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As you read this, many of you are preparing for Christmas celebrations today, and others are looking forward to ringing in the new year Sunday night. For many of us, alcoholic beverages add to the merrymaking this season or mask our discomfort at a time when reality doesn't always live up to our expectations. After all, we're not all waking up well-rested to a Christmas-morning surprise of a new car in the driveway with a big red bow on top.
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2006/12/22
@ 01:51 PM (18 months, 21 days ago)
Click on the Christmas ornaments to hear the music
Carol of the Bells
@ 02:40 AM (18 months, 21 days ago)
2006/12/21
According to Dr, Paul Irwin at the American Bible Institute, as we read stories of controversy regarding displays of Nativity scenes and Christmas trees such as the controversy over the airing of the trailer for "Nativity" at the Christkindlmarket in Chicago. As one who has studied the Bible for many years, I find this debate troubling. The American Bible Society believes that we must celebrate the rights of Americans to hold diverse opinions and not to stifle them.
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2006/12/20
In a place called Flagler Beach, Florida, one police officer was removed of his police powers pending an investigation, arrested for lying about a case involving of all things, the daughter of State Attorney John Tanner. And the entire horrible ordeal has been captured on tape: Video: Video Shows State Attorney's Daughter Being Restrained By Deputies. I have no idea how the news station obtained a copy of this, but thank God they did. I am sure this is not Officer Juratovac first brush with abusive behavior. From the video, he is a dangerous pro at victimization.
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2006/12/19
@ 02:49 AM (18 months, 24 days ago)
@ 02:10 AM (18 months, 24 days ago)
2006/12/18
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Make sure you do the whole microsoft word thing ! ..........
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2006/12/17
OHIO- Three county sheriff's deputies accused of failing to arrest a former auxiliary deputy who authorities say later killed his wife and himself have been indicted on charges of dereliction of Duty.
The charges against Patricia Bailey, 43, Ernest Jackson, 37, and Terry Olsen, 40, all of Washington Court House, stem from their failure to stop John Bailey from vandalizing his home and arrest him on Oct. 25, said Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth.
Patricia Bailey, who is the sister of John Bailey, also was charged with obstruction of justice, a fifth-degree felony. Stanforth said she prevented the other deputies from removing all the guns from her brother's house.
Jackson and Olsen had gone to Bailey's home to serve a civil protective order that required him to leave the home and deputies to seize any guns, Stanforth said. Patricia Bailey was off duty and called to the home by her brother.
While deputies who served the order were still present, Bailey went on a rampage, smashing windows in the house, ripping out wiring, knocking over furniture and painting on walls, authorities said.
Bailey was charged the following day with violating the protective order, which had been requested by his wife, and damaging the home.
Authorities say Bailey kidnapped his wife, Lori, from the home of their children's baby sitter, fatally shot her in a rural barn and then killed himself.
Stanforth said an investigation has not established a connection between the delay in arresting Bailey and the murder-suicide. He said it is unclear where the gun used in the killings was obtained.
All three deputies are on paid leave from the department and Jackson and Olsen face disciplinary hearings. Stanforth said an investigation by the Franklin County sheriff's office is pending and he will decide on any administrative action when it is completed.
Washington Court House is about 40 miles southwest of Columbus.
2006/12/15
@ 04:44 AM (18 months, 28 days ago)
2006/12/14
@ 04:52 AM (18 months, 29 days ago)
2006/12/13
@ 02:49 AM (19 months, 16 hours ago)
2006/12/12
2006/12/11
@ 02:41 AM (19 months, 2 days ago)
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@ 02:31 AM (19 months, 2 days ago)
 Dad Will Never Know!
2006/12/10
@ 03:43 AM (19 months, 3 days ago)
2006/12/9
@ 05:17 AM (19 months, 4 days ago)
"He took my daughter's life and he left my grandchildren orphans," said Elena's angry father, Victor Marmo... Marmo said his daughter, who graduated from nursing school last week, had been planning to leave her husband, whom he described as "abusive." Law-enforcement sources said the couple fought bitterly Monday night about Elena's plans to seek a divorce - and Marmo said he and his daughter had discussed that hours before the tragedy. "She called me this morning and said, 'I've just about had it with Peter - I'm not talking to him and I think I'm going to get a separation.' And then she told me, 'I love you' and I said, 'Babe, I love you - if there's anything you need, let me know.' "...
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The bodies of a retired NYPD cop and his wife - both killed in what cops believe was a murder suicide - were discovered in their home by two of her young children, officials said.
Elena Heiberger, 32, shot twice in the head, was lying in the kitchen of the couple's home in the town of Walkill, shortly before 3 p.m. Her husband of seven years, Peter, 44, was shot once in the head, officials said.
The kids are Julian, 13, and Jordan, 11, who made the horrifying discovery. Jacob, 10 and Jenna, 5, were not at home at the time.
Marmo said his daughter, who graduated from nursing school last week, had been planning to leave her husband, whom he described as "abusive."
Law-enforcement sources said the couple fought bitterly Monday night about Elena's plans to seek a divorce - and Marmo said he and his daughter had discussed that hours before the tragedy. Source:www.behindthewbluewall.blogspot.com
2006/12/8
@ 02:09 AM (19 months, 5 days ago)
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| Singer LaToya Jackson takes aim during filming of the CBS reality show "Armed & Famous" in Muncie, Ind. The cast had firearms training as part of their performance as reserve officers with the Muncie Police Department. |
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2006/12/7
'Dangerous man' was released by '87 appellate court decision
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2006/12/6
@ 03:58 AM (19 months, 7 days ago)
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Juan and Jack at BlueJersey.net put this together. The spot, called "Think Equal," is a discussion between two women - one married, the other in a civil union - and they compare what their unions have in common -- and the ways that "equality" can stop at the door when it comes down to real-life circumstances.
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@ 03:42 AM (19 months, 7 days ago)
2006/12/5
@ 02:38 AM (19 months, 8 days ago)
...Prosecutors had accused Officer Jason Webb of striking his ex-wife in the face, arm and torso and then threatening to retaliate against a witness. They planned to offer evidence that he had assaulted the woman 20 times in two years...The officer was arrested and charged with assaulting a family member. He was also indicted on felony charges of retaliating against a witness... that case was dismissed when the witness refused to testify. His ex-wife became reluctant to proceed with the case, and prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain. In July 2002, the Police Department suspended Officer Webb for five days without pay for getting involved in a domestic disturbance discrediting the department. By that time, he had been suspended twice for other incidents – one day for conduct unbecoming an officer in May 2002 and one day for domestic disturbance discrediting the department in February 2001... Officer Webb's ex-wife could not be reached for comment...
A Texas appeals court has ordered the Dallas Police Department to rehire an officer it fired three years ago after he pleaded no contest to assaulting his ex-wife.
Prosecutors had accused Officer Jason Webb of striking his ex-wife in the face, arm and torso and then threatening to retaliate against a witness. They planned to offer evidence that he had assaulted the woman 20 times in two years, court records show.
The officer had been suspended three times from the department. His firing had been upheld by the city manager, an administrative law judge and a district court judge.
But on Tuesday, a three-justice panel of the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas ruled that Officer Webb had never been convicted and that the Police Department and judges were wrong to base their decisions on a conviction.
"I think that's probably good justice," said Griffin Collie, the officer's defense attorney. "We're always inclined to believe the woman more than the man in that kind of thing. She wasn't hit; she wasn't beaten; she wasn't harmed. He and his wife had a yelling match."
But victim advocates and municipal law experts said the ruling could make it harder for the Police Department to fire officers charged with domestic violence.
The appeals court ruling centers on a legal plea of nolo contendere and the punishment of deferred adjudication. Officer Webb didn't plead guilty or not guilty to the misdemeanor charges. Instead, he accepted a plea bargain, and Judge Lisa Fox put him on probation for nine months, ordered him to attend a domestic violence victims' panel and required him to forfeit his gun.
After he completed probation, he was cleared of the charges. But the plea bargain included an "affirmative finding of family violence" that the city argued could be used for other purposes, such as his firing.
"We thought that giving him deferred adjudication would be a conviction that would prohibit him from remaining a police officer," said Cindy Dyer, chief family violence prosecutor for the Dallas County district attorney's office. "My opinion is he doesn't need to be a police officer, and he certainly doesn't need to be responding to the scene of domestic violence offenses."
Officer Webb, 31, had been on the force for four years when he got into an argument with his ex-wife at an Irving gas station in November 2001. The woman told police he put his hands on her. But Mr. Collie said he only yelled at her after being provoked and may have held her arms.
The officer was arrested and charged with assaulting a family member. He was also indicted on felony charges of retaliating against a witness, but that case was dismissed when the witness refused to testify. His ex-wife became reluctant to proceed with the case, and prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain.
In July 2002, the Police Department suspended Officer Webb for five days without pay for getting involved in a domestic disturbance discrediting the department. By that time, he had been suspended twice for other incidents – one day for conduct unbecoming an officer in May 2002 and one day for domestic disturbance discrediting the department in February 2001.
After the no-contest plea in January 2003, Dallas police opened another internal investigation based on inaccurate information received from the district attorney's office that indicated he had pleaded guilty and been convicted. He had already been suspended for his conduct and couldn't be disciplined twice on the same complaint.
No contest, not guilt
"There is no affirmation of guilty by pleading no contest," Officer Webb wrote the investigators. "Therefore, all documents contained in this investigation that state that I pled guilty are incorrect."
Ms. Dyer said she doesn't recall the memo and added that the plea didn't matter because the ruling focused on whether deferred adjudication amounted to a conviction, not whether a no-contest plea implied guilt.
Officer Webb was fired in April 2003, and he appealed to an administrative law judge.
During that hearing, city attorneys emphasized that they had already punished Officer Webb for his conduct and were now focused on the criminal court verdict.
Ms. Dyer testified at the hearing that a 1999 amendment to the penal code made deferred adjudication for family violence count as a conviction. She said that she had helped with the bill's wording, and that the Legislature's intent was to enhance the penalty for first-time offenders.
But the appeals court said in its ruling that Ms. Dyer was wrong. The law was meant only for judges to consider deferred adjudications when sentencing repeat offenders, said the ruling written by Justice Amos Mazzant.
"Dyer's testimony that Webb was convicted of family violence assault because he received deferred adjudication is unreasonable," he wrote.
City attorneys said they are reviewing the case and have not decided how to proceed. The city could appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.
Former City Attorney Madeleine Johnson said the ruling could make it harder for the Police Department to fire officers in similar cases because plea bargains are common in family violence cases as victims are often afraid to testify.
Troubled by ruling
"Whether it's legally correct or not, I think it's an unfortunate result," she said. "There's a reason that police officers get disciplined when things like this happen because they have to respond to domestic violence calls."
The ruling also troubled leaders of women's shelters, who said it would make victims even more reluctant to come forward when an officer is the abuser.
"When the next victim calls the police to report domestic violence, and a person who committed that crime arrives, what kind of justice can she expect to have?" said Jan Langbein, executive director of Genesis Women's Shelter.
But Bob Baskett, who represented Officer Webb in the lawsuit, said the public shouldn't be concerned about his involvement with a woman who "was willing to say anything to get him into trouble."
"He was a well-respected, top-of-the-class police officer," Mr. Baskett said.
Officer Webb's ex-wife could not be reached for comment.
Reason for not fighting
Mr. Baskett said Officer Webb didn't fight the charge because he couldn't afford to pay the defense attorney, Mr. Collie, to take the case to trial. Mr. Collie said he didn't fight it for another reason.
"Until you get in the system, you can't imagine," he said. "It's your word against the woman's. Until you've been there, it's hard to describe how the deck is stacked against you." Source: behindthebluewall.blogspot.com
@ 02:10 AM (19 months, 8 days ago)
To all the telemarketers out in dialling for dollars land, consider a new profession. Perhaps one less invasive and annoying.
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This is from the Bob and Tom radio show, this has been out there for a while but, deserves a review.
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2006/12/4
Lon Garner, the lead Secret Service agent in Denver, was charged Friday with two counts of felony second-degree assault for allegedly choking his wife... choking his wife until her ears started to ring and her peripheral vision became dark... choked her until their son, Lon Jr., struck his father on the head, knocking him down... Garner initially faced a misdemeanor assault charge... The more serious counts were filed based on the evidence... Christine Garner said she waited almost a year to come forward because her husband threatened he would "eliminate" anyone who tried to ruin his career... A restraining order was issued and he was ordered to stay away from his wife. He has also been told to wear a GPS tracking bracelet...
Garner is the lead special agent for the U.S. Secret Service in Denver
Secret Service agent charged with 2 counts of assault in January altercation with wife
By Ivan Moreno, Rocky Mountain News
December 2, 2006
DENVER - Lon Garner, the lead Secret Service agent in Denver, was charged Friday with two counts of felony second-degree assault for allegedly choking his wife.
Garner initially faced a misdemeanor assault charge for the January altercation with his wife, Christine Garner. The more serious counts were filed based on the evidence, said Chris Carrington, Arapahoe County deputy district attorney.
If convicted, Garner faces five to 16 years in jail, Carrington said.
Garner's wife, Christine Garner, 50, filed a complaint Nov. 9 alleging he choked her after an argument Jan. 4, in which she kicked him in the groin.
Christine Garner said she waited almost a year to come forward because her husband threatened he would "eliminate" anyone who tried to ruin his career, according to an arrest affidavit. Garner, who is free on $50,000 bail, is on administrative leave. He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 21. Source: www.behindthebluewall.blogspot.com
2006/12/3
@ 10:07 PM (19 months, 9 days ago)
I can't for the life
of me fiqure out why, Judge's reduce bail when an Officer is involved. Especially when the officer has committed murderer. Small towns, even small minds, with poor justice systems in place! Makes my stomach turn.
It won't give Barbara back her life, or her family back their girl...
Barbara's family hasn't said much so I can't guess if there is ANYthing that will feel like justice or closure to them.
Nothing would work for me if it was my family.
Nothing's really going to work for me
regarding Barbara either.
She's just supposed to be here.
There's no punitive sentence
that can undo what's done.
HERE'S EXCERPTS FROM BOTH THE FULL ARTICLES BELOW. READ 'EM OR SKIP 'EM:
Judge reduces bail for Vanaman
Press of Atlantic City, NJ - 2 hours ago
Dec 2nd, 2006
Instead of going to school, the 14-year-old son of Barbara and police Sgt. Robert Vanaman learned in court about the evidence, which the state has collected, that could prove his father fatally shot his mother and slashed himself to make the crime look like self-defense... Victim Barbara Vanaman's stepfather also was present and sat on the opposite side of the courtroom from Vanaman's son. The family members did not speak to each other during the hearing.... The state has a forensic expert who classified the cuts found on Vanaman's person as superficial and said “a vast majority” of them were self-inflicted, he said. Pagliughi said he used the word “cuts” because they were not deep enough to have been stab wounds... the phone Vanaman used to call 911 to report having shot his wife did not have any blood on it even though the service weapon he used to shoot his wife did... The bloodied knife was broken in two, which was unexplainable because the “cuts” found on Vanaman did not require that amount of force... Pagliughi said the state is certain that the evidence collected against Vanaman will lead to a conviction. The state also asked that the mental well-being of the defendant should be evaluated before letting him out into the public...
Bail reduced for cop charged in wife's death
Bridgeton News
By MATT DUNN
Saturday, December 02, 2006
A Millville police sergeant prosecutors charged with murdering his wife had his bail reduced Friday from $750,000 to $500,000... "Cuts that the defendant had on his body were superficial," Pagliughi said. "I use the word cuts' rather than wounds' because a wound is deeper than it is wide... If released, O'Neill said Vanaman would not miss a hearing. As a police officer, Vanaman knows the consequences of fleeing, O'Neill stated. "He will be here," he said. "I will be sure of that." Pagliughi replied Vanaman's status as a police officer makes him more of a flight risk. "Because he's facing the rest of his life behind bars and because he is a police officer is reason to flee," he said. "As a member of law enforcement, I can think of nothing more terrifying than being in prison for the rest of my life with the people I helped put there"... Both Dylan and Vanaman's 4-year-old son Dean were at home on May 11 during their parents' "discussion which escalated," O'Neill said after court. He added that Barbara Vanaman sent the two children across the street to a neighbor's house before things turned violent... Source:www.behindthebluewall.blogspot.com
2006/12/1
@ 03:51 AM (19 months, 12 days ago)
This is an article written by Robert Novak about a new movie called "Bella". Praise God for the courage of these film makers. Pray that this movie will have a wide circulation and great impact on our world.
"Bella" is coming
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, November 30, 2006
WASHINGTON -- An invited audience including Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez gathered at the National Geographic Society's auditorium in Washington Monday night for a screening of "Bella," an independently produced feature film. No mere movie, it offers hope for the beleaguered anti-abortion movement to reverse the political tide running against it.
This was the eighth such screening in Washington. Monday night's audience reflected the reaction in more than 100 showings nationwide: an emotional experience for a stunning exhibition of cinema art that unexpectedly won a Toronto Film Festival award. It is no propaganda film but a dramatic depiction of choices facing an unmarried pregnant woman.
"Bella," unknown to the general public, has generated excitement and anticipation in conservative Catholic and other anti-abortion circles. The problem is getting the film in movie theaters around the country for its public premiere early next April. That is never easy for an independent film with no box office names, but the problems are magnified when its message runs counter to the social mores of Hollywood.
"Bella" arrives in an environment that has grown bleak for enemies of abortion. The Democratic Party has become so much the party of abortion rights that of 41 freshmen Democrats elected to the House, only three are anti-abortion. Pro-life forces in the House suffered a net loss of 13 members. That means statutory restrictions on abortion, which must be renewed by each Congress, are now in serious jeopardy.
The loss of numerical strength on Capitol Hill reflects a public relations and political victory by the abortion lobby. Republican politicians tend to give only lip service to the issue, typified by President George W. Bush's silence on abortion. Republican candidates have accepted support from pro-life forces -- and then kept quiet about abortion, leaving the field open to pro-choice advocates.
Thus, the anti-abortion movement sees "Bella" as providential. It is entertainment, not propaganda. Although Monday's screening was sponsored by the National Council for Adoption, the word "adoption" is uttered only once in the film. There are no tirades against abortion. Indeed, it acknowledges a woman's pain of carrying a baby to term only to give it up for adoption. In the end, however, the film is a heart-wrenching affirmation of life over death.
"Bella" was conceived by three young Mexican men -- producer, director and lead actor -- who are conservative Catholics and want to make movies removed from Hollywood's movie culture of sex and violence. Bankrolled by a wealthy Catholic family from Philadelphia, they shot the film in 24 days in New York City.
The star is Eduardo Verastegui, a Mexican heartthrob as a lead performer in TV soap operas who now lives in Los Angeles. A devout Catholic, he told me he was tired of movies showing Latinos as disreputable and immoral. He has learned to speak English in three years well enough to play the lead role mostly in English (with subtitles over the Spanish).
It was a stretch to get "Bella" even shown at Toronto, much less win an award. "Going into the festival," said the Hollywood Reporter, "absolutely no one, including the team of filmmakers that made 'Bella,' ever imagined it would capture the People's Choice Award, voted on by festival audiences."
Even with the Toronto prize, which in the past has led to Academy and Golden Globe awards, however, it is hard to get the film in movie houses, and it may be necessary for the filmmakers to form a distribution company. The avowed reason for the difficulty is inexperience of the director and a cast with names unfamiliar to American moviegoers. But the film's producers say the same left-wing Hollywood establishment that attacked "The Passion of The Christ" is sniping at "Bella," which lacks a Mel Gibson in support.
If the Crucifixion in "The Passion" was hard to take for non-Christians and some Christians, "Bella" on one level is a drama without religious overtones. But while the audience at Monday's screening was moved to tears, reaction from a commercial theater audience -- including women who have chosen an abortion -- could be different. The pro-life movement hopes, in the absence of effort by supposedly pro-life politicians, it will point to a different way to deal with an unwanted pregnancy.
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@ 03:23 AM (19 months, 12 days ago)
Still in shock over the deaths of three Deerfield-area teenagers, including two who died in a homecoming night car crash, hundreds of parents packed a high school auditorium for a town hall meeting on how they can prevent further heartbreak related to kids, drugs and alcohol.
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