Russians are Putin's concern

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SOURCE

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

Crimea

(Simferopol, Crimea)

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

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

Deeply flawed is an understatement.

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

Heh. The place is a mess.

Georgia Teacher Accused of Sex Assault

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

Quigley faces multiple counts of sexual assault.

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

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

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

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

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

Quigley was booked into custody without bond.

Neknominate Drinking Game

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

SOURCE

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

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

Delaware Wife Accused of Poisoning Husband

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

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

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

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

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

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

California High School Coach, 23, and Girl, 15

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

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

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

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

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

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

Journalist Sharyl Attkisson Leaves CBS

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

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

She had first tried to leave a year ago.

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

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

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

Fast and Furious questions linger as IG continues investgation

The Search for Safer Vaccines

Brian Terry's family reflects after his killer is sentenced

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

In latest farm bill, a billion tax dollars per page

High security risk found after HealthCare.gov launch

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

Benghazi investigators defend their probe

GOP freshmen, big-bucks donors hobnob at resort

Suing to stop terror funding

Wishing Ms. Attkisson good luck in her future endeavors.

Posted by Note Taker

Henry Thomas Schäfer

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

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


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

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

Below is the picture that hangs on my wall


A Time of Roses

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

Are conservatives more emotional?

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

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

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

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

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


Right-Wing Politicians Prefer the Emotional Left

Nicole A. Thomas et al

Abstract

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

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

SOURCE

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

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

Colorado Teacher Accused of Sex Assault

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

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

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

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

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

Guacamole Crisis Dissolves Like other Global Warming Myths

James M. Taylor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SOURCE

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

Alabama Teacher, 31, Accused of Sexting Student, 14

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

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

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

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

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

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

Texas Teacher Improper with Student

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

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

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

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

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

Ohio Illegal Accused of 3 Murders

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

Mista faces three counts of murder.

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

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

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

Chinese Chicken

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Texas Doctor Skates on Criminal Trespass & Harassment

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

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

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

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

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

Siler-Fisher bonded out of jail after her arrest.

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

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

Seems awful lenient, eh?

Nevada Woman Accused of Child Murder

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

Allen faces a charge of murder.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Details on booking are unavailable.

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

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

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

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

SOURCE 

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

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

Florida Teacher Arrested for Aggravated Assault

(Brooksville, Florida) A 38-year-old teacher with Pasco County Schools, Amy Michelle Weaver, has been arrested for threatening her husband with a kitchen knife.

Weaver faces a charge of aggravated assault with a weapon without the intent to kill.

An arrest report shows she and her husband were both drunk in their master bedroom when an argument started over her not wanting him to watch TV.

Weaver's husband told deputies Weaver tried to turn the TV off with the remote, so he threw the remote under the bed, deputies said.

The report states Weaver's husband then picked the TV up, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it before leaving the house.

Weaver went into the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and followed him outside, presumably to cut his tires and prevent him from leaving, two witnesses in the home told deputies.

Weaver's husband approached her to try and calm her down, but she raised the knife over her head with both hands and "made a downward stabbing motion," he told deputies, according to the report.

Weaver's husband said he feared for his life and put his hands up before grabbing the knife out of her hands, deputies said.

Mrs. Weaver was booked into custody at the Hernando County Jail.

New Jersey Teacher Endangered Boy

(North Brunswick, New Jersey) A 33-year-old special education teacher at North Brunswick Township High School, Cara E. Conroy, has been accused engaging in a sexually explicit conversation online with a 14-year-old boy.

Conroy was arrested to face one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said that Ms. Conroy allegedly talked online with a 14-year-old boy about engaging in sexual acts with each other on March 5.

The boy was not a special education student, according to police.

Ms. Conroy was arrested and charged following an investigation by North Brunswick Detective Mike Braun and Middlesex County Investigator Melissa Terpanick.

According to police, the boy’s mother learned about the online conversation and contacted authorities.

Conroy was booked into custody at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick with bail set at $75,000.

Tennessee Woman Accused of Child Murder

(Clarksville, Tennessee) A 24-year-old local wife whose husband is serving in Afghanistan, Stefany Paige Johnson, has been accused of killing her 7-month-old daughter.

Johnson faces a charge of criminal homicide.

According to reports, police entered Johnson’s home at 1311 Sonja Drive at 3:40 a.m. Friday morning after receiving reports of woman screaming. Johnson told police “Jesus came down” and took her baby to heaven while she was bathing the child.

Johnson was reportedly uncooperative and belligerent when police found her and the body of her baby, which was on the couch. The was no indication of any medical care for the child. Johnson was the sole child care provider in the household.

Johnson was booked into custody at the Montgomery County Jail.

It’s Not an Obamacare Tax: It’s an “Individual Shared Responsibility Payment”

Here’s your Orwellian Phrase for the Week: Individual shared responsibility payment. Yeah… Go ahead and try to wrap your brain around that amalgamation of contradictory concepts. The phrase is not gleaned from some glossy DNC spin-office, or a Harvard professor’s latest psychobabble posing as an academic paper. Apparently the phrase is the IRS’s fancy (new) term for the Obamacare Mandate tax that individuals will have to pay if they fail to get health insurance this year.

As reported by Americans for Tax Reform:

If you (or any of your dependents) do not maintain coverage and do not qualify for an exemption, you will need to make an individual shared responsibility payment with your return.

Source

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

Gold Car Introduced

(Geneva, Switzerland)

For lovers of luxury and bling-bling, German tuning specialist Carlsson is offering an eyeful at the Geneva International Motor Show this week, displaying the world's first gold-covered car.

Several thousand sheets of gold leaf were needed to cover the Versailles-inspired special edition Mercedes S-class presented at the show, which opened to the public on Thursday.

Carlsson said it is only planning to produce 25 of the over-the-top luxury vehicles, each customized to fit the tastes of their buyers.

Ten of the Carlsson CS50 Versailles — named after the extravagant gold and mirror-decked palace on the outskirts of Paris — have already been reserved, said the company, which is targeting in particular ultra-rich buyers in Asia and the Middle East.

About half of the car's exterior is covered in pure gold, and the precious metal is also omnipresent inside the vehicle, covering the steering wheel, part of the dashboard and a range of knobs, buttons and details.

The car is priced around $500K.

Ezra Levant's libel trial starts



Sun News Network host Ezra Levant caused "tremendous" damage to a Saskatchewan lawyer with blog posts labelling him a jihadist and a liar, the lawyer alleged Monday as his defamation lawsuit against the controversial media personality went to trial.

Khurrum Awan was completing his articling and looking for work as a lawyer when he alleges the most egregious libels were posted. He is seeking $100,000 in damages.

Levant's posts on his personal blog centred around Awan's testimony at a British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal case about a complaint over an article in Maclean's magazine from 2006, titled "The future belongs to Islam." Awan was a law student when the article was published and was one of a group of students who said they were concerned the article was Islamophobic.

Awan testified Monday that seeing Levant's posts under the headline "Awan the liar" was "very upsetting."

Levant's lawyer, Iain MacKinnon, said the defence is primarily one of fair comment.

The blog posts were based upon what Levant observed over two days of Awan's testimony at the human rights tribunal in 2008 and there is a factual basis for his comments, MacKinnon said in his opening statement.

"There's no doubt Mr. Levant sometimes uses colourful language or sometimes a derisive tone," MacKinnon said. "That is perfectly allowed under the defence of fair comment."

Levant was commenting on a matter of public interest, MacKinnon said, noting Awan never asked Levant for a correction.

Source

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

Washington Woman Gets Jail for Sexting Boy

(Tacoma, Washington) A 37-year-old woman, Shakira Anderson, has admitted to sending sexually explicit texts and photographs to a 14-year-old boy.

Anderson pleaded guilty to a charge of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and was sentenced to nine months in jail.

Anderson repeatedly tried to convince the boy to have sex with her, but his parents found out about the texts and told police.[…]

The boy’s mother said Anderson showed no remorse for the crime.

“I don’t think she’s mentally stable and I don’t think it will change the way she behaves”, said the boy’s mother.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson lectured Anderson saying a presentence investigation indicated she didn’t take the charges seriously and didn’t consider herself a sex offender.

Anderson was ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation while in jail.

Leftism




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

New York Teacher Guilty of Rape of Male Student - Update

(White Plains, New York) Religion teacher formally at Archbishop Stepinac High School, Amanda Isles (aka Amanda Iles), pleaded guilty this week to second-degree rape of a 14-year-old student.

Amanda Iles' admission came after she reached a plea agreement with prosecutors that will see her spend up to six months in the Westchester County jail, in addition to nearly 10 years of probation. Iles, 28, will also have to register as a sex offender.[…]

Iles surrendered to police in November after she was accused of sexual encounters with the boy on several occasions over four days at her 118 Grand Blvd. home in Eastchester, just days after the end of the school year.

The rape came to light after the parents of the boy, who lives in Yonkers, learned of the encounters and contacted police, who later uncovered videos and photos of the sex. Iles resigned from her position at the school just days before the encounters began.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 27.

* * * * *
New York Teacher Accused of Rape of Male Student
[Previous 11/6/13 post]
(White Plains, New York) A 27-year-old religion teacher at the Archbishop Stepinac High School, Amanda Isles, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 14-year-old male student.

Isles faces two counts of felony second-degree rape.

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore said Wednesday that the boy’s parents became aware of the encounters and contacted the police.

Isles returned from California where she has been living and surrendered to Eastchester Police Wednesday morning.

Isles was booked into custody with bail set at $25,000 cash or $75,000 bond.

Porn Star at Duke University

Miriam Weeks aka Belle Knox
An 18-year-old student at Duke University, Miriam Weeks, has garnered national attention for performances as a porn star under the name Belle Knox. She has been called a veritable overnight success story with more hits on Google than Pope Francis and Justin Bieber combined.

Belle Knox, with a dozen skin-flicks under her belt, was back in Los Angeles on Wednesday preparing for another porn casting call. The budding porn star — featured in films like “Lick My Lips” and “How Do You Like It?” — hopes to screw her way all the way to graduation.

“I really enjoy sex, and I’ve always loved watching porn, so it just seemed like I could pay my way through college doing something I really love doing,” Knox, a women’s studies and sociology major, told the Daily News.

Tuition at the North Carolina school runs about $47,000 a year. The petite brunette said her family was supposed to pay for school. When that didn’t work out, she considered taking out loans, but she didn’t want to strap her family with debt. She says she wasn’t eligible for government loans and typical student jobs just didn’t pay enough.

“I didn’t feel like I had a lot of options,” she said.

It was November and holiday break was approaching. Then it hit her.

“I literally just Googled, ‘How to be a porn star.’ It came up with all these modeling agencies, and I literally just sent in my pictures and my height and weight,” she recalled. “I was getting calls literally within days, with people saying they really wanted me.”

Heh.

Tip: slwlion

Ohio Woman Jailed for Sex with Minor

(Hillsboro, Ohio) A 22-year-old local woman, Courtney M. Davis, has pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual conduct with a minor.

As a result, Davis was sentenced in Clinton County Common Pleas Court to six months in jail. Davis will also be designated as a sex offender and was ordered to pay a $500 fine.

At the time of the offenses, the victim was 14 years old and Davis was 21, stated Clinton County Common Pleas Judge John W. “Tim” Rudduck.

“Defendant [Davis] claims she was mistaken about victim’s age, but the court does not believe this excuse,” Rudduck wrote in his judgment entry. The judge added that after reviewing an investigative report, he is “convinced” Davis was “fully aware” of the age of the juvenile.

Davis faces a year in prison if she fails to comply with the community control rules and regulations.

New York Teacher Gets Prison for Raping Boy - Update

(Orange County, New York) Yesterday, former substitute teacher Lisa Franklin, 45, was sentenced in Orange County Court to 30 months in prison for second-degree rape of a 12-year-old boy.

My guess is that a male teacher committing the same crime would have received 30 years in prison, not 30 months.

* * * * *
New York Teacher Guilty of Raping Boy - Update
[Previous 12/19/13 post]
(Orange County, New York) A former substitute teacher at the Sacred Heart parochial school, Lisa M. Franklin, pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old boy.

The plea covers a 22-count indictment related to acts that spanned a year’s time. In exchange for the plea, she’s expected to get a prison sentence of 2 1/2 years, plus 10 years of post-release supervision by parole. She’ll also be required to register as a sex offender, with a level to be determined after a forensic psychiatric assessment.

The abuse was uncovered when the boy’s parents found inappropriate text messages from Franklin on his cellular phone.[…]

As Senior Assistant District Attorney Michael Milza questioned her, Franklin admitted in court to subjecting the boy to sexual intercourse last year.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 2014.

* * * * *
New York Teacher Indicted for Sex with Boy - Update
[Previous 6/7/13 post]
(Orange County, New York) A 44-year-old substitute teacher formerly at Sacred Heart School in Newburgh, Lisa M. Franklin, has been indicted for engaging in sex with a boy who was under the age of 13.

Franklin faces counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, first-degree rape and second-degree rape.

The indictment alleges that between March 15 and June 30, 2012, she had sex with a boy who was under the age of 13.

New Windsor Town Police learned of the abuse from the boy’s parents when they learned he was having a relationship with Franklin, a Town of Newburgh resident, when they discovered inappropriate text messages on his phone.

During the investigation, police learned the boy and the woman were involved in several sex acts in several jurisdictions.

Franklin continues free on bail.

* * * * *
New York Teacher Accused of Sex with Boy, 12
[Previous 3/15/13 post]
(Orange County, New York) A 44-year-old substitute teacher for Newburgh-area Catholic schools, Lisa M. Franklin, has been accused of engaging in "numerous sex acts in multiple jurisdictions with a New Windsor boy beginning when he was 12 years old."

Franklin faces counts of second-degree rape and first-degree sexual conduct against a child.

The boy's parents realized something was wrong when they found "inappropriate text messages" on his cellphone in February. They brought their concerns to New Windsor cops, who started an investigation with the help of the Orange County Child Abuse Unit and county social services.

They also worked with cops in Warwick and Goshen in addition to State Police and sheriff's deputies because they believe Franklin and the boy, now 13 years old, carried on their relationship in various places across the county.

Franklin was booked into custody at the Orange County Jail and released on $10,000 bail.

School Forces Half-Naked, Drenched Student into Freezing Cold

(St. Paul, Minnesota)

A Minnesota public high school was so committed to obeying its fire drill policy to the exact letter of the law that it forced a female student–dressed only in a swimsuit, and sopping wet–to stand outside in the freezing cold for ten minutes. As a result, she suffered frostbite.[…]

The trouble began when a small science experiment triggered the fire alarm at Como Park Senior High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fourteen-year-old Kayona Hagen-Tietz was swimming in the school pool for health class at the time. Her clothes were in her locker, and a teacher told her that there was no time for her to change. Hagen-Tietz was rushed outside–still wet and dressed in only swimsuit.

It was 5 degrees below zero in St. Paul that day. With the windchill, it was 25 degrees below zero.

The school staff exhibited no common sense.

Tip: slwlion

Greenpeace Complains for Russia to Return Ship

Arctic Sunrise
(Moscow, Russia)

Greenpeace has filed a complaint against Russian authorities over their refusal to allow the environmental organization to inspect its ship, which has been in Russian custody for over five months.

The Arctic Sunrise icebreaker has been held in the northern port city of Murmansk since September when it was detained in international waters, along with all 30 people on board, during a Greenpeace protest over Arctic oil drilling.

Russia dropped all charges against the so-called Arctic 30 in December as part of a presidential amnesty, but investigators have refused to release the ship, citing the need to examine computer evidence found on board.

Greenpeace filed a complaint to a St. Petersburg court and a formal petition to the Investigative Committee this week, calling on Russian authorities to release the ship and for access to evaluate the vessel’s condition after the organization’s request to inspect it in October was denied.

“The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered an immediate release of the vessel more than three months ago,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

Thus far, it appears Russia has simply ignored all the complaints and petitions.

Calling the Global Warming Charlatans "Nazis" is historically accurate

Nature fantasists and authoritarian people-haters in both cases.  Details here -- JR



 By Alan Caruba

On February 20th, the noted meteorologist, Dr. Roy W. Spencer, fed up with being called a “denier” of global warming, posted a commentary on his blog titled “Time to push back against the global warming Nazis.”

“When politicians and scientists started calling people like me ‘deniers’, they crossed the line. They are still doing it,” said Dr. Spencer. “They indirectly equate (1) the skeptics’ view that global warming is not necessarily all manmade nor a serious problem with (2) the denial that the Nazi’s extermination of millions of Jews ever happened.” The Holocaust happened, but global warming’s latest natural cycle ended about 17 years ago and, as a lot of people have noticed, it has been getting cold since then.

“Like the Nazis,” said Dr. Spencer, “they advocate the supreme authority of the state (fascism), which in turn supports their scientific research to support their cause…”  In the case of global warming, this huge hoax was put forth by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The UN would like to be the world’s global government, but that’s not going to happen. In the meantime, the IPCC provided scientists that cooperated with lots of money for their alleged research, all of which “proved” that carbon dioxide was dramatically heating the Earth. Others like Al Gore made millions selling “carbon credits”. Along the way, both Gore and the IPCC received a Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. Spencer received a Ph.D. in meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981. He was a Senior Scientists for Climate Studies at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center where he and a colleague, Dr. John Christy received NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for their global temperature monitoring work with satellites. He became a Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2001 and continues to advise NASA as a U.S. Science Team Leader.  As he points out on his blog, his research has been supported by U.S. government agencies, so the usual claim by Greens that he is a paid stooge of Big Oil just doesn’t work in his case.

Dr. Spencer’s decision to call a Nazi a Nazi ignited a lot of discussion among the global warming hustlers and those whom they have been calling “deniers” for many years. I always found it particularly offensive, but I suspect those I called charlatans and hustlers felt the same way. The difference, however, is the connotation applied to the term, “denier.” Even today anti-Semites of various descriptions deny that six million Jews died in the death camps of Nazi Germany during World War Two along with millions Christians and Eastern Slavic Europeans

What makes this particularly offensive and horrid is the fact that those in the Nazi leadership under Adolf Hitler were all environmentalists, deeply committed to conservation and similar expressions that put the Earth above the value of human life.

This is all revealed in a book by R. Mark Musser, “Nazi Oaks”, now in its third printing. Musser was introduced to environmentalism at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, from which he graduated in 1989. In 1994 he received Master of Divinity and spent seven years as a missionary to Belarus and in the Ukraine.

Musser’s book is absolutely astonishing as he documents how “Green” the Nazis were from their earliest years until their defeat. It was Heinrich Himmler, the Reich Leader from 1929 to 1945, who was responsible for the “Final Solution”, the mass killing of Europe’s Jews. He led the Nazi party’s SS.

As Musser notes, “The Nazis were trying to eliminate both global capitalism and international communism in order to recover a reverence for nature lost in the modern cosmopolitan world.”  The Nazis also held Judeo-Christian values in contempt.

“That this evolutionary Nazi nature religion was clothed in secular biology and colored by environmental policies and practices, is a historical truth that has been ignored and underreported for too long a time in all the discussions about the Holocaust,” writes Musser.

I am inclined to believe that it is no accident that the global warming charlatans began to use the term “deniers” to describe skeptics.

By 2011, a Gallup poll that surveyed people in 111 countries revealed that most of the human race did not see global warming as a serious threat. Still, worldwide 42% told Gallup that they thought global warming was either ‘somewhat serious’ or ‘very serious.’ That was down from 63% in polls taken in 2007 and 2008 in the U.S.

More than just a spat between scientists, in April 2012, the Congressional Research Service estimated that, since 2008, the federal government had spent nearly $70 billion on ‘climate change activities.’  That kind of money could build or repair a lot of bridges and roads. It could fund elements of our military. It could be spent on something other than a climate over which neither the government nor anyone in the world has any influence.

Bursting onto the national stage, Dr. Spencer’s decision to call the global warming scientists Nazis for their efforts to intimidate or smear the reputations of those whose research disputes their claims, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. a Wall Street Journal columnist, wrote on March 1 that “Surely some kind of ending is upon us. Last week climate protesters demanded the silencing of Charles Krauthammer for a Washington Post column that notices uncertainties in the global warming hypothesis.”

“In coming weeks,” wrote Jenkins, “a libel trial gets under way brought by Penn State’s Michael Mann, author of the famed "hockey stick" graph (Editor’s note: an IPCC graph Mann created that asserted a sudden, major increase in heat has been widely debunked) against the National Review, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, writer Rand Simberg and roving commentator Mark Steyn for making wisecracks about his climate work.”

Revelations of several thousand emails between IPCC scientists, one of whom was Mann, were christened “climategate” and demonstrated the efforts in which they engaged to suppress the publication of any papers that questioned global warming in scientific journals. As the climate turned cooler, they became increasingly alarmed.

What we are likely witnessing are the long death throes of the global warming hoax. Calling those scientists and others like myself “deniers” and other names simply reveals the desperation of those who are seeing a great source of money slip away under the spotlight of scientific truth, nor will they be able to impose their lies on the rest of us.

SOURCE

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

Florida Man Accused of Sex with Dog

(Tampa, Florida) A 57-year-old local man, Bernard Marsonek, has been accused of engaging in sex with a pit bull in his yard.

Marsonek faces counts of animal cruelty, sexual activity involving animals, and felon in possession of a firearm.

When officers arrived at the home on North Marks Street, they were greeted by a small crowd of residents who were disturbed by their neighbor's activity with the dog. Several said they told Marsonek to stop, but he ignored their commands.

Officers found Marsonek inside his home, where they began to interview him. A search warrant was executed, and police seized a gun and ammunition from Marsonek, who is a convicted felon.

Details on booking are unavailable.

Tip: slwlion

Kentucky Teacher Accused of Giving Pot & Booze to Students

(Fleming County, Kentucky) A 41-year-old teacher at Fleming County High School, Minnie McCord, has been accused of providing alcohol and marijuana to students.

McCord was arrested yesterday and charged with unlawful transaction with a minor and trafficking in marijuana.

State Police accused a teacher of giving students alcohol and marijuana in exchange for work done on her property.[…]

Troopers said the arrest came after executing a search warrant.

McCord was booked into custody at the Mason County Detention Center.

Florida Woman Accused of Using Drugs with Baby in Car

(Land O'Lakes, Florida) A 22-year-old local woman, Samantha Jo Jackson, has been accused of taking drugs when watching a 3-month-old baby in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant.

Jackson faces counts of child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A deputy was called to the restaurant at 11:56 p.m. Thursday after someone reported seeing people in a 2003 Saturn Ion taking drugs while a baby was in the car, the report said.

When the deputy arrived, he walked up to the car and saw Jackson in the back middle seat, holding the 3-month-old girl, the report said. A syringe was sticking out from underneath a baby’s car seat that was next to her, and on the baby seat was a clear wrapper with white powder residue “consistent with drug use,” the report said.

Two witnesses told the deputy they had seen the occupants of the car “shooting up and snorting drugs off the dashboard” while they passed the baby around, the report said.

Jackson was booked into custody at the Land O’ Lakes Jail with bond set at $10,150.

Greenpeace Protests Procter & Gamble

Banner states "WIPES OUT DANDRUFF & RAINFORESTS"
(Cincinnati, Ohio)

Nine people are in jail on charges of trespass and burglary for rappelling down the twin towers at P&G Tuesday afternoon as part of a protest.

The group Greenpeace says it's trying to make a point that P&G is destroying the rainforest with how it obtains palm oil for some of it's products.

The rappelling of the 17 story twin towers made for quite the photo opportunity for people walking past the building. The effort was so coordinated Greenpeace had a helicopter flying over to take video to put on social media.

However, the big confusion is still how there could be this kind of security breach at P&G. It even allowed for a woman dressed in a tiger costume to hang from wires between the towers. Police think the nine people in street clothes walked in the front door carrying a lot of stuff.[…]

Greenpeace said the group came to expose the company's use of palm oil linked to forest destruction in products like "Head and Shoulders".

Heh.

Florida Teacher Accused of Crashing into Police Car

(Lake County, Florida) A 44-year-old teacher at Sorrento Elementary School, Monica Leigh Jenkins, has been accused of twice ramming into a Lake County deputy's vehicle while under the influence of a drug and fleeing a traffic stop on her way to school.

Jenkins faces counts of aggravated battery on a law officer, fleeing and driving under the influence.

According to an arrest report a deputy spotted Jenkins in a black sport-utility vehicle headed east in the westbound lane of State Road 44 near Scrub Oak Lane.

When Jenkins would not slow down, authorities said, the deputy pulled in front of her to keep her from hitting other vehicles.The teacher then twice crashed into the deputy's rear bumper before coming to a stop at County Road 42.

After being removed from her vehicle, Jenkins told a second deputy she'd missed a turn, did not remember the deputy attempting to stop her and did not recall striking the deputy's vehicle or passing a stopped school bus.

Jenkins has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.

Texas Teacher Accused of Improper Relations with Student

(Collin County, Texas) A 39-year-old teacher at Evans Middle School, Sharon Lynn Hoskison, has been arrested for engaging in an improper relationship with a 17-year-old student.

The exact charges Hoskison faces are pending.

McKinney ISD officials sent a letter to parents at Evans Middle School, where Hoskison teaches eighth grade social studies and history. The letter states that Hoskison was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation by McKinney ISD and McKinney police.

“Please know that we take these matters very seriously, and student safety is our top priority,” stated the letter from Evans Principal Todd Young.

Hoskison was booked into custody at the Collin County Jail.

Ladies: No Bras, No Panties Allowed at Church

(Nairobi, Kenya) A local pastor has ordered female worshippers to attend church without their bras and panties to allow Christ to enter their lives.

Rev. Njohi of Lord's Propeller Redemption church has advised female worshippers from wearing any undergarments to the church terming them as ungodly. In a meeting chaired by him, a law was passed banning the wearing of inner wears.

Njohi claims that when going to church, people need to be free in 'body' and 'spirit' to receive Christ.

He went ahead to warn members of dire consequences if they secretly put on their inner wears.

In addition, mothers have been instructed to check their daughters to assure they are not wearing underwear to church on Sundays.

As a side note, it appears that Rev. Njohi's name is pronounced 'en-joy.' Curious, eh?

Alabama Teacher Gets Jail for Sexting Student

(Oneonta, Alabama) A 32-year-old teacher formerly at Susan Moore High School, Crystal Gilliland Clowdus, has pleaded guilty to sending sexual messages to a 15-year-old male student.

As a result, Clowdus was sentenced to 10 years in prison with nine suspended.

Clowdus, a wife and mother of a young son, was arrested Dec. 20, 2013, and turned herself in at the Blount County Correction Facility. She was jailed on a charge of transmitting obscene material to a child, and jailed with bond set at $100,000.

According to a court affidavit, a 15-year-old student said Clowdus sent him pictures on his cell phone. In the pictures, the teacher was nude and partially nude. The teen also received text messages from her saying she would like to have sex with him.[…]

She will serve six months in the Blount County Correctional Facility, followed by six months of house arrest, Casey said. She was expected to begin serving her jail time this afternoon.

Following her one year in detention, Clowdus will have a five-year probation period. She is also required to register as a lifetime sex offender and has to surrender her teaching license.

The victim's family reportedly concurred with the sentence.

Green-Certified Buildings Reportedly Hog Energy

Report:

Washington, D.C. may have the highest number of certified green buildings in the country, but research by Environmental Policy Alliance suggests it might not be doing much good.

The free-market group analyzed the first round of energy usage data released by city officials Friday and found that large, privately-owned buildings that received the green energy certification Leadership in Energy Design (LEED) actually use more energy than buildings that didn’t receive this green stamp of approval.

LEED is the brainchild of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a private environmental group.

Heh.

Russian Troops Invade the Crimean Peninsula

In red are displayed the locations of invading Russian forces on the Crimean Peninsula (as of 3/2/14). It's expected that conditions will change dramatically in the coming days as the Russian invasion matures.

Thus far, international reaction to the invasion can arguably be described as woefully meek.

They're already called 'vertically challenged' - but are short people intellectually challenged too?

The connection between height and IQ is well known.  It is however usually expressed as tall men being brighter

They are already cursed with the rather unflattering label of ‘vertically challenged’.

Now experts say short people may also be intellectually challenged too - or at least in comparison to their taller counterparts.

A new study has found a link between IQ and height, suggesting that those who are shorter are on average more likely to be less intelligent.

Academics identified genes that influence both height and IQ, and said there was a ‘significant genetic correlation’ between the two factors.

The research, which covered more than 6,800 unrelated people, is the first to analyse DNA markers in such a way.

Riccardo Marioni, from Edinburgh University’s Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, said the link was small but important.

He said: ‘We tested whether DNA-based genetic similarities among people related to their similarities in height and intelligence.

‘Previous studies have used twin or family data to examine similarities between height and intelligence, whereas ours was the first to examine this using actual DNA markers in unrelated people.

‘What we found was a small association between height and intelligence such that people who are taller tend to be smarter.’

The claim is likely to be disputed by millions in Britain who fall short of the average height, 5ft 3in for women and 5ft 9in for men.

One is certain to be John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, who at 4ft 5ins is dwarfed by his 5ft 11in wife, Sally.

But among those who appear to prove the theory is David Cameron, who is 6ft 1in is blessed with both height and intelligence.

Others include actress Kate Beckinsale, who studied French and Russian literature at Oxford and is fluent in both languages.

Stephen Fry, the host of QI, the puzzle-based television show, is 6ft 5in.

Marioni conducted his study in partnership with academics from Aberdeen University and University College London.

They based their findings on data compiled from thousands of people recruited for the Scottish Family Health Study between 2006 and 2011.

IQ was measured by tests which examined reaction times, powers of recall and linguistic ability.

Previous studies have linked short stature to heightened risk of cardiovascular disease.

Higher IQ has been linked to longevity and a decreased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and suicide.

Previous studies have also claimed that short-man syndrome, known as the Napoleon complex, does exist.  Researchers at Oxford University recently found that feeling smaller makes people paranoid, distrustful and scared of others.  In fact, men of about 5ft 4in have been shown to be 50 per cent more likely to be jealous and distrustful of their partners than those measuring 6ft 6in.

Studies have also claimed smaller people are more likely than taller ones to have poor mental health.

SOURCE

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

Alabama Woman Accused of Rape of Boy, 13

(Decatur, Alabama) A 26-year-old local woman, Lauren Brooke Flowers Baker, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy.

Baker faces counts of statutory rape and second-degree sodomy.

Police said the alleged rape was reported Feb. 14, 2013. The findings of the investigation were presented to the grand jury Feb. 6, nearly a year later.

Baker declined comment and referred questions to her lawyer, Decatur attorney Kevin Teague.

“She has claimed her innocence to that,” Teague said.

Baker was booked into custody at the Morgan County Jail and released on $20,000 bail.

Inspectors All Round



I like everything about this British political poster, including the way the smoke coming out of the chimneys forms tiny question marks. It was employed in the 1929 election against Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour Party. The artist is reported as V. Hicks. If only it weren’t still so relevant!

SOURCE

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

Connecticut Teacher Accused of Indecency

(Stamford, Connecticut) A 72-year-old substitute teacher at Westhill High School, Michael Luecke, has been accused of furiously masturbating in a school hallway.

Police say a school paraprofessional spotted Luecke doing the deed just after 7:30 a.m. The woman said she walked by Luecke as he was sitting in the hallway. She thought maybe he was hurt.

When she approached him, she said, she realized that the 72-year old substitute teacher had his hand stuck down his pants and was “manipulating his penis.”

The school paraprofessional then notified school officials, who notified police.

At that point, school officials removed Luecke from the class he was calmly teaching.

According to The Courant, surveillance video of the scene shows Luecke in a stairwell “suspiciously manipulating the front of his pants while looking at students in the courtyard.”

Luecke faces counts of public indecency, breach of peace and risk of injury to a minor.

Tip: slwlion

Florida City Threatens Woman For Living Off the Grid

By all accounts, Robin Speronis is engaged in a successful experiment in "living off the grid" in Cape Coral, Florida. The 54-year-old former real estate agent disconnected from city water and power about a year and a half ago. Now she relies on solar panels, propane lanterns, and collected rain water in her duplex and seems quite happy about it. But the city clearly is not. Officials tried to boot her from her home, and have now given her until the end of March to reconnect to the grid. A special magistrate who tossed many of the charges and admits that reasonableness may not play a role in the rules says she will ultimately have to comply. Speronis is standing firm.

According to Cristela Guerra of the Cape Coral News Press:

It took several hours to review the litany of alleged code enforcement violations. It was noted some seemed redundant, while other violations were not addressed as a result of issues with due process. [Special Magistrate Harold S.] Eskin had concerns that Speronis had not received proper notice. He found her not guilty on those issues but said he would be open to considering new evidence.

He found her guilty of the section which dealt with the water system and maintenance. Alternative means of power are possible but need to be approved by city officials, according to Paul Dickson, the city building official. When it comes to water, the options included installing a potentially more complicated and expensive system that would filter rain water through the pipes while maintaining temperatures and pressure. Speronis also uses the city sewer system for drainage. There are liens on the home to collect those fees.

Daniel Jennings of Off the Grid News notes that "Speronis has been fighting the city of Cape Coral since November when a code enforcement officer tried to evict her from her home for living without utilities. The city contends that Speronis violated the International Property Maintenance Code by relying on rain water instead of the city water system and solar panels instead of the electric grid."

City officials concede the code doesn't require anybody to use the hook-up to the water system, but they have to connect, just because.  "You may have to hook-up, but you don’t have to use it. Well, what’s the point?" notes Speronis, who says she'll keep fighting.

Restrictive, mindless, rules like those with which Speronis is threatened are a menace to both independence and innovation. But that's how government officials roll.

SOURCE

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