It took a long time -- over three years, to be precise -- but a Florida jury has finally decided Casey Anthony's involvement in the murder of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. Not guilty.
While 25-year-old Casey Anthony breathed a sigh of relief, with tears streaming down her face, others weren't exactly relieved to hear the news. Rather than the death penalty that might have awaited her, Anthony was found guilty of a mere four counts of "providing false information to a law enforcement officer".
No one knows what happened to the little girl who was found dumped in the woods six months after her death. The prosecution's case ultimately failed because there was simply not enough evidence (no trace of DNA, chloroform, or decomposition inside the trunk of Ms. Anthony’s car, where she was said to have stashed her daughter's body before disposing of it) to convict her mother.
"[The prosecution] throw enough against the wall and see what sticks,” Anthony’s lawyer, Jose Baez, told the jury, “right down to the cause of death.”
As part of the defence, Baez claimed the girl had drowned in Casey’s parent’s pool; and that her own parents, George and Cindy, covered it up. The defence also blamed a history of sexual abuse by her father for Casey's "misguided actions" and "pathological lying", right down to her inexplicable disappearing act for a month after Caylee’s death.
So much for telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... In a trial with no shortage of controversy and contradiction, a sliver of reasonable doubt was all the defence needed to get their verdict.
While there is no question of Casey's, or her family's callousness, callousness alone was not enough to put her behind bars for the rest of her life.
As Baez told the jury: “This case should not be decided for or against anyone because you feel sorry for anyone or are angry at anyone.”
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If you ever thought your mom was embarrassing, spare a thought for tennis star and Wimbledon hopeful, Andy Murray. Not only does his mom tick the Tiger box by and large, she can now add Cougar to her list of not-so-flattering monikers.
Andy and his mother Judy are practically "umbilically linked"; she's been there on the green, fist raised and shouting, ever since the dawn of his career, overshadowing the presence of his family and even his girlfriend.
But now 50-year-old Mrs Murray, better known for her feline ways, has developed a very inappropriate schoolgirl crush on her son's opponent and friend, 29-year-old Feliciano Lopez, whom she apparently refers to as "Oh God - Deliciano."
Rather than keep her "cougarish" fantasy to herself, Judy has openly talked about F-Lo (as he is known to his fans) on Twitter and was caught saying he was "looking good out there, as always."
Not only is she the obsessive, ferocious "coach-cum-cheerleader-cum-tigress", Judy Murray is taking cringe to a new level.
"It's about time she stopped with that nonsense," 24-year-old Andy Murray said recently. "Makes me want to throw up! It's disgusting. Yeah, it's disgusting."
Apparently when Murray tried to introduce his friend and mother (no doubt at his mother's urging), she went scarlet and backed off. Now far from being just a family joke, Judy's infatuation is a national joke. After all, no one wants to think of his mother as a Mrs Robinson, let alone when his friend is the youthful object of her lust.
With any luck, Andy will drive that sheer embarrassment into his game, using tennis as an outlet like he did when his parents divorced back in the '90s. Maybe a 2012 title would help put his gifts -- rather than his mother's cringe worthy antics -- back in the limelight.
Let's hope she remembered who to cheer for when Murray and F-Lo met on centre court...
Image Credit: http://offthebench.nbcsports.com
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Around the four-month mark, pregnant women have the option to undergo a procedure known as amniocentesis, in order to determine whether their fetus is at risk of having Down Syndrome. By injecting a needle and collecting a sample of tissue from the placenta, amniocentesis poses a small but nonetheless genuine risk of miscarriage.
But by this time next year, a new blood test will be available -- one that will safely predict the risk as early as nine weeks into the pregnancy.
The test, which is said to be more accurate than amnio, could be readily identify whether the fetus has Down Syndrome before a woman is even 'showing'. For some, this early indicator is welcome news. For others, it poses a real moral quandary.
Down's is a condition which hinders mental and physical development. As well as having physical attributes such as flatter faces, shorter necks, smaller hands and feet, those affected with Down syndrome are at greater risk for heart defects and hearing problems. They tend to need more support with every day skills. Life expectancy is around 60 years.
Most cases are diagnosed after birth, yet if this new blood test is widely available, it could become chiefly a prenatal choice.
“The vast majority of people with Down syndrome and their families affirm that their contributions to their communities are significant, and their lives are very valuable,” said Dr. Brian Skotko, a Down Syndrome specialist at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Current prenatal screening has already reduced the Down's cases. Though the new test could eliminate the need for more invasive procedures, more women would be likely to take it, and therefore more would find out they're carrying a baby with the condition.
“I would have definitely taken a non-invasive test over the struggle for deciding whether to do an amnio or not,” says Nancy McCrea Iannone of Sewell, New Jersey, who gave birth six years ago to a daughter with Down Syndrome.
On the flip side, a diagnosis prior to birth could give parents more time to adjust and to prepare friends and family, as well as enable them to put further support in place. Or it could lead to a sharp increase in the number of abortions before couples can truly make informed decisions about the viability of going through with the pregnancy.
As one mom points out, when her baby was born, there was no rubber stamp on its head saying 'Down syndrome’; he simply cried and peed and pooped. "He was a baby.”
Would this early detection test deter you from going through with a pregnancy if your fetus had Down Syndrome?
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