December 15, 2011

Occupy protesters shed felony charge for PVC possession ( yes, PVC)

Seven Occupy Houston protesters arrested during port demonstrations cannot be charged with possessing or using a "criminal instrument" – a felony in Texas – for their use of PVC pipe, a judge said Wednesday.

The Houston Police Department made the charge upon breaking up a demonstration at the Port of Houston, conducting in tandem with West Coast port occupations. The demonstrators used PVC “arm tubes” to lock their linked arms together, which prevented police from arresting them, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. Houston police then called in the Houston Fire Department rescue team, the report said.

The HPD has used the "criminal instrument" against protesters on previous occasions, according to Attorney Randall Kallinen, who is representing one of the seven arrested on the charge. The charge usually does not hold up in court in these cases, but because it is a felony charge it has a chilling effect on would-be activists, he said.

“Everybody gets charged with criminal instrument. Everyone goes to jail, where they have a higher bail, and some of them can’t raise it. So there is a probability that they will remain in jail longer” than those arrested on the misdemeanor charges that are typical for peaceful protest.
<snip>
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/14/9454279-occupy-protesters-shed-felony-charge-for-pvc-possession

PVC? Seriously...
They will now arrest protestors for carrying anything, and use their vast legal imaginations to charge them with felonies.

They make McGyver's imaginative use of objects look like amateurism.

I dunno what country I live in, but it increasingly bears no resemblance to the one I grew up in.
I realize there were abuses of power then, but now they are codified in the law.

December 15, 2011

47 Smithsonian panoramic virtual tours of museum and exhibits

Never been to The Smithsonian? 47 Panoramic Virtual Tours

There are 47 virtual panoramas of the exhibits. They can be viewed from small to large images.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/htmlVersion/index.html

Fun!

December 15, 2011

Attorney: Sandusky may have been teaching kids to shower

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -
A Carlisle attorney who has joined Jerry Sandusky's defense team says the former Penn State assistant football coach may have showered with young boys because the children lacked basic hygiene skills.

Sandusky is accused of molesting ten boys he met through The Second Mile charity he founded for troubled youth.

"Some of these kids don't have basic hygiene skills," attorney Karl Rominger said. "Teaching a person to shower at the age of 12 or 14 sounds strange to some people, but people who work with troubled youth will tell you there are a lot of juvenile delinquents and people who are dependent who have to be taught basic life skills like how to put soap on their body."

Rominger, who spoke with abc27 News Tuesday, added that his college cross country coach often showered with the team.
<snip>
http://www.abc27.com/story/16319215/carlise-attorney-hired-by-sandusky

Now that's an offensive defense....



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December 14, 2011

Seal pup wanders into home and puts his flippers up

A wandering baby fur-seal wriggled through the cat-door of a Bay of Plenty house - and made himself at home on the couch.

A stunned Annette Swoffer thought she must have been hallucinating when she found the young pup hanging out with her cats in her kitchen on Sunday night.

The seal had made its way from the Welcome Bay waterfront, through the suburb's residential area, across busy Welcome Bay Rd, up a slip road, along Ms Swoffer's long driveway, under a gate, through the cat door and up some stairs before he was found in the kitchen about 9.30pm.

"I was in my office and I heard an awful racket down below... I thought the cats have brought a rabbit or something in so I went down and had a look - and there's a seal in my kitchen.

"I thought 'I'm hallucinating, this is just wrong'."

More: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10772980

That seal baby KNEW where it wanted to go!

December 14, 2011

Never been to The Smithsonian? 47 Panoramic Virtual Tours

There are 47 virtual panoramas of the exhibits. They can be viewed from small to large images.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/htmlVersion/index.html

Fun!




[img][/img]

December 13, 2011

Jerry Sandusky waives preliminary hearing. Lawyer says it's a tactical maneuver.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Jerry Sandusky's lawyer said he waived his preliminary hearing this morning on child sexual assault charges

The waiver means there will be no testimony today and the case will proceed to Common Pleas court.
<snip>
BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Jerry Sandusky's lawyer said he waived his preliminary hearing this morning on child sexual assault charges

The waiver means there will be no testimony today and the case will proceed to Common Pleas court.

Michael Janet, an attorney for Victim 6, after Jerry Sandusky waived his preliminary hearing on charges he sexually abused 10 boys.

The hearing began at 8:30 a.m., and Sandusky, 67, waived immediately. He said in a press conference afterward that he intends to fight the charges, but today wasn't the day to do so. There has been no talk of a plea agreement, his lawyer said.

Lawyer Joe Amendola, addressing the media this morning outside the Centre County Courthouse, said he believes that Penn State assistant coach and grand jury witness Mike McQueary is the "centerpiece" of the prosecution's case. McQueary testified that he saw Sandusky in a Penn State shower raping a child in 2002, but that story has differed. Sandusky says he has showered with children, but never in a sexual way.

"Having realized McQueary's credibility was already in grave issue, we decided it made more sense to waive this hearing, work on defense," he said. "... If we destroy McQueary's credibility, then we put the credibility of all others involved into question."
<snip>

Amendola said that accusers are after money. "Many of alleged victims already have civil attorneys. "What greater motivation could there be to say 'I'm a victim' than money?" he said.

He said he thinks more accusers could come forward. "How do you decipher credibility when there could be a payday? The Commonwealth has a big job to do," he said.
<snip>
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/12/jerry_sanduskys_lawyer_says_he_1.html

McQueary's story has changed, but that won't affect the other witnesses. If they are found to be credible, then Sandusky is screwn.

In addition, 11 of the victims were going to testify. His lawyer could have judged how effective they are and other things.

This makes no sense to me. Even if more nasty stories hit the news, it would get them out before the trial which might dilute their potency a little. Drop all that shite at once and it will explode.

December 13, 2011

Mayor Of San Juan, Baffles Public With Astoundingly Strange Christmas Photo

Rejected photo:


Rejected photo:

<snip>
The caption under the astoundingly strange photo is equally as puzzling:

“That you may illuminate your dream this Christmas,” it reads in Spanish. We’re not quite sure what the Mayor’s dream is, but the hunt scene was chosen to embody the mayor's holiday spirits over a few other creepy options -- including an unconvincing penguin figure staring into a young man's ear in an frosty wonderland and a giant bird swooping over the Mayor’s head as a black bear poses nearby.

While some political rivals have interpreted the picture as Santini’s understated warning for opponents in the upcoming election, the Mayor insists that he was promoting the San Juan Wildlife Museum.

Whatever Santini's motivations may be, here at HuffPost LatinoVoices, we wish you a holiday filled with sassy seven year olds and taxidermied jungle
<snip>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/12/jorge-santini-mayor-of-san-juan-strange-christmas-photo_n_1143265.html

Alrighty then!
This sure says Christmas to me!
I didn't realize Jeebus was born in a zoo.


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December 12, 2011

If Joseph and Mary set off to Bethlehem today..... (point of order!)

Shannyn Moore (@shannynmoore)
12/12/11 5:15 PM
RT @earthtonadine:
If Joseph & Mary set off 2 Bethlehem from Nazareth 2day-they'd cross 11 Israeli checkpoints-security check & a 30 ft wall

They would also probably end up in custody Somwhere.

'Tis the season.....


(POO - There seems to be a quibble over the mission of the messiah?)

December 12, 2011

If those 2 smug toads Scalia and Thomas do not

have to recuse themselves from cases where there is a blatant conflict of interest if not possible reasons to impeach, nobody else on the Supreme Court should recuse themselves from anything.

Kagan should sit right where she is and the Dems should keep up a LOUD and STEADY drumbeat about the shenanigans those two Injustices have pulled.

I know. The Dems don't want to rock the boat. Hell, the GOPeas have run it aground. I say rock and roll away. The court is bent on turning back the clock so shaking the hell out for it can't hurt.

December 12, 2011

Alabama politician Bill Johnson caught in sperm donation scandal in New Zealand

Bill Johnson, a former top state official who made a failed bid for governor in 2010, has been living a secret life in New Zealand as a sperm donor for lesbian couples, a New Zealand newspaper reported today.

Johnson, a Republican from Prattville, has spent much of the past year in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a contractor working on the recovery effort from a deadly earthquake that struck the city in February.

The New Zealand Herald reported in its Sunday edition that Johnson, who is married, has been using an alias to meet women who want help getting pregnant. The newspaper said it confirmed at least nine women had received sperm donations from Johnson, and at least three were pregnant.

The newspaper cited fertility medicine specialists in New Zealand who said that donors should not make sperm available to more than four families, to prevent accidental incest and lessen the stress donors and children face if they meet.
<snip>
More: http://blog.al.com/live/2011/12/alabama_politician_caught_in_s.html

The headline should have been 'Onan, The Barbarian.'

Boggles the mind it does.
His wife is apparently very hurt. I suppose this is a form of cheating on their marriage to her.
I'm sure the Alabama legislature will pass a law against something.