Great Blogging in Northwest Louisiana

I haven’t done a blog roundup in a while, and it is about time. Northwest Louisiana has a number of great blogs with a diversity of opinions.
I’ll start today with Pat Austin over at And so it Goes in Shreveport. It’s a conservative blog, prolific and very well written. Pat has also joined in on a cooperative venture, Potluck, with a few other bloggers from all around the country. Check it out.
Now I have an ulterior motive in picking Pat as my first mention today. For the first time in the history of the world, My Bossier has rated higher than And so it Goes in Shreveport in the weekly influence ratings at Blog Net News. This week I’m tied for 5th Place and Pat is LOWER in the ratings. Of course, in the 12 week rating she is #6 and My Bossier is #12, but I am enjoying my moment of glory! It will probably never happen again. If you aren’t signed up for this site you should give it serious consideration. I believe that they have about 60 or 65 Louisiana blogs and each week they rate the top 20. I hope all of our local bloggers will get on board – even if you consistently beat me. Let’s stand up and make Northwest Louisiana be counted!
My newest blogging bud and fellow Bossier Blogger Andy is a really funny guy. He can be serious too, and writes some really good stuff, but his sense of humor keeps me going.
Chicken Fried Gourmet will make your mouth water every time you click onto the site. Great food and recipes with pictures. It is a real credit to our blogging community.
Along the same lines, Savoring Shreveport does restaurant reviews and does them very well.
These two blogs fill a great niche in the area.
While they feed the body, Darrell helps feed our spiritual side at My God’s been Good.
The Opinionated Catholic deals with both the spiritual and temporal, and does it well.
Donna at Opining Online does just that, and I always enjoy that opining. If you haven’t been reading, then start. You will enjoy it too.
Old Captain Salt has one of the newer blogs, The Captain’s Thoughts. If you share his very conservative (somewhere to the right of Atilla the Hun) views, then read him regularly. He’s a friend and knows I’m just kidding, really – it’s okay!
Alena at The Upside of Downs is another friend and blogs about her sweet Riley. This is a heartwarming read anytime and you always feel better when you leave. That is success in blogging.
I find that I seem to share some of Wheeler’s cynicism of some cultural and political institutions, and I always enjoy reading The Norla Blog. He is very much into cycling, running and physical fitness; we could all learn from his dedication to keeping his body (and mind) in top order.
Our radio guy Todd Nixon of KRMD is very entertaining, after all, that is his day job. The only fault I can find with Todd is that he needs to BLOG MORE. C’mon Todd!
Well, that concludes our little roundup. I want to encourage everyone to keep on blogging, and for those readers who have thought of blogging but haven’t started yet, get with it.

Breakfast at Blackwater

Andy sent me several of these, he got them from his buddy Paul the Fireguy. Andy's been running them over at his place. This one particularly caught my eye and thought you might get a kick out of it. Maybe you have a better name, I thought breakfast at Blackwater hit it on the head.

How to deal with a terrorist

Lafourche Parish sheriff’s deputies cited a fifth-grader on a count of terrorizing after he allegedly told two students that his big brother would shoot them, deputies and school officials said.
The threat, reported to school officials, prompted a lockdown at South Thibodaux Elementary School shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies said in a statement.
Floyd Benoit, parish public schools spokesmen, said Thursday that school officials quickly determined the 11-year-old’s brother was 27, working offshore and not a threat to the school.
Deputies said the school returned to normal by 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
From The Advocate

This is a 10 or 11 year old kid.
1. Tear his butt up in front of the class and make him offer a sniffling apology.
2. Parents tear his butt up when he gets home and keep him grounded for a week or two.
3. Big brother tear his butt up when he gets home from working offshore.

Terrorizing problem solved.

Terrorists in our midst?

Bossier Parish Sheriff Larry Deen has stirred up a hornet’s nest with his ‘Operation Exodus”, which, according to his press release “will provide for self-sufficiency in the event of a manmade or natural disaster or a terrorist attack. Exodus will take local volunteers, train them and use them in response to a catastrophic disaster in the area. These volunteers will work in conjunction with the Bossier Sheriff’s Office to secure and protect viable resources in such an event.”
So far so good. The sheriff has provided very good emergency services when needed, as in the tornadoes last fall. Sheriff’s patrols were out immediately protecting vulnerable areas and offer assistance to the areas affected.
I think he would have been better served to leave the project to ‘emergency preparedness’ and ignore the preceived ‘Islamic Terrorist’ threat which at best is very tenuous, and which seems to some people just a tad paranoid.
I also think using the Biblical connection with ‘Operation Exodus’ could have been a mistake. A spokesman explained that Exodus had nothing to do with the Biblical connotation, but referred to the Sheriff’s office ‘moving outside’ it’s normal boundaries. Unfortunately, when people see Operation Exodus and Islamic Terrorists in the same paragraph they sort of jump to conclusions. Here is a video put out by the sheriff dealing with the program. Doyle Dempsey, chief deputy for support services, says in the video that if the project is successful "we will be ahead of the curve when it comes to fighting Islamic extremists."

The volunteers will be equipped with shotguns, riot shields and batons, according to reports. A .50-caliber machine gun will be mounted on what the sheriff's office calls "the war wagon."
The War Wagon is a .50 caliber machine gun that will be mounted on some sort of rolling conveyance. That makes it sound like they are preparing more for an invasion than a random terrorist act.
The War Wagon troubles me.
Now I know a number of Bossier Parish deputies, and they are a well-trained, professional bunch. Operation Exodus brings everyday citizens into the equation, and although I like my fellow Bossierites, I don’t think I want them wielding a War Wagon down my street. I think I would trust the ‘regulars’ for security.
The program has attracted a lot of national interest, little of it good.
Talking Points Memo interviewed Ed Baswell and this is an excerpt of what they printed.
The office of the Louisiana sheriff who's forming a citizen militia to defend the parish in the event of a terrorist attack says it has information about possible Islamic terrorist activity in its midst.
"We understand, based on some intelligence that we've collected over the last year, year and a half, that there have been cells and people operating even within our parish that have been trained as terrorists or went overseas to be trained as terrorists," Ed Baswell, a spokesman for the Bossier Parrish Sheriff's Office, told TPMmuckraker this morning.
So this is not something that's far, far away," Baswell added. "This is something that is a possibility here in Bossier Parish."
Baswell said that his office believed that the suspected terrorists had been operating in Bossier Parish at one time but have since left. "We have had indications that there have been some that have come and gone from the parish," he said.
"Islamic terrorists have been in and out," he said. "And we've had intelligence information that confirmed that for us."
Baswell added that the sheriff's office had worked with the Feds on the threat. "A lot of our intelligence information has come in conjunction with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies," he said. The FBI's Louisiana field office told TPMmuckraker they would look into the claim.
Baswell said it wasn't entirely clear what the suspected terrorists were up to. "We didn't get the impression they were plotting an attack," he said. "We got the impression they were in training or headed for training overseas." He stressed: "We don't believe in any way shape or form that there is any sort of imminent threat."
Baswell described the intelligence as "just tidbits of information we've gotten over time."
KTBS did a story on it.

Did Chrissie Coile just say that the program ‘comes at no cost to taxpayers’? I would like to hear the justification for that statement. Is it being funded by private donations? Are those donations paying for the use of the training center, the salaries of the officers doing the training? If it is a training operation under the auspices of the Sheriff, then of course it is paid with taxpayer money. I would find it very troubling indeed if something like this was privately funded.
All of the negative aspects to this could have been avoided with a little common sense. The name of the program (if you must name it), could have been 'Operation Preparedness' or something of the kind. The purpose of the program could have been limited to preparing for natural or manmade disasters, not Islamic Terrorism. Had those simple steps have been followed, then this wouldn't even be a story.
Here are just a few of many links available on the story.
USA Today

HOA Nuthouse

The Mike Malloy Show

The Klaxon

Now Public

Craig Considine

Media Monarchy

Arkansas Times

The Zombie Squad

Democratic Underground

Propeller

MSNBC

Princeton Couple facing more charges

A Princeton couple who were arrested yesterday on various drug charges are no strangers to the Bossier Parish Court system. Benton Britnell and wife Tina are at Bossier Max pending bond. Both are out on bond for charges they incurred in January.
Benton Britnell is being charged with Possession of Marijuana 3rd Offense, Use CDS in presence of minor & Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Tina Britnell is charged with Possession of Marijuana 3rd Offense, Use CDS in presence of minor, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia & obstruction of justice. She also had a warrant for nine counts of prohibited acts.
Tina Britnell admitted to flushing marijuana down the toilet, but produced more marijuana, rolling papers and a grinder.
The Britnells’s 8 year old daughter was in the residence at the time.

Both are also facing charges that were filed in January for Possession of Schedule III CDS & obtaining CDS by fraud.

Tina Britnell:
January 2010 – Obtain CDS by fraud (6 counts) & Possession of Schedule III CDS
March 2010 – Possession of Marijuana 3rd Offense, Use CDS in presence of minor, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia & obstruction of justice

Benton Britnell:
1993 - Misdemeanor Theft
May 1996 – Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense ($500 fine)
May 1996 – Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (nol prossed with above sentence)
March 1997 - Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense ($500 fine)
March 1997 - Possession of Drug Paraphernalia ($500 fine)
January 2005 – Manufacture of Methamphetamine (felony) (5 years, suspended – 4 years probation, $750 & costs)
January 2005 – Possession of Schedule II CDS (felony) (nol prossed with above sentence)
January 2005 – Possess CDS in the presence of a minor (nol prossed with above sentence)
January 2005 - Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (nol prossed with above sentence)
June 2007 – Middle Grade Criminal Property Damage (felony) (6 months, suspended, 6 months probation, restitution, costs & fees.
June 2007 – Disturbing the Peace, Language – Status Conference Set July 7 (no other entries in record)
June 2007 – Disturbing the Peace, Intoxicated – Status Conference Set July 7 (no other entries in record)
June 2007 – Resisting an Officer (6 months, suspended, 6 months probation, $500 & costs)
June 2007 – Domestic Abuse Battery - Status Conference Set July 7 (no other entries in record)
January 2010 – Obtain CDS by fraud & Possession of Schedule III CDS
March 2010 – Possession of Marijuana 3rd Offense, Use CDS in presence of minor & Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Mother of boy charged in Rusheon Rape says it was all girl's fault

Ben Wolf of KSLA interviewed the mother of the boy charged with simple rape in the Rusheon Middle School Incident. She just can’t believe she had to bond her 14 year old son out of jail on a rape charge. This is her version of the story.
1. It’s racial profiling (the girl victim was black, the arresting officer white).
2. The girl pulled her son into the bathroom, he didn’t force her. She is responsible for the entire incident.
3. It was just the fact of the young lady going down and coming up. It happened just that fast. So how can you call that rape?
I’m not going to say anything else, I have my opinion of what this young man’s problem may be. You can watch the entire interview here.

Funny Day at My Bossier

Today is funny day at My Bossier (no politicians involved). I must have a weird sense of humor, I found these so hilarious. I put Total Eclipse of the Heart on Facebook and didn’t draw one single comment.
Here’s the deal, what if the people in music videos were singing about what the video is actually showing? Like I said, I think they’re funny. Maybe I just have a warped sense of humor.
Well, not as warped as Andy, but maybe just a little.
Check these out, don’t you think they’re funny too?

Penny Lane

Daydream Believer

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Better check those captions

From The Gambit on Twitter

Two arrested in Arkansas in Benton Home Invasion

From The Bossier Parish Sheriff's Department:
Two more people have been arrested in connection with a home invasion that took place in the 200 block of Hurricane Bluff in Benton early last Thursday morning, said Bossier Sheriff Larry Deen.
Juan Jose Martinez-Flores, 25, of Springdale, Arkansas, and Mark William McKinney, 55, of Rogers, Arkansas, were taken into custody Friday. Martinez-Flores is being held in Springdale, and McKinney is incarcerated in Rogers. Both are fighting extradition.
Their arrests came after three Bossier Sheriff’s investigators went to Springdale and Rogers in an attempt to piece together the events of Thursday morning. With the help of police departments in Springdale and Rogers, they gathered intelligence information that led them to Martinez-Flores and McKinney.
At least one other suspect is still being sought. Miguel “Bear” Escutia, 39, is also believed to be from the Springdale area and is thought to be one of four men who broke into the home of a 68-year-old woman. Bossier Sheriff’s detectives say Escutia, Martinez-Flores, Ricardo Aleman Palos and Gerardo Cortina took a safe and some jewelry from the house. Palos, 35, of Springdale, and Cortina, 26, originally from Elgin, Illinois, are being held in the Bossier Maximum Security Facility, having been captured Thursday. They, along with Martinez-Flores, are charged with aggravated burglary, false imprisonment and simple battery of the infirmed. Investigators say McKinney, who is charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, was the source for the information about a safe being in the house.
The incident began just after midnight on Thursday, Feb. 25th, when the victim was awakened by her dog barking and was confronted by at least three males in ski masks and dark clothing. They bound her with duct tape at the ankles and wrists and put some over her mouth. They kept demanding, “Where’s the safe?”, and repeatedly told her they were not going to harm her.
The men rummaged through the residence and eventually found a safe. They took it and some jewelry and fled the scene in a pickup truck. At that point, the victim, who suffered only a minor injury, was able to free herself and call the Bossier Sheriff’s Office, at which time a B.O.L.O. (be on the lookout) was issued, instructing law enforcement agencies to watch for a suspicious pickup truck.
A Bossier Sheriff’s deputy soon spotted a pickup truck on La. Hwy. 3 at Cash Point Road and saw a large object under a tarp in the bed of the truck. The object looked like a safe. The deputy continued to follow the truck which began to weave from lane to lane in an effort to get away from the deputy.
The truck led the deputy into the Greenacres Subdivision in Bossier City and back out onto Hwy. 3. In the 3900 block of Hwy. 3, the truck stopped, and all four men fled. The deputy was able to apprehend Palos, but the other three men escaped. Cortina was arrested by detectives later that day. At this point, of the four men that entered the house, only Escutia is still at large.
More arrests are possible.

Sexual Assault at Rusheon Middle School

The motto of Rusheon Middle School is posted on their website.

Motto:
RMS is a place where all students can be safe, successful, and supported!
That motto was put to shame last week.
KTBS has reported on the arrest of two teenage boys, ages 13 & 14, for sexually assaulting two 13 year old girls at Rusheon Middle School in Bossier City.
According to a news release, the incident occurred after an out-of-town band trip. The boys reportedly forced the girls into a boys’ restroom, then sexually assaulted them.
All of the individuals involved in the incident are students at the school. The two boys were arrested Saturday morning after an investigation. The 14-year-old suspect was arrested on a charge of simple rape, and the 13-year old suspect was booked on a charge of simple battery. Both were booked into the Bossier Juvenile Detention Center. Detectives are continuing their investigation into the incident and say more arrests are likely.