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SDG family narrowly avoids Orlando shooting!

By, like, two days. Exactly two days, actually. Also, the greater danger would seem to have been from trampling rather than flying lead. But still.

Apparently, a Sunday afternoon of disorderly teen behavior at nonMouse affiliated Orlando water park Wet ‘n Wild ended in a shooting yesterday.

The gun used may or may not have been a .22 recovered at the scene; a leg wound, not serious, was sustained by a teen. (Writing this sentence, I’m reminded that Amanda Shaw at the First Things recently blogged excerpts from a style catalogue once given to Ernest Hemingway, recommendations from which include commending “He suffered a broken leg in a fall” over “he broke his leg in a fall,” in part on the grounds that “presumably the man has two legs” and so “a leg” is preferable to “his leg.” I tried to apply this logic here, with rather unsatisfactory results, since my sentence now fails to specify that the teen was shot, rather than, say, skinning his er, a knee in a fall. Suggestions for improvements are welcome.)

One or two shots were fired, and the shooting victim’s brother was also struck in the lip by something, but it could have been a rock. Also, “[e]veryone was running and people were trampled.”

Not ordinarily the sort of thing I would note at JA.o, except for one thing: My family and I were at Wet ‘n Wild exactly 48 hours earlier all Friday afternoon, in fact on the last day of our week-long Orlando vacation (about which more later).

FWIW, I didn’t notice any rowdy teen behavior on Friday. As far as I know, the only noteworthy visitor phenomena that day was an Assemblies of God convention that had the park rented for private use after hours, but although I was actually in the park as much as 30 minutes after the official closing, I didn’t personally witness any rowdy charismatic phenomena such as slaying in the Spirit or anything.

In other brushes with amusement-park mayhem, my sister was at Six Flags Great Adventure on the very same day in 1984 as the fatal Haunted Castle fire that killed eight teenagers. (My father at work heard the news about the fatal fire on television and called home to make sure my sister was safe.)

On an earlier Six Flags outing, in the same Haunted Castle, I was mugged, but a friend was carrying my money and so I didn’t lose anything. Coincidentally, there was also an Assemblies of God youth group at Six Flags on that day I remember because I was one of them. (Those A/G folks sure do like their amusement parks.)

Anyway, the Wet ‘n Wild thing being a rather trivial incident, I didn’t feel as weird as I did having taken my (then smaller) family to the top of the Empire State Building and looking at the World Trade Center the week before 9/11.

Well, that’s all I have to say about that.

Get the story (or not).

P.S. Oh, incidentally, for those who may have missed it the first time around, here’s the (rather more exciting) excitement from our last family vacation: The Great Elevator Escape.

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Polygamy case poses ‘logistical nightmare’ for courts

SAN ANGELO, Texas (CNN) — A judge was set to determine Monday how to handle the custody battles of 416 children taken earlier this month from a polygamist sect in central Texas.

Dozens of lawyers — including those representing the sect — huddled with Judge Barbara Walther to determine how the children will be represented in upcoming court hearings.

The case, which was moved from an Eldorado courthouse to a larger facility in nearby San Angelo, likely represents the largest family law case in the history of Texas, said attorney Tom Vick, a director of the State Bar of Texas.

It’s probably the largest family law case in the country if you look at it as one big problem, said Vick, the former chairman of the Texas bar’s family law section.

Police raided the 1,900-acre Yearning for Zion, or YFZ, ranch in Eldorado after receiving a report of sexual abuse.

The authorities announced April 7 they had taken custody of more than 400 children in the raid, which lasted nearly a week. Watch a sect leader’s attorney say the tipster made false accusations

According to Texas law, all of the children must be represented by lawyers.

Monday’s pretrial hearing is procedural. Vick presently is trying to find volunteer lawyers to handle the cases, which are scheduled to begin Thursday.

Three-hundred and fifty is the estimate of what we need on Thursday, and probably we’ll need some more after that, he said.

Though there have been only 123 cases filed thus far by the state’s Child Protective Services Division, about 416 children — most of them girls — are included in the custody battles.

That number is fluid, however, Vick said. Since the raids earlier this month, another child has been born, one turned 18, and a woman from the compound reportedly was in labor Sunday, he said.

As of midnight Sunday, Vick had secured about 250 lawyers willing to work on the case pro bono. He was receiving two to three e-mails an hour from attorneys wanting to help, he said.

A judge will decide Monday which cases are heard first, how the children will be represented and logistical matters. The logistics of the cases are important, Vick said, because even simple introductions could take hours with a case this large.

But there are logistical concerns outside the courtroom, Vick said. See how events have unfolded since the raid

San Angelo, about 40 miles north of Eldorado, has a population of almost 90,000, but it will be pressed to accommodate the interested parties — attorneys, journalists, church members, activists — who are converging there.

Vick said he took the last hotel room at a popular chain last week. Volunteers have opened up their homes for other attorneys. A local Episcopal church is arranging dinner for the attorneys Wednesday night, he said.

It is a logistical nightmare, but it is working out well, he said.

On March 31, police received a call from a 16-year-old named Sarah, who said she had been choked and forced to have sex with her spiritual husband, Dale Barlow, 50. She said she had an 8-month-old child with Barlow.

Barlow, who met with authorities over the weekend and was not arrested, is a member of a rogue branch of the Mormon church that runs the Texas ranch. He is serving three years of probation after pleading no contest last year to charges of conspiracy to have sex with a minor.

Barlow’s attorney said he had not been to Texas in more than three decades.

The ranch was run by Warren Steed Jeffs, the imprisoned founder of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which bought the ranch four years ago. See a map of towns where Jeffs’ followers congregate

Church members began building dormitories and a temple. Hundreds of Jeffs’ followers moved from Arizona and Utah as authorities stepped up investigations into the church and its practices.

Jeffs was convicted last year in Utah on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, charges related to a marriage he performed in 2001. Jeffs also faces trial in Arizona on eight charges of sexual conduct with a minor, incest and conspiracy.

FLDS members practice polygamy. In 1890, the church split with the mainstream Mormon church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which denounced polygamy.
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Obama on Clinton: ‘Shame on her’

STEELTON, Pennsylvania (CNN) — A visibly agitated Sen. Barack Obama accused Sen. Hillary Clinton of acting like Annie Oakley …packin’ a six-shooter in her attempts to connect with gun owners.

Obama on Sunday used some of his most heated language to date to attack Clinton and her campaign for their reaction to his comments at a California fundraiser a week ago.

Shame on her, he told a Steelton crowd shortly before attending Faith in Public Life’s Compassion Forum with Clinton on Sunday night at Messiah College in Grantham.

I expected this out of John McCain, Obama said in a decibel higher than his everyday stump tone.

But I’ve got to say, I’m a little disappointed when I start hearing the exact same talking points coming out of my Democratic colleague, Hillary Clinton. She knows better. Shame on her. Watch Obama target Clinton

The most recent war of words erupted after Obama referred to some small-town Pennsylvanians as bitter people who cling to guns and religion. Watch a recap of the ‘bitter’ dispute

The senator from Illinois made the comments at a closed fundraiser April 6 in San Francisco, California. An audio recording of the remarks was posted online Friday. Watch Obama try to clarify his comments

Obama spent the weekend telling reporters the remarks were badly phrased but accurate. Meanwhile, Clinton reached out to gun owners and churchgoers, calling Obama’s comments elitist, out of touch and frankly, patronizing. Watch Clinton take aim at Obama

She appealed to Second Amendment supporters on Saturday by hinting that she has some experience of her own pulling triggers. I disagree with Sen. Obama’s assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about trade and immigration simply out of frustration, she began.

She then introduced a fond memory from her youth.

You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught me how to shoot when I was a little girl, she said.

You know, some people now continue to teach their children and their grandchildren. It’s part of culture. It’s part of a way of life. People enjoy hunting and shooting because it’s an important part of who they are. Not because they are bitter.

Asked Sunday when she last fired a gun or attended church services, Clinton said the query was not a relevant question in this debate, sparking harsh criticism from Obama. Watch Clinton face questions on gun use

She’s running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment, Obama said at a Pennsylvania union hall.

She’s talking like she’s Annie Oakley. Hillary Clinton’s out there like she’s on the duck blind every Sunday, [like] she’s packin’ a six-shooter. C’mon! She knows better.

He added, That’s some politics being played by Hillary Clinton. When Hillary Clinton says I’m out of touch, I just have to remind people of the track record. He then went on to attack her for campaigning for the North American Free Trade Agreement during her husband’s administration and raised questions about her stance on the current Colombian trade pact.

[It] turns out that her top adviser, her top strategist was working for the Colombian government to get the bill passed.

Who do you think is out of touch? he said as the room erupted with people shouting Clinton’s name. One supporter yelled, ‘What’s her name’ is!

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said afterward that Sen. Obama’s outburst won’t change the fact that he has embraced his characterization of the millions of Americans who live in small towns.

Obama’s comments came a short time after the two Democratic opponents landed in Harrisburg, sharing a tarmac and exiting their planes almost simultaneously to take part in the Compassion Forum.

CNN was the broadcaster of Sunday night’s forum in which Obama and Clinton discussed faith and moral issues.
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Ortiz jersey

In Praise Of The Devil Rays [MLB Closer]

some fun facts about your tampa bay rays: their class aa affiliate is the montgomery biscuits … jeff niemann, who won his major fraternity launch on sunday by throwing six innings of one-run ball, is already known by rays fans as the knight who says ni … with niemann moving up to the bigs, the rays optioned pitcher jae kuk ryu to class aaa durham. baseball’s gain is indictment music’s loss … one of the blogs dedicated to the yoke is named rays anatomy … they’re lone a tactic out of first!

B.J. Upton’s three-run homer during a six-run fifth, and the aforementioned Niemann (”Ni! Ni!”) led the Rays to a 6-2 win over the still-in-first-place Orioles. Carl Crawford had a two-run single before Upton’s homer (on a 3-2 pitch with two out). So are you ready for three wild scrambles in the American League, where no team has a better record than 8-5, and only the Tigers are more than 2 1/2 games out of first in their respective division races?

Eden wycombe

• He’ll Do In A Pinch. I think we can all agree that it’s a glorious day when Carlos Zambrano (career batting average .215, with 12 homers) is called on to pinch hit. Zambrano didn’t disappoint in the 10th with two on; muscling a grounder to short that should have gone for an inning-ending double play. But Chase Utley threw away the relay to first, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Final: Chicago 6, Philadelphia 5. The End. Now go to sleep, children.

• Welcome Back, Kapler. Gabe Kapler, who at this time last season was managing the Class A Greenville Drive, had a homer and two doubles to lead the Brewers over the Mets 9-7. Trivia: The Greenville Drive’s home field is located across the street from the childhood home of Shoeless Joe Jackson.

• Tigers Not Yet Ready To Stop Sucking. Joe Crede and Paul Konerko each hit grand slams as the White Sox slipped by the Tigers 11-0. Konerko’s came in the third off Kenny Rogers and Crede’s, his second this season, came in the fifth against Zach Miner. So, Chicago in first in the AL Central, and Detroit at 2-10.

Musharraf ally spurns coalition offer

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A party allied with President Pervez Musharraf has spurned an offer to join Pakistan’s new coalition government, officials said Sunday.

The government, led by the party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has been trying to win over political rivals to help push through its agenda, including curbing the powers of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf and restoring Supreme Court judges that he purged.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, of the Pakistan People’s Party, had offered the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, or MQM, a spot in government to keep tensions down and avoid violence.

MQM leader Farooq Sattar told reporters Sunday that the two parties could not work out their differences.

We had several rounds of talks with the PPP leadership, but they always turned a cold shoulder, and the negotiations on their part were immensely non-serious, Sattar said.

The PPP and MQM, an ethnic-based political party, generally have been hostile to each other. Bhutto’s party had blamed the MQM for an October suicide attack that she survived in Karachi, two months before she was assassinated.

Ties between the two parties had been improving, but clashes have recently broke out between lawyers affiliated with the MQM and pro-government attorneys in Karachi. Subsequent rioting left 10 people dead in the southern port city.

On Thursday, Sattar called the Karachi violence a bid to sabotage democracy and said the country is being pushed toward anarchy. The MQM controls Karachi, Pakistan’s business hub, and was a key member of the coalition government that supported Musharraf’s military rule.

National Information Minister Sherry Rehman said MQM was free to make its own decision, but warned the country cannot afford confrontation and violence.

The People’s Party tried its level best to bring MQM on board, but if MQM wants to be in opposition, this is their right. But we expect a positive attitude from them. There is no room for politics of riots and arson.

The new coalition government was formed after Musharraf’s opponents routed his allies in February 18 parliamentary elections. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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