Forensics for closure in cold cases and justice served

FACES lab research associate Helen Mathews, left, and Director Mary Manhein hope to create a comprehensive database.

Another tool for families to resolve a mysterious family death and justice to close in on criminals.

"Forensics lab brings cold cases back to life"

by

Rick Jervis

February 26th, 2009

USA TODAY

BATON ROUGE — The clay face perched on a lab shelf at Louisiana State University's Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services — FACES — looked familiar to the sheriff's deputy. It got him digging back into his old case files.

A few weeks later, the face — reconstructed from the remains of an unidentified 20-year-old slain man — was matched to a skull found 32 years ago on a sandbar in the Red River near Shreveport, La.

"It's amazing what they're doing in that lab," said Lt. Robert Davidson of the DeSoto (La.) Parish Sheriff's Office, who helped identify the remains. "Anything we find now that is not identified, we're sending it straight to them."

FACES is at the forefront of a recent national push to bring names to the thousands of unidentified remains sitting in coroners' closets and sheriffs' evidence rooms across the USA. In 2007, the Justice Department launched an online database [ www.namus.gov ] that links coroners' offices and law enforcement agencies all over the country and allows the public to peruse clay and computer-enhanced renderings of unidentified persons.

States like Texas, California, Louisiana and Kentucky are bolstering their unidentified victims databases and sharing the information across the country, said Mary Manhein, FACES director and a forensic anthropologist.

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates there are between 15,000 and 40,000 sets of unidentified remains in coroners' offices across the country. These cold cases often go unsolved for decades. Even with new technology, the cases are difficult; The FACES lab has identified four in the past two years.

But the forensic work is one of the few rays of hope to solve many cases.

"There is so much more effort going into it now as opposed to 10 years ago," said Todd Matthews of the Doe Network, a group of nationwide volunteers who help identify victims. "If nothing else, communication between agencies is so much better."

In 2006, Louisiana lawmakers passed a law mandating that law enforcement officers and coroners in each of the state's 64 parishes forward all unidentified remains to the FACES lab, Manhein said. The lab also got about $500,000 in additional funding, allowing Manhein to hire extra forensic anthropologists and an imaging expert.

Using skull measurements, the technicians could determine how wide a victim's nose was and how full the lips were, as well as the victim's race, gender and approximate age, Manhein said. Some things, such as eye color or hair length, can't be determined by the bones and are guessed at by the technicians. Eyes are always colored brown, since that color photographs best in the images, she said.

A clay face is created from the measurements, which is then photographed, scanned into a computer and enhanced with computer technology, Manhein said.

Some clay reproductions and pictures are spot-on matches. Davidson said he recognized the clay face in 2007 in the FACES lab right away as that of Victor Barajas, a Texas man who disappeared near Shreveport in 1976.

After making that match, Davidson gave the FACES lab an unidentified skull they'd had since 1985. A year later, through DNA matching and a missing persons report, the sheriff's office and anthropologists at FACES matched the skull to Ricky Maxie, a 23-year-old who had disappeared near Shreveport. His remains were delivered to his family.

"You can't imagine having your son or daughter missing and never finding their remains," Davidson said. "It's tremendous closure for the family."

For Manhein, one of the most emotionally difficult cases was that of Precious Doe, the name given to the decapitated remains of a young girl found in 2001 in a wooded area in Kansas City. A small skull was also found nearby.

Authorities recruited Manhein, who used the skull to determine the victim had been a black girl about 3 years old. The information helped police identify the victim as 3-year-old Erica Michelle Marie Green. Erica's stepfather later admitted to killing the girl while high on drugs and cutting off her head with hedge clippers. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

In 2007, Manhein flew to Kansas City for Erica's funeral. A small group of city officials, activists and Erica's former caretaker watched as the tiny coffin was lowered into the ground. "You feel relieved, happy, sad — a wide range of emotions," Manhein said. "These people don't have voices. When we identify them, we give them a voice."


Forensic texts online

FBI telling a FIB?

Is this a surprise?

Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii

"Don't care much about astronomy"

by

Sasha Issenberg

February 26th, 2009

boston.com

WASHINGTON -- John McCain has acknowledged that he doesn't know as much about economics as he would like, but what's his issue with astronomy?

During a debate last fall, McCain picked out an earmark backed by then-Senator Barack Obama to renovate a planetarium theatre in his state, mocking it as "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?"

Today, of the more than 8,000 earmarks in an omnibus bill making its way through Congress, McCain settled his considerable talents of ridicule on another project devoted to the study of space and celestial bodies: an earmark for a program at the Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii, pushed by Senator Daniel Inouye, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

"During these very challenging economic times facing all of our citizens, someone needs to explain why we should be funding projects such as $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa and $2 million for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii," McCain said in a statement encouraging Obama to veto the bill.

McCain's distaste for zoological scholarship in Iowa predates his apparent skepticism of astronomical study: he last long ridiculed an earmark he described as "$50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa."

Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii

Even workers at NASA can be corrupt

Samim Anghaie

Not as subtle as some other forms of greed at NASA and loss of taxpayer's money, but worked for Samim Anghaie and his wife Sousan Anghaie...for a while.

"Professor, Wife Accused of Defrauding NASA of Hundreds of Thousands of Taxpayer Dollars"

by

Mike Levine

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

FOX NEWS

The FBI and NASA are investigating a University of Florida professor and his wife for allegedly defrauding NASA out of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for their own personal use.

Iranian-born Samim Anghaie, 59, is the Director of the Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute at the University of Florida. His wife, 55-year-old Sousan Anghaie, is president of New Era Technology Inc. (NETECH) in Gainesville, Fla.

Authorities say Sousan Anghaie persuaded NASA to award her company "several fully funded contracts," including nearly $600,000 to develop and study a uranium-related technology.

But, according to an affidavit unsealed today in federal court, the couple allegedly used most of that money to buy personal luxuries — including their $480,000 home in Gainesville, a 2007 BMW and a 2005 Toyota Sienna sports van.

They also used that money to buy a property for their son in Tampa, Fla., a property for their other son in Manchester, Conn., a 2008 Toyota Corolla for Sousan Anghaie's sister, and a 2007 Toyota Corolla for another family member.

Earlier today federal agents raided the Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute, according to a law enforcement official.

As part of her proposal in 2006, Sousan Anghaie requested nearly $350,000 to pay three staffers, including her son and brother-in-law. But those three actually received "$0" for their work, according to the affidavit. In fact, it's not clear whether any of the proposed work was actually completed.

According to the affidavit, Sousan Anghaie and her husband, who also worked for NETECH in some capacity, "submitted multiple fraudulent certified contract proposals to NASA, in order to receive the maximum funding for proposed research contracts."

After sending NASA invoices documenting how the money was used, NASA would deposit money directly into NETECH's corporate account, but that money would be "diverted" to the couple's personal accounts, the affidavit said.

NETECH has already received nearly $528,000 of the $600,000 awarded by NASA, and the contract with NASA was still active as of last week, according to the affidavit.

Green books...good recycling program

This local organization, and expanding throughout the country, was brought to my attention recently whose primary objective is to recycle used books. Paul Haughey is the instigator and wrote...

"Books for the Planet is growing exponentially. We now have chapters in Kansas City, St Louis, Denver, and are soon opening chapters in Milwaukee, and Dallas/Ft Worth. You can help by making a financial contribution or donating books. Or, you could help us spread the word - let your local library, used bookstore, or nonprofit know that we are happy to accept their unwanted books and media, get them in the hands of people who need them."

Read more...

Books for the Planet

Pet Poll

Oxford
"I approved diz poll...and got a free cheese burger"

Well, I am a little surprised...not so much in the results, which I expected according to a similar global survey, but that 71 people, including myself, even look at this blog. Nevertheless, it is pleasing to see that many are quite passionate about, in general, animals and, specifically, animals as pets. [Curious to note that the official counter indicates 61 votes while the sum of the votes is 71?]

The poll was actually structured differently, but I was only allowed "four" responses. My fifth selection would have been "both". But it appears that out of 71, 32 [52%] cast their vote for dogs, 24 [39%] cast their vote for cats, 10 [16%] cast their vote for other, and 5 [8%] cast their vote for no pets at all. Pity those that chose the latter for pets are very beneficial, but I am sure they have sound reasons. For those that voted "other", I bet they had birds at pets.

For the first three responses, there are really no losers. It is an attribute of the human psyche to embrace lower creatures who respond individually and express a love and bond that is quite significant.

I have no problem with dogs, but I have grown up with cats. I like low maintenance animals and animals that can entertain themselves when I am otherwise occupied. But that's just me. It has nothing to do with species superiority.

If you like animals and cannot participate personally, I suggest that you sponsor animal refuge and shelter organizations--makes one feel good.


PETS IN SOCIETY

And this from USA TODAY [February 25th] "Dogs allowed: Creature comforts at the workplace" by Sharon L. Peters.

As a bonus, if you wish, send a response to the blog with your email [which will not be published] and I will supply an email address for you to send a photograph of your pet[s] and I will add to the main body here.

In memory of Cookie, Kansas, Beaker, Kloie, Chris, Sylvie, Bruno.

I hear that the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale...again

Really believe it?

"Pentagon Official: U.S. Is Not Developing Space Weapons"

by

Peter B. de Selding

February 20th, 2009

space.com

STRASBOURG, France - The United States is not developing space weapons and could not afford to do so even if it wanted to, an official with the Pentagon's National Security Space Office said Thursday.

Pete Hays, a senior policy analyst at the space office who is also associate director of the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies, said U.S. policy on space weaponry has remained pretty much the same over the last 30 years despite the occasionally heated debate on the subject during the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush.

"There has not been one minute spent on this issue as far as I know," Hays said of U.S. Defense Department policy on using weapons in space. "There are no space weaponization programs. It's an issue that academics like to flog now and then, but in terms of funded programs, there aren't any. I can tell you that categorically."

Hays made his remarks during a space security conference organized by the International Space University here. He said that even if the United States decided to embark on a space-based weapon system, it could not pay for it given its current military program commitments.

Hays said the U.S. policy of refusing to sign a treaty banning space-based weapons has not changed since the 1970s. Despite occasional efforts, no administration, Democrat or Republican, has been able to craft an acceptable treaty.

Hays said he cannot explain why a policy statement from the new administration of President Barack Obama appears to highlight a priority of seeking a worldwide ban on weapons that would interfere with satellites. "This will be an extremely difficult policy to adopt" for the same reasons that other administrations have fallen short, Hays said. "It is not for lack of trying that the United States and others have been unable" to produce a treaty.

Russia and China continue to try to win support for such a treaty at the United Nations Disarmament Conference.

In a separate presentation to the conference, John Sheldon of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., said defining space weapons will never be possible to the extent demanded by a treaty.

"Four guys in black pajamas who attack a satellite control station: That too is a space weapon, and you cannot stop it," Sheldon said.

Bunglers of the spectrum

The following article sums up the debacle.

"How We Bungled the Digital Television Transition"

by

Eliot Van Buskirk

February 20th, 2009

Wired

America's transition to over-the-air digital television signals, which netted the government $19 billion in a wireless spectrum auction, was doomed from the start, thanks to a flawed voucher program and a time frame that left the country stranded between administrations.

In January, close to two million people were stuck on the waiting list for $40 coupons that only cover part of the cost of a digital television converter. The converters make new over-the-air digital signals watchable on analog televisions, expire after ninety days, and originally could not be sent to anyone with a P.O. box or nursing home address.

Recently sworn-in President Barack Obama urged Congress to delay the digital television transition originally scheduled for February 17 until June 12, and Congress complied, costing taxpayers another $650 million as part of the stimulus bill, which will be spent on staffing FCC call centers and outreach programs to help Americans weather a transition most were prepared for.

"It's hard not to be cynical about this, but if you look at the glacial pace with which the federal government has moved in all things concerning the transition, we were immediately concerned as soon as it was clear that the coupon program was unable to process coupons," said Joel Kelsey of the Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. "The largest problem with the transition, and the best argument for delay, was that the coupon program failed consumers when they needed it most."

This failed voucher program, which will cost taxpayers $1.99 billion instead of $1.34 billion, could not keep up with demand. Awareness was not the issue. Traffic to the DTV transition website peaked during the week ending January 3, according to Hitwise. And although the FCC hired an extra 4,265 people to field calls to 1-888-CALL-FCC, only 25,000 people called those centers on February 18, when 421 television stations stopped broadcasting analog signals, according to the National Association of Broadcasters.

"These findings from local stations, coupled with the FCC data, paint the picture that by and large TV households affected in those markets were ready," stated NAB digital television transition vice president Jonathan Collegio. "A relatively small percentage of viewers so far have needed assistance."

People knew about the February 17th date because local stations had been alerting them to that fact for about a year, as required.

"There's no way to quantify the time and the cost of the [messaging] crawls [across the bottom of the screen]," said Dean Ditmer, station manager of WKEF in Dayton, Ohio, whose application to cease analog transmission on February 17 as planned was denied. "It's in the probably billions of dollars across the country in terms of what an advertiser would have had to pay."

"No one can afford that kind of advertising."

Indeed.

Among the extra $650 million dollars the delay will cost taxpayers, there's no allowance for stations that have to pay an average of $40,000 to keep broadcasting in analog, or for companies that paid $19 billion for spectrum they were supposed to get four months earlier.

Plus, the $40 vouchers only cover about two thirds of the cost of a converter box: $60-$80 at big box retail stores or $40-$80 plus shipping and handling online. Considering that the government made $19 billion auctioning public spectrum to private companies, many wonder why the voucher program was not managed properly.

"Millions of people across America would lose access to essential news and information, and the federal government, that mandated this transition, was asking them to pay for something they once got for free," said Kelsey. "Meanwhile, they and businesses across the nation were making money, making profit off of this transition. This is something that consumers didn't ask for, but they are being asked to pay for it."

After three years of preparation, $1.34 billion in government spending, plus another billion or so in free advertising from local stations, diligent consumers who were trying to get the coupons six weeks before the February 17th transition date could not receive these insufficient $40 vouchers, and an estimated seven million Americans were still unprepared for digital television, due to sloppy oversight.

After the DTV Delay Act was signed, 421 local television stations (Excel) applied to the FCC to stick with the original February date, approximately 75 percent of those applications were approved. The remaining 25 percent were denied because the FCC insists that at least one major network affiliate in each local area keep broadcasting local news and emergency information, while others broadcast a "nightlight" video informing holdouts about the transition, during the four months leading up to the new June 12 date.

Which brings us back to the failed voucher program -- the main reason for the delay. Why didn't the NTIA make the voucher cover the whole cost of a converter box? "That's a fantastic question," said Kelsey. "Or why didn't they just put out a request for proposals to manufacturers, and give everyone a converter box."

Making matters worse, the 2005 act set the original transition date for February 2009 -- precisely when the FCC and other governmental agencies change hands -- making a quick reaction to the crisis all but impossible.

"In the midst of it, the administration, rightly, was coming in and saying, 'Look, we're going to have to deal with this giant transition that we've been handed in the first twenty days of our administration, and we're looking at potentially tens of millions of people losing access to their television and emergency news and information, and that's not a situation we want to find ourselves in,'" said Kelsey.

This additional factor added to the need for this expensive delay. "Why the hell – excuse me – why in 2005 did they decide February 17th was a good time for this transition?"


100s of analog signals are severed

Analog broadcasting signals will cease for some

DTV officially postponed

More on DTV...Kansas City style

Done deal...analog broadcasting switch on hold

Jacques Steinberg's esaay on DTV switch

The House negates digital delay

Digital TV switchover is postponed

Junk televisions and recycling