Marion County Celebrity

No, it's not Mel Tillis or John Travolta...this time.

Instead it's Bobby Goldsboro. You remember him, don't you? "Watching Scotty Grow" and "Honey" among many other hits in the 60s.

Well he's another Marion County resident celebrity and should be mentioned.

Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" is one of the best songs of all time.Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" is one of the worst songs of all time.Take your pick, because "Honey" is the sweet and tragic tale of a young man and his doomed wife who tragically departs one day "when the angels came." For some, the song is hopelessly corny and melodramatic. For others, it tugs the heart and brings deep emotion.Regardless, in 1968, "Honey" spent close to two months atop the Billboard charts. Hard to believe that was the year of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, with such acts as Janis Joplin, the Doors and Jefferson Airplane leading the hippie movement.But Goldsboro, 67, who lives in Ocala, was getting high on "Honey" instead of LSD."I have to laugh because it was one of the biggest-selling records of 1968, but it never gets credit," Goldsboro said.This month, he will debut his paintings in an exhibit called "The Art of Bobby Goldsboro" at the Gallery at Avalon Island in Orlando.People may appreciate his art, but "Honey" gets no respect."When VH1 did a documentary on 1968, they talked about all that drug music but never mentioned 'Honey,' " Goldsboro said.One guy who remembers the tune is Todd Leopold of CNN, who named "Honey" the worst song of all time."I've always been at a loss to its success," Leopold wrote at CNN.com, adding the song sticks to him "like decomposing, stepped-in garbage on a hot day."

John McCain and the NY Times

This "scandal" has no effect on me or my vote in November.

Frankly, I find McCain's problems with the Times to be almost as fun to watch as the fight between the Democrats. They all deserve each other.


But...


If John McCain is the Republican candidate, he'll have my vote. I will not be a party to helping Hillary or Barack destroy the nation.

Here's one reason why: in 1992 I was so pissed at George HW Bush that I almost voted for another that November. I came to my senses and voted Republican that year. I never regretted it after I saw what damage the Clintons and Democrats could do. I will never again waste my vote or sit on my ass on election day.

A vote for the much lesser of two evils is still a choice I will take.

Have we started a trend?

Or are we continuing a trend?

Cases in point involve two mothers of different ages.

First mom is just tired of being a mom...and went on strike.

OCALA - The mother of four teenage boys, fed up with their fighting and their refusal to clean up, decided recently she would go "on strike," and moved out.

It wasn't long, however, before a police officer crossed Melissa G. Dean's imaginary picket line.

Dean, 43, shared with Police Cpl. Dan Wright a thought every parent has had at least once: She had no control and was through dealing with them.
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Dean told the DCF worker that she thought there would be peace if she gave up her bedroom to one of the children. She said she supervised them by making frequent calls and bringing meals to the house. She said she leaves and returns around 11 p.m. for a short time to make sure they go to bed.

She hoped her actions "would open their eyes and maybe they would start cleaning up after themselves and stop fighting," the report noted. She reportedly told them she wouldn't come home until they behaved themselves.

The second mom, well she's a bit different. But you still don't mess with her, buddy.

OCALA - A 16-year-old mother accused of trying to stab the father of her 8-month-old child in the throat was arrested by sheriff's deputies and charged with aggravated assault.
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The 16-year-old admitted driving to the scene, taking out a knife and pointing it at Medina, according to the report. The girl told Post she went there to get her son and he refused to hand the baby over. She also told the deputy that Medina grabbed her by the arm and she dropped the knife.

A trend? Or trends?

Hell, it's probably because we have some of the country's worst moms in Marion County.

Another thing to be proud of.

Murder in The Villages-Justice Sidetracked

Sidetracked for a little bit, that is.

OCALA - A defense attorney for Renaldo McGirth, who was convicted this month in the slaying of Villages resident Diana Miller, has filed a motion seeking a new trial.

Candace Hawthorne claimed in her motion Tuesday that Circuit Judge Brian D. Lambert erred in a jury instruction regarding a defense objection and motion for mistrial.

The document also alleged that McGirth, 19, did not receive a fair and impartial trial.

Standard shyster bullshit. The little angel didn't do it. And if he did, there were circumstances that the jury didn't get to hear. And even so, he doesn't deserve death justbecause he took an innocent life so brutally. And so on...

Justice will be served and the bastard will have a date with the needle.

Oh, no...my faith in religion has been dented! (Updated)

That is, my faith in the religion of the Church of Global Warming. You know, the "Science" that had AlGore as its pope.

Arctic Sea Ice Sees 'Significant Increase' in Size Following 'Extreme Cold' (by Thomas Lifson)

The ultraliberal CBC reports a truth that is mighty inconvenient for Al Gore.

There's an upside to the extreme cold temperatures northern Canadians have endured in the last few weeks: scientists say it's been helping winter sea ice grow across the Arctic, where the ice shrank to record-low levels last year. Temperatures have stayed well in the -30s C and -40s C range since late January throughout the North, with the mercury dipping past -50 C in some areas. Satellite images are showing that the cold spell is helping the sea ice expand in coverage by about 2 million square kilometres, compared to the average winter coverage in the previous three years. "It's nice to know that the ice is recovering," Josefino Comiso, a senior research scientist with the Cryospheric Sciences Branch of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, told CBC News on Thursday. [...] Winter sea ice could keep expanding. The cold is also making the ice thicker in some areas, compared to recorded thicknesses last year, Lagnis added. "The ice is about 10 to 20 centimetres thicker than last year, so that's a significant increase," he said. If temperatures remain cold this winter, Langis said winter sea ice coverage will continue to expand.

Will somebody please tell all the schoolchildren frightened by nightmares of drowning polar bears that Al Gore unnecessarily scared them?

How shall I be able to sleep at night after knowing that maybe the "scientific" religion of global warming could be wrong?

UPDATE (2/19/08)

Oh, NO!! It's worse than I thought. According to NewsMax article, the ice is back!

Are the world's ice caps melting because of climate change, or are the reports just a lot of scare mongering by the advocates of the global warming theory?

Scare mongering appears to be the case, according to reports from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that reveal that almost all the allegedly “lost” ice has come back. A NOAA report shows that ice levels which had shrunk from 5 million square miles in January 2007 to just 1.5 million square miles in October, are almost back to their original levels.

Moreover, a Feb. 18 report in the London Daily Express showed that there is nearly a third more ice in Antarctica than usual, challenging the global warming crusaders and buttressing arguments of skeptics who deny that the world is undergoing global warming.

The Daily express recalls the photograph of polar bears clinging on to a melting iceberg which has been widely hailed as proof of the need to fight climate change and has been used by former Vice President Al Gore during his "Inconvenient Truth" lectures about mankind’s alleged impact on the global climate.

Gore fails to mention that the photograph was taken in the month of August when melting is normal. Or that the polar bear population has soared in recent years.

Dear Gaia...who should I believe? Is it possible that Pope AlGore is wrong?

Most Florida Parents Don't Believe in Science?

The science of evolution, that is. Can that be true? Well, not exactly.

The Times survey - which included questions about evolution and a host of other education issues was administered to 702 registered voters Feb. 6-10, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
It revealed a huge gulf between scientists and the public.
While the vast majority of scientists consider evolution to be backed by strong evidence, nearly two-thirds of those polled were skeptical.
Twenty-nine percent said evolution is one of several valid theories. Another 16 percent said evolution is not backed up by enough evidence. And 19 percent said evolution is not valid because it is at odds with the Bible.

Yep, you would think Floridians were the most backward of thinkers, especially with the following:

Sue Sams of Spring Hill, a retired English teacher who describes herself as Protestant, said schools should teach creationism only."
I don't disagree with the theory of evolution," said Sams, 65. "I'm just not sure it's 100 percent right."
Responses such as Sams' fly in the face of endorsements from thousands of scientists and scores of scientific societies, including the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science."
There is no justification for singling out evolution for special skepticism or critical analysis," wrote Richard T. O'Grady, executive director of the American Institute of Biological Sciences in a Feb. 8 letter to the Board of Education. "Its strength as a scientific theory matches that of the theory of gravitation, atomic theory and the germ theory."

Well, not exactly.

Here's this Floridian's opinion as a non-churchgoing laymen who nevertheless was graduated from college and had several science courses: I think that evolution exists and that it accounts for almost all of today's physical world. It is however a theory that today encompasses much more than science. I think a very large share of scientists are members and believers of a pseudo religion call "Science."

In my 50+ years I've seen how the theory of the creation of the universe, including its size and composition, has constantly evolved so that the current received wisdom had significantly departed from its earlier dogma. Hell, that's been true of geologists, paleontologist and medical scientists. Things change, new things are learned, the old beliefs pass away...welcome to the new kingdom of science. Until the next iteration.

I think it's understandable that many of my fellow Floridians may have doubts of the all encompassing accuracy of the present scientific religion. And I think we know that it takes a lot of faith to believe in, for example, the 'big bang' theory as just an accident that happened to a clump (don't know how large really) of atomic material just standing around, doing nothing until something (maybe some thing?) jump started the process.

Besides, religion and science have mostly peacefully co-existed for many centuries. And will continue to do so until the point that scientists start being stoned and beheaded for heresy. And I bet Christians won't be doing that.

Murder in The Villages-Justice Completed (Mostly) UPDATED

Well, it's final.

The two murderers were found guilty of the murder of Diana Miller and the attempted murder of her husband, James. This is as close to justice as we're going to get.

The jury did not convict the two on the charge of kidnapping the Miller's druggie waste of a daughter, Sheila. It must have been obvious to them that Sheila was not kidnapped, but was part of the plot. She may not have been intending harm to her parents, but she put them in harms way. But I agree with her dad, Jim. She knew and she's bears responsibility.

Since she wasn't on trial, but was instead a star prosecution witness, the jury could hardly convict her. But I bet they wanted to.

OCALA - A jury has convicted Renaldo McGirth, 19, of first-degree murder and other offenses in the slaying of Diana Miller in her Villages home during July 2006.McGirth now faces a possible death sentence.

His co-defendant Jarrord Roberts, 21, was found guilty of lesser charges. Both were acquitted on the charge of kidnapping Miller's daughter, Sheila Miller, 40.

The jury began deliberating at about 11:45 a.m. Thursday, continued into the evening and resumed delibrations Friday morning. A verdict was reached at about 4:30 p.m.

McGirth, Roberts and a third co-defendant, Theodore Houston, were accused of entering James and Diana Miller's home on July 21, 2006, fatally shooting Diana Miller, shooting and wounding James Miller, kidnapping Sheila Miller, and taking her on a multi-hour trip to automated teller machines, a Kmart store and a Gainesville shopping mall. The three men were captured following a high-speed chase that ended with the crash of the Miller family van.

McGirth was convicted of first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, robbery with a firearm, and felony fleeing or attempting to elude police.

Roberts was found guilty of manslaughter, attempted voluntary manslaughter, and robbery with a firearm but the jury pointed out that he did not possess the firearm.

Next Tuesday jurors will begin to hear evidence and argument about whether McGirth should be sentenced to death. They'll make a recommendation to Circuit Judge Brian Lambert.

Lambert ordered a presentencing investigation for Roberts, who faces the possibility of a life sentence on the robbery with a firearm conviction.

I've been pleased to have had two people who have posted on my site. One is family and one has known the family for decades. Both know that Sheila is guilty. The court may not be able to convict her, but her guilt is known. They jury must have known it.

UPDATE (2-14-08)

The guiltiest bastard will get the death penalty IF the judge approves. (Note: the jury split 11-1.)

ALSO:

Several longtime friends and family of Diana Miller told jurors the impact Miller's death at the hands of Renaldo McGirth had on their lives.

Murder in The Villages-Justice Continues (Part 5)

Well, things are moving forward now.

The prosecution has wrapped and now the defense continues by the lawyers of the two alleged murderers.

Frankly, there doesn't seem to be much of the way in defense.

OCALA – Renaldo McGirth declined to testify Tuesday morning at his murder trial.

He and co-defendant Jarrod Roberts are accused of murdering Villages resident Diana Miller in July 2006 and shooting and injuring her husband, James.
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Roberts’ attorney, Henry Ferro, was expected present his case Tuesday afternoon. (That probably won't take much time.)

And the wheels of justice keep turning.


UPDATE (2/06/08)

The defense has rested. The prosecution and defense have had their closing arguments. The jury should get the case on Thursday.

Stay tuned.


UPDATE (2/07/08)

The jury has been at it today, but seem to have called it a night. They'll continue on Friday.

And the beat goes on.

Well, I guess we showed that Snipes guy!

Yep, we showed Wesley Snipes and his lawyers that we Marion County residents are a bunch of racists, just like they said.

You see, a jury of our white citizens DID treat the black man much differently than his two white co-defendants.

We convicted the white guys of the felony counts BUT let the black one skate.

Racism if ever I saw it!

From the Ocala Star-Banner article: Snipes' legal team fought hard before the trial to have the case moved from Ocala to New York. Bernhoft said Snipes believed he was treated fairly.

"He asked me to tell you that he wanted to thank the people of Ocala for their courtesy, their hospitality and their fairness," Bernhoft said.

Well, apparently we can be courteous, hospitable and fair...but only when we don't convict a black defendant of felonies. Wonder what the white defendants think of us?

I'm not a cut/run conservative or Republican

SO I will NOT be sitting out the November election regardless of the Republican candidate.

I've been disturbed to hear and read about so many Republicans and conservatives have said they would not vote for McCain under any circumstances. Hell, did Ann Coulter really say she would vote for Hillary first?

McCain is not my first, second or third choice for the nomination, but he has my vote if he's the candidate.

Why?

Because I know there is evil in the world.

Because I know the world is not perfect.

Because I know that a seat at the table is better than standing out in the cold.

Because I know that settling for 60% of what you know is important is better than getting 20%.

Only fools believe otherwise.

There's a lot of self-satifsfaction in taking your ball home when the game doesn't go your way. It is also childish.

And given the dangers in the world today, it is self-destructive.

And...damnit! haven't you paid attention to the last 2 Democrat debates, especially last night? After seeing Liberal A trying to be more dangerous to our economy and national security than Liberal B, you would be complicit by sitting on your ass?