The mother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony made her initial court appearance Wednesday morning on first-degree murder and other charges.

Casey Anthony, 22, faced an Orange County judge at about 9 a.m. EDT with her attorney Jose Baez. She wore a blue prison jumpsuit

No “hot bod” there.

and said nothing except “yes” during the minute-long hearing. She nodded as the charges against her were read before being led away.

Anthony was indicted Tuesday afternoon on the charges by a grand jury after an exhaustive four-month-long investigation into her daughter’s whereabouts.

Caylee’s body has never been found. She has been missing since mid-June and would have turned 3 two months after she disappeared.

A 19-member Florida grand jury issued the seven-count indictment, charging Anthony with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and four counts of lying to investigators in addition to murder. She was arrested shortly thereafter and is being held without bond.

Anthony could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

Police recently identified Anthony as a suspect in the case, though she had been called a person of interest since the investigation began in mid-July.

Caylee’s family didn’t report her missing for a month after she vanished. Police have said they think the child is dead based on evidence of a decomposing body found in the trunk of a Pontiac Sunfire her mother was driving.

A few hours before the indictment was issued, Anthony stood silently, sometimes crying, as her attorney told reporters his client is innocent.

“Casey is going through a nightmare and has been living a nightmare for the last seven months,” Baez said. “I sincerely believe that when we have finally spoken, everyone, and I mean everyone, will sit back and say, ‘Now, I understand. That explains it.’”

“When we have finally spoken???” WTF? She’s had seven damned months to speak! She’s done nothing by lie and misguide the police. Why the hell would her attorney wait until MURDER charges are brought and then say, “Oh, this has been a little misunderstanding. Once we get to trial and the TRUE story comes out, everyone will understand and everything will be okay. BULL-F*CKING SHIT!

He said prosecutors and police “threw the kitchen sink at her a long time ago.”

The grand jury heard evidence Tuesday about the charges against Anthony, including testimony from the child’s paternal grandfather.

George Anthony was subpoenaed to testify about the odor of human decomposition coming from his daughter’s white Pontiac, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

“This is going to be very hard for me to do,” an emotional George Anthony said outside the Orange County Courthouse before going in Tuesday morning. “My focus is on my granddaughter — it always has been. … Just pray for her. That’s all I’m asking for.”

His spokesman told reporters that he was doing the “unthinkable” by testifying in the case against his daughter and asked the press to be respectful of his privacy.

The grand jury was also presented with evidence about the discovery of chloroform during the investigation and about hair samples and stains found in Anthony’s trunk, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.

Casey Anthony, her attorney and her mother Cindy Anthony were all at the closed-door grand jury session.

The child’s grandmother first called authorities in July to say that she hadn’t seen Caylee for a month and her daughter’s car “smelled like a dead body.”

Is this the same mother that refuses to explain her daughter’s actions while her granddaughter was missing? Is this the same mother that diverted that question on the TODAY show? Is this the same mother that tells her daughter nobody is looking for Caylee while Equus has spent a fortune looking? Is this the same mother that is defending her daugter STILL after this sickening evidence is brought to grand jury? This mother is just as sick as her daughter.

Casey Anthony told authorities she had left her daughter with a baby sitter in June and the two were gone when she returned from work. She says she spent the next month trying to find her daughter and didn’t call authorities because she was scared.

Investigators immediately started poking holes in her story. The apartment where Casey Anthony said she had left her daughter had been vacant for months, they said. They said she also lied when she told them she had been working at an area theme park as a photographer.

God bless little Caylee where ever she may be found, hopefully, but probably not, alive. May the trial bring forth true justice, and may Casey rot in hell.

Hi everyone!

Yes, I’m alive and doing well…hard to believe given the dust has gotten thick around this place! Nancy, thanks for posting and dusting everything off a bit!

I’ve been recently given the great opportunity to post over at The Jawa Report so if you have been missing me, you can find me over there. I’m posting under “Merri” and have been putting up a post a day on average. It’s been pretty fun and I’m thrilled to be surrounded by such amazing, large-brained people! Please stop by - I’d love to see you over there!

Oh, and it’s pretty certain there won’t be any Rachael Ray posts over there! I have my reasons and would be happy to share them if you want to know.

Anyway - thanks for stopping by periodically to see if I actually am alive. I appreciate it more than you know!

This is just not right!

“Dad, she’s close,” George Anthony said his 22-year-old daughter, Casey, told him during a jailhouse visit on Sunday, according to MyFOXOrlando.com. “Dad, she’s close.”

This case is really stinking to high Heaven! First Casey’s not cooperating with police. She says she’ll talk with the FBI because she doesn’t trust the local police. (I haven’t seen a report that would eloborate on that statement).

Friends have reported a very long history of lies.

Pictures surface of her alleged clubbing while her daughter is missing????

Finally, is it just me, or do you feel the demeanor of the whole family is just odd, for a family missing a daughter, granddaughter and niece?

I, as does the country, pray for little Caylee’s safety and return, despite the very strange family.

God bless our fallen troops!! They have sacrificed so much so that we can wake up with the knowledge that we live free because of their selfless actions. I am so thankful that they cared so much they would be willing to put their lives on the line to protect such a gift.

We recognize these heroes once a year - at least on paper. I thank God for their sacrifices each and every day.

I agree with The Jawa Report’s assessment of a recent Dunkin’ Donuts ad campaign featuring Rachael Ray. Take a look at the ad video here.

Here’s an image:

If you go over to Rusty’s post at TJR, you will see comparison of a REAL kaffiyeh and Rachael Ray’s scarf. Anyone can look at it and see that it doesn’t have the same pattern.

I am amazed at the fervor at blogs around the ’sphere and the authors who insist it is a kaffiyeh and that we should begin a writing campaign, quit getting Dunkin’ Donuts and other such stuff. Rachael Ray may be a flaming libtard, but she’s no terrorist, people. Hell, she probably wouldn’t know what a kaffiyeh was if she was given one to wear.

Give me a break…must be a slow news day?

Yep….Rusty’s right.

P.S. Dunkin’ Donuts pulled the ad. As my hubby said, why wouldn’t they just show a picture of the stupid scarf if it is, indeed, a paisley scarf instead of acquiescing to the pressure from Malkin and others?

Malkin, in a posting following up on last week’s column, said of Dunkin’s decision to pull the ad, “It’s refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists.”

I can’t say that RR fits the definition of a jihad apologist…pay attention to the message for Memorial Day that was on her site (thanks, Hubby!)

We always hear about superheroes - Superman, Spiderman, Iron Man….but there are every-day heroes out there, and I know one! I’m also happy to say that the world knows one, too as Jane’s mission has made the NYT:

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Jane Novak, a 46-year-old stay-at-home mother of two in New Jersey, has never been to Yemen. She speaks no Arabic, and freely admits that until a few years ago, she knew nothing about that strife-torn south Arabian country.

And yet Ms. Novak has become so well known in Yemen that newspaper editors say they sell more copies if her photograph — blond and smiling — is on the cover. Her blog, an outspoken news bulletin on Yemeni affairs, is banned there. The government’s allies routinely vilify her in print as an American agent, a Shiite monarchist, a member of Al Qaeda, or “the Zionist Novak.”

The worst of her many offenses is her dogged campaign on behalf of a Yemeni journalist, Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, who incurred his government’s wrath by writing about a bloody rebellion in the far north of the country. He is on trial on sedition charges that could bring the death penalty, with a verdict expected Wednesday.

Ms. Novak, working from a laptop in her Monmouth County living room “while the kids are at school,” has started an Internet petition to free Mr. Khaiwani. She has enlisted Yemeni politicians, journalists, human rights activists and others around the globe. Her blog goes well beyond the Khaiwani case and has become a crucial outlet for opposition journalists and political figures, who feed her tips on Yemeni political intrigue by e-mail or text message.

She says her campaign is a matter of basic principle. “This is a country that lets Al Qaeda people go free, and they’re putting a journalist on trial for doing his job?” she said. “It’s just completely crazy.”

You simply should go read the story in The New York Times…it is only one glimpse into Jane’s heart-felt passion and her diligence. You should also read her blog: Armies of Liberation

I am so very proud to know Jane and her focus and dedication to the Yemeni people who have been treated unfairly and cruelly for simply speaking the truth.

While you are at it, please Support Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani by signing a letter to the Yemeni government. You can do that here.

Does anyone remember Lori Drew?

Drew allegedly helped create a false-identity MySpace account to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named “Josh Evans.”

Megan, 13, hanged herself at home in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.

Of course she denies creating the account and these cruel behaviors. There’s at least enough for an indictment:

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted a Missouri woman Thursday for her alleged role in a MySpace hoax on a teen neighbor who committed suicide after being spurned by the “boy” in the fake profile.

Lori Drew, of Dardenne Prairie near St. Louis, was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on the girl.

I don’t know how solid this case is against her, but I’m happy that efforts are being made to punish this crime. Do I think the maximum sentence of up to 20 years would be enough if she’s found guilty? Not really. A grown woman doing something that was much more cruel than a teenager could even contemplate is simply revolting. The internet plays an ever-growing part in every day life and kids should feel just as safe there as they would in their own backyards - I’m not crazy and I do know it’s a long way off to reach that goal, but it’s unfortunate that anyone would behave this way, much less an adult that should be setting the example, not pushing a 13-year-old to hang herself.

So, it comes to this:

MILWAUKEE–Cash-strapped drinkers are starting to trade down to economy beers, the chief executive of Miller Brewing Co. said Thursday.

The Milwaukee-based brewer saw some shift between higher-priced, premium beers and economy beers such as Miller High Life and Milwaukee’s Best starting in January, Tom Long told reporters on a conference call.

I get it, to a degree. Our grocery bill grows exponentially every week, almost to the point I’m ready to actually establish a weekly budget for it…but Milwaukee’s Best? GAK!

Merri (anyone reading remember her?) and I are going to be at one of our friend’s book signings. Here he is discussing the new book on WGN’s noon news show.

Why no metal detectors? Cuz we ain’t getting within 20 feet of our friend without some heavy weaponry.

I USED to like Rachel Ray, now I have to reconsider. How COULD she invite Rosie O’Donnell to be a guest on her show? She’s mean and extremely hateful! Laugh if you must, Rach, but tell me what’s so funny about her jokes at the expense of other people? (I guess those with very low self-esteem do that.)

She’s been on my hit list since the day she blindsided my love, Tom Selleck, on her now defunct “talk” show.

I guess my dinners are going to start taking me an hour.

Disclaimer: The opinion above is mine (Stroosinator) and not necessarily that of the owner of this site, but I’d be thinking twice if Rosie should happen to call Rachel a “Cutie Pa-tootie”. GAK!

Hi all!

1. I really am alive. This is NOT a figment of your imagination!

2. I’m in my final week of classes until Fall. SO….after that, I may be back to blogging a bit!

3. I’m tired. Did I say I was in my final week of classes? And that work has been so crazy my mind can’t stop racing?

4. I’m also reading my first Brad Thor book. Why I waited, I do not know, but I’ve never worked, read a book, and taken two college courses all at the same time. Did I mention I’m tired?

Truly, it’s an action-packed week for me, but I’m starting to miss this little corner of the web. I’ll be dusting it off soon, I think!

Oh, well. The Jawas have uploaded it in God knows how many places. Here’s my Google Video version:

Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, and author of The Truth About Muhammed, was kind enough to grace us schlubs with his presence.

May all of you have a joyous Easter!