WHOA NELLY!

Why in the hell would anyone want to drink this or even buy it? A few spoonfuls and it can be lethal? Sounds like a fun night out with the girls to me! Or bring it to your next barbeque! An instant hit with the neighbors!

Distillery to Revive 184-Proof Whisky

A Scottish distillery said Monday it was reviving a centuries-old recipe for whisky so strong that one 17th-century writer feared more than two spoonfuls could be lethal.

Risk-taking whisky connoisseurs will have to wait, however — the spirit will not be ready for at least 10 years. The Bruichladdich distillery on the Isle of Islay, off Scotland's west coast, is producing the quadruple-distilled 184-proof — or 92 percent alcohol — spirit "purely for fun," managing director Mark Reynier said.

Whisky usually is distilled twice and has an alcohol content of between 40 and 63.5 per cent. Bruichladdich is using a recipe for a spirit known in the Gaelic language as usquebaugh-baul, "perilous water of life." In 1695, travel writer Martin Martin described it as powerful enough to affect "all members of the body." "Two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; if any man should exceed this, it would presently stop his breath, and endanger his life," Martin wrote.

Reynier put Martin's test to the claim and consumed three spoonfuls. "I can tell you, I had some and it indeed did take my breath away," Reynier said. Bruichladdich, a small privately owned distillery founded in 1881, plans to make about 5,000 bottles of the whisky, which Reynier estimated would sell for about 400 pounds (US$695, euro590) per case of 12 bottles.

Although whisky lovers can place their orders now, the actual spirit will not be delivered for about 10 years. "You get a better drink if you wait because of the basic oxygenation through the oak barrels," Reynier said. In the meantime, customers will be able to watch the whisky's progress on the distillery's webcams.

ME SOOOO SLEEPY....

I remember back in the day when no one questioned this man's sexual preference. Here's an embarassing admission: I used to roller skate in my basement to Careless Whisper and had my first make out session at a school dance with that song playing.

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

George Michael, 42 was arrested in central London Saturday night on suspicion of drug possession after police discovered him slumped over the steering wheel of a car. Police found small amounts of cannabis and the club drug GHB, also known as liquid ecstasy, according to London's The Sun

.

Update from the UK: Police found bizarre headgear, used in bondage, in his boot along with the cannabis that led to his arrest in the early hours of Sunday morning.

CRUISE LINE FAMILY VICTIMS TO SPEAK OUT

Families of Victims and Victims of Cruise Lines testify in upcoming Congressional hearing

February 24, 2006 Several members of the recently formed International Cruise Victims (ICV) organization have been invited to testify in a Congressional hearing on March 7, 2006.


The House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, with general oversight responsibility of the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of Federal laws, has scheduled a hearing entitled International Maritime Security II: Law Enforcement, Passenger Security and Incident Investigation on Cruise Ships.


The purpose of the hearing is to examine the effectiveness of current regimes governing international maritime security, including law enforcement, passenger security and incident investigation.


The cruise industry is increasing in size in a dramatic manner yet cruise companies are largely unregulated and unaccountable for protecting passengers from crime and for assisting passengers after crimes have been committed. Representatives of families of victims and victims of cruise ships recently formed the nonprofit International Cruise Victims organization. The primary objectives of ICV are to provide support to victims of crimes that occur on cruise ships, and to act as an advocate for legislative reform to protect passengers from crimes and increase the rights of victims of crimes that do occur on cruise ships.


At this hearing, some of the members of ICV will have the opportunity to present their own experiences dealing with the cruise line industry and provide recommendations on passenger security and incident investigations.


The hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at 2:00 p.m., room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. Representative Christopher Shays (Connecticut) is the Chairman of the Subcommittee On National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations. The hearing is the second hearing, following the December 13, 2005 hearing on International Maritime Security which involved the Department of Defense, the United States Coast Guard, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and representatives of the cruise industry.

For more information about the International Crime Victims: www.internationalcruisevictims.org

or write to:
info@internationalcruisevictims.org

MY LAST DRINK AT THE REAGLE BEAGLE WITH RALPH FURLEY

Ok, I admit it. I'm a Three's Company freak. I loved the show growing up, and I even have the first 3 seasons on DVD. Scary, yes. But hey, that's me. Next to the genius physical comedian, John Ritter, "Jack Tripper", Don Knotts, "Mr. Furley" was by far the best character on the show. He played the part of the old lonely seriously horny man who lived in the shadow of his brother, "Bart". His choice of clothing was always unique and hilarious, perfectly adding that 'geekiness' to his character. Poor Mr. Furley, he was so desperately in love/lust with "Lana", the neighbor who was obsessed with Jack.

The chemistry between Mr. Furley and Jack was amazing to me. I loved it. It made me laugh. After Chrissy got fired, and the Ropers left to do their own failed spin-off, Mr. Furley put 3's Company back together like super glue. As for sitcome shows, 3's Company is by far my favorite and Mr. Furley was my favorite character, no one can top him as far as I'm concerned.

I am sad that Don Knotts is gone, but I will always remember him with a smile! Rest in PEACE Don Knotts! You ruled!

Don Knotts 1924-2006

Born in Morgantown, WV on July 21, 1924, Knotts' unique comedic talent helped him find his place in show business. He joined the Army after high school and entertained the troops during World War II, performing in a touring G.I. variety show called "Stars and Gripes."

The young Knotts graduated from college in 1948 with a teaching degree, but he turned down a fellowship to pursue an acting career in New York. There, he quickly landed impressive jobs in television, including notable appearances on "Howdy Doody" and "The Garry Moore Show." From 1956 to 1960, he was a regular on the NBC variety series, "The Steve Allen Show"; Andy Griffith was one of his co-stars. In 1960, Knotts joined "The Andy Griffith Show" as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife. He stayed on the hit sitcom for five seasons, earning three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Knotts left the show in 1965 to find movie roles.

BABY KILLER FAKING MENTAL ILLNESS?

HOUSTON - Andrea Yates once advised a fellow inmate that she could escape prosecution by pretending to be mentally ill and persuading a psychiatrist she suffered from serious disorders, according to court documents filed Thursday by prosecutors.



Felicia Doe, who spent four days in a jail block with Yates in 2002, told prosecutors last year that Yates instructed her not to eat, not to speak properly and not to be friendly or open in front of people if she wanted to "beat her case."



Yates, who is awaiting a new trial in the drowning of her young children, allegedly told Doe that if she could get the jail psychiatrist on her side, they could testify to her mental health, and they couldn't prosecute her if she was sick, according to the documents, which describe interviews with witnesses who could be called during Yates' trial.


"According to the witness, the defendant basically told her, 'Do what I'm doing,'" prosecutor Kaylynn Williford wrote. Yates' defense attorney, George Parham, called the account "sad and ludicrous." "That is absolutely so bogus, it doesn't even deserve a response," he said. "That discounts the medications that this woman was on, the mental illness she suffers from."


Yates, 41, has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. During her 2002 trial, psychiatrists testified Yates suffered from schizophrenia and postpartum depression, but expert witnesses disagreed over the severity of her illness and whether it prevented her from knowing right from wrong.


A jury rejected Yates' original insanity defense and sentenced her to life in prison for the drowning of three of her five children ages 7, 5 and 6 months. Evidence was presented about the drowning of two others, ages 3 and 2, but Yates was not charged in their deaths.


Her convictions were overturned last year based on false testimony by an expert witness. Doe, who could not be reached for comment by the AP, also told prosecutors that Yates disclosed details of the slayings, explaining that she locked a door so her oldest son, 7-year-old Noah, could not escape the house and describing him as crying so hard he vomited.


"She hit his head against the bathtub several times in an effort to incapacitate him," Doe told prosecutors. Another inmate, Lynnette Licantino, told prosecutors Yates said her children "were just too much" and that her husband at the time, Russell Yates, would not let her put them in day care, according to the documents.

THEY JUST KEEP GETTING YOUNGER AND YOUNGER! GROSS!

South Carolina Teacher Charged With Having Sex With 11-Year-Old Student

(AP) LAURENS, S.C. - An elementary school teacher was arrested Friday on charges she had sex with one of her 11-year-old students, authorities said.


Wendie A. Schweikert, 36, was booked on two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor after a parent of the boy accused the teacher of having sex with the pupil at school at least twice, Laurens Police Chief Robin Morse said.

Police said Schweikert, who resigned from her job at E.B. Morse Elementary School on Friday, had been an employee of the school district for nine years and had no criminal history or prior complaints against her. "This is an unfortunate situation that is being taken seriously," district Superintendent Edgar Taylor said in a news release. "This type of behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated in the district."

A NEWLY DISCOVERED SEXUAL PREDATOR AND SERIAL KILLER?

Feb. 23, 2006 — - The FBI is investigating whether the man charged with murdering Brigham Young University student Brooke Wilberger is responsible for three other murders in Oregon.

Wilberger vanished nearly two years ago from the Corvallis, Ore., apartment complex her sister manages. Police say Wilberger, 19 at the time, was last seen May 24, 2004, while helping with some cleaning chores.

Authorities believed her disappearance was suspicious because her cleaning supplies were left behind, her flip-flops were found in the complex parking lot, and her cell phone and other personal items were left in her sister's apartment.

Her body has never been found, but Joel Patrick Courtney, 39, was indicted in August on 19 counts, including aggravated murder, kidnapping, sodomy, rape and sexual abuse in connection with Wilberger's disappearance. Police have not disclosed details of what led them to charge Courtney with murdering Wilberger.

A Serial Offender?

Courtney has been jailed in Albuquerque, N.M., since the fall of 2004, charged with abducting and raping a 22-year-old college student whom he forced into his car at knife point as she walked down the street. According to the FBI, Courtney allegedly tied her up with her shoelaces, drove to a parking lot and sexually assaulted her.

Theresa Whatley, the senior trial attorney in the Albuquerque district attorney's office, told The Associated Press that Oregon officials want the woman to complete the prosecution of Courtney on the Albuquerque rape and kidnapping charges before they try to bring him back to Oregon.

"It's a very serious case and a strong one," Whatley said. "Having a live victim makes our case much easier."

Now the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program unit is investigating whether Courtney may have sexually assaulted and killed three other young women in Oregon. "It is believed that he is a serial sex offender and killer," the FBI said in a statement. "He is inclined to abduct white females, 15 to 25 years of age, with blond hair and blue eyes, in an outside setting."

Courtney grew up in the Portland, Ore., area and moved extensively. The FBI believes there may be victims in the following areas. He is also known to have traveled to Mexico via Arizona:

Albuquerque, N.M. Anchorage, Alaska Beaverton, Ore. Bernalillo, N.M. Cape Canaveral, Fla. Cocoa Beach, Fla. Grants, N.M. Pensacola, Fla. Portland, Ore. Rio Rancho, N.M.

A Fruitless Search

Following Wilberger's disappearance, hundreds of volunteers helped search for her and held several prayer vigils for her safe return. The story generated national headlines, as the case was featured on "America's Most Wanted." The family of Elizabeth Smart, the Utah girl who was kidnapped in 2002 and safely recovered nearly a year later, contacted the Wilbergers to give them support and advice.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent retired investigators to help local authorities with the search and released four computer-generated photos showing how Wilberger might look with various hair lengths and styles. A "Find Brooke" Web site (www.findbrooke.com) was set up to help in the search, and the Wilbergers had pink bracelets made with the Web site address and the national hot-line tip number to increase awareness of the case.

Another man was initially the focus of the investigation. Police investigated a man accused of stealing women's underwear from three different Portland-area college dormitories or laundry rooms, including an April 2004 burglary at Oregon State University's Sacket Hall, which is near the site where Wilberger was last seen. But last February, Corvallis police said they had found no evidence that linked the alleged panty thief, Sung Koo Kim, to Wilberger's disappearance.

"It was nothing earth-shattering. We just finished following all the leads and tips we had on Kim. He's a pretty complex man," Lt. Ron Noble, a spokesman for the Corvallis police department, said at the time. "We wanted to be as thorough as we could. With as much notoriety as Kim has received, we would hate for people to think that we were at a dead end, that this is a cold case. That would be far from the truth."

Courtney was charged in August. In November three news organizations filed a public records lawsuit asking the Corvallis Police Department and the Benton County District Attorney's Office to release a document containing details of the case. A judge ruled in January that the records should remain sealed because of the ongoing investigation into Courtney's crimes.

His wife, other family members and his attorney have also declined to talk about the case. But The Oregonian said court documents and interviews paint Courtney as an underemployed, angry man who at times drank too much and frightened his wife and children.

Typical Suburban Lifestyle

Courtney moved to Rio Rancho, N.M., an Albuquerque suburb, after a troubled adolescence, to start life over, according to The Oregonian.

In interviews with neighbors and New Mexico officials, the newspaper found that Courtney, his wife and their three children lived in a two-story home at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in a solidly middle-class subdivision. He had kept his record clean after an Oregon conviction at age 18 for sexual abuse in Washington County.

But that changed in 2004 when he was arrested and charged with drunken driving, abusing his wife and the abduction and rape for which he is awaiting trial.

A janitor, mechanic and fisherman, Courtney also faced financial pressure. When he was arrested in New Mexico, Courtney, was found with a glass pipe for smoking crack cocaine

Court records indicate Courtney spent much of 2004 on the road, traveling from Florida to Oregon and back to New Mexico. He drove cars registered to other people and companies.

The Oregonian said that Courtney and his wife, Rosy, lived in the North Hills neighborhood of Rio Rancho off and on since the mid-1990s. In June Rosy Courtney declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy; she was more than $100,000 in debt, much of it credit card charges racked up by her husband, said Ronald E. Holmes, her bankruptcy attorney.

Neighbors told the paper about their affection and respect for Rosy Courtney. "Rosy is a good person; she works hard," said Patsy Akin, who moved next door to the Courtneys in 1997. "She and the kids are really nice, very mannerly. My granddaughter plays with their little girl."

Those warm feelings don't extend to Joel Courtney, the newspaper said. Allan Summers, a neighbor since 1997, told The Oregonian he exchanged words with Courtney just once in all those years -- when his sport utility vehicle needed a jump. "He was very anti-social," Summers said. "He didn't talk much."

NETHERLANDS--FORCED ABORTION

A health official in the Netherlands has called for a debate on the idea of forced abortion and contraception to deal with what she sees as a crisis of unwanted children.

Alderman Marianne van den Anker of the Leefbaar Rotterdam Party wants specifically to target communities of Antilleans and Arubans where she sees the biggest problems of unwanted children.

Her comments have stirred protest by a health foundation working with those communities in Rotterdam. The group, which called the comments degrading, is asking Mayor Ivo Opstelten and other politicians to distance themselves from Van den Anker's views.

Van den Anker is a mother of two children and the official in charge of Rotterdam's health and security portfolios. In an interview in a newspaper Saturday, she said she had tried everything to prevent child abuse. "I fail, I fail," she told the interviewer as she outlined her controversial idea for a debate on compulsory abortion and contraception.

The target groups for her program are Antillean teenage mothers; drug addicts and people with mental handicaps, she said, according to a report in Expatica. According to the report, Van den Anker said children from these groups run an "unacceptable risk" of growing up without love and with "violence, neglect, mistreatment and sexual abuse." "The exceptions," she said, "and there are some, can be counted on a pair of hands." Van den Anker pointed to the growing number of Antillean youth gangs in Rotterdam whose members come from loveless homes.

Related:

Get "Struggling for Life: How Our Tax Dollars and Twisted Science Target the Unborn" by Kelly Hollowell.

Previous stories:

Congress to restore funding for 'gendercide'

Wherever I look, the women's movement has taken about 100 steps back. I am appauled that politicians, a group made up of mostly men can debate this topic. How about we pass legislation that takes certain rights away from men? Well hell! There would be an UPROAR then!

Contact Governor Michael Rounds




Governor Michael Rounds Truly Sucks...nice smug little smile.
Typical smarmy politician.

South Dakota passes abortion ban

Yahoo News--South Dakota became the first U.S. state to pass a law banning abortion in virtually all cases, with the intention of forcing the Supreme Court to reconsider its 1973 decision legalizing the procedure.

The law, which would punish doctors who perform the operation with a five-year prison term and a $5,000 fine, awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Michael Rounds and people on both sides of the issue say he is unlikely to veto it.

"My understanding is we are the first state to truly defy Roe v. Wade," the 1973 high court ruling that granted a constitutional right to abortion, said Kate Looby of Planned Parenthood's South Dakota chapter.

State legislatures in Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky also have introduced similar measures this year, but South Dakota's legislative calendar means its law is likely to be enacted first.

"We hope (Rounds) recognizes this for what it is: a political tool and not about the health and safety of the women of South Dakota," Looby said.

"If he chooses to sign it, we will be filing a lawsuit in short order to block it," she said after attending the afternoon debate at the state capital in Pierre.

Proponents have said the law was designed for just such a court challenge.

The timing is right, supporters say, given the recent appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the high court. The two conservatives could pave the way to a decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

The high court said on Tuesday it will rule on whether the federal government can ban some abortion procedures, a case that could reveal whether the court reshaped by President George W. Bush will restrict abortion rights.

In 1992, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the last direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.

The South Dakota law concludes that life begins at conception based on medical advances over the past three decades.

Proposed amendments to the law to create exceptions to specifically protect the health of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest, were voted down. Also defeated was an amendment to put the proposal in the hands of voters.

The bill as written does make an exception if the fetus dies during a doctor's attempt to save the mother's life.

Planned Parenthood operates the sole clinic in South Dakota where roughly 800 abortions are performed each year by doctors from neighboring Minnesota, Looby said.

Two years ago, Rounds vetoed a similar bill, saying it would wipe out existing restrictions on abortion while it was fought in the courts. A rewritten bill lost narrowly in the state Senate.

Some legislators opposed to abortion rights questioned whether it was premature to challenge Roe v. Wade, and said litigation would prove expensive for the sparsely populated state. An anonymous donor has offered $1 million to the state to defray the costs of litigation.

THE GAY GENE?

I know someone that has three sons. The oldest son is gay. The two younger sons, (who are identical twins) one is gay, and other one isn't and is married. Sounds like a thesis for someone to me. I thought that identical twins have the exact DNA? Any scientists out there to explain your theory to this interesting topic?

Genetics of Mothers and the Link Between Gay Sons?

(HealthDay News) -- New research adds a twist to the debate on the origins of sexual orientation, suggesting that the genetics of mothers of multiple gay sons act differently than those of other women.

Scientists found that almost one fourth of the mothers who had more than one gay son processed X chromosomes in their bodies in the same way. Normally, women randomly process the chromosomes in one of two ways -- half go one way, half go the other.

The research "confirms that there is a strong genetic basis for sexual orientation, and that for some gay men, genes on the X chromosome are involved," said study co-author Sven Bocklandt, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The link between genetics and sexual orientation has been a hot topic for more than a decade as a few scientists have tried to find genes that might make people gay or straight.

In the new study, Bocklandt and colleagues examined a phenomenon called "X-chromosome inactivation." While females have two X chromosomes, they actually require only one and routinely inactivate the other, Bocklandt said. "That way, both men and women have basically one functional X chromosome," he added. Men have both an X and Y chromosome, but the Y chromosome plays a much smaller role, he said.

Women typically inactivate one of their two X chromosomes at random. "It's like flipping a coin," Bocklandt said. "If you look at a woman in any given (bodily) tissue, you'd expect about half of the cells to inactivate one X, and half would inactivate the other."

Read Entire Article Here

RAPE AND SPRING BREAK

Spring Break --it's more dangerous than it looks

By Will Moredock--A few years ago, when I was working on my master's degree in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina, I became perhaps the first person to write a thesis on the subject of spring break. It was a grimmer task than you might think.


The objective of the thesis was to design a public information campaign to aid spring break destination cities, such as Fort Lauderdale, Panama City, and South Padre Island in Fla., in developing public information programs which would help female visitors avoid sexual assault. To prove that there was a need for such programs, I spent months poring over newspaper accounts and police reports from a number of cities from Myrtle Beach to Brownsville, Texas to Vale, Colo. It wasn't a pretty picture. We get a glimpse of it every year when one or two stories hit the national wires about college males assaulting college females in some balmy southern retreat.


Of course, that's the tip of the proverbial iceberg. After my degree work was done, I sent letters outlining my findings to a number of spring break cities, offering advice on how they might make themselves safer and more hospitable to female visitors. I was acting out of the usual combination of philanthropy and entrepreneurial zeal; I hoped to maybe land a little consulting work with these towns. Those who bothered to respond to my dispatch thanked me for my concern, but assured me that they had no problem with sexual assault during spring break. They were kidding themselves, of course. Or perhaps it was something more cynical.


To embrace a solution is to admit you have a problem, and no city wants to go on record as saying it has a history of its guests being sexually assaulted. But there is ample evidence to suggest that sexual assault is part of the landscape in the tourism business (it has received some unwanted attention in the cruise ship industry in recent years) and perhaps at no time more than spring break.


The reasons for this epidemic are pretty clear. Put hundreds of thousands of young men and women in an environment awash in alcohol, hundreds of miles from cultural and other restraints of campus and community, and you have a recipe for trouble.


In the last generation, there has been an enormous amount of research and writing on the subject of sexual assault on college campuses. Most campuses today offer their female students some combination of rape awareness campaigns, hotlines, and counseling services.


The rape awareness campaigns consist of the now commonplace advice: don't drink too much; stick with your friends, don't allow yourself to become isolated with someone you don't know well. The subtext of this message, of course, is that the most likely rapist is an acquaintance, someone the woman knows and thinks she can trust, possibly someone she just met, say, in a tiki bar in Daytona Beach. Later, when she tries to tell police what happened, all she knows is that he said his name was Jason, from Kawabunga Polytechnic; he seemed nice; he took her back to her hotel room. And he raped her.


Of course, she knew all the rules of engagement. She had even served on the student advisory committee on sexual harassment and gender relations. But that was back on campus, in the claustrophobic halls and dormitories, amid the hassle of research papers and final exams. Now she was liberated from all that. She was at the beach. She was on spring break. She just wanted to have fun and not worry about rules and schedules and GPAs.


Unfortunately, male behavior never takes a holiday and for that reason, women are perhaps never truly safe as long as men are around. And because of the nature of spring break and the huge numbers of people involved, it is very difficult to identify or arrest a suspect when a rape is reported. And it is likely that a vast majority of spring break rapes are never reported.


To the customary legal and emotional hurdles a woman faces if she decides to bring rape charges, add the fact that a spring break rape occurs hundreds of miles from home, perhaps in a foreign country, perhaps on a cruise ship under a foreign flag. It gets very, very complicated.


Last year, Volusia County, Fla., law enforcement officials made arrests in only 30 percent of reported sexual assault cases. "It's a transient crowd that we're dealing with," said a Daytona Beach criminal investigator. "These young people are still immature, they get intoxicated and are around people they don't know, putting themselves in compromising positions. And when it's over, they can't ID anybody."

As the women from local campuses pack their bags for spring break, please remember: You are headed into shark-infested waters.

A REAL MYSTERY--VERY SUSPICIOUS!

Searching the seas to solve a mystery

Experienced boater Jim Trindade vanished near the Bahamas in suspicious circumstances. Now, his friends and fellow boaters are launching an investigation of their own.

Roger Gamblin's head is filled with questions, but so few answers. How could his friend of 30 years, an experienced boater, have vanished without a trace? If there was a struggle aboard his boat, where is the evidence? Where is his cargo? If the boat was stolen, why did it return? And who filled the gas tank?

But the really painful question, the one that still keeps Gamblin up at night, is this: Is Jim Trindade still alive?

Some time around 4 p.m. Jan. 12, Trindade, 54, a colorful Atlantis resident who was popular in the local boating community, disappeared while returning home from a two-week boat trip to Spanish Cay in the Bahamas. Within 24 hours, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter discovered Trindade's boat idling and unoccupied about 40 miles off the coast of Port St. Lucie.

In the weeks that followed, the FBI launched an investigation, which is typical in missing-person cases at sea. But that effort is being equaled, perhaps exceeded, by Gamblin and a group of Trindade's closet friends and fellow boaters.

Nearly every day for the last five weeks, the "Jimmy T. Recovery Team" has sifted through global-positioning data, instrument readouts, ocean current records and maps of the Caribbean. Three projection screens hang from the log-cabin walls at Gamblin's home west of West Palm Beach. A half-dozen laptop computers and printers sit atop a conference table in the middle of the room. The group has pooled resources to hire private investigators in Miami and the Bahamas, and its own forensic team that says it may be close to a major breakthrough in the case.

"You go through a thousand theories about what could have happened," said Gamblin, 57. "We're never going to be satisfied until we know what happened."

The group's grassroots effort is exhaustive and expensive but follows an emerging trend in high-profile missing-person cases such as Natalee Holloway, Laci Peterson and Chandra Levy. Unsatisfied by the efforts of law enforcement agencies to locate their missing loved ones, friends and family are leading their own investigations.

"The unfortunate reality is that a lot of the FBI's resources, justifiably, have been redirected toward terrorism," said Ross Gaffney, a Miami private investigator and former FBI agent looking into the Trindade case. "For a lot of families who can spend the money, this is maybe their best option."

The peculiar circumstances surrounding Trindade's disappearance have sparked debate in the boating community and online chat rooms about what could have happened. Some, like Gamblin, suspect Trindade was a victim of foul play. Pirates, perhaps. Others speculate he was knocked off his boat by a wave or strong gust of wind. A few wonder if people in his own party conspired to get rid of him.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said the case remained open but declined to comment further. To quash rumors and to keep the investigation moving forward, Gamblin has launched his own Web site, www.helpjimmy.org, with a detailed timeline of the events.

It was a route Trindade and the others had taken dozens of times in the last 20 years. The sky that January day was a brilliant, bright blue, the air crisp. It was a perfect day to be on the water, Gamblin said. The three boats convened at their last stop at Grand Cay Island at 10:45 a.m. to refuel. They departed at 12:30 p.m., and within two hours, mechanical problems forced boats piloted by Roger Gamblin's son Chris and friend Brian Pratt to fall behind. Trindade, traveling in a more powerful 38-foot Donzi, forged ahead.

Shortly before 3 p.m., Chris Gamblin and Pratt heard Trindade urgently radio the U.S. Coast Guard. "U.S. Coast Guard. U.S. Coast Guard," was all Trindade said before static cut communication. It was the last anyone heard of Trindade, a real estate developer, husband and father of a 14-year-old girl.

According to the Coast Guard, search helicopters departed Miami and Clearwater around 10 p.m., seven hours after the initial call. By 1 a.m., they located Trindade's boat. When Gamblin inspected it, he noticed a number of strange things:

First, the boat's GPS tracking system had been erased, making it impossible to know where it had been during the time Trindade went missing. Second, the boat's fuel tank was nearly at capacity. Third, two heavy coolers packed with meat loaded in Spanish Cay were missing. But some of the meat was scattered at the rear of the boat. Fourth, if it was a robbery, why were the expensive fishing rods and tackle still on board?

If Trindade fell victim to pirates, why was there no evidence of a struggle? Why was their no blood? If he had been knocked overboard, where were the coolers? And who erased the GPS?

One other memory haunts Gamblin about that day: Around 3:30 p.m., after the two trailing boats had lost sight of Trindade, Pratt saw a black boat, similar to Trindade's, racing at a high rate of speed seemingly toward the southern tip of the Grand Bahama Island. Chris Gamblin gave chase for a few minutes but could not catch it. If it was Trindade's boat -- no one is certain -- where was it headed? And if Trindade had been abducted, where was he taken? Could he still be alive?

After a more thorough inspection of Trindade's Donzi, the forensic team hired by Gamblin believes it may have discovered three separate remnants of vomit on the side of the hull. They're awaiting tests from a lab. Gamblin said Trindade was far too experienced a boater to have vomited in that manner on such a calm day. Does this prove his theory that others boarded Trindade's boat? And if so, who?

A background check into Trindade's life gave no obvious reasons why someone would want to harm him, Gaffney said. He did not owe large sums of money. He did not have a lavish life insurance policy.

"You can't rule anything out, you can't eliminate any possibility," Gaffney said. "Everything we've seen has pointed toward an act of piracy. But that's only a starting point."

I CAN SEE SOMEONE BEING PISSED AT THIS...WHAT IS A GUY GOING TO WIPE WITH?

A man accused of fatally beating his roommate with a sledgehammer and a claw hammer because there was no toilet paper in their home has been arrested. Franklin Paul Crow, 56, was charged Monday with homicide in the death of Kenneth Matthews, 58. Crow initially denied his involvement, but confessed during questioning. Crow told investigators that the men were fighting about the toilet paper over the weekend when Matthews pulled out a rifle. Crow said he then began beating Matthews with the sledgehammer and claw hammer. Matthews was beaten so badly he had to be identified through his fingerprints, detectives said.

THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT--STAY CLASSY HOLLAND

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but occasionally there's a cheap feast for the eyes. Several topless bars, peep shows and sex show clubs in Amsterdam's famed "Red Light" prostitution district have declared an open house on Feb. 18, hoping to shore up their reputation with local politicians who are calling for a crackdown.

"You can come in, have a free drink, look around," said Bob de Maan, spokesman for the "Banana Bar," which is known for its live sex shows. "People think that this is something dirty, but now — it's an open house. They can see for themselves."

Prostitution in Amsterdam boomed during the city's 17th century Golden Age, when prostitutes catered to sailors on shore leave. With its lingerie-clad women and red neon lights, the area in the city center became a major tourist draw in the 20th century.

The Dutch government legalized prostitution in 2000 with an eye to making it easier to tax and regulate. But problems have continued as the area acts as a magnet for pimps, drug addicts, petty criminals and human traffickers.

A recent study found that despite health rules, about 7 percent of Dutch prostitutes have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The open house came in response to proposals by the head of Amsterdam's largest political party meant to discourage women from marketing themselves in windows. Several of the best-known institutions are opening their doors, in an idea supported by the Prostitution Information Center, the Sex Museum, and the Salvation Army which helps the district's many downtrodden.

On the Net: http://www.pic-amsterdam.com/

WANT TO AVOID A DATE?

This Would Be a DON'T in Internet Dating

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Authorities say an 18-year-old Kentucky woman lied about being kidnapped to get out of a date with a man she met on the Internet.

Missouri prosecutors said Laura Crews told her Internet acquaintance on Sept. 17 that she had flown to Kansas City from Kentucky. When the man — whose name has not been released by authorities — couldn't find her at the airport, he called her cell phone and Crews allegedly told him she had been abducted, raped, and stabbed and left bleeding along the highway.

The man called 911, and authorities from Kansas City and Platte County, Mo., spent several hours looking for the woman along Interstate 29 near the airport. Authorities began to realize that the kidnapping was a hoax when police traced the call to Crews' cell phone in Kentucky.

The manhunt cost thousands of dollars as police helicopters were deployed, investigators conducted a massive foot search and air traffic was diverted out of Kansas City International Airport.

Crews' mother, Jennifer Brooks, told ABC News affiliate KMBC-TV in Kansas City that her daughter has a history of stretching the truth, but that she did not mean any harm. "She has a very hard time being truthful about situations ... None of it was malicious; she's told a lot of tall tales in her life, but none of it has been malicious," Brooks said.

Brooks said she's baffled and heartbroken by her daughter's alleged actions and attributed her behavior to immaturity. "We spent 10 hours in a car on the trip here, and I asked a lot of questions and didn't get a lot of clear answers," Brooks said. "Just because someone has an 18-year-old body doesn't mean that their mind is 18 years old, too."

Crews faces a misdemeanor count of filing a false police report. Prosecutors say they may seek restitution and community service from Crews.

THE NEW EVIL "FAMILICIDE"

Why Do Fathers Kill?

See Complete story here

There are certain factors that can fuel a father's slaying of his wife and children. Some of which are financial difficulties and mounting pressure over his inability to support them, marital problems, or feeling that he is losing control over his family or personal life.

"There are two types: Type 1 is the father who is an abusive or a controlling figure who feels some loss of control of his household and his family, and feels that killing his family would be the ultimate expression of his control over them," said Keith Durkin, associate professor of sociology at Ohio Northern University.

"Type 2 is seen in a 'reversal of fortune' situation. He may have started a business, and the business may have started going sour recently. … He is a person who sees himself as saving his family from further disgrace and humiliation by killing them."

Financial Hardship--The Case of Christian Longo

Financial hardship overwhelmed Christian Longo, an Oregon man convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his wife and three children. Longo never admitted to killing his wife Mary Jane, 35, and their children Zachery, 4, Sadie, 3, and Madison, 2. But he told investigators that the family had led a transient lifestyle, moving from motel to motel and living on Ramen noodles and bread in the weeks before the slayings. 

Longo said his family had been used to spending $200 on groceries and not thinking twice about it — after all, he had once operated a construction cleaning business in Michigan. However, his business reportedly folded under $30,000 in lawsuits.

By the time the family moved to Oregon, Longo was wanted for forgery and passing bad checks. He told detectives that he was feeling the pressure of not being able to support his family. "I was thinking that they were in that situation too long with me," Longo said in one of the interviews ... "that they deserved much better. I didn't know if I could give it to them."

Murder-Suicide--The Case of Robert Bryant

Many fathers who kill their families also tend to kill themselves. That was the case with Robert Bryant, who killed his wife and four children before shooting himself to death in their McMinnville, Ore., home in February 2002. Bryant had filed for bankruptcy in his landscaping business in California before moving his family to Oregon and looking for a new start. However, after finding initial success in his new roofing business, he seemed to crumble under the weight of financial woes and his perceived failure as a family provider.

Often Missed Warning Signs

Familicide often takes loved ones and communities by surprise, as people find it too incomprehensible and horrible a crime. Unfortunately, in many cases in which fathers kill their families, the slayings take everyone by surprise because, experts say, the warning signs either never surfaced — or were overlooked.

"What we've had is that many times, you'll see families and neighbors say, 'We're shocked. He was such a family man. He was so devoted to his family.' Many of them [fathers who kill their families] come off very well. They seem so normal," said Thomas Gitchoff, professor of sociology at San Diego State University. "It's the normalcy that's the confusing factor. … We're so used to the stereotype of these men looking scary, and many of them look and appear so normal, like any common man."

If I Can't Have You--The Case of Willie Davis

In December 2002, Bayonne, N.J., police say Willie Davis stabbed and slashed the throats of his 23-month-old daughter and infant son. The mother, Melissa Mirlas, and Davis were having trouble in their relationship, and at the time of the slayings, Mirlas and the children were staying at her mother's place. Mirlas had often taken the children and stayed with her mother when Davis drank heavily and physically abused her. Mirlas was running errands when Davis killed his children. Mirlas arrived at Davis' place and made the gruesome discovery.

"For someone to do this kind of thing, you have to consider that they must be extremely mentally imbalanced. Whether it was self-induced through alcohol or drug use or severe mental depression, it's horrible," said Gitchoff. "The other angle to consider is when there is trouble in the marriage and the wife threatens to leave, and someone gets so jealous they figure, 'Well, if I can't have you, then no one will.'" 

Don't Believe a Professional Liar

Some experts believe that investigators cannot always trust what a familicide suspect says. They may be trying to lay the groundwork for their defense at trial. "It's often very difficult to get to the truth in these kinds of cases because the suspect could tell you anything as an excuse," said Pat Brown, criminal profiler and founder of the Sexual Homicide Exchange.

"'Oh, I was having financial difficulty.' 'God told me to do it.' Or they can say they were hearing voices or 'the devil told me to do it.' They say things to make them look nuts so that they can get the insanity defense."

Double Standards?

Brown noted that fathers who kill their families have problems before the slayings that they either hid well or were ignored. Often they come off as devoted family men but are living a lie. They secretly may not relish their family life, may be disappointed in the way their lives have turned out and grow to see their wives and children as obstacles to goals and desires — and the reasons for setbacks. Still, fathers who kill are much less sympathetic to juries than mothers who kill.

Mothers Who Kill

When mothers have killed or harmed their children, postpartum depression and other mental illnesses such as Munchausen syndrome by proxy — in which a mother intentionally harms her child or fabricates a child's illness to draw attention to herself — have been frequently cited.

"People think, 'Oh, she must have been crazy. She must have been out of her mind to do such a thing,'" Brown said. "We'll give a guy the death penalty in a second, but women will come away with lighter sentences, like life in prison."

ALWAYS BLAME THE GIRL--THE VICTIM

This has got to be one of the most outrageous court rulings I have ever heard of in my life regarding sexual assault. It shows complete misogynistic behavior by the Italian Court and is lacking of responsibilty to society and women's safety.

Italy's highest court ruled Friday that a man who raped the 14-year-old daughter of his girlfriend can seek to have his sentenced reduced because the girl was sexually active, news reports said.

The ruling provoked an outcry across Italy, was condemned by UNICEF and prompted other justices on the court to issue a statement saying the ruling was wrong and in the future would be cited as a bad example of a high court decision, the ANSA news agency reported.

The case goes back to 2001, when a court in Sardinia convicted Marco T. of sexual violence and threats against the 14-year-old daughter of his live-in girlfriend and sentenced him to more than three years in prison, ANSA said.

He requested a reduced sentence, saying the crime was less serious because the girl had already had several sexual partners. His request was rejected, but Italy's high court said the judges should re-evaluate the decision because the girl "since the age of 13 had had many sexual relations with men of every age." "And it's right to assume," the ruling went on, according to ANSA, "that at the time of the encounter with the suspect her personality, from a sexual point of view, was much more developed than what one might normally expect from a girl of her age."

The suspect's lawyer, Andrea Biccheddu, defended the ruling, saying the episode between his client and the girl "didn't provoke any trauma," because the girl had had so many sexual partners. He said his client deserved to have his sentence reduced by two thirds, the agency said.

SOMEONE CALL A PLASTIC SURGEON!

Psycho Idiot Bites Girlfriend's Nose, Swallows It

A family sitting down to dinner had to call police and an ambulance after a man allegedly bit off the nose of his girlfriend, authorities said. Jody Bennett came out of a back room of a north Tulsa residence on Thursday with a napkin over her face and said her boyfriend, identified as Greg Hill, had bitten her nose.

Medics responding to the house saw that Bennett's nose had been severed and called police. "We looked around and tried to find a nose but couldn't find it," Cpl. Larry Edwards, a police spokesman, said. "I think he swallowed it."

An ambulance took Bennett, 37, to a local hospital where police talked to emergency room personnel about pumping Hill's stomach to see if the nose was inside, police Cpl. Shane Tuell said. "They said, given the acid in the stomach, that it would be a futile effort to try and do that," Tuell said. The nose is made primarily of cartilage and other soft tissues that stomach acid can dissolve quickly.

The couple live in California, and the other people at the house didn't know what led to the assault, Tuell said. Officers used pepper spray on Hill, 45, after tussling with him as they tried to take him into the custody, Edwards said. Hill denied biting Bennett's nose, police said.

COMMUNIST CHINA POLICES INTERNET USE

Chinese youths work at their computer stations in an Internet cafe in Beijing, China
(AP Photo)

China on Thursday defended its right to police the Internet, one day after four American technology giants appeared before Congress on charges they collaborated with Beijing to crush free speech online in return for market access.

"It is normal for countries to manage the Internet in accordance with law and to guide its development in a healthy and orderly fashion," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. "China has also borrowed and learned from the United States and other countries in the world."

While China encourages use of the Internet for business and education, it strictly monitors the Web and censors anything it considers critical or a threat to the ruling Communist Party.

Representatives from Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Google Inc. on Wednesday faced harsh questioning from U.S. lawmakers at a hearing of a House of Representatives International Relations subcommittee in Washington.

Yahoo has been accused of providing information that led to the jailing of two of its Chinese e-mail users, while Google started a Chinese version of its popular search engine that omits links to content deemed unacceptable by the government. Microsoft shut down, at Beijing's request, a popular Chinese blog that touches on sensitive topics such as press freedoms.

Analysts have said that U.S. tech companies eyeing China's market of 110 million Internet users face a tough dilemma of wanting to tap into an enormous consumer base and following Chinese laws, which give way to the perception they're helping China harass dissidents.

Interested in China, Their Culture and Laws?
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ANOTHER SEX OFFENDER KILLS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A registered sex offender was convicted Wednesday of kidnapping and killing a model whose skeletal remains were found in the Angeles National Forest a year after she disappeared.

David Rademaker, 42, was convicted of first-degree murder with a special circumstance that the crime was committed during a kidnapping. He could face the death penalty or life in prison. Prosecutors said Rademaker lured 21-year-old Kimberly Pandelios to the forest in February 1992 for a photo shoot and drowned her in a creek when she resisted his sexual advances.

Pandelios, the mother of a year-old son, had told her husband she was meeting a photographer named Paul, authorities said. Her skull and other remains were found by hikers in March 1993 in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles. Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department unsolved homicides unit relied on interviews with witnesses and telephone records discovered in 1992 to arrest Rademaker.

An attorney for Rademaker said the case relied heavily on testimony from two of Rademaker's former girlfriends who claimed he made incriminating statements. The testimony should not have been allowed, Kim Pearman argued. Rademaker served about half of a 12-year sentence after pleading no contest to charges of procuring a child to engage in a lewd act and furnishing controlled substances to a minor. He was paroled in 2004.

Kimberly Pandelios's Family Webpage for more Info