'Recession' Is a Media Myth

by John Lott

"During the 2000 election, with Bill Clinton as president, the economy was viewed through rose-colored glasses. According to polls, voters didn’t realize that the country was in a recession. Although the economy started shrinking in July 2000, most Americans through the entire year thought that the economy was fine.

But over the last half-year, the media and politicians have said we were in a recession even while the economy was still growing.

Gas prices are going up. The economy is slowing. Talk of recession is seemingly everywhere. While the majority of people rate their personal finances positively, consumer confidence in the economy has plunged to a 16-year low, well below what it was during the last year of the Clinton administration when we were in a recession.

A Google search on news stories during the three-month period from July 2000 through September 2000 using the keywords “economy recession US” produces 1,610. By contrast, the same search over just the last month finds 50,763. Or, even more telling, take the three months from July through September last year, when the GDP was growing at a phenomenal 4.9 percent. The same type of Google search shows 7,310 news stories.

Over 4.5 times more negative news stories discussed a recession when the economy under a Republican was soaring than occurred under a Democrat when the economy was shrinking.

A little perspective on the economy would be helpful. The average unemployment rate during President Clinton was 5.2 percent. The average under President George W. Bush is just slightly below 5.2. The current unemployment rate is4.8 percent, almost half a percentage point lower than these averages.

The average inflation rate under Clinton was 2.6 percent, under Bush it is 2.7 percent. Indeed, one has to go back to the Kennedy administration to find a lower average rate. True the inflation rate over the last year has gone up to 4 percent, but that is still lower than the average inflation rate under all the presidents from Nixon through Bush’s father.

Gas prices are indeed up 33 percent over the last year, but to get an average of 4 percent means that lots of other prices must have stayed the same or gone down. On other fronts, seasonally adjusted civilian employment is 650,000 people greater than it was a year ago. Personal income grew at a strong half of one percent in just February.

Despite all that, this last week, Barack Obama proclaimed “As most experts know, our economy is in a recession.” Hillary Clinton made similar staements last fall. Yet, as any economist knows, a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and we haven’t even had one single quarter of negative growth reported. The economy slowed down significantly during the end of last year, but that was after a sizzling annual GDP growth rate of 4.9 percent in the third quarter.

Housing has obviously been a big drag on the economy, but many other sectors of the economy, such as exports, have been doing well, some extremely well. For example, aerospace exports increased by over 13 percent last year.

The media’s focus on the negative side of everything surely helps explain people’s pessimism. In a recent interview Fox’s Neil Cavuto claimed this bias “is all part of the media’s plan to get a Democrat in the White House.”

Indeed, research has indicated that media bias is real. Kevin Hassett and I looked at 12,620 newspaper and wire service headlines from 1985 through 2004 for stories on the release of official government releasing numbers on the unemployment rate, number of people employed, gross domestic product (GDP), retail sales, and durable goods.

Even after accounting for how well the economy was doing (e.g., what the unemployment rate was and whether it was going up or down), there was still a big difference in how positive or negative the headlines were. Democratic presidents got about 15 percent more positive headlines than Republicans for the same economic news.

Yet, the hysteria created by this coverage can have another cost. It creates pressure for government to “do something,” even if that rush to do something actually ends up hurting the economy. For example, Obama's promises last week “to amend our bankruptcy laws so families aren't forced to stick to the terms of a home loan” will only further drive down the value of mortgage-backed securities, making any unstable financial institutions that hold them even more likely to fail. In the long term, who is going to want to loan money when the contract can be rewritten at a later date?

The news media have generated a lot of fear. Ben Stein has a point when he says “The actual economic conditions are not that bad. I think if we have a recession, if we have a serious recession, a great deal will lie at the media’s feet.” Hopefully a little perspective will enter the picture before even more harm is done."

Nah, sorry Ben, not gonna happen.

Can't turn on the radio or heaven forbid the TV without being bombarded by RECESSION! news.

The Yellowstream Media cares nothing about the country and EVERYTHING about ratings and dissing Republicans.

Woman Brought Infant To Armed Robbery

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A woman brought her 4-month-old baby along while she and her boyfriend committed an armed robbery, deputies said.Investigators said that they initially thought that 20-year-old Sarah Titi Walker was the victim of a kidnapping that happened last week in connection with the robbery of the Abbarrotes La Flor D grocery store on White Horse Road.

They said Walker went into the store with the baby, and moments later, a man came in and pulled a gun on the clerk. He demanded money from the clerk, and after he got the cash, he pretended to kidnap Walker and the baby.

Master Deputy Ashleigh Bethell said, "Obviously it's kind of alarming. It's not something we see on a daily basis -- for someone to have their 4-month-old -- we were definitely concerned because of the age and the fact there was a weapon involved in this crime. Of course there's always the possibility this child could have been injured as a result of the crime."

Master Bate...check that Master DEPUTY Ashleigh is worried that someone actually brought a firearm to a crime scene. Might even start a trend, who knows.

Attention UFO Buffs...

Stare at picture.

Think of actually meeting a real girl.

Repeat as often as needed.

Bear Treed By Kitten

Click here for story and slideshow. Maybe it'll take your minds off of UFO's.

Teens Armed With Taser Guns, Cinder Blocks Battle At Mall

ORLANDO, Fla. -- "A massive fight between a group of teens wielding cinder blocks, bats and using Taser guns damaged several cars at a popular mall early Friday, according to police.

Orlando police said a fight involving at least 11 teens broke out at a skate park in the Festival Bay Mall."

Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle, so how many kids were slaughtered?

"Witnesses told police that they didn't see anyone get seriously injured in the fight."

Well, it ain't exactly Sharks vs. Jets then.

'Civilians' handle minor duties for strapped police

"Facing tighter budgets, law enforcement agencies across the country are increasingly turning to civilians to respond to some calls that sworn officers and deputies are usually responsible for.

That means people calling 911 to report a traffic accident, a burglarized home or a stolen car may be greeted by a civilian in a polo shirt instead of a gun-toting officer.

"It hasn't been universally adopted throughout the country. But most areas have at least thought about the alternative and are more open to it now because of the economy," said Richard Brady, president of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Matrix Consulting Group that has worked with more than 250 law enforcement agencies.

The idea of using civilians, who require less training and are less expensive than sworn officers, to respond to minor police calls has been around since the late 1980s.

Brady said the practice died off for years as the economy improved and departments were augmented after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

As the economy slows again and state and local governments face major cuts, many have turned back to the old practice. Among them:

•The Orange County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office plans to hire 18 civilian "field service officers" in the coming months.

•The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department hopes to add a dozen civilian report takers.

•The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will resume hiring for its civilian officer program this summer, hoping to add five.

Now before anything else, lets have a look see at the term "civilian". Shall we.

Are the police saying that they are not civilians?

Has the desire to become a member of the armed forces become so overwhelming as to divorce members of law enforcement from thinking of themselves as, well, civilians?

So then, on to the meat of the matter;they need airplanes and helicopters and "ASSAULT WEAPONS" and SWAT Teams and UNDERCOVER SUPER-DRUG-INVESTIGATING teams, and secret decoder rings for all I know, but are cash strapped for answering 911 calls?

Something tells me there has to be a SERIOUS attempt at correcting this problem.

Call it a 6th sense.

UFO Photos Draw National Attention: UPDATE

(March 29) - The tiny beach town of Capitola, Calif., is buzzing about a mysterious object that appears to have been photographed on May 16 of last year. Someone using the name Raji posted images on the Web site Craigslist, answered a few questions from UFO hunters around the world, and then just disappeared into cyberspace.

As news spread about the unidentified object, others came forward on the Web to say they had also seen it. Videos and other images of what soon became known as the “California Drone” were published on the Internet.

Then came a call in January to private detective, T.K. Davis, a former Santa Clara County sheriff deputy. An unidentified woman from Open Minds Forum, a group specializing in “UFOology,” was willing to pay him $100 an hour to investigate the sighting.

Davis doesn’t believe in UFOs, but he took the woman seriously and has been on the case with a partner, Frankie Dixon, ever since. What does Davis think now? For one, he believes the object in the photo is too intricate to be the work of a Photoshop scam artist. He’s searched high and low to determine what it may be, and talked with many doubters, but has yet to find a logical answer.

Davis has even talked to the local power company to try to determine where the telephone pole in the photograph is located. Before vanishing, the person who claimed to take the photograph e-mailed the woman from the Open Minds Forum saying the image was shot outside his fiancee’s parents home. If Davis can find the telephone pole, he believes, he can find the person who took the photo.

An article published in the Los Angeles Times about the photographs last week has sparked more interest in the UFO sighting, but Davis says he still doesn’t have any solid evidence on whether or not the photographs are real. “The more research we’ve done, I’m leading towards believing,” he told the San Jose Mercury News. “I’m not a skeptic anymore.”

Yes. All it takes is a bad rendering of the Statue of Liberty's crown and the line of fools grows ever longer.

The only sensible explanation is they arrived, took one look at who was running for President, and continued with their quest to find a planet with intelligent life.

UPDATE

As of 6:13 PM, Monday, I've gotten over 2000 hits on this story and the UFO buffs aren't too pleased with me as is evidenced by certain emails.

Listen; believe what you will but stop already trying to force others to believe too.

Mmkay?

Get your own Blog and chat it up to your hearts content. I'm being as nice and pleasant as I can be, so stop trying to make me cranky. I'm ALREADY cranky. Were cranky to be an Olympic event there'd be me getting the gold, no one in second place, and mere amateurs vying for the bronze.

Arch Liberal Obo Signature On Papers He "Never Saw"... While Skankles Is Late With Insurance Payments For Staff

Liars Thieves and Scoundrels

Obama Stumbles, Fumbles, & Regroups...

"During his first run for elected office, Barack Obama played a greater role than his aides now acknowledge in crafting liberal stands on gun control, the death penalty and abortion — positions that appear at odds with the more moderate image he has projected during his presidential campaign.

The evidence comes from an amended version of an Illinois voter group’s detailed questionnaire, filed under his name during his 1996 bid for a state Senate seat.

Late last year, in response to a Politico story about Obama’s answers to the original questionnaire, his aides said he “never saw or approved” the questionnaire.

They asserted the responses were filled out by a campaign aide who “unintentionally mischaracterize[d] his position.”

But a Politico examination determined that Obama was actually interviewed about the issues on the questionnaire by the liberal Chicago nonprofit group that issued it. And it found that Obama — the day after sitting for the interview — filed an amended version of the questionnaire, which appears to contain Obama’s own handwritten notes added to one answer."

Then There's Mrs. Clinton Forgetting To Pay The Bills...

"Among the debts reported this month by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s struggling presidential campaign, the $292,000 in unpaid health insurance premiums for her campaign staff stands out.

Clinton, who is being pressured to end her campaign against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, has made her plan for universal health care a centerpiece of her agenda.

The campaign provides health insurance to all its employees, their spouses, partners and children — and that wasn’t interrupted by any lag in payments to insurance providers, said Jay Carson, a Clinton campaign spokesman."

Ever slow on the uptake, Limbaugh is beginning to believe that Obama just might be as dumb as Hillary (who by the by is borderline short-bus), but give him credit because every last democrat and ALMOST every last Republican media pundit thinks that Obo & Skankles are the second coming of old Al Einstein, and until Rush had his epiphany it was only we Bloggers who knew straight up that we were dealing with simpletons.

Thats because some of us actually are Conservatives who can sort through the bullswaddle to get to the meat of the matter, while most of the RINO rich kids who major in promoting the painfully obvious simply MUST continue to lie about the smarts of Hill & Obo because to do otherwise would be...GASP...being mean to a black and a woman, and besides; they don't have all that much on the ball either so its tough for them to tell.

PS: Caught just a little bit of Rush this afternoon but enough to hear him use a familiar line. Hillary IS The Oval Orifice so you won't get any bitching from me.

Hillary's St. Patrick's Day massacre

by Frank Rich

"Most politicians lie. Most people over 50, as I know all too well, misremember things. So here is the one compelling mystery still unresolved about Hillary Clinton's Bosnia fairy tale: Why did she keep repeating this whopper for nearly three months, well after it had been publicly debunked by journalists and eyewitnesses?

In January, after Clinton first inserted the threat of "sniper fire" into her stump speech, Elizabeth Sullivan of The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote that the story couldn't be true because by the time of the first lady's visit in March 1996, "the war was over." Meredith Vieira asked Clinton on the "Today" show why, if she was on the front lines, she took along a USO performer like Sinbad. Earlier this month, a week before Clinton fatefully rearmed those snipers one time too many, Sinbad himself spoke up to The Washington Post: "I think the only 'red phone' moment was: Do we eat here or at the next place?"

Yet Clinton was undeterred. She dismissed Sinbad as a "comedian" and recycled her fiction once more on St. Patrick's Day. When Michael Dobbs fact-checked it for The Post and proclaimed it worthy of "four Pinocchios," her campaign pushed back. The Clinton camp enforcer Howard Wolfson phoned in to "Morning Joe" on MSNBC on Monday and truculently quoted a sheaf of news stories that he said supported her account. Only later that day, a full week after her speech, did he start to retreat, suggesting it was "possible" she "misspoke" in the "most recent instance" of her retelling of her excellent Bosnia adventure.

Since Clinton had told a similar story in previous instances, this was misleading at best. It was also dishonest to characterize what she had done as misspeaking - or as a result of sleep deprivation, as the candidate herself would soon assert. The Bosnia anecdote was part of her prepared remarks, scripted and vetted with her staff. Not that it mattered anymore. The self-inflicted damage had been done. The debate about Barack Obama's relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright was almost smothered in the rubble of Clinton's Bosnian bridge too far.

Which brings us back to our question: Why would so smart a candidate play political Russian roulette with virtually all the bullet chambers loaded?"

There was a time when Mr. Rich was a loyal Clinton water bearer, so at least he gets something of a pass for not getting to the heart of the matter.

The Clinton's are, as most sane people know, inveterate liars who used to be assured of one thing and that was the allegiance of the Mainstream Media that would spin, twist or outright prevaricate at the drop of a hat to aid and abet a Clintonian decree.

But there is a new Herculean liberal out and about these days, and since the MSM doesn't know the meaning of the word scrupulous let alone how to practice such dizzying and complex a proposal, it has given the nod to Senator Obama and Senator Clinton finds herself in uncharted waters.

A smart person would retreat and regroup, but since Mrs. Clinton was bestowed her royalness by decree rather than earning it in one street brawl after another, she simply doesn't know HOW to continue the good fight without resorting to a cheap lie because a cheap lie was all that was once necessary to turn the tables on a foe.

This places her in the most vulnerable of predicaments. She has no core values, no center of being, no faith or accomplishment of learnings to fall back upon. So when in doubt she lies, her staff tells her not to worry as no one would DARE call her out on it because they did not reach so near a proximity to her greatness without praising her wisdom many times each and every day, so even THEY simply don't know how to fight a fair fight, and even worse, how to beard the lioness in her den when it is important to do so.

The entire Hillary Clinton candidacy is based upon falsehoods and the stuff that whispery clouds are made of.

When the crowd demands to see the elephant they've paid the ringmaster to see, and all thats behind the curtain is a maze full of capering clowns, they look to their august leaders to sort this all out for them. That used to be the MSM.

Not any more.

Frank Rich himself is proof positive of that.

U.N.'s Ban condemns Dutch film as anti-Islamic

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned as "offensively anti-Islamic" a Dutch lawmaker's film that accuses the Koran of inciting violence.

Ban acknowledged efforts by the government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of the film, which was launched by Islam critic Geert Wilders over the Internet, and appealed for calm to those "understandably offended by it."

"There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence," Ban said in a statement. "The right of free expression is not at stake here."

The short film, titled "Fitna," an Arabic term sometimes translated as "strife," intersperses images of the September 11 attacks on the United States and Islamist bombings with quotations from the Koran.

The film urges Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" verses from the Koran and starts and finishes with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb under his turban, accompanied by the sound of ticking.

Several Muslim countries, including Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia, have also condemned the film.

"Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility," Ban said.

"We must also recognize that the real fault line is not between Muslim and Western societies, as some would have us believe, but between small minorities of extremists, on different sides, with a vested interest in stirring hostility and conflict," Ban said, adding that "All of this nonsense over the matter of a beheading or two and poor treatment of women is ridiculous. The Koran says what the Koran says and if true believers wish to express their religion as it was intended to be then who are Dikey-Dutch-Boys to say otherwise? And look at those silly Christians; the Jews kill their Messiah and who do they stick up for over us? You simply cannot make this camel-feces up."

The years roll by and still: no ribbon for prostate cancer.

by Kyle Smith

WOMEN'S LIBERATION UPDATE

"Now that 140 women are graduating from college for every 100 men, it's become laughable to argue that girls are getting short shrift in school. Ladies are getting long shrift at work too: women execs get promoted after an average of 2.6 years in one job, men after 3.5 years in comparable posts. But the wage gap shrugs off this information. Even boys who are classified as learning disabled and drop out of school grow up to be higher earners, on average, than women with no mental disabilities. Billionaire dropouts like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates aren't quite as exceptional as you thought.

The numbers come from an illuminating new book called "The Sexual Paradox" by psychologist Susan Pinker, who started by studying a group of boys with various learning disorders and tracking them as they grew into adults - many of them highly successful ones. They took on competitive, higher-paying jobs requiring long hours as Pinker began noticing that the girls who had outscored them in classrooms turned out to be much more likely to drop out of the work force, downshift to less demanding jobs or avoid high-income, high-stress work in the first place.

Pinker began her intellectual journey as a classic '70s style feminist exhilarated by the teachings of Simone de Beauvoir ("One is not born, but rather becomes a woman") and Germaine Greer (from whose book "The Female Eunuch" Pinker drew the idea that "Only when women dumped their female personae and took on men's roles would they truly be equal.") Theory turned out to be a weak defense against fact, though, and today Pinker says, "Thirty-odd years after my first summer job, I wondered whether biology is, well, if not destiny exactly, then a profound and meaningful departure point for a discussion about sex differences."

This idea may strike you as reasonable or even self-evident, but it's been just two years since Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, was vilified and pushed out of office for saying so. (Harvard was forced to promise to spend $50 million to hire and promote faculty who are women or even minorities, whom Summers didn't mention in the first place.)

Mother Nature is a feminist. Preemie babies are almost twice as likely to survive if they're girls, possibly because girls have a spare X chromosome while boys instead have a Y that's more useless than one of those CBS sitcoms about useless guys. On the other end of life, nursing homes skew more female than "The View."

Women evolved to be healthier, perhaps, because their genes hit a dead end unless they can carry, nurture and raise a child, whereas a man's genes thrive based not on his lifelong health profile but on the number of mates he manages to beguile. (Why women persist in being more attracted to gangsta rappers, Wall Street pirates and race car drivers than, say, quietly dependable writers who reserve their swashbuckling for the keyboard is an evolutionary error that must await another column.) A man's life is reducible to this: "Stud, Dud, Thud," in the words of biological anthropologist Richard Bribiescas. The years roll by and still: no ribbon for prostate cancer.

Much of Pinker's book is confirmation of what we've all noticed in the past few years, what she calls her "front porch" observation of seeing educated (and happy women) home most of the day. Women who were once locked out of the best jobs now turn away from them (they also continue to avoid the worst, dirtiest and most dangerous jobs). The percentage of female participation in the workplace rose steadily for decades but has now begun to subside.

"The Sexual Paradox" is an amusing mix of anecdotes and science; Pinker cites several studies that upend, for instance, the "society makes us who we are" myth. Male aggression peaks in the preschool years, then gradually is reduced by societal norms. Moreover, a study of the kibbutz movement found that, after four generations of strenuous social engineering intended to de-gender the sexes, 70 to 80 percent of the women had gravitated to people-oriented jobs. The longer people lived on the kibbutz, the more polarized the sexual division of labor. Almost all social scientists agree, says Pinker, that males are, on average, more aggressive than females.

Pinker no longer finds anything particularly worrisome about the facts. She derides what she calls the "vanilla gender assumption" - one sternly defended by today's angry Salon.com-brand feminist - that females should emulate male behavior until every field is 50-50 and every income disparity eliminated. What if the average female's desire to care for others, to choose a job in which human interaction comes before income or power, to feel that there's more to life than work, were simply seen as the unexceptionable norm? Reading Pinker's book, you start to think that the freaks are those who work 80 hours a week in jobs they hate in order to brag that they beat the next guy - just in time to drop dead of a heart attack."

Forget the fact that no man over the age of 30 is named Kyle, and grant Mr. Smith a certain degree of coming of age. I do suppose that with a last name of Smith one's parental units strive mightily these days to imbue a rakish tilt to the Christian naming process, and it really isn't his fault for not changing the thing to Bill, or Ted, or John, or Al. Then again, I've just named the top democrat politicians so never mind.

"Liberated" women will always work the less nasty jobs and will always complain that they are being held back from attaining Nirvaginavana.

Getting Mrs. Clinton

by Peggy Noonan

"What, really, is Mrs. Clinton doing? She is having the worst case of cognitive dissonance in the history of modern politics. She cannot come up with a credible, realistic path to the nomination. She can't trace the line from "this moment's difficulties" to "my triumphant end." But she cannot admit to herself that she can lose. Because Clintons don't lose. She can't figure out how to win, and she can't accept the idea of not winning. She cannot accept that this nobody from nowhere could have beaten her, quietly and silently, every day. (She cannot accept that she still doesn't know how he did it!)

She is concussed. But she is a scrapper, a fighter, and she's doing what she knows how to do: scrap and fight. Only harder. So that she ups the ante every day. She helped Ireland achieve peace. She tried to stop Nafta. She's been a leader for 35 years. She landed in Bosnia under siege and bravely dodged bullets. It was as if she'd watched the movie "Wag the Dog," with its fake footage of a terrified refugee woman running frantically from mortar fire, and found it not a cautionary tale about manipulation and politics, but an inspiration.

What struck me as the best commentary on the Bosnia story came from a poster called GI Joe who wrote in to a news blog: "Actually Mrs. Clinton was too modest. I was there and saw it all. When Mrs. Clinton got off the plane the tarmac came under mortar and machine gun fire. I was blown off my tank and exposed to enemy fire. Mrs. Clinton without regard to her own safety dragged me to safety, jumped on the tank and opened fire, killing 50 of the enemy." Soon a suicide bomber appeared, but Mrs. Clinton stopped the guards from opening fire. "She talked to the man in his own language and got him [to] surrender. She found that he had suffered terribly as a result of policies of George Bush. She defused the bomb vest herself." Then she turned to his wounds. "She stopped my bleeding and saved my life. Chelsea donated the blood."

When even the female writers stop tossing in a hug when speaking of Mrs. Clinton, you know the party's over.

What they never include, because most if not all of the sensitive sorts cannot fathom going down with a ship, is the premise of her taking the democrat party to defeat on purpose if she cannot snatch the brass ring for herself. Some of us are awaiting the last gasp, the bloody, overwhelming calling in of IOU's the country, if not world, over.

Hillary cannot win without cheating. Hillary is damned good at cheating.

You figure it out.

Woman kills intruder, wounds husband in home invasion

"An east Harris County woman said she was protecting her family when she fatally shot an intruder holding them at gunpoint inside their apartment.

"I refuse to be a victim," said Angela Patterson, shaken but still defiant after the ordeal. "He put a gun in my face. If you're bold enough to do that, you're bold enough to shoot us."

Patterson and her husband were watching television about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday when a man stormed into the apartment in the 800 block of Audrey. Authorities identified the man as Charles Freeman, 21.

He was holding a semi-automatic pistol and wore all-black clothing with a bandana (sic) covering his face, authorities said.

"He came in and demanded money and the TV," said Harris County Sheriff's Lt. John Legg.

Patterson's husband told the intruder that he needed tools to remove the wall-mounted television.

"He said 'Give me the cash.' I said, 'We don't have any cash here,'" Jeffery Patterson said.

Freeman ordered the couple to take off their clothes and closely watched as Angela Patterson disrobed in the living room.

"He didn't pay attention to me so I charged at him," Jeffery Patterson said.

As the two men struggled, Angela Patterson ducked into their bedroom to retrieve a pistol.

"I got the gun and stepped back in and fired," she said.

Freeman was hit at least once and fell to the floor but an errant round struck her husband in the right arm, authorities said.

The intruder stumbled outside. He collapsed at the bottom of a flight of stairs leading to the family's apartment, authorities said.

Jeffery Patterson roused their two daughters, 8 and 13, who remained asleep during the incident. After locking the front door, the family moved back inside the apartment and called for help.

Jeffery Patterson was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital as Harris County Sheriff's investigators interviewed his wife.

He was back home on Thursday with his right arm wrapped in a thick bandage and still wearing the hospital's pullover smock.

"I thank her," Patterson said, motioning toward his wife, "and I thank the Lord that we're still here."

Sheriff's officials said Freeman targeted Patterson's family after noticing the television set in the apartment while he was buying narcotics in the area.

Detectives are still questioning a woman seen with Freeman earlier that night and later found waiting in a car nearby.

The fatal shooting will be referred to a Harris County grand jury, authorities said."

First of all, its a shame something as open and shut as this has to go to a grand jury.

Total waste of time and money.

And B.), nice shooting ma'am. Two men tussling in front of her and she did a good job all things considered. This should be required reading for spouses who might be reluctant to take a shot when a shot needs to be taken. If the 3rd Marine Division breaks down my door and is kicking my ass from pillar to post I want Lisa to start slinging lead. Better to take a round then to let someone break free and harm the family.

Man killed while beating would-be robber

"Facing the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun on a dark West Baltimore street, Roland Scott fought back. He pulled out his own weapon - a fake handgun - and wrested the shotgun away from his attacker, city police said.

Scott ordered the man to strip naked in the middle of Laurens Street, took $800 from him and forced him to march into the laundry room of a nearby apartment building.

"He starts beating him, telling him to get more money, saying, 'Get me a cell phone or I'm going to kill you,'" said Sgt. Dennis M. Raftery Jr., a supervisor in the Police Department's homicide unit. "He is beating him with the butt of a sawed-off shotgun."

Raftery said the shotgun, then pointed at Scott, discharged, hitting Scott in the stomach and killing him. Authorities said his death will be ruled accidental.

"It is unusual," Raftery said yesterday. "I don't know how to put it. It is sort of like one for the books."

Still naked, the other man ran from the apartment building in the 400 block of Laurens St. - the incident occurred about 4 a.m. Wednesday - and went down Monroe Street. He cut his foot and was treated in the emergency room at St. Agnes Hospital.

He told homicide detectives that he was trying to steal money to pay his rent and for pharmacy school, Raftery said, and that he ran when he heard the shotgun go off.

Raftery said detectives interviewed a witness who told police that he saw what happened in the laundry room and corroborated the man's account.

"You can't make this up. You just can't," Raftery said. "There is no way that two different people who don't know each other ... there is no way he could come up with the collaborating information. I guess the moral of the story is if you get the jump on someone who is robbing you, call the police. Had he just held him there and called the police, then we would have done what we need to do."

Um, ah, Sarge?

If they gave collaborating information, that means they WERE working together. Think ya might have meant corroborating. Perhaps.

Mr. Scott should have considered himself lucky to have wrested the shotgun away from the mugger, then shot him with it or called the police. Just a thought.

How Many Rounds DOES It Take To Put Down A Crippled Deer...

NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

Documented Floridian Growth Slows To 30 Year Low

"A new study has reaffirmed a growing demographic trend in Florida: The state is seeing its population growth slow to its lowest level in three decades.

So says a University of Florida professor who reviewed building permits and residential electric customer data to draw projections on the state's population growth.

''The state has not experienced a decline of this magnitude since the mid-1970s, when we were in a national recession,'' said Stan Smith, an economist and director of UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

The Census Bureau has made similar findings in its tracking of population growth in Florida. In a report released earlier this month, Census officials reported a net gain in the state's population of just 35,301 between 2006 and 2007. The figure was much lower than the 170,099 gain tabulated from 2005 to 2006.

The lower rate of growth is caused largely by people leaving South Florida, where the cost of living is driving them away from the region."

What a maroon.

South Florida is losing DOCUMENTED citizens in favor of illegal aliens, and the fact that the Miami area is a haven for hispanic thugs hasn't made it very attractive of late either.

This is what happens when politically correct eggheads try making sense of reality. The county in which we live has a 2.4% unemployment rate but there are more homeless than ever. Why? Because entitlement programs make it easy to live under a bridge and still get 3 squares a day plus pocket money, so why the hell put forth the effort when you've come from an upbringing that lists bagging groceries as quite high on the employment scale, second only to flipping burgers.

The tourist industry coupled with major universities means there's always work for those who can, but its back again to the unsavory element taking some of the glitter off of living in the land of sunshine.

The cost of living didn't bother folks when the environs were safe, sane, and secure. All one hears from visiting, as well as long term Floridians, is that south Florida is the pits compared to what it once was, and that isn't changing anytime soon, as most warm-weather climes have experienced similar invasions and are in the same predicament.

"We Are The President!" And Other Poignant Messages From Some Great Minds

Professional Victim Victimized

Illinois State Rep. Younge Robbed at Gunpoint in Home

"A 77-year-old Illinois state representative is happy to be alive after a man with a gun pushed his way into her home and robbed her of $7.

Wyvetter H. Younge was not injured in the robbery that occurred around noon Friday.

Younge said she thought her son had knocked on her door and opened it, but instead found an armed man. He told her to get on her hands and knees, then grabbed her purse and ran.

Younge, a Democrat, said she didn't recognize the man, who wore a red hat and red jacket and dark pants. She said she's going to pray for him.

"This robbery and what's happening to this community is the result of a lack of a supportive system for our youth. We need jobs," she said. "This happened in broad daylight at noon. We need a mental health support system. This is further evidence of that."

Illinois State Police are investigating."

Um, ma'am?

You should pray for his next VICTIM. Who like yourself might not have clue-one as to how to prevent such tragedies from occurring.

Then again, this poor lad is just another VICTIM himself, now isn't he? And notice how no physical description was given of the thief aside from his clothing. Tall, short, black, white?

Oh but that would be stigmatizing the poor lad now wouldn't it, were we to learn...shock of all shocks...that yet another black kid took to a life of crime rather than look for a real job.

Don't blame the people cranking out these monstrosities at a record pace, just plead for society to toss more money at fixing what can't be fixed. Because they'll vote you back in every time, now won't they? The ones you protect at the expense of their innocent prey.

Lord, but you people make me ill.

Just Discovered Footage Shows Hillary WAS Under Fire....

Thanks to Cookie who finds the bestest stuff.

Something You Don't Hear About Every Day

Man facing charges for having sex with a picnic table

Ohio: Nosy neighbor films mans affair with backyard picnic table. Proximity to local school makes it a felony. Proof positive that love is still blind.

Quick Hit

When Anthony Perkins struck this pose in Psycho, he frightened a generation of women half to death.

Hillary Clinton tries to do him one better.

A virtual galaxy of men are cringing as we speak.

For fear she'll turn and slice the flag into tatters.

Dyke-O

The horror story to change ALL horror stories.

"We'll be here for another hour if someone wants to come and shoot at us..."

Bored Marine trying to stir up some action...

Thanks to Call me Ahab

And Breda!

Charges dropped against Marine in Haditha case

Charges against a US Marine allegedly involved in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha were dropped on Friday ahead of his trial, the military said in a statement.

A court martial for lance corporal Stephen Tatum had been due to start on Friday on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.

However in a statement released from the Marines Camp Pendleton base outside San Diego, the military said the charges had been dismissed "in order to continue to pursue the truth seeking process into the Haditha incident."

It was not immediately clear if fresh charges could be laid against Tatum at a later date or whether the soldier (?) may now cooperate with prosecutors.

Tatum had been accused of shooting dead two unarmed children as Marines cleared houses near the scene of a deadly roadside bombing in Haditha, 260 kilometers west of Baghdad, on November 19, 2005.

The deaths were part of a grim civilian toll from the Marines' actions in Haditha. Four soldiers were initially charged with murder and four officers accused of staging a cover-up.

However, since charges against the soldiers were first announced in late 2006, prosecutors have struggled to make the allegations stick.

Four of the eight have had charges against them dropped, while charges of murder were replaced by the lesser offence of manslaughter in the cases of Tatum and his squad leader Sergeant Frank Wuterich.

The military investigator overseeing Tatum's pre-trial hearing had recommended all charges against the soldier be dismissed."

? Marines are not soldiers.

If he was indeed innocent then this is very good news.

Oldie But Goody: Don't Call ME Grandma

Obama might learn something from this.

Certain Grannies are deadly when irked.

Details released on jetliner gunshot

Holster Blamed For Mishap

"The US Airways captain whose gun discharged in the cockpit of a Charlotte-bound flight Saturday is a former Air Force pilot who lives in Pittsburgh.

The pilot, James Langenhahn, declined to discuss the shooting Thursday night. "As much as I'd like to talk about it," he told the Observer, "I can't right now."

His name was released, apparently inadvertently, after the Observer questioned the government's concealment of facts on a police report of the incident.

The in-flight shooting was the first such incident since pilots began carrying guns after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Langenhahn, 55, is part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program run by the Transportation Security Administration. He was stowing the 13-shot, .40-caliber pistol when it discharged -- piercing the cockpit wall and fuselage -- while the plane was preparing to land in Charlotte late Saturday morning, according to the report.

Other details released Thursday also indicate that the gun's holster is being investigated in the shooting. Some pilots have criticized the locking holster system for the Heckler & Koch USP pistol as inappropriate for the program that arms pilots. Transportation Security Administration procedures require a pilot to transfer the gun and holster from his flight bag to his belt multiple times during a flight, pilots said in interviews.

The holster system is designed with a lock that goes behind the trigger, preventing the gun from firing. But some pilots say that when the gun isn't snapped tightly into the holster, or becomes loose during transfers, the lock can end up in front of the trigger.

David Mackett, a pilot who is president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance, said he supports the arming of pilots. But he said the combination of the current gun-and-holster system and the requirement that pilots frequently remove the gun when not in the cockpit is "just a recipe for disaster."

"The locking holster was designed to be used to lock a gun away at the end of the day," said Mackett, who is not in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. "You need to put the firearm on an officer where he can control it and not touch it."

I'm unaware of what brand of holster they're using to carry the H&K USP

What I am aware of is the fact that locking holsters do not become "loose during transfers" as that would defeat the very reason for their existence. Were such a problem to be recognized as actually happening on anything resembling a regular basis, the holster manufacturer would soon be out of business and/or the recipient of some hefty lawsuits. It's another matter entirely if the guns aren't being firmly snapped in, but none of this should be difficult for trained personnel to do so I remain at a loss to account for the negligent discharge.

8000 pilots carrying for several years with only one whoops-go-bang isn't anything to go liberal-whiny about, but it'd be good to know the full story.

PS: The included pic is of the .45 ACP varietal.

Teenage Dinosaurs Might Have Butted Heads

Dome-headed dinosaurs might have passed through a combative teenage stage in which they butted heads in violent clashes.

New research reveals the skulls of a group of these young dinosaurs would have compressed and rebounded after a head ram, preventing a brain bashing.

The study, to be announced Friday and detailed in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, sheds light on a debate over head-butting in so-called pachycephalosaurs, or thick-headed reptiles.

• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Evolution & Paleontology Center.

This group of relatively small dinosaurs lived from about 80 million to 65 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period mainly in Asia and North America, where they likely grazed on ferns and some flowering plants.

Their claim to fame would have to be the dinosaurs' thick bony caps. The ornate head gear ranged from Prenocephale's sloping skull, which resembled a sleek bike helmet, to the lengthy horns that topped the skull of Stygimoloch or the more delicate cap worn by Stegoceras, outlined with a fringe of bony knobs.

With such hard heads, the dinosaurs may have butted one another like bighorn sheep, over mates, food or territory, according to researchers Eric Snively of the University of Alberta and Andrew Cox of Villanova University.

Or the flashy noggins may have served as mate-bait or for visual communication, said Mark Goodwin of the University of California-Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology, and is not necessarily indicative of a weapon.

In a related story, law enforcement in California-Berkeley instituted an immediate lockdown of all teaching and research facilities upon hearing of a dinosaur with a weapon according to local SWAT Commandant Kent Ketchum.

"If the dinosaur simply comes forward and surrenders itself there'll be no trouble," Commandant Ketchum text messaged to all student and faculty cell phones via the Emergency Weapon Or Killers (EWOK) network, adding that a significant reward is available for anyone leading police to the apprehension of the creature or creatures in question.

McNasty Tops Skankles 45-31 Percent With Regards To 'Honesty & Integrity'

No News On Obo Just Yet As They Await The Last Of His Apologies

"A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll conducted Feb. 21-25 found registered voters thought Senator John McCain, 71, the presumed Republican nominee, ``has more honesty and integrity'' than Clinton by a margin of 45 percent to 31 percent. Obama rated equally with McCain on those qualities.

Sheinkopf said Clinton hasn't done any more ``issue switching'' in the campaign than most candidates. ``What is new is the ability to catch it,'' he said. ``You can go online and check stuff instantly. Nobody gets away with anything.''

Offering Ammunition

Still, Clinton, 60, has provided ammunition to opponents. She has insisted that she supported weapons inspections, not war, in Iraq in 2002, although she gave speeches that year advocating action against Saddam Hussein before voting to authorize the use of force.

Clinton did another turnabout on Jan. 25, 10 days after she won the primary in Michigan, where she was the only major candidate on the ballot. She said both Michigan's and Florida's delegates should count -- even though she had previously agreed they wouldn't because the states had violated party rules.

While she has asserted on the campaign trail that she opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement from the start, Robert Reich, who was secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton, said she never expressed to him concern about the labor and environmental issues that she highlights today.

``It was clear her concern about Nafta was about timing,'' Reich said in an interview, adding that she was afraid it might interfere with her universal health-care initiative.

Peacemaking

Clinton has said she helped ``bring peace to Northern Ireland'' and ``create the Children's Health Insurance Program.'' Those are overstatements, according to principals in those events, some of whom say that while she was supportive, she wasn't a main negotiator.

Her Northern Ireland claims are a ``wee bit silly,'' Nobel laureate and former First Minister David Trimble was quoted as saying March 8 in the Telegraph, the British newspaper. ``Being a cheerleader'' is ``different from being a principal player,'' he said. But John Hume, who shared the Nobel Prize with Trimble, credited Clinton with ``playing a positive role for over a decade in helping to bring peace.''

Last month, she called on Obama to reject support from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan because of anti-Semitic remarks. When a Dallas TV station challenged her to denounce a Hispanic leader who said black politicians had never helped her people, Clinton replied, ``People have every reason to express their opinions. I just don't agree with that'' -- before her campaign rejected the remarks.

Wright Videos

This week, Clinton said if she were Obama, she would have left the church of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his longtime pastor from whom Obama distanced himself only after videos of incendiary remarks circulated. Yet Clinton critics said she embraced Suha Arafat in November 1999 after a speech in which the late Palestinian leader's wife, in Arabic, accused Israel of using toxic gas on Palestinians.

Clinton said the translation she heard was incomplete; hours later, when she received a fuller transcript, she condemned the remarks."

Federal Bureau Of Prisons Awards Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. 5-Year Contract

SOUTHPORT, CONNECTICUT ' Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) is proud to announce that it has been awarded a 5-year requirements contract for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The contract is for 1,750 9mm pistols, with the potential to replace up to 3,000 pistols for the federal prison system. The pistols to be supplied are based on the Ruger KP95 models. The pistols are double-action only, incorporate a stainless steel slide, and feature a custom polymer composite frame with a picatinny rail.

'We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Federal Bureau of Prisons,' said Ruger Chief Executive Officer Mike Fifer. 'The Bureau of Prisons strives to provide a safe environment for both employees and inmates, and Ruger is proud to contribute to that success by providing reliable firearms to the agency. Ruger's P95 pistols have developed a legendary reputation for strength, reliability, and value, and we are proud to have won the Bureau's competitive bid with these fine firearms.'

'Our late founder, William B. Ruger, Sr., began his firearms career designing small arms for the U.S. government, and he would be pleased that we continue following in that legacy,' said Ruger President Stephen L. Sanetti.

The Ruger pistols to be supplied under this contract will be manufactured in the company's Prescott, Arizona manufacturing facility over the next five years.

About Sturm, Ruger:

"Sturm, Ruger was founded in 1949 and is one of the nation's leading manufacturers of high-quality firearms for the commercial sporting market. Sturm, Ruger is headquartered in Southport, CT, with manufacturing facilities located in Newport, NH and Prescott, AZ."

Lordy, Lordy. Ruger getting a government contract. No, the A-Team doesn't count.

Guess the SR9 was more than what the FBP was willing to spring for.

CRAZED GUNMAN REMAINS AT LARGE

Oh And By The Way...He's A Cop

SAN DIEGO -- "The off-duty San Diego police officer who shot an unarmed woman and her 8-year-old son during an apparent road-rage incident in a North County parking lot remained a free man Thursday, as authorities revealed more details of the incident.

Four of the five bullets fired by Officer Franklin White outside a Lowe's store in Oceanside two weekends ago went through the windshield of 27-year-old Rachel Silva's four-door Honda, Oceanside police said during a news conference.

The other round pierced the front passenger window.

Silva was shot twice in her right arm and her child was shot in his left leg. They each spent about five days in hospitals but are expected to recover.

In addition, the driver's side window of White's black Mercury sedan was broken out somehow during the fracas.

Oceanside police released the new ballistics details about the officer-involved shooting during a briefing Thursday afternoon. The agency has slowly disclosed its investigative findings about the March 15 incident, which so far has not resulted in any arrests or criminal charges.

White, 28, who has been a San Diego police officer since October 2005, has made no public statements about the case.

He is on administrative leave pending the outcome of investigations into his actions.On Wednesday, an attorney representing Silva filed a claim -- a precursor to a lawsuit -- against the city of San Diego, seeking unspecified damages.

While claiming memory lapses, Silva has denied doing anything that would justify the officer shooting her and her son.

According to investigators, Silva and White, both Oceanside residents, got into a traffic dispute about 9 that night, and one followed the other into a nearby parking lot in the 100 block of Old Grove Road.A short time later, White shot at Silva's car while she and her son were inside.Precisely why he did so remains unclear, though he has been interviewed by Oceanside police with an attorney present.

His wife, a Carlsbad police dispatcher, was present at the shooting.

Silva has said she remembers getting into a loud argument with the officer while both were in their respective vehicles, but can't recall what precipitated the row.

Silva, who is divorced from a Marine who was in Iraq at the time of the shooting, was driving on a suspended license and facing a drunken-driving charge stemming from an arrest in January, authorities said.The mother of two contends she was backing away from White when he fired. So far, Silva has refused to be interviewed by Oceanside police, saying she doesn't trust the department to conduct a fair probe.

She has suggested that White -- who, unlike her, was not subjected to sobriety tests following the shooting -- is getting preferential treatment from fellow law enforcement officers conducting the investigation."

NO!

For real?

She actually thinks that just because he's a cop they'll let him get away with shooting her and her youngster just because they haven't done squat to him yet?

Hmmm, I dunno, ma'am. You look like one tough hombrete and maybe he felt like he had no other choice. Law enforcement officers can read minds and TELL when someone is preparing to rip them a new one, you see...they say so without even being asked dontcha know...and who'd want to tangle with the likes of you?

And not for nothin', but have you ever SEEN the bite marks an 8-year-old can inflict? Now just imagine them getting all infected.

"So Then...What Does The Military Have That WE Don't..."

Wait, I Got it!...SPY DRONES!

MIAMI: "The Miami police could soon use cutting-edge flying drones to help fight crime.

A small pilotless vehicle manufactured by Honeywell International, capable of hovering and "staring" using electro-optic or infrared sensors, is expected to be introduced soon in the skies over the Florida Everglades.

If use of the drone wins U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval after tests, the Miami-Dade Police Department will start flying the 14 pound, or 6.35 kilogram, drone over urban areas with an eye toward full-fledged employment in crime fighting.

"Our intentions are to use it only in tactical situations as an extra set of eyes," said Detective Juan Villalba, a police department spokesman.

"We intend to use this to benefit us in carrying out our mission," he added, saying the wingless Honeywell aircraft, which fits into a backpack and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, seems ideally suited for use by SWAT teams in hostage situations or dealing with "barricaded subjects."

First they cried that having GLOCKS was as bad as using water-guns against criminals armed with semi-auto AK-clones, and now they want to spend untold thousands playing soldier-boy with super-expensive pilotless drones.

Since moving to Florida and starting to pay attention to local goings on, it has come to my attention that Miami is home to some of the most corrupt members of law enforcement this side of the Rio Grande. Lets face it, wherever there are millions of beaners and thousands of kilos of drugs, there is going to be full-scale corruption and so sorry that sounds harsh but welcome to mother earth.

I absolutely positively guarantee that within a month they'll have naked snapshots of every hot woman in the greater Miami area, and will have crashed dozens of drones while playing with them.

Then again, since they don't seem to be able to put a dent in the drug trade or street crime or rampaging gangs, maybe giving them some toys to occupy their time would be a good thing. They could have drone races instead of running cock and dog fights for neighborhood kingpins, and the fascination of having a very own airyplane might also cut into the time they spend selling drugs and running prostitutes.

Veteran cop ditches guns in sewer, faces discipline

LORAIN -- "A veteran Lorain police officer is facing departmental discipline for dumping guns in a city sewer and might be criminally investigated, according to Lorain police Chief Cel Rivera.

Patrolman Emilio Morales was investigated when the detective bureau received information that Morales, while on duty, was given two handguns to dispose of by a citizen. However, the guns never made it to the evidence room and no report was filed, Rivera said.

''It was later determined (Morales) had dumped the weapons in a sewer,'' Rivera said. ''The investigation was in conjunction with three other complaints filed against the officer,'' the chief said.

Rivera would not discuss why Morales dumped the guns down the sewer or how the department found out where the guns were.

The other complaints accuse Morales of getting involved in civil disputes as a law enforcement officer, while off duty. His involvement in those cases was not documented and he did not call them in to the police department, Rivera said. He would not disclose specifics of the allegations.

Thus far, there is no indication the hand guns were used in criminal activity, however Rivera is waiting for results of ballistic tests and to see if ownership can be established."

Well no shit, Sherlock. They haven't been tested but so far everything is A-Okay, right?

Sweet Lord, what a bunch of Neanderthal charlatans we've got playing cops & robbers nowadays. The guy asks him to toss some guns but the department has no reason to believe they were involved in anything criminal.

Uh huh.

"Rivera can suspend Morales for up to three days, but anything exceeding that will have to be forwarded to Safety Director Phil Dore for consideration."

Whew. 3 whole days. Ah, ya think that if you or I were caught doing the same thing they'd be as lenient?

What Absolute Bullshit

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

Thanks to Ride Fast & Shoot Straight

If 18.6% is high then dayum but the web must be fulla nuns, eh.

Hiker never gave up fight, Hilton said

The Atlanta Journal Constipational Sullies The Memory Of A Good Woman

...Aided and abetted by law enforcement but of course...

"Gary Michael Hilton acknowledged that the petite woman nearly overpowered him when he first accosted her. As they struggled near the Appalachian Trail, Meredith Emerson disarmed her attacker of a knife and baton.

Hilton eventually subdued Emerson, kidnapped her and later killed her. She did not make it easy for him, according to interviews Hilton gave to investigators that were obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Speaking to Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Clay Bridges only days after killing the young woman, Hilton said: "I think it was you probably, or one of the GBIs, said 'That little 120-pound-girl about probably came close to whipping your ass.' She about did."

Her life in danger, Emerson fought back using her strength, her wits and a large measure of courage and determination. In the four days after she disappeared on a Blood Mountain hiking trail in Union County, investigators said, Emerson never gave up.

Bridges said he talked with the South Florida-born vagrant as authorities drove him from the Union County Jail to the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area, where Hilton killed Emerson. Hilton made a deal with prosecutors that he would lead investigators to her remains, if they would not seek the death penalty.

As they descended the winding North Georgia mountain roads, the Army veteran casually detailed the abduction and slaying of the 24-year-old University of Georgia graduate.

Bridges said Hilton clearly relished the attention, and authorities described his account as "self-serving."

Still, Emerson's tenacity and smarts are evident throughout, and, despite Hilton's best attempts, her actions overwhelm the one-sided narrative.

"She was doing everything she could to stay alive," GBI Director Vernon Keenan said."

No you incredible simpleton, you enabler of all those who know damn well that enough women are tricked into becoming defenseless just so that YOU can be the big dick on the block.

She should have been armed. She should have used her brains, the technology that modern humankind has created to PREVENT such horrors from occurring.

But the big-dicks-on-the-block don't like it when others want a piece of the action. The BDOTB know that if enough people learn to defend themselves then their numbers must dwindle and hell, can't have that.

I despise you, you inveterate scumdog. Instead of telling the truth and advising women to keep and bear arms for their protection you stand atop the dead body of a sad victim to preach your bullshit.

For the love of all that is holy, people; don't let them disarm YOU with the promise that they'll be there to save you.

Narcotics cop made illegal search look like a break-in

"A 23-year Atlanta Police Department veteran pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring to violate civil rights by searching a private residence without a warrant, federal prosecutors said.

Wilbert Stallings, 44, of Conyers, a sergeant in the department's narcotics unit, faces up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.

After a hearing before federal Judge Julie Carnes, U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias called the actions of Stallings and his unit a "blatant" rights violation. He also said it was part of a pattern that led to the 2006 botched raid in which 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston was shot and killed in her northwest Atlanta home.

"What we've said is they developed on the team a [pattern] of breaking the rules and bending the rules that ultimately crossed over into the breaking and bending of the Constitution," Nahmias said. "That ultimately is a crime."

The charge against Stallings was an outgrowth of the Johnston investigation, Nahmias said. Stallings supervised the unit in the botched raid but wasn't charged in the case.

Prosecutors said that in October 2005, Stallings led a narcotics team executing a search warrant at an apartment on Dill Road in Atlanta.

Also on the team was Gregg Junnier, one of two narcotics officers who have pleaded guilty to charges in Johnston's death. Junnier had obtained the warrant for one apartment in the 2005 incident, prosecutors said. The team found some marijuana behind the apartment but not inside, they said. Stallings and Junnier then decided to search an adjoining apartment but no one was home and they found nothing inside.

Stallings told the team to leave the apartment and shut the door so it would appear there had been a break-in, prosecutors said."

It truly doesn't get any worse than this.

The hired help killing then trying to cover it up. 10 years is far too short a sentence and I wouldn't balk at considerations towards the death penalty.

Smugglers' deadly cargo: Cop-killing guns

More bilgewater from the Clinton News Network.

Brought to your attention as a public service to divert the attempt by liberal politicians, law enforcement, and the mainstream media, to dilute the Bill of Rights even more than they've done before.

Click here to read it as I won't even quote a snippet of this garbage.

Florida "Gun In Car Bill" Passes House 72-42

TALLAHASSEE - "Without debate, the Florida House gave the powerful gun lobby a major victory today by passing a bill to allow employees to take their guns to work - as long as the employee has a concealed weapons permit and the weapon is left in the car.

The bill (HB503) passed on a nearly party-line vote, 72-42, with Republicans largely supporting the guns-at-work legislation despite a last-minute lobbying push by business interests to kill the measure, which they called an attack on business owners' ability to regulate the workplace.

The controversial legislation for years has cleaved the Legislature's Republican leaders between two core principles: the right to bear arms and private property rights.

In a sign Republican leaders are looking to move past this divisive fight in an election year, there was no debate on the matter on the floor today. A handful of Republicans voted against the bill, with Democrats nearly unified in opposition."

The anti's are referring to it as the Bring Your Gun To Work Bill, or Guns At Work Bill, but neither is correct, and that alone should tell you all you need to know about any claim to unbiased reporting.

HB 503: "Guns Locked In Car", is the REAL name.

Now on to the Senate where it is considered a sure thing. If Crist doesn't sign it then its on to a recall, and I'm far from kidding as he's already been making noises like there is actually a debate to be had on this topic and if he truly believes so and isn't just trying to placate Disney and Wal-Mart then it is time for a new Governor.

PS: Interesting how the democrats can side with evil big business when it suits their purpose.

Pharmacist wrestles shotgun from robber: Then Deputy "Accidentally" Discharges It

CARMEL - "A pharmacist yesterday struggled with a robber inside a Rite Aid pharmacy in Carmel and yanked away the shotgun the man was toting, police said, shortly before officers arrived to arrest him.

The clash took place about 12:35 p.m. inside the store on Route 52 near ShopRite. Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith said a man walked into the store with a sawed-off shotgun and demanded narcotics from the pharmacy staff. The man then walked around the pharmacy counter as pharmacist Mark Gallagher began placing drugs into a bag.\

As the man pointed his gun toward two women who work in the store, Gallagher, who told investigators he feared the man would shoot the women, grabbed the firearm, Smith said. After a struggle, the pharmacist was able to wrest the shotgun away from the robber and fight him off, the sheriff said.

Responding to a 911 call made by a Rite Aid shopper, sheriff's deputies, state troopers and officers from Carmel and Kent police departments rushed to the store.

Deputies Daniel Hunsberger, Thomas Lewis and Matthew Monroe and Carmel Officer Michael Bodo were the first to enter the store, and they arrested David M. Both, 49, of 819 Farmers Mill Road, Kent.

As of last night, Both was in the Putnam County jail awaiting arraignment on a charge of first-degree attempted robbery, a felony. Attempts to reach Gallagher, 34, who lives in Dutchess County, were unsuccessful.

The shotgun went off accidentally as a deputy was unloading it, firing a slug into the store's back wall. Investigators said the gun might have gone off due to the damage it sustained in the struggle.

Initial police scanner reports said the pharmacist hit the gunman with an object. Sheriff's Capt. William McNamara said last night that he couldn't comment on what the pharmacist used."

Anyone claiming that the shotgun might have been damaged during a simple tug of war and "accidentally" gone-off, need have the title Investigator" forever stricken from anywhere near his or her name, and for all eternity.

Perhaps someday LE will end this unseemly predilection towards blaming an inanimate object for the actions of the ignorant and poorly trained.

Now is as good a time as any so what say?

Feel up to joining the big-boy-club where grown men take responsibility for their actions?

Membership is free of charge, too.

Just answer one simple question while we process your application:

Is Hillary Clinton an incomparable socialist witch who would better serve the country behind bars making license plates:

A.)Yes.

B.) No.

C.) I need more information.

D.) Even worse, I'm a liberal so its impossible to judge anyone.

The Tree-Hugger Guide To What NOT To Do With A Bear

Bear spray is better protection than a gun, a BYU biologist's study finds

"If you're roaming bear country, your best protection against an unpleasant encounter is a can of bear spray, not a gun, according to Brigham Young University wildlife biologist Tom Smith.

Smith's team, which included Stephen Herrero, a world authority on bear attacks, has studied 600 bear encounters in Alaska over two decades. In 72 incidents in which bear spray was used properly, the bear stopped charging more than 90 percent of the time, according to a study Smith published in the April edition of the Journal of Wildlife Management. People using guns, by contrast, stood a one-in-three chance of failing to deter the bear, according to an earlier study.

"The probability is the bear spray will outperform a firearm and it's easy to see why. The spray is easy to deploy. The rifle is just difficult to use," Smith said. Stopping a charging bear with bullets required, on average, four hits.

Most of the 72 bear spray deployments Smith studied involved grizzly bears; the rest were black and polar bears. His team studied newspaper accounts, anecdotes and reports from wildlife agencies to determine the bears' activity before being sprayed, the distance involved, time of day, wind effects, mechanical problems and dosage of spray. Of the 150 people involved, just three injuries were reported and none required hospitalization

Chuck Bartlebaugh, a vocal bear-spray advocate who leads the Center for Wildlife Information in Missoula, Mont. "We need a similar study done for the Intermountain region with inland grizzly bears who tend to be more aggressive because they don't have the salmon runs."

Last year was the worst on record for human-bear conflicts in Utah, with 203 black bear encounters, including a fatal mauling in American Fork Canyon. That total was substantially higher than in the previous four years combined, probably the result of poor natural food sources and a high number of fledgling juveniles leaving their home turf, according to Kevin Bunnell, large-mammal coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.
Utah's wet winter bodes well for the coming season, "but it can turn south in a hurry," Bunnell said. "A single late freeze can have a big impact. So can a hot, dry July or August."
Smith's findings should debunk common reasons given for not carrying bear spray, which Smith calls ''an olfactory assault weapon.'' Although wind can interfere with spray accuracy, wind rarely reduced the spray's effectiveness, probably because most discharges occur in wooded areas and the spray exits the nozzle at 70 mph. His team found no instances in which the spray malfunctioned and only two instances in which the sprayers incapacitated themselves.
"Bear spray diffuses potentially dangerous situations in the short term by providing the user time to move out of harm's way and allowing the bear time to reassess the situation and move on," Smith wrote. "When food or garbage is involved with bear conflict, bear spray is effective initially, but one can expect bears to continue returning until these attractants are removed or otherwise secured."
Smith's study, funded by his former employer, the U.S. Geological Society and the Alaska Science Center, shows that bear spray can help conserve grizzlies, protected as a threatened species.

Every fall in the lands around Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, elk hunters kill grizzly bears in self-defense. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, between 1980 and 2002, 49 grizzlies were fatally shot by people protecting themselves around Yellowstone (accounting for nearly one in six of all known bear deaths). Another 23 were shot around Glacier.

"In most cases there are no attempts to carry bear spray, much less use it. Every time a hunter decides to shoot instead of use bear spray they are making a decision they are going to set back grizzly bear recovery," said Brian Peck, of the Great Bear Foundation. "Had those people used bear spray, not only would [the bears] be alive, they would know that this red hot spray stuff will be really nasty and to avoid it and they would pass this information on. Bears are smart."

Lot smarter than biologists, it would certainly seem.

Even IF bear-spray works 90% of the time, who out there wants to volunteer to be included with the unlucky 10%?

Mr. Smith is obviously more in love with bears than humans, and anyone carrying both a spray and a suitable firearm who chooses to use the spray is taking an unnecessary chance.

Lets put it this way; if a bear was mauling a member of your family would you spray or shoot the critter?

Mr. Smith aside as a modern anomaly, we didn't get to the top of the food chain by making other omnivore's sneeze.

Pistol-Cam: The Latest Way To Get On YouTube

"It's a common scenario. You're out on the town, some lowlife starts mouthing off, so you fill him with more lead than a pencil factory.

But how do you convince the judge it was self-defence?

Say hello to Pistol-Cam. Strap this camcorder to the end of your pistol, take aim, and it'll record your brutal slaying in MPEG4 video, complete with sound. Then download your day's maiming onto your computer via USB.

The "I'll make you famous" line from Young Guns II has never been more appropriate.

It can store up to 60 minutes of footage, for if your gunfight lasts longer than Arnie's, and even comes with a laser sight and tactical flashlight.

Most life-stoppers are supported, including Beretta, Glock, and Smith and Wesson."

I really don't know how common a scenario this is, but perhaps the author was speaking tongue-in-cheek as this is a rather anti-gun article. The product itself appears to be awfully bulky, but I guess since it's a 3-in-1 approach to illumination the grandiose girth won't make much difference to someone wanting what every man who has everything is in need of.

Richard Widmark Passes At 93

"Richard Widmark died on Wednesday at age 93. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing him in January 2002 at his home in Connecticut with my friend John Connolly.

The consummate actor and gentleman, Widmark should have been given a Lifetime Achievement award by the Oscars a long time ago. He was only nominated once, in 1947, for his debut as Tommy Udo in "Kiss of Death."

He laughed when we talked about that film — and the famous scene in which he pushes wheelchair-bound Mildred Dunnock down a flight of stairs.

"You make 50 movies over a lifetime and that’s the one they remember you for," he chuckled.

He told me that he never had "a great movie," but I differ. He had several: "Night and the City," "Pick Up on South Street," "The Street With No Name" and "No Way Out" are all classics. Today, you can see a lot of Widmark in Viggo Mortensen’s face. He was the king of film noir; Mortensen seems sometimes to be echoing his pathos.

Widmark was married for 50 years to the same woman, his beloved Jean. When she died in 1997, he married one more time to Susan Blanchard, the third wife of the late Henry Fonda. They were friends and neighbors. It was through Peter and Becky Fonda that I got to talk to Richard; Peter still considered Susan his "mom." I am so grateful it worked out.

Here are a couple of things he told me for our interview: Karl Malden was his oldest friend. They’d met in 1938 doing radio work. About his contemporary, Robert Mitchum: "I liked old Bob but he was a real bullshitter. We were in different worlds. He was in the booze world."

Bette Davis, he said, was "tough." Marilyn Monroe "was a ding dong. I liked old Marilyn. No one could get her out on the set."

Widmark’s last film was "True Colors" in 1991. After that, he didn’t see the need to continue. His favorite actors? "Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart. I’d go back to work if I could work with those guys. I loved them."

Just a great guy, and such a wonderful actor. His death marks the end of an era."

I suppose he was the last of the great actors who came into prominence in the 40's, and to tell the truth I thought he'd died long ago. Widmark did have a great many meaty roles, or roles he made meaty, in spite of the fact that one could always tell when he was acting. One of the few ever who could overact and get away with it because he was always true to his own particular style and never ventured into anything even close to being over his abilities. That I guess is why he thought he never made a great movie. The comparison to Viggo Mortensen though, is ludicrous. Mortensen tries to do what the director tells him and little else.