Women With Troubles - April 2012

Here is a compilation of women with troubles reported in news stories during April 2012. 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.

(AL) Jennifer Hawk Elebash, 41,
teacher - Accused of sex with student, 14,

(AR) Monetta Davis, 42,
neighbor - Accused of child endangerment for allegedly leaving her baby in a car while she gambled at a casino,

(AR) Marla Sizemore,
teacher - Accused of sexually assaulting three male students,

(CA) Mistie Atkinson, 32,
loving mother - Accused of incest with son, 16,

(CA) Megan Denman, 29,
teacher - Accused of engaging in sex with student,

(CA) Sarah Elizabeth Drown, 20,
teacher's aide - Gets 180 days jail for sex with student, 14,

(CA) Laura M. Gallegos, 38,
teacher's aide - Gets year in prison for sex with teenager,

(CA) Stacie Halas,
teacher/porn star - Fired from teaching position,

(FL) Celestine Jones Baker, 52,
teacher - Arrested for cocaine,

(FL) Christine Faith Baker, 45,
alleged prostitute - Accused of offering sex for cheeseburgers,

(FL) Amanda Cooney, 26,
teacher - Guilty of burglary, theft, fraud and forgery, and unlawful sex with a minor,

(FL) Kiki Algeria Hamilton-White, 36,
school bus driver - Accused of sex with student, 17,

(FL) Melissa Mansfield (aka Mellisa Mansfield), 30-ish,
neighbor - Caught taking dump on berm of Interstate Highway,

(GA) Edith Katherine Shellow, 39,
neighbor - Accused of assault for stabbing husband in crotch with screwdriver,

(IA) Jennifer Linn Dicken, 34,
neighbor - Accused of sex with three boys, ages 14, 14 and 12,

(IA) Hope Ann Rain, 19,
neighbor - Accused of violating the city's under-21 ordinance, urinating in front of a local bar and resisting arrest,

(IL) Shana S. Cox, 36,
neighbor - Guilty of sex abuse of student, 15. Sentencing TBD,

(IN) Elizabeth Covington, 53,
prison counselor - Accused of sex with inmate,

(IN) Christina L. Reber, 43,
neighbor - Accused of aggravated battery for grabbing boyfriend's crotch,

(KS) Michelle Preston, 28,
teacher - Guilty of unlawful sex with student. Sentencing in June,

(MA) Stephanie A. Laslocky, 32,
teacher - Drug charges,

(MD) Lisa Elaine Carroll, 39,
neighbor - Accused of sex with Florida boy, 16,

(MN) Jenessa Diamond White, 20
HS basketball coach - Accused of sex with girl, 14,

(NC) Deanna Nichole Turner, 29,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 15,

(NM) Kristy Sanchez-Trujillo, 35,
teacher - Guilty of sex crimes against 13-year-old. Sentencing in June,

(NY) Nicole Fallat, 31,
neighbor - Accused of trying to smother a two-year-old girl with a pillow,

(NY) Leanna M. Intorcia, 34,
neighbor - Accused of raping boy, 15,

(NY) Danielle Johnsen, 30,
teacher - Gets community service for hubba-hubbas with girl, 16,

(OH) Jennifer J. Alghzawi, 38,
neighbor - Accused of unlawful sex with a teen between 13 and 16,

(OH) Chardee Barfield, 21,
neighbor - Accused of pimping out girl, 15,

(OH) Whitney Chiles, 30,
teacher - Gets four years prison for sex with boy, 15,

(OH) Patrician Dye, 32,
neighbor - Gets jail for violating probation,

(OH) Jamie Nichole Phillips, 20,
neighbor - Accused of raping boy, 14, at knifepoint,

(OK) Amy Blose, 37,
neighbor - Guilty of sexual misconduct with boy, 13. Sentencing in June,

(OK) Tiffany Lynne Huffman, 28,
teacher - Accused of sending nude pix to teen boys,

(OK) Jennifer Willis, 27,
teacher - Caught in undercover drug sting,

(OR) Tanya Maroochy Earle, 37,
teacher - Accused of repeated sex abuse of male student,

(PA) Rachel L. Farrell, 26,
teacher - Guilty of sex with boy. Sentencing in May,

(PA) Crystal M. Kinsey, 23,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 14,

(PA) Kimberly Jo Larkin, 40,
teacher - Guilty of sex with boy. Sentencing in July,

(RI) Emma Wise, 22,
teacher - Gets community service for providing alcohol to minors,

(SC) Dianna Aracely Elizondo, 31,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 15,

(SD) April Solles, 28,
neighbor - Accused of videotaped sex with boy, 14,

(TX) Patricia Jean Coone, 35,
teacher - Drug charges,

(TX) Cynthia Stewart, 43,
educator - Gets six years prison for online solicitation of boy, 15,

(TX) Karrie M. McKinney, 41,
teacher - Gets a walk for improper relations with a student,

(VA) Tina Marie Amato, 28,
teacher - Gets three months jail for sex with student, 15,

(VA) Kathleen Cawthorne, 32,
teacher - Accused of indecency with male student, 17,

(VT) Tong Chen, 32,
Teacher of the Year - Accused of theft of $70-worth of merchandise from a supermarket,

(WI) Shannon Cardinal, 43,
Spanish teacher - Accused of enduring sexual relations with student, 16,

(WI) Kristine Woellner, 19,
neighbor - Accused of child neglect after allegedly blowing marijuana smoke into her baby's face.

Thanks to the tipsters.

Endangered Minnow Halts Dam Project

(Wessington, South Dakota)

The rebuilding of a dam in central South Dakota will be delayed by the discovery of an endangered minnow.

Officials had hoped to start construction this year on the Rosehill dam in Hand County, about 30 miles west of Huron. The dam failed in July 2010 during heavy rains.

The Topeka shiner minnow was recently discovered in Sand Creek, near the dam. The federal Fish and Wildlife Service lists the minnow as an endangered species.

Way too much government, IMO.

Forced sterilizations to stop climate change are already a reality in India 

And you doubted that misanthropy is the prime motivation of Greenies?  Indians are good people who suffered much under Muslim rule then under socialist rule and now this.  This is especially grievous to me as I know Indians well and think highly of them.  I have been to India three times and there are always brown faces in my house

Tens of millions of pounds of UK aid money have been spent on a programme that has forcibly sterilised Indian women and men, the Observer has learned. Many have died as a result of botched operations, while others have been left bleeding and in agony. A number of pregnant women selected for sterilisation suffered miscarriages and lost their babies.

The UK agreed to give India £166m to fund the programme, despite allegations that the money would be used to sterilise the poor in an attempt to curb the country's burgeoning population of 1.2 billion people.

Sterilisation has been mired in controversy for years. With officials and doctors paid a bonus for every operation, poor and little-educated men and women in rural areas are routinely rounded up and sterilised without having a chance to object. Activists say some are told they are going to health camps for operations that will improve their general wellbeing and only discover the truth after going under the knife.

Court documents filed in India earlier this month claim that many victims have been left in pain, with little or no aftercare. Across the country, there have been numerous reports of deaths and of pregnant women suffering miscarriages after being selected for sterilisation without being warned that they would lose their unborn babies.

Yet a working paper published by the UK's Department for International Development in 2010 cited the need to fight climate change as one of the key reasons for pressing ahead with such programmes. The document argued that reducing population numbers would cut greenhouse gases, although it warned that there were "complex human rights and ethical issues" involved in forced population control.

The latest allegations centre on the states of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, both targeted by the UK government for aid after a review of funding last year. In February, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh had to publicly warn off his officials after widespread reports of forced sterilisation. A few days later, 35-year-old Rekha Wasnik bled to death in the state after doctors sterilised her. The wife of a poor labourer, she was pregnant with twins at the time. She began bleeding on the operating table and a postmortem cited the operation as the cause of death.

Earlier this month, India's supreme court heard how a surgeon operating in a school building in the Araria district of Bihar in January carried out 53 operations in two hours, assisted by unqualified staff, with no access to running water or equipment to clean the operating equipment. A video shot by activists shows filthy conditions and women lying on the straw-covered ground.

Human rights campaigner Devika Biswas told the court that "inhuman sterilisations, particularly in rural areas, continue with reckless disregard for the lives of poor women". Biswas said 53 poor and low-caste women were rounded up and sterilised in operations carried out by torchlight that left three bleeding profusely and led to one woman who was three months pregnant miscarrying. "After the surgeries, all 53 women were crying out in pain. Though they were in desperate need of medical care, no one came to assist them," she said.

The court gave the national and state governments two months to respond to the allegations.

Activists say that it is India's poor – and particularly tribal people – who are most frequently targeted and who are most vulnerable to pressure to be sterilised. They claim that people have been threatened with losing their ration cards if they do not undergo operations, or bribed with as little as 600 rupees (£7.34) and a sari. Some states run lotteries in which people can win cars and fridges if they agree to be sterilised.

SOURCE


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

 Where has that inflation gone?

Something of a puzzle to many commentators is that Obama's vast money printing binge has not produced rapid inflation. A greenback buys less than it used to -- particularly overseas -- but not spectacularly less.

Jerry Bowyer wisely remarks that it often takes a long time for an influence to work its way through the system and he is undoubtedly right so that is clearly part of the story.

But I think the major factor is a straightforward example of what economists call the "velocity of circulation" effect.  Price inflation is a product of the amount of money on issue multiplied by its velocity of circulation and the velocity of circulation has fallen  precipitously just as the money supply has increased  -- the one influence largely cancelling out the other.

My apologies for introuducing a bit of economic jargon into a general political blog but I have been puzzled that none of the discussions of the matter that I have seen have mentioned the role of the velocity of circulation.  Perhaps it is just that other writers have better manners than I do.

To make amends, let me put it less technically:  Most of the money Obama has issued is just sitting still in the reserves of banks, other financial institutions and  major companies.  It is not being spent or lent out.  Its velocity of circulation is nil.  It might as well not exist as far as the economy as a whole is concerned.

And because of general nervousness that is not going to change soon.  But if and when it does change the party will  really be on -- a party for everyone except people who have savings.

Let me suggest a scenario.  Suppose Romney is elected and fires all the Obama cronies running the EPA and other business-obstructing agencies.  That suddenly gives everybody more confidence in doing business.  So the banks start lending again and businesses with reserves start using their reserves to expand.  The money starts flowing again.  The velocity of circulation rises.  There is now a greater demand for resources:  both labour and capital goods.  People might even start building new houses again.   For a   little while that greater  demand for resources will be met from presently idled resources:  Unemployed people  will get employed and shuttered mines and manufacturing facilities will reopen.  So everyone will be having a party.

But parties like that tend to feed on themselves and breed yet more optimism -- and so the demand for resources will soon go beyond what can be met by reactivating idled resources.  With the money now flowing again, prices will be bid up as everybody wants a piece of the action.  And an expanded volume of money chasing a relatively fixed resource base can only lead in one direction  -- to price rises.  Inflation will be underway.  How far it will go is anybody's guess but with everybody now using the extra money  that Obama has created, it could be a whopper of an inflationary process.  What a greenback will buy  could easily drop to (say) half of what it will buy today.

So Romney will inherit Obama's inflation and will probably be blamed for it.  And savers will rightly feel utterly betrayed by the political system that has cut the value of their savings in half.  "Spend it while you can" will  become the new wisdom.  My personal  hint:  Put  most of your savings  into blue-chip company shares NOW.  I did so long ago.


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

Zip Code as Important as Genetic Code in Childhood Obesity 

The original heading on this article -- reproduced above -- is a vast exaggeration.  What was actually found was an assembly of mostly non-significant (>.05) relationships.  And it was actually found that the environment around you had NO EFFECT on adults.  It was only among children that some connection was observed.


Comparing Seattle and San Diego strikes me as a bit bizarre and creating large difficulties for control. I haven't bothered to look it up but as far as I am aware,  San Diego has a much higher proportion of blacks and Hispanics than Seattle does.  So how do you control for ethnicity?  You could say, "We will look at whites only" but the whites in the two places might not be comparable.  Due to the well known "white flight" phenomenon, many of the whites in San Diego might be "left behind" people in various ways. 


I also believe that San Diego has America's largest population of retired admirals but although that is unlikely to have affected the results below, it is another warning that the populations of the two cities might be non comparable in a number of ways.


And even if we accept that the controls were adequate what do the results mean?  How does "neighborhood" exert its effect?  I doubt that the neighborhood itself does anything.  But maybe people who live in nicer areas send their kids out to exercise of various sorts more.  It may be an exercise effect rather than a neighborhood effect that we are looking at.  That it is something like that is suggested by the fact that the environment had no effect on adult obesity

Nearly 18 percent of U.S. school-aged children and adolescents are obese, as the rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity puts children at greater risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and other illnesses, and of suffering severe obesity as adults. New study results indicate that where a child lives, including factors such as the neighborhood's walkability, proximity to higher quality parks, and access to healthy food, has an important effect on obesity rates. Researchers found that children living in neighborhoods with favorable neighborhood environment attributes had 59 percent lower odds of being obese.

"Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study" was published in a special theme issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Led by Brian Saelens, PhD, of Seattle Children's Research Institute, this is among the first neighborhood environment studies to look at a combination of nutrition and physical activity environments and to assess children and their parents. It is also among the largest studies of its kind to use objective geographic information system (GIS) data to examine the physical activity and healthy food option attributes of a neighborhood related to obesity.

Researchers used GIS to assess Seattle and San Diego area neighborhoods' nutrition and physical activity environments. Nutrition environments were defined based on supermarket availability and concentration of fast food restaurants. Physical activity environments were defined based on environmental factors related to neighborhood walkability and at least one park with more or better amenities for children. Kids that lived in neighborhoods that were poorer in physical activity and nutrition environment had the highest rates of obesity -- almost 16 percent -- in the study. This figure is similar to the national average. On the flip side, only eight percent of children were obese in neighborhoods where physical activity and nutrition environments were positive.

"People think of childhood obesity and immediately think about an individual's physical activity and nutrition behaviors, but they do not necessarily equate obesity with where people live," said Dr. Saelens, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. "Everyone from parents to policymakers should pay more attention to zip codes because they could have a big impact on weight."

Fast food may not be as easy to come by in the Seattle area, based on the study. There were 3,474 fast food locations in San Diego County, as compared to 1,660 in King County, Wash. On a county-level block group average basis, San Diego had 2.0 fast food locations per block group, and King County had 1.1.

Numerous national health organizations have identified neighborhood environment and built environment, including healthy food and physical activity opportunities, as important factors in childhood obesity, including the Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Our data support recommendations from these groups that we need to change our environments to make them more supportive of physical activity and nutrition," said Saelens.

SOURCE

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

Everyday and Everywhere



If one desires to be defenseless, there's corporate help. Giants just keep rifling money to the big government libs and versy smoochy.

Bank of America received $45 million in taxpayer money in late 2009 and early 2010, in part through the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

The bank was criticized in 2007 for a program that offered credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants.

More recently, the bank became a target of the Occupy Wall Street protests and others upset because of its proposal $5-a-month debit-card fee, which was eventually scrapped.

Meanwhile…

Kelly McMillian, operations director of the McMillian companies – which makes rifles, ammunition, gunstocks and related firearms equipment – said a bank vice president explained at a meeting last week that he no longer wanted McMillan's business because the companies manufacture firearms.

Okay, show of hands. Who's surprised? If one doesn't believe in the Bill of Rights, cache your cash in the B of A.

Hollywood Caption Opportunity


"I've got a monkey named Bonzo too."

Staten Island Teacher Guilty, Avoids Jail - Updated

(Staten Island, New York) In accordance with an agreement with the prosecution, teacher Danielle Johnsen, 30, pleaded guilty to attempted endangering of a 16-year-old girl.

Her lawyer, Leo Duval, said Ms. Johnsen did not admit to "anything of a sexual or physical nature" in entering her plea yesterday in Stapleton Criminal Court.

"She continues to maintain she had no inappropriate physical relationship with the student," Duval said today. "All she wants to do is put this matter behind her and get back to being with her family."

According to court documents, the incidents occurred three separate times last year. Ms. Johnsen "repeatedly" kissed the girl on the lips and touched her once inappropriately beneath her clothing, said court papers.

The alleged touching incident took place on March 13 of last year while the girl and Ms. Johnsen were watching a movie in the teacher's Port Richmond home, according to court records and a law enforcement source.

Ms. Johnsen and the girl also kissed on the lips on Feb. 16 and March 2, 2011, while the two were together, prosecutors contend.

In a separate civil lawsuit, the teen alleges Ms. Johnsen "repeatedly" told her, "I love you," and texted her "vulgar and sexually seductive and suggestive messages" along with "provocative and nude-picture messages" on "numerous occasions."

Johnsen was sentenced to 15 days community service.

* * * * *
Staten Island Girls School Sex Scandal
[Previous 6/16/11 post]
(Staten Island, New York) A 29-year-old science teacher at an all-girls Catholic high school, Danielle Johnsen, has been accused of mixing it up with a 16-year-old student.

Johnsen faces charges of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

On Feb. 16 and March 2, Johnsen and the straight-A student from the all-girls school on Grymes Hill locked lips while hanging out, according to court papers.

And, on March 13, Johnsen again kissed the girl and shoved her hand down the teen’s pants when they rendezvoused at Johnsen’s Jewett Avenue home in Port Richmond, court documents state.

The shocking affair first came to light after Johnsen called it off with the victim and the depressed teen took to blogging about her heartbreak on Tumblr, a social networking site, sources said.

Johnsen was booked and released without bail. An August court appearance has been scheduled.

Warmist's rhetoric gets really weird:  Now talking about "boiling" oceans 


Jim Hansen sounds like he has flipped his lid.  Even the most extreme IPCC prediction goes nowhere near that.

But let's look at a couple of places where the oceans are warm anyway.  Below are plots of sea surface temperature at Fiji and the Cook Islands in the mid-Pacific.  Also on the graph is the sharply rising plot of atmospheric CO2.  So the sea-surface temperature must be rising like crazy too, right?





The facts speak for themselves

More HERE (See the original for links)


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

Fatal Testicle Squeeze




(Hainan Province, China) A 42-year-old man died after an altercation with a 41-year-old woman over a parking space. The man, a shop owner, protested when the woman parked her scooter in front of his shop.

There was fighting and the woman's husband and brother joined. The woman managed to tightly grip the shop owner's testicles, squeezing until the shop owner collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital where he reportedly expired.

It's likely debatable as to whether the testicle squeeze solely led to his death.

Tip: Charlie Nestor

Prison Masturbation

(Hartford, Connecticut) At the Northern Correctional Institution, masturbating male inmates have been regularly observed by female workers.

According to Lisamarie Fontano, president of the prison workers union, over 500 official masturbation reports were recorded last year.

As a result, lawmakers have introduced legislation to seemingly criminalize acts of masturbation committed while incarcerated. It's reported that those prison inmates caught whipping the frosting will be required to register as sex offenders upon release from prison.

It's not clear how the scheme will work but it is conceivable that the offending inmate would simply have his file tagged for a post-release administrative adjustment.

Tip: slwlion

OK Teacher Accused of Sending Nude Pix to Students

(Moore, Oklahoma) A 28-year-old teacher at Southmoore High School, Tiffany Lynne Huffman, has been accused of sending nude pictures of herself to three 16-year-old boys.

Huffman faces three counts of lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child under 16.

Court documents filed Wednesday state Huffman is a teacher's assistant at the high school who became friends on Facebook with the students a few weeks ago.

She began having sexual conversations with each victim and eventually sent nude photos of herself via text message and photos of herself in sheer lingerie, according to court documents.

Huffman was booked into custody at the Rogers County Jail.

State Threatens to Shut Down Nutrition Blogger 

We read:

"The North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition is threatening to send a blogger to jail for recounting publicly his battle against diabetes and encouraging others to follow his lifestyle.

Chapter 90, Article 25 of the North Carolina General Statutes makes it a misdemeanor to “practice dietetics or nutrition” without a license. According to the law, “practicing” nutrition includes “assessing the nutritional needs of individuals and groups” and “providing nutrition counseling.”

Steve Cooksey has learned that the definition, at least in the eyes of the state board, is expansive.

When he was hospitalized with diabetes in February 2009, he decided to avoid the fate of his grandmother, who eventually died of the disease. He embraced the low-carb, high-protein Paleo diet, also known as the “caveman” or “hunter-gatherer” diet. The diet, he said, made him drug- and insulin-free within 30 days. By May of that year, he had lost 45 pounds and decided to start a blog about his success.

But this past January the state diatetics and nutrition board decided Cooksey’s blog — Diabetes-Warrior.net — violated state law. The nutritional advice Cooksey provides on the site amounts to “practicing nutrition,” the board’s director says, and in North Carolina that’s something you need a license to do.

Unless Cooksey completely rewrites his 3-year-old blog, he could be sued by the licensing board. If he loses the lawsuit and refuses to take down the blog, he could face up to 120 days in jail.

The board’s director says Cooksey has a First Amendment right to blog about his diet, but he can’t encourage others to adopt it unless the state has certified him as a dietitian or nutritionist.

It’s not necessarily against the law to give your sister or your friend nutritional advice, she said. And it’s not necessarily against the law to use a blog to tell people what they should eat.

Where it crosses the line, Burill said, is when a blogger “advertises himself as an expert” and “takes information from someone such that he’s performing some sort of assessment and then giving it back with some sort of plan or diet.”

Cooksey posts the following disclaimer at the bottom of every page on his website: “I am not a doctor, dietitian, nor nutritionist … in fact I have no medical training of any kind.”

In fact, he brags about his lack of formal training throughout his blog.  “It’s so simple,” he told CJ. “I cut carbs, I reduced my drugs and insulin until I didn’t need them at all. If I can figure that out, why in the hell can’t all these other people [in the medical field]?”

“Anyone can talk about anything they want,” Burill said. “That’s a First Amendment right, so to speak.”

For example, a person could write a blog advocating vegetarianism, she said.

Source

Sounds like a clear 1st Amendment violation.  He is just presenting his view and not claiming to be professionally qualified


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

"Pretend Boy" Gets Jail - Updated

(Butler County, Ohio) Yesterday, "Pretend Boy" Patricia Dye received jail time for violating the terms of her probation.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth sentenced Patricia J. Dye, 32, to six months in jail, with credit for 142 days already served while awaiting her day in court.

Due to Ohio law, “prison is not an option,” Spaeth said.

Spaeth also fined Dye $500 and ordered her to undergo sex offender counseling and obtain a high-school diploma while completing two years of supervised probation.

It seems that Dye would be wise to start following instructions.

* * * * *
"Pretend Boy" Arrested in California - Updated
[Previous 12/17/11 post]
(Humboldt County, California) A long way from Ohio, convicted sex offender Patricia Dye has been arrested in California for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender.

Dye, 32, was clad in a blue jail jumpsuit with her hands cuffed in front of her when she appeared in Humboldt County Superior Court on Wednesday, waiving her right to an extradition hearing and agreeing to be returned to her native Ohio to answer to the charge.

A petite woman with short hair, Dye appeared relaxed during the brief court appearance, smiling at bailiffs and laughing with her attorney as she filled out court documents.

Arrested Dec. 8 at an Orick motel, Dye is an infamous figure in Warren County, Ohio, where her criminal case pushed the bounds of gender identity and the law, sparking outrage when Dye was sentenced to six months in county jail.

Dye is in custody and expected to be sent back to Ohio on a bus in the coming weeks. It seems Dye will experience one sad Christmas.

* * * * *
"Pretend Boy" Woman Released from Jail - Updated
[Previous 12/29/10 post]
(Lebanon, Ohio) Sentenced in October to 180 days in jail with credit for time served, 31-year-old Patricia Dye was released yesterday. She immediately registered as a Tier 1 sex offender.

Dye was apologetic and promised not to pretend to be a boy again.

"I am sorry for everything that had happened," she said.

"I'd just like to move on from this, try to get some help.

"It won't happen again," she added.

In total disagreement, one victim's family believes Dye will do it again and plans on moving to a safer place. (h/t Lame)

* * * * *
"Pretend Boy" Woman Gets Jail - Updated
[Previous 10/7/10 post]
(Warren County, Ohio) Thirty-one-year-old Patricia Dye pleaded guilty yesterday to misdemeanor counts of sexual imposition, attempted sexual imposition and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Dye was prosecuted for pretending to be a teen boy in order to have sex with a teen girl.

For the misdemeanor convictions, Dye was sentenced to six months in jail.

Warren County Juvenile Court Judge Mike Powell sentenced Dye to jail and put her on a two-year probation. He also ordered that Dye not have any contact with the victim or the victim's family and classified her as a sexual offender, which means she must register with authorities every six months for the next 15 years.

"This woman victimized a young girl and needed to be punished for her actions," Chief Assistant Prosecutor Bruce McGary said in a statement Wednesday.

Dye's attorney, Rob Kaufman, said he initially pushed for the mental health evaluation and potential treatment for his client who, he says, "feels remorse" for her actions.

Reportedly, Dye's victim was quite traumatized by the experience.

* * * * *
Woman Avoids Felony in Sex Pretend Case - Updated
[Previous 8/2/10 post]
(Lebanon, Ohio) Thirty-one-year-old Patricia Dye has been indicted by a Warren County grand jury on misdemeanor charges of sexual imposition, attempted sexual imposition and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

According to Matt Nolan, spokesman for the prosecution, Dye will be prosecuted in the Warren County Juvenile Court.

Adults charged with crimes involving children sometimes are prosecuted in the juvenile court rather than a municipal or common pleas court.

In a report released Monday, the grand jury ignored the felonies proposed against Dye, Nolan said. He did not know why the grand jury, which meets in secret, declined to upgrade the charges.

If convicted of the charges, Dye could receive a year in prison.

* * * * *
Woman, 31, Impersonates Boy to Get Girl, 16
[Previous 7/6/10 post]
(Lebanon, Ohio) A 31-year-old Franklin woman, Patricia Dye, was arrested last Wednesday after an investigation found that she had pretended to be a 14-year-old boy to get romantic with a 16-year-old girl.

Dye has been charged with corruption of a minor, unlawful sex with a minor and importuning, or soliciting sex with the girl.

Dye at 4 feet, 11 inches, is smaller than the 5-foot-5 victim, according to police reports.

“They were boyfriend-girlfriend,” Sgt. Bob Marchiny said. “(Dye) looks just like a boy.”

Police began investigating Dye after the girl ran away from a hotel where they had been living together for three days in June. The girl did not realize Dye was a woman, Marchiny said.

“We realized the person she was with wasn’t who we thought she was,” Marchiny said.

Dye, arrested on June 30 in Franklin, admitted to pretending to being a boy.

Dye was booked into custody at the Warren County Jail with bond set at $100,000. Police suspect that there may be other victims.

Tip: Chuck Simmins

Carolina Woman Accused of Rape

(Gastonia, North Carolina) A 29-year-old local woman, Deanna Nichole Turner, has been accused of statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy.

Reportedly, Turner was caught by the boy's father after she had crawled into bed.

The teen told police in Lowell he was in bed Monday when Turner got in bed with him.

A police report said the boy’s father came into the room and saw them together.

She has court May 15. It was not clear if Turner has a lawyer.

Information on booking is unavailable.

Post Deleted

Illinois Woman Guilty of Sex with Boy

(Chicago, Illinois) A 36-year-old local woman, Shana S. Cox, has been convicted of engaging in sex with a 15-year-old high school student.

A jury deliberated for three hours Wednesday before finding her guilty of one of two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, Will County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman Chuck Pelkie said.

Cox could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison, Pelkie said.

Cox’s victim testified Tuesday he couldn’t remember how many times they had sex, but he said it started in May 2010 when he was a 15-year-old freshman.

A sentencing date hasn't been reported.

OK Teacher Busted in Drug Sting

(Tulsa, Oklahoma) A 27-year-old teacher at East Central Junior High School, Jennifer Willis, has been arrested in an undercover drug sting operation.

Willis faces drug possession and drug paraphernalia charges.

Deputies with the Wagoner County Sheriffs’ Office executed a warrant Tuesday morning in the 700 block of South Lincoln in Wagoner.

Arrested at the residence were Willis, along with Michael Thomas Jenkins and Sammy Dean McKinney.

Willis was booked into custody at the Wagoner County Jail.

America's REAL  Inequalities 

Increasingly, ordinary people get prosecuted for trifles, while politically connected people get a pass for the exact same crime, or far worse behavior.

A whale-watcher is being criminally prosecuted merely for lying about whistling at a whale.  But former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, a big Obama booster who "stole" $1.2 billion, is not being prosecuted, despite his investment firm's massive diversion of funds from client trust accounts, a crime that Corzine "personally" ordered.

Meanwhile, a dairy-farming family in Maryland is getting prosecuted by the federal government for "structuring" - breaking up bank deposits into deposits of less than $10,000 at a time to avoid scrutiny.  But former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer got a free pass for the very same offense, even though he (unlike the hapless dairy farmers) used the practice in order to hide criminal activity, making his actions much worse.

As Walter Olson notes, "structuring" is "the federal criminal offense of splitting up bank deposits so as to keep them under a threshold such as $10,000 above which banks have to report transactions to the government. Structuring is unlawful whether or not it occurs in conjunction with any other legal offense . . . Nor is there any requirement that the person be aware that there is a law banning structuring; someone who gets wind that transactions over $10,000 are reportable, and decides `What's up with that? I'll just make $9,000 deposits', has broken the Bank Secrecy Act."

Increasingly, the federal government persecutes the innocent and punishes whistleblowers, while turning a blind eye to the guilty.

In the auto bailouts, non-union retirees, pension funds, and bondholders got ripped off, while the powerful UAW union, which endorsed Obama, got special, preferential treatment and a big chunk of the automakers' stock.

SOURCE


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

California Teacher's Aide Gets Jail - Updated

(San Luis Obispo, California) Yesterday, former teacher's aide Sarah Elizabeth Drown was sentenced for engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy.

According to a report from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, Sarah Drown met the boy while she was working at Lillian Larsen Elementary School.

Wednesday, a San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge sentenced Drown to 180 days in jail, six of which she's already served.

She will also be placed on formal probation for three years.

Drown will avoid having to register as a sex offender.

* * * * *
California Teacher's Aide and Boy, 14
[Previous 2/14/12 post]
(San Luis Obispo, California) A 20-year-old teacher's aide at Lillian Larsen Elementary School, Sarah Elizabeth Drown, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 14-year-old male student.

Drown faces four counts of statutory rape.

During an interview with sheriff’s Deputy Gower Slane, the student said he received two hickeys on his neck from an ex-girlfriend but later acknowledged that Drown had given them to him.

He then told the deputy that he and Drown had consensual sex several times starting in October. At the time, he was 14 years old.

When Slane advised the student that it’s inappropriate for a 20-year-old to have sex with someone under the age of 18, he replied: “The heart wants what the heart wants,” according to the report.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 29.

MA Teacher Faces Drug Charges

(Gardner, Massachusetts) A 32-year-old English teacher at Leominster High School, Stephanie A. Laslocky, has been accused of drug possession. She was arrested last Friday.

Laslocky faces charges of possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Gardner Lt. John A. Bernard said cocaine and a small amount of marijuana were found during the search of Ms. Laslocky's home.

Lt. Bernard said Ms. Laslocky told police she had been dealing for about five years. Police began investigating her after neighbors called complaining of traffic in the neighborhood.

“She never would have come on our radar screen otherwise,” he said.

Although Ms. Laslocky is a teacher in Leominster, Lt. Bernard said there is no evidence she was dealing to students or her drug activity involved the school in any way.

Laslocky was booked and released on $40 bail.

Industrial-Strength OMG




You won't see this on television. Homeland security has been compromised.

Save Our Boobs



(New York City)

An industry known for selling sex is doing its part to save women’s breasts – as well as their lives.

Porn star Bree Olson, who is also the ex-girlfriend of Charlie Sheen, used her assets to raise awareness for breast cancer by hosting a breast exam bus tour around New York City on Tuesday.

The “Save Our Boobs Bus,” decked out in pink and leather, also featured the Boob Bus Nurse Brigade and free breast cancer screening exams by a board-certified plastic surgeon. The bus was sponsored by Pornhub, an adult entertainment website.

In the image, I couldn't help but notice the URL for the porn website adjacent to the words "greatest ass." Being somewhat suspicious by nature, I don't believe the juxtaposition was an accident.

Tip: slwlion

Mitt and Marco: the WASP and the WHISP 



Mitt Romney is rumored to disobey the mainstream media's Hispanic Skin Color Advisory System while vetting vice-presidential candidates. According to experts, the likely Republican VP candidate, Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, is too light-skinned to be considered fully Hispanic, falling under a subprime minority group classification as White Hispanic, or WHISP.



With big thanks to Oleg at The People's Cube



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

Mad Cow Case in California



Arguably-related mad cow image
Where's the alarm? Nonexistent.

A dairy cow in California has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), customarily known as mad cow disease.

The disease is always fatal in cattle, however.

There have been three confirmed cases of BSE in the United States, in a Canadian-born cow in 2003 in Washington state, in 2005 in Texas and in 2006 in Alabama.

And now, a 2012 case in California. It's commendable that the Department of Agriculture has developed a system for keeping track of all cows in the U.S. It's a big job.

Maybe the agriculture folks could take over the tracking of illegal aliens.

Depiction of Indian teepees incorrect? 



It seems so.  Two American Indian students have complained about a drawing of teepees that appeared in the student magazine of the very Liberal Amherst college.  The "problem" seems to be that teepees are represented as an inferior form of accomodation.  Below is an excerpt from the letter of complaint

Recently, your school news journal, The Indicator (Volume XXXIII, Issue 2, page 19), ran a cartoon depicting the “Lord Jeff approved” housing solution in the form of tipis. We find this incredibly insensitive, and ultimately, racist. Let us be clear, the person who drew the cartoon (Tricia Lipton), the editors who approved it (Nadirah Porter-Kasbati and Laurence Pevsner), and the student body, faculty, and staff of Amherst College who subsequently read it and perhaps even laughed are not necessarily racists. They have, however, participated in racist behavior, unintentionally or not.

Source

A lot of the heartburn seems to be caused by the very name Amherst.  The college is named after a British army General:  Jeffery Amherst, who certainly despised American Indians and did consider sending them smallpox-infected blankets.  There is no evidence that he or anyone else did so, however.  Indians died of smallpox in droves anyway.

That was before the American revolution and during the French/Indian wars.  The  hate-filled allegation by Ward Churchill that the AMERICAN army later handed out smallpox-infected blankets is debunked here


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

Carolina Woman, 31, and Boy, 15

(Woodruff, South Carolina) A 31-year-old local woman, Dianna Aracely Elizondo, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Elizondo faces a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 16.

According to an incident report, the victim came to the police department on April 17 to talk to officers about the incident.

The victim said Elizondo keeps him up late at night and offers cigarettes and alcohol to him and another juvenile, the report states.

Elizondo was booked in to custody at the Spartanburg County Detention Facility with bond set at $20,000.

Morning Surprise

So, an acquaintance said he had just finished buttering a bagel when he saw some hard news on the television.

Hamilton, Ontario-based TV station CHCH Television apologized Friday to shocked viewers after its local morning newscast was interrupted by roughly three minutes of hardcore gay pornography.

The news director said it was a splicing problem. Yeah, that's it.

Tip: Charlie Nestor

Movie Boosts Tourism in Kazakhstan

(Astana, Kazakhstan)

Kazakhstan's foreign minister on Monday thanked "Borat," the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy that the Central Asian nation once banned for lampooning its people, for massively boosting its tourism.

"With the release of this film, the number of visas issued by Kazakhstan grew tenfold," local news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov as telling a session of parliament.

"I am grateful to 'Borat' for helping attract tourists to Kazakhstan," the foreign minister said.

I suspect that no one anticipated an increase in tourists. The movie was arguably fat with insults.

Ohio Woman Accused of Sex with Teen

(Mason, Ohio) A 38-year-old local woman, Jennifer J. Alghzawi, has been indicted by a Warren County grand jury for allegedly engaging in sex with a minor and providing the underaged with alcohol.

Alghzawi faces charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony, and a first-degree misdemeanor count of providing alcohol to underage persons.

Officials say Alghzawi and the teen, who is between the ages of 13 and 16, had sexual conduct in June 2011 and that she allowed the teen to consume alcohol in her home on West Line Drive.

Alghzawi was booked and released on $30,000 bond.

Albino Orca Spotted


Adult albino orca
The rare killer whale, nicknamed Iceberg, was spotted off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Making Profit with Online Mugshots

From ABC News:

Businesses that publish police mug shots are proliferating online, shaming those with DUI charges or other arrests into spend hundreds of dollars to have their information removed from the sites.

Laura, a teacher in Florida who asked that her last name not be used, was arrested for driving under the influence last year. To her surprise and chagrine (sic), the next day Google's search results for her name showed pages that displayed her mug shot.

After recovering from the shock and depression of her first brush with the law, she said she decided to act to have the information removed from these commercial sites.

"I was feeling proactive and figured I would do whatever it took," she told ABC News, paying $850 to have her mug shot removed from the private websites.

Critics have hinted that charging money to remove mugshots from the Internet is a form of extortion. Readers can decide.

 Sun doing strange things

The sun may be entering a period of reduced activity that could result in lower temperatures on Earth, according to Japanese researchers.

Officials of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Riken research foundation said on April 19 that the activity of sunspots appeared to resemble a 70-year period in the 17th century in which London’s Thames froze over and cherry blossoms bloomed later than usual in Kyoto.

In that era, known as the Maunder Minimum, temperatures are estimated to have been about 2.5 degrees lower than in the second half of the 20th century.

The Japanese study found that the trend of current sunspot activity is similar to records from that period.

The researchers also found signs of unusual magnetic changes in the sun. Normally, the sun’s magnetic field flips about once every 11 years. In 2001, the sun’s magnetic north pole, which was in the northern hemisphere, flipped to the south.

While scientists had predicted that the next flip would begin from May 2013, the solar observation satellite Hinode found that the north pole of the sun had started flipping about a year earlier than expected. There was no noticeable change in the south pole.

If that trend continues, the north pole could complete its flip in May 2012 but create a four-pole magnetic structure in the sun, with two new poles created in the vicinity of the equator of our closest star.

SOURCE


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

Two U.S. Marines vs. Two Burglars

(Jacksonville, North Carolina)

Two Camp Lejeune Marines returned home early Sunday morning to find two men in their house. The intruders didn't make it out of the house alive.

33-year-old, Maurice Skinner and 33-year-old, Diego Everette were identified by police as the men killed in the burglary attempt. Both men are from Jacksonville.

Skinner and Everette were pronounced dead at the scene, but according to Jacksonville Police Chief, Mike Yaniero it is unlikely that anyone will be charged in the shooting.

"The investigation is ongoing, however at this time there is no evidence to suggest that criminal charges be filed."

Heh.

Secret Service Sex Scandal


Dania Suarez
(Cartagena, Colombia) Check out one of the alleged Colombian ladies of the evening involved in the widely-puiblicized Secret Service sex scandal, Dania Suarez. She's 25.

Twelve Secret Service members and at least 11 military personnel are now under investigation after being accused of hiring prostitutes while in Colombia preparing for President Barack Obama's visit there last weekend. An argument between Dania Suarez and one of the agents triggered the controversy. The two argued over the amount owed -- $30, he said, $800, she said. Eventually, the Colombian police were called when the argument escalated.

$800 vs. $30…. I don't know what they were thinking. That's a large disparity.

Boy, 14, Accused of Raping Girl, 12

(Springboro, Ohio) Two students allegedly had sex at school.

A 14-year-old boy faces rape charges after being accused of having sex with a 12-year-old girl at school.

The incident allegedly happened during school hours.

Both say it was consensual, but that doesn't matter under Ohio law.

Some parents believe both the boy and the girl should be punished. I tend to agree.

 Female figurines must not look like females


We read:

"A FEMINIST group is up in arms over a new line of LEGOs they claim hypersexualises girls with its curvier female figures.

"They have little breasts and they have fancy hair. And it just disturbs us that this is the image that they want girls to see," the organisation's executive director, Dana Edell, told FOXNews.com.

Edell also objects to what she calls stereotyping of preferred pastimes for girls, since the set includes a hot tub, a splash pool, a beauty parlour, an outdoor bakery, as well as an inventor's workshop.

But Dr. Leonard Sax disagrees with Edell's protest, saying gender differences are natural and there is nothing wrong with the company offering what it sees as a girl-friendly version of the interlocking plastic building blocks loved by children since 1949.

"These particular women's groups are disconnected from reality in their desire to promote the idea that these gender differences are taught by the patriarchy or through socialization," said Sax, author of "Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences".

Source

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

New York Woman Accused of Rape

(Carthage, New York) A 34-year-old local woman, Leanna M. Intorcia, has been accused of raping a 15-year-old boy.

Intorcia faces charges of third-degree criminal sex act, endangering the welfare of a child and unlawfully dealing with a child.

She was arraigned before Wilna Town Justice Richard A. Buckingham and awaits grand jury action.

Police said the boy was a guest in her home on April 4, and became intoxicated from the consumption of beverages that she provided. She then engaged in oral sex and sexual intercourse with him, police alleged.

Intorcia was booked into custody with bail set at $10,000.

Remembering




For my mom.

RI: Mural controversy at Pilgrim High 

Who is not being "inclusive" here?  Are traditional families an obscenity that may not be mentioned?

A student's artwork is at the center of a controversy at Pilgrim High School in Warwick.

Seventeen year old Liz Bierenday designed the mural, which shows a man's evolution from a child into adulthood.

She said she was given the go ahead from the school's vice principal after showing him the sketch. However, the last portion of the mural, which depicts the grown man married with a wife and child, was later painted over.

"Some members of the Pilgrim High School Community suggested that the depiction of a young man's development... as displayed may not represent the life experiences of many students at Pilgrim High School," Supt. Peter Horoschak said in a news release.

Bierenday says she thinks its her depiction of wedding rings that has stirred the controversy, and that some may feel the mural has religious undertones. She told Eyewitness News she is upset with the changes made to her design, but is willing to work with the school.

Supt. Horoschak suggested the student artist's ideas be respected and that she be allowed to finish the mural as she had originally visualized it.

SOURCE



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

Ted Nugent and the NRA




Rocker Ted Nugent explains his thinking on a number of politically-charged issues in an opinion piece in yesterday's Washington Times. Here's an excerpt:

If all of America were just like the great families at the National Rifle Association’s 141st annual members meeting in St. Louis last weekend, our country would be flawless. Surrounded by my family, friends, patriots, law enforcement and military heroes, veterans who have sacrificed dearly for freedom and the U.S. Constitution, the good will and positive energy in the air was cleansing, to say the least. We set another attendance record for the NRA and for St. Louis. It was downright perfect.

I spent all three days doing fundraisers for children’s and military charities, fondling much hardware, meeting legions of good folks at the Ted Nugent Ammo exhibit, and shaking hands with great Americans, Canadians, Brits and freedom-loving people from around the globe.

As always, I also conducted numerous media interviews providing unlimited self-evident truth and the inexhaustible evidence supporting the beauty of keeping and bearing arms for defense of self, family and liberty. Unarmed helplessness is for sheep and the French. Such an embarrassing, irresponsible, crime-inducing condition is inexcusable.

More here.

Tip: slwlion

Prison Counselor Accused of Sex with Inmate

(New Castle, Indiana) A 53-year-old mental health counselor at the New Castle Correctional Facility, Elizabeth Covington, has been accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with an incarcerated inmate.

Indiana State Police launched an investigation after receiving a tip.

She was employed by CORIZON, a contracted health services company that does work at the prison.

Around 11 a.m. Friday, Covington was arrested on two counts of sexual misconduct with a detainee, a Class C felony and two counts of trafficking with an inmate, a Class A misdemeanor.

Covington was booked into custody at the Henry County Jail with bond set at $6,800.

School Bus Driver Accused of Sex with Student

(Palatka, Florida) A 36-year-old school bus driver for Putnam County Schools, Kiki Algeria Hamilton-White, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 17-year-old student.

Hamilton-White faces four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and two additional counts from the Palatka Police Department.

Investigators said the incidents occurred in the two jurisdictions. Assistant Chief James Griffith said the encounters in the city occurred at a motel and a place near Hamilton-White’s residence.

Hamilton-White was arrested after a Palatka High School student on Wednesday told a resource officer his friend was having sex with a driver and that he had witnessed one of the encounters.

The second student was questioned and investigators said several sexual encounters were discovered.

None apparently occurred on the bus or on school property.

Hamilton-White was booked into custody at the Putnam County Jail and released on bail.

 Must not mention variations in "black" skincolor

This is actually a big issue among blacks.  Lighter skinned blacks are more prestigious.  But it's just another thing that whites may not mention

"We loved the hilarious Super Bowl ad for the coming-some-day-but-not-anytime-soon Acura NSX starring Jerry Seinfeld.

 TMZ is reporting that when the commercial was cast, the ad the agency responsible had sought an African-American actor to play the car dealer who was, "Nice looking, friendly. Not too dark." And the website has a copy of the document to prove it.

 TMZ says an unnamed source associated with the commercial told it that "not too dark" had something to do with lighting and special effects, and we hope that's true. Still, the way the brief description reads, it certainly sounds like whomever was casting the spot thinks dark-skinned people are neither nice nor friendly.

We're not about to throw Honda under the bus – it was, after all, an outside ad agency named RP& that shot the ad, according to Motoramic – as the automaker apologized

Source

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

Florida Teacher Busted for Drugs

(Fort Pierce, Florida) A 52-year-old teacher at H.L. Watkins Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens, Celestine Jones Baker, has been accused of possessing cocaine after a small bag containing a white residue fell out of her pocket during a traffic stop.

Baker faces charges of possession of cocaine and possession of drug equipment.

Responding to a report of a person driving a gray Dodge Ram pickup erratically, Fort Pierce police officer Ronald Kern saw Baker pull into a gas station. She told him she had locked herself out of the truck. When she dug into her pockets, apparently looking for her keys, a small bag containing white residue fell onto the ground, according to the arrest report.

She said she might have left the keys on the front passenger seat. Kern looked into the car, seeing another small bag with white residue in it on top of her keys.

Kern also saw white residue in and around her nostrils, the report said.

This led the officer to believe she had been snorting cocaine, which caused her erratic driving, the report said.

Baker was booked and released on $15,750 bond.

"Hockeystick" Mann is very selective about the facts

What he says about the direct effects of variations in total solar output is perfectly true but he ignores indirect effects as pointed out by Svensmark. And Svensmark is supported not only by direct experimental evidence but also by history. That's a lot to ignore -- enough by itself to identify the hoaxer that Mann is -- JR

Pat Robertson Proves Global Warming is a Hoax: No SUVs On Mars!

There have been claims by those not-in-favor of man-made global warming arguments that recent warming trends on Mars prove that man has no stake in the whimsy of Earth’s climate. Penn State meteorologist Michael Mann calls that scapegoating (though suspiciously not answering the charge made against the argument!)

“The small measured changes in solar output and variations from one decade to the next are only on the order of a fraction of a percent, and if you do the calculations not even large enough to really provide a detectable signal in the surface temperature record,” Mann explained.

“Solar activity continues to be one of the last bastions of contrarians,” he added. “People who don’t accept the existence of anthropogenic climate change still try to point to solar activity.”

Flashback: Wheat Crops and Sunspots

IT is now more than 200 years since the great astronomer William Herschel observed a correlation between wheat prices and sunspots. When the latter were few in number, he noted, the climate turned colder and drier, crop yields fell and wheat prices rose.

SOURCE (See the original for links)

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

Solar Power Takes Another Hit

New York City report-

First Solar Inc. will lay off 2,000 workers and close its factory in Germany following a collapse in solar panel prices that has erased the industry's profits and forced some smaller companies into bankruptcy.

America's biggest solar manufacturer said the layoffs amount to 30 percent of its global workforce. It's an about-face for a company that doubled the number of employees at the Frankfurt, Germany, plant to more than 1,200 just last year.

First Solar will also shutter some production in Malaysia. It plans additional job cuts in Europe and the U.S.

"The solar market has changed, and so must we," Mark Widmar, First Solar's chief financial officer, told analysts in a conference call.

Sometimes the sun don't shine.

American Icon

(Santa Monica, California) Dick Clark died today, heart attack. He was 82.




I liked the guy. His television image back in the 60s on American bandstand I fondly recall. And yes, I'm an oldster. Also yes, they were happy years.

South China Sea Rife for Kabooms




This week, Philippine and U.S. forces started military exercises in the South China Sea amid growing tension between China and the Philippines over territorial rights to the Scarborough Shoal, 120 miles west of Luzon and within the 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Philippines claims the Scarborough Shoal (also called Panatag shoal) with evidence dating back two centuries.

Because they are commies, the Chinese claim the entire South China Sea including Scarborough Shoal where Chinese fisherman and coral gatherers have been working. The Filipinos are understandably puckered about the poaching.

Meanwhile, there's this:

Vietnam and the US will hold five days of "non-combatant" naval exchange activities next week in the port city of Danang, the US Embassy said, amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.

The exercises "underscore the closer ties between the US and Vietnam", according a statement from the United States, which is increasingly seen as a counterweight to Beijing's growing naval assertiveness in the region.

The US 7th Fleet Flagship USS Blue Ridge, the guided missile destroyer USS Chafee and rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard will be in Danang port from April 23, according to the US Embassy statement released late Monday.

Readers my recall that the U.S. has already sent a U.S. Marine detachment to Darwin, Australia, while also stationing a few naval ships in Singapore.

In conclusion, what we now have is positioning on a game board. The question remains, who moves first?

Strauss-Kahn in Ukraine

From kyivpost.com:




One might erroneously think that Strauss-Kahn's record of alleged criminal behavior would preclude public appearances.

Is Obama a right-wing extremist?



Norway killer Breivik's clenched-fist Communist salute is universally being described in the media as "Right wing".



Background on the clenched fist salute here

Note that Breivik began the third day of his trial the same way he began the previous two, with the clenched fist salute.

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

Woman Killed and Newborn Stolen

(Spring, Texas)

The mother of a woman who was shot to death as her newborn son was snatched from her arms outside a suburban pediatric center near Houston said her daughter died "trying to save her baby."

The healthy 3-day-old infant was found around 8 p.m., about six hours after his mother was fatally shot following a verbal altercation in a parking lot, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said. Ligon wouldn't say where the infant was found, but he said the baby was being reunited with his father.

A person of interest has been detained though no charges have been filed, he said.

The boy's mother, 28-year-old Kayla Marie Golden, was leaving an afternoon checkup with her son when she had a verbal altercation with a woman in a Lexus parked next to her pickup truck, Montgomery County sheriff's Lt. Dan Norris said.

Golden was reportedly shot seven times. More later….

Arkansas Teacher Neglects

(West Memphis, Arkansas) A 42-year-old 2nd-grade teacher at South Park Elementary School, Monetta Davis, has been accused of child endangerment for leaving her infant unattended in her vehicle at Southland Park Gaming and Racing.

Around 1:30 a.m. on April 14, two off-duty deputies with the Crittenden County Sheriff's Department were working as security at the gaming park in West Memphis when they were told by a patron about a baby left in a car. When they found the car, the window was rolled down enough for one of them to reach in to unlock and open the car door.

The deputies ran the license plate number and went inside to have the vehicle's owner paged over the intercom. About 30 minutes later Monetta Davis showed up at the car and confirmed that the baby was hers. She told deputies she had received $20 worth of free play in the mail and wanted to use it.

Davis was booked and released on $20,000 bond.

Fair Distribution of Food in North Korea

(Pyongyang, North Korea) Central planning by the National Peoples' Committee (NPC) assures that all citizens are given their fair share of food via the Public Distribution System (PDS).


Distribution of Food Per Person
(in grams per day)
According to a food and crop assessment of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea by World Food Program evaluators:

Each year, following the harvest, the Ministry of Food Administration prepares a ration plan, based upon government estimates of the cereals remaining for distribution to the PDS. The Ministry informed the mission that they estimate 2 291 004 tonnes cereals will be available for PDS dependents during the coming marketing year (2011/12), allowing them to distribute rations averaging 380 grams per person per day.

In times of food scarcity, the ration can be considerably less than planned.

The average PDS ration between May and September 2011 was at or below 200 grams/person/day, reaching 150 grams/person/day in June 2011. This drastic reduction in PDS rations was last experienced in 2008, when it was maintained for four months, June through September. The ration remained constant at 200 grams/person/day from July through September 2011 supplied, at least in part, by the harvest of early crop potatoes, wheat, and barley.

Notice that North Korean citizens are called 'dependents' who, in the summer, get only about five ounces of food each day.

OK Woman Guilty of Sex with Boy - Updated

(Norman, Oklahoma) Yesterday, local woman Amy Blose pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old boy. Sentencing set for June 15.

* * * * *
Burrito Message Violates Bail Conditions - Updated
[Previous 10/1/11 post]
(Norman, Oklahoma) While out on bail awaiting prosecution on child rape charges, 37-year-old Amy Blose reportedly violated the terms of her release by contacting her victim.

Blose sent the boy a burrito-gram.

Special Judge Michael Tupper revoked the bail following a hearing in which a 15-year-old girl described slipping the boy a note from Blose.

The girl, a student at Norman High School, said Blose gave her a ride to school recently, but before dropping her off at the school, Blose took her to a Sonic Drive-in. The girl said Blose wrote a note to the 13-year-old boy, hid it inside a burrito and asked her to deliver it to the boy.

According to the girl's testimony, the note said, “Hey, babe, I'll love you forever.”

Heh.

* * * * *
Oklahoma Woman Accused of Raping Boy
[Previous 4/5/11 post]
(Norman, Oklahoma) A 37-year-old local woman, Amy Blose, was arrested yesterday for allegedly raping a 13-year-old boy.

Blose faces three counts of rape in first degree, victim under the age of 14; three counts of forcible oral sodomy, victim under the age of 16; one count of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16; and one count of performing lewd acts in the presence of a child under 16.

When interviewed by police, the victim admitted that he and Blose had several sexual encounters in her home since January of last year.

Police said the boy said he and Blose had sex in her house and the last time it happened was on Jan. 5.

Blose was booked into custody at the Cleveland County Jail and later released on $150,000 bond.

More media deception



I note that Norway killer Breivik's clenched-fist Communist salute is universally being described in the media as "Right wing". Right wing Communism? It has been the Communist salute for around a century and Leftist journalists would be well aware of that. They have probably even seen examples of it at Leftist rallies in the USA in recent times. But for the media white can be black if it can be used to attack conservatives

There is NO Right-wing salute. Both the Communist and the Fascist salutes are Leftist. The man who invented the Fasicist salute -- Mussolini -- was a prominent Marxist theoretician. And if Hitler's socialist worker's party (NSDAP) was Right wing, it sure was a strange socialist worker's party. More on that here

Breivik flashed the same salute on day 2 of his trial as well. An interesting excerpt from today's testimony:

Breivik has disclosed how much he admires al-Qaeda. He described them as the "most successful revolutionary force in the world" and praised their "cult of martyrdom". He also said that he expected his rampage last July to be ended by a bullet from the security forces. "22 July was a so-called suicide attack. I didn't expect to survive that day," he said.

It is becoming increasingly clear that he sees himself as a revolutionary or a martyr rather than as being subservient to any ideology. How else to explain that he hates Muslims but admires Al-Qaeda?

At the risk of being seen as knowing what I am talking about, perhaps I should mention that on July 25, 2011 I described Breivik's actions as "pure Al Qaida"

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