Following Entry Posted 10/31/2007 11:57:00 PM

Women With Troubles - October 2007

Reported in the news during October 2007, here is the compilation of the women with troubles. Each name is linked to a blog entry displaying details. For a more comprehensive listing, check the Women With Troubles category link.

(AZ) Rebecca Lee Kelley, 24,
teacher - Sentenced to hand slap for sex with male student,

(CA) Michelle Antoinette Rossi, 36,
teacher - Guilty of sex with female student, 14. Sentencing in November,

(CA) Meredith Johnson Vincent, 40,
teacher - Arrested for molesting male student, 14,

(FL) Christina Butler, 33,
teacher - Arrested for sex with male student, 15,

(FL) Colleen N. Grear, 23,
cheerleading coach, school asst. - Gets year in jail for sex with boy, 14,

(FL) Jennifer Romero, 30,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with 16-year-old neighbor boy,

(FL) Charity Sato, 23,
babysitter - Gets 20 years prison for molesting boy, 11, and girl, 13,

(FL) Elaine Turner, 36,
teacher - Sentenced to 180 days for sex assault and battery of student,

(FL) Brittany Veres, 16,
babysitter - Arrested for oral sex with boy, 5,

(IL) Meredith A. Sharp, 35,
neighbor - Arrested for falsifying son's death,

(IN) Jennifer Jacobi, 35,
teacher - Gets 66 years prison for child sex crimes,

(LA) Kaylar White, 29,
neighbor - Arrested for leaving her six kids home alone in filthy house,

(MA) Yarelis Cruz, 26,
neighbor - Arrested for dope farm in son's room,

(MN) Franchaska Hogan, 23,
neighbor - Pinched for prostitution and child endangering,

(MO) Teresa Engelbach, 21,
teacher - Charged with rape of boy, 14,

(MO) Angela D. Harris, 26,
neighbor - Gets 10 years prison for risking HIV to others,

(MO) Melissa Mason, 39,
neighbor - Arrested for rape of neighbor boy who impregnated her,

(MT) Rachel (aka Rachael) O'Brien, 24,
neighbor - Gets five years in prison for abandoning her toddlers for nine hours in filthy house,

(NC) Lesia Marie Gunn, 37,
PTA President - Arrested for alleged embezzlement,

(NC) Johni Michelle Heuser, 25,
neighbor mom - Arrested for murder of baby,

(NE) Krista Crosby,
teacher - Sentenced to treatment for heroin found at school,

(NE) Kelsey Peterson, 25,
teacher - Accused of kidnapping, sex with male student, 13,

(NJ) Victoria Blevins, 23,
teacher - Arrested for sex with female student,

(NY) Wanda Edkins, 26,
neighbor - Gets 1 to 3 years for sex assault of girl, 16,

(NY) Jennifer Hastings, 32,
child psychologist - Accused of raping boy, 14, she was counseling,

(NY) Carol C. Tello, 26,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 14,

(OH) Erin Baker, 25,
girls' basketball coach - Arrested for sex assault of female student,

(OR) Barbara Trotta, 38,
teacher - Arrested for providing drugs to students,

(PA) Carrie L. Dana, 28,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 11,

(PA) Samantha Jo Heckman, 20,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 15,

(SC) Judy Kistler, 30,
neighbor - Arrested for flashing young children,

(TN) Holly Hatcher, 25,
teacher - Arrested for sex with male student, 17,

(TN) Mersadie Minton Pankey, 22,
neighbor - Arrested for pimping teen girls,

(TX) Lauren Cosgrove, 29,
teacher - Arrested for tampering with witness in child sex case,

(TX) Alison Mosbeck, 32,
teacher - Arrested for sex with male student, 14,

(TX) Shawna Dickerson, 33,
neighbor - Indicted for sex assault of boy, 14,

(UT) Christy Anne Brown, 33m
teacher - Sentenced to hand slap for sex with male student, 16, on 50 occasions,

(UT) Cris Morris, 29,
teacher - Arrested for sex with male student.

As always, thanks to the tipsters.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 10/31/2007 07:08:00 PM

SC Woman Arrested for Flashing Children

(Columbia, South Carolina) A 30-year-old local mother-of-three, Judy Kistler, was arrested last Sunday by Richland County sheriff's deputies for allegedly exposing herself to young children. Kistler was charged with several counts of indecent exposure to children.

One mother says her 8-year-old son was playing in the yard when Kistler drove up wearing only fishnet stockings.

She grabbed her breast and simulated licking it.

The victim's mother said Kistler then said to the boy "if you want to know what it's like to be with a real woman, let's go."

Another concerned parent, who didn't want WACH FOX News to use his name, says his children were approached at the neighborhood park.

"A couple of the kids in the neighborhood were at the park a lady was trying in the car and wasn't wearing anything. Then we hear bits and pieces. The neighbor's kid is only in 3rd grade," he said.

Kistler was booked and released on $10,000 bond.

Tip: RG
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       Following Entry Posted 10/31/2007 12:43:00 PM

Woman, 20, and Boy, 15

(Hamburg, Pennsylvania) A 20-year-old local woman, Samantha Jo Heckman, was arrested last Friday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Heckman with charged with statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure and corrupting minors.

Detectives said Heckman had sexual intercourse and indecent contact with the boy in a residence in Hamburg in early August.

Heckman was released on her own recognizance.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/31/2007 11:39:00 AM

Armed Robber Fatally Shot

(Miami, Florida) An armed, ski-masked man has been shot.

It happened Tuesday evening. The would-be robber pointed the gun at the store clerk at Diaz Groceries at the corner of Southwest 268th Street and 135th Avenue, according to Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4.

The grocery store owner, who was nearby, pulled out a firearm and shot the man, according to police reports.

The man died on his way to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Uh, that's a shame. Hey, just because he was a scum-of-the-Earth armed robber doesn't mean he had to die. After all, Robin Hood was an armed robber and he's trumpeted as a legendary hero.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/31/2007 10:42:00 AM

USS Cole Bomber Freed

It's more than outrage, my cookies are viscerally frosted by the fact that the Yemeni government has freed Jamal Al-Badawi, the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. The reason he has escaped suitable punishment is that the Yemeni government is intimate with al Qaeda.

Jane Novak, America's often-overlooked expert on Yemeni politics, writes:

Jamal Al-Badawi was originally sentenced to death in 2004 as the lead planner of the USS Cole bombing. The sentence was reduced to 15 years. He escaped twice, the last time in February 2006. He has been on the loose since. He spent less than three years physically inside a jail, where, by the way, he was very well treated. One of the FBI's top ten most wanted terrorists; he is currently at home receiving well wishers.

Yemeni President Saleh says openly that he has a truce with al Qaeda. However, it's more than a truce; it's a mutual support pact. That pact is long standing, mutually beneficial, and responsible for much of the carnage around the world, including the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

There's more to the story at The Weekly Standard. Go now, read and you too can have frosted cookies.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/30/2007 07:34:00 PM

Missouri Mom Gets Pregnant by Neighbor Boy, 15

(Rolla, Missouri) A 39-year-old married mother, Melissa Mason, was arrested last week for engaging in a long-term sexual relationship with a 15-year-old neighbor boy. Ultimately, the boy impregnated Mason.

On Friday, Phelps County prosecutors charged Mason with second-degree statutory rape.

According to the Phelps County Sheriff's Department, Mason and the boy were mixing it up for 18 months before she became pregnant.

Mason's husband has petitioned the court for protection of his three children from his wife.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/30/2007 06:14:00 PM

Kucinich on W's Mental Health

From Breitbart:

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush's mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday.

"There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

Remember, Kucinich is the lawmaker who proposed legislation to ban mind-control weapons from outer space, so he probably has some experience with mental health issues.

I haven't heard a response from the White House yet. I'd anticipate something simple and short -- possibly a colorful verb and a pronoun.

Tip: Moustache Charley
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       Following Entry Posted 10/30/2007 05:33:00 PM

Short, Left-Handed Losers Likely Pedophiles

The Canadian Center for Addiction and Mental Health conducted a study which found that pedophiles are more likely men who are short in height, left-handed, low in IQ, poor students and have suffered head injuries.

Sounds like profiling to me.

Tip: Wicked Thoughts
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       Following Entry Posted 10/30/2007 04:53:00 PM

Cambodian PM Jettisons Lesbian Daughter

(Phnom Penh, Cambodia) And so, we see a real life application of "not that there's anything wrong with it."

Cambodia's prime minister said that his adopted daughter is a lesbian and he was severing ties with her, but he urged the country not to discriminate against gays.

"My adopted daughter now has a wife. I'm quite disappointed," Hun Sen said.

Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany adopted their daughter when she was an infant. Now she's a lesbian and he doesn't want anything to do with her.

However, speaking to a graduating class at the National Institute of Education, he said it's wrong to discriminate against homosexuals.

"Most of them are good people and are not doing alcohol, drugs or racing vehicles" like the members of youth gangs, he added.

Too bad, "the racing Cambodian lesbians" kinda nicely rolls off the tongue.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/30/2007 07:36:00 AM

Cleveland Imam Throws in the Towel

(Cleveland, Ohio) To replace Fawaz Damra, the former and now-deported imam of the Cleveland Islamic Center, 38-year-old Ahmed Alzaree, the former spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Omaha, was selected and hired. But that's old news.

Fresh news is that Alzaree has resigned his new position a mere three days before he was scheduled to start.

But no sooner did the mosque announce his hiring than bloggers posted part of a 2003 "end times" sermon in which Alzaree quoted the Prophet Muhammad saying one sign of the approach of the Day of Judgment is that "the Muslims will kill the Jews." Bloggers also reported that Wagdy Ghoneim, a controversial cleric, spoke at the Omaha mosque.

Alzaree said last week that the sermon gave many examples of Islamic teaching on the Day of Judgment and that it was clear that Muslims in the present were required to "strive and struggle in the world doing the good." He also said the administration of the Omaha mosque invited Ghoneim to speak.

As of Thursday afternoon, Alzaree had been planning to come to Cleveland, vowing to make an extra effort to reach out to Jewish and Christian leaders.

But as Web sites such as Central Ohioans Against Terrorism and Jihad Watch continued to probe, using such terms as "two-faced jihadist," Alzaree said he and his wife concluded they could never have a good beginning in Northeast Ohio.

"I leave the field" to the bloggers, he said Monday. "I have peace now."

Therefore, the bloggers did the actual research to determine Alzaree's spiritual underpinnings and he says as much. Note that it wasn't the Cleveland mainstream media who checked out Alzaree. Nor was it the Islamic Center of Cleveland, represented by General Secretary Zahid Siddiqi and President Zuhair Hasan. On the other hand, maybe they're not irritated by "monkeys, pigs and kill the Jews" sermons.

Interestingly, Alzaree was reportedly hired because of his reputed interfaith accomplishments. I guess, in some type of compartmentalized thinking, "kill the Jews" and interfaith peace and tolerance can occur without schizophrenia. But, I'm just guessing. Alternatively, I'd suspect mendacity.

Patrick Poole of Central Ohioans Against Terrorism and Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog should be commended for their work in exposing the skeletons in Alzaree's closet. Go check out their research.

By the way, Alzaree says he's weighing a number of other opportunities. Let's hope his new neighbors do an Internet search on his name.

Others covering the Alzaree story: Little Green Footballs, Jihad Watch, Right Angle Blog

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/30/2007 12:50:00 AM

Dog Shoots Man

(Somewhere in Iowa) Tipped by WW.

A pack of hunting dogs shot an Iowa man as he went to retrieve a fallen pheasant, authorities said.

The victim, 37-year-old James Harris, was hit in the calf and transported to an Iowa City hospital.

In other news, Vice President Dick Cheney was hunting in New York at the time of the Iowa incident.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 11:55:00 PM

Texas Teacher Accused of Sex Acts on Boy, 14

(Spring, Texas) A 32-year-old Dueitt Middle School teacher, Alison Mosbeck, was arrested Friday for allegedly engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old male student. Mosbeck faces three cases of sexual assault of a child and one case of an improper relationship between an educator and a student.

Authorities were alerted after a friend's mother saw a text message that Mosbeck sent to the boy, allegedly asking if he knew where she could get some marijuana.

Court documents said that Mosbeck started a sexual relationship with the boy in November 2006, when Mosbeck took the boy to Pioneer Days, a festival in Humble.

"The defendant was taking the complainant home from Pioneer Days and while in the car, the defendant performed a sex act on the complainant," the court document said.

The affidavit also said, "Mosbeck performed another sex act on the teenager in the cell phone lot on Lee Road near Intercontinental Airport."

She also allegedly drove the boy to two motels where they had sex as recently as March 18, officials said.

Three weeks ago, Mosbeck was placed on administrative leave by the school system and, today, she resigned. A court appearance is scheduled for November 29th. Until then, Mosbeck is free on $80,000 bond.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 04:43:00 PM

Condemned Bali Bombers Get Last Family Visit

(Jakarta, Indonesia) The three Bali bombers on death row have exhausted their appeals and, so far, have refused to be considered for a presidential pardon.

Therefore, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim (aka the smiling assassin), senior Jemaah Islamiah figure Mukhlas (aka Ali Ghufron) and Imam Samudra were visited by their families for, presumably, the last time yesterday.

The families of the terrorists visited Batu Prison, on Nusakambangan Island, dubbed Indonesian's "Alcatraz", for four hours yesterday.

Their lawyer, Achmad Michdan, said the children of Amrozi and Samudra started to cry when they saw their fathers for the first time in more than a year.

"Mukhlas said the family don't need to be saddened by the execution because what they have done is something they truly believe is right," Mr Michdan said.

Amrozi was even more defiant. "People ask me, why am I smiling? I am happy because I will be united with 72 angels in heaven," said Amrozi in an interview.

"In the past I have killed many with my bombs. I have been tested by spending time in this prison, but if you make infidels angry you will (be) rewarded. And soon I will enjoy the fruit of my deeds, if I get executed, God willing."

Amrozi, Mukhlas and Samudra deserve execution. Let us all hope that the Indonesian government follows through. Historically, the legal system has shown a reluctance to carry out meaningful punishment of terrorists.

The actual executions, when and if they occur, won't happen for at least a month. In the interim, the condemned can still request a presidential pardon. I pray that they continue to be smilingly defiant and continue to reject any thought of pardons.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 11:45:00 AM

Public Support for the Military

Check out this story from a combat veteran.

"...I wasn't prepared for what happened today.

As my flight from Cincinnati to Atlanta was beginning its descent, the flight attendant began her normal spiel about landing and gates, and assistance finding your connecting flights and so on. Then she announced that I was on board and on my way back to Afghanistan after spending two weeks with my family.

The plane erupted into applause. I was stunned."

But it doesn't stop there....

"They formed us into a line upstairs at the USO, probably 200 or more of us, and took us downstairs in two long lines. Soldiers and Marines paired two by two in a long line snaked through the airport towards the Army Personnel Command desk to do our formalities. As we wove through the airport, the throngs of travelers began to applaud.

I wasn't prepared for that, either. Again, I struggled not to lose it. It was like cracking the seal on a warm, freshly shaken coke. All the bubbles rush towards the cap, bringing the contents of the bottle along. That's what it felt like. I managed to keep all my fluids contained; but it was another close call."

Heh.

Tip: John Ray
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 11:09:00 AM

No Survey Needed

You don't need a survey to know that the emergency medical field is infected with the humpy-jumpies. Just watch a few television programs.

If romantic fiction is any guide, any doctor looking for love would be advised to be an emergency room surgeon or deliver babies rather than practise colon resection or remove in-grown toenails.

So says Irish physician Brendan Kelly, who -- with a bravura contempt for the effect this endeavour could have on his mind -- has probed at length into the burgeoning literary field of medical romance.

Now, I'm just guessing here, that colon thing might just have some individuals perking.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 10:43:00 AM

Budget Flying

(Hong Kong) Oasis Hong Kong is a budget airline that flies cheap flights to Vancouver and London from Hong Kong. As an example, the Hong Kong-London route costs around $160.

The airline's founders, Priscilla and Raymond Lee, are Christians who are trying to facilitate the exchange of cultures, they say. Consequently, they have offered reduced fares for teachers and the elderly and called their business model a "mission."

Raymond Lee says their model has succeeded because they make their planes work harder, with less time on the ground.

They have also improved fuel efficiency and the long-haul, point-to-point model actually reduces their maintenance costs.

"Make your planes work harder, but working safe," he said.

An investment firm recently plunked down $30 million to help Lee buy 14 secondhand Boeing aircraft to bolster the current fleet of five, which are 10 years old on average.

Second-hand, aging aircraft working harder is an interesting approach. What possibly could go wrong?
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 08:48:00 AM

G.I. Joe No Longer American

Wanna get steamed? I am.

In the world of political correctness and anti-Americanism, G.I. Joe gets a new identity.

The show biz newspaper Variety reports: "G.I. Joe is now a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer."

Kinda "trips off the tongue" says the Cracker Barrel Philosopher.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 08:28:00 AM

Housekeeping

Slow going, readers. I'm still on a borrowed computer through a dialup with no current access to my files. And, blogging time is being restricted since I'm helping with the Weblog Awards at Wizbang.

I'll do my best.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 08:06:00 AM

No Thanks, They Give Me Gas

I believe that sustainability is a worthwhile goal, but I wouldn't want to have my shoes eaten. Nonetheless, someone liked the idea enough to put edible shoes on the market.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/29/2007 07:30:00 AM

Two Americans Found Dead in Hong Kong Hotel

Here's a mystery for you. Two American businessmen were found dead by hotel staff in a room at the luxury $600-per-day Grand Hyatt Hotel on Friday.

The English-language Sunday Morning Post cited a police source as saying the investigation was looking at the possibility the two were drugged, possibly using flunitrazepam, better-known by the brand name Rohypnol.

Other reports have said the men -- only named as Paul and Richard -- were found by cleaning staff with white froth coming out of their mouths and that they returned to the hotel accompanied by two women.

The Standard also said credit card checks had found the two men had visited a number of bars in Hong Kong's red light district Wan Chai the night before they were discovered.

Another source names the victims as Richard Victor, 51, and Paul Cherry, 45. It's not known where they are from in the U.S. A 20-year-old Filipino woman was arrested as a suspect.

The Filipino woman, who had overstayed her visa, was arrested eight hours after the discovery of the men's bodies after police studied closed circuit television footage from the hotel, the newspaper said.

It was not clear if the woman was being held in connection with the killings but the newspaper said the men returned to the hotel before their deaths with one blonde woman and one Thai or Filipino woman.

Police are understood to be investigating whether the two men died after being given lethal doses of the "date rape" drug flunitrazepam, or Rohypnol in a botched robbery.

There was no sign of injuries on the men or ransacking in the room and one was found slumped partially on a chair while the other man was found dead on a bed.

It's not uncommon for Rohypnol, prostitutes and robberies to be linked in Hong Kong. Murder is less common. However, one unsolved case from 2003 where Rohypnol was a factor is the death of a senior Finnish police officer, Kari Juhani Koivuniemi.

I bet Charlie Chan could solve the mystery. Well, any fictional crimefighter could.


[Update 10/30/07]

A Filipino woman and alleged hooker, 20-year-old Michelle Balinigit Callejas, has been arrested in connection with the deaths of Richard Victor and Paul Cherry.

After a credit card trace, she was apprehended at the ShowBiz Club in the Wan Chai entertainment district.

An early post-mortem report showed that Victor died of a heart attack. The cause of death for Cherry is still to be established.

Tests are being conducted to establish whether the men had taken any drugs.

There is a possibility that the men were the victims of an attempted robbery using a date rape drug.

There have been a number of cases in Wan Chai in which escorts have robbed their clients, using drugs to make them unconscious.

Yesterday, Callejas appeared in Eastern Magistrates' Court before Principal Magistrate Garry Tallentire and was charged with breaching her conditions of stay. Apparently, Callejas was only approved to stay through October 26th. She was remanded in custody until November 19th pending further police investigations.

Meanwhile, police are actively searching for another young Filipino woman.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/28/2007 06:16:00 PM

California Wildfires and Rare Species

Debris, ash, toxins and smoke are what remains after the wildfire destruction of rare species habitat. Scott Morrison, a scientist with the Nature Conservancy in San Diego, blames it on people.

"These areas have a tendency to burn too frequently because urban development introduces more and more frequent types of ignition."

At risk is the Thorne's hairstreak butterfly which lives in a tree, the Tecate cypress, that is also at risk.

Geoffrey Smith of Wilderness4all says the risk to the butterfly and its tree can only be eliminated when civilization is kept apart from the habitat. Smith is pushing for 2.5 million acres to be designated as federal wilderness.

Just what we need. Less civilization and more government.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/27/2007 05:00:00 PM

Japanese Schoolgirls Selling Panties

Sen. Larry Craig's alleged restroom malfunction focused attention on public bathroom etiquette. Reportedly, particular stances and toe-tapping are lead-ins to illegal public sex. And, you may recall that singer George Michael also had a restroom malfunction a few years ago.

However, besides Craig's and Michael's alleged malfunctions, there are other types of negotiations occurring in public facilities. Check out this story from the Japanese-language magazine Spa!

Safety and easy accessibility is increasingly transforming toilets for the disabled at Tokyo's railway stations into marketplaces for schoolgirls' panties, according to Spa! (10/23).

Large numbers of high school girls are often seen going into the roomier johns and those in the know say the kind of business they're getting up to is not what normally goes on in public conveniences.

"They're actually engaged in burusera trading inside there," a writer specializing on the adult entertainment world tells Spa! Burusera, of course, is the name given to the panty trade, with the term derived from the manufactured English phrase "bloomer seller."

"Recently," the writer continues, "many of the contact points specified for meetings on burusera sites have been the disabled toilets at railway stations. Girls selling their panties prefer it this way because they don't have to go through burusera shops and can therefore increase their margins."

That's been precisely the case for 17-year-old Maki, a schoolgirl who has been using a disabled toilet at a suburban Tokyo railway station for the past two years as the place to sell her soiled underwear.

"Customers prefer it this way, too, because you never know for sure if the panties you buy at a burusera shop are the real thing. There's always that doubt. And on top of that, buyers pay extra if they see you take off your panties in front of them. We can barter together and I can get somewhere from 5,000 yen to 7,000 yen if I strip off my panties in front of the buyer," Maki tells Spa!

Maki also says it's safer to sell her panties in a public restroom since she can call for help if a scary weirdo shows up.

Frankly, I'd say that all of her customers are weirdos. Nonetheless, you've got to applaud the Japanese schoolgirls, apparently as young as 15 years old, for their entrepreneurship. Buy panties for a couple dollars and sell them for 50 dollars or more is a helluva business.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/27/2007 02:28:00 PM

Tennessee Teacher Arrested for Sex with Male Student

(Nashville, Tennessee) A 25-year-old history teacher at Gallatin High School, Holly Hatcher, was arrested this week for allegedly engaging in sex with a 17-year-old male student.

Hatcher has been charged in adjacent counties (Davidson and Sumner) with multiple counts of statutory rape.

Court documents indicate that Hatcher, who lives in the Donelson area, and the teenager had sex in Gallatin and in Nashville. Police said the pair had sex on six occasions.

Police began investigating her after receiving information from Gallatin police.

On Thursday, Hatcher was released from the Sumner County Jail after posting a $15,000 bond for three counts of statutory rape. Her bond in Nashville was set at $6,000.

Reportedly, Hatcher admitted to engaging in sex with the boy at a Gallatin boat ramp and at her home. She resigned her teaching position on Thursday.


[Update 01/19/08]

A Sumner County grand jury indicts Hatcher on three counts of statutory rape by an authority figure.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/27/2007 06:46:00 AM

Female Teacher Gets 66 Years for Child Molestation

(Corydon, Indiana) A 35-year-old married mother-of-two and substitute teacher for the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated Schools, Jennifer Jacobi, pleaded guilty to multiple child sex crimes last week and was sentenced to 66 years in prison.

Judge Roger D. Davis accepted a plea agreement and sentenced Jacobi to 76 years in prison and suspended 10 of those.

The conviction against Jacobi was for her performing oral sex upon and fondling a child under age 14, said Harrison Deputy Prosecutor Michelle MarQuand. Jacobi had a long-term relationship with a known pedophile incarcerated in Maine and procured a child for him during his visit to Harrison County, MarQuand said. The man, Richard Prado, later committed suicide.

"Her crime in and of itself was terrible, regardless of who did this," MarQuand said. "It was truly a very horrible situation."

MarQuand declined to identify the child's gender or give further details, but said it had nothing to do with Jacobi's former substitute teaching.

"I don't want people to feel alarmed and quiz their kids about what happened," MarQuand said.

Jacobi's attorney, Nicholas Haverstock of Corydon, said that he and his client were satisfied with the outcome considering the situation.

"This sentence gives her a chance to get out of prison before she dies," Haverstock said.

Jacobi still faces sentencing on child molestation charges in federal court. As part of the plea agreement, she will be sentenced to 35 years to run concurrently with her Harrison County sentence. A federal judge must first approve the agreement for it to be valid.

With confidence, I predict that she won't do the full 66 years in the slammer.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/26/2007 11:39:00 PM

Mom Gets Prison for Abandoning Toddlers

(Kallispell, Montana) In September 2007, a 24-year-old local woman, Rachel (aka Rachael) O'Brien, was arrested for abandoning her two young children in squalid conditions for nearly nine hours.

The children, a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, were home alone from 11AM on August 4th, when O'Brien went to work, until after 8PM even though she finished work at 4:30PM. Authorities found the home to be filthy and in dangerous disarray for toddlers. O'Brien claimed that she knew her children would be a mess and need baths so she didn't go home. O'Brien was charged with two counts of felony endangerment.

In the latest development this week, O'Brien has been convicted and sentenced.

O'Brien pleaded guilty in September to two counts of criminal endangerment for neglecting her daughters, ages 2 and 3. She was sentenced to two 10-year prison sentences, both with five years suspended, to run concurrently.

In a plea agreement, she also pleaded guilty to felony theft for stealing jewelry while she was employed as a housekeeper in 2006. She received a concurrent five-year term for the theft.

Her guilty pleas also revoked her probation on a 2004 conviction for writing bad checks. She was re-sentenced to a five-year prison term on that charge, also to run concurrently.

So, if my math is correct, O'Brien will be working off four five-year sentences at the same time. Shucks! She's probably upset that she didn't rob a few banks while she was at it.

Neglect of a two-year-old -- five years. Neglect of a three-year-old -- the same five years. Felony theft -- the same five years. Probation violation on bad check conviction -- the same five years. It appears that the Montana justice system has instituted a five-year plan to minimize prison populations.

By the way, the toddlers are with their father.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/26/2007 11:17:00 PM

Genital Piercing Case Concludes

(Collier County, Florida) Sometime between August and October 2004, a woman became so frustrated with her 13-year-old daughter's sexual behavior that she had the girl's genitals pierced.

The intent was to make the girl's sexual relationships with two adult men, one of which was the mother's 30-year-old boyfriend, much more difficult or impossible. The hope was that she would stop doing it. The piercings consisted of a post and a connected hoop. The mother faced charges of aggravated child abuse with a possible sentence of 30 years in prison.

The mother's trial has concluded and she was acquitted.

A woman who had her 13-year-old daughter's genitalia pierced was acquitted of aggravated child abuse Thursday.

The 39-year-old Naples woman wanted to curb her teen's sex life and the piercing was intended to make intercourse uncomfortable. She also had her daughter's head shaved to make her unattractive to boys.

The five-man, one-woman jury deliberated for about three hours before deciding the woman's actions didn't involve punishment, malicious intent or cause permanent damage or disfigurement.

Judges, on the other hand, had previously rejected two proposed plea agreements as too lenient.

Jurors said they understood what the mother was enduring and decided that she shouldn't be punished for trying to do the right thing. On the other hand, Tattoo Tammy Meredith got a year in jail for doing the piercing. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the mother's boyfriend for engaging in sex with the girl.

Tip: slwlion
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       Following Entry Posted 10/26/2007 08:36:00 AM

Florida Woman Arrested for Sex with Boy

(Jacksonville, Florida) A 30-year-old Clay County woman, Jennifer Romero, was arrested this week for allegedly engaging in sex with a 16-year-old neighborhood boy. According to the 16-year-old, he and Romero were boyfriend and girlfriend.

According to the police report, the boy told officers officers he and the 30 year old have been having "consensual" sex for the last two weeks.

Police say the two were to meet at a gas station in Clay County Tuesday night and run away together.

Police found Romero at her home before the alleged meeting took place.

"It's crazy, just two doors down. This neighborhood is full of kids of all ages," says Tiffany Levalley, Romero's neighbors.

Neighbors say police have been to Romero's home before and they say teenagers have been hanging around the house.

Romero is in custody with bond set at $25,000.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/25/2007 07:46:00 PM

Mom Arrested for Home Alone Children

(Shreveport, Louisiana) A 29-year-old local mother of six children, Kaylar White, was arrested yesterday on child cruelty charges after police found that she had left her children alone in a deplorably-maintained home.

A police officer who was monitoring traffic in a school zone found the children home alone this morning after he heard a child crying and went to the house to investigate.

He knocked on the door of the dingy frame house and one of the children answered, police said. The house had no heat, food or water, it was messy and there were dirty diapers all over the place, police said.

The children, who range in age from 1 to 10, were given food by police and a child protection agent arrived and took them into state custody.

Twenty-nine years old with six kids living in filth. Depressing.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/25/2007 03:50:00 PM

Erie Woman Accused of Sex with Boy, 11

(Erie, Pennsylvania) A 28-year-old local woman, Carrie L. Dana, has been accused of repeatedly engaging in sex with an 11-year-old boy between March and August of this year.

During arraignment before Erie 5th Ward District Judge Joseph Lefaiver, Dana was charged with multiple sex crimes including rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of minors.

It's reported that the Children's Advocacy Center alerted the authorities of the alleged offenses.

Dana was booked into custody at the Erie County Prison with bond set at $50,000.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 7/21/08]

Carrie Dana convicted of sex crimes. Sentencing in August.


[Update 10/31/08]

Carrie Dana sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/25/2007 01:39:00 PM

One Tough Woman

(Pinjarra, Western Australia) A 31-year-old local "skimpy" barmaid at Pinjarra's Premier Hotel, Luana De Faveri, pleaded guilty to violating license conditions under the Liquor Control Act by exposing her breasts on two occasions.

Police say a mobile phone video was obtained that showed De Faveri remove her top, rubbed ice on her nipples and attempt to hang spoons off her breasts on the night of June 7.

On a second occasion in late June, alcohol and drug officers observed De Faveri again expose her breasts when she performed the can-crushing trick.

She was also observed to crush a can between her buttocks.

De Faveri was fined $1,000.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/25/2007 11:49:00 AM

U.S.-Mongolia Shipboarding Pact

The United States has signed a shipboarding pact with Mongolia which allows Mongolian ships to be boarded and searched if they are suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction. Since Mongolia is landlocked and calls the Gobi Desert home, the pact might seem unnecessary. However,

[I]ts tiny merchant marine is recognized as one of 32 "flag of convenience" countries by international maritime authorities.

The U.S.-Mongolia shipboarding pact, the eighth signed between the United States and usually coastal or island nations, is designed to cover those Mongolian-flagged ships in international waters that might be used by other countries, notably North Korea, to disguise cargos of illegal weaponry, U.S. officials said.

Makes sense to me.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/25/2007 10:35:00 AM

Saudis Behead Two Pakistanis

(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) With a wide sweep of a sharp and heavy sword, the Saudis regularly behead those convicted of rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.

Earlier today, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced that two Pakistanis got lopped.

Bakhityar Khan was executed in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for drug smuggling, while Shahid Jameel was also put to death in the city for murder, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

Their executions took to 126 the number of people put to death by Saudi Arabia this year, outstripping the previous record of 113 during all of 2000.

Last year 37 people were beheaded.

Meanwhile in the U.S., legal proceedings are pending or in process regarding the inhumanity and cruelty of inserting a needle in a condemned criminal's arm.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/25/2007 09:43:00 AM

Naked Hotel Sleepwalkers

Well, I guess it's an affliction.

Workers at a chain of budget hotels are being given advice on how to deal with naked sleepwalkers.

It follows an increase in the number of guests found wandering around in the night with no clothes on.

A study by Travelodge found there had been more than 400 cases in the past year, almost all involving men.

Sleep experts blame stress, alcohol abuse and lack of sleep for the disorder.

The research, conducted in 310 Travelodge hotels, found sleepwalkers wandered all over the building.

More than 400 naked men walking around 310 hotels means each place has at least one, on average. I think I'll stay at the Holiday Inn.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/25/2007 08:53:00 AM

Texas Teach Pinched for Tampering with Boy Witness

(Denton, Texas) In July 2007, a 7th-grade English teacher at Strickland Middle School, Lauren Cosgrove, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual relations with a 13-year-old male student of hers that she was also babysitting.

Married and the mother of two, Cosgrove faces two counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child. She was booked into custody at the Denton City Jail and released on $20,000 bond. The Denton County grand jury is expected to review the case soon.

Meanwhile, it seems that 29-year-old Cosgrove has been attempting to contact the boy which is contrary to the terms of her release.

Detective Shane Kizer said Cosgrove was admonished not to contact the boy. But two days later, one of the boy's friends called him and began trying to talk to him about the case. The victim handed the telephone to his mother, Kizer said, and she learned from the friend that Cosgrove had asked him to set up a three-way call so she could talk to the boy without her number appearing on caller ID.

"She wanted to tell him what to say to make things better for her in court," Kizer said.

Because the victim and his family were suffering from intense publicity in the case, they agreed it would be better not to file more charges just then, he said.

"But there are circumstances that point to her trying to contact him on the Internet," Kizer said. "And about two weeks ago, she called his cellphone."

Kizer said the call upset the boy, who no longer wants to be contacted by Cosgrove. At that time, Kizer decided to file the charge of tampering with a witness.

As a consequence, Cosgrove surrendered to police early yesterday to face the new charges. Around 4PM, she was released on $5,000 bail.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 12/9/08]

Cosgrove arrested again for tampering with a witness.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/24/2007 07:30:00 PM

Lose Child Custody for Not Teaching Homosexuality

The United Kingdom has officially jumped the shark in assuring the welfare of foster children and, by logical extension, all children.

According to the new Sexual Orientation Regulations of the Equality Act 2006, foster parents are required to sign a formal contract with the government which specifies that children aged 11 and older will be taught that homosexuality is equivalent to heterosexuality. Also included are provisions for adolescent teens to attend homosexual association meetings.

Foster parents who refuse to sign the contract will be expelled from the register of approved foster parents and custody of their children will be taken away. Therefore, the furtherance of the homosexual agenda in society is more important than giving children the best possible care.

One might think that the UK has an overabundance of foster parents waiting for children and qualified people can be easily jettisoned. Untrue! In fact, there's a gaping shortage of foster caregivers.

But it doesn't make a difference. In 21st Century Britain, homosexuality trumps everything, even the well-being of children.

Tip: Travis Evans
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       Following Entry Posted 10/24/2007 01:11:00 PM

Boozing Elephants Electrocuted

As fiction, no one would find this story plausible.

GAUHATI, India -- Six Asiatic wild elephants were electrocuted as they went berserk after drinking rice beer in India's remote northeast, a wildlife official said Tuesday.

Nearly 40 elephants came to a village on Friday looking for food. Some found beer, which farmers ferment and keep in plastic and tin drums in their huts, said Sunil Kumar, a state wildlife official.

They got drunk, uprooted a utility pole carrying power lines and were electrocuted in Chandan Nukat, a village nearly 150 miles west of Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya state, Kumar said.

"There would have been more casualties had the villagers not chased them away," said Dipu Mark, a local conservationist.

The elephants are known to have a taste for rice beer brewed by tribal communities in India's northeast. Four wild elephants died in similar circumstances in the region three years ago.

As non-fiction, one has to wonder how much beer it takes to get 40 elephants drunk. Not only that, but what does one do with six rotting elephant carcasses in a village with no electricity? Well, I don't know but if you answer correctly, you're automatically accepted into the Peace Corps.

Tip: Charlie N.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/24/2007 07:53:00 AM

Peruvian Woman Accused of Child Rape in NY

(Akron, New York) A 26-year-old Peruvian woman, Carol C. Tello, has been arrested for allegedly engaging in a long-term sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy. Tello was charged with five counts of rape, one count of sexual criminal act and six counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Last week, she was arraigned in Akron Village Court. Tello was then booked into custody at the Erie County Holding Center with bail set at $100,000. She was also ordered to surrender her passport.

Tello reportedly married a U.S. citizen only recently and is living on a visa. Call me cynical, but I would question the level of death-do-us-part attachment she has for her newlywed husband. If a 14-year-old has been giving Tello the warm and fuzzies, it's hard to imagine that there would be time or inclination for a courtship, engagement and marriage to another. But, then again, some people have been known to marry simply for a green card.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/24/2007 07:40:00 AM

Microwaved Baby Case

(Galveston, Texas) In May 2007, a 19-year-old father, Joshua Mauldin of Hermitage, Arkansas, was indicted for allegedly placing his two-month-old daughter in a microwave oven and inflicting third-degree burns.

Mauldin later told police he and his family had just arrived in Galveston, where he had hoped to enter the ministry. Left alone with the infant, he reportedly punched the child, placed her into the hotel-room safe and then into the refrigerator before putting the baby in the microwave for at least 10 to 20 seconds.

Mauldin was charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily harm, a crime punishable by a possible 99-year prison term upon conviction.

Doctors had to take skin from the back of the child's head and graft it onto the left side of her face, which suffered third-degree burns. The baby girl has been placed with relatives and is recovering. Joshua Mauldin and his wife, Eva, are barred from having any contact with their daughter.

In the latest development, defense attorney Sam Cammack III said Joshua Mauldin, now 20, will seek to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. A notice of intent to plead insanity has been filed.

Mauldin has previous arrests for battery and violation of a protective order. A high school acquaintance characterized Mauldin as the perennial loner.

Mauldin is scheduled for trial in March 2008.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/24/2007 05:31:00 AM

Woman, Sex, Drugs, Girl, Videotape, Prison

(Orleans County, New York) Last week, a 26-year-old Waterport woman, Wanda Edkins, was sentenced to one to three years in prison for sex crimes committed against a 16-year-old girl.

Along with her fiance, 44-year-old Michael Sands, Edkins plied the girl with drugs and alcohol and then proceeded to jump her bones. Being seemingly unencumbered by moral or legal technicalities, Edkins and Sands also videotaped the sex acts on the girl.

Sands will be sentenced at a later date.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/23/2007 05:57:00 PM

Judge Bars Fingerprint Evidence in Murder Trial

(Baltimore, Maryland) Well, here's a case where someone has decided to throw sand into the gearbox. With a couple of botched cases as her bases, Judge Susan M. Souder has barred fingerprint evidence from being used to convict a suspect in the murder of Warren T. Fleming.

A Baltimore County judge has ruled that fingerprint evidence, a mainstay of forensics for nearly a century, is not reliable enough to be used against a homicide defendant facing a possible death sentence - a finding that national experts described yesterday as unprecedented and potentially far-reaching.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Susan M. Souder's order bars prosecutors from using at trial the partial fingerprints lifted from the Mercedes of a Security Square Mall merchant who was fatally shot last year during an attempted carjacking at the shopping center. Prosecutors say the fingerprints - as well as those found in a stolen Dodge Intrepid in which witnesses said the shooter fled the mall parking lot - link a 23-year-old Baltimore man to the killing.

In her ruling, Souder outlined the long history of fingerprinting as a crime-solving tool but says that such history "does not by itself support the decision to admit it." In explaining her reasoning in a 32-page decision, the judge leaned heavily on the case of an Oregon lawyer mistakenly linked through fingerprint analysis to the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

Granted, there have been mistakes. Hopefully, incidents are proven to be extremely rare. Generally, Judge Souder is known to be critical of fingerprinting methods and testing of examiners. She explains her decision to disallow the fingerprints in a 32-page ruling.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/23/2007 02:49:00 PM

Power Blackouts in Zimbabwe

(Harare, Zimbabwe) One has to wonder how much longer the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe can survive before there's a total loss of control.

Some suburbs in Harare have gone for 10 days without power in one of the worst cuts to hit the Zimbabwean capital for months, reports said.

The blackout has hit the traditionally more affluent northern suburbs including Avondale and Belgravia, where many embassies are located. Hospitals, including the main Parirenyatwa Hospital and the private Avenues Clinic have been badly affected, separate reports say.

The official Herald newspaper said the areas were cut off after a massive fault on a high-voltage cable and warned the blackouts could last until the weekend.

Couple the massive fault with the fact that Zimbabwe hasn't been paying its debts to South Africa and Mozambique, so those supplies of electricity have been severed. To get by, firewood is being used for cooking and heating and perishable foodstuffs have been thrown out and not reordered.

Not surprisingly, police-state socialism has produced the usual and expected result -- evenly-distributed abject poverty.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/23/2007 01:11:00 PM

First Malaysian Submarine Launched

(Cherbourg, France) Malaysia's first submarine, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, was launched today in the port of Cherbourg. Named after Malaysia's first prime minister, the KD Tunku Abdul Rahman is the first of two Scorpene-class submarines to be delivered to the Royal Malaysian Navy.

In keeping with maritime tradition, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor broke a bottle of water against the submarine's sail to signify the official launching and naming of the vessel.

The Deputy Prime Minister's wife then unveiled a plaque with the submarine's name and called upon "Allah to bless her and all who serve and sail with her".

The reportedly stealthy Scorpene-class submarines are diesel-electric propelled with a crew of 31. The KD Tunku Abdul Rahman is expected to begin service in early 2009.

Frankly, that maritime tradition of breaking a bottle of water is news to me. I thought a bottle of champagne was customarily used.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/23/2007 11:57:00 AM

Florida Air Base Attacked

(Homestead, Florida) A 22-year-old mentally-ill math teacher at Miami Central High School, Tahmeed Ahmad, was arrested by federal authorities after attacking Homestead Air Reserve Base guards with butcher knives and vodka bottles while yelling "Death to America" and "I want to kill soldiers."

Strangely, despite his rather aggressive and unfriendly actions, Ahmad is not considered to be a terrorist.

Rather, the Miami Central High School math teacher wanted to "commit suicide by cop" when he attacked military policemen stationed at the west gate just before midnight Sunday, the FBI said.

Ahmad did not get his wish. One officer fired his handgun at Ahmad. He missed.

"We take security very seriously at the base, but this was quite an unusual event," said Lt. Col. Tom Davis, a base spokesman. "Our security forces are well trained and responded appropriately."

Police quickly arrested Ahmad, 22, whose mother says is mentally ill and had recently been in a mental institution. The FBI charged him Monday with assaulting a U.S. government employee.

It appears that the authorities want to downplay the importance of the incident because poor Ahmad was depressed and sad and has mental problems.

Frankly, I would disagree with that approach. Ahmad is a young man of Arab descent who attacked an American military installation with weapons and explosives and a desire to commit suicide in the process. How's that different from any other terrorist?

The fact that Ahmad was inept in his first attempt at inflicting "Death to America" doesn't mean he should be given another chance. He should be watched closely for a long time and not given an opportunity to demonstrate any newly acquired skills.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/23/2007 07:13:00 AM

Human Flesh Tastes Like Pork

(Kassel, Germany) On March 10, 2001, Armin Meiwes, a 42-year-old computer technician, killed Bernd Juergen Brandes, a 43-year-old Berlin engineer. Then Meiwes consumed Brandes after preparing him with salt, pepper, garlic and nutmeg. By the time Meiwes was arrested, he had eaten more than 40 pounds-worth of Brandes.

Meiwes admitted that he killed Brandes and was convicted of murder in Kassel County Court. However, he maintains that he is innocent because Brandes wanted to die. Both were involved in a cult-like cannibalism group on the Internet where the suicidal meet the hungry.

Police estimate that around 10,000 people in Germany alone share Meiwes' fascination with cannibalism -- either eating human flesh or being eaten.

Meiwes, serving his sentence in a prison in Kassel, central Germany, could be eligible for parole after serving a mandatory 15 years in jail.

A psychiatric examination conducted ahead of his trials concluded that he is not insane but has a "severely disturbed soul."

Last week, Meiwes, now 46, gave a television interview and revealed that human flesh tasted like pork. He also described his life-long fascination with the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" where a witch cooks and eats Hansel.

"You wouldn't believe how many Hansels are whizzing around the Internet," he said.

Holy moly! You really have to wonder how people can get so screwed up.

I also wonder what the Islamosplodies think about their pieces parts taking on the characteristics of pork after experiencing the flames and high temperatures in a suicide belt detonation. Maybe they don't know that a cooked jihadi tastes like pork.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/23/2007 05:45:00 AM

No Altering Birth Cert After Sex Change

(Manila, Philippines) The Philippine Supreme Court says that birth certificates will not be revised to accommodate biological changes resulting from elective surgery.

The high tribunal issued the ruling following a plea by a 45-year-old Filipino man to alter his birth records after becoming a woman through a sex-change operation in Bangkok five years ago.

The petitioner wanted to change his gender and name in his birth certificate to reflect her transformation so she can marry her American boyfriend.

The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the man's request was not possible at this time in the predominantly Catholic Philippines.

"Under the Civil Registrar Law, a birth certificate is a historical record of the facts as they existed at the time of birth," the court ruling said. "Thus, the sex of a person is determined at birth, visually done by the birth attendant by examining the genitals of the infant."

Makes sense to me. The birth certificate is a snapshot at a point in time. What the transgender types need is a rebirth certificate which could be appended to the actual birth certificate. That would also allow for those cases where people decide to change their sex more than once.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/23/2007 05:33:00 AM

Decomposing Baby Found, Mother Charged with Murder

(Spring Lake, North Carolina) A soldier, Ronald Earl Creech II, returned home last Friday from deployment in Iraq to find his baby daughter missing. The mother, 25-year-old Johni Michelle Heuser, said the last time she saw 11-month-old Harmony Creech was on Thursday. Authorities were notified and an Amber Alert was issued.

The alert was called off after the body was found.

When officers arrived at the home of the girl's mother, they found the window of the baby's room open, the screen on the ground and most of Harmony's clothes missing.

But after authorities found Harmony's remains, Heuser changed her story and said she found the infant dead several weeks ago but didn't tell anyone and panicked.

So, for weeks the body of baby Harmony was decomposing in the attic and the mother was silent. Heuser was charged with first-degree murder.

Heuser's neighbors say her daughter Harmony's disappearance sounded fishy from the start. "Initially, I felt there was foul play involved but I felt also that it was someone they knew," said Stacie Siebert. "I felt it was an inside job from the beginning."

Siebert says Harmony's death is shocking. She says finding out the missing girl was dead all along, during the extensive search for her, is mind boggling. "She could have stopped it at anytime," Siebert added.

Sad, sad story. A father returns from duty in Iraq to learn that his baby girl is dead, possibly murdered by her mother. He enjoys none of the anticipated warm hugs and kisses, just the feeling that his guts have been ripped apart.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/22/2007 11:38:00 PM

NC PTA Embezzled

(Cumberland County, North Carolina) A 37-year-old former Parent Teacher Association President, Lesia Marie Gunn , was arrested today for allegedly writing and forging checks on the account of the Warrenwood Elementary School PTA.

In a press release from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department, a school audit found that a total of $9,255 could not be accounted for.

Gunn was booked into custody at the Cumberland County Detention Center and released on her own recognizance.

One source reports that the money was used for cocaine buys.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/22/2007 09:06:00 AM

The End of the World

(London, England) Put the government in the health business and this is what happens -- parents get officially warned about their fat kids.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said last week that obesity in Britain could lead to a "potential crisis on the scale of climate change."

Presumably, parents who ignore the warnings will be fined or have their pictures posted on a national obesity registry or something. Since the government is involved, continued infractions of the fat standards may lead to parents losing custody of their children to state-run behavior and nutrition camps.

Nonetheless, it seems odd that British obesity is being linked to climate change. The only thing I can figure is that the fat kids in Britain will cause a gravitional anomaly which affects weather patterns and changes the climate. Maybe the Earth's rotation would adopt a wobble. In any event, it's logical to speculate that now we'll see television commercials admonishing fat kids to quit eating or the polar ice caps will melt.

And, of course, as soon as the British Obesity Registry is published, individuals listed will be subjected to public ridicule and discrimination by business and government. But discrimination isn't an important issue when obesity rivals climate change.

From a personal perspective, it would be nice if all the end-of-the-world alarms came with some guidance on how to react. I was planning on moving to northern Canada to avoid the ash and dust soon to be blasted into the atmosphere by the Yellowstone Super Volcano. Prevailing winds will carry the volcanic effluent right to my Ohio doorstep. But the global warming alarm sounded and I figured I needed a boat even if I went to northern Canada. Glaciers and ice caps are melting and everything will soon be flooded.

Even so, I can't forget that the pandemic bird flu is coming so I have to consider that there likely won't be any prompt medical care in northern Canada. Therefore, I figured that I have to stockpile adequate medical supplies to fight the bird flu and also for the new bacteria set to wipe out mankind, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). It seems I'll need a large supply of disease-fighting drugs.

Finalizing my plans has been complicated by the fact that there's a monster tsunami set to totally destroy the eastern seaboard of the U.S. The island of La Palma in the Canary Islands off of Africa is predicted to split in two and create a mega-tsunami with waves up to 300 feet high. This tells me that I must stockpile foodstuffs. Three-hundred foot waves will wipe out New York, Boston, New Orleans, Houston and other centers for production and distribution of food.

I've additionally revised my plans after learning that a few dinosaur-killer chunks of space debris are predicted to possibly impact the Earth in the next decades. Now, with space chunks sized at a few football fields and traveling at tens of thousands of miles per hour, my thinking is that I need a cave to survive. Along with the global warming and the mega-tsunami, I need a cave fairly high up on a mountain.

Consequently, I'm looking for just such a cave and it must be big enough for my boat and tons of stores. I'm thinking that canned goods along with pallets of sacked wheat and corn should last a few years. I might have a problem getting enough corn since it's now being used for fuel instead of food. Prices are high.

As an aside, more than one grandpappy was put in jail for making fuel out of corn. They were called moonshiners in the past but, really, they were pioneers in alternative fuel technology. Somebody should sue.

All in all, however, the scarcity of corn may have its positive side -- an abundance of drinking alcohol.

In summary, if your kid is chunky in the UK, expect a warning letter from Big Brother. Don't expect any of the end-of-the-world alarmists to provide guidance on what to do first or what's the most scary. Everyone is competing in the annihilation business.

Lastly, suckers, when all is said and destroyed. After the globe has warmed, tsunamis have waved, super volcanoes have kaboomed, diseases have decimated, world water has dried up, ocean fish stocks have depleted, all the oil is gone, all the corn has been turned into liquor and the predicted Katy-bar-the-dinosaur asteroid has hit Earth, I can be reached at Big Cave, High Mountain, Far North, Canada. I'll leave a light on.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/21/2007 11:34:00 PM

Teacher Accused of Giving Drugs to Students

(Klamath Falls, Oregon) A 38-year-old special education teacher at Mazama High School, Barbara Trotta, was arrested this week for allegedly providing drugs to students. Investigators believe that Trotta provided prescription pain pills to at least three students over a two-year period. A student alerted the authorities last Wednesday.

Investigators said they believed Trotta facilitated the purchase of additional drugs by excusing at least one student from class and allowing the student the use of her car.

Trotta is lodged at the Klamath County Jail on charges of delivery of a controlled substance to a minor and within 1,000 feet of a school, criminal mistreatment, official misconduct and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Trotta's bail has been set at $100,000.

History shows that sex can sometimes be obtained from teachers and here we have a case where it appears that drugs can also be obtained. Next I suppose we'll see rock and roll.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/21/2007 08:59:00 AM

Racist Rednecks Elect Indian-American as Governor

(Baton Rouge, Louisiana) The secular liberal progressive leftists have to be scratching their heads. A male Republican, non-white, first-generation descended from ethnic immigrants, was elected governor of the deep-south, presumably redneck and racist, state of Louisiana.

Congratulations! Governor Bobby Jindal!

By winning more than 50 percent of the primary vote against a field of 12 candidates, Jindal became the first candidate to win an open gubernatorial seat since Louisiana adopted its nonpartisan primary system in 1975. Buddy Roemer was elected governor in 1987 when incumbent Edwin Edwards dropped out after trailing in the primary. Jindal also is the first member of an ethnic minority to become the state's chief executive since Reconstruction.

The 36-year-old Jindal becomes the nation's youngest governor and the first chief executive of any state who is of Indian-American descent. When he officially takes over from Gov. Kathleen Blanco in January he will be the second-youngest person to serve in that office after Huey P. Long, who was 35 when voters first elected him in 1928.

I predict that Jindal will do plenty of good for Louisiana.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/21/2007 08:49:00 AM

Woman Gets Prison for Risking HIV to Others

(St. Charles, Missouri) In February 2006, a 26-year-old mother of four, Angela D. Harris, was arraigned before Circuit Judge Jon Cunningham on three felony counts of recklessly risking another person with HIV infection.

Harris became HIV-positive around the age of 14 and has since had many sex partners. Harris' mother, Cathy Lenceski, estimates that her daughter has had sex with as many as 100 people in the last few years. It's not clear how many knew they were at risk of acquiring HIV.

Lenceski fears that Harris will continue infecting people is she's not stopped. Not unexpected has been an increased number of inquiries regarding HIV testing since the Harris story hit the media.

Last month, Harris, now 27, pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly and recklessly risking infection of another person with HIV. Although Harris' mother said her daughter may have infected as many as 100 men, Harris later claimed it was more like 20 to 50 men. However, Harris was only able to provide 10 names and the authorities could only find three, one being HIV positive but no way of proving how he acquired it.

Nevertheless, this week Harris was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 10 years in prison. According to defense attorney Deborah J. Alessi, Harris could be paroled in as few as four years.

Companion post at Conservative Thinking.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/20/2007 12:14:00 PM

Home-School Teacher Accused of Molesting Boy

(Van Nuys, California) A 40-year-old home-schooling teacher, Meredith Johnson Vincent, was arrested this week for allegedly molesting a 14-year-old male student. The molestation allegedly occurred over the last few months.

Vincent is associated with a private home-schooling group so it doesn't appear that the alleged molestation involved a child related to her.

The District Attorney's Office said it has filed 14 felony counts of child molestation against Vincent, consisting of seven counts of sodomy of a person under 16, four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and three counts of sending harmful matter.

Vincent, a married mother of three, was booked into custody with bail set at $550,000.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/20/2007 09:25:00 AM

Florida Babysitter and Boy, 5

Lee County, Florida) A 16-year-old South Fort Myers girl, Brittany Veres, was arrested this week for allegedly engaging in oral sex with a five-year-old boy.

The boy's mother reported his claims last week to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, sparking an investigation that included interviews with the boy and his teenage babysitter, Brittany Veres, authorities said. Veres, of [DELETED], was arrested Wednesday after her interview.

Veres faces a charge of sexual battery.

Just curious, but does anyone think that this case deserves inclusion in the Bill Clinton legacy? It should be if one believes that oral sex isn't really sex at all but rather an alternative babysitting style.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 10/21/07]

Revised to incorporate comments and concerns regarding Veres' address and pic.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/20/2007 09:17:00 AM

Saudis Name Streets, Put Up Mailboxes

(Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched a program which will place the country in sync with most of the globe. Streets will receive names, buildings will be numbered and mailboxes will be installed.
The head of Jeddah's Naming & Numbering Department, Husain Al Hijari, said the system will remove confusion and allow for home mail delivery.

Al Hijari explained that under the new system, main thoroughfares are called 'roads' and smaller routes will be 'streets'.

Some major streets have been renamed. For example, Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz Street (more commonly known as Tahliah Street) is now Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz Road. The same change was made to all major routes, such as Prince Majed Road, Sari Road and Palestine Road.

"According to the plan 16 'streets' around the city have been changed into 'roads', which are also being numbered and tagged with different signs. Each sign, which is decorated in traditional Hijazi (western Saudi Arabian) motifs, will have a number that will indicate what section of a particular stretch of road is located in what part of the city.

Each road will get its own distinct logo that will also be on the sign to help drivers know the street and the part of the city they are in. Numbers with two digits will grace roads running parallel to the coastline (roughly north-south) while numbers with single digits will be used on roads running perpendicular to the coastline (east-west).

"This would make it easy for everyone to locate the geographical path that they are driving on," he said.

The city will be divided into four quarters that will meet at the Al Bai'ah roundabout in downtown Jeddah. Each quarter will be divided into four sub-sections. Residences will get a more formal numbering system that will ascend out from the city centre. This will make it easier for residents, especially in apartment buildings, to know their residential mailing address once the new Saudi postal system goes into full swing.

Everybody got that? Frankly, I think it's confusing.

Interestingly though, at about the same time that snail mail is being replaced by email, the Saudis are getting mailboxes.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/19/2007 11:25:00 PM

Another Teacher Gets Hand Slap for Sex with Boy

(West Valley City, Utah) In July 2007, a 33-year-old former English teacher at Cyprus High School, Christy Anne Brown, was arrested after allegedly being caught in flagrante delicto in a parked car with a 16-year-old student in the wee hours one morning.

After investigation, it was found that Brown had sex with the boy nearly 50 times.

In August 2007, Brown pleaded guilty to three counts of felony forcible sexual abuse before Third District Judge Tyrone Medley.

Today, Christy Anne Brown was sentenced to probation.

A former Utah high school teacher avoided jail time on Friday, instead being sentenced to serve three years of probation for having sex nearly 50 times with a 16-year-old boy.

Christy Anne Brown, 33, had pleaded guilty to having sex with one of her students while she was an English teacher at Cyprus High School in Magna. But despite a recommendation for some jail time by Adult Probation and Parole officials, the judge decided that a probationary term was enough.

"What is of primary importance to me is that [the boy] is doing well," said Third District Judge Stephen Henroid, who added that the punishment Brown is putting herself through is a sufficient consequence for her actions.

"Now, now, little lady! Don't you go being too hard on yourself, ya' hear? Move along now and take care."

Boy! Did I call this one or what? I said it would be historic if Brown got anything more than probation and nothing historic happened. It appears that the justice system in Utah is edging closer to dispelling any pretense of punishing female child sex offenders. Hell, in this case, it appears that the court just stepped aside and allowed Brown to punish herself.

Nevertheless, Christy Anne Brown won't be Utah's problem anymore. She's moving to Texas. And, as a shout out to female teachers in the other 49 states, if you like to diddle with those who are little, pedal yourselves to Utah. You too can mix it up dozens of times with youngsters, punish yourselves for being bad, bad teachers and then skip to another state. What a country!

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/19/2007 12:10:00 AM

California Teacher Guilty of Sex with Schoolgirl

(Aliso Viejo, California) In March 2007, a 36-year-old former middle school teacher, Michelle Antoinette Rossi, was arrested for allegedly engaging in a year-long inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old female student nine years ago.

The molestation occurred between September 1998 and August 1999, when Rossi was an Arrowview Middle School math teacher and the student was 14 and 15, according to court records.

The former student alerted San Bernardino investigators of the inappropriate relationship and Orange County deputies made the arrest. Rossi was charged with 12 counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child and booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Yesterday, Rossi pleaded no contest to two counts of lewd acts on a child in accordance with a plea deal. In exchange, the prosecution dropped 10 other counts of lewd and lascivious acts.

Under the agreement, Rossi, now 37, must serve 180 days in jail plus five years probation. Rossi also permanently loses her teaching credentials and must register as a sex offender.

Dressed in a black pant-suit, a subdued Rossi quietly answered "yes" and "no" to Superior Court Judge James Dorr's questions as he went over the plea agreement in court.

Dorr told Rossi she could serve her jail sentence on weekends or at home with an electronic monitoring device.

So, after all is said and done, the 180 days in jail turns out to be 180 days at home -- for engaging in a year-long sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Jeez, I just can't help but think that a male teacher would have been hammered for that specific offense.

Formal sentencing is scheduled for November 2nd.


[Update 11/21/07]

Rossi sentenced.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/18/2007 05:05:00 PM

Drunken Woman Accused of Sex with Boy

(Lubbock, Texas) A 33-year-old local woman, Shawna Dickerson, was indicted by a grand jury this week on one count of sexual assault for allegedly performing oral sex on a 14-year-old boy.

According to court documents, the boy was visiting his aunt when he was sexually assaulted.

The boy went to a party with his aunt, whom he said he was not close to, and said he was served alcohol and given marijuana.

His aunt, according to court documents, mixed him at least three drinks and allowed him to take "several hits" of a marijuana cigarette at the July 28 party.

In the early morning hours of July 29, the boy, his aunt, Dickerson and an another woman left the party in a red Chevrolet Blazer.

The boy said he passed out in the back seat and when he came to, Dickerson was performing oral sex on him.

Dickerson said she was so drunk that she doesn't remember what she was doing.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/18/2007 04:32:00 PM

On Being Equal

Here are some remarks from a noted scientist.

LONDON - London's Science Museum canceled a Friday talk by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson after the co-discoverer of DNA's structure told a newspaper that Africans and Europeans had different levels of intelligence.

James Watson provoked widespread outrage with his comments to The Sunday Times, which quoted the 79-year-old American as saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really."

Heh.

Tip: slwlion
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       Following Entry Posted 10/18/2007 12:14:00 PM

Michigan Teach on Trial for Molestation

(Cheboygan, Michigan) In May 2007, a 31-year-old former private school teacher, Deana Louise Luedtke, was arraigned for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old male student at Cornerstone Christian School. Luedtke was charged with multiple counts of third-degree and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The boy victim told police he and Luedtke had a sexual relationship between December 2002 and March 2003.

Yesterday at trial, before a jury of seven women and six men, the prosecution presented its case.

Luedtke was characterized as "beautiful, a hot woman among the guys at school" by the student, who baby-sat for Luedtke and visited the teacher's home - since his mother was friends with Luedtke - and used her hot tub.

During testimony before 53rd Circuit Court Judge Scott L. Pavlich, the alleged victim, now in basic training with the Armed Forces, described several instances of physical contact with the teacher that ranged from "kissing and a lot of rubbing" to sexual intercourse.

The man said the first occasion of alleged impropriety occurred when he was invited by a friend to attend a dance at Cheboygan Area High School and was dressed up for the occasion. He said that Luedtke came to his house to check on him at the request of his mother, who was out of town at his sister's hockey tournament. He said that he had music playing and subsequently asked her to dance. When she complied, he said they began kissing and it led to caressing and rubbing of each other's genital areas. He said that Luedtke then asked him to expose himself, and he complied. He said that Luedtke stopped him and said that she was on her menstrual period, adding that her children were out in the car.

The plaintiff told the court that on another occasion she invited him and one of his female friends to clean a cabin that she owned.

"She kept trying to kiss me and her husband came back that night and scared the holy crap out of me," he testified. "I was afraid he would find out. She kissed me in the bedroom and it didn't go any farther than that. When her husband got there, I sat next to my friend because I was so nervous about him."

However, the man said that Luedtke later took both students home, and after dropping the friend off first, the pair mutually participated in sex acts while her children slept in the back of the car.

So far, there's nothing to indicate that Luedtke suffered from an unfortunate lapse in judgment, rather it appears she engaged in a planned cascade of child-sex episodes.

The defense is expected to present its arguments today. Reportedly, attorney Mitchell H. Nelson will call Luedtke to testify.


[Update 10/22/07]

Luedtke acquitted of all charges. The jury apparently believed the boy was not completely truthful in his testimony.

"The jury was able to see that he (the plaintiff, who is now 18 years old) was not speaking the truth - it was fantasy," said defense attorney Mitchell Nelson. "I thought the key was the jury's decision on the two counts that he said took place in the car. Once you began questioning those the rest of it didn't make sense."

Heh.

[Correction: Luedtke was acquitted of four out of five charges with the jury deadlocked on the fifth.]
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       Following Entry Posted 10/18/2007 10:20:00 AM

Counterfeit Tequila

(Mexico City) The popularity of tequila has exploded in the last couple of decades and caused a flood of counterfeiters. Currently, the Mexican government only allows the tequila name to be used for 735 brands of blue agave liquor from 118 companies in Mexico. Anything outside that realm cannot be called tequila or political, legal and law enforcement action can be expected.

Unfortunately, the Mexican Tequila Regulatory Council has had to chase fake tequila-makers throughout Mexico and the world.

Tequila makers said they also are spotting knockoff liquors in other countries.

Complaints from the Mexican government forced a South African company, Agave Distillers Limited, to stop using the tequila name for the Agava liquor it began producing in 2002. The company acknowledges Agava is a tequila look-alike.

"The final product is virtually indistinguishable and in some ways superior to its Mexican counterpart," the company's Web site boasts.

The council said it has found fake tequilas across South America, Europe, Australia and the United States. In Britain, one company even put the tequila name on bottles of paint thinner, the council said.

To fight counterfeiters, the tequila council has hired detectives to comb bars and grocery shelves worldwide, he said. When they find knockoff tequila, the council contacts Mexican embassies, foreign governments and law firms to put pressure on the producers.

Paint thinner! Crikey!

"Have a go, mate?" (cough, cough) "It's SMOO-O-OOTH!"
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       Following Entry Posted 10/17/2007 11:39:00 PM

Former Cheer Coach Gets Jail in Sex Case

((Jupiter, Florida) In September 2006, 22-year-old cheerleading coach and Christian school assistant, Colleen N. Grear, was arrested and charged with sex assault of a 14-year-old boy she seduced through MySpace.com.

Grear was charged with one count of using a computer to seduce or solicit a child and three counts of sexual assault of a child under age 18.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Grear allegedly met the boy at least three times and had sex with him at least once. The inappropriate behavior was discovered by the boy's mother who alerted the police.

In the latest development,

On Wednesday, Grear, now 23, pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious battery, agreeing to spend a year in the county jail followed by two years on house arrest and then 10 years on sex offender probation. She faced a maximum prison term of 15 years.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Krista Marx ordered Grear to register as a sex offender.

Being placed on sex offender probation carries special conditions regular probationers don't have, such as being prohibited from living within 1,000-feet of a park, school or playground and barring contact with children under 18.

Grear cannot have a job where kids regularly congregate and she cannot own or view pornography. She must submit to an HIV test and undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation and complete any recommended treatment. If she violates her probation, she faces 15 years behind bars.

Grear's attorney, Jason Weiss, said, "She relates on an immature level."

Really?
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       Following Entry Posted 10/17/2007 11:08:00 PM

Ex-Trooper Indicted for Porn Kitten Traffic Tryst

(Wilson County, Tennessee) In July 2007, Tennessee-based 21-year-old porn starlet, Justis Richert (aka "Barbie Cummings"), was issued a speeding ticket by Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Randy Moss. During the traffic stop, Trooper Moss apparently found some illegal pills in Richert's possession and, according to Richert, he agreed to throw them away in return for oral sex.

 
Richert & Moss
However, once it became known that Richert traded her services of intimacy to avoid an illegal pills charge, Trooper Moss, 40, resigned his position. Meanwhile, a review of the case was launched by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Yesterday, a Wilson County grand jury indicted former Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper James Randy Moss on 10 charges of tampering with evidence, official misconduct and intimidation. The charges resulted from the Richert traffic stop and a September 2006 stop of another woman who filed a complaint.

Defense attorney Jack Lowery said Moss will plead not guilty to all the charges.


[Update 01/18/08]

From Fairview Observer:

A former state trooper accused of overlooking a possible drug charge in exchange for a sexual favor was sentenced to four years of probation under a deal reached in court Thursday.

James "Randy" Moss will serve no jail time under the terms of his plea. If he completes his probation with no problems, he will be able to have the case dismissed and his criminal record expunged, his attorney said.

Eight criminal counts were dropped in accordance with a plea agreement.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/17/2007 09:54:00 AM

Florida Babysitter Gets 20 Years for Molestation

(Tampa, Florida) In September 2007, a 23-year-old babysitter, Charity Sato, pleaded guilty to charges related to the molestation of an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. Sato made the children pleasure her with a sex toy.

In May 2005, Sato had agreed to babysit overnight for the 11-year-old boy while his parents worked, Assistant State Attorney Kimberly Hindman said. The 13-year-old girl's mother asked whether Sato would babysit for her as well.

Sato found a sex toy in the house and asked the boy and girl to help her use it, Hindman said.

When a family friend confronted the 13-year-old girl about smoking cigarettes, she told him Sato had been having sex with her and the 11-year-old boy.

Sato also faced misdemeanor charges of providing alcohol and cigarettes to the children. Those charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Yesterday, for convictions on charges of lewd and lascivious conduct, lewd and lascivious molestation and lewd and lascivious battery, Sato was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years sex offender probation.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/16/2007 10:24:00 PM

Mexican Denies Eating Girlfriend

(Mexico City) On October 8th, Mexican writer of horror stories, Jose Luis Calva, was arrested after fleeing from police who were investigating strange smells coming from his apartment.

Police were looking into the disappearance of Calva's girlfriend, 30-year-old Alejandra Galeana, and into cases of the dismembered bodies of two other women, one an ex-girlfriend of Calva.

Investigators believe the strange smells came from decomposing human body parts in Calva's cupboard and refrigerator and bones in a cereal box. Police also found pieces of lime and partially-cooked human flesh in a frying pan. Interestingly, police additionally discovered the draft of a novel, Cannibalistic Instincts, in his apartment.

While fleeing to avoid apprehension, Calva reportedly was swinging down balconies from his upper-floor apartment and then was hit by a car. He's recovering in the hospital.

Yesterday, forensic experts reported that the pieces of flesh found in Calva's apartment are human.

Dr. Rodolfo Rojo, chief medical examiner for Mexico City's prosecutor's office, said flesh found on the plate and frying pan in suspect Jose Luis Calva's apartment corresponded to parts missing from the corpse of his 32-year-old girlfriend, Alejandra Galeana.

When queried by the police, Calva said everything was hazy because of the alcohol and cocaine he had consumed.

In testimony, Calva denies murdering his girlfriend, rather, he was hugging her and she died.

"But because of his strength, she fainted. He took her pulse and found she had died. He put her on the bed and then began to think of a way to get rid of the body, and started cutting it up to get rid of it, piece by piece," the Mexico City Attorney General's Office said in a statement recounting his testimony.

The statement said Calva claimed he was cooking the flesh to feed to his dogs and stored the severed limbs found in his refrigerator "so they wouldn't start smelling so quickly."

Heh.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/16/2007 06:31:00 PM

Ohio Girls' Coach Accused of Sex Crimes

(Port Clinton, Ohio) Erin Baker, a 25-year-old girls basketball coach, formerly with Port Clinton High School, was arrested last Friday and charged with having sexual contact with a female student.

Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said the victim is younger than 18 and enrolled at Port Clinton High School. Baker faces six felony counts of sexual battery.

According to Superintendent Pat Adkins, Baker was not a teacher at Port Clinton Public Schools.

Her arrest came after the girl told the school counselor earlier this month Baker had improper contact with her, Adkins said. The counselor immediately told school-resource Officer Ralph Edmonds, who investigated with Ottawa County Children's Services, Adkins said.

Adkins and Mulligan declined to comment on whether the girl was a member of the basketball team or where the alleged incidents took place.

Baker was an assistant coach for about four years, Adkins said. The school board hires each coach in the district for one year at a time, and members have not yet considered basketball coaching positions for this year, he said.

"We will not hire her for this year, obviously," he said.

Baker was booked into custody at the Ottawa County Detention Facility. She was released Monday on $50,000 bond.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/16/2007 08:37:00 AM

Cult Killing in Japan

(Nagano, Japan) This story has everything. Female death cult, secret curing water, gang-murder, evidence tampering and concealment, ransacked sushi restaurant and family members arrested. The only thing missing is Godzilla.

For the murder of a 63-year-old woman, about 20 members, ages 15 to 80, of the female Kigenkai religious cult were arrested yesterday in conjunction with the woman's family members. Authorities were initially alerted by hospital staff who noticed that the woman had been beaten to death.

Four related members of holy water cult Kigenkai who were arrested in connection with the fatal gang bashing of a sushi restaurant owner fear reprisals and may be covering up the involvement of other cultists in the elderly woman's death, police said Tuesday.

Komoro Police Station investigators suspect the four relatives of 63-year-old sushi restaurant owner Motoko Okuno, who were sent to prosecutors on suspicion of causing her death, may be keeping quiet about other Kigenkai cultists' roles in the alleged attack.

It is believed the assault on Okuno was instigated by the cult's matriarch and another 21 women members of the religious group have already been arrested in connection with the case.

Police said Okuno was fatally gang-bashed at Kigenkai headquarters in Komoro, Nagano Prefecture, on the night of Sept. 24 and into the early hours of the following morning. Her 35-year-old husband, Kazuhiro, and 37-year-old daughter, Kuriko Mori, were indicted by prosecutors for inflicting bodily injury causing death.

Another daughter, Michiko, 26, and her husband, Yuji Ike, 30, have been arrested for inflicting bodily injury resulting in death and also face the additional charge of concealing evidence.

Police said the four had talked amongst themselves to decide what to tell investigators about Okuno's death so that only they took the blame and no other cultists became involved.

Police added that Michiko and Yuji Ike had turned tables and chairs over in Okuno's restaurant to make it look as though she had been beaten there and not at the cult's lair.

The Kigenkai cult is described as a matriarchy with about 400 followers throughout Japan.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/16/2007 07:03:00 AM

Florida Teacher Sentenced in Sex Case

(Wakulla, Florida) In February 2006, a 36-year-old exceptional education teacher at Wakulla High School, Elaine Turner, was arrested by Wakulla County Sheriff's deputies and charged with four counts of sexually assaulting a student. Turner allegedly had sexual relations with the boy on four occasions. She was released after posting $10,000 bail.

In the latest development, Turner, now 37, pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a minor and aggravated battery in accordance with a plea deal. As a result,

Elaine Turner, 37, was sentenced to 30 days in the Wakulla County Jail for the sexual activity charge, as well as 30 days probation, according to the Wakulla County clerk of court's records.

For the aggravated battery charge, she was placed on 10 years probation and will be required to either spend 150 days at the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office work camp or 150 days at the Wakulla County Jail.

In a related case from the same school,

Qunikiya Thomas, 24, was also accused in February 2006 of having sex with a student. She admitted her guilt prior to her court hearing and was sentenced on Feb. 15 to five months of community control, followed by 48 months of sex-offender probation.

Neither Turner nor Thomas still works at Wakulla High School. It's not known whether either must register as a sex offender nor if teaching credentials were revoked.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/16/2007 06:22:00 AM

Man Marries His Grandmother

(Vladimir, Russia) One might suspect that this story is another sitcom-meets-real-life scenario, but it's not -- apparently.

From Ananova:

Russian authorities are investigating after discovering a man had married his own grandmother.

Boris Golovska, 30, married his 79-year-old grandmother Katarina in the town of Vladimir, east of Moscow.

Registry office officials reportedly failed to check whether the couple were related when they tied the knot.

The marriage has now been annulled and local prosecutors have said they are investigating the case.

This creates the absolutely outlandish possibility of a man fathering his own uncle. Or aunt.

Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 11:34:00 PM

Arizona Teach Gets Sweet Deal in Sex Case

(Tucson, Arizona) In April 2007, a 24-year-old former teacher at Salpointe Catholic High School, Rebecca Lee Kelley, was indicted for engaging in sexual activity with a 17-year-old male student.

Kelley pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 18, each carrying a possible punishment of two years in prison.

Today, Rebecca Lee Kelley pleaded guilty in accordance with a deal to one count of failure to report a reportable offense and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, said defense attorney Stephen Weiss.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 13 and Weiss said he expects Kelley will be put on probation for all counts, with the agreement calling for the maximum three years. Kelley's plea also calls for restitution, capped at $10,000, to pay for counseling for the boy and his mother.

In summary, it appears that Kelley will get probation and walk away without a felony on her record. It also appears that she won't be required to surrender her teaching credentials nor register as a sex offender.

In the words of Eric Cartman, "S-W-E-E-T!"


[Update 11/14/07]

Kelley sentenced to probation. So, another teacher mixes it up with a student and gets no punishment because of the shape of her skin. I don't believe a male teacher would have been treated as leniently. Kelley should make sure that Judge Gus Aragon is put on her Christmas list.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 03:36:00 PM

Tennessee Woman and Teen Prostitutes

(Rhea County, Tennessee) A 22-year-old Dayton, TN, woman, Mersadie Minton Pankey, has been arrested for operating a prostitution business involving two 16-year-old girls. According to Sex Crime Detective Rocky Potter, Pankey would take the girls to various locations in Rhea County to perform sex acts for money and then keep most of the money.

"According to our information, Mersadie would go to these locations and work up the deal while the two girls remained in the car," Potter said. "Then one girl would go in and collect the money and come back out before the second girl went in to perform the sex acts."

Pankey allegedly drove the girls to three locations, one in Dayton, one in Graysville and one on Dayton Mountain, in September. Each time the girl would have sex with up to seven men, Potter said.

Pankey reportedly met the two girls while living in the Dayton Housing Authority's Taylor Hills development.

The detective questioned Pankey and the two girls, and all three gave statements consistent with the evidence, Potter said. "The girl who performed the sex acts said she did it because she felt threatened by Pankey. She said Pankey needed the money to make her car payment," Potter said.

Pankey faces three counts of promoting prostitution and six counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She was booked into custody at the Rhea County Jail. The girls were not charged.

Each time, up to seven men? Business was booming. Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 01:49:00 PM

New York Psychologist Accused of Raping Boy

(Sand Lake, New York) A 32-year-old child psychologist for Rensselaer County, Jennifer Hastings, was arrested by State Police Saturday for allegedly raping a 14-year-old boy she was counseling. Hastings faces a charge of second-degree rape.

Police stated that Hastings repeatedly raped the boy, sometimes at her home. Rensselaer County Mental Health has suspended Hastings from her position with the county, according to county spokesman Chris Meyer.

Hastings was booked and released on $20,000 bail.


[Update 10/17/07]

Here's an interesting update from the Times Union:

Jennifer A. Hastings took the Tamarac Secondary School freshman home after school when her husband was away in Ticonderoga, the victim said in his statement to investigators. She had to sneak him past her parents' and in-laws' homes, according to the statement.

"As we entered her driveway she told me to duck down because her parents and her husband's parents live on both sides of her home. I ducked down and she drove me up to her house," the student said.

Inside her residence at 222 Sheer Road, the psychologist had intercourse twice with her court-assigned patient before spiriting him back out of the house, according to the statement.

Trooper Michael Anson, the school's resource officer, said he saw Hastings pick up the boy at school and drive off the campus, and he began investigating. Later, he spoke to Hastings, who claimed she was the boy's older sister, troopers said. But further investigation determined Hastings' true identity.

Pretty sneaky, eh?


[Update 11/12/07]

More charges filed against Hastings.



[Update 10/9/08]

Hastings admits guilt. Sentencing in December.


[Update 2/5/09]

Hastings gets prison.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 01:13:00 PM

Mom Nabbed for Dope in Son's Room

(Lawrence, Massachusetts) A 26-year-old local mother, Yarelis Cruz, has been accused of cultivating pot in her apartment after pictures of marijuana plants were found on her son's cell phone.

After seeing the pictures, a teacher at the 11-year-old son's school alerted authorities who subsequently conducted a search of the Cruz household and found "seeds under a large light in the boy's bedroom."

Cruz faces charges of possession and possession with intent to distribute.

No information has been disclosed regarding the medical marijuana needs of Cruz or her 11-year-old son. I guess it's possible that the boy needs to light up a blunt to relieve the chronic eye pressure caused by glaucoma. Then again, Cruz and/or her son may be undergoing chemotherapy and need marijuana to stave off nausea. Of course, there's always the possibility that Yarelis Cruz is simply a stupid doper.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 06:46:00 AM

Brothel Sponsors Italian Soccer Team

(Innsbruck, Austria) The Trento Calcio 1921 professional soccer team, based in Trento, Italy, has created quite a controversy by accepting over $14,000 in sponsorship funds from an Austrian brothel, Casa Bianca. Therefore, the team's website advertises the usual beer and computer products along with the services of a house of prostitution.

However, the Casa Bianca website link at the top of the list of the team's sponsors has offended some people with Casa Bianca being described as "the house of emotions," and a "sensuous place to get everything you want."

Iva Berasi, a member of Trento city council in charge of sports, was furious about the deal. "It's incredible that the (provincial) capital's team would accept a sponsor that would even give the impression that it profited from the sale of a woman's body," she told the local newspaper Trentino.

"I believe that my feeling of being offended is the same one felt by the majority of women in Trento. I would hope that the team -- which also receives public funding -- would want to find a remedy for this situation as soon as possible."

As a compromise, the team dropped the link to Casa Bianca on its website.

By the way, according to the price list for Casa Bianca, it appears that it costs over two hundred dollars just to walk in the door.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 01:45:00 AM

Putin Assassination Plot?

(Moscow, Russia) The Kremlin will not change President Vladimir Putin's travel plans after receiving notification of a possible assassination plot.

Presently, Putin is in Germany for a meeting today with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Tomorrow, Putin is scheduled to travel to Tehran, Iran, for meetings with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Interfax reported on Sunday that security services had been told suicide bombers and kidnappers were training to kill or capture Putin on his visit, due to start on Tuesday. It did not say who might be behind such groups in the Islamic Republic.

The Iranians are dismissing the assassination threat as psychological warfare promulgated by Iran's enemies -- meaning the West -- in hopes of damaging Russian-Iranian relations.

"A reliable source in one of the Russian special services, has received information from several sources outside Russia, that during the president of Russia's visit to Teheran an assassination attempt is being plotted," Interfax said.

"A number of groups of suicide bombers are preparing for this aim," Interfax, one of a small circle of Russian agencies with special access to the Kremlin, added.

It gave no details of who the sources were or whether they were linked in any way to Western governments; nor was it clear why the Kremlin would make such a report public in this way just before the planned visit.

An attempt on the life of Putin would make the global political environment substantially more interesting. And, frankly, I wouldn't rule out that Putin has some very ambitious enemies, including Russians.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 12:36:00 AM

La Raza, NAACP Show No Tolerance

(Kansas City) Reputed to be champions of diversity and tolerance, the National Council of La Raza and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, are showing their ugly side. Tolerance and diversity begin only after they exclude people who disagree with them.

The Washington-based National Council of La Raza, along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, have threatened to take their conventions elsewhere unless Frances Semler, a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, resigns from the parks board.

But after a meeting Thursday between Hispanic community groups and Mayor Mark Funkhouser, the NCLR said that it was willing to compromise but that Semler would have to revoke her membership in the group.

A spokesman for Funkhouser, who appointed Semler and has stood by her since the controversy erupted, said Friday that the mayor was out of town and wasn't commenting on the new proposal.

Welcome to the world of high-stakes political blackmail. Millions of dollars will be lost if La Raza and the NAACP move their conventions from Kansas City to another locale.

Right, wrong and the rule of law don't make a hill of beans to champions of diversity and tolerance.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/15/2007 12:11:00 AM

Ohio Graduating More Minorities

Amidst all the continuous debate and finger-pointing about Ohio's public education systems comes this report.

The state data analysis was presented by Ohio 8, a coalition of superintendents, teachers and union presidents, at their two-day summit on urban education in Columbus last week.

All urban students are making gains, the analysis found. Although Cleveland's graduation rate for all students in 1999 was 38 percent, or one of the lowest rates in the nation, the district's graduation rate for 2005-2006 climbed to 55 percent. One urban district, Toledo, has a graduation rate of 90.5 percent, more than five points higher than the state average of 86 percent.

The improved performance could be due to a variety of reasons, urban educators, administrators and union leaders said. Training for teachers is improving and a greater variety of specialized magnet schools now exist to attract and retain students.

Another factor is the 2001 federal education law No Child Left Behind, which requires schools to divide data by race and ethnic background and holds schools responsible if individual groups of students fail. [ed. bold]

Interestingly, when time comes for criticism of the education systems, No Child Left Behind will likely be cited as the cause.

When good news regarding improved graduation rates surfaces, No Child Left Behind is relegated to "another factor" status, seemingly mentioned almost as an afterthought. In my view, No Child Left Behind is the impetus which forces schools to do a better job at teaching kids and, thereby, to enjoy improved graduation statistics.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/14/2007 11:18:00 PM

Woman Arrested for Faking Son's Death

(Bethalto, Illinois) A 35-year-old Bethalto mom, Meredith A. Sharp, was arrested and charged Thursday with disorderly conduct for allegedly falsifying her son's death in a stunt created to presumably save face in her community.

Sharp falsely claimed her son was killed in a traffic accident in North Dakota and then arranged for a memorial service to be held at a funeral home in Granite City on September 17th. Sharp also listed the boy's death in an obituary in a local newspaper.

The scheme was exposed when Sharp's sister in North Dakota contacted authorities and said the boy was alive and in her custody.

Capt. Brad Wells of the Madison County Sheriff's Department said Sharp had no financial reason for the scheme but rather wanted to stop answering questions from friends and family about the boy after the sister gained custody.

Sharp was booked into custody at the Madison County Jail with bail set at $5,000.

Boy, if Sharp desired to make local interest in her circumstances to die down, creating national interest is surely the wrong way to do it. In fact, the whole world now knows she lost custody of her son and tried to hide the fact by faking his death. At least in this case, Sharp was duller than a Stone Age ax.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/14/2007 02:37:00 PM

Puerto Rican Pet Massacre Mystery

(Barceloneta, Puerto Rico) For violating the no-pet policy of government housing projects, authorities conducted raids this week and seized dozens of dogs and cats.

The authorities had promised to take the animals to a shelter but, instead, they allegedly were thrown off a bridge to their deaths.

A local resident, Jose Manuel Rivera, used a backhoe to bury about 50 animals Saturday in a mass grave near the bridge where they were dumped.

He discovered the animals around dawn Tuesday after hearing barking and whimpers from animals who survived the 50-foot fall. He recovered six injured dogs, who were reunited with their owners after they saw their pets on a television news broadcast.

"One had a broken spine, and about all of them had broken legs," Rivera said.

Local Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez blamed the pet massacre on Puerto Rico-based Animal Control Solutions, a contractor for the city, but the company owner, Julio Diaz, denies that the dead animals are the ones his company collected. Diaz promised to provide records of proof to the authorities tomorrow.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/14/2007 01:09:00 PM

Seventeen Bullet Holes

(Flagstaff, Arizona) Last month, Mark E. Steiger was killed after being shot 17 times by five law enforcement officers. Officers from the Flagstaff Police, Coconino County Sheriff's Office and Arizona Department of Public Safety fired a total of 42 times.

The number of shots isn't unusual when multiple officers open fire with modern weapons in response to an immediate threat, Flagstaff Deputy Chief Josh Copley said.

"The community should understand that once the decision is made to use deadly force the response is swift and lethal," Copley said, noting that the entire incident lasted between 2 and 3 seconds.

The shooting was ruled justified by the Coconino County Attorney, and the sheriff's office ruled that all five officers acted within their agencies' policies regarding use of deadly force.

The officers opened fire after Steiger shot and wounded Flagstaff Detective Todd Bishop.

By the way, Steiger was a mental patient who quit taking his medication.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/13/2007 11:17:00 PM

Minnesota Mom Pinched for Prostitution

(St. Paul, Minnesota) A 23-year-old local mom, Franchaska Hogan, was arrested last Wednesday after propositioning an undercover officer for sex. All the while, Hogan's one-year-old child was in an adjacent room in her St. Paul apartment. Hogan was apprehended on suspicion of prostitution and child endangerment.

The arrest happened about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday in the 600 block of Jenks Avenue. An undercover officer had made contact with Hogan through the Internet and planned an encounter, said Tom Walsh, a police spokesman.

Hogan also faced arrest on a warrant for forgery. The child was placed in an emergency shelter.

So, it seems the Internet is being used to promote prostitution. Imagine that.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/13/2007 03:22:00 PM

Teacher Victoria Blevins

Victoria Blevins pleads guilty to harassment by offensive touching. See update here.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/13/2007 12:17:00 PM

Housekeeping - Bad Machine

As a heads up to regular readers, I need to mention that I've been struggling with some computer problems for about a week, which has dramatically affected my ability to research and write entries. Consequently, I'm using a borrowed computer.

I'm thinking that it's time for a new machine. Now I have to convince the goddess who handles the benjamins.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/12/2007 06:48:00 AM

Schwarzenegger Signs Iran Divestment Bill

(Sacramento, California) Yesterday, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the bill.

From CenterForSecurityPolicy.org:

Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assemblyman Joel Anderson's (R-El Cajon) Assembly Bill 221 to divest California's public retirement funds from billions of dollars invested in key foreign companies that invest in Iran.

"California has a long history of leadership and doing what's right with our investment portfolio," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement released last week in advance of the signing. "Last year, I was proud to sign legislation to divest from the Sudan to take a powerful stand against genocide. I look forward to signing legislation to divest from Iran to take an equally powerful stand against terrorism."

"Money is the mother's milk of terrorism. AB 221 will stop California's investments from being used to fund Iran's terror machine," said Anderson.

The Center for Security Policy cannot overemphasize the importance of this legislation, both due to the amount of money in California's pension systems and the significance of the most populous state in the Union leading the way to cut off corporate life support for the Ayatollahs.

It's about time.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/12/2007 12:19:00 AM

California Teacher Arrested in Sex Case

(La Mesa, California) A 22-year-old music teacher and band director at Helix High School, Jessica Ashley Kahal, was arrested today on suspicion of having sex with a 17-year-old male student.

Authorities were alerted after a teacher from another school told Douglas D. Smith, Helix High School principal, of the sexual relationship.

Subsequently, the alleged victim, a senior at the school, said that he had consensual sex with Kahal about five times in various areas of the county since August. Kahal resigned her position with the school last Friday.

The unmarried, childless Kahal was booked into Las Colinas women's jail in Santee on two counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor. Bail was set at $20,000.


[Update 12/07/07]

Kahal pleads guilty. Sentencing in February 2008.


[Update 02/14/08]

Kahal sentenced to probation.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/11/2007 11:58:00 PM

Teacher Kills Cat

(Lakewood, Colorado) A teacher in the Jefferson County School District, Michele Eshleman, and her boyfriend, Mark Lewis, have been charged with animal cruelty for intentionally drowning a poor, defenseless cat. They said they killed the cat to end its suffering.

The couple said they couldn't afford to have a professional cat killer do the job.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/11/2007 08:22:00 PM

Mom Breaks Her Baby's Skull

(Erie, Pennsylvania) A 28-year-old mother-of-five, Chytoria Graham, was convicted by an Erie County Common Pleas Court jury yesterday of breaking her 4-month-old son's skull.

Graham swung the baby, Jarron, like a baseball bat during a fight she had with her boyfriend in October 2006. The infant suffered brain bleeding and bruising and, fortunately, recovered.

Graham, a ninth-grade dropout and 28-year-old mother of five, bowed her head into her arms and wept as Judge William R. Cunningham read the verdict: guilty of charges of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Later, after the jury left the room, Cunningham reminded Graham that she would face a five-year mandatory minimum sentence on the charge of aggravated assault and set her sentencing for Dec. 12. He revoked her $7,500 bail because of the serious nature of the conviction.

As he spoke, Graham crumpled to the ground and curled into a fetal position.

"Oh my God," she cried. "Oh my God, Oh my God. No, no, no."

Sheriff's deputies removed her from the courtroom in a wheelchair.

Graham essentially sealed her conviction by confessing three times.

First Assistant Public Defender James Pitonyak argued that Graham had been tired, confused, injured and had low intelligence. It's also believed that her boyfriend, and the baby's father, 21-year-old Deangelo Troop, shares responsibility for the criminal assault.

Graham's mother and father are caring for her five children.


[Update 12/17/07]

Graham sentenced to prison.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/11/2007 08:26:00 AM

Woman, 40, and Boy, 12

(Los Angeles, California) A 40-year-old woman, Nilda Ruth Wery,has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and engaging in sex with a 12-year-old, cerebral palsy-afflicted boy. Wery was jailed on suspicion of kidnapping, performing a lewd act on a child under 14 and forced oral copulation.

The boy was initially reported as a runaway by his parents when he did not return home from school Friday afternoon, according to Riverside police.

But an investigation revealed an "inordinately close relationship" with the suspect, police said.

A civilian spotted Wery's red Jeep Wrangler, followed it and phoned authorities, said CHP Sgt. Miles Ingraham.

Wery pulled into an apartment complex in the 13000 block of Amar Road, south of the 10 Freeway, in Baldwin Park, where CHP officers found the Jeep and then located her hiding underneath a pickup about 2:15 a.m., Ingraham said.

I'd say that innocent people rarely hide, much less underneath pickup trucks.

Wery was booked into custody at the Robert Presley Detention Center with bail set at $50,000.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/11/2007 07:32:00 AM

Mom Arrested for Molesting Daughter, 3

(Ozark, Alabama) A 23-year-old mother from Barbour County, Jennifer Elizabeth Bowman, surrendered to Dale County authorities last week to face a charge of first-degree sexual abuse of her three-year-old daughter.

Bowman was booked into custody with bond set at $10,000.

Unfortunately, scant information has been reported on this story. I can understand if someone deems it too ugly to know. I don't agree but I understand.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/11/2007 06:37:00 AM

Prison for Killing Baby 19 Years Ago

(Greenville, South Carolina) Last year, a 45-year-old woman, Elaine Theresa Patterson, contacted authorities and confessed to killing her 8-month-old son in 1988. Prosecutors filed a charge of murder against Patterson but later reduced it to voluntary manslaughter.

Despite defense attorney John Farnsworth's request for leniency, Judge Mark Hayes sentenced Patterson to 30 years in prison under 1988 sentencing guidelines. Judge Hayes indicated that Patterson already received leniency through a reduced charge.

Frankly, I don't see any substantive reason for mitigating the sentence.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/10/2007 11:03:00 AM

Myanmar: Generals Refuse to Shoot Monks

(Yangon, Myanmar) There appears to be disagreement in the ranks of the Myanmar's military junta.

Myanmar's ruling junta have detained five generals and more than 400 soldiers for disobeying orders to shoot and beat monks and other activists who took part in recent protests in Yangon, an official said Monday.

The official, who asked for anonymity out of fear he would be punished by the junta, said it was the first sign of divisions in the country's secretive establishment.

"The five generals expressed their refusal to deploy their troops against the monks openly. They were then quickly put into detention by the junta.

"Some 400 soldiers of the Sikai Division near Mandalay (Myanmar's second largest city) also put down their guns in front of the monks, and asked for their forgiveness as they fully realized they had committed the biggest sin," he told The Jakarta Post.

The official refused to disclose the names of the generals or give further details on where the generals and the soldiers were detained.

Also being reported is a wide disparity in the numbers of deaths. The government announced about 10 people were killed during last week's protests. Other sources contend that the death count is much higher.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/10/2007 08:16:00 AM

Jailed Mexican Drug Queen Complains of Bed Bugs

(Mexico City) Arrested two weeks ago, Mexico's drug priestess, Sandra Avila, is complaining about the bed bugs and other fauna in jail.

The forty-something Avila, known by the nickname "Queen of the Pacific," is accused of helping organize the Sinaloa drug cartel on Mexico's Pacific coast in the 1990s.

Avila has been heralded as the most glamorous of the narcotics traffickers and is recognized as a vital go-between for the Mexican and Colombian cartels. She is a third-generation member of a family of narco-operatives.

Sandra Avila telephoned Mexico City's Human Rights Commission to moan about the biting bugs and complain she cannot receive gifts of food while behind bars.

She was caught alone driving a BMW sport utility vehicle near her house in the Mexican capital and has been jailed pending trial on charges of organized crime and money laundering in Mexico and the United States.

Also, Avila is famous -- enough so that a song, called a narcocorrido, has been written about her.

The narcocorrido is a contemporary form of the corrido -- a genre of Mexican folk music with its roots in Spain. The narcocorrido sings about the exploits of drug smugglers and narco-barons.

The Mexican band Los Tucanes de Tijuana, noted narcocorrido performers, sang about Sandra Avila in a 2004 song entitled "Fiesta en la Sierra." The ballad describes an exclusive, invitation-only birthday party hosted by a powerful drug capo, at his ranchito escondido ("little hidden ranch") in the mountains. All the guests must arrive in helicopters and airplanes. When one of them steps out of her aircraft, she is immediately recognized as "The Queen of the Pacific."

Frankly, I wouldn't make too much of the fact that a song has been written about her since the Mexicans also have a very popular song which trumpets cockroaches, La Cucaracha.

Sandra Avila is currently sharing a cell with bed bugs at the women's prison of Santa Martha Acatitla.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/10/2007 06:05:00 AM

Drug-Dealing Teacher Bronwyn Kugle Gets Prison

(Kailua, Hawaii) In February 2007, math and reading teacher at Kaelepule Elementary School, Bronwyn Kugle, was arrested on federal drug charges and for possessing a loaded weapon not registered to her. Kugle allegedly conspired to distribute cocaine and Ecstasy.

In June, Kugle pleaded guilty to federal drug and firearms charges including conspiring to distribute one kilogram of cocaine, over 1,000 tablets of Ecstasy and possession of a loaded firearm. Kugle was also found to possess user amounts of crystal methamphetamine. Kugle expressed embarrassment and apologies to the court.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced 39-year-old Kugle to 37 months in federal prison and criminal forfeiture of her interest in a Kailua residence.

Ed Kubo, U.S. Attorney for the Hawai'i District, described Kugle as a user of cocaine and methamphetamine who had turned to selling drugs in order to support her habit. She had provided financing for drug deals by utilizing the equity of her residence, said Kubo.

Kugle was arrested after she accepted a parcel shipped from California containing drugs that had been previously intercepted by federal agents.

Mortgaging real property to facilitate drug dealing shows a fairly substantial commitment to the criminal activity.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/10/2007 05:17:00 AM

Cat Urine, Not Methamphetamine

(Tampa, Florida) In August, a 38-year-old single mother, Cynthia Hunter, was arrested for theft of merchandise at Wal-Mart and found to also be in possession of a vial of powder that a presumptive test identified as methamphetamine.

Hunter was charged with theft and drug possession. However, after spending 50 days in jail, a conclusive test of the powder determined that it wasn't meth. Hunter claims it was cat urine that she had dehydrated.

Consequently, Hunter is angry that she had to spend time in jail on a bogus charge.

She was released from jail Thursday, after pleading guilty to the petty theft charge. But now she's looking for a lawyer to help her pursue a civil lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office for jailing her on a charge that turned out to be false.

"This ruined my life," she said.

Hunter related two different stories regarding why she was carrying the vial of cat urine. She told detectives that it was for her son to test negative during mandatory drug screening since he is on probation. She also said it was a novelty item, the latest on the market. However, a records search found no drug arrests for either of her two sons.

While the Sheriff's deputies are interested in knowing why Hunter was carrying the cat urine, I'm a bit curious about how she obtained it. I imagine it's not an easy task. "Here, Kitty, Kitty! Come to Mamma."

In conclusion, Hunter did 50 days in jail for theft and a probation violation. And, since the drug charge was dropped, she's looking for a lawyer to sue the city for false imprisonment -- or something like that. It's anyone's guess on how the case will end.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/09/2007 05:33:00 PM

Philly Coach Arrested for Sex with Girl

(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) In August 2007, a 42-year-old girls' basketball coach for Neumann-Goretti High School and for an Amateur Athletic Union team, Carolyn Hayes, was arrested for allegedly engaging in a two-year sexual relationship with a female player, starting when the girl was 14 years old.

An arrest warrant stated Hayes allegedly gave gifts and money to the teen and engaged in sexual contact with the young girl on numerous occasions from January 2005 until February 2007. Officials said many of the alleged encounters occurred in Hayes' South Philadelphia home.

Hayes has been charged with contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, corruption of minors, indecent exposure, and indecent assault, according to court records.

Hayes was suspended from her coaching position at Neumann-Goretti High School. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for November 14th.

Tip: WW
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       Following Entry Posted 10/09/2007 02:05:00 PM

White Lobster

The Caribbean coastal waters off Nicaragua are part of the Colombian drug smugglers' speedboat highway to the United States. And, as would be expected, not all of the smugglers' go-fast boats make it without being intercepted. When they are, the contraband drug shipments are jettisoned overboard.

For the fishing villages scattered across these remote central American shores there was seldom reason to welcome visits from the outside world.

But that was before the "white lobster", and before everything changed. Now the villagers rise at first light to scan the horizon in hope of seeing a very different type of intruder.

What they are looking for, and what they have coyly euphemised, are big, bulging bags of Colombian cocaine. A combination of law enforcement, geography and ocean currents has washed tonnes of the drug, and millions of dollars, into what was one of the Caribbean's most desolate and isolated regions. Villages that once eked an existence on shrimp and red-tinged lobster have been transformed. In place of thatched wooden huts there are brick houses, mansions and satellite dishes.

"They consider it a blessing from God. You see people all day just walking up and down the beaches keeping a lookout to sea," said Louis Perez, the police chief in Bluefields, the main port on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.

Anecdotally, there's a story from a few years ago where 15 villagers died after mistaking a bale of cocaine for baking powder. Don't you just hate when that happens?
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       Following Entry Posted 10/09/2007 12:04:00 PM

Making Mushy Minds Mushier

(Toronto, Ontario) Last Sunday, three Niagara Region male teens, ages 14 to 17, were hospitalized after eating jimson weed seeds for recreation. Two of the Niagara teens remain in critical condition.

Jimson weed is poisonous and consumption can be fatal. Nevertheless, its used for its hallucinogenic properties by young people with minds full of mush.

Last October, four Hamilton teens were sent to hospital after smoking jimson-laced cigarettes during their lunch break at school.

In October 2005, a Simcoe boy went into a coma and was airlifted to Sick Kids hospital in Toronto after ingesting jimson weed.

In September 2003, a 13-year-old boy landed in the intensive care unit after eating the plant. It was also linked to at least one death in 2000 in the Niagara Region.

Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/09/2007 09:12:00 AM

Today's Read-Before-Eating Headline

(New York City) Apparently, this incident occurred several months ago.

"Face Off," Funeral Home Accused of Allowing Rats to Eat a Man's Face

The story was originally reported in The Village Voice and involved the remains of drug drealer William Ragland who was murdered during a transaction. Pics at the links.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/09/2007 12:08:00 AM

Cheer Coach Arrested for Indecency with Boy

(Powhatan County, Virginia) A 37-year-old cheerleading coach at Dominion Cheer and Tumble in Midlothian, Tammie Fleming, was arrested last week for allegedly engaging in an intimate relationship with a 17-year-old male student. The relationship has allegedly been ongoing for several months.

Fleming has been charged with taking indecent liberties with a minor.

Along with an appearance in Powhatan Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Fleming was booked and released on bond.

Fleming has another court appearance scheduled for next month.

Tip: WW


[Update 11/01/07]

Fleming sentenced.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/08/2007 07:45:00 PM

Saudis Want Terrorism De-Linked From Islam

The Saudi Arabian Human Rights Commission (HRC) has requested that its European Union counterparts and their governments not link terrorism to Islam.

The Commission is also asking the EU to draw up regulations to protect Muslims from prejudice and discrimination because of their faith.

The HRC claims Muslims are treated with disrespect, physically or mentally abused, or not allowed to practice their faith freely such as Muslim girls being prevented from wearing the hijab (head cover) in some schools.

The request will be made official at the Second Arab-European Dialogue on Human Rights and Terrorism later this month in Copenhagen. No information was provided about guaranteeing the human rights of Christians and Jews in Saudi Arabia.

Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/08/2007 03:02:00 PM

Wisconsin Teacher and Boy

(Ellsworth, Wisconsin) A 39-year-old teacher at Prescott Middle School, Anne Knopf, has been charged with second-degree sexual assault for allegedly engaging in sex with a 13-year-old male student.

The student's father alleged he found the two together at a late-night rendezvous after the boy stole his mother's car.

The father filed a restraining order which claims the two had sexual intercourse. He said he has copies of e-mails between the two.

Knopf has a court appearance scheduled for November 5th.


[Update 11/06/07]

Judge orders Knopf to stand trial.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/08/2007 10:37:00 AM

Radical Speaker Slotted for Ohio Capitol

(Columbus, Ohio) The President of the National Association of Muslim American Women, Anisa Abd El Fattah, is scheduled to deliver an address at the Ohio State Capitol this month. This is curious.

Due to her relationships with terrorism-supporting organizations, notably HAMAS, and her extremist writings, Abd El Fattah has been whisper-close to being fingered as a co-conspirator on terrorism-related charges. Consequently, it's damn curious that she is speaking before Ohio's legislators. At present, it's not clear why nor how she was booked to speak.

Even so, it is fairly clear what Abd El Fattah is going to say. Based upon her writings, statements and affiliations, I believe the following will match her podium notes quite comfortably.

- The 9/11 hijackers cannot be called Muslims,

- Jewish Zionists have undermined the United States,

- American leaders are hateful, control a hateful media and have bankrupted the Treasury to feed Halliburton,

- The US and Israel have carried out more evil in the Middle East than anyone can document,

- Israeli civilians are not civilians, they are military targets,

- The United States starved and killed more than 500,000 Iraqi children prior to the present war against Iraq,

- Allah is sovereign over the United States and secularism "Godless."

Paraphrased cosmetically, if at all, the above statements have been uttered by Anisa Abd El Fattah. Therefore, those legislators who are forced to skip her presentation at the Ohio Capitol will be apprised of the essential themes of her message by simply reading this post. Or, just do an Internet search and you'll find that Abd El Fattah doesn't skimp at telling what she thinks.

Now, some may argue about her close relationships with terrorists and terrorist-supporting organizations and some may argue about the extent of Abd El Fattah's extremist viewpoints, but I suggest that no one would argue that she desires that the Constitution become subservient to the Quran and that the United States ceases being a democratic republic and becomes a Muslim nation.

Additionally, I would argue that permitting a terrorist-supporting presentation at the Ohio Capitol is tacit endorsement of the content of the presentation. Ohio's Senators and Representatives should rethink whether this is what they want.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/07/2007 10:56:00 PM

Bleach Used to Overcome Loneliness

(Japan) A 44-year-old man, Yuitsu Senoo, was arrested Friday night after he splattered bleach on a woman's handbag as she stood reading a magazine in a convenience store. Senoo was charged with willful destruction of property.

"I've done it to about 50 women since around 2002 to get over the loneliness I've felt since my wife and I separated," Senno told the police.

Police said that they have received 33 reports from women who had been splashed with bleach in places like Chiyoda-ku and Bunkyo-ku since July 2005. They used security footage from some of the places where the incidents occurred, which put them on to Senoo.

I'd suggest that Senoo was motivated by something other than loneliness. Hey, Senoo, if you're lonely, find another woman. However, by using bleach, it seems that your mind is twisted in a visceral knot of misogyny.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/07/2007 11:22:00 AM

Ostrich Killer Sentenced

(Half Moon Bay, California) In July, a 19-year-old student, Timothy Andrew McKevitt, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty for his part in the death of an ostrich named Gaylord. McKevitt was among a group of drunken friends on Halloween night 2006 when Gaylord was killed.

This week, Judge Jack Grandsaert sentenced McKevitt to five months in jail and the payment of $5,000 restitution to Gaylord's owner Karen Schmidt.

Meanwhile, Mary Winkler has completed her five-month jail sentence for shotgunning her sleeping husband, Matthew Winkler, in the back. Unlike McKevitt, however, Winkler was not required to pay restitution.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/07/2007 06:36:00 AM

Sherry Enema Homicide Charges Dropped

(Lake Jackson, Texas) In February 2005, 42-year-old Tammy Warner was charged with negligent homicide for giving her husband a sherry enema that killed him. Michael Warner, 58, had a blood alcohol level of 0.47 at the time of his May 2004 death.

Apparently, Warner's doctor told him not to drink because he had ulcers and would get heartburn. As an alternative, he coaxed his wife into giving him the enema which proved to be fatal.

This week, Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne said the charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

The dead man had had "a severe alcohol issue" and it was not clear his wife had committed a crime, Yenne said in a telephone interview.

"Let's say I have lung cancer and I continue to smoke. If you provide cigarettes to me, is that negligent homicide?" Yenne said.

"I really wrestled with the consent issue and negligence issue. I didn't think it rose to the level of negligent homicide."

I have to agree with the DA. For Warner to take two large bottles of sherry up the exhaust pipe, there had to be a whole lotta consentin' goin' on.

Tip: Steerage Kid
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       Following Entry Posted 10/06/2007 11:47:00 PM

Teacher Sentenced for Minor, Isolated Lesbian Incident

(Boise, Idaho) In May 2007, a 22-year-old assistant softball coach and substitute teacher at Centennial High School, Lauren Kathleen Palmer, was arrested for alleged "inappropriate touching" of a 16-year-old female student.

An Asa County Sheriff's Deputy investigating a parked car early one morning caught Palmer and the girl on a blanket outside the vehicle. Inappropriate contact was suspected and Palmer was arrested.

After questioning Palmer and the girl, investigators determined that inappropriate touching had occurred. Palmer was charged with sexual battery of a minor.

In July, Lauren K. Palmer pleaded guilty to a charge of injury to a child. In August, she was sentenced to probation.

Fourth District Judge Deborah Bail ruled that it appears to be a relatively minor, isolated incident.

She sentenced Palmer to two years probation and withheld judgment, a 30-day jail sentenced deferred to Feb. 4th, restitution for counseling for the girl and she will be required to undergo thinking errors and one-on-one counseling.

The description of her sentence is confusing to me but it sounds like a hand slap.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/06/2007 09:18:00 PM

Crocked Homecoming Queen Loses Crown

(Oak Creek, Wisconsin) A 17-year-old honor student, star athlete and elected homecoming queen did something stupid. Enough so that it's making headlines.

The Oak Creek homecoming queen was stripped of her crown after she was arrested for underage drinking at the homecoming dance.

Police say the 17-year-old girl was allegedly telling friends at the dance she had an alcoholic drink before the dance. Police say her blood alcohol level was .04 to .05.

School officials say a second homecoming election will be held and photos of the new homecoming court may be shot for the school yearbook. [ ... ]

Police arrested the queen and officials at Oak Creek High suspended her and stripped her of her title. The girl's parents were at the school to see their daughter crowned. They had to go to the police station to pick her up.

So, it's reported that a "friend" couldn't keep a secret, told a teacher and, strangely, a "friend" is the new homecoming queen. I wonder if there's a link between the tattler and the new queen -- like, maybe they're the same person! Imagine that.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/06/2007 07:35:00 PM

Forty Gays Arrested for Sex in Public Parks

(Johnson City, Tennessee) Forty men from Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina have been arrested over the past two weeks for engaging in sex at the Winged Deer and Buffalo Mountain public parks in Johnson City.

Undercover officers launched a concentrated law enforcement sweep after receiving complaints from the public. Indecent exposure and disorderly conduct charges are pending.

"Our parks are for family use. People should not be exposed to this while they are out there with their family or trying to enjoy the walking trails," Johnson City Police Chief John Lowry said. "They are not built nor maintained for sexual activity, be it homosexual activity or heterosexual activity."

The undercover officers were solicited for sex, groped and even had men expose themselves to them. Those arrested ranged in age from 26 to 85.

Notably, among those arrested were two teachers and a minister. James Thayer teaches at Bluff City Middle School, Brent Leach is a System Diagnostician with Johnson City Schools and Pastor Robert Riley tends the congregation at the First Baptist Church in Rogersville.

Thayer and Leach have been placed on paid leave pending the results of an investigation. Robert Riley resigned his position as pastor.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/06/2007 05:53:00 PM

Teacher Caught with 400 Lbs. of Pot

(Roma, Texas) A teacher's aide at Ema Vera Elementary School, Elizabeth Garza, was arrested last weekend by the Starr County Drug Task Force in possession of more than 400 pounds of marijuana.

Garza was arrested near the town of Salineno, presumably in a vehicle, with the 400 pounds of pot. Salineno is about 15 miles west of Roma. Both towns are within rock-skipping distance of the Rio Grande River, the international border with Mexico.

The school system placed Garza on suspension without pay pending the outcome of an investigation.

Due to the quantity, it's assumed that Garza faces felony drug trafficking charges. Of course, recognizing that the Rio Grande Valley has the reputation of being a generally unpredictable legal environment, Garza may convince the authorities that she found the drugs or they were a misdemeanor personal use quantity.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/06/2007 09:35:00 AM

Teacher Arrested in Meth Sweep

(Johnston County, North Carolina) A 36-year-old second-grade teacher at Polenta Elementary School, Amy Lee Snead (aka Sneed), was arrested at the school this week as part of a two-county roundup of suspects in a methamphetamine production and distribution ring. After her arrest, Johnston County Schools suspended her with pay.

The Johnston and Sampson County Sheriff's Departments conducted the law enforcement sweep, known as Operation Pill Crusher, with 50 people targeted. Investigators reviewed pharmacy logbooks to determine those individuals who purchased greater than the legal limit of pseudoephedrine, a chemical precursor needed to manufacture methamphetamine.

Four other key individuals were also arrested: Kenneth Scott West Jr., 39; Richard Glenn Turnage, 46; Stewart Lavon McLeod, 23; and Christopher Charles Lawhorn, 32. A sixth person was later arrested but the name wasn't reported. Each faces charges of possession of a precursor chemical, possession of a precursor chemical with intent to distribute and misdemeanor exceeding the limit.

Snead was charged with misdemeanor exceeding the limit and possession of a precursor chemical. Snead was booked into the Johnston County jail with bond set at $20,000.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/06/2007 05:25:00 AM

Change Clothes or Don't Fly

Last Sunday, a man was told to change his shirt or get thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight from Ohio to Florida.

Largo resident Joe Winiecki said he was sitting in the last row of a Columbus-to-Tampa flight when an employee told him he had to change his T-shirt, turn it inside out or get off the plane.

The shirt, bought in the Virgin Islands, uses sexual double entendre to promote a fictional fishing tackle shop. The largest lettering reads "Master Baiter."

Winiecki argued that the airline was violating his right to free speech but changed rather than risk getting kicked off the flight and missing a day of work.

Southwest Airlines later said "Oops!" and blamed its employee. Interestingly, this incident is the second in recent history that Southwest has gotten a wedgie because of how people dress. Readers may recall the July story of Kayla Ebbert who was told to change her revealing denim miniskirt outfit or get thrown off the plane. One might suggest that, intentionally or otherwise, Southwest is developing a reputation for being overly prudish in a liberal society.

On the other hand, Reader Rob contends that these incidents regarding unwritten airline behavior-, hygiene- and/or fashion-related standards can easily be avoided by co-locating airports with bus stations. When travelers arrive, a designated agent would decide whether they are appropriate for air travel or the bus.

Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/05/2007 07:45:00 PM

Too Toasted to Teach

(Valparaiso, Indiana) A 49-year-old first-grade teacher at Cooks Corners Elementary School, Sharon Duerring, was arrested yesterday for being intoxicated in class.

Duerring allegedly arrived at school drunk and officials removed her from the classroom before calling police. She registered 0.20 blood alcohol content on a breathalyzer and police confiscated two beers from her purse.

Duerring, who has been teaching for 25 years, was escorted from the school and handcuffed outside the school by police before being taken to Porter County Jail and charged with public intoxication.

Police gave Duerring a trespass warning not to return the school and her school keys were confiscated at the request of the school, police said.

Superintendent Michael Benway refused to comment on the incident, saying it is a personnel matter.

What a way to stain a decades-long career of teaching, eh?


[Update 10/06/07]

The Indiana Department of Education has taken an interest in the Duerring case since it has been disclosed that she had a previous public intoxication arrest. Duerring tested at 0.275 blood alcohol concentration when arrested during an incident at the Wal-Mart automotive center in Portage last March.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/05/2007 09:01:00 AM

"Cavemen" Should Be Buried

I started to watch the heralded first episode of Cavemen on ABC and quickly realized that I'd made a big mistake. It was five minutes of my life that I won't recover nor be paid for nor be able to erase from my memory.

Frankly, by the first commercial I concluded that Cavemen was DOA. There was no humor from what I saw and the program didn't have much to do with cavemen. Correct me if I'm wrong but are not cavemen named cavemen because they live in caves? In fact, if the actors shaved and the name of the show was changed to Three Guys in an Apartment, I doubt if the viewers would notice.

I'll give it no more than four weeks before it's pulled. Other critics have similar observations.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/05/2007 06:46:00 AM

China Boosting Coal Production

(Beijing, China) According to Wang Xianzheng, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Work Safety, China is streamlining the coal industry to boost output.

As part of the streamlining process the country plans to build 10 large strip-mines with a production capacity of 10 million tonnes each and another 10 pits with a yield of 10 million tonnes each, Wang said.

China estimates coal production will rise from 2.3 billion tons last year to 2.6 billion tons by 2010. So, while Americans are being bombarded with alarm messages of global warming and the plight of the planet Earth, the Chinese are digging and burning coal with apparent abandon.

Over a billion global warming deniers and Al Gore hasn't been bugging any of them. It sure seems to me that Al Gore should go to China and beat on Wang. He's the official who should be encouraged to reduce reliance on coal.

For comparison of coal production and usage, check out this chart from the World Coal Institute. Compared to the U.S., China easily pumps out twice the greenhouse gases from coal into the atmosphere.


Either the Chinese are ignoring or didn't receive Al Gore's inconvenient warnings of global catastrophe from greenhouse gases.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/05/2007 05:27:00 AM

Dinkel Reports to Jail

(Covington, Kentucky) Yesterday afternoon, the 51-year-old Hollywood makeup artist and wife of former Cincinnati Bengals football player Tom Dinkel, Jeni Lee Dinkel, reported to the Kenton County Jail to begin serving her 60-day sentence for rape of a 15-year-old boy.

Although she was sentenced months ago, Dinkel was allowed to delay serving her time because her son is ill. Even so, she will be home in plenty of time to do her Christmas shopping.

There is no way to view Dinkel's treatment by the court as anything other than a mild hand slap. Given the details of her offenses, the justice system should have meted out much harsher punishment.


[Update 12/02/07]

Dinkel released from jail.


[Update 02/19/08]

Dinkel arrested for violating her probation.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/04/2007 10:44:00 PM

Brits Are Freaking Nuts!

Here's the latest politically correct absurdity from Great Britain.

Firemen who shone their torches at four men they found having sex in bushes have been disciplined by their bosses.

The crew spotted the men engaged in illegal 'dogging' - outdoor sexual activity with strangers - on parkland known as the Downs in Bristol late one night.

After embarrassing the men by pointing their torches at them, the crew continued on their way to their fire station.

One would imagine that that would be the end of the incident and hardly worth mentioning -- except, someone complained that the four-man crew of Avon Fire and Rescue were homophobic. As a result, all four were suspended for three months and ...

Yesterday it emerged that two have been fined £1,000 each, another demoted to a rank which will see him forfeit a similar amount of money, while a fourth has received a stern written warning.

It is believed Avon Fire and Rescue plans to give the money raised from the fines to a gay rights charity.

Among those being considered is the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays.

The crew have been transferred to other stations and ordered to attend an equality course.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but a torch is a flashlight, right? And the firemen aimed a flashlight on some men engaging in public sexual activity and then walked away. For that, they get suspended, demoted, transferred and fined! That's outrageous!

It's not my preference to bash the Brits but, in this case, it's warranted. You're all freakin' nuts! No person should ever be punished just because some homosexuals were embarrassed. If so, the government should be canned for embarrassing the entire population of the United Kingdom. And, whoever is in charge of Avon Fire and Rescue deserves a size 12 fireman's boot to his cushy, politically correct arse for not supporting his men.

Tip: slwlion

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/04/2007 09:58:00 PM

Texas Probation Officer Accused of Sex with Boy

(College Station, Texas) A 29-year-old juvenile probation officer, Sarah Celeste Farmer, surrendered to College Station Police on Monday to faces charges of sex assault of a 16-year-old boy.

Reportedly, Farmer and the boy had been engaged in a sexual relationship since January 2007, shortly after he was released from the Brazos County Juvenile Detention Center where she was a shift supervisor.

Both Farmer and the boy admitted to the relationship when interviewed by police. Farmer is no longer working as a probation officer.

Farmer faces a charge of second-degree sexual assault. She was booked and released on $5,000 bail. If convicted of the sex assault charge, Farmer faces a possible 20 years in prison.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/04/2007 05:10:00 PM

Hot Chili Prompts Neighborhood Evacuation

(London, England) Authorities sealed off roads and people were evacuated from the heart of London's SoHo District on Monday due to a hot chili emergency. Firefighters entered after donning special breathing masks.

[F]irefighters smashed down the door of the Thai Cottage restaurant and seized extra-hot bird's eye chilis which had been left dry-frying. It said they were being prepared as part of a batch of Nam Prik Pao, a spicy Thai dip.

"The smoke didn't go up into the sky because of the rain and the heavy air," The Times quoted Thai Cottage owner Sue Wasboonma as saying. "It's the hottest thing we make."

Nam Prik Pao, eh? Jeez, if it's that powerful before you eat it, just imagine the fireworks on the back end.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/04/2007 07:01:00 AM

Iraq Seeking Chinese Weapons

Word from Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is that the U.S. cannot supply light military equipment expeditiously so his government will be buying Chinese arms -- $100 million worth. U.S. officials concede that delivery problems exist.

Heh. Why some Western nation can't fulfill the needs of the Iraqis is unknown. Therefore, capital will be infused into the weapons industry of a communist nation.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/04/2007 05:40:00 AM

New York Woman Sentenced in Child Rape Case

(Lockport, New York) A 36-year-old woman from Medina in neighboring Orleans County, Sherrie L. Joy, has pleaded guilty in Niagara County Court to 3rd degree rape of 15-year-old boy.

As a result, Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza sentenced Joy to six months in jail in conjunction with 10 years probation.

Interestingly, it's reported that most of the sex (all but one episode) associated with the lengthy relationship with the boy occurred in Orleans County but Joy avoided prosecution in that jurisdiction by accepting the plea deal in Niagara County. Lenient? You make the call.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/04/2007 03:22:00 AM

Christine Marie Johanson

The enduring cases of 37-year-old former teacher Christine Marie Johanson have finally reached their conclusions. As a reminder, Johanson faced charges for committing child sex crimes in two states, Oregon and Washington, regarding an extended term sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy, starting in November 2006. History of cases.

In August 2007, Johanson was sentenced to six months in jail in Cowlitz County, Washington, after pleading guilty to rape.

In September 2007, Johanson pleaded guilty to rape in Columbia County, Oregon. Yesterday, a tearful and apologetic Johanson was sentenced to 360 days in the Columbia County Jail.

Her sentencing revealed new details about the case and included testimony from the victim's mother.

During the sentencing phase of her trial, which began Wednesday morning, the 15-year-old victim's mother said Johanson became involved in every part of her son's life -- school, home and church.

Arlene Keppinger said Johanson even asked if she could go with the family on their summer vacation.

The mother of a second boy said Johanson befriended her son to make the victim jealous.

In addition, the victim's therapist, Charlotte Rosen, said the boy suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his relationship with Johanson.

In summary, Johanson will spend a total of about 18 months in jail for sex with a 15-year-old student.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/03/2007 07:48:00 PM

Thousands Trapped in Gold Mine

(Carletonville, South Africa) Breaking news! Reportedly, at least 3,200 miners are trapped more than 7,000 feet below ground.

From CNN:

More than 3,000 mine workers are trapped at Harmony Gold's Elandsrand mine in Carletonville, South Africa, according to the South African Press Association.

No injuries have been reported. Carletonville is about 50 miles southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa.

The workers were trapped when a falling pipe column cut power to the lift used to hoist them to the surface, the press association said.

The mineworkers union said a water pipe burst and probably caused the shaft to collapse, The Associated Press reported.

There has been extensive damage to the steel work and the electrical feeder cords attached to the lift, according to a Harmony Gold spokesperson quoted by SAPA.

Workers above ground are trying to configure a second cage to rescue the 3,200 people who are trapped.

The lift is expected to be functioning within a couple of hours, but the cage can take only 300 workers to the surface every half hour, the spokesperson said, according to the press association.

An official with mine said the trapped workers would be evacuated over the next 24 hours, AP reported.

However, concern has been expressed about the danger of suffocation as a result of high temperatures. The temperatures range between 86 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit.


[Update 10/04/07, 1600 EDT]

CNN reports that all miners have been rescued with no major injuries.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/03/2007 06:56:00 PM

New Mexico Woman, 30, and Boy, 8

(Las Cruces, New Mexico) A 30-year-old local woman, Michelle A. Tufts, was arrested Monday for allegedly engaging in sex with an 8-year-old boy.

According to Las Cruces Police spokesman Dan Trujillo, the boy's grandmother alerted authorities about suspicions she had regarding Tuft's relationship with the boy. Subsequently, police determined that the grandmother's suspicions were substantiated.

Tufts has been charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child under age of 13 and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Tufts was booked into custody at the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $50,000.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 01/30/08]

Tufts pleads no contest.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/03/2007 06:17:00 PM

Nevada Teacher Guilty of Meth Trafficking

(Fernley, Nevada) In March 2007, a former special-education teacher at Fernley Intermediate School, Kymberly Tamburello, was arraigned on charges of methamphetamine and marijuana possession and trafficking. Tamburello was originally charged in October 2006 after a search by authorities found significant quantities of drugs in her home.

In a related case, Kymberly's husband, Charles Tamburello, pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine. In January 2007, he was sentenced to one to four years in the Nevada State Prison.

Kymberly Tamburello originally pleaded not guilty to all charges but later decided to accept a deal. This week, Tamburello, 44, pleaded guilty in the Third Judicial District Court in Yerington to trafficking methamphetamine.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 26th when Tamburello faces one to six years in the Nevada State Prison and up to a $50,000 fine.


[Update 11/29/07]

Tamburello sentenced.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/03/2007 05:39:00 PM

Maryland Teacher Gets Jail on Drug Charge

(Montgomery County, Maryland) In February 2007, a 26-year-old teacher at Robert Frost Middle School in Rockville, Erin Jennifer Marks, was arrested for allegedly distributing cocaine and other drugs.

In July, Marks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance (cocaine). Last week, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Paul H. Weinstein sentenced Marks, now 27, to 18 months in jail with all but nine months suspended. According to her attorney, David Felsen, Marks will serve her time as determined by the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation.

Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Kate Harrison said that Marks had resigned her teaching position last April. Also, there has been no evidence that Marks distributed drugs to students.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/03/2007 06:39:00 AM

Teen Counselor Suspended in Candy for Sex Case

(Seattle, Washington) A 39-year-old female youth counselor at the King County Youth Services Center, Flor Mari Crisostomo, has lost credentials to practice as a family therapist and registered counselor. Crisostomo is accused of trading candy and phone calls for sex with a 17-year-old male patient.

Emergency orders were announced Monday by the state Health Department indefinitely suspending Crisostomo.

Crisostomo is unable to control "her deviant sexual desires," the orders state. "A counselor that is willing to seduce a minor client should not be allowed to practice until such abhorrent behavior is explained, if such an explanation is even possible."

Crisostomo is a University of Washington counselor who has worked with juveniles at the county detention center.

No charges nor arrests have been made but the Seattle police continue to investigate.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/03/2007 06:08:00 AM

Pennsylvania Caregiver Accused of Sex with Boy

(Ephrata, Pennsylvania) A 24-year-old psychiatric aide at Summit Quest Academy, Elizabeth Gaska, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 16-year-old male patient.

Ephrata police Lt. Chris McKim said Gaska had relations with the boy starting in May at the behavioral center and at other locations.

"Over the course of a few months, the (boy) and Gaska had several sexual contacts, (in) rooms at the facility and while they were on field trips with other patients," McKim said.

An Ephrata police detective was making arrangements with Gaska's attorney Tuesday for the suspect to turn herself in.

The third-degree felony charge was filed Tuesday. Gaska faces maximum penalties of 7 years in prison and a $15,000 fine upon conviction.

Summit Quest Academy treats male teens with behavioral problems.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/03/2007 05:41:00 AM

Mom Accused of Snorting Coke Off Baby's Belly

(Schenectady, New York) A 37-year-old downstreet Saratoga Springs woman, Wendy Cook, was arrested Monday by Schenectady police in a prostitution sweep.

According to Schenectady Police Lt. Brian Kilcullen, Cook offered to perform sex acts on an undercover police officer. Additionally, investigators have accused Cook of child endangerment.

Through interviews with others who had interacted with Cook near the time of her arrest, Kilcullen said investigators determined that she had performed oral sex on a pair of customers while her two children, an 8-week-old son and a 5-year-old daughter, were awake in the back seat of her car.

Authorities also allege that Cook used drugs in the car with the children, including smoking crack cocaine and using her son as a tool to ingest cocaine.

"We learned throughout our investigation that while breast-feeding, she snorted cocaine off the stomach of the infant," Kilcullen said.

Cook has been charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, five counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and prostitution.

According to Dawn Constantine, senior counselor with St. Peter's Addiction Recovery, Cook has been heard to say she has thought of selling her children for money to buy drugs.

At a hearing yesterday, New York City Court Judge Vince Versaci set bail at $15,000 after Cook signed an order acknowledging that she is forbidden from having contact with her two children who were taken into protective custody of Children and Family Services before being released to family members.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/02/2007 07:52:00 AM

Colorado Child Molester Pornographer Gets Hand Slap

(Grand Junction, Colorado) In March 2007, a 49-year-old grandmother, Debra Slaughenhaupt, was arrested for investigation of multiple counts of sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a child and child abuse.

Slaughenhaupt's arrest came after she was linked to an Internet child pornography operation involving a Toronto, Ontario, man named Matthew Hughes. Hughes apparently beguiled Slaughenhaupt into forcing two children, ages 3 and 9, to perform sexual acts on her and send webcam images of the child porn to him on the Internet. Federal agents ultimately tracked the images to Slaughenhaupt.

In June 2007, Slaughenhaupt pleaded guilty in accordance with an agreement with the prosecution to felony counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, sexual exploitation of a child and a misdemeanor count of child abuse.

Yesterday, Mesa County District Judge Richard Gurley sentenced Slaughenhaupt, now 50. Despite probation officials recommending four years to life in prison and indicating that Slaughenhaupt was not remorseful, Judge Gurley imposed 20 years to life probation and 15 months in jail.

Judge Gurley also prohibited Slaughenhaupt from owning or using a computer or accessing the Internet. She also can't be around children and she must undergo sex offender treatment.

Hand slap? I think so. As I understand, a child pornography conviction in federal court would have netted Slaughenhaupt many years in prison. Why the feds didn't prosecute, I don't know.

Instead, Slaughenhaupt was prosecuted locally and Judge Gurley rejected all recommendations for a term in prison. I cannot even comprehend a man receiving the same sentence for molesting children, producing child pornography and transmitting it over the Internet.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/02/2007 05:53:00 AM

Woman Arrested for Tree House Sex with Boy

(Pickens County, South Carolina) A 34-year-old Marietta woman, Lisa Gale Stone, was arrested last Friday by Pickens County Sheriff's deputies for allegedly engaging in sex repeatedly with a 13-year-old boy in a tree house near his home.

Reportedly, Stone worked in the boy's home and has admitted to having sex with him in the tree house.

Deputies say that Stone forced the boy to have intercourse and performed oral sex on him on several occasions between September 18th and September 28th. Authorities were alerted after the boy's mother saw the two lying together.

Stone faces counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and committing a lewd act on a minor. She was booked into custody at the Pickens County Detention Center.

Tip: Don Morgenstern
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       Following Entry Posted 10/01/2007 05:34:00 PM

Zimbabwe's Last White Hopes

Whittle another notch for police-state socialism. Zimbabwe's last white landowners will soon be history.

Scores of white farmers, the last survivors of President Robert Mugabe's land grab, and thousands of their black workers are going through similar agonies.

They now face the final deadline. As from today, any white farmer still on his land will be deemed to be trespassing on state property.

All agricultural land was officially nationalised last year -- with the seizure to take effect from Oct 1 this year.

In advance of this deadline, Zimbabwe's army and the Central Intelligence Organisation have been tormenting the last handful of white farmers and their workers.

About 50 have been summoned to appear at magistrates' courts. Some have surrendered their farms and homes in despair in the last few weeks.

Soldiers with automatic weapons are performing the evictions.

Meanwhile, the UN estimates that four million Zimbabweans will go hungry next year, a turnaround from the pre-Mugabe days when Zimbabwe exported food.

Across the ocean, keep an eye on Hugo Chavez as he uses the proven Mugabe (and others) methods to turn Venezuela into a police-state socialist s**thole.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/01/2007 04:34:00 PM

Upstate NY Woman Gets Prison for Rape of Boy

(Glens Falls, New York) In June 2007, a 53-year-old Queensbury woman, Debra Mehnert, was arraigned in Glens Falls City Court on sex charges including the rape of a 13-year-old boy.

Upon learning of the sexual relationship, the boy's mother alerted the authorities. At the time, Mehnert reportedly admitted to the offenses.

Today it's reported that Mehnert pleaded guilty to felony second-degree rape. As a result, Warren County Judge John Hall sentenced her to a term of one to three years in prison. Mehnert will also be required to pay a $1,000 sex offender fee.

Despite having to pay a fee, it wasn't reported that Mehnert will be required to register as a sex offender.

[Note: Two spellings have been used in the reporting of this case -- Mehnert and Menhert. According to WhitePages.com, Mehnert is correct.]
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       Following Entry Posted 10/01/2007 07:22:00 AM

GM-UAW Playing Hot Potato

Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog has put up a great post on the new General Motors/United Auto Workers contract.

For those who want to be informed enough to speak intelligently about the issue, it's a must read.

Interesting fact: While proclaiming that the union guarantees job security, UAW membership has dwindled from 246,000 in 1994 to about 74,000 today. Doing the math, the UAW has been losing members at a rate of more than 1,000 a week, every week, for the past 13 years. Some security, eh?

Go visit BizzyBlog.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/01/2007 07:00:00 AM

Polish Women Seek Power

(Warsaw, Poland) The Polish Women's Party members are "beautiful, nude, proud," says novelist Manuela Gretkowska, the party's founder.

To attract attention, interest and new members, the party has created a poster featuring seven prominent Women's Party candidates in the nude. The seven are hoping to win seats in the October 21st parliamentary elections.

According to Gretkowska,

"This poster is intended to shatter stereotypes in the anachronistic world of politics, which is more often dominated by uncommunicative men with their black tie outfits." [ ... ]

"This is not pornography, there is nothing to see in terms of sex. Our faces are intelligent, concerned, proud."

The party has around 1,500 members with some celebrities and is intended to be a counterbalance to the ruling Law and Justice Party. Unfortunately, recent polling indicates that the Women's Party doesn't have much support.

Rather than being photographed nude, I'd suggest that overwhelming interest and support would be garnered if they campaigned in frilly nighties and resolved caucus disagreements through videotaped pillow fights.
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       Following Entry Posted 10/01/2007 06:23:00 AM

Study: Biofuels Worse Than Fossil Fuels

Wait a minute! I thought all the details about alternative energy sources were known and settled. How could it be that corn is worse than coal?

From Spiegel Online:

A team of researchers led by Nobel-prize winning chemist Paul Crutzen has found that growing and using biofuels emits up to 70 percent more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. They are warning that the cure could end up being worse than the disease.

[ ... ]

Crutzen is widely respected in the field of climate research, having received the Nobel Prize in 1995 for his research into the ozone layer. The study, published in the scientific journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, finds that the growth and use of biofuels produced from rapeseed and maize can produce 70 percent and 50 percent more greenhouse gases respectively than fossil fuels.

How much you want to bet that the environmental socialists won't pay a lick of attention to what Crutzen reports?
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       Following Entry Posted 10/01/2007 04:30:00 AM

Pot Festival in California

The Santa Cruz City Council lifted the local ban on smoking marijuana in public places to allow dopers to get wasted at the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana annual festival at Lorenzo Park on Saturday. Organizers contend the event was focused on awareness, not on using marijuana.

Police reported no problems, however, it's believed that a number of people actually used the event to surreptitiously light up a Marlboro, camouflaging their illegal behavior among groups of marijuana smokers.

Tip: slwlion
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