Public service worker arrested

I really do think he was doing public service, these people needed scamming. It's a shame that he played for such small stakes. Some of the "victims" look like they could've been taken for thousands. Oh, and by "victims" I mean retarded dipshits with more money than brains.

For a few hundred dollars apiece, Robert Bouconi made people feel like they were in the presence of a rock star.

Police say Bouconi targeted victims in bars, posing as a guitarist for REO Speedwagon, a brother to Lynyrd Skynyrd's band members or the son of a prominent Mafioso, wowing them with his aura of celebrity.
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From Scottsdale to Pinal County, police say Bouconi conned several people by claiming to buy them luxury cars and mansions in exchange for $250 to $300 to get the transactions started, before ditching the paperwork he never signs. He is wanted in similar cons in California and New Mexico.

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How not to win an election

1. Aim at foot.
2. Pull trigger.

A week after Rep. Russell Pearce drew fire for immigration remarks many called racially insensitive, the Mesa Republican sent an e-mail to supporters in which he copied an article from a white separatist group and a link to that group's Web site.

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Be a good little robot, ya hear!

What do you expect when you force one employee to do the work of three, due to "downsizing?" Remember, you job doesn't want you to be the "creative, motivated, self-starter" that they advertised for. They want an obedient robot that can be micro-managed.

You can't have a career without having a job. But, it's the job part that sucks. Now, think about your job saying that you have to use the company diet plan to qualify for health insurance.

Bad employee! No cookie!

Arizona employees are overweight and overstressed, according to a statewide survey of 3,500 workers released Monday by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona.

Workers' relatively poor health is leading to lost productivity and higher health care costs, said Richard Hannon, senior vice president with the insurer, which is one of the largest in the state.

Blue Cross will use the survey results to encourage employers to offer workplace initiatives, which can include programs to encourage healthier lifestyles. Those programs can include discounts at fitness centers or weight-loss classes.

Industry analysts say that increasingly employers, frustrated by continued higher health care costs, will use a mixture of financial incentives or penalties to guide their workers into healthier practice.

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The clue bat swings...

It seems they finally started thinking about their own children, instead of the imaginary ones that always need protecting.

How's Bush going to get of this one? OMG ban gay marrage!

NEW ALBANY, Indiana (AP) -- After winning over moms in back-to-back elections, Republicans have lost their advantage among married women with children this year.

The Republican Party has seen the support of people like Jeannette Hopkins evaporate.

A 30-year-old married mother of two and a Republican, Hopkins voted for President Bush in 2004. But she says she probably will support the Democrat in her congressional district this fall "because of the way that everything's been handled" with the GOP in charge of Congress and Bush in the White House.

"We're in a really scary place right now," Hopkins said recently. She vented about what she called the gone-on-too-long Iraq war, a sluggish economy, the bungled Hurricane Katrina response and a continuing terrorism threat.

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Retroactive birth control

My only regret is that they won't grow up to hemmorage chips at a poker table. Unfortunately, the driver will probably kill a motorcyclist next time an insect gets in the car with her.

FLAGSTAFF - A crash that killed two 15-year-old high school students happened after the driver and passengers were distracted by a spider, authorities said.

The 17-year-old driver of the Nissan sedan told Department of Public Safety investigators that she and three others in the car were considering whether to catch or kill the spider when the car drifted off Interstate 17 early Wednesday, Sgt. Rod Wigman said. The driver over-corrected and the sedan rolled at least twice.

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Arizona minimum wages

Arizona, home of such wonderful ideas like right-to-work, and no minimum wage law, might actually get a chance to implement a minimum wage law, if the public can see through the FUD.

But if anything scares the cheap labor crowd more than a union, it's having to actually pay waitresses and bartenders more than what the Fed says they have to. But if this does pass, businesses will probably just cut hours, to keeps the payroll at the same level.

The debate over raising Arizona's minimum wage to $6.75 per hour from $5.15 is heating up over a section of the proposed law that grants access to a company's records.

At issue is what happens after workers discover that they are not earning the new legal wage and decide to take action.
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The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, which do not support the increase, are crying foul.

They maintain that Proposition 202 will serve as a slick route to allow organized labor to "infiltrate" the state's companies and get access to payroll records, benefits, names of employees and Social Security numbers.
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Groups that support the minimum-wage increase said those claims are false.

Instead, it is a scare tactic that feeds on Arizona's longtime anti-union sentiment. The proposal provides safeguards that maintain employee and company confidentiality, said Michael McGrath, executive director of the Arizona AFL-CIO, which is a member of the Arizona Minimum Wage Coalition.

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