Chicago Police shoot, kill suspect on South Side

Photo: The car driven by a suspect shot and killed by police on the South Side this morning. (WGN-TV)

Chicago police officers shot and killed a suspect whose car hit and dragged one officer and tried to strike a second, police said this morning.

The shooting occurred about 1:33 a.m. on the 1100 block of West 67th Street after officers spotted a vehicle that matched the description of one involved earlier in a shots-fired incident and pulled it over, police said in a statement.

At that point, officers ordered the two men in the car to get out. The passenger opened his door as the driver put the green Oldsmobile Aurora in reverse, which struck and began to drag one of the officers, police said. The vehicle then struck a light pole.

The driver then drove the car forward in an attempt to hit the second officer, putting the officer "in fear of his life," the statement said.

That officer then shot and killed the driver. The passenger was arrested.

The dragged officer suffered minor injuries, the statement said.

The dead driver was identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as Darius Pinex, 27, of the 6899 block of South Elizabeth Street. A spokesman said Pinex had been shot multiple times.

Pinex has more than two dozen arrests on his record. His convictions include drug possession in 2001 and burglary in 2005, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison. His most recent conviction came last month, when he was given a conditional discharge for resisting arrest.

The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.

Arrest Warrant Issued For Rich Township High School District 227 Board candidate Komaa Mnyofu

The legal woes continue for Rich Township High School District 227 Board candidate Komaa "Wild Dick" Mnyofu, who now has a warrant for his arrest pending.

Cook County Circuit Judge Christopher J. Donnelly issued an arrest warrant for Mnyofu after he missed his disorderly conduct case hearing Wednesday at the Markham courthouse, according to court records.

A spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office said Mnyofu originally was in court for the hearing but he left and never returned.

“I have no clue about it, sir,” Mnyofu said, when reached by phone Thursday. “I don’t know anything about it, so how can I comment?”

The disorderly conduct charge stems from an incident Dec. 5 at Lincoln Mall in Matteson. Mnyofu was arrested while collecting signatures to get his name on the ballot.

According to a report, police were called to the scene when Mnyofu and a 50-year-old Olympia Fields man refused to leave the mall after being told the mall’s policy prohibited them from passing out campaign literature. Mall property is not considered a public way and soliciting, as well as loitering, is not permitted, according to police.

When confronted by mall security, Mnyofu grew angry and began yelling and shouting obscenities, police said. Mnyofu also made inappropriate comments about a police officer’s mother, police said. The disturbance caused a mother and her family to leave part of the mall so Mnyofu and the 50-year-old man were removed.

“I know the mayor, chief of police, and I’m going to sue you for violating my rights,” he said during the incident, according to police. “Go ahead and touch me, Go ahead and touch me so I can sue you. I know a whole bunch of people.”

Mnyofu is one of 12 people running for the District 227 school board.

Weir comes out in new book, says he loves his gay life

A Figure Skater Who Is A Homo? No Way! Who would have guessed this guy is a cock smoker?

NEW YORK – Never a fan of labels, Johnny Weir is giving himself one: He's gay.

The figure skater comes out in his new book, "Welcome to My World," but said in an excerpt published in the Jan. 17 issue of People magazine that being gay "is the smallest part of what makes me me."

"I'm not ashamed to be me," Weir wrote. "More than anyone else I know, I love my life and accept myself. What's wrong with being unique? I am proud of everything that I am and will become."

Weir's autobiography will be released Tuesday. He starts a book tour in New York the same day.

The three-time U.S. champion is one of skating's most colorful, oversized and popular personalities, and he enjoys challenging convention. He once posed for a photo shoot in a skirt and stilettos, and was targeted by animal-rights activists after adding white fox fur to one of costumes at last year's U.S. championships.

But he repeatedly avoided questions about his sexual orientation, saying he didn't want to be defined by labels. After broadcasters on French-language RDS made derogatory comments about Weir's masculinity during last year's Vancouver Olympics, the skater again refused to answer the question, saying he wanted people to see him "for who I am, not what I am."

"All the gay websites couldn't figure out why I was such a jerk that I wouldn't talk about it," Weir wrote. "But pressure is the last thing that would make me want to 'join' a community. ... The massive backlash against me in the gay media and community only made me dig my 'closeted' heels in further."

Asked why he decided to come out now, Weir told People he never felt he was in the closet. His parents have always supported him, and his sexual orientation is "not an issue" with his family. But Weir knows that isn't the case for everyone, particularly teenagers.

"With people killing themselves and being scared into the closet, I hope that even just one person can gain strength from my story," Weir told People.

In his book, Weir said he realized "there was something different about me" as a 6-year-old when he watched "Pretty Woman" and was attracted to Richard Gere. He writes about being picked on by students in middle school after he started skating, and finding a haven at the ice rink.

"By puberty, I knew that I was gay," he wrote. "But I didn't worry about it much. As a serious skater, I was way too busy."

Weir, who is currently in Russia, is taking the year off from competition. But he hasn't ruled out returning in hopes of making a run at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

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Detective Shavedlongcock:

"Weir, who is currently in Russia, is taking the year off from competition. But he hasn't ruled out returning in hopes of making a run at the Sochi Olympics in 2014."

I think he meant SUCKY OLYMPICS in 2014!

All 4 Major Chicago Mayoral Candidates Would Dump the Weasel Jody Weis - Wonder how it feels not to be wanted....

Chicago - No matter which of the four top candidates for mayor of Chicago is elected, it appears certain that one of the first casualties of the election will be the city's police superintendent.

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, former Chicago public schools president Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle have all now said they want someone other than Jody Weis to head the police force of the nation's third-largest city.

"The next mayor, in that position as in other positions, should have a fresh start and a new beginning," Emanuel said Tuesday, though he did not criticize Weis as other candidates have.

He said Weis has indicated he plans to leave the department when his 3-year contract ends in March -- something that may have been a surprise to Weis. The superintendent could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but as recently as Friday he told The Associated Press he loves his job, had no plans to leave and was not looking for another position.

"I certainly hope to be in this position . . . " he said. "I would love to stay in Chicago."

Emanuel's comments Tuesday came as a Cook County judge sided with an election board's decision to keep his name on the ballot. It was Emanuel's latest successful defense against a group of voters' claims that he is ineligible to run because he moved out of Chicago to work at the White House.

Burt Odelson, an attorney who has challenged Emanuel's residency, said he would take the case to the Illinois Appellate Court and, if he loses, to the state Supreme Court.

If the next mayor does replace Weis, it would end an unusual tenure as police superintendent. Mayor Richard Daley plucked him from the FBI with a mandate to repair the image of a department tarnished by a string of incidents -- including an off-duty officer whose beating of a female bartender was videotaped and shown around the world. From the day he began, Weis has been under fire.

Officers criticized him for wearing a police uniform to official functions because he did not come up through the ranks. They blamed him for the plummeting morale in the department and the perception that Weis did not support them as previous superintendents had.

At the same time, Weis has led the department at a time when the overall crime rate, and violent crime in particular, has dropped.

This week, even as candidates were talking about replacing him, Weis announced dramatic declines in crime in 2010 -- including a drop in homicides to their lowest number in 45 years.

But in one way or another, the candidates have talked about officers that are not as happy as they were before Weis arrived and a need to improve sentiment within the rank and file.

"I can tell you without reservation that the morale at the CPD is as low as I have ever seen it," said Braun.

Some candidates also took issue with the idea of an outsider brought in to run the department. Chico, Braun and del Valle all promised that the next superintendent would come from within the ranks of the department and not -- like Weis -- from another law enforcement agency.

"A homegrown leader will be helpful to morale, one who knows the streets of Chicago, the city and the culture of the department," said Chico.

Like the other candidates, Chico has not criticized Daley for going outside the department for a new superintendent. And neither Braun in her news conference Monday nor del Valle in his brief statement Tuesday even mentioned Daley's name.

Braun also dismissed any suggestion that the police department played any role in the dropping homicide rate.

"Taking credit for the murders going down is like a rooster taking credit for the sun coming up," she said, adding that factors like better medical care are the reasons homicides have fallen in Chicago and around the nation.

Besides, she said, the number of assaults continues to rise.

In fact, statistics released this week showed that in 2010 a host of violent crimes, including aggravated assault, robbery, criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery all fell, some by double-digit percentages.

A major story in recent years has been the declining number of police officers. Just last month, the police union said the department has about 1,000 fewer officers than the 13,500 it had in March 2008, about the time Weis took over. Officers have voiced concerns that the drop means that the safety of the residents and officers themselves is at greater risk.

Chico, who said several weeks ago he'd replace Weis after his contract runs out, put at least some of the blame on Weis. While acknowledging on Tuesday that the mayor and the City Council are responsible for providing funding to hire people, Chico said the superintendent has not lobbied enough for more officers.

"I haven't heard him saw `boo' about wanting more people," said Chico. "I don't want a superintendent just to be quiet and who goes away because he doesn't want to offend anybody."

Weis has in fact voiced concerns on numerous

occasions about staffing shortages and his desire to hire more officers.
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Detective Shavedlongcock:

Many of the retired big bosses at the FBI are pissed at Jody Weis... Many were offered nice top cop spots at various local and county police departments after their retirement with the FBI... Seems like Jody Weis gave all these local police departments a bad taste in their mouths for former FBI bosses...and are no longer hiring them.

Jody Weis has a long list of pissed off people at him!

Patrick Daley, Son of Mayor Daley named in a federal indictment but not charged - yet....

I guess when your daddy is the untouchable Mayor Daley and your Uncle is the new Chief of Staff for the President of the United States... You get a "Get out of jail" free card!

File: Daley's son's secret deal City Hall hired a minority-owned trucking company to clean and inspect sewers south of 63rd Street, but the owner secretly farmed out the multimillion-dollar job to a company owned in part by Mayor Daley’s son and nephew, according to a federal indictment Thursday.

The mayor’s son, Patrick R. Daley, and nephew, Robert G. Vanecko, were not charged with any wrongdoing. But their former business partner, Anthony Duffy, was charged with three counts of mail fraud for allegedly participating in the latest minority-contracting scheme to hit City Hall.

Duffy was president of Municipal Sewer Services, a Chicago company in which the mayor’s son and nephew had a hidden ownership stake, which the Chicago Sun-Times revealed in December 2007.

The Sun-Times report led to an investigation by the city’s inspector general and federal authorities that resulted in the criminal charges Thursday.

The grand jury also indicted Jesse Brunt and his company, Brunt Bros. Transfer, Inc., on three counts of mail fraud. The indictment seeks $3 million from Brunt, his company and Duffy for the amount of money the city paid Brunt’s certified minority-owned company to clean and inspect sewers.

Duffy, 46, of Bartlett, declined to comment. Brunt, 74, of Chicago, couldn’t be reached.

Brunt, a longtime city contractor who also took part in the Hired Truck Program, had worked on city sewer-cleaning contracts as both a contractor and a subcontractor since 2000, getting paid more than $3 million.

Starting in 2000, Brunt was a subcontractor to Kenny Industrial Services, which had two city contracts to clean and inspect sewers north of 63rd Street. The city gave Brunt the contract for the sewers south of 63rd Street, but Brunt didn’t own the video equipment needed to inspect the sewers so he subcontracted the work to Kenny, whose sewer cleaning business was run by Duffy.

Three years later, Kenny went bankrupt. Its sewer cleaning equipment and city contracts were taken over by Municipal Sewer Services, a company Duffy formed with Robert Bobb Jr. and Joseph M. McInerney, the principal operators of Cardinal Growth, a Chicago venture capital firm when the mayor’s son was an intern. Patrick Daley and his cousin formed a separate company, MSS Investors LLC, that invested $65,000 with Municipal Sewer Services, an ownership stake that wasn’t disclosed on documents the company filed with City Hall to take over Kenny’s contracts — in violation of city rules.

Municipal Sewer Services also took over Kenny’s role as a subcontractor to Brunt Bros., cleaning and inspecting sewers south of 63rd Street.

While the mayor’s son and nephew had hidden ownership stakes in the company, it got more than $4 million in no-bid contract extensions from City Hall. The mayor said he never knew his son and nephew had a stake in the company until the Sun-Times uncovered it.

Happy New Year to the New Congress!

Thanks to Charlie T for this great comic!

Ten Percenters® - The cops who really make a difference!

Ten Percenters®
The cops who really make a difference!
By Sgt Lou Savelli, NYPD – retired
President, Homefront Protective Group,

Law Enforcement Training;
http://www.homefrontprotect.com/

There are 1%ers, 5% ers, and there are 13% ers but in the law enforcement profession there are 10%ers. 10% ers are in every law enforcement agency and let us thank God that they are! 10% ers, for the purpose of this article, are those Cops (law enforcement officers) who truly make the streets safe for everyone else. 10%ers are the cops that the cops call when they need help. And I don’t mean SWAT, Narco or ERT since not all of them work like 10% ers.

If you are a law enforcement officer reading this article, you know exactly who I am talking about. It may be you or someone you work with but it is definitely not everyone. I would be either foolish, naïve or a liar to say that most cops took the job to ‘confront’ bad guys everyday and kept that zeal and work ethic throughout their careers. I may be a lot of things, but not naive. While I think many cops took the job to chase bad guys, enforce t he laws and do the right thing, many others were just looking for the power, job security or just a job. I can tell you, I was not one of those. I always worked hard to be a 10% er and often got in trouble for doing it. That goes with the territory. I can live with the bumps, bruises, law-suits and lost pay but I couldn’t live with not working hard to protect and serve. I guess it’s like “…a coward dies a thousand deaths but a hero dies but one!”

As a 10%er, you knew all too well where the other 90% stood. There was that 40% that would do their jobs conscientiously but not go to the great lengths as the 10%ers. The 10% ers could always count on them for back-up and support even through danger and some gray areas as long as the 10% er was taking the heat when the S%#T hit the fan with the bosses. Then there was the 25% that would answer their calls, do the job but not go any further and use a variety of excus es like, “the job isn’t on the level”, “you can get jammed up for doing your job”, or “I’m not risking my pension for anyone”. And there is that 5% that is always looking to get ahead by studying for promotional tests, kissing ass and creating a façade of conscientiousness but it is only about them and their own selfish goals. Many of these become big bosses and don’t care who they step on during the ladder climb. They seldom will take the heat for serious decisions or something that could hurt their career. Of course, not all big bosses are like that. Some 10% ers and 40% ers make it to the top.


Last, but not least there is that 20 % who seemed to never be around when the S%#T hit the fan and never seem to get involved in anything but yet they worked the same job as you. They are always conspicuously missing when there is a ‘hot’ call or a call requiring an arrest or extensive paperwork. They often go out sick and if they get injured on a job, they are out for months. They seem to be looking for a medical or stress disability.


I think almost every cop starts out in his or her career to become a 10% er but gets lost along the way. They succumb to complacency and are hindered by their fellow cops making fun of them or they just can’t take the heat that goes along with being an aggressive cop, such as civilian complaints, bad bosses and other pressures. It is understandable, yet the 10% ers still rise to the occasion everyday in every agency. They face the same pressures, if not more because they are proactive, and continue to keep the bad guys afraid. This article is fo r those cops, the 10 % ers! God Speed!!!

_______________________________


Lou Savelli is a retired Sergeant from the NYPD. He served 21 years working in proactive units and created NYPD’s first citywide gang unit called the CAGE (Citywide Anti Gang Enforcement). His unit was awarded the National gang Crime Research Center’s Award for The Most Effective Gang Unit in the US. Lou Savelli now operates the most sought-after ‘reality-based’ training company in the country – Homefront Protective Group. His company provides over 100 classes to law enforcement officers each year and most of them are FREE to attendees. He can be reached through the c ompany’s website at www.homefrontprotect.com. Ten Percenters, tenpercenters,10%ers, 10%, Top 10 and associated logos are registered trademarks created and owned by Louis A. Savelli, Brooklyn, New York.

________________________________

Thanks to the big guy DAVE D for this info!

Domestic battery charges refiled against Des Plaines cop - Des Plaines police Sgt. Matthew Hicks

The McHenry County state’s attorney’s office has refiled domestic violence charges accusing Des Plaines police Sgt. Matthew Hicks of beating his wife.

Hicks, an 18-year department veteran, faces four misdemeanor counts of domestic battery claiming he struck his wife April 18 in their Huntley home and grabbed her by the hair.

The 46-year-old police officer also faces two counts of battery and a single county of interfering with the reporting of domestic violence stemming from the same altercation.

McHenry County Judge Gordon Graham dismissed charges against Hicks on Dec. 21 after denying prosecutors a second trial continuance because a witness — one of the officers who responded to the scene — was unavailable. Prosecutors refiled the case shortly after the judge’s decision.

Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Zalud would not comment further Thursday on the reinstated charges.

Des Plaines police initially suspended Hicks with pay after his arrest. In August, the three-member Des Plaines Police and Fire Commission suspended him without pay until it could decide on seven internal conduct charges levied against him: inability to act as a police officer, untruthfulness, insubordination, theft and official misconduct, domestic battery and official misconduct, interfering with the reporting of domestic violence and conduct unbecoming.

A hearing is set for 9 a.m. Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 10 and 11, in the Des Plaines City Council chambers, 1420 Miner St. After hearing arguments from both sides, the commission will consider disciplinary action, including his firing.

A domestic battery conviction would make that a moot point because, under state law, anyone found guilty of that Class A misdemeanor is barred from possessing a firearm.

Hicks, who pleaded not guilty to the initial charges, is scheduled to be in court on the new case Jan. 18.
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Detective Shavedlongcock:

Women.... the worse drug known to mankind... It has gotten more men in trouble than anything else out there!

Thanks to Ray S for this submission.

Obama chooses Mayor Daley's brother as his new Chief of Staff - Bill Daley

More to come when available.

Ooops! I forgot to post this one! In and Around Garfield Ridge Blog is back in action.

In and Around Garfield Ridge's Blog is back in action after some technical problems with blogspot.

Click here to go to their blog

or use this link:

http://inandaroundgarfieldridge.blogspot.com/

Shackled in Kane County Courthouse, for 18 hours - and still better living conditions that his ghetto Section 8 welfare home.

Convicted piece of shit felon left alone, shackled in Kane County Courthouse, for 18 hours - Sheriff, judge apologize to man on probation - Thank God it wasn't Cook County, Sheriff Tom Dart would be placing his tongue up this guy's ass!

Left alone and handcuffed overnight in a cramped conference room at the Kane County Courthouse, Husan Smith spent long hours kicking and screaming in hope someone would hear him.

Remembering a trick he saw on a television action show, an increasingly desperate Smith tried to set off the sprinkler system during his 18-hour ordeal, which he called "the worst night" of his life.

It didn't work. Neither did trying to sleep or holding on till he could get to a bathroom.

The hunger, panic and the smell of his wet pants were hard to ignore as he sat trapped last week in a room smaller than a jail cell, Smith said Wednesday.

"I started feeling despair like I would be stuck in there and die in that room from dehydration or starvation," he said.

The 32-year-old Elgin man was left trapped in the courthouse overnight instead of being transferred to the jail where he was supposed to serve four days for violating his probation on a drug offense.

Apologizing for the incident, Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez said Wednesday that he couldn't explain why Smith was put in the conference room instead of in a nearby holding cell. The court security officer informed personnel in the jail that Smith needed to be picked up, he said.

"They had the information," Perez said. "I'm not going to make excuses. Somebody dropped the ball."

Smith is serving a 30-month probation as part of a plea agreement for a charge of felony possession of a controlled substance. On Dec. 29, Judge Timothy Sheldon sentenced him to four days in jail for failing a drug test.

Smith said a bailiff took him to a conference room adjacent to the courtroom about 2:40 p.m. After spending nearly four hours in the room, with no courthouse personnel in sight, Smith knew he was in trouble.

"I think there was a breakdown in the system," he said. "I think no one was notified there was a prisoner waiting" to be taken to the jail.

The conference room contained only an aluminum table. Just outside the door, Smith could see a sign on the wall that listed the detainees' rights, he said.

Smith, who says he suffers from claustrophobia and anxiety, started to panic at the lack of food, water and a bathroom.

Trying to calm himself, he worked a slipper off his foot and onto the table to use as a pillow but couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep with his hands cuffed behind his back.

About 14 hours into his night, Smith said he noticed a device that looked like a sprinkler or fire alarm. Remembering a move he saw on the TV show "24," he managed to maneuver his cuffed hands around his ankles and eventually back in front of him. But even then he couldn't make the fire device go off, he said.

It wasn't until about 8:30 a.m. the next day that a security officer heard Smith banging on the door. He was fed and taken to the jail to serve the rest of his sentence.

Perez said once court call is over, security personnel typically notify the corrections staff, who then take inmates to the jail through a tunnel that connects to the courthouse. He said it was possible Smith was put in the conference room by a guard who thought it would only be for a short time.

The holding cells at the courthouse have security cameras that let officers monitor inmates, but not the conference room, where prisoners can talk to their attorneys.

"Had there been cameras in the room this never would have happened," said Perez, adding he will check to see if a camera can legally be installed in the room.

Perez said he has directed the Office of Professional Standards to investigate the incident. He also has ordered his staff to do visual checks on the holding area.

"I apologize for what happened," he said. "I can't go back and change it. I can only go back and make sure it doesn't repeat."

Judge Sheldon apologized as well at a court hearing for Smith.

"We're all very sorry for the mistake they made," Sheldon said as Smith and his mother, Betty, looked on.

Smith said he'll begin taking classes at Elgin Community College later this month, and that he hopes to be a teacher and coach someday.

The courthouse holding cell area that includes the conference room has had other problems in recent years. In July 2009, Matthew Brockman, 20, of Yorkville, hanged himself by his belt while in a Kane County holding cell after being sentenced to two years for aggravated battery.

Perez said the rules were then changed to prevent inmates in street clothes from wearing shoelaces, belts or ties.

Perez said two instances spanning about 30,000 inmates isn't a bad record, but he'd like to do better.

"You find out where the mistake was," he said, "and rectify the mistake so it doesn't repeat itself."

Mexico says U.S. border agent killed teenage illegal beaner climbing border fence - Keep up the good work!

Ready, Aim, Fire! 10 extra points for the pregnant illegal beaners!

NOGALES, Mexico, Jan 5 – A U.S. Border Patrol agent was involved in a shooting on the Arizona border with Mexico on Wednesday that resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy trying to illegally scale the border fence, Mexican police said.

Ramses Barron was found dead outside a hospital in Nogales, Sonora, in the early hours on Wednesday with a wound from a bullet fired by a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Sonora state police said citing witnesses. Three men left Barron's body at the hospital, hospital workers told police.

Barron, a Mexican, attempted to cross the tall fence between Nogales and its sister city in Arizona of the same name under cover of night, police said in a statement.

"At that moment (as he was climbing the fence), a United States Border Patrol agent shot at him, sending him falling onto gravel on the Mexican side," the statement said.

Tucson sector Border Patrol spokesman David Jimarez said an agent was involved in an early morning incident in near the fence but said events were still unclear.

"There was an agent involved in a shooting in Nogales, Arizona, although the details are very sketchy. We are not aware of the injuries involved in the incident," he said.

Jimarez said the FBI was leading the investigation.

FBI special agent Manuel Johnson said the incident occurred at around 3. a.m. local time.

"Border Patrol agents were attempting to arrest alleged drug smugglers. ...when bystanders began to throw rocks" at them, Johnson said. "A Border Patrol agent responded by firing a shot at an alleged rock thrower."

Frustrated by tighter security on the U.S.-Mexico border, illegal immigrants and drug traffickers regularly pelt U.S. agents with rocks, take shots and even throw gasoline bombs.

Border Patrol agents are wary of using their weapons as shootings of illegal immigrants have raised tensions between the United States and Mexico in the past.

In June, the fatal shooting of a Mexican teenager by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, provoked anger in Mexico and the Mexican government sent a formal complaint to Washington, demanding answers.

Mexicans are sensitive about the border since the U.S. built a 650-mile (1,046-km) border fence to prevent illegal immigration between 2006 and 2010. Many Americans feel equally passionate that Border Patrol agents should be able to defend themselves, especially as raging violence from Mexico's drug war makes the border a very dangerous place.

Up to 500 people die every year crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, according to U.S. immigration experts and the Mexican government, a sharp jump from a decade ago.

From the PUBLIUS' FORUM BLOG : Disgusting: Chicago Firefighter 'Priest' Uses Fellow's Funeral For Union Speech -By Warner Todd Huston

Disgusting: Chicago Firefighter 'Priest' Uses Fellow's Funeral For Union Speech -By Warner Todd Huston

Father Thomas Mulcrone made an ass of himself at the funeral for fallen Chicago Firefighter Edward Stringer on Tuesday, Dec. 28 by delivering some union-like hectoring of the city from the pulpit during his dead comrade's eulogy. Mulcrone's union-centric address was as disgusting a display as I can imagine and at the most inappropriate time imaginable.

Sadly Stringer, a 12-year veteran Chicago Fireman, perished in a fire a few days before Christmas when a roof of an abandoned building collapsed on him and several other firemen. One other fireman, Corey Ankum, was also killed that terrible day.

At the funeral on Tuesday morning, Father Mulcrone, a Catholic Priest attached to the Chicago Fire Department for some 25 years, launched into some finger waving at all those people who claim that Firemen don't deserve the money they make.

"I would challenge those people this morning to look at Ed's casket, to look on Corey's casket on Thursday and I would ask them how much is too much... for this sort of devotion?"

What an inappropriate time to launch into this sort of union hectoring of those people looking to balance the city's budget!

First of all, few people say that firemen make too much money. What they are saying however, is that the bloated pensions of public employees are breaking the bank and killing every city in America, not just Chicago. Also, no one is saying that just Chicago firefighters should have their lavish retirement benefits cut. People are saying that all public employees are making too much and at too early an age. No one is singling out firemen.

Secondly, does any fireman, policeman or soldier go into their jobs blindly ignorant that they might lose their lives in the course of their duties? I don't see how they could. Risking life and limb is part of the job for firemen and neither Stringer nor Ankum were unaware of the risks.

In the end this was a disgusting display of union-like hectoring and at a funeral yet. This Father Mulcrone should be ashamed of himself for bringing politics into such a solemn occasion.

Then again, union flacks have no shame, do they?

PUBLIUS' FORUM BLOG UPDATE

By the way, all the threatening letters, curse filled missives, and hate-filled notes from all you wonderful, wonderful "Father" Mulcrone supporters are just what I would have expected to receive from lapsed Catholic, union thugs. Thanks for proving me right. Further your misspelled rants are just the sort of hate I'd expect from supporters of a guy that would use a firefighter's funeral to make a union speech.

There seems to be a bit of confusion by you distempered union thugs abut what I am saying, so let me be clear here. I despise your union and think it should be made illegal. But it isn't just yours I am against. I think every public employee union should be eliminated and made illegal like they were before 1958. You people are one of the reasons why government is over spent, unresponsive, anti-democratic, un-American, and dangerous to the best interests of good governance. The fact is that public employee unions are antithetical to good government and all of them should be eliminated. All - of - them.

Our police and firemen deserve a good wage, one fair for what they do. They should also be taken care of if they are injured in the line of duty or fall in that work. But they are NO DIFFERENT than anyone else in the normal course of life. If you don't like the danger of your job, get a job at McDonald's.

Now, don't waste any more of your time disgorging your bile at me in my email box. Your badly written, uninformed blather will just be deleted. I really couldn't care less what union thugs like you think. After all, you don't know a thing about me so spare me your idiotic pop psychology and stupid assumptions. You really are making yourself look moronic with your sad attempts to sound intelligent not to mention making yourself look like childish with your threats and fourth-grade writing skills.

Thanks for reading. Ta ta, now.

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Detective Shavedlongcock:

Sounds like a pretty heated debate going on over there.... But I would have to side with the author... The funeral is no place for the contract debate or union business... Unless a statement is made by one of the family members....

We must remember what we were there for... To mourn the life of a firefighter killed in the line of duty and to celebrate the achievements of that lost member....

Judge nixes plea deal for cop charged with killing gal pal after emotional plea from shooting victim

A Brooklyn judge quashed a plea deal Wednesday for a dirty cop charged with killing his girlfriend after her family and a survivor of the shooting begged him to show no mercy.

Former cop Jerry Bowens was ordered to stand trial next week for the 2009 slaying of Catherine D'Onofrio after Judge Matthew D'Emic refused to accept an offer of 25-years-to-life.

Bowens, 44, now faces 50-years-to-life in prison if convicted of murder.

The possibility of a lesser term prompted D'Onofrio's mom, sister and the victim's pal, Melissa Simmons - who Bowens allegedly shot in the head - to write the judge.
"The man is a killer and deserves to spend the maximum amount of time for the brutal crimes he committed," Simmons said in a poignant note that also laid bare her personal pain.

"I now suffer from headaches and my sleeping patterns vary, depending on whether I have a recurring nightmare reliving that day when he barricaded the doors and taunted us with his gun - until he finally shot Catherine in her head and then turned the gun on me."

She continued: "The only sense of safety I get is knowing that he is locked away in prison."
"He took Catherine away from us forever," wrote D'Onofrio's mother, Jane. "The idea that he could be released from prison 25 years from now ... is devastating to me and my family."

Bowens' lawyer, Wayne Bodden, argued it was inappropriate for the judge to consider the letters and that they should only be admissable during sentencing.
D'Emic dismissed the argument, saying the letters had no bearing on his decision to proceed to trial.

"My conscience is very clear that everyone in this courtroom is going to get a fair trial," D'Emic said.

Pretrial hearings in Brooklyn Supreme Court began immediately and detectives were called to testify - reading Bowens' written and verbal confessions from his arrest.
Bowens, a former narcotics cop, is already serving a 1-to-3-year sentence on drug charges stemming from an NYPD corruption case in Brooklyn.

Bowens had agreed to testify against fellow officers in the months before D'Onofrio's killing. But in March 2009, he gunned her down in the bathroom of Simmons' house and then turned the gun on Simmons.

Days later, he surrendered to cops who found a "hit list" in Bowens' car naming several others he planned to kill.
In his confession, Bowens claimed he had intended suicide but accidentally shot D'Onofrio while raising the gun to his head. Simmons was shot when she tried to push the gun away, Bowens claimed.

"I loved Catherine more than I've loved any other woman. I never meant to hurt her," he wrote. "The gun went off. Then it was like I was in some kind of a trance. I kept shooting, how many times I don't know."

He was initially deemed unfit to stand trial in Donofrio's killing, but was later re-examined and determined to be psychologically fit.

From the NYPD THEE RANT:
In his confession, Bowens claimed he had intended suicide but accidentally shot D'Onofrio while raising the gun to his head. Simmons was shot when she tried to push the gun away, Bowens claimed. - Uhhh....yeah. Ok. Enjoy rotting in prison you murderous POS. Not only is this guy a dirty cop and a killer but he was going rat on everyone else - not because of some moral highground but because he wanted to save his own perpy skin.

Tribune analysis: Drug-sniffing dogs in traffic stops often wrong

High number of fruitless searches of Hispanics' vehicles cited as evidence of bias - Detective Shavedlongcock says the only thing fucking bias is this report. Many of these so call cars without any dope in them had people smoking marijuana inside the vehicle recently and/or recently had a large shipment of narcotics in it. Just because the search is negative - doesn't mean shit! But once again the pandering Chicago Tribune wants to make it sound like the police are picking on all the illegal beaners driving to the Sanctuary City of Chicago!

Gurnee police K-9 "Shane" works with an officer in Grayslake.

Drug-sniffing dogs can give police probable cause to root through cars by the roadside, but state data show the dogs have been wrong more often than they have been right about whether vehicles contain drugs or paraphernalia.

The dogs are trained to dig or sit when they smell drugs, which triggers automobile searches. But a Tribune analysis of three years of data for suburban departments found that only 44 percent of those alerts by the dogs led to the discovery of drugs or paraphernalia.

For Hispanic drivers, the success rate was just 27 percent.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE SAD AND TEAR JERKING NEWS STORY... The poor illegal beaners!

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Suit alleges Chicago police held back info on Alderman Ed Burke's protection

I need around the clock protection to stop big fat stanky men from shaking my hand! Where's my security detail when you need them!

The Better Government Association filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Chicago Police Department alleging that the agency wrongfully denied the nonprofit's Freedom of Information Act request for records related to Ald. Edward Burke's security detail.

The organization filed the FOIA request in August, requesting the names of the officers assigned to Burke and their titles, salaries, time sheets, reports and expenses. In a September response, the police department called the request "unduly burdensome."

On Nov. 4, 2010, the Better Government Association sent a revised request to the Chicago Police Department, asking for the total amount that the agency spent on Burke's security detail in 2009, the total number of officers assigned to Burke in 2009, and the rank and security of all of those officers. Burke represents the 14th ward.

The agency denied the request on Nov. 15, 2010, asserting that the requested disclosures "would defeat the purpose of the security by providing potential threats with information that could then be used to subvert the Department's efforts to effectively provide protection."

The Chicago Police Department also said in its letter to the Better Government Association that it does not keep expense or travel records related to the security detail and referred the group to the alderman's office for that information.

In its lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, the Better Government Association alleges that the police department's "justification is unsupportable" and asks that the judge force the agency to fulfill the request.

Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Maureen Biggane said Wednesday evening in an email that the agency had not seen the lawsuit yet and could not comment. Biggane referred questions to officials with the city's Law Department, who were not immediately available for comment.

The son of a police detective shot and wounded the principal and assistant principal of his high school

UPDATE: Vice Principal Vicki Kaspar, 58, died at a hospital hours after the shooting, police said. Principal Curtis Case, 45, was listed in stable condition.


OMAHA, Neb (Reuters) – The son of a police detective shot and wounded the principal and assistant principal of his high school on Wednesday, then shot himself in his car a few blocks away, authorities said.

Robert Butler, Jr., 17, who transferred in November to Millard South High school, left a suicide note on the social media site that said the school "drove me to this."

"Everybody that used to know me I'm sry but Omaha changed me and (expletive) me up. and the school I attend is even worse ur gonna here about the evil (expletive) I did but that (expletive) school drove me to this. I wont u guys to remember me for who I was b4 this ik. I greatly affected the lives of the families ruined but I'm sorry. goodbye," Butler posted on his Facebook page.

Butler had been suspended from the school on Wednesday morning, when classes resumed after the winter break, for using his vehicle to tear up the football field, local media reported.

Butler's motive was under investigation, Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes told reporters, but his father was a police detective, which gave the son access to firearms.

"Tragedy has hit the Omaha Police Department as the suspect's father is an Omaha Police detective," Hayes said. "We are talking to him."

The principal, Curtis Case, was in stable but serious condition at Creighton University Medical Center, according to spokeswoman Kelsey Archer. He had been at the school for five or six years, Millard Schools Superintendent Keith Lutz said.

Assistant principal Vicki Caspar was in critical condition. She was a veteran administrator at the school, Lutz said.

The school was equipped with security cameras and guards and performed safety drills, Lutz said. "But nothing prepares you," he said.

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Detective Shavedlongcock:

So many police and crime related news stories today... I don't even have time to comment on them...

Oregon police chief shot to death during struggle - Police Chief Ralph Painter, 55

RAINIER, Ore. -- Rainier's police chief was shot and killed Wednesday morning during a struggle with a man at a car audio shop.

Authorities say Ralph Painter responded to a report of a disturbance at Rainier Sound Authority on Rockcrest Street at 10:47 a.m. Wednesday.

When Painter contacted the man inside the shop, a struggle ensued, Columbia County sheriff's deputies say.

Painter was then wounded by a gunshot, according to authorities. More shots were fired and the suspect was taken into custody at 11:10 a.m. He was identified by the Columbia County District Attorney's Office as Daniel A. Butts, of Kalama Wash.

Painter was rushed to St. John's Hospital in Longview, where he was pronounced dead. Butts was taken to a Portland-area hospital.

Painter was described by community members as a dedicated parent and grandparent who had served as Rainier's police chief since 2006.

"At every parent coffee, conference or event, Rainier Police Chief Ralph Painter could be counted on to be in attendance, bringing with him a smile, positive words and support for children and our community," said Laurie Kash, who works for Rainier School District, in a statement.

Several police agencies, including the Longview Police Department, the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office and Washington State Patrol, responded to the shooting.

No charges have been filed against Butts, prosecutors say.

Highway 30 was temporarily closed during the police investigation but has reopened.

The Rainier Police Department is a small police force. Painter headed up a staff of six.

Columbia County Sheriff Jeff Dickerson said he knew the victim.

"(Our police departments) do a lot of things together," he said. "We have a lot of interaction with each other (and) look out for each other."

Rainier is a town of about 1,800 people that sits on the banks of the Columbia River. It's about one hour northwest of Portland.

_______________________________________

MSNBC NEWS

RAINIER, Ore. — The police chief of a small northwest Oregon city was shot to death Wednesday in a struggle with a man at a car audo shop. The suspect was wounded and taken to a hospital.

A family source told NBC station KGW that he was police Chief Ralph Painter, 55, and Mayor Jerry Cole confirmed that.

"We've lost our police chief ... in a line of duty death," Mayor Jerry Cole said. "This has been a tragic day in our city's history. No one thinks that something like this will happen."

Cole said it was a "sad day" for his small northwest Oregon town. Chief Painter led a force of five officers.

"Ralph was my friend for 25 years," an emotional Cole said, calling him an "outstanding police officer" who served the city for 20 years and as chief for the past five years.

"I'm sorry for my reaction right now. He was a wonderful father, husband and grandfather dedicated to the citizens of Rainier."

The shooting occurred at a small shopping complex in Rainier after the report of a disturbance at Rainier Sound Authority about 10:45 a.m. The officer responded and struggled with the suspect, then was shot to death.

More officers responded to the scene.

Liquor store owner Traci Brumbles saw some police move toward the car audio shop.

"They were kind of pushed up against the wall," she said. "They'd sneak a little further and stop."

Then, the police ordered a man to drop a weapon and fired multiple shots into the Sound Authority building, said John Harper, who is opening a tobacco store.

"The cops just unleashed on him," he told the Longview Daily News.

The suspect was wounded and taken to a hospital, authorities said. Investigators said they did not think the suspect was from Rainier. He was expected to recover from his wounds.

They said the suspect's identity would be released after consultation with the Columbia County district attorney's office.

Dusty Rockwood, an employee at the Exhaust Shop and Tire Center, told the Oregonian newspaper that he had been told a man who had broken into a car wrestled with the officer, took his gun and shot him.

Jeff McCracken, the pastor at the Rainier Assembly of God Church in the shopping complex, told NBC station KGW he heard police sirens, watched the incident unfold outside his window and almost got shot himself.

“There were officers about 10 feet outside my window with AR-15s ... We heard them [police] start yelling at this guy inside to put his weapon down. I told everyone [in the church] to get down. Then all the sudden a round came through the window I had been looking through, about six inches above my head, where I had just been standing,” McCracken said. “I started yelling, ‘everybody get out, get out!’”

At that point, McCracken and the others inside the church ran to the opposite side of the building. They said police told them to stay inside as a safety precaution.

The shopping complex is in the 7400 block of Rock Crest Street in Rainier, a town of about 1,800 along the Columbia River north of Portland. It is across the river from Longview, Wash.

It was at least the second shooting death of a law enforcement officer in the United States in 2011. On New Year's Day, a sheriff's deputy was shot to death in Enon, Ohio , while investigating reports of gunfire. The suspect also was killed. Deputy Suzanne Hopper had married last year and had two children.

In 2010, deaths in the line of duty among law enforcement officers rose to about 160 from 117 the year before, according to numbers as of Dec. 28 compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit that tracks police deaths.

Demographics for Rainer, Oregon

Population - 1,687

Latino 2.9%

White 91.6%

Native American 1.5%

Other 3.4%

2000 U.S. Census data

The median age for residents in Rainier, OR is 37 (this is older than average age in the U.S.).Families (non-single residences) represent 69% of the population.


UPDATE:

Wounded Arizona deputy fired over press statements

File - This Oct. 7, 2010 file photo shows Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Louie Puroll, left, during a news conference as Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu (The shaved head asshole who fired this police officer) answers a question, at the Pinal County Sheriff's complex, in Florence, Ariz.




PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona sheriff's deputy shot during a confrontation with marijuana smugglers in April has been fired because of statements he made to a weekly newspaper.

Pinal County deputy Louie Puroll came under scrutiny after he was slightly wounded in what he described as an ambush in the Arizona desert

The shooting came amid debate over Arizona's immigration law, and raised questions about why a deputy would look for armed drug smugglers in the remote desert without backup.

Puroll spoke to the Phoenix New Times after the investigation closed in October, reportedly saying he was approached previously by drug cartel members but didn't tell superiors.

Puroll was suspended after the story was published for what Sheriff Paul Babeu described as unprofessional conduct.

Babeu formally terminated Puroll Wednesday. Puroll plans to appeal.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs suddenly quits as Obama's Chief Spokesman

WASHINGTON DC(AP) — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says he is resigning his job as the president's chief spokesman.

Gibbs is leaving to become an outside political adviser to Obama and to give speeches in the private sector.

The change is to take effect in early February. No replacement has been immediately named.

The move comes as Obama ushers in a broad shake up of his senior leadership, heading toward his own likely re-election bid in 2012.

Not a bad looking drunk for being 55 years old - Mount Prospect school bus driver Betty Burden pleas guilty to DUI while driving a school bus

Former Mount Prospect school bus driver Betty Burden admitted Wednesday she was drunk last March when she navigated a nearly seven-mile route to deliver about 45 grade school students to their homes.

Burden, 55, now faces up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to felony drunken driving charges during a brief hearing in Rolling Meadows.

The veteran driver was charged after police said she failed a field sobriety test, then racked up a .226 blood-alcohol level during a breath test--nearly three times the .08 percent standard for drunk driving.

Burden admitted drinking vodka and orange juice before driving the children home from the Lions Park Elementary School in the northwest suburb, police said following her March 9 arrest.

She was subsequently fired by Mount Prospect District 57, as was her supervisor, who had checked on Burden after getting a report that she might have been drinking, but did not immediately contact police.

Last fall Burden unsuccessfully tried to have the DUI charges dismissed, a ruling that ultimately led to her guilty plea Wednesday.

“Is this what you want to do today, enter a plea of guilty?” Cook County Judge John Scotillo asked Burden during the hearing.

“Yes,” she replied softly.

Burden, who remains free on bond, declined to comment after the hearing.

But defense attorney Ernest Blomquist said he will ask that Burden be placed on probation, noting that she had never been arrested previously and has an outstanding driving record.

“Her background is exemplary. She has an incredible employment history,” Blomquist said.

Prosecutor Maria McCarthy declined to say whether she would seek a prison term for Burden.

Yea, My son stole my squad car... That's the ticket!

Bail set for son accused of stealing dad's police SUV

Bail was set at $30,000 today for the 17-year-old son of a Harvey police commander who allegedly stole his father's police-issued sport-utility vehicle and struck another driver outside Ingalls Memorial Hospital.

Divonne Keel of Matteson has been charged with aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated reckless driving, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office.

On Sunday, Keel stole the keys to his father's unmarked Harvey police vehicle, a 2003 Ford Explorer, and activated the police lights at some point as he drove from Matteson to Harvey, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office.

A Harvey police officer recognized the Explorer as Keel's father's vehicle and saw that Keel had activated the vehicle's police lights, Conklin said.

Around 3:30 p.m., Keel was heading south on Wood Street, approaching 156th Street near Ingalls Memorial Hospital, when he allegedly blew a red light and struck a 2007 Ford Focus that was heading west, according to a police report.

The Explorer continued south, veering into a parking lot, striking two parked vehicles. A witness told police that the driver of the Focus had the green light and that the Explorer disobeyed the traffic light, the report said.

Keel, who wasn't injured, was standing outside the vehicle after the accident when police arrived, and he admitted to driving the Explorer, Conklin said. Keel was taken into custody after the crash, police said.

The injured motorist remains hospitalized in critical condition with a fractured sternum and internal bleeding, Conklin said. Earlier this week, the injured motorist was identified by her eldest son as Donna Stroup, 59, of Cedar Lake, Ind.

"She's in a lot of pain," Scott Stroup said Monday night. "She's trying to sleep, trying to get past it, but every time she's awake, she's writhing in pain."

An Ingalls spokeswoman this week declined to comment about the crash.

On Sunday, Stroup was leaving her job of 30 years as a pharmacy technician at Ingalls to watch the Chicago Bears game when the collision occurred, her son said.

In addition to her hospital work, Stroup, a mother of two, is a former writer for Country Stars Central, an online magazine that interviews big names in country music.

Earlier this week, Scott Stroup said he had received little information from Harvey police, but added that his mother was interviewed by detectives and prosecutors.

Scott Stroup said his family had hired an attorney and that his mother was expected to remain hospitalized for several more days. The crash was a setback for Donna Stroup, who was involved in another traffic crash about a year ago, her son said.

"I just want to make sure my mother's taken care of," Scott Stroup said.

In a statement this week, Harvey police spokeswoman Sandra Alvarado said the commander told prosecutors that his son had stolen the Explorer. Police have initiated an internal investigation on the commander, Alvarado said.

Keel is due back in court on Jan. 21.

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Detective Shavedlongcock:

I have a funny feeling this isn't the first time that junior was driving the take home unmarked police car... I'll go even further and say that the kid and his buddies were probably ripping off the dope dealers in nearby suburbs with the police car....

Daddy had to put the felony car theft on the son to keep the police job......

Chinese Shootout Leaves 3 Officers Dead

A rare shootout in China left three police officers dead in the eastern city of Tai’an, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Two murder suspects on the run had been stopped when police rammed their vehicle:


__________________________________

Detective Shavedlongcock:

My condolences and prayers for the murdered police officers.... Godspeed!

This why I say "Fuck Off" to about 80% of the public...

Phone video captures SFPD shooting

The San Francisco Police Department released this video of a man who was shot by officers at 10th and Howard and streets in the South of Market neighborhood on Tuesday, Jan. 4.

In witness' footage, man in a wheelchair, who allegedly stabbed an officer, appears to toss his knife before being shot. (Actually he throws his knife at the officers and then reaches into his waistband) Chief Gascon says 'what is actually happening may be different.'



________________________________________

Detective Shavedlongcock:

I love assholes who tape things and give a stupid ass commentary while the video is running... You throw a knife at cops and then reach into your waistband after being told NOT TO... guess what, you get blasted by the cops and rightfully so!


Thanks to Carl A for this submission!

Funny how no matter where in the USA it happens... It's always the same people doing the killing!

Drive-by shooting kills 6-year-old; arrests made - Girl was sleeping when 18 rifle rounds were fired into her Alabama home


ECLECTIC, Ala. — Three men were charged with capital murder Tuesday in the death of a 6-year-old girl who was sleeping when 18 rounds from a rifle were fired into her home.

The Elmore County Sheriff's Office said three men were arrested and charged with killing Kenyatta Kendrick, 6, of Eclectic, the Montgomery Advertiser reported on its website.

The three were identified by Chief Deputy Ricky Lowery as Aaron McDowell, 18, of Alexander City; Bernard Nix, 17, of Alexander City; and Stalandous Slaughter, 25, of Eclectic.

Sheriff Bill Franklin said 19-year-old Darren Kendrick, Kenyatta's uncle and a senior at Elmore County High School, was sleeping in a nearby chair and was hit once in the left hip and once in the left ankle when the shots were fired about 3 a.m. Tuesday on Nichols Avenue. A hospital spokeswoman said he's listed in fair condition.

Kenyatta was a first-grader at Eclectic Elementary School.

Is The New Madrid Fault Earthquake Zone Coming To Life?

Is The New Madrid Fault Earthquake Zone Coming To Life?

What in the world is happening in the middle of the United States right now? Thousands of birds are falling dead from the skies, tens of thousands of fish are washing up on shore dead, earthquakes are popping up in weird and unexpected places and people are starting to get really freaked out about all of this. Well, one theory is that the New Madrid fault zone is coming to life. The New Madrid fault zone is six times bigger than the San Andreas fault zone in California and it covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. The biggest earthquakes in the history of the United States were caused by the New Madrid fault. Now there are fears that the New Madrid fault zone could be coming to life again, and if a "killer earthquake" does strike it could change all of our lives forever.

So exactly what events have happened recently that are causing people to take a close look at the New Madrid fault zone? Well, just consider the following examples of things that have been popping up in the news lately....

*According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 500 measurable earthquakes have been recorded in central Arkansas just since September.
*A magnitude-3.8 earthquake that shook north-central Indiana on December 30th is being called "unprecedented". It was strong enough to actually cause cracks along the ground and it was felt in portions of Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Kentucky.
*More than 3,000 red-wing blackbirds fell out of the sky dead in the Arkansas town of Beebe on New Year's Eve.
*Large numbers of dead birds were also found in Kentucky right around Christmas.
*Approximately 500 dead blackbirds and starlings were also recently discovered in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana.
*Approximately 100,000 fish washed up dead on the shores of the Arkansas River just last week.

So could all of these things have some other very simple explanation?
Possibly.
But the fact that they all happened in or around the New Madrid fault zone is starting to raise some eyebrows.

About 200 years ago, in 1811 and 1812, there were four earthquakes that were so powerful in the area of the New Madrid fault zone that they are still talked about today. All four of the quakes were estimated to have been magnitude-7.0 or greater. It is said that those earthquakes opened deep fissures in the ground, caused the Mississippi River to run backwards and that they were felt as far away as Boston.

The last major earthquake to hit the region was a 5.4-magnitude quake that struck the town of Dale, Illinois in 1968. Things have been strangely quiet in the region since then until recently.
If a true "killer earthquake" struck along the New Madrid fault zone today, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee could potentially be completely destroyed.
Unfortunately, this is not an exaggeration.

The following video describes just how incredibly powerful the earthquakes along the New Madrid fault in 1811 and 1812 actually were....

So could such a thing happen today?

Well, that is exactly what many seismologists now fear. The following video news report from ABC News explains why so many scientists are so concerned about the New Madrid fault zone....



One interesting theory is that the "oil volcano" unleashed by the BP oil spill in 2010 may have sparked renewed seismic activity in that part of the world.
Jack M. Reed, a retired Texaco geologist-geophysicist, has been carefully studying the geology of the Gulf of Mexico for over 40 years. Reed is convinced that the Gulf of Mexico is currently tectonically active, and that the Gulf of Mexico is the source for most seismic activity along the New Madrid fault.

According to Reed, there is substantial evidence that the New Madrid fault zone is directly connected to "deeply buried tectonics" in the Gulf of Mexico....
"This entire zone through the United States is suffering some type of tectonic activity that I believe is tied to the deeply buried tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico."
So did BP disturb those "deeply buried tectonics" by drilling such a deep well and unleashing all that oil that flowed into the Gulf of Mexico?

Let's hope not.

If a truly historic earthquake did strike along the New Madrid fault the amount of damage that could be done to surrounding states such as Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Indiana, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee could potentially be unimaginable.
Jeremy Heidt of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency says that life in the region would be instantly transformed in the event of a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault....

"All communications would be out. All air travel would be out as the FAA air control would go down. All rail travel would fail. Ports would shut down; oil and natural gas pipelines could be off line."
According to a recent study by the University of Illinois, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake along the New Madrid fault would leave 3,500 people dead, more than 80,000 injured and more than 7 million homeless.

So what would happen if an 8.0 earthquake struck?
Or an 8.5?
Or a 9.0?

Remember, an 8.7-magnitude earthquake would be ten times worse than a 7.7-magnitude earthquake.

There are even some who believe that if a powerful enough earthquake hit the New Madrid fault someday it could potentially alter the surrounding geography enough that it could actually create a new major body of water in the middle of the United States.
So, no, it is not just California that needs to worry about "the Big One".
Right now seismic activity has been dramatically increasing all over the globe. Just think of the unprecedented number of volcanic eruptions that we have seen over the past year. Major earthquakes have been popping up all along the "Ring of Fire". Just over the past couple of days a magnitude-7.1 earthquake hit central Chile and a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck northern Argentina.

So to think that "it can't happen" in the United States is just being totally naive.
Let us hope and pray that a devastating earthquake does not hit the New Madrid fault any time soon, because such an event could completely wipe out our economy. The U.S. economy is already teetering on the brink of disaster, and all it would take is one major blow to bring the entire house of cards crashing down.

Just remember what happened in Haiti. A magnitude-7.0 earthquake killed 230,000 people and caused such horrific devastation that it is still hard to even try to put it into words. Let us hope and pray that nothing like that happens in any U.S. city any time soon.

___________________________

Thanks to Terry T for this submission!

George Ryan’s Wife Hospitalized In Intensive Care

KANKAKEE, Ill. (CBS) – Former Gov. George Ryan’s attorney said Ryan’s wife, Lura Lynn Ryan, was hospitalized in intensive care Wednesday afternoon and might have only hours to live.

The Mexican Drug Cartels Aren't Clowning Around Anymore - Mexican Drug Cartel Slaughter 2 Clowns

Clowns Killed in Alleged Drug Gang Hit in Mexico

(AFP) - Two street clowns were found dead in southeastern Mexico along with messages allegedly from a drug gang accusing them of working as army informers, their families said Tuesday.

Another 15 people were reported killed in the northern border state of Chihuahua overnight, including a woman who was beheaded, amid rampant drug violence across Mexico which killed more than 12,000 people last year alone.

The clowns were found in bright costumes and makeup on a roadside Sunday in the city of Villahermosa, bearing signs of torture and a message accusing them of being army informers, their families said.

The Tabasco state attorney general's office said they were found with a message attributing the crime to the Zetas drug gang, which is known to be active in the area.

Police meanwhile found a female head wrapped in a jacket in a park in the Chihuahua town of Jimenez, in the most gruesome of 15 murders uncovered overnight, the state attorney general's office said.

Eleven of the deaths occurred in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, which has Mexico's highest murder rate.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in violence related to the drug trade across Mexico since December 2006, when the government launched a major military offensive against organized crime.

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Thanks to Dr. GM MD for this submisison!

This teacher is so hot I would have banged her in front of the store! Plainfield teacher charged after allegedly having sex with student behind store

Plainfield teacher charged after allegedly having sex with lucky student behind store

A Plainfield North High School teacher was arrested Tuesday after she allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old boy behind a store in the village, according to Plainfield police and school district officials.

Police arrested Ashley M. Blumenshine, 27, of the 4000 block Nutmeg Lane in Lisle. She has been charged with criminal sexual abuse and remains in the Will County Adult Detention Center. No bond has yet been set, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office web site.

The charge carries a minimum punishment of four years in prison, Police Chief Bill Doster said today.

She was allegedly found having sex with the 16-year-old, who is a Plainfield North student, in a vehicle behind Kohl’s, 11860 S. Route 59, police said. Doster said police approached the scene behind Kohl’s when they noticed two suspicious vehicles “at the end of the lot away from anything else.” Following interviews, police determined they had sex slightly before officers arrived at the scene, Doster said.

Plainfield District 202 released a statement this morning saying the district would take “appropriate action” after Blumenshine is released from custody.

Plainfield District 202 spokesman Tom Hernandez said Blumenshine is a physical education teacher who has taught in the district since 2006.

A substitute teacher will assume Blumenshine’s teaching duties and counseling services are available for students.

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Detective Shavedlongcock:

She teachers physical education... tell me she didn't give this young rascal a good workout??? Damn lucky kid!

COURT: NO WARRANT NEEDED TO SEARCH CELL PHONE

COURT: NO WARRANT NEEDED TO SEARCH CELL PHONE
The next time you're in California, you might not want to bring your cell phone with you. The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that police can search the cell phone of a person who's been arrested -- including text messages -- without obtaining a warrant, and use that data as evidence.

The ruling opens up disturbing possibilities, such as broad, warrantless searches of e-mails, documents and contacts on smart phones, tablet computers, and perhaps even laptop computers, according to legal expert Mark Rasch.

The ruling handed down by California's top court involves the 2007 arrest of Gregory Diaz, who purchased drugs from a police informant. Investigators later looked through Diaz's phone and found text messages that implicated him in a drug deal. Diaz appealed his conviction, saying the evidence was gathered in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. The court disagreed, comparing Diaz cell phone to personal effects like clothing, which can be searched by arresting officers.

"The cell phone was an item (of personal property) on (Diaz's) person at the time of his arrest and during the administrative processing at the police station," the justices wrote. "Because the cell phone was immediately associated with defendant’s person, (police were) entitled to inspect its contents without a warrant."

In fact, the ruling goes further, saying essentially that the Diaz case didn't involve an exception -- such as a need to search the phone to stop a "crime in progress." In other words, this case was not an exception, but rather the rule.

Rasch, former head of the Justice Department's computer crime unit, pulled no punches in his reaction to the ruling.

"This ruling isn't just wrong, it's dangerous," said Rasch, now director of cybersecurity and privacy at computer security firm CSC in Virginia. "It's remarkable, because it simply misunderstands the nature of these devices."

The door is open for police to search the entire contents of iPhones or other smart phones that people routinely carry, he said.

"In fact, I would be shocked if police weren't getting instructions right now to do just that," he said.

By applying the "personal property on the defendant's person" standard, Rasch said, the ruling could logically extend to tablets or even laptop computers, he said.

It also flies in the face of established law, which prohibits the warrantless search of briefcases by police, other than a quick search for weapons, Rasch said.

In its ruling, the majority likened cell phone inspection to police inspection of a cigarette pack taken from a suspect, which was ruled a legal search in a prior case. A second ruling was cited involving the search of clothing removed from a suspect.

Rasch said the analogies don't hold, however, as modern phones that can store years' worth of personal information are a far cry from drugs hidden in a cigarette case or clothes pockets.

"There is a process for looking at data inside devices,” he said. “It's called a warrant."

Grants police 'carte blanche'
The California ruling was not unanimous. Dissenting Justice Kathryn Werdegar raised similar concerns in her opinion.

"The majority’s holding ... (grants) police carte blanche, with no showing of exigency, to rummage at leisure through the wealth of personal and business information that can be carried on a mobile phone or handheld computer merely because the device was taken from an arrestee’s person," she wrote. "The majority thus sanctions a highly intrusive and unjustified type of search, one meeting neither the warrant requirement nor the reasonableness requirement of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

Jonathan Turley, a Constitutional law expert at George Washington University, took to his blog to raise his concerns about the ruling.

"The Court has left the Fourth Amendment in tatters and this ruling is the natural extension of that trend," he wrote. "While the Framers wanted to require warrants for searches and seizures, the Court now allows the vast majority of searches and seizures to occur without warrants. As a result, the California Supreme Court would allow police to open cell phone files — the modern equivalent of letter and personal messages.”

Diaz’s lawyer, Lyn A. Woodward, has said she plans to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the meantime, warrantless searches of cell phones are essentially the law of the land in California.

Password-protection of smart phones might be a useful tool to ward off a warrantless search -- it's not clear that an arrested suspect could be compelled to divulge his or her password to police -- but that legal argument has not yet been made.

Boy if I had a nickle for every time this happned to me! Illegal Alien Brooklyn woman Elen Murell pleads guilty to squeezing a NYPD cop's testicles.

A Brooklyn woman with a vise-like grip pleaded guilty on Tuesday to nearly maiming an NYPD cop by squeezing his genitals.

Elen Murell will serve two years in prison under the terms of a plea deal.

She also faces deportation to her native Grenada after she finishes serving the sentence. (I bet they don't deport her illegal fat ass)

Murell, 46, interrupted jury selection in Brooklyn Supreme Court to accept the deal from Assistant District Attorney Lewis Lieberman.

If convicted at trial, she could have faced up to 15 years in prison.

"I think the pressure of standing trial got to her," said defense lawyer Michael Millet.

Murell, a former home care attendant, was inside her Crown Heights apartment on July 25, 2008, when her teenage son, Kevon, bleeding from the nose, burst through the door with plainclothes cops in hot pursuit.

As the cops struggled to cuff her son, Murel launched herself at Officer Derek O'Sullivan and "grabbed, pulled and twisted" his genitals until he passed out, according to court papers.

O'Sullivan, assigned to the 71st Precinct, underwent surgery to repair a torn testicle.

Millet said he was prepared to argue to a jury that Murell suffered an epileptic seizure while the cops entered the apartment and had no further recollection of the incident.

"It was a highly emotion-charged moment which could have easily triggered a seizure," Millet said.

Before she was led out of the courtroom, Murell apologized to the cop. O'Sullivan was not there.

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Detective Shavedlongcock:

Many of the exempt staff of the police department are protected from this kind of violence since they don't have balls to squeeze....

Best of luck to Officer Derek O'Sullivan and his testies!