Skydiving Sex Video

(Kern County, California) A male porn star, Alex Torres, and a skydiving school secretary, Hope Howell, have created a measure of controversy by engaging in videotaped sex while free-falling over Kern County.




Interestingly, as long as there are no complaints, it appears that two adults engaging in consensual sex while falling thousands of feet in the air is not illegal. Unfortunately, a teenager saw the video and passed it around school.

Consequently, the FAA is investigating to see if any federal regulations were violated.

Tip: slwlion

"Fast and Furious" Grenades Case

CBS News has been reporting on the scandalous "Fast and Furious" operation which now encompasses grenades.

A U.S. citizen named Jean Baptiste Kingery, 40, has been accused of smuggling parts for 2,000 grenades into Mexico for the drug cartels.

Law enforcement sources say Kingery could have been prosecuted in the U.S. twice for violating export control laws, but that, each time, prosecutors in Arizona refused to make a case.

Grenades are weapons-of-choice for the cartels. An attack on Aug. 25 in a Monterrey, Mexico casino killed 53 people.

Sources tell CBS News that, in January 2010, ATF had Kingery under surveillance after he bought about 50 grenade bodies and headed to Mexico. But they say prosecutors wouldn't agree to make a case. So, as ATF agents looked on, Kingery and the grenade parts crossed the border -- and simply disappeared.

Six months later, Kingery allegedly got caught leaving the U.S. for Mexico with 114 disassembled grenades in a tire. One ATF agent told investigators he literally begged prosecutors to keep Kingery in custody this time, fearing he was supplying narco-terrorists, but was again ordered to let Kingery go.

Mexican authorities finally raided Kingery's house and grenade factory in August. He's been charged with arms trafficking.

Expect more to come out on the "Fast and Furious" grenades case.

Companion post at GunWatch.

Texas Teacher and Female Student

(Houston, Texas) A 26-year-old PE teacher at Thompson Intermediate School, Rebecca De La Garza, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 14-year-old female student.

De La Garza faces counts of improper relationship between teacher and student and sexual assault of a child.

The victim said she and De La Garza had sexual contact on a weekly basis, always in the school coaches’ office or in the equipment storage closet in the locker room.

Police said security cameras showed the victim and De La Garza together, and other school employees verified that they often saw the victim with the coach.

The victim’s mother said her daughter and De La Garza communicated frequently via text messages and phone calls.

Police said they found about 22,437 texts between the victim and De La Garza – sent at all hours of the day and night, and more than 2,400 phone calls.

De La Garza was booked into custody with bond set at $120,000.

Singing Naked

(Tacoma, Washington) Can't make this stuff up.

A Tacoma Community College music instructor is on paid leave while administrators investigate a complaint he convinced a high school girl she could improve her singing by getting herself sexually aroused.

The instructor was suspended in mid-September after the college received a complaint regarding a 17-year-old student, said Dan Small, TCC's vice president for institutional advancement.

Reportedly, the instructor convinced the girl that her vocal range could be improved if she followed simple instructions to "take off her clothes, engage in sexual foreplay, use an item to arouse herself and play the piano while he aroused himself."

Woman Accused of Selling Son, 2

(San Diego, California) A 26-year-old woman, Annie Riggs, has been arrested for allegedly negotiating a deal to sell her son, 2, for $13,000 cash plus $3,500 for a Lincoln Mark VIII car and 50 Oxycontin pills. Her husband, Brandon Riggs, apparently concurred with the sale.

It's reported that Riggs was selling the boy to a drugs-provider couple, Melissa and Stephen Lynch.

Stephen Lynch was arrested in Indiana, Brandon Riggs was already in an Indiana jail on other charges. Annie Riggs was arrested here in San Diego while visiting family for a graduation. Melissa lynch has still not been found.

A tipster alerted police.

When one considers the future of the little boy, this story is extremely sad. He'll probably be raised as a ward of the state or maybe be adopted but he will always know that he was rejected by his mother and father.

Climate Liars Hurting Real People

A SELF-FUNDED retiree has been told he cannot develop his land at Marks Point because rising sea levels will inundate his property by 2100.

Lake Macquarie City Council staff have recommended refusing Rob Antill’s plan for four two-level dwellings on a 1300-square-metre site.

A council staff report said the development site would have ‘‘a small area permanently inundated by 2050’’. ‘The entire site may be permanently inundated by 2100,’’ it said.

A number of prominent sea level groups pay their bills by making up absurd numbers about current sea level rise. Others make up even more absurd numbers about future sea level rise.

Sea level is not rising significantly in Newcastle. That man’s property will not be underwater in 2050 or 2100. It is time to make dishonest scientists accountable for their actions, just like every other profession.

The entire city of Los Angeles is doomed due to earthquakes. Do they build houses there anyway?


Graph of Newcastle sea levels from here

SOURCE

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

NYTimes Cuts Announced

From yesterday:

In the midst of a deteriorating advertising climate, The New York Times plans to eliminate up to 20 newsroom positions and seek additional savings in the business units, the company said Thursday.

The reductions, described by the New York Times Company as a rebalancing, were announced to employees on Thursday morning. The company will seek volunteers for buyouts in The Times newsroom, Jill Abramson, the paper’s executive editor, said in a memo to the staff, adding that no newsroom employee would be laid off. She said there would be “fewer than 20” buyouts.

The Times will also seek to cut costs on the business side by eliminating positions that are vacant and by offering a limited number of buyouts, said an executive who insisted on anonymity because the company was not commenting publicly on the details or scale of the reductions.

Not commenting publicly, eh?

Teacher Gets Probation in Drug Case - Updated

(Albuquerque, New Mexico) Former teacher Kathi Hunter, 57, has been sentenced to 18 months probation.

* * * * *
Teacher Pleads No Contest in Drug Case - Updated
[Previous 8/8/11 post]
(Albuquerque, New Mexico) Gifted student teacher formerly at Grant Middle School, Kathi Hunter, pleaded no contest earlier today to a drug charge.

Kathi Hunter entered the plea to one count of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.

Hunter has been referred to the judicial supervision program and if she's accepted, her sentencing hearing will be vacated.

Judicial supervision, eh? It's not clear what that entails.

* * * * *
Teacher Pinched for Marijuana Grow Operation
[Previous 9/19/10 post]
(Albuquerque, New Mexico) A 56-year-old gifted student teacher at Grant Middle School, Kathi Hunter, was arrested this week for allegedly growing marijuana in her home.

Officers reportedly searched Hunter's home and found “11 budding marijuana plants inside the house and she also had 27 marijuana stems with a various amount of marijuana inside the house,” according to Police Commander Doug West.

Police said they got a tip on Thursday after APS police arrested Hunter’s son for having pot at Jefferson Middle School where he is a student.

Police said they have gotten several tips that the younger Hunter is dealing pot at the school.

Police said they’re still investigating how Hunter’s son got the pot and whether or not the two were selling it at school or anywhere else.[…]

Police said Hunter told them she was growing the pot for health reasons, but investigators did not buy her story.

Students said it was rumored that Kathi Hunter was selling dope to students.

Kansas Educator Accused of Sex Crimes

(Fort Scott, Kansas) A 39-year-old special education teacher's aide at Fort Scott High School, Kimberly Kay Cannon, has been accused of child sex crimes.

Cannon faces charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, criminal sodomy and indecent liberties with a child.

The charges are a result of an investigation conducted by the Fort Scott Police Department, a news release from the Bourbon County Attorney's Office said.[…]

The incidents that Cannon is charged with participating in took place earlier this month, documents said.

USD 234 Superintendent Rick Werling said Cannon was a special education teacher's aide whose last day with the school was Thursday, Oct. 6. She had worked for the district since August 2002.

Cannon was booked into custody at the Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Center with bond set at $100,000.

Cosmetic Security

(Moscow, Russia) Described as rather large, breast implants are credited with saving a woman's life.

The 40-year-old Moscow woman's husband was allegedly aiming for the heart when he sunk a knife into her chest during a domestic dispute.

But the knife was blocked by the silicone implants -- which, somewhat ironically, her husband had requested she get some five years before.

Heh.

Tip: slwlion

Optional Higher Tax

Some folks may recall that about a decade ago the State of Massachusetts incorporated a feature on income tax forms which allowed people to pay an optional higher tax. The action was taken by the legislature to appease those taxpayers who believe they should pay more.

I've no inclination to chase down links describing the tax scheme but I remember it clearly since my reaction was a burst of laughter. One followup report indicated that the response to optional taxation was laughably miniscule, confirming the appropriateness of my initial reaction.

In any event, a bill was introduced in Congress yesterday to add an optional donation box to IRS forms to make it easier for Americans to donate more than they owe. I'm chuckling already.

The bill is being called the "Buffet Rule" after billionaire Warren Buffet and it's intended to "put pressure on lawmakers that advocate for higher taxes but do not voluntarily contribute their own money in taxes."

Heh. It would be embarrassingly difficult for congressmen to justify votes for tax increases if they hadn't first opted to donate additional money on their own tax returns.

The inimitable Pat Condell again



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

Iranians Protest at Soccer Games



Iranian protesters are now making noise at sports events because they get arrested if they protest in the streets. Here's an excerpt of an interview by Der Spiegel of a sports journalist using the alias Bahonar.

SPIEGEL: In May, former soccer player and dissident Nasser Hejazi died. The memorial ceremony became a mass protest against the government's politics. How does the sport fit into the opposition movement?

Bahonar: In terms of freedom of expression, soccer stadiums are nearly as important as the Internet in Iran now. The protest is more secure there because the police can't arrest thousands of people at once.

State television broadcasts many matches live, and the people use it as a stage for resistance. They're showing banners to the cameras and chanting protest songs, which is why some games are broadcast without sound now.

Obviously, there's still considerable unrest in Iran.

Texas Woman Accused of Sex with Boy

(Buda, Texas) A 36-year-old local woman, Michelle Riojas, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 15-year-old student.

Riojas faces three counts of sexual assault of a child.

On Feb. 16, Kyle police were called out to the 200 block of Maplewood South for a public assist call.

When the officer arrived, Riojas’ husband Ernest Perales informed police that his wife had been sleeping with the 15-year-old Lehman High student, according to an affidavit used to secure an arrest warrant.

Perales handed over several email messages he had found between the boy and Riojas, who responded that the emails were just to “some guy.” She eventually admitted that they were to a male subject with the same first name as the victim, says the affidavit, written by Det. Pedro Carrasco Jr.

Riojas was indicted last month but not arrested until this week. She was booked into custody and released on $60,000 bond.

Teacher Sentenced for Stalking Student - Updated

(Indianapolis, Indiana) A former teacher at Beech Grove High School, Sara Kifer, 26, pleaded guilty to stalking a former male student.

In the course of one day, Kifer called the victim 26 times and sent him 47 text messages, according to court documents.

Kifer was sentenced to three years in jail, but she has already served 98 days and the balance was suspended.

She must undergo mental health treatment and will be on probation for 546 days. During that time, her movements will be monitored by GPS to ensure she does not have contact with the victims.

Kifer reportedly weeped when ordered to surrender her teaching license.

* * * * *
Teacher Accused of Stalking Student
[Previous 7/18/11 post]
(Beech Grove, Indiana) A 26-year-old math teacher formerly at Beech Grove High School, Sara Kifer, was arrested last week for allegedly stalking a former male students.

According to police, Kifer faces a felony stalking charge.

Police also said that Kifer sent the student an email that said, "If ever you and your girlfriend break up and you want to have sex with someone, I would definitely want to."

In another email, police said Kifer proclaimed, "I just know that I love you, and I want you to be happy, and it will never happen if I'm alive."

Kifer has been booked into custody at the Marion County Jail with bond set at $7,500.

Chrysler, Ford Accused of Misleading Consumers

(Detroit, Michigan) The Made in the USA Foundation has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission claiming Chrysler and Ford are using misleading advertising by asserting certain vehicles are made in the U.S. when they actually came from Mexico and Canada.

One example cited is the "Imported From Detroit" tagline used for the Chrysler 300 sedan which is assembled in Canada with a Mexican engine.

"Chrysler Group will continue to pursue all avenues to protect our 'Imported From Detroit,'" Michael Palese, manager of legal communications for the company, said in a statement.

Chrysler launched the Imported from Detroit campaign with a commercial during the 2011 Super Bowl telecast. The ad featured rapper Eminem and the new 2012 Chrysler 200, a mid-sized sedan assembled in suburban Detroit.

Ford also faces a complaint from the foundation because of a radio ad for the Ford Edge crossover. The foundation says Ford claims the Edge is an American car in the radio spots, but that it is made in Canada, according to the group's complaint.

"The Ford ad misleads and confuses the public and we have asked the Federal Trade Commission to stop the ads," the foundation said in a press release.

It's also alleged that the automakers have removed country of origin stickers from vehicles in violation of the American Automobile Labeling Act. Heh.

Weed Sought on Craigslist

(Roswell, New Mexico) A 29-year-old woman, Anamicka Dave, has been arrested for allegedly soliciting marijuana on Craigslist.

Dave faces a charge of criminal solicitation.

Roswell police arrest an Albuquerque woman after they read the ad she put on craigslist.

The ad shows the poster is new to Roswell and is looking to buy weed.

Roswell police said they saw the ad and began posing as a potential seller.

Heh. I've heard that marijuana use affects cognition.

Did Hitler escape to South America?

I am inclined to think that he didn't but the case is not as open and shut as you might imagine. Consider two things:

1). We only have the word of the Red Army for what they found in Hitler's bunker and the old Soviet apparatus told lies as easily as some people tell the truth. They even had a word for such lies: "Disinformation" -- with one of its more successful examples being the demonization of that great man of God, Pope Pius XII.

And it would have been a great disgrace for the Soviets if they had let Hitler slip through their fingers. So they would have claimed to have got him even if they had not -- reasoning quite cogently that Hitler would not blow the cover that they had conveniently provided for him.

2). It is undisputed that many Nazis, including some senior ones, DID escape to South America. So if them, why not the Leader himself? He would only have had to manage a night flight from somewhere in the Reich to Fascist Spain and all his troubles would be over. A transfer from there to one of the South American dictatorships could have been arranged in a variety of ways. And the Latin American elite were at that time (and to a considerable extent still are) apostles of Bolivarism -- which is just Fascism by another name, Fascism complete with a Fuehrerprinzip of course. So Hitler's welcome would have been warm, though secretive.

And a night flight would not even have been particularly dangerous. It would be assumed by all concerned that only Allied aircraft would be in the air by that time and the profile of some German military aircraft was similar to the profile of some Allied aircraft (e.g. the Junkers 88 could be mistaken for a Mosquito bomber) so any challenge would be unlikely.

But the reason I doubt that Hitler escaped is that I cannot see him ever shutting up for long. The man was a born preacher so I am sure that if he had survived we would have eventually heard something from him in some way.

But if you want to read an interesting article offering evidence that he escaped, see here or here

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

Mississippi Woman Accused of Sex with Boy

(Lumberton, Mississippi) A 31-year-old local woman, Kelly Faggard, has been accused of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy.

Faggard has been charged with statutory rape.

Faggard and the boy were acquaintances but authorities are not saying how the two knew each other.

Authorities say a school official with the Lumberton school district allegedly overheard a conversation that led them to believe that a sexual encounter had occurred at the suspects home in July. Both authorities and the boys parents were notified of the incident.

Faggard was booked into custody with bond set at $20,000.

Maine Woman Collared for Drugs

(Bangor, Maine) On October 1st, a 24-year-old local woman, Sandra Manning, was arrested for trafficking in bath salts. She was booked and released.

Manning faces charges of possession and trafficking of drugs which could result in substantial prison time.

Released last week on bail conditions, Manning was required to check in every day at the Bangor Police Department, said Sgt. Garry Higgins.

When she showed up close to midnight Saturday, he said, a search of her purse found drug paraphernalia, prescription drugs not prescribed for her and substances suspected to be cocaine and bath salts.

Manning was arrested on charges of violation of her bail conditions, possession of synthetic hallucinogenic drugs and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.

A court appearance is scheduled for later this week.