http://www.drudge.com/user/CalifChris New links and comments. en-us http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Wordzilla/0.58 10 http://www.drudge.com/news/126332/missing-7-year-old-fl-girl-found-georgia http://renovomedia.com/news/body-found-in-georgia-landfill-identified-as-missing-somer-thompson/# A body found in a Georgia landfill is that of missing 7-year-old Somer Thompson. Sheriff Rick Beseler said that the identification was based on clothing on the body and a birthmark that matched an "odd-shaped" mark on Somer Thompson's left shin. Investigators followed garbage trucks from the neighborhood where Somer disappeared on Monday to a landfill in Georgia where they discovered the body after searching through 100 tons of garbage.<p> "We were able to make a positive identification," Beseler said. "Based on a birthmark on the lower extremity and clothing the child was wearing. I gave the mother the sad news that we had made an identification of the body." Beseler told reporters it was the hardest call he has ever had to make. Somer's father, Samuel Thompson, said on Wednesday he believed it was likely his daughter. <p>"I'm angry. I'm so angry. I'm so hurt," Thompson told Florida Times-Union as he wept. "My baby daughter laying in trash. Discarded like a piece of trash. God help the sons of bitches who hurt my daughter. They better find them." <p>No further details have been released. An autopsy will be performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. "We hope to learn the cause and manner of the death that will assist us in the criminal investigation we are actively undertaking at this time," Beseler said. "The early discovery will be tremendously helpful in this investigation to help find the person or people responsible for the death of this beautiful child." <p>Beseler expressed concern for the community until a suspect is apprehended. He did not release any details about evidence that has been collected or whether investigators believe one or more people is responsible for Somer's death. People are encouraged to call the tip line at (877) 227-6911 with any additional tips and information that may help the murder investigation. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:08:48 -0400 CalifChris http://www.drudge.com/news/126332/missing-7-year-old-fl-girl-found-georgia#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.126332 discussion, 0.5 daily 126332 http://www.drudge.com/news/124953/nasa-releases-new-hubble-photographs http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Space/hubbles-cosmic-comeback-nasa-releases-images/story?id=8516798 NASA's "comeback kid" has done it again. <p>After astronauts of the space shuttle Atlantis made a risky servicing mission in May, the Hubble Space Telescope is back and better than ever, once again capturing astonishing images of the cosmos and sending them back to Earth The repaired space telescope provides deeper and clearer images of the universe. More PhotosToday, NASA released images from the newly refurbished telescope, confirming that Atlantis' mission was a success. <p>It had been seven years since astronauts had serviced Hubble. It was designed for routine upgrades, but this year's mission had been delayed -- and, for a couple of years, canceled -- in the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster. By the time Atlantis arrived, Hubble was on its last legs. Two instruments were completely out of service, and several components, including batteries and gyroscopes, needed replacing. <p>"To say Hubble was limping is probably an understatement," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for science at NASA. "It was limping. It really needed this mission." In a high-speed, high-risk dance hundreds of miles above Earth, astronauts replaced sensors, removed blown circuit boards and made many repairs to bring several instruments back to life. And it appears the gamble was worth it. <p> Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:37:24 -0400 CalifChris http://www.drudge.com/news/124953/nasa-releases-new-hubble-photographs#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.124953 discussion, 0.5 daily 124953 http://www.drudge.com/news/124521/dominick-dunne-dies-age-83 http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2009/08/dominick-dunne-obituary.html Dominick Dunne, a best-selling author and special correspondent for Vanity Fair, died today at his home in Manhattan. He was 83. The cause of death was bladder cancer, said his son Griffin Dunne.<p>Dunnewho joined Vanity Fair in 1984 as a contributing editor and was named special correspondent in 1993famously covered the trials of O. J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith, and Phil Spector, as well as the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. He wrote memorable profiles on numerous personalities, among them Imelda Marcos, Robert Mapplethorpe, Elizabeth Taylor, Claus von Blow, Adnan Khashoggi, and Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. His monthly column provided a glimpse inside high society, and captivated readers.<p> His first article for the magazine appeared in March 1984an account of the trial of the man who murdered his daughter Dominique. Throughout his life, Dunne was a vocal advocate for victims' rights. <p>Born in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 29, 1925, Dunne was awarded the Bronze Star, at age 19, for his service in World War II. In 1949, he graduated from Williams College with a B.A. In April 1954, Dunne married Ellen Beatriz Griffin, who went by Lenny. The marriage ended in divorce in 1965. <p>Dunne began his career in New York City as the stage manager of The Howdy Doody Show, and in 1957 he moved to Hollywood, where he became the executive producer of the television series Adventures in Paradise. Later, Dunne was made a vice president of Four Star Productions, a television company owned by David Niven, Dick Powell, and Charles Boyer. He then moved on to producing feature films, including The Boys in the Band, Panic in Needle Park, Play It as It Lays, and Ash Wednesday. <p>But by this time drugs and alcohol had become an unmanageable part of his life, and in 1975 he drove himself up to the woods in Oregon. Living alone in a cabin, he became sober and began, at age 50, to write. <p>In 1980, Dunne moved back to New York and saw five of his novels become bestsellers. His books include The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (Crown, 1985), Fatal Charms (Crown, 1987), People Like Us (Crown, 1988), An Inconvenient Woman (Crown, 1990), A Season in Purgatory (Crown, 1993)which was adapted for television as a four-hour CBS mini-seriesand Another City, Not My Own (Crown, 1997).... <p>The documentary series Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice premiered on Court TV in June 2002. Dominick Dunne: After the Party, a documentary about his life, premiered in 2008." <p> Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:32:47 -0400 CalifChris http://www.drudge.com/news/124521/dominick-dunne-dies-age-83#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.124521 discussion, 0.5 daily 124521 http://www.drudge.com/news/124044/mans-yawn-courtroom-gets-him-6-months http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/weird/Yawn-in-Court-Earns-Prison-Time-52880012.html "Make sure you get plenty of sleep before going to court. Clifton Williams didn't and he's been sentenced to six months in jail for yawning. "I was flabbergasted because I didn't realize a judge could do that," [said] Williams' father, Clifton Williams Sr.,"... "It seems to me like a yawn is an involuntary action." Williams, 33, attended his cousin's July hearing at Will County Courthouse in Joliet. His cousin, Jason Mayfield, pled guilty to a felony drug charge. As the judge sentenced Mayfield to two years probation, Williams let out a yawn, an involuntary faux pas in such a formal setting. Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak thought the yawn was criminal and sentenced Williams to six months in jail, the maximum penalty for contempt of court without a jury trial." Rozak's order said that Williams "raised his hands while at the same time making a loud yawning sound," causing a disrespectful interruption in court. So in a strange turn of events Mayfield, the felon, will be able to walk freely, while Williams, the yawner, will have to spend at least three weeks behind bars for his offending yawn. But it's not out of character for Rozak. <p>Contempt of court charges are typically issued when a judge feels someone is challenging or ignoring the court's authority, e.g., yelling at a judge, ignoring subpoenas, appearing in court drunk, etc. <p>But Rozak runs a tight ship. He has charged people who cuss in reaction to a sentencing and even jailed spectators whose cell phones interrupt proceedings. In fact, the Chicago Tribune found that Rozak has sentenced more spectators to jail for infractions involving cell phones than any other judge in Will County in the last decade. Of the 30 judges in the 12th Judicial Circuit, Rozak has brought more than a third of all the contempt charges in the last 10 years. <p>"This is ridiculous -- you've got all these people shooting up kids, and here this boy yawns in court [and gets 6 months]. It's crazy," said Williams' 79-year-old grandmother. <p> Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:02:45 -0400 CalifChris http://www.drudge.com/news/124044/mans-yawn-courtroom-gets-him-6-months#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.124044 discussion, 0.5 daily 124044