Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Give Your Son an Equalizer for Christmas!

It's happened again.

Another kid has offed one of the adults in his house with a gun one of the adults gave him. Can you say WTF were you thinking, Dad? Yes, eleven-year-old Jordan Brown used his Christmas present, a special made-for-children (can I say WTF again?) to murder his new step-mom (well, girlfriend of his Daddy who was eight months pregnant while she was asleep in bed. Not much has been released about this child's psychological history but I can make sound reasonable guesses what this irresponsible father did.

1) You had a kid with a woman who didn't take to the mothering role very well, so you ended up raising him by himself (unless you are widowed and then I will give you a break). One has to wonder where the mother of the boy is since the father has custody.

2) Your son is used to having you to himself and suddenly you add a women and two little sisters. Did you spend a couple of years getting to know the woman and seeing if your son was emotionally able to deal with his instant new family (and competition for attention)?

3) Now, you added a new baby to the mix, a little brother, with this woman you haven't yet married.

4) You move all of them into your house.

5) You pay no mind to the fact that your son has a serious personality disorder.

AND THEN! You taught the kid to kill animals, gave him a shotgun of his very own, and left the shotgun unlocked so that he could pay you back for all your stupid choices. Brilliant!

Now, before I get a dozen emails saying I am cold-hearted and the father is already suffering enough, stop and think. A young woman has just lost her life, a baby has been killed before he even got to breathe, two little girls are now motherless, and a family has will never recover from their losses.

There is no excuse for giving your child a gun to play with. There is no excuse for giving an obviously disturbed child a gun to keep in his room. There is no excuse for your irresponsibility. None. The father should be going to jail with his son for aiding and abetting a homicide.

I don't have a problem with keeping weapons in the home for protection and for hunting (although I hate hunting). I believe this is a citizen's right. But, for God's sake, if you demand the right, you have to accept the responsibility. It is time to hold gun owners responsible for what happens with their weapons. If your gun is locked up, someone breaks in and steals it and this is reported immediately to the police, the gun at that point is not your responsibility. But, if you don't lock the weapon up, any crime it is involved in should be considered a crime you committed; your weapon, your responsibility, your crime.

Is this concept so hard to understand? Why is it I have never seen any move in our country to charge adults for giving guns to children to kill with? I have been harping on this for years and it seems the idea is repugnant to most people, even the prosecutors. I don't understand why we can't say enough is enough.

Guns don't kill people. Adults who give children guns kill people.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Flying while Muslim

Nine Muslims got tossed off a plane for making what they claim were innocuous comments about plane safety. Already people are writing on blogs claiming this is racial profiling and that Muslims are suffering the same pain African-Americans have experienced in "Driving while black". In order to assess the level of unfairness being leveled at a particular group of people for no reason other than that they are members of a particular race, religion, or subculture, we need to first define racial profiling.

To be called racial profiling, one must essentially view race as the only profiling issue and the issue of race must be entirely arbitrary to the situation. For example, suppose a bomb blows up at a shopping center in Prince George's County, Maryland. One third of the shoppers are Black, one third are White, and one third are Hispanic. Now, if police review the security tapes and send investigators out to interview only the black shoppers, then we have an issue of racial profiling.

Now, let's go to another mall. This mall is celebrating Black History Day and the location in which it sits is in a predominately black area of town. That day, a bomb goes off in the mall. Security tapes show the mall has entirely black shoppers except for this one squirrelly white guy sneaking around a corner with a shaved head and tattoos down both arms. Now, if you were a police detective, who would you be looking at as the possible bomber? Now you can be as politically correct as you want, but practicality says, check out that white dude. It is not just that he is white that one pays extra attention to him. The police would be unlikely to blink if that one white person were a blonde woman in high heels holding the hand of a mixed race child or a white man with his arm around his black girlfriend. But, a guy in an all-black mall on Black History Day who looks like a white supremacist AND a bomb goes off, makes it impossible not to focus on him as a top suspect. Likewise, if there is only one black guy seen at a KKK rally when a bomb goes off, it would be hard not to check him out.

"Driving while black" often is an excuse for folks acting squirrelly WHILE driving and being black rather than JUST driving and being black. Police must profile in the course of their work; they must make split decisions on who to pull over and check out. They work off a profile of what they experience in their work. Believe me, having done ride alongs with my cop daughter, it isn't just blacks that get profiled. Check out that white guy lurking behind that business in a black area of town. He was not ignored by police; they thought, "What's he up to?" and they checked him out. Sure enough, he was trying to burglarize a black man's business. But, they profiled him not only because he was white in a black area, but because he was lurking in an odd way, and because he was somewhat unkempt in the manner of a drug user looking for some way to support his habit. If you are black. dress like a thug, and jump into a vehicle that matches the style drug users like and you look like a drug dealer AND you act in some squirrelly fashion, you might get pulled over (often after the cop runs your plate and finds out something is suspicious about it).

So, now to flying while Muslim. This group looked VERY Muslim with the men with the long beards and the women with their heads covered. They were in a location where they will stand out to those around them (like the white guy at the black mall or behind the black business). Their behavior was possibly squirrelly. Now I know these Muslim passengers claim they said nothing concerning, just something about the safest place to sit on a plane and something about the engine jets right outside the window. All of this might have just been normal chit-chat. However, we have not yet heard the other side of the story, what the a passenger or two overheard; perhaps what was said was a little more scary that what is claimed.

Regardless, everyone knows clearly by now that one doesn't shout fire in a theatre or anything close to it. A white boy who loves rap and hangs with all blacks may be able to say Nigga when with his friends but he best not say that while he is alone in a black club without them. Even as a white middle-aged female I know enough not to lunge for something under my seat while a police officer is standing outside my vehicle waiting for me to produce my license. I also know that when I travel in predominantly Muslim areas like Kashmir and Egypt that covering my arms and head is both wise and respectful. It makes those around me comfortable (even if I disagree with the philosophy behind it). The United States is a country that is not terribly in sync with Islamic views, especially of women, and certain Muslim attire makes many feel extremely wary.

These were intelligent Muslims. The spokesman for the group is a doctor and his brother is a lawyer. He knows darn well that it is simply not wise to make comments that can be misconstrued as threatening on a plane when dressed in the manner of a particular group of people who have members who like to crash planes and participate in suicide missions.

Yes, this may have been a perfectly nice group of people who made a silly comment. Well, you pay for making silly comments if you know that those silly comments shouldn't be made at that location. You learned a lesson of what not to do in that public venue. Sorry. Your bad.

If it turns out they made no suspicious comments at all, then the onus of what happened falls on the other passengers, but let's see what their side of the story is before we accuse them of being racists as opposed to concerned citizens worried about the safety of themselves and others on the plane. I look forward to more clarity before judging one group or the other.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Yes, Ms. Halazon, Blanning IS a Bad Person

Happy New Years to you all-- all you good people out there. No, Ms. Halazon, that doesn't include that creep you call "a good person," who just planted four bombs in Aspen, hoped to get a high body count, and then offed himself. "Good" is not a term you apply to James Blanning, a psychopath felon with a criminal record of racketeering, organized, crime, and fraud who just tried to blow up his home town on New Year's Eve.

I didn't plan to start the year off surly, but now I feel I have to make a point. Bad people do bad things. Accept this. Please. I think being kind is a lovely sentiment but save it for the struggling souls who are not amusing themselves by abusing and attacking society. Express your sympathies for the victims of crime and not the perpetrators. Grow some moral outrage and "Stick with a victim" instead of "Hugging a thug." They don't deserve kindness; victims do.

This year make a resolution to stand on the side of good, not evil.

Happy New Years!

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: The Mysterious Meter Reader and Caylee Anthony

I have to say this odd bit of breaking news on the Caylee Anthony case is rather bizarre! Apparently the man who found the likely remains of the little girl called the tip line three times back in August to report a suspicious bag on the side of the road near that location.

Now speculation is flying! Did the police screw up when the meter reader first reported what he thought was possibly evidence linked to the Caylee Anthony case and did not follow up properly? Or is it too bizarre that back in August the man claims to have seen a gray bag that concerned him, never actually checked it out, and when the police did finally do a more thorough check of the area found nothing? Then this same man "rediscovered" the bag months later? Did the man help Casey dispose of the body? Or could he be the one to have done Caylee in?

Well, first let us take a deep breath. We do not really know exactly what the meter reader said when he called in August and why the police didn't locate the bag. Supposed he was involved with Casey, helped her dump the body and then felt guilty about it. So he calls the police to find the body but moves it before they arrive? Not likely.

So, Scenario Two. He killed Caylee and felt guilty about it, called the police, got scared, then moved the body, and felt guilty again and called the police again. Again, not very likely.

Scenario Three. The meter reader saw a strange bag, got creeped out and called the police. Officer doesn't bother to check it out or cruises by and misses the bag. However, one of the Anthony's sees the police car and moves the body into the woods. The area floods, body goes under water, but when it recedes, that curious meter reader goes back and this time finds the remains. Maybe but not likely.

Scenario Four. Meter Reader sees a bag on the side of the road and jumps to the conclusion it could be Caylee. Calls police a few times to get them to really check it out. By the time they do, the bag has been picked up and moved as all it contained was trash. Months later, when the water recedes i the area, curious meter reader, one of those obsessed with searching everywhere for Caylee, finds another bag with Caylee in it. He lucks out. Possible? Yes.

But we need to get a lot more information before we label the man of being a killer, an accessory after the fact, or a hero. Poor guy might just have been trying to be a good citizen and now he is being looked at mighty suspiciously. I will look forward to finding out more about the situation and seeing how this story ends up. It is an interesting one.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Profiling Topic of the Day: Duct Tape Damning Evidence for Casey Anthony?

Sometimes you just have to wonder whether in one hundred years, people will look back and think that we have one ignorant court system in 2009. Today there is possible "damning evidence" in the missing Caylee Anthony case. A small skeleton was found near the Anthony house and there was duct taped supposedly associated with finding of the remains.

But, say the attorneys, this doesn't mean that Casey Anthony, that poor excuse of a mother that Caylee got sicced with in the fickle finger of birth parent fate dice roll, still won't have a defense. It is pointed out there still may still not be enough evidence to prove Casey killed her daughter. It may not be clear if it was homicide or an accident. Even if it is proven Casey was involved in the death of her daughter, the defense may be able to "prove" that Casey was not in her right mind when she did it.

Is this another OJ Simpson case in the making? Another dog-and-pony show that will end up with a not-guilty verdict? Will our idiotic crap shoot of a jury system fail again to provide justice to the victims of murder and put a killer back on the streets? Will some well-meaning, but untrained jury going to be suckered by yet another bunch of lying, justice obstructing, snake oil salesmen attorneys? Why is it if we are seeking justice in our court system do we allow attorneys to "defend" their clients by lying for them and about them?

Why is it that a woman who "loses her child" for a month, parties hardy without a concern about that innocent little girl, lies about leaving Caylee with a babysitter, and abandons the family car with a corpse-like smell in the trunk given the luxury of an entire overpaid staff of lawyers to bail her out of her crimes?

Why is it that when this women commits obstruction of justice over and over, she is still handled with kid gloves and not charged with those crimes as well?

Why when all Casey's actions add up to homicide can't we just put this evil woman away with a short, sweet, and logical professional jury system that knows what they are doing?

I am disgusted when I see how much money goes to garbage like this, how much money is wasted on a simple case, how much money and time is spent on what should be an open-and-shut case. There are hundreds of open cases, missing and murdered children and adults who deserve their share of the attention and funding.

Our criminal justice system is corrupt and worthless and it is about time we admit it is nothing but a moneymaking scheme for attorneys and court experts.

I say make everything above board, require video cameras during all discussions between attorneys and their "innocent" clients, and send defense lawyers to jail for obstructing justice if they gain information from their client that proves them guilty. Let them defend innocent people and miscarriages of justice, not violent criminals they know are guilty.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: The REAL Reason the Obama Birth Certificate Issue Won't Go Away

Hundreds of articles and blogs are missing the point, perhaps purposely. The reason so many people are questioning Obama's birth issue is not only because they don't want him to be President of the United States (they don't) and it isn't only because they are searching desperately for some legal mechanism to kick him out of the office (they are), but because they actually may have caught him in a technicality which could prevent him from being President and they may have caught him lying about it.

The biggest problem lies in Barack Obama's history. He has a rather concerning way of rewriting history for expediency. History is always the most important indicator of likely future behavior especially when one is has decades of ingrained methodologies. One of Obama's patterns is to do whatever it takes to move up, regardless of whether those choices are exactly moral or ethical. This was well exemplified with his association with Reverend Wright, Rezko, and Ayers. Obama found them useful and moved up in the political world with their assistance and, then, when those associations became a threat to his future, he essentially denied they existed or that they existed to the extent anyone claimed. He speaks so well, one tends to believe him even in the face of contradictory information.

So, now, let me offer the scenario that I do not think is born solely of conspiracy theory.

Barack Obama achieves the quite unbelievable! He actually is chosen to run for President of the United States on the Democratic ticket. Although I am sure he always wanted this, he may have had moments of realization that the odds were not in his favor. Even if he weren't dealing with being biracial, only a very few people ever have the opportunity to run for the top job in the country.

So, here is Barack, suddenly achieving his dream! Wonderful! Incredible! And, then it occurs to him. OMG! I am technically not qualified to be President! Just a stupid technicality created by my impulsive and somewhat careless mother. She shouldn't have traveled to Kenya so late in her pregnancy and ended up delivering there. Yes, she did return within a week and was smart enough to register me as a home birth in Hawaii so I could get my birth certificate and be an American. After all, how fair is it to deny me citizenship because my mother went on vacation? So, I do have a Hawaiian birth certificate and if no one decides to run down exactly where I was born and who saw me being born, I am fine. Hopefully, too many years have passed and most of the witnesses are dead. Perhaps, if anyone does question my birth location, they will still not actually be able to prove that I wasn't born in Hawaii. To be on the safe side, however, no sense in having the home birth registration issue come out and open up that can of worms.

I know about the home birth registration issue. My son, David, was born in my home and I just filled out the paperwork later. I didn't even need a witness as it was filed as an "unattended home birth". Essentially I could have had that baby anywhere and claimed he was born in Maryland.

Of course, it is possible that Ann Dunham, Barack's mother, did indeed have a home birth. If so, why not say so? Well, here is where some people who don't always tell the truth or who tend to obfuscate the truth run into problems. IF they perceive that the truth might cause difficulties, they decide not to be quite forthright about the issue, hoping in doing so, the issue will never rear its annoying head. But, in doing so, sometimes they make matters worse. If, however, one is always a truth-teller, then there is no option and the chips just fall where they must fall. Whether one hides the truth or tells the truth, one may suffer unwanted consequences.

Is Barack Obama a naturally born American citizen? I have no idea. At this point, there is not any legitimate evidence to disprove his right to be President of this country. However, the fact he has not shown his original birth certificate is a problem because the questions lingers as to why he had not done so. Some will say it wouldn't matter if there was a video of Obama being born in a Hawaiian hospital with a bunch of big local docs around him (and by "local" I mean true Hawaiian as in really big guys in dull Aloha shirts (as opposed to those flashy exports); the conspiracy folks would say it was digitally faked.

I beg to differ. While I believe one shouldn't have to respond to every naysayer, hater, and conspiracy theorist on the planet, if one particular issue is causing a massive problem and can be easily rebuked, for goodness sake, release the simple document that would end the criticism (or at least actually prove it for all those who are not nutty). If Obama could release the present copy of the birth certificate, why not just go all the way and release a copy of the original. Yes, someone could say that was forged, but Obama would have risen to the highest level of transparency possibly and that would be that.

But, he didn't do this and the question lingers, why not? I had the same issue with Palin and the "Whose the Mommy?" issue. Why not just toss up a copy of the birth certificate and a picture of Sarah and the baby in the hospital bed on the Internet and have done with it? Instead, all we got was a doctor (who was in Palin's employ for years) giving us a vague statement and we are supposed to believe her. Sorry, but this only leads to more curiosity. I know this and anyone who is in the public eye knows this. If there is a simple way to stop a rumor, do it, as it is not worth the battle to be all high and mighty and refuse to set things straight.

When one conducts a police investigation, the approach is no different. When a person-of-interest gives conflicting statements, or he seems to be unwilling to give up information or evidence, then red flags go up for the investigator. Many times the person being looked at will get upset that the police don't believe him and keep hounding him in spite of the fact he is the one that caused the police to be suspicious in the first place. The McCanns leave their tiny children unattended in a hotel room and then wonder why the police don't trust their parenting. Cindy Anthony, mother of suspected child killer, Casey Anthony, whines that the police are hounding her even though she has been less than truthful, destroyed evidence, and mislead the investigators.

Likewise with Obama. In his editing of history, his claims he was unaware of Reverend Wright's belief system for twenty years, that he hardly knew Ayers, and Resko, well....his ability to change his story on a dime, makes some citizens question his veracity.

The birth certificate will indeed not go away, but, I for one, would like to see the original. If it turns out it says "Home Birth" than we either have a President Elect who was not born in the country or a man who was embarrassed to admit his mum was a bohemian and birthed her baby, like an African woman in the bush, without medical attendants at her home in Hawaii. If it were the first issue, then Obama would have lied to become President in violation of the Constitution. If it were the second issue, then Obama would have lied in order to not have questions about whether his mother really did have a home birth in Hawaii or just claimed she did.

If the birth certificate says "Home Birth", Obama has put himself in a bit of a bind and maybe that is why he doesn't want the American public to see it.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Doing Wrong to Do Right

Governor Sarah Palin apparently has been cited for losing some of her ethics on the warpath to getting her brother-in-law nailed for his misbehavior. Did the end justify the means? This is an age-old question, especially when it comes down to protecting innocent people.

Let's look at a couple of scenarios that can drive us nuts.

The first one: A man is let out of prison after he has raped and murdered to children. He comes to you one night - say he is your brother-in-law- and he tells you, as he is getting into his car, "I am going to go rape and kill me a little six-year-old girl." You know he means it. Do you shoot him?

The second one: Ten men are fighting the death penalty in court. One is innocent of murder (and truly an honest and wonderful law-abiding citizen) and the other nine are vicious serial killers who we know have killed many times and, if they get off, they will go out and kill ten innocent people a piece. Should we be so strict with our requirements to get a conviction that it is nearly impossible to get a guilty verdict? Is that saying that it is better to let ten guilty men go free to save one innocent one? I don't know why the person who made that statement can't count but if you let the guilty men go free, you are condemning 100 people to death.

Maybe Palin got caught up in this kind of thinking or maybe she just wanted to win and didn't think she had to follow the rules. I tend to think the latter is true but the issue of right vs. wrong in protecting innocent people is really quite interesting and certainly frustrating.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Too Young to Blame? Then Blame the Parents

When young children commit heinous crimes, who is to blame? Who is to be responsible? Once upon a time, society held the parents accountable for the actions of their children who hadn't reached adulthood reasoning that they are in their charges, their responsibility, and they controlled their behaviors and movements. If your child committed a crime, you paid either out of your pocket or with some jail time yourself. When did this concept disappear?

A seven-year-old boy recently broke into a zoo in Australia (yes, seven-years-old) and beat thirteen lizards and turtles to death and fed them to a crocodile. The toll of the mass animal murder tallied over five thousand dollars, not to mention the loss of life to these innocent animals and the sadness and horror felt by the zookeepers and community.

The boy cannot be charged because he is too young. The zoo is going to sue the parents for his actions. I think it is a damned fine idea. It is about time parents realize if they are going to bring another human being into the world and train it for eighteen years, they must take the job seriously.

I have suggested the same concept for teens who murder their friends and classmates with guns. Make the gun owner responsible for whatever happens with that gun (unless the owner reports it stolen). Since a gun is either supposed to be on your person or in a lock box, there is no excuse for your kids getting to it. If you clearly already deranged teen takes your guns to school, you go down as an accessory to the crime. If this happened to the next parents who gave little juvenile delinquent Johnny access to lethal weapons, I am guessing you would see a major increase in the sale of gun safes.

Some folks will say this is too harsh, that some children are just born bad and parents shouldn't have to pay the price for their child being a psychopath. I disagree. I just don't believe out-of-control kids "just happen to good parents." Sorry. Maybe I am to harsh, but i am getting sick of parents claiming they can't do anything about their kids. It starts young, folks, and raising children means putting in lots of work. My feeling is you work hard when they are young and then you don't have to suffer later. Your kids may not turn out "perfect" but they don't have to be menaces to society.

Other than providing three more meals to the crocodile (the boy and his parents), suing the parents is the next best thing.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Did Financial Woes made a Mass Murderer of Karthik Rajaram?

I can't but help see red when I see headlines like this: "Man Kills Family and Self over Market."

Then, to make matters worse, we get to read how the man struggled over time and finally, after three weeks of planning, decided to commit suicide and murder all of his family members as well. Why don't we see this headline instead?

"Innocent Children and Women Brutally Murdered by the Father and Husband who was Supposed to Love and Protect them."

Then, why don't we read about each one of these wonderful people - the 19-year-old son, Krishna, who was on full scholarship at the University of California and the other two sons, Ganesha, 12, and Arjuna, 7, who were top students in their schools as well. And what of the lovely wife, Subashi and her mother, Indra, the fine women who raised these three wonderful boys? Why don't we only focus on them and stop analyzing the coldblooded killer who took their lives?

I know people want to understand how a man could do such a thing. The fact the man once made big money and then lost his job makes people think that he must have had a breakdown. What is ignored are all the signs along the way that he had other issues as well. What is dangerous about this kind of man is that his psychopathy may be unrecognized until it is too late. He may be smart and controlling and successful but when he starts losing the game, losing his status and power and control, he suddenly doesn't want to play the game of life anymore. And if he doesn't want to play the game anymore, he is going to smash the game up and all the other players aren't going to get to play anymore either.

Karthik Rajaram was just this sort of man. Even if he had financial troubles, his family was doing well. His eldest son didn't even need his money as he already had his college education fully funded. But that didn't matter to Mr. Rajaram. If he can't be happy, no one can be happy. If he has failed, everyone is going to fail. He is a narcissistic, self-centered man and his relatives were simply possessions to him. He killed them because they had no rights and he had no empathy for them. He could dispose of them if he wanted and he did.

Maybe if we start calling this murderous psychopath the evil man that he is a mass murderer - maybe other psychopaths wouldn't follow suit and off their families. After all, it isn't nice to think you will be called nasty names in the newspaper. If you are going to kill yourself and your family, you want to leave your poor excuse of a suicide note and get sympathy at the end for being a poor suffering soul.

I say let's change the headlines and tell it the way it really is.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Profiling Palin

Just as everyone is saying to drop the whole Sarah Palin fake pregnancy issue, I feel compelled to make a few points in defense of the rumor that so many say is disgusting and nothing but a leftist/Democratic smear campaign to make the new Republican VP pick look really bad.

For those of you living under a rock (or maybe living the better life of no television and Internet), The Daily Kos, a strongly left-leaning blog accused Alaska Governor Sarah Palin of faking a pregnancy to cover for her errant teenager, Bristol, and pretending the new addition to the Palin clan, little Trig (who supposedly has Downs Syndrome) is hers and not her daughter's. As proof, The Daily Kos provided a picture of Sarah Palin at six months pregnant with a stomach that is flat as a pancake. They pointed out that when Governor Palin announced that she was seven months pregnant and going to have a baby soon, her staff was floored. No one who worked with her had a clue she was pregnant. Finally, The Daily Kos offered the frightening story of Sarah Palin's abrupt return to Alaska via a ten hour flight, even though her amniotic fluid had started leaking and she was experiencing real labor pains. She didn't tell the flight attendants that she was that pregnant and in labor and they never had a clue this was her situation. The chances of Palin giving birth on the flight were relatively high and taking such a chance seemed so irrational that those at The Daily Kos felt Palin wouldn't have actually taken such a crazy risk. They felt it was more likely she only flew home because her daughter, Bristol was giving birth to the baby and because taking such a long flight while not pregnant was no risk at all.

So, that story multiplied on the Internet to the tune of over 2.000,000 references in just a few days. The story had very good running legs until Governor Palin and John McCain decided to clamp down on it by admitting Bristol was pregnant (five months pregnant) but had become pregnant before Trig was born, thereby eliminating her as the mother of the little boy. Now, Republicans and many others are embracing the pregnant teenager and her mom as just regular folk who have problems and telling those ridiculous gossipers and slanderers to shut up about this fake pregnancy thing. "Enough is enough!"

I beg to differ and I do so as a conservative who absolutely does not want Barack Obama in office. I do not like his ideology and I do not trust where he wants to take this country (keep in mind I have a biracial son that looks pretty much like Obama, so race is playing no part in this - I would love to see the color barrier erased in politics and would be thrilled if a black man or a man of Indian descent like Bobby Jindal or a man of mixed race like Obama made the big time). I also would love to see more women in high political office in the United States (I am a huge fan of the recently assassinated Benazir Bhutto) and I love renegades (look at me!). I am not to fond of McCain but I planned to vote for him if his running mate was someone I felt comfortable with. Now, I am stumped as to what to do come this election. Palin is a problem for me. I find her just as disingenuous as Obama.

Let me explain my position. First of all, I don't think she is ready to be vice president because she does indeed lack experience on the international front. I have no issue with Sarah Palin being mayor of a small town and being the new governor of Alaska. I think these are appropriate levels of government for a woman with her experience. I might have thought a number of years down the road, she would be a good VP. I don't think she is ready to be Vice President or, heaven forbid, the President should McCain croak.

But, even her lack of experience pales when it comes to Sarah Palin's character and choices. She scares me. Let's take a look at the "Whose Your Mommy?" scandal.

1) If Trig is her baby, why did Sarah Palin get pregnant at age forty-four and just when she became governor of Alaska? Does she not know the meaning of birth control, tubal ligation, or vasectomy? If she was planning on a full-time career in politics that leaves little time for young children, shouldn't she have made sure she would not jeopardize this venture by becoming pregnant?

2) If Trig is her baby, why did Palin, an ardent anti-abortion/pro life woman, get an amniocentesis? This procedure carries the risk of miscarriage; if she never planned to abort the baby even if he had Downs syndrome, why take this test? I refused amnio for this exact reason during my pregnancies; if I killed my baby for useless information, I could never live with myself. So why was the pro-life Palin willing to risk "aborting" her baby?

3) If Trig is her baby, why did Governor Palin keep everyone in the dark for seven months and then spring this news on them? Doesn't she think the people she works with and works for have some right to know what her situation is? One could say it is a private matter, but she is in public office and a change in her life circumstances can affect others, even if just because of the publicity. Furthermore, does she lie to them about her doctors appointments and come up with excuses for changes in exercise habits or diet, etc.? Isn't all of rather disconcerting behavior? If I worked with her and realized she had put up a big pretense for months, I wouldn't trust her much in the future.

4) If Trig is her baby, why in the heck would she risk the baby's life (and her own life) by getting on a long plane flight while in labor and leaking amniotic fluid? I myself am not fond of doctors and had a home birth the second time around (attended only by a lay midwife) and even I would not get on a plane with a high risk pregnancy and high risk birth (because of the Downs Syndrome) after my fluid started leaking and I felt labor pains. I would know that labor could increase quickly while airborne and the child could be born at any time during the flight. It would not fair to the baby or my family to take such a risk. It also wouldn't be very nice of me to put the flight attendants and the other passengers through such an ordeal. This to me is a huge red flag as to the judgment of Sarah Palin and what she considers important in making her decisions (you can decide for yourself why she got on this Alaska flight).

5) If Trig is her baby, why does Palin hide her daughter's pregnancy for so long, only telling the public about it she needs to squash this other story? Is it the lesser of two evils for her? Did she throw her daughter under the bus just to make herself look better? Shouldn't she have made the pregnancy known before she accepted the VP spot and when she accepted the VP spot? Why does it only come out to override the other scandalous story?

6) If Trig is her baby, why, oh, why didn't Sarah Palin just post a "Trig Birthday Page" with pictures of her holding Trig in her arms in her hospital bed, in her hospital gown? Why not show a picture of Palin being wheeled out of the hospital with Trig on her lap? Why not show a copy of Sarah/Trig's hospital record?

Some folks will say, "Why should Governor Palin have to do all this? Why should she have to respond to this smear campaign?" Under many circumstances, I would agree. I have suffered some amount of slander and libel in my career. Most of it I have ignored so as not to start a forest fire where there is only a small campfire burning that will extinguish itself in time. Sometimes one should not fan the flames even if the lies are unsettling and insulting. However, if there is a very damaging falsehood being spread about, especially the kind of stuff that would harm others I work with or work for, then I best deal with it. This story about Sarah Palin faking a pregnancy to cover for her daughter is not only bad for her reputation, but a huge liability for the Republican campaign for the White House. Why would she ignore such a nightmare when putting up one quick page on the Internet - a cheerful little piece with a happy tone, maybe even a slightly mocking tone - could solve the problem within minutes?

"To all my supporters out there, that silly story about me tossing on a fake belly for a couple months and pretending to birth Trig - here we are at the hospital! Yes, that baby at my breast is really mine and that ugly hospital gown was really on me that day. Check out this hospital record also! See my name associated with pregnant/birthing patient? Okay guys? Got it? Thanks! See you in the White House!" Simple to do and, in my opinion, necessary. Sarah Palin still hasn't responded to the allegations. All we have seen are a couple of new pictures of Palin looking pregnant in her eight month. Unfortunately, this is not proof of anything. If she announced she was pregnant in the seventh month (when she still did not look pregnant) and she was faking being pregnant, she would have to do something in the next month or two. She would have to carry through by adding a little tummy under her clothes as time went on. So the pictures don't prove she was pregnant; they just proved she looked pregnant.

7) If Trig is her baby and she knew her daughter was pregnant, shouldn't she have told John McCain that this was not an appropriate time to accept the VP spot, that a Downs baby and a young pregnant daughter will need a great deal of attention from her? Is it possible that a VP with exceptional life crises would not be beneficial to the Republican ticket?

So, I have no clue if the Palin fake pregnancy story was total bunk or not. While it has not be proven, neither has it been disproved - yet. If Bristol Palin has her baby (and doesn't have a "miscarriage" which would then make the original story possible again, or have the baby "so late" she would have had time to get pregnant again), then the Sarah Palin fake pregnancy story will have been proven a misinterpretation of "the evidence", but an understandable misinterpretation considering the series of events.

So even thought I am conservative and would have voted for the Republican ticket this time around, I can't entirely fault The Daily Kos for jumping on this bizarre story. I, too, have had the same thoughts, and although I haven't seen proof of the story being true, I haven't really seen enough proof that it isn't. I guess I will continue to wonder unless I see solid evidence that puts my curiosity to rest.

In the end, it doesn't matter a whole lot to me if the story of faked pregnancy is true or not. I am still uncomfortable with how Palin handles situations. She and John McCain won't get my vote at this point, and I am guessing, she has cost the Republicans the presidency in 2008. I think, regardless of the big effort being put forth to make Sarah Palin palatable, a whole lot of people won't want to vote for her or the fool who picked her.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: DISCLAIMER: Pat Brown does not work with Lawrence Moran

A new criminal profiler on the block, Lawrence Moran AKA Larry Moran, who got a bit of television publicity during 2007 on the Devlin case out in Missouri, contacted me sometime during that year to introduce himself and chat with me about working as a criminal profiler. He had opened up his own criminal profiling agency, informing me that he had a background in psychology and investigations. We talked a few more times by telephone, about cases and the future of profiling, and I commented on how I was looking forward to more criminal profilers in the field and perhaps having the opportunity in the future to collaborate with more of them, leaving asides the egos and territorialism that have plagued the field to date. I had no issue with Mr. Moran at the time because I am not one of those profilers who is worried about competition and, since I was neither working on any cases with him or bringing him on board my agency, I did not spend time doing a background check on him.

However, just recently I came across a concerning statement Mr. Moran had made on the Internet on a blog site:

March 26, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Kindra,
My name is Lawrence Moran. I am an investigative criminal profiler and I am interested in speaking with you about the disappearance of Colton.
I found this site as I am doing current research on the Michael J. Devlin case for a future book. I also work with another criminal profiler, Pat Brown who heads up the Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency and the Sexual Homicide Exchange.
I can be reached via my agency’s website http://www.moraninvestigations.com/
God Bless,
Lawrence

Why does Mr. Moran claim to work with me? Chatting with another professional in the field does not constitute a working relationship. I would never claim to work with other profilers unless we actually had an agreement and the other person knew I was working with him! I can only assume Mr. Moran wished to give himself credibility by saying he worked with me.

The following week I received an email from "Richard Cranium" who asked what I knew of Lawrence Moran and guided me to his blog where he had raised questions about Moran's credibility as a profiler. After I visited the blog, I decided to do some checking since I was concerned Mr. Moran was linking his name with mine professionally.

First I found a criminal record, a misdemeanor but still an arrest, fine and probation.

MORAN, LAWRENCE J
1967-08-28
33 ARNOLD DRIVEDUPO , IL 62239
IL - P.R.I.O.R.S.
MORAN, LAWRENCE J

P.R.I.O.R.S.
Offender ID: G-00117972820013536816
Address
33 ARNOLD DRIVE

DUPO
Saint Clair County, Case No: 06CM7709
Charge
MISDEMEANOR DISORDERLY CONDUCT
Date of offense
10/4/06
Filed
10/4/06
Disposed
11/29/06
Disposition
$300.00 FINE / 1 YEAR SUPERVISION / FILE DATE 10/4/2006
ID Number
G-00117972820013536816
Result Date
11/5/07
Method Verified
NAME,DOB
Search Type
COUNTY

Then I got blistering emails from Moran after he found I had publicly stated that he did not ever work with me. Some bits from his emails will give you an idea of his anger and mindset:

In regards to my honesty and ethics you have real nerve!
Retract those statements today as you and I both know they a completely false
if something happens again to my

property or my wife you will be sorry ... I better see a retraction.... within the next few minutes
I will take care of the potential damage you have so blatantly attempted to exact upon my livelihood based upon your own egotistical desires to equal yourself with male profilers.
Let me remind you of the psychoanalytical term, Penis Envy.
This all better happen this evening. And like I said before, if anything else happens to my family, I will present you with an entirely new meaning of damage control.

I then located a CV that Moran sent me last year and I started making calls to verify the information. What I found was a compilation of outright lies, exaggerations, and incredibly grandiose thinking. It is one thing to provide as positive a resume as can be constructed but complete falsehoods is another matter entirely. Moran exhibits pathological lying. I guess he can call himself a criminal profiler considering he has has obtained a Masters Degree from Capella University and has worked a couple years as a youth counselor because the field lacks any requirement for certification or specific backgrounds, but his outright fabrication of his work history and calling himself Doctor when his PhD comes from a "college" of absolutely no quality makes him unfit to call himself a professional in the criminal profiling field and certainly he is not someone I wish to associate with.

Below is the 2007 resume I received from Moran and in red you will be able to see how the truth does not often match the claims Moran makes as to his employment and education. For a comparison to the 2008 resume in which Moran creates a rather different background for himself, check out

"Richard Cranium's blog post on Moran's Resume."

Lawrence J. Moran
Summary of Qualifications

After a highly successful 17-year career as a professional actor in Hollywood LIE – Moran lists a number of appearances in television and film at IMDB which indicate he was an extra (roles as boy, boy, boy, boy....), not an actor. An extra is a person off the street who receives minimum wage and a free lunch. An extra is not allowed to speak, merely be background., I began a new career as a forensic psychologist fifteen years ago studying adolescent and adult sexual predators. Starting out in undergrad as a deputy sheriff in Tulsa, County, Oklahoma, I was responsible for developing and implementing the first inmate classification system for the jail. I am a certified courtroom expert (Illinois and Missouri) in both adolescent and adult sexual predation. I have taught psychology at the collegiate level for 4 years and currently speak to school administrators, teachers and parents around the country educating them on the prevalence and prevention aspects of child sexual predators. Commentary below.

Education

Porterville Community College (1988-1990) Certificate in Administration of Justice (60 hours)
Langston University (1991-1993) B.S. (124 hours) Corrections and Criminology. This is true.
Capella University (2001-2004) M.S. (48 hours) Clinical Psychology Semi-Lie – Moran attended the Masters program in Addictions Psychology at Capella from 01/07/02-01/08/03 when he received his Masters of Science (65 quarter credit hours/44 semester credit hours)
Capella University – 50 post-masters credit hours in Psy.D program in Clinical psychology (All doctoral-level coursework and seminars completed). (ABD). LIE – Moran enrolled to study in the doctoral program at Capella University from 01/08/03 to 9/30/07 but he only completed two courses.

Professional Experience

2006-Present
Founder and President, Moran Investigations
Investigative Criminal Profiling Agency

2003-Present
Adjunct Instructor (Psychology)
Southwestern Illinois College
Responsible for teaching introductory psychology, child-development, human growth and development, death and dying and personality theory – LIE I called the college and was given this statement “We can confirm he did work for us – but not the dates you gave me and not employed today.”

2001-2006
Founder and President, The Moran Clinic, Inc.
Outpatient adolescent and adult sexual abuse psychotherapy practice located in St. Louis, Missouri. LIE – Moran is not allowed to be in private practice as a psychologist in the State of Missouri without a PhD and a license. He has only a PhD from a unaccredited diploma mill and he has never been licensed.

2001-2002
Clinical Director/Program Development, Comtrea, Inc.
Responsible for development and daily operations of juvenile outpatient drug and alcohol abuse treatment program. Responsible for creating and maintaining annual budget; juvenile drug court treatment coordination; supervision of clinical staff. LIE - May 2, 2001-May 23, 2002 – “Moran was a counselor in the adolescent substance abuse program; he was not a director and would have needed higher credentials than he had. He answered to those above him. A BA in criminal justice and hopefully some experience counseling adolescents would have gotten him the job.”

2000-2001
Lead Therapist/Clinical Director, Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc.
Responsible for development and daily operations of juvenile outpatient and residential drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs. Responsible for creating and maintaining outside private funding streams and supervision of clinical staff. LIE – “Moran worked here from 6-5-2000 – 3-30-2001. He was a full- time therapist – not the lead therapist or clinical director.”

1994-1998
Founder and Clinical Director, Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene Community Outreach Mental-Health Clinic. Responsible for creating and maintaining annual budget; development of monthly training curriculum; training of all clinical and non-clinical staff-members; recruitment of all clinical and non-clinical staff-members. LIE – No one at the Oklahoma First Church of the Nazarene has ever heard of Lawrence Moran nor have they even had a community outreach mental-health clinic.

1991-1993
Deputy Sheriff
Tulsa County Sheriff's OfficeTulsa, OklahomaUniformed sworn employee responsible for enforcing the law in the unincorporated areas of Tulsa county. Responded to emergency calls for assistance; investigated complaints; investigated suspicious behavior; arrested persons suspected of committing crime; provided assistance in resolving problems; and patrolled urban, suburban, and rural areas. LIE – “Moran was a temporary civilian jailer, not a deputy. He was not certified. He worked here only six weeks from October 12, 1991 until November 28, 1991.”

1990-1991
Correctional Officer I - Dick Connor Correctional CenterMedium security correctional facility
Hominy, OklahomaDuties involved the supervision, custody, treatment, and training of inmates confined in the correctional facility. My duties as a CO-I were performed under the supervision of higher ranking staff and in accordance with operating procedures of DCCC. LIE – “Moran was here from April 17, 1992-October 12, 1992 in the Correctional Officer/Cadet training period – 6 months probation – he did not continue to work here after the probation period ended.

I left off the rest of the lengthy claims due to keeping this blog post at a reasonable length. But, I think you get the point.

Mr. Moran, I can only gather from your need to fabricate an entire work history in spite of obtaining a BA in Criminal Justice and an MS in Addictions Counseling that you have a problem with obtaining and keeping legitimate employment. Your need to lie and constantly change those lies exhibits a personality disorder of the type that should not be working in either criminal profiling or the psychology field. I hope you find gainful employment in some other profession.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Adultery IS a Big Issue and Not to be Taken Lightly

News of John Edwards' adulterous affair and now an Internet barrage of stories about John McCain's supposed affairs are seriously ticking me off. Not for the reason most people seem to be upset - that a cheating spouse is not that big a deal and it is a issue that should only matter to the parties involved - but, because adultery IS a big deal and I am sick of people making light of it.

Marriage is a commitment and a promise, and one of the major oaths taking during the marriage ceremony is one of faithfulness. What good is a relationship if the one you love is out screwing around and then lying to you every day and night? If this way the marriage is supposed to be, why bother with it? Just date and be clear that you have no intention of being monogamous.

Oh, what, but you want to have a family? Children? Sure, so lie about staying faithful so you can have the kids, then devastate your mate and break up the family, so your kids can have a rotten life. That sounds like a great plan. This way you can make all involved miserable including your in-laws, your friends, and the community you live in.

It should not be that hard to avoid sex outside of marriage. Finding a place to go alone with someone who is not your mate and getting naked with them doesn't happen by accident. It actually takes quite a lot of forethought and planning. Before one gets under the covers or into the back seat of a car, the thought has to cross one's mind that what one is doing is wrong, dishonorable, and downright cruel to one's mate. And one must know from that point on, a big fat lie is going to be injected into the marriage along with a lot of smaller lies such as "I had to work late," and "I really love you," and "I have no idea how you got that STD...have YOU been cheating on me?"

Worse yet, if you are in the public eye, your ethics and morals are a big issue to a great many. If you are lying to your spouse, you are also lying to the people who are electing you. Furthermore, you are putting yourself in a situation to be blackmailed which is a totally unacceptable position for an elected official to be in.

Finally, what is up with the inability of so many people to just be decent? So your marriage is having problems or your sex life is going through a bad spell. Aren't there many people who don't have sex for a long period of time because of religious beliefs or just a sense of pride? Do all single people have sex regularly or do some go without for years while waiting for the right person to enter their lives?

Here is where I stand: Anyone who commits adultery is a heel, plain and simple. Furthermore, I am sick of hearing that sex with someone other than one's spouse is acceptable during separation. Separated people are not divorced; they are married. Often one of the couple believes that the separation is a time for working out problems and that the marriage will ultimately survive. No one should be having sex with others until the ink dries on the divorce papers (and I am not going to argue in this post about various religious beliefs on divorce and sex outside of marriage). Only when both partners legally are no longer bound is moving on to another partner justified. For that matter, neither of the partners should even begin dating until the divorce is final and no single folk out there should take up with persons who are still married regardless of how long they have been separated .

Marriage is too important an institution to regard carelessly and treat as mere whim. I am saddened by how few seem to see it this way.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Breaking News! Smiley Face Killers Strike in Australia!

From the United States to Thailand and now Australia! The Smiley Face Killers are clearly no longer a national serial killer gang but international in scale. Using the Internet to communicate and plan their crimes, the latest male victim of the gang is 28-year-old Stephen King, an Irish man out drinking with friends at a bar in Melbourne.

Like the others, he separated from the group in the wee hours of the morning and ended up drowned in a river close to the bar. Police have not yet discovered the Smiley Face symbol which is left near the location the body entered the water, but I am sure it is just a matter of time before they discover its whereabouts.

It is clearly time for Interpol to get involved. This sick group of individuals who target innocent men out having a good time with their mates must be stopped before their membership increases and it becomes unsafe the world over for young men to party with their friends.

It is time to start documenting each and every drowning of a young male in a river near a bar and get these cases over to the two detectives, Kevin Gannon and Antony Duarte, so they can analyze them and include them in their investigation.

Thanks. They need your help!

(The above post is a parody, but I still would have no problem with you sending every drunk male drowning victim case over to the investigators.)

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Mayor's Dogs victims of PG County SWAT Team

It is a pretty strange story and it is even stranger for me because it happened pretty close to home. Berwyn Heights mayor,

Cheye Calvo

arrived home from work and found a big box on his porch with his wife's name on the label. Ah, maybe something she ordered for the garden. He picked it up and brought it in the house.

A few minutes later, he is upstairs changing his clothes, in his underwear and socks, when he hears crashing and a SWAT team blasts into his house. Guns go off, Calvo's two black Labradors are dead on the floor and he and his mother-in-law were cuffed and interrogated for hours.

Most everyone is outraged that the police busted into this home and killed the two dogs especially when no one can believe Cheye or his wife, Trinity, could be involved in drug dealing. Both work for the government and are highly respected and well-liked citizens; the town itself is quiet and unused to actions such as this. Besides, this is the MAYOR!

So, the question is, were the police completely wrong in their actions? Was such violent force necessary or could they have simply knocked on the door? Did they do a proper investigation before they decided to use a no-knock entry? Was there really probable cause enough that a judge signed the warrant? Or is there major misconduct here?

Before we conclude that the police were remiss, let's look at the other side of the equation. Is it possible they DID do a thorough investigation and had ample reason to believe Cheye Calvo and/or his wife Trinity Tomsic was involved in some drug transactions? The package would have netted them anywhere from say $60,000 to $100,000? Even if they appear to be upstanding citizens, does this mean that one or both of them might not have another side to them we have not seen? It wouldn't be the first time that government workers or politicians have been involved in some scheme to raise their standard of living.

I don't know this man or his wife so I have no idea if they are the most wonderful people on earth or not. I certainly think they are not the most typical people to be targeted in a drug bust. I feel sorry for the dogs, but if the no-knock entry was necessary for some reason, I can see that the cops have to protect themselves (and I would say the folks who believe the Labs would only lick intruders need to get a reality check).

Horrific as this event was, we will need to wait and see what led the police to resort to this kind of action. If the Calvos are totally innocent, I really feel bad for them. If the police did not have probable cause and busted in, thereby terrorizing innocent citizens and killing their pets for nothing, I can understand the purpose of a lawsuit.

However, if it turns out the police were justified, well, then I would say good, they did their job. I personally believe all drug dealing, including marijuana, does nothing good for a community and those people who feel free to break the laws to spread this stuff should get taken down. I wouldn't want the police to do less.

I am looking forward to the answers.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: I am an Animal Abuser

I am going to admit it to the world. I am an "animal abuser". This is what some animal rights people will claim and it is just possible the law might back them. If I am in jail at the end of the week, I will have my first criminal offense on record. I believe in following the law but the animal cruelty laws have gotten out of control in this country. How did I get into this position of possibly being a felon? I blame it on a cop.

My daughter, the police officer with a soft heart for felines (read: don't get the girl anywhere near little furry things) was told some kittens had been dumped behind a strip mall. She goes to check them out with plans to take them over to the shelter and, hopefully, get them homes. She chases them about and two of them slither under a fence and out of her reach. The third she catches because it is dragging one of its legs behind it. She plops it in my lap (the unlucky ridealong) and off we go. Later, when another officer pops his head in the window and asks what the kitten's name is, she replies snarkily, "Not mine." (she already has four cats), a name with such foreshadowing that the fool with the cat on her lap should have already seen how this tale was going to end.

Well, now the dilemma begins. One can't take a cat to the shelter with a broken leg because they will put it down. It is supposed to be the kind thing to do (yes, sure, but the little beast is now purring in my arms and looking up at me with its helpless little eyes). So, we take it to the vet and pay for x-rays. Yep, broken femur - really, bad, broken femur with two bones passing each other . The vet tells us it needs surgery to the tune of $1000 pocket change.

$1000 for a cat? A kitten? A homeless kitten? You have got to be kidding! Where are the old animal doctors - you remember them - the rough-and-tough fellow who would "do what he could for the little fellah" and charge you $20? Oh, yeah, he went away with ten years of school and a loan the size of the treasury of a small African nation. He went away with the doctors and veterinarians not run by insurance and drug companies so that there is no such thing as a reasonable price. He went away with a lawyer like Abe Lincoln who could learn law and then practice it for a price that meant regular folks could actually get some justice.

At some point in this society, we need put our foot down and say, "Let's be reasonable. Let's use common sense and not go broke with perfectionism and trying one more drug or trying to cure everything with science and money. Let's determine if this is something we can do ourselves (with tough parenting as in all those ridiculous ADD diagnoses), or not do at all (with some of those ridiculous expensive medical treatments that haven't a snowball's chance of doing more than torturing a person for an extra three months of 'life'), or do what we can without breaking the bank (as with an stray animal and its broken leg).

By now in this rant, all the animal advocates are going nuts worrying about the kitten's broken leg. I know this...because I googled "kitten, broken leg, heal naturally" and couldn't find one person who wasn't incensed that a person wouldn't pay that $1000 to get the kitty "proper" treatment. As a matter of fact, those who consider not forking out the cash are warned that they can be arrested for animal abuse, a criminal offense. At least, they demand, take the animal to a shelter and have it put down...it is the humane thing to do if you don't want to be a responsible pet owner. Anyway, I couldn't find an answer to how well the kitten might do without surgery, so I called the vet back.

I told the vet the $1000 was too much for me to pay for a stray cat and I was given an option to sign over the kitten and THEN they would do the surgery, rehab it, and get it adopted. How stupid do they think this criminal profiler is? Do they really think I believe that they are going to waste all their time and money on this kitten when there are god-knows-how-many other kittens about to be euthanized at the SPCA? I am not a fool. I sign the paper and when the door hits me in the butt, they tch-tch about how cheap I am and how if I am not willing to help the cat I should have been willing to do the "humane" thing and have it put to sleep so it won't have suffer with a broken leg. Now, they will do the humane thing behind my back while I go off thinking I have done something nice by giving it the vet.

Yeah, right. I said, "No, thanks." I told them I was keeping the cat and taking it to my vet; that way, THEY could think they had done the "humane" thing by getting me to pay for the operation, even if they weren't the docs making the money on it.

I decided to roll the dice on the kitten. From the moment I got it, it has never shown itself to be in any pain. It eats like a pig. It throws itself on me and purrs and purrs and purrs. I concluded it wasn't suffering and it didn't have internal injuries and the leg, even with the bad break, seemed to be in a good position.

A week has gone by. The kitten bolted out the library door yesterday on four legs and it took me thirty minutes to catch it. I dunno, maybe the thing will have a limp of sorts as it goes through life, but the critter certainly doesn't look like it isn't going to be perfectly mobile.

So, now I have joined the ranks of animal abusers because the choice I made for the kitten is probably considered cruel by many. I guess I just don't get the thinking of America. Are we so ridiculously arrogant about our wealth we cannot understand that spending money isn't the answer to everything and not everyone can do it and not everyone can do it all the time? Don't they understand we sometimes should do "less" than we could and just let life be okay, if not perfect? Are we that spoiled and do we need to spoil our children and pets this way as well?

We don't need to be perfect people. We don't need to look perfect until we die, we don't need perfect teeth, we don't need perfect educations, we don't need perfect...anything! We need "good" stuff. We need good health (by eating right), good teeth (by brushing them), good education (by learning what we need to know), and we need good services (that have a reasonable price). Most of all we need good behavior and good morals and good ethics. We can't buy these. And it shouldn't be a crime if we don't spend a fortune on our children and pets but instead opt for a little commonsense, hard work, and humbleness.

I am not an animal abuser. I am an animal lover who gave up her time and energy (and some money) to save a little kitten (who apparently can now be named "Yeah, it's mine"). I made those same tough decisions concerning my children as they grew up and I guess I could have gone to work full-time and spent my money on medical care and dental care and psychological care instead of staying home with the kids, homeschooling them, and seeing they had turned out to be good decent citizens. Perhaps, I was a child abuser as well (and I was indeed called this by certain doctors and dentists who wanted me to spend money I didn't have).

Money is not a cure for everything. Holding a friend as she dies from cancer is worth more than any medical treatment. Spending time with your kids is better than any after-school program. Teaching your children to be respectful and polite is better than any ADD drug. Saving a little kitten and accepting it might have a limp and spending the $1000 on something more reasonable is not animal abuse, but kindness and commonsense coming together to make a rational decision.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Smiley Face Killers Hit Thailand!

The Smiley Face Killers, that gang of serial killers who have been targeting strong, white, college students in the United States, have changed their modus operandi; they are now killing Asian men.

What attracted the Smiley Face gang to Thailand? A combination of heavy flooding and heavy drinking proved so alluring to the gang, they just had to commit their crimes overseas - at least until the water dries up. "Most drowning cases in flood-hit areas have resulted from drinking alcohol," the Public Health Ministry has stated, and the Thai police have ruled these deaths accidental. Yet these men have died in a similar fashion to the college boys in the US. It would seem reasonable that our law enforcement should be joining forces with the Thai police to investigate these deaths as well.

Just as is true in the United States, the Smiley Face Killers target men and not women. The drowned men of Thailand outnumber women six to one. Instead of painting the smiley faces on trees and buildings, the Smiley Face Gang operating in Thailand, leaves a cup of tea with the tea leaves arranged in the form of a smiley face.

When the waters recede, where will the Smiley Face Killers go next in search of drunk male victims? It is hard to say but we can only hope that Interpol can keep track of their movements and travel itineraries. Since they are getting bolder and bolder, hopefully they will get careless and slip up soon, so that young men will once again be able to binge drink in peace and without the fear of ending up a victim of the Smiley Face Gang

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Whatever Happened to Chandra Levy?

Remember Chandra Levy? The Washington Post just did a nice spread on the cold case, still ruminating about what actually happened to her and if the married Congressman Gary Condit really did have a hand in her murder. But, last we heard, police theorized some local serial killer was wandering about Rock Creek Park (where her body was finally found in a ravine) did her in.

The whole investigation was somewhat bizarre, with many choices that appeared not to make sense. Leads were not followed up and certain reasonable avenues of thought simply not pursued. One of the biggest questions was the issue of Chandra choosing to go jogging in Rock Creek Park. The location she was found at was four miles from her apartment. She was not an avid jogger and told friends she thought Rock Creek Park was dangerous. She could have jogged from her apartment to that location, but it is quite a distance for a person not into jogging, especially if she planned to run back. She could have taken the public transportation to get closer to that location and begin her jog or walk (as supposedly she checked the weather and it was going to be a beautiful day). The possibility can't be ruled out.

Of course, then there is Condit. The location where Levy was found in Rock Creek Park is pretty much a skip and a jump away from Condit's home. Did they meet and go for a walk? Or was she already dead (a woman heard a scream earlier in the day at her condo) and the searches on the computer were clever ruses to make it look like she was alive? Was she then driven over and dumped.

One of the most difficult things about analyzing a case at a distance is not being able to see for yourself the actual terrain. Was it possible for someone to drive near the site Chandra's body was found and dump her easily enough? Or would the person that killed her clearly need to be walking on the path as well because it was so inaccessible?

Condit is a pretty squirrelly character. He had affairs with numerous women, stringing them along, and attempting to keep their relationships secret. I believe Chandra was naive and foolish and thought Condit was really going to dump his wife and marry her. This is what she told a friend. If she stuck to her guns, she would become a massive liability for Condit, especially if she were pregnant and refuse to abort the baby.

Did he kill her? There is a good amount of evidence that makes one focus on him if she wasn't done in by a serial killer.

I doubt this case will ever be closed any good physical evidence is long gone. If Condit did her in, he got away with a "good enough" murder. If somebody else did it, nothing at this point is going to link him to the crime either.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Perversion, Porn, and Peter Cook

Unless you live under a rock (or spend your days reading good literature instead of reading tabloids and watching television), you probably know about the nasty divorce trial of Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook. Cook, as it turns out, is a sleaze of the nth degree, an adulterer, a liar, a pervert, and, did I miss anything? If you don't know what happened yet, here is the gist of it. He cheated on Christie with an eighteen-year-old girl from work who he gave $300,000 to keep quiet about the goings on. He also spent $3000 a month of Internet porn, going to sites for swingers and other lovely sites which allow Cook to jack off in front of a webcam while someone is watching or performing on the other end.

Now, spending $3000/month on porn is difficult unless you go to some "very special" sites. Cook clearly did. Christie eventually found out about her husband's bad behavior when the father of the young girl told her what was going on. Now the marriage is over and the courts are hearing the unpleasant details.

I spoke about this the other night on Nancy Grace and I admit I rather freaked out Nancy and the producers when I said I would be concerned that that could be a possibilty of sexual abuse between Cook and his older stepdaughter and/or his ten-year-old daughter. There absolutely have been no allegations and Nancy was quick to clear this up (and my apologies to Nancy for blindsiding her....I hadn't planned to say anything about possible sexual abuse of the girls). What happened was I got more creeped out as the show continued and I heard more and more details about this man's character and behavior. He seems very controlling, desperate for power, somewhat sadistic, not very trustworthy, perverted, and extremely narcissistic. Considering he is obsessed with porn, likes young girls, and has little morals, if I were divorcing him, I wouldn't want my daughter spending time alone with him.

One story that came up is how Peter Cook liked to keep his ten-year-old daughter to himself, not let her talk to her mother, and he gets her ready in the morning and gets her ready for bed at night (as in helping her dress and undress). Does this give anyone else the creepy crawlies and send up red flags? Sure, my husband changed our baby's diapers when they were infants and helped bath the little critters, but by the time my daughter became a real girl-girl, there was no way he would even think of being in the room with her while she was changing her clothes.

I felt bad about speaking so bluntly on Nancy's show and blurting that bit out without warning, but I still think those psychiatrists and investigators need to speak with the girls in that family and be sure that it is safe for them to be around Pervert Peter. Something about that guy makes me very uneasy and I sure hope it isn't what I think it could be. I would hate to hear about some untoward sexual molestation of the girls some ten or twenty years from now after it has done the damage.

One could ask, wouldn't Christie know? I doubt it. She seems to have blinders on when it comes to the men in her life, so she may well just not notice anything concerning.

I hope Peter Cook is just a pervert who likes legal age women. Sometimes it is a good thing to hope those bells ringing are just a false alarms.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: The Happening is Good Horror if not a Good Movie

I really loved The Sixth Sense. I liked the suspense and the Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy in the plot and I thought it was very clever (and, no, I didn't figure out the twist, embarrassing though that might be for a profiler). I missed the next couple of M. Night Shyamalan films and then I went to see Lady in the Water. I sat in the movie theatre with my mouth hanging open (from disbelief), my eyes rolled until they hurt, and when the movie ended, I actually stood up and shouted, "Night! You've lost your mind!" Unquestionable, Lady in the Water was the worst film I have ever seen. True, I didn't walk out like I have other crappy films, but this was only because I couldn't believe the film could continue to be so bad and so I stayed just to see how awful it was actually going to get. It surpassed my wildest imaginings!

I will say, though, that I recommend the film for gatherings with friends - alcohol required - for mocking and popcorn flicking. With this in mind, I actually went to see Shyamalan's new movie, The Happening, in spite of all the bad reviews.

Though The Happening isn't a good film, I rather expected more people in the theatre would commit suicide watching the movie than died on screen. However, I actually found, to my surprise, the movie was actually quite suspenseful and it kept my interest. To be sure, I had to giggle and snicker now and again because the conversations between people were inane and there are just many really stupid moments that require viewers to question that Night should get a little help (no, a lot of help) with plot issues and presentation.

But, I found the horror aspect of the film actually admirable. Many people know I am strongly anti gore and slasher films which I consider to be sadistic, misogynist, and damaging to society. Because of the stance I take on this, some think that I am opposed to any film that includes violence or scary stuff. This is not true. While I am an advocate of clean, good fun, family films which I think should be the bulk of our fare, I do enjoy some art films and clever detective, adventure, mystery, and horror films.

The horror films I support are those that creep you out without making the bad stuff something to drool over, something to live vicariously through, and something that makes one laugh at the victims. One of my favorite creepy films of all time is The Haunting of Hill House, an old black and white film that justs gets to you with its spookiness. The Haunting had this quality.

For those of you not familiar with the plot (spoiler ahead), something like global warming is causing the trees to attack people by releasing some chemical into the air which causes them to commit suicide(snickering here is allowed as, yes, this is a very dumb plot). But, what makes this film a good horror film is the freakiness of whole bunches of people just suddenly stopping in the middle of their mundane activities and killing themselves off. The thought of this happening makes one skin crawl.

The methods which the people use to do themselves in also include some very simple but interesting ways of committing suicide. I think the most riveting part of the film is when the construction workers are chatting and suddenly one of their coworkers slams onto the ground beside them. They are horrified and while trying to tend to him, another coworker slams into the ground behind them, and then another and another. Then they look up and they see all of their friends just stepping off the top of the building they are working on. Great scene and totally creeped me out!

Then other people kill themselves in unsettling ways as well, like suddenly laying down in front of a mower or driving their family straight into a tree. A traffic cop suddenly stops what he is doing and pulls out his gun and shoots himself in the head. He drops to the ground. Then, the man in the car the cop had just been chatting with, gets out, walks over to the cop and picks up the gun from beside the body and kills himself as well. Then, a woman in high heels steps of the sidewalk, picks up the gun again and she drops to the ground. Later on we see the lawnmowers of a road crew abandoned at the side of the road and all the workers are hanging from the trees like big pieces of fruit.

Creepy! Creepy! Creepy! The protagonists attempt to outrun the areas which are being hit and everyone they meet or run with drop like flies.It made me rather tense and I was holding my breath as I hope they would make it, that the people with them would make it, that anyone would make it. It was good, good horror. The point of the film was to put you on the edge of your seat with concepts, not with overly graphic and overlong scenes of torture, dismemberment, and death. Shyamalan actually often moved the camera quickly away as soon as the death takes place and only a quick glance at the damage is seen. I have to really respect that. I got the point without being repulsed, sickened, or becoming some sort of sicko enjoying watching people die.

So, Night, thank you for proving horror films can be done decently, if not terribly well. I really appreciate it.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown