More than half of Americans say that the U.S. economy is in a recession or a depression

A Gallup survey found that only 27% of U.S. adults said that the economy is growing. Twenty-nine percent said that the economy is in a depression and 26% said that it is in a recession, with another 16% saying that it is slowing down.

Lands conference awards Safed rabbi who said that Jews shouldn't rent to non-Jews

The rabbi of Safed who encouraged citizens to refuse to rent apartments to non-Jews has won an award at an annual conference dealing with issues of the Land of Israel. The conference, which was founded by the Jewish religious movement Komemiyut (independence), was officially called the "Land of the nation or land of all the nation’s citizens." Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu was one of 18 prominent rabbis who signed a petition that came to be known as the 'rabbis' letter' in October 2010 urging Jews to refrain from renting or selling apartments to non-Jews. Eliyahu reiterated his prior message at the conference held in the central town of Ramle, saying "the Jewish law is clear… Thank God that in Safed, land isn't sold to foreigners." Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz awarded Eliyahu with the prize for "his actions, effort and devotion to the Jewish nature of the Land of Israel." Most of the signatories were from Safed, a city that has seen an increase in its Arab student population that is enrolled at the town's local college. The rabbi slammed those who have accused him of being a racist, saying that a survey showed that 74% of the public supports the letter. He added that he believed the letter had backing from God.

A 35-year-old Nigerian woman has appeared in court charged with organizing, directing and running a brothel in Dublin, Ireland

The Nigerian woman was arrested as part of the Garda National Immigration Bureau's Operation Mast, a two-year-investigation into human trafficking and organized prostitution. She was one of 40 people arrested. Over 120 people were interviewed as part of the operation and 11 victims were identified and rescued. The court has heard that substantial amounts of money had passed through the 35-year-old Nigerian woman's bank account, which she no longer has access to.

In Pennsylvania, 52% of voters say that Obama does not deserve a second term

Obama, who won 55% of Pennsylvania voters in the 2008 election, is underwater mostly because of his deterioration among independent voters, 57% of whom disapprove of his performance. One reason for his high disapproval ratings may be his policy on Libya with 68% of voters, including 65% of Democrats, saying that the United States should not be involved in the North African nation.

Four in 10 registered voters approve of Obama's handling of the economy, a new poll has found

According to the McClatchy-Marist Poll, 57% disapprove and the remaining 3% are unsure.

Oral cancer rates are rising among men

The increase could be linked to HPV, a sexually-transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer among women. Researchers say that the virus can be transmitted through oral sex. That could account for why oral cancer persists among men, even though tobacco use is reportedly down. HPV is becoming more common among sexually-active adults. About 65% of oral cancer tumors were linked to HPV in 2007, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Intentional homicide rates around the world

The highest homicide rates in the world are found in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America while the lowest are found in Europe and Asia.

Mexican police have found 21 more bodies during a search of mass graves in the city of Durango

Officials said that digging would continue at the sites, and have not ruled out finding further remains. The number of bodies unearthed in the state of Tamaulipas rose to 183 after six more remains were found. Durango and Tamaulipas have seen high levels of violence as drug gangs battle for control of smuggling routes. The existence of the mass graves in Durango came to light in early April 2011, when four bodies were found in a car repair workshop. To date, 79 sets of remains have been exhumed from this site, and a further 17 bodies found at another location in the city. Officials say it is believed that the corpses had been buried for at least a year. None of the bodies has been so far identified.

Fat, race and vitamin D

A study has found that while black and white children with vitamin D deficiency both had higher fat levels, black children were more likely to have higher levels of fat just under their skin and white children were more likely to have higher levels of fat between their internal organs. Researchers measured vitamin D levels in 237 children and found that the majority of the study participants were vitamin D deficient. Plasma vitamin D levels were associated inversely with BMI and fat levels and positively with HDL cholesterol in all subjects. Visceral adipose tissue (fat between internal organs) was higher in vitamin D deficient whites and subcutaneous adipose tissue (fat below the skin) was higher in vitamin D deficient blacks compared with their respective vitamin D non-deficient counterparts.

Republicans hold a double-digit lead over Democrats in public perception of which party would do a better job dealing with the federal budget

According to a new Gallup/USA Today poll, 48% prefer Republicans, while 36% prefer Democrats in Congress.

Obama and the birth certificate

Obama has finally released his birth certificate. Personally, I wouldn't care if he was from the planet Mars if he was a good president. Unfortunately, Obama is a bad president regardless of what country he was born in.

A Turkish Muslim actress has caused a storm by posing naked for Playboy

Sila Sahin has been branded a whore and a western slut after appearing topless on the cover of the skin magazine and Islamic fanatics have posted threatening Internet messages. Her parents are said to have reacted with horror at the 12-page coverage, and her mother has apparently cut off all contact. Sila, 25, claimed that the shoot was a reaction to the slavery of her youth. Islamic Internet sites are being monitored after threats were posted about her shaming Muslim womanhood and prostituting herself for money. A kebab shop owner, asked what he would do if Sila were his daughter, replied: "I would kill her. I really mean that. That doesn't fit with my culture."

Pro-Taliban Islamist cleric Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini has threatened to wage jihad if the Bangladeshi government passes any law banning child marriage

He said that two hundred thousand Jihadists of his group are ready to sacrifice lives if any such law, which goes against the Koran is passed by the current government in Bangladesh. Mufti Amini said, "Banning child marriage will cause challenging the marriage of the holy prophet of Islam, who also married minor Ayesha, when she was just eight years old. The new law initiated by the current government will put the moral character of the prophet into controversy and challenge. Islam permits child marriage and it will not be tolerated if any ruler will ever try to touch this issue in the name of giving more rights to women." Islamic Sharia law gives lesser rights to women. It also allows men to marry any infant girl child. Such laws are prevalent in most of the Islamic republics, while in Iran, even forceful sexual relations with the married infant is allowed. In Bangladesh, especially in rural areas, child marriage is very common, where hundreds of child mothers die due to lack of medical facilities as well as pre-mature pregnancy. There are even cases of deaths of child wives being virtually raped by their husbands. Child marriage is prevalent in rural Bangladesh.

At least 35 Islamic terrorists incarcerated at Guantánamo Bay were indoctrinated by extremist Muslim preachers in Britain

Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza, two Islamic preachers who lived off state benefits after claiming asylum in Britain, were responsible for sending dozens of Muslim extremists from throughout the world to Pakistan and Afghanistan via London mosques. For two decades, Britain effectively became a crucible of Islamic terrorism.

A black couple have been arraigned on charges that they stomped an elderly man to death amid a domestic dispute

Quintin Guerrero, 61, was killed when he rushed to aid one of his black attackers, Tosheba Alford, 20, after she jumped out of a moving cab in front of his Bronx house to escape a beating from her boyfriend, Alford's mother, Queen Smith, said. Alford told cops that she never raised a hand to man who tried to help her, insisting she attempted to stop her boyfriend, Kendall Major, 35, from killing Guerrero. Witnesses, including the cabbie who drove the black pair to the Bronx, claimed that Alford was as responsible as Major for the beat-down. "It was very horrifying to see," said livery cab driver Angel Ruiz, 47, who called 911 and helped cops track down the black pair. Major and Alford have been arraigned in Bronx Supreme Court on second-degree murder charges. They were ordered held without bail.

What happened to the Hispanic and Asian voters in the 2010 elections?

About 31% of eligible Latino and Asian voters cast ballots in the 2010 congressional elections, compared with 49% of eligible white voters and 44% of eligible blacks, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center that shows that the nation’s fastest-growing minorities are largely failing to exercise their right to vote. The absence of so many Latino and Asian voters at the polls means that the political influence of these minority groups will fall short of their demographic strength by years, if not decades. The snapshot of minority voting comes on the heels of a poll showing that support for Obama among Latinos is down by more than 25 percentage points compared with the start of his administration — cause for serious concern among Democrats since Obama needs Latinos to show up in force for him in 2012, as they did in 2008, political analysts say.

A new Rasmussen poll has found that 58% of whites believe that America’s best days are in the past

Just 18% of white voters believe that America is headed in the right direction.

A holy war has erupted at a Sikh temple in Queens - where worshipers wielding swords interrupted a prayer session to attack their rivals in a vicious power struggle

Rival factions at the Baba Makhan Shah Lobana Sikh Center in South Richmond Hill have been bickering for months over control, authorities and members said. The dispute reached a bloody climax when the infighting turned violent, accompanied by screams, taunts and death threats. The attackers - armed with at least two swords, according to a witness - were part of the old guard that had been recently voted out of power but refused to accept the decision. Seven people were arrested, including Harinder Singh, 47, who was charged with assault after punching a man in the eye. Others were charged with unlawful assembly, resisting arrest, rioting, and disrupting a religious service.

Of those American voters who see gas prices as a serious financial hardship, just 39% approve of Obama’s job performance, and only 33% say that he is handling the economy well

Some 60% of independents hammered by gas prices say that they definitely won’t be voting for Obama in 2012 and when matched with Republican, Mitt Romney, Obama loses a hypothetical election by 24 percentage points among independents struggling with gas prices.

A majority of Egyptians believe that laws in their country should observe the teachings of Islam's holy book, the Qur'an

A poll shows that 50% of Egyptians think it is "very important" for Islamic parties to be part of a future government and that as much 37% have a "very favorable" view of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest and best organized Islamic group. Another 62% of Egyptians believe that laws in their country should strictly follow the teachings of the Qur'an.

Poll: 46% of Americans say that they definitely will not vote for Obama in the 2012 election

In addition, only 38% of Americans say that Obama was definitely born in the United States of America.

Do Southern Europeans and Jews really have African ancestry?

Dienekes takes issue with a new paper on African ancestry in Mediterranean populations.

Subconscious racism?

Study reveals that our unconscious minds can have racist tendencies, no matter how liberal we may appear to be on the surface.

Why does England not have sectarianism like Scotland and Northern Ireland?

Here is Ed West's answer:

The most likely answer is demographics. Irish immigration to Scotland was, proportionately, much larger than in England, with Irish Catholics accounting for 12-15 per cent of the population, and much higher in the West of Scotland. In England the Irish population peaked at around 3.5 per cent of the population in the 1860s and 1870s, when Holborn and King’s Cross were Irish slums. And even though the Irish genetic component of the English population probably doubled over the next century before the Tiger economy shut off immigration, the earlier populations had by that stage lost their ethnic-religious identity and married into the native population. Liverpool, the most Catholic city in England, was possibly 25 per cent Irish or second-generation Irish at one point, Manchester less than half that, and Birmingham and London even smaller proportionately.

The Irish Catholic population was simply not big enough to make sectarianism the lasting issue in England that it is in Scotland, or Northern Ireland, where a Catholic population of 35 per cent was enough to lead to conflict.

And if two white ethnic groups can't live together peacefully then what hope does a multiracial society have?

The United States embassy in Haiti has said that it is worried about possible fraud in recent legislative elections in the black nation

The embassy said that the Haitian government and the country's provisional electoral commission needed to explain why a number of candidates won seats in the final results, when they hadn't been leading in preliminary counts. Of 18 such cases, it said, 16 favored the governing Unity party - known in Haiti as Inite - of the outgoing President, Rene Preval. Haiti's President-elect, Michel Martelly, has called for an investigation into the results and urged Preval not to ratify them. Martelly, a popular Haitian singer, won the presidency in a run-off election, with over two-thirds of the vote. But his party has won only a handful of seats in the incoming legislature. So if he is to get much-needed legislation passed, he will have to work alongside the Unity party, which will dominate the new legislature. It will have an absolute majority in the 30-seat Senate. And it is very close to an absolute majority in the lower house, which has 99 seats. The US Embassy in the capital Port-au-Prince queried the swings in 17 seats in the lower house, and one in the Senate. It asked why one winning candidate from the incumbent party - who had been in third place after the preliminary count - gained 55,000 votes, going "from 90,000 in the preliminary results to more than 145,000 in the final results."

Children as young as eight have been sexually assaulted during the conflict between rebels trying to oust the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and forces loyal to him

British charity, Save The Children, said that it had spoken to nearly 300 children in six temporary camps in rebel-held Benghazi and heard reports of rapes and murders committed recently in Ras Lanuf, Ajdabiyah and Misrata. Michael Mahrt, who carried out the assessment, said that the families and children spoke of "soldiers" committing the assaults, but the charity could not say which side they came from. In one case mothers who had fled the fighting told the charity that a group of four or five teenage girls in Ajdabiyah had been abducted, held hostage for four days and raped. In another case in Ajdabiyah an eight-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in front of her 10-year-old sister and other siblings, the charity said. Mahrt said that the reports of sexual violence against children were unconfirmed but consistent. Adults were not spared the violence, the charity said. Some children said that they had witnessed their fathers being murdered and mothers raped before they were themselves beaten.

Black-on-white violence in fast food restaurants

Dennis Mangan looks at recent incidents of black violence in public places. One of the interesting things about these incidents is that many were videotaped by blacks themselves. This seems to indicate that many blacks are not even remotely embarrassed by acts of violence and savagery committed by their fellow blacks. The message here is that if you want to reduce your chances of becoming a victim of violence then you should avoid black areas.

A judge has sentenced a black man to die for the slaying of an Auburn University freshman who was abducted at gunpoint, fatally shot and left to die on a rural road

Judge Jacob Walker imposed the sentence on Courtney Lockhart, 26, who was convicted of capital murder in the 2008 killing of Lauren Burk, 18, of Marietta, Ga. The jury voted 12-0 to recommend a sentence of life without parole for Lockhart, but the judge has the final say under Alabama law. Walker decided Lockhart should be put to death, noting that the black man was suspected in other crimes that the jurors didn't know about. Evidence showed that Burk was kidnapped from a campus parking lot at Auburn on March 4, 2008, after visiting her boyfriend. Prosecutors said that Lockhart forced her to disrobe and shot her in the back as she tried to escape from the moving vehicle, then left her to die. During the trial, defense lawyers argued that Lockhart was mentally troubled and didn't mean for the gun to go off. Speaking to a nearly full courtroom, Walker said that Lockhart was suspected in a string of five robberies that occurred in southeast Alabama and west Georgia around the same time as the slaying, but jurors did not hear about those crimes during the murder trial.

Britain says no to North African refugees

It is a pity that the Italians are not as intelligent as the British.

An Anchorage police officer who took on a false identity that masked his Mexican citizenship has been arrested and charged with passport fraud

U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler said that patrolman Rafael Espinoza, on the Anchorage police force for about six years, was really Rafael Mora-Lopez, a Mexican national working in the United States illegally. The identity swap was discovered when the police officer applied for a U.S. passport in January 2011 and officials from the State Department found that the Rafael Espinoza identity he was using was actually another person, a U.S. citizen in the Lower 48. Part of the ongoing investigation will look into how the Mexican national slipped through the screening process for Anchorage police officers. Passport fraud, a felony, carries a maximum 10-year sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Judge John D. Roberts set Mora-Lopez's bail at $50,000 and approved conditions for his release that include home confinement and electronic monitoring.

A fired Koran-burning New Jersey Transit worker is getting his job back - along with an extra $25,000 for his troubles

Derek Fenton, 40, will also collect back pay since his Sept. 13, 2010, dismissal for torching pages of the Muslim religious book on the site of a proposed lower Manhattan Islamic center. The deal additionally pays Fenton $25,000 for pain and suffering and restores his pension credits. Fenton was not working when he arrived at the site of the controversial Islamic center to mark the ninth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center. The father of two burned three pages of the Koran to protest the planned center's proximity to the site of the attack by Muslim terrorists who flew planes into the twin towers. He was led away by police and never identified himself as a NJ Transit employee. Yet two days later, Fenton was fired. The ACLU filed suit on Fenton's behalf, and the deal was brokered before the case went to trial. The state also agreed to reimburse the ACLU for a $25,000 legal tab. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had backed Fenton's firing, saying that the transit worker's behavior was unacceptable. Nice to see the ACLU on the right side of a lawsuit for a change and shame on Chris Christie for pandering to Muslims and other anti-American groups.

Dearborn jury says that Terry Jones should not be allowed to hold a rally at the Islamic Center of America

Once again the free speech rights of Christian Americans are thrown in the garbage to appease Muslims.

Sports, marriage and black-on-black violence

The black wife of Miami Dolphins star receiver Brandon Marshall has been charged with stabbing him in the abdomen with a kitchen knife during a domestic violence incident, according to a report from the Broward County, Florida, sheriff's office. Michi Nogami-Marshall, 27, has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, which occurred in their Southwest Ranches, Florida, home, according to the sheriff's report. His wife is being held in the county's main jail in Fort Lauderdale in lieu of $7,500 bond. The couple, who have no children, have been married one year and have been involved together for two and a half years, the sheriff's report said. The wife told police that she stabbed her husband "out of self defense," the report said.

Don't go to a McDonald's in a black area

Four black woman viciously attack a young white girl at a McDonald's in Baltimore.

Race and human evolution

Peter Frost says that humans are the fast runners of evolution.

Caucasoid genetics

Dienekes looks at the genetic contributions that Asians and Africans have made to various European populations.

Are Southern Europeans part African?

Researchers analyzed genome-wide polymorphism data from about 40 West Eurasian groups to show that almost all Southern Europeans have inherited 1% – 3% African ancestry with an average mixture date of around 55 generations ago, consistent with North African gene flow at the end of the Roman Empire and subsequent Arab migrations. Levantine groups harbor 4% – 15% African ancestry with an average mixture date of about 32 generations ago, consistent with close political, economic, and cultural links with Egypt in the late middle ages. They also detect 3% – 5% sub-Saharan African ancestry in all eight of the diverse Jewish populations that were analyzed. For the Jewish admixture, they obtain an average estimated date of about 72 generations. This may reflect descent of these groups from a common ancestral population that already had some African ancestry prior to the Jewish Diasporas.

Family of 12 African asylum seekers land in Britain - and are handed a £6,000-a-month home paid for by the British taxpayer

The Ethiopian couple and their ten children are receiving a staggering £1,460 a week in housing benefit alone. The jobless couple will also be eligible for other handouts such as unemployment and child benefits, which could potentially add up to an additional £1,300 a week. Council officials, who refused to give further details of the case, found the family a mini mansion after they arrived in London from Africa. It was not revealed whether the family is suspected of entering Britain illegally before claiming asylum. The couple receive a weekly sum of £1,462.90, according to the council’s housing benefits claims department, meaning that the family will cost taxpayers £76,000 in housing benefit alone if allowed to stay in the property for 12 months.

Hindu immigrants and ritual garbage in Queens

South Asian immigrants are trying to turn Jamaica Bay into a new Ganges where they leave religious objects such as clothing, statues and cremation ashes that have turned the area into a Hindu garbage dump.

Men who have sex with men still make up the majority of new HIV infections nationwide - 53%

Among them, black men between 13 and 29 had more new infections than any other group. With Hispanics, the most infections also occurred in this youngest age group. But among white men, the most new infections were found in those between 30 and 39. The CDC has designated HIV a crisis in African-American communities. While blacks account for 14% of the population in the United States, they make up almost half of Americans living with the HIV virus. In Tennessee, 645 black people were diagnosed with HIV in 2009, more than double the 300 white people newly diagnosed. Black men on the “down low,” who keep secret about having sex with other men, and the higher incarceration rate for black men are factors for the spread of the disease among African-American women. The HIV incidence rate for black women was nearly 15 times as high as that for white women and nearly four times as high as Hispanic women’s, according to a CDC report.

In Tunica, Mississippi, ten guilty verdicts of voter fraud have been returned against NAACP officer Lessadolla Sowers

She has been sentenced to five years for each count without the possibility of parole and will serve the terms concurrently. Sowers manipulated the absentee ballot process in the 2007 election.

Hispanic murderer tattooed a detailed mural of the crime scene across his own chest

Los Angeles gangster Anthony Garcia would likely have gotten away with a 2004 murder outside a liquor store if it wasn't for one slip-up: He tattooed a detailed mural of the crime scene across his chest. By chance, a detective who worked on the case saw the tattoo when flipping through photos of gang members years later, and launched an investigation that has led to a first-degree murder conviction for the 22-year-old killer. The tattoo — under the banner "Rivera Kills," in reference to the Rivera-13 gang — had accurate details of the Pico Rivera murder scene, including Christmas lights, a street lamp, and even the direction the victim's body fell. Garcia — whose gang nickname was "Chopper" — even added a helicopter firing bullets at the victim. "He tattooed his confession on his chest. You have a degree of fate with this," a police captain says. "The detective who spotted it had been a Pico sergeant who went on to become a homicide sergeant. I never worked Pico station. I never would have recognized that Pico liquor store."

A Detroit-area black woman who authorities say set her boyfriend on fire and chased him with a butcher knife has pleaded guilty in the case

Forty-year-old Sheila Golly has pleaded guilty in Macomb County Circuit Court to assault with a dangerous weapon. Police say that the couple argued about the man's drinking and Golly poured nail polish on him. She used a lighter to set him afire. He was hospitalized for treatment.

A black sex offender, who posed as a cop and kidnapped a woman, gets life in prison

Wesley Watson, a 55-year-old rapist, has been declared an aggravated habitual sexual offender and sentenced to life in prison with zero chance of parole. In December 2010, Watson posed as a cop, accused a woman of shoplifting, kidnapped her and attempted to rape her in Kansas City, Kansas. In February 2011, Watson pleaded guilty to charges of attempted rape, kidnapping and aggravated sexual battery. Watson had been convicted of attempted rape in 1977 and rape and aggravated assault in 1980. In one of the rapes, Watson followed a 14-year-old girl home from school, broke into her home and raped her. The Kansas Parole Board granted him parole in January 2009. Sedgwick County authorities tried to have Watson committed indefinitely as a sexual predator to the Larned State Mental Hospital, but Watson's defense reportedly presented two psychiatrists who testified that Watson wasn't dangerous. They were obviously wrong, but a Wichita jury deadlocked, and Watson was released in January 2010.

A Hispanic fugitive from the DPS top ten sex offenders in Texas list has been arrested trying to cross into Mexico

Troopers say that 51 year old Jose Manuel Vasquez was arrested by DPS and the U.S. Marshal's office at the Stanton Street Port of Entry in El Paso. Two people submitted a tip that Vasquez was in Porvenir, Mexico when Mexican authorities arrested him and handed him over to U.S. authorities. Each of the tipsters will get $1,500 for their help capturing Vasquez. Vasquez has 18 counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Potter and Randall counties. His victims were between 7 and 9 years old. He is also charged for failing to register as a sex offender and for violating probation after an indecency with a child conviction. Vasquez will ultimately be transported back to Amarillo.

A Jamaican imam is being deported from Germany because of speeches that argue that practicing homosexuals should be sentenced to death

The deportation order was prepared ahead of an open-air speech Abu Ameena Bilal Philips delivered to about 2,000 Muslims in Frankfurt. He must leave Germany and never return. German law allows for the expulsion of anyone who incites hatred. Philips was born in Jamaica and grew up Canada, and was a communist before he converted to Islam at 25.

Muslim-on-Muslim violence in Nigeria

Authorities are blaming members of a radical Muslim sect for the killing of an Islamic cleric in northeastern Nigeria. Police chief Mike Zuokumor said that when the police responded to the scene of the attack in Maiduguri, a police patrol was ambushed by a blast that wounded three officers. The violence comes amid deadly post-election rioting elsewhere in the north. The radical Muslim sect known as Boko Haram has targeted police and clerics who oppose the group in a string of killings. Members also have attacked Christian churches and engineered a massive prison break.

Five of six men charged over a village council-sanctioned gang rape in Pakistan have been acquitted by the Supreme Court

The court upheld the decision of a lower court, which included commuting the death penalty of the sixth man to life imprisonment. The victim, Mukhataran Mai, hit world headlines after speaking out about her ordeal in 2002. She has since become an icon for women's rights in Pakistan. She said she now feared for her life. "The police never even recorded my own statements correctly," she said. "I don't have any more faith in the courts. I have put my faith in God's judgement now. I don't know what the legal procedure is, but my faith [in the system] is gone. Yes, there is a threat to me and my family. There is a threat of death, and even of the same thing happening again. Anything can happen." Ali Dayan Hasan of the US-based Human Rights Watch said that the verdict sent a very bad signal across Pakistani society. "It suggests women can be abused and even raped with impunity and those perpetrating such crimes can walk," he said. Mukhtaran Mai was attacked on the orders of the powerful Mastoi clan as a punishment because her brother - 12 at the time - had allegedly been having an affair with a Mastoi woman. This, they said, had brought shame to the entire clan. An illiterate villager in the eastern province of Punjab, Mukhtaran Mai could have gone the way of many other Pakistani women who are raped, committing suicide. Instead, she battled against her initial suicidal feelings and began a lengthy legal battle, which has since won her human rights accolades and an iconic status for women's rights in the country. She runs a school for girls in her village, and has vowed that the ruling will not force her to leave her home.

Mexican officials say that they have found another mass grave in the northern state of Durango

Police discovered 30 bodies in a residential area of Durango city. The discovery comes as forensic experts continued to try and identify the remains of 145 people buried in mass graves in northern Tamaulipas. The northern states are at the center of a violent battle between rival drug gangs for control of lucrative smuggling routes. Durango state prosecutor Ramiro Ortiz Aguirre said that the search for more bodies was continuing. He said that the morgue was running out of space to store the bodies and asked for help providing extra refrigerated space. Forensic experts said that the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition. Durango is in an area where the powerful Sinaloa drugs cartel operates. The cartel is led by Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the most wanted man in Mexico.

Households with children with the highest welfare use rates are those headed by immigrants from the Dominican Republic (82%), Mexico and Guatemala (75%), and Ecuador (70%)

Those with the lowest use rates are from the United Kingdom (7%), India (19%), Canada (23%), and Korea (25%).

The number of criminal aliens incarcerated in California rose to 102,795 in 2009, a 17% increase since 2003

Nationwide, the Government Accountability Office reports, it costs well over $1.1 billion a year for states to imprison criminal aliens - those who committed a crime after entering the United States illegally. More than one in four of the illegal immigrants imprisoned in California are behind bars for drug offenses. Many are also repeat offenders. GAO auditors say that, based on a survey, criminal alien inmates have been arrested an average of seven different times.

Americans are more pessimistic about the nation’s economic outlook and overall direction than they have been at any time since Obama’s first two months in office

At a time of rising gas prices, stubborn unemployment and a debate in Washington over the federal government’s ability to meet its future obligations, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll presents stark evidence that the slow, if unsteady, gains in public confidence earlier in 2011 that a recovery was under way are now all but gone. Capturing what appears to be an abrupt change in attitude, the survey shows that the number of Americans who think the economy is getting worse has jumped 13% in just one month. Though there have been encouraging signs of renewed growth since Fall 2010, many economists are having second thoughts, warning that the pace of expansion might not be fast enough to create significant numbers of new jobs. Disapproval of Obama’s handling of the economy has never been worse — up to 57% of Americans — a warning sign as he begins to set his sights on re-election in 2012. For all the talk of cutting the deficit in Capitol Hill and Wall Street, only 29% said it would create more jobs — the issue of greatest concern — while 27% believed it would have no effect on the employment outlook, and 29% said it would actually cost jobs. In what Republicans can take as a positive sign as they seek a more limited government, 55% of poll respondents said that they would rather have fewer services from a smaller government than more services from a bigger one, as opposed to 33% who preferred the opposite, a continuation of a trend in Times/CBS polls. And slightly more Americans approve than disapprove of a proposal by Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin to change Medicare from a program that pays doctors and hospitals directly for treating seniors to one in which the government helps seniors pay for private plans, though that support derived mostly from Republicans and independents, not Democrats. Twice as many respondents said that they would rather see a reduction in spending on federal programs that benefit people like them than an increase in taxes to pay for such programs. Obama’s job approval remains below a majority, with 46% saying that they approve of his performance in office as opposed to 45% who do not. And support for his handling of the military campaign in Libya has fallen off sharply: 39% approve and 45% disapprove.

Racism in Asia

Islamic Indonesia isn't too fond of blacks.

Energy saving light bulbs contain cancer causing chemicals

Fears have been reignited about the safety of energy saving light bulbs after a group of scientists warned that they contain cancer causing chemicals. Their report advises that the bulbs should not be left on for extended periods, particularly near someone’s head, as they emit poisonous materials when switched on. Peter Braun, who carried out the tests at the Berlin's Alab Laboratory, said: “For such carcinogenic substances it is important they are kept as far away as possible from the human environment.”

About 57% of immigrants with children — those in the United States legally or not — use at least one government or welfare program

In Texas, 70% of illegal immigrant families receive welfare. I guess immigrants aren't doing the jobs that Americans won't do.

Somali Muslim slits the throats of his three children, rapes his wife and then hits her with a hammer

This Islamic honor killing happened in Kentucky. Just one more reason to keep Muslims out of the United States.

New research suggests that a high-calorie, high-protein diet may improve the outcome for some service members with brain injuries due to battlefield explosions

The Pentagon spends billions of dollars trying to detect and avoid improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan, but traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have become an expensive and troubling legacy of the wars - responsible for a variety of injuries and long-term problems for military service members. An Institute of Medicine report says that improvements in nutrition may offer benefits just after a blast injury and calls for immediate changes. The committee strongly supports the provision of energy and protein to patients with severe TBI early after injury. They advise that this important recommendation be implemented immediately and say it will achieve significant positive outcomes by reducing the inflammatory response, which is likely to be at its height during the first two weeks after the injury. The report calls for more research on the beneficial effects of other nutrients and suggests that a different diet before an injury also may have benefits.

A specialized high-fat, low carbohydrate diet, may reverse impaired kidney function in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes

Scientists have also identified a previously unreported panel of genes associated with diabetes-related kidney damage, whose changes in expression were reversed by the diet.

Prosecutors have charged a black man with the murders of three teenage girls he met on telephone chat lines

Sonny Pierce, 27, has been charged with three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Mariah Edwards, 17, Kiara Windom and Kimika Coleman, both 18. Pierce has been linked to two of the victims through DNA evidence and the third through a videotape. Pierce has been in custody since August 2010 on a separate aggravated criminal assault charge involving a 15-year-old girl. In two of the murders, Pierce had sexual relations with the victims before killing them. In one case, Pierce videotaped himself having sex with the lifeless corpse of his victim after he first raped the young girl in front of friends and had them help beat her to death.

Racial differences in educational achievement have endured for decades in spite of increased spending on black students

If white 15 year olds were counted as a separate group, they would rank 3rd in the world on the PISA tests among the 34 OECD countries, whereas American Hispanics would score 31st and American blacks would rank 33rd. In addition, 50.7% of African American households pay no income taxes, 35.5% of Asian American households do not, 37.6% of White American households do not, and roughly 52% of Hispanics pay no income taxes. Also, the majority of illegal aliens and immigrant households with children in the United States of America are on welfare including 62% of immigrant households in Arizona, 61% in Texas, California and New York, and 59% in Pennsylvania.

A Rasmussen Reports survey shows that 61% of likely U.S. voters believe that a child born to a woman who is here illegally should not automatically become a U.S. citizen

This is the highest level of support for a change in the existing law found in five years of Rasmussen Reports surveying. In addition, 84% of voters believe that before anyone receives local, state or federal government services, they should be required to prove that they are legally allowed to be in the United States. Also, 77% of Republicans and 63% of voters not affiliated with either major political party oppose automatic U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. Americans believe that there is more poverty in the United States in 2011 than there was 10 years ago, but 61% of adults say that if immigration laws were enforced, there would be less poverty in the country. Finally, 50% of adults say that it is too easy to qualify for welfare in the United States.

Prehypertension and hypertension are independently associated with increased risk for Type 2 diabetes in people of white ethnicity

This is not the case in African-Americans, however, in whom the higher incidence of diabetes among hypertensive individuals could be explained by the presence of other risk factors such as elevated body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

Diversity or free speech but not both

Muslim professor wants a legal ban on Koran-burning.

The longer a man's fourth or ring finger is compared to his index finger, the more likely he is to be judged attractive by women

The results unveil intricate links between fetal exposure of males to hormones, the development of certain physical traits, and what turns on the opposite sex. It also adds to a growing body of research - conducted under the banner of evolutionary psychology - suggesting that the drivers of human behavior are found, more than previously suspected, in "nature" rather than "nurture." Earlier studies had already shown that the size ratio between the fourth and second fingers, especially of the right hand, is a reliable indicator of the extent a man was exposed to testosterone while still in the womb. The bigger the gap between a longer ring finger and a shorter index, the greater the likely impact of the hormone. The ring-index finger ratio has also proven to be a useful indicator for gauging the risk of prostate cancer, likewise tied to high levels of testosterone. Research shows that the chances of developing the disease drop by a third in men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger. Other studies have also found a link between exposure to hormones before birth and the development of other diseases, including breast cancer and osteoarthritis.

A Hispanic teen is under arrest for brandishing a machete in robbing a local man he knows

Jesus Cortes, 17, has been arrested after he forced a 19-year-old man to drive to another location so he could get some cash. Lt. Jeffrey Bukunt said that Cortes originally had a 16-year-old boy drive him to the older teen's single family home. Once they were at the residence, Cortes got out of the car and grabbed a machete that he saw inside another parked car. The 19-year-old man, who was vaguely familiar with Cortes, came out of the house with another young man. Cortes, now armed with the machete, forced the 19-year-old to drive him in his car to the second location. The 16-year-old followed them in his car. Cortes was not able to get any money at the second location and left, driving off with the 16-year-old. The 19-year-old man was robbed but Bukunt would not say what was taken from him. Cortes was arrested about three hours later in a motor vehicle stop. He has been charged with robbery, criminal restraint, sale of a narcotic drug and possession of marijuana. The drug charge says that he gave the 16-year-old some narcotic pills in payment for the ride. Cortes has been arraigned in Nashua District Court.

Black man plucks out his uncle's eyes with a spoon - police find the victim's eyes in the garbage can and a bloody spoon on the table

Prichard police have arrested a black man on assault charges after they say he confessed to plucking out his uncle's eyeballs with a spoon. Police got a 911 call from relatives of 79 year old Bonnie Pogue. When officers got to the house, Timayo Knight told them what he had done. Police found a bloody spoon on the kitchen table and Pogue's eye balls in the garbage can. Knight was arrested and charged with assault. Pogue survived the attack. Prichard Police Chief Jimmy Gardener says that Pogue is in the ICU at Mobile Infirmary, listed in serious condition. According to jail records, Knight has never been arrested for any violent crimes. He was previously arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and failure to obey a policeman.

Scientists have developed a way to predict how much a person can learn

Researchers have collected brain imaging data from people performing a motor task, and then analyzed this data using new computational techniques. They found evidence that the flexibility of a person's brain can be used to predict how well someone will learn. The researchers view flexibility as how different areas of the brain link up in different combinations.

Sixty-six Muslim schoolboys in Malaysia identified by teachers as effeminate have been sent to a special camp for counseling on masculine behavior

An education official said that the camp was meant to guide the boys back "to a proper path in life". Gay rights groups have criticized the measure, saying that it promotes homophobia in the Muslim-majority country where gay sex is still illegal. State officials say that, if left unchecked, the students - aged between 13 and 17 - could end up gay or transsexual. The state's education director, Razali Daud, said that although homosexuals and transvestites exist in Malaysia, the authorities want to limit their number. Gay sex is illegal in Malaysia and homosexuals say that they face discrimination from government policies such as a law that makes sodomy punishable by 20 years in prison.

Two widows have been bludgeoned to death by a man in the northern Indian state of Haryana

Police have arrested a 23-year-old man, the nephew of one of the women. He was on parole, having served a sentence for rape. Eyewitnesses told police that he killed his aunt and another woman in full view of other villagers, after he accused them of being in a lesbian relationship. So-called "honor killings" are relatively common in the area. There have been numerous cases in rural Haryana where women - and men - defying age-old notions of tradition and family honor have been ostracized, murdered or even publicly lynched. The latest killings happened at Ranila village. The accused began beating one of the women, identified as 35-year-old Suman, with a wooden club after accusing her of having an "unnatural affair" with his aunt Shakuntala, eyewitnesses told the police. A few minutes later, he dragged his aunt onto the village street and beat her to death in front of local villagers who were too scared to intervene. The two bled to death as the villagers watched.

Black teen kills two British tourists in Florida

Black 16-year-old Shawn Tyson has been charged with two counts of murder for shooting British tourists James Cooper and James Kouzaris in a run-down suburb of Sarasota.

A Hispanic reacted to being told that he would have to pay child support by savagely attacking his wife during a divorce hearing in a judge's chambers

Paul Henry Gonzalez knocked his wife unconscious with the first punch and continued beating her. His wife's lawyer restrained him until deputies arrived. Gonzalez fought off the deputies until he was pinned to the judge's conference table and Tasered — twice. Gonzalez is being held on charges of felony battery, domestic violence and resisting arrest. His wife was hospitalized with facial fractures and a broken nose. The couple, who have a 1-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son, married in 2006 and were at their final divorce hearing.

Muslims are rioting in northern Nigeria

Nigerian Muslims don't like the fact that their candidate lost in the recent elections and so are behaving violently as Muslims tend to do when things don't go their way.

The Mexican state of Tamaulipas has dismissed its head of security following the discovery of 145 bodies in mass graves

Former army Gen Ubaldo Ayala Tinoco has been replaced by another former soldier, Capt Rafael Lomeli Martinez. The state governor said that the new chief would improve coordination with the army and federal police in the fight against drugs gangs. The killings have been blamed on the Zetas drug cartel. More than 20 suspected cartel members have been arrested in connection with the killings, including the mastermind of the massacre. But 16 state policemen have also been arrested on suspicion of protecting the criminals. Capt Lomeli was previously head of the Federal Police in Nuevo Leon, another northern border state where drug-related violence is rife. He said that he was committed to pacifying Tamaulipas, which is the scene of a bloody battle between the Zetas and the rival Gulf cartel, who are competing for control of drug smuggling routes. The mass graves containing 145 bodies were found in the municipality of San Fernando, near the US border.

France has prevented all trains carrying illegal immigrants entering its borders from Italy

Italy apparently believes that its role in the world is to flood Europe with as many North Africans as possible.

Non-Hispanic black infants born with heart defects are more likely to die within the first five years of life than their non-Hispanic white and Hispanic peers

For certain types of congenital heart abnormalities, Hispanic children as well as non-Hispanic black children fare worse than non-Hispanic white children. Congenital heart defects are malformations in one or more structures of the heart or major blood vessels that occur before birth. They are the most common of all birth defects and the leading cause of death among infants with birth defects. There is a growing body of evidence that minority infants with specific types of heart defects have poorer survival rates in early childhood than non-Hispanic white infants. Non-Hispanic black race/ethnicity is more strongly associated with increased risk of early childhood death than Hispanic race/ethnicity. Overall, non-Hispanic black infants with congenital heart defects have a 32% greater risk of early childhood death than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. In contrast, Hispanic infants with heart defects have no overall increased risk of early childhood death when compared with white infants. The risk of early childhood death is twice as great for non-Hispanic black infants with a reversal in primary connections of the heart's two main blood vessels (known as transposition of the great arteries) as for similarly affected non-Hispanic white infants. The same two-fold increased risk is seen in this group for tetralogy of Fallot, a cyanotic heart defect causing low oxygen levels in the blood. Of the three racial/ethnic groups, non-Hispanic black infants consistently have the lowest survival rates for congenital abnormalities in the septum (wall) separating the left and right sides of the heart. Hispanic children have the lowest survival rate of the three groups for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare defect in which the heart's left side is critically underdeveloped. They are also less likely to survive than non-Hispanic whites when born with pulmonary valve atresia without ventricular septic defect, a condition including absence of the pulmonary valve opening in the heart.

An Israeli mob figure has pleaded guilty to spearheading an extortion scheme targeting two Israeli-born businessmen in Las Vegas

Moshe Barmuha, 39, awaits sentencing after he entered the plea in U.S. District Court to one count of extortion and one count of interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Barmuha and four other defendants were charged in a six-count indictment in 2010 with attempting to extort thousands of dollars from two businessmen, Moshe "Moshiko" Ozana and Moshe "Chiko" Karmi, who run small electronics and cosmetics kiosks at outlet malls. Las Vegas police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents uncovered the extortion scheme, which brought to light the Israeli mob's stepped-up presence in Nevada. Barmuha, an Israeli citizen who lives in Southern California, was the last of the defendants to plead guilty. He was "known to be affiliated with a very powerful organized crime family," according to prosecutors. Court-approved wiretaps revealed that defendant Yakov Cohen of Las Vegas threatened violence against the kiosk owners and bragged about his ties to the Israeli mob. Prosecutors allege that Cohen was trying to muscle in on the operations of Ozana and Karmi. Barmuha's plea agreement describes his leading role in the scheme, which included threatening Karmi on Cohen's behalf. Cohen, 24, an Israeli citizen, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to extortion and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. The other defendants are Lior Zaken of Southern California, and Ruslan Magomedgadzhiev, 30, and his brother, Murad, 27. The Russian-born brothers live in Southern California. Barmuha's right arm was amputated below the elbow after a pipe bomb he planted under a rival's car in Israel prematurely exploded.

The black commander of an army unit that lured innocent Afghans to their deaths and then took horrific pictures has been cleared of responsibility for the atrocities

Colonel Harry D Tunnell, the black commander of 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was criticized in a report for defying the Army’s established counter insurgency role in favor of a more search and destroy type strategy. The report stopped short of blaming the reportedly gung-ho Tunnell for the appalling actions of those under his command, saying that there was no causal relationship between his aggressive leadership style and the killings. As a result of the investigation, Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti recommended that Tunnell receive a letter of admonition. While he remains in the Army, the letter could hamper his future carer path. In the report, generals whom Tunnell had served under while in Afghanistan said that he was constantly arguing with his superiors over the doctrine of counterinsurgency or COIN employed in Afghanistan. The strategy, under which U.S. and Nato forces attempted to undermine the insurgency by gaining the loyalty of Afghans, ran counter to Tunnell's old-fashioned counter-guerrilla strategy, where he instructed his soldiers to concentrate on engaging and destroying the enemy. The investigation into Tunnell's leadership was launched in the wake of a Rolling Stone magazine article that uncovered a number of shocking killings carried out by members of 2nd Infantry division.

Accused Hispanic child rapist wants deportation back to Mexico

Three small children said that he raped them, but that man may never face charges for any of it. The illegal immigrant may be incompetent to stand trial. Juan Gonzalez’s lawyer said that his client should get a get out of jail free card, so he can go live in Mexico. Gonzalez was 13 when he told investigators that he raped a little boy and a little girl. Then in 2010 the 20-year-old Mexican admitted to raping another child inside a popular Albuquerque gym. A terrified 6-year-old girl attacked inside the playroom at the Midtown Sports and Wellness. “He held hand over his mouth so she couldn't scream,” Albuquerque Police Deputy Chief Beth Paiz said when Gonzalez was arrested. ”He could hear the child say stop, stop, stop.” Gonzalez's criminal case for rape is at a standstill. “The issue of competency was raised so that basically stops the case,” District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said. Gonzalez is being sent to Las Vegas, to the state's mental hospital for criminals. Gonzalez's attorney wouldn't speak on camera but said that he's pushing for Gonzalez to be deported with the promise he won't come back. His attorney said that his family wants to take him back to Mexico. The D.A.'s office says that releasing Gonzalez could put more children at risk. “That's not a solution, shipping him back to Mexico, losing track of him and then having him cross the border at some unknown time,” said Brandenburg. Gonzalez never stood trial for the previous rape cases as a juvenile because he was deemed incompetent and released to his parents. The D.A.'s office said that if Gonzalez isn't competent, it will push for the court to criminally commit him. That would mean that he would stay in the mental facility in Las Vegas for the same amount of time that he would have served if he were convicted of the rape charge. That could be up to 18 years.

Black salesman gets more than 30 years in prison for the violent rape of a woman in her home

During the trial, Judge Karin Immergut found that David Samuel Washington, 29, forced his way into a woman’s home in October 2005. He dragged the woman upstairs to a more secluded area of the home and raped her. He also stuffed a glove in her mouth to muffle her screams, punched her in the stomach, slapped her in the face and choked her to the point where she blacked out. He threatened to kill the woman if she reported the incident to police. The judge found him guilty of first-degree burglary, kidnapping and rape. In justifying the lengthy prison sentence, Immergut found that Washington was deliberately cruel and excessively violent. She said that the woman, who spoke little English and reportedly didn’t know how to use 9-1-1, was a vulnerable victim. The judge also determined that Washington has a persistent involvement in crime, including a random gunpoint carjacking of a woman in Tennessee. “Mr. Washington is a brutal sexual predator,” Immergut said.

Two men of North African origin attack a 21-year-old man after claiming that he looked Jewish

A 21-year-old man from the city of Villeurbanne in southern France was severely injured after being assaulted by two men of North African origin. The violent incident occurred as the man headed home from a Torah class at the local synagogue. The two aggressors approached the man and asked for his name. After hearing his response, the two told him: "You don’t look to be named Antoine, you look Jewish, you are a Jew." When the victim confirmed that he was Jewish the assailants shot him with a pellet gun and hit him in the head and body. He was rushed to hospital suffering from severe injuries to his abdomen, head and arm. Local police have launched an investigation. A police source said that the tone heightened between the three youths. There was an exchange of blows and two youths of North African origin took out a gun ball and possibly a truncheon.

Women who do not wear headscarves are being threatened with violence and even death by Islamic extremists intent on imposing sharia law on parts of Britain

Other targets of the Talibanesque thugs, being investigated by police in the Tower Hamlets area of London, include homosexuals. Stickers have been plastered on public walls stating: "Gay free zone. Verily Allah is severe in punishment." Posters for H&M which feature women in bikinis and a racy poster for a Bollywood film have been defaced. It is believed that Muslim extremists are behind a spate of attacks being investigated by police. A South Asian woman who works in a pharmacy in east London was told to dress more modestly and wear a veil or the shop would be boycotted. When she went to the media to talk about the abuse she suffered, a man later entered the pharmacy and told her: "If you keep doing these things, we are going to kill you." The 31-year-old, who is not a practising Muslim, said she has since been told to take a vacation by the pharmacy owners and now fears that she may lose her job. Three men have been charged with religiously-aggravated criminal damage in connection with some of the incidents, which have mirrored crude attempt at censorship in Birmingham. Tower Hamlets has a reputation for being a center of Islamic extremism in London. Before Christmas, posters appeared in the borough claiming the religious festival was "evil." The campaign's organiser was 27-year-old Abu Rumaysah, who once called for Sharia Law in Britain at a press conference held by hate preacher leader Anjem Choudary, the leader of banned militant group Islam4UK. Rumaysah said: "Christmas is a lie and as Muslims it is our duty to attack it. But our main attack is on the fruits of Christmas, things like alcohol abuse and promiscuity that increase during Christmas and all the other evils these lead to such as abortion, domestic violence and crime. We hope that out campaign will make people realise that Islam is the only way to avoid this and convert."

Jews in Italy try to undermine free speech

Italian Jewish leaders have called on Italy's education minister to take action against a Milan high school teacher accused of Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. Italian schoolteacher, Barbara Albertoni, is under attack by Jews for having a pro-Palestinian/anti-Zionist blog and for questioning the Holocaust.

Israel's chief Ashkenazi rabbi is calling on Obama to released convicted spy Jonathan Pollard

Rabbi Yonah Metzger says that many American Jews who voted for Obama are disappointed that Pollard hasn't been released yet. He says that Obama will be a one term president if he doesn't release the Jewish spy who betrayed the United States.

Tolerance is defined by Jews in terms of what benefits them

Even if this "tolerance" comes at the expense of gentiles.

Pakistani writer agrees that Muslim immigration is a bad idea

Aarish Jamil, writing for the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune, points out that most Pakistanis don't want Afghans migrating to Pakistan.

A young man was attacked by a knife-wielding black gang in a terrifying robbery in Wexham, England

The victim, in his 20s, was walking when he was approached by a group of six or seven black men. He was told to hand over his watch, and when he refused a fight broke out, during which the man was assaulted and had his mobile phone and wallet stolen. The man sustained cuts to his hand during the incident which required stitches. The man with the knife is a light-skinned black man, aged about 23 or 24 years old, 6ft 3ins, slim, and had stubble and curly black hair. He has tattoos on the side of his neck.

New figures show that 42% of African-American women have never married

The problem is even more acute for black professional women. Part of the problem is that there are more black women than men. Added to this is that a disproportionate number of black men are in prison or have not got a college degree.

Law enforcement agents in Tucson have arrested a black suspect in a shooting at a Northern Arizona University fraternity house

Authorities have arrested 26-year-old Oronde K. Lowery for aggravated assault, said Flagstaff police Sgt. James Jackson. Jackson said that officers found Lowery in Tucson and that Flagstaff Police are still looking for the second suspect in the case, 21-year-old Josoanny T. Audifre. After shots were fired at the Delta Chi house police began an investigation, Jackson said. Jackson said that the shooting left the front of the Delta Chi house pockmarked with bullet holes.

A black pimp accused in the murder of an off-duty Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constable has turned himself in to HPD Headquarters

Lee Eldridge Sonier, 31, is charged with capital murder in the shooting death of Deputy Ronnie Earl Brewer, 47. Brewer's body was found in a car. A second black suspect, Judy Lucille Hambrick, 40, is also charged with capital murder in the case.

Authorities are searching for a black man who is wanted in connection with a shooting that left a police officer with a gunshot wound to the foot

Police are looking for Durall Jessie Miller, 24. The officer who was shot was hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said. According to Miami-Dade police, the shooting happened when officers on patrol encountered gunfire. According to police, Miller has been identified as the shooter and he is wanted for two counts of attempted murder on a police officer. He was possibly last seen in a black, newer model Nissan SUV. Miller should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.

A Hispanic police officer has been arrested a second time in a child molestation case

The Oklahoma City Hispanic police officer accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy has been arrested again in what police said was a sting operation after tips led authorities to the runaway teen in Utah. Police said officers used a Taser while making the arrest. Police Sgt. Maurice Martinez was arrested in a traffic stop, police Capt. Patrick Stewart said. Martinez was pulled over as he was driving to a meeting that, unbeknown to him, had been set up by investigators. Police accuse Martinez of buying the boy a bus ticket to Utah and arranging for him to stay with people Martinez knew. Martinez has not been charged, but Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said that he anticipates filing numerous felony counts against Martinez. Prater said that the officer also could face federal charges. Prater said that police have information that Martinez made threats against people who are potential witnesses against him. Martinez resisted police as they tried to arrest him, and an officer used a Taser once to get him under control and restrain him, Stewart said. Martinez, 44, was first arrested Jan. 19, 2011 at his southeast Oklahoma City home after a teenage boy told confidants at church that Martinez sexually abused him. Police found hundreds of pornographic images of young males in states of undress, in a search of Martinez’s home, according to court documents. Police in the new arrest added two complaints of harboring a runaway juvenile, seven complaints of sexual abuse by a caretaker, two counts of forcible sodomy and one count of kidnapping to the sex abuse complaints from January 2011. Martinez is being held in the Oklahoma County jail, and bail has been denied by a judge. He is in a cell without other inmates, Oklahoma County sheriff’s spokesman Mark Myers said.

Black-on-black girl crime

A high school talent show was abandoned after five black girls hit a rival in the face with a padlock hidden in a sock to stop her entering. "Yo, bitch, I got a lock," one of the black suspects, Aaliyah Smith, told Shacara McLaurin - who is also black - before the brutal attack in Brooklyn, New York. The attack left McLaurin, a gifted singer and pupil at Brooklyn Academy High School, unable to compete. Smith and her four co-accused pounced as McLaurin was leaving a house after a lesson with her vocal coach. The attack was swift and brutal. According to witnesses, one of the suspects started beating McLaurin with the makeshift cosh, before the others jumped in. McLaurin's friend, Skye West, tried to protect her but was also attacked, according to police. The savage assault left McLaurin with a severely bruised jaw a deep gash on her face. She needed six stitches near her left ear. Decory Fletcher, 16, Ashanti Garner, 17, Brittany Williams, 17, and Chazmia Morrison, 17, were arrested near the scene, shortly after the attack. Smith was arrested several days later. They have been charged with felony assault, menacing, weapons possession and harassment, but were released without bail.

Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary has warned that an Islamic terrorist attack is highly likely at the British royal wedding

The Islamic preacher has told all Muslims to stay away from Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 describing it as a prime target. He also said that Muslims should avoid the Olympics for similar reasons. Choudary has also been preaching to followers of the Islamic hate group, Muslims Against Crusades, and is backing its plan for a forceful demonstration at the wedding. In 2004 Choudary said that an Islamic terrorist attack on British soil was just a matter of time and after the London bombings he refused to condemn the atrocities.

A Malaysian school teacher has been charged with the murder of a seven-year-old student at a private Islamic school in the northern state of Perlis

The schoolboy was accused of stealing a couple of dollars from a classmate. As punishment, the boy was tied up to a window, caned and beaten for two hours. He fell into a coma and died in hospital three days later. The boy's death has caused public outrage with the deputy prime minister calling the case unforgivable. Prosecutors charged a 26-year-old school teacher with murder but he did not enter a plea. If convicted he could face the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging.

An Arizona judge has sentenced an Iraqi immigrant to more than 34 years in prison for running over his 20-year-old daughter because he claimed she'd become too westernized

A Maricopa County, Arizona, jury in February 2011 convicted Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, of one count of second-degree murder in the death of Noor Faleh Almaleki. He was also found guilty of aggravated assault for causing serious injuries to Amal Edan Khalaf, the mother of Noor's fiance, as well as two counts of leaving the scene. Judge Roland Steinle sentenced Almaleki to a total of 34½ years in the Arizona Department of Corrections for his crimes. That includes 16 years - less than the maximum possible sentence of 22 years - on the murder charge, which will be served concurrently with a 15-year aggravated assault sentence. In addition, Almaleki will get consecutive 3½-year terms for leaving the scene. Noor Faleh Almaleki died in November 2009 at an Arizona hospital, nearly two weeks after being run over by a Jeep in a parking lot in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria, authorities said. Faleh Hassan Almaleki believed his daughter had become too westernized and had abandoned traditional Iraqi values, Peoria police said. The family moved to the Phoenix area in the mid-1990s, and Almaleki was unhappy with his daughter's style of dress and her resistance to his rules, according to police. Khalaf testified that Almaleki made no effort to stop before she and Noor Almaleki were struck. After the incident, Almaleki drove to Mexico, abandoning his vehicle in Nogales, police said. He then made his way to Mexico City and boarded a plane to Britain, where authorities denied him entry into the country and put him on a plane back to the United States.

An Israeli rabbi flying to New York from Tel Aviv twice fondled a female passenger as she slept

Rabbi Gavriel Bidany, 47, has been named in a criminal information charging him with misdemeanor assault. A complaint sworn by FBI Agent Janet Ambrisco provides a detailed account of the incident on Delta Airlines Flight 269. About 90 minutes into the 12-hour flight, Bidany reached over to the sleeping woman seated next to him and “placed his hand under her blanket, on her groin, and was groping her genital area.” When the victim, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the complaint, “jumped back,” Bidany “quickly removed his hand from her groin.” The woman told the FBI that she then “pulled her blanket back over her head and body.” But minutes later, Bidany again “reached under the passenger’s blanket, this time groping the passenger’s breasts.” “What are you doing, stop touching me,” she told Bidany. He replied, “It’s a mistake, I’m asleep,” according to Ambrisco. The female passenger “then left her seat to advise the flight crew of the incident.” Delta personnel confirmed to the FBI that the passenger had reported the inappropriate touching to them, and one crew member described the woman as “visibly shaken and frantic.”

If you are black in Nashville, you are five times more likely to be murdered than if you are white

In 2008, Tennessee had America’s fifth highest rate of black homicides.

Black teen motherhood

Why do African-Americans have children so early?

A Hispanic gang member has been convicted in a racially motivated slaying

A jury in Van Nuys has found Martin Sotelo, a Latino, guilty of first-degree murder with two special circumstance allegations — murder due to the victim's race, and murder in a drive-by shooting — in the slaying of a black bowling alley worker.

Blacks don’t save as much as whites

A new study shows that 60% of African-Americans have less than $50,000 in company retirement plans and only 23% have more than $100,000. They’re also three times more likely to raid their 401(k) or other retirement plans to meet immediate financial needs. Other research shows that the median assets that blacks have in retirement plans is about half the amount that whites have accumulated: $56,000 compared to $106,000.

A Chinese engineer who stole trade secrets from the Ford Motor Company has been sentenced to almost six years in prison

Xiang Dong Yu is also known as Mike Yu. He admits to copying thousands of documents with details on engine transmission systems and electrical power supply before leaving to work for a Chinese competitor in 2008. Yu has been sentenced to 70 months in prison and will be deported to China after his release. He worked at Ford for 10 years and quit the company by sending an email from China in January 2007.

Babies and race

Young infants prefer own-race faces to other race faces and recognize own-race faces better than other-race faces.

The number of bodies pulled from mass graves in Mexico's Tamaulipas state now stands at 146 and the murderers are believed to have had the protection of the police

Federal authorities have arrested 16 police officers from the town on San Fernando, accusing them of helping to protect cartel members suspected of slaughtering bus passengers. Most of the victims are believed to have been passengers kidnapped from buses traversing highways that lead to the US border. "San Fernando has become the reference point for a region without any law, other than that of organized crime and impunity," one of the country's leading news anchor wrote in a column sharply critical of authorities. "The commission of crimes and criminals of incomprehensible magnitude can only happen in the atmosphere of a failed state."

Ethiopian students lag far behind other Jews in Israel

In addition to lagging behind scholastically, children of Ethiopian origin also say that they have had to endure racist remarks almost three times more frequently than such remarks were reported by the general population of children surveyed. Significant gaps exist in achievement between students of Ethiopian origin and those of all students in the Jewish sector in standardized tests, a recent Education Ministry report has revealed. The largest gap is in eighth-grade math, where students in the Jewish sector overall scored an average of 50 points out of 100 and Ethiopian-Israeli students scored 26. In other subjects, including English, Hebrew and the sciences, the gap was between 18 and 25 points. The recently completed report is based on the achievements of students who were born in Ethiopia or whose parents were born in Ethiopia, on the standardized tests administered nationally between 2007 and 2010 by the Education Ministry to children from the fifth to eighth grades. The report also states that gaps between children of Ethiopian origin and others have been noted as early as the second grade in terms of proficiency in Hebrew. In a recent English test, eighth graders in the Jewish school system in general scored an average of 76 points in English, as opposed to 59 among children of Ethiopian origin. In Hebrew, the scores were 72 for all students opposed to 59 for Ethiopian-Israelis. Most of children of Ethiopian origin come from poor families, and the report attempted to check the extent to which socioeconomic background explained the relatively lower achievements of the Ethiopian-Israeli children. In comparing the results of the latter children with poor children of other backgrounds, the gaps narrow slightly, but were still significant. In scrutinizing the school environment, the report noted that 38% of Ethiopian-Israeli children reported being teased about their racial origin, as opposed to 14% of all children.

A Muslim woman has admitted to mailing a bloody pig’s foot and a threatening letter to Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), as well as another bizarre package to a New York state senator

The woman, Jameela Barnette, of Marietta, Ga., says that she sent the package to King to voice her dismay with the hearing he held on the radicalization of Muslims in the United States. Her letters are also rife with derogatory references to Christians and white people. She signed off her letter to King telling him to "kiss my black, Muslim-American ass."

The man who shot dead a police officer in the Groningen town of Baflo is an asylum seeker who has lost his right to stay in the Netherlands and is about to be deported

The 48-year-old police officer was shot dead with his own gun in a scuffle with the man. He was wanted in connection with the killing of a 29-year-old woman. She had been battered to death with a fire extinguisher. Previously, an Iraqi man who had lost his right to stay in the country set himself on fire in the center of Amsterdam.

FBI files on the Tupac Shakur murder show that he received death threats from a Jewish gang

Files released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur state that the star had received death threats from the Jewish Defense League (JDL), an organization that has been characterized as a terrorist group. Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas in September 1996, in a murder case which remains unsolved. The report then goes on to describe how the Jewish group would make the death threats, and then call the rap star and offer protection for a fee. According to the documents, Shakur was a victim of this scheme, as was another late rapper, Eazy-E. The JDL was founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane, who once served in the Knesset, but whose party was later banned for its extreme right-wing beliefs, which included transferring Arabs out of Israel.

Jesse Jackson is the subject of a gay harassment complaint

A former employee of Jesse Jackson at the Rainbow Push Coalition has filed a bombshell wrongful termination and discrimination complaint against the black leader with the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Rights. The complaint, filed sometime in 2010 by Tommy R. Bennett, a member of Barack Obama's LGBT Leadership Council, includes shocking allegations about Jackson's behavior toward the openly gay staffer including an allegation that the civil rights leader propositioned him. Bennett, 55, claims that Jackson ridiculed him in front of other employees and required him to perform humiliating tasks like escorting women to Jackson's various hotel rooms, cleaning up after alleged trysts and packing his clothing. It also includes an allegation that Jackson asked for oral sex.

The man Crystal Mangum is accused of stabbing has died

Mangum was already in jail under a $300,000 secured bond charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. "More than likely, we will be upgrading the charge to murder," Durham Police Department Chief Jose Lopez Sr. said. In 2006, Mangum, 32, falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her. On April 3, 2011 officers were called to 3507 Century Oaks Drive. When they arrived, they found a 46-year-old man had been stabbed in the torso with a kitchen knife, according to police. He was taken to Duke University Hospital and treated for serious injuries. The victim, who has not been identified, was said to have been Mangum's boyfriend. In December 2010, Mangum was in Durham County Superior Court for an arson trial. Jurors found her guilty of three counts of contributing to the abuse and neglect of minors, causing more than $200 in property damage to the car of the man who was Mangum's boyfriend and resisting a police officer. Those were misdemeanor charges. But jurors did not reach consensus on the major issue, the arson charge - a felony - so Superior Court Judge Abraham Jones declared a mistrial. Mangum was sentenced to time already served, 88 days. The Durham County District Attorney's Office decided not to pursue the case further. Mangum threatened to stab the boyfriend in the arson case, police said.

Obama's approval rating is below 50% for all income groups

For the week of April 4-10, 2011 Obama’s approval rating was 48% among those making $2,000 or less per month, and 46% among those in the higher income brackets, according to Gallup. Gallup also says that public optimism about the future of the U.S. economy has declined sharply since the beginning of 2011. Americans' optimism about the future direction of the U.S. economy plunged in March 2011 for the second month in a row, as the percentage of Americans saying the economy is getting better fell to 33% - down from 41% in January 2011.

Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 62% of Americans favor cutting government services

Only 29% want to see tax increases.

Is sugar the cause of many of our health problems?

Sugar may be the cause of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and even some cancers.

Only 45.4% of Americans had jobs in 2010, the lowest rate since 1983

In 2010, just 66.8% of men had jobs, the lowest on record. Since 2000, the population of non-working adults has grown by 27 million. In addition, a quarter of teenagers were jobless in March 2011. Twelve states, including Illinois and Pennsylvania, are considering a hike in the minimum wage. While this has been the subject of a long-running debate, many economists and analysts say raising this pay bar may cause more teen layoffs. Teens typically are the first to be fired and the last to be hired back in a normal economic cycle, so this rate can be considered as a kind of leading indicator of employment. Consider that the teen unemployment rate surged to 19% in May 2008, even as the overall unemployment rate ticked only slightly higher to 5.4%. If the teen rate continues to diverge from the overall rate, then it could represent an early sign of stagnation in the overall economic recovery.

A new study on men with type 2 diabetes shows that those with low levels of testosterone may die sooner unless they are given testosterone replacement therapy

Low testosterone puts diabetic men at a significantly increased risk of death.

Pakistan's Islamic blasphemy vigilantes kill exonerated man

Mohamed Imran had been accused, jailed, tried and cleared. But his so-called crime was blasphemy. He was meant to have said something derogatory about the prophet Mohammed, so in Pakistan justice worked a differently. A couple of weeks after he returned to his small farm on the outskirts of Islamabad, his so-called crime caught up with him. Two gunmen burst into the shoe shop where he was talking to a friend. Imran tried to duck, but the gunmen found their target and Pakistan's Islamic blasphemy laws claimed another victim. Two high-profile politicians have been assassinated in 2011 for their criticism of the Muslim blasphemy laws: Punjab governor Salman Taseer and minorities minister (and Christian) Shahbaz Bhatti. Some observers see their deaths and the climate of Muslim rage around the blasphemy laws as symptomatic of a broader rise in Islamic fundamentalist tendencies in Pakistan. It's reported that more than 30 of the hundreds of people convicted under the blasphemy laws have been killed by vigilantes.

Toledo police have charged a 49-year-old black man with one count of rape involving a 14-year-old developmentally disabled girl

Ricky Jamison was arrested by members of the special victim’s unit and the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force. He was taken to the Lucas County jail where he is being held on one count of rape. On March 3, 2011 family members reported that their teenage girl was missing. Her disappearance resulted in an all-night search by officers who went door-to-door with the girl’s photo in her South Toledo neighborhood. She was found the following afternoon near the suspect’s home. At the time, police said that the victim was ordered by two abductors to get into their vehicle. When she refused, one of them grabbed her by the throat and forced her into the car.

A black adult charged in the gang rape of a California 11-year-old pleads not guilty

The only adult charged in the gang rape of an 11-year-old California girl has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, kidnapping to commit rape and engaging in criminal street gang activity. Michael Devon Sykes, 19, also denied special allegations that would enhance the charges during a brief arraignment hearing in court. Sykes is one of at least five people charged in either adult or juvenile court in the March 10, 2011 assault. Prosecutors say that she was walking home from school when she was lured by an older girl into a park bathroom and attacked by seven teenage boys. Police have said that some of the teens are known members of a gang called the South Side Mafia, which first came to the attention of authorities in late 2008. Four of the teens, who range in age from 15 to 17, have been charged in juvenile court. Prosecutors are fighting to move those cases to adult court and cite the premeditated nature and severity of the crimes for doing so. A juvenile court judge has ordered the Probation Department to prepare a report on the teens by April 25, 2011 as he decides whether to send them to adult court.

Police in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro have arrested a local lawmaker on suspicion of heading a paramilitary group linked to a series of murders

They say that Luiz Ferreira da Silva runs an illegal armed group which controls 13 Rio neighborhoods. Police said that the group had been planning an attack on the city's police chief. Originally formed to offer protection from drug gangs, many paramilitary groups are now running the criminal rackets they once fought. Luiz Andre Ferreira da Silva was arrested at his home in Rio. Police said that they had been investigating the paramilitary group he ran for two years. The officers said that they had brought the operation which led to Ferreira da Silva's arrest forward after uncovering a plan to kill Rio police chief Martha Rocha and lawmaker Marcelo Freixo. Freixo led an investigative commission which uncovered the growing influence of paramilitary groups in Rio.

A British university has elected a student with links to Muslim extremism as president of the student union, prompting fears that it has been infiltrated by Islamic radicals

Westminster University elected Tarik Mahri, 23, to the job of president of the union despite his links to the group Hizb ut-Tahrir which advocates the establishment of an Islamic state. His vice-president, Jamal Achchi, 26, also has links to the group, raising concerns that the university’s student union has been taken over by Islamic extremists. In the past members of the group have been accused of encouraging street violence against non-Muslims and of sexism and homophobia. The Prime Minister has said that the group should be banned as it seeks to poison young minds against Britain although the government has not yet taken action. It is, however, banned by the National Union of Students and by many student unions across the county. Universities across Britain have experienced problems with radical Muslim preachers and extremist members of Islamic Societies, but this is the first known case of individuals with extremist links being elected to senior positions in the student union. Mahri is a member of the "Global Ideas" society which was banned by the university in 2010 for inviting Jamal Harwood, a senior member of Hizb ut Tahrir, to address students. He has used the tag #bringbackkhilafah on the Twitter website and posted a rap song he wrote called "Khilafah's Coming Back" which refers to "the Kufr", a derogatory term for non-Muslims, on his Facebook page. The Khilfah refers to the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate run according to shariah law. The newly elected vice-president, Achchi, has circulated documents published by Hizb ut-Tahrir. Achchi used Scribd, a social networking site, to post Hizb ut-Tahrir memos calling on Muslims to overthrow democracy and establish the Khilafah. Shiraz Maher, a former member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, who is now a lecturer and journalist, said: "Hizb ut-Tahrir despises democracy and believes Shariah law must be imposed over the whole world, by force if necessary. I think unless we challenge this we are sleepwalking into a very dangerous future." A number of Islamic terrorists have studied at British universities including members of the fertilizer bomb and trans-Atlantic airlines gangs as well as Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab, the Detroit underpants bomber, and Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, the Stockholm suicide bomber.

A HIV-positive black man has been charged after, police said, he had sex with another person, knowing he had the virus

Andre Davis, 29, was charged with second-degree felonious assault. Davis is accused of engaging in a sex act with another person on March 3, 2011. During his arraignment, prosecutors said that Davis has known since 2009 that he was infected with HIV. They said that there is an ongoing investigation into Davis' actions and that there may be more victims in other jurisdictions. Prosecutors asked for a high bond and called Davis a danger to the community. Davis was given a $25,000 conditional bond and must wear an electronic monitoring device.

Gay slur costs Kobe Bryant $100,000

Bryant got ticked off at referee Bennie Adams when he got a technical foul. After yelling "Bennie!" from the bench, Bryant shook his head and mouthed the words "f*cking f**got."

A Chinese national living in California created a fake Army Reserve unit of his very own, then tricked about 100 Chinese nationals into paying for the privilege of enlisting

Yupeng Deng turned his office into a fake recruitment center in 2008 and doled out fake IDs and uniforms to those who forked over an initial $450, say police. He told recruits it was an easy path to citizenship. Deng's "soldiers" didn't do any fighting, of course, but they did march in a parade and tour the Midway museum in full uniform. Deng, who called himself the "supreme commander", faces eight years in prison on various fraud charges. Authorities also found child pornography in his home, which could add another three years to the sentence.

Four-year-old girl has a more realistic world view than her 38-year-old liberal mother

Even children understand human nature better than liberals:

Leslie, a 38-year-old social worker who counsels children with stressful life situations, found her 4-year-old daughter, Sophia, engaged in animated play with her dolls. She watched incredulously as Sophia invited the four white dolls with blonde hair to a tea party while the dark-skinned doll with black hair lay alone across the room.

“Why isn’t that doll going to the tea party?” she inquired.

“She’s dead,” replied Sophia matter-of-factly.

“Dead? How can that be? She’s just like the other dolls. Why can’t she play with them?”

“They don’t want to play with her.”

“Why is that?”

“Because she has dark skin,” replied Sophia.

Leslie’s mouth dropped to the floor as she fought back tears. How could this be? Hadn’t she and her husband worked diligently to teach her child to be inclusive? Sophia had a variety of multicultural toys and books. She was only allowed to watch progressive television shows like Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, Diego, the Backyardigans and Yo Gabba Gabba. An only child, she attended an expensive, supposedly inclusive pre-kindergarten school which included children of color.

“Sweet Pea,” said Leslie, plaintively, “you’re hurting that doll’s feelings. You’ve got to let her play with the other dolls.”

“She can’t. She’s in jail,” Sophia replied as she rationalized her decision to exclude the dark-skinned doll.

CNN survey indicates that only 53% say that Obama is a strong and decisive leader

This is down four points since the start of 2011 and down by nearly 20 points since his first year in office. And 55% say that Obama cannot manage the government effectively. Most say that they disagree with Obama on important issues.

Drinking alcohol primes certain areas of our brain to learn and remember better

Scientists have found that repeated ethanol exposure enhances synaptic plasticity in a key area of the brain. This is further evidence toward an emerging consensus in the neuroscience community that drug and alcohol addiction is fundamentally a learning and memory disorder. In an important sense, alcoholics aren't addicted to the experience of pleasure or relief they get from drinking alcohol. They're addicted to the constellation of environmental, behavioral and physiological cues that are reinforced when alcohol triggers the release of dopamine in the brain. People commonly think of dopamine as a happy transmitter, or a pleasure transmitter, but more accurately it's a learning transmitter.

Police have arrested an Asian man in connection to the disappearance of a young girl

Benjamin Trinh, 28, was arrested at his home in Tacoma. He is accused of abducting an 8-year-old girl. The girl disappeared while playing outside Olympic View Elementary School in Federal Way. Her mother reported her missing, triggering an Amber Alert. "When the Amber Alert was sent out, a clerk at a major retail outlet store here in Federal Way saw the picture of this young lady and knew that she had seen her in the dressing room area with the man that matched the description of the Amber Alert suspect. This woman immediately contacted 911," said Federal Way police spokesperson Cathy Schrock. The two were at Target, and the man had the girl try on clothes he later bought for her, investigators said. When police arrived at the store, however, the pair had already left. But the alert was canceled just hours later when the girl walked home. The girl claimed that she was alone while missing, but investigators believe that she was with the man who'd only been known to local parents as "Ben." The Asian man had recently been seen lurking around an area park and taking photos of children. Witnesses said the man took photos of the girl before the two vanished together. "He started playing with her and playing with her," said David Rodriguez, a boy who witnessed the pair together. Detectives were interviewing Trinh. The Asian man has one prior conviction for second-degree theft.

Police on Staten Island are questioning a Jewish man whose wife was found dead inside her home

Eva Rubin, 63, was discovered inside her home in Willowbrook, police said. According to published reports, she was found face-up on a bed with bruises and marks on her neck. Rubin was a 4th grade teacher at the Yeshiva Merkaz on Staten Island. Her husband, 64-year-old photographer Arthur Rubin, is now being questioned after he gave himself up during a manhunt. According to a police source, he turned himself in to his rabbi 18 hours after he fled the couple's home. "It's just something where we just have to make peace with it," said Rabbi Saul Eisner. "It reflects what's happening in the world." Police were notified after Rubin had texted "sorry" and that "he couldn't take it anymore" to his son-in-law, who found the dead woman. Many who knew the couple were incredulous, "We know them as a couple. We went to Israel with them," said Norman Koller. He is currently being held at the 122nd precinct, according to police.

A naval officer from the United Arab Emirates has been busted for keeping an unpaid servant while living in a tony Rhode Island neighborhood

Col. Arif Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al-Ali was arrested as he attempted to board a flight out of New York's JFK airport. He has pleaded guilty to charges that he kept a Filipino servant confined to his home in the United States and didn't pay her. The servant escaped and is now in hiding. A lawsuit has been brought against the officer by a defense organization charging human trafficking violations. Al-Ali was in Rhode Island attending the Naval War College there and living with his wife and 5 children.

Scientists claim the age of a girl’s mother – not her diet – has the biggest influence on when she starts her first period

A study shows that genetics explains more than half of the variation between women’s ages when menstruation began. Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research, a college of the University of London, found that a woman’s age of menarche - when periods begin - was significantly linked with that of her relatives, including her mother, older sister, grandmother or aunts. They used mathematical modelling to find that genetic factors accounted for around 57% of the variation in the age of menarche of women. The age at which menstruation begins is important because it has been linked to a risk of number of chronic diseases including breast cancer. Risk of breast cancer gradually increases with a progressively younger age at first period, and older age at menopause, possibly because women are exposed to female sex hormones for a longer period of time.

The crisis in the Ivory Coast is due to a huge influx of Muslim immigrants

It is difficult to find evidence of any country benefiting from Islamic immigrants. Once they arrive in a nation they tend to become social and criminal misfits who then blame the host population for their inability to successfully adapt.

Black and South Asian workers are almost twice as likely to be unemployed as white workers in Britain

The figures show that the unemployment rate for black and South Asian workers increased from 10.2% in October-December 2007 to 13% in the same quarter in 2010 (a figure almost twice as high as the 7.1% unemployment rate for white individuals). The research reveals an even bleaker picture for young people from ethnic minority backgrounds, with the unemployment rate for 18-24 year-olds leaping from 20.1% in 2007 to 30.5% in 2010. In contrast, the unemployment rate for white youngsters stands at 16.4%.