LAPD hopes mystery woman can lead to suspects who beat Giants fan at Dodger Stadium

As a longtime Dodger fan I was horrified when I heard about this vicious attack on San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow.

It’s a sign of the times. Public violence is so prevalent that there is no place families can go without fear of being attacked. Gangsters rule the inner cities and when they attend games they bring their love of violence with them.

If you’ve gone to any professional sports venues in recent years, you’ve probably noticed the difference in how rude people are acting. Parents almost have to bring ear muffs for their children to baseball games because of the profanities that fill the air. It’s sad.

Los Angeles police said Tuesday that a Latina in her 20s who wore a white Andre Ethier jersey on opening day at Dodger Stadium may know the two assailants responsible for the brutal attack on San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Bill Murphy said detectives have developed some strong leads,  but one of the best is that a woman drove the car that took the two suspects away on the night of the beating.

Police also announced Tuesday that the total reward had been increased from $150,000 to $200,000 for information leading to the capture of the two attackers, the San Francisco Examiner reported

Police Suspect Drawings and Description - The first attacker is described as a stocky male Latino with a shaved head, mustache and goatee and possibly neck tattoos. He is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall to 5 feet 10 inches and weighing about 170 pounds. He has a mole on his left cheek. The second suspect is a Latino or white male, 6 feet 1 inches with short hair and hazel eyes and possibly tattoos on his shoulder.

The bulletproof dog that stormed bin Laden's lair

If you see this dog coming for you, run. Thanks to his extensive training — and customized body armor that can cost upward of $30,000 — he's bulletproof, can hear through concrete and can record high-def video of missions, even in the dead of night.

Story Here

“How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a sunset.”– George McDonald

photo source

I honestly don’t think Americans want endless worldwide war–so why is Congress about to sanction it?

Did you hear about this? Literally in a midnight session last week, the House Armed Services Committee tucked a dangerous provision into the huge Defense authorization bill.

With it, Congress took one more step towards passing a law for endless worldwide war. The new law would use American military forces against terrorism suspects everywhere and anywhere.
If you didn't hear about this provision, you're not alone.

It was added to the bill by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), and it could become the single biggest ceding of unchecked war authority to the executive branch in modern American history.

 

Outrageously, there have been no hearings on this worldwide war legislation, nor has its necessity been explained by Rep. Buck McKeon or anyone else in Congress.
A House vote could come as early as next week. Unlike the legislation that authorized the Afghanistan War and the pursuit of Osama bin Laden, the proposed new and expanded law to go to war does not even require a specific threat of harm to the United States.

It's outrageous that, just as the majority of Americans eagerly await the ramping down of our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress is acting under the cover of darkness to pass a new law for a worldwide war.
Take action and contact your representative and make it clear that you won't stand still for Congress triggering a worldwide war without end.

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Attack on the Fourth Amendment :Supreme Court opens door to avoiding warrants in drug cases

The Fourth Amendment is seriously taking a beating, and the latest assault comes straight down from the US Supreme Court, who just ruled – eight to one! – that cops can bust down your door without a warrant if they smell marijuana.

Supreme Court sides with police who, lacking warrant, followed smell of pot into apartment

The only one of the group with any common sense was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who dissented. In her dissent, Ginsburg said her colleagues were giving police an easy way to routinely avoid getting warrants in drug cases.

“Police officers may now knock, listen, then break the door down, never mind that they had ample time to obtain a warrant,” she said.

Table talk on Tuesday–exploding watermelons and more

Good morning! Pull up a seat and have a cup of Java with me as I take a look at some of the news of the day:

How about exploding watermelons for a bizarre opener? Apparently the Chinese farmers used a growth hormone at the wrong time in the growth cycle and the result was…exploding watermelons! Actually that sounds like a good name for a rock group; The Exploding Watermelons. Think about it. They could play on the same billing as the Smashing Pumpkins!

It’s true confession time this morning for former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who admits to having fathered a child with a member of his household staff, a revelation that apparently prompted wife Maria Shriver to leave the couple's home before they announced their separation last week. So now you know the rest of the story why they are getting divorced.

After 45 years promoting treatment and a cure for children he calls "my kids," comedian Jerry Lewis announced Monday he is retiring as host of the Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon that has become synonymous with his name.

Lewis, 85, issued a statement through the association calling it "time for an all new Telethon era."

Lewis, a Las Vegas resident, has in recent years battled a debilitating back condition, heart issues and the crippling lung disease pulmonary fibrosis. He said he'll continue serving as national Muscular Dystrophy Association chairman, as he's done since the early 1950s.

 

In keeping with the bizarre this morning we have this story; Three get jail in president corpse snatch  A court in Cyprus jailed three men for up to 20 months Monday for snatching the remains of late Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos from his grave. Why did they do it? One of the defendants had asked his brother to dig up the remains, hoping he could negotiate his own release from prison where he is serving two life sentences for murder!

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by. Time for me to head on down the road…

Okay…I’m a vintage poster freak, especially work from the 60s & 70s

   

  

I’ve got a lot more of these great posters to share on another day. They’ve been sourced from numerous public domains. I just don’t want to overwhelm you with 50 in one setting. Know what I mean Jelly Bean?

Eight Secrets Which Writers Won’t Tell You…

DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A WRITER? It’s all about having a story to tell and the desire to share it using the written word. My advise; write for fun, but learn how to improve as you play. Don’t set out to make money, or you will fail!

Here’s eight things which all writers know – but which you might never hear them admit. Give it a glance and take advantage of those who went before you.

Write On!

Monday morning musings…

Monday mornings mean different things to different people. For some it means the start of a new work week. For others it’s just another day. Wait a minute….while I take a sip of nice hot coffee, and try to figure out where I’m going with this:

Now this is what I’m talking about…

Monday Monday, so good to me,

Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be.

Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn’t guarantee

That Monday evening you would still be here with me.

Looks like this fad has already faded in the states but the Half-Aladdin, all-Vegas pointy boots are still creating a craze in Mexico No one knows the guy who started it, he’s still a mystery, but his legacy continues to go on. He’s simply known as "Cesar of Huizache"

And I thought Porte Ricans pointy shoes in the 1960s were radical!

Here’s a story with global repercussions:

IMF chief Strauss-Kahn in court to answer sex-attack charges

New York City hotel maid alleges violent assault; French politician "denies any wrongdoing," lawyer says.

IMF chief's arrest may speed up succession battle Possible leadership vacuum at lender as it tries to repair euro zone's debt woes. The shock arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund may force the world's power brokers into a frantic search to find his replacement.

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Emotions run high as most heed evacuation orders in Cajun country:  Flood anger: 'Saving the rich and burying the poor?'

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

This had to be a tough call. I feel for those whose homes are going to be flooded.

A hand-painted sign in front a deserted Butte LaRose home said it all: "My slice of heaven force-flooded straight to hell. God help us all."

In Stephensville, a small town near Morgan City, Ronnie Wiggins and his neighbors furiously filled sandbags to protect their houses.

Wiggins had few kind words to say about the spillway's opening.

"It's all about saving Baton Rouge and New Orleans while they flood people down here," Wiggins said, pointing out that most people in his neighborhood did not carry flood insurance.

"So I guess it's all about saving the rich and burying the poor?" he asked.

That’s about all for this morning folks. Time for me to head on down the road….

‘Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?’ – Rose Kennedy

photo by tomsumartin VIA Stumble

As It Stands: OK ... so what's in a nickname, anyway?

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 05/15/2011 02:40:24 AM PDT

Do you have a nickname?

When I was in elementary school back in the stone age when we used stone tablets instead of texting, there was one kid who literally stood out from the rest of us. He was at least a head taller than any other kid in school. He was as tall as the teachers. Everyone but the teachers called him “Bean Pole.”

We always asked him what the weather was like “up there,” chuckling all the while at our cleverness. I can't recall his real name. He was a mild-mannered individual who took the daily razzing, and his nickname, in easy stride.

Bean Pole's story illustrates one way we get a nickname: someone gives us one based upon our physical characteristics. How many 300- pound “Tinys” have you known? Sometimes it's desirable to have a nickname. It can symbolize acceptance, affection, and a form of endearment.

Nicknames have a long history in Indian society where most people have a nickname (call name or affection name) that's not related to their proper name. One of my favorite is “Bablu.” I just like saying it. “Bablu ... Bablu,” it flows like poetry.

And how about those Aussies? From poetic to ironic, they're known for nicknames like “Bluey” for a person with red hair.

Usually, someone else gives us our nickname. During the Vietnam war, American soldiers and Marines used nicknames a lot. The most common came from your home state. For example, if you were from Texas, you were called “Tex.” And a lot of other things, but I won't go there.

The guys in my squad had some interesting nicknames. There was “Swamp Rat” from Louisiana; “Crow” (a non-Native American skinny little white guy who was older than the rest of us) from Missouri; and “King” who had a hard-to-pronounce last name and was a Native American (Comanche) with a regal bearing. You didn't want to call him “Chief” however.

They just called me “Stan.” Part of my last name. That was a common practice. We called our company clerk, “Klod,” because his last name was a tongue-twister (German I believe) and too difficult for dumb grunts like us to pronounce.

Sometimes nicknames come from ethnic backgrounds. When I worked at Ford Motor company as an automation tender/welder in 1972, I noticed we had a lot of foreign-sounding (translation: Eastern European) names on the timecards when I punched in and out.

I often called for one electrician, whose nickname was “Ski,” to come see what was wrong on our production line when something wasn't working properly. Or, if the line went down for unknown reasons.

If I'd had to say his full last name every time we needed help, we wouldn't have made our production quotas! “Ski” was neatly stitched on his white uniform pocket just above his real name, signaling he was okay with the nickname. He pronounced his full last name for me once and I asked him if anyone ever got it right? “My wife,” he replied happily.

Right about now you're probably asking, “Dave, what is the origin of the term “nickname”? Where does it come from?”

In a nutshell, after extensive hours of research and repeated caffeine binges, I discovered the compound word for nickname is ekename, literally meaning “additional name,” and first mentioned in European manuscripts in 1303.

It came from an old English phrase eaca (increase) and by the fifteenth century, the syllables of the phrase became “an ekename” which led to “nekename.” A spelling transformation over the ensuing years eventually gave us “nickname.”

Of course it's more complicated than that, but you get the idea. I was going to share my wife's and my endearing nicknames for each other, but when I mentioned that to her the room suddenly got cold!

As It Stands, did you know that John Wayne's nickname “The Duke” came from a dog his family owned that used to follow him about?