Dad Gets Restraining Order Against Son’s 4th-Grade Classmate

The Riverside County, Calif., District Attorney is reviewing a classroom incident that led a man to get a temporary restraining order against a 4th-grader who allegedly threatened his son with a knife.

The boy and the school district were officially served with the order Tuesday, said the father, Robert Casteel.

Capt. Danny Feltenberg of the Jurupa Valley, Calif., sheriff’s station, confirmed that a Riverside County court judge had agreed to Casteel’s request to order the boy — whose name has not been released — to keep at least 20 feet away from Casteel’s son, Christopher, 10.

Casteel, a 33-year-old nurse’s assistant living in Mira Loma, Calif., said Christopher told him Jan. 11 the other boy pulled a knife that morning in class and said he would “get you after school.”



http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/dad-gets-restraining-order-against-sons-4th-grade-classmate/

Bruins goalie says he skipped White House trip because ‘government has grown out of control’

It wasn’t about “politics or party” affiliation, Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas said. He chose not to join his teammates Monday at a White House reception celebrating their Stanley Cup championship for other reasons.

In a statement on Facebook, Thomas cited his belief that “the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties and Property of the People.” For that reason, Thomas said, “I exercised my right as a Free Citizen. ... This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country.”

Thomas has drawn criticism — and praise — for the decision, which he posted at 6 p.m. Monday and says will be his final comment on the matter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/tim-thomas-says-he-skipped-white-house-trip-because-government-has-grown-out-of-control/2012/01/24/gIQAixGINQ_blog.html

Mitt Romney's Mormon Problem Explained (VIDEO)

Yes, the Romneys Converted Mitt’s Dead Atheist Father-in-Law to Mormonism

Gawker's substantial Mormon readership has come through for us: Two readers have sent us confirmation that Edward Davies, Mitt Romney's militantly atheist father-in-law, was indeed posthumously converted to Mormonism by his family, despite the fact that when he was alive he regarded all religions as "hogwash."

As we mentioned yesterday, Ann Romney's Welsh-born father (who Mitt mentioned in last night's debate to shore up his pro-immigrant bona fides) was an engineer, inventor, and resolute atheist who disdained all organized religion and raised his children accordingly. Davies, his son Roderick told the Boston Globe in 2007, regarded the faithful as "weak in the knees." But when Mitt began seeing Davies' daughter Ann, the Romney family launched a concerted effort to convert not only Ann but her entire family to Mormonism. And they were wildly successful: Within a year of meeting Ann, Mitt and his father had converted all three of Edward Davies' children. Days before she died in 1993, Ann Romney's mother asked to be converted as well. Edward Davies was the only member of his clan whose soul the Romneys never claimed for their church.

Until he died. According to this entry in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' genealogical database, Davies was baptized as a Mormon at a "special family meeting" 14 months after his death: "All ordinances except sealing to spouse performed in Salt Lake Temple on 19 Nov 1993 in special family meeting," the entry says. (When we previously asked the church whether Davies had been baptized, a spokesperson told us that the information was available only to his family and church members. But it's apparently right there on the internet for those who know what to look for.)

http://gawker.com/5879888/yes-the-romneys-converted-mitts-dead-atheist-father+in+law-to-mormonism

Obama leads Romney in Michigan

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama heads to an event in Ann Arbor today holding a clear lead in the state over the two Republicans with the best chance to block his re-election in November.

Two months ago, Obama trailed Michigan-born former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll, 46%-41%. Now, the Democratic president leads Romney in the state, 48%-40% in a poll of 600 voters taken Saturday through Wednesday.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. It was the first time in more than a year that Obama has led Romney in Michigan in a survey conducted by EPIC-MRA, the Lansing-based polling company that does surveys for the Free Press, WXYZ and three outstate television stations.

Obama is buoyed by rising hopes that the worst is past for the Michigan economy, as well as a slide for Romney, who has struggled to consolidate his position in the Republican field.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120127/NEWS15/201270468/Obama-leads-2-GOP-contenders-in-state-as-better-economy-helps-cut-Romney-s-lead

Romney's 'blind trust' invested $1 million in son's company.

Cleta Mitchell, a Washington, D.C. election lawyer who has done legal work for Rick Santorum's campaign, said it would be hard to explain how Romney's independent investment fund would orchestrate a $1 million investment with his son's firm without violating the terms of a standard blind trust -- terms that typically prohibit communication with family members.

"What you're saying to the government is, I don't have any control over this, my spouse doesn't, and neither do my dependent children," Mitchell said. "The filer says, 'I don't know what's in it. I just get income from it.'"

Said one prominent campaign lawyer who has advised past Republican presidential candidates on these matters: "I don't see how this would provide the required trustee independence under the executive branch blind trust requirements."



http://news.yahoo.com/mitt-romneys-blind-trust-not-blind-140241848.html

Newt: Callista is not necessarily better.

Is that a sign of another upcoming divorce?

Mitt just made the case for health care mandates.

Does he realize that?

Gingrich SuperPAC Hits Romney With New Ad: 'Blood Money'

A super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich is out with a new hit documentary on Mitt Romney entitled “Blood Money,” about a case of Medicare fraud that occured at a Bain-owned company while Romney was on the board.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4768

SF: New evidence submitted against Sheriff in domestic abuse case is VERY UGLY

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The prosecution is making a decision not to grant San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi a new request made Thursday to see his son, citing new evidence of abuse. In an email from his wife Eliana Lopez to witness Ivory Madison, Lopez describes an incident on October 19th, 2011, where Mirkarimi left his son alone in a car, vomiting after not being fed.

http://www.kron4.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=2854