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Following Entry Posted 11/30/2006 11:59:00 PM

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.

Labels: Women With Troubles

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2006 12:03:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2006 10:31:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2006 08:58:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2006 06:42:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2006 10:07:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2006 07:21:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2006 06:31:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2006 11:49:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2006 10:34:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2006 06:41:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2006 09:01:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2006 06:17:00 PM

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

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2006 11:33:00 AM

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

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2006 08:59:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2006 08:21:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2006 06:00:00 PM

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?

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2006 05:23:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2006 01:05:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2006 09:50:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2006 08:19:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2006 07:31:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/26/2006 08:30:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/26/2006 01:01:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/26/2006 08:52:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2006 09:01:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2006 08:15:00 PM

Explosives in Stuffed Toys

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

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2006 09:52:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2006 03:56:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2006 03:13:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2006 01:32:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2006 10:36:00 AM

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!

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2006 08:01:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2006 05:57:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/23/2006 04:00:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2006 12:05:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2006 08:14:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2006 01:32:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2006 02:05:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2006 05:30:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2006 05:27:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2006 01:54:00 PM

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

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2006 01:30:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2006 01:31:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2006 02:36:00 PM

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

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2006 02:45:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2006 12:28:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2006 11:51:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2006 06:16:00 PM

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."

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2006 05:24:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2006 09:53:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2006 03:28:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2006 05:00:00 PM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2006 07:48:00 AM

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

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2006 02:31:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2006 10:21:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2006 07:03:00 AM

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.

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2006 01:58:00 AM

Doc to Pay Child Support for Contraceptive Failure

(Karlsruhe, Germany) Here's the story, briefly. A gynecologist implanted a woman with a contraceptive device. It failed. A child was born. Court ruled that the doctor must pay child support.

From Deutsche Welle:

The Karlsruhe-based federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the doctor must pay his former patient, now a mother of a three-year-old boy, 600 euros ($769) a month because she became pregnant after he implanted her with a contraceptive device.

The device was a patch which slowly released birth-control hormones and was designed to be effective for three years.

But half a year after the procedure, she was found to be 16 weeks pregnant -- and neither the implant nor any of its chemicals were found in her body.

No one apparently knows what happened to the implant. Nevertheless, the woman sued for damages, won the case and, at the same time, significantly expanded the definition of medical liability in Germany. German gynecologists are in a panic.

My recommendation would be for the gynecologists to immediately scratch contraceptive implant procedures from the list of available services performed.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2006 11:46:00 PM

Education in Oman

(Muscat, Oman) Adjacent to the Straits of Hormuz, the strategic Muslim nation of Oman has announced progress in its vocational education program. It's speculated that top students are recruited by Reuters.

From TimesofOman.com:

A workshop on the implementation of the techniques of photoshop programme for the production of audio-visual aids, organised by the department of curriculum development of the Ministry of Manpower concluded, yesterday, at Seeb Vocational Training Institute.

Certificates were distributed to the participants. And, according to Khalid Hassoun, Deputy Director-General for curriculum development, other workshops are scheduled.

"... to cover the fields of construction, mechanical and electrical engineering pursuant to the new training system enforced this year."

I'm curious. Does anyone else think it's odd that everyone is trained in photoshopping first? It almost seems that learning about construction and engineering is an afterthought. As such, imagine the plausibility of this remark.

"Well, contrary to my resume, I really don't know much about designing and building a bridge, but check out this dandy picture of a bridge I made."

Heh. I know I'm being unfair but this is a classic example of a media report trying to celebrate an achievement when, in reality, the entire program is made to look foolish.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2006 08:26:00 PM

Kucinich Tagged for National Security Role

With the Democrat takeover of Congress, Congressman Dennis Kucinich will be the presumptive new Chairman of the powerful Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations.

From Cleveland.com:

Kucinich, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee where foreign policy legislation is generated, is likely to play a much larger role on everything from the nation's policies on fighting terrorism to the war in Iraq.

The six-term congressman has sought the recall of troops from Iraq and says the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies are eroding civil liberties.

As I recall, Kucinich is best remembered locally as the Mayor of Cleveland when the Cuyahoga River caught fire. One has to wonder what crowning achievement he has in store for America when he plays a major role in National Security and International Relations.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2006 09:59:00 AM

Eat Chocolate for Health

Good news for chocolate lovers. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that cocoa beans contain a chemical that decreases the tendency of platelets to clot and thereby cuts the risk of heart attacks.

Of course, next week there will probably be some negative research results which indicate, for example, that people energized by eating chocolate have greater risk of strokes due to elevated blood pressure.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2006 07:52:00 AM

Sex Traffickers Arrested in Sweden

(Stockholm, Sweden) Locations in Stockholm and southern Sweden were raided yesterday and police arrested nine suspects, including eight Romanian nationals, for sex trafficking or pimping. It's believed that a total of a dozen women and underage girls were smuggled from Romania to Sweden to work as prostitutes.

Notably, prostitutes are not prosecuted under Swedish law, however, their customers are. Therefore, after questioning, the women and girls were released from custody and offered the choice of leaving the country or be "taken into care by the authorities." It's not exactly clear what kind of care the authorities provide for prostitutes.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2006 06:42:00 AM

Animal Bordellos

In Scandinavia, laws do not specifically outlaw bestiality and, as a result, legal bordellos cater to customers desiring sex with animals.

From Aftenposten.no:

Neither Denmark nor Norway has a prohibition on sex with animals, as long as the animals do not suffer.

On the Internet Danish animal owners advertise openly that they offer sex with animals, without intervention from police or other authorities, Danish newspaper 24timer reports.

In correspondence with the animal owners, the newspaper was told that the animals involved have many years of experience and that the animals themselves wanted sex. The cost to the client varied from DKK 500-1,000 (USD 85-170).

This is all quite disgusting and indicative of the lack of moral values in a secular society. And by the way, regarding the assertion that "animals themselves wanted sex," how does one know this information? Pillow talk?

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2006 05:38:00 AM

Female Teacher Accused of Sex with Female Student

(Harlem, Georgia) A 28-year-old teacher and softball coach at Harlem High School, Melissa Chase, was arrested Monday for engaging in sex with a 16-year-old female student. Chase is charged with felony sexual assault. She was booked into the Columbia County Detention Center.

The alleged sex occurred this month at the school. Chase resigned her teaching position on Monday.

Tip: Don Morgenstern

[Update 06/30/07]

Chase convicted of sex assault.

[Update 08/10/07]

Chase sentenced.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2006 11:46:00 PM

Jami Lee Knox Pleads No Contest to Sex Charges

(Farmington Hills, Michigan) Last July, married mother of three Jami Lee Knox, 41, was charged with criminal sexual conduct for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy. In October, Knox appeared in Oakland County Circuit Court before Judge Rae Lee Chabot who set a trial date of November 27.

In the latest development, an agreement has been reached between the prosecution and Knox's lawyers and, earlier today, Knox pleaded no contest to six felony counts related to having sex with the boy. Judge Chabot set a sentencing date of January 2. Under sentencing guidelines, Knox faces between three and 15 years in prison.

Notably, Knox's troubles are not over. She faces prosecution in another case in Farmington District Court for providing alcohol and marijuana to a boy.

Tip: Don Morgenstern

[Update 01/02/07]

Knox sentenced.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2006 08:59:00 PM

Semen Allergies

Human biology is a mystery full of surprises. We now learn that women with semen allergies experience itching, burning and swelling in the genitals.

From LiveScience.com:

Women can be allergic to sex with men, but doctors are finding women can overcome this allergy through regular sex combined with treatments derived from semen.

"It's really a very rare condition, but it does happen," allergist and immunologist David Resnick at New York Presbyterian Hospital told LiveScience.

In one study of over 1,000 women conducted by the University of Cincinnati, 130 women were found to have the allergy. Some reacted to only one man's semen, others reacted to all semen. Compounds from the prostate gland are blamed.

To desensitize a woman's immune system against semen, doctors can either apply diluted samples of semen to a woman's vagina every 20 minutes, gradually increasing the concentration over the course of several hours, or the women can receive allergy shots containing small amounts of semen over the course of several weeks. Both techniques require sex two or three times a week to train their immune system.

Consequently, 130 women in Ohio are being directed to have sex two or three times a week plus engage in one of two recommended semen inoculation techniques to treat the condition.

Therefore, in the interest of insuring domestic tranquility, promoting the general welfare and securing the blessings of liberty, charitable donations are being sought to build and staff a semen inoculation clinic. The inoculation of patients will be limited to women with medical referrals or desirable physiques but won't require the services of health professionals, resulting in reduced health care costs.

Charitable contributors should make contact through email.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2006 07:09:00 PM

Sex on Plane

(Raleigh, North Carolina) Carl Warren Persing and Dawn Elizabeth Sewell were on a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Raleigh with a stop in Phoenix. After a few cocktails, they became amorous and refused to stop their public display of affection even when directed to by the flight attendant.

According to an affidavit by FBI agent Michael Sutton:

From Phoenix to Raleigh, the pair sat next to each other.

While in the plane on the ground in Phoenix, the couple was kissing, embracing and "acting in a manner that made other passengers uncomfortable," Sutton wrote in his affidavit.

"Persing was observed nuzzling or kissing Sewell on the neck, and around the collarbone in the vicinity of her breast," Sutton wrote. Persing was also observed with his face pressed against Sewell's lower body.

At first, the couple complied with a request from a flight attendant to stop their behavior. But they soon resumed during the flight.

When asked again, according to Sutton's affidavit, Persing told the flight attendant: "I'm going to give you one warning to get out of my face."

Persing, of Lakewood, CA, and Sewell, of Huntington Beach, CA, were met by federal agents in Raleigh and arrested. They're scheduled to go on trial in federal court on December 11.

[Update 05/04/07]

Persing convicted by jury. Charges against Sewell dismissed.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2006 10:00:00 AM

Unnatural True Blonde?

(New York City) A company called Betty Beauty is enjoying widespread publicity and interest in its new pubic hair-coloring products.

From AdAge.com:

Billed as "color for the hair down there," the company began really building buzz this summer with a brief appearance on the "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and mentions in magazines such as Vogue, W and People Style Watch.

Product buzz is being demonstrated by the traffic at the BettyBeauty.com website.

Interestingly, during marketing research and product development, Betty Beauty founder Nancy Jarecki asked a gynecologist to anonymously survey patients to identify the number of women whose hair matched between topside and below decks. Surprisingly, over a month's period of time not one instance was noted.

Products for the euphemistic betties are priced at $20 and come in five colors -- Brown Betty, Blonde Betty, Auburn Betty, Black Betty and the hot pink Fun Betty. And, by the way, company founder Jarecki says, "Men can be betties, too."

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2006 08:12:00 AM

Woman Accused of Molestation of Children

(Dickson City, Pennsylvania) A 38-year-old woman, Nadine Kelly, along with a 37-year-old man, Scott Moore, have been arrested for engaging in sex with a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy.

Kelly faces charges of criminal conspiracy, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, reckless endangerment, corruption of minors and furnishing alcohol to minors. Moore faces rape and molestation charges. Police are continuing to investigate and more charges may be filed.

[Update 08/16/07]

Kelly and Moore sentenced.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2006 05:56:00 AM

Dangerous Illegal Alien Arrested and Released

(Lubbock, Texas) A 39-year-old previously deported illegal alien, Erasmo Varges, was arrested this past weekend during a prostitution sting and then released on bond. Varges gave police a false name and by the time his identity was confirmed, he had bonded out of jail. He goes by many aliases including Herasmo Vargas, Erasmo Frutes or Erasmo Vargasfrutis.

From KCBD.com:

The immigration department calls him a dangerous illegal alien. Officials say he has ties here and could be hiding out in Lubbock.

The 39-year-old has had many run-ins with the law dating back to 1990 when he was first deported. Then in 2000 he was charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old female in Lubbock County. He was convicted on those charges and deported for a second time in 2001. Varges resurfaced in the U.S. in 2003 in Phoenix, Arizona and was deported for yet a third time. But this time a federal warrant for violation of immigration as a deported felon was issued. Meaning if he returned to the states he could serve up to 15 years.

According to the Texas Sex Offender Registry, Varges is listed as deported, but Lubbock Police found him here in the hub this weekend allegedly trying to buy sex.

Deported three times and Varges is back, fully prepared to commit more crimes. Deportation is merely an exercise if the border is porous.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2006 02:57:00 AM

School Suspends Boy for Wanting Hug

(Putnam Valley, New York) A 10-year-old fifth-grader, Aaron Perez, was suspended from Putnam Valley Middle School for asking his teacher for a hug. The teacher believed his request was sexual in nature.

The boy's parents are upset, believing the school overreacted. "My son doesn't know about the birds and the bees yet, he's an innocent child," said mother Lira Garcia-Perez.

I would agree. The school superintendent, however, stated that Aaron had previously called the teacher "sexy" and the hug request indicated a pattern of inappropriate behavior. It still seems to be an overreaction.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2006 08:22:00 PM

Kenya Bans Flights to Somalia

(Nairobi, Kenya) Disturbingly, political turmoil in East Africa escalates daily. Kenya today imposed a ban on regular flights to and from Somalia. However, with an application completed a week ahead of time, charter flights will be allowed.

From AllAfrica.com:

Concerns about possible terrorist attacks from Somalia have been raised lately, with the United States warning last week that both Kenya and Ethiopia could be targets of suicide attacks by "extremist elements" from Somalia.

The British minister of State, Dr Kim Howells, who visited Kenya early this month also warned that the threat of terrorism targeting British interests in Kenya was real.

The uncertain situation in Somalia, coupled with a porous and expansive border made Kenya a soft target for terrorists, said Dr Howells, who is in charge of counter-terrorism.

Note that 'extremist elements' refer to the fundamentalist Islamic Courts Union which is linked to al-Qaeda and led by Sheik Sharif Shaykh Ahmed. Also note the belief that a porous and expansive border makes a soft target. Hmmm ... imagine that? Kenya should export that particular thought to the U.S.

Averaging ten departures daily, cargo flights to Somalia customarily transport sugar, textile, electronics, bottled water, fresh vegetables, butter, milk and miraa (khat). Miraa or khat is an addictive, narcotic drug used extensively in East Africa and a major Kenyan cash crop.

One may presume that the 'extremist elements' in Somalia are fairly glassy-eyed from khat as they traipse through the countryside capturing village after village. With khat shipments halted, it's possible that the Islamists will be drawn toward invading the drug-growing region of northern Kenya, through the porous border, of course.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2006 06:12:00 PM

Intruder Shot Dead

(Tyler, Texas) Robbers beware. Some citizens are armed.

From KTBS.com:

Robert Delk was sleeping in his home when he heard a loud banging noise. Delk went to investigate when he witnessed a suspect kicking in his front door. Delk shot the suspect several times. The suspect tried to escape but fell down in the driveway.

The intruder died at the hospital.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2006 01:31:00 PM

Blogs More Trusted for Advertising

(London, England) According to a Reuters report, public polling indicates that blogs are "a more trusted source of information than TV advertising or e-mail marketing."

Seems logical. Most email marketing is garbage and most television advertising is insulting.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2006 12:52:00 PM

Mexican Newspaper Editor Found Dead

(Zihuatanejo, Mexico) The editor of El Despertar de la Costa, Misael Tamayo Hernandez, was found dead Friday in a motel room. His hands were tied behind his back. Forensic investigators indicated that the cause of death was a heart attack. It's assumed that he tied his hands behind his back before the heart attack.

Hernandez was a well-respected journalist who recently had run stories of government corruption and organized crime.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2006 08:07:00 AM

New Americans Naturalized in Iraq

(Baghdad) At the Faw Palace near Baghdad airport yesterday, a total of 75 U.S. Army soldiers and Marines, including seven women, recited the oath of citizenship and became naturalized American citizens. The new Americans came from 33 different countries from all points on the compass. Among the many, U.S. service members from Uganda, Jamaica, Ivory Coast, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Bosnia, Uzbekistan and the Philippines were represented.

Congratulations!

About 25,000 U.S. service members have been naturalized since President Bush signed a 2002 Executive Order which accelerated the process. Yesterday's event was the seventh citizenship ceremony to be held in Iraq, naturalizing a total of 800 U.S. military members.

Think about it. People from around the world enter the U.S. military, with many placing themselves in harm's way, just for the opportunity to become Americans. Fortunately, it appears that proposed immigration and amnesty legislation will eliminate the need for military enlistment and citizenship will be attainable by purchase for a few thousand dollars.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/12/2006 09:33:00 AM

Wear a Hajib/Turban to Work/School Day

(Fremont, California) Attention, readers! Tomorrow is "Wear a Hijab/Turban to Work/School Day" in Fremont. Among others, the event is being promoted by the Foundation for Self-Reliance, the American Muslim Alliance and SEMAH, a domestic violence group.

From InsideBayArea.com:

"This is more than just 'wear a hijab or turban' day," said Samina F. Sundas, founder of the Newark-based American Muslim Voice and Global Peace Partners. "It's about educating each other about our differences and recognizing that we should focus on what binds us together."

The idea for the event originated days after Alia Ansari, a 38-year-old Afghan woman from Fremont, was gunned down Oct. 19 as she walked with her 3-year-old daughter to pick up some of her other children from an elementary school.

Police have yet to declare a motive in the Ansari case, but the perception among some in the community is that the shooting had to be a hate crime because Ansari was wearing a hijab, the traditional Muslim head scarf.

So, although the police haven't identified a motive in the Ansari killing, the Muslim community is taking immediate corrective action against hate crime. Notably, this response is consistent with Muslim reactions to perceived hate crimes in other regions of the globe. In those cases, however, corrective measures are more strident. Instead of 'Wear a Hajib/Turban,' everyone is simply encouraged to don an explosive vest.

Presumably, the next time a Jew is killed in a suspected hate crime, organizers will promote a "Wear a Star of David/Yarmulka to Work/School Day." Of course, don't expect the media to pleasantly encourage the public to participate.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2006 10:00:00 PM

Cat Stevens Funding Terror?

Breaking and exclusive news at The Jawa Report.

I believe the contention makes plenty of sense based on simple logic alone. Think about it. Stevens makes oogots of money from his music and is devoted to Islam. Unless he's got gates, guards and dogs, I can't think of a single reason that a religion of peace train, including murderous thugs, doesn't line up at his door with outstretched hands.

Frankly, I've always suspected as much. Now, it appears there's evidence.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2006 12:04:00 PM

Remembering The Veterans

Veterans Day, November 11, 2006

I, ___________________________________, do solemly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

God bless those who serve.
God bless those who have served.
God Bless America.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2006 01:37:00 AM

OSU - Michigan Tickets

I'm priced out of the market. It's reported that tickets for the Nov. 18th Ohio State/Michigan game are going for $600 to $2,500 each. Parking not included.

Jeez! For the price of two tickets, one could buy an HDTV and watch the game in comfort at home. Parking included.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2006 12:28:00 AM

Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Tenet Face War Crimes Charges

It's time to bayonet the wounded.

From STACLU:

Just days after his resignation, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005, Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and other controversial interrogation techniques.

Don't expect that this will be the last of it. Leftists are at war with conservatism and they won't be satisfied until it's annihilated on the planet Earth. Sooner or later, conservative leaders will realize that they must fight leftism vigorously or expect defeat.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2006 11:36:00 PM

Helping The Environment

Most of the environmental claims I hear are alarmist in nature and require extremely expensive solutions. As such, I usually don't act or react. To my surprise, however, one solution to the dirty air problem has been introduced which is not very expensive and I'm seriously toying with the idea of implementing it.

A new conversion kit is being marketed which transforms normal gas engine vehicles into hybrids. It's inexpensive and do-it-yourself simple.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2006 10:43:00 PM

British Rectal Rocket Launched

(Sunderland, England) While it's no longer true that "the Sun never sets on the British Empire," the Brits have proven that they can launch a rocket "where the Sun don't shine." Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

From DailyMail.co.uk:

A soldier is in hospital with severe internal injuries after trying to launch a powerful firework rocket from his backside.

The incident in Sunderland was captured by a gang of youths and the fuzzy mobile phone footage shows a blinding white flash followed by hysterical laughter and one youth shouting "ha ha ha ha that's f****** nice."

It is believed the 22-year-old had recently returned from a tour of Iraq. Witness Daniel Kassim, 16, said: "There were around 40 of us after the bonfire had finished. This lad was saying, 'This is boring, what can we do?' He then put a rocket up his backside and set light to it.

"Everyone was laughing and didn't believe he'd do it. He pulled his trousers down and it exploded within seconds.

"No one thought he was hurt. But then he stood up and walked a few metres before stumbling and falling to the ground. There was quite a bit of blood."

'Rocket man' sustained massive internal injuries, including a scorched colon, from the Black Cat Thunderbolt Rocket.

Now, it needs to be mentioned that the fuse on a Black Cat Thunderbolt Rocket is on the exhaust end of the firework. Therefore, the only way this guy could possibly stick the rocket in his ass and then light it is to have it directed inward. This means the rocket was shot into his rectum with, of course, all those individual pellets of explosives that usually light up the sky with color and sound.

Frankly, I don't see this stunt as very much different from sticking a shotgun barrel into the anus and pulling the trigger. And, just based on the description of the trick, the man's injuries would seem to be life-threatening.

Tip: Reader Rob

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2006 08:20:00 PM

Jon Stewart - Democrat House Organ

Although the 2006 mid-term elections resulted in Democrat majorities in the House and Senate, the actual vote tallies show that the nation is still arithmetically divided around the 50-50 mark. Democrats achieved victory in many individual races by the skimpiest of margins. Consequently, the election results were not an overwhelming popular rejection of Republicans, as is characterized, rather the 2006 Democrat 'landslide' was a collection of individual eked-out victories.

Given all that, Dr. Rusty Shackleford has analyzed the pre-election circumstances and identified how and why the Democrats were able to prevail by the smallest of margins, garnering the extra measures of support needed for victory. It's Rusty's contention that the determining factor which swayed the voting was Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, watched on cable by young, impressionable voters.

Rusty argues that Jon Stewart was the catalyst that prompted the necessary extra votes which put the Democrats on top. The '06 results were not a public cry to "throw the bums out." Instead, they were the fruits of the persistent pounding, month after month, of the Democrat campaign themes by a cable-channel comedian on a faux news program. A few votes here and there make all the difference in the world.

I'm in agreement.

Check out Jon Stewart: Democratic Majority Kingmaker at Townhall.com.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2006 10:12:00 AM

Coach Collared for Lustful Touching

(Meridian, Mississippi) A 29-year-old teacher and girls basketball coach, Latonya Michelle Davis, was arrested Wednesday for lustful touching of a girl under 14. Davis taught at Kate Griffin Junior High and was the assistant girls basketball coach at Meridian High School. The school system fired her after an investigation.

Davis was booked and released on $25,000 bond.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2006 07:03:00 AM

Teacher's Aide Accused of Sex Assault of Boy

(Frisco, Texas) A 29-year-old teacher's aide at Staley Middle School, Nancy Torres, was arrested Wednesday for engaging in a months-long sexual relationship with a 14-year-old male student. Torres faces charges of sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between an educator and a student. The boy's mother alerted authorities of the relationship.

The alleged sexual relationship is reported to have occurred in Frisco, The Colony, Lewisville and Houston. Charges are expected to be filed in each of the cities. Torres has been placed on administrative leave by the school system for the duration of the investigation.

Torres was booked into the Collin County Jail with bond set at $10,000.

[Update 03/22/08]

Finally, the case proceeds. Torres is indicted.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2006 04:54:00 AM

Attempted Honor Killing

(Turkey) Honor killers apparently are as persistent as the Energizer Bunny. Even when they've placed their victims on life support, they won't stop.

From Sabah.com.tr (excuse the choppy translation):

Three police officers guarded Fatma Tunc shot for the sake of honor in order not to be killed in the intensive care section in the hospital.

Fatma Tunc who left Aziz A., his husband with religious wedding and who was shot by the 15 year old brother of Aziz A. is in a situation of life and death in the hospital. Fatma Tunc has been taken under police guard in order not to be shot and killed for honor.

[ ... ]

The peril of Fatma Tunc's life who was shot by the brother of the man she was living on a religious marriage and who was seriously injured is continuing. Three missiles in the head, neck and chest of Fatma Tunc have been taken out. However, one of these missiles has torn the vein on her neck which caused fatal injury. She has been taken under 24 hour police guarding as the people involved in the same cases of honorary killings have been shot dead in the hospital.

Evidently, the police see a need to protect Fatma as she lies in the hospital, clinging to life. Frankly, it would be a better use of police resources to arrest and jail the people who want Fatma dead. They could start with the 15-year-old who put three slugs in her.

Of course, for the sake of tolerance and cultural diversity, I probably shouldn't be critical.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2006 09:01:00 PM

Teacher/Principal's Wife Accused of Sex with Student

(Brighton, Colorado) Boy! This has to be embarrassing. A 29-year-old social studies teacher and cheerleading coach at Brighton Charter High School, Carrie McCandless, has been accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student. To complicate the situation, Carrie McCandless is married to the school's principal, Chris McCandless.

The sexual relationship is alleged to have occurred during a school camping trip in October. Police are recommending that felony charges be filed in the case.

Just an observation, I'm fairly certain that one 17-year-old is walking tall on campus this week. A teacher, the cheerleading coach and the principal's wife were all bagged on one camping trip. That's a trifecta. Woo-hoo!

Tip: Jason Cann

[Update 12/06/06]

McCandless formally charged. School board chairman Mundy resigns, charged with tampering with witnesses and failure to report child abuse.

[Update 06/08/07]

McCandless sentenced to jail in accordance with a plea deal.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2006 05:40:00 PM

Won Lottery, Goodbye!

Attention, readers. I have received notification that I've won 800,000 British Pounds in the Yahoo! Lottery so I anticipate that I'll have significantly reduced time for blogging. Hopefully, there will be a quick distribution of the funds and I won't relive the hassle I got after winning 100,000 colons in the Costa Rican National Lottery.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2006 04:30:00 PM

Judge Rejects Hackett Plea Agreement

(St. Albans, Vermont) Last March, teaching assistant at Missisquoi Valley Union High School, 24-year-old Melanie Hackett, was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy. In the summer, Hackett agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of lewd and lascivious behavior in return for the dismissal of more serious charges. According to the deal, Hackett would receive six months in jail.

This week, Franklin County Judge Mark Keller rejected the plea agreement, stating that six months in prison was insufficient. Judge Keller demanded that Hackett be sentenced to at least 14 months in prison.

As a result, Hackett withdrew her guilty plea. She will fight charges of sexual assault at trial. If convicted, she faces a possible 20 years behind bars.

[Update 03/03/07]

Hackett sentenced.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2006 11:05:00 AM

France Tests New ICBM

(Biscarrosse, France) Sacre bleu! France is modernizing its nuclear arsenal with a new missile intended for submarine launch. Deployment is expected around 2010.

From Reuters:

France test-launched a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles for the first time on Thursday, eyewitnesses at the launch site said.

The M51 missile has a range of 6,000 km, 50 percent further than that of the missile currently in service.

Developed by European aerospace giant EADS, the M51 will also be able to carry a heavier load than the M45 it will replace, and be armed with up to six warheads.

The missile was shot out over the Atlantic from a test site south of Bordeaux. The Defense Ministry declined to say whether the test was completely successful. However, when perfected, the new weapon will enhance France's ability to compete in a global thermonuclear war.

In other news, rioting in city suburbs continues like clockwork, resulting in hundreds of burning cars, trucks and busses every night. As an example, police viewed the torching of 277 vehicles in one recent night as "relatively calm."

Being blamed are gangs of youths, identified only as children of immigrants, who have escalated the violence to include deliberately targeting police and other officials for attacks. French authorities are perplexed about how to respond to the violence since they haven't decided whether the rioting is caused by an underclass of domestic criminals or a "fifth column" of seditious foreigners.

I'd suggest they create a new category for the rioters. Without considering their motives, call them "Le thugs" and put them in jail.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2006 12:46:00 AM

Teacher's Aide, 41, Boy, 14, Hubba-Hubba

(Battle Creek, Michigan) A 41-year-old teacher's aide at Wilson Elementary School, Laura Cruz, was arrested Monday for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy. Court records indicate that Cruz and the boy had sex on two occasions last summer.

Cruz is expected to appear in court later this month.

Tip: Don Morgenstern

[Update 11/19/06]

Cruz waived her preliminary hearing before Calhoun County District Judge Marvin Ratner and will stand trial. She faces two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. She has been released on bond.

Following Entry Posted 11/08/2006 06:41:00 PM

Woman, Church, Snake, Death

(London, Kentucky) The title says it all.

From WBIR.com:

She was 48-year-old Linda Long of London, KY. The Laurel County Sheriff's Office reports she died Sunday at the UK Medical Center.

Detective Brad Mitchell says Long died about four hours after the bite was reported.

Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of 50 to 100 dollars. Police said they had not received reports about snake handling at the church.

The snake was featured in the services at the East London Holiness Church.

Following Entry Posted 11/08/2006 04:51:00 PM

Woman Guilty of Sex with Boy, 14

(Urbana, Illinois) The woman claimed she was raped. The jury didn't agree.

From News-Gazette.com:

A Champaign County jury Tuesday found a Homer woman guilty of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for having sex with a teenage boy.

Kristen Buffington, 20, faces penalties ranging from probation to three to seven years in prison when she is sentenced by Judge Jeff Ford on Jan. 5. The mother of a 4-year-old child, Buffington will also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

A seven-woman, five-man jury took about 35 minutes to convict her of the crime, which involved her having sex with a 14-year-old boy from Homer at her house in September 2005.

Based on previous similar cases involving females convicted of sex offenses, I suggest that Buffington will get probation. She's 20 years old with a 4-year-old child and the judge will likely think of the youngster's best interests. Of course, having a child at 16 and being convicted of a sex crime at 20 are hints that Buffington leads a somewhat undisciplined life.

My recommendation would be for Buffington to serve some jail time to possibly get her attention.

[Update 01/06/07]

I was correct. Buffington sentenced to no jail.

Following Entry Posted 11/08/2006 02:08:00 AM

Teacher Accused of Repeated Sex with Boy

(Columbia County, Oregon) A 35-year-old former teacher's aide at Hudson Park Elementary School, Christine Marie Johanson, was indicted by a grand jury on Monday for allegedly having engaged in repeated sex with a 15-year-old male student at Rainier Junior/Senior High School.

Johanson pleaded not guilty in Columbia County Circuit Court to multiple counts of rape, sodomy and furnishing liquor to a minor.

Johanson has a court appearance scheduled for December 20 in the Columbia County Courthouse in St. Helens. She was terminated from her position with the school system.

Tips: Don Morgenstern & Jason Cann

[Update 11/30/06]

Johanson possibly faces new charges in Washington state and federal courts.

[Update 07/18/07]

Johanson pleads guilty in Cowlitz County, Washington.

[Update 08/30/07]

Johanson sentenced in Cowlitz County.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2006 10:55:00 PM

Woman Arraigned for Boy Rape

(Ilion, New York) A 20-year-old local woman, Rebecca L. Mento, has been charged with statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy. Mento faces specific counts of felony third-degree rape, unlawfully dealing with a child and endangering the welfare of a child. It's alleged that Mento had sex with the teenage boy and provided him and other minors with alcohol.

Mento was booked into the Herkimer County Jail on $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bond.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2006 08:23:00 PM

Revising Birth Certificates

(New York City) Historically, the gender designation on a birth certificate has been a biological determination. An infant is born with either male or female body parts and the birth certificate is annotated accordingly. Well, that may change since the city of New York is seeking to allow changes to birth certificates based solely on personal preference, despite physical anatomy.

From NYTimes.com:

Under the rule being considered by the city's Board of Health, which is likely to be adopted soon, people born in the city would be able to change the documented sex on their birth certificates by providing affidavits from a doctor and a mental health professional laying out why their patients should be considered members of the opposite sex, and asserting that their proposed change would be permanent.

Applicants would have to have changed their name and shown that they had lived in their adopted gender for at least two years, but there would be no explicit medical requirements.

As a result, you could be packing more meat than the Chicago stockyards while having your birth certificate identify you as female ... just because you wanted it so. However, is this proposed rule a good idea?

First of all, this is a brilliant idea! Even as voters are right now at the polls in a number of states deciding whether same sex marriage should be legal, a Board of Health ruling by the city of New York is about to make the issue moot. If marriage is going to be between a man and a woman as attested to by their birth certificates, no problem. Any same-sex couple can easily become an opposite sex couple with the strokes of a few pens. Granted, a doctor and a 'mental health professional' have to be involved but that provision is not considered a significant hurdle.

However, if one views the birth certificate as a legal document which provides an historical record of the birth of a child, its pedigree as a snapshot of information at a point in time is lost. Also, if one can simply change gender by a pen, what's to prevent other data on the birth certificate from being modified? Taken to an extreme, it's conceivable that a child could be born as an Asian male and, after revising the birth certificate, later become a Caucasian female.

Furthermore, if the birth certificate can be revised, why not allow the death certificate to be revised? It's possible that a close relative of a dead man might want the coroner's determination of suicide to be changed to natural causes. After all, if the birth certificates are to be meaningless with regard to birth, it seems logical to make death certificates meaningless with regard to death.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2006 02:08:00 PM

Six Jihadis Nabbed in Netherlands

(The Hague) While Americans are being encouraged to head to the polls today, terrorists continue to plot.

From AFP (via Yahoo!):

Six people have been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of recruiting volunteers for jihad, or Islamic holy war, prosecutors said after a year-long investigation.

The suspects, five men and a woman, were arrested in The Hague and Amsterdam late Monday and early Tuesday as part of a probe into an international Islamic terror network launched in November 2005, the prosecutor's office said.

Among the suspects, who were not identified by name, are two Dutch nationals of Moroccan origin, a Turkish man, a Tunisian national, a Moroccan and a sixth with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin said Tuesday.

The six were suspected of "recruiting radical Muslims for the international jihad," a crime under recently amended Dutch laws.

Dutch law was changed in 2004 to make recruiting for jihad a crime. Unfortunately, Dutch judges have been reluctant to convict jihadists unless there is solid evidence that they are about to actually commit a terrorist act. Hopefully, they'll learn to be less timid.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2006 12:28:00 PM

For $26, All I Got Was a Sticky

According to sources, the estimate regarding the total number of votes to be cast today is approximately 100 million. Yesterday, I heard that the total amount spent on campaigns during this election cycle is at least $2.6 billion. Consequently, simple math tells us that someone spent about $26 for each ballot cast. And, for the 26 bucks, I got a sticky.

I would rather have a cookie.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2006 09:40:00 AM

Brits Fire Muslim Police Officer

(London) Frankly, this makes pounds worth of sense to me. All potential threats to national security should be removed.

From ITV.com:

A Muslim police officer is taking legal action against the Metropolitan Police after he was removed from a team protecting Tony Blair.

Amjad Farooq, who was a member of the Diplomatic Protection Group SO16, claims he was forced out because of his religion.

The 39-year-old claims he was told his presence might upset the American secret service, which works closely with the Metropolitan Police unit.

Contrary to Farooq's assertion, Scotland Yard considers him a potential threat to national security because his children had attended a mosque with links to a suspected terrorist group. Nonetheless, with political correctness dictating policies in the United Kingdom, Farooq may win his discrimination case.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2006 01:52:00 AM

Female CSI Gets No Jail in Teen Sex Case

(West Palm Beach, Florida) Last August, a 44-year-old crime scene investigator, Gina Brunelas, was charged with trying to seduce two teenage boys on the Internet and over the phone. The married mother of three children, ages 8, 11, and 13, was fired from her CSI job with the Lake Worth Police.

From WPTV.com:

Police say Brunelas, who lives in the upscale Olympia community, used her husband's computer screen name to send messages to the two boys, who live nearby. Investigators say she told the teenagers that her husband, who she called 'the General,' would be going out of town next week and tried to arrange a meeting for sex.

Within the polcie affidavit, a transcript of instant messages between Brunelas and one of the alleged victims reads in part: "When the kids are out like a light, you know - for at least two hours, you can just come over."

When asked "What will we be doing?" Brunelas allegedly answers: "(expletive) our brains out. What do you think we're gonna be doing, drinking tea?"

Interestingly, as a crime scene investigator, Brunelas should have known that instant messaging produces records which would provide evidence of her illicit behavior. However, since there was evidence of culpability, she pleaded guilty yesterday to computer pornography and child exploitation.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Edward Garrison sentenced Brunelas to probation for five years.

Tip: Don Morgenstern

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2006 07:56:00 PM

Al Qaeda Targets Spanish Enclaves in North Africa

(Madrid) According to intelligence sources, the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco are targets of an al Qaeda jihad to 'liberate occupied cities.'

Intelligence services are describing the information they now have as the most worrying since 2004, with a fundamental group distributing a statement which describes the two cities as being occupied. It was also placed on a radical webpage from a cybercafe in Algeria.

Meanwhile, police have arrested two alleged members of the GICM -- The Moroccan Islamic Combat Group in Melilla in connection with the bomb attack on the Casa de Espana in Casablanca in May 2003 in which 41 people lost their lives.

The arrested men are 43 year old Belgium, although born in Morocco, Ali Aarras, and 31 year old Nordin El Behri Hamed Mohande from Melilla. The second was released from custody on Sunday after questioning.

The statement on the Internet called for "a war against the infidel Spanish state and for the liberation of the occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla." The statement was signed by Nadim Al Magrebi, a pseudonym for an al Qaeda-linked group.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2006 05:32:00 PM

Dutch Soldier Convicted But Not Punished for Refusing to Serve

(Amsterdam) I guess he's been having bad dreams.

From KhaleejTimes.com:

A military court Monday convicted a soldier for refusing to serve in a Dutch NATO battalion in Afghanistan, but declined to punish him, saying he was suffering post-traumatic stress from an earlier tour of duty.

The unidentified soldier faced a possible two years in prison. For some reason, his name is not being released. Maybe it would be too stressful.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2006 04:41:00 PM

Peter Lewis Suffers Heart Attack

George Soros' bendover buddy and billionaire chairman of Progressive Insurance, Peter Lewis, suffered a heart attack this weekend in New York. He is reportedly in stable condition and good spirits.

If Lewis, 72, is due for the everlasting gulag, funding for some leftist initiatives may be affected. In the past, he contributed millions to the ACLU, MoveOn.org, Air America, the Democrat Party and other leftist groups. Lewis has also spearheaded funding of initiatives to legalize marijuana and has been rumored to be a long-time user of the drug.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2006 05:03:00 AM

Ohio Ballot Issues on Smoking

Two issues on the ballot pertain to restricting smoking in Ohio. Ballot Issue 4 would amend the Ohio Constitution to prohibit smoking in enclosed areas. Ballot Issue 5 would put wide-sweeping anti-smoking provisions in the Ohio Revised Code.

1) First of all, I have concerns about both of these measures, not the least of which is their lack of specifics regarding where smoking is banned. Issue 4 refers to 'enclosed areas' which I interpret as any area with a wall or fence around it or an area posted by signs. Issue 5 prohibits smoking in 'public places and places of employment' but provides no details as to what is to be considered public.

Agreed, both measures incorporate exceptions to the rules but they are hardly helpful when the rules are written so generally and open to interpretation.

2) Secondly, I'm having a difficult time seeing a justification for changing laws. I mean, just what problem is being solved. Hear me out. Last week, I made it a point of meandering out in my area on a few occasions to evaluate the extent of smoking by the citizenry in enclosed and public places. The results were unremarkable. In more than two dozen stores and restaurants, I didn't see one person smoking. In two banks and an office building where scores of people work, no smokers were noted. However, I did see people smoking in parking lots, outside buildings and walking down the street but they were few when compared to the number of people who were out and about.

If there is a true necessity to change the Ohio Revised Code or the Ohio Constitution to solve some massive problem in society, one would imagine that the massive problem is ubiquitous and affecting average citizens' lives daily. I'm sure some would argue that point, however, in several days of non-scientific looking around, I didn't see the problem.

3) Thirdly, it's good practice to expect that taxes will rise when new law is imposed on the citizenry. Both Issue 4 and Issue 5 impose new law and the new provisions will have to be paid for by the taxpayer. How and when remains to be seen. Issue 5 is substantially more troubling in this regard than Issue 4.

Issue 5 creates a new bureaucratic element in state government along with a smoking enforcement division to assure compliance. That's new people, new desks, new telephones, new office space and new computers throughout the state to administer the anti-smoking program. A nice large chunk of tax revenue will be needed to pay for administration of the program.

A 'smoking police' force will have to be sworn in to patrol likely smokers' hangouts and investigate violations of the new laws. They'll issue citations as appropriate, leveling fines for noncompliance. Granted, the smoking police will likely be newly-hired state employees who function similarly to meter maids [Oops! meter persons]. Of course, they'll need training and, probably, uniforms and, most likely, vehicles since their enforcement area is the entire state of Ohio. And, of course, all this costs money. Ohioans, hold on to your wallets.

4) Also, in Issue 5 is this nugget:
"Authorize a uniform statewide minimum standard to protect workers and the public from secondhand tobacco smoke."
Can someone tell me what this means? Correct me if I'm mistaken but, to my knowledge, no threshold level of safety regarding secondhand tobacco smoke has ever been identified. Given that, how does one authorize a standard?

This provision smells. It strongly hints that the passage of Issue 5 will launch a taxpayer-funded scientific research program on secondhand smoke. In my estimation, that's exactly what is intended. The anti-smoking activists want to use the ballot box mandate to approach the legislature for funding research on secondhand smoke. So, the 'authorize a standard' verbiage is in Issue 5 to allow greedy hands an avenue to scoop money out of the treasury.

In summary, Issue 4 and Issue 5 should be opposed for a variety of reasons. If smoking laws are necessary, the individual municipalities should take action, not the state. Additionally, the libertarian in me is in pain just thinking of the level of nanny-state governance represented by Ballot Issues 4 and 5. If someone in my vicinity emits an offensive odor, whether it be cigarette smoke, perfume, hygiene or flatulence, I move away. I don't draft a state law or propose an amendment to the constitution.

Recommendation:
Vote NO on Ballot Issue 4.

Vote NO on Ballot Issue 5.

Alternatively, for those who have very strong feelings about smoking, choose Issue 4 rather than Issue 5. Any objective assessment of Issue 5 would indicate that it is very high on the harassment scale and I don't think the state should be harassing its citizens. People who smoke are being targeted for citations and fines by the proposed law. Businesses that cater to the beer-and-a-smoke customer base are targeted. I see the true intent of Issue 5 is to force people to give up smoking and to bankrupt businesses that rely on customers who smoke.

One last thought. Watching the leftist political crowd closely, I've found that it is homogenous. One day, activists are protesting smoking. The next day, they're demonstrating for rights for illegal aliens. Later, you'll find them carrying placards against the war. And they can be relied upon to save the whales, the desert tortoise and the timber wolves.

It's mix and match with the leftists, and confusing. On more than one occasion, I've seen news footage of a demonstration about something and there's always one group that didn't get the memo and showed up carrying the wrong signs. Funny? Yes.

However, sometimes the mixed bag of issues the leftists promote ends up producing conflict. In the case of the anti-smoking crowd, I'd bet a paycheck that it is infested with some members who think that smoking marijuana is just ducky. Consequently, the anti-smoking activists are due for a future face-off with marijuana smokers seeking legalization of pot. That should be fun.

Lastly, I'd like this post to be liberally construed to favor my purposes.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2006 10:16:00 PM

Ohio Ballot Issue 3

Passage of Ballot Issue 3 would amend the Ohio Constitution to allow gambling at some locations in Ohio. Specifically, the ballot reads:

"Permit up to 31,500 slot machines at seven horse racing tracks and at two Cleveland non-track locations.

Permit expanded gaming in the four Cuyahoga County locations if approved by the county's voters."

In return for the gambling privileges, the locations will kickback 30 percent of their revenue for college scholarships and grants.

This issue is easy to analyze.

- First of all, for those who are anti-gambling, just vote NO.

- For those who have friends or relatives that suffer from a gambling addiction and for those who believe that the societal consequence of gambling addicts' behavior is unhealthy for Ohio, just vote NO.

- For those who are not opposed to gambling, per se, but believe that there is gross unfairness in having gambling legally monopolized by nine politically-connected operators, just vote NO.

- Although I am not anti-gambling, I do believe that there are a sufficient number of places for Ohioans to gamble as it is. I also believe that any expansion of gambling in Ohio shouldn't be reserved for a select few racetrack owners and casino operators. If gambling is to become more prevalent, any entrepreneur should be able to get into the business.
Recommendation: Vote NO on Ballot Issue 3.

Furthermore, from a cart and the horse perspective, let's look at the issue by determining what came first. A number of television commercials have been produced promoting this issue as helping young people get scholarships and grants to attend college. In fact, that's all that is being promoted. It's for the children. However, in reality, the gambling at racetracks subject has been bandied about the state for years and the only reason that a portion of the funds are allowed to be skimmed for education is to make the entire scheme palatable to the voters.

Don't kid yourself. The forces behind the issue don't place primary importance on education. The important element of the ballot measure is getting an expansion of gambling in Ohio, by a select few, mind you. The skim for education is no more than creative marketing. Hell, I'd bet that the gambling lobby would give 30 percent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if it believed the voters would buy into it.

In conclusion, I'd like this post to be liberally construed to favor my purposes.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2006 07:36:00 PM

Ohio Ballot Issue 2

Passage of Ballot Issue 2 would amend the Ohio Constitution to raise minimum wage to $6.85 per hour with automatic increases mandated yearly based on the inflation rate.

Recommendation:

Vote NO on Ballot Issue 2

Reasons:

(1) It's arbitrary. The proposed minimum wage increase to $6.85 could have just as easily been $6.80 or $6.90 or $7.50 or whatever. There is no business basis for the figure.

(2) The proposed amendment would tie the minimum wage to inflation via the consumer price index. This means that macro-economic bean-counters will determine the wage rate of individual employees for the future of the world. Therefore, an increase in price of rice in Louisiana theoretically impacts the wages of a worker in Toledo.

(3) The amendment would allow state investigators to nose around the records and documents of an Ohio business at will. To wit:
"The state may on its own initiative investigate an employer's compliance with this section and any law or regulation implementing its provisions."
Well, sports fans, it seems that the state of Ohio doesn't even have to have a reason for nosing around the inner workings of a business. Investigators can walk in and say, "Show us every document related to employees and wages." No warrant nor subpoena required. It's in the constitution.

(4) The amendment also contains a provision regarding interpretation:
"This section shall be liberally construed in favor of its purposes."
Since the purposes of the amendment are not specified in a "PURPOSES" paragraph, it's not really clear what they are. Consequently, the constitution will specify that ill-defined purposes are to be "liberally construed." Tell me this isn't mumbo-jumbo and free license for the state to do anything.

(5) Assuming the people in the state of Ohio buy into this lousy law, I have a question. Citizens of Ohio, where's your pride? For crying out loud, what's a measly $6.85 going to do? San Francisco jacked their minimum wage rate up to $8.50. Why isn't Ohio doing them one better? Say $30 per hour? Or maybe $40 per hour? Everyone knows it's difficult to live on low wages so why not give everybody a wage which guarantees a comfortable middle-class living?

In summary, Ballot Issue 2 should be soundly defeated. After all, if we want to encourage businesses to move out of the state, let's do it in one fell swoop. Ballot Issue 2 just nips at their heels, putting more regulation and more government intrusiveness on employers trying to eke out a profit in a competitive world. However, if anything is done to increase wages arbitrarily, the voters of Ohio should demand middle-class incomes for all citizens. Of course, there probably won't be a lot of employers left in the state.

Lastly, it's important to note that nowhere in the proposed change to the Ohio Constitution is there any mention of the productivity or worth of individual employees. So, despite a worker's value to a business, the state will mandate a pay increase. The pay increase will be passed along as additional cost to the consumer which will cause inflationary pressure which will increase the Consumer Price Index which will cause the minimum wage to increase again which will ... etc. etc. etc. Raise wages, raises prices, raises CPI, raises wages -- it's a do loop.

In conclusion, I'd like this post to be 'liberally construed' to favor my purposes.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2006 04:46:00 AM

Saddam Sentenced to Hang!

(Baghdad) Breaking news! The Iraqi justice system has reached a milestone. Saddam Hussein has been condemned to death.

From News.com.au:

FORMER Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of crimes against humanity at his trial in Baghdad.

Following the breaking story on FoxNews and CNN, Iraq security forces are bracing for violence when the sentences are read to the people. Other developments:

- Ramsey Clark was booted from the courtroom at the beginning of the proceeding.

- Saddam went on a tirade after the sentence was read saying "God is great" and "Death to the enemies." He was removed from the court room after babbling about the judges and the court being agents for the occupation.

- Two co-defendants were also sentenced to be executed.

- Sporadic celebratory gunfire has started in Baghdad.

- Iraqi forces have initiated a travel lockdown in the provinces.

- Court session ended for the day.

Developing ...

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

[Update 0530 EST]

From EITB24.com:

Clashes immediately broke out in north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district where police were battling men with machine guns. His half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of the former Revolutionary Court, were sentenced to join Saddam on the gallows.

Also, shortly after the sentence was imposed on Saddam, he was scooted out of the court room and away from cameras. The court wanted to minimize the amount of video footage available for use by Saddam's supporters.

Chief Judge Raouf Adbul-Rahman presided over the proceeding.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2006 04:13:00 AM

Kids Shown Porn on School Bus

(Sarasota County, Florida) A 20-year-old school bus attendant, Amber Hamilton, has been arrested for allegedly showing obscene material to minors.

As an attendant, Hamilton assisted the driver in keeping order on the bus to and from school. However, while riding the bus Hamilton allegedly allowed young boys to see pornographic images on her cell phone, including sexual images of herself.

Hamilton has been charged with three counts of showing obscene materials to minors.

[Update 11/06/06]

(via Don Morgenstern) It's reported that Hamilton allegedly showed students the porn on a bus headed to Phillippi Shores Elementary School. Also, she was suspended from her job with the school district.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 10:32:00 PM

Motorcycles in Iraq

(Baghdad) It's a troubling fact that, with no operators' licenses nor registrations required, motorcycles are trending toward becoming the weapons of choice for terrorists and criminals in and around Baghdad.

From Azzaman.com:

Car bombs are the weapon of choice but recently the gunmen are resorting to motorcycles as their speed and size makes it easy for them to bypass checkpoints and sneak into cordoned off areas.

The use of motorcycles is not limited to attacks against U.S. or government troops.

Criminals and thugs are using them to kill, rob, steal and assassinate rivals.

There is no shortage of motorcycles as is the case with almost anything the gunmen need to execute their dirty plans.

Motorcycles are cheap, can go anywhere and are as lethal as car bombs. It's been estimated that "nearly 30 per cent of all motorcycles in Iraq have been used in terrorists operations." And one motorcycle dealer believes that there are more motorcycles than cars in the country.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 08:35:00 PM

Special Ed Teacher Accused of Sex with Student

(Divernon, Illinois) A 22-year-old special education teacher's aide at Divernon High School, Kourtney Mullen, was arrested for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old male special education student. Mullen was charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault. The alleged sexual episode between Mullen and the boy occurred this past week at an undisclosed residence.

Although 17 is typically considered the age of consent in Illinois, that provision of the law doesn't apply when a person abuses a position of trust or authority. It's not known if the authorities take into account that the alleged abuse of trust was over a special education student.

Mullen was booked into the Sangamon County Jail and released on bond.

[Update 02/02/07]

Mullen sentenced to probation.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 06:42:00 PM

Camp Counselor Lewd

(St. Anthony, Idaho) A 20-year-old first aid teacher and Boy Scout camp counselor, Shandrel McMurtre, has been charged with lewd conduct with a 14-year-old boy. Initially, McMurtre claimed she had been raped but later stated that she gave in to the boy's advances. McMutre pleaded not guilty to the charge.

McMurtre's trial is scheduled for January. If convicted, she faces life in prison.

Sure she does! Huh! I bet she gets probation and she probably should. If anything, the genius with the idea of sending a young lady to camp with a bunch of hormonal, adolescent boys should be implicated. After all, they're scouts, not saints. The entire circumstance of a babe camping with boys begs for trouble.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 11:49:00 AM

Woman Accused of Hot Tub Sex with Boy

(Royal Palm Beach, Florida) Thirty-year-old Alisa J. Rothenberg has been accused of engaging in unlawful sex with a 13-year-old boy. The sexual episode occurred on July 29 in the hot tub at Rothenberg's apartment complex.

According to the affidavit, Rothenberg and the boy were in the hot tub when she kissed him, took his clothes off, took her clothes off and had sex.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 11:13:00 AM

Woman Guilty of Raping Boy

(Florissant, Missouri) Last January, a 37-year-old Florissant woman, Judith Zweifel, was charged with 30 felony sex offenses for repeatedly engaging in sex with an 11-year-old boy.

The crimes allegedly occurred from December 2004 to August 2005. Zweifel specifically faced 19 counts of statutory sodomy, 10 counts of statutory rape and one count of child molestation.

Yesterday, the married mother of two, now 38, pleaded guilty or no contest to 30 various counts of child sex abuse before Judge John F. Kintz. Zweifel's sentencing date is scheduled for December 18 and she faces possible life in prison.

Interestingly, Zweifel has been in custody since October 2005 and, while jailed, she wrote a letter to her victim's grandmother complaining that she had to be locked up and the boy was out playing.

[Update 12/18/06]

Zweifel sentenced.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 08:19:00 AM

Teacher Gets Jail on Appeal

(Shediac, New Brunswick) In November 2005, a 27-year-old teacher at Ecole Pere Edgar T. LeBlanc, Renee Florence Gaudet, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a 13-year-old male student.

In January 2006, Gaudet was sentenced to two years house arrest and told to go to a mental health clinic for assessment and necessary treatment. She was also restricted from having any contact with the victim, his family, or anyone under 14 years of age.

Gaudet's sentence of house arrest was appealed by Crown Attorney Stephen Holt as too lenient. Holt argued that a male teacher convicted of the same crime would have been sent to prison.

This week, the Court of Appeals in New Brunswick agreed and ordered Gaudet to complete the remainder of her sentence behind bars. On Wednesday, Gaudet surrendered herself to authorities. She has 15 months left to serve.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 07:00:00 AM

Police Patrol Emergency Rooms

This report is out of Britain but, according to GruntDoc, the problem exists throughout the U.S. also.

From Manchester Evening News:

Police will patrol the accident and emergency unit at the Royal Bolton Hospital for three months in a bid to prevent aggressive and threatening behaviour.

They will issue penalty notices for disorder inside the hospital and arrest any patients or relatives who physically attack staff.

Emergency room staff members are attacked an average of five times a day throughout the Manchester area.

Following Entry Posted 11/04/2006 06:29:00 AM

Pervert Darryl Hinds Guilty of Child Sex Crimes

(Galveston, Texas) In December 2005, a woman rented an apartment and found a videotape in the kitchen cabinet which showed a man engaging in a variety of sex acts with two very young children. Subsequently, the previous tenant, long-haul truck driver Darryl Hinds, 36, was arrested in South Carolina and returned to Texas to face charges. Yesterday, Hinds was convicted by a jury.

From Chron.com:

A man who authorities said videotaped himself molesting an 11-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy was found guilty today of aggravated sexual assault of a child, promotion of child pornography and sexual performance by a child.

Darrell Anthony Hinds, 37, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on the assault charge, 10 years on the promotion charge and 10 years probation on the sexual performance charge. Jurors found Hinds not guilty on one count of indecency with a child by contact.

State District Judge Neil Caldwell, who presided over the trial, will formally impose the jury's sentences Monday and determine whether the prison terms will be served concurrently or consecutively, the Galveston County District Attorney's Office said.

Hinds asked the jury to place him on probation. Prosecutor Jennifer Ott will argue for the prison terms to be stacked. I agree that the sentences should be consecutive. Hinds shouldn't be allowed on the streets of the United States for a long, long time.

Following Entry Posted 11/03/2006 09:17:00 PM

Slap Her Hand, Send Him to Prison

I don't normally report on molestation by male teachers strictly because of the numbers. The overwhelming majority of school-related sex offenses is committed by men and, as it is, I have a difficult enough time keeping up with the volume of female teachers involved with sex crimes.

In doing so, I've been surprised by the count of female teachers that have been accused of molestation. Even though they are a small minority of the total sex crimes problem, they are significant in number. I've also learned that females convicted of sex crimes are rarely receiving harsh or even reasonable punishment when compared to the sentences received by men. On the contrary, female sexual molesters typically have their hands slapped.

To illustrate the typical treatment a male teacher could expect, check out this report from VeniceGondolier.com:

Thomas E. Berntsen, 41, 3200 block Langmade Ave., North Port, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading to charges of lewd or lascivious molestation. The sentencing took place Nov. 1 before Sarasota County Circuit Judge Charles Roberts. The plea came two weeks before a scheduled trial.

In September, former VHS coach James LaMorte, Sr., 64, was sentenced to 21 years for having sex with former male students 25 years ago. He is currently incarcerated.

Former Garden Elementary School Principal Mark Cook is serving two life terms for having sex with his former male students 25 years ago.

Seldom is a female teacher sentenced to anything close to the terms described above.

Following Entry Posted 11/03/2006 07:18:00 PM

Woman Gets Probation for Child Sex Abuse

(Decatur, Alabama) In September, a 21-year-old Morgan County woman, Sabrina Skim-horn Mills, pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse of two children, ages 4 and 8. She was sentenced to five years probation.

On Tuesday of this week, Mills was arrested for violating her probation by living at a house other than her registered address. She faces two counts of probation violation and she could receive a two-year prison sentence if convicted.

Following Entry Posted 11/03/2006 04:49:00 PM

Talk Show Host Fired for Remarks

(Boston, Massachusetts) Local radio talk show host, John DePetro, was fired today for making inappropriate comments about a gubernatorial candidate.

From TheBostonChannel.com:

[H]e made comments about Green-Rainbow candidate Grace Ross, referring to her weight and sexuality while criticizing her involvement in a candidates' debate Wednesday night.

"In the context of what he said and the tone with which he said it, the comments were completely inappropriate, derogatory and will not be tolerated. I met with our corporate staff last night after listening to the tapes, and we decided to terminate John at that meeting. I informed him of that decision this morning," said Jason Wolfe, vice president of AM programming and Operations for Entercom Boston.

It's not mentioned in the article but it appears that DePetro called Ross a "fat lesbian." Obviously, that level of accuracy cannot be tolerated.

Following Entry Posted 11/03/2006 11:41:00 AM

Woman Accused of Molesting Boys, 12 and 13

Here's a different twist to the female sexual offender story. Woman allegedly does boy who then does little girl.

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) A 30-year-old woman, Christine Carver-Schlesser, is in jail for allegedly engaging in sex with two boys, ages 12 and 13, from January 2005 to July 2006.

The alleged sexual relations with the boys became known after one, the 12-year-old, was found to be molesting a four-year-old girl and he told police that he and his friend had been molested by Carver-Schlesser. The boy figured that if he got in trouble, Carver-Schlesser should also get in trouble "since she's doing the same thing to me."

From TimesLeader.com:

"When Christine caught me doing it to (name of child omitted), they took me to the police station," the boy testified. "I figured if I got in trouble, she's going to get in trouble."

After nearly two hours of often sexually explicit testimony in Central Court on Thursday, District Judge James Tupper ruled there is enough evidence for Carver-Schlesser to stand trial on separate counts of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a child, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and three total counts of corruption of minors.

Carver-Schlesser remains in custody in the Luzerne County Jail on $50,000 bail.

[Update 09/19/07]

Carver-Schlesser found guilty. Sentencing in December.

Following Entry Posted 11/03/2006 09:54:00 AM

Are Condoms Given Out at Gitmo?

My guess would be that the dwellers at Gitmo lead lives of condom-less detention. It's not that way in Philadelphia.

From Philadelphia Inquirer:

Philadelphia prison inmates would have greater access to condoms under a policy change being considered by city officials.

Among the changes being considered is the addition of condoms to the commissary list. That would both allow inmates to purchase condoms and send the message to prisoners and guards alike that they are a permitted item.

Prisons Commissioner Leon A. King II declined to discuss the issue yesterday, deferring to his spokesman, Robert Eskind. Eskind acknowledged discussions with activists had been ongoing, but said no decisions had been made.

Condoms are considered contraband in most other prison institutions because they can be used for smuggling. Philadelphia is more liberal in this regard, distributing about 8,000 condoms annually in the city jails. Since the average daily inmate population is more that 8,500, it seems that the authorities could be criticized for imposing unsafe incarceration on most of them.

Think about it. The arithmetic indicates that condom coverage is less than one condom per inmate per year. Of course, they might have some sort of community sharing program.

Following Entry Posted 11/03/2006 12:06:00 AM

Woman Nets Year for Doing Boy, 13

(Warren, Michigan) Last March, a 23-year-old Warren woman, Melissa Jean Grifford, was charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy who was her babysitter.

Reportedly, the police were alerted by the boy's parents who were acting in response to trailer park rumors. Grifford was booked and released on bond.

Yesterday, despite probation officials' recommendations, Grifford was sentenced to one year in the county jail. She was also ordered to serve four years' probation and to register as a sex offender.

From MacombDaily.com:

Melissa Jean Grifford, who is pregnant with another man's child and is free on bond, will report to the Macomb County Jail to serve her sentence sometime next month after she gives birth.

Grifford pleaded guilty to the original charge, third-degree criminal sexual conduct, for having sex with a boy she hired to babysit her infant child last December at her mobile home near Nine Mile Road and Van Dyke. The Macomb County Probation Department recommended a sentence of at least four years and two months in state prison, but visiting Macomb Circuit Judge George Steeh deviated below sentencing guidelines and agreed to a term that will consist of serving only at the Macomb County Jail.

The "downward deviation" was not strongly opposed by the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office because the victim's father wanted to avoid forcing his son to go through a trial and have further contact with Grifford.

The reason for the downward deviation was not explained. I'd guess it's because Grifford is female ... and pregnant ... and she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Following Entry Posted 11/02/2006 10:00:00 PM

Sherrod Brown Votes Against National Security

I can't fathom how the liberal mind views national security. Where I believe that defense of the nation is paramount, it's likely a safe guess that most of the leftist politicians would prefer to see the defense of the country given the lowest priority of all the issues before them.

For example, as a congressman Sherrod Brown is a typical liberal who promotes the typical leftist agenda and votes against national security measures seemingly all the time. Yet, most disturbing is the fact that Brown fails to take even a reasonable level of interest in national security by neglecting to attend important policy meetings.

On the other hand, his frequent absences during policy discussions could possibly be considered a positive, i.e. he can't advocate a weaker national defense if he's not there.

For the details, Matt Hurley summarizes Sherrod Brown's track record at WMD.

It's really troubling that Brown is ahead of DeWine in the polls. Based upon his job performance as a U.S. Representative, it seems clear that Brown doesn't fully appreciate how dangerous the enemies of the United States are.

Following Entry Posted 11/02/2006 08:56:00 PM

New Mileage Rate

From FederalTimes.com:

Starting Jan. 1, the optional standard mileage rate used to calculate tax deductions will be 48.5 cents for business miles driven, the IRS announced Nov. 1. The 2006 rate is 44.5 cents per mile.

The General Services Administration, which sets the government mileage rate, typically adopts IRS' rates. A GSA spokesman did not immediately respond to questions, but new rates for federal travel usually take effect Jan. 1.

Nice.

Following Entry Posted 11/02/2006 02:47:00 PM

Air America Angling for Sale

(New York) Air America Radio filed for bankruptcy on October 13. Now we hear this.

From ChicagoTribune.com:

Air America Radio is talking to several parties about a possible sale and is hopeful of reaching a deal before Thanksgiving, a lawyer for the liberal talk radio network told a bankruptcy hearing Tuesday.

Tracy Klestadt told the court that the privately held company was in discussions with seven different parties about a sale and was "very hopeful" of reaching a deal by Nov. 22, saying there was a "significant amount of interest."

Wait a minute! Does this make a lick of sense? If I were trying to sell a dying horse, I seriously doubt that there would be a "significant amount of interest" from seven different potential buyers. After all, how many glue factories are there?

Following Entry Posted 11/02/2006 04:21:00 AM

ACLU Attacks U.S. Sovereignty

Courtesy of Jay at Stop The ACLU.

I was going to talk about the dishonest argument the ACLU made in its attack on Hazelton, PA for trying to crackdown on illegal immigration problems. They argued that it was not the place of small communities to create laws fashioned to their own unique problems on illegal immigration, but the Federal government's responsibility. Of course this argument does not reflect the ACLU's true beliefs on the topic. If the Federal government created a similar law as Hazelton the ACLU would find a different argument to oppose it. The argument was, however, good enough to convince a Clinton appointed judge to temporarily block their ordinances.

I was going to show the ACLU's real agenda for illegal immigrant. Well, they just showed a lot of it themselves in press release.

ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Employment Law Project and the Transnational Legal Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law today filed a petition urging the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to find the United States in violation of its universal human rights obligations by failing to protect millions of undocumented workers from exploitation and discrimination in the workplace.

The ACLU is basing its argument on stating the United States has violated a vague International Human Rights Treaty signed in 1948 called the AMERICAN DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MAN. This treaty states that, "Every person has the right to work, under proper conditions, and to follow his vocation freely, insofar as existing conditions of employment permit." As I said, the treaty is vague. Nowhere in the treaty does it define what proper conditions are, however another section does state that the duty of every person to obey the law of the country in which he may be.

Current immigration law provides criminal sanctions for employers who hire illegal aliens. In other words it is a crime to hire an illegal alien ... period. The ACLU tries to hide this fact by omitting the word "illegal" and replacing it with "undocumented." Illegal aliens are criminals and hiring a criminal to work is a crime also. In essence the ACLU is attempting to grant the same rights and benefits that a law abiding citizen enjoys to international criminals.

"The most poorly paid and least desirable jobs in the United States are filled by undocumented immigrants, yet the government increasingly limits the safeguards available to this population, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and workplace discrimination," said Claudia Flores, an attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project. "The United States government has an obligation under universal human rights norms to protect vulnerable populations, such as immigrant women, and has failed in this regard."

Undocumented immigrants make up nearly five percent of the U.S. labor force. However, employment and labor protections under state laws have been either eliminated or severely limited for undocumented workers in some states. These include such basic workplace protections as freedom from workplace discrimination and entitlement to hold an employer responsible for a workplace injury.

The ACLU ignores the fact that these "undocumented workers" don't have a right to work here in the first place, and that those hiring them are breaking the law. The United States can not enforce or provide protections for criminals in the work place. They can't even enforce laws against hiring them in the first place. If any illegal immigrant is being exploited it is from an employer that is providing them with much more of an opportunity than they could ever find in their own country and at the expense of American jobs and law. The real way to stop the exploitation is to stop the illegal hiring.

"International human rights law requires the United States to apply its workplace protections equally and without discrimination based on immigration status. We bring this petition to cast a global spotlight on the U.S. government's poor human rights record in protecting undocumented workers from discrimination and to demand accountability from states and the federal government, all of whom are obligated to protect and defend human rights," said Chandra Bhatnagar, a staff attorney with the ACLU Human Rights Program.

What a load of bull! The ACLU goes on to list the individuals on their petition which includes illegals that want handouts for injuries in jobs they acquired illegally instead of accepting the responsibility they knowingly took upon themselves by breaking our laws.

The ACLU fights every effort the U.S. attempts to secure its borders and enforce illegal immigration laws. The ACLU's hostility towards the Minutemen's efforts to enforce the border is all too telling. They align themselves with open border advocates and even help illegals sneak into the country.

The head of the ACLU is also an adviser to the IFC and of course, ACLU is among the most important and dangerous members of the open borders combine, using its considerable resources in support of causes that will encourage illegal aliens to enter the US and facilitate their remaining here: granting them drivers' licenses to illegal aliens, granting instate tuition to illegals, welfare and free health care, etc. The ACLU has even opposed rules to speed the deportation of illegals convicted of violent felonies.

Front Page Magazine has a lot on this issue. Here is more on the ACLU's opposition to fighting the illegal immigration problem.

The ACLU has opposed any Department of Justice plan to fingerprint and track immigrants and foreign visitors to the United States. "The ACLU has long opposed immigrant registration laws, saying that they treat immigrant populations as a separate and quasi-criminal element of society and that they create an easy avenue for surveillance of those who may hold unpopular beliefs," read a press release, "The fingerprinting and tracking proposal is only the latest Bush Administration action targeted at Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent since September 11. Other discriminatory measures have included round-ups, dragnet questioning, the detention of more than a thousand young men and the targeting of Middle Eastern communities for heightened enforcement of minor immigration law violations." [20] The ACLU also opposes the use of immigration law violations as the means for holding or deporting suspects with ties to terrorism, and the use of secret or classified evidence in deportation hearings.

The ACLU is attempting to circumvent our current laws with a vague international treaty all in the name of granting criminals rights and benefits at the expense of law abiding Americans. If you think that illegal immigration is a problem now, just imagine how it will increase if the ACLU is successful. In the process the ACLU is threatening our very sovereignty.

This is important information. Thanks, Jay.

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

Following Entry Posted 11/02/2006 02:00:00 AM

Babysitter Gets 2 Years for Molestation

(Perry, Georgia) A teenage baby sitter, Ashley Lynn Rouse, has been convicted by a jury yesterday of molesting an 8-year-old boy. Rouse was found guilty of molestation in two incidents that occurred in 2005 when she was a 17-year-old.

In one incident, she fondled the boy. In another, Rouse exposed her breasts and had him show her his private parts. The boy was traumatized and requires counseling.

Superior Court Judge Edward D. Lukemire sentenced Rouse, now 19, to two years in the local jail and subsequent banishment from Houston County, Georgia. Rouse was also ordered to pay for the boy's counseling and serve eight years of probation.

Following Entry Posted 11/01/2006 11:37:00 PM

Woman Nabbed for Molesting Boy

(Port St. Lucie, Florida) A 34-year-old local woman, Tammy Grace, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex acts with a 15-year-old boy. It's reported that Grace and the boy worked at the same business where they engaged in "flirting, touching hands and talking" and then sex.

Grace faces a felony lewd or lascivious molestation charge. She was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail and released on $100,000 bail.

Following Entry Posted 11/01/2006 09:34:00 PM

Woman Messes with Teen Boys

(Steubenville, Ohio) A 39-year-old local woman, Jesse Huntington, has been indicted for engaging in sex with two boys, ages 16 and 17. Huntington faces two second-degree felony counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

The prosecutor, Tom Strauss, stated that Huntington would be tried the same way as a man accused of sex crimes with two teenage girls.

Let's hope the judge feels the same.

Following Entry Posted 11/01/2006 06:35:00 PM

Playing Botchy Ball

John Kerry started the game. Now, Ohio's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator has the ball.

Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat leading in late polls in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, said Republicans are merely trying to change the subject. "The people who should apologize are George Bush and Mike DeWine for sending our troops into battle without body armor and without examining the cooked intelligence," he said.

Kerry and Brown are obviously on the same page. With a few more handoffs, maybe we'll see the game reported on ESPN Sportscenter.

Tip: BizzyBlog

Following Entry Posted 11/01/2006 05:48:00 PM

Stuck in Iraq

Plea to the Democrats.

The hurrier they go, the botchier they get.

From The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/01/2006 04:32:00 PM

Woman Accused of Felony Sex with Boy

(Billings, Montana) Tara Moler, a 29-year-old Billings woman, is accused of engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy.

From BillingsGazette.net:

According to court documents, prosecutors allege Moler had a sexual relationship with the boy between May and early October. The investigation into the case began when Moler telephoned the Billings Police Department and said she wanted to turn herself in.

Moler was booked and released on $20,000 bond. Her arraignment is Friday.

[Update 05/09/07]

Moler pleads guilty.

Following Entry Posted 11/01/2006 05:30:00 AM

Kerry Sticks Foot in Mouth, MSM Runs Interference

By now, everyone knows that Sen. John Kerry said that those who are uneducated and lazy end up in Iraq. As a result, from the individual service member to political equals, outrage erupted as people became aware that Kerry believes that American servicemen and women are ignorant. In the meantime, excuses and obfuscation were on the scripts being read by the elite media talking heads.

It didn't take long for Kerry to accuse the Republicans of distorting his words, indicating that he was actually referring to President Bush and not the U.S. military. The elite media spun accordingly.

Now, Kerry's statements are being called a "botched" joke by the Democrats and the MSM.

Let's say it's plausible that Kerry did screw up a joke. Fine. However, isn't it just as plausible that Kerry screwed up the joke in a Freudian manner, letting slip a core belief that normally is locked away?

Nobody doubts that Kerry is an East Coast citizen of lifelong privilege with all the biases of class arrogance. So, let's buy he screwed up a joke, as Kerry and the MSM want. However, at the same time, let us all agree that the manner in which Kerry misspoke is consistent with a Freudian slip, a botched set of words that reveal an unconscious belief, thought, or emotion.

Therefore, it's reasonable to conclude that Sen. Kerry actually does think, albeit unconsciously, that members of the U.S. military are a bunch of dummies.

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