Cowgirl Does The News

Alzheimers linked to periodontal disease?

2005-06-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Times
Twins who had severe periodontal disease before they were 35 years old had a fivefold increase in risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, the researchers found.

Child Abuse Study

2005-06-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

Azcentral.com
A new study published in the July 5 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online issue pertains to child abusers. The study involved female rhesus monkeys raised by biological or foster mothers that were abused. More than half of the abused monkeys abused during their first month of life became abusive mothers themselves.

What Is a Son?

2005-06-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

A son is a warm spot in your heart and a
smile on your lips.

In the beginning he is charmingly innocent,
putting his complete trust in you.

He comes to you for a hand to hold, and for
the security only your arms can provide.

He shares his tales of adventure, and
knows how proud you are of his discoveries
and accomplishments.

All his problems can be solved by a hug and
a kiss from you, and the bond you share is
so strong it is almost tangible...

Time passes, and your innocent little boy
starts to test his limits. He lets go of your
hand to race into the midst of life without
thinking ahead or looking both ways.

His problems have grown along with him,
and he has learned that you can’t always
make his life better or kiss his troubles away.

He spends much of his time away from you,
and though you long for the closeness you
once shared, he chooses independence and
privacy.

Discoveries and accomplishments aren’t as
easy to come by now, and sometimes he
wonders about his worth.

But you know the worth of that young man.
He is your past and your future. He is hopes
and dreams that have made it through each
and every disappointment and failure.

In your heart, your son is precious and
treasured. Together, you struggled through
the years trying to find the right amount of
independence for each new stage of his life,
until finally, you had to learn to let him go.

Now you put your trust in him, leaving that
son, whom you hold so dear, totally in his own
care. You hope he always remembers that you
have a hand for him to hold, and arms to
provide comfort or support.

Most of all, you hope that he believes in
himself as much as you believe in him, and
that he knows how much you love him.
-Poem by Barbara Cage

Was He Supposed to Stand There and Get Shot Too?

2005-06-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

A cop was caught on video taking cover after his partner was shot, not returning until after returning fire with the fleeing vehicle. The way the article is written, the cops partner is hit multiple times in the chest and falls. The cop flees behind parked cars and returns fire with the assailant.

WHat? His partner is down. Was he supposed to lay his body over the prone victim and return fire? I am not sure what police protocal is during a situation like that.

Am I wrong?

Isn't It Ironic

2005-06-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday Joseph Cooper went to his son's graveside after work. His son had died in 1996 of pneumonia and Cooper, heartsick would visit his son's graveside on these weekly visits and pray or tell him about his day.

This past Saturday, Joseph Cooper went to his son's graveside like he did every week. He may not have realized that the thunderstorm was as close as it was. Family members have stated he would have gone anyway.

Saturday, Joseph Cooper was killed by lightning as he visited his son's graveside. Lightning struck the tree that was beside his son's grave, traveled down it and into Cooper.

He will be buried next Saturday beside his beloved son, under that tree.

BTK timeline

2005-05-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Compare BTK killings with Dennis Rader Timeline

Let the White Dove Sing

2005-05-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Like many people I had been horrified about the ongoing sexual abuse of a blond haired child, the abuse blatently posted on the internet by her abuser for the world to see. I heard this on the radio Friday as I was driving out of town.

Girl in Sex Abuse Photos Found Alive

They feared she was dead. When Toronto police stumbled on the pictures of the child a few months ago there were hundreds of pictures of her being sexually abused over a time period spanning 2-3 years. The pictures had stopped about 2 years ago. The investigators knew that this type of predator would not just suddenly stop documenting this childs torment. Fearing the worst, they began to search for her using techniques not tried before. They digitally removed her from some of the photos of her abuse and posted them on the internet and in newspapers and on television. Leads came pouring in.

ORLANDO — A young girl who appeared in a series of sexually explicit pictures taken at a Walt Disney World hotel and other locations has been found and is now safe, authorities said Friday.

Have you seen this girl?
Originally uploaded by E_llie.

Orange County Sheriff's Office detectives hope someone can identify the girl in this photo. They believe the girl, who is not a victim, can provide information pertinent to an international child pornography case.

There is a child being abused. Her pictures have been considered must haves by pedophiles scouring the internet for child porn. She was 9 when over 200 pictures and videos were taken in 2001. She has long blond hair and would be twelve today. Frustrated Toronto detectives decided to try to do more to find her. They digitally wiped her image from photos in an attempt to locate the hotel or resort she was abused at on more than one occasion. Seconds after Toronto Newstations ran the broadcast showing the pictures, tips began pouring in.

THe hotel has been located. It is a Florida Walt Disney World resort. The name of the resort has not been released.

Happy Mother's Day?

2005-05-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

Father Charged in 2 Girl's Slayings. ZION, Ill.

Michael Waller had only recently been release from prison. He had been placed on probation for 10 years for running after neighbors with a chain saw during an altercation with his wife. After he failed to meet the terms of the probation in 2003, he was imprisoned.

He was reportedly angry on Mother's Day at his little daughter. Something to do with money. He went looking for her and returned home alone. Her and a friend were reported missing when they failed to come home.

The bodies of both girls were found in a nearby park. They had been beaten and stabbed repeatedly and left to die. They were not sexually assaulted.

Runaway Bride Run Amuck?

2005-05-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

Remember the Runaway Bride? Since her "recovery from captivity" some interesting facts have come out about her. This was not her first alter avoidance. She didn't show for a previous marriage ceremony as well.
She also has been arrested for shoplifting three times. There has been some speculation by mental health experts that she could be have a borderline personality disorder, which means she would be extremely unstable in her relationships and would often do things to draw attention to herself.

Hmmm. You would think her family would have had an insight into her character to not plan a lavish wedding with 600 guests.

Want to know what Jennifer Wilbanks aka The Runaway Bride's home town thinks of her activities?
The Smoking Gun has a link to letters from her home state. They are hilarious.

"Her Soul is Dancing"

2005-05-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

If you like me, have ever surfed the cold cases sites, you have been chilled at the forensic recreations from a skeleton or partially decomposed body. In some instances, you can actually view photos of the deceased victim, placed there in hopes someone will identify that person.

A child's body was found on April 28, 2001. Her body was found a few days later. Her case came to be known as the Precious Doe case. Last week, the child was identified as Erica Green. She was just three years old.

Today, a community said goodbye to her. Included at the funeral was her former foster mom, Betty Brown, who raised Erica from birth to age three, in Muskogee, Okla.

Michelle Johnson and her husband Harrell Johnson have been charged with the murder.

Several teenagers spoke at the funeral including Ailey Pope Coe, 14, she said Erica is anonymous no more and "is crying out her name" for everyone to hear.

"Her soul is dancing," Coe said.

Local Politics Getting Ugly

2005-04-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

If you are from Mississippi and have been following Jackson's mayoral election coverage, you will want to read the following article supplied by the Jackson Free Press. The article is from 1994 and was printed in Newsday. It was written by an investigative reporter named Jim Mulvaney. The article revisits allegations never proven that Frank Melven sexually molested 2 boys in his custody. The two boys later turned up dead, "shot to death by a person or person's unknown".
An FBI probe of the incident did not lead to charges.

One Jail's Tale

Frankenstein Food

2005-04-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Need some more snap, crackle, pop, out of your Rice Crispies?

From Bizarro land comes this little tidbit "Scientists have begun putting genes from human beings into food crops in a dramatic extension of genetic modification"

Absent

2005-04-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my lack of recent posting. I have a test in 2 weeks to become licensed for my job. I am studying a huge book. I will return on the 23rd.

Scouting in the Woods

2005-03-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

My little brother was a boy scout for a short period of time. He only went to a couple of camp outs. My mother boycotted the Boy Scout idea after the last camp out he attended. He came home filled with stories of massive wedgie attacks (not minor wedgies but horrendous stretch your underwear up somewhere maybe on your head? I don't remember where and I don't have a point of reference not being male) on younger boys by the older troops and troop leaders. (thus in my mind forever after, the boy scout official name has been "Wedgie Boy", I cannot erase the connotation) There were also disturbing tales of rampant nakedness in the woods, both adult and child nakedness.

My mother decided that this particular troop was a little, well, weird. (she probably was not a good judge, she had trouble with the whole raising a boy thing.) I actually agreed with her at the time. (why would an adult give a child a wedgie?) (Why run naked thru the woods? This was many years ago and to be honest the thing that bothered me the most about the naked in the woods thing was the poison ivy. WHAT ABOUT THE POISON IVY YOU FOOLS AS YOU RUN NAKED THRU THE WOODS GIGGLING, AND DOING GOD KNOWS WHAT ELSE!

Don't get me wrong, I have no evidence the Boy Scouts are not a healthy club for boys. To the contrary, I think that the majority of Boy Scout troops are probably great places for boys to learn useful things and to hang out with adult males.

Over the years, I have stumbled on a few stories about Boy Scout leaders going awry. The Boy Scouts aren't the only organization beset by accusations of wrong doing by leaders, any profession or organization that deals with children seems to be fair game for predators.

Nothing like this however:
Longtime Program Director of the Boy Scouts and chairmain of it's Youth Protection Task Force pleaded guilty in court today to a charge of possession and distribution of child pornography.

Makes me feel downright queasy when I think that he could have been giggling naked in the woods and giving poor younger boy scouts wedgies.

Easter Sunrise

2005-03-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

dogwood
Originally uploaded by E_llie.

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said."

Matt 28:6

Happy Easter!

Death Sentence Upheld Today

2005-03-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

Florida Judge rejects latest and said to be final, Shiavo Appeal

I have been so upset about this case, I have been unable to blog about it. Terry Shiavo's last appeal against her death sentence was turned down today. She did not have a living will, is not terminally ill, was NOT brain dead since she apparently recognized her parents.

Her sentence, death by slow starvation and dehydration. Her crime? Becoming incompacitated under what can only be called, suspicous circumstances.

I can only pray for her family, and pray that her death will come swiftly.

Cartoons from a Killer

2005-03-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

The Smoking Gun website has posted an animated cartoon created by Jeff Weiss, the kid who killed 9 people before shooting himself. In this animated cartoon, the character commits suicide after his bloody rampage. There is also a link to his MSN personal website profile.

If you want a detailed psychological analysis of these cartoons, MSNBC has an interview with Dr. Katherine Newman, author of the book "Rampage" posted on it's website.

Among the things disclosed on these websites:
One of Weiss' favorite movies was Dawn of the Dead.
His favorite quote was "We are little flames, poorly sheltered by frail walls against the storm of dissolution and madness, in which we flicker and sometimes almost go out." - Wehrmacht Private Paul Baumer, All Quiet on the Western Front

Jeff Weiss Identified as Shooter at Minn School

2005-03-22T20:09:00.000-08:00

His name was Jeff Weiss and he was 16 or 17. He killed himself after killing 9 other people, starting with his grandparents.

He dressed in black, wore a trench coat, (note the similarity between Columbine killers), wore eyeliner, wrote stories about zombies, created comic books with graphic pictures of death, and may have posted messages on a neo-Nazi Web site supporting Adolph Hitler using the name Todsengel or Angel of Death.

He had been placed on the schools Homebound program for violation of school policy. He was a loner who was often teased by others (Columbine similarities again). It has been reported that his father committed suicide 4 years ago and that his mother lives in a nursing home, disabled by brain injuries suffered in a car accident. He lived with his grandfather, Daryl Lussier and his grandfather's live in companion, Michelle Sigana.

Link to Red Lake High School where tragedy occured. It has pictures of the school and hallways.

Link to Red Lake Band of Indians web site.
The story below this one gives more details about the incident.

He was Grinning and Waving as He Shot Fellow Students

2005-03-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

Updated: The death toll now stands at 10 and it is currently being reported he was grinning and waving as he was shooting....
Star Tribune
In September 2003, central Minnesota's Rocori High School, had a shooting incident that killed two students, Aaron Rollins and Seth Bartell.

It has happened again in Minnesota, this time at the Red Lake Indian Reservation, about 240 miles north of the Twin Cities.

In the worst school shooting since Columbine, a student, whose name has not been released, first shot his grandparents, then he went to his high school and killed 6 students and wounded 14 to 15 more. He was found dead at the scene. It is believed that he killed himself.

There are few details as of yet, but it is being reported that all the dead were in one room. Tribal fire marsal Roman Stately told reporters the shooter entered the school around 2pm, shot a security guard, then walked down the hall to a classroom where he shot a teacher and more students. He was armed with a shotgun and two handguns.

There is no word on a motive at this time.

Nurse to Patient Ratio becomes Law

2005-03-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

California

Touted as a victory by the California Nurses Association, a California low now puts the patient to nurse ration for general medical care at 1:5, it was 1:6. For emergency room services, the new ratio is 1:4. The opposing viewpoint states California is already short 14,000 nurses. The new law could close hospitals unable to fulfill the mandate.

Governor Swartzenegger plans to appeal the ruling.

John Evander Cooey being sought for questioning in disappearance of Jessica Lunsford.

2005-03-16T17:19:00.000-08:00

Cooey a convicted sex offender can be seen here in an undated photo. He has some ties to Jessica, the police are not releasing the nature of those ties. John Cooey was last seen in Savannah Georgia and has a warrant out for his arrest for failing to report to his probation officer. Officials believe he has left the area.

Horrific France Sex Abuse Case

2005-03-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

If some of the perpatrators had not confessed you would think this latest sex abuse scandal was fabricated by it's accusers. In the 430 page description of charges, a group of parents and friends have been accused of passing their children around for sexual pleasure. Selling their offspring for booze and cigarettes while the children screamed in the next room. The number of accused stands at 66, the victims 44.

Angers, France
Twenty-seven of the accused are women. The victims, girls and boys, ranged in age from 6 months to 16 years. Some of the defendants have confessed, lawyers said.

Mommy Dearest

2005-03-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Mommy Dearest
Originally uploaded by E_llie.

Police in Instanbul Turkey have arrested a man posing as his dead mother to collect her retirement check.

He showed up at a bank, dressed in womans clothes complete with proper support hose. The officials became suspicious of their account holders deep voice. A manager secretly photographed him and called police.

Serafettin Gencel, told police that his 68 year old mother had been dead 2 years. He had buried her body in the basement at her death to be able to collect her checks.

Police are exhuming the body to see if foul play was involved. The man is being held on various charges.

Animal House?

2005-03-11T17:45:00.000-08:00

ARCADIA, Fla. - Violent sexual predators at a privately operated state treatment center brew their own alcohol, wander around "staggering drunk" and often have brutal fights, investigators found.

25.5 Million To Be Paid By U.S. for Nazi Era Plundering

2005-03-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

MIAMI - The federal government on Friday reached a $25.5 million settlement with the families of Hungarian Holocaust victims and will acknowledge the U.S. Army's role in commandeering a trainload of the families' treasures during World War II.

How was BTK caught?

2005-03-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for one stop shopping for information on Dennis Rader, check out the Johnsville News, a blogger site. The information is comprehensive and contains links to photos of BTK from the 70's thru 2005. It also contains links to court transcripts, videos, and more information about the victims.

You will also find in-depth analysis of the developing case and up to date information on how BTK was caught, and more information to the ongoing question, about Kerri Rader's role in her fathers capture.

Haunted Desert

2005-03-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

She was found a decade ago, in a ravine at the bottom of Sycamore Canyon in Yavapai Canyon, Arizona. She had already been dead about a year. She was 9 months pregnant, had on Gap jeans, a solar shield from a recent eye surgery. Her clothes matched, she was well dressed. She was from between 5 foot 2 inches to 5 foot 5 inches tall. She had a straw hat, purple hair clip, a hooded sweat shirt and a day bag. Her black, green and blue bathing suit hung from a tree. Not the description of your typical unclaimed body.

What happened? How did she get there? Was she left to die by the babies father? Was she unable to climb out? Was the bathing suit hung from the tree as a help signal?

Her remains are one of 150 people that Laura Fulginiti, forensic anthropologist stores at her downtown Phoenix office.

Remembering "Bloody Sunday"

2005-03-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the tape of this event? There were families complete with small children, marching across that bridge in Selma, AL.

"F orty years ago today, 500 people marching for civil rights crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Ala., on their way to Montgomery to protest the murder of a young demonstrator, Jimmy Lee Jackson".

Prison Fire In Domincan Republic Kills 133

2005-03-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

Like most prisons, this one was overcrowded. Built to house 100, it held 500. The firefighters that responded to the blaze could not get into the building. The locks had been filled with sand by prisoners.

The fire was set by rival gangs fighting to gain control of the prison using knives, machetes an guns.

133 were killed and at least 26 injured.

Pot Smokers Seeking Treatment?

2005-03-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

For years it has been touted as a lesser of evils by some, a gateway drug by others.

Chronic pot smokers are stereotyped as being "eternal hippies" laid back and seeking undemanding career paths. Relying on spouses or family members to take on the responsibilities of the world.

A new study released by the federal government claims that more people are actually seeking treatment for marijuana use. The figures given show that numbers of imbibers seeking help have more than doubled since 1992.

Advocates of legalizing marijuana use disagree stating that the laws have changed and people are being given a choice to get help or serve jail time.

Whatever the reason for the increase in treatment, I have observed a few stereotypical pot smokers. Mostly, Peter Pans and Janes that never quite grew up.

One in particular, who is dearly loved and a great friend to his children. A creative, highly intelligent person, who writes poetry on the refrigerator, but works a job far below his capabilities. He lets most of the adult responsibilities fall on his wifes shoulders.

Who knows the things he might have accomplished, the contributions he might have made, had he stopped smoking pot. I don't think it bothers him though. He is a great person, but he doesn't think the pot thing is a problem. He doesn't seem to mind that he could be a college professor or a great writer and that he settled for less. He doesn't seem to care.

No More Death Penalty for Teen Agers

2005-03-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

I know they have committed, in some cases, heinous crimes. Maybe it is because I remember what it was like to be under 18, a teenager and incredibly stupid. Maybe it is because I have teenage kids and see their immaturity. Right or wrong, I am happy that kids under 18 can no longer be sentenced to death.

Here is a list of some real Arizona cases. At the time of their crimes these kids were under 18. They were tried and were on death row until today. As of today, as much as we might hate what they did, they can no longer be put to death for these crimes.

BTK Daughter Turned in Dad?

2005-02-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

Did you ever suspect someone you were close too of doing something horrible in the past or present?

26 year old Kerri Rader, had a horrible secret. She suspected her dad to be the BTK killer. Her suspicions were so strong she went to the police. They took a DNA sample of Kerri's blood which came back as a 90% match for the BTK killer. After the results, they immediately began surveillance on her father.

59 year old Dennis Rader was arrested Friday. He will be charged with 10 counts of murder. He was a one time president of a Lutheran church. He has 2 children and worked for Park City as a compliance supervisor.

*January 1974: Julia and Joseph Otero are strangled in their home along with two of their children, Jospeh Jr. and Josephine.

*April 1974: Kathryn Bright is stabbed to death in her home.

*March 1977: Shirley Vian, 24, is strangled in her home.

*December 1977: Nancy Fox, 25 is strangled in her home, BTK called the police from her home after the murder.

*September 1986: Vicki Wegerle, 28 is strangled in her home.

*Two murders newly attributed to BTK based on new information he had been anonymously providing over the past year, Marine Hedge in April 1985 and Delores Davis in January 1991.

Ex-Boyfriend Admits Murdering Seven Month Pregnant Woman and Son.

2005-02-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

Stephen Dale Barbee didn't want his wife to find out about the pregnancy. He had dated Lisa Underwood for 2 years, they broke up when Barbee started seeing another woman.

According to police, Barbee stated that he and Lisa were fighting over him leaving his wife. He suffocated her and when Jaden her 7 year old son interrupted the attack, Barbee suffocated him as well. He put the bodies in the back of Lisa's SUV, took them to some woods near Denton, TX and buried them in a shallow grave.

Court papers further reveal that a suspicious looking mud covered man fitting Barbee's description was stopped and briefly detained by a deputy early Saturday but he escaped into the woods.

We Are Not Amused?

2005-02-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

Queen will not attend Prince Charles wedding. They are saying it is not a snub. She will attend church blessing afterwards. Hmmmmm, I wonder.

Tattoos Passe?

2005-02-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

There is a new skin mutilation fad for those who want to stand out in a crowd. Scarification, or having ones skin sliced then branded with heated metal, is the new trend. After all, why WOULD you want a tattoo if EVERYONE has one. The sad thing about tattoos and any type of body mutilation, is it is very, very, expensive to repair or remove when no longer in the vogue.

Outbreak: Plague in Congo

2005-02-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

"An outbreak of plague at a diamond mine in Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 61 miners and infected hundreds, sparking a panicked exodus of thousands of people, health officials said on Friday."

Childs Death Linked to Voodo Ritual, Human Sacrifice, and Child Slavery Ring

2005-02-16T02:54:00.000-08:00

This is too creepy and scary.......

"... detectives had nothing to go on: There were no reports of a missing child and no witnesses or crime scene. No face, fingerprints, or dental records remained that could help identify the boy. The police simply called him Adam. He was believed to have been between four and seven years old."

The Baby that Survived 3 Abortion Attempts

2005-02-16T02:38:00.000-08:00

I wasn't too sure about this article. I posted it last night but went back and updated and re-published it this morning. I stumbled across it but then had trouble verifying the story other than the Mirror article. So I went back and found another link from two more UK news sources. The mother was given 3 or 4 abortion drugs in an attempt to kill the child over a period of two days. One article states an ultra sound or scan of some sort showed the baby to be dead, the other states she was told the baby was dead. At any rate according to the article, she was sent home and told to come back in 4 days to have the baby removed.

She felt the baby move on her way home and changed her mind. She went into labor shortly after that. The child is now 2 years old.

A BABY survived at least three attempts to abort him before he was born alive at 24 weeks old.
Little one God has a plan.......

Another Attempted Murder for Baby.

2005-02-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

Katherine Smith, 22, had been telling neighbors for weeks she was pregnant. A search of her apartment revealed a nursery full of baby items. She was not pregnant.

26 year old Sarah Brady, 9 months pregnant got a call on Tuesday. A woman on the phone told her a package for Sarah had mistakenly been delivered at her house. The same woman called the next day and stated that yet another package had been delivered for Brady. The woman on the phone was Katherine Smith. Sarah Brady went to Katherine Smith's apartment on Thursday.

When Sarah got to Katherine Smith's apartment, she became suspicious when she saw a document with Smiths name on it. She had been using an alias in her prior conversations. At some point during the visit, some reports state it happened when Smith asked Brady for a hug before she left, Smith attacked Sarah.

``Katie reached into her pocket, pulled out this knife that was already open, put it in the overhand thrust position and attacked her with it,'' Loos said. ``Sarah was able to make it out into the hallway, but Katie reached out, grabbed her by the hair, and pulled her back in.''

During the struggle, Sarah was able to get the knife away from Smith. She stabbed Smith several times before running out of the apartment to flag down a motorist for help. Smith called 911. She bled to death before the paramedics arrived.

Smith had previously worked as a Nanny but lost that job shortly after Thanksgiving when her employer began to doubt she was really pregnant. On her body, police found ultra sound pictures of someone elses twins she had been telling people they were hers and had died at birth. Officials state they were someone elses pictures not hers.

There have been several cases in the news lately about women being killed for their unborn. Thankfully Sarah Smith was not one of them.

Updated Valentines Day Suicide Plot

2005-02-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

Woman tells about online coversations held with Krein.
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Update: Now officials are stating that based on old chat room records, Krein had been trying to convince women to have sex with him and then commit suicide for at least 5 years. One statement he made was that he had a beam in his house capable of holding multiple people for the event. No word yet whether he was ever successful.

He was bored and lonely, Gerald Krein hoped to massacre himself and 32 other people tomorrow, on Valentines Day. He was targeting via an incest themed chat room, single women and their children. The manner of death? Hanging naked. The participants were invited either to his home or to die via webcam. He wanted to watch.

So far police have been in contact with two women who were planning to come to Krein's home to die. They were also bringing their children, 7 in all, ages ranging from 4 to 18, to die as well.

Krein has been arrested and is being held on a $100,000 bond. ">Police were contacted after a woman, intending on being a participant herself, learned there would be children involved.

Network of Pedophiles at U.N. in Congo?

2005-02-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Sex scandal intensifies with broadcast of photos and allegations of a child sex ring.

New Strain of Drug Resistant HIV

2005-02-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

For the first time, doctors have diagnosed a form of HIV that New York City health officials say has two striking characteristics: It is highly resistant to antiviral drugs in a patient who had never been treated with the medications, and it quickly developed into full-blown AIDS.

You Might Have a Problem

2005-02-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

You know you might have a drug problem when:
You are on probation for methamphetamine and domestic violence charges.
While on probation you:
1. You fail at least 5 drug tests, 3 of them in within a 3 day time period.
2. You get caught using your plastic penis and baggied pee not once but twice.
3. Your name is Tom Sizemore.

Suicide Chat Room

2005-02-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A man used an Internet chat room to try to set up a mass suicide on Valentine’s Day involving more than two dozen women across the United States and Canada, authorities said.

Attack Fifi Attack!

2005-02-10T18:38:00.000-08:00

Deputy Scott Howden tried to stop Girlamo Marinello after he ran a stop sign. Marinello awarded the deputy by ramming his vehilce into the police car. He then got out and started swinging his 4 pound poodle "Baby" at the deputy. (around and around or side ways or towards him? What? I need a video)

Was he ordering the poodle to attack the deputy (sick him Fifi)? Was he using the poodle as a weapon or projectile? We may never know.

He was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. And FiFi, I mean Baby, she is fine and has been adopted.

Mismanagement, embezzling of funds at U. N. Weather Agency

2005-02-10T17:45:00.000-08:00

Luckson Ngwira, an accountant, noticed something puzzling while working late one night at the UN affiliated weather station in Geneva.
He found a check he had signed, but then noticed it had been endorsed to a third party, a L. Khalil.

Brother and Sister kill Grandparents and Mother

2005-02-09T18:28:00.000-08:00

Sharon Allen's son wanted her to help him kill her parents, when she refused, 29 year old Kenneth Allen stabbed his mother to death. Kari Allen, 18, served as a look-out as her mother was murdered. This occured on December 30.

On January 3 Allen allegedly lured his 75 year old grandmother, Betty Bradley, to his mother's apartment by telling her she was sick. According to his sister Kari, he then smothered her with a plastic bag with his sister again serving as a look-out.

Later that day, he went to his grandparents home and bludgeoned his grandfather, Leander Bradley, 91, to death with a hammer. Again, Kari Allen served as a look-out.

Kenneth Allen then took a saw and dismembered his mother and grandmother's bodies, wrapped them in plastic, and took them to his grandparents home. The siblings then dug up the basement floor using a rented jackhammer and buried the bodies.

Neighbors heard the jackhammer and wondered.

The two were stopped Tuesday for speeding in Missouri. The pair appeared to be nervous and gave conflicting reasons for going to Las Vegas. The police searched the car and found cash, jewelry and credit cards. They also found bloody linen still in the siblings possession more than a month after the killings.

Kari eventually told the sherriff's deputy what they had done. She stated that Kenneth had planned it all for his grandparent's money including about $200,000 in bank accounts, after his November release from a federal prison for counterfeiting. Kenneth later admitted guilt as well.

They were each served with 3 counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and 2 counts of burglary. They may face capitol charges.

I wonder.....
In between the 3 murders, the 2 siblings had time to re-think their actions and stop. Did they love their mother? Did they hate the grandparents? How would it feel to kill your family one by one by one. Both were equally culpable. Though Kari did not actually kill anyone, she served as lookout, helped dig up the basement and pour concrete. She also did not warn her mother, her grandmother or grandfather about their impending deaths.

Whooshing From the Bench

2005-02-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

OKLAHOMA CITY - Jurors and others in Judge Donald Thompson's courtroom kept hearing a strange whooshing noise, like a bicycle pump or maybe a blood pressure cuff. During one trial, Thompson seemed so distracted that some jurors thought he was playing a hand-held video game or tying fly-fishing lures behind the bench.

The explanation, investigators say, is even stranger than some imagined: The judge had a habit of masturbating with a penis pump under his robe during trials.

Walt Disney World Florida Resort Location of Childs Abuse

2005-02-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

There is a child being abused. Her pictures have been considered must haves by pedophiles scouring the internet for child porn. She was 9 when over 200 pictures and videos were taken in 2001. She has long blond hair and would be twelve today. Frustrated Toronto detectives decided to try to do more to find her. They digitally wiped her image from photos in an attempt to locate the hotel or resort she was abused at on more than one occasion. Seconds after Toronto Newstations ran the broadcast showing the pictures, tips began pouring in.

THe hotel has been located. It is a Florida Walt Disney World resort. The name of the resort has not been released.

Toronto Police Need Your Help, Can You Identify Hotel Where Child Was Abused?

2005-02-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

She is someone's 9 year old little girl and police have watched in horror over the years as over 200 pictures and videos of her being molested have surfaced on the internet. The pictures are 2 or 3 years old and were taken at a hotel or resort on numerous occasions. The child would be 12 today and may live in southern Canada or the north eastern United States. Toronto detectives are trying a new tactic derived from CSI. They have digitally removed the child from the pictures in hope that someone will recognise the surroundings. Police think her abuser is a close family member, possibly her father. If detectives can pinpoint the location of the abuse, they can check records and use other investigative techniques to try to find this child and end the abuse.

The pictures are on adobe reader format and take a minute or two to open. They show that the child was abused in an arcade, on an elevator, hot tub, in front of a fountain and in other places.

2 Mississippi Men Found Dead in Mexico

2005-02-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

MONTERREY, Mexico - Police in the border city of Matamoros said Friday that they are investigating the deaths of two hunters from Mississippi whose pickup truck flipped over and crashed on a Mexican highway. One of the two men was shot in the face.

What Happened in Huntsville?

2005-02-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

Update to this story at bottom of page.Nathshay Yvonne Ward is 33 years old. Friday, police went to her apartment and discovered the bodies of her 3 children, Shanieka Y. Ward, 11; Latricia Ward, 9; and Christopher O. Ward, 8. Each child was in a separate bedroom and had been dead for several days.

A year ago Nathshay's car broke down, since then she had been walking her children to school. Neigbors say that is the only times they would see the woman and her children. The children were well behaved, the mom very quiet. She had always paid her rent on time.

The electricity had been cut off since January 12. The apartment complex where the family lived had been preparing to evict them. The chidren had not attended school since Christmas break ended. Department of Human Resource workers had gone to the home in December but were Nathshay would not let them in. Concerned family members had been trying to visit for weeks but no one would answer the door.

The police responded Friday after the children's concerned grandmother called them.

Update, Mother admits to starving children.

Meth Mouth

2005-02-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

I used to work at a counseling center. One of my co-workers had been Chrystal Meth abuser at one time. At the end of his addiction, he was psychotic and emaciated, his teeth had decayed to the point that he had to get a partial plate. (He had pictures) He had to be hospitalized. He went on to become a drug counselor to help other people struggling with addictions.

An article in the Baltimore Sun today talks about one side effect of methamphetamine, called "meth mouth" where the user's teeth crumble and decay.
An Idaho news site chronicles this, other side effects and signs of a meth use.

If you think you might have a meth lab in your neighbor hood, here are some signs to look for: darkened windows, neglected yards, garbage in yards sometimes stacked behind a fence, filthy living conditions, neglected children.

Marathon Meth use can alter appearance the article states: "The drug tends to cause eyes to bulge, hair to fall out and teeth to rot. It erodes elasticity and pigmentation in skin, causing it to sag and turn a grayish hue. Kane said in a matter of time a 30-year-old hard-core meth user can look more like a senior citizen than a young adult.

“We have all these young folks using the drug and they are aging far beyond their years. People are putting poisonous chemicals into their body and calling it a good time. Meth takes a toll on the body. It also really likes the minerals found in teeth and it will eventually eat them away.”
Users on a binge can experience hallucinations. They often pick at skin where blood vessels appear close to the surface."

“They’re called crank bugs. A lot of people pick at those vessels thinking they are bugs beneath the skin. They pick and pick until they tear open the skin. Usually when you’re around someone with these open sores you can smell the chemicals seeping out of their body,” Adams said."

Gotta Fake Diploma?

2005-02-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

Now might be the time to feel a touch panicky.

WASHINGTON The government is making it easier for employers to learn if potential employees have fake college degrees.
The Department of Education has set up a Web site with a master list of all the academic institutions with proper accreditation.

Evacuate Connecticut Immediately!

2005-02-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

State emergency officials think someone pressed the wrong button earlier today. Instead of hearing a test of the emergency broadcast system, midday T-V viewers and radio listeners were told that the entire state of Connecticut was being evacuated.

MTV Criticized for Sexual Content

2005-02-01T16:48:00.000-08:00

More Fall out from Janet Jackson's Superbowl clothing "mal-function".
The advocacy organization for protecting children against violence and profanity in entertainment has released a new study on M-T-V programing.

Hi, Elaine

2005-01-29T17:08:00.000-08:00

Jacksonvile, FL

Tuesday afternoon, a message was left on Elaine Brown, President of the City Council's, voicemail. The message started out normally enough with "Hi, Elaine. The caller then went on to tell "Elaine" what he would do it the Superbowl was held in Jacksonville. He told her he was a scientist obsessed with the Big Bang theory and with the size it needs to be. He stated that 100,000 people dying would get their attention. He also said Jacksonville did not deserve the Super Bowl and he wanted the mayor, city council and members of law enforcement to resign. He said police had tried to kill him several times (Were you running naked thru the streets with a butcher knife Buddy?) He then left his cell phone number and name. The number was traced, the name his own. He was subsequentially arrested.

Peeing for Freedom

2005-01-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Possible to get Mad Cow Disease from Collagan Injections?

2005-01-29T16:48:00.000-08:00

Experts are examining the possibility that tissue implants such as collagen could transmit blood-borne diseases such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if contaminated.

Link to Roy Hallum's Blogsite

2005-01-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

She kept the awful truth secret from the world for weeks. Susan Hallums and family only revealed that Roy Hallums was being held hostage after news of his co-worker was released.
Here is the family blogsite set up to honor their dad and husband.

HIV Man-Made to Target Black Population?

2005-01-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

When Aids was fairly new, I was listening to a talk show one day. On this particular show they discussed the belief among some Blacks that Aids was man-made, generated to control or wipe out their race.

I had not heard this supposition in such a long time, I assumed it had gone by the wayside. In a survey of 500 black people, conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 50% of them stated they believed the HIV virus to be man-made.

I can only wonder at the phrasing of the questions. If you asked me if I think Aids could have been created by men, I would have to say yes, it is possible. If you asked me if Aids were devised as a means of population control targeting the black population, supplied with a yes or no choice, I would say no, but it would cause me to think, to doubt and wonder.

I feel it is irresponsible to even ask such a question. Why ask it? Or if the study is private to glean needed information, why publish the study. Why cause division, pain and doubt? If there were some proof or legitimacy to the veracity of these suppositions then we would need to conduct a man or woman hunt and someone needs to pay.

FBI Knew Suspected Terrorists Were Enrolled in Flight Schools

2005-01-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

Federal authorities have been aware for years that suspected terrorists with ties to Osama bin Laden were receiving flight training at schools in the United States and abroad, according to interviews and court testimony.

Roe Versus Wade

2005-01-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

Sarah Waddington was Jane Roe in Roe Versus Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion. Sarah Waddington, after doing an interview with Ted Koppel in1995, where she stated she was still pro-choice, changed her position to pro life shortly after. She met with a group called Operation Rescue and they showed her a chart outlining fetal development. At that point in time, she changed her mind. Click here for an interview with Sarah Waddington where she explains her change of heart. Here is also a transcript from the first oral arguments, Roe Versus Wade,

Dream

2005-01-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

I have been behind in my news. I have had THINGS going on. This is an excerpt from Martin Luther King's speech delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963, when I was 4 days old. For the whole speech click on this link.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

Town Lays Off Police Force

2005-01-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

In 10 days the last police officer employed in Antonito, CO will no longer be employed. He is just part time right now. 3 weeks ago, his 3 co-workers were laid off.

Bobbie Jo Stinnett Update

2005-01-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

Lisa Montgomery, 36, accused of strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett and stealing her baby has decided to plead not guilty. U.S. Attorney Todd Graves has indicated he plans to seek the death penalty.

Montgomery had interacted with Stinnett at dog shows and had chatted with her online. In a chat room frequented by other dog lovers and show people, some had criticized Lisa Montgomery for exagerating things. Bobbie Jo Stinnett had defended Montgomery.

Northeast Hit With Nasty Weather

2005-01-22T18:15:00.000-08:00

Click on this link from Wunderground for a interactive severe weather map. I found this to be very helpful, I had heard nothing from our local weather down South, but I could hear the wind whistling outside. I clicked on the link and found out we were under a wind advisory.

For more information on the weather situation up North, this article is from The New York Times. Nasty Storm Snarls Traffic in Northeast.

Megan Holden

2005-01-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

Her boyfriend died suddenly in October of a severe asthma attack. Megan Holden was devastated. They had both worked at a local deli. Everytime she went to work she imagined she could see him there. She decided to move in with her sister, in Chandler, just weeks ago. She got a job at Wal Mart and enrolled in a community college.

She was at work Wednesday when ex-Marine Johnny Williams, 24 showed up looking for a ride out of town. A security guard had approached him a couple of times as he loitered in and out of the store for 2 1/2 hours.

Video tape shows Meghan walking through the parking lot at 11:59 pm, Williams is following her. He pushed or knocked her into the truck and after a couple of minutes of trying to figure out how to drive her truck, he drove off with Meghan inside. Meghans parents contacted police before 4am when she did not come home. By that time Williams was well on his way out West with Meghan.

Williams and Meghan's truck was spotted for the first time by police this morning pulling into a hospital in Wilcox, Arizona. He was treated for a gunshot wound and immediately arrested.

He obtained the wound while trying to rob a R.V. park manager in Bowie, Arizona. He pulled a gun on the attendant. The attendant who had a shotgun hidden, pulled his out and shot Williams. He had also robbed a convenience store in Odessa, TX last night.

Minutes after arresting Williams, Meghan Holden's body was found in a ditch outside Stanton, in West Texas. She had died from a gunshot wound.

Ouch! Castration 101

2005-01-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

A guy I went to high school with castrated himself about a year after I graduated. He was doing drugs. The word on the street was he thought his item of castration was a snake.

RENO MAN CASTRATES HIMSELF
A Reno man called 911 Monday. Seems he was profusely bleeding from his lower quarters. See he wanted to lower his libido. Apparently he had some sort of sexual addiction? So he typed castration and did an internet search with this handy and usually useful little search tool. He found what he was looking for.

He castrated himself. No word on why other than the libido thing. He did have the where-withal to call 911 when he could not control the bleeding.

It was a successful castration. “The man obviously needs some sort of counseling,” Reno police Lt. Ron Donnelly said.

Condoleeza Rice + Barbara Boxer Transcript.

2005-01-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

Provided by the Federal News Service.

SEN Boxer. Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Rice, for agreeing to stay as long as it takes, because some of us do have a lot of questions.

And, Senator Lugar, you are a very fair chairman, and I wanted to say to the new members also welcome -- and you'll enjoy this committee, because we have such a great chairman and such a terrific ranking member, and we really do a lot of things in a bipartisan way, unlike other committees. And I think you're going to enjoy your time here.

Dr. Rice, before I get to my formal remarks, you no doubt will be confirmed -- that's at least what we think. And if you're going to become the voice of diplomacy -- this is just a helpful point -- when Senator Voinovich mentioned the issue of tsunami relief, you said -- your first words were, "The tsunami was a wonderful opportunity for us." Now, the tsunami was one of the worst tragedies of our lifetime -- one of the worst -- and it's going to have a 10-year impact on rebuilding that area. I was very disappointed in your statement. I think you blew the opportunity. You mention it as part of one sentence. And I would hope to work with you on this, because children are suffering, we're worried they're going to get in the sex trade. This thing is a disaster, a true natural disaster and a human disaster of great proportions, and I hope that the State Department will take a huge lead under your leadership in helping those folks in the long range.

Well, Mr. Chairman, again I thank you. I am -- Dr. Rice, I was glad you mentioned Martin Luther King -- it was very appropriate, given everything. And he also said, Martin Luther King, quote, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." And one of the things that matters most to my people in California and the people in America is this war in Iraq.

Now, it took you to page three of your testimony to mention the word "Iraq." You said very little really about it, and only in the questioning have we been able to get into some areas. Perhaps you agree with President Bush, who said all that's been resolved. I'm quoting today's Post: "Bush said in an interview last week with the Washington Post that the '04 election was a moment of accountability for the decisions he made in Iraq." But today's Washington Post/ABC poll found that 58 percent disapprove of his handling of the situation, to 40 percent who approve -- and only 44 percent said the war was worth fighting.

So in your statement it takes you to page three to mention the word "Iraq." Then you mention it in the context of elections -- which is fine -- but you never even mention indirectly the 1,366 American troops that have died, or the 10,372 who have been wounded -- many mentally, as a report that I read over the weekend that maybe a third will come home and need help because of what they saw -- it's been so traumatic to them. And 25 percent of those dead are from my home state. And this from a war that was based on what everyone now says, including your own administration, were falsehoods about WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. And I've had tens of thousands of people from all over the country say that they disagree -- although they respect the president -- they disagree that this administration and the people in it shouldn't be held accountable. I don't know if you saw the movie, "The Fog of War" -- war is a nightmare, you know that. Colin Powell I think was the most eloquent I've heard on it, because he's seen it himself -- he's been there and done it. And I don't want to have you in a circumstance where you're writing something years later about the fog of war. And I'm fearful if we don't see some changes here we're going to have trouble.

And I think the way we should start is by trying to set the record straight on some of the things you said going into this war. Now, since 9/11 we've been engaged in a just fight against terror. And I, like Senator Feingold and everyone here who was in the Senate at the time, voted to go after Osama bin Laden and to go after the Taliban, and to defeat al Qaeda. And you say they have left territory -- that's not true. Your own documents show that al Qaeda has expanded from 45 countries in '01 to more than 60 countries today.

Well, with you in the lead role, Dr. Rice, we went into Iraq. I want to read you a paragraph that best expresses my views, and ask my staff if they would hold this up -- and I believe the views of millions of Californians and Americans. It was written by one of the world's experts on terrorism, Peter Bergen, five months ago. He wrote: "What we have done in Iraq is what bin Laden could not have hoped for in his wildest dreams: We invaded an oil-rich Muslim nation in the heart of the Middle East, the very type of imperial adventure bin Laden has long predicted was the U.S.'s long-term goal in the region. We deposed the secular socialist Saddam, whom bin Laden has long despised, ignited Sunni and Shi'a fundamentalist fervor in Iraq, and have now provoked a defensive jihad that has galvanized jihad- minded Muslims around the world. It's hard to imagine a set of policies better designed to sabotage the war on terror." This conclusion was reiterated last Thursday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA director's think tank, which released a report saying that Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of professionalized terrorists.

That's your own administration's CIA. NIC chairman Robert Hutchings said Iraq is, quote, "a magnet for international terrorist activity."

And this was not the case in '01. And I have great proof of it, including a State Department document that lists every country -- could you hold that up? -- in which al Qaeda operated prior to 9/11. And you can see the countries; no mention of Iraq. And this booklet was signed off on by the president of the United States, George W. Bush. It was put out by George Bush's State Department, and he signed it. There was no al Qaeda activity there -- no cells.

Now, the war was sold to the American people, as Chief of Staff to President Bush Andy Card said, like a "new product." Those were his words. Remember, he said, "You don't roll out a new product in the summer." Now, you rolled out the idea and then you had to convince the people, as you made your case with the president.

And I personally believe -- this is my personal view -- that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell this war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth. And I don't say it lightly, and I'm going to go into the documents that show your statements and the facts at the time.

Now, I don't want the families of those 1,366 troops that were killed or the 10,372 that were wounded to believe for a minute that their lives and their bodies were given in vain, because when your commander-in-chief asks you to sacrifice yourself for your country, it is the most noble thing you can do to answer that call.

I am giving their families, as we all are here, all the support they want and need. But I also will not shrink from questioning a war that was not built on the truth.

Now, perhaps the most well-known statement you've made was the one about Saddam Hussein launching a nuclear weapon on America with the image of, quote, quoting you, "a mushroom cloud." That image had to frighten every American into believing that Saddam Hussein was on the verge of annihilating them if he was not stopped. And I will be placing into the record a number of such statements you made which have not been consistent with the facts.

As the nominee for secretary of State, you must answer to the American people, and you are doing that now through this confirmation process. And I continue to stand in awe of our founders, who understood that ultimately those of us in the highest positions of our government must be held accountable to the people we serve.

So I want to show you some statements that you made regarding the nuclear threat and the ability of Saddam to attack us. Now, September 5th -- let me get to the right package here. On July 30th, 2003, you were asked by PBS NewsHour's Gwen Ifill if you continued to stand by the claims you made about Saddam's nuclear program in the days and months leading up to the war.

In what appears to be an effort to downplay the nuclear-weapons scare tactics you used before the war, your answer was, and I quote, "It was a case that said he was trying to reconstitute. He's trying to acquire nuclear weapons. Nobody ever said that it was going to be the next year." So that's what you said to the American people on television -- "Nobody ever said it was going to be the next year."

Well, that wasn't true, because nine months before you said this to the American people, what had George Bush said, President Bush, at his speech at the Cincinnati Museum Center? "If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy or steal an amount of highly-enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball, it could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year."

So the president tells the people there could be a weapon. Nine months later you said no one ever said he could have a weapon in a year, when in fact the president said it.

And here's the real kicker. On October 10th, '04, on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, three months ago, you were asked about CIA Director Tenet's remark that prior to the war he had, quote, "made it clear to the White House that he thought the nuclear-weapons program was much weaker than the program to develop other WMDs. Your response was this: "The intelligence assessment was that he was reconstituting his nuclear program; that, left unchecked, he would have a nuclear weapon by the end of the year."

So here you are, first contradicting the president and then contradicting yourself. So it's hard to even ask you a question about this, because you are on the record basically taking two sides of an issue. And this does not serve the American people.

If it served your purpose to downplay the threat of nuclear weapons, you said, "No one said he's going to have it in a year." But then later, when you thought that perhaps you were on more solid ground with the American people because at the time the war was probably popular, or more popular, you'd say, "We thought he was going to have a weapon within a year."

And this is -- the question is, this is a pattern here of what I see from you on this issue, on the issue of the aluminum tubes, on the issue of whether al Qaeda was actually involved in Iraq, which you've said many times. And in my rounds -- I don't have any questions on this round, because I'm just laying this out; I do have questions on further rounds about similar contradictions. It's very troubling.

You know, if you were rolling out a new product like a can opener, who would care about what we said? But this product is a war, and people are dead and dying, and people are now saying they're not going to go back because of what they experienced there. And it's very serious.

And as much as I want to look ahead -- and we will work together on a myriad of issues -- it's hard for me to let go of this war, because people are still dying. And you have not laid out an exit strategy. You've not set up a timetable.

And you don't seem to be willing to, A, admit a mistake, or give any indication of what you're going to do to forcefully involve others. As a matter of fact, you've said more misstatements; that the territory of the terrorists has been shrinking when your own administration says it's now expanded to 60 countries. So I am deeply troubled.

MS. RICE: Senator, may I respond?

SEN. LUGAR: Yes, let me just say that I appreciate the importance of Senator Boxer's statement. That's why we allowed the statement to continue for several more minutes of time.

SEN. BOXER: I'm sorry, I lost track of time.

SEN. LUGAR: But clearly you ought to have the right to respond. Then, at that point, we're going to have a recess. But will you please give your response?

MS. RICE: Yes. Senator, I am more than aware of the stakes that we face in Iraq, and I was more than aware of the stakes of going to war in Iraq. I mourn and honor -- I mourn the dead and honor their service, because we have asked American men and women in uniform to do the hardest thing, which is to go and defend freedom and give others an opportunity to build a free society, which will make us safer.

Senator, I have to say that I have never, ever lost respect for the truth in the service of anything. It is not my nature. It is not my character. And I would hope that we can have this conversation and discuss what happened before and what went on before and what I said without impugning my credibility or my integrity.

The fact is that we did face a very difficult intelligence challenge in trying to understand what Saddam Hussein had in terms of weapons of mass destruction. We knew something about him. We knew that he had -- we had gone to war with him twice in the past, in 1991 and in 1998.

We knew that he continued to shoot at American aircraft in the no-fly zone as we tried to enforce the resolutions of U.N. Security -- that the U.N. Security Council had passed. We knew that he continued to threaten his neighbors. We knew that he was an implacable enemy of the United States who did cavort with terrorists.

We knew that he was the world's most dangerous man in the world's most dangerous region. And we knew that in terms of weapons of mass destruction, he had sought them before, tried to build them before, that he had an undetected biological weapons program that we didn't learn of until 1995, that he was closer to a nuclear weapon in 1991 than anybody thought. And we knew, most importantly, that he had used weapons of mass destruction.

That was the context that frankly made us awfully suspicious when he refused to account for his weapons-of-mass-destruction programs despite repeated Security Council resolutions and despite the fact that he was given one last chance to comply with Resolution 1441.

Now, there were lots of data points about his weapons-of-mass- destruction progra MS. Some were right and some were not. But what was right was that there was an unbreakable link between Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction. That is something that Charlie Duelfer, in his report of the Iraq survey group, has made very clear, that Saddam Hussein intended to continue his weapons-of-mass- destruction activities, that he had laboratories that were run by his security services. I could go on and on.

But Senator Boxer, we went to war not because of aluminum tubes. We went to war because this was the threat of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a man against whom we had gone to war before, who threatened his neighbors, who threatened our interests, who was one of the world's most brutal dictators. And it was high time to get rid of him, and I'm glad that we're rid of him.

Now, as to the statement about territory and the terrorist groups, I was referring to the fact that the al Qaeda organization of Osama bin Laden, which once trained openly in Afghanistan, which once ran with impunity in places like Pakistan, can no longer count on hospitable territory from which to carry out their activities.

In the places where they are, they're being sought and run down and arrested and pursued in ways that they never were before. So we can have a semantic discussion about what it means to take or lose territory, but I don't think it's a matter of misstatement to say that the loss of Afghanistan, the loss of the northwest frontier of Pakistan, the loss of running with impunity in places like Saudi Arabia, the fact that now intelligence networks and law enforcement networks pursue them worldwide, means that they have lost territory where they can operate with impunity.

SEN. BOXER: Mr. Chairman, I'm going to take 30 seconds, with your permission. First of all, Charles Duelfer said, and I quote -- here it is; I ask unanimous consent to place in the record Charlie Duelfer's report --

SEN. LUGAR: It will be placed in the record.

SEN. BOXER: -- in which he says, "Although Saddam clearly assigned a high value to the nuclear progress and talent that had been developed up to '91, the program ended and the intellectual capital decayed in the succeeding years."

Here's the point. You and I could sit here and go back and forth and present our arguments, and maybe somebody watching a debate would pick one or the other, depending on their own views. But I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in the facts. So when I ask you these questions, I'm going to show you your words, not my words.

And, if I might say, again you said you're aware of the stakes in Iraq; we sent our beautiful people -- and thank you, thank you so much for your comments about them -- to defend freedom. You sent them in there because of weapons of mass destruction. Later, the mission changed when there were none. I have your quotes on it. I have the president's quotes on it.

And everybody admits it but you that that was the reason for the war. And then, once we're in there, now it moves to a different mission, which is great. We all want to give democracy and freedom everywhere we can possibly do it. But let's not rewrite history. It's too soon to do that.

MS. RICE: Senator Boxer, I would refer you to the president's speech before the American Enterprise Institute in February, prior to the war, in which he talked about the fact that, yes, there was the threat of weapons of mass destruction, but he also talked to the strategic threat that Saddam Hussein was to the region.

Saddam Hussein was a threat, yes, because he was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. And, yes, we thought that he had stockpiles which he did not have. We had problems with the intelligence. We are all, as a collective polity of the United States, trying to deal with ways to get better intelligence.

But it wasn't just weapons of mass destruction. He was also a place -- his territory was a place where terrorists were welcomed, where he paid suicide bombers to bomb Israel, where he had used Scuds against Israel in the past.

And so we knew what his intentions were in the region; where he had attacked his neighbors before and, in fact, tried to annex Kuwait; where we had gone to war against him twice in the past. It was the total picture, Senator, not just weapons of mass destruction, that caused us to decide that, post-September 11th, it was finally time to deal with Saddam Hussein.

SEN. BOXER: Well, you should read what we voted on when we voted to support the war, which I did not, but most of my colleagues did. It was WMD, period. That was the reason and the causation for that, you know, particular vote.

But, again, I just feel you quote President Bush when it suits you but you contradicted him when he said, "Yes, Saddam could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year." You go on television nine months later and said, "Nobody ever said it was" --

MS. RICE: Senator, that was just a question of pointing out to people that there was an uncertainty. No one was saying that he would have to have a weapon within a year for it to be worth it to go to war.

SEN. BOXER: Well, if you can't admit to this mistake, I hope that you'll --

MS. RICE: Senator, we can have this discussion in any way that you would like. But I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity. Thank you very much.

SEN. BOXER: I'm not. I'm just quoting what you said. You contradicted the president and you contradicted yourself.

MS. RICE: Senator, I'm happy to continue the discussion, but I really hope that you will not imply that I take the truth lightly.

SEN. LUGAR: Let me intervene at this point. Now we've had four hours of good hearing, and we thank all members for their constancy. We're going to recess, and I'm going to suggest we come back at 2:30. Is that convenient for you, Dr. Rice?

MS. RICE: Perfect.

SEN. LUGAR: Very well. We recess until 2:30.

He's gone.

2005-01-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

Dawn and Gene Scott met Amanda Hopkins while she was pregnant. For the childless couple, it must have seen like a dream come true. Amanda agreed before the child's birth to let the Scotts adopt her baby.

The Scotts were there on hand to videotape the birth on May 1. He was placed with the Scotts 2 days later.

The adoption was supposed to be final in 2001, however, the child's biological father filed a motion demanding custody. Amanda Hopkin's withdrew her support for the adoption and started seeking custody herself.

She was awarded custody last month and the biological dad has visitation rights. The Scott's have appealed and the case is ongoing, meanwhile, the 3 year old has been returned to his mother, leaving the 2 people who raised him. There are no provisions, at this time, for the Scotts to have visitation.

You Could Always Be a Stripper

2005-01-16T21:20:00.000-08:00

It was career day last Tuesday at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School. The speaker, management consultant, William Fried, told the eighth graders that stripping and exotic dancing could be a lucrative career choice.

It was on a list Fried provided of 140 potential careers. When question and answer time rolled around, an eighth grader asked him why stripping was listed as a career choice.

Fried told the kids that you could make $250,000 a year as an exotic dancer. He also told them, every two inches of bustline add and additional $50,000 of potential income.

This was the 3rd year Fried had spoke at this middle school on career day. This will more than likely be his last, according to Principle Di Salvo. Their parents are upset.

When asked whether or not he offended any of the students, he replied, "Eighth grade kids are not dumb. They are pretty worldly."

Another Blogger Fired

2005-01-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

Depending on the blog style, we bloggers tend to mention our personal lives. It is unavoidable. I try to use caution. I try hard not to post something that would hurt or offend a family member, some of my best material never makes it. I would rather my writing suffer than hurt my family.

And work well...no one I work with knows my blog address or that I even have a blog. I rarely mention work. Neither did this British employee of Waterstones. He occasionally poked fun at his "sandal wearing boss" and vented on his weblog. He did mention the name of the company he worked for but not the location. He was unceremoniously fired. He offered to cease and desist from all workplace blogging to no avail.

He joins a host of others fired for blogging about work. Among them: Ellen Simonetti, and employee of Delta Airlines, Jessica Cutler, a secretary for a U.S. Senator and others. Boing, Boing has a list of employers that have either fired or disciplined employess for blogging about work.

"Haunted House"

2005-01-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

The definition of poltergeist is "noisy ghost".

An Austrian man was hearing strange noises late at night. He would hear slamming doors, echoing footsteps in an empty hallway. He decided his house was haunted. Not knowing what else to do, he called the police.

The police captured on video, a 42 year old woman, making ghostly noises throughout his house. She was very much alive and the wife of one of his employees. She was jailed for 4 months on nuisance charges.

Brazilian Man Throws Mother to the Dogs

2005-01-15T11:54:00.000-08:00

In San Paulo Brazil a 48 year old man threw his 88 year old mother over the fence, into the neighbor's back yard, where pit bulls mauled her to death. The had been arguing.

The man Luiz Polidoro, told the police, his mother had jumped over the wall on her on accord.

The newspaper account reports that the man tried to save his mother. When police arrived, he was cradling his blood soaked mother. He has been jailed and charged with murder.

Mother Kills Daughter with Bleach

2005-01-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Tunisia Archie, 31 years of age, has been arrested for killing her daughter. Jasmine was only 12 years old when she told her mother on November 16, that she was no longer a virgin.

Tunisia forced her daughter to drink bleach, then sat on her until she stopped breathing. She forced her 9 year old son to watch. She told him if he shed even one tear, she was going to kill him too.

She has been charged with capital murder. if convicted, she will either be sentenced to death or get life in prison without parole.

12 Year Old Rapes Beats 3 year Old. Mother does nothing.

2005-01-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

Three-year-old Jeremy Rosario Milan's parents went out of town to take care of a family emergency. They left there 3 year old in the care of Marisol Alverio. He had played there on several times and had seemed to like going. This time, however, it was a mistake.

Alverio's 12 year old son reportedly repeatedly beat the child and raped him at least twice between December 11 and 17th. Marisol Alverio was aware of the abuse and did nothing.

The little boy died on December 19, two days after he was hospitalized with bruises and a severe head injury.

Marisol Alverio and her son have been arrested for the child's murder.

Oops! Kids do the darndest things?

2005-01-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

Prince Harry wears Nazi costume to party.

My mother used to say, if you live long enough your kids will humble you. British royalty are no exception.

I think maybe Harry is rebelling a little. It would be difficult to be a Prince. And the British are so stuffy.

He was dressed as a Hitler Youth, complete with a swastika on the armband and collar. He was also photographed sporting a drink and a cigarette to complete the outfit.

He is scheduled to begin a prestigious military academy later this year. Some are saying he should not now be allowed to attend. A regular candidate would not be accepted under the same circumstances.

Cheerleading Camp

2005-01-10T18:38:00.000-08:00

They weren't being abused, we were playing Cowboys in the Cheerleader camp!

Monday began the opening statements in the trial of the purported ringleader, Charles Graner, in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse case.

Mr. Graner's attorney,Guy Womack, defended his actions as being a means to soften prisoners up and gain control of them.

Remarking on a picture of prisoners on a leash he stated,
“You’re keeping control of them. A tether is a valid control to be used in corrections,” he said. “In Texas we’d lasso them and drag them out of there.” He compared the leash to parents who place tethers on their toddlers while walking in shopping malls.

Referring to stacking the naked prisoners, Womack said: "Don't cheerleaders all over America form pyramids six to eight times a year? Is that torture?"

Were the prisoner's abused or just humiliated? Regardless, of anyone's opinion, these were probably not the best comparisons or word pictures.

Officials want mass DNA test

2005-01-10T18:24:00.000-08:00

Christa Worthington was killed in her home in January 2002. Her murder was the first in the small Massachusetts town of Turo in 30 years.
She was stabbed in the chest and sexually asaulted. Her toddler, then 2 1/2 years old was found with her Mom's body. She had been dead at least 24 hours.

Christa Worthington was a former fashion writer. At just 26 years old she had began working in Paris for Women's Wear Daily. She had moved to Turo, Massachusetts to raise her child and be near family. She was a single mom.

Among the possible suspects, a 29 year old heroin addict and former prostitute who was allegedly having an affair with Christa's father. Worthington had told friends she wanted her dad to end the relationship with both the woman and her friends.

Her ex boyfriend that discovered her body, while "returning a flashlight".

Then there is the child's father, a married man. He found out she was pregnant after he had ended their relationship. Christa had demanded that Tony Jackett tell his wife about the affair and their baby in 2000. He did and surprisingly his wife started a relationship with both Christa and the child.

All of the suspects have had their DNA tested and there was no match.

"For now, mystery still surrounds the murder of Christa Worthington,
whose life was taken on Cape Cod's outer banks -- at Land's End, where she'd come for peace."

New Test May Predict Schizophrenia

2005-01-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

A new test developed by researchers at Scotland's Edinburgh University, claims to accurately predict schizophrenia up to 3 years before onset. The test measures memory, IQ, motor skills and verbal learning.

They tested 163 people with family histories of schizophrenia over a period of 10 years. They also tested individuals with no family history. The tests included brain scans.

45% of the high risk people showed symptons of schizophrenia, 3 years later only 12% actually developed the disorder. The people who went on to develop schizophrenia were shy and oversensitive. Their IQs were normal but their memory ability was not as good. Their thalamus, a part of the brain, was also smaller.

Their is no cure for schizophrenia. It can be controled with medication, and those diagnosed early tend to fair better.
This is good news for those with a history of schizophrenia in their family history. In the future they could be tested and get early treatment if they show to be in the danger group.

Follow Up - Victims last message cry for help

2005-01-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Missing British college student Mary Geeson, who text messaged for help after apparently being abjucted, was found yesterday. Her body was discovered near a Second World War Cemetery. She disapeared on New Years Eve, she had been asphyxiated.

A suspect in the case Lance Corporal David Atkinson, 31, committed suicide. He reportedly set fire to himself and jumped out a hotel window.

Rosemary Kennedy was just 23 when she was lobotomized.

2005-01-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

The following story has been well documented in several books written about the Kennedys family. Those books include "The Kennedy Men 1901-1963" and by Jack El-Hai, a Minnesota journalist, and others.

Rosemary Kennedy was just 23 when she had her head cut open and part of her brain removed.

See, she wasn't as quick as the other children. She wasn't good at math, didn't like social situations. As an adult the Kennedy's had a barrage of tests to find out what whas wrong with Rosemary. She was diagnosed as mildly mentally retarded. They put her in a convent. She wrote letters to her siblings, in them she expressed sadness that her father did not accept her and that she had not been allowed to come home in years.

She started sneaking out at night and was reportedly seeing men.
This could not be allowed. The Kennedy had a public image. Rosemary was beginning to be an embarrasment.

Kathleen Kennedy, Rosemary's sister mentioned in passing one day, that as a journalist, she had been researching new procedures called lobotomies. Scientist's were hopeful these surgeries would someday help retarded people. Her mother looked hopeful, maybe this could help Rosemary. Kathleen quickly discouraged her mother. She told her family that the procedure would render Rosemary helpless, unable to care for herself.

All of the Kennedy girls were invited to be presented to Queen Elizabeth. Rosemary had attended almost none of the Kennedy's formal affairs. She had been kept hidden for years. Hoping she would not embarrass the family, the family had her practice walking and tried to tell her how she must act. When the big moment came for her to meet the Queen, Rosemary tripped on her dress, slightly, but managed an elegent curtsey. Everyone at the ball commented on what a good dancer she was. They said she was a sweet pretty girl.

A few days later, her father took Rosemary for a "check-up". He kept the "check up" secret from the rest of the family. It has been reported that she was totally awake as they cut away at her mind. She was the first "retarded person" ever to be lobotomized. Some people mark this event as the beginning of the Kennedy "curse".

Rosemary died today at age 86, her life was taken away when she was just 23.

What? Man gets 4 months for killing wife, 15 years for wounding man.

2005-01-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

Texas Case cannot be retried.
Due to double jeopardy, Jimmy Dean Watkins cannot be retried for his wife's murder. He was convicted of murder, however in the sentencing stage, the jury was asked to consider whether or not he killed in a fit of extreme passion.

Here is a transcript derived from the text posted on the web site of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,

"The evidence at the first trial showed that Nancy Watkins, appellant’s estranged wife, made her husband move out of their home on December 21, 1998. She remained in the house with their two children. Her lover, Keith Fontenot, moved in that same evening. Through various telephone calls, appellant discovered that Keith and Nancy had made love that night on the living room floor with the children upstairs.

The next afternoon, December 22nd, appellant called his wife on his cellular telephone, telling her that he would kill her, kill Fontenot, and then kill himself. A few minutes later, he stormed into the house, still holding his telephone to his ear and carrying a gun. He went past Fontenot, who was in the living room, and found Nancy in the kitchen. He shot her twice, but neither wound was fatal."

"When Fontenot ran into the kitchen and saw Nancy on the floor, appellant began shooting at him. Fontenot was hit in the back and leg, but not seriously injured. As appellant continued to shoot at him, Fontenot ran out the front door and around the side of the house; he leapt over a chain link fence, ran through the back-yard, jumped over another fence into a neighbor’s yard, where he collapsed and called for help. He then saw appellant come out of the house, get in his truck and drive off.

Appellant had stopped shooting because he thought the gun was out of bullets. Within five minutes, he returned, having discovered that the gun was not out of bullets. Appellant re-entered the house, shot Nancy several more times–this time fatally–and then he drove off again."

"At the guilt stage of appellant’s trial for his wife’s murder, defense counsel argued that appellant did not form any intent during this incident, arguing instead that appellant was temporarily insane and was mentally “gone.”1 The jury rejected this argument and convicted Jimmy Dean Watkins of murder. However, during the punishment phase, it was asked to decide whether appellant had murdered his wife “in sudden passion” under Tex. Penal Code § 19.02(d).2 After lengthy deliberation, the jury concluded that Jimmy Dean Watkins had acted under the immediate influence of sudden passion in causing his wife’s death and it sentenced him to ten years community supervision. The State then indicted appellant for the attempted capital murder3 and attempted murder of Keith Fontenot, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon."

1964 Slayings - Klansman Arrested

2005-01-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

I am 41 years old and I was raised in Mississippi. I have never personally seen a KKK rally or even people in KKK garb. I am not ignorant of the South's past. I know there were dark, horrible times. I can state truthfully that the South I grew up in is not the South portrayed on TV and in some novels.

In 1964, when I was one year old, three voter registration volunteers, one black, the other two white, were murdered. Several Klansmen were convicted of conspiracy. but served only 3 to 6 years.

Today Edgar Ray Killen was arrested and is being held on three counts of murder. Sheriff Larry Myers stated that there will be more arrests.

Edgar Ray Killen should get the death penalty, it should be swift because of his age. He deserves to fry.

Not Kidnapped Kristian Walker - Thailands Child Sex Trafficking

2005-01-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

Kristian Walker was not kidnapped. He missing along with his mother. Earlier this week it was reported that Kristian Walker had been taken out of a Thai hospital and was possibly abducted to be sold into sex slavery. It was a case of mistaken identity. A German man did take a child out of a Thai hospital, he didn't take him to harm him, he took him to his family.

I am sorry he is missing, I hope he is alive. I am happy he was not sold as a sex slave.

Right after the tsunami, I visited a foreign web site that mentioned American tourists and how he hated them because of the child sex trade. Another reader posted and gently chided him stating that the majority of American tourists are normal people, not predators.

I found this article on the US Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscentiy Section, website.

I clipped a small part of the article and it is listed below. It speaks of the child sex trade in general and includes other countries, not just Thailand.

"Child prostitutes live in constant fear; they live in fear of sadistic acts by clients, fear of being beaten by pimps who control the sex trade, and fear of being apprehended by the police. It comes as no surprise that victims often suffer from depression, low self-esteem, and feelings of hopelessness."

"Many victims of child sexual exploitation also suffer from physical ailments, including tuberculosis, exhaustion, infections, and physical injuries resulting from violence inflicted upon them. Venereal diseases run rampant among these children and they rarely receive medical treatment until they are seriously or terminally ill. Living conditions are poor and meals are inadequate and irregular. Many children that fail to earn enough money are punished severely, often through beatings and starvation. Sadly, drug use and suicide are all too common for victims of child sexual exploitation."

Child Sex Tourists

"Child sex tourists are typically males and come from all income brackets. Perpetrators usually hail from nations in Western European nations and North America."

"While some tourists are pedophiles that preferentially seek out children for sexual relationships, many child sex tourists are "situational abusers." These are individuals who do not consistently seek out children as sexual partners, but who do occasionally engage in sexual acts with children when the opportunity presents itself."

"The distorted and disheartening rationales for child sex tourism are numerous.
Some perpetrators rationalize their sexual encounters with children with the idea that they are helping the children financially better themselves and their families. Paying a child for his or her services allows a tourist to avoid guilt by convincing himself he is helping the child and the child's family to escape economic hardship. Others try to justify their behavior by believing that children in foreign countries are less "sexually inhibited" and by believing their destination country does not have the same social taboos against having sex with children. Still other perpetrators are drawn towards child sex while abroad because they enjoy the anonymity that comes with being in a foreign land. This anonymity provides the child sex tourist with freedom from the moral restraints that govern behavior in his home country. Consequently, some tourists feel that they can discard their moral values when traveling and avoid accountability for their behavior and its consequences. Finally, some sex tourists are fueled by racism and view the welfare of children of third world countries as unimportant."

Oh and a message to the freak who "authors" the blog Accidents of Thought and conveniently does not allow comments or have an email listed on the site? You are a cowardly freak who is hiding behind religion to expouse your garbage. Don't you think God would also punish the nations that "took advantage" of child slavery and had sex with those children? There is evil everywhere. We in the West are not immune, pure, or holy.

Missing Student Last Message A Cry For Help

2005-01-05T16:07:00.000-08:00

Missing student Sally Gleeson, 22 was last seen on early New Year's Day. She sent two text messages after becoming seperated from friends. The first at 1:40a.m. read "No one waited for me. I've got into a car with someone. Please call me x." Two minutes later another message stating simply "Please help me x."

Her friends did not receive her messages until around 9:00am that day.

Power to her mobile phone was lost at 9:44am on New Years Day. Techicians are trying to pinpoint it's location when the battery died or the phone turned off.

Not now, My toenails are too long.

2005-01-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

I remember when I was a teenager, there was a saying that floated about on tv commercials, etc. It was "not now I am washing my hair" or "I will be washing my hair on Saturday". It was supposed to be a response to use when someone asked you out for a date and you did not want to go.

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who faces 16 charges, including incitement to murder and stirring up racial hatred, stated he could not walk from his cell to the special video link room set up to take video testimony. He could not walk to this room and appear via video in court because he stated his toenails are too long.

The Judge adjourned the hearing for a fortnight due to the prisoners "disabilities".

Criminal Charges Filed Against Teen Accused of Aiding in Pregnancy Termination

2005-01-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

In Mount Clemens, Michigan, a teen boy has been arrested. He is being accused of causing his girlfriend to miscarry by striking her in the abdomen over a course of two weeks. The girlfriend was allowing her boyfriend to strike her stomach. She did not want to be pregnant. She was not arrested.

A 1999 law created by the Michigan Legislature, makes the boys actions criminally liable. The girl, even if complicit in the termination is not criminally liable.

The baby was not viable at time of death, but this will not affect charges.

" Prosecutor Smith said the defendant must plead guilty as charged or face trial. "This crime is shocking and reprehensible," he said. "I will not entertain any plea bargaining on it."

My personal opinion? I have children around these teen's age and my heart breaks for both them and their parents, however, I think that if there is a law that prosecutes the one who causes the death of an unborn child then that same law should also prosecute the pregnant one if she allows the abuse that causes the miscarriage. Maybe this prosecution will send the message, life is important and not to be ended just because you are scared or inconvenienced.

Top Thai Forecaster Fired Over Tsunami

2005-01-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

"Thailand's Meteorological Department has said that it knew about the huge earthquake that struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Dec. 26 - and that it might produce a dangerous surge of water along the country's southwest coast - about an hour before waves began slamming ashore."

They stated they were reluctant to issue warnings or evaculations because they had no way of knowing the size of the waves. They did not want to hurt tourism (WELL IT IS HURT NOW) and possibly anger his government.

Suparerk Thantiratanawong, director general of the Meteorological Department, has been fired.

"If he warned (of the tsunami), the death toll would definitely have been minimized," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said.

Jigsaw Rage

2005-01-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

Soon to come.....little tests popping up all over blog sites, What kind of jigsaw strategist are you?

Researchers at the University of Bath have conducted a study on human interaction. They asked people to complete a 121 piece jigsaw puzzle alone or in a group. They were video taped. They will be using the results of the study to develope computer software designed to aid in work related projects.

Some of the behaviors observed....
-Shading completed sections of puzzle from other players view.
-Refusing to let a fellow player touch their puzzle
-Hourding of piles of pieces
-Hiding the lid so others could not see picture

They also identified groups
Border Obsessives - focus exclusively on sorting through the entire stock of pieces for the sole purpose of completing the border before concentrating on the rest of the puzzle. (that's me)
Opportunists', sort piles on more complex criteria and completing the puzzle using a range of different methods, such as from the top of the picture down to the bottom, or by concentrating on a major component of the picture depending on the pieces they pick up.

The Border Obsessives and the Opportunists had a tendancy to fight with Border Obsessives trying to run the show and the Opportunists performing better alone.

Sandra Bullock Gives to Tsunami Relief Effort

2005-01-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

Sandra Bullock donated $1 million to the Red Cross for tsunami victims. She contacted them last week after news of the disaster. This isn't the first time she has given in a time of crisis. She also gave $1 million after 911.

I don't always automatically admire famous people just because they have familiar faces. She is an actress I have always admired. She is now even more esteemed in my eyes.

New York Man Questioned About Laser Incident

2005-01-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

There have been numerous reportings of laser generated light in airline cockpits in at least 5 states. David Banach was playing with his daughter Friday evening in the backyard. He was showing her a common laser pointer that can be purchased over the internet. The article states
"On Friday FBI agents, police from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a federal terrorism task force were seeking the source of green lasers that were aimed at separate aircraft flying over Morris County in the last several days. The local incidents were among several being investigated nationwide.

A Port Authority helicopter was marked by a similar laser Friday during the search and authorities targeted the Lake Parsippany area for a possible source."

Authorities honed in on Barach and his home was swiflty surrounded and he was whisked into custody and interrogated until 4:am. He has not been cleared by authorities.

Barach states he is innocent. Not to good an idea, at least right now, to be playing with a laser at night. An even worse idea, is to point it at a police helicopter. Someone did......

Says What I Cannot

2005-01-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

I am obssessed with the Tsunami story. I try not to be but I am drawn again and again. I ran across a poem on a blogsite today that expresses the sadness I feel. It also expresses hope and a renewed gratitude for life. It is a brand new blogsite. I added it to my links.

South of Steinbeck

Like a lot of people, I am now searching for hope in "that sea of mud". I can. My children, friends and family were not lost that day. I was not there.

Looking for a story of hope, Click on the following story I found on CNN's website.
Two babies find life among the deadly waters.

Thai Gypsies Saved Entire Village/British Girl's warning saved hundreds of lives

2005-01-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

My limited knowledge of tidal waves comes from movies. I am sure we touched on it in school but I don't remember that information. A British child that recognized the warning signs due to her school instruction was on the beach when the water started receding, warned her Mom and a beach was evacuated and hundreds of lives saved.

A group of fisherman called the Morgan Sea Gypsies, saw the receding waters and also recognized the danger. Their knowledge was due to information passed by tribal elders from one generation to another. Instead of gathering up the flopping fish on the beach like some people, they evacuated their entire village of 180 people to a temple on higher ground.

The article states: "Between April and December, they live in shelters on the shore surviving by catching shrimp and spear fishing. At boat launching festivals each May, they ask the sea for forgiveness."

Charge!!!

2005-01-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

I don't have credit cards. Not that I am noble or anything. I don't have credit cards because I am divorced, my credit sucks and credit card companies would laugh hysterically at any application I would send their way.

Most of the time, I am very happy that I don't have the temptation those cards would bring me of little self control. There are desperate crunch times when I wish I had one or two or three....

An alarming report by Fox News today states that the majority of Americans are spending way beyond their income limits and that credit cards are to blame. They go so far to suggest that our economy could actually crash because of this.

There, now I can pretend to be noble with my credit cardless state and look down on the lofty borrowers that I so desperately envy.

The Village is Gone

2004-12-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

She is believed to be one of only a few survivors of her tiny fishing village. Maitri Sayput, 47, realized that the tidal wave was coming. She put all three of her children on her bike and started pedaling inland as fast as she could before the waves overtook them. She and one of the children was washed some 27 miles inland. The other's were torn away by the waves and remain unaccounted for. Her husband, a fisherman, is also missing.

The village is gone. No houses, apartments, grocery shops, places of worship remain. Her neighbors are gone. All of her family. except for one, gone. In it's place, a sea of mud.

Pope Pius XII told churches not to return Holocaust Babies?

2004-12-31T12:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/520870.html
According to papers dated 11/26/1940, released Tuesday, The Vatican instructed the Catholic Church in France not to return baptized Jewish children to their families after the Holocaust.

Pius XII has been widely criticized for his lack of leadership and failure to publicaly condemn the Nazi's during their reign. He did send secret instructions urging the national churches to intervent on behalf of oppressed Jews in whatever ways they could. Hungary and Slovakia as well as other places, these instructions were sent directly from the Vatican to civil authorities. These communications have been said to have saved numerous Jews.

And in France, when Germans began deporting French Jews, the Catholic bishops were reported as having gone into the streets wearing a yellow star in protest.

To give the Catholic church some credit, at least they helped save some of the children. On the flip side, if they were concerned for the children's religious instruction in a non-Catholic environment, shouldn't they have trusted God to take care of that?

False Tsunamie Alerts Issued Today

2004-12-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

"The false alarm highlighted the lack of an organized tsunami warning system in other parts of the world. Experts have said such a system would have helped save lives after Sunday's 9.0 magnitude quake off the coast of Sumatra. The tremor sent 500 mph waves racing across the Indian Ocean, hitting unsuspecting residents thousands of miles away in Sri Lanka, India and East Africa.

The fears of a new tsunami were apparently sparked by a string of earthquakes in the previous 24 hours, but an earthquake expert at the University of Hong Kong, Jason Ali, said they were around 1,000 times less powerful than Sunday's and probably not big enough to produce tsunamis. ``It's probably going to have negligible impact,'' he said.

Sibal, India's science minister, said the misinformation had come from a U.S. research group in Portland, Ore., called Terra Research.

"(They) ... claimed they have some sensors and equipment through which they suggest there was a possibility of an earthquake,'' Sibal said at a televised press conference. ``So, on the basis of this communication, for anyone to reach a conclusion that a tsunami will hit the eastern coast of India is unscientific, hogwash and should be discarded.''

Terra Research and Consulting Services is run by Larry Park, 46, who describes himself as an earthquake forecaster and stood by his prediction. He said Thursday a quake-spawned tsunami still could happen."

Note from Ellie, I looked at this website and it looks like a ill-conceived effort to make money from his books on the secret of earthquake anomalies. On the flip side, after Hawaii's poor, poor attempt to notify THE WORLD of the strong possibility of Tidal Waves after 9.0 earthquakes on the ocean floor, I understand frantic web searches for earthquake activity and possible tidal waves triggered by aftershocks by officials of those countries affected. After all, they can't count on warnings from established earthquake monitering organizations.

Bloggers Named People of the Year

2004-12-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

ABC has named bloggers People of the Year! Merriem-Webster named blog word of the year! We are being praised for our coverage of the Tsunami, election, hurricanes in Florida and more.

Also contained on the ABC newslink below, is a thumbnail of the blogspot.com Blogger logo :).

ABC News