Women With Troubles - December 2012

Happy New Year! Here is a compilation of women with troubles reported in news stories during December 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.

(AL) Stephanie Suggs Millard, 33,
teacher - Accused of two counts of felony sex with a male student, 17,

(AL) Carrie Smith Perkins, 31,
teacher - Was denied a request to have two seven year sentences, one each for rape and sodomy, run concurrently,

(AL) Ashley White, 26,
neighbor - Arrested for stealing a car owned by an acquaintance and then selling it for scrap,

(AL) Desma Willis,
teacher - Gets no jail for federal weapons charges with connections to a Mexican drug cartel,

(AR) Stacy Stracener,
teacher - Pleaded guilty to 13 counts of sexual assault of a male student, 15,

(AZ) Brittany Angelique Sonnier, 20,
neighbor - Accused of engaging in sex with her family dogs,

(CA) Nadia Diaz, 27,
teacher - Sentenced to three years of probation and 30 days in an adult offender work program for having sex with a student, 14,

(CA) Weili Kao, 28,
neighbor - Receives 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of her stepdaughter, 6,

(CA) Lindsey Trimble, 28,
teacher - Accused of oral copulation and sex with a minor boy, 17,

(CA) Kelly McKenzy Watson, 34,
teacher - Guilty of sex with a male student, 17,

(CO) Amanda Rowles, 27,
teacher - Accused of engaging in sex with two male students, 17,

(CO) Michelle Smith, 38,
contractor - Accused of setting four fires inside U.S. Air Force Academy dormitories,

(CT) Tiffany L. Hartford, 23,
neighbor - Charged with having an incestuous relationship with her dad which produced a son,

(FL) Samela Hernandez, 53,
healthcare provider - Arrested for practicing healthcare without a license, illegally performing butt-enhancement injections,

(FL) Corine Danielle Motley, 25,
neighbor - Arrested for producing child porn,

(FL) Danielle Reed, 23,
teacher - Gets probation for engaging in sex with a minor student,

(FL) Jennie Scott, 50,
neighbor - Accused of beating boyfriend after unsatisfactory lovemaking,

(FL) Leisa Elizabeth Scrivens, 20,
neighbor - Accused of sexual contact with minor,

(FL) Jillian Leah Smith, 24,
neighbor - Charged with murder for plunging a kitchen knife into boyfriend, 32,

(FL) Alison Workman, 35,
special needs teacher - Accused of abusing two 4-year-old students,

(GA) Laura Hall Dyar, 29,
teacher - Gets 10 years prison for sex with 4 students, all aged 14,

(GA) Krystal Maldonado-Alers,
teacher - Arrested for drugs,

(GA) Melanie Pickens, 34,
teacher - Indicted for abuse of five disabled students,

(GA) Melissa Bennett Silvers, 48,
teacher - Accused in murder-for-hire plot,

(ID) Courtney Sue Reschke, 35,
neighbor - Accused of engaging in sex with four boys, 15,

(IL) Romanita C. Rogers, 20,
neighbor - Accused of engaging in sex with a youngster under the age of 13,

(IL) Kayla Trueblood, 22,
teacher - Accused of engaging in sex with a male student, 16,

(IN) Carol Ann Garcia, 44,
neighbor - Accused of dealing drugs near a school,

(IN) Laura Mahuron,
teacher - Gets community service, classes, and probation for allowing yutes to consume alcohol,

(IN) Saundra Yute,
teacher - Arraigned on felony charges for spanking a special needs student, 12,

(LA) Emilie "Bunny" Cook, 25,
neighbor - Accused of teaching prostitution to a minor girl, 16,

(LA) Heather Michelle Cooksey, 27,
teacher - Accused of engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior with a minor student,

(LA) Jacqueline "Jackie" Fruge,
teacher - Accused of texting sexual messages and photos to a student,

(MA) Amanda Wilson, 27,
neighbor - Accused of four counts of aggravated rape of a boy, 13,

(MI) Alyssa D. Jones, 20,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boyfriend's young brothers,

(MN) Laura Avery, 59,
teacher - Accused of cursing, abusing and assaulting fifth-grade students,

(MN) Jenna Anne Schultz, 26,
teacher - Guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, 17, by sexting,

(NE) Amanda Heiman, 20,
bar worker - Accused of serving alcohol to two minor males hours before a deadly automobile crash,

(NE) Charlie K. Rogers, 33,
women's basketball star - Guilty of making a false report of a hate crime, sentencing in February,

(NY) Heather C. Darcangelo, 38,
teacher - Accused of attempting to obtain drugs illegally from a local pharmacy,

(NY) Kaitlin Grant, 23,
teacher - Sentenced to 6 years of probation for having sex with a female student, 15,

(NY) Urszula Jankowska,
teacher - Arrested for having a three-year sexual relationship with a female student, 13,

(OH) Amanda Bacon, 25,
neighbor - Accused of murdering her 6-month-old son,

(OH) Sherie Bomar, 56,
neighbor - Pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated arson after setting at least 14 fires,

(OH) Deborah Sue Lapin, 45,
neighbor - Accused of operating an on-line prostitution ring,

(OH) Nicole Marie Polley, 23,
neighbor - Accused of operating an on-line prostitution ring,

(OK) Andrea Antrich, 24,
teacher - Accused of 5 counts of rape of a male student, 17,

(OK) Rhonda Michelle Ford, 30,
teacher - Guilty of sexual misconduct with a male student, 15,

(OR) Tanya Earle, 37,
teacher - Gets no jail for two counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor,

(OR) Denise Keesee, 38,
teacher - Accused of sexual misconduct with a male student,

(OR) Anna R. Welsh, 31,
model - Arrested for sexual abuse of three children, 16 and under,

(PA) Rachel A. Kozloff, 31,
neighbor - Convicted of killing her boyfriend, Michael Henry, 31,

(PA) Leah McRobie, 36,
neighbor - Arrested for failing to register as a sex offender,

(PA) Kelly M. Scherer 36,
guidance counselor - Accused of selling heroin from her home,

(SC) Grace Trotman, 27,
neighbor - Sentenced to 15 years prison for helping cover up the death of boyfriend's son, 2,

(VA) Tabitha Renee Scott, 28,
neighbor - Accused of grand larceny, armed robbery and threatening to bomb,

(VA) Jessica S. Snyder, 28,
teacher - Guilty of public intoxication at school,

Thanks to the tipsters.

Lewandowsky again attempting to sound authoritative

De-Published and Australian-resident psychologist of climate, Stephan Lewandowski, has once again attempted to establish his wisdom in the matter of climate beliefs.  He has written an article for Australia's main public broadcaster (where else?) in which he makes some vanilla comments about what it takes to change people's minds (A lot.  He should know) and attempts to portray climate skepticism as an unreasonably fixed belief.

He does the usual appeal to authority that is typical of people who do not want to look at the evidence but has a few refinements beyond the usual.   I will add a few comments at the foot of the  "pearls" concerned: I quote:

Those elements of a successful rebuttal can be illustrated with a recent article (paywalled) by climate "sceptic" Matt Ridley that has attracted considerable attention, having first appeared in The Wall Street Journal, before being taken up by The Australian and Forbes.

According to this article, we have nothing to worry about: the author acknowledges that the globe is warming and human greenhouse gas emissions are to blame, but claims that the warming will be slight and good for us.

However comforting it may be, this claim is misleading. The article cites only one peer-reviewed study, by Ring and colleagues, and it misrepresents the implications of their work. When I contacted one of the authors, Professor Michael Schlesinger of the University of Illinois, he replied:

    "The author of the Wall Street Journal article that mentions the findings of our paper is just plain wrong about future warming. Our research shows that global warming will exceed 2C, defined as dangerous climate change, by the middle of this century."

This correction is straightforward but may be insufficient to permit discounting of this misinformation. Let's apply the three principles for successful debunking.

First, one must point out that the author, Matt Ridley, has financial interests related to coal mining (it must be noted that he does declare this interest at the end of his article). The possible conflict of interest is clearly relevant. Moreover, because climate change is an exercise in risk management, the author's record of risk (mis-)management is also relevant. One must be concerned that Matt Ridley was chairman of a bank that experienced the first bank run in the UK in 150 years, which led a member of the UK Parliament's Select Committee on Treasury to ask of Matt Ridley:

    "you have damaged the good name of British banking; why are you still clinging to office?"

Second, one must point out that there is an overwhelming consensus in the peer-reviewed literature which suggests that future warming will be more than slight and that it will be far from beneficial for most societies. With natural weather-related disasters having nearly tripled in the last 30 years already, it takes a considerable leap of faith to hope, let alone claim, that future warming will have beneficial effects overall.

Finally, one must visualise the future warming using a graph. The figure below was provided by Professor Schlesinger, whose work was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal piece, from one of his recent papers:



The figure shows that regardless of which data set is being used to produce projections (i.e., GISS, HADCRU, or NOAA), there will be considerably more than 2C warming (ie, the UNFCCC threshold) by century's end.

SOURCE

I have just re-read the Ridley article and following is the whole of what Ridley said about the Schlesinger article:

"Michael Ring and Michael Schlesinger of the University of Illinois, using the most trustworthy temperature record, also estimate 1.6°C."

What Lewandowsky has seized on was in other words entirely incidental to the thrust of Ridley's article, which relied principally on discussions with an IPCC statistician, Nic Lewis.  And what Ridley has said does not necessarily conflict with the out-of-context quote put up by Lewandowski.  Ridley quoted results for  "the most trustworthy temperature record" and those results  need not at all be the same as the results for all temperature records or even the mean temperature record.  So no points to Lewandowsky so far.

Lewandowsky then goes completely "ad hominem", a mode of argument that has no scholarly repute whatever and which therefore proves nothing: He points out that Ridley was chairman of a failed British bank.  I should ignore such an irrelevant argument but let me point out anyway that Lewandowsky somehow forgets to mention that heaps of banks worldwide -- mostly run by very bright people --  also went bust at roughly the same time (the 2007-2008 GFC).  That hardly merits pointing the finger at Ridley.  So no points to Lewandowsky for that little bit of nastiness either.

Lewandowsky then says: "With natural weather-related disasters having nearly tripled in the last 30 years..."  but the link he gives for that claim is to  one of his own prior articles!   Since I have put up plenty of evidence to the contrary in recent times (e.g. here), I will say no more at this point.  But Lewandowsky is just cherrypicking.  Certainly no points for that.

His last stab is to put up a pretty-looking graph.  But note the timescale that the graph covers.  It is all prophecy and, as  such, unfalsifiable.  So in philosophy of science terms it is not even an empirical statement.  It is a statement of belief and not a statement of fact.  And prophecies are almost always false, as we saw with the recent Mayan debacle.  So no points for that either.

So when it gets beyond vague principles and onto matters of fact, Lewandowsky is left clutching at smoke.  And he greatly discredits his own claim to scholarship in the process -- JR

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

Florida Woman Accused of Sex with Minor

(Naples, Florida) A local woman, Leisa Elizabeth Scrivens, has been accused of engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a minor.

Scrivens faces a charge of lewd and lascivious battery on a person 12 to 15 years of age.

A witness told Collier County sheriff's deputies she found text messages detailing an encounter between Leisa Elizabeth Scrivens, 20, and the victim, whose exact age was not released.

The victim told detectives Scrivens performed a sex act on him Sunday while they were alone at his house, according to an arrest report.

Details on arrest and booking are unavailable.

Florida Woman Accused of Battery of Boyfriend

(Palmetto, Florida) A 50-year-old local woman, Jennie Scott, has been arrested for allegedly beating the bejeezus out of her boyfriend for not providing satisfaction during a lovemaking session.

Scott's boyfriend of five years, Jilberto Deleon, 32, reportedly finished first and stopped pleasuring her during a mutual oral sex session. Scott faces a charge of misdemeanor battery.

A deputy noted that Scott said that she was also mad at Deleon because she had “heard [him] having sex with another woman over the phone earlier in the day.”

Scott struggled with deputies before being placed in a police cruiser, where she kicked a window until being warned that she would be maced unless she stopped.

Scott was booked into custody at the Manatee County lockup.

Tip: slwlion

Hooked and Bitten

Speaking of taxes, they get you from both ends, federal and state.

Image from Story.

A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL THOSE WHO COME BY HERE 

Though some gloomy thoughts are realistic too as we look ahead


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The economic future




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I am afraid she might be right




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But this might give us hope



An American teen (in the yellow hazard suit) who built a working fusor (nuclear fusion reactor) in his spare time.  A society that produces such a kid and gives him such opportunities has unfathomable potential.  And he is not alone.  Other hobbyists build fusors.

SOURCE

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And even the Soviets allowed this music to thrive



The piano player, Emil Gilels, was a Ukrainian Jew and a Soviet citizen -- here  in an exquisite performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto


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

California School Pizza Bribery Case

(Los Angeles, California) The 31-year-old food services director with the Lawndale Elementary School District, Arturo Nuno, has been accused of accepting kickbacks from a pizza restaurant that supplied school lunches.

Nuno has been charged with four counts of felony bribery.

Nuno, who pleaded not guilty, is accused of taking 50 cents for every pizza sold to the school district by the restaurant from Oct. 1, 2010, to July 31, 2012, said Jean Guccione, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.

All told, Nuno is accused of accepting about $10,000 in cash, she said Friday.[…]

According to the DA's Office, Nuno periodically stopped by the restaurant to pick up envelopes containing between $200 and $700 in cash. Guccione said the school district paid the establishment $6.50 per pizza, and that Nuno demanded 50 cents of that amount.

Interestingly, about six months into the alleged nefarious pizza scheme, Nuno was given a pay raise from $80,651 to $94,531, a 17% bump. Without the allegations of wrongdoing, Nuno's job performance was lauded.

Nevertheless, Nuno was arrested, booked and then released on $100,000 bond. A court appearance is scheduled for January 23, 2013.

YouTube Video View Numbers 'Faked'

Decision-makers at YouTube have determined that an abundance of video views has actually been 'faked' by hackers. Note that the number of video views is used to determine worldwide popularity and appropriate shares of advertising revenue.

It marks a huge commercial blow to all the artists involved as YouTube is now the web's most important outlet for music videos.

Over four billion hours of video are watched by over 800million unique visitors to the site each month.

The dramatic falls, highlighted by figures compiled by YouTube statistics analysts at SocialBlade, came after YouTube conducted an audit of its viewing figures aimed at combating 'black hat' view count-building techniques.

That is the term used when hackers artificially build up the numbers of views or likes on a YouTube video - enabling them to make clips appear far more popular than they really are and increase their exposure on the site.

More on black-hat view count-building here.

Oregon Teacher Gets No Jail in Sex Case - Update

(Clackamas County, Oregon) Former teacher Tanya Earle has pleaded guilty to engaging in sex with a male student.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor last week.

The social studies teacher had been with the Molalla River School District for 10 years.

She was sentenced to three years of probation, must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet for 60 days, register as a sex offender and can no longer be a teacher.

No jail? Fairly lenient, I suggest.

* * * * *Oregon Teacher Accused of Sexual Abuse
[Previous 4/4/12 post]
(Clackamas County, Oregon) A 37-year-old social science teacher at Molalla High School, Tanya Maroochy Earle, has been accused of sexually abusing a male student repeatedly between September 2007 and September 2008.

Earle has been indicted on multiple counts of sexual abuse of a juvenile.

The indictment accuses Earle of having sexual contact, intercourse and deviate intercourse with the victim, who at the time was not old enough to consent to the acts. Second-degree sexual abuse is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

Earle, who came to Molalla in 2000, was placed on paid administrative leave in mid-December after a fellow staff member approached administrators with information, according to Molalla River School District Superintendent Wayne Kostur. He said the district reported Earle to Molalla police and state child-welfare authorities. A complaint also has been filed with the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission.

Authorities initiated a criminal investigation last year, according to Sgt. Adam Phillips, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

Earle was booked and released on $100,000 bail.

Georgia Teacher Gets Prison for Sex with 4 Students - Updated

(Madison, Georgia)

A former Morgan County Middle School teacher on Wednesday in Morgan County Superior Court pled guilty to several child molestation charges based on interaction with four 14-year-old students.

Laura Hall Dyar, 29, Watkinsville, a former eighth grade teacher, was sentenced to a total of 30 years, with 10 years to serve and the remainder to be served on probation, after pleading guilty to one count child molestation, one count enticing a child for indecent purposes, one count criminal attempt to commit enticing a child for indecent purposes and two counts sexual exploitation of children.

Along with incarceration and probation, Dyar was also sentenced to pay a $2,000 fine, ordered to have no contact with the victims or their families, must abide by all sex offender conditions, was banished from Morgan County and “shall not be employed in the education field in any way whatsoever…”

Dyar begins serving her sentence on December 31, 2012.

* * * * *Georgia Teacher Accused of Sex with Student
[Previous 3/15/11 post]
(Madison, Georgia) A 27-year-old eighth-grade teacher and cheerleading coach at Morgan County Middle School, Laura Dyar, has been accused of sexually assaulting one of her students.

Dyar has been charged with child molestation, enticing a minor and sexual assault.

The victim's guardian has also been charged for trying to extort money from Dyar for letting her have sex with the youngster.

The female guardian is charged with two counts of Theft by Extortion, and one count of Criminal Intent to Commit Theft by Extortion.

Laura Dyar turned herself in after a special agent with the GBI's Milledgeville Office obtained a warrant for her arrest.

Both Dyar and the female guardian have been booked into custody at the Morgan County Jail.

 Extraordinary defences of Ivy League racism

After the huge body of evidence marshalled by Ron Unz to show discrimination against Asians at the Ivies, here is one of the "replies" published by the NYT in response:

"Some allege specifically that affirmative action harms Asian applicants, capping the Asian population at elite universities. In reality, there is no evidence that this is the case."

The lamebrain concerned appears to think, obviously correctly, that mere denial of the Unz evidence will suffice for the NYT.  She dismisses it with a wave of her hand without addressing it at all.  Any rubbish will do for the NYT as long as the conclusions suit the NYT, it seems.  This is below the quality of supermarket tabloids, which do at least pretend to look at evidence for their claims.

Another reply which at least admits the Unz evidence simply reiterates the nasty stereotype of Asians as bespectacled nerds with no opinions of their own.

Given the huge preference now given by the Ivies to Jewish applicants,  I suppose I could be equally racist in reverse and say that Asians are simply more polite than loud-mouthed NYC Jews.   It just shows what a slippery slope racism can be and is thoroughly obnoxious for all the reasons that Leftists never tire of telling us about.  Steve Sailer gives it a thorough fisking.


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

Alabama Democrats Flee Party

(Carrollton, Alabama) District Attorney Chris McCool of Fayette, Lamar and Pickens counties has switched his political party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

McCool says he has been considering making the switch for some time. He says he is conservative, and it's clear to him there is no longer a place for him in the Democratic Party.

GOP Chairman Bill Armistead says more than 50 conservative Democrats have now switched to the Republican Party since he became chairman.

That's a shame.

Concerned Student T-Shirt

Tip: slwlion

Endangered Species Condoms

The Center for Biological Diversity advocates minimizing human population growth through the use of Endangered Species Condoms.

“There are more than 3 billion people on the planet under the age of 25. The choices this generation makes will determine whether our planet and its wildlife and natural resource base are burdened with 8 billion or 15 billion people. The difference between these paths can be measured by how many other species are left to roam alongside us,” said Jerry Karnas, population campaign director with the Center.

“Our Endangered Species Condoms are a great way to get a conversation started about how the growing human population is affecting the wild world around us, especially animals already teetering on the edge of extinction.”

Picture the evening - low lighting, soft music, a crackling fireplace, then ...Ooh, baby! Ooh, baby! And as the romance oozes you slip on a safe and start chatting about endangered species. Yeah, that'll work.

Winter Storm Euclid

It's been a white Christmas in the US midwest and northeast with nasty blizzard conditions, freezing rain and impossible flying weather. Highway travel has been treacherous. Especially troubling has been that the temperature in my region hovers around 32 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning precipitation was half snow/ice and half rain.

Meanwhile, the southern states have experienced violent thunderstorms and at least 30 tornadoes, spanning the area from Arkansas to the Carolinas. Deaths from the storm have been reported at 15 thus far.

And note this:

The Weather Channel, which has taken it upon itself to start naming winter storms and calls this one Euclid, says that by the time it's done Euclid "will have deposited snow from California's Sierra Nevada Mountains to New England."

One might say Euclid's geometry has been coast-to-coast.

Lastly, the storm has caused periodic disruption of power due to whatever reason. I suspect some of the disruptions are from switching evolutions since power is lost for less than a minute. Nevertheless, it's frustrating trying to stay connected to the web.

A libertarian case for having more kids 


My wife and I loved the two kids we had already, but they were a ton of work! Diapers, feedings, play dates, school, homework, Cub Scouts, soccer, ballet, etc., etc. Where would we find the time? Would we need a bigger house? Could we ever afford to go on vacation again?

A few weeks later, I spotted a book title that piqued my interest: "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids," by George Mason University economic professor Bryan Caplan. Two-hundred and forty pages of shared reading later, and my wife was on the phone with her doctor to make No. 3 possible.

Caplan's case basically boils down to this: Too many Americans are reluctant to have more children because we overestimate the resources (time/money/effort) it takes to raise a happy, well-adjusted child.

Those vocabulary flashcards? Not worth it. Your son hates piano lessons? Don't put yourself through the pain of forcing him to go. You don't have time to cook dinner? Get takeout. And perhaps most subversively, if you need a few minutes to compose yourself, don't be afraid to let Cookie Monster babysit your kids for half an hour.

Its scary advice for many parents to hear, but Caplan has reams of scientific studies to back it up. "Adoption and twin research provides strong evidence that parents barely affect their children's prospects," Caplan writes.

For example, one paper he cites shows that while parents can have a large impact on a 2-year-old's vocabulary, by the age of 12, all that intensive training does not significantly separate them from their uncoached peers. "Nature, not nurture, explains most family resemblance, so parents can safely cut themselves a lot of additional slack."

Caplan's advice is not for everybody. If you love travel or live in an expensive city, a bigger family is probably not for you. Caplan's parenting advice probably won't work for parents with controlling personalities either. If you think you can mold your children in your own image, then fewer kids is probably best for you.

"Show more modesty and get more happiness," Caplan writes. "You can have a better life and a bigger family if you admit that your kids' future is not in your hands."

Not that Caplan advises parents to let their kids do whatever they want. Quite the opposite. Caplan stresses that clear and consistent discipline is not only necessary for your child's well-being, but for any parent's sanity, as well. An unruly household where a pack of kids ignores their parents would drive anyone crazy.

Most pro-natalist books make the case that having more children is good for all of humanity. And "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids" does have one such chapter. But, as a libertarian, Caplan's book does not contain any laundry list of government programs designed to make bigger families more common.

Instead, Caplan's book is about how parents can learn to enjoy parenting more. "The main lesson," Caplan writes, "is that parenting is about the journey, not the destination."

SOURCE


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

 Lone American Indian woman gets educational poster taken down

Amherst 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.

But apparently any mention of that is taboo.  The poster appears to have been meant to promote caution about the spread of bacteria



Amherst College is apologizing for a poster some students considered racist and insensitive that was displayed December 5 on a wall in a biology classroom.

The poster is a depiction of Lord Jeffery Amherst, commanding general of British forces in North America during the final battles of the French and Indian War. He is the mascot of this exclusive and prestigious liberal arts school.

Historical accounts point to Lord Jeffery as a pioneer in biological warfare. He is credited with requesting that smallpox-infected blankets be sent to the American Indians, starting an epidemic among them.

The poster, titled “A gift from Lord Jeffrey Amherst,” shows Lord Jeffery gifting a stack of blankets to an American Indian man dressed in leather and fringe, with feathers clinging to a headband. An American Indian woman and child are in the background; a baby is strapped to a cradle board.

 An autoclave is a device used to sanitize equipment with hot steam.

Source


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

Illinois Woman Accused of Sex with Child

(Madison County, Illinois) A 20-year-old Godfrey, Illinois woman, Romanita C. Rogers, has been accused of engaging in sex with a youngster under the age of 13.

Rogers faces a charge of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child.

The Madison County Sheriff's Office says they received a call at 7:04 p.m. Wednesday from a woman who suspected her child had been sexually assaulted.

An investigation indicated Romanita C. Rogers had engaged in sexual acts with a child under the age of 13 in August 2012.

Rogers was booked into custody at the Madison County Jail with bond set at $100,000.

Merry Christmas



Best wishes to all, even the heathen atheists.

CHRISTMAS at the Gas Station 

A short story that tells a great truth

The old man sat in his gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn't been anywhere in years since his wife had passed away. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate. He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.

Instead of throwing the man out, Old George as he was known by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up. "Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy, I'll just go."

"Not without something hot in your belly." George said.

He turned and opened a wide mouth Thermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty. Stew ... Made it myself. When you're done, there's coffee and it's fresh."

Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me, be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old '53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front.. The driver was panicked. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver, with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken." George opened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold, the car was dead.

"You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away.

"But Mister, please help ..." The door of the office closed behind George as he went inside. He went to the office wall and got the keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building, opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was waiting. "Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever looked at, but she runs real good."

George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into the night. He turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave 'em the truck, their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new ." George thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The Thermos was on the desk, empty, with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he got something in his belly," George thought.

George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do. Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered the the block hadn't cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on.

"Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and he wasn't going to drive the car anyway.

As he was working, he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned, "Please help me."

George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anythin'," he said, trying to make the policeman feel at ease.

"Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the policeman the pills. "You hang in there, I'm going to get you an ambulance."

The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that there talk box out in your car." He went out only to find that a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.

He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the area."

George sat down beside him, "I would never leave an injured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right through 'ya. Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your gonna be right as rain."

George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked.

"None for me," said the officer..

"Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.

The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this before.

"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer.

"Son, why are you doing this?" asked George, "You need to put the cannon away. Somebody else might get hurt."

The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now give me the cash!"

The cop was reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to the cop, "we got one too many in here now."

He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now put that pea shooter away."

George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry. "I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job, my rent is due, my car got repossessed last week."

George handed the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we can."

He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from the cop. "Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup of coffee. "Bein' stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Comin' in here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out."

The young man had stopped crying. He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer."

"Shut up and drink your coffee " the cop said.

George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn. "Chuck! You ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.

"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"

"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approached the young man.

Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just dropped his gun and ran."

George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other.

"That guy work here?" the wounded cop continued.

"Yep," George said, "just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job."

The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"

Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy ... and you too, George, and thanks for everything."

"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve some of your problems."

George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go, something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."

The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."

"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That's all I need."

George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man of yours."

The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old man had handed him earlier.

"And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that too," George said. "Now git home to your family."

The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."

"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."

George turned around to find that the stranger had returned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you left?"

"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"

"Well, after my wife passed away, I just couldn't see what all the bother was. Puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was gettin' a little chubby."

The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate the holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold and hungry. The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great doctor.

The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any for himself. "That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good as any man."

George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know all this?" asked the old man.

"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when your days are done you will be with Martha again."

The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration planned."

George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to fill the room.

"You see, George ... it's My birthday. Merry Christmas."

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" -- Matt 25:40.


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

Florida Woman Collared for Child Pornography

(Escambia County, Florida) A 25-year-old local woman, Corine Danielle Motley, faces federal child pornography charges for the alleged sexual molestation of a 4 to 6-year-old child depicted in a video.

Motley was arrested this week after an international manhunt.

Police in Denmark notified U.S. authorities after downloading the video in question, said Carissa Cutrell, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security Investigations, a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Investigators believe the video was posted on the Internet for the first time Nov. 27, according to Thursday’s the news release.

Unable to identify the woman in the video, Homeland Security obtained a “Jane Doe” arrest warrant and issued a news release earlier this week asking for help. It featured a photo and a detailed description of the woman.

It resulted in a tip less than 24 hours later, Cutrell said.

Motley was apprehended and booked into custody at the Escambia County Jail without bond.

 West Point Prayers Under Attack‏

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is calling for an end to Christian prayers at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.  “West Point cadets should be able to train for service in our nation’s military without having religion forced upon them,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Academy officials must respect the religious liberty rights of all cadets who should be free to make their own decisions about prayer without government coercion.”

The church-state watchdog group gave the academy 30 days to
respond to the letter – calling for an end to all prayers at official events because the prayers violate the U.S. Constitution.

A spokesman for West Point told Fox News they had received the letter. The spokesman said that all prayers at West Point are voluntary.

Ron Crews, of Chaplain Alliance, told Fox News he was disturbed by the letter.  “Any form of religion is under attack in the military – from Nativity scenes on military chapels to prayers at events,” Crews said. “We need to respect our plurality instead of trying to quash those who do have faith.”

Source

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). 

Alabama Teacher Gets No Jail on Federal Weapons Rap

(Huntsville, Alabama) A female teacher at Montview Elementary School, Desma Willis, has pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges with connections to a Mexican drug cartel.

Willis reportedly gave false information to a gun dealer in order to purchase guns for a third party.

U.S. Marshals accused Willis of lying to licensed gun dealers to buy weapons for someone else. An indictment alleges Willis purchased four weapons, including an AR-15 rifle, from two dealers.

Willis pleaded guilty to the federal charges. The judge sentenced the teacher to two years of supervised probation and six months of electronic monitoring.

Leaders at Huntsville City Schools had no idea about Willis’ legal troubles. The school district’s top brass is now doing its own investigation.

Note that Willis worked with an associate, Gary Madison, who bought more than two dozen guns for sale to drug cartel members. Madison was convicted and sentenced to 4 years, 9 months in prison.

Also note that the judge treated Willis leniently because of her "involvement in the community and limited criminal record."

Louisiana Teacher Accused of Sex with Juvenile

(Pineville, Louisiana) A 27-year-old teacher at Tioga High School, Heather Michelle Cooksey, has been accused of engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior with a student.

Cooksey was arrested and charged with two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

Cooksey was taken into custody and booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center. Bond has been set at $10,000. The investigation is still ongoing.

Details are lacking but being charged with two criminal counts would seem to indicate two victims or two separate sexual events.

Bruce Oreck - US Ambassador to Finland

Seasons greetings from an American diplomat.

(Helsinki, Finland)

Meet the face of America in Finland, our very own Ambassador Bruce Oreck, one of President Barack Obama’s diplomatic appointees from 2009. Yes, ladies and gentleman, this is the man who President Obama chose to represent our country in Finland.[…]

Before he was selected by Obama for an ambassadorship, Oreck was a professional bodybuilder. He is also the son of David Oreck, the king of vacuum cleaners, and he was picked to represent the U.S. in Finland after he raised more than $500,000 in donations for Obama’s campaign in 2008.

Source

Schwarzenegger Climate Conference



Schwarzenegger
(Vienna, Austria) Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has created an Energy and Climate Change Initiative with its first conference scheduled for next month in Vienna.

Monika Langthaler, organiser of the conference said: "Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to hold his first conference of his organisation in is home country. We hope to be able to hold further events in Vienna."

Austria is Schwarzenegger's home country? I don't think so. Former home country, for sure, but he's called the USA his home for a number of decades.

In any event, Schwarzenegger has spotlighted his liberal bona fides by forming a climate change organization.

Hoosier Teacher Guilty of Criminal Recklessness - Update

(Salem, Indiana) Teacher Laura Mahuron has pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness for allowing yutes to consume alcohol on her property. Consequently,

Mahuron receives a criminal conviction for criminal recklessness; she must perform 100 hours of community service; she's required to attend a drug and alcohol class; she is required to attend a victim impact panel, which is a program designed to highlight the dangers associated with alcohol related crimes; and she will be on formal probation for nine months, which includes a monthly check-in requirement.

The criminal case is separate from what was imposed by the school corporation.

The case against husband John Mahuron is still pending.

* * * * *Hoosier Teacher Accused of Liquoring Up Teens - Update
[Previous 7/10/12 post]
(Salem, Indiana) Science and social studies teacher Laura Mahuron will be allowed to keep her job but she still remains to be prosecuted, along with her husband John, for hosting a teenage drinking party.

The Salem School Board announced that Laura Mahuron will be placed under a year-long suspension.

She will undergo a teachers improvement program, a alcohol/drug awareness program and must complete at least 40 hours of community service, after which she will be fully reinstated.

"Mr. Oppel and I have reviewed the events of the evening and we met with Mrs. Mahuron and we came up with a disciplinary agreement we agree is fair," said Salem Community Schools Superintendent Lynn Reed.

"It shows there are consequences and I think she made an error in judgement. However, we think this is fair. Mrs. Mahuron will not be a teacher in our schools for a year. I think that's a severe consequence. That says our teachers will uphold the policies of the board and the laws of the state of Indiana and we expect that and we think that will continue."

A pre-trial conference on the charge of contributing to the delinquency is scheduled for August 27.

* * * * *
Hoosier Teacher Accused of Liquoring Up Teens
[Previous 6/4/12 post]
(Salem, Indiana) A science and social studies teacher at Salem Middle School, Laura Mahuron, has been accused of hosting a teenage drinking party to celebrate high school graduation.

Mahuron faces a charge of contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Mahuron's husband John will face the same charge, which is a Class A misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail. Jail time is not typical for a first offense.

The Mahurons will not be arrested in the typical sense. Instead, Washington County prosecutor Dustin Houchen issued a criminal summons Friday morning. The couple will be ordered to appear in court on June 25.

All the teens were apparently tested and determined to be liquored up.

Some remarkable piano work


An amazing performance of Bedrich Smetana's "Vltava" by two Japanese ladies.




Normally performed by a full concert orchestra

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

Facebook Messages for Pay

From The Register:

Facebook users may soon start seeing more messages in their Inboxes, thanks to a new pilot program that allows users to pay a fee to send personal messages to people with whom they have no direct connection.

Ordinarily, a Facebook user's Inbox will only display messages from friends and people the user might know, such as friends of friends. Messages from other sources end up in a separate Other folder, where they're likely to be overlooked.[…]

A company rep told El Reg, "We're starting to test at $1 per message, but we'll continue to test to find the optimum price."

For now, the pay-to-send feature is just "a small test" that's being made available to a limited number of users – we asked how many, but Facebook wouldn't say.

What it would say is that for now, the test is limited to US-based senders and recipients only, and that only individuals can participate.

I'm confused. Who gets the dollar?

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Texas Concealed Carry

(Bexar County, Texas) Bexar Criminal District Attorney Susan Reed reports crime statistics.

In a statement released Thursday, Reed specifically discusses statistics related to offenses committed by individuals licensed in Texas under the Concealed Handgun Laws.

"The first full year of statistics following passage of the CHL law was in 1996. Our analysis shows from 1996 - 2011, there were a total of 852,271 convictions in Texas for the 125 offenses listed in the report," Reed said in a news release.

According to the letter, of the 852,271 convictions, only 1,972 of those were by individuals who were licensed to carry a concealed handgun at the time of the offense.

"This means less than one quarter of one percent of persons convicted of these major crimes held a CHL," Reed said.

The Department of Public Safety compiled the data.

Minnesota Teacher Accused of Abusing Students

(Bloomington, Minnesota) A 59-year-old substitute teacher in Bloomington, Laura Avery, has been accused of cursing, abusing and assaulting fifth-grade students.

Avery faces criminal charges of abuse and assault.

In layman's terms Avery began cursing and then grew so agitated she assaulted at least three students, according to investigators.

"She ended up taking three of them down to the choir room and it sounds like all three of them she grabbed one by the hair, grabbed another by the neck and kicked one of them on his way into the choir room," Bloomington Police Commander Kevin Herman said.

Avery is in police custody in Hennepin County.

2012 Soldier Suicides vs. Combat Deaths

(Washington D.C.)

The military faced a grim statistic in 2012 as soldier suicides outnumbered combat-related deaths for the year.

Through November this year, potentially 303 active-duty, Reserve and National Guard soldiers took their own lives. In Afghanistan 212 soldiers were killed as of Dec. 7.

It's disturbing to read stuff like this.

Russians Drilling for Oil Off Cuba

(Havana, Cuba)

Russian oil company Zarubezhneft plans to continue drilling in deepwater areas off Cuba “in the next few days,” using a Norwegian rig that is on the island, state media reported, citing state-owned Cubapetroleo.

The rig will be operating off Cuba's north-central coast.

Bayou Woman Accused of Teaching Prostitution to Minor

(New Orleans, Louisiana) A 25-year-old local woman, Emilie "Bunny" Cook, has been arrested for teaching a 16-year-old girl how to be a prostitute on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.

Cook faces a charge of trafficking children for sexual purposes.

According to a State Police arrest report, Cook arranged prostitution work for herself and another woman -- later identified as a 16-year-old girl -- on Nov. 26 in the 300 block of Bourbon Street.

Cook "negotiated a deal" for herself and the minor to perform oral sex on a man, who actually was a plainclothes NOPD detective, the report says. The detective agreed to pay the women $500. Both women were then arrested.

The minor told police she was 16 and had run away from home in Jackson, Miss., according to the report.

$500 seems pricey for an everyday street hooker, eh?

Police: Alabama Woman Scrapped Car She Didn't Own

(Athens, Alabama) A 26-year-old local woman, Ashley White, has been arrested for stealing a car owned by an acquaintance and then selling it for scrap.

White has been charged with first-degree theft of property. According to Police Chief Floyd Johnson:

"White claimed to be the owner of a vehicle she sold as scrap. In reality she was not the owner of the vehicle," Johnson said.

White sold a 1993 Ford Taurus belonging to a male acquaintance, Johnson said.

Investigator Tim McIntire, who investigated the case, obtained a warrant for White's arrest. She was also charged with violating her probation on a previous arrest.

White was booked into custody with bond set at $500.

Homework Assignment: Write Own Suicide Note

(Montmoreau-Saint-Cybard, France) Children aged 13 and 14 at a local secondary school were given the following homework assignment.

"You've just turned 18 and have decided to end your life. Your decision appears irrevocable. As a final effort, you decide to explain the reasons for your act.

"In setting out your self-portrait, you describe all the disgust you feel for yourself. Your text must bring up certain events in your life at the root of this feeling."

Given two local student suicides in recent months, parents and school administrators were shocked and horrified. The teacher was suspended.

My belief is that kids should be taught enlightening values and introduced to the opportunities and wonders of life, not given cookie crumbs leading to despair and death.

IQ tests are 'meaningless and too simplistic' claim researchers 

This appears to have been based on an internet survey and such surveys  are notorious for giving non-representative results.  A large sample size is no substitute for representativeness

The underlying controversy, however, is as old as the hills:  Should IQ be measured as a set of subscores or as one overall score?  Among psychometricians it is known as the Spearman/Thurstone controvery and dates back to the beginning of the last century.

The accepted answer is to present results both ways:  As one overall score plus a set of sub-scores.  Results can reasonably be represented both ways because the subscores are correlated.  Knowing a person's subscore on (say) verbal ability will give you a useful (but not of course perfect) prediction of his mathematical ability.  That has repeatedly been demonstrated.

The novelty in the report below is that the various sub-abilities were said to be NOT correlated  -- which runs contrary to 100 years of findings by others.  I note however that the authors are more cautious in the underlying journal article.  They say:  

Using simulations based on neuroimaging data, we show that the higher-order factor “g” is accounted for by cognitive tasks corecruiting multiple networks. Finally, we confirm the independence of these components of intelligence by dissociating them using questionnaire variables. We propose that intelligence is an emergent property of anatomically distinct cognitive systems, each of which has its own capacity.

That sounds to me as if they admit the existence of a general factor but find that the subfactors don't all use exactly  the same parts of the brain -- which should be no surprise to anyone.

There is also a question about how comprehensive were the test items used.  Without seeing all the questions, I get the impression  that a deliberate attempt was made to find questions that would not produce correlated results.  One can ask plenty of questions not conceptually related to intelligence and in that case intercorrelations are not be be expected.  In psychometrican's terms, the test would lack construct validity.

The journal article is "Fractionating Human Intelligence" by Hampshire et al.  I look forward to seeing a more detailed examination of the article by those who specialize in IQ studies

After conducting the largest ever study of intelligence, researchers have found that far from indicating how clever you are, IQ testing is actually rather ‘meaningless’.

In a bid to investigate the value of IQ, scientists asked more than 100,000 participants to complete 12 tests that required planning, reasoning, memory and attention.  They also filled in a survey on their background.

They discovered that far from being down to one single factor, what is commonly regarded as intelligence is influenced by three different elements - short-term memory, reasoning, and verbal ability.  But being good at one of these factors does not mean you are going to be equally gifted at the other two.

Scientists from Canada’s Western University in Ontario, also scanned some of the participants’ brains while they undertook the tests.

They found that different parts of the brain were activated when they were tested on each of the three factors.

Traditional IQ tests are ‘too simplistic’, according to the research, which found that what makes someone intelligent is too complex to boil down to a single exam.

IQ, which stands for Intelligence Quotient, is an attempt to measure how smart an individual is.  The average IQ is 100. Mensa, the high IQ society, only accepts individuals who score more than 148, putting them in the top two per cent of the population.

The new study, published in the journal Neuron, suggests that intelligence is too complex to be represented by a single number.

Study leader Dr Adrian Owen, a British neuroscientists based at Western University in Canada, said an ‘astonishing’ number of people had contributed to the research.

‘We expected a few hundred responses, but thousands and thousands of people took part, including people of all ages, cultures and creeds and from every corner of the world,’ he said.

‘When you take 100,000 people and tested their brain function, we couldn’t find any evidence for a single uniform concept of intelligence.

‘The best we could manage is get it down to three elements that contribute to intelligence. But they are completely different factors, unrelated to one another, and you could be brilliant at one and awful at another.  For example, the absent-minded professor.

‘IQ tests are pretty meaningless - if you are not good at them, all it proves is that you are not good at IQ tests.

'It does not say anything about your general intelligence.’ The majority of IQ tests were developed in the 50s and 60s when the way we thought and interacted with the world was different, said Dr Owen.

SOURCE


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

Ohio Mom Accused in Baby's Death

Avery Glynn Bacon
(Toledo, Ohio)

A 6-month-old Toledo boy who suffered multiple skull fractures allegedly when thrown against a hard surface has died, authorities said.

Avery Glynn Bacon was pronounced dead about 11 p.m. Tuesday at Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan, Toledo police said.

The boy's mother, Amanda Bacon, 25, of 504 W. Alexis Rd., was arraigned Tuesday in Toledo Municipal Court, charged with felonious assault and child endangering. Her bond was set at $1 million. Police said Tuesday they were filing a murder charge against the accused.

Based upon her appearance, I would speculate that mom dabbled in drugs.

Alabama Teacher Denied Sentence Reduction - Updated

(Houston County, Alabama)

Carrie Smith Perkins, 31, had sought to have two seven year sentences, one each for rape and sodomy, run concurrently.

Circuit Judge Butch Binford ordered the prison terms be served consecutively when he sentenced Perkins in 2011. That means one sentence must be completed before the other one begins. Had Binford agreed, the two terms could be served at the same time and Perkins released from prison earlier.

During a hearing held December 12 Perkins said she is "truly sorry" for crimes committed. She admitted to transporting the teen to Dothan where they checked into a hotel room and had sex during the time she was a 5th grade teacher at Parkview Christian School.

Additionally, Perkins pleaded guilty to having sex with the same boy in Barbour County and was ordered to serve three years in prison. An additional 12 years was suspended by Circuit Judge Bernard Smithart.

So, Perkins will serve her full sentence of 14 years in prison.

* * * * *
Alabama Teacher Gets Prison in Sex Case - Updated
[Previous 2/23/11 post]
(Eufaula, Alabama) For her convictions on counts of sodomy and rape of a 15-year-old student, Carrie Smith Perkins, 29, was sentenced today by Houston County Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford to 14 years in prison with no probation.

Perkins sobbed noticeably as she was cuffed and taken away.

* * * * *
Alabama Teacher Guilty in Sex Case - Updated
[Previous 1/13/11 post]
(Eufaula, Alabama) Earlier today, 29-year-old teacher Carrie Perkins was convicted by a jury of second-degree sodomy and second-degree rape of 15-year-old boy.

According to Assistant Houston County District Attorney Banks Smith,

“We argued this was just the ultimate violation of trust,” Smith said. “Because you select a Christian school to put your child in, and then you find out somebody commits this gross violation of trust in committing these crimes.”

Smith said Perkins was the boy’s seventh-grade science teacher at Parkview Christian School in Eufaula and most recently taught the victim’s younger brother. Smith said the victim was in the ninth grade at the time of the offenses in May 2010. He said there are also several similar pending sexual assault charges out of Eufaula.

Sentencing has been scheduled for February 23 when Perkins faces two to 20 years in prison for each conviction.

* * * * *
Alabama Teacher Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 5/20/10 post]
(Eufaula, Alabama) A 29-year-old fifth-grade teacher at Parkview Christian School, Carrie Frances Perkins, was arrested Monday for allegedly engaging in a five-month sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.

Perkins faces multiple counts of rape and sodomy.

According to a Eufaula Police Department incident report, the student stated that he and Perkins have had sexual relations approximately four or five times since the start of the year.

The student also told police that the first incident occurred inside a classroom while other incidents took place inside the city limits and also in another city, according to the report.

Chief Police Investigator Ronnie Dollar said Thursday that there was more than enough “probable cause” to sign warrants.

Perkins was booked into custody. No bail amount was reported.

Escape From France



François Hollande
(Paris, France) With payroll taxes jacked up to an irrational 85%, French citizens are leaving the country.

The fiscal frenzy that has seized French socialists is not only grinding France’s economy to a halt; it is also attacking the very foundations of French society by destroying entrepreneurship and responsibility. Taxes are raining down on French citizens, and the promised shelters often disappear before they have even been introduced.

The French government’s 2013 finance bill has announced confiscatory tax rates on incomes and capital gains, and payroll taxes will be increased as well. But the socialists are shooting themselves in the foot, as such tax rates will destroy wealth and drive out entrepreneurs, capital, businesses, and young people. Thus, tax revenues will ultimately not rise but fall.

The message could not be clearer: The number of requests by French citizens to leave France are suddenly up by 400 to 500 percent. As far as my business is concerned, we used to have three to five such cases a year, and we are already facing more than 20 this year. We are witnessing an explosive rise in tax exile since April 2012. On a national scale, the number of tax exiles was previously estimated at some 1,000 per year; today, it is expected to multiply by as much as five.

Apparently the French people desire a constricted economy. By electing President Francois Hollande, they voted for it.

Fast and Furious Operation

(Sinaloa, Mexico)

A gun found at the scene of a shootout between a Mexican drug cartel and soldiers where a beauty queen died was part of the botched “Fast and Furious” operation, CBS News reports.

Authorities had said that Maria Susana Flores Gamez was likely used as a human shield and that an automatic rifle had been found near her body after the Nov. 23 shootout.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tells CBS News that the Justice Department did not notify Congress that a Fast and Furious firearm was found at the scene in Sinaloa.

CBS News learned the Romanian AK-47-type WASR-10 rifle found near her body was purchased by Uriel Patino at an Arizona gun shop in 2010. Patino is a suspect who allegedly purchased 700 guns while under the ATF’s watch.

Frankly, I suggest some heads should roll in the Justice Department. People have died and indications are that there will be more.

Terror Suspects Planned Mass Casualties in NY

Sheheryar Alam Qazi -- Raees Alam Qazi
(Fort Lauderdale, Florida)

The younger of two Oakland Park brothers charged with supporting terrorism went to New York from Fort Lauderdale in November planning to cause mass casulaties by blowing himself up or setting off a bomb, but decided it was too expensive, federal prosecutors said in court Tuesday.

Prosecutors disclosed the information during a hearing when Raees Alam Qazi, 20, asked to be released from detention until he goes to trial. A judge ruled he is a flight risk and potential danger to the community and must remain locked up because of the seriousness of the charges and the evidence presented in court.

Following his ill-fated trip, Qazi took a Greyhound bus back to South Florida and was still planning to do "a task" with the logistical and financial support of his older brother, Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 30, according to prosecutors.

"Mr. [Raees] Qazi said in his post-arrest statement that he was riding around on his bike in New York City looking for targets but he never specifically picked one," FBI Special Agent Kristine Holden testified in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

The younger Qazi also tried to determine how big the crowds were in Times Square, on Wall Street and at theaters in the city, the agent said.

Qazi told investigators he came back to Broward County to "practice" for a bombing, investigators said. Agents said he told them that he tried to build an explosive device at his Oakland Park home but it failed. In a search of his home, they said they found evidence including a cut section of Christmas tree lights, two batteries taped together, parts of a remote-control toy car and high-strength peroxide.

Prosecutors said that he reached out to al-Qaida and read the terrorist group's online magazine, including an article headlined "make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom."

Raees Qazi's anger toward the U.S. was allegedly fueled by the military's unmanned drone attacks and deaths in Afghanistan.

Fortunately, the two alleged terrorists don't seem particularly bright. Unfortunately, terrorists don't need to be bright to cause death and destruction.

Skeptical German scientist finds fatal admissions in just-released IPCC data 

A draft of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report has just been leaked, apparently being a summary of the scientific input, as distinct from the political input which will come later and probably change everything.  Dr. Peter Heller sees the IPCC in a difficult position as the release  confirms global temperature stagnation.

He released two summary graphs generated from the IPCC report, one of which shows that CO2 is increasing nicely, as predicted, and the second of which shows that temperature is NOT increasing nicely as predicted.





Heller notes that the conclusions of the new report have not changed to fit the data so the data will no doubt be massaged with lots of "corrections" in the final form of the report.  The IPCC is now right into outright fraud.  Even their own data contradicts them

SOURCE


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

Woman Gets No Jail for Sex with Skeleton - Updated

(Gothenburg, Sweden) The Swedish female skeleton lover has been convicted of disturbing the peace of the dead for using human bones for sexual purposes.

In issuing its ruling on Monday, the Gothenburg District Court also convicted the woman of weapons crimes, sentencing her to probation and ordering that she undergo treatment for addiction and psychiatric problems.

The woman's name hasn't been disclosed.

* * * * *Woman Accused of Sex with Skeleton
[Previous 11/23/12 post]
(Gothenburg, Sweden)

A woman in western Sweden who was arrested after police found skeletons in her apartment has now been charged for using the bones as sex toys, a hobby she claimed was motivated by an interest in history.

The 37-year-old woman, name withheld, faces the crime of “violating the peace of the dead” (brott mot griftesfriden).