Bad Words... Again!

A friend on Facebook messaged me and told me that she was reading the blog.. She asked why I had stopped posting and my answer was that life had sort of gotten in the way.  A poor excuse, I know, but that's all I've got right now.  I promised her that I would do some thinking and see what I could come up with to post about..

I'm still watching trials, but I'm trying not to get completely tied up with them, so at this point I'm only and observer of what is happening with a couple cases.  I'm not completely up to speed with the evidence for either one, so I don't feel qualified to post a lot about either case.. Or even some of the other ones I see in the newspapers around here. I'll keep the blog in my mind if I feel like ranting about any of the cases..

I'm not traveling as much nowadays, so there haven't been a lot of spiffy photos from places other than my own home.  But, my friend on Facebook told me to just post whatever about the area I live in. She's on the East coast and has never been to California, so she enjoys seeing the flora and fauna from here.  I might have to see what I can do about that.. Maybe I can enlist my 9 year old grandson in a photo project of some kind.. Or maybe I'll dig around in my photo files and see what kinds of things I've shot and think about what I could write about them..

Anyway, when I got on the blogger dashboard, I discovered a couple posts still in draft form. This one and another one that has the pictures missing. I'll have to do some snooping around on my computers to see if I can locate the missing pictures for the other one.  So, this one will get published.. Only 8 months after I started it...

Bad words and some groans?

I have a feeling the crane operator had a few bad words.. Or his boss did. I'm sure neither one of them said "oops!"..

Who do you think had the most bad words? The fellow we see talking on the phone?  Or maybe the person on the other side of that call...

Lets see... I think the guy in the cab of that pickup truck is praying that the trailer hitch holds until they get him back up on flat ground!  He'll have the bad words when he gets the repair bills..

Uhh.. Oops?  Wonder if his insurance went up.. lol

Ok, now... I don't know about you, but if I opened a bag of bread and saw this, I'd have a LOT to say.. Some of it might be "bad" if my grandson wasn't in the same room... I probably wouldn't be buying that brand of bread again!!  Ewwww!!!

Now this guy is probably holding his breath if he's watching that wheel fly away.. The bad words will come after he hits the ground, I'm sure...

More Bad Words?

Happy Saturday! Here's a few more of the "bad word" pictures...  A couple of them, I'm sure were worth a lot of "bad words".. lol

 I see what looks like one lone person standing there looking at this ship that capsized with all the cargo still aboard... I'm sure this is one of those events that earned a lot of bad words... lol

Lets see... The driver of the pickup would have had a few bad words for the driver of the dump truck.. Whoever owns the pickup (if it wasn't the driver) might have had a few choice words.. Hmm.. What about the driver of the dump truck?  Think  he might have had a few once he realized what that "bump" was?

 Oops! Mechanical failure!  I'm pretty sure there were a few bad words floating about after this failure..

 Mama duck wouldn't be expressing any bad words, but I'm sure if she could talk, she'd voice a few...

 Another one of those pesky cargo container failures... Bad words all around here.. The crane operator that knocked things over, the owners of the cargo in the containers, the guys who are going to have to spend hours and hours trying to fix the mess... Yup. Bad words....

Someone forgot to put the wet cement signs out?  Oops..

~~~
Enjoy!

Bad Words...

I'm sure we've all used a few here and there.. Some more than others, I'll bet... Just reading the newspaper or watching the latest news on your favorite channel on TV can sometimes give you a reason to use a few bad words... Right?  A friend sent me an email with some pictures of some very good reasons to use a few bad words... I'll share a few today, just to let everyone know that I'm still alive and kicking.. I'm still paying attention to live trials and following current crimes but I just haven't felt compelled to blog about them.. Yet. I'm sure something will come along one of these days that I'll blog about.. But for now... Here's a few examples of times when "bad words" would be very much excusable..

Now, I'm not a drinker, but I'm sure there are a few folks out there that would think this "tragedy" is worthy of a few "bad words"...

I'm sure the owner of the boat had a few "bad words" once he sobered up or got out out of the hospital.  How'd he manage to hit that post dead on like that? LOL

Do you think the home owner had a few "bad words" to say?

The farmer probably had a few choice words... Either for the employee to sunk the tractor or for himself while he dug the thing out..

Lets see... Lots of possibilities here for "bad words" here.. The crew in the plane.  The guys in the trucks and tractor.  The boots on the ground... RUN!

I've got questions about this one.. Did a worker back the thing into the mud hole?  Or did it just sit there and sink when the water level came up?  Either way, I'm sure there were plenty of "bad words" spoken about this situation.

I have more of these and will probably post a few more in the next few days... Have a great day, all!

A Sad Obituary

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;


I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above was found in a message board devoted to true crime, namely in a forum dedicated to the Caylee Anthony case, but.. It fits so many other cases we hear about in the news... The poster said she'd recieved it in an email and the obituary was said to have been originally printed in the London Times.  I have no idea if it actually was.. Perhaps later today I'll do some googling and find out where it came from.  Someday it would be nice to see common sense make a come back... :-/

Found on Facebook: 23 Adult Truths

1. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize that you’re wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is a great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5.  I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would  be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind-of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you konw that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray?  I don’t want to have to restart my collection… again.
13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.
17. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
19. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you  just nod and smile because you didn’t hear a word they said?
20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front.  Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
21. Shirts get dirty.  Underwear get dirty.  Pants?  Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey ~ but I’d bet everyone can find the snooze button from 3 feet away in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
23. The first testicular guard, the “Cup”, was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.  That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

**Ladies… Quit laughing.

Penguin vs. Orcas.... Smart Bird!!

The penguin is being pursued by several Orcas, who are circling him for the kill. People on a small boat are filming all the action of the chase. Wait til you see what the penguin does to fix his problem! Thanks to a eBay and Facebook friend, Oda, for showing this video off... I love it!!



Yes, I know the music is annoying to some, but it kind of fits the action! lol...

Have a nice day?

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How could I resist posting this LOLCat? It kind of reminds me of the look I got from one of my cats this morning when I looked out the window on to my back porch. One of the cats was sitting on top of the dryer just staring at the window waiting for me to let her in... lol

I'm Still Alive...

I'm still around, I just haven't been taking the time to sit here and type.. I am still following the news on the various cases I've posted about in the past as well as watching a few other "new" ones. Right now, however, I'm not going to post about crimes, nor am I going to post about my most recent little trip with my Mom and Stepdad to Monterey, nor any of the other things I've been doing in the last few weeks. I am going to simply post a "music video" that a friend posted a link to on Facebook... The song is created entirely from the normal system sounds in Windows 98 and Windows XP... Check it out!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Catscan anyone?

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Earthquake Drill?

One of the things I do almost every day, in fact sometimes several times a day, is to check the USGS website to see what kind of seismic activity there has been. If there's been a quake over 3.0 in California or in the states nearby, I post about it on the California Fire News website (If I can beat the blog owner, that is! LOL). This afternoon, shortly after peeking in on the USGS site I went over to the LOLCat's site and found this cutie and just had to share:


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Skating Babies? Cute Commercial!

A friend saw this on a news broadcast earlier tonight and told me about it.. I had to go hunting for it on YouTube so I could see it... Watch this! It's great! LOL!!

A "Wow" Photo

Every once in a while you happen across a photo that makes you say "Wow!"... This afternoon, I found one of those. The Wallstreet Journal has a "Pictures of the Day" in their Photo Journal. I've had the pictures of the day in my Google reader for a while now, but this shot of a Sunrise at the Rams Island Light near Portland, Maine made me stop and admire the color and the composition of the shot. Kudos to Robert F. Bukaty from the Associated Press for a gorgeous photo.

~~~~~~

I've been avoiding posting on the blog for a bit now. One of the reasons is that there is really nothing "new" with most of the cases I've been watching.

Phil Spector is adjusting to life in the prison he's been assigned to (Corcoran) and his wife has been amazingly silent for the last couple weeks, so there is nothing new there. Especially since any kind of news about the two civil cases just doesn't make it into the main stream media. I keep searching though.. I'm really curious as to how the suit Spector brought against Robert Shapiro will turn out since Phil doesn't want to answer any questions in a deposition.. He just wants Shapiro to simply hand over the money..

Casey Anthony is still in jail waiting for the murder trial, which has been postponed with no definite start date thanks to Casey's new lawyer, Dr. Andrea Lyon. Apparently her teaching schedule is in conflict with the trial date that was orignially scheduled. So, the murder trial is postponed until sometime next year and there will be a status hearing in January. Meanwhile, the prosecution wants to push ahead on the financial fraud charges stemming from Casey's theft of Amy Huizenga's money and checks. During a meeting with all the attornies invovled in the murder trial, the judge requested something in writing from Amy invoking her right to a speedy trial. It'll be interesting to see how Jose Baez will try to squirm out of that..

I'm also watching for news about the murderer of Brianna Denison, James Biela. He's tried twice now to have all the charges against him split into separate cases instead of trying them all in one trial. He's failed at both attempts to have the cases split with the latest attempt having been denied in June. No word yet about when the trial will happen up in Reno.

There are a few other cases that I look for information on, but it's hard to find anything about. I'm not going to list them out until I find some kind of update. The problem right now with watching the news (Both print and televised) is that the majority of what we're seeing is all about Michael Jackson. Apparently we are supposed to hear all the rumors about him, his children, his ex-wives, drugs, illnesses, etc, etc, etc... I'm sorry, but I am tired of hearing all about this stuff. I've enjoyed his music, but I've never been a fan of the man. (shrugging my shoulders)

And so, to close, here's an LOL Cat that I shared on facebook last night:


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Yep, I do feel like I'm in a rut... lol.. How about you?

"Top Cat" LOL! (And a gripe at the end.. *sigh*)

Can you imagine walking down the street and seeing this fellow with his pal? I'm sure the regular readers of my blog know I like cats, and I think I've mentioned a while back that I have 2 cats here that "own" me. But my cats have never tried riding around on my head! LOL


I guess I'll continue the feline funnies by adding an LOL Cat...

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I'm still watching the news, both on TV and online. I just haven't found a lot to write about lately. The Casey Anthony case is progressing, both for the murder trial and for the fraud case. Apparently the prosecutors are going to try to push the fraud case ahead of the murder case. The defense for the murder case is saying they won't be ready until some time next year, so why not push the fraud case ahead.. The motions have been filed, so we'll have to wait and see what the judge says. And we'll probably have to listen to Baez whine about how unfair it is for Casey to have to face up to her theft of money from her friend and her grandparents before she has to face the music for Caylee's death.

Someone recently asked about the case against a local man that I posted about months ago, and I've done some looking around and have found absolutely nothing online about the case that is recent. The man I am talking about is Rex Archer. When I went for that drive on Sunday with my Mom and Stepdad on Father's Day, we talked about Rex and the lack of news about the case against him. (Rex Archer was accused and arrested for sexual abuse on two girls. ) There were two postponements of hearings and then suddenly there was no news at all about the case. My folks and I are thinking that Rex has pulled some strings in Yuba County.. After all, he is one of the "good old boys" over there. I'll keep trying to find out what has happened with the case.

Now, about a case that is done with. Sort of. Phil Spector. Apparently there are a few people trolling the net who object to anything being posted that is the least bit unfavorable towards thier idol, Phil Spector. They've decided my blog is a good place to play again. (Similar childishness happened back when I posted the photo of Rachelle Spector playing with a gun during the second trial for Phil.) So, since the children have decided they want to use my blog for their games, I am putting the comment moderation back into effect. If they want to post about how much they love Phil and Rachelle Spector and spread their hate for everyone that doesn't love them, I suggest they start their own blog or message board. I guess they haven't noticed that Phil Spector is only a very minor part of my blog. As the civil cases that Phil Spector is involved in advance, there may be other posts about him on here. If Rachelle Spector does any outrageous things again, there may be other posts about her. The fans of Mr. Spector and his wife need to grow up and realize that their games aren't going to change anyone's minds about his guilt or anything else. Give it a rest, kids... I'm not going to change my mind about Phil Spector. He has been found guilty of murdering Lana Clarkson. And rightly so. He has been sentenced to prison, most likely for the rest of his life. Again, rightly so. If his "fans" don't want to behave themselves in the comments here, the comments won't see the light of day. Period.

After all, this is my blog and since it is my blog, I can post my opinion whenever I want, no matter how popular or unpopular it is. (And I don't have to put up with abuse from people who oppose my views... lol)

My apologies to my regular readers and commenters. Hopefully the children will go find another place to play soon.

(The Customer Is) Not Always Right

Ok, today's post is going to be a shameless plug for another blog. A blog that has had me sitting here laughing out loud... A friend on Facebook posted a link and a recommendation for the site and I've been "stuck" there ever since... The name of the blog is "(The Customer Is) Not Always Right" and it's a compilation of anecdotes of.. uhm.. strange encounters between customers and sales or service people. This site had me laughing from the very first post:

The Store, My Friend, Is Blowing In The Wind

Customer: *on the phone* “I’ve been trying to order a book from your store in Palm Harbor for the last two days, but they never pick up the phone!”

Me: “OK, what number are you calling?”

(The customer gives me the number and I check our records. She has been calling the right number.)

Customer: “I’ve been calling and calling and they never, EVER answer! It’s so unprofessional! I need you to contact them for me.”

Me: “Well, to be honest, if they never pick up for you, they’re not going to pick up for me either, but I’ll see if our manager has a suggestion.”

Customer: “Well, obviously you should try calling on the employee line!”

Me: “We don’t have that, ma’am. We call each other’s stores with the same numbers you’re using.”

Customer: “When you get through to them, tell them I want them to order this item…”

(The customer gives me all the book information and her phone number, then proceeds to complain about how frustrated and angry she is about our company’s terrible attitude. I talk to my district manager, who gives me some very important news. I relay the following to this woman’s answering machine…)

Me: “Hello, I’m calling you back about the item you wanted ordered from another store in our chain. Unfortunately, we’ve just found out that our Palm Harbor store was blown away in the recent hurricane. I’m sure this is why they’re not answering their phone. Please give us a call back any time, and let us know if we can assist you further. Have a nice day!”

If you have some time, go browse a bit and get some laughs... Although it does make you wonder about how many stupid people there are!!

It's the Start of a New Month

And I'm sitting here remembering last June... The beginning of June a year ago, I was traveling with my Mom and Stepdad. Later in June last year, California started burning. We had over 2,000 wild fires burning all over the state and the air became so smoky it was clearly visible in satellite photos. I hope we don't have a repeat of last year, although some travels again would be nice.. lol...

I'm mainly posting today because I've been having some problems with the blog. The previous post about Phil Spector keeps "hiding" from me. If I go straight to the main URL for the blog, that post is gone. But if I use the "Archive" link for 2009, the post is there.. Weird. I'm hoping that this post will show up on the main URL... If not, I get to hit the blogger help files for a while... UGH!!


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If this works, I'll see about working on some more posts.... (crossing my fingers!)

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Well, it seems to have worked... Finally... I can actually see the "missing posts" now when I go to the main URL... Don't know how it fixed itself! It only took an hour of rummaging around in the blogspot help forums and I never found anything.. Was getting ready to post and thought I'd check again.. It was fixed! LOL

Phil Spector ~ 19 years to Life

Phil Spector now has a minimum of 19 years to contemplate what happened between himself and Lana Clarkson on February 3rd, 2003. Judge Fidler handed down the mandatory 15 years to life for the Murder 2 conviction and then gave Phil an additional 4 years for the use of a gun in the commission of the crime. He could have chosen 3, 4 or 10 years for the gun enhancement, but went along with the prosecution's recommendation. I am not going to detail out what happened during the brief hearing yesterday because it's been written up thoroughly and much better than I could on other sites. For instance, check out Sprocket's Trials & Tribulations. She was there in the courtroom and was blogging in real time, giving her readers a moment by moment description of what happened in the courtroom. Go here and scroll down to the bottom of the post, then read back up towards the top.

If you want to see his face as Judge Fidler pronounces the sentence, here's a video for you:

Note that at the end of the hearing when everyone stands as the judge exits, Phil stays seated until a bailiff directs him to stand and leave the room. Phil never looked over his shoulder at his trial bride, his son nor his supporters who showed up. He also seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open for what was going on. Speculation is that he was under pain medications still since he'd had a surgery on Wednesday to remove polyps from his throat. One has to wonder how many surgeries he's had for those polyps in the last year or so. There were two delays in the trial due to medical treatment on his throat, and now it's reported that he was at UCLA having the surgery just this week! Interesting, huh?

Phil's attorney, Doron Weinberg practically begged for Judge Fidler to order Phil's transfer into State custody as soon as possible and to have his medical records travel with him. The Judge refused to put an "order" on the record and stated that he was sure that the Sheriff would be giving Phil over to the State without much delay. Later, I found an article by Harriet Ryan in the LA Times where Weinberg "explained" why they wanted the transfer hurried up.

Spector's lawyer said his client was focused on his appeal and eager to get through with the sentencing so he could move to a prison facility nicer than the jail where he has been held since the conviction.

"Nicer"? He thinks a prison facility is going to be "nicer" than jail? Ok... I'll be interested to see which facility Phil's going to be staying in for the next 20 or so years. Not that it's likely that he will be paroled at the end of his "19 years" because parole boards usually expect a prisoner to face up to what they've done and show some remorse. Does anyone think Phil Spector is going to ever admit to what he did that morning back in February of 2003?

Rest in peace, Lana. Your murderer is now beginning his penance for the crime he committed.

Something Different; Yuba Dam

I'll leave you with some humor today.. But first I'll tell you how I found it. I was reading a newspaper article in the local paper's website that talks about a problem that is going on with one of the old cemeteries in the area. Apparently there is a huge conflict going on between the powers that be in the city of Marysville and the volunteers that are trying to restore the old cemetery. The whole story is a mess and it comes down to the city locking the volunteers out of the cemetery after the city workers destroyed some of the volunteers work while they "mowed the lawns". One of the comments below the article mentioned an old poem called "Yuba Dam" and I got curious. Good old Google found the poem for me among the books that Google has digitized. The book is "Poems" By Charles James which was printed in 1903. (By the way, the city of Marysville is in Yuba County.. Hence the reference to "Yuba Dam".. lol)

YUBA DAM

The sun was shimmering all the West,
And gilding all the yellow main,
And casting shadows from the crest
Of gilded mountains to the plain,
As laboring up a water course
A traveler pricked his weary horse;
When all at once upon his sight
Burst a fair village, clean and bright.

He asked a miner whom he met,
If he could give its name: "You bet!"
Pray do, my friend and do not sham."
The miner answered, "Yuba Dam."

"Kind. gentle friend, do not abuse
My ignorance; I cry a truce
To thy bold wit; come tell me true,
I would not ask it if I knew,
But I, dear sir a stranger am."
Quick roared the miner, "Yuba Dam!"

Disheartened, on the stranger pressed,
And overtook a mincing dame,
With flaxen hair and silken vest,
And begged of her the village's name.
She oped her sweet lips like a clam
And simpered gently, "Yuba Dam."

On tore the stranger, nearly wild,
And came upon an artless child;
She had a satchel on her arm,
While o'er her face stole many a charm.
"Where have you been?" the stranger said;
The maid uplifted quick her head
And answered with the ready truth
And open frankness of her youth
"At school." "Who keeps it?" "Uncle Sam."
"What is this place, sweet?" "Yuba Dam."

"Alas!" he screamed, in frantic grief,
"Will no one come to my relief?
Will no one tell me where I am?"
The school boys shouted "Yuba Dam!"
And on the bridge, as he did slam
The planks re echoed, "Yuba Dam."

"Perdition seize the place!" he cried,
As through the streets he swiftly hied.
Yet ere he went to bed that night,
From something told him by a wight,
He found that he himself had shammed,
And that the Yuba had been dammed.

Hmm.. I suppose you'd have to know a bit about this area in order to understand how the Yuba was "dammed"... lol..

Just couldn't resist....

UPDATES below....


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This lolcat was just too cute, I couldn't resist bringing it here....

In the News

There are a couple items in the news that have me shaking my head this morning. One is about Drew Peterson, the ex-cop in the Chicago area who is the only suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Stacey Peterson. Drew's publicist put out a press release saying that Drew is in talks about appearing in a role on an HBO reality show set in a Nevada brothel. Apparently the owner of the brothel originally wanted to get former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich to be on the "reality show", but I guess the former Gov. turned it down. And, since both Drew and Blogo have the same PR guy, the PR guy is pushing Drew at the brothel. I've never seen this "reality show" since I don't have HBO, but I have a hunch that Drew would fit right in. If I did have HBO, I doubt if I'd be interested in watching it. I'd never even heard of the show before reading that press release! lol

The other item that has me shaking my head is in the local newspaper this morning, the Appeal Democrat. The story's title is "Accused poachers bagged" with a sub-title of "Illegal, 'sickening' hunts left 5 wounded deer to die". The titles are bad enough, but check out the article itself:

A Nicolaus man and two juveniles are facing felony animal cruelty charges for wounding deer with .22-caliber guns and leaving the animals to die "a slow and agonizing death," a California Department of Fish and Game official said Tuesday.

Jeremy Lee Harkins, 19, was arrested Monday at a Shasta Street apartment in Yuba City along with an alleged accessory, Kayla Marie Williams, 18. Harkins was being held Tuesday in Sutter County Jail on $20,000 bail.

The illegal hunting, long past the end of deer season, allegedly occurred in early December near Nicolaus. Charges were filed by the Sutter County District Attorney's Office after a lengthy investigation, said Game Warden Nate Stebbins.

Harkins and the juveniles shot at deer from a car with a .22-caliber rifle, and apparently a stolen handgun, using rimfire ammunition that is prohibited for hunting deer, said Stebbins.

Small-caliber weapons and rimfire cartridges, instead of centerfire cartridges, are likely only to wound deer, he said.

In one case, the suspects shot a deer at night. Realizing they had only wounded the animal, they returned the next morning "and brutally tried to finish it off" by stabbing or slitting its throat, said Stebbins, who found the carcass.

Two deer carcasses were found. As many as three other animals were wounded, said Stebbins, who called the shootings "sickening."

The juveniles were cited and released to their parents. They will appear in Sutter County Juvenile Court, he said.

Williams allegedly helped Harkins conceal evidence. A fifth suspect, who allegedly provided the handgun is being sought, said Stebbins.

Besides cruelty to animals, charges against Harkins and the juveniles include shooting from a car, wasting game and receiving known stolen property.

The suspects had plastic bags in their car and supposedly planned to salvage meat from the deer with the slashed throat, Stebbins said.

After word of what the suspects were doing got around the small town of Nicolaus, a number of witnesses were found during the "complex" investigation, said Stebbins.

The story is bad enough, but the comments on the article are something else. Apparently the mom of one of the "kids" arrested has been on the paper's site "defending" her daughter. Here is her first comment:

NotJudgeorJury wrote:

You people that have already "Convicted" my daughter and her boyfriend for what this article says, need to slow down and make an effort to find out what the TRUTH is. Does the TRUTH matter to any of you, or are you so excited to be able to have someone to talk about and make judgements when Im sure none or almost none of you are Judges! Thank GOD for that! The two adults mentioned in this article were driver and front seat passenger in the vehicle. The minors in the back of the vehicle are the one(s) that shot the deer! When the adults heard shots they thought they were being shot at and FLED the scene. They did not realize until the GAME WARDEN came that a deer had been shot. They were not involved at all with the next day actions of the minors after the fact! So you people need to get a life and stop judging because I am sure that if it was one of your children written about in the paper you would be outraged when the ignorant people make their ignorant comments about something that they don't even know SH** about!

Uhm... Ok, "Mom"... They didn't realize a deer had been shot? Excuse me, but in the article above, it states that 5 deer had been shot.. On different occasions! I guess she has no feelings for the deer that were wounded during these kid's quest for "fun". For crying out loud, the one deer was shot and wounded at night, then left to suffer until the next morning when the idiot kids went back out there to "end it's suffering"!

The other folks commenting on that article didn't take her attack very well as you can imagine so later, "Mom" comes back and fires another shot:

NotJudgeorJury wrote:

To everyone who wishes they were the judges and jury's: I guess being judge and jury of a space where you are allowed to make comments is all you were capable of "aspiring to" in your miserable lives! I never said that they were not guilty of something, Did I??? I absolutely agree that they MUST be guilty of something, otherwise they would not be in this mess to begin with. I am not as ignorant as many of you though, because I am not talking about How I BELEIVE THEY ARE INNOCENT! I don't think that for a minute.... I don't think that they did nothing. I don't believe what they are being charged with, is appropriate! So dont be too disappointed if they just happen to beat these specific charges. I wouldn't be surprised if they are found guilty of something. And my daughter is well aware of taking responsibility for her own actions and living with consequences of choices she has made... And I am sure that she is being charged at all because she is NOT going to tell on anyone involved, even if she has to go down for the entire incident! It doesn't make the story true! So, I guess I would be more than f***ing happy to see any animal killed, because I don't like animals! Does that mean I am guilty of doing such a thing! No. But it really doesn't bother me at all that the animal was killed. So there is something for you hypocritical people to discuss untill your hearts desires! I love it, when I am the center of any conversation! Negative or positive, really doesn't make a difference to me. I am just happy knowing I got under someones skin today!

Oh boy... This woman is something else, isn't she? Yes, she's defending her daughter and I can understand that, but I don't think she's doing it very well. I think she hits the nail on the head when she says "I love it, when I am the center of any conversation!" I'm going to check back with the paper's site later today and see how the "discussion" is going...

I'd be interested to see what my readers here think about the poacher story... And about the comments.... Follow this LINK and see what's being said...

UPDATE:
Thursday AM: I checked on the comments for the poacher/arrest article this morning and I found one more post from the Mom I quoted yesterday. It seems she's backing off her attitude from early yesterday.. She's still defending her daughter, but it appears that she had a little chat with her daughter and the boyfriend and found out that they aren't quite as innocent as she thought.

notjudgeorjury wrote:

To all of the people posting about this article. I stopped reading ALL comments at my last post, so whatever you have to say about these two adults or myself is really falling on deaf ears. I have absolutely no patience for people that are judgemetal when I am sure that each and every one here has broken the law in some way or another, at some time or another committing crime anywhere from taking office supplies at work, to molesting the neighbors kids and/or worse. Any how, they are not the ones being accused, nor are they the ones on trial. After a very lengthy conversation with the two adults here, I have to apologize to all of you for sticking up for them, because it seems there is more truth to the article than I would like to beleive and after they seen the lengths that I am willing to go to protect them, they felt that I needed to be told the truth. I did not have to come here and apologize to you guys, but I am a woman and I cant admit when I am wrong. While there is some truth to the article, there is also circumstances that are not mentioned in the article. I still stand by my daughters innocence, and I will leave my explanations at that!

I also noticed that more than a few posts were "removed" due to violations of the user agreement for the paper's website. Plus a couple of the posters who were there yesterday are completely gone, posts and all... I guess I missed a "lively" discussion over there.. lol

Another UPDATE:
Thursday PM: Another post from the mom of the girl that was arrested left another post this afternoon... She sounds a bit upset, wouldn't you say? The funny thing is that I just finished reading the rest of the comments and didn't see any posts referring to her being in trouble with the law, nor anything referring to "snitches". This lady needs to calm down and talk to her daughter, the boy friend and the other kids that were arrested instead of ranting and raving on the newspaper's website!

notjudgeorjury wrote:
I hear there has been a few assumptions made about me so let me clear that up for you folks! First of all, NO, I have never been in trouble with the law.(Just because we are not snitches, doesn't mean that the entire family is on the other side of the law). We are not snitches, because someone very close to us was a snitch, and guess what? They was killed for snitching, so we won't snitch! We like being alive! Secondly, someone seems to think I sound crazy, because I ramble...Well when I am furious, I ramble. And you are absolutely right about me being crazy, thats how I get when someone is attacking one of my children, regardless of the reason. You might just know how crazy I can be, if I only knew any of you or where any of you live! We would definately being having this discussion face to face.

Or did I read this wrong? She is making threats, isn't she?

This 'n That

I'm still around, still watching the news on the net and on TV. Yes, I'm still keeping track of what is going on with the cases I've posted about in the past. My brain is having trouble coming up with posts for the blog though. The story behind that is that I got fed up with the new tax hikes the federal and state governments put on cigarettes and have decided to quit smoking. Instead of buying a carton of cigarettes this last time, I bought the patches. (Dummy me, I found out after buying them that I could have gotten them for free if I had signed up for a class at a local hospital! LOL) I started using the patches when I had gotten down to the last pack of cigarettes in the last carton I bought. I managed to make that pack last for 4 days and now I'm on day 2 of having no cigarettes at all. Ugh. I still would love to have a smoke! lol...

So, anyway today's post (which is probably going to be all over the place.) is going to start off with one of the LOL Cats that I thought were really cute yesterday.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Now for the rest of the "news"....

I've been adding a few posts to the other blog I post on, California Fire News. The posts have been mostly earthquake reports that measure over 3.0, but occasionally I find another item of interest. As for the earthquakes, one yesterday was a 4.4 on the Richter scale and it was centered near Malibu. There have been a number of small quakes in the Los Angeles area in the last week or so Hopefully this isn't a buildup to a bigger one.

As for the cases I am watching, a couple of them have been really hard to get news about them because of gag orders that the judges in the individual cases have ordered.

Sandra Cantu (victim) and Melissa Huckaby (accused murderer)
The Sandra Cantu case is one of those that have virtually disappeared from the local and national news broadcasts. The latest hearing for Melissa Huckaby was a very brief one with the defense postponing a plea from the accused and the judge, Linda Lofthus, ordering that the autopsy findings be sealed to "prevent public outrage", plus she ordered a gag order on everyone involved in the case. The next hearing will be May 22nd in the San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton. There have been a couple articles recently though. These articles are about the reward that had been offered when poor little Sandra disappeared.

Apparently there is a psychic in the Los Angeles area who thinks she deserves to get some of the reward money even though her "vision" wasn't exactly accurate and the investigators used none of the information provided by any psychics when they were searching for the child. This woman said she predicted the little girl would be found in a "barranca (A Spanish word for canyon or ravine.) and that she was killed in a church, and the killer was someone in the trailer park the little girl called home. Ok, she managed to get 2 out of 3, supposedly. But, since the Tracy police didn't use psychic predictions during the investigation, how much actual "good" did this woman do? I'd say "none".

The other article I found this morning is about the man who did do something to help the Tracy police find Sandra. This guy is the man who found that suitcase floating in that pond on the dairy. The original news reports that came out when Sandra's body was found in that suitcase said that the farm hand(s) who found it had refused the reward. Back then, the reporters said that the cops would be talking to the men. And apparently they did. The man who is receiving the reward money is Jose Luis Franco, and he'll be the recipient of a little more than $20,000. He says he'll be putting the money into a trust account to pay for the education of his four children. He's hoping that they will be able to go to college. Good for him! And good for his family!

The Public Information Officer with the Tracy Police Department, Sgt. Tony Sheneman says that the reward will be going only to Mr. Franco. Not to the supposed psychics who are trying to claim part of that reward. (Can you tell that I don't believe in a lot of the supposed psychics who claim they "solve murders"?)

Sources:
The Tracy Press (hearing and gag orders)
The Mercury News (psychic claim)
The Tracy Press (reward money awarded)

Maria Lauterbach (victim) and Cesar Laurean (accused murderer)
Now that Cesar Laurean has been extradited from Mexico and brought back to North Carolina, he's had his first hearing and an Onslow County judge issued a gag order in the case. The order states that to ensure Laurean's right to a fair trial, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and Laurean's defense attorney are not to release any information to the news media or the public that would "have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter." (Click here to read the gag order.) So, we'll get very little, if any, information about the case before it comes to trial. Whenever that will be. A date has not been set yet.

Sources:
jdnews.com
Investigation Discovery, The Criminal Report Daily (A very good overview of the case.)

Stacy Peterson (missing/murdered) and Drew Peterson (primary suspect)
Drew Peterson has been making himself seen and heard again. He was on a local morning show there in Chicago and he had the nerve to take his two teenage sons with him and put them on camera to defend their father. I suppose he thought this would be a "good move" to defend himself from the wrongful death suit that has been filed by the family of Kathleen Savio, Drew's 3rd wife who was found dead in her bathtub during a contentious divorce. As far as I'm concerned, he is exploiting those boys. They should not have been on TV defending Drew.

More news about Drew is that the authorities have not given up on searching for Stacy. The divers were out in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal again searching the other day. The searchers weren't commenting on what they were looking for nor on what they found, but they're out there... And from all the sources I've read so far, the searching has to do with the Stacy Peterson case. Plus, apparently Drew was on a talk-radio show this past week and Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales called in and "lit into Drew". Interesting conversation... lol

Sources:
ABC 7 Chicago
The Herald News
Chicago Sun-Times (Be sure to check out the recording of the radio show and Cassandra's call.)

Caylee Anthony (victim) and Casey Anthony (accused murderer and mom of victim)
The Orlando authorities released a bunch of new documents about the case against Casey Anthony this week. Some of them are fascinating to read and have generated quite a few comments on the InSession message boards. I'm still trying to read through them, so I'll reserve any comment from me for now.. lol

George and Cindy Anthony are still trying desperately to defend their daughter, but the attorneys for Zenaida Gonzalez are asking a judge to force George and Cindy Anthony to respond to certain questions they would not answer during recent depositions. It should be interesting to see if the judge can force those two to behave themselves during a deposition. I've never seen behavior like theirs in a deposition! But then, I haven't been in that many of them.. lol..

Then we have Jose Baez giving an interview to an Orlando TV station where he says that Casey had "very compelling reasons" for her actions when referring to her partying for the 31 days that her child was missing before Cindy Anthony reported her missing. Uhm.. Yeah, right. Baez actually has the nerve to compare Casey's case to Cynthia Sommer's case. (And I'm not even going to link anything to that! Go google!) The "ugly coping" thing that Baez is trying to put out isn't going to work unless he puts Casey on the stand, in my opinion. And how many people think the guy would actually do that?

Sources:
WFTV (List of links to documents)
Orlando Sentinel (also about the documents released)
WESH (Article about the motion to compel the Anthony's to answer questions)
WESH (Article about Jose Baez interview)

Lana Clarkson (victim) and Phil Spector (convicted murderer)
The sentencing hearing for Phil will be on the 29th of this month. The only thing that I've heard since his conviction is that Rachelle and the rest of the "Phil is innocent" groupies are trying to circulate a petition to make the powers that be let him go free. Uhhh... Rachelle, do you really think that a petition is going to let your "dear hubby" out of prison? If so, I think you should sit down and think some more. I don't think it's going to happen.. Phil was convicted of 2nd degree murder and there's the added use of a gun that will extend his sentence. Rachelle, just keep up your comedy act.. You might need it one of these days to earn a living for yourself instead of living off Phil's royalties. Those just might be going to the Clarkson family when they win the wrongful death suit.

~~~~~~~~~~

I think I'll stop for now... Have I given you enough links and stuff to follow? lol... I think I'll go find some carrot sticks to munch on to take my mind off wanting a cigarette.............

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

A Trucker's Lament...

Today I'm not going to report on crimes or tragedies. At least not for now. We'll have to wait and see what the day brings, tough. Anyway, my trucker friend sent me a series of text messages a while back. I saved them and thought I'd share... (With a bit of editing to put them all together into a readable format.) Think Willie Nelson here... And no, my trucker friend is not a big fan of Willie.. Just ask him.. He'll tell you!

On the road again,
Going to places I have already been,
Seeing things I never want to see again,
Oh god help me, I am on the road again.

Dealing with people that are a pain in the end,
Doing things I wish I didn't have to do again,
Oh lord, I think I am going to cry again,
Damn it, I am on the road again.

All eighteen wheels are turning once again,
Stopping at places all over again,
My route seems to never end,
All I do is work and sleep before I start again,
Please someone help me I am on the road again.

Will I ever see my wife and kids again,
Will spend the holidays alone again,
Some day soon, will have to play the lottery or I will never win,
Oh man, its four am, time to get on the road again.
Do I have to die before this will end,
Oh god, I am on the road again

The "purty" big red truck above is one of the trucks I drove back in the 90's. If you look real close at the windshield, you can see a very vague image of the driver. That's me! My trucker friend was out freezing his butt off in the snow taking the picture.. We're in a rest area on I70 near Aspen... The weather was very nice in Denver, but it was blizzard time in Aspen... lol

And now I'll close with a little more humor that I just can't resist this morning:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Holiday wishes to all!

I'd like to wish all the readers of my blog a happy Easter! I found a couple cute LOLCats to share for the day... Enjoy!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'll have to work on some more posts about the news, crimes and trials I'm following soon. So, be assured, I'm not gone.... I've just been taking a few days off from typing... lol