Friday, January 30, 2009
0 comments 0 commentsBoys with weird names more likely to commit crimes
Boys in the United States with common names like Michael and David are less likely to commit crimes than those named Ernest or Ivan.
David E. Kalist and Daniel Y. Lee of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania compared the first names of male juvenile delinquents to the first names of male juveniles in the population. The researchers constructed a popularity-name index (PNI) for each name. For example, the PNI for Michael is 100, the most frequently given name during the period. The PNI for David is 50, a name given half as frequently as Michael. The PNI is approximately 1 for names such as Alec, Ernest, Ivan, Kareem, and Malcolm.
Results show that, regardless of race, juveniles with unpopular names are more likely to engage in criminal activity. The least popular names were associated with juvenile delinquency among both blacks and whites.
David E. Kalist and Daniel Y. Lee of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania compared the first names of male juvenile delinquents to the first names of male juveniles in the population. The researchers constructed a popularity-name index (PNI) for each name. For example, the PNI for Michael is 100, the most frequently given name during the period. The PNI for David is 50, a name given half as frequently as Michael. The PNI is approximately 1 for names such as Alec, Ernest, Ivan, Kareem, and Malcolm.
Results show that, regardless of race, juveniles with unpopular names are more likely to engage in criminal activity. The least popular names were associated with juvenile delinquency among both blacks and whites.
Weapons cache found in Gloucester County
New Jersey state police say they discovered a massive arsenal of weapons and ammunition at the Gloucester County home of a former police officer who allegedly pulled a gun on two troopers.
Brian Hinkle, 59, was arrested Monday on charges of aggravated assault after officers went to his home in Franklin Township to investigate a burglary in the area. When they asked him to go to the police station for questioning, authorities said, Hinkle ran into his house and brandished a gun.
Police who over the next three days searched Hinkle's house and other buildings on his property say they found 259 firearms and nearly a half-million rounds of ammunition.
Difference between real and copycat arsonists: snow track
Two juveniles who admitted craving "the attention and excitement" that the series of Coatesville arsons has created were taken into custody for setting car fires, Downingtown police said yesterday.
Jim's Steaks listed as one of the best late-night eats in America
Something magical happens after the bars close and the concert venues empty out. The crowds get sparser, the mood mellows, and your stomach calls out for something hearty to cut the hard stuff. After you go a good five hours or more without eating, the appropriate fix is not a bag of chips or a soggy slice of pizza but truly great food that does a big night justice. These are the places—each open until at least 3 A.M.—where hunger and the hour converge to make dry-aged steaks, flawless omelets, and fiery Thai noodles taste better than ever.
Monday, January 26, 2009
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Recent Coatesville arson outbreak related to gang initiation
At least 30 arsons have been reported since the beginning of 2008, about half of them in the last three weeks. Police said the blazes may be part of a gang initiation, but there was no clear information who was committing the crimes or why.
The latest fire was reported late Saturday at the rear of one house and quickly spread to adjacent homes in the Chester County community.
"This is an arson, no question about it," City Manager Harry Walker said Sunday.
Dear Mr. President, please change the girl scout cookies back to normal
If you seem to be tearing through those Girl Scout Thin Mints a little faster this year, you aren't imagining things.
Fewer cookies were packaged into Thin Mints, Do-si-dos and Tagalongs boxes this year, and the Lemon Chalet Crème cookies were resized to compensate for the rising cost of baking staples.
No changes were made to other cookies, according to the Girl Scouts of the USA.
NHL fighting gets a little more serious
With the recent death of minor league player Don Sanderson, who went into a coma and later died after a fight, and the shocking images of American Hockey League player Garrett Klotz going into convulsions after a fight Friday night, NHL GMs will begin breaking down what, if anything, to do about fighting at their annual meetings in Florida in early March.
Some, including New Jersey Devils president and GM Lou Lamoriello, predict changes are coming to how the league deals with fighting.
On Friday, St. Louis Blues president John Davidson said he is a traditionalist when it comes to changing the game, "but you have to evolve."
Friday, January 23, 2009
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
0 commentsWednesday, January 21, 2009
0 comments 0 comments 0 comments 0 comments 0 commentsMan rapes woman to learn english
A Romanian ex-convict brutally raped a young woman in Wakefield because he wanted to be sent to a British jail to learn English.
Ali Majlat, 35, attacked the 21-year-old woman as she waited on a platform at Wakefield Kirkgate station.
He raped her in an underpass before robbing her of her mobile phone, purse and a bracelet at 8.30pm on Sunday October 12 last year, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Ali Majlat, 35, attacked the 21-year-old woman as she waited on a platform at Wakefield Kirkgate station.
He raped her in an underpass before robbing her of her mobile phone, purse and a bracelet at 8.30pm on Sunday October 12 last year, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
0 comments 0 commentsIn with the new
Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in Tuesday as the 44th president of the United States, writing a new chapter in American history as the first African-American to hold the nation's highest office.
With his hand on the gilt-edged, burgundy Bible used by President Lincoln in 1861, Obama swore to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution in front of an ebullient, possibly record-breaking crowd gathered on the National Mall.
"Earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions," he told the crowd in his inaugural address. "They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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Unborn twins save mother from cancer
Like any thrilled mother to be, Michelle Stepney cherished the first kicks she could feel from her unborn babies.
But her lively twin girls were doing more than simply making their presence felt.
Each little kick was saving their mother's life.
Girl text messages over 14,000 times in one month
Greg Hardesty didn't LOL when he got his teen daughter's cellphone statement.
All he could think was "OMG!"
The California man's 13-year-old daughter, Reina, racked up an astonishing 14,528 text messages in one month. The online AT&T statement ran 440 pages.
Man solves Rubik's Cube after 26 years
It has taken most of his life – but, after 26 years, builder Graham Parker has finally solved the puzzle of the Rubik's Cube.
When he bought the toy in 1983, Yuri Andropov was leader of the Soviet Union, breakfast TV was a novelty and music CDs were in the shops for the first time.
'I cannot tell you what a relief it was to finally solve it,' the 45-year-old from Portchester, Hampshire, said. 'It has driven me mad over the years – it felt like it had taken over my life.
Monday, January 12, 2009
0 commentsInmate eats his last good eye
A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it. Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant's death.
While in the Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Thomas plucked out his right eye before his trial later in 2004. A judge subsequently ruled he was competent to stand trial.
A death-row officer at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found Thomas in his cell with blood on his face and took him to the infirmary.
While in the Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Thomas plucked out his right eye before his trial later in 2004. A judge subsequently ruled he was competent to stand trial.
A death-row officer at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found Thomas in his cell with blood on his face and took him to the infirmary.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
0 comments 0 commentsMan gets stuck upside down... on a chairlift... pantsless...
In a bizarre incident that will surely lead to litigation (or an out-of-court settlement), a skier at Colorado's ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pantsless from a chairlift last Thursday morning. The January 1 mishap apparently occurred after the male skier, 48, and a child boarded a high-speed lift in Vail's Blue Sky Basin. It appears that the chairlift's fold-down seat was somehow not in the lowered position, which caused the man to partially fall through the resulting gap. His right ski got jammed in the ascending chairlift, and that kept him upended since his boot never dislodged from its binding.
