Award-winning pop singer Whitney Houston was found dead in a Beverly Hill, CA, hotel this afternoon. Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said there were “no obvious signs of criminal intent,” but the cause of death is being investigated.
Category Archives: News
ATF Uncovers Alleged Weapons Smuggling Ring
Young housewives and older moms are among nearly 2 dozen people who bought assault rifles from Texas gun dealers in an alleged weapons smuggling ring tied to Mexican drug cartels. Federal agents announced February 8 they seized more than 200 weapons – including AK-47s and sniper rifles – and arrested 22 people. That’s amazing – from soccer moms to sniper moms. That’s quite a leap! Then again, considering the out-of-control drug problem in the U.S., there may be some logic to it. As usual, though, I’m sure the National Rifle Association (NRA) will say this is just an aberration. To be fair, I’m a firm supporter of the U.S. Constitution’s 2nd Amendment, as much as I am a supporter of the 1st Amendment. But, I don’t think our “Founding Fathers” had AK-47s in mind.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
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Banks Reach Foreclosure Abuse Settlement
In a true case of better late than never, more than 2 million Americans could benefit from a $25 billion deal federal and state authorities reached with some of the nation’s largest banks on February 9 to ease the home foreclosure crisis. It is the largest settlement involving a single industry since a 1998 multistate tobacco agreement. Five major banks – Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo will reduce loans for nearly 1 million households. They also will send checks to about 750,000 additional households that suffered improper foreclosures. The banks have 3 years to fulfill the terms of the deal. Over 1 million households had endured foreclosure as of the end of 2011.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, second from right, and others, watch as Attorney General Eric Holder announces a settlement regarding mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuse, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, at the Justice Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
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Picture of the Day
A stray dog runs across the frozen Danube River in southern Romania. Eastern Europe is experiencing its worst winter in decades, and the Danube – a key shipping route – has been mostly shut down due to heavy ice. It’s a winter like this that gave Mary Shelley the idea for Frankenstein, so who knows! Some great literary monsters may be lurking in the minds of the stranded citizenry.
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Quote of the Day
“I’m glad that you played the Rachel Maddow clip because I think she is the best argument in favor of her parents using contraception. I would be all for that. And all of the rest of the crowd at MSNBC, too, for that matter.”
— Fox News pundit Cal Thomas in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Webster’s Dictionary:
ass – n., O.E. = Cal
hole – n., O.E. = Thomas
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Vending Machine Dispenses College Essentials
This vending machine at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg (where else?), Pennsylvania dispenses the “morning-after pill,” condoms and cough drops. Cough drops?! What about breath mints? Gum? Penicillin? Well, at least they’re trying. When I was in college, we had to sneak into the drug store to buy cough drops.
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LBJ’s Lincoln Going on Sale
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 Lincoln Continental is being put up for sale in Smithville, Texas, on March 3 by its current owner, Dan Kruse Classics. Proceeds from the auction will go to the LBJ Foundation. The car is currently on display at the Central Texas Museum of Automotive History in Smithville.
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White House Changes Course on Contraceptive Coverage
Looks like Obama backed down – again!
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The Journey to El Norte
On a sweltering June morning, Jason De Leon shrugs off his pack in a rugged gorge in Arizona’s Coronado National Forest. He hunches down over a scattering of water bottles, checking for dates, and asks a student to take the site’s GPS coordinates. Above his head, along the rock face, travelers have transformed a small, secluded hollow into a shrine lined with offerings: rosaries, crucifixes, candles, scapulars, and small pictures of saints, each bearing a printed prayer in Spanish. “Take care of me in dangerous places,” reads one card. “Protect me from thieves and in evil times,” entreats another. Nearby, a small engraved plastic pendant offers a more direct prayer: “The other side, Tucson, Arizona, 2010.”
This is an extraordinary article by Heather Pringle in one of my favorite magazines, Archaeology, that documents the massive flow of illegal Latin American immigrants through the desert Southwestern U.S. via the items they leave behind. It’s not a pretty picture, as the migrants – desperate for work and a chance at a better life – end up desecrating the environment and leaving mounds of trash. And, of course, who has to clean up that mess? The American taxpayer. As someone of Spanish and Mexican Indian ancestry, I guess I should feel some kind of connection to these people – but I don’t. They’re not really my people – whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. My people are American citizens – whether native born or naturalized – who respect this country and the laws that govern it. My paternal ancestry in Texas goes back more than 400 years. My people settled this state long before the Mayflower Pilgrims even set sail. Still, this editorial highlights a critical dilemma in 21st century America.
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Picture of the Day
GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum in a “prayer circle” at a church in Allen, Texas. This is so odd – a bunch of Texas evangelicals surrounding a Roman Catholic from Pennsylvania. It’s sort of like Custer being surrounded by the Sioux.
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Chief Writing Wolf 