The boyfriend from hell

"...because she didn't visit him at work"

Castellanos slapped the woman with a belt buckle, stabbed her at least six times, kicked her, punched her and urinated on her, authorities said.

He held a knife at her throat and threatened to kill her... poured ranch dressing and hot sauce on the woman and tried to wrestle her into the oven, forcing her legs inside. But he then changed his mind and decided instead to boil water so he could try to scald her with it.

Castellanos also stamped on the woman's dog and tried to kick it as it cowered beneath a table, authorities said. The woman was eventually able to escape her attacker by ducking into the bathroom, locking the door and calling 911 from a hidden cellphone.

'He tried to kill me,' she told a dispatcher.

h/t Charles C W Cooke tweet 

"The cologne started the part of my story that is much harder to tell"

"One Saturday afternoon a few months after our first date, I opened one of the cards and then smelled it as he beamed on proudly. I sniffed and joked “like a woman” because he was the first man I ever knew to send a scented envelope."

"I know it’s a cliche, but if I close my eyes, I can still see that moment in slow motion. His face changed from beaming to furious. And suddenly, I was on the floor. It wasn’t until he extended his hand down to me saying, “Oh baby I am so sorry! Why did you have to say that? I’m so sorry!” that I realized I was on the floor because his fist had put me there. I actually thought for a second that a piece of the ceiling must have fallen down. Surely Hank couldn’t have hit me? That was something that happened to other people." (read more the whole thing)

Why I married My Abuser

Video: NFL Ray Rice Fiancee Takes A Punch (Update*)

Previously unreleased video (allegedly?) showing what happened inside the elevator.

 

 

“We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today,” the league said in its statement.

*Update: "Someone Is Lying About Whether The NFL Saw The Ray Rice Tape"... The tape from inside the elevator the NFL claims was not made available to them.

"Warning Isn't Blame"

"In most facets of life, we understand intuitively that there are things we can do to reduce the likelihood of bad things happening to us. If we lock our doors, we are less likely to have things stolen. If we avoid walking alone late at night in bad parts of town, we are less likely to be mugged. And if we choose whenever possible not to associate with people who have shown themselves to be violent, we are less likely to get hurt."

Yet, increasingly it appears that discussing steps women could take to reduce the chances of bad things happening to them is out of bounds in our society. I am here to respectfully suggest that, for all their good intentions, the actions of people concerned about “victim blaming” are ultimately making women less safe.

Saying that some behaviors make me more vulnerable to assault is simply not the same as saying those behaviors “justify” the person who assaults me. We teach our children not to talk to strangers. Does anyone believe that doing so transfers blame away from the person who commits a crime like kidnapping? Of course not. A person who harms a child is at fault, full stop. Nothing about the child’s behavior changes that. So why is it that telling young women that they can do things to decrease the likelihood of something awful happening to them is viewed as transferring blame from aggressor to victim? (read more via US News & World Report)

Talking about the likelihood of something awful happening to a woman got ESPN's Steven A. Smith suspended from the highly rated sports network. Here is the video of his talk that got him in trouble... and what have you... failing to put his finger on the problem... and what have you.

Former Bush 43 counsel convicted of attempted murder

John Michael Farren, who served as deputy White House counsel during President George W. Bush’s second term, was found guilty of attempted murder, first-degree assault, and risk of injury to a child.

Farren allegedly beat his wife unconscious with a metal flashlight two days after she served him with divorce papers. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

Mary Margaret Farren, his wife, successfully sued her husband for $28.6 million over the injuries she suffered in the attack, which left her with a broken jaw.
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The first paragraph says he was convicted of attempted murder, the second paragraph says he allegedly beat his wife unconscious. Is that contradictory?