Life's No Picnic When You're....
From WTVD Raleigh-Durham
DURHAM (WTVD) -- The FBI filed federal charges this week against a Durham woman for allegedly threatening to kill her probation officer.
In a criminal complaint filed with the United States District Court, federal investigators say Teddy Bear Paradise told witnesses that "they would have to clean up all the blood in the parking lot."
The complaint also says that Paradise has continued to threaten the woman despite having her parole repeatedly revoked.
Paradise apparently has a history of threatening people. She was convicted in California in 2005 of mailing threatening letters. The parole officer she's now charged with threatening supervised her right after her release.
FBI agent Michael Sutton writes in the affidavit that Paradise repeatedly sent inappropriate letters and voice mails to the officer, and even told her "I could have shot or stabbed you," when she met her in the lobby of the parole office.
Sutton said that the latest incident was on January 5 in a VA hospital emergency room where Paradise began throwing chairs, knocking over trash cans, and again threatened the parole officer.
According to the affidavit, doctors say Paradise has a borderline personality disorder, but does not currently have any active psychiatric illness.
Paradise is being held in the Durham County Jail without bond.
Jan 29, 09 |
Dumb Names = Life of Crime
From the Calgary Herald:
For Pete's sake: a name means something when it comes to crime
Cheryl Chan, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, June 08, 2008
VANCOUVER - What's in a name? Possibly a life of crime.
An unpopular name - like Alec, Ernest, Ivan, or Malcolm - is more likely to spell trouble than favourites Michael, Matthew or Christopher, according to research presented Saturday at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of B.C.
"There is a positive correlation between unpopular first names and juvenile delinquency,'' said Daniel Lee, an economics professor at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.
His study, the first to examine the link between names and crime, compiled the first names of all males born between 1987 and 1991 in a large unnamed American state, and calculated a Popularity Name Index, or PNI, for each of the 15,021 unique names.
Michael, the most popular name, had a PNI of 100 while David, a name given half as frequently, had a 50 PNI.
The study then compared the names and their popularity ratings to the first names of male youth in the juvenile justice system from 1997 to 2005.
Using regression models, Lee and co-author David Kalist found that regardless of race, the more unique, rare and unpopular the name is, the more likely it popped up in youth crime files 10 to 18 years later.
While half of the names in the state population have a PNI of 20 or more, half the names of the juvenile population have a PNI greater than 11.
Lee calculated that for every 10 per cent increase in the popularity of a name, there is an associated 3.7 per cent decrease in the number of troublemaking kids with that name.
However, research also showed that the PNI of a juvenile's name is also associated with other factors, such as socio-economic conditions and family structure.
"The PNI is positively associated when the kid is living with both parents and negatively associated when living only with the mother,'' said Lee, adding that juveniles with more unpopular names also tended to live in the state's more disadvantaged counties.
The findings indicate that while the popularity of a juvenile's name has a correlation with crime, it doesn't necessarily cause the crime, said Lee.
"We're arguing it's not the name per se, that causes the juvenile to behave badly, but it's the family background,'' he said.
So, for parents who are already stressed out trying to find the perfect name for their kid, Lee has a word of advice: "It's all right to give unique names to your children, but make sure you become a good parent.''
Jun 09, 08 |
Not if I Quash Her First!
If you're still taking entries on horrible baby names, I have a couple - all of which have been students at my school (I'm an elementary school teacher).
Sadly, we DO have a D'Artagnan. And his brother, Donavin. As if that weren't bad enough, their last name is (three syllables and Scandanavian(?)).
Then there was this adorable pixie of a girl who on first glance looked like someone you wanted to snatch up and snuggle. But when you get to know her, she's quite the little...well, let's put it nicely...fyreball - SieQuasha. I mean, seriously, wouldn't that name piss you off too?
Then there's Shyyaann. I don't think I even have to comment on that one.
Enjoy!
Sep 16, 07 |
Rare 20th Century Madison Sighting
I just wanted to let you know that I love, love, love your Bad Baby Names site - it really echoes many of my same sentiments.
I'm nearly 30 (born in 1977 - way before Splash came out) and was named Madison Anne. It's a family name (yes, for the ladies) that goes back more than seven generations. I'm thrilled to share my name with my female ancestors.
What I wasn't so thrilled about was growing up with such a grown-up name. What most of these insane people don't realize is that it's not a dog they're naming - it's a little kid that has to live with that name for the rest of his/her life. And just when I started loving my name (about 15 years ago), it caught on in popularity! Now I have to share my once distinctive name so linked to a rich family history with every fifth girl on the block.
Thanks for making me laugh,
Madison
Sep 15, 07 |
Magical Milk
I read the baby names in our local paper, The Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY) when they are printed each Wednesday. Several (probably 6) years ago my favorite appeared.
Mystical Mo'Cream M(last name)
I saved the newspaper for about 2 years, but threw it away the last time I moved. Hope you like it!
-Mary
Sep 15, 07 |
