Mom Gives Her 11-Year-Old A Tattoo

A North Carolina mother was arrested after she gave her 11-year-old daughter a small heart-shaped tattoo near her shoulder, authorities said.

Odessa Clay, 30, of Greensboro, N.C., faces one count of tattooing a person under age 18.

It is illegal to tattoo a minor in North Carolina, regardless of parental consent.

The Havelock Police Department charged Clay, who has a few tattoos of her own, with the offense in late September.

In her defense, Clay said she did not know tattooing a minor, especially her own daughter, was illegal.

The phrasing is a little ambiguous.  It's hard to tell whether the mother tattooed the girl herself or merely took her to get it done.  If she took her somewhere, you would think they would know the law.  If she did it herself, I would imagine the health and hygiene issues equally important.

Either way, I'm frankly surprised it's against the law even with parental consent.  That was what got my attention even over the stupidity of putting a permanent mark on an 11-year-old girl.

Am I old fashioned?  Maybe.  I have several tattoos, all but one in easily hidden places.  I regret a few, not all.  But then I was also old enough to have known better, and this little girl doesn't even have that going for her.

Tell Me All Your Thoughts On God

LONDON — A letter in which Albert Einstein dismissed the idea of God as a product of human weakness is being sold on eBay for a starting price of $3 million.

The letter, handwritten in 1954, a year before Einstein's death, was addressed to philosopher Eric Gutkind. In it, Einstein discussed his views on religion, including calling "the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

An anonymous collector who bought the letter in 2008 is putting it on sale on online auction site eBay from Monday. The auction closes Oct. 18.

The Scream, and now this.  Why oh why can't I have millions just sitting around for times like this.

Seriously, Einstein was an amazing person, and anything from his hand would be of great value.  His ideas may cause discussion, which causes thinking, which is what Einstein would enjoy.

I Beg To Differ, Madam

A 23-year-old Texas mother who beat her daughter and glued her hands to a wall told a Dallas judge on Wednesday that she was a monster a year ago, but she has changed.

"Elizabeth Escalona is not a monster," she said of herself, according to a tweet by Dallas Morning News' crime reporter Scott Goldstein. "I want everybody to know that I'm not a monster. I love my kids. I love my babies."

Well, I hate to be the one to point out that you glued her hands to the wall and she lost skin.  I'd also not like to rehash the coma or the bleeding on the brain, or the bite marks.  No amount of counseling stops that.  You have to want to protect your children enough to take steps before it gets that far, or face the consequences.

Good people do bad things sometimes.  They don't do things so awful that a child's skin is peeled or put their kid in a coma.  Nobody is all good or all evil, but in her case the scales are indeed tipped towards monster.  Nothing less than a monster could have done such a thing.  A year doesn't bring an emotional and intellectual turnaround.  Even if it did, that little girl faced a monster that day, and this woman should pay for her actions no matter how sane and kind she's feeling now.

Lancing The Boil

The case that Lance Armstrong's entire cycling career was nothing but doping fueled cheating was laid out this week in a new report by the US Anti-Doping Agency, and it's pretty brutal across the board.

Armstrong used the banned drugs erythropoietin, or EPO, and testosterone, provided EPO to teammates and administered testosterone on at least one occasion, according to USADA. His teammate George Hincapie said Armstrong tranfused blood in every Tour de France from 2001 through 2005. He won all those races. Signs also point to Armstrong still blood-doping in 2009 and 2010, according to Christopher Gore, head of physiology at the Australian Institute of Sport.

“USADA found proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Lance Armstrong engaged in serial cheating through the use, administration and trafficking of performance-enhancing drugs and methods and that Armstrong participated in running the U.S. Postal Team as a doping conspiracy,” USADA concluded. “So ends one of the most sordid chapters in sports history.”

Armstrong has repeatedly denied doping, saying he has never failed a drug test, and today his lawyer Timothy Herman called the USADA case “a government-funded witch hunt.”

Armstrong, 41, was banned for life from competitive cycling and all other Olympic-related sports and stripped of his Tour de France titles on Aug. 23 after opting not to fight USADA’s allegations. 

I have no sympathy for the guy.  Cancer or not, this guy's as crooked as they come.  He ran his entire team as a doping conspiracy to win at all costs, and in the end he finally got caught.  The fact that Armstrong refuses to contest the Tour de France wins pretty much seals it.

It's a sad story, but it's a 200-page report.  It doesn't look like they USADA was just idling messing around, either.

Chalk up another sports hero that was too good to be true...or honest, for that matter.

StupidiNews!

• The housing market continues to show signs of recovery as foreclosures have fallen to their lowest level since 2007.
• Wal-Mart worker strikes originating in Illinois and California have now spread to 28 stores in 12 states.
• Conservatives on the Supreme Court signaled through tough questions that the days of affirmative action in college admissions may be coming to an end.
• Ratings agency S&P has downgraded Spain's credit to one notch above junk status, putting European markets in turmoil again as the ECB's plan to buy Spanish bonds is unraveling.
• New graphene foam batteries may be the key to new fast charging technology that has the lifespan of Lithium batteries, but charges in 15 minutes.

Last Call

Here's the latest bucket of nothing out of Tucker Carlson's Daily Crank:

President Barack Obama was a guest at the 1991 wedding of ABC senior foreign correspondent and vice presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz, The Daily Caller has learned. Obama and groom Julius Genachowski, whom Obama would later tap to head the Federal Communications Commission, were Harvard Law School classmates at the time and members of the Harvard Law Review.

Wow, that's instant impeachment material there, folks.  Then-law student Barack Obama went to a wedding some twenty years ago!

The right is screaming about this...except for the fact that Genachowski and Raddatz have been divorced for several years now, and it was Barack Obama attending Genachowski's wedding as a guest.

This is how pathetic the Daily Crank is for attention.

If you want to know why fewer and fewer honest people go into either journalism or government, this is why.  Two decades from now, your Facebook posts will be used to make sure you never work in this town again, bucko.

Nice Guys Finish First

...but not always in debates.  President Obama talked to radio host Tom Joyner today and assured listeners that he's coming out swinging next week:

Well, two things. I mean, you know, the debate, I think it’s fair to say I was just too polite, because, you know, it’s hard to sometimes just keep on saying and what you’re saying isn’t true. It gets repetitive. But, you know, the good news is, is that’s just the first one. Governor Romney put forward a whole bunch of stuff that either involved him running away from positions that he had taken, or doubling down on things like Medicare vouchers that are going to hurt him long term.

…And, you know, I think it’s fair to say that we will see a little more activity at the next one. 

Well now.  That sounds like the President Obama we're used to seeing.  Clearly inundating America with outright bullcrap was an effective campaign strategy, and a gamble that paid off for the Romney campaign.  But the downside is, that only works once.  Now the gloves come off.

Thursday's Biden/Ryan showdown should be just as awesome.

Ladies, We Need To Have A Talk

Greg Sargent says Dem pollster Stan Greenberg has pinned down where President Obama took the damage from last week's debate:  among single women who bought Mitt Romney's premise, and didn't buy the President's performance at all.

Greenberg told me in an interview that his new research persuaded him that Mitt Romney beat Obama in the debate for a simple reason. Unmarried women — a critical piece of Obama’s coalition — did not hear Obama telling him how they would make their lives better. By contrast, they did hear Romney telling them he’d improve their lives.

Greenberg says the research also indicates a clear route to winning reelection, however. “This is a major turning point and an opportunity for the president,” he says.

Greenberg did dial sessions among Colorado swing voters during the debate, and also conducted post-debate questionnaires. He found that unmarried women didn’t respond to Obama’s vow to improve the economy — which they found lacking in a clear overarching message.

“They heard nothing there that was relevant to them,” Greenberg says. “They were not hearing about issues or problems or things that Obama would do that affect their lives.”

Romney, however, succeeded in communicating with unmarried women, Greenberg says, by prefacing talk of his five point plan with an extended discussion of the economic strain of middle-income Americans — which Greenberg calls an effective “set up that gave his details meaning.”

I've got to say that gosh, this explains Mitt's immediate flip-flop on abortion, now doesn't it? 

The Obama administration is already on the case.

President Obama's reelection campaign isn't buying Mitt Romney's contention that new restrictions on abortion aren't part of his legislative agenda.

“It’s troubling that Mitt Romney is so willing to play politics with such important issues. But we know the truth about where he stands on a woman’s right to choose – he’s said he’d be delighted to sign a bill banning all abortions, and called Roe v. Wade ‘one of the darkest moments in Supreme Court history’ while pledging to appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn it," said Lis Smith, a campaign spokesperson for Obama. "Women simply can’t trust him."

This is the message President Obama needs to hammer home in next week's town hall debate, and I'm looking forward to him doing just that.

Black Magic, Black Heart

Police in Texas arrested a man who allegedly lured a teenage girl into his home under the pretense he knew black magic and then sexually assaulted her.

Mario Munoz-Verudes, 60, was booked into the Harris County Jail on Saturday on rape charges.

The alleged sexual assault happened on Sept. 23. Investigators said Munoz-Verdures invited a 17-year-old church member into his home, claiming he could rid her of bad spirits.

He then allegedly raped the teen and “threatened to put a curse on her if she told anyone,” according to court records obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

Here's hoping justice comes through in this case.  Though I hope the girl learned a valuable lesson in making decisions.  Just because someone claims to be holy and righteous doesn't mean they are.  In fact, in most cases, the more they claim it the less likely it is to be true.  It's very sad that she learned it the hard way, but maybe her story will help prevent this from happening to another young girl.

It takes a certain kind of evil to exploit the inherent gullibility of the young.

Hitchcock Story Retold

An upcoming movie about Alfred Hitchcock has Jessica Biel and Scarlett Johansson looking very much like two of his leading ladies, Vera Miles and Janet Leigh.

The full story is exciting for Hitchcock fans, because it advertises a deeper look at his personality.  I like some of his movies but I am not a student of cinema in general, so I am more interested in the overall story.

Check out ScarJo playing Janet Leigh.  Despite Leigh's ridiculously petite frame, the resemblance is eerie.  It would be awesome to hear from Jamie Lee Curtis, an actress who also knows her mother's body language and mannerisms.  She would be able to offer a point of view that covered all angles of Johansson's portrayal of her famous mother.  The one difference I can see is Scarlett has her Black Widow expression on, and Janet Leigh never came across as intimidating to me.  She was sweet, kind and gentle, where Scarlett Johansson is a good person who can snap your neck, and it comes through.

Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh in Hitchcock (left), and the real Leigh in Psycho

SUZANNE TENNER; EVERETT

Chair, Noose, And Two Smoking Watermelons

The ni-CLANG! moment edges closer, even in California.

Some residents are calling a symbolic political display erected by a Morgan Hill homeowner that features two watermelons and a noose racist and even vaguely threatening towards President Obama.

Many people driving along Foothill Avenue in Morgan Hill gawked at the display on a fence post in front of a home.

Just feet from a "Mitt Romney for President"  sign sat a chair, empty except for two watermelons.

Draped along the side of the chair was a rope tied into a noose with a sign set up to look like a teleprompter that read "Go back to Kenya."

The apparent reference to President Obama made some people passing by, including Republicans, uneasy.

"We shouldn't be threatening with a noose and a watermelon," said San Martin resident Ben Gomez. "I believe that's a little over the top. I like the chair and the teleprompter. I mean, they're just copying Clint Eastwood, so I can't blame them on that one. But the noose goes a little over the edge."

You think?  But it's okay, somebody called Bush bad names once, so all this is justified and FIRST AMENDMENT and DON'T TREAD ON ME.  Awesome.

I'd say I'm getting sick of this, but it's turning into a daily occurrence at this point, just like it did in 2008.  We're just not seeing all of the incidents publicly, I assure you.  The ones that are public like this piece of work here, well, the message is rather clear, isn't it?

You think the GOP is going to lift a finger to discourage this?  If so, I've got some beachfront property in Montana to sell you.

Mitt: Mister Mendacity

Mitt Romney's flip-flop-flip attack strikes again, this time on abortion.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in a Tuesday interview with an Iowa newspaper that he has no abortion-related legislation on his platform - although as president, he would reinstate through administrative means a policy banning nongovernmental organizations from using federal funds to provide abortions.

"There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda," Romney said in an interview with The Des Moines Register.

That of course is not what Mitt's said in the past.  He's trying to have it both ways...even on the same day.

After the remarks were published online Tuesday, Romney’s campaign spokeswoman reiterated that he is opposed to abortion.

"Mitt Romney is proudly pro-life, and he will be a pro-life president," Andrea Saul said in a statement.

Earlier Tuesday, the conservative site National Review Online published a different statement from Saul: “Governor Romney would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life.”

Obama's campaign said Romney's "statement contradicts his pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade," the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming a woman's right to have an abortion.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement, that "women simply can't trust (Romney)."

So which is it, Mitt?  Whatever position gets you the most votes that week?  This guy has all the convictions of a sponge.  But he won the debate, right?  That's all that matters to voters, right?

StupidiNews!

• Toyota has issued a global recall for more than 7.4 million cars and trucks, including nearly 2.5 million in the US, for a power window problem that could be a potential fire hazard.
• Palestinian opinion is split over a territory-wide minimum wage that critics say is far too low, but proponents say is necessary to protect workers.
• Convicted serial child molester Jerry Sandusky will spend at least the next 30 years in prison as the 68-year old was sentenced on Tuesday by a Pennsylvania judge.
• The IMF has raised its estimates of European bank selloffs to $4.5 trillion in assets unless they EU can get things together by next year.
• The first Windows 8 mobile phones will go on sale in under two weeks, despite Microsoft having yet to debut the entire new OS.

Last Call

So, when billionaire CEOs threaten to fire their employees if President Obama gets elected, do we finally get to call it class warfare?

David Siegel is the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, a huge national timeshare company and one of the largest resort developers in the world. In 2007 he was a billionaire, although he may be only a hundred-millionaire now. He and his wife Jackie were the subjects of the recent documentary "The Queen of Versailles," about their ongoing quest to build the largest house in America, a 90,000 square foot monument to excess. And yesterday, David Siegel sent an email to all of his thousands of employees, in which he—in a veiled way—insinuated that they would be fired of Barack Obama is reelected.

Here's the letter in part:

So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.

So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn't? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. While the media wants to tell you to believe the "1 percenters" are bad, I'm telling you they are not. They create most of the jobs. If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the "1%"; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country.

You see, I can no longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on the beach, under a palm tree, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

And yes, Siegel has confirmed the e-mail.

Shortly after we posted this letter, we found out, thanks to multiple readers, that it bore suspicious resemblances to a popular chain letter that was circulated just before the 2008 elections. Well, we just got off the phone with David Siegel, who told us the letter below is real, and that it was sent out to all of his employees yesterday. "I did use the letter that had circulated before as a guideline, but I changed it [to fit my circumstances]," he told us. "It speaks the truth and it gives [employees] something to think about when they go to the polls." He also said that its threats of possible layoffs are real, based on his assessment of the political and economic climate. He added that he "hasn't had any negative feedback" on the letter.

So once again, Siegel is proud to say that he freely admits threatening his employees' jobs if President Obama is re-elected, and the Democrats go through with their promise to raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy.

Boy, this guy's a real patriot, isn't he.  "Give me my tax cut, or I help destroy the economy". 

What are you going to do about it, America?

Early Voting Bird Gets The Worms

Ohio's GOP Secretary of State Jon Husted has decided that if "those people" get to vote early, then nobody gets to vote early.

Ohio’s secretary of state is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a pair of rulings that will open the polls for all voters on the three days prior to the Nov. 6 election, a time when 105,000 Ohioans cast ballots four years ago.

The election-year emergency appeal could prompt the high court to revisit its Bush vs. Gore ruling of 2000, which said voting standards must be equal across the state.

Now things get pretty serious on this front.  SCOTUS will have to act rather quickly here either way, and Husted figures he's going to win regardless.

“This is an unprecedented intrusion by the federal courts into how states run elections and because of its impact on all 50 states as to who and how elections will be run in America, we are asking the Supreme Court to step in and allow Ohioans to run Ohio elections,” Husted said. “As a swing state, we in Ohio expected to be held to a high standard,” adding the state is offering early voting on all the weekdays leading up to final Friday before election day.

Husted said if his appeal to the Supreme Court fails, he will craft “a directive to set uniform hours” for early voting in Ohio’s 88 counties.

Either way, expect Ohio's early voting hours to be sharply curtailed, if not all but eliminated by Husted's directive.  If early voting means a higher turnout for urban, minority, and poor voters, then by God, Ohio will put an end to that once and for all.