What is wrong with people?

Police: 10-Year-Olds Charged In Attack On Homeless Man
Victim Suffers Serious Head Wound; 3 Boys Charged
UPDATED: 4:37 pm EDT March 29, 2007
From WKMG-TV, central Florida

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Two 10-year-olds in Daytona Beach, Fla., are
accused of attacking a homeless man who was hospitalized after a piece of
concrete was smashed into his face, according to police.

Daytona Beach police charged the two 10-year-olds, whose names were not released, and another teen, Jeremy Woods, of Daytona Beach, with aggravated battery after the three threw rocks at two homeless men in a neighborhood near Ridgewood Avenue, Daytona Beach police said.

According to police, the boys pushed John D'Amico, 58, into a concrete block wall. D'Amico fell and one of the 10-year-olds smashed a piece of concrete into his face, police said. D'Amico was transported to Halifax Medical Center with a serious head wound, police said. Local 6 showed video of the man with a black and blue face after the attack. Another unidentified 46-year-old man was not seriously injured in the incident.

Listen: I’m the first person to admit that homeless folks are not pleasant to look at. I’m not a big fan of panhandlers, public excreters, or folks who live in homeless camps around our fair city.

That being said: people are people. YOU DON’T THROW ROCKS AT PEOPLE.

What kind of fundamental derailment of moral values produces 10 year old kids who think it is okay to assault homeless folks?

And I’m not talking about religious values just basic humanity.

If these kids were chucking concrete at pets, we’d be talking about how they are about one fire and a bedwetting away from being the next serial killers. But these kids?

Tell me I’m overreacting.

** and i'm not even going to get into the fact that a lot of homeless folks are mentally ill due to the sad state of our mental health system

Up, Up, and Away in my Dumb-Ass Law

I’ve added emphasis to this New Hampshire Union Leader story:

It's $250 a pop for a balloon on the loose

CONCORD, NH – People will want to hold onto their balloons if the
Senate agrees with a House vote yesterday to ban balloon releases.

By a vote of 215 to 111, the House approved a bill that treats balloon
releases as a form of littering.

HB 62 originally barred the release of two dozen or more
lighter-than-air balloons.
The version that passed yesterday could bring a
$250 fine for even a single balloon let loose. A second offense could bring a
$500 fine. The bill specifically exempts hot air balloons, weather balloons and
others released as part of scientific research.

The bill does not penalize accidental releases.

Those who favored the bill said the balloon materials, including the
attached strings and ribbons, pose a serious threat to wildlife. Whales, turtles
and seabirds that live along New Hampshire's coastline mistakenly eat floating
balloons thinking they are food, and then are unable to eat real food.

"Do we now get balloon police?" Rep. Randolph Holden,
R-Goffstown, asked.

Rep. Kevin Waterhouse, R-Windham, said police officers would be
given enforcement responsibility. A move to give the job to Fish and Game
officers was rejected, since the department is under budget pressure
already.

He said people need to be aware that balloon releases cause real harm
to wildlife.

"It doesn't just go to heaven and disappear. It comes back down again,"
Waterhouse said.
Waterhouse said he was inspired to sponsor the bill by a
group of homeschoolers studying ecology.

---------------------------------
This is another example of a great idea but an inefficient use of police resources.

How many citations are police going to give for loose balloons? Nearly none.
Soooo… what actual good does it do? Not much.

But what it does accomplish is to authorize every bee-in-the-bonnet crotchety caller to report illegal balloon deployments.

Before you complain that actual police officers will be sent to balloon calls before they are sent to a real call, it would almost never happen. The actual extra work would be in the communications centers.

I’d bet that the Emergency Communications staffs all over New Hampshire have nothing better to do than take balloon calls.

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Hindenburg photo: www.corrosion-doctors.org

Skull-o-rama

While Kelli was visiting relatives in Alabama I did a lot of polymer clay stuff.

The most productive task was making a mold of a decent skull and then mass-producing lots of skull pins. I've made about 40 of them so far and some are much better than others. Along the way I've learned the power of mica powder and marbling. Next on my list is faux raku. We'll see.

I would need to make a light box to take decent pictures of the glazed ones.

ZZZZ from work suggested I make the skulls into cabinet knobs and other ornamental items besides pins. Thus came "Big Wild Death" or at least its first incarnation.

Terrible Two's

I started this blog 2 years and 475 posts ago.

I've made some cool friends along the way and I've reconnected with old friends and for that I am grateful.

That's it. Happy Blogoversary to me.

Back to the regularly scheduled crap.

Let Your Freak Flag Fly !!

Bill would ban anatomically explicit vehicle decorations in Maryland

Updated: 2:14 p.m. HT Feb 23, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Fake bull testicles and other anatomically explicit vehicle decorations would be banned from Maryland roads under a bill pending in the state legislature.

The measure was filed in the General Assembly on Monday by Delegate LeRoy E. Myers Jr., who says children shouldn't be exposed to giant plastic gonads dangling from pickup truck trailer hitches. The bill also would ban displaying images of naked human breasts, buttocks or genitals, with offenses punishable by fines of up to $500.

"It's time to take a stand," Myers told The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail.

This bill died of on its own after the bad publicity but it reminds me of the benefits of freedom of speech.

I firmly believe that people should have the right to hang plastic testicles from their vehicles. I also believe that people should proudly display their Grillz.

You know why?

I could engage everyone I meet in meaningful conversation, observe their actions, and, after a sufficient period of observation, render an opinion on that person's character.

Or…

I could take one look at a set of plastic testicles or a flashy set of Grillz and immediately judge that person to be, at best, an idiot.

As a fundamentally lazy guy I appreciate folks who display their plastic testicles proudly. Brave men and women fought for your right to cling to Junior High humor long into adulthood.

I'd rant more but I've got to put that last eBay bid on the pair of platform "pimp boots" with the fish tanks in the heels. I wouldn’t want MY freedom of speech to go to waste.

MSNBC story
Followup NBC4 story
Grillz Guy
Grillz Models
Bumper Nuts
Pimp Costumes: Boots

Cheeseheads Know When To Fold 'Em

Sadly, we get this kind of thing all the time.

from the Green Bay Press Gazette:

Girl calls 911: Grandpa's cheating at cards!

Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

BEAVER DAM — A 7-year-old girl who thought she was getting the short
end of the deal called 911 on Sunday afternoon to report her grandfather was cheating at cards.

The Dodge County dispatch center received a 911 hang-up call
from a child around 4:40 p.m. at a home on Dodge County E in the town of Burnett east of Beaver Dam, according to a report.

When officers responded, the grandmother told the deputy her young granddaughter had recently learned to dial 911 and apparently called when she believed her grandfather was cheating during a family card game, according to the report.

photo: http://www.timelesstrinkets.com/Smurfs/CollectorPages/images/20056.jpg

Cavemen - the TV Pilot

ABC has ordered a pilot for a comedy featuring the cavemen characters created for orginally for a series of Geico commercials, according to the AP/MSNBC: Geico Cavemen May Get Own TV Series

I love this idea, primarily because it presents the opportunity for the right casting (at least for a follow-up movie release).

In case you didn't see my original post, there is only one person who can play this part with a minimum of make-up:

The Geico Caveman and Val Kilmer

You be the judge.