Monday - May 08, 2006

Catfish News: May 8

It’s time to check in with our intrepid Catfish News reporter and find out what the bottom-feeder has found for us in the crap that filtered down to the bottom of the tank. It looks like we’ve got a real winner in this story from Flori-DUH. Cops gone bad, sex and a shooting. Jerry Springer just wishes he could find stories like this. I’ll turn it over to “Catty” Couric to give you the details ...

Sergeant Arrested, Accused Of Shooting Man Over Sex
_{Saturday, May 06, 2006}

WEST PALM BEACH (PALM BEACH POST) — An off-duty Palm Beach County sheriff’s sergeant initially told police he shot a 21-year-old man for stealing his badge and nearly running him over. On April 21, Stuckey, 6-foot-2, 230 pounds and wearing a wig, ended up with a bullet wound in his left arm.

On Friday, Sgt. James Seigfreid, 48, ended up in jail. He was booked into Palm Beach County Jail on charges of aggravated battery, shooting into an occupied vehicle, use of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol and filing a false report. Seigfreid was called to the internal affairs division of the sheriff’s office at 3:30 p.m. Friday, where West Palm Beach detectives were waiting for him.

Seigfreid had told police that he was in his unmarked sheriff’s office vehicle at 23rd Street and North Dixie Highway in the early morning hours of April 21 to meet a friend. Seigfreid said a man solicited sex, then grabbed his badge, ran to a 1999 Nissan Altima and drove toward him. But West Palm Beach police found evidence to support Stuckey’s version of events.

Stuckey said he was hired to perform a sex act and decided to go back to his own car before it was finished. “Seigfreid exited his vehicle and began to yell at Stuckey for him to give back the $40.00 or finish the act,” the arrest report says. Seigfreid went after Stuckey. Stuckey saw him drop what looked like a wallet, discovered it was a badge, and asked for money to return it, the report says.

As Stuckey tried to drive away, Seigfreid fired from his.357 revolver. One bullet hit the Altima’s back door and the other went through the driver’s side window into Stuckey’s left arm. Detectives concluded the car was moving away from Seigfreid and found Stuckey’s fingerprints inside Seigfreid’s car. Seigfreid remains on administrative leave with pay from the sheriff’s office while the investigation is ongoing, spokesman Paul Miller said.

Stuckey was treated at Good Samaritan Medical Center and released. A woman who identified herself as Stuckey’s mother answered the phone at his Riviera Beach home Friday night. When told that the sergeant was arrested, she said, “One good thing happens, praise the Lord.” She said her son is out of the hospital, but not available for comment. “He’s having a difficult time,” she said.

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/08/2006 at 09:17 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Odd-Strange •  
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Sympathy For The Devil

Jimmy Carter: Punishing the innocent is a crime
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE - May 7, 2006

Innocent Palestinian people are being treated like animals, with the presumption that they are guilty of some crime. Because they voted for candidates who are members of Hamas, the United States government has become the driving force behind an apparently effective scheme of depriving the general public of income, access to the outside world and the necessities of life.

With all their faults, Hamas leaders have continued to honor a temporary cease-fire, or hudna, during the past 18 months, and their spokesman told me that this “can be extended for two, 10 or even 50 years if the Israelis will reciprocate.” Although Hamas leaders have refused to recognize the state of Israel while their territory is being occupied, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has expressed approval for peace talks between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel. He added that if these negotiations result in an agreement that can be accepted by Palestinians, then the Hamas position regarding Israel would be changed.

Regardless of these intricate and long-term political interrelationships, it is unconscionable for Israel, the United States and others under their influence to continue punishing the innocent and already persecuted people of Palestine. The Israelis are withholding approximately $55 million a month in taxes and customs duties that, without dispute, belong to the Palestinians. Although some Arab nations have allocated funds for humanitarian purposes to alleviate human suffering, the U.S. government is threatening the financial existence of any Jordanian or other bank that dares to transfer this assistance into Palestine.

- Read more of Jimmah’s lunatic rant here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/08/2006 at 08:35 AM   
Filed Under: • Paleswine •  
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Gas Crooks

Yep, it didn’t take long for people to get organized and start finding ways to steal gas. Now that it’s approaching $3 here in St. Louis (nearly $4 in San Diego) you can look for more and more people to get “creative”. These guys came up with an ingenious plan. It won’t be the last I’m sure. I’ve already replaced the gas cap on my Jeep with a locking cap. Before long we all may have to hire armed guards to keep watch on our tanks while we sleep. Either that or start breeding more horses ...

Computer-Savvy Thieves Rip-Off Gas Stations
_{5/7/2006 8:34:53 PM}

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - At least two St. Louis gas station owners or managers say somebody is breaking into gas pumps, reprogramming interior keypads and instructing the machines to dispense fuel at no charge. Free gas is certainly not what the gas station owners had in mind.

Kevin Tippit is manager of the Phillips 66 at Lindell and Boyle in St. Louis. Tippit says his boss lost between $6,000 and $10,000 worth of gas Friday before a regular customer tipped-off an employee.

“They (the thieves) have a key to the pump and then after they open up the pump they go in and they reprogram the pump, so they can have free gas. And then everybody behind them sees what they’re doing, and they continue,” says Tippit.

Tippit was asked why gas station employees would not notice such activity. “What it actually does is bypass our system,” says Tippit. “It goes beyond the register and is drawing directly off the pumps.”

While Tippit says he and his employees have keys to the gas pumps, they don’t have codes to the interior keypads. He says the only people with those codes are employees of companies that service gas stations.

Amjad Darwish, owner of Mobile Food Mart at Lindell and Delmar, agrees. His store got hit last month. A company that services gas stations offered a solution. That company took the interior keypads out of the gas pumps.

Darwish believes the suspect came back and tried again Friday night. This time employees recognized the suspect’s license plate. They were able to see it because, in addition to several cameras that monitor the inside of the store, the store also has several cameras that monitor the parking lot and gas pumps.

“When he walks in, we locked the door and call the police. They searched his car. They found the keys (and) the program. Everything was in his car.” The St. Louis Police Department continues to investigate the thefts.

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/08/2006 at 08:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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Financial Disease

_{Bill Day—The Commercial Appeal}

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/08/2006 at 08:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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   Sunday - May 07, 2006

Through The Looking Glass

“Barbaro - Kentucky Derby ‘06”
_{Photo Credit: AP}

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/07/2006 at 06:16 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Sports •  
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Religious Kerfuffle

Disclaimer: I have not seen the movie yet but I plan to when it debuts in a couple of weeks. I have however, read the book, which is a highly entertaining work of fiction. The story revolves around a fictional plot by the Catholic church to supress a fictional history of Jesus. Did I mention that the book and the movie are works of fiction? It seems that several groups have somehow missed that point.

I don’t mean to offend anyone but how is getting upset over a book or movie that revolves around a fictional history of Jesus and has no basis in fact supposed to be different from Muslims getting upset over Mohammed cartoons? Will the Christians storm the movie theatres and set fire to the popcorn machines? Will Dan Brown, Ron Howard and Tom Hanks have to go into hiding after a Christian “fatwah” is issued against them? I doubt it. Christians usually have better sense than that, with the exception of Pat Robertson.

I didn’t get around to reading the book until just recently when it came out in paperback (yeah, I’m cheap about some things). I had read all the negative reviews from churches but finally decided to see what the kerfuffle was all about. Now I’m not a Bible-thumping religious fanatic by any means but I am a Christian (Baptist) and I do believe in Jesus and the salvation he promised. Oddly enough, after reading the book I found that my convictions had not changed one iota. I did however, have a rip-snorting good time with a fun story.

To me the book was nothing more than an elaborate game of “Clue” with step after step of cryptic hints leading two people toward an unknown destination while the bad guys were on their tail the whole time. The only fault I had with the story is that Brown’s clues were kinda lame. I was usually about two pages ahead of the heros in the book and found myself snickering at their failure to see the obvious at almost every turn. Then again, my background is in mathematics and computers and I’ve always had an interest in cryptography. In addtion, the Fibonacci sequence, the Masons and the Knights Templar are really old set pieces in almost any conspiracy story. It’s time to get a new set of evil conspiracy characters. Those groups are worn out and have been since “The Maltese Falcon” started it all.

Bottom line: when the movie opens, I’ll be there with my jumbo popcorn and coke ($15 - which is the only outrageous thing about this), watching the plot unfold and silently screaming at Tom Hanks and the screen, “NO! You jerk! Rearrange the numbers! It’s the Fibonacci sequence!” And at the end of the movie, Jesus will still be the Son of God. Amen.

Churches Prepare To Rebut ‘DaVinci’
_{May 7, 2006}

Area churches are preparing to counter unorthodox claims about Jesus Christ in the movie “The Da Vinci Code,” which opens in theaters later this month. “‘The Da Vinci Code’ kind of gave a focus that there’s a lot [of misinformation] about Jesus Christ and Christianity out there, and perhaps it’s time to rebut it,” said Monsignor Francis J. Maniscalco, a spokesman for the District-based U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “If people see [the movie], they should go prepared.”

Dan Brown wrote the best-selling novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” published in 2003. Its film adaptation, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, will premiere in theaters May 19. The fast-paced, fictional novel reads like a giant Christian conspiracy theory, with a plot built on claims that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that they had a daughter named Sarah and that their bloodline still exists.

The book also states early Christians never claimed Christ was divine and that the Catholic Church has covered up such information. Though the book is a work of fiction, those statements and Mr. Brown’s claim in the prologue that certain details in the book are authentic have alarmed area clergy.

“It poses certain questions to Orthodox Christian believers that the church needs to address,” said John Yates, rector of Falls Church Episcopal, where sermons on “The Da Vinci Code” will be featured May 21 and 28. “My hope would be that it would cause people to want to go back to the New Testament and read about Jesus more carefully than they ever have before.”

- More on this story at the Washington Times ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/07/2006 at 09:59 AM   
Filed Under: • Hollywood • Religion •  
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Banana Republic Plan

Chavez Wants Vote on Governing Until 2031
_{May 6, 2006, 8:19 PM EDT}

CARACAS, Venezuela (NEWSDAY-AP)—President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that Venezuelan voters should have the chance to decide whether he should govern the country for the next 25 years.

Speaking at a stadium packed with supporters in central Lara state, Chavez said he would hold a referendum to put the question of his remaining in office to Venezuelans if the opposition pulls out of upcoming presidential elections.

“I am going to ask you, all the people, if you agree with Chavez being president until 2031,” he said. It was not clear if Chavez was talking about holding a legally binding vote to eliminate term limits or proposing a plebiscite.

Chavez said Friday that he said he might seek “indefinite” re-election through a referendum if the opposition boycotts the presidential vote. “I would call a national referendum to have the people decide if I can continue here indefinitely or if I have to go after six years,” he said.

Opposition leaders accuse Chavez, a former paratroop commander first elected in 1998, of becoming increasingly authoritarian and opening dangerous divisions along class lines in Venezuela—the world’s fifth largest oil exporter.

The Venezuelan Constitution allows a president to be re-elected only once in immediate succession. Chavez is eligible for re-election to another six-year term in December, but if he wins he would not be able to run again in 2012.

Polls indicate Chavez is likely to win the Dec. 3 election, and international observers have signed off on recent votes as fair. Four government opponents have announced plans to run against Chavez, although not all have agreed to participate in primaries to choose a single opposition candidate.

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/07/2006 at 09:36 AM   
Filed Under: • Outrageous •  
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Sunday Funnies

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/07/2006 at 09:29 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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   Saturday - May 06, 2006

Run For The Roses

The Kentucky Derby is a stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, staged yearly in Louisville, Kentucky on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race currently covers one and one-quarter miles (2.012 km) at Churchill Downs; colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg), fillies 121 pounds (55 kg). The race, known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” for its approximate time length, is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the United States. It typically draws around 155,000 fans. The Kentucky Derby is one of the crown jewels of the elusive Triple Crown which includes the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes. For over 125 years the Kentucky Derby has been everyone’s race - from the dapper men and beautiful women, all in hats and sipping on frosty mint juleps, to the laid-back infield crowd who picnic on fried chicken and toss around Frisbees. They’re all there to witness the world’s premier horse-racing event. “Riders up” booms the paddock judge. The trainers give a leg up to the riders and send them out through the tunnel and onto the world’s most famous track as the University of Louisville band strikes up Stephen Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home”. —Visit The Official Kentucky Derby Website Television Coverage Begins at 5:00pm EDT on NBC

UPDATE: YAY! YAY! YAY! Me and four other people win the BIG PRIZE! Barbaro by seven lengths!

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/06/2006 at 05:48 PM   
Filed Under: • Sports •  
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My God, It’s Full Of Stars

Like the last words from Cmdr. Dave Bowman in “2001: A Space Odyssey”, you can now have absolutely free of charge, on your computer, a sky full of stars in the bestest astronomy program I’ve seen in ages. It’s called Stellarium. It’s Open Source (free). Versions are available for Windows, MacOS X and Linux. I’ve just spent the last three hours fiddling with this thing and I’m amazed. Download your copy here now. Optional HAL-9000 plugin not available yet.

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/06/2006 at 02:35 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
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How Dry I Am

Key quote: “workers said the rum ... had a “special taste”. Indeed ...

Hungary Workers Get Shock At Bottom Of Rum Barrel
_{Thu May 4, 9:49 AM ET}

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.

According to online magazine http://www.zsaru.hu, workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out.

The website said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return.

According to the website, workers said the rum in the 300-liter barrel had a “special taste” so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home. The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.

UPDATE: The rum was carefully aged ... and so was the story ...

Tue May 9, 8:08 AM ET

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The Budapest story headlined “Hungary workers get shock at bottom of rum barrel” issued on May 4 is withdrawn. Police said the incident, reported on a police magazine Web site, happened 10 years ago. Reuters has been unable to make any further checks to substantiate the story. There will be no substitute story.

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/06/2006 at 10:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Odd-Strange •  
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Most Ridiculous Headline Of The Day

According to Pravda, we’re all going to die ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/06/2006 at 10:20 AM   
Filed Under: • Commies •  
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The Card

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/06/2006 at 08:01 AM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
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   Friday - May 05, 2006

Plan B

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/05/2006 at 11:59 PM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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