One more reason not to let your teenage niece use your computer:

MySpace users hit by hacker virus the Daily Mail:

"They believe that the hackers have hidden dangerous software on the site whichmeans that computers can be attacked unaware to users while they are just viewing pages. "

Kate... did you use my computer last week?

JonBenet suspect got jobs as a teacher of young girls after arrest for Child Porno!

Smoking Gun has a better breakdown of the Karr resume at the link below. One question: How does a guy fleeing trial for Child Pornography get jobs overseas as a caregiver and teacher of young girls? Isn't this the "Information Age"???

Resume Of A Killer? - August 17, 2006:

"The man arrested for murdering JonBenet Ramsey taught at a variety of foreign schools and worked as a tutor and 'caregiver' for young girls in the years following the 1996 death of the Colorado girl, according to an online resume. John Karr, 41, was arrested yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand on an arrest warrant charging him with the slaying the six-year-old Boulder girl. Karr's resume, a copy of which you'll find below, was posted to an online clearinghouse used by teachers seeking overseas jobs. The resume notes that from 1996-2001 he taught in 'some of the most prestigious schools in the United States working with children from high profile families.' It appears that his foreign employment began after his April 2001 arrest in California for possession of child pornography. Karr, who went on the lam while awaiting trial, worked as an English teacher in Asia and Europe during 2001-2002. He appears to have bounced between teaching and nanny jobs in the following years before landing at a school in Honduras, where he worked as a second-grade teacher and the school's Director of English. The resume, which appears to have been posted last year, indicates that Karr's 'mission' was to help develop a child into a 'student of superior poise.' The resume notes that Karr holds a bachelor's degree from Regents College in Albany, N.Y. The school, now known as a Excelsior College, is a correspondence school that describes itself as 'a world leader in distance education.' (1 page) "

JonBenet suspect tried to contact Ramseys

Disturbing:

NBC10.com - Local News - Audio: Accused Killer Says He Contacted Patsy Ramsey:

"In an audio interview, accused killer John Mark Karr says he contacted Patsy Ramsey before her death to say he was 'so very sorry' about JonBenet Ramsey's murder.

The audio was obtained by an AP reporter in Karr's Bangkok apartment just before police took him into custody.

'I've contacted the Ramsey family, actually before Patricia passed away. And I conveyed to her many things, among them I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet,' Karr says on the audio tape.

'It is important for me that everyone knows that I
love (JonBenet) very much, that her death was unintentional and it was an accident.'

Karr then repeats his claim that he contacted the Ramsey family.

'I made several efforts to communicate with Patricia before she passed away. It is my understanding that she did read my letters and she was aware of me before she passed away.'

The reporter then asked, 'What happened in the basement?'

Karr stammers and then says, 'it would take
several hours to describe that.'

The reporter asks a follow-up , 'Could
you be brief?'

'There's no way I could be brief,' Karr counters.

Atlanta attorney Lin Wood confirms Karr tried to correspond with Patsy Ramsey, in writing in the months before Ramsey died this year. He says
Mrs. Ramsey didn't reply, but that she handed the information over to investigators, and that it helped link Karr to the case."

More odd JonBenet suspect stuff...

Drudge had a link up earlier to this dude's resume for teaching jobs. This link is disabled now, but it was interesting for a few reasons. I archived it and will try to get it up later. (UPDATE: I've posted the saved HTML page here)

Most of his teaching gigs started in 1996. (JonBenet was murdered in 1996) And until 1996 he had this entry:

-Real estate (1981-1996) Privately owned rental business. Restoration of mansions from the Queen Victoria Era.

Much speculation has been made on how the intruder would have known the layout of the Ramsey home since it was a wierd floorplan. Is it possible his connection with them involved a restoration of their unique mansion? It was noted by the Ramsey's that their home was part of the Boulder Historic Homes tour, so it must have been something special, and perhaps it was recently renovated?

Psychic's rendering of JonBenet murder from 1998

It's been a few months since OC Chronicle has been updated, but the JonBenet suspect story has compelled me to show you something. I've read about this case on the internet for quite sometime because, as the father of young girls, I'm terrified of something this horrible happenning to us. Also, I couldn't imagine the horror of being falsly accused, worldwide, of such a heinous act.

When I saw the image of the suspect, I remembered that I saw a sketch of a suspect based upon a psychic's vision back in 1998. Now I don't believe in this psychic stuff, but check this out: Psychic's rendering of JonBenet murder from 1998.

"To this day, John and Patsy Ramsey have lived up to their promise and continue to search for their daughter's killer. They have posted a composite sketch of a suspect compiled by the late psychic, Dorothy Allison, on their Internet site with the attached message:

"Have you seen this man? This man may have been in the Boulder area in December 1996. ... We firmly believe that this most horrible of killers will be caught based on information provided by people who care about right and wrong. ... Please help, so another innocent child will not be a victim and another family will not suffer unbearable grief."

Allison, who claimed to have assisted police investigations, came up with her vision of the suspect during an April 1998 appearance on a network television show. She died on December 3, 1999. Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner declined to comment on the late psychic's work."

UPDATE: I got robbed by Drudge! I forwarded Matt Drudge the link to this post and the link to the Psychic's drawing from the "True Crime" web page. He bypasses OC Chronicle and linked directly to True Crime. Come on Matt! I GAVE YOU A GREAT TIP!

Press Briefing by Tony Snow

If you have 10 minutes, watch the video of Tony Snow's first press briefing at this link:Press Briefing by Tony Snow: "Press Briefing by Tony Snow"

The difference in how he handles the press versus his predecessor is enormous. This may be President Bush's best appointment of his 2nd term.

Michelle Malkin: Casual Attire

Michelle Malkin: 9-11 AND 7-11Even though we here at OC Chronicle have yet to post on the Immigration Issue, we'd still like to point you to Michelle Malkin's post today on the day laborers waiting outside her local 7-11.

Being from So. Cal. this is hardly a novel story to us, what did catch our attention is the photo of MM. She just looks so cool! We never get to see her in her civilian casual attire. Michelle, it's a good look!

Why we're swiching to Fosters:

While the political debate is mired in Immigration and border issues, an unnoticed event occurred at the White House. Prime Minister Howard of Autralia has been here for a stse visit and the relationship between the US and Austrailia deserves attention.

Check out PM Howard's toast to the President::

"PRIME MINISTER HOWARD: Mr. President and Mrs. Bush, ladies and gentlemen: For the Australians present, can I say to you and your charming wife, we are greatly honored by the wonderful courtesy and hospitality that you've extended to us, not only tonight, but in the days before on this visit of ours to Washington. You've spoken of the friendship between our two countries. It is a friendship rooted not only in history, but it's a friendship and partnership rooted very firmly in common values.

I share your sense of optimism, Mr. President, about the future. The world will need America just as much in the future as the world has needed America in the past, and as the world needs America at the present. Those foolish enough to suggest that America should have a lesser role in the affairs of the world should pause and think whether they really mean what they say, because a world without a dedicated, involved America will be a lesser world, a less safe world, a more precarious world.

And if I have a single message for the people of your great country, and that is: The world continues to need America, and the world will be a better place for the involvement and the commitment of the people of the United States of America in the years that lie ahead.

I value very much the friendship between our two countries. I value very much the personal friendship I have with you, Mr. President. You're a staunch friend, you're a faithful ally, you're a strong leader; you have articulated the interests of your country and of the free world at a time of unique and different challenge. And for that I thank you and pay tribute to you.

Janette and I warmly reciprocate the kind things that you've said about us. We greatly value those things and we thank you most warmly for your very gracious hospitality.

Can I ask you to join me in a toast to the enduring friendship of the people of Australia and the people of the United States.

(A toast is offered.) (Applause.)"

Any time you hear about America losing allies and respect in the world, refer to this. Who would you rather have on your side, the Germans and French, or those cool Aussies?

George Clooney reveals the truth behind celebrity blogs

"'I am just looking for someone in the news like Murrow did with McCarthyism, like Cronkite did with Vietnam and like Bernstein and Woodward did with Nixon. I'm just looking for someone in the news to ask difficult questions of this government. It's not my job to do that. I'm not intelligent enough to do it,'"

That's howTheKSBWChannel.com quoted George Clooney recently in a puff piece about his film, Good Night and Good Luck.

The self-evaluation at the end of his quote is dead-on, it seems. There is a recent brou-ha-ha over a blog posting at the Huffington Post that was attributed to Clooney. Apparently, Clooney had responded to some questions and Huffington Post Kingpin Arianna Huffington edited his responses as a "post" for her Left-log. Clooney objected to the editing and he asked for a retraction. Zsa-Zsa Gabor-ington refused and the fur is now flying.

Today, Zsa-Zsa responded and explained how this came about:

"When I first invited George Clooney to blog after a screening of 'Good Night, and Good Luck' in New York a few months ago, he said he wasn't sure how a blog worked. So we put together a sample blog from answers he had given on Larry King Live and an interview with the Guardian in London, and sent it to him to rework in any way he wanted."

"Wasn't sure how a blogged worked..."???????

Really George?

It's a pretty point-and-click situation... you know?

This also begs the question: How many of those "Celebrity Blogs" are just Q & A sessions that Zsa-Zsa's staff at the H-Post edits into a coherent sounding post? Shouldn't the Huffington Post acknowledge and disclose this?

The Huffington Post presents the impression that the celebrities blogging there are all penning their thoughts attributed to their by-line. This suggests that, in some cases, these celebrities are pithy, witty and even literate. But, if in this case, the celebrities answer questions THROUGH THEIR PUBLICISTS, then the actual thoughts and ideas attributed to them at Zsa-Zsa's Play Pen are actually twice or three times removed from the actual celebrity in question.

Is this honest? Or is it a gross mis-representation of the actual star power "contributing" to the H-Post?

Arainna... disclose the truth! Who REALLY writes their own posts?

No posts for the past 6 weeks!

Choose your favorite excuse:

1. OC Chronicle is moving from our home of 8 years to a new location in beautiful La Habra Heights. (click link for some cool descriptions of our new community)
2. Been too depressed about the Bush poll ratings.
3. Found no humor in the Veep's hunting accident.
4. Been too busy following the Angels' Spring training.
5. I'm a father of 3 kids, aged 1, 4 and 6!!! Who has time to blog!??

Which ever you choose, you're right. So let's move beyond excuses and get back to work.

Stanford's Best and Brightest

Joel Stein's article in the LA Times seems to be raising quite a ruckus on talk radio and across the blogscape. Hugh Hewitt, of course, scored the only interview that I know of with Stein yesterday. transcript can be found atRadio Blogger:

"HH: All right. Now who is your...this is a column about the troops that begins, 'I don't support our troops.' We'll get to the specifics in a second. But who is your closest family member or friend who is on active duty?
JS: That's an excellent question. I wouldn't say I have a very close friend. I would say only acquaintances. No family at all.
HH: Who are your acquaintances?
JS: There was a guy who works at Time, that's where I worked last, who quit to serve in the military.
HH: What's his name?
JS: (pause) You know, I'm blanking on his name. But your point is well taken that I don't have many people that I even know who are in the military.
HH: Do you have any, though, other than this guy at Time whose name you can't remember?
JS: Who are serving currently?
HH: Yeah.
JS: Or ever served?
HH: No, serving currently.
JS: Or only in Iraq?
HH: Active duty. Anywhere in the world.
JS: (pause) I'd say I've been pretty isolated from that."

Earlier today, Laura Ingraham speculated that the column was actually satire written by a columnist from the Weekly Standard!

Unfortunately, not true, but a great idea for the future!

Dennis and Jann's Big Adventure

They've done it! My parents have sold their lovely home in Laguna Beach and have purchased an RV to live in and travel the US. At my father's bidding, we have set up a new blog for them to chronicle their experience and to keep in touch with family and friends. Check it out and blogroll it: Dennis and Jann's Big Adventure

I can't wait to meet up with them next week in Las Vegas and who knows where as the year goes on!

Blogs Provide Most Intimate Coverage of Ariel Sharon Situation

Hugh Hewittc has linked to Mere Rhetoric, a blogger who is translating Hebrew from various sources to provide up-to-the-moment coverage of happenings in Israel and the Palestinian Areas.

Also, because they are translating direct information from Israel, it reveals a very intimate insight into the mood on the "Israeli Street". We'll be checking it out all day.

And now the big guns...

Michelle Malkin: THE MINER TRAGEDY: WHAT WENT WRONG?

We've been waiting for the most influential bloggers to start on the miner story fiasco. Here's the Great Michelle Malkin.

Take That, TIME Magazine.

The Ultra-coolSamantha Burns has the Moron of the Year award up for your voting pleasure. We here in OC don't wish to sway the voting, but we had to go with...

Blog Round-up on Miner Tragedy Reports

Here is a quick list of other blogs that posted in tral-time as Anderson Cooper was interrupted on-air by a local resident announcing that they had all gotten wrong information abot the fate of the West Virginia miners. I must say, it was a surreal moment as is relayed by these bloggers.

Looks like OC Chronicle was the first to post the news based upon a Technorati search: Technorati Search: anderson cooper

Comme Des Garcons: Oh geez, can anything be worse than this?

Not Exactly Rocket Science: So I was trying to write this Meme....

FURIOUS nads! - The Media-Made Miracle

Swanky Conservative � Blog Archive � Miners rescued - only one alive?

Blogcritics.org: Only One W. Virginia Miner Found Alive

Raines Secret Garden � PRAYERS

gigglechick.com

RoguePlanet

SharonCobb: Anderson Cooper "Stunned" Only One Miner Survived...News Wrong

Oliver's Place: Irresponsible media and the Sago Mine Collapse

sisu: Watching sausage being made

Jack Myers Media Village

BREAKING NOW... Only one survivor.

Live, now (11:48 PM)on CNN a local resident interrupted Anderson Cooper in mid-sentance to say that the CEO of the mining compay addressed the local church and said that the initial reports were not true. Only one miner has survived.

Cooper is expressing disbelief that this mis-information could occur.

Apologies for the earlier post and the e-mails I sent to many of you...

More to follow...

11:53 PM According to reports, Randal McCloy is the sole srvivor.

11:56 PM Media at its worst. Reporters shining lights and pointing their cameras and microphones in the faces of family members leaving the church in their grief. One of the men pushes a microphone from his face and the reporter puts it right back in. Why don't they leave them alone??!!

11:59 PM Fox News reports that the family members are distraght and furious, livid that they were lied to. - How does the Governor get bad information like this too?

12:07 AM Ben Hatfield, ICG President speaking now. Characterizes information as a "Mis-communication". But the mis-communication was allowed to be re-communicated across the world for three hours! "Stray cell phone communications" and "overheard conversations" from the rescue team to the command center were the cause according to Hatfield.

BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!

ANSWERED PRAYERS...

An Englishman's Castle has an early morning link from BBC on the rescue of 12 miners in West Virginia. Most East Coast blogs are asleep right now so we expect them to be hot on this one in the morning.

According to Fox News right now (10:57 PM, the 12 survivors ("The Lucky Dozen" their calling them) are being taken to St. Joseph's hospital for triage and treatment of possible hypo-thermia and carbon-monoxide poisoning.

The tears of joy on the faces of the onlookers while they cheer the ambulances are an amazing sight. God Bless all involved (He already has) and prayers for grace to the family of the one miner that did not survive.

One social/political observation:

I am struck by the words of the West Virginia Governor from earlier today when he stated with no irony or guile: "We believe miracles can happen."

This kind of earnest faith is what we Americans love and desire in our leaders. I think it is why the "intelligent", ironic and too-clever-by-half kind of leaders found on the educated left are not well liked by the majority of Americans.

UPDATE: Don Surberis the only East Coast blog still awake, apparently. He stuck a quick mention in his blog title.

Today's must read:

Thank you All Things Beautiful, this post and picture are a perfect way to start the new year.

(Nancy Pelosi has never looked better! This proves Alexandra is a TRUE artist.)

New Year, New Look.

OC Chronicle has undergone a bit of a makeover, your enthusiastic comments are appreciated.

Also, by popular demand, please click this link for photos of the OC Clan in OC, Florida, specifically: Walt Disney World! (Please note the photos with some or all of the kids asleep!)

Disney's PhotoPass Service