Jury Selection Round 2

The second round of jury selection for the Jessica Lunsford Trial continued today, with progress being made in small steps throughout the day towards to goal of 12 jurors and four alternates. While it looked like a jury might not be seated, at the last moment they came to a number that allowed for there to be 12 jurors and three alternates. This is not the goal that the judge had wanted of four alternates, but gaining another juror may require another round of jury summons and could result in losing a couple of the ones that have been seated.

Some people wonder why even have a trial, this man admitted to killing Lunsford, and the evidence proves the case. The jury of course will not hear the confession because he asked for a lawyer and was not given one, big mistake by the police there. However, it seems the tactic of the defense is not going to be to attempt to show the John Couey did not commit the crime, by that he is mentally retarded and should not be put to death. Opening statements could come as early as Thursday morning.

Just a moment to think about what is at stake here as the trial starts tomorrow. On the one hand is a little girl who was raped and murdered, and on the other is a mans life. I don't know that one can really know what it is like to really have to say if a person should live or die or not unless they have done so (I have not). This is going to be a hard trial.

This is crazy....

Britney.Cl: Daily 10 - Feb 27

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Jessica Lunzford Trial

So I am a couple days behind on the Jessica Lunsford case and I thought I should do a short post to catch everyone up on what is going on inside the court room.

Monday the second round of jury selection began with 67 of the 71 jurors who made it passed the first round returning for questioning to see if they will make it to the next round. The judge did some business on Monday, there was a concern about the pencils that Couey has been using to colour with during the trial. The prosecution had asked that the pencils be taken away because they saw that they amounted to unsworn testimony. This in regards to plans by the defense team to say that Couey is retarded and cannot be put to death. The judge let the pencils stay because, he said they are a part of his natural habit and not a trick. He added that if it had been something like finger paints, he would have said no. The simple reality is that this man is on trial for his life, and this is something that helps him.

Right away two members of the jury pool were eliminated, one because he had overheard information about the trial and the other for an inability to apply the standards of innocent until proven guilty. The prosecutor asked the jurors a number of questions relating to their experiences with crimes, trails, the police, any other jury duty service and for an unknown reason what their favorite baseball team was. One juror stated she had been a victim of crime before and Prosecutor Peter Magrino said he would want to ask more questions about that later away from other jurors.

Prosecutor Ric Ridgway had the task of asking the jurors how they feel about the death penality. Since this is a death penality case, the jurors will have to be able to give that as a sentence, this is where some who disagree with the death penality will be released from the jury. One lady was released today because she said that when one person kills another, that person must also die, which would indicate that being overly pro-death could get you removed from the jury as well.

Defense attorney Alan Fanter next asked the jury about family members or other people they might know that are police officers. He asked if they believed that sometimes police officers make mistakes and sometimes they arrest an innocent person. One of the jurors actually used to be a police officer and he agree that police make mistakes and sometimes they arrest the wrong person. He told about how there were times someone he had arrested was released after a trial and he understood that was just the way the system was. It seems unlikely that the former officer will remain on the jury, one side or the other going to want him off, he could either undermine the state by his suggestions of police making mistakes, or undermine the defense by siding with the police in the case.

Some of the media in the court room were upset that the judge was releasing jurors and not giving reasons to the public and the media gathered there. The judge had questioned a number of jurors at the bench where the media could not hear their conversation and then released them without a stated reason. One media outlet objected to the practice but the judge said he would continue with it. Some of the jurors released were ones who had said that they did not agree with the death penality.

At the end of the day on Monday 11 juror had made it to the next round. In order to be taken off the jurory at this point the prosecution or the defense must use one of their 10 peremptory challenges.

The defense started off the quesions Tuesday, after the issue of private discussions between the jurors and the judge was once again set aside with the judge affirming that he would continue that practice as he saw fit. Another small issue was resolved when the judge supported a motion by the defense to ban prosecution from entering the airspace above the defense's table with any part of their bodies. This relates to an incident yesterday when Prosecutor Ridgway made a pointing gesture at Couey and extended his arm over part of the table of the defense.

While there have been a number of stories that the court has heard from the jury members, one lady today had a particularly sad and related one. It turns out that her daughter had been molested by her husband, the childs father, when she was younger. This juror was released from service.

It was assumed that the mental health issue would be a part of the post-trial discussion, but since the defense has added the doctor who will testify to Couey's mental state to the guilt part of the trial, it would appear it will be brought up during the trial. Defense attorney Ridgway has been asking jurors tuesday if they know of anyone with a mental health issue.

At the end of the day on Tuesday there are still 11 jurors, some of the jurors who made it through yesterdays questions would appear to have been released by a peremptory challenge from either the prosecution of the defense. The Defense and the Prosecution each have 10 peremptory challenges that they can use, these are releases that they don't have to provide a reason for, in order to appeal the defense must use all 10.

During the questioning jurors had been asked about possible mitgating factors in a crime and they had a variety of them: Abuse as a child, Some people just do it to do it, pshycologial, emotionally unstable, environment, lack of education, desperation, self-defense, money.

Dante

Christina Ricci Justin Timberlake hot sex scene from BSM

Two months ago ATT released plans to send TV programing over its phone lines, and the project is getting off to a slow start. It had set a deadline for itself to be operating in 15 markets by the end of 2006, but was only able to provide the service to 11. This has been a disappointment for many who are looking forward to the service as a choice over the cable services that they are currently using. The technology is based on the internet protocol and will be sending data packages over the internet. ATT is overing the service, part of its new U-Verse package as a way to compete with cable companies that are starting to offer voice and internet services. To get the technology operating correctly will require a strong investment in ATT's network to carry the streams of data the new technology will be using. While they seem to be banking new growth on this, investing a large amount in upgrades on its network, anyone who has had the misfortune of dealing with customer service for ATT knows where they should really be making an investment.

In a story that shows the complexity of the battle raging on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, a small Afghan town is seeking NATO help in driving Taliban operatives out. The town was a part of an agreement between NATO forces and Taliban forces where both parties were supposed to leave the town. NATO forces left the town, but Taliban forces remained in the area and have been dealing out a reign of terror. Town leaders are so desperate to drive the terrorist forces out of their town, they suggested that NATO forces could use air strikes as a means of eliminating the threat. Taliban forces in the area have been threatening local leaders with death and arrest in an attempt to excerpt their control over the town. I clearly want to side with the villagers in this story, because no one should have to live in terror, but the bigger story is that the battle is not the black and white Taliban/Terrorist versus American/NATO force that many have come to understand it as. Many of the forces that are fighting NATO troops in the region are Arabs, which makes them invaders just as much as western powers.

In a ruling that has inspired anger in some and relief in others the International Criminal court has handed down a verdict in the trial of war crimes in Bosnia. The court found that while there were massive and serious crimes against humynity that had taken place, it did not rise to the level of genocide. The court in a strict definiton of the meaning of genocide and the understanding of state participation in it cleared Serbia. Bosnians who have survive the attacks from the war are calling this the second betrayal by the international community, the first being allowing the crimes to take place to begin with. While this is a time that healing could take place between the communities, the fear of many is that this will serve to make relations harder between them, in truth though no ruling would have made everyone happy and any ruling would have made relations harder.

The battle for Anna Nicole Smith's body entered a new stage as it her body was put on hold when a judge agreed to hear her mothers appeal for the custody and the burial of her body. While both of the men who claim to be fathers of her child have come forward in agreement that she should be buried in the Bahamas her mother is pressing to have her buried in Texas. Her mother is also a party in the fight to gain custody of Smith's daughter that has been going on in various courts for months. According to at least one source Anna Nicole herself did not know who the father of her baby was, and at least four men are potential fathers. Anna Nicole Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, claims that judge had no right to grant custody of Smith's body to Smith's daughter and that as Smith's only legal next of kin, it should have been granted to Arthur. Howard K Stern is asking that Arthur respect her daughters wishes, saying that the testimony seemed to clearly indicate that Smith wanted to be buried in the Bahamas. Meanwhile TMZ is reporting that for the first time, Larry Birkhead has met the child that he believe is his daughter.

Cameras are watching us all the time, and new techonology is making them smarter, Cameras can be found at a number of places in our world, from the corner gas station, to the red-light cameras that many cities are putting in place. A number of cities of gone even farther and are placing cameras in rough neighborhoods as a way of detoring crime. Until recently the cameras could only watch, but new technology is going to give them the ability to think. They will be able to judge how tall you are, find abandoned packages in a train station (possible bombs), and detect other suspicious activity that in some cases could prevent a crime from happening. Some cities are already using technology that allows a camera to detect a gun shot, and then focus on the source of the shot, casinos are using cameras to scan faces for cheating gamblers that they have had problems with before. With all this watching a new technology, privacy will of course become a concern, how much safety is worth the loss of privacy in public places.

The Smoking Gun has published a paper from NASA detailing what should be done if an astronaut were to lose their minds in space. While I don't want to spoil all the details, it is interesting enough to note that the plan seems to be based on duckt tape and bungee cords.

Bobby Brown is behind bars on charges relating to unpaid child support, he owes almost $20,000 in back payments. Brown's attorney told TMZ that he is making an effort to get the money that is due, and attempting to work out a deal with the court. The money to due to the mother of his two children, Kim Ward.

X17 Online is reporting that a social worker visited Kevin Federlines house, he is taking care of the children full time while Britney Spears is in rehab in Malibu. On the same day, the full time father was given a new car, it would appear that he could not fit the baby seats into his pick-up truck.

A debate on news is developing between two big news names over the story of Anna Nicole Smith and her death. On one side is Fox News anchor John Gibson who says he is going to continue to cover the story and on the other is CNN journalist Anderson Cooper who has refused to cover the story to begin with. Gibson claims that the stand that Cooper is taking is preaching to the audience and telling them that you think you know what is better for them to watch. Cooper on the other hand is standing behind the idea that there is a war going on in Iraw that the nation should be paying attention to. I ask anyone who is reading this, what do you think should be news more importantly - what we want to see and hear or what we should be seeing and hearing. In the end I am going to take a very simple stand on this and say that I think that the media is richer for both of these mens work. On the one hand, the Smith's story is interesting, but on the other it is not the only story and it is good to know that Cooper is out there getting other stories.

If you are a member of one of those strange groups in college known as the greek system, then what do you do when you are having what you believe to be an image problem that is holding back participation in your group. If you are the Delta Zeta club of DePauw University you kick out all the fat girls and all the foriegn girls. The womyn concerned about the image of the group did an interview of all the members asking how commited they were to bringing in new members, after the interview 23 were asked to leave for not being commited enough. It just so happens that this group of 23 consisted of all the fat and foriegn girls of the group. After the decision another 12 were so upset by the choice that they too left the group. Seems like if they wanted more members in their group, they failed; if they wanted to improve their image, failed again.

From NY Times:

“Virtually everyone who didn’t fit a certain sorority member archetype was told to leave,” said Kate Holloway, a senior who withdrew from the chapter during its reorganization.
“I sensed the disrespect with which this was to be carried out and got fed up,” Ms. Holloway added. “I didn’t have room in my life for these women to come in and tell my sisters of three years that they weren’t needed.”

StyleDash - Brigitte's 2007 Oscar fashion picks

Sing a song for me

Dante

Handcuffed To Hugh

A blogger in California is bringing into question the right for public officials to use the popular form of communication to express some of their own thoughts. Ed Jagels has a blog like so many other people across the country, and he uses it for the same purposes that many other people do, but Jagels just isn't anyone, he is a prosecutor for Kern County. He started the blog to take on what he felt was unfair journalism by a local paper, but the concerns are about the ideas he is expressing that effects it may have on the outcome of cases in trial. Jagels is not the only one, there is a growing number of public officials from across the country using blogs as an outlet to express their opinions. While their defenders argue that they have the right to free speech just like anyone else, it doesn't address the concerns voiced by those who question it about the ability of public officials to remain above the issues. At the end of the day I think there is a relatively simple answer to this question, treat them like reporters, if they publish information that would have been kept from press, or that the press has been ordered not to publish, they should be held to account for those crimes.

Researchers for the New York Daily News have uncovered a strange connection between the well know black activist Al Sharpton and the well known segregationist supporter, Strom Thurman. After more than two weeks of research, genealogists have uncovered what they are claiming to be evidence that Sharpton's ancestors were owned as slaves by Thurman's ancestors. This is an ironic link between one of the strongest current voices for civil rights and one of the most ardent defenders of the segregation. Sharpton, who discovered the news on Sunday wants to test his DNA against Thurman's to see if they might share any of the same bloodline, he added that he couldn't learn anything more shocking than he already has.

Bit Torrent a site that has become known as a source of pirated movies and other digital goods has changes it stripes and is moving to become a legitimate business. It has signed deals with a number of major and minor movie production firms for the rights to sell their products over the Internet. It is moving into a field that is growing more and more crowded, and while it has a well known brand on the Internet, it does not have the backing of Disney or any of the three big net works who are working with other companies.

A case that could change the way police chases are operated is going before the Supreme Court. It deals with a case involving a teen named Victor Harris. Harris had evaded police and lead them on a high speed chase after an officer attempted to stop him for a traffic violation. The speeds of the chase were up to 80 and 90 miles an hour, Harris in a Cadillac with police on his tail. When officers attempted a PIT maneuver, Harris lost control of his car, and crashed into a ditch. The resulting crash leaves him quadriplegic, and officers defending their actions. The case brings into question how far and how fast should the police chase a suspect, while police claim that to not pursue could lead to more chases as suspects know that the police will quit pursuit, these chases put lives at risk. Lawyers for Harris argue that the original offense did not provide officers enough justification for the use of what amounts to the use of deadly force.

Angelina Jolie has been invited to join the Council on Foreign relations, the council which has no educational requirements for joining seeks people who take part in world affairs. The exclusive policy group includes big names like Condoleeza Rice, Dick Cheney, Colin Powel, Alan Greenspan and other as its members. Her participation in the group has support from a number of people in the group, "Bring her on," said Dr. Gordon Adams, an international-affairs professor. "The idea of having Henry Kissinger and Angelina Jolie in the same organization is dazzling."

Who Makes the movies

Dante

Short News

Hillary Clinton told an audience in San Francisco that she saw a role for her husband and former president, Bill Clinton, in her administration being one of diplomacy, as well as other former presidents, telling the crowd, I will continue the tradition of using former presidents" . Meanwhile she is fighting to keep the subject of the impeachment of her husband out of the discussion for the race for the White House.

The feud between Kevin Federline and Britney Spears appears to be over, Federline was seen visiting Spears at the Malibu rehab center Promises for an hour, she has been there since she was taken there by her mother after an angry incident with an umbrella on Thursday night.

Vice President Dick Cheney has said that all options are on the table in dealing with the issue of Iran and its nuclear program. While the White House wants a peaceful solution Cheney said that the use of force was not out of the question. Cheney on a trip to Asia and Austrailia has defended the war in Iraq, attacks critics of the administration and warned that threats to our national security would be dealt with. In related news, Israel is denying that it has asked for the use of Iraqi air space in the event of an Iranian attack on Israel. (Would they really ask?)

The man behind the movie, "Titanic" is claiming to have found the real tomb of Jesus Christ. The tomb was found during a construction project in the suburbs of Jerusalem, 27 years ago. The construction uncovered a cave that held the caskets of ten people, among which was casket for someone named Jesua, son of Joseph. Producer James Cameron, claims to have enough evidence to prove that the bodies in the cave is the family of Jesus, that not only did he not rise from the dead but that he was a father.

I am sorry I will not be able to put much more up tonight, I have to work early tomorrow and I am at home and my home computer works like shit. It runs very very very slow, which of course means that to get anything done it just takes that much longer, I may buy a new computer when I get my tax money but that may not happen as I have access to good computers at school and I could use my money for better things.

Dante

Britney's Night in the Valley

Dante

Britney Spears goes apesh*t on a paparazzi

Dante

Anna Nicole's Assistant Kimmie

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This American Life TV Show trailer

Dante

Ohh Baby!

While I am sure that there are people who are paid well to think about these things, since this is America I have been thinking about them as well and I want to share. See I think that E-Bay is ripe to be merged into a bigger company, but which one. It has fallen a little out of the media as of late, but that does not mean that its growth is down, it is a simple matter of the structure on which it is created only seems to be able to produce so much growth. A merger with Google would create a giant web company, taking the technology that Google has for search and putting it together with the inventory that E-Bay has could be a good success. The problem of course with this, is that they are both very big companies and I doubt that the two corporate cultures would merge well. E-Bay could merge with Yahoo, and this is what I think it should do. The merged company would be able to take advantage of the e-mail resource, the search resource and the product supply resource of E-Bay. I think this is the best option for the company for growth, for both companies. They have no overlapping business interests so the companies would easily merge. A merger with MSN could work, but MSN does not have a lot to offer to the deal, it is not the top search engine and it is losing its market in e-mail to Google and Yahoo and other e-mail services. I think that MSN would only serve to bring E-Bay down, while E-Bay would not pull up MSN all the much from the low that it is in. Another great merger would be between E-Bay and Amazon, they would have a huge inventory of goods, and would be able to pool sellers of a range of items as well as drawing a market of various goods and services.

While I am talking about mergers let me get another idea out there. The satellite radio stations are not doing well, a part of the problem may be that it is hard to get the signal in some places, the other issue is the cost of buying a new unit to receive the satellite radio. The industry is also working to get people to pay for something that they are used to getting for free, so far it turns out the products have not drawn mass crowds. However if one or both of the satellite companies were to merge with a cell phone company, the radio could be offered through the services networks in addition to the satellite network. It would give the cell phone carrier content that could be used to draw customers to their service, and it would bring the service to people who didn't want to buy for the receiver unit, or people who could not access the signal before. Aside from a merger a business agreement could serve the same ends, offering the customers a lower than market price will entice more over to the new service. Cell phone providers are in the struggle for content right now, and satellite radio has lots of content that could help draw crowds to the store seeking their products.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was in San Francisco today, and was welcomed by a crowd that cheered and asked her questions. She praised her husband as being a great fund raiser and talked about how his international policies were so much better than the present president's. While she was interrupted by an anti-war group "Code Pink", when they called for an end to the war in Iraq, she agreed that the war needed to end and noted the anger that it has caused in the country. Supporters defended her against the attacks by a Barack Obama supporting David Geffen, who called her un-electable. A friend note how Geffen was supportive of the Clintons when he was gaining from him, saying "He sucked up every benefit he could when Bill Clinton was president.'' Talk continues to circle about Senator Clinton's pushing her donors not to donate money to other candidates.

Scientists discovered that chimpanzees making of wooden spears and the use of these tools to hunt and kill small animals. This was discovered by scientists researching chimps in West African Savannah, this is the first time that non-humyn animals have been seen making deadly tools. While scientists are using this as evidence that early humyns made tools the same way, I doubt that you can come to this conclusion at all. What you can conclude is that chimps, in the Western Savannah, under the conditions which they lived under, learned how to make tools out of sticks. We cannot assume that early humyns were living under the same conditions or had the same kind of development as modern chimps.
Science

The battle for Anna Nicole Smith's body has moved to Palm Beach, Florida as Smith's mother Virgie Arthur is working to appeal the judges order that Smith's body be released to be buried in the Bahamas. Arthur is fighting to have her daughter buried in Texas, the state Smith grew up in and Arthur still lives in. She arrived in a white stretch limo with her American lawyer and two body guards, having come from the Bahamas where she was meeting with a lawyer attempting to gain custody of Smith's daughter. Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead appeared in court over the on going battle to get a DNA sample from Smith's daughter to determine who her father is, three men are currently claiming to be her father.

A 13-year-old boy that was kidnapped at gun point while waiting for a bus before 9am has been located and secured by police. While no one has been arrested in the case yet, Clay Moore, is talking to detectives in an attempt to gain information about the suspect. He was found about 20 miles away from the scene of the abduction, with only minor scratches to show for the ordeal.

Jury selection in the Jessica Lunsford murder case continued today, in an effort to speed the process the judge had suggest a time limit for each potential jury member, the idea was objected to by the defense attorney. At the end of the day on Friday, 75 people had been selected for potential jury service for the trial, the court will resume on Monday with the next round of Jury selection. Earlier in the week the judge addressed the prospective jurors about the hardships of service saying, "Heck, I got a jury summons once on a case I was presiding over," Howard said, "I got myself out of it." The judge has also on a number of times called it a service to the country, like fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council is in the process of discussing new sanctions against the country of Iran for its failure to comply with regulations of its nuclear program. This threat comes as Iran has ignored the deadline set by the International Atomic Energy Agengy, and is expanding its program. The United States is pushing for tighter sanctions, such as travel bans and expanded limits on materials that can be sent to the country. These sanctions are expected to be vetoed by the countries of Russia and China, who both have strong economic interests in Iran.

The people behind "American Idol" want to ensure that the supply of bad singers willing to sing before a national audience doesn't run dry. In order to do that they are opening a youth camp in North Field, Mass. It is a non-competitive camp for children ages 12 - 15 and will cost $3000 for ten days. The operators of the camps are saying that children who attend the camp will not gain any special consideration in an "American Idol" audition.

Kirsten Dunst is such a dork - but I love her. TMZ has video of Dunst telling a photographer to go "and find our passion". source

US Weekly is claiming to have evidence that the famous Pitt-Jolie family is about to get bigger. The magazine says that it has papers that show Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are in the process of adopting a two-year-old male from Vietnam.

Dante

TV Squad Daily with Brigitte: 02-23-2007

Dante

Tara Reid Sings Karaoke of

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Judge on Anna Nicole Smith

Dante

And the Judge says...

Democratic Party candidates are converging on the capital of Nevada, as the state now has the earliest Primary, in January. In in a city that has a population of 57,000 the coming to town of big names like Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, John Edwards and Joe Biden has made quite a stir. One person who was not present for the events in the city was Barack Obama, he is still surrounded by the buzz of a comment made by a Hollywood producer David Geffen, with some calling for him to make an apology. The Hollywood money appears to moving away from the Clinton camp and into the Obama camp, there is a great deal of money to be gained and lost from Hollywood insiders. Not wanting to Democrats to steal the spot light completely, John McCain is calling President Bush's actions surround the war into Iraq into question. While supporting the increase of troops, he called the initial drive to war, "a train wreck".

Major health food chain Whole Foods, has purchased the competing chain of health food stores, Wild Oats. The transaction resulted in the rise in share prices of Whole Foods on the New York Stock Exchange. The sale comes as both companies are facing increased competition from Safeway and Wal-Mart as these stores have moved to provide healthy alternatives to their customers.

Britney Spears has returned to rehab for the third time in a week. This comes as an emergency hearing had been called by her ex-husband Kevin Federline over custody of their two children. Spears returned to the center in Malibu, late Wednesday after a visit to a lawyer and a failed attempt to visit Federline. This comes after a week where things seem to have been falling apart for Spears. Like last time, I hope that she will hold on to this rehab and make a way forward for herself. A poll being run at TMZ asking who should get the kids Spears or Federline show a strong favor for Federline, this is a reversal from not to long ago when the numbers were strongly in favor of Spears. X17 Online is publishing photos of Spears expressing anger towards photographers outside Federline's apartment by hitting their cars with an umbrella.

Industry giant Disney is building two new cruise liners in order to double cruise-line business. The two ships are due to sail in 2011 and 2012, and each will have 1,2500 rooms and be two decks taller than the current ships.

A Wisconsin man is being charged after busting into a neighbors apartment to save a womyn from an on-going rape that he heard. The "rape" as it turned out was porn that the resident of the neighboring unit was listening to. The charged man, Van Iveren, charged into the neighbors apartment with a sword and demanded proof that there was not a womyn in the apartment. He is being charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct which could result in a maximum sentence of 33 months.

While defending her relationship and her feelings for Villi Fualaa, in a statement to ABC's God Morning America, she wold have done things differently if she had known the legal results that would unfold. She said that nothing would have been worth being separated from her children the way she was.

From ABC News:
"Had I known that all of, that things were going to lay themselves out like they did legally, I sure would have run really fast away from him," she told "Good Morning America" anchor Chris Cuomo in an exclusive interview.

Lindsay Lohan is out of rehab, but does not mean she has put her party lifestyle behind her. Cameras for TMZ caught her leaving the new Hollywood hot spot Winston's and later at The Mondrian Hotel. Just because she is out, does not mean she is drinking. Having finished rehab, I hope this is a point where she can turn her life around, and I hope we won't be seeing pictures of her shaved head in the news.

The ruling has been handed down in the Anna Nicole Smith trial, saying that she should be buried in the Bahamas with her son. The judge signed the order after making a tearful statement to the court saying he wanted her to be with her son. The trial itself was a circus, with the attorney for Howard K. Stern at one point telling the judge she objected to everything under the sun. Also in the ruling is the decision to make Richard Milstein the guardian of Simpson's estate. TMZ is reporting that Larry Birkhead and Stern have come together after the hearing was over supporting the burial in the Bahamas. Legal critics are calling into question the ruling of the court room by the judge. Sources tell MSNBC that he allowed the discussion to stray to far from the question the court was asking, and even added his own narrative to the proceedings .

The case of the Jessica Lunsford case is still in the stages of selecting jury members. They are presently picking out perspective jurors for the first round. The first round has to deal with how much the person knows about the case, and if they are able to serve the requirements that will be asked of them as jurors. This is going to be a sequestered jury, which adds a special burden to those who are being asked to serve.

Thank You
Dante

TV Squad Daily with Brigitte: 02-21-2007

I love Brigitte

Kelly's reaction to britney spears head shave

Kelly doesn't believe it until she sees it.

Dante

CSI Miami - Endless Caruso One Liners

Dante

I guess we can laugh now

Barton in - Spears out

Just a FYI for everyone out there, Day Light Savings will be coming early this year. In 2005 congress voted to begin day light savings time three weeks earlier than the previous start date of Mar. 11th. This means that many people will have to make the changes for their computers manually, especially if you are operating an older system.

The major players in the Anna Nicole Smith story had a viewing of her body today, this was prompted by concerns for the medical examiner that her body was decomposing faster than was expected. The viewing comes on the same day of the trail over where Simpson's body will be buried as her mother was on the stand. Her mother claims to have made no money from her daughter and wants to bring her grandson who is buried in The Bahamas home to be buried in Texas. The judge today blocked the questioning of one lawyer, when she asked Howard K. Stern if he was the father of Simpson's baby and refused to allow her to continue in that line of questioning.

Britney Spears is in and out of rehab again. She entered the Promises rehab center in Malibu yesterday and has checked out this morning. I had real hopes that when she checked into rehab that she might take this as a real chance, but it appears that she hasn't. OK Magazine is reporting that the recent visit to rehab was sparked by a fight she had with ex-husband Kevin Federline, Federline reportedly told Spears he was going to have her hair tested, which lead her to cut her hair. MTV is reporting that the location of her rehab facility was meant to remain a secret, but it didn't take long for photographers to find her. Photographers have been flying over the facility in a helicopter taking pictures of her in the yard smoking. TMZ is reporting that she has gone to meet a lawyer, the same lawyer that pressed charges against a photographer in a case involving Reese Witherspoon. The reason for Spear's visit is uknown, but there is speculation it may be for a similar matter.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he is willing to continue talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but doubts that effectiveness of them. Abbas, the leader of the Fatah Party is the minority party in the Palestinian Authority, with Hamas holding the majority it gained in elections last year. Olmert said that little could be accomplished without speaking to the majority party. Hamas and Israel have been at a dead lock over demands by Israel that Hamas recognize the state of Israel, renounce violence and accept all previous agreements between the two states.

Court TV is reporting that the family of a womyn, who they say was moved by the hospital to make room for Micheal Jackson, is suing over her resulting death. The case goes back two years ago, during Jackson's trial for child molestation, he had gone to the hospital with flu symptoms and court had to be put on hold for the day. The family of Manuela Gomez Ruiz is suing both Jackson and the hospital for an unknown amount in damages.

Rumors around the internet are the Christina Aguilera is pregnant, which are being denied.

Plans to build bases in Poland and Czech Republic have created a storm between The United States and Russia. A Russian general commented that Poland and the Czech Republic would become targets if these plans were followed through with. Officials further warned that Russia could pull out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces missile treaty that was signed in 1987.

The Smoking Gun is publishing documents on a lawsuit between the PerezHilton gossip website and Universal City Studios over pictures of Jennifer Aniston. The lawsuit stems from the publication of nude pictures taken from out takes of her movie with Vince Vaughn, "The Breakup". The lawsuit against Mario Lavandeira, the publisher of the PerezHilton website is not for any monetary value, but seeks to block further publication of the pictures, and to seize copyrighted material.

Hollywood producer David Geffen is stirring the democratic election pot with his comments that the country needed new leadership, his comments were made to a New York Times columnist against the campaign of Hillary Clinton and supporting Barack Obama. Geffen was formerly a friend and a supporter of Bill Clinton's administration but came to a disagreement over the refused pardon of Leonard Peltier. Peltier was convicted of killing to FBI agents in a raid in 1977 on a South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

An insider tells Celebrity Nation that Mischa Barton's sister Hania has entered re-hab facilities. Mischa was witnessed to have been involved in a minor accident while driving Nicole Richie's car on Sunet Boulevard.

From Fox News:
“Not since the Vietnam War has there been this level of disappointment in the behavior of America throughout the world, and I don’t think that another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is and no matter how ambitious she is — and God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton? — can bring the country together," he was quoted as saying.

“Obama is inspirational, and he’s not from the Bush royal family or the Clinton royal family,” Geffen added.

Dante

Hardaway's 6th Sense

Dante

The Winter

This is cute
Dante

Anna Nicole Trial today

"We will not allow elements which want to sabotage the ongoing peace process succeed in their nefarious designs," Pakistan state media quoted Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as saying.

Leaders in both India and Pakistan are saying they are not going to allow the attack on a train in India to derail the advance they are making towards peace. The name of the train "Samjhauta Express", means understanding and it was that connection and understanding between the two countries that may have been the real target of the attack.

A judge has ruled in favor of the Bush administration over the right for detainees in the Guantanamo bay facility to challenge their detentions in a court of law. In effect the court ruled in the 2-1 finding that these detainees did not have the rights that are granted to American citizens arrested in criminal cases. This sides with the policy that the Bush administration has held all along that these are not criminals, but enemies of the state and should be dealt with as such. Following this there is talk in congress of moving forward a bill that would focus on granting the detainees the right to challenge their detention. I think that some middle way needs to be found to give those who are in the detention centers the right and the ability to prove to those holding them that they may be innocent of the charges while understand the position by the Bush Administration that what we are dealing with in real terms is different than a criminal case as it is standardly understood.

TMZ is reporting that Britney Spears has re-entered rehab at an unknown facility, a representative for Spears has confrimed to People Magazine, "Britney Spears has voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed rehab facility today. We ask that the media respect her privacy as well as those of her family and friends at this time." According to sources, Britney entered into rehab after pressure from her mother and other members of her family. It was just last week that Spears entered into rehab, to leave the facility the next day, we can only hope that this is a move that will bring order and healing to Britney and her life.

Reuters is reporting that the satellite companies behind the merger of XM Radio and Sirius Radio are expecting that the merger will be complete by the end of they year. They still need to hold votes among the share holders of the two companies and the deal needs to pass regulatory approval. Company officials are not expecting that either of these hurdles is going to create a difficulty for the merger.

In Florida a court is in session to determine the location for the burial of Anna Nicole Simpson's body. Her mother wants her to be buried in Texas, where he family is from, Howard K. Stern is saying that Simpson wanted to be buried in the Bahama's near where her son is buried. The case needs to be settled soon, as the medical examiner in Florida has said that the condition of the body is deterioration faster than was expected. There is some concern about a clause in the contract that states that all future children will be witheld from any of her estate upon her death. The judge in the case seems to be very impatient, driving the session forward, saying over and over again, "I have no time for this...". He is going at both the lawyers, telling one that you want me to look at things in isolation, like you take me to a museum and tell me just to look at this wall. The judge has allowed Stern to return to the Bahama's tonight on the condition that he would fly back tomorow and appear in court at 9am.

Nicole Richie has entered a plea of not-guilty in the DUI case resulting from her strange drive down the wrong side of the highway on December 31st. At the scene she admitted to officers that she had taken Vicodin.

Jury selection for the Jessica Lunsford case is going on today, as they attempt to gain enough jurors to move forward with the trial. The jury is going to be sequestered, and this could prove a difficulty for jurors who are unable to set aside the time from work or other obligations. The other pressing concern is to find jurors that have not been tainted by the coverage of the case in the news, and do not have a bias either for or against the defendant. In four days, Feb. 24, will be the two year anniversary of her disappearance.

Dante

Who is the father?

The top of the news today is talk going around that Barack Obama may not really be black enough for some people. It turns out that in the changing politics of what it means to be black in America, the fact that he is half-white, not a decedent of slaves and that he was raised in a white family adds up to make him less than black. First of all this is such a strange stand on the issue of race in this campaign, second in most places in the country if you look black then you are treated like you are black, people don't stop and ask if your mother was white. The matter of his lack of history of poverty is another issue in itself, the reality of the situation is that the first American black president is not going to be a poor black man, I don't know how to explain it better than to say that in the modern era at least, a poor man of any race has a slim chance of becoming president, and as harsh as it sounds, and as much as some would like to pretend it is not the case, a black poor man stands even less of a chance. To be clear on my point here I think that in a race, a rich black man has more of a chance that a poor white man, it isn't a simple race issue or class issue but a combination of the two forces.

If you listen to satellite radio - like my roommate wishes she could but the building next door blocks the view of the southern sky - you might be interested to note that the two companies that control the market are in talks to merge. It is an interesting development in the last couple years the ideas of mergers has changed. It used to be that a merger was a sign that a business was doing well, and sometimes that is still true such as in the case of Google buying out YouTube. However in many cases now that is simply not that case, take the case of SBC buying out ATT, this is not two companies who are doing well joining together to do even better, no it is two companies that are dying holding on to each other for support. The local and long distance phone markets business has long been in the hands of the companies that control the landlines. With cell phones everywhere, the first to suffer was the local markets, but they still had some advantage in the long distance market, but with more cell phone companies offering free long distance, like mine does, they are losing their share of that market as well. When you ad in the factor of email, phone services like Vonage and the fact that cable companies are providing phone service through their cables you see that the old phone companies are facing a greater and greater competition for the market that they used to own. Right now I have a landline in order to connect to the internet, in the next couple years if the price of cable internet access goes down, or if the technology and the price improve to make accessing the internet through cellular channels easier and more affordable, they will lose even more of the market share that they cling to. It is possible that within ten years ATT will be gone as a company.

There was a peace talk between leaders of the Palestinians and Israel that resulted in little more than to an agreement between the parties to meet again soon. Secretary Rice who was also a part of the meeting came alone to the meeting in Jerusalem said that she would also attend future meetings. While people will say that they is no point in attempting to talk peace deal through, I think that is like saying that these people deserve to live lives of poverty, violence and death - they don't - and if we can do something to bring about an improvement in their conditions then I say it is worth the effort.

Police in Chicago are saying that they have found the bodies of three womyn in two apartments, beaten to death with a hammer. The police were responding to a domestic violence call when they encountered a man hitting himself in the head with a blunt object in an apparent attempt at suicide. The man was taken into custody, the womyn were his wife, her sister and her mother, the mother was in the second apartment.

The surge of troops in the capital of Iraq is having some success, but there are concerns that some of the militants will go to the south where there are other concerns that are developing. According to one source there are actually four wars going on inside Iraq right now, the war of the American's verses the Islamic Terrorists, the war between the Shia and the Sunni - mostly in Baghdad, there is also the conflict in the north between the ethnic Kurds and the Arabs that in some cases were given Kurdish land under the rule of Saddam, in the south in the brewing conflict between various Shia sects who are fighting for power. At the end of the day, I know we have an obligation to help the people of Iraq, but at some point that obligation ends when the people of Iraq cannot or will not work together for their own peace, where is that point, I don't know.

TMZ has a video of Anna Nicole Smith with her face painted like a clown, that was shot by Howard K. Stern, in the video she talks to a baby in a carriage as if it were real, and Stern asks her if she is on a mushroom trip to which she replies, "what does that mean?" Later in the clip you can hear him telling Simpson how much money it will be worth. I am beginning have have strong doubts about that concern that this man had for Simpson or has for her baby. Stern has claimed that he cannot go to the court hearings because the baby needs him in the Bahama's but that didn't stop him and Simpson from leaving the baby to buy a yacht, it was this trip to Florida without the baby during which Simpson died. Meanwhile Mary Carey is claiming in a video on the Splash News website to have inside knowledge that Stern is not the father, that is it Larry Birkhead.

Thank you for reading, I shall report more tomorrow.

Dante

Britney Spears Bald/Shaves Her Head - THATOTHERBLOG.COM

A bald Britney....

Dante

Breaking News, IRAQIS PLAN

Breaking news from the New York Times, our enemies in Iraq, are not only able to plan their attacks, but there seems to be documents showing that they are planning their attacks. For those of you who have not been enlightened by this recent front page news making story from the Times, the idea that attacks on American forces in Iraq had been done randomly (perhaps between fares the cab drives do some helicopter hunting), is a thought of the past. The enemy we face is even smarter than that, not only can they plan, but when the plans are not working they can change their plans to adapt. I don't know about the rest of you, but this changes the whole math of the war in Iraq, to think we are not fighting a bunch of thoughtless Arabs with guns.

From the New York Times:
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 — Documents captured from Iraqi insurgents indicate that some of the recent fatal attacks against American helicopters are a result of a carefully planned strategy to focus on downing coalition aircraft, one that American officials say has been carried out by mounting coordinated assaults with machine guns, rockets and surface-to-air missiles.

In other news a helicopter in Afghanistan was shot down and a series of bombs have gone off in Baghdad. I am not trying to make these events sound un-important, the lives of our troops and the lives of the people in Iraq are very important, but I don't think those are items I am going to spend a great deal on. In journalism class one of the things you look at to see if a story is news worthy is the uniqueness of the event, and as sad as it is these events are turning out to be regular events.

Shocking news from the land of LA, Britney Spears has shaved her head, now you see here is a unique story. According to MSNBC Spears went to a hair saloon to get her hair shaved off, when the worker refused to do it for fear of a lawsuit, she took the clippers and did it herself. The pictures are crazy, what is going on with this womyn, how many people are going to watch her fall into this crazy destructive lifestyle and do nothing to step in and help her. Where is her family, where are her friends that should be helping her. The worker at the hair saloon said that she just wasn't there emotionally. After that she got some new tattoos.

The Senate is moving towards more of a confrontation with President Bush over the war in Iraq. While I support the politics of balance of power that seems to be at work here, I am concerned that politics and making gains of power against the republicans and the White House could become more important than the issues that need attention. The lives of our troops in the battle in Iraq demand the respect that a solution be given the first priority and politics given second, the lives of the people of Iraq demand a solution to this war that we have started that will give them the fair chance to create a stable society.

From Voice of America:
In Latin America Hugo Chavez is taking on the powers that have just been granted to him and using them to nationalise industries, he is promising to oust foreign capital interests from the oil sector. Critics are calling his abuse of power a blow against democracy in the country.

In a unanimous vote, Venezuela's national assembly, in effect, temporarily disbanded itself. Assembly President Cilia Flores was jubilant afterwards.
"Long live the sovereign nation of Venezuela," she said. "Long live Hugo Chavez. Long live socialism. Fatherland, socialism or death!"

Two bombs have exploded aboard a train in India headed towards Pakistan, at least 64 passengers are determined to have been killed in the blast. Officials are calling it an act of terror and claim that it is an attempt to undermine the peace process going on between the two countries.

Well, it is late and it is time for me to sleep. I know I could have done something better than I have out up here, and I promise to do better in the future. Time is so fleeting and you think you have so much time to get things done, and then you look and the time is much shorter than you thought, and you scramble to get things done, and in the haste you do them poorly. I am sorry to say that is the case I find myself in this day.

Dante

Note: I am avoiding links as to avoid being labeled a spam blog by Google, being labeled as such means that you have to enter a key every time you post and this system does not always work with my computer. I am getting my taxes back in a couple weeks and one of the things I have thought about is getting a new computer with the money. I have other things I need to get better at though that the computer isn't a factor in, like typing and learning to relax while I am typing, one of the main reasons I am doing this blog no one is going to read. I try and type it all at once and to get the words on the page as fast as I am thinking them but that makes me nervous and makes my hands shake which makes it harder for me to keep my homeroom placement and makes it harder for me to find the letters which makes me a slower typer which makes me try harder, which makes my hands shake more, which makes me slower, which makes me upset when I make mistakes, which makes me more nervous and I get frustrated and I don't think about the fact I am writing a sentence that goes on forever and ever, or a post with a note on it that is half as long as the post itself.

PIT BREAKUP VIDEO HIGH QUALITY( ANGLE 1 OF 2)

This guy thinks it would be cool to break up with is girl friend in front of a thousand people and cameras.

Dante

My First Post

What are my goals, my goals at this time and place is to produce something of real value here everyday. I begin today and I attempt to the best that I can do. I am not going to be doing a lot of linking, and sourcing back to other pages right now. I am working on this as a way to increase my writing skills. I will be addin adsense at some point in the future in an attempt to make some money off the site, but at this time I am going to keep it as simple as I can. I don't have very many skills at this point so I have to ask that you are not to expect this to be top of the line, I am working on getting there and to that end I welcome all comments on how it is believed I could perform a better job. That means in style, content or just basic errors of spelling or gramar that you may be aware of that I might have missed. I really want to be posting here every day, and I am going to focus on that end, but working a full time job and going to school full time means that my plate is full of other things that need to get themselves done, and not a whole lot of time. I don't imagine anyone is reading this, but if you are I would love a comment just to know that you are out there. The blog world can be a cold place when you feel like you are working on a post that no one is ever going to read. I have stopped writing in my other blog, at least for the time being because I lost faith that it was actually being read and enjoyed by anyone. I want to be a writer, and as much as all writers want to write for the joy of it, they also want to be read and when they are not being read at least for me there is a feeling that something is missing. I write to communicate maybe the best way to think about it and if no one is reading than it is a failure to communicate more than anything else. I have to take my leave now. I am going to post a video from YouTube for you enjoyment, I hope to be posting some videos, but at the same time not depending on them to move my site forward. I really want this site to be an original content site, with news and culture items that excite people and make them want to read.

Dante