Clipping blog

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Nationals’ Catcher Ramos Kidnapped in Venezuela Posted: 10 Nov 2011 07:49 AM PST This is not the kind of story I expected to see today. Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was kidnapped from his home in Valencia, Venezuela, on Wednesday, a source close to Ramos' family confirmed to The Washington Times. Ramos, 24, was with his family at the time of the incident but was the only one taken. The source said the family had informed police and was awaiting a call from kidnappers.. Ramos was preparing to play for Tigres de Aragua, a Venezuelan Winter League team, this week while spending his offseason at home in Valencia with his family. According to a report in El Nacional and another in El Siglo, Ramos was approached by four "heavily armed gunmen" near his home around 7:30 p.m. Venezuelan time. While a kidnapping is a big deal here in the United States, it is commonplace in Venezuela. Indeed, it is a major source of income for criminal gangs. In most cases, the victim is taken for ransom money and released unharmed after the criminals are paid. An “express kidnapping” can net the perpetrators $25,000 on the low end but the ransom can rise to as much as $2 million dollars, according to the director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence. Ramos, as a Major League baseball player, could fetch a far larger ransom than a businessman plucked at random off the street. I hope the authorities catch the kidnappers and that Ramos returns to his family soon and without a dime of ransom paid. We are talking about a nation run by the wicked and corrupt Hugo Chavez, who may have suppressed the true number of kidnappings in the country last year, though, so adjust your own hopes accordingly.

Attention Denver, You Have Bloggers Inbound! Posted: 10 Nov 2011 06:10 AM PST Blogging will be light today because I’m headed to Denver for Blog Con 2011. FreedomWorks is the event host and this is the second year I’ve been (it’s also, coincidentally, the second year there has been a Blog Con). I usually don’t get to travel for conventions like this, but thanks to some help from a gracious sponsor (who wishes to remain very anonymous), I’ll be on a plane this afternoon (after running the TSA gauntlet) and a few hours later I’ll be in the Mile High City. I’ll be back Sunday night, Lord willing, and we’ll all get back to normal. I do hope do get a couple few posts written while I’m there, but because I’m packing light, my iPad will be the blogging tool of choice. I’ve not used it for that purpose much, but the WordPress app looks a lot more user-friendly and powerful than it did several months ago and I think it’ll work just fine. There is also a chance I might do a little podcasting from the Con, if not for The Delivery then perhaps with someone else. If not, I’ll keep my Twitter feed hot with pictures and snippets of goodness. I’m going to play the weekend by ear and see what opportunities arise.

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