Man evicts 98-year-old mother on her birthday

Blood may be thicker than water, but it's not thicker than property ownership: A 98-year-old woman in Fairfield, Connecticut is being evicted from her home by her son. The lawyer assigned by a court to represent Mary Kantorowski said, "This is just a despicable situation. Mary has been living here happily paying all the expenses for the house and now her son, Peter, comes along and is telling her, `Get the hell out,' so he can sell it."

Mary Kantorowski received the eviction notice on her birthday. She said, "My husband worked hard, difficult jobs to buy this house. He built the garage and did a lot of work on the house and he told me never to leave it."

Her son Peter Kantorowski claims that he "doesn't like the way she's living over there." While he hasn't visited her in the home in eight months, he says she's had many falls, "At her age, at 98, I'm sure that she should be with people of her peers, she should have her meals on time." But these details from the CT Post suggest something besides concern:

I can't believe ESPN called Jeremy Lin a Chink

They have since replaced the line and apologized.

Can we officially have a moratorium on lame Lin labels now? All this focus on his ethnicity is ridiculous.

UPDATE: The person at ESPN who penned the line was fired.

Man bungles three armed robberies within 13 minutes

Darrell Snyder is a failure as a criminal and if the Crown has his way, he’ll be sentenced to four years for being the robber who couldn't.

Within 13 minutes on Aug. 19, Snyder pointed a replica handgun at three different people but came away empty handed.

He pleaded guilty Thursday to three counts each of robbery, using a firearm during a robbery and wearing a disguise.

At about 4:38 a.m., Snyder walked into a Mac’s convenience store, pulled a bandana over his lower face and pointed the handgun at the cashier.

Snyder just laughed, didn't make any demands and left the store empty-handed.

Eight minutes later he walked into a Tim Hortons at Park and tried to get the staff's attention.

When a staff member noticed him, he pointed the gun at her and told her it was a robbery.

The cashier ducked away and called police. Snyder again left with nothing.

Leaving Tim Hortons, Snyder stopped a man walking through an intersection and demanded he turn over whatever he had on him. When the victim didn’t comply, Snyder rode off on his bicycle.

Police later identified Snyder through surveillance footage. He turned himself in to Kingston, Ont., police two months later.

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More bar graphs please

Woman lies to get on jury

A juror who helped convict four defendants in a 10-year tax shelter scheme said she lied about her background to make herself “more marketable” to serve on the panel.

Catherine Conrad, who was Juror No. 1 in the trial of Paul Daugerdas, a former lawyer at the defunct law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist, and three others, testified in a hearing in Manhattan federal court today that she failed to disclose that she’s an alcoholic and a suspended attorney with numerous arrests for crimes including shoplifting and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Daugerdas and the other defendants convicted in May at the end of a 10-week trial have asked U.S. District Judge William Pauley to order a new trial based on Conrad’s lies and omissions about her past during jury selection. Pauley ordered her arrested this morning after she telephoned a judge’s clerk in Manhattan federal court to say she wasn’t going to obey a court subpoena requiring her to testify today.

“I know I served and I know I did my civic duty,” Conrad told Pauley near the end of her testimony today. “I know my disclosures would definitely not have allowed me to serve as a juror.”

Pauley is holding a two-day hearing to determine whether to throw out the convictions and order a new trial. Conrad was granted immunity for her testimony today, after invoking her constitutional right not to incriminate herself. Pauley released Conrad at the end of 3 1/2 hours on the stand.

Jurors convicted Daugerdas on more than 20 criminal counts, including conspiracy, multiple counts of tax evasion and attempting to impede the Internal Revenue Service. He faces more than 20 years in prison.

The defendants claim Conrad wouldn’t have been permitted to serve on the jury if she’d told the truth about her background. Her presence on the panel deprived them of a fair trial, they said.

Most people lie to get out of jury duty. This has to be the first person to ever have lied to get onto a jury. But you do get an idea of why she is a suspended lawyer. She seems not to grasp that laws also apply to her.

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The A.J. Burnett trade is why MLB sucks

It appears that the Yankees will be trading A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh once they get the Commissioner's blessing. The Yankees will include $18.1 million in the deal and the Pirates will send the Yankees to non-roster players. That means the Pirates only have to pay the remaining $13 million owing Burnett over the next two years.

The Yankees signed Burnett to a ridiculous contract 3 years ago and have the resources to buy their way out. Committing to Burnett never made sense. He was a great arm but not much between the ears. I don't understand why the Pirates agreed to the deal other than perhpas they feel they are getting a serviceable arm for just $6.5 per season. The Pirates should havce waited the Yankees out and perhaps they would have bought out Burnett's contract in which case they might have signed him for eaven less money.

Not too many teams can do this which is why their is such an imbalance in the sport. Sure the Jays make big mistakes like the Vernon Wells contract which they wisely passed on to the Angels. But the Jays can only afford to make a mistake like that once in 10 years or more.

Only Americans' passion for the game would explain why they come out to watch clubs field teams each year without any hope of winning. That approach hasn't worked in Toronto where fans and management are playing a game of chicken to see who blinks first. The owners won't spend money until fans come out. The fans are staying at home until the deep pocketed owners spend money on a competitive team. So far neither side has blinked and everyone loses.

Of course don't feel sorry for Burnett. He earns $82.5 million off this contract so he's laughing all the way to the bank.

What do the Leafs need most to get better?

Brian Burke has done a fine job in rebuilding the Maple Leafs from my perspective but the current losing streak does expose some key areas that need to be improved. Probably none of these things will be corrected before the trading deadline so making the playoffs will be tough but not impossible. In addition, Burke's stubbornness is also an issue because he doesn't like to admit errors.

Goaltending

Burke was hoping the James Reimer would be a solid starting goalie this season with Jonas Gustavsson filling the role of a competent backup. If Reimer was posting last season's numbers then Burke would be correct and the Leafs would be much higher in the standings. Unfortunately things have worked out so well. Gustavsson is playing better than Reimer but neither would be described as a solid starting goalie. Reimer may still develop into the kind of goalie that can carry this team. Until he does, Burke may need an insurance policy. Picking up a top goalie isn't that easy. The Leafs haven't had one since Eddie Belfour. Spending big bucks on a free agent doesn't always work - as the Flyers. In the meantime, inconsistent goaltending is killing the Leafs.

Defense

The Leafs need a shut down defenseman - but then who doesn't. No one really fits that bill on the Leafs although Dion Phaneuf gets the type of minutes that stud defensemen tend to get. Last night was not one of Phaneuf's better games. He was on the ice for the first two Flames goals and then hooks Paul Byron on a breakaway who scores on the subsequent penalty shot. Some people expect Luke Schenn to become a shut down defenseman but he's not there yet. But these guys are young and still improving. We are going to have to wait this through because those kind of defensemen are neither on the trade market or free agents.

Forward

Other than the fourth line, the Leafs forwards are small and soft. Phil Kessel is easily intimidated and Mikhail Grabovski may not back down to anyone but is still easily pushed around. Only Nik Kulemin and Joffrey Lupul are top six forwards with size. As a result the Leafs do not create enough traffic in front of opposition goalies which impacts on their powerplay. In the final third of the season as each game takes on more and more importance, the games are going to get more physical. The Leafs forwards rarely out hit their opponents. Picking up Rick Nash or Ryan Getzlaf would certainly make the difference but they likely won't get traded and would Burke give up so many assets to land one of them.

Coaching

There are too many signs that the Leafs are being hurt by inadequate coaching. Problems with special team, a weak defensive game and the inability to adapt to what their opponents are doing. Last week the Canadiens clogged the neutral zone which prevented the speedy Leafs from rushing the puck. The Leafs did not change their game plan in response to the tight checking. Instead they just gave up in the second period and gave the game to Montreal. It doesn't seem like this coaching is going any where before the end of the season. Even then there is no certainty that he will be let go if the Leafs fail to make the playoffs.

I see no problem with this

Guess this is what happens in hour 6

Man refuses to suck poisonous snake venom from friend's testicles

A Brit was bitten "down under" by a killer snake while answering a call of nature in the Aussie bush.

The reptile sunk its fangs into Jackson Scott's testicle as he squatted in the dark.

But when he begged best mate Roddy Andrews to suck the venom out, his pal REFUSED.

Instead he drove Jackson on a 40-minute life-or-death dash to Hobart, Tasmania, where doctors gave him an antidote to the deadly tiger snake poison.

Musician Jackson, 29, of Glasgow, said: "I went into the garden at four in the morning after a night in the pub to save flushing the toilet because water is precious in the outback.

"Just as I finished and was about to tuck everything safely away, it bit me. I had my pants around my knees when I hobbled into Roddy's bedroom. My heart was racing and I was hallucinating.

"Needless to say, Rod was not of a mind to suck out the poison."

Jackson, starting a year's working holiday at the remote farm, added: "The doctors and nurses were very professional. They didn't take the mickey out of me being bitten on my wedding tackle."

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Flashback Friday - Whitney Houston

5th Grade teacher had students make cards for prison inmate

The Department of Education's Special Commissioner of Investigation found that Queens fifth-grade teacher Melissa Dean "used the students in her class to send handmade holiday greeting cards to her friend, John Coccarelli, who is a convicted felon serving time in the Groveland Correctional Facility in upstate New York." Coccarelli is serving time for a weapons charge and for violating an order of protection... and was once charged—though not convicted—with child pornography possession. Which leads to this finding from the Special Commisisoner: "Dean suggested that the students write personal information on the cards, including their names and addresses, and she printed the name of the student on the back of his or her card."

Special Commissioner Richard Condon's office got involved when a NY State Corrections Officer determined that the package—which had 27 handmade cards—was inappropriate for Coccarelli to possess (he never received any of the cards). The prison figured out that the cards were from students at PS 143 in Queens; the prison's superintendent called PS 143 Principal Sheila Gorski and sent her the package, which include two cards with students' addresses. And one card was from Dean—it read "from your Wifey."

When Gorski questioned Dean, the 31-year-old teacher admitted that Coccarelli was her friend but said he was in prison for a violation of an order of protection. (Between November 2010 and November 2011, Dean visited Coccarelli 11 times and, between September 7, 2011 and January 3, 2012, Coccarelli called Dean 312 times.) Dean also admitted she didn't have permission from the students' parents but she "asserted to Gorski that she felt it was not a school-related matter and reported that she mailed the package from a Post Office on Long Island," saying it "was a nice thing to do."

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Contraception advice deom Rick Santorum's billionaire backer

I guess the economy is so rosey that social issues have returned from the back burner.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Keeping up with the Americans

Police have 2 houir strand off with empty care

Two hours after California officers drew their guns on a dark-colored sedan parked on the Interstate 8 in La Mesa, a news helicopter showed that there was no one was inside.

Officers slowly approached the car and smashed several of the driver-side windows. A dog was seen jumping into the front of the car, but the vehicle was empty.

Officers initially reported that a home invasion robbery suspect refused orders to get out of the car stopped near Severin Drive in La Mesa around 4:40 p.m.

The California Highway Patrol was called to assist San Diego police officers, according to CHP officer Larry Landeros.

Traffic on the freeway was heavily congested for miles to the west because two lanes on the interstate were closed while police took up positions around the suspect’s vehicle.

“Officers are taking precautionary actions to get this all resolved peacefully,” Landeros said.

Details regarding the home invasion robbery were not immediately released.

Lt. David Rohowits said the suspect was going to be arrested when he met with his parole officer, but the suspect called before the meeting to say his car broke down on Interstate 8. Officers rushed to the locations but were unable to arrest the suspect.

Investigators don’t believe the suspect was tipped off to the arrest. They said the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police said they will not release anymore information about the suspect, because they are still actively searching for him.

Sign of the day

Man suffers heart attack while eating ‘Triple Bypass Burger’ at Heart Attack Grill

The Heart Attack Grill in downtown Las Vegas lived up to its name Saturday night, when a customer dining on a "triple bypass burger" suffered an apparent heart attack.

Amateur video of the man being wheeled out of the restaurant by EMTs was posted to several web sites.

"He was having the sweats and shaking," said ‘Nurse' Bridgett, who was working at the restaurant when the man in his 40s began experiencing chest pains.

"Doctor" Jon Basso, who opened the restaurant in October at first he thought it was a joke.

"One of the nurses came back to me and said, ‘Dr. Jon, we've got a patient who's in trouble.'"

The restaurant is known for not holding back on the food it serves. Signs around the business glorify bad eating habits and the menu includes items like Flatliner Fries, and Butterfat Milkshakes.

One meal, the "quadruple bypass burger" can easily exceed 8,000 calories.

The gentleman who suffered the heart attack was in the middle of eating a Triple Bypass burger when he began experiencing the symptoms.

The staff at the Heart Attack Grill willingly glorifies bad health. If you weigh over 350 pounds, you eat for free. And on Saturday night, Basso saw the other side.

"I actually felt horrible for the gentleman because the tourists were taking photos of him as if it were some type of stunt. Even with our own morbid sense of humor, we would never pull a stunt like that," he said.

Basso said there have been a ‘variety of incidents' in the past, but this is the first full-scale coronary that happened in his restaurant.

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Couple jailed after naked-and-bound Valentine's Day role playing

A Portland couple was jailed for disorderly conduct Tuesday after a role playing incident led witnesses to believe a woman was being held against her will in a car, the Portland Police Bureau said.

Officers went to the New Seasons Market at about 12:35 p.m. after witnesses reported seeing a Subaru Legacy leaving the parking lot with a naked female who was tied up in the back with duct tape over her mouth, the Bureau said. Officers flooded the area, and police in Washington were alerted in case the vehicle headed north on Interstate 5.

A witness told police the man driving said the couple was “just having fun,” the Bureau said.

Police were able to track the vehicle to the address at which it was registered and at about 12:56 p.m., an officer saw the Subaru and a bound and naked woman in the back, the Bureau said.

The man, 31-year-old Nikolas Alexander Harbar, told officers that he and his 26-year-old girlfriend, Stephanie Morgan Pelzner, were doing some Valentine’s Day role playing, police said. Pelzner confirmed to police that she was voluntarily bound and nude in the back of the car.

Harbar and Pelzner were arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Jail on charges of second-degree disorderly conduct.

Wow how romantic. Driving around Portland naked, tied up and with your mouth duct taped. I just made my wife dinner and opened a nice bottle of wine. Pretty tame in comparison. But we didn't spend the night in jail.

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Hump day hottie

Hope Dworaczyk

Naked girl arrested after slow-speed car chase

When Corpus Christi cops responded to a suspicious person call early Sunday, they spotted Burnham, 18, standing in an alleyway next to a Jeep Wrangler. The teenager was naked, except for a pair of cowboy boots. After spotting cops, Burnham hopped in the Jeep and took off at around 3:10 AM. She then led officers on a slow speed chase through a neighboring subdivision, where she drove on a sidewalk before coming to a stop. Burnham, police reported, appeared to be intoxicated, so she was subjected to field sobriety tests and a Breathalyzer. While officers noted that a female cop helped Burnham get reacquainted with her clothes, a police report offers no insight as to why she was driving while naked.

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Hang in there Valentine's Day is almost over

FBI says paying cash for coffee is a sign of terrorist intent

Using cash for small purchases like a cup of coffee, gum and other items is a good indication that a person is trying to pass for normal without leaving the kind of paper trail created using a debit or credit card for small purchases.

The most recent update asks coffee shop owners, baristas and other customer-service specialists to be on the lookout for the enemy who walks among us (who evidently has been reanimated from the graves of the 1950s Red Scare era of blacklisting and Communist-baiting or the KGB's constant witch hunt for capitalist sympathizers or people who resent being witch-hunted for their political beliefs).

No one objects to the FBI or any other law enforcement agency keeping an eye out for terrorists. Trying to get everyone involved in such a silly, time-wasting way to manufacture suspicion and false accusations is not the way to do it.

Not only does it waste time by identifying everyone as a potential suspect, it erodes what alertness or willingness to cooperate members of the public may have by crying wolf over and over until, the next time a real wolf does show up, it's more likely to get a cup of coffee and pat on the back than a suspicious look-over by a hard-eyed barista.

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Petco sued for cuting off dog's ear and gluing it back on

Two Oahu women have filed a lawsuit against Petco, claiming their dogs had parts of their bodies cut off while being groomed at the Kaneohe store.

Three-year-old Gilzale and Pomeranian-Maltese mix Dodo are the best of friends. The little girl was crushed when the dog was injured.

Her grandmother, Gladys Kapuwai, says she took Dodo to Petco in Kaneohe for grooming last July and, a couple of days later, realized one of her ears had been cut.

"Was dried, bloody, was dry blood, everything," Kapuwai said. "I noticed that at home, so when I took her to the vet, the doctor had told me it looked like they tried to glue it back."

The lawsuit alleges that Petco attempted to reattach, glue or sew the ear back on, and failed to disclose what happened when Kapuwai picked the dog up.

I hear that the groomer's previous job was doing cosmetic surgery and that didn't go to well either. She should consider landscape. The client is much more forgiving of mistakes.

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How to draw a horse...with apologies to Matthew Broderick

Still thinking about that special Valentine's Day gift?

Happy Valentine's Day

Mom arrested for hitting son in anger management class

While meeting with an anger management counsellor, a Kentucky woman was seen punching her 10-year-old son in the face, according to po

lice who later arrested her on an assault charge.

A counsellor spotted Misty Lawson, 30, striking the child last Saturday and contacted child welfare officials.

Lawson was arrested by Louisville Metropol

itan Police Department officers on a misdemeanor count.

The boy, police noted, had a bruise on his cheek and “redness to eye.” As a result of her arrest, Lawson’s children have been removed from her custody and placed in foster care.

An arrest warrant alleges that Lawson hit the child “several times in the face and body area. This incident occurred during [Lawson’s] anger management session and was witnessed by counsellor.”

The counsellor took the boy to a police station and reported the incident to Child Protective Services officials.

Lawson, who has been released from custody on her own recognizance, is scheduled to appear for arraignment on Tuesday in Jefferson County District Court.

Lawson acknowledges that she “smacked” her son twice in the face after he called her a “bitch.”

The boy, she added, has significant behavioural problems and was trying to attack her when she hit him.

“They make it sound like I beat my child like an adult,” said Lawson.

The incident, Lawson said, occurred in her Louisville home while she was meeting with a counsellor employed by a Kentucky state child services agency.

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Sexy Israeli photo shoot mocks ultra-Orthodox

An Israeli fashion magazine called BelleMode is set to publish a provocative spread that will surely upset the conservative Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox contingency. The spread features a number of scantily clad men and women posing provocatively (and sexily!) in outfits that resemble the clothing favored by Haredim, except with some minor differences. Like, some of the shirts are see-through. And some of the models have forgotten to wear their pants. More of the pics available here.

Adele cleans up at the Grammys

I know and enjoy only a few of the newer performers. It happens when you get older. I was waiting for Carol King and Donovan to come on. Still I have to give a nod to Adele who has a great set of pipes.

Marge Simpson Katy Perry at the Grammys

Student's fart joke leads to bomb scare

Nothing clears a room like a fart -- except, perhaps, a bomb scare.

Harold Wayne Hadley, Jr., 19, was arrested at a Mississippi junior college after he allegedly wrote a note on a piece of toilet paper on Tuesday, containing the word 'bomb.'

The note prompted 11 emergency agencies to respond to the school, but there was no bomb.

Hadley and his family contend that he was only explaining the joy of flatulating in the library.

"He was in the restroom doodling on some toilet paper ... we are from the country, and he calls passing gas, bombs," said Hadley's aunt. "[He] put 'I passed a bomb in the library,' talking about passing gas, and somebody came in and found it, gave it to a teacher that recognized his hand writing and it blew all out of proportion."

Some of the dumbest people are running educational institutions. When ever a school or school board takes a zero tolerance approach to a problem it's a way to deflect accountability. That way you don't need to think things through, you just treat everyone like a criminal. Then to cover their ass you blame the totally innocent kid.

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Jennifer Hudson's tribute to Whitney Houston

If you didn't catch the Grammy's last night, Jennifer Hudson's touching tribute to Whitney Houston was packed with emotion and the singer just about lost it near the end. A must see.

Whitney Houston: 1963 - 2012

She truly was a diva with all her flaws. Here she is singing one of the best versions of the Star Spangled Banner you will ever hear.

Sign of the day

Warning is gone, Canada, eh? is back in business!

Well loyal readers, all 10 of you, I fixed the problem. I deleted all the posts on my sidebar because my most popular posts has some nudity which attract the pervs and explains the high number of hits. Google must tag any post that someone reports as objectional. When I moved several of the posts the content warning disappeared. So I won't be listing my most popular posts anymore. So it is less likely that the problem will repeat itself.

UPDATE: Yes I spoke to soon. But lets keep our fingers crossed.

Thank you Mats Sundin

Mats Sundin was the first European to be drafted first overall when Quebec drafted him in 1989.



As far as I can tell Mats Sundin only had two fights. One with Ray Bourque in 1998 and the other against Dave Hannan in 1992 while he was still a Nordique. That is the only fight video available.



Who can forget the late game heroics like these playoff goals against Philadelphia in the Conference Quaterfinals and against Carolina in the 2002 Conference Final. He didn't show emotion like a Gilmour or Clark but he wanted to win just as bad.

Late in his career Sundin had one of his best nights. On April 11, 2006 with Leafs desperately fighting for their playoff lives backed by goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Sudin had 4 goals and 2 assists for 6 points.



Sundin holds the Leafs goals and points record which he set on this scoring play.