[weez1959]

I was just reading that! I hope he goes down for this Maybe once he loses everything he'll think twice about hurting an animal or anything else for that matter. I was just thinking that it's too bad you can't do what they did in the "Starman" movie with the deer hunter. That would be payback in itself!

[Ninong]

This guy is the judge Michael Vick has drawn.

[Ninong]

Michael Vick, also known as "Ookie."

Page 17, #83: In or about April 2007, PEACE, PHILLIPS, and VICK executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in "testing" sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground.

You can read the entire 18-page indictment here. Note that they cite four cooperating witnesses (CW#1, CW#2, CW#3 and CW#4).

P.S. -- The indictment has his nickname as "Ookie." Maybe it's supposed to be "Hokie." Vick has also used the alias "Ron Mexico" when seeking treatment for genital herpes.

His housemates indicted with him have a checkered past. Tony Taylor served two years in prison for drug trafficking in New York and Quanis Phillips served brief jail terms for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

"I ain't got no control over what people are going to say about me or write." -- Michael Vick


__________________________________________________ ____________

"The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man." -- Charles Darwin

[weez1959]

Originally Posted by Ninong

You can read the entire 18-page indictment here. Note that they cite four cooperating witnesses (CW#1, CW#2, CW#3 and CW#4).

Well that was quite a read, I hope they don't get away with all this with some sleazy lawyer.
Worse even is the fact that this and Cockfighting is still happening anyways, right now, tonight, this weekend... jeez the human race can be sick!


Google Image Result for http://www.workingpitbull.com/images/dogfightpicbad1.jpg

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Hey, check this out. A waterspout over Lake Pontchartrain just a little while ago:



Evidently there were two or three of them. More pics here. Not exactly something you want to get too close to in your boat.

More on yesterday's waterspouts over Lake Pontchartrain including video of the largest one from beginning to end:



A waterspout was spotted over Lake Pontchartrain Thursday afternoon, visible from downtown New Orleans and all along the south shore of the lake.

A National Weather Service issued a marine warning at 1:17 p.m. that said three minutes earlier, Doppler radar had indicated a thunderstorm producing waterspouts over the southern portion of the lake. It was moving north at around 10 knots. It was capable of producing gusty winds, high waves, dangerous lightning and heavy rain.

The marine warning advised boaters to seek safe harbor immediately. The warning was to be in effect until 2:15 p.m.

Paul Barnard, a search and rescue controller at the Coast Guard Station in Bucktown, said the waterspout was reported at around 1:35 p.m. and disappeared within five minutes. It coincided with the appearance of a "very dark red system" on local radar.

Basically a waterborne tornado, the waterspout was spotted northeast of the mouth of the 17th Street Canal, Barnard said. He did not know how far into lake it formed. Barnard said he had gotten no reports of injuries or any vessel in the path of the water spout. "The radio waves have been very quiet," he said.

City Hall spokeswoman Lesley Eugene said city officials were monitoring the weather and were aware of the water spout. "Hopefully it will stay over the lake," she said.

Check this out! Amazing amateur video of the largest waterspout. Clip runs about 8 minutes. The waterspout makes surface contact at approximately 1-1/2 minutes into the clip and establishes full strength at approximately 2-1/2 minutes. It begins to dissipate at approximately 6-1/2 minutes. At that point, the camera operator finally pulls back for a wider angle view of the weather system over the lake.

• Exclusive NOLA video

From NOLA.com: Everything New Orleans

[TGreene]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Hey, check this out. A waterspout over Lake Pontchartrain just a little while ago:

Evidently there were two or three of them. More pics here. Not exactly something you want to get too close to in your boat.

The night that Hurricane Dennis came close to NOLA, and then ripped up the Florida PanHandle, a buddy of mine spent the night anchored on Ponchartrain just off of the new pier on North Causeway in Mandeville...

The fishing was the best we've ever seen it, so we planned to spend the entire night on the water. At roughly midnight or so, the waters began getting pretty rough as the seas were rolling in, and then we saw them -- Looking south across the lake, 5 waterspouts were visible against the New Orleans night sky. -- From our vantage point, they looked as if they were moving in a straight line from east to west, as we watched them from what appeared to be the Industrial Canal/I-10 Hump area, to when they dissappeared from our view somewhere between the Yact Club (the one that burned during Katrina) and the Causeway.

It was really a trip to see, and no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to get a picture of them that far away and late at night.

BTW: I take it that you must live near Hammond..? Until Katrina, we were on the Mandeville/Abita line on Hwy-59, but are now in hell (Arkansas).

-Tim

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by TGreene

BTW: I take it that you must live near Hammond..?

I'm fairly close to Hammond -- actually I'm just off La-22 about 4 miles west of Ponchatoula and 1 mile east of Springfield. I was born and raised in New Orleans.

[TGreene]

Ahhhh, gotcha...

I never see you over on LARC, do you ever visit it..?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by TGreene

I never see you over on LARC, do you ever visit it..?

No.

[TGreene]

Did you happen to see Borneman when he spoke at SevenSeas back in November of 2005..? If so, then there is a good chance that we've met.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by TGreene

Did you happen to see Borneman when he spoke at SevenSeas back in November of 2005..?

No.

[weez1959]

Originally Posted by weez1959

I was just thinking that it's too bad you can't do what they did in the "Starman" movie with the deer hunter. That would be payback in itself!

Oops, It just dawned on me that I got my movies mixed up, I meant the deer hunter in the movie "Powder"

Anyone who has ever seen "Starman" was probably wondering "HUH???" But then again if you didn't see Powder, you're probably wondering the same thing
For those of you who haven't seen it (which is probably most of you) The main character, Powder makes the hunter feel what the deer is going through while it's dying.
K, I'm done now, I just felt I needed to fix that!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by weez1959

Oops, It just dawned on me that I got my movies mixed up, I meant the deer hunter in the movie "Powder"

As long as it wasn't the deer hunter in Scooter Libby's literary masterpiece, The Apprentice.

[Ninong]

Tony Taylor, one of the four co-defendants in the Mike Vick dogfighting venture has copped a plea!

This is the guy without any priors, or at least none that were reported in the press. Vick's other two co-defendants have both done time for drug dealing. He has reached a plea agreement and will appear in court Monday morning at 9 a.m. to plead out.

So now, in addition to the four named cooperating witnesses, the prosecutors will have one of the indicted principals pleading guilty in exchange for leniency. No doubt he has already given a statement implicating all of his co-defendants.

Here.

[Ninong]

Tony Taylor pleads GUILTY to federal felony charges

RICHMOND, Virginia: One of Michael Vick's co-defendants pleaded guilty Monday to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges in a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Tony Taylor, 34, who will be sentenced Dec. 14, said he was not promised any specific sentence in return for his cooperation with the government.

Taylor entered his plea in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture.

Vick, the star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, and two other co-defendants pleaded not guilty last week to similar charges.

The offenses carry a maximum punishment of five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

Prosecutors claimed in a July 17 indictment that Taylor found the Surry County property that Vick purchased and used as the site of "Bad Newz Kennels," a dogfighting enterprise. Taylor also allegedly helped purchase pit bulls and killed at least two dogs that fared poorly in test fights.

According to the 18-page indictment, the dogfighting ring executed underperforming dogs by drowning, hanging and other brutal means. It alleges that the fights offered purses as high as $26,000.

The grisly details outlined in the indictment have fueled protests and public outrage against Vick. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has banned Vick from the Falcons' training camp while the league investigates.

Vick and Purnell A. Peace, 35, and Quanis L. Phillips, 28, are scheduled for trial Nov. 26. They remain free without bond.

[TGreene]

Just to play Devil's Advocate here, what would be the legal ramifications of betting on the outcome of tossing a live rabbit or rat into a snake cage..?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by TGreene

Just to play Devil's Advocate here, what would be the legal ramifications of betting on the outcome of tossing a live rabbit or rat into a snake cage..?

Note that the federal charges are conspiracy charges that involve interstate commerce. The local law enforcement people were dragging their feet and seemed reluctant to bring any charges at all against Vick and his dog-loving pals. And I believe the basis for the initial federal investigation involved drugs.

If you're asking about gambling charges, I guess that's a local issue???

If you're asking about whether you could get into trouble for feeding a live rabbit or a live rat to a snake, I don't think so. I'm not familiar with all 50 states but I doubt that would be illegal in any of them.

I can tell you that a guy was sentenced to jail time a couple of weeks ago for feeding a live puppy to his pet snake. He even coated the puppy with cooking oil to make it go down easier. He put on this show for a couple of neighborhood teenagers and they talked about it. The snake owner is now behind bars.

Killing a puppy in the U.S. is animal cruelty. Killing a puppy in many parts of Asia is called "making dinner." Different cultural taboos. We think nothing of killing cattle over here but in India they won't even ride in a car with leather seats. When the Indian consul general in San Francisco wanted to order a new BMW, we had to have it specially built in Munich with cloth seats because he wasn't allowed to drive a car with leather seats. The model he wanted only came with leather seats in the U.S.

[Ninong]

I googled that story about the guy who fed a 3-week old puppy to his pet snake.

[TGreene]

I would have to side w/ the snake owner on this one...

Think about the strange looks and stares we get when we describe the method in which we frag corals... We rip, tear, break, cut and saw them, then we super-glue these little animals to rocks. If the ASPCA were to start a witch hunt that evoked public outcry, no amount of education would ever get the "general public" to understand that this is how these ANIMALS are propagated.

If you hit a critically injure a deer, the most humane way to put it down is to cut it's throat, but explaining that to someone that knows nothing about hunting or has ever worked around farms, will be met with just about every possible response you could think of.

I've been laughing at the way in which the media has been describing the "rape stand", because as anyone with an ounce of grey matter knows, it's a standard breeding stand that in some form, is used in just about every type of livestock and animal breeding facility.

While I deplore animal fighting as sport, it IS a natural action for these animals.

For years I've been saying that if fish and corals had fuzzy ears and waggily tails, then and only then would the Hmane Society or the ASPCA ever step in to investigate or shut down the thousands of LFS' out there that keep these livestock in cesspool like conditions, while they fester with disease and parasites. Aside from us nobody freakin cares, so it continues. Then we have marketing campaigns that the media endorses by allowing them to take place, which pretty much says that anyone can easily keep Nemo and Dory in a small $39.95 plastic "all inclusive reef ready" aquarium. Hell, I'm thinking it was either the Today Show or Good Morning America that hosted a segment on this, right after "Finding Nemo" came out.

Anyways, you get the point.

-Tim

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by TGreene

I would have to side w/ the snake owner on this one...

Whether his actions were illegal or not depends on state law. I suspect that feeding puppies or kittens to snakes is illegal in most if not all states. If you're going to keep reptiles, it pays to know in advance what live animals are legal to feed them.