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Sex, Lies and Audiotape: The Jodi Arias Trial
Aired May 5, 2013 - 22:00 ET
ANNOUNCER: The following is a CNN special report. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It was a shocking trial, revealing details of stabbing, stalking and secrets. Now, five years after Jodi Arias killed her boyfriend, after months of riveting testimony, her freedom is in the jury's hands and maybe her life. Tonight, you be the jury. Watch the testimony and weigh the evidence yourself. We want to warn you, it is graphic, both the images and the language, and may be too explicit for younger viewers. Reporting for us tonight, A.C. 360's Randi Kaye. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A sordid story of sex, lies... JODI ARIAS, DEFENDANT: I'm not guilty. KAYE: And audiotapes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly, the best times are when we just for a freaking romp session. (LAUGHTER) KAYE: Transfixing the nation as the trial of Jodi Arias draws to a dramatic close. VINNIE POLITAN, HLN HOST: This is a case, this is a story, this is a criminal defendant unlike any other we have ever met before. Jodi Arias, beautiful young woman, accused of brutally murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, a young guy. They seemingly had this great sexual relationship. But then she stabs him 29 times, also decapitates him, shoots him in the head. KAYE: This tale of passion gone wrong has already cost Travis Alexander his life. But will it cost Jodi Arias hers? Their relationship began quite innocently in, of all places, Sin City. DAVID HUGHES, FRIEND OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: We were there for a convention. Our company had had a big event there. I was there in Las Vegas with him. KAYE: Travis Alexander was a motivational speaker, compelling and effective. He was also a close friend and co-worker of David Hughes in the fall of 2006. HUGHES: And I knew that he was single and he was always looking for Ms. Alexander. KAYE: Enter saleswoman and aspiring photographer Jodi Arias. HUGHES: And I told Travis, hey, there is this cute girl that I work with. You should meet her. And he goes, introduce me. So, I introduced them and then they were able to develop a relationship pretty quickly from there. POLITAN: They met in Vegas. The night they met, it seemed that things heated up very quickly, because Jodi Arias has said within a week or so, they are having sex in a car. KAYE: Jodi and Travis had an instant physical connection, a whirlwind romance, but a long-distance one with her in Palm Desert, California, and him five hours away in Mesa, Arizona. Still, that wouldn't slow them down. Shanna Hogan, the author of "Picture Perfect," about the Jodi Arias case: SHANNA HOGAN, AUTHOR, "PICTURE PERFECT": From the very beginning, Travis and Jodi were almost in constant communication. They talked every day. They exchanged thousands of e-mails and text messages. KAYE: Jodi was so attracted to Travis, that she converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints because Travis was a Mormon. HUGHES: She started to inquire more about the LDS faith, and ended up joining the church, which I'm sure that brought their relationship -- made it even stronger. KAYE: To outsiders, Travis and Jodi appeared devout, a pure Mormon couple, but appearances, as was often the case with these two, would prove deceiving. HOGAN: Secretly, behind the scenes, Travis and Jodi's relationship was not pure, it was not chaste. They had this intense sexual relationship that they kept hidden from everyone. KAYE: But Jodi couldn't keep everything hidden, especially from Travis' longtime friends, many of whom found his new love a bit odd and a bit troubling. HUGHES: We don't like Jodi coming over to our home. We feel very uncomfortable with her in our home. KAYE: David Hughes recalls a chilling encounter between his brother, his sister-in-law and Jodi Arias. HUGHES: Well, they are having this conversation trying to convince Travis to break up with her, she is right outside the upstairs door listening to the whole conversation. And she walked in and she just had this face on like she was the devil, and she was going to commit a murder right then and there. HOGAN: It was clear that she liked him a lot more than he liked her. Travis wanted a normal life. Jodi wanted to be with him more than anything. And it was an extremely unhealthy bond that they shared. KAYE: And a normal healthy life was something Travis had wanted desperately since growing up in Riverside, California. HOGAN: Travis' childhood was full of poverty, neglect, physical violence. HUGHES: His parents were both addicted to drugs. And so he wasn't raised by his parents. He was eventually -- his grandmother is the one that raised him. But, yes, it was a tough upbringing. KAYE: Jodi, too, has said she didn't have it easy growing up, that she was no stranger to abuse. HOGAN: She grew up being very artistic. She played the flute. She had a lot of brothers and sisters and very close with them all. So Jodi's childhood was fairly ideal compared to Travis', but she does describe like incidences of physical violence. KAYE: Though they had only known each other less than a year, Jodi and Travis had burned red-hot, at least for a while. By the summer of 2007, however, their relationship had cooled, in part because of Jodi's increasing jealousy over Travis' interest in other women. HOGAN: Jodi went through his phone and discovered these flirty messages to other women, and she decided to end the relationship at that point. But ,at the same time, Travis was looking to end the relationship. KAYE: Jodi and Travis did break up. But that didn't mean they weren't still friends with benefits. HOGAN: Clearly, Jodi enjoyed her sexual life with Travis. But it must have been tormenting. In her diary, Jodi writes about how she loves Travis so fully and completely that she doesn't know any other way to be, that he was just her entire focus, and she was extremely obsessed with him. KAYE: So obsessed, apparently, that Jodi never took her eye off of Travis, no matter how far apart they were. HUGHES: I absolutely know that she was stalking him many times. Just like when she went in through the back door when he was kissing another girl on his couch, and she's spying on him. That's what is really happening there. HOGAN: She slashed his tires. She broke into his e-mail account. She hacked into his Facebook page. She broke into his house and stole his journals. She read his diary. She just did these crazy stalking behaviors. KAYE: Jodi has long denied stalking Travis, but there is no denying that their troubled relationship came to an abrupt end on June 4, 2008, when Jodi made her last visit to her estranged lover's home in the wee hours of the morning. POLITAN: Travis is there, according to her, and he's online, and they go to sleep. But when they wake up, then they get back to what Travis and Jodi always do, which is engage in sex. And they didn't just engage in sex. They brought cameras into play, Travis taking pictures of Jodi, Jodi taking pictures of Travis, neither one of them wearing any clothes. But it's what they do. It's what they have always done since they met. KAYE: Coming up, a sex-fueled afternoon explodes into an orgy of violence. (END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KAYE (voice-over): Monday, June 9, 2008, 90 minutes until midnight in a Mesa, Arizona, community called Mountain Ranch. Nobody has heard from Travis Alexander in five days. So, a handful of concerned friends went looking through him. HOGAN: These friends meet at the house to try and determine Travis' whereabouts. Through another friend, they get the code to the garage. They go inside the house. It smells. There is a foul odor hanging in the air. They found their friend pale and lifeless on the shower floor. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. 911 OPERATOR: Nine-one-one emergency. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A friend of ours is dead in his bedroom. We hadn't heard from him for a while. His roommates just went in there and said there's lots of blood. KAYE: Travis' body had nearly 29 stab marks, including the slash across his neck from ear-to-ear. There was a .25-caliber gunshot over his right eyebrow, and massive amounts of blood all over the master suite, soaked into the bedroom carpet and splattered all over the bathroom, the sink, the mirror, the floor. His friends had immediate suspicions about who did it. 911 OPERATOR: Has he been threatened by anyone recently? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he has. He has an -- his ex- girlfriend that's been bothering him and following him and slashing tires and things like that. Her name is Jodi. KAYE: But when investigators reached Jodi by phone, she insisted she'd been nowhere near Mesa for months. This was version one of her story. ESTEBAN FLORES, DETECTIVE: That was around April that you last saw him, right? JODI ARIAS, DEFENDANT: Early April. FLORES: You haven't been back in town since then? ARIAS: No, I haven't at all. KAYE: As the phone call ended, Jodi offered a final thought. ARIAS: What if I had just gone down there? What if I had never moved and I would have been there and I could have come help? KAYE: But investigators are able to place Jodi at the crime scene, thanks to a handprint, hair, and Travis' camera discovered in his washing machine. BETH KARAS, TRUTV: Can you imagine when the police found the camera? And they said, oh, the camera is destroyed. It's been through the washing machine. But they take that little memory card and they find these photos. And Detective Flores got the call, you're not going to believe this, what we have got. KAYE (on camera): The memory card survived the wash? KARAS: The memory card survived the wash. KAYE (voice-over): Those photos lay out a timeline. At 5:30 p.m., Jodi uses the camera to take the last picture of Travis alive. He's in the shower. KARAS: She's taking pictures of him, and probably said to him, oh, let me get a picture of you seated, because she needed to level the playing field. She's able to stab him in the heart. KAYE: Investigators say there is a struggle in the bathroom and then Jodi follows Travis into his bedroom. KARAS: He falls. Maybe he's on his hands and knees, and that's when she did the coup de grace across his neck and then turned him over and turned him around and dragged him down the hall. KAYE: This is at 5:32 p.m. It is one of three accidental photos taken after the last shower picture. Prosecutors will later claim it's Jodi's leg over Travis' upper body as she prepares to drag him back to the shower. FLORES: What if I could show you proof you were there? ARIAS: I wasn't there. FLORES: You need to be honest with me, Jodi. ARIAS: I was not at Travis' house. I was not. FLORES: You were at Travis' house. You guys had a sexual encounter, which there's pictures. ARIAS: Are you sure those pictures aren't from another time? FLORES: Positive, absolutely positive. KAYE: By now, it was July. Jodi was in police custody. But she was still sticking to version number one. FLORES: This is absolutely over. You need to tell me the truth. ARIAS: Listen, the truth is I did not hurt Travis. FLORES: Jodi, you can it continue to do this, OK? A records check shows you have reported a gun stolen, .25 auto. Just happens to be the same caliber as the weapon used to kill him. ARIAS: A .25 auto was used to kill Travis? KAYE: During that same interview, there was this, yoga moves, stretches, and even a headstand. POLITAN: I believe it tells that you Jodi Arias is trying to get comfortable in that room, and she's not able to get comfortable because she has to change her story, because investigators have more evidence than she thought they were going to have. KAYE: The same day, detectives question Jodi's parents. Her mother, Sandra, was emotional and shocked. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just -- I can't even imagine. And, my God, I just can't even think about it. How could she come back and (INAUDIBLE) and then when he friends called her and told her that he died, she totally freaked out, like she knew nothing about it. I mean, how can somebody do that? KAYE: Her father, Bill, less surprised. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Later on she kept telling me she was going to leave, leave the area. I go, why? She said I can't tell you what's going on, but all I know is I got to leave. I go, why? She goes, because I might be blamed for something. I go, what? KAYE: Both agreed on one important thing. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jodi has mental problems. Jodi would freak out all the time. I had quite a few of her friends call me and tell me that I needed to get her some help. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told her one time when she was -- called me and started yelling. And I said, you know what? Have you ever thought of yourself as being bipolar? Oh, my God, she cried, she cried hysterically. KAYE: The very next day, Jodi decided to change her story to version two. KARAS: She talked about two intruders coming into the house, and that they attacked Travis, and they're attacking her, and she gets wounded in the incident, and he's being stabbed and he's yelling and he's screaming and telling her go to the neighbors and get help. ARIAS: They didn't discuss much. They just argued. FLORES: About what? ARIAS: About whether or not to kill me. FLORES: For what reason? ARIAS: Because I'm a witness. FLORES: A witness to what? ARIAS: Him, of Travis. FLORES: Of Travis' murder? KAYE: Jodi version two to the court of public opinion months later on the show "Inside Edition." ARIAS: I witnessed Travis being attacked by two other individuals. QUESTION: Who? ARIAS: I don't know who they were. I couldn't pick them out in a police lineup. KAYE: And she made this bold prediction. ARIAS: No jury is going to convict me. QUESTION: Why not? ARIAS: Because I'm innocent, and you can mark my words on that one. KAYE: Then, in 2010, two years after the murder, Jodi's lawyer files a court document indicating Jodi will change her story yet again. She would finally admit to killing Travis, but claim it was self-defense. POLITAN: Story one, I wasn't there. I wasn't there. What are you talking about? Version number two, all right, I was there. But there were these two ninjas that came in and they killed Travis and they threatened to kill me and I was able to get out of there. Story three, I was there, and I did it, but I did it in self- defense because Travis was going to kill me. KAYE: Coming up, the trial. Jodi takes the stand to give her side of the story. ARIAS: He called me a bitch and kicked me in the ribs. (END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KAYE (voice-over): It's been more than four years since friends discovered Travis Alexander's dead body crumpled up in his bathroom shower. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jodi Arias killed Travis Alexander. There is no question about it. The million-dollar question is, what would have forced her to do it? KAYE: After telling two different stories about her innocence, Jodi now admitted under oath that she was the killer. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill Travis Alexander on June 4, 2008? ARIAS: Yes, I did. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? ARIAS: The simple answer is that he attacked me, and I defended myself. KAYE: But she denied the charge against her, that she had planned Travis' murder. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? ARIAS: The simple answer is that he attacked me, and I defended myself. KAYE: She pled not guilty, claiming self-defense, that she was forced to kill Travis. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In just those two minutes, Jodi had to make a choice. She would either live or she would die. POLITAN: In a death penalty case, you want sympathy. You need an explanation for the defendant's actions and what they did. KAYE: The defense's explanation was to blame the victim. KARAS: That's what they have to do in a self-defense case. KAYE: "In Session"'s Beth Karas has been in the courtroom every day of the trial. KARAS: They have to blame the victim. They're saying, look, he was attacking me. He was about to kill me. I had no choice. Her problem is that self-defense, you can use force when you are being threatened. But you have to use equal force. KAYE: The defense called witnesses, including a close friend, to try and shatter the image of Travis as the poor Mormon man. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In your religion, is premarital sex allowed? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Travis claim to be a virgin? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he did. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he seem happy to be a virgin? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did he seem proud? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. KARAS: Travis Alexander, there's no question he was conflicted. He was trying to be a good Mormon and probably was, except when it came to Jodi Arias. She would have sex with him. And they kept it a secret. But if this got out, it would hurt his standing in his church, in his social circle. It might have hurt him professionally. KAYE: Jodi was, in the words of her defense attorney, Travis' dirty little secret, something he vividly demonstrated in this lurid phone call. TRAVIS ALEXANDER, VICTIM: You are hot. Start touching yourself. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you hear this call, it's -- it's crucial to understand the difference, the difference between the type of person that Travis portrayed himself to be vs. the things that he said on this recorded call. ALEXANDER: That was so hot. That actually sounded like -- the way you moan there, it sounds like, it sounds like you're a 12-year- old girl having her first orgasm. That's so hot. KAYE: Jodi's attorneys argue that Travis was just the last in a long line of people, family and boyfriends, who had physically and mentally abused Jodi. KARAS: It appears their strategy was that everything that happened in her life from her childhood and through all of the relationships with men culminated in this killing. KIRK NURMI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Your life was pretty ideal up until about age 7. Was something different after age 7 or... ARIAS: I think that is the first year my dad started using a belt. KAYE: Jodi told the court that her brawny father inflicted great pain. ARIAS: As I became a teenager, my dad would get rougher and rougher. He would just shove me into furniture, sometimes into the piano or things like that, into tables, desks, chairs, whatever was around. He would just push me really hard and I would go flying into that. KAYE: And with her mother looking on from the front row, Jodi also accused her of being abusive. ARIAS: My mom began to carry a wooden spoon in her purse. If we were misbehaving, she would use it on us. NURMI: What do you mean by use it on you? ARIAS: She would hit us with it. NURMI: She hit you hard? ARIAS: It felt pretty hard, yes. KAYE: Jodi portrayed herself as the victim of a string of bad choices when it came to men, describing one abusive relationship after another, especially Travis Alexander, admitting that she loved him despite his being what she described as demeaning, physically abusive, and controlling. ARIAS: He body-slammed me on the floor at the foot of his bed. He called me a bitch and he kicked me in the rubs. And that hurt for real. KAYE: A somber Jodi recalled that the day Travis baptized her, what was supposed to be a new beginning turned out to be more of the same. ARIAS: I was in my church clothes. He was in his church clothes. The kissing got more passionate, more intense. And then he spun me around. And he bent me over the bed, and he was just on top of me. I didn't think anything was -- I thought he was just going to keep kissing me. He began to have anal sex with me. And... NURMI: After this encounter, on this spiritual day, how did you feel about yourself? ARIAS: After he left, shortly after he left, I felt -- I didn't feel very good. I kind of felt like a used piece of toilet paper. KAYE: For the victim's family sitting in the courtroom, the portrayal of an allegedly domineering and sexual Travis was difficult to hear. NURMI: Do me a favor and take a look at this exhibit and see if you recognize it. KAYE: Text messages from Travis appearing to treat Jodi as his sex slave. NURMI: He says that this photo shoot is going to be one of the best experience of your life and his. He also says "You will rejoice in being a whore that's sole purchase is to be mine to have animal sex and to please me in any way I desire." KAYE: Jodi even accused Travis of being a pedophile. ARIAS: I walked in and Travis was on the bed masturbating. He started grabbing at something on the bed. And I realized they were papers. And, as he was grabbing the papers, one -- one kind of went sailing off the bed, and it was a picture of a little boy. POLITAN: The defense is trying, literally, to trash Travis. NURMI: You were still willing to be tied to a tree, if that's what he wanted? POLITAN: Attack his character. ARIAS: Assertive, aggressive, and authoritative. POLITAN: Make the jury dislike him. ARIAS: He said I looked like a pure whore. POLITAN: Hate him. Loathe him. Because he's the bad guy. He's the evil doer. He's the pedophile. He's the sexual deviant. This guy is bad news. And he's the one who ruined Jodi Arias's life. He's the one that made her do it. KAYE: To the defense, it was Travis, the monster, Jodi his victim. But to the prosecution, it was all an unsustainable lie. MARTINEZ: When do you decide to tell the truth? When you're in this court and no place else? Is that what -- what I'm hearing from you? ARIAS: No. KAYE: Coming up, the prosecutor goes on attack. MARTINEZ: Just because you're in this court doesn't mean you have to tell the truth, right? That's what you're telling us, right? ARIAS: That's not what I'm telling anyone. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ARIAS: No jury is going to convict me. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not? ARIAS: Because I'm innocent. And you can mark my words on that one. No jury will convict me. I made that statement in September 2008. And at the time, I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me, because I didn't expect any of you to be here. MARTINEZ: And as you say that, you're referring to not being convicted because you're going to commit suicide? ARIAS: That's correct. MARTINEZ: You're saying that you're innocent, right? ARIAS: Yes. MARTINEZ: And you believe that no jury would convict you because you are going to lie your way out of it, right? NURMI: Objection, argumentative. STEPHENS: Sustained. KAYE: Jodi Arias has since admitted to killing Travis Alexander but claimed it was a justified split-second decision to save her own life. POLITAN: The road to the death penalty here is paved with premeditation. That's what the prosecution has to prove. So where do they go for premeditation? KAYE: For starters, prosecutor Juan Martinez goes to what he says was Jodi's attempt at a cover up, like wanting a less conspicuous rental car to drive to Travis's house. MARTINEZ: You didn't want the color red, correct? The color red seems to stand out, doesn't it? ARIAS: I don't know. I just heard they get more tickets. MARTINEZ: Right. And so it had to do with the police department, right? You did not want to stand out. KAYE: Borrowing gas cans from a former boyfriend. POLITAN: The gas cans, she didn't want to leave any trace behind that she was ever in Arizona. Story No. 1 was "I wasn't there." So she fills the gas cans up with gas so she doesn't have to stop at any gas stations in Arizona. KAYE: And just hours after killing Travis, calling his cell phone and leaving a message. MARTINEZ: This is the number 365. ARIAS (via phone): My phone died, so I wasn't getting back to anybody. And what else? Oh, and I drove a hundred miles in the wrong direction, over a hundred miles, thank you very much. So yes. Remember New Mexico? It was a lot like that, only you weren't here to prevent me from going into the three digits so fun, fun. Tell you all about that later. MARTINEZ: And the reason you went to great lengths to do that was because if there was any suspicion, it wouldn't be drawn to you, correct? ARIAS: Not immediately, no. That was the plan. MARTINEZ: Right. You wanted the police to look elsewhere, right? ARIAS: I guess. MARTINEZ: So you called Mr. Alexander and you left him a message, right? ARIAS: Yes. KAYE: But despite her early efforts at a cover-up, Jodi now took the jury through the grizzly details of the killing, starting when she dropped Travis's new camera. ARIAS: At that point Travis flipped out again. He stood up, and he stepped out of the shower, and he picked me up as he was screaming that I was a stupid idiot. And he body slammed me again on the tile. He told me that a five-year-old could hold a camera better than I can. When I hit the tile, I rolled over on the side and started running down the hallway. I went into his closet and I slammed the door. KAYE: Then, Jodi reached for a .25 caliber gun she said Travis kept on the shelf. ARIAS: I grabbed the gun. I ran out of the closet. He was chasing me. I turned around. And we were in the middle of the bathroom. I pointed it at him with both of my hands. I thought that would stop him. If someone were pointing a gun at me, I would stop. But he just kept running. He got like a linebacker. He got kind of low and grabbed my waist. But before he did that, as he was lunging at me, the gun went off. POLITAN: There is zero evidence, independent evidence, evidence other than words out of Jodi Arias's mouth, that established Travis Alexander as a gun owner. There is none. MARTINEZ: Your grandfather also had guns, didn't he? KAYE: Prosecutor Juan Martinez's theory was that one week before killing Travis, Jodi had staged a burglary at the home she shared with her grandparents. MARTINEZ: You heard what items were taken, including a .25 caliber handgun. You heard that, right? ARIAS: Yes, I heard that. POLITAN: Prosecutors were questioning this burglary because they believe the .25 caliber gun that was allegedly stolen from her grandfather's house was actually the gun used by Jodi Arias to shoot Travis Alexander. KAYE: When Travis's body was found in the shower, there was only one bullet wound but almost 30 knife wounds, and he'd nearly been decapitated, an unforgettable scene that Jodi claims she doesn't remember. ARIAS: I have no memory of stabbing him. I was in the bathroom. I remember dropping the knife and it clanged to the tile. It made a big noise, and I just remember screaming. I don't remember anything after that. There's a lot of that day that I don't remember. There are a lot of gaps. Like I don't know if I blacked out or what. But huge gaps. BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": She had such memory recall of things from years before: details of meals, how many people were in the elevator, what happened on this day, what kind of sex she had on that date, but when it came to slicing and stabbing Travis Alexander 29 times, she had no recollection. MARTINEZ: Are you saying that you're having a hard time remembering things that are happening now that you shot him? ARIAS: Yes. MARTINEZ: So it appears your memory becomes faulty immediately upon you shooting him? ARIAS: Yes, things get very foggy from there. MARTINEZ: That immediately -- the shot takes him down, and it creates a fog for you. Is that what you're saying? ARIAS: It begins to create a fog. KAYE: A psychologist for the defense testified that the fog was caused by the stress of Travis's attack. DR. RICHARD SAMUELS, PSYCHOLOGIST: It appears as if she suffers from dissociative amnesia. And according to the research, the more intense the drama, the more likely and the more complete the amnesia. KAYE: Dr. Samuels said Jodi's amnesia was caused by posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD. Another defense expert testified that Jodi was a victim of domestic violence. WILLMOTT: Given everything that you have reviewed, that you've read in this case, that you've seen, do you have an opinion, an ultimate opinion, in your expertise, about whether or not Ms. Arias was in an abusive relationship? ALYCE LAVIOLETTE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXPERT: Yes, I believe she was in an abusive relationship. WILLMOTT: And do you believe, in your expert opinion, that Jodi was a battered woman -- or is a battered woman? LAVIOLETTE: Yes, I do. KAYE: But Martinez tore into the defense experts. SAMUELS: I'm sorry. I don't see it that way. MARTINEZ: Right. You wouldn't see it that way, because you have feelings for the defendant, right? SAMUELS: I beg your pardon, sir. MARTINEZ: You seem to be having trouble answering my questions. If you have a problem understanding the question, ask me that. If you want to -- do you want to spar with me? Is that -- will that affect the way you view your testimony? WILLMOTT: Objection. Argumentative. STEPHENS: Sustained. KAYE: And on his final exchange with Jodi Arias, Martinez made, perhaps, his most important point. That she is a liar. MARTINEZ: So you lied to him, right? ARIAS: Well... NURMI: Objection, argumentative. Asked and answered. STEPHENS: Sustained. MARTINEZ: You didn't tell the whole story then, right? That's what you said, right? ARIAS: That would be accurate. KAYE: And, with that, prosecutor Juan Martinez abruptly ended his grilling and gripping cross-examination of Jodi Arias. Next, jurors get a turn to ask questions. STEPHENS: "What is your understanding of the word 'skank'." KAYE: A hint of what they might be thinking. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARTINEZ: Can you imagine how much it must have hurt Mr. Alexander when you stuck that knife right into his chest? That really must have hurt, right? NURMI: Objection. Argumentative. STEPHENS: Sustained. KAYE: In Arizona, lawyers aren't the only ones who can grill witnesses. After weeks of testifying, Jodi Arias faced questions from the jury. STEPHENS: This is the time set for the court to ask the questions you have submitted. "How is it that you were so calm on the television interviews?" POLITAN: It's rare that jurors get to ask questions. And this jury asked hundreds and hundreds of questions to the witnesses and to the defendant herself. This is the woman who faces murder one charges and the death penalty, and the jury asking her questions. Some of them asking very, very important questions; others, a little sarcastic. STEPHENS: "What is your understanding of the word 'skank'?" KAYE: They had questions about Jodi's sex life with Travis. STEPHENS: "If you didn't want to be tied up to a tree, why would you go up and look for a place where he can do that?" KAYE: Questions about her killing Travis. STEPHENS: "Were you mad at Travis while you were stabbing him? Why did you put the camera in the washer?" KAYE: Questions about her faulty memory. STEPHENS: "You claim to have memory lapses or gaps during times of stress such as when you are being yelled at or grilled. How is it that you have such vivid and specific memories of violence and yelling by Travis such a long time ago if this is the case?" KAYE: And question after question about Jodi's many lies. STEPHENS: "Why did you decide to tell the truth two years after the killing?" "Why did you wait for so long to tell the truth?" "Would you decide to tell the truth if you never got arrested?" ARIAS: I honestly don't know the answer to that question. POLITAN: I believe the jurors who asked those questions did not believe her. KAYE: After the barrage of questions and testimony from a few more defense witnesses... NURMI: At this point, the defense rests. KAYE: Next up, prosecutor Juan Martinez with rebuttal witnesses. A friend of Travis. MARTINEZ: How often would you see that they were affectionate? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just about every time that they were together. KAYE: An ex-girlfriend. DEANNA REID, EX-GIRLFRIEND OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: We never really got mad at each other. We had a fun relationship. We liked being together. KAYE: And police officers. STEPHENS: Detective, you were previously sworn in this case. You are still under oath. POLITAN: Jodi Arias said she got the gun from Travis's closet. That was his gun. So Juan Martinez has to recall the lead detective, put him up on the stand, to establish to the jury that there was zero evidence that Travis Alexander owned a .25 caliber. MARTINEZ: And during the search, was the house searched from bottom to top? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was. MARTINEZ: And it has two floors on it, correct? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. MARTINEZ: Was the attic, did somebody go inside the attic to see what they could find? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. MARTINEZ: And in this particular search, were there ever -- when you looked around, was there ever a holster that was found? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, there was no holster found. MARTINEZ: Was there ever a gun case that was found? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, there was no gun casing. MARTINEZ: Were there any indications that a gun had ever been there? For example, were there any spare bullets of any caliber found throughout the house? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing. KAYE: Martinez worked to cast out on every aspect of Jodi's story. Both what she claimed happened and what the defense witnesses said was her state of mind. Clinical psychologist Janeen DeMarte had conducted a 12-hour clinical interview with Jodi. JANEEN DEMARTE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I conducted the four tests we've already discussed. MARTINEZ: And after that, did you have an opinion as to what the diagnosis was in this case? DEMARTE: After looking at that, taking into consideration her behavioral observations and all of the different pieces of information that I had, yes, I did. MARTINEZ: And what was that? DEMARTE: I diagnosed her axis 2 borderline personality disorder. MARTINEZ: What does that mean? DEMARTE: You can think of it similar to what we see in teenagers, often. This sense of immaturity. There's unstable interpersonal relationships, unstable emotions and an unstable sense of identity. Meaning who am I as a person. There's this constant fluctuation. There's a lot of manipulation. KAYE: The defense attempted to discredit DeMarte's diagnosis by calling one last witness. WILLMOTT: Do you have an opinion with regard to whether or not Dr. DeMarte has an adequate understanding of how to administer these tests and make a diagnosis? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. WILLMOTT: OK, what is that opinion? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She does not appear to have either an adequate understanding of their uses or their interpretation or the actual ways those tests are to be used. KAYE: Finally, closing arguments. POLITAN: The key for the prosecution is premeditation. Premeditation in this case is the road to first-degree, which is what then puts this case into the death penalty phase. Premeditation. That she reflected upon her plan to kill Travis Alexander. Doesn't have to take a week, doesn't have to take a month. Could just be a moment, but he has to prove that Jodi Arias planned the killing, had time to reflect on it and then acted on that plan. MARTINEZ: This individual, the defendant, Jodi Anne Arias, killed Travis Alexander. And even after stabbing him over and over again, and even after slashing his throat from ear to ear, and then even after taking a gun, shooting him in the face, she will not let him rest in peace. But, now, instead of a gun, instead of a knife, she uses lies. And she uses these lies in court when she testified. She's an individual who is manipulative. This is an individual who wants to play the victim. POLITAN: Juan Martinez closing arguments, clear theme is manipulation. That Jodi Arias manipulates everybody, including the members of the jury by lying to them. Lying to Travis. Lying to investigators. That's a theme throughout. KAYE: Then, it was the defense's term, with Kirk Nurmi making their case. NURMI: It's not even about whether or not you like Jodi Arias. Nine days outs of ten, I don't like Jodi Arias. POLITAN: Anything less than first-degree is a victory for the defense here. So what you want to play is obviously their story of self-defense, that something happened in the heat of passion between these two people, who, at one time, were linked as lovers. NURMI: Jodi Arias says Travis Alexander yelled at her for dropping the camera. He called her stupid. He says even a 5-year-old could hold a camera. And then he jumps out. And then he attacks. And then he holds her down. And she remembers that, on a previous occasion, when he held her down, he had choked her to the point where she lost consciousness. She feared that it might go farther. This time was different. He was angry. He was angry in a different way. She was in reasonable fear that he was going to end her life. KAYE: As 12 jurors begin to deliberate behind closed doors, perhaps they've already provided us with a clue to what they contemplate while deciding the fate of Jodi Arias. STEPHENS: "After all the lives you have told, why should we believe you now?" POLITAN: It's been four months that this jury had listened to witness after witness. They've asked questions. They've heard arguments. But now, it's all in their hands. Now, for the first time, this jury is in control of this trial. This jury will decide what happens to Jodi Arias. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: You heard the testimony, you looked into her eyes. What did you see? What do you think? As for what the jury thinks, what the jury decides, stay tuned. And thanks for watching this Anderson Cooper special report.


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American expert warns about gay agenda
PETER LABARBERA's Interview
By OZIEL ALVES
To ENFOQUE GOSPEL Magazine
EG: How long have you been involved in pro-life and pro-family work? How did you get started?
PL: I have been active in pro-life and pro-family work for over 18 years. Prior to that, I was active in the conservative movement, opposing the Left's pro-Marxist agenda in Central America and working as a reporter for The Washington Times, which is one of the best conservative news sources in the United States.
I got involved with the pro-family movement when I went to work for Concerned Women for America (even though I am a man). CWA is a wonderful Christian organization led by Beverly LaHaye that is based in
EG: How do you classify the gay agenda in the world? Are they getting stronger than the church, worldwide?
PL: The "gay agenda" – actually the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) agenda -- is basically anything that promotes the acceptance of homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality (gender confusion) in society and the law. That includes: promoting homosexual so-called "marriage" or "civil unions" (which is merely "same-sex marriage" by another name); homosexual adoption of children (which creates homes that are not in the best interest of children because they are motherless or fatherless by design); promoting homosexual, bisexual, and "transgender" identities in school programs and through "GLBT-friendly" curricula; pro-gay "hate crimes" laws that ultimately will be used to restrict the speech and freedom of Christians who oppose homosexuality; "sexual orientation" nondiscrimination laws that wrongly create "civil rights" and "human rights" based on immoral, changeable, and destructive homosexual behavior; "transgender" rights laws and corporate policies that build acceptance for the radical idea that men can change their God-given "gender" and become a woman, and vice versa; allowing open homosexuality in the military; corporate policies that force Christians and other moral dissenters to listen to pro-"gay" lectures at work; attempts by pro-homosexual theologians to re-write the Bible so that it does not say that homosexuality is sinful; efforts to deny the truth that God can help homosexuals change and that homosexuals are not "born that way" -- i.e., that they are destined to practice immoral behavior because this is "who they are."
EG: Do you think, we (The Christian People) will win the fight against the legalization of gay marriage, adoption and other homosexual rights since the gay activists are subsidized by billionaire foundations? I just ask it, because it seems that they are getting so strong, conquering their dreams, etc., and at the same time the bible says that we are not of this world and that the world will be dominated by the devil. Don't you think that sometimes our fight is for nothing and that we should not waste our time and just try to preach the gospel?
PL: I don't know if we will win or not (in this particular era). We lost the struggle over legal abortion in the
I do not think that a Christian needs to make a choice between engaging in public policy and witnessing the Gospel. You can do both. Certainly, we need spiritual revival to happen for serious change to occur in
EG: Soon the world will know the next United States President. We know that the decisions taken by this nation (USA) have a huge impact on many other nations' decisions – Brazil, for example. So, my question is "On the politics of human life and human sexuality what is coming to affect the world in the following year?"
PL: If the Democrats win in November, we will see a seismic shift in this country, as the Democrats have gone very pro-homosexual in the last decade. (They have been pro-abortion-on-demand even longer.) Recently, Democrat Al Gore – who barely lost in his bid for the presidency in 2004 – came out for "same-sex marriage." Many other leading Democrats will do the same, and some in the (more conservative) Republican Party are also pushing the pro-"gay" line. If a Democrat is elected in November, we will almost certainly see passage of federal pro-homosexual "Employment Nondiscrimination" and "Hate Crimes" legislation – which could have far-reaching effects for American Christians and anyone who opposes homosexuality. Also, it is likely that federal "domestic partner" legislation could be signed into law, as well as a law allowing open homosexuals in the military (as is already allowed in
Regarding abortion and abstinence education, a Democratic administration would likely step up abortion advocacy and funding in U.S. foreign aid, as well as push so-called "comprehensive sex education" – which is a liberal euphemism for pro-condom "sex ed" (so-called "safe sex") that would end the Bush policy of strongly favoring abstinence policies in U.S. education. There are stark differences between the Democrats and Republicans, even if McCain is not as conservative as many pro-family advocates would like.
EG: Slowly the gay agenda is getting what they want. Nowadays some of them as NAMBLA for instance, are fighting to have the right of having free sexual relationship with boys less than 18 years old. Do you think that someday they will be successful in their battle – that free sex between adults and children will be the future of the gay agenda, or is that something which will never happen?
PL: NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) is a tiny group here. NAMBLA used to march in some American "gay pride" parades but is now denounced by all major homosexual activist groups. (They knew it was bad public relations to join with open pedophiles.) However, homosexual activists are working to lower the "age of consent" for homosexual sex, which accomplishes one of NAMBLA's goals: making it legal for teenagers to engage in homosexual sodomy – which often occurs with adults. The reality today is that young men are dying of AIDS – after being infected by older homosexual men with the disease. How sad that the tremendous health hazards of male homosexuality are not taught to impressionable youngsters. It is not a coincidence that many "gay" men die young – it is directly tied to the unnatural behaviors (e.g., sodomy) that they practice. For excellent (secular) research on the homosexuality and gender confusion (transgenderism), I recommend NARTH (National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) at www.narth.com.
EG: Recently, many gay sexual scandals involving very recognized preachers in the USA churches come up. One of them is Tag Haggard a pastor which was a great leader and also counselor of President Bush. Another case was pastor Jeff Devore, who was put in jail after he was discovered distributing children pornography. Which effects these constant scandals are causing in the pro-family fight against the gay agenda in the USA?
PL: The sex scandals have of course diminished respect for the Christian Church in the USA. There is nothing that the liberal media and the American Left love more than signs of gross hypocrisy in the Church. However, I consider the three greatest threats in America today regarding homosexuality and the Church to be: 1) the continued opposition of so many pastors and churches to getting involved in public policy and cultural issues – that is, to take public stands in defense of Biblical morality; 2) the rise of an avowedly anti-Christian (atheist) political/cultural movement in the USA; and 3) the growth of left-wing evangelicalism in the U.S. – e.g., leaders like Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis who advocate FOR pro-homosexual laws in the name of Christian "justice."
EG: In some regions of the United States, homosexual "marriage" and adoption are already legal. How has the gospel church been leading in areas where these "gay rights" are in place?
PL: I do not think that most Bible-believing churches have been particularly effective on this issue – with some key exceptions. For example, many evangelical churches have helped to pass pro-defense-of marriage amendments (to keep marriage as one-man, one-woman) in many states, and many churches have reached out in love to homosexual strugglers with the hope of the Gospel. However, in areas of the
EG: Do you know some gospel church which has been already obliged to celebrate a gay "marriage"?
PL: No, this has not happened yet in the USA, but certainly in the future we will certainly see homosexual lawsuits against churches that refuse to perform (counterfeit) "gay marriages." After all, liberals falsely equate opposition to homosexuality with "hate" and racism – and racism is opposed in our legal system. More serious pro-gay harassing lawsuits will probably not happen in
EG: What's the role and importance of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality in the United States?
PL: Americans For Truth (www.americansfortruth.org) is one of a tiny number of groups worldwide dedicated solely to fighting the homosexual and transsexual activist agendas. The homosexual activists spend far more promoting homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality than the entire, collective pro-family movement in the
EG: Do you think that in the future the homosexual agenda can put an end in the freedom of religion worldwide?
PL: I certainly hope not. In fact, in
EG: What results would you hope to see come from this pro-family activists meeting organized by VINACC here in Brazil?
PL: Although I unfortunately was forced to miss the VINACC meeting due to a travel visa snafu, I trust that Brazilian pro-family advocate Julio Severo was able to motivate the conference. Julio is a real hero – he even has a following here in the
EG: There are some pastors here in Brazil that say that the battle of the Christian people against the gay agenda will not put an end in that practice. So, that we should not waste our time in these battles with the government but instead preach the gospel to everybody as the bible asks us to do. In your opinion what will be consequences to the church if we don't get united in this fight against the pro-homosexual movement?
PL: As I said earlier, I think it would be disastrous. When Christians or conservatives abandon politics, another agenda will fill that void – and it will be the pro-homosexual and pro-abortion Left's agenda! Again, this does NOT mean we should stop preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to homosexuals and to ALL sinners. That is a Christian's highest calling. But political organization and mobilization carries the day in a democracy and in determining what kind of society we live in -- so we cannot leave that arena to pro-abortion and pro-homosexual forces that are at war with God's moral law.
EG: Are there some political consequences to the church if we consider the Brazilian gay agenda and the American gay agenda?
PL: Yes, the homosexual lobby hates the Christian Church, because they hate what the Bible teaches about homosexuality as an egregious sin (abomination) that CAN be overcome through the power of Jesus Christ. This is why revisionist homosexual theologians are working so hard to re-write the Bible to accommodate their sinful behavior. They make up lies, such as that David and Jonathan in the Old Testament were homosexual lovers -- which is ridiculous. (Here is a terrific Christian website to refute homosexual theology: www.robgagnon.net.) This is why faithful Christians need to contend for the faith! We must not allow the homosexual activists to undermine the Word of God on this issue.
EG: One of the political campaign policy items that Americans for Truth has adopted is to not participate in any political campaign favoring or opposing to any candidate for public office. What about the next president of the United States. Does the Americans for Truth support somebody?
PL: As a tax-exempt non-profit organization, Americans For Truth is forbidden by the U.S. Government from getting involved in presidential elections – e.g., endorsing a candidates. I formed the website "Republicans For Family Values" (www.rffv.org) so I could speak out on the presidential contest. At www.rffv.org, we will be exposing the Democrats' (Barack Obama and/or Hillary Clinton) radical pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality records. Most Americans simply are unaware of how radical the Democrats are, because the liberal media does not report this information.
EG: In case the Brazilian homosexual agenda gets the approval of their gay protection laws, what would be your counsel to the pastor of our nation?
PL: First of all, I would urge that pastors get involved now to PREVENT onerous pro-homosexual bills from becoming law. That is the key. Once these bills become laws, they are very hard to overturn. ("Rights" – even bogus ones based on homosexuality – are hard to take away.) Pastors and churches need to help educate Christians on the dangerous impact of pro-gay laws – which "criminalize" our right to stand for God's truth on the issue of same-sex behavior. Look at what has happened in
EG: In the countries where the homosexual agenda has reached their objectives, as in Spain for instance, can you already point to serious consequences to the church?
PL: Absolutely. In
EG: Before God, there is no excuse. Same-sex "marriage" is a sin with very hard consequences. But out this evangelical context, we know that the institutionalization of the homosexual marriage could be also considered bad for the marriage, bad for children and bad for the society. Could you point some negative social aspects which will be bad for the society in future even for those who are not Christian (for example, lower marriage rates, instability in the marriages, more fatherless children, domestic violence and so on)?
PL: From a public policy and cultural standpoint, homosexual "marriage" and "civil unions" laws are a disaster. We have seen that in the Scandinavian countries where homosexual "unions" laws giving marital-type rights and benefits to same-sex couples have been around a while, there is less respect generally among the citizenry for the institution of marriage. In other words, when you open up marriage to everybody – and completely change its meaning -- you degrade this critical institution that is the foundation for healthy societies and strong families. Homosexual "civil union" and "marriage" laws (in the
Study after study has shown that the healthiest and most stable environment for raising children is a two-parent married household with a mother and father. Also, we know that homosexual male "monogamous relationships" are notoriously unstable and promiscuous – that is, they usually are not really "monogamous" but allow "outside sex" in the relationship. "Gay parenting" is a social experiment whose repercussions we do not know. One study by pro-homosexual researchers found that children raised by homosexuals were more likely than children of non-gay parents to experiment with homosexual behaviors themselves. What strikes me in this rush for the government to promote homosexual relationships and "gay parenting" is that it is NOT motivated by what's best for the children – but rather the desires of "gay" adults. All public policy should be motivated by the need to create healthy environments for raising children – which is why we favor laws that preserve and reward traditional marriage.
EG: What about the schools? Are you supporter of the opinion that the school is the future prostitution zone? Are you also a defender of the home schooling?
PL: We are now home-schooling one of our five children, and already I see the biggest advantage of home schooling: you as parents get to determine what your child studies and learns. In
I hope and pray that Brazil's public schools do not follow in the pattern of American schools. Here we have seen the growth of an extensive pro-homosexual network in the schools. It started in colleges, then moved to high schools, and now it is expanding in middle schools – and even elementary schools, where young children are taught to value homosexual-led "families"! The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is a well-funded group that promotes homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality in the
Another tragedy is that boys and girls are "coming out" as "gay" at far younger ages than in decades past. How can a 13-year-old boy know he is a homosexual ("gay"), or a 12-year-old girl know she is a lesbian? We need to expose these kids to FORMER homosexuals like Charlene Cothran, who overcame years of living as a lesbian activist after she came to know Jesus Christ (see the story about Cothran by plugging her name in AFTAH's web "Search" engine: www.americansfortruth.org). They need to see that homosexuality is about CHANGEABLE BEHAVIOR, not some identity that you are born with and which defines a person. And they need to be taught the truth of the Bible: that homosexual behavior is always wrong and offensive to our holy and loving Creater.
EG: Here I want to leave an open space for you to say something for the Brazilian church from the extreme north and extreme south:
PL: You must not capitulate to this anti-God agenda which is in the vanguard of restricting Christian's rights and undermining time-tested, Judeo-Christian morality. The Lord is the same "yesterday, today, and forever"; He has not changed and His views on sexual immorality remain the same: homosexual acts are as wrong today as they were 4,000 years ago. Just as in early New Testament times, Jesus can redeem people from this sin, so as Christians we must reach out with the love of Christ to men and women who struggle with this sin problem. We must spread the word that just as there were "former homosexuals" in Bible times, there are "ex-gays" today – living testimonies to the awesome, transforming power of our living Lord! Society may be becoming more and more decadent, but we as believers are charged with being "salt and light" by telling the Truth and witnessing to a lost and perishing generation. We must always fear God and not man when it comes to our truth-telling efforts. I pray that
Peter LaBarbera does not speak Portuguese (yet!) but he can be reached at Americans For Truth through the website (www.americansfortruth.org) or by e-mail (email@example.com) or by phone: 630-717-7631.
Interview originally given to Brazilian evangelical magazine Enfoque Gospel and now published in Last Days Watchman

subset: commoncrawl


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When Pete Sampras retired from professional tennis in 2003 he owned 14 Grand Slam trophies, a record at the time for the sport. Now he's down to 13.
That's because the Los Angeles storage facility where he kept much of his hardware was robbed three weeks ago and one of the prized possessions that went missing was a Grand Slam trophy. Many of the awards from 64 championship victories, two Davis Cups, his Olympic ring and six player of the year statues were also nabbed in the robbery.
"I was like, 'What?'" Sampras, 39, told the Los Angeles Times. "I thought there were security cameras. I thought these things were locked up tight. I was shocked."
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
According to the Times, Sampras said the police have no leads at this point but the investigation is continuing. Sampras said that police suggested he speak publicly about the incident now in hopes that it would help break the case.
The hard-hitting Maryland native, who currently lives in Thousand Oaks, Calif., with his wife and two sons, was most upset about not having the trophies to show his kids.
"I'm not one to gloat about trophies, or show them off," Sampras said. "I've never been like that. I just want them for my kids to see. They didn't see me play, but I'd like them to see these things."
They may never get the chance. There are, however, many awards still stowed away safely in the Sampras home and at Portland's NikeTown. These include the 13 Grand Slam trophies -- seven from Wimbledon, five from the U.S. Open and one courtesy of the Australian Open.
And it wasn't just tennis collectibles that were pinched. The crooks also made off with a Pearl Jam concert program signed by Eddie Vedder, a Carlos Santana-signed guitar and a piano bench autographed by Elton John.
"I Got Sh--" is a song on a Pearl Jam greatest hits disc -- and it could also be the soundtrack to this sad sporting episode.
Selected Reading: Los Angeles Times, MSNBC.com, Amazon.


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22 March 2012 - Lucca, Italy
Tagetik Launches new Corporate Identity: "Performance with Passion"
New tag-line, website, video, and awareness campaign for the most specialized, innovative, leading-edge vendor in the Performance Management market
Tagetik, a global provider of enterprise software solutions for Performance Management, Enterprise Governance, Risk & Compliance and Business Intelligence, today announced its new corporate identity 'Performance with Passion' and in conjunction unveiled a completely revamped website, a 'performance with passion' themed video, and an extensive awareness campaign. The focal point of the company's restyled image and messaging is customers' and partners' signatures as validation that Tagetik's dedication, innovation and unrivaled passion is a proven recipe for success.
"It all stems from our passion for doing things well," says Manuel Vellutini, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at Tagetik. "In a supermarket-like sector full of standardized products, homogenized, complex solutions, and weak personal relationships, Tagetik acts as a 'global boutique' (or say: a specialized craftsman) focused on only one thing, performance management software, and doing it well. Our specialization and 'one-to-one' service enable us to satisfy specific needs through an ever-changing, simplifying, performance management product. This specialization and passion is something we firmly believe are key differentiators in the market which is why we selected 'Performance with Passion' as the new foundation of our corporate identity.""
Our philosophy is that mutual success is merely the first point of commitment, because a signed agreement with Tagetik goes far beyond the contract," he continues. "The signature represents a unique bond and dedication to success that we have forged with our customers and partners. Many customers such as Panalpina, Grontmij, Bobrick, OCLC, M+W Group, Peuterey, Unieco, Bolton and partners like PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Alper & Schetter have contributed their signatures and are sharing their success stories to help us communicate the value 'Performance with Passion' brings to the performance management market.
"Dave Kasabian, Corporate Vice President, Product Marketing at Tagetik adds: "Customers and partners choose us because of the quality of our software solution, our ability to quickly understand and address their needs, and the dedication of the company to their success. Our decision to exclusively focus on Finance processes and finding innovative ways to address the specific challenges of the Office of the CFO in a single unified product has created a strong passion in our customer base for what we do and how we do it. 'Performance with Passion' and the signature campaign give us the opportunity to share the passion and success of our customers and partners with the performance management software marketplace. In our opinion there is no better way to communicate this than through the words and signatures of our customers and partners."
Related content: Tagetik re-asserts its passion for Performance Management by Gary Simon, FSN.
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Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
Here's an often misunderstood and misinterpreted statement: many people feel drawn to God in times of suffering.
During a serious illness, a family crises, the loss of a job, or the death of a loved one, many people will say that they turn to God… More skeptical minds may chalk this up to desperation. The person, they say, has nowhere else to turn and so turns to God. God is seen in this light as a crutch for the foolish, a refuge for the superstitious.
But… we do not turn to God in suffering because we suddenly become irrational. Rather, God is able is able to reach us because our defenses are lowered. The barriers we erected to keep out God – whether from pride or fear or lack of interest – are set aside… We are not less rational. We are more open.
Near the end of his life, my father started to talk more frequently about God. This was a complete surprise… he had, as long as I had known him, never been overly religious… My dad also became more gentle, more forgiving, and more emotional.
After his death, I remarked to my friend Janice, a Catholic sister, that my dad seemed to have become more open to God. "Yes," she said, "Dying is about becoming more human."
Her insight was true in at least two ways. First, becoming more human for my father meant recognizing his inborn connection to God, though we may ignore it, or deny it, or reject it during our lives. But with my father's defenses completely lowered, God was able to meet him in new ways. Whatever barriers had kept God at a distance no longer existed.
This, not desperation, is why there are so many profound spiritual experiences near death. The person is better able to allow God to break through.
Second, my father was becoming more human because he was becoming more loving. Drawing closer to God transforms us… the more human we become, the more divine we become.
This is not to say that God desires us to suffer. Rather, when our defenses fall, our ultimate connection is revealed.
– edited from The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life, by James Martin, SJ
Ya Haqq!


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Louisiana Police Kill Unarmed 28yr Old With A Taser! [Footage & Residents Reactions]
"The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office releases dash cam video from a deputy patrol vehicle taken the night Javon Rakestrau was tased. The 28 year old Lafayette Parish man died moments later on October 4, 2010." - 3 News
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Tag Archives: Fresno County
Living in the Shadows: California County Seeks to Eliminate Health Safety Net for the Undocumented
For 30 years, the Fresno County government, in California's Central Valley, has been one of a few in the state to cover specialized healthcare costs for low-income people who have no health insurance, despite their immigration status. The county was forced to offer this coverage through a lawsuit in 1984. Now, Fresno County is once again before a judge, asking for the legal obligation to be lifted, arguing that the majority of the patients in this program are now insured, thanks to Medicaid expansion. Most of those that would be left unprotected are undocumented. Our reporter Farida Jhabvala Romero has more details from Fresno. This story is part of Living in the Shadows, a result of the Reporting on Health Collaborative.


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This pledge closed over 6 years ago
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations in1959, states that every child (regardless of race, color, sex, language,religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family) shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation (articles 1 and 9). Furthermore, The International Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force in 1990, sets out to further protect the rights of children.
Since its imposition in Palestine, the Israeli state has not only neglected the rights of the child, but has killed, injured, imprisoned and tortured, and used Palestinian children as human shields. It has targeted playgrounds and schools. Just in the period between September 2000 and April 2013, the Israeli occupation killed 1,518 Palestinian children. This is equivalent to one Palestinian child killed by Israel every 3 days for almost 13 years! The number of Palestinian children injured by the Israelis since September 2000 has reached 6,000 (4 children physically injured every 3 days!). The number of Palestinian children imprisoned since September 2000 is 9,000. That's 6 children imprisoned every three days!They have been detained and held as prisoners often without charge and subjected to institutionalized torture, mistreatment and abuse by the occupation without protection. As of this moment, there are 236 Palestinian children (minors) detained in Israel's prisons.
Please take a moment to write and call the White House and demand that the US administration put a stop to Israel's abuse, mistreatment and torture of Palestine's children. Demand the administration use its considerable financial and military aid to the Zionist state to demand/impose an end to its abuse of the fundamental human rights of Palestine's children.
To write the White House, please use the form at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
To call the White House: 1-202-456-1111
Thank you.
Please donate to support Al-Awda's Campaign To Free the Children of Palestine. Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC) is a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3) organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States of America. Under IRS guidelines, your donations to PRRC are tax-deductible. To donate, go to http://al-awda.org/donate.html and follow the simple instructions.


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Drive To End Hunger
Your test drive on November 13th – 17th will generate 200 meals for Feeding America. What's more, you'll receive a $1,000 BMW credit.
* Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger relief organization, helps provide food through a network of 200 food banks. One dollar helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of member food banks.
** $1,000 offer valid on eligible vehicles delivered and retailed 11/13/2018 through 01/31/2019. Eligible models include most new MY2018 and MY2019 BMWs. Ineligible models include MY18 M2 Coupe and M3 CS, MY19 X5, MY19 M2 Competition, M4 CS and M5, MINI vehicles and BMW Pre-Owned/CPO vehicles. As of October 2, 2018 the Executive Allowance Program is no longer available. The offer cannot be combined with the BMW Corporate Fleet Program. This offer cannot be used for vehicles ordered or delivered prior to 11/13/2018 and is only valid on delivery of in-stock vehicles. Offer is available to prospects who registered and attended the Southern Region November Events – Feeding America Drive to End Hunger event or any family member residing within the same household. Offer valid on final negotiated price and may be combined with other applicable BMW offers that are available at the time of purchase, other than those excluded as set forth above. Only one redemption code per vehicle may be used. Offer valid towards purchase price of eligible vehicle. Only dealers participating in the event may redeem offer.


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Sunday 12 July 2020
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has today issued a Request for Information as an early step in its reactivated Rate-regulated Activities research project. The objective of the Request for Information is to identify a range of rate regulatory schemes to help determine the scope of the research project. The deadline for responses is 30 May 2013.
In July 2009 the IASB published the Exposure Draft Rate-regulated Activities (the '2009 ED'), which focused on a particular type of rate-regulatory scheme (a cost-of-service scheme). Respondents to the 2009 ED expressed divergent views as to how the consequences of rate regulation should be reflected in financial statements, if at all. Many suggested that the scope of the project should be expanded to look at a wider variety of rate regulation in order to identify common characteristics from which accounting guidance might be developed.
The original Rate-regulated Activities project was suspended in September 2010 but has now restarted. The Request for Information asks specific questions about the objectives of rate regulation and how those objectives are reflected in the rate-setting mechanisms employed by rate regulators. The fact patterns identified through this Request for Information and other research will be used to develop a Discussion Paper that will analyse the common features of rate regulation. The aim of the Discussion Paper is to identify what information about the consequences of rate regulation would be most useful for users of IFRS financial statements and whether the IASB should develop specific guidance for accounting for those consequences.
The Request for Information commeting period closed on 30 May 2013.
Please note: when submitting a comment letter or when communicating with the IFRS Foundation, the IASB or any of its constituent bodies, you acknowledge and accept the IFRS Foundation Written Communication policy which details how we use and process your data.
View the comment letters.
© IFRS Foundation.


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February 8, 2013
Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency ahead of the severe blizzard expected to hit the area, banning travel on the roads after 4 pm until further notice.
WGGB in Boston reported:
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency and banned travel on roads as of 4 p.m. as a blizzard that could bring nearly 3 feet of snow to the region began to intensify. Patrick said as the storm gains strength it will bring "extremely dangerous conditions" with bands of snow dropping up to two to three inches per hour at the height of the blizzard, prompting whiteout conditions.
Gov. Patrick wore a Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) sweater during a press conference yesterday, demonstrating a readiness to employ emergency powers. Patrick emphasized that non-essential travel must cease, while exempting public safety and utility workers and other state employees from the ban. According to the AP, "the penalty during a State of Emergency, under the Civil Defense Act, is punishable by up to a $500 fine and/or one year in jail."
Further, Patrick has called upon the National Guard, who've already deployed 1,000 members to enforce the ban and react to blizzard damage, with as many as 5,000 National Guard expected to join their ranks.
If Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina have been any indication, emergency response to disasters has tended to enhance government power, particularly on the part of FEMA, while all too often leaving individuals unaided and under the thumb of control.
Our 4th of July Super Sale has been extended! Get double Patriot Points and free shipping on the hottest items!


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We watch the Following, but really what else is on Mondays? The Bachelor??
I think Continuum is decent and enjoy SyFy's Being Human for what it is (if all three characters get reset to their original conditions, I'm going to be annoyed...only one left that hasn't.) I don't watch any of the (old) Big Three's shows. Not sure why...maybe because they are cancel happy. I watched the mediocre THE CAPE and the better THE RIVER last year and both got the axe.
I almost hate to say this because it has become somewhat of a cliched plot device, but at some point soon, maybe next season, I kinda think it would be cool to do a WD flashback episode showing what each of the main characters experienced during the pivotal day(s) when everything fell apart. Laurie, Merle, Daryll, even Phillip and Milton could be interesting.
That's pretty much the idea that got Darabont fired.
As for the burnt zombies, burns like that would kill a person but a zombie needs the brain to be destroyed... I'm assuming that the fire wouldn't penetrate the skulls on all of them.
I find it's never a good idea to try to make scientific sense out of Zombies...7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail (Quickly) (hilarious, BTW)I mean, brain tissue decays faster than just about anything else. In reality, they'd have hollow skulls full of soup within a weak.
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Watch Rock Climbing Video
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Oxygen Games Introduces The Newest Action Hero on The Block – CID The Dummy!
The game is set in a near-future version of our planet. Litigiousness and refusal to accept responsibility has grown to such an extent that any product manufactured or sold by anyone, anywhere, has to pass a near-infinite barrage of safety tests. Be it a steamroller, a plimsoll, or a book, it's got to be safety checked by independent government bodies in triplicate, and only after long-term safety testing can it be unleashed on the general public.
It's in this world, with its laser-tight focus on safety, and rife with please-don't-sue-me attitudes, that the lowly Crash Impact Dummy rose to occupy its current position of importance. Back in the old days, Crash Impact Dummies were only used when studying car crashes. As lawsuits became more prevalent, though, Professor B M Werken and D-Troit, joint owners of one of the main Crash Impact Dummy manufacturing plants, saw a gap in the market, and started creating Crash Impact Dummies for other things. They started off with more obvious uses like construction cranes and level crossings, but now make Crash Impact Dummies responsible for checking the safety of sponges, dog toys, contact lenses, you name it.
Professor B M Werken is a man with a history, though. People wonder why he throws himself into his work with such focus, 24/7. He explains that he just wants people to be safe, and the press are usually satisfied with his answer. The truth, though, is a little darker.
Why does the Professor fall out with his friend and business partner, D-Troit, who becomes his arch enemy? What has driven the Professor to become so obsessed with product safety? Why does D-Troit kidnap Mia, the Professors daughter?
About CID The Dummy
A star is born and he's made to last. CID THE DUMMY makes his debut in Oxygen Games' first multi-platform production. It's an all-new action platformer that is sure to grab you with its enjoyable, fun gameplay, featuring a totally original character with charisma and moves, different fighting styles with which to battle enemies from unarmed combat to weapons like the Bazooka that can freeze, hit and burn.
� Interact as only a crash impact dummy can. Climb walls, swing on ropes, burn obstacles, destroy exploding barrels, use lifters, bounce on springs and with a neat head butt destroy walls all in stunningly realized environments. Game environment interaction is the most important part of the gameplay.
� CID's world is swarming with a host of fearfully fun enemies like the Dumper, Cursed Dummy and the bizarre Failed Experiment.
� Apart from fighting enemies, the player will enjoy solving puzzles, avoiding traps and using acrobatic skills to get out of dangerous situations!


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There isn't much information about the results of the arbitration nor the cause of the dispute to begin with. We tried contacting Western Digital for comment and were told that all details regarding the arbitration are confidential. By the looks of the short press release posted on Western Digital's site, on November 18th, Western Digital [NASDAQ:WDC] had a $525M award rendered against them by a sole arbitrator in a pending confidential arbitration action in Minnesota. For those unaware, Minnesota is a huge R&D center for Seagate [NASDAQ:STX] and is considered by many to be Seagate's 2nd HQ.
Western Digital went further saying that the amount of the award does not include prejudgement interest, which will be subsequently determined. They stated that the $525M award came as a result of claims brought by Seagate claiming that Western Digital and an employee of Western Digital who was formerly employed by Seagate alleging, "Misappropriation of confidential information and trade secrets." While we don't currently have any details regarding this supposed industrial espionage, if true, there could be dire consequences for Western Digital. Western Digital is already suffering pretty greatly at the hands of the hard drive supply shortage as a result of the Thai Floods – which affect 60% of their overall production.
While we'll probably have to do some intense prodding in order to get some more information about the situation, we're confident that eventually there will be more details leaked out. Currently, though, Western Digital is attempting to do damage control with their press release and is likely part of the reason why everyone at Western Digital was given the full week off for Thanksgiving. We're sure that most Western Digital employees are probably not complaining either way. We're not sure if the timing was coincidental or not, but it seems very interesting to say the least.
Western Digital's statement went further, with the CEO John Coyne stating, "We do not believe there is any basis in law or fact for the damage award of the arbitrator. We believe the company acted properly at all times and we will vigorously challenge the award. This does not affect our ability to conduct our operations, to complete the recovery and recommencement of our Thailand operations or, subject to obtaining the required regulatory approvals, to consummate our planned acquisition of Hitachi GST." By the looks of that statement, the CEO is doing his best to state that this $525M award will not affect WDC's momentum or movement, but if you look at their share price it has taken quite the beating in the past year and is down 23% in the last year compared to Seagate who is actually up 8%. Then again, it was WDC that blew past Seagate's market share over the past couple of quarters.
If anything, right now is a very trying time for Western Digital and how they handle the Thai Floods and this $525M award will determine the company's future share price as well as possibly the future of the company. We're hopeful that Western Digital will get out of this without being hurt too poorly as we need competition in the hard drive market right now considering how high prices have gone. Not to mention the fact that there are essentially two hard drive manufacturers left in the world once Western Digital finishes their acquisition of Hitachi GST and Seagate their acquisition of Samsung's hard drive business.
There is a very slim chance that the $525M award could be overturned in court, but based upon looking at Minnesota's laws there isn't going to be much room for a decision to be overturned unless certain evidence was not presented in a truthful manner.


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My roots are in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Quebec, Canada. If anybody has any of these names, please write to my email address.
My grandmother from Canada was in the United States attending Nursing school, although I don't know where, but she met my grandfather at that time, then married. My parents met in New York state, where they attended college. They graduated and married. Dad immediately went into the Navy as an officer during World War II, and was sent to the Philippines. I was born, my grandmother being the nurse at my delivery, and in the hospital that was designed by my grandfather (at least an addition or two). I was nine months old before my father ever saw me. Mom took pictures of me, almost daily to send to him.


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Find more details about our service range and the right product for you on our Service Range page. All services are available to Try & Buy (at our discretion).


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Ceramic Fiber Birch Log Set with Slope Glaze Burner
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avec, burger, burgers, cheeseburgers, chicago, chicken, dining, dining out, hot dog, hot dogs, hot doug, hot doug's, jam, jam restaurant, kuma's, kuma's corner, restaurant, restaurants, travel, waffles
We have arrived for burgers — the kind that people talk about on the Internet long after having wiped the final crumbs from their lips. But we are distracted from the mouth-watering scent of smoke and beef by the hostess, standing with clipboard in hand and pen poised, telling us the wait will be about two hours.
Kuma's Corner is a popular place. Glimpses at the burgers coming from the coffee-table-sized kitchen are enough to make me pause and then put my name down on the list.
After all, what's waiting at one more restaurant?
We've already lined up around the block for a hotdog, sipped drinks to pass time while hoping for space at the counter of a trendy hotspot, and waited on a ramp overlooking the dining area of another restaurant, mouths watering as another platter of chicken and waffles was carried by.
Chicagoans, it appears, know what is good, what they like and are willing to wait.
And so will we.
It begins at Hot Doug's, a hotdog joint well outside of the downtown core, where the faithful begin to line up before the place opens at 10:30 a.m. When my friend, Suzi, and I arrive around 11, the queue snakes out the front door, around the corner of the building and along its brick facade. Inside, every seat is filled.
But the delay is productive. The man in front of us, a regular, gives us the low down on what dogs are worth the wait.
For him, the Linguica — a Portuguese pork sausage — will always be the first pick. It's one of the myriad specials proprietor Doug Sohn has dreamed up for the restaurant featured on TV shows and numerous newspaper and magazine articles, including Bon Appetit and Saveur.
The Linguica is on the menu, along with a curry lamb sausage, a chicken one with cranberry and walnuts and the item I already knew we'd have to try: the foie gras and sauternes duck sausage with truffle aioli, foie gras mousse and fleur de sel.
This is no ordinary hotdog place.
A side of fries cooked in duck fat — Friday and Saturday only — to go alongside and we were ready to go.
The thick squiggle of saffron aioli and cubed chunks of Iberico cheese played against the spicy sausage flecked with red chili. It was the hands-down winner between the two, although the duck dog with the rich mousse was worth the excursion.
We would have thanked our lineup buddy for the recommendation, but he vanished after gobbling down his two dogs and disappeared into the sunny afternoon.
Total wait time: 45 minutes
In the daze that often follows a decadent lunch, Suzi and I headed back downtown to wander Millennium Park and admire Cloud Gate — a.k.a. the Bean — the stainless steel sculpture designed by Anish Kapoor that reflects Chicago's stellar architecture, sunny skies and tourists like a classy funhouse mirror.
The wait for Avec is estimated at an hour, but we're allowed to give a phone number and we head next door to Meiji, a Japanese influenced restaurant, for a sushi roll appetizer and glass of wine.
Just as we finish up the phone rings and we wander back the 25 steps or so to squeeze into two seats at the counter that runs almost the length of the narrow restaurant.
Avec, a wine bar part of a series of successful restaurants in Paul Kahan's stable, boasts a menu of homemade charcuterie, flatbreads cooked in the fire-burning oven, tender salads and other items all easily shared.
The decisions are tough, but we settle on the flatbread stuffed with tallegio cheese, a salad comprised mostly of prosciutto and apple, the signature dish of chorizo stuffed dates in a tomato sauce, and another dish or two.
From the counter, we watch the chefs bustle at the two wood-burning ovens and chat with the server who offers up a few nightlife recommendations, while pouring a glass of rose.
The prosciutto salad that mixes the salt of cured ham and sweet apples is a clear winner, but it is the crisp flatbread with its oozing cheese centre that I can't stop eating.
Total wait time: 60 minutes
At Jam, we wait only 10 minutes for a free table for brunch. We have to chalk it up to good timing because after we sit down, the queue starts to stretch along the half-wall from cash register to front door.
The grey walls and concrete tables could feel industrial, but instead the air is cosy. From our table we have a clear view into the open concept kitchen — a tiny space that somehow fits at least three people co-ordinating plates and getting them out to patrons quickly and with style.
The eggs benny with crisped pork belly and beet hollandaise is almost art with the black-salt-topped eggs and bright pink smear of sauce. The braised pork cheeks are not quite as attractive, but meaty and tender.
Total wait time: 10 minutes
The next morning, the waiting is a little more tedious as we join an almost two-hour line at Chicago's Home of Chicken and Waffles. It is a Sunday, after church, and the view of gorgeous hats sprinkled among patrons at the tables is beautiful but not enough to take our minds off the time we have to kill.
Trays of hot waffles and crisp-skinned chicken passing almost under our noses seemed to only prolong the wait.
The first bite made it almost seem worthwhile. Apart, the fried chicken and waffles drizzled with maple syrup were good. Together they were a revelation. The hot, crisp chicken and the sweet tender waffles combined to become something better. Salt and sweet and crisp and soft. If I could have polished off the plate, I would have.
Total wait time: Two hours
We work it off by wandering the Art Institute of Chicago where I gaze, just as they did in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, at Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. I'm hypnotized by the pointillism, though that could be a soporific side-effect of breakfast.
But by the last day, my patience for waiting has waned.
There is one final stop before the flight home: a burger joint that has received rave reviews online.
It's a takes-no-guff place that has posted rules on its website, including no reservations, no music requests and "We will not 'put on the game, bro.' "
When the hostess tells us the wait could be up to 2 ½ hours, we are prepared. And we're learning. We put down our names and then head back out to hail a cab to take us to a nearby neighbourhood where we can window shop.
About 90 minutes later we're back at the restaurant, hungrier than ever and only 20 minutes away from being seated at a tiny table near the equally tiny kitchen where staff are pumping out burgers like a machine.
Next to us, two young men are tackling the macaroni and cheese platter — a behemoth portion of pasta that can be topped with just about anything: prosciutto, caramelized onions, peas, sweet corn.
I, however, have eyes only for the burger and the two-hour wait has sharpened that craving, so I'm quick to decide on the "famous Kuma burger," adorned with bacon, cheese and fried egg.
The patty alone is almost a softball of meat, slightly flattened. With the egg, cheese and bacon atop, this burger is a force to be reckoned with. When I attempt to cut it, the steak knife is buried to the hilt in the centre of the burger.
That first bite makes the wait dissolve into a distant memory.
The crisp waffle fries push it even further away.
Leftovers in hand — which will serve well as an inflight meal — we push out into the sunny afternoon.
There is nothing left to wait for, except the next trip back.
This article first appeared in the Calgary Herald's Travel section. For more articles, visit CalgaryHerald.com/travel/index.html.


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4.43 cent of residential land for sale in Kozhikode, Kakkodi.Suitable for constructing house with all amenities including...
Property ID 12404754
Posted On 18/Jun/2018
4.43 cent of residential land for sale in Kozhikode, Kakkodi.Suitable for constructing house with all amenities including boundary clear, road access (lorry site), Tar road frontage.
Price 5 Lakhs per cent.
Price Negotiable.
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