They smell real good

Some news from Texas. What a touching holiday gift from Grandma.

Hat tip- Dr. Taylor at Poliblog who says "They were probably aroma therapy candles…"
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EL PASO – These holiday candles smelled more like weed than pine.

A drug-sniffing dog found about 30 pounds of marijuana hidden inside six holiday candles at the Mexican border over the weekend.

Customs and Border Protection agents arrested a 17-year-old boy Saturday who said he was bringing the candles as a gift from his grandmother in Mexico to his mother in the U.S.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Roman Catholic Cardinal Norberto Rivera. He gets the award for the following.

LOS ANGELES - A judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday against Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera, who had been accused of conspiring with Roman Catholic officials in the U.S. to transfer a priest accused of sexual abuse.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle found Rivera could not be held accountable in a U.S. court because the plaintiff didn't have enough evidence against him, said Mike Finnegan, the plaintiff's attorney.

"It was a legal technicality," he said. "It didn't reach any of the merits of the case, and it didn't get to the key issues in the case, which is Cardinal Rivera's complicity in sending (the priest) to the United States as a child molester."

The judge's ruling also dismissed claims against the Mexican Diocese of Tehuacan, where the cardinal was bishop at the time he transferred the priest.

Steve Selsberg, an attorney representing the Mexican cardinal in Los Angeles, said the judge found no evidence of conspiracy after reviewing a year's worth of evidence collected by attorneys from both sides.

Plaintiff Joaquin Aguilar Mendez, 26, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that Rivera, who was then a bishop in Puebla state, knew that the priest had molested children when he sent him to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The priest, Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, is no relation to the cardinal or the plaintiff.

The cardinal's spokesman, Hugo Valdemar, told The Associated Press in Mexico City that the cardinal was pleased with the judge's decision.

To this non-legally trained mind, it appears Judge Berle is correct. US courts don't have jurisdiction.

As to Cardinal Rivera, who I've blogged about before, he is far from an innocent in this matter.

In a declaration filed in February, the cardinal said he sent a letter to Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1987 warning him that the priest had "homosexual problems." A spokesman for the Los Angeles archdiocese has said the U.S. cardinal never received it.

The priest fled to Mexico after he was accused of sexual abuse in Los Angeles and before police could begin an investigation. He has since been charged in California with 19 felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child.

The priest lied to the Archdiocese of Mexico City and was able to get temporary permission to serve as priest there, Selsberg said. He fled Mexico City in 1995 when Norberto Rivera was promoted to cardinal and has been a fugitive since, Selsberg said.

The priest's whereabouts are currently unknown, Finnegan said.

Rivera got rid of his problem by hoisting off Nicolas Aguilar Rivera on unsuspecting people. Now this Cardinal uses the law to allude justice. And this man gets up in front of thousands and preaches about sin. What a sicko, Cardinal Norberto will get his just reward in heaven one day but first, I make him today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Linked to- Bright & Early, High Desert Wanderer, Leaning Straight Up, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, Third World County, Woman Honor Thyself,

Leftovers

Some news from Mexico. No mention made if there was any Tabasco or Steak Sauce in the refrigerator also.

Hat tip- "Klotz" as in "Blood". Go check Steve's post out, you'll get a chuckle or two.
Linked to- Big Dog, Leaning Straight Up, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove,

MEXICO CITY -- An aspiring horror novelist was arrested after police discovered his girlfriend's torso in his closet, a leg in the refrigerator and bones in a cereal box, a city prosecutors' spokesman said Thursday.

José Luis Calva told police he had boiled some of his girlfriend's flesh but that he hadn't eaten it, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the case.

Calva told police he was a writer and poet -- officers found the draft of a novel titled Cannibalistic Instincts, the spokesman said.

Investigators were trying to determine if chunks of fried meat found in a pan in the apartment were human, the spokesman said.

Police came to Calva's apartment Monday after neighbors reported a fetid smell. They discovered the dismembered body of his girlfriend, Alejandra Galeana, in a closet, the spokesman said. A leg and pieces of an arm were in a refrigerator and there were bones inside a cereal box.

The family of Galeana, a 30-year-old pharmacy clerk, reported her missing on Friday and told police of her relationship with Calva, the official said.

Calva is being investigated in the killings of two other women, including an ex-girlfriend, also a pharmacy worker, whose dismembered body was found in 2004, and an unidentified prostitute who was killed earlier this year.

Calva tried to run from police to avoid arrest, but was struck by a car and was still hospitalized on Thursday.

Just say no to martyrdom

I found this news out of Mexico interesting.

Mexico's top Roman Catholic cardinal, who is accused in a U.S. lawsuit of protecting an alleged pedophile priest, said he has received threats and will ask the government additional security.

Norberto Rivera said he feels "always at risk" in an interview broadcast by the Televisa network, after several protesters kicked, pounded and reportedly spat at his car outside Mexico City's cathedral after his weekly Mass.

It was unclear why the protesters attacked the car, and Rivera has not said who is behind death threats against him.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said Tuesday he had instructed his security secretary, Joel Ortega, to help. But Church officials have suggested that Sunday's confrontation may have involved supporters of Ebrard's Democratic Revolution Party, which party officials deny.

"We can't tolerate this kind of chaos at the cathedral," Rivera said, "where today they hit me and tomorrow they shoot at me."

If the Cardinal is protecting or hiding a pedophile priest from law enforcement authorities, he is guilty of a crime(Obstruction of Justice) himself. Who appointed Rivera arbiter or judge?

As to those angry at the Cardinal, they have a right to protest but non-violently. Violence and death threats are inexcusable.

I do find Cardinal Rivera asking for additional security interesting. He is doing God's work, why should he fear violence being committed against him? I mean if he died doing his Priestly duties, Rivera would become a saint in heaven. Did Pope John Paul back down from his stance against communism and for human rights after being nearly assassinated? Somehow it looks to me(and feel free to disagree) that Cardinal Rivera is forgetting some basic teachings of Roman Catholicism.

So stand up and be brave Cardinal Rivera. Unless you've committed some mortal sins you have nothing to fear, right?

Linked to- High Desert Wanderer, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, Right Wing Nation,

Lost Dog

Some news from Mexico-

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - An elite Mexican sniffer dog kidnapped five days ago was found abandoned in a Mexico City park on Monday and reunited with its police handlers.

Working on a tip, federal police found Rex IV -- a highly trained Belgian Malinois sheepdog with a string of drug hauls to its name -- tied to a tree in a park in the gritty Iztapalapa neighborhood, a Public Security Ministry spokesman said.

"When they realized the police were onto them, they abandoned him in a park," the spokesman told Reuters, adding that the dog's identity was confirmed by scanning an embedded electronic chip.

The dog, part of an elite drug squad, was snatched from Mexico City airport on August 22 while it was en route for an operation in the northern state of Sinaloa. The thieves left a black mongrel puppy in its travel cage.

Police only realized Rex IV was missing when the puppy turned up in Mazatlan airport, Sinaloa. They feared the stolen dog, which one official compared to an intelligence agent, could help smugglers find new ways to conceal drug stashes.

Rex IV was in good condition and back with his trainers, while two employees at the company in charge of transporting him and other police dogs have been arrested, the ministry spokesman said.

Rex IV is part of an elite Special Canine Unit set up in 2001 to help hunt down the gangs that smuggle South American cocaine and other drugs to the United States.

It's good to hear Rex IV was found is unharmed. Didn't these dognappers ever watch The Nanny? This missed a chance to ask for ransom! It was amusing how easy the thieves managed to get away with Rex IV. It almost sounds like a sitcom plot.

President Felipe Calderon has sent thousands of police and soldiers to northern and western states in a new crackdown on the cartels whose turf wars kill dozens each week.

Now Mexican President Calderon can claim to have cracked down on dognapping too. Taking a bite out of crime.

Linked to-Pirate's Cove, Planck's Constant, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary,

On a rampage

The latest on Hurricane Dean.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia - Hurricane Dean barreled across the eastern Caribbean Saturday and took aim at Hispaniola, Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, with forecasters saying it could turn into a monster Category 5 storm within 72 hours.

With sustained winds near 150 mph, Dean left behind floods, debris and at least three deaths on the islands of St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica on Friday.

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season, the Category 4 Dean was expected to gain power as it moves across the warm waters of the Caribbean through the weekend. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said its winds could surpass 155 mph as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.

By Wednesday, there is a chance Dean could threaten the U.S., though it is expected to lose some of its punch as it travels over the Yucatan.

All the hoopla over Dean here in Florida proved to be unfounded. Others won't be so fortunate. Including blogger Bullwinkle.

I was planning on heading home (that red 'x') for my birthday next week. Maybe next year.

Hopefully his home will be spared too much damage. Say a prayer for everyone in Hurricane Dean's path.


Also blogging on Dean- Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Bright & Early, The World According to Carl,
Linked to- Jo, Morewhat, Outside the Beltway, Third World County,

Mail upgrade

The US Postal Service will soon start helping Mexico improve its delivery of mail.

MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government has signed an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service to improve Mexico's notoriously inefficient mail agency.

Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez said the Mexican Postal Service has been neglected for years, while the USPS is "an example of modernity, efficiency and quality."

Under the agreement signed Tuesday, Mexican staff will visit U.S. facilities to analyze procedures and equipment, and the two also will cooperate to improve cross-border services.

U.S. Chief Postal Inspector Alexander Lazaroff said at the signing event that the agreement will address security concerns in both countries.

Tellez told reporters the government plans to make significant investments in the modernization and automation of the postal service.

"A lot of letters get lost that our citizens send to their families from the U.S., sometimes with money, sometimes with some object of value," he said.

Trust me when I say that lost mail was probably stolen. My wife used to use the mails to send money home to the Philippines, and it would disappear. Including postal money orders.

So USPS wants to improve Mexico's mail efficiency. They can certainly give examples in mail taking a week to go 100 or 200 miles. That happens at least a few times a year in my experiences with postcards from fellow correspondence chess players. The USPS could use some lessons in better efficiency themselves.

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