Man Pleads Innocent to 10 Counts of Negligent Homicide in Ottawa County OK

The Joplin Globe published a story about a traffic accident in Oklahoma that I just find puzzling. Here is the story.

The Joplin Globe reports that a truck driver has turned himself in to Ottawa County officials after being involved in an accident. The story implied that the truck driver was wanted by Ottawa County and is facing 10 counts of negligent homicide. The truck driver is Donald L. Creed of Willard, MO. Mr. Creed is 76 years old. The story states that Mr. Creed turned himself in on Wednesday and was accompanied by his attorney at the time. Mr. Creed entered a plea of not guilty. His bond was set at $20,000. The story states Mr. Creed was driving his truck on I-44 in Ottawa County Oklahoma when he failed to slow or stop for congested traffic. Mr. Creed reportedly plowed into the rear of the congested traffic causing a chain reaction of accidents. The accident involved seven different vehicles and fatally injured ten people. Mr. Creed’s tractor-trailer he was driving is owned by Associates Wholesale Grocers.

First of all this is a terrible tragedy leaving 10 broken families and my prayers go out to them. This story does make me question what happened though as the story is a little light on the facts. Now I’m sure with this being an ongoing investigation that the law enforcement officials aren’t releasing much information if any at all. The first thing that screams at me is if Mr. Creed committed such a terrible crime then why was he released after the accident and not taken into custody at that time. The second thing is he was held on a puny $20,000.00? This guy is accused of killing ten people! This ridiculously low bond amount makes me wonder what else happened that isn’t being publicized. Now Mr. Creed did appear with his attorney which is sometimes an indicator that he screwed up and is trying to get out of it but on the other hand, if I was being accused of something I didn’t feel I was guilty of then I would have an attorney with me to. The questions that come to mind are why did he plow into these vehicles? Was he asleep? Perhaps his brakes malfunctioned? These things should have been checked at the scene and if the judge had this information that may explain the low bond amount. If the vehicle was to blame what action is being taken against the company? Another thing I’m curious about would be Mr. Creed’s CDL DOT physical. Now I admittedly know nothing about the truck driving industry but I really don’t think I have noticed that many truck drivers of Mr. Creed’s age. Did his age play a factor in his poor reaction time?

This is an interesting story and does report a few facts but I feel there is much more going on behind the scenes. I will be interested to find out the details of this incident.

Forestry Service Revitalizing the Public Parks of DC

Found some interesting information on Firehouse. Here’s the story.

The Forest Service will be spending nearly $3 million to revitalize public parks in the Washington D.C. Area. This stimulus money given the Forest Service was earmarked for Wildland Fire Management. The Forest Service will be spending this $2.8 million to revitalize a public park approximately two miles north of the White House in the District of Columbia among others. The Forest Service also notes this park and the other parks are, “riddled with crime.” The Forest Service also proclaims that this effort will produce “green jobs”.

Needless to say, lawmakers are up in arms over the decision to spend wildland firefighting money to fix up Washington D.C. Parks. Specifically the western lawmakers, who’s communities regularly fall victim to large uncontrollable wildland fires. On September 24^th more than 1,800 firefighters battled a wildland fire that swept across Ventura County and threatened homes in multiple communities. The fire destroyed over 1,600 acres of forest and overtook two outbuildings. Firefighters battled the fire for approximately 48 hours and the estimated cost for the second day alone is more than $2.9 million. More here on that story.

These kinds of decisions really bug me. This money was given to the Forestry Service to battle wildland fires, to save lives and property. The Conservation Department, who has the responsibility of protecting our public lands from fire, is as strapped for cash as any other public safety agency in this economic depression. The Conservation Department has dissolved multiple jobs due to inadequate funding leaving them with inadequate staff and equipment to effectively do their job. Now rather than using this money where it was supposed to be, some congressman has decided the landscape outside his window is a little grim so we should take someone else’s money to fix it up. Oh but it will create “green jobs” as demanded with the stimulus money. What about the jobs that the Conservation Department has had to dissolve because of inadequate funding. Inadequate funding that this stimulus money could correct. And what is the definition of a green job? A job that will be beneficial to the environment? I would argue that extinguishing a fire that is producing tons of carbon monoxide is beneficial to the environment.

Now the only justification that is given is that renovation of public parks cuts down on crime. I must admit I’ve never met a major criminal who cared about the condition of the trees or the flowers at the park. I would believe that to renovate and maybe add adequate lighting would deter crime from that area. However, when we deter crime in one area we usually move that crime to a different area. And what does any of this have to do with wildland fire fighting?

As much as anything, it is ridiculous that this administration cannot follow the very laws that they themselves make. They have taken money that was to be used for one thing and for no good cause, taken it from its rightful beneficiary and used it for some purpose to benefit themselves. That is very close to the statutory definition of stealing.

Racism is up according to the White House

I’m sure by now we’ve all heard about the congressman than yelled, “Liar” at President Obama. I found this article that alleges that the Congressman was motivated by racism when making this comment.

This editorial details an interview with Former President Jimmie Carter. President Carter is speaking out about his opinion of South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson’s actions. President Carter states Congressman Wilson’s comment was racist.

Why is it that now that we have an African American president that anytime anyone doesn’t agree with him then they must be racist? None of the previous Caucasian presidents ever discounted a minority’s objection claiming the disapproved because they were racist. Now I am not saying I completely approve of Congressman Wilson’s actions because I do not. I do think the Congressman just chose to verbalize what everyone else was thinking. Congressman Wilson was actually correct. The numbers that President Obama was alluding to were actually skewed. However, Congressman Wilson should have shown some professionalism and handled his objection in a civil manner.

Very few times since President Obama took office have I heard him actually respond to concerns voiced by the republican party (especially with the healthcare agenda). I can remember on several occasions where the president, or Democratic Party as a whole, has discounted someone’s views claiming that they were a racist. Now sadly I can’t say that this is completely not possible because it is. Unfortunately there are lowly people in this world that dislike President Obama merely because of his skin color. But I don’t think everyone that disagrees with him feels that way. There are some people left that truly care about the well-being of our country.

If President Obama, or any of the Democratic Party, would debate the objections that are voiced then some of the skeptical members may change their views. Resorting to claiming racism isn’t doing anyone any good or solving any issues.

An uninvited guest

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549280,00.html?test=latestnews

Fox is reporting an Aspen, Colorado resident was attacked by a bear in his own home.

This guy heard his dogs barking downstairs so he goes to check on the situation and when he gets down there he gets struck in the back of the head by a bear. The story says he did not sustain any life-threatening injuries and was treated and released at a local hospital.

My first instinct is to ask if the guy’s door was locked but does a locked door really stop a big bear? The story doesn’t state whether this guy lost consciousness when he was struck but if he did he’s lucky he didn’t turn into supper. I would assume that he did lose consciousness because by the time officials got there the bear was gone. I really know nothing about bears but I just know that I would be in shock if I went downstairs and found a bear waiting for me.

Officials have set up a trap for this bear in the neighborhood and say the bear will be euthanized if it is located. Officials are reporting that they responded to 16 bear sightings in last August and that number is up to over 200 bear sightings this August. Officials say bears are coming into the city due to residents not disposing of trash and not storing food properly. This is very tempting when bears are currently preparing for hibernation, eating 20,000 calories a day and eating for 20 hours out of the day.

Coast Guard taking heat for training

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/11/coast-guarg-fires-boat-potomac-river/

Found another story that got my attention on Fox. Apparently the Coast Guard is getting all sorts of heat because they conducted a training exercise on the Potomac at the same time the president was at the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony. The story says that the White House is demanding an apology but the Coast Guard is refusing claiming they done nothing wrong. Apparently this training exercise made the news causing major interruptions because it was reported that shots were fired on a vessel. The scare escalated to the Federal Aviation Administration holding flights out of Reagan International Airport. Now because of this story they are further degrading the Coast Guard claiming they shouldn’t have even been conducting training on September 11 as it is a day of remembrance of the terrible tragedy in 2001.

Overall I think this is a big load of crap. The Coast Guard said there were no suspicious boats in the area and there were no shots that were fired during the training exercise. The Coast Guard said this was a typical training exercise as they conduct every other day. And all the interruptions such as the FAA grounding flights was a result of a news story from the Cable News Network (CNN). This story was uninformed and a perfect example of the scare that journalism can produce when reporters don’t bother to fact-check and just air whatever in case it is happening so they can be first. Journalism overall puts more impact on being first rather than being correct and it shouldn’t. This reporter believed that there were shots fired because they heard, “Bang, bang, bang,” over the radio. The Coast Guard stated they used this transmission, and this transmission alone, to simulate shots being fired during their training exercise. How many professional agencies do you think would use the words, “Bang, bang, bang” if they were taking fire? Not to mention the Coast Guard uses encrypted radio transmissions for normal operations. The only reason this radio traffic was not encrypted was because they were training. This being another clue that this wasn’t an actual situation. And even the White House is questioning the timing saying that this is a day of remembrance. Does the White House actually expect everyone to do nothing on this day? I don’t get off work for 9/11. Do any of you? And the White House would be the first to point fingers if something happened and their training was not up to standard because they were sitting around all day.

The fact of the matter is no one would have even been aware of the Coast Guard’s activities if this crumby reporter hadn’t put out a bogus story. This reporter put out this story even after calling the Coast Guard themselves and being told that nothing was taking place. I thank the men and women of the Coast Guard, as well as the other services, for their sacrifice and their commitment to this great country. Please do not let a little bit of stupidity inhibit you from doing your jobs.

Stolen Diamonds or Given Away

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,546542,00.html

While browsing through FoxNews I found another glowing display of intelligence. A North Carolina man is reporting $1.5 Million dollars worth property stolen from his rental car.

Peter Kaplan reported to New Mexico authorities that he had $1.5 Million dollars worth of diamonds stolen from his rental car. Mr. Kaplan said he stopped for a quick drink between the airport and the jewelry store that he was en route to. Mr. Kaplan said he was only out of the vehicle for a few minutes but his jewelry had been stolen.

I don’t know about New Mexico rental cars but all the ones I’ve ever been in come equipped with door locks. The economy is in the dumps and you’re going to leave your briefcase containing $1.5 Mil in diamonds in the passenger seat for all to see and expect someone not to help themselves? I don’t condone a thief’s actions but when you make it so easy it’s hard to feel sorry for the victim. A little target hardening goes a long way.

The bottom line is there are going to be bad guys in this world no matter what we do. Especially thieves during these hard times. Take action to protect yourself like locking your doors. A very simple deterrent that usually works.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,546047,00.html

Another story from Fox. This is natural selection.

A man robbed a bank in Bethlehem, PA recently and police have positively identified the suspect. The robber, Lloyd Barclay, entered the bank and placed a note on the counter in front of the teller. When the suspect pulled the note from his back pocket he also grabbed his wallet and in so doing also placed it on the counter. The suspect fled the bank with $800.00 but LEFT HIS WALLET.

Authorities say the wallet contained two different photo ID’s, his social security card, and the suspect’s CRIMINAL IDENTIFICATION CARD! He’s been in prison before! Wonder if he made their case for them that time too? Really couldn’t help but laugh at this one.

How about they lock him up for a little while longer this time since it apparently didn’t work the first time. I guess the Pennsylvania judicial system doesn’t work either.