Kowabunga

The first I heard of the Pasadena, Texas, burglary shooting was this week when a bunch of Black Panthers showed up in protest and stating that they would not be surprised if the shooting of two burglars by a neighbor as being racially motivated.

Now, some new facts have hit the wires. The burglars were illegal aliens; the owners of the target home were immigrants, and, according to reports, based on their surname, probably Vietnamese; the shooter, Joe Horn, is white.

The dead preps both had multiple identification documents and aliases; they may have been involved in a crime ring. One of them had been deported back to Colombia in 1999 and previously convicted on felony cocaine charges.

There are "activists", such as the Black Panthers, that are outraged that Joe Horn shot and killed the perps. They want us to believe that Joe Horn is the bad guy and the perps did not deserve to die. Maybe they are half right. Maybe they didn't deserve to die. I don't know the full circumstances under which Horn was forced to pop those two perps. Horn may have been in fear of his life. I don't know. They were criminals in the act of committing a crime and Texas law may well be on Horn's side.

The facts of the matter are that if the Feds spent the effort to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders to prevent people from entering our country illegally, then this incident would not have happened. Both the perps would be alive, just not living in the U.S. and Horn would not be the center of a controversial shooting of a couple of criminal illegal aliens.

Ortiz and Torres have become two more reasons why we need to secure our borders and enforce our current immigration laws, and that any plan to "reform" current laws without first securing the borders is flat out wrong, especially any plan that would grant amnesty and a path to citizenship to scumbags like Ortiz and Torres.

Tags:

Texas Horn Pasadena Burglary

Posted by Sqotty at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

This is all over the news tonight. I heard about it on my drive home from work. The bridge on Minnesota 35W crossing the Mississippi river collapsed this evening. The Star Tribune is reporting that at least 1 person is dead. Radio reports on the local airwaves have given the number killed as being three.

This is a serious travesty, at least as bad as the collapse of the Bay Bridge and an overpass in the East Bay that occurred during the '89 earthquake.

On my drive home I saw several emergency vehicles speeding north...I am assuming they were headed to the scene.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families, as well as to the many emergency workers who will most likely be working through the night, despite a big storm headed their way.

UPDATE: Current reports on the radio are that 10 people are dead, 20 missing and at least 60 injured. Given the time of day this occurred, it could have been much worse.The radio stations continue to cover this tragic accident and informing people to stay clear of the area.

UPDATE: Radio stations have dropped the fatality count down to 4. Still 20 missing.

Posted by Sqotty at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

FoxNews had this report:

A missing computer backup tape containing personal information on state employees and family members also holds the names and Social Security numbers of 225,000 taxpayers, Gov. Ted Strickland announced Wednesday.

The tape, stolen last week from a state intern's car, contained information on taxpayers who have not cashed state income tax refund checks issued in 2005, 2006 and through May 29, 2007, Strickland revealed in what has become a nearly daily release of newfound information since the first disclosure about the tape Friday. The list includes checks that were cashed after May 29.

In addition, the tape includes the names and Social Security numbers of 602 lottery winners who have yet to cash their winning tickets and 2,488 Ohioans who have yet to cash checks for unclaimed funds payments, Strickland said. It also holds the names and bank account numbers for approximately 650 to 1,000 electronic funds transfers that weren't completed because they were bounced back by banking institutions.

Am I the only one sick of these things happening? What was a State intern doing in possesion of a computer backup tape? The piece claims it was a standard security praution to take the tape home? That's crazy! The intern left it in an unlocked car!

No sane employer would set up a security measure of "take the tape home," so why is the State of Ohio claiming such. Responsible data centers have contracts with outside vendors who pick up such backup tapes and lock them in a vault. Why isn't that the practice with this Ohio State data center?

Now the taxpayers are stuck footing the bill to the tune of at least $700,000 due to this intern's unacceptaple negligence. Is the manager who made the decision to use this "practice" still working for the state or has he been fired with cause; and what about the intern?

On the upside, this public exposure of Ohio's negligent safe-guarding of private/sensitive data is forcing them to change their idiotic policy and farm the storage of backups with an offsite vender.

Posted by Sqotty at 6:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

This is a bit off of the beaten path for me, but I ound it interesting. Nudist Colonies are having trouble attracting young people to their way of life.

From Fox News:

"We don't want the place to turn into a gated assisted living facility," said Gordon Adams, membership director at Solair Recreation League, a nudist camp in northeast Connecticut that recently invited students from dozens of New England schools to a college day in hopes of piquing their interest.

The median age is 55 at Solair, where a yearly membership is $500 for people older than 40, $300 for people younger than 40 and $150 for college students.

If I were 20-something, why would I want to hang out with a bunch of people more than a generation older than me, the senior citizen crowd, in the buff. As my wife would say: "Ewww!" Come to think of it, I wouldn't want to do it even though I am in the 40-something crowd. I've never been one to run around in the buff to begin with anyway.

Once at a WesterCon, back in 1982, I was surprised that the nudists took over the hotel's swimming area and jacuzzi. I kept my swim trunks on. So did everyone else I was with. Fortunately, one doesn't see that at conventions anymore.

This ain't the '70s anymore. Nude beaches are also not the hot spots that they once were some 30 years ago either. Public nudity, aside from the "Bay to Breakers" race/party perhaps, ain't as popular as it once was.

Thank God! There are very few people I would want to see running around in the buff publically. and I have no doubt that I wouldn't be on anybody's short list either.

Having all of these nudist colonies becoming "assisted living for nudists" brings to mind images I would rather not have. Ewwww!

Posted by Sqotty at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

A terrorist ring operating in New Jersey has been arrested; their plan to attack Fort Dix, posing as pizza delivery guys in order to kill as many soldiers as possible has been thwarted. This was a good day for America, and a bad day for the terrorists.

All six of the terrorists that were arrested are Muslim extremists. Their group had previously been infiltrated by an FBI agent based on a tip received by a clerk who converted a video tape to DVD format for the terrorists.

From Philly.com:

The investigation began more than a year ago, according to an affidavit from FBI agent John J. Ryan.

The tipster called the FBI on Jan. 31, 2006, and said that someone had brought a "disturbing" video to have duplicated.

"The DVD depicted 10 young men who appeared to be in their early-20s shooting assault weapons at a firing range in a militia-like style while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic, 'Allah Akbar,' or 'God is Great.'"

My hat's off to the guy who tipped off the FBI. Thanks, Dude, whoever you are. I wish more people were like you.

Tags:

War On Terror Fort Dix

Posted by Sqotty at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

As usual, the abundance of idiocy never fails to astound me. This time from the mail room of the Red Star Tribune:

I am saddened that most people say there were 32 victims of the Virginia Tech slayings on April 16. I do agree that Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people before taking his own life; however, Cho was a victim as well.

The writer goes on to reiterate some of what was known about Cho: that professors and students felt intimidated and threatened by him. But the writer focuses on the fact that Cho wore dark glasses and a hat to his classes, not on the writings he is reported to have written, dark pieces on murder and killing. Even some of his classmates figured out who the gunman was that day before it was revealed it was Cho.

Cho gave out many warning signs, all of which seem to have been overlooked by society. He threatened to kill himself, there was a temporary detention order issued, and he was placed in a mental health facility. With enough time in an inpatient facility, a professional should have been able to see there was something else going on.

Was Cho a crazed lunatic who thought of death every minute of the day and finally just snapped in a fit of rage and decided to kill 32 people before killing himself? No, Cho was a victim of an undereducated, underfunded society that lacks the resources and will to give him, and others like him, the help they need.

Warning signs are easy to recognize in the aftermath of a tragedy like the Virginia Tech Massacre. But to call this animal a victim of society puts the blame for what happened on society, not on the animal who pulled the trigger and snuffed out 32 lives in a rage of hatred.

To say Cho was also a victim is irresponsible at best; it provides some justification to the next animal who wants to go out in a rage of bullets. It is more accurate to say it is a sickening claim to say Cho was alos a victim.

Tags:

Seung-Hui Cho Star Tribune Virginia Tech

Posted by Sqotty at 6:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

With the massacre at Virginia Tech on Monday, that has been th focus of the news for the past week. Although it is a very disturbing (understatement!) event, it needs to be covered. My prayers go out to the families of those murdered in this heinous act, as well as those wounded or injured.

The animal who perpetrated this obscene act of violence has been getting way too much attention, with verbage that downplays the evil he performed, making it seem like he was just a bad person, and not an agent of evil.

The Main Stream Media has been playing various video and posting statements the animal made just before the murdering rampage took place. They of routinely used the wrd "manifesto" to describe the animal's final words. To their credit, they did stop broacasting much of this material, but only after there was a public outcry against it. Broadcasting the material was more damaging to those seeking healing than it did "good."

This brute was not a man, but an animal, and I refuse to refer to this animal as being something more than that.

Much has been written in the past week. I've been reflecting on the events for the past few days. I don't have answers on how to prevent such from occuring again. Just know that my prayers are with those who are suffering anguish over the event. I have no doubt that your prayers are with them as well.

Posted by Sqotty at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
View blog reactions

There is a report on FoxNews that Iran and China have been using middlemen to acquire U.S. weapons technology that is forbidden to them. The use of middlemen acting as purchasing agents is a means for countries such as Iran and China (and possibly others) to clandestinely obtain weapons tech via U.S. surplus auctions, thus circumventing security measures in place to prevent the transfer of our weapons technologies to our enemies.

In the case of Iran, this places critical replacement components for its squadrons of F-14 Tomcat fighters within reach.

In one case described in the article a Pakistani broker acquired components for Iran (and delivered same), was imprisoned, then resumed business, doing the same for Iran.

The question is: why was this weapons broker allowed to access to U.S. military surplus after having been convicted of funneling tech to our enemies? How many other such brokers are operating in the same fashion, as yet undetected, or have been caught, convicted, then allowed repeat access?

This is a troubling breach of national security.

The article points out that the U.S. has retired the F-14 Tomcat, and Iran is the only country currently flying this aircraft. Sounds to me like all of the surplus parts for the Tomcat should not be released for auction as the only country currently able to utilize them is Iran.

How, such has not been the case. The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Division has not only sold Tomcat parts to brokers who intended (and attmepmted) to ship the parts to Iran, the Customs Department caught them, returned the parts, and the DRMD resold them yet again, to a different set of brokers intent on shipping the same parts to, you guessed it, Iran.

Although the Customs Department has managed to stop these shipments, how many other shipments managed to get through the system and into Iran?

Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) stated "The military should not sell or give away any sensitive military equipment. If we no longer need it, it needs to be destroyed - totally destroyed…the Department of Defense should not be supplying sensitive military equipment to our adversaries, our enemies, terrorists."

He's got that right. If it isn't destroyed, then the components, where feasible, should be stripped down and recycling any basic materials possible (metals, plastics, etc.).

Posted by Sqotty at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

FoxNews has the report that former President Gerald Ford has died at the age of 93.

Ford never sought the office of the presidency when he arose to lead America out of te Watergate era. He was first appointed Vice-President after Spiro Agnew resigned, then becme president after Richard Nixon also resigned (in disgrace).

This was a tough time to inherit the executive office of the United States with the watergate scandal, and the Nixon tapes, as well has the threat of Nixon being impeached. It was made tougher for Ford when he pardoned Nixon. that action, and having been appointed into the office, may have been the main deciding factors why he failed in being elected to that office in 1976.

One of the best things Ford did do was end registration for the draft (November, 1976). I don't recall if he was also the president that ended the draft as well (that may actually have been Nixon).

God's Speed, Gerald Ford. Rest well, you've earned it.

Posted by Sqotty at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

This is off of FoxNews:

Mohammed Yusef Mullawala wanted a license to transport hazardous materials and to learn how to drive commercial tractor trailers. There was nothing unusual about that, until he told his teacher that he only wanted to learn how to drive forward, and he wanted to learn fast.

Sound familiar? Like a bunch of guys who wanted to learn how to fly a jet airliner, but not learn how to land it? Why would anyone want to learn how to drive a tracto trailer (big rig) in only the forward direction? That doesn't make sense. Combined with insistance of getting a license to transport hazardous material, and you've got some serious questions coming your way.

Mullawala, who has Indian citizenship, and of Pakistani descent, was living in New York, yet obtained a Rhode Island driver's license and attending commercial trucking classes in Rhode Island.

Still think he's not up to something? Read on:

Investigators learned that when Mullawala obtained his driver's license from the Rhode Island Registry of Motor Vehicles, he gave a false statement indicating he was a Rhode Island resident. ICE then determined he was a citizen of India and in the United States on an expired temporary student visa.

Anybody recall how many of the 9/11 terrorists were in the U.S. on expired visas? At least one of them was.

Tags:

War on Terror

Posted by Sqotty at 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions

Sometimes, I really do believe the inmates are running the asylum.

Up until today, I had never heard of Joanne Deborah Chesimard, AKA Assata Shakur, the convicted cop killer who escaped to Cuba. It is truly sad that the way I have learned about her is through an article on the news that the City College of New York has named a building in her "honor."

From FoxNews:

The Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community Center on the third floor of CCNY's North Academic Center was named in 1989 for Shakur, convicted in the 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, and Morales, a former member of FALN, which is a Puerto Rican liberation group that claimed responsibility for a rash of bombings in New York in the mid-1970s.

It goes to show that in New York City, if you are a cop killer or a terrorist, you can get a building named after you. Tax-payer be damned!

Students at the school have been reported as saying that they believe her to be a hero.

At least law enforcement agencies are outraged.

"We use tax dollars to support an institution that indemnifies a cold-blooded terrorist?" Dave Jones, president of the New Jersey State Troopers Fraternal Association, told the Daily News.

"She's a cowardly, cold-blooded convicted murderer who's part of a murdering sect," he told the newspaper. "She's no different from those people who flew those planes into those towers and destroyed all those innocent lives."

Jones is right…there is no difference between Morales, who is also living in Cuba, and Shakur and the terrorists that brought you 9/11. Except maybe the scale of their crimes.

What I would like to know is why name buildings after such criminals as these rather than honoring the many officers, firefighters and other courageous folks that sacrificed their lives on 9/11? Perhaps they should have named it the Ganci/Feehan/Judge Community Center in honor of Fire Department Chief Peter Ganci; First Deputy Fire Commissioner William Feehan; and Father Mychal Judge, the department's chaplain.

Sadly, we live in an age where our children are brainwashed into believing that the bad guys are the ones who should be honored and remembered, not those who have lost their lives saving others.

One last quote from the piece sums it up:

"If it had nothing to do with killing the cop, it's alright," he said. "You have to think why she did it, cause cops are known to mess with some people, you know. If she had a reason to do it then I have no problem with it."

That was Sophomore Carlos Badilla, 20, of the Bronx.

She killed a cop, in cold blood, you moron!

Of course, the college administration claims that they had nothing to do with the name selection, and stand by the BS argument that it is to facilitate discussion, and there are no plans to rename the center. Yeesh!

Tags:

Assata Shakur
New York

Posted by Sqotty at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
View blog reactions

Cindy Sheehan, California’s most famous Moonbat, is on a “fast” to bring the troops home. Fasting, the Moonbat way, includes consuming fruit smoothies, coffee and ice cream. As a guess, I am assuming other things fit in there as well.

In an article posted on the communist online rag, Political Affairs, Sheehan complains about the difficulties of traveling without her regular ration of smoothies and the lack of Jamba Juices where she is at. I'm not keen on providing a link to the site, so you'll have to cut and paste the URL in your browser. It's: politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/3794/1/198/

The whole time she refers to the Global War on Terrorism as “the war crime in Iraq” and BushCo.

The vitriolic hatred this Moonbat holds for Bush is apparent in her posting:

Then our focus can change to holding BushCo responsible for the war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace and focus on never allowing this to happen again.

It’s no wonder that this is posted on an openly communist website. She really believes the vile she spews forth on the internet, accusing our troops in the field of war crimes, human rights violations and worse.

At least they’ve dropped the line about “no WMDs found in Iraq.” At least, for the moment, until the general public forgets about the report released that detailed the finding of some 500 chemical weapons in Iraq.

It is also ironic that they focus so much on the war in Iraq, and ignore continued military operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Not to mention our continued “occupation” of such countries as: South Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and any where else that the United States stations troops by agreement with the host governments. We are in Iraq by invitation of their government. If the government of Iraq decides to ask the U.S. to leave, it will.

Our troops are not there as an occupying force, legal or otherwise. To leave now would throw the region into utter chaos, and, most likely, result in the return of a totalitarian government.

Saddam Hussein committed daily atrocities against his own people; the “killing fields” of Iraq contain the bodies of roughly half a million people brutally murdered by Hussein’s regime. I can only assume that Cindy Sheehan would prefer to have left Hussein in power under whose power the death toll is estimated at some 25,000 people a year. Innocent people.

Of course it would come as no surprise that the commie rag that posted her commentary would prefer it that way.

Most importantly, it is her comment that the election of George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 was a coup, that defines this moment in Moonbatism.

Congratualations, Cindy Sheehan. You are truly a Moonbat!

And she wants to be a Sanator?

Cindy Sheehan
Moonbat
Moonbats

Posted by Sqotty at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
View blog reactions