Troy Molde awoke at 3 a.m. Thursday to police flashlights shining in his face. Two uniformed Lakeville officers were in his bedroom, knocking on the wall to wake him up. They were there, they said, to warn him to keep his doors closed and locked.
Their surprise visit was part of a public service campaign. Officers had fanned out across the city, leaving notices on doors to remind residents how to prevent thefts by keeping garage doors closed, not leaving valuables in cars and locking windows or doors.
But at Molde's house, they went further. His two sons, ages 5 and 7, and 5-year-old twin nephews were having a sleepover in the living room. They awoke to find the officers in the house. 'I was violated, but ... I wasn't physically damaged,' Molde said of what he considers an invasion of privacy.
The officers told Molde his garage door was open, the TV was on, keys to his truck were left in the ignition and the door to his house was ajar.
Police said the intrusion was justified because the officers' initial door knocks went unanswered. Police went inside to check if anything was wrong, Sgt. Jim Puncochar said. He said the kids were afraid to wake their dad, so the officers went upstairs. 'It really was suspicious,' Puncochar said.
But Molde, 34, said he went upstairs to bed at midnight. Molde didn't shut the garage door, and he remembers leaving the doors to his house closed but unlocked. The kids fell asleep watching TV. Three hours later, he had police in his bedroom. He immediately thought something was wrong. 'I was just dazed,' said the 34-year-old dad. 'It's not a safe way of (police) protection.'
Puncochar said officers left pamphlets Thursday at eight other houses as a friendly reminder of ways residents can avoid becoming victims of crimes, such as burglary. 'We went there to determine that everyone was safe,' Puncochar said.
Officers also leave the messages when checking on a home security alarm or to warn of a law violation they see at the residence. The department began using door hangers a year ago to tackle a rise in burglaries in 2006, Chief Tom Vonhof said at the time.
Police say many crimes originate with open garage doors. Last month, a 52-year-old Burnsville man was stabbed and left to die in his burning town house after two assailants entered his home at 4:30 a.m. by way of an open garage door. The suspects, who stole the man's car to escape, entered the garage and home through unlocked doors. Police have not found the assailants.
Leaving a door hanger for residents is a method used by other police departments nationally, Vonhof said. It can help create a police presence.
Lakeville police gave Molde a reminder he won't forget anytime soon. 'I haven't figured out what I should do with it yet,' Molde said.
This is going to end in tragedy, with either a dead innocent person or a dead police officer. Someone one night is going to wake up with a flashlight shining in his eyes and reach for a pistol on the nightstand.
Of course the man is an idiot to leave the garage door wide open. But police just can't go into a home, even if they knocked, without a warrant. This simply isn't right.
#2
""I haven't figured out what I should do with it yet," Molde said."
Try locking up at night?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/20/2008 10:40 Comments ||
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#3
But police just can't go into a home, even if they knocked, without a warrant.
A little advice passed on to me from my father when dealing with cops. 'You can right, dead right. Do what the man says and don't hassle him. He's usually having a bad day too.'
#4
"But police just can't go into a home, even if they knocked, without a warrant."
So they find doors open at 3 am but don't go inside because they have no warrant. They do, however, note it in their log, which is available to the public. Next day, worried relative or friend of the occupant goes to the house because the occupant doesn't show up at work or whatever and finds said occupant dead. Autopsy shows occupant was murdered during the night, but didn't die right away - in fact could have probably been saved it they'd gotten help hours earlier. Relatives sue the cops for the death.
As the police sergeant said, open doors, lights on, TV on, no answer to their knocks - suspicious situation. It probably would have been better if they weren't standing by the guy's bed when they woke him up, but they did try to get the kids to do it first.
Maybe Mr. Molde would have felt better if the two clowns who attacked the other man, stole his car, and set his house on fire had dropped by instead?
What absolutely amazes me is that this guy called the media and basically admitted - and asked them to broadcast - that he's an idiot who endangered his kids and his relative's kids as well.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/20/2008 11:39 Comments ||
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#5
Little advice to anyone trying to force entry at that hour...
Don't. It won't turn out like a daisy.
I can understand the police officers were following their instructions, I question the competency of those who implemented the police instructions; especially at that hour.
**reading between the lines, if this guy was responsible for the safety of 4 kids, perhaps he should be more aware of his surroundings.
#6
They didnt kick the door down and come in with a swat team, they came in an open door to investigate why in the world it was wide open at 3AM. Could have been a burglar there and the family was away, could have been a murderer had fled after slaughtering the occupants.
Sufficient probable cause was obvious.
No warrant needed - it was open and accessable to the public, and was a matter of safety for the occupants.
It was not FORCED ENTRY. Sheesh people, read the article.
The guy left things wide open and the cops simply walked in.
#7
True, not forced entry but that isn't what I was getting at. If I had to guess, the guy was probably drunk and passed out or at any rate not minding the kids. If I were one of the officers I would have done the same thing. I have had a law enforcement officer enter my property gun drawn - we had a laugh afterwards and I realize he was doing the right thing but it was not much fun at first. It is the difference between a law enforcemnt officer knowing the beat compared to going by the playbook. The article reads like a scare tactic police state line.
#9
I guess I disagree with most of you. There are options before you enter the home. The house has a doorbell. Ring it. You have a bullhorn. Use it. Call for backup and get the watch commander to call for a warrant.
I repeat, someone's gonna die someday when they wake up with a flashlight in their face.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 15:46 Comments ||
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#10
Cops should enter non-secured buildings. If a door is unlocked, it is possible that a thief picked same. The public tends to focus on the law enforcement aspect of police work. Crime Prevention is equally important.
#11
This is more along the lines of why the Drills in bootcamp bust your butt for failing to lock your footlocker (or wall locker).
Stop feeding the thieves is a good act of prevention, along with "broken window" enforcement.
Open garage and an open house door are in an invitiation to a theif, rapist or murderer. The cops were well within their rights to investigate - and to do so without hitting the doorbell due to the door being open. Had it been a thif, etc, rining the bell or knocing would have only tipped off the criminal and possibly caused them to harm any innocents inthe house.
Knock or ring the bell? If the door is shit, sure. But not in this case with a wide open garage and an open door.
#12
MODS! I hit send too soon - - the above should read door is shUt (please fix if you can). As long as its shut it doesnt matter how sh*tty the door is.
#13
the officers' initial door knocks went unanswered. The officers told Molde his garage door was open, the TV was on, keys to his truck were left in the ignition and the door to his house was ajar.
And they didn't shake Mr. Molde awake, but knocked on his wall from a distance, when the children were afraid to disturb him. I've had occasional dealings with child services; in my limited experience they tend to assume physical abuse when the children are afraid of adults. Were I he, I'd be grateful for their care and compassion, not to mention guarding a careless neighborhood at 3:00 in the bloody a.m... or taking all the kids away because poor, violated Mr. Molde had endangered them.
When Diane McMahon's 15-year-old son ran away in November 2005, she immediately reported him missing to Mesa police. But after nearly three years of false hope and lost leads, McMahon had given up Michael Gonzalez for dead.
On Wednesday, Gonzalez's family found out he is alive and well - in state prison - and has been for nearly two years. Gonzalez, now 17, lied to Mesa police officers about his age when he was arrested in February 2006 and was able to maintain the ruse until he broke down to a prison psychologist this week.
'When I got that phone call this morning, I thought they were calling to tell us they found his body and that he was dead,' said Gonzalez's sister, Amanda Mayberry. 'I couldn't imagine my sweet little brother not wanting us to know that he was alive.'
The answer to why the teenager lied to get into prison with adult felons may rest in court documents. '(Gonzalez) stated he wanted to go to prison to show how 'bad' he was,' according to the records.
But how the teen was able to dupe the system is much more puzzling to his family and authorities. 'There's never been anything like this before,' said Nolberto Machiche, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.
Gonzalez ran away from home once in the fall of 2005, and his mother called Mesa police, who found her son and brought him back home after Gonzalez gave officers his name and birth date.
When he got home, Gonzales vowed to never give up his information to police again, Mayberry said. Gonzalez ran away again a few weeks later, and McMahon filed a missing-persons report the following morning.
Three months later, Mesa police responded to a burglary call in the parking lot of Banner Mesa Medical Center and arrested a teen suspected of stealing car stereos and hitting a hospital security officer who had tried to detain him. The suspect spelled out his name to police as 'Michael Gonzales' and gave a birth date of July 1988. Gonzalez was born in August 1990.
Mesa police did not connect Michael Alejandro Gonzales, the suspected stereo thief, with Michael Alejandro Gonzalez, the missing person, and booked the suspect into jail. He would go on to prison and become, according to corrections records, a hardened inmate.
Even had Gonzalez not lied about his age, the teen might have faced time behind bars: State law would have obligated prosecutors to try Gonzalez as an adult, even at 15, because he was accused of having used a weapon. But his family would have learned he was alive and could have mounted a defense to keep him out of prison or, at the very least, have his sentence reduced.
So that he could be sprung and go back to a life of stealing car steroes.
As a minor, he would also have been kept away from inmates in the general population.
'I know that Mesa didn't do their job. I think that if Michael was in their system, he should have come up,' McMahon said. 'I can't describe what my family's been through: Getting up every morning sick to your stomach thinking they're going to call and tell me they found him in a ditch somewhere.'
She said that although the family never used its phone, she kept that number for years just in case Gonzalez called. McMahon's mother died earlier this year not knowing whether her grandson was dead or alive.
Gonzalez never tried to contact his family and never told police or correctional authorities his real age.
Seems like he didn't want his family to know what had happened to him. Wonder why ...
He was ultimately discovered when a detective in Mesa's missing-persons bureau, after much hounding by Mayberry, put Gonzalez's name through the Department of Corrections database and found a person with the same name and description.
Police typically run names of suspects through a series of databases to determine whether they have prior offenses, are wanted in connection with other crimes or are listed as a missing person. The system is supposed to flag similar names, but Mesa police are at a loss to explain what happened, other than to say Gonzalez is largely to blame.
'Our officers, based on the information we had, based on who we believed him to be, attempted to make contact with a parent or guardian but were unsuccessful,' said Detective Steve Berry, a Mesa police spokesman. 'And we were unsuccessful because the information he was giving was so erroneous.'
Once the 15-year-old Gonzalez affixed his fingerprints to a card identifying him as Michael Gonzales, 17, that became his identity in the legal system. Mesa officers took him to Maricopa County's juvenile-detention facility, but he stayed there for less than 24 hours.
Though authorities believed Gonzalez was 17 at the time of his arrest, County Attorney Andrew Thomas' office, because of the seriousness of the crimes Gonzalez was accused of, charged him as an adult for stealing stereos and stabbing a security officer with a screwdriver. Had he remained in the juvenile facility, an investigative officer would have searched for Gonzalez's family or brought in Child Protective Services, said Carol Boone, chief juvenile probation officer for Maricopa County.
When he was sentenced in August 2006, authorities believed Gonzalez to be 18, and the 16-year-old was thrown into a prison system with adult felons. Prison records show that Gonzalez seemed to fit right in. Within a month, Gonzalez was found guilty of his first major prison offense; since then, he has committed seven more, including fights, assaults and threats.
So despite the errors the authorities seemed to have figured out just what kind of 'man' Mr. Gonzalez was ...
Court records indicate Gonzalez told officers he smoked marijuana and drank malt liquor on a daily basis for a number of years before his 2006 arrest.
But Mayberry said that's not what was happening when they were growing up in Oklahoma. 'We come from a very sheltered small-town life,' she said. 'He came here and just lost his mind.'
The booze and the joints might have had something to do with that ...
Gonzalez ultimately lost his youth in the state's prison system, and authorities can't really explain why. He has been removed from the prison's general population while corrections officials work with the courts to determine Gonzalez's future.
'I have no doubt that Michael's pretty messed up right now,' McMahon said. 'But somebody's got to answer for why my son ended up in prison.'
#1
"I couldn't imagine my sweet little brother ... But somebody's got to answer for why my son ended up in prison."
BWAHAHA! You're joking, right?
Gonzalez never tried to contact his family and never told police or correctional authorities his real age.
Here's a free clue - your little snowflake was a friken THUG. Somone need to read this part to the parents until it sinks in:
Gonzalez was [quickly] found guilty of his first major prison offense; since then, he has committed seven more, including fights, assaults and threats.
And all that on top of burglary, and violent assault with a weapon.
Sheesh. This one ought to go on a page in the dictionary titled "Denial"
#2
"Gonzalez ultimately lost his youth in the state's prison system, and authorities can't really explain why."
Then let ME explain why: because Gonzalez is a lying, criminal, dumbass. He's in prison because that's where he wants to be, and that's obviously where he belongs, and where he should stay for the rest of his pathetic, worthless life.
#3
where he should stay for the rest of his pathetic, worthless life.
Which should not be very long. In a just society this punk would be looking at a very real possibility of becoming an involuntary organ donor if he committed another crime.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/20/2008 11:55 Comments ||
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#4
As the HiPo fundraising agent said, "It ain't Mayberry anymore is it, mr swksvolFF?"
#7
Careful, you're going to give TW the vapors ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 17:27 Comments ||
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#8
The vapours? *smacks Dr. Steve with her antique carved ivory fan, hard* Mama McMahon should either have moved the family back to Oklahoma when her son started misbehaving, or should have fostered him with a strong male relative who could control him until he outgrew this nonsense. Someone like OldSpook or Old Patriot, for choice. Young Michael Alejandro Gonzalez -- what happened to Papa Gonzalez, by the way? -- is living out his romantic dream, hemorrhoids, sexually transmitted diseases, and all. Perhaps he'll outgrow such nonsense in a decade or two -- others have managed to.
#9
Snark aside, I've read about such things happening before. The reason was what TU3031 alluded to. Apparently homosexual rape in the adult prisons, while fairly common, doesn't happen in the wholesale lots that it does in the juvie system. Some young guys who have been on the receiving end of such treatment look at getting into adult jail as an escape to relative safety.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/20/2008 18:55 Comments ||
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'Nuff said. A 19-year-old man accidentally shot and killed himself Tuesday morning while he was attempting to rob a Grand Prairie home, authorities said.
'Gimme yer dough! [BANG!] ... and call me an ambulance!'
Cameron Sands, 19, of Fort Worth kicked in the door of the house and then shot himself in the stomach as he pulled a gun out of his pants to shoot the homeowner, Grand Prairie police said. The homeowner was not injured.
'Okay. You're an ambulance.'
After Mr. Sands shot himself, he dropped the gun and ran out of the home.
'Blood-soaked sneakers don't fail me now!'
Police found his body around 5:30 a.m. in the driveway of the home in the 2800 block Garden Grove Road, said Lt. John Brimmer, a Grand Prairie police spokesman.
'Hello? Is this the police? There's a blood-soaked body in my driveway. Wouldja mind hauling it away? I can't get my car out!'
This is the first that Ive heard of a robbery suspect killing himself as he is drawing a gun out of his waist band, Lt. Brimmer said. The criminal evidence points to that. It certainly isnt common. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner has ruled the death an accident. ...and so we bid a a not so fond farewell to Cameron "Quick Draw" Sands.
#1
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner has ruled the death an accident.
The transport of, entry with, and drawing of the gun were all premeditated. It was no accident. Qualifies as a case of terminal cranial rectal insertion or substandard NO-GO training, but not an accident.
#2
I bet his parents sue the gun manufacture for having a faulty product. Though I would say it worked just fine.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/20/2008 9:05 Comments ||
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#3
You're absolutely right, Charles. It was the gun's fault. It should have guessed this kid was as scared as the homeowner, had a twitchy trigger finger, and should have had a 10 pound trigger pull so that he wouldn't stupidly blow his own guts out. Time to collect.
"Maybe you can help me. I live in Grand Prarie and I have a rather unusual problem."
"That's what we at the Martha Stewart help line are for. Why don't you explain your problem. This call may be recorded for quality control purposes."
"Well, I have this rather large bloodstain in my concrete driveway. It has dried and just spraying it with the hose doesn't affect it."
"How terrible, did you husband cut himself or was it from cleaning fish?"
" Neither, this little bastard broke into my housem but then ran away. And I guess he felt so bad about what he ahd done, he gut shot himself and died. Blood and small intenstine bits and pieces all over. Some even splattered onto my Prius."
"Well this is unusaul, but if you mix a strong solution of TSP with vinegar, it should work. Or at least smell really, really bad."
"Thanks, you've been a big help."
"No Problem, that's what the Martha Stewart help line is for."
"Or there is one more thing, is the blood on my Prius corrosive?"
#11
Probably thought he was Napoleon and blew his Boneapart.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/20/2008 17:45 Comments ||
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#12
A few years ago a sheriff in a nearby county had baby Glock in his front pants pocket. He got Glock tangled up with his keys and had an unintentional discharge, i.e. he shot himself in the leg.
We also had our version of this Darwin nominee a couple of days ago. A guy robbed a local bank but forgot to gas up and ran out of gas down the road a short piece and was easily caught. Maybe his plan was to rob the bank and then gas up since he now had some money but ran out of gas before he could find a filling station.
The B.C. Coroners Service has found that the sixth foot found washed ashore in British Columbia is not human. A provincial forensic pathologist and anthropologist have examined the shoe and remains and have determined that it is the skeleton of an animal paw that was inserted into the shoe along with a sock and packed with dried seaweed, the coroners service announced Thursday.
Investigators said the foot was deliberately put there by pranksters.
Can't get anything past the investigators ...
'This type of hoax is reprehensible and very disrespectful to the families of missing persons,' said a news release from the service. 'It fuels inappropriate speculation and creates undue anxiety for families and communities while wasting valuable investigative time and resources that could be spent on the main investigations.'
The B.C. Coroners Service has concluded their investigation into the incident.
The sixth foot, encased in a black Adidas shoe, was found on Wednesday around 10 a.m. in Campbell River, B.C., by a woman collecting rocks along the beach. The site is on the eastern side of Vancouver Island, 270 kilometres north of Victoria.
All six of the feet have been found since August 2007 in the Strait of Georgia, which is sheltered from the Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island, or nearby in the mouth of the Fraser River. All have been right feet except the fifth foot that was found Monday in Delta, B.C. Police have only confirmed that the second foot found was a size 12 foot in a Reebok shoe.
The last two feet were found washed up in the delta of the Fraser River just south of Vancouver. The other three were discovered on islands between 100 and 200 kilometres south of Campbell River in the Strait of Georgia that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland.
Those of you who are concerned about intrusions on your privacy, should consider this example of someone desperate to have their privacy intruded on and luckily they got it.
A MOTHER is accused of partially skinning her caged son and feeding it to relatives. Kalra Mauerova, 31, of Brno in the Czech Republic, wept in court as she admitted torturing her son Ondrej, and his ten-year-old brother, Jakub, The Sun reported.
Ms Maureva, a member of the Grail Movement Cult, caged Ondrej for months while relatives, also members of the cult, ate his raw flesh, a judge heard yesterday. The court in the Brno heard the family sexually abused the boys and made them cut themselves with knives. The boys said they were kept in cages or handcuffed to tables and made to stand for days in their own urine.
The abuse was discovered when a man living nearby installed a TV monitor to keep watch on his newborn baby. Instead of pictures of his newborn he was confronted by live images of Ondrej naked in the cellar beaten and chained, The Sun reporrted.
Ms Mauerova is understood to have installed the monitor so she could watch her victims suffering from her kitchen.
Police were called, and the boy and his brother, as well as what appeared to be a 13-year-old girl, were freed. The teenage girl later turned out to be 34 and one of the torturers.
#1
But still, there is no reason the world needed to know about that story. I thought my 9yo daughter was going to go into convulsions when I clicked on that story on Fox's news site not knowing she was behind me. Stories like that should be on some kind of "adults only" x-rated section or something. I *really* don't need information of that sort being pushed into my livingroom, it is just plain horrible.
#2
I would make it a point in future to not insulate your daughter from the really awful things. Kids know they are being lied to by omission, and that can have serious psychological consequences.
Instead, explaining horror to kids is like telling them about sex. It needs to be done in a serious, but not gratuitous manner, over a long period of time, to give them a chance to emotionally digest the information.
Be very clear about one thing: knowing about evil and horror does not make a person evil or horrible. In fact, it makes them the opposite, because they are aware of, and can both avoid and reject such things.
Almost as important is to tell her that many of her peers have *not* been exposed to such things, and are emotionally unable to deal with it, so she should refrain from talking with them about it. It can easily overwhelm them, and they will take it out on her.
I am convinced that many Goth kids are that way because the adults around them have tried to limit their exposure to anything that isn't "nice". The kids do pick it up, but are terrified that there are things so awful that the adults can't talk about it.
It gives them nightmares that they are not being told the truth, because the truth is "too horrible" for them to know. So they fixate on morbidity and pursue it, because they are truly scared.
They just want to be told the truth. And once they are, the whole Goth thing goes right out the window.
#3
Anonymoose, my kids are the age where they still internalize things. They see a story like that and they think it could happen to them, that someone is going to come and skin them and eat them. It adds unnecessary stress. That is something that would probably happen only once in their lifetime, isn't likely to be repeated within 1000 miles of them, and so there really is no reason to know about it.
How does that information help them make better choices in life? It doesn't. It isn't news. It is very very very morbid entertainment. The story is designed to appeal to some people's curiosity of the morbid. It isn't "news you can use" for anything at all.
Human beings are capable of anything. I really don't need to have that kind of information pushed in my face. Having it available should I look for it is one thing, having it dropped into my lap when I didn't request it is something else. That story in no way enriched my life or provided me with any information I can use to enrich it. It was trash entertainment. Nothing more.
#4
But let me put this opinion in the perspective in which I am seeing it ... there seems to be quite a spate lately of putting horrible crimes against children in the headlines. Psychologically, it makes it seem that there are more of them than there really are. If you hear about one every day, it gives one the sense that the killing and mutilation and other horrible, unspeakable crimes against kids is more commonplace than it is. This is especially true when you are young and still forming your perception of the world.
It seems like every single day, Fox and other media outlets have to run a story about someone doing something horrible to children. It is the latest news fad. Today's story is "Teacher Burns Crosses On Kids" in bold print ... as one of the top three news items at the top of the page.
On the eve of the world championship of remote-control flight, an American financier, a three-star general, a jet engineer and the Air Forces most powerful civilian have come together in Thailand to build the perfect fighting planeat 1:5 scale
If a sodden rice paddy feels soft and forgiving underfoot, it is not a merciful place to set down an airplane at 200 mph. And thats only one of Mike Selbys reasons to look nervous as he watches his A-10 Warthoga 10-foot-wide, 65-pound, hand-built modelbegin its maiden takeoff roll down a rough asphalt runway near Bangkok, Thailand. Selby, who spent over $12,000 and the better part of a year fabricating and building this radio-controlled jet, stands runwayside with his thumbs hooked into the belt loops of his jeans, trying to look relaxed as he draws on a Cuban cigar. But he cant stop tapping his foot. Next to him, pilot Ray Johns, a U.S. Air Force general and test pilot who has flown everything from Air Force One to the U2 surveillance plane, chews a wad of gum with anxious rapid-fire chomps and leans back against the weight of the control console hanging from his neck.
This is one of the things that simultaneously satisfies my geek side and my grunt side.
As far as I am concerned the A-10 has the last real combat mud-mover pilots in the USAF driving them - its the only stick and rudder combat aircraft left in the USAF, the only one that can get down in the weeds, and the only ones whose pilots have the guts to come in low and slow and kick the living snot out of anything in its path.
Its the combat trooper's favorite airplane, and I may very well owe my life to these aircraft and their brave pilots (and the combat controllers who direct them while in the dirt with us). They certainly made it easier for me and my troops to get home years ago, driving by blown out tanks instead of having to fight them.
#3
OK, OS, don't go all soft on us; you aren't the only one that has a certain something for formed aluminum, the smell of hydraulic fluid and JP; that sheen on you finger after carressing a (seeping) strut; or lusted after that last echo of a turbine ( or better yet, a radial)winding down fades from the ear.
At least airplanes don't care if you've touched another airplane.
#4
Of course, the AF fighter mafia has been fighting for years to get rid of the warthog. They're not sleek, sexy, stealthy, or supersonic. They only cost about $500,000 per copy.
Too bad they are so damned effective at what they were designed for - close combat air support. The Army should take them over, and give them the place of honor they deserve.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
06/20/2008 18:04 Comments ||
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#5
It's adorable! Actually, all the models in the competition are. Congratulations to all who competed.
#6
Every time the USAF tries to phase them out the Army steps up and tries to take them. As a (former) soldier, we'd love to have them. They'd fit right in at Fort Rucker with the other fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.
I guess the USAF is scared that the Army will prove that Warrant Officers can fly them just fine and break the USAF of its officer monopoly - and potentially break the fighter mafia.
#7
Gaaawd, as a former Modeler and Rocketeer myself I wish was there. Although I have seen working models of that size in the mainland US, 'TWAS USUALLY STATIC/FIXED DISPLAY, + NOT IN MOTION LIKE THIS ONE. GAAAWD ALSO FORGIVE, BUT I ALSO WANNA PAINT GUN TO SEE IFF I CAN HIT ONE OF THESE IN FLIGHT!
Bright Chunks At Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice
June 19, 2008 -- Dice-size crumbs of bright material have vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander four days ago, convincing scientists that the material was frozen water that vaporized after digging exposed it.
"It must be ice," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."
The chunks were left at the bottom of a trench informally called "Dodo-Goldilocks" when Phoenix's Robotic Arm enlarged that trench on June 15, during the 20th Martian day, or sol, since landing. Several were gone when Phoenix looked at the trench early today, on Sol 24.
Also early today, digging in a different trench, the Robotic Arm connected with a hard surface that has scientists excited about the prospect of next uncovering an icy layer.
The Phoenix science team spent Thursday analyzing new images and data successfully returned from the lander earlier in the day.
[..]
#6
Tucson. 'These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days,
More evidence of terrestial warming.
Posted by: Al Gore ||
06/20/2008 19:40 Comments ||
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#7
Could it be Beaufort or Gruyère? Finding ice on on another planet is a very poor way to spend our fiscal resources, just now anyway. An old man's opinion, nothing more.
#11
FARK.com Poster > MSNBC > CLIMATESCIENCE Blog - WEATHER AND CLIMATE EXTREMES IN A CHANGING CLIMATE - REGIONS OF FOCUS: NORTH AMERICA, HAWAII, CARIBBEAN, AND PACIFIC ISLANDS Report + GLOBAL WARMING AND [Earth's]MAGNETIC FIELD LINKED.; + SCIENCEDAILY > GLOBAL WARMING TO FUEL MORE SEVERE WEATHER.
MARS' "ICE" vv MAGNETIC FIELD + espec SUN???
ONE DAY > HAARP, etc. on MARS to induce artificial planetary spin = WARMING + ATMOSPHERE FOR LIFE [Man = God]???
Posted for the fact that we continue to invest in Somalia's neighbor, and for the rather positive attitude of the Kenyan PM.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga got the approval of US congressmen, agencies, financiers and diplomats who easily endorsed a further US$ 90 million (Sh5.85 billion) funding for Kenya's rehabilitation programme. Washington also promised Kenya more money in the next two years as the PM articulated Kenya's reform agenda at a luncheon where nearly 300 guests gave him a standing ovation.
"Africa only needs investment and trade," said the PM amidst thunderous applause after he explained that the aid was to boost Kenya's economy, severely dented by the recent socio-political crisis. He appealed to American investors to venture into public-private sector partnerships with Kenya, saying continental foreign aid had mostly been diverted to individual accounts abroad.
The PM is due to sign the Open-Skies Agreement on Thursday. Under the Agreement, airlines, not governments, will decide which cities to serve, the frequency of flights, the equipment used, and the prices charged. This is expected to strengthen and expand trade and tourism links with Kenya, and provide multi-million dollar benefits to American and Kenyan carriers and the travelling public, while preserving commitment to aviation safety and security.
The PM also urgently wants one-stop shops set up in Kenya to provide an enabling investment environment. Taking a swipe at past African dictatorship and corruption, Mr Odinga exhorted Afro-optimism saying he believed the continent would see change. "It's a long way from single-party, military and strong-man leadership," said the PM, adding that Africa must now espouse transparency, accountability and good governance. He said that though the grand coalition Government pioneered in Kenya was not easy, it was an option for troubled African states.
US Assistant Secretary of State Dr. Jendayi Frazer and the President of US Corporate Councils Steven Hayes praised Odinga's role in the Peace Accord and said Kenya's once vibrant economy and strategic position in the Horn of Africa prompted intervention by the United States, Britain and European Union. "We are also keen to address regional security with Kenya," Dr. Frazer told the meeting attended by US government officials, agencies, Congress, Senate, civil societies and diplomatic corps, the World Bank, and the IMF.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Most of the people Socialism killed were in Africa. Odinga is saying the right things and maybe they will happen and Kenya becomes an African Tiger. If so, then great, but I would bet my money on it.
A dog owner is facing a bill of more than £1,000 for allowing his collie to foul grass outside his home. Paul Griffiths, who is disabled, was prosecuted after CCTV footage appeared to capture his dog Mitzy making a mess outside his council flat. The 48-year-old was at first given an £80 penalty, but refused to accept the fine, saying his dog had only been urinating.
Mr Griffiths, who has a lung disorder, missed the subsequent court hearing due to ill health and was convicted in his absence. He was fined £160 and ordered to pay costs of £883 at Bristol Magistrates' Court.
He said afterwards: 'I think it's disgusting. I took my dog downstairs for a wee and because she's a girl she squats. Yeah, that's what they do...
'About a week later two dog wardens ... TWO ?!?
... came to my house and said, 'Your dog fouled on the grass'. 'We can't see it, but we know she did, really!!' I said, 'No she didn't' and asked them to leave.'
Mr Griffiths, who is reliant on benefits, claims the images were blurred, and says he cannot afford to pay the penalty. 'They say I have 21 days to pay. How on earth can I do that? I'm on benefits.'
Bristol City councillor Judith Price, once a proud 'Dog Warden' herself, said: 'This owner showed no regard for his neighbours or surroundings and as a result now has to face costs of more than £1,000.'
A Bristol City Council spokesman named Hassan defended the decision to bring the case. 'Allowing a dog to foul a public place is unsanitary and totally unsociable as well as 'haram'. 'Next we'll be checking out what the dog does inside Mr. Griffiths' council flat as that too, by definition, is a 'public place'.' 'We want people to know that they will not get away with it and it will not be treated lightly,' he said.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/20/2008 12:38 ||
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OK, call me uncaring, but when you are on welfare, seems to me that caring for an animal is low on the list of priorities.
And thislooks like some kind of diversion to keep the spotlight off other welfare cases. like turbans.
good thing the dog didn't foul a quran.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/20/2008 13:42 Comments ||
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Yeah, because no one ever broke a light bulb.
And they all come from China. Wonderful.
Instapundit, BTW, had a story a while back about a woman in MA who had to spend over two grand on a hazmat team to clean up after she broke a CFL in her small apartment. Just one.
#3
holy SHIT! A congressman who read the constitution!
Personally I think he should have walked up to the speaker and break the light bulb on her desk. Force the evacuation of the chambers and likely replacement of the speaker's desk.
#4
The amount of mercury doesn't pose an immediate hazard. However, if we use the standards of intolerance that the EPA has created for naturally occurring arsenic in water [parts per billion], then it will be. A decade ago the standard for arsenic was 50 parts per billion. The EPA jacked that down to 10 parts. In Albuquerque, that will require a significant hike in processing water. Even though there is no scientific evidence in the form of a comparison of populations of similar social-economic groups using both [the 50 and the 10] which demonstrates any statistical significant difference in illnesses or diseases related to arsenic, the government mandates compliance because of political pressure of self appointed special interest groups who don't give a crap about real science only 'scare' science. The same type of yahoos who run the Human Global Warming scare. You can count on this whole deal repeating itself on mercury, especially when those same people finally get around to doing the math of 300 million Americans dumping the stuff in their garbage for a decade accumulating in landfills. Times Beach Part Two.
#5
When Lawrence KS passed its smoking ban, businesses would be fined if people were smoking inside them. People would go into city hall and light a cigerette. Perhaps something similar for congress?
BTW, is there a petition out there I can sign up on to protest this rediculous reach of poor government policy.
No truck driver plying on the Haatgamria-Baraiburu road in Jharkhand can escape without giving him his due. He is no toll collector, but a tusker, who has got separated from a herd. He stands for hours each day on the road waiting for food-laden trucks to give him his daily quota of food.
We dont mind giving him a bunch of fruits, rice or other eatables. This is his toll, says a trucker plying on the route.
Fondly called Ramu Haathi, he is not always friendly. If he cannot spot a food-laden truck the whole day, he raids roadside hotels for food.
Assistant Conservator of Forests Arvind Kumar says Ramu got detached from a herd several months ago and took shelter in Saranda forests, nearly 50 km from here.
Normally such a loner becomes violent and attacks human habitats, but Ramu is an exception. He has jelled so well with villagers that they take care of it, said Mr. Kumar, who is posted in West Singhbhum district.
Occasionally, elephants in herds emerge from the forests looking for food. People erect barriers on the route to prevent them from attacking them and crops. But the elephants become ferocious and attack villages, says Mr. Kumar.
Wild elephants were responsible for the death of 168 people in Jharkhand between 2005 and 2007, the highest figure for any State in the eastern region.
But, villagers blame the Forest Department for elephants straying into their habitat.
The Forest Department used to provide crackers, burnt up tyres to check the elephants from straying into villages. But, last year they stopped giving the stuff, said a member of the Manki Munda Sangh, a tribal body.
However, Mr. Kumar said the department was providing the necessary help to protect themselves and their crops from the wild animals.
Not only food, local brews mahua and haria also attract them to villages. Once they get the intoxicating smell, the elephants will not leave the place without tasting it.
West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Sunil Kumar said the Centre had approved a scheme, part of Project Elephant launched in 1992, to assist States with free ranging populations of wild elephants, for the Porahaat, Kolhan and Saranda areas. But it was yet to take off. Jharkhand is one of 13 States covered under the project, entitling it to financial and technical assistance.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/20/2008 19:00 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
06/20/2008 19:03 Comments ||
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A perfect addition for the New Orleans zoo. Quick get him a FEMA trailer.
A group that advocates separation of church and state filed a federal lawsuit Thursday to prevent South Carolina from becoming the first state to create "I Believe" license plates.
I don't believe it.
The group contends that South Carolina's government is endorsing Christianity by allowing the plates, which would include a cross superimposed on a stained glass window.
I think the guys suing should get equal time. Their plates might include a dipstick in a toilet.
Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed the lawsuit on behalf of two Christian pastors, a humanist pastor and a rabbi in South Carolina, along with the Hindu American Foundation. "I do believe these 'I Believe' plates will not see the light of day because the courts, I'm confident, will see through this," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, the group's executive director.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Bad idea. Someone will sue to have star and crescent added to show diversity. If you want to advertise your religion, buy a magnet sticker or something. Vanity plates are out of control.
#4
The kicker is these plates have to be special ordered just like any other vanity plate. The words "I Believe" are not on every single South Carolina plate. If someone wants to pay the extra bucks, that's fine by me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/20/2008 7:53 Comments ||
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South Carolina has a crescent moon on their flag already.
The Islamic Republic of Palmetto? Seriously, where did it come from in SC's case?
Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 ||
06/20/2008 8:02 Comments ||
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Who'd think a second rank song from a forgettable cheesy movie would cause such a stir?
#8
Christians having a cross is the issue? Fine let others have their symbols too.
Muslims get a crescent.
Jews get a star of david although Id think you have to have a lot of courage to have that on a license plate given the anti-semitism in the country now on the political left.
Etc.
Let the Atheists have their own "I dont beleive" plates with a "No" (slashed red circle) in it - probably sell like crazy too just for the snark on college campuses.
And I guess the Agnostics get "I dunno if I beleive" and a question mark.
#13
Somebody needs to read the First Amendment. The words "separation of church and state" are not in there. All it says is that the government cannot establish a religion, nor prevent the practice of a religion.
Freedom of religion does not mean freedom FROM religion.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
06/20/2008 15:17 Comments ||
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This is silliness, indeed. Where does the extra money charged for such vanity plates go?
#16
Let them design their own vanity plate then, OldSpook, and pay the voluntary road tax too, if it so pleases them. Me, I go with the plain ones, and work out my fair share in other ways.
#17
I have a Tennessee Walking Horse tag on my truck and a Sons of Confederate Veterans tag on my car. The State allows it so what's the big deal? Here in Tennessee you can get a tag with you college Alma Mater on it. There are a lot more important issues than filing a lawsuit because of a car tag. Get a life, already!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/20/2008 19:03 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
When Diane McMahon's 15-year-old son ran away in November 2005, she immediately reported him missing to Mesa police. But after nearly three years of false hope and lost leads, McMahon had given up Michael Gonzalez for dead.
A 19-year-old man accidentally shot and killed himself Tuesday morning while he was attempting to rob a Grand Prairie home, authorities said. 
