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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Friday, March 5, 2010

Tarzana woman gets life sentence for burning dancer

A San Fernando Valley woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for dousing a bikini dancer with gasoline and setting her on fire at a club called "Babes & Beer."

Rianne Theriault-Odom, 28, was sentenced in Van Nuys Superior Court for the Feb. 5, 2009 attack on Roberta Busby. The Simi Valley woman received burns over 40 percent of her body and has had more than two dozen skin grafts.

The badly-scarred victim tearfully asked the judge to issue the maximum sentence for an act of "drunken rage."

"Now you're going to feel the same heartache that I felt when I couldn't hug, kiss or play with my kids or even talk to my kids," the 28-year-old mother of two told her attacker, reading from a letter in court.

"I guess I'll never know what was going through your mind that night, but one day you'll have to answer to God, and that's more justice than any prison can do to you," Busby said.

Odom, who has four children, requested a psychiatrist and said she was mentally unprepared for the sentence. Superior Court Judge turned down a request to postpone the sentencing.

Prosecutors say the two women had been feuding when Theriault-Odom doused Busby with gasoline from a soda bottle and set her ablaze at the Tarzana club.

Busby ran inside, and employees and patrons used curtains to douse the flames.

Theriault-Odom, who'd been refused a job as a dancer at the club, claimed someone else set the woman on fire.

Last month, a jury convicted her of torture and aggravated mayhem but acquitted her of attempted murder.

House Passes Tax Breaks For New Hires

Despite doubts among many lawmakers that it will create many jobs, the House on Thursday passed legislation giving companies that hire the jobless a temporary payroll tax break.

House Passes Tax Breaks For New Hires

Personal Shopper for North Korea Dictator Speaks

A North Korean colonel who spent two decades going on European shopping sprees for his country's rulers said Thursday the late dictator Kim Il Sung lived in luxury while many people struggled to survive in his impoverished nation.

Full Story

Utah man determined to get arrested gets his wish

A man rebuffed in an attempt to get arrested, finally got his wish when he went for an officer's handgun.

Utah man determined to get arrested gets his wish

'Frugal Felon' Turns Down Extra Cash

From the "Now this is something you don't find everyday" Department:

FBI detectives are searching for a "Frugal Felon" - a bank robber who turned down extra cash offered by a teller during the heist.

'Frugal Felon' Turns Down Extra Cash

Shots fired outside Pentagon

From ABC:
Two police officers were injured by a gunman firing shots outside the Pentagon tonight. Hundreds of employees there were ordered to go into "Code Red" -- the entire building locked down, with no one allowed to enter or leave.

ABC's Steven Portnoy reported that Pentagon police had a suspect in custody. ABC's Martha Raddatz reported that three ambulances were on the scene, and all parking lots at the massive Defense Department headquarters were closed off.

The shooting occurred at the Pentagon Metro Station, which is just outside the Pentagon's main entrance.
As you can imagine the building is on lockdown.

FDA warns companies about false food labels

It is truly amazing what a new team can do.
U.S. health regulators warned units of Nestle and more than a dozen other food-makers about overstating or misstating the nutritional value of baby food, nuts and other products on their labels.

Most of the letters made public on Wednesday accuse the companies of making claims on their food packages and websites over trans fat content, antioxidant advantages, and omega-3 benefits that fail to Food and Drug Administration guidelines.

The warnings come as the FDA is set to push for new package labeling to make it easier for people to understand the nutritional content of food.

Panthers release Jake Delhomme

FRE The Carolina Panthers have released quarterback Jake Delhomme, a day after they signed Matt Moore.
The Panthers are still on the hook for $13 million in guaranteed money.

Panthers release Jake Delhomme

*****
It is not all that surprising.

What's the real unemployment rate?

What's the real unemployment rate?

The national jobless rate is well into double digits when underemployed workers are added.

'Eagle Whisperer' frees bird with song

'Eagle Whisperer' frees bird with song

Tim Brown rescues a bald eagle that had been hopelessly stuck in a rope.

Delicious-looking foods to avoid now

Delicious-looking foods to avoid now

Chances are good the asparagus and tomatoes in stores now will disappoint.

Arctic methane leaks stir warming fears

Arctic methane leaks stir warming fears

Greenhouse gas is bubbling up from a long-frozen seabed north of Siberia.

Surprising client for janitor facing eviction

Surprising client for janitor facing eviction

Rosalina Gomez was cleaning the house of the CEO whose bank bought her foreclosed home.

Saudi Arabian Woman to be lashed for Unchaperoned Court Appearance

Welcome to the 12th Century
or is that the 9th Century ...

A Saudi Arabian woman, Sawsan Salim, has been sentenced to 300 lashings and one and a half years in prison for filing harassment complaints about government officials and appearing in court in the northern Qasim region without a male guardian present. In 2007, Salim filed 118 harassment complaints against local officials, who allegedly mistreated her when she appeared in their offices unchaperoned, according to Business Week. Salim appeared without a male guardian because her husband, her sole male family member, was in prison at the time. She initially approached a local court in 2004, when she sought help to release her husband from prison.

The legal guardianship system in Saudi Arabia requires that women, both minors and adults, must be accompanied by a male guardian outside the home. If women wish to conduct themselves in public business, work, or to drive, they must obtain permission from or be accompanied by their male guardian, who may be her husband, father, brother, or even a minor son, according to Human Rights Watch. The Saudi Arabian government promised in June 2009 to follow United Nations suggestions to remove this restrictive system, but has not made this change.

"In Saudi Arabia, being a woman going about her legitimate business without a man's protection is apparently a crime," said Nadya Khalife, a women's rights researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch. "The government needs to free Sawsan Salim and keep its promise to end this discriminatory system."

A similar case occurred in March 2009, when Khamisa Sawadi, an elderly Saudi woman, was accused of fraternization with men after two men outside of her family brought her bread. She was sentenced to 40 lashings, 4 months jail time and deportation. In February 2008, an American business woman was arrested for being in the family section of a Starbucks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a male colleague.

Breakfast sales sink with the economy

Breakfast sales sink with the economy

Fast-food breakfast sales used to be a $57 billion business for the big chains.

Why the mail should come every other day

Why the mail should come every other day

Drowning in red ink, the U.S. Postal Service needs to make radical changes to stay in business.

What's next for Vancouver's athlete village

What's next for Vancouver's athlete village

The city's post-Olympic plans for the $1.1 billion condominium complex have one blogger skeptical.

Today is ...

Today is Friday, March 5, the 64th day of 2010.

There are 301 days left in the year.

Today In History March 5

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

Name Tag Day

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Athens, Attiki, Greece
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Prague, Hlavni Mesto Praha, Czech Republic
Neuss, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

as well as Australia, and the United States in cities such as Orwell, Bismarck, Eau Claire, Potsdam, Hoboken, Brewster, Cheboygan and more.

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

If you weren't up late last night, exchanging life histories with someone who was honestly fascinated by hearing everything that happened when you were ten, you should have been.
Fortunately, it's not too late.
You're still quite willing to reveal everything about yourself -- and a certain person will be only too happy to reciprocate.
Better take a power nap after work.

Naps are good.