easier could backfire on him if his family get ticked off about his attitude.

Abuse of Power

2006-04-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

Florida Deputy uses federal database to assist friend in stalking woman.

Not much to comment on. He was naighty, very very naughty. Why he wasn't charged with civil rights violation is beyound my conprehension.

Talk about a disgrace to badges everywhere.

Silicone Valley: Idaho Edition!

2006-04-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

Microsoft and Yahoo are looking at cheaper Idaho country for more expansion options. I wish I own a partial of land in that area.

Face Re-arrangement

2006-04-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

Well my brother comes out of the room and sits down and there is a Star Wars Lightsaber toy nearby. I decide to "ambush" him for fun. Something we do to eachother occasionally. Well as he is holding my hands straight up and as I have him pinned down and am swinging said saber in a pendulum fashion my 10-year-old sister comes in from behind, grabs the lightsaber and smashes it into the front of my face between my nose and right eye.

Kinda painful. I give her a quick chew for rough-housing with us since what we consider minor pain she considers something to yell and scream about for ten minutes. So because of previous problems in the past, she is not supposed to play around like that, and especially get real aggressive. (Like jamming sharp toys into one's eye socket.)

A few minutes later blood starts trickling into my eyes. Ah! That is natures' call to visit the mirror.

......

She puntured a good-sized hole into my flesh. It is probably about half the size of a popcorn kernel and since the skin in this area is a bit soft, the hole kinda keeps the shape. I yell for mom that I think I need stitches and she says no I don't. And pops on a butterfly band-aid.

The thing is far more unsightly than stitches. But since I am a cheap skate I'll have to work with what I have. I do think that it won't heal as readily but my options are limited. The worst thing about it is I work tomorrow and I am probably going to have to explain to around 100 people that my sister owned me in a lightsaber brawl.

"I was in a fight" should work and I'll just move along.

At least the bowling plans I had with a bunch of friends was cancelled.

Applauding Police Humor and the Job.

2006-04-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

Lawdog has made some postings that has irked someone with a more liberal mindset and a bunch of comments have popped up when he has hinted at shutting down the blog.

I see his dilemma. I face it when I post and I have a load of funny stories. I just don't want to share them with the public because I am so new it would be pretty easy to figure out who was involved. Another problem is I am a very off-color humored person. So things that are very funny to me can irk the public in general. One of my most funniest incidences at college almost landed me in prison. (Joking about school shootings is not okay! But you really had to be there to see it!)

This is where Law Dog has his gift in getting the funny situation across without putting up the wall of "Us vs Them" Police vs John Q. Public attitude that divides people. I will stay away from that situation even if it means funny stories stay cooped up.

And with that said, I find it awesome that some members of the public are so supportive. They have some good comments with that link that are very nice and understanding of our situation. To quote two commentors on the above site:

THUNDER said...
DAWG! Anyone that has is fortunate to speak with you one-on-one through ANY
means of communication can tell that you are NOTHING like what that...uh...woman
(spoken loosely, but with as much respect as possible *chuckle*) claims you to
be.It all boils down to this:LEO's, ALL of them, regardless of population,
location, training level, crime rates, time on job, etc, have a tasking that
places their own sanity at risk- and the only way to handle it is to be able to
step back and look at the humor of any given situation. YOU have the uncanny
ability of presenting the police humor in such a way as to make MOST people
look at the job, and each situation you write about, the way you do. Through
your writings the "average reader" can put themselves in your shoes and, not
only see WHAT you see... but more importantly, IDENTIFY with HOW you see it.
This IS NOT, nor SHOULD NOT BE, viewed as stereotypical, sexist, racist,
masochistic, necropheliac, or any other five-dollar word that those with
over-active stomach acids want to throw at you.It is simply police humor, that
you are brave enough to share with the world. IMHO, the world needs to see more
of it to truly understand why a passing motorist can look to the side of the
road and see any number of LEO's amongst the chaos of hell itself seemingly
obliviou
s to the terror/pain, whilst still handling the situation itself. THAT,
my friend, is what you bring...an understanding that both, enlightens and
entertains, those that don't know any different.Keep it up Lawdog. Don't let the
voice of a few silence you. The voice of many would surly suffer for it.
6:48 AM

And:

Anonymous said...
Law Dog for what it's worth,
I second the opinion of the majority of the people that have responded earlier.
I've never been a LEO, but I spent 20(+) years in the military in Combat Arms
assignments: the Airborne Infantry for the most part. In my "Twilight Tour,"
just prior to retirement, I helped "run" a Military Training Facility in the
"Republic of Texas" that LEO's from the Local, State, and Federal level used on
a weekly basis. I still hang out with a couple from the local Sheriffs
Department that I met at the local range and through a Martial Arts Academy
where I practice. From what I've heard second hand through these friends and
acquaintances within the LEO community, I've got to say that what I hear in your
stories rings true. Most "war" stories in the military and LEO community, which
my "boss" (peace be upon her) would call testosterone laden, alcohol influenced
lies (doesn'tlady just doesn't have a sense of humor about certain things) follow,
for the most part, a simple pattern. Through no fault of the storyteller's part,
something interesting/scary/stupid/funny happens and by luck; be it blind/bad/
or other, the storyteller muddles through, somehow or another without being to
badly abused. Not only is the story, if told well, good entertainment, it is
also a teaching point for the newer, less experienced members of the community.
Which reminds me of the red, flashing light and the night parachute drop The
problem, as I see it, is that folks who have never been out on the "pointy end"
just can't understand the mindset of folks that have "walked the walk." They are
huddled in their soft, well-protected cocoons where the toughest thing they have
to face is a harshly spoken word directed towards them by one of their
co-workers or boss. (One of these days I need to tell you the story about the
inter-reaction I had with some folks from the Foreign Service on a small island
in the Caribbean.) Even though I no longer "run with the big dogs" (to old, fat,
bald and slow these days) I can still relive the good old days (vicariously of
course) by hanging out with the Young Turks at the Dojo and the Range, and at
your blog. Unless the Sheriff tells you to "tone it down a bit," and if it
continues to bring you as much pleasure to write your tales as it brings me and
others reading them, I would disregard the "PC" ankle-biters: "Sod em" as one
of my Brit "Para" buds would say. As a transplanted Texan residing in the
"People"s Republic of North Carolina" your stories of home, and the Law
Enforcement Community brighten my day immeasurably. Illegitimi Non Carborundum
10:23 AM

It is nice to see a change in the attitude of the public. When I first started in the CJ program I had no police friends online and a lot of hostility from those who were regulars at right-winged forums I visit. (Something that comes naturally for those who want smaller government and less restrictions.) The transition was very weird. But it is starting to mellow. The people are blaming the politicians over the peace enforcer. You all should even here what LEO's think of the law. Kansas has just passed that stupid Muffy's Law. Where you beat an animal you get a felony. That is all good for someone who dunks a puppy in acid. Which is the case that caused the law to be passed. But the average, and most adults do not abuse their animals in that way. And now you want to tell me I can't kick my dog for killing a chicken? One comment I overheard went: Give an officer a concussion or send a wife to jail and you get a misdemeanor. Step on your cat and you lose rights. So you all are not the only ones with these views.

So thanks again from one who has got a bit of a taste of what goes on to those who don't, but have an interest in learning what it is about and being supportive none-the-less. It is appreciated that someone can be thankful about the thankless job.

Lost Gospel of the Bible: Judas

2006-04-08T00:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Coast to Coast for the link.

The site subsection dedicated to the whole project. It is amazing what they are going through and some of the secrets they are releasing are amazing. Part of a story it mentions is Jesus asking Judas to turn him in. Talk about a plot twist. The Codex was found in the 1970's but was ignored until recetly going through a sale by an antiquities dealer. Upon seeing the poor condition it was in he went out and did his best to get people into preservation mode. Luckily for all National Geographic stepped in.

LOL!

2006-04-08T00:51:00.000-07:00

Browsing around on Fox News I found an add that states:

Creating one pound of meth makes five pounds of
toxic waste.

Do you think the people that eat and cook this crap honestly care about the environment when they don't even care about what happens to their bodies? The advertisement is so funny yet stupid I almost want to go get my tax dollars from this wasteful program.

But if they didn't spend the money there, they'd have some other stupid project for it.

Illegal Chinese Aliens

2006-04-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we are an equal opportunity country.

And our ports are so very safe!

Quote of the Day

2006-04-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, I don't update or quote enough to utilize a quote of the day. But this one I learned last week over a public dinner and I thought it was funny.

I really don't think Rhett should be a cop. He
is just too nice and not mean or tough enough.

That is from my Great Uncle Ralph. Who is one of the nicest persons ever created in this whole World. He told it to my Mother who told me last week. This has come up in the past. I am never mean to anyone and take everyone who has a problem seriously. No matter how minor or insignificant it is. Actually my biggest flaw is I take everything personally and get stressed out easily. But I am doing a lot better in that field since I started and finished my CJ classes and have been going through the Ride-alongs.

We'll have to wait and see as to what life throws at me and how I respond.

Pass the Novacaine!

2006-04-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

Dentistry predates anesthesia by severe millennia. OUCH!