Another article on Fox News talks about the recent disappearance of Susan Powell, 28, who “was last seen on Dec. 7, when her husband says he left their suburban home in West Valley City at about 12:30 a.m. to take their two boys, ages 2 and 4, camping in freezing conditions.”

Going camping in below freezing weather with two boys under 5 years old? According to the Weather Channel history for Salt Lake City, Utah, the temperature Sunday the 7th was 25 degrees as the high (-3.9 degrees Celsius) and 17 degrees as the low (-8.3 degrees Celsius). And at 12:30 a.m., right after midnight, the temperature was probably close to that 17 degree (-8.3 degree Celsius) range.

Catfish. I’m definitely smelling something along the lines of catfish around here.

The story about the missing Salt Lake City, Utah woman and the way things like this usually end up are not what I’m looking at. I’m looking at another glaring tactical error. Two, in fact.

Susan Powell’s husband, Joshua Powell, decided he needed to bust out in a rental car just under 48 hours after his wife disappeared. He drove hundreds of miles in a rental vehicle he got for a 24 hour period to head… who knows where.

Error #1 : There was no GPS in the rental vehicle. In this day and age, Joshua Powell got a rental vehicle from one of the last companies to implement GPS devices in their rental fleet. He could have driven to Canada or Mexico and the company would’ve never known what happened to their vehicle. What rental company doesn’t have a GPS in their rental vehicles?

Error #2 :The police had him pegged as a person of interest, and even had his minivan in their CSI room, but didn’t notice he was gone from the city for 48 hours? No drive by his home? No knock-knock on his door for a sweet Andy Griffith style “hey, hope you’re doing OK” checkup? No judicial order not to leave the city limits?

Since that little trip to nowhere, “His minivan has since been returned to him by police and he has not been named a suspect in his wife Susan’s disappearance.”

I still smell catfish.

It would be nice if when someone is named as a “person of interest” in any criminal proceeding, there’s an automatic judicial order for them not to leave the city limits for 72 hours without notifying the detective and/or police department doing the investigating. How hard would this be to make into a law on a state by state basis?

And hopefully the police are checking wireless phone records, ATM receipts, and gas stations along the freeways. But that’s a very tiny needle in a very big haystack at this point.

Here’s the link to the Fox News article on Susan Powell’s disappearance (iPhone format)

A recent article in Fox News says the attorney for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Ft. Hood shooter, is complaining his client is having his rights violated.

Apparently, Hasan’s attorney, John P. Galligan, is having a problem with “police stopp[ing] a phone conversation between Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and one of his brothers Friday because it was not in English.”

OK. I’m not worried about the potential civil violations that may or may not have happened here. I’m looking at a serious tactical error that just happened.

Why did the military police keep Hasan from talking to whoever he wanted to?

It shouldn’t have mattered at all if he was speaking in Arabic, German, Dutch, or Pig Latin. The military police should have had his entire cell wired as soon as he arrived. The military police should have had a live tap on every phone call he made as well as a digitally recorded copy. And keep one military police officer present in the room during any and all conversations.

After all the conversations Hasan makes (except the conversations with his attorney), get a translator to go back and review what he said on the recordings! And since he made any and all comments in front of a military police officer that was present in the room at the time, it should be fair game for everything he said to be admissible in a court of law.

Who knows what they missed by telling him to shut up.

Here’s the link to the Fox News article (iPhone format).

Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.

* Want another example on how London is different than Texas and how the British judicial system is completely screwed up at the same time? Check this story out… a man and his wife and three kids came home from church services and were all attacked in their own home by a knife wielding burglar and two other men who were already there. The burglars tied them all up and threatened to kill them all.  The homeowner broke free of the restraints and fought with the three men. One of the kids also got free and ran next door to get the homeowners brother. The homeowner managed to hold off the three burglars until his brother arrived to help. Two of the burglars ran away while the third burglar got beat up in the homeowners front yard by the homeowner and his brother with a cricket bat and a metal pole.  The police arrived… and arrested the homeowner and brother for beating the burglar!!! The burglar that was caught? He got let go and is completely free. The two brothers were sentenced to prison for two and a half years. Judge John Reddihough said the prison term was for the homeowners and the homeowners brother’s “very violent revenge”. Judge John Reddihough whined that “If persons were permitted to take the law into their own hands and inflict their own instant and violent punishment on an apprehended offender rather than letting the criminal justice system take its course, then the rule of law and our system of criminal justice, which are hallmarks of a civilised [sic] society, would collapse.” Hey Judge John Reddihough? In Texas, defending your own home and family from burglars is perfectly legal. And Texas isn’t in any danger of collapsing from all this legal “anarchy” you’re so afraid of. People should be allowed to take whatever means necessary to defend their own family in their own home. Especially when they or their family are threatened with terminal harm in their own home. Oh, and one more thing Judge John Reddihough. You’re a complete fucking asshole. A wanker’s wanker. A bloody hairy boil on the ass of the English judicial system. Just thought you should know.  [DAILYMAIL]

* Better get that botox or tummy tuck done soon if you’ve been thinking about doing it. The US government is planning… “a 5% excise tax on elective cosmetic surgery, beginning Jan. 1, 2010.” In other words, a vanity tax. I predict a lot more of these “sneak taxes” coming in 2010. [USA TODAY]

* The FDA opened a branch office in Mexico. To help pre-screen food items heading into the US from Mexico. I don’t know if this is a good idea. What’s wrong with inspecting food once it’s securely on our side of the border? [FOODBUSINESS NEWS]

* Why don’t you notice the dark when you blink? Because blinking temporarily switches off parts of your brain! Science in fun. [PHYSORG]

* A recent military study links deployment to hypertension. Next study from military intelligence – getting shot is surprisingly bad for your health. [MILITARY HEALTH]

—LATE ADDITIONS

* Domino’s Pizza is changing their whole formula! New crust, new cheese and new sauce. The “New crust will have added butter, garlic and parsley, the new cheese will have shredded instead of diced mozzarella and a hint of provolone, and the new sauce will be sweeter, with a red pepper kick.” What the hell? I liked the old Domino’s because it was different! The change happens “in all U.S. stores by Dec. 27”, so enjoy the original style by Christmas before it’s gone forever. [USA TODAY]

* The headline says it all. “Obama weighs creating commission to propose tax hikes”. Didn’t I just predict “sneak taxes” a few paragraphs ago? Well now it’s serious. “The proposed [commission] panel would… vote after the midterm elections on a reform package that could include dramatic tax hikes and spending cuts.” Naturally these cowards would wait to do something after the midterm elections. Start saving and re-investing your money now, folks. [CNN]