I’m Not Normally A Vigilante, But…

A horrible story is making its way around the Internet today.  It involves videos posted to YouTube of a kid torturing a cat.  I’m not going to even link to them, because that’s how disturbing they are.  The cat’s name is Dusty.  The videos are no longer on YouTube, but they can be found.  The incidents took place in Oklahoma.  The name of the alleged torturer is Kenny Glenn.

The good thing is that the animal-loving hive mind of the Internet figured out who this was.  (The culprits, apparently brothers,  are wearing ninja-type face-concealing headwear in the videos.)  People looked at the perpetrator’s YouTube profile and got the name of the town.  They looked at the name on the account and found part of a name.  They started searching through Myspace and Facebook and all those other spots.  By comparing details from the videos with photos posted by the perp on the web, a positive ID was made.  This was all conveyed to the local sheriff, who apparently has already initiated action.  I’m sure nothing would have ever happened except for the work of all those Internet-savvy civilians who took the time to investigate.

I’m a reasonably sympathetic person by nature.  I believe in the concept of rehabilitation.  But, I also believe that some people are beyond rehabilitation.  These kids are two of them.  I don’t care if the chief perp is only in eighth grade.  We’re talking about little proto-Dahmers here.  I, and apparently an awful lot of other people, would like to see them flayed alive, then thrown into a Morton Salt truck until they dessicated to death or whatever would happen in such a situation.  Luckily for society, I’m not in charge of those things.  I’m not normally about vengeance, but some things are just too much.  And where were the parents?  Couldn’t they see what was happening to this poor animal?  How can your kids turn into monsters without you noticing?  It’s apparent from Dusty’s demeanor that bad things had happened to him many, many times.  He doesn’t even fight back.

The good news is that Dusty is still alive.  He’s been removed from the house and is in the care of a vet.  I’m sure he’ll be taken care of well.  I hope he’ll be OK enough to be adopted out to someone who will love him.  Animals are incredibly resilient.  Maybe Dusty can survive.

God, humans disgust me sometimes.

Don’t Know Why There’s No Sun Up In The Sky…

This is primarily for the non-Chicagoans among you.  On August 3rd, we had quite a nasty storm here, one comparable to any I’ve seen in a bad horror movie.  I just read today that northern Illinois had 90,000 lightning strikes in a four-hour period that night, as much as we usually receive in six-months.  There were three tornadoes, none in Chicago proper but nearby.  The one in Bolingbrook was a little too nearby, as far as I’m concerned.  done

Glad I Don’t Do Their PR!

Greyhound:  Leave the sawing to us…

A Small Disappointment

Rats.  They took down the Vern Troyer sex tape preview before I could link to it.

I Hope Bill Will Be OK

I see that Bill Gates is now only the world’s third richest person.  After all those years of being number one, this must be psychologically devastating.  And to drop to number three despite making over two billion last year — how humiliating!  Bill, if you need some help with your car or anything, you just let me know.

Report From The Northland

You may recall an item a few days ago about the nasty winter in Menasha, Wisconsin. Brian, our JPN Wisconsin correspondent, has been kind enough to forward a few photos. The dog’s name is Mack. One word of advice — do something about those icicles, Brian!

So You Think WE Have It Bad!

Yes, this has been a brutal winter here in Chicago.  Nonetheless, it could be worse — and is worse for JPN correspondent Brian of Menasha, Wisconsin.  (Menasha is here.)

Last night, it went down to around fifteen below zero in Menasha.  To make matters worse, there’s been a lot of snow that hasn’t melted all winter, creating head-high accumulations around people’s driveways.  People are becoming stuck and trapped in their own driveways.  Food is running desperately short.  (All right, I made that last part up.)

I am awaiting a photo of this situation from my correspondent.  Don’t let me down, Brian!

They Look But Do Not See

I’m not sure who was more delusional, NIU mass-murderer Steven Kazmierczak or his girlfriend, Jessica Baty. She insists in her interview with CNN that “He wasn’t erratic. He wasn’t delusional. He was Steve; he was normal.” True, she admits, he had quit taking his meds. Still, “He wasn’t acting erratic. He was just a little quicker to get annoyed.” Yeah, just a little.

Within the past six months, while he and Jessica were living together, Mr. Normal acquired the two tattoos below, which covered his arms:

The one on top depicts Billy, the evil puppet from the Saw movies, against a pleasant background of self-mutilation. The one on the bottom is your basic sword-into-the skull motif.

Now, I have nothing against tattoos, but let’s look at the context here. If your 27-year boyfriend, with a long history of mental problems, suddenly shows up with these things on his arms, isn’t that a bit “erratic”? A tad worrisome? Perhaps even a smidge creepy? Not to Jessica, apparently. According to the tattoo artist, she went along with the program and had two done herself. I wonder what cheery images she chose?

She knew he was buying guns. She knew he had purchased a shotgun and a Hi-Point .380 handgun, like this:

She knew he’d gone off his meds — no big deal, I guess.

None of this was cause for concern or action on her part, and now five innocent students are dead. Jessica soldiers on, mourning her lost love, posting messages on her myspace page like: “Jessica is missing SK,” recently changed to “Jessica is loving and missing her Steven.”

Ah, romance!