Things that Make You Go Hmmm. . . A Pie Hole Series: Casey Anthony vs. Scott Petterson’ s Case and Jury

     

VS. 

I am going to go there and question what the heck the Casey Anthony jury were doing while days of damaging testimony and evidence was presented to them?  Before you boo and hiss me, please hear the Pie Hole out. 

I keep hearing the jury tell in interviews that they “kept to the facts” when making the final decision.   There were a few pieces of key evidence that were pretty factual that somehow they seem to not take those as facts.   I have been doing some serious thinking on both of the Casey Anthony case  and the Scott Peterson case.  Even though the cases were different in nature, the evidence and crime seem to have a lot in common,  and yet the verdicts were polar opposites. How is that possible?    Here are some observations I came up with.

Cadaver Dogs:

Anthony: Cadaver dogs hitting on the trunk of the car after three separate people at three separate times reported to authorities that the trunk smelled of death.  They also hit on areas within the Anthony’s backyard.  

Peterson:  Cadaver dogs did a mild hit on the boat.

Hair Samples:

Anthony: One hair sample was found in the trunk of the car.

Peterson: One hair sample was found on a pair of needle nose plies in the boat.

Lying:

Anthony:  Lied to everyone including authorities and allowed a huge search to go underway costing organizations nd the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Peterson:  Lied to everyone including authorities and allowed a huge search to go underway costing organization and the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Behavior Post Crime:

Anthony: Partying, tattoo, stealing checks from friends, lying shopping,  having lots of sex and texting or calling anyone and everyone she knew.  Hard evidence shows that behavior.

Peterson: Maintaining relationship with mistress, Amber Frey – even called  Amber from a vigil service saying he was in Paris.

Ditching Cars:

Anthony: Ditched her car.

Peterson: Sold his car.

Recovered Bodies:

Anthony:  Found months after the crime . Could not pinpoint time of death or cause of death in an area Casey could be linked to.

Peterson:  Found months after the crime. Could not pinpoint time of death or cause of death in an area Peterson could be linked to.

Reporting the “Kidnapping”

Anthony: Not reporting your kid missing for 31 days and having hard evidence to proof she was parting like a wild banchie during that time.

Peterson: Scott Patterson reported it right away when he got home from his fishing trip.

Motive:

Anthony: Feeling  trapped in her life. Wanted to do her own thing – behaviors screamed this!

Peterson: Felling trapped in his life. Wanted to do his own thing – behaviors screamed this!

Additional “facts” of the Casey Anthony case that is strong circumstantial evidence:

• The FBI testifying that traces of chloroform were found in the trunk post the evidence that there were 87 searches on chloroform and neck breaking.
• Grandma Cindy LYING on the stand saying that she did the searches and was busted a few days later.
• The opening statements from Jose Baez, that George and Lee Anthony sexually abused her starting at the age of 8 when this was the first time in 3 years anyone heard that accusation AND there is jailhouse video of Casey telling her dad that, “He will always be her buddy and the she loved him”. 
• The baby found wrapped in her blanket from home, in plastic bags with duck tape (that matched the same tape recovered from the home) in an area where the Anthony family has buried their family pets only a 2 minute walk from their house.
• Sending the authorities on wild goose chases that would be completely debunked in five minutes.
• Accusing some random stranger of kidnapping your kid.

Jury:

Anthony: From a state that does not know how to count votes or have a problem with capital punishment.

Peterson: From a state that just does not know how to vote and does not like capital punishment.

Bottom line is, this was one of the most insane  saddest verdicts (outside of OJ – which I think this state learned from) I have ever heard.  The “justifications” the jury gives the press and American people, can’t convince me otherwise.   I hold them accountable for her walking free and for them NOT giving at least a  child abuse and manslaughter charge.  When they went into deliberate two jury members wanted capital and half wanted manslaughter.  No one asked for additional evidence to review  and they only deliberated for 11 hours.   Some member or members of the jury were as convincing as Jose Baez in that deliberation room . . .

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This Tiger Mother is Done with the Tiger Blood!

Soapbox Sundays! Better Late than Never!

Yes, I am the Chinese sign of the Tiger and I actually loved the book ,Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.  I am not saying that I am for not allowing  my kids to attend sleep overs or make them practice the piano a million hours a day.  I just like the fundamentals of the book and the author is hilarious and laughing all the way to the bank because she has roused up a whole sect of “soccer moms”.  I digress . . .   What my Soapbox Sunday is about is good ‘ol Charlie Sheen and his “tiger blood” syndrome.

 I am going to own that I am going to be guilty of doing exactly what I am on my soapbox about, but maybe if I can get enough of you to agree with me, words like Charlie Sheen and tiger blood will fade away as quickly as it  ignited.

I get that for some sick and strange reason America loves to watch train wrecks of humanity Hollywood.  No one really wants to face the reality that the world is in economic crisis, the Middle East is in civil distress, the Mid-West is in civil unrest, we are going to be bellying up to the pump at $5.00 a gallon soon  and there are only three episodes left of Big Love.   I get watching some “fictious” character of Hollywood on his crash and burn tour to either Promises Rehab Facility or to something far worse with only a True Hollywood Story episode to be remembered by, seems to be a good way to fill up the days of our pathetic lives. 

Unfortunately, Charlie is not a fictious character. He has people who actually love him and hates seeing this happening.  You have the mothers of his children trying to shelter them from them seeing their dad self destruct and a family that just don’t know what to do, so they are just bracing themselves for his rock bottom moment, ready to pick up the broken pieces, if there is any left to pick up.

This is a man who is not fueled by “Tiger Blood”, even thought my Sirius Radio has a whole station dedicated to “Charlie Sheen’s Tiger Blood Radio”, like it is something real.   What he is fueled by is all the attention he is getting out of this.  He is an addict and this is classic text-book addict behavior, I should know I grew up with addicts my whole life.

The media, the fans or non-fans need to leave him alone; he should be hearing a million crickets, not a million tweets. No one should be adding fuel to this train wreck.  

He is losing everything tangible and in his surreal false reality he is thinking he IS gaining everything and has an edge on the market of life.  A life that is troubled, disturbed, and wounded.   Please America, can we please stop with the tiger blood and get back to True Blood.  At least that is fiction and not someone’s true reality.

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Top Ten Reasons Why Mankind is Becoming More Like Troglodytes the Smarter the Technology Gets!

We are in a world of Wi-fi, smart phones, DVR machines, Google, Facebook, Twitter, GPS, and even cars that can turn on by simply pushing a button.  Heck, my Miele double ovens have more features than the average mid-sized sedan.  In all of this advancement in technology there is one part of the equation that is not meeting its demands – the human race.  We seem to be reverting backwards in society where the only thing we have to show for the progression of technology are sore thumbs and more opportunities to morph into troglodytes.  This is the inspiration of my Top Ten Tuesdays:

http://visualrian.com/images/item/315389

10:  No one can spell anymore.  Yes, and I have to say I too, have thrown that whole notion out of the window.  Why would I ever continue to waste my time in learning to spell when  my smart phone not only checks my spelling but actually anticipates correctly the word I want to use with only two characters entered?

9. What would we do without  GOOGLE:  Why would anyone ever go to the library to do research and used the Dewey Decimal System when you can stay at home in you skivvies and drink booze while doing your reasearch?  All you have to do is type in your misspelled search words and Google will spit out nine million options on that subject AND most of all supply a healthy amount of porn to go along with it.  All the Dewey Decimal System did for me in college was add five extra hours to my time spent in the friggin’ libary with no “happy endings”. 

8. Blue Hairs.  This generation is just a lost cause.  They are still trying to figure out the  “Clap On” light switch and the thought of trying get them to hop on the world-wide web-internet highway without stalling out and having “fatal” error messages appear all over their computer screen is almost impossible.

7.  Customer service is no longer an instant service.  Yes, you know what I am talking about.  You call and you get a computer answering service that asks you to speak certain things, yet never understands what you are saying.  All you get out of the call is, “Sorry I did not get that, please try again.”  Which sadly ends in, “Sorry, we cannot understand your request, please hang up and try your call again.”  By this time you are throwing your phone across the room crusing up a storm and now you not only do not have the information you needed, but you have to go to the store and replace a phone to go through the same thing again.  

6.  No one can write with a pen or pencil.  Pretty soon babies are going to be born with hands and fingers in “text ready” position. It is already stating, all that most people can do is sign their name on the dotted line. 

5. Mail a letter? What is a Stamp? Isn’t that what email is for?  Who needs to know how to lick a stamp, let alone know even what a stamp is when all you have to do is send an email.  Right now I can tell  you that the mail I get on a daily basis is only advertisements and a few bills.  On the slim chance there is a card or letter in the mail from a friend of family member, I see the beam from heaven shining down on my little mail box and as I open it, I hear Handel’s Messiah!

4. Never leave home for it.  Who needs to knock the stank off,  get dressed, put on the war paint and drive to a store and interact with humanity to get items needed when with just one click of the mouse, you have your hearts’ desire with free shipping.  You can even have your groceries dropped off at your door. 

3.   Twittering and Tweeting are not longer just for the birds.  There was a time when all the tweeting you heard was the cute little robin or sparrow sitting outside your window.  Now all you get is the annoying chirp of your smart phone letting you know someone just tweeted.

2.  Who needs doctors when there is the internet?  It seems that thanks to modern technology and the internet, those that spent sleepless nights serving their medical residencies, are now being replaced by some blogger that is probably living his mother’s basement high on bad weed and is now your “authority” on the rash that you currently have.  Sure he may have a rash, but it is due to the combination of bad weed and not moving from his computer screen for  three days.

1. Diarrhea of the Facebook and Twitter:  I will admit, I enjoy getting updates and pictures posted to my Facebook account to stay connected with many of my inner and outer circle.  HOWEVER, I  did not need to know that you are checking in and out of the grocery store, the gym, Bed, Bath and Beyond, the proctologist, the local “dispensary”  and now the bathroom.   I also love those that have no sense of self edit or restraint of their virtual pie holes and accidentally post something catty about somebody on the wall of the person they are being catty about. Or better yet, just post something horribly embarrassing to their character of what a total tool they are.   It is amusing to watch that fire storms brew when that happens.  You can pretty much tell who will NOT be coming to the next Holiday dinner in certain families.

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If You Can’t Take Care of Your Teeth, You Probably Can’t Take Care of an Exotic.

There was this documentary I saw a while ago that disturbed me to the core.  It was on all the Burmese Pythons that are being released into the wild by their irresponsible owners here in the US.  Most of the offences are in the Florida and surrounding states, but it is expanding into the western states. 

Apparently, these snakes can pretty much adapt to any environments and they are at the very top of any ecological food chain destroying the balance of the natural habitat.  That was just one part of the documentary, the other part of the documentary is what shook me to the core and exposed the core to the problem of why these exotic monsters should be left where they belong.

People are dumping these snakes because when the 20 somethings buy them, they are a manageable baby snake and in a couple of years it is eating thier 3-year-old toddler while they are helplessly sleeping in their crib.  Really that has happen several times. 

First off, let’s just address that NO one should ever own something this insane and wild with small children.  I would go as far as to say that there should be legislation passed where if it is legal to have those types of “exotics” that you must meet certain criteria and responsibility levels and safe guards (like owning a gun) and if you don’t then no exotic for you.  

In each case I read about a snake of this magnitude killing a small child, it got out of its cage.  If you saw the people who owned these lethal animals, they barely could take care of themselves and their dental hygiene let alone take care of a snake that was 15 feet long and weighed more than they did. 

Personally, I think exotics being owned by uncertified personnel (meaning you need to be a zoo keeper in a zoo) should be outlawed completely and this is coming from someone who  has  libertarian view points.  But at the end of the day, it is the government agencies and taxpayer’s monies that have to clean up the mess and infestation of biting off more than one can chew owning animals like this so to me legislating heavy handed is fair.   

To conclude my segment of Soap Box Sundays, I feel animals, even the domesticated dog and cat don’t have fair legislation on protecting them from being placed into bad situations.  They have decent legislation of getting them out of horrific situations, but preventing it, is a whole beast in and of its self.  Owning an animal of any kind is a privilege, not a right and it is the owner’s fiduciary duty to be able to take care of it without putting the environment and people at risk.

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Top Ten Reasons Kid Birthday Parties Are Not My Favorite Weekend Plans

I am in back-to-back birthday party hell mode this month.  It seems all my friends that are really close to me are having birthday parties for their little ones that are in the same age range as PD1 and PD2.   It is one of those things that you know you need to do to be a good friend and to encourage your kids to enjoy.  Let’s be honest here, if  all you parents sit down and truly assess the whole “other” kid birthday parties, you would have to agree most of you would rather watch paint dry, have hemorrhoid surgery or endure physical therapy (that’s for you, Idiot) than have to sit through a weekend afternoon with the results of other people’s bad parenting mistakes kids.  This is the inspiration to my Top Ten Tuesday!

10.  You get the invitation for a 3-year-old birthday party that says “NO GIFTS” or “Only Educational Toys Please”.  Seriously, it is a kid’s birthday party!  If I have to go to it at least let me go pick out the most cool but  annoyingly loud and obnoxious toy and relish in the fact that it is not at my house.  And really, aren’t all toys educational?  Heck even “adult toys” have some level of educational value to them!

9.  The party starts right smack in the middle of nap time hours.  Oh joy! Nothing excites me more that sleep deprived toddlers hopped up on sugar! 

8.  No booze.  OK, I get it is for the kids, but if it is a party that requires me to have to schlep two kids, by myself, and all the swag that goes along with it, then go sit and watch the organized chaos, or not, for two hours, shouldn’t I be at least rewarded with a glass of wine or cocktail?  Again, it all goes back to booze makes everything better.

7. Gift Bags.  I get that is nice to have a little parting prize for the kiddos but do we have to try to reenact the Oscar’s after-party swag bags?  A sandbox bucket, a thing of bubbles and a sticker is more than enough!  Even though the gesture is nice, the toddler did not need a cruise on Carnival along with the bucket and few sand toys.

6.  Games.  Having small children try to play musical chairs is a lot like trying to herd cats. Again, I have a lot more patience for that, with a cocktail in my hand! 

5. Cake.  Now, I love cake!  I love to make cakes!  At this age cupcakes are the way to go.  Nothing is harder to manage than a piece of cake for two small children.  At least with a cupcake, it is a finger food and can be manhandled and tolerate the mutilation a small child can bring upon the situation.  Clean up is still bad, just not as nearly as bad.

4.  Rain.  NOTHING is worse than being cooped up in a house with ten small children and their parents all hopped up on sugar, not napped and stir crazy.  Again, where is my cocktail?

3. No Bounce House/Jolly Jump.  Pulling up to a party, nothing is more relieving for me to see  than a Bounce House/Jolly Jump.  I actually get some mingle time and the kids will sleep like champs that night!  Oh, bless the creator of the Bounce House/Jolly Jump.

2. No Opening of the Presents.  What?  That is the best part!  Sure it makes the kids a bit antsy and some may feel left out, but IT IS NOT THEIR BIRTHDAY!  This is the first lesson on self-control and being happy on the outside even though you are green with envy on the inside and want to kick that kid’s ass for getting cooler toys than you have.  I love seeing the expression of the kid as he/she opens the gift we took all the time and effort to get, wrap and drag to the party.  I have also noticed it brings a very early stage of  joy to PD2 to see that her little buddy liked what she got them. Maybe I am a freak, but I love giving more than receiving! Get you minds out of the gutters, this a post about kid birthday parties!

1. Other People’s Kids.  Need I say more?

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Sarah Palin’s Silver Lining

This is an inspired moment from a recent post from my blog buddy and dear friend The Idiot Speaketh’s, “Sarah Palin helps me yet again” .

Having a” relative” secure spot in the harem I dare go out in the ledge and say that since the Kate Gosselin and Sarah Palin TLC incident, I have a new-found respect for Palin!  She made that crazy and media obsessed, (even though she says she hates it) Kate Gosselin lay in the fetal position sucking her thumb in one of the most beautiful places in the world. 

http://brainz.org/news/sarah-palin-and-kate-gosselins-camping-trip-disaster/4086/

I also watched her recent interview on FOX ( January 17, 2011).  Yes, I do cross over to the “dark side” and watch that network along with CNN  CYA (they will not use “targeted”, “cross hairs”, “sticking to your guns”, “point-blank” or any reference that could be construed as encouraging violent rhetoric.  Give me a friggin’ break!   I am a smart person who writes and that just insulted my intelligence and love for the use of metaphors.) I digress. . .

The next day after the interview I  heard all the media scuttlebutt on what she said.  I was really disappointed on how many of the sound bites taken were not at all what was really said or even within context.  I double checked that by replaying the interview and what was being reported. It actually disturbed me.   The bottom line is, she may play the victim well, but falsely reporting what someone says it what the media obviously does well on both sides. 

For example, last nights’ news cycle on FOX was stating that the Democratic side was calling the Republicans Nazi’s during the repeal debate of Health Care Reform on the House floor yesterday. I saw and heard what the gentleman said.  IT WAS A METAPHOR so he could make his point.  Was it a bad metaphor?  It sure was not one of the best ones I have heard, but there was passion behind it and passion can fuel bad judgement in choice of words.   I have fallen victim of that many times (I am the queen of open mouth insert foot).   There was NO need to run that and have a “taking head” commentator instruct the viewer on what was said between the lines.  All it caused was more hate mongering and getting off point to what matters.

What unnerves me is how all this false reporting and stirring the pot for a story just continues to egg on hate for someone who if they would just blow each other off and not comment they would shut up and actually work on getting this country back on its feet. 

To me this whole thing is just a big political game.  It is like both sides need each other.  The left needs characters like Palin for a good story to showcase how conservatives and Tea Party constituents are a threat and ignorant and the right needs the Palin character so she can say what they are all afraid to say;  total passive aggressive approaches and that boils my blood. 
The bottom line is, whether you like her or not she has balls.  Are they smart balls? Yes, I think she “dumbs”  down like the stupid blond in High School in math class so she gets the attention she wants.  The one thing I can give her credit is that she does stick to her guns (no pun intended) and you know where she stands regardless if you like the smell of what she is standing in.  You don’t see that often enough in politics and that is something that I can appreciate and it makes me angry that she was portrayed in saying things regardless if you like what she said or not in a very untruthful spin.  

Just to clear it up, I not a “I love Sarah Palin” fan, but there are things she says that I can understand where she is coming from and I find myself agreeing with.  There are also things she says that I feel she just crawled out from under a rock on.  However, it all comes back to the fact she was able to showcase Kate Gosselin’s amazing ability to birth a cow on national television (roughing it in the great outdoors is always a good way to bring out someone’s true character)!  This just proves my point that you can always find silver lining in anything, even when it comes to Sarah Palin.

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A Sign of Genius!

A Highway Patrol Officer receives a call that a teenage boy is standing on a freeway ramp holding a sign. At the scene, it reads, “I skipped school today and my mom told me this will be my future.”

When questioned, he had been there for 45 minutes. Then the teen points across the street to his mother’s parked car. As they approach the car he states, “I can’t allow your son to do this, you both please be on your way.”

As he walks away he pauses, “Ma’am, off the record that was genius! May I keep the sign?” It now hangs in a California Highway Patrol kiosk office somewhere in northern California.

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