Hasta La Gadget!

MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — No one disputes that Scott Panetti — heavily armed, head shaved and wearing camouflage — shot and killed his in-laws at their Texas Hill Country home, showering his estranged wife and 3-year-old daughter in blood.

Panetti himself acknowledged during his 1995 capital murder trial that he had killed Joe and Amanda Alvarado. Dressed as a cowboy, he acted as his own attorney, believing only an insane person could prove an insanity defense.

Jurors convicted him and sentenced him to death, and he is scheduled to die on Wednesday.

Panetti’s attorneys are seeking to get him off death row or, in the very least, to get his execution date postponed so that he can undergo further psychological testing to determine if he’s competent to be put to death. They believe his case raises questions about the legality of executing the mentally ill — an issue the U.S. Supreme Court has previously considered.

“From our perspective, this has been like a slow-moving train wreck since 1995,” said Kathryn Kase, one of his lawyers.

A diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, Panetti had been hospitalized for mental illness more than a dozen times in the decade leading up to the September 1992 killings of the Alvarados.

A 2007 Supreme Court review of Panetti’s case tweaked the criteria for executing those with severe mental disorders by requiring inmates to not only know that they are being punished, but to also have a “rational understanding” of their punishment. Providing little guidance other than requiring a “fair hearing” for presentation of psychiatric evidence to consider insanity claims, the justices returned Panetti’s case to lower federal courts, which ultimately found him competent.

Seven years since his last mental evaluation, Panetti is showing increasingly aberrant delusional behavior on death row, said Kase, who visited him a few weeks ago. He believes his punishment is part of a satanic conspiracy to prevent him from preaching the Gospel.

“He cannot appreciate why Texas seeks to execute him,” Kase said. “You have to have a rational as well as factual understanding of why you’re being executed.

“In Mr. Panetti’s case, his understanding is the state wants to prevent him from preaching the Gospel on death row and saving their souls. And clearly that’s not factual or rational.”

Prosecutors argue that Panetti’s claims are without merit and that defense attorneys have had years to arrange new evaluations.

Lucy Wilke, an assistant district attorney in Gillespie County, where Panetti was tried, said that as recently as Nov. 4, Panetti discussed Election Day politics during a prison visit with relatives.

“At the very least, it is clear that Panetti is oriented to time and place, a fact which his lawyers have disputed,” she said in a filing last week to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which refused to stop the execution.

Panetti’s case now is back before a federal appeals court.

Court-appointed medical experts for the state have long said they suspect some of Panetti’s bizarre behavior was contrived.

Panetti responded to a recent interview request from The Associated Press with the message: “I respectfully decline, Acts 28.” The Biblical chapter in the Acts of the Apostles includes a reference to St. Paul as a prisoner of the Romans and of Paul successfully teaching the Gospel.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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<img src="http://nowitcounts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Hotel-Del-Coronoda.jpg"

Yes, this is another Top 10 hotels list (but this one is awesome).

Shiny and new has a certain charm (hey, I’m from Las Vegas, epicenter of shiny and new). But sometimes I like hotels that come with a little baggage. Love of history can be such a personal thing, but I swooned for the stories behind this particular bunch. So pack your suitcase and join me on a historical trip around the world, with stops at my favorite “hotels with history.”

Hotel del Coronado, San Diego (above)

The Coronado is seeped in so much history that it has a full-time historian on staff. The 126-year-old San Diego icon has hosted such luminaries as Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, royalty from around the world and nearly every US president. Famed Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum wrote several books while living at his favorite hotel for months at a time and is said to have based his Emerald City on its whimsical seaside design. As you would imagine, a hotel of this longitude has many ghost stories – and boasts many less spooky milestones, such as the first electrically-lit Christmas tree.

Abano Grand Hotel, Abano Terme, Italy

Relax into the thermal spring water and mud baths that Roman emperors trusted for healing in ancient times, in Abano Terme, Italy, the oldest thermal spa destination in Europe. The only five-star resort there, the Abano Grand creates bespoke spa retreats for the ultimate in pampering, including four thermal pools with ancient healing water from underground springs, plus a medically sanctioned spa mud farm. Modern additions include underwater fitness equipment and a spa built for romance.

Union Station Hotel, Nashville

Say “I do” in the timeless setting of a southern train station from 1900. The Gothic design and history from railroading’s glory years at the Union Station Hotel scream romance. The Richardson Romanesque-era boutique hotel (it opened as a hotel in 1986) still features the original train boards behind the front desk, plus original stained-glass windows and impressive barrel-vaulted ceilings. Once the epitome of glamour, Mae West passed through, as well as gangster Al Capone, on his way to the penitentiary. The station was so over the top that it once housed two alligator ponds on site.

Baur au Lac, Zurich

Family owned for six generations, Baur au Lac has been a home-away-from-home for countless European royalty. Hotelier Johannes Baur opened the lakefront hideaway in 1844 for noble guests needing discreet lodgings and soon graduated to high-level royalty, including the Russian czarina, King Ludwig I of Bavaria and the Austrian Empress Elisabeth “Sisi” – who was accompanied by two princes and an entourage of 60. In modern times, many high-ranking English royal family have secluded themselves there, as well as an Egyptian khedive, the King of Sweden, the Emperor of Ethiopia, and the Queen of Norway. In the 1950s, it was fashionable to attend runway shows and afternoon dances in the hotel’s Petit Palais. Bold-faced names who have recently graced the property: Henry Kissinger, King Edward VIII, Margaret Thatcher, Ghandi and Prince Ranier III.

Casa Palopo, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Soak in the beauty of Lake Atitlan, home to 12 indigenous Mayan towns that haven’t changed their way of life in hundreds of years. A quiet retreat with only nine bedrooms, Casa Palopo prides itself in full cultural immersion, from the activities around the lake’s three volcanoes, to the indigenous Latin American artwork and Mayan artifacts that hang on brightly colored stucco walls, representative of the country’s colorful textiles. You’ll sleep well, too–at night, guests receive traditional worry dolls, which take away your worries while you dream.

The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, WV

War buffs, take note: The Greenbrier’s role in the Civil War was so significant that guests flock to the daily tours of its bunker, which remained a state secret for three decades. The hotel has, in some capacity, welcomed guests for more than 200 years, although it grew in popularity in the 1830s after a new mountain road allowed for stagecoaches. (Within the next 22 years, five US presidents had paid a visit.) Railroad tracks reached The Greenbrier (not yet named The Greenbrier) in 1869, and for a century almost all guests arrived by train. In 1913, the hotel as we know it today opened, with its stunning golf course debuting the next year. In the 1940s, the State Department leased the hotel to house German and Japanese diplomats following Pearl Harbor, later purchasing the whole thing to use as a hospital for a few years until the war passed, and the hotel again fell under private ownership.

Il Salviatino, Fiesole, Italy

Il Salviatino still serves sumptuous family-style Tuscan dinners once a week — an homage to its history as a social gathering spot for Florence’s wealthiest families. Before that, the breathtaking 15th century villa was built as a modest country farmhouse. Still decorated with 16th century frescoes and ancient mosaics, the five-star resort offers views of both the cityscape of Florence and the rolling green hills of Tuscany.

High Line Hotel, New York City

As if Christmas in Manhattan wasn’t romantic enough! The High Line Hotel sits on the site of the original Chelsea estate, owned by writer Clement Clark Moore, who penned “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” based on the chimney and fireplace that you can still see today in the refectory. These days, the oldest operating seminary in the US sets the stage for this new boutique hotel in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood with the main building of the hotel that dates back to 1895, and its magnificent Gothic Hoffman Hall all the way back to 1899.

Ashford Castle, County Mayo, Ireland

Celebrities have taken a particular liking to the spectacular castle since it opened as a hotel in 1939 — including Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Prince Edward, Edward Kennedy, King George “V,” Tony Blair, U2, Rod Stewart, John Travolta, Bob Hope, Brad Pitt and Barbra Streisand. Pierce Brosnan even chose the sprawling estate for his wedding to Keely Shaye Smith in 2001. Built as a monastery in 1228, the castle was later purchased in 1852 by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, of the brewing dynasty, to be used as the family’s country estate. Currently undergoing a $150 million renovation, the renowned castle-to-the-stars will reopen in spring 2015.

One&Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Nothing says “glamour” like the famous Versailles gardens of One and Only’s Ocean Club. It all began when a successful Swedish industrialist fell in love with Paradise Island in 1939 while taking his yacht for a spin on a world cruise. The pristine tropical island was still mainly undeveloped, save for a few entertainment clubs. He built his extravagant estate and started a garden modeled after Versailles, christening the whole affair Shangri-La. In the 1960s, the Bahamian mansion was turned into a hotel, and boasted a premiere with an A-list guest list of William Randolph Hearst, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Benny Goodman and Burl Ives. Film geeks will recognize the island from James Bond films Thunderball and Casino Royale, and, most recently, The Wolf Of Wall Street.

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