Real ID (from Wired News)

The National Governors Association is threatening lawsuits to fight the legislation. And some states are threatening to ignore the legislation because they say it will cost up to $700 million for states to comply and will place a heavy burden on Department of Motor Vehicles workers.

A spokeswoman for the governors’ association did not return calls for comment. But Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, told the Associated Press this week that “if more than half of the governors agree we’re not going down without a fight on this, Congress will have to consider changing” the rules.

The states are complaining that this is an “unfunded mandate” and it will cost too much and be too much work. What about all the unfunded mandates that the states impose on their citizenry? If I want to drive my vehicle, I must register it with the state at a cost (in Illinois, this year) of $78.00 ($98.00 if it’s late). The state does not give me any aid with this. I must fund the total cost myself. In my town, if I want to build a fence around my yard, I am mandated to purchase a building permit prior to construction of the fence. I do not get any help with that either. I am also mandated to maintain my yard. I must pay for the lawnmower to keep the yard down to a certain level. If I do not, the town will send out a crew and bill me for cutting the lawn. No help there either. There are probably many more examples of “unfunded mandates” imposed on the citizenry out there. Glass houses.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Bond was denied today for a 34-year-old Zion man who allegedly admitted he punched his daughter because she refused to come home with him, punched her friend who came to her aid then repeatedly stabbed the children, killing them.
…
“Laura had 20 stab wounds. She was stabbed in the neck, she was stabbed in the abdomen, she was stabbed once in each eye,” Pavletic said.

One thrust went so deep into Laura’s neck, the knife struck the child’s spine, he said.

“Krystal had also been stabbed, 11 times,” the prosecutor said. “She had been stabbed in the neck and stabbed in the abdomen as well.”

In a statement to investigators, Hobbs allegedly admitted being angry that Laura’s mother was supposedly letting the child off easily for having taken a small amount of money from her last week. He said he went looking for her between 4:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday and found the child and her friend in a wooded area north of Beulah Park in north suburban Zion, Pavletic said.

Hobbs ordered his daughter to come home with him, the prosecutor said. When Laura refused, he allegedly punched her at least twice, knocking her down. When Krystal came to her friend’s aid, Hobbs allegedly punched her, too.

The defendant told investigators Krystal pulled what the suspect called a “potato knife”—believed to be Texas slang for a small knife with a blade 4- to 6-inches long, Pavletic said.

Hobbs allegedly said he grabbed the knife, killed the youngsters and dragged their bodies to a wooded area of Beulah Park. Their bodies later were found, faces beaten and bloodied, lying side by side with their shoes neatly placed next to them. Hobbs then went home, got alcohol and tried to clean himself off, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors were skeptical a young girl would have been carrying a weapon or that either child posed a physical threat to Hobbs.

“This guy is approximately 6 feet 1, and you’re talking about 8- or 9-year-old girls,” Lake County State’s Atty. Michael Waller said.
…
Under questioning, the man eventually admitted killing the children, giving investigators an oral confession and a videotaped and written statement, prosecutors said.

Related:
Best Friends Forever
Best Friends Forever – Mr Hobbs Charged?
Father is being charged in deaths of best friends
Hobbs Confesses to Killing Best Friends

Jerry Branton Hobbs is being charged in the deaths of his daughter and her best friend. The Lake County States’ Attorney Michael Waller will be able to give more details tomorrow after the bond hearing at 10 am CDT in the Lake County Courthouse, courtroom 120. They will introduce evidence at the hearing and can then reveal that evidence to the press.

The States’ Attorney said:

This horrific crime has terrorized and traumatized the Zion community and, I think it’s safe to say, people of good will everywhere. The arrest today is the first step in the process of bringing this defendant to justice. As you may be aware, this defendant is eligible for the death penalty. I’ve been the States’ Attorney in Lake County for 15 years and I have a protocol that I follow. I’ve found that its not a good practice to make such a decision in the heat of the moment and we will make that decision after the investigation into this case is completed and after we do a thorough background investigation into this defendant. And its important for me to make the point that this investigation is continuing. The reason we’re holding this press conference today is obviously because of the great interest and the need to keep the public informed, but also to try to bring some sense of relief to the people of Zion that this defendant is in custody.

Related:
Best Friends Forever
Best Friends Forever – Mr Hobbs Charged?
Father is being charged in deaths of best friends
Hobbs Confesses to Killing Best Friends

The ACLU has a little “movie” about how just awful Real ID will be. Why, your local Pizza Place will know every little thing about you….

Video here.

The father of one of the victims, the one that found the children’s bodies, may be charged with the murders of the best friends, his own daughter and her friend. He was recently released from prison in Texas for aggravated assault.

From WFLD Fox-Chicago:

“Jerry just got out of prison for aggravated assault and I think they’re holding that against him,” Hollabaugh said. “I don’t think he did it.”

Hobbs has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1990 in Texas, including prior arrests for assault and resisting arrest, according to records kept by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Records also show Hobbs had a rocky relationship with Laura’s mother, Sheila Hollabaugh. Hobbs had been arrested in 2001 after arguing with her, grabbing a chainsaw and chasing other residents around the trailer park where they lived, according to Wichita County Assistant District Attorney Rick Mahler. Someone eventually subdued Hobbs by hitting him in the back with a shovel, Mahler said.

Hobbs was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to 10 years probation for the incident, but he failed to appear for his required meetings, so his probation was revoked in 2003 and he was imprisoned until his release on April 12, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Related:
Best Friends Forever
Best Friends Forever – Mr Hobbs Charged?
Father is being charged in deaths of best friends
Hobbs Confesses to Killing Best Friends

As you can see by the “clock” above, it has been 100 days since Senator Kerry promised on national TV to sign his form 180.

Blogs for Bush has all the information necessary to send a fax…

Tim Russert, why aren’t you pushing this? Kerry made the promise to you…

Krystal Tobias (9) and Laura Hobbs (8) of Zion, Illinois, best of best friends, went for a bike ride together on Mothers’ Day. They never came home. Sometime in the middle of the night, whoever had prevented them from going back to their mothers, repeatedly stabbed both of them and left them in a park near their homes. Laura’s father and grandfather found them at dawn Monday.

	May they rest in peace. Our prayers go out to their families and friends.

Update: The Chicago Tribune has this:

Source: Charges to come in Zion slayings

Tribune staff report
Published May 10, 2005, 9:53 AM CDT

An individual will be charged today in connection with the stabbing deaths of two young girls from north suburban Zion, police sources told the Tribune this morning. Details to come.

Related:
Best Friends Forever
Best Friends Forever – Mr Hobbs Charged?
Father is being charged in deaths of best friends
Hobbs Confesses to Killing Best Friends

The Anchoress has answered some James Lipton, Inside the Actor’s Studio type questions also answered by Greg at What Attitude Problem. So here are my answers:

1. What is your favorite word?
Love.

2. What is your least favorite word?
any of the 7 words you can’t say on television

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
helping others

4. What turns you off?
lack of taking responsibility for one’s own actions

5. What is your favorite curse word?
skboochie-dinkelflopper-dia-flappatoodas-superbyhumpdickle
-elephantisimos (My great-grandmother made my great-grandfather put money in a jar every time he cursed, so he made up a new curse word to substitute so he wouldn’t have to “contribute” to the jar. If something small happened, he’d use the first part, the worse the curse, the longer the curse though).

6. What sound or noise do you love?
I love the sweet sound of the gentle snores my four year old makes when he finally falls asleep.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?
rolling boom-boxes shaking the house

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
teaching

9. What profession would you not like to do?
any kind of sales.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Welcome Home.

So Blair wins a third consecutive majority government, and of course the Guardian’s Robin Cook’s recommendation is for Blair to immediately step down.

The Guardian’s pre-election bias didn’t effect the outcome (well who knows if it would have been a landslide without a hostile media telling UK voters that Blair is a liar), so now they are simply advocating that the electorate’s will be ignored.

Cook’s take is that the public really voted for the Labour party and not for Blair. Apparently it would be more democratic to run with one candidate, take the win, and then substitute the leader with someone who we can be absolutely certain the public did not vote for.

Well that makes sense.