Domestic Murder in Maine

boston.com reports

A Massachusetts man fatally shot the mother of their four children and gravely wounded her companion before leading police on a chase that ended 50 miles away in Lyman, officials said Tuesday.

Joel Hayden, 29, of New Bedford, Mass., was arrested at gunpoint around 9 p.m. Monday after crashing his Cadillac, police said. He was under police guard in a Portland hospital.

There's a history of domestic violence between Hayden and Renee Sandora, 27, of New Gloucester, who died from her injuries Tuesday at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, said Stephen McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety. The other victim, Trevor Mills, 28, of New Bedford, Mass., remained in grave condition at the hospital.

Does anyone know Weer'd Beard's real name? He lives in Mass., has relatives in Maine, and believes the gun is the answer to all life's problems.

It's probably just a coincidence because unfortunately there are plenty of people like that up there.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on the Norway Shooting

Mom Wounds Daughter with "Cigarette Lighter"

via The Banning-Beaumont Patch thanks to our Friend Jack Cluth

A 12-year-old girl was wounded by a ricocheting bullet Sunday evening in Banning, when her mother fired a tiny pistol she mistook for a cigarette lighter, police said.

Rachel Avila, 30, told police she and her 12-year-old daughter, both of Banning, were talking with friends in front of their mobile home in the 100 block of North Phillips Avenue when Avila found what she thought was a novelty cigarette lighter, police said.

Now wait a minute, did she say "FOUND what she thought was a novelty cigarette lighter?" And that was right in front of their trailer, right? And the police buy that explanation?

The police department advised caution to anyone who finds an object resembling a firearm or a suspicious device.

"Do not handle the object and call local law enforcement for assistance," Banning police said.

Banning police Sgt. Alex Diaz said, "We're tying to find out who the gun belongs to, so we're looking into that. At this point it is considered an accident."

I guess this could be another example of why they oppose registration of guns. One guy called it "plausible deniability." That's cute isn't it?

What's your opinion?.  Please leave a comment.

Stephen Colbert on the Norway Shooting

via Suburban Guerrilla

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10 Ways to Tell if You're a Republican

via The Opinionated Liberal

8. If you think the Second Amendment gives you the right to own a machine gun (and the First Amendment allows you to threaten to use it).

You can probably guess what some of the others are.  I liked Number 1, too.

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Dedicated to Stan, who loves butterflies, and depending on his age, can probably sing along with all the lyrics and tap along with the drum solo, like I can.



From Wikipedia

The song is considered significant in rock history because it marks the time period when psychedelic music began to form heavy metal. In 2009, it was named the 24th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.

A commonly related story says that the song's title was originally "In the Garden of Eden" but at one point in the course of rehearsing and recording, singer Doug Ingle became intoxicated and slurred the words, creating the mondegreen that stuck as the title.

13-Year Old Shot 8 Times by the Cops

via The Huffington Post

According to FOX Chicago, police arrived at a park near the Piccolo Specialty School where Jimmell attends to respond to a call of shots fired. They claim Jimmell matched the description of the shooter, so they came after him. He appeared to be holding a weapon in his hand, police say, and when they asked him to lower it, he refused. When he pointed the weapon in the officers' direction, they opened fire. Apparently, eight rounds were required to subdue the 13-year-old.

The weapon they allege he was holding was a BB gun, but the Fraternal Order of Police says that officers handled the situation correctly because toy guns and real ones can be indistinguishable even to trained police officers.

That's the cops' side of the story.

What is that supposed to mean, the cops' side of the story? Either there was a BB gun or there wasn't. And even if there was, that's an excessive response with a shabby explanation. BB guns are usually distinguishable from real guns which makes the problem the cops' too-hasty reaction.

Here's the other side of the story.

When he was shot, according to family, Jimmell's hands were in the air. And he wasn't holding a gun of any kind, BB or otherwise.

Now, I can imagine family members might hate the cops for this and want to make it look worse than it was, but as I said, either there was a BB gun or there wasn't. Saying there wasn't if one was taken into custody as evidence doesn't make much sense. So, who's lying? Who's got more to lose or gain?

You know my idea? What's yours?

Please leave a comment.