We're Flying

Somewhere 34,000 feet over the great state of Texas.

Militarizing the City

2,000 troops patrol Juárez to stem drug violence

This is going to be interesting. I wonder if I can get hazard pay?

Banana Splits

The Little One has discovered a show I used to watch. I used to dream of going to the theme park in the intro. She does to (because she doesn't remember going a couple of years back).

33 Bodies

A total of 33 bodies have been unearthed so far from the backyard of a Juarez house. Read the CNN story here. Scary.

Happy 20th

A naked blonde walks into a bar with a poodle under one arm and a two foot salami under the other. She lays the poodle on the table. Bartender says, 'I suppose you won't be needing a drink.' Naked lady says...

Story Reader Video Plus

This was something The Little One's grandparents bought her for Christmas last year. It's a neat little electronic book that helps her read and follow along and has educational video games. The problem started one evening last week when she wanted to play a game and she was getting frustrated that the Scooby would only move to the left. I checked the connector of the controller and sure enough a data pin was bent. As I tried to unbend it, it broke off.

The next day I started searching for a replacement controller on the Internet but couldn't find anything. My last hope was Obi-Wan, err, the manufacturer of the system. I found their site and called their customer service department and explained what had happened. A pleasant woman took my shipping address and said that she would be sending out a replacement shortly. I told her that she had forgotten my billing info and she said it wasn't necessary. She would send me the controller at no charge.

Wow. Another great customer service moment. I will definitely go and buy some more books for the reader because of their attitude and commitment to the buyer.

Hexapus

How interesting. I never really gave such a thing any thought before I read this article. I wonder if the brain works differently because the leg issue is a genetic mutation and not from an accident? Yes, very interesting.

Puny Humans

The Earth and moon seen from Mars 88 million miles away. Read and see more amazing photographs here.

Tigger

With many political quizes showing up in blogs and in my inbox I thought it would be sort of relaxing to "play" for a while. Now I can concentrate on Tigger instead of thinking about why I should vote for Obama. Go figure.

Your Score: Tigger

You scored 16 Ego, 13 Anxiety, and 16 Agency!

And as they went, Tigger told Roo (who wanted to know) all about the things that Tiggers could do.

"Can they fly?" asked Roo.

"Yes," said Tigger, "they're very good flyers, Tiggers are. Strornry good flyers."

"Oo!" said Roo. "Can they fly as well as Owl?"

"Yes," said Tigger. "Only they don't want to."

"Why don't they want to?" well, they just don't like it somehow."

Roo couldn't understand this, because he thought it would be lovely to be able to fly, but Tigger said it was difficult to explain to anybody who wasn't a Tigger himself.

You scored as Tigger!

ABOUT TIGGER: Tigger is the newest addition to the Hundred Acre Wood, and he lives with Kanga and Roo, because Roo's strengthening medicine turned out to be the thing that Tiggers like best. Tigger is bouncy and confident -some of his friends think he is a little TOO bouncy and confident, but attempts to unbounce him tend to be fruitless.

WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT YOU: You are a positive and confident person. You feel capable of dealing with anything and everything, and funnily enough, you usually ARE. You don't worry about much, and you love to go out and find new adventures.

Your friends and family might sometimes be a little exasperated by your boundless enthusiasm. You don't like to admit your mistakes, and when you find yourself in over you head, you tend to bluff your way out of things. You would be surprised, however, at how happy the people around you would be if you would actually admit to a mistake. It would make you seem more human, somehow.

Link: The Deep and Meaningful Winnie-The-Pooh Character Test written by wolfcaroling on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(wolfcaroling)

89 Homicides Since January 1st

Juárez violence keeps up as 7 are killed in 3 days
By Daniel Borunda and Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 03/04/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

A wave of violence engulfing Juárez continued Monday night when three men were shot to death in a vehicle strafed by gunfire in a supermarket parking lot.

The unidentified men were found inside a bullet-riddled Nissan Altima at 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Soriana San Lorenzo on Avenida Paseo del Triunfo de la Republica, state police said. Two of the men died at the scene. The third man was taken to a hospital where he died.

Over the weekend, four men, including a state police officer and an army officer, were killed, Juárez police reported.

On Sunday, Ricardo Fuentes Garcia, 38, possibly a Mexican army officer, was found fatally shot in the chest in a Dodge Neon at Paseo del Triunfo de la Republica and Fray Junipero. Fuentes had identification stating he was a Mexican army captain.

On Saturday, Luis Alonso Marrufo Armendariz, a 38-year-old officer with the Chihuahua state investigative agency, was shot in his police vehicle by people in a gray sports car on Manuel Cloutier Avenue. He died and another police officer traveling with him was wounded.

The slaying was the latest in a recent rash of killings aimed at law enforcement officers in Juárez. In January, a hit list was posted on a memorial to fallen police officers.

The body of Raymundo Martinez Alcantara, in his 30s, was found in a pickup truck Saturday on Tecnologico Avenue and Nayarit Street. He had been shot to death.

Jose de la Luz Arreola Garcia, 42, was pronounced dead from stab wounds
Saturday at Santa Maria clinic.

More mass graves and more homicides aimed at law enforcement. That's scary. Read more here.

Gruesome News From The Front

Mexican federal police guard the home where authorities discovered five bodies, two heads and three human torsos buried beneath a patio. The tallest building stands on the same property where the remains were found. (Adriane Jaeckle / El Paso Times)

Home heavily guarded
5 bodies, 2 heads and 3 torsos dug up
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 02/28/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

JUAREZ -- Excavators could still be heard Wednesday digging up the Juárez patio where five bodies, two heads and three torsos were unearthed in the past few days.

The white house with pink window trimming, on a small residential street off Tecnologico Avenue, was guarded by heavily armed federal police officers.

Behind the house on the property are a paved patio, which was hidden from sight Wednesday by blue and black tarp, and a conspicuous three-story concrete warehouse.

Andres Rodriguez, who works at a grocery store on an adjacent street, said that more police and forensic technicians had been going to the house every day.

"I didn't really realize what was going on. It's a sad world we're living in," he said.

On Jan. 25, about 1,500 pounds of marijuana were found during a police raid on the house.

On Feb. 21, police were back and uncovered one body in a grave. The next day, they found three bodies in another grave.

On Feb. 23, they found a body in a third grave.

Last Monday, they made a gruesome discovery in a fourth grave -- two heads and three torsos.

The identities of the victims were not released Wednesday.

Authorities said Tuesday they still had half the patio to tear up.

You can read the whole story here.

Triumph - Magic Power

Man, the clothes...the hair. Still one of my favorite songs of long ago that I'd forgotten about.

Down The Rabbit Hole

Bullseye

This AP photo shows a modified tactical SM-3 missile fired from the USS Lake Erie yesterday to destroy a non-functioning spy satellite 247 kilometers over the Pacific Ocean. Oh, and the satellite was traveling more than 17,000 mph. The Feds say they destroyed the satellite because they were afraid after impact it may release a hazardous gas. Yeah, I'll buy that but I think they were probably more afraid that maybe some top secret spy cameras or lenses might survive reentry and impact in a bad guy's back yard. Of course it was also a way to allow President Bush to allow our military to flex its muscles a bit. Apparently nothing bigger than a football is entering the atmosphere after the direct hit.

Cool

This is really clever.

Number 30

According to Lilja's Library...

A bit of Trivia for you that you may or may not know... with Duma Key King has notched up 30 number ones on the New York Times best seller list... more than any other author in the history of the list.

1 The Dead Zone Viking October 14, 1979
2 Firestarters Viking September 28, 1980
3 Cujo Viking August 23, 1981
4 Different Seasons Viking August 15, 1982
5 Pet Sematary Doubleday November 13, 1983
6 The Talisman (with Peter Straub) Viking October 28, 1984
7 Thinner (as Richard Bachman) NAL Books April 28, 1985
8 Skeleton Crew Putnam June 23, 1985
9 It Viking September 14, 1986
10 The Eyes of the Dragon Viking February 1, 1987
11 Misery Viking June 7, 1987
12 The Tommyknockers Putnam November 29, 1987
13 The Dark Half Viking November 5, 1989
14 The Stand Doubleday May 13, 1990
15 Four Past Midnight Viking September 16, 1990
16 Gerald's Game Viking July 19, 1992
17 Dolores Claiborne Viking December 6, 1992
18 Insomnia Viking October 23, 1994
19 Desperation Viking October 13, 1996
20 Bag of Bones Scribner October 11, 1998
21 The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Scribner May 2, 1999
22 Dreamcatcher Scribner April 8, 2001
23 Black House (with Peter Straub) Random House September 30, 2001
24 Everything's Eventual Scribner April 7, 2002
25 From a Buick 8 Scribner October 13, 2002
26 Song of Susannah Donald M. Grant/Scribner June 27, 2004
27 The Dark Tower Donald M. Grant/Scribner October 10, 2004
28 Cell Scribner February 12, 2006
29 Lisey's Story Scribner November 12, 2006
30 Duma Key Scribner February 10, 2008

I'm Cool

The Cool Person Test is based on how cool you were in high school. You know, who you hung out with and such. It's fairly accurate.

Word Roundup™

This game has been keeping me way too busy at work lately. :-)

Word Roundup™
Play Games
at Shockwave

Isn't That The Truth?

News From Behind The Front

It's not unusual for "hitmen" to go to a hospital to finish the job when someone is only wounded and survives the assassination attempt. When the military arrived in Juarez they were protecting the hospital that was treating the wounded police commander. Now that he has been transferred to a U.S. level 1 trauma center, law enforcement here has gone on alert and are guarding the commander.

Thomason Hospital was placed on "lockdown" Wednesday by El Paso and federal law enforcement authorities guarding a Chihuahua police commander who survived an assassination attempt.

El Paso police and sheriff's deputies stood guard outside the hospital with assault rifles. Doors were locked, and all visitors went through a metal detector in unusually tight security for the county hospital.

Cmdr. Fernando Lozano Sandoval of the Chihuahua State Investigations Agency is being treated at Thomason after surviving a mob-style ambush that occurred Monday night while he drove on a Juárez street.

Lozano, 51, had been in critical but stable condition in a Juárez hospital, where he was guarded by heavily armed Mexican soldiers. Tuesday evening, at the request of his family, he was transferred by ambulance to Thomason, Juárez authorities said.

The lockdown, which will continue for an undetermined amount of time, was ordered early Wednesday by officials with the El Paso Police Department, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

You can read the entire story here. I think I'll watch Traffic tonight.