Not the sharpest knife in the drawer…

Burglar accidentally takes own photo

SUFFOLK, Va., June 29 (UPI) — A spokeswoman for the city of Suffolk, Va., says a burglar accidentally took his own picture with a victim’s cell phone while robbing an area home. [...]

[City spokeswoman Debbie] George said it appeared the male suspect had been attempting to make a phone call during the home break-in and accidentally captured his own image using the device’s camera function.

The unidentified suspect fled the scene, leaving the phone and its incriminating photo behind, George added.

Information regarding the identity of the photogenic criminal could be worth up to $1,000 for tipsters if their clues result in his arrest, the Daily Press reported.

Fan meet shit, shit, fan.

Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.S. troops pulled out of Baghdad on Monday, triggering jubilation among Iraqis hopeful that foreign military occupation is ending six years after the invasion to depose Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi soldiers paraded through the streets in their American-made vehicles draped with Iraqi flags and flowers, chanting, dancing and calling the pullout a “victory.”

One drove a motorcycle with party streamers on it; another, a Humvee with a garland of plastic roses on the grill.

U.S. combat troops must pull out of Iraq’s urban centers by midnight on Tuesday under a bilateral security pact that also requires all troops to leave the country by 2012.

All had left the capital by Monday afternoon, Major-General in Staff, Abboud Qanbar, head of Iraqi security forces in Baghdad, told Reuters.

…like flies

Comedian, impersonator Travalena dies

ENCINO, Calif., June 29 (UPI) — Comedian, impersonator and “Tonight Show” regular Fred Travalena has died in Encino, Calif., at age 66, his publicist says.

Travalena, known as “The Man of a Thousand Faces,” fought cancer for seven years after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2002 and prostate cancer in 2003, CNN reported.

The lymphoma went into remission but returned last year, and “since that time, he has been in and out of treatment, consisting of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation,” spokesman Roger Neal told the U.S. broadcaster.

Without going into detail, recently we encountered a problem with the IRS. Not pretty. Ugly. Really ugly. And they have admitted they LOST the tax returns that they are disputing.

Is the IRS looking at Bernie Madoff? I don’t think so. Never have I read anywhere that he was charged with tax evasion. That in itself should have gotten him life in prison. Then there’s this……….

WTF! The original judgment was $20 million and was reduced to $15,000 because THEY COULDN’T AFFORD THE LARGER SUM?????? Gee, you can rip people off for millions, even billions…..and if you can’t afford to pay the fine it’s just peachy keen. But the government will fucking ruin the lives of average Americans whose tax returns THEY lost. This country is beyond fucked up.

Watch if you have the stomach for it. More video at DailyKosTV.

Did you know that republicans are two-faced? You didn’t?

From MediaMatters:

AP ignores Sessions’ assertion that “[y]ou don’t have to read everything [Alito has] written”

SUMMARY: In reporting Sen. Mitch McConnell’s call to delay Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing and Sen. Jeff Sessions’ request for more information related to Sotomayor’s judicial career, the AP did not note that Sessions urged fast action on Justice Samuel Alito’s nomination, reportedly saying: “You don’t have to read everything he’s written.”

And From Daily Kos:

IOKIYAR

HALEY BARBOUR, yesterday:

You know, Bob, I don’t know all the details. But I’ve been in politics a long time. I’ve made it my policy, I just don’t talk about people’s personal problems. I don’t– I don’t think it’s appropriate, I don’t think it’s polite, and I don’t think it– it achieves any purpose.

HALEY BARBOUR, September 15, 1998:

And now we have this president who treated Monica Lewinsky in such a way that it makes prostitution look dignified and ennobling. I mean, he made her a sex toy, a sex object. And now what do these women say? That it doesn’t make any difference?

The American people hear that with a voice louder than a bolt of lightning and thunder when these same people never say one word about the way that this young woman was treated, when they’ve spent their whole careers complaining about it when it was the president of a company or a Republican Senator or a possible judge? The public sees through that like nothing you ever saw.

Life without parole would have been better……..

Disgraced fund manger Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday for masterminding one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. financial history. Madoff, 71, pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed.”

Madoff’s investors included at least 2,000 South Floridians, out of about 13,000 nationwide.

One of the major “feeder funds” that funneled money to Madoff was based in Fort Lauderdale. The accounting firm of Avellino and Bienes, which was shut down by the SEC in 1992, controlled $441 million which Michael Bienes says was exclusively invested with Madoff.

The Madoff losses have also rolled across charities in South Florida. Palm Beach’s Picower Foundation, which had almost $1 billion in assets and supported dozens of local programs, shut off donations in Madoff’s wake. The foundation of Palm Beach philanthropists Carl and Ruth Shapiro said it lost $145 million in Madoff investments and will make no new gifts.

Biggest defrauders should be subject to death penalty “Let him die,” said Tamarac Madoff victim Ralph Schwarz, “They are not going to give him what he deserves.”

Gee, I wonder what brought this on?

Air Force tests missile in launch from Calif coast

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) – The Air Force has successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile from the California coast to an area in the Pacific Ocean some 4,200 miles away.

Lt. Raymond Geoffroy says the ICBM was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 3:01 a.m. Monday and carried three unarmed re-entry vehicles to their targets near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The missile, configured with a National Nuclear Security Administration Test Assembly, was launched under the direction of the 576th Flight Test Squadron.

The Air Force says the launch was an operational test to check the weapon system’s reliability and accuracy, and the data will be used by United States Strategic Command planners and Department of Energy laboratories.

Ryuichi Sakamoto – The Last Emperor (Trio World Tour 1996)

What the hell is going on???

Cops: TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead

Mays best known for his hawking of products such as Orange Glo, OxiClean

TAMPA, Fla. – Billy Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean, has died. He was 50.

Tampa police said Mays was found unresponsive by his wife Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m.

There were no signs of a break-in, and investigators do not suspect foul play. The coroner’s office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.

“Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days,” said Mays’ wife, Deborah. “Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times.”

RIP, Billy

“Be a dear and pass those canapes or I’ll stomp a new mudhole in your ass.”

Fundraiser hostess arrested after melee

ENCINTAS, Calif., June 28 (UPI) — Sheriff’s deputies busted a congressional candidate’s fundraiser in the San Diego area on a noise complaint, nabbing the hostess for battery and obstruction.

Shari Barman, 60, who was booked and released in the Saturday incident, is to appear in court in August on charges of suspicion of obstructing a peace officer and battery on a peace officer, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Sunday.

The Encintas, Calif., fundraiser — a catered affair that included valet parking but no music or entertainment — was to support Francine Busby’s 2010 congressional bid.

Busby, who spoke at the private reception, said the event was “no different” from hundreds of parties and fundraisers that she has attended — except the ending.

Deputies were called to the home after a neighbor called to complain about the loud noise, sheriff’s Sgt. Chuck Yancey said. Deputies returned a second time when the noise hadn’t abated and asked for Barman’s birthdate to complete paperwork on noise complaints. She refused and things went downhill.

So sad. When we lose Walter, journalism will officially be dead.

Walter Cronkite not expected to recover, family says

Legendary CBS newsman Walter Cronkite III, once regarded as the “most trusted man in America,” is on his deathbed suffering from a respiratory illness and not expected to recover, his family said in a prepared statement published Saturday.

“In order to dispel false rumors, Walter Cronkite’s family want it known that, sadly, he is very ill and is not expected to recuperate; he is resting at home surrounded by family, friends and a wonderful medical team,” the statement read. “We thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes.”

Cronkite, whose face is practically synonymous with dozens of seminal moments in U.S. history, is 92-years-old.