CNN is reporting that Jose Carranzo -- one of the suspects in the brutal execution of three college students -- is an "undocumented" immigrant.

Well, I've been to Atlanta, and I can tell you, Georgians still call them "illegal immigrants" down there.

And now we have yet another (another!) illegal immigrant involved in a heinous crime.  I guess DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff will have to take some time off from making sure the lettuce gets picked and actually do his job, because he hasn't been so far...

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This week marked the end of an era.  My great uncle on my father's side, Jack Dickson, passed this week after complications from a fall.  He was 96.  He was smart, intelligent man who lived every second of every day with an aggressive gusto.

When I was a much younger boy -- and not long after he finally retired -- he and his wife (my Aunt Myrna) travelled the world.  I still have the many postcards, stamps, and mementos they sent back from their journeys.

We had the opportunity to see him on Father's Day Weekend before his fall.  My niece and nephew met him for the first time, and I was struck by how much he had changed since the first time I remember meeting him when I was five.  Back then, he was still of the mind that children were meant to be seen and not heard, and so after brief introductions and a visit, I was sent to the den to occupy myself with my Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars.  But this time, he was engaging and approachable to a very precocious three year old and very cute and curious one year old.

I've posted his obituary below.  One thing it doesn't mention, he was the son-in-law of Arch Everson, former Executive Director of the New Jersey Republican Taxpayer's Association and plaintiff of Everson vs Ewing Township.

Rest in peace Uncle Jack.  I am sure Debbie has the single malt poured and waiting.  

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Folks,

Just a reminder - as I'm sitting here preparing for our weekly COMSTAT crime meeting this week - that in at least 10 burglaries reported in the Precinct 7 area since July 4, 2007, entry was gained through an unlocked door or window.

I know many of the residents have heard me repeat this mantra numerous  times over the past few years, but for the sake of the new members of the email tree, please remember that the majority of burglars will take the path of least resistance to enter a house or building. Burglars do not want to make noise or do anything that would attract attention, so they will look for an unlocked door or window to make that possible. Breaking glass makes noise. Forcing open a door makes noise. Going through an unlocked door or window doesn't make noise. A recent incident also calls for a reminder that second-floor windows or any window that can be accessed by a ladder should be locked as well. In a burglary reported last week, a ladder was used to gain access to an unlocked second-floor window.

Over the past nine months, we had made some substantial progress in a  reduction of reported burglaries involving an unsecured door or window. Let's stay on top of that. Please, pass the word to take that extra minute to lock your doors and windows when you leave the house. Make the house look like someone is home. The simple things like this DO work!

Also...don't forget...make that call to 911 to report suspicious subjects and activities. Please don't assume that someone else will call. Call when it's happening...help us keep your communities safe.

Captain Marty Lurz
Precinct 7

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Do you know the nine scariest words in America?

"I'm from the government, and I am here to help."

Ronald Reagan's famous quip has been repeated often, and it has never been more true.

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The Calvert Street Communist Party Newsletter is reporting that Mayor Sheila Pratt Dixon -- who will oversee the first 300-count murder year in Baltimore since Kurt Schmoke was mayor -- is launching a new $2 million anti-littering campaign.

So, on a day where Baltimore recorded its 192nd murder of the year, the city wants to spend $2 million on litter?  Is Sheila Pratt Dixon crazy, dumb, or stupid?

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Over at Duvafiles, there is an interesting post on the ongoing situation with the so-called pay scandal involving pay increases for senior employees in county government.  I have a different take on the issue from Bill Duvall, and feel that calling this a "scandal" -- or even attaching the nefarious 'gate' suffix -- might be a little overblown. But I also recognize there is plenty of room for debate.

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With the fatal stabbing of a Gwynns Falls woman today, that makes it 192.  Way to go Baltimore!  You just gotta believe!

You have reached 191 murders for the year!

Can't you just BELIEVE!  Aren't you the City that Reads?  Isn't that so Charming?

Do you realize that you are far deadlier than even New York City at this point-- a city of 8 million people that in 2005 had just 539 murders.

The greatest shame, of course, is that city voters will vote for more of the same stupid failed policies that have marked the current mayor's administration. They always do. Baltimore City voters are lemmings.

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Michael Goldfarb at The Weekly Standard reports that after all the hoopla, The New Republic was taken in by a complete and udder fraud, Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp...

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By now, most of you should have heard about the set of Jihadists picked up in South Carolina near Goose Creek.

If you haven't, click here.

What is really interesting is what is located in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

1.  The permanent Navy brig facility where a number of detainees have been held.

2.  A sizeable Naval station where our ballistic nuclear missile submarines are worked on.

Do you think there was a coincidence?

UPDATE:  The lovely and vivacious Michelle Malkin has more.

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