Words escape me on this one. I was ROFLMAO.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
US MILITARY TRIBUTE
This video needs no explanation. These men and women are ours and we must be sure we have their backs. The way things are going with our new government, that is in question. There is no doubt in my mind.
THE VIETNAM SONG (SAD BUT TRUE)
Never will the heros of today be treated the way our Vietnam heros were treated.
Friday, February 27, 2009
3 students, 1 adult shot after classes end at Jordan High
Looks like a busy start to the weekend here in Houston. This is getting all to common.
Four people, including three Houston school district students, were shot shortly after classes were dismissed this afternoon at Barbara Jordan High School, officials said.
A 17-year-old junior at Jordan was shot about 4 p.m. while crossing the 4000 block of Kelley to get into his uncle's car, said Houston ISD spokesman Norm Uhl. He was taken to LBJ Hospital and may be released tonight, Uhl said.
The student's uncle was also shot, officials said late Friday. His condition is not known.
He had been involved in an altercation at a nearby convenience store, Friendly Tommy Grocery, at 4003 Kelley, officials said.
Moments later, two girls who were sitting at the Kashmere Transit Center at the corner of Hirsch and Kelley were shot, said Metro spokeswoman Carolina Mendoza. One girl attended Jordan and the other Kashmere High School, Uhl said.
They were taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, one with a gunshot to the face and one with a gunshot to the leg, said Metro spokesman George Smalley.
Authorities are working to determine if the shootings, and the teens, are related.
``A relative of the young man who was shot does know the two girls,'' Smalley said.
Three men fled after the shootings, he added.
Both incidents remain under investigation and no further information was immediately available.
Airman to Receive Air Force Cross
Knight Ridder/Tribune | February 27, 2009
A Pope Air Force Base, N.C., combat controller is scheduled to receive the Air Force's second highest award for valor on March 10 in a ceremony at the Pentagon.
Staff Sgt. Zachary J. Rhyner will receive the Air Force Cross for his actions on April 6 in the Shok Valley in Afghanistan. Although shot in the left leg, he called in airstrikes, fired his M-4 rifle at the enemy and helped move other wounded people down a cliff.
Rhyner is assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command's 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope. At the time of the incident, Rhyner was a senior airman who had completed training less than a year earlier.
Combat controllers train for two years at Pope and elsewhere to do mostly covert missions in hostile territory. The "battlefield airmen" can parachute or infiltrate into enemy territory to set up drop zones, do air-traffic control or call in aircraft to shoot or drop bombs on the enemy. They often work on an Army Special Forces or Navy SEAL team and fight alongside soldiers and sailors while summoning Air Force firepower from overhead. The aircraft often are firing near "friendly" forces on the ground.
Rhyner is credited with saving his team from being overrun twice in a 6-hour battle in the Shok Valley. Members of A-Team 3336 from Fort Bragg's 3rd Special Forces Group received 10 Silver Stars, the Army's third highest award for combat valor, for their actions in that engagement.
About 100 Special Forces and Afghan soldiers each were carrying more than 60 pounds of equipment when they jumped from helicopters onto icy, jagged rocks and waist-deep running water in 30-degree temperatures to assault a terrorist stronghold in Afghanistan. Their objective was at the top of the mountains surrounding the valley.
They were ambushed by 200 enemy fighters, and Rhyner was shot within the first 15 minutes, according to an account from the Air Force Special Operations Command. The team came under fire from all directions from snipers, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Capt. Kyle Walton, the Special Forces team leader, treated Rhyner for his injuries as the Airman called in Apache attack helicopters.
Rhyner called in 4,570 rounds of cannon fire, nine Hellfire missiles, 162 rockets, 12 500-pound bombs and a 2,000-pound bomb, Air Force officials said.
Air Force officials estimate that 40 enemy were killed and 100 wounded in the engagement.
Rhyner is the second Pope airmen to receive the award since Sept.11, 2001. Air Force Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman, also a combat controller, posthumously received the Air Force Cross for heroism under fire on March 4, 2002, near Gardez in the eastern highlands of Afghanistan. In 2005, The Military Sealift Command named a cargo ship the MV T Sgt. John A. Chapman in honor of the ''battlefield Airman'' in a ceremony at Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
See If You Can Find Old Soldier
The big conference is over, and my butt is sour from sitting for two days. It was well worth it though. Our company has been in business for 29 years, and we are still privately owned. That says a lot as we are a global company. This is a picture that was taken today in fron of our corporate headquarters, see if you can find me. Shouldn't be hard, I am the good looking one. HA.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday Hero
19 years old from Knox, Pennsylvania
1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
December 4, 2006
His mission was to patrol the streets of Adhamiyah in northeast Baghdad and find a place to put a 250-kilowatt generator that would provide electricity for more than 100 homes. But it's a mission he wasn't able to accomplish.
Shortly after Pfc. McGinnis's convoy left the compound, and less than a mile from FOB Apache, an insurgent standing on a nearby rooftop threw a grenade into the sixth, and last, Humvee. "Grenade!" yelled McGinnis, who was manning the vehicle's M2 .50-caliber machine gun. He tried to deflect the grenade but it fell into the Humvee and lodged between the radios.
"McGinnis turned and looked down and realized no one in the truck knew where the grenade was," said Capt. Michael Baka, his company commander. "He knew everyone had their doors combat-locked and they wouldn't be able to get out."
Instead of jumping out of the truck to save his own life, like he had been trained to do, McGinnis threw his back against the radio mount, smothering the explosive with his body. The grenade exploded just as Pfc. McGinnis covered it. The blast filled the vehicle with black smoke and debris and blew the driver's door and right passenger's door wide open and blew the machine gun off its mount. The explosion hit McGinnis on his sides and his lower back, under his vest. He was killed instantly.
The other four soldiers in the Humvee suffered relatively minor injuries.
On the morning of December 4, 2006, before his convoy had left, Cpt. Baka has signed a waver promoting Pfc. McGinnis to Specialist and he was posthumously promoted to E-4.
For his heroic actions on that day, McGinnis was awarded the Silver Star and was nominated for a Medal of Honor which he received on June 2, 2008.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Going To Be A Long Week
We have our sales and technical folks in from our overseas offices (Korea, France, Switzerland and New Zealand) this week. All are gathered here in Houston at our corporate office and we will have a two day conference starting tomorrow, with a dinner and dance to end it all all on Thursday. I have a hard time sitting still for very long, but I guess I will have to adjust. It's kind of nice to get to meet our overseas visitors and they really love it here in Houston. The weather has and will be perfect this week, highs in the upper 70's and clear skys. I being in network admin am having to do a lot of extra work though. My blogging ability will be slim for this week.
Sphere: Related ContentSunday, February 22, 2009
Bad Day For Me Today
Well my Sunday started out pretty good, sitting in garage watching the news and having a nice cup of coffee, when my cell phone rang, and it was from my sister. I thought why would she be calling me on a Sunday morining, which she never does. Well I answered it, and she was speaking very fast and I could not understand her, so I calmed her down, and she said Mama has been in a very bad car accident. Mama was on her way to my sisters house where she was having her 86th birthday party. To cut this short, it seems that my Mom who was driving her Buick, hit a car that was stopped and making a turn. She came around a bend in the road and didn't see the car (a VW) in time and hit her going about 40 mph. Mom's airbag did not deploy, so she hit the steering wheel and busted her mouth and ribs. She hurt her fingers and foot. Her car is pretty bad and could be total loss. The girl in the car she hit got a few stitches. Mom was taken to the hospital via ambulance. After clean up and cat scans, it seems that nothing was broken, but then wanted to keep her overnight. She said no way, I want to go home, which she did. My Mom is very stuborn. I just got off of the phone with her, and she is soar, but doing ok. My other sister is staying with her now. Her main concern was that she had caused all of the worry for everyone and ruined the party. This will be an 86th to remember.
Sphere: Related ContentSaturday, February 21, 2009
This is Just A Reminder And To Many Seem To Be Forgetting What Happened To Us.
This may piss some of you off, but I don't care. George Bush did the right thing. Remember back, how strange it was to look up in the sky and not see any planes flying, and living in Houston close to The InterCon Air Port it was really strange. I hope our new government dosen't forget, because we never will.
Trubute of Vietnam Heros
This is for my generation of heros and we support our modern heros all the way, but we will never forget.
Illegal immigrant charged in girl's abduction
I am sure this piece of crap will have a stay to remember in the Harris County Jail. 
An illegal immigrant accused of abducting and molesting a 4-year-old girl at a northeast Harris County apartment complex is facing a kidnapping charge, authorities say.
Jorge Gonzales Hernandez, 23, is being held without bail in the Harris County Jail, sheriff’s Lt. John Legg said. Police are awaiting the results of medical exams to decide whether to charge him with sexual assault.
The child and her father had just returned home from the store around 7:30 p.m. when a man grabbed her after she got out of their vehicle, Legg said. Her father tried to chase the man but he lost sight of them as they ran through the complex in the 4300 block of Aldine Mail Road.
Several residents searched for the child after the father screamed for help, and she was found about 30 minutes later in a laundry room, Legg said. She said Hernandez, who was standing a few feet away, had attacked her.
Hernandez, who was intoxicated, denied touching the girl, Legg said. She was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital to determine whether she was sexually assaulted
Friday, February 20, 2009
ANDY COMER: Hispanic Wal-Mart is muy racist
Now this just about takes the cake.
Wal-Mart has helped me learn a bit of Spanish.
Thanks to the signs on the aisles, I know that galletas are cookies, pan is bread, and leche is milk. It makes perfect sense to have bilingual store displays in an area like the Rio Grande Valley. Wal-Mart would be stupid to overlook that.
One aisle always seems to puzzle me. Whenever I pass the "Latino foods" section, I feel like the sign is saying that Hispanic people are genetically engineered to only eat what is in that department, and wash it all down with a Corona or some tequila. There's no sign anywhere in the store that says "white food" or "African-American food." Why does our food have to be segregated? Then again, we do have white bread and white chocolate.
In what I consider a tacky move, Wal-Mart recently announced it was reconfiguring a building the company is constructing in Peñitas with a "unique store format" according to a Monitor article. The store is in fact a "Hispanic concept" Wal-Mart. Maybe I'm being over-sensitive, but the very idea of such an establishment seems quite racist to me.
The Monitor article continues with a description of the concept Wal-Mart that includes wider aisles, shorter shelves and merchandise arranged to "cater to the needs and vibrant tastes of customers from South Texas and the Hispanic community." The "vibrant tastes" part made me laugh out loud.
I understand that a huge corporation like Wal-Mart wants to cater to individual markets like the Valley, hence the bilingual signs in its stores. But rearranging an entire building and labeling it as a "Hispanic concept" store seems to belittle those who live in this area, as many Monitor readers commented on our Web site. I'm wondering: Since I'm white, will the store be more difficult for me to shop in? Will I even be allowed to enter a "Hispanic concept" Wal-Mart?
What if Wal-Mart set up shop in predominantly black cities like Detroit or Atlanta and created stores that were more "black-friendly?" I gauruntee Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson would be picketing said concept store and demanding its closure. So why is it no problem to build a "Hispanic concept" store?
I'm almost certain that I'm overreacting. Maybe this "Hispanic concept" Wal-Mart will actually be a hit with Valley shoppers who appreciate the lower shelves and product placement that matches their "vibrant tastes." The thing that bothers me is that no Hispanic leaders, to my knowledge, are even bothering to stand up to Wal-Mart and point out that these concept stores seem at least somewhat condescending toward the people they're intended to serve.
Until the "Hispanic concept" Wal-Mart is finished, Valley residents will sadly be forced to shop at the "regular" stores that apparently have aisles that are too narrow, shelves that are too tall and products that are too bland. I hope the merchandise in the Latino food section isn't too hard to reach.
Suspects tell police they didn’t intend to kill teen
This is a follow up on the earlier post about the young man getting beaten to death, now these ass wipes wsay they were just having some fun. We will see how much fun they have when they get to Huntsville.
Five teens accused of taking turns beating another teen to death said they never meant to kill, and as one put it, “we were just trying to have some fun,” Baytown police said Thursday.
While investigators continued piecing together what motivated the vicious attack on 18-year-old Kevin Jerome Powell at a Baytown apartment complex, state District Judge Herb Ritchie found Thursday that authorities had enough probable cause to continue holding the suspects in jail on $100,000 bail each.
Vandalism of one suspect’s car may have triggered the attack, police said.
Baytown Lt. Eric Freed said the five beat Powell with their fists and feet and used a steel barbecue lid and the butt of a pistol. Freed declined to identify which of the teens described the attack as “fun.”
Four of the suspects are from La Porte: Marcus Jason, 18, a Dewalt Alternative School student; Joshua Ashford, 17, a La Porte High School student; Charles Merritt, 18, a La Porte High School student; and Joshua Rider, 19.
The other suspect, Cedric Fears, 17, is a High Point High School student from Baytown.
The Harris County medical examiner has ruled that Powell’s death was a homicide caused by “blunt force head injuries.”
Powell’s mother, Ruthie, said she had never known the teens accused of “taking my only child away.” Police, however, say her son and the suspects were casually acquainted.
She said she couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to harm her son, whom she described as “playful and loving.”
“I’m disabled. I have had several surgeries because of medical problems. My son took care of me,” she said, crying during a telephone interview. “He’s been like my savior. He got my medicine and food, made up my bed. He’s done this since he was 10 years old.”
She is waiting for authorities to complete their investigation so she can learn how this could happen.
“I should not be burying my baby. It should be me,” she said.
Shots fired that night
Outlining what occurred late Sunday night, Freed said the five suspects were evicted from a party in a house near the Tompkins Green Apartments in Baytown where a few hours later Powell would be found dead in the parking lot.
Freed said shots were fired as partygoers said they didn’t want anyone from La Porte attending.
The teens left and went to visit a friend at an apartment complex adjacent to Tompkins Green, Freed said. While they were there, someone bashed out the windows in Ashford’s Buick.
“Three of our suspects said they saw a group hanging around the car that did it, and one was Powell,” Freed said. “But the other two said they didn’t see anything.”
Freed said police have not located anyone else who witnessed the vandalism and cannot prove that Powell was involved.
Wrong place, wrong time
“He had no reason to do that. He was looking forward to graduating from high school in May and joining the military,” Jermaine said.
“He did not want to succumb to the streets.”
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Five arrested in beating death of teen in Baytown
Five teenagers, including four high school students, have been arrested and charged with murder in the beating death of an 18-year-old, Baytown police said today.
The five beat Kevin Jerome Powell of Baytown to death, police spokesman Lt. Eric Freed said, because they thought he had broken the window one of their vehicles. The five and Powell had an ongoing feud, Freed said.
Powell’s body was found on Monday between a hedge and a truck parked in the 600 block of Massey Tompkins, at the Tompkins Green Apartments. He had been beaten, police said.
Arrested that night were La Porte residents Marcus Jason, 18, a student at Dewalt Alternative School; Joshua Rider, 19, a student at Blinn College; Joshua Ashford, 17, an 11th-grader at La Porte High School and Charles Merritt, 18, who also attends La Porte High. Cedrick Fears, 18, a Baytown resident who attends High Point High School, was also arrested.
The five have been charged with murder. They are in the Harris County Jail, with bonds set at $100,000 each.
Powell was visiting a friend at an apartment complex in the 500 block of Massey Tompkins late Sunday, Freed said. The five were also visiting a friend at the same complex. The five heard a commotion, went outside and saw that the window of Ashford’s 1995 Buick Roadmaster had been broken.
At 7 a.m. Monday, a resident leaving a nearby apartment complex saw Powell’s body.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday Hero
34 years old from West Liberty, Kentucky
Secretary of the Army Pete Geren congratulates Sgt. Kelly Keck after presenting him the Purple Heart.
On September 13, 2008, Sgt. Kelly Keck, a combat medic serving in Afghanistan, was wounded while trying to aid his fellow soldiers who's truck had just been struck by an IED. "I stepped off the road to try to get to the side of the truck, and the next thing I know I hear a loud boom, and I'm laying on the ground," he said. Sgt. Kelly had stepped on a land mine. He was flown to a field hospital in Jalalabad where he ended up loosing three fingers on his left hand and his right leg below the knee. "It was quite an ordeal," the soft-spoken soldier said.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Monday, February 16, 2009
WHAT'S THE RUSH?
This guy is turning his stint in the White House as a vacation. Leaving with a doggie bag... Now that's real class.
By BRENDAN SCOTT IN ALBANY and ANA MARIA ALAYA IN NY, AP
PRESIDENT'S DAY: President Obama and Michelle Obama exit Table Fifty-Two in Chicago last night after enjoying a Valentine's Day dinner at the eatery.
After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway.
Obama arrived at his home in Chicago on Friday, and treated wife Michelle to a Valentine's Day dinner downtown last night. The couple was spotted leaving upscale Table Fifty-Two, which specializes in Southern cuisine, with the first lady toting what appeared to be a doggie bag.
The president plans to spend the Presidents' Day weekend in the Windy City, and is not expected to sign the bill until Tuesday, when he travels to Denver to discuss his economic plan.
Both the House and Senate passed the bill Friday night.
The push to get the bill through before the holiday weekend was so frantic, members of Congress didn't have a chance to read all 1,071 pages of the document before they could vote.
"In a perfect world it would have been nice to have had more time to process it," said Ilan Kayatsky, a spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).
Meanwhile, Gov. Paterson called yesterday for fiscal restraint with the massive influx of federal aid. His budget office estimated that New York will receive $24.6 billion over the next two years, $4 billion more than first believed. brendan.scott@nypost.com
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Pedophile goes nuts at reporter on Australian News
This is one sick Son Of A Bitch. And we thought the laws in the U.S. were kinda one sided. Austalia is in real trouble.
Early bushfire alert cover-up exposed
It's all about the money. We in the U.S. better get use to it.
February 13, 2009
CANBERRA and the states baulked at the $20 million cost of a telephone-based alert system that would have given early warning of the deadly Black Saturday bushfires, a secret report shows.
The confidential review for Victoria's State Emergency Service in December 2007, obtained by The Australian, reveals that the technology to bombard mobile and fixed phones with danger messages had been trialled successfully for the agency.
While the test run of Telstra's Community Information and Warning System was for flooding, the Victorian SES found it would work "for all types of hazard", including bushfire.
Despite this, the system was not introduced because the Howard government and the states bickered over the expense.
The internal report for the Victorian SES concluded: "Apparently governments are baulking at ... their contribution to the $20 million cost."
The Australian revealed yesterday that the federal Government was fast-tracking legislative changes to give emergency services in the states access to a national database of phone numbers so people could be warned on mobile and fixed phones of bushfires and other natural disaster threats.
The official death toll in the horrifying bushfires that ripped through communities north and east of Melbourne remains at 181 but is expected to rise to 300 as police, soldiers and emergency crews continue the search for bodies in the ashes of more than 1000 homes.
A spokesman for Premier John Brumby confirmed last night that Victoria "has been very keen" to set up a national telephone alert system.
"It did stall for many years," he said.
It is understood that NSW and Western Australia opposed the Telstra scheme, and that the then federal Coalition government was also cold on introducing it.
Western Australia has been pushing for national expansion of its own version of the "electronic doorknock" system, which is cheaper than Telstra's.
But the Victorian SES concluded that the WA service was inferior because it was limited to residential numbers listed in the White Pages. Phone alerts could not be sent to mobile phones or through company switchboards.
The report by consultants Molino Stewart for the Victorian SES said the Telstra system had been tested successfully in Stawell, northwest of Melbourne, and Mount Evelyn, east of the city. "Would be a good system for all types of hazard alert," it said.
"This has the advantage over the current systems, which need opt in and need to keep numbers updated."
However, the Telstra model failed to provide "the opportunity to keep the community educated about the system".
The report to the Victorian SES noted this was mitigated by "having a single system for all hazards across the state or even the country".
West Australian Emergency Services Minister Rob Johnson yesterday wrote to federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland urging him to fast-track changes to the Telecommunications Act during the next sitting of parliament to give state emergency services access to the national database of phone numbers. Otherwise, Australia-wide introduction of a phone alert system would be held up for a further six months.
"I know governments are often criticised for going at a snail's pace, but we've seen the tragic events in Victoria and I want to avoid a similar event happening here," Mr Johnson told The Australian yesterday.
"This is something that can give our community the earliest possible alert of fires raging towards them, floods and terrorist attacks, through phones, SMS messages, fax or email.
"It's absolutely essential, in my view."
Mr McClelland last night said there had been no possibility a phone system could have been introduced ahead of last Saturday's bushfire tragedy in Victoria, the nation's worst.
"Our target will be to have it up and running by the next fire season," he said.
Western Australia's StateAlert system had been offered to the other states and territories for free, yet none had taken it up as some were interested in Telstra's more costly Community Information and Warning System.
Western Australia has spent $460,000 developing StateAlert, which automatically calls all phones in a designated area, as well as mobile phones that are registered via a website, at a rate of 40,000 messages every 15 minutes. The running costs would be $300,000 a year.
Telstra's system - which would automatically call and text-message every mobile and landline phone within a selected area - has been costed at $40million to $66 million to introduce nationally over five years, with ongoing costs of $1.7million to $2.6 million a year.
"Some states may want to go with the Telstra system but in Western Australia we believe we can do it at less cost financially to the community," Mr Johnson said.
He said all states and territories wanted some form of emergency alert. "All that's holding it up is the ability to have access to people's telephone numbers," he said. "I have urged the federal Government to speed up the process. They could probably do (the legislative amendment) in one page ... I would like it done in the next few weeks. I am personally disappointed it's taken so long."
Mr Johnson said his predecessor had written six months ago to the Attorney-General as well as to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, asking that they expedite changes to the Telecommunications Act.
In his letter to Mr McClelland yesterday, Mr Johnson said the Act was the only impediment to Western Australia using StateAlert this bushfire season.
A Telstra spokesman last night refused to comment on the cost of its system, citing commercial-in-confidence discussions with the states.
Trade gun for a rose in S. Carolina on Valentine’s Day
These folks in South Carolina must be out of their minds. Hell you can get more at a pawn shop. Things like this makes Texans thorw up, and have bad dreams. A gun for a rose give me a break,, might as well be wearing a dress.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Police in South Carolina want you to have a rose for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day. All you have to do is turn in a gun.
Authorities are running the “Guns for Roses” program Saturday at two locations in the central part of the state.
Anyone who turns in a gun gets a free rose and a Best Buy gift card. A handgun gets a $100 gift card, while a rifle or shotgun nets a $50 gift card.
Richland County sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan says there has already been a great turnout at one Columbia location and deputies have seized about 75 guns in the first 90 minutes. Cowan says one man brought six handguns.
He says there is no amnesty for the gun owners. The weapons are checked to see if they are stolen and ballistics test will also be done.
Man charged in fatal DWI is killed by alleged drunken driver
What comes around goes around.
A Pasadena man charged last year in what authorities said was a fatal drunken driving wreck was killed this week, apparently by a drunken driver.
Nicholas Hernandez, 25, was a passenger in a black Ford Mustang that struck a light pole in the 9100 block of the Gulf Freeway service road and rolled several times Thursday. He was ejected from the car.
Police believe the driver, Jose Resendez, 27, was drinking and expect him to be charged with intoxication manslaughter.
If convicted of intoxication manslaughter, Resendez faces anything from two years’ probation up to 20 years in prison.
Harris County Assistant District Attorney Brent Mayr said Hernandez was arrested after the Aug. 3, wreck which killed James Kelleher, 26, and his passenger, 23-year-old Suzanne Penland, who were hit head-on as they drove south on Texas 288.
Mayr said Hernandez was driving a Chevrolet Impala the wrong way on the highway and had a blood alcohol concentration of .30, more than three times the legal limit, when he hit the two friends who were in a Buick LeSabre.
Hernandez was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2002 and again in 2003. Because a third DWI would be a felony, Mayr said Hernandez was charged in last year’s wreck with felony murder, which carries a sentence ranging from probation to 99 years or life in prison. He had been released from jail on $100,000 bond.
Mayr said he was going to ask jurors to sentence Hernandez to life in prison.
Felony murder is a charge that alleges that death occurred as a result of a felony, such as arson or burglary, but in this case, driving while intoxicated for the third time.
Publicist for octuplets' mom quits over death threats
I will not voice my opinion on this one. Just let the facts speak for themselves. 14 kids living with parents and on welfare.
The public relations group that has represented octuplets mother Nadya Suleman is stepping down because of death threats, its president said Saturday.
Joann Killeen also said the mother now has an agent: Wes Yoder, the same man who arranged book and music deals for the McCaughey septuplets a decade ago and publicity for controversial pastor Rick Warren.
The Killeen Furtney Group was ending its free representation after receiving at least 100 graphic e-mailed threats and swarms of nasty voicemails that went to the Los Angeles agency and even to some of its other clients, Killeen said
Please Help Stop Child Abuse
After 21 plus years in Law Enforcement in the Air Force and Civilian please pay close attention to this video. Child abuse is all around us, but most are to blind to see, or just don't want to get involved. This video will make you cry, and also hopefully if you know a a suffering child you will say something.
I Believe
This is what life is all about. You live, love and you die. One of the best videos of all time by Brooks and Dunn. Don't Cry.
Friday, February 13, 2009
A Letter From Congressman Ted Poe
I got this today from Congressman Poe, and thought it was worth sharing. Click on the heading to see how bad we are really getting screwed.
Dear Neighbors,
Today, Congress passed the largest spending bill in our nation’s history – I voted NO.
This morning, before the vote, I was talking to my friend Sammy Mahan from Baytown, Texas, and I shared our conversation on the House floor today. Like most Americans, he was concerned about his business and what this is going to cost.
Sammy owns a wrecker business and has five wreckers under his service. He asked me, “How are we going to pay for it?” And I said, “Well, we don’t have the money so we are probably going to have to borrow it, maybe from the Chinese. Eventually there is going to be a tax increase.”
And he asked, “How much is it going to cost?” I said, “$790 billion.” Then he said, “No. How much is it going to cost me?” I replied, “It is about $10,000 per family, is what they say.”
Then he said, “Well, I don’t have $10,000; and unlike you government boys, I can’t spend money I don’t have. So I want you to opt me out of this deal.” And I asked, “What do you mean, opt you out?” He replied, “Give me a form. I want to sign it. You take $10,000 off that $790 billion. I don’t want to pay it because I don’t have the money.”
I suspect that if most Americans read this bill and they realized how much it was going to cost them personally they would agree with Sammy. And since people I represent can’t opt out, I am going to opt out for them.
Congress needs to come up with a plan that actually stimulates our economy by addressing the problems that got us here, not creating more. But in another failed attempt to save the day, Congress continued down the same path of careless and wasteful spending and voted 246 - 183 to pass this misguided spending bill loaded with pork. Congress needs to act to revive our economy, but a bill loaded with pet projects and more government programs is not the way to financial salvation. Government is not the answer – it is the problem.
Allowing Americans to keep more of their own money by providing tax cuts for everyone who pays federal income tax is the only proven method of giving the economy the shot in the arm it needs to recover. We do not need more government jobs, we need to allow our small businesses to increase their productivity and create jobs that will last. I believe that Americans know how to best spend their money, not the Washington elites.
I have posted a summary of the 1000+ page bill on my website: Click here for summary
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Wednesday Hero
This Weeks Post Was Suggested And Written By Brat
33 years old from Oceanside, California
Troop E, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment
February 11, 2004
Five years ago today, Sgt. Patrick Tainsh sacrificed all as the mounted unit he
was part of was hit by an IED in Baghdad. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze and Sliver Stars saving the lives of his commanding officer and other soldiers before succumbing to his own wounds. Also killed in the attack was Pfc. William C. Ramirez from Portland, Oregon.
On Veteran’s Day, 2007, Deborah Tainsh, Sgt. Tainsh's mother, attended a school in Columbia, Georgia, and shared a story she had written called "A Boy Named Patrick."
Here is part of the story :
…a little boy named Patrick who loved football, beaches, surfing, and
skateboarding, and especially reading. Patrick watched his dad be a Marine for
over twenty years. During this time Patrick kept reading not only surfing and
skateboarding magazines, but history books, too. One day when Patrick was a man, he told his dad and best friend, “I want to do something that will make a
difference in the world, I’m going to be a soldier.” And so he did. And in 1999
he went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp and then went to Fort Polk,
Louisiana where he worked and trained hard to become a United States Army
Cavalry Scout. Then in 2003 Patrick had to say good bye to his mom and dad
because he had to go fight a war in Iraq to protect his country, friends, and
family from terrorists and to help fight for the freedoms of the boys and girls
in that country where they and their families were treated very badly by their
country’s leader. Patrick once wrote a letter to his mom and dad telling them
that he cried for the children because they were hungry and he didn’t have food
to give them. He said he couldn’t understand how a country’s leader could treat
the people so badly and make them live in such dirty conditions with trash and
wild dogs everywhere. And so Patrick's mom and dad keep a photo in their living
room of Patrick surrounded by Iraqi children.
You can read the story in it's entirety here.
Sgt Tainsh came to the military later than some, but rose through the ranks fast. In his last letter to his parents, Sgt Tainsh shared his thoughts about his mission. And in 2006, Sgt. Tainsh's mother wrote a book called Heart Of A Hawk about her son's life and her and her husband's struggles since their son was killed.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Man killed in NW Houston after aiming at HPD officers
You wana dance ya gotta pay the band.
A man who was shot to death by Houston police after refusing to drop a shotgun had sent a text message saying he planned to kill himself, police said today.
Police have not disclosed the name of the man, who was killed about 11 p.m. Monday at the Hammerly Oaks Apartments at 8791 Hammerly at Hollister, according to KHOU Channel 11.
Officers went to the address after being alerted that a man was wandering around the complex with a shotgun, KHOU reported. Officers said the man was going into and out of an apartment and he failed to respond to their commands.
After the officers ordered him almost 20 times to drop his gun, the man started to aim it at them, police reported. Four officers fired at the man, who was hit at least once. He died a short time later at Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital.
Police said the man had sent a text message to a friend, saying he was going to kill himself. They said a note also was found, but they did not say what the man had written or whether he indicated why he wanted to die.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Obama Snubs Nation's Heroes
This is a worry.
Barack Obama may have stumbled over his words briefly during his
inauguration, but he made an even bigger blunder later Tuesday evening.
The newly sworn-in President opted not to appear at what should have
been one of the most important Balls on his agenda that evening -
"The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball."
The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball was begun in 1953 for President Dwight
Eisenhower's inauguration. The event recognized recipients of the Medal of
Honor, the nation's highest military award. There were 48 Medal of Honor
recipients in attendance, who were undoubtedly disappointed by the new
Commander-in-Chief's failure to show. Over the past 56 years and 14
inaugurations, no President has skipped this event - until now.
The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball is sponsored by the American Legion,
and co-sponsored by 13 other veteran's service organizations, including
those such as the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Military Order of
the Purple Heart.
Instead of attending this ball honoring our nation's heroes, Obama was busy
making stops at 10 other official balls. Obama and his wife's first stop was at
the Neighborhood Ball. From there they went to the Home State Ball for Illinois
and Hawaii, the Commander-in-Chief Ball, the Youth Inaugural Ball, and the
Home State Ball for Delaware and Pennsylvania. They finished off the night
with brief appearances at the Mid-Atlantic, Western, Midwest, Eastern, and
Southern regional Balls.
Celebrities were a plenty at the balls, with Stevie Wonder, Shakira, Mary. J. Blige,
Faith Hill, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, will.i.am, Sting, Mariah Carey, and
Leonardo DiCaprio in attendance at the Neighborhood Ball. In addition, the other
nine balls also featured a star-studded lineup including Kanye West and Kid Rock
at the Youth Ball, Marc Anthony at the Western Ball, and Cheryl Crow at the Western
Ball.
It was the party without all of the celebrities that Obama
skipped. The very people who he sought to have support
him during his candidacy and campaign, who have fought
to protect this country, were snubbed in favor of publicity
and the opportunity to rub shoulders - yet again - with the
out-of-touch Hollywood elite!
SHAME ON YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA. THESE BRAVE MEN CAME TO RESPECT YOU, YET
YOUR BLATANT FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THEM SENDS THEM AND ALL WHO HAVE FOUGHT TO DEFEND THIS NATION, THE WRONG MESSAGE. MAKE NO EXCUSES MR. PRESIDENT - WE NOW KNOW WHERE VETERANS STAND UNDER YOUR WATCH!
Mexican troops take over police headquarters in Cancun
I have been to Mexico a few times in my lifetime, most of the areas I visited were very nice, however with the violence there now, I can tell you I will not be going there for a long time to come.
MEXICO CITY -- Mexican troops today seized the municipal police headquarters in the resort city of Cancun as an investigation deepened into the slaying there of a recently retired army general.
Scores of soldiers backed by two armored cars took over the offices amid press reports that Cancun's police chief and other officials may be implicated in the Feb. 2 torture-killings of Gen. Mauro Tello, his bodyguard and his driver.
Cancun's public safety chief and six officers from its traffic police department were removed from their posts, the mayor's office said today. Federal investigators arrrested the public safety director, Francisco Velasco, who faces charges related to the killings, a spokesman for the Mexican attorney general's office said..
The tortured and shot bodies of Tello, 63, and the other men -- a former army lieutenant who was working as his aide and the nephew of Cancun's mayor -- were discovered before dawn in a pickup abanoned on a highway west of Cancun.
Cancun's mayor had announced Tello's hiring as a security consultant the day before the general was killed. Tello had been expected to replace Velasco as police chief.
Army troops have moved to dismantle local security forces across Mexico when those police are thought to be corrupted by organized crime. Soldiers are now patrolling in areas most affected by the drug cartel-driven violence that last year killed more than 5,400 people. Many of the slayings were in Ciudad Juarez, Reynosa and other cities bordering Texas.
The army's role in the drug fight has been accelerated since President Felipe Calderon ordered troops against the country's drug traffickers upon taking office in December 2006. More than 20,000 troops are now deployed along the border and in key drug production and trafficking areas.
Calling today for a united front against the gangsters, Mexico's defense minister equated the current crackdown with the early days of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. He said if left unchallenged, organized crime's impact would be irreversable "sooner rather than later."
"Throughout its history Mexico has struggled with internal threats," Gen. Guillermo Galvan, the minister, said in a speech. "Organized crime today represents a serious adversary and confronting it demands firm national unity."
Cancun, the epicenter of Mexico's tourism industry, and its nearby coastline also have long been a major transit point for South American cocaine headng for U.S. and other markets. Local drug use has increased dramatically there in recent years, as it has throughout Mexico.
Four-fifths of the 18 million tourists visiting last year hailed from the United States. Millions more Americans visit the so-called Riviera Maya coastline south of the city each year.
Most Cancun tourists stay at the resorts and upscale hotels in the boomerang-shaped barrier island offshore from Cancun proper, at a distant and safe distance from the urban neighborhoods in the city itself.
After retiring from the army on New Year's Day, Tello had been hired as a special adviser on public security issues by Cancun Mayor Gregorio Sanchez. The newsmagazine Proceso reported in its weekend edition that Tello was set to bring in former and active military men to crack down on the drug trade in the city.
A career officer, Tello was arrested in 1997 and charged in relation with the kidnap-killings of six young men during a police crackdown in Mexico City's Buenos Aires neighborhood, known for trafficking in stolen cars and parts. The charges against him were later dropped.
Tello also commanded the military crackdown in central Michoacan state in 1997, which at the time was the scene of some of the most brutal gangland violence between local gangsters and those from the so-called Gulf Cartel, based in the cities bordering South Texas. Cancun's underworld trade is reportedly controlled by the Gulf Cartel and its gunmen, known as the Zetas.
After the ambush that year of an army convoy that killed a colonel and four other soldiers, troops roughly rounded up suspects in several nearby villages, sparking an outcry from human rights groups.
dudley.althuas@chron.com
Back At Work Today
Well, I made it in for work today. Feels strange after having been out for 10 days. I have been sick before, but I have never had pneumonia before. It is not something that I would wish on my worst enemy. But it's over and done with now. I am still weak, but i'll survive. Talk about piled up work. It will take me a month to catch up.
Sphere: Related ContentFriday, February 6, 2009
Russia allows transit of U.S. military supplies
Now this is kinda like the pot calling the kettle black. Never trust Russia.
MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow will begin allowing U.S. military supplies for Afghanistan to cross its territory.
Sergey Lavrov says the U.S. administration approached the Kremlin several days ago asking for permission.
He said in remarks broadcast by Vesti 24 television today that Russia has agreed. He said Moscow is now waiting for the U.S. to provide specific details of the shipments and will issue relevant permissions after getting them.
Kyrgyzstan this week decided to close a key U.S. base that supports operations in Afghanistan. It denied it acted after receiving $2 billion in Russian loans.
There are also concerns about the safety of overland supply routes from Pakistan.
Girl to cops: 'Mom cooks me in the oven like a turkey'
I can't even think of anything to say about this. This women shold be put to death before she kills one of her kids. No mercy terminate with extreme prejudice. (Just my humble opinion)
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — After telling police that "Mom cooks me in the oven like a turkey," a 4-year-old Hamtramck girl and her four siblings are in foster care and their mother is facing years in prison on torture charges.
Reyna Valentino, 40, was arraigned Thursday in 31st District Court in Hamtramck on two counts of torture and two counts of child abuse. Bond was set at $1 million. Her next hearing is set for Feb. 12.
Police said Valentino went to a neighbor's house after burning the girl in the oven at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 23, begging the neighbor to call police.
"It's really sad," said Mamun Roshid , 16, whose family lives in the house where Valentino knocked.
Hamtramck police detective Ben Bielecki said Valentino asked police in her 911 call to come get her.
"She said, 'I'm going to hurt my family,'" Bielecki said . "When our guys got there, it was pretty bad."
While the father had gone to pick the two boys up from school, Valentino used a heated nail or a screwdriver to burn the 4-year-old girl's lower eyelid, police said . Then she put the girl in the turned-on oven, creating sear lines on her back .
"She said that her heart's hurt and broke," the 4-year-old told police, according to Bielecki. The girl also said: "Mommy doesn't love me anymore. Mama's going to hurt me again. She hurts me with a nail and cooks me in the oven like a turkey. "
Another daughter told investigators her mother once hit her with a crowbar. All five children are in foster care and doing fine, Bielecki said. Valentino was immediately taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital for evaluation after her arrest.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Wednesday Hero
In 2003, Sgt. Popaditch, along with 1st Tank Battalion, rolled into Baghdad from Kuwait at the start of the Iraq War. They had just taken the city and the tank that Sgt. Popaditch was in had rolled up to a 40-ft statue of Saddam. I think we all remember that statue. Popaditch was given a cigar by a fellow Marine and as he smoked it an AP photographer snapped a picture of him.
Fast forward to April 7, 2004. Sgt. Popaditch's wife was vacationing with their son when she received a phone call informing her that her husband had been injured in an attack. The turret of his tank, that he was situated in, had taken two direct hits from RPG's. He fell through the hatch to the floor of the tank. As he struggled to his feet, he began to shout orders to his men but go no response. He then realized that the attack had caused him to go deaf in both ears. But that was only temporary. He then reached up and felt that his head was wet and knew it wasn't good.
In the aftermath of the attack, Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch had lost his right eye. And because of that he now proudly wears a prosthetic eye with the Marine Corps. logo embossed on it. On November 10, 2005 Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for heroism in combat. He also has a book out titled Once A Marine.
You can read more about Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch here and here.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Today I am a year older and wiser
Well today I added another year of experience and turned 62. It has been an interisting journey over the past year. I have had the opportunity to add many useful things to my area of expertise to include but not limited to survival skills. With the impact of Ike on my life I found out that man can survive for extended periods of time (in my case 11 days) without all of the things that we take for granted in our daily lives. Things like television, ice, electricity, gas, store bought food, drinking water and many others. I learned that my neighbors are really nice people and are willing to help each other in many ways, such as helping each other clear debrie such as downed trees, patching holes in roofs, and shareing food and good spirit. I now know that this year I will be prepared for any emergency, be it small or major. I have learned to handle greater responsibility in my work place, I have learned that there are many good folks out there in the blogdom. I plan to do all that I can this year to improve on the things that I know and want to know.
Unfortunately on this my birthday, I have Pneumonia. I don't like it, but I am dealing with it. It is not a nice things to be going through, but with the wonder drugs we are given, anything can be fixed. I have been out of work from last Friday, and am still home sick, however I am getting better. This is the first time in over a week, that I have been able to sit down at the computer and do a few things without getting tired out. I hope to return to work in a couple of days. It's hard being home with nothing to do but cough. So to wrap it up. I am looking forward to this this year and I will be sure and get a Pneumonia and flu shot this time around.
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