Interested-Participant

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2008 11:53:00 PM

Women With Troubles - November 2008

Reported in news stories during November 2008, here is a compilation of women with troubles. Each name is linked to an Interested-Participant blog entry displaying details.

For a more comprehensive listing, check the Women With Troubles category link.

(AR) Deanna Bobo, 40,
teacher - Loses appeal, must serve 12 years in prison for sex with boys,

(AZ) Checkie Hessel, 33,
neighbor - Arrested for child abuse and DUI,

(AZ) Elizabeth Livesay, 26,
teacher - Arrested for sex with girl, 16,

(CA) Carlie Rose Attebury, 29,
teacher - Arrested for sex with male student, 15 or 16,

(CA) Cheryl Bush aka Busch, 39,
neighbor - Arrested for fatally shooting 18-month-old daughter,

(CA) Olivia Geatian, 33,
neighbor - Arrested for meat-cleaving husband's head,

(CA) Kaisha Hill, 29,
juvie counselor - Arrested on drug and weapons charges,

(CA) Crissy Torcella Hisey, 28,
teacher - Gets weekends in jail for oral sex with female student under 18,

(CA) Margarita Oropeza, 30,
neighbor - Arrested for making a boy, 13, perform oral sex on her,

(CA) Kay Sorg, 55,
teacher - Admits to sex with girl, 14. All charges dropped,

(CO) Melissa Snow, 27,
teacher - Arrested for sex assault of male student,

(CO) Christina Elizabeth Szele, 35,
neighbor - Guilty in flight rage case,

(FL) Donna L. Andree, 43,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 15,

(FL) Sarah Elizabeth Joel, 32,
teacher - Gets two years of house arrest for sex with boy, 15,

(FL) Angela Leavitt, 28,
neighbor - Guilty of sex with boy, 16. Sentencing in January,

(FL) Valerie Elaine Sabarese, 27,
teacher - Arrested for dealing heroin and cocaine,

(IA) Shannon Michelle Rew, 37,
neighbor - Gets 10 years in prison for sex with boy, 15,

(IN) Maria and Michelle Stancati, 35,
twin teachers - Arrested for meth lab in home,

(KY) Melissa Morris, 30,
teacher - Arrested for being high on drugs at school,

(LA) Anna Huck Davis, 32,
teacher - Arrested for sex with boy, 15,

(LA) Tina Schlegel, 28,
teacher - Arrested for illicit relationship with boy, 15,

(MA) Mara L. Escobar, 35,
neighbor - Arrested for rape of niece, 16,

(MA) Lindsay Rogowski, 24,
child caseworker - Gets probation for repeated sex with boy being counseled,

(MA) Pattie Sherman, 33,
neighbor - Arrested repeatedly for huffing,

(MD) Sarah E. Ellison, 31,
daycare mom - Indicted for sex abuse of boy, 14,

(MD) Carole Leigh Mayers, 41,
teacher - Arrested for improper relationship with student,

(ME) Tina Mason, 31,
teacher - Gets 30 days jail for sex abuse of boy, 13,

(MI) Kelly Abdo, 27,
teacher - Charged with indecent exposure,

(MI) Jennifer Rae Merriman, 31,
neighbor - Gets 6 months jail for sex with boy, 15,

(MO) Kathy Moegle, 55,
teacher - Arrested for DUI,

(MS) Loni Marie Folks, 25,
teacher - Gets probation for sex with male student, 16,

(NC) Maria Esther Castillo, 45,
neighbor - Arrested for interfering with flight crew,

(NE) Tiffany K. King, 20,
neighbor - Gets prison for sex with boy, 14,

(NE) Tammy Walnofer, 38,
neighbor - Gets 18 to 26 months prison for sex with boy, 14,

(NH) Francine Barron, 34,
neighbor - Bail in child sex case revoked due to failed drug test,

(NH) Nicole Belonga, 27,
neighbor - Convicted of manslaughter in death of daughter. Sentencing in January,

(NH) Cathleen Crowley, 29,
youth counselor - Crowley backs out of plea deal in boy sex case because it included jail,

(NH) Kimberly A. Robinson, 32,
neighbor - Warrant issued for arrest in boy sex case,

(NJ) Josette M. Taylor, 53,
neighbor - Guilty of sex with boy, 15. Sentencing in Jan.,

(NY) Marcy Cole, 35,
teacher - Gets one to three years in prison for several DUIs,

(NY) Lynn Taliento, 44,
teacher - Guilty in massive fraud case. Sentencing in Jan.,

(OH) Carolynn Hatcher, 26,
group home worker - Gets 3 years prison for sex with boy, 16,

(OH) Barbara Joly, 68,
grandma - Arrested for bank robberies,

(OH) Timi Robertson, 36,
neighbor - Gets 10 years in prison for sex with boy, 12,

(OK) Valerie Posey, 27,
neighbor - Gets eight years in prison for sex with boy, 13,

(PA) Ashley Banks, 25,
neighbor - Gets 2 to 4 years in prison for sex with boy, 12,

(PA) Heather Ann Moyer, 22,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 15,

(PA) Susan Romanyszyn, 46,
teacher - Sentenced to prison for making terroristic threats,

(SC) Deidre K. Goff, 44,
daycare worker - Arrested for allegedly fracturing 3-month-old baby's skull,

(TX) Victoria Chacon, 27,
teacher - Arrested for sending topless pics to boy, 14,

(TX) Alice Morales, 44,
lawyer - Arrested for selling meth,

(TX) Candra Dee Payton, 32,
teacher - Guilty of sex with boy, 15,

(TX) Mayra Lizbeth Rosales, 27,
neighbor - Arrested for murder of nephew, 2,

(TX) Julianna Sauls, 38,
teacher - Accused od sex assault of male student, 18,

(TX) Gina Thomas,
teacher - Arrested for drugs,

(UT) Lenae Anderson,
teacher - Arrested for meth possession,

(UT) Kimberly Arigot, 40,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with teen neighborhood boys,

(WA) Sarah M. Credeur, 25,
neighbor - Gets community service in boy sex case,

(WV) Tammy Lynn Smith, 43,
neighbor - Arrested for abusing daughter, 6.

As always, thanks to the tipsters.

Labels: Women With Troubles

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2008 01:18:00 PM

NH Woman Fails to Appear for Boy Sex Trial

(Laconia, New Hampshire) In December 2007, a 32-year-old local woman, Kimberly A. Robinson, was indicted on five counts of felonious sexual assault for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

The crimes allegedly occurred in July 2005. After her initial arrest, Robinson was freed on $50,000 bond.

On Wednesday of last week, Robinson was scheduled to appear in Belknap County Superior Court for the start of her trial. She failed to appear. As a consequence, her bail was revoked and a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2008 08:58:00 AM

St Andrew's day

I mentioned yesterday that St Andrew's day is Scotland's national day and am pleased to report that Anne and I did do something towards celebrating it. We had Forfar Bridies for our evening meal and listened to Scottish music both then and afterward. And the songs we listened to were the in the main the old favourites that are so deeply felt among the Scots -- Scottish Soldier, My Ain folk, Loch Lomond, Skye boat song, Scots wha hae etc. etc.

I have spoken a little lately of how conservatives have few inhibitions about group loyalties (such as patriotism) and mentioned the Eton Boating Song as an instance of how such loyalties can be deeply felt. And I also noted at the time that loyalty or a feeling of connectedness to your own group does not necessarily imply contempt for other groups or a wish to dominate them. And the Eton Boating Song exemplified that well. And so does the Scottish song I put up yesterday. Although it is called "Scotland the Brave", it again contains no aggression or hostility towards others. It just talks about Scottish people and the beloved Scottish landscape. But it is still capable of bringing tears to Scottish eyes. The feelings it conveys are intensely felt.

So I am going to press the point a little further by putting up the words of another beloved Scottish song: Scottish Soldier. I am sure that any Leftist would immediatey assume that such a song must be glorying in the crushing, dominating and extermination of other people. But it does none of that. As a song about a soldier it does indeed refer with pride to his distinguished military past but the song is not about that at all. Once again it is about his memories of his own country whilst serving aboad and how his dying wish to be buried in Scotland was honoured.

Scottish Soldier

1). There was a soldier, a Scottish soldier
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away
There was none bolder, with good broad shoulders,
He fought in many a fray and fought and won
He's seen the glory, he's told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious
But now he's sighing his heart is crying
To leave these green hills of Tyrol.

Chorus: Because these green hills are not highland hills
Or the Islands hills their not my lands hills,
As fair as these green foreign hills may be
They are not the hills of home.

2). And now this soldier, this Scottish soldier,
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away
Sees leaves are falling, and death is calling
And he will fade away, on that dark land
He called his piper, his trusty piper
And bade him sound away, a pibroch sad to play
Upon a hillside but Scottish hillside
Not on these green hills of Tyrol

Chorus:

3). And now this soldier this Scottish soldier
Who wanders far no more, and soldiers far no more
Now on a hillside, a Scottish hillside
You'll see a piper play this soldier home
He's seen the glory, he's told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious
But he will cease now, he is at peace now
Far from these green hills of Tyrol

Chorus:

A point I was waiting for people to bring up was the fact that, right up to JFK, Leftists were patriotic too -- almost crazily so in the case of people like Theodore Roosevelt and the followers of Hitler. And Scots too are a very socialistic people. So how come they are so patriotic?

I think Obama worship gives us the answer. Because Leftists are more emotional, their POTENTIAL for group loyalty generally and patriotism in particular is unusually great. But the more there are things that they hate in the world about them, the more they are inhibited from giving rein to any such feelings. But when something arises that they can give undivided loyalty to, they go overboard -- as we saw in Fascism, Nazism and now in Obama worship.

So the Leftist is in perpetual conflict: He WANTS connectedness but so many things in the world about him are unsatisfactory to him that he ends up as a rejectionist rather than as a participant. In the past, it was only "The Bosses" who were the focus of his ire and he could kid himself that most of the people around him were not responsible for the "injustices" that bother him so much. Now, however, when it appears to him that even "rednecks" and "NASCAR dads" are on the side of what upsets him, he is completely alienated. He once felt that "the workers" were on his side and appointed himself as a spokesman for them. That illusion is now gone and the whole country is on the wrong track from his viewpoint. So how wonderful for him it was when the Obamessiah came along to rescue him from that dreadful dilemma and offered the prospect of reshaping the country into his desired mould!

In the case of Scotland, however, the old illusions live on. Scots still hate "The bosses" but most of all they hate England. The song that comes nearest to being their national anthem is "The Flower of Scotland". It was written quite recently but is concerned with something that happened in the 14th century! So what is going on? The secret is hatred of England. The event referred to is the Scottish victory over the King of England, Edward II, at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Very few English people would today know anything about the North/South wars of the 13th and 14th century but the Scots have not forgotten. So again for a Scot the enemy is externalized and he can happily be patriotic. Hitler found the Jews useful in the same way. The English are Scotland's Jews.

In case I seem to be just blowing smoke in saying above that Leftists tend to see patriotism as implying hostility towards others, I might mention that there is a very large academic literature in psychology which assumes exactly that -- starting with the work of Adorno et al. (1950) on "ethnocentrism". I might also mention that my own survey research into exactly that question showed repeatedly exactly what I have asserted above -- that patriotism does NOT in general imply hostilty towards others. See e.g. here.

Reference: Adorno,T.W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J. & Sanford, R.N. (1950). The authoritarian personality New York: Harper.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2008 08:51:00 AM

Michael Phelps' Pal

Olympic Gold Medal Winner Michael Phelps took his new girlfriend, Caroline "Caz" Pal, home to Maryland for Thanksgiving. Pal is a 26-year-old casino cocktail waitress in Las Vegas. What a pair they make.

Michael Phelps & Caroline Pal
Notably, Pal has a less than squeaky-clean image which appears to conflict with the boy-next-door sports hero credentials of Phelps. The champion swimmer met the drink slinger while extending his competitiveness to the poker tables in Las Vegas.

Pal is an exotic-looking woman with an apparent love for tattoo needles. Essentially her entire back has some sort of graffiti emblazoned in ink. Knowing how time-consuming it is to acquire expansive tattoos and the pain involved, one must believe that it is an obsession with Pal.

It's questionable as to whether the Phelps/Pal relationship will endure. Kellogg or Subway or other sponsors may express some heartburn about a scantily-clad and tattooed bar waitress possibly smudging Phelps' All-American sports hero image.

Odds are that smoochy-smoochy loses in a contest with cha-ching.

NSFW images of the tattoos are at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/30/2008 12:11:00 AM

Advertising on School Test Papers

(Rancho Bernardo, California) Rancho Bernardo calculus teacher Tom Farber came up with the idea of selling space on exam papers to defray school administrative costs.

Farber said he came up with the idea over the summer. He saw ads on public buses and sponsorships at Qualcomm Stadium and decided to promote his idea at Back to School Night in September. He collected $270 from parents at that event.

“I haven't heard any negativity,” he said.

Farber said he has sold about $350 in ads, more than enough to make up what the school budget doesn't pay for. He said he still has ad space for next semester, and whatever extra money he collects will go to the math department for other teachers to use. Checks are made out to the department.

Students have become accustomed to seeing exam headers like "Eat. Gas. Sam and Ella's QuikStop. Central Ave," while other Rancho Bernardo teachers ponder the idea. Ads cost $10 for quizzes, $20 for chapter tests and $30 for semester exams.

Unless someone questions the appropriateness of the advertising, the practice may likely become widespread. In all candor, though, I frankly fear that before long, the ads will cease selling products and services and start propagandizing pupils.

Companion post at EdWatch.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 11:41:00 PM

Slug-Infested Christmas Trees from Oregon

(Honolulu, Hawaii) A shipment of Christmas trees from Oregon has been denied entry into the Hawaiian Islands because of a slug infestation, said Leslie Iseke of the Department of Agriculture.

Iseke said plant quarantine inspectors have so far looked at 130 or so containers and have 70 more to go. A container could contain hundreds of trees, she said.

Each container is opened for a visual inspection, and if pests are found, trees are pulled for a better look, Iseke said. "Sometimes we pull them out to spot-check, even if we don't find anything."

Trees are shaken and pounded on the ground "so hopefully whatever organisms are on the tree are shaken out on white maps," she said.

Some slugs are so tiny it is hard to see them just by spreading the branches open, so "the best thing is shaking," she said.

I must confess that whenever the subject turns to slimy, slow-moving invertebrates, I automatically think of Congress.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 04:19:00 PM

Fake Penis Makers Guilty of Conspiracy

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) The owners of California-based Puck Technology, manufacturer of the Whizzinator fake penis device used to cheat on drug tests, have been convicted in federal court.

George W. Wills, 65, and Robert Dennis Catalano, 62, pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to defraud the government and conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia.

On the market for at least five years, the Whizzinator is a prosthetic penis attached to an undergarment resembling a jock strap which connects to a pouch containing dehydrated urine. Water is added to the pouch and a heat pack is used to keep the urine close to body temperature. It's highly recommended by parolees and probationers.

Wills and Catalano are scheduled to be sentenced on February 20 when they each face a possible eight years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Tip: slwlion

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 02:22:00 PM

Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress Sidelined

(New York City) In only the first season of a five-year, $35 million contract with the New York Giants, Plaxico Burress is sidelined. He has been bothered by a hamstring injury compounded by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Details are not available but it appears that Burress, while night-clubbing, decided to demonstrate his wide receiver skills by catching a bullet.

What a guy.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 01:28:00 PM

Chinese Illegals Caught at Border

(Tucson, Arizona) This week, 14 Chinese national citizens were caught in two incidents trying to sneak into the U.S. In both cases, the Chinese were riding in vehicles driven by Mexicans.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 08:26:00 AM

Global Warming Losing Support

(Paris, France) According to a survey of people in 11 countries conducted by the HSBC financial group, the Earthwatch Institute and other environmental groups, support for global warming initiatives has fallen.

People are less likely to spend time and money or be alarmed by environmentalists' hysterical cries that the end is near.

The polling results were released ahead of a major international conference on global warming to be held in Poland ... in December ... with cold northern European wind.

Heh.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 07:49:00 AM

Health Alert! Junk Food Causes Alzheimer's

I'd say to take this news with a grain of salt but some researcher somewhere would claim that I cause high blood pressure.

Researchers in Sweden looked at the effect of a junk food diet on mice genetically altered to be prone to Alzheimer’s.

The creatures’ brains were tested after they were fed a diet laden in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months.

Researcher Susanne Akterin, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said: ‘On examining the brains of these mice, we found a chemical change not unlike that found in the Alzheimer brain.’

Her tests showed the food altered the formation of a protein called tau which forms tangles inside the brain of Alzheimer’s patients, causing brain cells to shrink and die.

Eat at your own risk.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 07:42:00 AM

Amazing Japanese Prime Minister

This gives me new respect for Japan. I don't agree with what he said but am delighted that someone in his position felt free to say it.

"He has ridiculed doctors, mocked the mentally ill and made light of wartime atrocities, but this time Taro Aso may have taken things too far: the Prime Minister of the world's fastest-ageing nation has condemned Japan's elderly as a bunch of "hobbling malingerers".

Having shattered a sacred taboo, the nationalist Mr Aso, who is 68, added: "I pay my taxes, so why should I pay money for people who laze around eating and drinking and never do anything?"

Members of Mr Aso's own party told The Times that the attack on seniority and ill-health was "completely irresponsible" in a country where one in five voters is over 70 years old, where the healthcare system is in crisis and a general election is looming. "He seems to be saying that old people should feel guilty for visiting the doctor," said one ruling coalition MP. "He must have said it without realising how many people that would upset."

Others believe that the comments were entirely predictable, given Mr Aso's previous form. His attack on old people for their lack of exercise and for "always tottering off to the doctor" was blurted out during a ministerial meeting on the economic crisis and marks probably the most spectacular gaffe of a political career strewn with increasingly baffling clangers.

Doctors, he said recently, tended to lack common sense; Japan, he declared on another occasion, should make itself attractive to "rich Jews". He was once made to apologise for a joke about people suffering from Alzheimer's, and quipped to victims of a flood that it was lucky for everyone that the city nearby had not been hit.

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 07:29:00 AM

Recycling Scrapped in Britain

Waste managers have decided to stop recycling rubbish because the prices of recycled rubbish materials have plummeted. The demand for recycled materials has disappeared. As a consequence, the end product is worthless.

According to recycled waste spokesman Mark Blaker, recycling facilities are being closed.

'They are being removed as a result of the credit crunch basically.

'Much of our paper goes to China, for example, to make cardboard boxes. But at the moment, those boxes are not being made and exported to America like they were, so what's happened here is a knock-on effect.

'Prices in the summer for recycled material were at an artificial high, which is why the drop seems so dramatic, but now the product's price is pretty much zero pounds.'

Recycling banks are worst affected by the drop in prices because their contents are ' contaminated' with other materials that are processed together.

In summary, recycling doesn't work when there is zero economic benefit. Environmental slogans aside, the recycling operations are being shut down simply because they are a drain on companies' finances.

Following Entry Posted 11/29/2008 06:49:00 AM

USArmy Deserter Wants Asylum in Germany

(Frankfurt, Germany) A 31-year-old U.S. Army deserter, Andre Shepherd, has applied for asylum in Germany. According to Shepherd's lawyer, Reinhard Marx, "he does not want to take part in the American war in Iraq, a war that does not conform with international law and because he does not want to be implicated in war crimes."

The Apache helicopter mechanic from the 412th Aviation Support Battalion hopes to be granted asylum under a European Union directive that says the usual, "war is bad ... crimes against humanity ... blah,blah, blah." You know the drill.

Shepherd held a news conference Thursday in Frankfurt and claimed the Iraq War is illegal because people are killed with machine guns and Hellfire missiles. Shepherd said he feels guided by the Nuremburg Trials in making his own responsible decisions.

Strangely, he didn't mentioned the fact that he signed a contract.

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2008 03:38:00 PM

Mexican Law Enforcers Largely Unfit for Police Work

(Mexico City) Background and security tests administered to 56,000 Mexican policemen have resulted in a 49 percent failure rate nationwide. In Tijuana and Baja California, the failure rate is 89 percent.

The tests - which involved lie detectors, drug tests, pyscohological (sic) profiling and tests of personal wealth, among other measures - were intended to root out corrupt, incompetent and unfit officers.

To a certain extent, these results explain why Mexico appears to be trending toward a complete breakdown of law and order.

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2008 02:03:00 PM

Flip-Flops for Drunks in High Heels

(Devon, England) The popular resort of Torbay does its best to accommodate drunk visitors. Police hand out condoms and sex advice and force public urinators to clean up after themselves. Most recently, city police officers are handing out flip-flop shoes to drunk women so they don't have to walk home in their high heels.

Funding for the scheme comes from British taxpayers -- to the tune of £30,000 from the Home Office.

Isn't that special? Maybe next they'll be directing people to after-hours clubs while serving up hot breakfasts. Levity aside, it's nice that the community strives to be extra pleasurable to tourists but I think that local businesses should pick up the tab, not the entire British taxpaying public.

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2008 01:29:00 PM

One Dead in Wal-Mart Stampede

(Valley Stream, New York) A 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee was bowled over and apparently trampled to death this morning during the annual Black Friday bargain-hunting frenzy. (h/t Ron)

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2008 08:19:00 AM

Sometimes the real thoughts behind the correctness leak out

Contrast the impeccably correct first statement below with the one that follows it. The first statement is the first paragraph on the home page of Barnardo's -- a British children's charity

"Some might say that children who are troublesome or engage in anti-social behaviour can be difficult to believe in. Barnardo's argues that it is these children who need our support. Most children in trouble are trapped in a cycle of disadvantage. Children who start down a path of bad behaviour can be helped to change direction"

And the second paragraph below refers to the horribly tortured and killed British toddler known as "Baby P", pictured below before his maltreatment by his negligent mother's boyfriends:

"It saddens me that the probability is that, had Baby P survived, given his own deprivation, he might have been unruly by the time he had reached the age of 13 or 14. At which point he'd have become feral, a parasite, a yob, helping to infest our streets"

So who said that? The head of British Nazi Party? No. It was Martin Narey, the chief executive of Barnardo's

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2008 05:10:00 AM

Mumbai Update - 125 Dead, 327 Wounded

This is interesting. Two terrorists holed up with hostages at the Oberoi Hotel and the Nariman House in Mumbai made cell phone calls to India TV. Check out the press release with transcripts of the calls.

Identified as Shadullah and Imran Babar, the two terrorists openly admitted the strength of their groups, seven at the Oberoi and six at the Nariman. Call me perplexed. It's usually not a good idea to reveal your strength to an opponent.

Shadullah claimed that he belonged to Deccan Mujahideen, a little known outfit which had claimed responsibility of the terror strikes in Mumbai on Wednesday night.

The anchor repeatedly asked whether he was from Hyderabad, India, or from Hyderabad, Pakistan, to which he replied in his heavily Pakistani accent that he belonged to Hyderabad of the Deccan. Shadullah carried on with his litany of perceived injustices meted out Muslims in India.

Shadullah demanded the release of all mujahideen from jails in exchange for the hostages. Otherwise, "We will get rid of them in such a manner that their sons will become orphans," he said.

Imran Babar, on the other hand, discussed his outrage that the Israeli Army Chief of Staff was allegedly working with the Indian Army concerning tactics and strategy in Kashmir. Muslims are ballistic about Israelis having anything to do with India.

In other news, CNN reports that the death toll is 125 and 327 people are wounded. The dead include at least six foreigners and 14 police officers.

Tip: Stable Hand

Following Entry Posted 11/28/2008 12:07:00 AM

Rape As Weapon of War

(Goma, DR Congo) Doctors Without Borders estimates that 5,700 women and girls have been raped this year in the Nord-Kivu region.

Since fresh fighting broke out in August between government troops and rebels, sexual assaults on women in Congo have risen to levels not seen for many years, according to The International Rescue Committee (IRC), a New-York based humanitarian group.

As Laurent Nkunda's National Council for the Defence of the People continue to fight, much of the Nord-Kivu region remains lawless, plagued by widespread looting and violence.

"Women and girls are once again threatened by sexual violence that has hit new heights in Nord-Kivu in a context of instability and the huge displacement of civilians," the IRC said.

According to Susan Spencer of the IRC, "Rape is being used as a weapon of war."

It's predictable that someone will recommend sending in UN troops to quell the violence. Unfortunately, based on reports of previous UN involvement in Africa, the prevalence of rape would likely increase rather than diminish.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 08:32:00 AM

Happy Thanksgiving!

For decades, Bob Hope traveled to war zones with the USO to entertain American and allied troops. Each time, he took along and showed beautiful women to, in Hope's words, "remind you what you're fighting for."

In that spirit, I provide those service members who read my blog with this reminder.

The Girl Next Door - Jessica Alba
I'm forever thankful for being born an American and the individual freedom it represents. The American military is to be thanked for defending that freedom. I toast those defenders of liberty.

In a similar vein, a fellow Internet-user has published a series of images of "Girls We're Thankful Aren't Puritans." Based on my purely academic review, the 16 women probably wouldn't deny their steamy sensuality.

Changing tone, I'd like to call out to all those people whose entire lives are a series of complaints. You know who you are. Instead of saying the turkey is too dry or Uncle Frisky is drinking too much or football is too boring or the kids are too loud, make Thanksgiving the one day in the year without complaints. Remember, you've got 364 other days, every year, to piss and moan. Make Thanksgiving something special and don't complain.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 08:11:00 AM

NC School Employee Fired Over Facebook Posting

We read:

"A school employee has been fired after posting an offensive message on the social networking site Facebook, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools officials say a teacher could be next. School system spokeswoman Nora Carr said the after-school staffer was an "at will" employee who couldn't appeal the firing. He was among seven employees investigated because of Facebook entries.

A kindergarten teacher at Thomasboro Elementary School also could face termination after writing on her Facebook page that she was "teaching in the most ghetto school in Charlotte." The teacher met Monday with Superintendent Peter Gorman, who recommended she be fired. The teacher's attorney, John Gresham, said his client didn't intend to offend her students and was telling the truth about the resegregated school, where only 3 percent of students are white and 93 percent qualify for lunch subsidies to low-income families.

Gresham said if the teacher is fired, she will be entitled to a hearing by a case manager and an appeal to the school board. He said the school system also cited photos of her at a bachelorette party.

Carr, the district spokeswoman, also said a high school special education teacher was suspended after writing on her site, "I hate my students." CMS is also recommending that teacher be fired. Carr said four other employees have received lesser punishments for photos or comments....

The Facebook issues have become a hot topic among many teachers. Mary McCrary, who heads the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, said teachers shouldn't be punished for what they write on private Web pages....

Carr said the issue isn't free speech but whether anything a teacher does damages their reputation. "Does it impede or impact your ability in a negative way to do your job?

Source

I agree with the criterion ""Does it impede or impact your ability in a negative way to do your job?" but I see no sign that that was the actual criterion used above.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 05:42:00 AM

Mass Graves Found in Congo

(Kinshasa, Congo) An estimated 2,000 dead have been found in two mass graves in eastern Congo.

Justice Minister Luzolo Bambi told reporters the graves were found Saturday in the town of Bukavu in a plot of land formerly owned by a member of the Congolese Rally for Democracy, or RCD, a Rwandan-backed rebel group.

At one point, the RCD controlled much of eastern Congo, but it became a political party in 2003. Many of its top leaders were integrated into the government, taking jobs as vice presidents and army chiefs.

Constantin Charhondangwa, the head of civil society in the Bukavu region, said the parcel of land owned by the ex-rebel was sold to a resident. The new landowner discovered the remains when he dug up the land put in a septic tank, Charhondangwa said.

UN officials are calling for a "serious investigation." Johnny-on-the-spot, they are.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 05:11:00 AM

Russians in Venezuela

(Caracas, Venezuela) Russian warships arrived in La Guaira harbor outside Caracas this week in preparation for war games starting December 1st with Venezuelan armed forces.

Russian and Venezuelan warships will conduct a series of joint naval exercises in the Caribbean, involving sea rescue operations, maneuvering, and live-ammunition artillery drills.

"Three frigates, a transport amphibious vessel, four patrol boats, and four coastal defense vessels will take part in the exercise on the Venezuelan side," Rear Adm. Salvatore Cammarata said.

He added that a total of 700 Venezuelan servicemen would take part in the drills. [...]

The task force, led by the Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser, is on a planned visit that follows a two-month tour of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, which saw Russian ships visiting Libya, Turkey and France.

The group includes the Udaloy class destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support vessels with a total of about 1,600 naval infantrymen on board.

Additionally, Russian President ~~Putin~~ Medvedev arrived in Caracas yesterday for meetings aimed to fortify ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Medvedev flew to Caracas from Brazil, and previous to that, he visited Peru. The Russian President will close out his good-buddy tour with a trip to Cuba.

U.S. State Department sources say the Russian presence does not represent a challenge to U.S. influence in the region. It's not a surprise that the U.S. State Department again provides support for the contention that implementing an affirmative action program for hiring morons is not a good idea.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 04:34:00 AM

Bangkok Under Siege

(Bangkok, Thailand) Throughout past months, supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have campaigned to topple the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat by paralyzing all functions.

Government House offices in central Bangkok were seized in August. Just recently, two airports, Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport and the Don Mueang Airport, were shut down, stranding thousands of tourists and business travelers.

The PAD launched their campaign to topple the democratically-elected government six months ago, accusing it of being a puppet of ousted and exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- Somchai's brother-in-law.

The group has the backing of elements in the palace, military and Bangkok's old elite that want to purge society of the influence of Thaksin, who is adored by the rural poor but remains in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption.

As both sides refuse to back down, concerns deepened for the kingdom's economy, vital tourism industry and diplomatic ties.

"Several countries are seriously concerned with the incidents happening in our country now -- there is no rule of law," foreign minister Sompong Amornviwat told AFP by telephone from Germany.

Outbursts of violence have occurred and it's feared they may escalate.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 04:12:00 AM

Gunmen Torch Buses

(Lingayen, Pangasinan Province, Philippines) Gunmen in two vans arrived at the local Victory Liner bus terminal late Wednesday and set fire to five buses. Six police officers were wounded and one security officer suffered severe burns.

Police blame the usual suspects.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 03:49:00 AM

Blast in Kabul, Close to U.S. Embassy

(Kabul, Afghanistan) A suicide car bomber blasted Kabul this morning near the U.S. Embassy.

Initial reports said that four civilians died in the attack, which coincides with a fact-finding visit to Afghanistan from a delegation of the United Nations Security Council.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zmarai Bashiry told the Times: "There are three killed and seven injured. All the casualties are civilians. The target of the attack was foreign (Western) forces." [...]

The blast left several cars and a bus badly damaged, a large pool of blood was splashed across the road and a nearby tree was set ablaze. The body of the suicide bomber lay near the mangled remains of what appeared to have been the car bomb.

There was no immediate claim of responbibility, though the Taliban or its increasingly radical 'Haqqani Network' offshoot will be the prime suspects.

Hospitals have received 15 injured.

Following Entry Posted 11/27/2008 03:20:00 AM

Mumbai Terror Update

Status of the situation inside the city is still chaos at about noon IST (Indian Standard Time). Reportedly, hostages are being held at the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel and maybe other locations. Casualty estimates are at 101 dead and 314 injured.

Latest reports indicate that terrorists, about 10-12 in number in Taj alone, have made some ransom demands but Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil said no demands have come from them.

He said five of the dozen terrorists in Taj have been killed while one has been captured and was being interrogated. Claiming to have some "vital leads", the minister expressed confidence of breakthrough soon.

An unspecified number of foreigners including Americans, Israelis and Canadians are believed to be among the those in the two hotels and in Nariman House, a residential complex with an old Jewish prayer hall, where also a hostage situation prevailed.

As the day broke, gunbattles raged between terrorists, believed to have come in a boat to the Gateway of India, opposite Taj hotel, and commandoes and fresh explosions rocked the two hotels after the night of terror targeting ten places.

Notably, a BBC correspondent says the claims of responsibility by the previously-unknown group, Deccan Mujahideen, could be a hoax or an assumed name for another group.

* * *
I just heard Deepak Chopra interviewed on CNN. He blames the United States for the terror attacks in Mumbai. Seriously, this guy is a broken record.

Following Entry Posted 11/26/2008 03:20:00 PM

Mumbai Under Attack

(Mumbai, India) India's financial capital came under terrorist attack today with a series of explosions at multiple locations.

According to Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A. K. Sharma:

The terror strike which began at 1033 PM at Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus(CST),formerly known as the Victoria Terminus (VT), claimed 10 lives in the premises of the station alone, police said. Three persons were killed in a bomb explosion in a taxi on Mazegaon dockyard road and an equal number were gunned down at Taj Hotel. The victim in the hotel were its employees.

The lobby of the Oberoi hotel was on fire and the hotel evacuated, eyewitnesses said. Maharashtra DGP A N Roy said tonight's attack in "at least seven places" is a "terror strike."

Sharma said 30 persons were injured in the CST incident. Commandoes were rushed to the CST which wore a deserted look and train services suspended.

Some people were injured in the firing in Oberoi hotel, and taken to a nearby hospital in police vans and ambulance. Firing was also reported in Taj hotel.

Firing was reported at Colaba, Nariman Point and near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal, formerly Victoria Terminus and it was still continuing.

Firing was also reported at Cama Hospital in south Mumbai, police said, adding that a blast was reported in a taxi under a flyover in suburban Vile Parle. A bomb went off in a taxi in Mazegaon dockyard road.

Current casualty estimates are 80 dead and over 250 injured.

Groups of heavily-armed gunmen are reported to be holding Westerners hostage at several locations as police try to get the situation under control.

[Update 4PM EDT]

Unconfirmed information from various media sources.

- Terrorists entered the luxury Taj, Trident and Oberoi Hotels, rocking them with multiple grenade blasts. Fifteen people are reported to be held hostage at the Taj Hotel, half are believed to be foreigners. Police have surrounded the Taj Hotel.

- Terrorists entering the hotels were looking for people with American or British passports.

- Mumbai's Anti-Terrorist Squad Chief was killed by gunfire.

- Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamote died when he attempted to capture two terrorists.

- Seven Mumbai Police Officers have died so far.

- The Indian Army and Navy in Mumbai have been put on alert and 65 Army Commandos and 200 National Security Commandos are being dispatched to the city. The Indian Army has reportedly already entered the Trident Hotel.

More later

[Update 4:45PM EDT]

From Mid-Day Mumbai:

Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are the only militant outfits capable of carrying out Fidayeen (suicide) attacks in the city. It is not the handiwork of Indian Mujahideen, claimed the police.

A senior police said a specially trained squad carried out the attack, which began at 9.40 pm yesterday. The use of AK assault rifles and grenades hint at a highly specialised group, that may have been trained in Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Sources say that the attackers were part of a suicide group backed by operatives.

[Update 5:40PM EDT]

Indian blogger Ultrabrown is following with real time entries with photos from India. Ultrabrown reports that the methods used by the terrorists indicate domestic group not al-Qaeda. Also mentioned is how slow the American media were in reporting the story.

Stop The ACLU is collecting details and reactions.

Current blame is conflicted. Experienced sources are pointing the finger at Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) while another group called Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility.

FoxNews is reporting that four terrorists have been killed, nine have been arrested. Also, terrorists attacks have occurred outside the city of Mumbai and it will be some time before the full scope of the terror campaign is known.

Following Entry Posted 11/26/2008 08:04:00 AM

What Thanksgiving has in common with Eton College!

A few days ago, I put up a post which characterized Leftism as the politics of rage. But all I said about conservatives was that they are cautious. But caution is not really an emotion. It is a disposition and some emotions have to go with that but I think I should say a little more about what those emotions are.

What I did mention is that conservatives are always shown in research as being happier than Leftists and that leads into what I think is important. Because conservatives are NOT full of rage, they feel free to enjoy whatever is around them. And one of the great satisfactions in human life is fellowship: Feeling part of a group of people whom you like or respect. So instead of screaming "racism" at every sign of group loyalty, conservatives can simply enjoy their group loyalties. They are untroubled patriots, for instance.

So American conservatives can feel warm inside to be Americans and they can greatly value the fellowship they find in their church. And where conservatives diverge most strongly from Leftists is that they can also feel a sense of fellowship and belonging with their ancestors and forebears. We often see this very strongly expressed among American conservatives when they talk about the "Founders" of the nation and the wisdom the founders bequeathed in the Constitution etc. And such thoughts are of course often to the fore on Thanksgiving day. And I have put up a "Thanksgiving" edition of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH that shows how much hostility Thanksgiving now attracts from the Left. Thanksgiving is of course a continuation of traditional harvest festivals. Human beings have always joyously celebrated a successful harvest and given thanks to their Gods for it. It takes the hate-filled modern-day Left to find any fault with that.

And another common expression of solidarity with the past is of course the great respect that conservatives pay to those who have died in war in the service of their nation. In my country, Australia, that day of remembrance (which we call Anzac day) is our only really solemn national occasion. Leftists have tried to laugh at it from time to time but it goes from strength to strength, with young people as well as old participating in the services of remembrance.

And there is no doubt that the army is always one of the most solidly conservative bodies of people that exists in any community. And the degree of fellowship in the army must be very close to maximal. If you pass a member of your old army unit in the street, you always stop to say a few words at least. There is a lasting bond between men who have fought together that outsiders can only dimly understand. My time in the Australian army was most undistinguished (though very fondly remembered) but I was an army psychologist so perhaps I have a little more awareness of what the army is about than most. I am certainly pleased to say that I have worn my country's uniform.

All these sorts of fellowship that conservatives feel are generally felt pretty strongly. There is often a swelling of pride and gratitude associated with such feelings. And the poor sad old Leftist is basically left out of all that. Their hate and rage bars them from feeling some of the most basic human emotions.

And I now want to give a vivid example of that: Something that Leftists will hate viscerally but which most conservatives should understand and enjoy. I reproduce below the Eton Boat Song. Eton is of course Britain's most elite school and British private schools are famous for fostering a sense of fellowship among their pupils. And you will see that vividly below. Listen to the music as you read the words and I will add a few comments afterwards. The song refers of course to competitive rowing regattas:

Jolly boating weather,
And a hay harvest breeze,
Blade on the feather,
Shade off the trees;
Swing, swing together,
With your bodies between your knees.

Rugby may be more clever,
Harrow may make more row:
But we'll row forever,
Steady from stroke to bow,
And nothing in life shall sever
The chain that is round us now.

Others will fill our places,
Dressed in the old light blue;
We'll recollect our races,
We'll to the flag be true;
And youth will be still in our faces
When we cheer for an Eton crew.

Twenty years hence this weather
May tempt us from office stools:
We may be slow on the feather,
And seem to the boys old fools:
But we'll still swing together,
And swear by the best of schools.

I went to a totally undistinguished school in a small Australian country town but that song does tend to bring a tear to my eyes. It is a powerful expression of being part of something bigger and better, and something that transcends time. I hope some of my readers get that powerful feeling too.

And note that is also a humble song. It talks of pride in a great identity but without any thought of dominating others -- which is the Leftist preoccupation. It talks of the singers as being "old fools" sitting on "office stools". There is no Fascist aggression there at all. In characteristically English style, it actually spends quite a lot of time talking about the weather! No egotistical "Tomorrow belongs to me", "We are the people we have been waiting for" or "Yes we can" there.

Yet it is a song that expressed a powerful feeling. British officers in World War I were known to go "over the top" in the dreadful charges of that war singing the Eton Boat song. That to me is a sort of nobility which I know that no Leftist egotist will ever understand.

Leftists do of course still have the normal human need for fellowship so when they do at last find an outlet for it that passes muster with them we get the completely over the top hysteria of Fascism, Nazism or Obama-worship. (Anybody who has been conned into believing that the National Socialist Hitler and the Marxist Mussolini were Rightists should read here and here)

Note: The above is a slightly expanded version of the original post

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/26/2008 07:33:00 AM

Teacher Guilty in Massive Fraud Case - Update

(Rochester, New York) Forty-four-year-old teacher Lynn Taliento interrupted her trial in Monroe County Court yesterday with a guilty plea.

She pleaded guilty to second- and fourth-degree felony grand larceny and first-degree felony scheme to defraud and a misdemeanor of petit larceny.

In exchange for the plea, which was accepted by the prosecution, Judge John J. Connell promised a sentence cap of two to six years in prison. As a condition of the plea, the judge allowed Taliento to remain free from custody pending her sentencing Jan. 9.

Her husband, Ralph Taliento, faces the same charges as his wife. No date has been scheduled for his trial.

Those who were defrauded are seeking restitution but it seems unlikely. Reportedly, the Talientos gambled away much of the stolen funds.

* * * * *
Teacher Arrested for Massive Fraud
[Previous 6/7/07 post]
(Rochester, New York) A 43-year-old teacher at Ninth Grade Academy, Lynn Taliento, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding an elderly woman out of $745,000.

Police found evidence indicating that Taliento scammed a 72-year-old Rochester woman out of the money in schemes dating back to mid-2004. State Police Investigator Jim Newell said there are potentially more victims of Taliento's schemes.

The Rush-Henrietta School District notified parents of Taliento's students by email and letter of her arrest. Parents were also "advised to check their children's credit histories because there is a possibility that this teacher may have solicited student social security numbers on a form that was used in the classroom."

Taliento was booked into the Monroe County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash or $250,000 bond. She has been charged with second-degree grand larceny.

[Update 1/23/09]

Lynn Taliento gets 2 to 6 in prison. Ralph to be sentenced in April.

Following Entry Posted 11/26/2008 04:37:00 AM

National Guardsmen Get Prison for Smuggling Illegals

(Brownsville, Texas) A 26-year-old Texas National Guard Sergeant, Julio Cesar Pacheco, has been convicted and sentenced for smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S.

Pacheco and two other guardsmen, Clarence Hodge, Jr., of Fort Worth, and Jose Rodrigo Torres, of Laredo, were caught in June 2007 transporting 24 illegals in an official vehicle on I-35 north of Laredo.

The National Guard sergeant was taking part in “Operation Jumpstart” when he recruited two fellow guard members and others to sneak immigrants through a highway checkpoint in a National Guard-leased van.

Investigators say the conspirators took thousands of dollars in exchange for using their position to divert Border Patrol agents so their vehicles passed uninspected.

Pacheco has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison. Pacheco apologized to the court and said he had embarrassed his family and the whole country.

Clarence Hodge Jr., 36, was sentenced in February to 38 months in federal prison. Jose Rodrigo Torres, 27, was sentenced in September to two years in prison.

In summary, three National Guardsmen sent to assist the Border Patrol have been sentenced to a combined total of eight and one-half years in prison for operating a sophisticated smuggling ring credited with effecting the successful undetected passage of more than 100 illegal aliens into the United States.

Meanwhile, Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were given terms of 11 years and 12 years in prison, respectively, for the nonfatal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler occurring in the course of doing their jobs. Individually, Ramos and Compean will do more time than the entire alien smuggling ring.

It's irrational but sometimes I sense that the feds are just out to frost my cookies.

Companion post at Diggers Realm and The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 04:34:00 PM

NEW! Anti-Sniper Device

A new palm-size acoustic device designed by the British company Qinetiq calculates the exact position of rifle fire and an electronic voice alerts the soldier on bearing and range.

Called EARS for Early Attack Reaction System, the device allows the soldier to jump to safety and return fire.

The device, which costs around £2,500, works by isolating the crack of the sniper rifle thanks to four microphones, a GPS system and a powerful microprocessor.

It takes less than a tenth of a second and provides the results in audio and visual formats. It can even send a grid reference via radio to supporting artillery and aircraft.

The system, which weighs less than 6oz, is so sensitive it can tell the difference between outgoing friendly fire and incoming enemy fire and can distinguish a sniper even in a gun battle.

It also works when the soldier is travelling at up to 50 mph on a vehicle.

The device has already been road tested in Iraq and Afghanistan to claims of great success.

The full range and accuracy of the gunshot localization system are understandably kept secret. Expect the device to be on the battlefield starting in January.

Tip: Dissecting Leftism

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 03:27:00 PM

Crazed Samurai Fatally Shot by Scientology Security - Scroll for update

(Alternate title: Don't Take A Knife To A Gunfight)

(Los Angeles, California) Yesterday, a bald, tattooed 40-ish-year-old man arrived at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood waving a samurai sword in each hand.

A security guard pulled out his semiautomatic handgun and shot the swordsman who was later pronounced dead at the County-USC Medical Center.

The security guard said he was protecting himself and two colleagues.

"The evidence is very clear the security officers were defending their safety," said Deputy Chief Terry S. Hara of the Los Angeles Police Department.

No names have been released.

[Update 11/25/08]

(Florence, Oregon) According to this report, the deceased was 48-year-old Mario Jay Majorski, a resident of Florence for several years. Majorski is identified as a former member of the Church of Scientology who had a storied arrest history in Lane County.

Majorski has arrests for criminal trespass, harassing a police officer, stalking, menacing and disorderly conduct. Sources say he had mental health issues.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 03:00:00 PM

Woman Accused of Sex with Boy, 15

(Lebanon County, Pennsylvania) A 22-year-old local woman, Heather Ann Moyer, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Detectives allege that after meeting the boy through the Internet, Moyer met him in Palmyra, where she bought him liquor that they drank to intoxication. This occurred multiple times over the following weeks and progressed to a sexual relationship, according to the release.

Detectives said Moyer knew the boy’s age and knew that the relationship was illegal.

Moyer was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors, recklessly endangering another person and furnishing alcohol to a minor, detectives said.

Moyer was booked into custody and released on $25,000 bond.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 12:51:00 PM

For the Blonde Keyboarder

Keyboard for Blondes
It's pink and the perfect gift for that blonde someone who never knows when she's insulted. The Space Bar is called The Big One.

European-made, the keyboard's current price is about $60 delivered. More here.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 12:04:00 PM

U.S. Government-Run Health Care Pays for Bad Drugs

(Washington) About 72 million prescriptions for unapproved drugs are filled every year with a cost to Medicaid, and the American taxpayer, of at least $200 million.

The availability of unapproved prescription drugs to the public may create a dangerous false sense of security. Dozens of deaths have been linked to them, records show.

The medications date back decades, before the Food and Drug Administration tightened its review of drugs in the early 1960s. The FDA says it is trying to squeeze them from the market, but conflicting federal laws allow the Medicaid health program for low-income people to pay for them. The FDA says there may be thousands of such drugs on the market.

The FDA and Medicaid are part of the Health and Human Services Department, but the FDA has yet to compile a master list of unapproved drugs, and Medicaid -- which may be the biggest purchaser -- keeps paying.

Since the FDA hasn't even been able to compile a list of bad drugs, what confidence can we have that the FDA is capable of identifying good drugs?

So, we have an anecdote which strongly hints at what we can expect if the government takes over the entire health care system in the U.S.

However, the demonstrated inability to properly administer the Medicaid program will be insignificant when the U.S. government displays its incompetence with a nationalized medical care system. Expect to be wishing for the good old days.

Companion post at SocGlory.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 08:29:00 AM

Noise Violators Get Manilow Punishment

(Fort Lupton, Colorado) Fort Lupton Municipal Judge Paul Sacco has adopted a novel strategy for disposing of cases involving noise ordinance violations.

About four times a year, those guilty of noise ordinance violations are required to sit in a room and listen to music from the likes of Manilow, Barney the Dinosaur, and The Platters' crooning "Only You"

"These people should have to listen to music they don't like," said Judge Paul Sacco for a segment about the program that aired Friday on Denver's KUSA-TV.

Sacco began the program years ago when he noticed that many of the repeat offenders simply showed up at his courtroom to pay their fine with cash.

Cute but I question the long-term effectiveness of the policy. Now, if the violators had to spend a full, continuous 8 hours in a jail cell listening to Barney the Dinosaur or Barry Manilow while staring at concrete walls and sitting on cornflake-thin mattresses, I suggest they would more likely become true believers in complying with the law.

Tip: CN

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 07:59:00 AM

The tolerant church

It is a commonplace for non-Catholics to portray the Catholic church as narrow and dogmatic. By contrast, I am sometimes amazed at how broad and tolerant the church is. It certainly does not insist on strict theological conformity among its clergy. The very different views of Hans Kung, who rejected the infallibility of the Pope, did eventually lead to him being barred from teaching theology but he is still a priest within the church.

And there is here a close look at the writings of Australian priest Fr. Peter Dresser, which reveals a man who could hardly be more heretical. He clearly denies the divinity of Christ, which is central to all major Christian denominations. Even the Sydney Methodists put Ted Noffs on trial for heresy over similar views. Rome, however, seems content to let Fr. Dresser ramble on.

Fr. Dresser would however make a good Anglican. Bishop Robinson, author of "Honest to God" said that God is "the ground of our being" back in the 60s and Bishop Spong also seems to have similar vaporous beliefs.

I might add, however, that, as an atheist, I have no dog in the fight concerned.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 05:50:00 AM

Cleveland 2008 Gun Buy-Back - Scroll for update

(Cleveland, Ohio) Cleveland Police and the Cleveland Cavaliers are two of the groups banding together for tomorrow's gun buy-back program. Mayor Frank Jackson and Chief of Police Michael McGrath announced the program on Tuesday.

The buy-back will be held on Saturday (Nov. 22) at the Cleveland Convention Center.

In exchange for operable handguns, citizens will be given a $50 gas or food gift card and two tickets to an upcoming Cavaliers game. They will also be entered into a raffle with a chance to win up to $1,000.

"This effort will help us to avert a tragedy in the city of Cleveland," Chief of Police Michael McGrath said. "I can't tell you who and I can't tell you when, but someone's life will be saved because of the event."

Last year, 423 guns were bought during the buy-back.

[Update 11/25/08]

It's reported that the Cleveland 2008 Buy-Back program netted 324 firearms. In contrast, a similar program in Akron netted 780 firearms.

According to Rev. Marc Neal, the buy-back programs are thought to help prevent accidental shootings in the U.S. Not said is that there is absolutely no evidence to support that assertion. It's a hope-type thing.

Also not reported is the fact that many people believe gun buy-back programs are merely ploys to enhance the political stature of community leaders by pandering to the do-gooder segment of the electorate.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 04:22:00 AM

Woman Flushes Newborn Down Toilet

(Cardiff, England) In a disgusting story filled with secrecy, deceit and lies, a 32-year-old woman, Claire Jones, was convicted and sentenced for attempting to conceal the birth of a child. Jones received a suspended sentence.

Reportedly, Jones gave birth to a 7lb 8oz son, Daniel, while sitting on the toilet and subsequently flushed the newborn. Seeing only a foot, Jones grabbed her son out of the toilet and she claims that she attempted to revive him. Jones asserts that her child had died so she put him in a garbage bag and tossed him into the trunk of her car.

As a result, Jones walks away from court with probation for two years.

With the exception of the part about flushing the newborn down the toilet, the story of Claire Jones is filled with so much mendacity and contradiction that it is virtually impossible to discern the truth.

There are way too many unanswered questions and, for what it's worth, Mrs. Participant doesn't believe a word of Claire Jones' story.

Following Entry Posted 11/25/2008 12:09:00 AM

Teacher Gets Prison in Peeping Case

(San Francisco, California) In March 2008, a 35-year-old English teacher at Mills High School, David Lista, was arrested and charged with drug possession and videotaping girls in the main bathroom at school. He allegedly installed pinhole cameras above bathroom stalls and under classroom desks.

Lista was booked on felony and misdemeanor charges and released on $125,000 bond.

Interestingly, Lista was first discovered to be videotaping girls in the bathroom when a technical coordinator for the San Mateo High School District noticed that a network server was overloaded and traced it to Lista's videotaping. Unless I'm missing something, it appears that Lista was filming the girls in the bathroom and uploading it all to the school's computer system. That is not a good idea.

In May 2008, Lista was arrested for driving impaired and found to be in possession of cocaine. He was booked and released on $10,000 bond.

In August 2008, Lista pleaded no contest to felony counts of drug possession and child pornography and misdemeanor improper peeping. The plea deal was offered to preclude victims from having to testify.

In accordance with the plea agreement, Lista was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 05:50:00 PM

Mom Accused of Boy Sex While Daughter Watches

(Manatee County, Florida) A 43-year-old Bradenton mother, Donna L. Andree, was arrested Saturday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy while her daughter and a friend observed.

Andree has been charged with lewd and lascivious battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The arrest was made about 11:30 p.m. Saturday by Manatee Sheriff’s officers who were called to the home in the 6800 block of 2nd Street West after Andree’s estranged husband found her in bed with the boy, and both were naked.

Andree later told authorities she knew her daughter and friend were at the foot of the bed while she had sex with the boy. She told officers she thought the boy was 19.

Andree also allegedly gave alcohol to the boy, her 15-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old girl.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 04:26:00 PM

Militant Nudists Allegedly at War with Swingers

(Cap d’Agde, France) Militant, hardline nudists, also called naturists, have become suspects in three recent wife-swapper nightclub fires. Root cause is believed to be tensions developed between the nudists, who believe in being naked and healthy without sex, and the swinging wife-swappers, who seek sex with multiple partners.

Investigators suspect “fundamentalist” naturists of harbouring a grudge against the échangistes, or swingers, who are drawn to the town by the promise of sex.

A so-called boîte échangiste, or wife-swapping club, called Glamour, where couples engage in group sex, was the first to be razed, in April. The next day the Palme Ré, another orgy venue, went up in flames. In September the Tantra club and Zen, its neighbouring bar, were destroyed in blazes.

Nobody was hurt but the fires have shocked a community whose crime rate has been dominated until now by cases of exhibitionism. [...]

Some in Cap d’Agde attribute the fires to fundamentalist “mullahs of chaste nudity”, as one magazine called them, who have often harangued holiday-makers venturing onto nudist beaches in bathing costumes. Others denied that naturists could have been involved.

Therefore, the conflict simmers at the finger-pointing stage with investigations continuing.

From a cultural standpoint, it appears the controversy stems from a perception of the fundamental naturists that the swingers are giving them a bad name. Imagine that. People who run around naked want to protect their reputation from being sullied by other people who run around naked and have sex.

Tip: CN

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 02:25:00 PM

Couple Busted for Selling Crack in Marin County

(Richmond, California) A Richmond couple, 35-year-old Bruce Everette Reed and 31-year-old Danielle Arlene McClinton, were arrested last Thursday for allegedly selling crack cocaine in Marin County. Their arrests culminated an operation by the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force.

Reed had been selling crack to undercover detectives for about a month in Terra Linda, so investigators set up a sting on Thursday at one of the gas stations on Del Presidio Boulevard, said task force Sgt. Bruce Baker.

When police moved in for the arrest, Reed took off and jumped a fence at the gas station, Baker said. Detectives were posted on the other side of the fence, and they arrested Reed after subduing him with a Taser electric stun gun.

Reed was taken to Marin General Hospital for evaluation before being booked into the county jail on suspicion of transportation or sales of a controlled substance and possession of cocaine base for sale.

McClinton, who was with Reed, was booked on suspicion of transportation or sales of a controlled substance, possession of cocaine base for sale and conspiracy.

Reed and McClinton were booked into custody at the Marin County Jail.

This case is notable since the residents of Marin County, reportedly one of the richest counties in the nation, customarily prefer to imbibe in recreational substances taken from the hoity-toity side of the drug abuse buffet. Crack cocaine, on the other hand, is usually the fixture in low-income, urban communities.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 01:36:00 PM

Woman Indicted for Embezzling $1.6 Mil

(Modesto, California) A 37-year-old local woman, Lisa Shae Allen, has been indicted by a federal grand jury of embezzling more than $1.6 million from her employer, G. Hedgecock Inc., a grading and paving company.

The 47-count federal grand jury indictment accuses Ms. Allen of mail fraud, money laundering, and criminal forfeiture.

Ms. Allen used an elaborate method to conceal her embezzlement from her employer, according to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stanley Boone and Ian Garriques, who are prosecuting the case.

Allen apparently just spent the money on herself.

Curiously, the G. Hedgecock company must have deplorably weak financial controls if Allen could get away with $1.6 million before she got caught. You'd think that someone would have noticed after a couple hundred thousand turned up missing.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 08:12:00 AM

Wow! A piece of psychological research that favours Christians!

In the report below, it was found that Calvinist Christians were more perceptive. But I doubt the speculative explanation of that given below. So let me meander towards what I think is a more likely explanation. I had a Calvinist upbringing myself, though not a strict one.

I suspect that the real explanation has something to do with the type of people who are capable of being Calvinists. There are a lot of restrictions inculcated (on gambling, alcohol etc.) in that and in other strict Protestant religions. But I took to it like a duck to water. I became a VERY strict Protestant in my teens. I suspect that I am a born Calvinist, even though I am an atheist these days. I still occasionally pop in to a service at my old church -- which was originally "Wee Free", a very strict sect (No dancing, no "graven images" etc.).

So I am inclined to think that you are to a considerable extent BORN a Calvinist (or some similar strict Protestant religion). Calvinists and other strict Protestants are perfectly at home with Matthew 7:14. Note that the word there is "strait", not "straight". Maybe I am still a dour old Calvinist at heart, though I do have rather a weakness for Mr. John Walker of Scotland these days. But I still don't gamble! Bottom line so far: It is a lot more demanding to be any sort of strict Protestant than to be an atheist and perhaps that shows up in a general mental superiority among strict Protestants. Heh!

In case my reasoning above seems obscure, let me offer an Irish contribution to the discussion: In Ireland they always ask (if they don't know you) whether you are a Protestant or a Catholic. And if you say that you are an atheist, they ask you: "But are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?" Which is a PERFECTLY reasonable enquiry. It is an enquiry about one's origins and background. I am a Protestant atheist, and delighted to be one.

The idea that there could be a genetic difference underlying religious differences will of course seem preposterous to many but, as revelations about genetic influence pile up in both the medical genetics and behaviour genetics literature, the more one tends to throw up one's hands and exclaim: "EVERYTHING is genetic"!. Read here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here just for starters. And note that among the research revelations is a strong genetic influence on political orientation. And there is in fact specific confirmation of a genetic influence on religion.

And if one looks at the distribution of religions in Europe, the Catholic/Protestant divide is still very largely a North/South one -- with the native populations of the most Northerly (Scandinavian) countries being something like 98% Protestant (though mainly nominally so these days). And there are also clear North/South racial differences. Inhabitants of Naples and inhabitants of Oslo tend to look and behave very differently. Clearly, genetics is not the whole of it but I am still inclined to the generalization that Protestantism is a form of Christianity that the Northern Europeans evolved to suit their own natural inclinations. Luther survived where Savonarola did not because Luther's surrounding population were immediately sympathetic to his views -- and that included his King (Frederick the wise of Saxony) -- who zealously protected Luther from all those who wished him ill. And in another largely Saxon country (England) the Lollards long preceded Henry VIII.

I write at great length about apparent Teutonic (Northern) psychological differences here

It might be cliched to say that religious people see the world differently, but new research finds that Dutch Calvinists notice embedded visual patterns quicker than their atheist compatriots.

Culture has long been known to distort visual perception, says Bernhard Hommel, a psychologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands who led the new study. For example, one previous experiment found that Asians tend to dart their eyes around a photograph, while North Americans fix on specific people. To see if religious differences might skew perception, Hommel's team tested 40 Dutch atheist and Calvinist university students, who, religion aside, had similar cultural backgrounds.

On a computer screen, Hommel's team showed participants a large triangle or square made of either smaller triangles or squares. The volunteers had to focus on either the big object or its component shapes, and indicate whether they were square or triangular. Both groups recognised the large shapes more quickly than small, embedded ones, but the Calvinists picked out the smaller shapes 30 milliseconds faster than atheists, on average - a small, but significant, difference.

This could reflect a greater focus on self than external distractions for Calvinists, says Hommel. He suggests it may even be a cognitive consequence of their religion and speculates that Calvinists might be more inward looking than atheists because they have lived their whole lives with an emphasis on minding their own business.

In the future, Hommel plans to give the same test to Catholics, as well as Muslims and Jews, but he must first figure out how to eliminate other cultural differences that could mask any insights. "It doesn't make any sense to compare Iranian Muslims with Dutch atheists," he says.

"This is a thought-provoking study," says Ara Norenzayan, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. "Their finding is consistent with the literature on cross-cultural cognition - that cultural traditions involving independent view of the self, such as Calvinism, encourage a more feature-based processing style."

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 07:46:00 AM

Naked Internet Pics of Wife Prompt Lawsuit

(Fayetteville, Arkansas) Seeking damages for suffering, embarrassment and moving to a new home, Philip Sherman and wife Tina are suing McDonald's. The couple claims that McDonald's employees put nude pictures of Tina Sherman on the Internet after finding a cell phone with the pictures left behind at the local restaurant by Philip Sherman.

The Shermans seek $3 million.

With millions of dollars involved, the skeptical side of me says not to overlook the possibility of a con job.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 05:59:00 AM

Fatone Inaugurates Toilets with First Flush

(New York City) Broadway star Joey Fatone will perform the ceremonial first flush of spiffy holiday toilets in Times Square today. Sponsored By Charmin, the free toilet program is in its third year.

The plush potties feature flat-screen televisions, attendants dressed in tuxedos and plenty of Charmin.

The loos are so luxurious that Charmin promises Times Square tourists will feel like kings sitting on their thrones before making their royal flushes.

With Christmas Day as an exception, the deluxe toilets will be open to the public throughout the holidays.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 04:17:00 AM

President Pelosi for Two Months

In a New York Times opinion piece this weekend, the call has been voiced for President Bush to resign so that Obama could start governing. Here's how the scheme would work.

"Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We’re desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she’d defer to her party’s incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing."

So, there you have it. A desperate, but not crazy, opinion maker proposes making Nancy Pelosi the President of the United States for two months while hoping that all changes come from President-elect Obama.

I'm certain that President Bush is giving the proposal its doo consideration.

(Apologies to all the doggies for the lousy pun.)

However, just for entertainment's sake, if Pelosi became President then she would logically have to resign from Congress and a replacement for Pelosi's seat in the House of Representatives would be chosen by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Just for fun, I recommend Cindy Sheehan be named the new representative for the San Francisco congressional district.

Just think. Come Inauguration Day, Pelosi would be relegated to sitting on her political legacy and the extreme leftists in San Francisco would have an incoherent, babbling Cindy Sheehan to represent them in the U.S. Congress. Good times!

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 03:25:00 AM

The Border Mess

The following 20 items are simple headlines to recent stories regarding the violence along the southern U.S. border and other areas of Mexico. Thanks to the mainstream media, the average American hasn't an inkling of the level of lawlessness preparing to flood the U.S.

- Mexico news reports that “only” 814,000 Mexicans left the country last year

- Interpol to send a team to Mexico to investigate possible misuse of their information systems

- Mexico crimewave yields 32 deaths in one day

- More than thirty Tijuana police officers desert their posts and flee

- Twenty-one police officers arrested

- President Felipe Calderón appoints Gomez Mont to post of Secretary of Government

- Mexico hopes to convince President-Elect Obama to embrace open migration

- Mexico: Confrontations result in 33 deaths in less than 24 hours

- Mexico: First fifteen days in October the year’s most violent

- Formal Travel Alert to Mexico Issued by U.S. Department of State

- US confirms illegal Mexican military incursion

- Mexico: Past three days most violent period this year with 84 execution-sytle murders

- Tijuana becoming a no man’s land - very dangerous place to be

- Mexican drug cartels are extending their tentacles in Latin America

- Lawlessness and organized crime spiraling out of control in Mexico and Latin America

- Organization of American States Secretary General decrys drug traffic

- Creation of a new drug cartel in Tijuana

- Mexican Counsul Guillermo Reyes asking his fellow citizens not to emigrate to the United States

- Tijuana crimes on the rise! Thirty-six murders in the past week

- Mexico: Majority of homicides commited go unresolved (sic all)

Remember, these are only headlines of stories which contain even more disturbing details. Check BorderFireReport.net for more.

Any rational person must question why the level of lawlessness and mayhem isn't given prominence by the American elite media. Think about it. During one weekend last month, there were 84 execution-style murders in Mexico and I would bet a paycheck that none of your acquaintances knows the story. Meanwhile, virtually everyone in the English-speaking world knows that the Republican Party spent $150,000 on clothes for Governor Sarah Palin.

I don't think it's merely curious to want to know that mass murder is being committed just down the road from where I live. The elite media have abdicated their responsibilities to inform the public. One might say that it conflicts with their agenda.

Following Entry Posted 11/24/2008 02:32:00 AM

CAIR Being Sued by Former Clients

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) claiming fraud and racketeering. The Gates of Vienna has the whole story.

Interestingly, at approximately 7 PM last evening, the principle respondents to the lawsuit were handed the summons at the public gathering of the CAIR 14th Annual Banquet. Check out the video.

Since it appears that Muslims are suing Muslims, the customary CAIR counterattacks claiming racism and religious discrimination might not be as effective.

Following Entry Posted 11/23/2008 01:53:00 PM

Layoffs Forecast at Weather Channel

The Weather Channel, owned by NBC, is cutting its entire Environmental Unit. The job losses are expected to exceed 50. Some are blaming NBC for forcing the layoffs.

One might think that this change means the Weather Channel will now play a diminished role as swooning cheerleader for the global warming political bandwagon. One might also be in error.

In a concurrent move, the Weather Channel has changed its normally blue logo to green, an indication that the cable channel will likely continue to sermonize in worship of Gaia.

Tip: Charley Nestor

Following Entry Posted 11/23/2008 01:32:00 PM

Woman Accused of Meat Cleaving Husband's Head

(Victorville, California) A 33-year-old local wife and mother, Olivia Geatian, was arrested for allegedly attacking her sleeping husband with a meat cleaver.

Geatian appeared in Victorville Superior Court Tuesday where she was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and attempted murder charges.

San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Stella Hodson says the couple's children were asleep in another room and didn't see the attack.

Authorities have not released the ages of the children.

Witnesses at the scene reported there was a party at the home earlier.

When deputies arrived, they noticed Geatian was intoxicated, officials said, and arrested her for domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon.

The District Attorney's office later filed attempted murder charges against her.

The husband has been patched with staples and stitches.

I'm curious to see if Geatian gets a hand slap like Mary Winkler, who fatally blasted her sleeping husband with a shotgun.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/23/2008 12:42:00 PM

Notices to the Obama Faithful

Devotion leads to layoffs.

"CFO Fred Williamson has advised me that, as a result of the recent election, our company faces substantial increases in our tax, and other government fees and mandates burden. The current dismal state state of the economy will not allow us to raise prices by the necessary 8%, so we will have to lay off six employees instead.

This has really been eating at me, since we are like family here. Choosing who among our 140 employees will be cut was very difficult. So, this is what I did. I strolled through our parking lot and found 6 Obama bumper stickers on employees' cars, and have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off. I can't think of a fairer way to approach this problem. These people wanted change; I gave it to them. If you have a better idea, let me know, ASAP."

Luckily, the Obama supporters will continue to be fortified by their faith in hope and change.

Following Entry Posted 11/23/2008 11:55:00 AM

Mom Allegedly Burns Daughter with Cigarette

(Moundsville, West Virginia) a 43-year-old local mother, Tammy Lynn Smith, was arrested Friday for allegedly burning the word "wimp" into her six-year-old daughter's neck.

While officers know the letters "wimp" on the child's neck will heal, they also know there is a good chance the burned flesh from which they were created will scar.

"The 'i' was even dotted," said investigating Detective Shawn Allman. The 6-year-old "said that her mom burned her with a cigarette because she was mad at her because she had tripped."

Smith is facing five counts of child abuse and felony malicious assault charges.

According to Allman, the investigation began Wednesday after the Moundsville Police Department was contacted by a representative from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources about a child who may have been abused. Allman said the DHHR was contacted by the secretary at the school the child attends.

"She advised that a teacher had noticed a burn mark on the 6-year-old's neck a week ago and had taken a picture of the burn," Allman said.

Upon reviewing the picture with a representative from Harmony House, Allman quickly realized investigators were dealing with more than just one burn.

"She turned the picture, and I could clearly see the letters," Allman said.

The child was removed from the Smith home by DHHR. Smith was booked into custody at the Northern Regional Jail with bond set at $50,000.

Following Entry Posted 11/23/2008 08:01:00 AM

Breast implants a touchy topic

We read:

"A Spanish nightclub has scrapped plans to stage a raffle for breast enlargement surgery after an uproar over the event. The Pacha nightclub in the Mediterranean city of Valencia said it "apologised to all people and institutions which may have felt offended by this initiative", adding that "at no moment did it intend to disrespect anyone".

Adverstisements for the event called "Pretty Woman" that had been set for December 5 featured a picture of a woman with firm breasts who appeared to be holding a scalpel. Tickets had been set at 20 euro ($30) with the prize said to be worth 4500 euro. "A tribute to women. Buy your ticket and take part in the raffle for breast enlargement," the club said on its website.

But Health Minister Bernat Soria said on Wednesday that he had launched an investigation into the planned event. The minister said cosmetic surgery was regulated by health authorities and he expressed concern that minors would be able to participate. The official in charge of health in the Valencia region, Lourdes Bernal, meanwhile voiced her "indignation as a woman and as a health official" at the raffle, "which is an affront to the dignity of women".

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 10:09:00 PM

Louisiana Teacher Arrested for Sex with Boy

(Benton, Louisiana) A 32-year-old special education teacher at Benton High School, Anna Huck Davis, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in a months-long sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

According to Bossier Parish Sheriff's spokesman Ed Baswell, Davis admitted to the sexual relationship during questioning.

Baswell said the youth’s father contacted Bossier Schools Security Supervisor Danny Dison, who also is with the Bossier sheriff’s office, and that Dison began an investigation that led to Davis being questioned and arrested. Baswell said Davis was a paraprofessional who had worked for the Bossier school system two years.

Baswell said the teen was not one of Davis’ students and the alleged sexual activity did not take place on school property in either parish.

Davis was booked into custody at the Bossier Maximum Security Facility on a charge of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile. She was subsequently released on $20,000 bond.

[Update 11/26/08]

This report says that Davis is a divorced mother of four and her alleged victim is the son of a man she was dating. The plot thickens.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 08:36:00 PM

Bloody Whale Slaughter in Canada

(Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic) Native Inuit hunters from Pond Inlet on Baffin Island found a pod of more than 200 narwhal whales stranded and trapped by winter ice.

Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)
Typically, the native hunters are allowed to harvest a yearly limit of 130 narwhals for food but since the stranded animals are unlikely to survive the winter, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has authorized the slaughter of the entire pod.

Interestingly, Inuit tradition speaks of the legend of the abused Inuit woman who became a narwhal. To escape her violent husband, the Inuit wife with luxuriant hair fell into the water when her husband came after her. She came out of the water at the mouth of the river after transformation into a narwhal with a long tusk. Legend has it that her hair had been extended to its full length and became twisted like a corkscrew in the rapids, thereby explaining the corkscrew twist of the narwhal's tusk.

The bloody killings started last Thursday and hunters are expected to complete the slaughter in the next few days. One must wonder about the Inuit symbolism of the hunters killing the reincarnations of their missing and abused wives and whether it affects the vigor with which they approach the task of culling.

Tip: Charley Nestor

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 09:07:00 AM

Teacher Accused of Illicit Relationship with Boy

(Pickering, Louisiana) A 28-year-old substitute teacher at Pickering High School, Tina Schlegel, has been arrested for an alleged illicit relationship with a 15-year-old male student.

Schlegel has been charged with felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

Pickering High Principal Kevin Lambright reported the allegations to the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office who began an investigation.

The Vernon Parish School Board has revoked Schlegel's substitute teacher status and has notified all parish schools to refrain from using her as a substitute teacher.

Schlegel was booked and released on $2,500 bond.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 08:05:00 AM

Silvio still in good form

I have mentioned before that I am a great fan of the world's most "incorrect" head of government, Silvio Berlusconi, conservative Prime Minister of Italy. He is a man of immense good humor but is no fool. He is a billionaire as well as a very successful politician. So I always look forward to the next news item about him. And he does not disappoint. His latest caper is completely harmless but very much him so I am going to mention it.

"Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant Italian Prime Minister, played a practical joke on the German Chancellor today by jumping out at her from behind a lamppost when they met for an Italo-German summit in Trieste.

Slipping away from the welcoming committee, the Italian leader hid behind the lamppost and emerged with a cry of "Cucu!" when Angela Merkel stepped out of her official car to enter the regional council headquarters where they were to meet. Reports said the German leader, who appeared amused, opened her arms and replied "Silvio!".

Mr Berlusconi, noted for his unpredictable behaviour and often ill-judged jokes, raised eyebrows recently by describing Barack Obama, the US President-elect, as "suntanned"

Source

What a guy! "Cucu" means "cuckoo". If only there were more politicians with his joy of life! Frau Merkel is also a conservative so it is no surprise that she too was obviously good humored about it. May Silvio continue to raise eyebrows!

And his approach seems to have paid off. Shortly thereafter Frau Merkel announced that Germany was joining Italy in opposing tough EU global warming regulations -- which was quite a U-turn for her. A pretty smart cuckoo somewhere there!

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 07:57:00 AM

Daycare Worker Accused of Unlawful Conduct

(Columbia, South Carolina) A 44-year-old daycare worker at Lollipop Lane Day Care, Deidre K. Goff, has been arrested for alleged unlawful conduct toward a child. Goff reportedly was providing care when a three-month-old baby sustained a fractured skull.

Goff claimed the child had merely hurt his face on a toy while in a play center used to help gain leg strength. State child-protection investigators were suspicious of Goff's story, according to Department of Social Services attorney Virginia Williamson.

Goff was booked into custody and released on $10,000 bond.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 04:28:00 AM

Maine Teacher Gets 30 Days in Boy Sex Case

(Machias, Maine) A 31-year-old teacher formerly at Lubec Consolidated School, Tina Mason, pleaded no contest yesterday in Washington County Superior Court to charges of sex assault, sex abuse and sexual touching, all misdemeanors, stemming from a relationship with a 13-year-old boy. The victim was a friend of Mason's two sons, ages 6 and 10.

“There is nothing I can say that will make this situation any better,” Mason tearfully told the judge. “Please think of my own children. Who will protect them if I’m not there?”

As a result, Justice Kevin Cuddy sentenced Mason to 30 days in jail.

In addition to the 30 days in jail, Mason received two consecutive suspended sentences of 11 months in jail, each with one year of probation.

If Mason violates the terms of her probation after her release, she could end up serving 22 months of additional jail time. She also was ordered to pay a $400 fine.

Also, Mason will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years and permanently surrender her teaching credentials.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 03:43:00 AM

Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Boy, 12 - Updated

(Lancaster County, Pennsylvania) In August 2008, Ashley L. Banks pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault and misdemeanor corruption of minors in accordance with an agreement with the prosecution.

Banks had sex with the boy on a "nightly basis" from August 2005 to December 2005, according to a police affidavit filed by Columbia Detective Daniel Bell. She paid the boy's mother in exchange for the sexual encounters, the affidavit says.

The mother was charged in July 2007 with pimping the boy. A Lancaster County jury found that woman guilty in September of three offenses, including criminal conspiracy to rape of a child.

In exchange for her plea, Banks was sentenced by Judge Jeffrey Wright to two to four years in prison plus four years of post-release probation. Additionally, as part of the plea deal, Banks had to provide testimony in the case against the 12-year-old boy's mother.

The boy's mother is scheduled to be sentenced on December 2.

* * * * *
Woman Accused of Sex with Boy, 12
[Previous 6/1/07 post]
(York, Pennsylvania) A 24-year-old former York resident, Ashley L. Banks, has been accused of engaging in a four-month sexual relationship with a 12-year-old boy in 2005.

Banks faces child rape and corruption of minor charges. Banks also faces theft and related charges in Springettsbury Township.

Regarding the child rape charge, it's also alleged that the boy's mother was paid by Banks to have sex with her son. The boy's mother has, so far, not been charged with any offense.

Banks is in custody in the York County Prison.

[Update 06/04/07]

An arrest warrant has been issued for boy's mother. She is being charged with rape, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of a minor. Her last known address was in Lehighton, Carbon County.

[Update 07/18/07]

From YDR.com:

A mother accused of trading her 12-year-old son to another woman for sex in exchange for money and crack cocaine was arrested Monday in Carbon County, police said.

The 34-year-old woman, formerly of York and Lancaster counties, was picked up by members of the Pennsylvania State Police Fugitive Unit Monday in Jim Thorpe, a borough of about 5,000 residents in the northeastern part of the state.

Police have been searching for the woman for about two months, Columbia Police Detective Daniel Bell said Tuesday. Investigators received information that the woman had family in Carbon County and located her there, he said.

The mother is in Lancaster County Prison.

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 02:54:00 AM

Toddler Fatally Shot in Crib, Mom Jailed

(Hollister, California) A 39-year-old local married mother, Cheryl Bush (aka Busch), was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing her 18-month-old daughter in her crib. Police found the toddler with gunshot wounds to her head and chest.

According to San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill, the murder weapon, a .357 magnum, was found outside the house occupied by John and Cheryl Bush.

"We are still trying to determine a motive," Hill said. "Both parents were home. It appears the husband was outside the residence in a shop area; he was starting his day. His atttention was brought back to the house based on what occurred out there."

"When he went in, he saw his wife in a distraught frame of mind. The young girl, Donna Mae, was obviously showing some signs of the wounds at the scene. She died of multiple gunshot wounds--one to the chest and also a single gunshot wound to the head."

Cheryl Bush was booked into custody at the county jail and placed under suicide watch. Her husband was questioned and released.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/22/2008 12:16:00 AM

Penis in Pasta Jar

(Newcastle, Australia) A 46-year-old man, Keith Roy Weatherley, was arrested after leading police on a slow-speed chase for several minutes. Suspecting Weatherley to be armed, the police instead found him partially clothed with his penis in a pasta jar.

The incident started at Nobbys Beach with Weatherley suspiciously parked in a no-stopping zone.

Weatherley saw the police and drove away, despite them flashing their lights.

The chase lasted five to 10 minutes, with a top speed of just 20 kmh, before Weatherley was stopped at Centenary Drive, Newcastle. He refused to leave the car.

Four officers used batons and capsicum spray to remove him.

They found a 750-millilitre jar around his penis and noted that Weatherley attempted to continue "pleasuring himself in between bouts of wrestling".

A search of his car uncovered pornography, a home-made sex aid, women's stockings and a Jack Russell terrier.

Weatherley pleaded guilty to offensive behaviour, resisting police and disobeying a police direction.

Weatherley was fined $600 for offensive behavior.

Not answered by the article is why Weatherley was collecting his body fluid in a pasta jar. There must be a reason.

Tip: Charley Nestor

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 11:49:00 PM

Texas Lawyer Busted for Drugs

(Houston, Texas) A 44-year-old Houston criminal defense attorney, Alice Morales, has been arrested for allegedly selling methamphetamine.

Morales works at the Harris County Courthouse and, according to Lt. Joe Inocencio of the HPD Narcotics Division, she customarily represents drug dealers and users.

Undercover officers said they bought methamphetamines from Morales on three different occasions. They said the final buy happened at Slick Willie's Pool Hall on the Southwest Freeway.

That's when they moved in to make the arrest.

Morales has two prior drug arrests, including a meth possession charge from just two months ago.

"She mentioned she started using meth when she started defending these individuals in court," said Inocencio. "As a matter of fact, the first time she used it was with a client."

Officers say Morales was caught with 6.5 grams of meth Wednesday.

Morales was booked into custody at the Harris County Jail.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 11:30:00 PM

Teacher Admits Sex with Girl, All Charges Dropped - Updated

(Albany, California) Yesterday, 55-year-old Albany Middle School teacher Kay Sorg admitted to engaging in a four-year sexual relationship with a female student, starting when the girl was 14 years old.

Although Sorg was facing four counts of sexual assault of a minor, the prosecution decided to drop all charges.

According to Alameda County District Attorney Danielle Hilton:

“Under oath Sorg gave a detailed account of her emotional and sexual relationship with the victim beginning when she(the victim) was 14, ” Hilton said. [...]

“We dropped the charges because the victim did not want to testify, because Sorg agreed to resign, and because she is no longer a danger to the public, ” Hilton said.

Therefore, unlike other female child sex offenders who walk away from court without any meaningful punishment, Kay Sorg was able to skip away without ever even going to court.

Thankfully, District Attorney Hilton has officially declared that Sorg will not be a future danger to the public. It's not clear how Hilton can be assured of her contention but it does suggest that she may have a future providing tips on the stock market.

The fact that Sorg resigned her teaching position seems to be a nonsensical basis for not prosecuting her. What prevents her from just turning around and applying for a teaching job elsewhere?

In any event, the most troubling aspect to the Sorg case is the precedent-setting ipso facto decriminalization of admitted child sex crimes. One must wonder what will happen the next time an adult female has extended-term sexual relations with a female child and a female prosecutor must enforce the law.

I would speculate that a male teacher in similar circumstances, admitting to sexually abusing a student for four years, male or female, would not have all charges dropped. The prosecutor would have his carcass in court.

In my opinion, the handling of the Sorg case represents prosecutorial malfeasance. An alleged set of crimes was committed, as agreed to by the accused, and disposition of the case should have been within the purview of the court, not the district attorney. Judges and juries can't do their jobs if cases never goes to court. (Tip: Mystery Man)

* * * * *
CA Teacher Arrested for Sex with Girl
[Previous 5/8/07 post]
(Albany, California) A 54-year-old seventh-grade science teacher at Albany Middle School, Kay Lynnette Sorg, was arrested this morning for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a female student in the 1990s. According to Albany Detective Sgt. Tom Dolter, the victim notified the school who alerted the police to the allegations.

The victim was between 14 and 17 year old and a student in Sorg's class. The alleged sex occurred between December 1990 and August 1994. Police conducted a six-month investigation prior to her arrest.

Sorg faces 13 felony charges, including lewd and lascivious acts on a child, oral copulation with a minor and sexual penetration with a minor. She was booked into the Glenn Dyer Detention Facility and released on $150,000 bail.

[Update 01/05/08]

From MercuryNews.com:

A judge instructed a prosecutor Friday to amend his complaint against an Albany teacher accused of having sex with a high school girl in the early 1990s.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Sandra Bean denied a request for an evidentiary hearing from the attorney representing Kay Sorg, but agreed that the prosecution's complaint against Sorg was insufficient. Bean instructed prosecutor Greg Dolge to add more specific information about the evidence he plans to present.

"We do need more specificity in the people's complaint," Bean said. "Specificity was required in cases such as this," for which the statute of limitations has expired.

Judge Bean ordered the prosecutor to provide evidence of corroboration of the accuser's complaint and to show it is admissible in court.

A followup hearing is scheduled for February 5th.

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 01:16:00 PM

Alleged Mother-Daughter Sex Video

(Perth, Western Australia) A 46-year-old mother and a 29-year-old male acquaintance have been accused of engaging in videotaped sex with the woman's 13-year-old daughter.

Police allege that during a search of the computer a homemade video recording that showed the 29-year-old Armadale man and the 46-year-old Hillman woman engaging in sex with her 13-year-old daughter was found.

The man was charged yesterday with 157 counts in total, including unlawfully installing and using an optical surveillance device, encouraging a child to engage in sexual behaviour, six counts of indecently dealing with a child under 16, six counts of indecently recording a child, knowingly sexually penetrating a child, indecently recording a child under 16 and supplying and distributing child pornography.

Sgt Lambert said the man was a casual acquaintance of the girl's mother.

The girl's mother was charged with encouraging a child who is a lineal relative to engage in sexual behaviour, three counts of indecently dealing with a child who is a lineal relative, six counts of indecently dealing with a child under 16, six counts of indecently recording a child who is a lineal relative, knowingly sexually penetrating a child who is a lineal relative, indecently recording a child under 16 and distributing child pornography.

The mother has a court appearance scheduled for next week.

Tip: Barry

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 08:41:00 AM

Google have found a new way to harass conservative bloggers

I get the following message from Google when I query why DISSECTING LEFTISM is allegedly blocked:

Your blog is locked

Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

We received your unlock request on November 19, 2008. On behalf of the robots, we apologize for locking your non-spam blog. Please be patient while we take a look at your blog and verify that it is not spam.

I have had blogs classed as spam by Google before and when I challenged it, I used to get the spam classification lifted within a day or two. I first saw a change of policy with my original Obama blog. They classed it as spam and I challenged that repeatedly but they have ignored me. It is now over a MONTH and they are still treating it as a spam blog.

They have three levels of harassment. The most serious is to prevent anybody seeing anything at all on the blog. The blog is effectively deleted. I have never suffered that one so far.

The second level is to leave the blog up but prevent any new postings on the blog. They did that a few months back to GREENIE WATCH but lifted it promptly when I protested.

The third level is to permit continued posting but make you do a very difficult letter-copying task before each post. That is what they subjected my original Obama blog to. And they have kept that restriction in place. In an act of small mercy, however, they have not carried through on their threat to delete the blog entirely.

But the harassment of DISSECTING LEFTISM is a weird mixture of the second and third procedures. They SAY that posting is blocked (level two) but it is not in fact. Only level 3 (preliminary task) is in operation. And that restriction does not look like it is going to go away.

So I infer that they have concluded that level 1 and 2 harassment is a bit uncool so are applying permanent level 3 harassment to any blog that they dislike. They have decided that conservatives like me will be burdened permanently with what is supposed to be only a temporary restriction.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 07:30:00 AM

Topless Coed in Student Mag at Cambridge

(Cambridge, England) A student magazine at Cambridge University has published an issue with a topless female undergraduate on page three. Students, faculty and the public are shocked.

The pretty blonde is pictured wearing a black, lacy thong with hold-up stockings as she poses on one of the city's historic bridges with a cigarette in her hand.

The woman, who is understood to be a third year student at Homerton College, appears in Vivid, which has a circulation of more than 5,000.

Although its editors claim the magazine's focus is on political and satirical articles, it has become known among students for its series of 'page 3' girls.

One previous picture showed a brunette wearing stockings and a bra lying upside down on the Cambridge Union chair, where the president of the debating society would normally sit.

Another showed a girl in her bra and knickers adjusting her glasses as she stands provocatively on a stool in a library.

But it is this latest photo that has caused shockwaves.

A spokesman for the university said no comment.

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 01:27:00 AM

Argentina Nationalizes Private Pension Funds

(Buenos Aires, Argentina) The government of Argentina, led by President Cristina Fernandez, has nationalized the country's private pension plans, known as AFJPs. Despite assertions otherwise, the move is no more than an asset grab to give the government funds to pay the bills of wild-spending politicians.

The Senate approved the bill by 46 votes to 18 with one abstention. Under the new regime, the AFJPs’ $26bn in assets and annual contributions of up to $5bn will pass to the state social security administrator, Anses, which will be responsible for all retirees under the state’s pay-as-yo-go system (sic).

Miguel Pichetto, government whip in the Senate, called it “a change of historic importance”. But the opposition Radical Party’s Ernesto Sanz said: “We have no doubt that here the right to private property is being violated. Not just for us but for society and the world, this is a clear confiscation.”

If the Democrats follow through on their announced intentions, expect the same type of confiscation to occur in the U.S. Remember, a milestone on the road to serfdom is the eradication of private property.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 01:18:00 AM

Bittersweet Justice for Sgt. Matt Maupin

From CNN:

The U.S. military says Hajji Hammadi, a top-ranking al Qaeda in Iraq militant, was killed in a November 11 operation in Baghdad.

The military said Hammadi's terrorist activities included the abduction and slaying of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin.

The soldier's remains were found in Iraq earlier this year, nearly four years after he was captured when his fuel convoy was attacked near Baghdad on April 9, 2004.

The military maintains Hammadi also was the mastermind of a June 26, 2008, attack on coalition forces and Iraqi government officials at a sheikhs' meeting in the Anbar province town of Karma.

An attacker dressed in a police uniform detonated a suicide vest and killed "three U.S. Marines, two interpreters and more than 20 Iraqis, including the mayor of Karma and several other sheikhs. Hammadi escorted the suicide bomber to the location and videotaped the attack."

"The removal of Hajji Hammadi from the AQI network is yet another significant blow to the terrorist organization," said Brig. Gen. David Perkins, spokesman for Multi-National Forces-Iraq.

Notably, when al-Qaeda soldiers are captured, they go to Guantanamo Bay, are given lawyers and rights under the Constitution of the United States. When American soldier Matt Maupin was captured, he was videotaped for propaganda purposes and murdered.

So, whose hands are actually shackled?

Following Entry Posted 11/21/2008 01:03:00 AM

Woman Arrested for Slapping Boyfriend

(Manitowoc, Wisconsin) A 19-year-old criminal justice student, Melissa Vogel, was arrested this week for allegedly slapping her boyfriend after he made some remark about the figure of one of Vogel's female friends.

I'm guessing he probably said something like, "Well, your girlfriend's butt doesn't look big."

The boyfriend apparently took his clothing off during the quarrel and attempted to leave the home in only his underwear, but reentered the building after he thought he saw police outside.

The argument continued, and Vogel allegedly slapped the man twice.

When officers arrived, both admitted Vogel had slapped the man.

Wisconsin law mandates that the primary physical aggressor be arrested. It's not known why the boyfriend took his clothes off.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2008 06:40:00 PM

118 Days Without a Heart

(Miami, Florida) A 14-year-old South Carolina girl, D'Zhana Simmons, thanks her lucky stars and her doctors. Through the wonders of modern medicine, the teen was able to hold on for over 100 days without a heart.

A pair of artificial pumping devices coupled with handcrafted substitute heart chambers kept her heartless body alive while she waited for a transplant.

Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest.

"But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."

Yesterday, Simmons was released from Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami. Tears flowed as she thanked her surgeons.

Tip: Stilgar

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2008 08:05:00 AM

Police in NY shrug off court order, deny religious free speech

We read:

"Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Ithaca on behalf of a Christian man denied his free speech rights even after he showed police officers a court order prohibiting them from enforcing an unconstitutional "noise" ordinance. ADF attorneys also filed a motion asking the court to suspend the ordinance while the case moves forward. "Christians shouldn't be penalized for expressing their beliefs, especially when a court has expressly upheld their right to do so, as is the case here," said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. "Police officers cannot step beyond their authority and illegally suppress Christian speech in defiance of a court order."

In 2006, ADF attorneys secured a favorable ruling against the city of Ithaca on behalf of Kevin Deegan. The court's order prohibited officials from enforcing a municipal code that unreasonably restricts sounds on public streets, sidewalks, or paths that can be heard from 25 feet away.

Officers initially approached Deegan in 1999 for violating the code while he was sharing a gospel message in Ithaca Commons. In August 2008, officers prohibited his friend, Jim Deferio, from speaking in the same location. The following week, Deferio returned with Deegan, and officers again told them they were breaking the 25-foot "noise" ordinance. Deegan produced the court order, but the officers did not heed it, saying it didn't apply to them as new officers on the scene.

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2008 07:32:00 AM

Proposed: Pharmacists Write Prescriptions

(Toronto, Ontario) Forget the doctor. The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council says that Ontario pharmacists can write and fill prescriptions. It's recommended that the local pharmacy be the "first stop for prescription extensions, drug adjustments and medication monitoring through pharmacist-ordered lab tests."

"We're very happy (to) collaborate with other health professionals and really play our role in delivering health care to patients in Ontario," says Dennis Darby, head of the Ontario Pharmacists' Association.

"The good news is the advisory council agreed ... that pharmacists should be tasked with a higher level of care to patients."

Ontario doctors' groups have taken the proposal under advisement. Their comments will follow a complete analysis of the issue. The Ontario College of Pharmacists is similarly reserved about the proposal.

It's worthwhile to mention that the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council is comprised of seven members of the general public who advise the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. It's not known whether it's required that the council members know how to spell pharmacy.

Companion post at SocGlory.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2008 06:07:00 AM

Huge Breasts Not Health Problem for Insurance

(Darmstadt, Germany) A 37-year-old German woman with massive breasts wanted the government to pay for breast reduction. A regional court ruled against her.

Having extremely large breasts is not an illness and an operation to reduce their size is therefore not covered by German state health insurance, a court said Wednesday.

However, it was ruled by a German federal court in 2004 that huge breasts causing psychological problems would typically be covered. Therefore, if one simply asks for breast reduction, the cost would not be paid for by state health insurance, but if one says that huge breasts are causing psychological problems, then the (far higher) cost would be covered by insurance.

Evidently, people desiring normally unreimbursed medical procedures would be smart to go to a psychologist first and complain about severe depression or night sweats or something. Sporting a psychological problem, state health insurers would be forced to pay the cost of the underlying medical condition.

Helluva way to run a health care system.

Companion post at SocGlory.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2008 04:51:00 AM

Toronto Mosque Troubles

(Toronto, Ontario) The Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque is being criticized by the Muslim Canadian Congress for disseminating slurs against Jews and Western societies while warning Muslims not to integrate into society.

And now the Muslim Canadian Congress is calling on Ottawa to strip the charitable status of the Somali Islamic Society of Canada, which owns the Khalid Bin Al-Walid mosque in Etobicoke, founded in 1990 and serving more than 10,000 worshippers.

Congress president Farzana Hassan said postings on the mosque's website are "in contravention of what a moderate Muslim should stand for."

Asked for specifics, Hassan cited the site's "statements about women." For example, she said, "they say female circumcision is honourable and yet they find piercing your ears reprehensible, wearing high heels reprehensible, laughing objectionable. It's very disconcerting that their priorities are where they are."

But the mosque defends its postings, arguing in a statement posted on its website that "different scholars of Islam may have differing opinions on the same subject."

So, Canada's Muslims are getting conflicting guidance because of religious spat between two leading Islamic organizations. However, it's not clear that the two organizations disagree on philosophy, rather their conflict appears to be disagreement on what should be spoken and written.

Following Entry Posted 11/20/2008 12:00:00 AM

Neo-Colonialism in Madagascar

This report is astonishing. The South Korean firm Daewoo is negotiating with the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar to use half the arable land for farming of crops to be sent to Korea.

The deal encompasses over 3.2 million acres of farmland, about half the size of Belgium, and it appears that Daewoo will be getting it for free. In return, Madagascar citizens will have job opportunities.

Critics are insinuating that Daewoo is committing rape of a poor East African country. Others say it's simply colonialism in the 21st Century.

In any event, it's a helluva deal which may be the beginning of a trend.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 10:55:00 PM

Hitler's One Testicle

The UK Sun claims a world exclusive story that Adolph Hitler suffered from mono-orchidism, meaning he was batting with only one ball. Apparently, Hitler was injured during the Battle of the Somme in WWI and the medic who treated him has provided testimony of a missing testicle.

Some might want to infer that this means Hitler was a little light on the testosterone uptake but his actions later in life would seem to dispute the contention -- or maybe not.

Tip: CN

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 09:32:00 PM

Chainsaw Suicide

(Central Hampshire, England) Bizarre is the only word I can think of right now to describe this story.

David Phyall, 50, tied the Black & Decker tool to a leg of a snooker table in his lounge with string, taped up the on button and plugged it into a timer, Winchester Coroner's Court heard.

Mr Phyall, who had consumed a small quantity of alcohol but no drugs, then lay down under the snooker table face up and placed the chainsaw against his neck.

A piece of the tool's cardboard box initially cushioned the blades from his neck.

The hearing heard the timer, which is usually used to turn lights on and off, was fixed to start up the chainsaw for 15 minutes.

When it activated, it sliced three-quarters through his neck and across into his right shoulder only stopping from a complete severing when his t-shirt was dragged into the blades.

Phyall was apparently depressed because he was being kicked out of his home.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 08:40:00 PM

Texas Teacher Guilty in Boy Sex Case

(Seagraves, Texas) Earlier today, 32-year-old reading teacher Candra Dee Payton, pleaded guilty to an improper relationship with a 15-year-old male student in accordance with an agreement with the prosecution.

In exchange for her guilty plea, Payton reportedly receives probation for 10 years, 400 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine. She will not have to register as a sex offender. Again a female sex criminal gets no jail.

It's not clear whether Payton has been formally sentenced or the reporting merely describes the content of the plea agreement.

In any event, what starts as multiple sex crimes with a possible punishment of life in prison has been dealt down to an improper relationship crime resulting in probation. Kind of lenient application of justice, I'd say. However, to be fair the reporting on this case has been sketchy and there may be a number of mitigating factors.

* * * * *
Reading Teacher Jailed for Sex with Boy
[Previous 3/2/07 post]
(Seagraves, Texas) A 31-year-old reading teacher at Seagraves Junior High, Candra Dee Payton, has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old male student. Payton surrendered at the Gaines County Jail yesterday afternoon.

Gaines was indicted by a grand jury on felony counts of assault -indecency with a child, improper relationship between an educator and a student, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

The Seagraves ISD placed Payton on administrative leave and, of course, the sex scandal is the talk of this small community about 60 miles southwest of Lubbock.

If convicted, Payton faces a possible life sentence. She is currently in custody with bond set at $600,000.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 11:07:00 AM

Most Wanted Woman Guilty in Fatal Shooting

(Kansas City, Missouri) A 26-year-old local woman, Shauntay Henderson, who at one time was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, has been convicted in the 2006 death of DeAndre Parker in a Kansas City parking lot. Henderson was convicted of manslaughter and armed criminal action.

Henderson has been linked to the 12th Street Gang which allegedly connects her with 40 to 50 other shootings.

Henderson is scheduled to be sentenced on December 19.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 09:36:00 AM

Obama Stuff

Check it out!

The Real King of France at C & S has found Barack Obama's senior thesis. It's titled "Making The Rich Pay Me."

Also, Alan Keyes is suing Barack Obama to see his birth certificate. The complaint seeks a court order barring the California SecState from certifying electors until proof is provided that Obama is a "natural born" citizen.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 08:45:00 AM

Happy World Toilet Day

Today is proclaimed World Toilet Day by the Singapore-based World Toilet Organization.

"November 19th is World Toilet Day, a day on which we can remind others the importance of better sanitation for EVERYONE."

The group, known by its initials "WTO" says it is a global network of 151 toilet and sanitation organisations in 53 countries.

World Toilet Day "is now being celebrated by members all over the world," the website said.

Notably, the WTO is supporting efforts to minimize or eliminate flush toilets with the imposition of a toilet tax.

Adelaide University's Water Management Professor Mike Young said the tax would encourage people to take shorter showers, recycle washing machine water or connect rainwater tanks to internal plumbing.

"Some people may go as far as not flushing their toilet as often, as the less sewage you produce the less the rate you pay," Professor Young said.

In the long run, the tax idea may be implemented. One Democrat lawmaker in Florida has already proposed a tax on toilet paper.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Wall Street reacts to World Toilet Day. Maybe we'll see a harbinger of the future with the stock market coming out of the toilet and seeing its shadow.

[Update @ market close]

Heh, the Dow fell more than 400 points on World Toilet Day.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 08:38:00 AM

ACLU says minority students arrested more

I am sure they are. They are more prone to crime. Hispanics born of illegal immigrant parents are in fact much more crime-prone than their parents, who are in turn more crime-prone than non-Hispanic whites. And the hugely disproportionate incidence of crime among blacks is well-known. The ACLU can only make something out of the matters described below by ignoring all that and insisting on the hoary and totally-counterfactual Leftist assertion that all men are equal and that there are no intergroup differences

A civil rights advocacy group released a report Monday saying that minority public school students in East Hartford and West Hartford are more likely to be arrested for common disciplinary infractions than their white peers. The American Civil Liberties Union and its Connecticut chapter also alleges that minority students in the two towns are arrested at rates much higher than the percentages of blacks and Hispanics in the school populations.

ACLU officials said they and other civil rights activists are concerned about "a national trend of criminalizing, rather than educating, our nation's children, through increased reliance on zero-tolerance school discipline, school-based arrests, disciplinary alternative schools and secure detention." "One dismaying aspect ... is its disproportionate impact on students of color," the ACLU says. "Across the nation, such students are far more likely than their white peers to be suspended, expelled or arrested, even when engaging in exactly the same conduct.

Police in East Hartford and West Hartford denied that officers single out minority students. They also questioned the ACLU's data and said their school resource officers are highly trained.

In East Hartford, black and Hispanic students accounted for 69 percent of the student population in 2006-2007, but comprised 85 percent of school-based arrests, the ACLU says. In West Hartford the same year, 24 percent of students were black or Hispanic but 63 percent of students who were arrested were black or Hispanic....

Police officials in both towns denied that race played a role in student arrests. "The arrests are based solely on the students' behavior," said East Hartford police Officer Hugo Benettieri, a department spokesman. "If a crime occurs, an arrest is made."

More here

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 05:23:00 AM

Concrete Reinforced Sex Ramp

(Monterrey, Mexico) Once the world's fattest man, Manuel Uribe, 37, slimmed down enough to get married and consummate the union.

Mexico's Manuel Uribe married his wife Claudia Solis two weeks ago after being whisked to the ceremony in a flatbed truck.

Manuel and helpers

He managed to slim down to 300kg from his peak weight of 570kg but was still unable to have sex on his wedding night -- until friends built him a metre-long ramp made from reinforced concrete, Britain's Daily Star newspaper reports.

The ramp allowed the 37-year-old to raise the lower part of his body so his bride could access his genitals.

"We feel like we are in heaven here on Earth," Mr Uribe was quoted as saying.

At the reception after their marriage, Manuel and 38-year-old Claudia held hands and swayed on the bed for their first dance.

Obviously, if you see a forklift and a flatbed truck carrying a reinforced concrete sex ramp, be sure to wish Manuel and Claudia a long and happy marriage.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/19/2008 05:00:00 AM

Texas Teacher Busted for Topless Pics

(San Antonio, Texas) A 27-year-old math teacher formerly at Somerset Junior High School, Victoria Chacon, has been arrested for allegedly sending nude pictures of herself to a 14-year-old boy. Chacon met the boy at church where she taught Sunday School.

The arrest affidavit states the mother of the 14-year-old boy told police she found two love letters from Chacon to her son. The affidavit also says that in those letters, "Chacon professes her love for the teen about how passionate he is, and about how she feels when she and the teen kiss each other."

Somerset Independent School District took action after learning of the allegations.

"When the allegations first surfaced, and the district was investigating, we immediately placed her on administrative leave," explained Maury Vasquez of Somerset ISD.

Soon after that, Chacon resigned from her teaching position.

While police continued their investigation, another development surfaced. According to the arrest affidavit, the teen's father found a cell phone they hadn't bought for their son. The affidavit states that "the screen saver on the phone was a photo of Chacon topless" and "at least one other photo stored on the telephone of Chacon exposing her breasts."

Chacon was investigated for several months before the arrest.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2008 07:48:00 PM

Cal State Student Bailed from Prison

(Tehran, Iran) Last month, California State University student Esha Momeni was arrested in Tehran after interviewing women's rights activists. Iranian police confiscated her possessions and put her in solitary confinement.

On November 10, Momeni was released on bail of $200,000 and today a judiciary official said she could leave Iran. However, according to her father Reza Momeni, the authorities have seized her travel documents.

"Esha's passports have been seized so she cannot go out," he said. "Meanwhile, it has not been determined when the trial will be held."

Momeni's lawyer said he was told by an investigator at the political and security court where the California-born student was being held that he should return on Monday to talk about his client's case.

Momeni, 28, who grew up for the most part in Iran but has been living in California for the last three years, traveled to the Islamic Republic earlier this year to research a masters' project about women's rights activists.

Esha has been charged with undermining Iran's national security and spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2008 06:53:00 PM

Middle-Aged Stripper Sues for Discrimination

(Toronto, Ontario) Kimberlee Ouwroulis, 44, has sued the New Locomotion strip club for age discrimination. The management told her she was being let go because the club was "going for a younger look."

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario will process Ouwroulis' complaint.

Frankly, I'm curious about how this case will play out. If a strip club is forced to hire senior citizens as strippers, one must believe that business will be negatively affected. I'd suggest that most customers at strip clubs don't particularly want to see strippers that look like their mothers or, for that matter, their grandmothers.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2008 06:20:00 PM

Mississippi Teacher Gets No Jail for Sex with Male Student - Updated

(Hattiesburg, Mississippi) Former fifth-grade teacher Loni Marie Folks, 25, was shown the overwhelming evidence against her and, as a consequence, today she decided to plead guilty to sexual battery in Forrest County Circuit Court.

Folks tearfully read a prepared statement.

“I would like to apologize for my poor judgment,” she said. “I’d like to apologize to my family and to my former students. There is no acceptable excuse for this behavior.”

Judge Bob Helfrich then gave Folks a suspended sentence and five years of probation. Folks will also have to register as a sex offender and pay $2,600 in fines.

Although Folks originally faced a possible 30 years in prison, she was able to walk away from court with no jail. It's troubling that yet another convicted female sex offender has avoided spending any time behind bars.

It's worth repeating. Imagine the sentence if a 25-year-old male teacher were guilty of clacking erasers with a 16-year-old female student. No jail? I don't think so.

* * * * *
Mississippi Teacher and Male Student
[Previous 1/28/08 post]
(Jackson, Mississippi) A 24-year-old fifth-grade teacher at W.L. Smith Elementary School, Loni Folks, was arrested Friday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 16-year-old male student.

Folks has been charged with sexual battery and placed on administrative leave by the Petal School System.

Folks said on her Facebook Web page that she is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and a 2001 graduate of Richton High School. She also said on the page that she is single and has two young children.

However, a public records search by the Hattiesburg American indicated she is married.

Folks was booked into custody at the Forrest County Jail and released on $30,000 bond.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2008 08:18:00 AM

Cincinnati Radio host attacked by Leftist group

He tells the truth about the poor! Unforgiveable

"He is well known, outspoken and often the target of criticism, but now 700 WLW's Bill Cunningham is being called out by a Washington, D.C.-based media watchdog group. "What we're trying to call attention to is the real extremist rhetoric that really feeds on hate and poisons our democratic discourse," Media Matters representative Paul Waldman said.

The group said that they've zeroed in on Cunningham for comments such as, "people are poor because they don't work," and, "America is the only country in the world with poor fat people."

Cunningham, for his part, remains unconvinced. "I don't smear anybody. I speak the truth," Cunningham said. He's been named as one of the most influential people in the local media in the past.

Media Matters monitors conservative media and said that Cunningham is one of the most prolific purveyors of hate speech. "Is it a joke to compare Barack Obama to Hitler? To say he's going to gas the Jews? Is it a joke to say that Obama's father left him when he was two because that's what typical black fathers do," Waldman said.

Cunningham doesn't deny the things he says stir up strong emotions. But he said his listeners know where he's coming from. "I said that Barack Obama's father acted the way a black father normally acts, which is quickly have a baby and leave. Which is factually accurate, and it's rather sad," Cunningham said.

Source

Once again we see that it is unforgiveable to compare Obama to Hitler. Very strange after the million times Leftists have compared GWB to Hitler! Did Media Matters attack the Leftist accusations about GWB? We don't need to guess the answer.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2008 05:41:00 AM

Wisconsin Students Protest Law Enforcement

(Madison, Wisconsin) Since Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney reports illegal alien detainees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), University of Wisconsin students protested last night.

About 75 members of Student Progressive Dane, the Campus Antiwar Network, the Black Student Union and the Multicultural Student Coalition participated.

The protestors marched up State Street to the Madison City-County Building, where members of Progressive Dane were presenting an amendment to the county budget that would deny the sheriff’s department’s request for increased funds and divert the funds into area workers’ rights programs.

Despite the efforts of Progressive Dane and its supporters, the amendment did not pass and the sheriff’s department received its requested funding for 2009.

Student Progressive Dane member Adam Porton said Sheriff Mahoney had "gone rogue" and his policies targeted ~~illegal~~ undocumented immigrants for intimidation.

Notably, not once in the entire linked report of the protest march is the word "illegal" used.

Companion post at Diggers Realm.

Following Entry Posted 11/18/2008 04:49:00 AM

British Taxpayers Pay to Rid France of Illegals

(Calais, France) Encampments of Afghan illegal immigrants on the French coast are being rousted by authorities and deported back to Afghanistan on flights paid for by British taxpayers.

Reportedly, having the Brits pay for the removal of the illegal Afghans from France is justified because they were headed to Britain when they were rounded up.

The bill for the flights is likely to be in the millions. Not all Brits are amused.

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It is ridiculous that the Government is being so free and easy with British taxpayers' money.

'We have a big enough illegal immigrant problem inside Britain's borders without paying to solve those of the French as well.'

As expected, human rights and refugee advocates are opposed to the deportation scheme, despite who pays.

Tip: slwlion

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 10:10:00 PM

Florida Teacher Gets Hand Slap in Child Sex Case

(Kissimmee, Florida) Today, 32-year-old former teacher Sarah Elizabeth Joel appeared in Osceola Circuit Court for sentencing.

Judge Scott Polodna gave Joel two years of house arrest followed by eight years of probation. Joel will not see the inside of a jail. It's not known whether Joel will be required to register as a sex offender.

Neither the prosecution nor the victim's family were happy with the sentence.

"Somehow it's become OK for a female teacher to have sex with a child with no punishment, while a man would go to prison," Assistant State Attorney Amy Chandler said.

The victim's mother said she was upset that Joel isn't paying for what she did to her son.

Judge Polodna justified the sentence by stating that Joel was remorseful and the sexual incidents were isolated. The mathematical limit for multiple child sex incidents which Judge Polodna would rule as isolated was not disclosed.

I suspect that Judge Polodna would have treated a male teacher, committing the same crime, more harshly.

* * * * *
Florida Teacher and 8th-Grade Boy
[Previous 1/26/08 post]
(Osceola, County, Florida) A 31-year-old special education teacher at Narcoossee Community School, Sarah Elizabeth Joel, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old eighth-grade male student last year.

Reportedly, a Harmony High School teacher alerted authorities that one of her current students was suspected of having sex with Joel, his former teacher.

During a tape-recorded interview, the student told an investigator that he and Joel stayed in touch after last school year and he became a friend of her family, the report states. When he called Joel to talk about his problems, Joel would pick him up and take him to her home.

"One thing led to another," the teen told investigators. He said the encounters took place at Joel's St. Cloud home during September, when he was 15.

Joel first told deputies during a sworn interview that they did not have sex, but later admitted to two encounters during Christmas break, when the former student was 16. She was arrested at school district headquarters in Kissimmee.

Joel has been charged with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery. She was booked into custody at the Osceola County Jail without bail.

Notably, Joel is married with two children.

[Update 9/13/08]

Joel pleaded guilty yesterday. Sentencing is scheduled for November 7th.

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 06:45:00 PM

Woman Accused of "Cinderella" Rape and Assault

(Worcester, Massachusetts) A 35-year-old local woman, Mara L. Escobar, was arrested last Friday for allegedly assaulting and raping her 16-year-old niece.

According to Detective Lt. William P. O'Connor, Escobar held the girl in a "Cinderella-type situation" for five years.

Lt. O’Connor said investigations showed while the girl lived with the woman and her two biological daughters, her mistreatment went beyond physical assault.

For example, her daughters’ bedrooms were well appointed with televisions, DVD players, video games, toys and wall posters.

The girl’s room was Spartan with bare walls, a bureau, a single bed with one fitted sheet and a single blanket. The girl did the house work, police said.

Escobar has been charged with assault and battery, assault and battery on a child with injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and rape of a child.

Escobar was booked into custody and District Court Judge Vito Virzi set bail at $25,000 cash. A court appearance is scheduled for December 12.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 05:33:00 PM

Drunk Mom Incident

(Mesa, Arizona) A 33-year-old local mom, Checkie Hessel, has been arrested for child abuse and extreme DUI for allegedly getting so drunk that she left her four-year-old daughter home alone, having forgotten she was there.

That arrest came after employees at Mesa's Tots Unlimited Day Care called the police. They said Hessel arrived to pick up her daughter. The problem was she had taken her daughter home more than three hours earlier. [...]

Hessel reportedly admitted to police that she drank 1/2 pint of vodka. She reportedly said that she must have blacked out and forgotten that her little girl was at home.

Putting down a half-pint of vodka on a Wednesday afternoon makes me wonder what she does in the evening.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 04:25:00 PM

Virgin Flyer Plays with His Monkey

(Darwin, Australia) On a Virgin Blue Airlines flight from Brisbane to Darwin, Lucas Steven Knudson was accused of unzipping his monkey and playing with it for several minutes.

Fellow passenger Simone Holt, a Kununurra Primary School teacher, was shocked and apparently suffered a panic attack.

In Darwin magistrates Court, Mr. Knudson claimed that he merely unzipped his fly to make himself more comfortable.

Magistrate Tanya Fong Lim rejected Mr. Knudson's version of the incident and said the Ms. Holt "had given clear straightforward evidence that she had seen Knudson masterbating (sic), with his penis exposed, for several minutes in the aisle seat beside her."

Magistrate Tanya Fong Lim fined Mr. Knudson $2,500.

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 08:08:00 AM

The psychology of politics

I did my first piece of research into the psychology of politics in 1968. It was my Masters dissertation. I have been studying the subject ever since -- now with many academic publications on it behind me. So it seems reasonable that in 2008 -- 40 years later -- I should look back and say as briefly as possible what I have learned in those 40 years.

In good academic style I start with a definition: The first thing to say is that Leftism is emotional. The second is to say that the emotion is negative and the third thing to say is that the negative emotion (anger/hate) is directed at the world about the Leftist, the status quo if you like. The Leftist is nothing if he is not a critic, though usually a very poorly-informed critic. And the criticisms are both pervasive and deeply felt.

What is routinely overlooked in most discussions of ideology is that conservatives don't like the status quo either -- but they don't hate it and they don't get burned up about it. Ask almost any conservative and he will give you a long list of things he would like to see changed in the world about him. It is only a Leftist caricature to say that conservatives support the status quo.

Left and Right do indeed differ in their response to the status quo but not in the simplistic "for and against" way that Leftists claim. The difference is in depth of feeling and in the changes desired. Leftists want change passionately and feel very righteous about the changes they want. Conservatives can see fault and do at times set out at length the reasoning behind the changes they think desirable -- but mostly they just want to get on with their own lives. There are undoubtedly some people who are completely happy with the world as it is but they are not concerned about politics. They probably do, however, vote conservative when called upon to vote. They would not be able to find much in common with the constant complaint that is the mark of the Leftist. The typical conservative does not simmer if his wishes for change are not implemented. The Leftist does.

One marker of the difference just set out will be well known to anyone who reads blogs from both sides of the divide: Profanity is hugely more common on Leftist blogs. A systematic study of the matter found profanity to be TWELVE TIMES more common on Leftist blogs. Profanity is of course an attempt to express one's feelings strongly.

Note that I do NOT use the word "liberal" for the Left side of politics. "Liberal" as a name for any left-leaning political party is just camouflage. Except in sex-related matters, liberty is in general a very low prioritiy for them. Tearing down sexual mores is a form of change that they have had much success at.

So what is conservatism? Basically it is caution based on a perception that the world is an unpredictable, dangerous and often hostile place. So change is not rejected. It is in fact, as just said, sometimes desired. But it is approached in a skeptical, step by step, way to ensure that its effects are beneficial or at least benign. And an important criterion of what consitutes "benign" is how the change affects individual liberty. At a minimum, a conservative wants to ensure that change will not reduce his individual liberty.

Because the Leftist is angry rather than prudent, however, he cares not a bit for the conservative's caution. The most thorough-going Leftist just wants to smash everything that exists around him out of the feeling that it is all so hateful that none of it is worth preserving. And in the French revolution, the Bolshevik revolution, the Maoist revolution and many more minor revolutions, the Leftists got their way -- with results we all know about. Doing any sort of a good job of putting back together what they have smashed is beyond them. They are destroyers only. Hate is not constructive.

Because we all know of those dismal results, Leftist activists and politicians in entrenched democracies have to be more careful. Expressing the full extent of their feelings and advocating revolution would simply marginalize them and they know that. So they have to find ways of undermining society in more subtle ways. And they are greatly aided in that by the complex nature of modern society. Most people have only the vaguest notion of how society works so the Leftist politician can propose various changes that sound good but which will be disastrous in practice -- with "share and share alike" being the classic example of that. And when the disasters unfold the committed Leftist cannot lose. He will get an internal glow of satisfaction from the suffering and disruption unleashed on all those fools around him that he hates but will be excused from blame because he "meant well".

So what motivates a Leftist to be so full of negative emotions toward the surrounding world? Many things. There is no one cause of Leftism. The Leftist activist or politician is mostly motivated by ego needs. He craves attention and praise. He needs to be perceived as wise and righteous -- and he tries to achieve that by pretending to be all heart and condemning the world for its many faults and imperfections. But it could simply be that the Leftist was born into a subset of society that is in general hostile to the larger society. Miners are a common example of that. Mining towns were once bedrock Left-voting places. Why that was so is beyond the scope of what I want to say at the moment, however.

And, as mentioned, there are of course degrees of Leftism -- degrees to which society is disliked. The out-and-out-Leftist (generally an intellectual of some sort) is just a rage-filled hater who wants to smash everything -- but the average Leftist voter is a gentler soul. They may simply be upset that they personally are not getting a very good deal from society as it exists and be generally critical of society for that reason. But the biggest category of Leftist voters by far would appear to be genuinely well intentioned people who are strongly emotionally affected by suffering in others. They see other people who are not doing well in some way and urgently want that fixed by whatever means it takes. They are angered by what they see as "injustice". And that emotion dominates all else. And it is the strong negative emotions evoked by the surrounding society that unites these people with the vicious and deliberately destructive haters at the top of the Leftist pyramid.

But anger is a very bad frame of mind in which to make decisions and craft policies so these basically good people will often be lured into voting for some unscrupulous Leftist politician who promises to fix it all -- but who must know in his own heart that the cure will be worse than the disease. But if offering false hope gets the activist into power, too bad! And the poor old conservative who knows how things work and says that there is no easy fix will be ignored -- and called "heartless".

And that, I believe is how politics works: It is particularly the people who are especially sensitive to the suffering of others who make us all suffer, paradoxical though that may seem. Without their numerous votes, the Leftist politicians would never gain power. And the converse of that is that a little bit of heartlessness can be desirable. Balance is needed in fellow-feeling, as in many other things.

One test of the above explanation is that Left-voters should be more unhappy than conservatives -- and that has been borne out in almost all the happiness surveys that I have seen. For some discussion of that, see here. Because they are less emotional and not as easily upset, conservatives are happier and more level-headed -- and so are not as easily stampeded into foolish actions by emotional appeals. Most of them don't even believe in global warming!

So, for most Leftists, their Leftism mostly dwells deep within the personality. Which is why from age 2 I could tell that my son would be a conservative. His favourite "joke" at that age (and indeed for some years afterward) was: "The boy fell in the mud". He was able to see the funny side of a minor mishap that would have been seen as a tragedy by an emotional Leftist.

And the soft-hearted Leftists have much to thank conservatives for. The conservative element in the population protects them from the consequences that they wish for. Nowhere is that better seen than when the revolution succeeds. Among the first people to be "liquidated" by the hard men of the revolution are the soft-hearted revolutionaries.

Fortunately, time also plays a part. Many of the well-intentioned Leftists do over time come to see that simplistic solutions to society's ills don't work and end up voting for more complex and balanced solutions. They become conservatives. Even the once very Leftist George McGovern sounds remarkably conservative these days. Many of the most vocal conservatives started out as Leftists and have become quite evangelical as a consequence of learning from experience that Leftist policies are destructive. They have the same benevolent aims as before but have grown wiser about what will best serve those aims. And the older they get, the more chance they have to see the counterproductive nature of simplistic Leftist "solutions".

The most succinct summary of what I have said above is that Leftism is the politics of rage. This contrasts with the usual summary that Leftism is the politics of envy. But Leftists these days seem to be a generally affluent bunch. They are certainly not on average materially disadvantaged. So I cannot see that material envy is any sort of major motive for most of them.

The above is of course only a summary. I go into great detail about what the history of Leftism and conservatism tells us here and here.

Note: The post above is an expanded version of the original -- JR

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 05:56:00 AM

Perverts Given Early Release from British Prisons

(United Kingdom) To combat prison overcrowding, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced that foreign criminal sex offenders will be eligible for early release from prison if they agree to be deported.

The early release scheme (ERS) allows a convict to be released 270 days early if the convict has served at least one-fourth of his sentence.

Opposition to the scheme has been swift. Given the government's demonstrated inability to track sex offenders, to guarantee that foreigners are actually deported and to prevent deportees from sneaking back into Britain, the contention that citizens will be less safe with this latest scheme is hard to dispute.

As a reminder, it was only last year that a different early release scheme was harshly criticized by both conservatives and liberals alike. Prime Minister Blair expressed regrets but said the early release program was necessary to ease overcrowding in the prisons. However, Blair also said it was only a temporary measure until new prisons are built.

Heh.

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 05:10:00 AM

Brits Push Birth Control for 13-Year-Old Girls

(United Kingdom) In order to minimize the number of teen pregnancies, the British government has launched a program to "increase the uptake of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)" to girls starting at age 13.

Inoculations are reportedly effective for three months. Additionally, the government ordered more school-based clinics for sexual health services.

Critics say that the contraceptive program is a license for promiscuity and doesn't consider the impact of an expected rise in sexually-transmitted diseases, already a significant problem. Furthermore, health expert Dr. Hans Raabe said, "I have not seen a single convincing study to show that the provision of contraception leads to a reduction in teenage pregnancy."

Obviously, Dr. Raabe is referring to instances where contraception is recommended and available, not where it's forced. Forced contraception works.

The LARC program of 100% guaranteed infertile through a jab in the arm as yet is not mandatory.

Tip: slwlion

Following Entry Posted 11/17/2008 12:18:00 AM

Gun Control Republicans

Five ~~Republicans~~ RINOs are sponsoring a bill to reinstate the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act.

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2008 08:05:00 PM

To Save A Planet

Meet a family that is devoted to saving the planet. Sara and Matt Janssen gave up a 1,600-square-foot home for a small apartment, then they moved into a recreational vehicle powered by vegetable oil.

They scavenged the oil from fast-food and mom-and-pop restaurants willing to give away "an increasingly valuable commodity."

The fueling process itself takes about an hour, Sara Janssen said, adding that the couple invested in an on-board oil filtration system, which strains the "batter and chicken chunks" before the oil reaches the engine. [...]

Having traded up to their 1998 Western Alpine Coach in September, they figure that they have traveled about 20,000 miles in all and resorted to diesel fuel just once, outside of Austin, Texas.

"It was our fault," Janssen said. "We didn't start looking early enough."

She estimates that they saved about $25,000 using the kitchen grease instead of conventional fuel.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but to save $25,000 on fuel while traveling 20,000 miles doesn't make sense. Reportedly, their RV gets eight miles per gallon of fuel. That means 2,500 gallons were used for 20,000 miles. $25,000 divided by 2,500 gallons equals $10 savings per gallon of vegetable oil used.

With diesel running below $3 a gallon, how do the Janssens save $10 a gallon by replacing it with vegetable oil? Maybe they used some type of global warming math. It doesn't make sense to me.

Despite the math, the Janssens and the many others who are devoted to saving the planet should be recognized for their extreme life choices. They're progressing toward giving up all the benefits of civilization and the modern world for the sake of the planet. I'd argue that their efforts will have zero impact on the Earth but it's the thought that counts.

Given their efforts thus far, eschewing a real home for a vehicle powered by fuel gathered via the energy equivalent of dumpster diving, it's logical to assume that their next step will be to sell the RV and get a tent or maybe a cave. After all, the RV burns fuel which negates having a zero carbon footprint.

In any event, the Janssens could be considered part of the homelessness problem in the U.S. and they did it intentionally. A future goal would seemingly be to move into a homeless encampment.

Since there are others just like the Janssens, unconvinced that owning a Prius is enough to properly worship Earth Mother Gaia, the entire movement should be given a name. Unfortunately, I'm drawing a blank. The "Intentionally Homeless and Living in an RV to Save the Planet Crowd" is way too long.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2008 05:36:00 PM

800-Pound Woman Faces Murder Charge

(Edinburg, Texas) In March 2008, an 800-pound La Joya woman, Mayra Lizbeth Rosales, 27, was arrested and arraigned in her bedroom on charges that she killed her two-year-old nephew, Eliseo Gonzalez Jr.

Mayra Rosales faces one count of capital murder and one count of injury to a child. Her sister, 20-year-old Jamie Rosales, faces a charge of injury to a child for allegedly leaving her son in Mayra's care even though she knew the woman's weight incapacitated her.

Both have entered not guilty pleas.

On Thursday, Mayra Rosales made a court appearance via video teleconference since she is physically incapable of leaving her home.

Court staff projected Rosales' image on a wall during Thursday's hearing, while she talked with state District Judge Ricardo Rodriguez Jr. from her bed in Sullivan City. A blue curtain obscured the woman's body up to her chin.

She spoke little during the hearing and responded to the judge's questions mostly in one-word answers

"For now, this is how we're going to conduct the hearings," Rodriguez said, referring to the video projection system. "I'm not sure yet how we're going to conduct a trial."

State law requires that all district court defendants be tried in the county seat - in this case Edinburg.

Therefore, if a trial is necessary, a forklift and a flatbed truck may have to be employed.

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2008 09:43:00 AM

Brothel Free for Life with Tattoo

(Cologne, Germany) The manager of one of Cologne's most famous brothels, Pascha, offers free lifelong entry to men in exchange for getting their arms tattooed with the brothel's logo.

Prostitute Diana waits for customers at Pascha
Manager Armin Lobscheid expected few takers but "learned his lesson" as dozens of men lined up to take advantage of the offer.

Customer Herbert Manske didn't hesitate to get the six large blue letters imprinted on his arm.

"My wife doesn’t mind. I save five euros entry, plus the thirty euro cost of a lap dance," he said.

"And apart from that I get free drinks all night and can look at all the pretty girls. She knows that me and my friends go once a month to party in the Pascha.”

Understandably, Pascha's tattoo artist is flooded with work. On the other hand, I'm flooded with astonishment. Thirty euros for a lap dance!!!

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2008 08:44:00 AM

Recycling Meltdown

(Akron, Ohio) According to this report, the prices of recycled goods has dropped precipitously in the last few months and it's all being blamed on the economic meltdown.

To illustrate, recycled newspaper dropped from $175 to $60 a ton and tin went from $510 a ton to a mere $50.

Hold on to your wallets, folks. A bailout of the recycling industry may be coming.

Following Entry Posted 11/16/2008 08:03:00 AM

Congressman sorry for likening Obama to Hitler

We read:

"Republican Paul Broun is sorry for calling President-elect Barack Obama a 'Marxist' and comparing him to Adolf Hitler, the Georgia Congressman said Tuesday. "I regret putting it that way," he told WGAC radio in Augusta, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "I apologize to anyone who has taken offense at that."

Source

Maybe my eyes and ears are blocked or something but I have yet to see or hear a Leftist apologize for calling Bush a Nazi

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 04:49:00 PM

Mexican Drug Destinations

With confidence, it can be said that a dealer is selling Mexican drugs near you. It really doesn't matter where you live in the United States. Check this map from the Department of Justice.

More here.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 12:11:00 PM

Australia to Block 10,000 Websites - Updated

Promised before Christmas, Australian authorities will launch a six-week pilot project to censor the Internet.

The government has already identified 1300 websites that it wants to black list as part of the clean feeds scheme. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the sites mostly contained child pornography and other unwatned content, including images and videos.

"While the ACMA blacklist is currently around 1300 URLs, the pilot will test against this list - as well as filtering for a range of URLs to around 10,000 - so that the impacts on network performance of a larger blacklist can be examined," se said. [sic all]

It's believed that websites criticizing the censorship scheme will be blocked for unwanted content.

[Update 11/15/08]

Opposition to the Internet censorship scheme has made headlines. The head of one of Australia's largest ISPs has called Communications Minister Stephen Conroy the worst in the past 15 years.

Furthermore, check out this statement:

Internet providers and the Government's own lab tests have found that presently available filters are not capable of adequately distinguishing between legal and illegal content and can degrade internet speeds by up to 86 per cent.

Well, isn't that typical of a government scheme? The only thing it's guaranteed to do is slow everything down.

However, some clarification has been provided regarding what will be censored. Presently, it appears that mandatory filters will, as a minimum, block websites containing child pornography, hard-core pornography and online gambling.

When queried about the meaning of "unwanted content," Minister Conroy said he didn't have time to answer that question but would have time at some future meeting.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 11:44:00 AM

Massachusetts Woman Arrested for Huffing

(Framingham, Massachusetts) A 33-year-old local woman, Pattie Sherman, is in jail for multiple offenses related to inhaling intoxicating vapors.

- Around 10:30 PM Monday, Sherman was arrested in the Target parking lot for inhaling computer cleaning fluid from an aerosol can. She was booked and released.

- Around 10:45 PM Tuesday, Sherman was arrested again in the Target parking lot for inhaling computer cleaning fluid from an aerosol can. Once more, she was booked and released.

- At 4 PM Wednesday, Sherman was arrested in the parking lot of Papa Razzi Restaurant for inhaling computer cleaning fluid from an aerosol can. Wednesday's arrest led to her being held without bail.

A court appearance is scheduled for November 26.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 10:43:00 AM

Youth Counselor Busted for Drugs, Weapons

(Richmond, California) A 29-year-old juvenile group counselor with the Richmond Parks Department, Kaisha Hill, was arrested Thursday during a massive sweep targeting violent gang members in the city.

Hill was apprehended with a kilogram of cocaine and three firearms, including a Mac-11 automatic weapon.

Some 200 state and local law-enforcement officials conducted raids in two waves, serving 43 arrest warrants in Richmond - predominantly in the city's crime-plagued Iron Triangle neighborhood - as well as elsewhere in Contra Costa County and Alameda, Marin and Sacramento counties.

The 18 people in custody were arrested on suspicion of a variety of crimes, including murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at a vehicle and drug possession. About two dozen suspects are being sought.

Hill was identified as an associate of the Richmond gang called Deep C or Deep Central which has been under investigation for a year.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 07:51:00 AM

Why they hate Sarah

(Irrelevant comment: Wotta babe!)

If it is generational change the electorate wants, some American conservatives are pinning their hopes on Sarah Palin. Unlike the recent crop of successful conservative leaders around the world, Palin is a bonfire lighter. She sparks a visceral hatred among her ideological opponents, more malign and more extreme than was the case even for Hillary Clinton, the previously most vilified politician since Margaret Thatcher. Note they are all women.

While race may no longer be an issue in post-partisan times, sexism is alive and well, but perpetrated most nakedly by the Aunty Alices of the media firmament. These are women who seek to ingratiate themselves with the dominant power group, even if it means trashing their own kind. They are to women what Uncle Tom was to black people.

And why? Mostly because of abortion, because as the American political analyst Michael Barone said this week, Palin did not abort her disabled baby. Barone later claimed he was joking, after being booed by journalists during a speech in Chicago when he reportedly said: "The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby. They wanted her to kill that child." Palin represents so radical a disruption of the cultural order that she just has to be smashed. The amount of mud being thrown at her now is a measure of how seriously the threat of a Palin presidential campaign in 2012 is taken.

Source. Non-editorializing report of her recent press conference here

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 07:48:00 AM

Man Faces Life in Prison for Killing Dog

(Vancouver, Washington) A 39-year-old, two-time loser, Ronald Chenette, was convicted yesterday in Clark County Superior Court of fatally shooting a dog named Dakota, a five-year-old German shepherd owned by the Vancouver Police Department.

Previously convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree assault, Chenette now has his third strike and, therefore, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Chenette will be sentenced on December 1.

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 07:17:00 AM

City of Public Urination

(Plattsburgh, New York) It's not clear how one should view a city that heralds the passage of a law designed to gather revenue from an epidemic of people urinating on the streets.

The Plattsburgh City Council isn't proud that the city is a toilet, it's proud that it's finally going to make money from being a toilet.

Tip: slwlion

Following Entry Posted 11/15/2008 12:04:00 AM

Florida Teacher Busted for Dealing Drugs

(Ruskin, Florida) A 27-year-old second-grade teacher at Summerfiield Crossings Elementary School, Valerie Elaine Sabarese, has been arrested by Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies for allegedly dealing heroin and crack cocaine.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office began investigating Sabarese on November 7th.

Deputies say Sabarese conducted a hand-to-hand drug deal with undercover sheriff's detectives at a convenience store at 56th Street and Fowler Avenue.

Sabarese was booked into custody at the Orient Road Jail.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 09:34:00 PM

More Political Correctness in Britain

(Bristol, England) For over 100 years, the Broad Plain Boys' Club has operated to help young men develop. Unfortunately, in this era of political correctness, the club has been accused of not meeting equality standards. The name must be changed.

The leader, Dennis Stinchcombe, who was made an MBE for his work, has been warned that unless he changes the club's name the authority will withdraw the £11,600-a-year funding it receives for two paid staff to work alongside volunteers. [...]

Council officials want the club, which has been held up as one of the best examples in the country of how to help young men develop, to change its name to the Working with Young People Club.

So, one by one, the institutions and traditions of the once-great British Empire are being eliminated.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 09:06:00 PM

Punted Kitten

(Kingsland, Georgia) Some youths were seen using a kitten as a football. After rescue, the kitten had to have a leg amputated at Laurel Oaks Animal Hospital.

Law enforcers are investigating.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 08:18:00 PM

Woman Gets Jail for Sex with Boy

(Lenawee County, Michigan) In March 2008, a 31-year-old Columbia Township woman, Jennifer Rae Merriman, was arrested for engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

She was charged with five counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex or oral sex with a boy who is 13, 14, or 15 years old and faced a possible 15 years in prison if convicted.

This week, Jennifer Rae Merriman, pleaded no contest to attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced by Circuit Judge Timothy Pickard to six months in jail. Merriman also received five years of probation.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 11:44:00 AM

Missouri Teacher Arrested for DUI

(Kansas City, Missouri) A 55-year-old fifth-grade teacher at Blackburn Elementary School, Kathy Moegle, was arrested about 1:30 PM Monday for allegedly driving while intoxicated and not possessing a valid driver's license.

Moegle's blood alcohol level was tested at 0.173, more than double the legal limit.

Moegle's case began Monday afternoon when the principal of Blackburn Elementary School suspected a teacher of bringing alcohol to school.

The principal confronted Moegle and then notified the Independence police officer assigned to work the school, according to the officer's report.

The officer then told the principal to have someone pick Moegle up.

According to police reports, Moegle refused to call anyone and instead left the building.

That's when the officer spotted the teacher in the parking lot and began a pursuit.

The officer pulled the teacher over several blocks from the school.

Meanwhile, another officer was dispatched to the school to retrieve a gallon bottle of alcoholic margarita mix found by the principal.

Moegle was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a school district investigation.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 08:37:00 AM

Utah Teacher Busted for Meth

(St. George, Utah) A math teacher at Millcreek High School, Lenae Anderson, was arrested this week in Mesquite, Nevada, and charged with possession of methamphetamine. Specific details of her arrest have not been reported.

The Washington County School District has placed Anderson on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

St. George is a small community in the southwestern corner of Utah.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 08:04:00 AM

"Coolest" is now a bad word

The global temperature has been cooling for the last couple of years -- with record cold weather being reported incessantly from numerous places worldwide -- so how do global warmers deal with that? By substituting "less warm" for "cool"! So instead of saying that 2008 will be the coolest year of the last 10 years, they say that it is the "least warm"! I kid you not. See below:

"This year is on track to be about the 10th warmest globally since records began in 1850 but gaps in Arctic data mean the world may be slightly underestimating global warming, a leading scientist said on Tuesday. A natural cooling of the Pacific Ocean known as La Nina kept a lid on temperatures in 2008 despite an underlying warming trend, said Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England. "This year is about 10th," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "La Nina in the Pacific lasted longer than we envisaged."

Jones's unit is one of the main sources of global climate data for the United Nations. The warmest year on record was 1998, followed by 2005 and 2003, with other years this century closely bunched. Tenth place would make 2008 the least warm since 1999.

Source

It takes a bit of seeing it through the propaganda but they are actually admitting that global warming stopped in 1998 -- which it did.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 05:42:00 AM

Two Vegas Casinos Robbed

(Las Vegas, Nevada) Two different suspects are being sought for robberies early Thursday morning.

Shortly after midnight, the Wildfire Casino on North Rancho Road was robbed of $10,000 by a gun-toting man who threatened a clerk, police said.

Then, about 4 a.m., a man walked up to a Fitzgerald's hotel and casino cage cashier in downtown Las Vegas, handed the clerk a note and walked out with $5,300 in cash, police said.

Jeez, seems so simple. Just walk in and say "Give me some money!" and leave with thousands.

What a great city!

Of course, if the two perpetrators are caught by law enforcers, they'll have to be counseled and rehabilitated while doing a number of years of community service at a state facility. On the other hand, if they are caught by representatives of the casino owners, they might completely avoid prosecution.

Following Entry Posted 11/14/2008 12:10:00 AM

British Sperm Shortage

(UK) With recent changes in confidentiality laws, British men are less apt to become sperm donors and a shortage of donors coupled with a limit of 10 babies per each donor means that sperm banks are unable to meet demand for the tiny messengers.

"The only countries that seem to have enough sperm are those that pay - like the U.S. and Spain - or the countries that retain anonymity," said Allan Pacey, a member of the British Fertility Society that warned of the shortage in the British Medical Journal.

"In the countries that have removed anonymity ... there seems to be a problem," he said.

The lack of confidentiality has softened the willingness of men to become sperm donors who apparently fear the possibility of a person showing up sometime in the future with daddy issues. And, recent cases indicate that the law is not settled regarding child support obligations of sperm donors.

In summary, British men are pulling out of the baby batter business, drying up deposits at sperm banks. Of course, the problem would be simply solved if sperm donors were paid. Something like $100 per unit for run-of-the-mill sperm progressing to $1,000 per unit for the premium stuff would force sperm banks to open drive-thrus.

Tip: Charley Nestor

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2008 06:58:00 PM

California Teacher Gets Hand Slap for Sex with Student

(Murrieta, California) In August 2008, 28-year-old Vista Murrieta High School English teacher Crissy Torcella Hisey pleaded guilty in accordance with an agreement with the prosecution to 10 counts of oral copulation with a female student under the age of 18.

Today in Riverside County Superior Court, Judge John Monterosso sentenced Hisey to three years of probation. A charge of distribution or exhibition of lewd material to a minor was dismissed.

Hisey was also ordered to to spend weekends in jail for a total of 118 days. Registration as a sex offender was not imposed.

Riverside County has established a very progressive precedent for cases where teachers engage in oral copulation with students. For those teachers that don't mind a few weekends in jail, go for it. Of course, the policy may not apply for male teachers. Check the local rules.

* * * * *
Female Teacher and Female Student Naughty
[Previous 5/3/08 post]
(Murrieta, California) A 28-year-old English teacher at Vista Murrieta High School, Crissy Torcella Hisey, was arrested this week for allegedly engaging in sex with a 17-year-old female student.

Hisey faces potential charges of molestation of a minor, oral copulation by force and sending harmful matter to seduce a minor.

She was booked into custody at the Southwest Detention Center and released on $25,000 bail. Arraignment is scheduled for May 30.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2008 05:28:00 PM

SCOTUS Rules Against Whales

(Washington, D.C.) The Supreme Court yesterday ruled against whale-lovers in a dispute involving the use of sonar by the U.S. Navy.

Writing for the majority in the court’s first decision of the term, Chief Justice John Roberts said the most serious possible injury to environmental groups would be harm to an unknown number of the marine mammals the groups study.

“In contrast, forcing the Navy to deploy an inadequately trained anti-submarine force jeopardizes the safety of the fleet,” the chief justice wrote. He said the overall public interest tips strongly in favor of the Navy.

Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy shared the majority opinion.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2008 09:04:00 AM

Kotex Brand Beaver Commercial

(Sydney, Australia) Market researchers in Australia have found that most women name their vaginas and "beaver" is popular. As a result, a Kotex tampon ad campaign features a beaver.

Despite complaints from consumers, the Kimberly-Clark tampon brand Kotex U is keeping a cheeky Australian campaign featuring a woman, her animated beaver and the tagline "You've only got one. So for the ultimate care down there, make it U."

Frankly, I don't think we'll see the Kimberly-Clark company broadcasting this commercial in the U.S.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2008 07:56:00 AM

Arizona might be able to initiate the debate that Al Gore says is over

An interesting email from Russell Cook below

See my story in American Thinker on how Arizona might be able to initiate the debate that Al Gore says is over.

It's a simple story - To make sure this debate doesn't happen, it appears an attempt was made to get a highly funded pro-Al Gore candidate (with ties to billionaire George Soros??) into our Arizona Corporation Commission, an agency with elected members who regulate our local electric utility companies - and who will decide if a huge cap-and-trade plan is credible or pointless.

Since the pro-Al Gore candidate lost his election, Arizona's Republican legislature leaders and Republican majority in the Corporation Commission can simply ask the WCI planners, Al Gore and the IPCC, "You say humans are causing global warming. Can you prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt?"

It's entertaining to think about: In the case of the eastern/mid-atlantic US states, they accepted the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative's plan with no question of the underlying science whatsoever. If Arizona rejects the Western Climate Initiative's plan, the next 'dominoes' to fall might be Utah and Idaho, rejecting the same plan. Wouldn't that undermine the RGGI to the point of collapse? And if it collapses, how angry would the people living in the eastern/mid-atlantic US states be about their own utility regulators' ability do things right, and their Governors' failure to understand all sides of the issue?

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2008 07:02:00 AM

Cancer Seen in Snapshot

(Brisbane, Australia) By chance, a simple snapshot taken at a children's party provided evidence of potentially-deadly cancer in one little girl.

In the picture, Brisbane mom Claire Thompson noticed a white spot in the eye of her three-year-old daughter, Darcy, and consulted a physician.

Ten days later tiny Darcy was receiving chemotherapy for a tumour at the back of her left eye.

She had been diagnosed with retinoblastoma - a cancer of the retina - that, if left untreated, most certainly would cause blindness or death.

Retinoblastoma is a rare malignant cancer that affects one in 20,000 children usually between the ages of six months and five years. It develops in the cells of the retina, the thin nerve tissue that lines the back of the eye and senses light.

Ultimately, Darcy Thompson was found to have the genetic condition in both eyes which are currently undergoing treatment. It appears that both tumors were caught early enough -- thanks to a party snapshot. (more - scroll to news)

Following Entry Posted 11/13/2008 05:31:00 AM

Obama's Selective Service Registration

It's not a surprise that evidence has surfaced which casts doubt on the authenticity of Obama's registration for the draft.

Way too many aspects of Obama's life have been shielded from public scrutiny.

Following Entry Posted 11/12/2008 09:58:00 PM

Layoffs at Gore TV

Presumably, Al Gore's cable network Current Media hasn't been affected by the mortgage meltdown nor the high energy prices. Nevertheless, Gore's company has announced layoffs.

A statement from Current put the number of layoffs at about 60 positions, with 30 more to be refilled, the company said in a statement. That's less of a hard hit than the 20 percent cuts that a source close to Current hinted to CNET News on Tuesday.

The statement read: "Approximately 60 positions have been eliminated in the company's three U.S. offices, and approximately 30 new positions created," the statement read. "Many of those whose positions were eliminated have been placed in the new positions. Current will have approximately 410 employees (after these staffing adjustments)." [...]

"These changes result from the development of a new, innovative programming strategy built around eight cross-platform channels, including news, comedy, music, and technology, slated to premiere in the first quarter of 2009," the statement detailed.

"Current's new programming strategy expands upon its pioneering use of viewer-created content to include additional opportunities for participation, creating a far more viewer-influenced network, and further unifies the company's online and TV platforms by having each Web channel paired with a companion TV show."

Blah, blah, blah, it's kind of a convoluted explanation, don't you think? They could have simply said that the company wasn't making enough money.

Meanwhile, nobody is owning up to the rumor that additional layoffs are coming in January.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/12/2008 08:38:00 PM

Woman Gets Community Service in Child Sex Case

(Westport, Washington) Last July, a 25-year-old married mother, Sarah M. Credeur, was arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old neighbor boy. Reportedly, Credeur was having marital difficulties and sought solace in the arms of the adolescent. She said she "had not been thinking clearly."

Since Credeur was admittedly distraught and the sexual relationship with the boy was fleeting, prosecutor Katie Svoboda reduced the charge from third-degree child rape to communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

This week, Credeur pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and was sentenced by Judge David Edwards to 30 days of community service.

Credeur was also ordered to register as a sex offender and be evaluated for sexual deviancy.

Following Entry Posted 11/12/2008 07:55:00 PM

Obama Gets Advice

Here's a translation of an Arabic-language letter to President-elect Obama from the enemies of democracy in Iraq.

"Your campaign promises were built on change and the time for it has come, and we say with that the time has come… therefore we ask for change and do not listen to those who tell you that a withdrawal from Iraq is a defeat. We say to you that a withdrawal will mean a triumph of reason and logic…

You must correct your mistakes and work with courage to pay compensation to all those who you have destroyed, their families or their house or their psychology.

And you must release all those you have as prisoners until the last Iraqi of them, and you must order the sectarian government to release all its prisoners and to return the balance of security to Iraq.

Without this we will not think that you will be coming with the change that you have promised, and if you do this you will be written down in history as the courageous one.”

All that hopey-changey language has stimulated the enemy conclaves of religious fanatics to preach to the United States about reason and logic. I'd suggest that all intellectual and moral authority to preach about logic and reason was lost the first time a suicide vest was strapped on to one of their flock.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/12/2008 08:06:00 AM

Another Greenie coverup

The Warmist "scientists" are deathly afraid of Steve McIntyre. They KNOW he can expose their fraudulent statistical manipulations since he killed off the fraudulent Mann "hockeystick" temperature chart.

Now he has turned his laser eyes onto the latest bit of data "adjustment" -- the claim that there is no mismatch between the actual atmospheric temperature data and the "models" -- if you "adjust" the data properly.

McIntyre wrote to Santer -- the lead author of the "adjustments" -- with a request that they provide him with their detailed figures. In science, that sort of request is normally replied to with all good speed and goodwill. But what if you have something to hide? The reply below from Santer to McIntyre shows you:

Dear Mr. McIntyre,

I gather that your intent is to "audit" the findings of our recently-published paper in the International Journal of Climatology (IJoC). You are of course free to do so. I note that both the gridded model and observational datasets used in our IJoC paper are freely available to researchers. You should have no problem in accessing exactly the same model and observational datasets that we employed. You will need to do a little work in order to calculate synthetic Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) temperatures from climate model atmospheric temperature information. This should not pose any difficulties for you. Algorithms for calculating synthetic MSU temperatures have been published by ourselves and others in the peer-reviewed literature. You will also need to calculate spatially-averaged temperature changes from the gridded model and observational data. Again, that should not be too taxing.

In summary, you have access to all the raw information that you require in order to determine whether the conclusions reached in our IJoC paper are sound or unsound. I see no reason why I should do your work for you, and provide you with derived quantities (zonal means, synthetic MSU temperatures, etc.) which you can easily compute yourself.

I am copying this email to all co-authors of the 2008 Santer et al. IJoC paper, as well as to Professor Glenn McGregor at IJoC.

I gather that you have appointed yourself as an independent arbiter of the appropriate use of statistical tools in climate research. Rather that "auditing" our paper, you should be directing your attention to the 2007 IJoC paper published by David Douglass et al., which contains an egregious statistical error.

Please do not communicate with me in the future.

Ben Santer

More here.

Mac is now trying to get the figures via Freedom of Information requests. Stay tuned.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/12/2008 05:14:00 AM

Nebraska Mom Gets Prison for Sex with Boy, 14

(Madison, Nebraska) In March 2007, a local woman, Tammy Walnofer, was arrested in a California motel on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy.

Walnofer and her daughter had been missing since May 2006, presumably on the lam from the law.

Walnofer was held in a California prison until she was extradited back to Nebraska to face charges. Subsequently, a year of delays and legal wrangling ensued and, in August 2008, Walnofer entered a no contest plea to a charge of felony child abuse.

This week, 39-year-old Tammy Walnofer was sentenced to 18 to 26 months in prison. As an explanation, Walnofer's attorney said she had sex with the 14-year-old because he said he would harm himself if she didn't.

Following Entry Posted 11/12/2008 03:52:00 AM

Airline Pinups Lead to Complaints

The budget air carrier Ryanair has published a charity calendar which displays glossy photos of scantily-clad female airline employees. With receipts destined for a homeless charity, the Ryanair Cabin Crew Charity Calendar raised more than 70,000 euros last year.

Example photos from the Ryanair Cabin Crew Charity Calendar
According to a spokesman, the colorful 2009 edition was shot in Spain and it "should sell like hotcakes" but a controversy has surfaced.

The Institute for Women in Spain is considering legal action and intends to complain to Irish and EU authorities that the publication is sexist as it only features female models.

In a statement, it said: 'It is significant that only women are used, in a sector in which there is a considerable percentage of men.'

Spokesman María Jesús Ortiz claimed the images presented the women as 'sexual objects.'

'We're not talking about morals or nudity here, it's simply how women are portrayed,' she said.

'If there had been men in the calendar I'm sure there would have been no controversy.'

The Institute became involved after a complaint from consumer group FACUA, which claimed the images promoted macho behaviour.
[Note: FACUA is the Association of Consumers and Users in Action based in Seville, Spain. FACUA enjoys prominent media influence functioning as a consumer watchdog.]

For those who believe in promoting macho behavior, the calendar is available from Ryanair.com.

Tip: Charley Nestor

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 08:04:00 PM

Murder at KKK Initiation

(Covington, Louisiana) A Tulsa, Oklahoma, woman was recruited by the Ku Klux Klan over the Internet and she traveled to Louisiana for initiation. However, when she exhibited second thoughts about joining, Klan leader Raymond "Chuck" Foster allegedly shot her and dumped her body in a ditch approximately 60 miles north of New Orleans.

Foster and seven other Klan members were arrested today by St. Tammany Sheriff's deputies. Foster has been charged with murder and is being held without bond. The seven others are charged with obstruction of justice and are being held with bond set at $500,000 each.

The identity of the slain woman has not been determined as yet.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 06:49:00 PM

Oklahoma Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Boy - Updated

(Moore, Oklahoma) Now 27 years old, Valerie Posey pleaded guilty and was sentenced last Friday to eight years in prison.

According to Assistant District Attorney Rick Sitzman, Posey knew that sex with a 13-year-old boy was wrong but did it anyway since she was "sexually attracted" to him.

According to court records, March 22, the mother of the juvenile victim, found sexually explicit text messages on her son's cell phone, along with nude photos.

The victim's mother contacted police, and officers arrived and observed more text messages indicating Posey wanted to meet the victim at a fast food restaurant at 12th and City Avenue in Moore. Officers went to that location and contacted the defendant, court records show.

In a subsequent forensic interview, the victim said Posey knew he was 13 years old when they met in January 2008.

Posey admitted meeting the victim the evening of Feb. 23, at Kelley Elementary School, and engaging in sexual acts on playground equipment.

District Judge Tom Lucas sentenced Posey to 20 years with 12 suspended for lewd acts with a child and 10 years with two suspended for forcible oral sodomy. The sentences are to run concurrently.

* * * * *
Oklahoma Woman Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 4/21/08 post]
(Moore, Oklahoma) A 26-year-old local woman, Valerie Faye Posey, was arrested last week for allegedly engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy. Posey faces counts of sodomy and committing a lewd act on a child.

The boy's mother called police after finding a nude picture of Posey on her son's cell phone. Investigators say it's a good thing the boy's mom snooped around.

"Absolutely. The mother got involved in her child's life and checked on things. This was wrong for this 26 year old to be doing this, so thanks to the mom she was able to identify this and bring it to our attention and we were able to file charges," said Moore Police Sgt. Todd Strickland.

Posey was booked into custody at the Cleveland County Jail and later released.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 06:18:00 PM

"Sex Slave" Teacher

(Melbourne, Australia) A 26-year-old high school science teacher, Nazira Rafei, has been bound over for trial on charges stemming from an alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old male student.

Rafei faces one count of sexual penetration of a child under 16 while under her care or supervision and four counts of an indecent act with a child.

Authorities were alerted by the boy when Rafei allegedly threatened to revise his grades if he broke off the sexual relationship. Apparently, they initially met outside school during a teachers' strike.

Twelve days later during a second, half-day strike, the teacher went to the student's house, blindfolded him, demanded he "treat her as his sex slave" and had sex with him, police allege.

On other occasions it is claimed the boy climbed out a window late at night to meet the teacher who drove him to a secluded location.

It is alleged they hugged, kissed and rubbed genitals through clothes in her car.

On the first of these meetings the teacher is claimed to have said: "Treat me like I'm your sex slave, abuse me, tell me to shut the f--- up and to pinch ... my nipples."

During their relationship the teacher also allegedly said: "Disrespect me. Say shut the f--- up to me and stuff like that. Just say it, you know, it makes me feel like - like I'm your girlfriend."

Well, different strokes for different folks, eh?

Interestingly, Rafei is married and, although it hasn't been specifically reported, apparently a Muslim. Yesterday in court, Rafei was dressed in black and wearing a hijab. I am curious about how the religion of peace handles situations like this one.

Rafei is free on bail. An appearance in Victorian County Court is scheduled for November 24.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 05:07:00 PM

Iowa Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Boy

(Indianola, Iowa) In September 2008, a 37-year-old divorced, mother-of-three, Shannon Michelle Rew, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy. The boy reportedly dated Rew's 16-year-old daughter for six months before mom started dating him.

Rew was initially charged with multiple counts of child sex abuse plus allowing pornographic material to be viewed by a minor. Rew was booked and released on bond.

While awaiting further proceedings, Rew rekindled the relationship with the boy and, in October, she was arrested again. Consequently, new charges of sex abuse, violation of a no-contact order and obscenity were filed.

Yesterday in Warren County District Court, Rew pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree sexual abuse in accordance with a plea agreement. In exchange, Rew was sentenced to 10 years in prison, lifetime parole, registration as a sex offender and a to-be-determined amount of restitution. Addressing the court during sentencing, Rew sort of apologized.

Rew said she never meant to hurt the 15-year-old boy and his family. She said she was sorry if she caused them pain. But she wasn’t sorry about her relationship with the boy.

“We had a really good time together and I don’t regret that. I just regret that because of what happened, everything that came out of it. I would never have done it if I knew that would be the case...

“It’s crazy, they can be 16 and you don’t get charged with anything. They can be 15 and a half, and you get charged with life parole. Who’s to say this 15-year-old isn’t as mature as an 18-year-old? It’s crazy how it works. But he’s a very mature person... You see people, when they’re older, their husbands are 20 years older. I don’t think, when you care about somebody, that age really matters.”

In summary, Shannon Michelle Rew admitted her guilt and now she will have 10 years behind bars to continue rationalizing that it's okay for a middle-aged woman to have sex with teen boys. Maybe, before she gets out, she'll change her thinking.

For those keeping score, one family is totally demolished, another is grievously wounded and psychological scarring has been liberally distributed within the two families and about the community. For those who believe no harm results when adult women have sex with youngsters, remember the Shannon Rew case.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 08:32:00 AM

Teacher Allegedly High on Drugs at School

(Clay County, Kentucky) A 30-year-old substitute teacher at Manchester Elementary School, Melissa Morris, was arrested late last month for allegedly being high on drugs while teaching.

Manchester Police Chief Jeff Culver says one of his officers and school officials confronted Morris in the principal’s office that morning about her demeanor.

“She was conscience, just impaired, slurred speech, poor balance, but she was not passed out,” Chief Culver said.

Morris was booked into custody and later released on bond. A court appearance is scheduled for November 17.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 07:17:00 AM

Are conservatives less creative than liberals?

The article excerpted below, which asserts that conservatives are less creative than liberals, is just the usual Leftist bigotry, based on a very poor knowledge of the research literature. Creativity does not generalize much, meaning there is no such thing as an overall trait of creativity. If there were an overall trait of creativity, lots of great painters would also be great composers but there are in fact no examples of that. You can be creative in one field and not in another. Take my own case: I am extremely good at writing iconoclastic academic journal articles but could not write a novel for nuts. So we find there that even creativity via the written word does not generalize from one sort of writing to another. So all that is shown below is that Leftists judge one-another as more creative and are more likely to take an interest in self-indulgent activities.

Cognitive complexity /Openness to experience/ rigidity are other old interrelated Leftist shibboleths which we see mentioned below. Again they generalize poorly, amusingly badly, in fact. The two halves of the widely-used Budner scale of "rigidity" do not correlate at all in fact! Again there is no such thing as an overall trait of cognitive complexity (except as an aspect of IQ). Conservatives are more complex on some things and Leftists on other things. Conservatives, for instance, tend to have carefully differentiated and complex views on moral questions whereas Leftists just say: "There is no such thing as right and wrong". Can you get more simplistic than the Leftist position there? See here and here for relevant research background. Amusing that the guy below confirms the common finding that conservatives are happier, though.

By Scott Barry Kaufman

Barack Obama is the new President-elect of the United States. The significance of this cannot possibly be overstated. While certainly this is a historic moment because it raises the bar of what African Americans can aspire to, and takes us one step closer to equality in American, I'd like to focus on a potentially overlooked outcome of this historical moment: America will become more creative.

We already know from prior studies that conservatives prefer simple representational art over abstract art, traditional poetry over the avant-garde, and music that is simple, familiar, and 'safe'. But what about when it comes to engagement in creative behaviors and actual creative ability? Are conservatives less creative than liberals?

Psychologist Stephen J. Dollinger assessed the creative behaviors and products of 426 undergraduates. For behavior, he assessed engagement in various creative activities, spanning the domains of visual arts, literary arts, performance, and crafts. For creativity, he had participants complete an incomplete figure in any way they liked. The figures had already been started by an artist. Each drawing was then rated by three MFA graduate students on the quality of the details as well as the overall creative impression.

He also had participants take photos, and write essays on how each photo represented themselves. These photos were judged by psychologists for the degree of individuality inherent in the essays. Interestingly, prior research has shown these ratings predict performance on other creativity measures as much as seven years later! For both creativity tasks, the judges agreed highly with each other on the creativity of the products.

Dollinger also administered measures of vocabulary and openness to experience, since each of these have shown linkages to creativity in prior studies. A sample openness item is "likes to reflect, play with ideas." Finally, and most importantly, Dollinger also assessed whether the students favored, opposed, or held a neutral view on the following issues:

Death penalty, Multiculturalism, Stiffer jail terms, Voluntary euthanasia, Bible truth, Gay rights, Pre-marital virginity, Immigration of foreigners, Church authority, Legalized abortion, Condom vending machines, Legalized prostitution

He found that compared to liberals, those endorsing more conservative positions had fewer creative accomplishments, and produced photo essays and drawings that were judged as less creative (although statistically significant, note that the effect sizes weren't huge). Even taking into account the vocabulary and openness to experience of each participant, the results for drawing products and creative behaviors still held up. Interestingly, he also found that those who were more conservative did worse on the vocabulary test and were less open to experience.

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 07:06:00 AM

World's Flimsiest Bra

Keeping with my (mostly) PG-13 content, I won't purloin a copy of the picture of the world's flimsiest bra. But for those who may be interested, by all means, go look.

It's probably not suitable for cold weather.

Following Entry Posted 11/11/2008 05:21:00 AM

Blogger Gets 20 Years in Prison

(Rangoon, Burma) A 28-year-old Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, has been sentenced to 20 and one-half years in prison after questionable charges were rammed through a one-sided court proceeding.

Simply put, Latt is going to prison because the military junta became outraged by his reporting of actual events and circumstances in Burma (Myanmar) on his blog.

From an RSF.org press release:

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are appalled by the combined sentence of 20 years and six months in prison that a special court in Insein prison passed today on a young blogger, Nay Phone Latt. A poet, Saw Wai, was sentenced to two years in prison for a poem containing a coded criticism of Gen. Than She, the head of the military junta.

"The authorities have imposed an extraordinarily severe punishment on Nay Phone Latt just for using the Internet," the two organisations said.

"This shocking sentence is meant to terrify those who go online in an attempt to elude the dictatorship’s ubiquitous control of news and information, and we call for his immediate release. Saw Wai, for his part, is being made to pay for his impertinence and courage as a committed poet."

The two organisations added: "There is an urgent need now for bloggers all over the world to demonstrate their solidarity with Nay Phone Latt by posing his photo on their blogs and by writing to Burmese embassies worldwide to request his release. Similarly, we call on poets to defend their fellow-poet, Saw Wai, who has been jailed just because of one poem."

The military authorities jailed Nay Phone Latt's defense lawyer before the trial so the blogger had nobody to represent him. Additionally, Latt's mother was not allowed to attend the trial.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD), said, "The authorities are punishing the activists by investigating the cases hurriedly. There was not enough time for a defence with lawyers."

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2008 11:42:00 PM

Warning for New Species of Cockroaches

(Orlando, Florida) University researchers have issued a warning to be on the lookout for new species of cockroaches.

Although their sale is banned by law, the Madagascar hissing cockroach, the Turkestan cockroach, the lobster roach and the orange spotted roach are believed to have been inadvertently introduced in Florida.

(L to R) Madagascar Hissing, Turkestan, Lobster and Orange-Spotted Cockroaches
Hey, just what Florida needs, more roaches.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2008 10:03:00 PM

Murders in Mexico

From Border Fire Report:

According to records kept by El Universal Mexico’s largest newspaper they report since 2005, the 24 hours of last Monday alone was the most violent for the year in the country, with 58 murders linked to organized crime.

This figure surpasses the record set on Sept 12, 2008 when 41 murders occurred within a 24-hour period. Both records occurred in the same year.

Among those murdered just in one day were seven police commanders and officers. One police officer was wounded and the severed head of a private security guard was left in a gasoline station restroom.

An astonishing 58 murders in one day and the mainstream media largely ignore the story. Obviously, traditional journalism has jumped the shark.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2008 07:57:00 PM

Obama Disses the Philippines

(Manila, Philippines) It's arguably unwise to disrespect a geographically-strategic ally. Check out the views of Obama being expressed in Manila.

In the first blush of victory, US President-elect Barack Obama accepted congratulations from nine presidents and prime ministers and returned their calls. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, one of the numerous early callers, was not one of the chosen few.

The favored world leaders were Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Besides chatting with those nine world leaders, Obama also received and acknowledged congratulations from President Ahmadinejad of Iran.

Meanwhile, more than once, Philippines President Arroyo called to congratulate Obama and was told by Obama's team that her call was one of the first and he would call back. Inexplicably, no call was returned and the snub hasn't gone unnoticed.

The sidelining of the Arroyo call gave a glimpse of the importance of the Philippines to the United States at a moment of change of administration.

It is clear that the Philippines stands on the outer perimeter of US concerns in world affairs.

The first telephone conversations reveal the Philippines is not within the charmed circles of the Obama administration. It is a leper outside looking in.

It is imperative that Manila should rearrange its priorities vis-à-vis Washington. Obama is not our friend.

Maybe it was all just an administrative glitch.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2008 08:04:00 AM

ARMISTICE DAY / VETERANS' DAY TOMORROW

The 11th of November in 1918 was when the First World War officially came to an end. And that day has been formally marked every year since in remembrance of those who died. When I was growing up it was known as Armistice Day in Australia and I still think of it as that. It is however now formally Remembrance Day. It is Veterans Day in the USA. It is perhaps a little more significant this year as the 90th anniversary of the event. Britain certainly seems to have been engaging in more than the usual amount of commemoration in the last few days.

It is indeed a fitting occasion to remember. All wars are bad but that one probably reached a highpoint in ghastliness. And the amount of the slaughter was phenomenal. Few British and Australians emerged from it without the loss of at least one family member. One of my uncles twice removed died in it.

The suffering endured by the troops at the front was so awful that the war became known as "the war to end all wars". No reasonable person wanted another war. Even Theodore Roosevelt lost his enthusiasm for war when one of his sons died in it. And no politician thereafter could come to power unless he was seen as anti-war. The history books have washed memory of it away but even Hitler came to power as an advocate of peace.

I am putting up below a picture of a Nazi propaganda poster of the 1930s that you won't believe unless you are aware of how readily all Leftists preach one thing and do another. It reads Mit Hitler gegen den Ruestungswahnsinn der Welt. And what does that mean? It means "With Hitler against the armaments madness of the world".

And how about the second poster below? It would be from the March 5, 1933 election when Hitler had become Chancellor but Marshall Hindenburg was still President. Translated, the poster reads: "The Marshall and the corporal fight alongside us for peace and equal rights" (Der Marschall und der Grefreite kaempfen mit uns fuer Frieden und Gleichberechtigung)

Convinced yet? If not, maybe the next one below will convince. It is a poster for one of Hitler's famous Nuremberg rallies. It reads: Reichsparteitag des Friedens, 1939. That translates as "National party rally for peace, 1939".

And the fourth poster reads: Mit Adolf Hitler "Ja" fuer Gleichberechtigung und Frieden -- which translates as "With Adolf Hitler "Yes" for equal rights and peace" -- the same old standby slogans that the Left trot out to this day, of course.

So if there is any lesson to be learnt from the ghastliness of the 20th century, it surely is that loud "antiwar" cries from the Left are fraudulent. Such cries are just bait for the gullible and a mask for their real love of destruction.

Sadly, there will never be an end to the desire of some people to prey on others so there will never be an end to war. And any pretence otherwise is at best ignorant.

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2008 05:33:00 AM

Nude Pics Blackmail

(Johor Bahru, Malaysia) In order to believe this report, one has to believe that a man would want to steal a middle-aged woman and three kids from her husband.

A 39-year-old married woman ran away with another man after he had threatened to distribute nude photos of her.

Her husband Wang Ban Soon said his waitress wife Tan Chui Peng even took their three children, aged between 9 and 11, with her.

The 51-year-old lorry driver said they left their house in Taman Ehsan Jaya on Oct 31.

“It all started when my wife ‘befriended’ a customer, who was only known as Ah Kiong, about three months ago.

“I told her not to entertain the man as I had a bad feeling about him, but she did not listen to me,” he said at a press conference held by Johor MCA Youth Public Service and Complaints Bureau deputy chief Rodney Soon here on Sunday.

Wang said he suspected something was amiss after his wife began acting differently.

“She finally admitted she was having a relationship with the man when I confronted her.

“When I pressed the matter further, she said he had threatened to distribute nude photos of her on the Internet if she didn’t continue with the relationship,” he said.

The story would be more believable with Tan Chui Peng just wanting to get away from Wang Ban Soon. Of course, it happened in Malaysia, a Muslim country, and nude pics on the Internet just might put a person in prison, or worse, for insulting Islam.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2008 05:04:00 AM

Commies Celebrate in Moscow

(Moscow, Russia) Tens of thousands of communists celebrated the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution this past weekend.

More than 150,000 citizens took part in the rallies across the country, according to the Interior Ministry, and in Moscow thousands of supporters marched Friday evening from Pushkin Square to Teatralnaya Ploshchad to commemorate the Revolution.

Led by Communist Party head Gennady Zyuganov, his deputy Ivan Melnikov and a group of girls in red satin caps holding carnations, the demonstrators marched down Tverskaya Ulitsa toward the Kremlin, blocking two lanes of traffic.

Gennady Zyuganov, center, with other communists last Friday
The global financial crisis was one of the key themes in the rally.

"Capitalists! I recommend you start reading [Karl] Marx's 'Das Kapital,'" Zyuganov told the crowd in a speech.

Interestingly, it appears that most people didn't know exactly what they were celebrating. Confusion was caused since several days of commemoration popped up concurrently on the schedule. Besides celebrating the Bolshevik Revolution, people also rallied for People's Unity Day, the 1612 Defeat of Polish Invaders and the Day of Accord and Reconciliation.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/10/2008 12:47:00 AM

NY Teacher Gets Prison for Drunk Driving

(Niagara County, New York) In September 2008, a 35-year-old former fourth-grade teacher at Roy B. Kelley Elementary School, Marcy Cole, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of driving while intoxicated, one in October 2007 and one in January 2008. Cole also had two prior convictions for DWI.

Cole has been in jail since early September, when Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza ordered her bail revoked. Probation officers had reported several incidents in which Cole was still drinking and causing disturbances while awaiting trial on what was originally an 11-count indictment.

Her guilty plea later that month satisfied all counts of the indictment.

Last week, Judge Sperrazza sentenced Marcy Cole to two terms of one to three years in prison, to be served concurrently.

Cole's attorney, Thomas Scirto, said she is on the road to recovery by having enrolled in several recovery programs. Cole was tearful and contrite during sentencing.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2008 06:43:00 PM

Missing Muslim Girls

(UK) British authorities are beginning to notice the prevalence of honor killings with evidence provided by a recent BBC investigation. Reportedly, 12 Muslim women in Britain are hunted and murdered every year by contract killers linked to terrorist groups.

Disturbingly, there are many more Muslim females, called Asian in Britain, who just turn up missing.

[T]here is now concern for the welfare of hundreds of Asian girls who disappear from British schools every year. In Bradford alone 250 did not return to school after the summer break in 2005 - a situation mirrored in other UK cities. Privately, police fear that some of these children have been taken abroad, been forced to marry or have become the victims of honour violence.

Anne Cryer, MP for Keighley, believes education officials are reluctant to intervene for fear of upsetting community relations.

"I think they're scared stiff of being called racist or Islamophobic. If a white girl were removed from school her parents would be before the courts for aiding and abetting her truancy.

So, investigation and prosecution of "honor" crimes are not effectively pursued because of political correctness. Simple accusations of Islamophobia and racism shut down law enforcement.

Get ready, folks. All this is coming soon to a community near you.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2008 04:02:00 PM

20 Deaths on Russian Submarine

(Vladivostok, Russia) Reported today, 20 people have died and 21 have been injured on the Russian nuclear submarine Nerpa during an onboard accident involving a fire extinguishing system.

The Akula II-class submarine was undergoing pre-commissioning sea trials in the Sea of Japan at the time of the accident. The boat was being prepared for delivery to the Indian Navy.

Nerpa - Russian Akula II Class submarine

According to Russian naval spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo, the dead victims included three officers and 17 civilian workers who succumbed to lack of oxygen when a fire-suppression system containing freon gas was inadvertently activated.

“The submarine is not damaged, its reactor works as normal, and background radiation levels are normal,” he added.

Dyagalo said that 208 people were aboard the Nerpa at the time, including 81 servicemen and plus naval technicians and workers from the Komsomolsk-na-Amur shipyard where the Nerpa was constructed. Fourteen civilians were among the dead, he said.

Russian press reports suggested that the accident happened near the bow of the ship as it was undergoing a test dive in the Sea of Japan near the huge Russian naval base of Vladivostok.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has instructed the Defence Ministry to conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the accident and provide the necessary assistance to the victims’ families.

There was no word on any possible Indian casualties, though some press reports last week suggested that an Indian Naval team of up to 40 persons would soon be heading for Vladivostok to familiarise themselves with the ship, which is due to be commissioned into the Indian Navy as the INS Chakra, under a ten year lease.

Indian Navy officials in New Delhi have so far refused to comment. However, former Russian Navy captain Gennady Illaryonov said that "a lack of gas masks among too many untrained civilians" may have added to the death count.

Another source said the K-152 Nerpa, a nuclear-powered submarine of the Project 971 Shchuka-B type, or Akula-class by NATO classification, had been under construction since 1991 and the project has experienced problems which led to a decline in work standards. In particular, workers were not being paid following the arrest of a shipyard shareholder last December.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2008 07:55:00 AM

N-Word Hurled at Blacks During Westwood Prop 8 Protest

It is very common for blacks to despise homosexuals so a lot of blacks supported the Californian ballot measure to bar homosexual "marriage". In response the homosexuals did a passable imitation of the KKK. There's nothing like that Leftist "tolerance"!

"The recent passage of California's Proposition 8 has exposed some of the latent racism of many within the LGBT community-instigated in part by many in the e-telligentsia such as revisionist Andrew Sullivan and sex advisor turned sociologist Dan Savage. Unfortunately the "blame the blacks" meme is being commonly accepted by some so-called "progressive" gay activists. A number of Rod 2.0 and Jasmyne Cannick readers report being subjected to taunts, threats and racist abuse at last night's marriage equality rally in Los Angeles....

It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU NIGGER, one man shouted at men. If your people want to call me a FAGGOT, I will call you a nigger. Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the temple...me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the niggers better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them....

Jasmyne Cannick has a similar and unfortunate report. "I have received several phone calls from Blacks, both gay and straight, who were caught up in Westwood around the time of that march. From being called 'niggers' to being accosted in their cars and told that it was because of 'you people gays don't have equal rights and you better watch your back,' these gays have lost their damn minds."

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2008 06:41:00 AM

Profane Woman Duct-Taped, Removed from Flight

(Charlotte, North Carolina) Last week, a 45-year-old Oswego, NY, woman, Maria Esther Castillo, was acting belligerent and obnoxious on a flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago so the flight crew restrained her with duct tape.

The flight was diverted to Charlotte and Castillo was taken into custody by federal agents. Castillo has been charged with interfering with the operations of a flight crew.

I haven't found a picture of the woman taped up.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/09/2008 02:57:00 AM

Pennsylvania Teacher Gets Prison for Terror Threats

(Bucks County, Pennsylvania) In June 2008, a 46-year-old teacher at Longstreth Elementary School, Susan Romanyszyn, was convicted by a jury of making terroristic threats against the school in October 2007.

The threats, childishly scrawled, threatening and scattered throughout the school, terrified teachers, parents and children for weeks.

"I have weapons and nife," said one message, decorated with a stick figure shooting five other stick figures, that was found in a classroom. "Die today kill 'em all."

Other threats were written on walls, and a fifth-grade girl found a fake bomb inside her desk. The jury convicted Romanyszyn of planting 11 of the 17 threats found between Oct. 11 and Oct. 19, 2007.

Last week, Romanyszyn was sentenced to one to two years in prison followed by 20 years of probation.

The only motive prosecutors offered was that she was miffed over not getting a fifth-grade assignment.

"Does it make sense? No. I don't think that makes sense to 99 percent of the community," said Gary Gambardella, who prosecuted the case. "She's nuts. She's a danger. She's not balanced."

Boylan said a court-ordered psychological report on Romanyszyn was "not particularly helpful" in explaining the crime. The judge ordered psychiatric counseling during her sentence.

Romanyszyn was taken to the county prison for processing and then taken home. Due to ill health and weakness from cancer treatments, she will only be required to go to prison if she improves.

Following Entry Posted 11/08/2008 10:07:00 PM

Nazi Fugitive At Large in Chile

(Santiago, Chile) Aribert Heim, a most-wanted Nazi fugitive known as Dr. Death, has been sighted in Chile and the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Israel is offering $400,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

A police task force is following leads in southern Chile that Aribert Heim, an SS officer accused of performing experiments on inmates at the Mauthausen concentration camp, was spotted at a restaurant with his daughter, who lives in the town of Puerto Montt.

"Someone told us that they had seen the suspect, or someone very similar to the suspect's description, together with a woman very similar to his daughter,'' Segundo Leiton, chief of Chile's office of missing persons, said in an interview in Santiago last month. [...]

The Austrian doctor, now 94 years old, is accused of killing people with injections directly into the heart, performing operations without anesthetic, and using body parts as decorations while working at the camp in 1941.

Prisoners at Mauthausen gave Heim the nickname Dr. Death. Mauthausen concentration camp housed criminals, political dissidents, Soviet prisoners of war, and large numbers of Hungarian Jews. Heim apparently treated the detainees as lab rats.

Following Entry Posted 11/08/2008 09:02:00 PM

Malaysian Blogger Raja Petra Released

(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Jailed in September for writing articles that allegedly insulted Islam, Raja Petra has now been released from custody after a court ruled that he was detained without proper authorization.

His lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the Shah Alam High Court on Friday ordered the blogger to be produced at a hearing at 0800 GMT and immediately released.

Malik said the court ruled that Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar had acted outside his powers by ordering Raja Petra to serve two years in detention without trial.

"The judge ruled that under the circumstances which existed at the time that Raja Petra was detained did not satisfy the threshold conditions under the ISA," he told AFP.

"The judge said the minister had acted without proper power," he said.

I presume that the government will try to find another way to prosecute Raja Petra. His writings have linked the murder of a Mongolian woman to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.

It's worth mentioning that the crime of insulting Islam appears to be a catch-all charge used when the authorities don't like what you're doing but don't have any actual evidence of criminal behavior.

Previous:

8/14/08 - Blogger Ordered to Remove Content, Identify Sources

5/06/08 - Malaysian Blogger Charged with Sedition

Following Entry Posted 11/08/2008 08:16:00 PM

Bali Bombers Executed

(Indonesia) Six years after committing the mass murders of 202 mainly foreign tourists on the resort island of Bali, three Islamists were executed at just after midnight (local time) by firing squad on Nusakambangan Island off southern Java.

Ali Ghufron, Imam Samudera and Amrozi remained unrepentant to the end.

Bali bombers Ali Ghufron (L), Imam Samudera (C) and Amrozi (R)
The Indonesian Attorney General's Office confirmed that the executions had taken place.

“At 12.15am, the convicts ... were executed by shooting and followed up with an autopsy,” spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan said.

“They have been stated as dead. At this moment the bodies are being washed by the family.”

Attorney General Hendarman Supanji will hold a press conference in Jakarta at 11am local time (3pm AEDT).

The bombers were simultaneously shot through the heart by crack Indonesian troops assembled to carry out the task.

They were executed in an orchard some 6km from their prison on Nusakambangan Island, Indonesia's TV One reported.

A source at the prison said they shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they were escorted out of their isolation cells by paramilitary police shortly before their executions.

I'm pleasantly surprised that the three were actually executed. All along, I figured they would find a way to weasel out of any true punishment.

Following Entry Posted 11/08/2008 07:55:00 AM

Judge Bans Use Of "Illegal" and "Aliens"

This is very much in keeping with the usual Leftist fantasy that changing the word for a thing changes both the underlying reality and people's attitude towards it. In fact, the new term rapidly acquires all the associations of the old. Already, I am not the only one to use "undocumented" derisively, for instance

Arizona's Supreme Court Justice has agreed to enforce the Hispanic Bar Association's demands of banning the terms "illegal" and "aliens" in all of the state's courtrooms. Claiming that the terms are inflammatory, the president of Arizona's Hispanic Bar Association, (known as Los Abogados) has asked state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor to stop using them at trials or hearings because they create perceptions of judicial bias.

"The Webster's dictionary defines the adjective "alien" as "belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing" and the noun "differing in nature or character typically to the point of incompatibility". This is exactly what is intended. The denial of using this language is itself prejudicial. This goes to the core of the debate. They are "alien" and "different". "Illegal" is also not allowed"

In a strongly worded letter to the chief justice, Los Abogados' president says attaching an illegal status to a person establishes a brand of contemptibility, creates the appearance of anti-immigrant prejudice and tarnishes the image of courts as a place where disputes may be fairly resolved.

It further points out that no human being is illegal and that a national Hispanic journalism association has roundly criticized the reference for dehumanizing a segment of the population. The letter goes on to criticize the state's High Court for using the term "illegals" in at least two opinions and the term "illegal aliens" in dozens of others.

It concludes with a list of acceptable and unacceptable terms relating to illegal immigration. Among those the group wants banned are; immigration crisis, immigration epidemic, open borders advocates, anchor babies and invaders. Among the acceptable terms are foreign nationals, unauthorized workers and human rights advocates.

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2008 07:43:00 PM

NY Shoplifting Scheme Busted, 2 Cops Arrested

(Goshen, New York) Two police officers were among four men arrested in connection with a heist operation involving Walmart stores in Orange County.

On Tuesday, November 4, investigators from the Orange County District Attorney's Office, members of the Walmart Investigations Team, and police from the towns of New Windsor, Newburgh and Montgomery executed seven search warrants at several locations and recovered large amounts of stolen goods. A large amount of the stolen property had been sold on eBay. eBay officials cooperated in the investigation.

Charged were Bryan Dunn, 36, of Maybrook; Kevin Burchell, 27, of Montgomery; Clifford Barber III, 41, of Walden; and LaQuionus Pressley, 29, of Newburgh.

Burchell is a Village of Tuxedo police officer. Barber is a town of Montgomery police officer.

Dunn was charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree, three counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, and three counts of filing a false tax return.

Burchell was charged with two counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and two counts of filing a false income tax return.

Barber was charged with grand larceny in the third degree, three counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, and three counts of filing a false income tax return.

Pressley has been charged with grand larceny in the third degree.

What a shock! Stolen property is sold on eBay!

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2008 05:33:00 PM

Teaching Twins Busted for Methamphetamine

(South Bend, Indiana) Twin 35-year-old Elkhart Community Schools teachers, Maria and Michelle Stancati, were arrested Tuesday after firefighters responding to a fire in their home found an alleged methamphetamine lab.

Each sister faces one count of dealing in methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school.

The two were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon when firefighters contacted police after a meth lab was found in their burning home at 511 E. Woodside St., South Bend.

According to police reports, Michelle Stancati admitted to manufacturing meth just before the lab caught ablaze and later exploded. Both sisters told police they were meth users.

A large quantity of marijuana also was found in the home.

An 11-year-old boy -- the son of a subletter identified by police as Lisa Kitch -- was sleeping in the home when the fire department responded to the blaze.

Maria Stancati is a ninth-grade teacher at Memorial High School. Michelle Stancati teaches special education at North Side Middle School. They were booked into custody with bond set at $5,000.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2008 04:41:00 PM

Mob Ties Lead to Seizure of All Assets

(Palermo, Sicily) Check out this story.

Italian police on Friday seized assets worth some 100 million euros from the heirs of a dead construction boss suspected of links to jailed Cosa Nostra head Bernardo Provenzano.

It was the first time anti-Mafia police have applied a new law allowing confiscation of property from the heirs of the deceased.

The businessman, Salvatore Buttitta, died in August at the age of 83 leaving more than 200 plots of land around his quarries outside the city of Bagheria, 10 miles (15km) east of Palermo.

He also left his five heirs over 30 pieces of real estate in Palermo, Bagheria and seven other Sicilian cities.

It appears that the law allows the government to take everything Buttitta acquired, plus property he left for his heirs, even though there doesn't seem to be any evidence that the property was illegally obtained. In fact, Buttitta was acquitted of Mafia-association charges last February.

By confiscating all property, the new law sure seems like it would be effective in making the Mafia dons quite nervous.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2008 11:26:00 AM

Students Punished with Foot Massages

(London, England) Here is some more nutty stuff from Britain.

Pupils who create mayhem in the classroom are to face a punishment that will make them quake in their shoes. They will be asked to slip off their socks before being given a foot massage designed to control their unruly behaviour.

Plans are to spend £90,000 next year sending reflexologists into scores of schools.

We didn't have reflexologists when I was in school. Instead, a ping-pong paddle was used to massage the backside. It worked well and didn't cost a lot of money.

Following Entry Posted 11/07/2008 08:23:00 AM

The big picture: America is no longer ruled by whites

The article below is written by the Chief Reporter for Britain's leading conservative newspaper. It addresses matters that U.S. commentators tend to slide over (out of political correctness) but which need mentioning, in my view. There have been many knowledgeable analyses of the demographics behind Obama's victory (e.g. by Karl Rove) but to me they seem unable to see the forest for the trees. The plain fact is that there is large population growth in segments of the population who are systematically hostile to the GOP and it is difficult to see a way around that. Will Obama be the first in a long line of Democrat Presidents?

The only hope -- and it is a good one -- is that the Donks will make such a huge mess of things in the next two to four years that many voters will vote for any alternative to them. That suggests to me that the GOP senators should make sparing use of the filibuster in the next two to four years. Let the Democrats have their own way on most things and just say "I told you so" when it all implodes (e.g. in huge unemployment). Let them hang themselves by their own stupidity.

President-Elect Obama attracted 43 per cent of the white vote, with 55 per cent backing John McCain. But because white voters make up an ever-decreasing percentage of the total, Mr Obama still achieved an overwhelming victory because he attracted 95 per cent of the black vote and two thirds of Hispanic and Asian voters. Black and ethnic minority voters accounted for 26 per cent of all votes cast in the election. As recently as 2000, they made up just 19 per cent of voters. At the current rate of change, white voters will be in the minority by 2042, and with black and ethnic minority voters traditionally voting Democrat, regardless of the candidate's skin colour, the Republicans are facing a long-term problem.

Mr Obama's campaign team said the Democrat had put together a "national coalition" of voters from all backgrounds. "We were able to overcome a lot of the things that a lot of people thought were insuperable barriers in our politics," his chief strategist, David Axelrod, said. Mr Obama may not have won over the majority of white voters but he still managed a larger slice of the white vote than any of his recent predecessors, including Bill Clinton. The President-Elect also increased the Democratic share of the vote in almost every other demographic sector. Male voters were split almost exactly down the middle between the two candidates, compared with 55 per cent voting Republican in 2004, and Mr Obama increased the Democratic share of the female vote from 51 per cent in 2004 to 56 per cent.

One of the biggest swings to the Democrats came among the youngest voters, with 66 per cent of 18-29 year old voters backing Mr Obama, compared with 54 per cent in the previous election. Mr Obama also picked up 69 per cent of first time voters, compared with just 53 per cent who voted for John Kerry in 2004. One in five of all first time voters were black. Dr Scott Blinder, Research Fellow in US Politics at Nuffield College, Oxford, said: "As well as the changes in the racial composition of the electorate, we have seen a significant shift in the youth vote towards the Democrats. "Obama has taken 69 per cent of first time voters, a significant increase on previous elections, and that might have long-term implications for the Republicans, as we are seeing a whole new generation of Democratic voters coming through.

More here

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 11:11:00 PM

Ohio Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Boy, 12

(Mansfield, Ohio) A 36-year-old local woman, Timi Robertson, pleaded guilty today before Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese to three counts of sexual battery stemming from a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old boy.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dismissed three counts of rape.

As a result, Judge DeWeese sentenced Robertson to 10 years in prison.

Robertson, a married mom with three children, had sex with the boy "about 10 times" between July 2007 and January 2008.

“This (plea and sentence) had the consent of everybody involved, including the victim and his family,” Assistant Prosecutor Gary Bishop said.

DeWeese also declared Robertson a Tier III sex offender, meaning she will have to register with the county sheriff wherever she lives every 90 days for life.

“I thought it was very reasonable under all circumstances. She had no prior record,” defense attorney Robert Whitney said. “She was facing 25 years to life.”

Lives were damaged and a family was destroyed because a grown woman decided to have sex with a boy.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 09:16:00 PM

Texas Teacher Busted for Pot

(Houston, Texas) A teacher at Wheatley High School, Gina Thomas, was arrested yesterday for alleged marijuana possession. A drug dog search of the school employee parking lot hit on Thomas' car and marijuana was found

Thomas has been reassigned away from the classroom pending the outcome of an investigation.

After booking, Thomas was released on $500 bond. A court appearance is scheduled for November 13.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 07:32:00 PM

Colorado Teacher Arrested for Sex Assault of Boy

(Denver, Colorado) A 27-year-old English teacher at Sheridan High School, Melissa Snow, was arrested yesterday for the alleged sexual assault of a male student.

Snow faces two counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, one with a pattern of behavior.

According to Superintendent Michael Clough, Snow was placed on administrative leave.

The sexual abuse allegedly happened off campus and was not related to a school activity or event, according to Clough.

The high school is sending letters home to the parents and using an automatic phone dialing system to tell them about the arrest.

"We do everything possible to keep children safe and secure," said Clough. "We have set up offers of counseling for students who have been emotionally affected by this."

Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson says even though Snow was arrested on two charges, that does not necessarily mean that there are two victims.

Snow was booked into custody at the Denver City Jail and later released on $50,000 bond.

[Update 8/5/09]

Melissa Snow sentenced.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 05:28:00 PM

Textbook Likens Fitna Film to Mein Kampf

From the Netherlands, here is an example of dhimmitude directed at the children.

The Dutch right-wing Freedom Party is furious about a paragraph in a primary school textbook in which party leader Geert Wilders' film Fitna is put on a par with Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf.

The textbook, which will be distributed to 2,000 primary schools, cite Fitna and Mein Kampf as examples of one-sided thinking.

The Freedom Party says it's a disgrace that the textbook was subsidised by the Dutch government.

Expect something similar coming soon to a community near you.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 05:09:00 PM

Chavez Nationalizes Mining

(Caracas, Venezuela) On the heels of congratulating President-elect Obama, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated by nationalizing one of the world's largest gold deposits, the Las Cristinas project. Las Cristinas, operated by Crystallex International Ltd. of Canada which has been seeking environmental permits, is believed to contain more than 16 million ounces of gold.

"This mine will be recovered and will be operated under the state's administration," Venezuela's Mining and Basic Industries Ministry said in a statement.

Therefore, along with the oil, electricity, steel, cement and the telecom industries, Hugo Chavez now has government-run mining.

In other news,

Minister Rodolfo Sanz told a Russian delegation that a memorandum of understanding would be signed on Friday with Russian-owned Rusoro to operate the Las Cristinas and Brisas projects with the government. [...]

Nearby Brisas is operated by Gold Reserve, which has a concession for the gold and copper project but was also waiting for environmental permits.

It appeared that Sanz intends to replace the Canadian companies with Rusoro, although he did not mention their names.

"We have to rescind our relationship with a company that has been working in the zone," Sanz said apparently in reference to Crystallex. "We have a legal problem there," he said.

He said the memorandum would not mention Las Cristinas and Brisas by name for legal reasons but assured the Russians they would have access to the projects.

Frankly, nobody should be surprised by this latest news from Venezuela. Any self-respecting police-state socialist knows that mines are needed for reeducating the more difficult members of the population. The Soviets used salt mines but gold mines work just as well.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 03:30:00 PM

Headaches Linked to Reduced Breast Cancer

According to a study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, women who suffer from migraine headaches have a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer. The research, led by Dr. Christopher Li, discovered a probable hormonal relationship between the migraines and breast cancer.

So, if I understand this latest research correctly, when the little lady says "Not tonight, Honey, I have a headache," it means the old man can worry less about breast cancer. And, naturally, if Mr. Jones is stumbling around looking like he could eat concrete and spit nails, you can be sure that Mrs. Jones will never be a breast cancer victim.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 08:04:00 AM

McCain was too "moderate"

Excerpts from Ann Coulter below:

Last night was truly a historic occasion: For only the second time in her adult life, Michelle Obama was proud of her country! The big loser of this election is Colin Powell, whose last-minute endorsement of Obama put the Illinois senator over the top. Powell was probably at home last night, yelling at his TV, "Are you KIDDING me? That endorsement was sarcastic!"

The winner, of course, is Obama, who must be excited because now he can start hanging out in public with Bill Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright again. John McCain is a winner because he can resume buying more houses. And we're all winners because we will never again have to hear McCain say, "my friends."

After Bill Clinton won the 1992 presidential election, Hillary Clinton immediately announced that, henceforth, she would be known as "Hillary Rodham Clinton." So maybe Obama can now become B. Hussein Obama, his rightful name.

This was such an enormous Democratic year that even John Murtha won his congressional seat in Pennsylvania after calling his constituents racists. It turns out they're not racists - they're retards. Question: What exactly would one have to say to alienate Pennsylvanians? That Joe Paterno should retire? Apparently, Florida voters didn't mind Obama's palling around with Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, either. There must be a whole bunch of retired Pennsylvania Jews down there.

Republicans lost this presidential election, and I don't blame the messenger; I blame the message. How could Republicans go after B. Hussein Obama (as he is now known) on planning to bankrupt the coal companies when McCain supports the exact same cap and trade policies and earnestly believes in global warming?

How could we go after Obama for his illegal alien aunt and for supporting driver's licenses for illegal aliens when McCain fanatically pushed amnesty along with his good friend Teddy Kennedy? How could we go after Obama for Jeremiah Wright when McCain denounced any Republicans who did so? How could we go after Obama for planning to hike taxes on the "rich," when McCain was the only Republican to vote against both of Bush's tax cuts on the grounds that they were tax cuts for the rich?

And why should Republican activists slave away working for McCain when he has personally, viciously attacked: John O'Neill and the Swift Boat Veterans, National Right to Life director Doug Johnson, evangelical pastors Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and John Hagee, various conservative talk radio hosts, the Tennessee Republican Party and on and on and on?....

How many times do we have to run this experiment before Republican primary voters learn that "moderate," "independent," "maverick" Republicans never win, and right-wing Republicans never lose? Indeed, the only good thing about McCain is that he gave us a genuine conservative, Sarah Palin. He's like one of those insects that lives just long enough to reproduce so that the species can survive. That's why a lot of us are referring to Sarah as "The One" these days.

For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president. Starting tomorrow, if not sooner.

More here

Posted by John Ray.

Following Entry Posted 11/06/2008 07:19:00 AM

Japan Not Aggressor in WWII

(Tokyo, Japan) The Chief of Staff of the Japanese Air Force, General Toshio Tamogami, has been fired for writing an essay stating that Japan was not an aggressor in World War II. Furthermore, 78 other members of the Japanese Air Force also submitted essays which expressed views similar to General Tamogami's.

Unfortunately, the views expressed by Tamogami and others directly conflicts with the apology issued by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995.

The controversy regarding Japanese involvement in WWII endures because more than an insignificant segment of the population believes the nation acted honorably in defending itself. Schoolchildren are not taught the truth about the brutal campaigns launched by the Japanese military. The fact that Japan lost the war just serves to mar "the glorious history of Japan."

Understandably, the attitude is a sore point with nations that were invaded by the Japanese during WWII.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2008 11:24:00 PM

British Pet Welfare Legislation

(London, England) Issued for comment is the Animal Welfare Act and interested parties have eight weeks to voice their concerns. The new legislation specifies codes of practice for dogs, cats and horses to prevent cruelty.

Violations of the codes of practice will be used in determining guilt in pet welfare cases which carry a maximum jail sentence of six months or a potential fine of £20,000.

The guidelines cover the environment for animals, diet, the company they enjoy, ensuring they exhibit normal behaviour patterns, as well as health and welfare issues.

The code of practice for dogs advises against taking a dog for a walk during the hottest part of the day or feeding it less than an hour before vigorous exercise in order to avoid "bloating".

Owners should groom dogs with long hair at least once a day and all dogs should have teeth cleaned with dog chews or canine toothpaste as part of routine care. Training dogs should be done through "positive reinforcement" rather than punishment that can lead to behavioural problems in the future.

Owners can spot signs of stress such as barking excessively, urinating indoors or yawning when not tired. The advice stresses cats are not vegetarians and adults do not need bowls of milk. However they do need somewhere to hide and to scratch claws.

The guidelines for horses are based on the same principles.

It's not clear whether the pet welfare police will report to Scotland Yard or MI5. In any event, animal owners will be unable to claim ignorance of the law when they are hauled into court for not brushing their dogs' teeth.

Interestingly, I don't think there are any laws on the books requiring that typical British children and adults brush their teeth. Maybe the British Parliament has the issue under advisement.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2008 09:42:00 PM

Ohio Woman Gets Prison for Sex Crimes

(Lebanon, Ohio) In July 2008, married teacher and group home housemother Carolynn Hatcher was charged with multiple counts of felony sexual battery for allegedly engaging in sex with a 16-year-old boy with whom she became pregnant.

In September 2008, Carolynn Hatcher pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual battery.

Today, 26-year-old Carolynn Hatcher was sentenced to three years in prison, one year for each conviction.

The boy was placed in Hatcher’s care at Midwestern Children’s Home following abuse by his birth family, prosecutors said.

“Ms. Hatcher was put in a position to protect a young man that had been abused, and rather than protect him she took advantage of him,” said Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel.

Hatcher was also ordered to register as a sex offender and spend five years under community control.

Prosecutors said that Hatcher seduced the boy because she was having marital problems. Not mentioned was the real possibility that the marital problems might have been caused by the fact that she was seducing the boy. Despite the reason, Hatcher is still a criminal.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2008 08:08:00 AM

Russia Announces Missile Deployment

(Moscow, Russia) Around the same time that it became clear Barack Obama would be the next President of the United States, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced plans for Russian deployment of a new missile system on the EU border.

The stretch of Baltic coastline between Poland and Lithuania known as Kaliningrad will have missile installations and radar jamming equipment to neutralize proposed American missile shield sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

In a blistering 90-minute speech broadcast live on radio and television, Medvedev blamed the U.S. for acting unilaterally, arrogantly and selfishly. The war in Georgia was a result of U.S. arrogance, Medvedev said.

In the context of the global geopolitical chess game, the Russians have moved a major piece and I don't think they are finished. I also foresee the growth of a threatening Russian military presence in Latin America.

Meanwhile, Russia is becoming more and more chummy with the belligerent theocracy in Iran.

* * * * *
[Add.] The Russian missiles to be deployed are the Iskander SS-26 model.

Iskander/SS-26 Missile
The SS-26 has a range of about 250 miles and carries a 1,000 pound warhead. Refinements are believed to possibly extend the range. It is a mobile-launched weapon. Two launchers are carried on each designated truck.

The SS-26 can carry a variety of warheads including a cluster munition, a fuel-air explosive enhanced-blast warhead, an earth penetrator for bunker busting and an electro-magnetic pulse device for attacking radar installations.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Following Entry Posted 11/05/2008 07:55:00 AM

THE MEDIA WON

They created Obama. They could have destroyed him in a minute if they had wanted to. Instead they promoted him, covered for him and used anything they could to discredit his opponents.

What lies ahead

One really has to ask the obvious question: If Obama's economic policies work so well, why isn't Detroit a paradise? In 1950, America produced 51% of the GNP for the entire world. Of that production, roughly 70% took place in the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

The productive capability of this small area of earth staggers the imagination. Virtually everything that rebuilt the industrial bases of Europe and Japan came from those eight states. Cars, planes, electronics, machine tools, consumer goods, generators, concrete - any conceivable item manufactured by industrial humanity poured out this tiny region and enriched the world. The region shone with widespread prosperity. People migrated from the South and West to work in these Herculean engines of industry. The wealth, power and economic dominance of the region at the time cannot be overstated. Nothing like it has existed in human history.

Yet, a mere 30 years later, by 1980, we called that area the "rustbelt" and it became synonymous with joblessness, collapsing cities, high crime, failing schools and general hopelessness.

What the hell happened? Obama happened. Of course, not Obama personally but rather the same ideas that Obama espouses. What those ideas did to the Great Lakes states, they can do to the entire country. What did they do wrong?

First, unions: Without any serious economic competition, unions could force virtually any salary, benefits and pensions they wished from manufactures. Worse, however, they could set work rules and conditions, effectively dictating the organization of a business and what technology, processes and methods it used. Since increasing productivity, by definition, means doing more work with fewer people, unions froze companies into the methods used in the mid-1950s and refused to let them adapt. Companies rode high for over 15 years, but by the late '60s they faced increasing competition and needed to change and adapt. The unions blocked this.

In the end, however, strong widespread unions turned out for workers to be merely a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Unions got workers in factories better wages, but the people who built the workers' houses, cars, consumer goods and stocked their groceries also had strong unions and the price of everything went up. Strong public-sector unions kept taxes high and public productivity low, so workers' taxes went up. By the time they paid all the increased cost of union labor in everything they consumed, the unions gave them little if any real increases in income.

Second, invasive government: People who grew up during the New Deal and WWII believed that government could solve almost any problem, and they supported high taxes so that government could fix society. Unfortunately, the supposed benefits of an expansive state, good schools, solid public infrastructure, low crime, etc. failed to materialize while zoning and land-use restrictions drove up housing cost and taxes and crime destroyed small businesses. Strong public-sector unions blocked tax cuts and reforms that could have saved them.

By the early '70s the states that once served as the industrial engine for the entire planet began to fall apart. Then came double-digit inflation and the energy crisis (both caused by leftist policies). By 1980, the industrial heartland of America lay in virtual ruins. People called it the "rustbelt" in analogy to the "dustbowl" of the Great Depressions. Even today, nearly 30 years later, the region lags behind the rest of the country in job creation and is steadily losing population to internal migration.

It can happen just that fast. A worker who entered the factories in 1950 at the age of 25 saw 20 good years before things looked bad. At 45 he saw repeated layoffs, and by 55 he was out of a job and his children had little hope of finding one.

Obama clearly plans to try to extend the rustbelt model to the rest of the country. "Card check" will let unions use intimidation to control workers. High taxes on capital gains will slow investment. Environmental regulation will starve workplaces of electricity and mandate inefficient modes of production. Great new bureaucracies will arise to restrain the freedom and creativity of the people.

Obama has no concept of business as a creative and experimental endeavor. On some deep unconscious level, he assumes that material wealth is something akin to a natural phenomenon for which no group of humans can take credit. Therefore, he sees distribution as the only serious economic issue and ignores how politics interferes with the actual process of wealth creation. We may soon be living in a repeat of '70s and looking back at the years 1984-2007 as a golden era.

Source

Posted by John Ray.

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