Aaron Bruns Arrested for Child Porn

Aaron Bruns, 29, a Fox News Channel producer has been arrested on child pornography charges. Federal agents found pictures and videos on his computer of children under 10 years old being sexually abused by adult men and women.

This was not Bruns' first encounter with child porn charges. He was previously arrested in March 1999 while at the University of Michigan. At that time investigators found more than 6,000 images on his computer of children engaged in sexual activity. Bruns dropped out of university while his case was pending and eventually pleaded guilty in July 1999 to distributing child pornography over the internet. He was sentenced to 3 years probation.

Aaron Bruns is best known for his coverage of Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries in 2008 where he was an imbed producer. He had been employed by the FOX channel since 2002. The day before his arrest Bruns filed a story about the farewell speeches of Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton on the senate floor. A spokesperson for FOX said: "We are aware of the arrest and he is currently suspended without pay."

The following is the criminal complaint and arrest warrant filed by federal prosecutors and obtained by the website The Smoking Gun.

A Word of Warning: The description of images and video files found on Aaron Bruns' computer is explicit and graphic. The graphic nature may be offensive to some people.

Aaron Bruns appeared Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 in U.S. District Court in Washington. A judge scheduled another hearing for Thursday, where he will consider whether to continue holding Bruns in jail.

2,700-Year-Old Marijuana Found in Grave

Nearly two pounds of still-green marijuana has been found in the grave of a man who was buried 2,700 years ago. It is the oldest known stash of pot ever discovered. Found in the Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, China, a sample was subjected to a battery of tests conducted by an 18-member research team. The results are published in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

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To get really technical (skip this part if you want):

A large cache of cannabis, superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions was tested by a multidisciplinary international team who demonstrated through botanical examination, phytochemical investigation, and genetic deoxyribonucleic acid analysis by polymerase chain reaction that this material contained tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis, its oxidative degradation product, cannabinol, other metabolites, and its synthetic enzyme, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, as well as a novel genetic variant with two single nucleotide polymorphisms. The cannabis was presumably employed by this culture as a medicinal or psychoactive agent, or an aid to divination. To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent, and contribute to the medical and archaeological record of this pre-Silk Road culture.

The plain English translation:

The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odor. A barrage of tests proves the marijuana possessed potent psychoactive properties (a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis). However, no one could feel its effects today, due to decomposition over the millennia. The scientists are unsure if the marijuana was grown for spiritual or medical purposes.

"To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent," says the newly published paper, whose lead author was American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.

The researchers couldn't tell if the weed was meant to be smoked or eaten. No pipes or other clues were found in the tomb. The large cache was contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl, and was likely meant to be used in the afterlife.

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man - who died around the age of 45 - likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China. The tomb also contained other items confirming the man's high social standing.

"This individual was buried with an unusual number of high value, rare items," Russo said, mentioning that the objects included a make-up bag, bridles, pots, archery equipment and a kongou harp. The researchers believe the individual was a shaman from the Gushi people, who spoke a now-extinct language called Tocharian that was similar to Celtic.

The size of seeds mixed in with the leaves, along with their color and other characteristics, indicate the marijuana came from a cultivated strain. Before the burial, someone had carefully picked out all of the male plant parts, which are less psychoactive, leaving little doubt as to why the cannabis was grown. Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.

The region of China where the tomb is located, Xinjiang, is considered an original source of many cannabis strains worldwide. The ancient marijuana stash is now housed at Turpan Museum in China.

The Fritzls and The Money

The trial of Josef Fritzl will begin March 16, 2009. He is charged with multiple crimes - including: abuse, incest, rape, false imprisonment, slavery and murder - in relation to his 24-year imprisonment and rape of his own daughter, Elisabeth, who bore him 7 children. Catch the story from the beginning in this 5-part video called The Josef Fritzl Story and read about developments in the case since being arrested and imprisoned on The Josef Fritzl Page.

It seems like Josef Fritzl is broke. The Österreichische Verband Creditreform, which is the Austrian agency that monitors details of people filing for bankruptcy and informs creditors so they can stake a claim, made the announcement that Fritzl was insolvent. In other words he is bankrupt.

The Österreichische Verband Creditreform, acting on behalf of creditors, filed the application to make Fritzl insolvent and made the following announcement:

Those who believe they have a claim on the Fritzl assets are invited to contact the court at Sankt Pölten by 24 March - three days after Fritzl's trial is scheduled to end.

Josef Fritzl, who once had a very prosperous property rental business, has been in jail since his arrest. During this time his businesses have collapsed and he is said to have debts of almost $6 million. It is reported that he plans to sell his house. The very house where he built a dungeon to imprison his daughter. He may be able to get as much as $2 million for it. There has been considerable speculation that the house could be turned into a museum and opened to the public. With interest in what happened at the house still very high, an investor might be able to make money by charging for tours of the place. Under Austrian law Fritzl is free to sell the home  for an inflated price. According to the mayor of Amstetten, Herbert Katzengruber, the house will be put on sale after the trial.

In the meantime, Josef Fritzl's wife Rosemarie, has successfully sued two Austrian publications over breaching her privacy. The court found that the weekly magazine News and the monthly magazine Woman, were guilty of breaching her privacy with stories "that only satisfied readers' craving for sensation."

Judge Bettina Koerber ordered the magazines' parent company, News Publishing Group, to pay Rosemarie Fritzl about $14,000 in damages over the articles, which appeared in both publications. News Publishing Group has already said it will appeal the decision. Rosemarie had originally sued the magazines for $332,000. However Rosemarie is not quite finished suing. She has filed several other lawsuits, including against German weekly Der Spiegel and Austria's biggest daily Kronen Zeitung.

Austrian and International media have tried to answer the question how the woman could not have noticed that her husband Josef had kept their daughter in a dungeon under their house in Amstetten for 24 years.

Suresh Joachim Sets New World Record

Have you ever heard of Suresh Joachim? Not many people have, but according to Wikipedia he now holds at least 58 world records; he has even broken some of his own. His achievements are documented in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In his most recent accomplishment Suresh Joachim has broken his own Guinness world record for nonstop broadcast-television watching, clocking 72 hours. He had previously set a record of 69 hours, 48 minutes, in 2005.

"I feel fine, I drank between 25 and 30 cups of coffee," Joachim said.

Joachim, a Sri Lanka native who lives in Toronto, watched three seasons of the drama series "24" featuring Kiefer Sutherland, said Swedish TV4 spokeswoman Janina Witkowski.

Joachim has set world records in dancing, bowling, running, broadcasting and even at his own marriage ceremony where the wedding featured a record 79 bridesmaids, a record 47 groomsmen, and a record 60.09 m (197 ft 1 in) long wedding bouquet, held by the bride.

One would think that Joachim was satisfied with these accomplishments......but he has set even bigger goals for himself.

“I, Suresh Joachim, am deeply disturbed and stirred by the ongoing violence and its direct impact on children. Poverty, disease and war have increased the number of suffering children and all my endeavors will be designed to help suffering children all over the world. To spread my message in World I am attempting new world records with the aim of spreading world peace and to create an awareness of suffering children.The UFFORSC (Universal Fund For Suffering Children) branch has been inaugurated in Australia, Canada for helping millions of suffering children in Asia and Africa. My ultimate aim is to carry a peace torch commencing in 2009 from Jerusalem (Jesus Birth Place) to Canada covering 54 countries including 88 major cities passing the torch to dignitaries in these countries.I will be covering 6,000 km to raise one billion dollars for my purpose.Also Suresh Joachim will submit a petition to the United Nation with million signatures to make June 24 a global cease fire day. I welcome all like-minded people to join and work for the same .”

Read more about this amazing individual at his website and sign up for video clips of his current and future attempts at setting or breaking world records.

Caylee Anthony's Eulogy

Due to decomposition the head and body of Caylee Marie Anthony, born Aug. 9, 2005 at 7:14 am, were found separately on Dec. 11, 2008 near her grandparents house. Her mother Casey Anthony sits in jail, accused of the little girl's murder. Read about the case here and the discovery of Caylee's body here.

A public memorial service is to be held Feb. 10, 2008 at the First Baptist Church of Orlando. The church can seat up to 5,000  people. The one person who will not attend the service is the mother, Casey Anthony, she will not be allowed out of jail.

Brad Conway, the lawyer for Caylee's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, describes the preparations for the memorial service and acknowledges that there is likely to be a huge crowd.

The family is requesting that those with only the purest of hearts and truly honorable intentions attend the service for their beloved child. This service will be a tribute to her life and a time for her family and friends to finally be together to openly express and share their love for her.

He also talks with the media and answers some questions in the following two-part video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Xpvts-XFc]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7igTHf2S4E]

Cindy Anthony has written a eulogy for her granddaughter which was first published in the Orlando Sentinel. Read the entire eulogy here. Cindy announced that a foundation will be setup in Caylee Anthony's name:

Because of this outpouring of compassion, the family will continue to honor Caylee's memory by establishing the Caylee Marie Anthony Foundation. The foundation's purpose will be to continue to generate awareness for missing children and to establish programs to assist in the well-being of those children in need of comfort and support during difficult and stressful times.

The case of Caylee Anthony has attracted international attention and the Anthony family is determined that this little girl will not have died in vain:

"Caylee's life may have been short-lived on this Earth," the eulogy read, "but her life will not have ended without a purpose. She will be sadly missed but never forgotten."