Nutty British prisons boss says inmates should have choice of FIVE dishes for dinner

Prisoners must be given a choice of at least five different dishes for dinner, it emerged last night. Under new rules – quickly dubbed ‘Porridge à la Carte’ – inmates will be presented with a menu from which to select their desired meal from the five on offer.

Governors must change the menu regularly to ensure the same options do not appear more than once a month. The order dictating the changes even insists that prisoners are ‘consulted’ about the quality of meals served. Prisons minister Crispin Blunt, who previously gave the go-ahead for Halloween and Christmas parties for inmates, is responsible for prisoner food rules.

Critics described the regulations as ‘lunacy’. The rules, issued by the Ministry of Justice and sent to every jail in England and Wales, came into force on October 1 but were only published yesterday.

Diktats include that drug addicts trying to get clean should be given hot chocolate because it is ‘comforting’. New inmates must be given an arrival pack containing tea and coffee, sweets and cigarettes. And late arrivals – such as newly-sentenced prisoners – must be given a hot meal even if they arrive at the prison after all the other inmates have eaten.

Fiona McEvoy, campaign manager at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: ‘While many ordinary, law-abiding taxpayers struggle for cash and brace themselves for cuts in services, these convicts are getting five-star treatment on the public purse. ‘The amount of effort and planning going into these menus is just insulting – it seems criminals are being fed better than patients, school children and the elderly in many cases. ‘No one would deny inmates a decent meal, but this is just ridiculous.’

More here

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

Parachute Jump



Lifted from C&S.

Foster Mom Gets Prison for Doing Foster Son - Updated

(Prior Lake, Minnesota) On August 10, Spring Lake Township foster mom Georgiana Glenn Helmbolt was convicted by a jury on three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from engaging in sex with her 15-year-old foster son.

On October 7, Helmbolt was sentenced by Judge Rex D. Stacy to five years in prison followed by 30 months of supervised probation.

In addition to the prison sentence, Helmbolt was ordered to 10 years of conditional release, not to have any unsupervised contact with juvenile males, take her prescription medications, not possess or use any pornographic material, enter and complete sex-offender treatment and register as a predatory offender upon her release.

She was also ordered to pay $23,584 in court fees and restitution to Carver County, which placed the boy in foster care in March 2009.

Throughout the trial, Helmbolt maintained that the boy raped her and she was innocent. A jury of six women and six men were unconvinced.

* * * * *
Foster Mom Guilty of Doing Foster Son
[Previous 8/11/10 post]
(Prior Lake, Minnesota) A 47-year-old foster mother, Georgiana Glenn Helmbolt, was found guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting her 15-year-old foster son.

A Scott County jury deliberated for 90 minutes in finding Helmbolt guilty on three counts of first-degree sexual assault.

Helmbolt is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Rex D. Stacey on October 7. She faces a minimum 12 and a maximum 30 years in prison.

Kentucky Teacher Gets Prison in Sex Case - Updated

(Paris, Kentucky) Thirty-four-year-old teacher formerly at Bourbon County High School, Melissa Arnett, was sentenced to three years in prison for engaging in sex with a 15-year-old male student.

Melissa Arnett told the mother of the 15-year old teenage boy that she was sorry she betrayed the trust a teacher should have with her students and the community.

Police say Arnett had sex with the teen at least five times during a two month period when she taught him at Bourbon County High School.

Eventualities regarding probation terms and registration as a sex offender were not reported.

* * * * *
Kentucky Teacher Accused of Sex with Male Student
[Previous 7/14/09 post]
(Lexington, Kentucky) A 33-year-old special education teacher formerly at Bourbon County High School, Melissa Arnett, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sex with a 16-year-old male student at least five times during a two-month period.

Arnett faces a charge of sex abuse of a minor.

The boy's mother alerted authorities in June. When confronted with the allegations, Arnett reportedly confessed and resigned her teaching position.

Officers say Arnett often drove the student out of the county to have sex, but say she confessed to having sex once with him in Bourbon County.

Arnett was booked into custody and released this morning on $5,000 bail.

School Counselor Accused of Fondling Boy

(Fayetteville, North Carolina) A 36-year-old guidance counselor at J.W. Seabrook Elementary School, Rebecca Brooke Olson, was arrested yesterday for allegedly fondling a 14-year-old boy.

Olson faces one count of taking indecent liberties with a child.

According to court records, Olson knew the boy because he was a friend of her son’s and was on his wrestling team. Olson served as the team mom.

The boy told sheriff’s deputies that he began exchanging text messages with Olson over the summer. An encounter occured during a sleepover at Olson’s house, court documents said.

The teen said that while they sat on a couch watching movies, Olson covered both of them with a blanket and fondled him, the arrest report said. She also put his hand on part of her body, the report said.

According to the teen, the encounters happened more than two or three times but fewer than 10 times, court records said.

Lawmen say they found numerous text messages on the boy’s cell phone alluding to sexual encounters as well as tobacco and alcohol use.

Olson was booked into custody with bond set at $5,000.

Florida Pastor Gets Car for Not Burning Koran

Remember Terry Jones? He's the Florida pastor who planned on burning a Koran on "International Burn a Koran Day" but later changed his mind after receiving telephone calls from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and U.S. Army General David Petraeus.

Well, Pastor Jones was promised a brand new car from New Jersey dealership owner Brad Benson if he didn't burn a Koran.


 
Terry Jones -- Brad Benson
Although Jones claims he didn't know about the promise until after he canceled the burning, he called Benson and said he wanted the car.

"They said unless I was doing false advertising, they would like to arrange to pick up the car," Benson recalled.

At first he thought it was a hoax, so Benson asked Jones to send in a copy of his driver's license. He did.

So Jones didn't burn the book and gets a 2011 Hyundai Accent valued at $14,200. Heh.

Companion post at TJR.

Camp Counselor in Tent with Boys

(West Milford, New Jersey) A 23-year-old camp counselor, Jessica Fenton of Charlestown, R.I., has been arrested for sexually assaulting two teen boys, ages 16 and 17, in her tent.

Fenton faces two counts of second-degree sexual assault.

The boys, who are from Orange, N.J., were on a camping trip Aug. 7 and 8 at the Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center in Wawayanda State Park.

It's not known whether the boys were allegedly assaulted simultaneously or not.

Must not criticize an airline?

Ryanair is a British budget carrier:

"A website set up to criticise Ryanair has been shut down by an internet watchdog – because it proved so popular it earned its owner money. The founder of IHateRyanair.co.uk – whose strapline was ‘The World’s Most Hated Airline’ – was forced to surrender the web address after the budget carrier complained to the domain name dispute resolution service.

Yesterday the watchdog, called Nominet, ruled that the stinging criticism and passenger ‘horror stories’ published on the site were not sufficient grounds for it to be scrapped. However it ruled that a small profit made by Robert Tyler from sponsored links on the site meant he abused domain name rules.

Disgruntled passengers’ comments have filled the pages of the website since it was set up three years ago by Mr Tyler, of Walthamstow, East London.

Source

Weird: Criticism is not allowed if you make money out of it! A lot of blogs do a lot of criticizing and also have advertising on them. Are they in trouble? Thus is just a weak excuse to shut down criticism of a very arrogant business.

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

Woman Awarded for Looking Like Dog

(Gloucestershire, England) A 32-year-old farm assistant, Nicky Walton, has won a national competition as the woman who looks most like her dog. The award is given by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, a veterinary charity.



Nicky Walton and her lookalike dog, Tyler
Walton hesitantly acknowledged that she looked like a dog.

‘I wasn’t sure whether to take this award as a compliment or not at first but Tyler is a very handsome dog so I have decided I will,’ said the 32-year-old from Longhope, Gloucestershire.

‘I have had him since he was a puppy. He got me over the pain of a break-up and he follows me around wherever I go,’ she added.

‘I didn’t consciously choose him because he looked like me but he certainly does now.’

It's a rare occurrence for a woman to be happy about looking like a dog.

WV Woman Guilty of Sex with Boy

(Wheeling, West Virginia) A 28-year-old Newell woman, Michelle McAdams, has pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

When sentenced, McAdams faces a reported 95 years in prison for convictions on four counts of sexual abuse by a custodian and three counts of third-degree sexual assault.

The charges stem from accusations that McAdams and Michael Bull, 35, videotaped McAdams participating in sexual acts with a 15-year-old boy.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim told police that between November 2008 and April 2009, he had sexual intercourse with McAdams on multiple occasions, with Bull participating in some of the acts. The victim also alleged Bull had provided crystal methamphetamine, alcohol and performance enhancing drugs to the teenager before the sexual acts occurred, the report states. Evidence of the alleged encounters was found by investigators on the hard drive of Bull's personal computer.

The two were arrested again in June when an underage girl came forward alleging Bull and McAdams had committed sexual acts with her on four separate occasions from January 2008 to June 2009. The girl, who was then 8 years old, alleged Bull forced her to commit various sexual acts. In one incident, the girl said McAdams was present in the room. The girl told interviewers Bull also "made her breathe out of a pipe and she felt dizzy," the criminal complaint states.

Both McAdams and Bull await sentencing.

More here.

Child Sex Abuse in Cartoons

(Boise, Idaho) A report out of Idaho indicates that the federal government is going after people who download cartoons, anime, that depict child pornography.

The federal crime is "possession of visual representations of child sex abuse" and it's punishable by 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

I suspect that some folks may inadvertently download anime cartoons without giving much thought to the illegality of possessing "visual representations of child sex abuse." Rethinking would be appropriate.

Note that child porn is harshly treated by the feds and sentences of 20, 30, or more years in no-parole prison are not uncommon.

In any event, it would seem that making cartoons illegal, despite their contemptible nature, must raise constitutional questions. Maybe an expert legal mind could advise.

Florida Man Accused of Molestation

(Daytona Beach, Florida) A local man who identifies himself as a pastor and works as a hearse driver for a funeral home, Michael Charles Campbell, has been accused of molestation.

Campbell allegedly took young girls, 15 and 13 years old, to motels for naked modeling sessions.

Campbell has been charged with lewd and lascivious molestation and lewd and lascivious conduct.

Interestingly, Campbell reportedly convinced the girls to strip and let him fondle them with the story that he would help them land a lucrative modeling career and "it was how Brittany Spears and Beyonce got their start."

Tip: slwlion

Will posting comments on conservative internet sites put YOU on the government’s watch list?

We read:

"Several developments have occurred in recent days that indicate something as innocuous as visiting pro-gun rights websites that are critical of government Constitutional compliance, and especially participating in comments and forums, can results in heightened law enforcement scrutiny and even as a supporting criteria for "legal" intervention.

On Friday, I told WarOnGuns readers I was aware of a child welfare case in New Hampshire where one of the criterion for removing a child from its parents was an ostensible membership of the father in what protective services was characterizing as "a militia known as the Oath Keepers."

Long-time readers know we've discussed Oath Keepers--specifically not a militia group--many times, including attempts by the Department of Homeland Security, the Southern Poverty Law Center, opportunistic politicians, and certain media outlets to conflate them with violent haters.... It appears the father in question's tie to OathKeepers was that he commented on their forums.

Talk about chilling speech! If this is allowed to continue, it will chill the speech of not just Mr. Irish, but all Oath Keepers and it will serve as the camel under the tent for other associations being considered too risky for parents to dare. Thus, it serves to chill the speech of all of us, in any group we belong to that “officials” may not approve of.

Source

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

Man Shortage in Latvia


Latvian babes organizing search for men
(Riga, Latvia) Listen up, Misters! A report indicates that an abundance of women is looking for men in Latvia. Although female beauty and stylishness abound, there is a scarcity of decent men to notice.

Latvia has 8 percent more women than men.

Update your travel itineraries accordingly. You're welcome.

Tax Money Buys Condoms and Lube at Gay Bar

Everybody gets screwed by this deal. Taxpayers should be thankful that they are not paying for drinks.

I'm imagining that all patrons walking in will be handed a condom and a sampler envelope of KY Jelly emblazoned with "Courtesy of your taxpaying neighbors. Thanks for coming."

Or, maybe not.

Maggots Falling From the Ceiling

(Chesterfield, England) A 32-year-old woman "walked into her living room one morning to find a 'sea of maggots' covering the floor and dripping from her light fitting." It seems the guy who lived upstairs had died . . . a couple weeks earlier.

Granted, this story is of little interest for people who don't live in Chesterfield but I have to say that the image of maggots raining down from the ceiling just creeps me out. It's something you might expect in a Stephen King novel, not the news. I'll forever have the image in my memory.

By the way, people in the community had been complaining of a fishy smell in the neighborhood for a couple weeks.

There are pics at the link.

More local petty dictators who think that they can over-ride the constitution

We read:

"A South Carolina man says his constitutional rights have been violated after he was told by his local government to remove the Bible-themed signs he had posted on his property.

Oscar Moultrie says a Berkeley County, S.C., ordinance that requires residents to obtain government permission before putting up signs on their private property -- other than "for sale," "for rent," political signs, and a few other exceptions -- violates his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Moultrie says he received no complaints about his signs before the county ordered him in March to remove them or pay $25 to get a permit to post them.

In his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston, S.C., he is asking the court to issue an immediate injunction that bars enforcement of the ordinance and declares it unconstitutional.

Source

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

NY Woman Accused of Rape of Boy

(Kingston, New York) A 24-year-old local woman, Erica Laland, was arrested yesterday for allegedly raping a 16-year-old boy.

She has been charged with third-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child.

Deputies say they were called around 5 p.m. to a dispute between neighbors. The teenage boy lived in one of the homes. Investigating deputies determined that Erica Laland had sex with the boy earlier in the evening.

According to deputies, she knew a downstairs tenant in the home and had met the teenager, who lived with his parents upstairs.

Deputies believe the victim and Laland had been drinking.

Laland was booked into custody at the Sullivan County Jail with bail set at $2,500.

Protect the Doggers

(UK) British police officers have received a Hate Crime Guidance Manual which mandates that illegal outdoor sex participants, called doggers, must be protected from abuse and taunts to limit suffering from post-traumatic stress.

The illegal sex, involving primarily homosexual men, occurs in parks and other open areas, and quite often in public toilets.

According to the manual, arrest is mandated for anyone who abuses or taunts doggers while they are in public spaces and actively engaged in sex, sometimes euphemistically called hiding the kielbasa or pocketing the pepperoni.

Although it notes that outdoor sex can have an ‘impact on the quality of life of people using these locations for leisure pursuits’ - for example dog walkers and tourists - the rights of those cottaging, cruising or dogging must be taken into account by officers.

It states that even though ‘outdoor sex is unlawful’, people who take part in it still have rights which protect them from becoming victims of hate crime.

The manual, issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland last week, states that people who take part in open-air sex are ‘more susceptible to hate crime’ and can suffer ‘post traumatic stress and depression’ if they are abused, Police Review revealed.

In a nutshell, the police are instructed to generally ignore illegal public sex while quickly acting to apprehend anyone who abuses or taunts the participants.

Tip: AWH

Happy Meal Project

(NYC) Lovin' it long time.

Looking almost as fresh as the day it was bought, this McDonald's Happy Meal is in fact a staggering six months old.




Photographed every day for the past half a year by Manhattan artist Sally Davies the kids meal of fries and burger is without a hint of mould or decay.

Entitled 'The Happy Meal Project', Mrs Davies, 54, has charted the seemingly indestructible fast food meals progress as it refuses to yield to the forces of nature.

Looks dried out and it might be a bit chewy. And, although it's not very appetizing, it appears to have remained edible.

British city bans smiling

We read:

"A council has asked staff not to smile when dealing with parking complaints - as it may make drivers angrier.

Staff on induction training for the parking complaints team at Brighton and Hove Council were told a smile could make a row worse.

A spokeswoman at the Tory authority said: "The training is designed to help staff use body language that would not inflame the situation."

But Mark Turner, of the GMB union, scoffed: "I find this astounding. They should focus on useful training that employees really need."

Source

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

KY Teacher Beulah "Nikki" Sumner Gets Prison - Updated

Today, Beulah Nicole “Nikki” Sumner was sentenced to six years in prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years.

* * * * *
KY Teacher Guilty of Sex with Student - Updated
[Previous 7/12/10 post]
(Bowling Green, Kentucky) Thirty-five-year-old Beulah Nicole "Nikki" Sumner, a former Warren County special education teacher, pleaded guilty Monday to six counts of first-degree sexual abuse.

The convictions all stem from a relationship with one 17-year-old student at Warren East High School.

The prosecution seeks a six-year prison term for Sumner when sentenced. Registration as a sex offender and completion of sex offender treatment is also sought.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 20.

* * * * *
KY Teacher Accused of Sex with Student
[Previous 1/29/10 post]
(Bowling Green, Kentucky) A 35-year-old teacher formerly at Warren East High School, Beulah Nicole “Nikki” Sumner, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student.

Sumner faces three counts of first-degree felony sexual abuse.

Sumner was booked into custody at the Warren County Regional Jail with bond set at $10,000 cash. She is no longer employed by Warren County Public Schools.

Vendetta Against Gun Club

(Kitsap County, Washington) Local citizens are rallying around the local Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club (est. 1926) as the county prosecutor attempts, seemingly obsessed like a stalker, to shut it down.

Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Hauge, a Democrat, filed a complaint against a respected gun club just two months before he is up for reelection. His opponent is a member of that gun club.

Hauge has attempted to criminally prosecute the gun club three times already, but each time the charges were dismissed by a judge. Hauge has appealed. With the county suffering financially, some suspect Hauge is engaging in a political vendetta.

The Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club (KRRC) has been a landmark along Seabeck Highway in Kitsap County, Washington since 1926. Its website url is gunsafety.org, reflective of a long record of safe activity. It isn't an activist organization, just a family-friendly community shooting range serving the public.

On September 8, 2010, Kitsap County prosecutor Russ Hauge, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit against KRRC, alleging that it is a public nuisance which violates city and county ordinances.

It's been suggested that malice from prosecutor Hauge is the primary motivation for the legal attack on the gun club. I would agree.

A legal defense fund has been established. Help if you can.

Companion post at GunWatch.

Woman Accused of Stealing from Family

(Vero Beach, Florida) A 23-year-old local woman, Crystal Barrie, has been arrested by Indian River County Sheriff's deputies for alleged theft.

According to arrest records, Barrie stole more than $5,000 worth of electronics and jewelry, including an iPod and a laptop computer, from her parents' home.

Barrie's parents told detectives they believed their adult daughter stole the items while she was living at their home.

The stolen items were recovered from local pawn shops along with receipts bearing Barrie's signature.

Go East, Young Man!

(NYC) Editor of the Daily Beast, Tina Brown, is on record as advising young journalists to "go to work in India" because opportunities in the U.S. are at a "transitional moment."

Former NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw also advised young journalists to leave home. "I'd be looking to see what the chances are of getting a job in the Middle East, for example. Or in India."


 
Tina Brown -- Tom Brokaw
So, according to two media notables, if you want a job, "Go East!" (to India or the Middle East). Apologies to the ghost of Horace Greeley.

It could be argued that people leaving the U.S. to find jobs is 'outsourcing by default,' a bit different from the conventional understanding of outsourcing as jobs taken away from American workers and replaced by workers in another country. We aren't losing jobs to another country, we're losing workers.

Also arguable is that a similar circumstance, to a much greater degree, helped prompt the leadership of East Germany to build the Berlin Wall. Before the wall, Berlin was the route for teachers, technicians, skilled craftsmen and others to escape from misery behind the Iron Curtain. And, they did, in large numbers.

The point is that if the chances to pursue happiness are greater in a foreign nation, people will leave their homeland to take advantage of the opportunities. America, the recognized "Land of Opportunity" is not hiring. Go elsewhere.

Realistically, I don't ever foresee the U.S. becoming like the failed state of East Germany but I do see a disturbing trend. When was the last time anyone heard prominent Americans tell professional people that if they want jobs, get out of the United States? I know of no previous instance.

Heavy metal fan charged over T-shirt

This happened in my home State of Queensland, where speech laws are rarely enforced. But I suppose there are limits even in Queensland. Note that it was a more general law than a speech law under which he was prosecuted. I do think the guy brought it on himself. He clearly intended to offend and that will always risk retribution

"A heavy metal music fan could face six months in jail over an allegedly offensive T-shirt. Alexsei Vladmir Nikola, 34, was due to appear in court this morning on public nuisance charges after Brisbane police officers allegedly saw him wearing the shirt on George Street on May 6.

The shirt allegedly featured the words "Jesus is a c---" in large letters and shows a picture of a semi-naked, masturbating nun.

The offence of public nuisance is characterised by behaviour that interferes, or is likely to interfere with the peaceful passage through, or enjoyment of, a public place by a member of the public. The charge carries a maximum fine of $1000 or six months' jail.

SOURCE

What he did certainly seems to be covered by what he was charged with.

Australia has no first amendment but the High Court of Australia does recognize a fairly broad right to free speech. I think even in America this guy would successfully be prosecuted under obscenity laws.

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

Dutch Antilles Dissolves



From Reuters:

The former Dutch Caribbean colonies of Curacao and St. Maarten became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on Sunday in a change of constitutional status dissolving the Netherlands Antilles.

The two joined Aruba, which in 1986 had already gained this status that maintains direct ties with Holland, while three other islands, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, became autonomous special municipalities of the Netherlands in the dissolution of the 56-year-old Netherlands Antilles territory.

The Dutch government will still be responsible for defense and foreign relations for the new countries.

Top Scientist Outs Global Warming as Scam

Professor Emeritus of Physics, Hal Lewis of the University of California at Santa Barbara, has resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) where he has been a member for 67 years. According to his 10/8/10 letter of resignation:

For reasons that will soon become clear my former pride at being an APS Fellow all these years has been turned into shame, and I am forced, with no pleasure at all, to offer you my resignation from the Society.

It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist.

Don't expect to hear this news via the elite media.

Judge Rules Individual Mandate Is Constitutional

U.S. District Judge George Steeh has ruled as Constitutional the portion of ObamaCare mandating everybody must buy health insurance, the so-called individual mandate.

The decision stemmed from a lawsuit brought by a Christian legal group, the Thomas More Law Center, and four individuals who objected to a provision in the law that imposes a penalty on those who fail to buy or otherwise obtain health insurance.

The judge rejected their arguments that Congress has no authority to regulate those who opt out of the medical insurance market.

In nuts and bolts terms, Judge Steeh is a politically left-leaning jurist who arguably likes ObamaCare.

Here's more on Judge Steeh.

Yes, President Bush, America does miss you



Several months ago a huge billboard appeared near Wyoming, Minnesota, with a beaming photo of George W. Bush with the caption “Miss me yet?” The answer to that question is clearly yes, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll, which shows the former president staging a remarkable political recovery despite having largely disappeared from public life since leaving office:

"By 47 to 45 percent, Americans say Obama is a better president than George W. Bush. But that two point margin is down from a 23 point advantage one year ago."

“Democrats may want to think twice about bringing up former President George W. Bush’s name while campaigning this year,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

This has to be one of the most extraordinary political comebacks in decades. And as this week’s Washington Post/ABC News poll showed, nearly 25 percent of Democrats now believe “a return to Bush’s policies would be good,” a staggeringly high figure. As The Post reports:

"Obama and the Democrats have argued that if Republicans were to gain control of Congress, they would return to the policies of President George W. Bush. Two-thirds of Democrats share that view and say it would be bad for the country. But almost a quarter of Democrats say a GOP-led Congress would take the country in a new and better direction or say a return to Bush’s policies would be good."

The CNN poll is of course deeply humiliating for the White House, especially coming just three and a half weeks before the November mid-terms. George W. Bush’s resurgence is in large part due to mounting opposition to the Obama’s presidency’s left-wing agenda, but it is also spurred by Obama’s image as an out of touch, aloof and elitist president, divorced from economic and political reality on the ground.

A lot of Americans frankly miss the down-to-earth and significantly warmer leadership style promoted by President Bush, as well as his unfailing sense of optimism and heart-felt pride in America on the world stage. You certainly won’t ever find Bush apologising for his country or extending the hand of friendship to her enemies.

And when Bush’s memoir “Decision Points” is published on November 9th, I’m in no doubt it will storm The New York Times’ bestseller list riding a new wave of nostalgia for his time in office. George W. Bush is back in fashion with a vengeance, in marked contrast to his increasingly unpopular successor in the White House.

SOURCE

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

Lightning Kills Soccer Team

(Kinshasa, Congo) Reported by the BBC:

All 11 members of a football team were killed by a bolt of lightning which left the other team unhurt, a Congolese newspaper has reported.

Thirty other people received burns at the match in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kinshasa daily newspaper L'Avenir said local opinion - known to believe in charms and spells - was divided over whether someone had cursed the team.

The two sides were drawing 1-1 in the match in eastern Kasai Province when the lightning struck the visiting team.

The report hasn't been officially confirmed.

Huge Child Porn Bust in Spain

(Madrid, Spain) Spanish authorities have carried out scores of raids and arrested 57 people in an extensive child pornography network. An additional 47 people have been placed under investigation.

The operation used software developed by Norwegian police to detect people exchanging child pornography on peer-to-peer networks, which allow users to exchange files online directly between computers.

The network was shut down three days after it was uncovered, the police said.

Among those detained were two local police officers - one in the Basque region and one in the southern area of Andalusia.

Reported seizures included 328 hard drives, 40 laptops, 21 CPUs, two portable computers, hundreds of DVDs and CDs, 13 USB memory sticks and eight memory cards. Users were identified by employing NordicMule software developed by Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service.

Facebook Troll Convicted for Sick Comments

Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court is pondering a case involving extremely offensive behavior of Westboro Baptist Church members who regularly picket at soldiers' funerals. The perplexing question is how to put a damper on Westboro's offensive acts while not infringing upon the right to free speech. Everyone awaits the SCOTUS ruling.

Meanwhile, there's a somewhat similar case in Britain.

A pervert who trawled the internet leaving obscene messages on tribute sites for dead people is facing prison after being brought to court under a rarely-used law.

Unemployed Colm Coss found Facebook memorials to victims of high-profile tragedies around the world - and defaced them with horrific sexual slurs.

His targets included a site dedicated to Jade Goody, the reality TV star who died of cancer.

He was prosecuted under the Communications Act 2003, which governs all 'communications networks' including internet, email, mobile phone calls and text messages.

Coss,of Langport Avenue, Ardwick, also posted sick comments about a car crash victim in Australia, and a dead baby in the United States.

Coss, targeted the sites purely for his own amusement and to get a reaction, Manchester magistrates were told.

He was only caught when he sent residents on his street photos of himself saying he was an internet 'troll' – a term used to describe someone who posts offensive comments to upset or provoke a reaction from others.

The neighbours rang police.

When Coss was arrested, he admitted the offense.

What a scumbag. He did it for amusement.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for later this month. I suggest a nice lengthy stretch in jail.

"Inappropriately-directed laughter" again

We read:

"A New Zealand television station has come in for fresh criticism over its handling of breakfast host Paul Henry's Indian slurs after it continued prominently to feature a clip on its website in which he ridicules the name of Commonwealth Games troubleshooter Sheila Dikshit.

TVNZ has received at least four complaints about the clip, in which Henry deliberately mispronounces Dikshit, despite being told it is said "Dixit". He also says the name "Dick Shit" is "so appropriate" because she is Indian.

The Dikshit clip - which now appears to have been removed - was promoted on the Video Extras section of TVNZ's website under the heading "Paul Henry laughs about the name Dikshit". "The dip shit woman. God, what's her name? Dick Shit. Is it Dick Shit ... it looks like 'Dick Shit'," Henry says through bouts of laughter.

Source

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

Pennsylvania Mom Gets Prison in Sex Case

(Ebensburg, Pennsylvania) A sobbing, 27-year-old Johnstown mother-of-three, Donna Jean Hoyt, was sentenced by Judge Linda Fleming to one to two years in prison for a sexual relationship she had with a 14-year-old boy who fathered her child.

Hoyt had pleaded guilty last March to statutory sexual assault.

Donna Jean Hoyt, 27, told the judge that the boy had been “hanging around” and that the relationship started in 2007 when she was going through “personal problems.”

Hoyt, who had two other children, said that at the time she had “just lost my house, and my husband left me.”

But Assistant District Attorney Wayne Langerholc said that the Johnstown police, in a probable cause affidavit, alleged that the husband left after he had become suspicious about his wife’s relationship with the youth.

The relationship continued for six months, Langerholc said.

Hoyt was also ordered to pay $1,000 in fines.

Texas Teacher Gets Probation in Sex Case - Updated

(Fort Worth, Texas) This week, 30-year-old Emily Elizabeth Housley pleaded guilty to engaging in an improper relationship between an educator and student, a second-degree felony.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, a sexual assault charge was dropped.

For the conviction, Judge Elizabeth Berry of Criminal District Court No. 3 sentenced Housley to seven years of probation and prohibited her from ever teaching again.

The teaching prohibition does not include participating in activities at her own children's schools, he said.

Before she was sentenced, Housley completed a sex offender evaluation, a standard condition in such cases, Nickols said. She was not ordered to attend sex offender counseling, he said.

Nickols said the student's family did not attend Housley's sentencing but was consulted about the plea agreement.

Given that the sexual relations between Housley and the boy occurred at several locations, including the school, and endured for an extended period of time, I contend that some time behind bars is warranted. The court obviously disagrees.

* * * * *
Texas Teacher Arrested for Sex with Boy
[Previous 7/11/09 post]
(Fort Worth, Texas) On June 30, a math teacher at North High School, Emily Elizabeth Housley, was caught by Fort Worth police with a 16-year-old boy in a public park after curfew. She was cited for the curfew violation and, subsequently, the Fort Worth school system launched an investigation of the incident. Housley then resigned.

This week, the 16-year-old boy's mother alerted police to the fact that her son had admitted to engaging in sex with Housley, a married mother-of-two. Last night, Housley was arrested for alleged sexual assault of a child and booked into custody.

According to Detective T.L. Howard, Housley had been flirting with the boy since early this year, before he turned 16.

By April, after the boy had turned 16, the relationship evolved into sexual encounters — the first occurring inside Housley’s classroom after school hours, Howard said.

The sexual encounters continued — at the school, in Housley’s car, at her mother’s home, and at Housley’s Saginaw home when her husband and children were away, Howard said. After school let out for the summer, he said, Housley met the teen at his Fort Worth house while he was alone.

"She was going to a teacher conference that was near his house, and she was going over there on her lunch breaks and having sex with him," Howard said.

If true, it appears that the sexual relations were rabbit-like and not the result of a temporary lapse in judgment.

By the way, congratulations are in order since today (7/11) is reportedly Housley's birthday. She is 29.

Texas Teacher's Aide Accused of Sex Crime

(Conroe, Texas) A 22-year-old teacher's aide at Magnolia West High School, Krystal Bernard, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly engaging in an improper relationship with a student by sexual contact.

The student reportedly attends MWHS.

An improper relationship with a student by sexual contact is a second-degree felony, punishable by a prison term of two to 20 years and a fine up to $10,000.

An improper relationship with a student by sexual contact is defined by the state Penal Code as when an employee of a public or private primary or secondary school comes in contact with a student improperly.

First Assistant District Attorney Phil Grant confirmed Bernard’s arrest and said the DA’s Office has up to 90 days to seek an indictment with a grand jury.

Bernard was booked into custody and later released on $5,000 bond.

Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo

(Oslo, Norway) The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Chinese pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo and the leadership in Beijing is not amused.

In China, broadcasts of CNN, which is available in tourist hotels, upmarket foreign hotels and places where foreigners gather, went black during the Nobel announcement and when reports about the award later aired.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the award should have gone to promoting international friendship and disarmament.

“Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law,” it said. Awarding the peace prize to Liu “runs completely counter to the principle of the prize and is also a blasphemy to the peace prize.”

It said the decision would damage bilateral relations between China and Norway. It did not give any details.

Interesting, eh? Congratulations to Mr. Xiaobo who is stuck in a Chinese prison doing an 11-year stretch for writing about free speech and multi-party elections.

MS: Judge jails attorney for not reciting government loyalty oath

Compelled speech is not free speech, compelled loyalty is no loyalty and compelled respect is no respect

"A Mississippi judge ordered an attorney to spend several hours in jail Wednesday after the attorney chose not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in court.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn told a court audience to rise and say the pledge. People in the courtroom said Danny Lampley of Oxford stood but did not say the words.”

Source

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

Ohio Woman Gets Prison in Sex Case

(Zanesville, Ohio) A 41-year-old local woman, Lisa A. Hutchison, has pleaded guilty in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old boy.

According to Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor Bob Smith, Hutchison and the boy engaged in multiple sexual episodes (5) between April 4 and April 19, 2009.

As a result, Hutchison was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to register as a Tier II sexual offender.

Vermont Woman Pleads in Sex Case - Updated

(St. Albans, Vermont) This week, 39-year-old Lisa Lavallee pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of felony lewd and lascivious conduct with a child in accordance with an agreement with the prosecution.

Lavallee was originally charged with felony sex assault for reportedly being caught in bed with a 16-year-old boy by the boy's uncle.

Lavallee had faced three years to life in prison, but under the plea agreement – approved yesterday by Judge Mark Keller – she received a suspended sentence of two to eight years, plus probation.

Lavallee has a strict list of 16 special probationary conditions, including a requirement that prevents her from having contact with males under 16, unless approved in advance by her probation officer, and under the supervision of an adult that her probation officer also approves.

Lavallee must also avoid buying or drinking alcohol and cannot visit places where alcohol sales are a primary business, such as bars. She must also undergo counseling for alcohol and her sex offense.

She will also be listed on the Vermont Sex Offender Registry.

So, it appears that Lavallee will get to go home.

* * * * *
Vermont Woman Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 8/17/09 post]
(Richford, Vermont) A 38-year-old Enosburg woman, Lisa Lavallee, has been accused of allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

According to the Northwest Unit for Special Investigations, the sexual episode occurred at a residence in Richford. Lavallee faces a charge of sexual assault.

A court appearance has been scheduled for August 24 in Franklin District Court in St. Albans.

Racist black judge

He judged a man by the colour of his skin rather than by the content of his character

A black judge from western Pennsylvania rejected a plea agreement for a man accused of fighting with police during a traffic stop, saying it was "a ridiculous plea that only goes to white boys."

The plea agreement was for a sentence of three months probation. Allegheny County Judge Joseph Williams said on Tuesday that a black defendant in that situation would not have been treated as leniently.

In court, Williams told Assistant District Attorney Brian Catanzarite that he "for some reason comes up with I think ridiculous pleas whenever it's a young white guy," according to The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I'm just telling you what my observation is. If this had been a black kid who did the same thing, we wouldn't be talking about three months' probation."

Catanzarite responded that he was standing in for another prosecutor and didn't broker the plea deal. "Now that the court has essentially called me a racist, I think that's unfair. I don't make offers based on race. I make offers based on facts," Catanzarite said, according to the Tribune-Review.

Williams later recused himself from the case, and a white judge accepted the plea agreement for 24-year-old Jeffery McGowan.

The defendant, who had no criminal record, agreed to plead guilty to disorderly conduct. He had faced charges including aggravated assault.

Williams' secretary on Wednesday told The Associated Press the judge does not give interviews. The Allegheny County district attorney's office did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Mike Manko, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, told the Tribune-Review the plea deal was appropriate and agreed to by the officer, who was not injured. "Negotiated pleas are never based on the race of a particular defendant but rather on the behavior of the defendant and the facts associated with that behavior," Manko told the newspaper.

"The assistant district attorneys who handled this plea on behalf of the commonwealth have outstanding reputations, and we firmly stand behind their integrity and the integrity of all of our prosecutors."

SOURCE

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

Florida Woman Accused of Multiple Child Sex Offenses

(Lee County, Florida) A 31-year-old local woman, Candice Marie Miller, was arrested yesterday for multiple child sex offenses stemming from an investigation into her involvement with child porn.

Miller faces felony counts of sex assault by a custodian on a victim between the ages of 12 and 18, felony counts of incest, felony counts of child fondling by a person over the age of 18, and felony counts of fondling a victim between the ages of 12 and 16.

Investigators were able to obtain images of Miller performing oral sex on a juvenile male and of her naked with the juvenile.

Another image was obtained of a nude juvenile female and her brother nude on a bed, according to the report.

During the investigation, detectives found 1,000 pictures depicting child pornography showing juvenile victims, according to the report.

Miller was booked into custody at the Lee County Jail.

EU Mandates Breastfeeding Time for Men

Under the pernicious philosophy that men and women are biologically equal because they are equal under the law, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has ruled that men, in addition to women, must get time off from work every day for breastfeeding an infant.

The ruling resulted from a complaint by a Spaniard who said something like, "[sniff, sniff] Boo-hoo, she gets time off. Why don't I?"

Members of the court pontificated about equal rights between men and women before sheltering their obviously over-stressed intellects in the sphinctered comfort of ideology.

Of course, the simple fix would be for the breastfeeding issue to be exclusively a parenting concern, not an employer-employee concern, nor the government's nor the court's.

Campbell's Halal-Certified Foods

Campbell Company of Canada has entered a certification agreement with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) to produce Halal foods. Look for this label when buying Campbell's products.

 


Notably, a special agency has been created just to handle the volume of Halal food certifications in Canada.

It's presently not known if the Halal foods trend at Campbell will affect a particular favorite of mine, Campbell's Pork and Beans. If the product is going to continue to be offered, it would seem that a separate facility will have to be built, away from all the Halal-certified production plants.

Tip: KLS

California Teacher Gets Jail in Sex Case - Updated

(Fresno, California) Maria Vega was sentenced yesterday to 180 days in the Fresno County Jail and three years probation.

* * * * *
California Teacher Guilty of Unlawful Sex - Updated
[Previous 7/13/10 post]
(Fresno, California) Thirty-five-year-old Maria Angelica Vega, former teacher at Kerman High School, pleaded no contest to unlawful sexual intercourse yesterday for engaging in sex with a 17-year-old male student.

Vega originally pleaded not guilty but changed her plea to avoid a trial and a possible four years in prison.

Attorney Richard Beshwate, who represented Vega, said she changed her plea because "she admits she made a horrible decision" to have sex with a minor. "She's been forthright about what happened."

Vega no longer is employed at Kerman High, where she taught language arts to English learners for less than three years.

She does not plan to teach in the future, Beshwate said. "The classroom is not a good place for her to be."

Beshwate said Vega has mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, that "complicated her decision-making."

Sentencing is scheduled for July 28. Vega remains free on $50,000 bail.

* * * * *
California Teacher Arrested for Sex with Male Student
[Previous 11/11/09 post]
(Fresno, California) A 34-year-old English teacher at Kerman High School, Maria Angelica Vega, was arrested this week for allegedly engaging in sex with a 17-year-old male student.

Vega reportedly confessed to having a sexual relationship with the student. Investigators stated there is no evidence that the sexual episode(s) occurred on school grounds.

Rumors among students apparently became known to school officials who alerted the police.

Vega was the coach for the girls junior varsity soccer team and taught English to Spanish-speaking students. She was booked into custody and later released. Formal charges have yet to be filed by prosecutors.

Dutch politician's hate speech trial suspended after he attacks biased judge

We read:

"Geert Wilders, the anti-Islam politician, told a Dutch court that he stood by his opinions that the Koran is a "fascist book" and Islam is as dangerous as Nazism, as he went on trial for inciting racial hatred.

Last year, the Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that, despite the case being dropped by prosecutors, that it considered "criminal prosecution obvious for the insult of Islamic worshippers" being compared to Nazis.

However, proceedings were suspended for 24 hours, after Mr Wilders demanded that the court's presiding judge be replaced.

After an opening statement by Mr Wilders, Bram Moszkowicz, his lawyer told the court that the defendant would exercise his right to silence and would not answer questions during the trial.

Jan Moors, the presiding judge then noted that Mr Wilders has been accused of being "good in taking a stand and then avoiding a discussion" of the issue. "By remaining silent, it seems you're doing that today as well," he said.

Attacking "scandalous" remarks, Mr Wilders and his lawyers asked for the court to be dissolved. "With this presiding judge and such a panel of judges, a fair trial isn't possible anymore," he said.

If the court rules in favour of the objections, new judges will need to be appointed, delaying proceedings.

"I am on trial, but on trial with me is the freedom of expression of many Dutch citizens," he said.

Source

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

Dumb Criminals

(Boca Raton, Florida) Suspected burglars robbed a home and, while police swarmed the neighborhood, they called a cab to make their getaway.

The taxi driver noticed all the flashing lights and immediately stopped to talk to the police. He said he suspected his fare could be the guys the police were looking for.

Officers surrounded the home and ordered the suspects to surrender. They did.

Video at the link.

Vacation with Blondes



"Come, vacation with us."
A holiday resort in the Maldives Islands is operated by a Lithuanian company employing blonde women exclusively. Even the airplane pilots on direct flights to the island are blondes.

The company is named Olialia, pronounced "ooh-la-la," which obviously specializes in old-fashioned hubba-hubba.

[Update] According to Olialia managing director Giedre Pukiene,

"When women with dark hair work here, they are surrounded by all these beautiful blondes, so eventually they end up going blonde too," Olialia managing director Giedre Pukiene (a blonde) told the BBC, citing her company's desire to break the airhead stereotype.

"Our girls are very smart and they have degrees.

"All of them want to do something with their lives. They have lots of business ideas."

In opposition, critics contend that the blondes-only policy is racist, it violates local hiring laws and it is contrary to European Union discrimination laws.

I disagree with the critics. Arguably, smart, degreed blondes are endangered and deserving of their own protected habitat at a resort in the Maldives. (more….)

Companion post at TJR.

Coldest Winter in 1,000 Years

According to a report from European/Russian weather forecasters.




Blame for the anticipated freezing weather is attributed to a weakening of the Gulf Stream which has recently shrunk in half. Authorities are implementing measures to handle colder weather such as checking heating systems and planning on what to do with homeless people.

Social-Media-Era Green Stamps

Proctor & Gamble has launched a program to promote sustainability.

Procter & Gamble Co. is backing a first-of-its-kind effort to reward consumers for learning and blogging about environmental sustainability as it also underwrites a Cincinnati program to give people points redeemable for goods based on how much they recycle.

P&G's multi-brand Future Friendly program will sponsor incentives for people to sign up with RecycleBank, a sort of electronic "Green Stamps" that gives people points redeemable for local merchants or merchandise when they recycle through curbside collection programs. Other marketers, such as Verizon in Philadelphia and Safeway in San Francisco, have similarly sponsored RecycleBank rewards, but P&G is the first to add a nationwide educational and social-media component to its sponsorship.

Call me skeptical, but I see this as a recruiting and indoctrination program for training useful individuals to become customers for typically overpriced and marginally-effective "green" products.

SoCal Mom Gets Jail in Sex Case - Updated

(Santa Ana, California) Thirty-eight-year-old Debra Ayala pleaded guilty yesterday to engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy which resulted in a pregnancy and birth of child.

Debra Ayala pleaded guilty to a felony lewd act with a child 14 or 15 years old, oral copulation with someone younger than 16, and unlawful sexual intercourse, according to court records.

Under the terms of the plea deal with prosecutors, three of the same counts were dismissed, Ayala's attorney Michael L. Guisti said.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Erick Larsh sentenced Ayala to 365 days in an Orange County jail and three years of probation.

She must also register as a sex offender, according to Deputy District Attorney Jess Rodriguez, who negotiated the plea deal.

The boy's family has custody of the child, a girl. Ayala is seeking visitation rights.

Sadly, Ayala's inability to resist the charms of an adolescent boy has resulted in irreparable harm to two families. There will be scars.

* * * * *
SoCal Woman, 38, and Boy, 15, Have Baby
[Previous 3/26/10 post]
(Santa Ana, California) A 38-year-old married, mother-of-four, Debra Ayala Tapia, was arrested this week for allegedly engaging in a long-term sexual relationship with a 15-year-old neighbor boy. Also, her fourth child was confirmed by DNA testing to be the son of the neighbor boy.

"They lived in the same neighborhood. He's known her since he was a small child," said Santa Ana Police Corporal Anthony Bertagna.

The alleged acts happened in the 38-year-old's home in Santa Ana when the boy was only 15. Police suspect they were having sex twice every weekend for several months. Other people live in the house.

"The suspect lived there with her husband and three children, ages 7 to 17," said Bertagna.

Officers contacted by the alleged victim's mother this month. It comes after Tapia had given birth to a baby girl last November.

"The victim's mother had a DNA test performed and it turned out this child belonged to her son," said Bertagna.

Authorities say several months before, the victim's mother told Tapia to stop after she found letters from the woman in the room of her now 16-year-old son.

Tapia was booked into custody and subsequently bonded out by her husband.

Al Gore Heckled During Global Warming Speech

Crowd chants "you are a fraud!" - "global warming is hoax!" during Al Gore's global warming speech in Tampa




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

NY Woman Walks in Sex Case - Updated

(Port Byron, New York) Thirty-one-year-old Tonya Hickey pleaded guilty yesterday in Cayuga County Court to a single misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare a child after court officials said there was insufficient evidence to support the initial case.

As a result, Hickey was sentenced to one-year conditional discharge.

Hickey's case was supposed to go to trial later this month, court officials said.

"There was no physical evidence, there was a 1.5 year delay in reporting the case, the victim has been in and out of placement and the victim was reluctant to testify," said District Attorney Jon Budelmann, as he discussed the challenges facing the prosecution. "I don't blame him. He didn't want to talk about these sex offenses in front of strangers."

Hickey was originally charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of third-degree sexual abuse and one count each of first-degree rape and second-degree rape, all felonies, in addition to endangering the welfare of a child.

Without the boy's testimony, there was no case.

* * * * *
New York Woman Arrested for Sex with Boy
[Previous 12/17/09 post]
(Port Byron, New York) A 30-year-old local woman, Tonya Hickey, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 14-year-old boy. She has been charged with felony rape and misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

The boy's social worker alerted the authorities. Sexual intercourse between the boy and Hickey allegedly occurred at her home in September 2008.

Hickey was booked into custody at the Cayuga County Jail with bail set at $10,000 or $20,000 bond.

Six Terror Suspects Killed by Indonesian Police

(Jakarta, Indonesia) On Saturday, Indonesian Police raided an Islamist hideout on Sumatra island and killed four terrorist suspects. On Sunday, police offed two more.

Four suspects were killed and a policeman injured in a gunbattle on Saturday on an oil-palm plantation in Dolok Sagala village in North Sumatra province, provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno said.

Two more were killed on Sunday, he said in an update to reporters.

“The [sixth] suspect was shot dead after he tried to throw a hand grenade at the police. The grenade then exploded near him,” he added.

Earlier, he said the suspects had put up a fight during the raid and police had “fired a warning shot but they continued to resist.”

Meanwhile,

An Indonesian minister on Monday urged security forces to capture terror suspects alive unless they are armed or resist arrest, an apparent attempt to answer critics who say an unnecessarily high number of suspects are killed by anti-terror police.

The comments by Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar came after six suspected Islamic militants were gunned down and seven arrested during joint police and army operations over the weekend in Sumatra.

Apparently, the kill-to-capture ratio is too high -- one death for every four arrests. Human rights activists are concerned.

Geert Wilders on Trial

(Amsterdam, Netherlands) The trial of Dutch MP Geert Wilders began this morning and then was adjourned shortly afterward. Mr. Wilders called on the judges to recuse themselves.

"We will now retire to consider" Wilders' application, said judge Frans Bauduin, the chairman of a special panel of judges hastily convened to hear the recusal bid that interrupted Wilders' trial.

A ruling on the recusal is to be made at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) on Tuesday, said Bauduin.

Wilders, 47, risks up to a year in jail or a 7,600-euro fine for calling Islam "fascist" and likening the Koran to Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Wilders faces charges of "giving religious offense" and inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

I suggest that provisions for "giving religious offense" to Muslims or any other faith should have no home in modern criminal law.

Furthermore, making it illegal to offend Muslims is plain nuts since it could be argued that Muslims have empirically shown that they can be offended by virtually every aspect of Western civilization.

No sausage jokes!

Britain:

"Strictly Come Dancing was hit by a string of viewers’ complaints following a quip directed at judge Craig Revel Horwood by contestant Paul Daniels.

Dozens of viewers contacted the BBC to protest after Daniels, 72, told Revel Horwood not to give up ‘his day job tasting sausages’ on the first show of the new series.

The Australian-born judge, 45, has openly talked about his homo­sex­uality in the past and his life with partner Grant MacPherson.

Many viewers assumed Daniels was taunting him about his sex­uality and vented their fury on a BBC website and on Twitter.

But it appeared last night that Daniels was actually referring to Revel Horwood’s upcoming role promoting British Sausage Week, which is launched on November 1.

Daniels, himself a former frontman of Sausage Week, wrote: ‘Media this morn trying to make me homophobic. Crazy. Why do journos and editors want to live in a nasty world of their own creation.’

Source

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

Useful Idiots And Usual Suspects

Historian Paul Kengor clearly loves the research aspect of writing. His latest book bears witness to how digging for detail can yield not only clues to the past, but insights for the present. His recently released 600-page tome, Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives For A Century, complete with more than 1,500 detailed supporting notes, is a case in point.

Dr. Kengor is a professor of political science at Grove City (Pennsylvania) College and the executive director its excellent Center for Vision and Values. His prolific pen has produced past bestsellers such as, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism. Now, with Dupes, he has written the most exhaustive and definitive account of Communism’s 20th century assault on America to date. It is a story that flows with virtual seamlessness into the defining conflict of the new century and millennium—the threat of Islamism. Though the ideologies are vastly different and even the methodologies used in propagation don’t always resemble each other, the Communist threat of the Cold War and before, as well as the current conflict with Islamism, have one clear and sad thing in common.

Our enemies have been aided and abetted by liberal dupes.

That’s right, the names and faces change over time, but the gullibility and culpability of the ever-present usual suspects of American liberalism continue to provide cover for our enemies, as was the case—now completely documented—from 1917 to 1989. In fact, Kengor makes it clear that our real enemy for nearly a century now has been the “anti-anti” mindset. First, it was “anti-anti-communism,” which is alive and well in college history departments across the country, now it is “anti-anti-Islamism,” which ignores an obviously concrete threat in favor of the nebulous mirage of “anti-Islamophobia.”

More HERE

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

Rikers Island Guard Shot by Cops

(Bronx, New York) This incident could have ended much worse.

Department of Correction officer Victor Hernandez was shot by cops in the Bronx yesterday after he refused to lower his weapon outside of a Bronx club.

Hernandez, 35, was thrown out of Club Legend on 161st Street early Saturday morning after allegedly making a pass at another man's girlfriend, and pedestrians called 911 after seeing him stumbling down the block with his gun at his side.

Plainclothes cops arrived and ordered Hernandez to drop his weapon. Hernandez raised his gun, and police fired 20 shots at him. They hit him in the arm once.

Rather than recommend the responding officers go and requalify at the shooting range, I'd suggest they were trying to defuse the situation without a fatality. Think about it, how many NYPD officers want a reputation as the guy who killed a fellow cop?

Companion post at GunWatch.

Using Drones To Counter IEDs

A military task force tries a new method against bombers in Afghanistan

American commanders in Afghanistan are for the first time systematically using aerial drones to kill militants planting roadside bombs, the low-tech, low-cost weapon that has emerged as the biggest threat to U.S. and coalition forces throughout the country. The shift, the details of which have not been reported previously, represents a sharp escalation in the military's ongoing fight against improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, which account for nearly 60 percent of coalition battle deaths in Afghanistan.

The push is being led by a new military unit called Task Force Falcon Strike. It began operating in southern Afghanistan late last year and expanded over the summer to eastern Afghanistan, a violent, insurgent-dominated area along the porous border with Pakistan.

In recent weeks, Falcon Strike drones have been targeting bomb-planters in the eastern provinces of Ghazni and Logar, according to a Defense official with knowledge of the group's activities. Between June 27 and July 7, Falcon Strike helped kill at least 26 militants burying IEDs in the two areas, while also reducing the number of roadside bombs there by 62 percent, the Defense official said.

Falcon Strike is working closely with Task Force ODIN, a once-secret Army unit that has been at the forefront of the military's fight against IEDs in both Iraq and Afghanistan. ODIN drones and aircraft killed hundreds of bomb-planters in Iraq, but in Afghanistan, the task force had been limited for years to what amounted to a pure surveillance mission. ODIN drones monitored key Afghan roads for signs of new bombs, but the robotic aircraft weren't being used to target individual militants.

That's all changing, according to senior military officials. Lt. Gen. Michael Oates, who heads the military's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, said in an interview that drones were now being used for "find, fix, finish" missions designed to kill bomb-planters or to help ground units track and arrest them.

More HERE

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

Pregame Prayers at Pee Wee Football Games Are Out of Bounds, Florida father Says

We read:

"Football and prayer don't belong in the same backfield, says a Florida dad who wants his hometown to stop a Pee Wee football league from having kids perform voluntary pregame prayers.

Louie Fromm, an assistant coach for the Holmes County Pee Wee Football Association, formally requested on Monday that the Vernon, Fla., City Council end the league's traditional 50-yard-line pregame prayer ritual, alleging that his and his son's First Amendment rights are being violated.

League officials say they are a private organization that takes no government money, and the city has no right to prevent them from saying prayers on the field before games. But Fromm says the league may be private, but the field on which it plays its games isn't. It's public property, Fromm says, and the city must order the pregame prayers to stop.

Source

The league could well decide that it doesn't want his kid -- and then there would be no-one to be offended by the prayers. The father is just using his kid as a tool, which is pretty low.

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

Teacher Sentenced for Skipping with Boy - Updated

(Carlsbad, New Mexico) Last month, Melinda Beth Bridges, 33, pleaded guilty in Carlsbad District Court to contributing to the delinquency of a minor for running away with a 16-year-old male student in May 2009.

This week, Bridges was sentenced.

She was sentenced to serve one year and five months in the custody of the New Mexico Corrections Department, followed by one year on parole with the remaining three months of the sentence suspended.

Upon release from custody, Bridges will be on three months of supervised probation.

It's not known whether Bridges will be required to register as a sex offender.

* * * * *
New Mexican Teacher Charged After Skipping with Boy
[Previous 5/28/09 post]
(Carlsbad, New Mexico) A 31-year-old substitute teacher at Jefferson Montessori Academy, Melinda Beth Bridges, was arrested earlier this month while on the run with a 16-year-old boy, a student with whom she is accused of engaging in sex.

Carlsbad Police investigators received a complaint on May 1st that Bridges was engaging in an affair with the 16-year-old.

When investigators interviewed the two, both denied having a sexual relationship. The next day, they went missing and continued so for five days. On May 7th, Bridges was apprehended at a traffic stop in Webster Parish, Louisiana.

Bridges, who is married with children, was initially booked into custody at the Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center. Arrangements were made for the boy's return to New Mexico.

Upon Bridges' apparent return to New Mexico, she appeared before Judge Richard Van Dyk and entered no plea to fourth-degree criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Bridges may also face charges in Louisiana.

Judge Van Dyk released Bridges on her own recognizance and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 15.

NY Daycare Teacher Faces Drug Charges

(Tonawanda, New York) A 39-year-old daycare teacher at Ripen With Us Child Care, Carry Jo Cleary, has been accused of drug possession.

Drugs were found in her car when she was stopped by detectives on the way to work yeterday.

According to Tonawanda Police Lt. Nick Bado,

"They called our K-9 Unit. K-9 Unit hit on the car. It's a drug dog named "Tank" that we have and the drugs were all located within the car," said Lt. Bado.

Police say they found 31 individually packaged rocks of crack cocaine, so much that she was charged with felony possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Lt. Bado explained, "Just due to the large amount, the way they were packaged other things that make that qualify."

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

Democrat Senator wants to use IRS to shut down speech

Although U.S. tax law discriminates against various groups (such as churches) by limiting what they can say, that would seem to run counter to the 1st Amendment. So the Democrats might get a nasty surprise if they push the matter so hard that it ends up in SCOTUS

"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus sent a serious shot across the bows of the growing ranks of groups, most of them on the right, playing aggressively in elections under non-profit 501(c)4 and (c)6 status, with a letter asking that the IRS commissioner examine them for violations of tax law.

A central, and endlessly complicated, legal question is whether an organization's "primary purpose" is politics, and many find ways to spend 51% of their money, for instance, on policy campaigns. Different lawyers have offered different advice to groups on where, exactly, the line is -- but many, like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Job Security, are operating under different versions of the non-profit status to both advertise in elections and keep their donors secret.

The IRS should examine whether the groups' "political activities reach a primary purpose level" and "whether they are acting as conduits for major donors advancing their own private interests regarding legislation or political campaigns, or are providing major donors with excess benefits."

Source

The Left NEED censorship and control of information. Reality is too pesky for them.

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

Carolina Teacher Arrested for Meth in Pants

(North Augusta, South Carolina) Last month, a 33-year-old teacher at Mossy Creek Elementary School, Sarah McKinnon, was arrested on drug charges stemming from an incident where officers found methamphetamine in her pants.

McKinnon and her former brother-in-law, Steven McKinnon, of Pineview Drive in North Augusta, were arrested by North Augusta Public Safety officers in the early morning hours of Sept. 10 when officers spotted their blue Suzuki SUV stopped without any taillights along U.S. Hwy 25 and Edgewood Drive.

Steven admitted to officers that his license was suspended, but the officers' K-9 drug dog sniffed out drug paraphernalia during a search of the vehicle, including a glass pipe and scale.

A female deputy was called in to search McKinnon, where she found a silver tin near the teacher's crotch of her pants containing four clear plastic bags containing methamphetamine. Another bag also had three Xanax pills, according to the incident report.

Steven told officers that he made McKinnon hide the container on her so the drugs would not be found on him.

Both McKinnons were booked to face charges of possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession with intent to distribute.

Drugs Smelled Then Found in Buttocks

(Bradenton, Florida) A 25-year-old man, Raymond Stanley Roberts, was arrested Wednesday for drug possession after officers smelled marijuana during a traffic stop, conducted a search and found a baggie of dope between Roberts' butt cheeks.

Officers then discovered another bag in there; the report says it contained 27 pieces of rock cocaine.

Roberts admitted to the marijuana but denied ownership of the cocaine found "in there."

Roberts was booked into custody and later released on bond.

Tip: slwlion

Holiday Packages to Troops

Via Blackfive:

The holiday season is right around the corner and we want to remind friends and families to mail early to ensure delivery of holiday cards and packages by December 25 to APO/FPO/DPO destination addresses.

As a reminder, all mail addressed to overseas military/diplomatic Post Offices is subject to certain conditions or restrictions regarding content, preparation and handling.

Check here for a schedule of mail-by dates and restrictions.

NJ Teacher Accused of Murder

(Irvington, New Jersey) A 31-year-old audio/video production teacher at Irvington High School, Sharonda Wilson, was arrested yesterday for allegedly plunging a kitchen knife into the heart of her live-in boyfriend, Erik Stubblefield, 38.

Wilson faces murder and weapons charges.

“She said he was upset with her,” after he confronted her with his suspicions that she was cheating on him, said Irvington police Lt. Tracy Bowers.

Although Wilson told Stubblefield that his suspicions were baseless, “the confrontation got physical and her charged her,” Bowers said Wilson told investigators. “She then used a knife to defend herself.”

Police, responding to a 911 call from Wilson at 2:23 p.m. Thursday, found Stubblefield in the Headley Terrace apartment he had shared with Wilson for about a year, prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Katherine Carter said.

Medical personnel tried to revive him, but Stubblefield was pronounced dead at the scene just before 3 p.m.

Wilson was booked into custody at the Essex County Correctional Facility with bail set at $250,000.

Iran's Flying Boats

Check out this video of a squadron of Iranian flying boats. They look like they're underpowered for any significant military application.



Heh.

Boob Job in a Bottle

A new formula from Rodial Body Care Products promises to increase bust sizes by one-half cup.

The product is being dubbed "Boob Job in a Bottle."

According to the manufacturer:

Boob job works with your natural fat cells. As the fat cells move around the body after eating, boob job "blocks" the fat into the area where the product has been applied, so the bust and décolleté areas. You will see a gradual increase in cup size within 56 days as well as gaining an instant lifting and firming effect. Increase in cup size by 8.4%.

Rodial boob job is based on a natural phytosterol, derived from an Asian root that has no hormonal activity which works on the skin and the layer of fat beneath and is 100% paraben free.

In a nutshell, the Boob Job formula wrangles maverick fat cells into the boob corral resulting in added heft. After the formula is slowly, gently and lovingly rubbed into the boob, fat cells are attracted to the area. The subject interests me but I'm skeptical of the claims.

Despite my skepticism and the strident criticism of medical experts, several celebrities are devoted to the Boob Job treatment. Most notably, actress Scarlett Johansson and model Kelly Brook endorse the formula.


 
Scarlett Johansson & Kelly Brook
Recommended application of Boob Job is twice daily for 56 days and twice a week afterward for maintenance. The price is £125 (approx. $200) for 100ml.

Companion at TJR.

Lawsuit in Chilean Mine Collapse



(Santiago, Chile) The families of 33 miners trapped 2,300 feet below the Atacama Desert are suing. They are seeking at least $1 million per worker.

"The suit is against the company that owns the mine, against the state workers who did not do their jobs and the Chilean state," explained Brunilda Gonzalez, mayor of Caldera, a town near the mine.

Um, okay, but shouldn't the lawsuit follow the rescue of the miners? I'd suggest the dedication and heroism of rescuers may wane after learning they are being taken to court by the people they're saving.