Bishop Busted for DWI; Darwin at Work; Obama the Narcissist in Chief

Jesus Take the Wheel!! San Francisco archbishop-elect arrested for drunk driving (Reuters) - San Francisco Archbishop-elect Salvatore Cordileone, known for a conservative stance on same-sex marriage, has been arrested in his native San Diego for drunk driving, police said on Monday. Cordileone, 56, was stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence on Saturday near the San Diego State University campus, the San Diego Police Department said. Further details of his arrest were not immediately available. Darwin in Action Sasquatch stun takes a tragic turn A man dressed in a military-style “Ghillie suit” who was attempting to provoke a Bigfoot sighting was struck by two vehicles and killed on U.S. 93 South of Kalispell, Montana Sunday night. “He was trying to make people think he was Sasquatch so people would call in a Sasquatch sighting,” Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jim Schneider said. “You can’t make it up. I haven’t seen or heard of anything like this before. Obviously, his suit made it difficult for people to see him.” Ghillie suits are commonly used by military snipers and some that are advertised on the Internet have a Bigfoot-like appearance. At least the camo worked as designed. Obama - Downgrade America,Elevate Himself A couple of interesting articles about Barry Hussein Sotero: The controversial super PAC Special Operations for America, led by former Navy SEALs, is set to release a blistering new ad against President Obama Tuesday at the Republican National Convention. The ad, titled “Bow to Nobody,” depicts Navy SEALs in combat situations; it then proclaims that they fight so that America will not have to bow to anybody. Then the punch line: the infamous photo of Obama bowing to the Saudi king. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/26/to-honor-neil-armstrong-obama-posts-a-picture-of-himself "The thing that most bothers me about Barack Obama is his unearned narcissism. His smugness and arrogance are beyond the ability of science to measure. I don't mind someone being a bit cocky or even arrogant, IF they have the accomplishments and achievements to back up the attitude."

Shave Hasan's Beard!

Hood shooting trial on hold over Hasan’s beard By Angela K. Brown - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Aug 15, 2012 16:16:34 EDT FORT HOOD, Texas — The trial for an Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting has been put on hold while an appeals court considers his objections to being forcibly shaved. Maj. Nidal Hasan had been scheduled to enter a plea Wednesday to charges in the attack at the Texas Army post, but all court proceedings were put on hold before he could do that........... Political correctness and walking on eggshells is what allowed this maniac to shoot our soldiers in the first place. I wish the Army would forcibly shave his beard, then use pig shit as aftershave, since the "religion of peace" thinks pigs are unclean.

Chesty the Marine Corps Bulldog; Crooked Lawyer and Cop Roundup; Hiding Behind the Bible

Chesty the Marine Corps Bulldog Mascot Promoted to Sgt. The Wall Street Journal has a hilarious story about the USMC mascot, an English Bulldog named after Chesty Puller, being promoted to sergeant in spite of growling at Leon Pannetta's golden retriever. Wonder what he'd do if he met Obama? The gang that couldn't shoot straight Empire State shooting: 6 of 9 wounded bystanders hit by bullet fragments from cops' gunfire New York Daily News Shooter Jeffrey Johnson didn't get a shot in as officers approached, Kelly said. Cops fired 16 shots, taking down the cold-blooded killer and wounding 9 others.

Former HPD cop accused of taking $8k from wife's boss in armed robbery A former Houston police officer is accused of robbing his wife's place of business, after forcing her into the office building at gunpoint. Ray Faustino Acuna, 26, who resigned Feb. 2 from the Houston Police Department, allegedly took nearly $8,000 from a law firm in the 1700 block of Lubbock Street during an armed robbery at 9:30 a.m. Monday. Surveillance video shows that a man later identified as Acuna, wearing a blue bandana over most of his face, pointed a black, semi-automatic handgun at his wife as she was in the parking lot behind the business. Holding her right arm, the man forced her inside the building, according to court records. Leon Valley cop is charged in assault A Leon Valley police officer is free on bail but on administrative leave after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend's daughter at his Northwest Bexar County home. Anthony Martinez, 33, was released from Bexar County Jail after posting $15,000 bail. He faces one charge of assaulting a family member by choking or strangulation. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Cop-accused-of-hurting-girlfriend-s-daughter-3813315.php#ixzz24ZCLEna1 Human trafficking ring leaders arrested in Austin, police say Police say they arrested the "main pimps" from two human trafficking rings that authorities said forced women into prostitution and moved them around the nation. Two men and a woman who were working in two interconnected rings were arrested Thursday night in Austin. Police found four victims — two from Houston and two from Florida — who were being forced into prostitution, Austin police Lt. Jerry Gonzalez said. Police arrested Solomon Pate, 26, Demetrick Cooks, 26, and Rebecca Chap, 26, after two women escaped in Round Rock on Tuesday and went to the Round Rock Police Department, arrest records said. Texas man freed after DNA clears him of 1988 rape FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A man who spent more than two decades behind bars was freed Friday after DNA evidence cleared him in the rape of a 14-year-old Fort Worth girl. David Lee Wiggins was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1989, although neither of the two fingerprints found at the scene matched his. The girl, whose face was covered during most of the attack, picked Wiggins out of a photo lineup and then a live lineup, saying he looked familiar. But DNA testing earlier this month excluded Wiggins as the person who committed the crime. Tarrant County prosecutors said DNA evidence demonstrated his innocence. Lawyer who reaped benefits now faces charges San Antonio Hilda Valadez was indicted on 46 felony counts, including a scheme stretching back years in which she allegedly forged the signatures of judges to obtain payments for legal services. A year before the sheriff's office started investigating the forgeries, Valadez appeared on my radar. Last year SAExNews reporter Brian Chasnoff revealed that local courts in 2010 were ignoring the Fair Defense Act, a state law requiring judges to appoint lawyers for poor defendants using a rotating list of attorneys, known as “the wheel.” Valadez raked in more than $403,000 on indigent defense in three years. In the same time, the average attorney earned just $32,500. It appears some of that was stolen.And this is not the first time she's been accused of stealing. About five years ago, she was arrested at North Star Mall for shoplifting a $325 pair of sunglasses. Warren Jeffs, FLSD, Religion and Child Rape I'm listening to a book on tape from Audible.com about the serial child rapist warren Jeffs, who got away with raping dozens if not hundreds of girls as young as 12. He pulled it off because of this country's extremism in "freedom of religion." Claim you are a man of god, and you can get away with anything. The Catholic Church and its culture of old men in dresses raping young boys. Jerry Sandusky doing the same, protected by the god of football. Warren Jeffs was the head of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, who were in the news a few years ago when the State of Texas raided their compound outside El Dorado, Texas. The book is by a private investigator named Sam Brower, and Jon Kraukaer, who has written best sellers about the worst climbing disaster in the history of Mt. Everest, and Pat Tillman, killed by his own comrades in Afghanistan. The title: Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints

It's who you know that counts

Ethics issues arise in rulings by justice of the peace City controller's wife ordered evictions despite her connections to felon By Lise Olsen Elected Justice of the Peace Hilary Harmon Green repeatedly ordered the eviction of tenants and relatives on behalf of a five-time felon even though she and her husband, City Controller Ron Green, both had financial and personal ties to the home builder. In one case involving Dwayne K. Jordon - a convicted thief who has admitted to repeatedly pilfering people's properties for his residential construction projects - Green evicted Jordon's own uncle despite a dispute over whether Jordon held ownership of the family home. Stop delaying Seguin sexual assault case Express-News Editorial Board Good editorial about the disgraceful district attorney of Guadalupe Co. Heather McMinn who refuses to prosecute a rapist because he is a former client of her top assistant."The lack of action raises serious questions about the criminal justice system in Guadalupe County, where the stench of inaction is deeply disturbing." Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/Stop-delaying-Seguin-sexual-assault-case-3801819.php#ixzz24B0tAg8h Here's one I missed when it came out in May: Ted Stevens' Prosecutors Punished for Withholding Evidence the Justice Department announced that it has suspended two prosecutors who sat on evidence they were legally obligated to share with the lawyers representing Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who was convicted of failing to report gifts right before losing his 2008 bid for a seventh term in the U.S. Senate. Stevens was convicted on a trumped up charge. While a special investigator appointed by the federal judge who oversaw the Stevens case concluded that the prosecutors at fault, Joseph W. Bottini and James A. Goeke, "intentionally withheld and concealed" evidence, the Justice Department's report on the matter attributes their failures to "reckless professional misconduct." They were suspended for 40 and 15 days, respectively, without pay. He died in a plane crash before he was exonerated. And the best the DOJ can do is suspend the guilty prosecutors for a few days. How about firing their asses? Where is the DC bar grievance committee? How about disbarring them? Liberty deputy linked to stolen video slot machines A Liberty County sheriff's deputy has been linked to stolen video slot machines and a stolen weapon in a continuing federal probe of illegal gaming businesses and other corruption. Anthony E. "Tony" Lewis, 40, has been placed on suspension without pay since his release on $94,000 bail on two separate theft charges involved in an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sting operation.

Texas Prison Population Declines; Probation Department Abuse

The Austin American Statesman reports some good news about a decline in the Texas prison population, in Texas prison population shrinks as rehabilitation programs take root "In July, Texas' prison system posted its lowest head count in five years, even as the state's overall population continued to grow at a fast clip. "Instead of 156,500 prisoners behind bars in Texas' 111 state prisons a year ago, the lockups now hold just over 154,000 — a drop of about 2,500, according to state statistics. Texas, which historically has had one of the highest incarceration rates per capita of the 50 states, is now in fourth place, down from second two years ago." Legislators are facing the reality that it cost less to put nonviolent offenders charged with low level drug offenses into community based supervision programs that provide treatment for addiction than to send them to prison, where it cost $18,000 a year per prisoner, plus medical expenses. "We're definitely going to be looking at what works and what doesn't — and we know that treatment and rehabilitation and community justice programs work," said Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, an architect of many of the reforms. "Prisons should be reserved for the worst of the worst, the violent criminals, murderers, child molesters we should definitely be afraid of. We have a lot of other inmates in there that could probably be housed someplace else, at less cost," Whitmire said. Whitmire is a rarity - a politician with common sense and the desire to do the right thing. The late Governor Ann Richards deserves credit too, for leading the movement to have alternatives to locking people up. Before the lock 'em up and throw away the key crowd starts carping about being "soft on crime," they need to consider that being on probation is not a bed of roses. A first time offender charged with possession of a small amount of a controlled substance - say cocaine, meth, or even a legitimate drug like xanex or clonazapem for which he has no prescription, will be pressured to plead guilty for a probated sentence. He will have to pay court costs of about $400, reimburse the county for the lab test, another $150, then pay the probation department $60 a month for a "supervision fee." Then there are the costs of regular hair follicle tests, and a drug abuse awareness class. Your liberty is at the mercy of the probation department, and if you get a hard assed probation officer, he can drag you into court to revoke your probation and send you to prison. I had a recent case where a young man pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance in 2003 and put on probation for five years. His term has been extended three times, and here we are, almost ten years later, and his officer is trying to send him to prison. In a future post we'll look at the financial incentives the county has to keep people on probation as long as possible. It's like the old county farm system.

You're not a hero just because you wear a uniform

William Ward, Four-Star General, Investigated Over Spending WASHINGTON — A four-star Army general who was the first head of the new U.S. Africa Command is under investigation and facing possible demotion for allegedly spending hundreds of thousands of dollars improperly on lavish travel, hotels and other items, The Associated Press has learned. Gen. William "Kip" Ward has been under investigation for about 17 months, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to make a final decision on the matter before the end of the month, according to several defense officials. The defense officials said Ward is facing numerous allegations that he spent several hundred thousand dollars allowing unauthorized people, including family members, to fly on government planes, and spent excessive amounts of money on hotel rooms, transportation and other expenses when he traveled as head of Africa Command. Officer who killed colleague loses appeal The 4th Court of Appeals issued an opinion Wednesday upholding the 2010 conviction of David Seaton, 46, who killed Officer Robert Davis and seriously injured a motorist in November 2008 while speeding to a low-priority shoplifting call at speeds of about 100 mph without his overhead lights or sirens. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Officer-who-killed-colleague-loses-appeal-3794172.php#ixzz23l796WoE Police: Woodburn priest chased boy down street after abuse It was close to midnight Sunday when Woodburn Oregon resident James Curths saw the 12-year-old boy running down the street toward him. Curths said the child, panting and out of breath, begged for help, telling him a man was chasing him....The man who chased after the boy that night, Woodburn police say, was the Rev. Angel Armando Perez, the parish priest at St. Luke Catholic Church in Woodburn. Early Monday, the boy gave police a detailed account of the alleged sex abuse he said occurred at Perez's home, leading to Perez's arrest later Monday. Give him a fair trial then shoot him Ex-soldier held in scheme to defraud government By Anita Hassan A former U.S. soldier from Humble is accused of stealing and laundering more than $100,000 from the U.S. government during a deployment to Iraq, authorities said Thursday. Former Army officer Abuzuike O. Ukabam, 34, was arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles on a nine-count federal indictment that alleges wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering and false statements in connection with his military service. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Ex-soldier-held-in-scheme-to-defraud-government-3794759.php#ixzz23nwzTOpP Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Ex-soldier-held-in-scheme-to-defraud-government-3794759.php#ixzz23nwWRmRB

Funnier Side of the News

I came across a great website, Drew Curtis's FARK.com, self described as "real news/real funny." He links to real news stories and makes up his own headlines, similar to The Onion. Here are a few samples: Faking your death rarely works. This is doubly true when you're trying to end an affair. Triply true when you're the new commander of a US Navy nuclear attack submarine- the commander, married with children, liked to cruise dating sites, met a woman and got her pregnant, then tried (by email, no less) to claim he had died. She went to his house to pay her respects. Dude, forget about Jesus burnt onto toast or in a tree, we got Jerry Garcia in a horseradish jar. Also, don't bogart that joint my friend - includes slideshow of images of Jesus on burnt tortillas, dirty windows and so on - why is it that people always say it's Jesus - how do they know it's not the anti-Christ or Charles Mansion. And one that is not so funny - New allegation: Sandusky and Penn State friend introduced boys to mile-high-club Jerry Sandusky is being investigated for distribution of child porn, and he and at least one rich Penn State booster molested young boys on a private jet. Speaking of jokes, Joe Biden just gets better and better. See Biden on Romney: ‘They’re going to put y’all back in chains’He also mimicked the lady doing sign language for the deaf. What a moron.

Those Wacky Lawyers

Lawyer accused of stealing phone during bar fight By Brian Rogers Houston Chronicle A Houston lawyer is free on bail after being arrested on robbery charges, accused of stealing the smartphone of a man who was recording a bar fight involving the lawyer last month. Shawn Paul Fox, 40, and two other men are accused of chasing a bar patron out of J. Black's at 110 S. Heights to steal a $400 iPhone and a $1,200 watch....Jayson Miller told police he was at the bar in the new restaurant on July 15 when a fight broke out between three men, including Fox, and several bouncers, according to court records. Miller said he was recording the fight when Fox demanded he stop and lunged at him. Miller ran out the front door then fell as he hurdled a hedge. He turned around to see Fox hit him in the face, he said. The lawyer and two other men beat Miller while saying, "Get his phone," according to the arrest affidavit. The men then took the phone and Miller's watch, leaving him with a broken arm, records show. S.A. lawyer ordered held without bond By Craig Kapitan San Antonio Express Michelle Lorenz Valicek, 54, is set to go to trial next month on a first-degree felony misapplication of fiduciary property charge. Authorities said she took more than $500,000 six years ago while managing a large inheritance that had been recently received by Margaret Lorenz, who had dementia.

Due Process - Keeping Them Honest

I found a great quote in a 1967 Supreme Court case: Due process of law is the primary and indispensable foundation of individual freedom. It is the basic and essential term in the social compact which defines the rights of the individual and delimits the powers which the state may exercise. Frankfurter has said: "The history of American freedom is, in no small measure, the history of procedure." But in addition, the procedural rules which have been fashioned from the generality of due process are our best instruments for the distillation and evaluation of essential facts from the conflicting welter of data that life and our adversary methods present.It is these instruments of due process which enhance the possibility that truth will emerge from the confrontation of opposing versions and conflicting data. "Procedure is to law what `scientific method' is to science." IN RE GAULT, 387 U.S. 1 (1967) ......... That's why criminal defense lawyers fight for defendants that often are guilty as charged or if not, just nasty people who've committed crimes just as bad as the ones they're charged with. It keeps the system honest for all of us.

Keystone Cops and Judges

Judge orders early prison release for hacksaw taco guard By Craig Kapitan A judge Friday reduced the prison term for a former Bexar County jailer previously ordered to serve two years for smuggling tacos garnished with hacksaw blades to a violent inmate planning an elaborate escape. Alfred Casas, 33, was taken into custody in July 2011, immediately after jurors reached the sentence of second-degree felony bribery. But he soon was released on house arrest while he appealed. Casas has since dropped the appeal, spending 79 days in county jail and 100 days in prison. He will be released in the next few days but will serve four years' probation. South San schools' cops being probed By Francisco Vara-Orta South San Independent School District officials are investigating a third of the officers in its Police Department about allegations that include sexual harassment of an employee, theft of district fuel and falsifying police reports. Ninth Circuit judges defend Hawaii conference paid for by taxpayers Judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals are defending their plans for a million dollar conference in Hawaii in August in the face of questions posed by two Republican senators.... Sen. Sessions is not convinced by the court’s statement. In an email sent to reporters, Sessions’ spokesman Steven Miller wrote, “This fact [that taxpayers are only paying for travel and lodging] … of course misses the entire point: why are taxpayers in the middle of a fiscal crisis subsidizing a million-dollar conference at a beach resort so that attendees can indulge in tropical recreation?” Northside investigating alleged police coverup By Francisco Vara-Orta A high-ranking officer in the Northside Independent School District was recently placed on administrative leave amid allegations he covered up the accidental discharge of another officer's weapon. It's the department's third investigation in the past two years questioning the use of its weapons.

Stupid is as stupid does - deputy shoots self in hand playing with shotgun

Darwin Award Candidate The SA Express reports that Bexar County Sheriff's deputy Eric Espino was hospitalized early today after shooting himself in the hand with a shotgun at his own 26th birthday party, officials said. He was celebrating at his Northwest Side home around 4 a.m. when he accidentally shot himself in the hand with a shotgun. “For some reason, he put his hand over the muzzle, and when he picked it up, it went off,” Antu said. Attorney pleads guilty to using clients' awards for personal use An attorney who represented minors in personal injury cases pleaded guilty Friday to using hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal awards to children for his personal use over an eight-year period. John Williams Coates, 49, pleaded guilty to felony aggregated misapplication of fiduciary property before State District Judge Mike Lynch and was booked into Travis County Jail under a 10-year prison deal, court and jail records show. Here's the kicker - Coates could be released on probation after six months for good behavior if he agrees to required conditions, such as relinquishing his law license, Assistant District Attorney Gail Van Winkle said. As usual, the lawyers take care of their own. Settlement reached in Tenaha shakedown lawsuit DALLAS (AP) - Officials of a small East Texas town and the county where it's situated have agreed to steps aimed at ending racial profiling to settle a four-year-old class-action lawsuit. Federal court filings late Friday show Tenaha and Shelby County have agreed to an "impartial policing policy" to better document and monitor traffic stops. The documents show defendants also have agreed to pay $520,000 in legal fees........Former DA Linda Kaye Russell and the other defendants also have to pay their own legal fees. Tenaha in Shelby County was the first Texas town that CNN/Anderson Cooper and Gary Tuchman exposed for the asset forfeiture racket. Then they came to Kerrville and did a story on former 198th DA Ron Sutton and District Judge Karl Prohl.

It's Not What You Did That's Important - It's Who You Know

From an article by John MacCormack in the San Antonio Express If you have the right connections you can get away with anything, even rape. In Guadalupe County (Seguin) one Roger Sanchez was caught on tape raping a woman but the assistant DA who reviewed his case, Kristy Stone, declined to prosecute. Ms. Stone saw no conflict of interest problem from her prior defense of Sanchez when she was in private practice. Her boss, District Attorney Heather McMinn apparently agrees - the case has languished since mid-April. The victim's lawyer, James Millan, was finally able to shame McMinn into referring the case to the Attorney General. Report: Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse LOS ANGELES (AP) — Internal documents from the Boy Scouts of America reveal more than 125 cases in which men suspected of molestation allegedly continued to abuse Scouts, despite a blacklist meant to protect boys from sexual predators..... Predators moved from troop to troop because of clerical errors, computer glitches or the Scouts' failure to check the blacklist, known as the "perversion files," the newspaper said. In at least 50 cases, the Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to discover they had re-entered the organization and were accused of molesting again. In other cases, officials failed to document reports of abuse in the first place, letting offenders stay in the program until new allegations came to light, the Times reported. One scoutmaster was expelled in 1970 for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Indiana. After being convicted of the crime, he went on to join two troops in Illinois between 1971 and 1988. He later admitted to molesting more than 100 boys, was convicted of the sexual assault of more than 100 boys.

The Devil Goes to Church

The Sunday edition of Dallas Morning News has a story titled Dallas minister puts assault of teen behind him, but others can’t. It's behind a pay wall so I can't link to it here. The piece is about one Chuck Adair,who went to prison for sexual assault on a 13 year old girl he met through the church where he was a minister. The preacher thinks it's okay because they fell in love and eloped so it's not real child abuse. The subtitle is that the hiring of the ex-con "forced Skillman Church of Christ members to re-examine their notions of redemption and forgiveness." Seems the good Christians at Skillman have hired the registered sex offender as - you guessed it - a minister. When anyone has the audacity to suggest that's not a good idea, the good reverend gets angry and self-righteous and reminds them that as a believer he is forgiven by God, and they should do likewise............... Speaking of wayward preachers, I'm almost finished reading Deadly Little Secrets: the Minister, His Mistress, and a Heartless Texas Murder, the new true crime book by Kathryn Casey. I have some familiarity with the case, since I defended Matt Baker, the preacher, for a time in the civil wrongful death case the parents of Kari Baker filed and the criminal case where he was convicted of murder. I didn't try the case because Baker retained Guy James Gray and Harold Danford before the trial. Through no fault of theirs (sometimes the evidence against a criminal defendant is so overwhelming that even Perry Mason couldn't get you off) he was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in the Big House. The book describes the testimony of Baker's girlfriend, the daughter of the choir director where Baker preached: after they had sex in the bed where Baker's wife and the mother of his children slept, he told her not to worry - that Jesus had already forgiven them. You can do anything and God will forgive you. I won't talk a lot about the evidence that came out in the trial - Ms. Casey does a superb job in her book. For purposes of this post, the relevant point is that there is no such thing as "the Baptist Church." Rather, there are thousands of independent churches that answer to no one, loosely affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. No one credentials "ministers," and no one keeps any records on them. If a congregation in, say Jasper, has a preacher who drinks whiskey, gambles, chases women, etc., they are not going to tell anyone because it's easier to give him a good recommendation than to have to fire him. It's kind of like the Roman Catholics - they take a pedophile priest in San Angelo and one in Brownsville and just switch them. I have a theory - a lot of sociopaths go into the ministry because it gratifies their need for control and exploitation of others, it reward superficial, counterfeit warmth and attention, and the believers are a ready made flock of sheep ready for the shearing. What else explains how long men like these were able to fool so many people: Dennis Rader, the BTK (Bind Torture Kill) serial killer who murdered entire families in Wichita, KS, while he was serving as the warden, which is the top lay member, of his Lutheran church Ted Haggard, president of the biggest evangelical organization in the nation, who campaigned against gay marriage by day and cruised homosexual bars at night and used meth and cocaine with his male prostitute companion. Jimmy Swaggart - cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, fire and brimstone multi-millionaire Bible thumper, arrested for erratic driving, caught with hard core porn in the car with a hooker. Jim Baker - Ran the Trinity Broadcasting Network, lived with his tawdry wife Tammy Faye like they were royalty, while he ripped off his donors and came onto to young men and women - it didn't seem to matter which gender. Walker Railey, the minister of First Methodist in Dallas and a rising star, who strangled his wife so he could be free to marry his girlfriend with the ridiculous name Lucy Papillon. Finis Crutchfield, a Methodist bishop who died of AIDS he contracted from his nights cruising gay bars in Montrose. We should probably add Jerry Sandusky, since football is a religion for a lot of Americans. The alternative religions are no better. Chögyam Trungpa was a Tibetan lama who came to the US and started Shambhala International. He was an alcoholic and serial womanizer.In 1972 Trungpa identified Thomas F. Rich (an American with Buddhist name Ösel Tendzin) as his "dharma heir." He was a homosexual predator who infected several of his male acolytes with AIDS. And last but not least, the Roman Catholic Church, arguably the biggest organized crime organization in the world, run by a bunch of men who like to play dress up, who cover up for the pedophiles and child molesters in their ranks.

New Book About Kerrville Killer (Alleged) Preacher Matt Baker

Kathryn Casey's new paperback "Deadly Little Secrets: The Minister, His Mistress, and a Heartless Texas Murder" came out Tuesday. I thought that Hastings would have a whole rack of them up front since the subject, Matt Baker grew up in Kerrville and came back here after his wife's mysterious death and there was a nasty child custody trial here. However, Hastings had only one copy, which I bought. Of course the first thing I did was flip through to see what it had to say about me, since I briefly defended him in the civil wrongful death and murder cases. I liked how she described me - "an affable man with shaggy gray hair," and she accurately described my role in the case. The book is well written. I've read some of Kathyrn's earlier true crime books and while they are good, her writing style is getting better. The jacket blurb quotes Ann Rule saying "Kathryn Casey is one of the best true crime writers today," and I agree. Other Kerrville lawyers are mentioned, including Keith Williams, now a district court judge, who defended Baker in the wrongful death case for a time, Guy James Gray and Harold Danford, who were Baker's lawyers in the murder trial so they get a lot more ink than I did. Any time I was around Kari Baker's mother Linda Dulin I was impressed with her strength, and also her lack of bitterness. I was the lawyer for the man she believed in her heart murdered her daughter, but the first time we made eye contact in the courtroom in Waco she smiled at me. Boss - Shakespearean Tale of Power and Corruption I've been watching the Starz mini-series "Boss," about a corrupt Chicago major who will do anything to hold on to his power. The lead actor is Kelsey Grammer, who plays Tom Kane, who is a combination LBJ/Caesar/Vito Corleone despot who finds out he has a terminal, progressive brain disease. Instead of reflecting on his life and trying to mend fences with his wife and estranged daughter, he treats everyone like puppets and those who won't play his way get crushed. It's a great show, the best I've seen since The Wire.