Travel myth: You can’t get from Bangkok, Thailand, to Boulder, Colorado for free.

The Roaming Freak:

“Nonsense! Just confess to a murder you didn’t commit!”

Travelnotcity Travel Myth #33: You will be anally raped in the California Penal System.

The Roaming Freak:

“Mmpph glrk oogh guggle.”

Kiefer finally gets his well-deserved Emmy. And a rotten day at the office turns out to be Emmy-award-winning for ‘24.’

Finally, Hollywood gets something right.

Well, I never did say he did it, right?

BOULDER, Colo. — Prosecutors abruptly dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, saying DNA tests failed to put him at the crime scene despite his repeated insistence he killed the 6-year-old beauty queen.

I imagine there’s hell to pay somewhere. Someone has to take responsibility for the cost of dragging his sad, disgusting ass back to the U.S. One can only hope the charges awaiting him in California will be enough to get him there and to keep him behind bars for at least awhile. There’s something terribly wrong with a person to take responsibility for the murder of a six-year-old girl when they didn’t do it. I would be very worried if he was in my city. Hopefully he’s convicted and faces jail time in California. Oh, and hopefully he faces the general prison population who very well may keep him off the street.

I remember when I could hold her with one arm, how she’d fall asleep in the middle of a feeding. How her big blue eyes would look up into my face and she would light up and laugh with a giggle that only infants can make.

I can remember the first day she ate solids. The day she got her first tooth. The day she said “Momma!” The day she could go potty in the “big girl” potty and didn’t have to wear diapers. I remember the boo-boos, the hugs, the little groany sighing she does when she cuddles her face into my neck and gently rubs my cheek. I remember the day she turned 5. One day to add to the list is today. My little girl started Kindergarten.

Did I cry when I took her to “her brother’s school” today? I didn’t this morning. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t now. There are moments I just want her to be that cuddly little baby that needed me for everything - that depended on me for the most basic parts of living. There are moments when I am so proud to see her growing up to see how much of a beautiful spirit she has and how much she loves, well, everyone and everything most days. I’ll borrow her words when she’s talking about my cooking when I say “she’s a little bit of Heaven.”

They grow up so fast, don’t they? No matter what, she and her brother will always be my babies. Even when they go to their first dance, join the elementary fire patrol, [try to] borrow the car keys or go on their first date. Even when they get married and have kids of their own.

Happy first day at Kindergarten, Bug! Mommy’s so proud of her big girl!

With all of the recent events surrounding terrorist attacks, Linda reminds us of Annie Jacobson and Flight 327 - a flight in which terrified passengers witnessed what was perhaps a dry run or a “called off” terrorist act. An exerpt from Annie’s story over at Linda’s site summarizes the fear those on board must have felt:

After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified.

Probably what was most alarming was the lack of response or concern of the Federal Marshals. As Linda describes:

It turns out the traveling “musicians” on their way to a gig had nothing with them to make music with. Two months prior, there was a credible warning issued about terrorists traveling under “P class visas (sports and culture), and that’s just what these men had, except, their visas were expired. Despite the fact that they were from Syria, which is a terrorist nation, no one looked close enough to discover that their visas were expired, and only two of the fourteen were questioned pre-flight, that breaks all of the rules. Despite the presence of Federal Marshals all over the airport when the plane landed, the men were allowed to leave without being searched or questioned. These men had been flying back and forth across the country several times using one-way tickets, for which they paid cash.

Annie was visited by the Feds in March ‘05 (the flight was on June 29, 2004 - a full 8 and a half months earlier) as part of an investigation of events and the apparent botching of the investigation of what happened on that flight.

Linda has great advice:

Read the whole thing now, and the next time you feel like complaining about airport security and carrying your lipstick, read it again.

My question to you. What would have happened had the same overall lackadaisical approch been used with the flights from England to the U.S.?

Yes, not carrying our precious iPods, lipsticks and water bottles aboard a flight can be a bit inconvenient. But picking up the pieces of blown up airplanes is significantly more alarming, not to mention the grieving family members who would be put in a position to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Whoa boy. I’m glad I’m not the subject of *this* story!

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A woman is suing the J.C. Penney Co. after an alleged run-in with a store mannequin that she says left her with a cracked tooth, a bloodied head and recurring shoulder pain.

Diana Newton, 51, of Westminster sued the Texas-based retailer last month in Orange County Superior Court, claiming she was cracked in the head by a legless female dummy at its Westminster Mall store.

Newton said the incident happened nearly a year ago in the women’s department, as she was shopping for a blouse. The only one in her size was on the mannequin. As a salesclerk was removing the garment, the dummy’s arm flew off and struck Newton’s head, according to her lawsuit.

On top of a head injury, she broke a molar and had to have a root canal. Sounds like this lawsuit could cost J.C. Penney Co an arm *and* a leg!

In a completely unrelated story, looks like Las Vegas has something against urine and feces even for those who don’t?

LAS VEGAS (AP) - City officials have made it illegal to sleep within 500 feet of urine or feces, but the city attorney says the new law was passed by mistake and won’t be enforced.

The new ordinance makes it illegal to “knowingly establish” sleeping quarters near defecation unless that “deposit” is made in an appropriate sanitary facility. It was passed unanimously by the Las Vegas City Council as part of a bill making it a misdemeanor to go to the bathroom in public.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic says the council will consider a revised version of the ordinance that shortens the distance between sleeper and deposits.

In the mean time, I think it would be rather shitty to have to write someone a ticket for this!

Well, well, now the time is come for all good smelly hippies to come to the aid of their international community.

There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the cease-fire as the U.N. pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.

Why, we have a vital peacekeeping force able to serve in this dire time right here in America. Some of them are at “Camp Casey,” some of them are marching in San Francisco, some of them are marching, well, wherever in the hell they march.

Thousands upon thousands, on a regular basis, get out and burn American and Israeli flags, and threaten counter-protestors, and destroy property, in the name of Peace.

I call on Kos, and Atrios, and Jane Hamster, and Arianna Huffington, and Deb Frisch, and Noam Chomsky, etc. etc. ad nauseum, to exhort their bloodthirstyless hordes to do what’s right in the name of Peace.

Get your chicken asses over to southern Lebanon and do your duty for peace, justice, and the Leftist way. The United Nations needs you. NOW!

CP @ VAM, MM, MVRWC, JR, TDPB, HMF.

Following crime cases pretty regularly, the news in the JonBenet Ramsey case was quite a development.

BOULDER, Colo. — A former schoolteacher was arrested Wednesday in Thailand in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey — a surprise breakthrough in a lurid, decade-old murder mystery that had cast a cloud of suspicion over her parents.

Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood identified the suspect as John Mark Karr, 41. Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the name, and one law enforcement official told The Associated Press that Boulder police had tracked him down online.

Wood said the arrest vindicated JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer June 24.

“John and Patsy lived their lives knowing they were innocent, trying to raise a son despite the furor around them,” Wood said. “The story of this family is a story of courage, and story of an American injustice and tragedy that ultimately people will have to look back on and hopefully learn from.”

It truly is a shame that the press was hellbent on vilifying John and Patsy Ramsey in the public eye. I wondered a number of times today whether Patsy would have faced her cancer diagnosis with a stronger will had she and her family’s reputation not been muddied publically so long.

I can’t help but wonder.

I hope the media can figure out that their role should be to report news, and not try and convict people in their news stories. Well, one *can* hope, right?

Now I have to admit that I do my fair share of partying…..but a THREE DAY RECOVERY? Take another aspirin, suck down some Pepto and get back to bloggin ya wuss!

Please go read Hubby’s post on the Nebraska Blog Bash.

Let’s just say he took the words out of my mouth and that I’m lazy because I’m still recovering!

I was at the grocery store today and in the checkout I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that piercing gaze gracing the cover of TV Guide Magazine. Could it be? Yes….there he was. Jack. Jack Bauer. I’ve missed you, Jack!

I snatched that magazine up and took it home. They had me hook, line and sinker when they stated on the cover: “PLUS a sneak peek at Day 6.” I’ve been waiting MONTHS for any kind of inkling of what happens in Day 6. $1.99 for a sneak peek? Dinero WELL spent!

So….I bet you are wondering, aren’t you? What is this sneak peek all about? Well, they don’t give us much, but enough for complete droolage. I just love what Kiefer Sutherland says about playing Jack Bauer:

Kiefer Sutherland can’t pinpoint the exact moment Jack Bauer became a living, breathing creature, but he thinks it happened sometime around Day 4.

“Before that, people would come up and say, ‘I love this movie you did’ or ‘I love your work,’ but suddenly I was getting, ‘I love Jack Bauer,’” he says during an interview in Hollywood.

Dressed in expensive-looking jeans and a white T-shirt, Sutherland looks happier and better rested than the counterterrorism agent he plays on 24, but then again, who doesn’t? It probably helps that his show, coming off its most successful ratings season yet, is up for 12 Emmys, the most nominations for any TV series. Sutherland landed his fifth straight nomination for lead actor in a drama, a feat he insists he’s only partly responsible for. “Sometimes it’s like I have nothing to do with Jack Bauer anymore,” he says with a most un-Bauerlike grin. “It’s almost like I’ve become a conduit or his brother or something.”

I can see that. I looked back at all my Bauer posts, and the words “Kiefer Sutherland” rarely came up. I’m sorry, Kiefer. I’ve now used your name at least 5 times in this post. I hope you’ll forgive me!

Of course the electronic version of this article in TV Guide Magazine doesn’t give you the down low on Day 6, so it looks like I’ll have to give you a summary (all quotes from the article):

“We’ll start with Jack next season at the lowest point anybody’s ever seen him,” Sutherland says, explaining that Day 6 opens two months into his Chinese incarceration.

:::snip:::

While other seasons gradually bring the terror to light, the new season (which kicks off in January) begins “in the midst of America being terrorized,” Cassar [the director of 24] says, likening the explosive opening to the early hours after 9/11. “Something horrible has already happened, so we start in a mood of national paranoia and fear and go from there,” he says.

Jack has been in Chinese custody for two months and has been tortured physically and mentally. “He’s not the same Jack we’ve seen before, ” Cassar says. “He’s beaten down, a weakened shell.” A la Jack’s Season 3 return from drug abuse, Season 6 will track Jack’s comeback.

Drooling yet? Thought so. But I would add that buying the magazine would be really, really good. The interview with Kiefer is good (you do know the show is nominated for 12 Emmys, right?), but even better, there are some great, dreamy pics of him for those of you who, ahem, are into that kinda thing.

January’s way too far away, dammit! But I believe Day 5 will be on DVD this fall (I remember hearing October somewhere). It may be time for a pre-season “refresher!”

Police: Former Ohio State Star Clarett Arrested With 4 Guns

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Maurice Clarett was arrested early Wednesday after a highway chase that ended with police using Mace on the former Ohio State running back and finding four loaded guns in his truck, a police spokesman said.

Officers used Mace to subdue Clarett after a stun gun was ineffective because the former Fiesta Bowl star was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Sgt. Michael Woods said.

Four loaded guns and a flak jacket? What the hell was he preparing for? Skip any trial he may be looking at and let’s get him right over to Iraq! That probably wouldn’t work because it’s obvious he has no moral direction, and our military does.

“It took several officers to get him handcuffed,” Woods said. “Even after he was placed in the paddy wagon, he was still kicking at the doors and being a problem for the officers.”

Clarett was being interviewed at police headquarters. Authorities planned to charge him with carrying concealed weapons and other counts, Woods said.

Clarett made an illegal U-turn on the city’s east side and failed to stop when officers tried to pull him over.

Once a gangsta, always a gangsta.

Clarett was being pursued by police while driving eastbound on Interstate 70 when he darted across the median and began heading west. Clarett drove over a spike strip that was placed on the highway, flattening the driver’s side tires of the SUV, Woods said.

Clarett exited the highway and pulled into a restaurant parking lot, where officers removed him from the SUV after he failed to obey numerous orders to exit the vehicle, Woods said.

Not good military material if you can’t follow a simple order.

After Clarett was placed in a police van, officers discovered a loaded rifle and three loaded handguns in the front of the vehicle, Woods said.

Woods said he did not know where Clarett got the guns or why he had them and that federal authorities plan to trace their ownership.

Gansta party.

Clarett, 22, is currently awaiting trial on two counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of robbery and one count of carrying a concealed weapon in a separate case. Authorities said he was identified by witnesses as the person who flashed a gun and robbed two people in an alley behind the Opium Lounge in the early hours of Jan. 1.

And he got out on bond? Hopefully the judge denies bond in this case, or makes it so costly he won’t be out. And what the hell kind of name is that for a lounge; Opium?

Clarett scored the winning touchdown in the second overtime to lead Ohio State to the 2002 national championship, the school’s first since 1968. But that was the last game the freshman played for Ohio State. He sat out the 2003 season after being charged with misdemeanor falsification on a police report, then dropped out of school. He sued to be included in the 2004 NFL draft and lost in court.

A surprise third-round pick in the 2005 draft, he was cut by the Denver Broncos during the preseason.

Hmmm….gangsta’s given the opportunity of a lifetime to make millions playing football and what’s he do? Blames everyone else for his troubles because he couldn’t handle the mental strength it takes to be a pro. Now he’s just going to be another stat in another prison that you and I get to pay for.

Perhaps a cost of isolating your fans, Dixie Witches?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks’ “Accidents & Accusations” tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates.

Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick’s Web site.

Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates.

The Midwest and the South are the areas that are experiencing “lackluster sales.” It appears that bashing President Bush and their patriotic fans have sent them across the border to cover for the cancellation of their Midwest and Southern shows:

Group spokeswoman Kathy Allmand said Monday that the total number of North American dates remains the same, with several Canadian cities added in place of the U.S. shows.

Anyone up for helping them cancel some more U.S. stops? Heh.

A few weeks ago, I was surfing channels on the tube and found a show called “License to Grill.” The show is on the Discovery Home Channel and is hosted by Rob Rainford.

I didn’t post about it previously, because I didn’t know whether I truly liked the show or not. At least not right away. It’s definitely grown on me. Rob Rainford hails from Canada, and his backyard plethora of grills makes a girl like me wanna go get more than one. He’s got an amazing outdoor kitchen, too. But who knew a guy from Canada could grill so good?

I haven’t found a show that I didn’t like at least one of the items he was cooking. Sometimes when you watch cooking shows you just *know* something doesn’t sound good. All of his grilled meals make my mouth water. And the other thing I like about his show is something that I equally like about Rachael Ray. I’ve learned a few tips and tricks from him (as I did from watching her show).

The one thing I need to do is 1) find some good wood chips here and 2) plan meals a bit better. He does a lot of dry rubs, marinades and smoking. I can’t seem to plan so far ahead, but he’s basically convinced me in a few short half hour shows that I should reconsider.

Check him out. He’s a bit quirky with a strange sense of humor (probably why I like the show!), and you’ll get jealous when you see his yard, his outdoor kitchen and his grills (hey…I did!), but you’ll drool and want to go invest in, like, 8 grills and a bunch of wood chips.

This is heart-wrenching:

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A woman and her roommate were charged with starving the woman’s 9-year-old daughter, who weighed just 42 pounds when she was found, was locked up all day and was forced to wear a filthy diaper, authorities said.

My 8-year-old weighs 75 pounds. This little girl’s life had to be a living hell for her.

The girl was so emaciated that her spine and ribcage were showing when state child welfare officials took her June 30, police said.

The girl also had her hands bound behind her, was locked in a bedroom all day and wore a diaper that went unchanged for hours, officials said. She told police it was punishment for bad behavior.

“It’s a very disturbing case,” police Detective Joe DeLuca said. “You see very few like this.”

The girl now lives with her grandparents and has gained about 25 pounds in a month.

Melissa Samoraj, 27, and Raymond LaFountain, 31, were arrested Wednesday.

To me, these criminals deserve no less than life in prison without a chance of parole (and that’s the minimum sentence in my mind). This child is forever changed emotionally and perhaps physically because of their abuse. If this child can have a “normal life” taken from her, why do these criminals deserve better?