Following Entry Posted 9/30/2010 08:08:00 PM

Botched Suicide Attack



(Jakarta, Indonesia) Earlier today a suicide bomber identified as Ahmad fortunately botched his planned attack on a suburban police station.

The 38-year-old man sustained serious injuries to his face, neck, torso, arms and a leg after an apparent attempt to kill two police officers stationed at the Sumber Artha Traffic Police post near the Sumber Arta market in Kalimalang.

Witnesses say Ahmad was either riding or pushing a bicycle when he detonated a homemade nail bomb reportedly strapped to the front of the bike.

Another witness was reported by local media as saying that it appeared Ahmad lost control of his bike and hit a lamp post before the bomb detonated prematurely.

Ahmad left a suicide note complaining about the police going after mujahideen. It's believed that Ahmad has ties to an Aceh terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/30/2010 04:58:00 PM

Hidden Cameras on Arizona Border

From cis.org:



It's easy to understand the pleas from Arizonans. Illegals are turning national parks into toilets.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/30/2010 02:40:00 PM

Latest Global Warming Hoax

Here's a report that supports the contention that many in the mainstream media are either exceedingly gullible, profoundly lazy or Kool-aid ideological.

It’s September and so it’s the time of the year for ritual bed-wetting here in Europe among the alarmist media and environmental activists, all triggered by the annual arrival of the Arctic sea ice minima.

No matter where one looks, one finds horror stories of “unprecedented” Arctic ice melt and implications of grave consequences in the major media outlets.

Yet, it’s not enough to report only about melting sea ice. An additional instrument, extra shock, has to be found to emotionalize the event. This year that instrument is no longer the polar bear, trapped on a single tiny chunk of ice. That’s out. The new symbol of climate doom this year is the lovable walrus – odobenus rosmarus.



Practically every major German media outlet has reported on the “plight” of the poor walrus, “forced to flee” to the Alaskan beaches because of the “dramatic” ice melt. It’s the latest unprecedented event that’s proof of anthropogenic global warming.

Heh. Those with a modicum of education know differently. Just another inconvenient hoax.

Tip: G. Kissack
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       Following Entry Posted 9/30/2010 10:57:00 AM

Sex Video Linked to Student's Suicide

(Piscataway, New Jersey) Earlier this month, two undergrads at Rutgers University set up a hidden webcam to secretly broadcast homosexual episodes engaged in by fellow student, Tyler Clementi.

On September 22, Clementi reportedly left a note on his Facebook page stating, "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

Sadly, he did.

A lawyer for Clementi's family confirmed Wednesday that he had jumped off the George Washington Bridge last week. Police recovered a man's body Wednesday afternoon in the Hudson River just north of the bridge, and authorities were trying to determine if it was Clementi's.

The lawyer has not responded to requests for comment on whether Clementi was open about his sexual orientation.

Clementi's roommate, Dhraun Ravi, and fellow Rutgers freshman Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with invading Clementi's privacy. Middlesex County prosecutors say the pair used a webcam to surreptitiously transmit a live image of Clementi having sex on Sept. 19 and that Ravi tried to webcast a second encounter on Sept. 21, the day before Clementi's suicide.

Gay and lesbian groups are reportedly organizing a "call to action" based on the Clementi and similar suicides.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/30/2010 09:02:00 AM

Citation Issued in Teacher Sex Case - Updated

(East Franklin Township, Pennsylvania) Here's the latest development in the Theresa Smith case.

A teacher's aide, accused of having sex with a 17-year-old male student, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of harassment.

An agreement between the defendant and the victim and his family was reached yesterday afternoon during the time that was scheduled for the preliminary hearing for Theresa Edna Smith, 43, of West Franklin Township. Smith had been charged with corruption of minors — a misdemeanor, but that will be withdrawn by state police in exchange for the plea to harassment.

Smith will face a fine for the citation.

The victim's family consented to the agreement yesterday afternoon. Trooper Richard Fennell said that the victim and his family have had a tough time dealing with the accusations and they wanted the ordeal to be over.

So, Ms. Smith gets a ticket. I'd suggest it's pretty lenient treatment for an educator involved with student.

* * * * *
Teacher's Aide Accused of Sex with Male Student
[Previous 6/4/10 post]
(East Franklin Township, Pennsylvania) A 42-year-old teacher's aide at Kittanning High School, Theresa Edna Smith, was arrested earlier today for allegedly engaging in sex with a 17-year-old male student. She has been charged with corruption of minors.

State police said the 42-year-old Smith and the 17-year-old boy had sex "on multiple occasions" while Smith was employed.

Cpl. Dan Herr said the sex happened on three days -- not in school, but in a car parked on back roads while Smith was giving the boy a ride home.

A school bus full of students saw the two having sex on one of the back roads, Herr said.

Smith was booked into custody and released on her own recognizance.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/30/2010 08:04:00 AM

Tea-Party Movement Gathers Strength

The tea party has emerged as a potent force in American politics and a center of gravity within the Republican Party, with a large majority of Republicans showing an affinity for the movement that has repeatedly bucked the GOP leadership this year, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found.

In the survey, 71% of Republicans described themselves as tea-party supporters, saying they had a favorable image of the movement or hoped tea- party candidates would do well in the Nov. 2 elections.

Already, the tea-party movement has helped to oust a number of incumbents and candidates backed by party leaders in this year's GOP primaries amid complaints that they lacked commitment to small-government principles. The poll findings suggest that the rising influence of the movement, with its push to cut spending and oppose the Democratic agenda, will drive the GOP to become more conservative and less willing to seek common ground on policy.

"These are essentially conservative Republicans who are very ticked-off people," said Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart.

The poll found that tea-party supporters make up one-third of the voters most likely to cast ballots in November's midterm elections. This showed the movement "isn't a small little segment, but it is a huge part of what's driving 2010," Mr. Hart said.

The GOP now holds a three-point edge, 46% to 43%, when likely voters are asked which party they would prefer to control Congress. That is down from a nine-point Republican lead a month ago.

Still, Republicans retain major advantages, including a fired-up base. Two-thirds of GOP voters say they are intensely interested in the election, compared with about half of Democrats, suggesting that Republican voters are more likely to turn out at the polls.

The tea party is a major driver of the so-called enthusiasm gap, with three-quarters of supporters saying they are intensely interested in the election.

President Barack Obama's ratings remain low, with 46% of Americans approving of his job performance. Half of Americans have a negative view of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, compared with 22% taking a positive view.

The findings show how the tea-party movement has grown over the past two years from a loose confederation of activist groups into a marquee brand within the GOP that has upended a number of primaries in recent months.

The survey showed that tea-party supporters are interested in protesting "business as usual" in Washington. The most popular issue motivating them is cutting government spending and debt, followed by reducing the size of government.

More HERE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/29/2010 06:51:00 PM

Bear Carcass at Meat Market

(San Leandro, California) Someone plopped the carcass of a 400-pound black bear on the doorstep of the Terrace Meat Market over the weekend. Authorities are investigating.

One lead is that a witness saw a white Dodge truck with "some Hispanic males" dump the bear which had a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

The owner of the meat market, Luong Ly, said, "We only sell pork, chicken, lunch meat. No bear at all. Never."

Big mystery. Law enforcers are searching for any information about the bear's killer. Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/29/2010 03:28:00 PM

Mysterious Death in Porn Booth

(Houston, Texas) A 35-year-old local man, Brodwick S. White, was found dead yesterday in the video booth of an adult book store. His viewing preference wasn't reported.

Police said White was last seen on a video surveillance camera entering the store at about 8:30 p.m. Monday.

The store manager found him inside the locked booth the next day and alerted authorities.

An autopsy is scheduled.

Heh, 35 is fairly young to just keel over.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/29/2010 02:48:00 PM

Delonte West Denies Relations with Lebron's Mom

There has been a persistent rumor that NBA guard Delonte West had a love affair with MVP Lebron James' mother and it was a main reason that James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.



Reportedly for the first time, West has responded to a question asking if the rumor is true.

"Not at all. I come from an era where you don't say nothing bad about someone's parent, so not at all."

I see it as a denial -- a somewhat weak denial.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/29/2010 02:07:00 PM

Missouri Woman Accused of Sex with Boys

(Benton, Missouri) A 35-year-old Sikeston-area woman, Jennifer R. Lewis, has been accused of engaging in numerous sexual encounters with several male juveniles between December 2009 and May 2010.

She is also accused of supplying alcohol to the juveniles.

According to Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter, Lewis faces charges of first-degree statutory rape, statutory sodomy, three counts of second-degree statutory rape, four counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Lewis was booked into custody with bond set at $50,000.

Tip: Mike C.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/29/2010 07:58:00 AM

Who are the entrepreneurs?

Without an understanding of the American entrepreneur, there is widespread ignorance of our distinctiveness as a nation, our ingenuity, our liberty, our basic decency, or our prosperity.

By way of example, one of the most commonly-held misperceptions is that entrepreneurs are motivated by greed. That is a myth. Most entrepreneurs are motivated by a passion to solve seemingly intractable human problems, or meet deeply felt human needs. Some of our multinational corporations were started by people who believed that the average person should have soap, shoes, a roof over their heads, affordable food, fruit in the middle of the winter, the ability to communicate with far away loved ones, and more recently computers and other access to information.

Those passions are what drive the entrepreneur, and carry him or her through the risks, setbacks, and outright failures along the way. Entrepreneurs tinker with ideas, and they take the risks associated with pursuing those ideas. If they fail, they lose. If they succeed, we all win – with new or better products and services. And yes, the entrepreneur has the potential for phenomenal financial success. But that success is directly tied not only to the efficacy of the entrepreneur’s solution, but also to the ability to grow the enterprise around that solution -- it is growth that creates the jobs and investment opportunities that enable others to profit from the entrepreneur’s success.

Some weeks ago, I saw this reflected in an episode of The History Channel’s series, “America: The Story of Us.” Entitled “Boom,” this episode traced (among other things) the Hamill brothers’ novel use of a rotary drill in oil derricks, Henry Ford’s inspiration to mass-produce cars that were reliable and affordable for the average American, and William Mulholland’s system of aqueducts and dams that provided water for a newly burgeoning Los Angeles. This is the story of America: ingenuity, engineering, and entrepreneurship in the face of seemingly intractable problems.

More HERE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/29/2010 07:49:00 AM

California Teacher Found Dead

(South Gate, California) A 39-year-old fifth-grade teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, Rigoberto Ruelas Jr., was found dead at the foot of a remote forest bridge on Sunday. The death is being reported as an apparent suicide.



Teachers' union officials claim that Ruelas killed himself because he was upset after the LA Times published the student and teacher performance ranking for his school district. The actual motive and circumstances surrounding the death remain unclear.

Sadly, even as the death of Mr. Ruelas crushes his family, his friends and his students, the teachers' union piles on a political issue. Lots of class, eh?
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       Following Entry Posted 9/29/2010 04:10:00 AM

Moscow Mayor Fired by President Medvedev

(Moscow, Russia) Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has been fired from his position by President Dmitry Medvedev because of reported "worsening relations."

Luzhkov, who had been in office since 1992, vexed Medvedev by criticizing his decision to freeze construction of a new Moscow-St. Petersburg toll road and calling for stronger leadership for Russia in an article for the Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper.

In recent weeks, he has been the subject of a 1990s-style smear campaign by state-run TV channels, which have slammed him for remaining on vacation while Moscow was choked by acrid smog in August, and for failing to tackle the city's most pressing problems: near-constant traffic gridlock and widespread corruption.

Interestingly, Luzhkov is a strong political ally of Prime Minister Putin who Medvedev is preparing to face in the 2012 elections.

Commentators say Luzhkov's removal is a sign that Medvedev is asserting his authority ahead of the 2012 presidential elections, when he will face off against his long-time mentor Putin, who has hinted he is going to make a bid to return to the presidency.

Arguably, Medvedev is greasing the political skids for reelection by axing a key supporter of Putin. Medvedev has hinted that he'll be going after others "if he felt he had lost trust in them."

In any event, the run-up to the 2012 Russian election should be very interesting as Medvedev and Putin jockey for position.

[Update] From a friend of Luzhkov:

"Yuri Mikhailovich (Luzhkov) told me yesterday that he would file suit," Interfax quoted Luzhkov confidant Iosif Kobzon as saying. Kobzon, a well-known singer, was seen leaving the mayor's office with Luzhkov on Tuesday after President Dmitry Medvedev sacked him.

A singer, eh?
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       Following Entry Posted 9/28/2010 03:28:00 PM

Vampire Bats Killing Kids

(Lima, Peru) In the remote and barely-accessible Amazon jungle area of Condorcanqui Province, it's reported that 3,500 people have been bitten by bloodsucking vampire bats and six children are believed to have died from rabies.

To avoid further contagion, health authorities have now vaccinated some 1,700 people against rabies, and have carried out operations for the selective elimination of bats.

The province of Condorcanqui, inhabited by Awajun and Wampi Indians, is located in a remote Amazon area that takes 12 hours along jungle trails, on foot and by river to reach from Chachapoyas, the regional capital.

Vampire bats feed on blood and they typically bite children on the head and adults on the toes, but these attacks are scarcely felt by the victims because the animals are nocturnal and their bites inject a liquid that numbs the body, according to specialists.

Officials claim the situation is desperate and nobody seems to care.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/28/2010 02:33:00 PM

Walmart in Zimbabwe?



Negotiations are underway which could result in Walmart, the world's largest retailer, opening stores in Zimbabwe.

As an American company, however, Walmart will be subject to economic sanctions in place on Zimbabwe since 2001. Reportedly, Walmart may be able to sidestep them.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/28/2010 01:03:00 PM

President Carter Hospitalized in Cleveland

NewsNet5:

NewsChannel5 crews at MetroHealth Medical Center said an ambulance arrived with Secret Service crews and an Ohio State Highway Patrol cruiser following it. People in the emergency room at the hospital told our crew they were kicked out because they were told “President Carter is coming.”

Cleveland Hopkins Airport officials told NewsChannel5 that airport EMS crews were called to an incoming Delta flight at 11:30 a.m. for a passenger who felt sick.

Upon arrival, they learned that the passenger was President Jimmy Carter. Airport EMS crews did an initial checkup of him on scene to see if he was OK, and he was then transported to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he is currently.

News-Herald.com:

"Unknown health issue."

Video from WEWS:



The former president is 85.

[Update 2PM EDT] From the Carter Center in Atlanta:

"While on a flight to Cleveland, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter developed an upset stomach, and, upon arrival, was taken to MetroHealth Hospital for observation. He is resting comfortably and is expected to resume his book tour this week."

According to airport spokeswoman Jackie Mayo, it appears that Carter, 85, was not feeling well when his commercial Delta flight landed about 11:30 a.m. and the decision was made to take him to Metro.

He was taken off the Delta flight by EMS crews. Mayo says she has no information on Carter's symptoms.

So, it appears to have been a minor occurrence. However, it's worth mentioning that if Carter gets real sick or worse, it will take some wind out of the news cycle.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/28/2010 10:35:00 AM

Sex Offender Sentenced Again - Updated

Thirty-one-year-old Erica Lyn Dillon has been sentenced to jail for the April 2010 sexual episode with a 14-year-old boy.

Erica Lyn Dillon, formerly of the 800 block of Walnut Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Monday to 11 ½-to-23-months in the county jail, to be followed by five years’ probation, after she pleaded guilty to felony charges of statutory sexual assault and corruption of a minor in connection with an April 5 incident.

Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, ordered Dillon to have no contact with the boy as a condition of her sentence.

The court ordered intensive supervision during Dillon's probation.

* * * * *
Pennsylvania Sex Offender Sentenced - Updated
[Previous 9/2/10 post]
(Norristown, Pennsylvania) While she continues to await prosecution for last February's sex offense, 31-year-old Erica Lyn Dillon was sentenced earlier today for sex crimes committed against a 4-year-old girl in 2002.

For convictions on charges of indecent assault and endangering the welfare of a child, Judge Steven T. O’Neill sentenced Dillon to 11 and one-half months to 23 months in prison which apparently equates to time already served. She was also sentenced to seven years’ of probation and ordered to have no contact with the victim.

Dillon was also ordered to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.

“She is a very low functioning woman, intellectually. But she understands she did wrong and accepted responsibility for her actions,” said defense lawyer John Kravitz.

Dillon still awaits prosecution on sex crimes allegedly committed against a 14-year-old boy in February 2010. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for September 27.

* * * * *
Female Sex Offender Arrested Again
[Previous 4/20/10 post]
(Norristown, Pennsylvania) A 31-year-old woman who was awaiting sentencing for a sex offense committed in February, Erica Dillon, has been arrested for an additional sex offense -- engaging in sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old boy.

Her live-in boyfriend, Antonio Morano, 28, allegedly watched. The boy had come to the house to visit Morano, his former neighbor. Police said Morano showed the boy a pornographic video on a computer.

The second sexual encounter came to light April 15 when the boy's mother went to Dillon's home to confront her about the incident.

Lansdale police responded to a report of a disturbance and began investigating. According to an affidavit of probable cause, officers learned that Dillon had been convicted in February for the 2002 indecent assault on a 5-year-old family member and was out on $50,000 bail.

Since a repeat offense violated the terms of her plea, authorities Friday moved for an increase in bail. They also filed a second set of charges, including indecent assault, corruption of a minor and related offenses in the April 5 incident.

Dillon was booked into custody at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility with bail set at $250,000. Morano was booked on charges of showing indecent material to a minor and corruption of a minor with bail set at $10,000.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/28/2010 07:31:00 AM

A remarkable book (Free download)

A 19th century Orwell

This book is a remarkable discovery, as fresh today as when it was first translated in 1893. It is a novel of life under socialism by Eugene Richter, a German liberal of the 19th century.

Prophetic is not quite the word for this book. Richter saw with chilling clarity what would happen under socialistic control. The economy would be smashed. Families would be destroyed. The population would grow poorer by the day. The state would be unleashed to crush political dissent and lock everyone into a national prison. None of the ideals would be achieved.

The novel's narrative voice, however, is blinded by ideological loyalty to the cause. As he describes the calamity, he justifies it all in the name of progress, equality, and fairness to all. The reader, then, experiences the horrors of the events and then also the horrors of the intellectual twists and turns that some people will undertake to keep the disaster happening as long as possible.

To remember that this was written before any country actually experienced the total state is astonishing, page by page. The tone of the narrative is chillingly light and detached. Meanwhile, the events taking place make the blood run cold. The novel not only fulfills Mises's own predictions of life under socialism; it anticipates them long before any country embraced socialism as a system.

SOURCE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/28/2010 06:09:00 AM

Texas Teacher Gets Probation in Sex Case - Updated

(Houston, Texas) Former Spring High School teacher Deanna Higgens pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted improper relationship with a teen student.

A charge of sex assault of a child was dismissed.

Prosecutors said the 27-year-old former Spring High School science teacher had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.

Court documents say the teacher's ex-husband noticed some text messages on a phone given to the couple's eight-year-old son by Higgins. Investigators linked the texts to a 16-year-old student's phone.

The probable cause document goes on to say that Higgins and the student had two encounters at the teacher's home in March and April of 2009.

Higgins was sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine. Harsh? I don't think so.

* * * * *
Texas Teacher Accused of Sex with Student
[Previous 10/13/09 post]
(Spring, Texas) A science teacher at Spring High School, Deanna Higgins, has been accused of engaging in inappropriate relations with a student. Higgins faces charges of improper relations between an educator and student and sexual assault of a child.

In a letter to parents posted on the Spring ISD Web site, administrators say the DA accepted charges against Higgins on Monday.

Higgins, a science teacher, was placed on paid administrative leave in January 2009 after a third party brought the allegations to district officials.

"The Spring High School Administration and Spring ISD Police Department immediately began investigating the allegation after receiving a report from a third party," the letter reads.

Information on arrest was not disclosed.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/27/2010 11:57:00 PM

Louisiana Woman Indicted for Child Rape - Updated

Here's an update on the Goodnight case.

The Bossier Parish grand jury on Monday indicted an 18-year old woman for aggravated rape, saying she had sex with a 12-year old neighborhood boy.

Raiesha Tonette Goodnight of Bossier City faces life in prison if convicted as charged. She is jailed under $1 million bond and has not been arraigned.

Ms. Goodnight may soon be saying goodbye if she is convicted.

* * * * *
Louisiana Woman Arrested for Sex with Boy, 12
[Previous 8/31/10 post]
(Bossier City, Louisiana) An 18-year-old local female, Raiesha Tonette Goodnight, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 12-year-old boy.

Raiesha Tonette Goodnight of Bossier City was booked into the Bossier City Jail on a charge of aggravated rape after being interviewed by detectives with the Juvenile Unit.

An investigation determined Goodnight had consensual sex with the boy at his home in July. Detectives began their investigation last week upon being contacted by the boy’s mother after he told her about the incident.

One must wonder how an adult has consensual sex with a 12-year-old. Maybe only an objective journalist can understand.

In any event, Goodnight was booked into custody at the Bossier Parish Maximum Security Facility.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/27/2010 11:41:00 PM

Illegal Jails in China



Chinese Complaint Department
Chinese police are investigating the existence of illegal jails, funded by private companies to handle complaining citizens.

Chinese police are investigating a Beijing firm for holding people in illegal jails that the government says do not exist, state media reported today.

According to China Daily, the company charged local officials to seize and lock up complainants, preventing them from taking their grievances to central authorities. Local authorities are penalised when petitioners from their areas complain to higher officials.

The English language newspaper reported that police had detained Zhang Jun, chairman of Beijing-based Anyuanding Security and Prevention Technical Support Service, and his general manager Zhang Jie, for "illegal detention and unlawful operation", citing the Southern Metropolis Daily. The move follows lengthy articles about the firm by Caijing magazine and Southern Metropolis Daily, both known for their investigative reporting.

Government spokesmen have repeatedly denied the existence of such detention centres, and it is rare to read about them in Chinese media. But last year the official magazine Outlook published a long report about them following an outcry over the rape of a young detainee by a guard, who was later jailed for eight years.

Therefore, if your brand new toaster doesn't work, keep it to yourself or end up in the slammer.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/27/2010 03:03:00 PM

Woman Pinched for Prostitution

(Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) A 50-year-old woman, Debra A. Brewster, was arrested Friday for prostitution at the Holiday Inn after she called police and claimed that a man named "John" had stolen her clothes.

At 12:12 a.m. Friday, an officer responded to Holiday Inn, 625 Rolling Meadows Drive, to interview Brewster about the stolen clothing, according to a Fond du Lac Police Department report.

Brewster told police she agreed to accompany a Madison man to a retirement party in Fond du Lac in exchange for $200 and $50 for gas, according to the report.

She later admitted that she posted an advertisement on craigslist.org titled “Busty Red Head” that featured her phone number. The woman and “John” arranged the Sept. 23 meeting through phone conversations, according to the report.

Brewster said the man told her he did not have the money that was promised. He then locked her out of the room, according to the criminal complaint.

Police claim Brewster was hammered when interviewed. The search for alleged clothes thief "John" continues.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/27/2010 11:52:00 AM

Teacher Tells of Prostitute Past

(NYC) A 30-year-old Bronx elementary school art teacher, Melissa Petro, has written about her experiences as a prostitute which has resulted in the school system placing her on administrative suspension. Here's the news video.



She says she used to be a sex worker who advertised on Craigslist and when Craigslist shut down its erotic services section, she decided to stop hooking.

Personally, it's troubling that Petro was able to be hired as a teacher even as she was working as a hooker. I suggest someone take a look at the vetting process for potential employees of New York City Schools.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/27/2010 08:00:00 AM

What do we see when we use THREE centuries of temperature data?


German geologist Dr. Friedrich-Karl Ewert has asked that question and answered it. He notes that the German weather bureau has temperature records going back as far as 1701 so decided to use them all to calculate temperature changes over time. He found nearly as many cooling trends as warming trends -- giving an overall temperature change that is so small as to be best described as temperature stability.

Below is the introduction to an almost completely ignored press conference that he gave at the recent Bonn pow-wow. I also have the graphs accompanying the presentation and reproduce the first of them below.

The captions are in German but what he shows is the average temperature change over the period available for various centres. In brown are centres where there was warming and in blue are centres where there was no change or cooling. You can see that in all but a few cases the changes were in fractions of one degree Celsius, with the total changes in blue almost cancelling out the total of changes in brown and red.

No doubt various criticisms could be made of Dr Ewert's methods -- averaging time periods of different lengths etc. -- but Warmists are in much the same boat. As is well-known, James Hansen refuses outright to reveal the details and rationale of the methods he uses to account for various difficulties -- which surely speaks for itself

I have tidied up the German English somewhat below

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 13th Session of AWG-KP and 11th Session of AWG-LCA, 2 to 7 August 2010 in Bonn/Germany. Contribution by EIKE (Europaisches Institut fuer Klima und Energie). Press Conference:

Long-term temperature readings disprove man-made global warming

by Dipl.-Geol. Dr. Friedrich-Karl Ewert, Bad Driburg/Germany, Mail: ewert.fk@t-online.de)

Introduction

Temperature readings permit us to portray temperatures in the past and to correlate their development with influencing factors in order to check whether scenarios figured out for the future might be realistic - or not. For instance: the IPCC's postulation that anthropogenic CO2 will cause within the forthcoming decades a tremendous global warming cannot be true if already now worldwide cooling is taking place in spite of ongoing emissions.

It is surprising that temperature readings carried out during the 18th and 19th century have not yet been considered although they are available from 1701 onwards as monthly and annual averages in wetterzentrale.de [The German Weather Bureau].

The author evaluated data from 46 stations worldwide and generated temperature curves with their trend-lines. They were used to ascertain the annual change rates of the temperature variations. These changes do not confirm the wide-spread conviction of a global climate change but identify merely rather small temperature variations. They yielded a slight warming in approx. two thirds of several regions but likewise a slight cooling in the others.

The positive experience gained with this first evaluation motivated one to determine the trends of NASA-temperature curves from 776 stations located all over the world. Stations established already in 1880 were preferably analysed. It became evident that warming within the pre-industrial age also occurred faster than nowadays. Invariable trends or even cooling were diagnosed for 74% of all stations, although with differences from continent to continent. These trends superimpose periodical temperature variations of second order and regional differences. Only 18.8% of the stations recorded warming, of which a substantial portion belongs still to the category of urban development since only very few and very clear cases were assigned to the Urban Heat Island Effect. Contrary to computer based scenarios - and hence contrary to what is generally believed -- anthropogenic CO2 is meaningless because its influence is not recognizable. Of course this result complies with the basic laws of physics and is not really surprising.



Received via email

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/27/2010 04:25:00 AM

Near-Threatened Species Sterilized by Zoo

(Katraj, India) Officials at Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and Research Centre have been sterilizing internationally-recognized near-threatened animal species.

The animals apparently reproduce faster than the zoo can accommodate.

The animals are designated vulnerable as per the standards of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and it would seem that a policy of protecting animal species is violated by a program to limit populations.

The problem at Rajiv Gandhi Centre is that nobody wants to take its overpopulation of vulnerable species. Other zoos have expressed no interest in taking "surplus" near-threatened animals and the option of releasing them to the wild has been dismissed since procedures for obtaining permission are burdensome.

While I understand the zoo's predicament, the incongruity between sterilizing and protecting a species is illogical.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/26/2010 01:38:00 AM

Some real hate speech from the University of Illinois

Patriotism sure gets a bad rap. But we know that Leftists always hate the country they live in

"Block-I students chanted “USA, USA.” This was neither patriotism nor remembrance in any justifiable sense, but politicization, militarism, propaganda and bellicosity. The University is a public institution that encompasses the political views of all, not just the most (falsely) “patriotic.” Athletic planners should cease such exploitation for political purposes. They might at least consider how most Muslim students, American or otherwise, would respond to this nativist display; or better, Muslims and others that live their lives under the threat of our planes, drones and soldiers.

The overwhelmingly white, privileged, Block-I students should be ashamed of their obnoxious, fake-macho, chicken-hawk chant, while poverty-drafted members of their cohort fight and die in illegal and immoral wars for the control of oil. University administrators need to eliminate from all events such “patriotic” observances, which in this country cannot be separated from implicit justifications for state-sponsored killing.

Source

The author, David Green, is a University Academic Professional, whatever that may be. Some background on Mr Green here and a good reply to his rant here

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/26/2010 01:37:00 AM

Unsubstantiated drivel from the Jug Man

"Krug" is German/Yiddish for "Jug"

We read:

"Anger is sweeping America. True, this white-hot rage is a minority phenomenon, not something that characterizes most of our fellow citizens. But the angry minority is angry indeed, consisting of people who feel that things to which they are entitled are being taken away. And they’re out for revenge.

No, I’m not talking about the Tea Partiers. I’m talking about the rich.

These are terrible times for many people in this country. Poverty, especially acute poverty, has soared in the economic slump; millions of people have lost their homes. Young people can’t find jobs; laid-off 50-somethings fear that they’ll never work again.

Yet if you want to find real political rage — the kind of rage that makes people compare President Obama to Hitler, or accuse him of treason — you won’t find it among these suffering Americans. You’ll find it instead among the very privileged, people who don’t have to worry about losing their jobs, their homes, or their health insurance, but who are outraged, outraged, at the thought of paying modestly higher taxes.

Well, it certainly sounds like Krugman himself is angry. And he is a wealthy man himself. So is he simply projecting his feelings onto others in his tax bracket? It seems likely. He offers no proof -- nada -- that the rich in general are angry or that they are behind the very widespread dissatisfaction with Obama and the Obamacrats in Congress. Does Krugman think the rich pay the tea partiers to rally? Who knows? One commenter responded to his tirade by labelling him as the Left-wing equivalent of a birther. I think that is unfair to birthers. Birthers have at least some grounds for their claims. Krugman has none -- or none that he offers anyway.

And as far as I know, it is much more likely that the rich are not much perturbed by the impending tax increases. Many rich people (Bill Gates and Warren Buffet being the best-known examples) give away voluntarily substantial amounts of money anyhow -- and the rich who are more protective of their assets have plenty of loopholes (put there by Congress) that their tax accountants can use for tax avoidance purposes. It's middle income earners (mostly small business people) who are most likely to be thrown into difficulty by tax increases.

Keith Burgess Jackson also has some advice for the Jug Man.

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/25/2010 01:06:00 PM

Christians Arrested for Noon Meal During Ramadan

(Tizi Ouzou Province, Algeria) Reported this week, two forty-something Christian workers on a construction project, Hocine Hocini and Fellak Salem, were arrested for eating an "illegal" lunch during Ramadan.

The arrest of the two Algerians was made by police officers who have demonstrated an increased vigilance with regard to the eating behaviors of construction workers.

Appearing before the court, the police argued in favor of legal provisions that protect religious precepts from being disobeyed. The accused are therefore to answer for the "illegal" act: A meal while at work.

"I am optimistic... I have no regrets, I am a Christian" Hocine Hocini, told AFP. "We are innocent, we have not hurt anyone. We are Christians and we did not eat in a public place", he repeated as hundreds of supporters met them on their way out of the court.

This affair has thrown the local population into tantrums. A population that is not used to such incredibly shocking and dangerous judiciary incidents, considering that it constitutes a serious regression in what concerns the protection of civil liberties.

The bizarre incident has prompted outrage within the local population which fears its culture is being influenced too heavily by strict Islamic doctrines in Iran and Afghanistan.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/25/2010 09:51:00 AM

Arizona Woman Sentenced in Sex Case

(Yuma, Arizona) Earlier this month, a 32-year-old local woman, Melissa King, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sexual abuse in accordance with an agreement with the prosecution.

The charge stemmed from King having sexual contact with a 16-year-old male.

Court records indicated that King was allegedly involved with the boy on at least two occasions. Both of the incidents allegedly took place at King's home, which was, at the time, across the street from the victim's residence.

Court records also indicated that King allegedly pursued a relationship with the teenage boy after his parents warned her not to.

Consequently, King was sentenced to 25 days in jail and three years of probation. She will also be classified as a high-risk Level 3 sex offender.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/25/2010 05:07:00 AM

Poverty does not make you happy

Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich

‘Money can’t buy me love,’ the Beatles once told us. Now economists like Jeffrey D. Sachs argue that money can’t buy you happiness, either.

In an opinion piece in Wednesday’s The Australian, the Columbia University professor recommended a closer look at the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The Bhutanese attitude towards development and their government’s focus on happiness should inspire the West, he wrote.

Indeed, Bhutan is always held up by as the shining example in the quest to make the world a happier place. In the 1970s, the Bhutanese king decided that his subjects should strive to increase Gross National Happiness, not GDP. Ever since, this has been the country’s guiding principle. It is this principle that Sachs now recommends to more developed nations.

There is nothing wrong with happiness, of course. In fact, it was the Americans and not the Bhutanese who first declared the pursuit of happiness a national goal. But it’s nevertheless a bit odd to present Bhutan as the role model for global happiness and well-being.

Have the Bhutanese really reached a special stage of enlightenment the rest of the world should follow? There is reason for doubt if you believe reports in the country’s press. Not long ago, the Bhutan Times came to this harsh assessment:

"To the world beyond its borders, Bhutan is a sort of a fabled country. Happiness is the mantra of development here that has tickled the imagination of economists and social engineers near and far. Closer home, a microscopic view of things reveals that all is not so well. In the recent years, an overriding numbers of drug and substance abuse and an alarming suicide rate have been reported in the country, an indication that the pursuit of happiness is still a delusional journey for some."

Perhaps the Bhutanese are not so happy after all because they are poor. According to the country’s National Statistics Office, 23.2% of the total population are living below the poverty line of Nu 1,096 (approximately $25) a month.

Or maybe they are unhappy about their press freedom, which was ranked as one of the worst in the world in the 2009 ‘Freedom of the Press’ survey. That is, of course, only relevant insofar as they can read because Bhutanese literacy is below the South and West Asian average.

None of these figures featured in Professor Sachs’ rose-tinted survey of Bhutan. Such ignorance is a bliss that only Western tourists can afford. Maybe money can’t buy you happiness, but at least it can buy you a return ticket to Bhutan.

The above is a press release from the Centre for Independent Studies, dated Sept. 24. Enquiries to cis@cis.org.au. Snail mail: PO Box 92, St Leonards, NSW, Australia 1590.

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/25/2010 12:26:00 AM

Woman Gets Prison in Sex-Slave Case - Updated

(Leavenworth, Kansas) Brenda M. Keister, 34, was sentenced by District Judge Gunnar Sundby on Friday to a total of more than six years in prison.

For her conviction on the charge of aggravated sodomy, Keister received 61 months in prison. For the conviction on indecent solicitation of a child, Keister received 19 months imprison. Her sentences will run consecutively.

* * * * *
Kansas Woman Pleads in Sex-Slave Case - Updated
[Previous 8/21/10 post]
(Leavenworth, Kansas) Thirty-four-year-old Brenda Keister pleaded no contest yesterday to indecent solicitation of a child and criminal sodomy stemming from a "bizarre online-based sex-slave group."

Prosecutors said that Keister had her 14-year-old male relative perform oral sex on her from April of 2009 until April of this year, when the boy finally told his father what was going on.

Leavenworth County prosecutor Todd Thompson says that the crimes began after Keister joined an online virtual society called Second Life, which according to their website, allows people to escape reality and make up a new life for themselves. Thompson says Keister met someone on this website from a group called the Libertine Society, a secret sex slave society based in Seattle, Washington.

"The Libertine Society is one that believes in sex slaves," said Thompson. "She was preparing the boy by trying to teach him how to have sexual intercourse."

Keister is scheduled to be sentenced on September 17 when she faces a possible five years in prison.

Offhand, I'd say that someone should investigate the sex-slave organization. Just the idea sounds wrong.

* * * * *
Kansas Woman Accused of Molesting Boy
[Previous 6/14/10 post]
(Leavenworth, Kansas) A 34-year-old local woman, Brenda M. Keister, was arrested last week for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy.

Keister faces charges of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child and aggravated criminal sodomy.

The crimes are alleged to have occurred between April 2009 and April 2010 at a Leavenworth residence. The boy is now 14.

Keister was arrested Tuesday on a warrant, according to Maj. Robert Smith, deputy chief of the Leavenworth Police Department.

Keister was booked into custody with bond set at $250,000.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/24/2010 02:07:00 PM

Job Advisor: "Put a bag over your head"

(Blackburn, England) A 23-year-old woman sporting a number of tattoos and piercings, Hayley O'Neil, consulted a job center official about possible employment.



Hayley O'Neil
She was advised to "put a bag over her head" when going to be interviewed and to "stand behind a wall" when possible.

Miss O'Neil, who got her first tattoo from her mother as an 18th birthday present said: ''I just felt so humiliated. I couldn't believe what this guy was saying.

''I said I could take the piercings out but they look a lot worse when they are out."

"The guy said: 'on first impressions do you think anyone would hire you?' He said: 'look at it this way if you were to stand behind a wall - or put a paper bag over your face do you think you would have a better chance?'

"He then backtracked and tried to say that he was sorry and hoped I wasn't offended but I was.

"He talked to me as though I was just going through a phase in my life, but this is my lifestyle choice, and this is who I am."

Young people should be counseled regarding how disfigurement via tattoos and piercings can be disqualifiers for jobs dealing with the public.

Here's another pic.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/24/2010 01:30:00 PM

Maria, the Goat, Shot and Killed

(Santa Fe, New Mexico) Police seek a goat killer.

Animal Protection of New Mexico is offering a $1,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of whoever shot and killed a pet goat in a Santa Fe neighborhood.

The shooting the evening of Sept. 12 killed Maria, a Nigerian dwarf goat who lived with two other goats and other animals at the home.

Witnesses told police a man in a blue-green minivan drove up to the fenced yard where the goats are kept and fired three shots, hitting the animal twice.

Authorities recovered .25-caliber bullet casings.

The suspected killer is believed to be 35 to 45 years old.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/24/2010 10:40:00 AM

Alleged Caffeine-Induced Murder

(Newport, Kentucky) A 33-year-old Kentucky man, Woody Will Smith, is on trial for allegedly killing his wife, Amanda Hornsby-Smith, in May 2009.

He is accused of strangling his wife with an extension cord.

Smith's defense in the case is that he was suffering from caffeine-induced insanity caused by taking diet pills and energy drinks.

A legal strategy invoking caffeine intoxication is unusual but has succeeded at least once before, in a case involving a man cleared in 2009 of charges of running down and injuring two people with a car in Washington state.

Prosecutors say their expert may testify there's no evidence Smith consumed the caffeine the defense claims left him without memory of crucial events.

Closing arguments in the trial are to be presented today.


[Update 9/24/10 post, 1130 PM]

(Dayton, Kentucky) The caffeine defense didn't work. Woody Will Smith was convicted of strangling his wife. His jury will now decide his punishment, 20-50 years or life in prison.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/24/2010 08:32:00 AM

Carolina Teacher Sex Party Case - Updated

The national media has picked up the story which is now being called the "Sex Party Case." Here are some fresh developments.

Lindsay resigned from her job Monday.

Grabarkiewicz was released from the Spartanburg County Detention Center Wednesday morning after posting a $25,000 bond and agreeing to home detention, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

She was also served with divorce papers by her husband of 17 years, Eddie Grabarkiewicz, who has asked for "complete care, control and custody" of the couple's three children, ages 12, 9 and 7, and child support, his lawyer told the paper.

Lindsay remains in jail on a $50,000 bond.

If the allegations prove to be true, it must be said that these two teachers irreparably screwed up their lives.

* * * * *
Carolina Teachers Accused of Doing Youths
[Previous 9/21/10]
(Spartanburg, South Carolina) Two female teachers, Sarah Jane Lindsay, 42, and Audrey Beidleman Grabarkiewicz, 44, were arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex with teenagers while providing them with alcohol and marijuana during parties at their homes.


 
Sarah Jane Lindsay --- Audrey B. Grabarkiewicz
Sarah Lindsay, a teacher at Boiling Springs Elementary School, faces nine counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and criminal sex with a minor between 11 and 14 years of age.

Audrey Grabarkiewicz, a preschool teacher at Lake Bowen Baptist Church, faces 10 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She reportedly engaged in sex with some of her victims but they were over 16 years of age. Consequently, she wasn't charged for the sex. I don't understand.

A bond hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/24/2010 07:19:00 AM

Some things the mass media "forgot" to tell you

By Oliver North, in Afghanistan

On Sept. 18, the Afghan people went to the polls to elect a new national parliament. It was similar to the kind of legislative election we will hold in less than six weeks -- with the same portent for political change. Yet most U.S. media coverage of Afghanistan's experiment in representative government focused on insurgent attacks aimed at disrupting the vote. Newspaper and television reports claimed "low voter interest" and highlighted "Taliban attacks aimed at reducing turnout." But, as we learned once we arrived here, those stories were simply wrong.

There were insurgent attacks -- but one-third fewer than during last year's presidential elections. According to international observers, fewer than 1 percent of polling stations had any violence at all. And those same monitors reported voter turnout -- an estimated 3.6 million, or about 40 percent of those eligible -- was actually higher than it was in the 2009 election.

Set aside for a moment that most Afghan voters had to ignore the risk of violence, walk to their local polling stations and wait in long lines -- and that turnout was higher than it is in most of our "off-year" elections. Ask instead how those who reported this story managed to get it so wrong. The answer, of course, is that there is an agenda in many of our media. Those who "shape the news" have a predisposition for the negative and make a conscious choice to ignore "good news" that contradicts their bias.

Therefore, "news" from here tends to spotlight corruption in the Karzai government, the tribulations caused by pervasive opium production and American military losses. Reports datelined "Kabul" and stories filed from Kandahar and Herat frequently cite the ineffectiveness of the Afghan National Security Forces. Yet when Gen. David Petraeus commended the ANSF after the recent elections for "safeguarding a weapon with greater potential than any other: the people's right to vote," he was all but ignored.

Thank goodness few of the warriors we are covering here in Afghanistan are even aware of the intrigues swirling in Washington or the negative news so fascinating to our media elites. The troops here are too busy fighting America's real enemies.

More HERE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/24/2010 06:38:00 AM

NJ Teacher Indicted for Sex Assault of Boy, 17

(Trenton, New Jersey) A 29-year-old teacher formerly at The Bridge Academy, Talia Peverada, has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly engaging in sex with a 17-year-old boy.

She faces charges of four counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

“Miss Peverada categorically denies that she did anything illegal or improper,” said her attorney, Michael Rogers. “And obviously, we need to take a look at the discovery, and we will begin to mount our defenses to this case once we receive the information.”

Rogers said his client “did not teach this child, she had nothing to do with this child’s education” and noted that “the age of consent in New Jersey is 16. And so I’m not conceding anything here. I just want everyone to know that this is not the typical case, believe me.”

He said there was no allegation that there was any force or coercion in the case.

“So the issue will turn on whether or not there was supervisory or disciplinary control by the defendant teacher over the alleged student,” Rogers said.

As for the thought that where there’s smoke, there’s fire, he said, “A lot of times, there is a lot of smoke. Sometimes that’s all you end up with.”

Peverada is free on $50,000 bail.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/24/2010 05:43:00 AM

[cough … cough] Quick! Take Off Your Bra!

For those who anticipate being caught in toxic respiratory environments, there's a new product available, the Emergency Bra.

It's a protective garment that transforms into two respiratory face masks, available online for about $30.



Creator Dr. Elena Bodnar designed the bra to achieve tight fixation and full coverage for both the owner and the adjacent guy presumably tightly fixed on eyeballing her.

"You have to be prepared all the time, at any place, at any moment, and practically every woman wears a bra," she said.

Her patented devices also look pretty, no different from a conventional bra, she added.

A counterpart device for men has been contemplated utilizing the conventional athletic supporter. However, public acceptance of an athletic supporter respiration mask is indeterminate. It's presumed that bugs in the design and making it pretty are challenges.

Thanks to emergency preparedness tipster.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/23/2010 08:45:00 PM

2 Dead After Mom Locks Kids in Closet

(Indianapolis, Indiana) A 28-year-old local mother and immigrant from Somalia, Ebyan Farah, faces charges of neglect and confinement stemming from alleged incidents of locking her children in a closet without food and water when she left the home.

The confinement reportedly resulted in the deaths of two youngsters, ages 3 and 4.

Authorities have said Farah told police she "was not in her right mind" when she allegedly placed her children in a 6-foot by 1 1/2-foot upstairs closet at Manchester Village Apartments about 6 a.m. Sunday. Court documents say Farah put a bed frame or mattress against the closet door to keep the children from leaving while she went to visit a friend for the day.

Seven-year-old Muntaaz Farah Hassan told investigators her mother often put children in the closet as punishment or when she needed to cook, according to a police affidavit. The girl said she sometimes helped her mother get the children in the closet when they got into trouble.

The girl said she had a hard time breathing in the hot, dark closet Sunday and that no food and water had been left for her and three of her four siblings, according to the affidavit.

Muntaaz said she watched as her mother carried her dead siblings away.

Tip: slwlion

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/23/2010 09:27:00 AM

Butts of College Girls



KFC has launched an advertising campaign consisting of college coeds wearing fitted sweatpants with the face of Colonel Sanders and "Double Down" in large letters emblazoned across their pristine cabooses.

The women are paid $500 to don the pants and hand out KFC coupons.

The program began last week at Spalding University in downtown Louisville. The chain plans to expand it to at least three more campuses. The additional schools and the women there will be picked via a Facebook promotion.

The stunt hasn't reached Colorado State University — and senior public relations major Candace Carlucci hopes it never does. "It may be funny, but it's also inappropriate and degrading," she says. "There must be another way for KFC to get its message out."

Inappropriate? I don't think so. In fact, a side of fresh, warm buns is a traditional go-with for fried chicken.

In any event, it would be pure speculation to imagine what dearly-departed Colonel Sanders would think of having a number of college coeds sitting on his face for at least part of the day. I suspect the moustached old gentleman would be pleased.

Tip: CNestor
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       Following Entry Posted 9/23/2010 08:07:00 AM

New Jersey Teacher Accused of Sex with Student

(Perth Amboy, New Jersey) A 36-year-old substitute science teacher at Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School, Monique Ucelli, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sex with a male student.

The alleged sex reportedly occurred last March at a motel.

Ucelli faces charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. She was booked into custody at the Middlesex County Adult Detention Center where she awaits bail.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/23/2010 07:29:00 AM

The incomparable Pat Condell on the Ground Zero mosque




Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/22/2010 11:46:00 PM

Green Party Candidate Dies in Crash with SUV

Sad story:

A 30-year-old Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate died late Monday night, less than two days after she was hit by a car while riding her bicycle in the Largo area, authorities said.

Maryland State Police said Natasha Pettigrew died at a Prince George's Hospital Center at 10:30 p.m. Monday.[…]

Pettigrew was hit by a sport-utility vehicle traveling near the intersection of Campus Way. State police said the driver apparently thought she had hit a deer or another animal and realized what had happened only when she arrived home and found Pettigrew's bicycle trapped under her car.

Condolences to Ms. Pettigrew's family and friends.

Some individuals may focus on the irony of the episode and laugh. I understand the urge but it's wrong. Natasha Pettigrew's loved ones are in mourning and I suggest people respect the pain of their loss. The circumstances of Pettigrew's death are ironic but not laughable.

Tip: Ronin
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       Following Entry Posted 9/22/2010 10:41:00 PM

August Unemployment Up in 27 States

Latest numbers from the government:

The unemployment rate edged up in August in Kansas, Missouri and 25 other states, the largest number in six months, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday.

The unemployment rate fell in 13 states and stayed the same in 10 states and the District of Columbia.

In July, the rate rose in 14 states and fell in 18.

The overall U.S. unemployment rate rose from 9.5 percent in July to 9.6 percent in August, the government reported earlier this month.

Sorry situation, eh?
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       Following Entry Posted 9/22/2010 12:10:00 PM

12 Terrorists Killed - Updated

(Nouakchott, Mauritania) Another source confirms that 12 al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) terrorists were killed last weekend in fighting that took place in the Timbuktu region of Mali.



West Saharan Africa
The Mauritanian operations were approved by the government of Mali since AQIM dominates in the northern part of the country.

For the first time in years, the Mauritanian Air Force, consisting of several U.S.-origin Basler BT-67 and Cessna-337 transports, conducted air strikes against armored vehicles, killing 12 terrorists and really pissing AQIM off.

“Our Muslim brothers in the North of Mali were the object of a cowardly aggression, which killed two women, Najiya et Salka, and wounded one man,” the statement said.

"The Mauritanian army, acting in the pay of miscreants who kill innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq, is lying when it says that the woman who was killed was the wife of a mujahidin.”

They called Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz the agent of France and said that the blood of the two women who were killed would not go unavenged.

Meanwhile, AQIM is believed to be responsible for kidnapping seven people in northern Niger, including five French nationals. In response, France has dispatched a company of 80 troops to recover the hostages.

* * * * *
12 Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb Killed
[Previous 9/20/10 post]
(Mauritania-Mali Border) Here's an intriguing report.

Mauritanian soldiers killed at least 12 al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb terrorists during a 2-day skirmish that ended Saturday (September 18th) in Mali.

As part of the Sahel-Saharan security co-operation initiative, Mali warned Mauritania on Friday that a column of AQIM armoured vehicles was observed heading to the shared border to attack a Mauritanian military post, the Mauritanian Defence Minister said Saturday. [my bold]

Six Mauritanian troops died in the offensive.

Although counterterrorism experts may know otherwise, this is the first occasion I'm aware of where al-Qaeda terrorists are reported to use armored vehicles. Typically, terrorists are not viewed as having their own motor pools of military vehicles.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/22/2010 08:55:00 AM

Obama Goes to Church

Recently, there has been a lot of controversy regarding President Obama's religious belief system which stemmed from a poll that found an inordinate number of Americans think he is a Muslim.

Given that he had only attended church twice in the previous year, the polling numbers are credited for Obama attending a Christian church last Sunday with his family.

Ironically, after traipsing across Lafayette Park to St. John's Episcopal Church, Obama was greeted by Dr. Ziad Asali, a prominent pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli Muslim activist, the guest speaker.

The elite media failed to report on the irony. Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/22/2010 08:25:00 AM

Cessna Announces 700 Workers Cut

(Wichita, Kansas) Aircraft manufacturer Cessna has announced that it is cutting 700 hourly and salaried jobs out of a workforce of 6,000. All the layoffs will occur in Wichita.

According to CEO Scott Donnelly, "While we are seeing solid performance in most of our other businesses, we have not yet seen a discernable improvement in business-jet order activity,” Donnelly said in the statement.

Business jet orders are likely suffering because the fat cat high income earners are expecting a huge Obama tax increase in January, unlike the middle class who will continue to enjoy the Bush tax cuts.

However, Obama's plan backfires with respect to some middle income earners. Sure, they'll enjoy continuation of the Bush tax cuts but a lot of good that will do when they lose their jobs ... 700 in Wichita. Tax cuts and tax increases are largely inconsequential to people with no income.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/22/2010 06:16:00 AM

Leftists mixing science with religion

Evangelical Christians have a religious obligation to oppose carbon-based fuels and to support greenhouse gas reductions, if you believe the lame stream media. In delivering such a message, the media has publicized the efforts of a very few self-professed evangelicals whose views on the topic run counter to most evangelicals.

Bryan Fischer, host of the daily 'Focal Point' radio talk program of the American Family Association, this morning has published an excellent article on the topic. Fischer questions the motives of self-professed religious leaders who attempt to weigh in on such a secular issue as global warming science. The end result, he observes, is to diminish the credibility of the church.

According to Fischer, “This, by the way, ought to be a lesson to the church. Some leaders in the church, in their ongoing and misguided efforts to be cool, hip, and admired by the world, are always chasing after the latest public policy fad, and just about the time they catch up, the world moves on, leaving them looking silly and foolish. It's happened again.”

The Sierra Club, not known for outspoken support of evangelical Christian causes, has for the past several years been spearheading the effort to mislead evangelical Christians into believing they have a religious obligation to support greenhouse gas restrictions. You can read my thoughts on such tactics here.

SOURCE (See the original for links)

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 11:26:00 PM

Nebraska to Big Ten Conference

(Lincoln, Nebraska) On July 1, 2011, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will become an official member of the Big Ten Conference. Terms of the negotiated settlement with the Big 12 Conference have been finalized.

Reactions from fans are mixed. Some dread anticipated price increases for game tickets while bemoaning the dissection of traditional rivalries. Others are eager to see the Cornhuskers challenged in an arguably tougher conference.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 04:03:00 PM

Obama Criticized During Townhall Meeting

(Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania) A questioner rocks President Obama momentarily during a townhall meeting. I suggest that Obama's advance team didn't vet the audience adequately.




It's easy to understand the frustration of Obama's supporters. They were promised milk and honey and sea level changes. Instead, they've seen unemployment, foreclosures and promises of tax increases.

Tip: Todd C.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 02:24:00 PM

Ohio Mom Indicted for Pot-Smoking Toddler

(Cincinnati, Ohio) A 21-year-old mother, Jessica Gamble, has been indicted on a charge of corruption with drugs stemming from an incident where she allowed her two-year-old daughter to smoke marijuana.

Gamble is accused of providing marijuana to her daughter in June, videotaping the episode and posting the video on YouTube.

Curiously, the child is seen in the video displaying a modicum of familiarity with smoking a marijuana cigarette, indicating that the toddler has likely done it before.

The authorities were alerted when the video hit the Internet. Here's the video.




The child was removed from Gamble's care by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. Gamble was booked into custody with bond set at $10,000.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 10:28:00 AM

Virginia Teacher Busted for Drugs

(Virginia Beach, Virginia) A 59-year-old science teacher at Kellam High School, Darcy M. Mahler, was arrested last Friday after Special Investigations detectives intercepted a package of marijuana addressed to her.

Subsequently, a search of Mahler's home found several more pounds of marijuana. She has been charged with sale and distribution of marijuana, transporting controlled substances and conspiracy to violate the Drug Control Act.

Mahler was booked in to custody at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center. No report on a bond amount. Also, two other people were arrested in the case. Devin King, 24, and Britney Ballard, 22, face the same charges as Mahler.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 09:13:00 AM

Witchcraft in the White House

The story is that Barack Obama's mother-in-law has been accused of practicing "witchcraft mumbo-jumbo" in the White House and Michelle has threatened to send her back to Chicago.

Heh.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 08:50:00 AM

Hezbollah Tests Missile in Iran

(Tehran, Iran) According to the ABNA news agency, special units of Hezbollah have successfully launched and tested a new Iranian missile "Farah 110."






Fatah 110 Missile
The missile is reported to be nine meters long, weighs 3,500 kilograms and is solid fuel propelled.

According to the report, the Iranian missile, which was displayed with great pride in Tehran less than a month ago, has a maximum range of 200 kilometers. This means it is capable of reaching occupied Jerusalem and Ashdod if it was to be launched from the Occupied Palestine-Lebanon border.

The Kuwait newspaper said the test launches took place in Iran since such an event could not take place in Lebanon.

"The test was successful and part of the units which participated returned to their bases in Lebanon," unidentified officials told Al-Rai.

Hezbollah has formulated a "bank of targets" in Israel such as "power stations and sensitive institutions" across the country, the sources added.

So, the terrorists already know where they are going to aim the missiles. That news doesn't give me a sense of the warm and cozies.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 07:05:00 AM

The original moonbat admits he was wrong -- grudgingly

He once claimed that Veganism was the only ethical behaviour -- but is now promoting meat! Do I hear the rustle of currency somewhere in the background?

George Monbiot, the original Moonbat Liberal, confessed in a column in the Guardian that going vegan will not save the planet from global cooling, global warming or whatever they are calling it today.

From George Monbiot: “In the Guardian in 2002 I discussed the sharp rise in the number of the world’s livestock, and the connection between their consumption of grain and human malnutrition. After reviewing the figures, I concluded that veganism ‘is the only ethical response to what is arguably the world’s most urgent social justice issue.’

I still believe that the diversion of ever wider tracts of arable land from feeding people to feeding livestock is iniquitous and grotesque. So does the book I’m about to discuss. I no longer believe that the only ethical response is to stop eating meat.”

Then he went on to plug a book about meat.

There is another religion that recently reversed itself on meat. The Catholic church in the 1960s decided eating meat on non-Lenten Fridays was OK.

Then there is this bit from George Monbiot: “Feeding meat and bone meal to cows was insane. Feeding it to pigs, whose natural diet incorporates a fair bit of meat, makes sense, as long as it is rendered properly. The same goes for swill. Giving sterilized scraps to pigs solves two problems at once: waste disposal and the diversion of grain.

Instead we now dump or incinerate millions of tonnes of possible pig food and replace it with soya whose production trashes the Amazon. Waste food in the UK, Fairlie calculates, could make 800,000 tonnes of pork, or one sixth of our total meat consumption.”

You control what people eat, you control people. This has been done with every religion. Monbiot’s pagan Gaia religion is only the latest.

Apparently going Vegan was a deal breaker for many and so like Saint Paul kicking circumcision to the curb goes Monbiot’s vegetarianism.

SOURCE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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       Following Entry Posted 9/21/2010 05:25:00 AM

Iranian Sex Traffickers in Britain

From a Daily Mail report last week:

A sex trafficking gang offered to sell the virginity of underage girls to wealthy businessmen for up to £150,000 each.

The three women and a man were offering girls as young as 13 but were arrested in an undercover Scotland Yard operation after staff at a luxury hotel tipped off police.

One of the women had arrived at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge, central London, in a silver BMW to offer the gang's services in a handwritten letter to the owner in August last year.

It read: 'I have 12 girls ready from the age 14-20 years, who are living all over the UK, I have spent money on the preparation of this event such as a rented house for the girls and also all expenses needed.'

Gang members arrested, mostly Iranian and unemployed, include Fatima Hagnegat, 24, and her husband, Rassoul Gholampour, 30, and her aunt, Marohkh Jamali, 41, and Sara Bordbar. All admitted to sex trafficking and prostitution offenses in Harrow Crown Court.

All were sentenced to jail terms of two years and three months to two years and nine months.

The court heard that Iranians Jamali and Hagnegat were seeking asylum in Britain. Gholampour remained in Britain illegally as he has no right to remain. Bordbar is British.

In my opinion, two years and change for sex traffickers could hardly be called harsh punishment. In a tangentially-related note, I wonder if anyone else is as surprised as I am about the going rate for virgin girls.

Labels: Women With Troubles

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       Following Entry Posted 9/20/2010 10:49:00 PM

Coach Fired for Composing Obama Song

(Franklin, Tennessee) Last month, a 26-year-old football coach at Grassland Middle School, Bryan Glover, was fired from his position for composing a song critical of President Obama and sending it to his acquaintances on the Internet. Here's the song.



Within hours, students' parents reportedly called the school and complained.

Glover said the principal at Grassland Middle School told the head football coach to release Glover from his position with the team.

"He just said parents were complaining, maybe there was a comment of racial overtones," Glover said,

"I found it amusing," said parent Michael Kasaitis about Glover's country song.

He said no matter the opinion on his music, the link was sent from his personal email account and it is free speech.

"I was totally upset. He has every right to write a song, write a book or to make his opinion known," said Kasaitis.

The Superintendent of Williamson County Schools refused to say why Glover was fired, but he did speculate it could be an issue of how he obtained the parents email addresses.

"If someone is sending an email to parents using our system or knowledge you obtained through our system, you are limited in what kind of message you can send to parents, " said Dr. Mike Looney.

Okay … but I'm not really sure what it means to be "limited in what kind of message you can send to parents."

In the final analysis, I suggest Glover was fired because his song offended the political sensitivities of school administrators and not because he possessed email addresses.

Tip: Rita and Eugene

Companion posts: TJR, AWH and Diggers Realm.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/20/2010 09:59:00 AM

Sexism in Russia

(Moscow, Russia) The issue of women's rights seems to have failed to achieve a position of prominence in Russia, twenty years after the official fall of communism. In fact, overt Russian sexism solidly endures.

According to gender studies scholar Elena Zdravomyslova, the capitalist boom has enabled some women to progress but Russian sexist attitudes are deep-rooted.

A recent television commercial (NSFW Video) for lingerie shows long-legged women dressed only in stiletto heels and underwear, one of hundreds of such images bombarding Russians every day.

Zdravomyslova says advertisements, television programs, and glossy magazines are "aggressively sexualizing" the common idea of women's roles in society, and reinforcing traditional attitudes.

It’s those entrenched attitudes that are helping perpetuate one of Russia’s darkest secrets: domestic violence that's so pervasive many see it as a normal part of everyday life, in a country where an old saying advises, "If he beats you, he loves you."

The government's own figures estimate 14,000 women die each year from domestic violence. That's the death of one woman at the hands of her husband or partner every hour. It's more than 10 times the number of deaths in the United States, which has twice Russia's population.

Larisa Ponarina of the Anna Center for Domestic Violence says it’s impossible to tell exactly how many victims of domestic violence there are because the authorities aren't interested in the issue. She says no accurate statistics are kept, in a country whose legal system doesn’t even provide restraining orders for victims of abuse.

"It's still a man's world,” she says. “There's no conviction at the top of society that women should be advanced, and of course that influences society as a whole."

I suggest it takes generations to change traditional culture.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/20/2010 08:08:00 AM

Swedes Elect Right Wing Government

(Stockholm, Sweden) Big news in Scandinavia! The Swedish electorate has booted the leftists from power and elected right-wingers.

With the far-right Sweden Democrats headed to the Riksdag for the first time and the traditional dominance of the Social Democrats apparently broken for good, the Swedish press on Monday reflected on the consequences of a new political era. […]

Swedish media seemed just as concerned with the complicated parliament ahead as with the historical defeat of the Social Democrats, which have dominated politics here for most of the century.

Recalling that the Social Democrats had been in power "for 83 percent of the time since 1932", [leading daily Dagens Nyheter] DN said "the time when one party was subscribed to power and could decide of everything is gladly over".

With Mona Sahlin as their leader, this election marked the Social Democrats' worse score since 1914 and "the party will never again feel like it owns Sweden", Göterborgs-Posten (GP) said.

"In other countries, it’s obviously not strange for a centre-right government to be re-elected, but this is Sweden, it's a never before seen phenomenon," said SvD.

Therefore, after the better part of a century, the Swedes have finally become disenchanted with governance by leftists.
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       Following Entry Posted 9/20/2010 05:34:00 AM

Pick your proxy

What do we conclude when temperature proxies contradict both one another and real-world data?

We see here that a new proxy temperature measurement from South America shows the Medieval warm period and little ice age that Warmists like Michael Mann tried to "iron out" of their "hockey stick" graphs.

It also however shows a temperature upturn in the 20th century that exceeds the temperature observed in their proxy data for the Medieval warm period -- which contradicts what we certainly know about the Medieval warm period -- when the historical data that we have (Vikings farming in Greenland etc.) shows that period to be warmer than the present.

Additionally, we know that Briffa's Russian pine tree proxies showed a now famous DECLINE in 20th century temperatures -- a decline that Phil Jones & Co. famously used a "trick" to "hide". There is certainly no grounds from the thermometer readings to conclude that temperatures declined overall in the 20th century, though an argument could be made that there was no significant increase.

So where do we go from there? One could quite reasonably conclude that all temperatures are local and that we should not generalize from one place to another -- and that is a highly satisfactory conclusion for skeptics and a nasty one for the Greenies.

But my conclusion is even harsher than that. I don't see how we can trust ANY proxy unless we have ACTUAL temperatures to validate it against. And we just don't have such temperature data beyond about 150 years ago.

I am acutely aware of the validity issue because it lay at the heart of my own research into psychometrics. I was attempting in my work something just as daunting as what paleoclimatologists try to do. I was trying to put numbers to human attitudes and personalities.

One normally does that via a questionnaire. One uses questionnaires as proxies for what people are thinking. But how do you know that the answers to your questionnaire reflect anything real? You don't -- unless you seek some sort of validation for the measure you have constructed. You need some objective or independent data to compare your questionnaire answers with. And in my career I was a demon about insisting on such external validation.

Many of my colleagues were more insouciant however and took the questionnaire answers they had at face value. As a result I often was able to point out that they had got it wrong and that their research could not support the conclusions that the author concerned had drawn from it. I got a lot of papers published in the academic journals by pointing out such follies.

So if I had been in Briffa's shoes and found that the actual temperature record for the 20th century contradicted what my proxy data seemed to be showing, I would have concluded that the proxy was invalid and could not be used to support any conclusions. That is what any honest scientist would have done. Briffa, however, ignored the glaring invalidity of his proxy data and pretended to draw conclusions about temperatures for the last 1,000 years or so from it.

So from my perspective as a specialist in measurement, I can see no way of drawing sound conclusions about temperature from ANY proxy data so far available. The whole Warmist enterprise is an edifice built on sand.

Being a good scientist, however, I am going to specify what a valid temperature proxy would show. It would show the Roman warm period as warmest of all for the last 2500 years (when Hannibal took elephants over the Alps in WINTER and grapes grew in Northern England). It would show the Medieval Warm period as warmer than today (when Vikings farmed in Greenland). And it would show temperatures over the last 200 years as essentially flat (as even the Warmists claim a temperature rise of less than one degree Celsius over that period). I know of no such proxy in existence so far.

Given the inherently coarse resolution of proxies, it is in fact doubtful that any proxy COULD do what Warmists ask of it. Few people seem to realize that the graphs of leaping temperature that Warmists produce are calibrated in tenths of one degree. It may be possible to extract that degree of precision from thermometers but asking it of proxies is drawing a very long bow indeed.

I will stick with the well-established facts of history and conclude that present-day temperatures are in no way exceptionally warm. Publius Cornelius Scipio could well have made that sort of complaint but we cannot -- JR

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