Women With Troubles - July 2013

Here is a compilation of women with troubles reported in news stories during July 2013. Each name is linked to an Interested-Participant blog entry displaying details.

For a more comprehensive listing, peruse the Women With Troubles category link.

(AL) Anessa Dawn Olive Ferguson, 37,
teacher - Accused of incest, rape, sodomy and sex abuse of boy between ages 12 and 16,

(AL) Michelyn McNeal, 48,
neighbor - Accused of gun threat at daycare,

(AR) Vanessa Renee Henschel, 21,
neighbor - Accused of burglary and theft,

(AR) Hannah Lowery, 20,
neighbor - Accused of child endangerment and tampering with evidence,

(AR) Mary Gail Parks, 19,
neighbor - Accused of child endangerment and tampering with evidence,

(AR) Ashley Wolfe, 29,
teacher - Sentenced to 2 years prison for sex with two students,

(CA) Catherine Kieu, 50,
neighbor - Gets life in prison for cutting off ex-husband's penis and tossing in garbage disposal,

(CA) Mandy Morales, 31,
teacher's aide - Accused of sex with male student with child being born,

(CA) Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski, 60,
neighbor - Convicted insurance fraudster caught on lam in Mexico,

(CA) Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 28,
teacher - Accused of sex with student, 16. Got pregnant and had kid,

(CT) Loni Bouchard, 21,
babysitter - Guilty of jiggy-jiggy with two boys, age 14. Sentencing in September,

(DE) Irveena Wright, 24,
neighbor - Accused of rape of boy, 14,

(FL) Elky Paige Brady, 32,
neighbor - Accused of offering sex for cash,

(FL) Denise Harvey (aka Denise Brooks), 47,
neighbor - Fugitive from Florida child sex judgment continues wrangling with Canadians for asylum,

(FL) Keosha Renee Jones, 21,
neighbor - Accused of sex trafficking two girls, both 14,

(FL) Mary Maloney, 53,
teacher - Gets 30 days jail for offering sex to police officer during DWI arrest,

(FL) Deborah Tersigni, 44,
teacher - Accused of child abuse of special needs students,

(FL) Kimberlyn Witt, 46,
teacher - Accused of multiple drug offenses,

(GA) Danielle Alexis Parker aka Danielle Alexander, 30,
neighbor - Accused of murdering police officer,

(GA) Celia Savage, 24,
neighbor - Guilty of illegal bomb-making. Sentencing TBD,

(IL) Karen Nichols, 44,
neighbor - Accused of kidnapping newborn,

(KY) Anne Reardon, 45,
teacher - Accused of murdering her husband,

(LA) Lorrie Anderson, 48,
neighbor - Accused of rape, incest, and child sex trafficking,

(LA) Brooke Ashley Crawford, 28,
neighbor - Accused of drug and prostitution charges,

(LA) Jeannine Seoane, 48,
teacher - Gets probation for rubby-rubby slurp-slurp with female student, 17,

(MD) Erin Nicole Thorne, 28,
teacher - Gets gift-wrapped hand-slap in student sex case,

(MI) Camia Gamet, 30,
neighbor - Accused of murdering boyfriend,

(MN) Lisa Marie Espe, 34,
teacher - Accused of criminal sex on boy under 13,

(MO) Rachel N. Gannon, 17,
neighbor - Gets 3 and 1/2 years prison in fatal texting-while-driving case.

(MO) Rita Frances Hunter, 60,
public administrator - Gets prison for illegal funds scheme,

(MT) Jenna Van Delden, 25,
neighbor - Sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex with boy, 13,

(NC) Jeanine Byrum Collins, 43,
teacher - Accused of shooting ex-husband in head,

(NC) Tammi Nichole Cross, 21,
neighbor - Accused of sex with girl, 14,

(NC) Shannon Fox, 32,
teacher - Accused of illicit relationship with student,

(NC) Wendy Penland Long, 31,
neighbor - Accused of statutory rape and indecent liberties with a child,

(NM) Patricia Garcia, 55,
teacher - Gets 8 years prison for embezzlement,

(NY) Cara Dickey, 34,
teacher - On the lam, Dickey caught,

(NY) Sheena Monnin, 28,
beauty queen - Ordered to pay $5 million defamation judgment to Miss Universe Organization,

(OH) Kelsey L. Hartmann, 28,
teacher - Convicted of sex conduct with minor. Sentencing on August 26,

(OH) Julie Hautzenroeder, 36,
teacher - Accused of sexual battery of two male students,

(OH) Marsheen Price, 35,
neighbor - Accused of child endangerment,

(OK) Angelina Maria Davis, 18,
neighbor - Accused of killing her father,

(OK) Lisa Kays, 48,
teacher - Sentenced to 4 years in prison for sex with male student,

(PA) Erica Lyn Dillon, 34,
neighbor - Gets 17 months jail for repeat sex offender parole/probation violations,

(PA) Kathryn Lynne Eckenrode, 31,
neighbor - Accused of molesting 3 boys,

(PA) Kristy Risell, 32,
teacher - Gets 3 months house arrest for sex assault of male student, 15,

(TN) Elizabeth Ashley Jones Crisp, 33,
neighbor - Accused of raping 12-year-old boy,

(TN) Devri DePriest, 27,
teacher - Gets 6 months jail for rape of two male students,

(TX) Brooke Lynn Domel, 32,
teacher - Accused of sex with student,

(TX) Ruby Gunner, 61,
teacher - Accused of attacking and choking student, 11,

(TX) Sarah Marie Torres, 33,
neighbor - Accused of sex assault of boy, 14,

(TX) Linda Leann Wallace, 53,
teacher - Guilty of inappropriate relations with female student. Sentencing in August,

(VA) Darnesha Paulita Berry, 35,
neighbor - Accused of killing two newborns years ago,

(WA) Lisa Davis, 48,
teacher - Accused of inappropriateness with boy, 10,

(WI) Kiley Cirillo, 20,
teacher - Accused of possessing illegal drugs and paraphernalia.

Thanks to the tipsters.

US Expanding Far East Presence

(Washington, D.C.)

The United States Air Force will dramatically expand its military presence across the Pacific this year, sending jets to Thailand, India, Singapore and Australia, according to the service's top general in the region.

Dramatically expanding the military while politicians are dramatically reducing defense spending? Yeah, that'll work.

Source

Al Qaeda Promises to Free Gitmo Inmates

(Guantanamo Bay, Cuba)

Al Qaeda will “spare no effort” in setting free inmates at the US-run Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the terrorist network’s leader pledged. The warning comes after a series of attacks by militant groups on prisons in Libya, Iraq and Pakistan.

Ayman al-Zawahri voiced his threats in an audio address published on an Islamist website.

Zawahri also denounced the use of armed drones. Obviously drones cause him considerable heartburn.

German Banks Suffer on Loans to U.S. Cities

(Frankfurt, Germany)

Germany's biggest banks have been lending US cities money to the tune of around €18.5 billion.

Bankrupt Detroit, it emerged on Monday, has been on of the main recipients, causing concern for Commerzbank.

German banks have become increasingly reluctant to lend money to the U.S.

A failed Presidency already visible

Will history recall ANY positive accomplishments of the Obama regime?



Re-elected presidents always find it difficult to sustain first-term momentum for their agenda into a second four years. First terms are often capped by bruising re-election campaigns, making it tough to sustain political backing and public interest. Plus, significant turnover in the president's cabinet and among his senior advisors in the first year of a second term can create debilitating continuity of management challenges.

So the tendency is to stick with "what works," which is to say to keep talking about the same issues, programs and policies that prevailed in the first term. Put another way, presidents become prisoners of their own narratives. Thus, Obama's Galesburg address offered no genuinely new ideas, as indeed his advisers warned would be the case beforehand

One phrase captures the essence of Obama's second term domestic vision, "more of the same:" More stimulus spending, more green energy development boondoggles, more "investments" - i.e. federal spending and regulation - on student loans, mortgage refinance programs and Obamacare, and more tax "reforms" to make the top 1 percent of income earners pay "their fair share." Obama cannot deviate from this programmatic menu because doing so would be an admission of failure, one that is pointedly reflected in the declining number of Americans with jobs or still looking for jobs, the growing Food Stamp recipient rolls and a steady accumulation of evidence that the Obamacare train wreck is gathering speed.

Then there are the scandals. Obama suffered little damage in his first term when the headlines were about Solyndra, Fast and Furious and related matters. But it's different now because of Benghazi, NSA surveillance, and IRS harassment of the president's Tea Party critics. Virtually every president stumbles as a result of scandals, but they often become far more serious matters early in a second term (think Nixon's Watergate, Reagan's Iran-Contra and Clinton's Monica Lewinsky trials, all of which became major disruptions following their re-elections).

Second term scandals may intensify in part because presidents invariably dismiss them as unimportant, just as Obama yesterday referred to his troubles as "phony." But he likely won't be any more convincing with that line than Nixon was in calling Watergate "a second-rate burglary." Similarly, Obama's exasperated "I am here to say this needs to stop" recalled Clinton's finger-wagging order, "I want you to listen to me ... I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky ..."

But a presidential dalliance with an intern is a far cry from using the IRS to silence political opponents or covering up incompetence that killed four brave Americans in Libya, nor is there anything phony about the potential consequences for Obama.

SOURCE

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

23rd World Super Model Contest

A few of the contestants
(Los Angeles, California)

World Super Model Contest 2013 final show will held on July in Los Angeles, USA. 40 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown.

I could not judge. They are all beautiful.

Night Lights for Cops

(Chongqing, China) Chinese police wear shoulder lights at night.

The shoulder lights are being used by the city’s police for the first time and will make policemen on patrol visible for 100 meters.

Other public security guards will also be equipped with the lights, which can run for five days on two batteries.

Heh.

Stowaway Falls from Airplane

(Niamey, Niger)

The body of a suspected stowaway fell from an Air France plane over Niger on Thursday and was discovered lifeless in a western suburb of the capital, Niamey, officials said.

A resident of the suburb was standing just a few meters from where the body fell at around 5 a.m. on Thursday, said Niger Interior Minister Abdou Labo.

“The police discovered the lifeless body of a black person lying in blood,” Labo said, adding that blood had also been spotted on the left wing of the plane.

Initial information indicated the body was that of a stowaway who fell from the landing gear, said an Air France spokesman, Christophe Paumier, in Paris.

The flight originated in Burkina Faso.

Texas Teacher Accused of Assaulting Student

(Port Arthur, Texas) A 62-year-old teacher at Lee Elementary School, Ruby Gunner, has been accused of assaulting an 11-year-old student.

Gunner faces a charge of injury to a child.

She's been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case.[…]

Gunner, who's been a teacher for 40 years, is accused of attacking and choking an 11-year-old student at Lee Elementary.

Gunner was booked into custody and subsequently released on $50,000 bond.

Fifty Shades of Something



(London, England) Regarding the impact of the best-selling erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey," the London Fire Brigade reports some interesting callouts.

In the past three years the fire service has rescued 79 people unable to escape handcuffs, as well as nine men with rings stuck on their penises, one with his penis trapped in a toaster and another in a vacuum cleaner.

In a toaster?!!! A toaster!!!! What the hell is erotic about a toaster?

Jihadist Convert Indicted

Shelton Thomas Bell
(Tampa, Florida) A 19-year-old Florida man who converted to Islam, Shelton Thomas Bell, has been accused of attempting to link up with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to conduct violent armed jihad.

According to the U.S. Attorney in Tampa, Bell was indicted by a grand jury on counts of conspiracy and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.

According to the indictment, Bell intended to travel to Oman before making his way overland to join Islamic fighters in Yemen; he even bought a plane ticket to Oman.

Whether it was an Israeli entry refusal stamp in his passport, or simply Jordanian officials talking with their Israeli counterparts, Bell’s journey to jihad went no further than Amman and he returned to the U.S.

If convicted, Bell faces a possible 15 years in prison on each count.

Arguably an easily-manipulated dullard, Bell astonishingly pursued violent jihad with an intervening stopover in Israel. Heh.

Knife Rights Law

(Topeka, Kansas) The latest state, joining several, to legislate knife rights is Kansas.

Kansas residents may now carry switchblades, daggers and other types of knives in most public places without fear of arrest under a new law that a lobbying group says makes Kansas one of the nation’s blade-friendliest states.

Legislation lifting the state’s prohibition on several types of knives was signed by Gov. Sam Brownback in April and took effect July 1. The Senate approved it 40-0 after it was amended to clarify that school districts, jails and juvenile detention facilities could keep their bans in place. The House passed it 95-26.

Reportedly, evidence indicates that kitchen knives are more often used in crimes than switchblades and daggers.

Global warming is causing lobsters to become cannibals:  Yes, too many lobsters is a bad thing (?)

The Warmist right hand does not know what the Warmist left hand is doing...  The usual Warmist story is that all that extra CO2 in the air will "acidify" the oceans and that will melt crustacean shells, thus killing off all crustaceans.  This story exactly contradicts that prophecy

The waters off the coast of Maine are overflowing with lobsters, which, according to Mother Jones, is actually a bad thing.

Two main factors are causing the lobster population to explode. First, rising sea temperatures brought on by global warming are encouraging the crustaceans to grow quicker and reproduce more often, says Noah Oppenheim, a marine biology graduate student at the University of Maine.

Second, Oppenheim tells Mother Jones, over-fishing has rid the ocean of the lobster's natural enemies, which include cod, herring, and other fish.

The result is a lot of lobsters that have nothing eat — which is why, as footage taken by Oppenheim shows, they have resorted to cannibalism.

Oppenheim tells Mother Jones that young lobsters left under his camera overnight are 90 percent more likely to be eaten by another lobster than by any other sea creature. That's a massive change from the 1990s, when similar experiments found that fish were usually the ones chowing down on lobsters.

This glut of lobsters is bad for just about everyone. As the lobster haul hit an all-time high of 126 million pounds in 2012, prices fell to $2.72 per pound, the lowest since the Great Depression. (Offshore water temperatures in Maine, coincidentally, have hit a century high). That is making it harder for Maine lobstermen to make ends meet.

For any seafood lover hoping this means buckets of cheap lobster, you might want hold off on melting that butter. That's because the low prices lobstermen get for their catch doesn't necessarily translate to low prices for the consumer.

Ideally for the consumer, lobster could be shipped across the country like chicken, meaning you could find lobster as readily in Iowa as on the coast of Maine. But as Slate's Matthew Yglesias explained last year, the fact that we like our lobsters fresh means they have to be transported alive in buckets of water, an expensive process that keeps the market clustered in the Northeast.

Ultimately, higher ocean temperatures could be bad for the creatures themselves. While they are in abundance now, New England saw a similar explosion in population in the 1990s, only to watch it crash. Warmer waters could also be a factor in lobster shell disease, a bacterial infection that can kill the animal.

Right now, lobstermen in Maine can only hope that resurgent predators or cooler waters will return to keep the population in check.

"It's a lot more work for the same money," Lyford Alley complains to Mother Jones. "We're just barely making it."

SOURCE

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

Michigan Woman Accused of Murdering Boyfriend

(Jackson, Michigan) A 30-year-old local woman, Camia Gamet, has been accused of killing her boyfriend, Marcus Hill, during a violent domestic dispute.

Gamet faces a charge of first-degree murder.

"The victim suffered approximately 11 stab wounds to his body, all over his body. Some of the more significant were to the upper portion of his chest," said Jennifer Walker, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.

With multiple injuries it's possible the victim was killed with several household items, and that's exactly what police found in the apartment.

"They found numerous weapons such as a broken lamp, knives and a frying pan," said Walker.

Police said the lamp had been ripped in half , and the frying pan had been bent from blunt force trauma. Both items, plus the steak knife, were found with blood on them.

No date has been specified for Gamet's trial.

Hunting of Stray Cats

(Geneva, Switzerland) A proposed law to ban the hunting of stray cats has failed in the Swiss Parliament.

Scientists from the federal environment office say the hunt is useful, noting that domestic cats have no place in natural forests and mountain regions.

The office says there around 1.5 million stray cats in Switzerland. A British study estimates that an average cat kills 15 birds a year.

Applied to Switzerland, that would mean that around 15 million birds are killed annually by cats, Martin Baumann, a government biologist told Le Matin last year.

Other officials note that some species of lizards have completely disappeared from parts of Switzerland because they have been preyed on by cats.

Heh.

Pedophilia Group Legalized in Holland

(Leeuwarden, The Netherlands) This makes no sense to me.

A Dutch appeals court has lifted a ban on an organisation which lobbies for the legalisation of sex between adults and children, after finding that the group was not breaking any laws in The Netherlands.

A civil court in the north-eastern town of Assen last year ordered the Martijn foundation to disband, saying its stance was “a grave infraction of the values of our society”.

But an appeals court in Leeuwarden has ruled that the group, which claims it does not promote sexual abuse and insists it is “a platform for discussion of paedophilia”, could not be outlawed because its existence did not threaten society, the Dutch News website reported.

Advocating sex with children, I'd argue, is not in the best interests of any society.

Source

Arkansas Woman Accused of Burglary, Drug Theft

(Mountain Home, Arkansas) A 21-year-old local woman, Vanessa Renee Henschel, has been accused of burglary and theft charges.

Henschel allegedly broke into a private residence and stole medications. She faces counts of residential burglary, breaking or entering and possession of a controlled substance, and counts of theft of property and obstructing governmental operations.

A man on Timberland Road told police he came home and heard someone run out his back door.

He later discovered his medication was missing. Investigators checked the area and came across Henschel.

They say she resisted providing her name, but eventually admitted having the medication in her possession. The police say she also told them she had broken into the home.

Henschel was booked into custody at the Baxter County Jail with bond set at $25,000.

American Idol Lawsuit

Former black contestants on the American Idol show have filed a lawsuit claiming racial profiling.

The lawsuit stems from a letter submitted in January by New York City lawyer James H. Freeman on behalf the 10 contestants to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The letter cited ”cruel and inhumane” treatment, claiming that Idol‘s producers have only publicly disqualified 10 contestants in the show’s history, all of whom were black.

The producers of the show allegedly looked at the arrest records of black contestants and disqualified those found to be iffy while not at all researching criminal histories of white contestants.

Each of the ten plaintiffs seeks $25 million.

Arkansas Women Accused of Child Endangermemt


 
Mary Parks -- Hannah Lowery
(Jonesboro, Arkansas)

Around 2 a.m. Wednesday police were called to the Scottish Inn, located at 316 Mead in reference to underage drinking and possible drug activity on one of the motel rooms.

When officers arrived, they found Mary Gail Parks, 19, and Hannah Lowery, 20, in a room "full of smoke."

Police also reported finding two young children asleep on the bed.

While conducting a "protective sweep" of the room, one of the officers reported finding ashes in the bathroom sink and tub as well as a plastic baggie containing marijuana residue and leaves between the toilet and the tub.

Parks and Lowery were arrested and charged with child endangerment and tampering with evidence.

They were booked into custody at the Craighead County Detention Center.

Louisiana Woman Collared for Prostitution

(Baton Rouge, Louisiana) A 28-year-old local woman, Brooke Ashley Crawford, was arrested this week for prostitution during an undercover sting operation.

Reportedly, the arrest was the fourth time this year Crawford has been arrested for prostitution. She faces charges for prostitution, possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The arresting deputy noted that he has arrested Crawford twice before. The first time was on May 15, 2013 and the second was on June 25, 2013. The deputy also noted that Crawford gained a second charge for prostitution from a different deputy on May 15, 2013.

Along with her prior charges, they learned that Crawford had an active warrant for her arrest regarding a felony offense.

Crawford was booked into custody at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison with bond set at $5,000.

Carolina Gator Eats Big Dog

12-foot, 500-pound alligator killed
(Jacksonville, North Carolina)

The alligator attacked an 80 pound Husky at the Mill Creek Green portion of Henderson Green at Henderson Drive and River Street on Tuesday night around dusk. The woman walking the dog wasn't injured.

The 500-pound gator was shot three times with a shotgun. Some of the dogs remains were found in the gator's mouth.

Carolina Teacher Indicted for Sex with Student

(Elizabeth City, North Carolina) An art teacher at Northeastern High School, Shannon Fox, 32, has been indicted for engaging in an illicit relationship with a student.

Fox faces three counts of sexual activity with a student by a teacher.

Randy Cartwright of the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office said that the alleged illicit relationship was originally brought to police attention in May.

The age and the gender of Fox’s alleged victim were not immediately released.

Fox surrendered to local authorities this week. Details on booking are unavailable.

Ohio Grandma Arrested for Child Endangerment

(Lorain, Ohio) A 35-year-old local grandmother, Marsheen Price, was arrested this week after her diaper-clad one-year-old grandson was found crawling all alone on the sidewalk.

Prices faces a charge of child endangerment.

According to the police report, this was the Lorain Police Department’s 33rd visit this year to the home, where neighbors often see children hanging out windows and running in the streets without clothes.

An officer found the year-old boy crawling down the sidewalk in a soiled diaper with no one else around, the report said. A nurse driving by stopped to help the officer and said it appear the child may have been eating dirt.

The baby was placed with the paternal grandmother.

Is it a "shit-pile" to mention the high rate of crime among young black males?

"Gawker" is a Leftist gossip site but they run a variety of media commentary and seem to make a profit doing so.  Leftist capitalism!

They got their knickers in a knot over a recent column by V.D. Hanson in which Hanson referred to the danger of being victimized by black crime.  They excerpt what Hanson said and then give their sophisticated, intellectual evaluation of it [/sarcasm]:

Hanson writes that his Democrat father warned him to be cautious of "a group of black youths" in San Francisco because that demographic was more dangerous:

The advice was not about race per se, but instead about the tendency of males of one particular age and race to commit an inordinate amount of violent crime.

It was after some first-hand episodes with young African-American males that I offered a similar lecture to my own son. The advice was born out of experience rather than subjective stereotyping. When I was a graduate student living in East Palo Alto, two adult black males once tried to break through the door of my apartment — while I was in it. On a second occasion, four black males attempted to steal my bicycle — while I was on it. I could cite three more examples that more or less conform to the same apprehensions once expressed by a younger Jesse Jackson. Regrettably, I expect that my son already has his own warnings prepared to pass on to his own future children.

That may not even be the worst part of the column, though we won't spoil the patently offensive kicker.

All together, it's quite a shit-pile.

Source

It would appear, however, that even Gawker were eventually embarrassed by their inability to rise above mere abuse. The last sentence above has now been deleted!

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

Missouri Woman Gets Federal Prison for Illegal Funds Scheme

(Kansas City, Missouri) Last month, a 60-year-old former public administrator for Jasper County, Missouri, Rita Frances Hunter, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to illegally obtaining federal benefits.

Hunter received 12 months and a day in federal prison without parole.

Hunter admitted that her scheme involved a total fraud of $70,000 to $120,000. Hunter directed her employees to submit materially false Medicaid applications for wards of the state who were under the custody of the Public Administrator=s office. These applications falsely stated that the wards had assets below the $1,000 threshold to be eligible to receive Medicaid benefits, when in fact, the wards had more than $1,000 in assets.

Hunter specifically pleaded guilty to directing her staff to prepare a fraudulent Medicaid eligibility statement for a ward identified only as T.V. Hunter knew the statement, which was submitted to Missouri Health Net on Aug. 6, 2008, contained false information.

Hunter was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution.

Montana Woman Gets Prison for Sex with Boy - Update

(Great Falls, Montana) Earlier today, 25-year-old Jenna Van Delden admitted to engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy.

She admitted to sleeping in the same bed as the boy and having sexual intercourse with him Dec. 4.

Detectives conducted a forensic interview with the boy, who admitted to having sex with Van Delden between 20 and 30 times over a four-month period.

As a result of guilty pleas for felony sexual intercourse without consent, custodial interference and tampering with physical evidence, Van Delden was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

* * * * *
Montana Woman Guilty of Harboring and Boffing Boy - Update
[Previous 4/21/13 post]
(Great Falls, Montana)

A 25-year-old Great Falls woman charged with allowing a 13-year-old runaway to stay at her house for four months has pleaded guilty to three felony counts.

The Great Falls Tribune reports ( http://gftrib.com/ZEloao) Jenna Van Delden entered her pleas Thursday to one count each of sexual intercourse without consent, custodial interference and tampering with evidence.

The non-binding plea agreement recommends a sentence of 20 years with the Department of Corrections with 15 suspended when she is sentenced on June 6.

The boy indicated he and Van Delden played hide-the-kielbasa up to 30 times over a four-month period.

* * * * *
Montana Woman Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 1/20/13 post]
(Great Falls, Montana) A 25-year-old local woman, Jenna Van Delden, has been accused of harboring a runaway 13-year-old boy and engaging in sex with him.

Van Delden faces charges of harboring a runaway, custodial interference, sexual intercourse without consent, tampering with a witness and endangering the welfare of a child.

The 13-year old male was reported as a runaway on Sep. 17, 2012, and was found safe on Tuesday at Van Delden's home on Chowen Springs Loop in Great Falls. He was hiding underneath a bunk bed in a second floor bedroom of the residence.

Details on booking are unavailable.

Convicted Teacher Cara Dickey Caught & Sentenced - Updated


Cara Dickey
(Buffalo, New York) Cara Dickey was caught in Chicago while allegedly engaged in prostitution and returned to Buffalo.

Judge Michalski gave Dickey one year - concurrent with the 18 months she's already serving for violating her parole.

Dickey will be locked up until August 2014.

* * * * *
Convicted Teacher Cara Dickey Skips - Updated
[Previous 1/11/13 post]
(Buffalo, New York)

Convicted sex offender Cara Dickey is on the run and parole officers suspect she has a new victim.

The former South Buffalo Charter School teacher, who confessed to having a sexual relationship and suicide pact with a 14-year-old student in 2009, removed her electronic ankle bracelet, and disappeared sometime Wednesday.

Not long ago, parole received information that Dickey is involved with another underage boy. Dickey had been out on parole since February 29, 2012, and living in the Back to Basics Ministries' halfway house in Buffalo. Until now, she had never violated her parole.

Police seek information on Dickey's whereabouts. Call 716-867-6161 to report. A $1,000 reward is being offered.

* * * * *
Teacher Cara Dickey Gets Prison for Rape - Updated
[Previous 4/23/09 post]
(Buffalo, New York) Yesterday, 30-year-old mother of three and former teacher, Cara Dickey, was sentenced to four years in prison for the statutory rape of a 14-year-old boy.

The 30 year old had already confessed to sleeping with one of her students, twice.

Police say she gave the 14-year-old rum, tylenol and nyquil as part of a suicide pact.

The victim's father, with tears rolling down his face and barely able to speak, told the Judge the former teacher has caused his family devastating pain.

The victim's father said, "You know cara, you're a very selfish person, okay, what you did to our child. You do understand that?" (sic all)

An emotional Dickey said she was sorry.

* * * * *
NY Teacher Guilty of Raping Boy - Updated
[Previous 3/4/09 post]
(Buffalo, New York) Earlier today, 30-year-old former teacher at South Buffalo Charter School, Cara Dickey, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape in front of State Supreme Court Justice John Michalski.

As a result, Dickey faces up to five years in prison when she is sentenced on April 22, 2009.

The judge says she'll spend up to five-years in jail. She must surrender her teaching certificate and register as a sex offender.

The victim's biological mother was in the courtroom.

An attorney for the family says there is pending civil litigation against Cara Dickey and South Buffalo Charter School.

Dickey's voice quivered as she admitted to engaging in sex with the 14-year-old.

* * * * *
NY Teacher Too Close to 8th-Grade Boy
[Previous 6/18/08 post]
(Buffalo, New York) A 28-year-old teacher at South Buffalo Charter School, Cara Dickey, has been accused of an inappropriate relationship with an eighth-grade boy.

Interestingly, only weeks ago Dickey was given a strong warning by school administrator Dr. Cedric Ellis to stay away from the boy.

But on Monday the two were allegedly caught texting each other with their cell phones. The school confiscated the boys phone and notified his father.

"The contents of those messages have been turned over to the police by the student's father. They represent inappropriate expressions of affection between an adult teacher and a middle-school student." said Ellis.

Dickey was escorted off campus at 10:45 AM. A few hours later the boy left school without permission and the two vanished for 24 hours. The boy was found at the Mckinley Mall safe and unharmed. Dickey was found in her car in Springville.

For now, no-one is saying the 2 were together over night. "We worked closely with the student's parents and family last night into the wee hours. He has other siblings at our school and we are relieved they they've all been reunited. We have been in frequent contact with the teachers family as well."

Police interviewed and released Dickey. Expect more on this story.

[Update 7/11/08]

Cara Dickey, now identified as 30 years old, surrendered to police yesterday morning and was arraigned in the afternoon. The married mother-of-three is charged with two felonies, one in which she allegedly had a suicide pact with the 14-year-old.

She was charged with the two felonies, unlawful imprisonment and promoting a suicide attempt, and two misdemeanors, including endangering the welfare of a child. The arrest papers say the two had made a suicide agreement.

She was expected to post $5,000 bail and be released.

City Court Judge John Flynn told Dickey that she is to have no contact with the 14-year-old student.

Defense attorney Daniel Chiacchia said Dickey had sought psychological treatment before her arrest.

If she's contemplating suicide, she needs psychological help.

Georgia Woman Accused of Policewoman's Murder

Danielle Parker
(East Point, Georgia) A 30-year-old local woman, Danielle Alexis Parker (previously known as Danielle Alexander), has been accused of murdering East Point Police Corporal Crystal Adele Parker.



Corporal Crystal Parker
Authorities believe that 34-year-old Crystal Parker had been dead for three days prior to being found inside her south Fulton County home with a gunshot wound to the head.

Reportedly, Danielle Parker and Officer Crystal Parker enjoyed a long-term, live-in relationship allegedly with elements of intimacy that soured over time.

Danielle Parker faces a court appearance on July 31.

Carolina Woman Accused of Sex with Girl, 14

(Goldsboro, North Carolina) This week, 21-year-old local woman Tammi Nichole Cross was arrested for allegedly engaging in sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Cross, 21, of 810 N. Herman St., faces two counts each of statutory sex offense and indecent liberties with a minor.

Police said the girl's mother filed a sexual assault report on May 25. Cross, authorities said, is an acquaintance of the girl.

Cross was booked into custody with bond set at $1 million.

Florida Teacher Faces Drug Charges

(Sanford, Florida) A 48-year-old third-grade teacher at Lake Mary Elementary School, Kimberlyn Witt, has been accused of multiple drug charges.

Witt has been charged with possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance without prescription, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the arrest report, Witt was in a car with Martyn Dennis, 61, when Seminole County sheriff's deputies pulled him over after smelling a strong scent of marijuana coming out of the car.

Investigators stated there were drugs in Witt's purse.

An arrest affidavit states that she also told the deputy she had a vial of cocaine hidden in her bra.

Witt faces possible termination from her teaching position. She was booked into custody and released on bond.

The Vegan Kitten

Dr. Pinfold and kitten
(Melbourne, Australia)

A KITTEN has almost died after its owners fed it a strict vegan diet. The horrific case at a North Melbourne animal hospital has prompted a warning about the dangers of people "forcing ideologies" on their pets.

Lort Smith Animal Hospital veterinarian Leanne Pinfold said the kitten was brought in this month by its owners, who were believed to be vegan. She said the kitten's diet of potatoes, rice milk and pasta had caused it to become critically ill.

"It was extremely weak and collapsed when it came in. It was almost non-responsive," Dr Pinfold said. The kitten was given fluids via a drip, placed on a heat pad and fed meat.

Cats apparently can't survive on rabbit food. Heh.

Georgia Woman Liked to "Blow Stuff Up"

(Gainesville, Georgia) A 24-year-old local woman, Celia Savage, has pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges resulting after agents raided her home last year and found explosives.

Federal agents raided Savage’s home in May 2012. They said they found two pipe bombs and a number of guns, as well as illegal drug paraphernalia and suspected drugs.

It is required by federal law to register such explosives with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

She was indicted on June 26, 2012, on one count of making two unregistered pipe bombs, one count of possessing two unregistered pipe bombs, and one count of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

In her interview with agents shortly after the raid, U.S. Assistant District Attorney William McKinnon said that Savage had admitted to making the pipe bombs and said it was a “hobby of hers” and that she liked to “blow stuff up.”

Sentencing awaits scheduling.

Poliovirus Shrinks Cancerous Tumor

Here's hope for cancer patients.

The same virus that causes paralysis and sometimes death in polio patients may have the potential to cure people with cancerous brain tumors based on early results of a research trial underway at Duke University Medical Center.

Oncologists are optimistic as their research continues.

European meteorological satellite shows global COOLING, 1982-2006

METEOSAT DERIVED PLANETARY TEMPERATURE TREND 1982-2006

Andries Rosema, Steven Foppes, Joost van der Woerd

EARS Earth Environment Monitoring Ltd, Delft, the Netherlands

Kanaalweg 1, 2628 EB Delft, the Netherlands, Email: info@ears.nl

ABSTRACT

24 year of Meteosat hourly thermal infrared data have been used to study planetary surface temperature change. Thermal infrared radiation in the 10.5-12.5mm spectral window is not affected by CO2 and only slightly by atmospheric water vapor. Satellite thermal infrared data have been converted to brightness temperatures as prescribed by Eumetsat. Hourly brightness temperature images were then composed to corresponding noon and midnight temperature data fields. The resulting data fields were cloud filtered using 10, 20 and 30 day maximum temperature substitution. Filtered data were subsequently averaged for two 10 yearly periods: 1986-1995 and 1996-2005. Finally the change in brightness temperature was determined by subtraction. In addition nine locations were selected and data series were extracted and studied for the period 1982-2006. Our observations point to a decrease in planetary temperature over almost the entire hemisphere, most likely due to an increase of cloudiness. Two small areas are found where a considerable temperature increase has occurred. They are explained in terms of major human interventions in the hydrological balance at the earth surface.

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT VOLUME 24 No.. 3 & 4 2013 (Not yet online)

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

Donkey Bomb



(Ghazni, Afghanistan)

A suicide bomber rode a donkey Tuesday into an Afghan and NATO military convoy, killing three Western soldiers and their Afghan interpreter, officials said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed three casualties in a bombing in eastern Afghanistan but gave no details.

The Taliban is believed responsible.

Obama Taints Military Sex Assault Cases

In response to a reporter's question, President Obama indicated that sex assault in the US military should definitively result in a dishonorable discharge.

Two sexual assault courts-martial for Navy men at Pearl Harbor are now postponed because of a comment made by President Barack Obama.

The trial issues — related to a statement by Obama, the commander in chief, that sexual assault perpetrators should be dishonorably discharged — potentially amount to “unlawful command influence” and are part of a spate of military cases nationwide in which the defense is being raised.

The fear is that court-martial boards, aware of such statements from superiors, would be swayed to give the defendant less than a fair trial and that the public would view any convictions and discharges as the boards merely following orders.

I'd suggest the President just didn't think through his response and erred. It's inconceivable that he would screw up military prosecutions on purpose.

Companion post at TJR.

McCustomer Leaves McPlop

(Manchester, England) A woman riding a horse was denied service at the McDonald's 'drive-thru' window so she entered the front door with her horse to submit an unofficial, yet substantive, complaint.

According to a statement from Greater Manchester Police's Whitefield Division, her steed "ended up doing his business on the floor", something which "caused obvious distress and upset to customers trying to eat, as well as staff members".

The woman received a fine.

A prince is born


The crowd outside Buckingham Palace

The birth of a healthy baby is always a time of happiness but the birth of a Royal baby has just sent much of Britan demented.  And that joy is felt in other countries where the Queen reigns too.  It is great news in Australia where  I live.  Americans usually seem not to understand at all what it is like to grow up in a monarchy. There are ancient tribal emotions involved.   It is very uplifting and a source of pride.  The secret is that the Royal family are seen as the splendid branch of OUR family.  We know them well and feel a connection to them.  Their glory is our glory. French "gloire" is a phantasm.  The glory of the Royal family is real.

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

Florida Teacher Gets Jail for Offering Sex to Police Officer - Update

(Palm Springs, Florida) Palm Springs middle school teacher Mary Maloney, 53, has agreed to a plea deal. For offering sexual favors to a police officer during a DWI arrest, Maloney was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

* * * * *
Florida Teacher Accused of Offering Sex to Police Officer
[Previous 1/15/13 post]
(Greenacres, Florida) A 53-year-old math teacher at Palm Springs Middle School, Mary Maloney, has been accused of drunken driving and attempted bribery. Maloney allegedly offered oral sex to a police officer after a DUI arrest.

Maloney allegedly fled the scene of a crash and was followed by witnesses.

"How much do I need to pay you to just let me go? Don't you understand I am a school teacher?" Maloney allegedly said to the police officer driving her to the jail.

The Lake Worth woman then allegedly offered the officer oral sex and invited him to grope her breasts, according to the arrest report.

Greenacres police on Sunday evening were called to Trafalgar Square after witnesseses saw a hit-and-run collission involving a white Dodge van with heavy front end damage, and another vehicle. The witnesses followed the van until Maloney stopped and parked, according to the report.

Police arrived and Maloney was taken to a patrol car for questioning.

An officer saw an empty gallon jug of Carlo Rossi wine inside the van.

Details on arrest and booking are unavailable.

Ohio Man Arrested After Bodies Found

(East Cleveland, Ohio) A 35-year-old local man, Michael Madison, faces charges for the alleged aggravated murder of three people.

Three bodies wrapped in garbage bags were found in East Cleveland. Madison faces three counts each of aggravated murder and kidnapping.

Authorities said they had identified only one of the victims, Angela Deskins, who was believed to be 38 years old. The other two bodies were too badly decomposed to identify. The medical examiner also said he couldn’t determine at this time a cause of death because of the bodies’ conditions.

Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson said fingerprints, dental records and DNA genetic material would be used to try to identify the other two victims. One had numerous tattoos, including the left thumb, left forearm, left thigh and left breast.[…]

The first body was found in a garage Friday. Two others were found Saturday — one in a backyard and the other in the basement of a vacant house. The bodies, all women, were found about 100 to 200 yards apart, and authorities say the victims were killed in the previous six to 10 days.

The charges read in court specified a wider time frame for the alleged crimes — days or months before the bodies were found.

Madison is behind bars with bail set at $6 million.

Delaware Woman Accused of Raping Boy, 15

(Dover, Delaware) A 24-year-old woman, Irveena Wright, has been arrested by Dover Police for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Wright faces four counts of fourth-degree rape, said Capt. Tim Stump.

The incidents allegedly occurred at a residence in the 10000 block of White Oak Road in June.

Wright is alleged to have engaged in sex with the teen on four occasions, Stump said.

Wright was booked into custody at the Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution with bail set at $8,000.

Something Stinks in Washington

Titan arum, the 'corpse flower'

(Washington, D.C.) The blooming of Titan arum is infrequent.

The giant rainforest plant known as a "corpse flower" for its terrible smell began blooming on Sunday afternoon at the US Botanic Garden next to the Capitol.

Some would argue there is a terrible smell from the Capitol and the government in general, with or without the corpse flower.

In any event, for those who desire to dramatically offend their olfactory organs while tattooing the smell of putrefaction on their clothing, go visit the corpse flower.

Muslims Protest French Veil Ban

(Trappes, France)

Five people were injured and six arrested during a protest over enforcement of France's ban on Islamic face veils.

Approximately 250 people threw missiles during clashes with police, who responded by firing tear gas in the town of Trappes on Friday evening.

A 14-year-old boy sustained a serious eye injury from a missile during the violence. Four police officers were injured and six people were detained, according to an official with the regional police administration.

The violence came after a gathering of about 200-250 people to protest the arrest of a man on Thursday whose wife was ticketed for wearing a face veil. The husband tried to strangle an officer who was doing the ticketing, prosecutor Vincent Lesclous said.

The veil issue is not going away until one side loses. Government-mandated secularism is in direct conflict with Islamic religious traditions.

Food prices forecast to treble as world population soars

Doesn't this brainless nut know any history?  Prophecies of his sort go back to Malthus and are always wrong.  If increasing prosperity is going to lead to food shortages, can he explain how China has become a net food EXPORTER since it abandoned communism?  Unleash Chinese farmers on just one of Australia's huge empty spaces (e.g. Cape York Peninsula) and you would have the biggest food glut ever seen

Food prices tipped to treble over the next 20 years as an explosion in the world's population triggers a global fight for good.

A government advisor said everyday products such as cocoa and meat could become relative luxuries by the 2040s.

Professor Tim Benton, head of Global Food Security working group, added there could be shortages in the UK in the future as the emerging middle class in south-east Asia sparks a revolution in "food flows" such as the trade in grain and soya around the world.

Professor Benton, from the University of Leeds, told the Daily Telegraph: "Food is going to be competed for on a global scale. There's been a lot written about where food prices are going to go but they are certainly going to double, with some trebling. It's not just fruit and vegetables, but everything."

The shock forecast came as the chief executive of Tesco, Philip Clarke, warned the era of cheap food was over because of the forecast surge in demand.

In an interview over the weekend, the supermarket chief said: "Over the long run I think food prices and the proportion of income spent on food may well be going up."

The world's population is tipped to rise from 7 billion to 9.3 billion by 2050. Two years ago, Oxfam warned food prices were set to double by 2030 and that millions more could suffer food shortages because of a "perfect storm" of ecological and sociological factors.

Food inflation in the UK has been running around 4 per cent for much of the year, and is among the highest in the EU after poor harvests last year and the rising cost of feed. Fruit prices in June 7.5 per cent more expensive than a year ago. The UK already imports nearly half the food it consumes.

Separately, Birds Eye warned this year's pea harvest could be hit by the heatwave, raising fears of higher prices for one of Britain's favourite vegetables.

SOURCE

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

Paintball Guns Shoot Herbicide

(Kula, Maui)

The newest weapon for scientists in the fight against an invasive plant in Hawaii is already familiar, at least to those who use it for fun.

Researchers call it "Herbicide Ballistic Technology," or HBT. It looks a lot like a paintball game, but it's not a game, and the gun isn't shooting paintballs. It's shooting little balls containing herbicide.

The technology was developed in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Hawaii. "The process and manufacturing of these herbicide capsules is identical to the processing of the paintballs used in recreation," said Dr. James Leary, an assistant specialist for Invasive Plant Species Management in the department, in a video made during training in 2008. "But instead of targeting people in recreation, we're targeting incipient weeds in these natural areas."

If herbicide can be shot from a paintball gun, I imagine just about any liquid could be shot, maybe even a substance deadly to humans.

French Girl Killed by Shark in Indian Ocean

Authorities search for remains of Sarah Roperth

(Reunion Island, Indian Ocean) A 15-year-old girl from France, Sarah Roperth, was snorkeling 15 feet from shore when a shark attacked and bit her in half.

Sarah died instantly when attacked by a shark as she swam in the shallows not far from the sailing club and the local cemetery.

She had been swimming with another girl who saw the attack unfold.

The teenager's body was sliced in two at the torso, and then "'a part of her body was taken away by the shark", said Gina Hoarau, the head of public safety on the island.

Authorities are still searching for some of her remains.

Reportedly, there have been five deaths from shark attacks on Reunion Island since 2011. I would suggest not going in the water.

Condolences to the family and friends of Sarah Roperth.

Stairwell Intimacy

(Moscow, Russia)

A Russian woman having sex on the stairs of her apartment building got her head stuck between the supporting bars of the railing and was freed by rescue personnel and police who arrived while she was still naked, media reports said Wednesday.

The 46-year-old woman and her live-in boyfriend had decided to go out to the stairs to “spice things up,” and the boyfriend apparently pushed her head between the bars while they were doing it doggy style, said news site Gorod48.ru, which covers the city of Lipetsk, about 300 miles south of Moscow.

The boyfriend was nowhere to be seen when rescuers arrived, reports said.

To be fair, the boyfriend's head wasn't stuck. Of course, a true stairwell sex gentleman would have stuck around until she was freed.

Food Stamp Groceries Shipped Overseas

(New York City)

Food stamps are paying for trans-Atlantic takeout — with New Yorkers using taxpayer-funded benefits to ship food to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found.

The practice is so common that hundreds of 45- to 55-gallon cardboard and plastic barrels line the walls of supermarkets in almost every Caribbean corner of the city.

Obviously, the food stamp program has been corrupted.

Putin and Snowden

According to a media source in Moscow, President Putin has no desire to accommodate leaker Edward Snowden.

Given Snowden's apparent obsession with privacy rights and government transparency, Putin doesn't trust him. There is no guarantee that Snowden would remain silent about the FSB's widespread spying abuses, which make even the NSA's worst abuses look like child's play. (For example, the e-mails and telephone conversations of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday, were regularly hacked, even before charges were filed against him.) And once Snowden received asylum status, even Putin would have trouble taking it away if Snowden got out of hand.

The second reason Putin, a former KGB agent, is wary about Snowden is because Putin remains religiously faithful to the lifetime oath he took: Never give away state secrets. Whatever initial gratification he might have experienced when Snowden revealed U.S. government abuses was quickly replaced by a sense of disdain for Snowden, who betrayed his nation. For this reason alone, Putin clearly considers Snowden a traitor, not a hero.

Putin put it best in 2010, when he spoke of an informant who gave away 10 Russian sleeper agents operating in the U.S.: "Traitors are swine. … The lives of traitors always end badly." And this is precisely why Putin said that the sooner Snowden leaves Russia, the better.

Without Putin's blessing, swine can't feel homey in Russia.

The Zimmerman case is an excellent proof that the Left is deep-down racist

Blacks are dying at the hands of other blacks daily in Chicago and elsewhere.  What do we hear from the Left about that?  Crickets.  A white man kills a black man in an act of self defense and what do we hear about that?  Boiling outrage nationwide!  At the very least it is clear that whites (even "Hispanic whites") are held to a much higher standard of behavior than blacks.

All those protesting would appear to believe that their protest will do some good.  They clearly believe that Zimmerman has slipped from the very high standard applicable to whites and should be punished for that.  If different standards for different races don't equate to racism, I don't know what would.

Faced with a problem like Chicago, Leftists clearly just throw up  their hands. They clearly see blacks as different  -- and different in a most alarming and incurable way. The Christian adage that all life is sacred clearly does not apply to blacks as perceived by Leftists.  Black life taken by another black is not worth one thousandth of the protest that is being aimed at George Zimmerman.  All the world knows of George Zimmerman but who knows even the names of the black killers in Chicago?

While they would never admit it in words, Leftist behaviour clearly shows that they regard blacks as chronically inferior and beyond redemption.  In their secret minds, they may even put it down to genetics  -- JR

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

Florida Sex Trafficking Case

(St. Petersburg, Florida) A 21-year-old local woman, Keosha Renee Jones, has been accused of engaging in the commercial sex trafficking of two 14-year-old girls.

An arrest warrant says Jones placed ads on backpage.com and had the girls meet customers at a St. Petersburg motel.

"One of the victims reported fearing that Jones would kill them if they did not make money," said the arrest affidavit.

The F.B.I. says Jones is aware of the warrant and may have left the area. They think she might be in the Miami area. Jones also has ties to Port St. Lucie.

Jones is 5' 10", 120 lb., with several tattoos on her legs.

Minnesota Woman Accused of Criminal Sex with Boy

(Austin, Minnesota) A 34-year-old local woman, Lisa Marie Espe, has been accused of performing oral sex on a boy under the age of 13.

Espe faces counts of criminal sexual conduct with a victim younger then 13.

According to the court complaint, the boy’s mother found chat logs of the boy’s and Espe’s conversations. The complaint added Espe was aware of the boy’s age, which was indicated in the chat logs.

Espe allegedly met with the boy at an athletic field in Austin early in the morning on July 13. An officer received the report on July 16 and arrested Espe.

Details on booking are unavailable.

Colombian Crime Boss Eliminated



Carlos Enrique Salazar aka Negro Guerrero
(Bogota, Colombia)

A regional leader of Colombia's powerful Los Rastrojos crime organization was killed in a police operation in the southwestern province of Valle del Cauca, the government said Friday.

Carlos Enrique Salazar, alias "Negro Guerrero," directed the criminal activities of some 250 men from his base in Garrapatas Canyon, authorities said.

President Juan Manuel Santos announced Salazar's death via Twitter.

"We eliminated - en Riofrio - alias 'Negro Guerrero,' chief of Los Rastrojos, responsible for extortion in the north of Valle," the head of state tweeted.

Although Salazar was once a government functionary, he also engaged in drug trafficking, protection rackets, cattle rustling and other crimes.

Senator Barbara Boxer’s Own Experts Contradict Obama On Global Warming

By James Taylor

Expert witnesses called by Sen. Barbara Boxer to testify during Senate Environment and Public Works hearings yesterday contradicted a key assertion made by President Barack Obama on climate change.

Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser less than a month before directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose costly new restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, Obama said, “we also know that the climate is warming faster than anybody anticipated five or 10 years ago.”

“I don’t have much patience for people who deny climate change,” Obama added.

However, climate scientists including United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lead author Hans von Storch report temperatures have remained essentially flat for the past 10 years, and indeed for the past 15 years.  Storch told Der Spiegel that 98 percent of IPCC climate models cannot replicate the prolonged pause in global warming, and IPCC may need to revise its computer models to correct their apparent warming bias.

During yesterday’s Environment and Public Works hearings, Sen. David Vitter asked a panel of experts, including experts selected by Boxer, “Can any witnesses say they agree with Obama’s statement that warming has accelerated during the past 10 years?”

For several seconds, nobody said a word. Sitting just a few rows behind the expert witnesses, I thought I might have heard a few crickets chirping, but I couldn’t tell for sure. We’ll give Obama the benefit of the doubt and count the crickets in the “maybe” camp.

After several seconds of deafening silence, global warming activist Heidi Cullen, who formerly served as a meteorologist for the Weather Channel, attempted to change the subject. Cullen said our focus should be on longer time periods rather than the 10-year period mentioned by Obama. When pressed, however, she contradicted Obama’s central assertion and said warming has slowed, not accelerated.

Several minutes later, Sen. Jeff Sessions returned to the topic and sought additional clarity. Sessions recited Obama’s quote claiming accelerating global warming during the past 10 years and asked, “Do any of you support that quote?”

Again, a prolonged and deafening silence ensued. Neither Cullen nor any of the other experts on the panel spoke a word, not even in an attempt to change the subject.

Boxer may have envisioned her high-profile global warming hearings as an opportunity to build momentum for congressional or EPA action to restrict carbon dioxide emissions. Instead, the very global warming activists she called to serve as expert witnesses delivered a crushing blow to President Obama’s central justification for expensive new restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.

SOURCE

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

Oklahoma Woman Accused of Killing Her Father

(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) An 18-year-old local woman, Angelina Maria Davis, has been accused of killing her father.

The Oklahoma City Gang Enforcement unit picked up Angelina Maria Davis in Del City Thursday.

Her arrest warrant states her father, Jay Haskel Davis, was found with a cord wrapped around his neck, and may have been dead several days before he was found by two neighbors who came to check on him.[…]

The Medical Examiner ruled Jay Davis' cause of death as ligature strangulation. The manner of death of homicide.

"Jay was a really sweet really compassionate person." said one friend, who did not wish to be identified.

Despite that, court papers say his 18-year-old daughter Angelina Maria Davis brutally killed him.

Details on arrest and booking are unavailable.

Cell Phone Tracking

(Trenton, New Jersey)

In a unanimous ruling published Thursday stemming from a 2006 burglary case, the state's Supreme Court directed that beginning in 30 days, all law enforcement officers must get a search warrant based on probable cause if they want access to cellphone locating data. Since 2010, police have had to satisfy a lower standard of demonstrating there are "reasonable grounds" to believe the information would be relevant to an investigation.

An attorney for the California-based privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation said it's the first time a state supreme court has ruled on that specific issue. Federal courts have split on whether cellphone users have the right to privacy in public places, but several cases are pending in federal appeals courts as well as in other state courts, according to Hanni Fakhoury.

"The ruling definitely is not binding in any state outside New Jersey, but it's persuasive," Fakhoury said Friday. "As a litigator I would tell a court, `Look, New Jersey did it and here are the reasons for that ruling and you should adopt this.'"

Warrants for cell phone tracking should be required nationwide.

"Werewolf Commandos" in Europe

Home-grown terrorism persists.

Authorities in northern Europe have raided the homes of several alleged right-wing extremists. Investigators suspect their group, dubbed "werewolf," of planning terrorist attacks on German soil.

Police in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland swept into homes, offices and jail cells early on Wednesday to search for clues of a terrorist plot aimed at the German political system. They conducted a raid which targeted six suspects, according to Germany's federal prosecutor.

Some 50 police personnel took part in the searches in Germany, which spanned across the northern cities of Hannover and Hamburg, and reached into the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It was not immediately clear in which cities the Dutch and Swiss searches occurred.

Authorities believe there is a chance the Werewolf group is planning a large-scale attack similar to the murderous 2011 rampage of radical right-winger Anders Behring Breivik when 77 people were killed.