Former Korean War POW Recieves Diploma from Hometown High School Before it Closes Down Forever

This story is actually a couple of years old, but I recently found out about it and thought it would be worth re-visiting on Memorial Day weekend nonetheless.

Some 56 years after he left high school in his west Texas hometown of Spade to join the Army in the early stages of the Korean War, veteran Sherman Jones was invited to receive an honorary diploma from the class of 2006- the last class that would graduate from Spade's high school before it was closed down forever.



After 2006, students attending Spade's high school were combined with classes from the neighboring Olton school district.

Although Sherman would eventually receive enough credit for a high school diploma and would go to college after his military service, he never had a ceremony where he received his diploma.

Jones was taken prisoner with about 1500 other American soldiers after his unit was encircled and they ran out of supplies and ammunition. As a POW, Jones endured what historians call "Korea's Bataan Death March" where he was only one of 17 survivors. He was found bleeding from gunshot wounds by advancing American forces and would later have to undergo 65 surgeries and would eventually lose his right foot in 1957.

The high school in Spade had to close due to decreased class sizes and lower enrollment. Jones was just one of six members of the 2006 Spade H.S. graduating class

High Steaks- Missouri Lawmaker Calls for Pork Steak Rebellion After EPA Mulls Regulations For BBQ Grills

Kicking off this seasons #PorkSteakRebellion pic.twitter.com/pSFKYohPBf

— Brian Stahlheber (@bstahlheber) March 22, 2015

Not content with restricting what kind of woodstoves New Englanders can have in their homes, the EPA is setting their sights on what kind of outdoor grills that people can use during cookouts.

The agency awarded a $15,000 grant to the University of California-Riverside to look into technology for grills that is intended to "reduce air pollution as well as health hazards in Southern California, with potential for global application". This has led to some concerns that the EPA will introduce further restrictions on newly manufactured propane grills.

One Missouri state lawmaker has taken exception to the EPA's maneuvering and has called for a campaign of defiance and civil disobedience dubbed the 'Pork Steak Rebellion' to preemptively thwart any moves by the agency.

It's a sentiment shared by State Senator Eric Schmitt.

Although this is not a new law the agency pushing to get on the books, Senator Schmitt isn't taking any chances.

He introduced a resolution discouraging any regulations on the tradition of backyard barbecuing. The lawmaker has a lot of support from people who couldn't agree more.

Schmitt has also taken his campaign to twitter--#porksteakrebellion--encouraging people to barbeque in their backyards.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Austin's city council is mulling an ordinance that would require BBQ joints or mobile food vendors within 150 feet of a residence to install restaurant grade scrubbers. Some businesses have stated they would have to move of shut down altogether due to the high cost of compliance.

Several council members believe the smoke being emitted from these businesses are having an adverse affect on the health and quality of life of the people who live nearby. Renteria says he’s fielded calls from concerned constituents.

“Saying that if this keeps on, they were just going to have to sell their house and move out,” said Renteria. “The whole resolution is not to try and run anyone out of business it’s just we all want to be good neighbors.”

This requirement does not apply to locations that burn supplemental wood chips and chunks in stove-top box smokers using gas-powered stoves or grills.

“We would have to leave town most likely, or just close up because it’s just not an option to put scrubbers in for eight smoke stacks,” explained Aaron Franklin, founder of the popular Franklin BBQ on East 11th Street.

Franklin says a solution is out there but they just have to find one so Austinites can enjoy BBQ without living in smoke.

“This BBQ thing creates a ton of revenue here in town,” said Franklin, who understands that something needs to be done to help neighbors cope with the smoke, but he feels that scrubbers are not the answer.

As recently as last year, the Texas state environmental agency- the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality- had received complaints about smoke had visited multiple BBQ joints in Austin, but in those instances the TCEQ found no violations.

Texas Mayor Subpoenas Churches to Obtain Sermons

C'mon Texas- I thought you were better than this.

After activists and religious organizations in the Houston area rallied against a city ordinance signed by the city's openly lesbian mayor, pastors in area churches said that they had received subpoenas from city attorneys demanding the content of their sermons.

City attorneys issued subpoenas last month during the case's discovery phase, seeking, among other communications, "all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession."

The subpoenas were issued to several high-profile pastors and religious leaders who have been vocal in opposing the ordinance. The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a motion on behalf of the pastors seeking to quash the subpoenas.

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was signed into law by mayor Annise Parker in May 2014. Supporters of HERO say that the ordinance prevents discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital or military status. Opponents say that the language in the ordinance is too sweeping and violates the religious freedoms of those whose faith does not recognize same-sex marriages.

An attempt was made by opponents to put the issue up for referendum via the ballot, but the petition to get it on the ballot was short after 2,000 signatures were deemed invalid by the same city attorneys who attempted to subpoena pastors for the content of their sermons this month [[curiously, there's no word on whether or not city attorneys issued any subpoenas to Houston-area mosques- NANESB!].

A similar ordinance was passed in San Antonio last year, despite objections by numerous religious organizations.

Curiously enough, in either case neither mayor has to worry about re-election after approving the controversial ordinances. In Houston, Mayor Parker is term-limited while in San Antonio, Mayor Juan Castro was appointed to secretary of Housing and Urban development by the Obama Administration in May 2014.

Today's Train of Thought- Austin City Limits, September 9th, 2014

Today's Train of thought takes us to one of WATCO's properties in the Lone Star state- the 155 mile Austin Western.

The Central Texas shortline got off to a pretty inauspicious start in 2007 when one of their freight trains derailed on East 6th street in Austin, TX just days after WATCO assumed operations on former the Union Pacific (nee- Cotton Belt) trackage in Llano, Bastrop, Travis and Lee counties. Between 2001 and 2007, much of the current Austin Western line in and around Austin was operated by the Austin Area Union Terminal.

While not WATCO's first Texas venture, the line was destined to be a handful for whoever was going to operate it once the Union Pacific divested. Parts of the line around the Austin area are actually owned by the Capital Metro Transportation Rail Authority, which operates commuter rail some 30 miles in and out of the Lone Star State's capital city. While this meant the Austin Western benefitted from improved track speeds and maintenance of way, since 2010 the Capital Metro Rail's schedule means that most of the AWRR's activities in Austin have to be nocturnal to accommodate commuter trains.

Additionally, the ex-UP line from Austin Jct. east to Elgin, Butler and Giddings were plagues by occasional derailments before WATCo took over operations in 2007. Parts of the line are still jointed rail, despite the fact that heavy unit aggregate trains frequently originate from the CCI facility in Butler. Interchange is with the Union Pacific in Elgin and McNeil, TX.

Even with some of the restrictions that come from nighttime-only operating and the antiquated jointed rail, the AWRR enjoys a pretty diverse traffic base- hauling anything from beer, calcium bicarbonate, paper, chemicals, crushed limestone, plastics, aggregates, chicken feed and lumber. In fact, the AWRR also handles the PT Barnum and Bailey circus train when the show comes to town- although that's apparently confined to nocturnal operations as well.

Here, railpictures.net contributor JR Leal caught Austin Western GP50 #5001 trundling through downtown Elgin, TX with a carload of chicken waste on a sunny September 8, 2013 with the Butler Turn as it gets ready to hammer the UP diamond in town. Leal points ut that the town of Elgin at the time was busying itself getting ready for the Elgin Hogeye Festival, which boasts a BBQ cook-off, live music, arts and crafts as well as a car show. Between the hot central Texas temperatures and the train's no doubt fragrant cargo, it's probably for the best that particular day's Butler Turn was pretty short.

What Do Cattle, Porn Starlets, Toyota and Hot Sauce Have in Common?

They're all getting out of Dodge California and heading for greener pastures- in some cases, literally.

Beset by higher taxes, above-average unemployment and among the highest cost of living in the USA, it's no secret that Californians have been moving out of state annually by the hundreds of thousands in recent years. This should come as no surprise with recent scandals and corruption involving California's political class coupled with onerous, intrusive and often absurd regulations for businesses passed on the state, county and municipal level.

Sensing discontent among Californians and business owners, Texas governor Rick Perry rolled out the welcome mat for Golden Staters with a PR blitz, offering lower taxes and a lower cost of living than California as well as business incentives for those companies who set up shop in the Lone Star state.

Although incumbent California governor Jerry Brown crassly dismissed Perry's efforts as 'barely a fart', it appears as though the Lone Star State's lobbying has been producing results. At the end of April, Japanese automaker Toyota announced that they would be moving their North American headquarters from the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance to Plano, TX starting in 2016. The move by Toyota [NYSE: TM] is expected to consolidate 4,000 employees from marketing, manufacturing and corporate operations to the suburban Dallas facility. In 2003, Toyota broke ground on a plant near San Antonio that produces the Tundra and Tacoma pickup trucks.

On a smaller scale, Irwindale, CA-based Huy Fong foods- maker of the Sriracha hot sauce- has been locked in a legal battle with the city council after the council threatened to declare Huy Fong a nuisance and threatening them with fines or closure after receiving complaints from four households regarding the fumes resulting from processing chili peppers. Although Huy Fong CEO David Tran stated publicly that he has no immediate plans to relocate the Irwindale facility, the company welcomed a delegation of Texas lawmakers in May. A company spokesman said that relocation wouldn't be as straightforward for Huy Fong because local producers of Sriracha ingredients such as chilis and vinegar couldn't pull up and move to Texas with them. However, botanists working on behalf of Tran have begun examining the soil in parts Texas to see if it's conducive to growing the variety of chilis used in Sriracha sauce. There's also concern over variables in the Texas weather such as flooding, hurricanes, drought and hail as well as competing bids from within California and other states.

However, not all the businesses exiting California have decided to head to the Lone Star state. Once considered the hub of the adult entertainment industry, California's San Fernando Valley has been hit hard by the advent of online pornography. The number of permits to film in the San Fernando Valley plummeted after a law requiring adult film stars to wear a condom while performing went into effect late last year. The measure was a Los Angeles county ballot initiative that was approved by voters in 2012. In response to the measure, studios and actors shipped themselves a few hours up Interstate 15 to Las Vegas where the cost of doing business was lower than in California and there were no regulations to mandate the wearing of condoms. Industry insiders say that its much cheaper to rent out warehouses for filming or mansions or hotel suites to accommodate talent for the duration of a shoot.

Nor are all the Californians leaving the state two-legged. Thanks to an ongoing drought and the closure of a massive slaughterhouse in the Imperial Valley town of Brawley, ranchers in California have been selling off cattle to Texas, Nevada and Nebraska. According to Reuters research, at least 100,000 head of cattle have left California in 2014- including breeding stock that's going to slaughter. Higher feed and transportation costs have also put pressure on California ranchers, although ranchers elsewhere are facing similar problems.

Although defenders of the current business climate in California often cite the entertainment industry and Silicon Valley as being the state's economic backbone as well as the primary source of fundraising for the state's democrat party, Hollywood has been shipping jobs out of state due to increased production and filming costs within the state. Special effects firm Sony Pictures Imageworks announced at the end of May that their headquarters will be moved from Los Angeles to Vancouver, Canada for post production work. Over the last 20 years, the area around Vancouver, BC has been dubbed 'Hollywood North' as British Columbia offered studios tax credits for filming on location. Although the exchange between the US and Canadian dollar isn't as favorable as it was in the 1990s, a number of studios are still drawn there for post-production work and location filming [the area around Vancouver can pass for a number of other settings depending on the type of film or scene- NANESB!].

The state's Democrat-controlled legislature also recently passed a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2017 and is expected to be signed into law by governor Brown. While the bill raises entry-level wages, many employers will likely end up cutting their workforce and retailers or restaurants will close down locations or increase prices to make up for any increased operating costs.

More damning, none of these jobs or businesses will be coming back or are unlikely to be replaced by new enterprise. Although California sits on considerable oil reserves in the Monterrey Shale, wealthy environmentalists with considerable backing from the entertainment industry are seeking to ban the hydraulic facture drilling process that has been so effective in recovering shale oil and gas in Texas, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, state and local lawmakers continue to busy themselves with legislation concerning transgender bathrooms for schoolchildren or banning plastic bags and simply assume that they can get whatever revenue they need from the next Silicon valley startup such as Facebook.

Gunman Kills Three at Fort Hood Before Shooting Himself

In a scene eerily reminiscent of the 2009 massacre, three soldiers were killed and 16 were hospitalized on Wednesday after a gunman, identified as 34 year old specialist Ivan Lopez, opened fire on base and shot himself as MP's closed in.

Officials say that Lopez, who was originally from Puerto Rico and served as a truck driver in Iraq in 2011, although he saw no combat. Department of Defense officials say that they're fairly certain Lopez had no ties to any international terror groups, but he had previously self-reported himself for an undisclosed mental health issue.

The 34-year old specialist had also served in the infantry and the Army band and had previously served in the Puerto Rico National Guard.

Lopez legally purchased the murder weapon- a 9-shot Smith & Wesson .45 semiauto- at a nearby store that also reportedly sold Nidal Hassan his gun before his November 2009 killing spree on base, murdering 13 soldiers and injuring more than 30. Lopez was carrying multiple clips and the weapon was not registered with officials on base as is required. Although Lopez was reportedly taking prescription medication and being evaluated from PTSD, there was nothing in his background that would've prevented him from legally purchasing the pistol after a background check.

Witnesses say that Lopez appeared agitated over initially being denied leave to attend his mother's funeral in Puerto Rico. Army investigators also are looking into the possibility that a verbal altercation had preceded Lopez's killing spree. Fox News Latino reports that in a Facebook update from earlier this month, Lopez claimed that he was robbed and- more ominously- he posted in Spanish "I have lost my inner peace, full of hatred. I think this time the devil will take me."

Lopez's mother passed away in November and the Army initially denied him bereavement leave before issuing him a 24 hour pass after his funeral. In October, Lopez's grandfather had also passed away in his Puerto Rican hometown of Guayanilla.

The Army has identified the fatalities as SFC Danny Ferguson of Mulberry, FL, Sgt Timothy Owens of Effingham, IL and Carlos Alberto Rodriguez of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

¡Muy Caliente! Por Teacher- Dallas Area Spanish Teacher Reportedly Fired For Appearence in Playboy As Coed

And just like that, there's one less hot Spanish teacher in the Lone Star State.

First year Spanish teacher Cristy Nicole DeWeese was fired by the Dallas Independent School District earlier this month due to her 2011 appearance as 'Coed of the Month' in Playboy magazine- a publication I'm told attempts to trick buyers into reading pretentious Gore Vidal articles by surrounding them with pictures of naked or near-naked women.

Deweese had apparently just turned 18 when she posed nude for the illustrious men’s magazine. She was not employed by the Dallas Independent School District at the time.

In Playboy’s online videos and photos, Deweese goes by the much sexier name, Cristy Nicole.

In a YouTube clip entitled “Coed Cristy Nicole is One Sexy Hunter,” Deweese can be seen modeling in striped pajamas and lingerie for Playboy. She spends much of the clip chatting with people behind the scenes.

She says hunting is one of her hobbies. She talks about her career goals—even then, at just 18, she knew she wanted to be a Spanish teacher.

Deweese spends much of the clip discussing a bag of beef jerky she brought to snack on during her Playboy modeling shoot.

At least one parent had suggested that Deweese’s presence in front of a classroom was a distraction for students. The parent also charged that students were checking out Deweese’s video and photos on campus.

Students seemed less concerned—at least the ones chirping on the web. Many of them posted comments under Deweese’s Playboy video on YouTube.

“That’s my Spanish teacher!!!” reads a representative YouTube comment.

Other students took to Twitter to defend Deweese and tell critics to stop bothering her. At least one student started a petition in an effort to save the embattled first-year teacher’s job.

While Deweese's photos are much racier than that of fired Florida educator Olivia Sprauer, the end result is the same. Deweese is reportedly looking to resume her modeling career if she's unable to continue teaching [on that note, if the Dallas Independent School District would like to retain my services in performing due diligence to make certain recently hired employees aren't former adult film stars or centerfolds, contact me via this blog; there is the matter of my sizeable fee for services rendered- NANESB!]. Still, credit should be given to Deweese for not sleeping with any of her students, which is more than some school districts can say.

Deweese's firing occurred just a month into the school year, leaving the district scrambling to find a substitute Spanish teacher on short notice. They were able to find a replacement from nearby Arlen, TX. However, her hiring is considered a stopgap measure....



....at best.

Sad to say, I never had the sultry Selma Hayek or Sofia Vergara-lookalike latina Spanish teacher that's the subject of pretty much every schoolboy fantasy to the point of being cliche. I did take a semester of Russian, and while our teacher was a brusque, dour woman from the Old Country, she had to leave about a week into the semester due to some sort of family emergency back in Russia. Our substitute turned out to be a drop-dead gorgeous, bubbly, statuesque blonde from Poland who showed up for the first day in high heels and a tight little floral print sundress. Очень хорошо!

Political Football Sports Chowdah Update- Army, Navy And Air Force Football To Continue Despite Government Shutdown; Bruins Get It Done Shorthanded; Red Sox Await Rays in All AL East ALDS

NCAA FOOTBALL-Pretty busy night for a Thursday, but more on that in a bit.

After some speculation that they wouldn't even take place this weekend, both the Air Force vs Navy and Army vs Boston College games are set to kick off at their scheduled times.

Despite the majority of costs being paid in advance by private booster clubs, reports were circulating that this weekend's football games involving the US Service Academies in West Point, Annapolis and Colorado Springs would be cancelled or postponed due to this week's government shutdown.

However, in what some critics are calling 'Shutdown Theater' [in which the government cuts the most visible and public services as opposed to the most redundant or non-essential- NANESB!] the Pentagon announced that the decision for each academy to play would be subject to review beforehand. The fact that the Air Force vs Navy game was sold out this weekend and the Army Black Knights would likely have to pay a fine for breach of contract undercut most arguments that shutting down the football teams is the most economically prudent thing to do.

The Naval Academy announced that all varsity sports aside from football were cancelled through Sunday as well.

BOSTON COLLEGE- Well, the Eagles managed to bookend their bye week with two relatively difficult games and went 0-2, although given what a train wreck the USC program has become I'm a little disappointed they didn't perform better against the Trojans.

Last weekend, the Eagles actually had a first-half lead against the 8th-ranked Florida State Seminoles, but the defense was clearly outmatched and the 'Noles would go on to win by a 48-34 final on Chestnut Hill.

This weekend's upcoming game at Chestnut Hill has garnered all sorts of attention from the non-sports world, and it has nothing to do with the fact that its Boston College's homecoming.

The BC Eagles will play host to the Army Black Knights, who are sporting a 2-3 record and are [almost literally- NANESB!] being used as a political football due to this week's ongoing government shutdown.

Here is the ESPN3 link to watch Saturday's Army-BC homecoming game http://t.co/b0wosLcU0b #ARMYvsBC pic.twitter.com/TWc0XkbSO8
— BC Football News (@BCFootballNews) October 3, 2013

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 ET and according to BC Athletics, the game will be streamed for free over ESPN3.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- After a bye week, the UMass Minutemen are looking for their first win of the season. The Minutemen will head to Bowling Green, OH to take on the 4-1 Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday at 3:30 ET.

The UConn Huskies, after coming up short against the #15 Michigan Wolverines, lost to Buffalo by a 42-12 final last weekend and will host South Florida on October 12th.

BIG 12- The Texas Longhorns rallied late in Ames, IA and held on to win by a 31-30 final as DE Jackson Jeffcoat picked off Iowa State QB Sam B Richardson with 31 seconds left in the 4th quarter.

PAC 12- Although Utah got out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter of their Thursday night game against #12 UCLA, the Bruins came roaring back late and would go on to win by a 34-27 final. The win give the Bruins a record or 4-0 while the Utes are now 3-2.

ELSEWHERE IN THE PAC 12- The USC Trojans fired head coach Lane Kiffin after the team's 62-41 loss to Arizona state last Saturday. Despite an above .500 record, the loss was reportedly the final straw for some who wanted Kiffin gone. There reportedly has been some interest in interviewing former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach and current Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio to fill the vacancy left by Kiffin's dismissal. However, Del Rio has said he's not interested in the position.

AP- Michael Dwyer

NHL- And just like that, the puck has dropped on the Bruins season.

Not only did the 2013-2014 season get off to a good start, the Bruins managed to make history by becoming the first NHL team to score their first goal of the season on a penalty shot.



Chris Kelly got the Bruins on the board with a penalty shot at the 8:21 mark that beat Tampa Bay goalie Anders Lindback- it also counts as a shorthanded goal since the Lightning had 31 seconds remaining on the power play as well.

Valtteri Filppula got the Lightning on the board with a goal around the 10 minute mark of the second period, but with a minute to go in the second, Milan Lucic put the Bruins back on top. The Bruins then extended their lead with a shorthand tally from Patrice Bergeron just after four minutes into the 3rd period.

Boston goes on to win their home opener by a 3-1 final. The homestand continues through the weekend when the Bruins will host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and the NHL Network.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS- The Bruins celebrated opening night on the Causeway by announcing a 4-year contract extension with defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. The extension is said to be worth about $16 million over the next four years.

BOSTON RED SOX- It's been a very busy week in the MLB postseason, yet the Red Sox haven't played a single game all week. Instead, Boston was awaiting the winner of the American League Wild Card tiebreaker game followed by the one game play-in. As it turns out, Boston will face the Tampa Bay Rays after the Rays beat the Texas Rangers by a 5-2 final on Monday and shut out the Cleveland Indians by a 5-0 final on Wednesday- both of those wins coming on the road.

With the ALDS matchup set, game one will take place on Friday afternoon at Fenway with Jon Lester [15-8; 3.75 ERA] getting the start in Game one against Tampa Bay's Matt Moore [17-4; 3.29 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 ET and the game will be televised on TBS.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The Pittsburgh Pirates won their first playoff game since 1992 as Francisco Liriano pitched 7 complete innings and allowed just four hits in the Pirates 6-2 win over Cincinnati in the National League Wild Card play-in game on Tuesday night.

The win means the Pirates advance to play another NL Central team, the division champion St Louis Cardinals. St Louis took game one of the series by a 9-1 final on Thursday night with Game 2 set for Friday afternoon. Game two of the NLDS gets underway from Busch Stadium at 1:00 ET with the Bucs Gerrit Cole [10-7; 3.22 ERA] will get the start against the Cards Lance Lynn [15-10; 3.97 ERA] and the game will be televised on the MLB network.

In the other NLDS matchup, the Dodger jumped out to a 1-0 series lead against the Atlanta Braves thanks to Clayton Kershaw's 7 innings of 3-hit baseball while striking out 12 Atlanta batters. Former Red Sox and Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez broke the game open with a 2-run homer in the top of the 3rd and the Dodgers would go on to win by a 6-1 final. Game two is scheduled for Friday at 6:07 ET and will feature LA's Zach Gerinke [15-4; 2.63 ERA] going up against Mike Minor [13-9; 3.21 ERA]. Game 2 will also be televised on the MLB network.

The last series to get underway will be the Tigers and A's from Oakland on Friday night. Game one will feature Detroit's Max Scherzer [21-3; 2.90 ERA] and Oakland's Bartolo Colon [18-6; 2.65 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 9:37 PM Eastern time (6:37 Pacific) and the game will be televised on TBS.

Fort Hood Shooter Sentenced To Death

A military jury in Texas has sentenced former US Army Major Nidal Hasan to death for his role in the November 2009 Ft Hood shootings after a three week trial.

Hasan, who sat motionless as the jury president read the verdict, has said he acted to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression, never denied being the gunman. In opening statements, he acknowledged to the jury that he pulled the trigger in a crowded waiting room where troops were getting final medical checkups before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hasan had one final chance Wednesday to give a closing argument before his case went to the jury, but he declined -- continuing an absent defense that he has used since his trial began three weeks ago.

The Army psychiatrist's behavior has only stoked suspicion that his ultimate goal is martyrdom, in the form of a death sentence that would allow him to fulfill what prosecutors have described as a "jihad duty" under his Islamic faith.

The lead prosecutor, Col. Mike Mulligan, told jurors Wednesday morning that history was full of instances of death in the name of religion. But he said it would be "wrong and unsupportive" to tie Hasan's actions to a wider cause

Hasan acted as his own defense counsel throughout the trial, and his strategy consisted solely of admitting that he was the shooter and not challenging the prosecution's claims. The Virginia-born Muslim claimed the shooting was in retaliation for what he claims is an ongoing American war against Islamic nations.

To add insult to injury, the government has classified the terrorist sympathizer Hasan's religiously motivated killing spree as "workplace violence" instead of terrorism- denying survivors and family members certain benefits and awards.

Even worse, the FBI had reportedly intercepted communications between Hasan and radical cleric Anwar Al-Alwaki in Yemen nearly a year before the attack.

Hasan first appeared on the bureau's radar in December of 2008—nearly a year before the Fort Hood massacre—when he emailed Awlaki to ask him whether serving in the US military was compatible with the Muslim faith. He also asked whether Awlaki considered those who died attacking their fellow soldiers "shaheeds," or martyrs.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego, which was tracking Awlaki, intercepted Hasan's December email, along with another sent in January. A search of the Pentagon's personnel database turned up a man named Nidal Hasan who was on active military duty and was listed as a "Comm Officer" at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Normally, when the FBI unearths this kind of raw intelligence, it issues an Intelligence Information Report (IIR), which is shared with law enforcement agencies and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (This system was designed to prevent the kind of information bottlenecks that allowed the 9/11 plot to go undetected.) But the San Diego agents misinterpreted the "Comm Officer" label in Hasan's file to mean "communications officer" (in fact, it meant "commissioned officer") and believed that a person in this role might have access to IIRs. To avoid tipping him off, they skipped the report and sent a detailed memo requesting an investigation directly to the Washington, DC, Joint Terrorism Task Force, a multiagency team overseen by the FBI that investigates terrorism cases in the capital. The message noted that Hasan's "contact with [Awlaki] would be of concern if the writer is actually the individual identified above."

The file languished for nearly two months before it was assigned to an agent for the Defense Criminal Investigative Services, who was on the task force. According to a 2011 report on the Fort Hood shootings by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, DCIS—a law enforcement agency within the Pentagon, which normally deals with fraud and cybercrime among military personnel and contractors—was ill-equipped to tackle a counterterrorism investigation.

Meanwhile, Hasan kept writing Awlaki. Between January and May 2009, he sent the radical cleric more than a dozen emails, and received two relatively benign responses. In one message, ostensibly about Palestinians firing unguided rockets into Israel, Hasan asked Awlaki whether "indiscriminately killing civilians" was acceptable. Two days later, he sent another message answering his own question: "Hamas and the Muslims hate to hurt the innocent but they have no choice if their going to have a chance to survive, flourish, and deter the zionist enemy. The recompense for an evil is an evil." (Hasan's emails contained a number of typos.)

The San Diego field office intercepted these missives, too. But the database where the FBI stored intercepted emails didn't automatically link messages from the same sender, so the staff didn't realize that Hasan's early 2009 emails were from the person who had set off alarms the previous December. Meanwhile, the Washington-based DCIS agent assigned to investigate Hasan put off his inquiry for another 90 days, the maximum allowed under joint task force rules, before conducting a cursory investigation. Over the course of four hours on May 27, 2009, he ran Hasan's name through several databases to see if the psychiatrist had been targeted in previous counterterrorism probes. He also reviewed Hasan's Pentagon personnel file. Hasan's officer evaluations were mostly positive, and the chair of psychiatry at Walter Reed had written that Hasan's research on Islamic beliefs regarding military service had "extraordinary potential to inform national policy and military strategy."


The Senate investigation later found these reports "bore no resemblance to the real Hasan, a barely competent psychiatrist whose radicalization toward violent Islamist extremism alarmed his colleagues and his superiors." Nevertheless, the DCIS investigator concluded, based on Hasan's file, that the Army psychiatrist had contacted Awlaki in connection with his academic research and "was not involved in terrorist activity." The DCIS investigator and a supervisory agent in the Washington field office debated interviewing Hasan or his superiors. They ultimately decided doing so could jeopardize the Awlaki investigation or harm Hasan's career.

Advocates for Fort Hood victims find this decision puzzling. "A US Army major is writing to this imam and essentially asking for religious sanction to kill American soldiers," said attorney Reed Rubinstein, who represents a group of victims who are suing the federal government. "And the FBI's Washington field office doesn't even interview the man or make a phone call to his superiors. It's utterly incomprehensible."

Hasan's superiors reportedly missed or ignored a number of red flags regarding Hasan's performance as an officer, including being overweight and stridently supporting Islamic law during his residency at Walter Reed Army hospital.

Should the Army follow through, this will be the first military execution since 1961.

Borderline Psychosis Update- Mexican Marines Nab Fugitive Zetas Capo in Border Town; The Deer Hunter(s); Gunmen In Chihuahua Resort to Chasing Ambulances

TAMAULIPAS- Officials south of the border confirmed on Tuesday that Mexican Marines had captured fugitive Zetas leader Miguel Angel Treviño Morales- also known as "Z-40".

Even in a nation jaded by years of violence stemming from ongoing narco violence, Z-40 had earned a reputation for ferocity and depravity on both sides of the border. While not actually pulling the trigger, he is believed to have ordered the 2010 massacre of more than 70 Central American immigrants, a 2010 arson attack on a Monterrey casino that led to the deaths of 52 patrons, the death and disappearance of more than 200 people in Tamaulipas after gunmen abducted passengers off of intercity buses and a 2012 prison riot in Nuevo Leon that killed 44 and was used as cover for a jailbreak.

However, after years of aggressive incursions into territory controlled by the rival Gulf, Sinaloa and La Familia Michoacána cartels, the Zetas began suffering a number of setbacks recently. In June 2012, a federal judge in Texas ordered the seizure of more than 400 racehorses stabled in New Mexico's Ruidoso Downs racetrack as part of a money-laundering investigation against Jose Treviño Moreals- Miguel's brother.

Around the same time, Mexican troops arrested the Zetas "piracy czar" in Nuevo Leon. Gregorio Villanueva Salas oversaw the lucrative video, music and software piracy arm of the Zetas and was said to be involved in a number of grenade attacks.

In October 2012, Mexican Marines shot and killed then-Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano outside a ballpark in Coahuila- although at the time the Mexican military initially thought they had simply encountered some low-level sicarrios. However, in a bizarre development a group of men broke into a funeral home and stole Lazcano's body the following day.

Despite the Zetas fearsome reputation, Treviño and two associates- a bodyguard and accountant- were apprehended without firing a shot. A Blackhawk helicopter from the Mexican Navy was used to cut off Z-40's escape route and after a brief foot chase in which he reportedly fell into heavy brush, he was captured.

The Zetas had originally started out as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel recruited from the ranks of the Mexican army or various police departments. However, after the 2003 arrest of Gulf Cartel capo Osiel Cardenas, the Zetas broke away from the Gulf cartel and usurped much of their territory, leaving the remnants of the Gulf Cartel a sliver of territory in Tamaulipas while they aggressively expanded into territory controlled by the Sinaloa and La Familia Michoacána (later the Knights Templar) cartels. Like other criminal organizations, the successfully managed to intimidate police, journalists and prosecutors into compliance with a high-profile campaign of arson and murders- often leaving the bodies of their victims mutilated and on display in public along with a warning written on a banner hung nearby.

However, the Zetas were able to separate themselves from others for random attacks on civilians not involved in the drug trade, forcibly conscripting illegal immigrants transiting through Mexico to become drug mules (or executing them if they refused), armed themselves with military grade weaponry from armories in Central America and even began recruiting members of the Guatemalan Army's elite Kabiles special operation unit as they expanded their operations in Central America.

MICHOACAN- The uprising in Guererro that has seen armed civilians in small villages oust public officials accused of co-operating with drug traffickers has spread to the mountainous state of Michoacán. Once home to the enigmatic and cult-like La Familia Michoacána cartel, the state had mostly fallen into the hands of the Knights Templar cartel- an offshoot of La Familia when much of their leadership was killed or arrested in late 2010.

Despite the apparent demise of La Familia, Michoacán remains prime real-estate for organized crime with arable land to grow export-grade marijuana and opium poppies as well as the port of Lazaro Cardenas, which can be used to import cocaine from South America or precursor chemicals for methamphetamine from Asia.

“The problem started when they began messing with the population: extortion, rapes, killings," Mayor Rafael Garcia, 42, says of the Knights Templar, the fancifully named cartel of thugs who control many of western Michoacan state's 113 counties. "We were terrified. We are still terrified.”

“We are a very small town raising its voice,” he says. “Hopefully it will have an impact.”

Following the lead of two nearby counties, Coalcoman's people two weeks ago armed a makeshift militia with assault rifles and shotguns and drove the Templars out.

The gangsters responded by besieging the town from its outskirts. They set fire to trucks and cars trying to leave and attacked men working the forests and ranches.

Wielding a quasi-religious code of conduct and a cynical vow to defend communities against outsiders, the Templars are Michoacan's latest incarnation of a deeply rooted and politically protected criminal culture.

But this latest threat of impending slaughter proved a watershed, forcing President Enrique Peña Nieto to backtrack on vows to demilitarize Mexico's fight against its heavily armed and murder-minded gangsters.

He named an army general on May 16 to take control of Michoacan's public security and deployed as many as 6,000 soldiers to the state with orders to disarm the militias and force the Templars to retreat.

“I still don't understand how the government let this go on so long," Garcia says. "They didn't imagine the town would take up arms. The army is here because the people rose up."

Coalcoman joins a spreading movement across violence-plagued Michoacan and neighboring Guerrero state, where towns and villages have formed volunteer “community police” to depose corrupt local police and draw a line in the dirt against the gangs.

Similar but more poorly armed militias formed in late February in the towns of Buenavista Tomatlan and Tepalcatepec, forcing the mayors of both towns to flee and sparked deadly clashes with the Templars.

"It's not possible to continue living this way," Michoacan's five Roman Catholic bishops declared in a call to action two weeks ago. "There is a permanent feeling of defenselessness and desperation. To that is added anger and fear because of the forced or voluntary complicity between authorities and organized crime."

Mexico's civil-war-like criminal violence began in Michoacan more than six years ago when then-President Felipe Calderon sent in the army to subdue La Familia Michoacana drug cartel.

The troops didn't stay long and the gangsters waited them out, returning stronger than ever. By one estimate, the Templars — who emerged several years ago as a breakaway faction of La Familia — now hold sway in nearly three-quarters of the state's counties.

The Knights Templar has become the state’s leading crime syndicate.

As long as they stuck with the drug trade the Templars were tolerated and even admired by many here. But in recent years the gang's local cells began heavily extorting communities and business people, reportedly raping women at will and killing on a whim.

Local officials and police either cooperated openly with the Templars or felt themselves powerless to oppose them. State and federal officials reacted sporadically, their operations often sparking open combat and gangsters blockading towns and cities.

Extortion fees were collected as taxes, just as formalized but far more hazardous to evade, the Coalcoman mayor and other residents say. The Templars took 10 percent of municipal budgets, and similar cuts from cattle, lumber and lime producers. They levied taxes on meat, tortillas and other groceries and charged “protection quotas” from anybody they came across.

Residents and companies refusing to pay face the Templars’ wrath.

Lumber yards, and fruit packing sheds and delivery trucks have been burned down, workers and citizens murdered. In April, gunmen twice attacked a convoy of lime growers and pickers who had traveled to complain to state officials about the extortion, killing 10 people.

For now the troops serve as peacekeepers, keeping Templars and militias separated but not really moving against either. The gangsters stay scarce, the militias keep their weapons out of sight but handy.

Most everyone expects the federal forces to pull out sooner rather than later. Then the troubles will begin anew.

"We are very aware that they can return at any time,” said the leader of unarmed militiamen manning the checkpoint on the highway entrance to Buenavista Tomatlan. “We know lives will be lost, but we are ready for that. The people don't want any more gangsters in this area."

The Templars and some federal officials have accused the militias of taking weapons and other support from a criminal cartel in neighboring Jalisco state, pointing to the assault weapons carried by many of the volunteers.

But Mayor Garcia in Coalcoman says local businessmen bought the weapons, though he won't say from whom.

"How are you going to fight these people, with slingshots?" Garcia asked in an interview Tuesday.

A sprawling county of just 10,000 souls, Coalcoman huddles near the Pacific coast in a valley surrounded by forested mountains a six-hour drive from Morelia, the state capital.

The area's independent-minded people work mines, cattle ranches and lumber mills. Coalcoman’s people long have had little use, or regard, for state and federal government.

Coalcoman earned a footnote in history for its fierce guerrilla resistance against occupying French soldiers in the mid-19th century.

A leftist guerrilla movement sprang up near here in the 1970s. Well-armed militias here again have set nerves on edge in Morelia and Mexico City.

“We are living this, we are fighting this in perhaps an old fashioned way," said rancher Misael Gonzalez, 48, a leader of Coalcoman's community police. "We are a grain of rice, but we are doing what we can."

Things are peaceful for now. Hundreds of soldiers and federal police man checkpoints on the highway leading to Coalcoman through Buenavista and Tepalcatepec. Armored troop convoys are about the only traffic on the road. Two propeller driven air force attack planes overflew the area last week in a show of force.

“Our fear is that days and months will pass and they will be here without finishing off the Templars," Mayor Garcia says of the troops.

“They haven't managed a single capture. We are not going to put down our arms. We are not going to drop our guard until this is resolved."

Meanwhile Garcia and his townspeople hunker down. The mayor says he sleeps in different houses every night, and doesn't dare leave town.

Should the Templars return, he says half jokingly, he might be forced to seek asylum in the United States. But Garcia stresses that he has few regrets about leading his town in confronting the gangsters.

"It's not about money any more. We were used to paying money,” he says of the Templars endemic extortion. “This is about honor and dignity.

“Either you serve God or you serve the Devil," Garcia says. "I am with the people.”

Despite campaign promises to the contrary, the newly-sworn in government of Enrique Peña Nieto sent Mexican troops to intervene in the mountainous regions of Michoacán and Guererro. Some government officials have expressed concerns that rival cartels may be manipulating anti-government to oust the Knights Templar from some of the territory they hold.


CHIHUAHUA- An ambulance carrying individuals wounded in a shootout was intercepted by gunmen in southern Chihuahua last week. The abductors reportedly abducted four men from paramedics at gunpoint and bundled them into a dark SUV before driving off.

The four patients, who had been wounded in a firefight pitting two groups of gunmen in the town of Guadalupe y Calvo, were being rushed to a hospital when they were forced off the ambulance Thursday night in the town of Parral and taken away in an SUV, Carlos González, spokesman for the Chihuahua state Attorney General's Office, told Efe.

TEXAS- A group of east Texas hunters setting up blinds for the upcoming deer season stumbled across more than 18,000 marijuana plants in rural Madison County this week.

Madison County Sheriff Travis Neeley says a group of hunters were setting up deer blinds when they discovered the plants on Friday. The sheriff's office eventually confiscated 18,400 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $9 million.

Authorities say they also found 13 bags of fertilizer, 3,000 feet of irrigation piping and a generator. Neeley says hygiene products, tents and batteries were also found at a nearby campsite

While no arrests have been made, local police believe the operation has been in use for the past three or four years and was likely funded by one of the Mexican cartels.

Borderline Psychosis Update- Fast and Furious Gun Reportedly Used to Kill Police Chief in Jalisco; Narcos Carry Out Cross Border Abduction of Innocent Man in Texas

Aftermath of deadly ambush in Jalisco that killed the police chief for the town of Hostotipaquillo

JALISCO- About the only honest assessment from the Justice Department and Obama Administration during the 2011 Fast and Furious hearing on Capitol Hill was that the weapons that were allowed to 'walk' in the ill-advised ATF operation would continue surfacing at crime scenes on both sides of the border for quite some time.

Another weapon lost in the Obama administration's failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation has purportedly been traced to two more killings, including the fatal shooting of a police chief in Mexico.

The officer was killed Jan. 29 in the city of Hostotipaquillo when gunmen intercepted his patrol car and opened fire, according to Justice Department records obtained by The Los Angeles Times. The chief’s bodyguard was also killed and a second bodyguard and the chief’s wife were wounded.

The semi-automatic rifle that killed the police chief in central Mexico has been traced to the Lone Wolf Trading Company, a gun store in Glendale, Ariz.

The gun was purchased in February 2010 by 26-year-old Jacob A. Montelongo, of Phoenix, who purportedly bought more than 100 guns connected to Fast and Furious. He is now serving 41 months in prison on charges including making false statements and smuggling goods from the United States.

The murder weapon was identified as a WASR- a Romanian made semi-automatic variant of the AK-47. The gun was similar to another weapon that could be traced back to Fast and Furious in November 2012 when a Mexican beauty queen was reportedly used as a human shield by her narco boyfriend in a shootout between cartel gunmen and Mexican soldiers.

TEXAS- At a time when President Obama and DHS head Janet Napolitano assured us that the border with Mexico was safer than ever, Mexican cartel gunmen abducted an innocent man in Texas and smuggled him across the border before he was murdered in northern Mexico.

The abduction took place more than two years ago at a rural intersection in Mission, TX when Gulf cartel gunmen dressed as policemen abducted 35 year old Ovidio Olivares Guererro at gunpoint before tying him up and taking him to a nearby cartel stash house, then a ranch in Starr county before being smuggled across the border to Mexico.

Police believe his abductors had mistaken Olivares for his cousin, Gerardo Olivarez. The abduction was reportedly ordered by a Gulf Cartel underboss Miguel Villareal Jr- also known as 'Gringo Mike' who believed that Gerardo had stolen large amounts of cocaine from one of the cartel's nearby stash houses.

Court records show that the whole kidnapping plot began to unravel when Mission police busted a party inside a hotel room at the Hawthorn Suites off Plantation Grove Boulevard back in June 2011.

Mission police arrested 23-year-old Gerardo Villarreal on drug charges but investigators learned he participated in the kidnapping.

Villarreal told investigators that he got paid $1,000 dollars by a man nicknamed “Pecueka” to participate in the crew.

Federal court records show that Villarreal is expected to be sentenced in August but FBI agents identified five more suspects named in a second, but related case.

FBI agents arrested suspects Jose Lorenzo Davila, Roel Garza and Orlando Hernandez last week but the names of the two others suspects in their case remain sealed.

Records in both cases show that the intended target in the kidnapping was Guerrero’s cousin Gerardo Olivarez.

Olivarez could not be reached for comment on Wednesday but records show that the gunmen were hired to kidnap him.

Court records show that the gunmen knew Olivarez by the nickname “Lin” and they believed he stole a large amount of cocaine from a Gulf Cartel stash house in the Rio Grande Valley.

Villarreal told FBI agents that they had Olivarez’s Mile 8 North home under surveillance in the days before the kidnapping.

Court records show that the kidnapping was one of several ordered by Miguel Villarreal, Jr.

Villarreal was killed during a March 2013 gun battle in Mexico but at the time of the kidnapping, he was a Gulf Cartel plaza boss who went by the nicknames “Gringo Mike” or “El Gringo.”

FBI agents reported that Guerrero was taken from Mile 8 North and taken to a ranch owned by Villarreal at 1012 N. Trosper Rd. in Alton.

The gunmen questioned Guerrero and realized that he was not the right man.

Although the ranch was registered to a woman named Dominga De La Torre, court records show Villarreal was the owner.

The ranch was reportedly used as a Gulf Cartel stash house for drugs and other illegal activity.

Those who stayed at the ranch were charged with guard the drugs but a 100 kilograms of cocaine were stolen from there just two weeks prior to the kidnapping.

Villarreal had hired the gunmen to kidnap those who believed had stolen the drugs.

Once at the Trosper Road ranch house, the gunmen beat Guerrero but realized that he was the wrong man.

Court records show that Guerrero saw the face of a suspect whose name has not been released.

That unnamed suspect told the gunmen that they could not free Guerrero because they had seen his face.

Court records show that the unnamed suspect told the gunmen that Guerrero would be taken to Mexico.

They drove Guerrero to a home in Rio Grande City and then to the Rio Grande River where he was smuggled across to Mexico.

The gunmen delivered Guerrero to a man nicknamed “Mocho,” who was the plaza boss for the Gulf Cartel across from Rio Grande City in Camargo.

Court records show that “Mocho” delivered Guerrero to “Gringo Mike” in Reynosa.

One of the gunmen arrested in the case told FBI agents that he ran into another unnamed suspect in the case in Reynosa.

That unnamed suspect showed the gunmen a large amount of cash and told him that Guerrero had already been murdered.

FBI agents reported that Guerrero was a lawful permanent resident of the United States and had no involvement in the theft or sale of cocaine.

Guerrero has not been hear from or seen since the kidnapping. His body has never been recovered.

Ovidio's family reported his abduction after showing up at a local police station to find out more about his arrest, only to learn that he wasn't in custody.

CANADA- An internal assessment by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police indicates that at least 10 Canadians killed in Mexico since 2008 are suspected to have ties to organized crime  and were thought to be in Mexico to forge closer links to the Mexican cartels.

Some were known to be active in drug trafficking in Canada and all had extensive criminal backgrounds, says the RCMP analysis.

A copy of the May 2012 assessment, which takes a close look at the influence of corruption, and a related review of the implications for Canada — both heavily censored — were released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

The Mounties say global borders have become blurred with the proliferation of transnational organized crime.

As a result, Canadian criminal networks have expanded, conducting business on an international scale with illicit organizations in other countries.

“Canadian criminal groups are now dealing directly with Mexican criminals and crime groups in Mexico, a country struggling with corruption and brutal violence,” says the assessment by the RCMP’s criminal intelligence program.

In April last year, Thomas Gisby, a B.C. man with known gang ties, was gunned down in a Nuevo Vallarta coffee shop.

At the same time, interceptions of Canada-bound drug shipments “point to possible connections between Mexican and Canadian-based crime networks,” the RCMP says.

A recently released Canada Border Services Agency report cites Mexico as the largest transit point for South American cocaine destined for North America.

The RCMP assessment says competition among drug trafficking organizations has made corruption endemic in Mexican society, reflected in weakened governmental institutions, an ineffective criminal justice system, and a deep-rooted fear and distrust of authorities by the Mexican people.

At least five of the Canadians mentioned in the report have extensive criminal backgrounds and are said to be associated with the Hell's Angels or British Columbia-based UN Gang. A number of Canadian criminal enterprises are said to be forging closer links to the Mexican cartels to increase their profit margin by eliminating middlemen and third parties.

Because One Wasn't Enough- Second Iron Horse Roundup for May 2012

East Erie Commercial GE 85-tonner bringing brand-new VLI (Valor Logistica Integrada) BB40-9Ws from General Electric's Erie plant to the CSX interchange in April 2012. The units are destined for one of VALE mining's railroads in Brazil.
BurghMan photo

GENERAL ELECTRIC- General Electric announced plans to cut as many as 950 jobs at their Erie, PA plant in April. Production will be shifted to GE's new facility in Ft Worth, TX.

The reductions are slated to start in six months pending a 60-day period of talks with union leaders, said Lorenzo Simonelli, head of GE's transportation unit. The new plant in Fort Worth, also the headquarters for Warren Buffett's Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, is about 20 percent more efficient than the Erie plant, which is more than 100 years old.

The Fairfield, Conn.-based company is the world's largest builder of locomotives.

Simonelli said production of Evolution-series locomotives will be increased in Fort Worth, along with wheels for mining equipment, as output in Erie is reduced. About 10 percent of the work now handled at the Pennsylvania site will be moved to Mexico and third-party manufacturers, he said.

About 200 of the Erie job cuts, more than 20 percent, are linked to declining coal demand, Simonelli said. GE's railroad customers have parked about 3,000 locomotives as utilities that once relied on coal carried by trains to produce electricity began switching to cheaper natural gas from shale formations.

Although the move would put GE closer to major customers such as Union Pacific, BNSF and Kansas City Southern, critics point out that GE is moving from a union facility in Pennsylvania to a right-to-work state where labor costs are lower. In 2011, the National Labor Relations Board issued an injunction that blocked Boeing from shifting production of their 787 Dreamliner from Washington state to South Carolina- a move similar to what General electric CEO Jeffery Immelt is doing by shifting GE production from Pennsylvania to Texas. However, its worth pointing out that Immelt was appointed to President Obama's short-lived 'Jobs Council' in early 2011.

Freshly repainted Massachusetts Central GP38-2 #1750 is seen at Mid America Car in Kansas City, MO on May 25th. The #1750 and #1751 are awaiting relettering before heading east to Massachusetts. Matt Mauner Photo.

MASSACHUSETTS CENTRAL- The Mass Central is expected to take delivery of a pair of  repainted GP38-2s. The units were repainted into a McGuinness style 1960s-era Boston & Maine inspired paint scheme.

Currently the Mass Central operates freight service on 26 miles of a former Boston & Albany branch between Palmer, MA and South Barre, MA. The railway began operations in the mid 1970s after purchasing the current line from Penn Central and motive power includes a GP9, a former Milwaukee Road GP20 and an extremely rare 1947-built ex-Southern NW5 that's been with the Mass Central from the beginning.

Interestingly, while the Boston & Maine did roster GP38s at one point, they were painted a more basic blue and white paint scheme with the notable exception of B&M #200, which was painted red, white and blue colors in 1975 for America's bicentennial.

Former McCloud River ALCo 2-6-2 is seen with a photo freight on the Oregon Coast Scenic railroad on May 4th. The line was severed from the rest of the country by a December 2007 storm. Thomas R Schultz photo

OREGON- The Oregon Coast Scenic railroad reached an agreement in 2012 with the Port of Tillamook Bay to operate excursions between Tillamook, OR and the Salmonberry River Canyon- some 46 miles.

After performing repairs and maintenance on a section of the line that has been out of service for more than five years, the Oregon Coast Scenic ran a test train from Garibaldi, OR to the mouth of the Salmonberry River and current end of the line in April.

The excursion also measured how long the trip would take, Thompson explained, and was an opportunity to shoot photos and video of a train on the track for future promotional footage.

“The last time a steam engine passed through Salmonberry was 1953 – 60 years ago,” Thompson said.

A total of 55 people made the trip, most of them OCSR volunteers and their families and friends. A family with young children that had been ogling the train when it stopped at Wheeler were invited to join the tour. Thompson conducted trip, riding the caboose at the end of the train and manually checking road crossings for traffic.

The 95-mile Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad between Hillsboro and Tillamook, OR was knocked out of service by numerous washouts and landslides during a December 2007 storm, causing an estimated $50 million in damage. Using a fleet of former Southern Pacific and Burlington Northern SD9s, the POTB hauled lumber and forestry products between the Hillsboro and Tillamook. Since then, the POTB and Oregon Coast Scenic have been isolated from the rest of the nation's rail network.

Freshly repainted GP30M #2402 seen in transit on the Union Pacific on the Union Pacific outside of Livingston, IL on April 19th. Kevin Sies photo

ARKANSAS-OKLAHOMA RAILROAD- The Arkansas-Oklahoma railroad has acquired a quartet of former BNSF GP30M's from Larry's Truck and Electric of MacDonald, OH. In addition to the four GP30M's, the A-OK has also acquired a former Idaho Northern & Pacific (ex Wheeling & Lake Erie, nee Southern) ALCo-trucked GP35. The EMD's are expected to replace five former Conrail B23-7s that have been on the railroad since 2005.

The A-OK runs between McAlester and Howe, OK and leases a 36 mile former Union Pacific branch between Shawnee and Oklahoma City. Commodities handled include coal, frac sand, wheat, plastic, corn, acid, aggregates, lumber and feed. The 118 mile former Rock Island line between Shawnee and McAlester had been dormant for several years due to an unstable bridge over the North Canadian River. The AOK has been working to restore service between McAlester and Shawnee, and progress was made at the end of 2012 when the AOK successfully reopened the bridge over the North Canadian River.

Florida East Coast SD40-2 #714 is seen with Jacksonville-bound intermodal freight #226 as it crosses the San Sebastian River in St Augustine, FL on March 10th.
Bob Pickering photo

FLORIDA EAST COAST- The Florida East Coast has begun repainting units in a red and yellow scheme reminiscent of the line's early diesels. This would not be the first time the FEC has painted a unit in what has been referred to as Flagler or Champion colors- more than a decade ago, GP40 #2000 was painted in similar colors as a one off.

FEC's motive power fleet consists of GP40s in a dark blue and white scheme, SD70M-2s painted in colors closely copying the Alaska Railroad (blue and gold) or Rail America (red white and blue) and former Union Pacific SD40-2s that have been operating in UP's Armour Yellow for years. So far, the colors have been applied to the former UP SD40-2s.

The move is likely an effort to boost the railroad's corporate image ahead of an anticipated increase of intermodal traffic that is expected to coincide with the widening of the Panama Canal. The massive project is expected to be completed in 2014 or 2015 and the FEC has been working with the Port of Miami and Port Everglades to include on dock rail facilities as part of their expansion plans.

The Florida East Coast was acquired by Fortress Investment Group [NYSE: FIG] in 2007- they also owned a stake in Rail America until their 2012 sale to Genesee & Wyoming. Although the FEC was largely operated independently of other Rail America properties, some of the new SD70M-2s were delivered in Rail America colors (while still lettered for FEC) and Rail America subsidiary New England Central received GP40s and SD40-2s from Florida East Coast beginning in 2009 before they were relettered for the NECR in 2011.

Painted in Delaware & Hudson-inspired colors, Saratoga & North Creek B39-8 #8524 is seen trundling through the golf course at Stony Creek, NY with the railroad's first revenue freight train on February 11th. John Sesonske photo

SARATOGA & NORTH CREEK- It was a short, one car train- reminiscent of a bygone era for shortlines in the Northeast- but Iowa Pacific is hoping this could be just the beginning.

A lone boxcar carrying garnet bracketed by a Saratoga & North Creek B39-8 and Delaware & Hudson painted bay window caboose left North River, NY on Feb 11th in what was the first freight movement over the former Delaware & Hudson branch in more than 25 years.

“We’re open for business,” Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis said Wednesday. “We’ve broken the ice here. We’re thrilled that Barton is working with us. We’re hopeful this means we’ll be moving a lot more different things moving forward.”

Lumber, logs and rock tailings from an old mine in Tahawus are other possibilities.

In Corinth, officials are optimistic that freight service will lure new industry to the former International Paper Co. site.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for, not just passenger service,” Supervisor Richard Lucia said.

A rail spur goes to the former International Paper property, whose large old buildings have been razed. In addition to rail service, however, the location has ample water, a waste treatment plant, landfill and a new million-dollar electric substation.

“I still feel this is the best heavy industrial site in eastern New York,” said Jack Kelley, director of economic development for Prime Companies, an Albany-based realty firm. “Freight service makes it even more desirable for someone to move in.”

Most recently, an Italian solar panel manufacturer expressed interest, but plans never moved forward.

Kelley said he believes anything from wood products to natural gas power generation make sense for the site, or perhaps an intermodal facility similar to one in Mechanicville where products could be unloaded for transport by truck to their final destination.

“There aren’t an awful lot of places in this area where trains can sit while they’re loaded and unloaded,” Kelley said.

Barton’s facility in North River is at the south end of a recently reopened 30-mile stretch of track from North Creek north to Tahawus. Barton’s garnet abrasives are used around the world for waterjet cutting, coatings removal and other special uses such as surface preparation.

At the north end of that line, in Tahawus, NL Industries owns a former ilmenite mine that was used to make titanium during World War II. The line sat idle for many years until Iowa Pacific readied it for re-use last year, despite objections from environmental groups.

A portion of track runs through Adirondack Forest Preserve.

Ellis said a large market exists for waste rock to be used in road building and similar large-scale construction jobs. NL Industries has hired a firm to find potential buyers, he said.

“I believe there will be stone moved in 2014,” he said, adding that freight revenue should account for about half the railway’s revenue within two years.

The dormant line was purchased by Warren County in the 1990s and the Upper Hudson Railroad operated excursions over a portion of the line until 2010. In 2011, Iowa Pacific was awarded the contract to operate the entire 57 mile line and began operating passenger excursions between North Creek and the Canadian Pacific interchange in Saratoga, NY in July 2011. The line also directly interchanges with Amtrak's Ethan Allen and Adirondack passenger service as well.

Today's Train of Thought- Lone Star Classics, May 24th 2013.

Today's Train of Thought takes us to Texas for some vintage LaGrange-built horsepower [I'm not referring to ZZ Top's 'LaGrange', either- NANESB!].

While the SD45-2 never caught on as much as the slightly smaller SD40-2, there are surprisingly some examples of these 40+ year old 3600 HP behemoths still in service on a number of Class 1s and regionals. This would include carriers such as the BNSF, Norfolk Southern and Montana Rail Link [the Norfolk Southern units trace their lineage to the Erie Lackawana- NANESB!].

Here, railpictures.net contributor Brian P Bennett caught BNSF SD45-2 #6488 leading 87-car unit limestone train U-BWWPEA1 through Sealy, TX in January 2008. A pair of blue and yellow SD45-2s bracket are seen bracketing a repainted BNSF SD40-2 on each end. The Houston-area limestone trains regularly featured older power. If the Sealy name sounds somewhat familiar, that's because the Sealy Mattress Company was founded in the very same town in the late 19th century.

As of September 2012, the 6488 had undergone rebuilding at Progress Rail in Tacoma, WA along with another dozen or so SD45-2s. The rebuilds will reportedly include replacing the air conditioning, new anticlimbers, and most likely repainting into BNSF orange and black.

BREAKING- MASS EVACUATIONS AFTER HUGE EXPLOSION OUTSIDE OF WACO, TX INJURE HUNDREDS

Multiple explosions have at a fertilizer plant in north-central Texas has destroyed scores of homes and prompted the evacuation of a town of about 2700 people just outside of Waco.

Tommy Muska, the mayor of West, which is a community north of Waco, said at a news conference he did not know yet how many people were injured or killed.

KWTX reports dozens have been killed citing a hospital official, but Fox News has not confirmed the report.

MyFoxDFW.com reports as many as 300 people were taken away from the scene with injuries.

Among the damaged buildings was the West Rest Haven Nursing Home, from which first-responders evacuated 133 patients, some in wheelchairs. "We did get there and got that taken care of," Muska said.

Information was hard to come by in the hours after the blast, with even Texas Gov. Rick Perry saying state officials were waiting for details about the extent of the damage.

"We are monitoring developments and gathering information as details continue to emerge about this incident," Perry said in a statement. "We have also mobilized state resources to help local authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of West, and the first responders on the scene."

Aerial footage showed fires still smoldering in the ruins of the plant and in several surrounding buildings, and people being treated for injuries on a flood-lit local football field, which had been turned into a staging area for emergency responders.

Debby Marak told The Associated Press that when she finished teaching her religion class Wednesday night, she noticed a lot of smoke in the area across town near the plant, which is near a nursing home.

She said she drove over to see what was happening, and that when she got there, two boys came running toward her screaming that the authorities ordered everyone out because the plant was going to explode.

She said she drove about a block when the blast happened.

"It was like being in a tornado," Marak, 58, said by phone. "Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield."

"It was like the whole earth shook."

She drove 10 blocks and called her husband and asked him to come get her. When they got to their home about 2 miles south of town, her husband told her what he'd seen: a huge fireball that rose like "a mushroom cloud."

The explosion caused the roof of what appeared to be a housing complex of some kind to collapse. In aerial footage from NBC's Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate, KXAS, dozens of emergency vehicles could be seen amassed at the scene. Entry into West was slow-going, as the roads were jammed with emergency vehicles rushing in to help out.

Authorities set up a staging area on a flood-lit high school football field, where the injured were being treated or taken to area hospitals via road or helicopter.

Glenn A. Robinson, the chief executive of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, told CNN that his hospital had received 66 injured people for treatment, including 38 who were seriously hurt. He said the injuries included blast injuries, orthopedic injuries, large wounds and a lot of lacerations and cuts. The hospital has set up a hotline for families of the victims to get information, he said.

Reports from the area incidate volunteer firefighters from the town of West were at the West Fertilizer plant fighting a blaze shortly before the first massive blast. First responders had initially set up a triage center at the local high school's football field, but had to evacuate further away to the West community center due to concerns over toxic fumes from the plant and secondary explosions. In fact, the FAA has placed a temporary flight restriction over the site of the blast and firefighters were reportedly steeting clear of the blast site early Thursday morning due to the fumes. To further complicate things, thunderstorms are expected to move into the area overnight.

There have been no firm estimates of casualties from the explosions, but one public safety official said they could expect at least 60 killed in the initial blast. Six firefighters are also unaccounted for- although there has been no word on which agency.

Ammonia-based fertilizer can be used as either an explosive in addition to its intended use as a fertilizer. Most infamously, domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh used a truckload of ammonia-nitrate to blow up the Alfred P Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. The explosion comes within days of two infamous events in Texas and Oklahoma- McVeigh's bombing in 1995 and the deadly 1993 FBI raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Elk, TX, just outside of Waco and some 20 miles away from West.

The blast also coincided with the 66th anniversary of the Texas City explosion, where a fire on board the French flagged Grandcamp docked in Chambers County detonated more than 2000 tons of ammonium nitrate in the cargo hold, killing more than 500 people.

The town of West itself is located about 20 miles north of Waco along Interstate 35 and the Union Pacific's mainline between Austin and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Borderline Psychosis Update- Vigilantes Oust Police, Take Over Guerrero Village; Sinaloa Cartel Seeks More Direct Involvement in Colombian Cocaine Production; Dirty Peruvian Cops May Have Played Role in 2012 Mexico City Airport Shootout

GUERRERO- Hundreds of armed vigilantes in the town of Villa Colorado have detained police officers, seized weapons and set up checkpoints on the main highway through town after the body of one of the 'community defense' commanders was found dumped in the middle of a street last month.

The self described 'community police' and arrested 12 officers and the town's former director of public security, who they accuse of taking part in the killing of Guadalupe Quinones Carbajal, 28, on behalf of a local organised crime group.

The 1,500-strong force has also set up improvised checkpoints on the major road running through Tierra Colorado, which connects the capital Mexico City to Acapulco, a coastal city popular with tourists less than 40 miles away.

The takeover of the police station also enabled the vigilante group to seize far more modern weaponry- such as semiautomatic rifles and pistols- than the single shot hunting rifles or antiquated revolvers that many of these groups had started off with- some members were spotted with the much newer rifles at improvised roadblocks shortly after the officers and public security director were turned over to state officials.

At least one tourist was wounded after vigilantes opened fire on a carload of tourists destined for Acapulco for the Easter weekend after the car refused to stop for the checkpoint in Villa Colorado.


COLOMBIA- According to reports published in Colombian daily El Tiempo, the Sinaloa Cartel is assuming control of an increasing number of Colombia's illegal cocaine production facilities in anticpation of an accord between the Colombian government and leftist guerilla group FARC.

An anonymous official told the Colombian daily El Tiempo that a number of mid-level FARC commanders have sold off their shares in the drug trade in anticipation of the continuing peace negotiations between the guerrilla group and the Colombian government, which is taking place in Havana. Under the agreement, Sinaloa would own and operate illegal cocaine production facilities in South America.

The sale of the so-called drug trafficking franchises marks a move by the Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “ El Chapo” Guzmán into the production of cocaine. Mexico’s cartels had previously relied on processed cocaine to be transported to the country from various points in South and Central America.

Crackdowns by Colombian authorities have forced the Mexican drug trafficking organization to take a more hands-on approach on the trade in the Andean nation. The Sinaloa Cartel is allegedly operating processing labs near the border with Ecuador, in the departments of Antioquia, Córdoba and in Norte de Santander, near the country’s border with Venezuela.

The Colombian government and the FARC are looking for points of agreement upon which to build a peace accord. In a joint statement, they said talks will begin with agrarian reform, the first item on the agenda.

FARC- whose acronym translates to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in English- is thought to be the western hemisphere's oldest active guerrilla army, having been started shortly after a bloody 1950's civil war in Colombia that was known only as La Viiolencia. The Marxist guerillas reportedly enjoyed financial and materiel support from the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez. The armed group had turned to protecting cocoa plantations and production facilities as well as kidnapping and extortion to raise funds at least as far back as Pablo Escobar's heyday. FARC has most recently been active in south central Colombia as well as along the border with Venezuela.


TEXAS- Game wardens with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have seized more than two tons of marijuana in the border county of Starr County this week.

A total of 409 bundles of marijuana weighing 4,719 pounds were seized at a home in Starr County near the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas.

The Wednesday night drug seizure also resulted in the arrest of two individuals who were at the home. A third person escaped.

Officials say some of the marijuana was hidden in an underground bunker at the home.

The crop and two suspects arrested at the scene were turned over to the Border Patrol. The pot seizure is reportedly among the largest in the Texas state agency's history.

PERU- Prosecutors in Lima have charged at least ten Peruvian drug enforcement agents for allegedly conspiring to smuggle cocaine out of the country via Lima International Airport. The narcotics were reportedly destined for a group of Mexican federal officers assigned to Mexico City's Benito Juarez international airport on the payroll of the Sinaloa cartel.

Cocaine being smuggled in from Peru is what reportedly sparked a deadly June 2012 shootout between Mexican federal agents at Benito Juarez International Airport that killed three.

“The killers were part of a gang of officers on the payroll of the Sinaloa cartel that worked at the airport in the Mexican federal capital and allowed drugs arriving from Peru to pass through. They knew which flight the cocaine was arriving on because the criminal organization also included Peruvian drug enforcement agents assigned to the international terminal” at the airport in Lima, the newspaper said.

Mexican officials notified the Peruvian government after the incident and the Dirandro launched an operation in August 2012 to identify the agents allegedly working for the Sinaloa cartel.

Among those under investigation include a major, two captians, a lieutenant and six other officers in the Dirandro- Peru's anti-drug agency.

The charges were filed around the same time a Peruvian "mega comission" accused former president Alan Garcia of issuing more than 400 pardons to convicted drug traffickers.