Wednesday, August 29, 2012

St. Paul police investigate claim that cops kicked man, slammed face into squad car (w/ video)

St. Paul police investigate claim that cops kicked man, slammed face into squad car A St. Paul police internal affairs investigation is under way after a woman posted a video online Wednesday, Aug. 29, showing a St. Paul police officer kicking a man in the chest as he is lying on the ground. He and another officer then slammed the man's face into a squad car hood. Officers also appear to be pulling the man's hair. Police arrested the man, Eric Ronnell Hightower, and he is being held in the Ramsey County jail. St. Paul police investigate claim that cops kicked man, slammed face into squad car (w/ video) - TwinCities.com

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Officials say human brains, hearts found in Fla. storage locker that belonged to former ME


PENSACOLA, Fla. - A former medical examiner crudely preserved human brains, hearts and lungs in soda cups and plastic food containers found inside a storage unit in Florida, authorities said Tuesday.
A man bought the contents of a storage unit at auction last week in Pensacola and made the gruesome discovery after being overpowered by a strange smell while sifting through furniture and boxes.
Investigators found formaldehyde, a chemical used to embalm and preserve bodies, leaking from a 32-ounce drink cup with a cracked lid that was holding a heart, said Jeff Martin, director of the District 1 Medical Examiner's Office in Pensacola. The unit had been rented previously by Dr. Michael Berkland.
"How horrible it is for the families of these deceased to think that someone's loved one's organs are basically rotting away in a storage unit somewhere, it's horrible," Martin told The Associated Press.
Berkland worked at the medical examiner's office from 1997 until 2003, when he was fired for not completing autopsy reports. Officials said he was also performing private autopsies in the area, but it's unclear if any of the organs were from autopsies he conducted while working at the medical examiner's office. The medical examiner's office is now cross-referencing names in their database during that time period, Martin said.
Officials are also trying to locate family members for some of the victims, but many of the organs are not labeled, making it nearly impossible to identify them.
No charges have been filed against Berkland. His attorney Eric Stevenson declined comment Tuesday. Phone calls and emails to Pensacola Police were not immediately returned.
Officials are trying to determine whether Berkland broke any laws regarding biomedical waste and the storing and disposing of human remains.



Officials say human brains, hearts found in Fla. storage locker that belonged to former ME | StarTribune.com

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Neil Armstrong, who gave world 'giant leap' with his 1st footprint on the moon, dies at 82

 


CINCINNATI - Neil Armstrong was a soft-spoken engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step onto the moon. The modest man, who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter-million miles away, but credited others for the feat, died Saturday. He was 82.
Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, his family said in a statement. Armstrong had had a bypass operation this month, according to NASA. His family didn't say where he died; he had lived in suburban Cincinnati.
Neil Armstrong, who gave world 'giant leap' with his 1st footprint on the moon, dies at 82 | StarTribune.com

Thursday, August 23, 2012

And we elect these idiots!!!!


        A DC 'airport ticket agent' offers some examples of why the US is in so much trouble!
 1.  I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for
  an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

 2.  I got a call from a Kansas Congressman's (Moore) staffer (Howard Bauleke), who wanted to go to Cape Town  .  I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me with, ''I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Cape Town is in Massachusetts ...''Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ''Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Cape Town is in South Africa ...''
       His response -- click..

 3.  A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.
He replied, 'Don't lie to me!, I looked on the map, and Florida is a very THIN state!!'' (OMG)

 4.  I got a call from a lawmaker's wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ''Is it possible to see England from Canada ?''
 I said, ''No.''
 She said, ''But they look so close on the map'' (OMG, again!)

 5.  An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas .. I pulled up the  reservation and noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas .... When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ''I  heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.'' (Aghhhh)

 6.  An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from  Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.
 I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told  her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

 7.  A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ''Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know  whose luggage belongs to whom?'' I said, 'No, why do you ask?'
 He replied, ''Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think  that's very rude!''
 After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for  Fresno , Ca. is (FAT - Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on his luggage..

 8.  A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info,  she asked, ''Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii ?''

 9.  I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright from Ala. who asked, ''How do I know which plane to get  on?''
 I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ''I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers  on them.''

 10  Senator Dianne Feinstein called and said, ''I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little  computer planes?''
 I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola and fly on a commuter plane.
 She said, ''Yeah, whatever, smarty!''

 11  Mary Landrieu, La. Senator, called and had a question about the documents she needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy  discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa. "Oh, no I don't.. I've been to China many times and never had to  have one of those.''
 I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told her this she said, ''Look, I've been to China four times  and every time they have accepted my American Express!''

 12  A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations, ''I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .''
 I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ''Are you sure that's the name of the town?''
 'Yes, what flights do you have?'' replied the man.
 After some searching, I came back with, ''I'm sorry, sir, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a rhino  anywhere."
 ''The man retorted, ''Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is.
Check your map!''
 So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ''You don't mean Buffalo , do you?''
 The reply? ''Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.''

 Now you know why the Government is in the shape it's in!


St. Paul Toy Story: Indecent driver creates a buzz

 
 Brian Wutschke, 45, of Farmington was arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and obscene materials and performance after allegedly being spotted giving oral sex to a sex toy in a car along St. Paul's University Avenue. (Ramsey County sheriff's office)


A woman at a St. Paul bus stop told police Wednesday, "I've seen a lot on University Avenue, but never anything like this."
The 30-year-old woman, who was sitting at the corner of University and Marion Street, called 911 after seeing a man pull up in a car in front of her. Minutes later, officers near University Avenue were told by a dispatcher to look out for "a white male in a red pickup performing oral sex" on a sex toy.
Cars behind the man had been honking their horns, trying to get him to move, the woman added. Plus, there were kids around, she said.
Police responding to the call noticed a red pickup on University near Wheeler Street, several blocks west of Snelling Avenue.
After pulling over Brian Wutschke, 45, of Farmington, police searched the interior of his truck and found a sex toy under a flannel shirt. They also noted several pairs of women's panties strewn around the interior, including hanging from the rear-view mirror and the gear shift.
When they performed a pat-down search of the man and reached "the waistline area," officers could feel something vibrating. The man then informed them he also had a sex toy inserted inside him.
"That one's kind of unique. They'll be talking about this one for a while," said police watch commander Eric Anderson.
Police called the witness, who gave a description of Wutschke over the phone.
Wutschke was booked into Ramsey County jail on suspicion of indecent exposure and obscene materials and

St. Paul Toy Story: Indecent driver creates a buzz - TwinCities.com

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

St. Paul firefighters calendar for sale: abs and tats 2013-style

 
 St. Paul firefighters are once again showing off their fabulous bodies in the 2013 installment of their popular calendar and throwing a release party Thursday, Aug. 23, for the occasion. (Courtesy of saintpaulfirefightercalendar.com) 

While you might not exactly be thinking about getting a new wall calendar right now, you should. The St. Paul Firefighters are once again showing off their fabulous bodies in the 2013 installment of their popular calendar and throwing a release party for the occasion. You can buy a calendar ($15) and get autographs from some of the featured firefighters at O'Gara's Bar and Grill (164 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul) on Thursday, Aug. 23, from 7-9 p.m. You can also order calendars online at saintpaulfirefightercalendar.com.
-- Amy Carlson Gustafson
St. Paul firefighters calendar for sale: abs and tats 2013-style - TwinCities.com

Signs of divine intervention for Republicans?

 
 Sit in judgment of what's happened in the past few days.


Has God forsaken the Republican Party?
Well, sit in judgment of what's happened in the past few days:
-- A report comes out that a couple dozen House Republicans engaged in an alcohol-induced frolic, in one case nude, in the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus is believed to have walked on water, calmed the storm and, nearby, turned water into wine and performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
-- Rep. Todd Akin, Missouri's Republican nominee for Senate, suggests there is such a thing as "legitimate rape" and purports that women's bodies have mysterious ways to repel the seed of rapists. He spends the next 48 hours rejecting GOP leaders' demands that he quit the race.
-- Weather forecasts show that a storm, likely to grow into Hurricane Isaac, may be chugging toward ... Tampa, where Republicans will open their quadrennial nominating convention on Monday.
Coincidence? Or part of some Intelligent Design?
By their own logic, Republicans and their conservative allies should be concerned that Isaac is a form of divine retribution. Last year, Rep. Michele Bachmann, then a Republican presidential candidate, said that the East Coast earthquake and Hurricane Irene were attempts by God "to get the attention of the politicians." In remarks later termed a "joke," she said: "It's time for an act of God and we're getting it."
Signs of divine intervention for Republicans? | StarTribune.com

Mpls. police: Bogus 911 call from suspect lured officers into bloody ambush

 
 A Minneapolis park police officer was stabbed near this pedestrian bridge over Minnehaha Creek in south Minneapolis Tuesday night when she confronted a robbery suspect.

The Minneapolis park police officers who responded to a reported late-night robbery near Minnehaha Creek were lured there by a bogus 911 call from the suspect, who then stabbed both officers before one of them shot and wounded the man, police said Wednesday.
When investigators interviewed the suspect, Marsenior P. Johnson, 38, he admitted that he made up in his call Tuesday night to 911 because he wanted to draw police in order to attack them. Police have yet to say whether Johnson explained his motive for the scheme.
Johnson, of Minneapolis, whose criminal history includes convictions for domestic assault and theft, is currently under guard at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and will be booked into jail on felony second-degree assault when he is ready to be moved.
According to police:
Just after 11:20 p.m., two Park Police officers -- one male, one female -- were dispatched on the robbery call to Minnehaha Parkway W. at Bryant Avenue S. The caller said he had been robbed at knifepoint by multiple suspects.
The officers encountered Johnson at the intersection shortly before 11:45 p.m., thinking he was a robbery victim.
It was then that Johnson stabbed the male officer in the chest with a knife, but "the officer's life was saved by his body armor, which prevented the knife from penetrating," Minneapolis police said in a statement.
Johnson then stabbed the female officer in the upper back. She also suffered a serious cut to her head when she fell to the street. Her partner then shot Johnson, bringing his attacks to a halt.

Mpls. police: Bogus 911 call from suspect lured officers into bloody ambush | StarTribune.com

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

DEFINITION OF "I MISSPOKE"

The definition of I misspoke can't be found in any dictionary, at least not an accurate dictionary. Here is the correct definition of "I Misspoke".  

"I Misspoke", is when you say something that you know in a few hours you will have to recant by telling people that you didn't mean what you said, but in-actuality, what you said is exactly what you meant and how you feel on the topic at hand.

Missouri's Akin should drop out of race

 
 Rep. Todd Akin's
Monday August 20, 2012
His outrageous statement was actually intended to soften Akin's absolute opposition to abortion..

Let’s not mince words: Missouri Rep. Todd Akin should drop out of the U.S. Senate race. Congress is no place for a representative who calls some rapes “legitimate,” nor a man who ignorantly claims that female body has ways to prevent pregnancy from rape.
“Rape is rape,” President Obama rightly said in his denouncement of the Missouri congressman’s offensive remarks. This is a congressman who once compared student loans to Stage 3 cancer and fought to insert the word “forcible” into the rape exception law on federal funding for abortion.
“Forcible rape? As opposed to what? Consensual rape? Friendly rape?” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked today in an editorial.
The fallout from Akin’s egregious comments prompted him to apologize and claim that he misspoke. That’s pure political spin. His record shows that he’s long parsed words on rape and women’s health care in his advocacy of extreme anti-abortion views.
Editorial: Missouri's Akin should drop out of race | StarTribune.com

Sunday, August 19, 2012

GOP Senate candidate says he ‘misspoke’ with ‘legitimate rape’ comment


 Sen. Claire McCaskill is probably having a pretty good Sunday. Her opponent in the Missouri Senate race, Republican Rep. Todd Akin, has spent most of the day backtracking after saying that victims of "legitimate rape" cannot biologically become pregnant and thus do not need access to legal abortions.
"First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy after rape] is really rare," Akin told KTVI-TV in defense of his stand that rape victims should not be allowed to access abortions. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
Akin said that even if a rape victim does somehow become pregnant, "I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child."
GOP Senate candidate says he ‘misspoke’ with ‘legitimate rape’ comment | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The truth about voter fraud

 

Ostensible justification for a spate of Republican-sponsored voter ID laws - which would require voters to present government-issued photo ID at the polls - has been the threat of voter fraud, specifically, in-person voter impersonation.
It has seemed likely, given the absence of evidence of such crimes, that the threat was overstated. Now we know for sure: Such fraud virtually never takes place.
Listening to Republican advocates of voter ID laws, you'd think that impersonations at the polls are the biggest danger to democracy since the Chicago political machine allegedly registered thousands of dead people to vote for John F. Kennedy in 1960. The Republican National Lawyers Association - devoted to promoting "open, fair and honest elections" - frequently cites the figure of 375 cases of voter impersonation fraud.
But News21, a national investigative reporting project funded by the Carnegie-Knight Initiative, investigated each of those cases and found that not one showed evidence of impersonation fraud. News21 reporters also reached out to election personnel in all 50 states, requesting information on every single reported case of alleged fraud at the polls. The organization's analysis of 2,068 cases found only 10 related to impersonation. Using those figures, the frequency of poll impersonation is about one in 15 million.

The truth about voter fraud | StarTribune.com

Monday, August 13, 2012

Cases of voter-ID election fraud found 'virtually non-existent'

 In Minnesota, there have been 10 total cases of reported fraud
 A News21 analysis of 2,068 alleged election-fraud cases since 2000 shows that while fraud has occurred, the rate is infinitesimal, and in-person voter impersonation on Election Day, which prompted 37 state legislatures to enact or consider tough voter ID laws, is virtually non-existent.
In an exhaustive public records search, News21 reporters sent thousands of requests to elections officers in all 50 states, asking for every case of fraudulent activity, including registration fraud, absentee ballot fraud, vote buying, false election counts, campaign fraud, casting an ineligible vote, voting twice, voter impersonation fraud and intimidation.
Analysis of the resulting comprehensive News21 election fraud database turned up 10 cases of voter impersonation. With 146 million registered voters in the United States during that time, those 10 cases represent one out of about every 15 million prospective voters.
In Minnesota, there have been 10 total cases of reported fraud and no cases of voter impersonation reported since 2000.

Cases of voter-ID election fraud found 'virtually non-existent' | MinnPost

Thursday, August 9, 2012

BBQ Etiquette


Subject: BBQ Etiquette .

We are entering the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion: Routine... (1) The woman buys the food. (2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables and makes dessert. (3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - drink in hand. (4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part:
(5) THE MAN PLACES TH E MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine... (6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery. (7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while he flips the meat.

Important again: (8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine... (9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauce and brings them to the table. (10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all: (11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN andTHANKS HIM for his cooking efforts. (12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed her 'night off,' and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Romney has zero tolerance for the unsuccessful

 
 If your success is entirely your own achievement, then your lack of success is entirely your own fault.


Why does a typical bus driver in the United States earn a monthly income (after taxes) of $1,594, while a typical bus driver in Peru earns $325?
Why does an American airline pilot bring home $4,206 a month, while a Lithuanian doing what we hope is pretty much the same job with the same training has an average salary of only $1,674?
Well, the explanation is obvious, isn't it? These foreigners just aren't as smart as we Americans are, and they don't work as hard. Because if they did - as Mitt Romney was just explaining in Israel - they would be as successful as we are. And that's pretty darned successful. And they aren't.
Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, worries that Americans are losing their appreciation of success, as evidenced by President Obama's desire to reduce the rewards of success by raising taxes on high incomes. Romney sees in this not just a bigger tax bill for successful people but an insult as well. An alternative perspective is that any successful person who feels personally insulted by a request from the president to share a bit of it is, in the immortal words of Liberace, "crying all the way to the bank" (or, to quote someone else, a "master of the fancied slight").
Romney has zero tolerance for the unsuccessful | StarTribune.com

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Romney 'didn't pay tax for 10 years'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said this week that Mitt Romney refuses to release additional tax returns because he didn't pay taxes for 10 years.
He suggested that Romney's decision to withhold tax information would bar him from ever earning Senate confirmation to a Cabinet post. Then, he described a phone call his office received about a month ago from "a person who had invested with Bain Capital," the Huffington Post said. Reid said the person told him: "Harry, he didn't pay any taxes for 10 years."
"Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain," Reid said. "But obviously he can't release those tax returns. How would it look?"
Romney's campaign has denied rumors that he hasn't paid taxes in a single year, and he said he couldn't recall if there were years when he paid less than the 13.9 percent tax rate that he paid in 2010.

Reid: Romney 'didn't pay tax for 10 years' | StarTribune.com

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Cops: Pastor Caught Paying For Sex

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – A pastor from Red Wing, Minn., was cited for allegedly exchanging money for sex with an undercover police officer, St. Paul Police say.
According to police, Gary Elg, 60, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Red Wing was charged with a misdemeanor after allegedly engaging in prostitution on July 24 in St. Paul.

Cops: Pastor Caught Paying For Sex « CBS Minnesota