Shepherds and Black Sheep

Tweets from a Dangerous Mind - Dzhokar Tsarnaev

2013-04-19T20:17:00.000-07:00

The following are excerpts from the Twitter account of the accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev: https://twitter.com/@j_tsar

While there is a presumption of innocence that attaches in the criminal proceedings that will follow, assuming he survives, the televised evidence of his guilt is virtually undeniable.

‏@J_tsar 10:43 p.m. 16 Apr

I'm a stress free kind of guy    

‏@J_tsar7:30 p.m. 16 Apr

Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got somethin to say but nothin comes out when they move their lips; just a bunch of gibberish 

‏@J_tsar10;22 a.m. 16 Apr

So then I says to him, I says, relax bro my beard is not loaded

‏@J_tsar10:14 a.m. 16 Apr

@therealAbdul_ you need to get Claritin clear

‏@J_tsar9:34 p.m. 15 Apr

There are people that know the truth but stay silent & there are people that speak the truth but we don't hear them cuz they're the minority

‏@J_tsar5:04 p.m. 15 Apr

Ain't no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people

‏@J_tsar8:39 p.m. 14 Apr

@xXjungaXx good luck my brother, I'm sure you'll get in

‏@J_tsar10 Apr

Most of you are conditioned by the media

‏@J_tsar9 Apr

-you don't care that I smoke, right? 
-man, I wouldn't care if you shot yourself in the head 
^friendship

‏@J_tsar7 Apr

If you have the knowledge and the inspiration all that's left is to take action

‏@J_tsar18 Mar

People come into your life to help you, hurt you, love you and leave you and that shapes your character and the person you were meant to be

‏@J_tsar17 Mar

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil until the morning alarm goes off and all hell unleashes

‏@J_tsar14 Mar

"September 10th baby, you know what tomorrow is. Party at my house!" #thingsyoudontyellwhenenteringaroom

‏@J_tsar10 Mar

Never underestimate the rebel with a cause

‏@J_tsar6 Mar

Death is the destroyer of all pleasures

‏@J_tsar27 Feb

"Studying" is just a combination of the words student and dying

‏@J_tsar13 Feb

I killed Abe Lincoln during my two hour nap #intensedream

‏@J_tsar19 Jan

To be honest, I don't care for those people that wanna commit suicide, your life b, do what you think will make you happy 

‏@J_tsar15 Jan

I don't argue with fools who say islam is terrorism it's not worth a thing, let an idiot remain an idiot

‏@J_tsar

12 Jan

Met this marine yesterday who said he doesn't give his name out to "unclassified personnel" he then proceeded to tell me his name quietly

‏@J_tsar4 Jan

I don't like when people ask unnecessary questions like how are you? Why so sad? Why do you need cyanide pills?

‏@J_tsar3 Dec

My goal for the 2013 year is to get a girl pregnant and become a daddy #saidnooneever

‏@J_tsar28 Nov

you guys know that the suicide rate for active duty american soldiers is at an all time high for 2012, a suicide a day, whats the #problem

‏@J_tsar11 Nov

I'm from the murder capital, where they murder for capital

‏@J_tsar17 Oct

wish for your brother what you wish for yourself

‏@J_tsar24 May

my niece is the cutest in the world

‏@J_tsar13 May

life here in the U.S is ill without a doubt but life elsewhere is surreal

‏@J_tsar14 Mar 12

a decade in america already, i want out

‏@J_tsar14 Mar 12

sometimes you gotta follow in order to lead

‏@J_tsar17 Jan 12

some people are just misunderstood by the world thus the increase of suicide rates

Aaron Swartz RIP

2013-01-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

From the blog of Aaron Swartz, Raw Thought:
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/archive

Legacy

Ambitious people want to leave legacies, but what sort of legacies do they want to leave? The traditional criterion is that your importance is measured by the effect of what you do. Thus the most important lawyers are the Supreme Court justices, since their decisions affect the entire nation. And the greatest mathematicians are those that make important discoveries, since their discoveries end up being used by many who follow.

This seems quite reasonable. One’s legacy depends on one’s impact and what better way to measure impact than by the effect of what you’ve done. But this is measuring against the wrong baseline. The real question is not what effect your work had, but what things would be like had you never done it.

The two are not at all the same. It is rather commonly accepted that there are “ideas whose time has come” and history tends to bear this out. When Newton invented the calculus, so did Leibniz. When Darwin discovered evolution through natural selection, so did Alfred Russel Wallace. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, so did Elisha Gray (before him, arguably).

In these cases the facts are plain: had Newton, Darwin, and Bell never done their work, the result would have been largely the same — we’d still have calculus, evolution, and the telephone. And yet such people are hailed as major heroes, their legacies immortalized.

Perhaps, if one only cares about such things, this is enough. (Although this seems a rather dangerous game, since the future could wake up at any moment and realize its adulation is misplaced.) But if one genuinely cares about their impact, instead of simply how their impact is perceived, more careful thought is in order.

I once spent time with a well-known academic, who had published several works widely recognized as classics even outside his field, and he offered some career advice in the sciences. (Actually, come to think of it, there are two people of whom this is true, suggesting the phenomenon has broader significance.) Such-and-such a field is very hot right now, he said, you could really make a name for yourself by getting into it. The idea being that major discoveries were sure to follow soon and that if I picked that field I could be the one to make them.

By my test, such a thing would leave a poor legacy. (For what it’s worth, I don’t think either person’s works fall into this category; that is to say, their reputation is still deserved even by these standards.) Even worse, you’d know it. Presumably Darwin and Newton didn’t begin their investigations because they thought the field was “hot”. They thought through doing it they would have a significant impact, even though that turned out to be wrong. But someone who joined a field simply because they thought a major discovery would come from it soon could never enjoy such a delusion. Instead, they would know that their work would make little difference, and would have to labor under such impressions.

The same is true of other professions we misconceive of as being important. Take being a Supreme Court justice, for example. Traditionally, this is thought of as a majestic job in which one gets to make decisions of great import. In fact, it seems to me that one has little impact at all. Most of your impact was made by the politics of the President who appointed you. Had you not been around for the job, he would have found someone else who would take similar positions. The only way one could have a real impact as Supreme Court justice would be to change your politics once appointed to the bench and the only way you could prepare for such a thing would be to spend the majority of your career doing things you thought were wrong in the hopes that one day you might get picked for the Supreme Court. That seems a rather hard lot to swallow.

So what jobs do leave a real legacy? It’s hard to think of most of them, since by their very nature they require doing things that other people aren’t trying to do, and thus include the things that people haven’t thought of. But one good source of them is trying to do things that change the system instead of following it. For example, the university system encourages people to become professors who do research in certain areas (and thus many people do this); it discourages people from trying to change the nature of the university itself.

Naturally, doing things like changing the university are much harder than simply becoming yet another professor. But for those who genuinely care about their legacies, it doesn’t seem like there’s much choice.

June 1, 2006

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/legacy

Sandusky To Die In Prison

2012-10-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

Convicted child predator Jerry Sandusky was sentenced today to a minimum 30 year sentence. Under Pennsylvania's prisoner 'good time' calculation law, the actual amount of time Sandusky must serve before he can even be considered for parole is just over 29 years.

At 68 years old, one thing is certain: Jerry Sandusky will die in prison. That's today's good news. The bad news is that Sandusky will be appealing his conviction, thus causing his many victims to continue looking over their shoulders as the monster who destroyed their childhoods will now haunt their futures.

There is only one thing Jerry Sandusky can do at this point to salvage an iota moral redemption: admit and genuinely repent his crimes, beg for undeserved forgiveness from his victims and participate honestly with forensic researchers so that the other Jerry Sanduskys still out there brazenly raping and molesting America's children can better be identified, captured and locked away.

Since we know Jerry Sandusky is incapable of acting morally and being honest, his many victims will have to settle for the modicum of justice that comes with knowing Sandusky will die in prison then rot in hell.

Why Mike McQueary should never be allowed to coach again

2012-07-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

There is no disputing that the grand jury and criminal trial testimony of Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary was instrumental in finally ending Jerry Sandusky's disgusting and long unfettered sexual abuse of children. But be clear: Mike McQueary is no hero.

Nor is he by any stretch of the imagination a whistleblower.

At best, McQueary is a spineless coward who literally turned his back on the young child he personally saw being raped by Jerry Sandusky in 2001. At worst, McQueary is an opportunist who capitalized on his eye witness status and traded his willingness to keep Penn State's dirtiest secret in exchange for continued employment on its revered football coaching staff

While McQueary's obvious spinelessness may explain his initial failure to rescue or protect in any manner the child he witnessed being raped by Sandusky, in the decade plus that followed with many more children being raped by Jerry Sandusky, how can Mike McQueary possibly justify to himself let alone anyone else why he continued to work at a university that openly perpetuated a relationship with Jerry Sandusky and condoned his continued involvement with children.

Importantly, the Freeh report found that under existing law McQueary was required to report that he witnessed Jerry Sandusky raping a young child to the Penn State police department and that McQueary failed to do so. (Freeh Report at page 118.)

According to McQueary's testimony at the Curley-Schultz preliminary hearing, when he phoned head coach Joe Paterno a day after he witnessed Sandusky raping a child in the Penn State showers, this was their conversation:

"I said, Coach, I need to come to your house and talk to you about something.

He said, I don't have a job for you. And if that's what it's about, don't bother coming over.

I said, Coach, it's about something much more serious. I need to come over and see you.

And he said, okay. Well, you better come over then."

Before McQueary told Coach Paterno about witnessing Sandusky's sexual abuse of a child, Paterno made it clear to McQueary, who was then just a graduate student/assistant coach, that there was no job for him at Penn State. But after McQueary met with Paterno and disclosed to Paterno the sexual abuse of a child by Sandusky that he had personally witnessed in the Penn State football showers, then miraculously there was a job for McQueary and there continued to be a coaching job for McQueary for all the years Paterno continued as Penn State's head football coach.

Why did a Penn State football coaching job suddenly materialize for McQueary?

In my opinion, the answer is obvious. For Joe Paterno to engage in a successful cover-up of Sandusky's disgusting sexual abuse of children at Penn State, Paterno needed to keep McQueary in the fold.

Certainly, Paterno could not count on McQueary keeping the lid of Sandusky's criminal conduct if McQueary left Penn State.

So McQueary suddenly had the inside track to becoming Paterno's heir apparent and Paterno had a key piece to the cover-up he instigated. For these two men it was a seemingly win win situation.

Of course, that equation only worked if you ignored the children Jerry Sandusky was victimizing, something both McQueary and Paterno demonstrated they were more than willing to do.

Even if Trayvon Martin threw the first punch, Zimmerman is guilty

2012-06-29T05:58:00.001-07:00

George Zimmerman has admitted that he saw Trayvon Martin engage in no criminal activity; that, he nonetheless began following Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman's taped call to the police made while he was observing Trayvon, proves that Trayvon ran away from Zimmerman, not towards him in any threatening manner. When the police dispatcher could obviously hear from the sounds of Zimmerman's truck door opening and closing as well as Zimmerman's heavy breathing that Zimmerman had gone from simply observing Trayvon from his vehicle to exiting the vehicle and chasing after him -- after telling the dispatcher that Trayvon was taking off -- the police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Trayvon, but Zimmerman's heavy breathing shows he continued his pursuit.

Imagine you are young Trayvon Martin. A young man simply talking to a girlfriend on the phone when he suddenly realizes that a stranger -- a stranger we now know to be George Zimmerman -- is watching him. We know from Trayvon's girlfriend who was on the phone with him that Trayvon was alarmed by Zimmerman and we know she told him to run. And run he did. Importantly, Trayvon did not run toward Zimmerman to confront him. He ran away from Zimmerman to escape this frightening stranger. And what did George Zimmerman do -- this wannabe cop with documented anger management issues -- he got out of his vehicle and began chasing Trayvon.

Zimmerman's taped call to the police proves that while he chased Trayvon he never made any attempt to identify himself as a Neighborhood Watch. Instead, Zimmerman chased after Trayvon without giving Trayvon any clue that Zimmerman meant him anything but harm.

Clearly, Trayvon was running scared from a stranger who was chasing after him.

So what if Trayvon decided that his only recourse was to stop and defend himself. Trayvon's girlfriend heard Trayvon ask Zimmerman. "Why are you following me?" Zimmerman himself has admitted that his response to Trayvon was to reach in his pocket. Zimmerman claims he was reaching for his phone.

What would you think Zimmerman was reaching for if you were 17 year old Trayvon Martin? A phone or a gun?

There is only one person who had the legal and moral right to stand his ground that night in Sanford, Florida and it was not George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman claims that as he was fishing around in his pocket, Trayvon started punching him in the face. Zimmerman alone created the circumstances that caused Trayvon Martin to reasonably conclude that he needed to fight for his life.

When did Zimmerman show his gun? Since he killed Trayvon, we will never know. Zimmerman claims as he struggled with Trayvon , he screamed for help. Cries for help were, indeed, heard by nearby residents and recorded on calls to 911. But the expert evidence shows that is was not George Zimmerman who was yelling for help in this life and death struggle.

The world is a dangerous place and Florida's 'stand your ground' law, perhaps, represents an understandable response. It is vital to remember, however, that this law was intended to shield Trayvon Martin from prosecution had he prevailed in defending himself against George Zimmerman, the man who got out of his vehicle and chased after Trayvon for no reason known to Trayvon other than to cause him harm.

Ironically, when George Zimmerman applied in 2008 to the Seminole County Citizen Law Enforcement Academy, he justified his assault on a law enforcement officer in 2005 on the grounds the undercover officer "never told me he was an officer and [he] assaulted me first."

Under the law, an "assault" is an intentional act by one person that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent harmful or offensive contact with another.

On February 26, 2012, Zimmerman assaulted Trayvon when he intentionally chased after Trayvon. As a result of Zimmermn's assaultive conduct, Trayvon Martin had every reason to be apprehensive that Zimmerman represented an imminent harm to him.

Thus, even if Trayvon ultimately stood his ground to defend himself against the assailant George Zimmerman who was chasing him and even if Trayvon threw the first punch, the evidence shows George Zimmerman is guilty of murder.

George Zimmerman is a flight risk who should stay in jail

2012-06-29T04:24:00.001-07:00

George Zimmerman, the killer of 17 year old Trayvon Martin, is a proven liar and likely flight risk. When he first sought and was granted bail, Zimmerman and his wife Shelley lied to the court, claiming they were destitute, when in truth, they had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars through George Zimmerman's website, that begged for donations.

Since their deceit was revealed, Shelley Zimmerman has been charged with perjury. Not only did George Zimmerman fail to disclose how greatly he has financially profitted from killing Trayvon Martin , Zimmerman also concealed and failed to turn over a second passport that he had obtained in 2004.

The court should be highly suspicious as to why Zimmerman concealed the very substantial amount of money at his disposal and the fact he had a second passport.

The court might also consider that since George Zimmerman's mother, Gladys Zimmerman, is Peruvian, George Zimmerman may well hold or be able to obtain dual citizenship with Peru. Moreover, if Zimmerman fled to Peru, it is entirely possible that Peru might refuse an extradition request from the United States for his return since the Peru Extradition Treaty with the United States allows Peru to refuse an extradition request if it believes the request is politically motivated.

Considering that nationwide protests demanding justice for Trayvon Martin were required to trigger the ultimate arrest of George Zimmerman, a Peruvian court could possibly decide that the prosecution of Mr. Zimmerman for Trayvon's killing is politically motivated and deny any extradition request.

In sum, there is no reason for the court to believe at this point in time that George Zimmerman is not a flight risk. Indeed, all the evidence shows Zimmerman to be deceitful and someone not to be trusted.

John Edwards should be disbarred

2012-06-15T02:12:00.000-07:00

Disgraced ex-U.S. Senator and two time losing presidential candidate John Edwards main defense at his criminal trial was that his actions were immoral, but not criminal. While slime is still coalescing around the verdict acquitting Edwards on one count and hanging on all remaining chargers, two things are very clear:

John Edwards is a contemptible, sleazy lying louse who used and betrayed people over and over to protect and further himself;

and John Edwards should be disbarred because of his admitted immorality.

Every state bar has a requirement that each attorney must pass a moral background investigation before being licensed and must maintain a modicum of morality to remain licensed. If nothing more, Edwards' criminal trial proved he lacks the moral capacity to retain the privilege of a law license.

Was Sandusky's Basement Soundproofed?

2012-06-15T01:33:00.002-07:00

UPDATE: On June 19th Doris Sandusky testified in her husband Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse trial that the basement in their home is not soundproofed and that she could have heard any screams from the basement. Of course, she denied she heard any screams.

In the trial of pedophile Jerry Sandusky, one of his many victims testified that Sandusky raped him repeatedly in Sandusky's home basement while Jerry's wife Doris was upstairs. The young man recounted screaming for help and concluded that his screams went unanswered because the basement must have been soundproofed.

If the prosecutor has not yet determined whether the Sandusky basement was, in fact, soundproofed, I would hope he would do so and should it turn out that screams from the basement can be heard upstairs in the Sandusky's living quarters, then Doris Sandusky should be charged as an accessory to her husband's heinous acts.

Based on Mrs. Sandusky's testimony that the Sandusky basement is not soundproofed, after Jerry Sandusky convicted, she should be charged as an accessory.

Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri: Asshole Extraordinaire

2012-05-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

According to a recent report on NPR's All Things Considered, U.S. authorities believe college dropout Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri is behind the latest al-Qaida underwear bomb plot.

Asiri first came to the attention of U.S. investigators when his fingerprint was discovered on the underwear bomb on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

What inspired Asiri's apparent fixation with underwear bombs?

One can only speculate, but given his demographic Asiri most likely studied more than his fair share of YouTube inspirational videos including such classics as Firecracker in the ass goes so wrong, butt rocket and a perennial favorite: Crackling Ball In The Butt - Firework Pain.

Asiri's younger brother, Abdullah Hassan Tali Asiri, apparently shared Ibrahim's passion for ass play, allowing Ibrahim to shove one pound of PETN plastic explosives up his, where it remained for over 24 hours until Abdullah blew his pathetic butt up in a failed assassination attempt on a Saudi prince.

The end.

Or, more accurately, ka ka ...

At the Intersection of Bible and Bullshit, Close Your Eyes

2012-05-01T14:41:00.002-07:00

Trolling for a hot topic to blog about, I was surprised to find Dan Savage, host of NPR Savage Love and founder of the "It Gets Better" anti-bullying campaign, is #12 on the Google Trends 'Hot Topics' today.

Savage became a hot topic not because of the always frank and often funny sex advice he regularly dishes on his weekly radio/podcast and not because of the countless lives of young gays and lesbians throughout the world he has helped save through the simple, true promise 'it gets better.' While these accomplishments and contributions certainly warrant Savage being declared a hot topic, what ultimately propelled him into the stratosphere of google hotness was the keynote speech he gave earlier this month at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle.

The published topic for Savage's keynote speech was "alternative media, social media and creating a movement against bullying" and the convention itself was marketed as "Journalism on the Edge." Given all this, you would reasonably expect that the audience would have anticipated the nature and slant of Dan Savage's remarks, especially an audience of wannabe journalists, but such was apparently not the case.

During his keynote speech, Savage acknowledged that many anti-gay bullies often defend their conduct based on various passages in the Bible that indicate homosexuality is wrong. This is hardly a breaking news bulletin, but more in the arena of established fact. Savage next proposed a simple solution for dealing with the passages in the Bible that are anti-gay: ignore them. As Savage explained:

"We can learn to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about gay people the same way we have learned to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation, [etc.etc.etc.]"

As Savage delivered his remarks a few of the attendees walked out, to which Savage made an admittedly and unnecessarily harsh comment:

"Its funny as someone who is on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible how pansy-assed some people react when pushed back. I apologize if I have hurt any one's feelings, but I have a right to defend myself and to point out the hypocrisy of people who justify anti-gay bigotry by pointing to the Bible and insisting that we must live by the code of Leviticus on this one issue and no other."

On April 28th, Jimmy LaSalvia, a co-founder and the executive director of GOProud, a U.S. political action group which purports to represent gay conservatives, issued a press release, claiming “Dan Savage’s outrageous anti-Christian tirade hurts – not helps – the fight for gay rights in this country.”

In truth, it is Mr. LaSalvia who is hurting the fight for gay rights in this country every time he opens his mouth.

Dan Savage's speech was clearly intended to spark interest and debate and, most importantly, to take a stand. In all respects, his keynote speech was a complete success.

Savage's comments were not in any way anti-Christian, but they were most definitely anti-hypocrite. To be a Christian, plain and simple, is to believe and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ had two simple messages: love and forgiveness. Jesus never instructed or encouraged anyone to kill abortionists, bomb federal buildings or bash and bully gays and lesbians. These acts are perversions of Jesus' message of love and forgiveness.

Dan Savage is right when he says we can learn to ignore the bullshit in the Bible and his remarks are in no way tantamount to characterizing the entirety of the Bible as bullshit.

George Zimmerman Lied To His Father About Following Trayvon Martin

2012-04-28T03:04:00.000-07:00

Trayvon Martin

On March 15, 2012, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Robert Zimmerman, the father of George Zimmerman, who now stands accused of the murder of 17 year old Trayvon Martin, hand delivered a letter to the Sentinel in an understandable effort to help his son. Mr. Zimmerman's letter reads in pertinent part: "At no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin."

Obviously, Mr. Zimmerman is simply repeating what his son George Zimmerman told him about the circumstances of his shooting and killing an unarmed teenager.

George Zimmerman must have forgot when he lied to his father that he had already admitted to the police dispatcher before he confronted, shot and killed Trayvon that he was, in fact, following the teenager.

Dispatcher: Are you following him?

Zimmerman: Yeah.

Dispatcher: Ok. We don't need you to do that.

It must be terribly hard to wake up and realize your son has been lying to you about the circumstances of his killing an unarmed teenager, but nowhere near as hard and heartbreaking to wake up everyday to the devastating reality that your teenage son has been murdered.

Zimmerman and His Wife Should Be Sanctioned For Misleading The Court At Bail Hearing By Failing To Disclose Over $200,000 Collected By Zimmerman's Website

2012-04-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

UPDATE:

On Jun 1, 2012, the court revoked George Zimmerman's bail and ordered him back to jail for misleading the court at his bail hearing. On June 12, 2012, Shelley Zimmerman was arrested and charged with felony perjury in connection with the false testimony she gave at her husband's bail hearing.

Prosecutor Bernardo de la Rionda today asked the Court to raise the $150,000 bail set for accused murderer George Zimmerman in light of new evidence that Mr. Zimmerman and his family failed to disclose at the bail hearing that Zimmerman's website had taken in over $200,000 in donations as of the date of the bail hearing.

Zimmerman set up his website in the wake of his killing 17 year Trayvon Martin for the specific and expressed purpose of raising money to support himself and for his legal expenses.

George Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O'Mara told Florida Circuit Judge Kenneth Judge Kenneth Lester that he had not been informed by Zimmerman's family at the time of the bail hearing that Zimmerman's website had taken in over $200,000.

Judge Lester indicated he was unsure whether he had authority over the monies and directed Defense Attorney O'Mara to submit documentation regarding who controlled the website and its funds.

Not surprisingly, Attorney O'Mara did not disclose what he had been told about the $200,000 plus monies prior to the bail hearing by his own client George Zimmerman since that communication - if it occurred - would be protected by the attorney-client privilege.

On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 program, Attorney O'Mara admitted he did not learn about the $200,000 plus monies collected by Zimmerman's website until days after the bail hearing so it would seem Zimmerman withheld this material information from even his own lawyer.

Judge Kenneth Lester said he would revisit the bail issue if it became clear that the Zimmerman family had control of the money at the time of Mr. Zimmerman’s bail hearing last week, when Zimmerman and his family testified they would be unable to afford the $1 million bond requested by the prosecution.

It seems quite evident from all these disclosures and admissions that George Zimmerman and his family misrepresented at last week's bail hearing the monies available to Mr. Zimmerman to make bail and even withheld this critically relevant information from Mr. Zimmerman's own defense attorney Mark O'Mara until days after last week's bail hearing given Mr. O'Mara's indication to Anderson Cooper when he appeared on CNN that he did not learn of the monies raised by Zimmerman's website defense fund until Wednesday of this week.

Ever the zealous advocate, Mr. O'Mara has actually suggested that it was simply an oversight that the Zimmerman's failed to disclose at last week's bail hearing the $200,000 raised by George Zimmerman's website.

Right. Sure. It is perfectly understandable how the recent acquisition of more than $200,000 could completely slip your mind when you are being specifically questioned about what monies and assets you have available to make bail. Even if we accept the unlikely theory that George Zimmerman forgot he had recently been given more than $200,000 through his website plea for donations, would not his 'recollection' of this substantial sum of money at his disposal have been triggered when Prosecutor de la Rionda specifically asked George Zimmerman's mother, Gladys Zimmerman, about the website and the monies George had received from it?

DE LA RIONDA: And you don't have any knowledge of the web site, do you in terms of the money?
ZIMMERMAN: No. I know I have seen the letter, but I don't have any answers to it.

George Zimmerman's wife, Shelley Nicole Zimmerman testified at the bail hearing that she is an unemployed nursing student and that she and George have no assets that her family could liquidate to make bail.

The following is an excerpt from the bail hearing transcript reported by CNN, when defense lawyer O'Mara questioned Mrs. Shellie Zimmerman:

O'MARA: Other major assets that you have which you can liquidate reasonably to assist in coming up with money for a bond?

S. ZIMMERMAN: None that I know of.

O'MARA: I discussed with you the pending motion to have your husband, George, declared indigent for cost, have I not?

S. ZIMMERMAN: Yes, you have.

O'MARA: Are you of any financial means where you could assist in those costs?

S. ZIMMERMAN: Not that I'm aware of.

O'MARA: I understand that you do have other family members present with you and I'll ask them questions of them but have you had discussions with them of at least trying to pool together some funds to accomplish a bond?

S. ZIMMERMAN: We have discussed that, trying to pull together the numbers of the family to scrape up anything that we possibly can.

While some may reasonably question whether Mrs. Zimmerman had knowledge or access to her husband's website generated funds when she mislead the court at the bail hearing about her family's finances, the benefit of that doubt was completely eliminated by Zimmerman's defense lawyer Mark O'Mara who states on Zimmerman's new website that at lease some of the $200,000 was deposited in Mrs. Zimmerman's own account, some was deposited in George Zimmerman's personal account and some was still in the Zimmerman PayPal account.

Since the bail hearing, Defense Attorney O'Mara has indicated that he has taken control over all the monies raised by the Zimmerman website defense fund, shut down the website and is in the process of starting a new online Zimmerman defense fund controlled exclusively by his legal office.

Whether this means that none of the $200,000 plus will be made available for bail by Mr. O'Mara should Judge Lester increase Mr. Zimmerman's bail given his and Mrs. Zimmerman's concealment of all this money from the Court at the bail hearing remains to be seen.

What other relevant evidence the Zimmerman's have withheld and/or misrepresented also remains to be seen.

Judge Lester should be as outraged as most people by the outright deception that was perpetrated by George and Shelley Zimmerman at his bail hearing and should impose appropriate sanctions for the flagrant fraud they perpetrated in court.

Proof Positive That George Zimmerman Lied On The Witness Stand At His Bail Hearing

2012-04-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

Trayvon Martin

On April 20, 2012, the accused murderer of 17 year old Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman took the stand, testified in support of his request for bail and proceeded to lie.
This is not opinion. This is fact. And here is the proof.

Mr. Zimmerman testified at his bail hearing: "I did not know how old [Trayvon] was. I thought he was just a little bit younger than I am... ."

Mr. Zimmerman was 28 years old when he confronted Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012 and  contrary to his self-serving and false testimony in court, Mr. Zimmerman, in truth, believed Trayvon to be just a teenager when he shot and killed him.

How can we possibly know without any reasonable doubt that Mr. Zimmerman lied on the stand?

Because when Mr. Zimmerman called 911 on February 26th to report he was suspicious of Trayvon, the police dispatcher specifically asked Mr. Zimmerman, "how old would you say he looks," and Mr. Zimmerman responded:  "He's got button on his shirt. Late teens." The police dispatcher heard Mr. Zimmerman's response and confirmed, "Late teens ok."

In fact, Trayvon had just celebrated his 17th birthday three weeks before George Zimmerman killed him.

Clearly, Mr. Zimmerman had no rational motive whatsoever to mislead the police dispatcher (or anyone else for that matter) as to Trayvon's age before he killed him.  In fact, the record of Mr. Zimmerman's 911 call demonstrates that he was attempting to give the police dispatcher as accurate a description of Trayvon as possible, describing Trayvon's clothes from hoodie to sneakers.

It is only now, two months after killing this unarmed teenager, that Mr. Zimmerman has a motive to lie as to his belief as to Trayvon's age when he killed him. Mr. Zimmerman is shamelessly attempting to convince the public -- including his future jury pool -- that he believed he was confronting and killing an adult peer, rather than a teenage boy.

Since Mr. Zimmerman's claim of self defense must largely rely on his testimony as to the circumstances of his killing Trayvon Martin,  the irrefutable proof that Mr. Zimmerman has already lied in court about his belief as to Trayvon's age should make his further testimony highly suspect.

Bill Zeller Speaks for the Victims of Jerry Sandusky and Penn State

2011-12-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

In the early morning hours of January 2, 2011, a brilliant, funny and popular young man named Bill Zeller hung himself in his Princeton University apartment. His suicide was achieved three days later, January 5th, when the 27 year old grad student was removed from life support at the University Medical Center and pronounced dead.

Bill Zeller emailed a suicide note to his friends, explaining “I have the urge to declare my sanity and justify my actions, but I assume I’ll never be able to convince anyone that this was the right decision.” Bill Zeller's suicide note quickly went viral.

Like millions of others who only met Bill Zeller through the intense emotional pain and suffering he courageously shared in his final words, I cried for him, for what he endured and for the tragic waste of his life.

What Bill Zeller revealed in his final words was that he had been repeatedly raped as a child. He describes in detail the lifelong and devastating impact these terrible crimes had on his life. He concluded he could never escape the "darkness" that enveloped him except through death. His words are heart wrenching. His pain palpable.

When I read Bill Zeller's suicide note, I recall thinking sadly how much good he could have accomplished for other victims of childhood sexual abuse by telling his story from a podium instead of a grave. Unquestionably, Bill Zeller made the wrong choice in taking his life, but his suicide note warrants another reading because he speaks not just to the unbearable pain and lifelong damage he suffered; he also speaks for all the victims of childhood sexual abuse including the boys longtime Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky molested and raped.

Hopefully, Sandusky's many victims will find a way to overcome the extreme damages inflicted upon them by Jerry Sandusky and described so eloquently by Bill Zeller. Hopefully, they will obtain what was denied Bill Zeller - justice.

10 Greatist Cartoon Girls of All Time, #IMHO

2011-12-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

Betty Boop


Marge Simpson

Lucy van Pelt


Nancy

Betty and Veronica

Peppermint Patty

Olive Oyl

Lisa Simpson

Wilma Flinstone

So, whose your all time favorite?

A Prayer For All The Victims Of Dr. Amy Bishop: Dr. Gopi Podila, Dr. Maria Davis, Dr. Adriel Johnson, Dr. Joseph Leahy, Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera, Ms. Stephanie Monticciolo and Dr. Debra Moriarity

2010-02-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

While Dr. Amy Bishop awaits trial on capital murder and attempted murder charges in connection with her deadly attack on colleagues during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville on February 12, the impact of her violence on her victims and her victim's families will never end.

In discussing various issues arising out of Dr. Bishop's violence, it is sometimes necessary and certainly common to become detached from the engulfing pain and suffering at the core. As the Leahy Family Blog reaffirms, the families, friends and primarily the victims of Dr. Bishop - Dr. Gopi Podila, Dr. Maria Davis, Dr. Adriel D. Johnson, Sr., Dr. Joseph Leahy, Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera, Ms. Stephanie Monticciolo and Dr. Debra Moriarity - will never escape the horrorific consequences of her violence.

This is from the website of the Joseph Leahy Family Blog, which one of the Commentors to Shepherds and Black Sheep shared with us. A visit to their site is inspiring and speaks for itself as to the faith, hope and charity of this amazing family. I urge you to read it for all the victims of Dr. Bishop's violence.

Here is an excerpt:

First things first -- the following is a prayer written specifically for Joe and the family by the priest at their church, Father Phil O'Kennedy. Ginny asked me to get it posted here, and she will be deeply grateful for everyone who is willing to offer it up.

Prayer for Joe Leahy

Lord God, heavenly Father of us all,
We know that You are with us in the good times,
and dare to trust that You are even more
surely with us in our trials.

May we never give way to ill-will or discouragement,
but persist always in Your grace, mercy and love.

We beg You to watch over Joe, Ginny, Keith and Stephen Leahy,
and the extended Leahy and Warnecke families
who are “carrying the cross” at this time.

Lord God, please restore Joe to fullness of health and well-being,
Restore him to his family,
to the students that he loves,
and to all of us who so respect and admire him.

May Joe soon “walk tall” in our midst again,
and may we live always for your honor and glory.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Our Father . . .

Hail Mary . . .

Glory Be to the Father . . .

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Written by Rev. Phil O’Kennedy,
(Pastor of St. John’s Catholic Church, Madison, AL)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Gopi K. Podila

In lieu of flowers, the Podila family requests contributions be made by writing checks to:

Gopi K. Podila Memorial Fund

Checks should be mailed to:

Gopi K. Podila Memorial Fund

Progress Bank

201 Williams Avenue

Huntsville AL 35801

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Maria Ragland Davis

The family requests donations in Dr. Davis' memory to one or more of the following university scholarships:

University of Michigan Multicultural Engineering Program

ATTN: Ms. Lin Rockwell Cargo

Executive Director Office of Advancement

University of Michigan College of Engineering

Robert H. Lurie Engineering Center

1221 Beal Ave.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2102

Checks should be made out to the University of Michigan.
For credit card donations, contact Ms. Cargo at 734-647-7032

or by e-mail at lincargo@umich.edu.

North Carolina State University's A.M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship/Memory of Maria R. Davis

ATTN: Jason Gipe North Carolina State University Alumni Affairs

Campus Box 7503

Raleigh, N.C. 27695-7503

Checks should be payable to North Carolina State University. Mr. Gipe can be contacted at 919-515-0519 or at jason_gipe@ncsu.edu.
Credit card gifts can be made through the "giving" link at www.ncsu.edu. Select "other" for gift and specify the A.M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship There is a space to note that the gift is In the memory of Maria Ragland Davis

The Dr. Maria Ragland-Davis Scholarship Endowment Fund

Office Of Advancement
318 Shelbie King Hall
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama 35899

Checks may be sent to The Foundation for Excellence at UAHuntsville. Please reference the memorial fund name: The Dr. Maria Ragland-Davis Scholarship Endowment Fund

For further information please visit: http://www.uah.edu/update/scholarships.php

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adriel Duland Johnson Sr.

In the Memory of Dr. Johnson

The Dr. Adriel D. Johnson, Sr. Memorial Scholarship
University of Alabama in Hunstville

Office Of Advancement
318 Shelbie King Hall
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama 35899

Checks may be sent to The Foundation for Excellence at UAHuntsville. Please reference the memorial fund name: The Dr. Adriel D. Johnson, Sr. Memorial Scholarship

For further information please visit: http://www.uah.edu/update/scholarships.php

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Stephanie Monticciolo

Please visit the online Journal where Stephanie Monticciolo's family reports her progress and leave them words of encouragement in the family's Guestbook.

A Facebook Page has also been established where many are leaving messages of support for Stephanie Monticciolo and her family, who are posting updates on the page.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Before Dr. Bishop Gets Free Court-Appointed Counsel, How About Making Dr. Bishop First Turn Over Her Novels And Other Assets?

2010-02-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

There is no dispute accused multiple murderer Dr. Amy Bishop has the right to counsel as she faces capital murder charges for the shooting deaths of three colleagues and the attempted murders of at least four more at the University of Alabama-Huntsville on February 12th. Who should foot the bill for her legal representation is another question entirely.

In the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that the government provide defense counsel to criminal defendants if they are unable to pay for their own attorney. For truly indigent defendants this Constitutional protection is essential to insure them a fair trial and an opportunity to mount a defense.

The first step to obtaining a public defender or court appointed counsel is to file an affidavit of indigency. That is simply a sworn statement by the defendant claiming she has no financial resources to hire private counsel. In the vast majority of criminal cases, the affidavits of indigency filed by criminal defendants are not challenged and are well founded.

Dr. Bishop has filed such an affidavit of indigency and in response, the Court has appointed legal counsel to represent her at no cost to her. Certainly, until the true financial condition of a criminal defendant can be ascertained, the Court should err on the side of accepting affidavits of indigency on face value. This is especially so given that criminal cases can have several critical events in the early stages that require counsel to be on board, e.g., arraingment, pretrial discovery, suppression hearings, etc.

However, the State of Alabama is not forever obligated to accept blindly Dr. Bishop's sworn claim that she is without resources to finance her own defense. When, as here, there is substantial evidence of potentially valuable assests belonging to Dr. Bishop, the State should at a minimum first require Dr. Bishop to liquidate those assets.

If there is no present market, the State should require that all rights and interest Dr. Bishop has to those assets be assigned to the State to the extent needed to cover her defense costs. If Dr. Bishop refuses, she effectively admits the value of the assets and should be denied free counsel.

The asssets I am referring to are (1) her unpublished novels; (2) her ownership interest in any patent and/or patent pending inventions; and (3) any equity interest she has in Prodigy Biosystems, Inc., the start up company created, with substantial support from UAH, to commercialize and bring to market the portable cell incubator for which she and her husband James Anderson take inventive credit on their pending patent application. It may well be that the most valuable of all these assets and the ones most easily liquidated are the unpublished novels.
.

Since his wife's arrest, James Anderson has disclosed (and I suspect strategically so) that in recent years Dr. Amy Bishop has written three novels, all presently unpublished. Whatever minimal intrinsic value Amy Bishop's novels might have had absent her present notoriety, there can be no genuine dispute that the three novels have now gained substantial publication value because of Dr. Bishop's deadly actions and her resulting notoriety.

The State of Alabama should move immediately on these assets, halt any publication or sale of Amy Bishop's unpublished novels and secure the value of all this property to offset the cost to the public for Dr. Bishop's defense.

If Alabama chooses not to act, then lawyers for the victims families should act. Whether it is in the criminal court or a civil court, someone needs to act quickly to obtain an injunction to preserve Dr. Bishop's intellectual property and equity assests.

Under no circumstances, should Dr. Amy Bishop or her husband and business partner James Anderson be allowed to profit one penny from Dr. Bishop's notoriety by using her deadly acts of violence as a launch pad for a new and more profitable career as a novelist.

If Alabama wants to accept Dr. Bishop's possibly specious claim of poverty, then her assets should be preserved for the benefit of her victims and their families: Dr. Gopi Podila, Dr. Maria Davis, Dr. Adriel Johnson, Dr. Joseph Leahy, Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera, Ms. Stephanie Monticciolo and Dr. Debra Moriarity.

"If Bullets Were Gold": An Alternate and 'Novel Theory' of the Motives of Accused Murderer Dr. Amy Bishop

2010-02-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

Dr. Amy Bishop faces capital murder charges for three deaths when she opened fire during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville on February 12. Dr. Bishop should also face charges for the attempted murders of four other colleagues, three of whom she shot and another whom she repeatedly attempted to shoot.

Even though motive is not an element of any prosecutor's case, juries crave evidence of motive because if the 'why' does not make sense to a juror, it is a short step from uncertainty about motive to reasonable doubt about guilt. This is especially so in a criminal case where the defense is claiming insanity as the motive or reason for the crimes.

What was the motive for the shootings at UAH?

According to the Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime, the most common homicidal motivations are: abandonment/rejection; altruism/mercy killings; cover/destruction of evidence; alcohol/drugs; escape; fame/celebrity; fatal abuse; protection of self/others; frustration/anger; greed; hate/resentment; honor; indirect killing; insanity/mental illness; judicial reasons; lover's triangle; media influence; murder/suicide; rivalry/jealousy; sexual property; sexual sadism; and unwanted children.

Dr. Bishop's lawyer has already revealed Amy Bishop's theory of the case: that she is not guilty by reason of insanity. In an upcoming article Shepherds and Black Sheep will examine the insanity defense in depth.

Early focus considered whether Dr. Bishop's motivation for her deadly and violent attacks was retaliation for having been denied tenure by UAH. Using the Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime terminology, the motives of frustration/anger and hate/resentment.

This installment of Shepherds and Black Sheep considers an alternate theory of the crimes charged against Dr. Amy Bishop in connection with the events of February 12, 2010. This alternate theory falls under the Encyclopedia's defined murder motives of fame/celebrity and greed.

The theory is this: Dr. Amy Bishop planned and carried out the February 12 shootings that resulted in three deaths to gain nationwide notoriety (fame/celebrity) so she could use that notoriety as a launch pad for a new career as a novelist (fame/celebrity and greed.)

While this may seem initially too far fetched for serious consideration, it certainly fits the facts and makes evil sense out of the violent acts of Dr. Amy Bishop.

What rational person would seek publication of her novels through notoriety generated by ruthless acts of violence? Perhaps the same person who believes that she could obtain a child's high chair at a pancake house by screaming at and physically attacking another mother. Perhaps the same person who thought she could pad her professional record and obtain tenure by publishing in an online vanity journal collaborative research that deceptively identified her minor children as co-authors and employees of a lab which was, in fact, located in her home. Perhaps the same person who had already got away with murder once and believed she could do it again and again and again.

The fact that Amy Bishop aspired to be a novelist is not in dispute. Rob Dinsmoor, a freelance writer, met Bishop through a writer's group in Massachusettes and the two became and remained friends even after Dr. Bishop joined the UAH faculty.

During a broadcast radio interview on WBZ , Dinsmoor reported that he and Amy Bishop talked frequently on the phone right up until about a week before the February 12 shootings. Dr. Bishop complained frequently to Dinsmoor about denied tenure and told him she was "at the end of her rope, financially."

Dinsmoor said that Amy Bishop "absolutely" saw the "possibility of being published as an author as an escape from this track she was on in academia that did not include tenure." Dr. Bishop also frequently mentioned to Dinsmoor she was related to best selling novelist John Irving and she told Dinsmoor, "God, if only I could quit academia and write fiction full time that would be my dream world."

In 1999, Amy Bishop Anderson secured a copyright for her still unpublished 260 page novel she called "The Martian Experiment." She copyrighted at the same time alternate titles including:

"If Bullets Were Gold"

As fate would have it, this is also an apt working title for her premeditated, cold blooded executions and attempted murders of her UAH colleagues.

When Dr. Amy Bishop learned she was denied tenure at UAH and her final appeals had failed, she faced the dismal prospect at age 45 of competing with newly minted Ph.d's half her age, whose academic careers held promise, where hers reflected only recent failure.

Recognizing her academic career was in virtual shambles, Amy Bishop Anderson, the long aspiring novelist, strategized a plan that would provide her national notoriety and finally launch her literary career.

The steps in her plan: obtain a hand gun, practice shooting at a local range with her husband and partner in all business affairs James Anderson, have her husband drive her to work the day of the planned executions, carry the gun in a canvas book bag and act just weird enough in class so that her students would take note, then bring the loaded gun to her department faculty meeting and when the hour long meeting was almost over, but before anyone stood to leave, stand and begin shooting one after another colleague in the head.

When Dr. Bishop ran out of bullets, she allowed her surviving colleagues to push her out the door. She left the murder weapon in the restroom and calmly called her husband for him to come get her.

Given all these facts, the theory of the crimes now posited, though seemingly far fetched at first blush is, in fact, quite probable upon deeper examination: Dr. Amy Bishop plotted and murdered her colleagues in cold blood to gain notoriety from which she could launch what she dreamed would be a profitable career as a novelist.

In Dr. Bishop's evil mind, the opportunity to destroy the UAH Biological Sciences Department was probably a veritable bonus, appeasing her frustration/anger and hate/resentment.

Because Dr. Bishop needs to play the baffled amnesiac for the duration of the criminal proceedings in order for her 'not guilty by reason of insanity' plea to have any hope of success, her husband James Anderson has to step up and for once assume a leadership role in their relationship.

Dr. Bishop complained to Rob Dinsmoor in their phone calls that she was frustrated that her husband James Anderson was not employed and did not contribute financially to the family. If Dr. Bishop degraded her husband to Dinsmoor in this manner, it is doubtful she showed any more tact or restraint in communicating her frustration directly to her husband about his lack of financial contribution to the family.

So it now falls upon James Anderson to carry out the final steps of Dr. Bishop's evil plan: to bring to market her novels. Mr. Anderson's first step in that direction was alerting the nation to the fact that, 'oh by the way, my wife has three unpublished novels sitting at home.'

What he left out of his staged revelation was "Let the bidding begin."

UPDATE: Mainstream Media Finally Reporting Evidence Dr. Bishop Tried To Cheat Her Way To Tenure

2010-02-20T14:36:00.000-08:00

On February 15th, the blog Shepherds and Black Sheep was the first to report that accused murderer Dr. Amy Bishop had effectively cheated when she listed among her professional publications, collaborative research allegedly performed and co-authored by four employees of "Cherokee Labsystems."

Not only, as Shepherds and Black Sheep reported, was this research paper published in an online vanity press, Dr. Bishop also conveniently failed to disclose that "Cherokee Labsystems" operated out of the home she shared with her husband James Anderson and further failed to disclose that her four co-authors were her husband and three of the her four children: Lily B. Anderson, Phaedra B. Anderson and Thea B. Anderson.

Curiously, while Dr. Bishop was padding her record of collaborative research by trying to pass off her children as her professional colleagues, she chose not to share any credit with her only son, Seth, named for Dr. Bishop's brother Seth Morrison Bishop, whom she shot and killed in 1986.

The Commentors to the Blog article, many of whom self identify as college professors and scientists, have debated and examined Dr. Bishop's purported accomplishments and the other evidence detailed by Shepherds and Black Sheep.
Many have also questioned why the mainstream press was ignoring the substantial evidence that suggested Dr. Bishop tried to cheat her way to tenure.

It seems that mainstream media is finally catching up. On February 19th, the Boston Herald reported: "Amy Bishop, husband listed teens on research paper."

Likewise jumping on the Shepherds and Black Sheep bandwagon today is the New York Times, which reports that Dr. Bishop claimed her children on co-authors of her latest research published in what is essentially a scientific vanity press. The various experts interviewed by NYT echo the sentiments first expressed by the author and Commentors of Shepherds and Black Sheep.

When questioned about Dr. Bishop's possible fraud, UAH spokesperson Ray Gamer indicated the University was unaware that Dr. Bishop's children were listed as co-authors on one of her published research papers and acknowledged, "Its unusual."

Dr. Bishop's father-in-law, Jimmy Anderson Sr., had his own explanation as to why his grandchildren's names are listed on Dr. Bishop's published research as her co-authors: "They're very bright little kids."

Could Accused Murderer Amy Bishop Have Made A Weapon of Mass Destruction? A Herpes Bomb? Or Is She Just Another Ordinary, Cold Blooded Killer?

2010-02-15T02:47:00.000-08:00

As devastating and tragic as the ruthless massacre allegedly perpetrated by Dr. Amy Bishop was, there is a solitary reference in Dr. Bishop's online resume that seemed to raise the frightening possibility that the massacre could have been even greater. Specifically, Dr. Bishop claims in her resume to have participated in what she characterizes as either an "abstract or presentation." She describes it as follows:

Nicholas N., Holmes T., Bridge K., Cashman N. R., Anderson J., Bishop A.. (September 2004) Homeland Security Alert: NO is a Free Radical and Weapon of Mass Destruction! Partners for Biotechnology Research Conference, Monte Sano Mt. Conference Center, Huntsville, AL.

What kinds of chemicals, viruses and biological matter did Dr. Bishop have access to in her UAH lab or through her husband's Cherokee Labsystems is anyone's guess at present, but authorities should investigate immediately and rule out the possibility that Dr. Bishop planned for even greater devastation in the event of her arrest.

Commentors to this blog have indicated that to those in the field of neurobiology the title "Homeland Security Alert: NO is a Free Radical and Weapon of Mass Destruction" is obviously a joke. While it is certainly not obvious to the lay public, Commentor Greg Skibinski states:

The title you are referring to is not to be taken seriously... They were satirically referring to its ability to damage neural cells.

Commentor and neurobiologist "Nzia" passed similar judgment:

It is clear to any neurobiology [sic] that the title of her conference poster is tongue-in-cheek and a joke (albeit a bad one).

Readers of this Blog are urged to read in full the Comments of Greg Skibinski and "Nzia", both of whom contribute important information and insight based on their subject matter expertise.
Presumably, Greg Skibinski and Nzia are entirely correct and Dr. Bishop's reference to "weapons of mass destruction" is no more than a demonstration of her sick and twisted sense of humor.

While faking Homeland Security Alerts about WMD's is apparently simply Dr. Amy Bishop's sick sense of humor in play, since her cold blooded execution of three colleagues and her attempted murder of four more last February 12, Hunstville Police report they have received more than one call expressing concern that Dr. Bishop may have planted what is being called a 'herpes bomb' on the UAH campus. So far, no device of any nature that Dr. Bishop may have planted has been located.

Curiously, it has been reported that in one Dr. Bishop's unpublished novels she writes about the spread of a herpes-like virus . This has caused at least some to speculate whether Dr. Bishop or persons working in concert with her may not be responsible for the calling in herpes bomb scares.

Is Accused Murderer Dr. Amy Bishop An Academic Fraud, Delusional or Both?

2010-02-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

Dr. Amy Bishop faces capital murder charges for three deaths when she reportedly opened fire during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville last Friday. Three other colleagues were also shot and are hospitalized, at least two in critical condition. Early speculation says Dr. Bishop may have been motivated because she was reportedly denied tenure.

According to attorney and employment law expert Jayne Cucchiara, "tenure is the Holy Grail in academia. It is perceived as a guarantee of job security. While tenured professors can be removed for cause, proving sufficient cause to discharge a tenured professor is almost always a very difficult burden to meet."

"Most universities have a defined tenure application process," employment lawyer Jayne Cucchiara explained. She said "the process typically begins with an application package prepared and submitted by a professor seeking tenure. The application package details teaching, research, publishing and institutional and community accomplishments that the tenure applicant believes warrant tenure. The tenure decision of the applicant's Department Chair is generally given substantial deference when reviewed by a Dean level appointee in a university's administration."

According to Attorney Cucchiara, "in order to have a realistic chance of challenging a department's decision to deny tenure, the non-tenured professor must at a minimum be able to demonstrate a level and record of academic accomplishment comparable with those being granted tenure both in her department and at a university wide level." Attorney Cucchiara explained, "in academia, there is saying which is very true: publish or perish." She said, "student evaluations are considered, but generally much greater weight is placed on an established and consistent record of scholarly research published in peer reviewed journals."

An anonymous Commentor to this Blog, identifying himself as a UAH faculty member for the past 15 years, shed further light on the tenure review process at UAH:

Anonymous said...

As a faculty member at UAH, I would like to make two comments. First, in response to another anonymous comment, politics are not the most important issue at UAH. I have been here 15 years and have served on tenure review committees at every level at the university. I can tell you that we have denied tenure for really popular people who did not cut muster with regard to research, and we have granted tenure to people with excellent records, even though they had less desirable personality issues. Our tenure process is about as fair and objective as I can imagine. Second, the process at UAH involves 5 stages: departmental review, Dean review, college level tenure committee review, university-level review board, and the Provost. I have seen cases where one or more of these levels voted no, but the person ultimately recieved tenure, and I have also seen the opposite situation where multiple people said yes, but the Provost said no. So, it would not be uncommon for the department chair to be overruled after voting yes for tenure. The beauty of the tenure review process here is that no one person can kill your tenure if they happen to dislike you.

A review of the archived web pages of Dr. Bishop on the University of Alabama Department of Biological Sciences' website discloses numerous red flags that may well be the reason Dr. Bishop was denied tenure. In fact, after studying and comparing Dr. Bishop's archived web pages over the five plus years she was at UAH, one is left with an abiding and growing suspicion that Dr. Bishop is either an academic fraud or totally delusional in the same vein as the Jack Nicholson' character in Stephen King's The Shining, who believed he was writing the next great American novel only for his wife to discover he had been typing the same sentence over and over and over all winter long.

Maybe we will discover that Dr. Bishop is just a run of the mill sociopath for whom killing those in her way, whether they be colleagues or family, registers no greater blip on her emotional chart than, say, severing the spines of live animals to determine if she can induce neuron recovery by first subjecting the soon to be paralyzed animals to varying doses of nitric oxide, which, but the way, is fatal when overdosed, and which just so happens to be a fair restatement of Nos. 8 and 9 on Dr. Bishop's essentially static "research plan" since she arrived at UAH.

Put aside my obvious and impossible to disguise disgust with scientific research predicated on torturing animals. What still remains is that Dr. Bishop has been regurgitating the same static research plan for years:

Here is verbatim Dr. Bishop's December 11, 2003 published "Research Plan":

The overall goal of my laboratory will be to explore resistance to nitro-oxidative stress in CNS cells. The speciﬁc aims are to:

1. Determine if the adaptive resistance extends to other oxidants and other CNS cell types.
2. Determine which cellular targets of NO-mediated damage are protected by HO1 induction
and induced adaptive resistance.
3. Characterize NO-mediated signal transduction pathways that induce HO1.
4. Characterize the NO-mediated increase of HO1 mRNA stability and/or transcriptional
induction of HO1.
5. Determine what other genes are turned/off by HO1 induction and whether their
induction/inhibition is necessary for the induced adaptive resistance.
6. Characterize the role of HO-1, HO-1-mediated heme metabolism and iron in induced
adaptive resistance.
7. Characterize of the role of cytostasis and differentiation in NO resistance.
8. Eventually use whole animals for studies of induced adaptive resistance in the CNS.
9. Whole animal studies of induced recovery from spinal transection.
10. Study the inﬂuence of the low gravity/high radiation environment of space ﬂight on
resistance mechanisms to oxidative stress in the CNS.

Here is verbatim Dr. Bishop's June 14, 2008 UAH "Research Plan":

The overall goal of my laboratory will be to explore resistance to nitro-oxidative stress in CNS cells. The specific aims are to:

1. Determine if the adaptive resistance extends to other oxidants and other CNS cell types.
2. Determine which cellular targets of NO-mediated damage are protected by HO1 induction and induced adaptive resistance.
3. Characterize NO-mediated signal transduction pathways that induce HO1.
4. Characterize the NO-mediated increase of HO1 mRNA stability and/or transcriptional induction of HO1.
5. Determine what other genes are turned/off by HO1 induction and whether their induction/inhibition is necessary for the induced adaptive resistance.
6. Characterize the role of HO-1, HO-1-mediated heme metabolism and iron in induced adaptive resistance.
7. Characterize of the role of cytostasis and differentiation in NO resistance.
8. Eventually use whole animals for studies of induced adaptive resistance in the CNS.
9. Whole animal studies of induced recovery from spinal transection.
10. Study the influence of the low gravity/high radiation environment of space flight on resistance mechanisms to oxidative stress in the CNS.

It is difficult sometimes when reading technical jargon to do comparisons, but whether you understand the jargon or not, when you compare Dr. Bishop's two "Research Plans," which are five years apart, side by side, line by line, you do not need to be a Harvard trained geneticist to conclude that her plan never changes.

2003: 1. Determine if the adaptive resistance extends to other oxidants and other CNS cell types.
2008: 1. Determine if the adaptive resistance extends to other oxidants and other CNS cell types.

2003: 2. Determine which cellular targets of NO-mediated damage are protected by HO1 induction
and induced adaptive resistance.
2008: 2. Determine which cellular targets of NO-mediated damage are protected by HO1 induction and induced adaptive resistance.

2003: 3. Characterize NO-mediated signal transduction pathways that induce HO1.
2008: 3. Characterize NO-mediated signal transduction pathways that induce HO1.

2003: 4. Characterize the NO-mediated increase of HO1 mRNA stability and/or transcriptional
induction of HO1
2008: 4. Characterize the NO-mediated increase of HO1 mRNA stability and/or transcriptional induction of HO1.

2003: 5. Determine what other genes are turned/off by HO1 induction and whether their
induction/inhibition is necessary for the induced adaptive resistance.
2008: 5. Determine what other genes are turned/off by HO1 induction and whether their induction/inhibition is necessary for the induce

2003: 6. Characterize the role of HO-1, HO-1-mediated heme metabolism and iron in induced adaptive resistance.
2008: 6. Characterize the role of HO-1, HO-1-mediated heme metabolism and iron in induced adaptive resistance.

2003: 7. Characterize of the role of cytostasis and differentiation in NO resistance.
2008: 7. Characterize of the role of cytostasis and differentiation in NO resistance.

2003: 8. Eventually use whole animals for studies of induced adaptive resistance in the CNS.
2008: 8. Eventually use whole animals for studies of induced adaptive resistance in the CNS.

2003: 9. Whole animal studies of induced recovery from spinal transection.
2008: 9. Whole animal studies of induced recovery from spinal transection.

2003: 10. Study the inﬂuence of the low gravity/high radiation environment of space ﬂight on
resistance mechanisms to oxidative stress in the CNS.
2008: 10. Study the influence of the low gravity/high radiation environment of space flight on resistance mechanisms to oxidative stress in the CNS.

As demonstrated, you do not need to understand biology, to easily see that Dr. Bishop has not changed a word of her plan in five years. If you are not yet flashing back to Jack Nicholson's novel pages in the Shining -- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy -- then you didn't see the movie.

One anonymous Commentor to this Blog has suggested, "[a]s for the research plan being the same in 2003 and 2008, that could simply mean that she didn't care about her departmental web page. You ask professors to put something online, like their course syllabi or an NSF-style bio, and they will often do the bare minimum copy and pasting necessary to comply---it is, after all, a distraction from their job." This observation seems both reasonable and plausible in general terms. However, when you consider that 2003 was Dr. Bishop's first year at UAH and 2008 would have been a critical year in the tenure review process for her, it seems prudent to do than more than the 'bare minimum' these two pivotal years.

In addition to turning in the same boiler plate "Research Plan" year after year after year, with not a single step of research progression documented, when the tenure application process was upon her, Dr. Bishop engaged in what could fairly be described as a form of academic fraud.

According to her last UAH Department web page, Dr. Bishop's claims three publications in 2009:

Anderson, L. B., Anderson P. B., Anderson T. B., Bishop A., Anderson J., Effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on motor neuron survival (2009) International Journal of General Medicine. In press
Bishop A., Green-Hobbs K., Eguchi A., Pennie C., Anderson J.E., Estévez A. Differential sensitivity of oligodendrocytes and motor neurons to reactive nitrogen species: a new paradigm for the etiology of Multiple Sclerosis (2009). Journal of Neurochemistry. (109) 93-104.
  Bishop A, Gooch R, Green-Hobbs K, Cashman N. R., Demple B., Anderson J. E., Estévez A.,. Mitigation of nitrotyrosine formation in motor neurons adapted to nitrooxidative stress. (2009) Journal of Neurochemistry. (109) 74-84.

The first article "Effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on motor neuron survival" claims to have been written by "Anderson, L. B., Anderson P. B., Anderson T. B., Bishop A., Anderson J." and going to press in the "International Journal of General Medicine." If you track the article down what you discover is that the authors full names are Lily B Anderson, Phaedra B Anderson, Thea B Anderson, James Anderson and Dr. Bishop. Another way to describe the purported authors are that they are Dr. Bishop, her husband James 'Jimmy' Anderson and three of their children. Mr. Anderson and his children are all identified as employees of "Cherokee Labsystems" in Huntsville.

The website for Cherokee Labsystems -- www.cherokeelabsystems.com -- has a notice "Please stand by. We are currently updating our site and will be on-line shortly" and also shows the web address defaults to http://cherokeelabs.com/

According to the wayback machine this web address -- http://cherokeelabs.com/ -- was only active October 16, 2003 through January 30, 2005, but all the archived pages for that period show a website that relates to Cherokee Labrador dogs, not a genetic research laboratory.

Moreover, googling with street view the claimed address for Cherokee Labsystems - 2103 McDowling Dr. SE, Huntsville, AL - shows a residential home and not a laboratory allegedly involved in genetic research:

If pawning off your family as co-authors employed at a bogus genetic research lab located in a residential home is not fraud, then how about paying to have your alleged research published by an online vanity press that admits in its marketing materials that its idea of peer review "is that any paper that has interest to the readers and is reasonably written will be published. Thus the Editor is looking for reasons to publish your paper, NOT reject it." The other two articles 'published' by Dr. Bishop in 2009, include among the purported authors Dr. Bishop's husband "J.E. Anderson," whom she characterizes as her "Research Consultant, Cherokee Labsystems" in her June 2008 UAH webpage.

On her 2008 UAH faculty page, Dr. Bishop claimed:

My laboratory’s goal will be to continue in our effort to develop a neural computer, the Neuristor™, using living neurons. This computer will exploit all of the advantages of neurons. Specifically, neurons rich with the nitric oxide (NO) dependent learning receptor, N Methyl D Aspartate receptor (NMDAR), will be utilized. These have previously been studied in the context of induced adaptive resistance to NO (IAR). For the Neuristor™ we will take advantage of the IAR phenomena since it has been demonstrated that IAR neurons express more learning and memory receptors (NMDAR) as well as increased neurite outgrowth. The neurons that we are currently using are mammalian motor neurons. We are exploring the possibility of using neurons derived from adult stem cells, and from bony fishes provided by Bruce Stallsmith Ph.D. This laboratory has created a portable cell culture incubator, the Cell Drive™ that is an ideal support structure for the Neuristor™.

With respect to the Cell Drive, at seeming odds with Dr. Bishop's claim that her UAH lab "created a portable cell culture incubator, the Cell Drive™," on August 26, 2008 a TradeMark application for the name "CELLDRIVE" to be used for "laboratory equipment and supplies, namely, incubators" was filed by the claimed "Owner (Applicant) Cherokee Labsystems Jimmy E. Anderson...[who identified himself as] SOLE PROPRIETOR." Once again, the McDowling Drive address referenced above was given for Cherokee Labsystems.

An archived article accessible through the wayback machine depicts a "Press Release" about Dr. Bishop which reports that on March 10, 2009, Dr. Bishop's "Neuron Research Lab Launches Experiment in Space." The "launch" was on par with the Balloon Boy's purported takeoff, only with less drama and coverage. Also, while Dr. Bishop more than once mentions NASA on her web page, the March 2009 'launch' was handled by UAH Space Hardware Club, not NASA. Cherokee Labsystems, however, was purportedly involved; Dr. Bishop credited Cherokee with "payload support development." The payload -- live neuron cells from Dr. Bishop's lab secured in what looks to be a jury rigged contraption she calls the "'incubation chamber" purportedly designed to maintain temperature and pressure as the balloon ascended.

While the 'launching' of the balloon may have been a fun exercise for the students involved, the drafting of an amateur press release about the excursion hardly qualifies as published scholarly research.

Dr. Bishop's most startling claim in the 2008 UAH web page is her claim that her "laboratory’s goal will be to continue in our effort to develop a neural computer, the Neuristor™, using living neurons."

The Neuristor Trademark is registered to a Japanese company Eisai Company. None of Dr. Bishop's publications, even the one published in the online vanity journal, describe any research pertaining to neural computers or the Neuristor. It may well be that Dr. Bishop was contemplating taking her interest in neuron research into the sci-fi frontier of developing a neural computer, but it also seems logical that if this were, in truth, a new direction Dr. Bishop intended to pursue she would have revamped her published research plan to identify logical steps toward such a goal.

There is no question that Dr. Bishop is smart. But it also seems very evident that she suffers delusions of genuis. Far from establishing a record of accomplishment warranting the grant of tenure, since joining UAH Dr. Bishop took a long nap on her one true laurel -- her affiliation with Harvard .

Evidence strongly suggests that Dr. Bishop used her husband, her family and by all appearances the sham 'Cherokee Labsystems' to fabricate a record of recent accomplishments. Her use of essentially an online vanity publisher further diminishes her professional stature.

It should have been no surprise to Dr. Bishop that the University easily saw through the smoke and mirrors and that she would not receive tenure. But an oversized ego can be blinding.

It seems clear that Dr. Bishop re-wrote the rules for herself. Rather than face the reality that she needed to conduct real research and publish substantial, scholarly work in peer reviewed journals, Dr. Bishop tried to cheat her way to tenure. And, when that failed, it appears Dr. Bishop premeditated a new plan: if you don't accept what I publish, you will perish.

Student Feedback On Accused Murderer Dr. Amy Bishop

2010-02-14T01:21:00.000-08:00

Dr. Amy Bishop, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, has been charged with capital murder in connection with a shooting spree that left three wounded and three dead at a faculty meeting on Friday, February 12, 2010. Early reports are that Dr. Bishop open fired at the faculty meeting after it was announced that she had been denied tenure.

The three victims dead at the scene are Department Chair Dr. Gopi K. Podila and Department Faculty Dr. Maria Davis and Dr. Adriel Johnson:

The three wounded are Department Faculty Dr. Joseph Leahy and Dr. Luis Rogelio Cruz-Vera and Department Assistant Stephanie Monticciolo,

Dr. Leahy and Ms. Monticciolo are reported to be in critical condition. Dr. Cruz-Vera is reported to be in stable condition.

Braintree, Massachusettes authorities indicate that Dr. Bishop shot and killed her younger brother in 1986 when she was 19 and he was 18 years old. At that time his death was reportedly ruled accidental and Dr. Bishop was never prosecuted. In light of Friday's massacre, authorities must now question whether Dr. Bishop's shooting of her 18 year old brother was, in fact, accidental.

Whenever killings of this magnitude occur, we feel compelled to look for signs or clues of the depravity that we believe must exist to allow such ruthlessness. Certainly Dr. Bishop's students are a group with whom she has had substantial interaction on a regular basis over the years. As such, they may have observed such clues or signs.

The website Rate My Professors at www.ratemyprofessors.com claims to publish in the range of ten million student ratings of approximately one million college professors at more than six thousand schools. Among the millions of ratings reported on its website are numerous student ratings of Dr. Amy Bishop dating as far back as April 2004 and as recent as May 2009.

Below are quoted excerpts from the student ratings of Dr. Amy Bishop as reported on the Rate My Professors website:

"she is a socialist but only talks about it after class"
"Dr Bishop is very intelligent but a horrible teacher"
"Dr Bishop is an excellent teacher! She is very helpful and nice. She does everything to help students do well. She even offers extra classes! "
"Never met anyone who knows more random knowledge. Sci-fi to quantum mechanics with a little art history thrown in the mix"
"She's super smart and thinks everyone else is too so sometimes she goes too fast"
"She gets off on random**** all the time and is sooo completely scatter brained!"
"Dr. Bishop is brilliant. Her research is fascinating. She will surely get the Nobel Prize. She is the best teacher I have ever had."
" Her lectures are disorganized"
" I am in her lab and her class. She is smart, talks about more stuff than just the book. She lets me sit in her office and study. She always dresses nice. She should stop trying to straighten her hair and go natural!"
"Horrible teacher!"
"She is an excellent professor! very helpful and very intelligent!"

What a review of Dr. Amy Bishop's student rating shows is that at least in the classroom, Dr. Bishop seems to have been loved and hated much like many other professors. Certainly no clues or signs of Dr. Bishop's capacity for Friday's massacre is revealed in her student ratings.

10 Most Amazing Internet Videos Ever

2010-02-13T03:10:00.000-08:00

1. Most Amazing Music Machine When this went viral the claim was it was a real music machine designed and built by music and engineering students out of used John Deere tractor parts. Since then internet myth busters claim its an animation. Whatever it is and who ever created it, its super cool and they are super talented.

2. Most Amazing Parkour Video These guys are fearless and probably quite a few are or will be in early graves.

3. Most Amazing Kid Guitarist encore Sungha Jung The kid is 4real A bona fide prodigy.

4. Most Amazing Urban Biking This kid Danny Macaskill defies gravity, physics and fear. This should be an Olympic event if for no other reason than to give this kid a gold medal.

5. Most Amazing Mountain Biking More amazing kids on two wheels risking life and limb for fun.

6. Most Amazing Sand Artist Ukraine's Kseniya Simonova paints with sand to music. Hard to explain. Impossible to do. Amazing to watch.

7. Most Amazing School Assembly Dancers since Napolean Dynamite danced danced danced for the Vote for Pedro talent portion of his school assembly.

8. Most Amazing Dog Skidboot won a $25,000 talent show and made it on every talk show including Oprah.

9. Most Amazing Lecture Ever College Professor Randy Pausch delivers his final lecture after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Despite this incredibly depressing preface the lecture is amazingly uplifting. Set aside an hour and watch it with your family.

10. Most Amazing Final Play in Football Game About a dozen lateral passes and an announcer that goes insane.

Why Divorce Is The Only Answer For Tiger Woods

2010-02-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

Every relationship has a breaking point. Some can survive infidelity. But should they survive? That's an entirely different question. Tiger and Elin Woods needs to face a reality that people face everyday in half the homes in America: divorce.

Tiger Woods going through sex addiction therapy is ridiculous. Tiger is a cheater. He is not a pervert or a criminal. The cure for Tiger is simple. He needs to be single. Any doubt Tiger will be a hands on, terrific father? Absolutely none. Any doubt Elin will be set for life financially? Of course not.

And there's likewise no genuine doubt that any effort at reconciliation is delusional given the global level of humiliation Elin suffered. So why continue to delay and deny the inevitable? Just do it! (no trademark infringement intended)

It is time for Tiger to accept defeat. Reach a fair and compassionate financial settlement quickly that allows Elin to move forward with her dignity restored. Kids can adjust to divorce. What is truly damaging is to grow up in an environment of distrust, recrimination and tension. Its time for Tiger to resume his destiny. Let the healing begin.

Why Rage Against The Road: Let OCD Set You Free

2010-02-05T23:04:00.000-08:00

When I am driving by myself on the interstate long distances, my otherwise dormant OCD comes full throttle alive like an aberrant offshoot of Jack's bean stock. I make the Rain Man seem like a welcome traveling companion. One thing I do semi-regularly is speed. Nothing overtly suicidal, but still calculated to push the envelope and shave as many minutes as possible from my ETA based on posted speed limits and the latest google updates.

The trick is to find a rabbit. That's the driver that has to have the lead. The rabbit speeds up, slows down and speeds up again any time you even look like you might be thinking about making a move for the lead. Catch the rabbit's draft, relax and enjoy the view. Actually, that's not bad advice for life.

Another obsessive habit I have is reciting poems. I have maybe half a dozen or so memorized. One in particular called Kubla Khan I race to recite in less than a minute. I start the second the new minute begins. I have broken the 60 second barrier only a few times, but each victory has been so sweet. If anyone wants to hear me go for the record, I'd be happy to upload my latest attempt for your listening pleasure.

Sometimes I imagine how this special talent might one day prove as indispensable as Rudolph's red nose. From there I easily drift into a forensic profile of Rudolph, the troubled young reindeer gone rogue, which is probably within rifle range of Sarah Palin taking dead aim on the young buck. Not to suggest she would intentionally slaughter a defenseless animal, at least not without a proper license and all the fixins for reindeer stew on hand.

When the digital LED screen glows a new green minute, I cut immediately to Kubla Khan. Even though I have only beat the clock a few times, I routinely finish in under 75 seconds. I'm pretty sure this is world record territory. I am also pretty sure Hasbro won't be rushing to market at a Target near you Poetry Road Games although I'm already thinking 'the road not taken' would be a catchy tag line. Not that the Robert Frost Estate or even FrostFriends would ever support such crass exploitation.

In daylight driving I sometimes hold my breath between the one-tenth mile markers. I try to hold it for a mile. There seems to be some correlation between how fast I can recite Kubla Khan and how long I can hold my breath. I doubt it is exactly a 1:1 correlation, but that's pretty much where my math skills end.

Another thing I do when I'm in hillier areas is pick a landmark at the furthest distance ahead that I can actually describe to myself with confidence and estimate the distance. I then immediately reset the secondary trip odometer and calculate my ETA. When done, I wait for the next full minute to dawn, take a well timed breath and charge Kubla Khan.

I once read that men are better at estimating spatial distances. Challenge taken, I am amazed how many miles I can see on a clear day. I know we can see planets and galaxies millions of light years away, but we aren't actually seeing them. Its a parlor trick of Einsteinian proportions. All we see is the light they radiate after it travels through time at the insanely constant speed of 186,000 miles per second. That's a lot of Kubla Khans.

The author may be right though. I am terrible at estimating distances. Maybe my latest invention - a zoom feature for the windshield - will help. Meanwhile, at a hill's crest I have been able to make out landmarks nearly ten miles out. I read there is a mathematical formula to determine visible distance on flat earth and the maximum is claimed to be 2.9 miles. I don't understand the math. Possibly it has do with the curvature of the earth. I don't believe the claim, but its out there.

These mind journeys are a form of high speed meditation that keep keep me clear of road rage. They may, of course, generate road rage for those in my draft. Sorry about that.

Warning: I am nobody's rabbit.