Ah, those quaint customs South of the Border....

Human head found by tomb of Mexican drug lord Beltran Leyva

 

Mexico City - A human head and a red flower were found Sunday by the tomb of Mexican drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva, who was killed by Mexican security forces in a raid last month. The office of the Attorney General of the state of Sinaloa said that an employee of the Jardines del Humaya cemetery in the city of Culiacan, about 1,200 kilometres northwest of Mexico City, had informed them of the finding. Several suspected drug bosses are buried in that cemetery.

Mexican authorities did not immediately know the identity of the person whose head was laid on the steps of access to the tomb with a flower in one ear. The rest of the body was found inside a plastic bag in the same cemetery, by the tomb of Gonzalo "El Chalo" Araujo, a boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel who was killed in October 2006.

Beltran Leyva, a former boss of the Sinaloa cartel, died on December 16 in a clash with members of the Mexican Navy in Cuernavaca, about 70 kilometres south of Mexico City.

The drug lord known as "El Barbas" had created in 2008 a new cartel under his own family name, after splitting with the Sinaloa cartel. He was regarded as one of Mexico's most dangerous drug traffickers.

Violence linked to organized crime claimed over 7,700 dead in Mexico in 2009, according to a count made by the daily El Universal.

Obama stumps for Coakley; Scott Brown holds counter-rally

By Matt Viser, Eric Moskowitz, and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

President Barack Obama urged Massachusetts voters at a Boston rally today to cast their ballots for Democrat Martha Coakley, saying she would fight for working people while her opponent, Scott Brown, is marching in "lockstep" with Washington Republicans who want to return to the failed policies of the Bush-Cheney administration.

Yeah, those eight years were pretty sucky.  Must be why he was elected twice.

"Where we don't want to go now is backwards," (Since when does he impersonate Yoda?)  Obama told a crowd of 1,500 Coakley supporters at a Northeastern University gymnasium. "We've got so much work left to do. ... I can't do it alone. I need leaders like Martha by my side so we can kick it into high gear, so we can finish what we've started." 

This country won't willingly trash itself ya know...

Obama traveled to the city to lend a hand to Coakley, the state's attorney general, because she is facing an unexpectedly tough challenge from Brown, a previously little-known state senator, in a race that could be crucial to the president's success in pressing his agenda in Washington. The president's appearance will be a key test of his ability to reenergize his dispirited party, the Globe reported this morning.

The president's speech was briefly interrupted by a shout of "Abortion! Abortion! Innocent Blood!" Two men and an 8-year-old boy were escorted out of the room by police. One of the men could be seen holding a placard that read, "Jesus loves all babies."

Brown held a competing rally at about the same time at Mechanics Hall in Worcester that was attended by 2,200 people, with other people spilling over into two additional rooms.

The rally's speakers included a number of Massachusetts sports and entertainment celebrities, including former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling; Doug Flutie, the former Boston College and NFL quarterback; John Ratzenberger, the actor who portrayed "Cliff" on the TV show "Cheers," and Brown's daughter, Ayla, a BC basketball player and former American Idol contestant.

One sign said, "The president may be in Boston, but the real people of Mass. are here with Scott Brown in Worcester."  And we cool like dat.......

Some of the sports figures likened the feeling at the rally, which came just two days before the election, to that of a locker room before a team goes out to win a championship.

"This feels to me like a clubhouse on the morning of Game 7," said Schilling, a World Series hero for the Red Sox.  AND ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS!!!!!!

"I stand before you as the proud candidate of Democrats, Republicans, and independents across Massachusetts, north and south, east and west," Brown told the crowd. "I will serve no faction but Massachusetts. I will pursue no agenda but what is right. I will be nobody's senator but yours."

"Friends and fellow citizens, I'm Scott Brown, I'm from Wrentham, I drive a truck and I'm asking for your vote," said Brown, who has made much of the fact that he owns a pickup truck with 200,000 miles on it.

But Obama told people at the Boston rally, "You've got to look under the hood," saying that Brown had a record of voting with the Republicans 96 percent of the time and it would be "hard to suggest" he would be independent from the Republican agenda.

Coakley told the crowd that "people are angry at the policies of the past that frankly rewarded the wealthy and left Main Street behind" and that people "deserve someone who's going to tackle the tough problems and get us back on track."

"Scott Brown is on the side of Wall Street CEOs. I'm on the side of taxpayers. I'm on your side to make sure that we change this," she said.

A series of Massachusetts elected officials spoke to the crowd before Obama took the stage. Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the widow of Edward M. Kennedy, whose death opened up the seat the Brown and Coakley are vying for, also spoke.

"As Teddy would say, Jan. 19 is the date, Massachusetts is the state, and Martha Coakley is our candidate," Kennedy told the crowd.  And then he would say, "errrr, ahhhh, weah are da broads at?  I, errr ahhh, seem to have misplaced my gin rickey.... errrrrahhhh."

Outside in the streets earlier today, an energetic crowd of thousands, most of them young people, stood in lines that stretched about a half-mile, hoping to get into the event.

Many held Coakley campaign signs. Some said they had been waiting for hours. Sarah Jane Vaughan, 31, of Arlington, said she was attending the event because she wanted to support Coakley. "It is nice right now that everyone is energized," she said.

Dozens of Brown supporters were also there, holding signs for their candidate bearing messages such as, "Make Obama frown, Vote for Scott Brown" and "What makes Dems vote Red, Big Bad Brown!"

Coakley entered the special election, which is on Tuesday, with a huge advantage: Registered Democrats in Massachusetts outnumber Republicans three-to-one, and the GOP hasn't won a US Senate seat here since 1972. But Brown has apparently tapped into a discontented electorate and appears to be making headway with the unpredictable independents who make up the majority of the voters.

If Brown were elected, it could have an immediate impact on the debate over health care reform in Washington. Brown has promised to be the 41st vote against the president's health care reform bill in Washington, while Coakley has promised to be the 60th vote for it. Political pundits are saying a victory by Brown could put Obama's entire agenda in Washington in jeopardy and foreshadow a seismic political shift in Washington toward the GOP.

Come on Mass.  Do what's right.

Independent Joseph L. Kennedy, who is no relation to the famous Massachusetts political family, is also running.  Not even sure why we brought him up.

The President and Unions get together for a mutual prostate massage.

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McCain strategist: Palin thought candidacy was mapped by God

 
Associated Press
Monday, January 11, 2010

Sarah Palin believed that Sen. John McCain chose her to be his running mate in the 2008 presidential race because of "God's plan," according to a top political strategist in the Arizona Republican's campaign.
In an interview with the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes," Steve Schmidt described Palin as "very calm -- nonplussed" after McCain met with her at his Arizona ranch just before putting her on the Republican ticket. McCain had planned to name Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) as his choice until word leaked, sparking what Schmidt called political blowback over selecting the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Schmidt, McCain's chief campaign adviser, said he asked Palin about her serenity in the face of becoming "one of the most famous people in the world." He quoted her as saying, "It's God's plan." Palin has not ruled out a run for the presidency.
Schmidt was interviewed by "60 Minutes" for a segment about a new book about the 2008 presidential race, "Game Change," by John Heilemann of New York magazine and Mark Halperin of Time.
Schmidt credited Palin with being a quick study and for giving a great speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., but he said it soon became clear that she often was not accurate in her remarks.
"There were numerous instances that she said things that were -- that were not accurate that, ultimately, the campaign had to deal with. And that opened the door to criticism that she was being untruthful and inaccurate. And I think that that is something that continues to this day," he said.
Palin's spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, has disputed the version of events presented in the book.
"The governor's descriptions of these events are found in her book, 'Going Rogue.' Her descriptions are accurate," Stapleton said in a statement to "60 Minutes." She added, "She was there. These reporters were not."
Schmidt conceded that had Palin not been on the ticket, "our margin of defeat would've been greater than it would've been otherwise."

 

And now, we shall portray the belief in God and that He has a plan for your life, as the ravings of a simpleton.  Compare the reactions to this story to the fact Obama went to Jeremy Wrights' Church of the Ranting Loon for 20 years and never heard him spout off his lunacy.  Say.... when was the last time our Christian in Chief went to church?  I don't go myself, but I never claimed to either.

 

 

What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies right to our faces.

Police ID teen accidentally run over by sister at Mesa mall

MESA -- Police have identified a 17-year-old boy who was killed Saturday when his teenaged sister accidentally ran over him with her car.

Mesa Police spokesman, Ed Wessing, said Dwight J. Brock, Jr. was dropped off at Superstition Springs mall by his 16-year-old sister Nicole Saturday evening.

According to Wessing, the two were playing around, with Dwight jumping in front of the car and Nicole slamming on the brakes.

The last time that happened Nicole was reportedly unable to stop and ran over her brother.

Dwight was taken to a local hospital in extremely critical condition and was later pronounced dead.

 

It's all fun and games until your sister runs over your head and pops your eyes out.

Court upholds police pointing gun at lawful carrier

It's open season on gun carriers.

A case out of the First Circuit has some painful lessons for gun carriers in Georgia.  A United States Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld the constitutionality of pointing a gun at any citizen daring to carry, lawfully, a concealed weapon in public. 

The First Circuit Court of Appeals is the Court just below the United States Supreme Court in the New England states.  The case stems from a lawyer who sued a police officer after he was detained for lawfully carrying a concealed weapon while in possession of a license to carry concealed.  According to the case opinion, the lawyer, Greg Schubert, had a pistol concealed under his suit coat, and Mr. Schubert was walking in what the court described as a "high crime area."  At some point a police officer, J.B. Stern, who lived up to his last name, caught a glimpse of the attorney's pistol, and he leapt out of his patrol car "in a dynamic and explosive manner" with his gun drawn, pointing it at the attorney's face.

Officer Stern "executed a pat-frisk," and Mr. Schubert produced his license to carry a concealed weapon.  He was disarmed and ordered to stand in front of the patrol car in the hot sun.  At some point, the officer locked him in the back seat of the police car and delivered a lecture.  Officer Stern "partially Mirandized Schubert, mentioned the possibility of a criminal charge, and told Schubert that he (Stern) was the only person allowed to carry a weapon on his beat."  

For most people, this would be enough to conclude that they were being harassed for the exercise of a constitutional right, but the officer went further, seizing the attorney's pistol and leaving with it.  Officer Stern reasoned that because he could not confirm the "facially valid" license to carry, he would not permit the attorney to carry. Officer Stern drove away with the license and the firearm, leaving the attorney unarmed, dressed in a suit, and alone in what the officer himself argued was a high crime area.

The attorney sued in federal court, but the District Court threw out his suit, ruling that Officer Stern's behavior is the proper way to treat people who lawfully carry concealed pistols.  Mr. Schubert appealed, and the First Circuit upheld the District Court's ruling.  The court held that the stop was lawful and that Officer Stern "was permitted to take actions to ensure his own safety." 

The court further held that the officer was entitled to confirm the validity of a "facially valid" license to carry a concealed weapon.  The problem for Officer Stern was that there is no way to do so in Massachusetts, where this incident occurred.  As a result, the court held that Officer Stern "sensibly opted to terminate the stop and release Schubert, but retain the weapon."  

Georgia is not in the First Circuit, but this case holds some harsh lessons for Georgians who exercise their right to bear arms.  Recall that in the MARTA case here in Georgia, the court held that the officer was entitled to take measures to protect himself, including disarming the person carrying, and entitled to investigate further for a half hour even after Mr. Raissi produced a Georgia firearms license.  Although the officers in that case did not actually point a gun at Mr. Raissi's face, as Officer Stern did to attorney Schubert, it is a logical conclusion that the court would have upheld the constitutionality of them doing so.  The vast majority of the cases MARTA cited in its briefs to the federal court included an officer pointing a gun at the person stopped.  In addition, carrying a concealed weapon onto the MARTA system is a felony, and no court is going to hold that an officer violated any constitutional right by pointing a gun at an armed felon.

Furthermore, it must be recalled that Georgia, like Massachussetts and the vast majority of states, has no system to confirm the validity of a Georgia firearms license.   The similarities between the MARTA federal opinion and the First Circuit opinion are startling, and the implications for Georgia are clear.

This First Circuit case is a logical extension of the MARTA case here in Georgia, and it shows what armed Georgians can expect if the General Assembly does not take action soon to correct the presumption of criminality that federal judge Thomas Thrash attached to the exercise of the right to bear arms.

Welcome to the new "right" to bear arms.