Portland, Maine -- Attorney Tom Connolly was arrested by South Portland police this morning, after motorists reported a man with a gun near Interstate 295. It turns out the gun was part of a Halloween costume, but it looked real enough to passersby and police.
Connolly was dressed in an Osama Bin Laden costume and holding a fake gun and a sign that said "I love TABOR".
Officers drew their weapons on Connolly, who was taken into custody a few minutes later.
It will be up to the District Attorney's office to decide what charges to file, but police say one possibility is a charge of terrorizing.
Connolly is a well-known attorney. He ran an unsucessful campaign for governor in 1998. In 2000, Connolly tipped the media off to a 1970's DUI arrest by presidential candidiate George W. Bush.
SOUTH PORTLAND -- Tom Connolly's political activism is eccentric, sometimes even goofy, including his penchant for dancing around in a George W. Bush mask on Casco Bay Bridge.
But his donning of an Osama bin Laden costume, complete with plastic assault rifle, and waving an anti-TABOR sign alongside Interstate 295 went too far, police said of Tuesday's Halloween political prank.
"This redefines the word stupid," said South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins, whose officers arrested Connolly at gunpoint on a misdemeanor charge of criminal threatening. "Whether it was a political ploy or not, we had officers responding to something they felt was a serious threat to public safety."
Police say Connolly is lucky he wasn't shot by the officers who converged on the hill at the Westbrook Street overpass at 9 a.m.
TABOR, BTW, is a measure to limit state spending, similar to Prop 2 1/2.
A naked man wearing a mask broke into a home where a 12-year-old girl was baby-sitting her neighbors' children, ages 2 and 6.
Kent Town police said the children were watching television in a bedroom at around 11 p.m. Saturday when the baby sitter noticed a light go off in the living room.
A few seconds later the naked man, wearing a mask, jumped her, police said. The baby sitter was able to fight off the intruder by punching him in the face. When he ran out, she took the children to her family's upstairs apartment and her father called 911.
Officer Joe Peters responded within a minute and saw a stranger near the garage. He grabbed the suspect, who was now clothed, but the man slipped out of his jacket and took off.
The suspect, whom police identified as Rigoberto Perez, 33, fell into a stream and was arrested. Police said Perez was a homeless illegal alien from Guatemala. He was charged with burglary, assault, and unlawful imprisonment.
"She's very brave. Everyone should be proud of her," Kent Police Lt. Alex DiVernieri said of the baby sitter. "She was able to fend off her attacker and at the same time get the two kids she was responsible for to safety."
The baby sitter was treated for injuries to her neck and back.
#1
Who knows what might have befallen the children if this brave girl hadn't duked out her assailant. Let's hope the kids' parents kick down a significant bonus for performance above and beyond the call of duty.
#7
Amen, Frank and 3dc. Me-likey that she put that (illegal) punk in his place. Welcome to 'merica, punk, where you can get your @ss handed to ya by a 12 year old!
Posted by: BA ||
11/01/2006 10:59 Comments ||
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#8
Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in banning.
Posted by: bk ||
11/01/2006 12:45 Comments ||
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#9
Fell into a stream in NYC?? Not only did he get his ass kicked by a 12 year old girl, he will soon begine to rot from the claen waters of NYC!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/01/2006 12:49 Comments ||
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#22
I propose that Karate become a required subject in every school in the United States, from grade 1 through 12. By the time the kids graduate, they should be high-level black belts. Not only would it give them the exercise they're not getting, it would give any punk with two firing brain cells cause for alarm. You'd never know what that scrawny kid walking down the street could do to you...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/01/2006 23:08 Comments ||
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#23
Not to mention a terrific motive to stay in school, lol.
#24
I propose that Karate become a required subject in every school in the United States, from grade 1 through 12. By the time the kids graduate, they should be high-level black belts. Not only would it give them the exercise they're not getting, it would give any punk with two firing brain cells cause for alarm. You'd never know what that scrawny kid walking down the street could do to you...
OP, you fail to mention how most parents would manage to survive such a program.
A voter who wore a "Grandmothers for Peace" button while casting an early ballot at the El Paso County Clerk & Recorder's Office was escorted from the building after she refused to remove the button.
Election officials asked Rita Ague, 63, to cover her button Monday, saying she was electioneering within the 100-foot limit of a polling place. "It's the law," said Terry Sholdt, acting director of the election department. "We don't allow people to wear anything political. Grandmothers for Peace is an active political organization."
Ague, a grandmother of four, said she is not a member of Grandmothers for Peace and has been wearing the button for 10 years because she believes in what it says. "I'm a grandmother and I believe in peace, I believe in love and I believe in justice," she said.
Uh-huh, sure, granny, now doff the button or ska-daddle.
Ague contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado Tuesday. Cathryn Hazouri, executive director, said Ague's removal from the public building was likely unconstitutional. She said electioneering occurs when a person campaigns within 100 feet of a polling place for something tied to the ballot - a candidate or an issue. "Peace is not political," Hazouri said. "I don't think there were any peace candidates and I don't think there were any war candidates. Peace and war were not on the ballot."
#1
I could easily see the ACLU getting folks to wear a variety of pins and shirts into the polls to provoke a response. The El Paso County Clerk & Recorder's Office should have been prepared. At the very least a statement stating what was and wasn't a legal pin/shirt in the paper and at the booth so that the voters and acting director of the election department knew the rules. THis makes the lawsuit a bit easier when it inevitably comes.
#3
"We don't allow people to wear anything political. Grandmothers for Peace is an active political organization."
The question is, are they an official political organization. And what constitutes that designation. I couldn't find any listing as a 527 with the IRS or FEC with this group. Is it a simple endorsement or contribution of a candidate? Seems to me woman got jobbed and is justified to be pissed off.
#5
Seems to me woman got jobbed and is justified to be pissed off.
Nope. It's simple, you want to vote and you've been asked to remove the button. Then remove the button. This was staged.
Oops, almost forgot, screw the old hippie hag!
Posted by: Peter Jennings ||
11/01/2006 17:32 Comments ||
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#6
These crypto-commie nutters were for the US to unilaterally disarm in the 80's so the Soviets could nuke us in peace. Same agenda as the Euro anti cruise and Pershing 2 missile Red Babies who just knew the Soviet SS-20s aimed at Europe were there for peace.
Posted by: ed ||
11/01/2006 17:33 Comments ||
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#7
They are indeed an active political organization. Googled it and got all kinds of hits..mostly lots of Grandmother's for Peace Interantional. Anytime you see the "International" moniker, you know what the score is. Looks like many states have their own chapters. Definitely looks like a setup. ACLU prolly had advance warning.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
11/01/2006 17:55 Comments ||
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#8
Look at it this way - one less vote for a Democrat!
An Australian company claims to have produced the men's equivalent of the "Wonderbra" -- a range of "Wondercup" underwear designed to enhance the apparent size of the contents. gonna be a LOT of disappointed women
"It basically lifts, separates and extends," aussieBum founder Sean Ashby was quoted as saying by the national AAP news agency. lifts and extends? better than the original equipment?
"This design uses all of the natural assets of the person, whether they be big, small or indifferent." an "indifferent" penis? that's one of the saddest things I've ever heard
The underwear features a "wondercup," a pouch used to "separate and stop squashing." I hate squashing...
Ashby said the design, launched last week, had attracted a lot of interest in the United States and Europe.
The marketing campaign features the slogan: "The new 'wondercup' technology in these attention-grabbing, all-cotton Patriot briefs will have you seriously looking bigger and feeling amazing." so quit stuffing with socks and get out there! Just don't take them off when she's in the room and the light's on...
The brand is sold in some of the biggest department stores in the world and is distributed to more than 70 countries via Internet sales. are they really the "biggest" department stores, or does it just appear that way?
Posted by: FBI guy ||
11/01/2006 10:49 ||
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#1
FBI Guy was me....damn
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2006 11:52 Comments ||
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#2
Lol. The new codpiece, lol. Turnabout is fair play, methinks.
#5
Reminds me of the old joke where the next morning the woman leaves the guy some money and a note that reads, "Take this money and buy some shoes that fit."
Posted by: Dar ||
11/01/2006 16:42 Comments ||
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This may be the reason Japan's fertility rate shot up in the last few months!
Posted by: DanNY ||
11/01/2006 8:57 Comments ||
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#2
A Discovery channel show had a segment about a japanese researcher (part time hard rock player) who had designed a cellphone ring which made wimmen's breasts grow bigger (trick was it included subliminal sounds of babies crying for milk, inducing their body to produce hormons of some sort).
The show had a girl try it live... and after the week or so of listening to the phone ring several times a day, her breasts had indeed gained something like 2 inches IIRC.
This may be an another reason for that fertility rate shot up!
Could Tom Cruise be planning an appearance in Star Trek XI for his M:I-III director, J.J. Abrams?
That's the latest rumour, as the WENN entertainment news service reported, citing an "insider" who told the Canadian TV Guide, "He didn't even need to be begged to appear in it." Cruise is reportedly a big fan of Star Trek, but then, many other stories are flying about Cruise today. Hundreds of reports have surfaced that Cruise and fiancée Katie Holmes will marry next month in Italy (here is ABC's story), and TrekMovie.com has a link to Monday's Variety story about numerous other roles Cruise may be considering. Reports circulating indicate that all loud conversation in the script department has been forbidden in favor of brief hushed exchanges.
Meanwhile, Ron Moore has announced that he approves of Abrams as producer of the next Star Trek film. The UK's Star Trek Magazine (via TrekWeb) quoted former Trek producer Moore - now the creative force behind Battlestar Galactica - as saying that Abrams' selection is probably good for the franchise. "Abrams' lack of involvement in Star Trek is hopefully a positive thing, just as it was for Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer when they came in on Wrath of Khan," said Moore. "In that case, it let people take a clean look at The Original Series and wipe away a lot of sentimentality in an effort to get at the roots of what the show was and the results speak for themselves." Moore, whose Battlestar Galactica is more recreation than revival, has suggested that the original series might be best approached with a fresh start, while many fans have insisted that any prequel should maintain current Star Trek canon and tradition. "Battlefield Earth" has made the short list of titles and John Revolta Travolta has been nominated to play the early Spock.
#1
As wid many other shows, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE was canned too early, just when the plots, characters, and quality of script/dialogues were getting interesting. Now that the MSM has officially finally discovered that BIG CINEMA is slowly going the way of the Dodo, the rush is on to conquer nano-moments of [high-speed/HD] TV screen time + YOUTUBE-style mediums.
#2
Moore, whose Battlestar Galactica is more recreation than revival,
And sucks more than the original ever did.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/01/2006 5:14 Comments ||
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#3
And sucks more than the original ever did.
As if that were even humanly possible.
[Bart Simpson] This sucks and blows at the same time.[/BS]
the rush is on to conquer nano-moments
With Joe's usual astonishing prescience, he nails the evolution of the sound bite culture dead-on. Welcome to a society with the collective attention span of a fruit fly.
#6
Trek has been on cruise-control creatively since Voyager. Enough with the prequel stuff. They've built a rich backstory and they refuse to use it.
They should create a multi-movie story-arc the spine of which leads to war with the Klingons. Everyone loves the Klingons and thematically you can have all sorts of fun with chunks of the Federation that think the war is stupid (Vulcans) and others that want to slaughter the Klingons once and for all (Tellerites). Politics and repurcussions far beyond the one ship are key and our heros have to keep the Federation happy while beating back the enemy.
Base it around Admiral Sulu and Captain Checkov/XO Barclay. Include parts of the crews from Next Gen/Voyager/DS9 because that's the best time frame to use. Near the grand climax you have the Romulans get involved, but then the Romulans have a coup as Admiral Spock and his faction take over power.
This stuff writes itself if the folks involved are actually fans of the show.
#7
Let's write our own star thriller.
We could beam that rock monster up into the next democrat national convention. The teachers union could be eaten by their own Klingons. Scrub your annus, it's the only cure.
#8
Ok that is enough! The new Battlestar Gallactica does not suck. It was very quirky at the beginning but it has grown into a first-rate Sci-Fi drama. On the matter at hand I do hope that Cruise gets a part on Star Trek XI but as a red shirt that gets eaten or killed in the first 30 seconds. I guess I am weird because I actually enjoyed Battlefield Earth, mostly the way a human got the better of alien conquerors.
#9
I also like the new Galactica (and the old). I can't stand beside you on the Battlefield Earth one though. The book was enjoyable light fluff, the movie a stinking pile of dutched camera angles and compromised story elements.
#12
>Include parts of the crews from Next Gen/Voyager/DS9<
Sheesh. I've always believed that the original Trek was like the UN in Korea - brash, violent and led by Americans; TNG was like the UN in the Balkans - weak, incompentent and full of Europeans.
Shows like B5, Farscape, Firefly and BS Galactica show how lame the ST franchise became with TNG. Enterprise could have been a good show if they had shown the actual history from the Original Series (Bad Klingons, Romulans, etc.) but they couldn't get away from the TNG taint.
#16
Loved Firefly and liked the old/new Gallatica, and I would luv to see a star trek movie where the federation and klingons at war it would be awesome.
#17
the whole year is on a 4-dvd box set - well worth it. LOTP - continually surprised....
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2006 20:33 Comments ||
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#18
Oh and the scene I liked best in a star trek episode was in DS9 when the klingons showed up to take out the space station and the commander turn it into a battle station, my eyes poped out my head i never saw so many phaser cannons in one place :)
Republican congressman and candidate for governor Jim Gibbons filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to compel police to release surveillance videos that he says will prove he was never inside a parking garage with a cocktail waitress who accused him of trying to sexually assault her.
That's his October Surprise.
The suit filed in Clark County District Court demands Las Vegas police release the tapes, which may document the inside of a parking garage on the evening of Oct. 13, when Chrissy Mazzeo claims Gibbons grabbed her and propositioned her after a night of drinking at a nearby restaurant. Police, who previously said surveillance cameras in the garage weren't working and there were no tapes of the evening, have refused to confirm the tapes exist after a property management company for the garage said it turned hours of tapes over to authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm a Nevadan and I don't think anybody is buying this slime-job on Gibbons. We play politics hard n dirty in the Silver State: 11th hour nastiness is SOP. That said, in his many years of government service, Gibbons has NEVER had any allegations of any type lodged against him. My 2 cents worth:
1) This cocktail waitress approached him with another lady, asked to have their picture taken together, and then filed a complaint the next day (or soon thereafter).
2) Her friend denied her story (or at least she did initially).
3) The waitress is represented by a lawyer that is a friend and large contributor to Gibbons Donk opponent. Convenient, no?
4) The Las Vegas police are run by that citys Donk machine. Theyre lying through their teeth and that's nothing new for them.
#2
IIUC a judge ordered the tapes released at Gibbon's request
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2006 7:18 Comments ||
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#3
Oops! Already voted for him, damned early voting... seriously, I heard the accusation before I visited the polls, but cmon people... I want to see this tied to candidate Titus, and watch her and her down-home twang squirm squirm squirm.
Posted by: Vegas Matt ||
11/01/2006 20:17 Comments ||
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#4
Heh, VM - I have no doubt this is a Titus / DhimmiDonk Machine hit job - and that's what I'm hearing from others, too. I think Gibbons will weather this shit - at least I hope so.
#5
the bitch called her sister and said she was raped by Gibbons and that if she was missing "it was him" that killed her. Later, she told the cops no sexual assault occured. Good thing Mike Nifong isn't the DA. Latest is that neither of them are shown on the 20 or so vidcams in teh garage. Sounds like political lie by Titus and her minions. He should sue this bitch for everything she'll ever have, and make her turn over on who set this up
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2006 20:45 Comments ||
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#6
'Twould be nice, but as Secret Master (I think) posted yesterday, everyone (including the CopShop) is working against him. Obviously, IMO, the sisters and the Titus gang are all lying like dogs - all they have to do is keep the dust stirred up for a week. Just surviving this semi-intact may be the best he can hope for, unfortunately, regardless of how the election goes.
TOPEKA, Kan. Mayor Bill Bunten said he will continue alerting other cities about upcoming funeral protests by a Topeka church group despite the threat of a lawsuit by church members.
Bunten informed the City Council last week that since late last year, he has written to the mayors of cities around the country where Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to picket military funerals.
He gave the council five letters he had received in return expressing appreciation for the alerts and assuring him that the protests don't reflect badly on Topeka. Those letters were representative of scores of grateful messages he has received from around the country, Bunten said.
Bunten said Tuesday he won't be deterred from the practice by this week's filing of an open records request by attorney Jonathan Phelps, a son of the Rev. Fred Phelps Sr., pastor of Westboro Baptist.
"I'm not breaking any law," Bunten said.
The open records request seeks information on how much time and money the city has spent on Bunten's warnings to other cities. Specifically, it requests all communications to and from Bunten and other Topeka officials about the church's protests since Oct. 29, 2005.
Church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper said the request seeks to determine if Bunten used his office to interfere with Westboro members' constitutional rights.
Phelps-Roper said the First Amendment bans the federal government from respecting one religion over another and the 14th Amendment extends the ban to state and local government.
She contended the Constitution consequently bans Bunten from using his office or public money to alert other cities of the pickets, adding that Westboro members might sue over the matter.
The church has conducted anti-homosexual protests since 1991, but it gained national attention for its presence at the funerals of U.S. troops killed overseas. The church argues the deaths result from God's anger at the United States for tolerating homosexuality.
Bunten said Tuesday he spends a few minutes a week on the messages and needs no money for postage because he sends them by e-mail.
"We have a standard letter that we send everyone," he said.
Bunten said he helped comply Tuesday with the open records request by providing the city attorney's office with copies of the five communications he mentioned to the City Council, plus a letter of appreciation he received Monday from San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger.
In a memo to the City Council last week, Bunten said that before he started alerting other cities to the planned protests, "the presence of the Phelps clan brought a lot of anger toward Topeka and its citizens. 'What kind of a city do you have' was often the disgusted response, and many were even harsher."
#1
I'm no lawyer, but it seems public safety considerations would more than override any theoretically hypothetical establishment clause arguments the Phelpsies make - unless the Ninth Ciruit's hearing the case.
#2
sounds like he's doing active PR to disassociate himself and his city from these assholes. The church representatives need to have to start looking over their shoulders. Take the fight directly to them and their filthy kin
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2006 18:40 Comments ||
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#3
Ah, Mr. Mayor, can you arrange for your fire department to have a practice burn in the vicinity of Westboro Baptist ? Maybe, pick a windy day for more realism.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A voter who wore a "Grandmothers for Peace" button while casting an early ballot at the El Paso County Clerk & Recorder's Office was escorted from the building after she refused to remove the button. 
An Australian company claims to have produced the men's equivalent of the "Wonderbra" -- a range of "Wondercup" underwear designed to enhance the apparent size of the contents. 
Republican congressman and candidate for governor Jim Gibbons filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to compel police to release surveillance videos that he says will prove he was never inside a parking garage with a cocktail waitress who accused him of trying to sexually assault her.
