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Wow, it’s been a busy few days.

For those of you who aren’t aware, I bought an established blog domain a while back.  I’m in the process of expanding it into a website, and of course I post there as well.  I think Acceptance with Joy has made the connection, since she has posted there, but I’m not sure anyone else has.

Last Free Voice is a group blog which concentrates on libertarian issues.  It got its reputation as the free-wheeling, fun group libertarian blog, but over time it evolved, as all blogs do especially when there are multiple contributors.  The old owner was having trouble keeping it online due to costs, and eventually lost the domain name.  I like the blog, have contributed there for quite some time, and decided it would be a terrible thing to lose the domain since so many people have worked so hard on it (plus, it’s a great domain name).  So, I bought it and revived it, and though obviously it’s not easy getting it back to its former stats, it’s getting there again quickly.

I have expanded it to include all kinds of topics, and not just libertarianism.  We have posts on music, movies, and things of that nature, in addition to libertarian politics.  We have a very good mix of contributors, and I’m undoubtedly the most boring one there, LOL.

I have also started a website with forums, wikis, chat capability, etc (now in beta).  I don’t think I need to tell you how much time it takes to set up and make sure all the glitches are gone on something of that nature.  However, I do think it’s important that readers be able to post their own articles, and get feedback.

We also have an online radio show now, called “LFV Live!“  It’s brand-new, but going well.  I have only done two episodes so far, and the first one was a test episode to make sure it worked alright.  Just last night I did an exclusive interview with a woman who claims to have been defrauded out of compensation for work performed on a Libertarian presidential campaign, and we even had our first call-in during the show (and I was able to get them on and off the program without cutting anyone else off, LOL).  All of the shows are kept in archives, so people can listen to them even after they are finished.

At any rate, if you get bored and just want to do some net surfing, everyone who reads this blog is more than welcome to take a look at the Last Free Voice blog, join our website (you have to register to use it, but that only takes a minute) and listen to (and call in to) our radio program.

As previously stated, I have been forced to use my office computer after one of my dogs chewed through the power cord to my laptop.  As a result of my tendency to ignore work if I combine it with play, I had stopped blogging, and just used some of the entries from my old blog as filler.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to buy another cord, or if I wanted to buy another laptop.  This one is nice, but it’s kind of old, and of course replacement parts like power cords are very, very expensive.

However, day before yesterday, my other half disappeared for about an hour, and when he returned, he brought me a great gift for no particular reason: a universal replacement cord for my laptop, which I can use now, as well as in the future if I get another laptop.  It even came with attachments so I can use my laptop in a car, or even on a plane.

So, long story short, I’m back to blogging again.  :-)

I received this in my email today. Apparently one of my relatives died in a plane crash ten years ago, but I do not know their name. Heck, I didn’t even know I had a relative who had ever been to Africa, coming from a long line of poor white trash as I do.Now, if this were real, and if I really did have a relative who died leaving millions, what makes this idiot think I’d give him 60% of the loot while I would only get 40%? Astonishing. Yet, if I were dumb enough to take it seriously, he’d explain that it’s because he is taking all the risk.

See, he knows as well as I that I do not have a long-lost relative in Africa, because he knows that none of what he is saying is true. He’s just taking advantage of the endless greed of Americans. Every single year, Americans send BILLIONS to these scammers. Some do it because they are greedy. Some do it because they are desperate. Yet in every case, their money is gone forever.

For anyone gullible enough to believe that I might actually have a long-lost relative and am passing up the chance of a lifetime, notice several things. They don’t know my name, and even if they did know my name, they would not have any way of associating it with my email account. They don’t give the name of my allegedly deceased relative, either. In fact, they don’t give any information at all, except to say that I could walk away with millions just by cooperating with them.

Oh yes, they also ask that I keep their correspondence confidential. That’s mostly just because they are committing a crime, though.

Of course, I don’t really have a dead relative who left behind millions, and somebody in Africa is sitting in an internet cafe, forwarding this to a zillion people at once then occasionally checking the account, hoping to find a sucker.

If I went along with it he’d ask me for proof of my identity (drivers’ license, passport), fees to pay this and that, take me for thousands in “fees” which seem to drag on forever; and if I’m really lucky, he won’t insist I come there with a big lump sum to collect my “inheritance”, because if he does, chances are he plans to kill me and take my money. That has happened before, and it is always a possibility when dealing with scams of this nature.

Don’t ever, ever think that a real person at a real bank would contact you by email about millions of dollars, even if everything else he/she/it says is true. It just won’t happen in the real world.

FROM DR SALIF RASAKI
FOREIGN REMITTANCE MANAGER.
BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A)
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO.
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Dear Friend,
I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise as we never met before. I am the FOREIGN REMITTANCE MANAGER of B.O.A Bank of African, I Hoped that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that I am about to repose onyou for the mutual benefit of our both families.

I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of ($18.5 million) Eighteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars immediately to your account. The money has been dormant (in-active) for 10 years in our Bank here without any body coming for it.

I want to release the money to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer (the owner of the account) who died a long with his supposed next of kin in air crash since August 1997.
I don’t want the money to go into our Bank treasury as an abandoned fund, so this is the reason why I contacted you, so that my Bank will release the money to you as the nearest person to the deceased cutomer. Please I would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete it if you are not interested.
Upon receipt of your reply, I will send you full details on how the business will be executed and also note that you will have 40% of the above mentioned amount if you agree to help me execute this business.
Thanks and waiting for your urgent response,

Best Regards
DR SALIF RASAKI
FOREIGN REMITTANCE MANAGER
B.O.A BANK OF AFRICA,

After you catch your breath from laughing at this idiot, hop on over to Quatloos and check out The Brad Christensen Exhibit. Brad is quite an expert at stringing these types of scammers along, forcing them to spend lots of their own money trying to get his money, and leaving an absolutely hilarious record behind for the enjoyment of everyone else. While you’re at Quatloos, take a good look around. There is a wealth of information there about scams, scammers, and related topics.

Though it sure seems like loads of fun to do what Brad does (and it is, believe me, LOL), I very strongly suggest that you not try it at home unless you talk to me (or one of the experienced contributors at Quatloos; you can easily tell who they are, because they have thousands of post counts, spanning years) about how to protect yourself when scamming the scammers. Scammers are not always as dumb as they seem, and people have indeed been killed when dealing with Nigerian scammers.  For that reason, you must always proceed with extreme caution if you decide to have a little fun at their expense.

Belford High School logoLife Experience High School Diploma

Now, this is interesting. An online “high school” calling itself “Belford High School” lets you get your high school diploma in just a few minutes’ time. You can do this one of two ways:

1. By taking a test in language arts (26 questions), math (20 questions), science (15 questions), and social studies (10 questions)

2. By telling them your life experience

You don’t have to attend any classes, you just have to fill in a form and pay them $249 (basic fee - it can cost more if you ask for additional stuff). You can even backdate your graduation to years ago, have yourself graduate with honors ….. all for a large additional fee, of course.

They’ll even give you fake transcripts, and print your fake GPA on your fake diploma. You automatically get a fake 3.0, but for an additional fee you can go all the way up to a fake 4.0. Obviously, I’m going for the fake 4.0!

I took their tests, which require 70% in each subject to pass. It was pretty funny, I have to admit, because some of the questions made no logical sense. There were only 71 questions total, which is supposed to prove that you know everything you would have learned in four years of high school.

I wish I could have gotten through high school by answering less than 20 really easy questions per year.

What’s especially interesting is that, if you miss a question, they will tell you the right answers - not only that, but they pop up in a separate window so you can copy the correct answers the second time around. That’s pretty doggone convenient, I have to admit.

When I didn’t buy a diploma from them (obviously, since I have a real high school diploma and was just doing it for laughs), they started inundating my inbox, trying to get money out of me. All that did was make me determined to make complete fools out of them.

As stated, you can also tell them your life experience, and get your high school diploma that way. I logged back in under yet another pseudonym, pretended to be an 18-year-old high school dropout slacker, and wrote:

“I help my mom around the house, and sometimes go grocery shopping for her. I am very good at playing Warcraft online also.”

Sure enough, it immediately asked me all the information needed to process my “diploma” - but, no one had even looked at what I had written as my alleged qualifications!

Now, does anyone here think getting your mom groceries and playing WarCrack qualifies you as a high school graduate? Well, Belford High School probably does - I should find out in about 24 hours! They say they are going to review my qualifications - who wants to bet that no one even looks at it, and they offer me a diploma based on my stated skills as a slacker?

What’s really scary is that they also have a fake university, where they sell fake doctorates (and fake bachelor’s degrees and fake master’s degrees) also conveniently for a low, low price - and, as always, they offer free shipping (ROFLMAO). Once I finish messing with their fake high school diploma program, I’ll play with their fake college degrees a bit. That should be very interesting, considering that they offer fake doctorates in everything from law to medicine (no, I’m not kidding) and everything in between.

Update on slacker application for high school diploma:

I went out for a late dinner and, when I returned, I had this email in my inbox. Gosh, this guy sure does work some interesting hours:

I, as Assistant Superintendent of Belford High School, would like to inform you that in order to make your information presentable, I have started working on your resume.

The Experience Evaluation Committee will then evaluate your eligibility for the desired diploma program. On the approval of your credentials, you will be contacted directly by the Experience Evaluation Committee within 24 hours.

I wish you all the success in your future endeavors

Regards,
John Hudson,
Assistant Superintendent,
Belford High School

I’ll let you know when I hear more from the people who are apparently going to evaluate an applicant’s ability to mooch off his mother and play Warcraft.

Second update on slacker application:

Apparently, playing Warcrack and getting your mom’s groceries is equivalent to a high school education after all - ROFLMAO! Here’s their latest response:

Congratulations [name redacted]!

We are pleased to announce that on the basis of your resume submitted by the Assistant Superintendent, the 10-member Evaluation Committee at Belford High School has finally approved you for your high school diploma.

You can now pay the amount from the link provided below and get your high school diploma within 7 days from today. Once you make the payment, you will also be able to access the Alumni Area of Belford High School and get exclusive privileges and discounts.

If you are unable to pay the complete amount at once, you can now place your order for an initial deposit of $99 only. The remaining balance can be paid within 30 days in small and easy installments through our Flexible Payment Option Plan. Click on the link below to read more details and continue with your order.

Please click here to view your order details and to make payment.

Remember, the evaluation result is only valid for 7 days from today.

We congratulate you on being approved as a Belford High School Student, and wish you all the success in your future endeavors.

Regards,

Experience Evaluation Committee,
Belford High School

I’m not sure why it’s only good for 7 days. After all, it’s not as if the applicant is going to lose the knowledge necessary to lay around the house and play WarCrack in that period of time.

That’s always the sign of a scam, incidentally - the sense of urgency is palpable. Truth is, I could go back three years from now, having not paid them a cent, and still get their diploma. Obviously, all they want is the money. If you have cold hard FRNs, you can get a diploma from them, and it doesn’t matter if you are one of the biggest frickin’ ‘tards in the history of the universe.

To be honest, I was hoping they wouldn’t fall for what I sent them. Sure, it’s funny as hell, but it’s also extremely worrisome considering their doctorate program, which offers fake medical doctorates. Now, that’s scary and, unlike the high school part of their program, it could actually prove deadly if some idiot sets up a medical office using a fake degree (hey, it happens more than you’d think). I’ll address Belford University in a separate entry over the next few days.

[This is an article I wrote on June 11, 2007, while Paris Hilton was incarcerated for violation of probation stemming from an original charge of DUI --ENM]Paris Hilton in police car

I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m just about sick and tired of hearing about poor little rich girl Paris Hilton. Paris, of course, is an heir to Hilton Hotel fortune, but she’s best known for making a pornographic videotape with a boyfriend, which was later released on the internet. She claims she didn’t know he filmed them having sex. She’s lying, because she’s quite obviously posing and primping for the camera in the video.

She also has a reality show called “The Simple Life”, which depicts her and another stupid spoiled whore, Lionel Richie’s daughter Nicole, wreaking havoc on the lives of everyone they encounter while they show what happens when stupid spoiled whores are set loose on decent hardworking folks.

Paris is a fashion model as well, for high-priced designer crap, and she’s appeared in a few movies where we all were subjected to her complete lack of acting skills.

But mostly, she’s famous for being famous, and she’s obviously quite struck on herself, as it was revealed that most of the photos and even posters in her home are of herself. I laughed when I saw that. What a self-absorbed twit.

Paris is also apparently very well-known for trying to destroy the reputations of other women. One recipient of Paris’s venom is suing her as we speak. Others simply hate her because she gets her kicks from stealing other women’s boyfriends, and even their husbands.

I watched one video wherein she called some poor victim of her malice “a fucking hoodlum, broke, poor public school bitch from, like, Compton”. Compton is a working-class town near Los Angeles, incidentally. In another video she made the comments “fat ugly Jewish bitch”, “little black whore got fucked in the butt for coke”, “nigger”, “black and steal shit”, all in the course of less than five minutes. She has at other times made derogatory remarks about every imaginable type of individual, and her targets are obviously anyone who isn’t wealthy, blonde, privileged, white, and pretty.

There was no outrage over those comments, and no one even questioned why she would say things like that. Don Imus got fired for far, far less. Yet her reality show continues, and there were no consequences whatsoever for her outrageous behavior. That’s disturbing, because many young girls look up to Paris as a role model, when she is in fact anything but that.

So basically, Paris Hilton is a woman who has never faced any consequences for her actions, who has been raised to believe that the world is hers on a silver platter, and all she has to do is be pretty, and cry when she doesn’t get her way. It’s really quite sickening.

At any rate, today I read that it is costing taxpayers $1,109.78 a day to keep Paris Hilton in the jail medical unit, whereas it costs $99.64 to house the average female inmate. The question then becomes, is it worth it to keep her incarcerated, or should she be either released or placed back on home confinement?

Let’s review.

She was arrested for DUI. The prosecutor reduced the charge to reckless driving, and she was sentenced to probation. The terms of that probation were payment of a fine, license suspension, and completion of an alcohol education course.

She never even signed up for the alcohol education course. She also got caught repeatedly driving with a suspended license, once going 70 mph in a 30 mph zone after dark, with her headlights off. I don’t need to tell the average semi-intelligent person that she drove on a suspended license a lot more times than she got caught.

She finally got dragged into court on a violation of probation charge. The average person would have been charged with VOP for a lot less. She was 15 minutes late for court, which is sure to put any judge in a bad mood. She testified that she didn’t know her license was suspended, although police found a warning that she is not allowed to drive, issued by a police officer, in her glove compartment. When asked if she understood the terms of her probation, she responded “I just sign what people tell me to sign. I’m a very busy person.” When asked about a notice that had been sent to her, she responded that she doesn’t read her mail because “I have people who do that for me”. Her publicist testified that he told her she could drive. She claimed she didn’t check that information out with her attorneys, because she (and this is the funny part) didn’t have time to call them.

Obviously, she was lying, since her entire life revolves around simply being Paris Hilton, and her witness was clearly lying as well. Judges don’t like it when people lie to them, so she’s lucky she wasn’t also hit with a perjury charge.

Quite predictably, the judge sentenced her to 45 days in jail, with the specific criteria that no alternative form of incarceration was acceptable; no home confinement, no work release, no alternative jails. There was much gnashing of teeth by the Hiltons over that decision, with her mother loudly asking the judge for his autograph, and generally acting like an arrogant twit; personally, I think the judge should have held her mother in contempt of court for that behavior, since a verbal tirade upon the judge certainly would never be tolerated if they were not wealthy and well-known. Paris was allowed to report at a later date to serve her sentence.

The day she turned herself in, she attended an awards show, walked the red carpet, and was obviously fine. That would change very quickly, though, or at least it changed if you live in BizzaroWorld.

After serving only three days in jail, the sheriff placed Paris on home confinement without filing the proper pleadings to amend her sentence. The prosecutor wasn’t even advised of this action. The judge was advised of what they wanted to do, and he told them his original sentence stands; he did not want her released, period, end of discussion. The sheriff ignored the judge, claimed that Paris was suffering from “severe” psychological problems, and said she was deteriorating quickly. He cited liability on the part of the jail if she should harm herself.

Yet a suicidal inmate is much safer in jail, than they are at home. In jail, they are being watched, and it’s extremely hard to commit suicide because there’s very little there with which one could inflict self-harm. At home, there are many, many ways to commit suicide, so in all actuality his liability was potentially far greater with her on home confinement.

Quite predictably, all hell broke loose over the sheriff’s decision, and the judge demanded that Paris be brought to his court the next day, and that the sheriff show cause why he shouldn’t be held in contempt of court.

Quite predictably, Paris was sent back to jail, although the judge didn’t act on the show cause order for contempt against the sheriff.

That’s the only thing the judge did with which I disagree, incidentally. The sheriff should indeed have been held in contempt of court.

Quite predictably, Paris whined and cried some more in court, even cried for her mommy although she’s 26 years old, and this time the sheriff placed her in the medical unit for evaluation. Yet, quite predictably, doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. She’s still in the medical unit, and is not only doing interviews from jail, but also playing ping-pong. I vomited into my mouth a little bit when I read that, incidentally.

The latest news is that Paris was taken out of jail and placed on home confinement because she suffers from ADD and claustrophobia. Hello? They sent her home from jail for that? What a bunch of frickin’ ‘tards. If there was ever any question about whether Paris was receiving preferential treatment before, those questions have been answered with a resounding “YES”.

How convenient that she can hang out in the small VIP rooms of clubs, but mysteriously has claustophobia in jail. How convenient that she has ADD - a diagnosis which many question - when the treatment for that is Adderall. Adderall, of course, is speed, and there are videos of Paris doing all kinds of drugs. Sounds to me like she found a way to keep doing drugs even when in jail.

Problem is, does Paris really need that level of care - the equivalent of a private hospital room with four beds, no less - if she’s well enough to do an interview with Barbara Walters and play ping-pong? Not only no, but hell no.

First, it’s obvious to anyone with more than one brain cell that there are people in jail with much more serious illnesses who could use those other three beds. Second, Paris’s alleged illnesses do not require that level of treatment. Would you be put in the hospital for having ADD and claustrophobia? Give me a break.

So it’s worth every single penny to keep Paris Hilton incarcerated. The judge originally ordered her to jail with no allowance for alternative incarceration, because he was dealing with a defendant who quite obviously has absolutely no respect for the law whatsoever, and in fact by her actions proved that she believes the law doesn’t apply to her (that’s not even going into her complete disrespect for the property of others on her reality show). In the real world, people like Paris are called a sociopath. I therefore support the judge’s decision completely, with the sole exception of not finding the sheriff in contempt of court.

If Paris is psychologically well enough to do an interview with Barbara Walters, she doesn’t need to be in the expensive medical unit. She also shouldn’t be released or placed on home confinement again, though, since she was obviously faking a psychological disorder in an attempt to manipulate the criminal justice system.

Face it, if doctors are “baffled” by her alleged “severe” condition, as was reported over the weekend, she’s just malingering (a crime in the military, and it should be a crime in jail as well, given that the taxpayers have to foot the bill for it). In fact, for that stunt, jail officials should take away her good time (since good time is intended to reward inmates who don’t cause problems) and force her to serve the entire 45-day sentence.

The sheriff should put her back where she was previously incarcerated, and completely stop the preferential treatment she has been receiving since the beginning, in order to save money for the taxpayers. If she starts blubbering again, the jail should do to her what they’d do to anyone else, by just telling her to shut up.

The simple fact of the matter is, Paris Hilton is no better than anybody else who’s in jail. In fact, there are people in jail who are merely awaiting trial but can’t afford bail, and thus people who have never been convicted of anything but being poor; and people who are incarcerated but charges will never be filed against them. Where’s their preferential treatment, when under our laws a defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty in court? I have a lot more sympathy (and empathy) for those people than I will ever have for a wealthy overgrown brat who has been convicted of a crime involving threat to public safety, and who not only refuses to even try to meet the requirements of simple probation, but also continues to be a threat to public safety while on probation.

I also read that her visitors are taken right past all the other visitors, and the other visitors are made to wait in line for hours while Paris has her visit. That’s beyond ridiculous. Her visitors should not get preferential treatment either. Let them wait like everyone else, because it is completely unfair to others if the Hiltons are given priority in jail visitation. The truth is, like their daughter/sister who is no better than anyone else in jail, the Hiltons are no better than anyone else in the jail visitors’ area. They may not like that fact, and I’m pretty sure that Paris’s extremely arrogant mother won’t like it at all, but sometimes the truth hurts. Deal with it.

Last but certainly not least, the citizens of Los Angeles County should recall the Sheriff for his part in this fiasco. When he decided he could overrule a valid court order - especially given that the recipient of his largesse has a grandfather who contributed to his campaign - he crossed a line no sheriff should ever cross, caused citizens nationwide and even worldwide to lose faith in our system of justice, and thus proved beyond any doubt whatsoever that he is not worthy of his office of public trust.

His actions have also started a deluge of lawsuits that will eventually end up costing the county many millions of dollars.

It was reported today that a lawsuit has been filed by a female veteran with cancer, who lost both legs on active duty, and who was in jail but charges were never filed against her. This woman allegedly developed a hernia while in custody which went untreated, she was denied her cancer medication, and she claims to have been verbally abused and humiliated by being forced to crawl around the facility without the use of her prosthetic legs.

While that may seem like an exaggeration to some, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it actually happened. The problem is that pretty white girl Paris was treated like a princess for her ADD and claustrophobia, while a black female disabled veteran with cancer and no legs, who was never even charged with - much less convicted of - a crime, was treated worse, at that same jail facility in which Paris was originally placed, than I treat my animals. It’s sickening, but it happens a lot more than most people think.

Did Paris Hilton receive, and is she continuing to receive, preferential treatment? Absolutely, and hopefully the Hilton case will make people nationwide think twice about whether justice in this country is truly blind. It is not.

Back in the ’70s, there was a lot of controversy about alleged backward masking (i.e., subliminal messaging) in rock music. Parents were absolutely freaking out over it, and forbidding their children to listen to rock music. It should surprise no one to discover that I was one of the kids back then who played a lot of albums backward, just to see what all the controversy was about. It was pretty easy to do on a record player, after all.

While most songs played backward have words here and there that you can clearly recognize, and some even had recognizable sentences which appear to make sense in some way, the undisputed king of all backward messages was, and still is, “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin. In fact, many hardcore rock fans at that time called the song “Oppositioner”, based on its backward message.

Don’t misunderstand, I don’t think this was intentional at all, since even everyday human speech played backward can say some pretty weird stuff. Still, it’s kinda freaky that the entire song seems to be a message in line with the song title, LOL. So, for your viewing and listening pleasure, I present to you “Stairway To Heaven” played backward, with the ”Oppositioner” lyrics printed on-screen.

Girl’s prosthetic legs stolen for second time - Yahoo! News

Now, this is weird. Apparently some frickin’ ‘tard keeps stealing this poor kid’s prosthetic legs. She has two, one she uses to play on the school softball team and one she uses everyday. She apparently lost one of her legs when she was accidentally hit by a driver while standing in front of her middle school a couple of years ago.

Obviously, this kid doesn’t let the fact that she lost her leg stop her from doing anything. Good for her!

But now, she has no prosthetic legs at all, because the thief stole both of them. It doesn’t really say, but it appears that she was gone out of the house without her prosthesis when they were stolen. Funny thing is, her room was ransacked, but the only things missing were her prosthetic legs.

Now, why would anybody steal a teenage girl’s prosthetic legs, or anyone’s prosthetic legs for that matter? More to the point, why would this happen more than once? The last time one of her legs was stolen, it was found some time later in the girl’s backyard, apparently thrown there by the thief.

There was an episode of The Sopranos, where Tony Soprano’s weirdo sister Janice stole a woman’s prosthetic leg to get back at her for refusing to return some old records the then-deceased Soprano mother had given to her prior to her death.

That woman sent the Russian mafia after the person who stole her leg. Maybe that’s what these people need to do - send some really scary people to beat the living hell out of whoever did this. I bet they’d never do it again.

Reproduced from my old blog, The Rampant Anti-PAMite, 18 February 06

Tonight, due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be liveblogging American Idol.

I know, I can feel your sorrow from here. ;-)

My laptop is kaput until I get a new power cord, because one of my dogs chewed partially through it a while back (luckily he didn’t get electrocuted, because it was plugged in at the time) and we have repaired it repeatedly. However, it has finally given up the ghost, and after several days of messing with it, in the hopes that I could get a little bit more usage, I give up. I will thus have to get another power cord, and it seems that I will need to order it from the manufacturer.

I was putting off buying a new one because those replacement parts are incredibly expensive, and I am incredibly cheap.

This is also why I have not been doing much posting in the last few days, at least not on this blog. I have been posting on Last Free Voice, but that’s not a personal blog, it’s a libertarian website project I’m developing; feel free to take a look if you are interested.

I have a computer in my office (obviously) but I have a rule against using it for personal reasons, since that can easily become a distraction. Therefore, while I may make a post here and there, I will be posting only sporadically on my personal blog until I get the replacement cord for the laptop.

In the meantime, I’ll toss up some of the posts from my old Rampant Anti-PAMite blog. Hopefully you will enjoy them.

UPDATE: I just watched American Idol, and since it was Andrew Lloyd Weber night, I’m kind of glad I didn’t liveblog it, LOL

Cyberstalker

Some of you may have noticed that I have deleted a post I made yesterday.  The reason for this is that I seem to have acquired a cyberstalker.  Again.

It’s not the first cyberstalker I’ve had, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.  However, I’m not going to make their stalking easier for them, either.

I just thought I’d explain why the post was deleted, lest anyone think the post was deleted for some other reason.

Six girls arrested for teen beatingBy now, everyone has heard about the six Florida teenagers who lured a 16-year-old girl to a home, where they beat her unconscious, waited for her to regain consciousness, then beat her again.

For thirty minutes.

And, they taped it all with the intention of putting it on YouTube.

The tape itself shows a group of shockingly, stunningly stupid teenage girls. While beating this girl, they demand to know why she doesn’t like them.

This is just a wild guess, but is it possible she doesn’t like them because they are beating her up?

The girl who was attacked, Victoria Lindsay, lost partial hearing in her left ear and partial sight in her left eye as a result of the attack. Her father said when he first saw her following the attack, he didn’t even recognize her, because her face was deformed from the beating.

The teens arrested and charged in the attack are Cara Murphy, 16; Britney Mayes, 17; Kayla Hassell, 15; Zachary Ashley, 17; Brittini Hardcastle, 17; Mercades Nichols, 17; April Cooper, 14; and Stephen Schumaker, 18. The two boys allegedly stood as lookouts.

The girls showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever when arrested; instead, they were laughing and joking. One was worried about getting out of jail in time for cheerleading practice, and another was worried about a planned trip to the beach. None of them worried about the girl they had attacked, and all of them assumed that nothing would really be done to them.

Imagine their surprise when a judge doubled their bail and ordered them tried as adults on charges of kidnapping (which carries a potential life sentence), battery, and witness tampering (for threatening to attack her again if she reported the crime). Their parents are complaining that they cannot afford the bail.

If they were responsible parents, they wouldn’t bail them out. These girls need, more than anything, a taste of reality.

The parents of the girls, including the one who was attacked, are blaming YouTube and Myspace. However, the truth is that YouTube and MySpace are not to blame for this. These girls did what they did because they wanted to do it, and because they thought they wouldn’t get into serious trouble for it. It’s exactly that simple, try though we may to find blame elsewhere when teen girls do something of this nature.

The parents of the attackers claim the victim brought it upon herself, because she made some comments on MySpace.

When I heard that, I wanted to (figuratively speaking, of course) reach through the television, grab that brain-dead mother by her throat, punch her in the face a few times, then tell her, “That was all your fault, because I didn’t like what you said.” Had someone done that to her long ago, she’d realize just exactly how stupid it is to think that way, and perhaps in turn her daughter wouldn’t be such an idiot.

The truth is that her stupid daughter and her equally stupid friends intentionally chose a victim who they knew wouldn’t fight back. In other words, in addition to being incredibly stupid, these six girls and the two boys who helped them are all cowards, not unlike any other criminal who preys on the weak.

The stupid parents haven’t helped their stupid children by blaming it on the victim; instead, they’ve made the situation far, far worse, since the videotape clearly shows that the victim didn’t fight back. Then again, they haven’t done their children any favors in the way they raised them, either.

It’s too late for the parents to help their daughters, though. Since they failed to teach their daughters right from wrong, those girls are going to learn right from wrong the hard way, in the criminal justice system. I suspect these girls got away with all kinds of abhorrent behavior as children, and that’s why they think our rules and laws don’t apply to them.

Perhaps the 14-year-old and the 15-year-old were influenced by the older girls, but the 17-year-olds definitely should know better, and they should be sent to prison for what they did. If we don’t send them to prison, when their crime is captured on tape and they show no remorse even when arrested, other teens will believe they “got away with it”, and these crimes will become more common. As a society, we cannot permit that to happen.

It’s ugly to send teenage girls to an adult prison, but reality isn’t always pretty and neither is a world where people gang up and use physical violence to control and manipulate the weak. Hopefully while in prison, these incredibly stupid girls will learn the lessons about life that their equally stupid parents were too lazy and self-centered to teach them.

I somehow doubt it, though. I’ve seen this mindset in teenage girls, back when I was a teenager, and though those girls are now women in the mid-40s, they haven’t changed a bit. That’s why I advocate prison for this crime. I honestly don’t think these girls will change, based upon my experience, so we are wasting our money trying to rehabilitate them.

UPDATE 4/18/08:  One of my regular readers, Sauerkraut (thanks, Sauerkraut!) informed me that the girl whose mother made that incredibly stupid statement on television doesn’t live with her mother.  She lives with her grandparents.  It was at the grandparents’ house where Lindsay was attacked.  Lindsay was staying there as well.  I’m going to assume the grandparents weren’t there when this happened.

I saw David Cook’s performance from last night, wherein he reworked Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” into a song for a man to sing.  It’s actually very good, and even better the second time around - I guess it grew on me - so I thought I’d post it here.

It’s Mariah Carey night. I’m not real sure how this is going to work out, but it could turn out to be the worst episode of American Idol ever.

Randy is looking for identity, though the judges regularly tell the contestants to not do songs from such well-known singers. For that reason, having a Mariah night is very strange.

David ArchulettaDavid Archuletta “When You Believe”:

Mariah says she’s proud of him. His singing is technically good, but as I’ve said repeatedly, the emotion is missing. He just is missing the life experience it takes to do emotional songs well. He’s a Mormon kid, his dad is up his rear end constantly to the point of making the kid cry, so it’s not surprising that he doesn’t have the real life experience he needs. He did a falsetto. Hmmm… it was okay, but not great. He probably should have passed on that.

Randy said David can sing anything. Paula said he made Mariah proud. Simon said he knew David would choose that song, and that it was very, very good.

Carly SmithsonCarly Smithson “Without You”

She blabbered on while talking to Ryan. Yawn.

It’s almost as if no one realizes that “Without You” is not actually a Mariah Carey song. It was performed by many artists over the years, and she just did a cover. Carly’s voice sounded kind of weird on all the low notes, and kind of screechy on the high notes. She’s making those weird faces again, she really needs to stop doing that. She got a standing ovation

Randy said he liked that she challenged herself, but the low notes were “not loosey goosey”, whatever that means. Paula liked that she showed vocal restraint at the beginning, then soared. Simon wanted to hear her sing this song even before Mariah week. Simon said she didn’t pull it off, that she’s overthinking, and it was just okay.

Syesha MercadoSyesha Mercado “Capture”

Mariah liked her, thought she did a great job. I like her dress, it’s kind of metallic, but I’m not that fond of her hairstyle this week. She has a very pretty voice, I like hearing her sing, and she did a lot of changing notes on this one. It was pretty cool.

Randy said she picked the toughest song, and she did a good job, it’s a really hard song to sing. Paula said she was extremely smart this week, by picking a song not many people know, so they aren’t comparing her to Mariah, it was “unbelievably magical”. Simon said “technically it was very, very good indeed”, but that he wouldn’t have picked a song not many people knew.

Brooke WhiteBrooke White “Hero”

She missed her sister’s wedding over the weekend. Mariah said it’s a good song choice for her.

She’s playing piano. This song is probably a bit too well known for her to try it, because I’m making comparisons in my mind even though I’m trying not to do so. I’m really not impressed with her this week, the song is way too big for her. It sounds to me like she missed a lot of notes.

Randy said he liked it, until the bridge. Paula says she’s identifiable as an artist, that an unplugged version was good, except for “a few off notes”. Simon says she didn’t have much choice but to do what she did. It was like ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun. The important ingredient was missing, her voice isn’t big enough to carry the song.

Kristy Lee CookKristy Lee Cook “Forever”

She gave Mariah Carey goosebumps, Mariah likes Kristy’s version better than her own. Wow.

So far, it’s kind of boring. It’s still boring. She needs to hit a high note or something. She’s a good singer, but I just didn’t get it. Maybe it’s just me, because I’m not a country music fan.

Randy said it was pitchy in the first part, it wasn’t amazing. Paula said she’s a smart girl, she’s “blown away”, she could have a hit with it. She’s proud of her. She said to Simon that she gave Mariah chills, and Simon said she didn’t give him chills (me either). Simon said she managed with what she could, it was whiny at times, and it wasn’t great.

Ryan was sitting in the audience with Ramiele.

David CookDavid Cook “Always Be My Baby”

He’s stepping outside the box, he says. Mariah said it was haunting. It’s really strange to hear a guy singing a Mariah Carey song. Still, there’s something about his rendition which is really quite good, once you manage to stop making comparisons. He hit some really big notes at the end, but guy notes, not Mariah notes (thank goodness, because some of her songs make me want to poke out my eardrums due to all the really high notes). I’d say it was the best of the night so far.

Randy said he is ready to make an album, it was the most brilliant performance of the season. Paula said it could be in a movie soundtrack. Simon said it was like coming out of karaoke hell into a breath of fresh air, it was original, daring, stood out by a mile, it was the sign of a great potential artist.

Jason CastroJason Castro “I Don’t Want To Cry”

Mariah said it was really different. She wants to see if he used any of her tips.

He’s just singing, no guitar tonight. It sounds weird to hear a guy singing a Mariah song again, I don’t really know what to think of this. It’s kind of boring. Still, it’s interesting to hear a guy singing that song.

Randy didn’t love it, he felt like he was at a weird beach luau with somebody playing music in the distance. Paula said she’d like to be at that luau, he is getting confident. Simon agrees with Paula, it wasn’t the best vocal, but it was a cool version.

Simon said the guys “completely won the night”. I’d have to agree with that, which is especially weird since it was Mariah Carey night.

I got this one from Dee.

Have you ever:

  • Gone on a blind date.
    Unfortunately
  • Skipped school
    No
  • Watched someone die
    Yes
  • Been to Canada
    Yes
  • Been to Mexico
    Yes
  • Been to Florida
    Have a home there
  • Been on a plane
    Yes
  • Been lost
    Yes
  • Been on the opposite side of the country
    Yes
  • Been to the capital of your country
    Yes
  • Swam in the ocean or waded
    I don’t swim, but I’ve waded in the Atlantic, Pacific and the Gulf (but the Gulf probably doesn’t count)
  • Cried yourself to sleep
    No
  • Played cops and robber
    Yes
  • Recently colored with crayons
    No
  • Sang Karaoke
    No way
  • Paid for a meal with coins only?
    Not that I recall
  • Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t?
    Yes
  • Made prank phone calls
    No
  • Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose.
    Yes
  • Caught a snowflake on your tongue.
    Yes
  • Danced in the rain
    Not that I recall
  • Written a letter to Santa Claus
    I’m not sure, but I used to help my son write his when he was little
  • Been kissed under the mistletoe
    Not that I recall
  • Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
    Not that I recall
  • Blown bubbles
    Yes
  • Gone ice-skating
    I’ve gone to the rink, but I don’t skate
  • Been skinny dipping outdoors
    No
  • Been out of North America
    Yes
  • Been in detention
    No
  • Regretted something you blogged
    Nope

I won’t tag anyone but if you do it let me know so that I can come and read!

Meme: Refer Tag

Dee tagged me for this one.

Rules of this tag:

  1. First, Link to whomever tagged you (i.e. I was referred by [name of friend/family member who tagged you] + a skill of theres that you highly recommend others to refer to [Writing, Sewing, Cooking, etc])
  2. List & link all your friends + their skill that you highly recommend in this format: “I recommend [friend/family member] for [skill (i.e. Cooking, Writing, Sewing, etc)]
  3. Sign off your list of friends/family members with your name linked to your blog.
  4. DO NOT delete previous tags of those on the list where you found your linked name. Copy & paste the entire Refer Meme (Refer Tag) and add your list and referrers name (linked) below previous list(s).

Rebecca recommends…

Amber for Interior Designing homes. She is AMAZING at finding deals and knowing what looks good with what.

Christine for tips and suggestions about London, England. She’s lived there for over 7 years and knows her way around town.

Claire for tips on cooking. Clark and I have had dinner with she and her husband on more than one occasion and her cooking is AMAZING! She cooks and bakes all the time, and knows her way around the kitchen.

Aubrey for great bargain deals on Candles and Home Decor. She runs her own business from home and sells some FABULOUS candles that smell GREAT!

Mike for tips on cooking and fixing anything around the house. He always shocks me on the things he knows about cooking and fixing household items. This guy does it all!

Joni for shopping tips. This girl KNOWS her way around any mall and department store. I went to Elementary and Jr. High School with her and even at 6 years old she knew trend and style. lol!

Sarah for movie scripts. Her husband writes and produces movies in Utah.

Carly for Photography. Absolutely STUNNING Photography! Right now she and her husband are down in South America and the photo’s she has taken are amazingly rich in color. Just visit her blog and you’ll see what I mean. The style and skill are of professional quality like National Geographic.

Dee for Tech-tips and Bible History. I love reading her blog on Technology trivia. Some posts are highly educational and others are just downright hilarious! She also knows her Bible history which some things I never knew, like the meaning of specific verses in Hebrew. Very Interesting to hear. )

Kristi for home wall decor. Ever heard of ‘Uppercase Living’? She sells those wall decor (lettering, design) decals that you can rub on your wall, like “Cooper Family” or “Families are Forever” , etc etc. Well anyways, her website is ‘Uppercase Living’ and you use this information to create your own designs and order:

[click on 'create account' and then later you'll need the information below]

Demonstrator ID #: 248460
Registration Token: law

I know, and highly recommend the above individuals for their skill as listed.

Rebecca


Dee recommends:

Alan: Alan is youth pastor and seminary student. He has a lot of great insights. Be sure to check out his piece about The Dog Park & Church.

Brad & Company: Great theology resources from a reformed perspective.

Chuck: I enjoy reading Chuck’s sermons and other writings.

ElfNinosMom: Elf’sMom is a professional writer much of her blog is about criminals especially the dumb kind.

Ellen: If you need a word of encouragement head over to Ellen’s blog. She is a gifted photographer and often posts some very inspirational pieces as well.

James: James is a friend of mine who pastors in Texas. He is has a lot of resources about theology and missions.

Rick: Rick is another one of my friends who is an excellent photographer. If you are in the OKC area and looking for a photographer Rick does great work.

Shane: One of our friend’s Shane has a great blog about a variety of subjects sports, religion, music and pop culture.

Dee

______________________________________________________________________________________________

ElfNinosMom recommends:

Kent: Kent is a “mountain man”, and knows a lot about survivalist skills.

Tyler: A new college graduate, Tyler has some good ideas for finding a job when seeking nationally.

J.J.: JJ is an expert on the tax protester movement.

Blessed1: She always has something uplifting on her blog, so if you’re feeling down, pay her a visit.

Stephen Gordon: Steve knows a lot about libertarian politics.

Miche: Michele is very well-traveled, so her blog is an interesting read.

Sandy: Sandy is an expectant stay-at-home mom who knows a lot about children and babies, and motherhood in general

Jake: Jake is an extremely intelligent young man, who knows a lot about third party politics.

George Phillies:  Dr. Phillies has a doctorate in Physics from MIT.  He is an expert on physics, game design, and too many other things to list.  He is running for President via the Libertarian Party.

Karl:  Karl has a political blog, and it is always interesting to read what he has to say.

Thomas: Thomas Sipos is the Libertarian Peacenik.  That pretty much explains it.

Jason and Cilla: They’re a married couple who have a very interesting weekly show on BlogTalkRadio.

PaulieCannoli:  Paulie is a libertarian activist, and knows a lot about ballot access issues.

Les:  Les, simply stated, has one of the best blogs ever.

Danny:  Danny blogs about crime, and crimes against children in particular.

Yuriko:  Yuriko is a very talented photographer, and has some lovely photos on her blog.

Whitey and Professor: An ex-baseball player and a professor, they write on any number of interesting topics.

ENM

If you were tagged [above], copy and paste from the beginning of this post and then add your referrals in this area. Also, include this text at the bottom of your tag(meme) so others can do the same.

Also, if you were not tagged - but would like to use this format of tagging. Please include the text & links above and link to the name and site of tagging(meme) format text you received from.

I got this “Top Ten Random Things About Me” meme from my friend Dee at The Dee Zone:

10.   I will go days without eating anything, if I am home alone.  The reason for this is that I never feel hunger, even when I obviously am hungry.

9.     Alarm clocks do not wake me up.  I sleep right through them, no matter how annoying or loud it is.

8.    I love the French Vanilla Cappuccino drinks from the local convenience store so much, that I call them my “Precious” (a’la the strange creature in “Lord of the Rings”).

7.    My favorite television shows are The Office and ER.  I have been watching both since their first episode, and never miss them.

6.    I have all the premium channels - HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, and others - but I rarely watch them.

5.    I leave the television on in my bedroom all night, every night.

4.    I collect books.  I haven’t counted them in years, but I have thousands.

3.    I never check my phone messages.  I only check the Caller ID.

2.    I don’t check my mail regularly.  I pay everything electronically, so it’s mostly just junk anyway.

1.    I treat my pets as if they are people.  I presently have three dogs and a cat, and I’m pretty sure none of them are aware that they aren’t human.

I tag everyone who reads this (yeah, I know, that’s the lazy way to do it, LOL).  Be sure to leave a message with the link to your list, if you decide to play.  :-)

Today I received an email message from ElfNinosGreatUncle, with regard to the Brown Recluse spider.  This spider is usually found in the southeastern US, but sometimes shows up in other areas due to people moving and unwittingly bringing them along in boxes, etc.

The Brown Recluse got its name for a very good reason, in that it prefers to live a reclusive life, away from people.  As a result it is found in places such as old clothing, shoes which have not been worn in a while, and attics; outside it may be found in mulch, under brush, and other places where it can avoid people and too much light.  Since it is many times found hiding in rarely-worn shoes, be sure to shake out shoes very well before putting your foot into them.

If you live in an area where this spider is found, it is important to wear gloves when working anywhere the spider may be hiding.  Always wear gloves if working outside, since it can hide even under mulch in your flower garden; chances are it will blend into the mulch and soil, due to its color, and you won’t see it until it’s too late.  If cleaning the attic or another usually dark indoor area where the spider may be hiding, turn on the light, and leave it on for about 30 minutes before starting your task so that the spider will seek refuge.   Again, always wear gloves when dealing with any area where this spider may be hiding.

The spider is extremely poisonous, but it is not aggressive.  When humans are bitten, it is because the spider has felt threatened, for example, if your hand unwittingly brushes against it.

Here is a photo of the spider.  Look at it very carefully, because this particular spider can actually kill you.

Brown Recluse Spider

What follows are photos showing the progression of the bite on an adult male’s thumb.  I have left the most disturbing ones for after the “more” notice.  If you don’t have a strong stomach, or even if you are just easily upset by gory medical conditions, DO NOT click on “more” to look at the last two photos.

This first photo shows the condition of the bite area on day three following a Brown Recluse bite.

Here it is on day five after the bite.

Brown recluse bite

On day six, it has spread and is significantly worse, as you can see.

This man was actually lucky, because the Brown Recluse can cause death due to renal failure.  There is no known effective treatment for its venom, which destroys the area surrounding the bite, from within.  However, the bite area can be treated based upon symptoms, and of course antibiotics are given to avoid secondary infection of the bite area.

If you are bitten by a spider, seek immediate medical care; if the spider is available (even if you killed it after it bit you), take it with you for identification purposes.  If you believe you have been bitten by a Brown Recluse, contact your state Poison Control Center.

Again, if you have a weak stomach, or if you are easily upset, DO NOT click on “More”, which shows day ten after the bite ……. you have been warned. Continue Reading »

Guy ThomasI previously wrote about the case of a cop who dragged a man underneath his squad car for over half a mile; the last update, with links to the original, can be seen here.

Here is the latest:

IRONTON, Ohio (WSAZ) — The Ironton Police Chief announced Thursday that Rich Fouts has resigned from the police department.

Chief James Carey says Fouts turned in his letter of resignation on Wednesday. The resignation takes effect on Friday.

The chief also announced that back on March 25, Fouts’ status with the department changed from administrative leave with pay, to without pay.

I still don’t understand why the cop hasn’t been arrested.  Apparently the case goes before a Grand Jury later this year, but since the man he dragged died of asphyxiation and had a crushed chest, it cannot logically be argued that the cop shouldn’t have reasonably known he hit something or someone.

If you or I dragged a man under our car for over half a mile, no one would ever believe us if we said we didn’t know we had hit someone.  Instead, we would have have arrested on the spot.  I therefore can think of no reason why this cop has not yet been arrested, except that it’s just another case of cops protecting other cops.

This week, contestants are singing songs which inspire them.  That leaves a pretty wide range of songs, so it should be interesting.

Michael JohnsMichael Johns: “Dream On” by Aerosmith.

Wow, this is really good.  I love that song, and it’s nice to see it performed by someone who looks handsome (unlike Stephen Tyler, one of the ugliest frontmen in the history of rock).  It was a little pitchy when he was singing the high loud notes, but other than that, it was fantastic.

Randy said he’s looking for who could win the competition, he thought it was a good choice, but there were pitch problems.  He got booed.  Paul said he sounds as good as he looks.  She says he was unbelievable, and the song fit him perfectly.  Simon said it was a very good performance, but he doesn’t like it when he does an impersonation of a rock star, he prefers soul/r&b from Michael.  Michael said the song was good for him because his dreams are coming true.

Syesha MercadoSyesha Mercado: “I Believe” by Fantasia

She looks good, and the song fits her voice.  This girl can sing.  She hit a note that very few people can hit, too.  I really, really liked it, it was like being at a concert.  It wasn’t Fantasia, but there’s only one Fantasia.

Randy said she didn’t have the special connection that Fantasia has, so it was just okay.  He said Fantasia has “attitude” when she sings that song.  Paula said not many people can take on songs like that, and that Syesha made the song her own, it was beautiful.  Simon says “of course there’s going to be a comparison.  He said she sang it very well, but it lacked the “big big wave of emotion”.  He wants to find out what Syesha is all about, even though she sang it very well.

This year of Idol really is much better than previous years, based upon the first two performances tonight.

Jason CastroJason Castro: “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz

He’s playing a ukelele.  I’ve heard this version somewhere before.  He’s really good, but he always is.  It’s not blowing me away, though I do like it a lot.  It’s just kind of boring compared to what the others sang, even though it was very, very good.  At this point, everybody has to blow away the audience in order to advance in the competition.

Randy said it was the hottest so far tonight, “blazing, molten hot”.  Paula says he has the most definitive sound, and she loves that version.  Simon asked if it was the version on the internet (it was) and said it was “fantastic”.

Kristy Lee CookKristy Lee Cook: “Anyway” by Martina McBride

She has a sparkly shirt on, it’s very pretty.  She’s such a pretty girl, and it’s a pretty song; she seemed very into the song, and was even smiling slightly as she was singing.   The song seems to be meaningful to her, which is cool.  I could imagine that song on the radio, and even though I’m not a big country fan, I loved that song.

Randy said there were a couple of pitch problems, but it was very good.  Paula said she outdid herself tonight, it was her best by far.  Simon says she was “very, very good indeed”.  He said she looks like a star.  He said it was a good choice of song, she’s appealing to her audience.

David CookDavid Cook: “Innocent” by Our Lady of Peace

He’s wearing a strange white jacket.  He can really sing, but I’m not sure about this song.  The background singers were too loud, they were drowning him out.  It was good, but I’m not sure if it was good enough to get him through to the next round.

Randy said he’s a huge fan, but this wasn’t one of his strongest weeks.  Paul said he is well-defined by being the whole package, and he’s “it”.  Simon didn’t like it very much at all.  He thought it was a bit pompous, he didn’t like the jacket.  Simon said this was his weakest performance, not anywhere near as good as the last two weeks.  Paula noticed he had written “Give Back” on his palm.

Carly SmithsonCarly Smithson: “The Show Must Go On” by Queen

She looks better than usual tonight, the makeup looks much, much better.  She can sing, but Freddy Mercury she’s not; then again, he was such an original that no one can match him.  Still, she’s doing better than usual, and I think part of that is because she looks so much better than usual.  It’s kind of confusing, because she didn’t seem to be in with the song.  And I still hold against her that she’s a plant, of course, LOL.

Randy said it was just okay for him, it was disconnected.  Paula said her voice is pretty perfect, but she didn’t feel engaged.  What the hell is Paula wearing?  Her breasts are crushed and spilling out the top, very weird.  Simon said she looks good.  He said it was an unusual choice of song, she over-sang it to the point that she lost control of the song, and it was an angry performance which was out of kilter with the evening.  He thinks she might have a problem now, he seems to be saying she might be eliminated.

David ArchulettaDavid Archuletta: “Angels”

He’s playing piano, which is a  nice touch.  This is not as good as he usually is, it seems like he doesn’t have the true emotion, but that’s been a problem with him all along, in my opinion.  He’s obviously talented, and I like the performance.  I think a big problem with the lack of emotion is that he’s just a kid, so he doesn’t have the experience which would add the true emotion.

Randy loved it, this was his hottest moment the whole season, “crazy hot”.  Paula said it was fantastic.  Simon said it was best song choice of the night so far, it’s one of the best pop songs, period.  He thought it wasn’t good vocally, because it was nasally, but he will sail through to the next round.

Brooke WhiteBrooke White: “You’ve Got A Friend” by Carole King

She’s cute, she always is.  It’s a nice song, but it’s not a song which would show off anyone’s singing ability, unfortunately, and she is no exception. I’m not impressed, to be honest, even though I like her.

Randy thought it was okay, Paula liked it, Simon thought it was just okay.

That’s it.  I have to say, there are better contestants this year, than I’ve seen in a long time for American Idol.

Cool quote

Dr. George Phillies, a college professor and MIT-educated Physicist, who is seeking the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination:

I teach rocket science in the morning, and the hard stuff in the afternoon.

Dr. John Merrifield, father of Michael Merrifield - the man convicted of molesting and murdering two-year-old Logan Shane Goodall - has pleaded no contest to a charge of gross neglect, with regard to charges that he failed to report the abuse of the toddler. The charge is a felony. Dr. Merrifield faces one to five years in prison, and/or a $3000 fine. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors will drop charges against his wife, Diane Merrifield.

If Dr. Merrifield gets only a fine with no prison time, there is no justice, considering the ridiculous nature of the injuries he treated on little Logan, and failed to report.  Had he reported the injuries, chances are Logan would still be alive.  Only a prison sentence is just and proper in these circumstances.

From the Charleston Daily Mail:

[Prosecutor Don Morris] said that on Aug. 13, Merrifield treated the toddler for a torn scrotum, stitching the wound.

“The defendant himself had questions about the nature of that injury,” Morris said. “We would have shown medical records where he made the notation ‘A fall?’”

Morris said the child suffered another injury Aug. 15 - burns to his buttocks and heels that the state Medical Examiner would have testified were not caused by pool chemicals as some suggested.

“He would have testified that those burns were consistent with immersion burns,” Morris said. “Michael Merrifield gave the explanation that Logan sat in pool chemicals, but we have people from the apartment complex who would say that did not occur and could not occur.

“Even the defendant did not believe that story,” Morris said.

Of Dr. Merrifield, Morris said, “He chose not to let someone know the child was being abused. And that abuse led to serious bodily injury and his death.”

Willie McGloun, age 40, was staying with a friend, and that friend had a mentally disabled 15-year-old niece. McGloun started sleeping with the girl, but no one knows for sure how long it went on, or how many times she was molested.

What we do know is that he was eventually caught in bed with the 15-year-old girl, and at that point he was arrested.

Now the first concern when a mentally disabled teenager is molested by a 40-year-old man, is pregnancy. Not this time, though. See, Willie McGloun has AIDS.

Now the young mentally disabled girl has HIV, which she found out about on her 16th birthday.

Unfortunately, even if authorities could prove that McGloun knew he was HIV-positive, the charge would not bring a more severe sentence. McGloun pleaded guilty to second-degree rape.

He got four years in prison.

His victim got the death penalty.

Now normally, I’d hope the inmates killed him for what he did, since chances are after he’s released, he’ll do it again. However, since he is HIV positive, he likely will not be placed in the general population, for fear his disease would be transmitted to others.

So let’s just hope there’s a prisoner in the HIV ward who doesn’t take too kindly to grown men who infect mentally disabled children with HIV.

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Source: Syracuse Post-Standard