Dog shoots hunter in butt, ex sheriff caught trading meth for sex, and a trio of shoplifters hit 91 stores before being caught

          Good Morning Humboldt County!

Good to see that you decided to stop by and visit. C’mon in and have a cup of hot coffee with me and relax. I’ve got several thought-provoking stories for you this morning. Enjoy:

Dog shoots man: Medics remove 27 pellets from hunter's buttocks

A bird hunter in Utah was shot in the buttocks after his dog stepped on a shotgun laid across the bow of a boat. Box Elder County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Potter says the 46-year-old Brigham City man was duck hunting with a friend 10 miles west of the city when he climbed out of the boat to move decoys. Potter says the man left his 12-gauge shotgun in the boat and the dog stepped on it, causing it to fire. It wasn't clear whether the safety on the gun was on at the time. A report on KSL.com said the men called 911 and walked to the main road to wait for emergency crews. Potter says the man was hit from about 10 feet away. He says the man wasn't seriously injured, in part because he was wearing waders.

The Salt Lake City Tribune said the wounded hunter was transported to Brigham City Community Hospital about 9 a.m. Sunday, where doctors removed 27 pellets of birdshot. It said neither the dog, nor any ducks, were injured.

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Lately pillars of the community have been getting in trouble. First Jerry Sandusky and now former sheriff Patrick Sullivan.

Ex sheriff accused of offering meth for sex ends up in jail named after him

A former U.S. national sheriff of the year found himself in a jail that was named for him, accused of offering methamphetamine in exchange for sex from a male acquaintance.

Colorado lawman Patrick Sullivan, 68 — handcuffed, dressed in an orange jail uniform and walking with a cane — watched Wednesday as a judge raised his bail amount to a half-million dollars and sent him to the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility.

Couple, teen stole toys in 91-store spree

Coming this Sunday (Dec. 4th) in the Times-Standard:

As It Stands - Watch out for the Grinches when you shop for the holidays   

Police say it's a very naughty list, sometimes checked twice. A New York couple and a teen are in custody charged with shoplifting thousands of dollars in toys in a three-state spree that ended in western Pennsylvania.

Authorities say the thieves used a list to keep track of the 91 stores they hit for merchandise — sometimes marking a store with two check marks after hitting it twice. Ross Township police say they found a rented van filled with stolen merchandise on November 16 after arresting 40-year-old Theresa Lynn Warner, her 39-year-old fiance Christopher Frances Dimaio and her 17-year-old son. All three are from Little Falls, N.Y. Investigators say they also recovered a list of stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio where the trio swiped merchandise. All three are in custody. It wasn't clear if they had attorneys.

Time to walk on down the road…

High arsenic levels in apple & grape juice, Horse meat may be back on the menu, and how a homeless man turned his life around

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

When one-in-10 apple or grape juice samples have high levels of dangerous arsenic in them something needs to be done.

   Good Morning Humboldt County!

There you are…c’mon in and join me for a cup of hot Joe and the news of the day.

I’m concerned about this new study (which backs up prior ones) on apple and grape juice containing high levels of arsenic.

The guy from the FDA that’s defending their position that every thing is just fine with the juices, tried to claim the levels were okay, despite all the evidence that is cropping up showing otherwise.

Now I have to think twice before drinking either juice or start watering them down as one consumer group suggested.

Horse meat may be back on the menu

Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month.

Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horse meat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December.

The USDA issued a statement Tuesday saying there are no slaughterhouses in the U.S. that butcher horses for human consumption now, but if one were to open, it would conduct inspections to make sure federal laws were being followed.

Homeless man's decision to return $3,300 changed his life

About a year ago, a homeless man in Arizona found a bag full of cash and made a fateful decision: He returned it. The Arizona Republic published a feel-good story today that actually feels good about the future of 49-year-old Dave Tally (photo left) of Tempe.

Tally was in debt, unemployed and had lost his driver's license for DUI violations. Homeless, he was sleeping on a mat in a church-based homeless shelter when he found $3,300 in a backpack at a local light-rail station.

That could have gotten Tally out of his hole, but he decided that was the wrong thing to do. Instead, he tracked down the owner of the cash, a college kid named Bryan Berlanger who had planned to use the money to buy a car to replace one he'd lost in an accident.

"Meeting Belanger and hearing the student thank and praise him for his honesty and kindness made Tally feel good about himself, he says," writes Republic reporter Dianna M. Nanez. "He hadn't had that feeling in awhile." When word got out that Tally had turned in the cash instead of keeping it, the national media came looking for him.

Donations poured in, and Tally suddenly found himself with $10,000. But he was determined not to fritter it away. He began paying off his bills, clearing up his driving record, and taking the long road back. He even moved into a no-frills apartment across from the shelter as "a reminder of where I've been and where I'm not going back again."

One year later, Tally has landed his "dream job," managing a community garden. Recently, The Republic reports, Tally started overseeing an internship program that allows people who are homeless to volunteer in the garden. But he doesn't preach to anyone. "I let them know that when they're ready to make changes, it's possible," he says.

Time to walk on down the road…

Nothing says Christmas like a machine gun and a Santa shoot!

I don’t know about you, but this story really gets me in the spirit of Christmas. Posing with yuletide gifts of automatic weapons and a warlord Santa send shivers down my spine. 

Want to improve the caliber of your family’s Christmas card this year? How about having your picture taken with Santa Claus and your choice of machine guns?

For a fee of $5 for members and $10 for non-members, the Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona will arrange a Yuletide photo op with Santa and a selection of automatic weapons valued at $170,000.                         (Full article)

Printers open to hack attacks, Great Gay Softball debate, and a ‘Hooters style’ eatery for women

             Good Morning Humboldt County!

Welcome to my little corner of the universe. Step right in and have a seat. There’s hot coffee and tea to go along with several stories that will entertain and educate. Enjoy:

Exclusive: Millions of printers open to devastating hack attack, researchers say

Could a hacker from half-way around the planet control your printer and give it instructions so frantic that it could eventually catch fire? Or use a hijacked printer as a copy machine for criminals, making it easy to commit identity theft or even take control of entire networks that would otherwise be secure? It’s not only possible, but likely, say researchers at Columbia University, who claim they've discovered a new class of computer security flaws that could impact millions of businesses, consumers, and even government agencies.

The Great Gay Softball Debate has been settled … out of court

A federal lawsuit brought by three players who were disqualified from the 2008 Gay Softball World Series because of their perceived heterosexuality has been settled out of court. The sum was undisclosed, but part of Monday’s settlement includes getting their second-place team trophy back.

Our story began in 2008 when a team was kicked out of the 2008 North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance softball world series for using non-gay ringers. The men — Stephen Apilado, Laron Charles and John Russ — filed the federal lawsuit against the NAGAAA last year, claiming they had been discriminated against because they were bisexual, not gay. They also said that they were subjected to embarrassing questions by a tournament committee trying to determine if they were, in fact, gay.

      New restaurant aims to be the “Hooters for women”

Mies Contatiner, a new restaurant in Seoul, South Korea, is catering to female customers by flipping the Hooters model on its head, hiring an all-male staff and designing the eatery's interiors to look like a factory construction site.

Journalist Steven Kim says Koreans are famous for not waiting in line. So, when word spread that people were waiting 30 minutes or longer for a table at the new Mies Container, Kim looked for an explanation:

“Around nine out of ten of the customers queuing around the building were young women in their 20s.

When a good-looking young waiter with a hip-hop scarf tied around on his head appeared and called out in a booming voice that a table for five was available, I began to understand why so many women were waiting in line.

And indeed, most of the rumors about Mies Container are about the restaurant's young, hot, male waiters and the "macho" atmosphere, which has proven to be a hit with the impatient young Seoulites who would never wait the 30 minutes in line anywhere else.”

Customers are even given hardhats with their order numbers. And the walls are adorned with notes from appreciative notes to the male staff, such as, "Dear hot waiter, please marry me!" The owners of Mies Container have also embarked on what might be considered a hipster marketing campaign, forgoing social media outreach and even now-traditional forms of marketing like a company website in favor of a strict word-of-mouth approach.

Time to walk on down the road…

Herman Cain’s new theme song: ‘Na Na Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’

I think Herman Cain’s new theme song ought to “Na Na Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” by The Steam

Herman Cain has another woman (other than his wife) to contend with again.

This new woman says she’s been having an affair with the Pizza King for 13 years. 

Cain’s response has been to lump her in with the other women who have accused him of sexual misconduct in the last month, and claim they’re all making up stories. Kinda interesting that all the stories sound a lot alike…just coincidence I’m sure…like this 13-year alleged affair with Ginger White from Atlanta, Georgia.

Muppet song came from porn film, ‘Re-conditioned’ food, and 3-D TV

        Good Morning Humboldt County!

C’mon in and have a cup of coffee with me. Pull up a chair and have a stare. I have three stories to get you jump-started this Monday morning:

     'Mahna Mahna' came from a porn film

It might just be the catchiest Muppet song of them all, beating out "Rubber Duckie," "It's Not Easy Being Green," "Rainbow Connection" and all the rest.

But until reading this Slate article, I had no idea "Mahna Mahna" came from a softcore porn film.

A second chance for faulty food? FDA calls it 'reconditioning'

When a school lunch supplier repackaged moldy applesauce into canned goods and fruit cups, it drew a sharp warning from federal health regulators last month -- and general disgust from almost everyone else. “I was appalled that there were actually human beings that were OK with this,” said Kantha Shelke, a food scientist and spokeswoman for the Institute of Food Technologists. “This is a case of unsafe food. They are trying to salvage that to make a buck.”

Photo - Chocolate ice cream is a frequent catch-all for botched batches of other flavors, which are doled out in small amounts and mixed with the dark, rich treat in order to avoid waste and expense. Reworking food is a common practice, industry experts say.

But even as Food and Drug Administration officials prepare to re-inspect Snokist Growers of Yakima, Wash., to ensure that the applesauce maker keeps toxin-tainted fruit off store shelves, federal officials and industry experts acknowledge that Snokist is not alone in “reworking” faulty food. Turning imperfect, mislabeled or outright contaminated foods into edible -- and profitable -- goods is so common that virtually all producers do it, at least to some extent, sources say.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I can see 3-D TV being in every home someday.

Your next TV? It better be 3-D

By now, I'm sure you've heard about 3-D HDTV. However, the poor roll-out and competing viewing formats have made 3-D one of the most confusing features ever.

This guide will help you decide which 3-D-equipped HDTV is right for you.

                  What it is:
3-D TV is more accurately described as "stereoscopic" television. You may recall View-Master slide viewers — these are an early example of 3-D TV, just minus the TV part. The underlying principle is the same: Two distinct views are made of the same object, one as the left eye sees it, and the other as the right eye sees it. To view in 3-D, the left eye must only see the left eye view and the right eye the right view.

If there is leakage between the different views (as in, the left eye sees some of the right image, or vice versa), ghost images appear when viewing. This is known as crosstalk, an obvious issue that degrades the viewing experience. Read the rest here.

Time to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Signs of hope for our struggling economy

                                                   

        By Dave Stancliff/for The Times-Standard
   Dare I say it?
   The economy is showing signs of improvement. 
   I realize suggesting such a thing might make some readers believe I’ve lost touch with reality. I realize it’s tough out there with families waiting in food lines, the homeless population growing, and jobs as scarce as real meat at Taco Bell.
    A reader recently commented that I use too much space talking about things going wrong in the world. Another reader suggested I need to write about more “important things,” which loosely defined meant issues they were interested in.
  The environment. Partisan politics. Global Warming. Homeland Security spying on American citizens. The war in Afghanistan. Wall Street versus Main Street. 
    All good subjects to write about (and I have), but I don’t want to beat one subject or issue to death. If I write about a subject more than once, you can be sure I feel strongly about it.

  I guess it comes down to expectations. I like to write about new subjects every week. The odds are that a reader will like one column and  disagree with another. That’s more than okay as I’m not a politician running a popularity contest. 
  One of the reasons people disagree with each other is pre-conceived beliefs that clash. They can see, or experience, the same event and have a different perspective on what actually happened.
  Speaking of perspectives, let’s go back to why I think there’s hope for the economy.
California employers added more than 25,700 workers to their payrolls in October, the third straight month of job growth. The state reported broad growth across seven of 11 industry sectors. Professional and business services led the way by adding 17,300 new jobs last month.
  That was followed by education and health services with 7,400 new positions and financial activities with 4,000. Even the beleaguered construction trades which 2,100 jobs in October.
   According to a widely watched private research group, the Leading Economic Index (LEI) is pointing towards modest growth and a gain in momentum by spring.
   The Conference Board LEI  rose 0.9 percent in October, up sharply from a 0.1 percent increase in September and a 0.3 percent rise in August. Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein sees a glimmer of hope for the economy if the momentum can continue.
   Here are some more signs that small advances are being made:
   Jobless claims have trended down according to the latest government data. Consider this, the total number of people receiving benefits fell to the lowest level since September 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the financial crisis intensified.
  The jobless claims data was the latest in a string of reports showing the U.S. economy gaining some momentum this year. I don’t say put on your rose-colored glasses and start throwing “The Recession is Over” parties because of one report, but it’s a good sign.
  Then we have news that factories are running at a faster pace and inflation is almost nonexistent. Factories made more cars, electronics and business equipment in October, a sign that manufacturing is recovering. Industrial production rebounded 0.7 percent last month, according to the Federal Reserve.  This information lends credence to other leading indicators.
  More good news. The Labor Department announced that consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent last month. Americans paid less for cars and gasoline. This data, according to financial experts, suggests inflation is poised to go lower after a spike in oil prices earlier in the year.
  I like to share good news (as long as it’s true) about our economy. I know numerous challenges lie ahead before most Americans regain confidence in the economy and our government. Still, I’m hopeful we can overcome them all in time.

  I don’t expect you’ll skip away after reading this column and tell people the recession is almost over. Actually, I expect you won’t give this column a second thought.
   As It Stands, for those of you who do however, I look forward to hearing your opinions. A waste of space, or was it nice to hear we don’t have to prepare for Armageddon quite yet?

Two skillfully rendered illusions by artist Oleg Shuplyak

 

                                             To see some more great illusions go here.

Ukrainian artist Oleg writes Shuplyak oil paintings with optical illusions.
Oleg Shuplyak 44 years and he is an architect by training. But he devoted his life to not designing buildings and structures, painting and teaching. He worked as a teacher of drawing in his native village, now teaches drawing and painting at a children’s art school in a small Ukrainian town Berezhany. A parallel Shuplyak is a member of Artists Union of Ukraine, works in the genres of associative symbolism, surrealism and abstract art, and participates in group and solo exhibitions suits in Ukraine and Europe.
His paintings – it’s artistic optical illusions, which is found when considering the implication: a figure of reading Girl hides head of Salvador Dali, for autumn leaves – a bird, and for bathing naked couple – the silhouette of Freud.                                                           Go here for even more illusions by Shuplyak.

Montana PBS: Clearing the Smoke – the Science of Cannabis

Watch Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis on PBS. See more from KUSM.

Another reason for legalization of marijuana…

You’d think the policies in our country were based on science, but they’re not when it comes to pot.

Listen to what doctors and researchers have to say about pot’s medical usages.

In 2004, Medical marijuana was legalized in Montana.

Listen to riveting testimony of one man suffering with cancer, and the ill effects of his chemo treatments. After trying all conventional options to help him his doctor prescribed pot. It worked wonderfully for him.

This is a one-hour video. Try watching the first few minutes and see what you think. I thought it was well-done and made a strong case for the merits of medical marijuana. I’d really like to hear what you think.

Few Facts on FOX: another study shines spotlight on misinformation

The release this week of yet another survey indicating the more you watch Fox News the less they know, has once again shone a spotlight on one of the unique features that defines Rupert Murdoch's cable news outlet - it is very, very good at misinforming people. And it's very bad at reporting the news. In other words: Propaganda? Yes. News? Not so much.

It's true that the most recent survey, conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University, only polled adults in New Jersey and doesn't represent national indictment against Fox. Nonetheless, the findings created a media stir because they reinforce what pollsters and academics previously discovered; that one of the country's all-news channels consistently leaves viewers less informed.

What's stunning is how many different areas of the news and public policy Fox viewers are misinformed about. For instance, the Fairleigh Dickinson survey asked viewers about recent grassroots uprisings in Arab nations [emphasis added]:

For example, people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all..... Fox News watchers are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news.

That just means we can add the Arab Spring to the laundry list of issues Fox fans are less knowledgeable about. Here are some previously documented examples.

--2010, the proposed New York City mosque. Two Ohio State University researchers released their study, "Fox News Contributes to Spread of Rumors About Proposed NYC Mosque."

The take-away:

In this study, the results are very clear: the more people use Fox News, the more rumors they have heard the more they believe.

2010, mid-term elections. A "Misinformation and the 2010 Election" survey conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes, and showed that regular Fox News viewers "were significantly more likely" to hold misinformed views.

--2011, health care reform. The Kaiser Foundation released the findings of its health care reform "pop quiz." It asked respondents ten questions about the topic and graded the responses. The Foundation found loyal Fox News viewers knew less about health care reform than did CNN and MSBNC viewers.

--2003, the Iraq War. the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) study found widespread public misperceptions about the Iraq war, but some media consumers were more misinformed than others:

Those who primarily watch Fox News are significantly more likely than average to have misperceptions.

--2009, health care reform. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found Fox fans were overwhelmingly misinformed about health care reform: 

In our poll, 72% of self-identified FOX News viewers believe the health-care plan will give coverage to illegal immigrants, 79% of them say it will lead to a government takeover, 69% think that it will use taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, and 75% believe that it will allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing care for the elderly.

2010, global warming. Stanford University, in conjunction with the National Science Foundation, released a report titled "Frequent Viewers of Fox News Are Less Like to Accept Scientists' Views of Global Warming."

It concluded:

More exposure to Fox News was associated with more rejection of many mainstream scientists' claims about global warming, with less trust in scientists, and with more belief that ameliorating global warming would hurt the U.S. economy.

Marines ordered to stop farting in front of civilians, union leaders game pension system, and city builds wheelchair ramps to nowhere

                    Good Morning Humboldt County!

C’mon in…you’re here in time for coffee and a look at some entertaining stories to start the day. Truth is often stranger than fiction as demonstrated in a couple of these stories. Pull up a seat and relax. The coffee’s especially good today. 

       Marines ordered to stop farting around civilians

The Military Times news service, reporting from Afghanistan in August, disclosed a U.S. Marines command directive ordering troops to restrain their audible flatus because, apparently, Afghan soldiers and civilians complained of being offended. The reporter doubted the directive could be effective, in that passing gas by front-line troops is "practically a sport." [Military Times)

    

   Union leaders gaming the retirement system

A Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV investigation revealed in September and October the astonishing result that Illinois laws passed in 1997 and 2007 at the behest of organized labor have given at least three former union leaders lifetime government pensions as if they had been city or state employees, totaling an estimated drain on public budgets of about $7 million. Two teachers' union officials were allowed to teach exactly one day to qualify, and an engineers' union official was hired for exactly one day, with the remainder of the service of the three having been on the payroll of the respective unions. A September Tribune report estimated that perhaps 20 other union officials might have been eligible under similar provisions. [Chicago Tribune

   City builds wheel chair ramps to nowhere

In what a cement company executive said is "one of those bureaucratic things that doesn't make any sense," the city of Detroit recently built wheelchair ramps at 13 intersections along Grandy Street, despite knowing that those ramps are either not connected to sidewalks or connected to seldom-used, badly crumbling sidewalks. The ramps were required by a 2006 lawsuit settlement in which Detroit pledged to build ramps on any street that gets re-paved, as Grandy was. (No one in city government thought, apparently, to attempt a trade of these 13 intersections for paving 13 more-widely used ones in the city.) [Detroit News

Time to walk on down the road…

Pug who ate, pooped 100 rocks is contest front-runner

If pooping out rocks was a skill, a pug from Rhode Island would be the most talented dog in the country.

Instead, Harley the pug will have to settle for a potential “Hambone Award,’’ given out annually by Veterinary Pet Insurance. Each year since 2009, the company has nominated the 12 most unusual and outrageous pet insurance claims that it receives out of tens of thousands. The award is named after a dog that was stuck in a refrigerator and chowed through an entire Thanksgiving ham before being found.

The good news is, all nominees made full recoveries and received their insurance money for eligible expenses. The clubhouse leader this year is Harley (pictured), who ate more than 100 rocks and then pooped them out to the horror and astonishment of his owner, Lori Laverdiere of Manville, Rhode Island. Harley’s competition includes a terrier that bit a chainsaw while it was running, a Chihuahua that was snatched by a great horned owl in the middle of the night, and an English mastiff that was kicked by a mule. (Read more here)

It’s that time of the year again: Black Friday violence erupts

     Good Morning Humboldt County!

Welcome to this special Black Friday posting. You’re about to read how crazy people can  get when it comes to saving money. It seems to get worse every year, but retailers say the day brings in from 30% to 40% of their annual sales.

I can’t help noticing most of the trouble happens at Wal Mart stores. Is there a social comment there? Have a cup of coffee with me, pull up a chair, and see what you think. 

Violence erupted at Black Friday sales across the U.S. with one bargain-hunter left critically injured after being shot during a robbery and 15 other people injured when an angry shopper used pepper spray.

Several of the incidents took place at Wal-Mart stores as millions of Americans loaded up on holiday purchases.

Updated 10:39 a.m. ET: Police said they were investigating a possible shooting in the parking lot of Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, Iowa, NBC station WHO reported. There was no immediate report that anyone was injured.

Police got a call of shots fired shortly before 4 a.m., when the mall opened. They wouldn't say whether they had a suspect, and they reassured shoppers that the mall is safe..

Updated 9:50 a.m. ET: A 55-year-old shopper was shot and wounded during a robbery near a Wal-Mart in Myrtle Beach, S.C., NBC station WMBF reported.

Tonia Robbins, 55, was shot in the foot after two men demanded her purse shortly after 1 a.m. ET Friday as she stood by the trunk of her car with friends.

Updated 9:45 a.m. ET: An explosive device was found at a break room at a Wal-Mart in Cave Creek, Ariz., according to reports Friday. 

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said a suspicious package was found inside a refrigerator in the store break room on Thursday. The store was evacuated as a precaution while deputies investigated the package.

---

Updated at 9:40 a.m. ET: A Black Friday shopper was shot and critically injured during a robbery outisde a Wal-Mart in San Leandro, Calif., early Friday, police said.

Police patrolling the parking lot found a victim suffering a gunshot wound and a possible suspect being detained by family members of the victim.

Police said the victims were walking to their car with their purchases and were approached by multiple suspects who demanded the merchandise.

A fight ensued and one suspect pulled out a gun and shot one of the victims. Some of the victims wrestled down one suspect as the other suspect fled the scene.

The victim who was shot is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. The suspect in custody is an adult male in his mid '20s, but it is not known if he was the shooter.

Updated at 7.30 a.m. ET: An angry woman used pepper spray when Black Friday bargain-hunters tried to cut in line at a crowded Wal-Mart store in Los Angeles late Thursday, leaving 15 people with minor injuries. The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. PT (1:20 a.m. ET Friday) in the San Fernando Valley as shoppers looking for deals were let inside the outlet.

NBC News reported police said no more than 15 were hurt, 10 of them for the effects of inhalation of pepper spray.

Police Lt. Abel Parga said a woman used pepper spray, then left. Parga said police were looking for the woman and no arrests have been made. "It was an unhappy customer,'' he said.

A witness told Los Angeles' NBC4 that the incident started as people waited in line for the new Xbox 360.

The witness said a woman with two children in tow became upset with the way people were pushing in line. The witness said the woman pulled out pepper spray and sprayed the other people.

NBC News quoted a police officer as saying the flare-up was triggered when a crowd rushed toward merchandise following a "big reveal" of items that had been hidden by draping.

Update at 5:45 a.m. ET: Authorities say gunfire erupted at a North Carolina mall as holiday shoppers gathered, the Associated Press reported.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said detectives were looking for two suspects after gunfire rang out at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville early Friday. No injuries were reported.

The first shots were fired around 2 a.m. outside the mall near a food court entrance. Investigators say several more shots were fired after one of the suspects ran inside the mall. (article source)

Happy Thankgiving to my friends, family, and fellow bloggers!

 

 We all have something to be thankful for.

 Sometimes it isn’t easy to remember what is good in your life.But if you think about it…

long enough…

You’ll come up with the answer.

Have a thoughtful Turkey Day!                    - - Dave

How White Supremacists Are Trying to Make an American Town a Model for Right-Wing Extremism

I still remember what a peaceful and nice town Kalispell was in 1995 when my wife and I visited there. We stayed in a nice motel overlooking Big Mountain, a ski resort. We didn’t see any signs of neo-Nazis back then. It’s with regret, that I share this article with you. Extremists are getting more militant every year. Hate has found a foothold in the Flathead Valley: 

“The Pioneer Little Europe (PLE) movement has brought dozens of white supremacists to the Flathead Valley. They are increasingly making their presence known by staging public events, openly recruiting and distributing racist literature, stocking up on firearms at area gun shows while dressed in neo-Nazi clothing, working for local anti-gun control and anti-abortion campaigns (according to Gaede), and issuing violent threats to perceived enemies.

The growing numbers of PLE white supremacists in the Flathead Valley parallels a recent influx to the area of ultra right-wing "Patriot" movement leaders and their followers. Their combined forces are rapidly transforming the region into the hottest flash point of right-wing extremism in the country.

Nationwide the anti-government Patriot movement is surging, and the number of racist hate groups has surpassed 1,000 for the first time since the Southern Poverty Law Center, a leading authority on extremism, began tracking white supremacist activity.” (Read the rest of the story here)

Reefer Madness, Gooey tar paralyzes 150 vehicles, and a Texas teen steps in a sinkhole

               Good Morning Humboldt County!

 C’mon in this blustery morning and have a hot up of coffee with me. Make yourself comfortable and pull up a seat, I have a trio of stories to start your day:

 

Reefer Madness: CA Cop Worries Legalizing Pot Will Make Window Washers Fall From High-Rises -- And Kill Passersby

Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department’s Robert McMahon has been drinking the Kool-Aid, and he is very worried about how decriminalized pot may affect California's future. His vision is straight ouf of a 1930s pot propaganda film.“What will happen to our kids if this stuff is legal? Think about 20 years from now what L.A. will look like?” he asks RollingOut.com. McMahon is of the following opinion:

“We’re talking about loss of work and collisions, work-related industrial injuries. Somebody comes to work stoned, and they are working some heavy equipment or up on a high-rise — a window washer that’s stoned — not only could he [or she] injure himself, but some of his or her negligence could cause someone else to be injured.” (emphasis added)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Gooey tar paralyzes more than 150 vehicles in Pa.

More than 150 cars were disabled and countless others damaged after a tanker truck spilled sticky goo along nearly 40 miles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Tuesday night, officials said.

A leaking valve on the tanker, which was transporting liquid driveway sealant, caused black tar-like fluid to flood the highway, stopping motorists in their tracks as their wheels and undercarriages became mired in sludge.

The tanker began leaking near New Castle, Pa., and continued to spill sealant as it drove eastbound for 39 miles until it exited the turnpike at a service plaza in Oakmont, Turnpike spokesman Bill Capone said. The driver was not aware until getting off the turnpike that the tanker was leaking, Capone told WTAE.com.

Sinkhole swallows Texas teen standing on street corner

Houston-area residents have to wonder if they'll be next after a teen who was standing on a street corner was swallowed by a sinkhole that opened suddenly when an underground water main burst. Giovanni Long, 16, told khou.com that he fell several feet and was under water for about 15 seconds as he tried to claw his way out of a hole 6 feet deep and 10 feet wide as he was walking in Kleinwood, a suburb northwest of downtown Houston.

"Everything beneath me crumbled," he told the website after the Monday afternoon incident. "I didn't know what to do." "I was trying to dig my way out of the hole, but the ground kept breaking back into me," added Long, who finally got out with a few scratches on his back and a sprained ankle. "It's funny now that I think about it ... but when it happened, it was actually scary." Why the 12-inch water line broke wasn't determined, but it's possible that recent rain after months of drought caused the ground to shift.

Time to walk on down the road…

A Gaga Thanksgiving, a Duck hunting town, and ‘Father Dollar Bill’ dies

Gaga and Tony Bennett perform a duet…now I’ve heard everything.

 Good Morning Humboldt County!

Good to see today. I’m glad you stopped by. There’s some virtual hot coffee available, so grab a cup and a comfortable seat. Here’s today’s offerings:

 

Celebrate Thanksgiving by watching Lady Gaga deep-fry waffles

ABC is celebrating Thanksgiving this year with "A Very Gaga Thanksgiving," a 90-minute prime-time special hosted by, naturally, Lady Gaga. The first promotions for the special, which was conceived and directed by Gaga herself, seem to preview an unexpected side of the well-known provocateur that her fans may have not previously seen. Rather than shocking outfits or elaborate stage performances (though those may be in store as well), ABC has announced that the special will feature Gaga performing a duet with 85-year-old jazz singer Tony Bennett, a tearful interview with Katie Couric and Gaga learning to make deep-fried turkey and waffles for her Thanksgiving guests with chef Art Smith.

Duck hunting is an obsession in U.S. town

Rocker Ted Nugent has hunted duck in the state of Arkansas. So have former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The small town of Stuttgart, population 9,745, is known as the duck capital of the world. For the next two months, thousands of hunters will contribute more than about $1 million a day to the local economy, according to the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce.

The town thrives on its duck hunting heritage. Businesses erect banners welcoming hunters. A local motel is named the Duck Inn and has the Duck Blind Lounge. The Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie hosts a permanent exhibit called the "Waterfowl Wing" that duplicates a duck hunt, and posh duck lodges sit on prime hunting land on the outskirts of Stuttgart.

Jordan Johnson, 33, started hunting at age 14. He said duck hunting is an experience accessible to anyone in Arkansas. "Duck hunting in Arkansas is more about sharing the outdoor experience with friends, family and business associates than hunting ducks," Johnson said. "There are just as many business and family decisions made in a duck blind as there are at any boardroom or golf course."

Rev. Maurice Chase, 'Father Dollar Bill,' dies at 92

Funeral services were pending Monday for the Rev. Maurice Chase, a Catholic priest known as "Father Dollar Bill" for his holiday giveaways of $1 bills to the homeless on Skid Row.
Chase, 92, died Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer, according to his nephew, Robert Boyd.
"He was a really great, colorful, wonderful man," he said.
Chase was a fixture on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles on holidays such as Easter and Thanksgiving. The homeless and poor would line up for blocks as Chase would hand out $1 bills -- or sometimes larger denominations to the particularly needy.
On Easter, Chase stood outside the Salvation Army shelter and handed out about $20,000, much of which was donated by celebrities including Bob Newhart and Dolores Hope. Last Thanksgiving, he handed out about $15,000.

Time to walk on down the road…

Soft Watch at the Moment of First Explosion, c.1954 by Salvador Dali

time is stranger than ever before

liquid seconds dripping on the floor

No one uses a clock anymore

wristwatches leave the skin sore

time running out on the poor

we’re all going out the same door

forever more

forever more

-Dave

 

Deadly dog treats, LA street slides into the Pacific, Nebraska sues over 420 vanity license plate

           Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffees on…c’mon in, grab a cup and a seat and let’s start this day with a few stories. The days are flying by, so it’s nice to start them off slowly with this quiet time. Enjoy: 

Chicken jerky treats linked to mystery illnesses, deaths in dogs

Chicken jerky treats may be to blame for dozens of new reports of mysterious illnesses and some deaths in dogs, prompting a renewed warning for pet owners by the Food and Drug Administration.

At least 70 dogs have been sickened so far this year after reportedly eating chicken jerky products imported from China, FDA officials said. That’s up from 54 reports of illness in 2010. Some of the dogs have died, according to the anecdotal reports from pet owners and veterinarians. The new warning follows previous FDA cautions about chicken jerky treats in 2007 and 2008. But after a high of 156 reports of illness in 2007, the number of complaints dropped. Now, it's rising again. Dog owners and vets are reporting that animals may be stricken with a range of illnesses within days or hours of eating chicken jerky, including kidney failure and Fanconi syndrome, a condition characterized by low glucose.

Chunk of LA street, cliff slide into Pacific

A large chunk of a Los Angeles street and the coastal bluff it sat on crumbled into the ocean amid heavy rains on Sunday.

A section of Paseo Del Mar in the San Pedro area that for months had been creeping toward the ocean collapsed as a storm struck Southern California, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.

The mayor said there were no injuries and no property was damaged. The scenic route had been long closed. It had been bisected by 25-foot-deep fissures in places and the city had erected a chain link fence and warning signs. The fissures first appeared last spring, and engineers had been monitoring potential landslide risk. The peninsula's scenic qualities prompted decades of homebuilding that some experts blame for further destabilizing the historically unstable ocean bluffs.

Nebraska refuses pot-promoting vanity plate, ACLU sues

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Nebraska's motor vehicle department for refusing to issue a personalized license plate that refers to an unofficial holiday known as National Pot Smoking Day.

An attorney who supports marijuana legalization had requested a plate reading "NE 420", letters and numerals that refer to Nebraska and April 20, the date of the unofficial holiday.Frank Shoemaker, the attorney from Holbrook, Nebraska, who requested the plate, is the sponsor of a petition drive for a state ballot measure next year to legalize marijuana.Beverly Neth, director of the DMV, refused to issue the plate and said the "420" numerals were used to promote marijuana use, an illegal drug in the state.

Officials aren’t so picky in Ohio (photo above)

She said the numbers were also a combination that could be associated with Adolf Hitler, who was born on April 20, 1889, and the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, which took place on April 20, 1999. Amy Miller, Nebraska ACLU legal director, said there was nothing obscene or offensive about Shoemaker's proposed plate. "It's purely political speech relating to a current ballot initiative." The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that license plates are a legitimate place for personal and political expression, said Tracy Hightower-Henne, an ACLU volunteer cooperating attorney in Omaha.

Time to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Federal study reveals ‘Fracking’ safety concerns

              
 By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

One of the biggest challenges in the 21st century is meeting our energy needs. 
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is a proven technology that has been around since the 1940s, but has recently come under close scrutiny for safety reasons.
A federal report released on Nov. 10, said the shale gas industry should take “urgent action to improve drilling practices” or regulators and the energy industry risk a public backlash that could slow development.
In a time when jobs are desperately needed, unlocking massive supplies of oil and clean-burning natural gas from dense deposits of shale is a financial boon. Fracking has been used in more than one million U.S. wells, and has produced more than seven billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. To learn more about the process go to: http://www.energyfromshale.org/shale-extraction-process.
 There’s no doubt that fracking has helped local economies and made a large contribution to our energy needs in America. Unfortunately, the process involved in fracking has produced toxic side effects. Rather than get into why these side effects weren’t discovered decades sooner, I will address the known facts that are available today.

 In June 2005, Susan Wallace-Babb walked outside her house and almost immediately passed out. She was unaware of a problem with a pair of fuel storage tanks at a natural gas well less than a half-mile away. One of them had overflowed into the other causing fumes to drift to her location.
As weeks passed, whenever she went outdoors, her symptoms worsened. Wallace-Babb's doctor began to suspect she had been poisoned. Neither states nor the federal government have systematically tracked reports from people like Wallace-Babb, or comprehensively investigated how drilling affects human health.
  ProPublica, a web magazine dedicated to “Journalism in the Public Interest,” recently examined government environmental reports and private lawsuits and interviewed scores of residents, physicians and toxicologists in four states—Colorado, Texas, Wyoming and Pennsylvania—that are drilling hot spots.
 Their research showed that cases like Wallace-Babb's go back a decade in parts of Colorado and Wyoming, where drilling has taken place for years. They are just beginning to emerge in Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus Shale drilling boom began in 2008.

 Concern about such health complaints go back to 2007 when Wallace-Babb testified before Congress.
A pair of environmental monitoring water wells drilled deep into an aquifer in Pavillion, Wyo., contain high levels of cancer-causing compounds and at least one chemical commonly used in hydraulic fracturing, according to new test results released on Nov. 9 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 
The Pavillion area has been drilled extensively for natural gas for 20 years and is home to hundreds of gas wells. For a decade, residents have claimed that hydraulic fracturing in particular - has caused their water to turn black and smell like gasoline. Some residents say they suffer neurological impairment, loss of smell, and nerve pain they associate with exposure to pollutants.
Meanwhile, the gas industry - led by the Canadian company EnCana, which owns the wells in Pavillion - has denied that its activities are responsible for the contamination. Despite their denial, EnCana has supplied drinking water to the residents. 
 The wells also contained benzene at 50 times the level that is considered safe for people, as well as phenols - another dangerous human carcinogen - acetone, toluene, naphthalene and traces of diesel fuel.
The EPA said the water samples were saturated with methane gas that matched the deep layers of natural gas being drilled for energy. The research in Wyoming is separate from the agency's ongoing national study of hydraulic fracturing's effect on water supplies, and is being funded through the Superfund cleanup program.

 Another troubling aspect of the fracking process is the compounds used; the industry has steadfastly refused to divulge everything they contain. That alone has rung alarm bells that are now heard nationally. Now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand and let partisan politics take over. No one wants a battle of energy corporations versus people’s health.
 Health and contamination problems from fracking have to be taken seriously and addressed sooner, rather than later. If the industry wants to show it can be a good neighbor, now is the time to cooperate with researchers and solve these issues to everyone‘s satisfaction.
 As It Stands, I’m hopeful the fracking process can be improved  for both the people living near the active wells, and for the sake of this country’s energy supply.