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Posted on 05/31/2011 10:41:31 PM PDT by JustAmy
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I wanted so badly for her to be put on the stand! I would have given up chocolate for a whole WEEK, to have seen it happen. (*wink*)
It looks like the death penalty will be out, on this one - but she should be in jail the rest of her life.
Hi, Conor! I went to my grandaughter’s grade school graduation. (For all the celebration - you would think she received her Phd!) But, it sure was a fun time!
I thought she just might have been arrogant enough to think she would be a star on the stand..
It would have been a blood bath on cross...Giving up chocolate would have been worth seeing it.
The defense has proved NOTHING they promised in the opening.
I cannot believe how the defense fizzled with pet burials to end their case.
Once that jury starts thinking about 31 days before Caylee was reported missing and all the lies..the trunk of the car..I think she’s gone forever to prison.
I cannot wait to hear the prosecution’s closings..
Baez gives me hives..I may mute him..LOL
Casey is one scary woman..
Baez is a disgusting attorney/person - and pretty much useless. (But - who COULD defend Casey?)
Krystal Holloway was interviewed after the jury was released for the day - and she said (among many things), that she gave George Anthony money - because the poor guy couldn’t get a job and she felt sorry for him - and she also said she never expected to get any of it back.
What a MAN, eh? He not only ‘threw her under the bus’ - but ridiculed the ‘thought’ of an affair with her.
I don’t think he had anything to do with poor Calee’s death, but he is a slime ball, IMHO.
It looks to me like the whole family lies - Cindy said she never had a conversation with Lee - and then Lee gets on the stand and says she did. George said he never had an affair with Krystal Holloway - and she gets on the stand and says he did. Cindy says she looked up cloroform - but her time sheet says she was at work. What is with this family?
They are a nightmare...but it doesn’t mitigate Casey’s partying with her baby dead in the trunk..THs are saying aggravated manslaughter..I say aggravated chid abuse resulting in death. felony murder.
It may end up hung jury..What do I know!?
I got my water hoses OK, good for John.
This friend misses you also. :^) glad you are here.
LOL She sure didn’t. :^)
Juror number four may make it a ‘hung jury’ but I hope not! I want to hear the sentencing!
Did you read the Globe Magazine this week? They are reporting that Casey allegedly made money doing tricks - and not the magical kind.
You know - I lost a son over 30 years ago, and still cry over the loss. This girl uses the same kleenex for two hours of crying. ..............yeah, right.
Thank you!
Didn’t get my car back yet, they are still working on it. My wife came and got me, took me to lunch and brought me home. What a nice girl. I am really in love with her. I had a McChicken $1.00 a senior drink .39 plus Texas state .11 = $1.50. I love their McChicken. And their price. I am sort of a Jew with money :^). In the old days some of my friends called me Jew Baby. I carried what extra money I had in my sock in my shoe. O well enough of this stuff. I hope all of you have a nice evening.
Yes He sure does.
This must be particularly impossible to believe for (((you)))..Casey is a “mother of the year”? re Cindy.
She is a narcissistic, cold, lying nightmare...amd a convicted felon. she likes other people’s money.
Being a part time prostitute would not surprise me..
Her mother enabled so much bad behavior..George is so weak and dependent..
River Cruz is just a sideshow to me..I can’t see it meaning a lot in deliberations.
I read juror 4 was again taking notes when the defense was on..Oh dear..
I will be wearing my red cap tomorrow.
Awww..I know she loves you, too..Sorry ‘bout the car..Happy you had a nice lunch and got your water hoses.
TECHNOLOGY: The video game industry is too big to ignore
Aaron Linne
Posted on Jun 30, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—When talking about tech, there are a few events throughout the year that you simply cannot ignore. One of them is E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Each year, this convention hosts all of the major news and announcements in the video game industry, an industry that is now as large — if not larger — than the movie industry. In 2010, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” had the largest opening day with $72.7 million while “Call of Duty: Black Ops” broke $360 million in its first 24 hours.
As leaders in the church and culture we must be aware of the culture that surrounds us. We as the church are not the only influence in the lives of people; we are all regularly connected to new content, ideas and, in our fast-paced tech drive world, new technologies.
This year at E3, there were a number of new games and hardware announced to be released in the near future:
— Playstation Vita. The successor to the Playstation Portable, this is the second portable gaming device by Sony and will launch with key titles like “Uncharted: Golden Abyss,” “LittleBigPlanet,” and “Little Deviants.”
The device has an OLED screen and touch screens on both the front and back of the device, allowing users to play in what Sony calls “three dimension-like motion.” Perhaps the most interesting feature is the system-wide integration of social connectivity. The device will have a service called “Near” that will notify game-players of other players that are nearby and share content between the gamers.
— “El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron.” El Shaddai is an action-adventure game releasing in July, and it is one of the few games to tackle Christian mythology in a video game setting. Derived from the apocryphal book of Enoch, this game’s plot revolves around seven fallen angels who have taken command of the Tower of Babel.
— “Kinect Disneyland.” Microsoft has announced a new virtual experience in Kinect Disneyland, available this fall for the Xbox 360 and Kinect. In this game the entire layout of Disneyland has been recreated where kids can walk through the streets and virtually hug their favorite characters. In place of the rides, you get to go on an interactive game inspired by the ride, such as flying with Peter Pan.
— Wii U: Nintendo announced a new gaming system for release in 2012. The follow-up to the Wii, which has sold more than 80 million systems worldwide, this system will introduce HD graphics and a new controller. The new, 6.2 inch touch screen will be used to both enhance games played on the TV as well as enable the playing of games without the TV being on.
According to a recent release from Aggregame.com, there were more than 500 million videos games sold worldwide. Clearly, video games are having an unprecedented cultural impact unlike any they have had before. But there is a giant void in the games, which for the most part lack messages of hope or family friendly values or ones that — in any way, shape or form — point towards the Gospel. While there are Christian messages being found in books and movies, there are very few game development studios looking to actively create content for modern gaming systems.
Every year, I hope that at E3 some stellar new game will be revealed with at least Christian undertones. I hope for even a mediocre game, but nothing is announced. We have web developers, artists, film producers and authors all spreading the Gospel through their chosen fields; how dominant of an entertainment force must the video game industry be until there is a place for games with a faith-based message readily available and on par with the blockbuster titles that come out each week?
—30—
Aaron Linne is executive producer of digital marketing for the B&H Publishing Group of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. He writes a monthly technology column for Baptist Press.
Dubya, you can spell anyway you want - because we all just love hearing from you - and I know what you are saying, even if you spell something differently - and am sure everybody else does, too!
I’m not a perfectionist either - if I make a mistake - no big deal.
You just say what you want, and the heck with how it is spelled - we are all with you. ((((HUGS))))
Church van tragedy stirs upcoming revival
Posted on Jun 30, 2011 | by Karen L. Willoughby
OAK GROVE, La. (BP)—Five people killed in a church van crash June 22 all had made professions of faith within the last 18 months, said Greg Dunn, a pastor in Oak Grove, La.
Providentially, Dunn added, the 50 or more churches of several denominations in West Carroll Parish began planning for an area-wide crusade a year ago.
The 3,000 people in and around Oak Grove are broken with grief, said Dunn, pastor of New Zion Baptist Church. Even so: “We believe what Satan meant for harm, God will use for good. We are going to honor their lives by many souls coming to the Lord.”
Investigation continues into the cause of the crash, which took place in daylight about five miles from New Zion as the 15-passenger church van took folks home from Wednesday night services.
Killed were Portia Thornton and her two daughters, Katelyn, 19, and Brittany, 12, as well as Emma Adams, 4, who was visiting the church, and driver Joey W. McKan. Six others were injured, some critically.
“I will never forget that night, standing in the hallway while surrounded by church members, still talking about the service and laughing and fellowshipping like we always do, and then came the call that would forever change our lives,” Dunn said.
A frantic yet prayer-filled dash to the accident site followed.
“We could have never been prepared for what we saw and heard when we arrived,” Dunn said. “I have never felt so helpless, wishing that this was not happening, and yet it was.”
The next few days were filled with hospital visits, funerals and road trips between Shreveport, La., and Jackson, Miss., “to pick up the broken pieces and try to do all we could to minister to these precious families,” Dunn said.
As Sunday quickly approached, Dunn recounted, “I lay in my bed Saturday night, knowing that my church family was expecting a word from the Lord.
“Jesus reminded me of the storm the disciples faced in Matthew 8, when they were all in the boat and the wind and the waves began to shake their faith.
“We can’t choose the storms,” Dunn said. “We are guaranteed to have storms. … I cried out, ‘Lord, where are You in our storm? Where are You in the midst of this tragedy?’”
Dunn said God told him that He was in all the people who have united because of the crash: EMT personnel, hospital staff, volunteers, families, churches and communities “from all over who have come together for one purpose: to help the hurting. … He’s the one holding the hand of the dying. … He’s a piano player, a deacon, a body of Christ who rallies around a scared, young preacher who wants to quit and run the other way.”
Dunn wrote down 21 places where God was amid the tragedy and read his “Where is God?” list at Mt. Zion at the Sunday, June 26, service. The pastor said he could see comfort settling atop the congregation’s raw wounds.
“The Lord is doing His work here,” Dunn said, turning from the tragedy to view the big picture of God’s activity. New Zion, planted in 1934 during the Great Depression, reported 60 professions of faith and 31 baptisms in 2010 and probably that many already in 2011.
“We’re a very mission-minded church and serious about being real,” Dunn said.
“We know God has given evangelists as a gift to the local church, so we use them,” he added in reference to revival meetings held at Mt. Zion twice a year.
“Everybody on this van were folks saved and discipled in the last 18 months,” Dunn continued, “every last one of them,” including a 16-year-old girl who made a profession of faith six months ago as a result of the van ministry.
“We send 20 to 25 missionaries out of our church each year to do missions, and we believe missions starts at home,” Dunn said. “We seek through our Brotherhood and the women’s group to minister any way we can — cutting down trees, providing school supplies, groceries — any avenue we can to get the Gospel to people not just in word but in action.
“Our director of missions [Jay Morgan] was out of town when this happened,” Dunn said, returning to the loss his congregation is enduring. “He was doing ministry with Kingdom Builders and drove all night to be at the hospital with the families and me.
“It was overwhelming, the first few hours,” Dunn said. “The people have moved from ‘overwhelmed’ to very evidently trusting God in it. They’re still hurting, still in need, but trusting God.”
Dunn said his immediate goal is “to be there and try to be strong for them and with them”
“The one thing we know is we can cling to God’s Word and God’s presence,” the pastor said. “The message God gave us Sunday morning was about the storms of life and how we can’t choose whether or not we go through them, but we can choose how we handle it.”
The July 10-15 community crusade is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. each night in the Thomas Jason Lingo Center in Oak Grove, with evangelist Bill Britt as guest speaker and the Mackey Willis Family leading in worship.
Depending on what God does with hearts already broken, the crusade could be extended, said Dunn, chairman of the crusade steering committee.
“One thing God has given us is that this [crusade] is going to be big,” Dunn said. “[Britt] has a gift to challenge Christians to be real and not lukewarm. … We felt like this is who God wanted to be part of this crusade.
“This is something no one is going to want to miss. … You’re going to want to see for yourself what God does.”
—30—
Karen L. Willoughby is managing editor of the Baptist Message (www.baptistmessage.com), newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
In Japan, ‘ground presence’ makes impact
Posted on Jun 30, 2011 | by Susie Rain
KAMAISHI, Japan (BP)—The woman closely examines the handmade doll. On one side, the doll’s face sports a big smile and exudes happiness. She flips it over and sees the facial expression is a frown, symbolizing sadness and grief.
The Japanese woman tightly clutches the gift and softly thanks the Southern Baptist volunteer who gave it to her. This simple child’s therapy toy expresses how she and others in the fishing village of Kamaishi have felt since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11 — a mixture of emotions that won’t come out.
Three months after Japan’s triple disaster — the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis — residents in the northeast are still digging out emotionally and physically from mounds of debris and mud.
The largest natural disaster in Japan’s history left Kamaishi in shambles. An hour after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, a 50-foot tsunami wave whipped through this hillside block of houses. Many people died as every home was badly damaged.
Since that fateful day, many survivors have lived — or camped out — on the second floor of their homes, rather than leave. The bottom floors are filled with layers of mud, dead fish and rubble.
Supplies are still hard to get. Some stores are open with a limited stock, but getting there is a problem. Most forms of transportation were damaged in the tsunami. The government estimates more than 146,000 vehicles were destroyed in Miyagi Prefecture alone. Then, factoring in that most residents are over 60 years old and cannot walk up to an hour — one way — to the store, most just make do with whatever they can scrounge.
They are delighted if someone comes along to help.
About three teams of Southern Baptist volunteers are going to Japan each month to help with the ongoing disaster response, said Jeff Palmer, executive director of the Baptist Global Response international relief organization. Three teams from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention have assisted Japanese Baptists in relief initiatives in recent weeks; a team from North Carolina currently is in the country; and teams from Oklahoma, Louisiana and Kentucky are going in August.
“Most of the volunteers are serving as utility teams, which means that they are doing a number of odd jobs in partnership with Tokyo Baptist Church’s North East Japan Recover program and the Japan Baptist Convention’s Tohoku Care Team,” Palmer said. “They are meeting needs of people in the affected areas and providing services such as mud-outs, cleaning houses, streets, parks, public areas, delivering relief supplies and encouraging disaster victims.
“The simple fact they are there, that they care enough to come help people in need, speaks volumes about God’s love to people who are struggling to survive and find new lives,” Palmer said.
CONSTANT STRESS
The constant stress of day-to-day survival is written across the faces of the Japanese whom Southern Baptist volunteers meet. When a team of volunteers from Tennessee arrived with supplies and shovels, for example, the residents’ relief was obvious.
This was just one of several stops the Tennesseans made with Gerald Burch, volunteer coordinator for Tohoku Care, to offer help in “mudding out” homes and businesses or tearing down remnants of houses.
Many neighborhoods in the three affected prefectures were destroyed — in the city of Ishinomaki, 28,000 homes have been lost, according to local officials. Officials estimate more than 88,000 homes in the three affected prefectures are clogged with filth but may be salvageable.
During their trip to Japan, the Tennessee volunteers helped clear out a community center and distribute fresh vegetables and other supplies. This stop, however, made an unusual impact on both the volunteers and the Japanese.
“Just a few weeks ago, we had a community block party led by International Mission Board missionaries Charlie and Teresa Seelen. It really boosted everyone’s spirits,” Burch said. “The only thing they have holding them together is community cohesiveness. There is no hope of eternity.
“The Japanese are naturally a community people,” said Burch, who lived in Japan for 23 years and recently returned to help with the relief efforts. “The community here is about to be broken up and that has everyone frustrated and concerned.”
The government’s goal is to relocate communities such as this one to temporary housing by the end of June, Burch said. Community leaders say they will “draw lots” to see who goes where. Not everyone will go to the same center. Some will stay in the area while others will be moved to “pre-fab” housing projects farther away — from jobs, friends and the community support that has sustained them for the last three months.
Many will move from once-spacious homes to a 20-by-20-foot structure squeezed in with as many units that can fit in a space the size of a soccer field.
FACING THE UNKNOWN
“The problem people face here is not only did they lose their family and houses, but most lost their livelihood as well,” Burch said. “People have frustrations and concerns as they face the unknown.
“What Baptists need to continue to do is have an on-the-ground contact ministry that is sensitive to physical and emotional needs,” the volunteer coordinator added. “Sometimes what is needed most in these disasters is just listening and touching someone’s life.”
The Tennessee volunteers did just that as they cleaned out homes and businesses. In Kamaishi where it was cold and rainy, one Japanese woman insisted they warm up in her house. She scrounged up some coffee and snacks for the guests while her friends and neighbors talked about the difficulties they expect when the community breaks up.
The volunteers asked if they can pray for the community. No one objected as the Tennesseans asked God to watch over and comfort their friends. As volunteer after volunteer prayed, their Japanese hostess gripped the two-faced therapy doll tighter and tighter — until finally she allowed a tear to fall.
—30—
Susie Rain is a writer/editor living in Southeast Asia. To learn more about volunteer opportunities in Japan, email info@tohokucare.com. Baptist Global Response is on the Internet at www.gobgr.org. Donations for Japan relief may be sent to Office of Finance, International Mission Board, 3806 Monument Ave., Richmond, VA 23230. In the memo line write “Japan Response Fund.”
Some thing just came up I will be back later. Take care everyone.
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