Miscellaneous.

All we need in this country is a return of an ancient disease.
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Charla Mack's mother spoke at Darren Mack's sentencing hearing.
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I Have Been Asleep at the Switch.

Yesterday was a huge day locally because pawnshop owner Darren Mack decided to take a plea deal rather than have his defense go forward with presenting their (nonexistent) case.

Mack should have plead guilty for his wife's murder in the first place.

Still, he wants to blame others for his own rotten actions:

Set to start his defense Monday, Reno pawnshop owner Darren Mack instead abruptly ended his murder trial by accepting a plea deal that calls for a life prison term and gives him the chance to criticize the forces he claims drove him to his crimes.

The 46-year-old one-time multimillionaire was on trial for killing his wife and wounding the couple's divorce judge, Washoe County Family Court Chuck Weller. Mack is expected to use his sentencing in January as a public forum for criticizing the Family Court system.

Mack pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder for the June 12, 2006, throat-slashing of 39-year-old Charla Mack, and he entered an Alford plea to attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon for the sniper-style shooting of Weller. An Alford plea does not involve an admission of guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors could prove their case if it went to trial.

I wish nobody would give him a forum to spew hate towards Judge Weller and other judges.

Yet he claims he didn't want to drag the dead estranged wife Charla through the mud and said he wanted to accept "responsibility" for her death.

Go figure.

At least 11 jurors at the trial didn't buy the defense's argument:

After they were dismissed Monday, 11 jurors said they thought overwhelming evidence existed that Mack methodically plotted his crimes.

"It would have been a tough, tough job for them to prove that yes, he was insane for that period of time" when he shot Weller, said juror Ryan Murdy, 34, of Henderson.

Mack's obsession with what he perceived as the injustice of Family Court and his desire to change it by force -- even calling for armed revolution against the system -- did make him seem a bit crazy, but it did not convince jurors that he was so insane as to not know right from wrong.

As the World Turns.

The Darren Mack trial looks to be a fairly short trial.

The prosecution will rest its case Friday.

It'll be interesting what kind of crap the defense comes up with.
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This teacher could be hero of the year with his protest over NCLB.

Wasserman said he originally planned to resume his protest on Thursday, the second day of testing, and through four more days of testing next week. But he said Wednesday he would likely back off and give the test after Superintendent Art Rainwater told a teacher’s union official that Wasserman could be fired if the protest continued.

“I can’t jeopardize health insurance for my family,” said Wasserman, 36. “I want to still hold by my morals, which I feel very strongly about. But I have a family to think about.”

The AP report is here.

More teachers and parents should rise up in opposition to this piece of shit.
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As the World Turns.

When Judge Weller was shot in his office in June 2006, he knew right off the bat who did it.
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Although she's been crucified by the media, Heather Mills has refused to compare herself to Jesus Christ; instead, she likens her predicament to the late Diana.
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A prominent real estate agent with popular music connections was found murdered:

A woman who helped pioneer the punk music scene, influenced the careers of Madonna and the Ramones and went on to become known as a real estate agent to the stars was found bludgeoned to death Tuesday night in her apartment at 965 Fifth Avenue, the police said yesterday.

The victim, Linda S. Stein, 62, was found shortly before 10:30 p.m. by her daughter Mandy and a friend, who called 911. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

I am sure there will be more about this case.
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Washoe, the chimpanzee who knew sign language, has died at the age of 42.
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Mack Trial.

There was a "to do" list left on the kitchen table.

As the World Turns.

The Darren Mack trial officially began with defense lawyers trying to use the insanity excuse for his murderous behavior.

The excuses are drugs, and, get this, "self defense," i.e., it was all his slain wife's fault he killed her:

Defense attorneys painted Charla as a physically and verbally abusive wife. Her own step-grandmother, whom Mack believed to be clairvoyant, predicted Charla would one day stab her husband and that prediction prompted him to start carrying around a knife, his lawyers said.

Freeman said Mack had loved his wife so unconditionally that he allowed her to have sex with other men and women so that she could satisfy her sexual appetite.

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A miniature horse was killed by two pit bulls on the loose.

This just makes me sick:

A miniature horse given to a boy with brain cancer by the Make-A-Wish Foundation was killed by a pair of pit bulls who were found roaming in his yard, authorities said.

The 31-inch tall horse, Anniversary, was donated by the foundation to 3-year-old Christian Vasquez in late August.

Christian, who was diagnosed in January with a malignant form of brain cancer, received a pull cart, a blanket, a halter and a bridle set from the foundation on Saturday, said Jelaine Workman, executive director for the foundation's Amarillo chapter.

This is what happens when a guilty-as-sin defendant has no case at all but thinks he can beat the system. The victim is the one who is on trial.

We saw this in the O.J. Simpson trial, and we saw this in the Robert Blake trial, and this tactic is used all the time in lesser known cases.
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A few pictures of the recent John Henry memorial service can be found here on this fan site.
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I am about to hit the sack, but I have been listening to some of my vintage favorite recordings of the 50s and 60s, when I came across this old Ebony article from 1998 of an interview with the "real" widow of famed doo wop singer Frankie Lymon (1942-1968). As you may recall, there was a big court battle over the rights to his biggest hit, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," and three women claimed they all had been married to Lymon.

The dispute was made into a movie.

Lymon was one of my all-time favorites. I love doo wop.

I thought the article was worth posting a link from this blog.
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