This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Jonn Lilyea

  • Mass stabbing in Boise

    According to CBS News, nine people were seriously injured in Boise, Idaho when an unidentified person went on a rampage in an apartment complex;

    The police did not yet have a suspected motive for the Saturday night attack but said a 30-year-old man was in custody.

    “This incident is not a representation of our community but a single evil individual who attacked people without provocation that we are aware of at this time,” Bones said.

    He said the attack resulted in the most victims in a single incident in Boise Police Department history. “As you can imagine, the Wylie Street Apartment and our community is reeling from this attack,” he said.

    Police received a report of a stabbing at 8:46 p.m., and responded to the apartment complex within four minutes, Bone said. They found victims in the parking lot and inside the apartment complex. Witnesses reported that the suspect had fled, and police arrested the 30-year-old man a short distance away.

    Investigators said they did not yet know if the suspect was connected to the victims in any way.

    Because evil people will always find a way to carry out their evil intentions.

  • Sunday morning feel good stories

    Sunday morning feel good stories

    From Palestine, Texas;

    Just after 3 p.m., homeowner Fortino Espinoza, driving by his rental property at 204 Sherry Lane, noticed something odd: a white Chevrolet Malibu was parked in the driveway. Plus, a man was inside the Ford Explorer he kept at his property.

    Armed with a .40 caliber handgun, Espinoza approached the man, later identified as 37-year-old Shelton Todd Redd of Palestine.

    Police reported Espinoza fired one shot into the ground. Redd then approached Espinoza, who again fired a warning shot into the ground.

    After the second shot, Redd assaulted Espinoza. PPD officers arrived moments later and arrested Redd.

    During a routine search, police discovered small items belonging to Espinoza on Redd, as well as several of Espinoza’s belongings on the ground near the Explorer.

    PPD Captain Mark Harcrow told the Herald-Press Friday that, due to the assault, the charge against Redd stiffened from burglary of a vehicle – a state jail felony – to robbery, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

  • US resumes airstrikes after Eid al-Fitr ceasefire

    US aircraft in Afghanistan resumed airstrikes against Taliban emplacements when the ten-day ceasefire during Eid al-Fitr ended today, according to Stars & Stripes;

    U.S. forces in Afghanistan conducted more than 20 airstrikes against the Taliban on Saturday after an unprecedented unilateral cease-fire ended.

    The strikes took place in Ghazni, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces, according to Army Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan. The Afghan Air Force also conducted at least two independent strikes since the midnight end of the cease-fire, he said.

    Afghan and U.S. forces had no choice but to resume fighting after the Taliban chose not to extend a short cease-fire it declared earlier this month, said Gen. Mohammad Radmanish, acting spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

    The ceasefire was not without incidences. US forces conducted five self-defense strikes during the ceasefire. The Afghan government forces were forced to defend themselves more often;

    Speaking to Pentagon reporters from Kabul earlier this week, Air Force Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch, assistant deputy air commander for USFOR-A said the Afghans carried out 38 self-defense strikes of their own against Taliban targets during the cease-fire.

  • Thieves drain Richard Overton’s bank accounts

    Thieves drain Richard Overton’s bank accounts

    We’ve written a few times about Richard Overton, who, at 112 years old, is the oldest living veteran. WJLA reports that he’s the victim of identity theft;

    According to [Volma Overton, Richard’s cousin], he noticed something suspicious Wednesday when he deposited money in Richard’s checking account.

    He saw the only money in the account was what he had just deposited.

    The bank told him Treasury Direct withdrew money four different times.

    Friday morning, they learned someone set up an account with Treasury Direct using Overton’s name and social security number to withdraw money and buy savings bonds.

    No one is immune from identity thieves.

  • Lt. Col. John Hall saving the world

    Lt. Col. John Hall saving the world

    Stars & Stripes tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel John Hall, a 53-year-old Michigan Guardsman serving with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Italy who was enjoying a family outing at a swimming hole on the Astica River in Italy when he saw an Italian man struggling in the water;

    “I thought something has to happen right now. I thought I’m the only guy in a position to do something,” Hall said in an interview Friday. “So I just jumped.”

    He spread his arms wide as he descended in his shorts, Hawaiian shirt, shoes and socks, he said. Then he started swimming.

    “I came up from behind him and I just wrapped my arm around his throat and immediately turned into a sidestroke. I popped him on my hip,” Hall said. “He completely quit fighting. I think he’d given up at that point. The look in his eyes — he was in shock or terrified.”

    Hall swam the man to the steep riverbank and along with the other two Italians helped push him up the rocks to safety.

    Hall credits his paratrooper training for his heroic rescue;

    “We’re asked to drop into situations where we don’t have all the support — so we have to be very agile,” Hall said. “You have to go into it with a great deal of confidence, and that’s what I did. By the grace of God it turned out well for everybody.”

  • Andrea Mitchell Gunsplaining

    Andrea Mitchell Gunsplaining

    A few weeks ago, we were lectured by the media about trying to be too specific in regards to the discussion of guns in American society. They called it “gunsplaining”.

    Gunsplaining, though, is always done in bad faith. Like mansplaining, it’s less about adding to the discourse than smothering it — with self-appointed authority, and often the thinnest of connection to any real fact.

    We were too picky about the difference between a clip and a magazine. We were too eager to point and laugh about the “thing in the back that goes up” and “full semi-automatic”

    So, the media has taken the lead in explaining to us ignorant folks about guns;

    Um, what?

  • Saturday morning feel good stories

    Saturday morning feel good stories

    From Castaic, California;

    Johnny Velasquez, a Northridge resident, pleaded no contest – treated as a guilty plea – to vandalism over $400 in damage and a misdemeanor charge for trespassing by entry or occupying.

    In return for the no contest plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the original charge of first degree burglary with a person present.

    Velasquez pleaded on May 23, 2018 and will receive his sentence May 23, 2019, exactly a year later.

    Around 2 a.m. on June 26, 2017, a woman noticed Velasquez trying to force entry into her home on the 36000 block of Ridge Route Road. Once he forced his way inside, the woman fled her house and then called 911 to report the break in, sheriff’s officials said at the time.

    But after making the call, she saw Velasquez leave her home.

    Thinking she was safe, the woman returned to the house and barricaded the front door. Velasquez then broke into the home a second time using a rear entrance, according to officials.

    This time around, however, the woman armed herself with a handgun. After a short confrontation with Velasquez, the homeowner fired her gun, hitting him in the chest.

    From Alberta, Canada;

    Long story short … the cop busts out his taser to take down the guy. Meanwhile, his female friend tries to make a clean escape by running into the stockroom and climbing through the ceiling — y’know, ‘Mission: Impossible’ style. She almost made it. Almost.

    This entire caper was captured by the store’s surveillance cameras. Thank God.

  • Weekend open thread

    Weekend open thread

    June 29, 2018

    Body Heat

    On Japan’s Shodoshima island, winter temperatures drop below freezing. To cope, Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, huddle together for warmth.