Baby Lisa still in national news

I just saw this headline on Yahoo! News: How Baby Lisa’s Disappearance May Affect Brother’s Custody Case If you're interested, go here: http://news.yahoo.com/baby-lisa-disappearance-may-affect-brother-custody-case-224300772.html

How we treat children in the US?

Yesterday, as famously--or infamously, really--reported across the media, Bishop Finn skated away, freely, easily and effortlessly (unless SNAP gets it's way--here's hoping) from the very appropriate charges that he ignored Missouri law in not reporting possible sexual abuse exploitation by a Catholic priest, one Shawn Ratigan. Instead of being held accountable, he and the state of Missouri made a sweetheart deal that says that , in the future, he'll be responsible. He promises. Then, across town, the baby Lisa Irwin family moved back home and are "looking for a sense of normalcy." Finally, we wait for Jerry Sandusky, at Penn State, to go to trial for sexual abuse. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not equating the seeminly clearly-guilty Bishop Finn, Shawn Ratigan and Jerry Sandusky with the Irwin family, not at all. What I am saying is that children are, at times, victims in our society and we need to do more about that. We need to all have the children's welfare first as a priority. Links: http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_missouri/northland/mental-health-experts-see-short-term-drawbacks-for-irwin-family; http://www.kmbc.com/news/29766295/detail.html; http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/15/3267619/bishop-finn-avoids-indictment.html

Baby Lisa's parents: Innocent, they say, but not cooperating

Well, happy birthday, baby Lisa Irwin. Today she would be a year old. Hopefully she's safe and sound somewhere and will be home again soon. But if she is, if she ever is, apparently it won't be because her parents helped the police any further. From the Star today: "An attorney for the parents of missing baby Lisa Irwin said today that his clients will not sit down to separate interviews as police are requesting." If you're innocent, as we all want to believe Lisa's parents are, why would you not be interviewed any way the police want? A lot of us out here don't get that. Link: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/11/3260417/baby-lisas-attorney-explains-parents.html

For baby Lisa Irwin's birthday...

I should think the things little baby Lisa Irwin's parents could and should do for her 1st birthday, coming up November 11th, would be to, first, allow her half-brothers to be interviewed by police and then, secondly, but more importantly, allow for interviews of each parent, separately, as the police have asked all along, because, after all, they're completely, totally innocent, as they've said from the start. Right? Link: http://news.yahoo.com/baby-lisa-irwin-case-huge-break-false-alarm-202200617.html

The sad state of the Baby Lisa case

It was announced earlier in the week that the "Kansas City police have abandoned the active search for baby Lisa Irwin. KMBC reported on its live blog Thursday at 7:08 p.m.: 'Kansas City police said they are not actively searching for 11-month-old Lisa Irwin. Police also said the parents still are not cooperating in the investigation.'" This according to Yahoo! News (link below). The Kansas City Police Department--and then KMBC-- followed that up with a story saying that's patently untrue. All this on the one month anniversary of Lisa's disappearance. The whole thing is just so sad. Besides the fact that the case has led to a stall, it seems there are two things, from the Yahoo! News article, that are paramount. First, there is the possibility of the mom in the case being charged with something or other: "The missing link in this picture of how drunk Bradley may have become and when is Samantha Brando who hasn't spoken publicly about the case. Samantha Brando was at the home about the same time as Netz and stayed until 10:30 p.m. If Brando's recollection of Bradley's drunkenness mirrors Netz' and the physical evidence at the house supports their statements, Bradley could potentially face child endangerment charges. She had three young children in her care that night, her son 5, Jeremy Irwin's son, 8, both watching television in the house, and baby Lisa. Brando's 4-year-old daughter was with the boys." Second, and finally, there is this: "If Bradley and Irwin want baby Lisa to be found, the police declaring the Lisa Irwin investigation inactive could break the impasse between the family's lawyers and investigators over unrestricted interviews. Police want to speak to the baby's parents individually and also want trained social workers to interview their respective sons. If Bradley and Irwin continue to refuse interviews, they risk creating the public impression that they don't want the investigation into their daughter's disappearance to go on. They are now publicly on notice that the police have run out of leads on where the baby or her body might be and need their cooperation to develop new ones." For two innocent people, the parents of Lisa Irwin surely act oddly, don't they? The whole thing is just some kind of weird, unfortunate--and sad. One last note: in yet one more creepy, sad note in the case, November 11 would be baby Lisa's birthday. Links: http://news.yahoo.com/baby-lisa-irwin-search-abandoned-215600911.html; http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/04/kansas-city-police-say-search-for-missing-baby-lisa-irwin-still-active/; http://livewire.kmbc.com/Event/Live_Blog_Amber_Alert_Issued_For_Missing_10-Month-Old#ixzz1chdtMS49; http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/05/3250061/from-mother-hen-to-media-villain.html

Especially applicable to Kansas Citians?

October 28, 2011 New Rule: Missing Inaction

Truth hurting there, Kansas City? Just wondering.

Baby Irwin case on Fox

Interesting, to say the least.

The baby Lisa call, from Los Angeles

National attention.

2 things on the baby Lisa Irwin case

First item: I went to a Hallowe'en/Chiefs get-together this evening and came away with the strong feeling that, in the court of public opinion, not only is the Lisa Irwin case "settled", in so many people's minds but that it also looks really, really bad--as I suspected--for Momma Irwin. I'm not coming to any conclusions myself but a whole lotta' people have, out there, I feel sure. And the more the parents stall, the worse it looks for them, too. (I have to say, while I refuse to come to any conclusions, one of the women at the party not only seemed to have it all figured out and it all sounded entirely plausible, too. Simple and plausible). Second item: With this being a full month since little Lisa went missing, the tone and attention of the media is beginning to shift, too. Did you see the 10 O'clock news this evening? That grain bin explosion yesterday in Atchison? Did you notice it rather bumped stories of baby Lisa off the top of the news hour? Our attention spans are already slipping. We're already beginning to lose interest in this one. Deny it if you wish but there are only so many days of "Nothing new to report on the baby Irwin case" you can take until it starts drifting away. It's weird, it's gotten weirder, it's sad and it looks really, really bad, any way you look at it. As a last note, check out at the headline Reuters News Service just put up on the internet about it, a mere 3 hours ago: Kansas city missing baby case becoming a circus, critics say (Link at bottom). From the article, check out what this FBI agent has to say: "'I think the whole case has been a media circus since the beginning,' said Jeff Lanza, a retired Kansas City FBI agent who is now a security and communications consultant. 'It's distracted from the investigation.'" I think plenty of us have wondered this: "Some also wonder why the parents focused so heavily on national media interviews while refusing local media interviews, if they wanted to find the baby." And then there's this from Michael Mahoney: "'Local reporters are complaining bitterly about it,' said Michael Mahoney, a veteran reporter with KMBC-TV in Kansas City. 'They think the family has opted to take this story nationally when local reporters believe they have the best chance of finding this infant by getting the word out.'" The article seems to repeat feelings I came away with earlier tonight. As I said a few days ago, it's odd and just keeps getting more so. Here's hoping some positive things start happening in it all--and as soon as possible. Links: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/01/us-baby-missing-idUSTRE7A004F20111101; http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/07/us-crime-baby-kidnapping-idUSTRE79572I20111007; http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/17/us-baby-missing-idUSTRE79F06D20111017

Joe Tacopina, stand-up comic

On KCUR-FM, 89.3 today, they reported that the New York attorney in the Lisa Irwin case said that fellow-attorney Cindy Short's news conference this morning was a "distraction." That's rich. He should give up his day job. Links: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/31/3240043/parents-former-attorney-talks.html; http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/wrong-lawyer-representing-baby-lisa-irwins-parents/

Irwin saga gets ever weirder

I posted before on how weird this sad, unfortunate Baby Lisa Irwin saga has become but today, after watching the news, I see it just keeps getting more weird. Three things today, as per KMBC 9 News: 1) Media hound and New York attorney Bill Stanton came back to town, had yet another rather pointless announcement for the press and pretended to be searching around what looked like a bridge for the cameras. Thanks, Bill; 2) The Irwin family has disappeared. That wouldn't be that odd but who knows if a) the police know where they are--I hope and assume they do--or b) if they're cooperating with those same police. And finally, 3) the attorney who had to quit because she quit and/or was forced out by the New Yawk attorney, Cindy Short, is having a news conference tomorrow at 10:30 am. To say what, who can say? Tune in tomorrow. It just keeps getting weirder by the day. And baby Lisa, meanwhile, will have been gone a month as of this week. That is some kind of sad. Links: http://www.kmbc.com/video/29624432/detail.html; http://www.kmbc.com/news/29630795/detail.html; http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/30/3238483/former-lawyer-for-lisa-irwins.html; http://videos.kansascity.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=118117811; http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/30/3238307/search-for-lisa-irwin-nears-one.html

Could this "Baby Lisa" case get any weirder?

There are more weird things going on with this missing baby Lisa Irwin case than I can even all remember and list here today. That she even went missing in the first place is odd, to start. Then it went really looney. Why does anyone steal a middle- or lower-class couple's child at all, unless they just want their own child? (Which it wouldn't be but that's why it's odd right there at the beginning). Then, how does it happen? Did mom put Lisa to bed at 10:30--which is pretty darned late for a 6-month old but who can say?--or at 6:30 that evening--which is REALLY early? Who knows? Mom said both. Then, why would mom admit on NATIONAL TV that she was drunk? Yikes. Good move, Mom. You get kudos for honesty, anyway. Next up is, did she have 5 glasses of wine, as one TV news station reported or did she have 10? Either one doesn't sound good but that's too late--the cat's out of the proverbial bag. Then a New Yawk attorney shows up. Yeehaw. You can't have enough of those headline-grabbing, camera-lovers, can you? Then they get a LOCAL attorney, too. Great idea. Two attorneys, one local, one not. That'll work, I'm sure. Then, yesterday, the local attorney releases a brief and terse announcement, saying she quits and that she was squeezed out by Mr. New York. There's a shocker, huh? Let's see, what else have I forgotten? A Colorado man drives in because he and his wife, years ago, had a nearly identical thing happen to them. Fortunately, he really does just seem to want to be any help if he can. Oh, here's a favorite weird thing in this for me: the parents are said by the police to NOT BE COOPERATING. There's a great idea, huh? Say, if you're innocent and you want your baby back and you have no idea what happened to the child, MAYBE YOU WANNA' COOPERATE WITH THE POLICE?? COMPLETELY? Does that maybe sound like a good idea? And a lie detector test? You didn't do anything wrong, right? Right? So maybe that shouldn't be a problem? And you don't want to talk any more to the police but you want to talk to the national news media. Huh. Right now, ongoing, the parents don't want to consent to be interviewed by the police in separate interviews. Additionally, for days, now, the parents weren't letting the police interview baby Lisa's two step-brothers. Then it was on. Then they postponed even that. And keep in mind, this coming week baby Lisa will have been gone AN ENTIRE MONTH. As they said today on Yahoo! News (see link below): "It's an extraordinarily late time to be finally allowing interviews of witnesses who were in the house the night the baby is said to have disappeared." Let's review. YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG, right? You have nothing to hide, as you've said. And you don't know where your daughter is. And you want her back. Have I got all that down correctly? Uh, so WHY AREN'T YOU AND CAN'T YOU COOPERATE COMPLETELY?? Sorry, just gotta' ask. See, we aren't assuming you're guilty, understand. We just have no freaking idea where you're coming from. Get back to us on all that, will you? Please? Links: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/28/3235994/kc-lawyer-confirms-shes-out-of.html; http://news.yahoo.com/missing-baby-lisa-irwin-damaging-details-emerge-despite-135000443.html

More sarcastic thanks to the Republicans, Conservatives, the NRA and now-former President George W. Bush

If you saw "60 Minutes" last night on CBS, you saw how a whole society and large country just to our South--Mexico, of course--is unraveling.

Unraveling due to drugs, drug wars, money coming in for it all and the available guns that make the killing and insanity all possible.

And if anyone thinks this isn't the United States' concern or problem, they can think again.

Sure, for one thing, you certainly don't want this neighbor falling apart.

We can't have the murders and kidnapping that's taking place there come across the border and spill into our country.

But it's more than that. More by a long shot.

The fact is, the money coming into Mexico, the drugs they distribute and the guns they use all come from us. The United States.

And it's the guns that get me here.

Remember the assault weapon ban we used to have?

Remember that?

Of course not. We're Americans. We have little, if any, attention spans and no memory.

The assault weapons ban was a law that tried to keep down the number of assault weapons in America and on our streets.

The Republicans, Conservatives and NRA all thought it better to do away with this ban in 2004, what with their imperial leader, George W. Bush, in charge, it was a no-brainer.

So how does this connect to Mexico's meltdown?

Statistic from last night's program: 90% of all the weapons going through Mexico come from the United States.

So it seems that this will likely come down, in future history books, as the United States could, possibly be getting a bit of comeuppance, given that those original three factors--the guns, money and drugs--that are the problem in Mexico are of our creation, here.

So maybe it would be wise to do something about those guns and our gun laws?