Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a former prisoner of war and Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, has died, the Navy announced Tuesday. He was 81.

The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.

In the 1992 presidential election, Stockdale became independent candidate Perot's vice presidential running mate, initially as a stand-in on the ticket but later as the candidate.

Stockdale gave a stumbling performance in the nationally televised vice-presidential debate against Dan Quayle and Al Gore and later said he didn't feel comfortable in the public eye.

During the debate, he commented on an exchange between Quayle and Gore:

"I think America is seeing right now the reason this nation is in gridlock. The trickle-downs and the tax-and-spends, or whatever you want to call them, are at swords point."

…

During the Vietnam War, he was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.

He endured more than 7 1/2 years as a prisoner, spending four of them in solitary confinement, before his release in 1973. He was tortured repeatedly, according to the Navy.

Stockdale received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for valor, in 1976. A portion of his award citation reads: "Stockdale … deliberately inflicted a near mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated their employment of excessive harassment and torture of all prisoners of war."

He retired from the military in 1979.

Survivors include his wife, Sybil, and four sons.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Stockdale.

Seventeen-year-old Leah Deltedesco was visiting Wild Adventures to see a concert by the band "Simple Plan" Saturday night with her grandmother, brother and sister.

During the concert, family members say Leah left to buy a drink and hasn't been seen since.

She's a woman on a mission, but perhaps more dangerous than that, a mother who will stop at nothing to find her little girl.

Linda Deltedesco, Leah's mom, says, "You hear it all the time on the news and your heart goes out to those people and you hear what horrible stories happen to the children and you just never think it's going to happen to you."

Sheriff's deputies and park officials say they've searched Wild Adventures several times since Saturday night, but haven't found anything yet, but the search will continue on.

Sheriff's deputies and park officials say they will continue searching the park until they find some trace of Leah's whereabouts. Right now, family and friends remain hopeful and pray for Leah's safe return.

Wanda Edwards, Lowndes County Sheriff's Detective, says, "At this point, it's a missing persons [case]. We have no reason to believe that she ran away. We have no reason to believe she was abducted."

But each day that passes adds even more urgency and desperation to the ongoing search for Leah.

Deltedesco adds, "If they could just let us know that she's alright or where she is or if anybody has seen her."

Family members say detectives are baffled by Leah's disappearance because after talking with family and friends, they still have nothing to go on at this point.

Sheriff's deputies have park-provided video of Leah entering Wild Adventures, but they say they have no video of her leaving the park. They say she might have bought a t-shirt and would then be hard to pick out of a crowd.

[Source: WCTV]

You can find more info at findleah.com

[Hat Tip: Scared Monkeys]

For days (and days) now, I have been reading blog entries and comments regarding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. I have made no attempt to keep my disdain for the Aruban investigators a secret. At no time though, have I felt the Aruban people or media was in any way inept or corrupt. I simply feel that the investigation is not being handled properly. Period. With that said, read this:

Over the week-end local authorities decided to start "talking" to some members of the family and amongst others decided to talk to Natalee's father. He became very furious about this and at certain moment decided to leave the table and abandon the police precinct. He did not agree with the form in which he was "attacked". As such the father refused to cooperate in answering questions that were put to him by the investigating team.

In the meantime we could hear and see on CNN how the step father, mr. Twitty, threatened to disclose damaging information if one or more of the suspects is released. He did not wish to say anything else but we can see here that this person has started to threaten the Aruba authorities and question the country's judicial system. This is not acceptable.

You can read the rest at caribseek, but I will tell you now, it doesn't get any nicer.

I fail to see how this is helping the investigation or the reputation of the island of Aruba.

Why do they disparage the Holloway's and the Twitty's through their media when they won't do the same for those who have admitted that "something very bad has happened"?

Why do they attack the victim's family, yet seem to protect the suspects and their families?

If the Aruban government (and their media) is so concerned about Aruba's image and the way Americans seem to be "prejudiced" in their view of the case, maybe they should take a look in the mirror.

It has nothing to do with any "differences" in our legal systems, it has nothing to do with any "differences" in our cultures.

Seriously.

How is any of this helping in the search for Natalee? How is any of this helping to determine what happened to her? How is any of this going to bring Natalee home?

Answer me that…

An abducted 8-year-old girl told authorities that a violent sexual predator tied up her family before she and her 9-year-old brother were taken away in a pickup truck, according to court papers released Tuesday.

The affidavit makes no mention of the savage beating deaths of the children's mother, older brother and mother's boyfriend, or whether the girl witnessed the killings.

Joseph Edward Duncan III, 42, of Fargo, N.D., was charged with two first-degree kidnapping counts and ordered held without bail Tuesday. Duncan was shackled and appeared unshaven as he looked intently at the judge during a brief appearance via video link.

The intent of the crimes, court documents said, was to rape, seriously injure or commit a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 16 years old. Convictions can carry the death penalty or life in prison.

…

Duncan had spent more than a decade in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint and was a fugitive at the time of his arrest, accused of molesting a 6-year-old boy in Minnesota.

A registered high-risk sex offender, Duncan was released on $15,000 bail earlier this year after being charged with molesting the boy. Police in Fargo, N.D. had been looking for Duncan since May, when he failed to check in with a probation agent.

I guess I just don't understand how they could allow bail in a case when the man has already done time for the same type of crime. Then again, I don't understand why people like him are allowed to walk out of prison either.

[Source: AP]

A San Marcos man was arrested after rescuing a swimmer from the swirling waters near a restaurant on the San Marcos River over the weekend.

Police say Dave Newman, 48, disobeyed repeated orders by emergency personnel to leave the water. The police report does not mention Newman's rescue of 35-year-old Abed Duamni of Houston on Sunday afternoon.

"I was amazed," Newman said after getting out of Hays County Law Enforcement Center on $2,000 bail Monday morning. "I had a very uncomfortable night after saving that guy's life. He thanked me for it in front of the police, and then they took me to jail."

After being handcuffed and put in a Texas State University police squad car, Newman was taken to jail and charged with interfering with public duties.

Now, you may be wondering why the police would arrest a man for risking his own life to save another. It takes a very brave person to jump into a river with any current, let alone one like the San Marcos River. Mr. Newman should be commended for his actions, not punished for being "uncooperative' with authorities. Truth be told, none of those "public servants" did anything to save Mr. Duamni, and they should be ashamed of themselves for treating Mr. Newman this way. Personally, I think there is much more to this story than meets the eye.

In 1999, Texas State University, which owns the dam and the land around it, erected a fence to prohibit access to that part of the river. Later that year, the City Council enacted a swimming ban on that portion of the river. But Newman led a successful campaign to get the fences around the swimming hole removed and the ban relaxed.

It's so easy for them to say he was being uncooperative, when in fact he has probably been a thorn in their side for quite a time. I am sure, once Texas State University officials review the events of the incident, they will find no need to continue their persecution of Mr. Newman.