Some good news, for once. Or at least better than bad news.

[Junkenstein]

Unless some strange drug/CIA link appears I'd lean towards fantasist. Kidnapping and imprisoning 3 people also seems to back that up. I gave passing thought to the financial side and how he was able to sustain this as Bus driver and regular large fast food orders would probably be bad for your bank account. Not really enough information on that front though beyond he was apparently pretty in the hole debt-wise.

Surprised he's the only one charged so far, I'd have thought the other two were heavily implicated generally.

Total aside - Do many ex-CIA guys end up in public things? I kind of assumed it was the kind of career you either retire from or progress into politics. Interpret retire as you see fit.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Very interesting!

Also interesting is that the Cleveland police department claims to have no record of the calls made by neighbors over the years.

It is not impossible that Castro had some kind of CIA connection, possibly as an informant, that gave him shelter from law enforcement, and this is what made him decide that he could get away with keeping three women captive... which he did successfully for ten years.

[Junkenstein]

More of background, I'm sure this will amaze:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57583660/in-note-ariel-castro-claimed-he-was-sexually-abused-as-a-child/

A Cleveland man allegedly confessed years ago in writing to taking the three women he's accused of raping and holding captive and said that he was abused as a child and raped by an uncle, CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

According to a law enforcement source, Ariel Castro apparently contemplated committing suicide in the lengthy, handwritten note discovered in his house from which the women - Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32 - escaped Monday.

According to the source, Castro wrote about his whole life, saying that he was abused by his parents as a child and that he was raped by an uncle.

Castro also provided details about taking each of his alleged victims, who went missing in their teens and early 20s. The note was discovered by FBI agents searching his house this week.

CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reports Castro called himself a "sexual predator" and blamed the women for their own kidnappings, but he asks for whatever money he has to be donated to his victims after his death.

Investigators inferred from the 2004-dated note that Castro was going to commit suicide. He asked in the note that all of his money be provided to each of his victims.

I'm waiting for more detail on the bold, but it does seem to fit a certain pattern of offenders.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321736/Angel-Cordero-Second-neighbor-claims-HE-freed-Amanda-Berry-kicking-locked-door-out.html

Yeah the source is highly questionable, but still:

A second neighbor is coming forward claiming that he was the one to save Amanda Berry from the house where she had been kept for nearly a decade.
Angel Cordero was never mentioned by Charles Ramsey, the entertaining folk hero who has captured the attention of the nation in the wake of the dramatic rescue Monday night.
Cordero, who has his niece Ashley translate for him in interviews, said that he was sitting on a neighbor's porch when they heard some commotion and went to check it out, only to find the woman desperate for help.

[Cain]

Very interesting!

Also interesting is that the Cleveland police department claims to have no record of the calls made by neighbors over the years.

It is not impossible that Castro had some kind of CIA connection, possibly as an informant, that gave him shelter from law enforcement, and this is what made him decide that he could get away with keeping three women captive... which he did successfully for ten years.

Yeah, not impossible, but I'd definitely like to see some evidence for it.

What is possibly more plausible is that he was a Cleveland PD informant of some kind and he inflated that status...which would also helpfully explain how he seemed to get away with it for so long.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Very interesting!

Also interesting is that the Cleveland police department claims to have no record of the calls made by neighbors over the years.

It is not impossible that Castro had some kind of CIA connection, possibly as an informant, that gave him shelter from law enforcement, and this is what made him decide that he could get away with keeping three women captive... which he did successfully for ten years.

Yeah, not impossible, but I'd definitely like to see some evidence for it.

What is possibly more plausible is that he was a Cleveland PD informant of some kind and he inflated that status...which would also helpfully explain how he seemed to get away with it for so long.

Yes, that would make far more sense.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/sylvia-brownes-amanda-perry-psychic_n_3240157.html

Browne has estimated an 87-to-90 percent success rate with cold cases, but Skeptical Inquirer did a 2010 analysis of 115 predictions she made on "The Montel Williams Show" and put her success rate at zero.

Nickell has also headed projects researching the success rate of psychics working on police investigations, and found no substantial evidence of their effectiveness. However, he concedes that some investigators will accept psychic assistance as a very last resort.

"One detective, a homicide commander, told me, 'you can be skeptical, but when you have a distraught family and a psychic has convinced them they have clues, it's hard to refuse,'" Nickell told HuffPost.

Total tangent but looks like her income level is going to take a beating.

Also, Made me laugh:

Browne is also drawing criticism from other psychics like Craig Weiler, who said Browne's callous prediction to Berry's now-deceased mom crossed a line, possibly doing "harm to the family." He advises mediums to use disclaimers.

"They need to say, 'this is my impression' or 'this is my truth,'" Weiler told HuffPost. "Something like 'this is what I feel' is OK ..."

Weiler runs a blog that attempts to explain scientific studies of parapsychology in layman's terms, but said off-the-cuff predictions make things harder for people like him who are trying to demonstrate psychic ability is real.

[Cain]

Who would've guessed that a convicted fraudster might tell lies for money?

NO-ONE COULD HAVE EVER PREDICTED IT.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Castro is going to plead not guilty.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/castro-plead-not-guilty-123152315.html

HOW THE FUCK...?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Castro is going to plead not guilty.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/castro-plead-not-guilty-123152315.html

HOW THE FUCK...?

Dude, of course he is. They all do.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Yeah.
Trigger warning. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/michelle-knight-worst-article-1.1345709 

[Pergamos]

It's not a good strategy to plead guilty.  They always open with a not guilty plea and then possibly take a plea bargain

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's not a good strategy to plead guilty.  They always open with a not guilty plea and then possibly take a plea bargain

I hope they don't offer him a plea bargain.

[Pergamos]

It's not a good strategy to plead guilty.  They always open with a not guilty plea and then possibly take a plea bargain

I hope they don't offer him a plea bargain.

I hope that however things go he ends up in prison until he dies. He's in his 50's, so that should take more than 30 years. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

It's not a good strategy to plead guilty.  They always open with a not guilty plea and then possibly take a plea bargain

I hope they don't offer him a plea bargain.

They won't.  They have him cold.  He's pleading not guilty because he's so fucked, he may as well.

Plead guilty:  FUCKED.

Plead not guilty:  Tiny but greater than zero chance of not being fucked, or being a little less fucked.