The word “kill”, “die”, “death” and “dead” are thrown around in mainstream media these days as if they have no meaning. Those who read the news regularly need only a few months to become completely desensitized, I for one find it hard to associate the words with anything unless I see the actual killing or death occur.

It’s like that feeling you get when you look at the same word for a really long time. After a little while it just looks like odd scribbles on a page.

It’s horrible, I know. But so many of us are now like this. Death and destruction are commonplaces in our modern world, wars happen, they come and go like anything else, kids starve and die. It’s a fact of life.

The word “death” is used so often in the media that it has been stripped of everything except its literal meaning: to cease to exist. Really, depending on the context, the word can suggest a plethora of possibilities surrounding the death itself. War (whether founded or unfounded), corruption, greed, lust, hate, torture or worst of all, the most egregious crime man can commit: murder.

Before becoming interested in journalism these words meant something to me. But now, after having studied the craft for a few years and being the media monitor that I now am, they’ve lost everything but their literal meanings.

It’s not that I hate journalism for desensitizing me; I actually thank it for teaching me that these things happen. Murders, killings, deaths, destruction, bombs, war, hate, greed, corruption – all of it is part of life, our society’s gritty underbelly that isn’t hidden under the belly, thanks to journalism.

So, perhaps until I (fingers crossed) succeed in the field and become the traveling international reporter I so desire to become, I will see these words, this language, as representative of normal, everyday occurrences. After I see it firsthand, I know my opinion is likely to change.

Until then.

Authorities say Joseph Jimenez, 24, killed Scott Riley, 25, after they argued over the beer pong game Friday at a party in a suburb 15 miles outside Philadelphia.

The men took the argument outside, where authorities say Riley mocked Jimenez and taunted him into shooting him. Jimenez allegedly responded by pulling a .40-caliber and shooting Riley in the neck.

Let’s take a minute to discuss the ground rules of beer pong folks:

Number 1: A bounce counts as two cups. If you are an idiot and knock over your own cups defending the bounce, those cups are lost.

Second: Bitches blow. Nuff said.

3: No overthrow rule. That’s dumb.

Four: Re-rack at six, four, three, and two.

Fifth: If you and your partner sink the same cup at the same time, game over.

Now play nice, kids.

“The evidence clearly indicates that the actions of Milton Police that day spared the life of this young girl from the brother who had already succeeded in killing two of his sisters,” Keating said. “These actions were not only necessary and justified, but heroic and demonstrative of a high level of professionalism, integrity and bravery.”

Keating’s office reviewed evidence from the state and local police and the state Chief Medical Examiner’s office. Investigators also interviewed 9-year-old Saraphina Revelus, who survived the attack.

The following is an excerpt from the Massachusetts State Police investigation:

“From the initial 911 call made to Milton Police, until … [the] reports, ‘shots fired suspect down,’ a total time of approximately five minutes and fifty-two seconds had elapsed. In that span of time, Milton Police responded to the scene, gained entrance into the apartment, faced the above described situation, found the suspect in the bedroom, forced the bedroom door open and made several attempts, by shouting commands for him to give himself up, that can be clearly heard on the 911 tape, which he did not comply with. It was only when he lunged in a threatening manner towards the screaming nine-year-old child, cowering in a bedroom corner that officers were forced to use deadly force. It is reasonable to infer that had the Police Officers not acted in that manner, using deadly force, [the nine-year-old], who had already been stabbed approximately ten times and bleeding profusely, would have suffered additional grievous bodily injury or death at the hands of the suspect, Kerby Revelus.”

Kurvin Richardson, 38, of Roxbury, was arrested in June 2005, 15 years after the murder, and he finally goes to trial Monday, authorities said.

Firefighters responding to a gas leak call found Roman’s stabbed and beaten body in her apartment on May 31, 1990. Aerosol cans were found in Roman’s stove, which was turned on.

Police said Richardson was nailed down as the suspect using DNA evidence, which wasn’t admissible in courts in Massachusetts until 2005.

It went down like this. Several prisoners would play cards at a strategically placed table blocking the guards’ view, while others dug away at the wall, finally breaking through with a shower rod. Just like in the movies, they used braided bedsheets and blankets to make their way down the side wall, and finally escape.

“Idle hands are the Devil’s tools,” claims the Saskatchewan government report, referring to the fact that prisoners at Regina Correctional Center have very little to do. ”They tend to gravitate toward doing whatever they can get away with.”

The report made 23 recommendations for improvements in security for holding such prisoners, all of which were accepted. The government will spend $68 million to construct a new facility, and another few million to bolster security in existing facilities.

According to the report, more than 80 prisoners had supervised the six men without seeing anything. Some thought something was being planned, but none of the guards intervened or asked the prisoners anything.

Pretty ridiculous. If you’re a prison guard and you have a bad feeling about some murder victims, you should probably act on it. You know, for the good of the people and stuff.

It was a quick trial. We reported on the opening remarks just about a week ago, and even the jury didn’t take long to come back with a verdict.

Early on in police questioning a few years ago, the prosecution said Cartright admitted that he did indeed strike 46-year-old Yolande Danestoir in the head with a hammer on Aug. 26, 2006, after a heated argument. Danestoir, the prosecutor said, had banned Cartright from her Reynolds Street home in the course of what he called a “volatile” relationship, then found him inside when she returned home from work that morning.

Danestoir’s body was found 10 days later in a kitchen closet wrapped in a sleeping bag.

UPDATE 4:36 p.m. He has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Norton Cartright, then 19, now 21, faces a first-degree murder charge.

A Suffolk County homicide prosecutor walked a jury through how the Chelsea man allegedly murdered his mother in 2006.

“You’re going to hear some gruesome details, ladies and gentlemen,” Assistant District Attorney David Fredette said his opening remarks Monday.

Fredette said the defendant admitted to police that he did indeed strike 46-year-old Yolande Danestoir in the head with a hammer on Aug. 26, 2006, after a heated argument. Danestoir, the prosecutor said, had banned Cartright from her Reynolds Street home in the course of what he called a “volatile” relationship, then found him inside when she returned home from work that morning.

“On August 25 two years ago, Yolande Danestoir went to work from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Youville Hospital,” Fredette said. “The next time Yolande Danestoir was seen was 10 days later when her body was pulled from that closet, wrapped in a bed sheet and stuffed in a sleeping bag.”

Cartright has since told authorities that he tried to reach his mother by phone after her murder, but prosecutors say they have evidence that Cartright actually used his mother’s cell phone after they say he killed her — to call his girlfriend, they say.

Days later, Chelsea police were investigating after Danestoir hadn’t been seen at work. They smelled something coming from the bedroom closet.

“What they smelled smelled to them like rotting flesh,” Fredette said. When they opened it, however, there was nothing inside. Investigators believe that Cartright had placed the body in that closet first, and then moved it to another closet off the apartment’s kitchen.

They went to that kitchen closet, in which furniture and other items were stacked almost to the ceiling, prosectors said.

“As the detectives took item after item from that closet, the smell got stronger and stronger,” Fredette told the jury. “They pulled out a sleeping bag and found [Danestoir's] decomposing body.”

Cartright was taken to Chelsea police headquarters and questioned about his mother’s murder. That’s when they say he confessed on tape. That tape will be played at trial.

“What you’re going to hear, ladies and gentlemen, is going to be chilling,” the prosecutor said. “The defendant says she threw something at him. He says he threw something at her. He described the head of a hammer. He threw the hammer again …. Then wrapped her up and put her in the closet. Later he heard some noises coming from the closet, so he throws some chairs on top of her to keep her from moving around.”

Fredette said a claw hammer stained with Danestoir’s blood and DNA was recovered from the rafters of her basement.

“All of the evidence is going to point to one person, ladies and gentlemen,” he told the jury. “The defendant – Norton Cartright.”

Cartright was indicted for first-degree murder on December 14, 2006.

Hugh Bachman, coach of the U.S. men’s Olympic volleyball team and his wife, Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, a former Olympic athlete, spoke out in an open letter about the death of Elisabeth’s father and injuries of her mother who were attacked Saturday at a tourist attraction in Beijing.

The attack killed Todd Bachman and critically injured his wife Barbara, both 62. Barbara was recently upgraded from critical to serious but stable at a Beijing hospital.

“We are extremely grateful for the outpouring of assistance and generosity that we have received and hope to convey our appreciation to everyone who has supported us and kept us in their thoughts and prayers,” the letter reads. It goes on to individually thank family, friends, Olympians, officials and President Bush for their support through the weekend.

“This letter cannot do justice in acknowledging the love and support we’ve felt,” they wrote. “We have been lifted up by the outpouring of support and love we’ve received from around the world.”

The 28 Bachman’s home and garden stores in Minnesota, of which Todd Bachman was chairman and CEO, are displaying posters and memorials for their fallen leader.

Barbara Bachman suffered multiple cuts and stab wounds in the attack the killed her husband, Todd Bachman, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced in a statement.

She underwent eight hours of surgery Saturday afternoon and evening and remains in critical but stable condition at a Beijing hospital where her family, including her son-in-law, U.S. men’s indoor volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, and daughter, former olympic athlete Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon.

The Olympic Committee said McCutcheon would not coach the men’s volleyball team in their opening game again

Todd Bachman was chairman and CEO of Bachman’s, a home store that goes back over 100 years an four generations in the family.

At a press conference Saturday, Dale Bachman, president of the Minnesota company, explained the management structure — brothers and cousins who have lost one.

The U.S. Olympic Committee identified the American killed Saturday in Beijing as Todd Bachman, 62, of Lakeville, Minn., who died after being attacked by an apparently deranged Chinese man who then took his own life.

Bachman was the father-in-law of men’s indoor volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon and father of McCutcheon’s wife, 2004 U.S. Olympic women’s indoor volleyball player Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, who was with with her father when the attack took place. His wife Barbara, also 62, was seriously injured in the attack and taken to a local hospital with life-treatening injuries.

Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon was not injured.

“The United States Olympic Committee is saddened to confirm the death of Todd Bachman,” the committee said in a statement Saturday.

The family was touring Beijing’s Drum Tower in Beijing when they were attacked shortly after noon local time. The Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou. Yongming killed himself by jumping off a second story balcony after the attack.

The Olympic Committee said that the Bachmans were not wearing apparel that identified them as relatives of members of the U.S. Delegation at the time of the attack.

Bachman is the chairman and CEO of Bachman’s Floral, Home and Garden, a popular store in Minnesota.

“It is impossible to describe the depth of our sadness and shock in this tragic hour,” said U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth in the statement. “Our delegation comes to the Games as a family, and when one member of our family suffers a loss, we all grieve with them. Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with the Bachman and McCutcheon families.”

The US men’s volleyball team plays its first game at 10 p.m. today against Venezuela.

The pair are relatives of a coach for the US Olympic men’s volleyball team.

“They are deeply saddened and shocked,” Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said of the volleyball team, the Associated Press is reporting.

The Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou.

The attack occurred in broad daylight, hours after the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics and sent shock waves through the region. China is known for its low rate of violence against foreigners due to tight government controls. The government punishes crimes against foreigners more harshly than crimes against other Chinese.

In March, a hostage taker on a bus in Xi’an was shot and killed by a police sniper.

President Bush said he and his wife were saddened by the attack and offered his thoughts and prayers for the families. He said the U.S. government will provide assistance to the family if needed.

U.S. Ambassador Clark T. Randt is said to have visited the surviving female victim at an area hospital.

The State Department has not issued any warnings to Americans in China.

The five women, Jennifer L. Bishop of South Bend, Ind., Carrie A. Chiuso of Frankfort, Ill., Rhoda McFarland, the store manager, of Joliet, Ill., Sarah T. Szafranski of Oak Forest, Ill., and Connie R. Woolfolk of Flossmoor, Ill., were killed during an apparent robbery of the store.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of these vibrant women,” said Tim Crane, President, Harris Community Bank, which is administering the fund. “All of us at Harris were shocked by the tragedy and we are honored to join with Lane Bryant and the community to remember their lives.”

All funds will be distributed evening to the victims’ families.

Send donations to:

The Lane Bryant Tinley Park Memorial Fund
Harris Bank
19500 S. Harlem Avenue
Frankfort, IL 60423
ATTN: Sandy Kozin

The suspect has not been found. In addition to the memorial fund, Lane Bryant and its parent company, Charming Shoppes Inc., is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call the Tinley Park Police Department at 708-444-5394, or the Cook County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-535-7867.

Sander was a nude model, known as Zoey Zane for adult Internet sites. She was originally from Texas and did the modeling as a side job to get extra cash. Authorities said her ties with this industry have no link to her death but that Mireles is the main suspect. El Dorado police found evidence of foul play after entering Mireles’ hotel room where he was living outside Wichita, Kan. A search for Sanders began and her body was found 50 miles East of where she was last seen with Mireles, on November 29. Forensic examinations have been scheduled; a cause of death has not yet been released.

The search extended for Mireles and his 16-year-old pregnant girlfriend, who was also last seen with him. They are believed to be heading South as the 2007 Ford Taurus rental car the man was driving turned up on November 27 in Texas, near an area where he has family. Police expect Mireles to try and cross the border to Mexico, if he has not already done so.

Friends of Sanders have posted a public message on Sander’s website ZoeyZane.com. They are raising funds for a reward to be given to anyone who can provide information about Mireles. The announcement also declares outrage for the media attention that followed after Sander’s death and discovery of her nude modeling. She was typecast as a “porn star,” something that was unnecessary according to the post.

“Due to your irresponsible journalism and not checking your facts before sending out this info over the news wire, you have turned this into a PR feeding frenzy for the sole purpose of creating drama to draw in viewers,” reads the on-line message.

If no information that could help solve Sander’s case is obtained the money raised will be given to Sander’s family to be donated. Nonetheless, those who knew the young woman are committed to getting justice.

“[To Mireles] You can run, but you can not hide. Running to Mexico will not keep you safe from justice, you will be caught,” as the last message on Sander’s site said.

The book  is horrifying in a nutshell — exploitative and obscene. But if you put it down for longer than the time it takes to use the bathroom—for any other reason than unbeatable disgust—you are a testament to humanity’s true weakness in the face of suffering.

Everyone remembers, vaguely, where they were when The Juice was found not guilty in criminal court of the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown. He was later sentenced in civil court, found liable for willfully and wrongfully causing the deaths of Goldman and Brown, and for committing battery with malice and oppression. He was charged some millions of dollars, and left to fade into obscurity until he broke into a casino to steal some sports memorabilia he claimed was his.

So that was the period between the ‘90s and last week.

It’s Goldman’s relatives who are responsible for having the book published at all. After an initial fight to keep the book off the shelves when it was supposed to be published earlier this year, the Goldmans reversed their position with the intention that everyone who reads the book will be convinced of Simpson’s guilt.

The Goldman family’s quest to keep the book off the shelves is discussed in a lengthy introduction (titled He Did It), saying that the royalty money from the publication was to be funneled to a sham corporation “operated” by Simpson’s children. The Goldman family bought the rights to the book after the sham nature of the corporation was discovered, and decided to publish Simpson’s original manuscript with their preface, a preface written by the ghostwriter (Pablo F. Fenjves) and an afterward written by a judge.

This turns O.J.’s original manuscript — which was purported by Simpson himself to have started out as a fictional account — into a weird sort of dialogue, or debate, between two distinct visions of the truth.

The three bookends to The Juice’s manuscript each ring out the same tune: He did it, we know he did it, we’re all disgusted and aren’t you? And going into the book, you either agree or you don’t.

That’s not the point: the point is to hear from our generation’s most famous killer since Aileen Wuornos. This is the Juice’s side of the story, billed by Fenjves as his final confession. Consider If I Did It O.J.’s “Monster.” We get to see how the killing started: girl trouble.

Yes, girlfriend troubles. The first hundred pages of the book are O.J.’s account of his torrid romance with Nicole Brown, from its dreamy beginnings to its bloodsoaked end. With no one to contradict him, and a ghostwriter who seems to have written the book verbatim from his subject’s own rambling narrative, Simpson makes her out to be a schizophrenic, dangerously unstable, needy, hairpin-turn kind of nutjob girlfriend, with whom O.J. spent nearly two decades before finally snapping and butchering her and an innocent bystander.

It’s this tale which is almost as morally repugnant as the act itself, but actually the real reason I simply could not put it down. O.J. Simpson’s catastrophically mundane troubles and almost touching confusion in the face of this woman he cheated on his wife to be with one week into her 18th year, is the perfect celebrity-tragedy story for our time.

I mean, come on, you’re not getting Romeo and Juliet here. This book is trashy celebrity romance, a tabloid tell-all written by a failed National Enquirer writer.
It’s beach reading for those of you with no shame at all. It’s kind of fun to wallow in The Juice’s whining.

Until you remember that it’s all just excuses and half-ass justification for why he killed his ex-wife and an innocent bystander.

Is it a narrative of quality? Not at all. Even with the Goldman family’s moralistic cautionary tale taped to the front of the original manuscript, the book still serves no purpose other than to shock. The Goldman family turns O.J. into a monster outright, and O.J. turns himself into a monster accidentally.

By the end of the narrative the whole sordid thing is just exhausting. Whether you agree with the Goldman family or Simpson, you’re going to finish reading and need a hot shower.