David Drake

(Costa Mesa, CA) -- A fire department rescue team went to work in a hospital when they used a saw to free a man's trapped penis.

Costa Mesa's "Daily Pilot" reports the man apparently inserted his penis through the hole of an inch-thick steel ring-shaped dumbbell weight fastener in an attempt to lengthen it.

After two or three days, he sought medical attention at a Newport Beach hospital because his member had blackened and swollen to five times its normal size.

Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said he was told the man commented, quote, "this will make me the chief of my tribe."

Search and rescue squad members togged out in surgical garb set up a watering system to keep sparks from the sawing from injuring the sedated man.

Broussard was proud of his crew's delicate work during the two-hour procedure.

The battalion chief said, quote, "if we're cutting right up next to somebody's flesh and don't damage his flesh, then it's a good day."

"They also slid a little piece of metal between the collar and his thing, so if it slipped past it wouldn’t hit his thing," [Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard] told the Pilot.

Keith Jones, deputy fire chief in Costa Mesa, told the OC Register that the man's penis remained fully intact.

You are a closet fag, son of a bitch, bastard.

I understand that when Ed pisses he has you by the neck. However You do have a few things that are similar to the previous pres and vice pres you are a draft dodger and a coke-head drunk. Is it through that you sleep with shawn h and glenn b and you are in the middle a rt wing radical republican sandwich so to speak. the way i see it hell will be full of republicans like you. PS you are a log cabin republican right?

An uncharacteristically emotional Nancy Pelosi [Emotional...feh! Acting! - Drake] is warning Republicans — and other groups getting whipped up [ I wonder if she means like, "Get in their face"-tactics, like the ones advocated by her Dear Leader Barack Hussein Obama, Junior? - Drake ] over the health care debate — not to incite unstable supporters who might repeat acts of violence that struck San Francisco in the 1970s.

A top Pelosi aide later confirmed reporters' suggestions that her statement was a reference to the City Hall murder of gay rights activist Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in November 1978 — an earth-shattering experience for Bay Area Democrats like the speaker.

Pelosi stumbled when asked about Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst and its impact on civility in the House, momentarily overcome by emotion.

"I think we all have to take action and responsibility for our words — we are a free country and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we, um, have to carefully balance," said Pelosi, who made no direct mention of Republicans.

A House leadership aide later told me that Democrats have become increasingly concerned by the ratcheting up of rhetoric on both sides — and particularly alarmed by the recent hanging in effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) by a tea party activist on the Eastern Shore.

"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco, this king of rhetoric. ... It created a climate in which violence took place. ... I wish we would all curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements and understand that some of the ears that it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statements may assume."

Pelosi, according to her spokesman, Nadeam Elshami, was referring to Supervisor Dan White's murder of Milk and Moscone, the basis for last year's film "Milk."

She added: "You have to take responsibility for any incitement that [the speaker's words] may cause."

The speaker, who served as California state party chairwoman before being elected to the House, was a gay rights advocate who attended Milk's funeral.

Mr. Edwards is moving toward an abrupt reversal in his public posture; associates said in interviews that he is considering declaring that he is the father of Ms. Hunter’s 19-month-old daughter, something that he once flatly asserted in a television interview was not possible.

Friends and other associates of Mr. Edwards and his wife of 32 years, Elizabeth, say she has resisted the idea of her husband’s claiming paternity. Mrs. Edwards, who is battling cancer, “has yet to be brought around,” said one family friend, who like others spoke about the situation on the condition of anonymity, pointing to the complicated and delicate nature of the issue.

[...]

The notion that Mr. Edwards is the father has been reinforced by the account of Andrew Young, once a close aide to Mr. Edwards, who had signed an affidavit asserting that he was the father of Ms. Hunter’s child.

Mr. Young, who has since renounced that statement, has told publishers in a book proposal that Mr. Edwards knew all along that he was the child’s father. He said Mr. Edwards pleaded with him to accept responsibility falsely, saying that would reduce the story to one of an aide’s infidelity.

In the proposal, which The New York Times examined, Mr. Young says that he assisted the affair by setting up private meetings between Mr. Edwards and Ms. Hunter. He wrote that Mr. Edwards once calmed an anxious Ms. Hunter by promising her that after his wife died, he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the Dave Matthews Band.

So much for the Beatles: in the week when long-awaited remastered editions of their catalog were finally released, the No. 1 position on the British album sales chart was claimed by Vera Lynn, the British singer of World War II ballads, Agence France-Presse reported. Last month Ms. Lynn, 92, known for her performances of songs like “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) the White Cliffs of Dover” and “We’ll Meet Again,” became the oldest living artist on the British Top 20 chart when her collection “We’ll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn,” reached the No. 20 position. That album was rereleased by Decca Records to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Britain’s declaration of war on Germany. The Beatles albums, released Wednesday, did not perform too badly: on the British chart “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was No. 5, “Abbey Road” was No. 6, “Revolver” was No. 9, and “Rubber Soul” was No. 10.

Forces' Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn urged pop stars to do more to support British troops by entertaining them on the front line.

She told The Daily Telegraph: "I don't know why it is that they don't do more and I don't think any young stars are writing songs for them either."

She said she did not really know what the war in Afghanistan was all about "or what our boys are doing there".

She added: "They're not getting killed for their own country and Gordon Brown needs to bring them home, but public figures shouldn't look at war in terms of politics: they should just think of the boys and want to help them in any way they can."

Entertainers could not have it all one way - being on TV and radio and making lots of money - then not offer anything to their followers when they needed them, she said.

The issue, [said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland], "is whether we are able to proceed with a degree of civility and decorum."

Henry Gibson, a veteran character actor who came to fame in the late 1960s as the flower-holding poet on TV's landmark satirical comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," has died. He was 73.

Gibson died late Monday night at his home in Malibu after a short battle with cancer, said his son Jon.

Gibson, who more recently played a recurring role as cantankerous Judge Clark Brown on "Boston Legal," was part of the original ensemble cast of “Laugh In,” which ran on NBC from 1968 to 1973.

The hourlong show, whose original cast included Ruth Buzzi, Judy Carne, Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley and others, was an immediate hit.

"Henry was an integral part of 'Laugh-In' for a long time, and he was brilliant," said Gary Owens, the show's announcer, who remained close to Gibson over the years. "He was a very funny man."

Worley said Gibson "was probably the kindest person on 'Laugh-In' " and was the person she'd call whenever she needed show-business advice.

[...]

George Schlatter, executive producer and creator of "Laugh-In," recalled that when Gibson auditioned for the show, "He came in and did a poem and a full back flip. He said, 'Is that anything?' I said, 'Be here Monday.' "

Gibson "brought a wonderful warmth and whimsy and a charm to 'Laugh-In.' That went a long way to balance some of the political, satirical and bawdy humor we featured," Schlatter said.

"Henry was a sweet, gentle man. Any piece we gave to Henry took on a different shape when he read it because he infused his own whimsy and his own gentle intelligence and wit to it."

In the show's famous cocktail party scenes, when the music would stop and each cast member would deliver a funny line, Gibson was a religious figure holding a teacup and saucer.

"My congregation supports all denominations," he said on one show, "but our favorites are twenties and fifties."

It is an indication of Gibson’s talents that another of his Hollywood patrons was the very un-Dante-esque Robert Altman. The late great auteur cast him in a number of films, such as Nashville and A Perfect Couple. But, to me, Gibson will always be Dr Verringer in Robert Altman’s peerless 1973 noir classic, The Long Goodbye. The movie is stuffed with terrific performances from the likes of Mark Rydell, Sterling Hayden, and, of course, Elliott Gould as laconic, private eye-out-of-time Philip Marlowe. Gibson more than holds his own as the reptilian doc who may or may not be holding Hayden’s alcoholic writer against his will at his sanatorium. If you have seen The Long Goodbye, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t? Then you are in for a treat.

Cancer hit him like a "cruel joke," but actor Patrick Swayze, who died Monday, believed he still got the last laugh.

"I began thinking to myself, I've had more lifetimes than any 10 people put together, and it's been an amazing ride," he wrote in his soon-to-be released memoir, "The Time of My Life," co-written with wife Lisa Niemi.

The "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" star died Monday after a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Swayze, who was 57, wrote that while he felt "determined to live until a cure was found," he knew the odds against him likely were insurmountable.

"So this is okay," he wrote of dying.

New York authorities raided several homes in Queens early Monday as part of an effort to dismantle a suspected cell of locally based Islamist militants, law enforcement officials said.

No one had been arrested in connection with the raids by Monday evening, a senior federal law enforcement official said.

Local and federal officials said they did not think any specific terrorist plot was disrupted by the action.

They said officials had been monitoring a small group that reportedly espoused radical ideologies aligned with Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups.

Suspicious behavior by at least some of the men in the group over the weekend prompted authorities to seek search warrants, officials said. A judge approved the warrants late Sunday for at least three homes and possibly other locations, local and federal officials said.

The raids, which took place before sunrise, may be related to ongoing surveillance of two suspected extremists in Queens.

Investigators had been monitoring the two suspects, who reportedly talked about contacts with militant groups in Pakistan and might have traveled there, according to a former anti-terrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case remained open.

Carter Signs Airlines Deregulation Bill
Airline Deregulation Designed to Boost Competition
Wednesday, October 25, 1978

President Carter yesterday signed into law a bill designed to increase competition among the nation's airlines by phasing out federal regulation.

The new law, supported by President Carter since the beginning of his term, gradually reduces the role of the Civil Aeronautics Board in the fare and route decisions of the airlines, and abolishes th [sic] CAB altogether at the end of 1984.

Carter said in a crowded signing ceremony in the White House Cabinet Room that the legislation would achieve two critical objective. "One is to help our fight against inflation and the other is to assure American citizens of an opportunity for low priced air transportation," he said.

Saturday's "Tea Party" rally in Washington, D.C. far exceeded almost all expectations. Local police agencies estimated around 1.2 million people attended the rally, but several news outlets, including ABC and Fox News, said the crowd was nearly double that, with an estimated 2 million people in attendance.

Several different groups combined to organize the rally, including Glenn beck and his 9/12 project and former Congressman Dick Army and the FreedonWorks Foundation, but most of those in attendance came on their own and said they had never taken part in any type of protest before Saturday.

On Friday the White House claimed they had no idea the rally was even planned. A ridiculous assertion that shows how dismissive the Obama administration and the Democrat-led Congress are of those who oppose their agenda. It is impossible to believe that President Obama knew nothing of the event. The denial is a perfect example of why the President is losing the trust of many Americans. He stretches his credibility to its limits, and beyond.

[...]

Rally-goers said they are not strictly anti-Obama, or anti-Democrat, but instead are fed up with big government, corruption, high taxes, and runaway spending. They said they have had enough of politicians who don't listen to their concerns and are more afraid of special interests than they are of the voters. Many in the crowd said they were Democrats or independents. The protestors were clearly from across the political spectrum, young and old, black and white, male and female. It will be hard to dismiss them as being only angry Republicans.

Rep. Joe Wilson said Sunday that he will not apologize on the House floor for his outburst during President Obama's health care address, even though Democratic leaders have threatened to formally discipline him if he does not.

Wilson noted that he already apologized directly to the White House after shouting, "You lie," to the president during his Wednesday address to a joint session of Congress. The outburst triggered a political firestorm, but Wilson told "FOX News Sunday" that Democrats are just "playing politics" by trying to drag out the issue and force another apology.

"I've apologized one time. The apology was accepted by the president, the vice president. ... I am not apologizing again," he told "FOX News Sunday." "I believe that is sufficient."

Wilson said he would "never do something like that again," but continued to defend himself.

The South Carolina Republican on Wednesday accused the president of lying for claiming his health care reform plan would not cover illegal immigrants.

"I believe in the truth. What I heard was not true," Wilson explained Sunday. "I believe (Obama) was misstating the facts."

I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits - either now or in the future. Period. Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for - from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy. I will not make that same mistake with health care.

[...]

And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.

Two more ACORN officials were fired Friday after a second video surfaced showing staffers in the community organizers' Washington office offering to help a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute acquire illegal home loans that would help them set up a brothel.

The firings came less than 24 hours after another pair of ACORN officials from the group's Baltimore office were canned for instructing the "pimp" and "prostitute" how to falsify tax forms and seek illegal benefits for 13 "very young" girls from El Salvador that pair said they wanted to import to work as child prostitutes.

Both of the encounters were videotaped on a hidden camera wielded by 25-year-old independent filmmaker James O'Keefe, posing as the pimp — tapes that have ignited calls for investigations of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The United States Census Director has sent a letter to the National Headquarters of ACORN notifying the group that it will no longer help work on the 2010 census.

The group's leaders said Friday they were "appalled and angry" at what their staffers had done, but insisted the videos were part of a political "smear" campaign and not representative of the institution as a whole.

[...]

O'Keefe, the filmmaker, was accompanied by 20-year-old Hannah Giles, who posed as a prostitute. On a videotape of their visit to ACORN's Washington's office, they are seen receiving guidance to establish the woman as the sole proprietor of a bogus company to mask the nature of her business.

"She's not going to put on (the loan application) that she's doing prostitution ... she doesn't have to," a now-fired ACORN staffer says. "You don't have to sit back and tell people what you do."

The ACORN staffer is heard suggesting that O'Keefe can purchase a house, and as the landlord, if he is ever questioned by authorities, he can say he was unaware of the illegal business going on inside.

"[W]hen the police ask you, (tell them) you don't know where (the money is) coming from," the staffer said. "We are looking out for you."

The ACORN employee later suggests that O'Keefe, who said he had a budding political career, not linger at the house in case people "put the dots together" and leave him "smeared and tarnished" by his association with his prostitute girlfriend. She should keep her business "low key," the employee continued, saying "You have neighbors and they see stuff. Don't think that people won't get on the telephone and call Fox."

One day before the Washington video was shot, O'Keefe and Giles sought help from ACORN workers in Baltimore, who told the pair how to falsify tax forms and seek illegal benefits for 13 "very young" girls from El Salvador that they said they said they wanted to import as prostitutes.

As he did in the taping in Baltimore, O'Keefe told the Washington officers that he had plans to bring as many as 10 women from El Salvador to work as prostitutes in Giles' "business."

"There's like 10 girls," O'Keefe says. "There's ten El Salvodoreans."

The ACORN staffer replies, "I understand what you are saying."

Corus Bank, a $7 billion Chicago-based institution, was one of three banks closed by federal regulators on Sept. 11.

Venture Bank of Lacy, WA. and Brickwell Community Bank of Woodbury, MN. also were closed and acquired by other institutions.

This year's running tally of failed institutions now stands at 103 banks and credit unions that have been closed, acquired or placed into conservatorship.

The president’s chief economic adviser warned Friday that the nation’s unemployment rate could stay “unacceptably high” for years to come — a situation that would seriously complicate Barack Obama’s ability to convince Americans that he’s beating back the recession.

“The level of unemployment is unacceptably high,” National Economic Council Director Larry Summers said Friday. “And will, by all forecasts, remain unacceptably high for a number of years.”

James A. Traficant, the Ohio Democrat who was expelled from Congress after being found guilty of bribery and racketeering, walked out of prison in Minnesota on Wednesday after serving seven years behind bars.

Traficant, 68, an eccentric former sheriff, did not answer reporters' questions as he left the prison alone and rode away in a taxi. He wore a T-shirt, shorts and knee-high white socks and carried some of his belongings in a plastic bag. Famous for his unruly toupee that was piled impossibly high on his head -- he said he needed "a weed whacker" to trim it -- Traficant left prison with a gray receding hairline.

[...]

"His sentence was overkill. Seven years is a long time," said Tony Trolio, who has been selling the shirts. "I am not condoning what they say he did, but there are murderers who get out in three years."

Trolio said he, like many people, remembers Traficant as a popular sheriff and congressman who helped a lot of people. "He was a spontaneous, charismatic guy."

Trolio said he talked to Traficant's wife, Tish, a hairdresser, and that when the former lawmaker realized that reporters were on the bus he planned to take from Minnesota to Ohio, he hopped into a taxi and evaded them. "That's Jim!" he said.

In 2002, in a trial in which Traficant represented himself, he was convicted of 10 felony counts, including accepting bribes and taking kickbacks.

Prosecutors and witnesses said he filed false tax returns and accepted free labor and materials for his Ohio farm from contractors in exchange for giving them congressional favors. He was the second House member since the Civil War to be voted out for unethical behavior.

Traficant, whose speeches in Congress often drew a crowd because they were so colorful and unusual, frequently made "Star Trek" references and, on the House floor, signed off by saying, "Beam me up."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't budge yesterday on her position that New York Rep. Charles Rangel should remain chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, despite new calls for his ouster.

"I do not think he should step aside," Pelosi told reporters yesterday.

She said that Rangel's fate should be decided by the House Ethics Committee, a secretive panel that has twice expanded its investigation of the embattled chairman but has given no indication when its probe will be completed.

The probe covers numerous allegations, including that Rangel failed to pay taxes on income from a vacation home.

The chairman of the Columbiana County Republican Party will join former Democratic congressman James A. Traficant Saturday afternoon for a so-called TEA Party at Firestone Park in Columbiana.

David W. Johnson, CEO of Summitville Tile Inc. in Hanoverton, will join Traficant at the podium for the event, set to begin at 2:30 p.m.

[...]

Johnson hopes that Traficant will address the North American Free Trade Agreement, which the congressman opposed during his time in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Authorities have charged an Owosso, Michigan, man with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in the Friday shooting deaths of an anti-abortion activist and another man, a prosecutor's office said.

Authorities say the suspect, Harlan James Drake, was offended by anti-abortion material that the activist had displayed across from the school all week.

Drake, 33, is accused of shooting anti-abortion activist Jim Pouillon, 63, and Michael Fuoss, 61, who were killed in separate locations Friday morning, the prosecutor's office in Shiawassee County said.

Authorities also have charged Drake with a felony firearm count and carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, the prosecutor's office said.

Drake also is suspected of "attempting to locate a third victim without success," the office said.

He was arraigned Friday and is being held without bail, the office said. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.

Pouillon, whose anti-abortion activity was well-known in the area, was protesting across the street from Owosso High School about 7:20 a.m. Friday when he was killed by several shots fired from a passing vehicle, Owosso Police Chief Michael Compeau said.

Writer Larry Gelbart, who developed the hit television show "M*A*S*H" that uncovered a rich wellspring of comedy and pathos in war, died of cancer on Friday at age 81.

He died in Los Angeles, his talent company, Creative Artists Agency told Reuters.

The Emmy-winning "M*A*S*H" lasted 11 seasons, becoming one of the most honored shows in U.S. television history before ending in 1983, with a final episode that set a record by attracting more than 106 million viewers.

Gelbart penned the 1972 pilot for "M*A*S*H," a comedy set in the 1950s Korean War, which used that conflict as an allegory for the Vietnam War, in which the United States was embroiled during the early years of the series.

The show, based on a 1970 movie of the same name by director Robert Altman, was about wise-cracking doctors operating on the wounded just a few miles from the front lines, in what they called "meatball surgery," because it called for quick action.

Producer and director Gene Reynolds called on Gelbart to write the pilot script for "M*A*S*H," and he went on to write for other episodes. He also served as executive script consultant and shared an Emmy award with Reynolds when the series won for outstanding comedy in 1974.

[...]

Gelbart also co-wrote the book "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," which became a Broadway musical in the 1960s, and the 1982 movie "Tootsie" starring Dustin Hoffman.

A restaurant anchoring a central downtown intersection for more than a decade has closed its doors.

Decoy’s Grill and Bar owners closed the eating and drinking establishment at Hwy. 61 and Fourth Street Sunday, Aug. 30. The restaurant had been in business for 11 years and employed 46 people.

Owners Bob and Kim Keifer said in a message posted on the front door that they tried their best to keep the establishment open.

“In the past year, we made all efforts to keep Decoy’s open,” they said. “In spite of our relentless efforts, we must close.”

The restaurant was known for its afternoon buffet, weekend music and large, cabin-themed dining room.

Bob Keifer, a longtime White Bear area dentist, said the grill and bar was hit with several blows forcing him to turn off the lights. The state smoking ban, instituted in 2007, led to a dramatic drop in bar revenue and the recent statewide economic downturn led to fewer and fewer customers.

Two words, delivered with index finger punctuating the air and directed at the president of the United States, made a little-known South Carolina congressman one of the most controversial men on the Internet -- at least Wednesday heading into Thursday.

As soon as Rep. Joe Wilson was identified as the person whose angry and audible outburst disrupted President Obama's health care speech to Congress, condemnation was swift -- and brutal.

Within minutes, someone had altered Wilson's entry on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia:

"He is a [expletive] that called the president of the United States a liar on national television and has no respect for the office he holds."

When the Web site scrubbed the sentence, an even more offensive entry wormed its way in. iReport.com: "You are disrespectful, sir"

Soon, the site disabled edit options for Wilson's entry, chalking it up to "vandalism."