Trick or Treat? Off Duty Cop Pulls Gun in Haunted House

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -
National News wire - The Infinite Echo

An intoxicated off-duty Baltimore city police officer visiting a haunted house with his family has been charged with assault after pointing a loaded handgun at a costumed employee.

According to authorities, Sgt. Eric Janik, 36, pointed the handgun at Michael Morrison's chest, who was dressed as a character from the horror film ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre.’

The chainsaw Mr. Morrison's was wielding was only a prop, and did not have a working chain. Morrison dropped the chainsaw when he saw Janik was pointing a real gun. It has not been revealed why the apparently intoxicated Janik carried the concealed weapon into the haunted house in the first place.

Numerous witnesses at the ‘House Of Screams’ haunted house attraction reported Janik stinking of alcohol as he entered the attraction with family members. Officers on the scene also noted the off duty police officer seemed to be slurring his speech at the time of his arrest. Janik denies pointing the gun at Morrison, claiming he only pointed the weapon at the ground. Witnesses to the incident disagree.

Sgt. Janik, 36, has worked for the Baltimore city police department since 1995. He is currently suspended without pay, pending the outcome of a hearing set to be held on Thursday, October 29th.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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Meet Richard Cheney, All Bull, No Horns

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -
National News wire - The Infinite Echo

Meet Richard Cheney. When it comes to dishonesty, Mr. Cheney wrote the book. Truth be told, it’s more of an instructional manual really, aptly titled ‘The Art of Untruth, a Practitioners Guide to Deception’.

The former Vice Presidents book contains a plethora of technique and advice, all gleaned from Mr. Cheney’s illustrious experience as the world’s pre-imminent teller of lies.

Chapter headings include ’When Honesty is Not the Best Policy’ ’Fear Mongering for Fast Results’, ‘Inaccuracies and Misdirection’, ‘Lies for Fun and Profit’ and includes a finely researched collection of some of Mr. Cheney’s more sensational quotes. Here’s just a sample of what goes on in the mind of this disingenuous buffoon, a man some refer to as the most powerful war profiteer in modern history.

"In Iraq, a ruthless dictator cultivated weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. He gave support to terrorists, and had an established relationship with al Qaeda" - Nov. 7, 2003

"We know he's been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." - March 16, 2003

"My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators." - March 16, 2003

“The plan was criticized by some retired military officers embedded in TV studios. But with every advance by our coalition forces, the wisdom of that plan becomes more apparent.”

"I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." - on the Iraq insurgency, June 20, 2005

“The Iraqi forces are conducting the Mother of all Retreats“.

"Go f*ck yourself." - to Sen. Patrick Leahy, during an angry exchange on the Senate floor about war profiteering by Halliburton, June 25, 2004

“I’m the Vice President, and they’re not” - January 2007

There are many more disturbing quotes attributed to our heartless former vice president. After all, Dick Cheney has been telling whoppers since long before I was born. Mr. Cheney doesn’t just bend the truth, he revels in his lies. He has in fact, elevated his dishonesty into an art form…The art of untruth.

Now before you go order a copy of the book from Amazon, I should probably come clean, something Mr. Cheney has never done. You see, other than the quotes, I made this whole thing up. There is no book. It was all one big lie.

Mr. Cheney would be proud of me.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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Skate the Razor Blog - blogment

CBS News Raises Doubts Over McNair Murder Investigation

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -
National News wire - The Infinite Echo

Nashville police have some explaining to do after seriously botching their investigation into the murder of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair.

The sudden death of McNair shocked the nation and saddened football fans around the world. The bullet-riddled body of the former NFL quarterback had been found slumped on a couch, with two bullets in his torso, and one in each side of his head. The body of his girlfriend, 20-year-old waitress Sahel Kazemi, was found face down on the floor nearby with a single bullet wound to her temple and the murder weapon by her side.

At the time, the evidence seemed to suggest a distraught Kazemi killed McNair with a handgun she purchased fully loaded in a mall parking lot shortly before the shooting. Nashville police concluded Kamemi then turned the gun on herself. However, according to an independent investigation conducted by CBS NEWS, the facts simply don’t add up.

New evidence uncovered by CBS investigators says Nashville police made critical errors in their conclusions. According to the police report, Kazemi purchased a "fully loaded 9 mm pistol at 5 p.m. on Thursday," in which she was "absent from work for about two hours, until 7 p.m."

In fact, according to employee attendance records obtained by CBS, the two-hour absence actually occurred the day before, contradicting the accepted timeline and casting doubt upon whether Kazemi could have ever actually purchased the handgun.

Kazemi, who was arrested for DUI shortly before the murders occurred, was reported to be distraught over her relationship with the NFL legend. However, close friends of Kazemi say the relationship was fine and the two were planning to move in together soon. Kazemi is seen in jail surveillance video looking anything but distraught. In one scene, she is even seen doing another inmates hair.

McNair, who quarterbacked in the NFL for 13 seasons, will be remembered as a class act and a true lover of the game of football.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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Skate the Razor Blog - blogment

Judge Rules Against Sheriff in Jail Abortion Dispute

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -
National News wire - The Infinite Echo

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the man who bills himself as “America's Toughest Sheriff“, has been dealt a stinging rebuke by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge who has ruled the Sheriff cannot demand inmates prepay the cost of transportation to the abortion clinic.


Sign at the Tent City Jail near Downtown Phoenix

Sheriff Arpaio had maintained the inmates pay up to $600 in transportation and security fees in advance for busing them to and from the abortion clinic. In 2005 an injunction was filed against the Sheriff's Office, prohibiting the practice. The Sheriff appealed the decision all the way to the Supreme Court. He lost his appeals.

The American Civil Liberties Union had successfully argued that prepayment creates obstacles to a woman's constitutional right to obtain an abortion in a timely manner. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig agreed. However, neither the American Civil Liberties Union nor the judge disputed the Sheriff Departments right to seek reimbursement of costs. Predictably, Arpaio is expected to appeal the ruling.

Sheriff Arpaio is no stranger to controversy. Over the years, he has received endless media attention for his outdoor jail facilities and for serving his inmates green bologna. Along the way, his public antics have gained him as many supporters as critics.

The outspoken sheriff has made the headlines frequently in recent weeks in a separate dispute with the Obama administration over his aggressive approach to illegal immigration enforcement. Arpaio has been re-elected four times since assuming the office in 1996. A 2007 recall petition failed to collect enough signatures to put the recall to a vote.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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Bush Attacker Receives Heroes Welcome In Geneva Switzerland

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -
National News wire - The Infinite Echo

Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who was recently released from an Iraqi prison after serving nine months for throwing his shoes at former U.S. president George W. Bush, has been greeted with a heroes welcome in Geneva Switzerland.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi gained worldwide notoriety for his December 2008 attack on the former president, earning the journalist a stint behind bars, where he claims he was brutally tortured by his captors. al-Zeidi refers to himself as a “victim of the occupation’ and alleges abuse during his detention. He insists however, he was not abused at the hand of Americans.

The Iraqi journalist is quick however, to condemn the United States for it’s roll in what he claims are the deaths of over a million Iraqis since the U.S. invasion began six and a half years ago. Iraq Body Count estimates approximately 100,00 Iraqis have died violently since the invasion began, but these numbers are considered by most experts to be somewhat lower than the actual count. In addition to the astounding number of deaths, another five million Iraqis have been left without homes. Over two million of these Iraqi refugees are currently living in nearby Syria and Jordan.

Al-Zeidi says he has been offered generous gifts and large sums of money by un-named wealthy Arabs, but has pledged not to accept any such offers until he is able to set up a foundation enabling the funds to be used to assist Iraqis who have suffered as a result of the war.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi will be remembered by most observers for throwing his shoes at then-president George W. Bush during a press conference in Bagdad on December 14, 2008. He was sentenced to a year in jail, but was ultimately released three months early for good behavior.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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