(Guest-blogged by Popeye the Cat.)

Maybe my bipedaled pets don't believe in making resolutions and bettering themselves as the second-most dominant life form on the planet but that doesn't mean I can't make my own resolutions in the interests of self betterment. So here are my top 10 resolutions for 2012.

10) I will not stick my rectum and admirably large package in Mommy and Daddy's face anymore. There's such a thing as too much of a good thing.

9) I will not follow them into the bathroom every single time for a head and butt scratching. My sense of smell is extremely powerful. Trust me on this.

8) I will not put myself between Mommy and Daddy and their monitors, especially if there's a chance they're ordering food for me online.

7) I will not lick my admirably large package in front of Daddy. I hate it when he gets jealous.

6) I will not lay down on top of Daddy's manuscripts and Mommy's magazines while they're using them. The ink is a bitch to lick off.

5) I will try not to be too finicky in the future, provided my zebra meat is still grilled gently over moon rocks by Japanese ventriloquists.

4) Next Christmas, I will not tear apart everyone's presents in an attempt to get at mine.

3) I will practice more restraint when Daddy gives me catnip. The last time, I put over $100 on his debit card and he was not happy.

2) I will stop pissing in the bathroom closet, on the bedroom floor and on Daddy's tote bag if my litter box isn't cleaned every hour on the hour.

1) Naming me was still an exercise in futility but when they call me from now on, the least I can give them is a contemptuous, bored look.

CRAZY STUFF!
Despite scarey decompressions, a you-can-not-make-this-up event on a commuter flight to New York, the inexplicable but global trend of attacking pilots with lasers, an elevation of rhetoric in politics and in aviation and some truely appalling carrying-on by air travelers who really should know better (Gerard! Alec! Leisha! what got into you?) aviation was blessed this year with many, many happy landings.


SAFE FLIGHTS!

Let's start with the publication of the International Air Transport Association's new statistics that show commercial aviation around the world has never been safer.

Statistics being slippery, I don't normally tout this kind of thing, but Gunther Matschnigg IATA's safety guru makes the point that this is the continuation of an ongoing decline in air accidents and cites success in getting regulators and airlines to participate in standardized operational audits and sharing of safety information; learning from each other being a key factor in aviation safety.


NEW PLANES!

The Dreamliner in Addis Ababa in December

Two new airplanes took to the skies in 2011, the much redesigned and ever lovely B747 and the B787 Dreamliner, which may have seemed more like fantasy than dream after years of delay actually getting the airplane off the ground.

Capt. Desta Zeru flew the 787 into Addis Ababa

But what the hey? All seemed to be forgiven in Japan when All Nippon Airways' first 787 arrived in October (and was then promptly smashed into a boarding bridge).  Equally enthusiastic crowds greeted the 787's arrival in Addis Ababa in December. Ethiopian Airlines didn't actually take posession of the airplane, but one of their pilots did make history by left-seating it into the continent on its 'round the world tour. 

MERGER MANIA!

British Airways/Iberia, LAN Chile/TAM, Continental/United, Southwest/AirTran all tied the knot in 2011. And while setting up housekeeping together is working more easily for some than for others, take my mother-in-law's advice and remember, good marriages aren't built in a day.  Here are some other kinda love stories that kept the drama up at airports around the globe.

And if that's not enough kissy-kissy for you, the short-lived TV show Pan Am offered sexy story lines and prompted former Pan Am employees to reminisce about the glory days to the delight of many of us.

SWEET DREAMS!
After years and years of mind-numbing talk about pilot flight duty times, the Federal Aviation Administration finally issued a proposed a rule that should provide some needed shut-eye for pilots. Airline pilots anyway. Cargo pilots seem to be left to fend for themselves with the sandman and flight attendants, mechanics and air traffic controllers aren't part of the rule either, so this issue is far from ready to be put to bed.

GOOD NEWS FROM BAD TIMES!
There were glimmers of good news emerging from the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March. Pilot Jim Karsh, who flies frequently into Japan generously kept FLYING LESSONS readers updated in the immediate aftermath. My friend and correspondent, Takeo Aizawa was gracious enough to provide  small details of how aviation was faring in Japan in the weeks that followed. I chose to see these reports as glimmers of hope for a  better tomorrow.

ALL THE BLESSINGS OF FLYING
When I thank God for the blessings of the year just past, I include these personal highlights:

• opportunities to watch airplanes, from the great vantage points at airports or airport hotels in Orlando, Chicago, Copenhagen, Bangkok and Dubai.

Steve Guenard takes me flying in N7995

• My experience flying above Manhattan with acrobatic pilot John Klatt, and touring Utah from a beautifully restored Stearman with Steve Guenard at the controls.

• The magnificent sight of a "pilot's halo"viewed while flying above the clouds on a Lufthansa A340. 

Most of all dear readers, I'm thankful to YOU for making FLYING LESSONS a part of your day and contributing your ideas, critiques and comments to make better this thing we love called flying. Happy New Year.

There's an old saying, "Treason is a matter of timing." Same thing goes for statesmanship and patriotism, especially at the beginning of an election cycle.

Much has been made about Obama's "tough stance" on not caving in to the Republicans, especially the ones in the House who found themselves in the absurd position of saying "No" to Obama's stopgap payroll tax cut plan. Republicans saying "No" to tax cuts??? Say it ain't so, Joe McCarthy!

But here's how it really down on the seedier side of the aisle:

While Obama was posturing like the Lion King and publicly calling out the Republicans for what we already knew they are (racist refugees from the DSM IV), the House Republicans realized they'd painted themselves into a corner, Tea Party caucus or no Tea Party caucus. It was a lose-lose situation for the House Repukes, especially since the tax cut measure sailed through the Senate by a pretty wide bipartisan consensus.

So House Speaker John Boehner did what Boehner usually does when he saw his troops tip-toeing off into the sunset of the Great Experiment: Boehner waited until virtually everyone left for their home districts or the nearest golf course, put up the bill under "unanimous consent" (which he should've done in the beginning while everyone was still in town) so that any lone Tea Bagger could do the House's version of the filibuster and oppose it. Naturally, none of them did and Boenher got the bill passed without expending any political capital (or so he thought). When the president signed the bill into law on the 23rd, it was even billed as a Christmas present to the American people! Scrooge caved just like the story goes. Dickens couldn't have penned it better!

Even Alan Grayson, in his latest fundraising email, is hailing this as a great victory for President Obama and the Democratic Party, for standing tall like Bo Svenson or The Rock and just saying, "No!" to the House Republicans who were all too willing to shut the government down just so they themselves could say No to a Democratic President who wanted to extend tax cuts to middle class families for another two months. This, at the very least, enabled unemployed Americans to keep living considerably below the poverty line instead of at the very bottom of the graph.

But even Grayson's usually dead-on cynicism missed the point. Because given his track record these past three years, it's tough to imagine President Barack Chamberlain standing up to the Republican Party in any other but an election year. This is about the most far left Obama will ever allow himself to lean even as the 2012 election year looms closer. Insisting that the House GOP pass a pitifully stopgap measure that will last only until the end of February when the 113th Congress convenes is hardly what a shrewd and perspicacious political observer would call "courageous."

We'll see if this victory will embolden the President to continue taking a firm stand against the congressional GOP just as Obama's every appeasement has emboldened the right side of the aisle to ask for more and more. It was a stalemate in which there were no real winners. The Democrats squeezed a two month payroll tax break out of the Republicans and the Republicans can always say to their lunatic fringe (and they will) that they played ball with the Commie Muslim Kenyan just long enough to keep the money spigots on until Congress reconvenes, see how much we love you out of work folks?

It's still possible that Obama will continue to eyeball the GOP. But even if he does throughout 2012, how do we know that this so-called populist position isn't just basic election year political gamesmanship? And how do we know the GOP won't pull their same old bullshit, with the same old results, when the fight begins over a longer payroll tax cut that will put more of their political capital on the line?

Muammar Gaddafi's daughter Aisha’s lawyer has written to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to inquire for an investigation into the executing of her father and brother.

According to the letter that Gaddafi and his son Mutassim were "killed in the most terrible fashion with their bodies then displayed and grotesquely exploited in totally insolence of Islamic law."

"The pictures of this savagery were telecasted throughout the world, causing my client brutal emotional disturbance," said the letter from Nick Kaufman, the Israeli lawyer appointed by the Qaddafi's daughter. 

"To date, neither Ms Gaddafi nor any member of her family has been verified, by your office, of the opening of an inquiry into the conditions surrounding the ruthless killings," the letter said.

Gaddafi and his Mutassim were arrested in their home town of Sirte in October, two months after activists captured the capital Tripoli and put Libya's longtime ruler and his relatives to flight.

They were murdered soon after their arrest while in the detention of rebels loyal to the country's new control, in conditions that have not been completely illustrated.

Gaddafi's daughter Aisha escaped along with her other family members to neighboring country Algeria in August.

The ICC, based in the Hague, prior this year issued detention orders for the dictator, his son Saif al-Islam, and the former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, for offenses against the Libyan people.

In the letter, Aisha Gaddafi's lawyer requested if the ICC prosecutor's office was inspecting the murders of her father and brother, and if it was taking measures to ensure the Libyan authorities themselves were inquiring the matter.

The letter also demanded whether the ICC was examining what reports said at the time was a NATO air attack on Gaddafi's group instants before he was detained.

Is your office inspecting the air strike purportedly carried out by NATO forces facilitating to conclude whether individual criminal responsibility should be allocated for an illegal military assault?" the letter asked.

Dear Readers;

I am leaving town this morning to travel to lovely Tyler Texas to take the Girls of Law to see their grandparents.  We will be back tomorrow evening.

I will try to post later but if I do not here's wishing you and yours a very happy and healthy New Year!

Regards,

Man o' Law

A considerable majority of foremost economists interviewed by the BBC believe decline will come back to Europe next year.

One fifth said the Eurozone would not survive in its present 17-member outline, whilst the greater part put the option of a eurozone fragmented at 30%-40%.

The survey also revealed that most economists anticipate UK interest rates to remain at 0.5% during the next year.

It was accomplished among 34 UK and European economists who frequently advise the Bank of England.

Of the 27 who replied, 25 predict slump for Europe next year.

Growth in Europe has sluggish in current months as the eurozone debt emergency has enforced governments to restraint in spending and has destabilized trust in the international financial markets.

The eurozone economy grew by 0.2% between July and September, whilst the 27 economies of the European Union grew jointly by 0.3%.

Politicians have tried to solve the disaster, as well as a contract to counterfeit closer ties between EU members, but markets have yet to be persuaded the ways they have adopted are adequate.

The longer the debt catastrophe crashes on, the more probably Europe will come back to decline, economists believe.

Expansion in the UK during the 3^rd quarter was 0.6%. However, enlargement in the last three months was horizontal.

The CBI business group said that 2012 could be the start of a more well-off future if the "pain" of deficit decline passed quickly.

 In his New Year message, the CBI's John Cridland said the eurozone disaster posed a "major threat" to the UK economy, because 40% of UK exports were sold there.

Mr. Cridland further said that the undecided recovery and the enduring debt crisis were severe tokens of the required to rebalance UK's economy away from domestic and government debt.

Race car driver Kasey Kahne has been forced to apologize for Twitter posts about his disgust at seeing a woman breastfeeding in a supermarket.

The apology, on Kahne’s Facebook page, came around 6 p.m. Wednesday, hours after his first tweets and after he’d brushed off the outrage with this post:

“Glad everyone had a good Christmas! Thanks for all the feedback.”

A few hours before his apology, racing-team sponsors Great Clips, a hair-salon chain, had posted its own mea culpa to two women Kahne had attacked online: “Our apologies for this. Please know that response was uncalled for & does not reflect our organization.”

Kahne, who finished the year fourth in the NASCAR standings, also apologized in a Twitter post to one of the woman whom he’d called “a dumb bitch” after she objected to his breastfeeding comments.

The 31-year-old said on Facebook: “I apologize. It was in no way my intention to offend any mother who chooses to breastfeed her child, or, for that matter, anyone who supports breast feeding children.

“In all honestly, I was surprised by what I saw in a grocery store. I shared that reaction with my fans on Twitter. It obviously wasn’t the correct approach, and, after reading your feedback, I now have a better understanding of why my posts upset some of you.”

Thousands of people on his site left comments, many supporting the popular driver, who earned $4.7 million this year.

But on Twitter and on other sites that picked up the story, criticism was strong.

“You’re being horribly sexist, Kasey Kahne, and your misogyny is really unattractive considering the number of female NASCAR fans,” blogger Sarah Wendell wrote on her site, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

Kahne had originally tweeted: “Just walking through supermarket. See a mom breastfeeding little kid. Took second look because I was obviously seeing things. I wasn’t!”

A minute later, he wrote: “One boob put away one boob hanging!!! #nasty” and then “I don’t feel like shopping any more or eating.”

Kahne deleted the second post quickly but not before it had been reported and the outrage started to build.

The Ministry of Defence has named two servicemen who killed subsequently in a blast in Afghanistan.

Tom Jennings, 29, Royal Marine Captain killed when his van was caught in the explosion , south of Kabul last Thursday.

RAF Squadron Leader Anthony Downing was took off back to the UK but died in hospital on Friday from wounds sustained in the blast.

The number of UK workers died in Afghanistan since military operations there started in 2001 stands at 393.

The Ministry of Defense explained Capt Jennings as "a genuine leader, noble in his proficient approach serving those who were his liability".

"Committed and modest, he was an exemplary Royal Marine with an enthusiastic sense of humor even when faced with hardships. Even as working with the Afghan forces that he joined, he displayed understanding and a broad cultural considerate that made sure he was extremely valued by the Afghans over and above his Royal Marine brothers," it said.

"He was dedicated to his wife and their two young sons whose loss cannot be depicted in words. The Royal Marines have lost a brother, they have lost their world."

Prior this week, Prime Minister David Cameron pointed out he was planning a phased pulling out of troops from Afghanistan.

Some 500 are scheduled to be withdrawal next year, with more likely to follow in 2013.

Something else getting "extradited" here from Mexico.

CBP finds 'reefer truck' full of marijuana

By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News

BROWNSVILLE — Customs officers in Pharr seized more than a ton of marijuana from a “utility reefer trailer” in the cargo lot of an international bridge, Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday.

The seizure occurred Friday, after officers at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge referred a refrigerated (“reefer” in CBP parlance) tractor-trailer for further inspection.

Officers found 423 packages of alleged marijuana with a total weight of 2,465 pounds.

The rest of the story:

Great news!

Now here in Comal County we're waiting to hear about an extradition on Lee Roy Suarez who murdered someone, stabbed the deceased's brother, here in New Braunfels and then fled to Mexico back in 2004.

This gives me hope we will get his extradition granted.

Suspect in Juarez consulate killings extradited

Express-News

An alleged prison gang member wanted in connection with the killing of a U.S. consulate employee, her husband and another employee's spouse has been extradited to the United States, Mexican authorities have announced.

Joel Abraham Caudillo was handed over to FBI agents Dec. 20 in Veracruz at the same time that Julian “El Piolin” Zapata Espinoza, wanted in the February killing of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata, was extradited. Mexican authorities announced Caudillo's extradition this week.

He's one of 35 people charged in a drug conspiracy case that alleges that the Barrio Azteca prison gang, working with the Juárez Cartel, engaged in drug trafficking and murder on both sides of the Rio Grande.

The rest of the story:

TEHRAN, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Deputy Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami dismissed on Thursday the U.S. warnings over Iranian threats to close Strait of Hormuz.

Salami said Tehran does not seek Washington's permission to implement its defense strategies in the Persian Gulf, the local satellite Press TV reported on Thursday.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran asks for no other country's permission for the implementation of its defense strategies," Salami was quoted as saying in reaction to Washington's position on Tehran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States is in no position to give permission to Iran, Salami said, adding that the history of confrontations between Tehran and Washington have attested to this fact and the Islamic republic has managed to proceed with its strategies in face of U.S. pressures.

The Pentagon on Wednesday warned Iran against any attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil route.

"This is not just an important issue for security and stability in the region, but is an economic lifeline for countries in the Gulf, including Iran," Pentagon press secretary George Little said. "Interference with the transit or passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated."

Little's remarks came after Iran's top officials threatened to seal off the important oil passageway. Iran's First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi said on Tuesday that Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz if its oil exports are sanctioned by the West.

Again, Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on Wednesday that the country's naval forces can readily block the oil route if needed.

In a separate statement, the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday that "anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated."

The Iranian navy launched on Saturday a 10-day exercise dubbed Velayat 90, which covers a length of 2,000 km stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

More senseless death.

This one will net the guy a capital murder charge.

Two dead in South Bexar County shooting

Woman, brother gunned sown,; ex-husband suspected.
By Michelle Mondo - Express-News

Authorities say a man shot and killed his ex-wife and her older brother Wednesday night after the two argued when he came to pick up their 7-year-old son at her relative’s house in far Southwest Bexar County.

Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Raymond Pollard said the man, whose name was not released, arrived at the home in the 1400 block of Wisdom Road at about 8 p.m. to take his son for a visit.

The boy’s 48-year-old mother and her ex-husband argued outside, witnesses told investigators. Then she then ran into the house, yelling, “He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun!” witnesses said.

The rest of the story:

A busy night last night for murders in Old San Antonio.

This is but one of them.

Man shot, killed on North Side

By Michelle Mondo - Express-News

A man was shot and killed Wednesday night when he answered a knock at the door of his North Side apartment.

The shooting occurred just before midnight at the Sutter's Mill Apartment Homes in the 11900 block of Parliament Street.

The name of the victim was not yet released.

The rest of the story:

PHOENIX -- Dreams of countless Arizonans were dashed when a single Mega Millions ticket sold at a Long Island grocery store matched the winning numbers in Tuesday night's lottery drawing.

The jackpot was $206 million, with a cash option of just under $152 million. The lucky winner has not yet come forward.

The numbers that came up in Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing are 23, 32, 33, 39 and 43. The Megaball was 8, and the Megaplier Multiplier was 3.

Odds of winning the whole enchilada, which means matching all five white balls plus the gold ball, are 1 in slightly less than $176 million.

Sixteen tickets that matched all five white balls but missed the Megaball are worth $250,000. Check your numbers because one of those $250,000 tickets was sold right here in the Grand Canyon State, according to the Arizona Lottery.

Another 130 tickets that matched four white balls plus the Megaball are worth $10,000 each. Two of those tickets were sold in Arizona.

According to the Arizona Lottery website, there are 116 Arizonans who are $150 richer and nearly 27,000 more who won prizes ranging from $2 to $10.

This $206 million jackpot has been rolling over since Nov. 4. Now the jackpot resets to a cool $12 million for the last Mega Millions drawing of 2011. That will happen Friday night.

A total of 41 other states and the District of Columbia also offer the Mega Millions game. Arizona joined Mega Millions on April 18, 2010.

While Arizonans have won smaller prizes in the game, no jackpot-winning ticket has been sold in Arizona.

Okay, granted it looks like a good thing but what happens in a tropical thunderstorm?

Why don't they at least have a roof or something over it?  Or is it waterproof?

Colombian city gets giant, outdoor escalator

Associated Press -

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Officials in Colombia's second-largest city on Monday inaugurated a giant, outdoor escalator for residents of one of its poorest neighborhoods.

For generations, the 12,000 residents of Medellin's tough Comuna 13, which clings to the side of a steep hillside, have had to climb hundreds of large steps authorities say is the same as going up a 28-story building.

Now they can ride an escalator Medellin's mayor says is the first massive, outdoor public escalator for use by residents of a poor area.

The rest of the story:

Wow!

Who knew he was still alive at 80 years old!

I spent many a Saturday afternoon in my youth watching him in the old Tarzan movies.

RIP Cheetah and may there be plenty of bananas for you, old friend.

Cheetah the chimp from the 1930s Tarzan flicks dies

Associated Press -

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — A Florida animal sanctuary says Cheetah the chimpanzee sidekick in the Tarzan movies of the early 1930s has died at age 80.

The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor announced that Cheetah died Dec. 24 of kidney failure.

Sanctuary outreach director Debbie Cobb on Wednesday told The Tampa Tribune  that Cheetah was outgoing, loved finger painting and liked to see people laugh. She says he seemed to be tuned into human feelings.

The rest of the story:

Or unlucky?

Well, certainly luckier than their alleged victims, anyway.

Seven Texas Syndicate members denied bond

By Guillermo Contreras -Express-News

A judge Tuesday denied bond for seven purported members of the Texas Syndicate who were indicted in a racketeering case that includes four murders.

Among them was the gang's alleged chairman for its operations outside prison in San Antonio, Ruben “R.C.” Carranza, 46, who explained to U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo that he had been arrested in a Bexar County rape case after being released on parole from state custody.

Primomo noted it was unlikely any of the seven would get bond in the federal case since most were in state custody on other charges or facing possible parole revocations. He set their arraignments for Jan. 10.

The rest of the story:

A man is being prosecuted for keeping Twitter followers that he involved while working for a US mobile news website.

Noah Kravitz tweeted for Phonedog as @Phonedog_Noah, but later altered his username when he left the firm – enchanting 17,000 followers with him.

The firm is now looking for harms of $2.50 (£1.60) per user, per month – an overall of $370,000.

Mr Kravitz said his ex company had given him authorization to carry on using the account after he left.

He told the New York Times that Phonedog had permitted him to make the account private provided that he decided to "tweet on their behalf from time to time".

The 17,000 followers, which have since got higher to 22,000, had been developed by Mr Kravitz during his four years at the company where he worked as a blogger.

Yet, after eight months the company filed a lawsuit saying that the account's followers were a user list, and that it had invested "considerable" resources into building it.

In a printed statement, it said: "The values and funds invested by Phonedog Media into increasing its followers, supporters and general brand understanding through social media are extensive and are considered asset of Phonedog Media.

"We aimed to forcefully defend our client lists and secret information, intellectual property, trademark and brands."

Commercial control of Twitter accounts has been an exceedingly debated topic. Legal analysts believe this fresh case could set an example for future possession fights.

"Firms will now be rising cautious ways of deciding if they want to tweet with a conjoined account," said Barbara Cookson, a scholar property lawyer in the UK.

"For usual businesses it's quite hard to acquire a following without a solid quality. You have to have a very strong brand for it to work."

Ms Cookson disagreed it is difficult to identify a financial cost to Twitter followers as it is not clear why they follow a exacting account.

It's arguable as to whether a Twitter follower list is similar to a mailing list.

"If Phonedog has been utilizing it to run bids, it possibly is a mailing list that has price."

A Cairo court has directed enforced virginity checks on female prisoners in military jails to be ended.

The court made the verdict after a case was conveyed by protester Samira Ibrahim.

She blamed that the Egyptian military of forcing her to suffer virginity test after she was detained during a demonstration in Tahrir Square in March.

Human rights groups say the Egyptian army has utilized the practice extensively as a penalty.

"The court orders that the implementation of the process of virginity tests on girls inside armed jails be suspended," judge Aly Fekry, head of Cairo administrative court said, according to Reuters.

The decision was welcomed by applauds from hundreds of protestors inside the courtroom.

Activists had claimed that the authorities put on trial to anyone responsible for subjecting demonstration to such checks.

Past this year, an Egyptian general was referred as admitting that the military had done such tests, saying that they were utilized so women would not later maintain they had been raped by officials.

Human rights organizations say such tests are a humiliating form of violence and the general's validation a legal illogicality.

Damn Grinches.

Sheesh.

Christmas burglars steal presents, family pet

L.A. Times -

A Northern California family victimized in a burglary a few days before Christmas is hoping to at least get their dog back.

The Lancers lost all of the presents under the tree along with their dog when their home in Morgan Hill, southeast of San Jose, was broken into last week, authorities said Sunday.

"It's a very unfortunate thing that somebody would steal from a family, especially at this time of year," said Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza.

The rest of the story:

He did the right thing.

Thank you Mitch Gilbert for helping restore at least a little faith in our fellow man.

Colorado man returns $10,000 found at Vegas

Associated Press -

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man who found $10,000 before boarding a flight in Las Vegas says he returned the money to the owner because he wanted to show his children it was "the right thing to do."

Greenwood Village resident Mitch Gilbert told KUSA-TV he found two unmarked Caesar's Palace envelopes at the airport and realized there was money inside when he arrived home. The television station reported Monday (http://goo.gl/7aqpU ) that Gilbert called the airport and eventually got in touch with a man from El Paso, Texas, who reported the money missing.

Gilbert says he deposited the money in the man's bank account two days before Christmas. The man told the television station he won the money gambling and dropped it while running to catch a flight.

The rest of the money:

I doubt the dogs will be found after all this time.

But who knows?

Stranger things have happened and Ms. Riley sure seems to be very persistent.

All she wants is stolen Yorkies back

By Cathy M. Rosenthal - Express-News


For Peggy Riley, the theft of her two 9-year-old Yorkshire Terriers, Baxter and Cooper, is still painful to talk about. She tears up quickly at the mention of their names.

“You would think after 71/2 months I could pull myself together,” Riley says. “It's just hard not knowing where they are and if they're OK.”

Riley's dogs were stolen from inside her home during a robbery on April 22. The dogs had just returned from the groomers, so perhaps they looked like puppies to the thieves.

The rest of the story:

No comment.

Fence beside airstrip at root of dispute

Guadalupe County officials accused of RICO violations.
By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

ZUEHL — A fence erected in 2008 beside a rural airfield here in southwest Guadalupe County has spurred a rash of lawsuits, the latest of which accuses dozens of county officials of engaging in organized crime and seeks $31 million in damages.

The defendants deny the allegations made by New Braunfels resident David Goad, whose prior self-drafted court pleadings led to his being declared a vexatious litigant.

Goad filed the newest suit in U.S. District Court on Dec. 8 on behalf of two daughters who own a 1-acre lot that once housed a fueling station used by the Zuehl Flying Community.

The rest of the story: