Dumb Robber?

I was surfing around the web this afternoon looking for items of interest that I could post on the California Fire News blog when I came across this article:

SoCal Robbery Suspect Caught Trying to Become Policeman

KTLA News

February 28, 2009

CHULA VISTA -- A robbery suspect was arrested when he showed up to take an test to become a police officer.

Police say 40-year-old Romeo Montillano was arrested and booked into San Diego County jail. Montillano was being sought by police in connection with a December robbery at a Chula Vista Kmart where a man took a TV and other items, then beat up store employees who confronted him.

A short time later, investigators learned Montillano had signed up to take the February police officer's examination.

Police contacted Montillano, and the suspect promised to show up to take the test.

When the suspect showed up on test day, he was arrested for investigation of robbery and other crimes.

Police say that as Montillano was being arrested, he asked whether he could still take the police exam or reapply at some later date. They told him no.

Ok, I'm laughing. This guy wanted to be a cop, but he's on the run for stealing a bunch of stuff and beating up people in the store he was stealing from.... Uhm... DUMB! I guess this is one of those times when you ask "What was he thinking?" and then you answer your self by saying "He wasn't thinking!!!". Too stupid!! The guy deserves to go to jail just for being dumb! LOL

So, since the news in this post gave me a giggle, I will add a picture that might give you folks a giggle... (Gotta love the LOLcats!)

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Truckers Can Be Heroes Too

I know lots of folks look at trucks on the highway as just an obstacle in their way. They are wrong, though... If it weren't for trucks and the people who drive them, there wouldn't be much of anything to call your own.... Because if you have something, more than likely it got to you in the back of a truck.

Anyway, in the news here the last couple of days there has been a story of a trucker that a lot of folks are calling a hero. There is a truckstop near the town of Ripon, California and on Thursday night, one of the trucks in the lot caught on fire. Well, not the whole truck, just the trailer. The trucker didn't just jump out of his truck and run away. He put the truck in gear and drove it out of the parking lot and down a nearby street to an area where it was isolated and the fire was unable to spread.

The Ripon Police Department was dispatched along with the fire department. The first patrol car on the scene had his dash-cam going when he arrived and the video has been on the news this morning. I "grabbed" it and put it on YouTube this morning so I could share it here:

The Modesto Bee has a number of still photos of the aftermath of the truck fire. What a mess, huh? From the angles of the photos, it looks as though only the trailer burned, not the tractor. Lucky for the driver, I would imagine, because that means that all his belongings in the truck are still there.

I also posted the Modesto Bee article on the California Fire News blog this morning.

In my opinion, that trucker is a hero. By staying with his truck and driving it out of the truckstop he prevented a disaster. At night, truckstop parking areas are usually full of trucks parked close together. If that trucker hadn't moved, who knows how many trucks would have burned and who knows what kind of loads would have been destroyed. The hero's name is Randal Jack, and I salute him for keeping his head when he looked out his mirrors and saw the flames.

This Post is a Test...

I've been having trouble accessing my blog since Wednesday night.. Or any blog that is on blogspot.com, for that matter. So, I'm playing around with Windows Live Writer which came with my new laptop... We'll see if this will get published, or if I'm blocked completely...

BTW, I have contacted my ISP about the problem getting to blogspot and they're checking into it.. Blogspot is the only site I'm having trouble with at the moment... **sigh**

UPDATE (2/26/09 midday)

Well, blogspot/blogger isn't the only site I can't reach. I just found out that I can't get into Gmail either. I reported it to my ISP and the tech said that it's all been forwarded to the "domain" guy. So we're waiting now to hear something back from that guy....... Frustrating... **double sigh**

ANOTHER UPDATE (2/26/09 evening)

Still can't log into blogger or gmail............. **sigh**

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UPDATE AGAIN (2/27/09)

Well, this morning I can get into gmail and blogger........ Lets see if this thing will publish a post now.............

~~~

It worked! Hurray!!

Casey Anthony's Diary ... Wow... Just Wow

There was another document release in the Caylee Anthony case and among the documents and photos that were released is a page from a diary that Casey Anthony kept. The entry in the diary is dated June 21st, which is just days after Caylee was last seen by anyone other than her mother, Casey.

Casey wrote on the left hand page "Everyday Is A Brand New Beginning" and "Carpe Diem - Seize The Day". Any speculation out there as to what she meant by those?

The diary entry itself is disturbing, to say the least. (See image. I've enlarged it and lightened it so that it is more readable.) Here is the text of the entry:

-- I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I just want for everything to work out okay. I completely trust my own judgement & know that I made the right decision. I just hope that the end justifies the means. I just want to know what the future will hold for me. I guess I will soon see

-- This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow

-- I've made new friends that I really like. I've surrounded myself with good people -- I am finally happy. Let's just hope that it doesn't change.

I have to wonder how many other diary entries there are in that book that were written between June 15th and July 16th. How can the defense explain this away? Casey states in her own words that she has no regrets and wants everything to work out okay. She feels no regrets for the disapearance of her little girl? No regrets for the death of her little girl? She's the happiest she's been in a long time? Really? You've "lost" your child and you're happy, Casey? Why? I just might tune in to Nancy Grace or Greta tonight to see if they have some kind of expert that can explain this diary entry.

The documents were released to the defense this past Friday, then over the weekend there were reports of Casey's attorney, Jose Baez, checking himself into a hospital for stomach problems. Perhaps the stomach problems stemmed from Jose reading through all of the documents and photos that were released this time. The defense released this statement this morning: “The State’s forensic report on duct tape, plastic bags and other items is a one-sided law enforcement-generated report and is biased and speculative. It uses ‘junk science,’ the kind of flawed comparative analysis that the two-year study by National Academy of Sciences released today.” It's interesting that the only thing I've seen from the defense is this one statement that criticizes the forensic testing on the duct tape, plastic bags and "other items". I wonder what they will have to say about Casey's own words.....

I'll be honest, I haven't even started reading the documents themselves. The only thing I've looked at so far are the photos that were included this time. Go check out the photos for yourself on the Olando Sentinal website. They're pretty interesting. (Another media link, WFTV9, has more photos for viewing.)

Off I go now to peruse the pdf's of the rest of the documents. Here's some links for them:
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740657/detail.html (18 pages)
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740700/detail.html (201 pages)
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740668/detail.html (122 pages)
http://www.wftv.com/_blank/18740657/detail.html (75 pages)

Photo Update

Thanks to an anonymous poster/commenter and CNN Prime News, I learned that the image I used above wasn't a "complete" photo. It's apparently been cropped to show more of the book and less of the background. When the cropping happened, they chopped off the upper corner of the book where there is an "03" written.
So, I went hunting and found a more "complete" image of the book. And, yes, there is an "03" in the upper left hand corner of the book. So, was this written in June of 2003? I've also seen some mention by posters on a couple message boards that it looks as though there were pages removed from the book. I can't see it, but apparently some folks do.

If this was written in 2003, what was going on in June of that year? What "decision" did she make in 2003? And why did the investigators photograph that page?

Snow in the Mountains Means a Bad Day for Truckers

Well, Northern California is getting snow in the mountains this weekend. I've talked to my trucker friend a few times this weekend and he's not a "happy camper". If you take a look at the image to the left (A screenshot of the CalTrans Traveler Information page), you'll see that they are saying that I80 Westbound is closed to trucks. Well, that doesn't mean my friend can sit back and wait it out. For the simple reason that he's hauling the U.S. Mail, which means he doesn't stop, even if they block all the other trucks. He has to put chains on and run it anyway, he has to deal with the folks in cars, SUV's and pickups doing stupid things on the highway in front of him. For instance, this morning he had a guy in a SUV pass him and then suddenly change lanes and slow down right in front of my friend's truck. It's a good thing my friend was going slow (due to having max chains on his truck) because he was able to slow fast enough to not hit the idiot in the SUV.

Anyway, it's been a few hours since I heard anything from my trucker friend, so I figured I'd check out the traffic cams up on the hill. It looks nasty up there. I started from the Nevada end and worked my way "down the hill" with the cams. Take a look at the screenshot to the left. That is at the Truckee Scales. Normally, you can see the hills in the distance. Not today! Too much snow falling. The wind is blowing pretty good up there too, when you watch this camera, it really sways with the movement of the pole that the camera is on.

The next camera in line isn't working this afternoon. It's at the Ag Station on the Westbound side of the highway. Thats where you have to stop and tell them where you're coming from and what kind of agricultural products you're carrying when you're coming into California.

After you pass the Ag Station, you get into the city of Truckee. So the next camera is at the junction of I80 and Highway 89 which is in Truckee. Lots of snow, huh? If you're watching the camera live, you can really see the snow blowing past the lens of the camera!

I am glad I'm not up there in that mess. I'm sitting here in the comfort of my living room, listening to the rain and wind outside. I feel sorry for the truckers that have to travel in that stuff up on the mountains during storms like the one we're having today! I'm also very thankful that when I drove trucks way back when, I drove for a company that had a "no chain" policy for the cross-country drivers. We carried the chains, but the company wanted us to find a spot to wait out the chain controls rather than put them on and run. My partner and I spent a lot of time in truckstops waiting for weather conditions to improve back then.

The next view is a bit further west at Kingvale. The traffic on the lower section of the road is going westbound. You can barely see the upper/Eastbound side through the snow flying. Although, if you look close right next to the "E" in Kingvale, you'll see the taillights of a car headed east. I was almost tempted to give my trucker friend a call to see where he was when I saw that white truck headed west. I decided not to distract him though, so I have no clue where he is on the hill.

Are you glad that you are sitting in the warmth of your home looking at these pictures on your computer instead of having to drive in that lovely white stuff? lol..

Ok, the next camera is the one at Whitmore Grade. This one puzzled me for a long time because I couldn't quite figure out where the camera was. In a previous post on this blog, I posted a map or two trying to show where it is. I wish Caltrans had a camera on the Eastbound side as well, but I'm guessing that this location is where a camera is needed since I've seen a number of spinouts and such when I'm watching it.

Anyway, you can see all the traffic trying to make it back down into the Sacramento Valley. And all the snow blowing around. No spinouts yet, but I'm sure there will be one or two before the day is over.

This is the last screenshot for today. It's at Crystal Springs and I added it in because of the fellow at the back of the truck over there on the left. I watched the poor guy putting the chains on the wheels of his truck. And watched a few idiots in cars that seemed to try to get as close to him as they could. Dummies...

One of the things that struck me as I watched the cameras today was that I saw very few plows or sand trucks running. My trucker friend's favorite rant about Caltrans is the lack of plows running down the road. He says that he sees more plows and sand trucks sitting alongside the road than he sees on the highway itself. What the heck are those guys doing? Napping?

New Florida Amber Alert Issued

Another child is missing in Florida.

Earlier this week, I didn't think I would watch the memorial service for Caylee Anthony. But, this morning I watched it on CNN and during one of the short breaks in the coverage of the service, the news announcer mentioned yet another missing child. The family of this little girl didn't wait for 31 days before telling anyone that the child was missing. (More about the service later...)

An Amber Alert was issued early this morning for Haleigh Cummings, who lives with her father and his girlfriend in Satsuma, Florida which is in Putnam County. Haleigh was last seen sleeping in her bedroom while her father was at work and his girlfriend slept in the next room. Apparently the girlfriend was awakened by a loud noise around 3:30 am and went to check on little Haleigh when she discovered the girl was missing. The woman told police that the door to the home was not locked at the time, according to Sgt. Jason Nettles of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities are concerned because at least 25 registered sex offenders live near the missing girl's home in Satsuma, Fla.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. Anyone having information is asked to call 1-888-FL MISSING.

Source
Code Amber


Now, for the service. As I said, I wasn't sure that I wanted to watch the service when it was first announced. I don't know why I changed my mind this morning. I have to admit, Cindy planned a moving and dignified memorial for her granddaughter. Lee, George and then Cindy stood up and spoke to the people who gathered in the church for the service. Thankfully, there were no disruptions during the memorial.

Lee's speach was puzzling to me. He didn't mention Caylee by name. He referred to her as "C M A". Yes, those are Caylee's initials, but they are also his sister's initials. What was the "promise" that he spoke about? A lot of posters on the message boards I'm reading believe it was a promise made to his sister, who is in jail accused of murdering Caylee, not a promise made to the child who is gone.

George and Cindy both spoke of Caylee. They spoke about their love for her, they spoke about the things she used to do and what love and life she brought into their lives. They also spoke about Casey. George asked people to write to Casey. I'm sorry, George, but I'm not going to write to your daughter.

Cindy commented on all the bracelets and pins that she was wearing in Caylee's honor. George spoke of a locket he was wearing with Caylee's name on it. The Caylee pins were obvious on both George and Cindy, but oddly enough, Lee did not wear a Caylee pin. He only had a shamrock pin on his chest. Why? The shamrock thing was a "Casey thing" since her birthday is so close to St. Patrick's day. I suppose that is another little indication that Lee is thinking more of his sister than of his murdered niece.

From what has been announced by newscasters, Casey elected not to watch the memorial service for her daughter. Instead, she met with her lawyer, Jose Baez. Yesterday, Mr. Baez read a "statement" about the service:
"This is a statement by my client and she's authorized me to a make a statement to the public with regards to tomorrow's memorial.

I miss Caylee every day and every minute of every day. I can't be there for Caylee's funeral, but some day I want to go and visit her grave and tell her how much I miss her.

I allowed my parents to be in charge for the funeral for Caylee. I told them I wanted her buried in a casket and I wanted there to be a gravestone so I could go and visit her. I asked them if there could only be a private funeral for just the family.

I know they cremated her. I still don't want a public event with cameras and everybody around for Caylee's service, but I can't stop my parents from doing what they want. I truly hope that it will help them."

Casey's statement uses the word "I" fourteen times and she only mentioned Caylee's name four times. It gives you a hint of what is in Casey's head. It seems that she wants all this to be about her and not about her daughter.

I am guessing that this memorial service for Caylee is going to be analyzed to death by news casters, commentators, bloggers and posters on message boards for days to come. I am glad I watched it this morning for myself. But, I am not going to analyze it to death. It is over, the child is gone and the family members need to heal as much as they can as they wait for the trial to come. Rest in Peace, Caylee.

Now, bring on the trial and show us the evidence. The world wants to know what happened to that beautiful little girl.

Anyone have a kitty THIS hungry? lol

I found this video on the LOLCats website this morning and it's a great one for a laugh... Couldn't resist posting it here... lol


I've had cats off and on for most of my adult life and I have never had one that fought me like this for their food! LOL! Too funny...

Caylee Anthony = Profits? (With Updates)

Update Below

I guess it's time for me to break my silence about the Caylee Anthony case and the circus surrounding it. If you've been following the Caylee Anthony case lately, I'm sure you've seen the reports of the dolls that are being sold by a couple people. I can't speak for most folks, but to me, these people wanting to profit from the death of that child are bottom feeders. Period.

Bottom Feeder 1
Yesterday the news came out about some promoter who wants to profit off the tragedy of the death of Caylee Anthony. The image to the left is the so-called Sunshine Caylee Doll that was for sale for a short period of time on a website run by a Jacksonville-based company called "Showbiz Promotions". (I am not going to supply a link to their website!) The company supposedly was going to start selling these dolls at noon today, but apparently they've changed their minds. The sale of the dolls has been "suspended". The dolls were to be sold for $29.99 each and according to the website, a portion of the profits were to be donated to an unnamed charity. Last night on the Nancy Grace show, Jaime Salcedo defended his company's sale of the dolls. According to him, the dolls are a "tribute" to Caylee. Uhm. Yeah, right. He couldn't even name the "charity" that he was going to donate money to, nor could he say how much would be donated. The guy is a bottom feeder who thought he had a great idea for making money. Put the dolls on sale, brag about what a wonderful thing they're doing by "donating" part of the proceeds and never, ever let anyone know who or how much goes to some "charity". So, they've "suspended" the sale of the dolls that don't look like Caylee, but play "You Are My Sunshine" when you poke the doll's belly button.

Hey Mr. Jaime Salcedo, I hope the Anthony's go after you. Cindy went after a blogger, for crying out loud, just because she thought that somehow that blogger was making a profit off her granddaughter. There was no profit for the blogger, but this dude... Yeah, I think the Anthony's could get him. Mr. Salcedo, that was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

Bottom Feeder 2
This morning, the news is reporting about an Ebay seller that has created Casey Anthony voodoo dolls. (Oh brother!) The seller describes themself as follows: "Artist is a studied, practiced and renound Spiritual Healer; Gemologist and Jeweler. Equally engages in healing and spiritual craftmaking, and in designing and manufacturing spiratual and uniquie jewel crafts (emphasis on Voodoo Dolls and Dreamcatchers)." The most expensive doll sells for $29.99 and comes complete with handcuffs, a Bible and white sunglasses.
Ok... So maybe this one isn't as much of a bottom feeder as the one above if you take into account the amusement value of having a Casey Anthony Voodoo doll that comes with handcuffs and white sunglasses. Still, I count this seller as a bottom feeder. She/he/whoever is trying to make a profit off a tragedy. A child is dead who was stuffed into a garbage bag and dumped along side a road like so much trash, her mother is in jail waiting for a murder trial and the rest of the family has stayed out of the news as much as they could until George ended up in the hospital due to a suicide attempt. The child hasn't even been buried yet! (And I guess Jose Baez is the one who has the say over when poor little Caylee can be laid to rest.)

Bottom feeders......... I know there will be more than just these two. On eBay alone, there are lots of sellers that have listings that pertain to the case, but most of those are clippings or magazines. So far, though, the bottom feeders aren't making much money off Caylee. Yet. The doll sales were suspended before they began and the voodoo doll "artist" hasn't sold a single one yet. I checked the history for the seller. The dolls closed with no bids and have been relisted, still with no bids. Perhaps the seller will find a buyer now though since the news has spotlighted the listing... Ugh.


Update on the eBay Seller
Well, my prediction has proven true about that eBay seller. Less than an hour ago, none of the dolls had bids, and now all three of the voodoo dolls now have bids on them. I guess that "artist" is doing a little happy dance now that her auctions have hit the news. (Insert rolling eyes icon here... **sigh**)

Another Update on the eBay Seller
Apparently someone, or lots of someones, reported that seller to eBay and eBay took all the auctions down and the seller is "no longer a registered user". In other words, eBay banned the seller from the site. Two of the auctions did "end" with buyers, one for about $75 and the other was over $100. The third doll was still getting bids when the seller went **poof**, with the top bid being over $7,000! Insane!!!!!!

The Defense Prepares?

Yes, I am still banned from the InSessions board, but I'm there reading/lurking without logging in. Someone in the Caylee Anthony forums linked this cartoon into the threads this morning and it so fits so many cases I've watched over the years that I had to put it here on my blog.

Source: Non Sequitur by Wiley

As we all watch the news from Orlando, I am sure I'm not the only one wondering what kind of defense Jose Baez is going to present. The news is saying that the investigators (according to "sources inside the investigation") have overwhelming evidence that Casey Anthony intentionally murdered her almost 3 year old daughter, Caylee. They are also saying that according to reports returned by forensic botanists and entomologists brought in to anaylyze the terrain and insect growth where Caylee's remains were found, they can place the time of the death sometime in June. The sources say that plants were growing through the skeleton and bug evidence was also recovered, both of which helped scientists reach their conclusion. So those experts (If the "sources" are right.) have pretty much canceled out the rumors that keep floating around that the child's body was moved there after Casey was jailed.

So how is Jose Baez going to explain away Casey's involvement in her daughter's death? He can't stand there and spout off the stories about the child being alive and out there somewhere with the kidnappers now that the remains have been found. Is he going to go with the "nanny-kidnapper" story? If so, which one? The story about Casey dropping Caylee off in an apartment at the Sawgrass Apartments? Or the story about dropping her off on the stairs in front of the apartment? Or maybe the one about the "nanny" and her sister knocking Casey to the ground and taking off with Caylee? In the brief that was sent to the prosecutors earlier on trying to get the death penalty taken off the table, it was theorized that Caylee died due to an accidental overdose. Is that the one Mr. Baez is going to run with? It's hard to tell what the guy is aiming for as we watch him in action in the courtroom dealing with all the motions he's filed.

Speaking of all those motions being filed. The court appearance of Casey on Thursday was a surprise to a lot of people. Casey had refused to come to court initially when the jailers went to fetch her, but the judge insisted that since she didn't sign a waiver, she had to appear. It seems Mr. Baez forgot to have her sign the waiver and was just going on her verbal decision not to attend. So, Casey was brought to court. Her demeanor was amazing, in my opinion. The lawyers and the judge were discussing her own daughter's remains (Her bones!) and Casey sat there for the most part expressionless. No emotion, no connection to what was being said about her daughters bones. It seemed a couple of times she had to suppress a smirk or smile about something that was said, but overall, she looked like a cold fish, totally bored with what was being discussed. I don't think I could have been so cold if someone were discussing my child's remains like that!

Anyway, the photos of poor little Caylee's bones are supposed to end up on a "secure" server in Jose Baez's office that the defense experts will access to form their opinions of what happened to the child. I have a problem with that "secure server" in the Baez office though. How the heck is he going to set up something like that when his own law firm's website is as screwed up as it is? There hasn't been a working link on that website since Casey was spending her days in his office! Was she playing at being Jose's webmaster during all those days kicking back in his office? lol.. That "secure server" is a lot more complicated to set up than a simple website with working links!

Anyway, back to the defense........ Whatever it might be. It will be an interesting trial to watch just to see what the evidence is and to see what the defense has to say that is going to make us say "Now I understand!" I'd like to give Jose Baez a "clue". We understand that your client, Casey Anthony, murdered her daughter, packed her body in trash bags and dumped it in the woods less than a quarter mile from her parent's home.

Meanwhile, George and Cindy Anthony are supposedly "actively" planning the memorial services for their granddaughter. Finally. "She's finally been able to start working on some plans in regards to the public service,” Conway, the Anthony's attorney said. “Music, flowers, possible venues for it.” He also stated that not all are "welcome" to attend the services. He (and I'm guessing Cindy) says that Leonard Padilla, the California bounty hunter that bailed Casey out of jail the first time, will not be invited or let in to the services. Sheesh. I wonder who else Cindy has on her list of "uninvited" guests to her granddaughter's memorial. Perhaps the two private investigators who supposedly have a video of the area where the remains were found? How about Tim Miller from Texas Equusearch, the man who headed up all those searches for a "not alive" child? What about the Anthony's first attorney, Mark Nejames? Personally, if I were planning a memorial service for a loved one, the last thing I would think about would be who can't attend. And the circus keeps on going, doesn't it?

Bah... Enough about the Anthony circus for now. I'm going to close with a cat picture that I fell in love with when I saw it on the LOLCat website yesterday;


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Oh Dear.... I have been Banned....

This morning, I logged on to the InSessions message boards and found out that I had been banned from the boards. Granted, it's a temporary ban until 1/11/09, but still.... The reason for the ban is that I put a link on the Phil Spector trial board to a blog called "Los Angeles Trials" that is written by someone calling themselves "Joe Friday". Mr. Joe Friday (whoever the heck he/she is) has an "Adult Content" warning at the front of their blog and that is what got me banned from InSessions. I emailed Coldwater asking about the ban, and also assuring her that there is no porn or anything on the blog. She emailed me back with the explanation that the ban was because of that stupid warning that the blogger put on their blog. **sigh**

So, this is to Mr. Joe Friday;
You lost a reader, dude. Yes, I wanted information about Phil Spector's trial. And yes, I "shared" your blog link with others on the forum, but because of you and your stupid warning, I am unable to post on the boards that I've been on for the last 2 or 3 years. That link up above is the last link I'm going to post to your blog. I think I will stick to Sprocket's blog for information on the Phil Spector trial from now on.

Yep, I'm pissed at the blogger... And I guess I'm a bit peeved at myself for not thinking about that stupid warning on the blog before I posted the link to it on InSessions. I'll wait out the ban. I'm not going to create a new identity on there, I kind of like the one I've had (Anakerie). So, I get 3 days of just reading at InSessions. No questions. No answers. No comment. If any other InSessions people see this, take my banning as a warning. DO NOT POST LINKS TO THAT BLOG!

UPDATE
Apparently Joe Friday has removed the warning on the front end of his blog, according to the comment below. I don't know, I haven't gone to look and I don't know if it would even show for me since I had clicked ok on it before. Do those things leave a cookie on your computer? **shrug** Anyway, I sent a note to Coldwater, the moderator for the InSession boards to let her know that the warning is supposed to be gone now so that no one else will get banned like I did. I'll let you all know if I hear back from her again. (I wish there was some way to find out who reported my post to Coldwater... lol)

Video Clips from the Caylee Anthony Case

A group called Nifter Media has produced some powerful videos that show the contrasting and conflicting statements made by the Anthony family, George, Cindy, Lee and Casey. If you haven't seen them already, please watch....

Part 1 of 4 ~ You Are My Sunshine


Part 2 of 4 ~ You Are My Sunshine


Part 3 of 4 ~ You Are My Sunshine


Part 4 of 4 ~ You Are My Sunshine


This is from the description that Nifter Media put on the YouTube site:

A 4 part series featuring a collection of clips from the Caylee Marie Anthony homicide case.

This series of videos focuses on the 'Anthony family perspective,' so to speak; most of the clips are of Anthony family members directly, or, about a specific family member.

The song 'You Are My Sunshine' is used as a theme for these videos for a variety of reasons, foremost because videos of both Caylee and her grandfather singing this song have been released to the public, but also because the world has become attached to this little girl and the song fits well within this context. There are also other reasons also, including the fact that it offers stark contrast between the life Caylee could have had and the events that have unfolded.

These videos do not represent a timeline of the case, rather, they were picked randomly and pieced together in a way that we thought fit best with what we were trying to present. Additionally, the videos are not intended to make anyone appear guitly of any wrong-doing. Editing that leaves the viewer with an impression of unlawful activity by anyone referred to in the videos is purely coincidental and unintended.

Coffee??

I just couldn't resist posting this one from the LOL Cats website.. lol..


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Be back later with more of a post... Maybe... lol

Happy Holidays!

I am wishing a very Happy Holiday to everyone! I hope everyone's holidays are filled with love and great times with family and friends.

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This and That

I've been sort of absent from my blog for the last couple of days, but I have been watching the news. More about why I've been "absent" later in this post.

Caylee Anthony
As most everyone expected, the remains found in the wooded area near the Anthony home have been positively identified as Caylee Marie Anthony. Her grandparents, Cindy and George Anthony were notified shortly before the newsconference yesterday afternoon. Her mother, Casey Anthony was also notified, about 15 minutes before the news conference by the jail chaplain. Even though the news was expected, it still tore at my heart. That poor child has been laying there in those woods for so long. I do have some sympathy for Cindy and George, at the moment anyway. How long the sympathy will last will depend on what they do when they emerge from seclusion. They have lost a precious granddaughter and from all the evidence we've seen (I'm sure that the investigators have much, much more.) against Casey, it looks as though they will "lose" a daughter as well. Not in the same sense as they've lost poor little Caylee though.

I read the statement from Cindy and George this morning that their new attorney, Brad Conway released. Here is the text of the statement:

"As everyone now knows, the remains recovered off Suburban Drive are those of Caylee Marie Anthony. The Anthony family did not give up hope that Caylee was still alive until we were notified by the Orange County Sheriff's Office at approximately 1:30pm today. The Anthonys want to thank you for your prayers and best wishes that have been said on behalf of Caylee. They now know that their precious granddaughter is safe and hope that she will serve as the angel that protects thousands of missing children and their families. Please continue your prayers for Caylee, the Anthonys and the families that still hope and pray that their children will be found. We would like to thank crime scene investigators for their exhaustive efforts. The Anthonys want the same answers as everyone who has been assigned to investigate and prosecute this case. In an effort to determine the truth, the Anthony family will be available to law enforcement as the investigation continues. As you can imagine, the Anthonys are grieving deeply about this loss. Please respect their privacy and understand they will stand together as a family in order to get through this. Your thoughts and prayers are welcome, but they also ask that you pray for the families who have lost a child under any circumstances. This is a tragic moment in the lives of good and honorable people. Please treat them respectfully so they can grieve with dignity over the loss of this precious child, Caylee Marie Anthony."

My condolences go to George, Cindy and Lee for the loss of their precious Caylee. I hope they remain true to what they said in that statement. That they want the answers about what happened and that they will cooperate with the investigators to bring out the truth of what happened to Caylee. I understand how they would want to stand behind their family member who is in jail and indicted on murder charges. But, they need to stand back just a bit so the investigators can find the truth among all the lies and "mis-truths" that have been spoken by Casey, Cindy, George and Lee. Especially the lies that Casey has told.

I'm not even going to go into the stuff that Casey's attorney, Jose Baez, has been spewing on nearly every media outlet. He's even attacking the jail policy that determined who would break the news to Casey. Investigation Discovery has a story up on their blog about Jose's little news conference yesterday afternoon. I'm still waiting to hear the story from Baez and company that is going to explain all this away that he's been talking about ever since he became Casey's attorney.

Drew Peterson
Drew Peterson got in the news again this week. He's the husband of Stacey Peterson who's been missing for over a year now. He's also the husband of Kathleen Savio, who mysteriously drowned in a dry bathtub back in 2004. He hit the news again this past week because he's apparently proposed to another woman and she accepted. Another 23 year old woman.. And she wants to be his wife #5! Amazing! According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, her family is in shock.

I sure wish the investigators there in Illinois would find Stacy or at least find enough evidence to charge Drew with the death and disappearance of his wives! Is this new one, Christina Raines, going to be another victim of Drew when he gets ready to move on yet again? I can not imagine what is going through that young woman's mind to even contemplate marrying Drew!

Phil Spector
The retrial of Phil Spector for the murder of Lana Clarkson is on break for the holidays right now. Court will resume on January 5th. But the Spectors, Phil and his "wife" Rachelle, got in the news anyway. Rachelle did another dumb stunt since the picture of her with a gun that I posted about back on December 4th. She apparently took some pictures of Sprocket and posted them on her "website" along with some incredibly juvenile comments. The problem is, she took most of them inside the courthouse which is against all the rules. Judge Fidler, who is presiding over her husband's trial, has said that what she has done are in violation of court rules. Phil's attorney, Dorian Weinberg, has been informed. So if the lawyer has been "informed" of Rachelle's latest stunt, why hasn't he communicated it to Phil and Rachelle and instructed them to take the pictures down? The pictures are still there on her page. (I refuse to provide a link. I'm not going to provide it, especially since a comment was posted on my blog a few days ago from "someone" in Alhambra that gave the link. Comment isn't going to see the light of day, nor will any others that are in the same vein.) What the heck is Rachelle trying to do? Is she trying to get kicked out of the courtroom so she won't have to sit there behind her husband anymore? Is she trying to get Phil pissed off enough to let her out of her marriage contract early? Or is she just an incredibly immature and stupid person?

Mick Brown from the Telegraph in London has an opinion on Rachelle's stunt too... Read it here.

My stuff.... lol
Ok, now for the reason I've been absent from my blog this time. I've been playing with the Christmas present that I bought for myself this year as well as trying to finish up my Christmas shopping for the rest of my family and friends. I ordered a new laptop computer from Dell and the original ship date was going to be December 26th, which was no problem for me. After all, it's not like I was planning to wrap it up and put it under the tree for myself.. lol.. But, on Thursday, I got an email from Dell saying that my laptop had been shipped! More than a week early! And it was shipped from Reno, Nevada! That's just about a 3 hour drive from where I am. It was delivered yesterday! And I'm posting with it right now! lol... I still have a lot of things to install and set up on it, but it's so cool. The computer I've been using up til now was another Dell machine, a desktop machine that I've had for several years. It's still a good machine, but darn it, desktop computers aren't portable! When I go on travels with my folks, I'll be able to take this along and perhaps post stuff about what we see the same day we see it instead of having to wait until we get back home... lol

Ok, so I've posted my "news" for now and I need to get busy and finish my Christmas shopping! Later all!

Oops.. Forgot to mention my trucker friend who got stuck in Reno last weekend. He didn't make it back home until Monday. He ended up having to drive home late last Sunday night after the mechanics put a "temporary" fix on the brake lines on the trailer. Poor guy lost more than half of his day off. He's hoping he'll be able to get his full days off this coming week, but if the weatherman is right, he's going to be dealing with another mess up in the pass tomorrow and he'll be lucky to make it home... Weather like that is something I do not miss about my truck driving days! lol

Snow in the Mountains = Truckers Curse

California is finally getting some snow up in the mountains and my trucker friend isn't a "happy camper". Yesterday he had a long day dealing with the snow up there and it looks like today is going to be a repeat. I just got off the phone with him and he said that he's already had to put the chains on (and take them off) twice getting up the hill this morning! He's definitely dreading the trip back down the hill this afternoon!

Anyway, since his call, I've been playing with the live cams on the CalTrans website. (It's been a while since I watched them. Like last winter when I was his weather/road conditions info person.) The first screenshot looks pretty good. That's at the Whitmore Grade showing the westbound lanes. Road looks pretty good, doesn't it? Pavement is a little wet and there's just a bit of snow on the shoulders. Ahhh.. But wait until you get a little further up the hill! It gets whiter!




Here's the Caltrans camera at Kingvale. The snow is deeper at the sides of the roads and the lanes aren't as clear. This is one of the spots where my trucker friend had to put the chains on this morning. I guess it was pretty nasty between Kingvale and the Donner Lake interchange. I'm not quite sure where he had to put the chains on the truck the second time. With the mood he's in, I was afraid to ask! lol... (And, no.. Neither of the trucks in this screenshot is his! lol)




A bit further up the road, there is a camera on I80 at the highway 89 interchange which is in Truckee. Again, it doesn't look that bad in the camera shots, but apparently the pavement has ice on it. And again, I don't know if this is one of the areas he had to have the chains on. A short while back, he and I went up to Reno for a couple days and on our way up, he pointed out most of the cameras that I've viewed from the Caltrans site plus quite a few more that I've never seen listed on the site.



Caltrans has done some shifting around of available cameras this year. I don't remember seeing this one last year. I'm not quite sure of the position of it, whether we're looking at I80 or if we're looking at highway 267. It seems to be a pretty busy road, though. By looking at a map, it seems to be just down the road a bit from the highway 89 interchange camera. I guess I will have to take a drive up to Truckee one of these days and see if I can spot this one. lol




This camera is a "new" one and I'll have to keep an eye on this camera to see if the snow and ice on the lens clears up later so I can get a screenshot from it. I have no clue which direction it's pointing or what we're supposed to see. The description of the camera says that it's at the Ag Station on I80, which means it's at the inspection area where you have to stop and tell the folks where you're coming from and whether or not you're carrying agricultural products.




There were a couple of the cameras not working this morning. The one at the Truckee truck scale and the one at Floriston. I'll check them out later on today, maybe. Here's a list of the I80 cameras from the Caltrans site, go check them out!;

• 80 at Applegate
• 80 at Colfax
• 80 at Crystal Springs
• 80 at Dutch Flat
• 80 at Whitmore Grade
• 80 at Kingvale
• 80 at 89
• 267 at 80
• 80 at Truckee (Ag Station)
• 80 at Truckee Scales
• 80 at Floriston

Update 1:20pm
Just a quick update. I got another call from my trucker friend. Poor guy. He is stuck in Reno with an "out of commission truck". One of the brake lines on the truck went bad and he can't release the trailer brakes so he's stuck at the loading dock at the Post Office distribution center there in Reno until a mechanic gets out there to fix the problem. It looks like he'll be spending the night in the truck up there. What a way to start your "weekend" huh? His "weekend" normally starts on Sunday night, but he's going to have to stay up there and drive down tomorrow, so the first day of his weekend will be gone. I took a look at the CalTrans camera in Truckee again and it looks like even if he were able to drive, he'd still be stuck. Traffic is at a complete standstill in Truckee and it's been that way for a while now. Somebody must have pulled a really bad boo-boo on the highway west of Truckee.

Blah!

I've posted an announcement over on the right hand side of my blog about Comments and I'm going to repost the announcement here for all to see.

Unfortunately, I have had to enable the moderation of the comments on this blog due to some particularly nasty folks who want to spread their venom around. I apologize to all the nice folks who visit here and leave their thoughts. Hopefully the moderation of the comments won't have to last very long.

Personally I had hoped never to have to moderate the comments on this blog. I believe in free speech, but I don't believe in personal attacks on folks. Especially personal attacks on people that were not in the original posts. So, for the nasty folks who have forced me to enable the moderation; too bad, so sad, your nastiness will not be seen by anyone but me. For the nice folks who have participated with comments on my blog entries, I am sorry that I've had to do this. I hope that the person directing her friends here to spread their venom will get bored with it or will go elsewhere to spread the poison. I hope that one day soon, I can open the comments up again for all.

By the way, the post that has generated the venom from these idiots will stand, as is. It will not be removed. It will not be modified. It will not be rewritten to favor anyone. The comments will be reviewed before being posted for all to see. Venom will be denied.

Caylee Anthony Case ~ Hearing Recap

Another blog that I read regularly has an excellent recap up of the "emergency hearing" that took place this morning.. Head on over to Ketchup Soup and read what Damsel44 has reported.

If Linda Kenny Baden stays on the "defense team", I think she'd better brush up on procedures in Florida. I also think she should think twice about yelling at judges. It didn't go over well in California and it looks as though it's not going to work in her favor in Florida either.

Caylee Anthony Case ~ No ID on Remains Yet

The skeletal remains found near the Anthony home are at the Medical Examiner's office in Orlando and there has been no positive identification as yet. From what I can read in the news articles, bones, duct tape and the garbage bag were not the only things found. There apparently is tissue left on the remains and that is part of what the duct tape was found stuck to, along with hair. Duct tape over the mouth of the skull/head that rolled out of that garbage bag that the meter reader found. Also, the bag wasn't completely closed. It had apparently been in water for some time and items could have "floated" out of the bag during the months that it has lain there in the woods behind the Anthony home. (Casey: "She's close." "I feel in my heart that she's nearby.") So the investigators today are sifting through the site searching for any evidence that might have come from that bag. They are sifting the dirt by hand, they are cutting through the trees and bushes looking for fibers, hair or anything else that might help tell the story of what happened to little Caylee Marie Anthony.

Casey Anthony is still in jail, and reportedly has had some reaction to this news. Which is a change from what she did back when Leonard Padilla's divers came up with that bag of stuff from the river a short while back. That time, she had no reaction to the news. This time, however, she is reacting emotionally. To the extent that the jailers called in a correction officer psychologist and she was placed on psychological observation. Not a suicide watch... Just observation. In my opinion, Casey knows now that the jig is up. She knows where Caylee was hidden and she knows now that her daughter has been found. She also knows now that all of her lies have been exposed. Including the lies she told her family during their visits to the jail.

George and Cindy Anthony are back in Orlando. Somewhere. They didn't go back to the house yesterday and I haven't seen any reports so far stating where in Orlando they are. The investigators had their home sealed off yesterday and executed another search warrant last night. Apparently they pretty much filled 3 cars/vans with evidence taken out of the home. Vacuum cleaners and a small pillow among other things. I haven't seen any mentions of Lee Anthony today either. He's been keeping a low profile for quite a while now and apparently is going to stay "low profile". Meanwhile, the organization that George and Cindy have been using for their "search" for Caylee, Kidfinders Network has announced that they are suspending their search for Caylee due to the "recent developments". I still want to know what they did besides sit around under a tent selling t-shirts, bracelets and buttons. Oh yeah.. I forgot.. They loaned George a rolling billboard to pull around town that had a bad phone number on it!

During this morning's emergency hearing the defense requested permission for Jose Baez to attend the autopsy/autopsies of the remains that were found yesterday. In that plea, they stated "that the anthropological measurements and color of the hair found with the remains match Caylee." Judge Strickland denied Baez's motion, stating that citing the fact that a positive identification has yet to be made. He also stated that the FBI needed to make the identification without interference from outside parties.

Baez also filed a motion to allow him access to the "crime scene" before it is released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Judge Strickland denied his access until after the investigation of the scene is complete.

The defense has added a new attorney to the team. Linda Kenny Baden appeared at the hearing this morning with Jose Baez. Does anyone reading here remember her from the Phil Spector trial last year? I have to wonder if her being added to the "team" means that her husband, Dr. Michael Baden is going to join up as well, the way he did for the Spector trial. I also have to wonder how familiar Ms. Baden is with Florida law. From what I read about the hearing this morning, some of what she was attempting to do just isn't done in Florida.

So, now we wait for news to trickle out about the case. What items were found with the remains? Clothing? Shoes? Fingerprints? Casey's hair? What items are they finding in the area around where the bag was found? What things were taken from the Anthony home? Where are George and Cindy? Are they really going to be on Larry King Live again tonight?

Most importantly, is that Caylee Marie Anthony that was found in the garbage bag?

Off I go to read some more....

Sources:
WESH: Defense: OCSO Says Bones, Hair Color Match Caylee
Investigation Discovery: Casey Anthony's Defense Team Denied Access to Autopsy
WFTV: Duct Tape Found Stuck To Mouth Of Child's Remains
Orlando Sentinal:Attorney says body found is similar to Caylee Anthony's

Caylee Anthony Case ~ Skeletal Remains Found Near Anthony Home

I am sitting here listening and watching a live feed from WFTV in Orlando. A meter reader had gone into the woods to "relieve" himself and saw a black trash bag. He moved or kicked at part of the bag and a small skull fell out of the bag. He then immediately called the authorities. (Bless him!) The area where the remains are is less than a half a mile from the Anthony home. The authorities are on the scene right now.. CSI, etc. They haven't removed the bag with the remains yet, and won't until they've checked out the entire scene around the bag. But, the proximity to the Anthony home leads one to believe that the remains may be Caylee.

George and Cindy Anthony are on their way back to Orlando from California at the moment. They were in California for an appearance on the Larry King show (which I chose NOT to watch.) and to check out a lead they say they got about a sighting of a child that looks like Caylee in a restaurant in Newport Beach, California. They have been notified of the discovery of that bag with the skeletal remains of a small child. Jose Baez has also been notified. Tim Miller, leader of Texas Equusearch who had done a number of searches for Caylee, was on the live broadcast as well. He said that the investigators had called him and said "We've got her."

Here are a few links to articles about the discovery;

WFTV
Investigation Discovery
Orlando Sentinal
Fox News
CNN

Will be back later when and if there is any further news..............

Small Update: Slideshow of aerial images from the scene: WFTV slideshow

Another Update (10:15am): Investigation Discovery just posted a new entry. One of the items he is reporting is extremely disturbing.

Sources close to the investigation say that remnants of duct tape were found on both the skull and the trash bag. Those items are now being compared to tape and bags that had previously been collected from the car Casey Anthony was driving at the time of her daughter's disappearance.

Duct tape on the skull???? What the hell was done to that child?????

Rachelle Spector with a Gun?

Well, I got a message this morning that TMZ doesn't want to publish the photo of Rachelle posing with a gun. Speculation is that they are afraid that it was photoshopped or something. And, in another message I received the photo itself! The sender wants to remain anonymous, and I will honor that. Besides, how would I know who it was anyway? Email addresses, especially web emails, can be pretty much untraceable, especially by a non-expert like myself. lol.. Besides, I am sure that I'm not the only one in possession of this lovely little cameo of Mrs. Spector besides my anonymous sender. Shame on TMZ for not having the courage to post the photo. The post with Phil's hairdo that I wrote about yesterday is well on it's way to being one of the most commented on TMZ.com according to the little box over on the right hand side of their page. 152 comments the last time I looked, and it's in 2nd place. (The first place article has 154 comments, so I expect the Phil's "do" article to take over first place sometime today.)

So, here's the picture that was sent to me. The only thing I've done to it for posting is to increase the size of it. But, I have done a little manipulation of it (without saving, of course) to enhance the background stuff so I could look at what's behind Rachelle and her gun. It looks to me like it was taken in some sort of sporting goods store. There is a fellow in the upper left hand corner who looks like a salesperson (he's got what looks like a name tag on his chest). Then there are shelves (?) with merchandise displayed on the right of Rachelle. Then there is that bar thing that she is resting her left hand on. Not being a sporting goods type person myself, I have no clue what the thing is. I also have no clue what kind of gun she's posing with. Is it a real gun or a paintball gun or what?

Even if it isn't a real gun, I think Rachelle is showing her disreguard for her "loving hubby" by showing off with a gun while he is on trial for the murder of Lana Clarkson. A murder committed with a gun! Are there any folks reading my blog that can tell if a picture has been "photo-shopped"? The thing looks pretty authentic to me, but then I'm not an expert. lol..

Rachelle has changed her MySpace picture again today. It's now a picture of a little black dog. And she's removed the comment that was moaning about the "next 3 weeks". I guess she thinks that will fix everything, huh?

I called TMZ this morning to ask about whether or not they were going to post the gun picture. The fellow I spoke to told me that it was "still under consideration". I told him that I was a blogger and that someone had sent me the picture but that I was waiting until they posted it before I put a post up about it. He told me to go ahead and post, since the "powers that be" for TMZ hadn't made a decision yet. And he said "They snooze, they lose".. lol..

So, here are the pics, both the gun picture and Rachelle's current MySpace pic. I'll be back later with an update if I learn anything new about Rachelle's latest airhead stunts.

Update... Just a little one...

I posted another comment on the TMZ website and it was removed a few minutes later.. lol.. I have no clue why they removed it.. Here's what I said:

I'm the one who posted the picture of Rachelle with the gun on my blog.... The pic was sent to me with a request to keep the sender's name out of it. As I posted in my blog, I intend to keep the sender's name out of it. I did call TMZ before I finally decided to post the pic along with a few comments of my own... The fellow I talked to told me that the picture of Rachelle was "still under consideration" for posting here. I told him that I was waiting to see what they were going to do before I posted it on my blog... He told me to "go for it" and post the pic... So... I did! It's there, on my blog, in all it's glory...

Rachelle, if you're reading here, you did an incredibly dumb thing by posting that where anyone could see it... Don't you KNOW by now that nothing on MySpace is truly private? I think maybe you should go crawling on your hands and knees to beg forgiveness from your meal ticket, Phil...

I added a link at the bottom to my blog... Maybe that's why they removed the comment? LOL.. Oh well...