Here’s what the Butcher of Sarajevo looks like nowadays.

Rumor has it the Wendt Foundation is paying him $1,000,000 to fight a casino in downtown Buffalo.

But seriously,

Karadzic used false documents with the name Dragan Dabic,” said Rasim Ljajic, the minister in charge of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

He had been posing as a doctor of alternative medicine, sporting long hair, a beard and glasses to hide his face.

A picture shown to reporters showed an unrecognisable Karadzic, markedly thin, with a long white beard and flowing hair. Serbian officials said he was walking freely around town and earned money from practising medicine.

They said they could not divulge more details because it might jeopardise efforts to arrest two other war crime suspects on the run.

Practicing alternative medicine, more specifically.

Karadzic “was questioned overnight, his identity was established and he was given the indictment” of the ICTY, Mr Vukcevic said.

“An examining magistrate, I am aware, has already brought a decision that all conditions have been met for his transfer to The Hague.”

Political leaders in Europe and the US congratulated the Serbian government on managing to detain Karadzic after 13 years on the run.

Richard Holbrooke, the US diplomat who brokered the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia in 1995, described his arrest as “a historic day”.

He said: “One of the worst men in the world, the Osama bin Laden of Europe, has finally been captured.

“A major, major thug has been removed from the public scene.”

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, described his capture as “good news”, saying it would “pave the way for a brighter, European future for Serbia and the region”.

Mr Holbrooke said it was “significant” that the Serbian authorities had succeeded where Nato had failed.

The White House also congratulated the Serbian government on the arrest.

“The timing of the arrest, only days after the commemoration of the massacre of over 7,000 Bosnians committed in Srebrenica, is particularly appropriate, as there is no better tribute to the victims of the war’s atrocities than bringing their perpetrators to justice,” the White House Press Secretary said.

Karadzic was reportedly arrested just after 11pm, after police swarmed the exclusive central Belgrade neighbourhood of Vracar, one of the city’s oldest

UPDATE: Apparently, Karadzic was quite open about his alternative medicine bullshit. He appeared at several symposia:

Karadzic’s pseudonym was “Dragan David Dabi?”.

Here’s his business card:

And, courtesy of this blog, here is a link to Karadzic’s business’ website, which features the “David Wellbeing Program”.

At the bottom of the webpage is the email address: dddavid@psy-help-energy.com. That is Karadzic’s private email address.

An anonymous blogger at New York City’s Room Eight wrote some not-nice things about a political figure. The original posts are now gone, but Ben Smith outlines them:

Republican Dissident – whose blog appeared on the back pages of this site until he took it down April 15 – wrote as a harsh internal critic of the Bronx Republican Party which, in a quirk of local politics, is closely aligned with the Bronx Democratic Party. He attacked in particular Dawn Sandow, a Republican hire to the Bronx Board of Elections staff of the county party. City investigators, according to the New York Times and the New York Post, have been looking into questions of her residence and her relationship with the chairman of the Bronx Party, Jay Savino.

Republican Dissident also took issue with the district attorney himself, calling for the Bronx Republicans to run their own candidate against Johnson, a Democrat, and calling for him to be removed from an investigation of the Bronx Republican Party. “I would get another prosecutor than Bronx DA Robert Johnson, Bronx County GP always endorses him in every election he runs in,” Republican Dissident wrote.

By Buffalo standards, that’s pretty benign stuff. Nothing that any politician would get all huffy about.

But the Bronx DA issued a grand jury subpoena demanding that Room Eight reveal the name of “Republican Dissident”, as well as the identies of several anonymous commenters. In addition, the subpoena carried a caveat ordering Room Eight to not disclose the existence of the subpoena itself, under penalty of law.

From Ben Smith’s Affidavit:

I believe that there is a substantial possibility that the subpoenas that we have received represent harassment of those who criticize major figures in Bronx politics, and especially in the Republican Party, partly because it seems to be only critics whose identities are sought; partly because the District Attorney has refused to be specific about why he believes that the speakers posts reflect wrongful conduct; and partly because the subpoena was originally issued shortly after Dawn Sandow contacted Gur Tsabar to threaten prosecution because she had been criticized on Room Eight. The District Attorney has refused to be specific about why he believes that the speakers posts reflect wrongful conduct. On their face, it is difficult to conceive of how any of the criticisms posted – regardless of how tasteless – might be relevant to any grand jury investigation of alleged criminal activity.

In other words, there was no explanation given as to the supposed indictable crime the DA was allegedly investigating. It seems as if it was the political speech itself that was the subject matter of the investigation, and the Bronx DA’s office was patently abusing its subpoena power to try and expose, embarass, and punish “Republican Dissident” and commenters on Room Eight. I don’t think I can recall ever seeing such a blatant and outrageous violation of the First Amendment. Read Room Eight’s attorney’s affidavit for more detail about the DA’s position.

Ultimately, the Bronx DA withdrew the subpoenas, but Room Eight threatened to file suit if it wasn’t permitted to disclose the subpoenas’ existence on the site. The DA relented.

Blogging is no longer the unique form of expression it was four or five years ago, but there isn’t a lot of jurisprudence out there on the issue of criminal liability for blog posts and comments. Usually, cases are brought civilly for defamation. It seems like a complete overreach for the Bronx DA to have tried to chill protected political speech in this way, and there should, frankly, be an independent investigation carried out about this. Congratulations to Room Eight for standing on principle and fighting this illegal attempt to silence critics of the powerful.

Why do we have to read these stories year after year? These kids are lucky to still be alive while mommy shopped at Target for over 10 minutes. It was 100 degrees plus in that minivan when the kids were let out.

Even if it isn’t 87 degrees out and wickedly humid, who the hell leaves four kids, the oldest being five years old, in a car otherwise unattended?

In other states, it’s a crime. In New York, it’s not. It should be. When a kid is injured or killed from being left alone in a sweltering car by a parent, that is completely preventable, and should be punished.

The cops love to run fire-and-brimstone PSAs about drunk driving and seatbelt usage. How about a PSA blitz every May and June to remind parents not to leave their kids in cars unattended?

Someone driving Marshawn Lynch’s 2008 Porsche Cayenne struck a 27-year old Ontario woman early Saturday morning, and didn’t stop. The only question now is - who was behind the wheel? Presumably, unless there’s a police report of that vehicle being stolen, its owner knows who was driving. In order to get Mr. Lynch to give up that info, the police are holding the Cayenne hostage.

Either way, Lynch is lucky that woman only has some bruises and minor injuries.

The complete breakdown of civilization on the bus to Wilson whereby a young JV player was sexually assaulted by his erstwhile “teammates” is neither an isolated incident, nor should it have come in any way as any surprise to anyone in charge:

A player on the Wilson high school baseball team was sexually harassed last year by older teammates during a bus ride for an away game.

The boy and his parent complained to a team coach, and for some time after that, one coach rode the bus in front and the other at the back to keep an eye on the players who had been involved in unruly behavior.

The hazing complaint apparently went no further.

But this year, when both coaches were riding at the front of the bus, some of the older players sexually abused two junior varsity players…

…The sources did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to release information, but they came forward because of concern that a pattern has repeated itself in Wilson.

“The kid who complained [last year] was then singled out for the rest of last year by fellow teammates as a ‘narc’ and was punched by other teammates for telling his parent,” one of the sources said.

Equally disturbing is this revelation arising out of the public forum on the issue held last week at Wilson High School:

Many of the 650 people who showed up Thursday for a district-wide meeting voiced support for Baia and Atlas, with only a handful expressing concern for the junior varsity players who were attacked.

The Niagara Falls Reporter corroborates that:

Last week, a town meeting was held in Wilson to discuss the situation, and the place was packed to the rafters. Those expressing any concern or sympathy for the victims in the case were rare. Supporters of Baia and Atlas dominated the session, blaming the alleged perpetrators’ parents, who were not on the bus, the news media, which was not on the bus, and anyone else they could think of.

So, first civilization completely shits the bed on the bus, and next it is further diminished by “concerned citizens” at a public forum. The only - repeat the only individuals worthy of anyone’s sympathy here are the victims themselves. Not the perpetrators. Not their families. Not the coaches. Not anybody else.

And the people of the Town of Wilson really need to get over themselves and their little pity party. The media, and the community-at-large, are appalled that something like this goes on. Even more so now that it emerges as a pattern of which the coaches and the district either knew or should have known about.

That knowledge, and the willful failure of the adults to behave as such renders this a much bigger story, and a much larger scandal than the fact of the sexual assault itself. The perpetrators abused young students, and the adults did nothing, and now they can’t say they didn’t know it might happen. Teachers get fired for wearing bikinis on the Howard Stern show, but Wilson can’t be bothered to fire these coaches?

Oh, and one of the 16 year old perpetrators of the sexual assault on the bus? Yeah, he just got popped last night - at 1am (on a school night?!) for possession of a controlled substance.

Wow. Just 16 years old and already has a pending felony charge in Wilson and a pending misdemeanor charge in Porter.

Um, hi.

Look - I was never that athletic in high school. I’m sure that comes as a jaw-dropping shock to you all. I participated in some junior varsity sports, and otherwise just did what the state required me to do in phys ed. That’s about it.

A lack of interest, speed, and coordination kept me out of sports.

I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure. No one on the varsity teams at my high school was ever sodomized as an initiation rite.

On the Wilson, NY baseball team, however, that’s exactly what happened.

Now, let’s look at the Buffalo News article through a lawyer’s lenses.

Varsity coach Tom Baia and junior varsity coach Bill Atlas were among at least three adults and about 30 students aboard a bus April 17 that was headed from a pair of baseball games in Niagara Falls back to Wilson when some of the varsity players took some of the JV players to the back of the bus, state police said.

At least two of the younger players were sexually abused when teasing turned into hazing and then spun out of control, troopers said during a Monday afternoon news conference.

Initially, the students were “subjected to physical abuse involving slapping, punching and kicking,” but then things “progressed to a level that rose to criminal activity,” said State Police Major Christopher L. Cummings.

Stop right there. Hold that thought. Now read on:

Three varsity baseball team members were arraigned Friday in Town Court on felony counts of third-degree aggravated sexual abuse and misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child. One of the players was charged with two counts of sex abuse.

The sex-abuse charges involve crimes in which an object is forcibly inserted into another person, according to troopers, who declined to elaborate on that aspect of the Wilson case.

According to the New York Penal Law,

120.00 Assault in the third degree

A person is guilty of assault in the third degree when:

1. With intent to cause physical injury to another person, he causes such injury to such person or to a third person; or

2. He recklessly causes physical injury to another person; or

3. With criminal negligence, he causes physical injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument.

Assault in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.

The “slapping, punching, and kicking,” was in itself “criminal activity”.

Hopefully, the perpetrators of this senseless crime will be charged with:

Section 130.70 Aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree

1. A person is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree when he inserts a foreign object in the vagina, urethra, penis or rectum of another person causing physical injury to such person:

(a) By forcible compulsion; or

(b) When the other person is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or

(c) When the other person is less than eleven years old.

2. Conduct performed for a valid medical purpose does not violate the provisions of this section.

Aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree is a class B felony.

I also hope they all get charged as adults, and I hope every one of them, if convicted, is added to the sex offender registry.

When a parent sends his kid to school, that kid is there to learn - whether it be academics or sports. A kid is not sent to school to be assaulted, menaced, or to have a baseball bat shoved up his ass. When something like this happens, there is a breakdown in civilization itself. Where did these kids get the idea that it’s ok to forcibly sodomize a younger classmate? What the eff were the “coaches” thinking when there was most likely a ruckus going on in the back of the bus with some kids probably screaming in terror?

When there is a breakdown in civilization like this, it is only fitting that the full weight of civilization’s laws be brought to bear against the perpetrators upon conviction. Just because they might be first offender teenagers from allegedly good homes in a good school ought not in any way ameliorate their punishment.

This is not a case of “boys will be boys” or “let’s let them off easy because ______”.

How frickin “good” could that home be if a kid doesn’t have it in his mind that shoving things forcibly up another kid’s ass is acceptable behavior? I need parents and teachers to cool it with the self-esteem, and instead start teaching basic human mother effing compassion.

If this happened to my kid, it would take all my effort not to take a baseball bat myself and beat the perpetrator about the head with it. In other words, it would take a tremendous effort to not meet barbarism with barbarism.

If I discovered that my kid did this, I would consider myself to be a grave and fundamental failure as a parent - a parent who raised a monster.

Update: This is Tom Bauerle’s topic today, and he makes the point (as do most callers) that the Wilson schools administration has reacted admirably to this incident. I think that’s right. The cops were called, suspensions were issued, and an investigation is underway. He also mentions that there were three other adults on that bus in addition to the coaches. Where was the parental supervision when these kids were having things shoved up their recta?

You’re on the GipsonCam.

That’s very nice, but frankly wouldn’t cops walking a regular beat also be a great community-based deterrent? How soon before these are used for revenue enhancement such as pegging cars with expired registrations, etc?

If true and found guilty, the only reasonable punishment for this is for the accused to be struck with blunt force so as to cause his liver to lacerate and his arm to be broken.

The Eastgate plaza on Transit Road in Clarence.

Featuring Super Wal*Mart, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Linens & Things, and, evidently, Jimmy’s Cocaine and Ecstasy Emporium.

The Buffalo Police Commissioner is warning that a nasty Central American gang has gained a foothold in WNY, and that its initiation rite is to rear-end cars and then assault and rob the motorist. Or worse.

It sounds very urban legend-y to me, but Gipson called an “emergency” news conference, so I figure this is for reals.

In the age of the internet, this is pretty stunning:

Gipson wouldn’t provide the name of the gang so as not to give the gang “notoriety.”

I prefer to know who these guys are. It’s a gang called MS-13.

Now you know. Thanks, Google.

Most references to MS-13 indicates that there are three primary initiation methods, and none of them involve rear-ending or harming random people. But other scares have arisen in the past with little evidence of the acts being perpetrated.

All I can say is, wow.

Is it too much to ask that the City maybe put some cops on a walking beat - if not everywhere, all the time, then at least in particularly crime-prone areas once in a while? And it wouldn’t kill UB to get involved with this a bit more, either.

I wonder what Citistat has to say about all this?

Stemming off the recent news of Kevin O’Connell, Jr.’s conviction of using patrons’ credit cards to steal money back in Montana, an old Buffalo Rising thread has come alive, and Mr. O’Connell seems to be defending himself in the thread.

If I was his attorney, I’d be telling him to dummy up, seeing as there are still charges pending relating to bad checks he allegedly wrote back in Montana.

The forecast is jail with mixed restitution.

Jokes aside, this story made me very sad. Kevin is a great chef, and the O’Connells’ restaurant on Kenmore is fantastic.

UPDATE: Here’s the article from the Great Falls, Montana paper, and it goes into more detail about the crimes with which O’Connell is accused (bad checks) and convicted (credit cards).

Dennis Delano is one of three Buffalo cold-case detectives, and he is the most recognizable law enforcement officer behind the recent release and exoneration of Anthony Capozzi and Lynn DeJac; two individuals who had been wrongly convicted of crimes they hadn’t committed. Delano looked at the evidence again, and followed up on leads that once led nowhere. Finally, and most significantly, evidence that was still being preserved was sent for DNA testing - something that didn’t exist in its present form in the 80s or 90s.

The DeJac saga has been a very difficult once to watch. First and foremost, a young girl with what seemed like a bright future was apparently brutally murdered. Between the accusations surrounding DeJac’s parenting, to the possible culpability of the immunized David Donahue, it is a sad story indeed.

Last week, Delano, who is not only convinced of DeJac’s innocence, but also of Donahue’s guilt, took crime scene video to Channel 2; something that he had apparently been forbidden to do. He spent a lot of his own time and money trying to clear innocent people’s names, and he doesn’t buy the “revised” autopsy report which lists the causes of death as a cocaine overdose and a head injury.

Scott Brown took some of the evidence to some forensic scientists to get their take on the case, and showed them the video Delano had obtained. Delano even took a day off to accompany Brown to Washington to meet with the scientists. This is a guy who wants to get to the truth.

For his efforts and his excellence and his openness, he has been suspended without pay.

Suspended by a secretive city administration that demands a freedom of information request for the most routine and insignificant of public records. Suspended by a criminal justice system that seems to want to squelch any inquiry whatsoever into the DeJac case.

WBEN has been hammering this story to high heaven the last few days, because Delano’s daughter called in to Sandy Beach’s show on Thursday to break the story, and Delano himself called in yesterday. Some suggest that it’s part of a cover-up, and that Delano has stepped on too many toes. Others suggest that Delano is not above the rules and must obey direct orders from his superiors.

Either way, this dedicated public servant deserves the benefit of a million doubts, and should be reinstated as soon as possible so that he can hopefully find still more innocent people to free.

Sign the petition to reinstate Delano, and to re-open the Crystallynn Girard case here.

I don’t know if I’d go as far as calling this a cover-up, but I would go as far as calling it sweeping the whole damn thing under the rug.

After all, the most likely culprit has immunity from prosecution.

It’s an election year. Let’s just hope it all goes away. All goes away.

Least. Ambitious. Thief. Ever.

If you’re on your way to the police office to run an errand, it’s best not to carjack someone on the way there.