California Unemployment Rate in November 2008: 8.4%

The jobless rate in California hit 8.4 percent in November, as retail stores, construction firms, banks and factories laid off thousands of workers, according to data released yesterday by the state Employment Development Department.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, 41,700 workers lost their jobs during the month, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points from its October level. A year before, the jobless rate was 5.7 percent.

In comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 6.5 percent in October to 6.7 percent in November.

In San Diego County, which does not adjust its data for seasonal fluctuations for employment, the jobless rate held steady at 6.9 percent. The county lost 2,200 jobs during the month, mostly construction contractors and hotel workers.

From November 2007 to November 2008, the state has lost 136,000 jobs, including 15,300 in San Diego County. The layoffs are projected to continue throughout this year

(SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE)

Aspects of the International Drug Trade

The main issue in the international drug trade is the linkage of domestic drug distribution networks with international supply/transportation networks. The former operate on a rolling basis, day-to-day, so to speak, while the later operate on a month-to-month or even quarter to quarter, season to season schedule.

Looking at the different time tables, it is easy to see where the problems arise: at points where the physical drugs are transfered from large trans-national shipments to smaller quantities for distribution by individuals. If law enforcement exclusively at this vulnerable point, it could have a disproportionate impact on areas it is not even addressing: street level distribution, and drug manufacture.

San Bernardino County Assessor Arrested for Meth!

Postmus Dra-ma.


The Bill Postmus (hot young Republican politician is accused of being a meth user and dramatic soap opera ensues in San Bernardino county) reached a new pitch of excellence yesterday, when the man himself was arrested for possession of... what else... crystal meth!

The ironic/humorous part of this story is that they were serving a search warrant related to an investigation of political corruption... and found the meth incidentally! Oh, snap.

Based on the arc of this story I would expect a vigorous defense based on exceeding the scope of a search warrant. (SAN BERNARDINO SUN)

The California Budget Crisis: State Payroll Figures

When did California turn into a European country circa 1950? I got a letter in the mail announcing that starting next month they'll be issuing IOU's instead of pay checks. Ever wonder how much state employees make:

Number of payroll warrants issued monthly 175,424
Number of direct deposit payments issued monthly 280,220
Percentage of employees on direct deposit 71%
Amount of gross wages paid monthly $1,597,214,239
Amount of net wages paid monthly $1,060,248,025

(CALIFORNIA STATE CONTROLLER)

A billion dollars a month! Our gross domestic product is one and a half trillion. So that's like one percent of the economy. Plus, alot of them are homeowners.

I do appreciate the political gamesmanship, though. Yay!

Togo to Extradite Colombian Traffickers to US for Prosecution

I like the Colombian's using West Africa as a way station to smuggle cocaine to Europe. The potential for use as a plot of a B-level action movie is simply outstanding: Africa! Colombian Drug Lords! Blood Diamonds! Child Soldiers! Whew.

The Togolese government has agreed to extradite a suspected Colombian drug kingpin to the United States.

Solano Cortez Jorge was arrested in October last year, along with seven other South Americans.

The Togolese Anti-Drugs and Narcotics squad said they seized 500kg of cocaine during the raid.

West Africa has become a major staging post for South American drug traffickers on the route to Europe, according to the United Nations.

(BBC AFRICA)

Sophisticated Marijuana Warehouse Found in Van Nuys

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Los Angeles police responding to a burglary call at a San Fernando Valley warehouse have uncovered a sophisticated marijuana-growing operation.

Police say officers found bales of marijuana and some 2,000 carefully cultivated plants weighing several hundred pounds.

The plants, which had a value of $1 million, were confiscated in Thursday's raid at the warehouse, located next to the Van Nuys Regional Airport.

(CBS 2)

The thing to notice here is that they just stumbled upon the warehouse via a burglary call. That's sleuthing!

Mexican Drug Cartel Truce Reported in Sinaloa Magazine

Culiacan: Where to meet your favorite Mexican drug kingpin.


Just so the sourcing can be straight on this post:

original article (RIO DOCE)(SP) (translation)(ENG)

This article was drawn to my attention by a commenter, and it's funny because of the recent "drug violence is bad!" summary in the San Diego Union Tribune it's actually been pretty quiet on the whole-sale decapitation beat.

This article claims that a truce was entered into by the major players in the Drug Cartel Wars in December in where else... Culiacan, Sinaloa:

Drug trafficking cartels that are at war last December agreed to a truce that has taken an indefinite nation-wide and that was reflected in a drop in shootings, clashes, killings and settling of scores, unofficial sources revealed.

In the cease-fire agreement, reportedly attended by representatives of criminal organizations that direct Ismael Zamba, the Mayo, Joaquin Guzman Loera, the Chapo, Arturo Beltran Leyva, the Arellano Felix brothers and Carrillo Fuentes.

The pact involves then Sinaloa cartels, Tijuana, Juarez and the Beltran Leyva, who split this year in the organization of Chapo -. These last three have a war against Guzman and Zamba, which has been expressed as the bloodiest since April 30 in Culiacan and other municipalities in this entity, stretching across the country.

The first approach was a private in an exclusive seafood restaurant in Culiacan, Sinaloa in the capital, a day after he was thrown at least one grenade at the front of the provisional headquarters is the Mexican Army in the town of Navolato, the December 10, 2008.

So maybe you were wondering about the dialogue between the top mexican drug cartels:

One of the arguments raised by the kingpins of the criminal organizations involved in the truce is that they have forgotten the market and the local drug business to prioritize executions and confrontations between opposing side. "They neglected the business and others who are working and not under the authority of chiefs," said a source for Ríodoce.

(nods wisely) Hmm... Yes... The business!

But what about the tit-for-tat executions:

One of the agreements is that they will continue and that the executions were "outstanding" and that other cases of sequel to "settling of scores," but there would be no additional murders

Oh did I mention that government appears to be a party to the agreement. I'm going to leave that conclusion to the native Spanish speakers, but it sure sounds like it according to the article.

Ambien Makes You Do Some Crazy Ass Shit

It's like you obtain a prescription for ambien, take it, then get up in the middle of the night and murder someone and you're like "It was the ambien!"

HAYWARD, Wis. — A 51-year-old electrician who froze to death in northern Wisconsin while sleepwalking in bare feet took the sleep aide Ambien and once drove his pickup truck without waking up, friends and relatives said.

“How in the hell can a guy walk out in 20-below zero and not wake up?” Sawyer County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle said he asked himself.

Going through Timothy Brueggeman’s bedroom, investigators found a possible answer — a bottle of Ambien. He said it had not been determined yet whether he had taken Ambien that night.

(AP)

34 Year Old "Cheerleader" Unsuprisingly Confined to Mental Institution

Wendy Brown, 34 year old cheerleader


You always want to know what happens to these crazy-moms-who-try-to-become-high-school-cheerleaders stories... which apparently happen in real life, now? And not just in Lifetime movies?

In Wendy Brown's house the answer is "confined to state mental hospital":

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A woman who enrolled at Ashwaubenon High School and tried out for cheerleading while using her daughter’s name has been committed to a mental health facility for three years.

Wendy Brown was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to a charge of identity theft. The 34-year-old woman apologized in court Tuesday.

Records show Brown attended one day of classes last August and practiced with the cheerleading squad using her 15-year-old daughter’s identity.

Her true identity was determined after she was reported as truant, and investigators learned she had been jailed in a forgery case. Brown told investigators she wanted to relive her high school experience.

(AP)


So she wasn't caught because she looks nothing like a high school student? Odd.

Laredo: "Tom Cat" Beats the Rap... For Now

Texas Justice


Let me tell you something about Texas Justice: It's the fucking wild west mixed with the bible. Big wins, big loses. Hangin' Judges and rogue DEA agents.

A mistrial has been declared in the criminal conspiracy case against Tomas "Tom Cat" Barrera.

A jury was selected Monday in the 49th District Court, but Judge Joe Lopez declared a mistrial Tuesday at the defense's request after two jurors were unable to serve.

One juror was declared disabled due to a medical condition, and another came forward Tuesday with information that disqualified the juror, Lopez said.

"It was revealed that the juror knew the defendant, and it was not until after the juror was sworn in that her memory was jogged," defense attorney Oscar O. Peña said after Lopez declared the mistrial.

Barrera, 38, is charged with criminal conspiracy and engaging in organized criminal activity in the December 2006 death of Julio A. Serrano.

Prosecutors said Serrano was killed by members and associates of the Texas Syndicate who were trying to kidnap him, and that Barrera was part of the kidnapping conspiracy.

(LAREDO MORNING TIMES)

Beer Pong w/ Underage Girls Apparently a Crime in Some Parts of US

PORT ALLEN — Three men accused of providing minors with alcohol and luring underage girls to drinking parties have been arrested and booked into West Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

Deputies said Tuesday this was the second arrest involving underage girls in the past three months for one of the men, 22-year-old Brandon Collins.

Collins was booked Saturday with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.

Deputies say Collins, along with Edward Rozell Jr. and Anthony Lee were engaged in a game called "beer pong" with underage girls ranging in age from 13 to 17.

(AP)

Welcome to Gaza City

Photo Gaza City

Looks like a fun place for urban warfare.

African Kings: Group Photo

African Kings: Group Photo

And This is Why Sex Offenders Should Avoid Moving to North Dakota

A registered sex offender is now living at 1004 First St. N.E. in Mandan.

According to a release from the Mandan Police Department, Thomas Maedche, 26, is now living at that address.

Maedche, a high-risk offender, was convicted in June 2008 of indecent exposure for exposing himself to a 9-year-old girl. He also has five previous sexual assault convictions from 1994 and 1995 in Mineral County, Mont.

Maedche, who moved to Mandan on Jan. 6, is required to register as an offender for the remainder of his life.

"Mr. Maedche is not wanted by law enforcement at this time, and has served the sentence imposed by the court," the police release said. "This notification is not intended to increase fear in the community. It is the belief of the Mandan Police Department that an informed public is a safer public."

(BISMARCK TRIBUNE)

San Bernardino "Teen Prostitution Capital"

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Child prostitution is thriving in San Bernardino County.

Investigators say hundreds of teens selling sex make connections using Internet sites like Craigslist.org, simply standing along a two-mile stretch of Holt Boulevard in Ontario or hooking up at local truck stops.

(AP)

Photo Essay: Keffiyehs, Hipsters, Gaza Protests

A refresher on hipsters and kiffiyeh.

Hipsters united!(TORONTO)



Paris, France.

Sign Chic

Dunst, Teen Vogue.

The full look, male.

Hipster.

Barcelona, Spain.

Boo.

Urban Warfare in Gaza

Did you hear that Israel invaded the Gaza Strip? As any skilled therapist will point out, both parties bear responsibility. What I'm interested in is the descriptions of 21st century urban warfare, which will no doubt be studied both by domestic military AND law enforcement. Because it takes place in urban areas, it's easy to obtain descriptions of such tactics. Shall we take a survey?

An Israeli army spokeswoman said residential neighborhoods in Gaza are riddled with homemade bombs and booby traps, including mannequins placed at apartment entrances to simulate militants and rigged to explode if soldiers approach.

(AP)

Hamas, with training from Iran and Hezbollah, has used the last two years to turn Gaza into a deadly maze of tunnels, booby traps and sophisticated roadside bombs. Weapons are hidden in mosques, schoolyards and civilian houses, and the leadership’s war room is a bunker beneath Gaza’s largest hospital, Israeli intelligence officials say

(NEW YORK TIMES)

The government is operating from a bunker beneath a large hospital? Awesome!

In one apartment building in Zeitoun, in northern Gaza, Hamas set an inventive, deadly trap. According to an Israeli journalist embedded with Israeli troops, the militants placed a mannequin in a hallway off the building’s main entrance. They hoped to draw fire from Israeli soldiers who might, through the blur of night vision goggles and split-second decisions, mistake the figure for a fighter. The mannequin was rigged to explode and bring down the building.

Israeli intelligence officers are telephoning Gazans and, in good Arabic, pretending to be sympathetic Egyptians, Saudis, Jordanians or Libyans, Gazans say and Israel has confirmed. After expressing horror at the Israeli war and asking about the family, the callers ask about local conditions, whether the family supports Hamas and if there are fighters in the building or the neighborhood.

And in summary:

“Urban warfare is the most difficult battlefield, where Hamas and Islamic Jihad have a relative advantage, with local knowledge and prepared positions,” said Jonathan Fighel of Israel’s International Institute for Counterterrorism. “Hamas has a doctrine; this is not a gang of Rambos,” he said. “The Israeli military has to find the stitches to unpick, how to counterbalance and surprise.”

Israeli troops are moving slowly and, they hope, unpredictably, trying not to stay in one place for long to entice Hamas fighters “to come out and confront them,” Mr. Fighel said.

Today, he said, “the mind-set from top to bottom is fight and fight cruel; this is a war, not another pinpoint operation.”

Personally, I'm sympathetic to protests over civilian deaths, but hey, this is urban warfare. The battlefield is chosen by both parties- the agree to wage war there. Any discussion of "war crimes" needs to be informed by actual legal principles, it's not just a phrase you bandy about.

Samurai Sword Related Death's in the News

Is there ever a time that the phrase "acting strangely" and "brandishing a sword" DO NOT go together.

Some possibilities:

1. Ren Faire.
2. Shakespeare in the park.
3. "Pirate Day" themed party.

MODESTO, Calif.—A man wielding a samurai sword was shot and killed by a police officer in downtown Modesto early Sunday.

Modesto police spokesman Sgt. Brian Findlen said the 44-year old man was seen acting strangely and brandishing the two- to three-foot long sword outside a Doubletree Hotel shortly after 5 a.m. A police officer was sent to the scene but it was not immediately clear whether the man charged the officer or what led her to shoot him, Findlen said.

(AP)