Drive-Bys

Giggle of the Day:

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When is an apology not an apology?

"I admit the language was inappropriate, and apologize for any affront to anyone's delicate sensibilities," Lewin wrote.

You tell me.
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It might be a better idea to post where you've been, not where you're going, on Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook and Twitter users are increasing the risk of being burgled when they announce their holiday plans online, a study has warned.

Opportunist thieves are able to track down an address from a website posting within 60 seconds, research found.

Make sure you know what your kids are posting before you head off for summer vacation!
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You and I may not be invited to the Royal Wedding, but we can eat like the royals and their guests. Here's the recipe for the cake the groom ordered up and, since it's a no-bake, just about anyone can make it.
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Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad are keeping very close track of where you've been.

Security researchers said they found a file hidden in the operating software of Apple's devices that can contain tens of thousands of records of a user's precise geographical location, each marked with a timestamp.

Those records create a highly detailed history of a user's whereabouts over months or even years.

The data are in an unprotected file embedded in the phone and tablet computer, the researchers said Wednesday, allowing hackers who pick up a lost iPhone or iPad access to the location history with relative ease.

The upside of this is that if you have the same information and your iPhone or iPad is stolen, you (and the police) can easily recover it.
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Signs of spectacular parenting?

“I don’t think my son’s guilty. He’s my womb child and I’m going to stand and pray for my seed.”

And...

Esther keeps a stash of documents in a folder on her living room table detailing her son’s run-ins with the law. These include the search warrants police used before searching Sonny’s apartment and car.

And...

“My son is saying he’s innocent,” she said. “The only thing he’s (guilty of) is whore-hopping.”

Charming mother, adorable son.
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Appearances Can Be Deceptive

I'd like to think the face of evil is utterly recognizable and immediately repugnant. That's not how evil works, however.

Evil can be frightening.

Evil can be seductive.

Evil can also be disguised by the blandest of facades. That is the face of evil that was the last Toni Keller ever saw.



And once again a casual acquaintance of a murderer blurts out the stupidest of comments:

"He was a really sweet guy," she said. "Anytime we needed anything, he would help out."

Yep. Just the kind of guy you'd want to bring home to mom.

I'm glad they found him so quickly. I only wish his punishment could match his crime.

Spooked! (Part 2)

Though no bottle was found near her body, the coroner concluded Marion had consumed cyanide mixed into an acidic solution. That had produced blistering on her lips and the white residue found in the palm of her right hand.

Sometimes real life is spookier than fiction!

Spooked!

Scarlett Johansson...



...bears a striking and eerie resemblance to Marion Lambert, murdered in Lake Forest, IL, in 1916,

And the story gets weirder from there:

The girl in the road didn't move as the headlights swept over her.

She wore a long blue dress that was soaked from the rain, and her feet were bare. The approaching driver slowed and reached for her cell phone, thinking the girl might have been in an accident. But before she dialed, she took a closer look — and could scarcely believe what she saw.

Light seemed to pass through the girl, as though she were a figment from a disturbing dream. When the car pulled alongside her, she smiled, displaying blackened teeth in a deteriorating mouth.

Unnerved, the driver sped away.

I can't explain it," she recently told the Tribune, years after the incident. "It just wasn't real."

A chill runs through local historians when they hear this story. The driver had been traveling on Sheridan Road in Lake Forest, near the now-closed Barat College. That was close to the spot where, on a winter morning in 1916, a young woman's frozen body was discovered — the prologue of a drama that would consume the town and the nation.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story... which sounds like it would make a wonderful movie.

Full Stop

The investigation into the disappearance of art student Antinette "Toni" Keller is now a homicide investigation, officials said today.

But remains found in a secluded park where she was last headed are so badly burned, they can't be positively identified as Keller's, officials added. Items belonging to Keller were found near the remains, officials have said.

Officials also disclosed that the remains were found on Oct. 16, just two days after Keller disappeared. But officials said they were unable to determine whether the remains were human.

It was not until a week later, on Oct. 23, that officials determined they were human and held a news conference to announce the discovery.

I understand why the parents of a lot of students at NIU would really, really love to yank their kids out of there right now.

Again, my thoughts prayers go out to Toni's family, the Dekalb PD, the students and staff of NIU and the folks in the surrounding community. This is a terrible, terrible thing.

Drive-Bys

Between the shooting on campus that killed six in 2008, the very recent suicide and now this apparent murder, my first alma mater has really been knocked for a loop.

If you're the praying kind, please keep the family of Toni Keller, and the students, faculty and staff of NIU and their families in your prayers. (And pray they find the bastard who did this, too -- and fast.) My heart goes out to all of them.
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Portland residents will vote Nov. 2 on a proposal to give legal residents who are not U.S. citizens the right to vote in local elections, joining places like San Francisco and Chicago that have already loosened the rules or are considering it.

I had no idea that Chicago allowed this, and I am adamantly against it. If you want a vote in this country, you should have to be a legal citizen.

Abdirizak Daud, 40, moved to Minneapolis 18 years ago before coming to Portland in 2006. He hasn't been able to find a job. Some of his nine children have attended Portland schools, and he'd like to have a say in who's looking over the school system and the city, he said.

But between his limited English and the financial demands, Daud hasn't been able to become a citizen.

You've had18 frigging years, pal. If you couldn't find a job or scrape up the money or learn the freaking language in all that time, what the hell have you been living on and what have you been up to?

To become a citizen, immigrants must be a lawful permanent resident for at least five years, pass tests on English and U.S. history and government, and swear allegiance to the United States.

Supporters of Portland's ballot measure say the process is cumbersome, time-consuming and costly. The filing fee and fingerprinting costs alone are $675, and many immigrants spend hundreds of dollars more on English and civics classes and for a lawyer to help them through the process.

Allowing noncitizens to vote fits with basic democratic principles, Hayduk said.

Sorry, but that offends my basic democratic principles. I've known too many people who've worked to hard to get that citizenship to think for even one second that unless you've worked for it, too, you should get a vote. After 18 years you should either man up and do what it takes to become one of us or go the hell home.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C., group that advocates tougher immigration enforcement, says voting is a privilege and should be limited to citizens.

"People who are legal immigrants to the United States after a five-year waiting period can become citizens and become enfranchised," spokesman Ira Mehlman said. "But until then, being here as a legal immigrant is a conditional agreement, sort of like a trial period. You have to demonstrate you are the type of person we would want to have as a citizen, then you can become a citizen and vote."

Too right.
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My one big bitch with Amazon's Kindle is that you can't share books with other Kindle owners, unlike Barnes & Noble's Nook. Well, lookee here:

Amazon.com Inc. is going to allow the lending of e-books purchased from its Kindle Store.

The online retailer announced the upcoming feature in a discussion forum for the Kindle on its website Friday, saying that later in the year it will start letting Kindle users and people who use its free Kindle apps loan books to others for a two-week period. During the loan, the book's owner will not be able to read the book, Amazon said.

Only some Kindle books will be available for lending; Amazon said that the decision is up to the book's publisher or rights holder.

Thanks, Mr. Bezos! That made my day!
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Giggle of the Day: