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Friday, October 2, 2009

Video helps police capture the boys that committed the beating


CHICAGO (CBS/AP) Fenger High School honor student Albert Derrion's beating death was brutal. But the murder is made all the more painful for family and friends by the presence of a cell phone video which captures Derrion's final moments.


Photos: Derrion Albert Beating Death Video

Albert's grandfather Joshua Walker said he hasn't seen it and never will. "I don't think I'll ever watch it," Walker told CBS' The Early Show. "I wasn't there to protect my grandson so I'll never watch that tape."

Even the mother of one of the alleged killers refuses to see it, even though she has defended her son, Silvonus Shannon's, alleged role.

"Silvonus is not a bad kid," Tamaray Shannon told the Chicago Tribune. "He was protecting himself. Silvonus is not what they are making him out to be."

Screen Cap Shows Beating Death of Derrion Albert.

The cell phone footage, which has been distributed widely across the Web and television, clearly shows a group of teens viciously kicking and striking 16-year-old Albert with wooden planks. When Albert tries to get up he is hit again with wooden plank. Then a crowd of young men gathers around him, delivering vicious blows.

Albert was dragged away from the melee, but too much damage had been done. He died in the hospital.

As painful as the video is to watch, it has been a boon to investigators, who have now arrested who they believe are the four teens directly responsible for Albert's death.

Prosecutors charged Silvonus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, Eric Carson, 16, and Eugene Bailey, 18, with first-degree murder, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.

The violence stemmed from a shooting early Thursday morning involving two groups of students from different neighborhoods, said Simonton.


So disappointing that a fight leads to death. Unfortunately these Einsteins of the world had no ideal when giving someone a beat down, does have a limit! To beat someone to death is over the top. The extreme violence that is associated with most games is what fuels the passion for violence with our kids today... When is enough going to be enough? If its not the cowardly actions of a drive by shooting, now its this??? To be honest I don't think that these kids really grasp the true concepts of death. To make matters worse when they are going to be sentenced to 60 or 70 years in jail, and several will have a dumbfounded look on their face, "like what did I do to get this"?

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Law of the Garbage Truck


Think About This

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of the parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the Hospital!" This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so... Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

Married man refuses to pay prostitute child support

Married man refuses to pay prostitute child support

Prostitute

No support ... the accidental dad said he'd had "a consumer transaction" with the child's mother.

  • Man paid prostitute for sex
  • She gave birth to his baby
  • He is refusing to pay child support

A MAN who paid a woman for sex is resisting child support requests after the prostitute had his baby.

The married Melbourne man argues the child is potentially a breach of the Trade Practices Act.

He told a federal magistrate he shouldn't have to pay for the inadvertent offspring given the circumstances of the conception, the Herald Sun reports.

The accidental dad - who can be referred to only by the pseudonym Mr Lilley - told magistrate Grant Riethmuller he'd had "a consumer transaction" with the child's mother.

Mr Lilley argued an implied term of the "contract" between clients and sex workers was that women would take measures to avoid pregnancy.


Mr Lilley told the court he was not disputing paternity.

The prostitute - known only by the pseudonym Ms Logan - did not appear in court, and details of her employer were not publicly revealed.

The magistrate heard Mr Lilley initially contributed about $100 a week towards the infant's upkeep under an informal arrangement with Ms Logan. The matter spilled into court in June after he lost his $140,000-a-year job and fell behind in the payments.

Mr Riethmuller heard the man already had a child with his ill wife, and was struggling to support his family financially after taking a hefty pay cut in a new job.

The man used the legal action to question whether the sex worker and the Federal Government's Child Support Agency had any right to chase him for money.

In an affidavit, he argued the woman's basis for seeking support was "fundamentally flawed" given her job.

But in a ruling issued this week, the magistrate said the circumstances of the conception made no difference to the child's entitlements under the Child Support Scheme.

The man was ordered to keep paying $100 a week until a likely appeal to the Social Securities Appeal Tribunal.

The magistrate noted the door might be open for the dad to launch legal action against the owners of the brothel or escort service - or the mother individually - for damages.

Sex without a condom is illegal in licensed Victorian brothels and escort agencies.

I totally agree with the concept of a contractual agreement for sex and only sex. Think of it like this, if you jumped into a taxi cab and paid to go out of town, completed the journey and paid the fee, and the car broke down. It would not be your responsibility to fix that car. When you paid the fee to get to your destination you released hired that individual and the car getting fixed is his obligation! The exchange of money for sex terminates all rights of a woman to make a claim.

To make a man pay for this child opens up Pandora's box. Which in turn creates more problems for the man and woman in the long wrong. There would always be a situations where women would be getting pregnant on purpose. With the intent on getting what she can get.

Think About This


Think About This

Give Some Happiness


"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up." Mark Twain

"A laugh is the shortest distance between two people." Victor Borge

"A smile is a curved line that sets things straight." Unknown Author

"Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important." Janet Lane

"There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness." Lady Blessington

"The best vitamin to be a happy person is B1." Author Unknown

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." Buddha

"Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow." Swedish proverb

"Whoever is happy will make others happy, too." Mark Twain

Man pleads not guilty in 24 charges of mortgage fraud

SACRAMENTO, California—A federal judge has denied bail for a 28-year-old Sacramento man who was returned to California after an international manhunt.

Garret Griffith Gililland III remains behind bars after pleading not guilty to 24 charges alleging he participated in a $100 million mortgage fraud ring.

Gililland had requested bail, even though authorities said he fled the country with at least $250,000 in cash in June 2008.

He fought extradition after his arrest in Spain for a year until he was returned to Sacramento last week.

His bail request was denied after a hearing Wednesday in Sacramento federal court.

The Internal Revenue Service says Gililland and two others defrauded investors and mortgage companies in deals involving 500 homes and condominiums in California and other states.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mother charged with abuse after son escapes from closet

Larhonda Marie McCall, 37, is shown in Oklahoma City."
(AP) A woman was arrested after her 14-year-son told authorities he escaped from a home where he'd been kept for 4 1/2 years, spending most of his time locked in a bedroom closet, police said Monday.

A security guard at a National Guard facility in Oklahoma City called police on Friday after the teen showed up malnourished and with numerous scars and other signs of abuse, police Sgt. Gary Knight said.

"He was hungry. He was dirty. He had numerous scars on his body," Knight said. "It was very sad."

The boy was taken to a hospital to be examined and then turned over to the custody of the Department of Human Services, Knight said.

After police interviews, officers on Saturday arrested the boy's mother, 37-year-old LaRhonda Marie McCall, and a friend, 38-year-old Steve Vern Hamilton, on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect. Formal charges have not been filed, and both were being held on $400,000 bond, according to jail records.

Jail officials were not sure whether either had retained an attorney, and no one answered the phone at McCall's home. A police report listed McCall as a pharmaceutical company employee and Hamilton as a cab driver.

The teen, wearing only a pair of over sized shorts held up by a belt, walked up to a security guard at the Guard facility around 5 p.m. Friday and asked where a police station was located so he could report being abused, according to a police report.

He told police that scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire. Other scars were from being tied up, hit with an extension cord and choked, the boy told police.

"He had scars covering most of his body," Knight said. "They were basically from head to foot."

The teen told police he moved to the Oklahoma City area from New Jersey about 4 1/2 years ago after his mother was released from jail. Since arriving in Oklahoma, he said, he had never been to school and spent most of his time locked in a bedroom closet.

He told police the closet door was mostly blocked with a stepladder or a bed and that he managed to push the door open enough to escape and leave the house.

Knight said six other children living at the home were taken into DHS custody, but none showed signs of abuse. McCall had lived at several different addresses in the Oklahoma City area, he said.

A DHS spokeswoman said she could not discuss specific cases but generally an investigation would be conducted before any of the children are returned to the home or placed with other family members.

"There may be family members, but we do a diligent search, and we're very careful about placing kids in a safe environment," DHS spokeswoman Beth Scott said.

101 year-old attorney still practing

(CNN) -- Jack Borden would like you to consider working well past retirement age. As a 101-year-old attorney, he has the credibility to encourage it.

Attorney Jack Borden, 101, says he's never thought about not working. "What would I do?" he said.

Attorney Jack Borden, 101, says he's never thought about not working. "What would I do?" he said.

Borden, who has been practicing law for the better part of 70 years, still spends about 40 hours a week at his office in Weatherford, Texas, handling estate planning, probate and real estate matters.

Retire? Not while he's able to help folks.

"As long as you are capable, you ought to use what God gave you. He left me here for a reason, and with enough of a mind to do what it is I'm supposed to be doing," said Borden, who also has been a district attorney and Weatherford's mayor.

He arrives at the practice he shares with his nephew at 6:30 a.m. He goes home for lunch at 10:45 a.m., rests in bed for 45 minutes -- doctor's orders after pneumonia a few years back -- returns to work by 12:45 p.m. and stays until at least 4.

Not everyone who works past 65 does so because they want to. In a survey completed last month, 38 percent of respondents working past the age of 62 said they may have to delay retirement even further because of the recession, according to the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends project.

But in answer to another question in the same survey, 54 percent of workers 65 or older said they're working now mainly because they want to. Seventeen percent said their main reason was money, and 27 percent said both factors motivated them.

"Some of them enjoy it, and some of them need the money. But even if they need the money, they also enjoy the work," said Cynthia Metzler, president of Experience Works, a nonprofit that helps low-income workers ages 55 and older acquire new job skills.

The group, which operates in 30 states and also uses federal funds to pay participants a minimum wage to work community service jobs while they look for other work, last month named Borden as America's Outstanding Oldest Worker -- a title it bestows annually to a worker over 100.

Last week, Borden was in Washington to participate in events the group was holding to mark National Employ Older Workers Week.

When it comes to putting off retirement out of desire, Borden is hardly alone.

Preston Brown, 70, is a police officer in Yakima, Washington. He's enjoying the challenges that come with patrolling streets full time, and the experiences are relatively fresh: The former marketing worker and real estate broker didn't join the force until he was 51.

He was attracted to law enforcement as a teen but was told he was too short. The height requirements eventually changed, and after some friends persuaded him to go on a patrol ride-along, he began a process that landed him a job with Yakima police in 1990.

Whatever is required, from report-taking to chases, he's up for it.

"From time to time there will be a physical confrontation ... and we can get involved in foot chases and vehicle chases. Usually the vast quantity is on night shift more than [my daytime shift], but still I'm involved in those," Brown said.

Nineteen years later and still in good shape, he has no plans to stop. He likes the pay but he doesn't have to work: His wife of 53 years has a pension. He could be doing other things, such as playing racquetball and motorcycling with friends, but because he gets four days off after working five roughly 11-hour days, he already has time for that.

"When I wake up and prepare to leave for work, I'm looking forward to it," he said. "It's challenging and exciting."

In Anderson, South Carolina, customers at a Chick-fil-A restaurant might see 88-year-old Frank Childers fixing a door. His wife, Gertrude Childers, 88, might be carrying a tray to a table or refreshing someone's beverage.

When Frank Childers retired from his insurance sales job in 1985, he looked forward to free time and fishing.

"I stayed retired for five years. I got tired of sitting around," he said.

Frank Childers, who had some mechanical experience before working in insurance, took some jobs to stay busy. In 1998, Jon Holmes, the owner-operator of three Anderson Chick-fil-As, asked him to lead his maintenance staff, and Childers has been working there since.

Gertrude Childers, a former mill worker, also was hired in 1998 to be a dining room hostess at one of the restaurants. She works 20 hours a week; her husband works about 30.

They each said they enjoy the work and the people they've met. They don't have to work for the money, they said, but the pay doesn't hurt.

"It's nice to have your own money, because when I want to go shopping, I don't have to ask nobody," Gertrude Childers said, laughing.

Experience Works says many low-income workers 55 and older need to find jobs but can't, in part because of the recession. It points to the age group's unemployment rate: It was 6.8 percent in August, up from 2.9 percent three years earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's still better than the rate for all age groups, 9.7 percent in August.

Lynn Dusenbery, 62, faces many more years of work out of necessity. The Ashland, Wisconsin, resident sold her floral business four years ago to cover medical bills. Once hoping to retire at 65, she now has no savings, is uninsured, and -- living in a rural area with perennially high unemployment -- still hasn't found full-time work.

"I was a florist for 40 years. I came out with no skills that would get me by in the outside world," Dusenbery said.

Dusenbery enrolled with Experience Works three years ago and has picked up computer skills and other training and part-time jobs with the group. She's looking for full-time work.

As for Borden, work is still energizing and rewarding.

"If I were to quit, I might last a year, but probably not over six months," said Borden. "I have to use a walker because of old age, so there's not much else I could do except sit in my house. Why do that when I can not only enjoy life, but help some people?"

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