Finally. But it will be underplayed.

Thanks to CJ.

Posted by: Ace at 02:17 PM | Comments (24)
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Now that The Deciders UK have decided, will The Deciders USA follow suit?

Doubtful.

Posted by: Ace at 12:55 PM | Comments (6)
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A low-budget British art film designated flop, but still, the intent is there. Matt Sanchez contrasts the idiotic propaganda of the film with the actual, you know, facts.

Posted by: Ace at 12:39 PM | Comments (8)
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Ball's eye?

A CAR dealer who found a handgun in a car yard he bought accidentally shot his friend in the testicle while playing with the firearm, a court was told yesterday.

Both men then lied about the shooting to police, telling them it occurred during a robbery.

Mark Anthony Cheers, 39, pleaded guilty in Southport District Court yesterday to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, possessing an unlicensed weapon and carrying dangerous goods in a vehicle.

The court was told Cheers found the gun in a business he had bought and twirled it around his finger while showing it to his friend, Phillip Marino.

The gun discharged, shooting Marino in the scrotum and groin. He lost 15 per cent of his right testicle, the court was told.

Cheers threw the gun in a canal but later recanted the robbery story and admitted he had shot his friend.

Judge Fleur Kingham sentenced Cheers to 200 hours' community service.

I was going to make a lame joke that, this being Australia, the guy who lost one-sixth of his testicle just said "No worries, mate, just by me a beer."

Not actually a joke:

Outside court, Cheers' lawyer, Cameron Browne, said Marino had forgiven Cheers.

"One of the most pleasing aspects of this case is that prior to today, the complainant contacted my client and said he still wished to have a beer with him after all this was over," Mr Browne said.

I think I have to move there.

Thanks to Sidhe.

Posted by: Ace at 12:36 PM | Comments (14)
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a.k.a. Dr. Gropey McHappypants, D.D.S.

A dentist accused of fondling the breasts of 27 female patients is trying to keep his dental license by arguing that chest massages are an appropriate procedure in certain cases. Mark Anderson's lawyer says dental journals discuss the need to massage the pectoral muscles to treat a common jaw problem.

Police say Anderson said during recorded phone calls that he routinely massaged patients' chests to treat temporo-mandibular joint disorder, or TMJ, which causes neck and head pain.

In order to properly investigate Dr. Anderson's claim, as a Citizen-Journalist I had to perform exhaustive and thorough background research on TMJ; the causes, the treatments, etc.

And after that three minutes of Googling and skimming, I still haven't found any mention of chest massage as part of any therapy for the disorder.

Look, I'm no medical expert. But it seems fairly obvious to me that the good Doctor is a medical pioneer, developing brand-new therapeutic treatments to bring relief to the suffering. Alas, no good deed goes unpunished.

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Phillips gave Lew three new complaints, including one from a 31-year-old woman who said Anderson fondled her at least six times over two years.

She took to wearing tight shirts with high necklines, "and Anderson would still get in under her shirt and bra," according to a police report.

I think someone needs a change of attitude. I know her type. She doesn't really want to get better. She'd rather go to the same dentist, time after time, visit after visit, attempting to thwart the healing process instead of embracing it.

Seriously, though. Come on. I hate to blame the victim. BUT...

Even at the same time she obviously knew something was wrong, she kept going back? Defensive clothing was her big strategy for dealing with this scumbag putting his hands on her?

Does this call for a "Top Ten Signs Your Doctor Might Be Sexually Abusing You" Contest thread?

You decide in the comments.

Posted by: LauraW. at 09:50 AM | Comments (160)
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What do you do when your boy tells you he's being bullied? Why, you do what any mother would do. Buy him some guns.

Brings a tear to my eye, really. Why I remember when I told my dear sainted mother about those guys on the varsity wrestling team giving me the business in 9th grade, she took my face in her hands, looked at me with a mother's love, and said "a switchblade and a little attitude can take care of that son".

The boy has allegedly admitted to planning an attack. Authorities found a 9mm rifle (who knows what kind, reporters don't say and honestly don't know the difference between an AK-47 and a squirrel rifle anyway), sword, knives, airguns and 3 homemade grenades, along with a bunch of screwed up crazy notes.

Grenades?

Mom had also bought him a .22 handgun and a .22 single shot rifle (squirrel gun!). Dad tried to buy him a gun a couple of years ago, but he had a felony record and that's a no no.

His lawyer asserts that prosecutors displayed 30 airguns that look like "real weapons" and are trying to make a "Columbine" case. Perhaps. But a real rifle and explosive devices aren't nothing. And it sure seems the boy had issues.

Bet the parents do too.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 07:27 AM | Comments (40)
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Do you think an illegal alien would have gotten 10 years in the slam for using a bogus persona to escape an inconvenient past? Probably not. Something is very wrong when US citizens are getting rapped harder for doing the same sort of thing scads of illegals do all the time.

...Except for the fact that Sharma wasn't using his legal name and Social Security number, he seemed to be an upstanding citizen. His bills were paid on time. The Social Security number he invented had the same digits as his own but in a different order; he eventually obtained a Florida driver's license, credit and debit cards, checks and a counterfeit Social Security card, all bearing the name Peter Reynolds.

Sharma used them to open bank accounts with Bank of America and Chase Manhattan Bank, obtain credit cards, and obtain utilities--including with Cox Communications--for his apartment. He even began the process of buying a house from Pulte Homes for $242,000.

But eventually, police in Maricopa County, Ariz., found out about his use of the name Peter Reynolds and charged him with three felonies...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 11:55 PM | Comments (9)
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By spooked, I mean he flew into a deranged and violent rage at the sight of them, (three inflatable ghosts, and a pumpkin).

Dawn Garcia, of Lloyd, New York says she heard hollering and swearing on her front lawn, Thursday night, and when she peeked outside, she saw a guy tussling with one of her inflatables.

“He was enraged. I could see that,” she said.

When she yelled at him to go away, Odee charged the house. She fled through the back door with three of her children and heard window glass breaking. She called 911 from another neighborÂ’s house. Police said Odee used his head to smash a window to get in.

“What made him do that, I don’t know,” Garcia said. “We had the same decoration up last year and it didn’t bother him.”

State Police say officers found John Odee, 43, inside GarciaÂ’s house, arrested him after a brief struggle and charged him with burglary.

Alcohol was involved.

Cross-posted here.......What?

H/T: Crime Scene KC

Posted by: Open Blog at 10:40 PM | Comments (10)
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General Sanchez covered a lot of ground in his recent talk to military affairs reporters, from media-military relations, the political climate in the US and what that means to the fight in Iraq and what the US has to do moving forward. But itÂ’s clear the MSM have decided to emphasize only one aspect of the GeneralÂ’s speechÂ…his harsh critique of the AdministrationÂ’s planning and execution of the war in Iraq. I know, itÂ’s shocking that thatÂ’s what they have chosen to emphasize.

Here are some other bits that might have been selected as the big take away but you know, they didnÂ’t fit the narrative (sorry about the caps, but thatÂ’s the way the transcript is formatted):

AMERICA HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO CONTINUE OUR EFFORTS IN IRAQ. A PRECIPITOUS WITHDRAWAL WILL UNQUESTIONABLY LEAD TO CHAOS THAT WOULD ENDANGER THE STABILITY OF THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST. IF THIS OCCURS IT WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.

Or maybe this:

SINCE 2003, THE POLITICS OF WAR HAVE BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY PARTISANSHIP AS THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES STRUGGLED FOR POWER IN WASHINGTON. NATIONAL EFFORTS TO DATE HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED BY PARTISAN POLITICS THAT HAVE PREVENTED US FROM DEVISING EFFECTIVE, EXECUTABLE, SUPPORTABLE SOLUTIONS. AT TIMES, THESE PARTISAN STRUGGLES HAVE LED TO POLITICAL DECISIONS THAT ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS ON THE BATTLEFIELD. THE UNMISTAKABLE MESSAGE WAS THAT POLITICAL POWER HAD GREATER PRIORITY THAN OUR NATIONAL SECURITY OBJECTIVES. OVERCOMING THIS STRATEGIC FAILURE IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD ACHIEVING VICTORY IN IRAQ - WITHOUT BIPARTISAN COOPERATION WE ARE DOOMED TO FAIL. THERE IS NOTHING GOING ON TODAY IN WASHINGTON THAT WOULD GIVE US HOPE.

Or check out PowerlineÂ’s favorite angleÂ…SanchezÂ’s dissection of the media and its coverage of the war to date.

But the Deciders have gone heavy on the Bush bashing angle (and let’s be honest, is anyone actually defending this administration’s handling of the war?) and the left will embrace their new hero. Of course, the MSM will ignore the fact that it was the anti-war left that was leading the charge for Gen. Sanchez’s firing since he was in command during the Abu Gahrib ‘scandal’. I am sure the KosKidz and others of that ilk will let bygones be bygones now.

Below the fold is a great example of the play this story is getting. more...

Posted by: DrewM. at 09:49 PM | Comments (174)
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We seem to be experiencing a teeny-tiny, almost completely ignorable difficulty with the comments. Unfortunately it renders them entirely inaccessible. I'm sure Pixy will have it fixed in a jiffy.

Cobloggers and open bloggers should take the opportunity to share their most inflammatory material while no one can talk back.

Pixy sez: Well, poop. This would happen when I'm a thousand miles from a decent internet connection. But I should be able to set up an SSL VPN and SSH over that to reset the background processes.

Pixy also sez: Huh. That actually worked. Comments are back, boys and girls!

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:22 PM | Comments (8)
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