Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Anna Nicole baby book: Uncle Howard over Stern thumbprint
Disarming. Charming. And little doubt, since Judge Seidlin publicly stated so, impressive. Larry Birkhead. Exclusively asked questions by Judge Larry Seidlin, Larry Birkhead goes through the chronology of his relationship with Anna Nicole Smith. Birkhead noted he and Anna Nicole met by chance at a photo shoot in 2003. Afterwards, months later, Birkhead was asked by Smith, via Harold K. Stern, to do a private photo-shoot of Anna Nicole.
Subsequently the relationship turned from professional to personal about July-August of 2004 for approximately one-year. There was a two-month break from the exclusivity during November and December, 2005 when Anna Nicole visited with a wealthy man Birkhead said was a friend Birkhead had introduced previously to Anna Nicole. In December of that year, Birkhead believed they'd be getting back together and he'd waited out Christmas Eve in a restaurant but she never showed.
In January 2006, Anna Nicole and Birkhead reconciled their differences, he said.
His answers clear up a lot of questions.
Seidlin asks his opinion of the condition Anna Nicole was in when she appeared in the video shown in court.
They backtrack to his and her relationship. He was told about the second baby, he says Anna Nicole Smith miscarried their first child.
In april '06, Anna calls him to come to the hospital. Anna asked if he wanted to know the sex of the baby. He stayed in the room with her and Mr. Stern is sleeping on a cot nearby. Birkhead was concerned with the drugs she'd been on, and he observed Mr. Stern reach into a duffel back and take out other medication to give to her. He was concerned about that and how it would affect the hospital treatment.
At one point, she was writing in her babybook at the hospital.
She placed her thumbprint in the book noting mother. Birkhead placed his thumbprint in the book with Anna Nicole writing, father.
Birkhead says he suggested Stern be included in the book since he was present and Birkhead felt sorry for him. Anna Nicole had Howard come over and put his thumbprint on it, writing over it, Uncle Howard.
....
Subsequently the relationship turned from professional to personal about July-August of 2004 for approximately one-year. There was a two-month break from the exclusivity during November and December, 2005 when Anna Nicole visited with a wealthy man Birkhead said was a friend Birkhead had introduced previously to Anna Nicole. In December of that year, Birkhead believed they'd be getting back together and he'd waited out Christmas Eve in a restaurant but she never showed.
In January 2006, Anna Nicole and Birkhead reconciled their differences, he said.
His answers clear up a lot of questions.
Seidlin asks his opinion of the condition Anna Nicole was in when she appeared in the video shown in court.
They backtrack to his and her relationship. He was told about the second baby, he says Anna Nicole Smith miscarried their first child.
In april '06, Anna calls him to come to the hospital. Anna asked if he wanted to know the sex of the baby. He stayed in the room with her and Mr. Stern is sleeping on a cot nearby. Birkhead was concerned with the drugs she'd been on, and he observed Mr. Stern reach into a duffel back and take out other medication to give to her. He was concerned about that and how it would affect the hospital treatment.
At one point, she was writing in her babybook at the hospital.
She placed her thumbprint in the book noting mother. Birkhead placed his thumbprint in the book with Anna Nicole writing, father.
Birkhead says he suggested Stern be included in the book since he was present and Birkhead felt sorry for him. Anna Nicole had Howard come over and put his thumbprint on it, writing over it, Uncle Howard.
....
What to ask Howard K. Stern about Anna on mushrooms
Judge Seidlin, ask Howard K. Stern about the home video made of Anna Nicole and her friends' (the Shelly's) daughter. In the video, the child is shown painting Anna Nicole's face like a clown.
Ask Stern if he made a statement when taking the film: this will bring in a lot of money.
Ask Stern if he made a statement to Anna Nicole when taking the film: are you on mushrooms?
Ask why he permitted and underage child to "play" clowns with a woman he believed may have been ON DRUGS?
Are these the actions of a responsible father-to-be?
Here goes the counsel for Vergie Arthur who finally got his time to cross Stern, but he did a poor job.
In swoops Debra Opri questioning Howard K. Stern... and Christa Barth raises an objection... asks all her aliases, oh my goodness, Stern just rattles off dozens of names. Did Stern pick up any prescription drugs for any of those names. It's been asked and answered, but yes, he did.
Bank of America card never activated.
Did he ever charge anything with her credit cards? Investigation
was he an officer of ANS
is he the biological father? the Judge would not let him answer the question.
Judge Seidlin says he doesn't want to inflame anything.
Come on Judge. Opri says the answer would go to the heart of impeachment, he testified yesterday he was the natural father under Bahama law.
But he hasn't been asked whether he is the natural father, period.
Judge Seidlin doesn't want to get into this and sandbag anyone...
Well, Judge we're all stuck in the sand - who is Dannielynn's biological father?
Ask Stern if he made a statement when taking the film: this will bring in a lot of money.
Ask Stern if he made a statement to Anna Nicole when taking the film: are you on mushrooms?
Ask why he permitted and underage child to "play" clowns with a woman he believed may have been ON DRUGS?
Are these the actions of a responsible father-to-be?
Here goes the counsel for Vergie Arthur who finally got his time to cross Stern, but he did a poor job.
In swoops Debra Opri questioning Howard K. Stern... and Christa Barth raises an objection... asks all her aliases, oh my goodness, Stern just rattles off dozens of names. Did Stern pick up any prescription drugs for any of those names. It's been asked and answered, but yes, he did.
Bank of America card never activated.
Did he ever charge anything with her credit cards? Investigation
was he an officer of ANS
is he the biological father? the Judge would not let him answer the question.
Judge Seidlin says he doesn't want to inflame anything.
Come on Judge. Opri says the answer would go to the heart of impeachment, he testified yesterday he was the natural father under Bahama law.
But he hasn't been asked whether he is the natural father, period.
Judge Seidlin doesn't want to get into this and sandbag anyone...
Well, Judge we're all stuck in the sand - who is Dannielynn's biological father?
Judge Larry Seidlin Just Find Out Who Is Biological Dad!
This hearing is absolutely tremendous. this Judge is absolutely the best gift Anna Nicole Smith could ever ever have had in life as she has in death.
Intent of Anna Nicole on where she wanted to be buried is still at issue in the proceedings before Judge Seidlin. In probate, intent is painted all over it. Was she on drugs, depressed... in a short version they are going to go into whether she had any drug use.
Oh my goodness, Judge Seidlin is asking Howard K. Stern what drugs was she using?
What prescription drugs in the last three years?
Stern is not responding! He will not answer.
At one point, though, the proceedings are interrupted because the Judge says he needs to know who the father is, he really does, but he still is reluctant to go there. Why is he unwilling to go there?
Anybody can see upon reflection that Anna Nicole Smith let the real father of her child go, she was vindictive, she didn't want the real father to be involved in the child's life.
But guess what. That happens every day in this country. Mothers sometimes don't want the natural fathers involved out of spite.
the child needs to have the state step in and identify the natural father.
Then on behalf of Danielynn the father can give indication where Dannielynn and he would be living, and that's where Anna Nicole should be buried. Arrangements can then be made to have the remains of Daniel Wayne join Anna Nicole.
Intent of Anna Nicole on where she wanted to be buried is still at issue in the proceedings before Judge Seidlin. In probate, intent is painted all over it. Was she on drugs, depressed... in a short version they are going to go into whether she had any drug use.
Oh my goodness, Judge Seidlin is asking Howard K. Stern what drugs was she using?
What prescription drugs in the last three years?
Stern is not responding! He will not answer.
At one point, though, the proceedings are interrupted because the Judge says he needs to know who the father is, he really does, but he still is reluctant to go there. Why is he unwilling to go there?
Anybody can see upon reflection that Anna Nicole Smith let the real father of her child go, she was vindictive, she didn't want the real father to be involved in the child's life.
But guess what. That happens every day in this country. Mothers sometimes don't want the natural fathers involved out of spite.
the child needs to have the state step in and identify the natural father.
Then on behalf of Danielynn the father can give indication where Dannielynn and he would be living, and that's where Anna Nicole should be buried. Arrangements can then be made to have the remains of Daniel Wayne join Anna Nicole.
Howard K. Stern asked about Income
We deduced at this site from commentary made yesterday during the Anna Nicole Smith court proceedings that at some point before Saturday, viewing of Smith's body would be held at the medical examiner's office.
Today, when the group broke for lunch at noon and Judge Seidlin said they wouldn't return til 2:30 and Howard Stern and Vergie Arthur appeared particularly well-groomed, it really didn't take a rocket scientist to determine there would be a viewing in the ME's office.
But at any rate, Splash had helicopters overhead.
After AN death at Hard Rock Stern said he and Anna Nicole built up a relationship with Entertainment Tonight, and Stern flew from Florida to Bahamas with ET paying for that charter. Did Stern give any interviews for remuneration? Yes. Interview video, yes from Florida to the Bahamas. They videotaped the house. Did he discuss with them any remuneration for the use of those tapes. No...
If there were a funeral and if it was televised he believed all proceeds should go to Dannylynn...
Is any third party from media paying for his stay, travel, lodging, food... No.
Oh really, just ask the man if he ever made a million with Anna Nicole for anything first upon the birth of Dannielynn and then since the death of Daniel Wayne Smith.
Named as trustee on behalf of Daniel, blah blah, he's going to waive all his trustee fees, executor fees, etc.
Very interesting, he is on retainer in the litigation in the matter of her deceased husband. 6 percent of potentially 100 million.
Well, that's if Anna Nicole wins that case. If she doesn't, he gets zero. so what is his backup plan.
Today, when the group broke for lunch at noon and Judge Seidlin said they wouldn't return til 2:30 and Howard Stern and Vergie Arthur appeared particularly well-groomed, it really didn't take a rocket scientist to determine there would be a viewing in the ME's office.
But at any rate, Splash had helicopters overhead.
After AN death at Hard Rock Stern said he and Anna Nicole built up a relationship with Entertainment Tonight, and Stern flew from Florida to Bahamas with ET paying for that charter. Did Stern give any interviews for remuneration? Yes. Interview video, yes from Florida to the Bahamas. They videotaped the house. Did he discuss with them any remuneration for the use of those tapes. No...
If there were a funeral and if it was televised he believed all proceeds should go to Dannylynn...
Is any third party from media paying for his stay, travel, lodging, food... No.
Oh really, just ask the man if he ever made a million with Anna Nicole for anything first upon the birth of Dannielynn and then since the death of Daniel Wayne Smith.
Named as trustee on behalf of Daniel, blah blah, he's going to waive all his trustee fees, executor fees, etc.
Very interesting, he is on retainer in the litigation in the matter of her deceased husband. 6 percent of potentially 100 million.
Well, that's if Anna Nicole wins that case. If she doesn't, he gets zero. so what is his backup plan.
Howard K. Stern counsel implies Anna Nicole's mother to be paid
Counsel for Howard K. Stern, Christa Barth, has been attempting to bring in material, as yet without production of documentation, that Smith's mother, Vergie Arthur, has been paid, or is expected to be paid, for interviews with certain news outlets. Barth mentioned Splash, Inside Edition, ABC, ABC outlets, and a couple of names, including, Babette Perry.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6376254.html
Court TV News correspondent produced an invoice reportedly from Splash to the Insider which states in part video of Daniel Wayne Smith...
MSNBC Video Live
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=cc3da169-2072-4500-87df-77e9005fb38d&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17257459/from/RS.1/&fg=
Youtube videos
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=NICOLE&search_sort=relevance&search_category=25
Court TV Links
http://boards.courttv.com/printthread.php?s=a48b901795d7072c478cb6e4bcb5589c&threadid=286947&perpage=172
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6376254.html
Court TV News correspondent produced an invoice reportedly from Splash to the Insider which states in part video of Daniel Wayne Smith...
MSNBC Video Live
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=cc3da169-2072-4500-87df-77e9005fb38d&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17257459/from/RS.1/&fg=
Youtube videos
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=NICOLE&search_sort=relevance&search_category=25
Court TV Links
http://boards.courttv.com/printthread.php?s=a48b901795d7072c478cb6e4bcb5589c&threadid=286947&perpage=172
Holt Election Security Bill Opposition Not Abating
from Bev Harris Black Box Voting
excerpt
I find the "pass Holt now even if it's damaged goods, or we won't have anything in 2008!" arguments to be not just dangerous to our system of government, not just an invitation to waste collossal sums of money, not just exploitive and coercive, but partisan.
Such arguments imply that "if we don't pass something, anything" Republicans will cheat. While they don't come right out and say "We are Democrats and we think Republicans steal elections", when you peel off the layers you find that assumption among many who are pushing Holt.
Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I live in King County, Washington, the home of the deleted three hours in the GEMS audit log, the home of the now-you-see-em-now-you-don't ballots, which appeared like rabbits out of a hat every few weeks during the 2004 gubernatorial recount (usually when the Republican candidate pulled ahead; the "found" ballots -- lo and behold -- ended up in the Democrat "winning").
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Election integrity is not a partisan issue and it is not an issue that should be "solved" by dealing only with the federal races, as if the presidential race was the key to election integrity.
The most common frauds are at the county level, in the breadbasket positions that oversee development projects, guns, and contraband. Those positions in turn hold great sway over the elections official chosen, and that election official -- or any civil servant working for that election official -- can hold the keys to the kingdom for the federal races...
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/46701.html
More
2-8-07: Beware of the Bandwagon -- A concise list of problems with Holt Bill HR 811
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/46667.html?1171504136
excerpt
I find the "pass Holt now even if it's damaged goods, or we won't have anything in 2008!" arguments to be not just dangerous to our system of government, not just an invitation to waste collossal sums of money, not just exploitive and coercive, but partisan.
Such arguments imply that "if we don't pass something, anything" Republicans will cheat. While they don't come right out and say "We are Democrats and we think Republicans steal elections", when you peel off the layers you find that assumption among many who are pushing Holt.
Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I live in King County, Washington, the home of the deleted three hours in the GEMS audit log, the home of the now-you-see-em-now-you-don't ballots, which appeared like rabbits out of a hat every few weeks during the 2004 gubernatorial recount (usually when the Republican candidate pulled ahead; the "found" ballots -- lo and behold -- ended up in the Democrat "winning").
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Election integrity is not a partisan issue and it is not an issue that should be "solved" by dealing only with the federal races, as if the presidential race was the key to election integrity.
The most common frauds are at the county level, in the breadbasket positions that oversee development projects, guns, and contraband. Those positions in turn hold great sway over the elections official chosen, and that election official -- or any civil servant working for that election official -- can hold the keys to the kingdom for the federal races...
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/46701.html
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 11:32 pm:
by Nancy Tobi
Intro by Bev Harris
A Ponzi Scheme, by definition, is an artifice that is insolvent from its inception, thereby defrauding its funders (in this case, the taxpayers). Ponzi schemes work on the "rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul" principle, as new investment (taxpayer) money is needed to fulfill promises made on earlier investments (tax monies) until the whole scheme collapses.
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/46701.html?1172078759
More
2-8-07: Beware of the Bandwagon -- A concise list of problems with Holt Bill HR 811
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/46667.html?1171504136
Former Fox Network Anchor Kiran Chetry Now CNN & AC 360
Anyone notice the format during Anderson Cooper's 360 included obviously former anchor for Fox 'n Friends and news correspondent for Fox News Kiran Chetry!
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
War in Iraq Creating More Terrorists?; Battle Over Anna Nicole's Remains Drags On; Inside the Amazon Rain Forest
Aired February 20, 2007 - 22:00 ET
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good evening, everyone, here in America, also watching around the world.
I'm Kiran Chetry. John King and I are sitting in for Anderson Cooper. And, yes, he still is in Brazil, working on our "Planet in Peril" series. He will join us just ahead...
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/20/acd.01.html
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
War in Iraq Creating More Terrorists?; Battle Over Anna Nicole's Remains Drags On; Inside the Amazon Rain Forest
Aired February 20, 2007 - 22:00 ET
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good evening, everyone, here in America, also watching around the world.
I'm Kiran Chetry. John King and I are sitting in for Anderson Cooper. And, yes, he still is in Brazil, working on our "Planet in Peril" series. He will join us just ahead...
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/20/acd.01.html
PA Constitutional Convention: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
No matter who the delegates to a Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, there is never a way to foolproof limitations to only certain matters. Delegates could propose a measure to in fact have future amendments to the state Constitution adopted by less stringent requirements than are currently employed.
All of the reforms that are mentioned as ones to include in the convention matters can be accomplished by the traditional, but deliberative and lengthy, current constitutional amendment process.
The Constitution is not at fault for a legislative body that doesn't follow it.
See Vote Fix for detailed treatment of this topic.
http://www.pacleansweep.com/cgi-bin/poll.cgi
All of the reforms that are mentioned as ones to include in the convention matters can be accomplished by the traditional, but deliberative and lengthy, current constitutional amendment process.
The Constitution is not at fault for a legislative body that doesn't follow it.
See Vote Fix for detailed treatment of this topic.
Constitutional convention reform hearing set
By The Tribune-Review
Monday, February 12, 2007
A Republican state senator plans to hold the first in a series of hearings on a constitutional convention to reform state government in Pittsburgh next week.
Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, of Dauphin County, who chairs the Senate State Government Committee, said today he is inviting public comment about whether to convene a constitutional convention that could reform the Legislature and judiciary.
The first hearing is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 22 at Duquesne University's School of Law. Among those expected to testify next week are law professors who are experts in constitutional law and representatives of public interest groups who advocate government reform.
Before a constitutional convention can be held, voters would have to approve a ballot referendum seeking to reform sections pertaining to the Legislature's term limits, size and finances. Other issues could include judicial salaries, Piccola's office said.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_492866.html
Reformers Overwhelmingly Support Constitutional Convention
A vast majority of respondents to an ongoing informal poll conducted by PACleanSweep support a constitutional convention in Pennsylvania.
The survey was launched by the group to gauge initial citizen reaction to the idea and to coincide with a Thursday hearing by the Senate State Government Committee on the issue in Pittsburgh.
As of noon Tuesday, 92 percent of respondents indicated support for a convention.
90 percent indicated their preference for a “general” convention, free of limitations set by the General Assembly, but that sentiment was mitigated by the potential for a review of Article I, the Declaration of Rights.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they would be less likely to support a convention if it included a review of Article I. Only 16 percent supported including Article I, while 17 percent were undecided.
During the last “general” convention held in Pennsylvania in 1873, Article I was excluded from consideration by the authorizing Act of the General Assembly. The respondents also showed a clear preference for a convention free of influence from elected officials and political parties.
96 percent opposed elected officials serving as delegates to a convention and 97 percent opposed allowing elected officials to appoint delegates. 97 percent said they would be more likely to support a convention if delegates were selected in non-partisan fashion, free of any influence from local political party committees...
http://www.pacleansweep.com/cgi-bin/poll.cgi
Anna Nicole Smith Viewing May Be Done In ME Facility
Breaking News
Net the Truth Online
from first-hand observation Court TV News, MSNBC, Fox News, and streaming video
During court proceedings yesterday in Broward County, Florida, Judge Larry Seidlin received a call from Dr. Joshua Perper, the Chief Medical Examiner. Interrupting counsel for Smith's mother, Vergie Arthur, as he was cross-examining Howard K. Stern in mid-sentence, Seidlin dealt with the call privately, then let the call go through publicly. Dr. Perper said that Anna Nicole Smith's body - though embalmed - is continuing to deteriorate rapidly, more rapidly than expected, and will not be optimal for viewing at a further point in the future.
Judge Seidlin asked whether the medical examiner's office could be utilized for viewing. There was mumbled discussion among the counsel.
Seidlin commented he thought he had two to three weeks. He was moving swiftly before, now it appears he's at lightning speed.
Commentator says Perper said any viewing should be done by Saturday!
No decision was made, but at one point after Howard K. Stern testified and was seated, the Judge asked him to return tomorrow for a couple of hours. Seidlin said he had two airplanes waiting to take Stern back to the Bahamas, and implied their availability for the next day's proceeedings.
While Anna Nicole's mother, Vergie Arthur is seated in the courtroom, along with former boyfriend and purported father of Dannielynn, Larry Birkhead, and companion Harold K Stern, whose name is on the birth certificate for Dannielynn and claims he is the father, discussion centers on viewing of Smith's body.
Let me tell you, this is drama unfolding in a way nobody not even a sitcom writer could have ever predicted.
How tragic. It goes to show we should all make wills, especially when there are minor children involved.
What is the saddest of all - is the child, Dannielynn - now about six months old - was born without the benefit of having the truth, whatever that truth might be, about the identity of her biological father.
Judge Seidlin, at several points throughout, alluded to his seeing the big picture. It seemed after the Inside Edition interview was shown, on a somewhat grainy copy of a videotape, Seidlin really had not expected to see what he viewed.
The videotape shows Anna Nicole Smith seated next to Howard K. Stern. Her speech gets odder as she progresses.
In the videotape, Smith says her mother accuses her of murdering her own son, Daniel, and Howard, too.
clip
One major event occurred during the testimony of Howard K. Stern. Stern was in mid-cross-examination by counsel for Vergie Arthur when the Judge interrupted and asked the Administrator ad litum to pose some series of questions along certain lines of a particular case.
Counsel tried to then assume back the cross-exam, but Seidlin began to hurry things even further along, and denied his continuation.
Personally, I think Seidlin has pretty much made up his mind after learning about the deterioration of Smith's body. I think he's going to order that she be viewed by Saturday by the closest relatives and Stern. I don't think Seidlin wants to actually release the body of Anna Nicole Smith - I think he is going to order that the body remain at the medical examiner's office until all court cases are resolved. That could take years.
Wouldn't that be something. Anna Nichol Smith treated more like a Queen in death, than ever in life.
Stern: Smith wanted to be buried in Bahamas
Dueling court cases deal with burial plans, baby's paternity
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/
Vido of Anna Nicole Smith - Inside Edition 10/06 played during court proceedings
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=e0c22eb7-46ad-4d47-af7e-9ef5c2dbe421&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&fg=
Sep 15, 2006
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425824/830889
More
Net the Truth Online
from first-hand observation Court TV News, MSNBC, Fox News, and streaming video
During court proceedings yesterday in Broward County, Florida, Judge Larry Seidlin received a call from Dr. Joshua Perper, the Chief Medical Examiner. Interrupting counsel for Smith's mother, Vergie Arthur, as he was cross-examining Howard K. Stern in mid-sentence, Seidlin dealt with the call privately, then let the call go through publicly. Dr. Perper said that Anna Nicole Smith's body - though embalmed - is continuing to deteriorate rapidly, more rapidly than expected, and will not be optimal for viewing at a further point in the future.
Judge Seidlin asked whether the medical examiner's office could be utilized for viewing. There was mumbled discussion among the counsel.
Seidlin commented he thought he had two to three weeks. He was moving swiftly before, now it appears he's at lightning speed.
Commentator says Perper said any viewing should be done by Saturday!
No decision was made, but at one point after Howard K. Stern testified and was seated, the Judge asked him to return tomorrow for a couple of hours. Seidlin said he had two airplanes waiting to take Stern back to the Bahamas, and implied their availability for the next day's proceeedings.
While Anna Nicole's mother, Vergie Arthur is seated in the courtroom, along with former boyfriend and purported father of Dannielynn, Larry Birkhead, and companion Harold K Stern, whose name is on the birth certificate for Dannielynn and claims he is the father, discussion centers on viewing of Smith's body.
Let me tell you, this is drama unfolding in a way nobody not even a sitcom writer could have ever predicted.
How tragic. It goes to show we should all make wills, especially when there are minor children involved.
What is the saddest of all - is the child, Dannielynn - now about six months old - was born without the benefit of having the truth, whatever that truth might be, about the identity of her biological father.
Judge Seidlin, at several points throughout, alluded to his seeing the big picture. It seemed after the Inside Edition interview was shown, on a somewhat grainy copy of a videotape, Seidlin really had not expected to see what he viewed.
The videotape shows Anna Nicole Smith seated next to Howard K. Stern. Her speech gets odder as she progresses.
In the videotape, Smith says her mother accuses her of murdering her own son, Daniel, and Howard, too.
clip
One major event occurred during the testimony of Howard K. Stern. Stern was in mid-cross-examination by counsel for Vergie Arthur when the Judge interrupted and asked the Administrator ad litum to pose some series of questions along certain lines of a particular case.
Counsel tried to then assume back the cross-exam, but Seidlin began to hurry things even further along, and denied his continuation.
Personally, I think Seidlin has pretty much made up his mind after learning about the deterioration of Smith's body. I think he's going to order that she be viewed by Saturday by the closest relatives and Stern. I don't think Seidlin wants to actually release the body of Anna Nicole Smith - I think he is going to order that the body remain at the medical examiner's office until all court cases are resolved. That could take years.
Wouldn't that be something. Anna Nichol Smith treated more like a Queen in death, than ever in life.
Stern: Smith wanted to be buried in Bahamas
Dueling court cases deal with burial plans, baby's paternity
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/
Vido of Anna Nicole Smith - Inside Edition 10/06 played during court proceedings
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=e0c22eb7-46ad-4d47-af7e-9ef5c2dbe421&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&fg=
Sep 15, 2006
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425824/830889
Final Footage of Anna Nicole Smith Sells for Over $500,000, Turns Up on German TV, Web Site
Friday, February 09, 2007
By Sara Bonisteel
Dramatic video of EMTs struggling to save the life of former Playmate Anna Nicole Smith surfaced Friday on the Web, hours after the paparazzi outlet Splash News & Picture Agency reported that rights to the graphic video sold for more than $500,000.
The video shows paramedics working on the unresponsive reality star as she was wheeled from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Splash News screened the videotape to potential media buyers at their Los Angeles headquarters just hours after Smith's death Thursday afternoon.
The video, however, turned up Friday morning on the popular German TV channel RTL, and was quickly posted by Liveleak.com.
The video also was picked up by the Drudgereport.com.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251000,00.html
More
Anna Nicole Smith's Mother Claims Daniel Wayne Was Murdered
While in the Bahamas...
By: Lowri Williams on 10/11/2006 Photo by: David Gabber/Photorazzi
The grandmother of Anna Nicole Smith’s dead son Daniel Wayne Smith has claimed that her grandson was murdered.
Daniel Wayne, 20 was found dead in his mother’s hospital room in the Bahamas on September 10 just hours after she had given birth to her baby daughter Dannilyn.
After two post mortems toxicology tests revealed that Daniel Wayne had died from a cocktail of drugs in his system.
It was found that Daniel Wayne had taken a concoction of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro that caused cardiac dysrhythmia leading to his sudden death.
His grandmother Virgie Arthur is unable to accept that his death was accidental she claims that Daniel Wayne “didn’t take an overdose.”
She said to the Sun: “It was murder. The levels of drugs in his body are way too high. Someone has to pay.”...
http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news?id=23388
Playmate's mom: Anna 'liked downers, not uppers'
POSTED: 7:21 a.m. EST, February 21, 2007
...Arthur, a former police officer, testified that she raised Smith's son Daniel as a small child. She said she never met Stern, and believes her daughter fell into bad company and drug abuse. She will return to the stand Wednesday.
Examiner: Bury her now
As the legal battle over Smith's burial dragged on Tuesday, a medical examiner called the judge to report that the condition of the former Playmate's embalmed body continues to deteriorate.
As a result, Smith's body should be buried no later than Saturday, Broward Medical Examiner Joshua A. Perper said.
Stern was on the witness stand when Seidlin took the call. Stern buried his head in his hands.
The medical examiner's call brought a renewed sense of urgency to a courtroom spectacle that is unfolding with all the overripe elements of pulp fiction.
Among the key moments:
Stern testified that Smith, wailing "I want to be buried with him," tried to climb into Daniel's casket when he was buried in the Bahamas after dying last fall from a lethal combination of methadone and anti-depressants.
At times, Stern said, Smith cried herself to sleep clutching a large cardboard cutout of Daniel. She refused to accept his death, he said.
Stern's lawyers played a tape of Smith's last television interview. On the tape, Smith showed deep animosity toward her mother, referring to her as "Mommy Dearest." She said they have no relationship and charged: "She's just out to make a name for herself."
Stern and Arthur are battling over custody of Smith's remains and other issues. The former television reality show star collapsed and died February 8 at a casino hotel near Hollywood, Florida...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/20/smith.hearing/index.html
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Film Shows True Face
Friends of Anna, the Shellys, (own the house Anna was staying in, reportedly) were interviewed on Fox Monday On the Record program. A lengthy videotape was shown, which the couple said was made by Howard K. Stern and when Anna was in her last month of pregnancy.
I happened to catch the program, can't find the video online, yet.
Today during court proceedings before Judge Larry Seidlin, Harold K. Stern testified. At one point, Stern relayed there had been a breakin at the Bahama house, and items had been stolen. He said documents, a diary, paintings, computer hard drive, and videotapes were taken.
Stern made reference to the film shown on the Fox program, but it appeared that passed right by Judge Larry Seidlin.
The Judge should get a copy of the videotape.
The film shows Anna's face being painted up colorfully to look like a clown, and then, Anna is indoors, pushing a baby carriage. It's explained by the couple being interviewed by Greta, the Shellys, that their daughter Reilly was painting Anna's face, and Howard K. STern is filming.
Howard kept filming even though the child in their care for the day became scared about how Anna Nicole was acting. Greta asks the Shellys What does this tape show?
At one point in the tape, as more make-up goes on her face, Howard can be heard saying this should bring in a lot of money. But the most telling point in the tape is when Howard can be heard snickering at Anna and asks her are you on mushrooms?
Anna doesn't have a clue. Stern continues filming Anna - her face distorted with paint - pushing the stroller - all the while ignoring the child, Reilly, and makes a comment about Anna on "mushrooms" - again, while a child is on the premises.
Are these actions of a responsible father-to-be?
I happened to catch the program, can't find the video online, yet.
Today during court proceedings before Judge Larry Seidlin, Harold K. Stern testified. At one point, Stern relayed there had been a breakin at the Bahama house, and items had been stolen. He said documents, a diary, paintings, computer hard drive, and videotapes were taken.
Stern made reference to the film shown on the Fox program, but it appeared that passed right by Judge Larry Seidlin.
The Judge should get a copy of the videotape.
The film shows Anna's face being painted up colorfully to look like a clown, and then, Anna is indoors, pushing a baby carriage. It's explained by the couple being interviewed by Greta, the Shellys, that their daughter Reilly was painting Anna's face, and Howard K. STern is filming.
Howard kept filming even though the child in their care for the day became scared about how Anna Nicole was acting. Greta asks the Shellys What does this tape show?
G. SHELLY: It shows them having a party and Reilly painted her face like a clown and they had face painting and they started playing baby dolls. And then Anna's believing that this baby is her baby. And Reilly's trying to say, "This is not your baby, Anna. Your baby's still in your tummy." And Anna is convinced that that baby is her baby.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252979,00.html
At one point in the tape, as more make-up goes on her face, Howard can be heard saying this should bring in a lot of money. But the most telling point in the tape is when Howard can be heard snickering at Anna and asks her are you on mushrooms?
Anna doesn't have a clue. Stern continues filming Anna - her face distorted with paint - pushing the stroller - all the while ignoring the child, Reilly, and makes a comment about Anna on "mushrooms" - again, while a child is on the premises.
Are these actions of a responsible father-to-be?
Anna Nicole's Friends Comment On Disturbing Tape
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," February 19, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Ford and Gina Shelly were very close to Anna Nicole. We spoke with the Shelly's a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Had you ever come to learn that maybe the day was not a particularly normal one?
FORD SHELLY, FRIEND OF ANNA NICOLE SMITH: We've later found out and we didn't know it, that Anna wasn't up (INAUDIBLE) herself that day. Anna was — Anna had — must have taken something to calm her down, but Anna wasn't herself that day.
VAN SUSTEREN: That day was taped, do we have some clips of it? Who taped it?
F. SHELLY: Howard.
VAN SUSTEREN: What do those tapes tell you? I mean, what do you notice about — I mean, you know Anna Nicole, I mean, what do those tapes tell you? What was going on?
F. SHELLY: Well, it was almost like Howard was taping these so he could sell them, because he — on the tape, he made reference to — it was going to be worth some money. You know, the tapes show a time when my little girl was scared and she asked to call me and he didn't let her.
And Anna wasn't herself. Anna was acting like a child. She thought she'd already had the baby and my little girl was scared and Howard had to calm her down. And tell her, say, "Anna, you're scaring Reilly. You're scaring her. You're scaring her."
And she didn't understand. Anna didn't mean it. But, Howard is a grown man, and he's sitting there videotaping this and watching Anna. She needed help. She didn't need that.
VAN SUSTEREN: And your little girl said, "Howard."
GINA SHELLY, FRIEND OF ANNA NICOLE SMITH: "Please call the doctor, Howard. Let's call the doctor, Howard, please. Something's wrong with ‘Bunny.'" She called her "Bunny." And Howard's like — Reilly's like, "I'm going to call my dad." And Howard's like, "That phone doesn't work, honey, the one in the kitchen does." And when Reilly ran out to call, Howard tells Anna, "You're scaring Reilly. You're scaring Reilly, Anna. You really need to straighten up. You're scaring her." You know, so.
VAN SUSTEREN: But, what does the tape show? What does the tape show?
G. SHELLY: It shows them having a party and Reilly painted her face like a clown and they had face painting and they started playing baby dolls. And then Anna's believing that this baby is her baby. And Reilly's trying to say, "This is not your baby, Anna. Your baby's still in your tummy." And Anna is convinced that that baby is her baby.
VAN SUSTEREN: The doll?
G. SHELLY: The doll baby. And then Reilly keeps going up to Howard saying, you know, "Howard, tell her it's got a battery. Let's go get a screwdriver and take it out and show Anna this is not a real baby." So, I mean, this went on for probably about an hour. Until...
F. SHELLY: Well, that's all we know.
G. SHELLY: That's all we know. Until finally Howard convinced Anna, you know, you're freaking Reilly out, you need to stop this....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252979,00.html
Paternity Issues Under Probate, says Judge Seidlin
Net the Truth Online Report
from first-hand observation Court TV News, MSNBC, Fox News Live, and MSNBC video (on delay) http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=cc3da169-2072-4500-87df-77e9005fb38d&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/&fg=
Fox News streaming video
• Click Here for LIVE Streaming Video of the Hearing in Florida
http://www.foxnews.com/
Shortly after a 9:30 AM appearance of parties in the case of the disposition of Anna Nicole Smith, Judge Larry Seidlin gives notice that his court and he are to assume jurisdiction over paternity documents and matters, it appears.
The first to testify so-to-speak is Mr. Millsteen, the Guardian ad litum appointed by Judge Seidlin. Millsteen first reported that there was documentation pertaining to the embalming such as funeral home, appearance, etc. which were to remain private. Later, Millsteen reports Dannielynn is considered the next-of-kin, but being under the legal age of 18, at only 5-months old, it would be proper to establish the biological father.
The counsel for deceased Anna Nicole Smith, raises an objection, attempting to establish that the California court is to look into the paternity.
Judge Seidlin says there's no emergency for you, to know the biological father, but there is for me.
The Judge asks again as he had in earlier proceedings: doesn't he need to know who is the father?
Seidlin also put first and foremost, the child, Dannielynn.
At one point, Seidlin notes he's aiming to save a child. This is for the child.
Discussions ensue during a break in the public proceedings. Unfortunately, the action to go into a private session goes contrary to Seidlin's previous comments that this is a public court, nothing is secret here.
One of the reasons for the decision to alter that course was the objection raised by Christa Barth counsel for Howard K. Stern concerning Debra Opri, counsel for Larry Birkhead. Barth relayed that she overheard Opri comment toward Stern, basically charging he was responsible for Smith's death, murdered her, according to Barth.
732 chapter under Florida law, says a minor can be the next of kin under this statute - according to Court TV News commentator.
Later Judge Seidlin retraces the thought-processes which led to him accepting initially the advice of the Guardian ad litum. Now, the Judge explains he's not going to submit the men for DNA testing, he wants them to remain for testimony in the hearing.
Mr. Stern was served during the break, according to Christa Barth, with a California petition.
Seidlin said he did just want Mr. Stern to appear for limited purposes, and not presenting an order or such for paternity testing assured that.
video Live MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/
Comment: Anna Nicole's will doesn't mention disposition of her body in the event of her death. the will also only appoints Howard K. Stern as the guardian for Daniel Wayne Smith, not Anna Nicole's five-month old daughter, Dannielynn.
Our question: Is Howard K. Stern the personal representative of Anna Nicole Smith, or is the other counsel Ronald Bale, the personal representative?
Following this along is a real education. What a windfall for whomever eventually legally obtains control of Anna Nicole's estate.
Hint Howard K. Stern has already made bundles since Anna Nicole's death selling his story to an entertainment network.
Also, did you all catch Greta Susterin... the home movie of Anna Nicole Smith - the daughter of friends made Anna Nicole Smith up as a clown ... a child painted Anna Nicole's face and all the while Howard K. Stern is actually filming Anna Nicole, and at one point Stern said to her with a snicker, people, a snicker, somebody's gonna pay a lot of money for this, and are you on mushrooms?
http://www.foxnews.com/ontherecord/index.html
But wait, now they are talking about the purported will. That hasn't even been entered as a legal will, and we still don't know whether the will applies.
A body is not a piece of property, says Turnstall, counsel for Vergie Arthur. Even if Stern were the executor of the will, a body is not a probate asset.
This is exactly the right thing to bring in at this time. Judge Seidlin asks the Administrator to present some opinion.
Is it Dannielynn's decision? They keep going back to that.
See now they are going a bit over what the will says regarding Stern being named as the guardian for Danny Wayne Smith. Yet nobody has brought up that possibly the will and Stern being named as executor, applies only to Danny Wayne Smith!
Related
Anna Nicole burial, paternity battle resumes
Florida, California judges to hear arguments on what to do with body, baby
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/
from first-hand observation Court TV News, MSNBC, Fox News Live, and MSNBC video (on delay) http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=cc3da169-2072-4500-87df-77e9005fb38d&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/&fg=
Fox News streaming video
• Click Here for LIVE Streaming Video of the Hearing in Florida
http://www.foxnews.com/
Shortly after a 9:30 AM appearance of parties in the case of the disposition of Anna Nicole Smith, Judge Larry Seidlin gives notice that his court and he are to assume jurisdiction over paternity documents and matters, it appears.
The first to testify so-to-speak is Mr. Millsteen, the Guardian ad litum appointed by Judge Seidlin. Millsteen first reported that there was documentation pertaining to the embalming such as funeral home, appearance, etc. which were to remain private. Later, Millsteen reports Dannielynn is considered the next-of-kin, but being under the legal age of 18, at only 5-months old, it would be proper to establish the biological father.
The counsel for deceased Anna Nicole Smith, raises an objection, attempting to establish that the California court is to look into the paternity.
Judge Seidlin says there's no emergency for you, to know the biological father, but there is for me.
The Judge asks again as he had in earlier proceedings: doesn't he need to know who is the father?
Seidlin also put first and foremost, the child, Dannielynn.
At one point, Seidlin notes he's aiming to save a child. This is for the child.
Discussions ensue during a break in the public proceedings. Unfortunately, the action to go into a private session goes contrary to Seidlin's previous comments that this is a public court, nothing is secret here.
One of the reasons for the decision to alter that course was the objection raised by Christa Barth counsel for Howard K. Stern concerning Debra Opri, counsel for Larry Birkhead. Barth relayed that she overheard Opri comment toward Stern, basically charging he was responsible for Smith's death, murdered her, according to Barth.
732 chapter under Florida law, says a minor can be the next of kin under this statute - according to Court TV News commentator.
Later Judge Seidlin retraces the thought-processes which led to him accepting initially the advice of the Guardian ad litum. Now, the Judge explains he's not going to submit the men for DNA testing, he wants them to remain for testimony in the hearing.
Mr. Stern was served during the break, according to Christa Barth, with a California petition.
Seidlin said he did just want Mr. Stern to appear for limited purposes, and not presenting an order or such for paternity testing assured that.
video Live MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/
Comment: Anna Nicole's will doesn't mention disposition of her body in the event of her death. the will also only appoints Howard K. Stern as the guardian for Daniel Wayne Smith, not Anna Nicole's five-month old daughter, Dannielynn.
Our question: Is Howard K. Stern the personal representative of Anna Nicole Smith, or is the other counsel Ronald Bale, the personal representative?
Following this along is a real education. What a windfall for whomever eventually legally obtains control of Anna Nicole's estate.
Hint Howard K. Stern has already made bundles since Anna Nicole's death selling his story to an entertainment network.
Also, did you all catch Greta Susterin... the home movie of Anna Nicole Smith - the daughter of friends made Anna Nicole Smith up as a clown ... a child painted Anna Nicole's face and all the while Howard K. Stern is actually filming Anna Nicole, and at one point Stern said to her with a snicker, people, a snicker, somebody's gonna pay a lot of money for this, and are you on mushrooms?
http://www.foxnews.com/ontherecord/index.html
But wait, now they are talking about the purported will. That hasn't even been entered as a legal will, and we still don't know whether the will applies.
A body is not a piece of property, says Turnstall, counsel for Vergie Arthur. Even if Stern were the executor of the will, a body is not a probate asset.
This is exactly the right thing to bring in at this time. Judge Seidlin asks the Administrator to present some opinion.
Is it Dannielynn's decision? They keep going back to that.
See now they are going a bit over what the will says regarding Stern being named as the guardian for Danny Wayne Smith. Yet nobody has brought up that possibly the will and Stern being named as executor, applies only to Danny Wayne Smith!
Related
Anna Nicole burial, paternity battle resumes
Florida, California judges to hear arguments on what to do with body, baby
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17238177/
Monday, February 19, 2007
Vegetarianism Most Effective Tool Against Climate Change
A New Global Warming Strategy: How Environmentalists are Overlooking Vegetarianism as the Most Effective Tool Against Climate Change in Our Lifetimes
by Noam Mohr
clip
Methane and Vegetarianism
By far the most important non-CO2 greenhouse gas is methane, and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture.17
Methane is responsible for nearly as much global warming as all other non-CO2 greenhouse gases put together.18 Methane is 23 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2.19 While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, methane concentrations have more than doubled.20 Whereas human sources of CO2 amount to just 3% of natural emissions, human sources produce one and a half times as much methane as all natural sources.21 In fact, the effect of our methane emissions may be compounded as methane-induced warming in turn stimulates microbial decay of organic matter in wetlands—the primary natural source of methane.22
With methane emissions causing nearly half of the planet’s human-induced warming, methane reduction must be a priority. Methane is produced by a number of sources, including coal mining and landfills—but the number one source worldwide is animal agriculture.23 Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year.24 And this source is on the rise: global meat consumption has increased fivefold in the past fifty years, and shows little sign of abating.25 About 85% of this methane is produced in the digestive processes of livestock,26 and while a single cow releases a relatively small amount of methane,27 the collective effect on the environment of the hundreds of millions of livestock animals worldwide is enormous. An additional 15% of animal agricultural methane emissions are released from the massive “lagoons” used to store untreated farm animal waste,28 and already a target of environmentalists’ for their role as a primary source of water pollution in the U.S.29
The conclusion is simple: arguably the best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate our consumption of animal products. Simply by going vegetarian (or, strictly speaking, vegan), 30,31,32 we can eliminate one of the major sources of emissions of methane, the greenhouse gas responsible for almost half of the global warming impacting the planet today.
Advantages of Vegetarianism over CO2 Reduction...
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/dec/globalwarming.htm
Humans' beef with livestock: a warmer planet
from the February 20, 2007 edition
American meat eaters are responsible for 1.5 more tons of carbon dioxide per person than vegetarians every year.
By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
As Congress begins to tackle the causes and cures of global warming, the action focuses on gas-guzzling vehicles and coal-fired power plants, not on lowly bovines.
Yet livestock are a major emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. And as meat becomes a growing mainstay of human diet around the world, changing what we eat may prove as hard as changing what we drive.
It's not just the well-known and frequently joked-about flatulence and manure of grass-chewing cattle that's the problem, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Land-use changes, especially deforestation to expand pastures and to create arable land for feed crops, is a big part. So is the use of energy to produce fertilizers, to run the slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants, and to pump water.
"Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems," Henning Steinfeld, senior author of the report, said when the FAO findings were released in November.
Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that's more than the emissions caused by transportation.
The latter two gases are particularly troubling – even though they represent far smaller concentrations in atmosphere than CO2, which remains the main global warming culprit. But methane has 23 times the global warming potential (GWP) of CO2 and nitrous oxide has 296 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.
Methane could become a greater problem if the permafrost in northern latitudes thaws with increasing temperatures, releasing the gas now trapped below decaying vegetation. What's more certain is that emissions of these gases can spike as humans consume more livestock products...
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0220/p03s01-ussc.html
Keeping a cool head amid warming hysteria
Since the following are op/ed pieces, the posting can contain the full article.
CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: Keeping a cool head amid warming hysteria (Op/ed, Sunday Telegraph (Australia)2/18/07)
Opinion / Op Ed; Pg. 81
February 18, 2007
Check the facts we're all global warmers now crowd...
More
CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: Keeping a cool head amid warming hysteria (Op/ed, Sunday Telegraph (Australia)2/18/07)
Opinion / Op Ed; Pg. 81
February 18, 2007
Global-warming doomsayers were out and about in a big way recently, but the rain came in central Queensland, then here in Sydney.
January also was unusually cool.
We have been subjected to a lot of nonsense about climate disasters, as some zealots have been presenting extreme scenarios to frighten us.
They claim ocean levels are about to rise spectacularly, there could be the occasional tsunami as high as an eight-storey building, and the Amazon Basin could be destroyed as the ice cap in the Arctic and Greenland melts.
An overseas magazine called for Nuremberg-style trials for global-warming sceptics, and a US television correspondent compared sceptics to ''Holocaust deniers''.
A local newspaper editorial's complaint about the doomsayers' religious enthusiasm is unfair to mainstream Christianity.
Christians don't go against reason, although we sometimes go beyond it in faith to embrace the probabilities.
What we were seeing from the doomsayers was an induced dose of mild hysteria -- semi-religious if you like, but dangerously close to superstition.
I'm deeply sceptical about man-made catastrophic global warming, but still open to further evidence.
I would be surprised if industrial pollution and carbon emissions had no ill-effects at all.
But enough is enough.
A few fixed points may provide light on the subject.
We know that enormous climate changes have occurred in world history -- for example, the ice ages and Noah's flood, when human causation could only have been negligible.
Nor should it be too surprising to learn that during the past 100 years, the media has alternated between promoting fear of anew ice age and fear of global warming.
Terrible droughts are not infrequent in Australian history, sometimes lasting seven or eight years.
We all know that a cool January doesn't mean much in the long run.
But neither does evidence based on only a few years.
Scaremongers have used temperature fluctuations over limited periods and in a few places to misrepresent longer patterns.
Warming evidence is mixed and often exaggerated but can be reassuring.
Global warming has been increasing constantly since 1975 at the rate of less than one-fifth of a degree Celsius per decade.
The concentration of carbon dioxide increased surface temperatures more in winter than in summer, especially in mid and high latitudes over land, while there was a global cooling of the stratosphere.
Britain's University of East Anglia climate research unit found global temperatures did not rise between 1998 and 2005, and a NASA satellite recently found the southern hemisphere had not warmed in the past 25 years.
Is mild global warming a northern phenomenon?
We may have been alarmed by the sighting of an iceberg as large as an aircraft carrier off Dunedin, but we should be consoled by the news that the Antarctic is getting colder and the ice is growing there.
The science is certainly more complicated than the propaganda.
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=d5d6b9e4-802a-23ad-4bba-38996d72c888
Check the facts we're all global warmers now crowd...
More
Shikha Dalmia Reason.org
June 22, 2006
Much-Heralded Plan to Stop Global Warming Fails
Europe's carbon trading scheme flops, now what?
By Shikha Dalmia
The most "inconvenient truth" about global warming is not -- as Al Gore tells us in his new movie -- that global warming will devastate our planet unless there is a major counter-offensive. It is that with the collapse of the European carbon-trading scheme last spring, there is no workable counter-offensive left.
Gore and other green activists have declared victory on the science of global warming, pointing out that recent developments have settled any doubt that global warming is real and that humans are the cause of it. While the case is far from closed, it is certainly true that one of the major gaps in the evidence for global warming has been filled -- with revised data showing that the earth's surface temperature is not flat as previously thought. Rather, it is rising at a rate that is consistent with the warming observed in the troposphere.
But if the scientific consensus about global warming has grown, the proper response to it remains more elusive today than ever before.
Amidst much fanfare last year, European and other signatories to the Kyoto treaty adopted emission trading as their method of choice to tackle global warming – instead of economy-busting carbon taxes or draconian command-and-control regulations. Under this scheme, each participating country is given a carbon allowance, which it then divvies among its domestic industry in the form of pollution rights or credits.
Companies are allowed to trade these credits with each other on the theory that those able to cut emissions cheaply would have an incentive to do so --and sell their spare credits to others for whom cuts are more expensive, keeping overall program costs as low as possible.
But this so-called market-based scheme collapsed in May when prematurely released data revealed that there was a glut of credits. The per ton prices for these credits dropped from 31 Euros to 12 Euros in just three weeks, finally settling near 9 Euros.
If the credit glut – and subsequent market crash – had stemmed from dramatic emission reductions as some initially thought, it would be cause for celebration. In fact, it was the result of an overly generous allocation of credits.
Nor can the problem be fixed simply by tightening each country's allowances in the program's second -- 2008-2012 -- phase...
http://www.reason.org/commentaries/dalmia_20060622.shtml
Anna Nicole Smith Last Will What Happened
Since Friday, when Florida Probate Court Judge Larry Seidlin ordered the counsel for Howard K. Stern to produce a copy of Vickie Lynn Marshall's (Anna Nicole Smith) Last Will and Testament, the following days' news coverage centered upon its contents.
Speaking before Seidlin, attorney for Smith's mother, Steven Turnstall, requested the Will to be produced since Stern himself made reference to its existence shortly after Smith's death, Stern's counsel referrenced the Will during a prior hearing in Judge Seidlin's chambers, and Stern is a party in the Florida proceedings to determine disposition of Smith's body.
The second party to the proceedings is Anna Nicole Smith's biological mother, Vergie Arthur. The mother resides in Texas, and would want her daughter's body to be interred there.
Arthur's counsel referred to the phantom Will on Thursday, and wondered if its contents addressed the disposition of her body and specific, verifiable preferences for her burial. According to Turnstall, counsel for Howard K. Stern made a movement toward a briefcase, but the document was not produced at that time, nor did Judge Seidlin order it to be produced then.
Turnstall, jabbing his finger in the air toward Judge Seidlin, appeared angry when additional references to Anna Nichol's preference that she be buried with her son were made by Stern's counsel on Friday. Reportedly, Smith's son, Daniel Wayne, is buried in the Bahamas.
Counsel for Vickie Lynn Marshall was also present during proceedings, indicating some hesitancy to open the Will to tabloid-like coverage.
Judge Seidlin commented that everything in the proceedings was public.
The will contains a clause which specifically excludes the will from providing for future spouse/s, children, foster children, adopted children, and family...
The will leaves everything to Smith's son, Daniel, who unfortunately preceded her in death.
What is the law regarding an outdated will?
What is the law regarding a will that leaves an estate, or trust, or property, to a child, and the child dies?
Wouldn't one think that the next-of-kin of the deceased child would then inherit the child's trust.
In other words, where is Daniel Smith's natural, biological father? Who is he? Would he inherit Daniel's trust?
Consider also, though Daniel's death was a devastating occurrence and Anna Nicole was certainly distraught over his death, she did manage to get out and about in the public, even granting an interview with Inside Edition shortly afterwards.
If Anna Nicole could manage to engage in an interview, she could manage to spend some short period of time updating her will to include newly born, Dannielynn.
Why didn't she?
Is it possible Anna Nicole Smith signed a 2001 will without actually knowing what its contents were?
Is it possible Anna Nicole was aware of the contents of the 2001, and did not want Dannielynn to inherit because Dannielynn's biological father is estranged from Anna Nicole?
Maybe Anna Nicole didn't want the father of Dannielynn, whomever he turns out to be, to inherit her estate.
On another matter, Howard K. Stern, and Stern's attorney's, have yet to produce documentation that Anna Nicole purchased the plot for her son, and additional burial plots. It would be interesting to find out whether the plots are in Stern's name, and whether funeral home documents indicate names of the intended to be buried there.
More
Anna Nicole now 'ready for viewing'
Feb 18 3:33 AM US/Eastern
The question of who will inherit Smith's estate was also thrown into confusion on Friday with the release of a 2001 will in which the former Playboy centrefold said her fortune should be held in trust for her son - who died last year.
Speaking before Seidlin, attorney for Smith's mother, Steven Turnstall, requested the Will to be produced since Stern himself made reference to its existence shortly after Smith's death, Stern's counsel referrenced the Will during a prior hearing in Judge Seidlin's chambers, and Stern is a party in the Florida proceedings to determine disposition of Smith's body.
The second party to the proceedings is Anna Nicole Smith's biological mother, Vergie Arthur. The mother resides in Texas, and would want her daughter's body to be interred there.
Arthur's counsel referred to the phantom Will on Thursday, and wondered if its contents addressed the disposition of her body and specific, verifiable preferences for her burial. According to Turnstall, counsel for Howard K. Stern made a movement toward a briefcase, but the document was not produced at that time, nor did Judge Seidlin order it to be produced then.
Turnstall, jabbing his finger in the air toward Judge Seidlin, appeared angry when additional references to Anna Nichol's preference that she be buried with her son were made by Stern's counsel on Friday. Reportedly, Smith's son, Daniel Wayne, is buried in the Bahamas.
Counsel for Vickie Lynn Marshall was also present during proceedings, indicating some hesitancy to open the Will to tabloid-like coverage.
Judge Seidlin commented that everything in the proceedings was public.
Anna Nicole Smith’s Will Names Howard Stern as Executor,
Disinherits Anyone Who Contests or Challenges The Document
Will of Anna Nicole Smith / Vickie Lynn Marshall
July 30, 2001 (revealed on Feb. 16, 2007)
Anna Nicole Smith’s will is revealed in a Florida court overseeing litigation between her companion, lawyer Howard Stern, and the starlet’s mother over where her body should be buried.
Smith’s 2001 will was drafted using her married name, Vickie Lynn Marshall. It states that Stern is designated as a trustee to hold property “in trust for my child,” her Daniel Wayne Smith.
She wanted the executors of her estate to include the following lawyers, in descending order: Howard Stern, Ron Rale, and Eric James Lund. The will also states that if anyone “contests or attacks this Will or Trust or any of [its] provisions,” they will be treated as though they were disinherited.
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/annanicole/annanicole73001will.html
Acutal photocopy of Vickie Lynn Marshall will Page 2 of 17
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/annanicole/annanicole73001will2.html
Anna Nicole Smith leaves everything to dead son
POSTED: 9:38 a.m. EST, February 19, 2007
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) -- Anna Nicole Smith left everything to her son Daniel, who died in September, according to a will released Friday by a Florida court.
She also named longtime companion Howard K. Stern as executor, according to the document dated July 30, 2001.
The 16-page will was never updated. It does not mention Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn. (Read the will -- pdf)...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/16/smith.ruling/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
The will contains a clause which specifically excludes the will from providing for future spouse/s, children, foster children, adopted children, and family...
The will leaves everything to Smith's son, Daniel, who unfortunately preceded her in death.
What is the law regarding an outdated will?
What is the law regarding a will that leaves an estate, or trust, or property, to a child, and the child dies?
Wouldn't one think that the next-of-kin of the deceased child would then inherit the child's trust.
In other words, where is Daniel Smith's natural, biological father? Who is he? Would he inherit Daniel's trust?
Consider also, though Daniel's death was a devastating occurrence and Anna Nicole was certainly distraught over his death, she did manage to get out and about in the public, even granting an interview with Inside Edition shortly afterwards.
If Anna Nicole could manage to engage in an interview, she could manage to spend some short period of time updating her will to include newly born, Dannielynn.
Why didn't she?
Is it possible Anna Nicole Smith signed a 2001 will without actually knowing what its contents were?
Is it possible Anna Nicole was aware of the contents of the 2001, and did not want Dannielynn to inherit because Dannielynn's biological father is estranged from Anna Nicole?
Maybe Anna Nicole didn't want the father of Dannielynn, whomever he turns out to be, to inherit her estate.
On another matter, Howard K. Stern, and Stern's attorney's, have yet to produce documentation that Anna Nicole purchased the plot for her son, and additional burial plots. It would be interesting to find out whether the plots are in Stern's name, and whether funeral home documents indicate names of the intended to be buried there.
More
Anna Nicole now 'ready for viewing'
Feb 18 3:33 AM US/Eastern
The question of who will inherit Smith's estate was also thrown into confusion on Friday with the release of a 2001 will in which the former Playboy centrefold said her fortune should be held in trust for her son - who died last year.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Al Gore's SOS = wannabe the Earth God
Save our Selves?
In the midst of quite a long period of artic cold weather, in the middle of winter, February 2007, in the United States of America, Gore and the global warmer climate change gang have to pull something extravagant out of their biodegradable bags.
Out pops a musical international (global) concert tour.
Sing it again, "we're all global warmers now..."
Planned to be coordinated around the world on the date of 7/7/07, the we're all global warmers now group obviously expects that date to be hot.
Overly hot.
Surely they looked at the Old Farmer's Almanac to see what to expect that day.
How The Old Farmer's Almanac Weather Forecasts Are Made
Al Gore Announces “Save Our Selves” Global Climate Crisis Campaign Concert - February 15, 2007
February 15, 2007 - California Science Center
Los Angeles, California USA
http://www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====260437&nbc1=1
Al Gore plans climate-change mega-concert
Thu Feb 15, 10:22 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Former US vice-president Al Gore and the producers of Live 8 plan to rock the world with top artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mana in a massive 24-hour global concert to save the planet from global warming.
Scheduled to take place at key capitals around the globe on July 7, Live Earth is expected to pull an audience of two billion people across multiple media -- live, online, by broadcast and on wireless devices -- Gore and the promoters said Thursday in a press conference.
Under the banner "Save Our Selves" -- SOS -- the mega-concert will be held "on 7/7/07 across all seven continents" aiming to trigger an international movement to combat global warming...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070216/ts_alt_afp/afpentertainmentusmusicclimatepeople_070216022939
Save our Selves?
In the midst of quite a long period of artic cold weather, in the middle of winter, February 2007, in the United States of America, Gore and the global warmer climate change gang have to pull something extravagant out of their biodegradable bags.
Out pops a musical international (global) concert tour.
Sing it again, "we're all global warmers now..."
Planned to be coordinated around the world on the date of 7/7/07, the we're all global warmers now group obviously expects that date to be hot.
Overly hot.
Surely they looked at the Old Farmer's Almanac to see what to expect that day.
How The Old Farmer's Almanac Weather Forecasts Are Made
Our weather forecasts are determined by the use of a secret formula (devised in 1792 by the founder of this Almanac, Robert B. Thomas), enhanced by the most modern scientific calculations based on solar activity, particularly sunspot cycles. We also analyze weather records for particular locales. We believe nothing in the universe occurs haphazardly; there is a cause-and-effect pattern to all phenomena, including weather. It follows, therefore, that we believe weather is predictable. You can read more about how we predict the weather.
Modesty requires, however, that we add this caveat: It is obvious that neither we nor anyone else has as yet gained sufficient insight into the mysteries of the universe to predict weather long-range with anything resembling total accuracy.
http://www.almanac.com/weather/
Al Gore Announces “Save Our Selves” Global Climate Crisis Campaign Concert - February 15, 2007
February 15, 2007 - California Science Center
Los Angeles, California USA
http://www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====260437&nbc1=1
SOS-Save Our Selves is designed to trigger a mass-scale movement to combat our climate crisis. Our climate crisis affects everyone, everywhere. That’s who SOS is aimed at. The magnitude of the climate crisis makes it so that only a global response can begin to address it. SOS asks all people to Save Our Selves because only we can. SOS is more than a distress call. The most important part is how people respond. As we move forward, SOS will not only issue the call, but will provide the solutions individuals, corporations, governments and the world can use in answering it.
SOS will reach people in every corner of the planet through television, film, radio, the Internet and through Live Earth, which will bring together more than 150 of the world’s top musicians for 24-hours of music from 7 concerts across all 7 continents. Live Earth alone will engage an audience of more than 2 billion people. That audience, and the proceeds from the concerts, will create the foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate crisis led by Vice President Al Gore.
http://liveearth.org/who_we_are.html
Al Gore plans climate-change mega-concert
Thu Feb 15, 10:22 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Former US vice-president Al Gore and the producers of Live 8 plan to rock the world with top artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mana in a massive 24-hour global concert to save the planet from global warming.
Scheduled to take place at key capitals around the globe on July 7, Live Earth is expected to pull an audience of two billion people across multiple media -- live, online, by broadcast and on wireless devices -- Gore and the promoters said Thursday in a press conference.
Under the banner "Save Our Selves" -- SOS -- the mega-concert will be held "on 7/7/07 across all seven continents" aiming to trigger an international movement to combat global warming...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070216/ts_alt_afp/afpentertainmentusmusicclimatepeople_070216022939
Saturday, February 17, 2007
School Lesson F Minus
Internet users who experience undesirable and seemingly neverending adware and spyware popups are heavily discussing the case of substitute teacher Julie Amero and her January conviction for reportedly putting children at risk by enabling popups on a school computer that showed pornographic images.
On Jan. 5, 2007, a Norwich jury found Amero guilty of four felony counts of "injury or risk of injury to, or impairing morals of, children." Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and while it is unlikely that Amero will receive the maximum penalty, incarceration remains a very real possibility. Even if Amero avoids jail, she will be stripped of her teaching credentials unless the convictions are reversed...
What happened? Even with a wide array of second-hand information, articles direct from the substitute teacher's home state of Connecticut, tech-blogs and others focusing on the case, the full story is still unclear.
Make no mistake, this issue could turn out to be as massive an activist movement as computer experts questioning the integrity and security of electronic voting machines.
The blog.washingtonpost.com site references a request by George Danziger, noted as former technology coordinator for a Massachusetts school district, for the Governor, M. Jodi Rell, to issue a pardon for Julia Amero.
http://norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070116/OPINION03/701160316/1014/OPINION
Meanwhile, technology experts are mounting an attempt to prove how malware could have caused the havoc.
See Eckelberry's letter-to-the-editor
Column: Teacher in porn case victim of own ignorance
By ALEX ECKELBERRY
For the Norwich Bulletin
In response to your editorial "Reason needed in teacher porn case sentencing," I can only say I am shocked and dismayed at what is such a clear miscarriage of justice.
There is no question in my mind, and those of many other experts in the computing community, Julie Amero is innocent of the charges, and should not be imprisoned for one day, much less 40 years...
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070120/OPINION/701200303/1014
Back and forths on blogs are somewhat helpful in piecing together details, such as this article and responses to it: More Details Emerge in the Julie Amero Case
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2007/02/more_details_emerge_in_the_jul.html#comment-7476
Still, what we need are the actual transcripts and a timeline of what specific websites were accessed by "somebody" as yet unclear, that morning, and for how long?
According to Landesman's articles, Amero's defense team originally suggested the students had access to the computer, then the team altered their approach, suggesting existing spyware and adware.
In another article, the defense's expert witness, Horner, implies students were involved because one of the visited sites was Crayola.
We all know the only object of the defense is to cast doubt, as the jury must convict unless there is reasonable doubt, and whatever doubt - no matter how tiny or bizarre - that sticks in the minds of the jury is enough.
As we've pieced together, Julie Amero admitted to asking permission to use the school computer to email her husband. That raises questions. Was Amero only going to use the computer for five-minutes or so? How long did Amero take to email? Was there an investigation of the family home computer or the husband's office computer to determine whether an email had been sent and received? What time was the email sent? What were the contents of the email?
AP article references the email request by Amero.
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/teachers-porn-conviction-sparks-debate/n20070213160009990009
Questions remain: What has an investigation of Amero's home computer shown? Did Amero ever visit the sites shown as visited on the school computer on her personal computer at home?
Remaining as questions: What time did the class actually start? Did the user continue to surf after the popups occurred? Was the computer used during class-time? How long was the computer used? How long did an email take to draft and send?
Supporters of Amero relay the woman was unfamiliar with computers. That may be so. If it was, however, why did she have a seemingly emergency need to use the school computer for emailing her husband? Why not just call him on the phone in a shorter amount of time than it would take to fumble with accessing an email account?
We have a suspicious mind all around.
It may be that Julie Amero is innocent. Questions remain about how the prosecution conducted the case. That is always a bad thing when a citizen's rights and privileges, possibly even their life, is taken away from them. If there is exculpatory evidence in the Julie Amero case that should be revealed before her sentence is carried out, not 20 years later.
For instance, why didn't the police investigation include a review of the computer for adware, spyware, malware which may have already existed on the computer?
If it is as the AlterNet article states, the issue of malware attack wasn't raised by the defense during pretrial... that doesn't bode well for the prosecution.
Why didn't the police check for malicious software? According to prosecutor David Smith, the police didn't check for malware because the defense didn't raise the possibility of a malware attack during the pretrial phase, as required by law. Defense attorney Cocheo could not be reached for comment as of press time...
AlterNet blogger does a followup:
Detective Mark Lounsbury is reported as responding on other websites, in part, but not in full until sentencing of Julia Amero.
The Strange Case of Ms. Julie Amero: Commentary by Detective Mark Lounsbury
http://www.networkperformancedaily.com/2007/01/the_strange_case_of_ms_julie_a_3.html
Friday, February 16, 2007 8:27 AM PT Posted by Steve Bass
Detective Speaks Out in Teacher Porn Case
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003745.html
According to Teacher's Porn Conviction Sparks Debate By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN AP
Horner alleges the sites were visited by a student or students, and part of his backing for this is that a Crayola site was also visited.
Meanwhile, one commentator Landesman poses that Amero's defense originally suggested the students had access to the computer then the defense presented the case for the adware and spyware...
From Mary Landesman,
Your Guide to Antivirus Software.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Julie Amero: Adware Victim or Porn Surfer?
http://antivirus.about.com/b/a/257791.htm
Julie Amero Case About Law, Not Adware
From Mary Landesman,
Your Guide to Antivirus Software.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
January 16, 2006
http://antivirus.about.com/od/spywareandadware/a/julieamero.htm
Norwich forum discussions
http://forums.norwichbulletin.com/viewtopic.php?t=4474&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15&sid=3314272454732863209394ff23e88087
http://forums.norwichbulletin.com/viewtopic.php?p=11048&sid=4070d27e8e93810329f4a7a3b5858ca0
According to AlterNet's Questionable Conviction of Connecticut Teacher in Pop-up Porn Case By Lindsay Beyerstein and AOL'sand the machine was never scanned for spyware by the investigating authorities.
Teacher Faces Jail Over Pornography on Class Computer
Last month, Ms. Amero was convicted in Norwich Superior Court of four counts of risking injury to a child and faces up to 40 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for March 2. She has insisted on her innocence, refusing to accept a plea bargain that would have allowed her to walk free. She portrays herself as a hapless technophobe too clueless to unplug a wayward computer.
Ms. Amero, 40, a longtime substitute, contends that when she arrived that day in October 2004, she asked the regular seventh-grade language arts teacher at Kelly Middle School if she could use his computer to e-mail her husband. But first, she says, she went to the bathroom, and when she returned, the teacher was gone and students were gathered around the screen, watching a hairstyle Web site.
When she tried to close the site, what she got was an endless barrage of pop-up ads for pornography sites. The images continued all day, since “I absolutely have no clue about computers,” she said in an interview...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/nyregion/14teacher.html?bl=&ei=5087%0A&en=2da1ff6773152612&ex=1171688400&pagewanted=all
Updated:2007-02-13 17:06:42
Teacher's Porn Conviction Sparks Debate
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Porn-surfing teacher: Spyware made me do it!
By Preston Gralla on Fri, 01/12/2007 - 12:30pm
http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/4346
Was porn-surfing teacher wrongly found guilty?
By Preston Gralla on Mon, 01/15/2007 - 9:46pm
Substitute teacher convicted in school computer porn case
January 9, 2007
NORWICH, Conn. --A substitute teacher in the Norwich school system is facing up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of exposing students to pornography on a computer at the school.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2007/01/09/substitute_teacher_convicted_in_school_computer_porn_case/
Teacher guilty in Norwich porn case
By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH -- State Prosecutor David Smith said he wondered why Julie Amero didn't just pull the plug on her classroom computer.
The six-person jury Friday may have been wondering the same thing when they convicted Amero, 40, of Windham of four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child. It took them less than two hours to decide the verdict. She faces a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070106/NEWS01/701060312/1002/NEWS17
Questionable Conviction of Connecticut Teacher in Pop-up Porn Case
By Lindsay Beyerstein, AlterNet. Posted January 19, 2007.
Guilty: The School or the Teacher?
Friday, January 26, 2007 6:07 AM PT Posted by Steve Bass
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003623.html
40 Years for Porn Infected PC
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003623.html
Julie Amero’s “Twinkie Defense?”
by Lockergnome on February 1, 2007 at 12:45 pm
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/news/category/feedback/
An investigation worth noting:
http://authentium.blogspot.com/2007/01/connecticuts-pursuit-of-folly.html
More Details Emerge in the Julie Amero Case
by Andy Carvin, 3:51PM
Ever since substitute teacher Julie Amero was convicted last month of exposing her students to pornography on her classroom computer, bloggers have been debating who’s to blame, with most siding with her. Now, a published interview with a tech consultant who analyzed the Internet user logs for the day of the incident raises some difficult questions about potential failures of the school’s IT department.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2007/02/more_details_emerge_in_the_jul.html
February 1st, 2007
report written by computer forensic specialist W. Herbert Horner, the expert witness who testified in Amero’s defense
http://thegreatfaisal.wordpress.com/
Discussion
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2007/02/more_details_emerge_in_the_jul.html
Existing law addresses current requirements schools must comply with concerning filtering unwanted material.
Site discusses schools and federal legislation regarding computers and internet.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2006/05/new_federal_legislation_would_1.html
Technorati Cosmos: other blogs commenting on this post
On Jan. 5, 2007, a Norwich jury found Amero guilty of four felony counts of "injury or risk of injury to, or impairing morals of, children." Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and while it is unlikely that Amero will receive the maximum penalty, incarceration remains a very real possibility. Even if Amero avoids jail, she will be stripped of her teaching credentials unless the convictions are reversed...
What happened? Even with a wide array of second-hand information, articles direct from the substitute teacher's home state of Connecticut, tech-blogs and others focusing on the case, the full story is still unclear.
Make no mistake, this issue could turn out to be as massive an activist movement as computer experts questioning the integrity and security of electronic voting machines.
The blog.washingtonpost.com site references a request by George Danziger, noted as former technology coordinator for a Massachusetts school district, for the Governor, M. Jodi Rell, to issue a pardon for Julia Amero.
http://norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070116/OPINION03/701160316/1014/OPINION
Meanwhile, technology experts are mounting an attempt to prove how malware could have caused the havoc.
Security pros work to undo teacher's conviction
Robert Lemos, SecurityFocus 2007-02-02
Researchers led by the head of a Florida anti-spyware firm aim to recreate what caused a Connecticut school's classroom computer to start displaying pornographic pop-ups in October 2004, an incident that recently led to four felony convictions for the substitute teacher involved...
Alex Eckelberry, president of anti-spyware firm Sunbelt Software, hopes to put the case to rest. Armed with an image of the disk from the Windows 98 SE computer, the technology expert put out a call to interested security researchers and assigned his own workers to the case.
"We have had huge offerings of support from the security community," Eckelberry said this week. "Other experts in the forensics community--and these are not small players--have come to us and offered to help."...
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11440
See Eckelberry's letter-to-the-editor
Column: Teacher in porn case victim of own ignorance
By ALEX ECKELBERRY
For the Norwich Bulletin
In response to your editorial "Reason needed in teacher porn case sentencing," I can only say I am shocked and dismayed at what is such a clear miscarriage of justice.
There is no question in my mind, and those of many other experts in the computing community, Julie Amero is innocent of the charges, and should not be imprisoned for one day, much less 40 years...
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070120/OPINION/701200303/1014
Back and forths on blogs are somewhat helpful in piecing together details, such as this article and responses to it: More Details Emerge in the Julie Amero Case
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2007/02/more_details_emerge_in_the_jul.html#comment-7476
Still, what we need are the actual transcripts and a timeline of what specific websites were accessed by "somebody" as yet unclear, that morning, and for how long?
According to Landesman's articles, Amero's defense team originally suggested the students had access to the computer, then the team altered their approach, suggesting existing spyware and adware.
In another article, the defense's expert witness, Horner, implies students were involved because one of the visited sites was Crayola.
We all know the only object of the defense is to cast doubt, as the jury must convict unless there is reasonable doubt, and whatever doubt - no matter how tiny or bizarre - that sticks in the minds of the jury is enough.
As we've pieced together, Julie Amero admitted to asking permission to use the school computer to email her husband. That raises questions. Was Amero only going to use the computer for five-minutes or so? How long did Amero take to email? Was there an investigation of the family home computer or the husband's office computer to determine whether an email had been sent and received? What time was the email sent? What were the contents of the email?
AP article references the email request by Amero.
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/teachers-porn-conviction-sparks-debate/n20070213160009990009
Questions remain: What has an investigation of Amero's home computer shown? Did Amero ever visit the sites shown as visited on the school computer on her personal computer at home?
Remaining as questions: What time did the class actually start? Did the user continue to surf after the popups occurred? Was the computer used during class-time? How long was the computer used? How long did an email take to draft and send?
Supporters of Amero relay the woman was unfamiliar with computers. That may be so. If it was, however, why did she have a seemingly emergency need to use the school computer for emailing her husband? Why not just call him on the phone in a shorter amount of time than it would take to fumble with accessing an email account?
We have a suspicious mind all around.
It may be that Julie Amero is innocent. Questions remain about how the prosecution conducted the case. That is always a bad thing when a citizen's rights and privileges, possibly even their life, is taken away from them. If there is exculpatory evidence in the Julie Amero case that should be revealed before her sentence is carried out, not 20 years later.
For instance, why didn't the police investigation include a review of the computer for adware, spyware, malware which may have already existed on the computer?
If it is as the AlterNet article states, the issue of malware attack wasn't raised by the defense during pretrial... that doesn't bode well for the prosecution.
Why didn't the police check for malicious software? According to prosecutor David Smith, the police didn't check for malware because the defense didn't raise the possibility of a malware attack during the pretrial phase, as required by law. Defense attorney Cocheo could not be reached for comment as of press time...
AlterNet blogger does a followup:
Porno popup case makes national news
Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein on February 14, 2007 at 11:07 AM.
On January 19, AlterNet brought you the story of Julie Amero, a substitute teacher from Norwich, Connecticut who faces up to 40 years in jail because a malware-infested PC in her classroom spewed pornographic popups at her 7th grade language arts class.
Defense experts who analyzed the hard drive found that the computer had been automatically redirected to the pornographic websites because a user had inadvertently downloaded a piece of malicious software from an innocent hairdressing site. Because of a variety of procedural missteps the jury never heard the evidence that exculpated Amero...
http://alternet.org/bloggers/lindsay/archive/?y=2007&m=2
Detective Mark Lounsbury is reported as responding on other websites, in part, but not in full until sentencing of Julia Amero.
The Strange Case of Ms. Julie Amero: Commentary by Detective Mark Lounsbury
http://www.networkperformancedaily.com/2007/01/the_strange_case_of_ms_julie_a_3.html
Friday, February 16, 2007 8:27 AM PT Posted by Steve Bass
Detective Speaks Out in Teacher Porn Case
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003745.html
According to Teacher's Porn Conviction Sparks Debate By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN AP
Julie Amero says that before her class started, a teacher allowed her to e-mail her husband. She says she used the computer and went to the bathroom, returning to find the permanent teacher gone and two students viewing a Web site on hair styles.
Amero says she chased the students away and started class. But later, she says, pornographic images started popping up on the computer screen by themselves. She says she tried to click the images off, but they kept returning, and she was under strict orders not to shut the computer off...
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/teachers-porn-conviction-sparks-debate/n20070213160009990009
On Oct. 19, someone did an online job search shortly after 8:00 a.m., activating several different malware apps. At approximately 8:15 a.m., someone accessed www.hair-styles.org, Horner suspects student involvement, in part because the next visit was to Crayola's homepage. Over the next several minutes, still more malware came alive, most likely triggered by the hair site.
The user kept surfing, and by this point, "crap was pouring into the computer at the speed of electricity," Horner said. The real point of no return was when the computer received a huge porn-filled Java file. From that point on, the machine was locked in an endless porn loop.
Note that Amero's class started around 9 a.m. Neither the prosecutor nor detective Lounsbury was able to tell AlterNet whether the room had been locked before class, or exactly what time Amero sat down at her desk...
http://www.alternet.org/rights/46925/
Horner alleges the sites were visited by a student or students, and part of his backing for this is that a Crayola site was also visited.
Meanwhile, one commentator Landesman poses that Amero's defense originally suggested the students had access to the computer then the defense presented the case for the adware and spyware...
From Mary Landesman,
Your Guide to Antivirus Software.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Julie Amero: Adware Victim or Porn Surfer?
http://antivirus.about.com/b/a/257791.htm
Julie Amero Case About Law, Not Adware
From Mary Landesman,
Your Guide to Antivirus Software.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
January 16, 2006
http://antivirus.about.com/od/spywareandadware/a/julieamero.htm
Norwich forum discussions
http://forums.norwichbulletin.com/viewtopic.php?t=4474&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15&sid=3314272454732863209394ff23e88087
http://forums.norwichbulletin.com/viewtopic.php?p=11048&sid=4070d27e8e93810329f4a7a3b5858ca0
According to AlterNet's Questionable Conviction of Connecticut Teacher in Pop-up Porn Case By Lindsay Beyerstein and AOL'sand the machine was never scanned for spyware by the investigating authorities.
Teacher Faces Jail Over Pornography on Class Computer
Last month, Ms. Amero was convicted in Norwich Superior Court of four counts of risking injury to a child and faces up to 40 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for March 2. She has insisted on her innocence, refusing to accept a plea bargain that would have allowed her to walk free. She portrays herself as a hapless technophobe too clueless to unplug a wayward computer.
Ms. Amero, 40, a longtime substitute, contends that when she arrived that day in October 2004, she asked the regular seventh-grade language arts teacher at Kelly Middle School if she could use his computer to e-mail her husband. But first, she says, she went to the bathroom, and when she returned, the teacher was gone and students were gathered around the screen, watching a hairstyle Web site.
When she tried to close the site, what she got was an endless barrage of pop-up ads for pornography sites. The images continued all day, since “I absolutely have no clue about computers,” she said in an interview...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/nyregion/14teacher.html?bl=&ei=5087%0A&en=2da1ff6773152612&ex=1171688400&pagewanted=all
Updated:2007-02-13 17:06:42
Teacher's Porn Conviction Sparks Debate
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
...Amero and her supporters say the old computer lacked firewall or antispyware protections to prevent inappropriate pop-ups.
"What is extraordinary is the prosecution admitted there was no search made for spyware - an incredible blunder akin to not checking for fingerprints at a crime scene," Alex Eckelberry, president of a Florida software company, wrote recently in the local newspaper. "When a pop-up occurs on a computer, it will get shown as a visited Web site, and no 'physical click' is necessary." ...
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/teachers-porn-conviction-sparks-debate/n20070213160009990009
Porn-surfing teacher: Spyware made me do it!
By Preston Gralla on Fri, 01/12/2007 - 12:30pm
http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/4346
Was porn-surfing teacher wrongly found guilty?
By Preston Gralla on Mon, 01/15/2007 - 9:46pm
I wrote last week about a teacher found guilty of surfing porn sites in the front of a class of seventh graders -- and I said that justice was served. But based on the many dozens of comments I got, it looks as if I may have been wrong, and her PC may have been infested with spyware. If that's true, she was railroaded, and she should not have been found guilty.
http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/4358
Substitute teacher convicted in school computer porn case
January 9, 2007
NORWICH, Conn. --A substitute teacher in the Norwich school system is facing up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of exposing students to pornography on a computer at the school.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2007/01/09/substitute_teacher_convicted_in_school_computer_porn_case/
Teacher guilty in Norwich porn case
By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH -- State Prosecutor David Smith said he wondered why Julie Amero didn't just pull the plug on her classroom computer.
The six-person jury Friday may have been wondering the same thing when they convicted Amero, 40, of Windham of four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child. It took them less than two hours to decide the verdict. She faces a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070106/NEWS01/701060312/1002/NEWS17
Questionable Conviction of Connecticut Teacher in Pop-up Porn Case
By Lindsay Beyerstein, AlterNet. Posted January 19, 2007.
When lax cybersecurity meets anti-porn hysteria, an innocent computer infection can land you in jail. Just ask Julie Amero, a 40-year old substitute teacher who maintains she's a victim of a malicious software infestation that caused her computer to spawn porn uncontrollably.
Julie Amero, a 40-year-old substitute teacher from Connecticut is facing up to 40 years in prison for exposing her seventh grade class to a cascade of pornographic imagery. Amero maintains that she is a victim of a malicious software infestation that caused her computer to spawn porn uncontrollably.
Adware, spyware and other infectious software are known hazards to security and privacy -- and when lax cybersecurity meets anti-porn hysteria, a mailware infection can even land you in jail. Malicious coders are getting more sophisticated all the time, but law enforcement and the criminal justice system aren't keeping up. A criminal conviction can hang on the difference between a deliberate mouse click and an involuntary redirect on an infested computer. Too often, even so-called experts can't tell the difference.
On the morning of Oct. 19, 2004, Julie Amero's life changed forever when pornographic ads flooded her web browser during a class. According to the prosecuting attorney, David Smith, Amero's computer began displaying images of naked men and women, couples performing sexual acts, and "bodily fluids."
Chances are, these kids had seen porn pop-ups before. Family Safe Media estimates that boys 12 to 17 consume more internet porn than any other group. The adults at Kelly Middle School, however, were shocked and scandalized. The next week, the school sent home a notice telling parents why Amero would never teach in the district again. She was arrested shortly thereafter and charged with multiple felonies.
At trial, six of Amero's former students testified that they saw pornographic images on her monitor, either from their seats, or when they came up to her desk. One student told the court that Amero pushed his face away from the screen when she saw him looking at the racy ads...
...Lounsbury told the court that Amero musts have "physically clicked" on pornographic links during class time in order to unleash the pornographic pictures. However, he admitted under cross-examination that the prosecution never even checked the computer for malware.
Why didn't the police check for malicious software? According to prosecutor David Smith, the police didn't check for malware because the defense didn't raise the possibility of a malware attack during the pretrial phase, as required by law. Defense attorney Cocheo could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Herb Horner, the proprietor of the consulting firm Contemporary Computing Consultants, testified as an expert witness for the defense. His exhaustive independent forensic analysis of Amero's hard drive showed that the machine had been infected with multiple pieces of malicious software before she arrived at the school, and that these hidden programs were responsible for the pornographic deluge.
Horner arrived in court with two laptops filled with the voluminous records of his investigation. However, the judge only let him present two slides. Prosecutor Smith objected because his team hadn't been previously informed about the malware defense.
On Jan. 5, 2007, a Norwich jury found Amero guilty of four felony counts of "injury or risk of injury to, or impairing morals of, children." Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and while it is unlikely that Amero will receive the maximum penalty, incarceration remains a very real possibility. Even if Amero avoids jail, she will be stripped of her teaching credentials unless the convictions are reversed.
News of the guilty verdict sparked widespread outrage, particularly in the IT community. How could a 40-year-old woman with no prior criminal record be facing such serious charges over a few pop-up ads?
"The fact that the machine was never scanned for spyware by the investigating authorities is outrageous. In fact, this alone should have resulted in the case being dismissed, as the defense found a major spyware infection by their expert forensic evidence," wrote Alex Eckelberry, the president of Sunbelt Software, a Florida-based firm that makes anti-spyware products...
http://www.alternet.org/rights/46925/
Guilty: The School or the Teacher?
Friday, January 26, 2007 6:07 AM PT Posted by Steve Bass
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003623.html
40 Years for Porn Infected PC
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003623.html
Julie Amero’s “Twinkie Defense?”
by Lockergnome on February 1, 2007 at 12:45 pm
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/news/category/feedback/
An investigation worth noting:
http://authentium.blogspot.com/2007/01/connecticuts-pursuit-of-folly.html
More Details Emerge in the Julie Amero Case
by Andy Carvin, 3:51PM
Ever since substitute teacher Julie Amero was convicted last month of exposing her students to pornography on her classroom computer, bloggers have been debating who’s to blame, with most siding with her. Now, a published interview with a tech consultant who analyzed the Internet user logs for the day of the incident raises some difficult questions about potential failures of the school’s IT department.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2007/02/more_details_emerge_in_the_jul.html
February 1st, 2007
report written by computer forensic specialist W. Herbert Horner, the expert witness who testified in Amero’s defense
http://thegreatfaisal.wordpress.com/
Discussion
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2007/02/more_details_emerge_in_the_jul.html
Existing law addresses current requirements schools must comply with concerning filtering unwanted material.
Site discusses schools and federal legislation regarding computers and internet.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2006/05/new_federal_legislation_would_1.html
Technorati Cosmos: other blogs commenting on this post
Friday, February 16, 2007
Anna Nicole Smith Last Will 2001 Excludes Future Children
Isn't this astonishing? What a complicated matter - Anna Nicole Smith specifically excludes from her will family, any future spouse/s, and any future children, foster children, adopted children, from her will! But as Howard K. Stern revealed in appearances on tv programs such as Inside Edition - he had been appointed as the guardian of the trust for Daniel. Ashley Banfield Court TV News is catching on, it's beneficial for him not to be married to her, she poses to a guest lawyer... Banfield says there will be seven more days of conspiracy theories after this...
Smith left everything to her son, Danny, in her 2001 last will and testiment.
In discussion among Court TV News commentators, the next of kin to Danny would be Dannielynn.
Named as executor of the will is Howard K. Stern, next Ron Rale...
Discussion centers on whether the child at a later date can challenge the will.
Another lawyer offers that the will doesn't exclude necessarily Dannielynn from inheriting Smith's property, it addresses in the will not providing for any future children...
Ashley Banfield finds it interesting future spouses are included in the exclusionary declaration. How would Stern fit in.
In order for that to be relevant to him, he would have to be her spouse. In California law there is provision for what would be done regarding a spouse.
from first-hand viewing Court TV news
8 PM Nancy Grace is puzzled why Birkhead doesn't file for a paternity hearing now in
Florida.
Nancy isn't up to speed - the California court has already ordered samples to be taken from Anna Nicole, prior to her death, and from the baby.
The samples must be available by
February 21st.
Stern has not yet complied with that order after Smith's death.
In order for the paternity to be heard in Florida, the California order would have to be vacated.
That would lead to further delay in obtaining samples from Dannielynn.
Feb. 14, 2007 Hollywood Reporter
Anna Nicole Left Everything to Dead Daniel
HOLLYWOOD - Tragic model/actress Anna Nicole Smith left everything to her dead son Daniel and didn't change her will after his death in September.
Smith's longtime attorney and husband-to-be Howard K. Stern has revealed all about his late girlfriend's last will and testament in a tearful interview with TV show Entertainment Tonight.
Stern told reporter Mark Steines that Anna Nicole's will was drawn up in 2001, and never changed.
In the interview, which aired on TV last night, Stern said, "Everything went to her son Daniel. Now, because Daniel's gone and (baby) Dannielynn is an only child, everything goes to Dannielynn. Everything.
"I am named as the executor in that will, and I was also appointed or named as Daniel's guardian in that will. And again, that was way back in 2001."...
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Anna_Nicole_Left_Everything_to_Dead_Daniel/3657461
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070214/139/6c3rn.html
Smith left everything to her son, Danny, in her 2001 last will and testiment.
In discussion among Court TV News commentators, the next of kin to Danny would be Dannielynn.
Named as executor of the will is Howard K. Stern, next Ron Rale...
Discussion centers on whether the child at a later date can challenge the will.
Another lawyer offers that the will doesn't exclude necessarily Dannielynn from inheriting Smith's property, it addresses in the will not providing for any future children...
Ashley Banfield finds it interesting future spouses are included in the exclusionary declaration. How would Stern fit in.
In order for that to be relevant to him, he would have to be her spouse. In California law there is provision for what would be done regarding a spouse.
from first-hand viewing Court TV news
8 PM Nancy Grace is puzzled why Birkhead doesn't file for a paternity hearing now in
Florida.
Nancy isn't up to speed - the California court has already ordered samples to be taken from Anna Nicole, prior to her death, and from the baby.
The samples must be available by
February 21st.
Stern has not yet complied with that order after Smith's death.
In order for the paternity to be heard in Florida, the California order would have to be vacated.
That would lead to further delay in obtaining samples from Dannielynn.
Feb. 14, 2007 Hollywood Reporter
Anna Nicole Left Everything to Dead Daniel
HOLLYWOOD - Tragic model/actress Anna Nicole Smith left everything to her dead son Daniel and didn't change her will after his death in September.
Smith's longtime attorney and husband-to-be Howard K. Stern has revealed all about his late girlfriend's last will and testament in a tearful interview with TV show Entertainment Tonight.
Stern told reporter Mark Steines that Anna Nicole's will was drawn up in 2001, and never changed.
In the interview, which aired on TV last night, Stern said, "Everything went to her son Daniel. Now, because Daniel's gone and (baby) Dannielynn is an only child, everything goes to Dannielynn. Everything.
"I am named as the executor in that will, and I was also appointed or named as Daniel's guardian in that will. And again, that was way back in 2001."...
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Anna_Nicole_Left_Everything_to_Dead_Daniel/3657461
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070214/139/6c3rn.html
Preceding Anna Nicole Smith death her child's DNA court-ordered to be available
Net the Truth Online report
from Court TV news Live and MSNBC video
The case of Anna Nicole Smith is not as bizarre as many are claiming. In our country, the good old USA, biological parents do have rights.
according to Court TV live report today, recapping details of the Smith case, a California court has ordered DNA testing samples for both Anna Nicole Smith and her daughter Dannielynn by February 20th for testing in a paternity suit brought forward by Larry Birkhead months ago upon the birth of the child.
The samples from Smith had been taken upon her death. Presumably, those are the samples which will be utilized in the paternity testing.
However, the child's DNA has not yet been made available.
This clears up the pressing need to have counsel for Larry Birkhead present at any proceedings regarding the disposition of Anna Nicole Smith's body.
Apparently, with the circumstance of Anna Nicole's unexpected death, Larry Birkhead's counsel has wanted to ensure at least a collection of valid and viable samples directly from Anna Nicole Smith's body.
Other coverage
http://www.topix.net/who/anna-nicole-smith
from Court TV news Live and MSNBC video
The case of Anna Nicole Smith is not as bizarre as many are claiming. In our country, the good old USA, biological parents do have rights.
according to Court TV live report today, recapping details of the Smith case, a California court has ordered DNA testing samples for both Anna Nicole Smith and her daughter Dannielynn by February 20th for testing in a paternity suit brought forward by Larry Birkhead months ago upon the birth of the child.
The samples from Smith had been taken upon her death. Presumably, those are the samples which will be utilized in the paternity testing.
However, the child's DNA has not yet been made available.
This clears up the pressing need to have counsel for Larry Birkhead present at any proceedings regarding the disposition of Anna Nicole Smith's body.
Apparently, with the circumstance of Anna Nicole's unexpected death, Larry Birkhead's counsel has wanted to ensure at least a collection of valid and viable samples directly from Anna Nicole Smith's body.
Other coverage
http://www.topix.net/who/anna-nicole-smith
Breaking: Stern ordered to appear in Court
Net the Truth Online report
from first-hand viewing Court TV news Live and MSNBC video
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17158664/
Judge Larry Seidlin orders Howard K. Stern to be physically present in Florida court on Tuesday to take testimony from him.
Stern reportedly has been Smith's confidant for many years, and is named on birth documents as the father of Smith's child, five-month old, Dannielynn.
Unresolved to date is the surname of Dannielynn as apparantly, Anna Nicole Smith has not changed her name to reflect the surname of Howard K. Stern.
Anna Nicole Smith's counsel attempted to have the testimony of Howard K. Stern only focused on burial issues, but Seidlin seemed to reflect by his wording that Stern would testify on the issues before the court, any matters before the court, said Judge Seidlin in low tones. He said he won't defer to California.
Intermixed throughout were Seidlin's comments of concern for the child, and the sanctity of Anna Nicole Smith's remains.
Among the issues suggested during the hearing today were primary ones concerning Smith's burial, place of burial, and when she would be buried. Yesterday, Judge Seidlin appointed an Administrator ad litem who he said would give advice to the court concerning the two options of burial. Those were the Bahamas and the United States, specifically Texas.
Smith resided in the Bahamas but it remains unclear whether her legal status is as a resident under Bahama law.
Smith was born in Texas, where her biological mother resides.
However, during the proceedings, Judge Seidlin had ordered another sample of DNA to be taken from Smith's body yesterday, and a counsel for Larry Birkhead was to be permitted to review the material already existing and the new material for adequacy in the case of any paternity hearings.
On Thursday, Judge Seidlin indicated in a question that the biological father should be known because the next of kin Seidlin considered valid for burial purposes was five-month old Dannielynn. The next-of-kin to Dannielynn would be her biological father, at this point in time unknown.
Court TV News is reporting that Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole Smith did not undergo a marriage ceremony, but a committment ceremony.
Interviewing James Martin, probate attorney who has explained in depth Florida law regarding next-of-kin who would have an interest in the disposition of the deceased person's remains.
Martin authored
IS THE LAW OF THE BODY A BODY OF LAW?
Copyright 2004 by James W. Martin, Esq.
Published in The Florida Bar News, June 1, 2004
http://www.jamesmartinpa.com/bodieslaw.html
from first-hand viewing Court TV news Live and MSNBC video
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17158664/
Judge Larry Seidlin orders Howard K. Stern to be physically present in Florida court on Tuesday to take testimony from him.
Stern reportedly has been Smith's confidant for many years, and is named on birth documents as the father of Smith's child, five-month old, Dannielynn.
Unresolved to date is the surname of Dannielynn as apparantly, Anna Nicole Smith has not changed her name to reflect the surname of Howard K. Stern.
Anna Nicole Smith's counsel attempted to have the testimony of Howard K. Stern only focused on burial issues, but Seidlin seemed to reflect by his wording that Stern would testify on the issues before the court, any matters before the court, said Judge Seidlin in low tones. He said he won't defer to California.
Intermixed throughout were Seidlin's comments of concern for the child, and the sanctity of Anna Nicole Smith's remains.
Among the issues suggested during the hearing today were primary ones concerning Smith's burial, place of burial, and when she would be buried. Yesterday, Judge Seidlin appointed an Administrator ad litem who he said would give advice to the court concerning the two options of burial. Those were the Bahamas and the United States, specifically Texas.
Smith resided in the Bahamas but it remains unclear whether her legal status is as a resident under Bahama law.
Smith was born in Texas, where her biological mother resides.
However, during the proceedings, Judge Seidlin had ordered another sample of DNA to be taken from Smith's body yesterday, and a counsel for Larry Birkhead was to be permitted to review the material already existing and the new material for adequacy in the case of any paternity hearings.
On Thursday, Judge Seidlin indicated in a question that the biological father should be known because the next of kin Seidlin considered valid for burial purposes was five-month old Dannielynn. The next-of-kin to Dannielynn would be her biological father, at this point in time unknown.
Court TV News is reporting that Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole Smith did not undergo a marriage ceremony, but a committment ceremony.
Interviewing James Martin, probate attorney who has explained in depth Florida law regarding next-of-kin who would have an interest in the disposition of the deceased person's remains.
Martin authored
IS THE LAW OF THE BODY A BODY OF LAW?
Copyright 2004 by James W. Martin, Esq.
Published in The Florida Bar News, June 1, 2004
http://www.jamesmartinpa.com/bodieslaw.html
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