WASHINGTON (AP) -- Circumcising adult men may cut in half their risk of getting the AIDS virus through heterosexual intercourse, the U.S. government announced Wednesday, as it shut down two studies in Africa testing the link.
The National Institutes of Health closed the studies in Kenya and Uganda early, when safety monitors took a look at initial results this week and spotted the protection. The studies' uncircumcised men are being offered the chance to undergo the procedure.
The link between male circumcision and HIV prevention was noted as long ago as the late 1980s. The first major clinical trial, of 3,000 men in South Africa, found last year that circumcision cut the HIV risk by 60 percent.
Still, many AIDS specialists had been awaiting the NIH's results as a final confirmation.
"Male circumcision can lower both an individual's risk of infection, and hopefully the rate of HIV spread through the community," said AIDS expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
But it's not perfect protection, Fauci stressed. Men who become circumcised must not quit using condoms nor take other risks -- and circumcision offers no protection from HIV acquired through anal sex or injection drug use, he noted.
"It's not a magic bullet, but a potentially important intervention," agreed Dr. Kevin De Cock of the World Health Organization.
Male circumcision is common at birth in the United States. But in sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than half of the world's almost 40 million HIV-infected people, there are large swaths of populations where male circumcision is rare.
The WHO plans an international meeting early next year to discuss the studies' results and how to translate them into policies that promote safe male circumcision -- done by trained health workers with sterile equipment -- while teaching men that it won't make them invulnerable.
Why would male circumcision play a role? Cells in the foreskin of the penis are particularly susceptible to the HIV virus, Fauci explained. Also, the foreskin is more fragile than the tougher skin surrounding it, providing a surface that the virus could penetrate more easily.
Researchers enrolled 2,784 HIV-negative men in Kisumu, Kenya, and 4,996 HIV-negative men in Rakai, Uganda, into the studies. Some were circumcised; others were just monitored.
Over two years, 22 of the circumcised Kenyans became infected with HIV compared with 47 uncircumcised men, a 53 percent reduction. In Uganda, 22 circumcised men became infected vs. 43 of the uncircumcised, a 48 percent reduction.
The researchers are offering all of the studies' uncircumcised men the chance to undergo the procedure, and 80 percent of the uncircumcised Ugandans already have agreed, said lead researcher Ronald Gray of Johns Hopkins University.
Side effects were rare, including some mostly mild infections that were easily treated. The rate of side effects was comparable to those seen in circumcised U.S. infants, said Robert Bailey of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who led the Kenyan trial.
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Thursday, December 21, 2006
Shell pulls families from Nigeria after car bomb
LAGOS (Reuters) - The largest oil operator in Nigeria, Royal Dutch Shell, began evacuating hundreds of expatriate staff dependants from the Niger Delta on Thursday after militants planted a car bomb in a residential compound, the company said.
The withdrawal began hours after armed militants stormed an oil facility operated by France's Total in the delta's Rivers state, killing three people, police said.
Shell's pullout involves about 400 foreign family members from residential compounds in Port Harcourt, Warri and Bonny Island. Staff will stay put and oil and gas production will not be affected, officials said.
"Dependants of expatriate staff are being relocated as a precautionary measure because of the explosion," said Shell spokesman Bisi Ojediran.
A senior Shell executive added: "We are not sure if this thing is going to deteriorate. If it deteriorates we will have fewer people to contend with."
Despite the attack on the Total facility, oil production at the 35,000 barrel-a-day Obagi field in Rivers State was unaffected, a company source said.
Militancy and crime have risen dramatically this year in the vast wetlands region, which is home to all the
OPEC member nation's oil and gas resources.
LAST STRAW
Attacks on oil facilities and kidnappings of workers have become an almost a weekly occurrence in the world's eighth largest oil exporter. But Monday's car bomb attack in the car park of a Shell residential compound in the region's largest city Port Harcourt notched up the pressure.
No one was killed or injured, but nine cars were damaged.
Industry executives had been expecting security to decline before a landmark poll next April, because elections often reignite long-standing power struggles between rival clans and militias in the remote, lawless region.
Italian oil company Agip, a unit of ENI, has already transferred the families of its workers from the delta to Lagos. Militants also detonated a car bomb at the perimeter fence of its Port Harcourt headquarters on Monday.
In February, Shell shut down its entire western delta operations after a series of militant attacks and kidnappings, cutting Nigerian oil output by about a fifth.
Militants fighting for more control over the region's oil wealth are still holding four foreign oil workers -- three Italians and one Lebanese -- after an attack on an Agip oil export terminal on December 7.
It accused Agip of offering ransoms for the workers on Wednesday and vowed to kill the four men rather than free them for cash.
Criminal attacks against the industry are also common, often sponsored by local community chiefs seeking ransoms or other benefits from Western oil operators.
Unidentified gunmen are holding five Shell workers at a company logistics base after invading the facility on December 14. They argue that the company owes the local community almost $1 million.
The mounting chaos is rooted in widespread poverty and decades of neglect by the Nigerian government, which has failed to convert the delta's oil wealth into local jobs or development.
Hybrid marijuana found in Mexico
By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer Wed Dec 20, 8:29 PM ET
LAZARO CARDENAS, Mexico - Soldiers trying to seize control of one Mexico's top drug-producing regions found the countryside teeming with a new hybrid marijuana plant that can be cultivated year-round and cannot be killed with herbicides.
Soldiers fanned out across some of the new fields Tuesday, pulling up plants by the root and burning them, as helicopter gunships clattered overhead to give them cover from a raging drug war in the western state of Michoacan. The plants' roots survive if they are doused with herbicide, said army Gen. Manuel Garcia.
"These plants have been genetically improved," he told a handful of journalists allowed to accompany soldiers on a daylong raid of some 70 marijuana fields. "Before we could cut the plant and destroy it, but this plant will come back to life unless it's taken out by the roots."
The new plants, known as "Colombians," mature in about two months and can be planted at any time of year, meaning authorities will no longer be able to time raids to coincide with twice-yearly harvests.
The hybrid first appeared in Mexico two years ago but has become the plant of choice for drug traffickers Michoacan, a remote mountainous region that lends to itself to drug production.
Yields are so high that traffickers can now produce as much marijuana on a plot the size of a football field as they used to harvest in 10 to 12 acres. That makes for smaller, harder-to-detect fields, though some discovered Tuesday had sophisticated irrigation systems with sprinklers, pumps and thousands of yards of tubing.
"For each 100 (marijuana plots) that you spot from the air, there are 300 to 500 more that you discover once you get on the ground," Garcia said.
The raids were part of President Felipe Calderon's new offensive to restore order in his home state of Michoacan and fight drug violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives in Mexico this year.
In Michoacan, officials say the Valencia and Gulf cartels have been battling over lucrative marijuana plantations and smuggling routes for cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States. In one incident, gunmen stormed into a bar and dumped five human heads on the dance floor.
The president, who took office Dec. 1, sent 7,000 soldiers and federal officers to Michoacan last week.
Officials have arrested 45 people, including several suspected leaders of the feuding cartels. They also seized three yachts, 2.2 pounds of gold, bulletproof vests, military equipment and shirts with federal and municipal police logos. More than 18,000 people have been searched, along with 8,000 vehicles and numerous foreign and national boats.
"We are determined to shut down delinquency and stop crime in Mexico because it is endangering the lives of all Mexicans, of our families," Calderon said, calling the operation a "success" so far.
In the past week, soldiers and federal police have found 1,795 marijuana fields covering 585 acres in Michoacan, security officials said.
Officials estimate the raids could cost the cartels up to $626 million, counting the value of plants that have been destroyed and drugs that could have been produced with seized opium poppies and marijuana seeds.
On Sunday, federal authorities announced the capture of suspected drug lord Elias Valencia, the most significant arrest since the operation began.
Calderon's predecessor,
Vicente Fox, started out with enthusiastic U.S. applause for his own fight against drug trafficking. U.S. officials called the arrest of drug bosses early in his six-year term unprecedented, while Fox boasted that his administration had destroyed 43,900 acres of marijuana and poppy plantations in its first six months and more than tripled drug seizures.
Yet drug violence has spiked across the country in recent years, with gangs fighting over control of routes following the arrest of drug lords, authorities say.
Mexico has also continued to struggle with corruption among its law enforcement ranks. Garcia said authorities did not tell soldiers where they were being sent on raids and banned the use of cell phones and radios.
52 new species of animals and plants
By ELIANE ENGELER, Associated Press Writer Mon Dec 18, 9:28 PM ET
GENEVA - Scientists have discovered at least 52 new species of animals and plants on the southeast Asian island of Borneo since 2005, including a catfish with protruding teeth and suction cups on its belly to help it stick to rocks, WWF International said Tuesday.
"The more we look the more we find," said Stuart Chapman, WWF International coordinator for the study of the "Heart of Borneo," a 85,000-square-mile rain forest in the center of the island where several of the new species were found. "These discoveries reaffirm Borneo's position as one of the most important centers of biodiversity in the world."
Much of Borneo, which is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and the sultanate of Brunei, is covered by one of the world's last remaining rain forests.
The discoveries bring the total number of species newly identified on the island to more than 400 since 1996, according to WWF, known in North America as the World Wildlife Fund.
Other creatures discovered between July 2005 and September 2006 were six Siamese fighting fish, whose unique colors and markings distinguish them from close relatives, and a tree frog with bright green eyes.
The catfish, which can be identified by its pretty color pattern, is named glyptothorax exodon, a reference to the teeth that can be seen even when the its mouth is closed. The suction cups on its belly enable it to stick to smooth stones while facing the current of Indonesia's turbulent Kapuas River system.
On the Malaysian part of the island, slow-flowing blackwater streams and peat swamps are home to the paedocypris micromegethes, which is 0.35 inch long.
The creature, which gets its name from the Greek words for children and small, is tinier than all other vertebrate species on Earth except for its slightly more minuscule cousin, a 0.31-inch-long fish found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to WWF.
The discoveries further highlight the need to conserve the habitat and species of Borneo, where the rain forest continues to be threatened by rubber, palm oil and pulp production, WWF said.
"The remote and inaccessible forests in the Heart of Borneo are one of the world's final frontiers for science, and many new species continue to be discovered here," said Chapman.
He added that the forests were also vital because they were the source the island's major rivers acting as a natural break to fires burning in the lowlands this year.
Jane Smart, who heads the World Conservation Union's species program, said the discovery of 52 species within a year in Borneo was a "realistic" number given that scientists guess there are about 15 million species on Earth. "There are still many more species that remain to be discovered there," she said.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
top ten polluted places
Areas that researchers have declared the most polluted in the world are typically little known even in their own countries. Yet they in total afflict more than 10 million people, experts reported today.
The kinds of pollution in these areas not only lead to cancers, birth defects, mental retardation and life expectancies approaching medieval levels, but are also often found all around the globe.
"They cause an enormous amount of misery and harm, especially to children," Richard Fuller, founder and director of the Blacksmith Institute, the New York-based environmental group who released a report on these areas today, told LiveScience.
The Top 10 most polluted places for 2006, in alphabetical order by country:
Linfen, China, where residents say they literally choke on coal dust in the evenings, exemplifies many Chinese cities;
Haina, Dominican Republic, has severe lead contamination because of lead battery recycling, a problem common throughout poorer countries [image];
Ranipet, India, where leather tanning wastes contaminate groundwater with hexavalent chromium, made famous by Erin Brockovich, resulting in water that apparently stings like an insect bite [image];
Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan, home to nearly 2 million cubic meters of radioactive mining waste that threatens the entire Ferghana valley, one of the most fertile and densely populated areas in Central Asia that also experiences high rates of seismic activity;
La Oroya, Peru, where the metal processing plant, owned by the Missouri-based Doe Run Corporation, leads to toxic emissions of lead;
Dzerzinsk, Russia, one of the country's principal chemical weapons manufacturing sites until the end of the Cold War [image];
Norilsk, Russia, which houses the world's largest heavy metals smelting complex;
Rudnaya Pristan, Russia, where lead contamination resulted in child blood lead levels eight to 20 times maximum allowable U.S. levels;
Chernobyl, Ukraine, infamous site of a nuclear meltdown 20 years ago; and
Kabwe, Zambia, where child blood levels of lead are five to 10 times the allowable EPA maximum [image].
The research team analyzed 35 polluted sites, narrowed down from more than 300 nominated by local communities, non-governmental organizations and local, national and international environmental authorities. The team was made up of international environment and health experts, including faculty members from Johns Hopkins and Mt. Sinai Medical Center serving on the technical advisory board of the Blacksmith Institute.
Fuller said the institute is currently working with national and international organizations to help clean up six of these sites.
Finding 'Real Love' - A Survival Course for a Successful Marriage
NEW YORK, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, fifty to sixty percent of marriages end in divorce. Of those women who are married, forty-five percent wish they could be married to someone other then their present husband, and fifty percent of people who were married in the 1990s, had been married before. Furthermore, twenty five percent of Americans, age 18-45, are children of divorced parents.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Something is perversely wrong with marriages," says relationship expert Dr. Greg Baer and author of Real Love in Marriage, from Gotham Books, a new book devoted to finding true love, happiness and fulfillment in marriage. Dr. Baer asks the question: "If you knew that your marriage could be loving and fulfilling and everything that you ever hoped for; would you ever walk away from it?"
Obviously the answer to that question is no, and Dr. Baer outlines a step- by-step formula for achieving "Real Love" in his new book. Marital conflict often results from issues surrounding money, sex, children, power and conditional approval. However, "Real Love" is based on caring about the happiness of one's partner, without any selfish thoughts, anger or expectations. It is a commitment to learning what it takes to accept and love one another; otherwise married couples become more like roommates living in the same space.
Dr. Baer's years of relationship counseling among married couples, even those headed for divorce court, have produced stellar results. From 2002- 2006, he conducted a study of 214 couples whose marriages were in trouble and at high risk for divorce. These couples completed the "Real Love" marriage program in six months. Of those couples, one hundred percent were considering divorce, thirty-five percent had actually filed for divorce, and twenty-eight percent were legally separated. After following the "Real Love" marriage program, the results were dramatic in that ninety percent of the couples were able to preserve their marriage and continued to do so after a two-year follow up period. Of those who chose to stay together, ninety-nine percent stated that their marriages were significantly happier than before the program, and ninety-two percent said that their marriages were happier than at any other time in the relationship.
For more information regarding Dr. Greg Baer and the "Real Love" program, log on to www.RealLove.com or telephone toll-free 1-877-633-3568.
Cult leader says he's too obese for execution
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A federal judge on Tuesday delayed next week's execution of cult leader Jeffrey Lundgren to allow him to join a lawsuit by five other death row inmates challenging the state's use of lethal injection.
In his request to join the lawsuit, Lundgren, 56, said he is at even greater risk of experiencing pain and suffering during the procedure than other inmates because he is overweight and diabetic.
Similar lawsuits filed in several states have led to the halting of executions in Missouri, Delaware and New Jersey.
Opponents have argued that the use of the lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel and painful and that the procedure is often carried out without specifically trained medical personnel present.
But Ohio's method of lethal injection came under national scrutiny by death penalty opponents in May after problems slowed the execution of another inmate who was a former intravenous drug user and the vein the execution team chose collapsed as the chemicals started flowing.
While Judge Gregory Frost issued an order temporarily delaying Lundgren's execution, he said it appears to him that potential flaws with Ohio's execution process could easily be corrected.
"Thus, any delay in carrying out Lundgren's execution should and can be minimal," Frost said.
State Attorney General Jim Petro will appeal the ruling to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, said spokesman Mark Anthony.
Lundgren's sentence stems from a conviction for the fatal shooting of a family of five in 1989. The family, which included three children, were killed while they stood in a pit dug inside his barn in northeast Ohio.
Lundgren formed a cult after he was dismissed in 1987 as a lay minister of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now known as the Community of Christ.
He said passages in the Bible told him to kill the family. Several witnesses said the family was not as enthusiastic about the cult as Lundgren would have liked.
The family he killed had moved from Missouri in 1987 to follow Lundgren's teachings.
Frost's decision allows Lundgren to join a 2004 lawsuit brought by death row inmate Richard Cooey, convicted of the rape and murder of two University of Akron students in 1986.
Cooey argues that the way chemicals used in lethal injection are administered makes the process painful enough to amount to cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the constitution.
Four other inmates had previously joined the lawsuit.
Four U.S. soldiers accused of raping and killing
FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (CNN) -- Four U.S. soldiers accused of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl and slaying her sister and their parents will face courts-martial on murder charges, military officials say.
The commander of the 101st Airborne Division has referred murder charges against the soldiers for the alleged crimes that occurred in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, in March. Two of the soldiers could face the death penalty if convicted.
According to a written statement, Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner made the decision after reviewing a report of the investigation and receiving recommendations from the investigating officer, the appointing authority who directed the investigation and his staff judge advocate.
One of the soldiers, 23-year-old Army Spec. James P. Barker, told an Army criminal investigator that after the killings he poured kerosene on the girl's bullet-ridden body, according to testimony in August at a military hearing. The girl's father, mother and five-year-old sister were also killed, according to military officials.
Barker said in an interview that he held the girl down while she was raped by another soldier, Sgt. Paul Cortez, 23, according to Special Agent Benjamin Bierce of the Army's Criminal Investigation Division.
Barker said he then attempted to rape the girl himself, before she was shot to death by former Pfc. Steven D. Green, Bierce said. Green is no longer in the military and faces charges in civilian court.
But, Barker added, he was not sure if he penetrated the girl, because he was having trouble getting an erection.
Bierce also testified that Barker admitted pouring kerosene from a lamp onto the girl's body, although it was unclear from the testimony who set the girl on fire.
Bierce's testimony came during a preliminary hearing in Baghdad for Barker, Cortez, and two other soldiers, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, 21, and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 19, who are also charged in connection with the killings in Mahmoudiya.
The hearing, similar to civilian grand jury proceedings, was held to determine whether there was enough evidence to proceed to courts-martial.
Soldiers held girl down, investigators say
According to statements given at the hearing, the soldiers were drinking whiskey, playing cards and hitting golf balls when Green brought up the idea of going to a house near the checkpoint where they were stationed, to rape the girl.
Barker described Green as very persistent, Bierce testified. The statements said the five soldiers -- Green, Cortez, Barker, Spielman and Howard -- then changed into dark clothing and covered their faces, before going to the house.
According to Barker, Howard was the lookout and was given a radio to use if anyone approached, Bierce said. The four remaining soldiers then entered the home, at which point the statements from Barker and Cortez about what happened diverge, according to testimony.
Barker told investigators that Cortez pushed the 14-year-old girl to the floor and made "thrusting motions" as Barker held down her hands; then they switched positions, Bierce said.
Sometime during the assault, Barker said he heard gunshots come from the bedroom, where the girl's parents and sister had been taken, and an agitated Green emerged and said he had killed them, Bierce said.
According to Barker, Green then put down the AK-47 he had been carrying and raped the girl, while Cortez held her down, and then picked up the gun and shot her several times, Bierce said.
Green then went into the kitchen and, when he returned, said he had opened the propane tank and they needed to get out of the house because it was about to explode, Bierce said.
However, in his statement to U.S. Army investigators, Cortez denied raping the girl, although he admitted holding her down while Barker raped her, Special Agent Gary Griesmyer testified.
A sixth soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, has been charged with failing to report the alleged rape and killings, but was not alleged to have been a participant.
A soldier's suspicions
Also testifying at the August hearing was a soldier in the same platoon as the accused men, Pfc. Justin Watt, who said he began trying to find out what happened at Mahmoudiya after Yribe confided to him that Green had told Yribe about the rape and killings.
"I wanted to see if I could confirm my suspicions that there were more people involved," Watt said. "I believed there were American forces involved."
Watt said when he asked Howard about what happened, Howard revealed the plan to rape the girl and that his role was to be the lookout. "(Howard) let me know that he ended up seeing a Humvee and calling them back frantically," Watt testified.
Howard also told him that when the other soldiers returned from the house, "Their clothes were covered in blood," Watt said.
After piecing together the details about what happened, Watt said he reported his suspicions to a combat stress team. "If you have the power to make something right, you should do it," Watt said. "Investigation is not my job. But if something went down, something terrible like that, then it's my obligation to come forward."
However, Watt also described the conditions at Mahmoudiya as a "suck-fest," testifying that the soldiers were living in the basement of a "dilapidated, abandoned water treatment facility," and had gone 30 days without a shower.
He also said the ongoing violence, including the deaths of two soldiers in their unit shortly before the slayings of the Iraqi family, had affected everyone. "I was going to get a memorial tattoo of all the guys (who were killed), but there's not enough room on my arm," Watt said.
Accused has "anti-social personality disorder"
Green, who was discharged from the Army and returned to the United States in May because of an "anti-social personality disorder," is facing rape and murder charges in a civilian federal court. He is being held in a Kentucky jail.
All six men charged are from the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
There is some confusion over the alleged rape victim's age. Identity cards and death certificates of the victims, which were obtained by Reuters news agency, show the alleged rape victim was Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, with the birth date August 19, 1991.
The mayor of Mahmoudiya confirmed her identity and birth date to CNN. The U.S. military had previously referred to the alleged rape victim as a "young Iraqi woman."
A Justice Department affidavit in the case against Green says investigators estimated her age at about 25, while the U.S. military said she was 20.
Marines face murder charges in separate case
In Camp Pendleton, California, on Wednesday a U.S. Marine general ordered three Marines to stand trial on murder charges in the April killing of an Iraqi man outside Baghdad.
Cpl. Trent Thomas, Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson and Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington are among a group of seven Marines and a Navy medic who have been held at Camp Pendleton since June in connection with the killing of Hasham Ibrahim Awad, 52, in the town of Hamandiya, west of Baghdad.
They face possible life sentences if convicted of murder. Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the chief of Marine forces in the Middle East, ordered the courts-martial after reviewing each case, the Marines announced in a statement from the San Diego-area base.
No trial dates have been set.
The commander of the 101st Airborne Division has referred murder charges against the soldiers for the alleged crimes that occurred in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, in March. Two of the soldiers could face the death penalty if convicted.
According to a written statement, Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner made the decision after reviewing a report of the investigation and receiving recommendations from the investigating officer, the appointing authority who directed the investigation and his staff judge advocate.
One of the soldiers, 23-year-old Army Spec. James P. Barker, told an Army criminal investigator that after the killings he poured kerosene on the girl's bullet-ridden body, according to testimony in August at a military hearing. The girl's father, mother and five-year-old sister were also killed, according to military officials.
Barker said in an interview that he held the girl down while she was raped by another soldier, Sgt. Paul Cortez, 23, according to Special Agent Benjamin Bierce of the Army's Criminal Investigation Division.
Barker said he then attempted to rape the girl himself, before she was shot to death by former Pfc. Steven D. Green, Bierce said. Green is no longer in the military and faces charges in civilian court.
But, Barker added, he was not sure if he penetrated the girl, because he was having trouble getting an erection.
Bierce also testified that Barker admitted pouring kerosene from a lamp onto the girl's body, although it was unclear from the testimony who set the girl on fire.
Bierce's testimony came during a preliminary hearing in Baghdad for Barker, Cortez, and two other soldiers, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, 21, and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 19, who are also charged in connection with the killings in Mahmoudiya.
The hearing, similar to civilian grand jury proceedings, was held to determine whether there was enough evidence to proceed to courts-martial.
Soldiers held girl down, investigators say
According to statements given at the hearing, the soldiers were drinking whiskey, playing cards and hitting golf balls when Green brought up the idea of going to a house near the checkpoint where they were stationed, to rape the girl.
Barker described Green as very persistent, Bierce testified. The statements said the five soldiers -- Green, Cortez, Barker, Spielman and Howard -- then changed into dark clothing and covered their faces, before going to the house.
According to Barker, Howard was the lookout and was given a radio to use if anyone approached, Bierce said. The four remaining soldiers then entered the home, at which point the statements from Barker and Cortez about what happened diverge, according to testimony.
Barker told investigators that Cortez pushed the 14-year-old girl to the floor and made "thrusting motions" as Barker held down her hands; then they switched positions, Bierce said.
Sometime during the assault, Barker said he heard gunshots come from the bedroom, where the girl's parents and sister had been taken, and an agitated Green emerged and said he had killed them, Bierce said.
According to Barker, Green then put down the AK-47 he had been carrying and raped the girl, while Cortez held her down, and then picked up the gun and shot her several times, Bierce said.
Green then went into the kitchen and, when he returned, said he had opened the propane tank and they needed to get out of the house because it was about to explode, Bierce said.
However, in his statement to U.S. Army investigators, Cortez denied raping the girl, although he admitted holding her down while Barker raped her, Special Agent Gary Griesmyer testified.
A sixth soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, has been charged with failing to report the alleged rape and killings, but was not alleged to have been a participant.
A soldier's suspicions
Also testifying at the August hearing was a soldier in the same platoon as the accused men, Pfc. Justin Watt, who said he began trying to find out what happened at Mahmoudiya after Yribe confided to him that Green had told Yribe about the rape and killings.
"I wanted to see if I could confirm my suspicions that there were more people involved," Watt said. "I believed there were American forces involved."
Watt said when he asked Howard about what happened, Howard revealed the plan to rape the girl and that his role was to be the lookout. "(Howard) let me know that he ended up seeing a Humvee and calling them back frantically," Watt testified.
Howard also told him that when the other soldiers returned from the house, "Their clothes were covered in blood," Watt said.
After piecing together the details about what happened, Watt said he reported his suspicions to a combat stress team. "If you have the power to make something right, you should do it," Watt said. "Investigation is not my job. But if something went down, something terrible like that, then it's my obligation to come forward."
However, Watt also described the conditions at Mahmoudiya as a "suck-fest," testifying that the soldiers were living in the basement of a "dilapidated, abandoned water treatment facility," and had gone 30 days without a shower.
He also said the ongoing violence, including the deaths of two soldiers in their unit shortly before the slayings of the Iraqi family, had affected everyone. "I was going to get a memorial tattoo of all the guys (who were killed), but there's not enough room on my arm," Watt said.
Accused has "anti-social personality disorder"
Green, who was discharged from the Army and returned to the United States in May because of an "anti-social personality disorder," is facing rape and murder charges in a civilian federal court. He is being held in a Kentucky jail.
All six men charged are from the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
There is some confusion over the alleged rape victim's age. Identity cards and death certificates of the victims, which were obtained by Reuters news agency, show the alleged rape victim was Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, with the birth date August 19, 1991.
The mayor of Mahmoudiya confirmed her identity and birth date to CNN. The U.S. military had previously referred to the alleged rape victim as a "young Iraqi woman."
A Justice Department affidavit in the case against Green says investigators estimated her age at about 25, while the U.S. military said she was 20.
Marines face murder charges in separate case
In Camp Pendleton, California, on Wednesday a U.S. Marine general ordered three Marines to stand trial on murder charges in the April killing of an Iraqi man outside Baghdad.
Cpl. Trent Thomas, Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson and Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington are among a group of seven Marines and a Navy medic who have been held at Camp Pendleton since June in connection with the killing of Hasham Ibrahim Awad, 52, in the town of Hamandiya, west of Baghdad.
They face possible life sentences if convicted of murder. Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the chief of Marine forces in the Middle East, ordered the courts-martial after reviewing each case, the Marines announced in a statement from the San Diego-area base.
No trial dates have been set.
Monday, September 11, 2006
How significant are we again?
In the above pic, Jupiter is not visible at that scale and the sun is ONE PIXEL.
WE've never really given this much thought,
but it's rather dazzling to see it presented this way.
It's a BIG universe.
Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky.
It is more than 1000 light years away. so .. how significant should we really be feeling, right about now?
Do you really think it is plausible that some great being is watching and provides a universal court to all of us(tiny specks) and rewards us when were good and punishes us when were bad. so stop saying god wants this and god wants that. The most ridiculous thing is when youre told you wont go to heaven if youre not part of a particular religion. it is sad and pathetic that people still so easily buy in to this and all the millions sorts of claims by other people.
it is truly fantastic actually. give yourselves a round of applause! as a great illusionist once put it so jokingly, "a sucker is born every minute" come to think about it, all advertizing agencies, event companies and all other money generating business's should have that slogan at the entrances of thier office spaces. "a sucker is born every minute" Its all about the presentation. no matter how ludicrous your topic is about, ITS ALL ABOUT THE PRESENTATION.
you get good enough props, a good enough team on your side, you could even sell ice to an eskimo. You get a half-assed soccer player who doesnt do jack shit for the team for 89 minutes...he scores in the last minute of play, HE IS THE HERO. and only those on his team know how much he sucks, to the world...hes a fantastic player! The point im trying to get across is just this;
when someone tells you something out of the ordinary, or something new to you; always ask these few questions,
1) is what your are saying true?
2) if so, what evidence do you have to back your claims?
3) how does this affect me?
ASK! why, how, when! if its true, we really deserve to get the whole story right? having a lot of people witness it is powerful, but not at all conclusive. however we must be sure never to underestimate the power of a dumb people in large groups. the best peace you can find is in making others happy. it is so simple. no need to kneel down or stand or squat and burn incense or bow your heads, dont consume a particular animal because GOD SAID WE CANT EAT that particular meat, or kill infidels or whatever we 'superior' creatures do. MY GOD!
make someone smile, once a day everyday for a year, everyday different person. just make others happy. make someone laugh, and chances are the next time around they'll want to make you laugh or smile at least. I know you cant make everyone happy but smile anyway, if the person doesnt reciprocate just show that person that not everybody is as miserable as he is.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Police sergeant accused of rape indicted
BLOOMINGTON, Illinois (AP) -- A police sergeant accused of raping four women since 2002 was charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday with 35 counts, including multiple attacks on three of the victims.
Sgt. Jeff Pelo, 41, had already pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the four women. His attorney, Steve Skelton, said he would also plead not guilty to the additional charges in the indictment.
Skelton has called the prosecution's case flimsy. Pelo, jailed on more than $2 million bond, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.
Pelo was first arrested in June and charged with attempting to break into a woman's home in the middle of the night. At the time, he was wearing a black T-shirt and shorts and told an officer he was out looking for a home for his mother-in-law, officials said.
Police have said they found a mask, pry bar and other items in Pelo's home that appeared to have been used in at least one of the assaults. Prosecutors said three of the accusers identified him from photo lineups and two identified him by voice.
The charges against him include home invasion and aggravated unlawful restraint involving two of the women. The charges allege he was armed with a gun or knife in those attacks. He faces intimidation charges in one attack because he allegedly threatened to harm the woman's family if she contacted police.
Pelo, a 17-year veteran, is on paid administrative leave and still collecting his $81,000 annual salary. City officials say they opted to continue paying Pelo to spare the alleged victims from testifying in a disciplinary hearing as well as criminal proceedings.
Desperate and dumb
Inmate signs real name to bomb hoaxes
NEW YORK (REUTERS) -- A prison inmate pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sending letters to the FBI and secret service that included bomb and anthrax threats -- as well as his full name and inmate number.
Donald Ray Bilby, 30, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton to one count of false information and hoaxes after he sent five letters demanding authorities deposit $20,000 in his county jail inmate account because he needed money for bail, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
"I think it's fair to say we were not dealing with a great criminal mind here," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said in a statement.
Bilby signed all the letters using his full name and inserted his inmate number beneath his signature. One letter to the FBI included demands for money, a piece of paper labeled "anthrax" and a white powdery substance that turned out to be harmless.
He faces a maximum of five years in prison after first serving a sentence for automobile theft.
NEW YORK (REUTERS) -- A prison inmate pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sending letters to the FBI and secret service that included bomb and anthrax threats -- as well as his full name and inmate number.
Donald Ray Bilby, 30, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton to one count of false information and hoaxes after he sent five letters demanding authorities deposit $20,000 in his county jail inmate account because he needed money for bail, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
"I think it's fair to say we were not dealing with a great criminal mind here," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said in a statement.
Bilby signed all the letters using his full name and inserted his inmate number beneath his signature. One letter to the FBI included demands for money, a piece of paper labeled "anthrax" and a white powdery substance that turned out to be harmless.
He faces a maximum of five years in prison after first serving a sentence for automobile theft.
i n v i s i b i l i t y
Science reveals secrets of invisibility
(CNN) -- Invisibility has long been a fantastical ability exclusively enjoyed by teenage wizards, super heroes and the ultra-advanced civilisations of science fiction.
But more pragmatic-minded scientists and engineers now believe that invisibility-enabling technology may be within reach of lesser mortals as well.
Doctor Ulf Leonhardt, a physicist at Scotland's St. Andrews University who has recently published two papers on the theory behind invisibility technology, said the key was developing a transparent material capable of bending light around an object concealed behind it.
"What you want to do is to surround yourself with a transparent material that is not only transparent but bends the light around you," Leonhardt told CNN.
Leonhardt said the underlying principle was inspired by natural phenomena when light is bent to create optical illusions such as the refraction of a spoon in water or a mirage in the desert or on hot tarmac.
"There are many examples of ways a transparent material like water glass or air can bend light," said Leonhardt. "The reason that is possible is because light will always take the shortest route, which is not always a straight line. All you need is a transparent material that bends light around an object like water moving around a stone."
Work on metamaterials that could ultimately make invisibility a reality is already underway at Duke University in the U.S., where a team led by Professor David R. Smith is experimenting with the design of materials to shield objects from other electromagnetic waves such as microwaves.
One problem that engineers would face would be in creating a metamaterial covering the full range of the optical spectrum rather than a single color or light frequency. Currently researchers are only working on developing materials with the ability to channel waves of a specific frequency.
But Leonhardt said he believed the issue was surmountable: "There will be advances on both the technological and theoretical sides which will make invisibility happen in the not too distant future. This is not completely beyond the range of present technology and theoretical ideas."
While there may ultimately be practical, ethical and security considerations to be considered for invisibility technology, initial applications are likely to focus on microwave shielding, protecting electrical devices from electromagnetic interference, and applications to enable more effective wireless communications, Leonhardt said.
"What these new ideas give you is a new set of tools to guide microwave radiation in a controlled and precisely adjusted way. Generally anything connected with wireless technology would benefit from these new design ideas."
Ironically, the method by which invisibility might be achieved is not dissimilar to the way in which one comic book hero already achieves her special powers. The Invisible Woman, one of Marvel's "Fantastic Four," hides behind a forcefield which guides light around her.
But the Invisible Woman and Harry Potter, armed with his invisibility cloak, may still have an advantage over anything technology is capable of. In the real world, anything or anyone concealed from view would also be trapped in darkness.
"You would see black, of course ," said Leonhardt. "You are completely cut off from light as it is guided around you -- so you wouldn't see anything."
(CNN) -- Invisibility has long been a fantastical ability exclusively enjoyed by teenage wizards, super heroes and the ultra-advanced civilisations of science fiction.
But more pragmatic-minded scientists and engineers now believe that invisibility-enabling technology may be within reach of lesser mortals as well.
Doctor Ulf Leonhardt, a physicist at Scotland's St. Andrews University who has recently published two papers on the theory behind invisibility technology, said the key was developing a transparent material capable of bending light around an object concealed behind it.
"What you want to do is to surround yourself with a transparent material that is not only transparent but bends the light around you," Leonhardt told CNN.
Leonhardt said the underlying principle was inspired by natural phenomena when light is bent to create optical illusions such as the refraction of a spoon in water or a mirage in the desert or on hot tarmac.
"There are many examples of ways a transparent material like water glass or air can bend light," said Leonhardt. "The reason that is possible is because light will always take the shortest route, which is not always a straight line. All you need is a transparent material that bends light around an object like water moving around a stone."
Work on metamaterials that could ultimately make invisibility a reality is already underway at Duke University in the U.S., where a team led by Professor David R. Smith is experimenting with the design of materials to shield objects from other electromagnetic waves such as microwaves.
One problem that engineers would face would be in creating a metamaterial covering the full range of the optical spectrum rather than a single color or light frequency. Currently researchers are only working on developing materials with the ability to channel waves of a specific frequency.
But Leonhardt said he believed the issue was surmountable: "There will be advances on both the technological and theoretical sides which will make invisibility happen in the not too distant future. This is not completely beyond the range of present technology and theoretical ideas."
While there may ultimately be practical, ethical and security considerations to be considered for invisibility technology, initial applications are likely to focus on microwave shielding, protecting electrical devices from electromagnetic interference, and applications to enable more effective wireless communications, Leonhardt said.
"What these new ideas give you is a new set of tools to guide microwave radiation in a controlled and precisely adjusted way. Generally anything connected with wireless technology would benefit from these new design ideas."
Ironically, the method by which invisibility might be achieved is not dissimilar to the way in which one comic book hero already achieves her special powers. The Invisible Woman, one of Marvel's "Fantastic Four," hides behind a forcefield which guides light around her.
But the Invisible Woman and Harry Potter, armed with his invisibility cloak, may still have an advantage over anything technology is capable of. In the real world, anything or anyone concealed from view would also be trapped in darkness.
"You would see black, of course ," said Leonhardt. "You are completely cut off from light as it is guided around you -- so you wouldn't see anything."
Drunk lawyer, Mistrial declared
Lawyer passes bar, apparently stops in
Mistrial declared; blood-alcohol test ordered for defense lawyer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A judge ordered a blood-alcohol test for a defense lawyer who was slurring his words, then declared a mistrial after declaring him too tipsy to argue a kidnapping case.
"I don't think you can tell a straight story because you are intoxicated," the judge told Joseph Caramango as she declared a mistrial for his client.
Caramango, 41, acknowledged in court that he was drinking the previous night, but maintained he was not drunk. If convicted, his client faces life in prison.
"I don't believe I've committed any ethical violation," Caramango said Tuesday, disputing the accuracy of the breath-alcohol test. "If it proved anything, it proved I was not intoxicated."
Clark County District Judge Michelle Leavitt announced Caramango had a blood-alcohol level of 0.075 percent. Nevada's legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers is 0.08 percent.
In an exchange recorded by courtroom video, Caramango arrived about 90 minutes late for trial and was slurring his words.
The judge asked if anything was wrong, and Caramango said he suffered a head injury in a rear-end car crash while driving to court.
Leavitt said she was suspicious because details of Caramango's account varied.
Caramango also identified a woman who accompanied him to court as his ex-girlfriend, Christine. But when questioned by the judge the woman identified herself as Josephine. She said they met only about 20 minutes earlier at a bar and coffee shop.
Leavitt did not hold Caramango in contempt of court, and it was not immediately clear if he would face discipline by the State Bar.
Mistrial declared; blood-alcohol test ordered for defense lawyer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A judge ordered a blood-alcohol test for a defense lawyer who was slurring his words, then declared a mistrial after declaring him too tipsy to argue a kidnapping case.
"I don't think you can tell a straight story because you are intoxicated," the judge told Joseph Caramango as she declared a mistrial for his client.
Caramango, 41, acknowledged in court that he was drinking the previous night, but maintained he was not drunk. If convicted, his client faces life in prison.
"I don't believe I've committed any ethical violation," Caramango said Tuesday, disputing the accuracy of the breath-alcohol test. "If it proved anything, it proved I was not intoxicated."
Clark County District Judge Michelle Leavitt announced Caramango had a blood-alcohol level of 0.075 percent. Nevada's legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers is 0.08 percent.
In an exchange recorded by courtroom video, Caramango arrived about 90 minutes late for trial and was slurring his words.
The judge asked if anything was wrong, and Caramango said he suffered a head injury in a rear-end car crash while driving to court.
Leavitt said she was suspicious because details of Caramango's account varied.
Caramango also identified a woman who accompanied him to court as his ex-girlfriend, Christine. But when questioned by the judge the woman identified herself as Josephine. She said they met only about 20 minutes earlier at a bar and coffee shop.
Leavitt did not hold Caramango in contempt of court, and it was not immediately clear if he would face discipline by the State Bar.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Military Plans Cyborg Sharks
By Bill Christensen
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) has taken another page from science fiction writer William Gibson's book by creating a neural implant to enable engineers to remotely manipulate a shark's brain signals. This would eventually allow them to control the animal's movements and possibly decode their perceptions.
Given that sharks have senses that humans don't have (like the ability to sense electromagnetic fields), it could open up some interesting uses.
The implant consists of multi-channel neural ensemble readers and stimulators, diverse controllers and sensors. In addition, the DARPA researchers want to use their setup to detect and decipher the neural patterns that correspond to shark activities like sensing an ocean current, a particular scent in the water or an electrical field. If they can succeed in these experiments, it might be possible to control a free-swimming shark; it could be trained to track enemy ships or submarines, or to detect underwater mines or cables.
In the abstract for their presentation to the 2006 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center summarized the implant in the following way:
NUWC is developing a fish tag whose goal is attaining behavior control of host animals via neural implants. This talk discusses a shark tag ... intended for long-term open ocean field efforts investigating viability of animal behavior control and its utility for networked sensing and data acquisition. The tag is centered on a multi-channel neural ensemble reader, a processor to interpret the readings in real-time, and a multi-channel stimulator, intended for both micro and macro stimulation.
(From Autonomous Shark Tag with Neural Reading and Stimulation Capability for Open-ocean Experiments)
In his 1981 short story Johnny Mnemonic, author William Gibson wrote about Jones, a military surplus dolphin cyborg that has equipment that is surprisingly similar to the DARPA sharks.
He rose out of the water, showing us the crusted plates along his sides, a kind of visual pun, his grace nearly lost under armor, clumsy and prehistoric. Twin deformities on either side of his skull had been engineered to house sensor units. Silver lesions gleamed on exposed sections of his gray-white hide.
(Read more about William Gibson's cyborg dolphin)
Of course, there is only so much you can do with a friendly dolphin. Maybe that's why DARPA's military sponsors have chosen sharks.
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) has taken another page from science fiction writer William Gibson's book by creating a neural implant to enable engineers to remotely manipulate a shark's brain signals. This would eventually allow them to control the animal's movements and possibly decode their perceptions.
Given that sharks have senses that humans don't have (like the ability to sense electromagnetic fields), it could open up some interesting uses.
The implant consists of multi-channel neural ensemble readers and stimulators, diverse controllers and sensors. In addition, the DARPA researchers want to use their setup to detect and decipher the neural patterns that correspond to shark activities like sensing an ocean current, a particular scent in the water or an electrical field. If they can succeed in these experiments, it might be possible to control a free-swimming shark; it could be trained to track enemy ships or submarines, or to detect underwater mines or cables.
In the abstract for their presentation to the 2006 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center summarized the implant in the following way:
NUWC is developing a fish tag whose goal is attaining behavior control of host animals via neural implants. This talk discusses a shark tag ... intended for long-term open ocean field efforts investigating viability of animal behavior control and its utility for networked sensing and data acquisition. The tag is centered on a multi-channel neural ensemble reader, a processor to interpret the readings in real-time, and a multi-channel stimulator, intended for both micro and macro stimulation.
(From Autonomous Shark Tag with Neural Reading and Stimulation Capability for Open-ocean Experiments)
In his 1981 short story Johnny Mnemonic, author William Gibson wrote about Jones, a military surplus dolphin cyborg that has equipment that is surprisingly similar to the DARPA sharks.
He rose out of the water, showing us the crusted plates along his sides, a kind of visual pun, his grace nearly lost under armor, clumsy and prehistoric. Twin deformities on either side of his skull had been engineered to house sensor units. Silver lesions gleamed on exposed sections of his gray-white hide.
(Read more about William Gibson's cyborg dolphin)
Of course, there is only so much you can do with a friendly dolphin. Maybe that's why DARPA's military sponsors have chosen sharks.
Mind Control by Parasites
By Bill Christensen
Half of the world's human population is infected with Toxoplasma, parasites in the body—and the brain. Remember that.
Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite found in the guts of cats; it sheds eggs that are picked up by rats and other animals that are eaten by cats. Toxoplasma forms cysts in the bodies of the intermediate rat hosts, including in the brain.
Since cats don't want to eat dead, decaying prey, Toxoplasma takes the evolutionarily sound course of being a "good" parasite, leaving the rats perfectly healthy. Or are they?
Oxford scientists discovered that the minds of the infected rats have been subtly altered. In a series of experiments, they demonstrated that healthy rats will prudently avoid areas that have been doused with cat urine. In fact, when scientists test anti-anxiety drugs on rats, they use a whiff of cat urine to induce neurochemical panic.
However, it turns out that Toxoplasma-ridden rats show no such reaction. In fact, some of the infected rats actually seek out the cat urine-marked areas again and again. The parasite alters the mind (and thus the behavior) of the rat for its own benefit.
If the parasite can alter rat behavior, does it have any effect on humans?
Dr. E. Fuller Torrey (Associate Director for Laboratory Research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute) noticed links between Toxoplasma and schizophrenia in human beings, approximately three billion of whom are infected with T. gondii:
* Toxoplasma infection is associated with damage to astrocytes, glial cells which surround and support neurons. Schizophrenia is also associated with damage to astrocytes.
* Pregnant women with high levels of antibodies to Toxoplasma are more likely to give birth to children who will develop schizophrenia.
* Human cells raised in petri dishes, and infected with Toxoplasma, will respond to drugs like haloperidol; the growth of the parasite stops. Haloperidol is an antipsychotic, used to treat schizophrenia.
Dr. Torrey got together with the Oxford scientists, to see if anything could be done about those parasite-controlled rats that were driven to hang around cat urine-soaked corners (waiting for cats). According to a recent press release, haloperidol restores the rat's healthy fear of cat urine. In fact, antipsychotic drugs were as effective as pyrimethamine, a drug that specifically eliminates Toxoplasma.
Are parasites like Toxoplasma subtly altering human behavior?
Still not sure that parasites can manipulate the behavior of host organisms? Consider these other cases:
* The lancet fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum forces its ant host to attach to the tips of grass blades, the easier to be eaten. The fluke needs to get into the gut of a grazing animal to complete its life cycle.
* The fluke Euhaplorchis californiensis causes fish to shimmy and jump so wading birds will grab them and eat them, for the same reason.
* Hairworms, which live inside grasshoppers, sabotage the grasshopper's central nervous system, forcing them to jump into pools of water, drowning themselves. Hairworms then swim away from their hapless hosts to continue their life cycle.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Somalian band beaten for playing music
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- The Islamic militiamen controlling the Somali capital broke up a wedding celebration because a band was playing and women and men were socializing together, witnesses said Saturday, describing the latest crackdown by a group feared to be installing Taliban-style rule in this African nation.
The Islamic fighters beat band members with electric cables and confiscated their equipment, said Asha Ilmi Hashi, a singer with the group Mogadishu Stars.
"We had warned the family not to include in their ceremony what is not allowed by the sharia law. This includes the mixing of men and women and playing music," Sheik Iise Salad, who heads an Islamic court in the northeastern Huriwaa District, told The Associated Press. "That is why we raided and took their equipment."
"What was going there was un-Islamic," Salad said.
The late Friday attack came three days after militiamen in central Somalia shot and killed two people at the screening of a World Cup soccer broadcast banned because it violated the fighters' strict interpretation of Islamic law. (Full story)
Washington has said some leaders and members of the militia that seized control of the capital and much of the south last month have links to al Qaeda and are sheltering terror network members responsible for the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Osama bin Laden said in a recorded message last month that Somalia was a battleground in his war on the United States.
A recruiting video issued by militia members and obtained by The Associated Press this week shows Arab radicals fighting alongside the local extremists in Mogadishu, provided the first hard evidence that non-Somalis have joined with Islamic extremists in Somalia. The group has repeatedly denied links to extremists such as al Qaeda.
The militia has filled a power vacuum in this anarchic country without effective central government, setting up a court system and a militia to enforce their vision of Islamic rule.
The group has appeared to grow increasingly radical, forbidding movies, television and now music.
In the World Cup crackdown, the Islamic fighters were dispersing a crowd of teenagers watching the match. They opened fire after the teenagers defied their orders to leave the hall in which a businessman was screening the Germany-Italy match on satellite television. The dead were a girl and the business owner.
The Islamic group said it has arrested two of its fighters who shot and killed the victims.
The Islamic fighters beat band members with electric cables and confiscated their equipment, said Asha Ilmi Hashi, a singer with the group Mogadishu Stars.
"We had warned the family not to include in their ceremony what is not allowed by the sharia law. This includes the mixing of men and women and playing music," Sheik Iise Salad, who heads an Islamic court in the northeastern Huriwaa District, told The Associated Press. "That is why we raided and took their equipment."
"What was going there was un-Islamic," Salad said.
The late Friday attack came three days after militiamen in central Somalia shot and killed two people at the screening of a World Cup soccer broadcast banned because it violated the fighters' strict interpretation of Islamic law. (Full story)
Washington has said some leaders and members of the militia that seized control of the capital and much of the south last month have links to al Qaeda and are sheltering terror network members responsible for the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Osama bin Laden said in a recorded message last month that Somalia was a battleground in his war on the United States.
A recruiting video issued by militia members and obtained by The Associated Press this week shows Arab radicals fighting alongside the local extremists in Mogadishu, provided the first hard evidence that non-Somalis have joined with Islamic extremists in Somalia. The group has repeatedly denied links to extremists such as al Qaeda.
The militia has filled a power vacuum in this anarchic country without effective central government, setting up a court system and a militia to enforce their vision of Islamic rule.
The group has appeared to grow increasingly radical, forbidding movies, television and now music.
In the World Cup crackdown, the Islamic fighters were dispersing a crowd of teenagers watching the match. They opened fire after the teenagers defied their orders to leave the hall in which a businessman was screening the Germany-Italy match on satellite television. The dead were a girl and the business owner.
The Islamic group said it has arrested two of its fighters who shot and killed the victims.
Grounded teen killed family before going to prom
Grounded teen killed family before going to prom
Saturday, July 22, 2006; Posted: 8:38 a.m. EDT (12:38 GMT)
SOUTH BEND, Indiana (AP) -- A jury convicted a man Friday of killing his father, stepmother and two stepsisters 17 years ago inside their church parsonage home so he could attend some high school prom events.
The St. Joseph County jury found Jeffrey Pelley, now 34, guilty on four counts of murder after deliberating more than 25 hours since Wednesday. Pelley faces up to 260 years in prison when he is sentenced September 15.
Prosecutors accused Pelley, a high school senior at the time, of using a shotgun to kill his father, the Rev. Robert Pelley; stepmother, Dawn; and stepsisters, Janel, 8, and Jolene, 6, in April 1989 at their home next to the Olive Branch Church of the United Brethren in Lakeville, about 10 miles south of South Bend.
Investigators said Pelley was angry because his father had grounded him for stealing and would allow him to attend only the prom dance, causing him to miss a prom dinner, a bowling alley party and an outing the next day at an amusement park outside Chicago.
Pelley was not charged in the deaths until August 2002, when authorities reinterpreted evidence. Pelley was living in Dade City, Florida, when he was arrested.
Prosecutors alleged Pelley shot his family members on the evening of the prom, disposed of the shotgun and shells, took a shower, put his clothes in the washer and left for the prom.
Pelley's defense attorneys argued there wasn't enough time for him to have done all that and still make it to the LaVille High School prom.
They also said no one could commit such a gruesome attack and still act "normal" during the prom events, as his friends testified during the trial.
The defense also questioned the decision by investigators not to look for fingerprints at the crime scene.
Police officers testified during the trial that they didn't think they would find any usable prints and they thought it would be a waste of time because Pelley was their main suspect.
The shotgun used in the killings was never found.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
threatened with extinction
GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Polar bears and hippos have joined the ranks of species threatened with extinction from climate change, unregulated hunting and other man-made dangers, a leading environmental agency said on Tuesday.
The World Conservation Union, or IUCN, said more than 16,000 species of animals and plants were at risk of disappearing, including one in four mammals and one in eight birds.
It added 530 species to its "Red List" of endangered species since the last version released two years ago.
China, Brazil, Australia and Mexico are home to large numbers of threatened species, said the IUCN, whose members include 81 governments, more than 850 non-governmental groups and some 10,000 scientists from around the world.
It said countries worldwide needed to boost efforts to preserve biodiversity through reduced emissions, tighter fishing and hunting controls, and other measures.
Without a reversal of global warming trends, it predicted polar bear populations would drop more than 30 percent in the next 45 years as melted ice caps deprive the animals of their habitat.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Picture & Story
THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND COFFEE
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar... and the coffee...
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognise that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things. Your family, your children, your faith, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions. Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter. Your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.
If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
CRazy CRazy PlanET
Top 25 Craziest Deaths
They say: "shit happens". This is a list of crazy, weird and even funny deaths of prominent people in the last 100 years:
Too much VIAGRA killed the dictator
Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, died at his residence in Abuja of a heart attack, rumored to have been caused by the ingestion of large quantities of the drug VIAGRA as a prelude to an orgy. (1998)
The Jockey died but the Horse kept going... and WON!
Frank Hayes, jockey, suffered a heart attack during a horse race. The horse, Sweet Kiss, went on to finish first, making Hayes the only deceased jockey to win a race. (1953)
Teenager killed by a MiG-23 fighter jet
A Belgian teenager was killed by a crashing soviet MiG-23 fighter jet, which escaped from Poland on autopilot after the crew ejected over a false engine failure alarm. (1989)
Killed and eaten by a classmate
A 25-year-old Dutch woman studying in Paris, Renée Hartevelt, was killed and eaten by a classmate, Issei Sagawa, when he invited her to dinner for a literary conversation. The killer was declared unfit to stand trial and extradited back to Japan, where he was released from custody within fifteen months. (1981)
Prince of Nepal didn't like his Royal Family
On June 1, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal, enraged from a dispute over his marriage arrangements (and possibly intoxicated), reportedly went on a rampage at dinner and massacred nearly the entire Royal Family, including his father the king. But in accordance with custom and tradition, Dipendra, then in a coma due to wounds sustained either from palace guards or a botched suicide attempt, became king for three days before dying on June 4. He was succeeded by his uncle, whose son mysteriously survived the massacre unscathed. (2001)
Don't F*CK the animals you freak!
Kenneth Pinyan an Enumclaw, Seattle WA. man, died of acute peritonitis after submitting to anal intercourse with a stallion. The man had done this before, though apparently this time his partner was a little too keen, and delayed several hours to visit hospital wishing to avoid official cognisance. The case may lead to the criminalization of bestiality in Washington. (2005)
Decapitated by a helicopter blade
Vic Morrow, actor, was decapitated by helicopter blade during filming of "Twilight Zone: The Movie" and was killed instantly, along with two child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. (1982)
Distracted by his wife, in the middle of World War I
François Faber, Luxembourgean Tour de France winner, died in a trench on the western front of World War I. He received a telegram saying his wife had given birth to a daughter. He cheered, giving away his position, and was shot by a German sniper (1915).
The politician shot himself during a TV conference
R. Budd Dwyer, a Republican politician, committed suicide during a televised press conference. Facing a potential 55-year jail sentence for alleged involvement in a conspiracy, Dwyer shot himself in the head with a revolver. (1987)
Assassinated with an Umbrella
Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident, was assassinated by poisoning in London by an unknown assailant who shot him in the leg with a specially modified umbrella that fired a metal pellet with a small cavity full of ricin poison. (1978)
Brandon Lee and the magic bullet
Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, was shot and killed by a prop .44 Magnum while filming the movie The Crow. The scene involved the firing of a full-powder blank (full charge of gunpowder, but no bullet) at Brandon's character. However, unknown to the film crew/firearms technician, a bullet was already lodged in the barrel. (1993)
He swallowed a toothpick on a party
Sherwood Anderson, writer, swallowed a toothpick at a party and then died of peritonitis. (1941)
A foil pierced his eyeball and entered his brain
Vladimir Smirnov, an Olympic champion fencer, died of brain damage nine days after his opponent's foil snapped during a match, pierced his eyeball and entered his brain. (1982)
Jack Daniel's much needed Anger Management
Jack Daniel, founder of the famous Tennessee whiskey distillery, died of blood poisoning due to a toe injury he received after kicking his safe in anger when he could not remember its combination code. (1911)
Decaptitated by his car's drive chain, but it was worth it!
J.G. Parry-Thomas, a British racing driver, was decaptitated by his car's drive chain which, under duress, snapped and whipped into the cockpit. He was attempting to break his own Land speed record which he had set the previous year. Incredibly enough, despite being killed in the attempt, he succeeded in setting a new record of 171mph. (1927)
A homeless man killed to collect his life insurance
Michael Malloy, a homeless man, was murdered by gassing after surviving multiple poisonings, intentional exposure, and being struck by a car. Malloy was murdered by five men in a plot to collect on life insurance policies they'd purchased. (1933)
4 Weeks without water on the Libyan Desert
Lady be Good, a USAAF B-24 bomber lost its way and crash landed in the Libyan Desert. The Mummified remains of its crew, who struggled for a week without water, were not found until 1960. (1943)
The right song for his last performance
Famed baritone Leonard Warren collapsed on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera of a massive stroke during a performance of "La forza del destino" (The force of destiny). (1960)
Apollo 1's deadly training exercise
A flash fire began in the pure oxygen atmosphere inside the unlaunched Apollo 1 spacecraft, killing its crew during a training exercise. (1967)
The Prime Minister can't swim
Harold Holt, the serving Prime Minister of Australia, vanished while swimming on a beach near Melbourne. His body was never found. (1967)
"Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?"
Jerome Irving Rodale, an American pioneer of organic farming, died of a heart attack while being interviewed on the Dick Cavett Show. When he appeared to fall asleep, Cavett quipped "Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?". The show was never broadcast. (1971)
And this is Live News...
Christine Chubbuck, an American television news reporter committed suicide during a live broadcast on July 15th. At 9:38 AM, 8 minutes into her talk show, on WXLT-TV in Sarasota, Florida, she drew out a revolver and shot herself in the head. (1974)
Not a good entrance for this WWF Wrestler
Owen Hart, WWF (now WWE) wrestler, died when he fell 78 feet while being lowered into the ring by a cable from the stadium rafters before an upcoming match. He had been scheduled to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship that night. (1999)
Wasn't that just part of the act?
Tommy Cooper, British magician, died on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre during a live television routine. Most of the audience and viewers believed it was part of his act. (1984)
As you said: "Too bad you can only live so long"
Richard Versalle suffered a heart attack onstage at the New York Metropolitan Opera after delivering the line "Too bad you can only live so long" during a performance of The Makropulos Case. (1996)
Nasty weather for this environmentalist
American environmentalist Timothy Treadwell, self-proclaimed "eco-warrior" that had lived in the wilderness among bears for thirteen summers in a remote portion of Alaska, was killed and partially consumed along with his girlfriend Amie Huguenard after they had been slated to leave due to the impending harsh fall/winter in Alaska. The critically-acclaimed documentary film Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog, was released in 2005. (2003)
They say: "shit happens". This is a list of crazy, weird and even funny deaths of prominent people in the last 100 years:
Too much VIAGRA killed the dictator
Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, died at his residence in Abuja of a heart attack, rumored to have been caused by the ingestion of large quantities of the drug VIAGRA as a prelude to an orgy. (1998)
The Jockey died but the Horse kept going... and WON!
Frank Hayes, jockey, suffered a heart attack during a horse race. The horse, Sweet Kiss, went on to finish first, making Hayes the only deceased jockey to win a race. (1953)
Teenager killed by a MiG-23 fighter jet
A Belgian teenager was killed by a crashing soviet MiG-23 fighter jet, which escaped from Poland on autopilot after the crew ejected over a false engine failure alarm. (1989)
Killed and eaten by a classmate
A 25-year-old Dutch woman studying in Paris, Renée Hartevelt, was killed and eaten by a classmate, Issei Sagawa, when he invited her to dinner for a literary conversation. The killer was declared unfit to stand trial and extradited back to Japan, where he was released from custody within fifteen months. (1981)
Prince of Nepal didn't like his Royal Family
On June 1, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal, enraged from a dispute over his marriage arrangements (and possibly intoxicated), reportedly went on a rampage at dinner and massacred nearly the entire Royal Family, including his father the king. But in accordance with custom and tradition, Dipendra, then in a coma due to wounds sustained either from palace guards or a botched suicide attempt, became king for three days before dying on June 4. He was succeeded by his uncle, whose son mysteriously survived the massacre unscathed. (2001)
Don't F*CK the animals you freak!
Kenneth Pinyan an Enumclaw, Seattle WA. man, died of acute peritonitis after submitting to anal intercourse with a stallion. The man had done this before, though apparently this time his partner was a little too keen, and delayed several hours to visit hospital wishing to avoid official cognisance. The case may lead to the criminalization of bestiality in Washington. (2005)
Decapitated by a helicopter blade
Vic Morrow, actor, was decapitated by helicopter blade during filming of "Twilight Zone: The Movie" and was killed instantly, along with two child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. (1982)
Distracted by his wife, in the middle of World War I
François Faber, Luxembourgean Tour de France winner, died in a trench on the western front of World War I. He received a telegram saying his wife had given birth to a daughter. He cheered, giving away his position, and was shot by a German sniper (1915).
The politician shot himself during a TV conference
R. Budd Dwyer, a Republican politician, committed suicide during a televised press conference. Facing a potential 55-year jail sentence for alleged involvement in a conspiracy, Dwyer shot himself in the head with a revolver. (1987)
Assassinated with an Umbrella
Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident, was assassinated by poisoning in London by an unknown assailant who shot him in the leg with a specially modified umbrella that fired a metal pellet with a small cavity full of ricin poison. (1978)
Brandon Lee and the magic bullet
Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, was shot and killed by a prop .44 Magnum while filming the movie The Crow. The scene involved the firing of a full-powder blank (full charge of gunpowder, but no bullet) at Brandon's character. However, unknown to the film crew/firearms technician, a bullet was already lodged in the barrel. (1993)
He swallowed a toothpick on a party
Sherwood Anderson, writer, swallowed a toothpick at a party and then died of peritonitis. (1941)
A foil pierced his eyeball and entered his brain
Vladimir Smirnov, an Olympic champion fencer, died of brain damage nine days after his opponent's foil snapped during a match, pierced his eyeball and entered his brain. (1982)
Jack Daniel's much needed Anger Management
Jack Daniel, founder of the famous Tennessee whiskey distillery, died of blood poisoning due to a toe injury he received after kicking his safe in anger when he could not remember its combination code. (1911)
Decaptitated by his car's drive chain, but it was worth it!
J.G. Parry-Thomas, a British racing driver, was decaptitated by his car's drive chain which, under duress, snapped and whipped into the cockpit. He was attempting to break his own Land speed record which he had set the previous year. Incredibly enough, despite being killed in the attempt, he succeeded in setting a new record of 171mph. (1927)
A homeless man killed to collect his life insurance
Michael Malloy, a homeless man, was murdered by gassing after surviving multiple poisonings, intentional exposure, and being struck by a car. Malloy was murdered by five men in a plot to collect on life insurance policies they'd purchased. (1933)
4 Weeks without water on the Libyan Desert
Lady be Good, a USAAF B-24 bomber lost its way and crash landed in the Libyan Desert. The Mummified remains of its crew, who struggled for a week without water, were not found until 1960. (1943)
The right song for his last performance
Famed baritone Leonard Warren collapsed on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera of a massive stroke during a performance of "La forza del destino" (The force of destiny). (1960)
Apollo 1's deadly training exercise
A flash fire began in the pure oxygen atmosphere inside the unlaunched Apollo 1 spacecraft, killing its crew during a training exercise. (1967)
The Prime Minister can't swim
Harold Holt, the serving Prime Minister of Australia, vanished while swimming on a beach near Melbourne. His body was never found. (1967)
"Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?"
Jerome Irving Rodale, an American pioneer of organic farming, died of a heart attack while being interviewed on the Dick Cavett Show. When he appeared to fall asleep, Cavett quipped "Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?". The show was never broadcast. (1971)
And this is Live News...
Christine Chubbuck, an American television news reporter committed suicide during a live broadcast on July 15th. At 9:38 AM, 8 minutes into her talk show, on WXLT-TV in Sarasota, Florida, she drew out a revolver and shot herself in the head. (1974)
Not a good entrance for this WWF Wrestler
Owen Hart, WWF (now WWE) wrestler, died when he fell 78 feet while being lowered into the ring by a cable from the stadium rafters before an upcoming match. He had been scheduled to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship that night. (1999)
Wasn't that just part of the act?
Tommy Cooper, British magician, died on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre during a live television routine. Most of the audience and viewers believed it was part of his act. (1984)
As you said: "Too bad you can only live so long"
Richard Versalle suffered a heart attack onstage at the New York Metropolitan Opera after delivering the line "Too bad you can only live so long" during a performance of The Makropulos Case. (1996)
Nasty weather for this environmentalist
American environmentalist Timothy Treadwell, self-proclaimed "eco-warrior" that had lived in the wilderness among bears for thirteen summers in a remote portion of Alaska, was killed and partially consumed along with his girlfriend Amie Huguenard after they had been slated to leave due to the impending harsh fall/winter in Alaska. The critically-acclaimed documentary film Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog, was released in 2005. (2003)
Sexy Birds More Immune to Avian Flu
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 20 March 2006
12:03 pm ET
An animal's attractiveness to potential mates is thought in some cases to be related to the animals overall health and therefore suitability as a parent.
In few cases is health so clearly displayed as the white spot on the flycatcher's forehead.
SPECIAL REPORT: FLU FEARS
Part 1 : Flu Basics
What it is and how it affects us.
Part 2 : Stay Safe
How to prevent and treat the flu.
Part 3: Pandemic Primer
How flu could become a global killer.
The size of the spot on a male flycatcher bird indicates his immune system's ability to fight off the avian flu virus, scientists announced today.
The study found the male collared flycatcher can change the size of its forehead spot during mating season. Males that unfurl their forehead spots most are those that produce the most antibodies.
"It seems that the female uses the forehead spot as a health indicator," Mans Andersson of Uppsala University in Sweden. "When she chooses males with a large forehead spots, she takes not only the healthiest males but also the ones with the best immune defense against future virus infections."
The birds are not magically transforming their spots. Instead, evolution is at work, allowing the birds to show off their health. The finding supports the theory that expression of secondary sexual traits, such as brighter plumage, bigger horns or a larger spot, signals traits that are beneficial for survival.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Some Serious Shut-eye
Improved sleep behavior and attitudes do more good than sleeping pills for the treatment of insomnia, experts at a recent National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference agreed, says Daniel Kripke of the University of California, San Diego. The changes he recommends:
* Do not take sleeping pills. This includes over-the-counter pills and melatonin.
* Don't go to bed until you're sleepy. If you have trouble sleeping, try going to bed later or getting up earlier.
* Get up at the same time every morning, even after a bad night's sleep. The next night, you'll be sleepy at bedtime.
* If you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep, get out of bed and return only when you are sleepy.
* Avoid worrying, watching TV, reading scary books, and doing other things in bed besides sleeping and sex. If you worry, read thrillers or watch TV, do that in a chair that's not in the bedroom.
* Do not drink or eat anything caffeinated within six hours of bedtime.
* Avoid alcohol. It's relaxing at first but can lead to insomnia when it clears your system.
* Spend time outdoors. People exposed to daylight or bright light therapy sleep better.
* Do not take sleeping pills. This includes over-the-counter pills and melatonin.
* Don't go to bed until you're sleepy. If you have trouble sleeping, try going to bed later or getting up earlier.
* Get up at the same time every morning, even after a bad night's sleep. The next night, you'll be sleepy at bedtime.
* If you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep, get out of bed and return only when you are sleepy.
* Avoid worrying, watching TV, reading scary books, and doing other things in bed besides sleeping and sex. If you worry, read thrillers or watch TV, do that in a chair that's not in the bedroom.
* Do not drink or eat anything caffeinated within six hours of bedtime.
* Avoid alcohol. It's relaxing at first but can lead to insomnia when it clears your system.
* Spend time outdoors. People exposed to daylight or bright light therapy sleep better.
Lesbian teacher rapist off hook
no jail time
High-school coach faced 15 years, gets house arrest, probation in plea
Posted: January 20, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Amy Lilley (Photo: St. Petersburg Times)
For the third time this week, a public school teacher convicted of raping a same-sex student has been sentenced to no jail time – this time it's a lesbian coach in Florida who had relations with a 15-year-old.
Amy Lilley, 36, a former teacher and softball coach at Lecanto High School in Lecanto, Fla., was sentenced yesterday to two years of house arrest and eight more years of probation.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, the sentence, handed down by Circuit Judge Ric Howard, was part of a plea deal between the state and the defense.
Lilley, who was arrested in November, pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious battery, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The 15-year-old girl Lilley assaulted was in tears during the hearing, asking the judge to remove a stipulation in the sentence that barred contact between the two. Howard declined her request.
High-school coach faced 15 years, gets house arrest, probation in plea
Posted: January 20, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Amy Lilley (Photo: St. Petersburg Times)
For the third time this week, a public school teacher convicted of raping a same-sex student has been sentenced to no jail time – this time it's a lesbian coach in Florida who had relations with a 15-year-old.
Amy Lilley, 36, a former teacher and softball coach at Lecanto High School in Lecanto, Fla., was sentenced yesterday to two years of house arrest and eight more years of probation.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, the sentence, handed down by Circuit Judge Ric Howard, was part of a plea deal between the state and the defense.
Lilley, who was arrested in November, pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious battery, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The 15-year-old girl Lilley assaulted was in tears during the hearing, asking the judge to remove a stipulation in the sentence that barred contact between the two. Howard declined her request.
Seattle Murders Shock 'Rave' Community
By NANCY ROBERTS TROTT and JACKSON HOLTZ Associated Press Writers
© 2006 The Associated Press
SEATTLE — The partygoers didn't know Aaron Kyle Huff, and don't know who invited him to their after-party. In the culture of raves, all-night dance parties where they say young people can feel welcomed regardless of looks or background, such questions normally aren't important.
That trust was shattered Saturday morning, when Huff opened fire in a house full of ravers dressed like zombies in dark clothing and pale makeup, killing six of them and injuring two.
The 28-year-old man from Montana, who fired a 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun and wore bandoliers of shotgun shells, killed himself when confronted by a police officer outside the home.
Now ravers are in shock after being struck by the apparently random act of violence.
"We're probably the only community in society that would have welcomed somebody so easily," said Travis Webb, an area rave promoter who attended a "zombie rave" that preceded the party where Huff opened fire.
Raves _ parties that attract young people to dance to thumping, bass-laden electronic music _ often are themed events where people dress up in Halloween-like outfits and paint their faces. Friday night's rave, dubbed "Better Off Undead," drew about 500 people, according to organizers.
Early Saturday, some made their way to a house party already underway in a nearby residential neighborhood. Someone invited Huff, police said.
While friends of the victims said they didn't know who invited the suspect, they said the invite wasn't unusual.
"I've invited people to after-parties many times," said 28-year-old Roger Platt, who attended the rave and left the after-party at the house shortly before the shooting.
Police said the gunman left the house party and returned around 7 a.m. to commit one of the biggest mass killings in city history.
Police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said Sunday that police found an assault rifle, multiple "banana clips" carrying 30 bullets each, a machete and several hundred more rounds of ammunition.
Whitcomb said the gunman was "extremely dangerous" and it was fortunate there weren't more victims.
Four young men and two young women were killed and two people were hospitalized in serious condition, officials said.
Some who knew Huff could not believe he was a suspect.
"This would have been so far out of character," said Jim Pickett, the assistant manager of the apartment complex where he said Huff lived with his twin brother.
Whitcomb said police were still working on a motive.
Webb said he and other ravers are filled with fear that police or city officials might use the shooting as an excuse to shut down the parties. Police said alcohol and marijuana were found at the murder scene, but they had not linked them to the crime.
"It's almost a double punishment," Webb said. "You lose six people that are so close, and then you might lose the community that brought you all together in the first place."
Many ravers say that although alcohol is not usually served, drugs are a part of the scene.
"The drugs are unreal," said Chris Meyer, 22, who said he stopped going because of the drugs. "The more and more I went, it was just people sitting around on the floor."
Meyer said partygoers' favorite drug is ecstasy, or MDMA, which makes people feel tipsy, trusting, loving and warm toward others.
Kiev keeper killed by carbon monoxide
Updated: March 27, 2006
KIEV, March 27 (Reuters) - Yvegeny Sukhina, a goalkeeper with Ukrainian club Simferopol Krymteplitsy, has been found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, Ukrainian media reported on Monday.
Police found Sukhina's body and that of his girlfriend in their apartment in Simferopol, the main town in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, the ua-football website said.
The 23-year-old keeper, viewed as a good future prospect, was on loan from Dynamo Kiev to Krymteplitsky in the Ukrainian second division.
KIEV, March 27 (Reuters) - Yvegeny Sukhina, a goalkeeper with Ukrainian club Simferopol Krymteplitsy, has been found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, Ukrainian media reported on Monday.
Police found Sukhina's body and that of his girlfriend in their apartment in Simferopol, the main town in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, the ua-football website said.
The 23-year-old keeper, viewed as a good future prospect, was on loan from Dynamo Kiev to Krymteplitsky in the Ukrainian second division.
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