Women With Troubles - March 2014

Here is a compilation of women with troubles reported in news stories during March 2014. 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) Lauren Brooke Flowers Baker, 26,
neighbor - Accused of sex with boy, 13,

(AL) Ashley Casiday, 31,
teacher - Accused of sexting male student, 14,

(AL) Crystal Gilliland Clowdus, 32,
teacher - Gets prison for sending sex messages to boy, 15,

(AL) Kristina Kelly, 41,
teacher - Accused of sex with several middle school students,

(AZ) Anna Areola-Hernandez, 23,
neighbor - Accused of engaging in sex with minors and infecting at least one with an STD,

(CA) Lauren Cecil Matheney, 23,
school basketball coach - Accused of sex with female student, 15,

(CO) Leveda Green, 41,
teacher's aide - Accused of sex assault of student,

(CT) Angela Martin aka Angela Haussmann, 29,
neighbor - Guilty of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl. Sentencing scheduled for June 20,

(DE) Jamie L. Baker, 44,
neighbor - Accused of killing husband,

(FL) Christine Bennett, 24,
teacher - Accused of inappropriate relations with a male student,

(FL) Samantha Jo Jackson, 22,
neighbor - Accused of child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia,

(FL) Monica Leigh Jenkins, 44,
teacher - Accused of battery on police officer,

(FL) Amy Michelle Weaver, 33,
teacher - Accused of aggravated assault with kitchen knife,

(FL) Leila Jean Wilford, 34,
substitute teacher - Accused of sending inappropriate messages to male student, 16,

(GA) Lori Carmichael Quigley, 41,
teacher - Accused of sex with at least two students,

(KY) Minnie McCord, 41,
teacher - Accused of providing alcohol and pot to students,

(MI) Janet Brown, 33,
teacher - Found guilty of criminal sexual conduct. Sentencing scheduled for April 25,

(NC) Antonia Granados aka Antonia Granados Martinez, 27,
neighbor - Accused of sex with 12-year-old girl,

(NC) Brittany Phillips, 25,
teacher - Accused of sexual activity with student,

(NJ) Cara E. Conroy, 33,
teacher - Accused of sexually explicit conversation with boy, 14,

(NJ) Jaclyn Melillo, 25,
teacher - Guilty of sex assault of two boys. Sentencing on May 19,

(NV) Christine Allen, 30,
neighbor - Accused of drowning 3-year-old son,

(NV) Amanda Brennan, 25,
teacher - Gets probation for romancing teenage student, 15,

(NV) Tanikka "Bella" Queen, 22,
teacher - Accused of sex assault on boy, 15,

(NY) Lisa Franklin, 45,
teacher - Gets 30 months prison for rape of boy, 12,

(NY) Alexa Garnett, 21,
neighbor - Guilty of rape of boy under 15. Sentencing scheduled for April 10,

(NY) Amanda Isles aka Amanda Iles, 27,
teacher - Guilty of rape of student, 14. Sentencing in May,

(NY) Brenda McClaine, 39,
teacher - Accused of stealing $100,000 from teachers association,

(OH) Courtney M. Davis, 22,
neighbor - Gets 6 months jail for sex with minor,

(OK) Erin Kathleen Queen , 27,
teacher - Gets suspended sentence for sex with student, 17,

(PA) Emily Nesbit, 31,
teacher - Accused of sex with male student, 18,

(TN) Stefany Paige Johnson, 24,
neighbor - Accused of killing daughter, 7 months old,

(TX) Sharon Lynn Hoskison, 39,
teacher - Arrested for improper relations with student, 17,

(TX) Corrie Anne Long, 43,
teacher - Accused of engaging in sex with student,

(TX) Angela Siler-Fisher,
doctor - Accused of criminal trespass and harassment,

(TX) Shannon Rae Spradlin, 31,
teacher - Accused of inappropriate conduct with a male student,

(TX) Megan Michelle Thompson, 34,
teacher - Accused of improper relations with student, 17,

(UT) Brianne Land Altice, 34,
teacher - Accused of rape and sodomy of student, 16,

(WA) Shakira Anderson, 37,
neighbor - Gets 9 months jail for immoral communications with minor,

(England) Loren Morris, 21,
neighbor - Gets two years prison for sex with boy, 8.

Thanks to the tipsters.

American Airlines staff leaves "cruel" note on deaf passenger’s bag

This is largely a misunderstanding.  People born deaf are unable to learn to speak so were once routinely referred to as "deaf and dumb".  That won't do in the sensitive times of today, however

James Moehle and Angela Huckaby were returning home to Houston from a vacation in Hawaii when one of their bags was misplaced by the airline. When it was delivered later, a handwritten note attached to the bag read, “Please Text Deaf And Dumb.”

Moehle’s mother, Kaye Moehle, said the note was “outrageous and cruel and unnecessary.”

Airline spokesman Casey Norton said Friday that the employee who wrote the note did not intend to insult anyone and will go through sensitivity training.

One of the couple’s bags was misplaced on the final leg of the couple’s journey home, from Dallas to Houston. In such cases, American uses another company to delivery late-arriving baggage to passengers.

Norton said an American employee who is not a native English speaker scrawled the note to alert a delivery driver that he should contact the couple by text message when delivering the bag.

SOURCE

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

Most Costly Watch

(Basel, Switzerland) It's called a sculptural masterpiece.

British jeweller Graff has unveiled what it described as the "most valuable watch ever created" — a timepiece replete with more than 110 carats of diamonds costing $55 million.

Unveiled on Thursday at the watch industry's biggest annual tradeshow, BaselWorld, the glittering wristwatch, called "Hallucination", is set with a multitude of rare coloured diamonds.

Frankly, this report demonstrates my ignorance regarding the value of a watch. I think the timepiece is ugly and I wouldn't fork over more than 50 bucks for it.

Yet another problem of global warming?



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

Connecticut Woman Guilty of Sexually Abusing Girl, 3 - Update

(Wallingford, Connecticut) Angela Martin aka Angela Haussmann, 29, has confessed to sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl.

She also admitted that she recorded the sex act with the child on her cell phone and then sent it digitally to a Californian. Besides her own sex acts and child pornography production, she also received and sent out child pornography in August and September 2013.

The Wallingford, Conn., resident had previously served two-and-half-years in a Connecticut state penitentiary after a second-degree sexual assault of a child conviction in 2006. Upon release, she was ordered to register as a sex offender.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 20 at which time Martin faces a possible sentence of 50 years in prison.

* * * * *
Connecticut Woman Accused of Sexually Abusing Girl, 3
[Previous 9/21/13 post]
(Wallingford, Connecticut) A 29-year-old local woman, Angela Martin aka Angela Haussmann, has been accused of sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl and distributing a video of the abuse.

Martin (Haussmann) faces federal charges of production, distribution and possession of child pornography. Notably, Martin is a registered sex offender as a result of a 2006 conviction for sex assault.

Martin is accused of possession and distribution of child pornography from other people between August and September 19, 2013, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Martin appeared in court in New Haven today and was ordered to be detained.

Details on arrest and detention are unavailable.

Methuselah

There is no doubt that the Bible is one of the most valuable historical documents that we have.  Textual critics date most of the OT to around the time of the great Athenians -- Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, Herodotus, Xenophon etc.  But it also seems clear that the assembly of the OT did include at times much older documents.  Just which those are is of course something that textual scholars continue to debate.

For my money I see Exodus and probably Genesis as very early.  And I base that on the view of the Gods found there.  The Greek Gods were generally very powerful and effective figures.  Nobody pushed them around.  But YHWH as described in Exodus is rather pathetic, much more like the only barely effective Gods of earlier times.  He has the Devil of a time (if I may use that expression) in getting the Pharaoh to do anything and it is only after YHWH has visited plague after plague on Egypt that the Pharaoh relents a little

But that is only the start of YHWH's troubles.  Now he has to keep the Israelites in line.  And he frequently fails. They go off after other Gods all the time.  So I see Exodus as a true account of a quite primitive people  -- much earlier than the sophisticated Greeks.

And that is valuable.  We have no comprehensive account of such a primitive people from any other source.  We have a few scraps of cunieform but that is it.  So how accurate is the OT as history?  From what I see, it always has the last laugh.  Things in it that were once dismissed as myth keep being confirmed as real  by archaeological discoveries.

So what are we to make of the days of Methuselah, when some men lived to be nearly 1,000 years old?  As is usually alleged, it could simply be a mistranslation.  In earliest times there were a variety of number systems in use and interpreting numbers given in one system as if they were from another system could give absurd answers.  They could be out by a factor of 10, for instance.  That this was the mistake is now well-argued for, so instead of Methuselah living to 969 years, his age is now given by some scholars as 96.9 years -- which is very plausible.

I am reluctant however to say that anything as recorded in the Bible is wrong or mistaken. People who claim that often have to eat their words.  So I have an explanation which makes sense of the literal Bible account.

Most people these days accept it as entirely likely that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.  But they also see it as quite unlikely that we will ever get vistors from extra-terrestrials.  Why?  Because the distance between alternative biospheres is so great.  You would need to travel several lifetimes just to get from one biosphere to another.

But what is a lifetime?  I don't think it stretches credibility too far to say that there may be  some beings somewhere for whom 1,000 years is a lifetime.  And for such a people, interstellar travel may be a more attractive and plausible idea.

So Genesis chapter 5 could be seen as showing that there is such an extraterrestrial people and that they did once visit us.  And that they were humanoid is not a stretch too far.  As biologists say, form follows function.

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

Florida Teacher Accused of Illegal Sex

(Perry, Florida) A 24-year-old teacher at Taylor County High School, Christine Bennett, has been accused of illegal sex with a student.

Bennett faces one count of sexual battery.

The Perry Police Department began its investigation yesterday after law enforcement officials received an anonymous tip. The investigation shows Bennett had an inappropriate relationship with a male student.

An arrest warrant was obtained and Bennett turned herself in.

Bennett was booked into custody at the Taylor County Jail with bond set at $30,000.

Carolina Woman and Girl, 12

(Raleigh, North Carolina) A 27-year-old local woman, Antonia Granados aka Antonia Granados Martinez, has been arrested for sex offenses involving a 12-year-old girl.

Antonia Granados Martinez faces first-degree sex offense with a child and one count of taking indecent liberties with a child between June 1 last year and March 1 this year.

Police spokesman Jim Sughrue said the charges involved a girl and that Granados and the girl had known each other beforehand.

First-degree sex offense requires that in addition to a victim being under 13 and a suspect at least four years older, the “sexual act” has to happen “by force and against the will of the other person” and has to involve a dangerous weapon or include “serious personal injury” or he helped by someone else.

Antonia Granades Martinez was booked into custody with bail set at $500,000.

Mudslides & Global Warming

There is no natural phenomenon these days that is not somehow linked to a (non)warming world. Slate's Eric Holthaus wasted no time blaming the recent devastating mudslide in Oso, Washington, on the side effects of global warming. “One of the most well-forecast and consequential components of human-caused climate change is the tendency for rainstorms to become more intense as the planet warms,” he writes. “As the effect becomes more pronounced, that will make follow-on events like flooding and landslides more common. But we don't have to wait for the future. This is already happening.” Yet according to the Associated Press, “A scientist working for the government had warned 15 years ago about the potential for a catastrophic landslide in the fishing village where the collapse of a rain-soaked hillside over the weekend killed at least 14 people and left scores missing.” Holthaus admits in the same article that the “disaster occurred in an area known for its landslides.” But like all alarmists, he just couldn't resist provoking the debate.

SOURCE

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

Carolina Teacher Accused of Sex with Student

(Lexington, North Carolina) A 25-year-old teacher at Lexington Senior High School, Brittany Phillips, has been arrested on suspicion of committing sex crimes.

Phillips faces a felony charge of sexual activity with a student.

Lexington police said the administration of Lexington City Schools reported the alleged activity at 4 p.m. Monday.

Phillips was held under a $50,000 bond in the Davidson County Jail. School district officials told The Dispatch of Lexington that Phillips has been suspended.

Police continue to investigate.

Texas Teacher Accused of Sex Assault

(Cypress, Texas) A 43-year-old math teacher at Hopper Middle School, Corrie Anne Long, has been accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a student.

Long has been charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship with a student.

Long’s relationship with the student, who was 15 years old and in the 8th grade, was brought to light when another student saw the two of them engaging in “odd behavior,” according to court documents. The witness told another teacher, and an investigation was launched.

The witness reported seeing the student smack Long on the rear end in an afternoon tutorial class and also saw Long sitting on the boy’s lap. The witness said the boy would also come into his 5th period class to “mess” with the teacher and would flirtatiously touch her hair.

When investigators questioned the boy, he allegedly admitted to having sexual contact with Long, who was his math teacher. The boy said Long would get him out of HQT class and would take him into her empty classroom, where the sexual encounters would occur. One of the incidents allegedly happened just before the Thanksgiving break in 2013.

Long was booked and released on $60,000 bond.

Oklahoma Teacher Gets Suspended Sentence - Update

(Tulsa, Oklahoma) English teacher Erin Kathleen Queen has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for engaging in sex with a 17-year-old student. A charge of second-degree rape was dismissed.

As a result, Queen was sentenced in Tulsa County Court to a three-year suspended sentence and ordered to surrender her teaching privileges.

Queen, 30, was an English teacher at Charles Page High School when she and a male student were caught at a Tulsa motel after the boy's parents called police.

She was arrested in March of 2012 and resigned from the high school shortly afterward.

So, Queen walks.

* * * * *
Oklahoma Teacher Rape Charge
[Previous 3/17/12 post]
(Sand Springs, Oklahoma) A 27-year-old local teacher, Erin Kathleen Queen, was arrested earlier today for the alleged rape of a 17-year-old.

Portions of the arrest report were redacted, but the relationship between the two was not clear in the report.

She allegedly met the 17-year-old Friday at Candlewood Suites, at 10008 E. 73rd St. The arrest report states that she was arrested early Saturday morning.

Oklahoma statutes define the age range of what is considered to be rape as anyone under 16 or “where the victim is at least 16 years of age and is less than 18 years of age and is a student…and engages in sexual intercourse with a person who is 18 years of age or older and is an employee of the same school system.”

Information on detention and bond is unavailable.

Is monogamy Biblical?

It isn't.  In Old Testament times, it was perfectly normal for a man to have both concubines and several wives.  But that was no invitation to licence.  There were strict rules about how multiple wives were to be treated.  All wives had extensive rights. As it says in Exodus 21:10:  "If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights."

It is only in the NT that we see a move towards monogamy and there is is not any sort of commandment.  It is advice.  As Paul says in 1 Cor. 7 "But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband."

This made made clearer in 1 Timothy 3:  "Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach".  So it was only the officers of the church to whom the advice applied and the reason for the advice was that it made the officer look good, not that it was right or wrong.

It may be argued that in Matthew 19 Jesus commanded monogamy.  There are two objections to that.  The first is that Jesus was very clearly on that occasion aiming only to confound the Pharisees and the second is that Jesus was actually forbidding divorce, not forbidding second marriages:  "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." -- JR

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

Florida Teacher Accused of Sexting Student

(Glen St. Mary, Florida) A 34-year-old substitute teacher at Baker County High School, Leila Jean Wilford, has been accused of sending inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old male student.

Wilford faces a charge of obscene communication.

Wilford allegedly added a bunch of students to her Facebook account, the BCSO report detailed. While on Facebook, Wilford is accused of suggesting to the 16-year-old victim they not speak there because her husband may think something was up and suggested they use Kik Messenger instead.

According to the BCSO report, the victim claims Wilford said on Kik she wanted to know what it was like to kiss someone with braces on. The victim also said he is the only one in class with braces, so he felt Wilford meant she wanted to kiss him. Wilford also allegedly told the victim her husband didn't do it for her anymore.

Details on booking not reported.

Transgender Claims "I'm Innocent of Pre-Op Murders"

A Washington State man, Douglas Perry, was accused of a series of murders in 1990. Since then, Perry has undergone gender reassignment surgery, becoming Donna Perry, who claims that she is not responsible for the murders because Douglas no longer exists.

Donna's novel defense is that as a male she was prone to violence so she had gender reassignment surgery in Thailand a few years ago in order to purge herself of those violent tendencies. Further, since she is now a woman, she is a wholly different person and therefore she isn't responsible for what her former male self did.

Donna was arrested for the murders in 2012 after being apprehended on an unrelated weapons charge. Police found that her fingerprints matched what had become a cold case in the murders of the three prostitutes decades ago.[…]

Donna further told authorities that she would not confess to murder because she didn't do it. Donna also claimed not to know if Douglas killed the prostitutes in 1993. "I don't know if Doug did or not, it was 20 years ago and I have no idea whether he did or did not," she said.

Police cite testimony from Donna's cellmate who said that the transgendered woman made all sorts of admissions in prison, even once saying she was a "sociopath."

Donna's central defense, the claim that becoming a woman helped stem her violent tendencies, is disputed by Jack Halberstam, a transgender professor of American and gender studies at University of Southern California.

Halberstam called the defense a "very sketchy and a desperate defense ploy."

Interesting legal case, eh?

Tip: slwlion

Housekeeping

(OOC) Out of Commission this past week - minor surgery. Ramping back up.

Stay tuned for more Interested-Participant.

Outrage as Belgian Paper Mocks American President



Belgian newspaper De Morgen has published pictures of US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depicted as apes, days ahead of Obama's expected visit to the country this coming week.

The mainstream paper, which was founded in 1978, published a section in its Saturday edition entitled 'The Obama Herald'.
The section was a satirical look at what translates roughly as 'the news even before it happened, unless it's already happened, of course'.

It features potential future tweets from the US President, as well as an 'interview' with Sasha Obama claiming that she "hates Beyonce" and "that ugly man of hers too".

But one section in particular may cause controversy for the paper: a picture of Barack and Michelle Obama with monkey faces. The picture was published under the 'Opinion' section of the paper under the guise of being sent in by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Users of the social networking site Reddit gave mixed responses when presented with the image, with some lauding the press freedom in Belgium, and others rightly noting the cartoon's vulgar and racist overtones.

SOURCE

OK to call GWB a chimp, though.

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

A true conservative

A seething discontent with the world you live in is what makes you a Leftist.  And because of that, Leftists want to "fundamentally transform" the world around them.  Rather than adapt themselves to the world around them, they want to adapt the world to them.  WHY the Leftist is discontented can and does vary but it is discontent that defines him.

Conservatives, on the other hand tend to be contented people.  They can see a lot that they would change if they could but they don't make a crusade out of it.  They mostly just get on with their own life.

And the Leftist hostility is directed at their fellow-man.  Changing the geography or topography of your country won't butter any parsnips.  It is people you have to change,  usually by force and coercion.  Leftists actually hate their fellow citizens.  So their outbursts of fury at anyone who obstructs what they want are  understandable.

I contrast that with "Supermac", the very aristocratic Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963. He was from the Conservative party.  Some time after his service as Prime Minister, he was elevated to the House of Lords.  In his first speech there, in 1984, he said:

"It breaks my heart to see (I can't interfere or do anything at my age) what is happening in our country today - this terrible strike of the best men in the world, who beat the Kaiser's army and beat Hitler's army, and never gave in. Pointless, endless. We can't afford that kind of thing. And then this growing division which the noble Lord who has just spoken mentioned, of a comparatively prosperous south, and an ailing north and midlands. That can't go on."

So the strikers that were causing so many problems and who would never vote for his party  were abused and excoriated as a Leftist would do?  Not at all.  He saw quality in them:  "strike of the best men in the world".  He was not at war with his fellow man.  He admired them.  Such a different attitude from the whiners and abusers of the Left.  Conservatives are the gentlemen.  Leftists are the thugs

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

Check your carnist ideology

Did you realize that you may be a carnist?  It sounds rather like a medieval theological stance but it is not.  It simply means that you eat meat.  All sorts of weirdos wash up on the shore of Psychology and strict vegetarians are among them.  So the research below is designed to find something wrong with "carnists'.

And it succeeded.  It found that carnists tend to be conservative!  And there is nothing worse that that to a Leftist.  And most psychologists are Leftists.  So from now on lots of Leftists will be sadly eyeing platters of bacon and eggs as they tuck in to their tofu burgers.

The research is actually rubbish.  One of their measures of conservatism (the RWA scale) does not correlate with voting for conservative candidates and the other is largely a measure of racism.  See here and here.  So the conclusions may be correct but the data is insufficient to show it.

..................

Why do right-wing adherents engage in more animal exploitation and meat consumption?

Kristof Dhonta &  Gordon Hodson

Abstract

Despite the well-documented implications of right-wing ideological dispositions for human intergroup relations, surprisingly little is understood about the implications for human–animal relations. We investigate why right-wing ideologies – social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) – positively predict attitudes toward animal exploitation and meat consumption. Two survey studies conducted in heterogeneous community samples (Study 1, N = 260; Study 2, N = 489) demonstrated that right-wing ideologies predict greater acceptance of animal exploitation and more meat consumption through two explaining mechanisms: (a) perceived threat from non-exploitive ideologies to the dominant carnist ideology (for both SDO and RWA) and (b) belief in human superiority over animals (for SDO). These findings hold after controlling for hedonistic pleasure from eating meat. Right-wing adherents do not simply consume more animals because they enjoy the taste of meat, but because doing so supports dominance ideologies and resistance to cultural change. Psychological parallels between human intergroup relations and human–animal relations are considered.

SOURCE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). 

Founder of  Westboro Baptist Church Fred Phelps dies aged 84

Fred must have been as much hated as Osama bin Laden.  America loves its heroes -- rightly  -- and Fred poured scorn on them. But I wonder if any of those who condemn him have actually listened to any of his sermons?  He was an old-fashioned hellfire preacher who was careful to support everything he said by reference to Bible texts.  He was perhaps the last remnant of a once-dominant American preacher tradition.

There is no doubt that he aimed to shock and he certainly achieved that but theologically he was literally correct.  Fred didn't whitewash the Bible.  He preached it.  And if you doubt that read Romans chap. 1 to get God's attitude to homosexuals and Ezekiel 33 for God's expectation of his representatives.  God's  representatives had a duty to warn the ungodly about their sins and any failure to warn was itself a deadly sin.  Fred accepted that duty and discharged it.  There was nothing wrong with Fred's theology.

And if you think Fred was going over the top in warning that whole nations who defended homosexuality would be destroyed by God, ponder the fate of the tribe of Benjamin.  The homosexuals of Gibeah set in train a series of events which brought down great wrath and destruction on their tribe. The tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out when it would not disown its homosexuals (Judges  chaps. 19 & 20).  America now is in a state of decline too.  Does it too need a moral reformation to save it?  Was the election of Obama a triumph  of the Devil?  Fred was in no doubt about all that.

If you believe in the Bible (I do not) Fred was right.  He was a faithful servant of his Lord.  I sometimes wonder if there are any real Bible students left

....................

Fred Phelps, who founded the Westboro Baptist Church known for its anti-gay sentiments and protests at soldiers' funerals, has died, his son said on Thursday.

The 84-year-old, who founded the church is 1955, died of natural causes in Kansas at 11.15pm on Wednesday, according to church spokesman Steve Drain.

Previously he said that that Phelps was being cared for in a Shawnee County facility.

His passing comes just days after another son, Nate Phelps, took to his own Facebook page to announce that his father was 'on the edge of death' at Midland Hospice house in Topeka.

Nate Phelps, who left the extreme Christian sect 37 years ago, said his father was excommunicated in August 2013 from the church for advocating more kindness toward its members.

Three of his own children ex-communicated their father, according to WIBW.

'I'm not sure how I feel about this,' Nate Phelps wrote on Facebook. 'Terribly ironic that his devotion to his god ends this way. Destroyed by the monster he made.

'I feel sad for all the hurt he's caused so many. I feel sad for those who will lose the grandfather and father they loved. And I'm bitterly angry that my family is blocking the family members who left from seeing him, and saying their good-byes.'

SOURCE

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

Suicide voyeur acquitted on free speech grounds

The conviction of an American ‘‘suicide voyeur’’ who encouraged a British man and Canadian woman to take their own lives in an internet chat room has been overturned on free speech grounds.

After the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling, a lower court must now decide whether to bring fresh charges against William Melchert-Dinkel, a former male nurse who was convicted on two rare counts of assisted suicide in 2011.

He was found guilty of aiding the suicide of Mark Dryborough, 32, who died in Coventry, UK, in 2005, and of Nadia Kajouji, 18, who took her own life in 2008.

In the original trial, the court was told that Mr Melchert-Dinkel, who is married with two children, posed online as a compassionate female nurse to prey on depressed individuals, but then gave them advice on how to suicide.

He allegedly told police that he acted for the ‘‘thrill of the chase’’ and wanted to watch his targets die via a computer webcam.

But in a ruling eagerly awaited across the United States by both sides in the assisted suicide debate, the state supreme court has ruled that a state law prohibiting ‘‘advising’’ and ‘‘encouraging’’ suicide broke the constitution by restricting freedom of speech.

However, it upheld the part of the statute that outlaws ‘‘assisting’’ suicide and sent Mr Melchert-Dinkel’s case back to a lower court.

County prosecutors must now decide whether to appeal against the ruling in the US Supreme Court or to bring fresh charges against Mr Melchert-Dinkel for assisting suicide.

Source

While I am pleased that free speech was supported, I am a little surprised.  Incitement to violence is normally held not to be free speech yet suicide is surely violence.

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

Dame Vera Lynn



Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again

Dame Vera Lynn, 97, the UK chart-topper who serenaded allied troops and their loved ones during WWII, has announced the release of a new album to commemorate her 90th year in show business.

Dame Vera announced the release of the record, Vera Lynn: National Treasure - The Ultimate Collection, today, March 20, her 97th birthday. The collection will include recently discovered tracks which are yet to be released, as well as some of her most memorable and morale-boosting songs as the Forces' Sweetheart.

The Ultimate Collection will be released on June 2 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Second World War D-Day landings, which occurs four days later.

Dame Vera said: ''I think it's wonderful that my songs are still enjoyed, especially if it encourages people to commemorate what happened 70 years ago.

Vera Lynn's songs put tears in my mother's eyes.

Student Faces Food Salting Charge

(York, South Carolina)

A York high school student was arrested after cursing and threatening a teacher who tried to stop him from putting salt on his lunch, citing a federal regulation.

The incident happened March 12 at York One Academy, the district’s alternative school.

A York police report states the 19-year-old student tried to sprinkle salt on his lunch but was stopped by a teacher who told him that was against federal guidelines. The student became angry and cursed the teacher and made threats towards her, according to the report.

The student was arrested by a school resource officer.

Was the Crimean vote "rigged"?

Contrary to the reports of 135 international observers from 23 countries, the Western media in chorus has suggested without a shred of evidence that the elections were rigged and that Crimea was under Russian military occupation.

The observer mission reports which include members of the European Parliament have been casually ignored by the mainstream Western media:

Mateus Piskorkski, the leader of the European observers' mission and Polish MP: "Our observers have not registered any violations of voting rules."

Ewald Stadler, member of the European Parliament, dispelled the "referendum at gunpoint" myth: "I haven't seen anything even resembling pressure. People themselves want to have their say."

Pavel Chernev: Bulgarian member of parliament: "Organization and procedures are 100 percent in line with the European standards," he added.

Serbian observer Milenko Baborats "People freely expressed their will in the most democratic way, wherever we were. During the day we didn't see a single serious violation of legitimacy of the process,"

Srdja Trifkovic, prominent and observer from Serbia: "The presence of troops on the streets is virtually non-existent and the only thing resembling any such thing is the unarmed middle-aged Cossacks who are positioned outside the parliament building in Simferopol. But if you look at the people both at the voting stations and in the streets, like on Yalta's sea front yesterday afternoon, frankly I think you would feel more tense in south Chicago or in New York's Harlem than anywhere round here," he said.

More HERE

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

New York Woman and Boy Under 15

(Glens Falls, New York) A 21-year-old local woman, Alexa Garnett, has admitted to engaging in sex with a boy under the age of 15.

Garnett pleaded guilty to third-degree rape.

She was not accused of forcing the boy to have sex, but the charge was filed because the teen was too young to legally consent. The age of consent in New York is 17.

Garnett agreed to a plea deal that will include a 10-year term on probation when she is sentenced April 10 by Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan.

OK

Brit Woman Gets Prison for Boy Sex

(Herefordshire, England)

A female paedophile has been jailed for having sex with an eight-year-old boy more than fifty times.

Loren Morris, 21, was 16 when she first slept with the schoolboy, who cannot be identified, and continued until he was ten years old.

Morris, who has a child of her own, would have regular intercourse with the boy, now 14, and was only found out after he was overheard bragging about it at school.

A judge today gave Morris a two-year prison sentence at Worcester Crown Court, following a trial last month where she was convicted of three counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 16.

Judge Robert Juckes QC banned Morris from contact with a child under 16 without permission of a parent. She was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Tip: JR

Nevada Teacher Gets Probation in Sex Case - Updated

(Las Vegas, Nevada)

A 25-year-old former teacher who pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to romancing a teenage student will have a chance to reduce her felony conviction to a misdemeanor if she completes five years of probation.

But Amanda Brennan faces one to four years in prison if she slips and violates probation imposed Tuesday after her Oct. 31 guilty plea to a felony luring a child charge.

Brennan was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

* * * * *
Nevada Teacher Accused of Relationship with Student, 15
[Previous 5/14/13 post]
(Las Vegas, Nevada) A 24-year-old English teacher at Foothill High School, Amanda Brennan, has been accused of pursuing a romantic relationship with a 15-year-old male student.

Brennan faces counts of luring a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

School District investigators interviewed Brennan on Friday; she was “cooperative” and she admitted to taking the teenager out and communicating with him outside of normal teacher-student relations, said Clark County School District Police Sgt. Mitch Maciszak.

Brennan was then arrested.

Maciszak said the delinquency count pertained to Brennan keeping the teenager out past curfew, and the two luring counts are related to the teacher allegedly going out at night with the student without his parents’ permission.

Details on booking are not available.

Russians are Putin's concern

As I do, Pat Buchanan below argues that Putin is simply a Russian patriot who aims at least to protect Russians everywhere -- with an ideal outcome of bringing them all back under Russian rule.  And he is doing that cautiously, simply by supporting unrest among "severed" Russians.

The thing that amazes me is the worldwide dismissal of the vote by Crimeans to rejoin Russia.  Can someone tell me just why a democratic vote is being  disregarded in the West?  There have been no accusations of voting irregularities.  The vote seems perfectly genuine.  The only thing that might be urged against it is that over 90% of the vote was for reunion.  A degree of agreement that high happens only in an election rigged by a dictator, some might say.

But that is not at all true.  Britain got even higher percentages of agreement when it asked Gibraltarians and Falkland Islanders if they wanted to remain in union with Britain.  Were those British-run elections the rigged work of a dictator?  The fact is that "blood is thicker than water", much though the Left would like to deny it.  People tend to become very attached to their ethnicity and want to preserve it.  Russians in Crimea like being Russian just as Gibraltarians and Falkland Islanders like being  British.  Why is democracy OK for Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands but not for Crimea?

It is a sad day when a democratic vote of self-determination is mocked in the crony-capitalist nations of the West.


Vladimir Putin seems to have lost touch with reality, Angela Merkel reportedly told Barack Obama after speaking with the Russian president. He is "in another world."

"I agree with what Angela Merkel said ... that he is in another world," said Madeleine Albright, "It doesn't make any sense."

John Kerry made his contribution to the bonkers theory by implying that Putin was channeling Napoleon: "You don't just, in the 21st century, behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on a completely trumped-up pretext."

Now that Putin has taken Crimea without firing a shot, and 95 percent of a Crimean electorate voted Sunday to reunite with Russia, do his decisions still appear irrational?

Was it not predictable that Russia, a great power that had just seen its neighbor yanked out of Russia's orbit by a U.S.-backed coup in Kiev, would move to protect a strategic position on the Black Sea she has held for two centuries?

Zbigniew Brzezinski suggests that Putin is out to recreate the czarist empire. Others say Putin wants to recreate the Soviet Union and Soviet Empire.

But why would Russia, today being bled in secessionist wars by Muslim terrorists in the North Caucasus provinces of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, want to invade and reannex giant Kazakhstan, or any other Muslim republic of the old USSR, which would ensure jihadist intervention and endless war?

If we Americans want out of Afghanistan, why would Putin want to go back into Uzbekistan? Why would he want to annex Western Ukraine where hatred of Russia dates back to the forced famine of the Stalin era?

To invade and occupy all of Ukraine would mean endless costs in blood and money for Moscow, the enmity of Europe, and the hostility of the United States. For what end would Russia, its population shrinking by half a million every year, want to put Russian soldiers back in Warsaw?

But if Putin is not a Russian imperialist out to re-establish Russian rule over non-Russian peoples, who and what is he?

In the estimation of this writer, Vladimir Putin is a blood-and-soil, altar-and-throne ethnonationalist who sees himself as Protector of Russia and looks on Russians abroad the way Israelis look upon Jews abroad, as people whose security is his legitimate concern.

Consider the world Putin saw, from his vantage point, when he took power after the Boris Yeltsin decade.

He saw a Mother Russia that had been looted by oligarchs abetted by Western crony capitalists, including Americans. He saw millions of ethnic Russians left behind, stranded, from the Baltic states to Kazakhstan.

He saw a United States that had deceived Russia with its pledge not to move NATO into Eastern Europe if the Red Army would move out, and then exploited Russia's withdrawal to bring NATO onto her front porch.

Had the neocons gotten their way, not only the Warsaw Pact nations of Central and Eastern Europe, but five of 15 republics of the USSR, including Ukraine and Georgia, would have been brought into a NATO alliance created to contain and, if need be, fight Russia.

What benefits have we derived from having Estonia and Latvia as NATO allies that justify losing Russia as the friend and partner Ronald Reagan had made by the end of the Cold War?

We lost Russia, but got Rumania as an ally? Who is irrational here?

Cannot we Americans, who, with our Monroe Doctrine, declared the entire Western Hemisphere off limits to the European empires -- "Stay on your side of the Atlantic!" -- understand how a Russian nationalist like Putin might react to U.S. F-16s and ABMs in the eastern Baltic?

In 1999, we bombed Serbia for 78 days, ignoring the protests of a Russia that had gone to war for Serbia in 1914. We exploited a Security Council resolution authorizing us to go to the aid of endangered Libyans in Benghazi to launch a war and bring down the Libyan regime.

We have given military aid to Syrian rebels and called for the ouster of a Syrian regime that has been Russia's ally for decades.

At the end of the Cold War, writes ex-ambassador to Moscow Jack Matlock, 80 percent of Russia's people had a favorable opinion of the USA. A decade later, 80 percent of Russians were anti-American.

That was before Putin, whose approval is now at 72 percent because he is perceived as having stood up to the Americans and answered our Kiev coup with his Crimean counter coup.

America and Russia are on a collision course today over a matter -- whose flag will fly over what parts of Ukraine -- no Cold War president, from Truman to Reagan, would have considered any of our business.

If the people of Eastern Ukraine wish to formalize their historic, cultural and ethnic ties to Russia, and the people of Western Ukraine wish to sever all ties to Moscow and join the European Union, why not settle this politically, diplomatically and democratically, at a ballot box?

SOURCE

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

Crimea

(Simferopol, Crimea)

With one exit poll showing that 93 percent of Crimeans voted to join Russia, and street celebrations under way, the peninsula's pro-Kremlin prime minister and a Russian nationalist politician pledged quick integration.

The bravado and declarations of speedy Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory came after a deeply flawed vote held under the intimidating presence of at least 21,000 Russian soldiers, who invaded in late February.

Deeply flawed is an understatement.

Regarding the voting, a photo has surfaced on Twitter which alleges to depict stacks of fresh annexation ballots being distributed prior to the official vote. The ballots appear to be pre-marked.

Heh. The place is a mess.

Georgia Teacher Accused of Sex Assault

(Brunswick, Georgia) A 41-year-old math teacher formerly at McIntosh County Academy, Lori Carmichael Quigley, has been accused of engaging in sex with at least two students.

Quigley faces multiple counts of sexual assault.

"We think there's more out there," said Major Danny Lowe with the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office.

Quigley is accused of having sex on more than one occasion with students on and off school grounds.

"The charges are serious, all three felonies," said Lowe.

Action News went straight to Quigley's house where Lowe said she lives with her husband. Someone came to the door, but did not answer.

Lowe said Quigley resigned as math teacher from the school just one week before her arrest last Friday.

Quigley was booked into custody without bond.

Neknominate Drinking Game

Here's a dangerous game that advances via the Internet.

The drinking game Neknominate, which recently hit Italy's social media sphere, is facing fierce opposition from a group of booklovers intent on driving out the deadly trend.

Neknominate, which involves people posting videos online of themselves downing alcohol, before nominating a friend to do the same, arrived in Italy recently after gaining popularity in Australia, the US and across Europe.

The game has already had a dangerous impact, with one Sicilian teenager ending up in a coma after taking part. Around the world, at least five people are thought to have died after playing Neknominate.

The Italians have launched a program to get Neknominate players to quit drinking and read a book. Seems a stretch.

Russia calls on Ukraine to become a federation of states (Like some other countries I know)



This is actually a moderate and compromising stand from Putin.  He clearly wants to avoid any war.  His ultimate aim is to reunite all the Russian speaking people of Eastern Europe under Russian rule and the Russian-speaking half of Ukraine is the big prize there.  But having Russian Ukraine substantially independent of the rest of Ukraine and free to develop closer ties with neighboring Russia would be a good compromise

Russia's foreign ministry is calling on Ukraine to become a federal state and call fresh elections.

In a statement posted on Monday the ministry urged Ukraine's parliament to call a constitutional assembly which could draft a new constitution to make the country federal, handing more power to its regions.

The foreign ministry said the proposals are part of its efforts to ease the tensions in Ukraine by diplomatic means.

Moscow insisted that Ukrainian regions should get broader autonomy and that the country should adopt a "neutral political and military status."

SOURCE

NOTE: The attitude of Ukrainian-speakers towards Russia is similar to the attitude of Canadians to the USA, to the attitude of New Zealanders towards Australia to the attitude of the Scots  towards England and the attitude of Koreans to Japan:  They don't like their big neighbor.  In the Ukrainian case that dislike is much multiplied by Russia's tendency  towards tyranny.  The ferocity of that dislike could be seen in the demonstrations that recently toppled their pro-Russian president.  Yet all of the pairs mentioned have a lot in common  -- a clear refutation of the Leftist "one world" dream.  Differences matter, even small ones

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

Delaware Wife Accused of Poisoning Husband

(Smyrna, Delaware) A 44-year-old local woman, Jamie L. Baker, has been accused of killing her husband by poisoning him with antifreeze.

Baker faces charges of first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.

Police said that on Thursday, Jamie L. Baker was taken into custody following a lengthy investigation that got under way on Sept. 16, 2013, when troopers and medical personnel were called to a home the 2000 block of Bryn Zion Road for a death investigation.

Investigators said that when troopers arrived on the scene, the body of Jamie Baker's husband, James D. Baker II, was found in a bedroom. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also responded to the home to transport James Baker's body to their office in order to conduct an autopsy.[…]

Police said an autopsy was performed on James Baker and it was discovered that his kidneys had a substance suspected to be ethylene glycol, which is a chemical found in anti-freeze….The medical examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide by poisoning.

Baker was booked into custody at the Delores J. Baylor Women's Correctional Institution without bail.

California High School Coach, 23, and Girl, 15

(Murrieta, California) A 23-year-old basketball coach formerly at Perris Union High School, Lauren Cecil Matheney, has been accused of engaging in sex acts with a 15-year-old female student.

Matheney faces counts of felony oral copulation of a minor and misdemeanor child annoyance.

According to Murrieta police Lt. Tony Conrad, on the night of Jan. 22, a patrol officer was checking a suspicious vehicle parked near Keller and Menifee roads when he came upon Matheney and a 15-year-old girl. Conrad did not disclose what Matheney and the girl, identified in court documents only as "A.H.," were doing in the car.

Matheney was permitted to leave, but detectives were notified and initiated an investigation, according to Conrad.

"It became apparent the relationship between Ms. Matheney and the minor was inappropriate and criminal in nature," the lieutenant said.

Matheney was booked into custody and released on $25,000 bond.

Journalist Sharyl Attkisson Leaves CBS

Sharyl Attkisson, Emmy Award Winning investigative reporter has left CBS News.

Attkisson, who has been with CBS News for two decades, had grown frustrated with what she saw as the network’s liberal bias, an outsize influence by the network’s corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting, several sources said. She increasingly felt that her work was no longer supported and that it was a struggle to get her reporting on air.

She had first tried to leave a year ago.

While media reports have focused on Attkisson’s investigations of the Obama administration, those familiar with the situation say she was stymied in getting airtime for stories beyond politics, including corporate scandals and a wide range of other subjects.

None of the investigative stories that Attkisson proposed in the past year were greenlighted for the “CBS Evening News”; in fact, most of her pitches were turned down. She wound up working on stories that the network assigned, say those familiar with the matter, including a string of investigative pieces on health care. But her output has declined significantly since 2008.

Attkisson's stories (some listed below) arguably demonstrate no strong political bias beyond freedom of the press:

Fast and Furious questions linger as IG continues investgation

The Search for Safer Vaccines

Brian Terry's family reflects after his killer is sentenced

Chris Christie not the first to use disaster aid for tourism ads

In latest farm bill, a billion tax dollars per page

High security risk found after HealthCare.gov launch

HealthCare.gov had "inherent security risks" 4 days before launch

Benghazi investigators defend their probe

GOP freshmen, big-bucks donors hobnob at resort

Suing to stop terror funding

Wishing Ms. Attkisson good luck in her future endeavors.

Posted by Note Taker

Henry Thomas Schäfer

Some years ago I was given a framed print of a famous painting by Schäfer.  I like it and have it on my wall to this day.  And I am not alone in liking it.  Thousands of such prints seem to have been made.  Schafer has been a very popular artist.

So I was surprised that when I Googled his name, I could find out virtually nothing about his life.  I gather that his art is seen as "chocolate boxy" and hence below the notice of anybody seriously interested in art.  I of course deplore such elitism so would like to put a decent biography of him online if I can get more information on him.  I reproduce below the only two biographical notes I could find and hope that there might be a reader of this blog who can tell me more.


"Henry Thomas Schafer was born in the Lake District in England during the mid 19th-century. His exact birth date is unknown; however, his work was most well known from 1873 - 1915. Both a painter and an accomplished sculptor, Schafer exhibited his figurative studies at the Royal Academy in London in 1875, receiving the prestigious Academia award for excellence. Schafer's signature style was his study of women dressed in "goddess-like" classical vestments. It is for these portraits that he is best remembered."

"Henry Thomas Schäfer (British, 1854?-1915).  Henry Thomas Schäfer is a British Victorian-era genre painter and sculptor, elected in 1889 to the Royal Society of British Artists. He exhibited at the Royal Society, the Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy, and other galleries starting in 1873. Several of his paintings have been widely reproduced and distributed in the form of posters."

Below is the picture that hangs on my wall


A Time of Roses

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

Are conservatives more emotional?

That good ol' projection again.  As a pretty good general rule, if you want to know what is true of liberals, just look at what they say about conservatives.  Seeing your own faults in others is not only good  psychological defence but it's a pretty good political tactic too.  If one side of politics is (say) full of hate, constant accusations from that side accusing others of hate may well cause uncommitted voters to say, "A plague on both their houses" and believe that both sides are equally haters.  So the constant accusations from liberals that conservatives are guilty of hate speech and racism makes good tactics.

And if there is one thing we know about liberals it is that they are always on the boil.  They are always outraged about something and are constantly protesting.  They are clearly the more emotional side of politics.  You just have to note the utter rage that pours out from Leftists in the comments they leave on conservative sites and on Twitter in replying to conservative tweets.  And their use of foul language is also hugely disproportionate.  And, as has often been said, bad language is the attempt of a weak mind to express itself forcefully.

So the piece of research below is very predictable.  On the basis of the flimsiest evidence, they assert that it is conservatives who are more emotional.

Their evidence is that in portraits of themselves most people show the left side of the face but there is a slight tendency for conservatives to show that side more often.

I could go on but such hugely silly "evidence" just doesn't seem to warrant any further bother.  Leftists will clutch at anything to discredit conservatives.


Right-Wing Politicians Prefer the Emotional Left

Nicole A. Thomas et al

Abstract

Physiological research suggests that social attitudes, such as political beliefs, may be partly hard-wired in the brain. Conservatives have heightened sensitivity for detecting emotional faces and use emotion more effectively when campaigning. As the left face displays emotion more prominently, we examined 1538 official photographs of conservative and liberal politicians from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States for an asymmetry in posing.

Across nations, conservatives were more likely than liberals to display the left cheek. In contrast, liberals were more likely to face forward than were conservatives. Emotion is important in political campaigning and as portraits influence voting decisions, conservative politicians may intuitively display the left face to convey emotion to voters.

SOURCE

A good summary of the boiling hate continually emanating from the Left is here

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

Colorado Teacher Accused of Sex Assault

(El Paso County, Colorado) A 41-year-old teacher's aide at Ellicott High School, Leveda Green, has been accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a student.

Green has been charged with sex assault by one in a position of trust.

Court papers show Green and the student exchanged text messages. One of the messages reportedly from Green said: “I love u so, so much! U are my super amazing, sweet, loving, caring, and sexy future husband!! I want to be with u for ever and ever!”

The accuser told deputies they had sex on a road in the "middle of nowhere" in Green's car. School administrators told investigators they witnessed Green and the student holding hands at the school and rubbing each other's legs.

Green was booked into custody by El Paso County Sheriff's deputies.

Guacamole Crisis Dissolves Like other Global Warming Myths

James M. Taylor

Chipotle Mexican restaurants reported it is experiencing no shortage of avocadoes, putting an end to the latest mythical global warming crisis just hours after it began.

Chipotle made international news Tuesday when it strategized in its annual report that it may choose to respond to spikes in salsa or guacamole ingredients by temporarily not offering salsa or guacamole with its dishes. The annual report speculated weather volatility or global warming might be potential causes of such price spikes.

No sooner did global warming activists report with glee that they had discovered a climate change crisis than Chipotle put a damper on the alarmist claims. Chipotle reported it has experienced no avocado or guacamole problems. Instead, ingredients for salsa and guacamole have been plentifully available.

"As a public company ... we are required to disclose any potential issues that could have potential impact on our business, and we do that very thoroughly,” Chipotle explained to the Los Angeles Times.

Chipotle’s explanation embarrassed global warming activists and their media allies, who had already begun spreading the Chicken Little alarm that avocadoes were falling from the sky.

“Chipotle’s Climate Change Warning: Guacamole Could Be at Stake,” warned the Huffington Post.

“Chipotle Warns It Might Stop Serving Guacamole if Climate Change Gets Worse,” exclaimed the leftist climate activist group Climate Progress.

As I documented last year in an article for Forbes.com, global warming is substantially improving growing conditions at the national and global level for virtually all crops. Increasing soil moisture, longer growing seasons, and the beneficial fertilizing effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing a dramatic long-term rise in crop production.

SOURCE

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

Alabama Teacher, 31, Accused of Sexting Student, 14

(Leeds, Alabama) A 31-year-old eighth-grade English teacher formerly at Leeds Middle School, Ashley Casiday, has been accused of sexting a 14-year-old male student.

Casiday faces one count of transmitting obscene material to a child.

The eighth-grade English teacher submitted her resignation amid the investigation in February.

The Leeds Board of Education met in a special emergency meeting to accept that resignation. That investigation was handled by the Leeds police and the state Department of Human Resources because of a possible inappropriate relationship with a student.

Casiday is the latest in a string of Alabama teachers arrested for the inappropriate contact with students.

Casiday was booked into custody at the St. Clair County Jail and subsequently released on $100,000 bond.

Texas Teacher Improper with Student

(Hockley County, Texas) A 34-year-old kindergarten teacher formerly at Ropes Independent School District, Megan Michelle Thompson, has been accused of behaving inappropriately with a 17-year-old student.

Thompson faces a charge of engaging in an improper relationship between an educator and a student.

The Department of Public Safety’s Texas Rangers submitted their case to a Hockley County grand jury, who returned an indictment against the former teacher, according to District Attorney Christopher Dennis.[…]

The reported victim in the case was 17, Dennis said, but age was not a factor because of the nature of the charge.

Thompson was booked into custody at the Hockley County Jail and subsequently released on a $10,000 bond.

Ohio Illegal Accused of 3 Murders

Igmidio Mista
(Fremont, Ohio) A 33-year-old illegal alien, Igmidio Mista, has been arrested for killing three men Sunday at a Fremont bar.

Mista faces three counts of murder.

Three men were shot dead in the early Sunday shooting at Last Call Bar in downtown Fremont. The victims were identified as bartender Ramiro Sanchez, 28, Elmore police Officer Jose Andy Chavez, 26, and Daniel Ramirez, 25. A fourth man Ramiro Arreola, 25, was taken to ProMedica Toledo Hospital and was treated and released.

Fremont police said immigration and customs officers contacted the local police department soon after the arrest. Immigration and customs officials will be contacting the Phillippines consulate in reference to the suspect "and his status to be in the United States legally," according to a written Fremont police statement.

Mista was booked into custody at the Sandusky County Jail without bail.

Chinese Chicken

Chinese Counterfeit Chicken
And, of course, there is always the previously reported Chinese Magic Chicken.

Correlation is causation?  Don't be misled by Petr Chylek

It's sort of pesky to be a former teacher of research methods and statistics.  It means that you see huge faults in what is published as science.  Scientists very often don't observe the basic precautions that people such as I have attempted to inculcate in students.  I see it in my own field of social science research, I see it in the medical journals, I see it in climate science journals.

And one of the biggest holes that I see in published research is that the writers ignore just about the first thing you are told in any statistics course:  That correlation is not causation.  Just because two things go together in some way, does not mean one causes the other.  They may both be effects of some underlying third factor or their association might be just a random event.

Let me point out a recent example in climatology: The article "The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation as a dominant factor of oceanic influence on climate'  by  Chylek et al.  It is one of the most recent articles appearing in  "Geophysical Research Letters", a major climatology journal.  Here is the Abstract:

"A multiple linear regression analysis of global annual mean near-surface air temperature (1900-2012) using the known radiative forcing and the El Ni¤o-Southern Oscillation index as explanatory variables account for 89% of the observed temperature variance. When the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index is added to the set of explanatory variables, the fraction of accounted for temperature variance increases to 94%. The anthropogenic effects account for about two thirds of the post-1975 global warming with one third being due to the positive phase of the AMO. In comparison, the Coupled Models Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) ensemble mean accounts for 87% of the observed global mean temperature variance. Some of the CMIP5 models mimic the AMO-like oscillation by a strong aerosol effect. These models simulate the twentieth century AMO-like cycle with correct timing in each individual simulation. An inverse structural analysis suggests that these models generally overestimate the greenhouse gases-induced warming, which is then compensated by an overestimate of anthropogenic aerosol cooling".

Note the sentence "The anthropogenic effects account for about two thirds of the post-1975 global warming with one third being due to the positive phase of the AMO"

And in the Discussion section of the article we read:  "Our analysis suggests that about two thirds of the late twentieth century warming has been due to anthropogenic influences"

So there you have it:  Global warming has been proven to be mainly  caused by "anthropogenic effects".  When a very sophisticated and careful piece of research comes to that conclusion is there any room left for climate skepticism?

I am afraid there is a very large room left.  The study is correlational:  "A multiple linear regression analysis" and you can't infer causation from correlation.  Yet the sentences I have singled out appear to do exactly that.  An unsophisticated reader would conclude that anthropogenic global warming has now been proven.

Now I feel confident that Chylek and his friends are reasonable people who would be ready to admit to what I have just charged and would say that they were just expresssing themselves in a shorthand way and that they knew from the beginning that the coincidence of temperature rise and CO2 rise in the late 20th century was no proof of anything  -- particularly in the light of the later divergence of those two variables.  But the global warming debate now involves so many people outside the scientific community that I will still charge them with carelessness in the matter.  When unsophisticated people are likely to read your words, you have a duty to make them as clear as you can.

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

Texas Doctor Skates on Criminal Trespass & Harassment

(Houston, Texas) Last December, local doctor Angela Siler-Fisher was charged with criminal trespass and harassment after breaking into the home of a romantic rival.

According to documents, Siler-Fisher broke into a home there by kicking in a doggy door. Once inside, she allegedly used lipstick to write ‘whore’ and ‘homewrecker’ on the woman’s mirror.

Siler-Fisher’s husband, Brandon Fisher, called the other woman to let her know that his wife was on the way, according to sources.

The woman reportedly left the home with her kids before Siler-Fisher got there.

Law enforcement sources told KHOU Siler-Fisher also left a trail of unused condoms up the woman’s staircase.

Siler-Fisher bonded out of jail after her arrest.

This week, Dr. Angela Siler-Fisher accepted a plea deal.

Under the pretrial diversion program, an alternative to prosecution, the case will be dismissed if Siler-Fisher stays out of trouble for a year.

Seems awful lenient, eh?

Nevada Woman Accused of Child Murder

(Las Vegas, Nevada) A 30-year-old local woman, Christine Allen, has been accused of drowning her 3-year-old son in a bathtub. Reportedly, she told police that demons ordered her to do it.

Allen faces a charge of murder.

Allen told police that she was depressed as she lay in bed Saturday while her son, Noah Lane Allen, took a bath.

Then, she said, it “was like a demon inside of me took over.”

She told investigators that she went into the bathroom and asked the boy if he wanted to go swimming, and he said yes.

So Allen climbed into the tub with her son and held his head underwater as he struggled.

The boy managed to get his head above water and told his mother he didn’t want to go swimming, but police said she pushed his head back under the surface until he drowned.

Allen told police that she was depressed because she was getting evicted from her apartment and her ex-husband was not offering any support for their son.

Details on booking are unavailable.

Does a low IQ make you right-wing? That depends on how you define left and right

Michael Hanlon makes some interesting points in the article excerpted below but overlooks the obvious:  People with high IQs are very much advantaged in the educational system and tend to stay in that system longer.  And particularly in the later years of education, the Leftist propaganda gets all but overwhelming.  So all that the research really shows is that an exposure to overwhelming Leftist propaganda does influence some people's thinking.  They adopt Leftist attitudes where they otherwise might not

So right-wingers are stupid – it’s official. Psychologists in Canada have compared IQ scores of several thousand British children, who were born in 1958 and 1970, with their stated views as adults on things such as treatment of criminals and openness to working with or living near to people of other races. They also looked at some US data which compared IQ scores with homophobic attitudes.

The conclusion: your intelligence as a child correlates strongly with socially liberal views. People with low IQs tend to be more in favour of harsh punishments, more homophobic and more likely to be racist.

SOURCE 

Note:  I have a more extensive comment on the research concerned here

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