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Old Sparky

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If Tennessee electrocutes Edmund Zagorski on Thursday (Nov. 1), it will be in an electric chair built by a self-taught execution expert who is no longer welcomed in the prison system and who worries that his device will malfunction.

Comforting, isn't it?

In two Florida executions in the 1990s, smoke and flames shot from the condemned inmates' heads. In 1999, blood spilled from under an inmate's mask.

Well, you probably want to adjust the amps on those things.

But it must be said that none of the inmates complained.

 

Stoner Nation

Pot's legal nationwide in Canada, but Canadians are now undergoing more scrutiny at Canadian/US border crossings because it's still illegal in much of the the USA. Canadians who are found to have ingested the weed - even decades ago - are turned away and banned for life from entering the USA.

The Canadian government warned people pre-legalization that "previous use of cannabis, or any substance prohibited by U.S. federal laws, could mean that you are denied entry to the U.S." An American customs official recently told CBC News that those found at the border with cannabis on their person, or in their car, could face arrest and prosecution by U.S. officials.

Welp, now it's happening. That'll harsh the buzz, for sure.

 

I Love L.A.

The number of flea-borne Typhus cases in Los Angeles has hit 107.

What's not to love?

Health officials ascribe the epidemic to a 47% increase in the "homeless" population. More addicts and bums, to put it a different way.

 

Good News From India

Over the past two weeks, Indian police have been bursting into suspected illegal call centres, arresting everyone in sight and seizing troves of equipment used to carry out phone fraud aimed at foreigners. Police say they arrested 28 people in just one of their sweeps, including two seen as the kingpins of the operation. Most are in their twenties.

Dozens of scam centres are believed to still be active in multiple cities across India, each with independent managers and using their own technology to evade detection.

In Canada, their version of the IRS is the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and the Indian scammers have been hitting taxpayers heavily. It works like this:

The CRA scam, just one of the criminal schemes operated from the centres, typically begins with a robocall claiming to be from the CRA and telling the recipient that they owe taxes. The target is informed that they must call back — or face arrest and imprisonment.

Call spoofing technology is used to make it appear the number is in Canada, and sometimes even originating from a legitimate CRA contact centre. Those who call back are subjected to further threats, but then offered a one-time chance to pay and settle the matter. Thousands of Canadians have done exactly that over the past several years, at an estimated cost of more than $10 million, falling prey to the dozens of call centres using the same scheme.

Eh, they also target Americans, pretending they're from the IRS, but the format's the same. Personally, I use NoMoRobo, which really cuts down on the robocalls. The victims who fall for this scam are generally older people or recent immigrants, of course. One good rule of thumb is to bear in mind that revenue agencies in the US and Canada rarely call - they send letters if they believe there's a problem. If one receives a call purporting to be from IRS or CRA, it's likely a scammer.

The bulk of the call centres operate in Mumbai, India's largest metropolis.

And naturally, in some case, the police are involved in them; a little extra money goes a long way when it comes to limiting operational difficulties.

 

Kids Just Blow Up So Fast, These Days

17 year-old Mikhail Zhlobitsky, a student at a local technical college, walked into an FSB office in the northwestern Russia city of Arkhangelsk and detonated an explosive device, killing himself and injuring three FSB employees. No motive has been identified, so the Russians are describing it as a terrorist attack.

Russia's Federal Security Bureau doesn't seem all that secure, really.

 

The Second Coming Of Christ

Will purportedly transpire in the town of Independence, Missouri.

Several different religions believe the Second Coming of Jesus will happen in Independence, Missouri. And to this day, three different churches surround that sacred soil. The belief dates back to a revelation from Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints, in 1831.

Smith told his followers that a divine revelation instructed him to prepare a New Jerusalem, a City of Zion, on this small patch of land near present day downtown Independence. In the late 1800s, the smaller Church of Christ Temple Lot bought the sacred land where so many believe Jesus will return. It's owned it ever since.

Over time, followers of the larger, more well-known Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints returned to Independence and set up a sprawling visitor’s center on land bordering the sacred Temple Lot soil. In addition, a third religion also with roots in the Book of Mormon, the Community of Christ, erected its towering world headquarters, literally across the street and overlooking the Temple Lot.

Members of the Church of Christ Temple Lot and the LDS believe that this spot, in Missouri, is where Jesus will make his triumphant return during the Second Coming.

Well, I guess that's all settled, then.

 

Cheeky

The massive chain of migrants slowly making its way towards the U.S. southern border, which is still some 1,000 miles north, is now demanding that the Mexican government provide transportation for its estimated 4,000 participants — demands issued amid reports of outbreaks of violence as more groups have forced their way through Mexico's southern border. The new demands come amid troubling reports about violence carried out by members of the caravan and the Mexican government's increasingly aggressive response to the groups.

Once again: these aren't "migrants"; they're invaders. I agree, however, that Mexico should provide transportation for them - right back to their countries of origin.

We accept 1.1 million legal immigrants every year, more than any other country on the planet, and that's somehow not good enough for the invaders. I'm beginning to believe that tactical weaponry may need to be deployed.

 

There She Blows Again

Singer-songwriter Barbra Streisand said she’s considering a move to Canada if Democrats are unable to retake control of the House in next week’s midterm elections.

“I want to sleep nights, if we take the House I’ll be able to sleep a little bit better,” she told the New York Times.

Babs, nobody cares what you think. In fact, many seriously doubt that you think.

You've repeatedly "threatened" to move to Canada or Australia if elections don't go your way, but you're still here. So move, already!

Put up or shut up.

 

A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence

We don't have Whitey to kick around any more:

Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger Jr. has been killed behind bars shortly after he was transferred to a federal prison in West Virginia. He was 89.

Transferred to a different prison and killed there the very same day, and just ahead of Halloween.

Organized crime boss Bulger had been convicted in 2013 of killing at least 11 people and was serving a life sentence. He was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives for 16 years until his 2011 arrest in Santa Monica, California. 

His life sentence lasted five years.

Prison life can be hard on a guy.

And in Chiraq, things continue apace:

Over this past weekend, at least 42 people were shot, five of them fatally, including a 16-year-old boy, according to data kept by the Tribune. Nearly half of those shootings occurred in the Englewood police district on the South Side and the Harrison and Austin districts on the West side -- neighborhoods that have borne the brunt of violence this year.

Fortunately, they have strict gun laws in that toddlin' town.

 

It's Enough To Piss Off The Pope

LAFAYETTE — A 12-year-old boy urinated on an electrical outlet Friday morning at Sunnyside Intermediate School in an attempt to start a fire, Lafayette police reported. The boy managed to start a fire or enough smoke to set off the fire alarm, Lafayette Fire Investigator Todd Trent said.

The boy's actions raises many questions — No. 1 among them is whether he might have shocked himself while showering the outlet with his urine.

Trent said that would not be possible if the boy was standing upright. But neither is it likely that the urine hitting from that angle would have soaked into the outlet to create enough heat to cause a fire, Trent said, adding that the case remains under investigation.

Yep, they're launching a full-scale investigation into a kid who peed in an outlet. That's how public "servants" bump up their compensation.