Three Men Charged With Selling Heroin At Day Care Center

Mothers of young children, when choosing a day care center, please make sure that nobody's using it to sell heroin.  From Newsitem:

Three men were charged in connection with selling and using heroin in a city day care while it was closed after one of the men overdosed at around 9 p.m. Saturday.

Christian L. Kehler, 37, of 1114 N. Shamokin St., Shamokin, Ryan Varano, 28, of 114 S. Fifth St., Shamokin, and Frederick Russo, 49, of 1321 Chestnut St., Kulpmont, were each charged with felony criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver and misdemeanor possession of an illegal substance.

Varano and Kehler were also charged with felony criminal use of a communication device, and misdemeanors of possession with intent to use drugs and, related to the potential harm of children, reckless endangerment of another person. Russo does not face those additional charges because he wasn't present Saturday night, police said.

This story comes via Fox News.  Read the original article.

Paul Torgerson 1931-2015

Paul Torgerson, former president and dean of engineering at Virginia Tech, has passed away at age 83.  The cause of his death is not yet reported.  He survived a battle with cancer in 2008.

Dr. Torgerson was born in Staten Island, New York and educated at Lehigh University and Ohio State University.  He was first hired by Virginia Tech as an Industrial and Systems Engineering professor and department head.  In 1970, he became the dean of the College of Engineering, a position he held for over 20 years (including my own four years as a VT student).  He served as Virginia Tech's 14th president from 1993 until January 2000.  During all his time as dean and president, as well as after stepping down from the latter post, he continued to teach, giving his last lecture in May 2014.

Read more at The Roanoke Times, the News Messenger and the Collegiate Times, which is Virginia Tech's student newspaper.

"What If We Carried Ourselves More Like Ted Kennedy?"

So asked our president, in his speech at the dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate.  I would answer Obama's question with a question, "How much alcohol would be required?"  This video comes from Real Clear Politics:



As many before myself have noted, Mary Jo is unavailable for comment.

Incident Reported At Fort Meade Gate

Two people are reported as injured, and two vehicles have been damaged, at one of the gates to Fort Meade in Maryland, this particular gate also serving the NSA headquarters.  There are also reports of a shooting during the incident.

Read more at CBS Baltimore, WJLA, NBC Washington, WBAL TV and WUSA.

As I write this, the linked articles are rather short, since the story broke about an hour ago.  I have a feeling that as the day goes on and more information becomes available, they will be updated and expanded.

UPDATE:  As I expected earlier, more info has come out.  The pages linked above now report that two men dressed as women tried to ram the gate with a stolen SUV.  A gunfight broke out, resulting in the death of one of the two suspects and serious injuries to the other.  A gun and drugs were found near the SUV.

Links For Palm Sunday

A week before Easter, Catholic and Protestant denominations of Christianity remember Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey, as onlookers waved palm leaves along his procession route.  In Catholic practice, palm leaves are given to churchgoers which they hold onto during Mass.  The leaves are gathered up afterwards to be burnt, with the ashes saved for use during the next year's Ash Wednesday.

Here are some things in the news on this year's Palm Sunday:

From UPI, thousands demonstrate in Tunis, after a suspect in the Bardo Museum attack was killed by Tunisian security forces.

From Politico, my former governor, Martin O'Malley (D-MD), says that the presidency is not a "crown to be passed between two families", referring to possible candidates Hillary Clinton (D) and Jeb Bush (R).  Although his statement is not religious, I must give him a big fat "Amen!"

From Newsbusters, newsman and former Clinton aide George Stefanopoulos interviews Indiana Governor Mike Pence about his state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

From The Christian Science Monitor, Carly Fiorina (R) says that there is a "higher than 90 percent" chance that she will run for president.

From the New York Post, a corridor near the Herald Square subway station in New York City has become a camp for the homeless.

In Clash Daily, Paul Hair writes an "I told you so" about the repeal of the ban on openly gay people serving in the military.

From Yahoo News, recently re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "lashes out" in response to the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.

From Fox News, a woman in Pennsylvania charged with forgery allegedly posed as a lawyer for over a decade.

From the Epoch Times, with the upsurge in border protection along the Rio Grande, more people attempting to illegally cross the river from Mexico end up drowning as a result of choosing more dangerous routes.

Legal Insurrection asks "Who will replace Harry Reid as Senate Minority Leader?"

From The Express Tribune, an editorial on the possible use of Pakistani troops in Yemen.

From Reuters, a report on the fighting and air strikes in Yemen.

From the Chicago Tribune, Harper College will offer free tuition scholarships.

From Bizpac Review, a debate on Hillary Clinton's emails on Meet The Press "descends into chaos".

From My Fox Chicago, despite technical difficulties and attacks from Boko Haram, Nigerians voted in an election today.

And from Bleacher Report, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has been attending Wisconsin Badgers basketball games, and CBS Sports writer Dennis Dodd call each other out.

Senator Reid To Retire

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), currently in his fifth term, has announced his decision to retire at the end thereof.  He was also the Senate Majority Leader from January 2007, after the Democrats took the Senate (and House) in the 2006 election, until January 2015, after the GOP retook the Senate in the 2014 election.  Senator Reid was also recently in the news because of injuries to his face and eye suffered while exercising at home.

Obviously, rightwing nutjobs such as yours truly will not miss the man from Searchlight, Nevada.  But as the saying goes, I do indeed hope that the door (and the gym equipment) doesn't hit him on the way out.

Read more at The New York Times, Fox News, CNN, The Washington Times and Politico.

Plane Crash Alleged To Be Intentional

According to French prosecutor Brice Robin, the Germanwings aircraft that crashed in the Alps was intentionally brought down by the plane's co-pilot, identified as Andreas Lubitz.  Information recovered from the plane's black box indicated that the pilot, who has not been identified, had left the cockpit and was trying to re-enter, but the cockpit door was then locked.  The black box recorded knocks on the door, but no unusual breathing or other sounds from the co-pilot.

Read more at ABC News, BBC News, NBC News and AOL.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Charged With Desertion

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who disappeared from his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was returned five years later in exchange for five Taliban leaders held in GITMO, has been charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.  Bergdahl is currently stationed at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.  The five released Taliban were taken to Qatar.

Read more at USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, ABC News and CBS News.

German Airplane Crashes In The Alps

An Airbus 320 operated by Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, crashed in the French Alps between the towns of Digne and Barcelonnette.  The plane was flying out of Barcelona, Spain and was destined for Dusseldorf, Germany.  French police have indicated that none of the 150 people on board survived.  One of the plane's black boxes has been recovered.

Read more at Reuters, AOL, BBC News, Russia Today and The Local DE.

A Few Random Musings #4

It's been a while since I put up this type of post, here are a few comments about things going on, and whatever else might have popped into my mind:
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It seems that environmentalists have always been fond of trees.  I can't really blame them, since trees are pretty and do indeed take CO₂ from the atmosphere.  But the ability to absorb CO₂ is not unique to trees.  Every other plant, including grasses and crops, does the same thing.  Yet, I can't recall any environmentalist showing the same concern for corn, wheat or bluegrass that they seem to show for trees.

The term "green energy" is commonly used to denote energy sources that do not produce CO₂, implying that this feature would be good for the environment.  (See here, for example.)  This is ironic because without CO₂, the environment would not include any life forms that are naturally green.

I wonder how many people who wear a T-shirt depicting Che Guevara oppose the death penalty, while being blissfully unaware that he was an executioner.