http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=asB0nQcKHRV8

Ford, in `Meltdown,’ May Seek Wage Cut, Analyst Says (Update3)

By John Lippert and Jeff Green

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co. is in a “meltdown” and may ask
the United Auto Workers union to accept reduced pay and benefits
during this year’s contract talks, a labor economist said.

Ford may seek union backing for a plan to cut wages and benefits by 20
percent, said Sean McAlinden, an analyst at the Center for Automotive
Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That could lower costs by $1.4
billion annually for four years, McAlinden estimated.

Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally on Jan. 3 said he would ask
the union’s help in strengthening the company. Ford, the world’s third-
largest automaker, lost a record $12.7 billion last year on plunging
sales of pickups and sport-utility vehicles. The company’s UAW
contract expires Sept. 14.

“If Ford’s market share falls to 10 or 12 percent by this summer, and
if they start to burn cash at twice the rate they’ve planned,
something will have to be done,” McAlinden said at a labor-relations
seminar in Ypsilanti, Michigan. “We’re really, really worried about
Ford.”

Ford captured 15.2 percent of U.S. sales in January, about 10 points
below its annual level a decade ago. Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans
declined to comment on the company’s goals for the contract talks. UAW
spokesman Roger Kerson declined to comment.

(snip)

I’m sure jaybird can explain this as some sort of official police
business…..

via fark.com

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-officer0220,0,…

Arundel officer charged with sex offense
Rookie accused of photographing teen’s breasts

<…>

A rookie Anne Arundel County police officer has been charged with taking
a cell phone picture of himself groping a teenager during a traffic stop,
after threatening to jail her for drunken driving if she didn’t cooperate.

Officer Joseph F. Mosmiller, 22, is accused of telling the 18-year-old
and her female passenger to lift their shirts in the parking lot of a
Pasadena church just before midnight Jan. 20, according to documents
filed Tuesday in District Court. When the friend refused, the documents
say, Mosmiller took the photo and then let the women go.

<…>

Mosmiller, who was hired in May and given a commendation for foiling a
robbery in December, can return to work on desk duty, as can three other
officers who were implicated in the incident, said Lt. David Waltemeyer,
a county police spokesman.

<…>

There, he administered several field sobriety tests, then told the driver
that she and her passenger would avoid jail if they showed him their
breasts, the documents said. The passenger declined, but the driver
exposed herself because she feared she "was not free to leave" until she
did so, the charging documents said.

The officer told her that was not good enough, the documents said. He is
accused of then placing his hand on her exposed breast and taking a
photograph, using the camera on his cellular telephone.

Mosmiller did not file a report of the traffic stop and no
drunken-driving charges were brought against the driver, police said.

She reported the incident that night, and the department’s Criminal
Investigation Division began investigating.

<…>

The issue of red-light cams has come up in Florida. An article in
today’s paper doesn’t seem to indicate that there’s any method to
prove that the light was actually red when the car went through the
intersection – such as a second photo showing your vehicle in the
intersection and the light.

In states where these systems are in place, do they include any such
evidence to verify the red light or is it simply assumed that the
system is perfect, that the photo of your plate was taken properly and
that of course you were in violation?

In a previous post by CoolHandDuke TheBlueDevilMan, from 8/14/01 he
states that:

" Manufacturers typically install cameras free of charge in exchange
for a
percentage of fine revenues — a very lucrative arrangement.  In
Arizona and
Oregon, camera manufacturers and bureaucrats went as far as decreasing
yellow
times on some traffic signals in order to increase violations. "

Anyone know where I can find documentation of this?

 From the Indy Star.

February 21, 2007

Driver wounded in confrontation

Metropolitan police are investigating a shooting on the Northside that
left a 43-year-old man in critical condition today after a confrontation
between motorists.

Curtis McGruder was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital after officers
found him shot in the chest near 30th Street and Kessler Boulevard North
Drive about 9:40 a.m., Lt. Doug Scheffel said in a written statement.
A witness told police McGruder got out of his car and pounded on the
hood then spit at the driver of a silver Cadillac or Mercedes.
The other driver pulled a gun and shot McGregor one time, then drove
south on Kessler Boulevard North Drive.
Police are urging anyone with information about the incident to call
Detective Michael Mitchell at 317-327-3475 or CrimeStoppers at 317-262-TIPS

For California Motorists –

Don’t fall for fake red light camera tickets, a.k.a "Snitch Tickets"
or "Nominations."

The fake tickets come in the mail, from the POLICE!

Your fake or Snitch Ticket will look a lot like a real photo enforcement
ticket. But they are not a real ticket. The police have not filed them
with the court, so you won’t find the Superior Court name and address on it.

You won’t find the usual order saying, "You must respond to the court
on or before (date)," and in fact, the Snitch Ticket will even say (in
small print, on the back), "Do not contact the court."

Some of the cities doing it are Bakersfield, El Cajon, El Monte,
Emeryville, Encinitas, Escondido, Fairfield,Garden Grove, Gardena,
Hawthorne, Inglewood, Laguna Woods, Loma Linda, Los Alamitos, Marysville
Maywood, Millbrae, Modesto, Oceanside, Paramount, Poway, San Jose, San
Leandro, San Mateo, Santa Ana, Santa Clarita, Solana Beach, South Gate,
Stockton, Union City, Upland, Vista, and other towns.  As far as I know,
it is only happening in California.

It’s a phishing expedition, to get you to snitch on the driver – which
could even be yourself!  I recommend that you ignore such a notice – do
not respond to it in any way.  For more information, see the Your Ticket
page on the free-of-any-charge website http://www.highwayrobbery.net .

Don’t be a snitch.

Ed.

via fark.com:

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=159259&forma…

Bill would ban vehicle vulgarity

<…>

ANNAPOLIS – Washington County Sheriff’s deputy Matthew Bragunier figures
that he sees, at least once a day, fake bull genitals flopping from the
hitches of pickup trucks.

They’re only a toy, but they’re also unpleasant to look at, said
Bragunier, worried what his 2-year-old girl might think someday.

"My daughter’s going to see this," he said. "She’s going to ask what this
is. I don’t want to be put in that spot. I don’t think I ever want to be
in that spot."

<…>

Text of the bill

"A person may not display on a motor vehicle any model, sign, sticker, or
other item that depicts or resembles anatomically correct, less than
completely and opaquely covered, human or animal genitals, human
buttocks, or human female breasts."

When Bad Britneys Happen to Good People wrote:

> The Meltdown continues – G.I. Britney flies into wild rage

If you had a bunch of creeps following you everywhere wouldn’t you ?

Graham

 From Fark:

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=76459

$10,500 just for the product.  How much more spent in administering the
project?

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1598.asp

New Mexico Spends Gas Tax Dollars on Bathroom Ads
New Mexico launches a talking urinal cake advertising campaign to
promote an anti-DUI campaign.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation is spending federal gasoline
tax money on talking urinal cakes. As part of the "You Drink, You Drive,
You Lose" campaign funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, the state has purchased 500 "Wizmark" devices for $21
each. Officials began installing them last week week in bars and
restaurants throughout Albuquerque, Farmington, Gallup, Las Cruces and
Santa Fe.

The Wizmark subjects users to a female voice reading the following
script: "Hey there, big guy. Having a few drinks? Listen up. Think that
you’ve had a few too many? Then it’s time to call a cab or ask a sober
friend for a ride home. It sure is safer and a hell of a lot cheaper
than a DWI. Make the smart choice tonight. Don’t drink and drive.
Remember, your future is in your hand."

Drunk driving programs are big business for cities like Albuquerque
which generates more than $1 million a year from car confiscation and
fines. In 2005, the Essex, UK Speed Camera Partnership installed posters
in urinals to advertise the benefits of automated ticketing machines.

Source: DWI message finds home in urinal (The New Mexican (NM), 2/10/2007)