Chupacabra Unmasked As Coyote

You may remember when a Texas woman claimed to have found the head of an actual blood-sucking chupacabra, and promptly set up a business selling tee shirts marking her find.

The mystery is solved, thanks to modern science.

Turns out that her find is: just another coyote. Texas State University biologists, working from DNA samples provided by KENS-TV, celebrated Halloween by unmasking the dead critter as pure "Texas Coyote."

No one is quite sure why the body was hairless, but one thing is sure: Coyote, that Native American trickster, once again has the last laugh.

Missing Woman Case: True Crimes, A Chicago Cop & The Media

The increasingly bizarre story of a cop's missing wife continues as Stacy Peterson's sister tells Greta Van Susteren that Stacy feared her husband would kill her. Meanwhile, police used cadaver dogs to search a pond near Chicago's Clow Airport and removed guns from Sgt. Drew Peterson's home.

Missing Woman Case: The True Crimes of Bad Journalism turned the spotlight on the disappearance of young Stacy Peterson, Stacy, who's now 23, is the 53-year-old Peterson's fourth wife. His third, Kathleen Savio, drowned in a mysterious bathtub accident after Peterson became involved with Stacy, who was then 17.

Fox News has stepped up to the plate, deploying Van Susteren to the scene. Her exclusive interview with Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales, revealed a tangled web of strange actions and comments by Peterson as Stacy's family launched a search for her.

Former Los Angeles detective Mark Furhman is also on the scene with Van Susteran. Furhman, who took a career and personal beating during the O.J. Simpson murder case, has rightfully had his public credibility boosted since O.J.'s recent Las Vegas arrest in an armed robbery case. He's now an author, radio talk show host, and analyst/commentator on crime cases.

Their interview with Cales revealed several key components, including a fight between the couple just before Stacy disappeared, and a strange late night shuffling of the family cars. Peterson, was seen watching police activities wearing a mask made from an American flag bandana, dark sunglasses,and a dark cap pulled over his forehead.

Peterson, who was giving "abandoned husband and father" type media interviews, at the same time insisted that he doesn't want to be photographed, citing privacy concerns. If you think that's inconsistent, listen to what Cales related in Van Susteran's interview. Peterson earlier said that his wife left him for another man, that she has psychiatric problems, and that she had planned to disappear "deep down" like her mother. Stacy's mother disappeared eight years ago; that case has not yet been solved.

The Chicago Tribune, recovering from the sob sister account of Peterson's reaction to his missing wife, followed the money. Peterson received close to two million dollars in insurance policies and funds from the sale of joint properties after this third wife, Kathleen Savio, died in a mysterious bathtub accident.

Stavio's life insurance paid one million dollars to the couple's sons, who lived with Peterson and Stacy while Peterson, as guardian, controlled those funds. Investigators have reopened that case.

Also curious: Stacy disappeared at a time when media coverage of the disappearance of two other young Chicago-area women was at an all-time high. With Peterson saying that Stacy left him and her children, would those disappearances have provided an additional cover for any potential discovery of another body? This case has multiple possibilities and twists, but one overwhelming reality: Stacy Peterson is missing, and her family is terrified of what the police might find.

The Illinois State Police has opened a Tip Line at 1-815-726-6377.

Missing Woman Case: The True Crimes of Bad Journalism

Get out the milk cartons, folks. Here's the poster children for missing journalism in a case that's at least a scandal, and may be a deadly crime.

Wife #4 disappears. Police re-open investigation into the death of wife #3, found dead in a bathtub after filing an order of protection against her husband.

The husband, 53-year-old Drew Peterson, is a veteran Chicago police officer. Not only do we now have a cop investigation of a cop, the 23-year-old missing woman's name is Stacy Peterson, eerily close to the infamous Laci and Scott Peterson case. That definitely makes it "made for a TV movie" fodder.

And, there's also a 30-year-difference in age that seemingly only matters at the start of the romance, when she was dangerously close to being under age. Maybe. In fact, the math of the case when you add up some numbers that this Fox News story doesn't tell you.

To get those numbers, a reader has to also find the Chicago Tribune article, which fairly screams in purple prose and lounges in lavender shades of Mickey Spillane. The Trib tells us that Peterson and wife #4 (the 17-year-old, not the dead 40-year-old in the bathtub) "met six years ago."

That would be 2001, roughly. In 2004, wife #3, Kathleen Savio, dies in bathtub incident. And, according to the Trib again, the current Peterson couple has two children, one of whom is four years old. That's a birthdate of 2003. You do the math.

But we aren't done yet. The Fox story, high up, includes a statement that Peterson isn't considered a suspect. Really? Then why trumpet the possible connections between dead wife #3 and missing wife #4?

OK, we'll grant that the combination is a natural for news coverage--unless you're writing for the Trib. Or unless you then muddy the waters with a hinted-at link to two other missing wives.

Fox News suddenly veers and slogs into a swamp: "But Stacy Peterson is the third wife to vanish in the last six months in the Chicago area, the latest in a series of mothers whose families say they would never leave their children behind.

Chicago police found a body believed to be that of missing 39-year-old Alma Mendez, a mother of three, who disappeared Sunday on a jog near a forest preserve."

So now Peterson is #3 in a series of women who've disappeared, and whose connection may be: they're wives and mothers. One of them is Lisa Stebic of Plainsville, Ill who disappeared six months ago. However, the Fox story tells us, her husband, Craig, has been named as a "person of interest" by police.

Then why drag her case, and that of Mendez, into the Peterson (Stacy) case, Fox? You creak open a door to a "wives gone missing!" macabre exhibit and then immediately slam it. That's called over-reaching to tie into other news stories, at the cost of clarity for readers.

Back to the Chicago Tribune though, which is long on sentiment, and short on up-front facts. "...
Sitting at a desk in his house Wednesday afternoon, unshaven and with bags under his eyes, Drew Peterson, 53, said his wife, Stacy, 23, called him about 9 p.m. Sunday and told him she was leaving....."Sorry, I get choked up about it," Peterson said, his voice cracking....
As the couple's two children, ages 2 and 4, scampered around the house, he talked about celebrating the couple's fourth wedding anniversary Oct. 18. "

Bring out the tissues. This is sob sister journalism.

The Trib story does have some facts, including Stacy's age and the notation that the couple married two years after they started dating. But wait! That would be (counting on fingers) in 2003, if they met six years ago.

Back to Fox, who identified wife #3 (dead in bathtub) as still Peterson's wife in 2004. Is your head spinning yet? Mine is. So was #3 his ex-wife at the time of her death? Buried deep, deep in the Trib story is some more insight into the whole numbers game. Why is the Trib more concerned with the baggy-eyed, cracking-voiced husband who also is found "chuckling softly" than with a straight-up accounting of facts?

Darned if I know. But I do know this: a woman is missing under suspicious circumstances, and between two major news sources, you still can't get the whole story.

And I call that missing journalism. Are we sure there isn't a milk carton category for that?

Note: Have you seen Stacy Peterson? If so, contact the Illinois State Police immediately.

Talking Turkey: Aunt Nancy, Uncle Sam & Turkish Demands

This is a fine mess. First Turkey was so miffed over the now-tabled Congressional "Turkish genocide" resolution that its ambassador flounced back home.

Now Turkey is demanding that the U.S.take military action against Kurdish fighters on Turkey's borders: or else. From flounce to hardball bounce, Turkey is making it clear that the U.S. is, apparently, among its subject states.

Of course, if the U.S. bows to their demands, then the U.S. will be excoriated worldwide for bringing in troops to support Turkey. If the U.S. doesn't send in troops, then the U.S. will be denounced for not sending in troops in Turkey's long-running domestic dispute.

It's a clear win-win for Turkey in their undeclared diplomatic war with the U.S. With the Turks spending millions on lobbying in the U.S., it's obvious that someone else will have to pay for aid to their poor, and their wars. And who better than Uncle Sam?

The complex issue takes on another strata of shakiness when the actions of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are examined. Pelosi, who assumed presidential airs as she jetted around the world on her own foreign policy trip, has fought against the support of American troops in Iraq.

At the same time, she cozied up to Syria, among others, and was one of the leaders calling for the Turkish genocide resolution. But when political shots were fired on the issue, Pelosi waffled and wavered.

Now Turkey wants real American guns on their side, on their borders. With Turkey's demands for firepower from Uncle Sam, will Aunt Nancy suddenly decide that wars abroad aren't a bad idea after all? Will she stand firm when pro-Turkey lobbyists tout "terrorism" as the reason for the U.S. to storm Kurdish ramparts?

What happens if Turkey's "or else" comes into play? The first threat is that Turkey will shut down an American air base used to support our troops in Iraq. In diplo-speak, that's called a "review" of the access. But Turkey's also mumbling about taking action against the U.S. in vague and seemingly-sinister ways.

So here's how the table looks: Turkey's battling Kurds & the PKK. The U.S. is at war in Iraq, and using Turkish land for an air base. Turkey, wanting everyone to just forget about the l.5 million Armenians slaughtered in 1917, is focused now on the Kurds.

Pass the war plate, please--with American aid. If not, Turkey will, at the very least, with-hold the American base biscuit. But now comes the key question: where's the gravy on this menu?

This Turkey is covered in gravy. Back in 2002, U.S. largess to Turkey included an arranged $16 billion IMF bailout and a $228 million US aid package. Plus specialized free trade arrangements for dessert.

OK, so buying allies gets more expensive all the time. In fact, in 2003 Turkey demanded $32 billion in U.S. funds. In 2006, Turkey had $10 million to spend on the anti-American, anti-Semetic film "Valley of the Wolves--Iraq."

Today it was announced that the U.S. is sending another $10 billion in aid to Turkey. That alone is a pretty darned good rental price for some land for a military base.

Not only that, The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are shipping in another $10 billion loan. Seems the $11.5 billion sent to Turkey just two months ago didn't go all tha far.

But then again, a reliable friend and ally is a good buy, right? Let's look at Turkey's role in World War II. Ostensibly neutral, Turkey actually made a darned good profit by being Nazi Germany's sole supplier of chromite, used to harden steel for weapons and armaments.

When it finally became apparent which way the war cookie was crumbling, Turkey lost no time in declaring "war" on Germany in 1945. Why? Turkey wanted a seat in the U.S. and the belated war declaration was its purchase price.

For awhile, Turkey eagerly jumped on the American lunch wagon. But, its feelings hurt by European Union humans rights charges and the 1997 declaration naming Turkey as unfit to join the EU, Turkey began biting the hand that feeds them.

Turkist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2004 accused the U.S. of "state terror." In 2003 Turkey lashed out against the Iraq war, saying that the U.S. campaign "lacked international legitimacy." In the mounting anti-U.S., pro-radical Islamist climate, the American government was compared to Hitler.

This from a country with its hand out for American largess and one repeatedly cited by Human Rights Watch for torture, attacks on civilians, and massive displacements of civilian populations? Apparently, Turkey is under the illusion that it can take U.S. money, tell the U.S. what it is to do, and threaten the U.S. with Turkish reprisals should Turkey's gravy get watered down.

Perhaps it's time for the U.S. to remind Turkey: at the great banquet table of world leaders, especially those who practice freedom and democracy, Turkey is well, very small potatoes.

Sarah Jessica Parker: World's Unsexiest Woman?

Poor Sarah Jessica. After the fabulously popular "Sex and the City" run, she's now identifed as...the world's unsexiest woman.

She had to beat out Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, Madonna, and Sandra Oh in Maxim's bitchy-witchy rankings. It may be therapy time for the sex-themed actress, as Maxim blurbs: "How the hell did this Barbaro-faced broad manage to be the least sexy woman in a group of very unsexy women and still star on a show with "sex" in the title?"

Whew. Now, that's getting out the old riding crop, guys.

Tentacles of Terrorism: Hometown Invasions

Although bombings, civilian slaughter and barbaric beheadings in Pakistan may seem a long way away from U.S. and European communities, the tentacles of terrorism are poisonous and long. Linked to a common body of radical Muslim religious beliefs, fueled by hatred of the West and disdain for "infidels," and trumpeted in calls for jihad, the messages are clear: Taliban, Al-Queda, and related groups are waging long-term war against the rest of the world.

Last week, public street slaughter marked Benair Bhutto's return to Pakistan. Suicide bombers, possibly linked to a direct Taliban threat, killed 143 people and injured hundreds of others in a bloody assassination attempt.

Bhutto is the first woman to overcome the sexist ghettos of the Muslim world and capture such a high leadership position. Before her return, Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who reportedly commands 35,000 fighters, had previously bragged that his suicide bombers would greet her. Bhutto,who recently received another death threat, has now been prohibited from leaving Pakistan.

The attack on Bhutto's convoy sent a message: Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorism and violence will not cease. Calling for jihad--a Muslim holy war--Taliban religious leader
Maulana Fazlullah has only begun his body count in the Swat region of Pakistan.

In the name of Mohammed, civilians were yanked out of a van in northwest Pakistan and slaughtered. Several police and security officers were captured and summarily beheaded. Although a Fazlullah aide issued the pro-forma denial and condemnation of the murders, the public statement is a direct contradiction to Fazlullah's call for jihad and his politics. He's the leader of TNSM, a vengeful Taliban group.

Among his accomplishments so far: the halting of a polio vacccination program in the Swat area, where several cases of polio have been reported. Added to that: a recent suicide bombing that killed about two dozen people and injured many more, and Fazlullah's tally of suffering and death is mounting.

The idea that daily doses of repression, hatred, death and destruction are limited to other portions of the world are central to the covert spread of radical Islamism. Regardless of whether it's Fazlullah calling for an extreme version of Sharia laws or radical Muslims forcing those beliefs on other cultures, the goals are the same: subjugation and control.

Using well-plotted interpretations of Sharia, radical Islamists in the United States have successfully challenged common-sense airport security, diverted focus from suspicious passengers to cries of racial victimization, all but shut down airport taxi service in Minneapolis, and created tempests over the simplest things, including supermarket checkouts. As Katherine Kersten points out in The Wall Street Journal, " By piggy-backing on our civil rights laws, Islamist activists aim to equate airport security with racial bigotry and to move slowly toward a two-tier legal system. Intimidation is a crucial tool."

In Amsterdam and Brussels, violence and riots among Muslim immigrant communities have become so common that entire areas are designated as too dangerous for police to enter. The politically correct NewSpeak for that is "sensitive urban area."

NewSpeak, too, has evident in the Holy Land terrorism financing trial in Dallas. Featuring a Muslim "religious" group accused of funneling charity funds to Hamas and other terrorist groups, the trial was the biggest in U.S. terror financing history.

One juror literally tried to run away. After the torturous deliberations, the trial was declared a mistrial. Although PC and NewSpeak efforts valiantly tried to present the defendants as poor victims of religious and racial persecution, it just wasn't so.

Instead, an eight-year federal investigation into the Richardson, TX Holy Land group found solid evidence of Hamas support. President George W. Bush ordered the charity shut down after agents tracked numerous links to terrorism, including:

Electronic surveillance of conversations in which Hamas leaders and Holy Land Foundation officers discussed the foundation's role in Hamas fund raising.

*Contributions made to the foundation by Mousa Abu Marzook, a former U.S. resident who was political leader of Hamas in the 1990s.

*Analyses showing that the majority of funds collected by the foundation went to support Hamas activities, including schools, hospitals and annuities for the families of suicide bombers. "

A succinct FBI memo noted: "In the United States they could raise funds, propagate their political goals, affect public opinion and influence decision-making of the U.S. government." Not only that, extreme Muslim views can re-shape efforts to fight crime. And it goes beyond just "sensitive urban areas."

As Planck's Constant points out, police now have to take special measures if they--gasp!--try to enter a Muslim residence, or arrest a Muslim. Among them:

Don't enter a Muslim home if only females are present.

If people are praying at home officers should stand aside and not disrupt the prayer. They should be allowed the opportunity to finish.

Use of police dogs will be considered serious desecration of the premises and may necessitate extensive cleaning of the house and disposal of household items.

Officers should not take shoes into the houses, especially in areas that might be kept pure for prayer purposes.

For reasons of dignity officers should seek to avoid entering occupied bedrooms and bathrooms.

Not only that, but in London, police have to notify a panel of Muslims before carrying out an anti-terrorism action. Among the items to be considered: how the raid would affect "community relations."

Police in the U.S. are also having to grapple, not with crime,but with not offending Muslims even if a crime has been committed. The U.S. Department of Justice has released special training materials for dealing with "Muslim Americans."

As best I recall, the U.S. government has survived for hundreds of years without making "special rules" for any one group. Why is it now so important that law enforcement be literally handcuffed when dealing with one special interest group?

Because the tentacles are long. Because the U.S. has a culture of accepting differences, we are at high risk to be undermined, bit by bit, by a culture and belief that intends to destroy the decadent West and the "infidels."

Because there are political leaders and groups who, wanting to hop on the PC band wagon, have literally caved in to preposterous demands. Better to sell out your country than to risk being called "racist" or "discriminatory."

The solution is simple: if you wish to come to the U.S., do what every other immigrant group has done: adapt to the existing culture. If you are not willing to do so, then return whence you came.

But putting that solution into action will be hard, given PC, NewSpeak, and the prostituting of freedom to political and religious groups who have only one goal in mind: destruction. Whether it be by bomb, riots, or demands that investigations and arrests be done their way, the goals are exactly the same.

Take another look at the photo with this post. If the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and their political allies will do this to their own countrymen, what do you think they will do to infidels? In the long run, the terrorist acts of 9-11 will be proven to be only the beginning of a long, multiple-front war on Western culture and beliefs. And most of the gambits will be waged bit by bit, eroding even common sense applications of normal community activities, from policing to schooling.

Note: the cropped photo is used under the NY Times "share" option and also under Fair Use Doctrine. My thanks to the Times for the use of this photo.