If they were hooked on poker I might feel a tiny bit of sympathy for these retards:
RENO, Nev. - A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.
The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.
Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care.
"They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.
Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.
The Straws have been given public defenders. Jeremy Bosler, head of the county public defender's office, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Michael Straw is an unemployed cashier, and his wife worked for a temporary staffing agency doing warehouse work, according to court records. He received a $50,000 inheritance that he spent on computer equipment and a large plasma television, authorities said.
This thread will just keep going as long as we find idiots.
RENO, Nev. - A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.
The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.
Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care.
"They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.
Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.
The Straws have been given public defenders. Jeremy Bosler, head of the county public defender's office, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Michael Straw is an unemployed cashier, and his wife worked for a temporary staffing agency doing warehouse work, according to court records. He received a $50,000 inheritance that he spent on computer equipment and a large plasma television, authorities said.
This thread will just keep going as long as we find idiots.
uke1:
well just what the doctor ordered.love these stories
AP) BUFFALO, N.Y. An amputee was jumped early Saturday by a group of men who took his prosthetic leg and then beat him with it.
The four assailants then drove over Richard Kelly, 43, while he was lying on the ground, police said.
He suffered several broken ribs, skin abrasions and a punctured lung during the 2 a.m. attack. Kelly was treated at Erie County Medical Center, where he was in stable condition late Saturday.
"Through the grace of God, I'm doing OK," Kelly said.
Police said they have no immediate suspects or motives.
Kelly lost his right leg from the knee down in a serious automobile accident about eight years ago.
AP) BUFFALO, N.Y. An amputee was jumped early Saturday by a group of men who took his prosthetic leg and then beat him with it.
The four assailants then drove over Richard Kelly, 43, while he was lying on the ground, police said.
He suffered several broken ribs, skin abrasions and a punctured lung during the 2 a.m. attack. Kelly was treated at Erie County Medical Center, where he was in stable condition late Saturday.
"Through the grace of God, I'm doing OK," Kelly said.
Police said they have no immediate suspects or motives.
Kelly lost his right leg from the knee down in a serious automobile accident about eight years ago.
OLYMPIA -- Talk about down-sizing! One woman is living in a house that you really have to see to believe.
"It's 84 square feet, so roughly the size of a parking spot. Actually, smaller than a parking spot," says Dee Williams, who decided it was time to move. She was living in a 1,500-square foot home in Portland, but decided the house wasn't small enough - yes, small enough!
Dee built the tiny cabin herself out of salvaged material. She picked the door out of a dumpster and retrieved the floors from a house fire. Dee's new tiny home sits in her friend's backyard.
"In exchange, I do work on their house," she says.
It takes Dee five steps, sometimes four, to get from one end of her house to the other.
"Two steps through the kitchen and you're in my living room. Two steps into the living room, you bang into the wall," Dee says, laughing.
Two solar panels provide electricity. A tiny propane tank allows Dee to cook in her $10,000 home on wheels. Do her friends think the 44-year-old hazardous waste inspector is crazy?
"My friends definitely thought, well, they had some questions for me!" she says.
The obvious question: Why?
The simple answer:
"A simpler life, time, more money. I don't have a mortgage. I don't have a big utility bill," Dee says.
Her monthly heating bill in the winter is $6, less in the summer.
"I'm able to offer money to my family if they need it, (and to) my friends if they need it," says Dee.
To get to her bedroom, she walks up a step ladder to her loft.
"Every night I look at the stars and watch it rain over and over again. So this is it. Not much to it," says Dee.
And that's the point. Not much to it. Simple. Small. A dream house tinier than a parking spot.
"Right now there's nowhere else I want to be!"
"It's 84 square feet, so roughly the size of a parking spot. Actually, smaller than a parking spot," says Dee Williams, who decided it was time to move. She was living in a 1,500-square foot home in Portland, but decided the house wasn't small enough - yes, small enough!
Dee built the tiny cabin herself out of salvaged material. She picked the door out of a dumpster and retrieved the floors from a house fire. Dee's new tiny home sits in her friend's backyard.
"In exchange, I do work on their house," she says.
It takes Dee five steps, sometimes four, to get from one end of her house to the other.
"Two steps through the kitchen and you're in my living room. Two steps into the living room, you bang into the wall," Dee says, laughing.
Two solar panels provide electricity. A tiny propane tank allows Dee to cook in her $10,000 home on wheels. Do her friends think the 44-year-old hazardous waste inspector is crazy?
"My friends definitely thought, well, they had some questions for me!" she says.
The obvious question: Why?
The simple answer:
"A simpler life, time, more money. I don't have a mortgage. I don't have a big utility bill," Dee says.
Her monthly heating bill in the winter is $6, less in the summer.
"I'm able to offer money to my family if they need it, (and to) my friends if they need it," says Dee.
To get to her bedroom, she walks up a step ladder to her loft.
"Every night I look at the stars and watch it rain over and over again. So this is it. Not much to it," says Dee.
And that's the point. Not much to it. Simple. Small. A dream house tinier than a parking spot.
"Right now there's nowhere else I want to be!"
A young Thai man lost his penis to his knife-wielding wife and then forgot to bring his severed member with him to hospital, fatefully delaying a reattachment operation, news reports said on Monday. Sornlam Yotbanya (24) had a heated argument with his wife, Rungnapha Pongalee (32), on Sunday night about his mistress. He went to bed and was rudely awoken hours later when his wife sliced off his member, reported ITV. In Sornlam's haste to get to Bangramrung hospital in Chonburi, 60km south-east of Bangkok, he left his penis behind in his bedroom. Bangramrung hospital dispatched a nurse to retrieve the severed member for a reattachment operation. Although the nurse packed the penis in ice, too many of the cells had died by the time it was delivered to hospital, killing all hopes of a revival. Thai hospitals, especially Bangkok's Police hospital, have achieved some fame for their high success rate with penis reattachment operations, providing they are carried out swiftly with all the parts in place. -- Sapa-DPA
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_194162807.html?45
(CBS) NEW YORK The death and destruction of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq seems to have become so rampant to one local soldier that he actually staged an attack on himself -- allegedly hiring a hitman to non-fatally shoot him -- so he wouldn't be sent back for another tour of duty.
Now, 20-year-old Jonathan Aponte is under fire at home in the Bronx for his decision that may send him to prison.
"There are some people mentally that can handle it. There are some people who just can't. You need to know when to say enough is enough," Aponte told CBS 2 HD exclusively Friday.
For Aponte, that day was Monday, the very day he was supposed to go back for another tour of duty to serve ten months on the front lines. He admits to CBS 2, however, that he couldn't face another tour of drama and devastation.
"Bullets being shot at me, almost being hit, with car bombs, burning flesh," Aponte recalls of his first tour. Now the soldier, his mother, and lawyer all say his plot for pain proves he's a victim of post traumatic stress disorder caused by the horrific memories of battle.
The proof, they say, is the bullet wound he helped give himself after feelings he described as "desperate."
Aponte's lawyer wouldn't let him talk about the event that's brought criminal charges, but a statement of his in court records bring his confession to light:
"I jokingly said that I should get shot in the leg ... so that it can buy me some extra time away from Iraq," he said.
After his new wife text messaged a hitman who would do the job, Aponte admits, "I asked him what was a good price. He told me $500 would be fine."
The shooting was set to happen under a bridge on Gunhill Road on the very day of the redeployment.
"I decided I wasn't going to go back one way or another," he said.
When Aponte arrived at the appointed time, he smoked a cigarette then closed his eyes because he didn't want to see it coming, he told police. The next thing he knew, he had a gunshot wound to his right knee.
"He was asking for help, but we didn't know what he was asking for. We didn't understand," said Gwen Aponte, his mother.
Now Aponte's mother, father, and lawyer all say a doctor diagnosed him with post traumatic stress disorder, and that's why he should be counseled, not incarcerated.
"If he's ill, he needs to get help," said Martin Goldberg, Aponte's lawyer. "He is as much a casualty of the war as someone struck by a bullet."
Aponte says the pain and potential of prison are a better option than another dose of duty. "There are risks in prison, but as far as getting shot at everyday, I think it's better," he said. "Mentally, I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it anymore."
Both Aponte and his wife are facing charges of conspiracy and filing a false report. The soldier's lawyer says the military will soon evaluate his client and either say he's fit for duty and send him back to Iraq, provide counseling if needed and then send him back, or give him some kind of discharge.
(CBS) NEW YORK The death and destruction of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq seems to have become so rampant to one local soldier that he actually staged an attack on himself -- allegedly hiring a hitman to non-fatally shoot him -- so he wouldn't be sent back for another tour of duty.
Now, 20-year-old Jonathan Aponte is under fire at home in the Bronx for his decision that may send him to prison.
"There are some people mentally that can handle it. There are some people who just can't. You need to know when to say enough is enough," Aponte told CBS 2 HD exclusively Friday.
For Aponte, that day was Monday, the very day he was supposed to go back for another tour of duty to serve ten months on the front lines. He admits to CBS 2, however, that he couldn't face another tour of drama and devastation.
"Bullets being shot at me, almost being hit, with car bombs, burning flesh," Aponte recalls of his first tour. Now the soldier, his mother, and lawyer all say his plot for pain proves he's a victim of post traumatic stress disorder caused by the horrific memories of battle.
The proof, they say, is the bullet wound he helped give himself after feelings he described as "desperate."
Aponte's lawyer wouldn't let him talk about the event that's brought criminal charges, but a statement of his in court records bring his confession to light:
"I jokingly said that I should get shot in the leg ... so that it can buy me some extra time away from Iraq," he said.
After his new wife text messaged a hitman who would do the job, Aponte admits, "I asked him what was a good price. He told me $500 would be fine."
The shooting was set to happen under a bridge on Gunhill Road on the very day of the redeployment.
"I decided I wasn't going to go back one way or another," he said.
When Aponte arrived at the appointed time, he smoked a cigarette then closed his eyes because he didn't want to see it coming, he told police. The next thing he knew, he had a gunshot wound to his right knee.
"He was asking for help, but we didn't know what he was asking for. We didn't understand," said Gwen Aponte, his mother.
Now Aponte's mother, father, and lawyer all say a doctor diagnosed him with post traumatic stress disorder, and that's why he should be counseled, not incarcerated.
"If he's ill, he needs to get help," said Martin Goldberg, Aponte's lawyer. "He is as much a casualty of the war as someone struck by a bullet."
Aponte says the pain and potential of prison are a better option than another dose of duty. "There are risks in prison, but as far as getting shot at everyday, I think it's better," he said. "Mentally, I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it anymore."
Both Aponte and his wife are facing charges of conspiracy and filing a false report. The soldier's lawyer says the military will soon evaluate his client and either say he's fit for duty and send him back to Iraq, provide counseling if needed and then send him back, or give him some kind of discharge.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19749574/
QUITO, Ecuador - A chance meeting has reunited identical twin sisters who were separated at birth nearly 15 years ago — and touched off a legal dispute over how two doctors adopted one of the girls.
Petita Penaherrera says she did not know she had twins until she and her daughter Andrea came face-to-face with Marielisa Romo four months ago in the southern Ecuadorean town of Milagros — meaning “miracles” in English.
Andrea and Marielisa shared the same dark eyes, the same hair, the same ... everything.
Marielisa was accompanied by Roberto Romo and Isabel Garcia, the doctor couple who had delivered the twin babies — and then raised one.
Investigations began and, in June, Penaherrera and her husband Augusto Freire filed a suit against the doctors saying they never mentioned Andrea’s twin.
“We never found out about the existence of that girl,” Freire said Thursday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “After seeing a girl in the restaurant who was exactly like mine I almost fainted.”
He recalled the ensuing conversation: “We asked ’Who’s her father?’ And the father is Dr. Romo, who was the doctor who performed the Caesarean on my wife.”
'Cried and cried'
Romo and Garcia could not be reached for comment but told Ecuavisa television that the biological mother knew about the twins but only wanted to keep one of them.
“The nurse said out loud, ’Congratulations you have two girls”’ Garcia told Ecuavisa. “The woman, like every adolescent who is not ready for motherhood, just cried and cried.”
“I gave it appropriate time to see if the mother would show up or would feel touched,” Romo said. But the couple said there was no written agreement.
Penaherrera insists that she was never told. “They stole her from me, the doctors stole my daughter,” she said in an interview with Ecuavisa.
Meanwhile, Penaherrera and Freire are trying to unite the twin girls.
“One day I hope to live with my two daughters,” Freire told the AP. “God makes children’s hearts return to their parents.”
'They love me'
But Marielisa has said she does not want to leave the only parents she knows.
“They have raised me well, they have respected me and helped me,” she said in an interview with the Guayaquil newspaper El Universo.
“If they love me so much,” the girl said of her biological parents, “let them stop (the lawsuit) and tell me that they won’t do anything against the doctors.”
QUITO, Ecuador - A chance meeting has reunited identical twin sisters who were separated at birth nearly 15 years ago — and touched off a legal dispute over how two doctors adopted one of the girls.
Petita Penaherrera says she did not know she had twins until she and her daughter Andrea came face-to-face with Marielisa Romo four months ago in the southern Ecuadorean town of Milagros — meaning “miracles” in English.
Andrea and Marielisa shared the same dark eyes, the same hair, the same ... everything.
Marielisa was accompanied by Roberto Romo and Isabel Garcia, the doctor couple who had delivered the twin babies — and then raised one.
Investigations began and, in June, Penaherrera and her husband Augusto Freire filed a suit against the doctors saying they never mentioned Andrea’s twin.
“We never found out about the existence of that girl,” Freire said Thursday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “After seeing a girl in the restaurant who was exactly like mine I almost fainted.”
He recalled the ensuing conversation: “We asked ’Who’s her father?’ And the father is Dr. Romo, who was the doctor who performed the Caesarean on my wife.”
'Cried and cried'
Romo and Garcia could not be reached for comment but told Ecuavisa television that the biological mother knew about the twins but only wanted to keep one of them.
“The nurse said out loud, ’Congratulations you have two girls”’ Garcia told Ecuavisa. “The woman, like every adolescent who is not ready for motherhood, just cried and cried.”
“I gave it appropriate time to see if the mother would show up or would feel touched,” Romo said. But the couple said there was no written agreement.
Penaherrera insists that she was never told. “They stole her from me, the doctors stole my daughter,” she said in an interview with Ecuavisa.
Meanwhile, Penaherrera and Freire are trying to unite the twin girls.
“One day I hope to live with my two daughters,” Freire told the AP. “God makes children’s hearts return to their parents.”
'They love me'
But Marielisa has said she does not want to leave the only parents she knows.
“They have raised me well, they have respected me and helped me,” she said in an interview with the Guayaquil newspaper El Universo.
“If they love me so much,” the girl said of her biological parents, “let them stop (the lawsuit) and tell me that they won’t do anything against the doctors.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071202356.html
A grand feast of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp was winding down, and a group of friends was sitting on the back patio of a Capitol Hill home, sipping red wine. Suddenly, a hooded man slid in through an open gate and put the barrel of a handgun to the head of a 14-year-old guest.
"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he demanded, according to D.C. police and witness accounts.
The five other guests, including the girls' parents, froze -- and then one spoke.
"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, blurted out. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"
The intruder took a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupéry and said, "Damn, that's good wine."
The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, who described the harrowing evening in an interview, told the intruder, described as being in his 20s, to take the whole glass. Rowan offered him the bottle. The would-be robber, his hood now down, took another sip and had a bite of Camembert cheese that was on the table.
Then he tucked the gun into the pocket of his nylon sweatpants.
"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said, looking around the patio of the home in the 1300 block of Constitution Avenue NE.
"I'm sorry," he told the group. "Can I get a hug?"
Rowan, who lives in Falls Church and works part time at her children's school, stood up and wrapped her arms around him. Then it was Rabdau's turn. Then his wife's. The other two guests complied.
"That's really good wine," the man said, taking another sip. He had a final request: "Can we have a group hug?"
The five adults surrounded him, arms out
A grand feast of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp was winding down, and a group of friends was sitting on the back patio of a Capitol Hill home, sipping red wine. Suddenly, a hooded man slid in through an open gate and put the barrel of a handgun to the head of a 14-year-old guest.
"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he demanded, according to D.C. police and witness accounts.
The five other guests, including the girls' parents, froze -- and then one spoke.
"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, blurted out. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"
The intruder took a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupéry and said, "Damn, that's good wine."
The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, who described the harrowing evening in an interview, told the intruder, described as being in his 20s, to take the whole glass. Rowan offered him the bottle. The would-be robber, his hood now down, took another sip and had a bite of Camembert cheese that was on the table.
Then he tucked the gun into the pocket of his nylon sweatpants.
"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said, looking around the patio of the home in the 1300 block of Constitution Avenue NE.
"I'm sorry," he told the group. "Can I get a hug?"
Rowan, who lives in Falls Church and works part time at her children's school, stood up and wrapped her arms around him. Then it was Rabdau's turn. Then his wife's. The other two guests complied.
"That's really good wine," the man said, taking another sip. He had a final request: "Can we have a group hug?"
The five adults surrounded him, arms out
http://heraldtribune.com/article/20070712/NEWS/707120375
PALMETTO -- A 63-year-old man who authorities say twice pushed his entire arm into a horse's vaginal cavity was jailed Tuesday on a felony-level animal cruelty charge.
Manatee County sheriff's deputies said the man, Bradenton resident Leslie M. Gee, who is not a veterinarian, caused "unnecessary pain and suffering" to the horse, a bay mare named Bella, stabled in the 2500 block of 29th Street East in Palmetto.
The horse's owner, Donna Marie Holmes, 48, said she first confronted Gee in a horse stall Monday morning after she noticed him standing near Bella with his hand at the horse's rear end.
Gee said he had ridden the horses two weeks ago when he was looking to buy one and said he had permission to ride the horses and to take care of them, according to sheriff's reports.
Holmes told Gee she has never given him permission to do any of those things. She instructed Gee, who has a friend in the neighborhood, to keep away from her home and her horses. Then Holmes called police.
Authorities said the horse was bleeding from the penetration. Holmes said Bella made "painful" noises, and she said the horse was having trouble breathing.
Gee could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But he told deputies that he did not put his hand into the horse. He said he got blood on his shirt when the horse urinated on him.
A witness, however, told police he saw Gee "molesting" the horse.
PALMETTO -- A 63-year-old man who authorities say twice pushed his entire arm into a horse's vaginal cavity was jailed Tuesday on a felony-level animal cruelty charge.
Manatee County sheriff's deputies said the man, Bradenton resident Leslie M. Gee, who is not a veterinarian, caused "unnecessary pain and suffering" to the horse, a bay mare named Bella, stabled in the 2500 block of 29th Street East in Palmetto.
The horse's owner, Donna Marie Holmes, 48, said she first confronted Gee in a horse stall Monday morning after she noticed him standing near Bella with his hand at the horse's rear end.
Gee said he had ridden the horses two weeks ago when he was looking to buy one and said he had permission to ride the horses and to take care of them, according to sheriff's reports.
Holmes told Gee she has never given him permission to do any of those things. She instructed Gee, who has a friend in the neighborhood, to keep away from her home and her horses. Then Holmes called police.
Authorities said the horse was bleeding from the penetration. Holmes said Bella made "painful" noises, and she said the horse was having trouble breathing.
Gee could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But he told deputies that he did not put his hand into the horse. He said he got blood on his shirt when the horse urinated on him.
A witness, however, told police he saw Gee "molesting" the horse.
As a child of 11, guitarist Kirk Hammett watched in horror as his pet dog Tippy was penetrated by the guy next door. That's just one of many jaw-dropping facts we learn about ultimate rock monsters METALLICA in the new issue of British magazine Q.
Hammett explains: "I went to my neighbor's. The guy took down his pants and started having sex with the dog! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. When he got up, I just took the dog and left. She was still wagging her tail."
Hammett explains: "I went to my neighbor's. The guy took down his pants and started having sex with the dog! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. When he got up, I just took the dog and left. She was still wagging her tail."
