You play the bass and stunned by the low frequencies, the bass jump in your boat.

This is just foul.

Ypsilanti house unfit for human residence

Ewwwww! That's sickening. People couldn't have actually lived in that garbage??




TIS

Certainly a public health issue. Sadly enough every town in America probably has a home like that. It should be bulldozed and the pile taken to a landfill and burned.

From my hometown Elyria, Ohio

Tianna Madison

Wow! I'm not an Olympic follower but I understand your pride, Mig. Great story!


TIS

Thanks TIS!

She did a great job on the track, Mig.

Thanks Kly.

Dream Cruise Kick Off

Dream Cruise

Dream Cruise Pics

Dream Cruise Going Strong

Still unfolding...A shooting by the Empire State Building


http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/...e-building?lite



TIS

Terrible. The latest here is that there are 2 dead (including the gunman) and 10 injured, although many not shot, but trampled in the chaos that followed. They are saying right now that it looks like a workplace shooting.

My niece literally lives on that corner of 5th and just missed the shooting by minutes when she left for work this morning. My daughter just started school a few blocks away, but came home last night since orientation was over. Glad she was here with me, as it would have been a nightmare getting her out of Manhattan today.

SB,

So glad daughter & niece are safe. I can imagine the nightmare there right now. I'm following off/on on tv.



TIS

The mayor and police commissioner just held a short press conference. Apparently the gunman was a disgruntled worker who had been laid off from his job last year. He shot his former boss and was making his getaway when a witness pointed him out to two uniformed cops. The cops were approaching the gunman when he pulled out his revolver (a .45) and in a quick exchange of gunfire, the gunman was shot and killed.

In addition, some nine, or so, others were shot and wounded during the exchange.

I was keeping abreast of the developments while in my office today, spouses were calling fellow coworkers to talk/check-in on them (I work near Union Sq). NYC always has a bunch of crazies walking around unfortunately.

Finally an update on this...

Man admits burglarizing Bon Jovi's NJ shore home

This is absolutely ridiculous.

Ernest Perce, a local nut case, first made news by purchasing a billboard in a predominantly black part of Harrisburg that depicted a black man in chains with the caption, "Slaves, obey your masters," with a corresponding biblical reference.

Last Halloween he marched in the Mechanicsburg Halloween parade, dressed as a zombie, wearing a placard stating, "Muhammad of Islam." One of the Muslim spectators at the parade attempted to pull the sign from his neck. While Perce implored the police to charge the man with attempted homicide, the police eventually charged the man with a summary offence of harassment.

The case was assigned to District Justice (Magistrate)Mark Martin, who heard the case, determined there was no basis for the harassment charge, and found the man not guilty. To make matters worse for Perce, Martin lectured him about being a provocative pain in the ass.

Perce had recorded the hearing and lecture, and posted an edited version of the hearing on the internet to make it appear that the judge was a Muslim, who found the man not guilty bcause of the defendant's religion.

Judge Martin, a lifelong Lutheran and Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserves, found himself buried in hate mail and death threats from around the country. It got so bad that hte county had to move his office and court room to the county court house for his safety.

Perce posted on the internet that the Muslim Martin is using his district justice position to impose Sharia law. He soon received support from the Middle Eastern Forum, which is a right-wing pro-Israel watchdog group that monitors universities' Middle Eastern Studies programs. They demanded that the State Judicial conduct Board remove him from office.

In a few weeks Martin will feel much safer. He and his unit will be shipping out to Afghanistan where he'll be more secure.

Kly, you deal with cases that include provocation as a defense. I don't see the number of such cases slowing down. As time goes by, we add more and more to our pantheon of things that provoke us. However, I see provocation, real or not, as just an excuse for a lack of self control. I think it ought to be eliminated as a defense. By the way, doesn't provocation as a defense have its roots in common law?

That's a good point. The above defendant was not acqitted on the doctrine of provocation, but on the judge's determination that his conduct of attempting to remove the placard didn't satisfy the elements of the offense. I've seen people convicted of that summary offense for less.

Provocation did originate under English common law and I believe it was limited to murder charges, and could only reduce the charge to manslaughter.

In some jurisdictions provocation or "Fighting words" is not a defense to assault, but a separate charge against the prvocateur. When used as a defense, it is applied in a limited fashion. theassault must be contemporaneous with the provocation, which must be of a shocking nature.

the only time I saw it used effectively as a defense was in a case where a defendant struck a shop owner after a verbal disagreement. The shop owner told him to leave and take his "ni***r kids" with him.

My colleqague, who represented the defendant, spoke with a few of the jurors and learned that6-7 jurors were ready to acquit immediately, but the other five examined several facts, such as the proximity of the two people, the fact that there were several people present, including the children, and the immediacy of the reaction.

I don't know that it is being used effectively as a defense very often, but when it is, it is always accompanied by a a cautionary, restrictive instruction from the bench.

I agree that persistent or expansive use of the doctrine will encourage irresponsible behavior, taking the law into one's own hands, and lawlessness.

Sex with underage girls, online soliticing, etc., are rampant in this area. But, an interesting legal wrinkle developed in pleas involving an online sting orchestrated by the local PD, with one defendant actually "out-lawing" his public defender:

Jeff Balys met his new attorney on Monday.

The most outspoken of the so-called Yavapai Six defendants accused of online sex chats with an undercover YCSO deputy, Balys, 47, of Cordes Lakes, is facing four counts of luring a child for sexual exploitation and one count of aggravated luring.

He was arrested after Det. Pam Edgerton, playing the role of a 13-year-old girl, said she had conducted several sexually-charged Internet chats with Balys in January 2011, and that he wanted to set up a meeting with the girl she was playing.

Balys is now on his third lawyer.

His first one, public defender John R. Thornton, battled, sometimes publicly, with Balys, who claimed Thornton wanted him to accept a plea agreement that he didn't want. The plea, he argued, was based on the concept that Balys could be accused of a "dangerous crime against a child" - which, Balys correctly said, an Arizona court had recently thrown out because a similar sting did not actually involve a child.

After weeks of arguing, Thornton was replaced by Eric English, and, in public, at least, Balys seemed to get along with him. But in July, English filed a motion asking to be replaced because of an unspecified "conflict."

Balys said the problem was that English, like Thornton, wouldn't listen to him about problems he heard in Edgerton's testimony in two previous cases.

Monday, attorney John Erickson met Balys for the first time, just before appearing before Superior Court Judge Tina Ainley.

"As the court may be aware, I am fairly new to this case," Erickson told Ainley. "This is a pretty complicated case. I am still trying to get to the bottom of it."

Ainley agreed and vacated Balys' October trial dates.

Although Balys has repeatedly refused a plea, Ainley reset the date for November, when, she said, they could discuss a non-trial resolution.

Outside the courtroom, Balys, who is out on bond, said, "I don't think anybody wants to deal with this case."

It's official now... the sale of sugary drinks (soda) in cup sizes of over 16 ounces is now banned in NYC. The ban takes effect in March.

What next? Hamburgers will be limited to four ounces? No more cheese allowed on them??

Rumors have it that an anti-farting law will take place next year.

Perhaps this prohibition will give birth to a new racket for the Italian Mafia.

They have been smuggling in XL cups and 2L bottles from Neighboring states and Canada.

A new coke connection?

I heard that. What is the purpose of this law? What is the goal?

I understand the health issue and myself I never drink any of the huge drinks, but you have freedom of speech but not the size drink you have in your hand?


TIS

Poor Kathy Bates (Harry's Law & Misery) announced she is recovering from a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer. In 02/03 she had ovarian cancer and pulled thru. Don't you wonder how some people survive getting hit with double whammies like this? She is expected to recover so that's good. I wish her well.


TIS



http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/post.asp...ectomy/52-16901

i wonder what nicknames will come out of this? what happens if you get caught with a bottle over 16 oz? will there be speakeasies in 7-11's? a lot of questions and hopefully answers in march.

You'll get pounded.

We were in Oregon a couple of months ago. They have a law that no meat can be cooked less than medium in any restaurant.

Oregon also allows assisted suicides. Perhaps that law was passed to aid those who ate meat cooked less than medium rare?