I Feel Sympathy For The Woman Who Has Been Mistaken For Accused Killer Melissa Huckaby

Poor Melissa Huckaby!And no,I'm not talking about the accused Sunday school teacher from Tracy,CA.The Melissa Huckaby I'm referring to is a Sunday school teacher from the very close by Manteca,CA.Isn't it kind of freakish that there are two Sunday school teachers from the San Joaquin area named Melissa Huckaby?

But,bearing the same name as an accused killer has been more than freaky for Melissa Huckaby.This is one case of mistaken identity that has folks freaking out on a woman who had nothing to do with Sandra Cantu's murder.And that's why this Melissa Huckaby has my sympathy!


Here's more on how the confusion began from SF Gate:

"Both are single moms, and both around the same age. One key difference is that the Melissa on the left, although publicly accused of the same crime as the Melissa on the right, is the victim of mistaken identity.

Herein lies a multi-layered problem in journalism, one that could have led to a rush to judgment. But the person writing this now has watched this metastasizing and malignant metamorphosis first hand and learned -- never rush to judgment in the rush to air.

Melissa Huckaby on the left was mistakenly identified as the suspect by a local Bay Area television station. An employee in a television newsroom got the name of the suspect and then, apparently, found a picture of a woman with the same name living close to where the killing took place. Proximity her only crime, the Melissa Huckaby on the left used the social networking site - MySpace. Her picture was found there, then put on the air.

The falsely identified woman's MySpace account is now closed, and she and her family no doubt wonder if or when they can walk Manteca streets safely again.

What the free and likely disillusioned Melissa Huckaby learned in this cruelest of ways is when journalists don't do their jobs well, lives get broken and innocents harmed. What she likely does not understand is how endemic this problem is in newsrooms across the country, where life altering mistakes happen every day - mistakes that often damage much more than reputations. Some "mistakes" have the power to bring democracy to its knees, leaving citizens without access to diligently checked, thoroughly vetted information from various sources - so they can decide for themselves what to believe."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.

Iran Needs To Free Roxanna Saberi!

An Iranian-American journalist has been sentenced to 8 yrs in an Iranian prison.Roxanna Saberi was accused of being a spy,but President Obama has said that, "she is an Iranian American who was interested in the country which her family came from." Since I believe that is the case,I sincerely join the chorus of people that say:
"FREE ROXANNA SABERI"!

Here's more from mediabistro:

"Over the weekend American journalist Roxanna Saberi was sentenced, behind closed doors, to eight years in an Iranian prison. Saberi was rushed to trial last week under charges of espionage (she was initially arrested for working without credentials).

News of the arrest elicited an immediate response from a number of news organizations Saberi had worked for here, including NPR and ABC News (in full after the jump), while the White House initially used "cautious language" when addressing the situation. On Sunday President Obama followed up saying: "She is an American citizen, and I have complete confidence that she was not engaging in any sort of espionage," Obama said. "She is an Iranian American who was interested in the country which her family came from. And it is appropriate for her to be treated as such and to be released."

Also on Sunday Iranian president Ahmadinejad publicly stated that Sabieri should be allowed to fully defend herself on appeal.

Meanwhile, a Free Roxana twitter feed has been started, and is carrying all the latest updates."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.

Why Did 21 Horses Die At A Florida Polo Match?

Why did 21 horses from the same polo team die at a Florida match?Veterinarians are saying that it was probably a toxin that caused this terrible tragedy.They are still working to solve this mystery.Here's more from ABC News:

"At least 21 horses have died after coming down with a mysterious ailment moments before they were scheduled to compete in the prestigious U.S. Open polo tournament.

Though the Florida Department of Agriculture was conducting lab tests to determine the cause of death, veterinarians said they suspected the horses were probably killed by some sort of poison."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.