“Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.”"Remember O man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return." Nothing puts life in perspective like Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. This…

Examiner National Edition Articles

Cleveland, OH (The Weekly Vice) – Meredith Lowell, a 27-year-old Ohio woman was jailed after she allegedly tried to hire a hit man to kill any random person found to be wearing animal fur.

According to FBI agents, Lowell spent months trying to solicit a hit man through Facebook, with the intention of killing a random person who was caught wearing fur clothing.

Undercover officers began communicating with Lowell through Facebook In November after being alerted to the alleged plot.

Investigators say Lowell posted a request on Facebook which stated “I would like to create an online community on facebook which would allow me to find someone who is willing to kill someone wearing fur toward the end of October 2011 or early November 2011 or possibly in January 2012 or February 2012 at the latest.”

Lowell, using the alias Anne Lowery, allegedly wrote that she would be willing to pay up to $ 850 to anyone willing to carry out the deed. She referred to the act as a “hit, a demonstration and a protest.”

During email exchanges between Lowell and FBI agents, Lowell reportedly stated that she wanted to be present when the murder occurred, so that she could begin handing out animal rights “papers” at the scene. She also stated that murdering a 12 year old child would be “fine” but that she would prefer the victim to be at least 14 if possible.

Lowell offered the undercover agent $ 730 in jewelry to complete the “hit” while providing detailed explanations about how she wanted murder to be performed.

“You need to bring a gun that has a silencer on it and that can be easily concealed in your pants pocket or coat. If you do not want to risk the possibility of getting caught with a gun before the job, bring a sharp knife that is (at least) 4-inches long, it should be sharp enough to stab someone and/or slit their throat to kill them. I want the person to be dead in less than two minutes,” stated Lowell during another email exchange.

Lowell was booked into jail and charged with solicitation to commit murder.

Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice

Join The Discussion. Click Comment Link Below And Fire Away
Ready For More Seriously Messed Up News? Join Us On Facebook!

THE WEEKLY VICE

Austin, TX – For renowned police critic and Grits for Breakfast blogger Scott Henson, it could have been so perfect.  On the night in question, the very white Henson was walking his black 5-year-old granddaughter home through a park.  Someone at the park called 911, alleging that a white man was chasing and attempting to kidnap a young black child.  As you might expect, police swarmed the area, and that’s where the drama begins.

The following Saturday, the aggravated Henson took to the blog, crafting a hypercritical version of events titled, “Me, APD and ‘Babysitting While White,’ Part Deux”.  He begins by linking the incident to a question posed on the blog previously:  “Is babysitting while white reasonable suspicion for police questioning?”  It’s every bit as reasonably suspicious as Driving While Black or Painting While Hispanic, if you ask me.

Henson describes being stopped by an officer who asked his granddaughter if she knew him.  When she responded that it was her grandfather, the officer let them continue on their way.  Just minutes later, however, as they crossed a street a mere two blocks from home, multiple squad cars appeared.  Cops jumped out of their cars, tasers ready, and shouted at him to step away from the girl.  When he complied, Henson says he was “roughly cuffed” shortly before witnessing another officer “brusquely snatching” his granddaughter up and placing her in the back seat of a car.   Racial discrimination, police brutality and a traumatized child?  Jackpot!

Naturally, the story gained national and even international attention as readers found themselves stunned by Henson’s claims.  Enter the incredulous Austin Police Chief Acevedo, my new favorite police officer.  Acevedo reviews the tapes and, sure enough, what he sees is a bit different from what Henson claims.  Could it be?  Would a beacon of accountability like Henson fabricate details to further a personal agenda?

Acevedo calls Henson’s bluff… Publicly.  In a released statement, Acevedo sarcastically apologizes to Hansen “for not having 2,300 clairvoyants in the midst of the Austin Police Department,” and announces his plan to release the tapes, adding that he challenges Mr. Hanson “to show us where in the World he felt it was honest to write [the bit about the drawn tasers and roughing up].”  Can you hear that?  It’s the sound of Henson’s sphincter slamming shut.  The Chief also discloses the e-mails he exchanged with Henson, in which Henson practically begs Acevedo not to release the tapes, citing “privacy concerns”.

Now that the tape has been made public, Henson’s in damage control mode, claiming, “It happened in a flash and like many eyewitnesses, when under a perceived threat, my mind filled in some pieces erroneously.”  Heh, my sister does that.  But, even she knows better than to lie about something that was caught on tape.   Take a look for yourself.  Do you see a blatant example of police misconduct?   If so, you, too, may suffer from erroneous piece filling… And I would get that checked out, if I were you.

This article is from The Dreamin’ Demon, the Internet’s self-appointed buzzkill.

CrimeCrawlers!

While fans are still reeling over the “Glee” winter finale, the cast of Ryan Murphy’s new NBC comedy is shaping up.

Justin Bartha of “The Hangover” franchise has signed on for “The New Normal,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, which revoles around a gay couple and the woman who agrees to serve as their surrogate. Bartha will play David to “The Book Of Mormon” star Andrew Rannells’ Bryan as the couple looking to start a family.

Also joining the cast is Scottish actress Georgia King as Goldie, their surrogate, THR reports. Ellen Barkin is already attached to “The New Normal” as Goldie’s racist grandmother on the NBC sitcom, co-created by Murphy and fellow “Glee” scribe Ali Adler.

And in more casting news …

“Superman” alum Brandon Routh will play Michael Urie’s boyfriend in “Partners” for CBS. The comedy pilot is from the minds of “Will & Grace” creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. [TVLine]

Ryan Phillippe has dropped out of the CBS pilot he was attached to. The actor, who’s currently filming a major arc on the finale season of FX’s “Damages,” would have starred as a cop on the Greg Berlanti project, which was previously known as “Golden Boy.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

“Kings” alum Chris Egan is going Disney. The actor has landed the first role in ABC’s reimagining of the classic fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast” as Gorrick, a Gaston-like character betrothed the show’s leading lady, Grace. [TVLine]

Former “Oz” inmate Lee Tergesen may be back doing small screen crime. TVLine exclusively reports that Tergesen is close to signing onto ABC’s drama pilot “Penoza,” which is based on a Dutch series of the same name about the widow of an assassinated criminal forced to adopt her husband’s role in order to protect her family. [TVLine]

TV on HuffingtonPost.com

WOODS HOLE, Mass. (CAP) – A study published today by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution claims that despite popular belief, almost all of the clams in the ocean are actually clinically depressed, with most falling into the range of suicidal.

“The phrase happy as a clam dates back to the 1600′s, when fishermen and clammers first began working the waters off the New England coastline,” said WHOI President Susan Avery. “These men took the clams’ slightly upturned hingeline to be equivalent to a human smile, so they assumed that clams were just naturally happy.

“Now with the help of modern technology, we are finally able to see just how wrong they were,” Avery added.

Others at the WHOI warn not to take the results of the study entirely out of context, noting that happy clams do exist in the sea. However, according to the findings, the research confirms that happy clams make up only about one-tenth of one percent of all the clams in the world, with the other 99.9 percent living “every second of every day in excruciating pain.”

“We found that the clams suffer from a genetic abnormality called aquagenic pruritis,” said Newton Merrill, Chairman of the WHOI Board of Trustees. “In layman’s terms, it means that they are allergic to water. Allergic to water, and they are clams! Can you imagine? This cruel fate leads to a lifetime of austere depression.

“Oh no, the term happy as a clam could not be more wrong,” Merrill said.

Scientists at the WHOI were actually able to train one of their subject clams, a Littleneck named Isaac, to communicate with them using a rudimentary clam language they developed for the study. They taught Isaac to squirt water at different frequencies and volumes to represent different letters, which they would then string together into words and sentences.

According to the report, the only words Isaac spoke, which he repeated over and over again, were “Kill me please. Kill me now.”

“It is a horrible, horrible fate that clams suffer,” summarized Merrill. “They are truly the unluckiest of God’s creatures. We can only be thankful that they lack the opposable thumbs that would allow them to go on underwater shooting rampages, for they would certainly replace sharks as nature’s most perfect killing machines.

“On the other hand, though, they are delicious,” added Merrill. “And now we know for sure that they don’t really mind us eating them.”

The WHOI will be offering a new children’s program called Clam Empathy beginning next month. Parents are encouraged to sign their children up early as there are a limited number of slots available.

CAP News

Many people who adopt a low carbohydrate lifestyle find that a leisurely weekend breakfast of pancakes is one of the things that they miss the most. Making and enjoying pancakes together with loved ones can make a weekend…

Examiner National Edition Articles

Irvine, Calif. (The Weekly Vice) – Nicole McMillen, a 41-year-old teacher’s aide at Tustin Unified School District was jailed Sunday after she allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old boy.

According to police, an investigation was launched Saturday after the parents of a 14-year-old boy reported an alleged ongoing sexual relationship between McMillen and their son.

Investigators say McMillen and the teen had sexual contact on several occasions over the past six weeks. The alleged sexual encounters reportedly took place at the home McMillen shares with her children and husband.

Detectives say the victim did not attend the same school where McMillen was employed and no sexual contact took place on school property.

School officials announced that McMillen will be placed on administrative leave on Tuesday pending the outcome of the investigation.

McMillen was booked into the Orange County Jail and charged with felony lewd conduct with a minor. Her bond has been set at $ 50,000.

Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice

Join The Discussion. Click Comment Link Below And Fire Away
Ready For More Seriously Messed Up News? Join Us On Facebook!

THE WEEKLY VICE

 Orange County, FL – A woman is recovering in the hospital from having an arm and leg amputated after being attacked by a pit bull, and another man is facing charges because of the incident.

Police say 30-year-old  Ian Summers had taken Robin Johnson, a known prostitute, to a house in order to have sex and smoke crack. In the home was a pit bull named Feisty, a pit bull with a long history of attacking people. Summers admitted he was scared of the dog, but that it was necessary for Johnson to meet Feisty so that it would not get aggressive towards her.

“I had to introduce her to the dog because he is very aggressive and has bitten five people over the last month,” Summers later told deputies.

Unfortunately, the meeting did not go well as Feisty immediately began mauling Johnson. Instead of helping her, Summers simply walked out of the house and shut the door behind him leaving Johnson to fight for her life.

“When he attacked I did not want to be anywhere near that dog, he scares the death out of me,” Summers told deputies, “so I left and closed the door.”

Summers told deputies he ran to get help at a nearby fire station, but witnesses say that it was actually another man who went for help.

Luckily for Johnson, someone was in the house willing to help her and was able to separate her from Feisty and get her inside a bedroom and shut the door. One of the deputies who arrived at the home described a bloody living room littered with chunks of human flesh and drag marks from when Johnson had been pulled to safety.

Robin Johnson

Johnson was rushed to the hospital where she had her left arm amputated below the elbow and her left leg below the knee. Summers was charged with  a misdemeanor charge of culpable negligence, and a felony charge of burglary of an occupied dwelling. Turns out he didn’t live at the home as he initially told police. He had moved out last November after SWAT raided the house for narcotics.

Feisty was taken into animal services custody and things aren’t looking too good for the dog. Investigators found he has been involved in at least three previous attacks. In 2010, an OUC worker was injured and in September, a 47-year-old man was attacked at a Super Inn hotel. The third attack involved the 2-year-old nephew of the dog’s owner. In that case, Feisty bit the boy under his arm, “removing a large portion” of his skin.

The reason the dog was still around to chew off Johnson’s limbs is because the boy’s mother didn’t participate in dangerous dog proceedings while investigations into the other bites were stopped because of inconsistent or incomplete witness statements.

The jokes regarding Johnson and her appearance are sure to come (hell, even I almost labelled her pic as “Feisty”), but I am telling you I could care less how much drugs she does or how many poles she’s sucked. She didn’t deserve this and I can only imagine what she went through was nothing short of a friggin’ nightmare.

This article is from The Dreamin’ Demon, the Internet’s self-appointed buzzkill.

CrimeCrawlers!

80 Piece Studio Art Set by Nicole List Price: $39.99 Price: $15.47 Read Reviews

“It’s the only player who faces a completely opposite direction than all of his teammates,” DeKay told HuffPost TV. “The catcher sees the entire field, knows what everyone should be doing.”

So when he found out that he was going to get the chance to direct an episode of “White Collar,” DeKay — who already has a few short films under his director’s belt — was ready for the challenge. “They knew that I wanted to direct since Season 1,” said DeKay. “They approached me and said, ‘You should direct next season.’ Consequently, I’ll be directing an episode every season. Fortunately, the stars aligned, and I got to direct a baseball episode.”

In the episode, Peter and Neal (Matt Bomer) find themselves tasked with taking down a con man who is attempting to steal a priceless baseball artifact from the new Yankee Stadium. Peter, who we find out was a former minor league big shot (with the rookie baseball card to prove it!), is beside himself with excitement, caught up in the mysticism behind the legendary stadium. In fact “White Collar” fans can expect to see a bit of a role reversal, as Peter gets a little too excited.

HuffPost TV chatted with DeKay about his experience behind the camera, his fascination with Yankee Stadium and what Neal’s impending commutation means for Peter and Neal’s friendship. We also scored an exclusive sneak peek at the episode, and a sweet “White Collar” giveaway for one lucky reader. (Details below.)

There was definitely a lot of mysticism in the episode. At one point, I was pretty certain that Peter had a “Field of Dreams” moment. Was that intentional?
I loved all of those baseball movies, and I think part of what made the episode feel so mystical was the empty baseball stadium. To be honest, I don’t think there’s anything more exciting than an empty stadium. When you see it empty like that, all you see is possibility. I wanted to make sure that we got that.

We learned in the episode that Peter made it to the minor leagues. Did you play baseball as well?
I was a baseball player. I played in high school and a little bit in college. I was a catcher. I don’t know if I could have played any other position. As a catcher, you’re always on the ball.

There’s a great shot in the episode where Peter and Neal have that catcher’s view.
Funny you should say that because we almost didn’t get that shot. They wanted us to shoot from a different angle, but I was like, “You can’t do that!” This was the moment that I truly became “The Director.” I couldn’t let them ruin my vision. I told them that we have to shoot behind home plate. That’s the only way that you get that sense of infinity. Needless to say, I won that argument.

Now, this is also the first production to have been filmed in the new Yankee Stadium. Obviously, that meant there was a lot of pressure, right?
That’s exactly it! We didn’t know that we were actually going to get Yankee Stadium until two days before we started shooting. It could have been the Brooklyn Cyclones or perhaps the Staten Island Yankees. We actually used the Staten Island Yankee Stadium in a couple of scenes, but for the most part, it was all Yankee Stadium. It was a great honor, and what was really neat for me was to see the crew going into Yankee Stadium and taking pictures. Everyone was so excited.

Being a New Yorker, I’ve had the privilege of seeing many games there. It’s giant!
Oh, it’s huge, and it’s well put together. It may be giant, but we were all sitting in different seats, and there truly is not a bad seat in the house. Of course, it’s great to be two rows up from Derek Jeter on the deck circle, but if you’re way out in left field, there’s beauty from every angle.

Sadly, Derek Jeter did not make an appearance in the episode …
We ran the gamut there, with Derek Jeter and Reggie Jackson, who’s rather prominent there in the front office, but we didn’t end up getting them. I was okay with that. Those cameos are tricky. They can be great — because you have Derek Jeter as a cameo — but they can also kind of glare as a cameo. It’s like the audience is suddenly hyper-aware that we’re filming in Yankee Stadium, as opposed to just telling a story.

Well, and it also takes a minute or two away from the story.
It does. It’s a bit of a coda, like, “Oh, they got him.” Then the audience will leave the story for a bit.

“Stealing Home” is a very Peter-centric episode. How did you go about directing yourself?
I’ve been with Peter for a long time now, so I get him. [Laughs] But also, Matt [Bomer] gets him, and the writers get him, so once I went out there in front of the camera to play Peter, it was great. Most of the time, you know what feels right, but sometimes I look toward the writer, who was behind the monitors, and he’d say, “Maybe try it this way or that way.” And then I’d go to Matt and ask him what he thought.

Did you tend to replay the scenes you were in?
I never replayed it at all. [Laughs] There was talk about maybe getting another monitor so that I could see my take, but that takes up a lot of time, to go back and to watch it. I think that I was wisely advised by producer Jeff King not to do it because the labor wouldn’t have been worth it.

What was the most frustrating moment on set for you, as the director?
It was smooth sailing for the most part. There was one particular scene where Peter and Sarah [Hilarie Burton] have a conversation on the street. During prep, I was planning to shoot it on one particular street that had a great building. We started shooting at 9 a.m. there, and for whatever reason, it was an incredibly hot day. There was so much sun. When we went to shoot it, the director of photography was like, “This isn’t going to work. She’s not going to look good. I really don’t think we should shoot it here.” And at that point, 100-plus crew members are just staring at me. It felt like all of New York stopped — the cabbies, everyone — and they just looked at me. I looked at a street adjacent to us and said, “What about that street?” It was amazing. Within five minutes, the crew had moved everything.

That last scene, where Neal and Peter were on the field, were you really on the field?
Here’s what happened. We were on the field in the Staten Island Yankee Stadium, and we shot that scene there, and it rained. And then the day that we were at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees saw how well we behaved, and they told us that we could go on the field for just a little bit. There were no microphones, no sound or anything, but we were able to get that cool panning shot of the stadium behind us. It was pretty exciting to be able to say that I’ve played catch at Yankee Stadium. I took a little piece of grass, and put it in my pocket, and then I forgot about it. Wardrobe was like, “Why is there grass in your pocket?”

You didn’t get to run the bases?
No, they wouldn’t let us do that, but I did have my son’s glove. I use my son’s glove in the episode to play catch.

We know that Neal’s commutation is coming up in the finale, and that it’s going to come down to Peter’s decision …
Right. The season finale is Neal’s commutation, and as Neal and Peter have said to each other, it comes down to Peter’s decision and what he says, but there’s another factor that comes into play. Agent Kramer (Beau Bridges) is going to throw a wrench in the whole thing, but his actions are justified. As wrong as they seem to Peter and Neal, his actions are justified, and they’re not Machiavellian in nature. You understand his agenda as well. It’s the best cliffhanger of all three seasons.

There’s always that sense of doubt in Peter’s mind about Neal’s motives. Even in the episode that you directed, Neal doesn’t tell Peter the whole story. Will those two come to a head in the finale?
Of course! He’s constantly faced with that decision where he knows that Neal is omitting some truths from him. Peter doesn’t want to put Neal on the spot and ask him, but in the season finale, Peter asks Neal a question about something, and it’s a great moment between the two. Peter wants to trust him, but he never will, and Neal doesn’t trust Peter either. But the two of them do love each other. He’s constantly rooting for Neal. He wants him to do well.

“White Collar” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on USA.

Watch our exclusive clip from Tuesday night’s all-new episode, directed by DeKay. Neal is getting close to finally getting his anklet removed, but of course, Mozzie has a scheme that is too good to be true, and heâ??s trying to convince Neal to get on board to be point-man for infamous Gordon Taylorâ??s next big score.

ENTER TO WIN HUFFPOST TV’S “WHITE COLLAR” FAN GIVEAWAY BELOW:

Are you the ultimate “White Collar” fan? Just tell us your favorite episode in the comments section below to enter to win the ultimate “White Collar” prize pack, worth $ 325, including:

• Custom Waxwear Shoe Bag
• Shoe Brush
• Jet Black Playing Cards
• Custom Reporterâ??s Notebook
• Black long sleeved Shirt
• Cashmere Scarf
• Season 1 DVD
• Jerboa Speaker ($ 75 value)

Here are the rules and a bit of legal jargon:

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter, tell us your favorite “White Collar” in the comments.
• The comment must be left before February 28 at 5 p.m. EST to be considered.
• One entry per person please.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• The one winner will receive the “White Collar” prize pack at $ 325 value.
• Click here for complete Official Rules.

TV on HuffingtonPost.com

Taylor Swift fans waited for hours on Sunday just to catch a glimpse of the country music star. While Swift didn’t have a guitar and she wasn’t singing, they were sure to see her for the…


Examiner National Edition Articles