Here's a dog worth his weight in gold:
A suspected serial killer has been arrested in the deaths of five women in the city in just over a month — and he is also connected to an assault on a woman whose dog ran the attacker off, police said.Local, state and federal investigators "have taken a collective sigh of relief," police Lt. Judy Horning said.
The man, whose name was not released, was not expected to be charged or arraigned until at least Friday.
"The despicable individual responsible for this heinous rampage through our community has been captured," Mayor Virg Bernero said. "Our nightmare is over."
Police had been looking for clues and help from the public in five homicides since late July, including two this week, in the state capital, a city of 114,000 about 75 miles northwest of Detroit.
A 56-year-old woman was attacked Tuesday in her home, but her dog heard the commotion and charged the man, who fled. Her injuries were not life threatening.
Police credited her with providing key details that helped focus their investigation and led to a sketch of a suspect, but they declined to discuss the circumstances of the arrest.
We know of Blue, who spent an evening fighting off alligators trying to attack the incapacitated elderly lady who owns him. I'd like to hear more about this dog as well. It looks like he's saved a whole hairnet full of little old ladies.
Duane heading for a very odd-looking sunburn in Riverside, California.
1-20-1970
Wail on, Skydog!
Bonus:
Brother Berry wouldn't mind if I centered the pic:
Because those eco-friendly green diapers just aren't good enough:
Thirteen-month-old Dominic Klatt stopped banging the furniture in the verandah, looked at his mother and clasped his right hand around his left wrist to signal that he needed to go to the bathroom.His mother took the diaper-less tot to a tree in the yard, held him in a squatting position and made a gentle hissing sound -- prompting the infant to relieve himself on cue before he rushed back to play.
Dominic is a product of a growing "diaper-free" movement founded on the belief that babies are born with an instinctive ability to signal when they have to answer nature's call. Parents who practice the so-called "elimination communication" learn to read their children's body language to help them recognize the need, and they mimic the sounds that a child associates with the bathroom.
Erinn Klatt began toilet training her son at birth and said he has not wet his bed at night since he was six months old.
Last one to the therapist's couch is a rotten egg!
I practice elimination communication every day when I open the back door and tell the dogs to go pee. I never expected a puppy not to piddle though. Probably because unlike babies, young puppies are developmentally immature and have tiny little bladders.
The pediatric experts say these parents are full of crap, even if their babies are not:
Experts at the Child Study Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center say children younger than 12 months have no control over bladder or bowel movements and little control for 6 months after that.But some parents begin going diaper-free at birth, and the infants can initiate bowel movements on cue as young as 3 to 4 months, said Elizabeth Parise, spokeswoman of DiaperFreeBaby.org, a network of free support groups promoting the practice.
And unlike some methods of toilet training, there are no rewards or punishment associated with it.
Dr. Mark Wolraich, professor of pediatrics and director of the Child Study Center, said the practice essentially conditions young children to go to the bathroom at predictable times or show clear signs when they must go.
"To be truly toilet-trained, the child has to be able to have the sensation that they need to go, be able to interpret that sensation and be able to then tell the parent and take some action," said Wolraich, who is also editor of the American Academy of Pediatrics' book on toilet training.
"And that's different from reading the subtle signs that the child is making when they have to go to the bathroom."
The practice can be problematic in public, but what's natural is beautiful:
Isis Arnesen, 33, of Boston, has a 14-week-old daughter, Lucia, who is diaper-free. She said it can be awkward to explain the process to people, such as when she helped Lucia relieve herself in a sink at a public restroom.
The hippies on communes were diaper-free as well, but they weren't so uptight about toilet training. As they say, free your bowels and the rest will follow.
UPDATE:
It used to be that the old-timey world was in black and white, as evinced from the photographic and motion picture evidence of the era. But here we have a color photo of a young woman named Nancy who's clearly a master practitioner of the ancient and extinct art of diaper-folding. Now a wizened crone, she awaits a visit from the Foxfire kids to set down in writing her arcane lore.
But it had to let its belt out a few notches:
Experts say Mississippians need to skip the gravy, say no to the fried pickles and start taking brisk walks to fight an epidemic of obesity.According to a new study, this Deep South state is the fattest in the nation. The Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention, says Mississippi is the first state where more than 30 percent of adults are considered obese.
I'm not getting the fried pickles reference. Never heard of them, never read of them. It looks like some restaurant came up with them as a gimmick and now reporters think it's common fare in the South. Common fare would be the hog fat we use like a condiment. It's good on just about everything.
I won't even tell you about the disgraceful episode with the Easter ham that'd just come out of the oven, but I will say that several knives were simultaneously slashing over that pan, and it wasn't the meat that was being cut off and devoured. Standing right there on the spot.
Mr. Cracker came home the other day with a gorgeous and pricey ceramic container whose special purpose wasn't readily apparent to me. "What's it for?" I asked. "It's for our grease!"
Plus ca change. Mom just keeps it in a Miracle Whip jar.
Oh, those little smart alecks. This thing needs to be nipped in the bud before Golden Gate High descends into the madness of cufflinks:
Austin Perkins, 17, thought he was going one step above what was required of him.The Golden Gate High School senior wore a jacket and tie to school Wednesday and the act sent him to in-school suspension.
His violation? He wasn’t following the dress code.
“I thought it was better than a polo shirt,” he said. “So, my friend and I thought why not take the extra step? It says business dress. A coat and tie are business dress. Instead we were thrown in a room where we couldn’t talk.”
Principal Bob Spano said Perkins and several other students had been warned before Wednesday that they were not following the dress code.
“This was a group of students who had been talked to before,” he said. “Because there was a group of them, it sort of brought more attention to it.”
...
Perkins, who ended up going home Wednesday, because he “couldn’t get work done” in in-school suspension, said he shouldn’t have been punished.“They set the standard, but we exceeded it,” he said.
Principals White and Weatherby commiserate with you, Principal Spano.
Almost killed in a house fire three months ago, a 7-year-old South Carolina boy is now dead at the hands of a pillow-wielding carjacker:
Greenville County Sheriff's authorities are investigating the death of a 7-year-old boy whose mother said a knife-wielding carjacker locked himself in her car and smothered her son with a pillow.Devon Epps of Greenville was pronounced dead at Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital, Greenville County Deputy Coroner Karie Cain said.
Death almost had him with a fire of undetermined origin, but the boy managed to escape the conflagration. I guess Death just squared his shoulders and got right back on that horse:
Family members tell us back in May the fire started in Devon’s room, destroying everything. “He lost all of his clothes, all of his toys,” says [his great aunt] Diane. Diane says the little boy told her an amazing story of how he survived. “He was trying to grab the door and it was so hot,” she says. “He grabbed at something to open the door and he finally got out and he went in there to wake his momma up.” She says it was a miracle he lived to tell the story, only to have his little life extinguished three months later.
Persistent son-of-a-gun, that Death.
RIP, Devon.
A clever idea from a former Michael Vick fan:
Many people have probably felt sickened over details of NFL quarterback Michael Vick and his alleged dogfighting enterprise.Now a local woman is showing her anger and disgust in a most unusual way.
She's auctioning off her entire collection of Michael Vick trading cards online, and says it's up to the highest bidder to decide which animal shelter the money goes to. If the winner does not have a preference, then she'll give it all to the Cape Girardeau Humane Society.
But there's a twist. The cards are not in the best shape. Monte the weimereiner has some new chew toys: Michael Vick trading cards.
Dog-loving eBayers are placing high bids on the cards. I'd hope some dog-loving prisoners would do a little chewing on the actual Michael Vick, but even in prison he's still going to be the quarterback.
What a lovely thing, a ballet based on Harry Potter. Enjoy Hermione's grace as she fights off a Dementor:
Tom Mix was never like this. As illustrated in this scene from Mulholland Drive, you don't have to be big and beefy or holding a weapon to be menacing.
Sixth in a series.
BONUS:
The most delightful use of a Linda Scott song ever.
He came to pick, not to wear fancy duds.
Another of Duane all decked out in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, in September of 1970.
Wail on, Skydog!
One military working dog team will remain together forever:
The first military working dog team killed in action together since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were laid to rest together July 18.Cpl. Kory D. Wiens, 20, of the 94th Mine Dog Detachment, 5th Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer Brigade of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and his partner, Cooper, were killed July 6 by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Muhammad Sath, Iraq. They had been in Iraq since January.
The cremated remains of Wiens and Cooper, a Labrador retriever, were buried together at Salt Creek Cemetery in Wiens’ hometown of Dallas, Ore., at the request of his family, said Master Sgt. Matt McHugh, the family’s casualty assistance officer.
“Kory referred to Cooper as his son, that’s now much of a team they were,” McHugh said.
McHugh added that based on his own research, the last military canine team to be killed together was during the Vietnam War.The Army has 578 dog teams, and they have served several hundred rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Hans Freimarck, the military working dog coordinator for the Army Dog Program.
Freimarck said he didn’t know the last time a canine team was killed together, but Wiens and Cooper were the first for operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
“Most military dog handlers look at [their relationship with their dog] as a marriage,” Freimarck said. “You give to the dog, the dog gives back to you. Every dog handler has a firm attachment to his dog and any dog in the military.”
Wiens and Cooper made up a specialized search detachment trained to find firearms, ammunition and explosives. Being on a specialized search team means more training, and Cooper, who was no more than 4 years old, did his job without a leash.
Cooper was Wiens’ first military working dog, and Wiens was Cooper’s first handler, McHugh said.
Wiens’ family is doing as well as can be expected, and their small community has been very supportive, McHugh said.
Residents of Dallas lined the streets to honor the funeral procession, which was accompanied by local law enforcement vehicles and the Patriot Guard Riders, a national organization of motorcycle enthusiasts who pay tribute to fallen service members.
Thirty-seven dog teams from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and area police departments attended the service, McHugh said.
Wiens was named after his grandfather, who was a military canine handler during the Korean War. He is survived by his parents, Kevin and Judith, three siblings and his extended family. Wiens’ older brother Kevin is serving his second tour in Iraq as a military police officer.
Florida deputy Matt Williams and his K9, both gunned down by a thug, are also buried together. I know it provides some comfort to these men's families to know their guy is with his best friend.
(Via Cindy and Bill in e-mail.)
Vanity Fair's David Kamp blows an opportunity of a lifetime: given a chance to meet with the reclusive Sly Stone, his lengthy write-up of the demented funk-rocker is Dullsville, Arizona. Check this older Washington Post article for an interesting detailing of the rise and fall of the coke-fueled funky Icarus.
The photo gallery is lots of fun though.
Sly Stone OD'ed in my hometown. Given his history, he probably did the same in yours. He sure did have a smoking band though. It's a shame that drugs got the better of such a gifted singer/songwriter:
From rooftop to basement, from ceiling to floor, the St. Louis County Jail is the prettiest jail I've ever seen. It makes me want to pack my bags and move right in. With its glorious exterior, which, granted, most residents don't get to see too much of, and its inner light, space, and attention to detail, it's the kind of place we artistic types would be proud to call home. Sid Vicious would have loved to have lived with and killed Nancy Spungeon there. Then he'd have gone in search of a nice TV before settling back in to serve his sentence. If you know of a link to a more attractive hoosegow, let me know. This one's heading my list.
Most two-legged dogs require you call a divorce lawyer -- here's one you'd want to keep:
(Via Bill.)
UPDATE:
Here's the full story on Sugar.
The Washington Post has an interesting article on high school boys on American Samoa hoping to use football as their ticket off the island:
Ne'emia Vitale usually needs only a few minutes to walk home from football practice, following a one-lane street bordered by tin-roof huts and long trails of rotting litter. But today, he stalls.He kicks up loose gravel with his size 13 flip-flops and shoos the wild dogs and chickens that rove near his feet. After sprinting and tackling for three hours on a field dotted by lava rocks, Ne'emia's Oakland Athletics T-shirt is sodden with sweat and streaks of blood. He chugs tap water out of a used plastic Gatorade bottle, which he picked out of a trash heap a few minutes earlier and rinsed because he had no other container from which to drink.
Ne'emia, 17, stops at a faded blue shack under a handwritten sign that reads "Convenience Mart." Doritos cost 50 cents, and Ne'emia fishes in his pocket. Damn. Only one quarter left from his $1 weekly allowance. Ne'emia buys a small bag of chicken-flavored Bongo chips instead.
Outside, he sits on the curb, shakes perspiration from his curly muddle of long black hair and leans back against a garbage can. From there, he can look to his left and see his family's rusted, two-room house, where six relatives are buried in the front yard. Or he can look right, toward the high school football field, where dozens of Samoan boys have played their way off this island and hundreds more dream of achieving the same.
It's a whole lot easier to escape a dying steel town than it is to get off of a rock in the Pacific, though I don't think we could relate much to All The Right Moves: American Samoa. Still, you have to admire the heart these kids show.
On the list of common nightmares (late for a test, naked in public, etc) there's a curious gap where "on a raft on the Amazon with Klaus Kinski" should go. I can't account for the absence.
We've been running Aguirre, Wrath of God as our background for the weekend. If you've never watched it, you're missing out. It's got a few subtitles, but you're reading this so that shouldn't be a problem. It's not a chatty film in any case.
Fifth in a series.
Just think, if this hospital security guard had only had a crossbow, he could have pinned both the absconding infant and its father to the elevator wall, thus stopping the baby's flight and preventing it from falling all at once:
In a confrontation captured on videotape, a hospital security guard fired a stun gun to stop a defiant father from taking home his newborn, sending both man and child crashing to the floor.Now the man says the baby girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped.
"I've got to wonder what kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby," said George Kirkham, a former police officer and criminologist at Florida State University. "It doesn't take rocket science to realize the baby is going to fall."
I'm trying to figure out why they're now equipping glorified bouncers with tasers. For that kind of job you're supposed to hire big, beefy, brainless guys who can intimidate with their bulk. They should be passing stun guns out to uniformed two-year olds if they're looking for judgment and discretion in the weapon's use.
And so much heartache. Just ask the Cardinals' Juan "Emo" Encarnacion, crying into his glove over team manager Tommy La Russa's public snubbing and drubbing of him:
"You've got to play whoever is doing the job," [Juan] Encarnacion said. "I'm not upset about that situation. I'm more mad about [the fact that] I didn't even know what was going on before that happened. Players should know a lot of things that happen before you know, everybody knows about it.
...
In a story in Sunday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, [Tommy] La Russa pointed to some of Encarnacion's shortcomings, saying that "there are parts of the game he can play better." Encarnacion was disappointed that La Russa made the comment publicly rather than in private."It hurts my feelings when your manager says you don't give the effort to play," Encarnacion said. "I was giving the best effort I can do. That's not making me feel good. He hurt my feelings about that situation.
Words can wound as badly as any weapon and destroy the self-esteem of sensitive hearts. That's probably why Juan skipped the victory parades for both the Marlins and the Cards: he felt too undeserving.
INDC Bill is once more off on a lark to Iraq as an embedded journalist. I for one am not surprised he'd rather lollygag around in Fallujah than sit his behind down at his desk and do his work like a decent person would.
He'll need Starbucks money while he's over there, so be sure to help him out. We wouldn't want him getting a coffee headache while he's tooting around in his Bradley.
Prosecutorial discretion be damned. Why have all that power if you're just going to let it sit around?
Two seventh-grade boys facing criminal charges for swatting girls' bottoms have received at least 250 letters and more than $15,000 in donations to a legal defense fund, part of a national outpouring of support over the past two weeks.Many of the letter writers and donors are critical of Yamhill County District Attorney Bradley Berry, whose office initially brought felony sex abuse charges against Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison in February.
As the money for the boys' defense poured in, so have four complaints to the Oregon Bar Association accusing Bradley of overzealous prosecution. An attorney for two of the five alleged victims in the bottom-slapping case said last week his clients do not want the boys to be criminally prosecuted.
"We never instituted this thing, and our position has always been this should have been handled internally by the school," said attorney William Brandt. He said he decided to go on record about criminal charges now because the Aug. 20 trial date is approaching.
"Now is the appropriate time for us to weigh in," Brandt said.
Brandt notified the McMinnville School District in the spring that he intends to sue officials at Patton Middle School, claiming they failed to protect his clients from "assault and battery in the form of sexual touching." District officials, who suspended the boys, say they acted swiftly after a teacher's aide noticed the behavior.
Neither Berry nor his deputy, Debra Markham, who is prosecuting the case, could be reached for comment. The boys each face five counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse and five counts of harassment in a case that drew national attention after a story two weeks ago in The Oregonian newspaper in Portland.
Cornelison and Mashburn, both 13, were originally charged with felony sexual abuse after declaring "slap-butt day" at Patton and swatting several girls in a school hallway in February. Police reports obtained by the Oregonian showed that other students — including some girls — also had admitted to swatting one another.
Since the story spread on the Internet and other media, a flood of checks — $10, $20 and even $500 — has streamed into a legal defense fund from sympathizers in Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Texas, Minnesota and Colorado.
The boys said they are stunned by the outpouring of support.
"It makes me feel a lot better because the DA is trying to tell us we're sexual predators and all that," said Mashburn, who, along with Cornelison, is writing thank-you notes to everyone who has contacted them. "I think it's crazy this many people are supporting us."
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Oregon State Bar said a preliminary inquiry is under way in response to four complaints against Berry, including one that also names Markham.
Mashburn and Cornelison spent five days in juvenile hall after being arrested at the middle school.
The school district suspended the boys for five days. If convicted of the criminal charges, they face as much as 10 years in juvenile detention and a lifetime on the sex offender registry.
This video is heartbreaking.
The hiring package for District Attorney and Assistant D. A. really should include some sort of psychological testing. Maybe these people's lack of common sense and willingness to completely ruin a couple of little kids lives over nonsense would have been picked up on beforehand.
After going to watch the launch of the space shuttle, we came home and watched the original 1979 version of The Lathe of Heaven. It reminded Mr. Cracker of An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, except for it didn't have Yankees summarily executing civilians. Serendipitously I found a copy of Owl Creek online. I imagine it's been a long time since most of you've seen it.
Duane at the Warehouse with Dickey.
His guitar was known to smoke both figuratively and literally.
Wail on, Skydog!
Much like Sasquatch, or a black tourist in Palm Beach, a glimpse of a three-legged dog is commonly referred to as a "sighting."
This particular dog is going to lose another leg if he doesn't get out of the road.
(Thanks to Owen for sending the video.)
If only all criminals could be this entertaining.
The Neunkircher Zoo in Germany has an odd advertising campaign: a team walks around with a dog being eaten by a crocodile (whose snout looks like a gator's), handing out coupons saying, "Come to the zoo before the zoo comes to you." I'm confused; do they wish us to come to the zoo with a gun?
Someone was kind enough to upload one of my favorite movies. With unusual depth of character and great acting, Dogfight is a tiny, almost perfect film framed around a girl's realization that the party a handsome young marine has invited her to is an ugly date contest. Full of memorable scenes, the ending one and its dialog might surprise you.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five,
Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten.
Three things that will jump out at you in this Three Dog Night video: 1) Chuck Negron's gorgeous voice, 2) Cory Wells' gorgeous voice, 3) Danny Hutton's pants. The pants might do so literally -- they look violent enough that I'd put nothing past them.
Initial guestimates pointing at a huge tragedy in the Minneapolis bridge collapse proved groundless. I'm glad they got a lucky break. If the words "Liberian freighter" resonate with you, then you know who didn't. With 35 killed, the collapse of the Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay remains one of the deadliest bridge disasters in U.S. history. It also introduced us to one of the coolest customers around: Robert Hornbuckle, who after stopping his car 14 inches from the edge of the abyss decided to retrieve his set of golf clubs before clambering up the grating.
I know the Hallmark movie they'll make out of this Missouri couple's reunion will probably be hokey, but I'm a sucker for star-crossed lovers finding each other again and will watch it tissues at ready:
A southeast Missouri woman is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her live-in boyfriend.Lisa Barlow was arrested last night in the death of Michael Strong. He was found shot to death Friday at his home in Scopus, near Cape Girardeau.
Police say it was Barlow who called 911 Friday night, saying she heard Strong arguing with someone, then heard a shot. Officers responded and found Strong dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
Barlow's ex-husband told police that he and his ex-wife were having an affair.
The course of true love never did run smooth.
I guess the lesson from this is if you're going to drop a dime on someone for child abuse, have a pocketful:
They could have been saved.Florida child-welfare workers had a chance eight years ago to rescue 11 New York foster kids imprisoned by a woman who pocketed more than $1 million in adoption cash, officials said yesterday.
A 1999 anonymous tip to the abuse hotline of the Florida Department of Children and Families said Judith Leekin was mistreating four children in her Port St. Lucie home, police said.
DCF investigators deemed the claim unfounded, and the matter was dropped when Leekin said she moved from the area, Florida officials said.
Leekin, now 62, could face more than 190 years in prison if convicted of abusing the 11 children - four of whom are reportedly disabled - whom she kept locked in her sprawling, well-manicured house.
Leekin adopted the foster children, now ranging in age from 15 to 27, before she moved to Florida from Queens in 1997, officials said. One of the children, a 19-year-old boy, fled Leekin's custody three years ago and is missing, said Officer Robert Vega of the Port St. Lucie Police Department.
It is not clear whether the teenager is even alive, Vega said. None of the children attended school, and many were burned, scarred or malnourished, he said.
"We've never had anything like this in Port St. Lucie before," Vega said. "They were bound together with handcuffs and shackles and were confined to just one hallway in her house."
An investigation by New York City's Administration for Children's Services revealed that Leekin used four aliases to receive approximately $1.26 million in adoption subsidies - a combination of city, state and federal funds - from the mid-1990s through last month.
For children 12 and older, the subsidy for a child classified as "normal" is $22.59 a day, ACS officials said. For a child with special needs - labeled "special" - the rate is $36.33, and for a child designated as "exceptional," it is $55.07. "Exceptional" children are often severely disturbed, officials said.
Leekin, an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago, was charged in Florida yesterday with multiple counts of aggravated child abuse and aggravated abuse of a disabled person. She is being held on more than $4 million bail.
Nine of the children were found at her Port St. Lucie home, and a 10th was discovered living on the streets, Vega said. All have been placed in state care.
Four New York City adoption agencies were involved in placing the children, officials said.
"This is really shocking," said neighbor Carmen Rodriguez, 65, who only remembered seeing one unhealthy-looking child at Leekin's home. "She said she had adopted this boy and he was always in the yard pulling weeds."
"He looked like he was 13 or 14, but she told me he was 28," she said
It was a sweet deal for the unwanted kid farmer: all of the money and none of the inspections. It brought to mind a story of the opposite extreme: the family of wealthy Miami pediatrician Michael Geraldi, whose wife Camille was named a Point of Light by President GHW Bush. Over the years they adopted about a ton of retarded kids. That didn't go over well with the neighbors, whose complaints were never of abuse but of potential harm to property values, and the family was forced to decamp to North Carolina. Said one of the neighbors, ""I do believe what she has done is an important thing, but she's moved beyond that," Mr. [Stuart] Reisman says. "I think 'points of light' are wonderful, but I don't want a point of light on a stick in my eye."
At least Ms. Leekin never annoyed the neighbors with her little hobby. I bet that quiet kid pulling weeds sure would have loved to live with the Geraldis though.
The 
Duane with the ABB and the Grateful Dead, making sure his drummer stays on time.