Archive for December 13th, 2013

Noted, part 2.

Friday, December 13th, 2013

A year later, the anger and grief caused by the deaths continue to be felt. So, too, do the ripples from the other killings, of which there were at least 71, bringing the year’s total to at least 91, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. The list, which focused on children 10 years of age and under who were victims of a deliberate shooting, was compiled in a search of news databases, federal crime statistics and Web sites that track violence against children.

From the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website, dated September 15, 2012:

According to information compiled from media reports and released today by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) Pool Safely campaign, 137 children younger than 15 years drowned in a pool or spa during the traditional summer season of Memorial Day to Labor Day this year. An additional 168 children of that age required emergency response for near-fatal incidents in pools or spas during that period.

…

In addition, the media reports from this summer are consistent with CPSC’s annual reports in showing that young children and toddlers are especially vulnerable to drowning – at least 100 of the 137 children who drowned were younger than five. Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death among children one to four years of age.

I have not yet been able to find a reliable figure for child abuse deaths in 2012: however, the state of Pennsylvania alone reported 33 deaths in 2012, and this site claims 212 in the state of Texas.

Posted in Clippings, Guns | Comments Closed

Noted.

Friday, December 13th, 2013

FARK headline, linking to an Orlando Sentinel story:

Parents groups are concerned that Elf on the Shelf sends out a bad message to children, instilling within them a fear that someone is watching over them at all times. To say nothing of the fact it is a terrifying, soulless marionette

You. Don’t. Say.

(On a totally unrelated note, why hasn’t the NSA or the National Cryptologic Museum put their gift shop online?)

(I don’t guess I have any readers in the DC area, do I?)

Posted in Christmas, Clippings | Comments Closed

This is intended to enrage you. (#6 in a series)

Friday, December 13th, 2013

Wednesday’s verdict in particular seemed to line up with what many of the officers on trial have argued: that these were unique events under extreme circumstances rather than, as the Justice Department and even some city officials have insisted, symptoms of a much deeper and broader dysfunction within the police force.

These “unique events under extreme circumstances” include shooting an unarmed man, beating and handcuffing three other men who drove the shooting victim to a police station, driving their car to a levee, and setting the car on fire with the shooting victim inside.

These “unique events under extreme circumstances” also include shooting even more unarmed people and covering those shootings up as well.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Law, Rage | Comments Closed

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! watch (#6 in a series)

Friday, December 13th, 2013

This is especially tasty. Robert “Ratso” Rizzo, the former city manager of Bell…

…agreed Thursday to plead guilty to conspiracy to file false tax returns and to cooperate with federal authorities.

According to the LAT, Ratso claimed $770,000 in “phantom losses” on his tax returns between 2005 and 2010.

He faces a maximum of eight years in prison and a $500,000 fine on the federal charges.

Keep in mind that quotes about federal maximum sentences can be misleading. Also, the judge is going to allow Ratso to serve his time on the tax charges concurrently with the ten to twelve years he’ll already be serving on the other corruption charges he’s pled to, so it isn’t like he’s going to be in prison any longer. Still, this is good news.

And Merry Christmas to you, Angela Spaccia:

James Spertus, Rizzo’s attorney, said Spaccia will eventually be indicted and that Rizzo will testify against her.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law | Comments Closed