Butner Federal Prison Inmate No. 61727-054 Beaten Up @11:10 AM
"Bernard Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence in North Carolina for running a fraud scheme that cost investors billions of dollars, was physically assaulted by another inmate in December, according to three people familiar with the matter…. The former inmate said the dispute centered on money the assailant thought he was owed by Mr. Madoff…. Mr. Madoff spends free time in the prison library on the weekends and often watches movies, including 'Lethal Weapon,' according to the former inmate. He said he chatted with the admitted Ponzi schemer on Saturdays in the library and asked for financial advice: 'He gave me ideas on my index funds.' Mr. Madoff advised him to diversify." 2
Tucker Carlson Employee Attacks State Dept. SUV With Broken Knee @6:28 PM
TreacherGate, in case you have not been following the blow-by-blow of the Daily Caller employee (Jim Treacher, real name Sean Medlock) who was viciously assaulted by a State Dept. Security Services SUV, is hotting up tonight. "A second DSS spokeswoman… claimed that 'a jogger collided with one of the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service’s official vehicles'—as if Medlock, who does not jog, had somehow attacked the SUV." But Tucker Carlson is on the scene. 26
Drunken Australians Can Turn Anything Into A Weapon @11:20 AM
Paramedics on Prison Island are calling for a ban on pool cues and glass ashtrays in pubs to prevent attacks. The government of Queensland, Australia, had previously "banned glasses from some pubs and clubs to stop so-called 'glassing' attacks," but enterprising assailants have simply turned to other tools at hand in their apparent war against ambulance workers, approximately 150 of whom were assaulted in the last year. While Queensland's government has indicated that it is willing to consider further legislation, but local publicans are less convinced. READ MORE 21
Things mayors shouldn't do when upset with stories that say charges are still open on your alleged participation in a 1948 gang rape: get into a fistfight, on the street, with the publisher of the town newspaper. And then? Have the city attorney say "he started it"! To wit: "The Mayor has indicated [publisher Bob] Zollinger forcefully poked him in the chest with his index finger." Ah, New Mexico. Good grief, ladies! (via) @11:57 AM 4
Very Recent History: A Dispiriting End To An Earlier Decade @11:10 AM
This weekend, Sunday, December 6th, marks the 40th anniversary of Altamont, the free concert the Rolling Stones put on at a speedway outside San Francisco to end their U.S. tour in 1969. It was meant to be like Woodstock. At a press conference before the event, Mick Jagger said, "It's creating a sort of microcosmic society which sets example to the rest of America as to how one can behave in large gatherings." More than 300,000 people attended. But things went very wrong. Hired as security, but full of acid and beer, the Hells Angels motorcycle club were not on the same blissed-out flower-children vibe as much of the crowd. Rather, they beat people with leaded pool cues. READ MORE 19
Publicists Now Beating Reporters At Celeb Press Events @11:31 AM
AMC brought out the cast of Mad Men last night in L.A. (well, PASADENA) for the Television Critics Association hoo-ha. There was much Jon Hamm chasing (obvs), which did not go well, as handlers kept yanking him away. But things apparently got worse? Reports the LA Times: "There was nothing else to do but whine to a colleague from another major newspaper who then shared that while he was interviewing one of Hamm's costars, he was interrupted by a publicist who resorted to violence to end that interview. She had the nerve to strike him in the back!" I knew the publicists were out of control—but I do believe this is the first non-paparazzo celebrity entertainment publicist-instigated violence incident! Also: who? Who hit whom? What! 3
The World's Worst Doorman And Neighbors Watch, Ignore Brawl, At 63 Wall Street @11:28 AM
Well, wow, here is a doorman watching a crazy white guy (the one in black and white) try to beat the hell out of another guy (and losing). It is pretty amazing that the residents of the building step over the brawl to go into their apartments. The fight started when the white guy "asked me if I was Korean" and then called him "a chink," according to the (intended) victim. Pretty much everyone at 63 Wall Street should be shot into space. 11
Elderviolence! @12:09 PM
Good to know: Don't be surprised to see more violence from old people, particularly as the Baby Boomers start to realize that they're not going to live forever. 3
Summer preview! GUNS! @8:46 AM
New York Post: "14 SHOT IN SINGLE DAY" To be fair, it was really hot yesterday. Plus there's an intolerable level of illegal firearms in this and every other city. But, seriously, were you out yesterday? It was sweltering. 8
Guns don't kill people, Mexicans kill people. Using U.S. guns. @12:34 PM
"In 2008, a year during which more than 7,000 Mexicans were killed in drug violence, a record number of weapons confiscated in Mexico were traced to U.S. retailers." That number: 12,073. So at least 5,000 of those guns were probably just used for outdoor sporting activities. 4
Bring back the rope. @1:05 PM
Why do the English hate their children? Because they're vicious killers, every one. 0
The American way of death @2:28 PM
There's nothing like the headline "Deadly Rampages Rack the Nation" to add a little extra "ugh" to your Monday morning, is there? Hopefully things are better across the pond! Or, uh, not. 0
