Priscilla Frieberger was still alive when she began decomposing in this recliner chair after sitting in it for three weeks. (Image source: WKRC-TV)
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‘She Was Starting to Decompose’: Woman Charged in Death of Morbidly Obese Sister
Since I last reported to you, there still have been no new developments in the case of my missing cousin, Marizela Perez. No news from the police or the medical examiner’s office. No activity on her bank accounts or social media accounts. I reached out to Google’s legal department for help and advice last month in trying to obtain information about her electronic trail in the weeks and months before she vanished. The circumstances of our dilemma remain the same. While the case remains open, the Seattle police are for all practical purposes treating it as a closed and shut case. They will not share the information they obtained from the limited Google subpoena — which our family pushed for in the first place. If we had access to that information, we could continue the search for Marizela on our own that the SPD has neither the time, resources, or inclination to pursue. We have not heard back from Google. As we’ve noted since the day of her disappearance, she was taking anti-depressants at the time of her disappearance. The daunting possibility that she took her life, and the signs that cannot be ignored, still weighs heavily on our minds — as do all the other frightening possibilities as her case remains unsolved and unresolved. I’ve urged you before to support volunteer groups that provide hope and solace for those in need. To honor Marizela, I ask again that you do so if you are able. Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers. Cherish life. Lahat ay magiging maayos: All will be well. www.findmarizela.com
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11 months: Marizela still missing
( Click for full-size ; Source: GOP Oversight ) Scroll for updates… Forget Klownald Trump. This is your story of the day. Attorney General Eric Holder is on Capitol Hill day, facing another round of questions from relentless GOP watchdogs led by House Oversight and Govenrment Reform chair Darrell Issa. You can watch the proceedings live on CSPAN online here . The grilling comes as Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s family files suit against the lying ATF: The family of slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry charged Wednesday that the top federal prosecutor in Phoenix lied to them about the guns found at the crime scene in an attempt to hide the weapons’ connection to the ATF’s failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation. Terry was killed in December 2010, allegedly by Mexican bandits carrying at least two AK-47 semiautomatic rifles that had been purchased in Arizona as part of Fast and Furious. The operation was intended to catch drug lords using illegal weapons, but the ATF immediately lost track of 1,700 firearms. The Terry family alleged that then-U.S. Atty. Dennis K. Burke told them last March that the two weapons came from a store in Texas and were not part of Fast and Furious. The family made their allegations in a “notice of claim” stating that they intend to sue the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Justice Department for $25 million. They called the gun-tracking operation “abominable, reckless, nonsensical.” Burke has resigned and has declined to discuss Fast and Furious. But the family’s claim notice strongly suggests that the federal government initially sought to keep Fast and Furious under wraps and hoped it would not be linked to the slaying. House GOP leaders repeat what whistleblowers have been telling us from the start: Top White House/DOJ knew. They knew: Top Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious, claims a new report released Thursday, hours before Attorney General Eric Holder’s scheduled testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The report released by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, top lawmakers investigating the botched gunrunning operation, claims Justice Department officials in Washington and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in the coordination in the early stages of the operation. Related Interactive Report released by Issa and Grassley on Fast and Furious Republican lawmakers Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) released a new report suggesting top Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious. Justice headquarters “had much greater knowledge of, and involvement in, Fast and Furious than it has previously acknowledged,” the memo reads. Rep. Issa’s preview statement in the advance of the hearing is here : ate last year, after months of investigation, the Justice Department finally acknowledged the allegations were true. Fast and Furious was both reckless and flawed. The Justice Department, however, has been less than forthcoming in cooperating with the efforts of Congressional investigators to determine exactly what happened and who was responsible: • The Justice Department has delivered fewer than 8% of the 80,000 documents we know it has identified as being related to this flawed operation. • It has refused to allow investigators access to numerous witnesses who participated in the operation – one witness, after being served with a subpoena, invoked his Fifth Amendment right to protection against self-incrimination rather than answer questions. • Justice Department now asserts that many documents pertaining to internal discussions and decision making about its response to Operation Fast and Furious are off-limits to investigators. The American people deserve better from our nation’s top law enforcement agency. Thursday’s hearing will feature the nation’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Eric Holder, who will be asked to explain his decision to withhold this factual evidence from investigators. What he is concerned this information would reveal? Why is the Department trying to keep its internal discussions about Operation Fast and Furious from after February 4, 2011 secret? Why did it take nearly nine months for the Justice Department to acknowledge its earlier denials were false? Why did senior Justice Department officials who knew about and received briefings on the operation fail to stop it? Should Americans have confidence in their chief law enforcement agency even though these same officials remain in their posts? There is now broad bipartisan agreement that the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has exposed a serious and deadly failure of government. We know that the life of a brave Border Patrol agent has been lost along with countless Mexican citizens who have been victimized by guns from Operation Fast and Furious. Attorney General Holder has acknowledged that the danger created by Fast and Furious will continue for years. This hearing is not about controversial struggles between gun control advocates and supporters of the Second Amendment. It is about the unifying, and what should be bipartisan, expectation that the Justice Department be held to a high standard and that those who failed to meet this standard should be held accountable. I look forward to Attorney General Holder’s testimony. After Issa threatened contempt charges against the Department of Justice Obstructionists, DOJ responded with…more obstruction: The Justice Department response Wednesday rejected Issa’s February 9, 2012, deadline to produce all demanded documents. Cole called the deadline “impossible” to meet because of the broad scope of the request. He did not directly refer to the threat of a contempt charge by Issa. …The hearing Thursday will not be the end of the battle over Operation Fast and Furious. The Justice Department’s inspector general continues to work on a detailed account of the origins of the operation, and who was involved. The report is not expected to be complete for at least a couple more months. Holder has promised when it is completed, he is prepared to make individuals accountable. But Holder says he has no plan to seek resignations or administer discipline until that report is complete. The corruption keeps piling up. Matthew Boyle has a hard-hitting investigative piece in the Daily Caller exposing yet another DOJ scandal involving alleged bribery of top officials involved in a financial fraud probe: A U.S. Justice Department source has told The Daily Caller that at least two DOJ prosecutors accepted cash bribes from allegedly corrupt finance executives who were indicted under court seal within the past 13 months, but never arrested or prosecuted. The sitting governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, his attorney general and an unspecified number of Virgin Islands legislators also accepted bribes, the source said, adding that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is aware prosecutors and elected officials were bribed and otherwise compromised, but has not held anyone accountable. The bribed officials, an attorney with knowledge of the investigation told TheDC, remain on the taxpayers’ payroll at the Justice Department without any accountability. The DOJ source said Holder does not want to admit public officials accepted bribes while under his leadership. That source said that until the summer of 2011, the two compromised prosecutors were part of a team of more than 25 federal prosecutors pursuing a financial crime ring, and at least five other prosecutors tasked to the case were also compromised by the criminal suspects they were investigating, without being bribed. Washington knew what it was getting when it confirmed corruptocrat Eric Holder. Innocent people have paid with their lives. Ignoring this man and his boss’s utter, systematic contempt for the rule of law has yielded deadly consequences. America, let’s not make that mistake again. *** Update: Go to my Twitter account for live-tweeting of the hearing. Most jaw-dropping moment so far: Indignant Holder demanding he get “credit” for his work at DOJ. Running joke: Every time gun-control Democrats call for more “tools.” There are plenty enough of them in charge in Washington. Side note: Donald Trump stepping on this important hearing tells you everything you need to know about his purported interest in advancing conservative/GOP interests. Circus, circus. Video clips: GOP Rep. Issa’s opening statement: GOP Rep. Patrick Henry underscores that there’s been no accountability for 13 months: GOP Rep. Anne Marie Buerkle confronts Holder with Terry family’s plea for action. At the five-minute mark, you can’t hear it, but Democrats advised Holder: “Don’t answer:”
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Fast and Furious showdown: Holder/Obama defend bloody culture of contempt; Update: Fortress Holder, Stonewall City; vid clips added, Dems advise,…
At LAT , ” Romney keeps pressure on Gingrich as Florida primary nears “: Reporting from Naples, Fla.
The commitment to the family has been a central focus of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s campaign. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that the former Pennsylvania senator has put his campaign on hold Sunday in order to care for matters at home. POLITICO reports that Karen and Rick’s youngest daughter Isabella “Bella” Santorum has been admitted to a Philadelphia hospital, and all of the candidate’s Sunday morning campaign appearances have been canceled. “Rick and his wife Karen are admitting their daughter Bella to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia this evening. The campaign will cancel Rick’s upcoming Sunday morning Florida campaign schedule. However, Rick intends to return to Florida and resume the campaign schedule as soon as is possible,” Santorum communications director Hogan Gidley said in an email to POLITICO Saturday night. Bella was born in 2008 with Trisonomy-18, a serious chromosomal defect, and Santorum has discussed Bella’s health and condition on the campaign trail before. “I have a little girl who’s 3 1/2 years old,” he told Christian conservatives in Iowa before winning that lead-off contest. “I don’t know whether her life is going to be measured – it’s always been measured – in days and weeks. Yet here I am. … because I feel like I wouldn’t be a good dad if I wasn’t out here fighting for a country that would see the dignity in her and every other child.” The Associated Press notes that when voters ask Santorum about his daughter, he calls the decision to campaign “gut-retching” but says he goes forward for all special needs families. Santorum had been scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and attend church in Miami Sunday. Officials have not yet canceled Sunday’s afternoon events in Sarasota and Punta Gorda.
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Santorum Admits Young Daughter to Philadelphia Hospital, Cancels Sunday Morning Campaign Appearances
A friend of actress Demi Moore who phoned 9-1-1 after the star collapsed and began convulsing, told the dispatcher that Moore had “smoked something” that was not marijuana but “similar to incense and she seems to be having convulsions of some sort.” She also told the operator Demi was, “semi-conscious, barely.” The friend added, “She’s been having some issues lately with some other stuff, but I don’t know what she’s been taking or not.” “Is she breathing normal?” the operator asked. “No, not so normal. More kind of shaking, convulsing, burning up,” the friend replied. The recording captured the 10 minutes it took paramedics to arrive as friends gathered around the star, attempting to comfort her. The clip of that call, featured below, is just under two minutes long. Another woman was next to Moore as the dispatcher asked if the star was responsive. “Demi, can you hear me?” she asked. “Yes, she’s squeezing hands. … She can’t speak.” The city attorney’s office reportedly advised the fire department to redact details about medical conditions and substances to comply with federal medical privacy rules. Asked if Moore took the substance intentionally or not, the woman said Moore did ingest the substance on purpose but that the reaction was accidental. “Whatever she took, make sure you have it out for the paramedics,” the operator instructed. The operator asked the friend if anything like this had ever happened before. “I don’t know,” the friend said. “There’s been some stuff recently that we’re all just finding out.” According to AP, the 9-1-1 dispatcher told Moore’s friend not to hold her down but to wipe her mouth and nose and watch her closely until paramedics arrive. “Make sure that we keep an airway open,” the dispatcher said. “Even if she passes out completely, that’s OK. Stay right with her.” AP reports that the phone was passed around by four people, one of whom gave directions to the gate and another who recounted details about the mystery substance Moore smoked or ingested. Finally, the phone was handed to a man named James, so one of the women can hold Moore’s head. Due to some confusion at the beginning of the call, the ambulance was reportedly delayed by nearly two minutes. At one point during the call, Moore’s friend became agitated, asking, “Why is an ambulance not on its way right now?” “Ma’am, instead of arguing with me why an ambulance is not on the way, can you spell (the street name) for me?” the Beverly Hills dispatcher asked. By the end of the call, Moore’s condition had reportedly improved. “She seems to have calmed down now. She’s speaking,” the male caller told the operator. Moore’s publicist, Carrie Gordon, said previously that the actress sought professional help to treat her exhaustion and improve her health. Some speculate Moore may be suffering a sort of breakdown since her marriage to fellow actor Ashton Kutcher ended amid rumors of infidelity on the younger star’s part. Yahoo adds that, according to internet reports, the 9-1-1 call was placed after the actress had inhaled a dangerous amount of nitrous oxide, also known as “whip-its.” Following Moore’s collapse, her rep told ET, “Because of the stresses in her life right now, Demi has chosen to seek professional assistance to treat her exhaustion and improve her overall health.” She added that Moore, “looks forward to getting well and is grateful for the support of her family and friends.” The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Demi Moore’s Friend Tells 9-1-1 Operator Star Smoked Something ‘Similar to Incense’
Fashion icon Tim Gunn — best known as a mentor to designers on the reality program “Project Runway” and as host of “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style” — candidly revealed to guests on ABC’s “The Revolution” that he has been celibate for nearly three decades. “I haven’t had sex in 29 years,” the designer confessed. ”Do I feel like less of a person for it? No. Not even remotely.” Gunn, who served as associate dean of Parsons The New School for Design for over a decade, revealed this delicate aspect of his life in what he described as a spirit of honesty and solidarity with others who may be experiencing similar life-circumstances. “I’m a perfectly happy, fulfilled individual,” he added. “And I have feelings. It’s not as though I’m some barren forest.” Gunn explained that the reason for his longtime celibacy stems from having been deeply wounded by a past relationship. Wrought with emotion, Gunn said, “It’s very personal.” “I was in a very intense relationship for a long time. And my partner ended it, saying that, quite frankly, he was impatient with my sexual performance.” Gunn, revered by many for exuding both class and dignity in his various endeavors, added that his troubled relationship occurred during a time when the AIDS epidemic was just beginning and that he was concerned for his health. “I’m happy to be healthy and alive, quite frankly,” he said to a resounding round of applause. He added that there is no “mandate” stating he will remain chaste for the rest of his life and is open to a relationship, but that regardless of the outcome, feels complete as a person. In a world — and for Gunn especially, an industry — hyper-focused on sex and sexualization, many will find his choice and integrity commendable. The very personal interview follows below: (h/t: Yahoo )
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Fashion Icon Tim Gunn: ‘I Haven’t Had Sex in 29 Years‘ and ’I’m a Perfectly Happy, Fulfilled Individual’
Photoshop: Reader Jimmy D. Yesterday, the SEIU and left-wing USA Action launched Spanish-language radio attacks on Mitt Romney for his support of immigration enforcement measures. One of Romney’s advisers is Kris Kobach — a constitutional law professor, Kansas Secretary of State, and staunch leader in the fight against illegal alien amnesty and ACORN-style voter fraud. Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union, blasted Romney on Monday during a conference call announcing a Spanish-language radio ad the union is launching in partnership with Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting President Obama. Medina, the No. 2 official at the influential union, was reacting to an answer Romney gave at a debate Monday night where he said “self-deportation” was the answer to ridding the country of illegal immigrants. “It’s basically to say, ‘Make their life miserable’” by refusing to rent to them or to provide access to heat and water,” Medina said. “Make it difficult for their kids and their schools.” Asked by The Hill how Romney’s comments could be construed to imply that illegal immigrants should be denied basic necessities, Medina pointed to Romney’s close relationship with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has endorsed Romney. Kobach has been credit with writing most of Alabama’s harsh anti-illegal immigration law, which has been challenged in the courts. “Mr. Romney has said he wants to support and he joins in supporting Kris Kobach,” Medina said. “When he says he supports those kinds of policies, he has to own all of it.” “This is a dishonest smear from President Obama’s liberal allies and a desperate attempt to distract from his abysmal record,” said Romney adviser Albert Martinez. “It will do nothing to help the millions of Hispanics who have been hit especially hard as a result of the Obama economy.” Martinez said Hispanics, like all Floridians, believe Romney is the best person to rebuild the economy and to replace Obama. Well, look now, who’s mimicking the open-borders SEIU and blurring the lines between illegal and legal immigration. Yep. Newt Gingrich: Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant” “This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad. “The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.” Rubio’s sharp rebuke comes a day after he subtly corrected Gingrich for comparing Romney to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, branded by conservatives as a turncoat who left the party before Rubio beat him in 2010. The criticisms from someone of Rubio’s stature in the Republican Party comes as polls show a near-even race, albeit with Gingrich surging. Rubio plans to stay neutral in the race. He’s a potential running mate whom both candidates would love to have on the ballot. The truth is that neither Gingrich nor Romney has a strong, consistent overall record on border security and enforcement. But at least Romney’s been traveling in the right direction…while Gingrich once again echoes left-wing language and plays the race card to get ahead. Nose plugs. Get out yer nose plugs. *** Newt and his supporters have been deriding the notion of self-deportation as some sort of alien, offensive concept. Long-time readers of this blog and of my investigative work on immigration have been familiar with it for years. It’s attrition through enforcement , it’s humane , and it works . *** Can you be more two-faced? Newt has been winning massive adoration and applause for claiming he’ll stand up for states like South Carolina and Alabama , which have been sued by the Obama DOJ over tough immigration laws. Then he joins the likes of the SEIU and slams the very “anti-immigrant” policies authored by Kris Kobach that the Obama DOJ wants to overturn. Emetic of the day. *** Update: Newt retreats. From GOP Hispanic leaders calling him out, via the Miami Herald: While we may have differences of opinion with regard to some of Governor Romney’s policies on immigration, we nonetheless stand firmly behind him because we know he is the most qualified conservative candidate to defeat President Obama and to lift up all Americans, including Hispanics. Like your attacks on the free market, attacking Mitt Romney as “anti-immigrant” only serves President Obama and his liberal allies. Mr. Speaker, our party deserves better. Sincerely, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Senator Mel Martinez Raquel A. Rodriguez Zoraida Fonalledas Jorge Arrizurieta R. Alexander Acosta Remedios Diaz Oliver Rudy Fernandez Jeanette Prenger Jerry Natividad Sal Gomez Allen Gutierrez Hector Barreto Jose Fuentes Bertica Cabrera Morris Rafael Elias-Linero
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Gingrich channels open-borders SEIU; Rubio rebukes; Update:Newt retreats
Care to guess? Was it all those radical Christians out there issuing kill-on-sight orders? This headline from CNN seems to be missing something: ‘Satanic Verses’ author pulls out of literary festival over death threats Hmm. What could it be? Let’s find out the source of the threats: British author Salman Rushdie on Friday canceled his appearance at the Jaipur literary festival in India following warnings of threats to his life. “I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to ‘eliminate’ me,” Rushdie said in a statement. … The writer rose to international notoriety with his 1980s novel, “The Satanic Verses,” which stirred protests throughout the Muslim world. Rushdie lived under protection in Britain for nearly 10 years after a fatwa, a death sentence, was issued against him by Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.Khomeini considered lines in the book as blasphemous against Islam. Aah. It’s just another threat from radical Islamists. Nevermind. Nothing to see here. Move along. UPDATE: CNN has now updated and changed its headline and story.
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Author skips literary festival due to death threats from . . .
