‘Screaming savage’ makes return on Braves’ batting practice caps for 2013

Well it looks like the PC crowd is at it again. Someone has their panties in a knot over the new logo of the Braves, batting practice caps.

Here is what one person wrote about it, a few months ago.......

It's a wonder that anyone ever thought the image was OK. The logo strips Native Americans of any humanity and turns them into a one-dimensional character devoid of any sympathy or tribute. It honestly might be the only defense that the few defenders of Cleveland's Chief Wahoo have left. ("Well, it's not as bad as what Atlanta used to have.")

As a normal, sensible, American, should I be upset that Minnesota's NFL team has an image of a Viking warrior? What about those of Greek ancestry and Michigan State's Spartan warrior? Or Turks and USC's Trojan warrior? Should the Irish be upset that Notre Dame characterizes their people as "Fighting"?There is a long and understandable tradition of sports teams portraying themselves as fearsome warriors of various ethnicities.
I remember in High School our mascot was a leprechaun and our motto was "The Fighting Irish" At that time , the motto was suppose  to send the message, "We're tough guys. Don't mess with us." Teams don't call themselves, for example, the "Atlanta PC Wusses." Or the "San Francisco Sissies"......That would not exactly inspire fear in the opponent.

Again this just shows you how stupid this PC crowd is, so screw em, if they can't see the irony in all of this........

Have a Happy New Year!

Just in time for Christmas

Regulators approve free cellphones for California's poor

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO — Impoverished Californians will soon get free cellphones.

The state Public Utilities Commission has approved a federal cellphone giveaway program designed to help the homeless and other impoverished people connect with family, friends and potential employers.

Assurance Wireless, an arm of Sprint, will organize cellphone distribution. The program should be in place next year.

The Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/WaJHNB ) reported that nearly 5 million California residents with annual incomes below $25,000 and those who receive Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, food stamps and other aid will be eligible for the federal "Lifeline" program.

Access to cellphones will help people look for housing, jobs and stay in touch with families, said Joan Burke of Loaves & Fishes, a Sacramento-area homeless services group.

The state is bankrupt but can give out free cellphones.....meanwhile they can't pay to have the roads fixed, the schools in California are in the bottom of the nation but come and get your free cell phone.

Time to move to California!

 

Victoria Secret....Baaaaad Wooompum

Victoria's Secret apologizes for use of headdress in fashion show

By FELICIA FONSECA
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 9:12 a.m.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Victoria's Secret has apologized for putting a Native American-style headdress on a model for its annual fashion show, after the outfit was criticized as a display of ignorance toward tribal culture and history.

The company responded to the complaints over the weekend by saying it was sorry to have upset anyone and that it wouldn't include the outfit in the show's television broadcast next month, or in any marketing materials.

"We sincerely apologize as we absolutely had no intention to offend anyone," the company said.

Headdresses historically are a symbol of respect, worn by Native American war chiefs and warriors. For many Plains tribes, for example, each feather placed on a headdress has significance and had to be earned through an act of compassion or bravery. Some modern-day Native American leaders have been gifted war bonnets in ceremonies accompanied by prayers and songs.

The $12 million show, which had musical performances by Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars, showcased plenty of not-meant-to-be worn ensembles, including circus-themed outfits and a $2.5 million "fantasy bra." Last year the show averaged nearly 10.4 million viewers, up from 8.9 million in 2010, according to Horizon Media. (This year's show was taped on Nov. 7 and is set to air Dec. 4.)

Kloss, who walked the catwalk in a leopard bikini, turquoise beaded jewelry, high-heeled moccasins, and a floor-length feathered headdress (with the word "Thanksgiving" projected on a screen behind her), issued an apology via her Twitter account on Sunday: "I am deeply sorry if what I wore during the VS Show offended anyone. I support VS's decision to remove the outfit from the broadcast."

Man on Man, people are way too sensitive.... next thing you know there will be no more Polish Jokes....... and besides I didn't even notice the headdress until the story pointed it out...

Gone way too far!

12 Million a year Salary.....not too shabby

Man uses IDs from dead people to collect millions from IRS

Reuters – 1 hr 55 mins ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Barbados national who stole the identities of hundreds of dead people in a scheme to collect more than $120 million in bogus tax refunds from the U.S. government was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday to 9-1/2 years in prison.

Andrew Watts, 35, pleaded guilty in July to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors said Watts, a Barbados national who was in the United States legally, used the stolen identities to file 645 false federal tax returns between 2007 and 2011 and to claim more than $120 million in tax refunds.

Watts received more than $19 million in refund checks from the U.S. Treasury before the Internal Revenue Service discovered the scam.

The vast majority of the money was frozen in various accounts Watts controlled before he could spend it. But according to court documents, Watts used more than $1.6 million in refunds to rent apartments in New York, Beverly Hills and Chicago, buy a Mercedes Benz SUV and jewelry, provide cash to his girlfriend, and jet back and forth from California to New York.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall sentenced Watts to 7-1/2 years in prison for mail fraud and two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.

Gottschall also ordered Watts to pay nearly $1.7 million in restitution.
The case is USA v. Watts, 11-CR-00231, U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
(Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Greg McCune and Leslie Adler)

Ok, lets see, he steals 120 million and get to take a vacation at a federal prison with cable TV, a Gym, health benefits, 3 meals a day, a library, on and on, 
Not too bad of a trade off.....probably could have been a little more careful not to have got caught.

Police officer tasers blind man for carrying a stick

From the UK telegraph

A blind man got tasered by police officers after walking on the street with his stick, according to news media reports.

A police officer faces an investigation after tasering the blind on the street after he mistook his white cane for a samurai sword.

Former company director Colin Farmer, 61, was hit in the back by a 50,000 volt stun device and then handcuffed while he was on his way to meet friends for a drink at the local pub.

Mr. Farmer who used to run an architect business said he had made a formal complaint and has taken legal action against the police in Lancashire, who have apologized and have begun an investigation.
"It was like being trapped in a nightmare," Farmer said, a fellow of the Institute of Management for 20 years. "I did not even know that the police were there. I heard men shouting. I thought they were yelling at some people.

I certainly did not know they were police and certainly did not know they were yelling at me.
I thought it was going to be attacked by hooligans. Next I was shot with a Taser gun, but I did not know it was a Taser at the time,” he told the local newspaper.

Really makes me feel safe having these cops around.......

Enough is Enough, the loss of reality.

Three-and-a-half year old Hunter Spanjer, who is deaf, signs his name by crossing his forefinger and index finger and moving his hand up and down.

To his family, friends and those who know the Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) language that the Grand Island, Neb., boy uses, that gesture uniquely means "Hunter Spanjer."

But to Hunter's school district, it might mean something else. The district claims that it violates a rule that forbids anything in the school that looks like a weapon, reports KOLN-TV.

And Hunter's parents claim that Grand Island Pubic Schools administrators have asked them to change their son's sign language name.

"Anybody that I have talked to thinks this is absolutely ridiculous," Hunter's grandmother Janet Logue told the TV station. "This is not threatening in any way."

Hunter's father Brian Spanjer said, "It's a symbol. It's an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E."

The family told KOLN that lawyers from the National Association of the Deaf may push for Hunter's right to sign his name at the school.

Jack Sheard, Grand Island Public Schools spokesperson told KOLN, "We are working with the parents to come to the best solution we can for the child."

One Grand Island resident said she disagrees with the school.

"I find it very difficult to believe that the sign language that shows his name resembles a gun in any way would even enter a child's mind," Fredda Bartenbach said in the news report.

So the moral of the story is that the US has gotten to the point of all common sense has disappeared from reality. No one is allow to do anytihng that offends, disturbs or in any way allows one to do pretty much anything that a decade ago would have been the normal.....

I just don't understand why people can't make silly stuff like this go away.....

Give me that Egg buddy or into the clink!

2 Seattle men stopped at border for illegal candy

The Associated Press

SEATTLE - Two Seattle men say they spent more than two hours in a detention center at the Canadian border after U.S. border agents discovered illegal chocolate eggs in their car.

Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney told KOMO-TV ( http://is.gd/usuy85) they decided to bring home some treats for friends and family during a recent trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. They bought Kinder Eggs - chocolate eggs with a toy inside.

The two men say border guards searched their car and said the eggs are illegal in the United States because young children could choke on the small plastic toys. Importing them can lead to a potentially hefty fine.

Sweeney says the bust was a waste of his time and the agents' time. The men eventually got off with a warning.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman declined to comment about the case Tuesday night.

The agency warned on its website around Easter that the treats can't be imported legally.

The agency says it seized more than 60,000 Kinder Eggs from travelers' baggage and international mail shipments in fiscal 2011.

Nice to see that big Govmint is protecting you since YOU are unable to do it yourself......what's next? I am sure that there are tons of other things around the house that could cause more harm than this stuff...

Thought Police are alive and well in Denver

Colo. boy, 6, suspended for reciting 'Sexy' lyric

 

The Associated Press

AURORA, Colo. - A 6-year-old boy was suspended from his suburban Denver school for three days after school officials said he told a girl "I'm sexy and I know it," a line from a popular song.

D'Avonte Meadows, a first-grader at Sable Elementary School in Aurora, is accused of sexual harassment and disrupting other students, according to a letter the school district sent to his mother after he was sent home Wednesday.

School officials issued a statement saying they couldn't discuss the case, but they pointed out a school board policy that defines sexual harassment as any unwelcome sexual advance. There is no age limit.

The Aurora Police Department said it was not involved in the case because laws only cover children ages 10 and older.

D'Avonte's mother, Stephanie Meadows, said her son doesn't know the meaning of sexual harassment and it's the second time he has gotten in trouble for quoting "Sexy and I Know It." The song by the duo LMFAO was at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for two weeks in January.

"I'm just, I'm floored," Stephanie Meadows told KMGH-TV ( http://bit.ly/KaXY7f). "They're going to look at him like he's a pervert. And it's like, that's not fair to him."

The Associated Press could not locate the Meadows family for comment.

Aurora Public Schools issued a statement Thursday saying it is trying to provide an equal learning environment for all students.

"We have policies and protocol in place to prevent any disruption to the learning environment. Due to privacy laws, we are unable to discuss appropriate disciplinary consequences about a specific student," wrote spokeswoman Paula Hans.

Denver attorney Craig Silverman said elementary school students have the same rights to free speech as adults as long as they understand and follow the rules. He said school policies should allow for exceptions.

"Sometimes when you go to a zero-tolerance policy, you end up with a zero-sense policy," he said.

D'Avonte's suspension comes as the Colorado Legislature considers a measure that would eliminate zero-tolerance discipline policies related to violence and weapons that were enacted after the Columbine High School shootings.

It's a response to cases in which students have been punished for bringing fake guns or butter knives to school and doesn't address sexual harassment policies. However, Sen. Linda Newell, the bill's sponsor, said the measure would also direct school districts to consider alternative forms of discipline, such as remediation decided by a student's peers, in all kinds of discipline cases.

The bill has passed the state Senate and is awaiting action by the full House.

Lawmakers who worked on the measure say zero-tolerance policies have disrupted too many students' education for minor offenses.

As examples, lawmakers have cited Colorado students who were referred to police for trying to break up a fight or having a replica gun on school grounds.

They also point to cases such as at least two in Florida in which girls, 10 and 11 years old at the time, were arrested for allegedly bringing a plastic butter knife and a small kitchen knife to school.

You just can't make this kind of stuff up........ Sexual Harassment at age 6?
Give me a break!

More Stupidity Keeps on Coming....

Minn. air passenger: Water filtration pipes in bag

By AMY FORLITI
Associated Press

Published: Friday, April 27, 2012 at 10:14 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, April 27, 2012 at 10:14 a.m.

MINNEAPOLIS - A checked bag containing PVC pipes and several wires prompted authorities to briefly clear out a Minneapolis airport terminal Friday, and its owner told police it was the second time in three years his device had forced an airport evacuation, an official said.

The evacuation came after screeners at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport's Humphrey terminal spotted the items in a bag about 5:30 a.m. Humphrey, which handles less than 10 percent of the airport's passenger volume, was cleared of several hundred people and inbound auto traffic was stopped.
A bomb squad was called to search the bag. Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said the capped pipes contained a granular material, but nothing in it was explosive and the wires turned out to be unrelated to the device.
The man was questioned by police before being released about 8:45 a.m., Hogan said. No criminal charges were planned.
"We don't have any reason not to believe it was a water filtration device," he said.
But Hogan said the Transportation Security Administration could consider civil charges because of the disruption. Hogan said the man told police he had "a similar incident" in carrying the device through an airport in Long Beach, Calif., in April 2009.
In that incident, a few hundred people were evacuated briefly after screeners discovered what appeared to be a pipe bomb in a bag. It was later determined to be an unlabeled water filter.
TSA spokeswoman Carrie Harmon said the agency couldn't comment on an ongoing investigation.
The terminal that was evacuated, named for former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, is the smaller of the two terminals at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, serving AirTran, Icelandair, Southwest and Spirit airlines.
More than 90 percent of the airport's traffic passes through the nearby Lindbergh terminal.

"Considering civil charges because of the disruption" Are you kidding me, it was the TSA that caused all the problem.....again.......

Florida Man Charged With Felony for Allegedly Stealing $1 Cup of Soda From McDonald's

(Collier County Sheriff Dept.)

A Florida man was arrested and held on $6,500 bond after police in Collier County said he left a McDonald's without paying for a cup of soda valued at $1.

Mark Abaire, 52, had apparently asked staff at the Naples restaurant for a courtesy cup of water, but instead he allegedly filled the cup with soda from the soda fountain and sat outside of the restaurant, according to a story in the Naples Daily News which cited the police report of the Thursday incident.

Abaire allegedly refused to pay for the soda when he was asked to do so, refused to leave the restaurant and cursed at the manager, the Naples Daily News also reported.

Abaire, whose aliases include "Red" and  "Clown," has a long list of prior arrests, according to records from the Collier County Sheriff's Department.

He was charged with petty theft, trespassing and disorderly intoxication after the Thursday arrest, and sent to Collier County jail. Petty theft is usually a misdemeanor, but because Abaire has previous convictions for theft, the charge was upgraded to a felony. The trespassing and disorderly intoxication charges are misdemeanors.

Abaire could face five years in prison if he is convicted of the felony.

Records indicate Abaire will return to court on May 14.

Based on the cost of incarceration, wouldn't it make more sense give the guy a buck and send him back out on the street?  The amount of money and time it is costing the township, time the police and courts could be doing something else........what a crock!

 

Another Darwin theory example.........

Bay Area driver electrocuted after stopping to move downed power line

ASSOCIATED PRESS

.

SAN MATEO — The Pacific Gas and Electric Company says a man was electrocuted in San Mateo when he tried to move a downed power line.

The power line went down around 6:30 p.m. Friday. PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said the unidentified man came across it while he was driving, got out of his vehicle and tried to move it off the street.

That's when he was electrocuted. He was taken to Stanford Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Guidi told the San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/I0oHGR) that crews are investigating what caused the line to fall. It knocked out power to more than 3,000 residences.

All but 73 of the customers had their power back by 9:30 p.m.

I kind of remember that in grammar school a representative of our local utility Pacific Gas and Electricity came by and told us to never pick up a downed wire, for any reason. He also told us about flying Kites, (remember those) He then gave our little RedyKilowatt buttons to all the kids......

Perhaps this guy was sick that day.......................

One by One........

Strip Searches: The Supreme Court's Disturbing Decision

ADAM COHEN | Time.com

It might seem that in the United States, being pulled over for driving without a seat belt should not end with the government ordering you to take off your clothes and "lift your genitals." But there is no guarantee that this is the case -- not since the Supreme Court ruled this week that the Constitution does not prohibit the government from strip searching people charged with even minor offenses. The court's 5-4 ruling turns a deeply humiliating procedure -- one most Americans would very much like to avoid -- into a routine law enforcement tactic.

This case arose when a man named Albert Florence was pulled over by New Jersey state troopers while he was driving to his parents' house with his wife and young son. The trooper arrested him for failing to pay a fine -- even though, it turned out, he actually had paid the fine. Florence was thrown into the Essex County Correctional Facility, which has a strip search policy for all new arrestees

Florence -- who had not even violated the law -- was subjected to one of the more degrading interactions a citizen can have with his government. He was made to disrobe, lift his genitals for the guards to show that he was not hiding anything, and cough in a squatting position. Florence said he was strip searched twice.

After he was released, Florence sued, arguing that strip searches of people arrested for minor offenses violate the Fourth Amendment. There is a lot of support for the view that strip searches are an extreme measure that should only be used when the government has reason to believe the specific person they want to search is concealing weapons, drugs, or other contraband. The American Correctional Association -- the oldest and largest correctional association in the world -- has a standard saying that strip searches should only be used when there is individualized suspicion. Law enforcement groups -- including the U.S. Marshals Service and the Immigration and Custom Services -- adhere to this standard.

Many courts have said just what Florence argued -- that the Constitution prohibits strip searches of people arrested on minor offenses unless there is individualized suspicion. That includes at least seven U.S. Courts of Appeals -- the powerful federal courts that are just one rung below the Supreme Court. Ten states -- including Florida and Michigan -- actually make suspicionless strip searches illegal.

But the Supreme Court, by a 5-4, has now given its blessing to strip searches of people who are charged with minor crimes -- even if the government has no specific reason to believe they are concealing anything.

See there is a direction all of this stuff is going...........

Thought police are standing by.............

'Annoying, Offending' Language Online Would Be Crime Under Arizona Bill

• 

  'Annoying, Offending' Language Online Would Be Crime Under Arizona Bill (ABC New …

Distasteful comments and online insults are a mainstay of many social networks and online comment boards, but a new bill passed in Arizona could send people who "annoy or offend" to jail for up to six months.

House Bill 2549, which had bipartisan support, passed in the state's legislature and is awaiting one final vote on a minor "technical change" before the bill is sent to Gov. Jan Brewer.

The bill's sweeping language would severely inhibit First Amendment rights, David Horowitz, executive director of the Media Coalition in New York City, told ABCNews.com.

"Even in talk radio, saying 'I know this will offend my listeners' is a common practice. It's a tradition, speech that challenges the status quo," he said.

Horowitz said everything from Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a "slut" on his radio show to Sen. Al Franken's book, "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" could be viewed as criminal acts if the bill becomes a law.

The bill states it would be a class one misdemeanor for anyone to "terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend" through electronic and digital devices. It does not provide definitions of the terms and what would be considered annoying or offensive.

In a letter to the governor, Horowitz urged a veto "to allow legislators to craft a narrower bill that addresses their concerns without infringing on the right of free speech."

It was a matter of time folks...................25 years after 1984

And they wonder why US taxes are so high?

Murtha Airport, brought to you by American taxpayers

By Jonathan Karl, Richard Coolidge & Sherisse Pham

The Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pa., is a prime example of taxpayer spending that refuses to die. Representative John Murtha steered some 150 million of taxpayer dollars to this eponymous airport over the last decade and despite the fact he died more than a year ago, the money keeps on coming.

Three years ago, we first visited the tiny airport, and found a monument to pork barrel spending: An airport with a $7 million air traffic control tower, $14 million hanger, and $18 million runway big enough to land any airplane in North America. For most of the day, the only thing this airport doesn't have is airplanes.

We flew there on one of three flights that arrive there daily, all of them from Washington D.C. About half the cost of every ticket, $100, is paid by American taxpayers, a subsidy Congress voted to renew just this past February.

The place had a shiny new luggage carousel, a state of the art tower, and some very bored air traffic controllers -- but very few passengers. The place is a tribute to the power of its namesake; everything from the reinforced runway to the radar facility to the new terminal, are all thanks to Democratic Congressman John Murtha, who died more than a year.

But the taxpayer subsidies that made his airport possible continue to flow. Since our visit, the Murtha airport has received from the federal government $559,476 in stimulus funds to rehab a back-up runway, $82,551 for air guidance signs, $226,638 to improve the taxiway, $19,412 wildlife hazard assessments, $95,950 and $62,325 to install weather reporting.

Which goes to show the power of a mighty Congressman can last long after he's gone.

Check out this video and see how the empty place has to be staffed....too!

When will it stop? Never....but that's just my opinion.

Arizona man arrested after rescuing and adopting drowning raccoon

When 57-year-old Stan Morris saw a raccoon drowning in the Colorado River, he decided to put his own health at risk by saving the struggling animal. Seven months later, the good-hearted deed landed Morris in jail.

Before his arrest, Morris and the raccoon he affectionately named "Sonny," had developed quite a bond, according to the Associated Press. Morris told police he first looked online to see if it was against the law to keep a raccoon as a pet. When he didn't find any information telling him otherwise, he decided to adopt Sonny.

Technically, it is legal to keep a raccoon as a pet in Arizona, but an owner must first obtain an exotic animal license or permit. Most states that do allow raccoon ownership recommend adopting one from a professional breeder.

Morris says Sonny became domesticated after being adopted. In fact, Arizona Game and Fish Department officers were only alerted to the situation when reports began surfacing of a man walking around town with a raccoon perched on his shoulders.

A look over the Game and Fish Department website gives the impression that Arizona doesn't care much for raccoons. Not only did the state arrest Morris for keeping Sonny as a pet, but it has a law that states a raccoon, "is the only animal in Arizona that can be legally taken with a firearm at night."

Still, even adopted raccoons have been known to bite owners or strangers who startle them. And some of the concern is for the raccoons themselves, who cannot be returned to the wild once domesticated as a pet. Raccoons typically live 10-15 years, making them a time commitment similar to that of a cat or a dog for any prospective owners

You would think Game and Fish would have better things to do than take pets from people. I think it would be more cost effective for the state to just give the owner some guidlines to keep the raccoon safely instead of putting the man in jail.Leave the jail space free for real criminals.

Benefits of a TSA Job.

NYC agent arrested in latest TSA theft

NEW YORK (AP) — A Transportation Security Administration agent stole $5,000 in cash from a passenger's jacket as he was going through security at John F. Kennedy International Airport, authorities said Thursday, the latest in a string of thefts that has embarrassed the agency.

Alexandra Schmid took the cash from a Bangladeshi passenger's jacket as it went along an X-ray conveyor belt Wednesday night in Terminal 4, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's police force.

Surveillance video showed Schmid taking the money from a jacket pocket, wrapping the cash in a plastic glove and taking it to a bathroom, Della Fave said.

The money hasn't been recovered, he said. Police are investigating whether Schmid gave it to another person in the bathroom.

The 31-year-old Schmid was arrested on a charge of grand larceny and suspended pending an investigation. Her attorney's name wasn't immediately known.

Schmid, who lived in Brooklyn, had worked for the TSA for 4½ years, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.

"We do hold our officers to very high standards, and we have a zero tolerance policy for theft in the workplace," Farbstein said.

Wednesday's arrest came the same day that a federal judge sentenced former TSA screener Ricky German to eight months in prison for trying to steal a laptop from a passenger at the Memphis airport in December 2010. German was convicted of theft by a government employee, depriving a citizen of his rights and making false statements.

The cases are part of a series of recent theft allegations against TSA employees:

— Last month, an agent who worked searching checked luggage at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was suspended after the owner of a stolen iPad used the tracking feature on the device to locate it at the agent's home. Police found seven other iPads there.

—On Jan. 10, former TSA agent Paul Yashou pleaded guilty to stealing a $15,000 watch from a passenger's belongings at Los Angeles International Airport in May. He is awaiting sentencing.

— Two other former TSA agents at JFK were sentenced on Jan. 10 to six months in jail and five years' probation for stealing $40,000 from a piece of luggage in January 2011. The agents, Coumar Persad and Davon Webb, had pleaded guilty to grand larceny, obstructing governmental administration and official misconduct.

— Also in January, authorities charged an agent at Miami International Airport with swiping items and luggage and smuggling them out of the airport in a hidden pocket of his work jacket. He was arrested after one of the items, an iPad, was spotted for sale on Craigslist. Another TSA employee was arrested in July at nearby Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after an airline employee reported that the man slipped an iPad into his pants.

— In December, police charged a TSA screener at New York's LaGuardia Airport with lifting a laptop after a Detroit-bound passenger left it behind at the security station.

— Earlier last year, a TSA supervisor and one of his officers pleaded guilty in a scheme that lifted $10,000 to $30,000 from passengers' belongings at Newark Liberty International Airport. A federal judge sentenced the supervisor, Michael Arato, to 2½ years in prison and his subordinate, Al Raimi, to six months of home confinement.

Nice people, frisking your grandmother wasn't good enough, so now there are better benefits to the job........