Greg In The Desert

• First H1N1 death confirmed in NM – A 45-year-old woman from Sierra County died over the weekend, becoming the first person in New Mexico to die from the H1N1 Influenza Virus.
• www.KOB.com – Gov. calls for jail time for first DWI offense – Gov. Bill Richardson says first-time drunken driving offenses should carry three days of mandatory jail time and $2,500 in fines.
• McCarthyism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term specifically describes activities associated with the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the anti-communist pursuits of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts. The term is also now used more generally to describe reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries.
• Internet friends log on to suicide note | KRQE News 13 New Mexico – Facebook friends of Jason McCoy who sign on to their social-networking Web pages Wednesday morning found a long message from the Albuquerque man announcing his intent to kill himself. In the farewell note posted on their Facebook Walls McCoy, 33, told friends and family he recently had lost his job, was losing his home to foreclosure and had been kicked out of the home where he had been staying.
• Interview with Rob Janoff, designer of the Apple logo | creativebits – When Jean Louis Gassée (executive at Apple Computer from 1981 to 1990) was asked about his thoughts to the Apple logo he answered:
  One of the deep mysteries to me is our logo, the symbol of lust and knowledge, bitten into, all crossed with the colors of the rainbow in the wrong order. You couldn't dream of a more appropriate logo: lust, knowledge, hope, and anarchy.
• Dallas-bound American Airlines jetliner makes emergency landing in Los Angeles | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News – A Dallas-bound American Airlines jetliner was forced to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles on Friday night after passengers said they saw parts of the right wing falling off.

  Flight 414 had taken off from San Diego when passengers said they heard an unusual noise as the aircaft flew higher.

  The jet was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport and landed without incident. American Airlines says maintenance crews found missing "lamination" on the right wing, but there was no hole.

• www.KOB.com – School reopens after four decades – Coronado Elementary, built more than 100 years ago and shut down for the past four decades, is set to open up again on Monday.
• I-25 drivers encounter half mile of terror in Northglenn – The Denver Post – A police report released Friday recounts the harrowing scene on I-25 Monday evening when the Jeep, driven by 48-year-old Broomfield resident David Scott Ulwelling, sped southbound in northbound lanes near 120th Avenue for more than a half mile. No fewer than seven vehicles swerved out of the way of Ulwelling's Jeep before it collided with the Applegarths' truck, setting off a chain reaction that eventually involved five other vehicles.
• BBC – Earth News – How cacti become ‘rock busters’ – Few plants can grow without soil and even fewer are capable of growing on nothing but bare rock. Yet some species of desert cactus manage this extraordinary feat, and now scientists have worked out how. The plants have evolved a symbiotic relationship with rock-dissolving bacteria, which they allow to grow in their roots, say the scientists.
• Lunch ladies no longer serving up fried foods to students | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News – The stricter Texas Public School Nutrition Policy, phased in over the last several years, will be in full effect when kids show up Monday. That means no more deep-fried anything, no more sodas and no more so-called "foods of minimal nutritional value."

From KOAT.com, Man Arrested In Connection With Animal Sexual Assault

In August, someone broke into an Albuquerque animal shelter, stole a dog and sexually assaulted the animal.
Thursday, Bernalillo County Detectives arrested Pete Chavez Jr. Thursday in connection with the incident.
The police report states he stole a golden retriever from the Animal Humane Association of New Mexico in July and sodomized it, possibly with a foreign object.
A staff veterinarian reported the dog had serious injuries.
Detectives said an informant led them to the suspect.
According to the informant, the suspect has a history of burglarizing homes and businesses as well as a history of sexual acts with animals.
The informant told police she witnessed Chavez allow a Chihuahua dog to lick his genitals on a previous occasion.
She also told police she was with him while robbing a home last Christmas Eve, stealing Christmas presents, a TV and pottery in the house.
This is a case detectives say are glad is coming to a close.
“In seven years in law enforcement, I’ve never heard of a crime like this,” said Detective Amy Dudewicz of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. “I know it exists. As far as my reaction to this, I am horrified.”
Chavez is charged with residential burglary, commercial burglary, criminal damage to property and extreme animal cruelty.
Even if Chavez is convicted of these crimes, he would not have to register as a sex offender, according to current state law.

Here’s a follow up to the dog attack that happened near my house and showed up on national TV.

A police report concerning the dog that apparently bit off a man’s genitals says that the man may have been using force against the animal. Rudolfo Ramirez, 25, might have been trying to forcibly open the pit bull’s mouth. The report also said Ramirez was wandering the neighborhood in only in boxer shorts. … “As soon as he hit the dog, the dog yelped and the guy got up,” Chacon remembers. “He was still alive but his inner thighs, genitalia, and lower stomach was all ripped away.” … The dog at the focus of the story remains at an animal shelter, as the search for its owner continues.

There was a point in which we thought the guy was sexually assaulting the dog.