Truesee's Daily Wonder

Lockout looms: NBA owners tell players at meeting that league is shutting down midnight Thursday

Mitch Lawrence
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Thursday, June 30th 2011, 4:29 PM

Sounds at though John Lennon might have grown up before his untimely death:

John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death – according to the tragic Beatles star’s last personal assistant.

Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 to Lennon’s death at the end of 1980 and he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan who enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self.

In new documentary Beatles Stories, s thought he was while he was his assistant.

He says, “John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.

“He’d met Reagan back, I think, in the 70s at some sporting event… Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young (peace) demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that… He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me.

What’s crazy is that the failed president known as Barack Obama makes Jimmy Carter look like Ronald Reagan and our current crop of “stars” apparently haven’t yet woke up to that fact. Of course, they might all be in the closet like Lennon. But that would be silly. Don’t they read Patrick Goldstein at the L.A. Times? Don’t they know they have nothing to fear in Hollywood if they openly oppose Obama?

Virginia Sherwood, NBC

NBC News reporter Chris Hansen was reportedly caught cheating on his wife on-camera.

Gotcha!

Chris Hansen, who has made his name confronting pedophiles on-camera as the host of Dateline NBC’s "To Catch a Predator", was reportedly caught on tape cheating on his wife with a much younger woman, according to the National Enquirer.

Cameras allegedly recorded Hansen taking Florida TV reporter Kristyn Caddell, 30, to dinner at a Ritz-Carlton hotel before spending the night at her Palm Beach apartment.

Hansen, who lives with his wife, Mary, 53, and their two sons in Connecticut, has allegedly been seeing Caddell for four months.

The 51-year-old reporter has been spending time in Florida investigating the disappearance of James Trindale, according to reports.

Hansen has hosted "To Catch a Predator," a show where volunteers from the group Preverted-Justice pose as underage girls to lure pedophiles into homes where he waits to surprise them on-camera, since 2004.

A Long Island man was arrested for donning an Army uniform and brazenly posing as a soldier so he'd get bumped up to first class on a flight to JFK from the Dominican Republic, Port Authority cops have charged.

Rock Diaz, 22, of Freeport, has a history of pretending to be a military man to get VIP treatment, cops said -- he once even smooth-talked his way into a jetliner's pit, where he was photographed sitting at the controls wearing a goofy grin.

The mile-high huckster was finally brought to earth Friday afternoon when a sharp-eyed customs official at JFK asked him his rank -- and he gave an answer that didn't match the insignia on the uniform he was wearing.

 

BUSTED: GI "imposter" Rock Diaz right after his arrest in a phony uniform.

June 22, 2011 -- Avoiding weight gain as you age isn't impossible, after all.

If you yearn to be among those who sail through the years without picking up a pound for each birthday, Harvard doctors have a game plan for you. And it goes far beyond the old "eat less, exercise more" mantra.

Reducing your intake of specific foods, sleeping 6 to 8 hours nightly, getting some exercise, and turning off the TV all predicted less weight gain with time, they found.

They also found five foods strongly linked with weight gain and five others linked with less than average weight gain.

''The message here is that the type and quality of food and beverage one eats are incredibly important," says researcher Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The new research, he says, ''shows how multiple lifestyle factors, including diet, were related to long-term weight gain."

The study appears in theNew England Journal of Medicine.

Avoiding Weight Gain: Study Details

The researchers wanted to focus on what leads to long-term weight gain and why the average adult gains about a pound a year.

They tracked 120,000 participants in three studies, the Nurses' Health Study, the Nurses' Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Every four years, they evaluated the links between changes in lifestyle habits and weight.

On average, the study participants gained an average of 3.35 pounds over each four-year period. That added up to nearly 17 pounds after 20 years. At the start of the three studies, the men and women's average ages were 37, 50, and 52.

5 Foods That Make You Fat; 5 That Don't

When the researchers looked more closely, they found five foods associated with the greatest weight gain over the study period:

• Potato chips
• Other potatoes
• Sugar-sweetened beverages
• Unprocessed red meats
• Processed meats

They also found five foods linked with less gain and even weight loss:

• Vegetables
• Whole grains
• Fruits
• Nuts
• Yogurt

Deciphering the Findings

"There were huge differences in four-year weight gains based on what people did," he says. "The quantity of fat in the food didn't seem to be strongly related to weight gain." For instance, no differences were seen for low-fat or skim milk compared to whole-fat milk.

Rather, he says, focusing on the quality of food -- not simply total calories, or fat grams, or grams of carbohydrates -- seems most important in avoiding weight gain.

They write: "A habitual energy imbalance of about 50 to 100 kilocalories per day may be sufficient to cause the gradual weight gain seen in most persons."

Yogurt was perhaps the biggest surprise on the list of foods linked with less weight gain, Mozaffarian says. The researchers aren't sure why. They cite some other research finding that changes in gut bacteria from eating yogurt may help in weight control. Or those who eat yogurt may have other healthy habits.

Changes in diet had the strongest link to weight gain. However, the researchers also found that those who slept 6 to 8 hours a night gained less than those who slept less than 6 or more than 8. Weight gain was also linked with changes in the amount of television viewing and changes in physical activity.

''Small differences add up over time," Mozaffarian says. He sees that as both ''a danger and an opportunity." If you don't pay attention, he says, the pounds can pile on quickly. "If you do pay attention, a handful of changes could add up in a beneficial way," he says.

He is not suggesting people completely avoid foods linked with weight gain. "If someone wants to eat some of the foods on the list associated with weight gain, as long as they eat a lot of other foods that are not associated with weight gain, and exercise, and not watch a lot of TV, that would be OK," he says.

Mozaffarian reports receiving honoraria from Unilever, Aramark, and other food-related companies for speaking on diet-related topics.

Avoiding Weight Gain With Age: Perspective

The study provides some good support for factors other experts have assumed are linked with weight gain, says Connie Diekman, RD, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. She reviewed the study but was not involved in it.

Diekman says that among the most interesting findings is that the lower the intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and yogurt, the more significant the weight gain. That result jibes with the recommendation in the Dietary Guidelines to shift food intake to more plant foods.

Another important finding, she tells WebMD, is that "a shift in calorie intake of as little as 50 to 100 calories a day may be all it takes to gain or lose weight."

Advice? "I'd encourage consumers to think about one portion you can cut down on each day or one 10-minute walk you can add to your day. These small steps can then become the steps on the path you need to make more changes to achieve, and maintain, a healthier weight."

Father arrested after daughter turns him in for pot

Deseret News

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Two teens apparently fed up with their father's marijuana smoking called police Monday to hand over his bag of weed.

The children, a 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl, were visiting their father who had partial custodial rights, said Cottonwood Heights Police Sgt. Scott Peck. The children had reportedly noticed in the past that their father's residence always "smelled funny," he said.

The girl, apparently fed up with her father's smoking and drinking, called police to turn him in, Peck said. When officers arrived, the girl found her dad's bag of pot and took it out to officers, he said.

While the young girl was standing outside her father's residence talking to police, her dad texted her to come back into the house, apparently not realizing police were present, Peck said. The officers had the girl text her dad back and tell him to come outside.

When the 44-year-old father came out, he was arrested for investigation of drug possession and child endangerment.

A Milton man set his parents' house on fire early Monday, then surrendered to authorities, saying his mental illness made it difficult to live in society, and he wanted to go to jail, police and prosecutors said.

Mattie Salminen, 28, was jailed lacking $25,000 bail. A judge ordered a competency hearing for him.

According to court documents, Salminen was living in his parents house at 35 Cherry St. in Milton when, at about 5:30 a.m. Monday, while his parents were sleeping upstairs, he retrieved a gasoline can from a shed in back of the house, tossed fuel into a crawl space and set it alight.

The resulting explosion woke up Salminen's parents, Karlo and Carolyn Salminen, who escaped the home without injury, police said. The couple said their son has schizophrenia that is controlled by medication, but were unsure whether he took the medication Monday morning.

Mattie Salminen approached a police officer and said he wanted to surrender at about 8:40 a.m. at a Simon's convenience store on Park Street in Burlington, according to court papers. He told police he wanted to go back to jail because he couldn't make it out in the real world, police said.

Police asked if he intended to hurt his parents, and Salminen said he didn't, but he also was somewhat unconcerned by the possibility, according to court papers.

The house suffered fire, water and smoke damage. The fire melted soldering on a water pipe in the crawl space, which burst and kept the flames in check until Milton firefighters arrived, investigators said.

The self-employed operator of a home day care center in Sarasota is accused of placing a Craigslist ad in which she claimed to be her husband's ex-wife soliciting sex with strangers.

The falsified ad led the victim to receive numerous phone calls, text messages and home visits from male strangers, frightening her and making her concerned about her children's safety, according to a police report.

Bradenton Police arrested Natasha W. Larson, 35, of the 2400 block of Arapaho Street in Sarasota, last week on a felony charge of criminal use of personal identification and information.

On Feb. 18, detectives say, the victim started receiving phone calls and text messages from unknown men saying they were responding to her ad on Craigslist.com inviting strangers to come to her home for sexual encounters.

The ad reportedly stated: "I am currently dating a descent man but he is lacking some skills in the bedroom. Its nice but I need to be thrown around a little bit and to be dominated, that is exciting for me. I also like to take charge sometimes but I need a strong man to keep me in check."

The ad then gave the victim's home address.

"Please be respectful if you do stop by," the ad concluded.

The victim told detectives that unknown men soon started coming to her house.

"She also gave them my cell phone number and these men were calling, texting and sending pornographic picture messages to me," the victim, who said she has two children at home, wrote to the Herald-Tribune. "So, not only did she endanger my life and safety by sending these strange men to my home but she endangered her husband's children as well."

The victim also reportedly received a phone call from a man who told her that he wrote to an email address in the ad and received a response giving him the victim's name, address and cell phone number.

The man provided her with copies of the emails and the Craigslist posting, which the woman took to police.

According to court records, the victim earlier last week obtained a temporary injunction for protection against repeat violence filed against Larson.

Detectives say they worked with Google and Verizon to trace the emails and ad to Larson. The charge against her is a felony.

Larson admitted to placing the ad, creating an email address in the victim's name and giving out the victim's phone number, detectives reported.

Thanks for the memories: Michelle Obama waves as she boards her private plane after a week-long trip to Africa, which could have cost the taxpayer an estimated $800,000

Costly: Firing up Air Force 2 as it is sometimes known could cost in the region of $12,723 per hour meaning the cost of the plane for the whole trip could work out to be a cool $430,000

Play time: Mrs Obama, her daughters Sasha and Malia and her mother Marian Robinson enjoyed a safari in Madikwe Game Reserve during the trip

Visit: Mrs Obama also took her daughters to visit Nelson Mandela, which she called 'surreal'

This is how you get my arms: The First Lady also showed Archbishop Desmond Tutu, third from right, how to do push ups, during an HIV awareness campaign in Cape Town

Goals: Mrs Obama said the trip would help 'youth leadership, education, health and wellness' in southern Africa, according to the White House

Billy West (left) with torn shirt pictured shortly after his arrest. He has been jailed for two years and five months for the bottle attack on Clive Merrifield (right), who was left with a four-inch gash on his scalp

The brutal assault occurred at Parveen, an Indian restaurant in Theberton Street, Islington, north London

Clive Merrifield's injury required 16 stitches and has left him scarred

65-year-old Vietnam vet who hit the Lottery four years ago may finally get some of his winnings

Scott Shifrel
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, June 27th 2011, 6:01 PM

Criminal defense attorney arrested while trying to advise client who had been arrested, he claims

John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, June 27th 2011, 4:00 AM

Carolyn Thompson

Associated Press

Cheerios facts

At last weekend’s Netroots Nation gathering in Minneapolis, liberal activists expressed frustration that they lacked the political power or media focus given to the conservative tea-party movement. Former White House environmental official Van Jones is hoping to change that with a new political effort dubbed “The American Dream Movement.”

Organizers are hoping to emulate the the success of the tea party, which became a significant force in the 2010 midterms, uniting like-minded people across the country who were previously uninvolved in politics or participating locally but not at the national level.

They hope to motivate unemployed veterans, struggling homeowners and other alienated Americans who are angry at Republicans’ desire to drastically cut government spending in Washington and collective bargaining rights for state employees in places like Wisconsin. And to lure those people simply struggling to find a job while worried about their unemployment benefits ending.

“We think we can do what the tea party did,” Jones said in an interview with The Fix. “They stepped forward under a common banner, and everybody took them seriously. Polls suggest there are more people out there who have a different view of the economy, but who have not stepped forward yet under a common banner.”

Jones is a former Obama environmental adviser who resigned from the White House in 2009 amid controversy over his past activism. But he’s lauded in liberal circles for his charisma and organizing abilities.

“There's a lot of organizational muscle behind the initiative, and Van is one of the most inspiring figures in the progressive movement, so I'm looking forward to these efforts, and they certainly come at a time when Republican overreach has primed progressives to take action” said Markos Moulitas, the founder of the liberal blog network Daily Kos.

Jones’ “Dream” movement will launch Thursday night with a rally in New York City. The Roots are performing; MoveOn.org, a well known liberal advocacy group, is co-sponsoring the gathering.

After the rally, the group will hold house meetings around the country in a bid to crowd-source the group’s platform, asking for ideas and collecting input from economists and activists. It will then use those contributions to form a “Contract for the American Dream” that will serve as an agenda to rally support and pressure politicians in Washington, riffing off the 1994 “Contract with America” that swept Republicans into the House majority.

While the tea-party movement gained clout in part through successful primary challenges to establishment politicians in 2010, Jones said the “Dream” movement is not “about primaries.”

However, should their efforts succeed, MoveOn.org’s executive director Justin Ruben says that the movement will push back against Democrats who don’t adhere to its goals.

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean argued that the idea of an interactive “Contract” is an improvement on the tea-party methods.

“The tea party has got technical dominance in their ability to put together a leaderless group that is in the political cloud, so to speak, and what [Jones] does is take the next step after that.”

There is some reason to believe that it’s the right time for a progressive movement modeled on the tea party. Some of the GOP actions taken since capturing control of the House majority in 2010 appear unpopular with voters, including passage of Rep.Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget plan, which would turn Medicare into a voucher program by 2022.

Washington Post polling shows that voters don’t want cuts to entitlement spending. A majority of Americans think spending cuts and tax increases should both be part of any deficit-reduction plan, while Republicans have opposed any tax increases.

Jones predicted that the public winds were shifting against drastic government spending cuts like the ones enacted by new Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who moved this spring to end collective bargaining rights for most state employees.

Thousands have also protested similar moves in Indiana., Ohio and New York, and smaller protests have occurred all across the country. In a general sign that people are fed up with the economy, some activists have banded together under the term ‘99ers,’ to stand up for the rights of people who have been unemployed so long, their government benefits have run out.

As for the “American Dream” movement specifically, the unifying theme is disaffection with the economy and with the debate in Washington over how to fix it. Specifics are lacking at this point, as Jones plans to solicit activist input. One plank advanced by Jones is the idea of a transactional tax that would slap a levy on the sale or transfer of stocks, bonds and other financial assets.

This isn’t the first attempt at a “liberal tea party.” A coalition of liberal and civil-rights groups united under the “One Nation” banner last year and held a rally on the National Mall in October. After the election, the group — in which Van Jones was involved — fizzled.

Unlike One Nation, in which long-standing liberal groups agreed to collaborate, Jones’ movement is hoping to attract people who are ideologically aligned but not politically active. Those people will define their own goals. But Jones is also in conversations with many of the labor and civil-rights groups that were involved in the One Nation effort. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka recorded a web video for the campaign.

Institutional involvement does not go against the tea-party model. The tea-party movement has its own benefactors — Americans for Prosperity, Our Country Deserves Better PAC, and other groups backed by longtime Republican donors and strategists. Those groups capitalized on disparate protest movements around the country, many of whom say they have no connection to the political battles fought in their name.

Still, it will likely be hard to get liberals and supporters of more progressive economic policy to rally in the same way. Tea-party activists tend to be wealthy and well-educated; Jones is hoping to reach unemployed veterans, struggling homeowners, and other groups who likely have less time to organize and grow more politically active,

A year from now, will the “American Dream Movement” be on everyone’s lips the way the tea party is? It seems unlikely. But it’s a sign that liberals are making a more concerted effort to organize outside groups in ways that don’t rely on the power or personality of President Obama.

An employee of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is now gainfully unemployed after being arrested on Wednesday in connection with illegal distribution of confidential information. 

Kenitra Casper, 27, worked in the JSO records office and now faces felony and misdemeanor charges after she confessed to sending out texts and emails containing information about and photographs of undercover narcotics agents to known drug dealers in the Jacksonville area. 

Casper had worked for JSO for 7 years, according to Undersheriff Dwain Senterfitt, who says he's very concerned that Casper's actions could have compromised the identity of detectives working undercover.

She is being held in the Pre-Trial Detention Facility at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. 

Further investigations are ongoing at this time.

 

CEN

Fagilyu (l) and husband Fagili Mukhametzyanov (r). Fagilyu died of a heart attack at her own funeral after she was mistakenly declared dead by doctors.

A Russian woman died from a heart attack brought on by the shock of waking up at her own funeral.

Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov, 49, was mistakenly declared deceased by doctors, the Daily Mail reported Friday.

But she later woke up - in a coffin surrounded by sobbing relatives. She started screaming after realizing she was about to be buried alive.

Mukhametzyanov, a resident of Kazan, was rushed back to the hospital where she was declared dead -- this time for real.

Her husband, Fagili Mukhametzyanov, was distraught.

"Her eyes fluttered and we immediately rushed her back to the hospital but she only lived for another 12 minutes," he said.

He told The Sun that he would sue the hospital.

"I am very angry and want answers. She wasn't dead when they said she was and they could have saved her."

A spokesman at the hospital, also in Kazan, said officials were investigating

Backpack Umbrella: For hands-free rain avoidance

Trent Bronner

WHITE PLAINS — Sleepy Hollow fire volunteer Trent Bronner was formally arraigned today on felony arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangernment charges, accused in a seven-count grand jury indictment of setting two fires in the village.

Bronner, 22, was charged in a March 20 fire at 13 Cedar St. that spread to the house next door at 19 Cedar St. and left 19 people homeless. He's also charged in a July 19 fire last year at 128 Cortlandt St. that authorities say he confessed to during the investigation.

A former standout athlete at Sleepy Hollow High School, Bronner joined the volunteer fire department three years ago and was honored last year with a plaque for responding to the most fire calls in the village.

He's now charged with two counts of second-degree arson, one of second-degree criminal mischief, one of first-degree reckless endangerment and one of fourth-degree arson, all felonies. He's also charged with two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief.

He was arraigned before acting state Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo, who ordered that he remain held on $150,000 bail at the Westchester County jail, where he's been since his arrest on April 27. He's due back in court Sept. 28 and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count.

Hospital condemned after giving elderly patients tambourine to summon nurses

Madeleine Brindley

Western Mail

Jun 21 2011

A hospital has been roundly condemned for providing elderly and frail patients with a tambourine to attract attention.

The single musical instrument is the only emergency call system available to patients using a day room at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary’s West Wing.

Patients say they are “too scared” to use the day room in case staff do not hear their calls for help.

An NHS watchdog and Wales’ Older People’s Commissioner strongly criticised the hospital for not installing a proper alarm system.

Steve Allen, chief officer of Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Community Health Council, said: “This is totally inappropriate – patients shouldn’t have to resort to shaking a tambourine to get a nurse’s assistance.

“It is totally unacceptable and the health board must address this as a matter of concern.”

A concerned relative took a photograph of the tambourine in the day room after visiting his 90-year-old mother over the weekend.

The 65-year-old, who has asked not to be identified, said: “I thought she was joking about the tambourine but I went to the day room and there it was.

“My mother and other patients won’t go to the day room because of their fear of being left in a distressing situation, particularly toileting.

“I gave the tambourine a good hard shaking – after 16 minutes I gave up as no-one responded. Not surprisingly few patients use the day room, and the new television has few viewers.”

He added: “My mother has another six to eight weeks in the hospital and her time there could be made more enjoyable and bearable if she was able to watch the television.

“But she and other patients feel there’s too much of a risk of being left there.”

The man said he was also told there was a pair of maracas in the day room for patients to use to get nurses’ attention.

When he questioned staff at the hospital he was told there was no money available for a more effective call system.

“The staff do make an effort, they’re just stretched beyond belief,” he added.

Ruth Marks, Wales’ Older People’s Commissioner, said: “This does not afford any patient dignity and respect, let alone safety.

“The day room gives an opportunity for patients to relax and socialise away from their beds, which is important as the days in hospital can seem very long.

“Whatever system is in place to call for help, it is vital these areas are checked regularly by staff. If there was an emergency, there may be no opportunity to call for help.

“Resources may be limited, but installing a system so people can easily call for help whilst in hospital must be a priority.”

Ruth Walker, executive director of nursing for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said: “It appears well-meaning staff have looked for ways to allow patients to make better use of the day room as part of their recovery and provide a way of calling for help when physio or other staff are not nearby.

“A hand-bell had previously been provided but was deemed too heavy and cumbersome for frailer patients and staff looked for an alternative.

“Sadly the solution, while well intentioned, was not appropriate.

“A lightweight hand-bell will now be sourced as a matter of urgency and patients will be accompanied while using the dayroom in the meantime.

“We will also review dayroom arrangements in other areas.

“The care and dignity of all our patients is vitally important to everyone at the health board and we sincerely apologise for any distress this has caused.”

Broken windows theory

• In 1982, social scientists argued that repairing vandalism in urban areas prevented further crime
• The New York Subway adopted this premise in the late 80s
• And then Mayor Rudy Giuliani (above) used it as part of his "zero tolerance" policy
• Supporters of the theory point to falling crime rates in cities like NY as evidence
• But sceptics say crime fell in many cities over that period and it's hard to prove a link

• There are several sources of crime figures and they all point to a decline in violence
• Hospital admissions for violent injury have been falling for 10 years
• The British Crime Survey indicates a 7% drop in 2010

• Violence falling for a decade

North Carolina man robs store for a dollar so he can get health care in prison for medical problems

Nina Mandell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, June 21st 2011, 4:00 AM

The one-ounce silver medal's heads side features Lady Liberty with the inscription "always remember 2001-2011," while the reverse side portrays an eagle against the backdrop of cascading water.

"The medal we present to the American public today has been created by the United States Mint to commemorate September 11, 2001, a day that changed our Nation and world forever," United States Treasurer Rosie Rios said at the unveiling. "This medal's design is intended to exalt the memory of those that sacrificed their lives or were injured, and the families who continue to show dignity and strength in the face of terrible loss," she said.

The U.S. Mint will produce up to 2 million medals, according to a press release.

The medal, which went on sale Monday, is available at an introductory rate of $56.95 through August 18, after which the price will go up to $66.95. A $10 surcharge collected from the sale of each medal will to go to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

The 9/11 Memorial Preview Site, which held the unveiling, includes "models, renderings, films and real-time images of construction so that visitors can understand the plans and progress" of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, according to its website.

The 9/11 memorial will be dedicated on September 11, 2011, and open to the public on September 12, its website says.

Carolyn Jones

Chronicle Staff Writer

04:00 AM

Michael Macor / The Chronicle

Dusty rests among the many items that he has brought home over the years to his house in San Mateo.

 

 

Lucky for Dusty he's a cat. Otherwise he'd surely be in jail, or at least a 12-step program.

The San Mateo feline has pilfered more than 600 items from neighbors - behavior so odd it's baffled and delighted animal experts and made Dusty a minor celebrity.

"It's extreme, but it's absolutely adorable," said Marilyn Krieger, a cat behavior consultant in Redwood City. "I can't say exactly why he's doing it, except it has to do with mixed-up neurotransmitters. I think it's a form of OCD."

Dusty's nocturnal heists started about four years ago, a year after his owners adopted him as a kitten from the Peninsula Humane Society.

"I noticed a piece of latex glove on the bed one morning and told my husband he should do a better job cleaning up his work stuff," said Jean Chu, a dentist. "He said, 'It wasn't me. I think it was the cat.' "

After that, Chu and her husband, Jim Coleman, were greeted each morning with a tableau of neighborhood detritus on their doorstep: gloves, towels, Crocs, swim trunks, Safeway bags, bubble wrap, a Giants cap and other backyard sundries.

Chu started keeping a log of Dusty's haul, which averages three or four items a night. His record spree is 11 in a 24-hour period.

"It's work. Every time I go out to get the paper in the morning, I have to pick up after him," said Coleman, an artist. "Sometimes he brings things that are sort of expensive. I get a little worried about that."

As for the booty, Chu washes it and hunts for the rightful owner. If she can't find the owner, she stores the loot in boxes in the dining room. The boxes are now piled two deep.

"He stole my bikini," said Kelly McLellan, who lives a few doors up the street. "He did it in two trips. He was very focused on keeping the ensemble. When it went missing I wasn't worried, though. I knew where to go."

McLellan's son, Ethan, 6, lost a Nerf rocket football.

"I looked for it, but I didn't know where it went," he said. "Then I remembered. The cat took it."

Stephanie Somers' family lost six bathing suits and countless shorts, towels and car wash sponges.

"We don't leave anything out anymore," she said. "But we don't mind. We like Dusty."

A year ago Chu contacted People magazine about her kleptomaniac kitty, and a star was born. Dusty has been on the David Letterman show and Animal Planet, and infrared footage of his nighttime antics are a hit on YouTube - there's even video of him dragging home a brassiere. The public can meet Dusty at an adoption event June 25 at the Peninsula Humane Society, where he will be posing for photos and allowing fans to pet him.

Dusty's predilection for theft is rare but not unheard of, animal experts said. Some cats will bring home half-dead mice, acting on their instinct to teach kittens to hunt. Dusty's habit is likely related to that somehow, minus the kittens and mice.

"It's like a predatory instinct gone awry," said Richmond cat consultant Mikel Delgado. "He's obviously very bold."

Anika Liljenwall, behavior associate at the Peninsula Humane Society, said Dusty's predatory instinct has become "crossed in his head."

"In his mind he's caught something and he's bringing it home to share," she said.

Neuroses aside, everyone agrees Dusty seems to be a perfectly happy and healthy cat.

"We always try to find meaning in what animals do," Liljenwall said. "But maybe he just does this because it's fun."

The parents said police had no right to intervene when the minors agreed.

According to police officials, Moza Surgana resident Ejaz Ahmed was set to marry Shazia and in-exchange their siblings Farzana, 14, and Amir Hussain, 9, were set to tie the knot on Friday afternoon. “There is nothing wrong with this match. All the parties had agreed and the children wanted the marriage,” said the bridegroom Amir’s mother Amira Bibi. “The police has no right to interfere in this instance. This is a private matter and no one was harmed. We don’t have to consult the police before settling on a match for our children,” said Farzana’s mother Mukhtar Bibi.

Mailsi Circle DSP Malik Daud and SHO Mitro Muhammad Aslam said they arrested the parents of the children after they received a tip off that two minors were being wed. “This has nothing to do with the parent’s wishes or the fact that the children agreed to the match.

The marriage of minors is illegal,” said Daud. “We need to raise awareness about the fact that underage marriages are wrong, regardless of tradition or culture. The children may have agreed to the marriage but a nine-year-old boy is not capable of making such a decision,” said an NGO worker Shabnam Batool.

Mitro police officials said that they raided a home on Friday afternoon.

“The entire place was packed with wedding guests and we saw the couples sitting on stage. “Ejaz and Shazia are of the legal age to get married but the watta satta of their younger siblings is wrong,” said Aslam.

Amir Hussain’s father Fida Hussain said “The police has no business to interfere in these matters. This is a custom of our land and we are not going to begin to adopt western customs. My son agreed to marry Farzana and she obeyed her parents,” he said. “There is nothing criminal in it,” he added.

Mitro police interrogated both couples under the Marriage Act and registered separate cases against the parents of both minor’s in the case. “They have ruined our wedding in the process and we cannot tolerate such injustice,” said Ejaz.

Muhammad Nawaz and Fida Hussain told reporters that the police had insulted them and arrested them over a wrong tip. “They thought this marriage was illegal because we were forcing the children but after they asked them both said they had agreed to the match. There is no case here,” Fida said.

“Ejaz and Shazia were going to get married and under the watta satta tradition Amir and Farzana’s nikah was also decided,” Muhammad Nawaz said.

“This has been happening in our family for decades. We will not stop it because the police and forces are trying to force us to adopt western norms,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2011.

10 Reasons Obama is a One-Term President

Daniel Flynn

Human Events

June 20, 2011

Less than two months ago, buzzing from the president’s gutsy call to eliminate Osama bin Laden, liberal pontificators had practically sworn in Barack Obama for his second term.

“For the GOP the sands are rushing through the hourglass,” Roger Simon wrote in a column whose title had wondered whether the president was “invincible.”

He claimed that with Geronimo KIA, “the Republican field has been fried like an egg.”

In reality, the president’s short-term popularity boost had fried the long-term judgment of his supporters.

 

The reasons to believe Obama a one-term president are many and well-grounded.

10. The Declaration of Independents

Candidate Obama attracted independents. President Obama repulses them. The president entered office with the approval of 62 percent of independents. The latest Gallup poll shows support of just 42 percent of independents. Similarly, the political moderates key to his election have deserted the president as immoderate policies have emerged. There simply aren’t enough liberals for Democrats to lose moderates and win elections. No Democratic candidate over the last half century has won the presidency without winning moderates. 

9. A Redder America

Barack Obama faces a redder electoral map than he did in 2008. The 2012 presidential election is more than a year away, but the Electoral College has already shifted twelve votes away from blue states and toward red states. Most of the states gaining electoral votes in the census reapportionment voted for McCain. Almost all of the states losing electoral votes voted for Obama. Even the states that Obama carried that added electoral votes—Nevada and Florida, to name two—don’t seem locks to go for the president in 2012. The loss of electoral votes isn’t fatal to Obama. It is a handicap.

8. The Issues Have Changed

Gallup’s “Monthly Most Important Problem” survey is a problem for the president. What is troubling the American people? Over the first five months of 2011, Americans point to the economy (29%), unemployment (26%), the deficit (13%), and government (11%). The issues most salient to voters uniformly work to the incumbent’s disadvantage. When Iraq, health care, and Republican mishandling of the economy mattered to voters, Obama could go on the offensive. It’s difficult to see how he scores points in 2012 on the issues that resonate with voters. He will be on his heels.

7. The Blank Canvass Isn’t Anymore

Other than William Jennings Bryan and Wendell Willkie, who is the major party nominee with a skimpier record than 2008’s Barack Obama? He could vote “present” in the Illinois legislature and run away from U.S. Senate votes while running for higher office. But presidents can’t remain blank slates for long. Unpopular ObamaCare, a sedative stimulus, ineptness in the face of the BP oil spill, and defiance of Congress in starting a third Middle Eastern war have all painted a presidential picture that has calcified conservative opposition, alienated moderates, and disillusioned liberal supporters.

6. Demoralized Liberals

Left-wing activist Ralph Nader encourages a primary challenge. Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich sues the administration over Libya. Netroots conference goers boo White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer. Rather than rejoice at a universal health-care bill that eluded predecessors or the introduction of open homosexuality in the military, liberals decry Obama for retaining Bush-era tax rates, playing warden over Guantanamo Bay, and launching a new war in Libya. Never can Democrats satiate their cannibalistic base. If you think this is an overstatement, feel free to examine the teeth marks on the political carcasses of Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and Lyndon Johnson. Leftists may not primary this president or siphon votes through a suicidal third-party bid. But neither will they work or give at the levels they did in 2008.

5. Energized Conservatives

After eight years of big-government Bush, an underwhelming primary field, and a sclerotic general election campaign, conservatives could be given a mulligan for sleepwalking through the last presidential election. Conservatives, just 34 percent of the electorate in 2008’s election, comprised 42 percent of voters in 2010. From tea-parties to raucous town halls, the political dynamic of the country has been altered. It showed in 2010, when Republicans added 63 House seats, seven Senate seats, and six governors. Nothing invigorates a party’s base like an aggressive ideologue of the opposing party occupying the White House. The GOP clearly has the momentum heading into 2012.

4. The Political Ground Has Shifted Beneath the President’s Feet

A political lifetime has elapsed since Barack Obama’s election. Bailouts and big-government have yielded to tea parties and deficit angst. Gallup’s ideological identification survey registered the highest percentage of liberals in its history the year of Barack Obama’s election. Gallup’s most recent ideological identification survey registered its highest percentage of conservatives since the inaugural 1992 poll. Between the 2008 survey and last year’s, conservatives have gained seven points vis-à-vis liberals. To know liberalism isn’t to love it.

3. Historic Turnouts Aren’t Every-Four-Year Occurrences

Obama surfed to victory in 2008 on the crest of two historic waves. African Americans constituted a larger percentage of the electorate than ever recorded. And young people voted for the Democratic candidate by the greatest margin ever. Two-thirds of 18-to-29 year olds cast ballots for Obama. A staggering 19 out of every 20 African American voters pulled the lever for Obama. The precarious foundation of the Democrat’s election rested on the remarkable turnout, and the amazing one-sidedness, of two constituencies—African Americans and young people—who traditionally stay home on Election Day. That both groups have been hit especially hard by the economic slump makes it hard to envision a repeat of the amazing African American turnout and one-sided youth vote.   

2. A Low Ceiling

Roger Simon wondered if the president was “invincible” in the wake of killing bin Laden. More perceptive observers saw vulnerability. Counterintuitively, the assassination of America’s most reviled enemy revealed Barack Obama’s political weaknesses, not his strengths. The president’s weekly Gallup approval average topped out at 51 percent following the bin Laden operation. The best possible week of Obama’s presidency yielded barely half of the electorate’s support. His enemies should acknowledge the man has a floor of support. His supporters should acknowledge he has a ceiling, too.

1. It’s Still the Economy, Stupid

The Misery Index, popularized by Governor Carter to hound President Ford only to be President Carter’s undoing, haunts Democrats again. The combined unemployment and inflation rates are at their worst level in twenty-eight years. The stock market has just spent six weeks in the red. The GDP grows at an anemic rate of 1.8 percent. The housing market has been in shambles for five years, and seems to be double dipping. Debt approaches GDP. Flat-lining and nose-diving trend lines make the president’s reelection precarious. Even a browbeaten Bill Daley, the president’s chief of staff, conceded to an incensed National Association of Manufacturers convention, “Sometimes you can’t defend the indefensible.” He said it. 

Barack Obama is a formidable campaigner. His presidency is not without accomplishment (see, Osama bin Laden). And occupants of the White House have lost general elections just five times in the last hundred years. But he has governed ineffectively and stubbornly against the wishes of the American people. He could win reelection. But the preponderance of indicators suggests his defeat. This should make conservatives hopeful for change. 

Oprah and Oj Simpson- courtesy of google.com

‘Oprah’s Next Chapter’ Show Wants O.J. Simpson to Confess

Unfortunately, you heard right. Yes, Oprah Winfrey is starting a brand new talk show. It won’t be on prime time television though, but will be aired in January 2012 on her OWN Network.

The new show, “Oprah’s Next Chapter” seems to be a way to bring those low ratings up from her new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

On this show, she plans to get O.J. Simpson on her show and wants him to confess. In an interview Thursday,

“I have a dream of OJ Simpson confessing to me,” she said. “And I am going to make that happen, people. I don’t just want the interview. I want the interview on the condition that you are ready, Mr. Simpson,” reports say at Newser.com.

She also wants to get Susan Smith from South Carolina, who is currently doing time for murdering her two children.

We are not sure how great that show will do. We’d like to suggest that maybe if she takes her name off of everything she does the vanity may not shine so brightly.

New Jersey mom, Francine Davis, jailed after kids found roaming Jersey City streets naked, hungry

Aliyah Shahid
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Saturday, June 18th 2011, 10:57 AM

Matt Haldane - Jun. 17, 2011 05:14 PM
The Arizona Republic-12 News

Breaking News Team

Busted Harlem cocaine kingpin so obsessed with 'Scarface,' he put his face on the film poster

Melissa Grace
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Originally Published:Friday, June 17th 2011, 3:53 PM
Updated: Friday, June 17th 2011, 6:16 PM

Washington state prison escapee caught near Forks

An escaped convict was caught following a day on the loose after he knocked on the door of a cabin in the woods - only to find out the man renting the lodge was an off-duty guard at the prison he just fled.

DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP

Associated Press

An escaped convict was caught following a day on the loose after he knocked on the door of a cabin in the woods - only to find out the man renting the lodge was an off-duty guard at the prison he just fled.

Authorities said 39-year-old James Edward Russell took off from the Olympic Corrections Center near Forks on Tuesday morning. Early the next morning, Russell - still wearing his prison uniform - went to the cabin, knocked on the door and asked to use the phone, said Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis.

The guard recognized the red, prison-issue shirt, a scuffle ensued and Russell took off again, Lewis said Thursday. The guard, whose name being withheld by the Department of Corrections, reported the incident and Russell was caught later Wednesday morning by other corrections officers about from the facility near Forks, on the Olympic Peninsula.

Russell was serving his fourth prison term since 1993 and had been transferred to the minimum security work camp just a day before he ran off, authorities said.

His earliest release date was scheduled for March 2014 - but that could be about to change.

If convicted for the escape, Russell faces at least another year in prison to be served after his current sentence for theft and forgery in Lewis County. And it would most likely be at a higher security facility.

"Assuming he is found guilty of escape, he's not likely to be put in a work camp, because he becomes an escape risk," Lewis said.

Russell has been moved to the Stafford Creek Corrections Center near Aberdeen and is spending 24 hours a day in his cell as officials investigate the escape, Lewis said.

Jefferson County deputy prosecutor Chris Ashcraft said his office does not yet have the case.

It is unclear whether Russell has an attorney and the inmate was not available for comment on Thursday.

It was the first escape from the Olympic Corrections Center since 2006.

Cops: Mom left 3-week-old in hotel with blind man

Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The mother of a 3-week-old baby is accused of leaving her son alone in a Motel 6 room with a blind man.

 

Cobb County Sheriff's Office

Christina Nichole Tilton

 

 

Cobb County Sheriff's Office

Carol Louise Burns

 

Instead of being with the baby, Christina Nichole Tilton allegedly was digging through trash cans at another Acworth hotel down the road, according to arrest warrants obtained by the AJC. Tilton, 29, also had multiple syringes and admitted to using drugs when searched, police said.

"The infant was left unattended on a bed across the room from the blind male, who was unaware of where the infant was," the warrant states.

A woman who was supposed to be caring for the child, Carolyn Louise Burns, 41, told police she'd administered methamphetamines by injection throughout the night, the warrant states. In the hotel room, police found meth inside an empty beer can on the bathroom floor.

Both women were arrested early Sunday and transported to the Cobb County jail. The infant was taken into protective custody, the warrant states.

Tilton, of Dallas, was charged with cruelty to children and has a probation violation. She is being held without bond. Burns, of Kennesaw, faces two felony drug charges. Her bond was set at $10,000, jail records show.

Parents accused of letting 1-year-old girl ingest meth

Lee Haas

Angela Haas

MTA driver suspended for the 15th time after using express bus as private meeting room with gal pal

Pete Donohue and Kerry Wills
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Thursday, June 16th 2011, 4:00 AM

Guadalupe Romero, 27, of the 4000 block of Algonquin Parkway in Rolling Meadows was charged with child endangerment and aggravated battery. Alfonso Fierro, of the 500 block of Mesa Drive in Hoffman Estates, was charged with DUI.

A woman who police said intentionally crashed into her estranged husband’s SUV while driving her three children has been charged with child endangerment and aggravated battery.

Her estranged husband was also charged with DUI, officials said.

Guadalupe Romero, 27, of the 4000 block of Algonquin Parkway in Rolling Meadows, was charged with felony child endangerment and aggravated battery, Arlington Heights police said.

Authorities said her husband, Alfonso Fierro, and his girlfriend were in their SUV in Arlington Heights on Sunday evening when Romero spotted them while she was driving with her three young children, ages 8, 5 and 2, in the car.

Police said Romero began following them, struck his vehicle from behind and then swerved to the left and rammed her car into his again. Fierro lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree on the passenger, injuring his girlfriend, police said.

Romero’s bond was set at $100,000 this morning. She remains in custody, police said.

Fierro, of the 500 block of Mesa Drive in Hoffman Estates, received minor injuries during the accident and was also charged with DUI, police said. He is out on bond.

The three children in the care of a relative, Arlington Heights police Cmdr. Kenneth Galinski said.

Fierro’s girlfriend is in stable condition but has extensive injuries, Galinski said.

One of the prevailing debates in the GOP these days (if not the only one) is whether or not Governor Sarah Palin will, or should, run for president. Not only should she, she must if the GOP has any hope of having a legitimate nominee whom everyone can support for the 2012 election.

Why? Without Palin in the race a massive segment of the GOP base—Tea Party patriots and other independent conservatives—will find themselves once again with the prospect of choosing from a manipulated field of Next-In-Line GOP establishment liberals.

And make no mistake—that is exactly who will prevail. Despite the desperate and not surprisingly shallow belief by the boys in control of the GOP, Palin cannot be replaced by another woman, or another Tea Party supporter, or another Brunette (no matter how much they think a Stalking Horse will split the Tea Party vote).  Palin’s impact is unique, significant and deep. Her influence rests on background, experience, legitimacy and most important of all—trust. These are the reasons why Palin matters, the same reasons why the GOP machine appropriately sees her, and no one else, as an existential threat to their status quo.

Despite this, if the GOP truly wants to win 2012 (of which I’m not entirely convinced, after all, I hear Jeb Bush would love to beat Obama in 2016) they should be begging Palin to enter the race. Considering their portrayal of her, why not? Look, if you can’t beat Sarah Palin what makes you think you can beat Barack Obama? What are they so afraid of? Do they so not trust the decision-making of the American people they want to make sure you have no choice at all? Those lingering questions would eventually be answered—by an Obama victory on November 6, 2012.

Palin also has a dilemma. The decision to run is one only Palin can make, and she must know that choice is first and foremost a commitment to every voter so they can own the result of the election. No matter what happens, with so much at stake in the process, we must be able to look in the mirror and know the result is something of our doing, not a half-truth of the insecure and self-obsessed political class. This is the only way a large swath of the American populace will not abandon the process, allowing the government to maintain at least a semblance of legitimacy.

Palin must know the importance of her simply being in the arena. If she runs and is defeated for the nomination, the burden is then on the shoulders of the voters, they made the choice, not Palin, not the machine. With her in play, Reagan Republicans, conservative independents and Tea Party patriots will know their circumstances are of their doing, that the decision is truly theirs and will have no reason to resent the result or stay home on election day.

The contempt the GOP machine has for the average Republican voter is best illustrated by their other Big Fear—Palin does win the nomination! And why should we fear that? Well, that would be a disaster, because, uh, there’s no way she could win the general election and they have to stop that catastrophe from happening! You know, because Mr. Next-In-Line is for sure the only one who can beat Obama. Just like in 2008. Or something.

The truth of the matter is quite the opposite. They fear a Palin nomination because they know if she wins the GOP nod, she wins the general election. How? Consider these years of frantic and pathological attacks on Palin, all of which she has survived with the grace and dignity so void in her accusers. Now imagine what the establishment will try to do to her during the nominating process. If she wins the nomination despite what they do, it means she not only has convinced Republicans under extraordinary circumstances, she will have convinced the rest of the nation as well. If she wins the nomination with all that she will undoubtedly face during the Republican primaries, the presidency is hers.

All of America will watch to see if Republicans and conservatives are serious about saving this nation—that seriousness will be reflected in their nominee—if it’s Obama-lite—a mandate-supporting, universal healthcare-making, “the era of small government is over”-stating Big Government Conservative–why would anyone else feel compelled to abandon a cultural icon incumbent who represents those very same things?

For Sarah Palin, there is only one way for her “fundamental restoration of America” to take place—first, she must run.

Pennsylvania teacher Cheryl Bremble suspended for allegedly giving female student a vibrator

Larry Mcshane
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, June 14th 2011, 10:59 AM

CNN Political Unit

Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) – Five things we learned at the debate:

1) Michele Bachmann is now a candidate for president. The congresswoman from Minnesota was the only person on the stage who was not officially a candidate at the start of the debate. That changed minutes into the debate, when Bachmann told CNN's John King, the moderator of the debate that "I just want to make an announcement here for you, John, on CNN tonight. I filed today my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States today. And I'll very soon be making my formal announcement."

2) Mitt Romney is already running a general election campaign. The former Massachusetts governor, who is the front-runner in the most recent national GOP horserace polls, saved his firepower for President Barack Obama, going as far as saying "I can't wait to debate him." At the same time, Romney passed on criticizing any of his rivals on the stage, including former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who had in recent days attacked Romney over his Massachusetts health care law.

3) Tim Pawlenty's missed opportunity? The former Minnesota governor, when asked about his use Sunday of the term "Obamneycare," didn't strongly respond. Pawlenty's muted response, and Romney's lack of criticism of Pawlenty, avoided a political World War Three. Instead of taking on Romney, Pawlenty went after the president, saying "President Obama is - is the person who I quoted in saying he looked to Massachusetts for designing his program. He's the one who said it's a blueprint and that he merged the two programs. And so using the term "Obamneycare" was a reflection of the president's comments that he designed Obamacare on the Massachusetts health care plan."

4) Michele Bachmann's successful debate debut: The congresswoman from Minnesota had some of the best lines of the night, and because of that she received some of the loudest applause. But besides some strong one-liners, such as her "take it to the bank" comment on repealing the president's health care law, Bachmann also appeared to have strong responses on policy.

5) Newt Gingrich is still in the race. He wasn't asked about the mass defection of most of his campaign staff, and he didn't bring it up himself, but the former House Speaker did show that he came to play, that he is a serious presidential candidate. And his comment on loyalty to the government may have been the most shocking moment of the evening. He didn't back down from his criticism of House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal, either. Was Gingrich successful or did he dig himself a deeper hole?

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Contributed Photo Gutierrez, 53, died while raping a 77-year-old woman, authorities said.

Contributed Photo Gutierrez, 53, died while raping a 77-year-old woman, authorities said.

CORPUS CHRISTI — A man died while raping a 77-year-old woman in Refugio County, a sheriff's investigator said.

Isabel Chavelo Gutierrez, 53, complained to the woman that he wasn't feeling well and stopped having sex with her so he could rest. He then went back to fondling the woman before he rolled over and died, said Sgt. Gary Wright of the Refugio County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators believe Gutierrez died of a heart attack after riding two miles on his bicycle to the woman's home in Tivoli, Wright said. The Nueces County medical examiner is conducting an autopsy.

The woman survived the attack.

Gutierrez was armed with a pocketknife, Wright said. He rode from his own home in Tivoli, where he was registered as a sex offender, according to the state's sex offender registry. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 230 to 250 pounds, Wright said. He entered the home by lowering the glass pane on a screen door.

Gutierrez was on parole for sex crimes including aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child in 1986, Wright said. He was released from prison in 2008.

The woman saw Gutierrez at a local post office one day before the June 2 attack, Wright said.

During the attack, she thought Gutierrez passed out from drinking because she smelled alcohol on his breath.

After he lost consciousness, the woman drove away from her house and called her daughter, who then alerted authorities. Gutierrez was dead when they arrived.

In denial: Seventy per cent of the men polled in a national survey care for their cars than they do their personal health

Wait another day: Men, the surveys says, often go to the doctor six months to a year after first getting symptoms of a treatable condition

Playing safe: Men should be getting annual check-ups for testosterone, which the report describes as a window to general health

Bus company shut down after officials find people traveling in luggage compartment -- again

Nina Mandell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, June 12th 2011, 11:08 AM

Biker pulled over by NYPD for sexy outfit: 'I thought he was joking'

Christina Boyle
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, June 12th 2011, 4:00 AM

Every day, more than 130,000 Americans are stricken with food poisoning. While the rates of some common food-borne bugs have declined, cases of Salmonella—the most common infection and leading cause of both hospitalization and death from food-borne illness—have risen by 10 percent since 2006, according to a new food safety report issued by the CDC on June 7. About 1.2 million Americans suffer bouts of Salmonella each year.

“The bottom line is that food-borne illness, particularly salmonella, is still far too common,” said CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden. One reason is that it can taint a wide range of foods, including meat, eggs, poultry, vegetables and nuts. One detail of the report highlights just how entrenched the pathogen is: New US standards to take effect next month call for “allowable contamination” of chicken at processing plants to be reduced to 7.5 percent from the current rate of 20 percent—hardly an assurance of safety. Here’s a look at seven of the riskiest foods for triggering serious health problems.

1.  Leafy Greens: Greens like lettuce, escarole, endive, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard top a list compiled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) of the riskiest foods regulated by the FDA. 

• Culprits: E. coli, Norovirus and Salmonella.
• The problem: Contamination can occur at the farm through contact with wild animals, manure, contaminated water or unsanitary harvesting, or at home through inadequate hand washing or unsanitary preparation. At least 363 outbreaks of food-borne illness are linked to leafy greens.
• Prevention: Wash raw vegetables thoroughly and avoid preparing them near raw chicken or meat. You may want to avoid packaged salad mixes, since combining vegetables from multiple sources could increases the risk of a contaminated ingredient finding its way into the mix.

2.  Eggs: Eggs and egg products have been blamed for more than 350 outbreaks of food poisoning. Last year they sickened more than 50,000 Americans, leading to the recall of a half-billion eggs.   

• Culprits: Salmonella. The most common strain infects the ovaries of hens, contaminating eggs before the shell is formed.
• The problem: Serving raw or runny eggs or leaving eggs at improper temperatures at buffets.
• Prevention: Thorough cooking kills most pathogens.

3.  Hot Dogs: OK, you wouldn’t consider them a health food, but you may not know that hot dogs are hazardous to young kids.

• The problem: Hot dogs have been blamed for food-related asphyxiations in kids under age 10. Every five days a young child dies as a result of choking on food.
• Prevention: Cut hot dogs into half-inch chunks for kids under age four, then slice chunks in half. Cut grapes in half too. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a new report on choking prevention.

4.  Tuna: Mercury isn’t the only hazard. A naturally occurring toxin—a histamine-like chemical—can trigger a syndrome similar to an allergic reaction. Affected fish may have a peppery, bitter or metallic flavor.

• Culprit: Scombrotoxinforms when certain fish—typically large, meaty varieties such as tuna and mahi mahi--are inadequately refrigerated.
• The problem: Once formed, the toxin can’t be destroyed by cooking, freezing, smoking, curing or canning. Symptoms include skin flushing, headaches, abdominal cramps, nausea, diarrhea, and palpitations. Antihistamines may reduce symptoms, which usually clear up within a day. 
• Prevention: The problem can be prevented if fish is kept chilled from capture to cooking. Don’t eat fish with an off flavor.

5. Peanuts: In moderation, peanuts can be nutritious as they contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. However, they can be dangerous or deadly to about one percent of the population.

• Culprit: An allergy that’s on the rise among children. Peanuts are the leading cause of food-allergy deaths.
• The problem: The immune system of those with the allergy mistakenly identifies peanut proteins as a threat to health, triggering symptoms ranging from mild to deadly.
• Prevention: People with severe peanut allergies should carry an EpiPen for immediate treatment of reactions and scrutinize food labels carefully.

6.  Potatoes: Outbreaks of illness are linked to potato salad.

• Culprits: Salmonella, Shingella, Listeria or E. coli bacteria can get into potato dishes via cross contamination from raw-to-cooked ingredients during handling and preparation.
• The problem: Shigella is transmitted easily from an infected person to food. Listeria can live on deli counters and kitchens. More than 40 percent of potato-related illnesses are triggered by prepared foods from restaurants, groceries and delis.
• Prevention: Avoid letting potato salad sit at room temperature for long periods.

7.  Ice Cream: The largest ice-cream outbreak ever occurred in 1994 when a manufacturer transported raw eggs and pasteurized ice cream premix in the same truck.

• Culprits: Salmonella and Listeria.
• The problem: Almost half of all-ice cream outbreaks occur in private homes, probably due to Salmonella from undercooked eggs in homemade ice cream. Listeria can live inside of soft ice cream machines and contaminate multiple batches. Other dairy products can also harbor Listeria.
• Prevention The CDC advises pregnant women to avoid soft cheeses like feta, Brie and Camembert. Salmonella can be killed by pasteurization. Also be cautious about eating soft or homemade ice cream.

8:19 p.m. CDT, June 11, 2011

Judges handing down extra-long sentences

Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fulton County Judge Constance Russell stacked life sentence after life sentence after life sentence on rapist Marvin Martin three months ago, ensuring that the 33-year-old truck driver will never be free.

He will have to serve 360 years in prison before he can even be considered for parole.

Martin's is an impossible sentence. But it is indicative of the path some judges are now taking, suggesting a lack of trust that their sentences will mean anything if prison crowding continues or if the state's finances force early releases. Or if the presently conservative Pardons and Paroles Board shifts to more liberal stance on crime and punishment.

They fear a repeat of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Georgia had to open prison doors to avoid a lawsuit. Other states are already facing the same option.

“It’s a trend,” University of Georgia law professor Ron Carlson said of an apparent uptick in prison sentences that extend many times longer than a lifetime.

Evidence is anecdotal.

Former DeKalb County Deputy Derrick Yancey will be 111 before the Parole Board can consider him for clemency, assuming he lives that long. Yancey murdered his wife and a day laborer and then tried claim Marcial Cax-Puluc killed Linda Yancey and that he simply killed the worker in self defense. DeKalb Superior Court Judge Linda Harper sentenced Yancey to two consecutive life sentences plus 65 years.

Fulton County Courthouse murderer Brian Nichols most likely has the longest prison sentence in the Georgia system. For killing four people, Judge James Bodiford gave him four back-to-back sentences of life without parole, seven life sentences with parole also to be served one at a time and 485 years for all his other crimes on March 11, 2005 -- kidnapping, aggravated assault and escape.

Judges are reluctant to talk about their reasons for stacking on the time.

But prosecutors and defense attorneys say one purpose of insurmountable sentences is to reinforce to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles that these are the worst of the worst criminals and should never be free again.

“The judge is basically giving an indication as to the severity of the offense and is sending a clear message as to what he feels is appropriate,” said Bob Keller, a former Clayton County DA and now one of five Parole Board members.

“It’s all going to boil down to why did the judge think this was an appropriate sentence?” Keller said. “Is it a pile-on situation? He [the judge] didn’t just pull it out of thing air. Something prompted it.”

Nationwide, prison systems are overflowing and there is no available money to resolve those problems.

For example, on May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 38,000 to 46,000 prisoners should be released from California's prisons and about 9,000 others moved to local jails to relieve dangerous overcrowding.

It's an old problem that never seems to go away and lawmakers and parole boards face fierce recriminations if they suggest an alternative that could be viewed as too easy on criminals.

The last time Georgia tried something drastic was in 1989. Threatened with a lawsuit threat that could have put Georgia's prisons under the control of federal courts, then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris created an early release program to buy time until an unprecedented building program effort could be competed. About 8,200 non-violent felons and first-time drug offenders were released early to create room for the more dangerous criminals.

The measure drew criticism from district attorneys and legislators. Twenty-two years later, judges are making sure some of those more dangerous criminals are never set free.

“There are very bad people who don’t need to be walking free among us. They’ve committed such heinous crimes they don’t need to be out,” Clayton County DA Tracy Graham Lawson said.

That is the reason, she believes, judges and prosecutors are using sentences longer than any human can serve: to inform those who hold the keys to the prison system that these criminals are off-limits.

Presently, Georgia’s system is slightly over capacity. The Department of Corrections is holding about 49,420 convicted felons while the  system has room for 46,554 men and women -- 35,527 in 30 state prisons, 5,963 inmates in two private prisons and another 5,064 in low-security county prisons.

It is unknown how many of these inmates have prison sentences that exceed life expectancy many times over. Neither the Department of Corrections nor the state Board of Pardons and Paroles tracks these inmates.

“You’re seeing much, much more of the stacking,” said attorney Sharon Hopkin, who specializes in appellate work for those already in prison.

But Carlson, the law professor, wondered if it was getting out of hand.

He referenced a case in Texas in which the judge handed down a 2,500-year sentence. An appellate court opined "these excessive sentences have made Texas sentencing the laughing stock of the nation."

There already are similar concerns being raised in Georgia.

"We need to take a strong look at these sentences that, for the purposes of public relations, have been piled on,” Carlson said. “What is being done here, if it continues, will look ludicrous to the public. ... The trend toward enhanced punishments needs to be weighed against several factors, including costs of confinement as well as the need to shape a sentence which meets confinement objectives without overkill.”

Gov. Nathan Deal created a 13-member commission to recommend sentencing changes because, he said, there are "too many people behind bars." The Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform had its first meeting on Tuesday and heard many of the same warnings on over-crowding sounded repeatedly over the past two decades.

The special council's recommendations are due to the governor by Nov. 1.

At the same time, the State Bar of Georgia has a Criminal Justice Reform Committee working in tandem with the governor’s group.

Both panels include judges and prosecutors but their conclusions may still be difficult for some segments of the criminal justice system to accept.

“You want to control it for the rest of the time and judges are that way,” said Rick Malone, who was a South Georgia prosecutor for two decades and is now executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. “It’s a statement as to whether or not this person should ever get out. You hear horror stories about sending them home to die and six years later, he’s still out there and he commits another crime.”

 

Federal data shows troubling unemployment, underemployment trends

 

1:46 AM  6/10/11

Less than half of African-American men now have full-time jobs, and less than half of all white men will have full-time jobs in 2018, according to post-2000 trends hidden in federal population and workforce data.

There are roughly 14 million people formally labeled as unemployed, but “there’s probably 22 million to 23 million people who are unemployed, mal-employed or underemployed,” said Andrew Sum, an economics professor at Northeastern University in Boston.

The hidden data shows that “we’ve got an overwhelming job gap that effects men more than women, less-educated men more then better-educated men, and the group aged 25 to 29 the most,” he said.

One startling result, he said, is that only 43 percent of African-American men aged 18 to 29 have a full-time job.

This trend is obvious to T. Willard Fair, head of the Urban League of Greater Miami. He recently advertised two janitorial jobs via the unemployment office in his local town Liberty City. The city is 85 percent African-American, yet “only 2 of the 33 applicants were African-American,” he said. “The remainder were Hispanics or Haitians.

“People want to work, and if they can find jobs, they would take those jobs … [but] blacks are no longer even applying for those kinds of jobs, or have concluded they’re not going to get those jobs,” he said.

There’s recently been a run of bad news about unemployment trends. That’s damaged the White House’s poll ratings, but the federal government’s unemployment estimate — now 9.1 percent — counts only a portion of the nation’s non-working population. That’s because the 9.1 percent counts only people who have sought work in the last four weeks, and have failed to find employment of 35 hours or more per week.

The count obscures the fact that many people have unwillingly ended their participation in the workforce.

The “employment population ratio” is a standard economic term that describes the percentage of work-ready people people who do have jobs. It ignores people who can’t work because they are in prison, nursing homes or full-time education.

In practice, the ratio of working people can’t go much higher than 85 percent because some of the people who can work chose to retire, or to consume savings or to rely on government payments.

In 2000, the employment-population ratio for male, black university graduates reached a high of 81 percent, or 87 percent if the calculation included graduates working in part-time jobs. That full-employment came at the tail end of the dot.com bubble — which burst in 2001 — and before the midpoint of an immigration wave.

At least 15 million legal and illegal immigrants, mostly young and unskilled, entered the country between 1994 and 2007.

Since 2000, for most groups, for most of the time, the employment population ratio has continuously fallen to levels far below 80 percent, even before the current recession, according to the government data that was analyzed and sent to TheDC by Northeastern’s Sum.

The full-time employment population ratio for white men fell from 62 percent in 2000 to 55 percent by 2010. That’s a drop of 7 percent in 10 years, or 0.7 percent a year. If that drop continues at the same rate, less than half of whites will be working by 2018.

If part-time workers are included, the ratio started at 74 percent in 2000 and fell to 67 percent in 2010.

Among all African-American men aged more than 16, the full-time ratio fell from 56.9 percent in 2000 to 46.4 percent in 2010. The inclusion of part-time work bumps the ratio upwards, but the ratio still fell from 67 percent to 58 percent in 2010.

Full-time employment ratio

People with extra education qualifications are more likely to be working than those with few skills or qualifications. For example, the full-time employment-population ratio for whites without high-school qualifications fell from a 2000 high of 35 percent to a 2010 low of only 27 percent. With part-time work included, the 2010 ratio for white dropouts was 39 percent.

Among blacks who also left high school without qualifications, the full-time ratio fell from 30 percent to a mere 21 percent. That means only one-in-five male African-American high-school dropouts has a full-time job. If part-time work is included, the ratio for male African-American dropouts began at 40 percent in 2000, and fell to 31 percent by 2010.

In contrast, 76 percent of male African-American university graduates had a full-time job in 2002, and 64.5 percent still had a full-time job in 2010.

Ratios are also lower among younger workers.

For all men age 25 to 29, the ratio fell from 89 percent in 2000 to 78 percent in 2010. That’s an 11 point drop, and almost twice as much as the 6-point drop among similar-aged women, whose ratio fell from 74 percent to 68 percent over the same period. The ratio among all black males aged 25 to 29, fell from 77.3 percent to 63 percent in 2010. For black males aged 20 to 24, the ratio fell from 65 percent to 54 percent.

That steep decline among younger people is especially painful, said Sum, because it takes many years for unemployed youths to catch up to the experience and wages of steadily employed peers. In turn, that earning shortfall makes it less likely they will marry the women they make pregnant, and less likely they’ll serve as beneficial fathers to their children, and more likely their children will fall even further behind, he said.

The employment ratio among whites is usually higher than the ratio among blacks, but both are trending downwards. The ratio among the Hispanic population usually fall somewhere between Caucasian and African-American ratios.

But the Hispanic numbers conceals an significant split. The workforce ratio of U.S.-born Hispanics is lower than that of immigrant Hispanics, according to government data shown by Steve Camarota, a researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies.

For example, in late 2010, almost 40 percent of U.S.-born Hispanic high-school dropouts grads unemployed, but also 30 percent of immigrant Hispanic dropouts were unemployed. Among 18-29 year-old high school grads, the unemployment rate for U.S.-born Hispanics was 35 percent. Among similar Hispanic immigrants, the unemployment rate was 27 percent.

Employment and high education

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the most influential African-American legislator in Congress, has been an outspoken advocates for programs designed to boost employment among African-Americans and other workers. He’s now trying to pass language that would require every federal agency direct 10 percent of their budgets to counties that have 20 percent of their populations living below the poverty line for 30 years.

“If targeted investments are made in these communities, we will begin to see a turn-around in the unemployment rate of all minority groups,” Clyburn said in a statement to TheDC.

He’s also pushing a “Rural Energy Savings Program Act” that will offer rural residents loans of up to $7,500 for home modifications that conserve energy. The bill would “create high-skill, high-wage manufacturing and construction jobs and deliver meaningful energy savings for consumers that will put money directly into their wallets,” he said in the statement.

When asked about the impact of 15 million immigrants on the workforce, Clyburn spokesman responded that “the Congressman doesn’t believe immigration plays a role in this systemic problem."

But immigration is central to the problem, said Sum and Camarota.

Those 15 million immigrants, said Sum, arrived during a period when the U.S. produced only 15 million additional jobs.

Immigrants, especially Hispanic immigrants, can win new jobs quickly because they’re more motivated than U.S.-born workers and because they’re often directly recruited for new jobs by informal transnational networks, said Camarota. They’re also freer to move to any part of the country where new jobs are appearing, unlike citizens, who tend to stay in the communities they know, even when there are few jobs.

In Congress, the Reclaim Americans Jobs Caucus was formed in 2010 by Republican Reps. Lamar Smith, Gary Miller and Sue Myrick to boost enforcement of immigration rules. “Seven million illegal immigrants have jobs in our economy … [that] should go to U.S. citizens and legal immigrant workers,” said a caucus statement.

Clyburn and other African-American legislators in the Congressional Black Caucus are avoiding the immigration issue because they’ve made a strategic alliance with Hispanic activists and legislators, said Carol Swain, a professor at Vanderbilt University’s law school.

“They don’t want to talk about the issue … [and] every single CBC member wants to change the subject,” said Swain, whose new book, “Be The People; A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith and Promise” will be published June 14.

The book has chapters on immigration and on how African-American political activists “have deceived large number of African-Americans to support policies that are against their interests,” she said.

Down on the streets, Fair said, African-Americans are strongly opposed to immigration.

“Out of earshot of others, when you can scratch that itch,” he said, “The conversation is hostile … [and] they blame their leadership for not doing anything about it.”

Elise Young contributed to this report.

Claudia Smith yells at customers inside an Oceanside store Wednesday — Charlie Neuman

OCEANSIDE — A bizarre scene unfolded inside a discount store in Oceanside Wednesday afternoon as a 66-year-old white woman, intent on buying things for “poor Mexican women” paid for $5,000 worth of clothing purchased by about 50 women.

The night before, Claudia Smith, who lives in the neighborhood, had walked into the same store, Everything a Deal on Plaza Drive east of College Boulevard, and bought $2,200 worth of clothing for a handful of customers.

The question was why. The answer, very confusing.

At times Wednesday, Smith screamed out “Aye, Aye Aye Aye, Ayeeeeee!” while standing in the store.

“You’d better laugh when I’m around!” she yelled. She loudly proclaimed her love for Mexican women. She used profanities directed at men in a steady stream, then moments later held a toddler in her arms.

After what had happened Tuesday night, word off mouth spread. At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday hundreds of women had arrived at the store and piled shopping carts several feet high with clothing believing the woman would purchase everything.

The crowd Wednesday was eventually limited to about 50 people and 25 stuffed carts. A security guard blocked the entrance as more tried to get inside. The customers waited for hours. It wasn’t until after 4 p.m., after Smith’s $5,000 check had cleared, that each was allowed to purchase $100 worth of clothing.

As many customers left they stopped to hug Smith, then would roll their eyes as she dispensed nonsensical advice and blushed at Smith’s obscene language.

“This is a blessing that wasn’t asked for,” said Rosa Zamora, 27, of Vista, a single mother raising two small children.

“I’m happy she can do this,” said Karen Leon, 24, also of Vista and also a single mother of two. “I’ve never seen this. It’s never happened to me.”

Smith said she lived for many years in San Felipe, Mexico. She told the women and their daughters to stand up to their husbands and fathers who she said do not treat women with respect.

Marco Mitrowke, director of loss prevention for 15 Everything a Deal stores in the county, tried to keep Smith calm throughout the day. He had the police check her out to make sure she was mentally competent.

Smith said she has been “drinking and drugging” since she was 15. She said she was not under the influence Wednesday, but admitted she suffered through a five-month long alcohol and drug blackout not long ago and had entertained suicidal thoughts.

Store manager Paola Garcia said Smith walked into the store Tuesday night and told the handful of customers inside to buy whatever they wanted. There were just a few people there, and they bought everything they could get their hands on. Nothing in the store sells for more than $9.99.

“They were greedy,” Garcia said.

Smith evaded questions about her financial health. She said her credit cards were maxed out, but she drives a Prius and a Lexus. She said she has invested well and recently reaped a financial windfall by selling her mother’s home after she had passed away.

At one point Smith screamed at one woman, “Get out, Get out,” apparently because she wasn’t from Mexico. Almost the next moment she was holding a small child telling the girl how much she loved her.

Pennsylvania woman admits to robbing bank dressed as clown; bozo made bomb threat, swiped $7K

Philip Caulfield
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, June 9th 2011, 10:46 AM

COVINGTON- When Mike Finke opened the garage door of what he thought was the foreclosed condominium he had just purchased for his son, he was stunned at what he found.

Forty-eight pounds of high-grade, medicinal marijuana one would typically find in California “dispensaries” with an estimated valued of $150,000, according to authorities.

It turned out Finke had opened the wrong garage door in the condo complex, but it led authorities to a major drug bust in Northern Kentucky.

On Monday, Benjamin Bingham and Nicholas Mann pleaded not guilty in Kenton Circuit Court to conspiracy to traffic in marijuana.

While Finke and his son, Matthew, declined to speak with a reporter, an account of how the elder Finke stumbled upon the cache of marijuana is outlined in public records and police reports.

Two months ago, Mike Finke purchased the condo in the 900 block of Virginia Lane out of foreclosure for $72,500. It has a sweeping view of the Ohio River and Cincinnati’s skyline, and another condo in the complex is currently on the market for $164,900.

The father was cleaning out the condo on April 16 when he went to the detached garage to see if anything had been left behind by the previous owners. Finke said that, when he put the key in the garage door lock, it would not work. The key became jammed and the lock pulled out of the wall allowing Finke to open the garage door.

When he opened two black duffel bags and a brown suitcase, Finke found the marijuana and called Covington police. It was only after police officers arrived that Finke figured out he was in the wrong garage when another resident walked by and told him.

Investigators got a search warrant for the garage and the corresponding condo. The duffel bags each were filled with 16, one-pound bags of marijuana while the suitcase had eight, one-pound bags of marijuana.

In the kitchen, investigators seized a digital scale, grinder, Tupperware filled with marijuana and a vacuum sealer with heat-sealing bags.

They were the same type of bags used to package most of the marijuana found in the condo. Each one-pound bag found in the condo had the price marked on it. The marijuana was going for between $2,500 and $4,000 per pound.

Investigators searched a bedroom and found Remington rifle with a scope in a black gun case and a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver with more marijuana. There was a box with $41,022 in the closet. Most of money was divided into $5,000 bundles near a ledger that contained names.

The search later led investigators to a safety deposit box at a Chase Bank branch in Bellevue where $107,890 was seized.

In the second-floor master bathroom, investigators opened the top drawer of the cabinet to find an ash tray with several marijuana cigarettes, rolling papers and one marijuana bud.

In the hallway leading to the master bedroom, investigators looked into a red IKEA shopping bag to see two more Tupperware containers with marijuana and plastic bags containing marijuana. A white Adidas outlet store bag contained two one-gallon plastic bags of marijuana and a money counting machine.

As investigators searched the condo, the residents, Bingham and Mann, pulled up in a black Ford Excursion with a woman in the in the passenger seat. The two men, both 30, refused to talk with detectives and were taken to the Kenton County jail where they each posted a $5,000 bond to be released.

The woman in the car said the trio was returning from a day at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington. She said the cash found in the condo was from one of the residents winning $46,000 from a recent gambling junket to Las Vegas.

This is what police recovered from the Covington condominium.

 

Nicholas Mann (right) and Benjamin Bingham leave Kenton District Court after pleading not guilty to charges of trafficking in marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

1:01 p.m. CDT, June 6, 2011

Daniel Vagnini (Courtesy Farmington Police Department / June 6, 2011)

11:25 a.m. EDT, June 6, 2011

Oregon woman Karen Butler awoke from dental surgery with British accent, she claims

Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, June 6th 2011, 4:00 AM

12-year-old Florida boy, Cristian Fernandez, faces first degree murder charge for 2-year-old's death

Michael Sheridan

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, June 6th 2011, 10:48 AM

Two people were arrested Sunday, June 5, when police found meth and marijuana in their car, reports state.

According to Floyd County Jail records:

April Michelle Purvis, 37, of 4139 Cave Spring Road, was the driver of the vehicle police pulled over near Horseleg Creek Road while conducting a road check.

The officer noted that Purvis smelled of marijuana and, after a K9 search of her vehicle, the officer found marijuana between the driver’s and passenger seat of the car. Upon further inspection, suspected meth was found in the pocketbook of Purvis.

Purvis is charged with felony possession of methamphetamines and misdemeanor possession of less than one ounce marijuana.

Victor Lamar Clement, 48, of 7 Silver Street, was also arrested. He is charged with misdemeanor possession of less than one ounce marijuana.

Neither party arrested admitted to whether the pot was theirs. Both remain in the Floyd County Jail.

Purvis appeared on an episode of MTV's "16 and Pregnant" has been arrested on drug charges.

Purvis and her daughter, Whitney Purvis, were featured in the first season of the popular reality show about teenage pregnancy.

April Purvis

Victor Clement

Utah man charged with disorderly conduct for trying to pay doctor's bill with 2,500 pennies

Philip Caulfield
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, June 5th 2011, 10:59 AM

HIV drug scam: NYC doctor busted for doling out meds patients didn't need, prosecutors say

Michael Jaccarino AND Melissa Grace
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Friday, June 3rd 2011, 3:12 PM

Gordon Dickson

Residents who try to board a bus while exposing their rumps can expect to get bumped.

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority is enforcing a new dress code that allows bus drivers to turn away passengers whose pants sag below the waist.

Several riders interviewed took the change in stride, while others said it was an affront to personal expression and hip-hop-influenced fashion.

"People are still going to do it. They don't care about the rules," said Jesse Cardona, 20, who lives in north Fort Worth's Diamond Hill area. On Tuesday, Cardona wore baggy black shorts pulled up to the waist, although he said he occasionally wears pants that sag.

"It's me," he said. "I'm being me."

The T is putting posters in each bus that read: "Grandma says 'Pull 'em up' or find another ride." The advertisements feature caricatures of two grandmotherly figures -- one light-skinned and one dark-skinned -- and the lower half of a person wearing pants low enough for drawers to be seen.

"They'll mess with our freedom. Pretty soon they're going to ban dreadlocks, too," said Cory Shelby, 29, a tattoo artist and former Miami resident who is staying at a Salvation Army shelter in Fort Worth.

Shelby was told to pull up his pants before getting on a bus, even though he said his black cargo shorts were not drooping enough to be distasteful.

"They told me I had to pull up my pants ..." he said, "and my boxers weren't even showing."

An issue of respect

The campaign began in August 2008, but the T recently made an administrative change to its dress code giving bus drivers authority to deny boarding to violators, spokeswoman Joan Hunter said. On May 12, the day the policy took effect, boarding was delayed for about 50 riders until they pulled up their pants. All complied, she said.

"It's not like they have to go home," Hunter said. "They can just pull it up. It's to be respectful of other riders."

The T is acting with the encouragement of Councilman Frank Moss, who has been the local point man for an issue that has played out in cities nationwide. The fashion trend is widely believed to have roots in prisons, where inmates often aren't issued belts, causing their pants to sag. Some musicians adopted the look, and during the past 10 to 15 years, the fashion has spread to youths of various ethnicities and backgrounds.

Around Fort Worth, billboards will soon be put up with the same message as the T posters, said Moss, who has long argued that the saggy-pants look hurts youths' ability to land jobs.

"This shows we have taken the overall concept of pulling them up to a new level," Moss said during a recent City Council meeting, where he showed off the new T posters. "There are some real policies in place to say, if you don't pull 'em up, you can't ride."

Opposing viewpoint

But others say a policy prohibiting saggy pants may embolden young people to embrace the look as a sign of rebellion.

"Eventually, it will go out of style. It's hard to make somebody do something just because it's right," said Sam Raymond, owner of Munchie's Hot Dogs, which operates an outdoor stand at the Intermodal Transportation Center in downtown Fort Worth. "Even the hip-hop stars are starting to dress up and grow out of it, but it's going to take time."

Elvis King, 53, who was riding a bus home Tuesday in south Fort Worth after attending an appointment in Dallas, said he often sees younger riders on the bus with saggy pants, "but I don't think anything negative about it."

"People dress the way they feel on the inside," he said.

Jay Michael, 21, of east Fort Worth wore a backward Dallas Mavericks cap as he waited for a Trinity Railway Express train. Michael said he supports the ban on saggy pants.

"It's understandable," he said. "It's about respect."

As the train pulled up, Michael stood and stretched, revealing that his pants were sagging below the buttocks.

But as he stopped stretching and boarded the train, his saggy pants were covered by his untucked T-shirt.

Members of Orlando Food Not Bombs were arrested Wednesday when police said they violated a city ordinance by feeding the homeless in Lake Eola Park.

Jessica Cross, 24, Benjamin Markeson, 49, and Jonathan "Keith" McHenry, 54, were arrested at 6:10 p.m. on a charge of violating the ordinance restricting group feedings in public parks. McHenry is a co-founder of the international Food Not Bombs movement, which began in the early 1980s.

The group lost a court battle in April, clearing the way for the city to enforce the ordinance. It requires groups to obtain a permit and limits each group to two permits per year for each park within a 2-mile radius of City Hall.

Arrest papers state that Cross, Markeson and McHenry helped feed 40 people Wednesday night. The ordinance applies to feedings of more than 25 people.

"They intentionally violated the statute," said Lt. Barbara Jones, an Orlando police spokeswoman.

Police waited until everyone was served to make the arrests, said Douglas Coleman, speaking for Orlando Food Not Bombs.

"They basically carted them off to jail for feeding hungry people," said Coleman, who was not present. "For them to regulate a time and place for free speech and to share food, that is unacceptable."

Orlando Food Not Bombs has been feeding the homeless breakfast on Mondays for several years and dinner on Wednesdays for five years.

Police had not enforced the ordinance while the court battle continued. The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled that city rules regulating how often large groups of people can be fed in a park do not violate the Constitution.

The penalty for violating Orlando's ordinance is 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.

Arrest documents state that Orlando Food Not Bombs received permits and fed more than 25 homeless people at Lake Eola Park on May 18 and 23. Coleman said the group rejected the permits.

On May 25, Orlando Food Not Bombs illegally fed a large group of homeless people, the police report states. The group on its website called for members to show up that day and defy the city ordinance, according to the report.

Officers said they found a press release on Markeson when they arrested him stating that group members planned to defy the ordinance Wednesday.

Bail was set at $250 for each person arrested. Cross and Markeson were released from jail early

Thursday. McHenry wants to stay in jail and let the legal process take its course, Coleman said.

In a world where people sue McDonald's for serving coffee too hot, a Philadelphia woman has sued a Dunkin' Donuts for serving coffee she says was too sweet - so sweet it sent her into a diabetic coma.

Danielle Jordan, 47, of Oxford Avenue near Langdon Street in Crescentville, filed a personal injury lawsuit against the Dunkin' Donuts on Frankford Avenue near Bridge Street and Northeast Donut Shops Management Corp.

Jordan is seeking unspecified damages after she claims she ordered coffee with artificial sweetener on June 15, 2009, but the server put sugar into the brew, according to the suit, which was first reported this morning by the Courthouse News Service.

After downing the drink, Jordan contends, she suffered light-headedness, dizziness, numbness of the extremities and a diabetic shock that resulted in an emergency trip to the hospital, court papers say. As a result, she had to increase her diabetic medication and "sustained a loss of life's enjoyment" due to Dunkin' Donuts' "defective product." Jordan and her attorney, Kenneth M. Rodgers, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Leshia Evans, legal liaison who handles lawsuits for 34 Dunkin' Donuts in the Philadelphia region, said today she couldn't comment on the case.

But she noted "we encounter thousands and thousands of customers on a daily basis. We don't provide a customer with anything they don't request. If they request a medium coffee, they will get a medium coffee. If you fail to request a sugar substitute, we can't read your mind. We sell doughnuts, not crystal balls."

In Evans' 14 years in her job, she has seen more than her fair share of unusual lawsuits. She recounted one lawsuit about three years ago, in which a woman claimed she burned her tongue on Dunkin' Donuts coffee so hot it must have been tainted by terrorists. That plaintiff lost her suit.

Valedictorian fights judge's ban on graduation prayer

Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The valedictorian of a high school in a San Antonio suburb where a judge has banned formal prayers at graduation ceremonies on Saturday is fighting for an opportunity to lead the crowd in prayer.

On Thursday, the North Texas-based Liberty Institute, a nonprofit that describes itself as seeking to limit government and promote Judeo-Christian values, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the valedictorian of Castroville's Medina Valley High School, Angela Hildenbrand.

"After all that I've been taught about the freedoms of speech, expression and religion in our country, I am disappointed that my liberties are being infringed upon by this court's ruling to censor my speech," Hildenbrand said at a press conference at the Alamo.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ruled on Tuesday that the Medina Valley School District may not proceed with plans to include an invocation or benediction at the ceremony, saying that doing so would make it sound like the school is "sponsoring a religion."

He said student speakers may reference God in their remarks.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to overturn the order.

"This is part of an ongoing attempt to purge God from the public setting, while at the same time demanding from the court increased yielding to all things agnostic and atheistic," Abbott said.

He said Congress begins each session with a prayer to God, and Biery's ruling would allow a student to "bend over in honor of Mecca," but not lead a prayer to the Christian God.

The case has been seized by both sides in the ongoing debate over references to religion in schools and in public places.

The judge's ruling followed a lawsuit against the district by agnostics Christa and Danny Schultz saying their son might not take part in graduation if he were forced to participate in religious activities.

Ayesha Kahn, an attorney for Americans United for Church and State, which represents the Schultzes, said earlier this week that the district "has been flouting the law for decades."

But some residents of the town of about 3,000 about 20 miles west of San Antonio, which still strongly retains the flavor of the French Catholics who founded it in the 1850s, object to halting the community tradition of invocation at graduation.

"My best friend last year said the prayer, and it was really cool that my best friend, who I have known since I was three years old, said the prayer, and now it turns out that she may be the last one to ever say the prayer at Medina Valley," Kelsey Johnson, who graduated from the high school last year, told Reuters.

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Jerry Norton)

 

John Taggart for News

 

One middle school group stirred up controversy when they visited Hooters on a class trip.

And it's not because they ate in a restaurant without crab cakes.

The Berwick Middle School students were visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore's Inner Harbor when they split into groups for lunch. While there are many similarly priced options in the area, between 15 and 20 students ended up at the restaurant, which is as well known for its busty waitresses as its chicken wings, the Bloomsburg Press Enterprise reported.

So far, though, no one's had any complaints about the trip -- Superintendent Wayne Brookhart said none of the parents complained about the restaurant choice - though he did wish that they had chosen another spot to dine in.

On parenting websites, most commenters didn't seem to have a problem with the field trip's choice of food - with some even saying they took their kids their from time to time.

"We eat at Hooters at least once a month. What's amusing is to see those lovely ladies gaga over our kids and spend less time with the oogling manbeasts," one commenter wrote on Cafemom.com.  Another mom disagreed, though, saying that she disliked exposing her children to the stereotypes the restaurant invoked.

"Hooters perpetuates a problem: that only skinny women with big boobs can be attractive," she wrote. "They only hire women who fit a certain model and because of their hiring practices, not the uniform, I will not eat there.

"I would have a big problem with my daughters being taken there to eat."

The group is not the first school group to visit the controversial chain. In 2009, a veteran Arizona teacher was placed on leave after taking choral students to the restaurant while they were on a trip to perform at Arizona Center.

"There could have been a choice that might have been more appropriate, given that it was a school-day event with a school employee in charge," the school district spokesperson said at the time.

A Hooters spokesperson told the AP that the chain often hosts groups ranging from sports teams to church organizations with teens and young children.

1:48 p.m. CDT, June 2, 2011

Graphic: Helping us eat

WASHINGTON — No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent.

Roughly 9 percent of Americans who want to go to work cannot find an employer. Companies are firing fewer people, but hiring remains anemic. And the vast majority of economic forecasters, including the president’s own advisers, predict only modest progress by November 2012.

The latest job numbers, due Friday, are expected to provide new cause for concern. Other indicators suggest the pace of growth is flagging. Weak manufacturing data, a gloomy reading on jobs in advance of Friday’s report and a drop in auto sales led the markets to their worst close since August.

But the grim reality of widespread unemployment is drawing little response from Washington. The Federal Reserve says it is all but tapped out. There is even less reason to expect Congressional action. Both Democrats and Republicans see clear steps to create jobs, but they are trying to walk in opposite directions and are making little progress.

Republicans have set the terms of debate by pressing for large cuts in federal spending, which they say will encourage private investment. Democrats have found themselves battling to minimize and postpone such cuts, which they fear will cause new job losses.

House Republicans told the president that they would not support new spending to spur growth during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday.

“The discussion really focused on the philosophical difference on whether Washington should continue to pump money into the economy or should we provide an incentive for entrepreneurs and small businesses to grow,” said Eric Cantor, the majority leader. “The president talked about a need for us to continue to quote-unquote invest from Washington’s standpoint, and for a lot of us that’s code for more Washington spending, something that we can’t afford right now.”

The White House, its possibilities constrained by the gridlock, has offered no new grand plans. After agreeing to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and reducing the payroll tax last December, the administration has focused on smaller ideas, like streamlining corporate taxation and increasing American exports to Asia and Latin America.

“It’s a very tough predicament,” said Jared Bernstein, who until April was economic policy adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. “Is there any political appetite for something that would resemble another large Keynesian stimulus? Obviously no. You can say that’s what we should do and you’d probably be right, but that’s pretty academic.”

More than 13.7 million Americans were unable to find work in April; most had been seeking jobs for months. Millions more have stopped trying. Their inability to earn money is a personal catastrophe; studies show that the chance of finding new work slips away with time. It is also a strain on their families, charities and public support programs.

The Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank, has the means and the mandate to reduce unemployment by pumping money into the economy.

As financial markets nearly collapsed in 2008, the Fed unleashed a series of unprecedented programs, first to arrest the crisis and then to promote recovery, investing more than $2 trillion. The final installment, a $600 billion bond-buying program, ends in June.

Now, however, the leaders of the central bank say they are reluctant to do more. The Fed’s chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, said in April that more money might not increase growth, but there was a growing risk that it would accelerate inflation.

Congress charged the Fed in 1978 with minimizing unemployment and inflation. Those goals, however, are often in conflict, and the Fed has made clear that inflation is its priority. Fed officials argue in part that maintaining slow, steady inflation forms a basis for enduring economic expansion.

Eric S. Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in a recent interview that the Fed had reached the limits of responsible policy.

“We’ve done things that are quite unusual. We’re using tools that we have less experience with,” Mr. Rosengren said. “Most of the criticism has been that we’re being too accommodative. That is a concern that we have to put some weight on.”

Heather Boushey, senior economist at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research group, said that the Fed was being too cautious about inflation and too callous about joblessness.

“We have a massive unemployment problem in this country right now. It is festering. It’s not good for our economy. It’s not good for our society. And we have the tools to fix it,” she said. “We certainly need to be concerned about what happens down the road, but shouldn’t we first be concerned about getting the U.S. economy back on track?”

Ten presidents have stood for re-election since Mr. Roosevelt. In four instances the unemployment rate stood above 6 percent on Election Day. Three presidents lost: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush. But Ronald Reagan won, despite 7.2 percent unemployment in November 1984, because the rate was falling and voters decided he was fixing the problem.

The Obama administration hopes to tell a similar story.

“We have undertaken some of the biggest policy actions to create jobs that any administration has ever done,” said Jason Furman, deputy director of the National Economic Council, which advises the president on economic policy. Mr. Furman said that the economy was still benefiting from last year’s tax cuts, and from the dollop of federal stimulus spending that Democrats pushed through in 2009.

The White House is pursuing a number of smaller initiatives, like persuading China to buy more American goods and services; increasing business confidence in the health of the economy, to spur new investment; and striking a deal with Republicans to overhaul corporate taxation.

It is also pushing to renew federal financing for transportation projects with an important twist: The six-year plan would be front-loaded so that $50 billion would be spent in the first year.

But Christina Romer, who headed the president’s Council of Economic Advisers until fall 2010, said in a recent speech at Washington University in St. Louis that no part of the government was addressing unemployment with sufficient urgency or hope.

“Urgency, because unemployment is a tragedy that should not be tolerated a minute longer,” she said. “And hope, because prudent and possible policies could make a crucial difference.”