The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good: Scouts at a Boy Scout Leadership training camp in Blencoe, Iowa. By the time first responders arrived to the tornado-ravaged campsite Wednesday evening, the Scouts had already gathered the wounded and began administering first aid immediately. Without hesitation, these boys sprang into action helping their fellow Scouts.

Four Scouts were killed in the tornado. The Des Moines register profiles one of the victims:

Aaron Eilerts, 14, the only child of Bob and Carol Eilerts of Eagle Grove, played flute, liked to sew, was closing in on his Eagle Scout rank and was a
philanthropist who practically everyone knew, his school principal said. Just short of the beginning of high school, Eilerts died when a tornado ripped through the Little Sioux Boy Scout camp Wednesday night. Three other youths from Nebraska died, and 48 youths and adults were injured.

Eilerts moved to Eagle Grove from Nebraska in sixth grade. He spent much of his time in Eagle Grove helping others. He sewed colorful pillowcases for many hospitals, including St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where he enjoyed taking vacation trips to see Elvis’ mansion, Graceland. When he’d had enough of that, he made blankets for dogs at shelters so the animals wouldn’t have to sleep on cold concrete floors. He sewed scarves and ties for teachers.

“He loved to sew,” Sievertsen said. “His mother taught him." Eilerts was an avid fan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, played football, ran cross country and track, and sang the national anthem at sports events. He played a townsperson on the “Wizard of Oz,” one of many drama productions on his list of achievements.

The Bad: Kevin Lamont Thomas, charged with 12 felony counts in the alleged sexual assault of four underage school girls. He faces 30 years in prison if he is convicted of assaulting the first alleged victim.

But prosecutors haven't even begun figuring out what additional charges could arise from the three new police reports filed today. The first girl to report the alleged abuse, now 19, said she had been molested between 2004 and 2006 - starting when she was 15... And when officers searched Thomas' car, they found videos of the coach with two underage victims - the first one who had come forward and another they identified today.

Oh, and by the way... Mr. Thomas is was a coach at Birmingham High School.

Randolph Barnett Cornfield, 60, of Playa del Rey, was arrested in connection with "several images of child pornography" that were found on his personal home computer, said Capt. Fabian Lizarraga, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Juvenile Division.

Oh, and by the way... Mr. Cornfield is was the principal of Del Rey Continuation School in Westchester.

Alex Diaz, 36, was arrested about 10 p.m. May 21 by sheriff's deputies who allegedly caught him having sex with a 17 year-old female student in the backseat of his car in a Carson parking lot. He pleaded not guilty today to nine felony counts.

Oh, and by the way... Mr. Diaz is was a teacher at Bell High School.

Judge Alex Kozinski : Currently presiding over the trial of Ira Isaacs, who is charged with obscenity for selling movies depicting bestiality and fetishes involving feces and urination, has asked for investigation into his own conduct for storing lewd photos and videos on a publicly accessible Web site.

If you found this kind of thing in your kid's bedroom you would wash your kid's mouth out with soap. We expect more from a judge," said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at Loyola University Law School."Character counts for judges because they have so much power and affect so many people's lives."

The computerized cache included a picture of two nude women on all fours painted to look like Holstein dairy cows, images of masturbation, a video of a man being pursued by a sexually aroused donkey and a slide show featuring a striptease with a transsexual. Although he requested an investigation, it's unclear what, if any, discipline Kozinski could face. Circuit judges are appointed for life and can only be fired by Congress, though they can be censured by fellow jurists.

I compiled the list of The Bad from the Daily News. I've decided to rename it The Daily Perv News.

and now...

The Ugly: Laker fans got to pay $15.00 to watch Game 2 of the Lakers-Celtics match on the big screens inside Staples Center last Sunday. They also got 3, count 'em 3, separate fights in the stands. You can find clips of the various fights on YouTube, but this one is my personal choice for UGLIEST; keep your eye on the lone fan in the Celtics jersey:




I don't get it... why beat a guy simply because he roots for the other team? But on the other hand, being a Celtics fan and wearing your Celtics colors, sitting in the midst of the Laker faithful inside Staples Center (even if it was just a Big Screen televised game) during the Championship series, cheering on the Celtics; with lots of people hopped up on beer and bravado, perhaps was not the wisest move on that poor Celtics fan's part. As ditzy as I am, even I have enough sense to know that's wrong.