GOP Vixen

Alleged torturer of Bob the tortoise back in court Tuesday

You may recall the story of Bob the Ventura tortoise -- I wrote about his kidnapping and torture before I went on vacation. I'm told that Tony Mosqueda, accused of stealing and slashing 25-year-old Bob, will be in court Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. (Ventura County Court, 800 S. Victoria, Ventura, Courtroom 12), so supporters of Bob are encouraged to show up. There's also an ongoing petition in support of Bob and in favor of the maximum sentence for his assailant. More info can also be found on www.justiceforbob.com.

OK, Spector trial over

Yesterday's testimony sealed the deal: Lana Clarkson did not commit suicide. Her mother testified that Lana bought seven new pairs of shoes just 12 hours before she died, and had the receipts to prove it. No woman kills herself after buying seven pairs of shoes -- unless all of those shoes were Christian Louboutin and she had fatal buyer's remorse afterward. But the receipts that her mom held up looked from the back to be Ross receipts, or somewhere similar. And nobody kills herself after finding seven great pairs of shoes at Ross, particularly if you're at the Ross at National and Sepulveda, where I've picked up BCBG heels for $20 and Michael Kors sunglasses for $15. Lana would have been high on life (or at least high on shopping). Spector, you're goin' down...

Why wasn't he held by ICE?

The lead suspect in the execution-style killings of three college students in a Newark schoolyard pleaded not guilty today -- and details about his background came out:

"(Jose) Carranza, who has a fake Social Security number, had been arrested on charges of raping a 5-year-old girl and then threatening the child and her parents. In that case he faced a 31-count indictment.

In another, he was arrested on assault charges stemming from a bar fight.

Immigration officials apparently were aware of Carranza's illegal status since his prior arrests, according to Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura."

Another sad case of our broken immigration system. It's torturous to go through the "what ifs" after a heinous crime, but what if the Peruvian national had been deported or, preferrably, detained in ICE custody till he faced the other charges?

Oakland editor’s slaying linked to Muslim group

Honey buns and Malcolm X, anyone? You can get both at Your Muslim Bakery in Oakland (well, not exactly honey buns, but “bean and carrot pies,” which should be an insult to bakeries everywhere). You can smash up mom-and-pop stores for selling alcohol, as the group dating back to the ’60s was caught on surveillance camera doing in 2005. You also can, apparently, get killed: Police have reportedly tracked the gun used in Thursday’s brutal assassination of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey back to the bakery.

Sad reality about 'happy family' car stickers

Commuting through La-La Land, I see these stickers on the backs of vehicles all the time -- "happy family" decal detailing Mom, Dad, and each of the kids by name and drawn out as boys or girls. Back when I was a criminology major at Fresno State, I remember a professor saying the first semester that it was a bad idea for a woman to get a personalized plate that identified her gender, as it made the vehicle a target for predators. Drawing from that logic, and in light of heightened concerns about sexual predators on our streets, why would anyone put one of these "happy family" stickers on their cars? You're just advertising to the bad guys how many kids there are, approximate age (by size of the stick figure on the sticker), and releasing names of the kids, making it that much easier for a predator to gain a small child's trust. Put safety first -- take 'em off, folks!

Danger zone

So my mom's freaking out about my upcoming trip to Tunisia, even though the last al-Qaida attack there was in 2002 and the government is providing extra security to our press party.

But let's face it -- the danger of North Africa pales in comparison to the danger of being pregnant! If it isn't some crazy person who wants to steal the newborn baby, it's a father-to-be who doesn't want the kid or some relationship strife or whatnot. After seeing all these cases, and noting that homicide is the leading cause of death for a mother-to-be after pregnancy complications, what can a woman say but "WHEW ... At least I'm not pregnant!"

Deciding whether you want to have kids is difficult enough without worrying whether the father will go all batshit!

Legal briefs

A British judge accused of flashing a woman twice on a train entered his chonies into evidence Tuesday, contending that he's not guilty because boxers instead of briefs would have provided greater flash access:

HIS LAWYER: "In order to remove your penis when you’re wearing your Calvin Klein briefs is it necessary to use one or two hands?"

JUDGE ACCUSED OF FLASHING: "If I had a pee, I would use two hands. It is the natural way of doing it. ... I am a happily married family man and I cannot conceive of deriving any form of gratification from exposing my penis."

It's funny as it is, but would be so much funnier to hear the proper Brit accents talking in court like that...

Phil Spector says he's too short to be a murderer

That story is here. But I'm not buying the defense. The shorties above all have pickaxes, and Grumpy looks pretty postal...

Questions about Cho's parents

Some food for thought, from a story in today's Telegraph:

"'Many of us blame the parents,' said Miss Kim, who, like the Chos, works in the dry-cleaning business. 'How did they not know his thinking? It is very hard to understand. But his parents couldn't speak English well and didn't have good communication with their son.'"

Since they've been in the U.S. since 1992, please tell me they know English by now. But while heavy focus is placed on Mexican immigrants learning English, it seems to go by unnoticed that some ethnicities resistant to assimilation slip into their own enclaves and never learn the language of their adopted land. It's also interesting to hear a Korean acquiantance of the Chos blaming the parents, since up to this point most news stories have focused on Korean communities fearing backlash for Cho's actions.

I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on this, but I'm wondering a) why it took until Friday for Cho's family to say anything about the massacre, and b) why we haven't heard from the parents (a no-questions statement was issued by the gunman's sister on Friday). The initial rumor, being spread on Korean radio in L.A., was that the parents had tried to kill themselves.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh. But I read that the majority of victims' families had no comment to the statement, which would have been my reaction, too. It would have had an impact if the parents had shown their faces, but I'm not even saying that they should have thrown themselves at the mercy of the media. What about silently attending a victims' memorial, if their English isn't good? Briefly meeting with the university president or victims' families. Paying tribute to the victims at campus.

I'm sure the parents are embarassed by "Ismail Ax's" actions, but my mind goes back to the horrendous Amish schoolhouse shootings. It would have been easy for Marie Roberts, wife of killer Charles Roberts, to slink off into hiding, but instead she grieved with the rest of the community, accepted help and met with relatives of Amish victims. It seems that everyone was better off with her involvement in the healing process, and she earned a lot of people's respect for showing such strength.

Just to get this out of the way...

... The 60-year-old guy who killed some guy he'd had a dispute with and himself at NASA today most probably was not inspired to commit violence by NBC running the gun-flashing P.R. package sent by snot-nosed Virginia Tech shooter Cho. I doubt he sat in front of the TV watching Cho's rambling monotone and hammer skills, thinking, "Wow... that dude is so cool..." Nor did he probably listen to Marilyn Manson music. Just had to say it.