Women With Troubles - May 2010

Reported in news stories during May 2010, 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. Links to month-by-month compilations are displayed on the navigation bar at left.

(CA) Amy Beck, 33,
teacher - Gets two years prison for sex with boy, 14,

(CA) Eraelia Glisson,
softball coach - Gets 32 months prison for child sex, child porn and drug charges,

(CA) Sharon Janelle Souza, 43,
school librarian - Gets probation for sex with boy under 18,

(CA) Janis Thompson, 44,
school worker - Accused of lewd and lascivious conduct with minor boys,

(CA) Dawn Vance-Crum, 45,
teacher - Arrested for being under the influence at school,

(CO) Maria Elena Kennedy, 46,
neighbor - Sentenced to prison or return to Mexico for molesting three little girls,

(CT) Dina McNelis, 49,
teacher - Arrested for flirting with students,

(FL) Lauren S. Tilo, 30,
asst. principal - Accused of sending naked pictures of herself to boy, 14,

(GA) Keenon Aampay Hall, 29,
teacher - Accused of sex with male student, 17,

(GA) Angela Hardee-Williamson, 44,
teacher - Arrested on drugs and weapons charges,

(IL) Nicole R. Jacobsen, 39,
teacher - Accused of molesting boy, 14,

(IL) Kim Krocza, 41,
teacher - Gets probation for giving booze, drugs to two girls, 14,

(IN) Erin Baynard Stewart, 30,
teacher - Accused of sex with boy, 14,

(KY) Ashley Alyson Delaney, 29,
teacher - Fined $200 for possession of pot,

(LA) Rachel Floyd, 26,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 15,

(LA) Sheila Goudeau,
teacher - Sues school for grade policy,

(MD) Candace Pianka, 30,
teacher - Accused of sex abuse of daughter, 13,

(MN) Susan Mwarabu, 30,
teacher - Gets 60 days home monitoring for biting man's ear,

(MN) Rachel Helen Stockwell, 34,
teacher - Accused of sex assault of girl, 15,

(MO) Karen Christine Downs, 44,
neighbor - Pleads guilty to liquoring up girls, ages 13 and 14. Sentencing in July,

(MS) Feneisha Hill,
teacher - Accused of sexual impropriety with two boys, aged 13,

(NC) Susan Cynthia Fassett, 32,
neighbor - Accused of sex crimes against minor,

(NC) Kristen Anne Hammed, 24,
neighbor - Accused of indecent liberties with boy, 14,

(NC) Leslie Marie Troup, 25,
teacher's assistant - Gets no jail for sex with male student,

(ND) Dorothy Oster, 45,
neighbor - Gets 30 days for neglecting children and mistreating sheep,

(NE) Anna Godfrey, 24,
neighbor - Arrested for felony ear-biting assault,

(NJ) Angela Stellwag, 30,
teacher - Gets six years prison for sex with male student, 14,

(NV) Jennifer Gardel, 30,
teacher - Accused of sex with male student, 17,

(OH) Samantha Brewer, 26,
neighbor - Accused of committing burglaries while pregnant,

(OH) Katie Rosenbluth, 34,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 14,

(OH) Ashlie N. Walsh, 26,
neighbor - Accused of smuggling meth and tobacco into jail,

(OK) Michelle Lea Hostler, 40,
teacher - Arrested for shoplifting more than $1,000 of merchandise,

(OR) Melissa Stephens, 56,
educator - Accused of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse of boy, 10,

(PA) Rebecca Ann Harvey, 34,
teacher - Sentenced to probation for corruption of a minor,

(PA) Linda L. Moore, 29,
neighbor - Gets 90 days for letting daughter, 11, drive car.

(SC) Angela Marie Burke, 22,
teacher - Arrested for obtaining prescription drugs by fraud,

(TN) Melissa Jean “Lisa” Leeper,
teacher - Arrested for intoxication in public and violating drug law,

(TN) Tammy Sue Mallory, 35,
neighbor - Accused of smuggling drugs into jail under postage stamps,

(TX) Michelle Reed Daniel, 40,
teacher - Accused of sex with three male students,

(TX) Sheri Lynn Davis, 40,
teacher - Accused of beating the bejeezus out of a boy, 13,

(UT) Camille Teresa Paul, 29,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 17,

(WI) Latanya D. Klyce, 23,
neighbor - Accused of molesting boy, 13,

(WI) Rebecca Prochniak, 32,
teacher - Accused of failing to report child abuse.

Thanks to the tipsters.

Mississippi Teacher Accused of Sex with Boys

(Greene County, Mississippi) A seventh-grade science teacher and girls' basketball coach at Leakesville Junior High School, Feneisha Hill, has been accused of sexual impropriety with two 13-year-old boys.

"I hate it for our county, for the school system and for the families involved, it's just a no win situation for anybody here," said Greene County Sheriff Kevin Fortinberry.

Fortinberry said it happened last weekend when 7th grade science teacher Feneisha Hill allegedly took the two students to Hattiesburg to go bowling and out to eat. After that, Fortinberry said Hill allegedly took the boys to a trailer in the State Line community where she allegedly had sex with one of them. […]

When the allegations came out, Hill was placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

Hill has been charged with misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor, however, the investigation continues and more charges may be forthcoming.

Search aid: Interested-Participant

"We Are Americans"



American exceptionalism is illustrated in this clip. Worth viewing.

Tip: Rita and Eugene

Gruesome Killing in California

(Klamath, California) After allegedly drinking hallucinogenic wild mushroom tea, an American cage fighter, Jarrod Wyatt, reportedly turned into a homicidal wild man who ripped out the still-beating heart from his training partner's chest.

Wyatt allegedly was convinced that his friend, Taylor Powell, 21, was possessed by the devil.

Jarrod Wyatt also cut out Taylor Powell's tongue and ripped off most of his face in a brutal assault that police said looked like a scene from a horror film, officers said.

They claim they found the 26-year-old standing naked over his friend's body with parts, including an eyeball, strewn around the blood splattered room in Klamath, California.

Wyatt allegedly told police he had drunk a cup of tea spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms and became convinced Powell was possessed.

According to an autopsy Powell, 21, bled to death after his heart was ripped out.

The coroner said Powell had been alive when the organ was ripped out after his chest had been sliced open with a knife.

Wyatt told the police he thrown the heart into a fire along with other organs that he had removed from the body, it was claimed.

Wyatt faces charges of first-degree murder and torture.

Tip: slwlion

No global warming processes in Antarctic, says Russian expedition head


(Russia maintains several scientific bases in the Antarctic)

Allegations about global warming processes in the Antarctic have nothing to do with real facts, a Russian polar explorer has said. "They are of opportunistic and time-serving character, and have nothing to do with the real weather and climate on the southern continent," Head of Russia's 54th Antarctic expedition Viktor Venderovich told Itar-Tass.

"The past summer on the south pole was cold and windy, and ice floes in the offshore water failed to melt over the entire season.

"The atmospheric air temperature near the Vostok station deep on the continent reached the customary minus 70 degrees Centigrade in the summer, and near the Novolazarevskaya station it never exceeded minus 6-8 degrees," he said after staying at the Novolazarevskaya station for a year.

The previous winter in the Antarctic, he said, "was remarkable for its unusual severity, with blizzards and snowstorms."

The average air temperature was 0.5 degrees lower than usual, and there were too much snow, he said, adding that a "slight warming was registered only on the Antarctic peninsula, while the rest of the continent has not been affected by the global warning and is not going to be."

SOURCE

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

Court Rules Muslim Prayer Causes School Conflict

(Berlin, Germany) Last year, a Berlin administrative court ruled that a Muslim high school student be granted a private room for his daily prayer sessions. The ruling came about after the student demanded he be granted the right to conduct his prayers at school. The administration had previously told him that he couldn't pray in the hallways.

However, the Berlin education authority appealed the case and a higher Berlin court has now ruled that the original decision be overturned.

On Thursday, the higher court ruled that one pupil's rights could not be put before the good of the group as a whole. It argued that in a school with students of various religious beliefs, neutrality was required to ensure a proper learning environment. […]

The court ruled that a restriction of religious freedom at school was justified in this case in order to protect other constitutional freedoms: These could include the right to religious freedom of other students, the rights of parents and the need for peace in schools.

School administrators are pleased -- for now. It's expected that the ruling will now be appealed to a higher court, the Federal Administrative Court.

Firearms Freedom



Firearms Freedom Act status
From Ammoland:

Alaska became the 8th state to enact a Firearms Freedom Act, the 7th enacted clone of Montana’s original bill, when Alaska Governor Sean Parnell signed HB 186, sponsored by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Fairbanks) today.

In a prepared statement, Rep. Kelly said: “The Alaska Firearms Freedom Act frees Alaskans from overly-bureaucratic and restrictive federal firearm regulation, and allows our state to assume the responsibility for regulation.”

“The Interstate Commerce Clause is used by the federal government to regulate firearms that cross state borders. The Alaska Firearms Freedom Act makes it clear that Alaskans will be responsible for firearms that are made in Alaska, for use in Alaska, and have ‘Made in Alaska’ stamped on them.”

A Motion to Dismiss is pending in federal court in Missoula, Montana. The Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder is trying to stop the trend.

Companion post at GunWatch.

Wisconsin Army Veteran Allowed to Keep Flag on Display after all

The sunlight of publicity works its usual magic

"A Wisconsin Army veteran -- who faced eviction this week for flying the American flag -- will now be allowed to keep the flag up for as long as he wants.

Under mounting nationwide protest, Charlie Price, 28, of Oshkosh, Wis., and officials at Midwest Realty Management struck a "mutual agreement" that allows the veteran to continue displaying the patriotic symbol, according to a statement posted on the company's website on Thursday.

Price and his wife, Dawn, 27, were previously told they had to remove the flag -- which hangs in a window inside the couple's apartment -- by Saturday or face eviction due to a company policy that bans the display of flags, banners and political or religious materials.

"It means the world to me," Price told FoxNews.com. "The way it happened wasn't the right way because the staff members were getting threatened and we didn't want any violence out of this, but I'm glad we did come to a compromise."

Randy Rich, the apartment complex's property manager, told FoxNews.com that Midwest Realty Management received nearly 4,000 e-mails and thousands of phone calls in connection to the controversy.

In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, Midwest Realty Management apologized to Price and all U.S. veterans. "It was never our intention to hurt the Prices or disrespect what Mr. Price and all veterans have sacrificed for each and every one of us," the statement reads.

Source

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

Carla Bruni - Eurotrashy

The First Lady of France, Carla Bruni, was a popular high fashion model before she became the popular wife of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

As a celebrity model, Bruni was often in the public eye and on one occasion in 1996, she appeared on a "Eurotrash" television program during which a videotape was produced.

The video segment recently surfaced on YouTube and was quickly pulled due to its content. In it, Bruni describes several salacious sexual practices in several languages.

Reportedly, the French government worked hard to get the clip removed, primarily because it's filthy and an embarrassment to the French first family.

The clip can be viewed here.

Tip: Barry B

Interstate Suicide

(Las Cruces, New Mexico) On Thursday, a California woman was driving east on Interstate-10 with her nine-year-old daughter as a passenger when the woman pulled out a 9mm pistol and shot herself in the chest. The car coasted to a stop on the shoulder of the road.

Reportedly, the woman and her daughter were going to Oklahoma City to visit the girl's father.

Dennis Hopper b.1936 - d.2010



Popular actor and director Dennis Hopper said his last goodbye. Earlier today he died after losing a battle with prostate cancer. He was 74.

Best Movie Line Ever



Thanks to Rita and Eugene.

Kentucky Teacher Pleads Guilty in Drug Case - Updated

(Lexington, Kentucky) Former teacher and dance coach at Crawford Middle School, Ashley Alyson Delaney, 29, appeared in court yesterday to plead guilty to reduced charges.

Original charges of trafficking a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school, cultivation of more than five marijuana plants and possession of drug paraphernalia were reduced to two counts of possession of marijuana. For her guilty plea, Delaney was fined $200.

The man arrested with Delaney, Jeremy Byard, also had his charges reduced to one count of cultivation of marijuana to which he pleaded guilty. Sentencing in Byard's case wasn't reported.

Delaney resigned her teaching position in April.

* * * * *
Kentucky Teacher Busted for Drugs
[Previous 3/11/10 post]
(Lexington, Kentucky) A 28-year-old language arts teacher at Crawford Middle School, Ashley Delaney, was arrested Tuesday for alleged drug offenses.

She faces charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, trafficking a controlled substance and cultivation of marijuana.

Delaney's arrest came as a result of a search of her home conducted by Lexington Police Tuesday night. Also arrested was a man named Jeremy Byard.

Fayette County Schools suspended Delaney with pay. Reportedly, she has no prior criminal record.

Spanish Town Bans Burqa


(Lerida, Spain) Likely to add fuel to the existing controversy regarding the burqa ban in Belgium and the anticipated ban in France, the Spanish town of Lerida has banned the burqa in public buildings.

The town council voted to prohibit the "use of the veil and other clothes and accessories which cover the face and prevent identification in buildings and installations of the town hall."

The vote, by 23 to one with two abstentions, is the first of its kind in Spain, a country where Islamic veils and the body-covering burqas are little in evidence despite a large Muslim population.

The move is aimed at promoting "respect for the dignity of women and values of equality and tolerance," the town hall said in a statement.

Wow! "Respect for ... equality and tolerance" is near verbatim of what we hear incessantly from the Muslim leaders promoting sharia.

Texas Teacher Accused of Sex with Boys

(Johnson County, Texas) Last month, a 40-year-old math teacher formerly at Wanda Smith High School in Keene, Michelle Reed Daniel, was indicted on charges of improper relationship between an educator and a student and sexual assault of a child.

Keene police began investigating the allegations that Daniel engaged in improper relations with students in January after receiving a tip from a confidential source, Capt. Dean Turk said.

During the investigation, multiple victims said Daniel engaged them in an improper relationship, Turk said in a news release.

Daniel’s indictment charges her with engaging in sexual intercourse with three Keene High School students while she was an employee of the school. The fourth count charges her with sexual assault against one of those boys.

On May 7, Daniel surrendered to the Westover Hills Police for arrest. She was booked and released on $5,000 bond. On Wednesday of this week, Daniel pleaded not guilty to all charges. No trial date has been scheduled.

No Guards in Prison Towers Proposed

(Detroit, Michigan) The Michigan Department of Corrections has proposed cutting costs by eliminating the midnight shift of corrections officers stationed on guard towers at two Detroit prison facilities.

The proposal also includes reducing the number of tower guards during the day. The proposal is obviously controversial since it implies that inmates will be housed on the "honor system" and not attempt to escape after dark.

"Gun towers are part of the safety there for those folks, not only the correctional officers, but everybody working inside there, and they're protection for the prisoners, as well," said Mel Grieshaber.

He is the executive director of the union representing correctional officers. Grieshaber says gun towers can help break up inmate fights, deter escapes and keep contraband out.

Now, union representatives say one of their main fears is someone might actual hide say drugs or weapons inside a pop can and throw it right over the fence so that a prisoner could pick it up the next morning.

"A perimeter vehicle is not enough to stop that kind of thing," Grieshaber said.

However, it might have to as the Department of Corrections looks to trim some $50-million from its budget.

A DOC spokesperson said a decision is expected in about two weeks.

Interestingly, this is the first time I've seen a report that implies that prisons enjoy the luxury of spare corrections officers. All reports and discussions I've seen claimed that there are never enough.

In any event, a reduction of guard presence arguably means there were too many to start with or safety is going to be compromised.

Worth noting

The European financial crisis very cogently explained here by two Australian comedians. The best comedy has a lot of truth in it.




A nice story here about not underestimating people, particularly deaf and doddery old guys.

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
[Video added by mp]

Diaper Arts

(Stratford, Connecticut) You have to hate it when stuff like this happens.

A 41-year old man in a diaper was arrested Tuesday after he asked a grandmother to wipe him, police said.

Thomas Wellington of Vought Place got out of his Ford Bronco at the C-Town Plaza, at 360 Boston Ave., around 4:30 p.m. wearing only diaper and sucking on pacifier, Capt. Kenneth Bakalar said. He approached a woman with three grandchildren and asked her for baby wipes, Bakalar said.

Wellington faces a charge of breach of the peace. Hell, they ought to charge him with intentionally making people ill.

Nevertheless, there is a subset of the population that is attracted to the diaper arts (?) and as long as they don't parade around in public or ask a stranger for a courtesy wipe, it's all legal. Sickening to most but still legal behavior.

Tip: slwlion

Freedom of Speech vs. Workplace Harassment Law -- A Big Free Speech Win in the Ninth Circuit

This case gets a bit long and technical so I will try to summarize:

A math professor by the name of Kehowski sent out a few emails proclaiming the superiority of Western civilization. He sent them to everybody in the internal mail system of his college. He was particularly scornful of official Mexican racism (The "La Raza" concept)

Lots of Hispanics got peeved by that and sued the college for letting Kehowski do it. They had a bit of a win initially but when it went to the 9th circus on appeal, they lost in spades, with the judge saying some rather amazingly pro-free-speech things.

How come? Pretty surprising for the 9th Circus. Color me an old cynic but I am inclined to think that a Polish-American judge might have felt more than usually sympathetic to a Polish-American "offender". Bad of me, I know. We all know how impartial 9th circus judges are.

A few good excerpts from the judgment:

"Their objection to Kehowski's speech is based entirely on his point of view, and it is axiomatic that the government may not silence speech because the ideas it promotes are thought to be offensive"

"The right to provoke, offend and shock lies at the core of the First Amendment.

"We therefore doubt that a college professor's expression on a matter of public concern, directed to the college community, could ever constitute unlawful harassment and justify the judicial intervention that plaintiffs seek"

"It's easy enough to assert that Kehowski's ideas contribute nothing to academic debate, and that the expression of his point of view does more harm than good. But the First Amendment doesn't allow us to weigh the pros and cons of certain types of speech. Those offended by Kehowski's ideas should engage him in debate or hit the "delete" button when they receive his emails. They may not invoke the power of the government to shut him up."

Details here

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

Lovely Lita's Squirrel Rehab

(Tampa, Florida) According to squirrel-lover Karen Clark, owner of Lovely Lita's, "most people consider them vermin but they are so much more than people know."

Unfortunately, the rehab center is strapped for funds so Karen seeks contributions.

Call her nuts, she said, but she just has a soft spot for the creatures.

As you wish, Karen. I think you're nuts.

Teacher of the Year Accused of Sex with Male Student

(Snellville, Georgia) A 29-year-old English teacher, cheerleading coach and elected Teacher of the Year at Shiloh High School, Keenon Aampay Hall, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 17-year-old male student.

An investigative file shows the student, who is a graduating senior and football player, claims Hall gave him gifts and pressured him to get her pregnant.

When he declined, the student's family says Hall gave him a failing grade, prompting him to report the relationship to officials.

"The allegation of the inappropriate behavior came to light because the teacher decreased the student's grade," Gwinnett schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach told AJC.

Hall resigned her teaching position.

* * * * *
[Add.] (Allegheny County, Pennsylvania) Here's another Teacher of the Year in sex crime trouble.

A 58-year-old chemistry teacher at Madison (Ohio) High School, Robert Fickenscher, pleaded guilty to attempted unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a computer stemming from propositioning an undercover agent he thought was a 13-year-old girl on the Internet.

Authorities say Fickenscher sent sexually explicit webcam videos, and tried to entice the girl to meet at a motel near her home, promising to give her wine coolers if she had sex with him.

Investigators say some of the videos showed Fickenscher wearing womens underwear and performing a striptease for the child.

"It's just ridiculous how a 57-year old man is trying to hook up with a 13-year old, like find someone your own age, and you're married, that's just wrong," said former Madison High School student Nicole Bertone. "I never had him, but alot of my classmates loved him."

"Obviously we don't support that type of behavior, nor did anyone here ever dream that he would have done something like that...I think we're truly fortunate that none of our children, upon our investigation, were involved in this," said Madison Schools superintendent Dr. Roger Goudy.

Dr. Goudy said Fickenscher had a clean record and no complaints against him. He was even named Teacher of the Year by the local Walmart two years ago for a rocketry program he conducted.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 27.

Tip: slwlion

Driving Tip



Frankly, I don't think that this manner of texting would be legal in those locations which have banned it.

Furthermore, tongue texting may introduce new hazards when the extended tongue message is misinterpreted. For example, there could be trouble if drivers happen to casually turn their heads just as groups of tattooed motorcyclists or truckloads of union thugs pass them.

Minnesota Woman Accused of Sexual Assault of Girl

(Le Center, Minnesota) In February 2010, a 34-year-old special education assistant with the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown District Middle School, Rachel Helen Stockwell, was arrested for the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old female student.

Stockwell was charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

The victim, who had an IQ equivalent of an 11-year-old, told investigators she had known Stockwell for several years, the criminal complaint said. The girl said they met at school when she was 12 or 13 years old.

At some point, Stockwell started inviting the girl to her home. It was during two of those visits that the assaults allegedly occurred.

During one visit on Feb. 15, Rockwell allegedly kissed the girl on the cheek and left a mark, the complaint said.

On Feb. 17, during another visit, Stockwell allegedly kissed the girl’s breast.

Stockwell was booked into custody at the Le Sueur County Jail with bond set at $35,000.

In the latest development in the case, a plea deal is being worked and a settlement conference is scheduled for June 15.

Profane Plate Complaint



(Manville, New Jersey) Local lady Kim Romano has had the plate for four years, during which she likely traveled more than 50,000 miles throughout New Jersey before encountering the one bioch who complained. Heh.

Outreach to Unhappy Muslims

(New York City) Oh, you just know this reported action will be taken as a racist attack or something.

A conservative activist and the organizations she leads have paid several thousand dollars for the ads to run on at least 30 city buses for a month. The ads point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com, which offers information to those wishing to leave Islam, but some Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda.

Pamela Geller, who leads an organization called Stop Islamization of America, said the ads were meant to help provide resources for Muslims who are fearful of leaving the faith.

"It's not offensive to Muslims, it's religious freedom," she said. "It's not targeted at practicing Muslims. It doesn't say 'leave,' it says 'leaving' with a question mark."

She said the ad buy cost about $8,000, contributed by the readers of her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and other websites. Similar ads have run on buses in Miami, and she said ad buys were planned for other cities.

Faiza Ali, of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the ads were based on a false premise that people face coercion to remain with Islam. She said Muslims believe faith that is forced is not true belief.

"Geller is free to say what she likes just as concerned community members are free to criticize her motives," Ali said.

Geller has a history of speaking out against Muslims, and the ads are "a smoke screen to advance her long-standing history of anti-Muslim bigotry," Ali said.

Geller said she had no problem with Muslims, but was working to "maintain the separation of mosque and state." She is also among those speaking out against the building of a mosque and cultural center near ground zero.

Never a dull day in the city that never sleeps, eh?

dear smokey u r hot

(Buffalo, New York) For dissemination:

"Text-A-Tip" starts at 8 a.m. Wednesday, providing citizens yet another way to provide the Buffalo Police Department information on criminal activity.

Hoping to dial into a generation more comfortable with texting than making anonymous calls to the police telephone TIP-CALL line, Mayor Byron W. Brown and interim Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said Monday that texting tips and sending electronic photos or videos will help make the city safer and build upon a partnership with citizens.

The number to text a tip is 847-2255, the same one for anonymous calls by voice.

Heh.

Government Boob Job Denied

(UK) Arguably, the courts being backlogged with cases like this are the future of America.

A 58-year-old British transsexual Tuesday lost her court battle over the state-funded health service's refusal to pay for a breast enlargement, which she claimed violated her human rights.

Identified only as "C" for legal reasons, the gender identity disorder (GID) sufferer -- referring to people unhappy with their sex -- has been living as a woman for more than a decade.

Her breasts failed to develop sufficiently following hormonal treatment, leaving her in physical and psychological "limbo."

The transsexual, who is from the Reading area west of London, challenged the local National Health Service branch's refusal to pay for breast augmentation surgery, at a cost of £2,300 ($3,300).

West Berkshire Primary Care Trust said it was not an essential part of GID treatment and there was no evidence it would improve her health.

At the High Court in London, Judge David Bean dismissed her claim for judicial review and refused leave to appeal.

The transsexual's government-paid lawyers contended that denial of the government-paid breast enlargement was sex discrimination and a violation of human rights. They asserted it would lead to depression and a risk of self-harm.

It's worth mentioning that there was a somewhat similar case in the U.S. several years ago. An inmate at a New York prison, Mark Brooks, who was doing a life term for murder, claimed he was "a girl inside" and requested that the state fund a sex change and subsequently transfer him to a woman's prison. The cost was estimated to be $500,000. Last I heard, the case was still being adjudicated.

Tip: CNestor

No freedom to sculpt?



Sculpting is surely a form of self expression and many forms of self-expression have been held to be covered as protected free speech

"In suburban St. Louis County, Missouri, a judge has sentenced Lewis Greenberg, 66, to 20 days in jail. Greenberg’s crime? Well, it would be silly to describe his offense as a ‘crime.’ He’s in legal hot water because his neighbors don’t like his art, because a judge agrees with them, and because he refuses to modify that art to the specifications of his critics.

Greenberg calls his yard sculpture installations a ’statement on the Holocaust.’ Local bureaucrats cite ’safety’ concerns and characterize their demands as being made on behalf of ‘the children’ who live near, but not on, Greenberg’s property.”

Source

They sure look odd but most modern sculpture looks fit only for the rubbish tip to me. But it's his yard they are "adorning". What was that bit about a "free country"?

Considering the rubbish that passes as art these days, his problem must be that he is not anti-Christian enough. Anything anti-Christian is sure to be defended as "legitimate" art.

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

Hooters Babe Files Discrimination Lawsuit

(Detroit, Michigan) On May 14, a 20-year-old waitress at a Hooters Restaurant, Cassandra "Cassie" Smith, claims she was put on "weight probation" and told that she had 30 days to make an improvement by joining a gym and trimming down. Otherwise, the 5'8" 132-pound woman was told that she could be discharged.

“Cassie” Smith said the two company executives notified her via conference call of their decision, without ever mentioning the word “weight.”

“It crushed me,” Smith said. “I had these two women from Atlanta telling me I had 30 days to make an improvement, and I didn’t know what I’m supposed to improve. I was proud of myself, working out the last months, losing 10 pounds to get ready for my summer body. For that (call) to happen, it was almost a slap in the face.”

Although Hooters representatives have denied making weight an issue regarding discipline or dismissal, Smith filed a discrimination lawsuit this week in Macomb County Circuit Court claiming Hooters committed a civil rights violation. Smith seeks a judgment of lost wages and compensation for emotional distress.

Smith's lawyers intend to prove that Hooters violated the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act which is unique to Michigan and bars discrimination based on weight.



Meanwhile, the case has garnered international attention with Ireland's largest bookmaker, Paddy Power, issuing a press release indicating that the company is taking wagers (ken@paddypower.com) on the outcome and payout of the court case (Smith v. Hooters of Roseville Inc., No. 10-2213-CD). Odds posted earlier today are:

Who will the court rule in favor of?
4/5 - In favor of plaintiff
10/11 - In favor of defendant

Damages awarded to Cassandra Smith
10/11 - None
21/10 - Less than $1,000
2/1 - $1,000 to $2,500
5/2 - $2,501 to $5,000
4/1 - $5,001 to $7,500
6/1 - $7,501 to $10,000
5/1 - Over $10,000

The betting line is subject to change, of course, as speculation mounts. The early line has Hooters favored to win the case by a narrow margin.

Presently, however, it's not clear whether the handicappers are aware that Michigan has a unique law prohibiting weight discrimination. That fact alone arguably should give Cassie Smith a slight edge in the odds.

Barney Frank: "Where's the Birth Certificate?"

A Democrat makes remarks with ethnic and racial overtones while berating the media and there's not one peep from the easily-offended crowd.

Tongue firmly in cheek, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Tuesday afternoon called on reporters to demand to see the birth certificate of new Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii).

As Djou (pictured here) was being sworn into office, Frank walked the hallway of the Speaker's Lobby off the House floor calling on the media to "do your job" and review Djou's papers.

Heh.

Tip: Charley Nestor

Former Detroit Mayor Gets Slammer

(Wayne County, Michigan) Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will spend the next 18 months to five years in prison for violating his probation.

I heard the report on WJR radio where Kilpatrick told the court (I'm paraphrasing), "I didn't lie!" and the court responded with, "Yes, you did!"

Heh.

Wisconsin Teacher Troubles

(Kenosha, Wisconsin) A 32-year-old French and drama teacher at McKinley Middle School, Rebecca Prochniak, was arrested last Saturday for allegedly failing to report child abuse and intimidation of a victim.

Reportedly, the 16-year-old female victim of fondling and attempted sex assault by another teacher approached Prochniak to tell her what happened.

The girl said that 40-year-old Sylvanus A. Tyler, who also teaches at McKinley Middle School, kissed her, fondled her and tried to pull her legs apart. Prochniak's advice to the girl was to keep quiet.

Later the three of them got together, talked about what happened and hugged, according to the report. According to the girl’s statement, Tyler said he was sorry and he began to cry.

Court records show that Prochniak was contacted by Tyler, who said he “messed up real bad.”

Prochniak told the girl not to tell anyone about Tyler’s actions. Prochniak also said she could lose her job and Tyler could go to jail. She said she did not report the incident because she feared for herself and for Tyler.

Prochniak was charged with intimidation of a victim and failure to report child abuse and neglect. She was booked and released on $500 signature bond.

Pennsylvania Teacher Sentenced in Sex Case - Updated

(Norristown, Pennsylvania) In March 2010, former Pottsgrove High School teacher Rebecca Ann Harvey, 34, was convicted in a non-jury trial of misdemeanor corruption of a minor charges.

“She has humiliated herself, disgraced her family name, lost her job and lost her pension,” Montgomery County Judge Joseph A. Smyth said Tuesday as he sentenced Rebecca Ann Harvey to three years’ probation and 225 hours of community service for her contact with the male Pottsgrove student, which occurred between February and July of 2009.

The judge said probation was appropriate in the case given Harvey’s lack of a prior criminal record and background reports that indicated her chances of re-offending are minimal.

Harvey, 34, of Glasgow Street, Stowe, spoke softly and appeared contrite in court.

“I’m sorry for my lapse in judgment. I apologize to all my former students and my parents,” Harvey told the judge as her parents looked on.

Defense lawyer Marc Neff stated that Harvey suffered the most severe punishment by having thrown her career away. She now is pursuing a career in medical billing to support herself and her two children.

* * * * *
Pennsylvania Teacher Accused of Sex with Male Student
[Previous 7/21/09 post]
(Pottstown, Pennsylvania) A 33-year-old special education teacher at Pottsgrove High School, Rebecca Ann Harvey, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 17-year-old male student.

Last week, Harvey was caught by a police officer in the back seat of her car with the youth. Harvey faces charges of corruption of a minor.

The court papers say Harvey made repeated phone calls to police the next day to explain that she did not have sexual relations with the boy.

That same day, police say they spoke with the boy, who told them he met Harvey last July. He said he babysat her two children and developed a sexual relationship with her in February. He said they also exchanged frequent text messages, some of which were "sexual in nature and flirtatious."

Harvey was booked into custody and released on bail. The school system placed her on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

German Mercenaries Deploy to Somalia

A force of more than 100 mercenaries, comprised largely of former German soldiers, is deploying to Somalia to overthrow the current internationally-accepted government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

The mercenaries are under contract to Asgaard German Security Group, run by Thomas Kaltegärtner, a former German officer.

Kaltegärtner said one group was already on its way.

They will be working for the self-styled ‘elected president of the republic of Somalia’, Galadid Abdinur Ahmad Darman. He rejects the Transitional Federal Government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, which is supported by the international community.

Darman said the Germans would be crucial for his plans to take over the country.

So, there you go. Someone really ought to print up an official program to identify all the different groups who are fighting in Somalia. What a toilet.

Oregon Educator Guilty of Raping Boy, 10 - Updated

(Tualatin, Oregon) Yesterday, a Washington County jury convicted educator Melissa Stephens, 56, of first-degree rape, sodomy and sexual abuse of a 10-year-old boy.

Investigators said Stephens, who was the director of the Willow Cottage Arts and Academics Program in Tualatin, engaged in sexual acts with a 10-year-old boy about six years ago.

The abuse continued for about a year, authorities said.

Sentencing is scheduled for later today. I suspect that she is looking at serious prison time but one can never know. Courts have a history of often being lenient towards female sex offenders.

* * * * *
Oregon Educator Arrested for Rape of Boy, 10
[Previous 6/11/09 post]
(Tualatin, Oregon) The 55-year-old founder of Willow Cottage Arts and Academics school, Melissa Stephens, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 10-year-old boy about five years ago.

Reportedly, the alleged sexual abuse lasted for more than a year and police were alerted this week.

Stephens faces charges of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse. Police fear that there may be additional victims.

Willow Cottage was founded by Stephens in 1993 and teaches children in grades K-8. Stephens is also the administrative director at Willowbrook Center for Development of Human Potential.

Stephens was booked into custody. Arraignment is scheduled for today.

Greenhouse effect on the moon?

Neither the earth nor the moon is a "black body". Both the moon and the earth are warmer than they "should be" -- even though one has no CO2 at all

Yes, that’s right, there is a “greenhouse effect” on our moon and it’s even greater than here on earth. The idea of an atmospheric “greenhouse effect” was invented to justify why earth is supposedly “warmer than it should be” if there was no atmosphere.

As we now know from NASA’s research, even our moon is “warmer than it should be”, by a whopping 40 degrees C where earth is a mere 33 degrees “warmer”.

“We’ve been told that the earth’s surface is quite a bit warmer than calculations predict. Theory has it that heat-trapping “greenhouse gases” account for a 33° Celsius disparity. But it turns out that our airless moon is also quite a bit warmer than predicted. Might something be wrong with the prediction method itself, then? It’s a natural question to ask, so let’s look into it.”

“The Earth is not “unusually” warm. It is the application of the predictive equation that is faulty. The ability of common substances to store heat makes a mockery of blackbody estimates. The belief that radiating trace gases explain why earth’s surface temperature deviates from a simple mathematical formula is based on deeply erroneous assumptions about theoretical vs. real bodies.”

The justification for calculating the temperature that earth “should be at” is shown to be incorrect. It’s based on a formula that is used to convert irradiation levels to temperature and vice versa, based on a blackbody. Earth nor any planet that we know of behaves like a blackbody. All planets literally absorb some of the solar heat during daytime and emit some of that during nighttime. Our moon is the perfect example of that: it has no atmosphere and receives as good as the same level of irradiation as earth does.

Our atmosphere is shown to act as a coolant during the day and a retarder of cooling during the nighttime; the amount of retardation depending on the relative humidity of the atmosphere, which in turn determines the total heat content of a given volume of the atmosphere.

But at all times our atmosphere acts as a conveyor of heat, never a creator of heat. This essay puts it into perspective.

It does not matter what our atmosphere is made of, it is the surface, including the oceans, that makes it “warmer than it should be”.

And yes, seeing that carbon dioxide is actually a good radiator, the only possible effect it can have on the atmosphere is to increase its cooling efficiency; it can’t possibly make the atmosphere warmer. Adding a coolant gas to a coolant atmosphere, what else could you expect?

Please spread this paper far and wide, as it clearly proves by means of direct observations that no atmosphere is needed to be “warmer than calculated”. Nothing to do with CO2 after all.

More HERE. (See associated PDF)


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

Wisconsin Woman Allegedly Molests Boy

(Racine, Wisconsin) A 23-year-old local woman, Latanya D. Klyce, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy.

Klyce faces charges of sexual assault of a child under the age of 16, child enticement and disorderly conduct.

The boy told investigators he and Klyce had sexual intercourse several times between February and May of this year.

He said Klyce invited him to watch a movie with her family. Once in her home, he told investigators, she started touching him and took him into a stairwell to have sex.

He said after that he went home and took a shower. He told the investigator he was scared because "his mom would be mad at him for having sex with an older lady," according to the criminal complaint.

The boy told investigators that a month later Klyce told him she was pregnant and that he was the baby's father.

He told investigators that he and Klyce had sexual contact "a lot" and that there was pornography being played in the house even when Klyce's children were around.

Reportedly, Klyce has admitted to sexual contact with the boy.

Mark Twain's Autobiography Published Soon

In accordance with Twain's dying wish, 100 years after his death.

Illinois Teacher Accused of Molesting Boy

(Mundelein, Illinois) A 39-year-old eighth-grade teacher at West Oak Middle School, Nicole R. Jacobsen, has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 14-year-old boy. She has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The teacher is alleged to have fondled the boy in a school classroom after a volleyball game May 13.

The allegations surfaced when the boy's 17-year-old brother found messages May 17 on the 14-year-old's Facebook account between the boy and Jacobsen, like a message from the teacher stating "I love you and can't wait to see you."

On the afternoon of May 18, the older brother took copies of the messages to the West Oak Middle School principal, who then notified school officials.

The teacher was immediately sent home and the school district notified the boy's parents of the incident that day. During a special board meeting May 18, Jacobsen was placed on immediate paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an investigation.

The school district became aware of the criminal charge on Saturday. Jacobsen resigned her teaching position on Sunday.

Jacobsen was booked into custody and later released on $50,000 bond.

Two Boys, 11, Guilty of Attempted Rape

(London, England) Here's an interesting story of two 10-year-old boys being convicted of attempted rape of an eight-year-old girl but evidence appears to indicate that the children were just playing.

"Being naughty" is how one media source characterized the whole episode.

The jury found the children guilty by a majority of 10 to two on two charges each, making them among the youngest defendants ever to be convicted of the crime of rape by a British court. As the verdicts were read out the younger boy sought eye-contact with his mother but both mothers stared straight ahead.

The girl claimed last October that the boys had dragged her to a block of flats and kept her in a bin shed as they repeatedly raped her near her home in Hayes, west London, but she later retracted the story during cross-examination, saying she had made it up to avoid getting into trouble.

The boys were released on conditional bail while reports are drawn up and will return to court at a later date for sentencing.

So the boys were convicted despite the fact the girl lied. I don't get it.

Thanks to Brian K/GK.

NC Woman Accused of Sex with Minor

(Pender County, North Carolina) A 32-year-old local mother, Susan Cynthia Fassett, has been arrested for alleged sex crimes against a minor.

She faces multiple counts of statutory rape, statutory sex offense and indecent liberties with a minor.

Detective Scott Lawson of the Pender County Sheriff's Office said he did not want to release information about anyone else involved in the case. He also did not want to disclose the number of victims or ages of those involved because of the sensitivity of the case.

He said the investigation started in March when information was provided to the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office.

Once it was determined that the alleged events occurred in the Rocky Point area of Pender County, the two sheriff's offices teamed up, Lawson said.

The incidents investigated allegedly happened between October of 2009 and February of 2010, according to the news release.

Fassett was booked into custody with bond set at $1 million.

Burqa Ban Demonstration in London - Updated

(London, England) Received a report on the promised demonstration (5/22/10) outside the Belgian Embassy in London, including videos (2). Here's one.



Islamist hyperbole was the focus of the demonstration. In a nutshell, the attitude and content of the demonstrators' message are displayed well by the following transcribed portion.

May Allah curse those that curse our religion.

May Allah curse those and give the most deadliest disease to those that insult our prophet Mohammed.

May Allah curse those who wish to conspire against our religion.

We ask Allah to bring destruction and tyranny and disease against those in Brussels who are oppressing our Ummah.

Oh allah bring victory to the Muslims.

Obviously, the Islamic veil issue will not be going away soon. Expect escalation.

More at SMW.

* * * * *
Pro-Burqa Demonstrators Banned in Brussels
[Previous 5/22/10 post]
(Brussels, Belgium) Sharia4Belgium demonstrators have been denied permission to rally in Brussels to protest the pending ban against wearing the full-face Islamic burqa in public.

As a result, Sharia4Belgium organizer Abu Imran promised demonstrations at Belgium embassies throughout Europe, mentioning London, Dublin and Switzerland.

Authorities banned the Brussels protest for fear of "public order problems." The burqa ban is not yet in effect since it must be approved by the Belgium Senate.

Meanwhile,

The burqa debate is also raging in France, where the cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft law to ban the Muslim full-face veil from public spaces, opening the way for the text to go before parliament in July.

On its Internet website Sharia4Islam denounced "European oppression" of Muslims and called for the installation of Islamic Sharia law throughout Europe.

Pretty audacious, I'd say. Muslims are resisted while trying to impose Sharia law on unwilling Europeans so they claim they are being oppressed.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Pregnant Woman Accused of Serial Burglaries

(Harrison, Ohio) A 26-year-old local mother who is also pregnant in her third trimester, Samantha Brewer, has been accused of committing multiple burglaries while leaving her children to wait in the car.

Brewer faces multiple charges including burglary, attempted burglary and child endangerment.

Brewer was arrested for breaking into six homes – and attempting to break into four others in broad daylight.

"I believe that all of the articles that she had taken were immediately sold or pawned for the cash," says Lieutenant Steve Wilson, of the Harrison police department.

"I just don't understand. I mean we are all her friends. She could have came to us," sobs [neighbor Teresa] Parker. "I wouldn't have thought any less about her. I would have tried to help her."

Perhaps more alarming is the charge by the police that Brewer brought her five-year-old son Dylan along in this SUV on at least four of the crimes.

Brewer was booked into custody with bond set at $275,000.

Must not write in opposition to "diversity"

Washington University physics professor Jonathan Katz, one of five scientists appointed by the Obama administration to oversee the oil 'spill' mess in the gulf has been decommissioned.

He was fired, not because of incompetence, but because his online compositions question the value of diversity. Specifically, he wrote that the diversity movement is innately racist stating that "race matters only to racists."

Sad that politcal correctness trumps expert scientific contribution. Some of his scholarly writings have been posted at Scientific Commons

Katz sounds like a fairly mainstream conservative -- and that will never do in a U.S. government employee during the Obama regime


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

Chavez's Program of Preventive Confiscation

(Caracas, Venezuela) Since the Chavez government imposed socialist price controls on staple foods in 2003, grocery stores have regularly experienced the phenomenon of empty shelves.

To counter the phenomenon, President Chavez is sending out the Venezuelan National Guard to seize foodstuffs in a program called preventive confiscation.


The National Guard confiscated about 120 tons of foodstuffs from the nation's largest food company.

The “preventive confiscation” came after authorities detected inconsistencies in reports from the Empresas Polar conglomerate about the content of several warehouses in the western city of Barquisimeto, Gen. Luis Bohorquez Soto told state television.

He said the guard seized more than 91 tons of wheat flower (sic), 12 tons of butter, five tons of rice and more than 5,000 liters (1,320 gallons) of cooking oil, among other products.

The operation was part of President Hugo Chavez’s efforts “to protect the Venezuelan family” and avoid the phenomenon of empty shelves at grocery stores, the general said.

It's worth noting that I can recall seeing news footage of the former Soviet Union where citizens had to queue up at 4 AM to assure getting food at the government-run grocery stores before they ran out which occurred right after the 8 AM opening.

Price controls are always a bad idea. They create only scarcity and black markets. Repeatedly, history has proven it is so but nevertheless, every generation has its police-state socialist utopians who think they will finally be able to make it work. I contend that utopian socialism creates nothing but a pampered ruling class oppressing a population suffering through life in hopeless and chronic poverty.

Co-Pilot Threatens Passengers

(Boston, Massachusetts) A Jet Blue co-pilot caused a kerfuffel.



This proves that there are some things that shouldn't be considered fodder for offhand comments or jokes by flight crewmembers.

The "Nazi" Pope




I am not going to say one thing below that is original. But it always appalls me when people believe the opposite of the truth and I have to speak up about it.

Eugenio Pacelli was a small but determined man of great intelligence and high principle. He became Pope Pius XII in 1939 and was Pope throughout WWII. He had been papal nuncio in Germany for many years prior to that and came to speak perfect German -- a remarkable achievement for an Italian who had all his education in Italy. During his time in Germany he saw of course the rise of Nazism and regularly condemnned it in no uncertain terms.

In 1937 he wrote on behalf of Pius XI the encyclical Mit brennender Sorge ("With burning sorrow") -- a condemnation of Nazi persecution of non-Nazis. Encyclicals are usually written in Latin so writing this encyclical in German showed how determined the church was to speak up on behalf of all those being oppressed by the Nazis.

The tiny minority of Pacelli's critics who have some knowledge of history sometimes point to the fact that in his role as nuncio, Pacelli was responsible for a Konkordat with the German Federal government that was signed in 1933. Pacelli's job was to arrange concordats (agreements) with various governments that would safeguard the independence of church schools, allow the preaching of Catholic doctrine etc. And he did in fact achieve many such agreements, an agreement with the Southern German (and very Catholic) State of Bayern (Bavaria) being one of the earliest. German Laender, were, like American States today, substantially independent and had their own legal and school systems etc.

Pacelli had been trying for some time to get such an agreement with the Federal German government but had always been knocked back. When Hitler came to power, however, he was keen to legitimate himself so he changed the prior Federal stance and signed up. At that stage Hitler was simply the newly-elected German Kanzler (Prime Minister) and there was of course no knowledge of his future deeds. So how was Pacelli at fault about that? It may be noted that when Mit brennender Sorge was issued Hitler broke his agreements in the Konkordat and persecuted Catholic clergy. So the arrangement of a Konkordat was a wise precaution, even if it was a precaution that ultimately failed.

Pacelli did however learn from what happened when when Mit brennender Sorge was issued. When war broke out, Pacelli fell largely silent. He saw that he would probably bring down further persecution of the church by adding to his existing criticisms of Nazism. Instead he concentrated on deeds rather than words. The Vatican became a lifeline for endangered Jews. It supplied money to get them out of Germany and false ID documents saying that they were Christians. And note that this was at a time when the church regarded the Jews as enemies. In the theology of the time, the Jews had killed the Catholics' God and that was one hell of a bad way to start a friendship.

And when the Germans came to Italy itself, Pacelli rose to even greater efforts. He exempted monasteries and nunneries from their normal rules so that they could take in and hide Jews that the Nazis were pursuing. Even his own summer residence at Castel Gandolfo was said at one time to be hiding 3,000 Jews, though nobody knows the exact number.

And this is the man whom many Leftists refer to as "Hitler's Pope"! So why the lie? Why is this exceptionally fine man "controversial"?

Easy: Soviet disinformation. As we all know, the church utterly opposed "Godless" Communism and the Soviets rightly perceived the Vatican as an important enemy. So the Soviets and their fellow travellers in the West put about this abominable lie that Pacelli was antisemitic and sympathetic to the Nazis. And it suits the anti-Christian stance of modern-day Leftists to believe it too.

So it grieves me greatly that this true man of God is taken for the opposite of what he was. The world needs more men like Eugenio Pacelli -- perhaps now more than ever. Even I as an atheist salute him.

There is an interesting story here about how one man finally broke through the lies and found out the truth about Pacelli.

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

Chicago Mayor Threatens to Shoot Reporter

(Chicago, Illinois) Mayor Richard Daley was not pleased with a reporter's question, asking what good is gun control if criminals can get all they want.



Obviously, Mayor Daley was irked. He also either didn't understand the question or was trying to fog up the discussion with anti-gun rhetoric. The question remains unanswered.

Tip: Newsbusters

Teacher Gets Probation for Biting Man's Ear - Updated

(Northfield, Minnesota) Sixth-grade teacher at Northfield Middle School, Susan Mwarabu, was prosecuted and sentenced for biting off part of the ear of restaurant customer Christopher Hough.

In a letter to the media, Mwarabu offered no explanation of why she did it.

“Does it really matter why it happened?,” wrote Susan Mwarabu, 30, who was sentenced Thursday to serve 60 days either on home monitoring or at the Ramsey County Workhouse. “Isn’t it bad enough that it even happened?" […]

“Being drunk is not an excuse that I am willing to use,” Mwarabu wrote, later saying that she is “shamed and constantly guilty” about what happened to Hough. […]

“That I erred in the choices that I made that night is quite clear and I will experience the consequences of my actions for some time to come. My hope of course, is that I can set an example for others in the future so that we can get away from being a society of drumming up excuses to one that owns up to our mistakes, fixes them and finds solutions to problems.”

Mwarabu received five years of probation during which she is prohibited from consuming alcohol.

* * * * *
Teacher Allegedly Bites Man's Ear
[Previous 3/17/10 post]
(Northfield, Minnesota) A 30-year-old sixth-grade teacher at Northfield Middle School, Susan Mukuhi Mwarabu, has been charged with third-degree assault for allegedly biting off part of a man's ear.

According to the criminal complaint, an apparently intoxicated Mwarabu was eating with friends at a St. Paul diner shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sunday when a man at another table commented about one of Mwarabu’s companions.

Mwarabu allegedly approached the man, twice leaning down and licking the man’s face before leaning in a third time and biting off a piece of his ear.

When diner employees told Mwarabu and her friends to leave the diner, police reported Mwarabu picked the piece of the man’s ear off the ground and put it in her mouth.

A court appearance is scheduled for April 5.

Swedish princess emulating 'sexist British tradition' of giving bride away

Congratulations to Her Royal Highness



The Crown Princess of Sweden has upset the country's church leaders by announcing she wants to be given away by her father when she marries next month, a practice which the Swedes consider sexist.

In Swedish tradition, the bride and groom walk down the aisle together, however, Crown Princess Victoria wishes to walk to the altar at Stockholm Cathedral on the arm of her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, at her wedding to Daniel Westling, a commoner.

The decision has prompted the head of the Swedish church, Archbishop Anders Wejryd, to take the unusual step of issuing a public statement expressing his disapproval at the adoption of such an Anglo-Saxon practice.

"Being given away is a new phenomenon which occasionally occurs in the Church of Sweden. I usually advise against it, as our marriage ceremony is so clear on the subject of the spouses' equality. The couple know where I stand on this matter," he said.

One in 10 Swedish brides is now given away, but the Church fears that such a high profile Royal wedding - the first in 34 years - will spark an unwelcome trend in a country which takes equality of the sexes very seriously indeed.

More here

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

Angela Stellwag Gets Prison in Sex Case - Updated

(Mount Holly, New Jersey) In accordance with a plea agreement, 30-year-old former substitute teacher Angela Stellwag was sentenced yesterday by Superior Court Judge John Almeida to six years in prison. If the case had gone to trial, the judge said she would have faced 15 to 20 years in prison.

Stellwag also will have to give authorities notice of her address for life as a sex offender under the state's Megan's Law. However, a psychiatric evaluation concluded she was not deemed to be a compulsive and repetitive sex offender.

In a lengthy statement, Stellwag said she pleaded guilty "to put this behind me."

She said she had broken up with her boyfriend of five years and started acting immaturely, "not seeing things in the right perspective" when she became involved with the student.

"I befriended someone 10 years younger. I saw the two of us as equals," she said, lamenting that now she has "lost everything."

It appears that Stellwag will have to serve at least two years in prison before being eligible for parole.

* * * * *
Teacher Angela Stellwag Guilty of Sex with Boy
[Previous 1/26/10 post]
(Burlington County, New Jersey) It's unknown exactly why it has taken five years for the prosecution of Angela Stellwag to move forward but it may be due to local politics.

Nevertheless, Stellwag, now 29, has pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a 14-year-old male student in accordance with a plea agreement with the prosecution.

Stellwag, the daughter of Delran former mayor Joseph Stellwag, met the student in 2003, authorities said.

They carried on a relationship through the summer of 2004, when it became sexual, authorities said.

Sentencing is scheduled for May when Stellwag faces a possible 10 years in prison.

* * * * *
Teacher Indicted for Sex Abuse of Boy
[Previous 7/21/06 post]
Here's a case where it appears that it took a grand jury quite some time to indict.

(Riverside, New Jersey) Originally reported in February 2005, substitute teacher Angela Stellwag was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a 14-year-old male Riverside High School student. Angela is the 26-year-old daughter of Delran Mayor Joseph Stellwag.

Now it's reported that Angela Stellwag has been indicted on four counts of sexual abuse and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

From CourierPostOnline.com:

The assaults took place between July 4, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2004 inside the defendant's home in Delran and inside her car at locations in Edgewater Park, police said.

Stellwag met the boy in 2003 while working as a substitute teacher in the Beverly school district and maintained a social relationship with him through the summer of 2004.

No reason has been put forth to explain the lengthy delay in getting an indictment.

Tip: Don Morgenstern


[Update 08/29/06]

Yesterday, before Superior Court Judge John Almeida, Stellwag pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Her next court date is scheduled for October 30.

Stellwag remains free on $20,000 bail.

* * * * *
Teacher Angela Stellwag Charged With Sexual Assault
[Previous 2/21/05 post]
(Riverside, New Jersey) Here's a circumstance that seems to somewhat parallel the world-famous Mary Kay Letourneau case. Substitute teacher Angela Stellwag, the 24-year-old daughter of Delran Mayor Joseph Stellwag, was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a 14-year-old male Riverside High School student.

Apparently, Stellwag started the relationship with the eighth-grader last summer and, over time, the rumors started flying. According to one report, Stellwag and the boy even talked of marriage. However, when school officials became aware of the rumors, Stellwag was terminated and an investigation commenced. Superior Court Judge Marvin E. Schlosser allowed Stellwag to be released after posting $20,000 bail.

Vincent Van Gogh in Shirts

(Tokyo) In a promotion, over 2,000 shirts were used by a Japanese shirt company to make the image of Van Gogh.

Fish Pulls Babe into Water

(Pensacola, Florida) A 34-year-old woman, Patricia Tenuto, was pulled into the water by a whopper while fishing yesterday at Bob Sikes Bridge fishing pier at Pensacola Beach.

Lifeguards responded and pulled Patricia and her gear out of the water. Paramedics looked at her and she resumed fishing, sore and scratched.

Husband Paul said it was about two-feet long, "a good size one."

Al-Shabab Recruiting Swedes - Updated

From a related report.

Sweden’s security police, Säpo, revealed several months ago that around 10 people from Sweden were believed to be at terrorist training camps in Somalia, or were otherwise involved in terrorism in the war-torn African country.

‘A handful’ of Swedish passport holders had also been found dead following battles in the country.

Most of the Swedes involved in Somali terrorist activities are believed to have been members of al-Shabab, an organization with links to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. A recruitment film called ‘At your Service, Osama,’ was released in Kenya last year and showed images from battles in Mogadishu.

Passports on the battlefield. Heh.

* * * * *
Al-Shabab Recruiting Swedes
[Previous 5/19/10 post]
(Gothenburg, Sweden) A warning was recently issued by the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) that al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab had recruited more than 20 young people from the Gothenburg area to fight in Somalia.

One might be led to believe that a number of blue-eyed, blond terrorists are now calling the Horn of Africa home if it were not for the fact that liberal, some might say progressive, immigration policies throughout Scandinavia, and Europe, have allowed communities of Muslims who resist assimilation to become entrenched.

I would suggest that all of the subject al-Shabab recruits for Somalia came from immigrant Muslim enclaves in Sweden. Nevertheless, if a blue-eyed blond Swede is implicated in a terrorist incident in Somalia or anywhere else, it would be worth noting.

California Teacher Booked on Drug Charges

(Thermalito, California) A first-grade teacher at Sierra Avenue Elementary School, Dawn Vance-Crum, was arrested last week for allegedly possessing and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Thermalito Union School District Superintendent Julian Diaz said in a return phone call Thursday that Dawn Vance-Crumm was put on administrative leave, "and we'll see what comes up in court."

The 45-year-old first-grade teacher was arrested May 13 at Sierra Avenue School shortly after Butte County sheriff's officers responded to an 8:57 a.m. call that a teacher appeared to be under the influence of some kind of substance.

Diaz said the interview with officers and subsequent arrest did not occur in a classroom or in front of children.

"Fortunately, on this day there was no interaction with students," he said.

Vance-Crumm was booked into custody at the Butte County Jail and later released on an undisclosed bail amount.

Rape case defendants to be given anonymity in Britain


Amazing that this long overdue measure is at all controversial. It is just an extension of "innocent until proven guilty". Many innocent men's lives have been ruined by pre-trial publicity -- even after they are acquitted . And false rape accusations are a regular occurrence in Britain, due to embarrassment about unwise sexual decisions


Defendants in rape cases are to be granted anonymity in an unexpected move that women’s groups immediately branded an insult.

The announcement over anonymity for defendants in rape trials turns the clock back 30 years to the 1970s, when the Sexual Offences Act introduced anonymity for those accused of rape. It was later repealed. Officials said that details of the change had yet to be decided. It is expected that the ban will be lifted after a suspect is convicted.

The proposal provoked anger among campaigners. Ruth Hall, of Women Against Rape, said that the decision was an insult and a backlash against the rising number of rape reports. “More attention needs to be paid to the 94 per cent of reported cases that do not end in conviction rather than the few that are false,” she said. “If men accused of rape got special rights to anonymity, it would reinforce the misconception that lots of women who report rape are lying. False rape allegations are extremely rare but receive disproportionate publicity.”

A report by Baroness Stern earlier this year recommended that independent research should first be done into the scale of false rape allegations.

SOURCE

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

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Tip: Rita and Eugene

Asst. Principal Allegedly Sends Nude Pix to Boy

(Tampa, Florida) A 30-year-old assistant principal at Middleton High School, Lauren S. Tilo, was arrested today for allegedly sending naked pictures of herself to a 14-year-old boy.

Tilo has been charged with transmission of material harmful to a minor.

The teenage boy went to officials at his school in Manatee Wednesday, and said that Tilo had sent him a cell phone text message with a photo attached of "her in a provocative and sexual pose," according to a sheriff's report. Detectives determined the photo had been sent on March 7.

Tilo and the boy met online in February while playing a video game, and they became friends, the boy told detectives. The boy said they told each other their ages. Investigators do not believe the two have ever met face to face, according to the Manatee sheriff's report.

Tilo was booked into custody at the Hillsborough County Jail. A bail amount wasn't reported.

Carolina Teacher Busted for Drugs

(Spartanburg, South Carolina) A 22-year-old English teacher at Byrnes Freshman Academy, Angela Marie Burke, has been arrested and charged with obtaining prescription drugs by fraud.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control says Burke went to a CVS store in Lyman on February 5 and obtained a quantity of cytotec, which goes by the brand name of Misoprostol.

DHEC spokesman Thom Berry says the prescription for the medicine was obtained by a nurse practitioner who told the state agency she didn’t prescribe the medicine for Burke.

Burke was booked into custody at the Spartanburg County Jail and later released.

Obama Effigy Burned Amid Cheers

(West Allis, Wisconsin) At a local bar called Yesteryears, a few drinkers used bad judgment and burned an effigy of President Obama.

The Secret Service initially took an interest in investigating the circumstances since a YouTube video of the incident turned viral. The Secret Service is no longer pursuing the issue.



However, the West Allis Police Department continues investigating.

Milwaukee NAACP President Jerry Ann Hamilton says, "I think it should be investigated and the person who was responsible for it should have an explanation for doing it."

The owner of Yester Years says it was not racially motivated, but bad judgment from customers who had too much too drink. She didn't want to go on camera, because she's worried about her family's safety after getting threatening phone calls.

Some neighbors wonder why there is so much attention being paid to this. West Allis resident Richard Anderson said, "I think it's being blown out of proportion, because people are trying to make something of it more than what it was...just out of curiosity this morning I checked on the web and check 'Bush burned effigy', and I must have found 1000 links to pictures of President Bush being burned."

Heh. Nothing to see here. Move along.