Tabloid Edition

Jeanice McMillan

Jeanice McMillan was, as we know, the driver of the subway train in Washington DC that rear ended another, stationary train and led to 7 people dying.

One small prediction about Jeanice McMillan: she's going to get blamed for the crash. Just as in an airplane crash it's always described as pilot error, so in a train crash it is driver error.

That Jeanice McMillan was herself killed in the crash doesn't make her being blamed less likely, far from it, it makes it more likely. For she isn't around to defend herself.

Forget that McMillan was driving an out of date train, one soon to be replaced. Forget that no one yet knows whether the automatic anti-collision equipment was turned on.

Jeanice McMillan will get blamed for that's just what large organisations do, blame individuals rather than the organisation itself.

Kill them, kill them now!

This is a fairly extreme option to use about alleged armed robbers it has to be said. That while they are indeed still alleged, without trial, without proof, simply by allegation, that they should be burnt?

Guinean citizens should burn any armed robbers they catch to avoid filling the country's prisons, the military government's anti-crime chief said Tuesday.

Lawlessness in the capital city Conakry has risen in recent months, with soldiers accused of being among the main culprits of robberies and rapes.

"I'm asking you to burn all armed bandits who are caught red-handed committing an armed robbery," said Captain Moussa Tiegboro Camara, appointed by the military junta to oversee the fight against drugs and serious crime.

Now we think that this is all something from a far away country of which we know nothing, yes?

However, umm, the current and the last Administrations in the US have been willing, indeed, they have urged that it is not only legal but required, that those not found guilty, those not tried, those merely suspected or accused, with no evidence at all, should be jailed for life.

Guantanamo is different only in extent, not in basic logic.

Need a lawyer?

There are those of us who need, sadly, a lawyer. And even more sadly, when we need one we really need one. And lawyers are there to defend us from that machine of the law: it's our right too make sure that we have a defender when we are faced by the power of the state.

That's why you might,. if you're in the right part of the world, want to look at these Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney guys. They've all the experience necessary, all the knowledge, to make sure that if, on that horrible day, the man comes for you, you have someone to fight your corner.

Air France flight 447

Air France flight 447 is missing. In fact, given the potential flight time of a plane of that time, Air France flight 447 has gone down. Definitely, but we just don't know where it has gone down.

An investigation into what happened to Air France Flight 447 likely will be lengthy and complicated, beginning with the difficult search to find the aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean and retrieve its voice and data recorders.

The wide-body Airbus A330-200 carrying 228 people disappeared after some four hours in flight on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The plane sent an automatic message to Air France “signaling electrical circuit malfunction,’’ the company said.

Not only don't we know where Air France flight 447 has gone down, we don't know why it went down.

Air France has said that Flight AF 447 sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence early in its 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Video Why it took so long to report the aircraft missing » However, Daly said that it would take extremely violent weather conditions to cause the catastrophic failure of an aircraft of this size. "These planes are extremely robust and widely used on transatlantic routes and across Asia," he said. "They are equipped with an array of sophisticated communication equipment, so it must have been something extremely sudden to cause the loss of contact."

There's a timeline of the last flight of Air France flight 447:

Flight AF 447 left Rio de Janeiro, bound for Paris, at 1900 local time (2200 GMT) on Sunday 31 May.

The aircraft in question, an Airbus A330-200 with registration F-GZCP, had been in operation since April 2005.

Shortly after the aircraft's scheduled arrival time in Paris of 1110 local time (0910 GMT), it was announced that the flight was missing.

Here is what is known so far:

To be honest, we simply don't have enough information so far. What we need to do is find the plane, then we'll know more.

The plane, Air France Flight 447, is an Airbus A330-200 long-range, medium-sized passenger jet. It was put into service with Air France in 2005 and, Air France officials said, underwent a routine inspection in April during which no anomalies were discovered.

The flight was due to land at 11:15 a.m. Paris time (5:15 a.m. EDT) at Charles de Gaulle Airport on the outskirts of the French capital. But it dropped off the radar screens over the Atlantic hours earlier, reports here said. Air France officials said they maintained hope that the plane had suffered only an outage of its transponder and radio equipment and would eventually show up again on the radar. But as time went by, they were forced to conclude that it had gone down into the sea.

There are more stories available:

Air France jet missing over Atlantic Vancouver Sun - British Columbia, Canada Air France said relatives of people travelling on board flight AF 447 were being taken care of in a special area of Charles de Gaulle airport. ...

7 mechanisms on plane failed News24 - South Africa Bernardo Souza, who said his brother and sister-in-law were on the flight, complained he had received no details from Air France. ...

Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, June 1 Trading Markets (press release) - Los Angeles,CA,USA Flight 447, an Airbus 330-200 bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de ...

Air France Jet Missing Over Atlantic ABC News - USA "We can fear the worst," France's transportation minister told Europe-1 radio today. Air France Flight 447 drops off the radar screen not long after takeoff ...

Missing French plane 'facing huge catastrophe' Wilkes Barre Times-Leader - Wilkes Barre,PA,USA The plane was experiencing electrical problems and turbulence before it vanished, said Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, the CEO of Air France. ...

Air France jet hit turbulence over Atlantic San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, had 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand said. The flight left Rio on ...

Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330 Jet Missing Off Brazil Coast ... By Amarendra Bhushan CEOWORLD Magazine brings you the latest news from around the world, covering breaking news in business, finance, politics, entertainment, and more...

The News Bizarre: Air France Flight 447 Crash : Airbus A330 Air ... By The Bizarre News Guy A report via French TV is said to confirm that an Air France Flight 447 was an Airbus A330-200, flight 447 from Brazil carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew. The Airbus A330-200 was very new and had been with Air France since April 2005. ...

WHITE NOISE INSANITY » Where did Air France Flight 447 go after ... By kayinmaine Air France Flight 447 most likely crashed and could have due to electrical problems (the latest report), but I do wonder what Dick Cheney was doing this past weekend. I'm hoping President Obama has given the greenlight to have Cheney's ...

NewsDaily: Air France Rio-Paris flight missing with 228 aboard June 1, 2009 (NBC Philadelphia) — An Air France plane with 228 passengers and crew on board disappeared from radar early Monday morning, officials said.. Flight AF-447 was bound for ... Air France plane disappears off radar ...

Air France 447 Flight Rio de Janeiro to Paris Crash Feared [video ... By bryanboy Air France Flight AF 447 Rio de Janeiro to Paris Heard this on the radio earlier on my way back home from the mall. Air France flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared from the radar while flying over the Atlantic Ocean.

Air France Flight 447 Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Air France Flight 447 is an international passenger flight from Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro Brazil to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris ...

air france flight 447 Mon 1 Jun 09 | 1445 GMT i hope the passagner of flight 447 from Air france are ok and can soon return safely to their families | twittercom ...

Air France Flight 447 an Airbus A330 Jet Missing Off Brazil Coast ... CEOWORLD Magazine brings you the latest news from around the world, covering breaking news in business, finance, politics, entertainment, and more...

Debt settlement services

Yes, times are hard and yes, there are people just like you and me who get into trouble with their debts. For mild cases there are a few obvious things that can be done. Cutting back on other spending in order to bring down debt for example. Or paying off the high interest debt first so as to free up money to settle others. But this only works in the mild cases. Many people are getting truly out of their depth and this is when it becomes sensible (if not essential!) to use a debt settlement services company.

However, in this fast growing industry there are a few things that you will want to make sure of. For a start, you don't want to use a company that puts you into a plan longer than 48 months. You'll also want to make sure that they are registered with the Better Business Bureau and The Association of Settlement Companies TASC).

As a helpful hint you can click through that link there to Fast Track Debt Relief, a company which is indeed so double registered. But what is the point of doing so? Well, an expert in debt settlement can help you to cut your total bill. Quite simply, the companies which have lent you money are both reasonable and sensible. They know it's better to get some of the money back than none of it. But they won't negotiate directly with you, they want to have an expert company in the middle organising things. Makes life so much easier for them.

The end result of using such a company can be a cut in what you owe of 40-60%. If you're finding yourself drowning in debt it might well be the thing that will save you.

Drew Peterson Arrested!

Drew Peterson has been arrested.

Drew Peterson, the former police sergeant who authorities call the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Stacy Peterson, has been indicted on murder charges, the Illinois state attorney’s office said.

Illinois state police said Peterson was taken into custody Thursday. Published reports said the arrest was for the murder of his third wife, whose death had been ruled an accidental drowning. Stacy Peterson is his fourth wife.

There's long been some suspicion about him. Not surprisingly really, to lose one wife is tragic, to lose two is suspicious.

There's a long piece on Drew Peterson's arrest here. A snippet:

Today, Drew Peterson, age 55, of 67 Chase Court in Bolingbrook, Illinois, was arrested by the Illinois State Police on a warrant based on an indictment by a Will County special grand jury for the 2004 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Drew Peterson was taken into custody without incident by Illinois State Police officers in Bolingbrook at approximately 5:35 PM this evening.

They're obviously pretty serious about the charges too, as the bond is pretty high:

Authorities say a former Illinois police sergeant is being held on $20 million bond and faces two counts of murder in his third wife's death. The body of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, was found in an empty bathtub.

Although how you face two counts of murder for one death I'm not really sure.

Here's how the TV stations have been reacting to the news of Drew Peterson's arrest.

Pictures of Nikki Catsoura's accident

We've said it before about these pictures of Nikki Catsoura's accident and we'll no doubt have to say it again about these pictures of Nikki Catsoura's accident.

Here's what we said about the Nikki Catsouras car crash photos and here's what we said about Nikki Catsouras when the story first surfaced.

Of course, the story is back in the news because the court case her parents brought is coming to a decision.

The tragic story of car-crash victim Nikki Catsouras went national again this week as her family awaits a legal ruling on a case that touches on privacy, harassment and image control in cyberspace.

Newsweek magazine, in its May 4 newsstand issue, documents the saga of how leaked images of Nikki's lifeless body have created a legal and emotional nightmare for her Ladera Ranch family.

As first reported in The Orange County Register, the Catsouras family sued the California Highway Patrol after images of Nikki's body began circulating on the Internet soon after a horrific car crash on Halloween Day in 2006.

The case about who circluated those photos of Nikki Catsouras, that is:

Nikki Catsouras (Porsche Girl) crash photos case will get an appellate ruling shortly. The Nikki Catsouras crash photos case is currently before the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana that must rule by June 1 if the family’s civil case against the California Highway Patrol can go ahead.

Just why there should be a court case is explained here:

 This is a story about a photo—an image so horrific we can’t print it in NEWSWEEK. The picture shows the lifeless body of an 18-year-old Orange County girl named Nikki Catsouras, who was killed in a devastating car crash on Halloween day in 2006. The accident was so gruesome the coroner wouldn’t allow her parents, Christos and Lesli Catsouras, to identify their daughter’s body. But because of two California Highway Patrol officers, a digital camera and e-mail users’ easy access to the “Forward” button, there are now nine photos of the accident scene, taken just moments after Nikki’s death, circulating virally on the Web. In one, her nearly decapitated head is drooping out the shattered window of her father’s Porsche.

No, as we said when we first covered the Nikki Catsouras story, that's just not right, is it?

Nikki Catsouras car crash photos

The Nikki Catsouras car crash photos are all over the news again. We had our say about Nikki Catsouras some time ago and havn't changed our minds on the matter since.

However, the stories about Nikke Catsouras and the car crash photos just won't go away:

This is a story about a photo—an image so horrific we can't print it in NEWSWEEK. The picture shows the lifeless body of an 18-year-old Orange County girl named Nikki Catsouras, who was killed in a devastating car crash on Halloween day in 2006. The accident was so gruesome the coroner wouldn't allow her parents, Christos and Lesli Catsouras, to identify their daughter's body. But because of two California Highway Patrol officers, a digital camera and e-mail users' easy access to the "Forward" button, there are now nine photos of the accident scene, taken just moments after Nikki's death, circulating virally on the Web. In one, her nearly decapitated head is drooping out the shattered window of her father's Porsche.

The Web is full of dark images, so perhaps the urge to post these tragic pictures isn't surprising. But for the Catsouras family, the photos are a daily torment. Just days after Nikki's death, her father, a local real-estate agent, clicked open an e-mail that appeared to be a property listing. Onto his screen popped his daughter's bloodied face, captioned with the words "Woohoo Daddy! Hey daddy, I'm still alive." Nikki's sisters—Danielle, 18, Christiana, 16, and Kira, 10—have managed to avoid the photos, but live in fear that they'll happen upon them. And so the Catsourases are spending thousands in legal fees in an attempt to stop strangers from displaying the grisly images—an effort that has transformed Nikki's death into a case about privacy, cyber-harassment and image control.

And the reason the story is surfacing now, once again?

The tragic story of car-crash victim Nikki Catsouras went national again this week as her family awaits a legal ruling on a case that touches on privacy, harassment and image control in cyberspace.

Newsweek magazine, in its May 4 newsstand issue, documents the saga of how leaked images of Nikki's lifeless body have created a legal and emotional nightmare for her Ladera Ranch family.

As first reported in The Orange County Register, the Catsouras family sued the California Highway Patrol after images of Nikki's body began circulating on the Internet soon after a horrific car crash on Halloween Day in 2006.

....

The Catsouras family and their attorneys, Keith Bremer and Tyler Offenhauser, are awaiting an appellate court ruling that might keep the lawsuit alive in civil court.

An Orange County Superior Court judge previously dismissed the lawsuit – for negligence, privacy invasion and infliction of emotional harm, among other charges – saying Nikki's rights to privacy did not extend to her grieving family.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana has until June 1 to decide whether to send the case back to be heard for trial or keep it dismissed. Bremer said he is hopeful the Catsouras family will prevail.

The whole story about Nikki Catsouras is one of those tragedies. But the slime who keep sending those car crash photos around are just making it all oh so much worse.

Melissa Huckaby

Melissa Huckaby has been arrested in the Sandra Cantu murder case.

Melissa Huckaby, who was one of the last people to see eight-year-old Sandra Cantu alive, was arrested early Saturday.

This is all rather puzzling really as Melissa Huckaby actually drove herself to hte police station to be interviewed.....not the sort of thing you'd expect from someone who perceived themselves as being guilty.

An arrest has been made in the murder of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu in Tracy, Calif., CBS News has revealed.

Police arrested 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby, a neighbor whose own daughter was one of Sandra’s playmates.

Huckaby is a Sunday school teacher, and granddaughter of the pastor of a nearby church that was searched extensively Friday by police investigators.

Soon after that search, Huckaby drove herself to the police station, where she was questioned until early Saturday morning.

Sources tell CBS News that Huckaby told four different stories of what happened the day the 8-year-old girl disappeared - inconsistencies that prompted further inquiries from investigators.

"She gave enough information to us during the course of the interview that probable cause was there to arrest her," Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman told the Associated Press.

It is of course a foul case, where an 8 year old is found murdered. But there's amusement even in our darkest hours.

This morning the news broke regarding the murder of 8 year-old Sandra Cantu. Melissa Huckaby, 28, was arrested and charged on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the young girl. I read this first on Fox News and they had the picture of a Melissa Huckaby, but it was the wrong Huckaby.

The first picture is the correct Huckaby.

Fox has changed the picture, but there is no mention of the mistake. Several other news agencies did the same thing.

Click through there to see the wrong pictures.....and yes, it does matter if the wrong picture goes out over the wires. Imagine the embarrassment, if nothing else, of the person wrongly depicted.

More coverage of Melissa Huckaby at these links.

Is Melissa Huckaby murderer of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu?
Newspost Online - Baroda,India
Melissa Huckaby (Melissa Huckabee) has been arrested in connection with the murder of Sandra Cantu. The 8-year-old Sandra was found dead in a suitcase. ...

Everyday Christian - Lexington,KY,USA
Melissa Huckaby, 28, was arrested at 11:55 pm Friday, about five hours after she drove herself to the local police station at the request of officers, ...

Sandra Cantu arrest

There's been an arrest in hte Sandra Cantu case. Sandra Cantu was, you will remember, the young girl who was kidnapped and then murdered. And who is the subject of the Sandra Cantu arrest? That would be Melissa Huckaby, a 28 year old Sunday School teacher:

Police have arrested a Sunday-school teacher in the killing of California 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, authorities said early Saturday.

Melissa Huckaby was arrested on charges of kidnapping and murder, according to Tracy, California, police Sgt. Tony Sheneman.

Police would not reveal what led to Huckaby's arrest, but said it followed questioning. They did not offer a possible motive.

Huckaby lived in the same mobile home park as Sandra's family, and Sandra was friends with Huckaby's daughter, Sheneman said.

Sandra's body was found Monday, stuffed into a suitcase in a dairy-farm pond. The girl, from Tracy, had been missing since March 27. The suitcase that held Sandra's body belonged to Huckaby, Sheneman said.

Hmm, I think that evidence of the ownership of the suitcase might be a clue as to why Huckaby was arrested over the Sandra Cantu case, no?

Police in the Northern California city of Tracy arrested Melissa Huckaby early Saturday for suspicion of kidnapping and murder in the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, CBS station KPIX-TV in San Francisco reported and police confirmed.

The 28-year-old Huckaby is a Sunday school teacher and the granddaughter of the pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church, which was searched by authorities for a second time Friday.

Enough evidence for probable cause at least:

Police say a California Sunday school teacher they interviewed gave them enough information to provide probable cause for an arrest in the death of an 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. Her body was found in a suitcase in an irrigation pond.

Melissa Huckaby was arrested late last night.