Women With Troubles - October 2009

Reported in news stories during October 2009, 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.

(AL) Kelley Ball, 46,
teacher - Arrested for possession of a controlled substance,

(AL) Ashley Turner, 24,
neighbor - Guilty of rape of boy, 13,

(AR) Allison Dean, 30,
teacher - Gets 20 years in prison for sex with boy, 15,

(AR) Naomi Christine Hobbs, 25,
soldier - Arrested for desertion,

(CA) Kendra Rose Trejo aka Kendra Rose Brown, 27,
homeless neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 16,

(CA) Amy and Justin Northcutt, 28 & 29,
teachers - Get 2 & 3 months jail, respectively, for soliciting girl, 16, for sex,

(CA) Naomi Perez, 33,
teacher - Arrested for sex with male student,

(CO) Marci Ann Carillo, 38,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 16,

(FL) Keri Gielow, 30,
teacher - Arrested for DUI and leaving scene of accident,

(FL) Danielle Jones, 33,
teacher - Gets 10 years in prison for sex with boys (4),

(FL) Kristy Lee Morgan, 28,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with three teen boys in her backyard,

(GA) Jacqueline Connally, 22,
school bus driver - Accused of sex with male student, 16,

(GA) Amie Gabriel, 39,
teacher - Arrested for multiple charges involving alcohol and a controlled substance,

(GA) Elizabeth Gaddy, 46,
teacher - Gets five years in prison for sex with male student, 13,

(GA) Georgia Thornton, 46,
neighbor - Gets year in prison for beating the hell out of daughter's teacher,

(ID) Ashley Jo Beach, 37,
teacher - Guilty of sex with boy, 13. Sentencing in December,

(ID) Kari Atkinson, 28,
teacher - Guilty of sex with boy, 14. Sentencing scheduled for December,

(IL) 115 Girls, high schoolers
students - Pregnant,

(IL) Jennifer Diane Bland, 23,
teacher - Accused of sex with four male students, ages 14 through 17,

(IL) Jennifer May (aka Jack Kaiser and Jack Stones), 24,
neighbor - Arrested for impersonating boy, 15,

(IL) Christina Sykora, 38,
neighbor - Accused of rape of preteen girl,

(KY) Erica Shannon Cooper, 38,
teacher - Arrested for drugs and child endangerment,

(KY) Christina Miracle, 35,
neighbor - Guilty of rape of boy, 15. Sentencing in December,

(MD) Carla Davis,
neighbor - Arrested for muling drugs into prison,

(MO) Christie Bradley, 39,
neighbor - Arrested for trying to have sex with boy, 13,

(MO) Linetta Holmes, 41,
neighbor - Gets 15 years in prison for sex with teen boys,

(MO) Elizabeth A. Raedeke, 22,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with fiance's brother, 13,

(MS) Rebecca Dawn Bogard, 29,
teacher - Gets year in prison for sex with male student, 15,

(MS) Carla Hughes, 29,
teacher - Gets life without parole for murder,

(MS) Hope Johns, 31,
teacher - Arrested for sex with student, 16,

(NC) Shebana Rajput, 36,
teacher - Gets 45 days jail for sex with male student, 17,

(NH) Linda Hicks, 50,
neighbor - Gets two to 10 years prison for sex with boy under 16,

(NJ) Akouavi Kpade Afolabi,
neighbor - Accused of child slavery and human trafficking,

(NJ) Donna Goebel, 45,
teacher - Gets five years in prison for sex with male student,

(NJ) Crystal Kelly, 30,
neighbor - Arrested for breaking and entering a residence, apparently to watch television,

(NM) Marina Lopez, 19,
neighbor - Arrested for attempting to smuggle drugs into prison,

(NM) Kristy Sanchez Trujillo, 33,
teacher - Accused of sex with male student, 13,

(NY) Kathleen Callanan,
neighbor - Guilty of rape of boy under age 13. Sentencing TBD,

(NY) Amy N. Miller, 23,
teacher - Accused of engaging in sex with girl, 15,

(OH) Taylor Marks, 20,
neighbor - Arrested in murder-for-hire plot,

(OH) Gloria J. Murphy, 55,
neighbor - Guilty of sex with boy, 12. Sentencing in December,

(PA) Susan Finkelstein, 43,
neighbor - Arrested for offering sex for World Series tickets,

(PA) Petra Fischer, 45,
neighbor- Accused of engaging in sex with boy, 15,

(PA) Marcella Rosario, 39,
prostitute - Accused of sex assault of boy, 16,

(PA) Rachel A. Scott, 37,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 14,

(PA) Tammy Lynn Woodley, 33,
neighbor - Gets 6 to 12 months jail for sex with boy, 14,

(SC) Tammy Joy Key, 38,
teacher - Arrested for sex with boy, 14,

(SC) Susan Tappeiner, 42,
babysitter - Guilty of sex with boy, 13, she was babysitting. Sentencing TBD,

(TN) Gwendolyn D. Hagerman, 42,
neighbor - Indicted on multiple counts of rape of girl, 11,

(TN) Sylena J. Rudd, 21,
neighbor - Arrested for statutory rape of female juvenile,

(TN) Lindsey Seymour, 27,
teacher - Accused of sex with male student, 16,

(TN) Brenda M. Strahan, 45,
neighbor - Gets probation for statutory rape of male student, 17,

(TN) Angela Strube, 30,
teacher - Accused of stealing children's lunch money,

(TX) Sara Elizabeth Dickison, 27,
teacher - Accused of sex with male student,

(TX) Kenzi Friday, 23,
teacher and coach - Sentenced to probation for improper relations with male student, 17,

(TX) Deanna Higgins,
teacher - Accused of inappropriate relations between educator and student,

(TX) Courtney Lynn Sheward, 33,
Boy Scout volunteer - Arrested for sex with scout, 16,

(TX) Kimberley Sinclair aka Kimberly Sinclair, 25,
teacher - Arrested for sex with student, 15,

(UT) Tabitha Ash, 34,
neighbor - Arrested for alleged sex with boy, 14,

(UT) Arielle M. Beck, 30,
teacher - Takes "Alford Plea" to forcible sodomy of girl, 14, and is sentenced to probation,

(UT) Andrea Billingsley, 31,
teacher's aide - Arrested for sex with two 15-year-old boys,

(WA) Jennifer M. Dibley, 34,
neighbor - Gets 14 months prison for sex with boy, 14,

(WI) Lacy Sommers, 20,
neighbor - Gets prison for bail-jumping and sex with boy, 13,

(WI) Lisa K. White, 51,
neighbor - Sentenced to four and one-half years prison for DUI, 10th & 11th convictions. Awaits prosecution on 12th & 13th offenses.

Thanks to all the readers, commenters and tipsters.

Woman Accused of Child Rape

(Bristol, Tennessee) A 42-year-old Abingdon VA woman, Gwendolyn D. Hagerman, was arrested this week for allegedly raping her live-in girlfriend’s young daughter at least 11 times in three years.

Hagerman lived in a Bristol trailer park with her girlfriend and the middle-school-aged daughter from 2003 to 2007.

Hagerman has been indicted on 10 counts of rape of a child and one count of statutory rape.

Police said the assaults began when the girl was 11 years old. The statutory rape charge stems from an incident that occurred after the child’s 13th birthday.

Bristol Tennessee Police Capt. Charlie Thomas said the department began investigating the case in May 2008, when the state Department of Children’s Services became involved.

The girl and her mother had moved away from Bristol in 2007, he said. Some time later, Hagerman wrote the child a letter that was intercepted by her mother, who claims to have had no knowledge of the attacks. The letter did not specify a sexual relationship, but its romantic nature aroused suspicion. So the mother started asking questions, and discovered that Hagerman had “bragged” about incidents with her daughter to people in their Bristol, Tenn., neighborhood, Thomas said.

Officers tracked down those neighbors during their 18-month-long investigation.

Hagerman is being held without bail.

Interaction between genes and culture


The explanation offered in the article excerpted below for the correlation between genes and culture is highly speculative and need not detain us. What is interesting is the demonstration that there is a genetic influence on behavioural traits that have clear political importance. There is plenty of existing research to show that genetic inheritance has a large influence on political orientation but the research below goes one step further by identifying specific genes that appear to be involved.

The findings fit well with what we already know: People with genes that promote negative emotions tend to live in authoritarian societies such as China and it is Leftists who build such societies. Leftists everywhere promote big government. And Leftists are also full of the premier negative emotion: Hate. They hate a great range of what is in the world about them. And people with the opposite genetic pattern are happier and therefore more likely to be spontaneous individualists -- as in the USA. Many surveys have shown conservatives to be much happier than Leftists overall

Culture, not just genes, can drive evolutionary outcomes, according to a study released Wednesday that compares individualist and group-oriented societies across the globe. Bridging a rarely-crossed border between natural and social sciences, the study looks at the interplay across 29 countries of two sets of data, one genetic and the other cultural.

The researchers found that most people in countries widely described as collectivist have a specific mutation within a gene regulating the transport of serotonin, a neurochemical known to profoundly affect mood. In China and other east Asian nations, for example, up to 80 percent of the population carry this so-called "short" allele, or variant, of a stretch of DNA known as 5-HTTLPR.

Earlier research has shown the S allele to be strongly linked with a range of negative emotions, including anxiety and depression. Critically, it is also associated with the impulse to stay out of harm's way.

By contrast, in countries of European origin that prize self-expression and the pursuit of individual over group goals, the long or "L" allele dominates, with only 40 percent of people carrying the "S" variant.

The study, published in Britain's Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, offers a novel explanation as to how this divergence might have come about. Setting aside discredited ideas linking genetics and race, the researchers suggest that culture and genes may have interacted over time to shape the process of natural selection, helping individuals -- and the societies in which they lived -- to survive and thrive.

More here

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

A-Rod the Centaur

Game 3 of the 2009 World Series is scheduled for today. The Yankees are at the Phillies with the series tied at a game each. First pitch at 7:57 PM.

Most handicappers are saying the Yankees will win in 6 or 7 games. Yankee pitching and the bat of Alex Rodriguez are cited as the winning combination. We'll see. I'm rooting for the Phillies.

Speaking of A-Rod, I saw this interesting bit of sports-figure dating trivia.

A former Rodriguez fling remembers seeing portraits of the slugger, 34, as a centaur hanging over his bed.

"He was so vain," his ex tells Us Weekly. "He had not one, but two painted portraits of himself as a centaur. You know, the half man, half horse figure?"

Adds the ex, "It was ridiculous."

Heh. You can pack a lot of ego into a Yankees uniform.

Web Attacks in Sweden

(Stockholm, Sweden) Authorities are in the dark about who caused two targeted DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks on media and police websites on Thursday. Shutdown of Swedish IT service provider Basefarm's client, Adeprimo, was a specific goal.

"Normally, a website with relatively high traffic will receive around 800 requests per second," said Basefarm CEO Sara Murby Forste in a statement. "During the attack on Adeprimo, we were registering around 400,000 requests per second," she added.

News websites affiliated with the Stampen media group, which uses Adeprimo's media platform, were among those hardest hit. These include main Gothenburg newspaper Göteborgs-Posten, whose site was inaccessible from early morning until lunchtime on Thursday.

Basefarm said it did not receive any warning or threat prior to the attack. The company is preparing to submit a report to the police and is continuing an internal investigation into the attack.

"We know from the nature of the attack that they possess a lot of knowledge. This took place in a planned manner, outside Europe, and with serious force," said Basefarm's technical manager Stefan Månsby.

"There is much to suggest that the traffic came from Asia and the United States. It could well be Asian, bouncing via the US."

A second attack later in the day knocked out the website of the Swedish police, which was down for a couple of hours hours in the late afternoon.

Police IT experts believe the two attacks are almost certainly linked.

Authorities continue to investigate.

Obama Dumps HIV Visitor Travel Restriction

Final rules will be formalized on Monday to lift the two-decade-old travel ban on people with HIV from entering the United States. President Obama made the announcement earlier today.

Must not mention that young people often enjoy taking risks



We read:

"The possibility of death is what makes the Duke of Edinburgh Award popular, Prince Edward said yesterday while commenting on an Australian schoolboy's agonising death while lost in the bush. Edward's comments have made him a target for the British press who are comparing him to his gaffe-prone father, Prince Philip.

In an interview with The Australian yesterday Prince Edward was asked about Sydney schoolboy David Iredale, who died in December 2006 in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Iredale was on a bushwalk he undertook without supervision as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award, a program that rewards young people for doing outdoor challenges.

The Queen's youngest son who is seventh in line to the British throne and chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, said the scheme remains popular because it offers the possibility of deadly danger.

The Prince said he was not aware of the circumstances of the Iredale case, but recounted that when a young man died while participating in a Duke of Edinburgh activity in Britain in the program's early years, interest in the scheme soared. "All the trustees were convinced that (the boy's death) was the end of it, that it would never go any further," Prince Edward said. "And Lord Hunt, the man who masterminded the first successful ascent of Everest and was first director of the award, said: 'No, no, no, do nothing ... Just wait and see."'

The prince recalled that, in the days following the death, the number of inquiries from young people wanting to learn more about the award and how they could get involved skyrocketed. "And he (Lord Hunt) said, 'There you go, that's typical young people'," Prince Edward said.

Source

The same thing happens when a tourist gets eaten by a crocodile in Northern Australia: Tourism enquiries soar.

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Anti-Psychotic Drugs Make Kids Fat

A study by New York researchers found that prescribing Abilify, Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa to children leads to rapid, substantive weight gain. The drugs are used for children displaying symptoms of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, attention deficit disorders and other behaviour problems.

Appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the study involved 205 New York City children between the ages of 4 and 19.

Researchers are uncertain why the drugs cause weight gain but acknowledge that they have a sedation effect which makes the kids less active.

Is it possible that administration of veg-out drugs to children is a contributor to the presumed child obesity crisis? Makes sense to me. Dope the kids and put them in front of a computer or television and let them munch comfort foods all day long. Of course, they're going to get chunky.

One has to wonder how the world was able to function prior to psychologists discovering all these disorders which now need to be treated.

CNN's Lou Dobbs in Crosshairs

A vicious campaign of hatred has targeted Lou Dobbs of CNN. It's now reported that someone fired a gunshot at his house. Full story and video here.

Detroit FBI Raid Nets Teacher

(Detroit, Michigan) A physical education teacher at A.L. Holmes Elementary School, Garry Laverne Porter (aka Mujahid), was arrested by the FBI in this week's roundup of Islamist radicals. Porter is charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes and possession of firearms or ammunition by a convicted felon.

He was one of eight men taken into custody Wednesday, accused of being part of a group that calls itself Ummah and aims to establish a separate Islamic nation within the United States.

The federal complaint says the group committed crimes, including theft and smuggling. The group’s leader, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, was killed in a shootout during Wednesday’s raids, federal officials said.

Porter has been suspended from his teaching position without pay.

By the way, according to this page, it's not uncommon to find convicted felons in Michigan schools.

[Add.] Interestingly, according to this report, CAIR has weighed in.

Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Affairs, said that members of the Muslim community were "shocked" at Abdullah's death.

"He was well-known and respected. No-one that I have talked has said that he was linked to any sort of extremist groups, overseas or here at home," he told Al Jazeera.

"I do not have any knowledge as to the veracity of the allegations [against Abduallah and his 10 followers] but if the allegations are true, what does that have to do with Islam or Muslims?

"The charges that have been filed against the 11 suspects have no relation or linkage to their religion - they are gun charges. We resent the fact that the FBI has linked religion to these gun charges."

That settles it, I guess. The FBI raid of radical Islamists had nothing to do with religion. It was all about criminal gun offenses.

Funny, eh? When Islamists get popped, it's never about Islam.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Georgia School Bus Driver Accused of Sex with Student

(Fulton County, Georgia) A 22-year-old bus driver for the Fulton County School District, Jacqueline Connally, has been accused of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 10th-grade Langston Hughes High School student.

Authorities were alerted to the relationship by a another student.

Connally faces a charge of sexual assault.

According to Allison Toller, a school district spokeswoman, Connally was fired after the relationship became known. Allegedly the relations occurred when Connally was 21 years old and the male student was 16.

Connally was arrested at her apartment last night and booked into the Fulton County Jail. She was released earlier today on $20,000 bond.

FL: Home Depot fired him for wearing “religious” pin


We read:

"A Florida man says he was fired from his job at The Home Depot for wearing an American flag pin that said ‘One nation under God, indivisible.’ Trevor Keezer, 20, said he had worn the button ever since he started working at the home improvement retailer 19 months ago. He said it was his way of supporting U.S. troops, the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. Keezer, whose brother Army Spc. Steven Keezer Jr. is set to return to Iraq in December, said none of his supervisors had anything negative to say about the pin until last month when he began bringing his Bible to work, the paper reported.”

Source

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Medication Made Woman Have Sex with Boy - Updated

(Grove City, Pennsylvania) Thirty-three-year-old Tammy Lynn Woodley has been convicted and sentenced for statutory sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor stemming from engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy. In her defense, Woodley told Common Pleas Judge John C. Reed that prescription medication made her commit the offenses.

“So, essentially the main responsibility for this is the medication, not you?” asked a somewhat incredulous Miles K. Karson Jr., assistant district attorney.

“Essentially, yes,” Woodley replied. She said she does not think she ever would have slept with the boy or been involved in other petty criminal cases if not for the meds. “My mind was not clear,” she said.

As a result of Woodley's medication-caused child sex crime, Judge Reed sentenced her to 6 to 12 months in the Mercer County Jail and 16 years of probation. Woodley was also ordered to register as a sex offender in accordance with Megan's Law.

* * * * *
Pennsylvania Woman Accused of Sex with Boy, 14
[Previous 12/19/08 post]
(Grove City, Pennsylvania) A married, 32-year-old Pine Township woman, Tammy Lynn Woodley, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy after she picked him up from school.

Woodley has been charged with statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

The boy's father reportedly alerted authorities.

Mrs. Woodley and the boy were acquainted through one of her relatives and their relationship developed to the point that Mrs. Woodley’s husband once commented the two of them acted like “two teenagers in love.”

Mrs. Woodley started picking the boy up at school in September. “We would usually go for a ride. ... go to the park, or go for a walk,” she said. The boy said they shared a few kisses and they talked about getting serious, but both recognized the age difference.

On Oct. 27, Mrs. Woodley said “things got a little out of hand and against my better judgment, one thing led to another and we had sex.”

“After it was all done, remorse set in and I realized what had just happened. After that I took him home,” she said.

Woodley was booked into custody and later released on bond.

In another report about Woodley, she was arrested in July 2008 on theft and drug possession charges. She allegedly stole 70 pain pills.


[Update 2/20/09]

Tammy Lynn Woodley was rearrested for violating the terms of her release by contacting her victim.

As part of the case, she was not to contact the boy, police said.

On Feb. 10, the boy and his father told police that the boy had received a letter from Woodley. It was given to him by Woodley’s 8-year-old son on a school bus.

Police said Woodley had used her son to deliver other letters to the victim.

Woodley faces a new charge of intimidation of a witness or victim. She was released from custody under a new bond amount of $10,000.

California Teachers Sentenced - Updated

(Modesto, California) Former teachers Amy and Justin Northcutt were sentenced yesterday in accordance with the terms of an arguably generous plea agreement.

 
Amy & Justin Northcutt
Early this month, the Northcutts pleaded no contest to a felony seduction of a minor charge.

The husband-and-wife defendants, Amy and Justin Northcutt, will serve two and three months in jail, respectively, under the terms of the plea deal.

The Northcutts must register as sex offenders, attend sex offender counseling and stay away from the victim.

Both are set to surrender to jail by the end of November.

It's astonishing that punishment wasn't harsher for attempting to lure a 16-year-old student for sexual acts. Let's not forget that, in the end, we have two teachers who conspired to prey on a student for sex. I contend that each of them should have received a cold, hard, years-long stretch in the big house. (h/t WW)

* * * * *
California Teachers Guilty of Soliciting Girl - Updated
[Previous 10/3/09 post]
(Modesto, California) Former teachers at Turlock Christian School, Amy and Justin Northcutt, pleaded no contest yesterday in Stanislaus County Superior Court to attempting to seduce a 16-year-old girl for sex.

In exchange for their pleas to felony harmful matter sent with intent of seduction of a minor, Amy Northcutt will receive two months in jail and Justin Northcutt will receive three months in jail.

According to the plea agreement, the Northcutts will be ordered to register as sex offenders, attend (not complete) sex offender counseling and stay away from their victim.

The Northcutts will be eligible to have their charges reduced to misdemeanors after three years on probation. [...]

If the charges were reduced, the Northcutts would no longer be required to be registered as sex offenders, said Amy Northcutt's attorney, Bob Chase.

Although it's not explained why Amy gets less jail time than Justin, the plea deal appears quite generous. (h/t Lame)

* * * * *
Teachers Accused of Molesting Girl
[Previous 7/30/08 post]
(Turlock, California) In early June, two teachers at Turlock Christian School, Amy and Justin Northcutt, were arrested for sending sexually explicit cell phone messages and photos to a 16-year-old female student to arrange a session of group sex. Amy, 26, and Justin, 27, are married.

They are accused of sending messages and photos to arrange group sex with the girl, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Royjindar Singh.

The Northcutts are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 3.

The district attorney's office could not specify what charges they will face, and the court did not yet have information Tuesday on the charges.

The Northcutts were arrested June 2 on suspicion of distribution or exhibition of lewd material to a minor and annoying or molesting a child under 18, Singh said.

Amy Northcutt was the girl's high school history teacher. Justin Northcutt was a substitute teacher at Turlock Christian's junior and senior high schools.

Both Northcutts were booked into custody and later released on bail. Amy's bail was $10,000 while Justin's was $25,000.


[Update 12/20/08]

A pretrial hearing was postponed until February because Amy Northcutt recently gave birth. (h/t Stilgar)

Must not suggest that Hispanics eat tacos

We read:

"ESPN broadcaster Bob Griese has been suspended one week for a remark he made about NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya. ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz says Griese will not be working a game this week.

Krulewitz says ESPN has spoken to Griese and "he understands the comment was inappropriate." During ESPN's broadcast of the Minnesota-Ohio State game Saturday, a graphic was shown listing the top five drivers in NASCAR's points race. Fellow analyst Chris Spielman asked where was Montoya, who is Colombian. Griese replied he was "out having a taco."

He has twice apologized on air for the remark.

Source

I am quite fond of a good taco so I don't see what is derogatory about it -- but I am obviously obtuse. I clearly don't have the fine-tuned sensibilities of a Leftist -- fine-tuned sensibilities that see no problem with horrors such as abortions or the mass slaughters by the Communists

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Women Banned from Wearing Pants

(Aceh, Indonesia) Effective January 1, 2010, a law in Aceh Province bans women from wearing pants, slacks, jeans and trousers. Police will patrol with scissors to cut the pants off of any woman in violation of the law.

Women wearing jeans and other trousers in West Aceh will now face sharia police, as will clothes vendors selling slacks for women.

West Aceh Regent Ramli M.S. issued the controversial regulation on Tuesday.

Those found wearing tight trousers, such as jeans, will have them cut by sharia police, and will be forced to wear loose-fitting attire.

"We have issued the regulation to further enforce Islamic sharia granted by the central government," Ramli told The Jakarta Post by phone on Tuesday.

To anticipate the huge number of slacks to be cut by police during raids, the West Aceh regency administration has prepared around 7,000 long skirts, which will be provided for free to those caught wearing trousers.

Women in the province are not happy.

Queens NY Cabbie Indicted in Terror Support Case

(New York City) According to the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, a Queens cab driver originally from India, 45-year-old Patrick Nayyar (right), was indicted yesterday on charges of attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, the Shi'ite Iranian-backed U.S.-designated terrorist group based in Lebanon.

Another man whose whereabouts are unknown, 43-year-old Conrad Mulholland, was indicted on the same charges. Mulholland is believed to be in England.

According to the indictment, the men agreed to sell weapons, ammunition, vehicles, bullet-resistant vests and night vision goggles to an FBI informant they believed was a member of Hezbollah.

Nayyar appeared in Manhattan federal court and pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that included conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization as well as illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

He faces up to 80 years in prison on a combined total of the maximum of each of the five charges.

"The government is going to have real difficulty demonstrating any terrorist links," said Nayyar's lawyer, Martin Schmukler, who called the terrorism charges "overblown" and disputed a claim by authorities that his client was an illegal immigrant.

Nayyar was arrested on September 24 at his home in New York on separate firearms charges that were dropped. U.S. authorities said an alleged accomplice, British citizen Conrad Stanisclaus Mulholland remains at large in Britain, but Schmukler said he is being detained there.

Notably, Mr. Nayyar was trumpeted as a hero in a 2007 incident where he stopped another cab from putting a passenger's life in danger. Presumably, his good deed won't carry much weight if he goes to trial on charges he tried to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

Nayyar will be detained pending trial. A court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate is scheduled for November 3.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Fiddling with Fido

(Powhatan County, Virginia) Five Virginia Department of Corrections K-9 dog handlers-in-training face charges stemming from alleged inappropriate behavior involving sexual manipulation of a dog.

The five officers have been preliminarily charged with animal cruelty and face court dates in November and December.

It's not clear what the officers were doing with or to the dog. Understandably, reporters are reluctant to be graphic. However, the entire inappropriate episode is reportedly caught on videotape.

Video at the link contains the local news report.

Bad News Browns



It's a dismal year for football fans in Cleveland.

Photo from Scott. Tipped by Charley Nestor.

Boy Gets Dad Arrested

(Dayton, Ohio) A seven-year-old boy told his school counselor that his daddy was growing marijuana in the basement of his home. Police were dispatched to the home and found a marijuana grow operation and four pounds of pot.

The father, Oliver McGuire, was arrested and booked into custody. He faces drug charges.

Teacher Gets 45 Days for Sex with Student - Updated

(Kinston, North Carolina) Jones Senior High School teacher Shebana Rajput, 36, has been sentenced.

Rajput was sentenced in Lenoir County Superior Court to 10 to 12 months in the Department of Corrections, which was suspended to 36 months probation.

She will also have to pay a $10,000 fine for the sexual activity with a student charge.

She will serve a 45-day sentence in the N.C. Department of Corrections, which will begin today, for the one count of sex offense with a student.

Rajput was also ordered to register as a sex offender and to have no contact with her victim. It's unknown whether Rajput will keep her teaching credentials.

* * * * *
Teacher Guilty of Sex with Student - Updated
[Previous 9/1/09 post]
(Lenoir County, North Carolina) Earlier today, 36-year-old teacher Shebana Rajput pleaded guilty to sex with a student.

The student, who was 17 at the time of the events, told investigators Rajput hired him to clean up her Kinston home’s yard during March 2007. Rajput allegedly told the boy the only way to clean the gutters was to access them through her upstairs bedroom window.

Inside her room, she lured him onto the bed, where she proceeded to have sex with him. The boy told police Rajput said he owed her because she was paying for him to work.

The boy told police of several other instances of sexual intercourse and oral sex elicited by Rajput in the weeks that followed. He said Rajput bought him a cell phone, car, expensive gifts and money in the process.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 28.

* * * * *
Teacher Arrested for Multiple Sex Offenses
[Previous 6/10/08 post]
(Lenoir County, North Carolina) A teacher at Jones Senior High School, Shebana Rajput, was arrested yesterday for the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old student.

Rajput has been charged with eight counts of sexual activity with a student and one count of sex offense with a student.

According to a news release, Lenoir County Sheriff's investigators were contacted May 23 by Jones County authorities regarding an investigation of sexual assault by a teacher with a 17-year-old student, who attended Jones Senior High.

The incidents took place at Rajput's home, the news release said, which is why Lenoir County authorities got involved.

County authorities said in the news release that between the months of March and May, nine separate incidents of sexual activity with the student were indentified.

Rajput was booked into custody with bond set at $100,000.

Debra Lafave Seeks Contact with Kids

Arguably the teacher-student sex story with the longest legs has been the adventures of Debra Lafave, who was initially arrested more than five years ago. Lafave had mixed it up with a 14-year-old boy in a variety of ways, ultimately being prosecuted in two different Florida counties.

In 2006, Lafave was sentenced in Hillsborough County Court to a hand slap -- no jail, only three years house arrest and seven years probation. The terms of probation included no unsupervised contact with any child under 18 years of age.

In December 2007, Lafave violated her probation and was arrested for spending time with a 17-year-old female co-worker at a restaurant. She was allowed to slide on the isolated incident. However, the arrest was a reminder that her behavior was being monitored.

In the story's latest development, Debra Lafave has completed a sex offender therapy program and has filed a motion to amend the terms of her probation to allow contact with "a limited number of children of family and friends" with their parents' permission. Hillsborough Circuit Judge Wayne S. Timmerman will rule on the motion later this week.

Critics Say Obama "Too Nice"

It's reported that critics say President Obama is too nice to make tough decisions. Unfortunately, the critics are not identified by name, age, hair color, demographic group or anything else for that matter. I suggest it's by choice since the critics don't want any Chicago-style influence teams showing up on their doorsteps.

In any event, indecision is a decision, usually implemented by the timid. Being indecisive and being nice are apples and oranges.

Furthermore, if Obama were too nice he would finish last -- or so I'm led to believe. Nice guys finish last is a mantra which obviously doesn't apply to Obama. Remember, he won the hearts of the American people and the world. Obama came in first, therefore, he's not nice.

Big One That's Lurking

(Queensland, Australia) One surfer remarked that he's heard of the big one that's lurking.

A 'MONSTER' great white shark measuring up to 6 metres long is prowling a popular beach after biting another great white almost in half.

Swimmers were warned to stay out of the water off Stradbroke Island after the shark mauled another smaller great white which had been hooked on a baited drum line.

Queensland beaches are protected from sharks by nets and a series of baited hooks (drumline) about 500 yards out. Unfortunately, the protection may be reduced since environmentalists are loudly complaining to the government about the nets capturing whales and turtles.

Mr. Darren Kindleysides, a marine conservationist, and Vic Hislop, a shark expert, acknowledge that the nets are effective but suggest removal to protect the whales, dolphins and turtles. Not mentioned is that removal of the nets would be dangerous to the public and cause a drop in tourism revenue on the Sunshine Coast. Only an idiot would knowingly go into shark-infested waters.

I can't help but have a memorial thought for the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (CA-35), sunk by a Japanese torpedo in shark-infested waters. About 900 sailors made it into the water. About 600 were eaten by sharks before rescuers arrived.

Scientologists Convicted of Fraud

(Paris, France) The Church of Scientology has been fined 600,000 euros ($900,000) by a Paris court for organized fraud. Four church leaders were given suspended prison sentences. Notably, the church avoided expulsion from the country.

The ruling of fraud hinged on Scientology’s use of its “E-meter” on people it was seeking to recruit into the church. The E-meter measures resistance to electrical current in the human body and is operated by a church official known as an auditor.

Scientologists say that this reading of electrical currents can provide a measure of “spiritual duress” and help people improve the quality of their life by coming to understand and ridding themselves of alien entities known as “body thetans” that have attached themselves to the subject.

This use of the device is scientifically and medically unproven, and the court found in the plaintiffs’ favor that the E-meter results were used to sell vitamins and other merchandise and services to the two plaintiffs.

Travelers entering France with attached body thetans are forewarned that treatment and removal will not be possible in the country.

Hillary gets it right

Rejects Muslim efforts to get criticism of their religion banned

"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has come out strongly against laws around the world that make religious defamation a crime, saying freedom of speech and religion should be equally upheld. "Some claim that the best way to protect the freedom of religion is to implement so-called 'anti-defamation' policies that would restrict freedom of expression and the freedom of religion," she said on presenting a department report on religious freedom.

"I strongly disagree. The United States will always ... stand against discrimination and persecution ... But an individual's ability to practice his or her religion has no bearing on others' freedom of speech," Clinton said.

"The protection of speech about religion is particularly important since persons of different faith will inevitably hold divergent views on religious questions. These differences should be met with tolerance, not with the suppression of discourse," she added.

In a draft resolution adopted last month by the UN Human Rights Council, Egypt and the United States raised concerns over the rise of "negative racial and religious stereotyping of religions and racial groups" around the world. The resolution, which the European Union and Latin America criticized for touching on the thorny issue of religious defamation, "condemns ... any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence".

Source

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Washington Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Boy

(Port Orchard, Washington) In April 2009, a 34-year-old Bremerton woman, Jennifer M. Dibley, was accused of engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy. The discovery of intimate text messages led to charges of third-degree rape. In September, Dibley pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree child rape.

Yesterday in Kitsap County Superior Court, Jennifer Dibley, now 35, was sentenced by Judge Sally Olsen to 14 months in prison.

In court, Dibley was contrite, accepted responsibility for her actions and pledged to lead a productive life once she's released from prison.

Beef and Tomatoes at Turnpike Plaza

(Weston, Massachusetts) Three tractor-trailers and a car crashed at a Massachusetts Turnpike toll plaza yesterday morning. One truck was hauling swinging beef, one was loaded with tomatoes and the third had paper goods. The car was carrying a driver.

One of the tractor trailers struck a tollbooth at the Weston Tolls on the eastbound side at around 2:30 a.m. Monday. A tollbooth operator was inside the building during the crash, but escaped without any injuries. [...]

The car involved was wedged underneath one of the tractor trailers. The driver of that car was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

It took about eight hours to clear the toll plaza and restore traffic flow.

Windows 7 Comparison Price

Trying to erase the bad memory of the Vista operating system, Microsoft recently launched Windows 7 with considerable publicity and even greater expectations. It remains to be seen whether Windows 7 is a success or just another Vista-sion turned sour.

In any event, according to IndiaTimes, copies of Windows 7 are quite affordable.

Windows 7 has been openly available in China's grey market for over a month now. Shopkeepers in Shanghai’s Xinyang market are said to be offering all versions of Windows 7, in both Chinese and English for just 20 yuan ($2.93). This compares with the list price of up to $320.

I'm guessing you could get the price down to $2.50 with a little haggling.

Woman Arrested on B&E to Watch Television

(Jersey City, New Jersey) A 30-year-old Jersey City woman, Crystal Kelly, was arrested early Saturday morning for allegedly breaking and entering a residence, apparently to sit and watch television.

Responding officers found Kelly at 1:40 AM in front of the home along with the 56-year-old resident and his wife.

The husband, who had scratch marks on his chest and bruises on his face, told police his 16-year-old heard someone in the house and when he went downstairs he found Kelly sitting in the living room watching television.

When he took hold of Kelly's wrist to put her out she attacked him, grabbing objects and striking him in the head with them, reports said. His wife was also attacked before the family was able to get Kelly out the house, reports said.

Kelly faces charges of aggravated assault, burglary and criminal mischief.

Kelly was booked into custody at the Hudson County Jail. No bail has been set since Kelly has previous pending charges and she was out on bail when allegedly committing the latest offense.

Three Jailed in Murder-for-Hire Plot

(Akron, Ohio) A 20-year-old local woman, Taylor Marks, has been arrested along with two men stemming from a murder-for-hire plot to kill Marks' mother, Kristie Marks.

Akron police Lt. Rick Edwards says 58-year-old Kristie Marks was stabbed multiple times in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Springdale Street, around 8:00 Saturday night.

Edwards says 19-year-old Troy Purdie is in jail on a charge of aggravated murder, but he says he didn't work alone.

Marks' daughter Taylor can be heard on the frantic 911 call.

"My mom has been stabbed in the parking lot. She was picking me up from my boyfriend's house," Taylor Marks cries to the dispatcher. A moment later, her boyfriend, Brian Smith is heard on the call.

"He pushed her off of this wall thing, he proceeded to stab her. I went to jump down and he tried to cut me and then he ran up the street. I chased him," Smith says.

But Lt. Edwards says it was all a ploy. He says the two orchestrated the entire thing, offering Troy Purdie $5,000 to kill Kristie Marks.

Purdie is in jail charged with aggravated murder. Marks and Smith are also in jail charged with complicity to commit aggravated murder.

OUCH!

My granddaughter, Ashley is a recent college grad. She drives a flashy hybrid car, wears all the latest fashions, and loves to go out to nightclubs and restaurants. Ashley campaigned hard for Barack Obama. After the election she made sure I (and all other Republican family members) received a big I told-you-so earful on how the world is going to be a much better place now that her party is taking over.

Having lost both roommates, Ashley recently ran short of cash and cannot pay the rent (again) on her 3 bedroom townhouse. Like she has done many times in the past, she e-mailed me asking for some financial help. Here is my reply:

Sweetheart,

I received your request for assistance.

Ashley, you know I love you dearly and I’m sympathetic to your financial plight. Unfortunately, times have changed. With the election of President Obama, your grandmother and I have had to set forth a bold new economic plan of our own…”The Ashley Economic Empowerment Plan.” Let me explain.

Your grandmother and I are life-long, wage-earning tax payers. We have lived a comfortable life, as you know, but we have never had the fancier things like European vacations, luxury cars, etc. We have worked hard and were looking forward to retiring soon. But the plan has changed. Your president is raising our personal and business taxes significantly. He says it is so he can give our hard earned money to other people. Do you know what this means, Ashley? It means less for us, and we must cut back on many business and personal expenses.

You know the wonderful receptionist who worked in my office for more than 23 years? The one who always gave you candy when you came over to visit? I had to let her go last week. I can’t afford to pay her salary and all of the government mandated taxes that go with having employees. Your grandmother will now work 4 days a week to answer phones, take orders and handle the books. We will be closed on Fridays and will lose even more income to the Wal-Mart.

I’m also very sorry to report that your cousin Frank will no longer be working summers in the warehouse. I called him at school this morning. He already knows about it and he’s upset because he will have to give up skydiving and his yearly trip to Greenland to survey the polar bears.

That’s just the business side of things. Some personal economic effects of Obama’s new taxation policies include none other than you. You know very well that over the years your grandmother and I have given you thousands of dollars in cash, tuition assistance, food, housing, clothing, gifts, etc., etc. But by your vote, you have chosen to help others — not at your expense — but at our expense.

If you need money now, sweetheart, I recommend you call 202-456-1111. That is the direct phone number for the White House. You yourself told me how foolish it is to vote Republican. You said Mr. Obama is going to be the People’s President, and is going to help every American live a better life. Based on everything you’ve told me, along with all the promises we heard during the campaign, I’m sure Mr. Obama will be happy to transfer some stimulus money into your bank account. Have him call me for the account number which I memorized years ago.

Perhaps you can now understand what I’ve been saying all my life: those who vote for a president should consider the impact on the nation as a whole, and not be just concerned with what they can get for themselves. What Obama supporters don’t seem to realize is all of the money he is redistributing to illegal aliens and non-taxpaying Americans (the so-called “less fortunate”) comes from tax-paying families.

Remember how you told me, “Only the richest of the rich will be affected”? Well guess what, honey? Because we own a business, your grandmother and I are now considered to be the richest of the rich. On paper, it might look that way, but in the real world, we are far from it.

As you said while campaigning for Obama, some people will have to carry more of the burden so all of America can prosper. You understand what that means, right? It means that raising taxes on productive people results in them having less money; less money for everything, including granddaughters.

I’m sorry, Ashley, but the well has run dry. The free lunches are over. I have no money to give you now. So, congratulations on your choice for “change.” For future reference, I encourage you to try and add up the total value of the gifts and cash you have received from us, just since you went off to college, and compare it to what you expect to get from Mr. Obama over the next 4 (or 8) years. I have not kept track of it, Ashley. It has all truly been the gift of our hearts.

Remember, we love you dearly….but from now on you’ll need to call the number mentioned above. Your “Savior” has the money we would have given to you. Just try and get it from him.

Good luck, sweetheart.

Love, Grandpa

SOURCE


Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Petition for Higher Taxes

(Berlin, Germany) On Wednesday of last week, a small group of wealthy Germans held a rally in the Tiergarten Park in Berlin to gather support for a wealth tax to aid the nation in the recession. Concurrently, a web petition campaign was launched and heralded to gather supporters.



Rich Germans throw fake banknotes during pro-tax rally
The apparent leader of the group, 66-year-old retired doctor Dieter Lehmkuhl, wants the government to put a five percent surtax on individuals worth more than €500,000 ($750,000). Supporter and fellow rich person Peter Vollmer, 69, is all gung-ho for the idea, remarking that he has a lot of money he doesn't need.

In summary, a small group of leftist elitists assume that people with a lot of money are amenable to giving it to the government under the auspices that "it's more than I need." Consequently, they have launched a program to raise taxes on the rich (hardly a new idea). Hopes for the horse-loaf idea, however, have been diminished. There was little excitement at the rally.

"It's really strange that so few people came," Vollmer said.

I count six per the photograph and they all look like organizers, not new supporters.

Frankly, I suggest these folks are a bunch of idiots. If they have "too much money," they should just liquidate their assets and send a check to the German Treasury. If it's anything like the U.S. Treasury, they'll keep it. Then Lehmkuhl and Vollmer can scrape to maintain their lifestyles just like everyone else in society and maybe they won't come up with grand tax schemes to fleece other people.

On a different note, I believe that Lehmkuhl, Vollmer and their ilk actually convince themselves that other people desire to pay more taxes. The same psychological quirk was demonstrated a few years ago in Massachusetts when the leftist elite were sure that people would opt to pay more taxes if only the tax form had a box to check which increased the tax rate. However, just like the Germans now, the Massachusetts liberals were wrong. The total number of people willing to pay more taxes was insignificant.

Bottom line -- people who beguile themselves into thinking that other people want to pay more taxes are delusional and in need of serious therapy.

Pakistan's Fake Doctors

(Rawalpindi, Pakistan) This report is disconcerting.

SOME 70,000 quacks with bogus medical degrees are said to be endangering lives across the country. But the recent news of a fake doctors’ recruitment scam at the District Headquarters Hospital in Rawalpindi raises new concerns about the infiltration of such charlatans into our public healthcare institutions.

Several senior health officials have already been arrested for the hiring of at least four people — three of them brothers — whose medical certificates were found to be bogus. One was taken on by the hospital as a neurosurgeon no less.

Even with the nation's population about 176 million, the number of phony Pakistani doctors is unacceptable. Also disturbing is the possibility that bogus doctors from Pakistan may be practicing in other countries.

[Add.] As a data point, a recent report from the Museum of London estimates that there are 7,000 Pakistani doctors practicing in the British National Health Service (NHS).

Iran: Campaign Against Rappers and Satanists

(Tehran, Iran) People are being arrested but, so far, there's no indication as to what punishment results.

Twelve people accused of promoting ‘satanism’ have been arrested in northwest Iran, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

“A number of people in the city of Orumiyeh who engaged in the promotion of ‘satanism’ through underground music and the production of blasphemous video clips were arrested,” the daily Resalat quoted senior police official Kheibar Tiba as saying.

The Islamic Republic said last year it would crack down on “indecent Western-inspired movements” such as rappers and satanists.

Heh.

Obama Burned in Effigy at Quran Protest

(Kabul, Afghanistan) An apparently groundless "false report" of the Quran being insulted by U.S. troops was circulated by the Taliban, prompting a mass protest.

Furious Afghans torched an effigy of US President Barack Obama and hurled stones at police on Sunday during a mass protest over allegations that western troops set fire to a copy of the holy Quran.

A crowd of around 1,000 demonstrators, mainly university students, marched through the streets of Kabul before massing in front of the national parliament building and hurling stones at riot police as well as an armoured vehicle which blocked them from going down one street.

Police responded by firing into the air, dispersing the crowd for a brief period before they massed again.

The demonstrators, almost all men, chanted: ‘Death to America, death to Jews and Christians!’ as they burned an effigy of Obama and a United States flag.

Some wore black ribbons on their foreheads, calling for jihad.

‘We have gathered here to express our disgust towards the American troops and their act of burning and insulting our holy book of Quran,’ Ihsanullah Hakimi, one of the demonstrators, told AFP.

Interestingly, although the masses get all charged up over a false report of Quran burning by U.S. forces, there was no outrage at an incident of actual Quran burning by the Taliban documented last April. Consequently, I suggest that burning of the Quran is an offense where severity is determined by who did the burning.

It's also worth noting that chants of "Death to America" along with torched effigies were experienced during the Bush and previous administrations seemingly despite what policies were adopted. I suggest there should be no expectations that the situation will be any different under the Obama administration.

Columbian Soccer Team Found Dead

(Tachira, Venezuela) Two weeks ago, eleven members of a domestic Colombian football team, Los Maniceros, were kidnapped. They now have been found.

In a shocking discovery, only one member from the eleven bodies found in Tachira, Venezuela has been found alive, meaning that ten members of Los Maniceros have been killed.

Reports indicate that the bodies were riddled with gunshot wounds.

Authorities suspect that the leftist Colombian guerilla group, the ELN, is responsible for the killings.

Georgia Teacher Arrested for Multiple Charges

(Dalton, Georgia) Earlier this month, a 39-year-old elementary school teacher with Dalton City Schools, Amie Gabriel, was arrested for multiple offenses involving alcohol, a controlled substance and a Hummer.

Dalton Police officers initially responded to a hit and run report.

Witnesses told police a woman driving a white Hummer hit two vehicles and left the scene.

Police spotted the Hummer in a nearby parking lot and identified the driver as 39 year-old Amie Gabriel as the driver. Gabriel told police she may have hit the cars but wasn't sure. Damage to her bumper confirmed she was the hit and run driver.

Gabriel lost her balance when police conducted a field sobriety test. She told police she had two margaritas with dinner.

Police also found a bottle of pills in Gabriel's purse that were prescribed to someone else. Gabriel told police she took the pills from a student who was not supposed to have them.

Gabriel continues to teach while the authorities decide what to do.

Carbon "footprints" of animals

In response to a Greenie attack on dogs, a reader writes:

Regarding the carbon footprint of a dog, a rough back of envelope calculation (assuming a linear relation between the size of an animal and its carbon footprint) yields...

...one bison weighing in at a ton is roughly the equivalent of 20 dogs. There were at one time an estimated 60 million bison in the USA, which comes out to 1.2 billion dog/(SUV) equivalents, which is roughly 4 times the present human population of the USA. ...for whatever that might be worth.

One would think the Greenie obsession with death would alert us to their real agenda, killing things. They pretend that having only one child is benign, but such a practice will cause any group practicing it to die out. If I remember correctly, the destruction of a people is called "genocide," regardless of the means employed.

Let's hope the Greenies practice what they preach! --JR

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Islamists Threaten Burundi, Uganda

(Mogadishu, Somalia) The African Union (AMISOM) peacekeeping force of 5,000 has been battling al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab for control of Mogadishu. The conflict has been characterized by roadside bombs, suicide bombs and artillery. Residential and commercial neighborhoods are shelled daily, killing scores of innocents.

Burundi and Uganda have each supplied about 2,500 troops to the AMISOM Mogadishu peacekeeping effort. On Thursday, they were blamed by al-Shabaab for a mortar attack on the capital's Bakara market area which killed at least 30 people. An AMISOM spokesman denied any involvement.



Nevertheless, al Shabaab vowed to retaliate against Burundi and Uganda.

“We shall make their people cry,” Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, al Shabaab’s self-styled governor of Banadir region, which includes Mogadishu, told reporters late on Thursday.

“We shall attack Bujumbura and Kampala ... We will move our fighting to those two cities and we shall destroy them,” he said.

Although better armed and organized than the Islamists, AMISOM has been "unable to do much more than secure the city’s airport, sea port, presidential palace and a few roads in between." AMISOM is waiting for reinforcements promised by several African nations.

Waiting for reinforcements in Mogadishu has a familiar ring to it. Isn't that what the U.S. Army Rangers were doing just before being slaughtered back in the early 1990s?

You know, this would be the perfect place to segue into a generic jab at leaders who sit on their thumbs while troops are pleading for reinforcements. But I won't do that.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

ADL attacks reality

Defamatory to say Jews are good with money?

"In an opinion piece published Oct. 18 by The Times and Democrat newspaper, Bamberg County GOP Chairman Edwin Merwin and Orangeburg County Chairman James Ulmer defended the fiscal policies of U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, by saying he was "like Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves."

"Their apology is a first step, but it doesn't go far enough," said Bill Nigut, ADL Southeast Regional Director. "Stereotypes about Jews' facility with money have survived through generations and have been inculcated into our culture. Mr. Merwin and Mr. Ulmer need to better understand the impact of their words, and how those words will resonate and reinforce anti-Semitism."

Source

It's certainly true that not all Jews are good with money. Otherwise I would not be donating to Israeli charities that help poor Israelis. But Jews as a group are indeed overwhelmingly successful economically. But the ADL are just Leftists who grab any excuse to attack conservatives.

Muslims and Leftists can of course say genuinely abusive things about Jews and the ADL stands silent

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Kentucky Teacher Arrested for Drugs, Child Endangerment

(Lexington, Kentucky) A 38-year-old English teacher at Henry Clay High School, Erica Shannon Cooper, was arrested yesterday near a "known crack house" for alleged drug, alcohol and child endangerment offenses.

Cooper has been charged with endangering the welfare of a minor, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and public intoxication.

According to reports filed in district court, police noticed a black 2001 Nissan Maxima early Friday morning at Fourth and Chestnut streets in a "high drug-sales area." The car sped away when a police cruiser approached.

Police said officers spotted the Nissan a few minutes later near the reported crack house on North Upper. [...]

In a citation filed with the court, officers described Cooper as "manifestly under the influence," with slurred speech, a strong smell of alcohol and acting "very belligerent and combative." [...]

While being booked into the Fayette County jail, Cooper told jail officials she had left her 2-year-old daughter home alone, according to police reports. Officers went to Cooper's apartment on North Limestone, where they found the child. While they were inside the home, the officers noticed "in plain sight a can containing marijuana and a marijuana pipe laying on the kitchen counter," according to the court filing.

Fayette County Schools placed Cooper on suspension. Arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

Teacher Arielle Beck Molestation Case - Updated

(Salt Lake City, Utah) For the time being, it appears the case of Arielle Beck can be put to rest.

Arielle M. Beck, 30, on Thursday entered an "Alford plea" to one count of forcible sodomy, a second-degree felony. This type of plea is not an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgement that prosecutors have sufficient evidence to get a conviction at trial.

As part of the plea bargain, other charges against Beck were dismissed. These include: three counts of forcible sex abuse, all second-degree felonies; child abuse and supplying alcohol to a minor, both class A misdemeanors; and allowing an unlicensed person to drive, a class C misdemeanor.

Third District Judge Michele Christiansen on Thursday put Beck on probation for five years, directed her to register as a sex offender and get any necessary treatment, and gave Beck credit for time already served behind bars.

Beck was previously convicted at trial in 2003, but that was overturned. She was set to begin a new trial on Monday.

Apparently, Beck wasn't thrilled about the idea of facing a jury so she accepted a deal which allows her to walk away from court. (h/t Lame)

* * * * *
Teacher Arielle Beck Molestation Case
[Previous 9/15/07 post]
This report has been carried forward and updated from a previous post (03/06). Scroll down for today's update.

(Salt Lake City, Utah) Former teacher and girls' athletics coach, Arielle M. Beck, 26, was convicted in 2003 of forcible sexual abuse, supplying alcohol to a minor, and stalking. Judge Lyle Anderson sentenced her to three consecutive one-to-15-year terms in prison. Beck has a parole release date of October 24.

Nonetheless, her conviction at the 2003 jury trial is being appealed. According to Beck's attorney, Edward Brass, a reversal of the conviction is warranted based upon bias by Judge Anderson during the trial. Not everyone agrees.

From AttorneyGeneral.Utah.gov:

The Utah Attorney General's Office will ask the Court of Appeals to uphold the conviction of a Moab volunteer teacher and softball coach who engaged in a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student. A jury found Arielle M. Beck guilty of 3 second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse, 1 class-A misdemeanor count of supplying alcohol to a minor and 1 class-A misdemeanor count of stalking.

According to testimony presented at the trial, Beck started "grooming" the student for a sexual relationship in the summer of 2002 shortly after she became the girl's coach in a community softball league. Beck then pursued the relationship while volunteering as a teacher's assistant in the victim's English class. Students and teachers started noticing that the two were having an inappropriate relationship. In addition, the victim's mother discovered love letters and e-mails from Beck to the victim. The victim's mother then secured a restraining order against Beck-an order that was violated by the defendant.

The victim testified at the trial that the relationship was confusing to her and that she had twice attempted to commit suicide. After the trial was over, the victim took her own life.

My take is that Beck probably deserves more, not less, punishment. Also, with parole only months away, it's unclear why the defense would even pursue an appeal. Furthermore, since prima facie evidence indicates that Beck's actions were a contributing factor in the girl's death, it appears that she could be charged with reckless indifference to human life.

Of course, Beck denied the charges against her and claimed the girl made up a story. So, the Court of Appeals will look at it. The victim's mother, Sherilyn Sowell, is obviously not happy. Her daughter is dead and Beck will walk out of prison fairly soon, with or without a reversal.


[Update 05/05/06]

From SLTrib.com:

Citing the trial judge's "obvious error," the Utah Court of Appeals has granted a new trial for Arielle Beck, a volunteer Moab teacher and softball coach who was convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old student.

But prosecuting Beck again may be more difficult because the alleged victim has since committed suicide.

In a ruling handed down Thursday, the appeals court said jurors in Beck's trial in September 2003 may have been unduly influenced by the pointed questions put to Beck by 7th District Judge Lyle Anderson.

Anderson engaged in "prolonged and adversarial questioning" of Beck while she was on the witness stand, according to a unanimous decision written by appellate Judge James Davis.

Sad case, eh?


[Update 09/15/07]

Beck is released.

From SLTrib.com:

The convictions were overturned Aug. 12. Defense attorney Edward Brass on Aug. 28 filed motions in 7th District Court requesting Anderson's recusal, citing bias, and asking for Beck's immediate release, citing the Utah Supreme Court decision.

Judge George Harmond on Thursday ordered Beck's immediate release from jail. Beck, who is free on her own recognizance, must appear for all court hearings and have no contact with witnesses in the case or members of the alleged victim's family.

It's not clear whether Beck will be retried. The primary witness and victim committed suicide, along with her brother.

For those who believe that adult females mixing it up sexually with kids is harmless, please remember this case. Two youths are dead due to a series of events that started with a female teacher engaging in sex with a 14-year-old female student.

Thanks to the several tipsters on this story.

Disgusting Criminal Acts with Little Girls

(Kansas City, Missouri) A 60-year-old local man, James Phillip Edwards, has been accused of drugging little girls and producing child pornography.

Edwards has been charged with one count each of advertising child pornography over the Internet, attempted distribution of child pornography over the Internet and possession of child pornography. The investigation is ongoing.

Authorities began investigating Edwards in May for possession of child pornography on his home computer, according to court records. When investigators confiscated the computer, they found a file called “Consuming the Date Rape Drug,“ which began with an explanation “that the girls would be given a date rape drug in soda and separately with ice cream.“

That file showed three girls sitting on a bed that looked like one in Edwards’ south Kansas City basement, authorities said. Edwards appears in the video giving the girls drinks and what appears to be ice cream, according to court records.

“After the girls are apparently unconscious, a few are depicted naked from the waist down,“ and Edwards then appears in one shot touching one girl’s genitals, investigators said.

Another computer file had a photo collage named “Phil’s Kindergarten Class Ages 4-7” that showed five girls in separate photos lying on the same bed, naked from the waist down. Edwards is shown in one of the photos, according to the court document.

Edwards told investigators in a videotaped interview after his Oct. 14 arrest that “he doesn’t believe that what he has done is wrong,“ according to a motion seeking Edwards’ pretrial detention filed by assistant U.S. attorney Katharine Fincham.

“His view is that society places arbitrary lines (as in age restrictions) around sexual conduct, with which he doesn’t agree,“ Fincham wrote.

Prosecutors said Edwards admitted giving “multiple minor girls” Ambien, a sedative, before making videos of them with their genitalia exposed and that the children ranged in age from 6 to 12. They said he told investigators he spent time spitting on one girl’s face.

Edwards was booked into custody without bond.

Tip: slwlion

A Doubletalk Interpreter

I wonder can you recognize who uses such doubletalk?

* Action (as in "now is the time for action") — big government.

* Balanced and sustained (as in "chart a course for growth that is balanced and sustained") — involving more big government.

* Choice — the opportunity to select big government.

* Competition — we choose who wins.

* Compromise — accepting my position after I give a big speech.

* Cost savings — $900 billion in new spending.

* Create or save (as in "create or save 4 million jobs") — destroy or lose, as in 2 million jobs.

* Engagement — a combination of unilateral concessions and America-bashing abroad.

* Fact (as in, "these are the facts" or "to state a fact") — my opinion.

* Honest debate — agreeing with me.

* Incorporate (as in "incorporate ideas from Republicans") — include in the early stages of a proposal and then have Pelosi and Reid drop like a hot potato behind closed doors in the final version.

* Irresponsible (as in "irresponsible behavior") — constitutionally protected.

* Misinformation — facts, when presented by our opponents.

* Neutrality (as in "net neutrality") — favoring one side in a dispute, especially when that side has supported your campaign and provided a senior White House staff member.

* Necessary (as in "necessary war") — not really that necessary, at least when it comes to backing up your words with required manpower and funding and standing up to your liberal base.

* Negotiations without preconditions — the position I took vis-à-vis our enemies during the campaign, then denied taking, but am now trying to force on the Israelis.

* Nobody (as in "nobody disputes [these facts]") — no liberals or members of the mainstream media.

* Non-profit (as in proposals to establish tax-favored, non-profit status for failing newspapers) — making official a condition that has existed unofficially for years.

* Nothing (as in "nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have") — everything.

* Plan (as in, "the [health-care] plan I am announcing tonight") — a really good speech.

* Respect (as in, "respects the rights of the Israelis and Palestinians" or "the Iranians and North Koreans") — overrun (Israelis) or elevate beyond reason with no expectation of reciprocity (everyone else).

* Responsibility (as in the "responsibility" to buy health insurance or America's "responsibility" to confront global warming) — big government telling people or nations things they have to do. (See "Action" above.)

* Scare tactics — see "Misinformation" above.

* Security (as in "stability and security" in health care or "true security for all Israelis") — you're toast.

* Stand by our friends — desert our friends in order to "engage" with our enemies. (See "Engagement" above.)

Source

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).

Man Picks Jail Over Wife

(Palermo, Italy) A 30-year-old man, Santo Gambino, was given house arrest for dumping construction waste last March. This week, he appeared before a judge for violating his house arrest and he asked for a jail sentence.

Gambino pleaded to go to jail to escape the "non-stop nagging" of his wife.

The judge was less than sympathetic and told Gambino to go home and "try to get along" with the nagging wife.

Frankly, I find this report tough to swallow.

Volunteer Mom Arrested for Sex with Boy Scout

(Fort Worth, Texas) A 33-year-old volunteer mom overseeing a Boy Scout troop, Courtney Lynn Sheward, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 16-year-old Boy Scout.

Sheward faces sex assault charges while police pursue allegations of offenses with at least one other boy.

Her teenage son was a member of the same troop as the scout she is accused of having sex with, police said.

"It was through her involvement as a volunteer parent that she met the 16-year-old male victim and a relationship began," said Fort Worth police Sgt. Chad Mahaffey. "As a result of the relationship, they had nonforcible sex."

Sheward was booted from her position with the Boy Scouts. She was booked into custody with bail set at $25,000.

Court Tosses Craigslist Prostitution Lawsuit

Federal Judge John F. Grady of the Northern District of Illinois has ruled that the Craigslist website cannot be sued for prostitution ads placed by its users.

Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart filed the suit seeking a court order to shut down the adult services section of Craigslist and to be reimbursed for the costs incurred by the Sheriff's Department in policing hookers and johns. The suit was dismissed.

In a 22-page decision, Judge Grady wrote that a provision of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) precludes culpability for any user-supplied ads.

"Craigslist does not 'provide' that information, its users do," Grady wrote. "'Facilitating' and 'assisting' encompass a broader range of conduct, so broad in fact that they include the services provided by intermediaries like phone companies, ISPs, and computer manufacturers. Intermediaries are not culpable for 'aiding and abetting' their customers who misuse their services to commit unlawful acts."

Grady flatly rejected Dart's claim that the the section was nothing more than a prostitution service or that it "induced" people to engage in the illegal trade. A woman offering erotic dancing services to male clients in the w4m, or women for men, section is an adult service that isn't prostitution, Grady wrote.

He went on to say that section 230(c)(1) of the CDA, which prevents websites from being held liable for the postings of their users, "would serve little if any purpose if companies like Craigslist were found liable under state law for 'causing' or 'inducing' users to post unlawful content in this fashion."

In summary, the court ruled that Craigslist cannot be sued for the alleged unlawful conduct of other parties. Furthermore, if Section 230(c)(1) of the CDA applies to blogs, then it appears that individual bloggers can't be held liable for the comments posted by readers.

In any event, a communications law expert should weigh in on the subject for clarification on how the ruling pertains to bloggers.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Attempted Muling of Drugs into Prison

(Hagerstown, Maryland) A prison inmate's acquaintance from Baltimore, Carla Davis, was arrested this week for allegedly attempting to smuggle tobacco and heroin into the Roxbury Correctional Institute (RCI).

Detectives with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Internal Investigative Unit arrested Carla Davis on Tuesday and say she now faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted on several charges including possessing drugs in a place of confinement.

Davis was booked into the Washington County Detention Center with bond set at $15,000.

Woman Pinched for Attempted Smuggling

(Clovis, New Mexico) A 19-year-old local woman, Marina Lopez, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into the Curry County Detention Center.

Lopez faces charges of trafficking methamphetamine, attempt to furnish drugs to a prisoner, conspiracy to traffic controlled substances, abuse of a child, and distribution of marijuana.

Officers arrested her when she showed up at the jail with a two year old child and a three year old child, and reportedly had .5 grams of methamphetamine, 7 grams of marijuana, tobacco and rolling papers.

Lopez was booked into custody at the Curry County Jail with bond set at $105,000.

Boy, when this young lady goes out to ruin her day, she does a bang-up job.