Bobonit News Blog - Bob's news blog

San Francisco Holds Gay Pride Parade

2009-06-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

It sucked....

TV Pitchman Billy Mays found dead

2009-06-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

"My dad didn't wake up this morning," - Bill Mays' son, Twitter account

TAMPA, Florida (BOB NEWS) -- Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets -- was found dead inside his Tampa, Florida residence on Sunday morning, police officials told BOB News. He was 50-years-old.

Mays was found unresponsive in his bed by his wife and was pronounced dead by Tampa Fire and Rescue at 7.45 a.m. local time. "There are no signs of forced entry to the residence and no foul play is suspected," Lt. Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police Department said. The Medical Examiner's Office is expected to complete the autopsy on Mays' body by Monday afternoon.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Billy Mays' wife, Deborah, said. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times," she added.

"My dad didn't wake up this morning," Bill Mays' son wrote on his personal Twitter account. "He's gone. I'm gonna be strong for him. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers everyone."

On Saturday, Mays was on board the U.S. Airways passenger plane which made a hard landing at Tampa International Airport. No one was injured in the accident, according to airport officials. Lt. Brian Dugan called it "pure speculation" to say if his death was related to the plane incident.

"Just had a close call landing in Tampa," he wrote in his last Twitter update. There is no word on the possible cause of death.

Billy Mays last Twitter: "Just had a close call landing in Tampa. The tires blew out upon landing. Stuck in the plane on the runway. You can always count on US Air." - Link

LIFE magazine journalist missing in Tehran

2009-06-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Courage on Tehran's Streets; A Photographer Is Missing

The Iranian photojournalist, whose pictures appear here, is missing. He has not been in contact with LIFE magazine; this morning LIFE magazine received the following email from one of his relatives.

THE EMAIL: Hi im [photographer’s relative], when he go out side yester day for he never came back home and also his friend and a lot of our young brave people, government arrested them [. . .] don’t let them suffer in those bloody hands. With thanks.

We will update this space when we have more details.

Pictured: Defiance in the streets the day after the disputed results of the June 12, 2009, election.

Great pictures From Tehran's Streets at: LIFE magazine - Link
Hope and Rage As protests and counter-protests unlike anything seen in Iran since the 1979 Revolution roil the country and captivate the world, LIFE presents photographs taken by an Iranian who is there, in the midst of the action.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Tehran-based photojournalist who made this pictures is now missing.
New details at LIFE magazine: - Link.
All Photos: LIFE magazine - An Iranian Photojournalist -Link

Teen completes Ted Bundy 101 - Animal Torture

2009-06-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

Teen Arrested in String of Gruesome Cat Mutilations

Tyler Weinman - Punk- Future Ted Bundy

MIAMI -- A teenager was arrested early Sunday and accused of committing a string of gruesome cat mutilation deaths that had horrified residents of his Miami area community, authorities said.

For the past month, shocked pet owners in the Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay neighborhoods have reported finding more than two dozen cats killed and mutilated. Some of the dead cats were missing fur and appeared to have been cut with a sharp, straight instrument, police said.

Tyler Weinman, 18, was taken into custody early Sunday at a party, police said. Weinman was charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary.

Police put the home of one of Weinman's parents under surveillance several weeks ago after receiving tips from community members, said Miami-Dade Police Department Maj. Julie Miller.

"This terrible time has drawn us together as a community, further emphasizing the importance of knowing our neighbors, communicating with each other, and always staying vigilant to suspicious activities whenever or wherever they may occur in our village," said Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn.

Weinman was being questioned by police Sunday. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney. Messages left at phone numbers for his parents were not immediately returned.

In all, the deaths of more than 30 cats were under investigation, but Miller said some of those cats were likely killed by dogs. She said additional arrests might be forthcoming, but she declined to name other suspects.

"I sincerely hope that with his arrest, the residents will feel relieved and their cats will be safe once again," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "It is expected that the vicious crimes that have plagued these communities will not be repeated."

Source: Teen Arrested in String of Gruesome Cat Mutiliations - KTLA - Link

Editor: Someone should stick a M-80 up his ass, lite the fuse and toss him down a manhole.

RE: Kook with the Nuke - Let our people go!

2009-06-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

Breaking News: Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee sentenced to 12 years in labor camp

Current TV journalists and California native Laura Ling and Euna Lee sentenced to 12 years in labor camp by Communist North Korean government.
Laura Ling & Euna Lee were convicted & sentenced after Central Court confirmed unspecified grave crime against the nation.
Maybe it is time to drop a MOAB on "Dearest Bonehead"
Previous Related Posts:
"Dearest Bonehead" Please let our people go!
North Korea: California Journalists go on trial

"Dearest Bonehead" Please let our people go!

2009-06-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Concern Mounts For Bay Area Jailed Journalists

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea's top court began hearing the case Thursday of two American journalists accused of crossing into the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts" --
Charges that could draw a 10-year sentence in a labor camp. Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's California-based Current TV, were arrested March 17 near the North Korean border while on a reporting trip to China.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch earlier Thursday that the trial would begin at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT; 2 a.m. EDT) in Pyongyang's Central Court. Hours later, there was no word on the status of the proceedings.
The trial began at a time of mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula following the regime's provocative May 25 nuclear test. With discussions continuing at the United Nations and in Washington on how to punish the regime for its defiance, there were fears the women could become political pawns in the standoff with Pyongyang.
Analyst Choi Eun-suk, a professor of North Korean law at Kyungnam University, said the court could convict the women and then the government could use them as bargaining chips in negotiations with the U.S. "The North is likely to release and deport them to the U.S. -- if negotiations with the U.S. go well," Choi said.
North Korea and the U.S., former Korean War foes, do not have diplomatic relations, and analysts called Pyongyang's recent belligerence a bid to grab President Barack Obama's attention.
Pyongyang "believes the Obama administration has not made North Korea a priority," said David Straub of Stanford University's Korean studies program.
Back home, the reporters' families pleaded for clemency. "All we can do is hope the North Korean government will show leniency," Ling's sister, TV journalist Lisa Ling, said in an emotional plea at a California vigil Wednesday night. "If at any point they committed a transgression, then our families are deeply, deeply sorry. We know the girls are sorry as well."
She urged Washington and Pyongyang not to let politics dictate the reporters' fate. "Tensions are so heated, and the girls are essentially in the midst of this nuclear standoff," she said on CNN's "Larry King Live." She urged the governments to "try to communicate, to try and bring our situation to a resolution on humanitarian grounds -- to separate the issues." State-run media have not defined the exact charges against them, but South Korean legal experts said conviction for "hostility" or espionage could mean five to 10 years in a labor camp.
Choi said a ruling by the top court would be final. The circumstances of their arrest were hazy. The Current TV team had gone to the Chinese border city of Yanji to report on the trafficking of North Korean women, Lisa Ling said. "Too many sad stories," her younger sister posted to Twitter days before her arrest.
They were seized somewhere near the frozen Tumen River dividing North Korea and China while a cameraman and their guide managed to evade the North Korean guards. For weeks, there was little word about their condition in separate quarters in one of the world's most isolated nations.
Sweden's ambassador to North Korea has visited the women and brought back a letter from Laura Ling saying she "cried so much" at first but was passing the time doing daily stretches and meditating.
Lisa Ling said she got a surprise phone call last Tuesday from her "extremely scared" younger sister, asking for help. "My sister said that the only hope that she and Euna had to get released was if our government and North Korea's communicated directly," Lisa Ling said. "'I know that you've been trying to get other countries involved,' she said, 'but our only hope is if our countries talk."' The State Department has not divulged details about the sensitive negotiations for their freedom. "We continue to consult with the families. And there is no higher priority that we have than protection of American civilians abroad," spokesman P.J. Crowley said Wednesday in Washington. "And we, again, hope that North Korea will forgo this legal process and return them to the United States."
Twice in the 1990s, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, then a congressman, was sent as a special envoy to negotiate the release of Americans detained by North Korea. In New York, dozens turned out in a drenching rain for a vigil led by Ling's cousin Angie Wang. Some held yellow chrysanthemums. "Nobody should be holding people for purely political gamesmanship purposes," said J.B. Miller, 44.
Media groups also pressed for their release. "We urge that their fate not be linked to the ongoing security situation on the Korean peninsula," Bob Dietz of the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement. "Euna Lee and Laura Ling were acting as journalists, not criminals, and should be released."
Roxana Saberi, an American journalist who spent four months in an Iranian prison before being freed May 11 on a suspended sentence for spying, urged the women to "remain strong." "If Laura and Euna's situation resembles anything like mine, I can imagine a little of what they might be wishing for: The presumption of innocence until proven guilty. A fair trial, with access to attorneys of their choice and the right to study what is claimed as evidence against them.
More contact with their families, whom they probably worry are worrying about themselves!"
Source: KTVU - Link
Previous related posts: President Obama gets tough with "Dearest Bonehead" in North Korea, Current TV reporters held in North Korea - Euna Lee and Laura Ling

Scary but True: LA Cops intimidate the press

2009-05-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

LA cops want journalists fired

The Los Angeles Times is reporting an extraordinary story in which the union representing LA police officers is pressuring the owner of San Diego's biggest newspaper to change the paper's editorial line or to fire the journalists responsible for its opinion pages.
The San Diego Union-Tribune has been running some editorial comments calling for cut backs in public spending which has angered the police officers union. The paper is owned by Platinum Equity, a private firm which relies on a $30-million investment from the pension fund of Los Angeles police officers and firefighters, and other public-employee pension schemes.
Los Angeles Police Protective League President Paul M. Weber has written to the boss of Platinum claiming: "Since the very public employees they continually criticize are now their owners, we strongly believe that those who currently run the editorial pages should be replaced."

India: Missle test a ‘war-like scenario’

2009-05-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: For the first time, the Strategic Forces Team of the Indian Army has carried out a training trial of the nuclear capable Agni-II missile, which has a range of over 2,000 km.

The Defence Ministry announced that the trial at Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast was carried out by the Strategic Forces team, which is responsible for handling India's nuclear arsenal. Incidentally, the announcement is a departure from the norms of the government, which has not been very public about the test firing of nuclear-capable missiles by the Strategic Forces.

Sources said that the trial was a success and the missile was fired with “clockwork precision” from a rail-based mobile launcher. The event was also witnessed by senior officers of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

While Agni-II was first tested in 1999 and was then inducted into the Armed Forces in 2002, this is the first time that it has been fired independently by the Strategic Forces.

What this means is that the Strategic Forces validated their standard operating procedures and drills on the nuclear-capable missile and fully operationalised and tested it in a ‘war-like scenario’. The missile can be launched from a train-based or road-based launcher, giving it immense mobility and flexibility in deployment.

Source: indianexpress.com - Link

India ballistic missile Info From Wikipedia: It has been reported that the missile's Circular Error Probable (CEP) lies in the range of 40 meters, which, if confirmed, would make the Agni-III one of ^[5]the most accurate strategic ballistic missile of its range class in the world.^[6]

This is of special significance because a highly accurate ballistic missile increases the "kill efficiency" of the weapon; it allows Indian weapons designers to use smaller yield nuclear warheads (200 Kiloton thermonuclear or boosted fission) while increase the lethality of the strike.

This permits India to deploy a much larger nuclear force using less fissile/fusion material (Plutonium/Lithium Deuteride) than other Asian nuclear powers.

Older, less accurate ballistic missiles, such as those deployed by earlier nuclear powers require larger yield (1-2 Megaton) warheads to achieve the same level of lethality. It has also been reported that with smaller payloads, the Agni-II can hit strategic targets well beyond 3500 km.

Source: wikipedia.org - Link

Pakistan: New plutonium nuclear weapons, increasing their destructive power

2009-05-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

Washington: Pakistan is multiplying its nuclear arsenal much beyond its present stable of 60 to 100 weapons and increasing their destructive power and delivery system, according to latest satellite photos released on Wednesday.

Pakistan is expanding its plutonium producing production capacity to build smaller, lighter plutonium-fission weapons and deliverable thermo-nuclear weapons.

The new lighter nuclear weapons would use plutonium as a nuclear trigger and enriched uranium in the secondary, a report by US arms control institute said.

Satellite images have revealed that Pakistan now has the fastest nuclear weapons program and it has considerably expanded two sites producing fissile material for nuclear weapons, the report by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said.

The new plutonium producing sites are located near Rawalpindi and could be engaged in activities to build two new plutonium production reactors. Islamabad so far has only uranium-based nuclear weapons.

Source: indianexpress.com - Link

President Obama gets tough with "Dearest Bonehead" in North Korea

2009-05-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Nuke talks hang on journalists' freedom

SEOUL, May 17 (UPI) -- North Korea must release two journalists before a U.S. envoy visits Pyongyang to revive stalled talks on nuclear disarmament, a diplomat said Sunday.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee are charged with illegally entering North Korea through China in March.

Why No FOX(faux) News coverage?: The two journalists work for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV.

U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth is concerned North Korea will use the journalists as a bargaining chip if he tries to restart nuclear talks before they are freed, an unidentified South Korean diplomat told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

North Korea has refused to restart the six-party talks because of what it called the "unfair" condemnation by the U.N. Security Council of its rocket rocket launch in April. North Korea has expelled international observers and threatened to conduct another nuclear test. The U.N. Security Council sanctioned North Korea in 2006 for a nuclear test.

Source: upi.com - Link

Flying Chihuahua found in Michigan

2009-04-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Tinker Bell has been reunited with her owners after a 70-mph gust of wind picked up the six-pound Chihuahua and tossed her out of sight.

Dorothy and Lavern Utley credit a pet psychic for guiding them on Monday to a wooded area nearly a mile from where 8-month-old Tinker Bell had been last seen.

The brown long-haired dog was dirty and hungry but otherwise OK. The Utleys, of Rochester, had set up an outdoor display Saturday at a flea market in Waterford Township, 25 miles northwest of Detroit.

Tinker Bell was standing on their platform trailer when she was swept away.Dorothy Utley tells The Detroit News that her cherished pet "just went wild" upon seeing her.
Source: Link

Bonehead news: Cop holds child at gunpoint for unloaded rifle

2009-04-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

Editor: Bonehead Deputies - Is it Illegal to walk while holding a rifle? I Grew up walking rifles up to the hills to go plinking in Fremont. Never got bugged by the local cops, San Diego county Sheriff Deputies should of questioned and released this kid.
This kid has a lawsuit for false arrest, watch Deputies scramble to trump up charges...

SAN DIEGO -- Deputies arrested a 14-year-old boy for allegedly carrying an unloaded rifle through a North County neighborhood Monday, a sheriff's official reported.

A passer-by reported seeing the armed youth on Olive Avenue in Vista shortly after 10 a.m., Lt. Mike Munsey said.

Deputies caught up with the teen near Washington Middle School and ordered him to drop the .22-caliber gun. He complied and was taken into custody and transported to juvenile hall, the lieutenant said.

There was no evidence that the boy had threatened anyone, according to Munsey.
Source: 10News - Link

Faux News: Sold out to Monsanto for advert dollars

2009-04-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

Fox News - Faux News - MUST BE SEEN FOR WHAT IT IS! NOW!! Wake up for god's sake America!

The FDA Should Ban Bovine Growth Hormone

Monsanto went to great lengths to get the FDA to approve Bovine Growth Hormone. This included legal pressure applied to Fox News to keep the American public in the dark about the potential health risk to humans who consume dairy products tainted with rBST. As you'll learn in the video, Canada said no to Monsanto and rBST.

Two former Fox investigative reporters attempted to honestly cover the story. Fox killed the story and fired their own reporters.

Source: OpEdNews - Link

Most Wanted: Punk Alert for Puppy Shooters

2009-04-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Marcus Luttrell is a former US Navy SEAL, an American hero and the only survivor of the deadliest battle the SEALs have ever faced. His was also the owner of a well loved yellow lab named Daisy until some punks were out joyriding and getting their thrills by killing.

We know that no dog is ever “just a dog” but even as dogs go, Daisy was special. She was a therapy dog that was a gift to Luttrell as he lay in his hospital bed recovered from horrific wound sustained in battle in Afghanistan. Her name was a acronym that stood for the names of four of the men in his unit.

On the night in question Marcus Luttrell heard gunshots and after checking on his mother, grabbed his gun and took off out of his Texas home. He tracked the commotion to a roadside ditch where he saw what was going on; four young punks laughing over the brutally shot and killed body of his dog, Daisy. The punks had taken Daisy, who was a friendly dog, from her home, dragged her to the road and shot her with a .357.

You can imagine the pain, grief and anger he must have felt watching these punks laughing over Daisy’s body; Daisy, his best friend, the dog he thought of as his “daughter,” his connection to his fallen comrades and friends.

The punks: Iidentified as Michael Edmonds, who is on the run and Alfonso Hernandez, who has been arrested and charged, started running then. Luttrell got in his truck and chased them across four counties, keeping in touch with authorities who whole time. There was numerous times that Luttrell could have shot them and didn’t, although you will see in the interview below, he wanted to.

In Huntsville, TX, a roadblock was set and the four punks were apprehended, stil laughing and they actually threatened Luttrell’s life.

Unfortunately only 2 of the 4 were charged, the remaining tow were seen as “bystanders” even though they stood by laughing.

Punk Asshole on the run: Alfonso Hernandez was charged with animal cruelty and if convicted faces up to two years in prison but Michael Edmonds is on the run and authorities want him caught and dropping the soap soon!.

If you have any information about his whereabouts, please call the Texas Rangers in Huntsville, Texas at: (936) 435-0152 and ask for Sgt. Steven Jeter.

Source: Article - fortheloveofthedogblog.com - Link

Missing Child: Tracy, Ca - Missing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu

2009-03-31T05:48:00.000-07:00

Reward for information has grown to $7,000.
Investigators are tracking down more than 150 tips that have come in from the public.

Police say there is no evidence Sandra was abducted or the victim of foul play.

She was last seen on surveillance video Friday afternoon in the mobile home park where her family lives.

Information about the case should be directed to the Tracy Police Department at 831-6847. Tips may be called in to 831-4550 or to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

Man who kissed missing girl questioned - Tracy Press - Link
FBI Joins Search for Missing 8-Year-Old California Girl - Fox News - Link
Hundreds crowd multipurpose room - Tracy Press - Link
CERT - Trained volunteers spring into action - Tracy Press - Link
6 Homes searched - Two men questioned, now termed "persons of interest," in missing girl case. - AP - Link

Northern Ireland: Street Justice delivered to schoolgirl rapist

2009-03-31T04:08:00.000-07:00

Schoolgirl rapist shot in attack

The attack happened in the Rosemount Gardens area of Derry

The man shot in both legs in a paramilitary-style attack in Londonderry was awaiting sentencing for raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Keith Burnside, 37, from Rosemount Gardens was convicted in March of raping a girl in his car at Sandbank Cottages in 2000.

Two masked men entered his home in Rosemount Gardens at about 2315 BST on Monday and fired a number of shots.

He suffered injuries to both legs, and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Community worker Tommy McCourt said such incidents made people fearful of a return to violence. "It takes you back to the bad old days," he said.

"We believed that those days had passed and nobody wants to see this kind of thing happening again."

SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey also condemned the attack. "The people who carried out this shooting have no support from the local community and no place in a civilised society," he said.

The police said that those responsible were of slim build and wore tracksuits, baseball caps, and scarves over their faces.

The first man was 5ft 10ins and the second 6ft 2ins.

They want anyone who was in the area at the time and may have seen the men to contact them.

Source: BBC - Northern Ireland - Link

Internet censeorship: ACMA BLACKLIST - list of banned sites

2009-03-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

Internet censorship blacklist reveled: ACMA BLACKLIST -Leaked Australian blacklist reveals banned sites

Australian secret blacklist surfaced detailing 2,395 webpages the Australian government is planning to filter from the internet. While about half of them dealt with illegal pornography, the remainder did not. Some of the sites were about gambling, dentists and even dog kennels and even suicide and euthanasia videos on youtube.com.

Update 3-23-09: Wikileaks Bandwidth help - Wikileaks donation - Wikileaks is currently overloaded by readers. This is a regular difficulty that can only be resolved by deploying additional resources. If you support Wikileaks mission, then show it in the way that is most needed. On average, each donation catalyzes the publication of around 150 mainstream press articles, exposing human rights abuses and corrupt government around the world. These exposures result in substantial reforms and have changed national election outcomes.

The secret Australian government document described here:

Was first publicly revealed by a Wikileaks source.
At that time was classified, confidential, censored or otherwise withheld from the public.
Is of political, diplomatic, ethical or historical significance.
Any questions about this document's veracity are noted.
The summary is approved by the editorial board.

This is the complete list of banned sites as released by Wikileaks.org
List resides at: http://file.sunshinepress.org:54445/acma-secret-blacklist-11-mar-2009.txt

The "List" of URL's was voluntarily removed by this blogger due to content harmful to the user's computer - Malware residing at some of the sites, extreme length of list screwed with bobonit blog and because the point was made. - 1100hrs Sunday March 29th 2009

Bobonit News Blog - Bob's news blog

Scumbag rapist throws hissy fit in courtroom

2009-03-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

James Biela Denied New Attorney; Storms Out of Courtroom

RENO - The man accused of raping and killing 19-year-old Brianna Denison stormed out of a courtroom Thursday after a judge denied his request for new lawyers.

27-year-old James Biela asked Judge Robert Perry for new public defense, saying he's "unhappy" with the attorneys assigned to him.

Judge Perry denied the request, saying that James Biela is not entitled to just pick and choose who defends him.

Biela entered the courtroom, looking much thinner after spending the past three months in jail. The accused killer and rapist was forced to sit down right next to the two attorneys he's asking to have replaced.

Currently, Biela is being represented by Richard Davies and Jay Slocum, both assigned to him through the Washoe County Public Defender's office.

Perry says Biela wrote him two letters in early March, both of them describing conflicts between himself and his two attorneys. However, lead defense counsel, Richard Davies says he's met with his client on numerous occasions and is preparing himself to defend Biela during the trial scheduled for February of 2010.

After Perry's ruling, Biela left the courtroom muttering under his breath and even slamming his handcuffs against his body, visibly angry about the judge's decision.

Perry defended his choice, saying under case law, a defendant must stay with the lawyer appointed to him, unless there are irreconcilable differences and conflicts that would not give the defendant fair representation. Perry says he feels Biela's attorneys are doing a "good job" defending him.

Perry did say that it is James Biela's right to make another request for a different attorney at any point in the future, but that if he did so, it could mean a delay in the upcoming trial.

Biela will be back in court on April 17th.

Source: KOLOtv.com - Link

Morro Bay City Council against fire-service contract with CAL FIRE

2009-03-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

Morro Bay bypasses fire-service contract with state, seeks other ways to improve services,

Firefighters Union requested that the city consider contracting with County/Cal Fire in 2007

Morro Bay leaders have decided against contracting the city’s fire services with the state, instead vowing to come up with other ways to boost staffing and service levels in the coastal community.

The move was more than a year in the making. It comes as officials look for ways to cut costs while increasing fire protection in parts of the city.

The Morro Bay Firefighters Association requested in 2007 that the city explore the possibility of contracting fire services with County/Cal Fire.

Chief among the union’s concerns about the plan was historically short staffing levels, the department being very busy with simultaneous fire and increased medical calls, and improving response times to north Morro Bay.

Mayor Janice Peters said the council decided not to pursue a contract mainly because of the state’s budget crisis.

“It was very hard to make an accurate comparison of the numbers because of the different salary levels and because of the huge question mark as to where the state is going to go with all the budget difficulties,” Peters said.

Other concerns stemmed from the inability to have control over service cuts, should they be made by the state.

Peters said the city could revisit the idea in the future.

Most of the union’s nine firefighters said they were disappointed the city chose not to pursue an agreement with the state.

Ariane Leiter, president of the Morro Bay Firefighters Association, said union members will continue to plan the department’s long term goals.

However, city staff and leaders will need to address the most crucial issues such as reducing response time and increasing staffing levels, she said.

Leiter said she also hopes firefighters who were opposed to a contract will offer their ideas.

Initial estimates provided to the city showed that a contract for four firefighters would have saved the city about $53,000 annually and up to $1.2 million by 2017, based on figures provided by County/Cal Fire last year.

But those estimates were based on a hypothetical staffing situation without any information about the salaries or benefits for Morro Bay firefighters.

Councilmembers Carla Borchard — who served as a Morro Bay reserve firefighter for 10 years — and Betty Winholtz voted against the city not pursuing a contract.

“I was a little frustrated and am frustrated because I’m concerned with the lack of financial resources and how we’re going to afford the (union) contracts we have,” Borchard said, referring to salary increases promised in the union’s most recent labor contract.

To address staffing issues while considering costs, the council has asked Fire Chief Mike Pond to explore a variety of potential staffing options for the city.

Chief among the options he’ll explore are possibly using Cal Fire to a lesser extent and providing additional staffing using part-time reserve firefighters.

The city could look into taxing property owners as a way to raise money to help fire services.

A parcel tax — which can be approved with a two-thirds majority vote — would be levied regardless of the value of a property, according to Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a Sacramento-based tax watchdog group.

City leaders would have to specify what the money would be used for, Vosburgh said.

Parcel taxes are often used to provide additional funding for school programs such as class size reduction and libraries.

The council also voted to form an ad hoc committee to continue exploring ways to address fire service needs in the area.

Info source: www.sanluisobispo.com - Link
Photo Source: http://morrobayphotos.com - Link
Final article: http://calfire.blogspot.com - Link

Current TV reporters held in North Korea - Euna Lee and Laura Ling

2009-03-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

North Korea Detains 2 U.S. Reporters
2009-03-19 19:47:22

Update: South Korean television channel YTV said North Korean border guards actually crossed into Chinese territory to arrest the two Korean-American employees of a California-based online news company, Current TV. The women, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were reportedly filming across the Tumen river and ignored warnings to stop. Foreign media need special visas to enter North Korea. Source: www.wowowow.com - Link

The Yonhap news agency in South Korea says the U.S. seems to be trying to bring the reporters home, but staying quiet about the negotiations due to concerns over the reporters’ safety. "A U.S. government official may visit North Korea to bring them back," one source said.
Update: China Investigating Detention of US Journalists
2009-03-19 18:07:55

China says it is currently investigating North Korea's reported detention of two female American journalists near its northern border with China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said during a briefing on Thursday that the government has confirmed the reporters' dention and is currently carrying out an investigation.

The New York Times identified the American journalists as Laura Ling, a Chinese American, and Euna Lee, a Korean American.

A senior government official in Seoul said that the two reporters were detained Tuesday along the Yalu River while shooting footage of the North. They were detained after they refused to stop filming.
Source: KBS world - Link
-----------------------

Two U.S. reporters have been detained by North Korea along its border with China.

A South Korean source says the two female reporters along with an ethnic Korean guide were apprehended in Tumen, a Chinese city on the border with North Korea on Tuesday.

The two were identified as Euna Lee, an ethnic Korean, and Laura Ling, an ethnic Chinese, who both work for Current TV, a San Francisco-based cable TV channel. The guide was identified only by his initial A.

They were covering North Korean women who fled to northeastern China for a documentary.

The Chosun Ilbo in Seoul said they left Seoul for Yanji last Friday and were scheduled to leave for Dandong by Tuesday morning after completing their schedule in Yanji and Tumen.

An acquaintance of the Chinese guide told the paper that the guide had not been heard from since going out to the Tumen River at around 3 pm Tuesday.

The South Korean source said the group seemed to have crossed the border into North Korea by accident while shooting video footage of the country.

Meanwhile, the United States requested North Korea to return the reporters through the North's mission to the United Nations in New York, but the North has yet to reply.

A Korean American named Evan Hunziker was detained by the North in 1996 after swimming across the Yalu River from China into the communist nation. He was charged with spying for South Korea, but released after three months.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who at the time was a House Representative, was dispatched to Pyongyang as then-President Bill Clinton's special envoy to negotiate Hunziker's release.

Source: kbs - Link

China Phillipines possibly going to War!

2009-03-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Foreign Ministry denied Wednesday that it was considering evacuating overseas Chinese from the Philippines, saying these reports were "fabricated and groundless."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remark in a press release, after being asked to confirm reports that the government was working on a plan to evacuate overseas Chinese from the Philippines.

The reports said that the evacuations were being considered in light of an action by the Philippine government, which defined the Philippines' territorial waters as including the Huangyan Island and some Nansha islands.

House vote today: 90 percent tax on bonuses

2009-03-19T04:49:00.000-07:00

The House is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would levy a 90 percent tax on bonuses paid to employees with family incomes above $250,000 at companies that have received at least $5 billion in government bailout money.

President Barack Obama, who took office just under two months ago, told reporters Wednesday that his administration was not responsible for a lack of federal supervision of AIG that preceded the company's demise.

But Obama added, "The buck stops with me."

"We figured that the local and state governments would take care of the other 10 percent," said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

Rangel said the bill would apply to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, among others, while excluding community banks and other smaller companies that have received less bailout money.

Lawmakers rushed to the microphones after word of the bonuses was leaked out by the government over the weekend. Bills were quickly drawn up in both the House and Senate to impose heavy new taxes on them.

The top two members of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday announced a bill that would impose a 35 percent excise tax on the companies paying the bonuses and a 35 percent excise tax on the employees receiving them. The taxes would apply to all companies receiving government bailout money, but they are clearly geared toward AIG.

San Francisco Police Officers Association told to shut-up

2009-03-19T04:29:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Police Officers Association's leadership has been told to muzzle it after signing a letter accusing onetime Weather Underground radical Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, of being behind the nearly 40-year-old bombing at a San Francisco police station that killed a sergeant.

Shutup already: We hear that both U.S. Justice Department reps and Police Chief Heather Fong put in calls to the union to find out just what they were doing talking out of school about an active investigation that may be ready to make a move soon in the 1970 bombing at Park Station.

The word was, button your lips.

Loose lips sink ships: Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes confirmed that his union got a call from federal investigators telling them they had an "active investigation and should not be commenting on the case."

Still unable to shut up: Delagnes said the letter was meant only to show support for the family of the slain officer, Sgt. Brian McDonnell, and to help them "bring closure to the case."

Fact: No one has ever been charged in the bombing, and Ayers said last week he had nothing to do with it.

Info Source: www.sfgate.com - Link

Possibly related article: Diana Block: Activist's memoir of life underground

The activist celebrates the release of "Arm the Spirit: A Woman's Journey Underground and Back" with a reading and discussion about the book on Sunday at the Women's Building and next Thursday at City Lights, both in San Francisco.

Block spent more than a decade as part of a radical underground group, then running from the FBI.

In the '70s, Block, who was in her 20s and living in the Bay Area, became a radical feminist organizer and supporter of the Puerto Rican independence movement. In 1981, she and five others moved to Los Angeles and formed a clandestine group. Four years later, they discovered they were being watched by the FBI and fled.

Block and her partner, Claude Marks, toting their newborn son, lived in motels at times, with their son sleeping in dresser drawers. They spent nearly a decade working regular jobs and making friends with neighbors under new identities. But eventually the group's urge to do public activist work took over - plus, Marks and Block realized that living a double life meant keeping their true identities from their children - and the group surrendered to authorities in 1994. As part of the negotiations, Marks - who is now Block's husband and founder of the Freedom Archives, a collection of audio recordings of progressive history - served four years in prison, and a co-defendant served two, for conspiracy to transport explosives.

http://www.sfgate.com - link

Ireland Forever: The meaning of Erin Go Bragh

2009-03-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

What is the meaning of the blessing Erin Go Braugh or Erin Go Bragh?

Erin Go Bragh 0r Erin Go Bragh is an Irish Gaelic expression

The meaning of Erin Go Bragh derives from a Gaelic saying to pledge allegiance to Ireland. It’s meaning is Ireland Forever. However, when translated, Erin Go Bragh can take other similar meanings:

“Ireland until eternity”

“Ireland until the end (of time)”

“Ireland until the Day of Judgment”

Missing person - Candlelight Vigil for Amber Leeanne Dubois Safe Return AMBER LEEANNE DUBOIS MISSING PERSON - AMBER LEEANNE DUBOIS

2009-03-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

Missing person - Candlelight Vigil for Amber Leeanne Dubois Safe Return

MISSING PERSON - AMBER LEEANNE DUBOIS -

Candlelight Vigil for Amber's Safe Return - TONIGHT
Friday, March 13th at 6:00pm
Escondido High School
1535 N. Broadway, Escondido, CA

Reward for Information Announced: $60,000 Reward*
Tips 760-743-TIPS (8477)

*$50,000 for information leading to the safe return of Amber
$10,000 for information leading to the arrest of person(s) responsible for her disappearance

Amber Dubois is a 14 year old girl, Amber went missing in San Diego, California on 13th Feb.
Updated post about Amber below:
Amber Dubois left her home in Escondido, CA at approximately 7:00 am. She carried with her a handful of Valentine's Day gifts for her friends which she was going to be giving out at school that morning. Her school is located less than one mile away from her home.
She never arrived at her school that morning.
The investigation is ongoing, however, we have been advised that local police and private investigators believe that a dangerous predator may currently be in this area, and we are trying to do everything we can to get the message out.
Right now, visibility is a most precious ally. Amber could be anywhere.
The family is desperate for any help that you may be able to offer at this time. All they want is their family reunited, and Amber's safe return home.

"Escondido Police announced receipt of tips as a result of Amber's story being told on America's Most Wanted"
Volunteers needed: for Flyer distribution
and Community Awareness
Please Help Us Find Amber!
We are in continuous need of Volunteers, we will not stop until Amber is home safely.
8am - 5pm
Everyday until Amber is home safely
Organized Site Searches will Continue Every Weekend until Amber is home safely
Command Center location:
755 N. Quince Street
Escondido, CA 92025
(714) 883-6076
(Volunteers must be at least 18 and have valid ID)

Donations: for Search and Rescue efforts are gratefully received and held
in Trust for that sole purpose.
Mail to:
"Amber Leeanne Dubois Trust"
P.O.Box 1557
Paramount CA 90723-1557
Walk-in Deposits are Welcomed at:
Comerica Bank - Escondido Branch
260 West Grand Avenue
made payable to:
"Amber Leeanne Dubois Trust"

BRING AMBER HOME
http://www.bringamberhome.com/

Message from family: Thank you for helping to break through the darkness by being one of the lights that will bring our Amber home.
Amber is an intelligent and loving young lady. Animals are important to her and she was excited to be getting her lamb as a school project at Escondido High School, Escondido, CA on the day she disappeared.
She is an avid reader, good with electronics and computers, loves wolves and collects them, and, she takes time to text with her Grandmom.
She is an excellent horsewoman, a good student and artist, and believes in God.
We cannot bear the thought of life without her.
Please help if you know anything by calling
PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY WITH ANY INFORMATION YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING AMBER
Tips: 760-743-TIPS (8477)
Thank you.

* Ht: 5'5"
* Wt: 130
* Short medium brown hair - bright blue eyes.
* Date of Birth 10/25/1994
* Last seen wearing black pants, black hoodie and black sneakers
* Last seen 7:10am Feb. 13, 2009 on North Broadway in Escondido, CA - walking toward Escondido HS (believed to have been on west side of street)

CONTACT WITH ANY INFORMATION:
missingamber@yahoo.com or call 760-743-TIPS (8477)
Please print Amber's Reward flyer to distribute and keep with you in your car:

DOWNLOAD
FLYER
(in English)
(en Español)