TOLEDOTASTIC

Last weekend we were all loaded up and set to go to the Haunted Hydro in Fremont after spending an hour collecting everyone, filling up the gas tank, etc., before we realized that the place does not accept Discover cards. The outing was aborted and we returned home dejected. Boo hoo.

Last night we finally made it back. I was a bit disappointed that this year's set-up did not include the insane go-cart ride wherein one (in previous years) would drive through the woods while being chased by bloody people with axes. Instead there were two main areas, both of which we had tickets for.

The first part was called the "Catacombs" and involved a large fenced-in maze. Have you ever had the common nightmare of trying to find your way through rows of fences? Well, imagine that plus massive fog to the point where you can't see four feet in front of you, along with bloody people cackling at you and surprising you by coming through the fog. The kids were panicking (in a good way) but I maintained my composure. Good for me.

The second part was the Haunted Hydro itself, built inside the concrete structure of an old hydroelectric power plant. The last time I went, it was my least favorite part. But this year - in large part due to the antics of my weird little brother - I absolutely loved it. There were numerous, varied characters in every section. My little brother was burying his face in his coat early on (after brazenly marching through the fog of the Catacombs) so I knew it'd be good. Imagine running into the Grim Reaper and another visage of death in a dark room. Now imagine a decidedly strange eleven-year-old boy freaking out, freezing in place, then leaping instinctively into a Keanu Reeves-Matrix posture as if he were going to have to fight his way free from pending death. I nearly died laughing on the spot.

Around another corner we found a mad housewife shoving her child into a washing machine. Later we found a 300-pound, bald grown man in a diaper gnawing on a bloody human femur. More twists and turns and surprises. We finally exited the doors and thought we were nearly free. But no - after a few surprises by more traditional-looking creatures, we heard the sound of a roaring chainsaw. We looked forward to see a large woman in overalls coming at us with said tool. At this point my brother went so bonkers that he plowed onto me, knocking me over onto my sixteen-year-old sister. So there we were in a pile on the ground as the woman with the chainsaw lurched toward us. Good times.

In defense of my brother and me, I should point out that the other kids I took - my daughter (14), my sister (16) and sister's friend (also 16) - fell numerous other times in the course of panicking. They were covered in dust when we left.

Lessons learned? Adrenalin rushes can be a lot of fun. And in a crisis, my brother is 100% useless. And I find myself asking why stupid, childish, yet 100% natural human reactions aren't featured more often in horror films. You know the typical scene where a few teenage girls see Freddie/Jason/Mike coming at them and take off running? Never would happen! Try the girls suddenly clinging and running into one another, only to fall into a pile, incapable of moving or getting up, waiting there in a lump for the killer to approach. Yeah.

Tonight (Halloween) is the last night that the Hydro is open. I recommend that you make it out to Fremont after trick-or-treating time is over if you can.

Eww. Someone snatched Angelina Jolie's hairbrush and is selling it on the internet.

From here:

Sharon Osbourne slams 'pathetic' Pete Doherty
Babyshambles star needs 'a good slap'

Sharon Osbourne has hit out at Pete Doherty, saying he needs a "good slap".

And the heavyweight manager and reality TV star branded the Babyshambles star "insecure".

Speaking to Attitude magazine, Sharon raged: "Pete Doherty? Well he needs a bleedin' good slap, that's what. He needs locking down in rehab for a couple of months. And the truth needs to be told to his face.

"There's nothing harder to take than the truth. It's not hip to be in that state he's in. It's not cool, it's pathetic. I wouldn't take him on though - I helped Ozzy but that's because I loved him - I don't love Pete Doherty. But he does need someone who loves him who really gives him some love. He needs to be knocked out a couple of times and, get the shit kicked out of him and thrown into rehab."

In the early years of their marriage, Sharon helped husband Ozzy battle his own demons.

She continued: "With Ozzy, there would be a few hours in the morning when he was straight and you would see the sweetest, nicest, most generous man in the world. He was funny, and lovely. Then as soon as he had a drink it would deteriorate slowly through the day. But those moments of passion and caring were enough. I thought, 'I can change it, I can change this situation'. It's a hell of a battle.

"Pete Doherty needs to ditch the hangers-on and find someone who really loves him enough to tell him the truth. He needs to go through some hardcore rehab. That will strip him of any notion of celebrity, they should be telling him, 'you're the same as everybody else. You're a fucking addict'.

"It's his only chance of survival because I'm terrified the poor little thing's gonna OD. Now he thinks this is a part he has to play, it's become like a character to play out. People want to see that. It's obvious he's very insecure. He's not confident because he wouldn't do it if he was."

Without a doubt, Pete Doherty needs help. But who is Sharon Osbourne to say anything? The former fatty has made a career out of being the long-suffering wife of Ozzy Osbourne and somehow found a way to turn their dysfunctional parenting into a television show. From the popularity of the TV show, she has tried to help her homely, untalented kids start their own careers in the entertainment industry. Not to mention that she has (had?) an awful talk show of her own which wallowed at the margins of grotesque sycophantism. Then again, after nursing her husband and kids through rehab numerous times, Sharon knows all about it.

What really sickens me is the way in-and-out-of-the-spotlight celebrities like Sharon Osbourne mention other celebrities in interviews in order to get more press. Saying that crackie Pete Doherty needs rehab is as controversial as saying that Jennifer Lopez has a big ass. Yet it works - there's British music mag NME using it as an excuse to get Pete's name in print for the umpteenth time. Desperate celebrities understand this and use name-dropping to their advantage.

Grr...I simply hate celebrities who are famous for being famous. I can tolerate the actresses/actors, musicians and models who've actually worked at something to create their fame. But Sharon Osbourne, Paris Hilton, etc., can suck it.

Across
3. Our current robotic mayor
5. Not the witch project but the new bishop
6. Where local girls grow up fast
7. Guy who invited the Nazis to visit
Down
1. People downtown who watch your car for spare change
2. Why Toledoans have VCRs
4. Downtown drag bar

I would like to state something for the record. Being poor sucks. Seriously. It blows.

How well I remember the summer of 1984. Eerily enough, Coleman and Brown stayed on my street. The young girl they murdered on Auburn Avenue was in my sister's class and used to walk home from school with us sometimes. When we went to the Chicago area for an uncle's wedding, partly to escape the fear rampant in Toledo, Alton and Debra were arrested in Evanston (where our uncle's wedding took place). Taken from here.

Deadly Duo

Maybe people shouldn't be surprised that a boy who had to endure the nickname "Pissy" because of a tendency to wet his pants would grow up to be one of America's most savage spree killers. And it certainly didn't help that Pissy would go to prison on a robbery charge and emerge two years later with a tendency to dress in women's clothing and a desire for rough sex. Whatever the reasons, Alton Coleman and his girlfriend Debra Denise Brown will go down in history as a short-lived U.S. version of Great Britain's multiple sex-slayers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.

The story of Coleman and Brown begins in the mid-1970s, takes place in five states and involves one of the largest manhunts in recent history. It is a tale of American criminal justice that stands among the most depraved and cruel incidents of the modern age -- Coleman and Brown demonstrated a lack of respect for human life that shocked even hardened FBI agents and police officers. In less than two months, they assaulted, raped and murdered their way from Illinois to Michigan and down to Kentucky before authorities were finally able to capture then.

Coleman and Brown are behind bars, each awaiting a date with the executioner, but the evil they wrought upon their innocent victims lives on to this day. The duo have used every avenue of judicial appeal possible and seek mercy from the courts mercy they rarely showed when they prowled the Midwest.

With every new court ruling or delay, dozens of survivors relive the horror of their encounters with the murderous pair of lovers. A child victim who managed to avoid death at their hands vows that she will never marry because of her inability to trust and questions whether she is still "pure". Another survivor battles drug addiction, suicide attempts, and post-traumatic stress disorder. A mother and father must adjust to the fact that Coleman will never stand trial for their daughter's murder and they may never find out the circumstances surrounding her slaughter.

Coleman's family, on the other hand, consider themselves victims not of their deadly relative, but of a system that they believe persecutes and plans to kill an innocent man. Debra Brown's mother continues to rue the day her daughter met Alton Coleman. Brown was "a good girl," unknown to police before she fell under Coleman's spell, but by the time the pair were caught, it was clear that Brown was just as vicious and murderous as her ex-con boyfriend.

Probably what is most disturbing about Alton Coleman is that he shouldn't have been on the streets to begin his rape- robbery -murder spree. Over and over Coleman managed to manipulate the judicial system in his favor, beating sexual assault charges on several occasions. Frustrated prosecutors and lawmen knew they had a monster on their hands, but could only stand by helplessly as jury after jury let the him walk, confident the system had "worked" to free an innocent man.

Born in Waukegan, an Illinois town about a half-hour's drive north of Chicago, Alton Coleman endured the taunts of schoolchildren who teased him because he so often wet his pants. They christened the mildly retarded boy "Pissy."

Family members and law enforcement officials who had dealings with Coleman since his teen years said Alton was slow to show emotion and generally kept to himself. Clearly alienated from his peers, Coleman had a reputation for his strong sex drive reportedly he was bisexual and willing to engage in sex any time, any place with anyone.

Said one friend of Coleman's late mother: "He knew he was different...even as a young child.

"As he grew up, (Coleman) was deeply into insidious kinds of sexual gratification."

Coleman first came to the notice of police as a teenager when he was picked up for breaking windows in his Waukegan housing project. He was quickly labeled as a troublemaker, but for the most part, his crimes were of the petty sort. There was little indication to authorities of the mayhem to come.

Interestingly, property damage, often in the form of arson, can be an indicator of serial murder tendencies. That is not to say that every youngster who breaks windows or lights fires is bound to be a serial killer, but only that many multiple murderers committed similar acts as children.

On the way to becoming a serial killer, Coleman gave the law many chances to put him away, but Alton was "smooth as silk," according to those who fought him in court. Lawmen said Coleman put on a good appearance in court which often convinced jurors that authorities had the wrong man. Alton, according to friends, also relied upon the supernatural to help him escape justice. He claimed that voodoo made him invulnerable to attack by the law.

"He was good at conning jurors," Waukegan Police Lt. Marc Hansen told the Detroit Free Press in 1984 when Coleman and Harris were hiding out in Detroit. "He tells a convincing story in court. People are impressed with his testimony. He comes off as a decent person."

A prosecutor who watched Coleman beat a rape charge agreed.

"He knows what kind of case holds up in court and which ones don't," said former U.S. attorney Fred Foreman. "He's been to the penitentiary. He's a career criminal."

But when the fa硤e wouldn't work and voodoo god Baron Samedi wasn't listening, Coleman resorted to more common forms of beating the rap, most notably witness intimidation.

"It's difficult to get people in court to prove these charges because they are sexual assault charges, they involve kids, they involve family that don't want to see him go to jail," said Hansen.

In 1983, Coleman's sister went to authorities and told them her brother tried to rape her eight-year-old daughter. Three weeks later, she went to court to have the charges dropped.

"It's a misunderstanding," she said. "A lot of families go through that. It doesn't make any difference now."

The judge hearing the motion for dismissal was astounded by the 25-year-old woman's testimony "I think the woman as she stands here today, is terrified of this man," the judge said. He called her account of the incident "completely implausible."

But in the end, with no victim and no witnesses, the judge had no choice but to free Alton Coleman and dismiss the charges.

Coleman's rap sheet before his Midwestern spree reads like a one-man sex crime wave.

In 1973 he and an accomplice kidnapped, robbed and raped an elderly woman. She refused to testify about the rape and Coleman served two years on the robbery charge. Three months after his release from Joliet, Coleman was arrested for another rape. He was acquitted but served time for a lesser charge. Four years after that spell in the pen, Coleman was acquitted of rape. A year later he was arrested for an attempted rape the charge was dismissed. In July, 1983 he was charged with the rape of his niece. That charge was dismissed. In early 1984 he was indicted for the knifepoint rape and murder of a suburban Chicago girl whose mother was a friend of his.

Coleman learned he was wanted for that crime but disappeared, kicking off his multi-state crime spree with his girlfriend, Debra Brown.

Why Alton and Debra went underground is still a mystery 15 years after they were arrested. Police blamed Coleman's "intense hatred of blacks," but longtime friends dismissed that reason as absurd. The pair's victims were mostly black because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Coleman stayed in traditionally black neighborhoods because they provided a place for him to hide.

"That sounds so crazy to me," said one Waukegan public official who knew Coleman since "he was in diapers."

"Why does he victimize blacks? Black neighborhoods are the logical place for him to go. If he went into a white community, they would have found him long ago."

A friend of the family said Coleman could not deal with his homosexual tendencies.

"He used to dress up like a woman a lot. It was well known that he had different habits than a normal male," the friend said.

Coleman is a classic "disorganized serial killer." He rarely stalked a particular victim, but instead lashed out at whomever was nearby. He used whatever tools he had handy to kill or incapacitate his victims and there did not appear to be any ritual to his violence.

What probably set him off was the realization that he no longer had anything to lose. Perhaps the indictment on the aggravated rape and murder charges which could have brought the death penalty were enough to finally push him over the brink to whatever madness prompts such violence.

While the pair was on the run, Coleman was indicted on murder charges in Wisconsin and a federal warrant was issued for his capture.

Regardless of the motivation, Coleman and Brown began their spree on June 5, 1984 when the pair rented an apartment in Gary, Ind. Coleman had been wanted by police since May 31 and Debra Brown had been interrogated about his disappearance on June 1.

The pair laid low for two weeks until June 18 when two young girls, Tamika Turks and her 9-year-old aunt disappeared on their way to a candy store. Later that day, the 9-year-old was found beaten and raped. Tamika was missing.

A day later, Tamika's badly ravaged body was found in a wooded area in Gary. She had been raped and killed by someone stomping on her chest.

The older girl was forced to watch as the pair killed Tamika Brown holding Tamika to the ground and covering her nose and mouth and Coleman jumping on her chest and face until her ribs fractured and punctured her vital organs. The older girl then was forced to have sex with both Brown and Coleman before being beaten about her head. To this day the young woman suffers severe headaches and screaming fits.

"She will get to screaming and crying like someone is hitting her on the back of the head," said Mary Hilliard, the child's mother. Her injuries left the family with $15,000 in medical bills, which were substantially, but not completely, covered by insurance.

LaVerne Turks, Tamika's mother, was forced to move to Minneapolis because the memories of Tamika in Gary, Indiana, were too painful.

"LaVerne's gone. Tamika's missing. My daughter is having these problems. Our family will never be the same," said Hilliard, who attempted suicide shortly after her granddaughter's death.

The same day Tamika's body was discovered, Donna Williams, 25, was reported missing by her parents. Her car was stolen, as well.

A week later, Williams's car was found abandoned in Detroit with a forged identification card featuring Brown's picture. Residents from the area said the car had been parked in the alley since June 19. Police in four states were now looking for the pair, working on the assumption that Donna Williams had been murdered, even though her body had not been found. In the meantime, two days after Williams was reported missing, a Detroit woman was kidnapped by a man and woman whom she later identified as Coleman and Brown. She escaped while driving the pair to Toledo by purposefully ramming her car into oncoming traffic.

Coleman and Brown were able to survive by befriending good Samaritans and later turning on their friends, authorities said.

"We've come to the conclusion that Coleman and Brown are staying with people they meet," said FBI Special Agent John Anthony in Detroit. "They spend a day or two with the people, get a little money gambling with them and then assault and rob them and steal their car."

While in Detroit, Coleman and Brown eluded police while instigating a small, but violent, crime wave. Warrants for their arrest were issued for the kidnapping and robbery of the 28-year-old Detroit woman who managed to escape the killers, a June 28, 1984 robbery and beating of an elderly Dearborn Heights couple and the June 30 robbery of two Detroit men.

By the time the deadly duo left Detroit, police in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, as well as federal authorities, were on the lookout. Despite Coleman's disorganized pattern of murder, there were some similarities among the crimes in every case the cars stolen by Coleman and Brown were recovered within 12 hours. When authorities were not able to locate a 1975 Buick stolen by the pair after they beat and robbed a 55-year-old woman and her companion, they had good reason to suspect that Coleman and Brown had left the Motor City.

Sadly, even though the pair had fled to Toledo, the evidence of their crimes continued to surface. In an abandoned house near Wayne State University in Detroit, the badly decomposed body of Donna Williams was found on July 11. It was clear that she hadn't lived long after she arrived, as a hostage, in Detroit.

There will likely never be any closure - legal or psychological - for the family of Donna Williams. When authorities gathered to determine the best course of action against Coleman and Brown, the Williams case was not tried.

"We chose to go with the strongest cases against the two that would result in the death penalty," said Lake County, Indiana prosecutor Jack Crawford. "It appeared that Williams was killed in Michigan, which does not have the death penalty."

For Robert and Zenota Williams, Donna's parents, punishment is not foremost on their minds.

"I will always wonder what, exactly, happened," Zenota Williams told the Detroit Free Press in a retrospective on the spree three years later.

Three other homicides tied to the pair will also probably not ever be tried: the slaying of 77-year-old Eugene Scott of Indianapolis and the killings of Virginia Temple and her 10-year-old daughter in Toledo. Scott was suspected of being their last murder victim because his car was found in Evanston, Ill. where they were arrested.

From Toledo, the pair continued south, stopping long enough in Cincinnati to murder Marlene Waters, who was found bludgeoned to death in the basement of her home. Waters' husband was badly beaten in the attack and left for dead. Coleman and Brown stole the Waters' car and headed to Lexington, Ky., where they abandoned the car in a cornfield.

In nearby Williamsburg, the duo kidnapped Oline Carmical and drove to Dayton, Ohio leaving Carmical locked in the trunk of his car. An elderly Dayton couple was found beaten and gagged in their home after the fugitives stole their car. Another Dayton couple reported to police that Coleman and Brown robbed them.

The trip from Tamika Turks' murder to the crimes in Indianapolis took less than a month, with the pair committing felonies on the average of crime every other day.

In all, the murderous 53-day rampage from the time Coleman raped and murdered the 9-year-old in Kenosha, Wis., to the time they were arrested in Illinois -- resulted in a slew of felonies: eight homicides, as many as seven rapes, three kidnappings and 14 armed robberies.

Some time after the murders of the Temples and Scott, Coleman and Brown returned to the Waukegan area. Their case had inspired a great deal of notoriety across the country and Coleman had recently been named as a "special addition" the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. In becoming a special addition, Coleman joined such notable felons as H. Rap Brown and Martin Luther King's murderer, James Earl Ray.

Coleman's family aside, they had few friends left after their spree and it wasn't surprising that when an acquaintance of Coleman's saw the pair walking near Evanston, Ill., he would turn them in. Authorities had been watching Evanston closely because of Coleman's known associates there and the fact that the duo had rented an apartment in Evanston prior to fleeing to Gary. Knowing that there were few criminals as desperate as Coleman and Brown, authorities were cautious in making the arrest.

Once police pinpointed their location the pair was spotted by undercover officers in a local park state, local and federal authorities began to converge on the couple. Shortly before noon on July 20, 1984 Coleman and Brown were watching a pick-up basketball game from the bleachers at Mason Park on the west side of Evanston as officers began to approach.

Coolly, as if he hadn't a care in the world, Coleman began walking away as plainclothes and uniformed cops neared. Wearing a torn yellow shirt and sporting a short haircut unlike the jheri-curl 'do he wore in published photos, Coleman surrendered peacefully when confronted.

"You got the wrong man," he told arresting officers. He provided two aliases and Brown identified herself as "Denise Johnson." She was carrying a loaded revolver and Coleman had a long knife hidden in his boot, but neither went for their weapon.

"They looked like they did on TV," said an 11-year-old who witnessed the arrest. "The capture was quick and easy."

Although there were some holes in the authorities' investigation, it was clear that they had been expecting the two-person crime wave to return to Evanston. Neighbors in the area said they had heard for three weeks that Coleman and Brown would eventually turn up there. The mood of the neighbors was as jubilant as that of police, who clearly basked under the media spotlight.

"There was a community awareness about him," said one neighbor. "He wasn't going to be able to come in here and snatch anybody. We were waiting for him."

Residents of the Mason Park area told the media that Coleman looked tired and emaciated when arrested and they speculated that the lethal duo had "just run out of steam."

Law enforcement officials thought along similar lines with one officer wondering if they had unconsciously wanted to do so: Coleman had never worried about leaving fingerprints at his crime scenes, and FBI agents said he was so lackadaisical it was almost as if he was trying to leave a calling card.

Those same fingerprints would eventually do in Alton Coleman. Despite his protests that officials had the wrong man, Evanston police were able to positively identify the man arrested in Mason Park as the man who left fingerprints at crime scenes in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky. Fingerprints on file with the FBI conclusively proved that the suspects in custody were Coleman and Brown.

With Coleman and Brown in custody, the problem fell to state and federal officials to untangle the slew of accusations against the couple and to decide which cases to prosecute. It was clear from the outset that the most punitive states would have first shot at the pair. That meant capital crimes committed in Michigan and Wisconsin, which have no death penalty, would be tried last if at all.

"We want him first," said Lake County DA Fred Foreman. "I've been in court with this man before and I want to bring him back."

Brown and Coleman were separated by police and Debra, easily the most wanted woman in the country, was advised of her constitutional rights. She immediately invoked her right to remain silent and asked to speak to an attorney.

In the Evanston police station, the FBI agent who administered the Miranda warning continued to ask Brown questions about her identity things like her name, age, birth date, and address, according to court documents. An Evanston detective questioned Brown as well, seeking clues to an attack in his jurisdiction for which the pair was suspected.

When the time came to transport Brown to the federal lockup, she spoke with agents on the trip to Chicago. Arriving at the federal building, she was once again advised of her rights and she once again refused to sign a waiver. She did, however, agree to talk to officers as long as she could stop when she wanted to.

Over the next two and a half hours, Brown discussed the crime spree in detail, in effect confessing to many of the crimes committed during the brief, but violent odyssey across the upper Midwest. When she finished, she once again asked to speak with an attorney. No further inquiry was made until after Brown spoke to a lawyer.

During trial, Brown's attorney protested that her Fifth Amendment right the right against self-incrimination was violated because authorities continued to interrogate after she had asked for counsel. The trial court found that the Evanston detective did violate her rights and the evidence from his questioning was ruled inadmissible. However, the confession given to federal authorities in Chicago was used in the trial and with it conviction was easily obtained.

Brown was sentenced to die for the murder of Tamika Turks.

Later, Brown was sentenced to die for the Cincinnati murders, but she continued to be held on Indiana's death row. Coleman was convicted of the same murders and also sentenced to die. In January 1991 the governor of Ohio commuted Brown's death sentence, saying she was retarded and "dominated by" Coleman. She is now serving two life sentences in Ohio for her crimes there. However, Indiana is not finished with her.

It took almost seven years, but in August 1991 the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had not erred by allowing the confession into evidence. The conviction and death sentence would stand. The appeals court found that despite her repeated attempts to speak to an attorney, the confession was separated by "space, time and subject matter" from her first request for counsel that it was proper. Brown willfully gave the confession, the court noted, after being advised of her rights.

Interestingly, it was Brown's conversations with authorities while she was being transported to federal custody that created the loophole which could result in her execution. She asked questions like "where am I going?" and "what am I charged with?"

Criminal defense attorneys fumed at the court's decision, with one saying to the Indianapolis Star that the Fifth Amendment was being "squeezed to death."

"If you ask anything, you create an opening the state can drive a truck through," said Daniel L. Toomey, who argued Brown's case before the Court of Appeals.

Today, Debra Brown, the only woman on Indiana's Death Row, is serving out her sentences in Ohio. Whether or not she will ever see the executioner in the Hoosier State remains up in the air.

Alton Coleman is on Indiana's death row, but he also won a small, but significant, court victory recently.

In August 2000, ruling in a Virginia capital murder case, the U.S. Supreme Court said a murder defendant is entitled to constitutionally adequate legal representation. Coleman's attorneys immediately filed for relief under the high court's ruling and the Court ordered the Indiana Supreme Court to reconsider Coleman's death sentence.

Coleman alleged that during the sentencing phase of his trial his counsel was inadequate and did not bring up mitigating factors that might have spared Coleman from a trip to the electric chair. Alton suffered from a troubled childhood, a personality disorder and brain dysfunction, attorneys said.

The Indiana high court had already upheld his conviction and sentence on direct appeal.

"Given these aggravating circumstances, even had his counsel presented the evidence of Coleman's impoverishment and abuse, we see little likelihood the jury recommendation or the trial judge's sentence would have been different," wrote the Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.

Even if the state of Indiana spares Alton Coleman, there are any number of prosecutors who are still awaiting a crack at him. The chances of Coleman, or for that matter, Brown, ever seeing the outside of a prison cell are slim. If Indiana takes a pass on Coleman, then Ohio wants its turn, and if the Buckeye State spares his life, then it's on to Kentucky.

Alton Coleman was executed by lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville at 10 a.m. Friday, April 26, 2002. He was 46 years old.

He spent his last days fighting tenaciously for his life, but appeals that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court were unsuccessful. Coleman claimed ineffective counsel and that the prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment would be violated by having his execution broadcast over closed-circuit television.

The spree killer also charged that his jury was racially biased.

Relatives of Coleman's victims in Illinois and Indiana were able to watch the death sentence being carried out via a secured television link, but no recording was made of the event.

Coleman was executed for the beating death of Marlene Walters, 44, of Norwood, Ohio on July 13, 1984. Harry Walters, the victim's husband, and two of the couple's sons-in-law observed the execution inside the Death House.

His execution, the third since Ohio reinstated the death penalty, was well-covered by media, with the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections reporting that 43 news outlets had applied for credentials, including TV stations, and newspapers in each state where Coleman and Debra Brown killed.

He ordered a huge last meal: filet mignon with sauteed mushrooms, fried chicken breasts, corn bread, biscuits and brown gravy, french fries, broccoli with cheese, salad with french dressing, onion rings, collard greens, sweet potato pie with whipped cream, butter pecan ice cream and a cherry Coke.

Alton Coleman spent more than 6,000 days on death row in Ohio's Mansfield Correctional Institution and used nearly every means available to save his life.

During his more than 16 years as a condemned prisoner, Coleman was described by prison officials as a model inmate who enjoyed the media attention his crime spree and status as one of the first Ohio inmates in decades to realistically face the executioner. He particularly enjoyed speaking to female reporters, and often tried to use his "celebrity" status to curry favors such as girlie magazines and money for the commissary from those who sought to interview him.

The appeals process for capital crimes is lengthy, even when the condemned inmate forgoes his or her right of appeal. Under Ohio law, the first review of a conviction with a death penalty specification is a "direct appeal" that examines the trial record to ensure there were no errors leading to an incorrect verdict and sentence. This direct appeal involves a review by the trial court and the state Supreme Court. Depending on the date of the conviction, as was the case for Coleman, an intermediate state appeals court also reviews a case on direct appeal.

Coleman's direct appeal began shortly after his 1985 conviction, but was not concluded until September 1989.

Alton Coleman's next appeal was a "post-conviction" review, which looks at the case to determine if any errors outside the trial record resulted in a violation of his state or federal Constitutional rights or to an incorrect verdict and sentence. His post-conviction review motion was filed in September 1990 with the trial court in Hamilton County, Ohio. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected his post-conviction appeal more than three years later.

Ohio capital defendants are given the opportunity for a third state appeal, a so-called "Murnahan Appeal," named after the inmate who brought the first action of this type. In a Murnahan Appeal, the inmate challenges the effectiveness of the lawyers who handled the previous state appellate actions. Effectiveness of trial counsel is examined in the post-conviction review.

Coleman's Murnahan Appeal was rejected six months after it was filed, on August 3, 1994 -- some 10 years after he was first indicted for the crimes for which he was convicted.

Having run out of state appeals, Coleman turned to the federal judiciary for relief. He filed a habeas corpus action -- a claim alleging that his federal Constitutional rights had been violated -- in December 1994 that the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati rejected in February 1998.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals received Coleman's notice of appeal of the lower court ruling in May 1998 and for the next two years, the state and the prisoner filed briefs with the appellate court. On December 5, 2000, more than 15 years after his conviction, the two sides squared off in oral arguments before a three-judge panel. Those judges rejected Coleman's habeas petition in March 2001.

On October 15, 2001 the United States Supreme Court denied Coleman's request to review the lower federal court rulings. The way was clear for the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date, which it did, choosing April 26, 2002.

Coleman was not out of procedural means to escape execution, however. Once the high court sets an execution date, the state clemency process begins. During his clemency hearing before the Ohio Parole Board -- which can recommend clemency to the Governor -- Coleman's attorneys submitted an apology of sorts from the killer and tried to convince the board that Alton was mentally incompetent.

Their pleas were rejected, and the Parole Board did not recommend that Governor Bob Taft grant Coleman clemency.

When Taft announced that he would not spare the killer, Coleman quickly filed suit in federal court, alleging that the state's clemency process was flawed. That suit was handily rejected by both the district and appeals courts.

In the days leading up to April 26, Coleman's attorneys repeatedly petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court with various arguments as to why Coleman should not die. In the last two weeks of his life, Coleman sent six unsuccessful petitions to the High Court, all of which were rejected without comment.

That Court, like so many others, saw no reason why Alton Coleman, who killed so many people without a second thought, should be allowed to live.

Their thoughts were perhaps best summed up by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Rich Niehaus, who sentenced Coleman to death.

"I sentenced him and knowing this day has come, well, I got a queasy feeling, " Niehaus said on the day Coleman paid for his crimes. "But if there was anyone who is Exhibit 1 in an argument for the death penalty, it was Alton Coleman."

Alton Coleman reportedly spent a fitful night in the death house at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville prior to his execution. Although death row is located in Mansfield, condemned prisoners are taken to Lucasville for execution of their sentence.

He ate a hearty "special meal" (Ohio convicts don't have a "last meal" because they are served breakfast the morning of the execution), but slept poorly, officials who were present said. The morning of his execution, he had a few bites of toast.

He had been baptized two days earlier by a Dallas-based televangelist, and had said goodbye to his family a week prior to his execution. It was their first visit to him in years and they could not attend the execution because "they could not get a ride," the spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction told the media.

The observation room overlooking the execution chamber in Lucasville holds 12 people, and an accordion door separates the convict's witnesses from those representing the victims. Alton invited a spiritual advisor and his legal team. The number of witnesses representing victims presented a logistical challenge to prison officials who finally had to obtain special permission from the Ohio Supreme Court to set up closed-circuit television for the overflow crowd of 18 people (not including media witnesses) who came to watch Coleman die.

In typical fashion, Alton claimed the closed-circuit TV violated his civil rights and sought to block the move. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected that argument.

At shortly before 10 a.m., wearing a "non-denominational" prayer shawl with crosses and Stars of David over his prison blues, Alton Coleman walked into the death chamber and quietly laid himself on the gurney. He remained still as the guards fastened restraints on him and attached the lines that would contain the three chemicals to a shunt already in place in his arm.

He looked over at the witness room and appeared to say something, but it was impossible to hear him through the glass.

A prison official asked if he had any final words, he shook his head and then the executioner pushed the button that would begin the execution process.

Although just three chemicals are used to execute a prisoner, one to induce unconsciousness, another to stop breathing and a third to stop the heart, eight syringes, operated automatically once the button is pushed are required. It often takes two or three very long minutes for all the syringes to empty.

As the drugs began flowing, Alton Coleman began reciting the 23rd Psalm. By the time he reached "he leadeth me beside the still waters," the sodium pentothal began to take effect and Coleman lost consciousness.

He was pronounced death at 10:13 a.m. EST.

Some of the survivors of Coleman's victims considered their work just half finished.

The grandmother of 7-year-old murder victim Tamika Turks of Gary, Ind., said survivors won't know peace until Coleman's accomplice, Debra Brown, is put to death by the state of Indiana.

"One chapter has been closed, but there's another chapter: Debra Brown," she said. "Until that's done, there can be no peace. (But) we'll never be the same because what they took from us, they cannot give back to us."

It's being reported (clicky clicky) that Janet Jackson has a secret, 18-year-old daughter named Renee. The child's father is allegedly James DeBarge. Renee (DeBarge? Jackson?) was raised by Janet's older sister, Rebbie.

So, um...who does that? It would be understandable if Janet was a teenage mother or some junkie in rehab. But obviously she wasn't. I guess Papa DeBarge is somewhat off the looney hook because at least he was supposedly on drugs at the time. The only reason I can think of for Janet hiding the kid, though, is basic nuttiness and furthering her career - i.e., not having a child growing up and thereby serving as the public face of the aging process.

The basic point of this is that wealth allows people to get away with anything. The Jacksons are the best public example of this reality.

Taken from here.


Anthony Cook, at times aided by his brother Nathaniel, embarked on a murder spree in the Toledo, Ohio, area that killed nine people from 1973 until his 1981 arrest for murder. If not for DNA evidence that had been preserved for twenty years, however, the scope of his and Nathaniel's crimes would likely never been known.

The best place to begin the tale is with the last slaying. On September 18, 1981, Anthony Cook assaulted Todd Sabo and Leslie Sawicki completely out of the blue while the pair sat in a van in an apartment complex parking lot. While Sabo fought with Anthony Cook, Sawicki escaped and telephoned police and also her father, Peter Sawicki. Unfortunately, Peter Sawicki arrived on the scene first and was shot dead by Anthony Cook. Sabo was shot in the neck and shoulder but survived.

Anthony Cook was arrested for the attack and sentenced to fifteen years to life in prison. He had been locked up ever since, just another one of the many murderers in our nation's prison system. Having long suspected he and Nathaniel may be responsible for other homicides, authorities in 1997 decided to compare the brothers' DNA to some of past crimes. They soon found a match with the murder of Tom Gordon, 24, and the rape and attempted murder of Gordon's girlfriend on May 14, 1980. The Cook brothers confronted the couple while they were sitting in a car and forced them into the backseat, driving them to a secluded area and shooting Gordon dead. The girl was raped by both brothers and stabbed repeatedly with an ice pick. She was left for dead but did survive the horrible ordeal.

Arrested for the murder of Gordon and the crimes against the unnamed girlfriend and under close scrutiny in many other slayings and attacks, the murderous siblings decided to cut a deal. Anthony Cook agreed to another term of fifteen years to life for the murder of Gordon while Nathaniel received twenty to seventy-five years in prison for the attempted murder of the girlfiend and the brothers confessed to a startling string of killings and attempted murders over an eight year period spanning for 1973 through 1981.

The spree began with Anthony Cook working as a solo act. On December 20, 1973, 22-year-old Vicki Small and some friends had car trouble and Anthony Cook, posing as a helpful citizen, gave Small a lift. She was found raped and shot to death later in the day.

Soon after Small's killing, Anthony Cook went to prison until 1979 on an unrelated robbery conviction but after his release resumed his killing with a vengeance. Now teamed with brother Nathaniel, he picked up hitchhiker Connie Thompson, 19 on January 17, 1981. Both brothers raped Thompson until they tired of her, killed her, and dumped her violated body in a culvert. Just ten days later they struck again, forcing a young couple into a vacant garage where they were both shot but survived. Then on February 21 they abducted Dawn Backes, 12, on her way home from school and took her to an abandoned building where she was tortured, raped, and then bludgeoned to death with a concrete block.

After the Backes slaying Anthony Cook went solo once again. On March 27, 1981, he shot dead Scott Moulton, 21, and Denise Siotkowski, 22. On August 2 he abducted Daryl Cole, 21, and Stacey Balonek, 21. They were later found in the trunk of Cole's car, beaten to death with a baseball bat. Siotkowski and Balonek had both been sexually assaulted. The next month Anthony Cook was arrested for Peter Sawicki's murder and the killings were finally over.

Lifted from here.

In three years' time, between August 1979 and October 1982, eight victims were dispatched in grisly style by a killer (or killers) who preyed on young Ohio couples, randomly selecting victims in a triangle of death that stretched from Akron and Toledo in the north to Logan, in the south. No motive has been ascertained in any of the slayings and the killer, at this writing, is presumably at large. The first to die were Richard Beard, 19, and Mary Leonard, 17, gone missing from an Akron drive-in theater on August 24, 1979. Their fate remained a mystery until May 29, 1985, when a backhoe operator in Northampton Township unearthed a skull and other skeletal remains. A second skull and more bones were discovered on May 30, a single bullet hole suggesting cause of death. The victims were identified from dental records on May 30, but no clue to the identity of their killer was forthcoming. In the meantime, other unsolved slayings kept detectives occupied. A young Toledo couple had been beaten to death in May 1981, their bodies locked in the trunk of the dead boy's car. The crime was repeated on August 3, with victims Daryl Cole and Stacey Balonek, both 21. This time, two bloody baseball bats were found beside the corpses, in the trunk of Daryl's car, abandoned two blocks from the Balonek home in suburban Maumee. The evidence suggested at least two killers, but again police were left without the necessary evidence to name a suspect. Detectives called it "a coincidence" that three of the four Toledo victims had worked for the same supermarket chain. On October 4, 1982, the action shifted to Logan, 110 miles south of Akron, with the disappearance of 19-year-old Todd Schultz and his date, 18-year-old Annette Johnson. Searchers found their mutilated torsos in the Hocking River ten days later; missing arms and legs were found October 16, buried in a nearby cornfield. As in Akron and Toldeo, there was nothing to suggest the killer's motive or identity. Authorities stop short of looking on the "couples" murders as a series, but the similarity in choice of victims and the show of brutal violence cannot be ignored. The occupational connection in Toledo indicates a link between two sets of homicides, at least, but nothing more can be advanced with certainty about the ghoulish string of crimes that terrorized the Buckeye State for three long years.

My friend gave me permission to reprint this stuff from MySpace bulletins he posted.


October 15, 2005

I'm back from the demo safe and free. The anti-Nazis were a success. The Nazis caused so much anger from the neighborhood people they couldn't finish their march.

When I arrived, at 8:30 a.m., at the anti-Nazi staging area I had passed Woodward High School were the Nazis were staging their march and there were already blockades in the neighborhood and several police cars, a dozen at least. Mike Navarre showed up at the anti-Nazi staging area and I was one of the first people he spoke to. I was planning on being high profile anyway. I told him I was with SHARP and explained to him how the skinheads were originally a music culture I told him about my radio show. He asked me what I was planning and I told him I was exercising my Constitutional right to speak out against genocidal maniacs. I also spoke with 2 print reporters and Channel 13 news. They were all very interested in my Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice sign. I was the only one of my kind there. I also spoke to two neighborhood reverends who marched during the civil rights era. The most interesting people to come to the staging area were the gang in question, The Dexter Boys. I just want to go on record to say that I don't condone gangs but I recognize they exist and in some ways understand why they do. They actually came to thank us for showing up and told us they will be out there with us against the Nazis. Many cool people showed up. You know who you are thanks. We also had ARA (Anti-Racist Action) representatives from Kent, Ohio: Columbus; Pittsburgh; Philedelphia; New Jersey; Toronto; and possibly more. I would say that over 50 people showed at the staging area. When we marched to Woodward High School (incidentally my high school alma mater) more people came out to march with us from the neighborhood. That is a very integrated neighborhood and people from many ethnic backgrounds showed.

When we got to Woodward, the first thing I noticed were boneheads standing side by side with cops. At least two of the boneheads were brandishing submachine guns. In all there were only about 30 of them. Some boneheads and brownshirts. The anti-Nazis were in the hundreds at this time. The neighborhood really came out.

Yes, there was some violence. I saw Dexter Boys throw baseballs, rocks, and eggs at the Nazis. When the Nazi march started SWAT, mounted, and riot police showed. There were cops taking photos of anti-Nazi demonstrators but I didn't see them photographing the Nazi filth. There were anarchists, one, my room mate, got arrested. There was some anarchist rabble rousing but it really was the neighborhood people that started throwing bricks and rocks at cops and Nazis. While my room mate was in the police car he heard on the radio that Thomas Szych's house was damaged and he was running around waving a gun. The police did launch a tear gas bomb. Damn that shit was loud. I never heard one before. I stood with the peaceful protestors and there was a point where it looked like the mounted police were going to give us shit but we stayed on the move and chanted. Despite some violence at one point in particular, namely in front of Szych's house, there was no huge riot and more people were having a say rather than engaging Nazis and police. Not that I oppose violence against Nazis, I didn't want to get arrested. I really cannot afford all the legal hassle, unless it was absolutely necessary. Most importantly the Nazis were sent running.

This view of the day was strictly from my point of view. Other than what my trusted room mate told me were things I did and saw myself. I'm sure other people had other views on this event.

---

October 16, 2005

I wrote a bulletin, "From the Anti-Nazi Toledo Front", yesterday within two hours after the Nazis were chased out. Once the Nazis were chased out, the group I was with called it a day and went home. Although coming close, we never made it to the heart of the action. I was unaware that the crowd turned on the police. However, I was not surprised.

A friend of mine wrote an email to me and said the Nazis got what they wanted. I can't disagree with him. However, I do not regret demonstrating. I chose to non-violently. I weighed the views for and against going there and I chose to. I have no regrets.

This issue is very complex when it comes to matters of free speech. However, these people identify themselves with a group that commited genocide. So, I don't see how the NSM are any less genocidal maniacs. Would not letting them march somewhere be impeding their free speech or would it be the equivalent of yelling "FIRE!" in a movie theater?

Why do so many people get so fucking coy about the Nazis and other hate groups? They know who they are. Everyone else knows who they are and what they represent. Does anyone really think this wasn't going to happen? It's a poor integrated neighborhood. Regardless of who is responsible for them being poor or whatever, the fact is that most of these people feel shit on by the police and the city. In many ways it looked like the police and the city let the Nazis come out and shit all over their neighborhood. Many imply that the violence was the anti-Nazis fault. Yes, they did start it. (I saw the first rocks, baseballs, and eggs thrown. They were standing right in front of me.) The Nazis planned not to strike the first blow and they knew they wouldn't have to.

Does freedom of speech also protect you from the reaction to what you are saying? These people would see most of you and everyone you love dead. That's the MSN's message to this neighborhood and the world. They try to give moderate segregationist statements officially but they do it wearing swastikas. Not all messages have to be directly spoken. A swastika is worth quite a few words. Wearing a swastika says, "Because you're different than me I am going to put you, your family, and your friends in an oven and maybe even torture and perform grisly experiments on you before I do it." Because of freedom of speech no one is allowed to do anything when someone taunts another like that.

Of course the Nazis are prone to filing lawsuits and whatnot and there may be one from this. The police were there to try to prevent that. But when the police stand side by side with Nazis that are holding submachine guns and smiling and chatting with them (I saw it with my own fucking eyes and if you think I'm lying your fucking wrong!), it doesn't look good to the people in that neighborhood or the protestors who came. So yeah, they turned on the cops and messed up their own neighborhood. I'm sure the police got a big laugh out of that too. I don't need psychic powers to lay money down on what happened and being correct. Everyone says "You never know." Bullshit, many knew. Probability is not all 50/50. The peaceful unity rally in a distant location may have worked when the Nazis were at the courthouse last time they came to town but it takes on a whole new dimension when Nazis and boneheads are walking down the sidewalks where people live and where their children play protected by the city's own police.

The way anyone chose to deal with it was their choice and I don't want to pass judgement on those choices (unless you're a Nazi or a sympathizer, then you can go to hell). I chose to march peacefully. I did what I felt I had to do for various reasons and others had theirs. Maybe the Nazis are feeling smug about the whole thing but they're Nazis I don't see any reasoning with them. However, they need to know that there are those of us who arent' going to willingly jump in their ovens and we'll fight them when the time comes.

There were many bad things about this all around. However, this was not the Rodney King riots. Toledo is like a huge day time talk show panelist, it tends to want noteriety and attention for all the wrong things. Whenever something bad happens here Toledo almost seems to get excited for getting the attention. Watch the news reports closely and critically and see where the emphasis lies and how much they show the same clips over and over again. It was bad but it wasn't as big as the media is making it.

My last thought on this whole occurence is I can see the complexity of everything involved in this and how there are many gray areas and unclear solutions but I will go on record to say genocide is wrong.

---

October 18, 2005

Brian is my room mate and is one of the most generous and selfless people I have ever met. Malori wrote the post below but I agree with everything she says. If anyone has any ideas let us know.

"A good friend of mine appeared on the national news today. I later found out what happened at that arraignment; three charges: aggravated rioting, possession of a weapon in a public place, and disorderly conduct.

"Brian was arrested before the riots even began. He was carrying a night stick he bought, which is legal as long as it is not concealed. However, the weapons charge has basis because he was on the property of Woodward School. Brian did not riot. He did not even do anything violent. The police saw him lagging behind the group, and picked him up because he was an easy target. We have his arrest on tape; he did not try to resist. He was surrounded by many police officers, and was arrested before any rioting even happened.

"The charge of aggravated rioting is a felony. At Brian's arraignment, bond was posted at $11,150. There was no 10% granted, so the full amount must be paid to bail him out.

"If Brian is convicted, he could serve 5 years or more.

"Every Friday, Brian feeds needy people with other Food Not Bombs volunteers. Brian has been instrumental in organizing anti-authoritarian movements here in Toledo. He has attended many anti-war demonstrations, including one in Washington, DC. It is safe to say that without Brian, our movement here in Toledo would be close to nonexistent.

"Brian is a good person. He is my friend. And he is currently caged up in the Toledo jail, for entirely bogus charges. The worst part is, with our sick justice system, he could even get convicted of a felony and serve time.

"It is instrumental that we raise this money to bail Brian out. Please, if you can contribute in any way, I beg you to do so. Hold benefit concerts, dinners, or simply ask people to donate money. Write to your local news papers, or other independent media, to raise awareness. Anything you do, even if it is just spreading this post, is appreciated here by all of Brian's friends. Please, help us to get Brian out of jail. Any further money we raise will be used to pay bail and legal fees for some of the other 114 people arrested for standing up to the police here in Toledo.

"If you are interested in helping us with this fight, please contact my friend Chelsea at *****, and she will send you specific information."

[***** Withheld because of internet email-address-searching programs. Reply through this blog if you want the email address.]

The news is that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are supposedly buying a house in Toledo's favorite wealthy, we're-part-of-Toledo-in-city-name-only area, Ottawa Hills.

You Are a Strawberry Daiquiri

You're a fun, playful drinker who loves to party. You may get totally wasted, but you're always a happy drunk!

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Gorgeous Monk. Where You Lived: Portugal. How You Died: Consumption.

I haven't yet written anything here about the riots because, well, I (and everyone else in Toledo) have talked myself hoarse on the subject. However, several out-of-town friends have asked for a local account since the national news has not gone very in-depth.

First of all, let me explain the Nazi presence in Toledo. These Nazis were not locals. They came in from Virginia. A few locals may have been part of the group but for the most part the would-be marchers were not from this area.


What happened to start all this?

Apparently, a man living on Bronson Avenue in north Toledo somehow had his complaints aired on the internet where they were picked up by white supremacists. His complaints were about black gangs in his neighborhood - primarily the Bloods and the Dexter Boys (Dexter is a street just one block south of the man's Bronson Avenue home). My guess is that this man complained on a Nazi message board but I have no proof of this.


Who is this guy?

Anyone in Toledo who watches the local news knows who this guy is. There is no need for me to write his name here. I do not care about protecting him but there are (from what I understand) children in the family. I do not want to risk having the children further hurt because of him. I'll refer to him as "S**."


Are there really black gangs there? And what is the neighborhood like?

The north Toledo neighborhood where S** lives is the poorest area in Toledo. Its magnet high school is Woodward, near to where the rioting took place. I am not sure exactly where north Toledo ranks in terms of national poverty levels, but Woodward High School gives out a lot of free lunches, coat vouchers, etc., and even features a place called "Woodward's Closet" where basic supplies like paper, pens and pencils are given to students whose families cannot provide them. Racially, the neighborhood is an about even mix of white, black and Hispanic.

Like pretty much any poor urban area in the United States, there are gangs. However, gangs do not make up the bulk of the crime there. Gangs are simply, by the basis of having some sort of visible structure, the more easily identifiable culprit. Of course I am not saying that the gangs are innocent...I am saying that the gangs are just the tip of the iceberg. Even if the police locked up every gang member in north Toledo, I still would never leave my car unlocked there. Like most urban crime, the problems in north Toledo are directly related to the level of poverty there.

The national news media said during and after the riots that Toledo has been referred to for years as some sort of potential racial bomb. This had me and everyone I know scratching our heads. There are neighborhoods here that lean heavily in one direction or another (mine was one of three white families living on my street when I was a kid). But I cannot think of any place that is 100% or even 90% or 80% comprised of just one ethnic group. So the greater irony here is that Toledo, more particularly north Toledo, is probably the most evenly diverse community in northwestern Ohio, perhaps in all of Ohio.


So then what happened?

My mother was there that morning for the anti-Nazi rally a few blocks from the planned Nazi sidewalk march. That rally went peacefully and the people dispersed once they got word that the Nazis wouldn't be protesting. When my mother left, she had no idea that rioting might take place later on in the day.

One thing that I believe the national news got wrong is when they said that the Nazis had a permit. They did not have a permit. Why? Because they planned to march along the sidewalk. A permit is necessary only if you are planning to march down a street, thereby interrupting the flow of traffic.

This is where things get more confusing. From what eyewitnesses told me, the crowd near the Nazis was quite big. All sorts of people were there of different races, backgrounds, etc. My friend reported (I'll try to get his permission to reprint it here later) that he saw the police smiling and chatting with the Nazis. This angered a lot of people. As the crowd grew bigger and feelings became more tense, people began throwing rocks and eggs at the Nazis. Once that happened, things got out of control.

The national news (via the one helicopter that was there which I myself saw while driving by the area) focused on a group of young black males destroying a structure. This few minutes of footage was replayed again and again on CNN and Fox, I can only imagine for its dramatic value. It does not reflect the diversity of the group on the ground from what people on the scene reported.


So is it safe to go out?

I have been all over this neighborhood since the riot and there is no visible difference. The destroyed properties blend in perfectly with the general urban decay and other condemned homes and businesses. No one seems polarized at all. Young people I have spoken with seem more intrigued by the drama of what occurred than by the politics behind it. I am sure that the family of S** on Bronson Avenue is scared of repercussions but otherwise, no one is eyeballing anyone. The general concensus is that the Nazis were outsiders being defended against by locals. Think "Toledo vs. Nazis" rather than "whites vs. blacks" or vice versa.

The curfew that was put in place was generally ignored and largely unnecessary. Nothing happened beyond what was shown ad nauseum on the major news networks. Once the Nazis left and the rioters quieted down, life in Toledo went back to normal. One must remember that this whole thing was brought about by non-locals coming into town. The Nazis were brought here by the ramblings of one man on the internet. There was no big event that brought on some race riot. It was just a matter of the people of Toledo getting carried away with defending their city from a group that is obviously unwelcome.


"Didn't the Nazis prove their point?"

Pretty much everyone, black and white, has said this in the aftermath of the rioting. But I have not heard it said in the sense that some racist point of "blacks being violent" was proven. Rather it is being said in terms of "now people will think they have proof that blacks are violent." The important difference here is that the "point" the Nazis believe - about blacks' violent tendencies - is not shared by the vast majority of Toledoans. Whites as well as blacks are embarrassed by the scenes that the world saw on the news.

Ironically, the Nazis themselves on their website do not cast blame on blacks for starting the riot but instead write: "The communists started passing out eggs and rocks to the black juveniles." Later in the same report, the Nazis blamed three groups of people for the violence. The top spot on the list goes to: "The communists, who came to the area with weapons, handed them out to the blacks, and incited the blacks to riot." So from the Nazis themselves we learn that African Americans were not even armed for rioting. Instead, African Americans were egged on (no pun intended).


Any other thoughts, Toledotastic?

So basically what happened was Nazis came to town. Everyone with half a brain knows that Nazis hate all non-whites. Remember World War II? Enough said. So people assembled to show that they do not like Nazis. Anarchists and Communists started throwing things at the Nazis and encouraged the young African Americans to do the same. The African Americans joined in. Shortly thereafter the world was treaty to blacks showing their "violent" nature on TV.

Halt! Go back! Who is violent here? Who started this? Re-read the last paragraph.

Unfortunately, the news cameras have left. The major news networks cannot grab viewers' attention (and thereby sell commercial time) by showing what really happened. But black guys burning a building, that sells. That's what the majority, in an America more racist than Toledo has ever been, wants to see. Replay that a hundred more times. Ignorance and misinformation march on.

Your Hawaiian Name is:

Kiana Nani

Your Pimp Name Is...

Bootylicious Dogg

It's that time of year again. I'm heading out for horror-filled attractions this weekend. If you're interested, there is an entire website devoted to such places. Check it out.

Haunted Houses in Ohio

What Your Sleeping Position Says

You are calm and rational. You are also giving and kind - a great friend. You are easy going and trusting. However, you are too sensible to fall for mind games.

Your Sexy Brazilian Name is:

Taraija Cavalcanti

Corporate Spirituality & the Co-opting of Religion

(Book Notes: Christianity Incorporated)

American churches have aligned themselves with American nationalism in a way that has caused Christianity here to be as "American" as it is "Christian" - sometimes as unlike European Christianity as it is unlike Islam. Nationalism, however, isn't the only force which has changed the nature of American Christianity.

In Christianity Incorporated: How Big Business Is Buying the Church, Michael L. Budde and Robert W. Brimlow write:

---

"By telling employees that spirituality properly pursued makes for happy corporate functionaries, a wealthy firm, and a stronger nation, corporations further the absorption of Christianity by the capitalist worldview and culture, in the process robbing the church of its prophetic and eschatological qualities. The church falls victim to idolatry on the installment plan. Such a state of affairs does not trouble the corporations — indeed, they profit from such tendencies — but it should trouble the churches more than it does.

---

It was not part of the original message of Christianity that becoming a Christian would make one a happier worker, a wealthier businessman, or a more powerful politician. These are, however, ideas which have become deeply ingrained in American churches and American Christianity.

I think that there is a connection between the influence of corporate capitalism and the influence of nationalism. So long as Christianity is an "underdog" religion, a religion of the poor and oppressed, it pays to portray itself as promising future rewards in the spiritual realm rather than immediate rewards in the material realm.

Once Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, though, matters changed. The wealthy and powerful aren't very attracted to a religion that teaches them to give up all they have so that they will be rewarded in the afterlife. To become attractive, Christianity had to start promising more rewards in the current, material world.

Corporations are, thus, taking up a banner which had long ago been erected by Constantine: In hoc signo vinces, now translated as "In this sign you will increase profits."

B-

Your senses are pretty sharp (okay, most of the time) And it takes something big to distract you!

Your Inner Child Is Sad

You're a very sensitive soul. You haven't grown that thick skin that most adults have. Easily hurt, you tend to retreat to your comfort zone. You don't let many people in - unless you've trusted them for a long time.

Your Seduction Style: Sweet Talker

Your seduction technique can be summed up with "charm" You know that if you have the chance to talk to someone... Well, you won't be talking for long! ;-) You're great at telling potential lovers what they want to hear. Partially, because you're a great reflective listener and good at complementing. The other part of your formula? Focusing your conversation completely on the other person. Your "sweet talking" ways have taken you far in romance - and in life. You can finess your way through any difficult situation, with a smile on your face. Speeding tickets, job interviews... bring it on! You truly live a *charmed life*

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are flexible and ready for anything! You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

Your Irish Name Is...

Aislin O'Neill

You Were Actually Born Under:

You are solid, methodical, and you do things right the first time. Even when no one else does, you always believe in yourself. You tend to see the world in black and white, right or wrong. A good memory and eye for details means you tend to thrive at near impossible tasks. You are most compatible with a Snake or Rooster.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You are totally loyal, faithful, and honest. However, you don't trust others to be as ethical as you are! Straight forward and direct, you really aren't one for small talk. You are a great listener - and an agreeable companion when you're in a good mood! You are most compatible with a Tiger or Horse.

You're Brigitte Bardot!


What Classic Pin-Up Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

They're out now. Check them out here.

This place simply looks neat. Somebody take me on vacation...please.

Poseidon Resorts

• Powerful and continuing nationalism
  
• Disdain for human rights
  
• Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
  
• Supremacy of the military
  
• Rampant sexism
  
• Controlled mass media
  
• Obsession with national security
  
• Religion and government intertwined
  
• Corporate power protected
  
• Labor power suppressed
  
• Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
  
• Obsession with crime and punishment
  
• Rampant cronyism and corruption
  
• Fraudulent elections

[I saw this on a postcard today.]

Yikes! The entertainment news today has Katie Holmes carrying the bastard spawn of Tom Cruise in her uterus. Didn't the nuns at Notre Dame teach her anything? It's bad enough dating a hell-fated heathen but pre-marital sex!? The shame!

Details here.

Mama mia! Everyone's talking about this thing. Here are some pictures.















From National Geographic:

Holy Squid! Photos Offer First Glimpse of Live Deep-Sea Giant

James Owen
for National Geographic News

September 27, 2005

Like something straight out of a Jules Verne novel, an enormous tentacled creature looms out of the inky blackness of the deep Pacific waters.

But this isn't science fiction. A set of extraordinary images captured by Japanese scientists marks the first-ever record of a live giant squid (Architeuthis) in the wild.

The animal—which measures roughly 25 feet (8 meters) long—was photographed 2,950 feet (900 meters) beneath the North Pacific Ocean. Japanese scientists attracted the squid toward cameras attached to a baited fishing line.

The scientists say they snapped more than 500 images of the massive cephalopod before it broke free after snagging itself on a hook. They also recovered one of the giant squid's two longest tentacles, which severed during its struggle.

The photo sequence, taken off Japan's Ogasawara Islands in September 2004, shows the squid homing in on the baited line and enveloping it in "a ball of tentacles."

Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Science Museum in Tokyo and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association report their observations this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Architeuthis appears to be a much more active predator than previously suspected, using its elongated feeding tentacles to strike and tangle prey," the researchers write.

They add that the squid was found feeding at depths where no light penetrates even during the day.

Giant Breakthrough

Despite people's fascination with this deep-sea behemoth, the giant squid's life and habits have remained largely a mystery. The little information known has been mostly based on dead and dying specimens that were caught by commercial fishing boats or washed ashore.

The mysterious creature has inspired countless sea monster tales and has been the subject of various scientific expeditions.

Since the mid 1990s there have been a number of research trips in search of giant squid. Cameras attached to deep-diving subs or sperm whales have been used to try to capture the elusive animals on film, but without success.

The Japanese researchers used sperm whales as guides to help them pinpoint likely giant squid haunts. Over the years whalers have reported finding a high number of large squid beaks in the mammals' stomachs, pegging sperm whales as primary predators of large squid.

The images are generating considerable excitement among squid experts.

"I think it's wonderful that we've finally got a picture of a living giant squid," said Richard Ellis, a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and author of The Search for the Giant Squid.

"I thought it would only be a matter of time before someone got images of Architeuthis," he added.

"After all, it's not an endangered species, not even all that rare, and it's one of the largest of all invertebrates. So the Japanese film finally breaks through and renders the statement 'nobody has ever seen a living giant squid' inoperative."

Squid expert Martin Collins of the British Antarctic Survey based in Cambridge, England, says the new images are a "fantastic" achievement.

The marine biologist says he was skeptical that a dedicated giant squid hunt would succeed. He thought the first wild sighting would probably come by accident.

"Fair play to these guys who've made the effort, gone out there and looked in what they thought was a good area, and found it," he said.

Hunting for Clues

Collins is especially interested in clues the images might provide to the way giant squid swim and hunt in the deep ocean.

"Seeing the animals on film gives you a tremendous insight into how they live down there," he said. "It shows they are pretty active animals, and that answers a big question that's been out there for some time."

Collins says there were two competing schools of thought among giant squid experts.

"One was the idea that [giant squid] were fairly inactive and just drifted around, dangling their tentacles below them like fishing lures to catch what came by," he said.

"The other theory was that they were actually quite active. This new evidence supports this, suggesting they are active predators which can move reasonably quickly."

"The efforts the squid went to untangle itself [from the baited fishing line] also shows they are capable of quite strong and rapid movement," he added.

The study team reports that the severed tentacle repeatedly gripped the boat deck and crew after it was hauled aboard. The squid's tentacles are armed with suckers, each ringed with tiny teeth to help snare prey.

Measuring 18 feet (5.5 meters) long, analysis of the tentacle confirmed it came from a giant squid and allowed the researchers to estimate the total length of the animal.

But the researchers caution that their data assume the tentacle was severed at its base. If not, the squid may have been considerably larger. The longest giant squid on record measured 59 feet (18 meters), including its two elongated tentacles.

Shedding Light on Giant Squid

Giant squid, along with their close cousins colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis), have the largest eyes of any animal.

"Giant squid do have particularly large eyes, which would suggest vision is important to them. Having a large eye isn't unusual in deep-sea animals—you see it quite often in fish."

The fact that the animal caught on film was swimming in total darkness suggests the species detects prey using alternative light sources. "The only light down there is likely to be light produced by other animals," said Collins of the British Antarctic Survey.

The Japanese team thinks that research techniques similar to their own could be used to bring about more close encounters with giant squid. Ellis of the American Museum of Natural History agrees.

"I'm sure we can learn a lot from an analysis of these images," he said. "And now that we have an idea of where to look for [the squid], we will undoubtedly get more pictures."

Google Earth is available for download now if you have Windows 2000 or XP. It's kind of neat. Check it out.

Do you have old family photos sitting around that you would like to save for posterity or historical research, or maybe just make a bit of money from? Go to Fotolibra and upload your photos. Obviously you probably don't want to upload anything recent but what do you mind about sharing photographs of your great-great grandparents?

I have no time to scour the news for something to post today. Several weeks ago my best friend slyly asked a favor of me while I was drunk (and feeling the generosity alcohol can provide). So today is given up to volunteer work in the form of setting up, serving and cleaning at her cousin's wedding reception. With that in mind I'll simply give you some silly pictures to look at.