Police say scarring can thwart detection

A surgically altered finger is seen in a photo from the State Police.

So desperate was one man to conceal his identity that he began biting his fingers and drawing blood while being booked.

Some have used eyedroppers filled with acid or pressed their fingers onto burning metal to blot their fingerprints. Others have spent thousands of dollars to hire shady doctors to surgically alter their fingertips, hoping to scar them beyond recognition.

The numbers are still relatively small, but in the past decade, State Police detectives say they have seen a sevenfold spike in people arrested with mutilated fingertips, a disturbing trend they said reflects dire efforts to evade the harsher punishments that come with multiple arrests, to avoid deportation, or to fool the increasingly sophisticated computers that do most fingerprint checks.

Since 2002, when State Police started to keep count of suspects with deliberately scarred fingerprints, they have recorded 72 arrests, 20 of which occurred last year. There were just three when they began keeping records.

President Barack Obama smiles as he speaks before signing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection financial reform bill at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

This November, candidates would be better off with an endorsement from Sarah Palin than Barack Obama. According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 12% of voters say they're more likely to vote for a candidate if Obama campaigns for him, including 28% of Democrats and 8% of Independents.

30% of all voters, including 30% of Independents, say an Obama endorsement would make them less likely to vote for a candidate.

Virgin Olive oil not truly virgin despite labels according to study

Virgin olive oil that claim to be 'extra virgin' may not be after all. A new study says some Virgin olive oil brands are not the top-grade extra-virgin its labels proclaim.

Dietician Evelyn Tribole of Irvine uses extra virgin olive oil to makes a raspberry vinaigrette.

NEWSCOM

Many of the olive oils lining supermarket shelves in the United States are not the top-grade extra-virgin oils their labels proclaim, according to a report from the University of California, Davis.

Researchers analyzed popular brands and found 69 percent of imported oils and 10 percent of domestic oils sampled did not meet the international standards that define the pure, cold-pressed, olive oils that deserve the extra-virgin title.

Source: BBC

Moonshine 'tempts new generation'

A growing number of Americans are thought to be getting involved in moonshining - distilling illegal liquor. Traditionally hidden in the backwoods, stills are now going into production in cities across the nation, as Claire Prentice reports from New York.

Against the backdrop of the recession and the current craze for artisan produce, illegal distilling clubs and "kitchen-sink" operations are popping up all over the US, from California to New York and Pennsylvania.

Making and selling moonshine is outlawed in every US state and the police treat distilling liquor without a license as a serious crime.

But while official figures are hard to come by, experts believe as many as a million Americans could be breaking the law by making moonshine - also known as white lightning and white dog.

"Gun-Fighting, Drug-Smuggling, Be-Headings, Oh My!"

Based on Governor Jan Brewer's perception, it is abundantly clear that tourists should avoid visiting Arizona.  Brewer continues to sound the alarm bells, as she did in a recent interview with Fox news.  She claims that Hispanic "jihadists" are stirring up trouble within her own backyard as these illegal immigrants terrorize her state.

Brewer is warning the Fed's, and anyone else who will listen, that if you follow the yellow brick road you will find gun-fighting, drug-smuggling and beheadings on your way north of the border.  Based on her alarming assessment, it makes me want to rethink residing in a state that is so vulnerable to the vicious attacks perpetrated by illegal immigrants.

Brewer paints a picture that is vastly different from the image that many have of a reality of desperate, poverty-stricken Hispanics crossing the border.   This is a pathetic picture of people looking for a better life in a country built on a foundation of immigrants from the richness of diverse cultures.  With the signing of SB 1070, Arizona's new law to rein in illegal immigrants, Brewer has portrayed an ugly scene, filled with terrorism to justify the bill.  If you follow the yellow brick road, you have to wonder who has lost their heads, other than the governor.

Democrats and Republicans are framing the elections in starkly different terms, with GOP strategists painting it as a national referendum on President Barack Obama and the party in power, and Democrats working feverishly to make all politics local.

The outcome will help determine whether Republicans take control of the House, the Senate or both. It also may profoundly affect Obama's agenda for the next two years.

Republicans have every reason to try to nationalize the Nov. 2 election, when voters will fill all 435 House seats, 36 Senate seats and 37 governorships. Democrats succeeded in the elections of 2006 and 2008 by focusing on President George W. Bush's tenure, Republicans' performance in Congress and the Iraq war; the GOP hopes to turn the tables now.

Polls show significant discontent with policies linked to Obama and congressional Democrats, including rising deficits and bank bailouts. The latest AP-GfK survey found that 60 percent of those questioned think the nation is heading in the wrong direction, and 73 percent disapprove of the Democratic-led Congress.

Polls also show significantly higher energy and enthusiasm among conservative voters than liberals.

'Dear Patient'

New York-based Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center has become one of the latest medical providers to expose highly sensitive patient data after CDs containing unencrypted data sent by FedEx never made it to their destination.

The breach exposed medical and psychological diagnoses and procedures for 130,495 patients, according to a notification posted Tuesday. The CDs, which remain missing despite an investigation that was launched in early April, also contained names, addresses, social security numbers medical record numbers, dates of birth and other details that are regularly snarfed up by identity thieves.

In a letter sent to affected patients (PDF), hospital officials said they have no knowledge the missing information has been accessed by anyone.

Maggots in overhead bin force flight to return to Atlanta gate; came from spoiled meat?

Two questions!!

1.  How long does it take maggots to form?

2.  How did the plane's cleaning crew miss the meat to begin with?

Maggots falling from an overhead bin from a spoiled container of meat forced a US Airways flight to return to the gate so the bin could be cleaned.

Passenger Donna Adamo said she noticed a couple of flies on the Monday flight when she got to her seat but didn't think much of it. Then, as the plane was taxiing, she heard a passenger behind her causing a commotion and refusing to take her seat.

"Then I heard the word 'maggot' and that kind of got everybody creeped out"

WorldNetDaily Exclusive Commentary

Lost in all the chaos of the Gulf oil spill is Barack Obama's 52-page manifesto for a New World Order.

I invite you to read for yourself his misnamed "National Security Strategy" - misnamed because it is actually a blueprint for running the whole world like he's been running the United States since January 2009.

Obama is hardly the first president to plead for America to join a New World Order. It started with the first George Bush and has continued unabated through three more administrations. But Obama's so-called "National Security Strategy" has little to do with securing the U.S. from threats and much more to do with turning over the U.S. to the illegitimate authority of global organizations.

It starts early in the table of contents: "Promoting a Just and Sustainable International Order."

Woodrow Wilson tried with the League of Nations. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried with the United Nations. I guess we're going to keep trying this path until we get it right.

Nowhere in this document will you see the word "sovereignty" used in regard to the United States - only about Iraq and Russia. (Maybe all of us who want to live in a free and independent nation need to move to one of those locales?)

The last seven pages of the document are about this new "international order" Obama wants to build - a pretty ambitious agenda for a guy who has never run any business or served in any executive capacity before assuming the presidency. But don't worry. His plan is to bring in some people with lots of experience running things - the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to name a few.

The ultimate expose on the radical nature of our 44th president: "The Manchurian President: Barack Obama's Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists"