Erica Michelle Marie Green, or for four years known as Precious Doe, can now rest in peace knowing that the mystery surrounding her violent murder has been solved.  It’s too bad that Mommy and Step-dad were the ones who killed her and left her headless body alongside a road.

Being the mother of a 4 year old girl, I cannot fathom what goes on in the mind of a person who decides to kill their child.  So Michelle M. Johnson ("Mom" for lack of a better word for this evil woman) and stepfather Harrell Johnson will probably do their damnest to say that the drugs made them do it.

Police said Harrell Johnson admitted that under the influence of alcohol and the hallucinogenic drug PCP, he became angry with Erica when she refused to go to bed, grabbed her, kicked her and threw her to the ground, leaving her unconscious. After she died, he said he used hedge clippers to sever her head.

WTF?  If the poor girl had already died, what would posess anyone, drugs or not, to sever the head of a beautiful 4-year old girl with hedge clippers???  Drugs or not, these people need to be punished - perhaps with dull hedge clippers around *their* necks while they are still awake and alert.  Here is the rest of the article from the AP.  People need to understand how vile of an act this really was (the emphasis is mine below): 

The girl’s body was found near an intersection on April 28, 2001. Days later, her head was found nearby, wrapped in a trash bag.

In the months after she became known as Precious Doe, hundreds attended candlelight vigils, volunteered to answer witness hot lines and passed out fliers with an artist’s rendering of the girl. The FBI took blood samples from family members of missing black girls, and the case was featured on television’s "America’s Most Wanted."

A makeshift memorial of poems, teddy bears and flowers was eventually replaced by a permanent memorial in a park near where her body was found. On Thursday morning, among flowers and balloons, a handwritten sign announced the news: "My Name Is Erica Michelle Maria Green."

Authorities said the little girl was killed in Kansas City, where the family had been staying with a friend. According to court papers, Harrell Johnson beat the girl one night in April 2001 and the couple left her unconscious on the floor for two days. They did not seek medical help, the mother said, because both had warrants out for their arrest.

Selfish assholes.

The child died, and the couple carried the body to a church parking lot, then through the woods, where the stepfather cut the girl’s head with hedge clippers, police said.

The break in the case apparently came after community activist Alonzo Washington, who has long championed efforts to find out who the little girl was, placed another advertisement seeking leads in a local paper.

"There’s something about it that just bothers me that a child could be thrown away and people forget about it," said Washington, who has worked to raise awareness of missing black children.

Me, too!!  Especially the mother’s *own* child!

Washington said a grandfather of one of the individuals involved in the case came forward, talking with him and detectives last weekend. He said the source, who had spoken to police before on the case, sent photographs of the child as well as hair samples from the child and the mother.

Police and prosecutors refused to confirm specifics or identify the source. Washington declined to be more specific.

A photo displayed by police during a news conference, showing the girl with a slight smile and adornments in her braided hair, may have been a picture of the wrong child. Oklahoma police saw the picture and said it appeared to be one of the girl’s cousins.

Michelle Johnson was being held on $500,000 bail in her hometown of Muskogee, Okla., prosecutor Michael Sanders said. The prosecutor asked that her husband be held without bail and that the couple be extradited to Kansas City as soon as possible.

Oklahoma records show Michelle Johnson has convictions for theft and forgery. The stepfather, being held in jail on unrelated charges, has convictions for several offenses, including assault with a dangerous weapon and possessing a sawed-off shotgun.

In Kansas City, police closed off the street in front of the run-down home where authorities said Johnson and her husband had been staying at the time of the killing.

People who long had been transfixed by the case welcomed news of the arrests.

Billy Stegall, a retired post office worker and Army sergeant, discovered Erica’s head in 2001 and has gone back to the site regularly to pray.

"This is a day I have been looking for," he said. "I just asked the Lord to say who she is so she could be at peace, because she wasn’t at peace and I wasn’t at peace."

God Bless you, wee one.  You now have your wings and you’ll never see those hateful people again.  You’ll be in heaven and they won’t.

I’m a parent of a child in grade school.  My child gets inundated with liberal messages all the time.  His school has "guidance meetings" and has a program geared at helping kids "cope" in society.  His school has a liberal nut case teacher who has bumper stickers that no grade-school child needs to see every day on the way into the building. 

Right now, as it stands, my son’s class says the Pledge of Allegiance each and every day.  And each day I wonder, when is the ACLU going to get its wish and alter the Pledge forever?  Two little words that make anyone who favors the ACLU seethe with anger.  UNDER GOD.

The ACLU argues that having those words in the Pledge is a violation of the First Amendment of which a portion reads:  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…" 

I find it amazing that anyone would believe that two words in a pledge would be forcing an establishment of religion.  I find it equally unreal that our society has "evolved" to the state that it is in today. 

When I was growing up and in school (and no, it wasn’t that long ago!) we had kids in our class who were not part of a religion that believed in God and also had kids whose families were athiest.  I clearly remember these kids standing with their class and saying the Pledge of Allegiance with the exception of those two words "UNDER GOD."  Did they get in trouble?  NO.  Did lightening come down from the sky and strike them down?  NO.  Did anyone question their patriotism and love of country?  NO!  And life went on every day.  I don’t remember these kids complaining that because they stated the pledge they were now forced into religion.  THEY HAD A CHOICE.

For me, the first amendment was written to protect people on both ends of the spectrum - those who do not have religious beliefs and those who wish to practice their religious beliefs.  The ACLU’s actions do not support those of us who are religious and wish to express our beliefs.  Instead, their actions will only prove to require us to someday practice our beliefs in whispers behind closed doors unless their runaway train is stopped.  Yet this gang of thugs is willing to sing praises for the murdering of babies, the right to kill people who are not in a position to articulate their wishes, and the right to treat criminals better than the victims.   

I was doing a little research on the internet and came across a contest that the Northern California ACLU puts on for junior high and senior high students.  I find the winning entries (mind you judged by "qualified educators" and approvals to ask teachers for advice, etc.) to be very ACLU-ease, and admittedly a bit frightening.  It is readily apparent that their teachers and/or parents carry the ACLU torch.  I also find it interesting that this not-for-profit (i.e. very budget conscious??  HA!) organization was able to award $1200 in prize money for their 2004 artist and essay contest.  It seems as those they are starting to develop their minions at a young age.  I encourage you to take a look at the essays and art and spend some time with your kids and educate them on what this country is REALLY founded on.  I sure am!

Giada De Laurentiis of "Every Day Italian" had an episode air recently for Lasagna Rolls.  They looked AWESOME, but as always I have to alter recipes to make them taste the way I want them to taste.  This particular recipe was great, so I only had to change a few things.  Here is my recipe for Lasagna Rolls: 

Bechamel Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
coarse salt & ground black pepper to taste
Freshly ground nutmeg to taste

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 pound ground Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 cup plus extra couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan
1 large egg, beaten to blend
small handful of chopped Italian Parsley
freshly ground black pepper & coarse salt to taste
A couple of glugs of olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for a few minutes until you can smell a nice nutty aroma. Whisk in the milk all at once. Increase the heat and simmer until it is thick and smooth (this doesn’t take long).  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and butter a 13×9x2 baking pan/dish.

Start water boiling in a large, wide pan.  Once boiling add salt and a couple of glugs of olive oil.  Boil the noodles until they are al dente (I do four at a time, which works out nicely).   

Mix ricotta, Italian sausage, 1 cup Parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper together.

Pour the bechamel sauce into the baking dish.  Put enough of the fillng mixture on each noodle to cover it, and roll up the noodle, placing the seam side down in the pan.  Once all rolled, pour the marinara sauce over the rolls and then cover with the shredded mozzarella cheese and a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese.      

Cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes (the sauce will bubble when it is ready). Uncover and bake another 15 minutes (the cheese will get nice and brown). 

Enjoy with a nice crusty garlic bread!