Former President Gerald R. Ford has passed away at the age of 93. Wife Betty Ford release the following statement:

My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age. His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country.

The state funeral will be announce shortly.

Today marks the 5th anniversary of September 11, the day when terrorist attacked the United States and bought down the Twin Towers.

Clockwise from top left: Robert Stewart, Alain Maboussou, Dung Tran, Eric Zornes, David Gehle, Michael Terpstra, Quang Dao and Chasity Rutjens.

I bet they all retired from working at the ConAgra meat processing plant. It would suck to be the one working there and didn’t join in on the lottery pool.

The plea for clemency has been denied by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Stanley “Tookie” Williams is scheduled to be given a lethal injection shortly after midnight local time at San Quentin State Prison in California.

Stanley was a co-founder of the deadly street gang call Crips and was convicted of murdering four people in two 1979 holdups.

Hopefully there will be no riots in California.

[AP]

No one noticed her when she was robbing banks. Now, millions have seen her on surveillance videotape, calmly talking on her cell phone during one of the holdups.

Still, no one can say who she is.

The young woman who calmly held up four Northern Virginia banks in recent weeks — without ever putting down her phone — remained at large yesterday despite remarkably clear photos of her in robbery action that were broadcast on television and published in newspapers across the country.

Theories abounded yesterday as to who she is, where she might be and why she does it with a phone stuck to her ear. Is she a master of disguise? Is she merely there to rob and then leave — a tourist bandit? Is she under someone else’s control? Is she hypnotized?

I say she is under a big threat that if she doesn’t rob the banks her love ones will be killed. But first she is in a disguise that will prevent people from identifying her so she can rob more banks for the mastermind behind this. If no one can find this woman I bet there will be a Halloween costume mask of her.

[WP]

Update:
The cell phone robber has been revealed as 19 year old Candice Martinez.

What is the feeling in America, who cares. According to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll the American public can care less about the visit.

59 percent of respondents saying they were “not at all interested” in the visit, 22 percent were “not too interested,” 13 percent were “somewhat interested” and 6 percent were “very interested.”

I bet this can be attributed to the looks of Camilla or lack of it. People just want to see a princess to be glamorous like Diana was.

[AP]

[Jossip]

[Reuters]

The warrant says:

To any sheriff or peace officer of the state of Texas, greetings, you are hereby commanded to arrest Thomas Dale DeLay and keep him safely so that you have him before the 331st Judicial District Court of Travis County

[Reuters]

People who want to take part in the society’s activities don’t have to sign a pledge or take an oath.

Some members may have had sex in the past, and leaders say the group is open to everyone, even those who may just be interested in exploring the idea of chastity intellectually.

One of the main reasons the group was created was to let students who don’t want to have premarital sex know they’re not alone, organizers said. They knew beforehand that sex would be part of college life, but many were surprised at how prevalent it is.

Members emphasize that they’re not anti-sex. They fully intend to have sex but only with the right person and after they are married. And for the record, they date, and some even have boyfriends and girlfriends.

[Link]

I say the officers are just tired and took their frustrations on this poor 64-year-old man. Most of these officers just can’t handle the stress that they have been put in to. Anyway the investigation I think will either clear these officers or force them to retire without any type of charges. The only time you will see any kind of charges is when the public fuss over it and the fear of a riot. You can go to over to Crooks and Liars to see the video.

An Associated Press photographer captured video of the incident, which took place at 9 p.m. outside a bar in the French Quarter.

The video showed two police officers apparently trying to arrest Davis. Another officer on horseback maneuvered his horse, partially blocking the photographer’s view.

But the photographer managed to get more footage, in which the officers appear to punch Davis — including several blows to the head. His head also appeared to hit a wall.

Later in the video, four men — two clearly uniformed police — pushed Davis to the ground, placed him in a headlock and apparently tried to handcuff him. One can be seen hitting Davis two more times.

The video also showed the officer who identified himself as S.M. Smith pushing an AP television news producer on the scene and leaning him backward against a car, pointing a finger in his face.

In a profanity-laden tirade, the officer said, “I’ve been here for six weeks trying to keep myself alive. … Go home.”

[CNN]

According to friends, in addition to his work for Cheney and Gore, Aragoncillo claimed he also worked with President Clinton and Condoleezza Rice when she was the national security advisor.

The World Health Organization says an influenza pandemic is “just a matter of time.” Some health officials particularly are concerned about avian flu because it seems to be extremely lethal when it jumps from birds to humans.

Drawing a lesson from Katrina, Bush suggested that he should have the authority to use the military to seal off an infected region in a pandemic, as well as to help deal with natural disasters.

We all should be worry about this avian flu situation now before we experience something like the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 where 20 to 40 million people died worldwide. If this bird flu starts to jump from people to people you will begin to see an epidemic that will also have great economic threats besides the health implications.

What is avian influenza (bird flu)?
Bird flu is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza (flu) viruses. These flu viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, bird flu is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them.

What are the symptoms of bird flu in humans?
Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches) to eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases (such as acute respiratory distress), and other severe and life-threatening complications. The symptoms of bird flu may depend on which virus caused the infection.

You can find out more facts about the Avian Flu at the CDC.

A University of Oklahoma student with “emotional difficulties” was identified Sunday as the person who was killed when an explosive attached to his body detonated near a packed football stadium, authorities said.

The body is believed to be that of Joel Henry Hinrichs III, 21, Salvador Hernandez, Special Agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma, said in a news release.

After the bombing the football game between University of Oklahoma and the Kansas State team continued.