Authorities say the body of an Iraq war veteran suspected in the slaying of a Mount Rainier National Park ranger was believed to have been found dead. He apparently died after trudging into chest-deep snow while trying to elude snow-shoe wearing SWAT team members and other police who were on his trail. Twenty-four-year-old Benjamin Colton […]
Several large publicly trading technology companies in Asia have seen a drop in share value today following the announcement of the death of Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s leader. Smartphone giant Samsung saw a drop of 3.6 percent in large cap stocks. Stocks in LG Electronics also dropped 4.7 percent, and LG Display fell 5.3 percent […]
Checks are ordered on all Airbus A380 superjumbos after cracks were found in wing components, extending an earlier safety ruling covering 20 planes. […]
The UK's largest care provider, Four Seasons, is in talks to find money to refinance its debts, but it denies union claims it is in financial difficulty. […]
The wildflower Inn is a wonderful place owned by beautiful people. This couple has their opinions on life and how it should be lived, why cant the owners of the Inn be respected for the same.
Where is this all going to stop. It is NOT fair for Catholics or other religious groups to have to bend to make another persons beliefs ‘ok’.
We are a race of groups, there is or should be now no reason to complain when there are other places to do what needs be done in your life and allow others to live within their ways, in peace.
This ridiculous law suit should be countered as its not fair to the Inn as well. Seems their rights have been disregarded.
Used to be proud of Vermont, but its now turned into an infected state where there is no pride.
Casey Anthony’s whereabouts for her first week of freedom were a closely guarded secret Monday, known only to a select few as she tries to start a new life after being acquitted of killing her daughter. Her lawyer says her allies are exploring a number of options for her future.
Those options could be limited, though, by lawsuits pending against her, the scorn of multitudes who think she was guilty of the killing and a criminal record from her convictions for lying to police. She walked out of jail shortly after midnight Sunday.
Her attorney Jose Baez told Fox News Channel late Sunday that her lawyers are “certainly exploring all possibilities right now” when he was asked about whether she would enter a residential therapy program. He’d previously said that he hoped she could get counseling and treatment. Baez said he was foremost concerned about Anthony’s safety, and struck out at media commentators who have been condemning Anthony as guilty despite the jury’s verdict.
“This young woman had her day in court,” Baez told Fox News. “We need to start respecting jury verdicts and decisions that juries make.”
Experts who have helped other notorious defendants through rough times say she will have opportunities, but it won’t be easy for the 25-year-old, who was found not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, but convicted of lying to investigators.
“Casey is in good hands,” said Todd Macaluso, a former member of Anthony’s defense team who declined to comment further.
Asked if Anthony planned to cash in on her fame, Baez said she has “certain rights as an individual in this country.” Attorneys planned to handle Anthony’s affairs in a “dignified manner,” he said.
“If she decides she wants to speak publicly about it, she’ll make that decision,” he said.
Baez did not respond Sunday to email and phone messages left by The Associated Press, nor did a lawyer representing her father and mother. And in the Fox News interview, Baez declined to talk about his client’s whereabouts or state of mind.
Another former Anthony lawyer, Terry Lenamon, said he had no clue where she was headed, and that probably only a few people close to her knew.
“I wouldn’t want anyone to know,” he said. “I think she needs to go underground and I think she needs to spend some time to get her life back together.”
Anthony’s July 5 acquittal shocked and enraged many around the country who had been following the case since Caylee’s 2008 disappearance. Anger has spilled onto social media sites and elsewhere. Her legal team said on Friday it had received an emailed death threat.
Anthony did not report her daughter’s disappearance for a month and was arrested after telling a string of lies about the case to police. Caylee’s remains were found in December 2008 near the home Casey Anthony shared with her parents.
Prosecutors alleged that Anthony suffocated her daughter with duct tape because motherhood interfered with her desire for a carefree life, but her lawyers said the girl drowned in an accident that snowballed out of control. Some of the jurors who acquitted Anthony said they believe she bears some responsibility for her daughter’s death but that prosecutors failed to prove that she murdered the child.
Anthony had remained in jail to finish a four-year sentence for lying to investigators. With credit for the nearly three years she’d spent in jail since August 2008 and good behavior, she had only days remaining when she was sentenced July 7.
Her public vilification did not ease with her release from jail. “A baby killer was just set free!” Bree Thornton, 39, shouted as the SUV left the jail.
It won’t be impossible for Anthony to get a fresh start, though it will be difficult, said Los Angeles-based attorney Thomas Mesereau. His clients have included the late singer Michael Jackson when he was charged with child molestation and actor Robert Blake when he was charged with murdering his wife.
Anthony could accept requests for paid interviews, or a benefactor may be able to help her in the short term, Mesereau said.
“When you have that degree of celebrity, there is usually somebody who would like to get involved,” Mesereau said. “The problem is trusting anyone. People are willing to leak things to the media. They’re willing to be paid off for information. It’s very difficult to find people whom you can trust.”
Casey Anthony’s relationship with her parents is strained. During trial, Anthony’s defense attorneys argued that her father, George Anthony, molested Casey as a child and covered up Caylee’s death. He has denied both claims, and neither has been substantiated.
What is known is that Casey Anthony still faces a slew of legal problems even though the criminal charges have been resolved. She has been sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars by a Texas group that searched for Caylee in the weeks after she was reported missing, and prosecutors are seeking to recoup the cost of their investigation into Caylee’s disappearance.
Anthony also is being sued for defamation by a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez who claims she has been harassed and unable to find work after Anthony alleged Caylee was kidnapped by a baby sitter with Gonzalez’ name. The woman’s attorneys had wanted to depose Anthony before she left jail, but the deposition was rescheduled for October.
Any of those civil cases could put a major dent in any money Anthony receives for writing a book, signing a movie deal or doing interviews. Anthony is broke, and her defense team was paid for with taxpayers’ money after $200,000 she received from ABC News was spent.
Several book publishers contacted by The Associated Press said they knew of no memoir that was being shopped around and consider her too tainted to sign a deal.
Anthony could avoid the potential liability of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the lawsuits by filing for bankruptcy, though plaintiffs would probably attempt to keep her on the hook for damages if she signs lucrative deals after filing, said R. Scott Shuker, an Orlando bankruptcy attorney.
An important step in building a new life is getting psychological help to cope with her notoriety, severed family ties and newfound freedom, said attorneys with clients in similar circumstances.
“Everything she has been through, that’s more than most people can deal with in a lifetime,” said Daniel Meachum, an Atlanta attorney who has represented football player Michael Vick when he was convicted of dog fighting and actor Wesley Snipes when he was convicted of tax evasion.
Media relations expert Marti Mackenzie, who specialized in legal cases, said it’s important for Anthony to make some kind of public statement soon. She said a standard news conference is out of the question, but Anthony needs to say she made terrible mistakes, that she is grateful to her defense team and that she has thought about what happened every day of her life in jail.
“In traditional public relations language, it’s called feeding the beast,” Mackenzie said. “Even if you don’t give the beast a full meal, you respond. Because once you’re part of media scrutiny … how it is handled once the case is over will help to set a tone.”
The horror of her baby girl thrown out like nasty trash, while she is walking today with a smirking smile on her face makes me want to vomit.
I really wanted to believe that the ‘she drown in the pool and it snowballed out of control’ theory, but if the jury had been watching and listening closer they would have heard that Casey lied from day one of the whereabouts of Caylee to everyone including her parents and brother.
So she should be out with a Mojito and everything else in her mouth by Friday night. Yay, congratulations Casey you were able to get rid of your daughter AND have a free live as well.
I am also disgusted by the arrogance of the State Prosecution and feel that its the fault of their cock sure that has allowed Casey to roam free. Weather Casey took duck tape to her babys mouth or she just passed out while she partied, Casey is guilty as she is in charge of her babys care.
Casey failed her daughter in the most horrific way.
The jury considering corruption charges against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has reached verdicts in 18 of the 20 counts against him, a court clerk said Monday.
The jury is expected to return its verdicts Monday afternoon.
Charges against Blagojevich include trying to peddle the U.S. Senate seat held by Barack Obama before he resigned to become president. Blagojevich has denied any intention of bribery.
Last August, after a two-month trial and 14 days of deliberation, jurors deadlocked on 23 of the 24 charges Blagojevich had faced. They found him guilty on one count of lying to FBI investigators, a conviction that could carry a prison sentence of five years.
The accusation that Blagojevich tried to profit as he considered whom to appoint to succeed Obama, among other allegations, prompted his impeachment by Illinois’ House of Representatives and his removal from office by the state Senate in 2009.
Ten of the counts against him in the current trial are wire fraud. The other 10 involve extortion and bribery. Most of the counts have a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Testimony was to resume Saturday in the intensely-watched Casey Anthony murder trial in Orlando, Fla.
A leading criminologist says she now thinks it’s highly unlikely Anthony will take the stand – because prosecutors would “eat her alive.”
On Friday, Day 27, attention was focused on dramatic testimony of her brother, Lee Anthony, who broke down in tears on the stand, as Casey cried from her seat.
She’s pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, and could face the death penalty if convicted on that charge.
Her lawyers say they could wrap up their case by Thursday.
Earlier Friday, it was Casey’s mother, Cindy Anthony, who became emotional after being shown pictures of her getting into the family’s swimming pool with Caylee.
Casey’s attorneys claim the tot died when she accidentally drowned in the pool.
Prosecutors have sought to implicate Casey by saying she had researched possible murder techniques on the Internet.
But on Thursday, Cindy admitted that in March of 2008 she had searched online for the term “chloroform,” just a few months before her granddaughter went missing.
Under cross-examination, Cindy said her searches only went so far – not Googling how to make chloroform, any on Googling the term chloroform.
On “The Early Show on Saturday Morning,” criminologist Casey Jordan admitted she doesn’t know what Casey’s defense team is up to, adding, “I don’t know whether anybody knows. We’ve been waiting and waiting and for Lee to take the stand. Four weeks ago, we heard in opening statements allegations by (Casey lawyer) Jose Baez that Lee was sexually inappropriate, molested his sister. Of course, (Casey’s father) George was accused of the same, and already had the opportunity to deny it.
“When Lee was on the stand, we kept waiting for that question. And it never came. Instead, we get all of this emotional, this teary, ‘My family didn’t accept me, I was always excluded.’ We got a lot of emotions we weren’t expecting, and we didn’t get the confrontational direct examination we were thinking we would see.
FAMILY: Grew up in South Boston. His younger brother, William, was one of the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts, leading the state Senate for 17 years and later serving as president of the University of Massachusetts for seven years. William Bulger testified about his brother before a congressional committee and has said he has only heard from his brother once since he became a fugitive.
BACKGROUND: Whitey Bulger led the violent Winter Hill Gang, a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets in the Boston area. He was nicknamed “Whitey” for his shock of bright platinum hair.
FBI DEALINGS: He was a top-echelon informant who provided the Boston FBI with information on his gang’s main rival, the New England Mob. Bulger later was listed as one of the agency’s “Ten Most Wanted” for his alleged role in 19 murders, including the slayings of businessmen in Florida and Oklahoma. He was next to Osama bin Laden on the list and had a $2 million reward on his head.
The prosecution of James “Whitey” Bulger, who faces a host of charges – including racketeering and 19 counts of murder – could also bring embarrassment and public humiliation for corrupt public officials, says a former associate of the Boston crime boss.
On “The Early Show on Saturday Morning,” Eddie MacKenzie, who was an enforcer for Bulger and the author of “Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob” (Random House), said he believes “there’s a hole dug with a big portfolio full of a lot of dirty public officials and maybe some dirty law enforcement officials that ‘Whitey’ Bulger has had for years, waiting for this day of his capture, so that he can use it for some sort of bargaining tool.”
When asked whom some of those officials might be, Mackenzie replied, “I live in Boston; I’m not about to say anything like that.”
Bulger, who was arrested after 16 years as a fugitive, does not frighten Mackenzie now that he is in custody. “I’m not afraid to say anything because of ‘Whitey’ Bulger because he’s just a rat. He’s a scum bag, an 81-year-old guy. I’m afraid because if there’s law enforcement people out there, any public official out there that knows that they’re dirty and I throw their name out there, you know, I’m going to get myself in trouble.”
Amar C. Bakshi: A bipartisan group of House members said today they are filing a lawsuit that challenges U.S. participation in the Libya military mission. What does this lawsuit mean?
Matthew Waxman: The War Powers Resolution was enacted in the wake of the Vietnam War to prevent the President from engaging in wars and major military adventures without Congress’s explicit consent. It does so by requiring the President to withdraw U.S. military forces from armed hostilities within 60 days unless Congress expressly approves otherwise.
The following question has since arisen many times: What remedy exists if the President ignores the requirements set out in that resolution? What happens, for example, if 60 days passes and Congress hasn’t authorized the use of force but the President continues to direct military activities abroad?
There are several types of remedies:
The first is litigation: members of Congress or other interested parties could sue the President, arguing that he is acting illegally. They could seek a court judgment ordering the cessation of military operations. That is what’s apparently about to happen now.
The second is that Congress could use its legislative power: it could pass a law prohibiting the military operations or it could use the “power of the purse” to strip funding for military operations. Either way, Congress could legislatively force the President to stop the operations, but this is very hard to pull off politically.
The third remedy is political, and this is the likely to be the most consequential one in this case: Members of Congress could use the argument that the President is violating the law as a political stick to try to pressure the President in certain ways, extract concessions from him, force him to spend political capital, and gain a greater say in managing or curbing the operation….MORE>
Former porn star told how Congressmen asked her to lie about sex emails
Guess its getting more difficult to have your porn and meet it too!
Disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner has told friends he will resign in the wake of his sexting scandal, it has today emerged.
He apparently made the decision after having ‘long discussions’ with his pregnant wife, Huma Abedin, who arrived back in the U.S. from a diplomatic trip to the Middle East and Africa this week.
Democrats, who have been heaping pressure on the congressman for days, were also planning to meet today to decide his fate as another set of sordid allegations emerged.
Former England striker Gary Lineker feels the FA must appoint a successor to Fabio Capello as soon as possible and says that Harry Redknapp is the "nations choice" to take the job. […]
