Hans Reiser ultimately received a 15-to-life sentence, after having declined a 3 year plea deal prior to trial. The case began with no body, no crime scene, no reliable eyewitness and virtually no physical evidence. There were allegations of theft from his company that although weakly supporting a plot against Reiser could have persuaded the jury. It ended with Reiser convicted of killing Nina, his 31-year-old wife, after he took the stand and proceeded to slowly hang himself over the course of 11 days of testimony much of it so ludicrous that jurors were observed laughing.
His very experienced criminal defense lawyer did not want him to take the stand at all. Yet after taking the stand Reiser now asserts that his lawyer coerced him to do so for some vague reason.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
South Point casino features Poker Tournament
To lure away players from various Station Casinos, South Point is holding a $125,000 Christmas Freeroll poker tournament at 7:00pm on December 13th and 14th with the final round being at noon on December 18th.
Play 100 hours of cash games now through November 30th to receive qualifying entry and T2000 chips (pay the usual $10 into the gratuity fund for T1000 more). For every 50 hours of additional play, receive T1000 chips.
One can also gain additional chips by playing at South Point more often:
500 hours will get you T2000 more chips.
Play a tournament and get T50 more chips.
Play 25 tournaments and get T500 more chips.
The player who plays the most hours will get $1000 cash.
Tournament will generally have 30-minute levels and a $5 knock-out bounty.
Chip leaders on the 13th and 14th will receive 500.00.
The top fifty players will win at least $300. First place wins $35,000, second place wins $15,000, and third wins $10,000. No chopping until 10 players or Final Table.
As usual, players are responsible for signing in and out at the podium so that their qualifying hours may be logged. South Point's usual comp rate of one dollar per hour will continue.
Please note: Since most of the prize money if not all of the prize money will be going to South Point (a/k/a Sweat Point) loyalists the tournament is really being deceptively touted but considering the usual lack of forthrightness in disclosing the truth to casino patrons in Las Vegas this is rather a minimal issue.
Play 100 hours of cash games now through November 30th to receive qualifying entry and T2000 chips (pay the usual $10 into the gratuity fund for T1000 more). For every 50 hours of additional play, receive T1000 chips.
One can also gain additional chips by playing at South Point more often:
500 hours will get you T2000 more chips.
Play a tournament and get T50 more chips.
Play 25 tournaments and get T500 more chips.
The player who plays the most hours will get $1000 cash.
Tournament will generally have 30-minute levels and a $5 knock-out bounty.
Chip leaders on the 13th and 14th will receive 500.00.
The top fifty players will win at least $300. First place wins $35,000, second place wins $15,000, and third wins $10,000. No chopping until 10 players or Final Table.
As usual, players are responsible for signing in and out at the podium so that their qualifying hours may be logged. South Point's usual comp rate of one dollar per hour will continue.
Please note: Since most of the prize money if not all of the prize money will be going to South Point (a/k/a Sweat Point) loyalists the tournament is really being deceptively touted but considering the usual lack of forthrightness in disclosing the truth to casino patrons in Las Vegas this is rather a minimal issue.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
MI-6: A Life and A Death in the Shadows. Gareth Williams.
I realize there is never going to be much information available regarding the murder of any MI-6 agent, but I wonder about this thousands of pounds worth of ladies undergarments involved in the Gareth Williams murder. A peculiar hobby? An interest in fashion design? An undercover assignment? I don't know. I do wonder, however, why they were all new. If it were a hobby such as wood working, you could go into his garage and find new tools and old tools. An artist would have a mixture of new paints or brushes and old ones and so on. No hobbyist sinks several grand into anything at once. He builds up over a period of time. He has favorite items and momentos that he hangs on to even though they are past their prime as to usefulness. Nothing about the questionable items the decedent had amongst his effects rings true. Something is quite terribly amiss. And the truth is being suppressed.
With all those bras and panties being brand new, there has to have been some ulterior motive involved. He may indeed have had an unusual lifestyle, but if he had an interest in ladies underwear why is it the items in his possession were all brand new and there was not one that was old. Most hobbyists of any sort acquire various items related to their hobbies over an extended period of time, yet when he was murdered the MI-6 agent had a host of unusual items but each and everyone was suspiciously brand new. I am informed that news reports using the term "new" may have meant apparently unworn but I am also informed that the items in question were in fact new, that is they were both unworn and also of a recent style and recent manufacture. So if the presence of the garments is meant to indicate he possessed certain interests it would seem strange that these interests only arose in the few months prior to his murder.
The evidence indicates rather strongly that the purchases were to be gifts to his sister who had the intention of starting a fashion business.
The intense heat of the apartment indicates someone wanted decomposition to be accelerated which of course suggests a murder rather than death by misadventure.
Recent allegations of working on tying Putin to financial transfers may indeed be correct but are unsupported by any evidence.
With all those bras and panties being brand new, there has to have been some ulterior motive involved. He may indeed have had an unusual lifestyle, but if he had an interest in ladies underwear why is it the items in his possession were all brand new and there was not one that was old. Most hobbyists of any sort acquire various items related to their hobbies over an extended period of time, yet when he was murdered the MI-6 agent had a host of unusual items but each and everyone was suspiciously brand new. I am informed that news reports using the term "new" may have meant apparently unworn but I am also informed that the items in question were in fact new, that is they were both unworn and also of a recent style and recent manufacture. So if the presence of the garments is meant to indicate he possessed certain interests it would seem strange that these interests only arose in the few months prior to his murder.
The evidence indicates rather strongly that the purchases were to be gifts to his sister who had the intention of starting a fashion business.
The intense heat of the apartment indicates someone wanted decomposition to be accelerated which of course suggests a murder rather than death by misadventure.
Recent allegations of working on tying Putin to financial transfers may indeed be correct but are unsupported by any evidence.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Pirates release Danes seized from S/V ING.
Somali pirates release Danish family and crew from yacht ING.
AFP September 07, 2011
"The seven Danes have been released and brought to safety," the Denmark foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that all were well and would return to Denmark soon.
Denmark gave no details of their release but Ecoterra International said a ransom was dropped by aircraft, and local Somali sources claimed up to four million US dollars had been paid for their release.
Jan Qvist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie and their three children aged 13 to 17 left Denmark in August 2009 on a round-the-world trip by yacht and had been sailing about 500 kilometres off the coast of Somalia when they were seized by pirates on February 24.
"Mediation was going on between the pirates and individuals working on their release in the past two weeks," said Abduwahab Ali, an elder in the coastal village of Bandarbeyla, close to pirate bases in the northern Puntland region.
The couple were criticised in Denmark after their abuduction, accused of acting irresponsibly by taking their children into pirate-infested waters.
"We... set up an anti-piracy plan to know what to do if we are attacked, and each day we send our position" to an international naval force monitoring the Indian Ocean, father Jan posted on the blog on February 19.
..........
In reality, the yacht ING seemed to have taken very sensible measures considering the time of year and the weather reports. Their only mistake may have been over reliance on the inclination of EUFOR to react to any distress calls. Of course the fact that EUFOR requires yachts to report their positions on an open frequency and to activate their AIS equipment is absurd since it is well known that pirate mother ships are equipped with AIS receivers, satellite phones and night vision equipment. EUFOR is tasked to protect commercial shipping rather than private yachts. It would often take thirty minutes for a EUFOR helicopter to arrive on scene and two hours for a naval vessel to arrive. Usually a naval vessel that is on scene will not intervene in any hijacking attempt that is in progress for various political and economic reasons.
I am informed that the air-dropped ransom did not originate with any insurance company. As always, the Somali clans and sub-clans involved in piracy are well known and nothing ever happens to them nor to the wealthy businessmen who run the piracy operations conducted by poverty stricken peasants.
Piracy in the Indian Ocean is very profitable. Just as it was very profitable for American merchants to supply the Madagascar pirate vessels it is very profitable for Middle Eastern nations to keep the pirates well supplied. Modern day piracy in the Indian Ocean will not stop until we start using Q-ships and take immediate and effective action against them as well as against the entire sub-clans known to be involved.
AFP September 07, 2011
"The seven Danes have been released and brought to safety," the Denmark foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that all were well and would return to Denmark soon.
Denmark gave no details of their release but Ecoterra International said a ransom was dropped by aircraft, and local Somali sources claimed up to four million US dollars had been paid for their release.
Jan Qvist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie and their three children aged 13 to 17 left Denmark in August 2009 on a round-the-world trip by yacht and had been sailing about 500 kilometres off the coast of Somalia when they were seized by pirates on February 24.
"Mediation was going on between the pirates and individuals working on their release in the past two weeks," said Abduwahab Ali, an elder in the coastal village of Bandarbeyla, close to pirate bases in the northern Puntland region.
The couple were criticised in Denmark after their abuduction, accused of acting irresponsibly by taking their children into pirate-infested waters.
"We... set up an anti-piracy plan to know what to do if we are attacked, and each day we send our position" to an international naval force monitoring the Indian Ocean, father Jan posted on the blog on February 19.
..........
In reality, the yacht ING seemed to have taken very sensible measures considering the time of year and the weather reports. Their only mistake may have been over reliance on the inclination of EUFOR to react to any distress calls. Of course the fact that EUFOR requires yachts to report their positions on an open frequency and to activate their AIS equipment is absurd since it is well known that pirate mother ships are equipped with AIS receivers, satellite phones and night vision equipment. EUFOR is tasked to protect commercial shipping rather than private yachts. It would often take thirty minutes for a EUFOR helicopter to arrive on scene and two hours for a naval vessel to arrive. Usually a naval vessel that is on scene will not intervene in any hijacking attempt that is in progress for various political and economic reasons.
I am informed that the air-dropped ransom did not originate with any insurance company. As always, the Somali clans and sub-clans involved in piracy are well known and nothing ever happens to them nor to the wealthy businessmen who run the piracy operations conducted by poverty stricken peasants.
Piracy in the Indian Ocean is very profitable. Just as it was very profitable for American merchants to supply the Madagascar pirate vessels it is very profitable for Middle Eastern nations to keep the pirates well supplied. Modern day piracy in the Indian Ocean will not stop until we start using Q-ships and take immediate and effective action against them as well as against the entire sub-clans known to be involved.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Kimberley Ultramarathon: Possible murder charges!
Kimberley Ultra-marathon, a charity race known as Racing The Planet with 41 entrants is cancelled after four runners were trapped in a flaming gorge and received up to 80 percent burns and suffered for three hours without medical attention. The arson investigation by the Australian Fire Services is underway and race organizers have refused to comment on why the events transpired when the fire had been burning for five days prior to the start of the race and the organizers had knowledge of it. If its determined to be arson that is bad enough, but I don't see how the race organizers could have allowed this to happen irrespective of the nature of the origin of the fire. The fire is thought to have been natural in origin and as with most such fires in a remote area on privately owned land was left to run its course. The involvement of an arson investigator is not necessarily indicative of any belief that arson was involved.
Yes, the area is prone to bush fires and it is quite clear that some move exceptionally fast but it seems incomprehensible that race organizers did not monitor the situation more closely and did not have any ambulances pre-positioned even though the ultra marathoners are excellent runners and know they are in a rugged and remote area. There has been at least one prior death involving an entrant in the races organized by Racing The Planet.
A fire that has been burning for five days simply can not be considered an unanticipated event. Fires grow in strength and change direction. A 24 year old model from Ulladulla is fighting for her life in the hospital now but her income is surely gone. No "safe harbor" for her. (Ulladulla is aboriginal for Safe Harbor).
ADDENDUM: Race organizer has returned to Hong Kong without answering questions as to why local police and rescue services were never notified of the race that was to be held, why the race started with smoke clearly visible and why there were only non-English speaking personnel available when rescue services arrived. It should probably be noted that the daring helicopter rescue of the burn victims was performed by a pilot who happened to be near the area but was not a part of any organized rescue effort or trained for such extremely hazardous flying. It does seem that smoke on the horizon visible to race organizers would also have been visible to race entrants but I would think the organizers would be the ones most responsible for making a specific inquiry as to current conditions. The organizers had made previous mention of a variety of "cybertents" that would be set up to facilitate blogging about the event so it is clear that despite the event taking place at a geographically remote location access to weather information, satellite imagery and emergency services would have been unimpeded. No showing has been made who the non-English speaking persons were or why non-English speaking race officials would have been brought into an English speaking country for the race.
Correction: It appears that police in Western Australia were notified that the event was to be taking place but were not asked to provide any advice or assistance. The event is a privately staged event taking place on privately owned land. I don't know if anyone in Western Australia was specifically informed of a death involving a 31 year old runner in the Gobi Desert race involving Racing The Planet but certainly internet search services were available to them.
ADDENDUM: As expected the police determination is that the fire was not arson. The police investigation looked solely at origin of the fire and not at management of the event.
Yes, the area is prone to bush fires and it is quite clear that some move exceptionally fast but it seems incomprehensible that race organizers did not monitor the situation more closely and did not have any ambulances pre-positioned even though the ultra marathoners are excellent runners and know they are in a rugged and remote area. There has been at least one prior death involving an entrant in the races organized by Racing The Planet.
A fire that has been burning for five days simply can not be considered an unanticipated event. Fires grow in strength and change direction. A 24 year old model from Ulladulla is fighting for her life in the hospital now but her income is surely gone. No "safe harbor" for her. (Ulladulla is aboriginal for Safe Harbor).
ADDENDUM: Race organizer has returned to Hong Kong without answering questions as to why local police and rescue services were never notified of the race that was to be held, why the race started with smoke clearly visible and why there were only non-English speaking personnel available when rescue services arrived. It should probably be noted that the daring helicopter rescue of the burn victims was performed by a pilot who happened to be near the area but was not a part of any organized rescue effort or trained for such extremely hazardous flying. It does seem that smoke on the horizon visible to race organizers would also have been visible to race entrants but I would think the organizers would be the ones most responsible for making a specific inquiry as to current conditions. The organizers had made previous mention of a variety of "cybertents" that would be set up to facilitate blogging about the event so it is clear that despite the event taking place at a geographically remote location access to weather information, satellite imagery and emergency services would have been unimpeded. No showing has been made who the non-English speaking persons were or why non-English speaking race officials would have been brought into an English speaking country for the race.
Correction: It appears that police in Western Australia were notified that the event was to be taking place but were not asked to provide any advice or assistance. The event is a privately staged event taking place on privately owned land. I don't know if anyone in Western Australia was specifically informed of a death involving a 31 year old runner in the Gobi Desert race involving Racing The Planet but certainly internet search services were available to them.
ADDENDUM: As expected the police determination is that the fire was not arson. The police investigation looked solely at origin of the fire and not at management of the event.
Drug interdiction and prison visitors.
Prison visitors.
Let's face it. Sure prison visitors occasionally smuggle in contraband such as drugs or cell phones. Yet let us be realistic in such matters too. Most of the drugs sold in prisons is smuggled in by the guards, not the visitors.
This may be one reason why guards are so vigilant about interdicting drug trafficking by visitors. The use of these ion-related non-invasive drug testing devices to scan prison visitors is absurd. The false positive rate in some trials has been 17 percent with some substances such as chocolate or gasoline residue believed to be particularly prone to causing false positives. Those tests that include waving the detection wand near the visitor's shoes are hardly testing the visitor but are more likely to be testing the cleanliness of a city's sidewalks.
The US Bureau of Prisons dropped the testing long ago but individual states still use the devices despite an absurdly high false-positive rate. After all, its entertainment for those prison guards who pocket the drug money they themselves make while chortling There Is No Constitutional Right To Prison Visitation. A lengthy drive to visit a relative in prison? Pretty sure that these days it will involve a stop at a gas station. Yet gasoline residue is likely to set off those testing devices. Eat a candy bar enroute so as to avoid stopping for a full meal? Great idea but the chocolate will likely cause a false alarm. Protecting the public? Punishing the drug users? Or simply protecting the guard's own drug selling monopoly? Which do you really think is more likely?
Let's face it. Sure prison visitors occasionally smuggle in contraband such as drugs or cell phones. Yet let us be realistic in such matters too. Most of the drugs sold in prisons is smuggled in by the guards, not the visitors.
This may be one reason why guards are so vigilant about interdicting drug trafficking by visitors. The use of these ion-related non-invasive drug testing devices to scan prison visitors is absurd. The false positive rate in some trials has been 17 percent with some substances such as chocolate or gasoline residue believed to be particularly prone to causing false positives. Those tests that include waving the detection wand near the visitor's shoes are hardly testing the visitor but are more likely to be testing the cleanliness of a city's sidewalks.
The US Bureau of Prisons dropped the testing long ago but individual states still use the devices despite an absurdly high false-positive rate. After all, its entertainment for those prison guards who pocket the drug money they themselves make while chortling There Is No Constitutional Right To Prison Visitation. A lengthy drive to visit a relative in prison? Pretty sure that these days it will involve a stop at a gas station. Yet gasoline residue is likely to set off those testing devices. Eat a candy bar enroute so as to avoid stopping for a full meal? Great idea but the chocolate will likely cause a false alarm. Protecting the public? Punishing the drug users? Or simply protecting the guard's own drug selling monopoly? Which do you really think is more likely?
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