Happiness: Are you feeling it?

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There have been so many cases lately that are emotionally gut-wrenching, I thought it would be nice to take a look at a photo of happiness.

Portrait of a young woman smiling Model Release: Yes Property Release: NA

Read moreIn Dr. Paul Ekman’s research on facial expressions, he found that when he mimicked negative emotions like frowning, he started to feel down, and when he mimicked happy emotions, he started to feel better. If my memory serves me right, he talks about it in his book, Emotions Revealed.

Dr. David Matsumoto, another leading expert on facial expressions, writes about a related topic in National Geographic magazine, (in their Spanish edition, he translates it for you) about how our emotions are “bio-psycho-social reactions”. It’s fascinating reading how our emotions are connected to our biological responses!

So, now that you see a happy face, do you feel better? I hope so! If not, maybe her smile didn’t make you smile? (edited).

I needed a pick me up and I suspect you could use one, too.

Very Disturbing Photo of Shannon

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PROVO, UT - MAY 28: Utah Valley Regional Medical Center is shown where actor Gary Coleman died May 28, 2010 in Provo, Utah. The star of NBC's 'Diff'rent Strokes' died today from brain injuries suffered in an unspecified accident at his home in Santaquin, Utah. (Photo by Reagan Frey/Getty Images)
Utah Valley Regional Medical Center

Celebitchy shared the news with me that Shannon Price, the ex-wife of the late Gary Coleman, is on the cover of the Globe this morning, and I must say the photo is very disturbing. She is leaning over Gary on life support in his hospital bed at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

Read moreIf you are sensitive, I caution you not to look at it. The only reason I am discussing it is because human behavior, in and of itself, is fascinating. I would never believe someone would do this, though I know people can be sick and evil. Logically, I know people will do this. Emotionally, I can’t get my brain around it. It’s just hard to grasp people can be this sick. There should be laws against taking this on a variety of levels, if you ask me from taking photos of unconscious people to publishing them (not that I want laws, but this shouldn’t be allowed).

Clearly, something is very wrong with Shannon Price. Everyone sees it. The woman hasn’t acted appropriately one time in the entire ordeal of Gary dying. I have no doubt about it, this is what she wanted and she experienced positive emotions at times, evident by her smiling as she talked about what it was like to take him off of life support.

Shannon Price is starting to remind me of Diane Downs, who is one in a gazillion, thankfully–the sickest of the sick. As sick as this photo is, I hope it is a catalyst to bring about some action and stop her from causing more nightmares!

Joran van der Sloot Confesses!

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Joran Van der Sloot is escorted by police officers to the airport in Santiago June 4, 2010. Van der Sloot of the Netherlands, who was arrested twice over the disappearance of a U.S. student in Aruba in 2005, has been expelled from Chile and will be handed out to Peruvian authorities where he is a prime suspect in a new murder probe, according to local media reports. REUTERS/Victor Ruiz Caballero (CHILE - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS)
Photo of Joran van der Sloot being escorted to the airport
in Santiago, Chile, on June 4, 2010.

Big news this morning: Joran van der Sloot confesses to killing Stephany Ramirez, 21, in Peru.

NBC is reporting that Joran said “he broke Stephany Flores’ neck after she grabbed his laptop without his permission and found out that he was involved in the disappearance of an American woman.” Here is more from NBC news.

It is quite shocking for someone of Joran’s arrogance to confess to a killing. I suspect they had so much evidence, he couldn’t talk his way out of it this time and he felt if he confessed, he’d be given some leniency. Joran is not the type to confess unless his back is up against the wall and he feels he has no other out. That is for sure.

Thomas Bögerl 27 Minutes Late with Ransom

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Briefcase with bundles of American money

Maria Bögerl, the wife of a German banker, Thomas Bögerl, was kidnapped from the family home on May 12, 2010, according to her husband. He later plead for her safe return in the media along with his children. Sadly, Maria Bögerl’s corpse was found last week under some branches along side a road.

News came out this week that Thomas was a half-hour late in getting the random to its destination and that may be why the kidnappers never picked it up. You can read more here.

I have to say I thought it was odd that her body was covered with branches. If kidnappers killed her, would they care enough to cover her body with branches? I found that rather personal for kidnappers. I would expect kidnappers to simply dump her body.

I want to stress that while we are following this story because the facial expression of Thomas Bögerl were interesting and noteworthy, I do not believe that one facial expression alone is enough to identify if someone is honest or not. I am, however, interested to see the what happened in this case as things are unusual and they may or may not be explainable. Since I am not fluent in German, I cannot say anything with any certainty.

Thanks, Kassia, for the update.

Matt Baker Gives Jailhouse Interview

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Matt Baker interview with KXVV.com

Matt Baker, who was convicted earlier this year for murdering his wife Kari Baker, sits down in his first jailhouse interview since his conviction. Matt, who is still clinging to his innocence, tells us he believes he would not be in prison if he did two things differently. He says that he wouldn’t have had an affair with Vanessa Bulls, “I would have completely steered clear of that. And number two, I would have sought out better help for Kari.”

Read moreI’m sad to report, if Matt did two those things, he probably would have gotten away with murder, and that is what Matt has realized now that he has had some time behind bars to get honest and face reality.

Matt Baker has always claimed that his wife, Kari, committed suicide. I don’t believe him whatsoever. You can read my thoughts on Matt Baker here (scroll down for the earliest post). In this interview, he is now saying that maybe her death was a result of accidental reaction to alcohol and medicine. That’s a new theory, Matt! I suspect he wants to win an appeal because he also complains he wished his attorneys would have called witnesses, “I was dumbfounded when they called one.”

Matt Baker also says he now wishes he would have taken the stand in the trial.

In the second interview, Matt confirms for us, he does want an appeal. Then he says something chilling. He says, “I honestly know, and I know it is hard to…to get it across, but I loved my wife, even though I made a mistake.”

That’s the understatement of the century, Matt. Your mistake was that you got too cocky and confident and your behavior, words and history caught up with you and gave your lies away.

Update:

Karon made a fascinating statement below and I wanted to repeat it here. It was too good to miss:

Matt gives himself away in this interview. He says that her death was either suicide or a mixture of alcohol and meds. He must have forgotten, there was a typed suicide note? If he didn’t type the note himself, and if he was innocent, he should be, absolutely, certain that it was a suicide. A person doesn’t leave a suicide note with an accidental death caused by a mixture of alcohol and meds. He is just throwing ideas out there and hoping one sticks. He knows he killed her and typed the suicide note.

Superb catch, Karon!