Truesee's Daily Wonder

Truesee presents the weird, wild, wacky and world news of the day.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

 

President Obama and Congress reach debt deal

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-congress-reach-debt-deal-003853348.html;_ylt=ApFMEgLspgeOwH0M7Q_aNVCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNhYmZvN2Q5BHBrZwM3YjJiOGVhYi03YjVmLTNjNjYtOGFmNS02YjU4ZmIxZTQ0NjIEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhSnVtYm90cm9uBHZlcgM0MTgwNjA5MC1iYmQ3LTExZTAtOWY0ZC01MGZjMWYxNjVmMjI-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3


Sunday, July 31, 2011

 

Worst hairstyles in sports

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/galleries/hairraising_athletes_hairdos_and_hairdonts_in_sports/hairraising_athletes_hairdos_and_hairdonts_in_sports.html


Sunday, July 31, 2011

 

Obama's and Bush's effects on the deficit in one graph

http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/30/obamas-and-bushs-real-effects-on-the-deficit-in-one-graph/


Sunday, July 31, 2011

 

Boxing-kangaroo show goes on despite PETA protests

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/osceola/os-boxing-kangaroo-kissimmee-20110730,0,2384655.story


Saturday, July 30, 2011

 

Louisiana father arrested after police catch son, 8, driving on Interstate

Billy Joe Madden, 28, of Hattiesburg, Miss. (PHOTO/LSP)
 
Billy Joe Madden, 28, of Hattiesburg, Miss. (PHOTO/LSP)
 
 

Louisiana father arrested after police catch son, 8, driving on Interstate

Jul 30, 2011 7:48 PM EDT Updated: Jul 30, 2011 7:48 PM EDT
Kelsey Wheatcroft
ZacharyToday.com
 
 
LOUISIANA (WAFB) -

On Saturday morning shortly after 6:30 A.M., Louisiana State Police say they received a call from a concerned motorist saying that a pick-up truck was driving erratically, and that a child appeared to be the driver.

When troopers immediately responded to the area, they say the driver was an eight-year-old boy, and his four-year-old sister was in the back seat.

Troopers say the father of the two kids, 28-year-old Billy Joe Madden, was sleeping in the passenger seat and was intoxicated.

Troopers say Madden admitted that his son was driving them from Mississippi to Texas.

Authorities say both children, who were not injured, were turned over to Child Protective Services and are awaiting the arrival of a family member.

Madden was arrested and booked into the Livingston Parish Jail ontwo counts of Child Desertion, Parent Allowing a Minor to Drive, Open Container, two counts of No Child Restraint and No Seatbelt.

Madden's bond is set at nearly $1,500.


Saturday, July 30, 2011

 

Could Apple pull a J.P. Morgan and bail out the U.S. government?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/07/could-apple-pull-a-jp-morgan-and-bail-out-the-us-government-.html


Saturday, July 30, 2011

 

Fisherman finds brick of likely cocaine snorts some then...

Boater finds brick of likely cocaine, snorts some, dies

 
Friday, July 29, 2011 04:16 PM EDT
Keysnet.com
 

A Merritt Island videographer died in a Miami hospital Thursday after he snorted an unknown substance -- possibly cocaine -- from a brick he found floating off the Middle Keys, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office says.

Thomas Swindal, 53, and his brother Kenneth were trolling in about 200 feet of water on Wednesday when, Detective Mark Maison said, they found what they believed to be a kilo of cocaine and brought it aboard the boat, tossing it into the bait well.

They kept on fishing and, Kenneth Swindal told detectives, he looked back a short time later and saw his brother open the package and ingest some of its contents.

He said about an hour and a half later, Thomas Swindal began to run around the boat, throw things in the water and even gaffed the engine, which fell off the boat and sank.

He continued acting strangely, running around with knives and pliers, so Kenneth Swindal threw all the sharp objects, as well as the package, off the boat.

Because they had no means of communication -- Thomas Swindal had tossed their cell phone off the boat -- and the boat lost its engine, the brothers climbed to the top of the boat and began signaling for help. A nearby vessel responded and called for help. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded and transported the two to shore, where they were met by paramedics.

Thomas Swindal was taken to Fishermen's Hospital and later transferred to South Miami Hospital, where he died Thursday. An autopsy is planned.

The Sheriff's Office says never, ever bring aboard your boat "any object [you] suspect to be contraband." And, the agency says, "it certainly is never safe to ingest any substance if you do not know what the substance is or what the potency of the substance might be."


Saturday, July 30, 2011

 

Woman chasies ex-boyfriend with machete

Woman accused of chasing boyfriend with machete near West Palm Beach

Ana Celly de Jesus

PBSO, courtesy

 

Cynthia Roldan

The Palm Beach Post

9:26 p.m. EDT, July 29, 2011

 

A 22-year-old suburban West Palm Beach woman was arrested on Thursday for allegedly chasing and cutting her former boyfriend with a machete after she hit him with a wooden stick and bit his arm, according to police.

Ana Celly Rodriguez De Jesus is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrest report, a deputy was dispatched to the 1000 block of Cynmar Drive, in suburban West Palm Beach, around 7 p.m. on Thursday in reference to a domestic battery.

When the deputy arrived, an unidentified 20-year-old man said that he had been involved in an argument with his ex-girlfriend, Rodriguez, over money. He said that Rodriguez hit him with a wooden stick, scratched his face and bit his arm, police said.

He said Rodriguez grabbed a machete and chased him outside, where she cut his arm. The deputy noted that man had scratches to his face, a bite mark on his arm and a 3-inch cut where he claimed to have been struck with the machete.

Rodriguez told the deputy, however, that the fight turned physical when her ex-boyfriend pushed her 3-year-old child to the floor.

In a police report, she admits slapping, hitting and chasing the man with the machete. She said her ex-boyfriend also hit her with a wooden stick.


Saturday, July 30, 2011

 

Obama's lead in 2012 presidential election vanishes

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2011/0728/Obama-s-lead-in-2012-presidential-election-vanishes-poll-finds


Saturday, July 30, 2011

 

Al Sharpton Hustles His Way to NBC News Gig

http://www.breitbart.tv/al-sharpton-hustles-his-way-to-nbc-news-gig/


Friday, July 29, 2011

 

Serial Butt Slasher Pursued In Virginia

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/27/serial-butt-slasher-pursued-in-virginia_n_911480.html


Friday, July 29, 2011

 

Woman Robs Convenience Store of $94 Gets 18 Years in Prison

Woman Robs Convenience Store of $94, Gets 18 Years in Prison!

 

Bladerunnaz Records

July 27, 2011 at 3:00pm

 

Connie Murray will spend the next 18 years behind bars, with no chance at parole, after she robbed a convenience store last August of $94 in cash.

On Friday, a jury found 40-year-old Connie Murray Dumas guilty of armed robbery and possession of a pistol during a violent crime, a release from the 16th Circuit Solicitor's Office states.

The solicitor's office says Dumas entered the One Stop convenience store on Albright Road on August 9th, pointed a small automatic pistol at the clerk and demanded money. The robbery was caught on the store's security camera.

Dumas was able to get away with $94 in cash from the store, the solicitor's office states, but a witness was able to give police a description of Dumas and her vehicle. She was pulled over a short time later by Rock Hill police.

According to the release, Dumas initially signed a confession, saying she robbed the store because her home was in foreclosure. During the trial, she recanted that confession saying she didn't commit the robbery because she had "ample available money" in a North Carolina bank account.

Throughout the trial, Dumas maintained that she didn't have a gun in the store and what was seen on camera was her car keys and cell phone.

 

Does something seem wrong here? 

 

Source: http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14698647


Friday, July 29, 2011

 

Student rights group targets Boca High cellphone searches

Student rights group targets Boca High cellphone searches

 

Marc Freeman

Sun Sentinel

Updated: 9:55 a.m. Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Posted: 9:23 p.m. Monday, July 25, 2011

A civil-rights group is calling on Boca Raton High School to stop its practice of searching confiscated student cellphones and punishing students who don’t provide access to their text messages or other content.

The National Youth Rights Association of Washington, D.C., on Monday outlined its concerns in a letter to Boca Raton High Principal Geoff McKee.

This complaint, which is the organization’s first challenge on this issue, contends the school’s practices “infringe upon the fundamental freedoms of its students and run counter to the holdings of the Supreme Court and the dictates of the Florida Legislature.”

The letter acknowledges the high school’s right to seize student phones that are viewed as “disruptive and distracting to learning.”

But administrators should not be inspecting these devices to examine photos, text messages and other content, said Jeffrey Nadel, president of the 10,000-member association, which fights for the rights of young people nationwide.

According to the youth rights group, the school also has threatened students with in-school suspensions if they refuse to provide passcodes that are needed to access the phones in the same way passwords are needed to use computers and email accounts.

“We really saw this as a particularly egregious set of circumstances,” said Nadel, who cited complaints from current and former students. “You don’t teach young people to be good American citizens by infringing on their fundamental rights.”

McKee said he had not yet seen the letter, but he promised to give it consideration. It’s true that administrators have seized and examined cellphones, he said.

“I understand the grounds for the concerns expressed, and with input from our district legal department, I intend to review our policy regarding student cellphones,” McKee said.

A 2004 state law allows students to take wireless devices to school, but Palm Beach County School Board policy says they must be turned off and put in pockets or backpacks while in class, on buses and at school events. Camera phones are prohibited.

The Boca Raton High School student handbook cites the board policy, but also adds two sentences that the rights groups blasted as “unconstitutional.”

Those lines are: “Students are responsible for the content of text messages, images, and other information on cellphones. Illicit phone contents will lead to added consequences.”

Nadel asked for that language to be removed from the handbook. It’s unclear if other schools’ handbooks have the same wording as Boca High.

McKee said the issue is making sure that the phones do not contain things like photos of test sheets or harassing text messages.

“Our focus for discipline is on inappropriate use of cellphones,” he said.

But the complaint says the school must stop after students surrender their phones, and students should not be presumed guilty of wrongdoing.

“Given that there exist no reasonable grounds to suspect any further violations of school rules or of the law, any search of the actual contents of the phone certainly would not be reasonably related to the objective of the seizure — which is to prevent disruptive conduct,” Nadel wrote.

Meanwhile, the school district continues to explore ways to remove the ban on student cellphones to take advantage of new technologies and boost achievement. Officials have said these rules, while helping to protect children from cyber-bullying and prevent high-tech cheating, are also out of touch with today's world of instant communication and contrary to federal recommendations to turn classrooms into smartphone hubs.

Administrators say they’ve been pleased with the results of pilot programs featuring smartphone or PDA-based instruction. Teachers said the technology can capture students' attention in previously unimaginable ways, with tools such as video demonstrations and personalized lessons.


Friday, July 29, 2011

 

Did an alert retired cop just thwart another Fort Hood massacre?

Did an alert retired cop just thwart another Fort Hood massacre?

LA Times
July 28, 2011 |  2:26 pm
 
 
 

A Fort Hood headquarters building

Texas police say a newly-arrested Muslim American Army private has admitted planning to attack fellow troops at the famous Fort Hood Army base in Killeen.

Following a tip from a suspicious retired policeman now working at a local gun shop, Killeen police arrested Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo Wednesday during a traffic stop.Pfc Naser Jason Abdo booking photo 7-28-11

He'll likely face federal charges after FBI agents found a large amount of bomb-making materials in his hotel room not far from the base.

The 21-year-old had gone AWOL from Fort Campbell, Kentucky after refusing deployment to Afghanistan on religious grounds and then being charged with possession of child pornography during his discharge process.

Kileen is the site of Fort Hood, scene of the 2009 massacre of 13 military personnel. Another American Muslim soldier, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, has been charged with those killings. He faces the death penalty if found guilty in a trial set to begin in early 2012.

"Thanks to quick action by a Texas gun dealer in alerting local police to a suspicious character," Rep. John Carter said today, "and a prompt and vigorous response by the Killeen Police Department, we may well have averted a repeat of the tragic 2009 radical Islamic terror attack on our nation's largest military installation."

Abdo appeared in a local gunshop Tuesday afternoon, according to Greg Ebert, a retired police officer now working there. Ebert said Abdo purchased shotgun shells, a magazine and six one-pound canisters of gunpowder.

But he then asked Ebert numerous questions indicating little knowledge of the gunpowder.

"That's a red flag for me," Ebert said. "He should know" if he's buying that much. Ebert checked with his boss and then alerted police.

In the hotel room police say they also found uniforms with Fort Hood patches, battery-powered clocks and shrapnel.


Friday, July 29, 2011

 

Man dressed like armored truck guard walks out of store with $15k

Thief dresses like armored truck guard -- and walks out of Queens check-cashing spot with $15K

Joe Kemp
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 4:00 AM

A man disguised as an armor truck guard said he was at the Queens check-cashing spot for a pickup. He walked off with $15,000.
 
NYPD
 
A man disguised as an armor truck guard said he was at the Queens check-cashing spot for a pickup. He walked off with $15,000.

 

A clever crook, dressed as an armored truck guard, waltzed out of a Queens check-cashing joint last week with almost $15,000 in cash, cops said.

After stepping into Lorenzo's Enterprises on 31st St. in Astoria about 10:15 a.m. Friday, the disguised bandit said he was there for a pickup and was given the load of cash, police said.

The employees never suspected the man, who was clad in a GARDA Armored Courier uniform, was a thief.

It wasn't until a few hours later, when an actual guard from the same armored truck company arrived for the cash, that the workers realized they had been had, cops said.

But the suspect - a Hispanic male, believed to be in his early 30s - was long gone. Police are investigating whether the man is a former employee or has other ties to the armored truck company.


Thursday, July 28, 2011

 

Brothers attack pilot at airport after getting booted off plane

Thug brothers, Jonathan and Luis Baez, attack pilot at Miami airport after getting booted off plane

 

Philip Caulfield
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 2:26 PM

Jonathan and Luis Baez were arrested for attacking an American Airlines pilot who kicked one of them off the plane for appearing to be drunk or high.
 
Miami-Dade Department of Corrections
 
Jonathan and Luis Baez were arrested for attacking an American Airlines pilot who kicked one of them off the plane for appearing to be drunk or high.
 
A pair of thuggish brothers brutally attacked an American Airlines pilot after he kicked one of them off a plane for being passed out drunk, officials said.

Jonathan and Luis Baez, both of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, were arrested at Miami International Airport on Wednesday night for the assault, which left the pilot bruised and bloodied and delayed the San Francisco-bound flight more than two hours.

The scuffle started after a flight attendant noticed that Jonathan Baez, 27, had passed out without buckling his seat belt as the plane pulled away from the gate.

The attendant tried to wake Baez, but he was groggy and appeared plastered on booze or high on drugs, cops said.

After the attendant told the crew that Baez wouldn't buckle up, the pilot stopped taxiing and turned around, cops said.

When Baez finally came to, the attendant told him he had to get off the plane.

"He was apparently barely compliant at that point," American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said. "He was exhibiting symptoms of intoxication. He was not walking well when he went up the aisle."

Luis Baez, 29, decided to follow his brother, and the two screamed obscenities at the pilot.

"When you fly to San Juan, I will have you killed," one of the goons shouted, according to police.

Crew members escorted the brothers off the plane, but Jonathan ran back, punched the pilot in the face and then punched a female flight attendant who tried to step in, cops said.

Luis then joined in the vicious beatdown, and the two hoodlums chased the pilot into the terminal, cops said.

Eventually, some passengers and crew members tackled the brothers and held them down until police arrived.

"There was a scuffle … so about three or four of us went out there and tackled the guys," passenger Ken Venting told KGO television. "So we just did what we needed to do to help out."

The Miami-based pilot was cut up, bruised and shaken after the attack, police said.

Another pilot showed up, and the 176 passengers and six crew members took off for San Francisco at around 11:30 p.m., two hours after the scheduled take off.

Jonathan and Luis Baez were held at Miami-Dade County jail on $9,000 bond and $12,500 bond on assault and battery charges.

"I think it's fair to say that both these gentlemen won't be flying with us again," Smith said.


Thursday, July 28, 2011

 

Hard liquor packaged in milk cartons

http://www.psfk.com/2011/07/ecohols-reimagining-alcohol-brand-packaging-with-tetra-paks.html


Thursday, July 28, 2011

 

Comedian George Lopez Threatens to Flee America if Sarah Palin Elected President

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/comedian-george-lopez-threatens-to-flee-america-if-sarah-palin-elected-president/


Thursday, July 28, 2011

 

Officials fear for babies born to oxycodone addicts

Officials fear for infants born to prescription drug addicts

Steve Turnham and Amber Lyon
CNN Investigative Unit
July 27, 2011 3:13 p.m. EDT
 
Two-month-old Casey got a clean bill of health after her mother, Jessica, stopped using drugs late in her pregnancy.
 
Two-month-old Casey got a clean bill of health after her mother, Jessica, stopped using drugs late in her pregnancy.
 
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Hundreds of Florida babies have been born addicted to drugs
  • Infants "go through withdrawal symptoms," nurse says
  • Government says prescription drug abuse is nation's fastest-growing drug problem
  • Mothers are often reluctant to seek help
 
(CNN)-- According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug overdose deaths in Florida are up a staggering 265% since 2003. But it's not just the deaths that have Florida officials worried; it's the births.

"We saw the number of crack babies that died, and this is just another version of that," Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti said. "We all need to be concerned."

According to state health records, 635 Florida babies were born addicted to prescription drugs in the first half of 2010 alone. South Florida doctors and intensive care nurses report an dramatic uptick in babies born hooked on pills that their mothers abused while pregnant.

"They go through withdrawal symptoms," said Mary Osuch, the head nurse at Broward General Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit. "They're crampy, miserable. They sweat. They can have rapid breathing. Sometimes, they can even have seizures."

According to the White House Office on Drug Control Policy, prescription drug abuse is the nation's fastest-growing drug problem.

Marsha Currant, who runs the Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center near Fort Lauderdale, says prescription drug addiction overtook crack in 2009 as the main problem afflicting the pregnant women who are treated there.

"In the very beginning, it was really 100% crack cocaine," said Currant, who started keeping track of drug trends in 1995. "We see a lot more prescription drugs now."

Currant says new mothers who are hooked on prescription drugs are often reluctant to seek help for fear the authorities will take their babies from them.

"We wanted to have a place where women didn't have to chose between getting treatment and having their children go into foster care," she said.

Compounding the problem, women who are addicted to prescription drugs and find themselves pregnant cannot safely go off the drugs without medical supervision. They need to be weaned off slowly, or the baby will go into withdrawal in the womb.

At the Susan B. Anthony Center, one mother who became hooked on prescription drugs after her husband died says she felt her baby suffering while she was getting clean.

"I know that I'm going through stuff getting off the pills. So what's she going through? She can't talk. She's just a baby," Jessica said.

Thanks to the center, Jessica was weaned off oxycodone before her baby, Casey, was born. But she fears the long-term effects of her drug abuse on her daughter, who has been suffering from respiratory problems.

"I want to make sure that she doesn't hurt anymore," Jessica said. "She doesn't deserve that, because she's a princess."

Jessica graduated from the center's recovery program last week.


Thursday, July 28, 2011

 

Bikini-clad customer kicked out of Walmart

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/126298093.html


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

Pole dance class... for girls age 7

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3716459/Pole-dance-class-for-girls-age-7.html

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

Woman Denied Sole Valedictorian Status Because of Race

http://abcnews.go.com/US/student-sues-school-barred-sole-valedictorian/story?id=14164431


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

Bank robbed by man in wheelchair

Ahwatukee bank robbed by man in wheelchair, police say

Matt Haldane - Jul. 26, 2011 09:48 PM
The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

 

Police are looking for a man who used a wheelchair as part of a disguise just before robbing an Ahwatukee bank Tuesday morning, according to officials.

The robber rolled into the bank at about 10:30 a.m. and waited for customers to leave, according to Phoenix police. Once the customers were gone, the man got out of the wheelchair and used a handgun to demand money.

With the money in hand, the man fled on foot through a strip mall, leaving behind the wheelchair.

Police say they are looking for a 180-pound, Hispanic male in his late 20s or early 30s, about 5 feet, 7 to 9 inches.

During the burglary, the man was clean-shaven and wore sunglasses, a straw hat, a blue pinstriped dress shirt and jeans.

 

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.azcentral.com/video/1081506553001


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

Help wanted. Need a Job? The unemployed need not apply

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/business/help-wanted-ads-exclude-the-long-term-jobless.html


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

Mountain lion traveled 1,500 miles then...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43900945/ns/us_news-environment/

 

Thanks to pumpi76 for the tip.


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

The History of the Debt Limit From World War I to Today

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/07/26/business/100000000967340/the-history-of-the-debt-limit.html


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

Man files lawsuit for his right to beg for maijuana money

Times Square 'weed man' files lawsuit for his right to beg for marijuana money

Scott Shifrel
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, July 26th 2011, 7:50 PM

Times Square's "weed man" Joshua Long, 30, filed a federal suit to protect his right to beg for money to buy marijuana Tuesday.
 
Jefferson Siegel for News
 
Times Square's "weed man" Joshua Long, 30, filed a federal suit to protect his right to beg for money to buy marijuana Tuesday.

The "Weed Man" of Times Square demands his constitutional right to beg.

Joshua Long - who carries a sign saying "Help! I need money for weed" - filed a federal suit Tuesday complaining that his First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights have been violated by repeated arrests.

"Though the First Amendment protects Mr. Long's right to stand on the sidewalk with his sign, he has been, and continues to be, regularly and wrongfully, arrested, charged and harassed by police officers," the suit says.

"These arrests and other harassment have diminished Mr. Long's ability to lawfully beg in Times Square."

Long, 30, has been issued multiple summonses, arrested at least six times, pepper sprayed and harassed by cops, according to court papers in Manhattan Federal Court.

"He certainly has the right to stand on the sidewalk and ask for money," said Long's lawyer, Matthew Brinckerhoff. "I can only conclude that the police don't like his message."

Long is seeking a court order protecting Long's right to beg and unspecified damages and lawyer fees.

City officials declined comment pending receipt of the suit.


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

 

Cancer Survivor Humiliated by TSA Again

http://www.mediaite.com/online/really-cancer-survivor-humiliated-by-tsa-last-fall-subjected-to-another-offensive-search/


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

 

Glen Beck Compare President Obama to Hitler

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/07/26/2011-07-26_conservative_pundit_glenn_beck_defends_his_right_to_use_nazis_hitler_for_compari.html


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

 

Man attempts self-surgery with butter knife

Associated Press

Calif. man attempts self-surgery with butter knife

 

Associated Press July 26, 2011 06:22 PM
 
 

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

 

 

(07-26) 18:22 PDT Glendale, Calif. (AP) --

A Southern California man stuck a butter knife into his belly in a failed bid at self-surgery to remove a painful hernia, police said Tuesday.

The wife of the 63-year-old Glendale man called 911 on Sunday night and told the emergency operator her husband was using a knife to remove a protruding hernia, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

"She said he had impaled himself with a knife," Lorenz said.

A hernia occurs when all or part of an organ squeezes through a hole or a weak spot in a surrounding muscle or connective tissue. While the man said he was trying to remove a hernia, hernias are normally repaired by doctors in a hospital or medical setting involving some type of procedure to push the organ back in.

Officers found the man naked on a patio lounge chair outside his apartment with a 6-inch butter knife sticking out of his stomach. The man's wife told officers that her husband was upset about the hernia and wanted to take it out.

While waiting for paramedics, the sergeant said, the man pulled out the knife and stuffed a cigarette he was smoking into the bleeding, open wound.

"What he was thinking, I don't know. I don't know if he was cauterizing it (the wound)," Lorenz said.

The man wasn't screaming or showing any signs of pain, the sergeant said.

Based on his actions and statements from the wife, Lorenz said the man was placed on psychiatric hold and taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Because he's on psychiatric hold for up to 72 hours under the state Welfare and Institutions Code, Lorenz said the man's name and condition cannot be released.

"You just never know what to expect," said Lorenz, who has been on the police force for 29 years. "I've seen self-mutilation, but not a maneuver like this."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/26/national/a103650D20.DTL#ixzz1TGtj9N4G

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

 

Wealth disparity between whites and minorities at 25-year high recession to blame:

Wealth disparity between whites and minorities at 25-year high, recession to blame: study

Aliyah Shahid
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, July 26th 2011, 12:47 PM

The wealth disparity between whites and minorities is at 25-year high, according to a new study.
 
The wealth disparity between whites and minorities is at 25-year high, according to a new study.
 
The wealth gap between whites and minorities has become a grand canyon.

The median net worth of white households is 18 times that of Hispanic households and 20 times that of black households - the widest disparity between whites and minorities in a quarter-century, according a study released Tuesday.

The median wealth of a white U.S. household in 2009 - for which numbers recently became available - was $113,149, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks, according to the analysis by the Pew Research Center.

The gap is the widest its been since the census began tracking such data in 1984. The ratio then was roughly 12 to 1.

In 1995, the gap grew smaller, with a ratio of 7 to 1. That was during a period when the nation's economic expansion propelled many low-income groups into the middle class.

During that period of economic prosperity, the median white household had a net worth of $134,992 for white families. The number was $18,359 for Hispanic families and $12,124 for black families.

Then the Great Recession - which cratered home values and destroyed millions of jobs - widened the gap again.

Many white families garner their wealth from stocks and corporate savings. Minority families, on the other hand, are more invested in their homes, and purchased residences during the housing boom of the early to mid-2000s, especially in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

"What's pushing the wealth of whites is the rebound in the stock market and corporate savings, while younger Hispanics and African-Americans who bought homes in the last decade - because that was the American dream - are seeing big declines," said Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who studies income inequality.

Other findings:

*Asians lost their top ranking to whites. Median household income for Asians dropped from $168,103 in 2005 to $78,066 in 2009.

*Across all race and ethnic groups, the wealth gap between the rich and poor grew.

*About 35% of black households, 31% of Hispanic households and 15% of white households had zero or negative worth in 2009. In 2005, that number was 29% for blacks, 23% for Hispanics and 11% for whites.

With News Wire Services


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

 

Man wakes up in morgue after being mistaken for 'dead'

Man wakes up in South African morgue after being mistaken for 'dead'

Michael Sheridan
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, July 26th 2011, 8:55 AM

Getty - FILE PHOTO
 
An unconscious South African man, presumed dead by relatives, had a rude awakening Sunday when he came to his senses in a morgue, officials said.

His cries for help terrified employees at the mortuary in the Eastern Cape province of Libode.

"Two workers heard screaming from the refrigerators," Sizwe Kupelo, a spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Health Department, told ABC News. "They thought it was a ghost and they ran for their lives."

The man, who did not want his name released but is described as a grandfather in his 60s, had apparently suffered an asthma attack and fell unconscious.

"The family called a private undertaker who took what they thought was a dead body to the morgue," Kupelo said, according to South Africa's News24.

Relatives did not call paramedics, but instead phoned the mortuary, assuming he was dead. The morgue's owner told The Associated Press that the worker who picked up the supposedly dead man "examined the body, checked his pulse, looked for a heartbeat, but there was nothing."

Ayanda Maqolo was there when the elderly man woke up and started screaming after having been in the refrigerator with other corpses for at least 21 hours.

"He asked, 'How did I get here?'" the owner recalled the man saying. The owner added that the chilling experience even gave him "nightmares."

"I couldn't sleep last night," he told AP. "But today I'm much better."

Kupelo said the health department wanted to publicize the incident because it exposes a real problem.

"This is why we're saying as a health department that people should call health services to have their relatives declared and certified dead, and not these private mortuaries," he told ABC News. "Those guys aren't trained paramedics. They're about business."

The "dead" man, who suffered from dehydration, was hospitalized briefly after the incident. He has since returned home to his family, Kupelo said.

The South African man was fortunate. Last month a woman in Russia was mistakenly declared dead and woke up at her own funeral. The shock caused her to suffer a heart attack, which officially killed her.


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

 

Elected official arrested for assaulting disabled person

Elected official arrested for assaulting disabled person

Joseph Morra arrested

Fairhaven Police Department

Elected town official Joseph Morra is arrested for assaulting a disabled person.

WJAR Staff
July 25, 2011
FAIRHAVEN, MASS. --

According to Fairhaven police, the victim who uses a cane to walk told them he was having a hard time parking his vehicle in a designated handicapped parking space in the parking lot of the Seaport Inn and Marina Friday night.

The problem was caused by another vehicle that was taking up two handicapped parking spaces despite that vehicle not having a handicapped license plate or placard visible.

The victim told police that he began taking photographs of the offending vehicle with his cell phone.  He stated he was approached by Joseph Morra, who was the vehicle owner.  The victim informed police that Morra displayed a badge to him and ordered him off the property while uttering several insulting expletives.  According to police, the victim says Morra allegedly poked the victim in the chest and sternum several times then shoved him, nearly knocking him to the ground.  As the victim attempted to take Morra’s photograph with his cell phone, Morra reportedly slapped it from his hand, causing it to break into several pieces on the pavement. 

Fairhaven Police tell NBC 10 that while officers were speaking with the victim, Morra came out of the Seaport Inn and yelled at them to get the victim off the property, using a barrage of profanity and derogatory remarks. 

Mora was arrested Monday evening after a warrant was issued Monday morning by Third District Court. He has been charged with assault and battery on a disabled person, intimidation of a witness, impersonating a police officer and malicious destruction of property valued at over $250. 

Morra is an elected member of the Fairhaven Planning Board, as well as a constable who was appointed by the New Bedford City Council.

 


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

 

Man missing for 32 years declared dead found in Las Vegas

 

 

http://www.lvrj.com/news/chicago-man-missing-for-32-years-arrested-in-las-vegas-126052038.html

 

 

 


Monday, July 25, 2011

 

The Ohio two-step: Why Boehner's debt plan is a bad idea

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-debt-ceiling-20110725,0,5383234.story


Monday, July 25, 2011

 

Dog bites shark video goes viral

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HyIZh5BQZY

 


Monday, July 25, 2011

 

Catholic church trying get out paying victims of sexual abuse claims by claiming priests are not...

Catholic church's plea could rule out damages for priests' abuse

Victims' lawyers condemn 'scandalous' defence that Catholic priests are not legally employees of the church

 

Jamie Doward

The Observer

Sunday 24 July 2011

Mary McAleese
 
The Irish president, Mary McAleese, has reminded the church of its ‘stated objective of putting children first’.
Photograph: Paul Faith/PA

Victims of sexual abuse by priests will no longer be able to sue the Catholic church for damages if a landmark judgment rules that priests should not be considered as employees.

In a little publicised case heard this month at the high court, the church claimed that it is not "vicariously liable" for priests' actions. The church has employed the argument in the past but this was the first time it had been used in open court and a ruling in the church's favour would set a legal precedent.

The use of the defence raises further questions about the church's willingness to accept culpability for abuse. It follows a ing report into abuse at the diocese of Cloyne in Ireland which prompted the Irish president, Mary McAleese, to call on leaders of the church "to urgently reflect on how, by coherent and effective action, it can restore public trust and confidence in its stated objective of putting children first".

Those planning to bring claims in relation to the high court case expressed dismay. "As children, we weren't given an innocent, carefree and safe environment," said one. "We weren't given a peaceful structure in which to grow and develop normally. By some miracle, some of us are still here to voice the words of so many who can't. Only a small number of victims ever come forward. The full potential of who we could have been as adults has been stolen."

The church's defence has been condemned by lawyers. "I think the Catholic church's attempt to avoid responsibility for the abhorrent actions of one of its priests is nothing short of scandalous," said Richard Scorer of the law firm Pannone, which specialises in abuse cases. "The Catholic church would be better served by facing up to its responsibilities rather than trying to hide behind spurious employment law arguments."

The ruling is being made as part of a preliminary hearing into the case of "JGE", who claims to have been sexually abused while a six-year-old resident at The Firs, a children's home in Portsmouth run by an order of nuns, the English Province of Our Lady of Charity. "If we fail, it would mean that no other victims of Catholic priests would be able to be compensated," said Tracey Emmott of Emmott Snell, a specialist in working with sexual abuse claims who is representing JGE.

JGE alleges that she was sexually abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin, a priest of the Roman Catholic diocese of Portsmouth and its "vocations director", who regularly visited The Firs during the 70s. Her legal team claim the nuns were negligent and in breach of duty, and that the diocese was liable for Baldwin's alleged abuse as he was a Catholic priest engaged within the work of the diocese.

Previous hearings in the House of Lords and the court of appeal relating to other church organisations have found that ministers should be treated as employees. But there has been no judgment yet on whether the relationship between a Catholic priest and his bishop is akin to an employment relationship.

"They claim that the relationship between the bishop of the diocese and the parish priest in question does not amount to anything akin to a relationship of employment, and therefore there cannot be any 'vicarious liability' for the priest's acts," Emmott said.

"That is to say, whatever sexual abuse their priests might commit, it is not their responsibility. They are absolved of blame. We need to show that, while Father Baldwin wasn't strictly an employee of the church, he was acting on the bishop's behalf and that the bishop clearly had a degree of control over his activities."

Criminal proceedings against Baldwin, who was the subject of a police investigation, concluded when he died of a heart attack in 2006.


Monday, July 25, 2011

 

Did Chuck E. Cheese Give The Middle Finger To A 4-Year-Old?

Did Chuck E. Cheese Give The Middle Finger To My 4-Year-Old?

Chris Morran
The Consumerist
July 22, 2011 4:15 PM
 

(Courtesy: Jesse Anderson)

Last Sunday, Corbin went with his family to celebrate his birthday at a Chuck E. Cheese's eatery. He even got to pose for a picture with the restaurant's namesake rodent. But when Corbin's parents got home and uploaded the pictures to Facebook, they noticed something peculiar; it looked like nice ol' Chuck was flipping off the camera.

Corbin's father Jesse tells Consumerist that the family took their concerns about the photo to Chuck E. Cheese's HQ but were given the brush-off. "If they had just said 'We're sorry' it would have ended right there," he says.

A rep for the eatery tells the Las Cruces Sun-Newsthat things are not what they appear to be in the photo.

"He has big wide paws, like a glove, and they're lumpy and not clearly defined," the rep says about the mascot's costume. "His glove is a thumb and three fingers, so what you see is his index finger extended — not his middle finger."

Jesse, who maintains a sense of humor about the situation, tells Consumerist that — if it was wardrobe-related — Chuck E. Cheese's might want to rethink its costume design or how they tell employees inside those costumes to pose for the camera.

He explains to Consumerist that his intention in going public with the photo was to stir up some debate and maybe make some other parents more aware for when it comes time to take their kids' photos with the big mouse.


Monday, July 25, 2011

 

The most beautiful sand formations you'll see

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/sand-patterns-gallery/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))&pid=1722


Monday, July 25, 2011

 

Man Brings BB Gun to a Drug Deal Gets Punched in the Face and Tasered

Portland Man Brings BB Gun to a Drug Deal, Gets Punched in the Face

 

J Martens

Portlander

Jul 24, 2011

 
On Friday evening, July 22nd, a Portland Police officer was on a call near NW 6th Ave and Couch St when he was flagged down about a man with a gun around the corner. The officer walked around the corner and saw a white male bleeding from the mouth, laying on the ground and holding what was believed to be a handgun. The man started to get up and turn towards the officer who gave the man several commands to drop the gun and lay down on the ground. The man was non-compliant which resulted in an officer tazering the man who was then taken into custody. Authorities learned that the weapon was a BB gun.

Officers learned that the man, later identified as 50-year-old Christopher Phillips, got into a confrontation with an unknown male before a citizen reported him to the officer. Phillips pulled a BB gun on the unknown male who responded by punching Phillips in the face. Officers believe that the fight was drug-related.

Phillips was transported to an area hospital for medical treatment and was issued a citation for Disorderly Conduct and Attempted Possession of a Controlled Substance.

LINK TO PHOTO:
 
http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/Police-tase-man-with-gun/tRrcbQuwLkqO6btfF11-ig.cspx

Monday, July 25, 2011

 

Police will be able to test people for drugs by fingerprinting them

Drug driving test at your fingertips

 

NewScientist Health

Magazine issue 2822

24 July 2011

A FINGERPRINT is all you need to determine whether someone is under the influence of drugs.

 

Paul Yates from Intelligent Fingerprinting, a company spun out from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and colleagues, have developed a handheld device that police can use to detect breakdown products from drugs excreted through sweat pores in the fingertips.

The device applies gold nanoparticles coated with antibodies to a fingerprint. The antibodies stick to antigens on specific metabolites in the fingerprint. Fluorescent dyes attached to the antibodies will highlight the presence of any metabolites. The technique was first used to detect nicotine, but now works on a range of drugs, including cocaine, methadone and cannabis.

It is hard to prove that someone is drug driving, for example, says Yates, because existing tests are invasive, can be contaminated, or aren't sensitive enough. The new device could detect nanograms of metabolites in minutes, he says. The device was announced at the UCL International Crime Science Conference in London last week.


Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

Obama and the other deficit

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obama-and-the-other-deficit/2011/07/22/gIQAz46MXI_story.html?hpid=z3


Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

72-Year-Old Ex-Marine Runs Down Armed Man Who Robbed Him

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7665645.html


Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

Discovered by chance the secret Mexican crystal caves

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018219/Discovered-chance-Mexican-crystal-caves-big-drive-car-through.html


Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

Cocaine: The evolution of the once 'wonder' drug

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/22/social.history.cocaine/


Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

Obama could be comeback kid if he mimics Clinton

Obama could be comeback kid if he mimics Clinton

Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
07/21/11 8:05 PM
 
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
 
President Barack Obama discusses the continuing budget talks, Tuesday, July 19, 2011, in the the briefing room of the White House in Washington.
 
Here's a scary exercise for Republicans. First, make a graph of Bill Clinton's job approval ratings for the nine months following November 1994, when Republicans dealt him a crushing defeat in midterm elections. Then superimpose Barack Obama's job approval ratings for the nine months following November 2010, when Republicans dealt him a crushing defeat in midterm elections. The lines look pretty similar.

For one, they start out at almost exactly the same point. Clinton's job approval rating in the Gallup poll was 46 percent in the first week of November 1994. Obama's job approval rating was 45 percent in the first week of November 2010.

Starting from the same place, the lines then follow a comparable course. Clinton had a bumpy ride in the months after defeat, but his rating never fell below 40 percent and never rose above 51 percent. Obama has been doing much the same thing; in the latest Gallup survey, he is at 42 percent.

A turning point for Clinton came in late 1995 and early 1996, when he faced off against then-Speaker Newt Gingrich and congressional Republicans in a budget fight that resulted in two government shutdowns. Clinton's ratings were in the low 40s when the fight began. When he emerged victorious -- at least in the press and in some public opinion -- his numbers began a slow climb. In March 1996, Clinton was at 52 percent approval. In June '96 he was at 58 percent. In August he hit 60 percent. And in November he was re-elected.

Of course, Gingrich and the Republicans were re-elected, too; pundits who describe the '95-'96 shutdowns as a disaster for the GOP often neglect to mention that. So in a narrowly political sense, both Clinton and the GOP won the shutdown. The question now is whether Obama and his Republican adversaries might do the same after their current fight over the debt ceiling.

In his drive for re-election, Clinton needed Republican help, not just as a foil but as a source of policy initiatives. For a man who announced "the era of big government is over," Clinton had to be dragged kicking and screaming toward both balanced budget legislation and welfare reform -- now seen as key accomplishments of his presidency. Republicans did the dragging, and when Clinton moved the GOP's way, his prospects improved.

The public also found that it liked divided government. Republicans were elected in 1994 because voters wanted to place a check on Clinton. Republicans were elected in 2010 because voters wanted to place a check on Obama. With that check in place, Obama might find that if he, like Clinton, were to move the GOP's way, his prospects might improve.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why it might not work. In November 1996, unemployment was 5.4 percent. It's 9.2 percent now and is predicted to be at 8 percent or above in November '12. "The economic situation is so dramatically different," says a Republican strategist who is skeptical of the Obama-GOP win-win scenario. "You have anemic economic growth, you have unemployment that has been above 8 percent for more than 20 months, and you have a deficit that is more than a trillion dollars. Clinton had an economic strength that Obama doesn't have."

In the end, Obama might be doomed whatever he does. But as his campaign aides have pointed out, he's betting that voters will judge him on whether they feel he's taking the economy in the right direction, not whether he has reached any particular point. It's a pretty thin hope, but it might be a little more realistic if voters perceive him working with Republicans to go in that right direction.

To many Republicans these days, Obama resembles Jimmy Carter more than Bill Clinton. Certainly Obama's dour, eat-your-peas lecturing evokes the worst of Carter's sanctimoniousness. But Obama's popularity is nowhere near as low as Carter's was at the same point in their presidencies.

According to newly compiled figures from the Gallup organization, Obama's average job approval in the most recent quarter -- his 10th quarter in office -- was 46.8 percent. Carter's was an astonishing 31 percent. Obama is more in the range of Ronald Reagan (44.4 percent) and Clinton (49.3) at that point in their presidencies.

Both won re-election. As they seek to win the White House themselves, Republicans can only hope that Obama is not as savvy -- or as flexible -- as his predecessors.



Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/obama-could-be-comeback-kid-if-he-mimics-clinton#ixzz1T1iKuEzq

Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

Car theft tamed by technology and aggressive police work

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/car-theft-tamed-by-technology-aggressive-police-work/2011/07/22/gIQAnCbrVI_story.html


Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

Mother charged with unlawfully entering school bus to help a son she thought was ill

Perry County mother charged with unlawfully entering school bus to help a son she thought was ill

 

Saturday, July 23, 2011, 12:00 AM

SARA GANIM
The Patriot-News

If Tara Keener had known that her 5-year-old son was only sleeping, she might not have acted this way.
   
But Keener, an emergency room nurse, didn’t know. All she knew was what she could see through the windows of a big yellow school bus as she walked down her Perry County driveway. Other kids were standing over the kindergartner’s assigned seat, yelling that Xander was slumped over.
   

school bus.JPG
 
“Help, he’s not moving,” she recalled during a recent court hearing. “We can’t wake him up.”
   
So she ran to the bus, up the steps and to the landing. The driver told her she couldn’t get on the bus. It’s against the law.
   
Keener kept going. “My focus was on my son,” she told a judge.
   
What happened on that bus Dec. 15 has earned Keener a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully entering a school bus. She’s now awaiting trial in Perry County Court.
   
The bus company remembers the story a little differently, and reported the incident — as they are required by law — to the state police because the driver asked Keener to leave the bus and she refused.
   
They say no one was screaming ‘help,’ that Xander was sleeping, like he had before and the driver wasn’t given enough time to handle the situation herself.
   
“Everyone’s focused on, he wasn’t really sick,” said Keener’s attorney Jeffrey B. Engle. “How do you know that? He could be choking on a Jolly Rancher. I can hop a fence to save someone who is drowning, even if it says ‘Keep Out’ if the harm sought to be avoided is greater than the possible violation of the crime.”
   
Engle would not allow Keener to comment for this story because of her pending court case.
   
At a June 15 preliminary hearing, Keener testified that older kids were hovering over Xander when she got on the bus.
   
“They moved away and looked at me like they were scared and said they couldn’t wake him,” she testified. “I had to physically shake him vigorously to wake him.”
   
Keener never thought this would land her in court, Engle says. After all, she and her husband had boarded a school bus with their son before as part of a program to help kids get over their fears in the first few days of school.
   
And days after the incident, a trooper told her she wasn’t going to be charged.
   
Then almost five months later Keener received a notice in the mail: She was facing a third-degree misdemeanor — an offense that lead to jail for a year, and a $2,500 fine.
   
Why the delay? Perry County District Attorney Charles F. Chenot III — who initially said this was one of those situations that could go either way — said he changed his mind after a conversation with Pamala Schaeffer, the assistant to Dennis Dum. Dum’s Bus Service is contracted by West Perry Schools to transport all district children to school each day.
   
“The bus company’s main point is, we can’t let one person do this because pretty soon you’ll have all kinds of parents on there,” Chenot said. “Most parents aren’t a problem, but what do you do when a ... sex offender wants to get on the bus and get his kids off? We need to have that protection in place.”
   
Here’s where things get a little murky.
   
Schaeffer remembers the conversation differently. She said she had no intention of persuading the county’s top prosecutor and says she was just as shocked when she got a call in April notifying her that Keener had been charged.
   
“I was completely dumfounded, because we thought it was resolved,” she said. “I wasn’t looking to convince him to change his mind,” she said. “I was just asking for my own personal education to know from Mr. Chenot, what determines good cause.”
   
Schaeffer said she sympathizes with Keener’s situation, but felt she was simply doing her job: reporting a violation on a school bus.
   
Chenot stands firm in his belief that bus company was the driving force.
   
“It was the result of the conversation with the bus company that we ended up moving forward with the charges,” he said.
   
Chenot, seeing the gray area, offered Keener ARD, a probationary program designed to allow a defendant to eventually wipe their record clean. But Engle said he is worried that might jeopardize her job as a nurse with the Pinnacle Health System. Plus, he said, she doesn’t think she did anything wrong.
   
So the case will probably go before a jury.
   
Parents try to board school buses all the time. Almost none of them know that there’s a law against it. But most parents also get off the bus once the driver tells them it’s illegal and those parents aren’t charged. It was because Keener ignored that request that she was reported.
   
“I’m a mom too, I have three kids. Whose to say how any one of us would react in a situation where we thought our kids were in danger?” Schaeffer said. “... If we have one parent clearly let off the hook, for lack of a better word, how does the next parent not say ... I’ll just give a good reason? Where do you draw the line?”
   
At the preliminary hearing, bus driver Melissa Wright testified that she had asked two older children — in third and fourth grades — to wake Xander when they got to the stop on Greenbriar Road.
   
Before anyone had time to act, Keener had raced onto the bus, she said.
   
Xander had fallen asleep before, and Wright testified, “I didn’t have any thing to think that there was a medical emergency.”
   
Wright denies the other kids were yelling, ‘help,’ but says Keener had a foul-mouthed exchange with the driver as she took her son from the bus.
   
Keener denies using profanity.
   
The next day Keener called Schaeffer and unsuccessfully lobbied for Wright to be fired. She was upset that the driver didn’t act quickly enough. The bus company said she never had the chance.
   
“Mrs. Keener just did not give the driver the time she needed to take care of the situation,” Schaeffer said. “According to our driver it happened, like seconds. We train the drivers in how to handle a situation. Not all are CPR certified, but this driver is a (certified nurse assistant), certified in CPR and works with patients daily at another job. She has been doing that for several years.”
   
One thing is agreed: Keener didn’t touch any other kids, or do anything besides wake Xander.
   
And no one disputes that Keener really believed her son could be in danger.
   
That’s why Engle says the charge just doesn’t make sense. Don’t we all wish for hindsight, he asks.
   
“I’m not budging,” Engle said. “I think the bus company is driving this, no pun intended and I think they’re overreaching. I just don’t seen 12 people convicting this woman.”

Saturday, July 23, 2011

 

Woman suspended from work 12-years ago but still was being paid

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/07/22/office-assistant-jill-mcglone-paid-12-years-for-a-job-she-didnt/?ncid=webmail4


Saturday, July 23, 2011

 

Five myths about extreme weather

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-extreme-weather/2011/07/21/gIQAcjZaTI_story.html?hpid=z4


Saturday, July 23, 2011

 

7 Youngest Self-Made Billionaires

http://www.oddee.com/item_97832.aspx


Saturday, July 23, 2011

 

What kids of the world eat at school

http://todayilearned.co.uk/2011/04/20/what-kids-of-the-world-eat-at-school/


Saturday, July 23, 2011

 

UPDATE Mother arrested for giving 4-year old and 10-month-old beer and cocaine

Juliette Dunn arrested for giving 4-year-old and 10-month-old beer and cocaine

Nina Mandell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, July 22nd 2011, 12:52 PM

Juliette Dunn and Lisa Jefferson were both being held on $100,000 bonds.
 
Bridgeport Police Department
Juliette Dunn and Lisa Jefferson were both being held on $100,000 bonds.
 
A Connecticut mother was arrested after she forced her 4-year-old son to chug a bottle of beer - and gave her 10-month-old daughter booze and cocaine, police said.

Juliette Dunn, 29, who lives in Success Village, Conn., was sitting with a friend Lisa Jefferson on a playground when another mom flagged down officers and complained that she was feeding her child beer, the Connecticut Post reported.

When cops approached, they spotted an empty 40-ounce Steele Reserve beer on the ground next to the 4-year-old boy and a baby bottle that smelled like alcohol.

Witnesses told officers that earlier that day Jefferson had told her son to chug the beer - and then called him an alcoholic when he finished, according to the report.

The children were taken to a local hospital where they tested positive for alcohol and the 10-month-old tested positive for cocaine.

When being interviewed by a social worker, the 4-year-old mentioned that he liked "Natural Ice beer, Budweiser beer, but didn't like the taste of Dog-Bite beer," police told the newspaper.
Dunn and Jefferson were arrested and charged with two counts of risk of injury to a child and two counts of second-degree assault.

They are both being held on a $100,000 bond.


Friday, July 22, 2011

 

Bullets fall out of woman's gun just before she tries to shoot cop

Woman’s bullets fell out of gun just before she tried to shoot cop

FRANK MAIN Staff

Sun Times

July 21, 2011 5:45PM



 

Shandra Kidd didn’t realize her gun was empty when she tried to shoot a Chicago Police officer.

All the bullets fell out when she was running from the officer.

Unfortunately for her, the officer’s gun was loaded. And the officer shot her in the buttocks.

On Thursday, Kidd was sentenced to 55 years in prison for attempted murder and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

In May 2007, officers were investigating a report of shots fired near 78th and Burnham when they stopped a car Kidd was riding in. She ran and when an officer caught her, she stuck a gun in the officer’s chest and pulled the trigger.

But the gun didn’t go off.

The officer and Kidd struggled and they fell down. When they got up, she stuck the gun in the officer’s chest again and pulled the trigger.

Again, it didn’t go off.

That’s when the officer shot Kidd, 22, of the 7700 block of South Phillips.

Police later found that the cylinder of Kidd’s gun had opened during the chase and all the bullets fell out.

Judge Neil Linehan sentenced Kidd on Thursday.

“This is a fitting and a just sentence for anyone who would be so bold as to fire a gun at a police officer,” Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said. “We are grateful that this officer was uninjured in this incident and we will continue to prosecute violent crimes against police officers to the fullest extent of the law.”

LINK TO PHOTO:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/6636712-417/womans-bullets-fell-out-of-gun-just-before-she-tried-to-shoot-cop.html


Friday, July 22, 2011

 

Mom arrested for giving 4-year old beer and 10-month old baby cocaine

Cops: Mom gave her children beer and cocaine

Daniel Tepfer, Staff Writer

07:46 a.m., Friday, July 22, 2011

Click to View RSS Feed

 

BRIDGEPORT -- A city woman was in custody after police said she forced her 4-year-old son to chug a bottle of beer and then gave her 10-month-old daughter beer and cocaine.

Juliette Dunn, 29, of Success Village, was charged with two counts of risk of injury to a child and two counts of second-degree assault and was being held in lieu of $100,000 bond. A female companion, 33-year-old Lisa Jefferson, was arrested on the same charges and also had a $100,000 bond.

According to police, officers were patrolling Success Village June 28 when they were waved down by a neighbor who complained that a mother was feeding her children beer on the playground.

Police said they spotted Dunn and Jefferson sitting at the playground, the young children on the ground next to them. As officers approached them, police said they spotted an empty 40-ounce bottle of Steel Reserve beer on the ground beside the boy. They said a baby bottle next to the baby contained a dark liquid that smelled strongly of an alcohol beverage. Dunn was identified as the children's mother.

Police said witnesses told them that Jefferson had handed the bottle of beer to the boy and ordered him to chug it. When he had finished it police said Jefferson called the boy an alcoholic.

Both children were taken to Bridgeport Hospital where police said both the boy and girl tested positive for alcohol and the 10-month-old also had cocaine in her system. While being examined, police said the 4-year-old told a social worker he likes, "Natural Ice beer, Budweiser beer, but didn't like the taste of Dog-Bite beer."

Police said Dunn told them Jefferson gives her son a bottle of beer everyday but she didn't know how her 10-month-old daughter tested positive for cocaine since she doesn't breast feed her.



Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Cops-Mom-gave-her-children-beer-and-cocaine-1529179.php#ixzz1SqOwlweg

Friday, July 22, 2011

 

Can I Get That Knuckle Sandwich With Ketchup?

Can I Get That Knuckle Sandwich With Ketchup?

July 21, 2011 7:08 PM

A sign is seen outside a McDonalds's res

Jean Ross

CBS Atlanta

A Marietta McDonald’s manager has been fired after being accused of punching a mother who brought a service dog and her autistic children into the restaurant.  Tiffany Denise Allen  is charged with battery, assault, fear and disorderly conduct.

According to the warrant, Jennifer Schwenker entered the Marietta McDonald’s on Bells Ferry Road with her children and service dog on July 12. Allen was off duty at the time and had her own child in the restaurant when she  confronted Schwenker about the dog being in the restaurant.

Schwenker explained to Allen that the dog was a service dog and by federal law has the right to be in any public place including the McDonald’s. Allen continued to berate Schwenker, following her around the restaurant and even into a bathroom.  During the incident, one of Schwenker’s twins disappeared. When the mother threw her cup to the ground and ran outside to look for her child, part of the drink soaked Allen’s pants.

Video of the incident shows Allen handing her child to someone else, several McDonald’s employees holding Allen back and then Allen following Schwenker into the parking lot, where she is accused of hitting Schwenker in the face.

Schwenker has reportedly hired an attorney to represent her in the case.  Allen is now looking for another job.


Friday, July 22, 2011

 

Hyatt turns on heat lamps on picketers

Hyatt turns up heat on picket line

 

Hyatt turns up heat on picket line

 
Julie Wernau and Wailin Wong
Tribune reporters

4:07 p.m. CDT, July 21, 2011

Hotel workers on strike at the Park Hyatt were taken by surprise Thursday morning when 10 heat lamps hanging above their picket line flipped on and stayed on for nearly an hour.

"This is one of the hottest days of the summer," said Daniel Medina, 42, a bellman at the Park Hyatt for two years. "I work at that door every single day and only in winter time do those need to be turned on. Somebody did it on purpose. It's ridiculous."

Hyatt said in a statement that as soon as they were alerted to the fact that heat lamps were on under the awning of the hotel's Chicago Ave. entrance, they turned them off and handed out water.

Medina said the lights do not turn on automatically and that only bellhops, doormen and engineers access the room that controls the heat lamps. He said there was no way it could be inadvertent.

It was 83 degrees at 7 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

The hotel workers at the 800 N. Michigan Ave. hotel kicked off the day-long strike Thursday morning to protest the working conditions of housekeepers. The strike coincides with housekeeper protests at Hyatts in nine other cities in the U.S., said Unite Here Local 1, and 22 months of stalled contract negotiations with Hyatt in Chicago.

After Hyatt allegedly turned the heat on the strikers, Gabriel Carrasquillo, a server at the hotel's restaurant NoMI, began to chant, "You can't smoke us out," and extended the picket line beyond the heat lamps so that employees could get periodic breaks from the heat, he said.

In a statement, Hyatt called the strike "more of the same from Unite Here" and said the union "continues to put its energies toward unproductive street theatrics in the name of 'solidarity.' "

"In cities from Chicago to Waikiki and here at Park Hyatt, we have offered union leaders contract proposals that match wage and benefit packages identical to what Unite Here has accepted from other hotel companies," the company said. "Yet, union leaders have rejected every one of these proposals."

The Chicago-based hotel chain is the last holdout in the city. Hilton's unionized hotel workers approved a four-year contract in March and two months later, Chicago hotels owned by Starwood reached a settlement with the union, affecting 1,200 workers, bringing along an additional 16 other hotels representing 2,000 workers who piggybacked on the Starwood contracts.

The Hyatt negotiations have been the most contentious, punctuated by protests and religious leaders pledging to boycott the hotel chain. In its attempts to negotiate a deal, Hyatt even posted a video on YouTube urging employees to accept its contract offer.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

 

NFL team owners approve labor deal

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner


Thursday, July 21, 2011

 

Daughter and husband fight over slain woman's remains

http://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett/daughter-husband-fight-over-1032960.html


Thursday, July 21, 2011

 

Man stuck in jail over $8.54

http://blogs.tcpalm.com/off_the_beat_will_greenlee_blog/2011/07/accused-fort-pierce-beef-stick-swiper-stuck-in-jail-following-pants-shenanigans.html


Thursday, July 21, 2011

 

Two women brawl over seat on subway let baby roll off train

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/07/21/2011-07-21_new_york_subway_fight_not_even_a_baby_can_get_in_the_way_of_scrap_between_two_wo.html


Thursday, July 21, 2011

 

Why Americans are angry at Congress

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-americans-are-angry-at-congress/2011/07/20/gIQAYUlSQI_story.html


Thursday, July 21, 2011

 

16-year old girl marries 51-year old man

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2017105/Courtney-Stodden-16-reveals-Doug-Hutchison-51-tiger-bed.html


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

 

Police Officer caught sexting drug informant

Payson Roundup

Payson police officer demoted for ‘sexting’

Exchange of messages with drug informant spurs pay cut for reprimanded officer

Alexis Bechman

July 19, 2011

A slew of salacious pictures and sexually explicit cell phone messages have prompted the demotion of a Payson police officer, for the second time in a year.

Josh LaManna, a veteran officer, was demoted from a narcotics officer to a patrol officer in May and given a 10-percent pay cut for a string of violations, including sending a photograph of his genitals to a confidential police informant.

Chief Don Engler said in a report that LaManna had brought dishonor and discredit to the department.

The demotion comes just months after then-Lt. Donald Garvin was demoted to sergeant after carrying on several relationships, including an affair with the wife of a Department of Public Safety officer and another with a woman applying for a job with the police force. Engler warned Garvin to end both relationships.

LaManna’s behavior raised some of the same issues, according to a police report acquired by the Roundup through a Freedom of Information request.

The detailed investigations of Garvin and LaManna paint a picture of a police force plagued by drinking incidents in bars, affairs and questionable judgment.

Payson Mayor Kenny Evans said “I think the personal impact on the families ought to make it pretty clear to anyone who is considering something like this, that the town standard is going to be enforced.”

Evans said he hoped the two cases would prove to be isolated incidents.

“There seems to be a wider, general public perception that certain behaviors utilizing social media that would never be accepted in another form seem to be OK. Maybe it’s a generational theme, but as long as I’m here, that old-fashioned approach is going to be the standard,” he said.

While Garvin was single at the time of the alleged relationships, LaManna is married.

Sometime in early April, LaManna met a 28-year-old Payson woman who had agreed to work as a confidential informant for the department after getting in trouble on undisclosed charges, according to a police report.

The woman would buy drugs and then turn them over to LaManna and Sgt. Jason Hazelo who worked on the special enforcement unit.

One Sunday evening, she met LaManna and Hazelo and turned over drugs she had purchased. As LaManna was patting the woman down, Hazelo stepped off to the side to take a phone call. LaManna continued his search, making several flirtatious comments, according to Engler’s report.

Later that night, the woman received several text messages from LaManna, one instructing the woman to contact him on his personal cell phone and not his work line because he could get in trouble, the woman later told Engler.

“I just got to be careful not to get caught,” LaManna texted, adding, “…when I reached into those front pockets I was hoping to slip a bit. Maybe, holes in your pockets.”

The woman maintained she told LaManna to stop texting her repeatedly. However, a phone record revealed the woman “was more of an active participant in this matter than she had initially reported,” Engler said.

In fact, every message the woman sent telling LaManna to stop, failed to go through, according to the report. A record of LaManna’s text messages shows that they carried on a conversation for at least several days. LaManna texted the woman that he imagined her while he slept with his wife and could not wait to see her breasts.

He repeatedly asked her to send a picture of her breasts and sent her a photograph of his genitals. He assured the woman that he could “pull off just about anything” and was “excessively secret.”

When questioned, LaManna admitted to the relationship, saying the text messages had “evolved into very illicit sexual messages.”

However, LaManna argued that the conversations occurred when he was off duty and were consensual, since the woman also sent flirtatious messages.

Regardless, Engler found that LaManna’s inappropriate relationship with a confidential informant not only violated the code of ethics, but also put criminal cases at risk.

In addition, Engler learned LaManna had discussed classified information with his wife, which was shared in the community.

LaManna was also delinquent in completing police reports, although he led supervisors to believe that they were current.

This came on top of the five other times LaManna was disciplined.

On Aug. 3, 2010 supervisors wrote up LaManna for drinking excessively at the Buffalo Bar. On Sept. 14, he received a reprimand for requesting time off and then attending a barbecue with a potential informant and on Sept. 28, for “his lack of understanding the trust of the public, his consumption of alcohol and reports.”

On Feb. 1, 2011 supervisors again reprimanded him for “lack of activity and use of his personal phone.”

LaManna will now serve a year of disciplinary probation, during which time he can have no outstanding reports or disciplinary action. As a patrol officer, he will make $24.45 an hour, a $2.55 cut.


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

 

Fight Over $2 Lands Woman In Jail

http://www.news4jax.com/news/28582160/detail.html


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

 

Police Officer Arrested For Leading a Heroin Distribution Operation

Baltimore police officer charged in heroin conspiracy

Records: Officer conducted suspected drug deals at Northwest District station

 

 

Justin Fenton

The Baltimore Sun

7:49 p.m. EDT, July 19, 2011

 

City officer Daniel G. Redd has been arrested and charged with leading a heroin distribution operation

 

A Baltimore City police officer was arrested and charged Tuesday with leading a heroin distribution operation, including allegations that he arranged drug transactions while on duty and met conspirators in the parking lot of his district station, records show.

The officer, Daniel G. Redd, 41, was taken into custody Tuesday at the Northwest District police station, officials said. Several law enforcement sources say Redd had been under suspicion for years, but within the past six months city police asked the FBI to investigate.

The ensuing wiretap investigation, according to records, showed that Redd was at the top of a "significant drug trafficking" organization that "flooded the streets of Baltimore with heroin," FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard McFeely said in a statement.

The arrest is the latest black eye for the city Police Department, which in the past six months had more than 50 officers implicated in a kickback scheme involving a towing company and saw an on-duty officer fatally shot by other officers as they responded to a disturbance outside a nightclub. The kickback scheme has resulted in a slew of guilty pleas, while Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake appointed a commission to study the fatal shooting of Officer William H. Torbit.

Police said Redd's arrest shows that the agency is determined to root out corruption.

"The allegations against Daniel Redd are an affront to and undermine the integrity of the hard-working men and women of the Baltimore Police Department," Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said in a statement. "We will not tolerate corruption among our ranks."

Redd is believed to be the first city officer charged with having a role in drug trafficking since city police officers William King and Antonio Murray were charged in 2005 with shaking down drug dealers and re-selling their product on the street. The officers were each sentenced to 100 years in prison.

On his Facebook page, Redd lists "Training Day," a movie in which Denzel Washington plays a corrupt police officer in Los Angeles, as one of his favorite movies.

Despite the investigation into Redd's alleged activities, he remained on the street making arrests. Court records show Redd is listed as a police witness in a handful of cases that are still pending, including attempted murder and robbery charges against two men.

But according to one source familiar with personnel matters, the department prevented him from ascending the leadership tree by repeatedly passing him over on the agency's promotional list.

At a brief afternoon court hearing, Redd, who is charged with firearms violations in addition to heroin distribution charges, was ordered held pending a detention hearing, with Assistant U.S. Attorney James Wallner citing "dangerousness and risk of flight."

Redd did not respond to the allegations during the hearing.

Documents show the drug organization was headed by Redd and a man named Abdul Zakaria, also known as Tamim Mamah. A search warrant affidavit alleges that Zakaria, 34, of Owings Mills, and others obtained heroin from suppliers in Africa and distributed heroin to Redd and two other men named in the indictment: Dyrell Garrett, 33, of Randallstown, and Malik Jones, 40, of Owings Mills.

Redd is accused of distributing heroin to others, including Shanel Stallings, 32, who is named in the indictment.

Conversations intercepted on wiretaps show that on March 2, Redd, who was on duty, made a series of calls to Mamah in which FBI agents say the pair used heavily coded language to arrange a drug deal. Stallings called Redd and said simply, "40," which FBI Agent Craig Monroney wrote referred to 40 grams of heroin.

"Alright … let me .. let me make a call," Redd said, according to records.

Redd then phoned Mamah, and said, "Hey, I need 40."

About an hour later, Redd told Stallings to meet him "at the district," which authorities say refers to the Northwest District police station.

That belief was reaffirmed on March 31, when Redd was overheard telling Mamah to meet him "at my station." Video surveillance from the Northwest District police station obtained by agents shows Redd retrieving something from his vehicle and walking out of view, records show. A short time later, Redd is observed climbing out of Mamah's white Lincoln Navigator.

Police believe Redd was giving Mamah heroin, and that Mamah turned the drugs over to Garrett.

Officers then attempted to stop Garrett to retrieve the heroin, but Garrett fled, prompting a high-speed chase in which he was able to escape. Police later found his vehicle abandoned, with a cell phone and a BG&E bill with his name inside.

Authorities wrote in documents that they also captured Redd arranging deals for 500 grams of heroin, and in another instance offering protection for Stallings as she completed a drug transaction for him.

"I'm a have my phone open on the side and I'm a scroll down to your name so that way … I'll just hit the talk button," Stallings told Redd during the March 6 conversation.

At another point, Redd complains that he is losing customers, according to records. "I need some <snip> money. I ain't getting no phone calls, ain't no nothing, it ain't looking good," he said. "You start losing people if you keep, people gotta keep waiting, they go to somebody else."

Mamah was arrested on May 13 after getting into a foot chase with a city police detective assigned to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, records show. The detective, Brian Shutt, wrote in documents associated with that arrest that officers recovered 205 grams of suspected heroin from his vehicle, and documents unsealed Tuesday show another 400 to 500 grams was recovered from his home in the 8300 block of Church Lane.

Court records show Mamah is from Ghana. Last week the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that they had broken up a drug ring in which couriers smuggled heroin from Ghana into the United States through Dulles International Airport, which officials said highlighted West Africa as a "major hub for international drug trafficking."

A search warrant also names Redd as a supplier to other, unindicted men.

Redd joined the Baltimore Police Department in 1994, but was fired in 2002 after being found asleep on the job at the reservoir at Druid Hill Park, where he was supposed to be on anti-terrorist duty, The Sun reported in 2004. Redd sued and was rehired under a court order, and the city had to pay him $75,000 in back pay.

"This is not what taxpayers of Baltimore expect from police officers," the Police Department's then-legal counsel said after Redd and another officer were disciplined. "You have to send a message to troops that gross neglect of conduct will not be tolerated."

Garrett was convicted in 2008 of marijuana possession and in 2005 received two years supervised probation for drug distribution charges. Jones, Stallings and Zakaria did not appear to have a prior record.


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

 

U. S. students did worst when it comes to geography

New study shows U.S. students miss boat on geography

 

Tara Malone

Tribune reporter

10:32 a.m. CDT, July 19, 2011

 

Ask a group of twelfth-graders how the Great Lakes formed, and about half can pinpoint the primary cause: glaciations.

Quiz eighth-grade students about the geography of the Southwest, and a third will identify from a multiple-choice listing that arid conditions make water a scarce public resource.

Such responses to a national exam released today reveal the tenuous command that many U.S. schoolchildren have on basic geography, including knowledge of the natural environment, how it shapes society and other cultures and countries.

Fewer than a quarter of high school seniors scored proficiently on the geography test, down from 25 percent in 2001 and 29 percent in 1994, when the national geography exam first was administered. The decline seen in the twelfth-grade scores was the most dramatic of any grade tested.

That means only 21 percent of 12th-graders had at least a solid grasp of geography and could, for instance, explain why Mali is considered overpopulated or explain why the economies of developing countries often are limited to a few agricultural products or raw materials.

Students in grades four and eight fared better.

An estimated 23 percent of fourth-grade students scored at the proficient and advanced level, virtually flat with the 22 percent in 2001, while the performance of eighth-graders was mixed.

More eighth-grade students scored at the proficient level – 27 percent as compared with 29 percent in 2001 – but slightly fewer students placed in the top advanced tier, with 3 percent of test-takers as compared to 4 percent in 2001 earning the highest designation, results show. To score in the top level, students had to show an extensive knowledge of geography that included everything from explaining urban population changes based on a graph or pinpointing a similarity between Los Angeles and San Antonio.

The geography test marks the third social studies exam released this year. Civics and history results previously were released. Across all three disciplines, high school seniors fared the worst.

“The pattern of disappointing results for our twelfth graders’ performance across all three social science subjects should be one of great concern to everyone,” said National Assessment Governing Board Chairman David Driscoll in a statement.

The test results, on a scale from 0-500, also showed:


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

 

Government Spent $300M On Navy Ships They Never Finished Or Used

http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/159204/158/300M-On-Navy-Ships-Never-Finished-Or-Used


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

 

Married couples happier when wives are thinner

Married couples happier when wives are thinner, study finds

7/18/11 11:12 a.m.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (ABC News Radio) - Marriages are more satisfying for both partners when wives are thinner than their husbands, according to a new study.

The four-year study of 169 newlywed couples found that husbands were more satisfied initially and wives were more satisfied over time when the fairer sex had a lower body mass index -- a common measure of body fat.  The study was published in the July issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science.

"There's a lot of pressure on women in our society to achieve an often unreachably small weight," said Andrea Meltzer, a doctoral candidate at the University of Tennessee and lead author of the study.  "The great take-home message from our study is that women of any size can be happy in their relationships with the right partner.  It's relative weight that matters, not absolute weight.  It's not that they have to be small."

Just how relative weight impacts marital bliss is unclear, but Meltzer has a theory.

"One idea is that attractiveness and weight are more important to men," she said.  "That might be why we see this emerging at the beginning of the marriage for husbands, and their dissatisfaction might be affecting wives' satisfaction over time."

The finding held up even when other marital stressors, such as depression and income level, were ruled out. But relative weight is not the only factor that affects marital satisfaction, Meltzer cautioned.

"Obviously a lot of things play into relationship satisfaction and this is just one of them," she said. "It's not a guarantee to be happy in a relationship."

Men and women tend to be happier in a relationship when the men are "more powerful in a benign way," according to Susan Heitler, a couple's therapist in Denver and author of PowerOfTwoMarriage.com.

"The good news is there are many dimensions that symbolize power for men," she said, adding that height, weight, earning capacity, intelligence, education level, personality, even a big smile are all empowering traits. "Those signs of bigness lead to a subconscious feeling within the woman of more security and, in turn, more marital satisfaction."


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

 

Paranoid meth suspects call 911 on themselves

Paranoid meth suspects call 911 on themselves

Posted: July 19, 2011 - 4:13pm  |  Updated: July 19, 2011 - 4:18pm
 
DeAnn Komanecky
Savannah Morning News 
 
Brian Austin, 25, of Bloomingdale. (Effingham County Sheriff's Office)
 
Brian Austin, 25, of Bloomingdale. (Effingham County Sheriff's Office)
 
 
 

SPRINGFIELD — A pair of apparently paranoid Effingham residents suspected of making methamphetamine called 911 for help early Tuesday morning, and, instead of assistance, the two men ended up in jail.

Effingham sheriff’s deputies responded to a call on a home invasion at residence on Interstate Circle in Faulkville about 4 a.m.

“When the deputies arrived, the two came running to the door and reported they could hear people in the back bedroom who had broken into the home,” sheriff’s spokesman David Ehsanipoor said.

A quick check of the residence found no intruders.

“They pointed out to the deputies outside where the ‘suspects’ were, climbing into a boat and getting away,” Ehsanipoor said. “There was no one there, and deputies realized the two men were hallucinating.

“They were so high they called 911 on themselves.”

Investigators who later arrived discovered a meth lab at the residence.

Arrested were Brian Johnson, 28, of Bloomingdale, and Brian Austin, 25, also of Bloomingdale. 

Austin was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, and crossing a guard line with a controlled substance after deputies found he had the additional drugs in his possession as he was being booked into jail.

Johnson was arrested and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, and conspiracy to commit a drug related offense.

Neighbors Sherry Horton, 32, of Bloomingdale, and William Hendrix, 35, also of Bloomingdale, who were already under investigation also were arrested. They were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine.

All four suspects were being held in the Effingham County jail.


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

 

Bride arrested after her wedding

Bride arrested after her wedding was a no-show today for a hearing in district court

 

Published: Monday, July 18, 2011, 3:21 PM   

Updated: Monday, July 18, 2011, 10:53 PM

 
Danielle Salisbury | Jackson Citizen Patriot
 
 

A Leoni Township bride arrested in dress and veil Saturday afternoon was a no-show today in Jackson County District Court.

Tammy Lee Hinton, 53, was scheduled to appear for her arraignment at 1 p.m.

If she does not see a judge before the end of the business day, a warrant was expected to be authorized for her arrest.

Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety Deputy Director Jon Johnston said, if the bench warrant is issued, the department will work with the court to locate Hinton.

Public safety officers from the township arrested her on a 2009 felony warrant immediately following her wedding at City of Zion Ministries on Cooper Street, an officer earlier reported.

She went to jail, had a mug shot taken, and was bonded out of jail, presumably in time to continue the celebration.

 

   Booking photos provided by the Jackson County (Mich.) Sheriff's Office via the Jackson Citizen Patriot shows Tammy Lee Hinton.

Jackson County (Mich.) Sheriff's Office

Booking photos provided by the Jackson County (Mich.) Sheriff's Office via theJackson Citizen Patriotshows Tammy Lee Hinton.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2011/07/19/20110719michigan-bride-arrested-misses-court-ON.html#ixzz1SacL0Tdq

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

 

Mom Arrested for Trying to Sell Newborn at Taco Bell

Heidi Lynn Knowles, Vancouver Mom, Arrested for Trying to Sell Newborn at Taco Bell

Curtis Cartier
Mon., Jul. 18 2011 at 7:00 AM

 

Heidi Knowles01.jpg
Myspace
Heidi Knowles.
?Taco Bell's "Why Pay More Value Menu®" offers more than a dozen ways to help folks save money on "food." Unfortunately, it's difficult to Beefy 5-Layer Burrito one's self to financial stability when there's a screaming 3-day-old infant diapering up the equation.

 

Police say Heidi Lynn Knowles (aka Heidi Gasaway), a 36-year-old mom from Vancouver, Wash., attempted to get even more value from her menu by trying to sell her 3-day-old son for $500 to a woman at the Taco Bell at 7006 Highway 99, in Vancouver.

The Columbian:

About 9:30 p.m. Thursday, officers were called to Kay's Motel, 6700 N.E. Highway 99. A woman had called 911 to report that Knowles approached her in the restaurant, handed the newborn to her and offered to sell him to her.

Deputies found Knowles at the motel with the infant, who appeared to be in good health. They called for officials with Child Protective Services who took custody of him, Sample said.

 

Answering a call from Seattle Weekly on Sunday, a Taco Bell employee asked permission to "just hang up on his <snip>in' ass" and did so.

As for Ms. Knowles, she has denied trying to sell her kid, and also apparently claims that she has no idea when he was born or who his real father is.

Regardless, she's now facing pending felony charges of child-selling.

That's right, the Evergreen State's law books come equipped with a statute that directly addresses the act of selling one's offspring or buying someone else's.

There are, however, a rather large number of exceptions to the law, including parents selling children to one another.

1) It is unlawful for any person to sell or purchase a minor child.

(2) A transaction shall not be a purchase or sale under subsection (1) of this section if any of the following exists:

(a) The transaction is between the parents of the minor child; or

(b) The transaction is between a person receiving or to receive the child and an agency recognized under RCW 26.33.020; or

(c) The transaction is between the person receiving or to receive the child and a state agency or other governmental agency; or

(d) The transaction is pursuant to chapter 26.34 RCW; or

e) The transaction is pursuant to court order; or
(f) The only consideration paid by the person receiving or to receive the child is intended to pay for the prenatal hospital or medical expenses involved in the birth of the child, or attorneys' fees and court costs involved in effectuating transfer of child custody.

(3)(a) Child selling is a class C felony.

(b) Child buying is a class C felony.

 

Not among the exceptions: "If the transaction takes place within 50 feet of a Nacho Cheese Chalupa."


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

 

Dogs can read your mind, study says

Dogs can read your mind, study says

Amanda Gardner

Jul. 18, 2011 10:07 AM
HealthDay

 

To anyone who is familiar with the eerily human-like qualities of man's best friend, the news that dogs can read your mind shouldn't come as any surprise.

The latest research adds to growing evidence that dogs can interpret both human body language and general behavior, and use it to their advantage.

"Dogs and (human-raised) wolves are capable of distinguishing between a person looking at them, someone who's paying attention and someone who's not," said Monique A.R. Udell, lead author of a study published recently in the journal Learning & Behavior. "They're more likely to beg (for food) from someone paying attention to them."

Researchers have been learning more and more about the surprising capabilities and intelligence of Canis lupus familiaris, better known as the domestic dog.

One recent study found that dogs have the developmental abilities of a human 2-year-old, with the average dog capable of learning the meanings of 165 words.

"Over the last five years or so, we've been trying to understand how dogs and relatives of dogs such as wolves respond to social companions," explained Udell, who was a researcher at the Univerity of Florida in Gainesville when the study was conducted.

"The idea behind this particular study was to try to understand how it is, for example, that dogs can use cues of attention to predict what we're going to do next and use that information to decide to beg for food from one individual and not another?" she continued. "How is it that dogs make us feel that they know what we're thinking?"

The study involved groups of pet dogs, stray dogs from a shelter and hand-raised wolves (named Tristan, Miska and Marion, among other monikers) who were comfortable around humans.

Two people stood about 6 meters apart, one of them looking directly and continuously at the dog or wolf. The other person had their vision blocked, either with a bucket over their head, a book obscuring their face or because their back was turned. Both humans held a piece of food.

"On average, both dogs and wolves were significantly more likely to be begging from the person looking at them when the other person's back was turned," said Udell.

But levels of sensitivity did vary by how domesticated the dog or wolf was.

"Domesticated dogs were more likely to beg from someone paying attention to them, but shelter dogs and wolves who don't often see a person reading books were not likely to get that cue," Udell related. "So it does seem like specific life experiences really do matter in this context."

The findings, said Udell, are "important because previous research suggested that something happened to dogs during genetic domestication that made them begin to think like humans. This shows that wolves are capable, if reared with humans, of (picking up human cues)."

"Animal people in the scientific community have known for some time that dogs are pretty smart and very good at reading our body language," said Adam Goldfarb, director of the Pets at Risk Program of the Humane Society of the United States. "This shows that something about dogs or wolves inherently allows them to read humans far better than other animals can."



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2011/07/18/20110718dogs-can-read-your-mind-study.html#ixzz1SYmoIXjW

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

 

Drunk man arrested at church

Drunk man wanders into church
 
Mary Jo Denton
Herald Citizen
July 16, 2011
 
Wade
Wade
slideshow
COOKEVILLE -- A man who said he needed pain medicine wandered into a church here Wednesday night and ended up getting arrested.

Gregory Blaine Wade, 42, of E. 14th St., Cookeville, showed up at the Jefferson Avenue Church of Christ on Wednesday just as a church service was ending, Putnam Sheriff David Andrews said.

In fact, it was the sheriff -- who attends church there -- who took Wade into custody and sent him to jail.

"We had just started to leave after the service when he showed up and walked into the church," Sheriff Andrews said. "It was obvious something was wrong and we tried to help him. He said he had just been released from the hospital and he had a bandage on his knee, but was asking for Ibuprofen for his wrist."

As Sheriff Andrews and others talked to Wade, he allegedly became argumentative and was found to have a quart of beer in his backpack.

At that point, the sheriff called for a deputy to come to the scene, and Deputy Trevor Barrett responded.

"I arrived at 7:59 p.m. and Sheriff Andrews had a male subject against the wall by the exit of the church," the deputy's report says. "The male subject was unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech and an odor of an intoxicant about his person."

Deputy Barrett placed Wade into hand restraints and located a 40 oz. bottle of beer that was half empty among his belongings.

"He stated he was just asking for pills for pain from the members of the church as they were exiting after services," the report says. "The sheriff informed me that he was going to try and help Mr. Wade, but Mr. Wade had started using profanity when he approached the male subject."

The deputy arrested Wade for public intoxication and took him to jail. He was later released.

The next day, Thursday, Wade was arrested by Cookeville Police Officer Robert King, who was called to investigate "a male passed out on a bench by Rent A Center."

The manager of that business told police he was "worried for his customers," a warrant says.

Officer King said he found it difficult to rouse Wade and found him to have red watery eyes and an odor of alcohol about him.

He was taken to jail again. He has an Aug. 19 court date.


Read more: Herald Citizen - Drunk man wanders into church

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

 

Fox News says theaters packed for Palin movie before it opens

http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-national/fox-news-touts-packed-theatres-for-palin-movie-before-it-even-opens


Monday, July 18, 2011

 

Man friends probation officer on Facebook then post he gets drunk

Busted by Facebook: Some on probation learn the hard way that online posts can backfire

 

2:59 AM, Jul. 17, 2011
 

Andrew Wolfson

Courier-Journal

 

If you don't want to do the time, stay offline. Or at the very least, don't “friend” your probation officer.

Convicted of possessing methamphetamine and Ecstasy, Scott W. Roby learned that the hard way. The Louisville man had his probation revoked this month — and was sentenced to two years in prison — in part for violating conditions that required him to stay alcohol-free and out of bars and liquor stores.

Roby had invited his probation officer to be his friend on Facebook, then Roby posted pictures of himself drinking — including one in which he was holding a beer while posed next to “Buddy Bat,” the mascot for the Louisville Bats, said prosecutor Dinah Koehler.

In another Facebook post, according to court records, Roby asked: “Anyone wanna go get smashed tonight one last time before the end of the Earth?”

Judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the Kentucky Department of Corrections say that with increasing regularity, offenders on probation are losing their freedom or incurring other sanctions after posting pictures online of themselves clubbing, using “beer bongs,” posing with firearms or bragging about out-of-town trips they've made without their probation officer's permission.

Louisvillian Donnie Lee Griffith Jr., 22, for example, who also was on probation, went to prison last year on theft and burglary convictions after posting a Facebook photo in which he was holding a jar of clear liquid over a caption that said, “Moonshine rocks and so do I!”

In another post, according to court records, he reported that he was “drinking like a fish.”

Chelsea Otto, also 22, got 60 days tacked on to her 1-year sentence for cocaine possession in 2009 after she boasted that she drank “like 20pina coladas” during an unauthorized weekend jaunt to Clearwater, Fla.

In another post, she exclaimed, “We SHUT Hotel down!” referring to a 4th Street Live! nightclub.

Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Audra Eckerle said she's revoked probation for two offenders in part for their Facebook posts in recent years, including one who brandished a firearm in violation of his probation rules.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Bill Adams, who prosecuted Otto, said he's had a half-dozen cases in which offenders on probation incriminated themselves through social-media sites.

Probationers are required to stay away from alcohol, drugs and firearms and out of places that derive most of their revenue from alcohol sales.

The state doesn't track revocations triggered by social-media postings, but Lisa Lamb, a Corrections Department spokeswoman, said officers have used social media heavily for four years, both to find absconders and to monitor offenders on probation.

One officer, Shannon Blalock, who works out of the department's Murray office, does nothing but troll online and train other officers to do the same.

Blalock said some judges peruse social-media sites themselves, looking for violators.

Facebook indiscretions

Kentucky is not the only place where offenders are getting kicked off probation for implicating themselves online.

In Connecticut, according to press accounts, a woman convicted of killing a teenager while driving drunk had three years added to her sentence in 2009, in part because she was shown posing with alcohol in virtually every picture on her Facebook page — “worshipping at the altar of alcohol, debauchery and lewd behavior,” a prosecutor said.

The ABA Journal recently reported that the first thing some criminal-defense lawyers tell clients now is to shut down their Facebook accounts.

In Jefferson County, judges and lawyers say the stunning thing is that offenders often disclose their indiscretions online even knowing their probation officer is watching.

Griffith, for example, was thrown out of a pretrial diversion program after friending his officer, Olivia Payne, then posting photos of himself out of town and drinking at nightclubs. “Get a clue, strap on yo' shoes and get your --- to the Pink Door,” he said in one post.

When Jefferson Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson gave Griffith a choice of shutting down his Facebook page — or continuing it with Payne still looking over his shoulder as his friend — he chose to keep it.

Then he posted a report saying he'd been arrested for drunk driving, which Payne read. That was the last straw for Gibson, who revoked Griffith's probation and sent him to prison.

Why would somebody tell on himself in what amounts to an online confession?

“That is the $100,000 question,” said Louisville attorney John Dolan, who defended Griffith.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ryane Conroy, who prosecuted him, suggested that it is a “<snip>iness that they won't be held accountable.”

Other lawyers chalk up such cases to sheer stupidity.

Griffith, who was released on shock probation after serving about six months behind bars, didn't respond to messages left on his Facebook page, which no longer shows him drinking.

Otto, who has moved to St. Louis, also didn't answer messages left on her now-sanitized page.

Roby is in prison and his lawyer, Scott C. Cox, said he had no comment, other than to note that his client's Facebook postings were only part of the reason his probation was revoked — as was true in some of the other revocations. Roby also was cited for failure to report to his probation officer and changing his address without notifying the officer.

The posting 'high'

Experts on the psychology of social media, including Joseph Mazer, an assistant professor of communications at Clemson University, said it is so easy to post information online that the convenience “overrides a person's ability to critically consider the reach of social networking sites.”

Kieron O'Hara, who studies issues of trust and privacy online as a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, said, “Posting is such a ‘high' that people will often ignore what they really know is their best interests.

“We shouldn't underestimate how pleasurable and addictive some people find social networking” — and that in turn causes people to “give their privacy away so cheaply,” he said in an email.

Writing last month in a blog for the Houston Chronicle — “Facebook and the 5th Amendment” — former prosecutor Murray Newman said “bad posting decisions” are more prevalent among younger defendants, who seem to think they'll be more popular among their peer group by showing how “thuggish” they are.

Postings are fair game

But Newman said Facebook confessions aren't limited to the young and foolish.

“Drunk-driving defendants of all ages seem to enjoy taking pictures of themselves at closing time looking like Keith Richards on a bender,” he wrote.

In an interview, he said, “I tell clients to consider Facebook their own personal probation officer and that it will report you for the slightest violation.”

Civil libertarians seem to have no problem with corrections officials monitoring social-media sites.

“To the extent individuals voluntarily post information on social-networking sites that are accessible to others, the use of that information to establish a violation of probation or parole is likely to withstand any claims of invasion of privacy by the poster,” Bill Sharp, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky, said in an email.

He added, however, that courts must be careful to verify the defendant really was the poster. He cited a recent decision in which the Maryland Supreme Court held that a judge improperly admitted information from a social-networking site where the only evidence that the page belonged to a witness was that it contained his birth date and photograph.

In another recent Maryland case, a judge said photographs of a man on probation for a drunk-driving death — one showing him sitting next to a nearly full bottle of rum and another next to an empty bottle — didn't on their own justify revocation, absent evidence he drank the alcohol, which he denied.

Still, Newman advised, “Just remember that because Facebook is fun and gives you the opportunity to act like a high-schooler again doesn't mean that you necessarily should.”

 

 


Monday, July 18, 2011

 

Sears apologizes for $69 iPad 2 snafu

Sears apologizes for $69 iPad 2 snafu

 

Wailin Wong

Tribune reporter

2:33 PM CDT, July 18, 2011

 

Sears Holdings Corp. has apologized to customers for an errant online listing by a third-party sellers that offered two Apple iPad models at too-good-to-be-true prices.

"Unfortunately, today one of the Marketplace third party sellers told us that they mistakenly posted incorrect pricing on two Apple iPad models on the Marketplace portion of the website," the retailer said on its Facebook page Friday night. "If you purchased either of these products recently, your order has been cancelled, and your account will be credited. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

The third-party seller was a company called GSM On Sale. According to media reports, its Sears offer listed the 16-gigabyte, Wi-Fi-only iPad2 for $69. The tablet retails for $499 on Apple's website. The other iPad model listed on the Sears Marketplace website was a 32-gigabyte, Wi-Fi-only iPad2 for $179, compared with Apple's normal retail price of $599.

On Monday, visitors to GSM On Sale's website were greeted with a message saying: "Our online store is currently closed for maintenance."

Sears spokeswoman Kimberly Freely said Monday that the error was discovered on Friday but did not know how long the incorrect pricing had been live on the website or how many units had been ordered. When asked whether GSM On Sale remained a vendor partner, Freely said Sears does not comment on vendor relationships.

The iPad 2 mix-up isn't the first time Sears has had trouble with third-party sellers on its e-commerce platform. In May, the company apologized after a religious group found that pornographic DVDs were being sold through the site by a vendor partner.


Monday, July 18, 2011

 

A closer look at life with very, very, very long nails

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/showbiz/2011/07/17/nr.26.inch.nails.lady.cnn


Monday, July 18, 2011

 

Pregnant woman fights craving for furniture polish

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2015690/Emma-Veness-diagnosed-Pica-disorder-unusual-craving-furniture-polish.html


Monday, July 18, 2011

 

Grandparents may be safer drivers than parents

Study: Grandparents may be safer drivers than parents

 

Lindsey Tanner

Associated Press 

July 18, 2011

Dr. Fred Henretig, an emergency medicine specialist, is the lead author of a study that says that children may be safest in cars when grandparents are driving instead of mom or dad.

AP Photo courtesy of Jonathan Henretig

Dr. Fred Henretig, an emergency medicine specialist, is the lead author of a study that says that children may be safest in cars when grandparents are driving instead of mom or dad.

 

Chicago — Kids may be safest in cars when grandma or grandpa are driving instead of mom or dad, according to study results that even made the researchers do a double-take.

“We were surprised to discover that the injury rate was considerably lower in crashes where grandparents were the drivers,” said Dr. Fred Henretig, an emergency medicine specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the study’s lead author.

Previous evidence indicates that car crashes are more common in older drivers, mostly those beyond age 65. The study looked at injuries rather than who had more crashes and found that children’s risk for injury was 50 percent lower when riding with grandparents than with parents.

The results are from an analysis of State Farm insurance claims for 2003-07 car crashes in 15 states, and interviews with the drivers. The data involved nearly 12,000 children up to age 15.

Henretig, 64, said the study was prompted by his own experiences when his first grandchild was born three years ago.

“I found myself being very nervous on the occasions that we drove our granddaughter around and really wondered if anyone had ever looked at this before,” he said.

Reasons for the unexpected findings are uncertain, but the researchers have a theory.

“Perhaps grandparents are made more nervous about the task of driving with the ‘precious cargo’ of their grandchildren and establish more cautious driving habits” to compensate for any age-related challenges, they wrote.

The study was released online today in the journal Pediatrics.

Northwestern University Professor Joseph Schofer, a transportation expert not involved in the research, noted that the average age of grandparents studied was 58.

“Grandparents today are not that old” and don’t fit the image of an impaired older driver, he said. “None of us should represent grandparents as kind of hobbling to the car on a walker.”

Grandparents did flub one safety measure. Nearly all the kids were in car seats or seat belts, but grandparents were slightly less likely to follow recommended practices, which include rear-facing backseat car seats for infants and no front-seats. But that didn’t seem to affect injury rates.


Monday, July 18, 2011

 

Dad Sneaks Ailing Son Medical Marijuana

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/montana-father-medical-marijuana-cancer-stricken-toddler-son/story?id=13529490


Sunday, July 17, 2011

 

Fan gets spirited sendoff at his funeral

Corpse in O-H-I-O photo honors deceased's passion, family says

 

Thursday, July 14, 2011  03:07 AM
Encarnacion Pyle
 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Juli Miracle thinks her dad, Roy Miracle, would be tickled by his family letting him play the 'I" in "O-H-I-O" a final time. From left are Ann Robinson, Juli Miracle, Roy Miracle and Rick Ives.
 
Throughout his life, Buckeyes fan Roy Miracle of Newark was a bit of a prankster.

So when he died on July 1, his daughter Juli decided to give the 80-year-old a fitting sendoff: by snapping a photo of an O-H-I-O cheer before his funeral, with Mr. Miracle taking his usual position as the "I" from an open casket.

No one close to the Miracles thought anything of it, even after the photo went viral yesterday. But bloggers nationwide pointed to the picture as the ultimate example of just how far some Buckeye fans go to show their passion.

Some called the picture awesome, fun and a unique tribute to a true fan. Others questioned its appropriateness, saying they were disturbed by seeing Mr. Miracle's body used in such a public way.

Juli Miracle, of Newark, said she did it for her father because it captured his fun-loving spirit and love for the Buckeyes.

"I didn't do it for anybody but Dad and I," Ms. Miracle said. "To me, it was the best honor and tribute to do for him and OSU."

She said that she even led the congregation in an "O-H-I-O" at the end of his funeral service.

The Rev. Mark Chow, who officiated over Miracle's funeral at First United Methodist Church in Newark, said Ms. Miracle meant the photo as a tribute to her father.

"He was a fun-loving man who loved to tease," Chow said.

For the visitation, Ms. Miracle and her mother also put a candy bar in Mr. Miracle's hand to playfully honor his work in the church kitchen.

Ms. Miracle submitted the photo to the Ohio State website www.osu.edu/O-H-I-O with the headline, "Now Dad is the permanent 'I'."

Ohio State officials posted the picture this past weekend, but it was briefly taken down because a junior staff member feared it might offend some people, university spokeswoman Liz Cook said. Officials restored it to the site yesterday morning.

Several ethicists and religious leaders say the family's choice shouldn't be judged.

Families know how best to honor their loved one, said Monsignor Joseph Hendricks, pastor of St. Brigid of Kildare Catholic Church in Dublin.

Royal Rhodes, a religious-studies professor at Kenyon College, said there is a long tradition of family photos of the dead in various poses, as well as athletes and sports fans decked out in their team gear.

"It is a bit like the sensibility one finds in the comic film Weekend at Bernie ' s , in which the corpse is dressed up and positioned so as to give the impression he is still alive," Rhodes said.

Dispatch reporter Jim Woods contributed to this story.

LINK TO PHOTO: 

Juli Miracle thinks her dad, Roy Miracle, would be tickled by his family letting him play the 'I" in "O-H-I-O" a final time. From left are Ann Robinson, Juli Miracle, Roy Miracle and Rick Ives.http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/07/14/o-h-i-o-photo-honors-deceaseds-passion-family-says.html

Sunday, July 17, 2011

 

Why we made a car for blind drivers

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/17/hong.car.blind.drivers/index.html?hpt=hp_c2


Sunday, July 17, 2011

 

Casey Anthony released from jail; where will she go now?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-casey-anthony-released-from-jail-20110717,0,4294100.story


Sunday, July 17, 2011

 

Five truths about the deficit and the national debt

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/five-truths-about-the-deficit-and-the-debt/2011/07/13/gIQAcjbFGI_story.html?hpid=z1


Sunday, July 17, 2011

 

The price of gold: as influential as a global power

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2011/0716/The-price-of-gold-as-influential-as-a-global-power


Sunday, July 17, 2011

 

12 Awesome Hot-air Balloons

http://www.oddee.com/item_97820.aspx


Saturday, July 16, 2011

 

Feisty bird takes aim at pedestrians

http://www.azcentral.com/video/1056411980001


Saturday, July 16, 2011

 

Biggest Marijuana Field Ever Found

http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=12699&sitesection=ajc&VID=23461738


Saturday, July 16, 2011

 

Man ticketed twice for trying to save his babys life

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/he-saves-babys-life-gets-huge-ticket-125679938.html


Saturday, July 16, 2011

 

Man tries to rob ATM using a hatchet

Taunton man arrested after attempting to rob ATM using a hatchet

 
Scott Michaud mug shot

Scott Michaud allegedly tried to rob an ATM machine at the Taunton Federal Credit Union using a hatchet.



Charles Winokoor
Staff Writer
Jul 14, 2011 @ 11:42 PM
 
TAUNTON —

It was a hatchet job gone awry.

A city man wearing a hat, gloves and dark glasses tried unsuccessfully — by means of a hatchet, police said — to make an unauthorized cash withdrawal early Thursday morning from the ATM inside the lobby of Taunton Federal Credit Union’s main office at 14 Church Green.

Police at 5:15 a.m. got a call from one of two women who reportedly had just seen a man, later identified as 50-year-old Scott Michaud, striking the ATM with what appeared to be a hammer.

Michaud, with a last known address of 19 Fayette Place, allegedly walked out of the building after his encounter with the cash machine and headed toward the rear parking area.

Patrolman James Oliveira reported spotting the suspect walking down Fruit Street, and when he exited his cruiser to try asking some questions, Michaud allegedly glanced over and began walking faster.

When ordered to stop, the suspect reportedly began walking at an even quicker pace, which led Oliveira to physically block him and guide him to the rear of his cruiser.

While escorting Michaud the officer said he felt a hard object in his jacket pocket and handcuffed him as a precaution. That object, Oliveira said, turned out to have been a silver hatchet with a foot-long black handle.

Michaud reportedly nodded while his Miranda rights were being recited but refused to make a statement or identify himself. A matching Massachusetts driver’s license was found in his pocket, according to Oliveira’s report.

A computer check of the license indicated Michaud had an outstanding warrant.

A more complete pat frisk turned up a blue bag containing a pair of gloves, sunglasses, a black hat and $178 in cash, police said.

Michaud was arrested on the warrant and was also charged with malicious destruction of property over $250.

Police said they plan to review the contents of the TFCU surveillance video.

An employee of the credit union, who requested anonymity, said that trying to break into an ATM machine — especially one that’s imbedded within a wall and not a free-standing kiosk — makes "absolutely no sense."

Even if one were able to somehow break into the machine, he said, the actual cash would still be physically well out of reach.



Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/archive/x327790167/Taunton-man-arrested-after-attempting-to-rob-ATM-using-a-hatchet#ixzz1SGjb1dhB

Saturday, July 16, 2011

 

Groom arrested for having contact with bride

Groom arrested for having contact with bride in violation of court order

 

HUEY FREEMAN

H&R Staff Writer Herald-Review

Friday, July 15, 2011 3:01 am

DECATUR - As the bride, wearing a white dress, and the groom, sporting a red T-shirt and trousers, waited outside Courtroom 3A, along with about 15 guests, the bride was suddenly ushered away for a brief conference with authorities.

The groom, 23-year-old Billy J. Rutherford, was then arrested for violating terms of his bail, which prohibits contact with his alleged domestic battery victim.

The victim was the prospective bride.

At the time of his arrest Wednesday at the Macon County Courts Facility, Rutherford was free on bond in two cases.

In the first case, he was charged with one count of aggravated domestic battery and three counts of domestic battery with a prior conviction for the same crime, according to court documents.

He is facing up to seven years in prison, if convicted on the most serious count.

The victim told police that Rutherford "had been beating on her all day" at her home March 5. The beating included striking her all over her face, head and body; shoving her head into a kitchen cabinet and throwing her through a coffee table.

On March 9, while Rutherford was in jail, the victim was granted an order of protection against him.

Rutherford posted $1,000 cash bail two days later and was released on the condition that he was to have no contact with the victim.

For allegedly violating the order of protection, he was arrested two weeks later, returned to jail and charged with three new felony counts.

On March 27, he posted $5,000 bail and was released again.

Rutherford, slated to appear in court Monday in the domestic battery case and Wednesday in the order of protection case, was hoping to be a married man during those upcoming hearings.

Rutherford and his fiancée, who is not identified because she is a domestic battery victim, had planned to be married by Circuit Judge Thomas Griffith.

At the time of his arrest Wednesday afternoon, Rutherford told officers he wanted to be married by Griffith because he had represented both of them in separate cases earlier, when he was a private attorney.

After Rutherford was arrested Wednesday, he was booked into the jail and later released on bail.

Prosecutors are planning to charge him with violation of bail bond, punishable by up to 364 days in jail.



Read more: Groom arrested for having contact with bride in violation of court order http://herald-review.com/news/local/article_1916e09a-aa47-51be-a7fa-edba7fdeba29.html#ixzz1SGc89k5B
From the Herald & Review

Saturday, July 16, 2011

 

Woman tries to smuggle in jail Meth inside Bible

July 15, 2011

Cops: Indiana Woman Hid Meth Inside Bible In Jail Smuggling Bid

Smoking Gun

A woman is facing felony charges for allegedly hiding methamphetamine inside a Bible that she attempted to leave for an inmate at an Indiana county jail.

But the smuggling bid was thwarted when jailers noticed that the Good Book appeared to have been tampered with. A further examination revealed that the meth (and some tobacco) had been stashed inside the book’s binding.

The Bible and the seized contraband are pictured in the above police evidence photo.

Cops Tuesday arrested Sara Roseberry for trying to smuggle the items to a friend locked up at the Jennings County jail (Roseberry herself is now being held there in lieu of $100,000 bond). The 21-year-old defendant is pictured in the mug shot at right.


Friday, July 15, 2011

 

Is Tiger Woods Running Out of Money?

Is Tiger Woods Running Out of Money?

 
Daniel Roberts
Friday, July 15, 2011FortuneonCNNMoney.com

With only a few endorsement deals left, a recent divorce settlement, a hefty house mortgage, and even a pay cut from Nike, Tiger Woods' lifestyle is looking a lot less glamorous.

When news broke a few weeks ago that Tiger Woods had signed an endorsement deal to hawk a heat rub in Japan, it was hard not to think of "Lost in Translation," or of the "Entourage" episode when Vincent Chase goes to China to do an energy drink commercial because he's out of money.

Although Woods was likely paid in the single-digit millions for the spot -- in which he takes a swing, rubs his back, and says, "Go Vantelin!" -- it's a far cry from campaigns for PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP - News), Gillette, and Accenture (NYSE: ACN - News). The last time Woods showed up in Japanese TV ads was in 1997, when he promoted Asahi Wonda coffee, back before he became a phenomenon. So the deal with Kowa (maker of the rub) seems more like a moment of desperation than a return to form.

It's no secret that Woods, once king of the sports world, has suffered financially since his fall from grace. His endorsement list shrank and his marriage ended in a divorce settlement reportedly worth $100 million. But now he may actually be hurting for funds. At the very least, there are signs that he isn't generating enough to comfortably cover his costs.

Earlier this week, the golfer's agent, Mark Steinberg, announced he would be joining the agency Excel Sports. Although that means Excel gets Woods too, the icon was conspicuously absent from the announcement. Steinberg left IMG at the end of May. It took two weeks, but on June 7, Woods announced via Twitter that he would be leaving with Steinberg.

IMG declined to comment on the details of Steinberg's departure, or on Tiger Woods, but a trusted Fortune source with reliable information tells us that IMG was none too broken up about losing Woods, because his endorsement earnings have fallen so dramatically. The source says IMG's commissions for 2011 -- they'll continue to get a chunk of Tiger's endorsement deals through 2013 -- will be as low as $1.5 million.


©Hunter Martin/Getty Images

That's a huge drop from two years ago. With giants like Gillette, Accenture, Tag Heuer, and Gatorade having jumped ship, Tiger's major deals are down to three: Nike (NYSE: NKE - News), Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS - News), and Kowa. His EA Sports video game, "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '12," set a first-week franchise record of 225,000 games sold. But our source also tells us that Tiger's Nike money fell by as much as 50% in 2010 (to about $10 million, down from $20 million in 2009) and that he will get the same reduced amount for 2011. The reason? Nike penalized him for his indiscretions, reducing his payment for two years as a response to his public behavior. Nike had no comment.

That Nike would have renegotiated Tiger's contract to give him a temporary pay cut may be hard to believe, but Bob Dorfman of Baker Street Advertising says, "That's not surprising. They're not going to release him entirely, because that's not the way they are, but [a pay reduction] would not surprise me at all."

As for the Kowa deal, Dorfman estimates its value at $4 million. Doug Shabelman of Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing believes it's worth around $3 million.

Recent valuations of Tiger's overall endorsement earnings for 2011 have been between $60 million and $75 million. But based on our information about Nike, and on the Kowa estimates, the real number is likely closer to $20 million.

Woods' agent adamantly denies the assertion that the golfer is facing financial strain. "Tiger Woods is financially sound and strong, contrary to wide-ranging rumors and inaccurate figures in the media," Steinberg wrote in an email. "Stating anything else is incorrect and factually baseless."

The Woods P&L

Another factor that has undeniably fizzled is Tiger's tournament winnings. Woods won no majors in 2009, the first year that's happened since 2004. He went completely winless in 2010, and this year he's so far missed the U.S. Open, AT&T National, and British Open due to a knee injury. According to the PGA Tour website, Tiger's 2011 winnings so far total $571,363. Those are like pennies compared to the $10.9 million, $5.8 million, and $10.5 million he earned in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. In 2010, that dropped to $1.3 million.

Woods is still young, and undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers alive, but as he continues to stay off the links, that money stream dries up. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods Dubai, a billion-dollar project that was first set to open in 2009 with a golf course, pricey real estate, and restaurant, was scrapped in February.

As Tiger's revenues have declined, his expenses have only climbed. To begin with, there's the reported $100 million divorce settlement. And last August, Woods took out a $54.5 million mortgage on his home in Jupiter Island, Florida. According to the public document, Woods is required to pay off the mortgage in full by January of 2016, giving him a mere five and a half years to shed the debt. He's therefore paying more than $10 million each year, including his $431,042 in annual property taxes.

That 2010 property tax information comes from the district offices of Martin County, FL, where the home Woods now occupies alone is located. The property, which Woods purchased in 2006 for $44.5 million, is valued at around $47 million (the county values the house at $26.48 million, the land at $20.5 million). His 2010 improvements to the dwelling and the property cost him $6 million, including three separate residential pools, a tennis court, a golf green with a few holes, an elevator, and a 14,736-square foot improvement to the interior of the house -- evidence that Woods is not used to living cheaply. But the pace of his home improvements has slowed, according to online records of the county appraiser's office. So far there have been none in 2011.

Mark Steinberg says simply that there is no debt on Woods' Jupiter Island home, and declined to elaborate. But the Martin County clerk's office confirmed that their records show that the mortgage has not been paid off.

The Jupiter Island mega-mansion isn't the only Woods property. Among others, in 2007 he bought his mother property near his own, in Jupiter Island, for $2.4 million. In 2010, construction on that cost him another $2.6 million. Presumably, it's Woods himself that pays and will continue to pay all taxes on the home.

Between the divorce settlement and his recent mortgage, Tiger has faced recent debts to the tune of at least $160 million, though it's unknown how much of this he has now paid down. His endorsement earnings will not come close to this in 2011, and he's no longer adding much to his pot with golf winnings. Nike's decisive slash to his contract has not helped matters.

"Tiger remains one of the most popular and visible athletes in the world, demonstrated by television ratings, tournament attendance and various empirical polls," Steinberg says. "His endorsement future is strong and any additional partnerships will be announced at the appropriate time."

To fix up his financial short game, Tiger Woods is going to have to start making money again the old-fashioned way: by playing the sport he's known for


Friday, July 15, 2011

 

Deciphering Palin's Words and Actions: She's Running!

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44780


Friday, July 15, 2011

 

Robber broke into hair salon is beaten by black-belt owner kept as sex slave fed only Viagra

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013870/Robber-broke-hair-salon-beaten-black-belt-owner-kept-sex-slave-days--fed-Viagra.html 

 

Thanks to Truecritic for the tip


Friday, July 15, 2011

 

Man arrested for spray painting male anatomy on front door and...

19-year-old charged in obscene graffiti

He told police he was angry at resident of home in West University

LAUREN MATHIS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

July 15, 2011, 5:37AM

Creeping up to the front porch of a darkened house on the quiet, dim-lit street in West University, a young man begins to paint a giant penis on the front door.

The phallic roguery didn't end there. Nineteen-year-old William Tyler of Houston admits he painted another one on the side of the home on Arbuckle.

Tyler told West University police he was angry at a resident of the house, who he said was "harassing his cousin."

So a little after 2 a.m. June 8, in addition to the penises, Tyler also spray-painted "whore" and "slut," along with other obscenities, on the victim's Lexus and Toyota vehicles in the driveway, according to court documents.

He admitted to West University police that he poured paint stripper on top of the cars before gluing coins to the vehicles and placed some grass killer on the lawn.

On July 1, he returned to the residence and scratched the victim's Ford Explorer with a box cutter before slashing all four tires, according to court documents. The damages to the property exceeded $22,000.

Tyler is accused of vandalizing two other vehicles in the West University area with a box cutter, spray paint and a knife on that same day.

West University police arrested Tyler and an alleged accomplice, Amer Kumar, 23, on July 1. Tyler was charged Wednesday with criminal mischief.

Police allege that Kumar remained in a getaway car for Tyler.

Tyler and Kumar were released from custody, each on $2,000 bail.

River Oaks teen faces 4 felony vandalism counts for incidents in West U, Bellaire

FROM ABC-13

 


Friday, July 15, 2011

 

Employee Announces They Quit On Sign With An Expletive

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/search/Copy_of_Employee-announces-they-quit-on-sign


Friday, July 15, 2011

 

Obama'a policies are causing economic and moral decline

http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/14/obamas-policies-are-causing-economic-and-moral-decline/


Thursday, July 14, 2011

 

Inmate, girlfriend, guard charged with smuggling pot into jail

Inmate, girlfriend, guard charged with smuggling pot into jail

decrease text size

Heriberto Viramontes

Heriberto Viramontes

 
Jason Meisner and Andrew L. Wang
Tribune reporters

3:40 p.m. CDT, July 14, 2011

 

A Cook County Jail inmate who is awaiting trial in the brutal beating of two women with a baseball bat during a robbery in Bucktown last year has been charged with smuggling marijuana into the jail, prosecutors said today.

Prosecutors charged that Heriberto Viramontes arranged to have his girlfriend, Kira Lundgren, bring in a package of marijuana during visiting hours on June 11. Lundgren was arrested on her way out of the jail and the package was discovered during a search of Viramontes’ cell.

Also arrested on June 11 and charged was a jail guard accused of letting Lundgren smuggle contraband into the jail, Jerome Prusa, 50, of Westchester, according to the Cook County sheriff's police.

On June 11, Lundgren hid a small amount of marijuana in her shoe and went to Division 10 of the jail to visit Viramontes, according to a sheriff's statement. Once in the visiting room, she took the marijuana out and taped it to the underside of a table.

An undercover officer investigating smuggling into the jail division then came to the same visiting room and was approached by Prusa, who pointed the officer to the marijuana Lundgren had allegedly left and asked if it could be given to Viramontes at the same time.

Prusa then let the undercover officer into a secure area of the jail with the contraband and then back into the visiting room, according to the sheriff's statement.

Both Lundgren and Prusa were immediately arrested. The drugs were later found in Viramontes' cell when guards tossed it, the statement said. Police found two knives in Prusa's uniform when he was taken into custody.

He has been de-deputized and suspended pending an employment hearing and has resigned his position as an auxiliary officer for the LaGrange Park Police Department, the statement said.

Viramontes, 32, and Lundgren, 22, each were charged with one count of bringing contraband into a penal institution. She is free on a $10,000 bond, records show.

Prusa, who is free on a $40,000 bond, has been charged with four counts of official misconduct, two counts of possession of a weapon in a penal institution, one count of bringing a weapon into a penal institution and one count of bringing contraband into a penal institution.

According to records Prusa has been with the sheriff's department since July 2005.

Viramontes and his former girlfriend, Marcy Cruz, 26, are awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery and aggravated unlawful restraint. Authorities allege that Viramontes struck Stacy Jurich, 24, and Natasha McShane, 23, with a baseball bat as they walked home in the Bucktown neighborhood on April 23, 2010. Cruz allegedly waited in a vehicle and drove Viramontes from the scene, authorities said.

McShane, a native of Northern Ireland, bore the brunt of the beating, sustaining head injuries that have left her unable to walk, speak or dress herself, the Tribune reported earlier this year.


Thursday, July 14, 2011

 

Son you're 14 years old. Do you really still need a babysitter?

PD: Babysitter had sex with 14- year-old

Posted: Jul 14, 2011 11:11 AM EDT Updated: Jul 14, 2011 11:23 AM EDT

 

 
Clinton, Conn.

Clinton police have arrested a 19-year-old babysitter, accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy she was hired to care for.

Police said Loni Bouchard and the boy had a sexual relationship that was consensual and lasted half a year.

Charges were brought against Bouchard after the boy's mother learned about the relationship.

She was charged on Tuesday with second-degree sexual assault,  two counts of impairing the morals of a child, and permitting a minor to possess alcohol.


Thursday, July 14, 2011

 

Mom leaves kids in hot car then beats Good Samaritan

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/28525333/detail.html


Thursday, July 14, 2011

 

Brain tumour turned my husband into a transvestite and he disinherited me

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2014167/Widow-transvestite-died-brain-tumour-battle-525k-will.html?ito=feeds-newsxml


Thursday, July 14, 2011

 

The college degrees you should have gotten

July 13, 2011
 
The college degrees you should have gotten
 
Annie Mueller
Investopedia.com

Thinking of heading back to school? Certain college degrees lead to nice starting salaries and hefty mid-career salaries - you just have to choose the right path. (SHUTTERSTOCK)

Though the job market is tough for everyone and we're all tightening our belts, there are some particular fields faring much better than others. Certain college degrees lead to nice starting salaries and hefty mid-career salaries, even in a state of economic slump

 

Petroleum Engineering

In general, engineering wins the award for best college major with a total of seven spots on the top-ten list of college degrees leading to highest salaries. The first five spots for best college degrees are engineering, with petroleum engineering sitting in the number one position. It is the highest college degree in starting pay, with an average of just over $90,000 salary. And mid-career median pay, on average, ends up around $160,000, far exceeding the other five engineering degrees on the top-ten list.

Other Engineering Degrees

Aerospace, chemical, electrical and nuclear engineering occupy the next four spots on the top-ten list. Potential starting salaries for all four of these college degrees is around $60,000, and the average mid-career salary for these degree-holders is around $100,000. Not far below those numbers are two additional engineering degrees: biomedical and computer. Engineering, in all its specialties, is one of the top five in-demand degrees in the current job market.

Math and Sciences

Unfortunately for those of us who prefer words to numbers, the other three degrees on the top-ten list don't cater to wordsmiths. Applied mathematics, physics and economics are the options, with average starting salaries from $48,000 to $56,000 and mid-career salaries all ending up right around the $100,000 mark. Accounting, though not in the top-ten for earning potential, is the top in-demand degree in the job market, according to a recent study from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The easy, albeit general, conclusion to draw is that the higher-demand, higher-earning college degrees are numbers-oriented, versus those in liberal arts or the "soft" sciences. There are exceptions, however. For those not mathematically inclined, there are some options.

Government

Government majors start out with an average salary of around $40,000 - certainly not the highest starting salary among the college degrees. However, mid-career salaries average at around $87,000, topping the mid-career salaries of degrees in computer information systems, geology, chemistry and accounting.

When evaluating college degrees, it's important to look at mid-career salary point as well as the average starting salary. Computer information systems, geology, chemistry and accounting degrees can all get you a starting salary that's higher than the average $41,000 a beginning government worker will earn; so at first glance, government seems like the poorer choice, but it offers that higher mid-career salary which, for most workers, is the amount they'll earn for a much longer time.

Liberal Arts and Business

Besides government, there are a few surprises in the non-numbers oriented college degrees. Several that can lead you to a mid-career salary above $70,000 include film production, marketing, advertising, history, philosophy and fashion design. You might not earn the $100,000 per year that you could with one of those top-ten engineering degrees, but if you're happy in your chosen field then job satisfaction may be enough to compensate for that lost $30,000 potential in earnings.

Two Surprising Degrees to Avoid

A Bachelor of Science in Nursing is another one of those degrees that looks great at first glance, with a nice starting salary: the average starting pay is $52,700, which is in the top 20 of average starting salaries. A great choice, right? But by mid-career, most nurses will cap out at a salary not much higher than what they began with. The average mid-career income is $68,200, less than $16,000 more than the starting pay.

Another surprise is that architecture, a degree commonly perceived as one with high earnings potential, is actually on the low end in both starting ($42,000 a year) and mid-career average salary ($78,000). With the student loans that accompany a five-year bachelor's program, which an architecture degree usually requires, it's a big investment for a not-so-great return. If design and building are the passion you want to pursue, urban planning and construction management are better options as far as salary potential. A degree in urban planning can lead to a mid-career salary of $82,000, and construction management has an average mid-career salary of $87,000.

The Bottom Line

The best college degrees is the one that combines your interest and skill. Hopefully, that coincides with market demand and higher earning potential. Don't rely on assumptions about careers perceived as high-earning; do the research to find out what the job potential truly is, in terms of hiring rates, starting salary and average mid-career earnings.


Thursday, July 14, 2011

 

Rodney King arrested: Celebrity mug shots

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/rogues_gallery_of_starlets/rogues_gallery_of_starlets.html


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

 

Welcome to Jimmy Carter's 2nd term

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/12/hurt-welcome-to-jimmy-carters-2nd-term/print/


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

 

Court picks name for 2 year-old after parents can't agree

Court picks name for child in parental disagreement

 

Shelley Hadfield

Herald Sun

July 14, 2011 12:00AM

child generic

The Family Court has been forced to choose a name for a little girl whose parents could not agree.

A COURT has been forced to step in and choose the name of a two-year-old Australian girl because her parents couldn't agree.

The little girl was yet to have her birth registered, with each parent calling her by a different name.

The Family Court of Australia recently decided that the first name the mother chose should be used and ordered that the girl be registered by that name.

She has already been known by her father's surname.

The couple's relationship broke down before the girl was born.

Justice Colin Forrest was asked to rule on a name, as well as the amount of time the child and her brother spent with each of the parents.

"I am drawn to the conclusion that the father's opposition to the name (chosen by the mother) is yet another example of his determination to control the mother and her parenting of these two children," Justice Forrest said.

He said the child would ultimately choose for herself which name she preferred to be called. But, Justice Forrest said, the problem was the fact the birth had not been registered.

The court heard that the mother offered a compromise of having the two names hyphenated, but the father vehemently opposed the suggestion.

The mother said she picked the girl's name because of the name's meaning and the way the toddler looked when she was born.

But the father claimed the name the mother picked was blasphemous in his Islamic faith and the hyphenated name suggested was as offensive to him as the name the mother had chosen alone.

Justice Forrest said an imam gave evidence there was nothing about the name that was offensive to Islam.

But the imam told the court he did not know the meaning of the name the father had selected for the child and did not know whether or not it was offensive to Islam.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

 

Woman arrested for refusing to let TSA officers pat daughter down

Police charge mother in Nashville airport altercation

Woman refused to let officers screen daughter

 

5:42 AM, Jul. 13, 2011

 

Andrea Fornella Abbott is charged with disorderly conduct.

Andrea Fornella Abbott is charged with disorderly conduct.

Erin Quinn | The Tennessean

 

A 41-year-old Clarksville woman was arrested after Nashville airport authorities say she was belligerent and verbally abusive to security officers, refusing for her daughter to be patted down at a security checkpoint.

Andrea Fornella Abbott yelled and swore at Transportation Security Administration agents Saturday afternoon at Nashville International Airport, saying she did not want her daughter to be “touched inappropriately or have her “crotch grabbed,” a police report states.

After the woman refused to calm down, airport police said, she was charged with disorderly conduct and taken to jail. She has been released on bond.

Attempts to reach Abbott on Tuesday were unsuccessful. The report does not list her daughter’s age. The mother and daughter were traveling from Nashville to Baltimore on Southwest Airlines.

“(She) told me in a very stern voice with quite a bit of attitude that they were not going through that X-ray,” Sabrina Birge, an airport security officer, told police.

“No, it’s not an X-ray,” she told Abbott. “It is 10,000 times safer than your cell phone and uses the same type of radio waves as a sonogram.”

“I still don’t want someone to see our bodies naked,” Abbott said, according to the police report.

At one point, Abbott tried unsuccessfully to take a video with her cellphone.

TSA policy revised

The arrest comes on the heels of public outrage over a video showing a pat-down of a 6-year-old girl at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The April video prompted a new policy that took effect last month in which airport security screeners must try to avoid invasive pat-down searches of children.

TSA says it will instruct screeners how to make repeated attempts to screen young children without invasive pat-downs. The instructions should reduce the number of pat-downs on children, TSA says.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

 

Man with 106 arrests was arrested again

Man with 106 arrests nabbed in Uptown robbery

Michael Woods

Michael Woods (Chicago police / July 13, 2011)

 

Staff report

10:59 a.m. CDT, July 13, 2011

A 52-year-old man with 106 arrests on his record was arrested again Tuesday afternoon, accused of robbing a disabled person in Uptown, Chicago police said.

Michael Woods, of the 900 block of West Wilson Avenue, has been charged with strong-arm robbery of a handicapped victim over 60, battery and resisting arrest, said Chicago Police Officer Darryl Baety.

The incident happened about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 1000 block of West Lawrence Avenue, Baety said. Woods and an accomplice allegedly approached and tried to steal $60 the victim had in his hand. 

The victim fought off the would-be robbers and other witnesses intervened to restrain Woods, Baety said. The struggle was still going on when police arrived.

An officer ordered Woods to stop fighting, but Woods disobeyed and struck the officer several times, Baety said. He was soon arrested.

Records indicate Woods has been arrested 106 times for felonies, misdemeanors and other city ordinance violations. He has been convicted 18 times. This appears to be the first time he has been arrested in 2011.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

 

Contractor tears off roof at wrong house

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/virginia/contractor-tears-off-roof-at-wrong-house-071211


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

 

Man to officer: You're arresting "God"

Pontiac man to Lake Orion police officer: You're arresting 'God'

Published: Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Shaun Byron
The Macomb Daily

A Pontiac man has been arrested on allegations of drunken driving after Lake Orion police say he was driving down the wrong side of the road and claimed to be God.

Kandy Sylester Jones, 35, was arraigned Monday in 52-3 District Court on charges of drunken driving and driving on a suspended license.

This was Jones’ third time being arrested for drunken driving and a second time he has been arrested for driving on a suspended license.

He is being held on a $5,000 cash bond.

The incident happened about 5:30 p.m. July 6 when a resident living on Smith Court, off Lapeer Road, called 911 about two men arguing and yelling profanities in an area where small children were playing.

An officer was dispatched to the scene and spoke with the manager of the rental units in the area.

The manager also heard the quarreling, police said.

The officer walked around the area and spotted two men matching the descriptions given by the caller, police said.

The men were on a pontoon boat docked at an address on Heights Road, just south of Smith Court and adjacent to the rental properties.

The officer drove to the address on Heights Road and approached the two men, who were drunk, police said.

Jones, who wasn’t wearing a shirt or shoes, told officers he was God and had spit and drool covering his chest, police said.

The second man wasn’t as drunk and explained to the officer Jones was visiting and had drank a large amount of alcohol, police said.

The officer warned the men to stop the fighting and swearing and watched as they went back to the rental units.

A few minutes later, the officer reported seeing Jones driving a silver car the wrong way on Heights Road, which is a one-way street, police said.

Jones pulled up next to the officer, parked the car and got out, police said.

The officer stopped Jones and had him go through sobriety tests, which he failed, police said.

A preliminary breath test showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.137 percent.

Jones, however, continued to insist he was fine, even though he couldn’t walk without falling, police said. Officials added that Jones told the officer he was arresting God.

He has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1994, with convictions for possession of controlled substances, police said.

Jones will be back before a judge July 14 for a pre-exam conference before 52-3 District Court Judge Lisa Asadoorian.

 

LINK TO PHOTO: 

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/07/13/news/doc4e1d921f8f8d8782954322.txt?viewmode=fullstory


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

 

Wanted: Workers Who Speak English and Show Up Sober

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/06/14/wanted-workers-who-speak-english-and-show-up-sober/?ncid=txtlnkuscare00000002


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

 

Should parents lose custody of super obese kids?

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/story/2011/07/Should-parents-lose-custody-of-super-obese-kids/49320358/1


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

 

10 Worst Parking Jobs and Other Oddities

http://www.oddee.com/item_97823.aspx


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

 

Woman calls 911 wants jail for slapping husband for refusing to have sex with her

LINK TO STORY:

http://gamutnews.com/20110708/50620/woman-requests-jail-for-slapping-hubby.html

 

LINK TO 911 TAPE:

http://www.wmbfnews.com/category/195966/video-landing-page?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6024864

 

Thanks to Truecritic for the tip


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

 

State Senator under fire for pointing loaded gun at journalist

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/07/12/2011-07-12_lori_klein_arizona_state_senator_under_fire_for_pointing_loaded_gun_at_journalis.html


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

 

Pair tried to steal historical presidential documents worth millions

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-historical-artifact-theft-20110711,0,7602985.story


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

 

Mother provides alcohol to juveniles for babysitting

Police: Muncie mother provides alcohol to juveniles

A 15-year-old told officers Lindsey R. Jones gave her and her underage friends alcohol for baby-sitting Jones' children

 

12:16 AM, Jul. 11, 2011

ANDREW WALKER

 

MUNCIE -- A Muncie woman was jailed Thursday after police determined she had allegedly compensated teenagers for baby-sitting her kids by providing them with alcohol.

Lindsey R. Jones, 30, 2308 W. 10th St., is preliminarily charged with six counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, three counts of neglect of a dependent and possession of marijuana.

According to a probable cause affidavit, police were dispatched to Jones' 10th Street address about 12:40 a.m. Thursday after a neighbor called to report possibly intoxicated juveniles at a nearby residence.

When officers arrived, six juveniles admitted they were drinking at the house. One of the juveniles told police she was baby-sitting Jones' three children, ages 11, 7 and 3.

The girl said Jones "provided them with alcohol in exchange for baby-sitting her children," and that she had invited five friends over to drink with her. Child Protective Services representatives were called to the scene, where they removed Jones' three children from the house.

Jones was apprehended Friday morning after she appeared for a hearing at the Youth Opportunity Center. She was taken to the Delaware County jail, where officers located a bag in her possession reportedly containing marijuana.

Thursday's alleged incident is not the first time Jones has been accused of providing alcohol to a minor.

In 2009, Jones, then 28, was arrested after she allegedly punched a teenager she had been drinking with near her home.

In that case, police were called to Jones' residence after a 17-year-old boy said Jones had struck him in the jaw. Officers then located Jones' one-year-old son sleeping in a bedroom. He was placed in the custody of relatives by CPS.

Formal charges in that case are yet to be filed, according to court records.

In 2006, Jones, then of Elletsville, was convicted of driving while intoxicated in Johnson County. She also has convictions out of Monroe County for driving while intoxicated (2005) and criminal conversion (2004).

Jones was being held Sunday at the Delaware County jail under a $23,500 bond.

 

Jones

Jones

The Star Press


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

 

Restaurant bans kids under age 6

http://www.wtae.com/r/28488145/detail.html


Monday, July 11, 2011

 

Bill Maher Equates Casey Anthony Verdict with Voting Republican

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-maher-casey-anthony-republicans-taxes/


Monday, July 11, 2011

 

Westboro church to picket Betty Ford funeral services

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/07/westboro_baptist_church_known.html


Monday, July 11, 2011

 

Chicagoans Overwhelmingly Vote to Ban Palin, Beck & Coulter Books at Book Fair

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/chicagoans-overwhelmingly-vote-ban-palin-beck-coulter-books-book-fair-obama%E2%80%99s-home-town


Monday, July 11, 2011

 

Palin: I Believe I Can Win A National Election

http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/10/palin-%e2%80%98i-believe-that-i-can-win-a-national-election%e2%80%99/


Monday, July 11, 2011

 

Free Slurpees today at 7-Eleven

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-07-10-free-711-slurpees_n.htm


Monday, July 11, 2011

 

The Tragic Decline of BlackBerry

http://techland.time.com/2011/07/08/the-tragic-decline-of-blackberry/


Monday, July 11, 2011

 

How to grow a replacement kidney

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/10/atala.grow.kidney/index.html?hpt=hp_c2


Sunday, July 10, 2011

 

Store owner shoots robber in buttocks. Was it self-defense?

What is self-defense? Fatal shooting raises questions

Prosecutors did not file charges in Dec. 28 incident involving store owner and robber

SCOTT DAUGHERTY
Staff Writer
Capital Gazette Communications
07/10/11

With his hand shoved in the right pocket of his black Columbia jacket, Josue Angel walked into a gas station-doughnut shop early one morning last December and demanded cash. He had a gun and wasn't afraid to use it, the El Salvadoran immigrant told the owner of the Laurel store.

To punctuate the threat, he punched the owner in the stomach.

At first, Mapher Ibrahimi, a 48-year-old married father of two, complied - he opened the register and let Angel fill his pockets.

But as Angel turned toward the door, Ibrahimi unzipped his black winter coat, pulled a .40 caliber Heckner & Koch semi-automatic from the holster on his hip and followed him outside.

This was the second robbery in three weeks at the store and the fourth in 17 months.

Outside, Ibrahimi yelled for Angel to stop.

According to police reports, Ibrahimi said Angel then turned in a "scary way."

The store owner opened fire - releasing a volley of six hollow-point bullets into the cold winter air.

A moment later, Angel, 29, of Laurel, was on the ground, bleeding from a single shot to his buttocks in a nearby parking lot. The man with an "Only god can judge me" tattoo across his chest died later that morning at the Prince George's County Trauma Center.

While Angel was apparently unarmed, running away and shot from behind, prosecutors decided earlier this year not to file charges in the Dec. 28 shooting. They also didn't take the case before a grand jury.

"The law is not crystal clear. One can make arguments for charging or for not charging," Deputy State's Attorney William Roessler said. "In the end, we felt the self-defense claim would ultimately prevail."

Despite the prosecutor's decision - which surprised legal experts contacted by The Capital - the case raises questions about what constitutes the line between self-defense and murder.

"It just doesn't look like self-defense to me," said George Harper, an attorney representing Angel's widow, Nancy Aldano. He plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Ibrahimi in the coming weeks.

"It looks like he chased him down and killed him," Harper said.

No alarm

When Angel walked up to the store at about 3:30 a.m. with his face partially shrouded by a blue scarf, Ibrahimi thought he was just another customer, according to a 54-page police report obtained by The Capital under the state's Public Information Act.

Outside the Dunkin' Donuts-Chevron station, the owner snuffed out his cigarette and followed Angel inside. He was greeted with a threat.

"Give me the money or I will (expletive) kill you," Angel said quietly enough that a clerk at the doughnut counter didn't hear him.

Mohamed L. Dieye and customer Stephen Koran said they didn't realize what was happening until Angel bolted out the door.

In an interview with police, Koran recalled Ibrahimi followed the robber outside and opened fire.

"As soon as he got out the door (he started shooting). It wasn't even a second," Koran said, according to a police recording. "I just thought he was a little reckless for shooting."

Bullets fly

What transpired outside the gas station on Route 198 not far from the Laurel Park race course was neither fully captured on video nor witnessed by Koran or Dieye. For details, police and prosecutors were forced to rely primarily on Ibrahimi's version of events.

According to Ibrahimi, he yelled for Angel to stop. In response, Angel spun around.

"He looked at me right away with his hand in his pocket. That scared me so much I shot the first shot," Ibrahimi told Detective Jason McNemar, explaining he thought Angel was turning around to shoot. "My estimate at that moment, I be dead."

Ibrahimi, a Jordanian immigrant, fired a total of six Federal-brand rounds as he chased Angel around the building. Five casings were found in front of the store and one was discovered around back, behind the Starting Gate Servicenter.

Ibrahimi told detectives he kept firing because Angel kept turning around toward him.

Only one of the shots connected with Angel, striking him in the right buttocks.

The bullet tore through his right femoral artery before exiting the front of his thigh. He ran for several hundred feet before collapsing in an adjacent parking lot, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Dieye called 911. Dozens of county paramedics and police officers - including one who sold Ibrahimi his gun - descended on the gas station.

While paramedics transported Angel to the hospital, officers secured the scene with crime tape, covered bullet casings with cups and started interviewing witnesses.

From Angel, police recovered $94 in cash, a diamond ring, Timberland glasses, a Samsung digital camera and a pack of Ice Breakers gum.

Ibrahimi was taken to a police interview room in Crownsville, where he waited more than 90 minutes for detectives to return from the scene. He was read his Miranda rights, but spoke to detectives without an attorney.

Aggressor?

For prosecutors, the question of whether to charge Ibrahimi boiled down to what happened when he confronted Angel outside the store.

It didn't matter that Angel - an illegal immigrant with only traffic crimes on his record in Maryland - was trying to run away at the time of the shooting, Roessler said. Under his reading of state law, a store owner is allowed to pursue a thief and try to reclaim his property.

"The owner was under no obligation to remain in his store or to retreat," Roessler said.

He added that since Angel said in the store he had a gun, Ibrahimi was within his rights to use lethal force when he saw the man swing his arm around.

"If you believe the store owner, and we have nothing to contradict him, then he responded legally," said Roessler, stressing that he found Ibrahimi to be serious, candid, soft-spoken and "believable."

Harper, the attorney representing Angel's widow, disagrees. In a June 6 letter to the State's Attorney's Office, he argued Ibrahimi became the aggressor as soon as he left the store in pursuit of Angel.

"Once (Angel) had exited the store and begun his retreat, Mr. Ibrahimi had a duty to retreat," Harper wrote in the letter. "The peril was not so imminent that he could not safely retreat. He did not stand his ground to defend himself, he pursued."

To support his argument, he cited one of the standard instructions judges give jurors in cases involving claims of self-defense.

"Before using deadly force, the defendant is required to make all efforts to retreat," the jury instruction reads, according to Harper.

In an email, Harper went on to question Ibrahimi's account of what happened. Specifically, he noted the fact that Angel was shot in the rear.

Roessler agreed the location of the bullet wound raised some questions for his staff, but he said it did not mean Ibrahimi lied about Angel swinging his arm around in a threatening manner.

Ibrahimi declined to comment for this article, but his attorney stressed his client did nothing wrong.

"He was totally in the right. His reaction was wholly appropriate," said Peter O'Neill, arguing there was no guarantee Angel was not going to return and shoot Ibrahimi.

"It is a shame he had to die, but he put himself in that position," O'Neill said.

Questions persist

The decision not to pursue charges against Ibrahimi drew mixed reviews last week from several private attorneys contacted by The Capital.

Some argued prosecutors made the right choice; few jurors in the county would even consider convicting a shop owner for shooting a robber.

"The jury would probably carry him out (of the courtroom) on their shoulders," said veteran defense attorney and former prosecutor T. Joseph Touhey.

Others said the location of Angel's wound called for prosecutors to take action.

"I could certainly see a good argument for voluntary manslaughter. ... Just because you are a robbery victim, you don't get a pass to kill the robber," said David E. Aaronson, professor of law at the American University Washington College of Law and author of "Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary."

"I think the state's attorney had an obligation to at least present it to a grand jury," said Andrew D. Levy, a Baltimore defense attorney and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. "It's not that I think a jury would definitely convict, but they certainly could have."

Harper and Aaronson questioned what message the State's Attorney's Office sent to the community by not filing charges.

"Vigilante justice should not be sanctioned by the state legal system," Harper said.

Roessler countered that the job of a prosecutor is only to consider the facts of a particular case and how they relate to Maryland law. They can't make decisions based on how the public might interpret them, he said.

Plus, he added, such an argument can go both ways.

"If we prosecuted (Ibrahimi), then we might be sending a message that store owners can't defend themselves and that store owners are free targets in Anne Arundel County," Roessler said.


Sunday, July 10, 2011

 

Woman faces jail time for planting vegetable garden

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/julie-bass-of-oak-park-faces-misdemeanor-charge-for-vegetable-garden-20110630-wpms


Sunday, July 10, 2011

 

If Caylee Anthony had been black would you know her name?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-caylee-anthony-had-been-black-would-you-know-her-name/2011/07/06/gIQAtTW23H_story.html?hpid=z2


Sunday, July 10, 2011

 

Shoplifting Science: clerks try to keep up with crooks

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/fl-shoplifting-science-20110708,0,5475254.story?BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


Saturday, July 9, 2011

 

Airport employee lifted more than luggage

Friday, 07.08.11

Airport employee lifted more than luggage

 
 Nelson Santiago, 30, of Hollywood.
Nelson Santiago, 30, of Hollywood.
Courtesy of Broward Sheriff's Office

 

Lidia Dinkova

Miami Herald

Police have arrested a Transportation Security Administration employee who stole about $50,000 worth of electronics from travelers’ luggage at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Nelson Santiago, 30, of Hollywood, was arrested after an employee with Continental Airlines saw him slip an I-Pad computer out of a suitcase and into his pants on Monday, said Dani Moschella, spokeswoman for Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Santiago has been charged with two counts of grand theft. He was released from jail on Tuesday, according to a report released on Thursday.

An investigation by detectives lead them to find Santiago responsible for a string of similar thefts during the past six months.

He told investigators he stole computers, GPS devices and video cameras from suitcases he was screening during his shift at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s Terminal 1. The terminal houses Continental and Southwest airlines.

Santiago would immediately take a photo of the stolen item with his cell phone, post it for sale online and often sell it by the time his shift ended.

The 30-year-old man has been a Transportation Security Administration officer since January 2009, but he does not work for the agency any more.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office is continuing their investigation with the Transportation Security Administration.

More charges on Santiago are pending.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/08/2305025/airport-employee-lifted-more-than.html#ixzz1RbucH1Hf

Saturday, July 9, 2011

 

Octomom's kids wreak havoc on Today set

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/07/octomoms-kids-wreak-havoc-on-today-set-/1?csp=hf


Saturday, July 9, 2011

 

Man jailed for cashing Chase check at Chase Bank

Jailed for cashing Chase check at Chase bank

LINDA BYRON / KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on July 6, 2011 at 10:50 PM

Updated Thursday, Jul 7 at 4:01 PM

Related:

 

http://www.king5.com/news/investigators/Chase-apologizes-to-customer-for-wrongful-arrest-125182154.html

 

AUBURN, Wash. - Buying his own home was a big accomplishment for construction worker, Ikenna Njoku, of Auburn. He’s only 28 years old.

 “I was really excited. For the first time, I actually got to buy a lawn mower, mow my lawn and everything,” said Njoku.
 
Njoku qualified for the first time home buyer rebate on his tax return. 
 
"It was really important, I had a vehicle I was looking on paying off," said. Njoku. And it wasn’t just any vehicle. “It was a 2001 Infinity I-30, silver…just like my favorite car, “he said.
 
Njoku signed up to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase Bank account. But when the IRS rebate arrived, there was a problem.  Chase had closed Njoku’s account because of overdrawn checks in the past. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed them and mailed him a cashier’s check for the difference--$8,463.21.
 
But when Njoku showed up at the Chase branch near his house intending to cash the check, he was in for a nasty surprise.
 
The check had Njoku’s name and address on it and was issued by JP Morgan Chase. But the Chase Customer Banker who handles large checks at the Auburn branch was immediately suspicious.
 
“I was embarrassed,” Njoku said. “She asked me what I did for a living. Asked me where I got the check from, looked me up and down—like ‘you just bought a house in Auburn, really?’ She didn’t believe that,” he said.
 
The Customer Banker said the check looked fake, so she took it, along with Njoku’s driver license and credit card, and called Bank Support.   
 
After waiting for about 15 minutes, Njoku said he got impatient and told Chase he was leaving to do an important errand. By the time he got back, the bank was closed. Njoku said he called customer service and asked them what he should do. He says they told him to go back to the bank the next day to get his money.
 
But when Njoku arrived, it wasn’t the money that was waiting for him.
 
“They just threw me in jail; they called the police and said this guy has a fraudulent check,” Njoku said.
 
Auburn police arrested him for forgery - a felony crime.
 
“I was like - you’re making a mistake, you’re making a mistake, don’t take me to jail, I got work tomorrow. I can’t afford to miss work,” he said.
 
Njoku was taken to jail on June 24, 2010, which was a Thursday. The next day, Chase Special Investigations, realized it was a mistake. The check was legitimate. The Investigator called Auburn Police and left a message with the detective handling the case, but it was her day off. So Njoku stayed in jail for the entire weekend. Finally, on Monday, he was released.
 
Auburn Police Commander Dave Colglazier said Chase could have done a lot more to let them know they’d locked up an innocent man. 
 
“We do have a main line that comes into our front office,” he said. “There are ways to reach someone 24/7 at a police department.”
 
For Njoku, going to jail for five days meant a lot more than just losing his freedom. He said the entire time he was “just stressed out…trying to figure out what was going on with my vehicle.  I love my vehicle,” he said.
 
Njoku’s car had been towed from the bank parking lot and his check seized as evidence. 
 
“I had to wait a couple of weeks,” he said, “and my car got sold, auctioned off."
 
Njoku says he didn’t have the money to pay the impound fees and fines to get his car back before it was sold.  He said he also lost his job because he didn’t show up for work while he was in jail.
 
After all of that, Njoku said he never heard a word from Chase.
 
“They haven’t even sent me a letter or apologized,” he said. “It’s been a year we’ve been trying to contact these guys.”
 
Finally, A Seattle attorney offered to help. Last week, Felix Luna sent Chase a scathing letter.  
“It’s one thing to make a mistake,” Luna said. “It’s one thing to make multiple errors of judgment like Chase has made and then, once you realize that your error has caused such harm to somebody else, to just ignore it for a year. I think he deserved better. I think all their customers do.”
 
Like Njoku, KING 5 had a difficult time getting answers from Chase. A week after first contacting them, they sent a two line e-mail. 
 
"We received the letter and are reviewing the situation.  We'll be reaching out to the customer," wrote Darcy Donoahoe-Wilmot, from Chase Media Relations.
 
But on Thursday, Chase issued an apology.
 
Njoku said that even after he got out of jail, he said was confused and upset. "For a month, two months, I was just down and depressed," he said.
 
He’s still happy he bought his house, but sad that his experience with his own bank was so humiliating.
 
“They treated me like a criminal,” he said.

Friday, July 8, 2011

 

Former first lady Betty Ford dies at the age of 93

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/08/betty.ford.dies/index.html?hpt=hp_t1


Friday, July 8, 2011

 

The amazing artist who paints only with her LIPS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012431/Kiss-colour-Young-Houston-artist-Natalie-Irish-paints-LIPS.html


Friday, July 8, 2011

 

Councilman admits sending fake grenade threat

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/must_read/st-francis-city-councilman-admits-faking-grenade-threat-jul-7-2011


Friday, July 8, 2011

 

Obama looks at 9.2% unemployment

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/07/Obama-to-talk-about-jobs-at-1035-am-176138/1?csp=hf


Friday, July 8, 2011

 

10 Most Incredible Hairy People

http://www.oddee.com/item_97812.aspx


Friday, July 8, 2011

 

Intruder awakens resident asks to use bathroom

Intruder Awakens South Windsor Resident In Her Home, Asks To Use Bathroom

Suspect Has Violent Criminal History In California

By DAVID OWENS

The Hartford Courant

10:19 PM EDT, July 6, 2011

SOUTH WINDSOR

 

Heath Elliot Cain

Heath Elliot Cain (Courtesy South Windsor Police Department / July 6, 2011)

 

A local man with a violent criminal history was arrested on Wednesday after he let himself into a woman's home early in the morning, woke her up and told her he needed to use the bathroom, police said.

Pamela Bowen said in an interview that said the man, Heath Elliott Cain, 36, stayed for about 15 to 20 minutes but did not harm her. She said she prayed throughout the ordeal that she would be OK.

Police said that a short time after Cain left Bowen's Homestead Drive home, officers tracked him down with the help of a police dog.

Cain, of 135 Norton Lane, was arraigned Wednesday on several charges in Superior Court in Manchester. Court records from California show that he served time in prison after a conviction on assault charges in the late 1990s.

Bowen said on Wednesday afternoon that Cain did not seem to be drunk or under the influence of drugs. Some of the things he said were incoherent, and other times he seemed lucid, she said.

"He said to me, 'I'm not going to hurt you lady, I just want to use your bathroom,'." Bowen said.

After waking her up, he told her at various times that he wanted to purchase the home, that he used to live there with another family and that someone had dropped him off and he was looking for his car, Bowen said.

She said she repeatedly asked Cain to leave, and followed him downstairs to her kitchen, where he looked at photos on her refrigerator, then opened the refrigerator to get a drink.

At one point, Cain went into the bathroom, then came out with a towel, Bowen said.

"That's when I really got scared," she said. "I said, 'What are you doing with that towel?'?"

Cain responded that he had to wipe down the door knobs he had touched because he left his DNA on them. He tried to put the towel in the washing machine to get rid of his DNA, but Bowen said she told Cain she wasn't turning on the machine. He eventually left through a garage door.

Before he walked into Bowen's home, police said, Cain defecated on the walkway leading up to it. Police also found his underwear on the walk.

Cain later told police that he got into the house through the unlocked front door.

Bowen said it won't be unlocked ever again.

South Windsor police Lt. Richard Riggs said several people called the department earlier on the same night to report that someone had rang doorbells at their homes. In once instance, Riggs said, a man approached a home, rang the doorbell then told the person in the house that he was handcuffed and needed a ride to his house. The homeowner locked her door and called police.

Police charged Cain with second-degree criminal trespass, second-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct and held him in lieu of $50,000 bail for arraignment Wednesday in Superior Court in Manchester.

During that arraignment, prosecutors added a charge of first-degree burglary and a judge increased Cain's bail to $150,000. He is due back in court Aug. 9.

Cain served seven years in prison for California after he shot his then-girlfriend in the head and stabbed a hospital pharmacist in the late 1990s, according to California court records.

He was charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, assault with a firearm, robbery, assault with a knife and burglary. A jury acquitted him of attempted murder and kidnapping, apparently believing Cain's statement that was trying to shoot himself and not his girlfriend when he hugged her tight and fired the pistol. He said he intended to shoot himself in front of her, not shoot her.

After driving his girlfriend to the hospital, according to the court records, Cain forced his way into the hospital pharmacy, threatened to stab the pharmacist, then "slurped the contents of several medication bottles."

He was convicted on the assault charges.

Courant reporter Jesse Leavenworth and Senior Information Specialist Cristina Bachetti contributed to this report.


Friday, July 8, 2011

 

Man steals Pablo Picasso art work

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/07/BAC41K7JHQ.DTL


Friday, July 8, 2011

 

Woman's Accounts Frozen After $3M Overdraft

http://www.wesh.com/news/28468572/detail.html


Thursday, July 7, 2011

 

Win a baby game draws fire

New "win a baby" game draws fire

Reuters
 
Stefano Ambrogi
Thursday, 07 July 2011 09:48
 
LONDON (Reuters) – A controversial IVF lottery will launch in Britain this month giving prospective parents the chance to win thousands of pounds toward expensive fertility treatments in top clinics.

The scheme, which the media have dubbed "win a baby," has already run into trouble on ethical grounds with critics calling it inappropriate and demeaning to human reproduction.

Britain's Gambling Commission has granted a license to fertility charity, To Hatch, to run the game from July 30.

Every month, winners can scoop 25,000 pounds' ($40,175) worth of tailor-made treatments at one of the UK's top five fertility clinics for the price of a 20 pound ticket bought online. The tickets may eventually be sold in newsagents.

The lottery is open to single, gay and elderly players as well as heterosexual couples struggling to start a family.

If standard IVF fails, individuals can be offered reproductive surgery, donor eggs and sperm or a surrogate birth, the charity says, though the winner will only be able to choose one treatment.

Winners will be put up in a luxury hotel before being chauffeur-driven to a treatment center. They will also get a mobile phone and a personal assistant to help with queries.

Camille Strachan, founder and chair of the charity, who has had fertility treatment of her own, told Reuters she wanted to create the "ultimate wish list" for those struggling with the stress of being unable to conceive.

"The license couldn't have come at a better time with drastic (government health service) budget cuts ... where in most cases IVF is the first on the hit list, rendering most couples resorting to private treatment."

But some medical and ethical groups condemned the game and the Gambling Commission said the issues it had thrown up may need further scrutiny.

Britain's fertility regulator, The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said using IVF as a prize was "wrong and entirely inappropriate."

"It trivializes what is for many people a central part of their lives," it added in a statement.

Josephine Quintavalle, from the campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said "creation of human life should not be reduced to a public lottery ... this demeans the whole nature of human reproduction."

The Gambling Commission said it had noted reaction to the scheme but said it had no regulatory powers to intervene and that any decision to revoke a license would be a government one.

"This particular example, perhaps, has thrown up some questions which may need looking at and whether that is by us or the government I don't know," a spokesman said.

"There has been concern expressed about this, but from our perspective it's a pretty straightforward granting of a license application for a lottery operator.

Around one couple in seven suffers from fertility problems in the UK, according to the fertility regulator. Latest figures show 40,000 patients were treated with IVF in 2008 which led to 15,000 babies being born as a result of that treatment.


Thursday, July 7, 2011

 

Woman charged with putting antifreeze in smoothie

Woman charged with putting antifreeze in smoothie

AP
Selena Irene York 
 
AP – This image provided by the Lane County Jail shows Selena Irene York who faces a second-degree felony …
By LYNN DeBRUIN, Associated Press Lynn Debruin, Associated Press–Wed Jul 6, 7:33 pm ET

SALT LAKE CITY – A woman was being held on an attempted murder charge Wednesday after police say she spiked her roommate's peach smoothie with antifreeze three years ago.

Selena Irene York, 33, was arrested this week in Eugene, Ore., where she remained jailed pending extradition back to Utah.

Police say Ed Zurbuchen, now 78, nearly died when York bought him a smoothie at a nearby store, dumped out half of it and poured in antifreeze before he drank it.

The Sept. 29, 2008, case went cold until a jilted boyfriend of York's recently came forward with new information, authorities said.

Police in Vernal, Utah, received a letter in April from Joseph Dominic Ferraro, who was awaiting trial on an unrelated case in Oregon but had information about the crime, according to court documents. The documents say he provided specific details of where York bought the smoothie and the antifreeze.

The biological father of York's teenage daughter, Zack Elderkin, later told investigators that the girl told him at the time about the man they were living with and how they planned to "knock him off."

Ferraro said he came forward with the information after York drained his bank accounts and sold both of his cars while he was in jail. He said she told him back in 2008 she planned to obtain power of attorney over Zurbuchen's finances, then kill him.

Authorities say they questioned York again in late June after receiving the letter and she admitted poisoning Zurbuchen. She claimed she only did it because she wanted him to "stop being mean" to her children.

When Zurbuchen was taken to a hospital after drinking the smoothie, He suffered from dizziness, speech problems and numbness on his face, authorities said. Tests determined he ingested ethylene glycol, the main ingredient in antifreeze.

At the time, York acknowledged giving Zurbuchen the smoothie but denied putting antifreeze in it, and police didn't have enough evidence to charge her.

Vernal police declined to comment Wednesday.

It wasn't immediately clear if York had an attorney or when she would be brought back to Utah.

Zurbuchen, however, still lives in Vernal and says he hasn't had a peach smoothie since.

"Heavens no," he said Wednesday.

He said York was an acquaintance who fell on tough times and he allowed her and her daughter to stay with him for a while.

"I never thought she'd be sleeping upstairs in my room fabricating how to kill me," Zurbuchen said. "That just blew my mind. ... I'm just lucky I'm here."


Thursday, July 7, 2011

 

Kids ingesting embalming fluid in unlikely wave of '90s nostalgia

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/06/7026650-kids-ingesting-embalming-fluid-in-unlikely-wave-of-90s-nostalgia


Thursday, July 7, 2011

 

$36K stolen from Walmart shopping cart

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/9827132/


Thursday, July 7, 2011

 

Should a woman be forced to wear makeup?

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/07/06/harrods_retail_dress_code_makeup/index.html


Thursday, July 7, 2011

 

Typing beats scribbling Indiana schools can stop teaching cursive

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/06/typing-beats-scribbling-indiana-schools-can-stop-teaching-cursive/?hpt=hp_c2


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

 

Teen faces prison after sex doll prank goes awry

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107050317


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

 

Casey Anthony can earn millions from media and Hollywood

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/07/06/casey-anthony-can-earn-millions-from-media-hollywood/


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

 

Man attacks speed camera with a hammer

July 6, 2011

Parkway reopened, police still seek attacker

Baltimore Sun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maryland State Police have reopened all lanes of the Baltimore Washington Parkway but are continuing to seek a person who took a hammer to a speed enforcement vehicle. The man also had a shotgun, but police said no shots were fired.

Still, the incident shut down for hours a major highway between Baltimore and Washington, creating havoc on the roadways, and sent heavily armored police to the highway and roads near BWI Airport. An empty BW Parkway is seen above, in a picture by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum.

The latest update from Maryland State Police:

The search is continuing this evening for an armed man who vandalized a speed camera vehicle parked along the Baltimore Washington Parkway in Anne Arundel County late this morning.

The suspect is described as a white male, aged 60-65 years, approximately 5’8” tall and 150 lbs, with gray hair. He is said to have been wearing a red and blue plaid shirt, possibly flannel, with blue jeans.

The male victim is not being identified at this time. He was not physically injured in the incident.  He is an employee of the company contracted by the State Highway Administration to conduct speed camera enforcement in construction zones on Maryland interstates.

Shortly before 11:30 a/m. today, the victim was parked in his white Jeep SUV, with cameras mounted on the hood, along the southbound shoulder of the BW Parkway, just north of the Rt. 195 exit. The victim said the suspect walked out of a wooded area to his right and was armed with a shotgun and a hammer.

The suspect tapped on the rear window of the Jeep with his shotgun. Alarmed, the victim began blowing his horn. The suspect then walked to the front of the Jeep and struck the windshield repeatedly, leaving large spider web type breaks in the glass.

In fear for his safety, the victim jumped out of his vehicle and crouched near the guardrail.  He said the suspect was yelling, but it sounded incoherent and he could not understand what the man was saying.

Moments later, the victim said the man walked back into the woods the same way he came, still carrying the shotgun and hammer. No shots were fired.

Troopers from the Maryland State Police and officers from the Anne Arundel County Police responded quickly and established a perimeter around the area. SWAT teams from both departments responded, as did support units that included K-9 teams and State Police helicopters. Due to the proximity of an armed suspect to the BW Parkway, troopers closed the road both north and southbound for the safety of motorists.

State Highway Administration personnel responded and diverted traffic at I-695 to the north and Rt. 100 to the south. Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers also assisted with the search and in securing the area perimeter.

The immediate search of the area did not lead to the location of the suspect. The BW Parkway was reopened to traffic at about 2:45 p.m. today.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

 

Man crashes van into Social Security office

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A man who said he was upset over his treatment by the government is accused of crashing his van into a Social Security Administration office in Traverse City.

Douglas McCallum, 47, of Kingsley rammed the van on Sunday night into the front of the office, which was closed, police said. He was arrested nearby for malicious destruction of property and was released from custody Monday.

"It was a fit of rage caused by years of being screwed over by the government," McCallum told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

McCallum said he was frustrated because officials continued to deny his disability claim after six years.

Formal charges were pending. McCallum wasn't injured, police said.

According to police, McCallum ran over the office's sign and positioned the van so the rear faced the office's front entrance. A witness told police the van then crashed twice into the building before he got out.

Robert Simpson, who has worked 26 years for the Social Security Administration, said it's the first time he's seen a frustrated claimant act out violently.

"Most people are reasonable," said Simpson, who manages the Traverse City office. "They have to meet the requirements of the law and if they don't agree with the determination, they have appeal rights."

The office opened for business as scheduled Tuesday, and visitors now must enter through a secure employee entrance. Repairs to the entrance and lobby are expected to take several weeks.

LINK TO PHOTO OF BUILDING:

http://record-eagle.com/latest-mobile/x999478971/Fit-of-rage-at-Social-Security-office


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

 

We Can No Longer Pray For Heroes At The Veterans National Cemetery

http://bigpeace.com/mangley/2011/07/05/a-disgrace-we-can-no-longer-pray-for-heroes-at-the-veterans-national-cemetery/


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

 

World's narrowest house

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011199/Worlds-narrowest-house-just-60-inches-wide-Warsaw.html


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

 

World's scariest roller coasters

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2011/07/06/2011-07-06_worlds_scariest_roller_coasters_the_cyclone_at_coney_island_makes_the_terrifying.html


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

 

No recession for Obama's 454 White House aides: They'll make $37,121,463 this year

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/07/obama-white-house-salaries-soar.html


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

 

Woman hoses grandson down for eating too much bacon

July 5, 2011

Face Behind The Name: Meet Marilee Ann Kolynych, Alleged Domestic Bacon Portion Enforcer

Meet Marilee Ann Kolynych.

The Pennsylvania grandmother, 63, is set for a preliminary court hearing Thursday in connection with her arrest last week for endangering the welfare of her nine-year-old grandson.

Kolynych was busted after she chased the boy from her home and pinned him down on the front lawn, where she blasted him in the face with a garden hose. Police reported that the woman was angry with the child because he had consumed more bacon than anyone else during breakfast. The boy told a Clifton Heights Police Department officer that he had “been getting tortured by his grandmother…all day for an incident that took place during breakfast.”

The boy was not harmed during the June 28


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

 

NYC rationing toilet paper

NYC rationing toilet paper at Coney Island

RICH CALDER

Last Updated: 10:08 AM, July 4, 2011

Posted: 1:06 AM, July 4, 2011

 

EXCLUSIVE

Hey buddy, can you spare a square?

The city is so hard up for cash that it's rationing toilet paper in women's public restrooms -- to the point where bathroom attendants are doling out a few measly squares per patron -- along the world-famous Coney Island boardwalk.

The Post witnessed stone-faced Parks Department employees leave toilet-paper dispensers empty last week and instead force astonished female beachgoers to form "ration lines" in the bathrooms.

Regina Ballone, 25, of Brooklyn visited a boardwalk bathroom at West 16th Street Wednesday and was "grossed out" at the thought of someone else handling her toilet paper.

NO MORE! Regina Ballone (above) and Brittny Harrison can't believe workers are rationing toilet paper.
 
Photos: Gabriella Bass
 
NO MORE! Regina Ballone (above) and Brittny Harrison can't believe workers are rationing toilet paper.

"Never in my life have I experienced anything like this," she said. "I walked toward a stall, and a bathroom attendant stopped me by shouting, 'Hey, mami! There's no toilet paper here,' and she whipped out a big roll for me to grab some."

Beachgoers also have been forced to line up for their paltry allotment of the city's cheap, single-ply toilet paper at the boardwalk's other women's restroom at Stillwell Avenue.

Benedikte Friis and Ann Damgaard, both 22, from Denmark, said they enjoyed visiting Coney Island last week -- except when it came to the bathrooms.

"It's very weird that someone decides how much paper you get because they don't know what situation you're in," said Friis, 22, laughing in disbelief. "You might need more!"

Toilet-paper rationing isn't an issue in the men's rooms -- but only because they apparently don't have any to ration. The toilet paper was gone whenever a The Post reporter went to inspect the men's rooms.

The Parks Department refused to say how much it budgeted for toilet paper and other supplies, with a spokeswoman saying only, "Bathroom supplies are stocked daily, and our budget for these supplies is consistent.

"There's no need to ration, and we'll make certain our staff does not do so," added the rep, Meghan Lalor.

But bathroom attendants privately insisted that the department isn't adequately stocking the boardwalk with enough bathroom supplies, which is why they are forced to ration what they have.

Dianna Carlin, owner of the Lola Star Boutique, said the bathrooms should be in better shape considering boardwalk merchants agreed to pay the city fees this summer to keep them open longer.

"I gave $1,000 but would've been better off buying $1,000 worth of toilet paper and dropping it off," she said.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/ed_off_over_coney_tp_ration_ZLxvCQtk7PMMJa8wPtA39J#ixzz1RFFEz1E8


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

 

Woman caught trying to sneak husband out of prison in luggage

Suitcase Prison Escape: Maria Del Mar Arjona Tries To Sneak Juan Ramirez Tijerina Out Of Mexican Jail

Suitcase Prison Escape

07/ 4/11 10:43 PM ET   AP

 

CHETUMAL, Mexico -- Police say a woman was caught trying to sneak her common-law-husband out of a Mexican prison in a suitcase following a conjugal visit.

A spokesman for police in the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo says staff at the prison in Chetumal noticed that the woman seemed nervous and was pulling a black, wheeled suitcase that looked bulky.

Spokesman Gerardo Campos said Monday that prison guards checked the bag of 19-year-old Maria del Mar Arjona and found inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up inside in the fetal position.

Ramirez is serving a 20-year sentence for a 2007 conviction for illegal weapons possession.

Arjona was arrested and charges are pending.


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

Obama's Reagan parallels are falling away

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-07-04-obama-reagan-reelection_n.htm


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

The Most Dangerous Show on Television

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/06/26/breaking-bad-the-finest-hour-on-television.html


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

Sneak peek at the new Sarah Palin movie

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/sneak-peek-at-the-996382.html


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

Fox News Twitter account hacked false tweet said Obama shot

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-cybersecurity-foxtre7632jf-20110704,0,369125.story


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

$22B in treasures discovered in temple's secret vault

India temple holds $22B in treasures
Updated 7/4/2011 11:35 AM ET

 

An Indian police officer stands guard at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, India. A vast treasure trove has been found there.

 

An Indian police officer stands guard at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, India. A vast treasure trove has been found there.

 

NEW DELHI (AP) — A vast treasure trove of gold coins, jewels and precious stones unearthed at a lightly guarded Hindu temple in India was expected to grow further in value Monday as the last two secret vaults sealed for nearly 150 years are opened.

The government has increased security since the treasure's discovery in recent days, which has instantly turned the 16th-century Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple into one of the wealthiest religious institutions in the country.

Four vaults recently opened at the temple in Trivandrum, the capital of the southern state of Kerala, held a vast bounty that unofficial estimates peg at $22 billion.

The treasures unearthed so far include statues of gods and goddesses made of solid gold and studded with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other precious stones, crowns and necklaces, all given as gifts to the temple over the centuries.

The volume of gold and silver coins was so enormous that the investigators weighed the coins by the sackful, rather than counting them, officials said.

The temple, built by the maharajas who ruled the then-kingdom of Travancore, remained under the control of the erstwhile royal family after India's independence in 1947.

India's Supreme Court ordered the inspection of the vaults after a lawyer petitioned a local court asking the state government to take over the temple, citing inadequate security. The current Maharaja of Travancore had appealed to the Supreme Court against the petition.

The inventory began last week and the final vaults were to be unlocked Monday afternoon. The public knew the temple had treasures but not the quantum.

Before the trove was uncovered, there was almost no visible security at the temple, save for a few local security guards patrolling the complex with batons, mainly for crowd control.

Kerala's police chief, Jacob Punnoose, said he sent extra police officers to guard the temple and is planning a high-tech security system to protect the treasure.

"We plan to enhance security in a manner which will not interfere with the activities of the temple or devotees," Punnoose said.

The security plans include the installation of digital electronic networks, closed circuit cameras and metal detectors at the entrance and exits of the temple.

Manoj Abraham, city police commissioner, said two battalions of special armed police would provide security outside the temple complex.

"Later, we will discuss with temple authorities and members of the former royal family what kind of permanent security system should be put in place," Abraham said.

Every year, devout Hindus donate millions of rupees worth of cash, gold and silver to temples. Some temples in India are so wealthy, they have formed trusts which run schools, colleges and hospitals that offer free treatment to the poor.

The discovery has sparked a debate over the future of the treasure trove.

Vellappally Nateshan, a Hindu leader, said the wealth should remain with the temple authorities.

Some social activists in Kerala have demanded the treasure be handed to a national trust to help the poor.

Kerala's top elected official, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, however, assured the people that the wealth would remain with the temple.

"It is the property of the temple. The government will protect the wealth at the temple."

Chandy said the government would bear the cost of stepping up security at the temple and ensure that worshippers were not inconvenienced.


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

100 great things about America

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/01/100-great-things-about-america/?source=cnn_bin&hpt=hp_bn3


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

Inmate sues state over lack of porn in jail

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110704/METRO03/107040358/1412/METRO03/Inmate-sues-state-over-lack-of-porn-in-jail


Monday, July 4, 2011

 

Do July 4th parades turn kids into republicans?

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/02/do-july-4th-parades-turn-kids-into-republicans/?hpt=hp_c2


Sunday, July 3, 2011

 

One debt reduction plan get the billions in uncollected taxes

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/03/v-fullstory/2297452/one-debt-reduction-plan-get-billions.html


Sunday, July 3, 2011

 

My mom is tired of her boyfriend she gonna kill him and...

Police: Pregnant woman shoots boyfriend near children

Patricia Jaggon, pregnant, Bobby Cord, shootingPatricia Jaggon is accused of shooting her boyfriend.

 
Sunday, July 03, 2011 7:15 AM
 
DAYTONA BEACH -- 

 

Police in Daytona Beach say a pregnant woman shot her boyfriend in an apartment full of children.

Investigators said Patricia Jaggon, 27, got in a fight with Bobby Cord, 58, Saturday night at an apartment on Jean Street.

They said when he went looking for his belongings to leave fight broke out between Cord and Jaggon. Jaggon then pulled out a gun from under a pillow in the master bedroom and shot him. Cord was hit in the right arm and chest.

Jaggon called the police and when they arrived they asked where the suspect was, in which Jaggon said, "Here I am."

Police said seven kids were inside the home at the time, ranging in age from one to 12 years old.

One of the children inside during the incident told police that Jaggon said, "after she kills him [Cord], she was going to put lemons in a sock and hit herself with them."

Additionally, in the police report, one of the children told police Jaggon messaged them saying she was going to kill Cord because she is tired of him and she is with him because "he drives a nice car."

Jaggon is six months pregnant. She's now charged with attempted murder.

Cord was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center.

 


Sunday, July 3, 2011

 

Stricter offensive bumper sticker law takes effect

http://www.wkrn.com/story/15009792/stricter-offensive-bumper-sticker-law-takes-effect


Sunday, July 3, 2011

 

Twitter: Serving 200 million tweets daily

Jul 01, 2011

Twitter: Serving 200 million tweets daily

 

Brett Molina

USA TODAY

 

The homepage for Twitter.
 

Twitter users send out 200 million tweets each day, according to 2011 statsfrom the social networking service.

 

During the first half of the year, 1 billion updates hit the site every five days.

For some perspective, Twitter notes on its blog that "the world writes the equivalent of a 10 million-page book in Tweets or 8,163 copies of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace."

What are users tweeting about? Here are this year's top trending topics, according to Twitter, grouped by World Events/News and Pop Culture.

World Events/News

1. AH1N1 - Swine Flu

2. Mubarak - former Egyptian president

3. Easter - Christian holiday

4. Cairo - capital of Egypt

5. #prayforjapan - sentiment following the March earthquake and tsunami

6. Chernobyl - site of nuclear disaster in 1986

7. Libia/Libya - site of an ongoing civil war

8. Fukushima - Japanese nuclear power plant

9. William & Kate - Newly named duke and duchess of Cambridge

10. Gadhafi - Libyan political leader

Pop culture

1. Rebecca Black - pop singer

2. Femme Fatale - newly released Britney Spears album

3. Charlie Sheen - actor

4. #tigerblood - hashtag popularized by Charlie Sheen

5. Nate Dogg - rapper

6. Anderson Silva - Brazilian mixed martial artist

7. Tom & Jerry - famous cartoon

8. Mumford & Sons - British rock band

9. Bieber alert - referring to artist Justin Bieber

10. Queen Gaga - referring to artist Lady Gaga


Sunday, July 3, 2011

 

3 Marines Accused Of Marrying For Financial Gain

3 Marines face charges of adultery, marrying for financial gain

CNN Wire Staff
July 2, 2011 7:30 a.m. EDT
 
Marine Cpl. Ashley Vice, left, and Jaime Murphy say they each married a Marine to receive stipends offered to married couples.
 
Marine Cpl. Ashley Vice, left, and Jaime Murphy say they each married a Marine to receive stipends offered to married couples.
 
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Marine Cpl. Ashley Vice: "I honestly didn't even try to hide it"
  • Vice says she is a lesbian who married a straight Marine for the money
  • She says she did it so she could get financial assistance offered by the military
  • The financial assistance is only offered to heterosexual couples
(CNN)-- Three California Marines have been charged with marrying for financial gain, accused of manipulating the military's off-base housing program so a lesbian couple could live together, according to a woman at the center of the case.

Marine Cpl. Ashley Vice says she and two others have been charged with conspiracy, making false official statements, fraud and adultery for allegedly marrying to collect thousands in financial assistance offered by the military to heterosexual married couples.

"The bottom line is that every Marine knows if they violate the law, they will be held accountable for their actions," 1st Lt. Maureen Dooley, a Marine spokeswoman at Camp Pendleton, told CNN.

"Regardless of sexual preference, we will hold all Marines accountable to the same standards."

Dooley would not release details about the case, saying the "investigation is ongoing."

Vice told CNN affiliate KGTV in San Diego that she wanted to live off base with her girlfriend, Jaime Murphy, as a couple. Murphy is a civilian.

But on her salary, she couldn't afford it.

So she says she found a Marine, Jeremiah Griffin, who agreed to marry her so she could receive the $1,200 per month living stipend the Marine Corps gives to married couples living off base.

A year and a half later, Murphy did the same thing and married Marine Joseph Garner, Vice and Murphy told KGTV, according to footage that aired Thursday.

Vice said she was questioned by the Marine Corps about the living arrangements.

"I honestly didn't even try to hide it," she said. "I just said this is what's going on. They asked me who Jaime is ... I told them."

The three Marines are accused of pocketing about $75,000.

"There's no conspiracy here," Murphy told KGTV. "There's no trying to steal from anybody. We just wanted to be together and she wanted to serve her country."

Vice and the two others face up to a year in prison if convicted on all counts. They also face the possibility of a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of all pay.


Saturday, July 2, 2011

 

Burger King and other fast-food chains selling alcohol

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-06-30-fast-food-restaurants-offering-alcohol_n.htm


Saturday, July 2, 2011

 

The Mother-In-Law from Hell

http://www.news.com.au/technology/mother-in-law-email-part-2-father-of-bride-to-be-calls-carolyn-bourne-snotty-miss-fancy-pants/story-e6frfro0-1226085290621


Saturday, July 2, 2011

 

Retired cop arrested in 1957 slaying of 7-year-old child

Originally published July 1, 2011 at 9:55 PM | Page modified July 2, 2011 at 10:04 AM

Retired cop arrested in 1957 slaying of child

Authorities say an unstamped train ticket found among an ex-girlfriend's belongings unraveled a half-century-old alibi and led to the arrest of a Seattle man in connection with the slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl in 1957.

 

Christine Clarridge and Mike Carter

Seattle Times staff reporters

Authorities say an unstamped train ticket found among an ex-girlfriend's belongings unraveled a half-century-old alibi and led to the arrest of a Seattle man in connection with the slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl in 1957.

Jack Daniels McCullough, 71, is being held in King County Jail in lieu of $3 million bail and is awaiting extradition to Illinois, according to a statement by the Dekalb County State's Attorney Clay Campbell. He has been charged with murder in the death of Maria Ridulph in Sycamore, Ill.

McCullough, who changed his name from John Tessier in 1994, is a longtime Washington state resident who served as a police officer in Lacey and Milton, according to a document of probable cause. When he was arrested this week, he was working as the night watchman at The Four Freedoms House of Seattle, a 300-unit retirement home in North Seattle, where he lived with his wife.

The disappearance of Maria Ridulph in December 1957 terrorized the community of Sycamore, about 70 miles west of Chicago, and shocked the nation. Then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and President Dwight D. Eisenhower both took an active interest in the case, according to reports.

Maria's 8-year-old friend said the two girls had been playing in a neighbor's front yard when a man named "Johnny" came up and asked to give them a piggyback ride. The friend went inside for a moment, and when she returned, Maria was gone.

Maria's decomposed body was found five months later about 100 miles from her home.

McCullough, who was 18 at the time, was an early suspect but had an alibi, claiming he had been in Chicago when Maria was abducted. The case went cold after he joined the military.

The investigation was reopened last year, according to court documents filed in King County District Court, when police re-interviewed a woman who dated McCullough at the time of the abduction.

The document of probable cause revealed that when investigators last year asked McCullough's ex-girlfriend to look for pictures and other items from their time together, she found an unused and unstamped train ticket from Rockford, Ill., to Chicago.

McCullough had claimed he'd taken the train from Rockford to Chicago on the day of the abduction to enlist in the military, according to the document, which was mistakenly left unsealed and reviewed by a Seattle Times reporter who was not allowed to make a copy.

The unused ticket, dated on the day the girl went missing, poked holes in McCullough's alibi, according to court documents, and refocused attention on McCullough.

"He had been a very good suspect in the beginning. He lived about a block and half away from the victim, he fit the description and his clothes matched, but he had an alibi that he was someplace else," said Donald Thomas, chief of the Sycamore Police Department. "Once his alibi crumbled, we found about a dozen other facts that helped us build our case."

Court documents say investigators discovered that a collect phone call purportedly made by McCullough to his ex-girlfriend from Chicago was actually made from his own home in Sycamore on the day of the girl's abduction. They also discovered he had given a ride to a family member at a time when he should have been on the train, court documents say.

After McCullough got out of the military, he became an officer at the police departments in Lacey and Milton, according to the court documents.

According to the document of probable cause, McCullough was dismissed from the Milton Police Department after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl. It wasn't immediately clear whether he was ever prosecuted. No one could be reached at the Milton Police Department to confirm his employment.

Dawn Gothro, spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, said McCullough, using the name John Tessier, had withdrawn from Washington state's police pension system in April 1976.

News of his arrest was met with shock and disbelief among residents at The Four Freedoms House of Seattle.

Gaylee Shelton, 73, said McCullough and his wife were well-known throughout the community. He was a "nice guy" who held a disaster-preparedness seminar for residents after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

"In all my life, I never would have guessed," said Rena Rooney, 88, looking over a copy of a brief news article detailing the charges in Illinois. "It's such a shame. He was so good to us."

 

LINK TO PHOTOS:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/124911144.html


Saturday, July 2, 2011

 

11-year-old charged with killing his 6-year-old brother

11-year-old charged in brother's killing

Boy is youngest to face a charge of murder in Indiana in about 90 years

Vic Ryckaert

12:27 AM, Jul. 2, 2011
 
 
 

An 11-year-old Morgan County boy on Friday became the youngest person to face a murder charge in Indiana in about 90 years.

Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega charged the boy with murder and criminal recklessness in the fatal shooting of his 6-year-old brother at a home south of Martinsville.

Initial reports from the Morgan County sheriff's office indicated the shooting may have been accidental, but Sonnega said investigators sometimes discover evidence that leads to an unexpected outcome.

"You always have to keep an open mind, especially with the death of a child," he said. "This is very sad, very tragic, but we've got a job to do, and we have to be objective."

A Morgan Superior Court judge ordered that the circumstances surrounding the shooting be kept confidential, but Sonnega said details might be revealed Wednesday when the boy appears for an initial hearing in juvenile court. The boy was being held in a juvenile detention facility Friday, he said.

The Indianapolis Star does not typically release the names of juveniles charged with crimes unless they are charged in adult court.

The boys were alone when the 6-year-old was shot in the head in a home in the 1800 block of Oliver Court, south of Martinsville, police said.

The 11-year-old called 911 to report the shooting about 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

Officers arrived and found the 6-year-old on a bed in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. The boy was taken to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where he died at 8:03 p.m. Thursday, police said. Judge Christopher Burnham's order after a probable cause hearing Friday barred Sonnega from disclosing details of the case, he said.

The boys were cared for by their mother and her boyfriend, but Sonnega declined to say where the adults were at the time of the shooting. The adults arrived at the hospital before the boy died, police said.

Prosecutors and police were investigating possible neglect charges against the adults, Sonnega said.

"Obviously this is a very tragic time for them. We'll address that issue down the road."

Sonnega said he could not disclose whether the boy was shot with a handgun, rifle or shotgun. He also declined to say if the 11-year-old cooperated with investigators.

Sonnega said the murder and criminal recklessness charges might change as new evidence is discovered.

"There's a lot of things we need to find out," he said. "We've got to err on the side of safety, and we have to act appropriately.

"Murder can be knowingly or intentionally," Sonnega said. "There is a slight difference. Knowingly means when you engage in conduct you know there is a high probability of the outcome."

The prosecutor also asked the question many in the community are wondering: "What is it we're not doing as responsible adults in not teaching gun safety to our children?"

Sonnega said he was disturbed that the community had been rocked by two shootings involving children in about three months. The suspect in a March 25 school shooting, Michael Phelps, waived his right to a jury trial Friday. The victim in that shooting is still recuperating.

Neighbors of the brothers in Thursday's shooting reacted with sadness.

"He (the 6-year-old) was a good kid," neighbor Jessica Purgason said. "He was quiet. He just wanted to play. That's all he was about."

The 11-year-old boy is one of the youngest defendants ever charged with murder in Indiana. In the early 1920s, an 11-year-old was charged with murder and was tried as an adult in Starke County. But he was not convicted.

If Morgan County prosecutors seek to try the boy as an adult in this case, they would have to convince the county's juvenile court judge that there is strong evidence against him, that he can't likely be rehabilitated in the juvenile system, and that waiving him to adult court is in the best interest of the safety and welfare of the community.


Saturday, July 2, 2011

 

Maria Shriver files for divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger no prenup

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=92407&tsp=1


Saturday, July 2, 2011

 

Police take child used as weapon

http://www.globalregina.com/Police+seize+child+used+weapon+streetcar/5030167/story.html


Friday, July 1, 2011

 

One In Four Americans Don't Know Where We Declared Independence From

http://mobile.gothamist.com/2011/07/01/one_in_four_americans_dont_know_whe.php


Friday, July 1, 2011

 

Obama's Approval Hits All-Time Low Among Poor

Gallup: Obama's Approval Hits All-Time Low Among Poor, Is Highest Among Rich
 
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Terence P. Jeffrey

 

(CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama’s approval has hit an all-time low among the poorest Americans, according to the Gallup poll. Meanwhile, when compared to the other income brackets reported by Gallup, Obama's approval is highest among the richest Americans.

In the week of June 20-26--the most recent week published by Gallup--only 45 percent of Americans in the lowest income bracket reported by the polling company (those earning less than $2,000 per month) said they approved of the job Obama was doing as president.

Gallup publishes the president’s weekly approval numbers among Americans in four income brackets: those earning less than $2,000 per month, those earning between $2,000 and $4,999 per month, those earning between $5,000 and $7,499 and those earning more than $7,500.

In Gallup's most recent survey, Obama had majority approval in none of these income brackets.

However, of the four, his approval was highest--47 percent--in the richest bracket, those earning more than $7,500 per month.

His approval rating last was 42 percent among those earning $2,000 to $4,999 per month and 43 percent among those earning $5,000 to $7,499 per month.

Prior to last week, when it hit an all-time low of 45 percent, Obama’s approval rating among the poorest bracket reported by Gallup had never dropped below 47 percent. It had hit that level twice: first in the week of Nov. 8-14, 2010; then again in the week of April 25-May 1.

In addition to being at an all-time low among the poorest Americans, Obama’s approval rating is also nearly at an all-time low among the next poorest group of Americans reported by Gallup, those who earn between $2,000 and $4,999 per month. The only time his approval among this group was lower than the 42 percent it was last week was in the week of Aug. 23-29, 2010, when it dropped to 41 percent.

According to Gallup, Obama’s highest approval rating among the poorest Americans came in the week of March 16-22, 2009, just two months after he was inaugurated and one month after he signed his $787-billion economic stimulus law. That week, his approval was 68 percent among Americans earning less than $2,000 per month.

In March 2009, the unemployment rate in the United States was 8.6 percent.  This month, it is 9.1 percent.


Friday, July 1, 2011

 

5-year-old boy shoots 4-year-old boy

5-year-old boy shoots 4-year-old boy in playground outside Washington, D.C.

Christina Boyle
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, July 1st 2011, 12:42 PM

Scene where a five-year-old Maryland boy shot his four-year-old neighbor.
 
Fox DC
Scene where a five-year-old Maryland boy shot his four-year-old neighbor

 

A 5-year-old boy shot his 4-year-old neighbor in the back at a Maryland playground Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The bullet passed through the young boy's upper torso while the two were playing in Hillcrest Heights, suburb about 10 miles southeast of Washington D.C., officials said.

Officers were called to the scene shortly after the shooting and found the victim, who was taken to hospital where he is expected to survive.

The young shooter was scared by what happened and ran away and hid the handgun in his family home, but it was later recovered, police said.

It is not clear where the gun came from, but authorities are questioning his parents and adults who have access to the apartment.

"How did the 5-year-old obtain the handgun, and who does it belong to?" asked Prince George's County Police Officer Mike Rodriguez.

A man who described himself as the shooter's uncle told the Washington Post that witnesses believed the boy found the gun outside.

Dee Johnson, 29, said the child's mother lives in the apartment with her four children and does not keep guns.

"I know for a fact my sister don't keep no guns in the house," said Johnson, adding he was "praying" for the injured kid.

"It's just two little kids, two innocent kids," he added.

"We're just trying to figure out what's going on."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/07/01/2011-07-01_5yearold_boy_shoots_4yearold_boy_in_playground_outside_washington_dc.html#ixzz1QuSoeKoo

Friday, July 1, 2011

 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner considering leaving

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/treasury-secretary-geithner-considering-leaving-post-after-debt-talks/2011/06/30/AGd682sH_story.html


Friday, July 1, 2011

 

Burglar offers to fix damaged screen door breaks into wrong house

Vineland police looking for polite burglar who offered to fix damaged screen door

Press of AtlanticCity

THOMAS BARLAS

Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 10:30 pm

 

VINELAND — He may have been sorry, but that’s little consolation for Maria Cardona.

Police said Cardona got a considerable shock when she found a man insider her home in the 1000 block of New Pear Street after noon Monday.

The 39-year-old Cardona confronted the man, who apparently entered her house by cutting through a back door screen. Police say Cardona and the burglar shared a conversation:

Cardona: “What are you doing in my house?”

Burglar: “I was just looking for a guy named Greg.”

“No Greg lives here.”

“Is this 1021?”

“No, this is 1022.”

“I’m so sorry. I meant to break into 1021.”

Police say Cardona was upset and frightened with the situation, but asked the subject nicely to leave her residence or she was going to call the police. Before leaving the home, the burglar offered to make amends, police said.

“Cardona said the subject offered to repair her damaged screen window if she wanted,” police said in a report.

Cardona declined the offer and asked the man to leave.

Authorities said Cardona and her disabled 20-year-old son, who was also in the house when the man entered, were not injured. Nothing was taken, they said.

Speaking from her house on Wednesday night, Cardona said nothing like this has ever happened to her before.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “This is a quiet neighborhood. He just came out of nowhere.”

Cardona said she thought she did the right thing by confronting the man.

“You have to stand your ground,” she said.

Cardona said the man made her nervous as he told her about his family and kept a hand in his pocket.

“I thought he had a knife or something,” she said.

Cardona said the man further took her by surprise when he offered to repair the screen door. She said that was an offer she had no intention of accepting.

“He was really polite,” Cardona said. “He just scared me, though. I just wanted him to get out.”

Police also said that Kathryn DiFrancisco, who also lives in the 1000 block of New Pear Street, told them the suspect may have been the same man who asked her for a glass of water a few minutes before entering Cardona’s home.

Police describe the suspect as being a thin white male in his 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with “shabby” facial hair and blue eyes. The man was wearing a black T-shirt, dark denim jeans with three white stripes on the side, and black-and-tan sneakers. The man has a tattoo across the knuckles of his left hand.

The investigation is ongoing.


Friday, July 1, 2011

 

Man robs store with son

http://www.abc26.com/news/local/wgno-story-man-robs-store-with-son,0,2005684.story


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