Teleprompters, Other Equipment Stolen from Virginia Truck Before President Obama Appearence

An NBC station out of Richmond, VA is reporting that a truckload of official White House equipment including Presidential seals, sound equipment and a pair of TelePrompTers was stolen at a hotel parking lot in Henrico, VA. [Just teleprompters? Good thing nothing of value was taken! *WHEW!*- NANESB!]

A truck filled with President Obama's podiums and audio equipment was stolen in Henrico just days before his visit to Chesterfield.

[WWBT, Channel 12] confirmed an investigation with the U.S. Defense Department. There are still a lot of questions. The biggest one being did the thieves intentionally target the President's truck or did they take advantage of a crime of opportunity and give a big "uh-oh" when they saw what was inside.

When you see President Obama speak, there is a pretty typical setup including the presidential seal on a podium, the see-thru Teleprompter and a portable sound system.

Thieves saw the truck carrying that equipment and couldn't resist the target.

We're told the truck was parked at the Virginia Center Commons Courtyard Marriott in advance on Wednesday's presidential visit to Chesterfield.

Sources said inside that vehicle was about $200,000 worth of sound equipment, several podiums and presidential seals, behind which only the President himself can stand.

They told NBC12 around 12:30 Monday afternoon that truck was recovered in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express near the airport and hotel staff confirm police activity. One guest we spoke with said he saw various law enforcement agencies examining a white box truck parked there.

According to him, the entire back parking lot was blocked off as Henrico Police along with "lots of guys in suits" investigated. He said the truck had no markings and no indication anything special was inside. That leads to another big question of whether or not any of that was actually stolen.

Late Monday evening we found a truck with US government tags still parked in the Marriott's lot. We are waiting to find out if that is the original truck returned to the staff or a second vehicle.

We were able to get this statement from a Defense Information Systems Agency spokesperson: "No classified or sensitive information was in the vehicle. We take incidents such as this very seriously and a formal investigation is continuing."

We are waiting to find out if surveillance cameras on the building captured the crooks on tape.

President Obama is scheduled to kick off a second bus tour in North Carolina and Virginia this week. The truck was reportedly travelling in advance of the Presidential motorcade for a Wednesday appearance with Virgina GOP governor Bob McDonnell at a veterans-focused event in Ft. Eustis, VA.

Government Files Suit Against Trucking Company For Dismissing Alcoholic Driver

A North Carolina based trucking company is being taken to court by the government for firing an alcoholic truck driver- a move the US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission claims is in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

Thomasville, NC-based Old Dominion Freight Line [NASDAQ: ODFL] dismissed a driver in June 2009 based in an Arkansas service center. The driver, Charles Grams, had approached company supervisors and informed them he had a drinking problem

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit this week arguing that Old Dominion Freight Line discriminated against Charles Grams by stripping him of his position and offering him a demotion even if he completed a substance abuse counseling program

Instead, the EEOC argued, the North Carolina-based company, which has a service center in Arkansas, should have complied with the law, known as the ADA, while ensuring safety.

“The ADA mandates that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to achieve in the workplace,” said Katharine Kores, director of the EEOCs Memphis District Office, which covers Arkansas. “While the EEOC agrees that an employer’s concern regarding safety on our highways is a legitimate issue, an employer can both ensure safety and comply with the ADA.”

The EEOC says alcoholism is a recognized disability under the ADA and that the company violated the law with its policy that bans any driver who admits alcohol abuse from driving again.

The EEOC wants the company to reinstate Grams and another affected driver to their previous positions and provide them with back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and compensation for lost benefits. The EEOC is also seeking to block the company’s alcohol-related policy.

Joel McCarty, general counsel to Old Dominion, wouldn’t comment on the details of the pending litigation. But he told FoxNews.com, “We intend to vigorously defend our position.”

When asked to respond to EEOC’s comments and rationale behind the lawsuit, McCarty said, “Obviously, we disagree with their position totally.”

“Our concern is safety,” he said. “And that’s why we intend to defend the policy.”

According to the EEOC’s suit, Grams, who had been with Old Dominion for five years without incident, informed the company in June 2009 that he believed he had an alcohol problem.

The company suspended him from his driving position, which paid him nearly $22 per hour, including benefits. In compliance with U.S. Transportation Department regulations, Grams met with a substance abuse professional who notified the company that Grams would participate in an outpatient treatment program and could return to work.

But Old Dominion told Grams that he wouldn’t be allowed to drive again for the company and instead offered him a part-time position as a dock worker as soon as it became available. The position paid $12 per hour without benefits, the lawsuit alleges.

Grams then decided he couldn't afford treatment because he believed he would have to pay for it upfront and be reimbursed by his insurance company only if it approved the treatment. Instead, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Old Dominion fired him in July for job abandonment.

The EEOC contends that the company's actions deprived Grams and other affected drivers of "equal employment opportunities and otherwise adversely affect their status as employees, in violation of the ADA."

"Grams is a qualified individual with a disability under ADA ... who can perform the essential functions of a driving position," the suit says, adding that Grams and other employees wouldn't need treatment to perform non-driving duties.

Does anybody else remember that King of the Hill episode where Hank hires this seemingly clean-cut guy to work at Strickland Propane only to learn that he's a drug addict? Then once he's hired, he's next to impossible to get rid of because he's a drug addict?

So this begs the question if Alcoholism is covered under the ADA, what about drug use? I mean the potential ramifications of a driver operating a commercial vehicle impaired and over the road is no different if that driver's been knocking back Jack Daniels or snorting cocaine. And moreover, the government is ordering that the company assume the risk and liability that comes with a driver with a history or alcohol or substance abuse.

Lisa Kelly: With the Angels

And by "With the Angels", I don't mean there was some sort of unfortunate mishap on Atigun Pass- think more like the US Navy's Blue Angels.



Wasilla, AK native and Ice Road Truckers star Lisa Kelly was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of flying with the US Navy's Blue Angels Precision flying team at an Air Show in Fargo, ND this month.

She says she has always wanted to fly in an F-18. In Kelly's line of work, she faces danger daily, but she says that's nothing compared to what the US Navy faces.



She says chasing this dream was a great experience. Kelly says, “We flew upside down, and I’m like hanging from my seatbelt dangling upside down looking at the canopy. We would go straight up and spin and it looks like the sun is just going around the nose of it.

The flight took place immediately prior to Fargo's AirSho between Aug 13th and 14th.







Both Lisa Kelly and Canadian ice road trucker Alex Debogorski will be making an appearence at England's Truckfest in a few weeks.

Borderline Psychosis (Mostly) El Norte Edition- ATF Arming Mexican Criminals? Border Patrol Agent Armed w/Beanbag Rounds in Deadly Shootout

ARIZONA: You know how gun control advocates have been lobbying for stricter gun control laws in the USA citing the number of American weapons turning up at crime scenes in Mexico? I initially derided such claims as unmitigated bullshit, but it turns out they were more on the nose than anybody thought. But what nobody banked on was that the cartels and Mexican criminals were arming themselves thanks in large part to the complicity of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms.

BATF Agent John Dodson has come forward and in an interview with CBS went on record as saying that allowing suspect sale of firearms to straw purchasers in Arizona go through before they were smuggled to Mexico in a tactic known as letting the guns 'walk'.

Agent Dodson and other sources say the gun walking strategy was approved all the way up to the Justice Department. The idea was to see where the guns ended up, build a big case and take down a cartel. And it was all kept secret from Mexico.

ATF named the case "Fast and Furious."

Surveillance video obtained by CBS News shows suspected drug cartel suppliers carrying boxes of weapons to their cars at a Phoenix gun shop. The long boxes shown in the video being loaded in were AK-47-type assault rifles.

So it turns out ATF not only allowed it - they videotaped it.

Documents show the inevitable result: The guns that ATF let go began showing up at crime scenes in Mexico. And as ATF stood by watching thousands of weapons hit the streets... the Fast and Furious group supervisor noted the escalating Mexican violence.

One e-mail noted, "958 killed in March 2010 ... most violent month since 2005." The same e-mail notes: "Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during March alone," including "numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles."

Dodson feels that ATF was partly to blame for the escalating violence in Mexico and on the border. "I even asked them if they could see the correlation between the two," he said. "The more our guys buy, the more violence we're having down there."

Senior agents including Dodson told CBS News they confronted their supervisors over and over.

Their answer, according to Dodson, was, "If you're going to make an omelette, you've got to break some eggs."

There was so much opposition to the gun walking, that an ATF supervisor issued an e-mail noting a "schism" among the agents. "Whether you care or not people of rank and authority at HQ are paying close attention to this case...we are doing what they envisioned.... If you don't think this is fun you're in the wrong line of work... Maybe the Maricopa County jail is hiring detention officers and you can get $30,000 ... to serve lunch to inmates..."

Agent Dodson and others knew that allowing the guns to walk wouldn't end well, and their fears were confirmed in December 2010 when two guns from Fast & Furious were recovered from the scene of an Arizona shootout that killed US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Not surprisingly, Mexican authorities were kept in the dark about Fast & Furious as well. Mexican diplomats have petitioned the US Department of Justice for more details regarding the operation over the weekend.

Dodson has formally sought protection as a whistleblower under Federal law and has been providing information to the Senate Judiciary committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

ELSEWHERE ALONG THE BORDER: Speaking of the late Agent Brian Terry, documents detailing the Dec 14th gunbattle outside of Nogales, AZ in which the Border Patrol agent was killed indicates that the Border Patrol agents were instructed to use non-lethal beanbag rounds in their shotguns.

The documents say the group of illegal border entrants refused commands to drop their weapons after agents confronted them at about 11:15 p.m. Two agents fired beanbags at the migrants, who responded with gunfire. Two agents returned fire, one with a long gun and one with a pistol, but Terry was mortally wounded in the gunfight.

Terry's brother, Kent Terry, said the other agents who were there that night told him that they were instructed to use the non-lethal beanbags first. It's a policy that doesn't make sense to Kent Terry.

"You go up against a bandit crew that is carrying AKs, and you walk out there with guns loaded with beanbags - I don't get it," Terry said in a phone interview from Michigan. "It's like going to the Iraqi war with one knife. It boggles my mind. ... These guys (Border Patrol agents) are professionals; they should be able to use their judgment call on their own."

[snip]The Terry family remains upset about allegations that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed a gun smuggler it was investigating to purchase and smuggle into Mexico the weapons used in the shootout in which Terry died. The Justice Department has denied the allegations, but U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, continues to insist on the validity of the claims.

"Your government is telling you to use beanbags, but you are selling guns back to the Mexicans," Kent Terry said. "There's a lot of questions that they haven't answered."

The Border Patrol has declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

WASHINGTON D.C.: In a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the White House last week, President Obama announced that a tentative agreement had been reached with Mexico that would allow Mexican truck drivers to use US Highways in exchange for Mexico dropping retaliatory tariffs on American goods once the first Mexican truck completes its run inside the USA.

OK....let me just come right out and say that this is like the layer cake of bad ideas.

Let me count the ways: I guess to start off with, expedited border crossings from Mexico mean that some criminal enterprise is going to take advantage of this which will most likely lead to expedited drug smuggling or human trafficking, abetted by corrupt officials on both sides of the border.

Last I heard, things like weigh stations, logbooks, preventative maintenance, hours of service, and safety inspections were these whimsical, novel foreign concepts to the majority of truckers on the Mexican side of the border. Even if Mexico reciprocates and allows American truckers to drive further into Mexico's interior, there's the the matter of rampant crime in the form of hijackings and roadblocks set up to rob drivers or steal their cargo. Either that or set it on fire as part of an impromptu blockade while one cartel or another lays siege to a Mexican city.

And lastly, I fail to see how allowing more Mexican trucks onto US highways would benefit the American economy or create American jobs- union or non-union.

MEXICO CITY: A Major in the Mexican Army is suspected of leaking information to drug cartels, training hitmen and enforcers through a private security company and funnelling weapons from the Mexican military to cartels like Los Zetas, according to a US diplomatic cable released on Wikileaks.

Major Arturo Gonzalez Rodriguez was assigned to President Calderon's security detail before being arrested in December 2008 for accepting $100,000 a month bribes from multiple cartels in exchange for relaying the travel plans of Calderon.

"Based on statements from a former cartel member turned witness code-named 'Jennifer,' PGR (federal attorney general's office) has accused González of passing information related to the activities and travel plans of Mexican President Felipe Calderón to the Arturo Beltran Levya organization (ABLO).

"González also stands accused of leaking military intelligence, training ABLO hit men through a private security company and supplying military weapons to various (drug trafficking organizations), including los Zetas."

The cable also alleges that another official working for the Calderon administration leaked copies of his medical file to drug traffickers.

CHIHUHUA: The 20 year old woman who found herself in the limelight in 2010 for becoming police chief of the border town of Praxedis G Guerro after her predecessor was murdered and beheaded by narotrafficantes was fired on Monday after failing to show up for work.

City officials released a statement saying that the mayor had decided to remove Marisol Vallez Garcia from office after she failed to show up after a leave of absence in which she had to attend to a family emergency. She was accompanied by a local official as far as the International Bridge connecting El Provenir with Ft. Hancock, TX last week.

Marisol Valles, then a 20 year old criminology student studying at the University of Guadlajara, was the only person willing to take the job and was sworn in on October 18, 2010 a year after the previous police chief was kidnapped, murdered and beheaded and his severed head left outside the Paxedis G Guerro police station.

Valles is reportedly seeking asylum in Texas after her infant son was being treated for an unspecified illness there. She also was reportedly subjected to a number of anonymous death threats during her brief tenure as police chief.