Archive for May 3, 2008

World’s Top 10 Most Disgusting Beers

May 3, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized

Good beer is increasingly easy to find in America, and that is good news. However, there are still plenty of gag-reflex-triggering beers on the shelves, and it is time these offenders of good taste were called out.

Here are my picks for the 10 worst beers in the world.

10. Coors Aspen Edge If giving up carbs means giving up any semblance of body or flavor, as is the case with this “beer,” it is probably better to carry a few extra pounds.

9. Milwaukee’s Best I understand this is a sentimental favorite of many, as it takes them back to the old days. Well, human sacrifice harkens to a simpler time, too. If you want to kill your taste buds, try battery acid — it probably tastes better.

8. Sleeman Clear Lager Another low-carb entry, though here the delicate and nuanced notes of lighter fluid and Dumpster drippings on a blistering August day achieves heretofore unknown lows.

7. Cave Creek Chili Beer This is the perfect beer for people who hate themselves and desire punishment. This unholy union of a whole chili pepper and a fiendishly nasty pale lager will get medieval on your tongue.

6. Winter Park Beer While Orlando Brewing makes many fine ales and lagers, they also make this vitamin-infused blasphemy. Generally, when people say things like, “Fruit doesn’t belong in beer,” I think of the many excellent fruit Lambics and disagree. But, vitamins? Vitamin flavor doesn’t belong in beer! Heck, it doesn’t even belong in vitamins — it’s just that the vitamin companies haven’t found a way to make vitamins palatable. And neither have the brewers of this beer.

5. Bootie U95 I thought with a name like Bootie, the makers of this brew were attempting to position it as a dance club beer. Turns out, it simply describes the aroma. Tallahassee Ratebeer.com member Aurelius sums up the Bootie this way: “The name sounds like some sort of nuclear isotope in a barium enema, and it delivers all the flavor the name suggests.”

Read the rest here:

I know this makes me a bad person, but I *never* liked Ranier or Olympia beer.

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Scientology Upgrades to Boost Taxes in Pinellas

May 3, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized

CLEARWATER — Marble floors with patterned inlay. Plush carpeting. Mahogany paneling. Decorated crown moldings. Marble sinks. Hi-def TVs. A 32-station fitness center. An elegant restaurant.

Luxury touches abound inside downtown Clearwater’s newest waterfront hotel, the gleaming 240-room Oak Cove.

But don’t rush to pack your bags. Oak Cove is just for Scientologists.

Recently opened after a $26-million renovation, the hotel is Scientology’s newest lodging option in Clearwater, the church’s international spiritual headquarters.

Oak Cove also is the first in a series of expansion projects that will push the church’s inventory of hotel rooms in downtown Clearwater to 725.

In all, Scientology says it will spend $120-million over the next 15 months adding guest rooms and also completing — finally — its Flag Mecca Building, often called the Super Power center, which has sat unfinished and vacant for five years.

The construction surge is sure to increase Scientology’s already distinct Clearwater campus. It also will increase something less obvious — the church’s property tax bill.

Scientology course and counseling rooms and training centers are tax exempt. As renovation work progresses, they will be moved out of the Oak Cove and the better known Fort Harrison Hotel and into the Mecca Building, according to church officials.

As top-to-bottom hotels for visiting Scientologists, both the Oak Cove and the Fort Harrison, along with a soon-to-be converted condo complex on downtown’s northern edge, then would be fully taxed, increasing Scientology’s annual property tax payment. Last year, the payment was $897,559.

But as church activities are transferred to the Mecca Building, tax exemptions will move there, too. The massive building, six stories tall and encompassing a full city bock, is expected to be completely off the tax rolls.

Source:

P.T. Barnum would have been proud of the way Scientology has been separating the suckers from their money. Good thing stupid people aren’t an endangered species.

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Missing Amber Alert Girl and Murderous Boyfriend Caught in El Paso

May 3, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 15-year-old Putnam County girl who was the subject of a nationwide search and her 22-year-old boyfriend were picked up by police in El Paso, Texas, Saturday afternoon.

A motorist recognized Morgan Amanda Leppert and Toby Lee Lowry from the Amber Alert news coverage and called police just after 4 p.m. Officers said Leppert, Lowry and a third person they believe was a hitchhiker were panhandling along Interstate 10.

The stolen 2003 Toyota Tacoma pickup they were driving was found nearby. The pickup belonged to 66-year-old James Stewart, who was found violently killed (I wasn’t aware that there were any peaceful murders) in his Melrose home on Thursday.

Putnam County investigators had been searching for Leppert since her mother reported her missing on April 22, but the case was elevated to an Amber Alert when deputies made the connection between her disappearance and the homicide.

Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Keith Riddick said Lowry was being held on existing warrants charging him with grand theft of the vehicle and interference with custody of a child. Late Thursday, Lowry was also name a person of interest in the Stewart homicide case.

Texas authorities said Lowry, Leggett and the third person were also being held on panhandling charges.

An investigator with the 7th Judicial Circuit Homicide Investigative Unit was already in Texas working on the case will be joined by a Putnam County detective and interview Leggett and Lowry as soon as possible.

Source:

Where in the hell did they think they were going? Eventually they had to have money and should have known there pictures everywhere.

I couldn’t help myself. It somehow seemed appropriate.

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Subpoena Reveals Details About FBI Raid

May 3, 2008 · Filed under life in Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Channel 4 on Friday learned new information about the FBI’s investigation into business dealings involving the Jacksonville Port Authority and one of the port’s board members.

Last week, FBI agents raided several local companies, including one belonging to well-known Jacksonville businessman and Jaxport board member Tony Nelson. Days later, Nelson took a voluntary leave of absence from his board position with the Jaxport.

The FBI did not disclose the nature of their investigation or what they were looking for at Nelson’s offices, but they seized documents that have to do with contracts with the port.

Subaqueous Services Inc., a dredging company, and Rham Construction are the two companies not affiliated with Nelson that were raided by the FBI. Both have done business with the port.

While the FBI and the U.S. attorneys office would not comment about the investigation concerning the port or Nelson and several employees and companies doing business with the port, a copy of the subpoena the FBI served port officials reveals that investigators are looking at two other businesses involved in work at the new port site.

The subpoena calls for port officials to turn over disciplinary actions, travel records, appointment calendars and other records for the port’s chief financial officer Ron Barker, its Government Affairs Director Eric Green and the man who is overseeing the new multi-million dollar port expansion near Blount Island, David Smolder.

Channel 4’s reporter Jim Piggott tried to reach Nelson, Barker, Green and Smolder, but only the port’s public relations director would speak out about the investigation.

“We are cooperating fully with all of the inquiries and requests for information, and our executive director has directed the staff and all employees to do the same,” said Jacksonville Port Authority spokeswoman Nancy Rubin.

While it’s known investigators are looking at two other businesses involved in work at the new port site, it remains unclear exactly what they suspect or who is involved.

Source: News4Jax.com

First Coast News has a little bit of additional information:

Rubin directed questions about those entities to the subpoena, which asks for documents related to Tony Nelson and his company, Muirfield Partners.

It also asks for paperwork related to RHAM Construction and its President, Corey Ritchie.

The subpoena also requests records for Subaqueous Services and its former President, Lance Young.

The FBI is also asking JAXPORT for work information related to a local utility contractor called Felix Associates.

The FBI has also requested employment records such as promotions, disciplinary actions and travel for the Port’s chief financial officer Ron Baker, director of MOL terminal development David Smolder and government affairs director Eric Green.

The subpoena also asks for the Port’s policy and procedures regarding conflict of interest, payments and gifts for the Board of Directors.

It also requests any documents related to training and seminars received by Tony Nelson regarding conflict of interest.

Well, obviously somebody has complained about collusion and conflict of interest among board members and businesses. Guess we’ll have to see how it works out.

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Interesting PDF File

May 3, 2008 · Filed under Climate crap

Year Without a Summer is something interesting to read, particularly if there’s a major volcanic eruption during a period of reduced solar activity and maybe a negative PDO cycle as well.

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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a Fraud

May 3, 2008 · Filed under Climate crap

Last year, we noted the insolent and unresponsive answers by IPCC chapter 6 Lead Authors to Review Comments in connection with the Hockey Stick reconstructions. Under IPCC policies, Review Editors have important obligations to ensure responsiveness of Chapter Authors (see policies discussed here). The comments by Review Editors were not put online by IPCC, but, after some effort, David Holland managed to obtain the Review Comments for WG1 and WG2. While a few WG2 Review Editors made substantive comments, WG1 review editor comments proved to be a few-sentence form letter in all but one case (chapter 6 Review Editor Mitchell noting outstanding controversy in connection with the Hockey Stick.)

Read the rest at Climate Audit.

And while you’re at it, educate yourself on the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, El Nino, and La Nina. Look at how the HISTORIC temperature records are being changed DAILY. It wouldn’t hurt to look at solar activity as well.

And then reflect that if you weren’t reading blogs, you’d have no idea what any of this meant because the media is all global warming, all the time, despite ample evidence to the contrary. The evening news….Discovery Channel……the Weather Channel……you can barely watch a television program without “climate change” or “global warming” thrown into the mixture somewhere. SwampMan is getting tired of me yelling at the TV “Of COURSE we’re having global warming! We’re still recovering from the freakin’ ice age! It’s a little difficult GROWING FOOD on a mile thick glacier. When we QUIT recovering from the ice age, the world is going to starve, you MORON! Do you even KNOW about PDO and AMO?” Occasionally Usually I use stronger language. Of late, as soon as “global warming” or “climate change” is mentioned, I simply switch the channel because how can I believe any of the other content?

It also chaps my butt that people on the Weather Channel, who really should (and do) know better, blame (Atlantic) hurricanes on “global warming” when they KNOW that the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (warm phase) and whether we’re in an El Nino or La Nina is to blame.

In the meantime, the government is pursuing an energy policy based on the premise of “climate change” linked to carbon dioxide that is going to be even more costly to the economic welfare of the citizens through increased costs for everything from food to going to work.

Florida has already begun mandating ethanol mixed with gasoline. While I have read from official websites that the alcohol content of the gasoline will be completely harmless, I’ve read other websites including auto repair places that it does cause damage even to vehicles made in the 1990s. The ethanol, which reduces gas mileage so it is going to cost me more money, is supposed to be less expensive. Oddly enough, it costs the same amount as non-ethanol-added gasoline at the pump.

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Missing Girl Had Slain Man’s Number in Her Cell Phone

May 3, 2008 · Filed under life in Florida


PALATKA, Fla. — The 15-year-old girl whose disappearance triggered a nationwide Amber Alert was last seen Thursday in Texas riding in a pickup truck stolen from a handicapped man found slain in his Putnam County home. Investigators also say they found a call made from the dead man’s home to the girl’s cell phone.

Late Thursday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an Amber Alert for Morgan Amanda Leppert, who was reported missing from San Mateo, in southern Putnam County, on April 22. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office believes she is with her 22-year-old boyfriend, Toby Lowry, and may be in danger.

Thursday night, Putnam County named Lowry a person of interest in the death of 66-year-old James Thomas Stewart. Authorities found him dead in his Melrose home Thursday morning.

The sheriff’s office told Channel 4’s Dan Leveton that Stewart died of a “violent confrontation,” but they did not want to be more specific on the cause of death because it remains part of their investigation.

Putnam County Sheriff Dean Kelly said that early in the investigation into Leppert’s disappearance, officers tracked a call to the girl’s phone from Stewart’s home and deputies visited the house. Getting no answer at the door, they left a business card. When they returned Thursday and found Stewart dead, they immediately made the connection and became very concerned for the missing girl.

“We were on it, looking diligent for her, but just like any investigation, you develop new information, it turns things up — it turns the priority of things up,” Kellly said.

When deputies discovered Stewart’s silver, four-door 2003 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was missing, they entered it in a national crime information database. Putnam County investigators said they received reports the vehicle had been sighted three times on Interstate 10, with the latest report coming at 12:30 a.m. Thursday in Katy, Texas.

“We’re not certain of (their location) at this point,” PCSO Capt. Rick Lashley said. “She could be anywhere in the United States right now.”

Putnam County has issued warrants for Lowry, charging him with grand theft of the vehicle and interference with custody of a child. Leppert remains the subject of a nationwide Amber Alert.

Leppert has blonde hair and blue eyes, is 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 114 pounds.

Lowry is described as having blond hair and green eyes. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall and 190 pounds.

Putnam County deputies found Steward dead in his Cherry Laurel Drive home after getting a request to check on his welfare.

Channel 4 learned that Lowry has a criminal history and was released last summer after serving a 20-month sentence for burglary and criminal mischief in Clay County.

On Lowry’s MySpace Web page, last updated April 22 — the day Leppert was reported missing — he calls himself “Baddest m*****f***** in Palatka.” Among the images on the page are pictures of guns and Satanic references.

Lowry’s page also contains posts from Leppert, calling herself “Blue-eyed Devil,” professing her love for him. “Everything I wanted, I found it all in you,” she wrote.

Channel 4’s Dan Leveton was told that Leppert’s mother found out Leppert was 22 years old and forced the girl to break off the relationship.

“Apparently there’s been some visiting going on the mom didn’t know about, then, all of a sudden, the girl goes missing,” Kelly said.

Anyone with information about either Leppert or Lowry is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE Missing Children Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING. Anyone who sees either of them or the truck is asked to call 911.

Source: News4Jax

I suppose that the young man burglarized the house, killed the handicapped man, called her from the dead man’s house, and stole his truck. The young man is from around here and sounds like he was destined for life in prison. I just hope that there aren’t more dead bodies lying undiscovered in burgarized houses while they’re out riding around in another stolen vehicle.

Be extremely careful because, as he has already murdered one man, he is already a candidate for the death penalty and has nothing to lose by killing anybody else.

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