On Friday June/11 at 1pm central we will be talking to film makers Daniel T. O’Brien and Jennifer Powers. Their new documentary  Last Flight Home is one of the years best. It does not include a lot of glitz and glamour, it just tells a story that is long overdue. WWII ended more than 60 years ago. Yet there are still many people listed as MIA. Daniel and Jennifer are part of Bent Prop, a group dedicated to bringing closure to a group of surviving families. The island group known as the Palau were the graveyard for more than 200 US planes. For well over a decade the members of Bent Prop have made annual pilgrimages to Palau. They have solved several mysteries, and in fact one particular investigation resulted in a recent ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony. The 8 members of a B-24 were finally laid to rest. You can read my review here, and to listen in to the interview use this link.

On Saturday Jun/12 we are changing gears and looking at the American Mafia. This is another in our Surviving The Mob series. My guests include ex Gambino family associate Andrew DiDonato and crime writer and author Denny Griffin. This week we will also be joined by an ex Colombo family member Billy Cutolo Jr. Billy was a very influential member of the Colombo operation, his father Billy Cutolo Sr was the number two guy, AKA the Underboss of the family. Billy and Andrew have been friends from age 12, they may have ended up in different families, but they devilled together. They both also shared a common friendship, Joseph Corozzo. A quick check on google will reveal Joseph Jojo Corozzo’s latest work endeavours. I would not be at all surprised if the New York Prosecutors office will be listening in on Saturday. To tune in, use this link.

On Sunday at 3pm central we will be running our regular program concerning the Haleigh Cummings and Caylee Anthony cases. These two cases are so frustrating. there seems to be no way to unlock them. I had a long conversation with an author today, he is in no way connected or following these cases. But, he has much to say about the press and how they jump on dysfunction, particularly when it is a sports or movie personae.

He is correct, OJ Simpson, Tiger Woods, Michael Jackson, to name but a few. The author made a valid point, they all have (or had) more money than they could find ways to spend it. This clan is different. They all leech of each other. The regular panel will be in place, and the link is here.

Simon Barrett

31 days after Caylee was last seen her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, made that infamous 911 call to report her missing. Well in fact I believe there were three 911 calls made that day.

The second call that was made recorded Cindy Anthony as saying,

“There’s something wrong. I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”

Of course once Cindy realized what she said she later changed it trying to make everyone think it was the same smell one would get from the slice of pizza that sits inside the trunk of a car in 90 to 100 degree weather. Well that has been proven unlikely when one of the TV stations did their own experiment and found that rotting pizza in the heat does not smell anything like a dead body.

On the third call Cindy cries to the dispatcher that her granddaughter had been taken and that she had been missing for a month. She clearly tells the dispatcher that her daughter finally admitted to her that her granddaughter was missing. Now if my memory serves me correctly I seem to recall Casey telling her mother during the 911 call that she only needed one more day but Cindy told her no, she already had a month.

Well now the prosecution for the case is asking permission from Judge Berry to allow them to play the 911 calls for a jury when the case goes to trial. They told the court that playing it for the jury would allow them to hear how the car was described for the first time before the Anthony’s changed their story. They say that the one major theme of the state’s case is to demonstrate… the defendant’s lies about the fate of her daughter. They say the tapes also shows how Anthony describes her daughter’s alleged kidnapper for the first time which is the same woman would later denied ever meeting Casey or Caylee Anthony. Casey clearly stated, “Her name is Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez. She’s been my nanny for about a year and a half now. Almost 2 years.”

Of course Anthony’s attorney’s are arguing that neither Anthony nor her mother were under oath at the time of the 911 calls they would fall under hearsay rules which should make them inadmissible in court. They don’t want to admit in court that if the jury is allowed to listen to them as evidence in this case, they may as well give up and have her plead guilty as charged.

The prosecutor’s argue back that by saying that the tapes fall under an exemption to the hearsay rule that allows for “excited utterances” which are statements made by someone under extreme stress.

Judge Berry says he will consider whether or not he will allow the 911 tapes to be used during the trial which is not scheduled until May of 2011. When we think of it though, that is only 11 months away. I guess Baez and his wannabe dream team better get busy putting the case together. They are running out of time. (Oh and btw… that was meant to be sarcastic. I think they should have already went to trial on this one)

Hang in there Caylee Anthony. Hopefully soon you will get the justice you deserve. It is for you that I am keeping up with this case. It certainly isn’t to keep your family’s name in the spotlight. They don’t deserve to even have their names known. We are all waiting for this case to go to court so you may get your justice! God bless you Caylee, we love you!

Jan Barrett

Elmer The Christmas Elf

For Faithful Friends

The Best Of Friends

Inside Out

No-one has ever accused me of being mainstream, and reviewing what obviously is a Christmas book in March does not bother me one iota. Christmas is a wonderful time, I for one advocate that we should celebrate it every day. The rest of the world seems fixated on not doing that, which I think is a shame.

One thing that you might not be aware of is the history of carols. We call the Christmas Carols today, but there were actually carols for every major holiday, Easter, and particularly Harvest time, or as it is known in the US Thanksgiving. So I vote we celebrate year round.

All-right, I know I am in the minority, but it is what I am good at

Marilyn Randall is no stranger to the book world, Elmer is her fourth young children’s book. I enjoyed the other three immensely and just knew I would love this one. If you have yet to experience Marilyn at work, you can find the reviews here, here, and here.

A successful children’s book requires a set of dynamics that to say the least are complex. It is a delicate line that has to join entertainment with education. A children’s book needs to impart a message. It has to turn a complex concept into a series of events that can be easily understood.

Elmer The Christmas Elf does exactly that. It shows that acts of selflessness do indeed come back in unexpected ways. The saying ‘It is better to give than receive’ is very true. Elmer toils endlessly, his joy is in his work. But Elmer also wonders about the little children that receive the efforts of his toils.

It is Christmas Eve, Santa has loaded up the sleigh and is on his way to deliver Elmer’s hard work to children across the world. It is with horror that Elmer discovers that they have missed one toy. A little boy or girl will not get a present! He has no sleigh, and no way to deliver the gift, in fact he does not even know who it belongs to.

I will not spoil the story by telling more, it may just be a young children’s book, but I like to keep some mystery to make people read the tale for themselves.

Marilyn Randall has once again done a wonderful job. I have to admit that I was not sure how this book would come out. In her previous works she has had animals as the main characters, rather than people. She has in fact done an outstanding job with Elmer. And once again she has done her own illustrations. This in itself is a rarity, I can think of very few authors in this genre that wear both the writer and illustrator hats. She also manages to capture the right style of illustration for the age group she is aiming for. That may seem a strange thing to say, but it is a very important aspect. There is a marriage and harmony required between the text and pictures that has to be achieved for a child’s book to work.

You can order your copy of Elmer The Christmas Elf by using the Amazon link above, in fact, I suggest that you order all of her books, you will not be disappointed.

Tomorrow, is the beginning of April, why not celebrate Christmas? In fact I think I will haul the artificial tree out of storage, my wife might moan and groan, but it looks so pretty!

Simon Barrett

I like Marilyn Randall’s books, I had read her first two and they were delightful. Writing a book for a young child is actually much more difficult than one might imagine. For Faithful Friends was her first foray into the young child genre (review here), and it really demonstrated her great ability. I have reviewed many books aimed at children but Marilyn is the first author that I have really enjoyed that did not just write the text, but did the illustrations as well.

She followed up For Faithful Friends with Best Of Best Friends (review here), once again she had a winner on her hands.

Inside Out is her third excursion, and she just goes from strength to strength. Although the characters are very different from the ‘friends’ series she has maintained a wonderful consistency in the style of both the prose, which is done in a loose rhyming meter, and the illustrations which are perfectly pitched for her target age group. So unique is Marilyn’s style I am pretty certain that if someone showed me 100 illustrations I could pick out the ones she had created.

The key to a successful children’s book is a complex one. Far more complex than many people understand. It is not merely a question of slapping a few words together and having some cartoonish illustrations. A well thought out children s book is a much deeper endeavor. The recipient is not the buyer! The buyer is usually a parent or grandparent. The author has to sell to an adult!

Most adults when looking for books for their young ones tend to seek out those that have some positive message. A book is a learning tool. To a young child it is nothing more than entertainment, yet in those pages can be important messages. When done well a child’s book is an educational tool that teaches some life values. A lesson learned and understood at an early age makes for a better person. As adults we understand many concepts, but what we view as concepts are often lost on a small child. However when you take a complex concept and break it into small, easy to understand ideas, the child can grasp it, and usually offer some commentary that you had never even considered.

Marilyn Randall is the King oops queen of taking a complex subject and putting it in terms that a young child can digest. Inside Out takes us into the world of how we perceive our self, and how we think others might perceive us. Beauty is on the inside, not the outside.

The best description is the one that Marilyn Randall offers in the dedication:

I dedicate this book to every child who at one time in their lives has thought they weren’t pretty or handsome enough. In our materialistic world it is easy for a child to feel that he or she isn’t good enough and we all need to know that true beauty is measured by who we are on the inside, not what we look like on the outside

In Inside Out we meet the wise old owl and the young frog. The young frog laments:

Why would God make me so ugly and green
Or for that matter, what of my warts?
He continued to cry on the bank of the brook
And his tears filled up by the quarts.

This simple stanza says much. Children are much more perceptive than people give them credit for. Todays world is a complex one, and one that is awash with peer pressure. A simple book like Inside Out might be just what your child needs. How many young children feel inadequate? In looks or achievement? They are perceptive, but often do not really understand the larger picture.

Inside Out is not triage, it is a true learning tool for a young child. Every child is going to feel some sort of rejection, it likely will be (in our grown up minds) just a minor thing.

To order your copy just click on the Amazon link above. I can say this, you will find a richness and satisfaction in this book that is lacking in many other authors that aim their works at being useful and educational to young children.

Simon Barrett

I have not had time to read the entire data dump. And for those of you that do, I would like to point out that one file is 36 meg, and the other is 44 meg. These are large files, and even with a ‘lickety split’ high speed internet connection it will take more than the blink of an eye.

Dump One

Dump Two

Make of this information what you will. One thing is clear, there is no-one that has been cleared in the investigation. Casey Anthony is the prime suspect, and her trial starts in May/2011. There are few that doubt her guilt. but what is interesting is to read what her friends and family have to say!

Aja Johnson

Missing was her 8 year old daughter, Aja Johnson and police believed that she had been abducted by Tonya’s estranged husband, Lester Hobbs. An Amber alert was issued for her soon after. Police also said that they did indeed consider Hobbs as a person of interest in connection with the death of Tanya Hobbs. Later they issued an arrest warrant out for not only abducting Aja but for the murder of her mother, Tonya as well.

Police say Hobbs was believed to be driving a 1992 Toyota Paseo with Oklahoma license plate #577BPW on it. They asked that if anyone spotting the car to please notify the sheriff’s office.

It had been reported that Aja’s grandmother said that Hobbs never liked Aja and she was afraid he had something planned (to do to Aja, apparently). She says he hated her and she was afraid he had already killed her.

According to attorney John Branch, Aja John’s father’s attorney without Aja’s medication her behavior become a bit erratic. She suffers from attention deficit disorder and sleep deprivation so without her medication her behavior is likely to cause her to irritate Hobbs. “If she’s not getting her sleep, then her behavior becomes more and more erratic,” said Branch. “And as her behavior becomes more and more erratic, we’re concerned even more for her safety.”

Lester Hobbs

The search for little Aja apparently seems to have come to an end as of yesterday. The Oklahoma police say they have found the Toyotya that Hobbs was using and the two badly decomposed bodies that they have every reason to believe is that of Lester Hobbs and Aja Johnson. An anonymous 911 call was received Monday reporting an abandoned car in the woods about 15 miles outside of Norman Oklahoma.

Although the bodies have not yet been identified Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said, “We have no reason to believe it’s not those two people.” The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s office will have to use fingerprints to help identify Hobbs and dental records for Aja. Brown did indicate that some papers were found inside the car that could possibly be a suicide note. No weapon has been found and it has not been stated as of yet as to the causes of their deaths.

Terri Johnson, father of Aja, J.J. Johnson’s wife said she saw a video of the scene and she spotted a jacket outside the car which she recognized, “We saw the coat Aja took with her on the back rear tire of the car,” she said.

When he was told about the discovery, J.J. Johnson was immediately overwhelmed with grief but at the same time he also expressed relief and admitted for the first time that he had given up hope of finding his daughter a long time ago. According to newson6.com J.J. said this:

“As a parent, love for your child always burns, but for some odd reason that fire went out. I had a funny feeling something like this would happen. That gutless person he is, he would do something like this. I never wanted to accept it, but in the back of my head I knew he’d do something like this.”

My heart goes out to the family. It has to be rough accepting your child is gone especially like this. I hope Aja didn’t have to suffer to much before she was killed. I pray Hobbs didn’t torture her and make her have to suffer all the time he had her. I pray that at some point he would have been good to her, making sure she was fed and cleaned. Of course more than anything I wish she never had to suffer through this ordeal at all but since she did and her life was in the hands of a crazy man.

Aja Johnson you was a beautiful little girl that didn’t deserve this. May God bless you and may you now rest in peace.

Jan Barrett

Prior to the cult culture that the reefer madness generation created, our country used marijuana and its brother plant hemp as a tool in everyday use to produce medicine and a vast variety of other usable products. When this country started our first President George Washington grew fields of hemp and marijuana. He separated the male and female plants realizing that the females produced THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). Washington used the male plants to produce hemp, from hemp he manufactured every day products and sundries. Washington is not the only name in our nations history that used marijuana and hemp for its beneficial purposes. Other well known names include: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln. The history of marijuana and our nation is not only in our far past but has started to resurface in the past 40 years becoming more and more accepted as time progresses. John F. Kennedy was reported to use marijuana medically for back pain and planned to LEGALIZE it in his second term. Of course who could forget former president Bill Clinton with his famous line heard round the world “I didn’t inhale.” Clinton admitted to trying marijuana in England saying he didn’t like the high. Our current president Barack Obama has admitted to inhaling. He has also supported medical marijuana before and during his presidency. Marijuana is not confined to only names in our governments history, the list of the names of those who have supported and used marijuana would be endless. Our nation seeing the countless man hours and waste of federal and state taxes to fight the war on marijuana seems far greater to that being spent on other narcotics.  The war against marijuana has been very draining on federal and state budgets, making some of the legal states realize the benefits financially from the legalization and taxing of this plant. One state has agreed to a federal/state taxation of medical marijuana, California is the first of the nation to allow a tax on the plant. Rhode Island and Maine are said to follow suit. No other war on drugs has been so widely exploited or advertised. Marijuana has in the past been our governments scape goat for fighting the war on drugs.  No more of a distorted, irrational, waste of time and energy could have been produced from opposition to the legalization of the plant. State Attorney Generals from the past have made it their sole purpose to eradicate marijuana, without bearing the knowledge or attempting to research the truth. Those waging war against the plant have fought blindly making no headway in the war against the true vipers in the grass: Heroin, rock cocaine, powder cocaine, extacy, methamphetamines, hallucongenics, and prescription narcotics. Alcoholism also, medical marijuana has been successfully proven to help people recover from alcoholism.

The war to keep the truth of marijuana’s powers seems to be fueled by an unknown entity, whether it be one or many there is a force out there still attempting to keep the truth out of our hands. Step away from the medical benefits proven to come from marijuana. Hemp alone could wipe out major corporations in this nation. Hemp can produce many of the products we purchase every day, which include food and nutrition uses. Hempseed  oil contains essential amino acids and essential fatty acids that greatly benefit our bodies, there is a vast variety of consumable products that use hempseed oil as a ingredient. Hemp oil contains essential fatty acids, linoleic acid, omega-6 acid (LA), alpha linolenic acid, omega-3 along with gama linolenic acid, omego-6 (GLA), stearodonic acid, omega-3 (SDA). Hemp seed whole contains a highly digestible fiber that is 1/3 edestin and 2/3 albumins. It’s amino acid profile is the closest to being complete then other common known sources. Such as meat, milk, eggs and soy. Hempseed is also a sustainable source of calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, magnanese. Hempseed also benefits celiac disease, containing no gluten it does not trigger symptoms.

Hemp goes beyond consumables and health supplements. Used as a building material for it’s Bast Fiber (the strongest part of the plant stalk). Hemp is used in China and Europe to strengthen concrete. Also used for its composite fiber along with fiberglass, kenaf, and flax to make composite panels for automobiles. Hemp produces more fiber then cotton or flax, though the use of hemp has slowed down considerably over the past two centuries it has found its way back into consumer living. Possibly one of most silent but controversial products from hemp is the paper products that can be produced from the hemp plant. Hemp paper is a bit more costly to produce due to the limited amount of hemp and the once yearly harvest of the plant that happens in August. Said to be better then those used with wood pulp, hemp was quickly attacked and hated by those in the wood industry.  Associated with marijuana hemp was given a bad rap prior to the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. It has been estimated that acre for acre hemp can produce four times as much paper then trees. Hemp can also be processed into material used for fabric, anything from undergarments to curtains can be made from hemp fabric. I personally was in a local Honda shop looking at dirt bikes the other day and found a motorcycle jacket made from hemp. I have purchased hemp lotion, shampoo, conditioner, lip balm, shorts, necklaces, socks, bra, panties, swim suit, and a few shirts made from hemp. Animal bedding is another use of hemp, for its shives found at the core of the stem. Soil purification is another use of hemp, it is currently being used as a purification tool at the Chernobyl Disaster Site. Farmers use hemp to control weeds thanks to its tall density they can avoid using hazardous chemicles. You can also create fuels from hemp bio fuels, bio diesel, and alcohol fuels can all come from the hemp seed.

There may be no way to tell what or who exactly waged the war against the cannabis plant(s), whom or whatever it was that started the war leaped in blindly not researching or even using a pinky toe to test the waters. The war they created deprived us from reaping the medical and industrial benefits of hemp/marijuana, it has kept us prisoner to the truth to the healing and helpful benefits from the male and female Cannabis plant. What our past tells us should speak loud and clear to all who read this. Men not of perfection, but who had to survive in a much more challenging time then we do today relied on the cannabis plant. Our money today is printed on paper made partially from hemp. Ignorance is not always bliss, we as a people have been deprived from the many uses of cannabis. The truth regarding the plant is out there. Don’t be blinded or mislead by a generation that is dying as quickly as their distorted opinions on the matter.

There is nothing more exciting than to sit down to watch a good horror flick with a bowl of hot buttered popcorn and a tall glass of cold coca-cola and trying to keep from spilling it all when a scary scene comes up making you jump. I have loved horror movies since I was a kid, unfortunately it is not a taste in movies that my husband I share so I have to stay up at night alone if I am going to be able to watch them.

Normally in a horror flick you sit on pins and needles not knowing if the next scene will make you jump out of your skin or scream out in tears from fear, but in this movie, Orlok The Vampire 3D you have a great mixture of horror along with laughter, to where you don’t know whether you should be laughing or crying. The 3D effects really add a fresh new perspective to a film.

The DVD includes an introduction by TROMA sensation Lloyd Kaufman, creator of the Toxic Avenger and you will also receive two pairs of 3D glasses to be able to enjoy the full effects of the movie.

In the film Max Schreck is back with his finest fang-to-flesh classic. Orlok The Vampire 3D is a restored version of Murnau’s Nosferatu. This never –before-seen print is an eerie and disturbing adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Shortly after its 1922 premiere, Murnau’s masterpiece became the subject of a bitter lawsuit. As a result all known copies of this blood sucking classic were destroyed… or so it was believed.

Eighty-seven years later Quality Cheese Productions unleashes this unnerving stereoscopic nightmare. Prepare for a filmic feeding frenzy of fright.

If you want to check out this horror flick you can click on the Amazon link about and purchase you copy of Orlok The Vampire 3D but make sure they send you the 3D glasses along with it.

Jan Barrett

Supervan is an exciting action packed film. Clint Morgan (Mark Schneider) defies his father by making a decision on his own. He decides to take the chance when he gets to enter his Van into a contest. He has the van customized like no other van has ever been. He has it equipped with lasers and a plush interior and the van is solar powered. It has been his dream to enter the van, Vandora, into a van contest known as “Freakout.”

Once the evil white haired bad guy, T.B. Trenton (Morgan Woodward) gets sight of Vandora he decides he has got to have it so he can enter it into the big annual van contest and win.

Karen Trenton (Katie Saylor), Trenton’s rebellious daughter decides to team up with Clint as they take off in the van together. Next comes wild and crazy car chases including the cops chasing them. They find themselves having to use the van to fight a group of really mean bikers with an attitude to stay on the road.

The movie is full of action including a wet t-shirt contest and even with a cameo appearance by a drunken Charles Bukowski. We see a jailbreak, homosexuals and a lot of good silly fun.

You can go to Youtube and see a trailer before deciding on buying it. I think if you were ever a fan of movies like “Convoy” and other car chasing movies you will enjoy the action in this one.

Supervan goes on sale on DVD on March 23, 2010 and to get yourself a copy click on the Amazon link above. I don’t think you will be sorry you did if you like this kind of action.

Jan Barrett