A not happy jolly Santa Claus look-alike

This was taking copper theft to a whole new level.

East Alton Copper Gang led double lives

CBSSt. Louis -

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) – They were married with kids — six men who held down decent jobs, until co-workers wondered how they could  afford fancy trips, new vehicles and the latest riding lawn mowers.

The six are now charged with taking part in an elaborate copper-theft ring, targeting an East Alton, Illinois industrial plant that reports $7 million in  missing copper over a three-year period.

“Most of them were reported to be living way above their means,” said East Alton Police Major Brian Archer, “Large trips, lots of vehicles, motorcycles, expensive lawn mowers and different types of things.”

The rest of the story:

How about Gesundheit?

What an asinine teacher.

As a parent I taught my children to say that when someone sneezes why would he try to change what parents taught to their own children?

Sounds to me like he needs to go.

Teacher penalizes students for saying "bless you"

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Northern California teacher says he doesn't want to hear a common courtesy in his classroom.

He's even lowering students' grades if they say "bless you" after someone sneezes.

Steve Cuckovich says the practice is disrespectful and disruptive. He's banned saying "bless you" in his high school health class in Vacaville.

He even knocked 25 points from one student's grade for saying the phrase in class.

The rest of the story:

As-salam alaikum

I'm not going to get into the politics of all of this other than to say that he was(or had been) an American citizen.

Not to say that I am sorry he is meeting with his 72 virgins.


Al Qaeda's Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen

(CBS News)  -


Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical Islamic preacher who rose to the highest level of al Qaeda's franchise in Yemen, has been killed.

Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico, has been linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) attempted bombing of a U.S. passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas day, 2009, and was thought to be a leader of the group.


Who was Anwar al-Awlaki?


A U.S. government official confirms to CBS News senior security correspondent David Martin that al-Awlaki was killed. Yemen's Defense Ministry was first to tell CBS News of the strike, but given previous reports which turned out to be erroneous, the relatively rapid U.S. confirmation is crucial, and bolsters witness accounts that it was a U.S. drone strike that killed the al Qaeda figure.


The Associated Press reported that an unidentified source said the U.S. believes al-Awlaki was killed in a strike by U.S. jets and drones on his convoy.

The rest of the story:

Good deal for him and his victim is still dead

Nice deal he got for stabbing and murdering someone while "tripping on acid".

His sentence is "capped" at 40 years.

Man pleads guilty to cold case murder, blames LSD

Sentence next month to be 40 years or less
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A San Antonio man who said he stabbed a Mexican national in front of a West Side church nine years ago because he was “tripping off some acid” took a plea agreement Thursday, along with a co-defendant who participated in the alleged robbery.

John Adam Perez, 28, and Dylan Dominguez, 30, were both charged with capital murder last year in the April 2002 slaying of Domingo Arredondo-Mendez, 50, who was stabbed 12 times in his torso and head.

In exchange for Perez's guilty plea, his charge was reduced to non-capital murder and prosecutors have agreed to ask for no more than 40 years in prison when he is sentenced next month before state District Judge Maria Teresa Herr. Dominguez was charged with aggravated robbery and will receive a sentence of no more than 30 years.

The rest of the story:

Girls gone wild

These girl mobs are seriously getting out of hand.

The mob mentality is now getting innocents shot.


Impulsive and animalistic behavior seems to becoming a norm.

2-year-old shot in mob brawl in S. Philly

By Robert Moran, The Inquirer

A critically wounded 2-year-old girl was among four people shot Tuesday night in South Philadelphia when a mob of girls charged a house and gunfire erupted in a dispute stemming from a high school fight, police said.

A 10-year-boy and a 59-year-old woman, who live in the same house as the toddler, also were wounded and were hospitalized in stable condition. A 25-year-old man was shot in the finger.

Police were called at 7:31 p.m. to the 1200 block of South Bucknell Street in response to a report of a melee and gunfire.

The rest of the story:

All this for $18 worth of copper?

This.

is.

just.

pathetic.

Cops: Couple's copper theft for wedding netted $18

Associated Press -

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. (AP) — Police say a western Pennsylvania couple desperate for money to pay for their wedding netted just $18 for the stolen copper wire they cut from more than a dozen utility poles.

North Sewickley police say 23-year-old Joseph Russell and 24-year-old April Cater cut down the wires on August 9, four days before their wedding.

Russell says he was desperate for money because he'd just lost his job and lost a $1,000 deposit after his reception hall abruptly closed down.

The rest of the story:

Tragic accident

This accident, along with me personally following a person who nearly struck my car and ran several off the road until the police caught up with us in a supermarket parking lot, brings up a question.


(I was in contact with a police dispatcher as the gentlemen kept crossing the double yellow lines and ran stop lights until he "parked" by crashing his car into some poles at in the parking lot.  He had a date of birth in 1925, as did the driver who killed the toddler.)

That question is, at what age are folks too old to drive?

Also how do we provide services to these folks if they need to get to places for groceries and the like?

Perhaps mandatory yearly driving tests say after age 75, for example should be considered?

Car hits stroller, killing toddler

Retired Colonel, 86, hospitalized after crash at Fort Sam
By Ana Ley - Express-News

The empty stroller stood next to a pool of blood amid a path of destruction left by a driver who apparently lost control of his vehicle Wednesday morning in front of the San Antonio Military Medical Center.

Authorities said a 17-month-old boy was killed there about 11 a.m. when a car struck the stroller in the hospital's parking lot.

The mother, an enlisted soldier, was unhurt, while the driver, 86, a retired Army colonel, was taken to the emergency room and then hospitalized, going from guarded to critical condition late in the afternoon, officials said.

The rest of the story:

Totally tubular!!

Where there's a will there's a way.

Smugglers hand off drugs through US-Mexico Fence

Associated Press -

NOGALES, Arizona (AP) — A new type of border fence is apparently forcing drug smugglers to change the way they move their cargo from Mexico to the U.S.

The Nogales International (http://bit.ly/mRuTNi) reports that law enforcement officers in Arizona recently noticed that some bundles of marijuana they seized were oddly shaped.

Lt. Gerry Castillo of the Santa Cruz County Metro Task Force says investigators first thought the 48 pounds (22 kilograms) of marijuana wrapped in thin tubular packages had been prepared for easy transport through a tunnel. But the bundles weren't dirty.

The rest of the story:

Oh Noes!!!

Not the Tip Top!!  Probably the best chicken fried steaks in San Antonio!!

Car crashes into the Tip Top Cafe

Tip Top employee was on his lunch break
By Jazmine Ulloa - Express-News

A vehicle crashed into a popular Northwest Side eatery Tuesday afternoon, injuring an employee on his lunch break.

San Antonio police said the employee, a man in his 20s, was taken to University Hospital in stable condition and was expected to recover. Customers and other employees rushed to help him after a gold Honda Accord broke through the front of DeWese's Tip Top Café in the 2800 block of Fredericksburg Road shortly after 2 p.m.

Witnesses told police the woman at the wheel appeared to be in her 70s and had stopped while parking but probably confused the gas and brake pedals. She was transported to a hospital as a precaution, police said.

The rest of the story:

Murdered while taking a cat nap

Mental illness creeps in on little cat feet.

This is a tragic situation.

Prosecutors say cat stench led man to kill wife

Woman was hit with hammer and had her throat slit
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

Their North Side home reeked from the overflowing litter boxes of more than 50 cats, and John Philip Benzing had decided he'd had enough of his wife's mental and physical issues, prosecutors said Tuesday.

But how he dealt with that frustration — bashing the head of Leona Benzing, 79, with a hammer as she napped, then stabbing her twice with a butcher knife before slitting her throat — was the most violent option imaginable for ending their 27-year marriage, Assistant District Attorney Meli Carrion told jurors as Benzing's murder trial began.

“She died soaked in her own blood,” Carrion said during opening statements.

The rest of the story:

Justice came at last

It took a long timer but Justice was finally served in this case.

Rest in Peace now Jim Blihgsne, and may peace now come to your family.

10-year sentence in'93 DWI death

Man who was on the lam for 17 years gets the maximum term
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News


Eighteen years after Juan Carlos Guerrero killed a military retiree in a head-on wreck while driving drunk, fled a hospital and established a new identity in Mexico, a judge hammered him Tuesday with the maximum possible sentence.

But because intoxication manslaughter — and its stiffer penalty range of up to 20 years — wasn't on the law books when Jim Blihgsne was killed in 1993, Guerrero's involuntary manslaughter sentence was 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“You certainly deserve more than that,” state District Judge Ron Rangel said. “That family waited a long time to get justice.”

The rest of the story:

Not buying the self-defense

Ummm.  Cleophus, if your client is legally blind how could he know or see that the man he killed was allegedly wielding a big stick to harm your client?

Or see him to stab him?



Jury convicts man in killing that he called self-defense

Punishment phase of trial to begin today
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News


Jurors on Monday rejected the self-defense claim of a Bexar County man who said he was in fear for his life when he used a steak knife to stab an acquaintance who had been smoking crack cocaine with the defendant's girlfriend.

Terrell James Blue, 48, who says he is legally blind, will return to the 437th state district courtroom today as testimony begins for the punishment phase of his murder trial. He faces up to life in prison.

Blue's guilty verdict came after about four hours of jury deliberations and closing arguments in which defense attorney Cleophus Marshall III often hoisted a heavy wooden stick that witnesses said victim Stephen Martin, 42, threatened his client with that afternoon.

The rest of the story:

Find the SOB

Somebody who would do this is a dangerous individual.

He needs to be found quickly before he does something like this to another defenseless person.

Woman attacked, stabbed at Northeast Side Laundry

By Jazmine Ulloa - Express-News

A 56-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital early Tuesday after she was assaulted and stabbed in the back of the throat inside a Northeast Side laundry.

San Antonio police said her condition stabilized while undergoing emergency surgery and she is expected to recover from her wounds.

Authorities dispatched just before 4 a.m. to the Kwik Wash Laundry in the 5400 block of Chas Windham found the woman suffering from her injuries on the sidewalk, said Capt. Cris Anderson of the San Antonio Police Department.

The rest of the story:

Bye Bye

He won't be selling more drugs any time soon.

New Braunfels man to get 60 years for drug charge
By Bob Thaxton Seguin Gazette


SEGUIN — Jurors set punishment Thursday at a 60-year term in state prison for a 43-year-old New Braunfels man convicted of delivery of cocaine and sentenced as a repeat offender.

Hernan Cortez III was found guilty on Wednesday by a jury of seven men and five women that heard testimony from law enforcement officers about the defendant’s role in a drug transaction that took place March 19, 2009 at a car wash in Marion.

The rest of the story:

Automated hoarding

More proof the economy really sucks.

As if more is needed.

There apparently are other gold vending machines in Britain, the Mid-East, the U.S. and Germany among others.

My bankcard will maybe get me a smidgeon of gold, maybe.

China launches gold vending machine

Breitbart -

China, already the world's second largest bullion consumer, has installed the country's first gold vending machine in a busy shopping district in Beijing, state media said on Sunday. 


Shoppers in the popular Wangfujing Street can insert cash or use a bank card to withdraw gold bars or coins of various weights based on market prices, the People's Daily said on its website.

Each withdrawal is capped at 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) or one million yuan (about $156,500) worth of gold, the report said.


The rest of the story:

Another Cartel hit in Mexico

How much longer will this go on?

Her crime?  Apparently writng bad things about the drug cartels on the web......................

Ooops!  Nevermind.  Nothing to see here, move along.

Police find decapitated body of Mexico Newspaper editor

CNN -

(CNN) -- The editor of a Mexican newspaper was found dead, her body decapitated and with a note next to it, officials said.

Maria Elizabeth Macias Castro, 39, was the editor in chief of the newspaper, Primera Hora.

Her body was found Saturday morning, according to the attorney general's office in the northern Tamaulipas state. A message "attributed to a criminal group" was found next to her, the office said.

The rest of the story:

Protesting sans underwear!!

Apparently not to be outdone by the folks from Utah San Franciscans hold a nude protest.

Thank God Nancy Pelosi wasn't there!!

San Francisco protesters: No nudes is bad news

Associated Press -

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hanging out on a street corner has taken on new meaning in San Francisco.
Several dozen men and at least one woman took part in a naked protest Saturday in an area of the Castro District neighborhood that has become known for its nude visitors. Several carried signs that read, "Nudity is Not a Crime" and "Get Your Hate Off My Body," as they milled around, undeterred by the brisk weather and light mist.

San Francisco generally allows public nudity, but a city supervisor has proposed regulating the practice.

Supervisor Scott Wiener's proposal would require the clothing-averse to cover up in restaurants. It would also require nudists to put a cloth or other barrier under their bottoms if they take a seat in public.

The rest of the story:

Protesting in your underwear

Well, okay then.

You don't like the conservative nature of Utah and its laws?

Running around in your underwear will only (ahem) harden their position.

Thousands run in underwear to protest Utah laws

Associated Press -

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Thousands of people stripped to their underwear and ran through Salt Lake City to protest what they called the "uptight" laws of Utah.

Undie Run organizer Nate Porter says the goal of the event Saturday was to organize people frustrated by the conservative nature of the state's politics.

Nudity was prohibited by organizers. Participants donned bras, panties, nightgowns, swimwear or colorful boxer shorts — and some added political messages by expressing support for causes like gay marriage on their chests, backs or legs.

The rest of the story:

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Dear Readers;

I will be leaving tomorrow to visit one of the Girls o' Law who is in her Freshman year in college in Vermont.

I will not be posting until Monday, but will, if time permits do some early on Friday. 

Thank you all for keeping the faith and by reading my blog.

See you next week!

Regards,

Man o' Law

White Supremacist dragged down to Hell to rot

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

The world is just a little bit better off this morning.

Rot in Hell.

White supremacist executed for Texas dragging

By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- White supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed Wednesday evening for the infamous dragging death slaying of James Byrd Jr., a black man from East Texas.

Byrd, 49, was chained to the back of a pickup truck and pulled whip-like to his death along a bumpy asphalt road in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history.

Brewer, 44, was asked if he had any final words, to which he replied: "No. I have no final statement."

The rest of the story:

Baby murdering bitch cops plea

That poor baby may she Rest in Peace.

Its almost as if she would have been better off never having been born than to have been this bitch's baby.

Sorry I'm not in a charitable mood this morning.

Especially after reading stuff like this.

Mom pleads guilty in baby's murder

Plea deal requires testimony against her boyfriend
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A mother who told police her 11-month-old died after she covered the child's mouth and nose while her boyfriend pinned the baby's arms has pleaded guilty to murder.

Silver Starr Hernandez, 26, took a plea Tuesday in which prosecutors agreed to reduce her charge from capital murder and seek a 40-year sentence in exchange for her testifying against boyfriend Lupe Lopez Martinez, 32.

Had she been convicted of capital murder, Hernandez's only two options would have been life without parole or the death penalty.

The rest of the story:

Loser Assholes

You best start worrying Pendejos we're coming to get you.

I can't believe someone would do this.

Well, no, take that back, loser assholes are capable of many things.

Vandals damage Mission San Juan a 3rd time

Carvings inside main gate likely have caused permanent harm, unlike previous incidents. 
By Abe Levy - Express-News

For the third time in recent years, Mission San Juan has been defaced by vandals, who this time likely caused permanent damage to an 18th-century stone wall.

National park rangers discovered seven graffiti carvings Friday in the wall just inside the main gate near the convent building.

Moved to its present location in 1731, San Juan is one of four cherished San Antonio missions visited by about 1.7 million people each year from around the world.

The rest of the story:

Why I'll be double-dipped!

You know what?

I think things are in a pretty pickle when hospitals and medical care systems have to start laying off folks.

Can we say sorta, kinda, like a Depression?  or perhaps a Double-Dip Recession?

Christus lays off 9 at NB hospital 

By Dalondo Moultrie - The Herald-Zeitung

NEW BRAUNFELS — Christus Santa Rosa Health System laid off a portion of its workforce across all of its five hospitals, including the New Braunfels facility, a hospital official said Wednesday.

The workforce reduction spans across all of Christus’ Santa Rosa Region, said Jim Wesson, vice president and administrator of the New Braunfels hospital. He said the executive team made the “difficult, painful decision.”

The rest of the story:

Terminator Two I see you!

Do we really want to take this step?

I don't think we should; Terminator movies not withstanding.

A future for drones: automated killing

By Peter Finn - The Washington Post

One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp.

The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on any control.

After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned car on the ground so it could take a final, close-up look.

The rest of the story:

Wholesale Murder, Inc.

And the hits keep on coming in the Mexican Drug Wars.

The bodies were dumped under the overpass in broad daylight during rush-hour no less.

With gunmen standing guard as it happened.

Where were the authorities?  Are there any authorities? 

Is there anyone left in Mexico with the cojones to take it to the Cartels?


Mexico horror:  Gunmen dump 35 bodies on Avenue
By Olga R. Rodriguez - Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Suspected drug traffickers drove two trucks to a main avenue in a Mexican Gulf coast city and dumped 35 bodies beneath an overpass during rush hour as gunmen stood guard and pointed their weapons at frightened drivers.

Horrified motorists trapped at the scene grabbed cell phones and sent Twitter messages warning others to avoid the area on a thoroughfare near the biggest shopping mall in Boca del Rio.

The gruesome scene Tuesday was a sharp escalation in drug violence in Veracruz state, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading north.

The rest of the story:

POS goes to Jail

Life without the possibility of parole; that's what you're facing.

Your victim, a toddler, never had a chance as you beat him to death you POS.

Enjoy your stay in Hell on Earth.

Toddler's killer is handed life without parole

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A San Antonio man was ordered to serve life in prison without parole Tuesday after jurors found him guilty of the capital murder of a 2-year-old boy he had been babysitting.

Eric Cervera, 30, hung his head after the verdict as prosecutor Michael De Leon read aloud a victim impact statement written by the mother of Jerrmiah Estabrook, who died of blunt abdominal trauma last summer.

“I don't even know who I am without Jerrmiah. He gave me purpose,” wrote Ilandia Estabrook, who stood next to the prosecutor — occasionally glancing at the defendant — as the statement was recited. “I thought I had finally found the love of my life. He called you Daddy and what did you do? You beat him to death.”

The rest of the story:

See? Right there it says "Thou shalt not steal"

In one of the car burglaries the thief or thieves also stole a Bible from the vehicle.

Really??

You stole a Bible?!!

Take the time to read it , willya?

Rash of burglaries sparks plea from New Braunfels police

From staff reports - The Herald-Zeitung

A rash of about nine burglaries Friday and Saturday — six occurring in the same general vicinity — has New Braunfels Police Department personnel asking the public for its vigilance in deterring would-be thieves from accessing vehicles and stealing property.

Five of six vehicles burglarized in the area of Broadmoor Drive, Raven Ridge and Walnut Heights appeared to have been unlocked at the time of the burglaries, NBPD Lt. Heath Purvis said. He said vehicle burglars typically look inside the automobiles for items of value in plain sight before striking.

The rest of the story:

A two-fer!!

Wow!

She and her husband need to go buysome lottery tickets with luck like that.

Good luck folks!

Woman with two uteruses has twins

NBCMiami -

A Clearwater woman gave birth last week to twins from two separate uteruses.

Andreea Barbosa has uterus didelphys and on Thursday gave birth to Nathan and Natalie Barbosa, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

While the condition often results in infertility, Barbosa conceived the two children at the same time in separate uteruses.

The rest of the story:

Old vs. Young

What did he finally snap because he realized she just married him for his money?

Okay that was mean of me to say that.

I am sorry she was murdered, may she rest in peace.

Police: 78-year-old man kills 21-year-old wife

Suspect sets house on fire, kills self
Local10.com -

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Police in Port St. Lucie are investigating a bizarre apparent murder-suicide.

Police believe a 78-year-old man shot and killed his 21-year-old wife early Saturday, then set their home on fire before killing himself.


It happened at about 1:15 a.m. in a quiet neighborhood on Southwest Kamchatka Avenue.

"A white male called 911 and said he had just killed his wife and was going to kill himself," police spokesman Tom Nichols said. "Before he turned the gun on himself, he set the house on fire."

The rest of the story:

Murder mystery

A victim whose truck is missing? 

Might could become a capital murder offense in Hays County?

Homicide victim found under I-35 bridge in San Marcos

By Roy Bragg - Express-News

SAN MARCOS — Police are investigating the apparent killing of a man whose body was found under a busy Interstate 35 bridge.

A game warden on patrol for poachers found the body of Frank Allen Urrutia, 51, under the Blanco River bridge on Friday night. He died from blunt force trauma to the head, San Marcos Police Commander Penny Dunn said.

Dunn said Urrutia had been last seen at Jack's Roadhouse, a bar on Hunter Road, at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. His truck is missing and has been reported stolen.

The rest of the story:

Wrongful death

Who knows why this happened?

A burglary gone bad, revenge, or whatever?

Hopefully they'll find enough evidence to put together a case and find those responsible for this.

Rest in Peace Mr. Ortega and peace unto your family.

Man, 42, shot to death in hangar in S. Bexar County

By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

Bexar County deputies are investigating the shooting death of a man whose body was found in a shower in South Bexar County on Sunday evening.

Mark Ortega, 42, was shot multiple times and killed in the shower in a building in the 14800 block of Cassiano Road, in the city of Elmendorf, according to Deputy Chief Dale Bennett, spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

Sgt. Ray Pollard said Ortega's wife left the home in the morning for work, and returned home around 7:30 p.m. after going grocery shopping. After she couldn't find her husband to help her unload the groceries, she walked around the home shouting his name, then saw blood on the concrete outside a hangar where Ortega worked on experimental planes, Pollard said.

Read more:

Adults behaving very poorly

WTH??

This was some crazy stuff here.  An apparent domestic dispute with bullets flying everywhere.

Children hiding in closets thankfully survived.

Border Patrol agent killed in domestic fight

By John MacCormack - Express-News

EAGLE PASS — An off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent and a second man died after a domestic dispute Monday afternoon in which dozens of shots were fired.

Alejandro Acevedo, 29, died late Monday of multiple bullet wounds after undergoing surgery at Fort Duncan Medical Center .

“The Border Patrol agent didn't make it. He went into cardiac arrest and expired,” said Eagle Pass Police Chief Antonio Castaneda late Monday.

The rest of the story:

Mad Max IV?

It sounds like a Mad Max movie only its set in Missouri.

Packs of motorcycles swarming St. Louis area highways

By Jennifer Mann - Post-Dispatch

Drivers have reported huge packs of motorcycles swarming the highways around St. Louis, with the bikers pulling stunts, making hand gestures and forcing cars off the roadway.

There has been no official word yet from the state highway patrol or other public safety officials.

The reports started coming in around 2 p.m. from various spots on I-270 and I-70, most recently in the north St. Louis county area. Some claimed to see as many as 800 to 1,000 motorcycles in a pack.

The rest of the story:

Beat me Daddy, 8 to the bar!

Economic hard times equals an increase in child abuse.

Gee, you think so? 

Child abuse rose during recession, research says

By Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — An increase in child abuse, mostly in infants, is linked with the recent recession in new research that raises fresh concerns about the impact of the nation's economic woes.

The results are in a study of 422 abused children from mostly lower-income families, known to face greater risks for being abused, and the research involved just 74 counties in four states. But lead author Dr. Rachel Berger of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh said the results confirm anecdotal reports from many pediatricians who've seen increasing numbers of shaken baby cases and other forms of brain-injuring abuse.

Berger decided to study this type of injury, known as abusive head trauma, after noticing an increase at her own hospital from late 2007 through June 2009. Her hospital averaged 30 cases per year during those recession years versus 17 yearly before 2007.

The rest of the story:

Apparently more drunken stupidy

See?  Here's the point.

You want to kill or maim yourself?  Fine, go do so; drink to your heart's content, get into your car and drive into a tree.  Fine.

But usually there are other folks out on the road.  Folks who want to get home in one piece.  Folks who are responsible citizens.  They don't want you crashing into them and if they're not hurt they've suffered damage to their vehicles and in some cases, probably a lot of times, also suffer from the trauma of having been in an accident with your sorry drunk ass.

Do all of us a favor.  If you must drink and must get in a car, do so, then take a gun out and shoot yourself in the head.  If you don't want to do that then stay at home or get a taxi.

This has been a public service announcement.

Woman seriously injured in U.S. 281 accident

By Jessica Kwong - Express-News

A woman who police say smelled of alcohol suffered serious injuries after a traffic accident north of downtown early Sunday.

The 37-year-old woman from Lytle was driving her Jeep Liberty northbound on U.S. 281 near Basse Road shortly after 2 a.m. when she got into an accident, San Antonio police said.

According to witnesses, she was driving in the left lane erratically and struck the center concrete barrier on the left side of the roadway twice. Losing control, she crossed a couple of lanes and struck another car, then went off the right side of the roadway and struck a large tree, police said.

The rest of the story:

Shattered Dreams

This was the second killing in the club's parking lot since June.

Rest in Peace Jose, I hope your killer is found and soon.

2nd killing in club's parking lot.

Man, 20, shot at Mink Ultra Lounge.
By Jessica Kwong - Express-News


Months ago, Jose Zamora, 20, had nightmares that he would one day get shot.

“One time, mixed in there, he had a dream with an angel or spirit calling him,” his girlfriend Kristan Gonzalez, 20, said. “The dreams freaked him out, but he would blow them off, say, ‘Maybe it was just another weird dream.'”

Zamora's nightmare became a reality around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, when he was shot in the head after an altercation in the parking lot of Mink Ultra Lounge in the 900 block of Bitters Road.

 

The rest of the story:

Hot diggidy dog its been found!

Stealing a hot dog statue?

Sheesh, that's something to really brag about.

Council Bluffs man claims Hot Dog statue

Associated Press -

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in Iowa say the case of the Hot Dog Man statue has finally been solved.

The Daily Nonpasreil reported that the owner of the 6-foot tall statue that suddenly appeared near a bus stop in Council Bluffs came forward to claim it.

Police Capt. Terry LeMaster says the owner was able to prove the statue was his by supplying the statue's arms, which had broken off.

LeMaster says it was taken from the owner's yard by teenagers who hoisted the 400-pound into a vehicle, breaking off its arms.

He says the teens became "creeped out" by it and dropped it off at the street corner where it was later found.

Stung by the Sting

What a maroon!

You just pretty much screwed the pooch which would have been your life, for a few bucks.

Bexar County jailer accused in drug sting

by Jazmine Ulloa - Express-News

A Bexar County detention officer was arrested when he was caught trying to smuggle what he believed to be drugs into the county jail, authorities said.

Jonathan Pommerening, 22, was charged with bribery and released Thursday from Bexar County Jail after posting a $20,000 bond, jail officials said.

Sheriff's investigators provided Pommerening with a simulated substance he believed to be narcotics, when they received a tip the man had been trying to smuggle drugs into the jail in exchange for money, said Lou Antu, a spokesman with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

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Stealing money from the mouths of babes

Nice folks, these two.

I bet they lived pretty high on the hog on our money too.

Couple Accused of Stealing Millions Intended for Preschoolers’ Meals 

By Sharon Otterman - NY Times

A Staten Island couple stole at least $2.5 million in federal funds meant for nutritious meals for preschoolers, prosecutors asserted in a criminal complaint unsealed on Friday.

The complaint accused the couple, Joanna Fan and her husband, Ziming Shen, of siphoning money over five years from accounts at the nonprofit Red Apple Child Development Center preschool chain, of which Ms. Fan, also known as Xiao Ping, is the executive director. The complaint accused the couple of using the money to make mortgage payments on several Manhattan condominiums and to benefit their private business interests, which include Preschool of America Inc., a chain of about a dozen for-profit preschools in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

The couple surrendered to agents of the United States Agriculture Department on Friday morning and were arraigned before Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of United States District Court in Brooklyn. They pleaded not guilty and posted bail of $750,000 each.

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I pray for the children

What a horrifying sight for that poor child to see.


My prayers go out to her brothers and her.

Oakland deaths are double murder, suicide

Article by: KEVIN GILES and ANTHONY LONETREE , Star Tribune

A man and two women found dead in an Oakdale house each died of a single gunshot wound to the head in an apparent double murder-suicide, the Ramsey County medical examiner's office ruled Friday.

The shooting scene at the blue split-level house, which involved two parents and a babysitter, left other victims as well. A 6-year-old girl returning home from school Thursday found the bodies and ran screaming into the street with blood on her hands. She and her two brothers, ages 3 and 8, were left orphaned.

"When I heard the child found the bodies it really did break my heart," said Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, who expects the county might be asked to help with foster care. "I don't know what it would be like walking in to see your mom and dad dead. That's something that child will never get out of her head, ever."

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She needs a major intervention, now!

Jeeze isn't she still on probation?

She sure looks like she's jacked-up on something in this photo.

Lohan thrown out of party

NY Post -

Bratty blonde Lindsay Lohan’s Fashion Week antics made her unfashionably unwelcome at Marc Jacobs’ after-party at the Dream Downtown hotel on Thursday night.

After throwing a drink at a photographer the previous night at the Top of the Standard during the V Magazine Black & White ball, Lohan was thrown out of Jacobs’ bash at the newly opened Gallery at the Dream Downtown.

Witnesses told us that when a friend of Lohan’s tried to approach door staff at the Jacobs party to let her inside, she was rebuffed several times. “It’s not going to happen,” event organizers repeated.

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Blackmailer busted

What a scumbag.

Man booked for MMS blackmail

The Times of India -

KALYAN: A 25-year-old man has been booked for blackmailing his 17-yearold neighbour with an obscene MMS of the teenager. The man allegedly threatened to make the MMS public unless she paid him.

Nitin Sonawane, a resident of Mohane in Ambivli, is unemployed and had got married a few months ago.

On April 18, 2011, when the victim was waiting for a bus at Khadakpada in Kalyan, Nitin offered her a lift. He then took her to a secluded spot and forcibly took some pictures. Nitin then demanded money from her, threatening to send the MMS to her family. The girl paid some money, but when she refused to pay more, on Thursday, he sent a photo to the victim's home through post. When the victim's family learned about the incident, they lodged an FIR. A police team has gone to Shirdi where Nitin is said to have fled.

Change something!

Perhaps the church might want to invest in some perimeter video cameras or a watch guard?

Metal thieves strike Antioch Church Again

CBSSanFrancisco -

ANTIOCH (CBS / AP) — Officials of an Antioch church are looking at thousands of dollars in repairs after the church was hit by thieves for the fourth time in two months.

The Contra Costa Times reports that thieves stole about 500 yards of copper wiring from a conduit outside St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church early Thursday.

A church official told the newspaper that in three previous incidents since mid-July, thieves have stolen about 1,000 yards of copper wiring, seven air conditioning units and five outdoor security cameras.

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Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Shakespeare was apparently correct.

Pregnant woman charged with arson

by Ana Ley - Express-News

A pregnant woman accused of setting a romantic rival's vehicle and home on fire was arrested early Thursday.

Samantha Peralez, 20, was charged with arson of a habitation, a second-degree felony. Bail was set at $30,000.

Peralez's sister told police that Peralez had been feuding with the victim over the victim's estranged husband, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The suspect's sister and cousin reportedly told arson investigators that she convinced them to join her when, dressed like a man, she drove to the victim's house in the 400 block of Crestfield Street at 1:20 a.m. on Sept. 1.

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New Federal Judge for the Western District of Texas

Welcome to the Federal Bench and congratulations on the promotion!

Obama taps El Paso judge for district including S.A.

Senate panel advances others, but wait goes on
By Gary Martin - Express-News

WASHINGTON — U.S. Magistrate Judge David Campos Guaderrama of El Paso was nominated by President Barack Obama to fill a judicial vacancy in the Western District of Texas and a Senate committee cleared James Rodney Gilstrap on Thursday to be a federal judge in East Texas.

Guaderrama would fill a vacancy in the Western District, which includes San Antonio, Midland and Del Rio, where caseloads have skyrocketed due to a law enforcement crackdown on smuggling and illegal immigration.

Obama said Guaderrama has “displayed exceptional integrity and an unwavering commitment to justice” as a U.S. magistrate judge.

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