Blog! December 2004

Time to Blog

December 31, 2004

I just wanted to end this year by saying it has been fun writing this blog, and I hope those of you who read it once in awhile will continue doing so.

I am up to my eyeballs in new technology. I have my digital camera to master, along with Photoshop 7.0
I bought a keyboard this afternoon. I love music, and I want to learn how to play it. I can learn chords, and teach myself to play a background rhythm style. I will never be an Elton John, or a Liberace, but I can enjoy myself. It has a USB connection, so I can hook it up to my computer. There is a digital program that came included. You can create your own midi files, hook up to the Internet, and even download midi files from my computer to the keyboard. It is a mini music studio. Like I said, I am up to my eyeballs in new technology!

I have to get cracking on my training program this year also. I am getting a gut on me. I find it hard to believe, but it is there. Must be the "middle age" gut thing going on. I don't like it, but if I get to work on it now, I can nip it in the bud. Looks like I have plenty to keep me occupied this coming year, and years to follow. My training, my camera, and my music is all I need to keep me busy for the rest of my life.

I hope 2005 is kind to you all. I have to work hard at improving myself and keeping my spirits up. I haven't been too happy lately. I need to get a better job. I have to find someone that cares about me, and wants to walk with me. I push people away. I have had a fear of committing to anything. I have demons to fight. I fight with them everyday, or I should be. I have plans, and goals to accomplish. I want to enjoy the things I love. Sometimes, I am too tired to concentrate on learning all this digital crap. But I will take it one day at a time. I need to learn something new everyday. By learning all the small things, I will learn the big things. I can master my music, my digital photography, and my martial arts. By doing these things, I can master myself. That is my ultimate goal. To live the rest of my life accomplishing something that makes my life worth living. I need a reason to get up in the morning. I need goals. I need to walk to the sound of my own drum.

I am going to be dead tired this year. It will be worth it.

Smith poses for photographers at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles November 14.

December 30, 2004

As the year comes to a close, and a new one begins, let us not forget Anna Nicole Smith. If this dumb blonde routine she has been playing is an act, the woman deserves an Oscar. She embodies all those values that make capitalism the greatest economic system in the world. You don't need brains to acquire a fortune. You don't need any skills or expertise. And it isn't what you know, but who you know that makes you great. Pure greed and selfishness brings fame and fortune. I tip my hat to you Anna, the world's greatest gold digger. You got way more than you deserve.

A U.S. federal appeals court on December 30, 2004 reversed a judgment awarding 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year Anna Nicole Smith $88 million from the estate of her elderly billionaire husband J. Howard Marshall. In 2002, a federal judge ruled that the dying 90-year-old truly loved his then 26-year-old wife when he awarded her $88 million in a bitter court fight with the oil tycoon's son. The judge ruled that the son had tried to rob Smith of her rightful inheritance by mounting a campaign of deceit and dishonesty.

December 29, 2004

With all the death and destruction happening at this particular time, I'd like to present something on the lighter side. Some people might not find the following story that funny, but I think it is. I really don't see this as exploitation. Some people might see this as taking advantage of poor innocent school kids. From the sound of it, they weren't that innocent to begin with. One enterprising youth had the brilliant idea of using his cell phone to cash in on some extra rupees. And bless his girlfriend for supporting him. I think that is sweet. So what if she is a slut and an exhibitionist. She has a heart of gold.

Blitz on Indian cyber-cafe porn
Some of the cafe cubicles did not even have computers

North Indian police have cracked down on porn in cyber-cafes, including two that allegedly rented cubicles for $1.30 an hour for youths to have sex. Police in Uttar Pradesh arrested more than 50 people, some of them naked.

Director-general of police, VKB Nair, told the BBC he ordered the drive after complaints that students were watching porn instead of attending classes. It follows a scandal over the case of a Delhi schoolboy who allegedly filmed a sex act with a girl on his cell phone.

The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in Lucknow says the Uttar Pradesh crackdown targeted a number of places that sold pornographic films and videos. The crackdown follows the Delhi school sex-clip case In Agra, the owners of two cyber-cafes were allegedly providing sex cubicles for boys and girls for 60 rupees ($1.30) an hour. Most of the cubicles did not even have computers - instead police found used condoms.
Police arrested 22 boys and girls there, in various states of undress. The manager of one reputable cyber-cafe said he was surprised that his establishment was virtually deserted while the others were crowded despite being almost twice as expensive. Mr Nair also said some cinema halls were caught illegally showing parts of films that were cut by the censors. He has asked all district police chiefs to file reports on the crackdown by 29 December. Allahabad district police chief, Sunil Gupta, said two people had been arrested there for selling pornographic video CDs. Baazee.com has reacted angrily to Mr Bajaj's arrest. He denied media reports that police had received a video CD allegedly made by a boy of a sex act with his girlfriend which was then sold in markets for 250 rupees.

In a similar case, which has shocked India, a 17-year-old Delhi schoolboy allegedly recorded a sex act with a girl, 16, on his mobile phone. The clip was later sold on video CDs via auction site Baazee.com, sparking the arrest of its manager for India, Avnish Bajaj. A juvenile court granted the boy bail but ordered him not to leave the country. Mr Bajaj was also bailed and told not to leave. He was arrested under India's information technology law, which prohibits the use of the internet to distribute obscene or pornographic material. Bazee.com has said the offending clip was removed from the website as soon as the nature of its contents became known. The alleged seller of the two minutes and 37 seconds clip, an engineering student, has also been arrested.

December 28, 2004

The death toll resulting from this tsunami is mind boggling. I read a news article that the toll is over 50,000 known dead. Death from disease is coming. I hear talk that mosquitoes will be overwhelming, and that the filth they carry will kill tens of more thousands. The number of children lost in Asia is unbelievable. And here I sit worried about my life. I have a roof over my head. I have food to eat. I am healthy. I have some money. What do I have to worry about?

Life is really a matter of perspective. If you don't like where you are, change it. If you don't like what you are doing day to day, make changes. Make changes for the better. Change must come in small, daily increments. If you try to comprehend the complexities of what you need to do to really change your life, you will give up in sheer frustration. If you make positive change a lifetime goal, it is achievable. Like flowers blooming, the changes might not turn out the way you plan, but positive things will happen. Joy can be a byproduct of vision and dedication. Satisfaction can be a result of discipline. I still hear the drums. They call me. I can't march in line with the rest of the great unwashed and find joy in that. I am disgusted with the morons who hate anyone who has the spine to try and be something better. I know that this year I will quitely go my own way and walk my own path. If people want to walk with me, they can. I can not live my life with the intentions of looking for acceptance. If you look for a pat on the back, you may find a knife sticking out between the shoulder blades.

December 26, 2004

I did a blog on the end times. Part of it was in jest, but the meat of the story was genuine. I do belive in the end times. I know that the killer asteroid will hit the Earth again. I may not be here when it does, but it will happen. I know that Yellowstone National Park is going to blow, and when it does, the map of the United States won't look the same. People have had visions of a new America. They don't know why it looked the way it did. I think it was a vision of the after math of Yellowstone exploding. I am sure if you wanted to, you could do some surfing and find a representation of the new North America somewhere.

The prophets speak of war, and rumors of war. We have that. They speak of plagues and disease. We have that too. The prophets speak of natural disasters killing scores of people. Today's earthquake may be prophesy. A friend of mine said he thinks we are in a long slide downward right now. He also thinks the end times are closer than most people would feel comfortable with. Every reason to make the most with what you have. Love those around you today. Not because you might get some brownie points with God, just do it because that is what we should be doing anyway.

The Bible tells us the world will end in fire. God destroyed the world once. God isn't going to destroy it again, man will. It only takes one nut with his finger on the nuclear triger to set off a chain reaction of retaliation. The nuclear weapons they have now make Hiroshima look like a cherry bomb. The end times could start with a biological holocaust. This could set off a panic that would destroy the world. People think setting crap on fire is suposed to make all the bad things better. If germ warefare results in a biological Armageddon, man will burn this planet to a cinder. Either way, the world will end in fire.

I just want to get my mind back to a positive place. Seeing humanity disinigrate in front of my eyes everyday is a reminder of just how valuable time is and that you have to make the best of it. Nothing is ever going to be perfect. Things don't happen that way. John Lennon wrote, "life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans." Plan ahead, but smell the flowers that happen to bloom. They might not be the ones you expected, but they are just as sweet.

Reggie White

Reggie White, a fearsome defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers who was one of the great players in NFL history, died Sunday, his wife said. He was 43.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

"Today our beloved husband, father and friend passed away," White's wife, Sara, said in a statement through a family pastor. "His family appreciates your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of Reggie White. We want to thank you in advance for honoring our privacy."

For those of you who think I'm crazy for thinking about the end of the world, read this. I'll shut up - for today.

Ultrafast Supercomputer to Simulate Nuke Explosion

LIVERMORE, Calif. (Reuters) - Leading nuclear scientists with top security clearances will gather next summer at a screening room east of San Francisco and witness the results of the greatest effort ever in supercomputing.

Using a computer doing 360 trillion calculations a second, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Lab will simulate the explosion of an aging nuclear bomb in three dimensions. The short, highly detailed video produced by the world's fastest computer will attempt to illustrate how missiles dating back to the Nixon administration would perform today.

"My job ... is to ensure that the nuclear weapons in the stockpile are safe and reliable," said Bruce Goodwin, associate director for defense and nuclear technologies. "Safe means no matter what you do to them they don't go off when they are not supposed to. Reliable means that should the president ever have to use one, it will work exactly as it is supposed to."

December 25, 2004

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope the year to come is a blessed one. I know that things are hard now. No one gives a rat ass about much. Poverty is just around the corner. Working for a living doesn't ensure prosperity. Corproate values are replacing the golden rule, "treat your neighbor as you would want to be treated". The new golden rule is, "who ever has the gold rules". It doesn't matter how you get it. If you have to stab your best friend in the back, then that is what you have to do. If you have to rat fink on your co-workers, you do it. Souls are going cheap on the open market.

On the other hand, I know there are many of you who helped the needy, the crippled, and the down trodden today. My hat goes off to all of you who kept the spirit of Christmas alive today. You are an inspiration to me to keep striving ahead, despite the darkness that is engulfing the national consciousness. I see dark times, death, and despair ahead. I hate to feel like this, but my faith is being tested, and my gut reaction is to turn a blind eye to it all. I know that I can't do that.

I have some goals to accomplish, and work toward. I have made up my mind to start walking the path on a daily basis. I haven't done it. I go in spurts, but that isn't going to get the job done. I have gone through a period of weakness. I see darkness. I don't see any positive change on the horizon. That is because I'm not building anything. I have gone through the motions, but that isn't enough. 2005 is a special year. I have come to a turning point in my life. I can continue working towards making my life worth living, or I can lay down and just let these last years slip past me.

I think the great Badger 5 experiment is a bust. I hit three out of four numbers last night; the first, middle, and last. That isn't a good sign. I just might have to play a few bucks when it gets up there in the $100,000 range. This is thirst time any of my numbers came up in December. That is why I think the dream is over for 01 02 17 29 31. Will have to sleep on it.

December 23, 2004

I saw Mike Tyson fight "Bone Crusher" Smith in Las Vegas many years ago. Mike had every reason to be called "Iron Mike". He looked like a Coke machine with a head on it. Before the fight began, he walked over to the ropes, and glared at the high rollers who shelled out $1000 bucks a pop to sit ringside. A hush came over the crowd. It was like you didn't know what was going to happen next. Mike was king of his domain, and he knew it.

There were times he would sit out in the parking lots of the Casinos and hit on women walking out to their cars. "Looking for some heavyweight loving?", he would ask. It was pitiful. The guy had everything a man could want, and he just pissed it away.

That is why it is sad to read about him now. George Harrison wrote, "all things must pass, all things must fade away". Mike has said he doesn't want to be remembered as the greatest fighter in the world who blew it. He might not have any choice. The following article is long, but worth reading.

Iron Mike Tyson
Despair of a Fallen Idol

Mean and menacing at just 14, the boy glowers from the old black-and-white photograph - a simmering volcano soon to erupt in the boxing ring.

He was destined to conquer the world with his talented fists as one of the most fearsome heavyweights in history.

This week, 38-year-old Mike Tyson was back at Gleason's Gym, where he used to train as a youngster - but the conquering days are over. This time, there is no fight to prepare for and no prospect of one.

Instead Iron Mike is here to teach kids how to box as part of a community service sentence he was given for his part in a brawl at a Brooklyn hotel. The gym owner persuaded the district attorney that Tyson should put something back into the community instead of going back to jail.

During his visit the former world champion speaks exclusively to the Daily Mirror about what it feels like to be back on his old stamping ground - and pondering his future.

And as he shuffles around the ring, letting nine-year-olds bob and weave, pounding away at the padded mitts he holds up for them, the contrast with the boy in the poster could not be greater.

Quietly, the once-great fighter observes: "You look at old pictures and then you look in the mirror and you don't even know who that person is."

Overweight and on prescription drugs to fight depression and keep him calm, Tyson is still carrying a leg injury from the pounding he took from Britain's Danny Williams, who knocked him out in July.

Contrary to what his adviser Shelley Finkel claims, he is not planning a comeback fight in March. Maybe there will never be one. "I'm just training," says Tyson, who hasn't worked on his bad knee for more than two months. "I don't know if I still want to box. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I feel I don't more than I want to. I'm just tired."

He did not bother to watch Vitali Klitschko's destruction of Danny Williams in Las Vegas 11 days ago.

"I don't watch fights that much no more," he whispers. "I don't like it like I used to."

But that doesn't stop him having a view on the fight. "Danny doesn't punch hard enough to hurt that guy," he says.

Yes, but he punched hard enough to hurt you, didn't he?

"I hurt my knee in that fight," he explains - which is true, because he needed surgery afterwards and is still six weeks of rehab away from being fully fit again.

THE last time I'd met Tyson was more than a year ago, after Frank Bruno was taken to hospital to help him deal with his own demons.

Tyson says he cried for his old foe at the time and is glad when I tell him Frank is on the mend.

"That makes me happy," he says. "The worst thing that can happen to you is for you to lose your mental powers, especially when you've got a wife and kids."

And he should know. Muttering something about a boxer's biggest fight coming after he leaves the ring, Tyson then comes over all philosophical.

"Dying can't be as bad as living," he muses. "There's no way that dying can be as bad as living. But while you're living you have to live.

"I don't know what I'm doing. I just live, I guess, get some food. But I don't cook. I go to restaurants every night." Asked how he fills his days, he replies: "I don't do anything. My life sucks."

Cash-strapped after blowing a �200million fortune, he has sold all his mansions, got rid of the pet tigers and flogged the luxury cars to move into a �60,000 two-bedroom house in Phoenix, Arizona.

He even has to put his own rubbish out now. But he denies that he has left the back streets of Brooklyn, where he grew up, for good.

"I live wherever I can," he says, before pondering whether it has all been worth it.

"I've reached a point in my life when I think: 'Damn, what is all this s*** for?' You forget about all the fighting and all the training.

"But I guess I'm fortunate enough, right? Never have to wait in line for anything, never have to worry about getting a nice girlfriend, a good-looking girlfriend. I don't know, it has its advantages."

Right now Tyson is more hungry for women than another title shot after splitting up with his girlfriend of two years.

"I'm trying to get some p***y, to get laid. I'm trying to get laid," he says, laughing. He has turned up at Gleason's with his ex-wife Monica and their seven-year-old son Amir. "There's no reconciliation," Monica is quick to point out. "We're just good friends."

Although little Amir is the first to pound away at Daddy's yellow padded mitts, Tyson has no desire for his son to follow him into the ring.

"I wouldn't recommend it to my son - I don't think he's got it in him," he says. "The one thing all the champions ever in the world have in common is poverty. It's all they have. You have to fight your way out of poverty."

HE mumbles instructions to nine-year-old Sherif Younan, telling him to move his head in the ring if he doesn't want to get hurt.

Sherif says later: "He told me: 'If you don't do your left hook after your right you're gonna get caught. You have to do a combination.' If I learned one thing from him it was never stay in one place - always move around."

The youngster - already an amateur champion - adds: "I move all the time so I won't get hit by a big guy like this. I've seen a lot of Tyson's fights on TV. He doesn't pitter-patter, he punches hard."

Little Sueshona Norville, also nine, says: "It was fun. I don't think I hurt him."

So what is Tyson's message to youngsters who want to follow in his footsteps?

"I tell them they need to dedicate themselves, make sacrifices and come every day," he says. "To miss as less days as possible and stay off the absentee list."

As he walks around the gym, he is all grins as he is mobbed by fans wanting his autograph or a picture with him.

"It takes me back to the days when I was training here," he says. "It's always exciting to have a crowded gym, there's a lot of personalities here. But it's weird, too. People I've known for 20 years are new to me. In 20 years things change drastically. People know my name, but I don't know who the hell they are. I think I know them and I don't know them.

"Being here now, a lot of people come up to you and talk to you, but you don't know who the hell they are. It's weird."

Bruce Silverglade, who has owned Gleason's for 26 years and is an old friend of the fighter, says: "Tyson is content in this type of environment. This is where he's familiar, because he trained here as a youngster and an adult.

"The people that train here want to emulate what he did best and it's an atmosphere that he likes best. He likes working with kids and people who can appreciate him as a great boxer.

"No one here's going to say: 'Oh, look - there's Mike Tyson, the rapist who got into trouble again the other day.'"

Tyson was jailed for six years in 1992 after raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant, in a hotel in Indianapolis. He served half his sentence.

Bruce says: "He's got to be careful what he does. He recently got into trouble for jumping on to the hood of someone's car. There could have been some nut or crack addict behind the wheel who might have shot him or something."

As for his future in the ring, Bruce, 58, says: "Mike Tyson will never be a productive fighting force again. But he might get fights to make money because of his name."

Certainly, his family and those who care for him do not want him to be pushed back into action by the money men.

"I think he's just tired of everything and he wants to live a normal life now," says his sister, Jackie Rowe.

And to know that the only blows he will take in the ring from now on are the powder-puff punches of a nine-year-old girl who doesn't want to hurt her once-mighty hero.

December 21, 2004

My heart goes out to Jack Whittaker. I know I have bad mouthed him, and he deserves to be bad mouthed, but he must be going through hell wondering what he could have done to prevent this tragedy. This young woman must have been hurting inside somehow, and Jack was just too busy chasing strippers, flashing ridiculous amounts of cash, and too consumed with playing the big shot to notice. I hope he finds some peace knowing it wasn't his fault she died a senseless death. Life teaches us lessons in different ways. Maybe winning this lottery is God's way of teaching Jack Whittaker something. It is almost like the story of Job. The only twist is Job had wealth and God took it away to test his faith. In this case, God bestowed great material wealth on Jack Whittaker to test his. There has to be a vein of irony in the story of a man who has it all, from a capitalistic viewpoint, only to experience great misery. Maybe he isn't a total idiot. Maybe it was God's plan for some reason. No, he is an idiot, but I still beleive God has a hand in this.

Cause of Lotto Winner Kin's Death Unclear

The Associated Press - WINFIELD, W.Va. (AP) -- An autopsy Tuesday on the 17-year-old granddaughter of the nation's largest lottery winner provided few clues to her death, though investigators are leaning against homicide.

"We just know it's not looking like it's murder," Trooper 1st Class S.E. Wolfe said.

Brandi Bragg's body was found Monday wrapped in a plastic tarp behind a junked van near the house owned by her boyfriend's father. She was last seen alive by family members Dec. 4 and the autopsy indicated she died the next day, Wolfe said.

The boyfriend's father has suggested the teen overdosed on drugs.

Bragg is the granddaughter of Jack Whittaker, a contractor who on Christmas 2002 won a $314.9 million Powerball lottery jackpot, the biggest jackpot ever won in the United States.

Wolfe said the body showed no signs of violence and officers believe Bragg died in the house. He said the teenager's death was being treated as a missing person case that ended in death.

Steve Crosier, whose son Brandon was Bragg's boyfriend, told reporters Monday in a brief conversation outside the house: "All I know is she OD'd and Brandon freaked out."

Police were awaiting results of a toxicology report, which was expected to take at least a week. No charges have been filed.

"Brandon is the main person of interest," Wolfe said. "I believe he is the one who moved the body from the residence to the van. I believe it was there the entire time."

Putnam County Prosecutor Mark Sorsaia said he could not discuss the autopsy report, citing federal privacy laws.

In September, an 18-year-old friend of his granddaughter was found dead at Whittaker's home. That death remains under investigation. Whittaker was out of town at the time.

December 20, 2004

No where in the following news story does it mention that the following funeral arrangements were planned by the deceased, requested by the deceased, or even wanted by the deceased. It is a blatant demonstration of the living enjoying what they think would be "neat".

So the woman smoked and was 105 years old. Is that any reason to toss a pack of smokes into the cremation fire? What is this laying a large floral cigarette on her coffin? And playing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes at Ms Ellis's funeral? I'm sure they all got a laugh out of it. Having worked as a CNA, I can tell you without a doubt that there are a lot of disturbed people working in the industry. I think the following story is a shame. Where do these people get off thinking this behavior is respectful? Can you believe they are planning on placing her ashes in a concrete ashtray in the nursing home garden? I am disgusted with the sheer arrogance of the entire spectacle. If she had been Hispanic, they probably would have buried her in a coffin shaped like a taco. Think about it.

Reuters - Committed smoker cremated with her fags

Nursing home staff have paid tribute to a 105-year-old British woman who had smoked since the age of 15 by cremating her with a packet of cigarettes and laying a large floral cigarette on her coffin.

Marie Ellis died of natural causes at the Eaton Lodge Nursing Home in Kent, south-east England, in early December and was cremated clutching a packet of her favourite cigarettes.

"We will always remember her for her smoking because the first thing she asked when she got up was 'can I have a cigarette'," matron Maria Kallis said.

Ms Kallis commissioned a large wreath in the shape of a cigarette, made with white and yellow crysanthemums, for the spinster's coffin.

The enigmatic Ms Ellis, an ex-typist, arrived at the nursing home 15 years ago.

Apart from her 15-a-day habit, she was also notorious amongst staff for her unhealthy eating habits, often asking for sugar in her soup and always demanding three sugars in her coffee.

Staff played the song Smoke Gets in Your Eyes at Ms Ellis's funeral and are planning a memorial concrete ashtray for her in the nursing home garden, where her ashes will also be buried.

December 18, 2004

Since I mentioned Ed Gein, I may as well present the story behind the man. Many people believe that he is the model for the Texas Chainsaw massacre character, and many others refer to him as the original "leatherface"

Edward Theodore Gein
Date of birth:
8 August 1906
La Crosse, Wisconsin USA

Date of death:
26 July 1984

Nickname
The Plainfield Butcher
Grandfather of Gore

Mini biography:

Ed and his elder brother Henry were born into farming family near Plainsfield, Wisconsin. Geroge Gein, his father was also a tanner and carpenter and was drunk most of the time. Augusta, Ed's domineering mother, was the real voice of the house. She was a very religious woman who frequently warned her sons about the sins of premarital sex. Ed's father died in 1940 and his brother Henry in 1944 when he was fighting a marsh fire. It was later believed that Ed might have killed him. When his mother died of a stroke in 1945, Ed was left all alone at the 'tender' age of 39. He nailed her bedroom shut. Ed Gein had ambiguous thoughts about his sexuality. He had often thought of castration and even considered a sex-change operation but couldn't afford it. During the period of 1950-54 he visited 3 local cemeteries at night and exhumed about 9-10 graves. Gein even took out his mother's body. He removed bits and pieces from each body and even returned some to their graves. Initially he was even aided by Gus a simple-minded neighbour. In 1954 Gus moved into a nursing home and he did it by himself. He used skullcaps for bowls, created hanging mobiles with various body parts and crafted lampshades out of human skin. On special occasions he would dance in the moonlight and wear a 'nipple belt' and a 'mammary vest'. This process allowed Gein to became another sex! The first official murder for which he was charged occurred on December 8, 1954. The next on November 16, 1957. He attacked his last victim in her shop and dragged her body to his truck which was parked at the back. The victim's son recalled that Ed Gein had come to see his mother just before she was last seen. When the police went to his farm, they found her headless body in his shed. They also found his strange human 'furniture' and a refrigerator full of human organs. Gein was arrested and immediately confessed to his crimes. On January 16, 1958 he was judged insane and sent to Central State Hospital at Waupun, Wisconsin. In November, 1968 he was tried again. He was now diagnosed to have chronic schizophrenia, found NGBRI and returned to Waupun. It was later theorised that Gein may have killed 2 men who hired him as their hunting guide, and were never seen again, and 2 other unidentified women whose body parts were found at his farm. In 1978 he was moved to Mendota Mental Health Institute. Gein was a model prisoner and died quietly in his sleep in the geriatric psychiatric ward.

Case File of Ed Gein - Excellent!

December 17, 2004

I grew up in Portage, Wisconsin. When I was living there, the prison had yet been built, and the local High School football team was called the Portage Wariors. I'm not sure what they are called now, but when the heat came down on High Schools across the country to change their image and cool the Indian bashing, the name was changed. I think they are called the Rainbow Warriors now.

Times have changed since I moved out. Jeffery Dahlmer got his brains bashed in at the prison, which was a shame considering they moved him there for the sole purpose of studying his brain. The University of Madison must have won the bid on it.

A large shopping mall has been built outside of the downtown area. They also built a strip joint off highway 33 someplace. It is on the Internet. To be honest, the babes on the website looked pretty good. Dairy products are a large part of our diet, and they tend to put some pounds on you. The beer can fatten you up too.

One thing that apparently hasn't changed is the nutjobs living here. Wisconsin has always had it's share of loonies. Ed Gein lived here, and butchered a number of people before they caught him. Word had it he made a mean lampshade out of human skin. Now there's an item that would sell on E-Bay! Ed ended up spending his last days at Mendoda Mental Institution. If you have looked at my resume, you'll see I worked at Central Wisconsin Center in the Psychiatric Ward. Mendoda is just down the road. I miss my boys, and I wonder from time to time how they are doing. They couldn't help being nuts. You should see the people working there. Big money is psychiatry. You'll never find yourself short on clientele. Not in Wisconsin. Read the following story. I don't know why people living here are goofy. Must be the inbreeding.

November 28, 2004

Karen Stolzmann, 44, was arrested in October in Portage, Wis., and charged with possession of stolen property, specifically, her long-dead boyfriend's ashes, which police say she dug up more than 10 years ago, perhaps to taunt his family, with whom she never got along. Other items that had been buried with him were found in her possession, and authorities speculate that the beer the family buried as tribute had long since been drunk by Stolzmann. The couple reportedly had a stormy relationship, and the family believes she provoked his suicide.

December 16, 2004

Some people have all the luck. Imagine finding a valuable stone carving, undamaged in a rock quarry. The most valuable thing I ever found was a $20 bill in a grocery store. I felt bad that someone had lost it, but I got over it.

Carving found in rural British garden fetches small fortune at auction

LONDON (AP) - A 1,000-year-old stone carving that spent years marking the grave of a couple's pet cat was sold at auction Friday for more than $465,000 Cdn.

The limestone carving of St. Peter was sold by Ruth Beeston, whose stonemason husband found it in a quarry.

Not realizing its value, the couple set it in their backyard in southwestern England to mark the resting place of their cat, Winkle. It was spotted by a local amateur historian, who guessed its age. Ruth Beeston decided to sell the piece after her husband died last year.

Alexander Cader, sculpture expert at auction house Sotheby's, said the carving - from the ninth or early 10th century - was "a rare survivor of English stone carving at its best."

The stone slab drew lively bidding, finally selling to a private collector for $468,868, including the buyer's premium.

Cader said Beeston would be delighted by the result of the sale.

"It was like winning the lottery for her," he said. "We know for sure that she is going to be absolutely thrilled and I think she is planning a trip to Kenya."

Being rich and famous stinks. I tell you what, I wouldn't kick Britney out of bed, even if her feet did stink.

Britney 'stinks'

Britney Spears caused a real stink when her smelly feet gassed a plane full of people.

Passengers complained when the star shed her shoes on a flight.

The smell was so bad that a stewardess asked Britney to put them back on reports The Sun.

Britney, 23, caused a stir as she and hubby Kevin Federline, 26, flew from Los Angeles to New York. The singer blamed the whiff on her shoes.

One passenger said: "The smell was unbelievable. One woman had a word with the air hostess, then three or four others complained. She looked pretty embarrassed as she tapped Britney on the shoulder and asked her very politely to put her shoes back on.

"Britney went red, laughed and said her shoes make her feet stink. Thankfully she put them on. There's no way we could have put up with that."

December 15, 2004

I see no reason why Victor Conte would make fasle accusations against Marion Jones. The Government isn't going to cut him any special deals for making false statements against Jones, or anyone else. If her boyfriend was on the juice, you know she was too. The depths denial can reach are infinite. If I really think I am the Pope, a lie detector test isn't going to prove otherwise. Marion Jones did not perfrom well in Athens. Her career as an Olympian is over, and she knows it. 25 million dollars will help the painful transition Jones must now face as her Olympic fame fades into the sunset.

Olympic track star Marion Jones filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against BALCO head Victor Conte, who told a national TV audience that he gave her steroids and watched her inject herself with them.

Jones is seeking $25 million in the suit, alleging Conte tarnished her reputation when he made the statement Dec. 3 on ABC's "20/20."

Conte and three others connected to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative were indicted in February by a federal grand jury for a variety of alleged offenses, including illegally distributing steroids.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, said Jones passed a lie detector test and includes a statement from her doctor saying she never used steroids. Jones won three gold medals and two bronzes during the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.

Conte's statements, the suit said, "are false and malicious."

A telephone call placed Wednesday to Conte's lawyer, Robert Holley, was not immediately returned.

December 14, 2004

You heard it here first. In my December 8, 2004 Blog, I talked about the trials and tribulations of Jack Whittaker, the hillbilly from West Virgina who flushed his life down the toilet since winning the sigle largest lottery jackpot in history. I have pieced several news stories together here that appeared in the nation's papers today. Seems Jack can't keep his head out of his ass. They say money can buy you a great many things. One thing it can't buy you is class.

Lottery Winner's Wife Regrets Ticket

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The wife of the lottery winner who took home the richest undivided jackpot in U.S. history says she regrets his purchase of the $314.9 million ticket that has thrust her family into the public spotlight.

"I wish all of this never would have happened," Jewel Whittaker told The Charleston Gazette for Tuesday's editions. "I wish I would have torn the ticket up."

Jack Whittaker, a 57-year-old businessman, won a $314.9 million Powerball jackpot on Christmas Day 2002. He took his winnings in a lump sum of $113 million after taxes.

He was arrested Tuesday night after his Hummer struck a concrete median on the West Virginia Turnpike near Beckley.

Senior Trooper M.J. Pinardo reported that he smelled alcohol, but Whittaker refused sobriety tests and was "extremely belligerent." Troopers also said they found a small pistol in Whittaker's boot and he was carrying $117,000 in cash.

He was released later Tuesday evening after posting a $1,700 cash bond. He pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor assault charge for attacking a bar manager, and is accused in two lawsuits of making trouble at a nightclub. He is also named in two lawsuits by female employees of a racetrack who allege Whittaker assaulted them last year.

There have been several thefts involving Whittaker's vehicle, his office and his house in Scott Depot. Just this week, someone stole $100,000 from Jack�s Lincoln Navigator at his home. Whittaker says he left his home at 6:30 am for coffee and returned home shortly afterward. Around 9 am the black bag containing the cash was gone and the window to the Navigator was smashed.

One of the thefts occurred at his home in September on the same day an 18-year-old friend of Whittaker's granddaughter was found dead there. The death remains under investigation.

Another theft occured while visiting the Pink Pony Strip Club in nearby Cross Lanes, shortly after winning the Powerball Jackpot. A stripper and her boyfriend who managed the club drugged Whittaker and broke into his SUV. $545,000 dollars in cash was stolen from the vehicle. The money was recovered.

Last week Whittaker, 57, reported his granddaughter missing. Putnam County sheriff's Sgt. Lisa Arthur said the granddaughter is not considered a kidnapping victim.

December 12, 2004

Wisconsin is a state vastly populated by ignorant, racist rednecks. If you aren't Caucasin, you aren't welcome here. If you are Black, you can live in Milwaukee with the rest of the niggers. If you are Hispanic, you need to pick your vegetables, and get your spic ass back to Mexico. If you are Asian, you don't belong here. Go back to where you belong, chink. If a non-White Presidential candidate ever needs Wisconsin to carry the Electorial College, you can bet your last dollar, the country will never elect a non-White person, ever. We pride ourselves on being liberal, and tolerant. It sells newspapers. A hillbilly mentality predominates everyday thought here in the Dairly Land State. Our new quarter has the word "Forward" on the back. I think the Aryan Nation has the same slogan. I apologise for speaking blutly. The following story mirrors everything I have just said.

Hunter Killings Heighten Racial Tensions

HAYWARD, Wis. - The fatal shootings of six white deer hunters by a Hmong man in northern Wisconsin last month have fueled racial animosity against the growing immigrant population, according to Hmong community leaders.

Hmong residents have reported receiving threatening letters and being taunted with ethnic slurs. At a community prayer service in Rice Lake, the area where the six slain hunters lived, one woman said she saw a bumper sticker that read: "Save a deer, shoot a Hmong."

"It is like boiling water again. Hopefully, in a few years, the water will probably cool down again," said Cheu Lee, owner of the Hmong Times newspaper in St. Paul, Minn., home of the country's largest Hmong community.

Chai Soua Vang, who lives in St. Paul, faces six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder for allegedly gunning down eight hunters after a trespassing dispute on some of the victims' land. Vang said the men fired on him first and used racial slurs; the two survivors said Vang shot them first.

Many Hmong, who began arriving in the United States from Southeast Asia 25 years ago, said they have experienced prejudice before. But some said feelings have become particularly hardened since the shootings in Wisconsin, home to 46,000 Hmong.

Police recently arrested a white man and cited him for misdemeanor property damage for painting the word "killer" on two trailer homes and a truck owned by Hmong neighbors.

Joe Bee Xiong, executive director of the Eau Claire Hmong Mutual Assistance Association, said his organization received an unsigned letter urging the Hmong to go back "where they belonged."

The Wausau Area Hmong Mutual Association said it has received calls from people making inappropriate comments about the Hmong. Ker Vang, executive director of the Hmong Association of Green Bay, said a Hmong woman there reported being called derogatory names.

The tension has also caused other Asian ethnic groups to take notice.

Tan Phan, a Vietnamese businessman who owns manicure salons in Eau Claire and Janesville, said he warned his wife that people may think she's Hmong and not Vietnamese. "Maybe some people may want to take revenge," he said.

Joe Bee Xiong, who is president of an umbrella group of 17 Hmong associations in Wisconsin, blames the media for exacerbating racial tensions because of the focus on Vang as a Hmong immigrant while ignoring his American citizenship.

"I personally worry that we are divided, and things will be getting worse, from both sides," he said.

Nathan Hecker, a white logger and hunter in Hayward, agreed. He said some people in northern Wisconsin dislike Hmong immigrants, citing the common perception that Hmong hunters "tend to shoot everything that moves and take it home � squirrels, birds, rabbits."

"There can be good and bad people wherever. But some people feel that way. That's not going to help matters," he said.

The feelings come at a time when authorities are trying to resettle an expected influx of nearly 3,200 Hmong refugees in the state. The refugees are among more than 15,000 Hmong leaving Thailand for the U.S. in coming months.

So far, leaders of Catholic Charities for the Dioceses of La Crosse and Green Bay, the agencies in charge of resettlements in northeast and western Wisconsin, have reported no major problems because of the shootings.

"The majority of our people are trying very hard to understand this is not a race thing. This is about hunters. It is a hunting incident," said Kaying Xiong, who leads a task force advising the governor on the resettlement.

"It is not about the Hmong. It is not about immigrants. It is not about refugees."

December 09, 2004

Guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott, right, and singer Patrick Lachman of the band Damageplan perform Nov. 28, 2004 at the Rock Club in Pittsburgh, PA. A man walked onstage in a crowded nightclub in Colombus Ohio during a rock concert Wednesday night Dec. 8, 2004 and opened fire on the band, initially targeting guitarist Abbott, killing at least four people and wounding at least two others. The gunman then began firing into the crowd before he was shot to death by police.

Remember the Dec. 6, 1969 Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway outside San Francisco? The Hells Angels self appointed themselves as concert security. A fan rushed the stage and pulled a gun. A Hells Angel stopped him, and during the struggle, was shot in the arm. What happened next is what made the headlines; the Hells Angels stabbed the gunman to death. The news media lent little press to the fact that this crazy bastard was waving a gun around.

Is it a coincidence that this nut job just happened to rush the stage in Columbus, Ohio and start blasting? Was he inspired by the anniversary of this other tragic event in rock and roll history? Who knows? It is difficult to explain why people do the things they do. The desire to be something, or to get noticed makes fools of us all. Ofcourse, flipping out is the desperate attempt of a very disturbed individual to get noticed, or to impress someone. Chapman and Hinkley may disagree with me. They will go down in history as famous people remembered long after they are dead. They don't care how they are remembered, just that they will.

My Powerball dreams are over for the time being. I didn't win. I will take another shot at it next time it rolls up to 100 million dollars.

December 8, 2004

If you have been following my Badger 5 or Powerball drawings, I am sure you got a good laugh out of it. I haven't won squat. On the one hand, it might be a good sign. When the numbers I have been playing everyday for the Badger 5 do come up, perhaps they will all come up at once. One dollar a day isn't going to send me into bankruptcy, but I hate seeing zero dollars come of it. I will continue playing the one year come hell or high water. It's still early in the game.

Powerball on the other hand has been another story. I have been playing $20 a shot here because the pot is big. I haven't got squat to show for this either. The Powerball Jackpot is 171.0 million dollars tonight. That is worth 20 sets of numbers. I remember the giant Powerball Jackpot won by that man in West Virginia. He was the sole winner of 314.9 million dollars, and he won it on Christmas eve. The drawing before that hit was worth 215.0 million dollars. It went up 100 million dollars in one drawing! It could easily happen again. I would love to win something. I would love to win the big one. I would keep my nose clean, and live a good life. This dude in West Virginia has not handled his success well. If you have been following his life story since he won the jackpot, you know what I am talking about. He has been riding around with $500,000 in cash stuffed in a couple of suitcases. He has been flashing it around too. So what do you think happened? He was at this strip club somewhere, and he got drugged by some stripper and her boyfriend who managed the joint. They rolled him. They didn't get away with it, but he got robbed. It's a miracle the moron hasn't been whacked. Another time, someone smashed the window out of his SUV, and ran off with a suitcase full of money. They must of panicked, and tossed the case into a dumpster. The cash was recovered by the police, and returned to the owner. This fool walked into a bar he knew he wasn't welcome in. The bartender told him to leave, and he threatened to kill the man, and his entire family. Last I heard, charges were pending that could have tossed him into the slammer for six months. I think he paid the dude off. I know he has a lawyer. Who ever his mouthpiece is, he has his work cut out for him babysitting this suddenly too rich buffoon. I heard the man just got arrested for driving under the influence. Talk about flushing your life down the toilet.

If I win, I will take a nice vacation to Las Vegas. I would love to spend the rest of the NFL season holing up in some beautiful strip hotel. I'd head back to Wisconsin after the Super Bowl. I'd get myself a custom fit tuxedo, and play some baccarat with the big boys in the high roller room at the MGM Grand or the Belagio. I would also have a nice little private party back in the hotel room with a trio of hot babes. Money would be no option.

After that, it would be time to get serious. I'd buy a nice home here, a new car, and some nice furniture. I'd get some beautiful electronic goodies to put in the house, and the best computer system money can buy. I'd set up a brokerage account. I'd link the computers to the stock market, and the commodity trading markets. I'd have the top of the line computer software and programs that would make this all possible. I would create my own private Wall Street. That would be my main "job", financial entrepreneur. I'd take the thirty year installments, and build my fortune. I'd handle my own finances. I'd invest in land. I'd buy millions of acres of land in Alaska over the years. I'd buy property in Northern Wisconsin. I'd buy a nice vacation condominium in Las Vegas for the winter months. The football season is the best time to be in Vegas. In the course of five patient years, you'd have millions, with millions coming in year after year for the rest of your life. Billionare status isn't beyond comprehension.

It is fun to dream.

December 6, 2004

I love this story about the trio of high tech gamblers taking the casino. I belive that it worked. I am amazed at the speed of information being calculated, and relayed back. The only thing I can't understand is why the dealer running the game didn't notice, or for that matter, the floor supervisor watching the game, or even the shift supervisor. When someone starts winning anything, trust me, the heat turns up. They watch everything. Surveilence is notified and additional cameras are repositioned to watch the game, the people, and the dealer running the game. You can't tell me no one saw them pointing a laser operated device at the roulette wheel, or that no one noticed their cell phone was operating. In Vegas, you can not have any device what so ever operating at the gaming tables. If your cell phone rings, you have to step away from the table to answer it. Don't be surprised if a security guard comes out of no where to inform you that cell phones are not allowed in the casino, and to wrap the conversation up, now. The only thing that makes sense to me is that it was an inside job; meaning casino personal working that particular shift got their cut for turning a blind eye to it. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I worked the casino game for 10 years. They don't miss things like this, unless it was by design. If someone comes in to your house, and starts winning millions of dollars, people have to answer for it. If you can't explain to the higher ups what the hell happened, you can kiss your job goodbye. As they say, "one hand washes the other." Nothing talks louder than big money.

Hi-tech gamblers allowed to keep winnings

Three gamblers who used a James Bond-style laser device to win over one million pounds at a London hotel casino will not face prosecution, as they did nothing illegal, police said.

The trio who pulled off an audacious coup at the Ritz using gadgetry to calculate where a roulette ball would land are to be allowed to keep their 1.3 million-pound winnings, officers said.

"All three persons that were arrested have been informed that no further action will be taken," a Scotland Yard spokesman told AFP.

"All the money detained by the police has been returned."

Police had seized the cash and froze bank accounts during a nine-month investigation into the alleged sting.

The gamblers, described by police sources as a "chic and beautiful" Hungarian woman, aged 32, and two "elegant" Serbian men, aged 33 and 38, were alleged to have smuggled into the casino a laser scanner inside a mobile phone that was linked to a micro-computer, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.

The scanner measured the speed of the ball as it was released by the croupier, identified where it fell and measured the declining orbit of the wheel, it added.

The data was beamed to the micro-computer, which calculated on which section of numbers the ball would land.

This information was then flashed onto the screen of the mobile just before the wheel made its third spin, by which time all bets must be placed.

Having reduced their odds of winning from 37-1 to 6-1, the trio placed bets on all six numbers in the section where the ball would definitely end up.

On the first night they won 100,000 pounds, returning the next night to win 1.2 million pounds.

After the casinos security experts later examined closed-circuit television footage, officers from the Yard's gaming squad arrested the trio at a nearby hotel on suspicion of obtaining their winnings by deception.

They were given bail but have now been told they are free to leave Britain.

Legal sources said the gamblers had were let off because it was deemed they had not violated any law, since the scanner did not interfere with the ball or wheel, The Sunday Times reported.

December 5, 2004

I am a marshmallow. I started the long climb back up the mountain today, and realize I am in for a very long trek. I knew I had ruptured an abdominal muscle during my black belt test, but pretended it didn't happen. Pretending it didn't happen didn't make it go away. Here I am laying on my back doing crunches, and there is a bulge sticking out of my gut. It is in the upper quadrant, so if I concentrate on the lower abdominals, I think I can work around it. I know enough about how to work around it, and I can build the surrounding tissues to alleviate the stress on it to a small degree. In short, I am going to have to live with it and make it work. I will be getting health insurance benefits in February, 2005. By then, I might have healed it to the point I might not have to go under the knife. I think about the ancient days when people didn't have the benefits of modern surgical techniques. They did OK. Of course, they died younger too. The great ones just lived with pain. As long as they didn't start bleeding internally, things were good. If their knees were shot, they didn't complain about it. They did what they had to do. That is the boat I am in. I'm as stiff as a dried up piece of driftwood. Well, to be honest, being limber has never been one of my strong points. That is why I have to focus on it. That is why I never stretch. Living in pain again is something I really am not looking forward to. During the five years I trained, there wasn't a day that went by that something didn't hurt. But the other side of the coin was my overall state of physical health. I never got sick. I had energy. I felt great, if I wasn't thinking about my aching muscles. I think my mental health was better too. I felt good about what I was doing. The job was just something that I had to do to pay bills. It wasn't the main focus of my everyday existence. It is a small price to pay because at this stage in my life, daily pain is the norm. I might as well be physically and emotionally as healthy as possible. I'm going to be in pain for some reason or another from here on out.

I'm going to make my job work for me too. I really don't like it. There are many problems with the job, and what is expected. I don't have the training. I don't know what the hell I'm doing 75% of the time, but I have to make it work. Jobs are far and few between. I am slowly getting my debt paid off. If I keep my head out of my ass, I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. I am my own worst enemy. If I feel I have the need to kick some ass, I need to be kicking my own.

December 4, 2004

I have been following the BALCO news since the story broke. If you speak to Victor Conte, the doping of athletes is nothing new. He's right. I remember when I was a kid watching the Olympics back in the 1960's. Stories of the Russians using steroids were common. The Russians invented the modern doping techniques that are being perfected by countless others all over the world. BALCO is on the hot seat because the techniques developed by the company were too good. They were so good, and usage so widespread, that if you didn't get on the bandwagon, there was a real possibility that your career could suffer.

I know from personal experience what supplements can do to enhance your physical performance. I used to weigh 118 lbs. I weighed 118 pounds my entire adult life. No matter how much I trained in the gym, or how much I ate, I could not gain muscle mass. Then I heard about Mark Maguire. He said he got big taking Androstenedione, an over-the-counter supplement. I logged onto the Internet, went to Google, found what I was looking for and made the purchase right from my home computer. The product was delivered via UPS five business days later. I bought the product from a company called SDI-LABS. I read a lot of bad things abouth this company. Most of the feedback I got was that the products were crap. I thought I was a victim of just another Internet rip-off scam. The product I took was called �D-BOL AKA Methadrostenol. After taking the stuff, I have no complaints. I gained 20 pounds in about a month and a half. It was unbelievable. My clothes didn't fit anymore. Suit jackets were too small. People I worked with couldn't believe their own eyes. I never looked back. I will supplement "andro" to my diet during this next phase of training I am getting ready to do. I found a company selling the exact product I purchased from GNC at a 60% discount. I have been lazy, but I want to get buffed, cut, and limber again. You can't get results without putting the effort in, but with the aid of modern, scientific mineral supplements, success is a lock. You can't argue with that. Don't get me wrong, you can't take some magic pill and expect results. It takes work and dedication. I have a difficult task ahead of me to reach the physical levels I am shooting for. Androstenedione will put me over the top.

For the record, this is the product I am taking. They are not illegal. Are they steroids? In actuality, maybe. Legally, no. I am not breaking the law. I am not under the same legal magnifying glass as a world class or proferssional athlete. If they were taking the exact same product, I believe they would be violating the doping laws set forth by their own governing bodies. I have nothing to hide. Enough of me, read the BALCO article and check out the link to the actual legal case. It has excellent information on what the US Government's charges are against BALCO, and the individuals involved in the controversy.

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I've pieced different news stories from several publications and presented them here as one article. I hope you like it. Everything you need to know about the BALCO controversy is in here.

I believe in the end that Victor Conte will not see jail time. If it is possible to build a better athlete using the techniques BALCO created, then it is possible to build a better soldier. This investigation, and trial will serve it's purpose. It will put the fear of God into anyone else even thinking about making the same "mistakes" BALCO did. The US Governmnet will confiscate the illegal financial gains of the company, and Mr. Victor Conte's research. Knowledge is power, and BALCO has created the most sophisticated physical human engineering data the world has ever seen. The proof lies in the accomplishments of their program. You can't argue with it. The research is worth 100's of millions of dollars. That is Victor Conte's ticket out of this legal quagmire.

US vs Victor Conte

Victor Conte the man at the heart of the THG scandal is founder and president of Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (Balco), the San Francisco-based company which the United States Anti-Doping Agency says developed the banned steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). ZMA is a supplement developed by Balco that sold worldwide over the Internet. ZMA is an acronym drawn from the zinc and magnesium included in one of Balco's nutritional supplements. Conte promoted ZMA on the Internet through a company called SNAC Systems, whose web site included former tennis champion Ivan Lendl, Jones and Bonds as clients.

Conte has estimated that gross retail sales of ZMA during the past four years total $100 million worldwide. But it is development of THG that puts him at the very center of the doping scandal that is threatening to blow athletics apart.

Up to 20 high-profile American athletes - including Olympic champions and world record holders - are believed to have tested positive for THG.

53-year-old Conte founded Balco 20 years ago after a career in the music business.

He was a bassist with the nickname "Walking Fish" who played with soul group Tower of Power and jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, as well as in a band called Pure Food and Drug Act. He is a self taught chemist, and more than likely the creator of THG. He had no medical background when he founded Balco.

His company analyses blood and urine from athletes and then prescribes a series of supplements to compensate for vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Its client list includes athletes Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Kelli White, baseball star Barry Bonds and the NFL's Bill Romanowski.

Tim Montgomery and BALCO

Conte says Montgomery - who has denied wrongdoing - was just the latest 100m world record holder to have enhanced his abilities. Conte said Montgomery, the father of Marion Jones's baby, was using performance enhancing drugs when he set the coveted 100m world record of 9.78 seconds. He said he developed a plan that included doping coupled with physical training specifically targeted at making Montgomery the world's fastest man. He smiled when he was shown a letter sent to Montgomery, informing the track star that he passed a drug test during the time Conte said he was using illegal substances.

"There are thousands of those letters that athletes have, and I'm sure they chuckle every time they get them," Conte said on "20/20."

"I knew that this was the most coveted of all records," Conte told interviewer Martin Bashir on 20/20. So we kind of ... had a collective dream ... and I was ... the mastermind, so to speak. Was it legitimate? When you say legitimate, I believe if it was achieved using the exact same playing field as the previous record, and the previous record, and the previous record, then it is legitimate, because you're competing with the same terms and conditions ... I mean, otherwise you'd have to wipe out all the world records." Montgomery's attorney, Howard Jacobs, declined to comment on the charges.

Marion Jones And BALCO

The fact that Jones has never failed a drug test came as no surprise to Conte, who developed chemical treatments that for a long time were undetectable by outdated testing.

Conte said he started supplying Jones with doping substances in the weeks leading up to the 2000 Olympics and watched as she injected herself with human growth hormone. Jones, who won three gold and two bronze track and field medals in Sydney, has repeatedly denied ever using banned drugs.

"I think she made her decision and she's going to have to be accountable to the consequences of her decision," Conte told ABC. "If she said she didn't use drugs, then she lied." Jones' lawyers have argued Conte could not be believed because of his role in a scandal which has rocked athletics and cast a shadow over baseball.

"Mr Conte's statements have been wildly contradictory while Marion Jones has steadfastly maintained her position throughout - she has never, ever, used performance enhancing drugs," Jones attorney Rich Nichols said in a statement. Conte was described as CJ Hunter's "nutritionist" three years ago when the American shot-putter and former husband of Marion Jones tested positive for nandrolone.

Kelli White and BALCO

White, a sprinter who forfeited two world titles and accepted a two-year ban, was the only athlete interviewed on the "20/20" show.

"He made me believe that if I followed a certain protocol of supplements and drugs that I could become No. 1 in the world," White said of Conte. "I felt that so many people were doing it that I would just become one of the others."

Barry Bonds and BALCO

San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds will testify in San Francisco before a federal grand jury in the BALCO case on Dec. 4, 2004. Bonds is scheduled to tell a federal grand jury what he knows about the California laboratory alleged to be at the center of the doping scandal.

Bonds is the most famous of several dozen elite athletes subpoenaed to talk about their connections to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO. The grand jury is investigating BALCO's finances, as well as allegations that the lab produced the new illegal steroid THG.

Conte also admitted to giving steroids to Bond's personal trainer Greg Anderson, but did not know whether Anderson gave any of them to Bonds or other baseball players. Conte said he gave drugs to Anderson, but had no knowledge of what become of the substances after that. He said Anderson could've given them to Bonds, but had no information whether they were passed on to the San Francisco Giants slugger.

Conte and Balco are being investigated by a US federal grand jury. The hearing is expected to focus on alleged tax evasion and money-laundering relating to payments made by athletes for banned substances.

How THG Came to Light.
At the dark heart of the BALCO doping scandal is a tale of treachery and revenge.
And the man Conte is venting his vengeance upon is athletics coach Trevor Graham.

Jamaica-born US-based Graham was one of the most successful track coaches in the world this year. He coached the Athens Olympic 100m gold medallist Justin Gatlin and the 200m gold medallist Shawn Crawford.

Conte blames Graham for his downfall. He's got the right man for sure but there is at least one other - Conte believes that to be John Smith, coach of the Sydney Olympic 100m gold medallist Maurice Greene.

Conte's BALCO headquarters in San Francisco was raided and Conte's files confiscated after an anonymous "high-profile coach" turned in a syringe containing the undetectable anabolic steroid THG to the US Anti-Doping Agency on June 6 last year, before the most recent athletics world titles in France.

At those championships a little-known stimulant, Modafinil, was identified for the first time and led to the disqualification of six elite Americans, including the women's 100m and 200m winner Kelli White.

Inheriting the world 100m title by default then was Torri Edwards - coached by Smith, whose signature appeared on a non-disclosure business contract with BALCO.

Graham admitted recently he was the mystery coach who handed in the THG syringe.

Conte believes Smith tipped off authorities to the use of Modafinil, which turned out to be another of the BALCO bargain buys.

But what goes around comes around on track. Edwards herself was banned from Athens after failing a drug test for another little-known stimulant after racing in Martinique this year.

There is much more to come in this scandal casting a cloud over international sport.

December 2, 2004

I don't like seeing stories like this. I wonder if the intent is to sensationalize things in order to sell more newspapers. It might be a plant by the defense attorneys to lay ground for a possible insanity plea. "Your Honour, my client hears voices. It has been told he goes into trances for hours conversing with spirits from a different world. We have witnesses." Either way it denigrates the role of Shaman in Asian and Native American cultures.

Hmong Hunter Charged With 6 Murders Is Said to Be a Shaman

ST. PAUL, Nov. 30 - The man charged with murdering six other hunters and wounding two in Wisconsin last week is a Hmong shaman who has called on the spirit world in trances that last up to three hours, his family and friends say.

The accused, Chai Soua Vang of St. Paul, seeks "the other world" when he tries to cure sick people or invoke divine protection for those who request it, said his friend and former hunting companion Ber Xiong.

"He is a special person," Mr. Xiong said. "Chai speaks to the other side. He asks the spirits there to release people who are suffering on earth."

Mr. Xiong said Mr. Vang, a 36-year-old truck driver, was one of about 100 shamans among St. Paul's immigrant community of some 25,000 Hmong from Laos. He said he had assisted Mr. Vang in several Shamanism ceremonies, most recently one two years ago at which an extended family asked him to assure its health and prosperity.

"He danced on a small table for about two hours," said Mr. Xiong, an employee of an audio technology business in nearby Bloomington. "He was calling out the whole time, not to the people in the room, but to the other world. My job was to sit near the table and make sure he did not fall off."

Mr. Xiong declined to identify anyone else who attended that ceremony or others where Mr. Vang participated. Like Mr. Vang, he is a Hmong immigrant, and many Hmong who know Mr. Vang have been reluctant to speak publicly.

But in a brief interview, Mr. Vang's sister, Mai, confirmed that he was thought to have mystical powers. "He is a shaman," Ms. Vang said. "But I don't know how long he has been one."

Cher Xee Vang, a prominent leader among the Hmong in Minnesota, said the suspect, to whom he is not closely related, had often participated in curing ceremonies.

"Chai Vang is a shaman," Cher Xee Vang said. "When we needed him to cure the ill with traditional ways of healing, he would."

The events that led to the charges against Mr. Vang occurred on Nov. 21 when, the authorities say, he was caught trespassing on private land in Wisconsin's North Woods, a popular destination for deer hunters in late November. The eight other hunters were all shot in an ensuing confrontation with him, the police say.

On Monday, prosecutors formally charged Mr. Vang with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. On Tuesday, handcuffed and wearing a prison-issued orange jump suit, he was taken to the basement of the county jail in Hayward, Wis., to hear the charges. Judge Norman L. Yackel of Sawyer County Circuit Court asked Mr. Vang if he understood them.

"Yes," Mr. Vang responded.

The hearing lasted only eight minutes. Judge Yackel, who cited security concerns in holding the hearing at the jail rather than at the courthouse across the street, set the next court date for Dec. 29.

Security has been an issue here in St. Paul as well. With the help of the police, Mr. Vang's family, evidently concerned about its safety and weary of the publicity that the case has brought, has moved from its two-story home on the city's east side to an undisclosed location.

It is unclear whether Mr. Vang's role as a shaman is in any way connected to the shootings. But Vincent Her, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin who studies traditional Hmong culture, said he did not believe that shamans could go into a trance so deep that they would lose touch with the physical world, even in a situation of extreme stress.

"That would make him or her unable to mediate between the two worlds, which is the core of the shaman's role," Mr. Her said.

At a news conference in Milwaukee on Sunday, Steven Kohn, one of the three lawyers representing Mr. Vang, said the defense team was "looking into all facets in this case as far as defense is concerned."

"That includes factual defenses, and it includes potential mental health or mental responsibility defenses," Mr. Kohn said. "This certainly seems not to be a whodunit, but a why."

At the same news conference, Mr. Vang's eldest daughter, Kia, made a brief statement. "I don't know what my father did," she said. "I'm really shocked, and I don't know what to say."

According to military records, Mr. Vang spent six years in the California Army National Guard. He was honorably discharged in 1995 and moved to Minnesota three years later.

While in California, Mr. Vang worked as a volunteer in Hmong youth programs, said Pheng Lor, executive director of a social agency called Lao Family Community of Stockton.

"He taught karate to kids," Mr. Lor said. "As long as I knew him, he never did anything wrong."

Police records show that Mr. Vang was cited for trespassing in 2002, fined $244 for chasing a deer he had shot and wounded onto private property in Wisconsin. Friends say that like many Hmong, he is an avid hunter.

The authorities have quoted Mr. Vang as telling investigators that the hunters who were shot had first fired at him and cursed him with racial epithets. One of the survivors, Lauren Hesebeck, has said in a statement to the police that he did fire a shot at Mr. Vang, but only after Mr. Vang had killed several of his friends. Mr. Hesebeck has also acknowledged that one of the victims "used profanity" against Mr. Vang, but his statement did not indicate whether the profanity was racial.

Racial insults while hunting in Wisconsin, some Hmong say, are nothing new. And Tou Vang, who is not related to the accused, said a hunter fired several shots in his direction when they argued over hunting rights three years ago near the Wisconsin town of Ladysmith.

"I left right away," Mr. Vang said. "I didn't report it, because even if you do, the authorities might not take any action. But I know that every year there are racial problems in the woods up there."

December 1, 2004

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"And by the way, let's talk about what you're wearing, what you like in the bedroom, and that sexy voice that is making me hot, baby."

It appears that Internet Giant Optus is doing all it can to provide services to their internet customers, including getting their cookies off, anywhere and anytime the mood strikes. It didn't surprise me that AT&T got their dirty hands into the action. I guese the new slogan for the digital age is reach out and touch yourself.

Optus porn role exposed

OPTUS has a dirty little secret - a highly lucrative business based on internet phone pornography lines that has been exposed in a Supreme Court judgment against the nation's second-biggest telecommunications company.

Optus acted as the middleman in the trade of internet porn from Vanuatu to the US and Europe. The company also hosted computers in it's Australian data centres from which Gibraltar-based porn merchant Gilsan served graphic sex photographs and videos directly to its mostly US and European customers.

In doing so Optus is understood to have generated tens of millions of dollars through a deal which included Telcom Vanuatu.

Under the arrangement, the porn traffic was diverted through the Vanuatu telco, which kept US10c of its $US4($5.15)-a-minute global call rate. The balance was split between US telco AT&T, Gilsan and Optus.

The set up came to light after Supreme Court judge Robert McDougall found against Optus in an action brought by Gilsan three years ago.