Women With Troubles - September 2014

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

(CA) Amy Corinne Bramlett, 46,
teacher - Accused of wagga-wagga, lip-dribble sex with 2 male minors,

(FL) Sky Ann-Marie Farr, 20,
neighbor - Accused of lewd and lascivious battery of boy, 15,

(FL) Joye Heather Jones, 40,
PE coach - Accused of trafficking oxycodone,

(GA) Victoria Tatum, 24,
teacher - Accused of inappropriate relationship with male student, 15,

(IA) Mandy Lynn Davenport, 33,
teacher - Pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of student, 17,

(ID) Kimberly Rosean Speck, 31,
neighbor - Accused of sexual contact with teen boy,

(IL) Nicole Jacobsen, 43,
teacher - Pleads guilty to sexual abuse of a male student, 14. Sentencing scheduled for November 13,

(IL) Cynthia Warren , 27,
neighbor - Gets 12 years prison for sex acts with boy under 13,

(IN) Rebecca Nicole Bosworth, 36,
teacher's aide - Accused of sex with male former student, 16,

(KY) Crystal Chappell, 24,
teacher - Accused of rape of student,

(LA) Lorrie A. Anderson, 50,
neighbor - Gets 5 years prison for child sex trafficking,

(MI) Sarah Raymo, 32,
teacher - Pleaded guilty to sex with student, 14. Sentencing in November,

(MN) Pamela Ann Fahy, 44,
teacher - Gets 180 days jail for sex with boy, 13,

(NC) Carol Diane Britto, 52,
neighbor - Accused of sex offenses with 4-year-old,

(NC) Lauren Michelle Clontz, 26,
neighbor - Accused of rape of teen boy,

(NC) Stacy Setliff, 44,
neighbor - Accused of sexual activity with 2 male high school students,

(NC) Meredith Kristin Simmons, 24,
neighbor - Accused of sex acts with a 6-year-old boy,

(ND) Susan Kathleen Duursma, 35,
teacher - Gets 60 days jail for sex with male student,

(NE) Destiny Trenary, 30,
neighbor - Gets 3 to 5 years prison for felony child abuse of boy, 15,

(NJ) Mary Ellen Deane, 30,
neighbor - Gets 15 years prison for sex with 12-year-old,

(NJ) Nicole Dufault, 35,
teacher - Accused of being criminally naughty with five male students,

(NY) Jennifer Kennard, 46,
teacher's aide - Guilty of raping middle school student. Sentencing date not reported,

(NY) Megan Mahoney, 25,
teacher - Accused of engaging in sex with a 16-year-old boy,

(OH) Brandi Hobbs,
teacher - Accused of inappropriate behavior with student,

(OK) Robbie Capshew, 31,
neighbor - Arrested for sex with boy, 13,

(OK) Stephanie (aka Stephenie) Ringwald, 31,
teacher - Accused of sex with boy, 16,

(PA) Lauren Harrington-Cooper, 32,
teacher - Sentenced to 9 to 23 months prison for sex with students,

(PA) Emily L. Nesbit, 31,
teacher - Pleads guilty to institutional sexual assault. Sentencing in December,

(PA) Bridgett Szychulski, 31,
teacher - Accused of sex with student, 14,

(TX) Haivan Bui, 29,
teacher - Accused of multiple drug charges,

(TX) Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo, 42,
doctor - Accused of trying to poison her co-worker,

(TX) Amy Joanne Mainville, 29,
teacher's aide - Accused of sex with male student, 15,

(TX) Felicia Smith, 44,
teacher - Gets deferred adjudication for giving classroom lap dance to 15-year-old boy,

(UT) Alicia Marie Englert, 23,
neighbor - Accused of attempted murder of her newborn,

(UT) Jaime Renee Tactay, 36,
neighbor - Accused of sex with minor, 14-15 years old,

(VT) Courtney Heath,
neighbor - Accused of sexually assaulting a runaway 14-year-old,

(WA) Chantae Gilman, 26,
neighbor - Accused of sexually assaulting a man, 31.

Thanks to the tipsters.

Social Media Age Restrictions

It's not clear how the minimum age requirement is enforced.

Fascism Is Efficient, Says Andres Duany, Leading Proponent of “Sustainable Development”


At last a Greenie admits where he is coming from.  Fascism is of course NOT efficient, but it does suit those who want to control others


It goes by many names: “sustainable development,” “smart growth,” “transit-oriented development,” to name a few. But development projects built under the banner of “sustainability” share the same elements: high-density residential housing and high-intensity commercial space (so-called mixed use) clustered near capital-intensive mass transit lines surrounded by government-owned “open space” and, increasingly, government-imposed “urban growth boundaries.” Regardless of where a sustainable-development project is located in the world, each tends to apply these elements.


There is nothing wrong with high-density housing or non-automobile mobility per se. The problem is that sustainability advocates use government to force their vision of tomorrow on others and, equally important, use government to restrict or eliminate alternative visions from being adopted. Individual private-property rights and local decision making give way to the priorities of international, national, state, and regional governmental bodies influenced by urban planners who believe their vision of the next 50 to 100 years is the correct vision and the only vision worth pursuing. Anyone who thinks differently, according to the planners, is wrong, selfish, wasteful, or all three, and must be silenced.


If you think this description is exaggerated, watch this chilling video of Andres Duany speaking to the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council on why it should support his Seven50 plan. Mr. Duany is the chief architect of Seven50, the proposed 50-year regional development plan for seven counties in Southeast Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Mr. Duany is a leading urban planner, author of The Smart Growth Manual, and a founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, which seeks to end suburban sprawl. After watching this video ask yourself: Do I want to support the so-called “smart-growth” approach and empower Andres Duany and people like him to rule over me and my community using government force? Or do I want to strengthen my private property rights and ensure local control over housing, land use, and transportation issues?





SOURCE


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

No Alcohol Hand-Wipes at KFC

(Leicester, England)

Muslim leaders have voiced bewilderment after a branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken refused to give customers hand-wipes containing alcohol for fear that doing so would cause offence.

The fast food chain blamed a “misunderstanding” at the branch in Leicester, which is part of a trial involving halal chicken, after staff were told not to hand out the wipes in case they were against Islamic law.

A KFC spokesman apologized for the excessive bend-overism.

Military Preparedness in Germany

Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen
(Berlin, Germany)

Germany's military is in such a poor state it cannot currently live up to all its Nato commitments, the country's defence minister admitted on Sunday, warning it could take years to overcome equipment problems.

Ursula von der Leyen said in an interview that the Bundeswehr could not meet all of its pledges in responding to crises.

"With the airborne systems we are, at the moment, below the target figures announced a year ago on what we want to put at the disposal of Nato within 180 days in the case of an emergency," she told Bild am Sonntag.

Supply shortfalls on replacement parts for aircraft and the breakdown of naval helicopters are behind the problem, she said.

As an ally, apparently Germany cannot be relied upon. The Germans will likely show up late without the proper equipment.

Danish Wind Farm Company Sued for Spoiling View

Europe’s troubled wind turbine industry has a new predicament, with a householder in Denmark successfully suing Vestas, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer. Vestas was sued by the householder with the help of International Law Office and awarded 500,000 Danish kroner (£53,000) in compensation for the loss of property values due to visual interference, inconvenience caused by the noise of the blades and light reflection. Eight turbines are visible from the owner’s house.

The Danes passed the Promoting Renewable Energy Act in 2011, which established a compensation scheme for homes affected by wind farms. It seems the Danes suffer from the a similar condition to Brits, not in my back yard (nimbyism), where there is a consensus in favour of wind farms but not near their homes.

Calls to Vestas’ office for comment were not returned.

Danish wind farms have already come in for serious criticism. Breitbart London reported in June how a mink farm saw how a recently built turbine seemed to lead to still births, birth deformities and had begun attacking in each other, costing the farmer millions.

The Danish situation is mirrored in the UK. In November 2013, the London School of Economics amd the Spatial Economics Research Centre published a report with lead author Professor Stephen Gibbons finding that “A wind farm with 20+ turbines within 2km reduces prices by some 11 percent on average.” In all scenarios even of less density, “Wind farms reduce house prices where the turbines are visible.”

Professor Gibbons has further evidence from when in June 2008 Mr. and Mrs. Julian Davis in Lincoln applied to the Valuation Tribunal for a reduction in their Council Tax, due to a wind turbine.  Citing “Change in physical state. Noise pollution externally and internal low frequency. Noise pollution from new wind farm 930m (away),” they won and their house was downgraded to Band A status.

Meanwhile, a report into two wind turbines collapsing in Devon and Cornwall has just been released. The Western Mail reports the towers had basic defects and flaw in the construction process. These incidents were over a year ago and the report’s publication was aided by a Freedom of Information request. Also worryingly is that “ten units with existing defects” out of the company’s 70 or 80 turbines and the “makers of the E3120 turbine which fell in Devon, identified a further 29 turbines that might have been affected by a problem with the foundations.”

It seems that European governments' race to be green has had some expensive unexpected consequences. Not only is it substantially more expensive to industry and the public, the extra costs of erecting wind farms are growing too. One can only imagine the furore if a turbine comes down on a house, seriously injuring someone or even killing them. These are troubles timed for the government and the wind industry.

SOURCE

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

Boko Haram Armored Tank

SOURCE:

Nigerian military intelligence officials say they were surprised at the sophisticated weapons being used by Boko Haram insurgents.

The reaction came after Nigerian troops captured a T-55 armored tank and a highly sophisticate Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) from the Islamist insurgents in a battle yesterday at Konduga, Borno State.

Boko Haram has armor!

Tim Berners-Lee Wants Internet Bill of Rights

Tim Berners-Lee

The inventor of the world wide web has warned that the freedom of the internet is under threat by governments and corporations interested in controlling the web.

Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who invented the web 25 years ago, called on Saturday for a bill of rights that would guarantee the independence of the internet and ensure users’ privacy.

“If a company can control your access to the internet, if they can control which websites they go to, then they have tremendous control over your life,” Berners-Lee said at the Web We Want festival on the future of the internet in London.[…]

Berners-Lee, 59, is director of the World Wide Web Consortium, a body which develops guidelines for the development of the internet.

He called for an internet version of the Magna Carta, the 13th century English charter credited with guaranteeing basic rights and freedoms.

OK

American Medical Association prostitutes itself to the climate change scare

And let's be clear that it is just a scare. No-one knows what the future holds.  Warmism enthusiasts thought that on the basis of the slight warming of the last part of the 20th century they could predict warming from that point on.  But their models and predictions were wrong.  There has been no climate change (no warming) in the 21st century and no-one knows if the next change will be towards cooling or warming.   So the scare is no better than religious prophecies of doom.

JAMA is of course not the first medical journal to turn political.  Britain's "Lancet" is notoriously Leftist.  They actually campaigned against George Bush and the Iraq war at one stage.  And there have been many claims that warming is bad for your health.

All such claims however founder on the fact that winter is the great season of dying.  Both warmth and cold can lead to health problems but cold is by far the big killer.  A warmer climate should therefore REDUCE mortality overall.  To give JAMA its due they did not totally ignore that possibility but they went close.  Hidden away in their Method section was a single paragraph of waffle which I reproduce following the abstract below.  Most notably however, they made no attempt to address that possibility in their research.  They looked only at warm weather problems, not cold weather problems.  The entire project was totally one-sided. Not science at all

Climate change: Challenges and Opportunities for Global Health

By Jonathan A. Patz et al.

ABSTRACT

Importance

Health is inextricably linked to climate change. It is important for clinicians to understand this relationship in order to discuss associated health risks with their patients and to inform public policy.

Objectives

To provide new US-based temperature projections from downscaled climate modeling and to review recent studies on health risks related to climate change and the cobenefits of efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

Data Sources, Study Selection, and Data Synthesis

We searched PubMed from 2009 to 2014 for articles related to climate change and health, focused on governmental reports, predictive models, and empirical epidemiological studies. Of the more than 250 abstracts reviewed, 56 articles were selected. In addition, we analyzed climate data averaged over 13 climate models and based future projections on downscaled probability distributions of the daily maximum temperature for 2046-2065. We also compared maximum daily 8-hour average with air temperature data taken from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climate Data Center.

Results

By 2050, many US cities may experience more frequent extreme heat days. For example, New York and Milwaukee may have 3 times their current average number of days hotter than 32øC (90øF). The adverse health aspects related to climate change may include heat-related disorders, such as heat stress and economic consequences of reduced work capacity; and respiratory disorders, including those exacerbated by fine particulate pollutants, such as asthma and allergic disorders; infectious diseases, including vectorborne diseases and water-borne diseases, such as childhood gastrointestinal diseases; food insecurity, including reduced crop yields and an increase in plant diseases; and mental health disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, that are associated with natural disasters. Substantial health and economic cobenefits could be associated with reductions in fossil fuel combustion. For example, the cost of greenhouse gas emission policies may yield net economic benefit, with health benefits from air quality improvements potentially offsetting the cost of US carbon policies.

Conclusions and Relevance

Evidence over the past 20 years indicates that climate change can be associated with adverse health outcomes. Health care professionals have an important role in understanding and communicating the related potential health concerns and the cobenefits from reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Methods

Might fewer cold-related deaths balance mortality from heat waves? This is a topic of active research and current uncertainty, with results likely differing for climate zone and infrastructure characteristics. Although relative increases in heat-related deaths may exceed relative decreases in cold-related deaths, this may not apply in absolute terms because the balance may depend on location, population structure (proportion of older residents), and amount of warming, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expressed low confidence that modest reductions in cold-related mortality would occur.  Reasons for this include the observation that many deaths related to cold temperatures do not occur during coldest times and that there is a lag between exposure to cold temperatures and increased risk of death typically much longer than 1 or 2 days.

JAMA. Published online September 22, 2014. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.13186.

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). 

Muslim anger and global warming

The inability of Muslims to see any wrongdoing by their fellow Muslims seems to be common worldwide.  And we have now seen a prime example of it in Australia. A report of it below.  After a young Afghan Muslim, Numan Haider, was shot by police, the sentiment among his community seems to be that he had done no wrong.  He had simply made a "mistake" and police should not have shot him.  That the police shot him while he was stabbing them with a knife and inflicting serious injuries doesn't matter, apparently. "Infidel" police should let themselves be stabbed by Muslims seems to be the idea.  Decent people would be embarrassed that one of their number had behaved so badly but brains rotted by Islam are apparently incapable of that.

The rage is so irrational that it reminds me of a couple of other things.  In 1980 or thereabouts in Australia a Yugoslav hoodlum named Kresimir Dragosevic died in a hail of police bullets.  Mrs Dragosevic, his mother, thought it was most unfair that the police shot her dear little Kresimir.  The fact that Kresimir was shooting at the police at the time did not seem to matter.

So, clearly, for many people, reason flies out the window when their own personal interests are threatened or damaged.  Which brings me to global warming.  Warmists have the wonderful feelgood belief that they are "saving the planet" and that is far too rewarding to let facts get in the way of such a belief.  They will even let themselves be lectured by an emptyheaded High School dropout like Leonardo di Caprio on the subject if it helps to bolster their feelings of righteousness and mission.  No wonder there is so much poverty and so much suffering in the world when rationality can so easily be overwhelmed by personal emotional needs.

ANGER boiled over outside a mosque as the body of the shot teen was prepared for burial.

A man threw rocks at media waiting at the Doveton mosque after earlier being seen at Numan Haider’s family home.

The teen terror suspect’s family spoke of their devastation.

Others grieving the loss of Haider lashed out at police for shooting him.

Religious leaders told the Herald Sun Haider was expected to be buried as soon as today, after a Muslim service.

A friend who visited the family’s Endeavour Hills home said they were overwhelmed by grief. “They are very, very upset and devastated,” the family friend said.

“No one knows what happened. It’s a big shock to their family, and they can’t believe what has happened.

“This family is bright. They are well educated and have good connection to the Afghan families.”

There were angry scenes when a member of the Afghan community, on leaving the house, blamed police.

“They should not have shot him — he was 18,” the woman screamed. “If you (the police) can’t protect yourself, how are you going to protect the nation? Did you make mistakes when you were 18?  “If someone makes a mistake, you can’t shoot him.”

Conservative sheik Mohammad Jamal Omran visited the home to offer his condolences, and said he was saddened by the tragedy.

“We spoke about their sadness and we spoke about their loss.  “They cried on my shoulder, but still they need a long time to recover,” he said.

“There (is) trouble around us in the world. We don’t have to bring the trouble home.

“When I look at my right, I see the sorrow of the two police families.

“And I look at my left, and see this family losing a young man of theirs, of ours, and of Australia altogether.”

SOURCE

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

Florida Woman Accused of Sex Assault of Boy, 15

Sky Ann-Marie Farr
(Manatee, Florida) A 20-year-old local woman, Sky Ann-Marie Farr, has been accused of doing the naughty with a 15-year-old boy and getting pregnant.

Farr faces a charge of lewd and lascivious battery.

Investigators learned of the sexual relationship between Farr and the 15-year-old victim when deputies were dispatched to a disturbance at a home.

It was Farr who blurted out that the reason for the disturbance was because people had learned that she was having sex with the victim, the report said.

Farr was booked into custody at the Manatee County Jail and released on $2,500 bond.

Georgia Teacher Accused of Sex Assault

(Decatur, Georgia) A 24-year-old math teacher at Newton County High School, Victoria Tatum, has been accused of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old male student.

Tatum faces counts of aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, and enticing a child.

Tatum was arrested at Newton County High School and booked in to jail at 1:10 p.m., records showed.

“Per abuse protocol, a forensic interview was conducted and a disclosure was made that inappropriate contact occurred more than once,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “At this time, the investigation revealed that the contact began less than a month ago. Probable cause was obtained to apply for an arrest warrant.”

Tatum was booked into custody without bond.

Beheading in Oklahoma

Alton Alexander Nolen
(Moore, Oklahoma)

A fired employee who had been trying to convert co-workers to Islam stabbed two female colleagues - beheading one of them - before an off-duty officer shot him, police have said.

Alton Alexander Nolen, 30, was fired from Vaughan Foods, a food distribution center in Moore, Oklahoma on Thursday before returning to his car and smashing it into another vehicle.

He then climbed out and entered the building, attacking the first two people he encountered with a knife, Moore Police Sergeant Jeremy Lewis said.

After beheading Colleen Hufford, 54, and stabbing Traci Johnson, 43, multiple times, Nolen was shot by off-duty officer Mark Vaughan, who was working at the business.

Nolen is hospitalized and expected to survive.

Pennsylvania Teacher Gets Jail for Sex with Student - Update

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) Former Wyoming Valley West English teacher Lauren Harrington-Cooper has pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with students.

Harrington-Cooper pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a student and corruption of minors.

The former teacher had been charged with institutional sexual assault and corruption of minors. The Kingston resident was initially arrested by Plymouth police and Luzerne County detectives on Dec. 18 in connection with an alleged encounter with an 18-year-old student.

While free on $25,000 unsecured bail, she was arrested twice in January by county detectives and police in Plymouth and Kingston when other male students claimed they had sexual encounters with her. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing in April and her trial had been set for August, but was continued.

Harrington-Cooper was sentenced to 9 to 23 months in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.

* * * * *
Pennsylvania Teacher Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 12/20/13 post]
(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) A 31-year-old English teacher at Wyoming Valley West School, Lauren Harrington-Cooper, has been accused of engaging in sex with a student.

Harrington-Cooper faces a charge of institutional sex assault.

Investigators said Thursday morning, the parents of a high school senior told the principal they found explicit sexual text messages between their son and a teacher, later identified as Cooper.

A county detective said Cooper admitted to having oral sex and sexual intercourse with the student in her car several times.

Harrington-Cooper was booked into custody and released on $25,000 bond.

Turtle Smugglers Caught

(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

A Canadian man facing charges in the U.S. over an alleged reptile smuggling operation was caught at the border with 51 live turtles stuffed down his pants, recently unsealed court documents say.

The U.S. federal court documents say officers with the Canada Border Services Agency intercepted Kai Xu as he attempted to cross into Windsor, Ont., from Detroit last month.

"During the secondary inspection, Xu was found to have 51 live turtles tapped (sic) to his person," Kenneth Adams, a special agent with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, stated in an affidavit outlining the criminal complaint.

"Specifically, Xu had 41 turtles tapped (sic) to his legs and 10 hidden between his legs."

Canadian authorities seized the turtles, which included North American varieties such as eastern box turtles, red-eared sliders and diamondback terrapins -- some of which sell for $800 each -- and turned them over to American officials.

Xu and an accomplice, Lihua Lin, face U.S federal charges of smuggling, illegal trading and exporting.

Ohio Teacher Accused of Sex Charges

Brandi Hobbs
(Monroe County, Ohio) A teacher at Swiss Hills Vocational School, Brandi Hobbs, has been accused of sex charges involving a minor.

Hobbs faces charges of sexual battery, disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile, illegal use of a minor in a matter involving nudity, and pandering of sexual material involving a minor.

Hobbs has been on paid administrative leave since the end of the last school year.

She was arrested after a six-month investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, Ohio BCI and the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office. Officials said she had alleged inappropriate behavior with a student.

Hobbs was booked into the Columbiana County Jail with bond set at $25,000.

The resveratrol myth is slowly unwinding

That anti-oxidants in food are good for you has by now been extensively debunked.  There is some evidence that they are bad for you. See here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here, for instance.   And a favorite anti-oxidant is resveratrol.  The latest report:

Pregnant women who have the odd drink should avoid red wine, researchers suggest.  They say that an ingredient in the wine that is normally viewed as healthy could harm their unborn child's pancreas.

Resveratrol has been credited with having protective effects against heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and a number of other conditions.

Naturally present in red wine, red grapes and some berries, it is also available as a supplement.

However, a study now suggests it can lead to developmental abnormalities in the foetal pancreas. The study was carried out by the Division of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism and the Division of Reproductive and Development Science at Oregon Health and Science University in the United States.

Lead researcher on the study Dr Kevin Gove said: 'This study has direct relevance to human health. 'Resveratrol is widely used for its recognised health benefits, and is readily available over the counter.

'The important message in this study is that women should be very careful about what they consume while pregnant, and they should not take supplements, like Resveratrol, without consulting with their doctors.  'What might be good for the mother may not be good for the baby.'

As part of the study, Dr Grove and colleagues gave resveratrol supplements every day throughout pregnancy to obese macaque monkeys eating a Western diet.

A second group of obese monkeys was not given the supplement, and both were compared with lean monkeys fed a healthy diet.

The animals were closely monitored for health complications, and blood flow through the placenta was determined by ultrasound.

The foetuses were analysed for developmental abnormalities, and findings showed definitive evidence of pancreatic abnormalities.

The study was published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.

SOURCE

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

Legalizing Incest

Patrick K.
(Leipzig, Germany)

The German Ethics Council said on Wednesday the government should consider decriminalizing incestuous relationships.

The government advisory body had been considering the question following a 2012 case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) brought by a man, Patrick S. in an incestuous relationship with his sister, Susan K.[…]

The Ethics Council argued that the criminal law was not the right way to uphold social taboos or set up boundaries for people's sexual behaviour.

Interesting, eh?

Florida School Coach Accused of Trafficking Oxycodone

Joye Heather Jones
(Tampa, Florida) A 40-year-old PE coach at two elementary schools, Joye Heather Jones, has been arrested for trafficking in oxycodone.

Jones faces counts of trafficking in oxycodone, sale/delivery of oxycodone, possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy to traffic in oxycodone.

Three Breasts

Jasmine Tridevil
(Tampa, Florida) A 21-year-old local woman, Jasmine Tridevil, wants to land a reality television show so she underwent plastic surgery to add a third breast.

Tridevil said, "I got it, because I wanted to make myself unattractive to men. Because I don't want to date anymore."

The surgery cost $20,000.

Vermont Woman Accused of Sex Assault of Runaway, 14

(Williamstown, Vermont) Local woman Courtney Heath has been accused of sexually assaulting a runaway teenager.

Heath faces charges of unlawful sheltering of a runaway juvenile and felonious sexual assault.

On 9/17/14, State Police located a runaway juvenile at a residence in Williamstown. The resident of that address, Courtney Heath, was subsequently charged with the unlawful sheltering of a runaway juvenile.

Upon further investigation, State Police determined Heath to have had a sexual relationship with the 14 year-old minor. Heath was also charged with sexual assault.

Heath pleaded not guilty this week in Chittenden County criminal court.

Capitalism in crosshairs as Socialism promoted at opening event of People’s Climate March

The Communist sympathizers are getting bolder.  That they called it a "people's" march alone tells you that.  It is classic  Communist jargon



New York City – Socialism was praised and promoted to raucous applause by the hundreds in attendance at the People’s Climate March event on September 20, featuring organizer Bill McKibben, author Naomi Klein, socialist Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant and socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

The event, held at the Unitarian Church of All Souls, was titled “THE CLIMATE CRISIS: WHICH WAY OUT.” The event was permeated with socialist literature with the Socialist Alternative newspaper prominently on display.

When Kshama Sawant, a socialist who won a seat on the Seattle City Council, noted she was the first socialist elected in decades, the church erupted in applause. “A socialist world that will deliver a high standard of living for all,” Sawant said to applause.

Sawant ripped the current economic system: “The market is God, everything is being sacrificed on the altar of profits,” Sawant declared.  “We must bring giant corporations into public ownership. You cannot control what you don’t own,” she added.

Senator Bernie Sanders ripped Fox News Channel: “We all know what Fox TV does not know. Climate change is real,” he said to laughter. Sanders declared the “debate is over.” “This is the planetary crisis of our time.”  “Unless we address global warming this planet will be even more unstable than it is today.”

350.org founder and march organizer McKibben called global warming the ‘greatest crisis.’ “This is the biggest problem that humans have ever been up against,” he declared.

McKibben warned of an apocalyptic future of human caused global warming. “The science of climate change is dark and hard,” he said and warned of 8 or 9 degree F [temperature rise] before the century is out.”

Also featured on the panel with McKibben was author Naomi Klein, author of the new book “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate”.

During the panel discussion, Klein was asked: “Even if climate change issue did not exist, you would be calling for same structural changes. Klein responded:  ‘Yeah.’

Following the panel, Climate Depot asked Klein if she would support all the same climate “solutions” even if the science was wrong.

“Yes, I would still be for social justice even if there was not climate change. Yes, you caught me Marc,” Klein answered sarcastically as she abruptly ended the interview.

Klein told the activists she recommended “weaving this [climate] movement into all of our movements.”

Klein also singled out Climate Depot’s Marc Morano during her panel presentation, noting that “climate deniers and Heartland Institute people like Marc Morano, who I am told is here tonight, they understand that if the science is true, if the science is right, then of course we have to break every rule in their idiotic playbook because it is at war with life on Earth. ” The audience roared with approval.

Klein noted that the “ecological clock is ticking.” “We are dealing with an existential terror,” she added.

SOURCE

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

So much for clearing up the planet! Climate change protesters who marched through Manhattan are branded hypocrites for leaving litter strewn across the city

Typical Leftist egotists with no respect for other people

Climate change skeptics have branded protesters who marched through Manhattan on Sunday as hypocrites for leaving litter strewn across the city.

New Yorkers uploaded images to social media sites showing piles of trash - included ditched paper and cardboard signs - left behind after thousands took part in the People's Climate March.

'Their love for the Earth is so real, they couldn't even use a trash can,' one critic, known as @chelsea_elisa on Twitter, wrote beneath an image of an overflowing trash can.

'Somehow this doesn't seem too green 2me,' David Kreutzer, a research fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, wrote alongside another photo of litter on the ground.

Speaking to the New York Post, Kreutzer slammed the marchers for wasting paper to create the signs, as well as burning fossil fuels to take buses or planes to the event.

'The hypocrisy varies from person to person,' he said. 'The ones that fly in on private jets are the most hypocritical.'

Celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, were seen parading through the streets of New York City - presumably after catching flights to be there.

They joined as many as 300,000 others - including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.S. senators - to march through the streets.
Climate change protesters stage Wall Street sit-in

 The protest came ahead of Tuesday's UN-hosted summit to discuss reducing carbon emissions that threaten the environment.

Organizers said some 550 busloads had arrived for the rally, which followed similar events in 166 countries including Britain, France, Afghanistan and Bulgaria.

The march snaked through Midtown from Columbus Circle to Times Square and the Far West Side. So many people attended the route that, at one point, the march came to a halt because the entire 2.2-mile route was full.

Protesters in London, pictured, also bizarrely chose to make hundreds of signs from paper and cardboard

They billed the event as the largest gathering focused on climate change since 2009, when tens of thousands gathered in Copenhagen in a sometime raucous demonstration that resulted in the detention of 2,000 protesters.

In this year's march, protesters carried pictures of sunflowers and, at the rally's head, a banner reading: 'Front lines of crisis, forefront of climate change'.

SOURCE

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

Upskirting Photo Law Overturned


(Austin, Texas)

The state's highest criminal court on Wednesday tossed out part of a Texas law banning "improper photography or visual recording" - surreptitious images acquired in public for sexual gratification, often called "upskirting" or "downblousing" - as a violation of federal free-speech rights and an improper restriction on a person's right to individual thoughts.

In an 8-1 ruling, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said photos, like paintings, films and books, are "inherently expressive" and, therefore, are protected by the First Amendment. The opinion supported a previous decision by the San Antonio-based 4th Court of Appeals.

"The camera is essentially the photographer's pen and paintbrush," the opinion written by Presiding Judge Sharon Keller said. "A person's purposeful creation of photographs and visual recordings is entitled to the same First Amendment protection as the photographs and visual recordings themselves."

OK

Secret courts have worrying implications

Did you know that if the U.S. government decides that it wants to violate, i.e. trash, provisions of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, it simply creates secret federal courts of law that will rubber stamp all that it desires?

Well, now we know a small part of the ugly truth about our federal government, and we have exiled hero Edward Snowden to thank for it. He’s revealed some of the nasty secrets and Uncle Sam is out to get him for it.

We know, for example, that Uncle Sam secretly threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad warrantless demand to hand over user communications — a request the company believed was unconstitutional — successfully forcing the company to participate in the National Security Agency’s controversial PRISM program.

Yahoo resisted the government’s demands but ultimately lost the battle in a secret court -- the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review -- which decided that the Fourth Amendment requirements for search warrants may simply be ignored when the government deems it necessary for national security purposes.

Now NSA enjoys extensive warrantless access to records of online com­munications by users of Yahoo and other U.S.-based technology firms. Eventually, most major U.S. tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Apple and AOL, also complied in secret. Microsoft had joined earlier, before the ruling.

PRISM was first revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden last year. It allowed the NSA to order U.S.-based tech companies to turn over e-mails and other communications to or from foreign targets without search warrants for each of those targets. Other NSA programs gave even more wide-ranging access to ­personal information of people worldwide, by collecting data directly from fiber-optic connections. And the tech companies were bound by law to keep the governments nefarious activities secret.

Now we know that secret courts are constitutional because the secret judges say so, and using secret courts to trash the Bill of Rights is constitutional because the secret judges say so.

The implications are that our government is essentially lawless -- no provision of law in the United States of America is beyond the reach of government trashing in secret with secret courts.

SOURCE

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

Cycling Team Uniform Dispute

Colombian Women's Cycling Team
(Bogota, Colombia) A controversy has surfaced regarding the uniforms of the Colombian Women's Cycling Team.

[T]he president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) said the uniforms worn by the Colombian women were ‘unacceptable’.

The nude-colored midsection is not appreciated.

Wikipedia Text Disappears on My iPad

In long Wikipedia articles, I recently found that sections towards the end of the article were not readable on my iPad; only the section titles appeared. If others are experiencing the same frustration, this may be your situation:

You are still using iOS5
Your iPad automatically defaults to the mobile version of Wikipedia
You've probably found you can no longer copy and paste text from Wikipedia articles

Solutions:
Upgrade your iOS

OR

Keep using iOS5 and go to a short Wikipedia article, scroll to the bottom, tap "Desktop," then use the Wikipedia search engine. Future searches will normally default to the desktop version. (Deleting the "m." from the URL sometimes works also.)

Note: Some will say, "Just upgrade." I've used both iOS5 and iOS7. It's a trade-off: Using iOS5 (which I prefer) with a few apps that no longer work, or upgrading to a system I don't care for.

Posted by Note Taker

Marijuana Pizza Sauce

Cannabis pizza sauce
SOURCE:

The special $20 paste from Podey Pizza, which is available at marijuana dispensaries in the US, allows you to prepare your own weed-based treat.

Each jar of topping contains a 300mg dose of cannabis, which is enough to make one large pizza.

What's next? Marijuana toothpaste? Marijuana lip balm?

NJ Woman Gets 15 Years Prison For Child Sex

Mary Ellen Deane
(Lakewood, New Jersey) Earlier this year, a 30-year-old local woman, Mary Ellen Deane, was convicted on five counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

As a result, Deane was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.

Deane, who was convicted of 15 counts after a jury trial last spring, was found not to be a repetitive and compulsive offender and will not be remanded to the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center for sexual offenders in Woodbridge, according to the office.

Della Fave said some of the 15 counts were merged, resulting in the 10 counts Deane was sentenced on.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the charges stem from acts of sexual penetration with the 12-year-old victim, who Deane knew. The offenses occurred on multiple dates during the summer of 2010.

A co-defendant in the case, Dennis Conover, 34, was found guilty at trial. Sentencing is scheduled for next month.

The Scottish Fascists showed true Fascist form

Nationalism plus socialism is the formula for Fascism and the Scottish National Party embodies  both of those.  And the behaviour of many of their supporters recently was much like that of the supporters of Hitler and Mussolini. If you doubt that, read on

By Jim Murphy (A Scottish Labour party member of the British parliament)

I always knew the independence referendum would be the most important event I would ever be involved in, the most important event for Scotland. Because of that I decided to campaign in a totally different way, going back to an old-fashioned politics predating social media and spin doctors. I embarked on a 100-stop tour of open-air meetings across my beautiful country.

It was just me, my microphone, my makeshift stage of two Irn-Bru crates and whoever turned up.

And I loved most of it. I visited places I’d never been to before and discovered that the best comedians aren’t only found at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Many were in the crowds with a wry comment or a well-timed put-down. I’m not sure I got the better of every exchange.

However sometimes it became far more sinister. There is a dark corner of Scotland where an intolerant Scottish nationalism lives. We all know that no political movement is without its idiots. But what went on at times in the referendum was of a different nature altogether – it wasn’t the occasional fool but an orchestrated campaign.

In places like Motherwell, Dundee and Kirkcaldy, Yes groups organised big crowds of their followers to drown out our events, preventing undecided voters from joining open-air democracy. In their dozens and sometimes in their hundreds they screamed ‘Traitor!’, ‘Scum!’, ‘Quisling!’ and even ‘Terrorist’.

And there was one more vile insult they hurled at me. In the midst of the campaign, new details appeared in the media about alleged 1970s child abuse in and around Westminster. To some of my opponents, it didn’t matter that I was in primary school when these terrible cases were alleged to have taken place. Instead it became a regular insult to scream ‘Paedophile!’ at me throughout my street meetings.

An anti-English group, Siol nan Gaidheal – or ‘Seed of the Gaels’ – boasted that they had been ‘following Murphy’ for ‘in-your-face confrontations’. And there was a lot of publicity for the least-skilled egg thrower – it took him four eggs before he hit me. But I couldn’t care less about an egg thrower, what was worrying was their determination to deny us space in Scotland’s streets.

And it wasn’t just me; Ed Miliband and others were also in their sights, and the BBC’s Glasgow HQ was targeted by Yes protesters because of unfounded allegations of anti-independence bias at the BBC.

I know the vast majority of Yes supporters would never dream of behaving like this. They decided to support the Yes campaign because they believed it was best for their family and our country. They are decent and honest people, many of whom are hurting this weekend.

But wherever we went there was often a noisy crowd that followed us. Rightly, nothing like this ever happened to Alex Salmond or the Yes campaign.

After a while my meetings became impossible places to guarantee public safety – I had to halt my tour and seek police advice. To this day, I still don’t know how high up in the Yes campaign these actions were sanctioned, but I do know how widespread they became.

I lost count of how many No voters told me they were too worried to wear a sticker or display a poster. The effect was that visually, the Yes campaign appeared to speak for the majority. If the vote was decided by which campaign had the most window posters, then Scotland would be independent.

Fortunately windows don’t vote.

SOURCE

Chris Brand has further details of Scotland's descent into Fascist street thuggery.  He lives in Edinburgh so saw some of the aggression personally.

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

Baby Born Without Blood

(County Waterford, Ireland)

A mother has spoken of her fear that her daughter would never make it past the first few days of her life – after she was born without a droplet of blood in her body.

Emma Vignes, 31, absorbed all of her daughter’s Maisy’s blood during pregnancy in what is believed to be a medical first, leaving the baby – born six weeks premature – needing three blood transfusions during two weeks in intensive care.

And as Maisy, now four, enjoys her first few weeks at primary school, Emma has said it could have been very different.

Reportedly, Maisy had only a "thin, plasma substance" in her veins when born.

Brain chemistry as a determinant of mood

All the happiness research concludes that happiness is dispositional:  No matter what happens to us, we return after a while to our genetically pre-set level of happiness.  And happiness is also a strong differentiator of liberals and conservatives.  So liberals are born unhappy, which is why they are always wanting to change things in the futile search for a system that they will be happier with.  The research reported below is concerned with a closely related topic, pessimism/optimism so we may be getting closer to seeing exactly what makes liberals the angry and irrational creatures they are

If you find it hard to look on the bright side and your glass is half-empty rather than half-full, blame your lateral habenula.

Scientists say chemicals in this small part of the brain are crucial to feelings of disappointment. If the chemistry is right, we may find it easier to brush off the bad times.  But if it is out of balance, we may feel set-backs more keenly.

Researcher Roberto Malinow said: ‘The idea that some people see the world as a glass half-empty has a chemical basis in the brain.’

To work out why some people find it hard to be optimistic, the professor looked at the chemistry of a lateral habenula, a tiny area deep inside the brain.

Studies on monkeys have shown the lateral habenula becomes very active when the creatures are denied a fruit juice they are expecting.

In experiments on rats and mice, Professor Malinow showed the balance of two brain chemicals in the region to be key.

One, called glutamate, ramps up activity in the area, while the other, GABA, dampens it down.

Rats with depression made less GABA than others. But when they were given an anti-depressant, levels increased.

It is thought pessimists naturally make less GABA. This would make them feel knock-backs more deeply – and so expect bad things to happen more often.

The finding suggests making enough GABA is crucial to dealing with disappointment.

Professor Malinow, of the University of California, San Diego, said: ‘What we have found is a process that may dampen the brain’s sensitivity to negative life events.’

His research, published in the journal Science, doesn’t just help explain why some people are more pessimistic than others – it could also help in the search for new treatments for depression.

SOURCE

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

Illinois Woman Gets 12 Years Prison - Update

Cynthia Warren
(DeKalb, Illinois) Now 27 years old, Cynthia Warren has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

* * * * *
Illinois Woman Accused of Sex Abuse of Boy Under 13
[Previous 9/25/13 post]
(DeKalb, Illinois) A 26-year-old local woman, Cynthia Warren, has been accused of forcing a boy younger than 13 to perform sex acts on her.

Warren faces counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

DeKalb police began investigating Cynthia Warren, of the 1300 block of West Lincoln Highway, based on a report from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Lt. Bob Redel said. The boy was younger than 13 years old.

"We talked to her, and she corroborated a lot of the things he said," Redel said.

Warren was booked into custody at the DeKalb County Jail with bail set at $1 million.

New Jersey Teacher and 5 Students

(Maplewood, New Jersey) A 35-year-old language arts teacher at Columbia High School, Nicole Dufault, has been accused of sexually assaulting three students and has been charged with assaulting two other.

Dufault faces multiple counts of first degree aggravated sexual assault and multiple counts of second degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Dufault has been a language arts teacher at Columbia High School in Maplewood for the past nine years. She is accused of having oral sex and intercourse with three 15-year-old students both on school property and in her car on multiple occasions, according to authorities.

The incidents occurred during the school year and during summer school in 2013 and 2014, prosecutors said.

Dufault was booked into custody at the Essex County Correctional Facility with bail set at $500,000.

Clemson University Sexual Survey

(Clemson, South Carolina)

Students and faculty at Clemson University in South Carolina recently opened their emails to find that they must complete a sexual history survey or face disciplinary action.

The survey — which asks invasive questions such as, “How many times have you had sex (including oral) in the last three months?” and “With how many different people have you had sex (including oral) in the last three months?” — is part of an hour long Title IX training course that must be completed by November 1 to avoid violation of the Code of Conduct, according to Campus Reform.

Campus Reform updated their report to reflect that the university has temporarily suspended the training course, but while it was active and mandatory, students had many concerns about privacy.

The survey is beyond bizarre, I suggest.

Kentucky Coach Completes Sentence in Student Sex Case - Update

(Falmouth, Kentucky) In September 2013, Cassandra Rose Elfers pleaded guilty to two felony charges of unlawful transaction with a minor and a misdemeanor charge of distribution of obscene material to a minor.

As a result, Elfers was sentenced to one year in prison for having sexual contact with a 13-year-old boy.

In April 2014, Elfers was released after serving only 7 months of her one year sentence. No explanation was reported.

Interestingly:

It was the misdemeanor that carried a mandatory requirement that she register as a sex offender even though the agreement between her and prosecutors would not require that.

Wednesday the “distribution” charge was changed to disorderly conduct. That charge is also a misdemeanor but does not carry the mandate to register as a sex offender.

As a result, case closed.

* * * * *
Kentucky Coach Accused of Sex with Student
[Previous 1/20/13 post]
(Falmouth, Kentucky) A 21-year-old volleyball coach with the Pendleton County School District, Cassandra Rose Elfers, has been accused of engaging in sex with a student.

Elfers faces a charge of first-degree sexual abuse.

School Superintendent Anthony Strong said his district became aware Sunday of rumors that a part-time coach may have been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a student. He said the district took immediate actions to make sure the coach had no further contact with the student.

The district also forwarded the information to law enforcement authorities. Kentucky State Police at the Dry Ridge Post was handling in the investigation but no trooper was available Friday night to comment.

Elfers was booked into custody at the Kenton County Jail with bond set at $2,500.

Scotland Rejects Independence Vote

SOURCE:

Scotland voters decided to remain part of the United Kingdom on Friday, rejecting independence in a historic referendum.

The decision prevented a rupture of a 307-year union with England, bringing a huge sigh of relief to the British political establishment. Scots voted 55 percent to 45 percent against independence in a vote that saw an unprecedented turnout.

It's probably best. Note, however, the news is preliminary and the final vote tally hasn't come in.

Oklahoma Woman Accused of Raping Boy

(Cyril, Oklahoma) A 31-year-old local woman, Robbie Capshew, has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a 13-year-old boy.

After the boy's mother called police, Capshew was placed under arrest on one count of rape and one count of lewd molestation.

The mother told police that she was headed to her mother's house. She said when she got there the door was unlocked, as she started to go inside she saw her son trying to leave and she saw Capshew coming out of the bathroom.

The mother felt something wasn't right and later questioned her son. She told him there was a camera in the home and that if he didn't her the truth, she was going to watch it and find out anyway. It was then the boy confessed to having sex with Capshew.

The mother then called police who interviewed the boy. The boy said that at around 8 p.m. he and Capshew were at the home when Capshew told the boy to come into the bedroom. While in the bedroom, Capshew asked the boy to perform a sex act on her and he complied.

Capshew was booked into custody at the Caddo County Jail.

Nebraska Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Boy - Update

Destiny Trenary
(Omaha, Nebraska) Now 30 years old, Destiny Trenary has been sentenced to three to five years in prison. Upon release, she will be required to register as a sex offender.

Notably, Trenary is the mother of 11 children.

* * * * *
Nebraska Woman Guilty of Sex with Boy, 15 - Update
[Previous 6/28/14 post]
(Omaha, Nebraska) Last Friday, 29-year-old Destiny Trenary pleaded no contest to felony child abuse in Douglas County District Court.

The County Attorney’s Office had charged her with first-degree sexual assault but agreed to amend the charge during a negotiation with her attorney.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 17.

* * * * *
Nebraska Woman Accused of Sex with Boy, 15
(Previous 10/18/13 post]
(Omaha, Nebraska) A 29-year-old local woman, Destiny Trenary, has been accused of raping a 15-year-old boy at her home. She faces a charge of first-degree sexual assault.

The assault, which allegedly occurred in May, was reported to Omaha police June 30 when the boy's mother told officers she learned that her son and Trenary had had sex, according to a police report.

The boy also told an officer that he and Trenary had sex, according to the report.

Details on Tuesday's booking are unavailable.

Illegally Downloading College Textbooks

[S]ome college students around the country are uploading their expensive college textbooks onto the Internet so other students can download them for free and avoid the hefty fees that are sometimes more than $200 a book.

As I recall, used books, sometimes mangled, were quite pricey. Surely college bookstores are not happy about losing sales.

An unsympathetic view of America

Last night I went to "The perfect American" by modern composer Philip Glass. It was a good opera, with lots going on, lots of drama and lots of dramatic music.  It even had a death scene.  So, except for Glass's unique music, it could have been a 19th century opera.  I went to it only for the music but it was a good show as well.  One's attention did not wander.

The whole point of the opera was to lampoon Walt Disney.  The intelligentsia will never forgive Disney for being anti-Communist but to my mind those who make excuses for Communism are the ethical cripples.

Disney was portrayed as a pathological egotist.  I am in no doubt that a hugely successful entrepreneur such as Disney had  to have a considerable ego but I am equally sure that a man who built up from scratch such a huge organization as the Disney organization had to be a very good people manager -- and no-one likes an egotist.  So whatever ego Disney had must have at least been kept in check most of the time.  So I very much doubt the accuracy of the Disney portrayal by Glass. But much in the opera was admittedly fictional so I suppose one should not take it as history



Another historical blooper was the portrayal of Abraham Lincoln as a champion of blacks and a believer in equality.  That is schoolboy history.  Lincoln was neither of those things.  In his famous letter to Horace Greeley Lincoln said that it was only the union he cared about, not blacks.  And after the war he wanted to send them all back to Africa, but was shot before he could implement that.  Let's have some words from the man himself, words spoken at the White House and addressed to a group of black community leaders on August 14th, 1862:

"You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this be admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated. It is better for both, therefore, to be separated."

Got that?

And Glass's history is equally shaky in portraying Disney as a racist.  His biographer Neal Gabler in his 2009 book 'Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination' concludes, "Walt Disney was no racist. He never, either publicly or privately, made disparaging remarks about blacks or asserted white superiority. Like most white Americans of his generation, however, he was racially insensitive."

And in describing Disney as the perfect American, Glass was largely disparaging America as a whole -- something Leftists such as Glass generally do.  The opera has yet to be performed in America.  I predict a very mixed reception to it when it is performed in America.

Why the opera first went to Madrid, then to London and then to Brisbane I do not know.  It was a very extravagant production in Brisbane with a far larger cast than needful and a huge (4-ton!) mechanical  contraption in the roof used to change scenes etc so maybe it was that only the Brisbane arts community felt able to afford it

UPDATE

Below is a picture of the front cover of the program notes for the opera.  It is supposed to be a blending of Walt's face with the face of Mickey mouse.  The effect, however, is to make Disney look insane, and certainly two-faced.  So it is all part of the demonization of him.  A most unpleasant and disturbing piece of Leftist art.



Leftists customarily envy other people's success and Disney was VERY successful, so this attempt to pull his memory down might have been expected

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

Indiana Teacher's Aide Accused of Sex with Teen

(Randolph County, Indiana) A 36-year-old teacher's aide with the Randolph Central School Corporation, Rebecca Nicole Bosworth, has been accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a former student.

Bosworth faces a Class D felony charge.

Investigators say Bosworth admitted to having sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old male former student.

Bosworth told police the two had multiple encounters at her home, including once while she was employed by school corporation.

Bosworth was booked into custody and subsequently released on $5,000 bond.

Argentina Flatulence Project

Cow Flatulence Collecting
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Argentina’s National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) has invented a way to convert cow flatulence into usable energy, and it involves putting a plastic backpack on a cow.

Reportedly, 300 liters of methane are extracted per day per cow.

Angry Passengers

Former Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik
(Islamabad, Pakistan)

Flight delays are nothing unusual at Pakistan’s ailing state carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, long hobbled by political interference, a bloated staff and epic financial losses.

But the delayed departure of one flight on Monday caused several enraged passengers to mount a virtual mutiny and eject one politician and block another from the plane before it could even take off.

The incident occurred at the Karachi airport when Rehman Malik, a former interior minister best known for his colorful ties and erratic pronouncements, turned up two hours late for a flight to Islamabad.[…]

Jeering passengers stood at the entrance to the airplane, blocking Malik’s way, witnesses said. The parliamentarian turned back and did not board the flight, and videos of the protesting passengers went viral on social media Monday evening.

I understand.