#Joseph Felon

[eirene]

Les Quatres Saisons (The Four Seasons), 1873

Joseph Felon

[ryan-waddell11]

this scene altered my brain chemistry

[sex-death-rebirth]

The Birth of Venus by Joseph Felon, 19th c.

[themori-witch]

English Folk/Traditional Names for Common Plants & Herbs

These are known now as folk names, but back in the medieval era and well into the 18th century, these were the common names for some of the herbs and plants in use in witchcraft (and generally!) today.

This list is not an exhaustive one; the names given here are just some of the names that were used primarily in England for common plants within the region.These plants have other unique and wonderful names in many other cultures and languages throughout the world. 

✧ ADDER’S TONGUE (Ophioglossum Vulgatum) A.K.A.: English Adder’s Tongue, Snake’s Tongue, Viper’s Tongue, Serpent’s Tongue, Adder’s Spear, Christ’s Spear.

✧ AGRIMONY (Agrimonia Eupatoria) A.K.A.: Harvest Lice, Cat’s Tail, Liverwort, Sticklewort, Stickwort, Stickweed, Fairy���s Wand, Church Steeples, Aaron’s Rod, Beggar’s Lice/Ticks.

✧ ALDER (Alnus Glutinosa) A.K.A.: Black Alder, Fever Bush, Owler.

✧ ANGELICA (Angelica Archangelica) A.K.A.: Holy Ghost/Root of the Holy Ghost, St. Michael’s flower, Angel’s Food.

✧ ANISE (Pimpinella Anisum) A.K.A.: Sweet Alice, Aniseed.

✧ APPLE (Malus) A.K.A.: Fruit of the Gods, Fruit of the Underworld, Silver Branch, Silver Bough.

✧ ASH (Fraxinus Excelsior) A.K.A.: Bird’s Tongue, Hampshire Weed, Widow-maker, Venus of the Woods, Husbandman’s tree.

✧ BALSAM (Commiphora Opolbalsamum) A.K.A.: Balsam of Gilead, Balm Tree, Mecca Myrrh.

✧ BASIL (Oscimum Basilicum) A.K.A.: Our Herb, St. Joseph’s Wort, Witches’ Herb, King of Herbs, Holy Basil. 

✧ BAY (Laurus Nobilis) A.K.A.: Bay Laurel, True Laurel, Daphne, Noble Laurel.

✧ BERGAMOT (Monarda Didyma) A.K.A.: Horsebalm, Bee Balm, Scarlet Mondara.

✧ BIRCH (Betula Pendula) A.K.A.: Silver Birch, White Birch, Lady of the Woods.

✧ BITTERSWEET (Solanum Dulcamara) A.K.A.: Woody Nightshade, Felon-wort, Felonwood, Blue Nightshade, Fever Twig, Staff Vine, Violet Bloom.

✧ BLACKBERRY (Rubus Fruticosus) A.K.A.: Bramble, Fingerberry, Blackhide, Blackbutter, Thimbleberrym Brambleberry, Gouthead.

✧ BLUEBELL (Hyacinthoides Non Scrupta) A.K.A.: Nodding Squill, Auld Man’s Bell, Ring-o-bells, Wood Bells.

✧ BROOM (Cytisus Scoparius) A.K.A.: Besom, Irish Tops, Scotch Broom, Butcher’s Broom, Sweet Broom.

✧ BURDOCK (Arctium Lappa) A.K.A.: Thorny Burr, Beggar’s Buttons, Sticky Bobs, Love Leaves, Hare Burr.

✧ CARNATION (Dianthus Caryophyllus) A.K.A.: Gilliflower, July Flower, Clove Pink, Sops-in-wine.

✧ CHAMOMILE (Anthemis Nobilis) A.K.A.: Whig Plant, Chamomel, Earth/Ground Apple, 

✧ CHESTNUT [SWEET] (Castanea Sativa) A.K.A.: Marion, Jupiter’s Nut.

✧ CHICKWEED (Stellaria Media) A.K.A.: Starweed, Adder’s Mouth, Scarweed/wort, Tongue Grass, Stitchwort, White Bird’s Eye, Little Star Lady.

✧ CHICORY (Cichorium Intybus) A.K.A.: Witloof, Blue Sailors, Coffeeweed.

✧ CLARY [WILD] (Salvia Verbenaca) A.K.A.: Christ’s Eye, Wild Clear-eye, Vervain Sage, Eyeseed.

✧ CLEAVERS (Galium Aparine) A.K.A.: Catchweed, Beggar Lice, Goose Grass, Sticky Willy, Bedstraw, Robin-run-the-hedge, Goose’s Hair, Hedge-burrs, Milk Sweet, Stick-a-back, Scratchweed, Barweed.

✧ COMFREY (Symphytum Officinale) A.K.A.: Knitbone, Slippery Root, Blackwort, Bruisewort, Ass Ear.

✧ DAISY (Bellis Perennis) A.K.A.: Day’s Eye, Poet’s Darling, Bachelor’s Buttons, Bairnwort, Billy Buttons, Boneflower, Margaret’s Herb.

✧ DANDELION (Taraxacum Officinale) A.K.A.: Swine’s Snout, Blowball, Puffball, Clockflower, Tell-the-time, Priest’s Crown, Lion’s Tooth.

✧ DEADLY NIGHTSHADE (Atropa Belladonna) A.K.A.: Belladonna, Banewort, Black-cherry, Devil’s Cherries, Naughty Man’s Cherries, Devil’s Herb.

✧ FEVERFEW (Tanacetum Parthenium) A.K.A.: Featherfew, Featherfoil, Midsummer Daisy, Nosebleed.

✧ FOXGLOVE (Digitalis Purpurea) A.K.A.: Fairy Gloves/Fingers/Petticoats/Thimbles/Weed, Witches’ Glove, Witches’ Bells, Our Lady’s Glove, Dead Men’s Bells.

✧ GARLIC (Allium Sativum) A.K.A.: Poor Man’s Treacle, Stinkweed, Camphor of the Gods.

✧ GOLDENROD (Solidago Vibgaurea) A.K.A.: Aaron’s Rod, Cast the Spear.

✧ HAWTHORN (Crataegus Monogyna) A.K.A.: May Blossom, Mayflower, Whitethorn, Hagthorn, Ladies’ Meat.

✧ HELLEBORE [BLACK] (Helleborus Niger) A.K.A.: Bear’s Foot, Setter-wort/grass.

✧ HEMLOCK (Conium Maculatum) A.K.A.: Poison Hemlock, Devil’s Porridge.

✧ HENBANE (Hysoscyamus Niger) A.K.A.: Hog Bean, Stinking Nightshade, Henbell, Devil’s Eye, Witches’ Herb, Devil’s Tobacco.

✧ HOLLY (Ibex Auifolium) A.K.A.: Bat’s Wings, Holy Tree, Christ’s Thorn.

✧ HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicera Periclymenum) A.K.A.: Woodbind, Fairy Trumpets, Sweet Suckle, Honeybind.

✧ HOREHOUND [BLACK] (Ballota Nigra) A.K.A.: Madwort, Black Hoarhound, Black Archangel.

✧ HOREHOUND [WHITE] (Marrubium Vulgare) A.K.A.: Bull’s Blood, White Archangel, Eye of the Star, Houndbane, Devil’s Eye.

✧ IVY (Hedera Helix) A.K.A.: Gort, Bindwood, Lovestone. 

✧ JUNIPER (Juniperus Communis) A.K.A.: Bastard Killer, Gin Berry.

✧ LADY’S MANTLE (Alchemilla Vulgaris) A.K.A.: Our Lady’s Mantle, Lion’s Foot, Bear’s Foot, Nine Hooks.

✧ LAVENDER (Lavendula Angustifolia) A.K.A.: Elf Leaf, Spikenard, True Lavender.

✧ LEMON BALM (Melissa Officinalis) A.K.A.: Sweet Melissa, Bee Balm, Sweet Balm.

✧ LEMON VERBENA (Aloysia Triphylla) A.K.A.: Lemon Louisa, Lemon Beebrush.

✧ LILY OF THE VALLEY (Convallaria Majalis) A.K.A.: May Lily, Our Lady’s Tears, Mary’s Tears, Ladder to Heaven.

✧ MALLOW (Malva Sylvestris) A.K.A.: Cheese-cake, Pick-cheese, Round Dock, Wild Mallow, Wood Mallow.

✧ MANDRAKE (Mandragora Officinarum) A.K.A.: Satan’s Apple, Love Plant, Mandragora.

✧ MARIGOLD (Calendula Officinalis) A.K.A.: Bride of the Sun, Drunkard, Husbandman’s Dial, Mary Gold, Summer’s Bride.

✧ MARJORAM (Origanum Majorana) A.K.A.: Wintersweet, Joy of the Mountain, Mountain Mint.

✧ MEADOWSWEET (Filipendula Ulmaria) A.K.A.: Bridewort, Queen of the Meadows, Little Queen, Quaker Lady, Mead Sweet, Gravel Root.

✧ MINT [PEPPERMINT] (Mentha Piperita) A.K.A.: Brandy Mint, English Mint.

✧ MINT [SPEARMINT] (Mentha Spicata) A.K.A.: Garden Mint, Hart Mint, Our Lady’s Mint, Sage of Bethlehem.

✧ MISTLETOE (Viscum Coloratum) A.K.A.: Druid’s Herb, Witches’ Broom, Wood of the Cross, Golden Bough, Devil’s Fuge.

✧ MONKSHOOD (Aconitum Napellus) A.K.A.: Monk’s Blood, Blue Wolf’s-bane, Aconite, Women’s Bane, Devil’s Helmet, Friar’s Cap.

✧ MUGWORT (Artemisia Vulgaris) A.K.A.: Lion’s Tail, Lion’s Tart, Heart-wort.

✧ MULLEIN (Verbascum Thapsus) A.K.A.: Blanket/Velvet/Woolly Mullein, Our Lady’s Blanket, Beggar’s Blanket, Aaron’s Rod, Adam’s Rod, Jupiter’s Staff, Jacob’s Staff, Peter’s Staff, Virgin Mary’s Candle, Lady’s Foxglove, Graveyard Dust.

✧ NETTLE (Urtica Dioica) A.K.A.: Stinging Nettle, Burn Weed, Burn Hazel.

✧ PARLSEY (Petroselinum Crispum) A.K.A.: Devil’s Oatmeal, Persil.

✧ PENNYROYAL (Mentha Legium) A.K.A.: Royal Thyme, Run-by-the-ground, Lurk-in-the-ditch, Pudding Grass.

✧ ROSEMARY (Rosemarinus Officinalis) A.K.A.: Dew of the Sea, Sea Dew, Elf Leaf, Guardrobe, Rose of Mary.

✧ RUE (Ruta Graveolens) A.K.A.: Herb of Grace, Herb of Repentance, Mother of Herbs.

✧ [CLARY] SAGE (Salvia Sclarea) A.K.A.: Clear-Eye, See-bright, Eyebright.

✧ ST. JOHN’S WORT (Hypericum Perforatum) A.K.A.: Scare-devil, Balm of the Warrior’s Wound, Rose of Sharon.

✧ SORREL (Rumex Acetose) A.K.A.: Green Sauce, Sour Sauce, Cuckoo Sorrow.

✧ SWEET WOODRUFF (Galium Odoratum) A.K.A.: Wild Baby’s Breath, Master of the Woods, Ladies in the Hay.

✧ TANSY (Tanacetum Vuulgare) A.K.A.: Bitter Buttons, Golden Buttons, Cow Bitter.

✧ TARRAGON (Artemisia Dracunculus) A.K.A.: Dragon’s Wort, Little Dragon.

✧ THISTLE [BLESSED] (Cnicus Benedictus) A.K.A.: Holy Thistle.

✧ THISTLE [MILK] (Silybum Marianum) A.K.A.: Our Lady’s Thistle, Saint Mary’s Thistle, Sow Thistle, Marian Thistle.

✧ VALERIAN (Valeriana Officinalis) A.K.A.: Garden Heliotrope, St. George’s Herb, Bloody Butcher, Cat’s Valerian, Vandal Root.

✧ VERVAIN (Verbena Officinalis) A.K.A.: Herb of Grace, Enchanter’s Herb, Britannica, Juno’s Tears, Divine Wood, Pigeongrass, 

✧ WITCH HAZEL (Hamamelis Virginiana) A.K.A.: Spotted Alder, Winterbloom, Snapping Hazelnut.

✧ WORMWOOD (Artemisia Absinthium) A.K.A.: Absinthe, Crown for a King, Green Ginger.

✧ YARROW (Achillea Millefolium) A.K.A.: Woundwort, Nose-Bleed, Thousand-Leaf, Arrowroot, Carpenter’s Weed, Devil’s Plaything, Devil’s Nettle, 

Sources, References and Cross-Checks: Breverton's Complete Herbal (Terry Breverton), Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Scott Cunningham), Medieval Plant Names and Their Modern Corollaries (The Met Cloister).

If you like my content and would like to help me keep providing free stuff for my gorgeous Ghoul Gang, you can tip your witch here: [Paypal].

[redjennies]

people on this website really want to imagine non-voters as smug white leftists who just hate the system, man, and not like poor and working class people whose schedules don't allow for it, black and latino communities who are intentionally targeted for voter suppression, people who live in heavily gerrymandered areas or states where their vote straight up won't count, people whose politics don't match up with the increasingly partisan party lines, or any other reason and/or combination of aforementioned reasons.

and the reason tumblr continues tilting at these windmills of "leftists are the real problem" (even though everyone was a "leftist" in December) is that all the reasons people don't vote are systemic problems that require intentional and organized solutions. there are real and material ways to put people in poll booths (or mailing their ballots), but they require work. they require making sure polling places are more accessible to voters in ways that range from making sure the polling place is ADA compliant to better signs so drivers know where they're going and better parking so they don't leave. they require voter registration drives and helping eligible felons restore their voting rights. they require educating the community on mail-in ballots and early voting opportunities. they require getting people who maybe disillusioned with federal level candidates excited about local or state level candidates where they could make a difference because if you can get them to polls for something they do feel strongly about they might go ahead and vote for the federal candidate anyway because they're already there. they require holding the fucking democrats accountable for their actions after the election to stop fucking going out of their way to alienate their voting bases, Joseph Goddamn Biden, and not sweeping those concerns under the rug as "not that bad" to make your candidate look better.

there are so many different ways to help increase voter turn-out, but they all require reaching out to your community and finding the way you can help to the best of your personal abilities. I know this because the examples I've listed above are things I've either personally done or my friends, who have different skills than I do, have done. what does not help voter turnout in the fucking slightest is taking the easy out of whining on the internet about how leftists are a threat to democracy like a goddamn conservative because you think the anarchists you see online are annoying. it's not only internet activism at its fucking laziest, and as i've said many times before, it actively stokes reactionary sentiments among moderate liberals. you are not being the measured and nuanced voice of reason for contributing to this shit. you are being lazy in hopes to sound like the smartest voice in the room and giving credence to something that is more inherently dangerous to long-term progress than the tiktok teens joking about terrorism or whatever you've decided to froth at the mouth about because you're falling for inflammatory Fox News-level propaganda tactics.

[offender42085]

Post 884

Dustin Seever, Missouri inmate 1244845, born 1990, (09/09/90 to be exact -- lucky perhaps!), incarceration intake in 2017 at age 27,  sentenced to 4 years and released to probation and supervision in March 2021

Theft, value greater than $750

It wasn’t just a pack. Dustin P. Seever, 27, admitted to stealing about $1,000 in cigarettes from the Hy-Vee supermarket in St. Joseph.

Seever has two little girls and told a judge he wants to be part of their life and be a better person. Buchanan County Circuit Judge Dan Kellogg told the defendant the downside about his life is he continues to steal.

The judge sentenced the convicted felon to four years in prison to be consecutively served with a separate five-year sentence.

Ron Holliday, the assistant Buchanan County prosecutor, informed the judge that Seever has multiple stealing charges.

The prosecutor asked for a seven-year sentence to be consecutively served, but defense attorney Rose Briscoe felt that was too much for stealing cigarettes. Briscoe admitted her client had drug issues and is better when clean. She sought a lesser sentence to be concurrently served.

Kellogg said the fact all the cigarettes were recovered weighed in Seever’s favor.

Seever will have to finish his other five-year sentence before he begins serving this new four-year sentence. Court records show he was sentenced to the five-year sentence in months before in a separate matter.

3m

[rishikamalviya23]

Unravelling the Rise and Fall of Arthur Andersen: A Legacy of Audit and Scandal

Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting, and professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporations and was one of the “Big Five “accounting firms 9 along with Deloitte & touché, Ernst Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

 In 1913, two persons Andersen and Clarence founded an accounting firm as Andersen, Delany & Co.] Later the firm changed its name to Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1918. Arthur Andersen's first client was the Joseph Schlitz brewing company in Milwaukee. In 1915 due to his many contacts there, he was opened as the firm’s second office. In 1927 Mr. Arthur Andersen was elected to the board of trustees of Northwestern University and served as its president from 1930 to 1932. He was also the chairman of the CPA examiner in Illinois.

IN 1970 Arthur Andersen started growing fast and its revenue began to grow. very fast. Its client base started increasing and clients started believing in it. And become one of the Big Five firms in the market with excellent brand value.  Arthur Andersen was the first of the major accountancy firms to propose to the financial accounting standard board that employee stock options should be treated as an expense, thus impacting net profit just as cash compensation would.

It also started its consultancy firm named “Andersen Consultancy” It is separate from Arthur Andersen and provides audit, accounting, and tax practice. “Andersen Consultancy “which provides guidance and market information grow rapidly in the market between 1971 to 1981 due to which dispute between Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consultancy began and were facing many problems. In 2000, after the international billion in past payments to Arthur Andersen, and declared that Andersen Consulting could no longer use Andersen's name. As a result, Andersen Consulting needs to change its name to Accenture on January 1, 2001.

In the 2001 scandal energy giant Enron was found to have fraudulently reported $100 billion in revenue through institutional and systematic accounting fraud.  The evidence available that Andersen fail to fulfil its responsibility Because the US Security exchange commission will not accept audits rom convicted felons, the firm agreed to surrender its CPA licenses and its right to practice before the SEC on August 31, 2002—vanished firm out of business. In 2002, just nine months after the scandal broke, the firm was found guilty of a crime in auditing Enron.

[conradscrime]

The Murder of Maria Ridulph: Solved or Unsolved?

December 30, 2022

Maria Ridulph was born on March 12, 1950, to Michael and Frances Ivy Ridulph in Sycamore, Illinois. She was the youngest of four. Maria’s mother described her daughter as high-strung and explained that if she got in any kind of trouble she would become hysterical. Maria was also known to be a “screamer” and afraid of the dark. 

On December 3, 1957, 7 year old Maria begged her parents to go outside after it began to snow. After supper, Maria and her best friend, 8 year old Kathy Sigman who lived on her street, went outside near Maria’s house and played a game called “duck the cars.” 

According to Kathy, the two young girls were approached by a man said to be in his early 20′s, tall with a slender chin, light hair, a gap in his teeth and wearing a colourful sweater. The man told the girls his name was Johnny and that he was 24 but not married. He asked Maria and Kathy if they liked dolls and piggyback rides. “Johnny” gave Maria a piggyback ride and after Maria had returned to her house to get a doll to show Johnny. 

When Maria returned with the doll, Kathy claimed to have gone back to her house to grab her mittens. When Kathy returned, Maria and Johnny were gone. 

Kathy decided to go to the Ridulph house to tell Maria’s parents she couldn’t find her. Maria’s parents thought she was hiding and sent her brother to go look for her, but to no avail. The Ridulph’s then called the police and a search began. 

Within two days, the FBI were on the case, believing that it Maria might have been abducted across state lines. After conducting several interviews from witnesses who saw the girls throughout the evening, it was suggested that “Johnny” had approached Maria and Kathy after 6:30 pm, and Maria had been abducted between 6:45-7 pm. 

Because Kathy was the only witness to have actually seen Johnny she was placed in protective custody, as officials feared Johnny would come back and try to harm her. Authorities had Kathy look over photos of convicted felons who resembled how she described Johnny. 

In late December 1957, Kathy was taken to Madison, Wisconsin, to see a lineup of suspects. She positively identified a 35 year old man named Thomas Joseph Rivard. However, Rivard had an alibi and was in jail at the time of the kidnapping of Maria. Years later when interviewed Kathy says she does not remember ever picking Rivard out of the lineup. 

On April 26, 1958, near Woodbine, Illinois, two tourists looking for mushrooms in a wooden area came across the skeletal remains of a small child, who was wearing only a shirt, undershirt and socks. The condition of the body indicated it had been there for many months. Based on dental records, a lock of hair, and the clothes she had been wearing, the skeletal remains were positively identified as Maria Ridulph. 

Maria’s coat, pants, shoes and underwear were not found. There were no photos taken of the actual crime scene as coroner James Furlong did not want any photo’s of Maria’s body being leaked to the media. Because the body was found and did not cross state lines by being in Illinois, the FBI withdrew from the case. 

An initial autopsy did not determine cause of death, but an autopsy conducted 50 years later concluded that Maria was most likely stabbed several times in the throat. 

An initial suspect was John Tessier, born John Cherry on November 27, 1939. John’s father had been killed in World War II. During the war, John’s mother met a man named Ralph Tessier, and later married him in November 1944. The pair then moved to Sycamore, Illinois and had 6 more children together. 

The Tessier family home was located around the corner from the Ridulph’s, less than two blocks away. At the time of Maria’s abduction, John was 18 years old and living at home, making plans to join the US Air Force. 

On December 4, 1957, police visited John’s house as part of their neighbourhood search, but John’s mother had told them he had been home on the night of December 3. John became a suspect to FBI after Maria’s body was found, though it is unclear whether he was a suspect due to a tip from a local resident, or by his own parents who wanted to clear their son and realized the description of “Johnny” matched him.

John and his parents told FBI that he was in Rockford, Illinois, on December 3, to enlist in the Air Force, a different story than what his mother previously said. On December 4, he claimed to have sight seen in Chicago before making his way back home. There was record of a phone call John placed to his parents asking for a ride home. Due to this alibi, and passing a lie detector test, John was taken off the suspect list. 

Kathy Sigman was never shown a photo of John or asked to identify him. 

John Tessier served in the US military for 13 years and became captain. He became a police officer after in the town of Lacey, near Olympia. In 1982, in Tacoma, Washington, John took in a 15 year old runaway named Michelle Weinman and her friend. It was reported that John fondled Michelle and performed oral sex on her. 

John was charged with statutory rape, and pleaded guilty to communication with a minor for immoral purposes. He was sentenced to one year of formal probation and terminated from the Milton Police Department on March 10, 1982. 

On April 27, 1994, John changed his name legally to Jack Daniel McCullough, saying he wanted to honour his mother. In 2011, John was in his early 70′s, living in a retirement community in northwest Seattle, working as a security guard. 

In 1997, Maria’s case, then 40 years old was closed and named William Henry Redmond, a former truck driver and carnival worker from Nebraska the man who likely killed her. Redmond had died in 1992. Redmond had been charged in 1988 with the murder of an 8 year old Pennsylvania girl in 1951, but the case was eventually dismissed. 

He was also a suspect in the 1951 disappearance of 10 year old Beverly Potts in Ohio (covered earlier on this blog.) 

Maria’s case was reopened in 2008, from new information coming from John’s half sister, Janet Tessier. Janet said on their mother’s deathbed in 1994, she confessed that John did it. Janet and another sister, Eileen, had both suspected that John was involved, and Janet said she made attempts over the years to get officials to look into her mother’s statement. 

John’s other sisters also had suspected him, and his sister Jeanne told officials John had molested her and other young girls as a child. 

Police took Kathy Sigman (now Chapman) photos of John Tessier and she identified him as the man named “Johnny.” An unused military train ticket from Rockford to Chicago also confirmed that John had driven his own car to Rockford and not taken the train like he had claimed. He would’ve had enough time to drive back to Sycamore on the afternoon of December 3, 1957, and kidnap Maria. 

In 2011, John was brought in for questioning and began becoming aggressive when Maria’s kidnapping and his whereabouts that night were brought up. He was arrested and extradited to Illinois. 

The trial began in September 2012, and determined that John was attracted to Maria and decided to kidnap her, but instead ended up killing her. There was no DNA evidence found despite Maria’s body being exhumed. 

However, several witnesses identified John as “Johnny” including Kathy, who was the star witness. On September 14, 2012, John Tessier, known as Jack Daniel McCullough was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Maria Ridulph. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 20 years. He was 73 years old. 

On April 15, 2016, a new trial was ordered due to an attorney named Richard Schmack, who extensively reviewed evidence of the case and determined that John could not have committed the murder of Maria Ridulph. According to Schmack, evidence of John’s whereabouts were kept out of the trial. Phone records that John made to his mother from a payphone in Rockford, rather than Sycamore which was alleged in his trial proved he could not have been in Sycamore during Maria’s abduction. 

John was still charged with the crime,  but released on bond the day pending the new trial. A week later, Judge Brady dismissed the charges, but without prejudice, meaning John could still be tried again. Jack Daniel McCullough was declared innocent on April 12, 2017 by the DeKalb County Circuit Court. 

There is a bronze memorial plaque on a pedestal outside the Sycamore Municipal Building in Maria’s honour. The Ridulph family also established a “Maria Ridulph Memorial Fund” later used as a scholarship, and summer camp fund for local children in need. 

So who do you believe murdered Maria Ridulph? Is the case solved or still unsolved to you?

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Red Scorpion (Zito, 1988)

This is probably most notable for being produced by right wing lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff, with funding from a think tank run by the South African apartheid government. So obviously this is gonna have some pretty bad politics, and in depicting the Angolan Civil War, it conveniently leaves out the fact that the anticommunist rebels are backed by the apartheid regime. This probably makes it more palatable to watch now and may have made it less offensive as propaganda back in the day, but is also kind of a pussy ass move when it comes down to it. You can compare this to The Wild Geese, which was also produced in South Africa under the apartheid regime, and that movie at least owns up to having no morals, outside of one bizarre scene in which an inveterate racist is cured of his hatred. (It's a guilty pleasure, please don't judge. Hilariously, both actors in the aforementioned scene took their roles because they expected a serious message movie about conflict in the African continent.)

The movie's staunch anticommunist viewpoint is conveyed not just through Soviet atrocities committed against the rebels, but foregrounded by the reporter played by M. Emmet Walsh. Now, if I were an American journalist imprisoned while reporting from behind enemy lines, I would likely not call my captors a bunch of Commie pigs right to their faces. I would also likely not go up to the guy in the corner of the cell who was twice my size and call him a piece of shit with zero provocation. One can admire in theory that he has the courage of his convictions, but one would also find it hard to believe that a character this incapable of keeping his yap shut managed to survive this long in a war zone. Of course, Walsh is always fun to watch, even if he rattles off his lines at a rate that suggests he was trying to wrap up filming ahead of schedule. He provides the bulk of comic relief: examples include his attempt to spread American values to Angola by blasting Little Richard during a truck chase, and the bemused reaction that meets one of his many tirades. "He is a very emotional man."

That line is delivered in perfect deadpan by Dolph Lundgren, who plays a Rambo-like Spetznaz officer who defects to the rebels out of the goodness of his heart. The movie takes a good deal of inspiration from the Rambo series, particularly the early jail and truck chase scenes pulled from First Blood, but I think the movie makes a good case for Lundgren's particular brand of low key charisma. While cast for his He-Man stature, Lundgren manages to convey some level of vulnerability and uncertainty, and often relies on the help of his allies. So there is a level of challenge for him in the proceedings, meaning that this works better as an action movie than earlier Joseph Zito efforts like Missing in Action, where Chuck Norris sneaks up without cover on Viet Cong who never bother to turn their heads, and Invasion U.S.A., with its endless scenes of innocent civilians being gunned down and Norris blowing away hordes of Cuban invaders with ease. While both stars are low key, you can see how Lundgren invites some empathy while Norris remains completely wooden in these films. And while Lundgren's physique brings to mind certain other stars from the decade, he one ups them in one respect. Arnie and Sly usually showed off only their torsos. Dolph wears cutoffs, baring his well sculpted gams for the entire third act.

This also has the kind of clean, sturdy action that seemed so common in the '80s but is much rarer now, and benefits from the appealingly harsh African desert milieu. And the cinematography by Joao Fernandes finds moments of unexpected artfulness, like the abstracted searchlight of a helicopter scanning sand dunes in pitch black night, or the shot of an incoming helicopter framed through a burning bush, or the messianic encirclement of Lundgren's character as he returns to the rebels for the climax.

[beardedmrbean]

DAYTONA BEACH - A police officer was stabbed in the face by a felon trespassing at a gas station Thursday morning prompting him to fatally shoot the man, Daytona Beach police Chief Jakari Young said.

The officer suffered a cut to his left upper jaw line, said Daytona Beach police spokeswoman Carrie McCallister.

The suspect was identified as Benjamin Joseph Remley, 36, of Deltona. Florida Department of Corrections records show Remley did three years in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was released Feb. 6.

On Thursday, Remley stabbed the Daytona Beach officer at a Sunoco gas station at 2501 W. International Speedway Blvd. at 9:11 a.m., McCallister said.

The officer, a veteran of the Daytona Beach Police Department, was released from Halifax Health Health Medical Center Thursday afternoon after getting treated for the knife cut to his jaw, McCallister said.

Remley, who was shot two times, died of his gunshot wounds, Young said.

Paramedics transporting Remley to the hospital said he was shot twice under the armpit, authorities said.

Young said police were responding a second time to the gas station to deal with Remley trespassing at the business.

Police were first called to remove Remley from the gas station at 8:08 a.m. He left without incident, police said.

The second call about Remley was made at 9:09 a.m. On the second call, a sheriff's deputy was at the gas station as a patron and was alerted about the trespasser and informed that police were on their way, Young said.

Once the officer got on scene, he and the deputy approached Remley. A fight ensued when the deputy grabbed the suspect's left arm. The Daytona Beach officer's body camera was knocked off, Young said.

But the deputy's body camera shows how the man pulled a knife out of his pocket and stabbed the officer, said Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

"As the Daytona officer goes to grab his right arm that's when when you see he comes up with the knife," Chitwood said.

After he was stabbed, the officer drew his service weapon and fired two shots at the trespasser still armed with the knife, McCallister said.

Court records show Remley was arrested by Volusia County sheriff's deputies in May, shortly after his release from prison, and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Remley had threatened to kill his mother and family while holding a knife, and then breaking a beer bottle during the disturbance, a Sheriff's Office report states.

The officer-involved shooting is under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, McCallister said.

[jamesfmurphy]

Truth Bombs…

Security without liberty has a name: Prison

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.” ~Benjamin Franklin

"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them." ~Thomas Paine

A [person] who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders."

- Larry Elder, radio personality

"One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offense to keep arms."

-- Constitutional scholar and Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, 1840

"Gun control has cleared the way for seven major genocides since 1915, in which governments gone bad murdered 56,000,000 persons, including millions of children."

-Aaron Zelman of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

"Americans used to roar like lions for liberty; now we bleat like sheep for security." — Norman Vincent Peale

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~Benjamin Franklin

“A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity” - Sigmund Freud

“Though defensive violence will always be a sad necessity in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men.” ~St. Augustine

“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” ~Samuel Adams

"I sympathize with people who want to ban guns, but I can't agree with them. We have to be careful in our zeal to abolish guns that we don't wind up with counter-productive legislation that will leave armed only the people most likely to do harm with them." ~Hugh Downs, veteran ABC newsman

"Guns are not always the answer, but obtaining a firearm has saved the lives of many... While I favor keeping guns out of the hands of felons, youths and the mentally impaired, I oppose adding more bureaucratic obstacles that attempt to fight crime by disarming its victims." ~Peter Kasler, NY Times, 13 Jul, 1991

"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." ~The Dalai Lama

" ... the right to defend one's home and one's person when attacked has been guaranteed through the ages by common law." -Martin Luther King

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe." Luke 11:21

"After [someone goes on] a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. ~William S. Burroughs

When seconds count between living or dying, the police are only minutes away." ~Phillip Van Cleave

[northiowatoday]

Mason City man who threatened to kill woman with a shotgun sent to prison for 10 years

SIOUX CITY – A Mason City man who pointed a shotgun at a woman and threatened to kill her, was sentenced on January 25, 2024, to 10 years in federal prison. Joseph Fitzgerald (pictured above in a previous jail photo), age 64, from Mason City, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 11, 2023, guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and domestic…

[antonio-velardo]

Antonio Velardo shares: Joseph Hayden, Who Fought for Voting Rights for Ex-Felons, Dies at 82 by Trip Gabriel

By Trip Gabriel A former lieutenant in a Harlem drug gang, he earned two academic degrees in prison and became an advocate for parolees and convicts. Published: January 22, 2024 at 04:58PM from NYT New York https://ift.tt/KiL46HP via IFTTT

[mongowheelie]

Convicted NC candidate with neo-Nazi ties to stay on ballot despite 'political assassination' from GOP - Alternet.org

[offender42085]

Post 0402

Jake Napier, Marion County (Florida) Inmate A0216579, Florida inmate X49003, born 1982, incarceration intake August 2022 at age 40, scheduled for release July 2058

Murder, Arson, Felony with a Weapon, Obstructing Justice

Jake Lee Napier was scheduled to go to trial charged with fatally shooting and burning a 62-year-old man more than four years prior.

But Napier, in consulting with his lawyer, decided against picking a jury and instead accepted a plea deal from the prosecution.

Standing beside his lawyer at the podium, Napier pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, arson to occupied structure and evidence tampering.

The Judge asked the 40-year-old if he wanted to say anything before sentencing. Napier thanked his lawyer and the judge. He apologized for what he did.

Then, pursuant to the plea agreement, the judge sentenced Napier to a 40-year prison term as a habitual offender. Records show he has multiple convictions. He has 1,469 days of credit for time already served at the jail awaiting resolution of this case.

At the conclusion of his hearing, Napier was fingerprinted by a bailiff. He shook the hands of his lawyer and an investigator and was led to the back by a bailiff.

Neither the victim's or Napier's family was in attendance for the hearing.

On July 28, 2018, sheriff's detectives were called to the 5400 block of Southeast 145th Street in Summerfield. They were told that a man had in shot in the side of the head and set on fire. The victim was identified as Walter Russell Elliott.

With a search warrant, detectives entered the residence and found Elliott's body in a chair. The man had burns on his feet, legs and back, the detectives said.  Federal officials later told local detectives that the fire was an arson.

Surveillance video showed Napier and another man, Joseph William Angelo, in the house. Napier was seen pouring gasoline on Elliott's body. Another video showed Angelo giving Napier a lighter and Napier igniting the gasoline.

A fire started and continued for several minutes before two individuals extinguished the flames. The video showed Angelo taking a handgun from his waist as he was talking with Napier.  Two days after the death, detectives got a warrant for Napier's arrest. At the time of the killing, Napier was visiting from Texas, detectives said. Napier was later found in Texas and taken into custody.  

Days earlier. Angelo was arrested by detectives.

Angelo told detectives in an interview that he was at the Summerfield residence when the murder occurred. He also admitted to having a gun and said he gave Napier a lighter.

Now 54, Angelo, (Florida inmate D00708) also a convicted felon, was sentenced in 2020 to a 20-year prison term.

Editor note:  Booked 12 times over a ten year period with Marion County, Florida jail -- gives a new definition to a ‘frequent flyer’ 

2o