Military officials are warning families of service members about a hoax involving fake death notifications to family members in the Oklahoma City metro area.I don't know if this was some sort of identity theft scam or just (JUST?!?) a sick prank or protest, but either way those involved should be tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail. And I mean it literally, not figuratively.
Oklahoma Army National Guard Lt. Col. Max Moss said the family of a Navy serviceman was approached this week by two people claiming to be Army Casualty Notification Officers, wearing camouflage uniforms.
The spouse was told her husband had been killed and she was then asked to sign paperwork. The woman refused and called Tinker Air Force Base for assistance.
"Herman Cain is probably well liked by some of the Republicans because it hides the racist elements of the Republican party. Conservative movement and tea party movement, one in the same."Here's the video. Don't watch it unless you have low blood pressure, a strong stomach, and nothing heavy to throw at the monitor.
"People like Karl Rove liked to keep the racism very covert. And so Herman Cain provides this great opportunity say you can say 'Look, this is not a racist, anti-immigrant, anti-female, anti-gay movement. Look we have a black man."
Herman Cain winning the Florida straw poll is encouraging. It means an honest, straight-talking non-politician can cut through the flowery rhetoric and be taken seriously.Amen, brother!
Right out of the gate, the first thing that would be striking about a Herman Cain vs. Barack Obama presidential race would be the comparison between Barry dragging out and setting up two Teleprompters to answer a few questions and Herman standing next to him, hands in his pockets, pithy retort at the ready.Then there's the racial issue.
On jobs, the President's usual approach is to attempt to razzle-dazzle with flowery rhetorical proposals that sound good on the campaign trail but, in practice, don't work. Herman's method is to listen to his opponents, look at the crowd, smile, and off-the-cuff respond to half-baked ideas with: "It's time to get real, folks. Hope and change ain't working. Hope and change is not a solution. Hope and change is not a job."
After watching Bobble Head Barack turn from right to left reading what someone tells him he believes off a scrolling Teleprompter, oh, to be able to watch Herman Cain lean over a debate podium and hear him say, "We need a leader, not a reader."
On the left, racism is defined as: "People who oppose Obama," and in the past Mr. Cain has in fact admitted, "I guess I'm a racist."Oh, delicious irony!
The confusion surrounding having two black candidates for president would make for interesting theater. Take for instance Black Panther poll watchers standing guard for racial equality. How would they know whom to wave their clubs at on Election Day? Do the Panthers intimidate whites voting for Obama or blacks voting for Cain? How would they figure out who is voting for whom? What a quandary.
... a newspaper editor whose decapitated body was found over the weekend in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo appears to have been targeted by a drug gang carrying out a reprisal for her work on social networks.That makes getting unfriended on Facebook pretty innocuous.
Though no investigation has yet been carried out, a message was found next to the body indicating that she was killed by members of organized crime "in retaliation for the information that the victim had distributed in social networks denouncing the activities of criminals in Nuevo Laredo..."
Earlier this month, attackers left threats mentioning two websites on signs beside mutilated bodies in northern Mexico. A woman had been hogtied and disemboweled and left dangling from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo. A bloodied man next to her was hanging by his hands.
Signs left near the bodies declared the pair, both apparently in their 20s, were killed for posting denouncements of drug cartel activities.
"Laredo, Texas is under siege. The small city on the U.S.-Mexico border is overrun by the sophisticated and large-scale trafficking operations of Mexican drug cartels. Given unprecedented access, A&E documents a unique, dedicated team of local cops, members of the Laredo Texas Police Department Narcotics Unit, who are waging a daily battle to protect the U.S.Check it out. You just might see a middle-aged over-weight bald-headed blogger in the background of some scenes (not me, of course - I'm young, could pass for a male swimsuit model, and have a full head of thick, luxurious, wavy hair).
The largest inland port on the U.S.-Mexico border, Laredo is the premiere gateway used by Mexican drug cartels to transport illegal narcotics into the U.S. and export billions of dollars in cash to Mexico. "Bordertown: Laredo" gives viewers exclusive access to the explosive drama, violence and conflict that unfold daily along the U.S.-Mexico border through the unique perspective of five Mexican-American cops determined to take back their community."
Pima Community College in Tucson will restrict admission to high school graduates or GED holders with at least seventh-grade proficiency in reading, writing and math, starting in 2012. The new admissions standards will encourage success, writes Roy Flores, the college president.Think about that. There are high school graduates out there who are unable to read, write, or do 'rithmatic at a seventh grade level. How on earth did they advance to the eighth grade, much less graduate?
“Students who test below this level have little chance of succeeding in a college environment,”Candidate for understatement of the year.
Of 35,000 students at PCC, about 2,300 students — 6.3 percent — test below the seventh-grade level.This is so sad on so many levels. IMO the most depressing thing about all this is that the public school system is doing such a huge disservice to the very people it is supposed to be helping - the students.
What’s the major difference between George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law and the new education program that will be announced by President Obama today?Reasonable people can disagree on the effectiveness of the No Child Left Behind law, but at least it was a first step in holding public schools accountable for the quality of the education they are imparting to their students. And it was approved by conservatives, moderates, and liberals, gaining a consensus that seems impossible in these contentious times.
It’s there in the very sentence above.
The Bush law is a law. It was the result of arduous bipartisan negotiations that led to an agreement between, of all people, Bush and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
The Obama program is a program. It is federal fiat, a decision about what’s best by your superiors in the Obama administration. It’s a unilateral move to bypass the legislative process. It may or may not be good education policy.
In a 2008 debate, Charlie Gibson asked Barack Obama about his support for raising capital gains taxes, given the historical record of government losing net revenue as a result. Obama persevered: “Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.”Think about that for a minute. The downgrader-in-chief advocates using tax policy to advance a social program of 'fairness' (whatever that is) regardless of any negative consequences for revenue collection. That's a questionable position at any time, but a particularly disastrous one when the national debt and deficit have reached unparalleled heights and the economy is shaky at best. It also provides a disturbing insight into obama's ideological perspective.
A most revealing window into our president’s political core: To impose a tax that actually impoverishes our communal bank account (the U.S. Treasury) is ridiculous. It is nothing but punitive. It benefits no one — not the rich, not the poor, not the government. For Obama, however, it brings fairness, which is priceless.Focusing solely on the capital gains tax issue, the "economic logic" in question is the fact that taxing capital gains is actually taxing capital investment. Raising the tax rate will reduce the incentive for investors to commit capital to businesses, stifling economic growth in the midst of the current near-recession. Furthermore, capital gains are already taxed at what the Wall Street Journal calls "prohibitative rates," due to the fact that capital gains are taxed twice.
Now that he’s president, Obama has actually gone and done it. He’s just proposed a $1.5 trillion tsunami of tax hikes featuring a “Buffett rule” that, although as yet deliberately still fuzzy, clearly includes raising capital gains taxes.
He also insists again upon raising marginal rates on “millionaire” couples making $250,000 or more. But roughly half the income of small businesses (i.e., those filing individual returns) would be hit by this tax increase. Therefore, if we are to believe Obama’s own logic that his proposed business tax credits would increase hiring, then surely this tax hike will reduce small-business hiring.
But what are jobs when fairness is at stake? Fairness trumps growth. Fairness trumps revenue. Fairness trumps economic logic.
The problem is that this is a tax increase on capital investment, which the U.S. already taxes at prohibitive rates thanks to our high corporate tax rate of 35%. Capital gains and dividends are taxed twice, first as corporate profits and then as payouts to individuals. Their real capital gains tax rate is closer to 45% than 15%, which is why politicians of both parties have long supported a capital-gains rate differential.Both the WSJ and Charles Krauthammer agree that obama's so-called Buffet rule is bad economic policy. The WSJ ascribes it to politics.
We rehearse all of this because it shows that the real point of Mr. Obama's Buffett Rule and his latest deficit proposal isn't tax justice or good tax policy. It is all about re-election politics.Krauthammer thinks its obama being true to himself.
That’s why “soak the rich” is not just a campaign slogan to rally the base. It’s a mission.I think they're both right...
No helicopter parents, thank God. Since it's a required core course, I have a mix of grade levels. There are freshmen, sophomores, and even a few juniors. Most of the juniors are transfers from the local community college. Here's what I think is the underlying problem.I think you should capitalize on their failures. Buy some Scantrons and pencils and offer them at a 500% mark up to those that forget. Perhaps the price could go up with each subsequent purchase by the same student.
Generally speaking, our public school system is failing to do what it is supposed to do. Back when most of us went to school we learned the basics - the three R's, if you will. We also were held responsible for our behavior and actions (or inactions). In today's schools, the curriculum has been dumbed down and special interest groups have been pandered to (see, for example, this article discussing the recent controversy over textbooks used in the Texas public school system). Students are coddled. If they don't study, or forget to bring their homework to school, they are met with understanding and counseling instead of negative consequences. Thus they learn that it doesn't matter if they screw up - they don't get in trouble. They also graduate from high school woefully unprepared for college.
Community colleges are now basically two-year extensions of high school (at least on the academic side - on the vocational side, they still seem to be doing a good job). At our university we have a one-year remedial program for students with poor reading, riting, and 'rithmatic skills. So even at the university level we are doing the high schools' job to a certain extent.
Several years ago I did that. I would bring extra scantrons and pencils to class. If a student didn't have one I gave them the choice of buying one from me for $5 or running over to the bookstore and back, with no extended time to complete the exam. Of course, they ran instead to the dean and complained.
I explained that I was simply reinforcing what we taught in the business school: buy low sell high, the time value of money, and opportunity cost. Of course that didn't fly, so we came to a mutual agreement that I wouldn't teach that class any more. Now, however, we have a new dean and a new department chair.
I sense a deja vu moment approaching.Bear said: I'm gonna make my little brother read this, then re-warn him for the 734th time about the dangers of majoring in Beer & Girls during his higher education.
Bear, I would suggest your little brother major in whatever academic discipline he's interested in, and minor in Beer & Girls. That's what I did, and it only took me ten years to get my undergraduate degree.
My parents, however, cut me off after two.Old NFO commented: That is pretty @#@&* sad... Glad I'm not gonna be around when this generation takes over (if they can).
The sad part is that these kids aren't stupid, they're just unprepared (see my comments above). Once they're properly motivated and learn that they'll be held accountable, they shape up pretty quick. It's just getting them there that's tough. The scary part is that a large number of this generation will never learn the concept of personal accountability, because they've been raised with a dependency addiction and an entitlement mentality - "the gum'mint will take care of me."kerrcarto pointed out: Every year (when I rated highways for TxDot) we had to get certified. It was a three day course. Two teaching days and one test day. It was an open book test. I have seen 40 year old men flunk it. I always wondered how the fuck you can fail an open book test, but year after year I watched it happen.
I can't speak to the TxDOT test, but I think there's two immediate reasons some of my students stumbled on the open book test. First, they didn't come to, or didn't pay attention to, the discussions in class where we explained the material. The test is written such that you can't just look up the answers, but must apply the concepts to a specific context. For example, I don't ask them the definition of a transaction processing system. That would take about 15 seconds to find in the glossary. Instead, I ask something like "HEB (a local grocery store) has approximately 10,000 customers daily. Each customer buys an average of 20 items. What type of information system should HEB use to capture and process data about customer purchases?" If they don't know that a transaction processing system is designed to collect and process detailed information associated with high-volume transactions in a short time frame, they'll have a hard time figuring out the answer.This turned into a longer post than I intended, so I'll stop for now. But the problems with public schools is one of my hot buttons, so I'm sure I'll have more to say at a future date.
The second reason is that, again as previously mentioned, the students' reading, comprehension, and reasoning skills are poorly developed in the public school systems.
"Class, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Reality."I had students show up that I haven't seen all semester. In spite of repeated advance notice, including multiple postings in our online chat room and multiple emails sent to each and every student, there were still a number that showed up without (A) a scantron (the machine-readable form for recording the exam answers); (B) a pencil (for filling out the scantron); (C) the book or their notes (it was an open-book exam); or (D) all of the above.
"Mr. Reality, meet my students."
If you're the owner of a fairly new General Motors product, you may want to take a close look at the most recent OnStar terms and conditions. As it turns out, the company has altered the parameters under which it can legally collect GPS data on your vehicle.Note that the "other data" mentioned above includes your credit card information. Also note that the new so-called 'privacy' policy allows GM to share or sell that information to other parties.
Originally, the terms and conditions stated that OnStar could only collect information on your vehicle's location during a theft recovery or in the midst of sending emergency services your way. That has apparently changed. Now, OnStar says that it has the right to collect and sell personal, yet supposedly anonymous information on your vehicle, including speed, location, seat belt usage and other information.
Who would be interested in that data, you ask? Law enforcement agencies, for starters, as well as insurance companies. Perhaps the most startling news to come out of the latest OnStar terms and conditions is the fact that the company can continue to collect the information even after you disconnect the service. If you want the info to be cut off all together, you'll have to specifically shut down the vehicle's data connection.In other words, you can opt out of the data collection, but you have to do so twice. Once when you discontinue the service, and then a second time to tell GM you really mean it. Kind of like those little popup boxes that ask "Are you sure you want to delete this file?"
"Under our new Terms and Conditions, when a customer cancels service, we have informed customers that OnStar will maintain a two-way connection to their vehicle unless they ask us not to do so."
University of Pennsylvania students who were puzzled by a no-show professor later found out why he missed the first day of class: He died months ago.
The students were waiting for Henry Teune to teach a political science class at the Ivy League school in Philadelphia on Sept. 13.
University officials say that about an hour after the class's start time, an administrator notified students by email that Teune had died. The email apologized for not having canceled the class.
Teune died in April at the age of 75.
Senate Democrats still have not decided when to take up the jobs bill President Barack Obama announced with great fanfare to a joint session of Congress almost two weeks ago. In addition, they are still working to determine if they will vote on the bill in its entirety or augment it with additional job growth ideas of their own.Whatever happened to "Pass this Bill"?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appeared testy at a news conference Tuesday when asked about the schedule for the bill and whether all Democrats would support it...
Want to know what the U.S .would look like under Barack Obama's amnesty for illegals? Look no further than the president's own family, warn officials for the Washington watchdog organization Judicial Watch.
"President Obama's 'Uncle Omar' is the face of what is wrong with the Obama administration's lawless and dangerous approach to illegal immigration. Instead of being deported, as the law requires, Uncle Omar was allowed to roam the streets and endanger the lives of innocent people, including a law enforcement officer," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
"And Uncle Omar is exactly the kind of person that local police would have been able to easily keep off the streets as a result of new immigration laws in states such as Arizona and Georgia, which are being challenged in court by the Obama administration," he said.
Obama's illegal alien uncle was arrested last week for allegedly driving drunk after leaving the Chicken Bone Saloon in Framingham, Mass. He was accused of nearly hitting a police car.
Onyango Obama reportedly is a citizen of Kenya but apparently ignored a deportation order in the 1990s and has been a fugitive since.
The situation is not the first involving an illegal alien relative of the president. Last year his aunt, Zeituni Onyango, was granted asylum in the U.S. after she was rejected in a request for asylum in 2004 but stayed in the U.S. anyway.What is disturbing about Auntie Zeituni is not her casual disregard of U.S. law (well, yes that is disturbing, especially as it seems to run in the family). But what is particularly disturbing is her arrogance and sense of entitlement, as displayed in the video below. It's about 4 1/2 minutes long, but well worth watching just to gain an insight into the obama family perspective on the law and what they believe this country owes them.
When I first saw Obama planned to institute a "Buffett Tax" I mistakenly thought he'd be levying taxes against his wife every time she bellied up to the all-you-can-eat buffet line.* * * * * * * * * *
At a New York political event last week, Republican and Democratic office-holders were all bemoaning President Obama’s handling of the debt-ceiling crisis when someone said, “Hillary would have been a better president.”So much for civility and cooperation from the left.
“Every single person nodded, including the Republicans,” reported one observer.
At a luncheon in the members’ dining room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, a 64-year-old African-American from the Bronx was complaining about Obama’s ineffectiveness in dealing with the implacable hostility of congressional Republicans when an 80-year-old lawyer chimed in about the president’s unwillingness to stand up to his opponents. “I want to see blood on the floor,” she said grimly.
A 61-year-old white woman at the table nodded. “He never understood about the ‘vast right-wing conspiracy,’” she said.Maybe that's why the left is so bitter. They're paranoid.
Looking as if she were about to cry, an 83-year-old Obama supporter shook her head. “I’m so disappointed in him,” she said. “It’s true: Hillary is tougher.”
In Connecticut, a businessman who raised money for Obama in 2008 said, “I’m beyond disgusted.” In New Jersey, a teacher reported that even her friends in the Obama administration are grievously disillusioned with his lack of leadership—and many have begun to whisper about a Democratic challenge for the 2012 presidential nomination. “I think people are furtively hoping that Hillary runs,” she said.
The son of a longtime Democratic congressman from Texas, a 73-year-old lawyer, is so enraged with Obama that he’s threatening not to vote for the 2012 Democratic ticket—the first time in his entire life that he’s contemplated such apostasy.
On Real Time With Bill Maher, the host said that as far as he was concerned, Obama might as well be a Republican, and added that he thought last week represented the tipping point in Obama’s presidency.Maher's an asshole, of course, but no matter.
When one of his guests said that Clinton would have been a better president than obama because she would have been “a more effective negotiator in the halls of Congress,” Maher replied “She knows how to deal with difficult men.”Ooohhhhhhh - throw Bill under the bus with barry...
Among Clinton fans, particularly older women, the language was frequently far more caustic. “Obama has no spine and no balls,” said a 67-year-old New Yorker.For once I find myself agreeing with a liberal.
Other observers contrasted the president’s declining popularity with Clinton’s widely acclaimed performance as secretary of State. “To be blunt, her resume outshines the incumbent’s,” ... Clinton’s approval rating is close to 70 percent while Obama’s is around 40 percent.
Such polls notwithstanding, insiders insist that Clinton will not challenge her president for the 2012 nomination, and many pundits dismiss the idea as political suicide. “A challenge from Clinton would be a complete disaster, both for her and for the Democrats,” wrote Jon Bernstein on the Plain Blog political site.Sadly, it appears unlikely that Hillary will actually challenge obama in 2012. But the dems still have a predicament. The incumbent squatter in the Oval Office faces a difficult reelection campaign, with the outcome very much in doubt. Fortunately for them, there is an alternative.
Weapons linked to ATF's controversial "Fast and Furious" operation have been tied to at least eight violent crimes in Mexico including three murders, four kidnappings and an attempted homicide.There is money flowing to obama from donors in exchange for favors that cost the taxpayers $$$ and threatens our national security
According to a letter from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the disclosed incidents may be only a partial list of violent crimes linked to Fast and Furious weapons because "ATF has not conducted a comprehensive independent investigation."
When added to the guns found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in the U.S., the newly-revealed murders in Mexico bring the total number of deaths linked to Fast and Furious to four.
- obama administration ignored warnings about Solynda
White House officials discussed the political ramifications of a possible default by a troubled solar energy company that received more than $500 million in federal loans.
The emails show the Obama administration privately worried about the effect of a default by Solyndra Inc. on the president's re-election campaign.
At least three reports by federal watchdogs over the past two years warned that the Energy Department had not fully developed the controls needed to manage the multibillion-dollar loan program that provided more than $528 million to Solyndra Inc., a now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer.
The Silicon Valley company was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under the 2009 stimulus law, and the Obama administration frequently touted Solyndra as a model for its clean energy program. President Barack Obama visited the company's Fremont, Calif., headquarters last year.
Even as Obama praised the company's plans to hire more than 1,000 workers, warning signs were being sent from within the government and from outside analysts who questioned Solyndra's viability as a "going concern."
- obama administration pressures Air Force General on behalf of campaign donor
The four-star Air Force general who oversees U.S. Space Command walked into a highly secured room on Capitol Hill a week ago to give a classified briefing to lawmakers and staff, and dropped a surprise. Pressed by members, Gen. William Shelton said the White House tried to pressure him to change his testimony to make it more favorable to a company tied to a large Democratic donor.Two comments on that last item: (1) the source was msnbc - if you're a 'progressive, when you've lost msnbc, you're really in trouble; and (2) compromising our national security to gain a political advantage is beyond despicable. It borders on the treasonous.
A former Justice Department attorney who quit his job to protest the Obama administration's handling of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case is accusing Attorney General Eric Holder of dropping the charges for racially motivated reasons.If you're searching for a common thread between the above cases - besides obama, that is - it's Eric Holder.
Dry shampoo, cleansing gel, lift express ("My wife loaned me this stuff, and it really tightened up and hydrated my face. Now I save it for special occasions."), body balm, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue ("I've been wearing Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue since it came out, but I wear the one they make for women." - well of course you do, sweetie...), Eye Defense Cream, and last but not least, Texturizing Paste.How did I survive 40+ years after puberty, including three in the Army, without Texturizing Paste, whatever the Hell that is?
Justin Bieber wears what's comfortable -- it's as simple as that. The pop sensation rocked the red carpet at Dolce & Gabbana's Fashion's Night Out event in New York City, where he spoke about his own fashion choices, including women's jeans.Of course women's jean are more comfortable for the Biebster. They're not cut to accommodate 'the package,' which he obviously lacks...
Teachers and some 28,000 students in Tacoma, Washington, were supposed return to school Thursday after a judge ordered the striking teachers to halt their protest -- but that didn't happen.
The Tacoma School district had to cancel classes because many teachers did not show up for work Thursday, despite the judge's order on Wednesday...
Many teachers returned to the picket line Thursday instead of complying with the court order, according to CNN affiliate KCPQ.
A Washington state court judge issued a temporary restraining order and ordered that schools reopen immediately after the Tacoma School District took the striking teachers and the Tacoma Education Association union to court.
Tyler Firkins, the attorney for the teacher's union, said the school district was not negotiating in good faith and that if the strike continued, students could make up the missed time later.Yeah, right. The teachers union is going to agree to extend the school year into their summer vacation? I don't think so.
"Whether my child misses a week or two, it's not going to affect her education," Firkins said of his daughter, who he said attends classes at a Tacoma public school.That tells you everything you need to know about the quality of public education delivered by unionized teachers.
"This is about teaching our kids to stand up to bullies," said Andy Coons, president of the teacher's union.It may be a lesson in standing up to bullies, but in this case the bully is the union. The teachers are placing their wants and desires above the public good, and ignoring the law. Is that really what you want to teach your kids?
Democrats, from the rank-and-file to President Obama, are worried -- as they should be -- about the surprise victory of a novice candidate, Republican Bob Turner, in New York City's 9th Congressional District.Candidate for understatement of the week.
Democrats had every advantage they could have asked for. They outnumber Republicans 3-to-1 in a district Dems have held since 1923. They vastly outspent Turner and the GOP, and even called in big guns like ex-President Bill Clinton and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to campaign for the losing Democrat, state Rep. David Weprin.
But they still lost.
It seems clear that voters, including a significant number of Democrats, are angry at Obama's policies -- so dissatisfied that they are willing to vote for newcomers, like Turner, who have never held political office.
Weprin's strategy largely consisted of calling Turner a tea party candidate and pledging allegiance to the Democratic line, on the assumption that his party's election machinery and support from unions would win the day. That was a mistake...
Schultz Blames Orthodox JewsIt's interesting to note that Weprin, the democrat loser, is Jewish, while Turner is Cathlic. Imagine that - those darn Jews crossing party lines to vote for a Catholic. Maybe obama shouldn't have made a practice of throwing Isreal under the bus.
Schumer Says District is 'too Jewish'
It was a chilling message: two bodies with signs of torture found hanging from a pedestrian bridge in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
A man and a woman, both in their early 20s, were left hanging like cuts of meat. The woman was hogtied and disemboweled, her intestines protruding from three deep cuts on her abdomen. She was then hung from the bridge by her feet and hands, topless. The bloodied man was suspended next to her by his hands, his right shoulder severed so deeply you can see the bone.
Two posters left near the bodies declared that the pair -- a young man and woman -- were killed for denouncing drug cartel activity on a social network.What kind of animals do things like this? Sick, sick, sick...
Bloggers who specialize in sharing news about trafficking have been threatened in the past, but this could be the first time that users of such social networks have been targeted.
The effect of such threats could be chilling, as several areas in Mexico -- including Nuevo Laredo -- have media outlets that self-censor out of fear of retribution by the cartels. In light of this censorship, blogs and social networks such as Twitter have surged as alternatives to keep citizens informed of dangers in their community.
Now the users of those networks appear to be under threat.
Texas just finished the hottest June through August on record for any state in the U.S., weather officials said Thursday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Victor Murphy told The Associated Press that Texas' average ... beat out Oklahoma's ... in 1934 (in the midst of the Dust Bowl years).
The record was announced as raging wildfires and scorching heat continued ... over the past week, adding to the human, economic and agricultural toll of a historic drought that climatologists said was only growing more dire.
The dry conditions, coupled with persistent temperatures well above 100 degrees, has sparked wildfires throughout the state. So far this year, 18,719 fires have burned over 3.5 million acres and thousands of homes and other structures, according to the Texas Forest Service.
More than 95 percent of the state's pasture and rangelands are rated as poor or very poor, leaving little for livestock to eat or drink. Texas officials peg damages at more than $5 billion.
Nearly a dozen Republican senators on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to quickly send Congress three long-delayed trade deals that they said would help put Americans back to work.Yet somehow this will all be made to appear as if it's congress' fault.
"If the president really cares about jobs, he will send up the agreements immediately," Senator Rob Portman told reporters, referring to deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia signed more than four years ago.
The senators said they were frustrated that Obama has repeatedly called on lawmakers to approve the trade pacts but still has not formally submitted them to Congress.
"We can't pass them if you don't send them up," Senator Roy Blunt said, noting the trade deals have been on Obama's desk since he became president in January 2009.
