One more reason for unions to be criminalized

Need a job?
Willing to live in the big city and work at Carnegie Hall or the Lincoln Center moving chairs and props around?
You can be a stagehand if you know the right folks and one of the existing hands dies or retires.
Would you be more willing if you knew that the average stagehand's compensation was $290K (wages and benefits) or that the top hands get $530K?
You may not have heard of these benefit packages because the stagehands have shut down theaters before and have shown a great willingness to do it again (it gets easier when you have a money cushion to lie on that the musicians and other performers trying to get by don't).
Few people who perform in these venues will speak out against the powerful unions for fear of reprisal.
When people fear the unions to the point where it is hard to find someone who works with them willing to openly comment on their exorbitant compensation, you know it is time to tear them down and seal them in the dustbin of history.

The other side of Mexico's drug war

A couple that had just moved to Mexico found another side to the ongoing drug wars can prove deadly for the innocent.
32 year old Joseph Proctor from New York was just headed out to the market when he was gunned down by authorities.
If that was not bad enough, an assault rifle was placed in his dead hands and the official story was that he had been killed in a gunfight with the authorities.
Only after pressure from a US Congressman (who knew they could actually be useful?) was the truth uncovered and 3 Mexican soldiers charged for the attack.
To make matters worse, US officials would not release the true details of the murder (my definition) "until the soldiers are convicted".
I guess they fear a repeat of the deadly riots that followed the last murder of an American citizen by Mexican officials.
No. Wait. That never happened.
I forgot.
It is the Mexicans illegally in America that take to the streets when one of them is only allegedly abused by the police.

It's not like he was looking for a fight

A man was shot dead by police in front of a Mormon temple after a confrontation with another man.
When Police arrived, they found the man armed with a shotgun which he refused to put down.
The officers eventually decided the danger presented was great enough to warrant shooting the man.
A search of the dead man's car located "numerous" weapons, including swords and guns.

I'm sure his relatives will swear he was not the type to seek confrontation.

The way it should be?

Potential jurors in a Montana court "mutinied" according to the Deputy DA.
When asked during jury selection if they would have a problem convicting someone for possessing a few buds of marijuana, most said they would not vote for conviction.
The judge called a recess and a deal was worked out between the DA's office and the defendant.
The jury was dismissed.
What the jurors did not hear was that the defendant had been arrested for the MJ because it was the only hard evidence they had for arrest.
They did not hear that the defendant was suspected of dealing drugs out of his home and arranging deals for other dealers.
Maybe this guy deserved to go to jail, but I like the idea of the jury being able to decide if someone should be punished instead of just decriminalizing drugs.

UK Media PWNED

Just like the American media that loudly shouted that we were going to freeze back in the '70s, British media outlets were claiming in 2000 that "snow is a thing of the past" due to global warming.
We can't even predict the weather more than a week out, but these idiots try to change every aspect of our lives because some neo-socialist, anti-capitalist tools say the planet will roast because we drive SUVs.
They need to be dragged out into the next snow storm in their skivvies and "interviewed" about how stupid and wrong they are.

Finally the Narcissist is the story

Julian Assange has been beating others over the head with their own secrets, ferreted out by whistle-blowers and traitors.
As many have said, the problem was and is that Mr. Assange seems to have one main target.
America.
He does not seem interested in exposing Al Queda, North Korea, Venezuela, or Cuba.
African massacres don't seem to phase him.
He just wants to expose all of America's secrets.

Well now he is seeing his private life on the front page (at least in the UK).
The more you read, the more you feel justified about thinking of him as a hypocritical, self-righteous pedant bent on telling secrets while trusting that he could behave any way he pleased without suffering the same fate.

Nice to see he was wrong in the end.

Tron movie uses Running Man tech

One of the unfair practices in the movie industry that doesn't get much attention is ageism.

Mostly it is ageism against actresses who were famous for being "hot", but men suffer this practice as well.

The lucky ones became character actors like Leslie Nielsen did with the Airplane movies.

That may change with the digital chicanery used in the latest Tron movie, where Jeff Bridges has his face age reversed and plastered on a younger actors body (just like Running Man).

Does this mean we will be treated to performances from those actors we love (and hate) decades after they pass their prime?

WikiLeaks may actually do good?

Some of the information released by the latest criminal actions of the WikiLeaks team may actually help humanity.
Among the multitude of cables released were those showing that, along with the carrot of giving our money to and posing less restriction for third world nations, America was looking for "sticks" to beat other nations into submission so that they would go along with the Global Warming hoax.
I suppose we should be grateful that there was enough resistance to make this seem necessary and hopeful that some countries may jump ship once it is evident they were blackmailed into this fiasco.

Disabled Vet arrested for standing up to Westboro Church

A disabled veteran has been arrested and charged with stalking and other offenses for following members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas.
It is not certain at this point if the charges will hold up as the information so far leads me to believe that the arrest was made as CYA for local law enforcement more than a belief of clear and present danger.
Multiple lawyers have volunteered to represent Ryan J. Newall and many local residents have voiced support for someone finally standing up to the Bullying Baptist Church.

White man robs banks as a Black man

Conrad Zdzierak had a clever idea.
The Caucasian Ohio man decided to rob banks, but first he purchased a couple of lifelike masks that made him appear to be a black man.
The masks were so convincing that a black man was arrested after being identified by witnesses (he reportedly does resemble the mask quite well).
In the end, Zdzierak's girlfriend was his undoing.
After finding money marked by dye packs and the masks, she called the police.

Is that on the checklist?

An Air India Express co-pilot adjusted his seat while the Pilot was in the restroom.
As he made his adjustment, he jarred a control and sent the 737 into a 26 degree 7000ft plunge that would have torn the airframe apart if not stopped.
To make things worse, the co-pilot panicked and failed to regain control.
The pilot managed to zip it up and use his emergency code to get back into the cockpit and pull the plane out of its dive.

Someone is going to be sent back to the simulator for emergency procedures review.