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
Originally posted here:
11 months: Marizela still missing
At Telegraph UK , ” Costa Concordia will take 10 months to be removed “: The Costa Concordia cruise ship will take up to 10 months to removed from Italy’s coast, according to officials, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations. Officials called off both the start of operations to remove of 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved an inch and a half over six hours, coupled with waves of more than three feet. A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found Saturday. Sixteen crew and passengers remain listed as missing, with one body recovered from the ship not yet identified. Officials have virtually ruled out finding anyone alive more than two weeks after the Costa Concordia hit a reef, but were reluctant to give a final death toll for the Jan. 13 disaster. The crash happened when the captain deviated from his planned route, creating a huge gash that capsized the ship. More than 4,200 people were on board. “Our first goal was to find people alive,” Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. “Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster.” RTWT.
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Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Will Take Up to 10 Months to Removed From Italy’s Coast
On Tuesday, we reported Google launched a search function — Google, plus Your World — which incorporates information from Google+ into your regular web searches. Almost immediately after Google began automatically rolling out this feature, there was criticism. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is saying it may file a letter of complaint to the Federal Trade Commission because, although the new search function allows users to opt out of having personal information show up in their results, it doens’t give users the ability to “opt out of having their information found through Google search” by others.
Google provides users with the option to show or not to show personal results in searches.
Google Search, Plus Your World example.
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Should We Be Concerned About Google‘s New ’Search, Plus Your World’?
Well, I’ve just finished scouring the White House visitor logs. Regular readers know I seem to be one of the few in the media who actually does such a thing. Regular readers also know that I’ve pointed out time and again that the logs are incomplete, misleading, obtuse, and designed to make it as difficult as possible to figure out who has visited and when. So, it is no surprise that neither director Tim Burton nor actor Johnny Depp — hosts of the big 2009 Hollywood Halloween bash at the White House — show up in the visitor logs. At least as far as I can tell. Use the search function and look for yourselves. White House Visitor Records Requests Powered by Socrata This is a screen cap of the 10/31/09 list where Burton’s name should be (click for full size ): And this is a screen cap of the 10/31/09 list where Depp’s name should be (click for full size ): Actress Mia Wasikowska, who played Alice, was also at the White House for picture-taking, along with several other cast members. Her name is also missing from the logs. On FanPop via Verum Serum , several photos show the celebs posing inside the White House: The party held in the State Dining Room and East Room benefited military families — always a good thing. That’s besides the point. The Tinseltown cover-up , hushed to avert bad press when the economy was stuck in a recession and the Tea Party was on the rise, simply underscores the cloud-based transparency that has marked this administration from day one. It is laughable that the White House reaction is to call the story “ old news ” — when the White House visitor log keepers apparently have yet to be told of the visits. Looks like disclosure-subverting business as usual. *** Flashback: Obama’s Coffee House Loophole Archive of previous Obama transparency posts here .
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Why don’t White House visitor logs report Hollywood Halloween guests?
Well, I’ve just finished scouring the White House visitor logs. Regular readers know I seem to be one of the few in the media who actually does such a thing. Regular readers also know that I’ve pointed out time and again that the logs are incomplete, misleading, obtuse, and designed to make it as difficult as possible to figure out who has visited and when. So, it is no surprise that neither director Tim Burton nor actor Johnny Depp — hosts of the big 2009 Hollywood Halloween bash at the White House — show up in the visitor logs. At least as far as I can tell. Use the search function and look for yourselves. White House Visitor Records Requests Powered by Socrata This is a screen cap of the 10/31/09 list where Burton’s name should be (click for full size ): And this is a screen cap of the 10/31/09 list where Depp’s name should be (click for full size ): Actress Mia Wasikowska, who played Alice, was also at the White House for picture-taking, along with several other cast members. Her name is also missing from the logs. On FanPop via Verum Serum , several photos show the celebs posing inside the White House: The party held in the State Dining Room and East Room benefited military families — always a good thing. That’s besides the point. The Tinseltown cover-up , hushed to avert bad press when the economy was stuck in a recession and the Tea Party was on the rise, simply underscores the cloud-based transparency that has marked this administration from day one. It is laughable that the White House reaction is to call the story “ old news ” — when the White House visitor log keepers apparently have yet to be told of the visits. Looks like disclosure-subverting business as usual. *** Flashback: Obama’s Coffee House Loophole Archive of previous Obama transparency posts here .
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Why don’t White House visitor logs report Hollywood Halloween guests?
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (The Blaze/AP) — For most of her 100 years, Minka Disbrow tried to find out what became of the precious baby girl she gave up for adoption after being raped as a teen. She hoped, but never imagined, she’d see her Betty Jane again. The cruel act of violence bore in Disbrow an enduring love for the child. She kept a black and white photograph of the baby bundled in blankets and tucked inside a basket. It was the last she saw of the girl – until the phone rang in her California apartment in 2006 with the voice of an Alabama man and a story she could have only dreamed. Disbrow, the daughter of Dutch immigrants, weathered a harsh childhood milking cows on South Dakota dairy farms. Her stepfather thought high school was for city kids who had nothing else to do. She finished eighth grade in a country schoolhouse with just one teacher and worked long hours at the dairy. On a summer day in 1928 while picnicking with girls from a sewing class, Disbrow and her friend Elizabeth were jumped by three men as they went for a walk in their long dresses. Both were raped. “We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know what to say. So when we went back, nothing was said,” Disbrow recalled. Months passed. Her body began to change. Disbrow, who had been told babies were brought by storks, didn’t know what was happening. Her mother and stepfather sent her to a Lutheran home for pregnant girls. At 17, she gave birth to a blond-haired baby with a deep dimple in her chin and named her Betty Jane. In her heart, Disbrow longed to keep her. But her head and her mother told her she couldn’t bring an infant back to the farm. A pastor and his wife were looking to adopt a child. She hoped they could give Betty Jane the home she couldn’t. “I loved that baby so much. I wanted what was best,” Disbrow said. She never met them, or knew their names. But over the years, Disbrow wrote dozens of letters to the adoption agency to find out how her daughter was faring. The agency replied faithfully with updates until there was a change in management, and they eventually lost touch. Disbrow’s life went on. She married a fruit salesman who became a wartime pilot and drafting engineer and they had two children. She worked as a dressmaker, silk saleswoman and school cafeteria manager in cities spanning from Rhode Island to Minnesota and Northern California before moving to the seaside town of San Clemente an hour’s drive north of San Diego. Every year, she thought about Betty Jane on her May 22 birthday. Five years ago, Disbrow prayed she might get the chance to see her. “Lord, if you would just let me see her,” Disbrow remembers praying. “I promise you I will never bother her.” On July 2, the phone rang. It was a man from Alabama. He started asking Disbrow, then 94, about her background. Worried about identity theft, Disbrow cut him off, and peppered him with questions. Then, the man asked if she’d like to speak with Betty Jane. Her name was now Ruth Lee. She had been raised by a Norwegian pastor and his wife and had gone on to marry and have six children including the Alabama man, a teacher and astronaut Mark Lee, a veteran of four space flights who has circled the world 517 times. She worked for nearly 20 years at Walmart – and especially enjoyed tending to the garden area. Lee knew she was adopted her whole life, and grew up a happy child. It wasn’t until she was in her 70s that the search for her biological parents began. Lee started suffering from heart problems and doctors asked about the family’s medical history. She knew nothing about it. Her son, Brian, decided to try to find out more and petitioned the court in South Dakota for his mother’s adoption records. He got a stack of more than 270 pages including a written account of the assault and handwritten letters from a young Disbrow, asking about the tiny baby she had cradled for a month. He then went online to try to find one of Disbrow’s relatives – possibly through an obituary. “I was looking for somebody I thought was probably not living,” said Lee’s now-54-year-old son. He typed Disbrow’s name into a web directory and was shocked when a phone listing popped up. “I kind of stopped breathing for a second.” On the phone with her biological daughter, Disbrow was in disbelief. Her legs began to tremble. She couldn’t understand how a naive dairy farm girl without an education could have such accomplished grandchildren. A month later, Ruth Lee and Brian Lee flew to California. They arrived at Disbrow’s meticulous apartment on a palm tree-lined street armed with a gigantic bouquet of flowers. Disbrow couldn’t get over how Lee’s hands were like her mother’s. Lee was amazed at the women’s similar taste in clothing. They pored over family photo albums and caught up on the years Disbrow had missed. “It was just like we had never parted,” Disbrow said. “Like you were with the family all your life.” Since then, the families have met numerous times. Disbrow has gone to visit grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Wisconsin and Texas. She is planning to travel to Alabama in the spring, where they will celebrate her recently marked 100th birthday. Disbrow has started sharing her story with members of her church and community. The Orange County Register ran a story about Disbrow’s journey in December. The family’s improbable reunion also made the local newspaper in Viroqua, Lee’s hometown in western Wisconsin. “It has been such a surreal, amazing experience that I still think sometimes that I will wake up and it will just be a beautiful dream,” the 82-year-old Lee said. Disbrow’s daughter Dianna Huhn, 55, of Portland, Ore., said the reunion has filled a void for her mother – one that for many years, the sharp, stylish woman with sparkling blue eyes kept a deep, dark secret. “I have never seen my mother as happy,” said Huhn.
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Mom, Now 100-Years-Old, Reunites with Lost Child After 77 Years
The chart above puts Obamanomics in its unpleasant historical context, in case anyone really needs to be reminded. But the terrifying thing is that the situation is far worse. Take the news on unemployment. Yes, the United States added 120,000 jobs in November and the president will no doubt claim some victory – we’re getting out of a “ditch,” after all. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent from 9 percent and a broader unemployment rate from 16.2 percent to 15.6 percent. It is at its lowest level since August 2009. And revisions to previous months, we are told, point in a good direction . The New York Times also assures me there are “Signs of Hope in Jobs Report; Unemployment Drops to 8.6%.” So who am I to ask questions? Hey, I’m not an economist. But the unemployment rate, though useful, seems to be an awfully overvalued metric. If the workforce is shrinking, then yes, the unemployment rate is likely to drop — it should drop — as well. Over the past month, labor force participation dropped from 64.2 to 64 percent. Americans are giving up the search for work as over 315,000 stopped looking searching in November alone. That’s a lot of people. What would the unemployment rate look like if we had the same level of active workers as we did when the recession first struck? The American Enterprise Institute’s James Pethokoukis tweeted : “If labor force size was same as Oct., U-3 unemployment rate would be 8.9%; same as when Obama took office, 11%”. Eleven percent. Apologies for my cynicism, but though the unemployment rate does not offer us the full story, politically speaking, it is an important political ingredient that could help President Obama — the man who helped turn a recession into a new state of normal – win a deeply undeserved second term for a couple of reasons: 1- Unemployment rates will decline and the economy will look a lot healthier than it actually is to many less- informed voters. Everyday Americans don’t have the time to parse unemployment statistics – they just want to see the right trajectory. In the end, though, none of the underlying fundamental problems have changed. 2- The more Americans drop out of the work force the more Americans will be tied to some form of government dependency, the lifeblood of progressive politics. We are already experiencing record number of citizens relying on government, and while progressives might find dependency moral and beneficial, it is a sure sign of an ailing nation. And with all this going on, Democrats fix their moral focus on the populist “wealthy aren’t paying a fair share” canard because it latches onto populist anger and feeds the restive envy that some (still few) people feel during hard times. It’s a play for votes not for economic growth. How does ” asking people to “sacrifice just a little bit more” help create jobs? Rather than thinking of ways to free up the wealthy so they can generate more profit and more self-sustaining jobs, the president peddles a public sector union-bailout “jobs” bill we can’t pay afford. A bill that would only continue to exacerbate the problems that state governments face. Rather than allow the economy to move forward — or anywhere, actually — we continue to bail out rotten institutions, regulatory expansion and now we’re just sitting around waiting for another election. All in all, pretty depressing for “good news.” —————– Follow @ davidharsanyi .
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Unemployment numbers good for Obama — but not good for much else
Will the New York Times ombudsman respond to this serious charge from a fellow mainstream journalist — or will it be whitewashed away? David Newhouse, editor of the Patriot-News, has blown the whistle on the Fishwrap of Record’s reckless disclosure of identifying details about one of Penn State accused child predator/rapist Jerry Sandusky’s victims: The Patriot-News, the newspaper that broke the story of the child sex-abuse case against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, has been careful not to reveal the names of the alleged victims in its reporting. But David Newhouse, editor of the Patriot-News, is livid that the New York Times revealed too much information about one of the alleged victims in a story last week. Newhouse says that a Times’ piece (“For a Reported Penn State Victim, a Search for Trust”) written by Nare Schweber and Jo Becker published Wednesday is “so detailed,” a simple Google search of its contents “results in the young man’s name within seconds.” Newhouse’s open statement is here . A damning indictment: n Wednesday’s story in The New York Times, for example, a profile entitled “For a Reported Penn State Victim, a Search for Trust,” reporters Nate Schweber and Jo Becker write a profile so detailed that, even though they do not name him, googling certain information in the profile results in the young man’s name within seconds. The Patriot-News has learned that other news organizations, which did not have the young man’s name, have already done so. Although the Times story has been all over the web, and of course the Times web site draws a huge amount of traffic on its own, we decline to link to it here. The story quotes his next-door neighbor and names his neighborhood. It describes the detailed circumstances of a car accident which was reported in local papers at the time. It says he liked to wear tie-dyed socks. None of these details have the slightest to do with why or how the boy was allegedly befriended and then assaulted over several years by Sandusky. They do not serve the story of Jerry Sandusky. They only serve to make an alleged victim of sexual assault easily identifiable. You could call the anonymity maintained in the story a polite fiction, but there is nothing polite about it. To be clear, the Times story is not alone. It is just the latest and most prominent example so far of such reporting. The pledge of most news organizations to withhold the names of sexual assault victims – men and women, children and adults – is not some journalistic game of who can say the most while following some arbitrary rule. Most media have adopted it because, tragically, reporting sexual assaults still carries a stigma. It is no accident that Victim One was only the second boy to come forward to authorities in what is alleged to have been more than 15 years of assaults by Sandusky. Stories like these, if anything, could discourage future victims from speaking up. Victim One told the grand jury that he had been victimized by Jerry Sandusky. Now one could argue that he is being victimized again – this time, by frenzied news media who essentially name the victim in the pursuit of salacious details, all done in the name of anonymity. Via The American Thinker’s Thomas Lifson: “The Times is now under the supervision of executive editor Jill Abramson, the first woman to occupy this post. She’s not off to a good start.” Over to you, NYT ombudsman.
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Charge: Fishwrap of Record virtually outed Sandusky rape victim
Will the New York Times ombudsman respond to this serious charge from a fellow mainstream journalist — or will it be whitewashed away? David Newhouse, editor of the Patriot-News, has blown the whistle on the Fishwrap of Record’s reckless disclosure of identifying details about one of Penn State accused child predator/rapist Jerry Sandusky’s victims: The Patriot-News, the newspaper that broke the story of the child sex-abuse case against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, has been careful not to reveal the names of the alleged victims in its reporting. But David Newhouse, editor of the Patriot-News, is livid that the New York Times revealed too much information about one of the alleged victims in a story last week. Newhouse says that a Times’ piece (“For a Reported Penn State Victim, a Search for Trust”) written by Nare Schweber and Jo Becker published Wednesday is “so detailed,” a simple Google search of its contents “results in the young man’s name within seconds.” Newhouse’s open statement is here . A damning indictment: n Wednesday’s story in The New York Times, for example, a profile entitled “For a Reported Penn State Victim, a Search for Trust,” reporters Nate Schweber and Jo Becker write a profile so detailed that, even though they do not name him, googling certain information in the profile results in the young man’s name within seconds. The Patriot-News has learned that other news organizations, which did not have the young man’s name, have already done so. Although the Times story has been all over the web, and of course the Times web site draws a huge amount of traffic on its own, we decline to link to it here. The story quotes his next-door neighbor and names his neighborhood. It describes the detailed circumstances of a car accident which was reported in local papers at the time. It says he liked to wear tie-dyed socks. None of these details have the slightest to do with why or how the boy was allegedly befriended and then assaulted over several years by Sandusky. They do not serve the story of Jerry Sandusky. They only serve to make an alleged victim of sexual assault easily identifiable. You could call the anonymity maintained in the story a polite fiction, but there is nothing polite about it. To be clear, the Times story is not alone. It is just the latest and most prominent example so far of such reporting. The pledge of most news organizations to withhold the names of sexual assault victims – men and women, children and adults – is not some journalistic game of who can say the most while following some arbitrary rule. Most media have adopted it because, tragically, reporting sexual assaults still carries a stigma. It is no accident that Victim One was only the second boy to come forward to authorities in what is alleged to have been more than 15 years of assaults by Sandusky. Stories like these, if anything, could discourage future victims from speaking up. Victim One told the grand jury that he had been victimized by Jerry Sandusky. Now one could argue that he is being victimized again – this time, by frenzied news media who essentially name the victim in the pursuit of salacious details, all done in the name of anonymity. Via The American Thinker’s Thomas Lifson: “The Times is now under the supervision of executive editor Jill Abramson, the first woman to occupy this post. She’s not off to a good start.” Over to you, NYT ombudsman.
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Charge: Fishwrap of Record virtually outed Sandusky rape victim
I’ve been taking time off this week and visiting with loved ones on the East Coast. Though it’s been a hellish year, we still have so much to be grateful for — and my column this week is dedicated to many of the wonderful people who have helped in the ongoing search for my missing cousin, Marizela. To all the readers, friends, and strangers who have shown their support: We cannot thank you enough. Blessings to you all. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea… –Psalm 46: 1-2 *** The Search for Marizela: A Thanksgiving note by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2011 On March 5, my 18-year-old cousin disappeared from her University of Washington campus in Seattle. Marizela Perez—5-foot-5, 110 pounds, short black hair with brown/red highlights and bangs cut into an asymmetrical bob, wearing a dark hooded jacket, jeans and light brown suede boots—was last seen at a Safeway grocery that fateful Saturday afternoon. Marizela walked out the door and up Brooklyn Ave., and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Civil War historian Drew Gilpin Faust once described the “aching hearts” of families of the missing “in which the dread void of uncertainty” remains. In the first days and weeks after Marizela went missing, this feeling completely engulfed her parents, relatives and friends near and far. How to express the inexpressible? You try to breathe, but all that fills your lungs is that smoky, stifling uncertainty. You try to eat, but all you can taste is indigestible fear. You try to sleep, but all that comes is fathomless fatigue. Your heart is weighted with grief, but your soul refuses to mourn. You cling to hope and faith, tie a knot at the ends, and hang on with raw, blistered desperation. Whoever said “time heals all wounds” has only known superficial hurt. Sharp pangs of panic have metastasized into deep anguish over the past eight months. There have been no investigative leads. No witnesses have come forward. To the police department, as is the case with so many others like her, Marizela is just another bureaucratic burden. In fact, for five full months, the Seattle police shockingly violated state code requiring law enforcement agencies to submit her DNA information and dental X-rays to the Washington State Patrol within 30 days of her disappearance. After raising a ruckus, we were informed in late October that this legally mandated task was assigned to a “light duty” officer (never identified) who let it slip through the cracks. No one was held accountable for this negligence. Along the way, however, the kindness of complete strangers has been boundless. This holiday season, our heartfelt gratitude goes out to each and every person who has contributed to the search for Marizela, including: * Ned Cullen and the generous folks at ClearChannel Outdoor, who donated digital billboard space for missing persons alerts about Marizela all over the West Coast, from the Seattle area to Salem, Oregon, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas. * The staff of the King County Superior Court and the staff of the King County Medical Examiner’s office, foremost among them forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Taylor for her professionalism, dedication to and compassion for families of the missing. * Countless bloggers, Twitter users, and YouTube and Facebook users from across the political spectrum and from every walk of life who took time to spread the word about Marizela’s disappearance from Day One. * Melanie Helmick of K-9 Kampus in Arkansas; search-and-rescue team leader Michael Lueck from Texas; Steve Yerger of K9 Centurion and his daughter Rebecca in Maryland; Don and Austin Davidson; dog handlers Mary Haislet, Shannon Kiley and Melissa Ellis; and Seattle Parks and Recreation Department staffers Sandy Demerit and Laura Nepler. * KCPQ, Q13 Fox, KIRO-TV, KING 5-TV, Christine Clarridge and David Boardman of the Seattle Times, the University of Washington student daily, Seattle radio hosts John Carlson, David Boze and Dori Monson, and many other Pacific Northwest-area readers, local media outlets and allies who gave their broadcast air, pages and personal time to the case. * “America’s Most Wanted,” CBSNews.com, Fox News and FoxNews.com, Human Events, Intermarkets, To Write Love on Her Arms, and several missing persons’ advocacy groups, who all helped alert national audiences and followers to Marizela’s disappearance. * Friends behind the scenes who have offered invaluable legal, technical and investigative help, advice and counsel. * Church communities, fundraising organizers and too many more to name from South Jersey to Seattle and beyond who have helped with our ongoing search efforts. On her left inner arm, Marizela has a tattoo that reads “Lahat ay magiging maayos.” Her friends transformed the saying into a tribute bracelet in her favorite color: bright orange. It’s Tagalog for “Everything’s going to be OK.” This has become a credo in the ongoing search for Marizela—and it is also a fitting Thanksgiving message. To smile through tears. To savor the sweet over the bitter. To find a way, with the help of God, family and friends, to count our blessings even (and especially) in the midst of great angst. Because in the end: “All will be well.” *** We have posted Marizela’s missing persons flyer, photos, videos and updates at http://findmarizela.com/ . The tip line number for citizens who may have any information that might aid in the search is 1-855-MARIZEL. Thank you.
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The Search for Marizela: A Thanksgiving note
