Victory for Bloggers: Illinois Blog Wins Lawsuit

Excerpt from a post by Warner Todd Huston:

In a good sign for blogger free speech, a lawsuit against a high profile conservative blog in Illinois has just been tossed out. A political contributor brought the lawsuit over a story about property tax reassessments and political contributions. This is a victory for free political speech as well as a victory for the status of blogs in the world of "journalism."

The lawsuit meant to silence the blog was a convoluted one, to be sure. Illinois Review had posted a story that revealed that former Ill. State Rep. Paul Froehlich (D, Schaumburg) had sought campaign contributions from property owners who had won property tax relief claims that the Representative had assisted in getting settled. But after the story went live, due to the notoriety the county assessors office reversed those tax relief decisions.

One of the property owners mentioned in the original story was Satkar Hospitality. Illinois Review reported the facts of the case, noted that Satkar got a favorable property tax reassessment, and speculated that Satkar made "in-kind contributions" to Rep. Froehlich.

Satkar sued the Illinois Review for defamation -- naming Fox News and others as coconspirators.

Fortunately, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly dismissed the suit because Satkar "failed to show" that its claims against the blog were legitimate. Judge Kennelly also ruled that the bloggers have the right to seek reasonable attorney's fees and costs from Satkar.

In his decision, Judge Kennelly also affirmed that the blog was expressing its right to the "furtherance of their right of free speech." This means we have yet one more precedent that we bloggers can be protected in our rights to freely publish our political opinions without fear of being sued over our blog posts (legitimate slander laws aside).

More here

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

Yellowcake, Chem Weapons Found in Libya

(Tripoli, Libya) Not a big surprise here.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday (September 23rd) confirmed the existence of a stockpile of uranium concentrate ("yellowcake") near Sabha, a desert town 660km south of Tripoli reclaimed earlier this week by rebel fighters, AFP reported.

Chemical weapons were also found near Moamer Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte. They are being safeguarded by National Transitional Council (NTC) forces, AP quoted rebel fighters as saying in a statement from Misrata on Thursday.

"We are looking for a peaceful country and we don't want these kinds of weapons to stay in it," the statement said. The NTC forces said they were waiting for the arrival of a UN team to oversee the weapons' safe transfer.

Interestingly, NTC fighters report that they are postponing offensive actions due to a shortage of ammunition.

Women to Vote in Saudi Arabia




(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) This is a monumental change.

Women in Saudi Arabia are to be given the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, King Abdullah has announced.

He said they would also have the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council.

The move was welcomed by activists who have called for greater rights for women in the kingdom, which enforces a strict version of Sunni Islamic law.

The changes will occur after municipal polls on Thursday, the king said.

Heh.

Parents Not Told the Sex of Unborn

Sex selective abortion has emerged as a problem in Britain and apparently throughout Europe.

The Council of Europe is due to consider a draft resolution in October which recommends that all its 47 member states - including Britain - instruct hospitals to "withold information about the sex of the foetus" from parents.

The move is a bid to prevent the practice of selective abortion, which they say has reached worrying proportions in some former Soviet states.

Some maternity units in Britain have already launched the new policy.

Spectator throws banana peel at black sportsman; observers claim racism

This was an incident in Canada at an ice-hockey game. I am not entirely clear why a banana peel is racist. "Banana" as a racial slur is usually used against Asians. I guess the image is of monkeys eating bananas. In that case it seems to me that the racism is lodged in the heads of the moaners.

The Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings played in a neutral site exhibition game Thursday night in London, Ontario. While the 4-3 win for the Red Wings was the result, the story was an apparent racist incident during the shootout.

Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds was in the middle of his shootout attempt when a fan inside the Labatt Centre threw a banana peel in his path. Simmonds, of African-Canadian decent, wasn't shaken by it and beat Red Wings goaltender Jordan Pearce.

Source

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

Racial Pricing of Pastry

(Berkeley, California) Claims of hatred emerge at Berkeley.

A Facebook post announcing plans by a UC Berkeley Republican group to sell baked goods priced according to race, gender and ethnicity - "White/Caucasian" pastries for $2 and "Black/African American" pastries for 75 cents, for example - has drawn outrage on campus.

"I'm ashamed to know that I go to the same school with people who would say stuff like this," responded student Skyler Hogan-Van Sickle on Facebook. "I'm really trying to figure out how someone can be this hateful."

The campus Republicans, who expect to go forward with their "Increase Diversity Bake Sale" on Tuesday, say the event is meant to mock an effort by the student government to drum up support for SB185, a bill to let the University of California and the California State University consider ethnicity in student admissions. It's awaiting approval or veto by Gov. Jerry Brown.

"Our bake sale will be at the same time and location of a phone bank which will be making calls to urge Gov. Brown to sign the bill," posted six students who created the Facebook page. The purpose "is to offer another view to this policy of considering race in university admissions. The pricing structure of the baked goods is meant to be satirical."

There are five levels of pricing with the lowest being "Native American." Females get automatic 25-cent discounts. Heh.

Tightrope Across Niagara Falls




(Albany, New York) Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has given the approval for Nik Wallenda of the Flying Wallendas to walk a two-inch tightrope across Niagara Falls. Approval from Canada is still required.

The legislation, approved overwhelmingly in June by the Senate and Assembly, directs the state parks department to let Wallenda use Goat Island as his departure point for the walk he wants to make just in front of Horseshoe Falls to a terrace outside the visitors center on the Canadian side.

Wallenda will pay all costs, such as security, and will hold the state legally harmless if he falls, the legislation states.

The Niagara Parks Commission in Niagara Falls, Ont., has said Wallenda has not yet formally applied for the walk, and officials in recent months have noted agency's long history of discouraging such stunts over the falls.

Wallenda promised to call Gov. Cuomo on a cell phone from half-way across during the walk.

High School Punishes Student for Saying Homosexuality is Wrong

The Fascist instinct to punish speech they dislike is never far beneath the surface among the Leftists who infest the education system:

Dakota Ary, an honors student at Western Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas, was in for a surprise after being sent to the principal’s office and punished for sharing his opinion. After telling another student that he believes homosexuality is wrong, Dakota was reprimanded and given in-school suspension.

Following the incident his mother, Holly Pope, received a call from an assistant principal at the school informing her of the punishment. In an interview with Fox News Radio, she says was “absolutely stunned“: "Dakota is a very well-grounded 14-year-old. He’s been in church his whole life and he’s been taught to stand up for what he believes. He was stating an opinion. He has a right to do that. They punished him for it.”

After hearing the student’s explanation, the assistant principal reduced the punishment from two days to one, but Dakota and his mother aren’t satisfied, as they believe his free speech has been infringed upon.

While the district isn’t speaking out about the incident, on Wednesday, Dakota, his mother and attorney Matt Krause met with the school’s principal. Pope hopes that the school will remove the disciplinary blemish from the child’s record, while pledging that there won’t be any further retaliation.

Source

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

Woman Accused of Breastfeeding During Coke Use

(Watertown, New York) A 25-year-old local mother, Nicole Cummings, faces charges after State Police investigators allegedly caught her using cocaine while breastfeeding.

Cummings has been charged with reckless endangerment in the second-degree and endangering the welfare of a child.

According to police, 25-year-old Nicole Cummings of 619 Bronson St., was using the drug throughout May and June while she breastfed the child, putting its health at risk.

Cummings was issued a ticket to appear in the Town of Rutland Court.

Tennessee Woman, 45, and Boy, 16

(Sevier County, Tennessee) A 45-year-old Sevierville resident and former substitute teacher, Sandra Justus, has been accused of engaging in an oral sex act with a 16-year-old boy.

Justus faces a charge of aggravated statutory rape.

Sevier County deputies arrested Justus on March 16. Justus later waived her preliminary hearing.

A grand jury charged Justus with one count of aggravated statutory rape on Sept. 19.

Justus is free on $50,000 bond.

Carolina Teacher Gets House Arrest in Sex Case - Updated

(Walhalla, South Carolina) Former science teacher at Tamassee-Salem Middle and High School, Deanna Marie Robert, 44, pleaded guilty yesterday to two counts of sexual battery of a student.

As a result, Robert was sentenced by Judge Cordell Maddox to one year on house arrest and five years of probation.

Testimony heard at Thursday’s plea included text messages between Robert and the boy.

Robert said she was sorry for her actions, adding that she did not initiate the relationship, which began with her tutoring the boy after school.

Robert wasn't required to register as a sex offender.

* * * * *
SC Teacher Faces Sex Charges
[Previous 2/7/11 post]
(Seneca, South Carolina) A 43-year-old teacher formerly at Tamassee-Salem Middle/High School, Deanna Marie Robert, was arrested last Friday for allegedly engaging in sex with a student.

Robert faces two counts of sexual battery with a student.

The case is still under investigation.

A spokesperson for the Oconee County school district says Deanna Robert is no longer an employee with the school district.

Robert was booked into custody at the Oconee County Detention Center with bond set at $15,000.

Spotting Terrorists



Suspicious?

(New York City) The New York Police Department has issued an updated guide to help nightclubs identify crooks and terrorists. Here's a synopsis on how to identify terrorists.

- Visible wires or tape;

- Two or more people communicating and trying not to be observed;

- Suspect whose presence or behavior is inconsistent with the time or place;

- Individuals who are obviously disguised;

- Individuals with obvious signs of extreme stress or nervousness, such as bulging veins in the neck, profuse sweating, shaking hands, touching the face continuously, involuntary motions, apathy, distant stare or unfocused gazing, feeling the body continuously; and

- Individuals whose speech includes stuttering, mumbling or chanting, or are hesitant or unresponsive.

From here and here.

Blackface Obama Billboard Prompts Outrage




(Berlin, Germany) Arguably tasteless German comic Martin Sonneborn has put up a satirical political billboard displaying President Obama in blackface makeup and people are not amused.

“Ick bin ein Obama (I am an Obama),” reads the poster at Berlin’s central Ernst Reuter Platz square, in an apparent play on John F. Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. On the poster, a "black" Sonneborn smiles as he raises his arm in the air.

The billboard is the latest in Sonneborn’s campaign for his satirical political party Die Partei ahead of state elections in Berlin this Sunday. It’s meant to make fun of the entire German political establishment and go up to the edge of propriety – another poster is entitled “MILFS against Merkel” and the campaign has also mocked the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party.

But the latest one is upsetting to some because of the racial connotations of blackface theatre, which was widespread in America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on ugly stereotypes, blackface consisted of white performers painting themselves black for degrading minstrel shows. It it quickly died out in the United States after the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

In an interview with The Local on Thursday, Sonneborn, staying in character as the leader of Die Partei, said his billboard wasn’t racist.

He said he was “Germany’s Obama” and added he was mocking the “hype” surrounding the US president. Sonneborn, formerly editor-in-chief of the German satire magazine Titanic, said he wasn’t aware of the history of blackface and didn’t care if anyone was upset.

“No, I didn’t know that,” he told The Local. “If Americans associate it with that, then I’m sorry, but I’m not going to take it down.”

But Tahir Della a spokesman for the Initiative for Black Germans (ISD), which tries to represent the interests of the black community in Germany, called the billboard "unbelievably hurtful."

Heh.

NORKS Jamming South Korea GPS

(Seoul, South Korea) The North Korean government has been jamming South Korean GPS signals and as a permanent solution is being sought, an interim fix of wrapping scores of GPS antennae with tin foil has helped. Imagine that.

Some antennae on top of buildings were moved down lower or behind buildings. Others were simply tilted to face the ground.

But experts say while these makeshift methods were able to avoid North Korean jamming signals, they may also have hindered normal GPS signals, cutting off phone calls or leading to errors in locating a user's position.

South Korea lacks the technology to block individual jamming signals.

California Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Teen

(Bakersfield, California) A 41-year-old Tehachapi woman, Rachel Ruth Schellenberg, has pleaded no contest to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old boy.

Schellenberg was initially investigated last May.

"One for lewd activities with a minor, one for the oral copulation, and one for the unlawful sex," Bear Valley Police Sgt. Dave Watts described the initial charges facing Schellenberg during a May 10 interview with Eyewitness News.

At that time, Watts would not say how the suspect and victim knew each other and wouldn't comment on where the incidents happened.

Earlier today, Schellenberg was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation.

Prison Teacher Faces Sex Charge

(Sheboygan, Wisconsin) A 42-year-old special education teacher at Kettle Moraine Correctional Institute, Nadine N. Minglana, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 21-year-old inmate.

Minglana faces a charge of second-degree sexual assault by correctional staff.

The two were alone together in Minglana’s classroom as part of his one-on-one educational instruction.

The inmate said they first kissed in the back of the classroom, and about a month later — around June — they kissed again, this time with sexual touching as well. Around the same time he said Minglana performed oral sex on him in the classroom.

If convicted, Minglana faces a possible 25 years in prison.

Inmate Request for Sex Change Denied

(San Francisco, California) A 42-year-old inmate at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Lyralisa Stevens, requested the State of California pay for costly surgery to remove his junk.

With a feminized physique, Stevens claimed there was a constant threat of sexual assault in men's prison.

Stevens had argued that hormone therapy is no longer adequate to combat the emotional distress caused by her disorder, making surgery the medically necessary next step.

She also wanted her penis and testicles removed so corrections authorities, who decide prison placement according to an inmate's genitalia, would be compelled to transfer her to the relative safety of a women's lockup.

Yesterday, the 1st District Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied Stevens' request saying reasonable safety is achievable in a men's prison if Stevens has his own cell.

A small note on the Tuskegee Syphilis study of the 1930s


The Tuskegee Syphilis Study has been widely condemned as an example of American racism -- and Leftists love it for that reason. It enables them to be "holier than thou". THEY would never do such an evil thing! It is usually portrayed as the U.S. government infecting black men with syphilis.

The truth is nothing of the sort, of course. The key fact that nobody seems to notice is that the study lasted for 40 years. 40 years? Shouldn't the men have died long before that? Once you ask that question, the truth begins to come out. The men recruited for the study ALREADY HAD tertiary syphilis. And in the tertiary stage the disease has usually been naturally "beaten" in some way. In other words, most such patients are no longer ill and live on rather as if they had never been infected. THAT intriguing fact was what sparked the study. It was an attempt to get more information about the life history of tertiary syphilitics. Richard Shweder has all the details.

And the amusing thing is that the study was founded and carried out by "progressives". "Progressivism" was overwhelmingly dominant in pre-war America. And it wasn't even a government study initially. It was started by a private charity funded by the former chairman of Sears Roebuck, a Progressive Jew named Julius Rosenwald. A small excerpt from Wikipedia:

Julius Rosenwald, an American clothier, became part-owner ofSears, Roebuck and Company in 1895, and eventually served as its president from 1908 to 1922, and chairman of its Board of Directors until his death in 1932.He became interested in social issues, especially education for African Americans, and provided funding through Dr. Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college (HBCU), prior to founding the fund....

The Rosenwald Fund was also one of the original backers of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. With support from the Rosenwald Fund, an ambitious program had begun to improve the health of African Americans in US southern states in 1928. Emphasis was on treating people with syphilis, then found at a high rate in poor African-American communities.

I am pointing that out in the hope that it will take one of the Leftists' toys away from them. Where other facts fail to penetrate their prejudiced brains, perhaps the fact that the study was the work of a "progressive" Jewish philanthropist might cause them to lose their erections.

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

Poverty Defined - Less Than 50 Cents Daily




(New Delhi, India) Although India boasts a burgeoning class of urban rich, it's estimated by the Planning Commission that 37 percent of the 1.2 billion population live below the poverty line -- defined as anyone who earns less than 50 cents per day, far below the World Bank’s figure of $1.25 a day.

Those with a daily income of 25 rupees (50 cents) in villages and 32 rupees (65 cents) in cities should be ineligible for subsidised food and other supplies, the Planning Commission told India’s Supreme Court.

Anyone earning above these levels would have enough funds for “food, education and health”, the commission said in a submission to the court lodged on Tuesday.

Not everyone agrees with the poverty level established by the Planning Commission.

“There is no way one person can feed and house himself on 32 rupees in a city for a day. This figure has no meaning for the common man,” Anupama Datta, deputy head of the National Slum Dwellers Federation, told AFP.

Heh.

Arizona Mom Accused of Sex with Male Student

(Maricopa County, Arizona) A 35-year-old local woman, Cherish Arroyo, has been accused of engaging in sex with her son's friend, a 16-year-old male. Arroyo's son and the alleged victim are teammates on the Copper Canyon High School football team.

Arroyo faces six counts of sexual conduct with a minor.

Arroyo was arrested at her home where she lives with her husband and two children, each of whom attend Copper Canyon High School with the victim.

The home is also the scene of the alleged crime -- the MCSO says Arroyo and the boy had sex in the home that Arroyo shares with her children and husband.

Once in custody, Arroyo admitted to bedding the boy, saying she did so because she was "lonesome."

According to Sheriff Joe Arpaio, information from the victim indicates there might be other victims.

Arroyo was booked and released on bond.

WV Woman Pleads Guilty in Sex Case - Updated

(Charleston, West Virginia) In accordance with an agreement, Melissa Sigman, now 31, pleaded guilty this week to having an 11-year-old boy fondle her breasts. In exchange for the guilty plea, the prosecution dropped the sexual assault charge.

Sigman faces possible prison when sentenced.

* * * * *
WV Woman Accused of Sex with Boy, 11
[Previous 10/20/10 post]
(Charleston, West Virginia) A 30-year-old local woman, Melissa Sigman, has been accused of engaging in sexual activity with an 11-year-old boy.

Sigman was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree sexual assault.

Charleston Cpl. Chris Johnson was dispatched Saturday afternoon to an apartment in the 600 block of Grant Street to investigate after several neighbors reported that a child in the neighborhood had been sexually assaulted.

The victim's father called police after a couple told him the boy had been assaulted. They told police when they returned to their apartment late Friday night that the boy had been inside. He told them that he touched Sigman's genitals and that she performed oral sex on him, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court.

Sigman is a friend of the boy's mother's roommate and had been staying with them a few nights, police said.

Sigman was booked into custody at the South Central Regional Jail with bond set at $25,000.

Boy Brings Crack Pipe to Show-and-Tell

(Sweet Springs, Missouri) A 32-year-old local mother, Michelle Cheatham, has been arrested for drugs after her son took her crack pipe and several baggies of methamphetamine to kindergarten for show-and-tell.

Cheatham faces charges of possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment.

Superintendent Donna Wright said, "He was very excited when he got to school. But I don't think he knew what he had."

However, the child's teacher realized what he had and didn't allow him to show or talk about it. Instead, the teacher notified authorities. Wright said, "It didn't ever get into the classroom. It was shocking. We're not experienced with dealing with this."

Cheatham was booked into custody and released on bail.

Microbes Eat More Sewage with Music




(Treuenbrietzen, Germany) Recent experience at a treatment plant south of Berlin suggests that microbes eat more sewage when serenaded by Mozart's Magic Flute.

According to plant manager Roland Meinusch, the microbes have been munching more feces with music than without music.

“After a year, we were left with 6,000 cubic metres of sludge, compared with the usual 7,000 cubic metres we produce in a year. That saved us about €10,000 which is quite a lot of money," Meinusch said.

Confirmation of the connection between microbe productivity and music is being sought from scientists and academia.

On the surface, the music connection seems to make sense. Most people are inclined to start moving when the music starts. Folks are prompted drum their fingers, dance or even play air guitar to music. Maybe a similar reaction occurs in microbes.

Headlight flashing faces test as free speech in Florida

We read:

"When Erich Campbell passed two Florida Highway Patrol cruisers parked in the median near Tampa International Airport in December 2009, he flashed his headlights to warn oncoming drivers of the radar patrol.

Then, to his surprise, one of the troopers pulled over his silver Toyota Tundra and ticketed him for improper flashing of high beams. "Literally within one minute, they had me stopped on the side of the road," recalled Campbell, 38, a former electrician and full-time student.

In August, the Land O'Lakes, Fla., resident filed a class-action lawsuit in Tallahassee against the highway patrol and other state traffic-enforcement agencies. He seeks an injunction barring law enforcement from issuing headlight-flash tickets, plus refunds and civil damages for previously cited motorists.

Campbell's lawyer, J. Marc Jones, claims his client's First Amendment right to free speech was violated. "The flashing of lights to communicate with another driver is clearly speech," he said.

"The First Amendment protects all sorts of non-verbal conduct; it protects more than the spoken or printed word," Hudson said. "Courts have found that a wide variety of actions — such as honking one's horn or flashing one's headlights — are forms of communication under the First Amendment."

Five days after the lawsuit was filed, Welch said patrols stopped citing motorists for flashing headlights until the case is resolved.

Source

I was once ticketed for doing the same thing in Australia but when I wrote a letter of complaint to a top official about it, I was told that no offence had been committed and the ticket was withdrawn. The Florida cops would have been wise to do the same with the guy above but they were obviously too pigheaded.

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

Cop Fools Hooker with Fake Tool

(Sarasota, Florida) A 31-year-old local woman, Christina Vavra, was arrested last week for prostitution after a detective coaxed her with a fake penis.

Undercover vice squad officers routinely come into contact with skeptical prostitutes wary that their prospective john may actually be a police officer.

So, before discussing business, a hooker will often ask the purported sex-seeker to first expose himself, since that is a no-no for a cop.

Anticipating this demand, a Florida detective “attempting to solicit prostitutes” last night hit the Sarasota streets with a “flaccid rubber replica of a penis” stuffed into his pants ….

Vavra was noncommittal until the cop whipped out the fake member. She chomped down on it and thereby confirmed that she was a working girl. Immediately afterward, backup cops were alerted and Vavra was taken into custody.

Vavra was booked at the Manatee County Jail with bond set at $120.

Tip: slwlion

Toyota Stalker-Themed Web Advertising

A woman recently clicked on a Toyota website and was pranked. Amber Duick unknowingly became involved in a Toyota advertising ploy which apparently started with agreeing to take part in a "digital experience."

Over the next five days, she got a series of emails, including photos and video, from someone going by the name of Sebastian Bowler, who told Duick that he was in trouble with the law and on his way to hide out at her residence. He confirmed that he knew her name, home address, and other personal information. Duick even received a bill for some damage Sebastian had caused at a hotel.

The series of electronic communications had Duick convinced that a dangerous person she didn't know (but who knew all kinds of things about her) was on his way to her home.

It turned out that Duick was being "punked" by Toyota as part of a viral marketing campaign for the new Toyota Matrix.

Creator of the campaign was ad firm Saatchi and Saatchi. Understandably, Duick was not amused. She filed lawsuit.

She sued Toyota and Saatchi & Saatchi and fifty individuals associated with the campaign for intentional infliction of emotional distress; unfair, unlawful, and deceptive trade practices; and negligent misrepresentation, among other things. She’s seeking $10 million in compensatory damages.

Heh. It will be interesting to see if she gets the $10 mil.

Arkansas Woman Accused of Setting Boyfriend on Fire

(Springdale, Arkansas) A 23-year-old local woman, Falisha Hutcherson, has been accused of setting her boyfriend Donnie Frazier on fire.

Frazier, 29, is being treated in the burn unit at St. John's Hospital in Springfield.

Hutcherson faces charges of attempted murder and arson.

Frazier's mother, Sharlene Batson, told deputies that Frazier and Hutcherson began arguing between 6 and 7 p.m. on Friday. Frazier told deputies he locked Hutcherson out of a building near his house, but she called him and said she would burn down the building if he did not unlock the door. He told deputies that he heard dogs barking outside and went out to check on them.

When he went outside, he said Hutcherson had "poured Coleman fuel into a cup of some type," deputies said. Frazier told police that it was "similar to a Malatav (sic) cocktail but without the cloth hanging out. He said she lit it solely on fumes."

Hutcherson was booked into custody at the Washington County Jail. A bond amount wasn't reported.

Criminal Assault News

(Conway, Arkansas) An unknown assailant is being sought in the Arkansas toe-sucking case.

An elderly woman told Conway police that a man approached her while she was sitting outside her apartment and put her toes in his mouth.

Another woman said a man asked to suck her toes in a discount store.

A third woman reported something similar in a pet store.

Witnesses have identified the assailant as Hispanic, Asian or an older Caucasian.

WV Woman Gets No Jail in Incest Case - Updated

(Charleston, West Virginia) Although Jenee Afzal reportedly had incestuous sex with her teenage stepson "countless times" from age 16 through age 18, she won't go to trial on criminal charges.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib Jr., allowed Jenee Afzal to spend two years in a probationary diversion program in lieu of standing trial on incest and first-degree sexual abuse charges.

Afzal, 35, may not have unsupervised contact with boys under the age of 18. If she breaks the law, or violates the terms of her probation, prosecutors will reinstate the charges. The victim's father agreed to the probationary period, and investigators found that Afzal was not at a high risk to reoffend, Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Jennifer Meadows said.

Heh. No trial, no jail, just diversion probation. Pretty good deal, eh?

* * * * *
West Virginia Woman Accused of Incest - Updated
[Previous 8/2/11 post]
(Charleston, West Virginia) One year after being indicted for alleged crimes from five years ago, Jenee Lynn Afzal has her case docketed for trial.

A woman accused of having sex with her teenaged stepson five years ago is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 19 before Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Paul Zakaib.

Jenee Lynn Afzal, 36, of Oakwood Road was indicted by a Kanawha Grand Jury in July 2010 and charged with incest and sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, or custodian.

The delay in prosecuting the case hasn't been explained.

* * * * *
West Virginia Woman Arrested for Sex with Stepson
[Previous 3/25/09 post]
(Charleston, West Virginia) A 34-year-old local woman, Jenee Lynn Afzal, was arrested last night for allegedly engaging in sex with her 16-year-old stepson.

In the alleged incident, Afzal picked her then 16-year-old stepson up from school on March 4, 2006, and took him to their home, where she sexually abused him, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court.

Afzal took the teen back to school after that incident, but continued to have a sexual relationship with him for the following two years until the boy turned 18, police say.

While Afzal, who has been the boy's stepmother for the majority of his life, and the boy were involved, she sent him several e-mails containing erotic photographs and sexually explicit messages, according to the complaint.

Afzal told the teen she was in love with him and discouraged him from seeing other girls, the complaint said. Witnesses say Afzal also tried to intimidate girls who spoke to her stepson.

Afzal faces charges of felony sexual abuse by a parent and felony incest. She was booked into custody at the South Regional Jail with bond set at $10,000.

That feminist silence again

We all know that so-called feminists rarely whisper a word about the vast mistreatment of women in the Muslim world and in Africa -- so what I am about to relate should really be no surprise -- except that this concerns something that happened in the WESTERN world.

On 16th I put up on my POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH blog a post headed as follows:

Feminists should like this one: Australian single mother sues slimy cop -- and wins

She represented herself in court against a range of top legal brains and beat them all

I have just Googled the phrase "single mother sues slimy cop" and found 98 links to the article. NOT ONE was from a feminist site. Only conservative sites took it up.

One would think that a story so encouraging to oppressed women would be greeted with gladness by feminists and seen as an inspiration to all women. But no such luck.

I have a confession, however: I put a landmine in the article. I included a picture of the plaintiff (Renee Eaves) in the article. Not to put too fine a point on it, Renee is a dream walking. She is a swimsuit model who has won many beauty contests.

So the boilersuit brigade would loathe her from deep in their bones, and praise for her would be anathema to them. But it does illustrate that feminism is not about women. It is just another tentacle of radical politics.

Renee's story is genuinely inspirational, however, so I am going to send a link to this story to Phyllis Chesler, the only sincere feminist I know. She may be able to circulate the story among women who could be encouraged by it.

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

China Shutters Solar Panel Plant

(Haining, Zhejiang Province, China) A solar panel manufacturing plant has been ordered closed after violent protesters broke into and ransacked the factory for three days on concerns over pollution.

The closure of the plant, owned by the US-listed company Jinko Solar, comes weeks after authorities in the northeastern city of Dalian shut down a chemical factory after some 12,000 residents took to the streets over pollution fears.

It demonstrates official concern over the growing public anger about pollution in China, where an emphasis on economic growth over the past three decades has led to widespread environmental degradation.

The protesters in Zhejiang’s Haining city were demanding an explanation for the death of large numbers of fish in a nearby river, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.

Haining’s city government said Monday tests had showed the plant in Zhejiang’s Haining city was emitting excessive levels of fluoride, which can be toxic in high doses, as it announced the plant’s closure.

The authorities are working to calm the public while concurrently going after social networking types who spread "rumours" on the Internet.

Carolina Woman Accused of Boy-Sucking

(Woodruff, South Carolina) A 26-year-old local woman, Tamera Nicole Shoemaker, has been accused of sexually assaulting two boys, ages 11 and 14.

Shoemaker faces two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor age 11-14, and disorderly conduct.

According to an incident report, a relative of one of the boys caught Shoemaker performing oral sex on a 14-year-old. Police also learned that Shoemaker had performed oral sex on an 11-year-old boy, the report stated.

Shoemaker was booked into custody at the Spartanburg County Detention Facility with bond set at $10,262.50.

Weak Demand for Redheaded Sperm




Cryos International, reportedly the world's largest sperm bank network, has too much redheaded sperm.

Ole Schou, Cryos's director, said that there had been a surge in donations in recent years, allowing the facility to become much more picky about its donors.

"There are too many redheads in relation to demand," he told told Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet. "I do not think you chose a redhead, unless the partner - for example, the sterile male - has red hair, or because the lone woman has a preference for redheads. And that's perhaps not so many, especially in the latter case."

Mr Schou said the only reliable demand for sperm from redheaded donors from Ireland, where he said it sold “like hot cakes”.

Cryos’s stores have now reached their peak capacity of 70 litres of semen, and Mr Schou has a waiting list of 600 donors.

Depressed economies with high unemployment have prompted many men to look for any type of job, any type of income, to pay the bills. With $500 paid for every donation, it's easy to picture 600 men lined up, ready for work.

Heh.

Upskirting With Cell Phones




(Denver, Colorado) According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, increased availability and use of cell phone cameras has resulted in a rash of instances where men are secretly taking pictures of women's intimate areas.

Local clinical therapist Erin Dolgan agrees.

"It's as serious as a felony rape or any other sexual offense or sexual assault," Dolgan said.

"They are able to do this secretively and because of that, we don't know all of the cases."

Dolgan also said upskirting is a gateway to more sex crimes.

The Hazard of Stealing Electricity

(Inglewood, California) It seems some people believe that electric bills can be avoided by simply climbing into a substation and using jumper cables to tap into high-voltage lines adjacent to a power transformer.

A father and his teenage daughter were in critical condition after receiving severe burns during an alleged attempt to steal electricity from high-voltage power lines in Inglewood, a police official said Saturday.

L.A. County Fire officials and police responding to an explosion at a power transformer late Friday found the 52-year-old man and his 17-year-old daughter with extensive electric burns, Inglewood Police Lt. Neal Cochran said.

The man had used tools to tap into a live wire, resulting in a chain reaction and causing the transformer to explode, Cochran said.

A good rule of thumb is to avoid locations posted with high voltage signs.

Tip: Charley Red Tag

Running of the Lambs




(Waipukurau, New Zealand) Thousands of people reportedly gathered to see the running of the lambs.

Ahead of the event, SPCA national chief executive Robyn Kippenberger told ONE News that organisers would be under close scrutiny to make sure they followed animal welfare laws.

They said they did not want a repeat of the Te Kuiti "running of the sheep" event two years ago when a group of ewes ran free, causing mayhem amongst the crowd.

"As far as the new law is concerned, they better have good procedures around what they are doing to make sure that the animals are ok," said Kippenberger.

Organiser Christine Shanahan said there had been an incredible amount of safety measures put in place to ensure the event was safe for viewers and the border-cross Romney sheep.

Heh.

Pay Their Fair Share

Go back a generation and see one case where Congress acted to make sure rich people "pay their fair share." From the archives circa 1993.

Every now and then Washington does something so breathtakingly stupid that you can't even whistle -- you can only shake your head. The ill-fated ''luxury tax'' -- enacted as part of the 1990 deficit reduction law and largely repealed in this year's budget bill -- is such a thing.

The luxury tax crept quietly into the closed-door negotiations that led up to the 1990 budget deal. Its champions were Democratic Congressmen seeking to ensure that the rich would ''pay their fair share,'' as House majority leader Richard Gephardt put it at the time. Sound familiar? The Bush Administration went along, either cravenly or cynically, and the tax went into effect in 1991 -- a 10% excise on the sale of pricier jewelry, furs, and certain expensive planes and automobiles.

No public hearings were held and little heed was paid to warnings from people in the affected industries that the tax would have dire unintended consequences. The Chicken Littles, it turns out, were right. Consider the case of Beech Aircraft Corp., a Raytheon subsidiary that dominates the small ''owner-flown'' market for new planes. In 1991, Beech sold 80 fewer planes than it had been anticipating before the luxury tax took effect. The cost: $130 million in lost sales and net losses of 480 jobs for that year.

Just to make sure it was the - luxury tax and not the recession that had caused this crash landing, Beech management surveyed its dealers and sales force. They confirmed the anecdotal evidence that the tax was the culprit.

An industry trade group then commissioned Price Waterhouse to go back and document the findings. Meanwhile, the news from the revenue front was equally grim. The Congressional Joint Tax Committee had estimated that the luxury tax would raise $6 million from airplane sales alone in fiscal 1991. The actual take? $53,000.

The tax capsized the boat-building business too. Legislators from nautical states, such as Maine and Maryland, led the repeal effort. This sad tale provides an unusually clear example of one of the foggier concepts in economics: the ''dead-weight loss'' inherent in taxes. A dead- weight loss reflects a cost imposed on some individuals without any offsetting benefit to others -- a pure economic inefficiency.

Professors in the past were usually driven to wacky hypothetical extremes to illustrate the idea -- the impact, say, of a $1 million tax on poodles. No longer. The all-too-real luxury tax had all the elements: People who would have liked to buy new airplanes did not buy them, workers who would have been employed building the airplanes were idle, and the government got next to no revenue.

Heh.

I told you so

"I told you so" is generally regarded as a mean thing to say but I am human and can't resist.

For years I have had in the sidebar of my GREENIE WATCH blog the statement: "Against the long history of huge temperature variation in the earth's climate (ice ages etc.), the .6 of one degree average rise reported by the U.N. "experts" for the entire 20th century (a rise so small that you would not be able to detect such a difference personally without instruments) shows, if anything, that the 20th century was a time of exceptional temperature stability"

And the header to the blog also asserts effectively zero temperature change.

It now appears that I have very eminent support for that viewpoint. In his letter of resignation from the American Physical Society, Nobel-winning physicist Prof. Ivar Giaever said virtually the same. I quote: "The claim (how can you measure the average temperature of the whole earth for a whole year?) is that the temperature has changed from ~288.0 to ~288.8 degree Kelvin in about 150 years, which (if true) means to me is that the temperature has been amazingly stable"

Note that Giaever endorsed Obama for President so he is no Right-wing fanatic

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

Ohio Woman Gets Life for Rape of Boy

(Cincinnati, Ohio) In August, a 27-year-old local woman, Kenya Gilliam, was convicted on six counts of rape of a child younger than 13.

As a result, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Jody Luebbers imposed six sentences of life in prison for Gilliam.

Gilliam's attorney asked for a lesser sentence, arguing that Gilliam has been abused as a child and ostracized because she is gay.

"She has been through a meat grinder," attorney Adam Bleile said. "She has been through an awful life."

That was no excuse to perhaps continue the cycle with her victim, the judge said, saying she imposed the maximum sentence possible as her attempt to end that cycle.

Obviously, Gilliam won't be molesting any boys from now on.

Tennessee Teacher Accused of Rape

(Pulaski, Tennessee) A 32-year-old 6th-grade teacher at Richland School, Ashley Lynn Raines, has been arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl.

Raines faces a charge of aggravated statutory rape. Raines' fiance, Johnathan Richard Herremans, faces criminal responsibility of aggravated statutory rape because he didn't report the offense.

According to the police, the victim is not one of Raines' students. The alleged offenses reportedly occurred last July and police suggest that more charges may be filed.

Raines was booked into custody. A bail amount hasn't been reported.

Party With A Corpse?



Robert Young & Mark Rubinson

(Denver, Colorado) Two men face charges after hauling around the dead body of a friend and using his ATM card to party at local nightspots.

Robert Jeffrey Young, 43, and Mark Rubinson, 25, have been charged with abuse of a corpse, identity theft and criminal impersonation.

The men found their friend Jeffrey Jarrett unresponsive at his house late on Aug. 27, before loading him into Rubinson's car and taking him to a local bar and grill, where they drank on his tab.

They then went to another bar, before returning Jarrett's body to his home and continuing their night out using their dead friend's ATM card to withdraw money. On their way home, they flagged down a cop and told him they thought their friend was dead at his house.

The cause of Jarrett's death hasn't been reported.

Tip: slwlion

Too Easy

A-10 Thunderbolt vs. Taliban

Thanks.

An explanation of politics for Democrat supporters

The folks who are getting free shit don’t like the folks who are paying for the free shit because the folks who are paying for the free shit can no longer afford to pay for both the free shit and their own shit. And this is creating a shitstorm.

The folks who are paying for the free shit want the free shit to stop, and the the folks who are getting the free shit want even more free shit on top of the free shit they are already getting.

Now, the people who are forcing the people who pay for the free shit have told the people who are receiving the free shit that the people who are paying for the free shit are the problem.

So, the people who are getting the free shit resent the people who are paying for the free shit because of the smears by the people who are forcing other people to pay for the free shit.

Can you believe this shit? We have let the free shit giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free shit than paying for the free shit.

Now understand this, all great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded. The reason? The voters figure out they could vote themselves free shit by electing people who promised to give them free shit in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 231 years ago. The number of people now getting free shit outnumber the people paying for the free shit. We have one chance to change that in 2012. Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

ELECTION 2012 IS COMING. Vote the Shit Out. Vote a Conservative In

SOURCE

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

Drive-In Love Stalls




(Zurich, Switzerland) The local city government has voted 74 to 30 to approve taxpayer-funded drive-in sex stalls in the community of Alstetten west of Zurich city center.

Ten garage-like booths will be erected on derelict land in an industrial area in Alstetten, complete with parking spaces and alarm buttons. The so-called "performance stalls" will be the first of their kind in Switzerland if the project goes ahead.

The city council agreed last week to sanction the 2.4-million franc ($2.8m) loan for the development pending parliamentary approval.

The issue remains controversial with Alstetten residents saying they don't want to become the "dump of the city." A November deadline has been established for formal complaints which could delay the project.

Note that designated "shagging" zones have produced mixed results at other European cities. Cologne has reported a positive experience while Dortmund canceled their plans after becoming a magnet for Eastern European criminals.

Court Reverses Amanda Goforth Conviction - Updated

(Jackson, Mississippi) The Mississippi Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of Amanda Goforth, ruling she wasn't allowed adequate opportunity to confront a witness against her.

The Court also ruled that Goforth cannot be retried since the charges against her were too vague.

* * * * *
Amanda Goforth Gets 30 Years in Sex Case - Updated
[Previous 8/17/10 post]
(Decatur, Mississippi) Former Newton County High School teacher Amanda Goforth, 26, was convicted and sentenced last week for engaging in sex with a 14-year-old female student.

Almost stoic is how some might describe the 26-year-old's demeanor as she headed into court Friday morning. Following her sentence, it seemed reality had set in.

Given the nature of the crime, Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon fought back tears as he told the family, whom he says he knows personally, that he had no choice but to carry out the law. He then sentenced Goforth to the maximum of 30 years in prison for the first count, with five of those years suspended, and to an additional five years to serve for the second count.

Total prison time would be 30 years. Goforth was also fined $10,000, must register as a sex offender, and will have to serve five years probation after she's released from prison.

According to prosecutors, during the trial Goforth confessed to the incidents, which happened from April to October of 2009.

"The defendant admitted to the sexual conduct with the victim," said District Attorney Mark Duncan. "She claimed she was forced into it, but obviously the jury didn't believe all that."

"The judge is going to hold her without bond because it is a specific statute. So, we're going to expedite the appeal, if we can get it heard and disposed of as soon as possible," said Goforth's attorney, Charles Wright.

As for Goforth, once the school district turned the investigation over to law enforcement last November, she was placed on suspension and terminated from the job a short time later.

Thirty years! Obviously, Newton County is not the jurisdiction to mix it up with children.

Also, it's worth noting that Newton County is rural and not heavily populated which accounts for the judge knowing the family. In fact, chances are that everyone in the county knows everyone else so it's understandable that Goforth's crimes are being treated so harshly. The whole county is outraged.

Tip: Lame

* * * * *
Mississippi Teacher Accused of Sex with Female Student
[Previous 12/3/09 post]
(Decatur, Mississippi) A 25-year-old science teacher at Newton County High School, Amanda Goforth, was arrested last week for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old female student. She has been charged with five counts of sexual battery.

Newton County superintendent, Pat Ross, says it started with one accusation.

"This was Friday, November the 20th, we had the allegation. We interviewed a couple of students and we fairly quickly, that afternoon in fact, handed that investigation that we had over to the sheriff's department," Ross said.

Goforth was booked and allowed to go forth from jail on $100,000 bond.

Interestingly, the Sheriff's Department said that its camera is broke so there's no mug shot.

Woman Gets Prison in Child Porn Case - Updated

(Buffalo, New York) Mother-of-five Angie Jenkins gets prison.

A Michigan woman who developed a sexual relationship with a teenage boy she met through an online game has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo says 35-year-old Angie Jenkins of Lowell, Mich. received an 87-month prison term Thursday and was ordered to pay $4,480 restitution to the Buffalo, N.Y., victim.

One has to wonder what goes on in the mind of a 35-year-old woman which makes her engage in sexual communications with a minor and travel hundreds of miles across state lines to have illegal sex with the boy. Really, couldn't she find a 15-year-old in her home state?

* * * * *
NY Woman Guilty in Child Porn Case - Updated
[Previous 4/18/11 post]
(Buffalo, New York) Culminating an FBI investigation, 35-year-old Angie L. Jenkins pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny to receiving child pornography from a 15-year-old boy.

The conviction carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years.

Sentencing has been scheduled for July 29 before Judge Skretny.

* * * * *
Female Online Gamer Faces Child Sex Charges
[Previous 9/23/10 post]
(Buffalo, New York) A 35-year-old Michigan woman, Angie L. Jenkins, has been accused in federal court with the crime of using the Internet to entice an underage person into sexual activity.

Jenkins, who appeared Tuesday in Buffalo's federal court, is from Lowell, Mich., near Grand Rapids. She traveled to Amherst on June 11 to meet a 16-year-old from the Buffalo area and have sex with him in a car parked in a department store parking lot on Transit Road, FBI agents said.

The youth was 15 when he met Jenkins online and was 16 when they had sex, Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango said.[…]

During a brief court proceeding on the felony charge, Jenkins told U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott that she has five children, has been married twice and receives public assistance.

There have been other instances where adult females have seemingly become enamored by boys playing Internet games. I don't understand the attraction.

MySpace pic from here.

Mark Twain conservatism

Attempting to categorize conservatism in the 21st century runs the risk of plunging into the briar patch of academic labeling or the fever swamp of left-wing vitriol. In the first category, one finds such designations as conservatism, neo-conservatism, and paleo-conservatism, while those things liberals say about conservatives may be relegated to the realm of overheated political rhetoric. But this still leaves those sympathetic to conservatism with the problem of self-definition, especially during a time when Tea Party enthusiasts have captured so much attention in the context of discussions about conservative views.

The word conservatism itself is usually and rightfully associated with political principles of the Founding Fathers, but the neo-conservative and paleo-conservative forms of conservatism seem puzzling to many. Not helpful on either score. And we have seen that even Tea Party metaphors can be dismissed with sound bites by liberal smear-aholics.

Here’s where Mark Twain comes to the rescue, especially since he was too busy mocking others to care about what others had to say about him, and his attitude toward politicians of every stripe pretty much says it all: “Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” Likely his observations of today’s congressional shenanigans would leave him rolling on the ground with laughter—or breaking down in tears. Either way, he would make great fun of it, no doubt with incredulity, skepticism, and no small amount of contempt. But does this make Twain a conservative?

The answer, I believe, is yes, for the following reasons. First, unlike America’s current ruling class, Mark Twain lived a very rich and full life, filled with events that burned the lessons of experience into his soul, all of which reinforced his understanding of the reality principle: that is, the relationship between cause and effect and taking responsibility for one’s actions. For instance, one does not advance to the position of river-boat pilot on the Mighty Mississippi with no more experience than negotiating a rowboat on a stream. His considerable income did not prevent him from losing all of it in failed business ventures; he traveled throughout the world, met thousands of people, was swindled by a few of them, became personally familiar with life’s many vices and tried briefly to give up smoking, drinking, lying and swearing, but couldn’t. The best he managed was to control his drinking and write an essay that was “An Appeal Against Injudicious Swearing,” which is as far as he would go on this very important topic.

In short, does anyone for a moment think that this man would be fooled by starry-eyed appeals for hope and change, to remake America, or to believe anything proclaimed by members of what he regarded as America’s only known criminal class, the U.S. Congress? Not likely.

His excellent short story, “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” was a brilliant statement on humankind’s self-righteousness and gullibility, and should be required reading for everyone, especially those contemplating a political career. He did not believe it possible that politics could alter fundamental tendencies of human nature, a view that has been a staple of progressive thought since the 19th century.

Further, Mark Twain had contempt for that redemptive embodiment of liberal-progressive thought, from the publication of Edward Bellamy’s “Looking Backward” to (in modern times) Al Gore’s latest fulminations on climate change: the expert. After all, the experts responsible for the country’s current financial meltdown—for $1.5 trillion deficits—belong to the same type who, according to Twain, once figured that “just a million years ago next November, the Lower Mississippi River was upward of 1,300,000 miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing-rod” (“Life on the Mississippi”). No doubt, Twain would be appalled by his country in its current condition, but he would not be surprised; after all, it was designed by that most despicable of creatures, the political expert, those who likely had learned the art of the hoax from Twain’s very own, “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”

All of which made Twain, and those who follow him, conservatives; that is, individuals who understand life by actually living it, who are skeptical of human nature and the pretensions of government, and who distrust the flimflammery of self-proclaimed experts. Call them Mark Twain conservatives, after the man who proudly claimed that he was not just “an” American. Like all true conservatives today, he was THE American: Mark Twain.

SOURCE

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

Son Kills Mom & Dad

(Chicago, Illinois) A 17-year-old high school student, John Granat, has been accused of bludgeoning his parents to death after they threw out his marijuana. He faces two counts of murder.

Notably, before killing John Sr. and Maria Granat, John Jr. threatened to do so several times previously.

A few weeks ago, his parents found that he was growing weed at their suburban Chicago home, so they trashed the plants and threw them out. That's when John Jr. began telling friends he was going to kill them.

They say they pleaded with him not to, but they never went to the cops.

Meanwhile, the kid appears to have been a hapless murderer. After the bodies were discovered, John Jr. kept changing his story.

The cops pulled him over at 5 a.m. Sunday morning -- two hours before he called 911. In his car was a bottle of pool chlorine and $4,000 cash. Granat would later tell detectives he'd been out all night with friends, but none of the kids he named had seen him since 6 p.m. Saturday.

Besides the apparent marijuana use, John Jr. is also suspected to have taken steroids as part of a weightlifting regimen. Steroid rage would help explain the brutality of the murders.

Florida Woman Accused of Vampire Attack on Geezer

(St. Petersburg, Florida) A 22-year-old woman, Josephine Rebecca Smith, has been arrested for an alleged vampire attack on a 69-year-old wheelchair-bound man, Milton Ellis.

The incident transpired last week on the porch of a defunct business where Mr. Ellis was sleeping.

Smith told Ellis she was a vampire and then proceeded to bite him, tearing off chunks of his face and a part of his lip, St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz said, according to The St. Petersburg Times.

"After he fell asleep on the ground, he claims that she attacked him, started yelling that she was a vampire, that she was going to eat him and started biting him by his face and body," Puetz said.

Blood dripping from bite marks on his neck and face, Ellis managed to scramble back into his motorized wheelchair and reach a nearby Shell gas station, where he called police.

Smith was booked into custody on charges of aggravated battery on an elderly person. Bail was set at $50,000.

Tip: slwlion

Planet with Two Suns



Kepler-16b or "Tatooine"

The scientific community now has evidence that planets with two suns do exist.

Scientists at NASA and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute [SETI] are informally calling the newly discovered world Tatooine, as homage to Skywalker's planet imagined by George Lucas.

The so-called circumbinary planet has been dubbed with an official name that's much less interesting: Kepler-16b.

Unlike the tagline of the Star Wars saga, Tatooine is not located in a "galaxy far, far away," it's right in our own backyard -- relatively -- about 200 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. Getting to Tatooine aboard a spacecraft traveling at light speed -- 186,282 miles per second -- would take about two centuries.[…]

Using data from NASA's $600 million Kepler telescope now orbiting the sun, a team lead by SETI's Laurance Doyle detected the actual shadow of a planet as it crossed in front of its two suns -- a scientific first.

The two suns orbit each other every 41 days. Kepler-16b orbits both every 229 days.

Teacher Accused of Aiding Detainee Escape

(Prince William County, Virginia) A 53-year-old English and social studies teacher at a juvenile detention facility, Timothea Dzan, has been accused of helping four troubled teenagers escape.

Teens being detained were awaiting court appearances.

Dzan faces charges of aiding in the escape of a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

[Dzan] allegedly told the four how to leave through a door that was not armed with an alarm and how to walk to elude security cameras, said Officer Jonathan Perok, a county police spokesman.

The boy and three girls, ages 14 to 17, were found several hours after the Sept. 8 escape and returned to the Judge Patrick D. Molinari Juvenile Shelter, at 8642 Wellington Rd., authorities said.

Dzan was placed on paid administrative leave after her arrest on Wednesday.

Sign of Hope and Change




Reportedly located in Madison, Alabama at the corner of Limestone and Capshaw. (h/t Graham K.)

Another Severed Foot Found on BC Coast - Updated



(Vancouver, British Columbia) Another severed foot has been found washed ashore, this time in Vancouver.

A boy found the foot and leg bone Tuesday near a marina in an inlet called False Creek, Vancouver Police said.

Foul play is not suspected, authorities told Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Authorities believe that because the remains did not have any evidence of trauma, the CBC reported.

It is the eleventh foot found since mid-2007 along the coast of British Columbia and Washington state. All have reportedly been in running shoes.

The first foot, discovered in August 2007 on Jedediah Island, northeast of Nanaimo, B.C., was associated with a deceased man whose name police withheld at the request of his family.

A man’s right foot found on Gabriola Island in August 2007 remains unidentified.

Two feet found on Valdez and Westham islands in July 2008 belonged to the same man.

And two female feet found in Richmond, B.C., in December 2008 belonged to the same woman.

In October 2009, a right foot was discovered on a beach in Richmond.

Additionally, three feet have been found along the coast of Washington at Whidby Island, Pysht and Tacoma. Investigators continue to search for an explanation.

Meanwhile, it's speculated that remnants of approximately 15,000 missing victims of the Japanese tsunami will wash up on the shores of North America in about three years. Apparently, one theory regarding the severed feet is that they migrated via ocean currents from Asia.

In any event, I would candidly disagree with the contention that dismemberment is not evidence of trauma nor foul play. It's certainly not a playtime boo-boo. Something is abnormal.

* * * * *
Six Four Severed Feet Wash Ashore
[Previous 5/24/08 post
(Vancouver, British Columbia) Over the last nine months, four severed, sneaker-clad right feet have washed ashore at different locations along the Strait of Georgia. Authorities are investigating.

[Update 6/19/08]

Two more severed feet have been found, making six total. Five are right feet, one is a left foot. Theories abound.

Amazing case from Australia: Single mother sues slimy cop -- and wins

She represented herself in court against a range of top legal brains and beat them all

I have in front of me a copy of the District Court judgment of today's date in the matter of Eaves v. Donnelly in which Renee Eaves was awarded the sum of $93,000 against Barry John Donnelly and the State of Queensland.

Ms Eaves is a very attractive blonde model from whom (I surmise) constable Donnelly wanted sex. He apparently was such a low character that he thought he could coerce her into it. She did not oblige him.

So he launched a campaign of harassment against her, secure in the assumption that a dumb blonde could never do anything to touch a Queensland cop.

He arrested her repeatedly on trumped up charges, all of which were thrown out when they came to court.

It was then that Renee showed her steel. She was NOT just a pretty face but a woman determined to get justice against the scum concerned.

And she stuck at it for years. She of course complained to the CMC -- where police investigate police -- and they rejected her complaint.

She then began to get media coverage of the matter, hoping that would shake some action loose. It didn't but it stressed out the cop. He went on stress leave for a year and then resigned.

But Renee still felt that the police had to be held to account -- to discourage oppression of other women by police. So she launched a damages claim in the District Court, where she showed she is not only a steely blonde but a smart one. She repeatedly cross-examined successfully.

During her long battle to get into the District Court, however, Renee ran out of money. Everything about the law is expensive and her means were slender. She in fact ran out just before the matter was due to come up so it looked as if her long battle was going to be for nought.

At that point I stepped in and paid her legal costs from that point on. I had never even met her but I have had a loathing against scum police ever since the extraordinary Barry Mannix case -- where the corrupt police got off Scot-free.

The real villain in this case, however is not the scum cop but rather the police service and the CMC who did nothing to pull him into line or attempt to make amends for his deeds. Except for the extraordinary courage of Ms Eaves, the guilt of the cop in the matter would never have been established.

And in the end it is the taxpayer who will pay -- well over $100,000 all up when legal costs are included.

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

Texas Woman and Teenage Boys

(Houston, Texas) A 29-year-old local woman, Lindsay Ann Correa, has been accused of engaging in sex with two teen boys.

Correa faces four counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 17.

Police say Lindsay Ann Correa sexually assaulted the first boy, her neighbor, multiple times between the ages of 15 to 17.

The teen neighbor said he would often hang out with Correa at her apartment and she would give him alcohol. On July 15, 2007, the two got drunk and had sex, according to court documents.

Correa allegedly assaulted the victim over a two-year time period.

Police said Correa started assaulting the second boy at the age of 14.

Correa was booked into custody with bond set at $120,000.

Teacher Not Guilty of Indecency with Child - Updated

(Lynchburg, Virginia) Earlier today, a jury found Valarie H. Casto not guilty of indecent liberties with a minor.

* * * * *
Teacher Accused of Indecency with Child
[Previous 7/30/10 post]
(Lynchburg, Virginia) A 39-year-old teacher at Paul L. Dunbar Middle School, Valarie H. Casto, was arrested Wednesday for alleged sexual exploitation of a child.

Casto faces charges of taking indecent liberties with a child while in a custodial relationship and attempted indecent liberties with a child while in a custodial relationship.

The juvenile male victim’s mother found “suspicious interaction with an adult female” on the victim’s cell phone and called Lynchburg police, authorities said in a news release.

Casto was booked into custody at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail with bond set at $10,000.

Indian Booze Lawsuit



Maharashtra State

(Mumbai, India) Bollywood actor Imran Khan, 28, has filed a lawsuit in Mumbai High Court challenging the state government's decision to raise the legal age limit for consuming alcohol from 21 to 25.

"When a 21-year-old is allowed to marry, vote and do several other things, then he or she should also be allowed to indulge in any legal activity including consumption of liquor," Imran told reporters after filing the Public Interest Litigation.

What's interesting about this story is that the government only banned the consumption of alcohol by individuals under the age of 25. The minimum age for purchasing alcohol remains 21.

So, 21-year-old Indians in Maharashtra can buy all the alcohol they desire but they have to let it sit until their 25th birthday before they can drink it. Seems kind of dumb, eh?

US poverty rate highest since 1993

THE US poverty rate rose in 2010 to 15.1 per cent, the highest rate since 1993, the Census Bureau has reported in another sign of a sputtering economy following a deep recession. The report showed a sharp increase in poverty from 14.3 per cent in 2009, and a fourth consecutive rise in the number of people below the poverty threshold, to 46.2 million.

The number of people in poverty was the highest since data collection began in 1959, although the rate was 7.3 percentage points lower than in 1959.

The US definition of poverty is an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four, and $11,139 for a single person in 2010.

The survey showed struggles for the rest of Americans, with median household income falling 2.3 per cent to $49,445.

The poverty rate for blacks and Hispanics was much higher than for the overall population at 27.4 per cent and 26.6 per cent, respectively. Among regions, the South had the highest poverty rate at 16.9 per cent and the highest percentage without health insurance, 19.1 per cent.

The report, showing the first full year since the recession officially ended in June 2009, supports the notion that Americans have been losing ground economically. It showed real median incomes fell 6.4 per cent from pre-recession levels in 2007 and were 7.1 per cent below the peak in 1999.

SOURCE

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

Gumby Surrenders to Police - Updated

(San Diego, California) Yesterday, a 19-year-old local man, Jacob Kiss, surrendered at the San Diego Police Department headquarters admitting that he was the Gumby robber. He brought the Gumby costume with him.

According to Detective Gary Hassan, the getaway driver during the attempted robbery, Jason Giramma, 19, also turned himself in to police.

Robbery investigators questioned Kiss and Giramma, took down their statements and confiscated the Gumby outfit before releasing the pair, Hassen said.

Police will document evidence in the case before forwarding it to the District Attorney's Office for possible prosecution.

Possible prosecution, eh?

* * * * *
Gumby's Attempted Robbery
[Previous 9/8/11 post]
(San Diego, California) This week, a robber, believed to be a male, dressed as Gumby in a green costume entered a convenience store, claimed to have a gun, and demanded money.

According to San Diego Police Detective Gary Hassan, the store clerk thought it was a joke.

"You don't think this is a robbery? I have a gun," the costumed man said, fumbling inside his costume as if trying to retrieve a weapon, Hassen said.

But the green-gloves seemed to get in the way, and rather than pull a gun, he dropped 26 cents on the floor, Hassen said.

The video shows the second man, who came in with the Gumby suspect, but was not dressed as Pokey, walk out of the store.

The costumed character "can't pick up the money and he can't get the gun," Hassen said. So when the other man pulls up in front of the store and honks, the would-be robber runs to the white or silver minivan and takes off, Hassen said.

Authorities issued a BOLO for Gumby while a reward is being offered by CrimeStoppers.

Tip: slwlion

Father-Son Molestation of Girl, 9

(Orlando, Florida) A 19-year-old Sanford male, Matthew Jeremy Torres, pleaded no contest last week to molesting a 9-year-old girl while his father, Fernando Torres, 42, awaits trial on charges he molested the same girl.



Matthew Torres & Fernando Torres
For the conviction on four counts of lewd or lascivious molestation, Matthew Torres was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to serve two years of sex offender probation upon his release. He was also instructed to register as a sex offender.

Fernando Torres awaits trial in the Orange County Jail. He faces charges of sexual battery on a child and lewd or lascivious molestation.

Tip: slwlion

Carolina Mom Accused in Porn, Booze Party

(Lexington County, South Carolina) A 47-year-old local woman, Susan Russell Hammond, was arrested this week for allegedly showing a pornographic movie to teenage boys and serving them alcohol.

Hammond faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

On July 26th, deputies said Hammond held a sleep over for her 14-year-old son and his two buddies at their home on Old Town Drive in Lexington. After the teens finished watching TV, Sheriff Metts said Hammond went into her bedroom and returned with a porn flick along with shots of alcohol.

Investigators said they were tipped off after one of the boy's moms noticed something suspicious on Facebook. It was a sexually explicit chat about sex and oral sex between her son and Hammond.

Hammond was booked into custody at the Lexington County Detention Center and released on $10,000 bond.

Cougar Sighting




(Upper Peninsula, Michigan) A cougar was caught on video strolling through a stretch of private property in Ontonagon County.

Sightings are reported on a fairly regular basis, but verifications are harder to come by. In roughly a century, there have been only a half-dozen verified cougar sightings.

On Monday, Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials went to the scene and verified the camera location.

Heh. I'd prefer the big cats stay west of the Mississippi River.

Post Office Deems Bible Readings "Offensive"

Source:

Postal workers refused to deliver CDs of Bible readings after deciding they were ‘offensive material’.

Several churches had paid for discs with recordings of St Mark’s Gospel to be produced to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

They were due to be delivered to all households on the Channel Island of Jersey, but church leaders were stunned when they were told postal workers would not handle the 45,000 CDs.

According to Jersey Post management, one mailman considered the Bible recordings to be offensive. Volunteers ultimately delivered the CDs.

Tip: Moonbattery

The Evil That Men Do Lives On




From here.

Gotta Hate When This Happens

(Honghu, China) This report gives me the willies.

Zhang Nan was bathing with live eels to cleanse his skin when one rogue serpent took a liking to his manhood.[…]

Thinking that the eels would make him look ten years younger, Nan dived into the water and let them feast upon layers of dead skin.

But after laying in the spa bath, Nan felt a sharp pain and realised a small eel was working its way up his urethra and into his bladder.

'I climbed into the bath and I could feel the eels nibbling my body. But then suddenly I felt a severe pain and realised a small eel had gone into the end of my penis,' the 56-year-old from Honghu, Hubei province said.

'I tried to hold it and take it out, but the eel was too slippery to be held and it disappeared up my penis.'

After a three-hour operation in the hospital, the eel was removed by Surgeon Jin Wang.

Teacher Guilty of Sexting Male Student

(Bolton, England) A 24-year-old religion teacher at a Bolton high school, Kathryn Roach, has pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust.

Reportedly, Roach sent sexual texts to a male student.

According to Judge Stephen Everett:

“I have no thoughts as yet about sentence. All sentencing options are open and you must prepare yourself for that.

“The defendant ... sent him a substantial number of texts which at least in part became more sexual in their nature.

“She is a teacher in a position of trust being in contact in this way with a pupil.”

Roach has been fired from her teaching position. Sentencing is scheduled for October 31.

Tip: JR

California Teacher on the Lam

(Redding, California) Last year, a teacher at the Enterprise School District, Diane Denise Fisher, was arrested for identity theft and other crimes. Fisher awaited proceedings confined at home.

Late last month, 42-year-old Fisher appeared in Shasta County Superior Court and learned that she faced an additional 17 felonies.

Fisher reacted by walking out of the courtroom and becoming a fugitive. The judge issued a warrant for her arrest.

It’s alleged that Fisher, who was out of jail custody and on electronic home confinement as her court cases went through the legal system, disabled the device and, using wigs to help disguise her appearance, opened fraudulent accounts at area banks and casinos with stolen identification.

A reward of $1,000 is being offered for Fisher's arrest. Police believe Fisher is hiding out locally.