It Drains Me to Post So Many Twisted Articals, So here Is Good News For a Change:

At 22, Tennessee woman is mom to 13 Ugandan children

By Bob Smietana, The (Nashville) Tennessean

Updated 42m ago

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Five years ago, Katie Davis left home to go on a one-year adventure in Africa.

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She had just graduated from high school near Nashville and wanted to take some time off before going to college.

So she found an orphanage in Uganda that needed help and signed up as a short-term volunteer.

"I moved over there thinking that I would be there for a year and then I would come back and go to college and be normal again," she said.

But God, said Davis, had a different plan.

Today, the 22-year-old Davis makes her home in a four-bedroom concrete house in the village of Jinja, Uganda, where she's raising 13 Ugandan children. She also runs Amazima, a nonprofit that feeds and educates about 2,500 Ugandan children, many of them AIDS orphans.

Davis was in Nashville last week to promote her new book, Kisses from Katie, from Howard Books. It's named after her blog, kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com, which recounts her work in Uganda.

She talked about her life on Wednesday while sitting on the couch at her parents' Brentwood home. Nearby her two youngest girls, Patricia, age 3, and Grace, 5, played with stuffed animals. Grace had a yellow cast on her ankle from recent surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to repair a problem with her heel.

Davis' 11 other children, ranging in age from 7-year-old Sumini to 16-year-old Prossy, are back home in Jinja with a friend of hers.

She was only 19 when she founded Amazima, while working at the Canaan Children's Home, an orphanage in Jinja, a village on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Davis was teaching kindergarten and noticed many of her students were dropping out because either their parents had died or they could no longer afford school fees. Some parents were dropping off their children at orphanages because they could not provide basics like food and shelter.

So Davis persuaded her parents and other friends to donate money for school, meals and medical care for the children.

Today, Amazima, which has a $700,000-a-year budget, sponsors about 500 students. It also runs a hot meal program for about 2,000 kids. The nonprofit has about a dozen Ugandans on staff to run the program.

Mike Mayernick, chairman of the board for Amazima, said that Davis' mix of faith and moxie has made the organization successful.

She saw that orphans needed help, he said, and decided that she needed to do something to help them. That inspires people to support her work.

"At such a young age — she made a choice to give up what we would call the American dream," he said. "She felt a call to do something more with her life."

Need is greatDavis said her work is hard but rewarding.

She tries to focus on the small things, like doing a good job raising her children. If she sees someone in need, she tries to help, and she says she lets God take care of the rest, which often means starting a new program.

At times, the work is not easy. Jinja is a community ravaged by AIDS and poverty.

"It's hard to serve and serve and serve and treat every sick person that comes in your gate and bandage every wound and feed every hungry person and still know that 10 minutes away, someone just died because they couldn't get to the hospital or they didn't have enough food," she said.

Amazima's goal is to keep children in the care of a parent or relative.

In a few cases, that's not possible.

Three years ago, Davis took in three young girls after their house collapsed. Their father had died, and the girls were on their own.

Now Davis is the girls' legal guardian and is in the process of adopting them. Ugandan law says that can't happen till Davis turns 25. She also has taken in 10 other orphans.

She spends her day homeschooling the kids and her nights doing administrative work for Amazima. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, there's no school as Davis and other Amazima staff run Bible studies and health clinics in nearby villages.

Proceeds from the book and a small salary for the nonprofit pay the bills for Davis and her family. She also has a close group of friends in Jinja to rely on. The community has attracted a number of young Americans who work at local orphanages. Some are short-term volunteers, while others are permanent residents, like Davis.

They get together for Bible studies and meals on a regular basis. Those events make her feel like an ordinary 20-something, Davis said.

Mother helpsDavis' mom, Mary Pat, also comes to visit once a year, for at least a month.

Mary Pat Davis, who volunteers about 30 hours a week for Amazima's Brentwood office, said she's thrilled to be a grandmother of 13. She admits that she wished that Katie had gone to college before moving to Uganda permanently. But she feels her daughter has found her life's calling and wants to support her.

"She can make anything work that she wants to," she said.

Davis said she's happy with her life. She had a boyfriend when she moved to Uganda, but that relationship has ended. She's open to going back to school or getting married someday. But she has her hands full for now.

"If some crazy dude wants to move to Uganda and wants this many children and God ordains that, then great," she said. "But I am happy and content where I am."

Rip-off charge leveled at Beyoncé:

Rip-off charge leveled at Beyoncé

The superstar's new video looks awfully similar to another artist's work in a side-by-side comparison. 'Rude'

Woman Who Killed Husband and Cooked Body Denied Parole

In a 1992 photo, Omaima Aref Nelson enters a Santa Ana, Calif. courtroom. (Bruce Chambers /Orange County Register/AP Photo)

A California woman has been denied parole from a 25-years-to-life prison term she's been serving for killing her husband -- and then cooking and eating some of his remains.Omaima Nelson, a former nanny and model whom prosecutors compared to the fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter, was convicted in 1993 of second-degree murder in the death of her 56-year-old husband, William. A psychiatrist testified that she was probably psychotic at the time of the killing.
Nelson, a native of Egypt who was 23 at the time of the murder, will not again be eligible for parole for 15 years, or until 2026, according to a prosecutor at her parole hearing, Randy Pawloski.
Nelson was not represented by an attorney as she appeared before parole commissioners at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowcilla, Calif.
She was denied parole partly because, according to Pawloski, she shows no remorse, takes no responsibility for her actions and still blames the victims.
Over Thanksgiving weekend in 1991, prosecutors said Nelson pulled out a pair of scissors and stabbed her husband in their apartment in Costa Mesa, Calif. She then cut off her husband's head and genitals.According to the DA's office, Nelson cooked her husband's hands in oil, boiled the head and placed it in the freezer. She later used a garbage disposal to get rid of the chopped-up body parts.
Nelson claimed she was acting in self-defense because her husband was sexually assaulting her; prosecutors claimed that she was probably planning to rob him. They said she enlisted the help of two ex-boyfriends to remove her husband's teeth so his remains could not be identified.
The district attorney's office said Nelson "has failed to complete any educational or vocational classes while incarcerated and has failed to abide by prison rules."
Pawloski said Nelson should remain behind bars and is still a threat to public safety.
Nelson previously tried to seek parole in 2006, but was denied after prosecutors argued she was a still a threat.
According to The Associated Press, attorney Terrence Scott, who represented Nelson in the 2006 appeal, said the reason she chopped her husband's body into parts was so that she wouldn't meet him in the afterlife, as Egyptian myth purportedly claims will happen.
"It is certainly one of the most gruesome ... crimes ever committed in Orange County and sometime people need reminding of that," Pawloski told the Los Angeles Times.
Thomas Mooney, Nelson's defense attorney at the time of the trial, said abuse from several men, including her husband, triggered the psychotic event.
"She's been in custody for 20 years and perhaps she should be granted parole because at the time, she said she was being raped by the deceased and acted in self defense, which would reduce the case to manslaughter."
Nelson moved to the United States from Egypt in the late 1980s. She met William Nelson, a convicted marijuana drug smuggler, after moving to California.
"She wanted the lifestyle of Southern California, which was very exciting to her," said Mooney.
Two months month later, the couple married.
Nelson testified during the trial that at an early age, she had a forced circumcision that caused her much pain growing up. When she moved to the U.S., she said she was abused by several men, including William Nelson.

Sicko Allegedly Molests Toddler in Library While Mom Isn't Looking

Posted by Cynthia Dermody

on July 29, 2011 at 2:15 PM

• Comments (19)|
• Likes (1)

The public library is a mom's haven on those days when it's raining and you need to get the whiny brats out of the house. It's even better than Target because everything you bring home is free, even better than the McDonald's play area because your kids likely won't come home with anything, if you know what I mean.
So to hear that public libraries are also crawling with disgusting, sick things is eye-opening to me and to the parents of a 2-year-old girl in Washington state. A pedophile hanging out at the library reportedly touched the toddler inappropriately when her parents weren't looking.
You really can't take your eyes off of your toddlers for a second, not even in the little kids' room with all the puppets and Dora books, where you leave them while you run and grab the latest Jodi Picoult. We know these creeps are everywhere, libraries included, but to hear how brazen they are and how quick they can work their evil is disarming!
The thought of that piece of shit fondling that child while she was fumbling through a board book literally makes me sick. Apparently, the 32-year-old sicko was seen watching little girls in the library before he approached his victim. Someone called police, and they found the guy sitting outside the library. Reports say he admitted doing it, and after cops watched a surveillance video, they took him into custody.
My own public library is sectioned off so that the adult section is on one side and the children's section is on the other. Toddlers have their own "room" within the children's section, with the children's librarian not too far away, so it always seemed a safe place to let them play or read for a few minutes.
I thought it was a good way to start to give them some independence. I see now how wrong that probably was, that pedophiles don't always lure children into vans or wait for a quiet, secluded spot to assault. They can do it right under your nose.
You have to look away from time to time. Eventually you have to start letting them go to the bathroom by themselves and not live your life feeling like danger is lurking around every corner. That's just a terrible and unrealistic way to live and to parent.
But don't ever think we have the profile of a pedophile all figured out, either. Expect the unexpected, their sickness will always find a way.
What's your reaction to this sickening story?!

A Twisted Plan From A Twisted Mind In A Twisted World:

Pregnancy Is Not the WORST Thing for 12-Year-Old Rape Victim

Posted by Jeanne Sager

on August 24, 2011 at 10:21 AM

• Comments (30)|
• Likes (8)

Someday when the genie pops out of my Diet Pepsi bottle and asks me for my three wishes, I'm going to have to ask for the ability to understand morons. Not to think like them per se, but to understand how people can continue to eat, sleep, and poop with such misguided thoughts running around their heads. Need an example? Let's talk about Alicia Bouchard, the Florida woman who allegedly convinced her 26-year-old husband, Matthew, to have sex with a 12-year-old girl in the hopes that she'd get pregnant and they'd be able to collect benefits from the state.
It doesn't get much more disturbed than that, now does it? At least ... I hope not? For the sake of humanity?
The story goes that Alicia, who is 41 and apparently some sort of family friend of the girl (some friend, huh?), first made the kid watch as she made the beast with two backs with her much younger husband. Then when she found out the girl had some sexual experience of her own (shudder), she hatched her little plan to make some cash money. She supposedly told the kid, "The worse [sic] that could happen is you would get pregnant."
Whoa Nelly! The WORST is that she gets pregnant? Not that she's being raped? What is that, some insignificant little detail?
There is not a state in the entire country where a 12-year-old can consent to sex, much less sex with a 26-year-old man. What (allegedly) occurred in Florida was rape. Plain and simple. A child was forced to submit to a sexual act that she could not legally or developmentally say yes to. Based on the statistics (courtesy of RAINN -- the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), she is now:

• 3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
• 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
• 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
• 26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
• 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.

But pregnancy was the "worst" that could happen? See what I mean about understanding morons? Although, come to think of it, I don't want to actually get into Alicia Bouchard's head. I'm thinking it would be preeeetty dark, twisted, and there would be ankle-biting trolls guarding the gates who force you to eat Play-Doh.
Is this the most disturbing thing you've heard all day?

DNA Helps Free Texas Man Convicted in Wife's Death

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By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas October 3, 2011 (AP)

Texas prosecutors agreed Monday to release an Austin man who spent nearly 25 years in prison for beating his wife to death — but always maintained his innocence — after DNA tests showed another man was responsible.
District Judge Sid Harle recommended Michael Morton go free to the state Court of Criminal Appeals, which will make the final determination on overturning his conviction. Morton is set for release Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning, following a final hearing before Harle.
The case will likely raise more questions about John Bradley, district attorney for Williamson County north of Austin and once a Gov. Rick Perry appointee to head the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Bradley criticized the commission's investigation of the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 after being convicted of arson in the deaths of his three children. Experts have since concluded that case's forensic science was faulty.
The Innocence Project, a New York-based organization that specializes in using DNA testing to overturn wrongful convictions, has accused Bradley of suppressing evidence that would have helped clear Morton, who was convicted on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to life in prison for his wife's August 1986 beating death.

Bradley said in court Monday that he wasn't involved in the original trial, and urged the public to "recall that prosecutors are called upon to do justice . . . that we are searching for the fair solution."
Prosecutors had alleged Morton became enraged after his wife refused to have sex with him following a dinner celebrating his 32nd birthday.
But tests performed this summer on a blood-stained, blue bandana found shortly after the crime near Morton's home revealed DNA from his wife and an unidentified man convicted in multiple states, including California. Authorities have withheld his identity amid ongoing investigations.
Nina Morrison, an attorney for the Innocence Project, told Harle's court Monday that Morton testified during his 1987 trial and said an intruder must have bludgeoned his wife to death after he left her and the couple's 3-year-old son at 5 a.m. for his job at a grocery store. Morrison said the bandana was discovered 100 yards from the Morton home, along a route consistent with the one Morton said the intruder used to break in.
Morrison said DNA testing techniques that weren't yet available during the original trial proved the bandana contained blood from another man — and that DNA evidence also linked that man to a similar 1988 slaying in Austin committed after Morton was already behind bars.
Authorities are now investigating whether that man was responsible for the slaying of Debra Jan Baker, who was beaten to death in her bed. According to local media reports, cold case investigators are examining the possibility that the man may have been a serial killer who operated in the Austin area in the 1980s.
Morrison also said there were six instances where prosecutors and investigators hid non-DNA evidence that could have exonerated Morton from his defense attorney during the original trial.
Morton said the intruder stole his wife's purse, and Barry Sheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, said the evidence not turned over to Morton's original lawyer included information that one of his wife's credit cards was used two days after her slaying and one of her checks was cashed nine days later.

12-Year-Old Who Killed Parents and Stabbed Siblings Gets Off Way Too Easy:

12-Year-Old Who Killed Parents and Stabbed Siblings Gets Off Way Too Easyp;



The sentence for the 12-year-old boy in Colorado who shot and killed his parents and tried to kill two of his younger siblings was handed down this week: He got a mere seven years in juvenile detention.

It's a light sentence, especially when you consider that had he been tried as an adult, he would have likely faced life in prison. The simple fact of the matter is -- a 13-year-old (he's since had a birthday) does not belong in prison. But can we flash-forward seven years and ponder the following scenario: What happens when this 20-year-old is released from juvenile detention? Sure, he'll have to serve a few years on parole; still, suddenly, Colorado sounds like a very scary place to be ...

No one is more unhappy about the sentence than the boy's family members, including his uncle who said, "My desire for a longer sentence was never about hatred or anger but out of a sense of justice." That's understandable ... sort of.

But here's the thing about this boy: Obviously, he's exhibited signs of mental illness. How else could you explain the fact that, as prosecutors described, he was playing with toy trucks and planes in the backyard minutes before he shot and killed his parents, then stabbed and shot his 9-year-old brother and injured his 5-year-old sister with a knife? Only someone deeply disturbed would inexplicably snap like that. And someone that young and that deeply disturbed obviously needs therapy and rehabilitation -- not a life prison sentence with adults.

Moreover, you can't help but wonder if this boy had been mistreated or even abused by his family members. When the press asked his own brother, Wally, 25, how he felt about the sentence, he said: "He's dead to me." That harsh response speaks volumes of the dynamics of this family. And, if his own family can't show him any compassion or hope for eventual forgiveness, there's little hope that he can ever get better -- which is a scary thought when he's released in seven years.

Does seven years in JUV sound like this boy is getting off too easy? Yes. But adult prison isn't appropriate in this case either. This is one instance that highlights how ineffective our justice system is in terms of rehabilitating those who truly need it.

Man Assaults Wife for Not "Liking" His Facebook Update:

A 36-year-old Texas man has pleaded not guilty to battery charges after allegedly attacking his estranged wife for failing to "Like" a status update he posted to Facebook.

Benito Apolinar had posted an update to his Facebook page about the anniversary of his mother's death. Angry that the post had elicited no response from his wife of 15 years, he confronted her after dropping off their children at her home in Carlsbad, New Mexico on Tuesday.

[More from Mashable: 7 Reasons Why Recruiters Like Facebook More Than LinkedIn]

"That's amazing everyone 'Likes' my status but you, you're my wife. You should be the first one to 'Like' my status," he allegedly told her before punching her in the cheek and pulling her hair. He was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Apolinar was arrested the same evening of the incident. He is scheduled to appear in court on December 22.

[More from Mashable: Facebook Timeline: 10 Stunning Designs [PICS]]

[via MSN News]

This story originally published on Mashable here.

US Presbyterian church ordains first gay minister:

US Presbyterian church ordains first gay minister;

 

• 
  The Rev. Scott Anderson gives the benediction at the end of his ordination ceremony …
• 
  The Rev. Scott Anderson, facing camera, is greeted following his ordination ceremony …
• MILWAUKEE (AP) — A man who left his Presbyterian ministry in California more than 20 years ago after telling his congregation that he is gay was welcomed back into the church leadership as its first openly gay ordained minister.

  In a quavering voice ripe with emotion, 56-year-old Scott Anderson on Saturday told the hundreds of friends and backers who packed Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin for his ordination ceremony that he never thought the day would come.

  "To the thousands of Presbyterians who have worked and prayed for almost 40 years for this day, I give thanks," Anderson said. "And I give thanks for those who disagree with what we're doing today yet who know that we are one in Jesus Christ."

  When he was presented to the crowd, audience members gave him a thunderous standing ovation and began roaring with cheers.

  "That was very atypical of Presbyterians," Doug Poland, an elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church, told the Wisconsin State Journal. "Usually our hands are in our laps."

  Anderson was closeted when he served as a minister in Sacramento, Calif., from 1983 until 1990. When a couple threatened to reveal his sexual orientation, he came out to his congregation and resigned because the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) barred homosexuals from serving as ministers.

  But things changed last year when the church's national assembly voted to remove the ban, clearing the way for Anderson's ordination.

  Nancy Enderle, the interim executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, told The Associated Press the ordination was a glorious celebration that touched everyone, especially Anderson.

  "He's a very dignified and poised person but you could tell he was deeply moved," she said.

  Anderson currently serves as the executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches in Sun Prairie, which is near Madison, where he lives. His ordination means he'll be ordained to the specific job he already has. The only change is that he'll now be able to administer sacraments such as communion. He could also become a parish minister, a role he said he might consider in three or four years.

  Anderson chose the Rev. Mark Achtemeier of Dubuque, Iowa, to deliver the sermon Saturday. Achtemeier used to be one of the most vocal opponents of gay ordination, but he announced a complete turnaround after friendships with gay Christians prompted him to re-evaluate scriptural teachings about homosexuality.

  He told attendees Saturday he hopes Anderson's ministry will bring "healing good news" to all those who have felt "ostracized and alienated" from the church, the State Journal reported.

  Supporter Bob Lorenz told WISC-TV the ordination was long overdue for someone of Anderson's talents.

  "Ordaining him is just recognition of the gifts God already gave him," he said.

  ___

  Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.

CCA-run prison remains Idaho's most violent lockup:

CCA-run prison remains Idaho's most violent lockup;

FILE - In a file frame grab from video obtained by The Associated Press, an inmate …

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — In the last four years, Idaho's largest privately run prison has faced federal lawsuits, widespread public scrutiny, increased state oversight, changes in upper management and even an ongoing FBI investigation.

Yet the Corrections Corp. of America-run Idaho Correctional Center remains the most violent lockup in Idaho.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that while the assault rate improved somewhat in the four-year period examined, ICC inmates are still more than twice as likely to be assaulted as those at other Idaho prisons.

Between September 2007 and September 2008, both ICC and the state-run Idaho State Correctional Institution were medium-security prisons with roughly 1,500 inmates each. But during that 12-month span, ICC had 132 inmate-on-inmate assaults, compared to just 42 at ISCI. In 2008, ICC had more assaults than all other Idaho prisons combined.

By 2010, both prisons had grown with 2,080 inmates at ICC and 1,688 inmates at ISCI. Records collected by the AP showed that there were 118 inmate-on-inmate assaults at ICC compared to 38 at ISCI. And again last year, ICC had more assaults than all the other prisons combined.

Shannon Cluney, who was the head of the Idaho Department of Correction's virtual prison program until he was recently promoted to be the warden of the South Boise Women's Correctional Center, said the AP's numbers for assaults at the private prison were actually low: The Virtual Prisons Program investigated 141 inmate-on-inmate assaults at ICC during 2010. The discrepancy, Cluney said, could be because the AP examined specific records that are supposed to be generated with each assault, while his department also investigated assaults that were reported late and didn't have the record.

Still, Cluney said he's seen marked improvement at ICC.

"I think — when I look at the fact that more incidences are reported anonymously, and I look at the increase in the offender population, and I look at the types or severity of the incidences — that there has been an improvement," Cluney said. "Is there room for more? Absolutely."

All calls to ICC officials were referred to CCA spokesman Steve Owen, who emailed a statement saying CCA officials were proud of their work at the Idaho Correctional Center, and that CCA employees are committed to enhancing safety. He said ICC's new warden, Timothy Wengler, has increased efforts to prevent assaults at the lockup.

"Safety and security for the public, our employees, and the inmates entrusted to our care is our top priority," Owen said.

Cluney said the fact that inmates at the private prison are more likely to report assaults now shows they feel safer and are less afraid of reprisals. The severity of the assaults at the prison has also dropped, he said, with fewer attacks involving weapons, serious injuries or groups of offenders.

In 2008, state officials said, ICC had a violence rate three times higher than other prisons because of gangs, and they said action was taken to identify and separate gang members from their enemies. The following year, the rate of inmate-on-inmate assaults at ICC remained largely unchanged, despite months of concern from lawmakers and state correction officials.

Since then, in 2009 and 2010, several ICC inmates sued in federal court, with so many of the lawsuits making similar allegations about rampant violence that a judge decided to combine them all into one potential class-action case.

That case was eventually split into two: One lawsuit from inmate Marlin Riggs, who was asking for $55 million in damages after he was severely beaten in what he said was a preventable attack, and the other from inmates who were asking only for changes in the way the prison is run. CCA settled both lawsuits last month, agreeing to increase staffing and make other changes at ICC and reaching a sealed agreement with Riggs.

Also, the Idaho Department of Correction stopped housing inmates in out-of-state prisons, allowing three state contract monitors to focus full-time on whether CCA is running the prison in accordance with its Idaho contract. The monitors spend about 75 percent of their time at the prison.

And in another development, CCA transferred former warden Phillip Valdez and former deputy warden Dan Prado to other private prisons, and appointed warden Timothy Wengler to run ICC in 2010.

An investigation was launched by the Justice Department and the FBI into several inmate-on-inmate attacks at the prison, including one on Hanni Elabed, who was beaten unconscious and stomped by an attacker for several minutes while guards watched, according to records. Elabed was left with permanent brain damage from the attack. The investigation is ongoing.

During this period, Idaho renewed CCA's contract to run the prison, approving 628 more beds and substantially boosting the number of inmates kept there.

Cluney said the state's new contract with CCA, which went into effect in 2009, really helped the Idaho Department of Correction by requiring that CCA follow more IDOC policies. That gave IDOC authority to more closely monitor events at the lockup.

"We are looking at every single incident in the last year and a half," Cluney said. The department is looking to see "whether the response to the each incident was appropriate, whether the medical follow-up to the incident was appropriate and complete, and if any corrective action was needed, that CCA workers identify and take the appropriate action."

But IDOC officials say ultimately, there's only so much the department can do. That's where the new settlement between CCA and the inmates will help, said IDOC Director Brent Reinke.

"We need to see what's happening behind the fence when we're there and when we're not there," Reinke said. "We have three monitors now. We could have six there and not see everything."

Because of the settlement, "I think we should see the level of violence plateau and even reduce a little bit" in the coming year, Reinke said.

Man Beats His Wife to Death for Understandable Reason:

Man Beats His Wife to Death for Understandable Reason;

There are almost no occasions in which beating a spouse to death is an appropriate response. But for one father in New Hampshire who returned to find his children seemingly murdered by their mother, it kind of makes sense.
Last year, Christopher Smeltzer returned home one day to find his 4-year-old son strangled to death, his 7-year-old daughter seemingly also strangled (though she was only unconscious), and the guilty party -- his wife, Mara Pappalardo -- trying to hang herself.

Understandably, the man lost control. And what he did next may make him spend the next decade in prison. He picked up a flashlight and he beat his wife to death. Is it bad that I don't even blame him?

Beating someone to death is never the rational, intelligent way to handle a situation, but Smeltzer wasn't in his rational mind. Other reports claim he was using cocaine, which, admittedly, would make a person a bit more irrational. But even if he were completely sober, can any parent really believe they wouldn't do the same?

Putting myself in his shoes is a sickening task, but the idea that I might return home one day to find my children strangled by their father is almost too painful to bear. Would I kill him? Maybe. It's hard to say.

The rage I would feel would be unbearable. Can you imagine? No one could suggest that he was in his right mind. He had just found his tiny son cold and lifeless and the murderer was standing right in front of him. Spouse or not, it's hard to imagine a person who wouldn't do the same.

Our children are everything to us if we're good parents. I love my husband, but in that moment, I could see being so blinded by rage that good sense and love flew out the window.

This wife clearly had major, major problems. And yes, he handled it incorrectly. But who can really blame him and who can say how they would react given the same scene? I have to think that seeing my two children dead would make me want to kill, too. Was he right? No. But was he wrong? Maybe not that either.

Do you think he was wrong?

Man shot to death at Bentley's House of Soul:

Man shot to death at Bentley's House of Soul

A fight in the restroom of a crowded Nashville nightclub ended with the shooting death of a Nashville man early Sunday.
Police are still searching for the man they believe shot and killed Brian Amos, 22, of Claymille Boulevard before 1:30 a.m. at Bentley's House of Soul at 410 George L. Davis Boulevard.
Amos was involved in an altercation in the restroom, which preceded a fight and shooting inside the main club area. Amos was hit in the midsection and died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 742-7463 or visit nashvillecrimestoppers.com.
— Matt Anderson
The Tennessean

24 dead in worst Cairo riots since Mubarak ouster:

24 dead in worst Cairo riots since Mubarak ouster

Flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged Sunday, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, Muslims and Egyptian security forces. At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.