Women With Troubles - November 2006

Here's the list of women with troubles reported in the news during November 2006. Each name is linked to a blog entry displaying detailed information.

(AL) Sabrina Skim-horn Mills, 21,
neighbor - Given probation for sex abuse of two children, 4 and 8,

(AR) Carolynn A. Hayes, 36,
neighbor - Charged with sex assault of boy, 13,

(CA) Lashuan Harris, 24,
neighbor - On trial for murdering her three young children,

(CA) Alyssa Ann Johnson, 31,
teacher - Charged with substantial sex with boy under 18,

(CO) Carrie McCandless, 29,
teacher, principal's wife - Accused of sex with male student, 17,

(CO) Jennie Overstreet, 33,
teacher - Sentenced to two years to life in prison for sexually assaulting children under age 15,

(CT) Charlene Milia, 42,
neighbor - Faces drug, alcohol and sex charges for party with teen boys and girls,

(FL) Gina Brunelas, 44,
crime scene investigator, married mother of three - Gets probation for computer porn and child exploitation,

(FL) Tammy Grace, 34,
neighbor - Arrested for engaging in sex with boy, 15,

(FL) Amber Hamilton, 20,
school bus attendant - Arrested for allegedly showing porn to elementary school students,

(FL) Sheretha Lavone Paramore, 28,
teacher's aide - Arrested for engaging in sex with boy, 16,

(FL) Alisa J. Rothenberg, 30,
neighbor - Accused of unlawful sex with boy, 13,

(GA) Melissa Chase, 28,
teacher, softball coach - Arrested for engaging in sex with female student, 16,

(GA) Aimee Melissa Josey, 42,
neighbor, mother - Sentenced to seven years in prison for child molestation and rape of boy, 14,

(GA) Ashley Lynn Rouse, 19,
babysitter - Sentenced to two years jail for molesting boy, 8, when she was 17,

(ID) Shandrel McMurtre, 20,
camp counselor - Charged with lewd conduct with boy, 14,

(IL) Kristen Buffington, 20,
neighbor, mother of 4-year-old - Convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of boy, 14,

(IL) Kourtney Mullen, 22,
special ed. teacher's aide - Arrested for sex assault of male special ed. student, 17,

(MD) Melissa Lynn Kozimor, 27,
neighbor - Sentenced to probation for liquoring up and sexually abusing two girls, 13 and 14, and engaging in sex with a boy, 14,

(MI) Laura Cruz, 41,
Teacher's aide - Charged with sex abuse of boy, 14,

(MI) Melissa Jean Grifford, 23,
neighbor - Sentenced to one year in county jail for sex with boy, 13,

(MI) Jami Lee Knox, 41,
neighbor, married mother of three - Pleaded no contest to criminal sex with boy, 15,

(MO) Bethany Sherrill, 24,
teacher - Sentenced to 30 days in jail for sex with boy, 14,

(MO) Judith Zweifel, 37,
neighbor, married mother of two - Pleaded guilty to sexually abusing boy, 11,

(MS) Latonya Michelle Davis, 29,
teacher, girls athletics coach - Arrested for lustful touching of girl under 14,

(MT) Tara Moler, 29,
neighbor - Accused of engaging in sex with boy, 14,

(NC) Sirena Lalita Burwell, 19,
neighbor - Arrested for sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual battery and indecent liberties with a child,

(NC) Dawn Elizabeth Sewell and Carl Warren Persing,
travelers - Arrested for engaging in sex on plane,

(NJ) Amy Burke, 32,
teacher - Guilty of charges related to sex with a male student, 13. Sentencing in March 2007.

(NJ) Jodi Marie Thorp, 35,
teacher, married mother of three - Sentenced to one year in jail for fondling a student, 14,

(NY) Rebecca L. Mento, 20,
neighbor - Charged with statutory rape of boy, 15,

(OH) China Arnold, 26,
neighbor, mother - Charged with placing month-old daughter in microwave and killing her,

(OH) Nancy Hedrick, AKA Nancy Seacrist,
art teacher - Sued for damages for sexual contact with male student, 17,

(OH) Jesse Huntington, 39,
neighbor - Indicted for unlawful sex with two boys, 16 and 17,

(OR) Christine Marie Johanson, 35,
teacher's aide - Indicted for repeated sex with male student, 15. May face charges in Washington and in federal court.

(PA) Nadine Kelly, 38,
neighbor - Arrested for engaging in sex with a girl, 12, and boy, 13,

(PA) Amanda Livelsberger, 30,
neighbor, mother - Sentenced to 3 months jail for smoking marijuana with her son, starting at age 11,

(PA) Christine Carver-Schlesser, 30,
neighbor - Arrested for rape and sex assault of two boys, 12 and 13,

(PA) Suzanne Wagner, 44,
neighbor - Convicted of corruption of minor boy, 16. To be sentenced Jan. 12,

(TX) Nancy Torres, 29,
teacher - Arrested for sex assault of male student, 14,

(UT) Leslie Baird, 42,
teacher's assistant - Guilty of forcible sexual abuse of several students. To be sentenced Jan. 9,

(VT) Melanie Hackett, 24,
teaching assistant - To be tried for sex assault of boy, 13,

(WA) Maureen "Mo" Wear, 46,
neighbor - Faces trial on multiple charges of rape of three children,

(WA) Wende Wertley,
mental health counselor - Charged with engaging in sex with boy, 16.

As always, thanks to the tipsters.

Congrats to Jawa

Champagne and chocolates for everyone! Rusty Shackleford announces six million visitors to The Jawa Report.

Credit is given to Angelina Jolie for attracting number 6,000,000, a man from Saudi Arabia.

Teacher-Child Sex Case Widens

(Longview, Washington) On November 6, 35-year-old former teacher's aide at Hudson Park Elementary School in Rainier, Christine Marie Johanson, was indicted by a grand jury on 10 counts of third-degree rape, two counts of third-degree sodomy, 12 counts of second-degree sexual abuse and two counts of furnishing liquor to a minor. All charges resulted from an alleged months-long sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

Astonishingly, Johanson was booked and released into her husband's supervision. No bail, just go home and have your husband watch you, honey. Tell me there is no strong stench of bias in this case already. Imagine a man facing the same charges being told to go home and let his wife watch him.

But there's more. Johanson now is also being investigated by the FBI for taking the boy across the state line to Washington for purposes of sex. Consequently, the mother of two is facing possible prosecution in two state courts and federal court. Furthermore, additional details regarding the case appear to indicate that Johanson is obsessed with the boy.

From TDN.com:

A Columbia County police report and interviews with the boy's mother also revealed several new details in the case, including:

* The boy told police Johanson talked about running away with him to Mexico.

* The boy told police that Johanson said she loved him.

* Johanson wrote the boy's mother an apology letter.

* Johanson -- who worked with the boy daily in her resource room -- would drive the boy home after he was suspended, stopping to have sex on the way, the boy told police. He said Johanson sometimes told him in code to get suspended and then would appear as he needed a ride home. Some of the suspensions were for school dress code violations.

* The boy told police Johanson made him a CD with the love song "Every Time We Touch" on it as well as notes that read "I want you!" "I need you!"

According to the boy's mother, because of emotional and psychological problems, the 15-year-old was placed into counseling before anyone was aware of the alleged sexual relationship. It's also alleged that Johanson "had him convinced that nobody liked him except her."

Understandably, the boy's mother is pissed and has vowed to stop Johanson from ever repeating her behavior. We'll see. I'm particularly interested in knowing what the feds are going to do. Cold, federal prison would be a certainty for a 35-year-old man crossing state lines to have sex with a juvenile girl. The Johanson case, however, doesn't involve a man and a girl and it already has a bit of stink about it.

Companion post at Conservative Thinking.


[Update 07/18/07]

Johanson pleads guilty in Cowlitz County, Washington.


[Update 08/30/07]

Johanson sentenced in Cowlitz County.

Iran Accuses Canada of Spying

(Tehran, Iran) Since the Iranian Parliament has no final authority for anything, one wonders where the accusation is coming from. It's speculated that Canada's assertiveness in the UN to have Iran condemned for human rights violations is at the root of the seemingly false accusation.

From TheStar.com:

In a sign of chilling relations between Iran and Canada, Iranian lawmakers have labelled Canada's embassy in Tehran a "den of spies" and called for a probe that could shut it down.

"The Canadian embassy represents the 'den of spies' and this is unacceptable for Iranians," said hard-liner Hamidreza Hajbabai, one of a group of parliamentarians accusing Ottawa of plotting with the United States, a long-term enemy of Iran.

Another lawmaker, Javad Arian-Manesh, said the Majiles (parliament) would investigate the Canadian embassy for espionage, "and if it is proven, (we are) determined to shut down the mission."

In a lapse of Islamic tolerance and diversity, one sneering Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said, "Canada is no big deal in global politics. We all know Canada is acting on behalf of other countries and only after full co-ordination with London."

Canadian officials called the charges baseless and rhetorical. Nonetheless, they add to the decreasing level of peacefulness and tolerance between the two nations. An interested observer might even call the charges an act of belligerence.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Illegal Alien Perverts Pinched

(New York City) Foreign-born New Yorkers from 19 countries were arrested yesterday through a combined state/federal sweep of convicted child sex offenders. Twenty of those arrested are illegally in the United States, ostensibly committing child sex offenses that regular Americans won't do. They may be deported immediately. Others arrested are also subject to deportation if they are not American citizens.

The roundup came as a result of a policy change where New York and federal authorities exchange information. The sharing of information between autonomous agencies is a shocking and monumental innovation in law enforcement which produces substantive results. It's too bad that someone didn't think of it sooner.

Companion post at Diggers Realm.

Teacher Amy Burke Pleads Guilty

(Perth Amboy, New Jersey) In early October, 32-year-old teacher at McGinnis School, Amy Burke, was arrested for engaging in a months-long inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old male student.

Burke, a married mother of a young child, was charged with official misconduct, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Yesterday, Burke accepted a deal offered by the prosecution and pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct before Superior Court Judge Barbara Stolte. Burke will forfeit her teaching certification and spend up to four years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 30.

Burke remains in custody at Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in lieu of $300,000 bail.


[Update 03/31/07]

Burke sentenced.

East Coast Leftists Go West

From Boston.com:

The Civil Rights Project at Harvard is moving to the University of California at Los Angeles, along with its director, Gary Orfield, depriving the university of a prominent voice in the national debate about racial justice.

The 10-year-old center, which Orfield cofounded at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, has produced reams of influential research on inequality, particularly in education -- on the resegregation of schools, for example.

The organization will be renamed the Civil Rights Project/El Proyecto de CRP and expand its focus to include immigration and language discrimination. Spanish and English reports will now be issued.

Heh. I'd guess they figured Massachusetts was now saturated with liberalism and the project needed a new frontier.

Tidewater Goby

Woo-hoo! A victory for the environment!

The endangered tidewater goby now has a protected habitat!


Tidewater GobyFrom SacBee.com:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday proposed designating more than 10,000 acres across California as critical habitat for the endangered tidewater goby, which thrives in brackish marshes along the coast.

The new protections would heavily restrict the use of marshlands in 12 California counties, including San Mateo and Marin.

The 2-inch-long, grey-brown goby was added to the Endangered Species List in 1994. Now it will have its own federally-protected habitat. How nice.

It would also be nice if the U.S. borders were secured so American citizens could have a federally-protected habitat. Unfortunately, government actions to provide border security consist primarily of politicians moving their lips and making sounds.

GOP Financial Flubs Lost Senate

With detailed facts, VikingSpirit reports that a primary reason the Republicans lost control of the Senate was gross misallocation of campaign resources. The Senatorial campaign mucky-mucks spent money where they shouldn't have and didn't spend money where they should have.

I agree.

John Edwards - Professional Toe Stubber

By now, most everyone knows of the embarrassment suffered by anti-Wal-Mart crusader and former Sen. John Edwards when one of his staff tried to recently beguile Wal-Mart into giving preferential treatment in obtaining a Sony PS3. Typical leftist politician. He hates Wal-Mart except when it comes to his own personal shopping needs.

Well, here's another embarrassing incident which occurred in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Monday. As a political advocate, Edwards is simply great at stubbing his toe.

From UnionLeader.com:

In Manchester, the local Wal-Mart store sits right behind the Barnes & Noble. It has more floor space, a parking lot several times the size of Barnes & Noble's, and is easier to access by car or public transportation.

But Edwards would not be caught dead inside a Wal-Mart. Saying that the company pays its employees too little, Edwards has embarked on an anti-Wal-Mart crusade. He instructs his staff members and all Americans not to shop at Wal-Mart.

"Wal-Mart makes plenty of money. They need to pay their people well," Edwards said at a Pittsburgh anti-Wal-Mart rally in August.

So naturally Edwards is holding his book signing at Barnes & Noble instead of Wal-Mart. Which is too bad for his anti-low-wages campaign, because in Manchester Wal-Mart pays hourly employees more than Barnes & Noble does.

The Barnes & Noble where Edwards will hawk his book pays $7 an hour to start. The Wal-Mart that sits just yards away pays $7.50 an hour.

One has to wonder if Edwards frequently loses his keys or has to be told that his fly is open. He just doesn't seem to pay attention very well.

Teacher Walks

(Brownsville, Texas) About a year ago, 25-year-old teacher at Pace High School, Samantha Drash, was accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student. Drash resigned her position and was later arrested on sexual misconduct charges.

In March 2006, Drash pleaded not guilty to charges of having an inappropriate relationship between educator and student and sexual assault of a child. She claimed the accusations were an act of revenge by her estranged husband. That same month, divorce papers filed by Drash's estranged husband made reference to the sex with the student as an act of adultery on the teacher's part.

Since that time, the prosecution has been building its case with intentions of having the victim testify. However, the boy's parents came forward and stated that they didn't want Drash prosecuted because it wasn't all her fault. They put half the blame for the sexual relationship on the boy, now 17. Both the boy and his parents submitted affidavits indicating that they didn't want to pursue the case.

Consequently, Judge Rolando Olvera with the 138th State District Court dismissed the second-degree felony charge yesterday against Samantha Drash. The judge ordered Drash to stay away from her victim and committed to have the DA's office assure she does. Her license to teach is being reviewed by the State Board for Educator Certification.

The dismissal allows Drash to avoid trial and a possible prison term. According to her lawyer, Ernesto Gamez, Drash now plans on attending graduate school to become an engineer.

In conclusion, it must be noted that throughout this entire episode, discussions and statements consistently addressed whether to prosecute and how to prosecute rather than questioning whether a sex crime was actually committed by an educator on a student. From the beginning, it has seemed to be a given that Drash did have sex with the boy. Just an observation, but it appears that the commission of a crime and Drash's guilt were never issues.

Mom Gets No Jail for Multiple Molestations

(Carroll County, Maryland) A 27-year-old mother of three, Melissa Lynn Kozimor, was convicted of liquoring up two girls, ages 13 and 14, and then sexually abusing them. Kozimor was also convicted of engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy.

For her crimes, Kozimor blamed alcohol and denied any personal responsibility for her actions other than her drinking. Carroll County Circuit Judge Thomas F. Stansfield apparently bought the excuse and sentenced Kozimor to five years probation.

For exercise, try replacing a 27-year-old woman in this report with a 27-year-old man committing the same crimes and see if the sentence imposed makes sense. Here's a hint. It doesn't.

Sunrise Rock - Before and After ACLU

In 1934, the Death Valley chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars constructed a wooden cross atop a pile of rocks in the Mojave Desert to honor "the dead of all wars."

The site became known as "Sunrise Rock" and a location where people gathered for occasional get-togethers and sunrise services. The cross has been rebuilt several times with the latest version being about eight feet high and constructed of welded iron pipe.


Mojave Desert Memorial Cross
In 2000, the American Civil Liberties Union commenced legal maneuvering to have the cross removed. Subsequently, wrangling between opposing sides has resulted in the Justice Department advising the National Park Service to cover the cross. Over $60,000 of taxpayer funds have been paid to the ACLU for attorneys' fees in the case thus far.


Mojave Desert Memorial Cross - After ACLU Makeover
The photo is recent and used courtesy of ArrMatey. The cross is hidden beneath a covering of plywood.

Readers, when you think of the ACLU's contribution to American civil liberties, try not to forget the two pictures above. I won't.

Tip: STACLU

Mom's Hotel Party - Drugs, Sex and Teen Girls

(Southington, Connecticut) If this story turns out to be accurate, Charlene Milia is one nasty mother.

From WFSB.com:

Three teenage boys and a mother face charges after an alleged party involving alcohol, drugs and sex.

Southington police have charged Charlene Milia with three counts of injury to children and five counts of liquor sales to minors.

Police said the 42-year-old mother rented two rooms on Sept. 23 at the Marriott on West Street for three 17-year-old boys and three 14-year-old girls. Police said Milia bought alcohol for the party.

Police learned that one of the girls engaged in sex and that cocaine and alcohol were used.

Milia and the three boys are in custody. The boys face charges of risk of injury to children. One boy also faces sex and alcohol charges.

Tip: Don Morgenstern

Study: Women Can't Keep Mouths Shut

(San Francisco, California) A female psychiatrist with the University of California, Dr. Luan Brizendine, has conducted research which found that women talk three times as much as men.

Based on clinical work and analyses of more than 1,000 scientific studies, Dr. Brizendine's research found that "the simple act of talking triggers a flood of brain chemicals which give women a rush similar to that felt by heroin addicts when they get a high." It's not that way with us guys.

From TheRegister.co.uk:

Dr Luan Brizendine of the University of California, who's published her shock findings in The Female Brain, says the average woman works her way through 20,000 words per day, compared with just 7,000 for the average bloke. She says "women devote more brain cells to talking than men", and cites fundamental differences between male and female brains as the cause.

According to "self-proclaimed feminist" Dr. Brizendine, the difference is explained by the level of testosterone in a person. The high level of testosterone in males suppresses those areas of the brain which control communication, emotion and memory.

Now, a logical conclusion would be that males have better listening skills than women. After all, if women are yakking most of the time, they can't be talking to other women since they, too, are yakking. Therefore, women must be talking to men and, as a result, men empirically are more adept at listening since they do it three times as much as women.

On the contrary, says Dr. Brizendine who runs a female "mood and hormone" clinic in San Francisco. According to her psychiatric feminist research, the testosterone in the male brain also shrinks the primary hearing cortex which makes them "deaf" to most logical arguments. However, the shrinkage in one area of the brain is compensated for by the expansion of the areas of the brain which control sexual thought processing.

Notably, not everyone concurs with Dr. Brizendine's assertions since there is no common agreement regarding testosterone's effect on the brain. Personally, I view the contention that women talk too much as about right, but it's ludicrous to label men as "deaf" to logic.

In summary, research found that women talk most of the time while men don't and the reason is that women don't have nasty testosterone to make them deaf and fiendish about sex.

Dr. Brizendine is reported to be affiliated with the University of California but in which capacity is unclear. Internet searches under 'psychobabble studies' and 'feminist psychiatric hooey' failed to return any useful results.

Female Teacher Accused of Substantial Sex

(Mission Viejo, California) A 31-year-old English teacher at Trabuco Hills High School, Alyssa Ann Johnson, was arrested this past week on suspicion of engaging in sex with one of her male students.

Authorities stated the boy is between 14 and 18 years of age and the alleged "substantial sexual contact" occurred last summer.

Johnson was booked into the Orange County Jail and released on $50,000 bail. She was placed on administrative leave from her job.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 11/29/06]

From CBS2.com:

Alyssa Ann Johnson, 31, who is free on $50,000 bail, was charged with three counts each of unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation of a minor and one count of sodomy with a person under 18, Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

Johnson is scheduled to be arraigned on December 21.

Yoko Ono Wants Healing

Beatle John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has called for December 8, the anniversary of Lennon's death, to be observed as a day of worldwide healing.

According to Ono, the day of healing is "the day to ask for forgiveness from those who suffered the insufferable."

Uh ... does anyone know what the hell that means?

Woman Murders Her Three Kids

(San Francisco, California) On October 19, 2005, 24-year-old Lashuan Harris undressed her three children, one by one, and threw them into the cold water of San Francisco Bay.

Six-year-old Trayshaun Harris, two-year-old Taronta Greeley Jr. and 16-month-old Joshua Greeley drowned. Only the body of Trayshaun Harris was ever found.

Today, Harris' trial began. She faces three counts of murder and three counts of assault causing the death of a child under 8 years old. Harris previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Fortunately, she has a friendly prosecutor.

From MercuryNews.com:

"I'm sure you will have no doubt that this woman is mentally ill," prosecutor Linda Allen said during her half-hour opening statement. "You will believe this woman had hallucinations. And you will believe that she thought God commanded her to kill her children."

How nice? The prosecutor argues for the defense. Maybe prosecutor Linda Allen would prefer to bypass the jury?

Nonetheless, the jury is responsible for determining Harris' guilt and whether she was legally sane. Hopefully, they won't be influenced by the prosecutor's seemingly inappropriate pronouncements.


[Update 01/19/07]

Harris ruled insane.

Pizza Man Kills Robber

(Atlanta, Georgia) A pizza delivery man shot and killed a 14-year-old robber Sunday night. The boy was part of a group of four teenage pizza robbers.

Police are investigating. No charges have been filed, yet.

Heh, Whales Have "Human" Brain Cells

That is what the media reports are trumpeting. Human brain cells have been found in whales by Patrick Hof and Estel Van der Gucht, researchers at the Department of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

In reality, though, researchers found cells called spindle neurons in whale brains and spindle neurons are also found in the brains of humans. Of course, the media interpret the find as a discovery of "human" brain cells in whales. Conveniently ignored is the fact that no researchers, nor anyone else, has a clue as to what the spindle neurons actually do. Everything is theory and one even suggests that spindle cells are not used at all. This seems nonsensical unless one considers that it would account for the thinking, or lack thereof, of Cindy Sheehan. Nonetheless, current research pretty much accepts anybody's guess as to the cell's actual function.

Therefore, I'll offer mine.

Spindle neurons are rogue mutant electrochemical reflector cells which prevent transmission of the feeling of fullness after eating.

Consequently, spindle cells are undesirable message transmitters in the brain which restrict appetite suppression impulses and contribute to widespread obesity.

Hey, come on, it makes sense. Whales are fat and humans are fat. Something has to be the cause. My guess is spindle cells. After all, it doesn't have to be that "human" cells were found in whales, it could be that remnant paleolithic "whale" spindle cells were found in humans. As I recall, whales inhabited the Earth long before the arrival of homo sapiens.

But forget all that because the leftists and their media cheerleaders will be hammering into the public's mind the notion that whales have "human" qualities and we must save them and the oceans from the evils of George Bush and capitalist greed, the true causes of wanton pollution and global warming, or we're all going to die.

Coming soon to a theater near you, "The Inconvenient Brain" by Al Gore, a whale of a guy.

Sportscaster Casey Coleman (1951 - 2006)

Cleveland sports broadcasting mainstay, Casey Coleman, died early this morning from pancreatic cancer. He was 55.

As a Cleveland sports fan, I watched and listened to Coleman regularly over the years. He was a true professional. As a journalist, he was knowledgeable, insightful and fair. As a broadcaster, Coleman was unpretentious and regular-guy likable.

Coleman coined it, I'll use it. "We're rounding third and heading home."

Rest in peace, friend.

Ohio Deer Season Open, Shoot the Razorbacks

From today through December 3, Ohio deer-gun hunting season is open. Additionally, the weekend of Dec. 16 - 17 will be open for hunters looking to bag some holiday venison. Hunting hours begin 30 minutes before sunrise and run to sunset.

About 400,000 sharp, and not so sharp, shooters are expected to participate this year. A total harvest of approximately 120,000 deer is anticipated. Obviously, most hunters will go home with only memories.

Notably, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is encouraging hunters to blast the hell out of the wild boar, also called wild pigs or razorbacks.

From IrontonTribune.com:

The ODNR says the animals are a huge nuisance and can wreck havoc on the areas where they call home. The boars are virtual eating machines, according to the ODNR, and can damage crops and consume the eggs of nearly every type of ground-nesting birds, reptiles or amphibians. They can also carry deadly diseases that can infect livestock, wildlife and even humans.

Wild boars feed most heavily at dawn and dusk, spending their days hiding in dense vegetation or squirming in mud holes.

[Picture "squirming in mud holes" mental image of your least favorite person here.]

Razorbacks, unlike vegamagimite, are said to be "tasty, too!"

One last note, expect the elite media to enlarge every firearms mishap out of proportion. I firmly believe that the Democrat takeover of Congress will embolden the anti-gun activists to protest too much and the liberal media will be their compliant co-conspirators.

Al Qaeda Leader Killed in Russia

Good news!

(Moscow, Russia) The Al Qaeda terrorist leader in the North Caucasus, Abu Hafs (aka Abu Khavs and Abu Havs), was killed in a four-hour gun battle with police in the Dagestani town of Khasavyurt, close to the Chechen border.

From RIA Novosti:

The Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed Sunday the elimination of Al Qaeda's emissary and the head and financier of terrorists in Russia's south.

"On November 26, in a special operation by Russia's Federal Security Service in Khasavyurt in the Republic of Dagestan, Al Qaeda's chief representative in the North Caucasus known to all security services in the world as a very dangerous international terrorist, the actual head and financier of bandit formations in Chechnya, the national of Jordan, Abu Hafs, was killed," the FSB said.

A Russian television program showed the battle scene with the bodies of five terrorists. One FSB officer was wounded.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Woman Accused in Child Sex Case

(Durham, North Carolina) Sick and disgusting! That's the only way to describe this report.

From NewsObserver.com:

A Greenville woman was arrested Friday after police said she took pictures of a 4-year-old girl performing sex acts on a 15-year-old boy.

Sirena Lalita Burwell, 19, of 2205-A Wandsworth Drive in Greenville faces one count each of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual battery and indecent liberties with a child. Burwell took photos of the girl performing oral sex on the boy, according to an arrest warrant. The acts occurred between July 1 and Aug. 31, the warrant says.

Burwell took the photos to Wal-Mart in Durham to be developed. Not a bright idea if she wanted to keep her behavior a secret. Naturally, authorities were alerted and she was arrested. She's in jail with bond set at $40,000.

NY Times Disses James A. Baker III

Today's New York Times headlines James Baker as "Mr. Fix-It of the G.O.P." I don't think I'm being overly sensitive by being offended. The entire tone of the opinion-laced "news" article, written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, characterizes Baker as an ambitious chameleon, sometimes partisan and sometimes not, and the quintessential whack-a-mole diplomatic problem solver. But that's not my chief complaint since I've learned to expect the Times to report opinion as news. Rather, I'm primarily irked by the headline which is likely all that many readers will remember from the piece.

It's a slur to every American to demean James Baker, who has devoted himself to a demanding career of public service, as a Republican and as an American. The "Mr. Fix-It" tag trivializes his efforts, figuratively making him the guy who's going to repair the switch on a kitchen appliance, rather than a statesman analyzing foreign policy strategies and making recommendations. And, Mr. Baker is working for all Americans, not just the G.O.P.

I'm also insulted by the Times contention that Mr. Baker is trying to seal his legacy as a statesman. Hey, Stolberg, read the Times archives. James Baker's legacy doesn't need sealing.

An apology for irresponsible journalism should be forthcoming from the Times. Additionally, a headline story about Bill Clinton titled "Mr. Sex, Lies and DNA of the Dems" would provide balance and be somewhat truer. Be aware, though, that that wouldn't let the Times off the hook for trying to be graffiti artists.

Hand Slap for Child Porn Sicko

(Asheville, North Carolina) A 53-year-old community leader, Andrew Douglas Reed, was sentenced to a paltry 10 months in jail after pleading guilty to a laundry list of kiddie porn charges. It appears that the judge and the prosecutor considered Reed to be a fellow Democrat in good standing and worthy of lenient punishment.

Face it, folks. Society will surely fail at trying to eradicate widespread child porn unless harsh punishment is imposed on the perpetrators. Ten months is not harsh.

Explosives in Stuffed Toys

Apparently, it's the Palestinian way to spread holiday joy.

Alleged Canadian Terrorist Unknown in Canada

The New York Times reported recently that an Iraqi-Canadian citizen is part of the leadership of the Sunni Arab militants fighting in Iraq. He's identified as Abu Abdul Rahman, a Wahabbi fundamentalist. Some jihad websites have even named Rahman as a possible contender for Al Qaeda leader in Mesopotamia, filling the position once held by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Unfortunately, nobody in Canada has ever heard of Abu Abdul Rahman. Canadian Security Intelligence Service keeps track of numerous terrorists and commanders under a variety of aliases, but not anyone known as Abu Abdul Rahman. Following up, a spokesman said the Department of Foreign Affairs would be "looking into the newspaper report" to find out why nobody knows what's going on.

Interestingly, this case supports the contention that citizens must leave Canada for a foreign country to make names for themselves. And even after they do, they may not be recognized in Canada.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Risk Officer Dick Buy

This is the kind of business transaction that I find attractive.

From KansasCity.com:

Enron Corp.'s former chief risk officer, Richard B. Buy, will pay $120,000 to settle a claim he wrongly received a $400,000 bonus less than two months before the company's bankruptcy.

So, you give me $400,000, I give you back $120,000 and we're even. Works for me.

Trash or Personal Property?

(Fresno, California) In response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, the city of Fresno has been ordered to stop cleaning up trash from the city's streets because it belongs to homeless people. U.S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger said that homeless people are being denied constitutionally-protected property rights.

From the Wanger viewpoint, "Persons cannot be punished because of their status. They cannot be denied their constitutional rights because of their appearance, because they are impoverished, because they are squatters, because they are, in effect, voiceless."


Typical homeless camp
Having seen the abject filth that collects around vagrant camps, I tend to side with the city on this issue. Nevertheless, I'm certain that the ACLU didn't have to look far nor wide to find a compliant liberal judge to stop the city cleanup. With enough Wangers on the federal bench, maybe someday we'll see cardboard boxes classified as real estate.

Teacher Sentenced to Something

(Canon City, Colorado) In October, sixth-grade teacher Jennie Overstreet, 33, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting children under the age of 15. In return, the prosecution dropped over two dozen other criminal charges.

On Wednesday of this week, Overstreet was sentenced to two years to life in prison. Not sure what that means. Possibly Yogi Berra could interpret. Nevertheless, whatever her sentence is appears to be lenient punishment for forcing sex, drugs, alcohol and pornography on elementary school students.

Overstreet's lawyer did provide some clarification regarding possible reasons she wasn't treated more harshly. The attorney said Overstreet "suffers from attention deficit disorder, depression, and alcohol and drug addiction." Not mentioned were the heartbreak of psoriasis, feminine itching and chronic nail fungus.

Strangely, I never hear these excuses when a man is convicted of molestation.

Grandma's Portrait

I don't know. What do you think? In the den over the mantle? Maybe the dining room? The family room opposite the entertainment center? Oh, I know. We can put grandmother's portrait above the sofa in the living room.


The Matriarch
Unfortunately, she's not with us anymore. A more compelling situation than life on Earth has drawn her away to be with 72 virgins exploded into bloody pieces. Presumably, she's already been swept and hosed from the street.

Hey, maybe the grandkids would like a little of her for memory sake. There's likely an intact foot. Stop that truck!

Mom Dopes Young Son, Gets 3 Months

(Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) A woman, Amanda Livelsberger, smokes marijuana with her son, starting when he was 11 years old, and gets sentenced to 3 months in prison. Boy, is she lucky!? Just imagine what she would have received if she smoked tobacco with her son.

In September, 30-year-old Amanda Livelsberger pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. Pothead Amanda also was ordered to enjoy house arrest and a year of probation.

Apparently, the young boy was given weed as a reward for doing his homework. As a logical extension, I imagine he would have received a couple pops of heroin if he cleaned the house. Also, if he did windows, surely it would be worth some cocaine.

Frankly, Livelsberger shouldn't be allowed to parent and I think she deserved a much harsher sentence.

Teacher Nets 30 Days for Sex with Student

(Farmington, Missouri) In early 2005, a 24-year-old teacher, Bethany Sherrill, was investigated and charged with molesting a 14-year-old male student. A St. Francois County grand jury issued a formal indictment of Sherrill in April 2005 for statutory sodomy.

On Wednesday of this week, Sherrill was sentenced in accordance with a plea agreement.

From Daily Journal Online:

Bethany Sherrill, 25, of Farmington, entered an Alford plea to a misdemeanor charge of first-degree sexual misconduct by contact. With an Alford plea, she did not admit to any element of the charge but recognized there was sufficient evidence for trial, which was scheduled next week.

As part of the plea agreement worked out between her attorney, Lindell Dunivan and Prosecuting Attorney Wendy Wexler Horn, the charge was amended from felony second-degree statutory sodomy to the misdemeanor charge.

Sherrill will have to serve 30 days in the county jail and will also have to serve two years of supervised probation. As part of the probation, she will have to register as a sex offender; undergo sex offender education and counseling; have no contact with the victim or his family; have no employment geared toward children; and surrender her teaching certificate.

Circuit Court Judge Kenneth W. Pratte gave Sherrill some options for serving her 30 days in jail because she recently gave birth. Sherrill must complete her jail term sometime within the next six months.

Sherrill's sentence of 30 days for a sex crime is lenient and I personally don't agree with turning felony sex crimes into misdemeanors. However, given that she lives in a small rural midwestern town and her father-in-law is a former president of the school board, her sentence also includes a high-profile public stigma which won't be washed from the memories of her neighbors anytime soon.

The True Story of Thanksgiving

It's somewhat disturbing to me to learn that everything I thought about Thanksgiving is apparently wrong. However, thanks to a report today in The Arizona Republic, I'm now aware of the academically accurate version of the story of Thanksgiving.

From AZCentral.com:

Teaching about Thanksgiving can be fraught with problems anyway, given that there are so many misconceptions about the holiday.

And, boy, there are some misconceptions.

Teachers no longer rely only on textbooks but use the wealth of information available through the Internet, historical research and the media. They show children first-person accounts, photographs and artifacts.

First-graders in Luz Campos' class at Herrera School in Phoenix learn about Thanksgiving as part of their ongoing study of Native Americans, researching how the Wampanoag Indians lived compared with other Native people.

Now, in all my years of schooling, no one ever mentioned the first-person accounts and photographs from the first Thanksgiving. It's probably because my school system was underfunded.

"We're teaching more from a historical and more-balanced perspective," says Elie Gaines, a first-grade teacher at Grayhawk Elementary School in Scottsdale. "Because of the multicultural emphasis over the last 10 or 15 years, people are much more aware that there is more than just one side of the story."

By golly! All sides of the controversial Thanksgiving story should be aired. In particular, it's obvious that Thanksgiving was a traditional Indian feast long before the Pilgrims arrived in the New World.

"There were good things that the Pilgrims learned from the Indians, and there were good things that the Indians learned from the Pilgrims," Campos says.

"They exchanged ideas and things. They taught each other."

Children also may learn in school that the Wampanoags lived in wigwams instead of tepees and that celebrating the harvest, as they did that first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, was a regular tradition.

According to Carol Warren, social studies specialist for the Arizona Department of Education, "We want the children to know that every cultural group was unique in its own methods of living and language."

In third- and fourth-grades, teachers are asked to tackle the more difficult subject of how exploration affected the Indians, of how they lost their lands and their way of life.

"We don't want to set the stage that everything was wonderful and perfect," Warren says.

She taught third- and fourth-graders in Sacaton on the Gila River Reservation for more than 25 years. She understands that some Native American groups consider Thanksgiving to be a day of mourning.

So, in summary, Thanksgiving is not the day of reflection and giving thanks started by the Pilgrims but a traditional Wampanoag Indian harvest feast in which the Pilgrims joined. Also, Thanksgiving is not solely a day of celebration but also a day of mourning for the difficulties suffered by the Indians due to exploration.

Surely, thanks must be given to the Arizona public school system for assuring that the true story of Thanksgiving is told. Unfortunately, the Republic report only came out today so many people will likely sit down for Thanksgiving dinner without reflecting upon how the Indians lost their lands and their way of life.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Female Instructor Guilty of Forcible Sex Abuse

(Tooele, Utah) Last August, 42-year-old teacher's assistant at Tooele High School, Leslie Baird, was arrested for sexually abusing several students. The inappropriate behavior was exposed when "graphic, sexually explicit" text messaging between Baird and the students became known to other students and the victims' parents. Police were alerted.

Yesterday, Baird pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in exchange for the prosecution dropping counts of forcible sodomy, supplying alcohol to a minor and dealing harmful material to a minor.

Sentencing before District Judge Mark Kouris is scheduled for January 9. Baird faces a possible 15 years in prison. I'll wager she gets little time in jail and probation.


[Update 01/10/07]

Baird sentenced to have her head examined.


[Update 04/17/07]

Baird sentenced to probation.


[Update 06/20/07]

Hold the phone. Apparently, Baird was actually sentenced to one-year in jail. She was then released early.

Lebanese Minister Assassinated

(Beirut) Sadly, a leading anti-Syrian voice in the Lebanese government was assassinated yesterday.

From DailyStar.com:

Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon's industry minister and the son of former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel, was shot dead in a brazen daylight attack in the northern Beirut suburb of Jdeideh on Tuesday.

As yet, blame has not been assigned but it's noteworthy that Gemayel is the fifth prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese figure killed in the last two years.

Meanwhile, in Damascus, the grand mufti continues to pump smoke up the skivvies of any jello-brained Westerner who is willing to listen.

From SANA.org:

Syria's grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badre al-Din Hassoun on Tuesday underlined the importance of work to spread culture of peace, tolerance and human fraternity in the world to overcome seeds of conflict and extremism among nations.

"The reason behind instability in the region is that Israel is based on a religious basis… and this is a dangerous concept in life which paves way for more conflicts among nations… thus efforts should be intensified to bring up nations on national basis," the Mufti said during a meeting with the Canadian Ambassador in Damascus Mark Belli.

For his part, the Canadian Ambassador expressed admiration over tolerance and coexistence in Syria, stressing the important role of clergymen and scholars to spread culture of fraternity and peace among peoples.

Aha! Israel is to blame.

Socialist Hospital Wards

In the UK Telegraph, Jan Moir writes about the British National Health Service (NHS) practice of housing patients, including wounded military personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan, in mixed-sex hospital wards.

Servicemen and women who have killed and seen colleagues killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are having their wounds and injuries treated in mixed civilian wards -- those very same wards which, at times, seem barely able to cope with hip fractures and the occasional case of acute advanced dandruff, let alone traumatised troops fresh off the battlefield. Following a public outcry, the Prime Minister has agreed that it is important that our soldiers get specialist healthcare and hopes to introduce military-managed wards within the NHS. While we are all keeping our fingers crossed on that one, it seems that mixed-sex civilian wards of the type I was in show no sign of going away, even if Labour promised to close them down a decade ago. Perhaps they think we should all be grateful for receiving any healthcare at all.

We are, but being in a mixed ward is not like slipping on to a sun bed next to a bloke down by the hotel swimming pool. It's not like freshening your lipstick in the groovy, liberated unisex bathrooms that feature in glamorous American sit-coms. It is a hateful experience for all concerned, as both sexes are forced to cope with individual illness alongside an appalling lack of privacy. Just think about that dreadful, endless bed-ridden business of sluicing, hawking, coughing, impaired bodily functions and those tell-tale male thunderclap night-time noises, plus shoals of vomit, leaky urine bags, catheters, drips, mass incontinence, freight train snores, pyjamas that don't tie up properly in the front and general depression at being ill.

Just lovely. And coming to America if the leftists get their way.

Female Teacher - Lewd and Lascivious

(Ocala, Florida) A 28-year-old teacher's aide at Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, Sheretha Lavone Paramore, was arrested last Friday by Chipley Police officers for engaging in sex with a 16-year-old boy. Paramore was charged with lewd and lascivious conduct, lewd and lascivious exhibition, and unlawful sex with a minor.

The alleged sex occurred between May and September. Police continue to investigate.

Defeated Mexican Candidate Launches Parallel Government

(Mexico, City) Rather than accept defeat in the national election, a politician may create a pretend presidency and a parallel government.

From El Paso Times:

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched a parallel government Monday and prepared to swear himself in as Mexico's "legitimate" president, a ceremony the leftist hopes will keep alive protests to undermine the man who officials say defeated him at the polls.

The inauguration ceremony is the latest chapter in Lopez Obrador's unsuccessful battle for the presidency. He claims fraud and dirty campaign tactics were responsible for President-elect Felipe Calderon's narrow victory in the July 2 vote, and his parallel government could spend the next six years calling for street protests that have already dented the economy and prompted travel warnings from the U.S. Embassy.

While the red-green-and-white presidential sash to be draped across Lopez Obrador's shoulders Monday will lack legal recognition, he hopes to assume the moral leadership of millions of poor Mexicans.

Whether the millions of poor Mexicans follow Obrador is important for his goals but less so than having the Mexican Army and police follow him. Obrador has already stated that violence is in the toolbox.

"Nobody wants violence in our country, but there are people who give grounds for violence," Lopez Obrador said last week. "There are a lot of people who say that, after July 2, the path of electoral politics in no longer viable."

Heh. Just think, if Obrador is successful, the U.S. may soon share an imaginary border with a banana republic run by a socialist thug who likely has Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega on speed-dial.

Just lovely.

Iran Has Bugs

(Geneva, Switzerland) John C. Rood, head of the U.S. delegation to the sixth review conference of the Convention on Biological Weapons (BWC), said "Iran probably has germ warfare weapons, North Korea may have developed them and Syria could have carried out research into such banned weapons."

Just lovely.

Female Counselor Accused of Sex with Boy

(Pierce County, Washington) A mental health counselor with Pierce County family services, Wende Wertley, has been charged with engaging in sex with a 16-year-old client on multiple occasions and knowingly crossing professional boundaries. Investigators found that Wertley invited the boy to her home and allegedly had sex with him.

The Washington State Department of Health has suspended Wertley's mental health counselor license. Status of her criminal case is unknown.

Tip: Don

Woman Accused of Child Rape

(Tacoma, Washington) A 46-year-old woman, Maureen "Mo" Wear, faces trial on multiple charges of child rape for sexually abusing three children, one of which is a relative, over a period of years. She was arrested in August and since has been on suicide watch.

Wear's boyfriend, Lee William Giles Jr., a retired Tacoma police officer, is also charged in the systematic abuse of the three children. Giles is charged with 26 sex crimes and has pleaded not guilty. His trial date is not known.

Last week, at a hearing before Pierce County Superior Court Judge Thomas Felnagle, defense attorney Mary Kay High requested that Wear be allowed to attend her trial dressed in something other than a green, padded smock reserved for jail inmates on suicide watch. High also requested that television cameras be prohibited from videotaping Wear. Judge Felnagle denied both requests.

Wear remains jailed on $500,000 bond. Her trial is scheduled for January 23.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 11/27/07]

Giles and Wear plead guilty.

Measuring Ethics

You've got to be tickled by this headline from yesterday's NYTimes.

Democrats Split on How Far to Go With Ethics Law

Now, it seems to me that the ethical solution would be to go all the way. Ethics are like odors. You either stink or you don't.

Apparently, Democrats are split on ethics law because they disagree on how much stench to waft the public's way.

Aimee Josey Gets 7 Years for Rape

(Forsyth County, Georgia) Last March, 42-year-old mother, Aimee Melissa Josey, was indicted by a Forsyth County grand jury on charges of having sex with a 14-year-old boy she met on the Internet.

In September, Josey appeared in court and rejected a plea deal. Instead, a high-profile lawyer was retained to represent her with intentions of going to trial.

This past week, apparently on the advice of her new lawyer, Josey, now 43, decided to plead guilty to rape and molestation in accordance with a new, different plea deal.

From ForsythNews.com:

Judge Jeffrey S. Bagley sentenced Aimee Melissa Josey, 43, to seven years incarceration followed by 18 consecutive years of probation on two counts of statutory rape, two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and child molestation.

Josey must also register as a sexual offender, and have no contact with any person under the age of 18, including her own children, unless permitted by her probation officer.

She was barred from contacting the victim or his family indefinitely.

Before Bagley read Josey's sentence, he called her case one of the most disturbing crimes he'd ever encountered.

According to the prosecutor, Sandra Partridge, Josey would have received a lesser sentence had she accepted the first plea deal.

Tip: Don Morgenstern

Carrots for Syria

Syria is making noises about returning to full membership in the international community. The Democrat takeover of the U.S. Congress coupled with Tony Blair's recent statements about London-Damascus negotiations have energized the Syrians to start making demands. It's reasonable to assume that Iran is puppeteering.

From Asia Times Online:

After all, the Syrians cannot offer everything without getting anything in return. After the Iraq war, the Americans said there would no longer be carrots for the Syrians - only sticks. The Syrians repeatedly said, and continue to repeat the same line, that they will not police Iraq, nor cooperate on any Middle East-related issue, for no carrots.

And abandoning Iran, Hezbollah or Hamas for the Syrians is a red line. Also, the Syrians do not really trust the Americans. They want to reach some kind of formula whereby they can maintain relations with Tehran and Washington, with a free hand to work with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine, similar to the perfect working relationship that the Syrians had with the Americans during the Bill Clinton era in the 1990s. [emphasis mine]

For some time it has been said that the US carrots should be jump-starting talks on the Golan Heights, returning to the Syrian-Israeli peace track, ending the Syrian Accountability Act, and re-welcoming Syria into the international community.

So, for a perfect working relationship with Syria, the U.S. needs to pony up some carrots without mentioning Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas while re-establishing a Clinton White House.

Syrian eagerness, with conditions, of course, for dialogue with the U.S. has been elevated by comments by Blair, Democrat Senator Joe Biden and others calling for meetings. Furthermore, the Syrians heard the statements of American Protestant Pastor Rick Warren on a recent visit.

He [Warren] met with Assad and the Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheikh Ahmad Hassoun, saying, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency, that "80% of the American people rejected what the US administration is doing in Iraq and considered the US policy in the Mideast as wrong." SANA added, "Pastor Warren expressed admiration of Syria and the co-existence he saw between Muslims and Christians, stressing that he will convey this image to his church and country."

Holy moly -- shades of Jimmy Carter. Pastor Warren, author of the bestselling The Purpose Driven Life, goes to a foreign country and trashes the U.S. Naturally, conservatives were outraged. However, when the media questioned Warren about his statements, he denied that he had said them. Okay, so who's telling a fib here? It's hard to tell without a recording. Both the Syrians and Pastor Warren have reputations for making creative, yet deniable, pronouncements.

And then there's the involvement of Reverend Joan Brown Campbell, head of a delegation of senior American clergy, who recently visited Syria. The Americans met with the Grand Mufti of the Republic Dr. Ahmad Badruddin Hassoun who explained that Islam is the religion of tolerance and "asserted that man was the most sacred creature on Earth." In response:

Members of the delegation expressed pleasure over the climate of tolerance they had seen in Syria, stressing that realities in the country were different from what the negative image given about Syria in the past.

It's assumed that the "sacred creatures" strapped with explosives were hidden from view. And there's more.

Members of the American delegation expressed admiration for what they had seen in Syria and for the example of coexistence and fraternity among Moslems and Christians, adding they were going to convey what they had seen in Syria to the American people.

In conclusion, it's logical for the Syrians to want new rounds of dialogue with the U.S. and it's also logical for them to expect the U.S. to roll over and offer carrots. From Syria's perspective every American who visited the country recently has enjoyed having smoke pumped up his/her ass so, obviously, it's time to talk to more Americans and get some carrots.

Woman Accused of Sex with 13-Year-Old

(Bentonville, Arkansas) A 36-year-old woman, Carolynn A. Hayes, has been charged with engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy and buying alcohol and cigarettes for him and other youths. Hayes was arraigned this past week on charges of sexual assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor before Benton County Senior Circuit Judge Tom Keith.

Hayes was booked into the Benton County Jail and released on $40,000 bond. A trial date hasn't yet been scheduled.


[Update 06/30/07]

Hayes pleads guilty and is sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Woman, 44, Guilty of Sex with Boy

(Easton, Pennsylvania) A 44-year-old former Northampton woman, Suzanne Wagner, pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. The sex occurred in 2002 but adjudication of the case has been delayed due to court error. Wagner had previously pleaded guilty in January 2005 but the plea wasn't properly recorded in documentation of court proceedings.

Northampton County Court Judge Paula A. Roscioli will sentence Wagner on January 12 on one count of corruption of a minor. Wagner faces a possible five years in prison.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 02/27/07]

Wagner sentenced to jail.

Tickets Available for Dixie Chicks

(Glendale, Arizona) Listen up, Dixie Chicks fans! Plenty of seats are available for tomorrow night's concert in Glendale. It's estimated that less than half of the seats in the 19,000-capacity Jobing.com Arena will be sold.

It's beyond my ability to comprehend the Dixie Chicks. Any enterprise that sells to the public should prudently try to maximize sales volume and profit. Stupidly, the Dixie Chicks business plan is to piss off half of their potential customer base and guarantee shrinkage of sales. It's nuts. And arrogant.

The Interested-Participant market analysis team continues to rate Dixie Chicks stock as "SELL."

Fondling Teacher Gets Year in Jail

(Patterson, New Jersey) In this enduring case, dating back to at least 2003, 35-year-old 7th-grade teacher Jodi Marie Thorp, has finally been sentenced for having sex with a male student. Thorp, a married mother of three, received a year in jail for fondling a 14-year-old student.

There has been considerable legal wrangling on the case over the past 3 1/2 years and, last August, Thorp agreed to plead guilty to a significantly reduced charge of endangering the welfare of a child in accordance with a deal. In return, serious charges of sexual assault and witness tampering were dropped. The plea deal given Thorp is the lightest sentence ever extended by the Morris County prosecutor.

Judge Salem V. Ahto also sentenced Thorp to three years probation and ordered her to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and to surrender her teaching license. Additionally, Thorp will be subjected to lifetime community supervision.

My prediction that Thorp would receive no jail and just probation was obviously wrong. However, the "lightest sentence ever" indicates that my thinking was correct. The prosecution dropped much more serious charges for her guilty plea.

Women just seem to deserve an extra measure of leniency when sentenced for sex crimes. I'm fairly certain that a man committing the exact same crimes would have been rewarded with at least a ten-year prison sentence.

Teacher Reveals Hatred in Assignment to Students

This stuff makes me sick. God only knows how many Muslims are living in the U.S. with a visceral hatred of all things American.

(Smithfield, North Carolina) Khalid Chahhou, a Spanish teacher at Smithfield-Selma Senior High School, gave his students a translation assignment which included words and phrases demonstrating strong negative feelings toward America. Specifically, the translated worksheet displayed "destroy America" and "Allah help destroy this body of evil making humanity miserable."

Students and parents were shocked. School officials subsequently talked to Chahhou and he resigned. Later, via telephone, Chahhou said he was mad about a news report.

Notably, Chahhou also teaches Arabic at an Islamic school. Small wonder.

More on the story at The Jawa Report.

LA Times Prints Enemy Propaganda?

Information has been received from a credible source suggesting that the Los Angeles Times is reporting news from Iraq by copying, near verbatim, the content of insurgent terrorist propaganda. The source is a U.S. Army soldier who mailed a personal letter to his family describing a military engagement in Ramadi which largely contradicts the content of the LATimes story. Either the soldier's personal account or the LATimes news report is fictionalized. I'll trust the readers to decide.

From LATimes.com:

Iraqi residents say U.S. airstrike kills 30

Victims include women and children, witnesses in Ramadi say. The military has no immediate comment.

By Solomon Moore, Times Staff Writer
November 15, 2006

BAGHDAD -- A U.S. airstrike in the restive town of Ramadi killed at least 30 people, including women and children, witnesses said Tuesday.

The aerial attack, which took place late Monday, brought the number of violent deaths reported in Iraq on Tuesday to at least 91, according to military sources and witnesses.

The last statement is misleading. As indicated later in the report, military sources had no comment on any U.S. airstrike.

U.S. military officials had no immediate comment on an airstrike in Ramadi. The military released a statement announcing that American troops in Ramadi killed 11 alleged insurgents in a series of attacks that appeared to be unrelated to an airstrike.

A Times correspondent in Ramadi said at least 15 homes were pulverized by aerial bombardment and families could be seen digging through the ruins with shovels and bare hands. Other families attempted to leave Ramadi on foot or gathered at the city hospital, where a passionate crowd called out "Allahu akbar!" or God is great, in unison.

The correspondent describes a terrible attack resulting in significant civilian casualties. If one were to rely on the Times report, one would be led to believe that the U.S. military is blindly bombing the city without regard for innocent human life. I question the Times report since the American military is quite sensitive about avoiding collateral damage. Additionally, the Times report should be questioned after considering the soldier's letter which explains the events he witnessed that day.

The article [above] below is an example of why you simply cannot believe most media reports coming out of Iraq. The LA Time reporter, Solomon Moore, is not in Ramadi. He relies on an Iraqi stringer here who has ties to insurgents. In this article, Moore repeats almost verbatim, insurgent propaganda we have intercepted. The fighting in question occurred in my battle space within Ramadi and I was personally and intimately involved.

There were no air strikes anywhere in Ramadi on the day in question. Through two different means, we acquired a group off AIF [anti-Iraq Forces - ed.] emplacing a large IED on a neighborhood street. After I was sure they were enemy, I ordered one of my tanks to engage. Its cannon fire killed the enemy and set off the IED. Shortly afterwards, one of my Bradley crews engaged and killed two more AIF emplacing an IED on a nearby street.

In both cases, we continued to observe the area and the locals left the dead lying in the street; this is a sure sign that they are AIF because the Iraqis normally pick up dead civilians in the street quickly. Later that night, I had a route clearance team move through the area. We found the bodies and removed multiple hand grenades off one of them. During that same operation, one of Bradleys escorting the route clearance team was attacked by an IED. The IED set the Bradley on fire and wounded the three Soldiers aboard. One of those brave men now clings to life with burns over 93% of his body.

We established a security perimeter around the burning vehicle and over-watched it until it burned out and we were able recover the hulk. While over-watching the burning vehicle, we had multiple tank main gun and machine gun engagements against AIF who were desperately trying to steal ammunition from the vehicle (a fool's errand if ever there was one) or emplace additional IEDs to attack the recovery mission they knew would follow. No houses were destroyed and only one courtyard wall was damaged.

Every target engaged was well within what our restrictive rules of engagement authorize. I am disgusted by the editorial slant of this article, by what passes from journalistic integrity at the LA Times, and by their complicity with our mortal enemies. My Soldiers fight with great precision and skill on a very difficult urban battlefield. The LA Times dishonors them and give aid and comfort to my enemies. (sic all)

The soldier's identity is being withheld and rightly so. He wrote a personal letter to his family to assuage the apprehension created by the Times report. There's nothing official about his letter and, as such, one might be persuaded to dismiss it. In that case, however, one would also have to believe that a soldier's personal letter is part of a military disinformation conspiracy or that the soldier lies to his family.

On the other hand, the MSM has a reputation of being lazy about reporting from the battlefield with the current joke being told that most copy is composed in the bar of a four-star hotel many miles from any action. The LATimes story was likely polished in Los Angeles based on a communique from an Iraqi stringer with questionable loyalties.

Believe what you want. I tend to trust U.S. soldiers.

A salute to Brian Duffy for catching this story.

Nearly 1,000 Hispanic Workers Walk Off Job

(Tar Heel, North Carolina) Twenty percent of the workforce at a Smithfield Foods Inc. hog slaughtering plant walked off the job in protest of the firing of about 75 workers who provided false identification documents. The Smithfield plant employs 5,000 people and is considered the world's largest hog processing facility.

From KansasCity.com:

About 300 workers were protesting this morning outside the plant in Tar Heel, N.C., said Libby Manly, a representative of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which helped organize the protest and has been trying for years to form a union at the plant.

So, the company complies with the law and fires several dozen likely illegal aliens and the union organizes a protest. Are we to assume that the union wants the company to break the law?

Smithfield spokesman Dennis Pittman said the company was only complying with a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to gather the names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and gender of workers at the plant. About 600 workers were found to have unverifiable information.

Frankly, I'm at a loss to understand what the union is trying to accomplish by organizing the Hispanics to protest.

From HeraldSun.com:

"This walkout -- which apparently was instigated by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union -- is totally unjustified," Pittman said. "If Smithfield were to do what the union is calling for, we would be breaking federal law by knowingly employing undocumented workers. The union should stop trying to pressure Smithfield to break the law."

I wonder whether a national labor relations guideline covers the Smithfield circumstance. If so, it's probably being violated. Unions shouldn't be encouraging companies to break the law.

Teacher Sued by Student

(Conneaut, Ohio) A former art teacher at Rowe Junior High School, Nancy Hedrick (AKA Nancy Seacrist), faces a civil lawsuit filed by a 17-year-old Parma boy and his mother. The lawsuit names the Conneaut Board of Education as a co-defendant and seeks $450,000 in compensatory and punitive damages resulting from sexual contact between Hedrick/Seacrist and the boy four years ago. The sexual contact is alleged to have occurred on and off school property.

According to the lawsuit, the 17-year-old suffers mental and emotional distress, humiliation and medical expenses. Future medical expenses are anticipated.

Interestingly, Conneaut Police were notified about the alleged sexual contact in 2003. Investigators failed to file criminal charges.

A jury trial before Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court Judge Alfred Mackey is scheduled for February 2007 but the case may be settled before then.

Tip: Don Morgenstern

ACLU Wins Lottery

Albeit figurative, I believe the title is appropriate. Being assured that a Democrat-controlled Congress will protect their backs, the hammer and sickle cells of the ACLU are champagne happy about the psychological, and soon to be tangible, boost to their "civil liberties" agenda.

Yes, it's balloons and confetti time at the American Civil Liberties Union. New ACLU shills on the Supreme Court are no longer hopes, they're doable. Goodbye to all those egregious wire-tappings, surveillances and torturing of imaginary terrorist boogie-men. Those abuses will be outed as the sham Republican power-grabs they are. And no longer will religious prisoners at Gitmo and workers from Latin America be denied their rights under the Constitution. The harassment and violations of civil liberties must stop!

Meanwhile, drip by drip, America must be relentlessly cajoled and prodded toward enjoying the full wave of utopian reality and embrace Islam, Wicca, Santeria, homosexuality and who knows what else while harmful cults of Christianity and Judaism are deservedly shooed from prominence.

Above all and as a prerequisite to realizing the dreams of Marx, Engels, Castro, and Chavez, the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution requires an inspired ACLU interpretation to erase the nonsensical thought that individual citizens may own firearms. This action is paramount since the civil liberties of all humanity are threatened when people are allowed to possess guns.

So, with a Democrat Congress backstopping and cheerleading the ACLU, expect reinvigorated efforts, under the heading of civil liberties, to use the pick-a-definition concepts of social justice, economic justice and racial justice to convince the workers of the world America to support a utopian future for those who are more equal everyone.

Okay, enough sarcasm.

I'm strongly opposed to most of what the ACLU does but none more than its attempts to restrict gun ownership by Americans.

From ACLU.org:

The question therefore is not whether to restrict arms ownership, but how much to restrict it. If that is a question left open by the Constitution, then it is a question for Congress to decide.

Given its published policy, expect the ACLU, along with Congress, to attempt more restrictions. I believe the elite media will soon be on board also. Look for various and assorted 'child shoots self with daddy's gun' stories, hunting accident stories, unlicensed gun ownership stories, 'gun in school' stories, and dangerously designed gun stories to be inked for headline prominence by the MSM from now on. Actual problems with firearms won't be different from one, five, ten or 20 years ago, but the media will try to convince the public otherwise.

Forgive the rant. I'll put partial blame on the practice of chasing coffee with Red Bull. Don't try this at home, kids. Too many misspellings which have to be corrected. For a more erudite and less frivolous treatment of the subject, check out Jay's post at STACLU.

This has been a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join, please email Jay@stoptheaclu.com or GribbitR@gmail.com. You will be added to the mailing list and blogroll. Over 200 blogs already on-board.

Craigslist Used for Prostitution

(Seattle, Washington) This news probably surprises very few people but it may be the first time that police have collected significant evidence that Craigslist facilitates prostitution.

Via an elaborate prostitution sting operation, Seattle detectives arrested seven women and a 16-year-old girl who advertised as escorts but expected payment for sexual services. On a later occasion, police cruised Craigslist and nabbed 14 more women on suspicion of prostitution.

Men answering Craigslist posts in the "erotic services" category came in droves. About 70 were arrested for suspicion of patronizing a prostitute and police found that the men were "a complete subculture." They all knew each other and called themselves "hobbyists," communicating via Craigslist online review boards. Coming from a variety of backgrounds, those arrested included "bank presidents, state employees, business owners, construction workers, physicians and surgeons."

Founder Craig Newmark hinted that he would take legal action if the Craigslist name was used improperly, referring to the local online review boards where men communicate about illegal sex.

However, with respect to the larger problem of Craigslist being used for prostitution, nothing will likely be done. The police don't have the resources to chase down every prostitute and customer doing business through Craigslist and it seems unachievable to hold Craigslist editors responsible for the legality of every site posting.

It seems the only way to control the Craigslist prostitution problem is to conduct periodic sting operations, as was done, and hope for a chill in the marketplace.

Pakistan Passes Women's Protection Law

(Islamabad, Pakistan) Good news! Unfortunately, it's a mere baby step towards the goal of equal rights for women.

From PakTribune.com:

Congratulating the whole nation over approval of Women Protection Bill 2006 by the Parliament, President General Pervez Musharraf Wednesday vowed to bring an end to all injustice against women and weaker segments of the society.

The most notable changes concern the crime of rape. Previous to the Women Protection Bill 2006, a woman who claimed she was raped but didn't produce the required four witnesses was put in jail.

Regarding the rape, the president said the trouble with it was that if a woman is raped firstly she is being prosecuted she goes to the police station crying she is asked to bring four witnesses otherwise she is imprisoned and she becomes victim of double injustice. This was a dual injustice with out women. We have amended the Zina Bil Jabr (Rape) we put it in PPC and from now on if a woman is raped and if she had an evidence or she lacks it, only the rapist will be adjudged. There will be no bar for producing four witness and raped woman will not be put behind bars.

So, in a nutshell, a woman can claim she was raped, even when there were no witnesses, and she won't be jailed. Sounds reasonable and simple yet, among the general Pakistani public, it's an earthshaking change. Families, police, judges, courts and tribal leaders will all have to recognize and comply with the change. I suspect that there will be strong reluctance among various segments to enforce the new rape law. The Musharraf government may need to force compliance.

Nonetheless, the Women Protection Bill 2006 should be considered a major step forward. There remains, however, much more work to be done before true equality between the sexes is achieved.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.