Monday, February 27, 2012

Highly educated whites and minorities are no more likely to support workplace affirmative action programs than are their less educated peers

While whites, Hispanics, and blacks with higher levels of education are more likely to reject negative racial stereotypes than are their less educated peers, this pattern does not hold true for Asians. In fact, education has no effect on negative stereotyping among Asians, and many Asians at all levels of education hold negative views about blacks and Hispanics.

A UCLA-led group of researchers tracing disparities in life expectancy between blacks and whites in the United States has found that white males live about seven years longer on average than African American men and that white women live more than five years longer than their black counterparts

But when comparing life expectancy on a state-by-state basis, the researchers made a surprising discovery: In those states in which the disparities were smallest, the differences often were not the result of African Americans living longer but of whites dying younger than the national average. And, interestingly, the area with the largest disparities wasn't a state at all but the nation's capital, Washington D.C. Overall, the national life expectancy was 74.79 years for white men and 67.66 years for black men. Among women, the average life span was 79.84 years for whites and 74.64 for blacks. In every state, gaps were narrower between women than men. New Mexico had the smallest disparities between blacks and whites (3.76 years for men and 2.45 years for women), while the District of Columbia had the largest (13.77 years for men and 8.55 years for women). In addition to Washington, D.C., the states with the largest disparities between white and black men were New Jersey, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois; in these states, the gap was greater than eight years because African American men's lives were shorter than the national average for black men and white men's life spans were equal to or greater than the national average. For women, the states with the largest disparities in longevity were Illinois, Rhode Island, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Florida and Nebraska, where the difference between black and white women was more than six years. White women in these states lived longer than average, while black women had average or lower life expectancy. In addition to New Mexico, which had the smallest disparities, eight other states had black-white disparities of less than six years among men: Kentucky, West Virginia, Nevada, Oklahoma, Washington, Colorado, New York and Arizona. In four of these states - Kentucky, West Virginia, Nevada and Oklahoma - the smaller disparities were due to a combination of African American men living longer than the national average and whites having shorter lives. But in New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, New York and Arizona, both black and white men lived longer than average, with black men having life spans that were particularly longer than the national average. Among women, the states with the smallest differences were New Mexico, New York, West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama -- each with disparities of less than four years. These smaller disparities were the result of black women being longer-lived than average and whites being shorter-lived. Fifty-eight percent of African Americans live in 10 states: New York, California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Missouri and Louisiana.

A Quinnipiac University poll has found that 52% of Americans want ObamaCare scrapped - up from 44% in May 2011

Meanwhile, just 39% want to keep it, down from 45%. Even one in five Democrats now says that Congress should repeal the law.

Most voters oppose the use of affirmative action policies at colleges and universities and continue to believe that those policies have not been successful despite being in place for 50 years

The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 24% of likely U.S. Voters favor applying affirmative action policies to college admissions. Fifty-five percent (55%) oppose the use of such policies to determine who is admitted to colleges and universities.

Hispanic crime: New questions have emerged over the Los Angeles County district attorney's office's handling of a substitute teacher wanted for sex crimes

The teacher, George Hernandez, was arrested by Huntington Park police in September 2010 for exposing himself to a girl outside a middle school. Detectives who searched his Inglewood apartment discovered a videotape showing Hernandez molesting a second-grader in a classroom. He was released on bail and fled the country. Court records show that prosecutors chose not to seek the extradition of Hernandez even when they learned of his whereabouts in Mexico. The records contradict statements made by a deputy district attorney, who said that the teacher would be extradited as soon as authorities could locate him. An investigator working for a bail bonds company found Hernandez early in 2011, and Jalisco, Mexico, state police briefly detained him on January 19, 2011. In a letter faxed nine days later, the company informed the district attorney that it was continuing to track Hernandez and could help apprehend him. But on March 15, 2011 Deputy Dist. Atty. Ann Huntsman responded saying that prosecutors did not want to bring him back to Los Angeles. "We have evaluated the case and have determined that we will not seek the defendant's international extradition from Mexico on this case at this time," Huntsman wrote. "The case will remain open and the defendant is still subject to prosecution in this case." The revelation comes in a case that has focused attention on how schools can fail to weed out dangerous teachers. Before his arrest, Hernandez had been investigated three times at three L.A. Unified School District elementary schools for sexual misconduct. He was never charged and apparently never reported to the state commission on teacher credentialing. Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said that the decision came after consultation with U.S. Justice Department officials, who said success was far from guaranteed. Prosecutors also considered the fact that Hernandez, now 45, had no criminal record and that the charges they had filed against him — possession of child pornography and indecent exposure — fell short of child molestation, Gibbons said.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Africa: 4 Tanzanian police officers have been detained after two people were killed during a protest over alleged witchcraft killings

A regional commander said that police had opened fire in the south-eastern town of Songea to stop an angry crowd from smashing public property. The protesters said that not enough had been done to find those behind the recent killing of six women. Police deny that the murders were done to obtain body parts for witchcraft use. In recent years, there have been a spate of killings of people with albinism in Tanzania. Their body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming that they have special powers to bring success in business and love. The women killed in the Songea area were not believed to be albinos.

An Australian historian has uncovered hidden documents which reveal that African American troops used machine guns to attack their white officers in a siege on a US base in north Queensland in 1942

Something special for Black History Month.

Race and beauty

Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

Black men are 30% more likely to die of heart disease than white men, and African-Americans are 50% more likely than whites to have a stroke

Black men are also nearly 10 times more likely to die of AIDS than white men. African-American women are diagnosed less frequently with breast cancer than white women but are 36% more likely to die of the disease. The prevalence of diabetes in blacks and Hispanics is roughly double that of whites, and Hispanics have higher rates of obesity than non-Hispanic whites.

STDs take an especially heavy toll on African-Americans, particularly young African-American women and men

Blacks represent just 14% of the U.S. population, yet they account for approximately half of all reported Chlamydia and syphilis cases and almost three-quarters of all reported gonorrhea cases.

Authorities say that a Saudi national studying at the University of Montana fled the country after a female student reported being drugged and raped by the man, and the school called the man without contacting police

School officials say that the rape occurred on February 10, 2012 but wasn't reported to the school until February 17, 2012 as the school investigated another female student's report to campus police about being assaulted by the same man. The school that day called the man and also issued a campus-wide email about a possible threat to the community. School President Royce Engstrom said that Missoula police learned of the reported assaults from the email and contacted the school. Police interviewed the women, but by that time the Saudi man had disappeared.

Black crime: A man charged with trying to rape a 73-year-old woman out for her morning walk on the FDR Drive jogging path in East Harlem has been convicted of attempted rape

A Manhattan jury found that African-American Kentrel Whitaker, 33, threw the woman to the ground, beat her, removed her clothing and tried to rape her before another pedestrian scared him off on August 15, 2010. Whitaker was arrested for the vicious crime because his DNA profile was already logged in the system due to previous criminal convictions. His DNA was matched because he left bodily fluids on the elderly woman's clothing. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said that this case highlights how effective DNA evidence can be in solving crimes. “This accurate and cost-effective technology has solved thousands of crimes, including rapes, murders, robberies and burglaries, and prevented countless more," Vance said in a statement. Whitaker's criminal history includes drug convictions and patronizing a prostitute.

Black crime: A Queens school employee has been charged with sexually abusing six 9 and 10-year-old schoolgirls, becoming the fifth school worker in New York to be arrested for sexual crimes recently

Brett Picou, 30, of Public School 52 in Springfield Gardens, is accused of spanking one of the girls, grabbing the children’s buttocks as they walked up stairs and fondling their buttocks over their clothing when he hugged them. Picou, of Jamaica, Queens, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree sexual abuse, seven counts of forcible touching, one count of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and six counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the Queens District Attorney’s office said. Picou, who worked as a full-time paraprofessional in an art class at the school, was caught after another teacher overheard students talking about the touching and informed the police on February 15, 2012. Paraprofessionals are aides assigned to individual students, often special-needs students or students in crisis. Picou is the latest in a string of school workers charged with sexual crimes against children, several of whom had histories of sexual contact with children buried in their personnel records. This worrying spate prompted schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott, to order a review of all past investigations since 2000. The arrests began on February 6, 2012 and four other school workers have been charged with alleged inappropriate contact with school pupils. School aide Taleek Brooks, of P.S. 243 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was charged with creating child pornography in a classroom and possessing other child porn. Gregory Atkins, an aide at P.S. 87 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, was charged with molesting a young male student who he had forced to strip in the school lavatory. Wilbert Cortez, a computer teacher at P.S. 174 in Rego Park, Queens, who had a history of inappropriately touching children, was charged with fondling an 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old boy in his school on February 16, 2012. Substitute teacher, Chukwuma Duru, was accused of twisting a 16-year-old boy’s nipples in P.S. 479 in the Morrisania section of the Bronx on February 10, 2012.

Democrat crime: A father has been arrested after smashing his son in the face with a mug for not paying attention to Obama's State of the Union speech

Mohamed Shohan, 49, has been charged with third-degree assault along with disorderly conduct and risk of injury to a child. When the boy wouldn't pay attention to Obama's speech, Shohan, of Stamford, Connecticut, grabbed his son's cup and hit him across the nose with it.

A jury has found a black woman guilty on all 11 counts related to the dragging death of a tow truck driver

African-American Detra Farries was convicted of vehicular homicide, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, along with other minor charges in the death of Allen Rose, 35. Rose, a married father of two and an Iraq War veteran, was in the process of hooking up an illegally parked SUV to his tow truck at an apartment complex on Feb. 23, 2011 when, according to prosecutors, Farries jumped into the SUV and drove off. Rose’s leg got caught in the tow cable and he was dragged for more than a mile.

Hispanic crime: A man accused of shoving a stranger into the side of an oncoming subway train has been convicted of assault but acquitted of attempted murder in what his lawyers called a drunken accident

Prosecutors said that Jose Rojas' actions amounted to a senseless crime, which the victim said has left her with lasting pain. "The victim endured every New Yorker's nightmare" on the subway platform, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in a statement. Rojas, 26, a restaurant cook who has been jailed since the August 2010 incident, left court looking resigned. While acquitted of attempted murder, he still faces the same potential penalty — up to 25 years in prison — on the assault count. His sentencing is set for March 16, 2012. After getting off work at a downtown Manhattan restaurant on Aug. 11, 2010, Rojas downed 4 1/2 beers in about two hours while watching a soccer match involving a team from his native Mexico, prosecutors said. Rojas then caught a northbound R train to head home to Queens but decided to get off along the way, at the line's 28th Street station in Manhattan. Lingering on the uptown platform, he cursed at and made threatening gestures toward a couple for no apparent reason, prosecutors said. Meanwhile, Ute Linhart arrived to take the subway after finishing her work day as creative director of a company that designs T-shirts and other merchandise for musicians. Originally from Germany, she has lived in New York since 1998. Linhart, 40, testified that she remembered a young man coming up behind her on the platform, poking his face around her shoulder and looking at her with a strange stare, but she didn't recall his features. Then, she testified, she felt two hands forcefully push on her back as a train rushed into the station. Linhart hit the side of the first car and suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken facial bone and neck and leg injuries. She was hospitalized for eight days, missed six months of work and still is in pain every day of her life. Bystanders stopped Rojas from running away, and he told them that he didn't know why he'd pushed her, according to a court complaint. Prosecutors suggested that he might have been acting out of animus toward the couple he'd clashed with earlier.

Hispanic crime: A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in the shooting of an 8-year-old boy in the Bronx

The suspect, Eduardo Rodriguez, has been arrested on charges of attempted murder, assault and the criminal possession of a weapon. The police said that he fired at a group of people standing in front of a deli while riding his bicycle in Clason Point. A bullet hit the 8-year-old boy, who was inside the deli, in the left shoulder. He has remained in stable condition at Jacobi Medical Center.

Hispanic crime: A man accused of masturbating in public on Bonita Beach was arrested again on a charge of using a false identity and faces deportation

Miguel Angel Rivera Flores, 29, was first arrested for loitering and prowling after the sheriff's office received complaints about a male who would attract female beachgoers by making animal noises in the bushes. Once he got their attention, he would masturbate in front of them. Flores, who is in the country illegally, was taken to the Lee County Jail but bonded out before Immigration and Customs Enforcement could put a detainer on him. Deputies later discovered the following discrepancy in Flores' identity: On March 30, 2011, Flores, who was born on July 10, 1982, assumed the name Vicente Jaimez - born on July 31, 1981. This change stemmed from when Flores applied for employment at a restaurant called Coconut Jacks in Bonita Beach Road. Flores produced a Social Security card bearing the Jaimez name with what appeared to be a valid number and a fraudulent permanent resident card with the same name. Since Flores obtained employment by fraudulent means, deputies arrested him again on a felony charge of using fictitious personal information with the intent to commit fraud by obtaining employment. He is being held for deportation.

Black crime in Detroit: A fight over a seat at a baby shower triggered the killing of a 9-month-old boy, according to the victim's grandmother

Delric Miller IV died as he slept on the couch in his home. Police said that someone fired at the house with an AK-47-type assault rifle leaving behind 37 shells. One of the rounds hit the baby, who was pronounced dead at Sinai-Grace Hospital. Delric's grandmother, Cynthia Wilkins, said that she believes the shooting was in retaliation for a skirmish at a baby shower at Club Celebrity in Plymouth. "The shower was overbooked, and there was an argument because there weren't enough seats," said Wilkins. Her daughter, Diamond Salter, attended the shower, which was thrown by a friend, Wilkins said. "A woman got mad because she couldn't find a seat, so she started knocking tables down, and it escalated from there," Wilkins said. "My daughter and her friends left the club, but (a group of men and women) followed them to a gas station, and there was a fight with one of the guys who was at the shower with my daughter. Then, they followed them to the house. I think they came back the next day and shot up the house," said Wilkins, who sobbed as she recounted the events. "They went to the shower to celebrate life; instead, a life was destroyed." The shooting has outraged both police and residents, and prompted Detroit 300, a group of community activists fed up with crime, to go door-to-door asking questions, in hopes of finding the killer or killers. A task force consisting of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office is investigating the case. "Life is not valued in Detroit. It's a war zone here," Wilkins said. "We need some ground troops patrolling these streets; they send them all overseas, but they need to be here." The death was the 43rd homicide in the city in 2012, up from 35 in the same period last year. It's also the second killing of a youngster in Detroit in the past month. "Again, adult behavior has brought another child in Detroit to an end," said Police Chief Ralph Godbee.

Africa: Ten women have been arrested in Cameroon on suspicion of being lesbians

They have been detained in Ambam, some 190 miles south of the capital of Yaounde, until they go on trial. Consensual same-gender sex is considered criminal in the West African nation and punishable by a jail sentence from six months to five years and a fine. Gay rights defender and founder of the Association for the Defense of Homosexuals, Alice Nkom, says that detainees in Cameroon are frequently tortured in police stations to force them confess. It comes as another African country, Liberia, prepares to consider a bill to strengthen its own existing anti-gay laws. Liberia's former first lady, Senator Jewel Taylor, has submitted a bill that would prohibit same-sex marriage and make homosexuality a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The current law considers gay relationships a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to a year in prison. Archie Ponpon, chairman of the newly-formed gay rights advocacy group the Movement for the Defence of Gays and Lesbians in Liberia and his family have already faced hostility because of his fight for gay rights in Liberia. Recently, his mother's house was set on fire and he and another advocate, Abraham Kamara, were mobbed by angry students while campaigning at the University of Liberia. A wave of intense homophobia has been washing across Africa in the past few years, where homosexuality is already illegal in many countries. Recently, Uganda re-introduced a bill that would make the death sentence mandatory for gays who are repeat offenders.

An armed black robber who was forced to flee after dropping his handgun during a scuffle soon returned to try and buy the firearm back off his victims

African-American Cedrick Mitchell, 39, barged into the Royal Motel in Bradenton, Florida around midnight and demanded pills from two men but when they said they didn’t have any he pulled out a gun. Mitchell demanded everything they had, said Bradenton police Capt. Warren Merriman, and a brawl ensued. During the scuffle Mitchell dropped his weapon and was pepper-sprayed by one of his victims before running away. But moments later Mitchell returned begging the two men to let him buy back his gun for $40. They pepper-sprayed him in the face again and he was forced to flee for the second time. The victims called the police who arrested Mitchell after a brief chase and locked him in the Manatee County Jail. Mitchell has a long criminal history, which includes robbery convictions dating back to 2001. In 2005, an undercover police officer was purchasing rock cocaine when Mitchell reached into the officer's front pocket, stole $100, and walked away. He pleaded no contest to a theft charge. He is now being held on no bond, charged with armed home invasion and resisting an officer.

Black athlete crime: Former NFL defensive back Glenn Sharpe has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a man in the Atlanta suburbs

DeKalb County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Adrion Bell says that the 27-year-old African-American has been charged over the death of Christopher Galloway in Stone Mountain, Georgia on February 2, 2012. He is being held at the DeKalb County Jail with no bond, according to jail records.

A Muslim cable channel has been dropped by Verizon a year after the owner of the station was given life in prison for beheading his wife at their TV studio

Bridges TV will go off air on March 14, 2012 almost a year to the day after the channel's owner Muzzammil Hassan, 47, was jailed for the brutal murder of his wife Aasiya, who was also the station manager. Hassan had told her abusive husband that she was leaving him in 2009 and asked for a divorce. Six days later he lured her to their office in Buffalo, New York where he stabbed her 40 times and hacked off her head with two hunting knives. The couple had two children Danyal, nine and seven-year-old Rania. Hassan, a former banker, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2011 for stabbing and beheading his 37-year-old wife. He received the maximum sentence of 25 years to life in jail. The Verizon network claimed that dropping the channel was unrelated to the brutal murder, putting the decision down to low viewership figures.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Women who lust over handsome men may really be craving their immune systems

Their chiseled faces and toned bodies are a sign that they have more antibodies to fight off diseases. And women are hardwired to want to pass these genes on to the children. Women might be more attracted to men with high levels of the sex hormone testosterone because they have a healthier immune system. Sexual characteristics in male faces are testosterone-dependent, but how the sex hormone affects immune function is unclear. Researchers found that men with a strong immune response had high levels of testosterone and were perceived as more attractive. Men with low levels of testosterone tended to have higher concentrations of cortisol, suggesting that their immune responses might have been inhibited by the stress hormone.

Nearly 700 Haitian convicts were released during moratorium on deportations

Kesler Dufrene, who slaughtered three people in North Miami after being let out of immigration custody, wasn’t the only convict released to the streets because of a moratorium on deportations to Haiti. According to newly released federal statistics, 687 Haitians slated for deportation were released to the streets in 2010 because of the year-long moratorium on deportations to the earthquake-ravaged island. Of those, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took 90 back into custody and deported them to Haiti once the moratorium was lifted in January 2011. Another 16 are back in detention and are awaiting deportation. And the rest, more than 500, are still out on the streets on supervised release or are out on their own recognizance. According to ICE, some are seeking legal relief to halt their deportations while others have been granted an immigration benefit. Some are back in local jail after being re-arrested, according to ICE, which did not specify exactly how many have re-offended. On humanitarian grounds, the Obama administration halted deportations to Haiti after an earthquake decimated the island. And since the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people slated for deportation cannot be held for more than six months, 687 Haitians were ultimately released after the earthquake.

Two-thirds of new babies in London have at least one foreign-born parent

In some areas more than four in five newborns has a mother or father born overseas. The rate is below half in only six of the 32 boroughs in the city, which attracts a flood of immigrants every year. Nationally, one in four babies has a parent born outside Britain. The statistics show that 86,111 of London newborns in 2010 — or 64.7% — had at least one foreign-born parent. The figure was highest in Newham (84.1%), then came Brent (81.9%) and Westminster (81.2%).

British girl, 15, gives harrowing account of being plied with alcohol and passed around South Asian gang for sex

South Asian men bring their disgusting Third World practices and views of women to Britain.

The NYPD arrests an average of five kids each day in New York City schools - and nearly all of those students are black or Hispanic

Nearly 94% of the students arrested were black or Hispanic, and 75% were male. Black students were almost six times more likely to be arrested than white students.

Corruption in South Africa

Corruption has thrived in South Africa since the end of apartheid.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Mothers who had low vitamin D levels while they were pregnant are more likely to have a child with a language impairment than mothers who had higher levels of the vitamin

Maternal vitamin D insufficiency during pregnancy affects the normal course of brain development. Could this explain why blacks score lower on IQ tests than white people?

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Two black women have been sentenced for the carnage that they caused outside a North Philadelphia after-hours club on Labor Day weekend 2010

Sharonda Cheeves, at the wheel when a female bystander was struck and killed, has been sentenced to 4-8 years in prison. Her co-defendant, Jesslyn Williams, got 2-4 years. Fueled by alcohol and anger after they weren’t allowed into the club because they had alcohol and were abusive to staff, defendants Cheeves and Williams got into a car and circled the block repeatedly, hitting more than half a dozen people, killing a 27-year-old woman and seriously injuring several others, including club manager Kadella Davis, who says that she never saw it coming. “One (victim) was down the street — he had been hit twice already. He was laying in front of a car. I had my back to them approaching me, so that’s why I didn’t see myself being hit.”

The Nigerian man who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives concealed in his underwear on Christmas Day in 2009 has been sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge who said that his crime and subsequent lack of remorse demanded the maximum possible punishment

The African, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who pleaded guilty in October 2011 and admitted to working on behalf of Al Qaeda, shouted, “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great,” five times during the sentencing hearing. He said that Muslims were proud to kill in the name of God, and that is what God told them to do in the Koran.

A black man has pled guilty to putting a pillow over his infant son and killing him because he wouldn't stop crying

African-American Eric Griffin had pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter as part of a plea deal with Burlington County prosecutors. County Prosecutor Robert Bernardi says that Griffin put a pillow over the face of his 4-week-old son, Nyir Griffin, in November 2010 after the child wouldn't stop crying. He removed the pillow when the infant stopped making noise, but soon realized that the boy was no longer breathing and left the home. The infant's maternal grandmother later found the infant unresponsive and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Convicted arsonist African-American Shanta Dargbeh has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for torching her boyfriend’s home because he took another girl to his high school prom in 2008

The 22-year-old black woman cried and apologized for the blaze that destroyed the Hillcrest Avenue home of Mayor Tony Mack’s half-brother Stanley “Muscles” Davis. “I’m sorry to the victims,” Dargbeh said in a voice barely audible in the courtroom. The midnight fire roused Davis, his wife and their six children from their beds and forced them to flee the flames via a third-floor fire escape. In December 2011, jurors acquitted Dargbeh of attempted murder but found her guilty of arson, burglary and weapons offenses for entering Davis’ porch with a box of matches and setting a couch on fire on May 22, 2008. Burglary, the most serious of the convictions, is a second-degree offense that carries a sentencing range of five to 10 years in prison. Superior Court Judge Thomas Sumners sentenced her to the lowest prison term for a second-degree offense. She also received four-year sentences for each of the arson and weapons charges. Under the terms of her sentence she must serve 51 months before becoming eligible for parole. She has served 45 months since her arrest, making her eligible for parole in six months.

Hundreds of South Africans have marched in Johannesburg to protest over an assault on two women who were attacked for wearing mini-skirts

The two women were attacked at a Johannesburg rank for minibus taxis in December 2011 by waiting drivers. The organizers said that they wanted to end the patriarchal views still entrenched in parts of South Africa's society. South Africa has one of the world's highest incidences of rape. Some men, particularly from traditional and rural backgrounds, believe women should not wear revealing clothing. The two women, who were attacked at the Noord Street rank in central Johannesburg, reported the harassment to police. They were taunted by a group of men who groped them, pulled their clothing and took photos of them with their mobile phones. Police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini said that to date no suspects had been identified or arrested.

An illegal alien from Mexico has been named a suspect in a toddler's death

The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 2 year old child. Yeli Madalyn Jimenez was brought to the emergency room of Good Shepherd Hospital in Marshall by her mother, Felipa Dominguez. The mother stated to emergency room staff that the child, who would have turned 3 years old on February 21, 2012 had fallen from a bed at her home and when she went to check on her, found her unconscious on the floor. Medical staff at GSM pronounced the child deceased after attempting to revive her. An autopsy was performed and the results indicated that the child had died from massive blunt trauma. Investigators interviewed family members, as well as the mother, to determine that the boyfriend of the mother, Jose Luis Casiano-Aburto, a Hispanic male, approximately 27 years old, had struck the child in the abdomen and had previously assaulted the mother. As investigators began to search for the suspect to conduct an interview, it was discovered he had fled to Mexico and had gained entry. Within 24 hours of the child’s death a probable cause affidavit was prepared and an arrest warrant for Capital Murder has been issued by the Harrison County District Attorney’s Office. The suspect is an illegal alien from Mexico and the US Marshalls, US Border Patrol Agents, Homeland Security and Mexican authorities have offered assistance to find the suspect and return him to the United States.

A 29-year-old illegal immigrant from Morocco has been arrested and charged with a plot to carry out a suicide bombing at the U.S. Capitol Building

Amine El Khalifi, who had been living in Alexandria, Virginia, was apprehended while on his way to carry out the attack armed with an automatic weapon and an explosive vest device, according to federal court documents. Neither of the devices was working, however - El Khalifi had obtained them from undercover federal agents, who had rendered them useless. "Amine El Khalifi sought to blow himself up in the U.S. Capitol Building," said Neil MacBride, the chief federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia. "El Khalifi believed he was working with al-Qaeda and devised the plot, the targets and methods on his own." Following his arrest, El Khalifi made his initial court appearance before U.S. District Judge T. Rawles Jones Jr. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Is homosexuality caused by a pathogen?

Greg Cochran says that this is the most likely explanation.

A Hispanic teacher with a history of inappropriately touching children has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing two boys at a Queens elementary school

The Latino teacher, Wilbert Cortez, 49, touched the genitals and the buttocks of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old over their clothes in his classroom at Public School 174 in Rego Park on at least two occasions during the 2010-11 school year. In 2000, Cortez was found to have touched the buttocks of two male students at another school in Queens by the school system’s special commissioner of investigation. While a letter was placed in his file detailing the conduct, he never faced criminal charges, the authorities said. Cortez was charged with two counts of engaging in repeated sexual conduct with a child and two counts of endangering a child’s welfare, the police said. He was the third public primary-school employee to be charged recently with sex crimes involving children. Cortez has been a teacher in the city schools since 1990 and has taught at P.S. 174 since 2000, the Education Department said.

New York City: A black school aide at a prominent Upper West Side public school charged with sexually abusing an 8-year-old student has been indicted in connection to the case

A grand jury has voted to indict African-American Gregory Atkins, 56, although the exact charges will not be unsealed until his next court appearance on March 14, 2012. Prosecutors said that Atkins led a child into a bathroom stall at P.S. 87 William T. Sherman school four separate times on Feb. 2, 2012 where he forced the boy to undress while he touched the boy's body. He told the child he was looking for bruises. Investigators in 2006 found that Atkins had had an inappropriate relationship with a student at another school. He was given a verbal warning, but no written report of the investigation was placed in his file. Two years later, he was hired at P.S. 87.

A 40-year-old mother of two was burned alive in central Nepal after she was accused of being a witch

Dhegani Mahato was attacked and set on fire by family members and others after a shaman accused her of casting a spell to make one of her relatives sick, Police Officer Hira Mani Baral said. The attack occurred in Bagauda in Chitwan district, about 50 miles southwest of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, Baral said. Police arrested 10 people, including two shamans, five women and an 8-year-old boy, in connection with the burning. Mahato had just finished cleaning a cowshed early in the morning when she was attacked, Baral said. She was beaten with sticks and rocks before being doused with kerosene and set afire, an attack witnessed by her 9-year-old daughter, according to the local police report. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai appealed to the people not to listen to shamans and faith healers. The government announced 1 million Nepalese rupees (about $14,000) in compensation for Mahato's two children.

United States: More than half of all black men without a high-school diploma go to prison at some time in their lives

There are now more black men in the criminal justice system than were in slavery in 1850.

Illegitimacy: 73% of black children are born outside marriage, compared with 53% of Latinos and 29% of whites

Not surprisingly, less educated women are more likely to have children outside of marriage. About 92% of college-educated women are married when they give birth, compared with 62% of women with some post-secondary schooling and 43% of women with a high school diploma or less.

2012: The U.S. unemployment rate, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is 9.0% in mid-February, up from 8.6% for January

Gallup also finds that 10.0% of U.S. employees in mid-February 2012 are working part time but want full-time work. The mid-February 2012 reading means that the percentage of Americans who can only find part-time work remains close to its high since Gallup began measuring employment status in January 2010. Underemployment, a measure that combines the percentage of workers who are unemployed with the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work, is 19.0% in mid-February 2012. This is higher than the 18.7% recorded for January 2012, and is up significantly compared with January’s mid-month reading of 18.1%.

The Eastern Congo in Africa is the rape capital of the world: There are 48 rapes every hour, 1,252 rapes a day, over 400,000 rapes a year

To put this in perspective, 29 out of 1,000 Congolese women are raped every year. In the United States, 0.5 out of 1,000 American women are raped annually. Thus, a Congolese woman is 58 times more likely to be raped than an American woman. In North Kivu and South Kivu, which are the epicenter of the Congolese rape crisis, 67 out of 1,000 women have been raped at least once – 7% of the female population. Children and teenagers are the most popular targets.

Dying for Israel

Charles Krauthammer and Elliott Abrams want gentiles to die for the benefit of Jews and Israel. In their opinion, if you are against such deaths then you must be an anti-Semite.

A white woman who was sexually assaulted by a black youth who came to Britain as an immigrant has finally won her nine-year battle to see him deported

Gabrielle Browne was out training for the London Marathon when Mohamed Kendeh pinned her down and tried to rape her. His crimes include burglary, arson and robbery as well as a total of 11 sex assaults. But he was allowed to stay in Britain because of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act – his right to a private and family life. Undeterred by a string of immigration court rulings and failures by the police and prosecutors, Browne pursued the case doggedly and abandoned her legal right to anonymity. Her attacker was finally been put on a plane and flown back to his native Sierra Leone in Africa. The IT worker was attacked in March 2003 when she was out running near her home in Camberwell, South London. Kendeh, then 16, launched a vicious sexual assault before Browne fought him off. He was caught and after initially denying the offense pleaded guilty to attempted rape. Kendeh was sentenced to four years in a young offender institution in February 2005. Efforts were made to deport him but in August 2006 an immigration judge ruled he could not be removed. Kendeh, who came to Britain in 1994, was a heavy user of cannabis and had started his own crime gang aged 15, the immigration court heard. His long history of appalling sex attacks and other offenses was also revealed to the hearing. Despite the earlier crimes, he had never before been considered for deportation. Astonishingly, the judge in the case praised Kendeh’s frankness and honesty and said that there were compassionate circumstances. Describing Kendeh as one of us the judge said that it would be an unjustifiable interference with his right to a private and family life, under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, to send him back home. Browne lobbied MPs and the police to keep the deportation case alive. She hadn’t even been notified when the case first went to the immigration court and wasn’t given the chance to give evidence. It was only by pestering her MP that she was able to find out details of the hearing and keep pressure on the Government to launch an appeal. Meanwhile Kendeh had served his sentence and was put into immigration detention pending efforts to remove him. But he was given bail and within months was arrested for robbing a woman and recalled to custody. On Browne’s insistence police asked for him to be deported. Finally, in November 2011, an immigration appeal tribunal ruled that he should be removed. It found no evidence that he has any connection with his immediate family who also live in Britain.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

About 15% of new marriages in the United States in 2010 were between spouses of different races or ethnicities, more than doubling the 1980 level of 6.7%

Looking at all married couples in 2010, regardless of when they married, intermarriages reached an all-time high of 8.4% in 2010, compared to 3.2% in 1980. Among all newlyweds in 2010, 9% of whites married outside of their race or ethnicity, along with 17% of African-Americans, 26% of Hispanics and 28% of Asians - a term that includes native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. About 24% of African-American males married outside their race in 2010, compared to 9% of African-American females. About 36% of Asian females married outside their race compared to 17% of Asian male newlyweds. In Western states, about one in five people, or 22%, married someone of a different race or ethnicity between 2008 and 2010. That drops to 14% in the South, 13% in the Northeast and 11% in the Midwest. Because whites are by far the nation's largest racial group, marriage between whites and minorities were the most common type of intermarriage, even though the intermarriage rate for whites is relatively low compared to other races or ethnicities. The state where most intermarriages took place was Hawaii, where more than four in 10 newlyweds (42.4%) were intermarried. The next highest percentages were in Oklahoma, Nevada and New Mexico, with 26.3%, 25.6% and 25.4%, respectively. White/Asian newlywed couples had significantly higher median combined annual earnings, at $70,592, than any other pairing. More than half of white newlyweds who marry Asians have a college degree, compared with roughly a third of white newlyweds who married whites. Hispanic or African-Americans who married whites tended to have higher educational attainment compared to marriages within their own race or ethnic group. Couples formed between an Asian man and a white wife topped the median combined earnings list for the period studied, between 2008 and 2010, with about $71,800. White male newlyweds who married Asian, Hispanic or black spouses had higher combined earnings than did white male newlyweds who married a white spouse. As for white female newlyweds, those who married a Hispanic or black husband had somewhat lower combined earnings than those who married a white male. Several studies using government data have found that overall divorce rates are higher for intermarried couples.

The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8% since February 2009, making the past three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in this country since the Great Depression

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the unemployment rate will remain above 8% until 2014. The official unemployment rate excludes those individuals who would like to work but have not searched for a job in the past four weeks as well as those who are working part-time but would prefer full-time work; if those people were counted among the unemployed, the unemployment rate in January 2012 would have been about 15%. Compounding the problem of high unemployment, the share of unemployed people looking for work for more than six months — referred to as the long-term unemployed — topped 40% in December 2009 for the first time since 1948, when such data began to be collected; it has remained above that level ever since.

Obama, who won 66% of the 24 million voters age 18-29 in 2008, has seen that support slashed

Only 31% of younger voters approve of Obama’s handling of youth unemployment, a number that threatens to rob him of the voter group that pushed him to victory. Young voters are now very dissatisfied with the direction of the country and are becoming more vocal in their demands for real jobs rather than promises of more unpaid internships and unproven programs.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Nearly 53% of all Hispanic births in California are now out of wedlock, and Hispanics have the highest teen birthrate of all ethnic groups

Nationally, 42% of Latino children entering kindergarten are in the lowest quartile of reading preparedness, compared with 18% of white children. By eighth grade, 43% of whites and 47% of Asians nationally are proficient or better in reading, compared with only 19% of Latino students. Latino students’ rate of B.A. completion from the University of California and California State University is the lowest of all student groups and has slightly declined in recent years, reports the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy at California State University, Sacramento. The state spends vast sums each year trying to get more Hispanics into college and to keep them there—$100 million in 2009, for instance, on the education of full-time community-college students who dropped out after their first year, according to the American Institutes for Research. Hispanic underperformance contributes to California’s dismal educational statistics. Only Mississippi had as large a percentage of its eighth-grade students reading at the below basic level on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); in eighth-grade math, California came in third, after Alabama and Mississippi, in the percentage of students scoring below basic. Only 56% of ninth-graders graduate in four years in Los Angeles; statewide, only two-thirds do. Unfortunately, though Hispanics will make up 40% of the state’s working-age population by 2020, just 12% of them are projected to have bachelor’s degrees by then, up from 10% in 2006. U.S.-born Hispanic households in California already use welfare programs (such as cash welfare, food stamps, and housing assistance) at twice the rate of U.S.-born non-Hispanic households, according to an analysis of the March 2011 Current Population Survey by the Center for Immigration Studies. Welfare use by immigrants is higher still. In 2008–09, the fraction of households using some form of welfare was 82% for households headed by an illegal immigrant and 61% for households headed by a legal immigrant. Hispanics made up nearly 60% of California’s poor in 2010, despite being less than 38% of the population. Nearly one-quarter of all Hispanics in California are poor, compared with a little over one-tenth of non-Hispanics. Nationally, the poverty rate of Hispanic adults drops from 25.5% in the first generation — the immigrant generation, that is — to 17% in the second but rises to 19% in the third, according to a Center for Immigration Studies analysis. (The poverty rate for white adults is 9%.) Only 55% of Hispanic male students graduated from California high schools in 2007, reports the California Dropout Research Project.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

A Muslim convert from Brooklyn has pleaded guilty to using a website he founded to post online threats against the creators of the "South Park" television show and others he deemed enemies of Islam

In court papers filed with his guilty plea, Jesse Curtis Morton, 33, admitted that his Revolution Muslim website served as an outlet for al-Qaida propaganda and that he used the site to post thinly veiled threats not only against "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker but against others whom he considered to be enemies of Islam. Morton, who also uses the name Younus Abdullah Mohammad, worked closely with Zachary Adam Chesser, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the "South Park" threats and other crimes. Morton left the United States and took a teaching job in Morocco days after Chesser's July 2010 arrest, fearing he, too, would be charged. He was arrested in Morocco and has been in custody since then, mostly in solitary confinement at the city jail in Alexandria. Morton and Chesser's cases differ in significant ways, though. Chesser, in addition to threatening the "South Park" creators, also tried twice to travel to Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabab. On his second attempt he boarded an international flight with his infant child in tow, hoping his travel would appear less suspicious if he was accompanied by a baby. The case against Morton rests solely on actions he took as founder and operator of Revolution Muslim. While the site was running, Morton took steps to portray its posts and commentary as solely informational or analytical, not intimidating and threatening. For instance, when he posted the first issue of the al-Qaida magazine Inspire on his site in 2010, he posted a disclaimer saying it "should not be deemed that we are displaying any advice or support, material or otherwise, for any institution deemed illegal or terroristic by the U.S. government and its thought police." The magazine included instructions on how to make a bomb and an explicit call from al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki for the assassination of Seattle cartoonist Molly Nelson, who had proposed "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" in response to the controversy over the 2010 "South Park" episode, which depicted the prophet Muhammad in a bear costume. Many Muslims consider drawings of Muhammad to be offensive, and Nelson was forced to go into hiding. Morton and Chesser worked closely on crafting statements in response to the "South Park" controversy that they thought would be legally permissible but still convey a clear threat that would encourage others to take violent action against the show's creators. The statements "predicted" that Stone and Parker would meet the same fate as Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was murdered in 2004 for making a movie that was perceived as insulting to Islam. Chesser had earlier posted a photo of Van Gogh's corpse along with the address of Comedy Central, where "South Park" airs, and a suggestion that readers "pay a visit" to Stone and Parker. Neil MacBride, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said that Morton's whole intent in operating Revolution Muslim was to inspire people to engage in violent jihad. Following the "South Park" controversy, Morton and Chesser discussed the fact that "Revolution Muslim" had become the 68th most searched term on Google and looked for ways to capitalize on their exposure, according to an FBI affidavit. The court documents include a long list of people convicted of terrorist activity who were regular readers of Revolution Muslim's materials. They include Colleen LaRose, also known as "Jihad Jane," who was convicted in Philadelphia of terrorism-related offenses; Antonio B. Martinez, who was convicted in Baltimore of plotting to bomb a military recruiting station; Jose Pimental, who sent an email to Revolution Muslim saying he was a "big fan" and was later charged in connection with a plot to kill U.S. military members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan; and Samir Khan, a U.S. citizen who became an al-Qaida propagandist and was killed in the airstrike that also killed al-Awlaki. "In some ways the 'South Park' threats were probably the least significant of the things that were happening" with Revolution Muslim, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg, who prosecuted the case. Chesser and Morton are among several so-called "homegrown terrorists" who have been prosecuted locally and across the nation. Brenda Heck, special agent in charge of the counterterrorism unit at the FBI's Washington field office, said that investigating sites like Revolution Muslim will remain a priority for the bureau because of the threat they pose in potentially radicalizing U.S. Muslims and inspiring them to commit acts of violence.

A foreign nurse who sexually assaulted a pregnant patient has avoided deportation because of his so-called right to family life – even though his wife and children may have returned to India

Milind Sanade was jailed for 12 months after he groped a vulnerable 21-year-old he was examining for signs of breast cancer. Following his release from prison, Indian national Sanade, 36, should have been deported. But he appealed on the grounds of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, after fathering two children in England. He was granted leave to stay because his family life deserved "respect". But neighbors at his £165,000 terraced house in Chelmsford, Essex, said that his wife, Veni, had returned to India. British MPs said that this casts doubt on Home Secretary Theresa May’s pledge to stop 400 foreigners a year abusing Article 8 by claiming that they have a wife, girlfriend or child in Britain. Sanade, who was also cautioned for assaulting an 87-year-old man when he worked in a care home, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the pregnant patient at a hospital in Harlow, Essex, in February 2010. In an effort to hide his crime, he made entries in his victim’s medical file so that if she complained she would be viewed as emotionally unstable. At the time of the assault, his wife, who is also a nurse, was heavily pregnant with their second child. Sanade was jailed for a year, ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years, banned from working in care and struck off the nursing register. Under the British Borders Act of 2007, foreign criminals jailed for a year or more must be deported unless there are exceptional circumstances whereby the right to family life would be violated. Sanade, who was released from prison six months into his sentence, came to England in July 2003. He married in Bangalore in 2005 and was granted indefinite leave to remain in Britain in July 2009. In October 2011, a black rapist was allowed to cheat deportation because of his so-called right to family life – even though he had abandoned his wife. Rohan Winfield, 38, from Barbados, was not even entitled to be in Britain when he carried out the assault in November 2008.

A 64-year-old rabbi has been indicted on charges that he molested two 13-year-old boys at his home

The indictment charges that Rabbi Uzi Rivlin made sexual contact with the two boys on several occasions in 2009 and 2010. Authorities have said that the boys were visiting from Israel and stayed at the rabbi's home during two summers as part of a scholarship program Rivlin had helped set up. Rivlin also was a teacher at the Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, New York. Bergen County prosecutors said that after the boys returned to Israel, they complained separately to Israeli authorities that Rivlin had molested them. Israeli authorities took statements from the boys and notified the FBI, which notified Teaneck police and the county Prosecutor's Office, authorities said. Rivlin was arrested at his home in August 2011. The 13-count indictment returned by a grand jury charges Rivlin with child endangerment by sexual conduct, aggravated criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual contact. If convicted, Rivlin faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the child endangerment charges. He remains free on $175,000 bail. Rivlin wrote in the temple's bulletin in 2008 that he had 35 years of experience as a Jewish educator. His wife, Jenny, wrote in the same bulletin that the couple had been married for 36 years and had raised six children. She also wrote that the Rivlins' scholarship fund was set up about 12 years ago to help orphaned and disadvantaged children in Israel. The program has brought more than a dozen Israeli children to the United States, she said.

Black actor says that he voted for Obama because they both belong to the same race

Samuel L. Jackson has said that he voted for Obama because of his color: “I voted for Barack because he was black. ’Cuz that’s why other folks vote for other people — because they look like them,” the actor says in an outspoken interview. Of course when white people do things like this they get accused of racism.

Are gays more powerful than blacks?

Apparently they are at CNN. Steve Sailer and James Edwards have the details.

A suspected member of Mexico's Zetas drugs gang has led authorities to two graves in Veracruz state holding 15 bodies, the Mexican navy says

Marines unearthed the decomposing corpses on two ranches near the town of Acayucan, in the south of the state. The suspect gave details of the two sites after being arrested when he tried to evade a military checkpoint. Veracruz has seen a rise in violence recently, blamed on feuding between the Zetas and their rivals. Hundreds of bodies have been found in mass graves in the last few years, many of them in the northern state of Durango and Tamaulipas. Marines went to the reported grave sites after a suspect identified as Juan Francisco Alvarado Martagon gave information to the authorities. Initially 10 bodies were found but officials later said a total of 15 victims had been recovered.

Security officials in Mexico say that two men have been killed and a third injured by a mob for allegedly trying to kidnap a youth

Local residents in Chalco, near Mexico City, beat the men and forced them into a car, which they then set alight. Police have detained at least a dozen residents they suspect of the lynching. Kidnappings are common in Mexico, where criminal gangs make money by abducting people for ransom. Police described how around 600 locals armed with bars, clubs and bottles surrounded the three suspects and dragged them to the town's main square. Municipal police officers managed to save one of the men, but residents locked the other two in their car, doused it with gasoline and set it alight. In a recent travel warning, the US State Department warned of the rising number of kidnappings and disappearances in Mexico.

A black man who claimed to be a famous dead singer has been charged with fraud, South African police say

The man said that he was Khulekani "Mgqumeni" Khumalo - an award-winning Zulu folk musician who died in 2009. He claims he was kidnapped by a witchdoctor who cast a spell on him and held him in a cave with zombies. But police say the man's fingerprints establish that he is in fact Sibusiso John Gcabashe, 28. Khumalo's apparent return from the dead had sparked frenzied scenes as fans flocked to the singer's family home at the weekend, with riot police deploying truncheons and water cannon to control them. The impersonator has appeared at Nquthu magistrate court in KwaZulu-Natal where he was charged with fraud but not asked to enter a plea, said police spokesman Col Jay Naicker. Family of the dead singer appeared split over the man's identity, with two wives saying that he was genuine but the singer's former partner, Zehlise Xulu, insisting he was not. Belief in witchcraft is common among blacks in South Africa.

The Department of Education has admitted that no one was monitoring trips students took with a black teacher's aide accused of filming child porn

African-American Taleek Brooks, suspected of videotaping himself abusing kids inside Public School 243 in Brooklyn, took members of an all-boys dance group to see movies like “Avatar” and “How to Train a Dragon” every month. Education Department spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz insisted that the dance group, the Freestylers, was part of an after-school program and not an official club, therefore not subject to city regulations or monitoring. But the after-school program, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, denied that the dance group was under its purview, either. Brooks was arrested after FBI agents discovered images on his home computer of himself spanking a naked child and fondling a boy’s private parts in what appeared to be a classroom, FBI officials said. The 40-year-old, who frequently chaperoned school-sanctioned trips to places like Six Flags, said nothing during a brief court appearance. Brooks - who posted a disturbing photo of himself dressed as the Easter bunny with his arms around children - wrote on a school blog that he enjoyed taking kids to the movie nights. Some parents at the school suggested that principal Karen Hambright-Glover should have done more to prevent the abuse.

Is the IQ gap between blacks and whites getting narrower?

Not according to Half Sigma:
As you should know if you follow HBD blogs, we suspect that the “gap” between blacks and whites has narrowed because it’s not being measured properly. For example, instead of using standard deviations to measure the distance they use raw test scores, and the appearance of a narrowing gap can be created by making the tests easier. As well as downright cheating by schools in black neighborhoods.

A man from Uzbekistan who pleaded guilty to plotting to kill Obama with an automatic rifle claimed he was acting at the direction of an Islamic terror group in his home country

Ulugbek Kodirov discussed trying to kill Obama as he campaigned for re-election because he would be out in public more often. Defense attorney Lance Bell said that the 22-year-old avoided a potential life sentence by pleading guilty in Birmingham, Alabama. He faces up to 30 years in prison, though Bell expected Kodirov to receive about half that. The judge also told Kodirov that he will face deportation once he's released from prison. Kodirov pleaded guilty to three counts: Threatening to kill Obama, possessing an automatic weapon, and providing material support to Muslim terrorists. Authorities say that Kodirov was in the country illegally because he obtained a student visa but never enrolled in school. Uzbekistan is located in central Asia and was once part of the former Soviet Union. It is slightly larger than California and the vast majority of its population is Muslim. Islamic terrorists have been linked to violence in the country for more than a decade, according to the State Department.

An Iraqi woman has been accused of beating her teenage daughter and padlocking her to a bed after she was seen speaking to a young man

After Yusra Farhan was arrested in the Arizona hospital where her daughter was being treated for her injuries, she told police that she wanted to punish the girl for violating her culture. Farhan, 50, faces charges of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest. She was being held in a Maricopa County jail. Police did not identify her daughter by name. The incident started when the daughter was spotted by her father talking to a 19-year-old man at a high school parking lot in Phoenix. Police said that her father became angry and took her home, striking her several times. The mother arrived home later and admitted to hitting her daughter with her hands and a shoe, and tying her to the bed with a rope around her waist that was secured with a padlock, court records showed. Farhan told police that she hit her daughter because she was speaking to a male subject and her Iraq culture states that a female is not allowed to be having contact with males because females are not allowed to have boyfriends, court records said. The arrest follows another high-profile case involving an Iraqi immigrant. In April 2011, an Arizona judge sentenced Faleh Hassan Almaleki to 34 and a half years in prison for murdering his daughter in what was described as an honor killing. Almaleki struck and killed his 20-year-old daughter Noor with his vehicle in a Phoenix valley parking lot in 2009 for becoming too Westernised and violating what he said were Iraqi and Muslim values. He also injured her boyfriend's mother before fleeing the scene.

A black mother was caught on a hidden camera stuffing cotton wool from a soft toy down her child's throat and attempting to smother her

African-American Chevonne Youngineer was under suspicion of harming her child because she said that her child frequently stopped breathing or starts chocking. When the 17 year old brought her daughter to hospital after another near death incident she was placed in a room with a hidden CCTV camera. Police said that while in the room with her baby daughter Youngineer summoned nurses to say she wasn't breathing. Staff at the MUSC Children's Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, rushed into the room to find the baby struggling for breath. They managed to remove pieces of cotton wool by hitting her back forcing her to vomit it back up. Hospital workers reviewed the surveillance footage and watched as moments before she called the nurses, Younginer tore cotton from a stuffed toy bear and shoved the stuffing into her baby’s mouth. She also covered the baby's baby’s face with a blanket. After several seconds Youngineer went back and pushed the stuffing further into her baby’s mouth and walked away. The CCTV tape shows the child struggling for breath.

Britain: A white teenager was left for dead after being chased and savagely beaten by a gang of South Asians in a suspected racist attack

Daniel Stringer, 17, was pursued through a busy town center by up to eight men and then repeatedly kicked and punched in the head. He was left in the road, bleeding and barely conscious, as the gang melted away into the night. Police say there is no evidence of provocation and are treating the attack as a serious hate crime. Daniel’s family issued pictures of the teenager lying seriously ill in hospital with a fractured skull and fractured eye socket. They say the nerves behind his eyes have been damaged and he could be left with impaired vision.

Latinos as a group account for just 15% of the nation's workforce, but they have racked up half the employment gains posted since the economy began adding jobs in early 2010, according to Labor Department statistics

The Labor Department figures show that of the 2.3 million jobs added to the economy in 2011, 1.4 million, or 60%, were filled by Latinos. The sectors where they gained a large share of jobs included hotels, food services, healthcare and manufacturing. So far, Latinos are the only demographic group whose employment numbers have returned to pre-recession levels. Why are Latinos doing better now than other groups? One reason may be that they are more willing to take low-wage, temporary jobs due to their lower levels of education. Just 10% of foreign-born and 13.5% of native Latinos have finished college, placing the group's completion rate at about a third of the national average.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Despite being sent to maximum security jails in Britain, Islamic extremists are preaching hate to new inmates, breeding a fresh generation of radicals willing to launch terror attacks

A nine-month inquiry by the British home affairs select committee into the roots of violent radicalization found that, in some cases, inmates were being persuaded to carry out suicide missions within days of entering prison. The findings are published as four radical Islamists are due to be sentenced for plotting a major terror attack before Christmas 2011 on the London Stock Exchange, the London Eye and other important landmarks. Mohammed Chowdhury, 21, Shah Rahman, 28, Abdul Miah, 25, and Gurukanth Desai, 30, will be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court for the Mumbai-style terror plot. It is believed that Miah was radicalized in prison after being sentenced for drugs and weapons offenses. The report, “Roots of Radicalisation”, identified prisons as one of the major breeding grounds for terrorism-related Islamic extremism. It also recognised the dangers posed by the Internet and the role played by universities, where radical preachers were often invited to speak without being robustly challenged. In compiling their report, British MPs visited the maximum security Belmarsh Prison in south-east London, which detains some of the most dangerous extremists in the country and where 20% of inmates are Muslim. One inmate sent to Belmarsh on remand was persuaded to undertake a martyrdom mission within 72 hours of arriving. The unnamed individual was housed three cells away from the black radical Jamaican Islamic preacher Abdullah al-Faisal who convinced him to become a suicide bomber within three days.

As many as 3000 women in Scotland may have suffered female genital mutilation

Of course none of these women are native Scots. It affects many communities from different parts of Africa and the Middle East. In some of the largest refugee communities in Scotland between 80% and 90% of the women may have been mutilated. Female genital mutilation is practised in 28 African countries, and some communities in Asia and the Middle East. Maybe the British should be a little more selective in who they allow migrate to their country?

Men are more likely to behave "selflessly" if they think it will get them sex with attractive women

Kind of obvious when you think about it. After all, most male behavior is influenced by the possibility of having sex with an attractive partner.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

An illegal immigrant from Bolivia, Carlos A. Martinelly-Montano, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for an August 2010 drunk driving accident that killed a nun and badly hurt two others

Martinelly-Montano, 24, had been convicted of felony murder during an October 2011 trial. He was driving drunk when he swerved his Subaru into a guardrail and then veered into the opposite lane on a slim, two-lane road in Bristow, Virginia, colliding with the nuns’ blue Toyota Corolla. The nuns, who belonged to the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia, were on their way from Richmond to Bristow for an annual retreat. Sister Denise Mosier was killed. Sisters Charlotte Lange and Connie Ruth Lupton, both in their 70s, were badly hurt. Martinelly-Montano, originally from Bolivia, had twice been arrested on drunk driving charges before the crash and federal authorities had scheduled a deportation hearing. The case prompted calls for stricter immigration enforcement. Martinelly-Montano also pleaded guilty to five charges stemming from the incident: involuntary manslaughter, two counts of maiming while driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license and a third DUI offense within five years. The charges carry a maximum of 70 years in prison.

Two men have been released from custody following their arrests in connection with a hateful video posted on YouTube calling for Allah to destroy members of the Norwegian government and royal family

Domestic intelligence service PST said that the charges against the two men remain. An unnamed 21-year-old old man from Skien, south-eastern Norway, was arrested at his home in the town on January 20, 2012 by officers from the Telemark police service and the PTS. The man, a Norwegian citizen with a Central American family background, faces charges of threatening state officials and incitement to terrorism. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Police arrested the second suspect, the 26-year-old Islamic extremist Mohyeldeen Mohammad, on charges of threatening state officials. He could spend up to six years in jail if found guilty. Mohammad previously caused outrage in 2010 with comments made after the publication in Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet of a caricature of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. “Maybe we’ll have a 9/11 or 7/7 on Norwegian soil. This is not a threat, but a warning,” he said at the time. Recently, Mohammad drew the ire of the authorities with a message posted on the Facebook wall of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. The message read: “To: Jens KAFIR Stoltenberg Enemy of Allah, mass murderer and terrorist! Pull the soldiers out of Afghanistan! Allah will punish you for your misdeeds, may you burn in Hell for all eternity!” In the video, images of Crown Prince Haakon, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre are accompanied by a song in Arabic that contains the words: “Oh Allah, destroy them, and let it be painful”. The clip, which is just over four minutes long, also features pictures of Norwegian soldiers and injured children. It ends with the sound of an explosion and a picture of a Norwegian vehicle in flames.

Norway’s government has said that it wants non-European immigrants to carry residency cards equipped with data chips bearing their fingerprints

The justice ministry said that the new identity cards would help tackle illegal immigration. “The residency card system will increase security surrounding residency permit documentation, thereby contributing to the prevention of illegal immigration and illegal residency,” said Justice Minister Grete Faremo (Labor Party). The move follows pressure from the European Union to ensure that immigrants from outside the European Economic Area, of which Norway is a member, are provided with residency cards that include fingerprint details. Faremo said that the cards would benefit immigrants with legitimate residency permits, enabling them to display fully reliable ID to prospective employers and banks.

Unemployment falls more for black and Hispanics than it does for whites

The Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January 2012, bringing its drop over the last year to 0.8 percentage points. African Americans in particular saw an especially sharp decline in unemployment, with their overall rate falling by 2.2 percentage points to 13.6%, the lowest level since March of 2009. The unemployment rate for African American men over age 20 fell by 3.0 percentage points to 12.7%, the lowest level since November of 2008. The drop for women over age 20 was 1.3 percentage points to 12.6%. The unemployment rate for Hispanics dropped by 0.5 percentage points to 10.5%, the lowest since January of 2009. The gains for whites were more modest, with the overall unemployment rate edging down by 0.1 percentage points to 7.4%. The unemployment rate for white men over age 20 fell by 0.2 percentage points to 6.9%, while it was unchanged for women over age 20 at 6.8%.

A Southern California Jewish temple is trying to shame Mel Gibson into undoing a mess it created by taking out a jumbo loan on its synagogue — a loan that it can’t afford to pay back

Congregation Beth Shalom, located in Corona, sent Mel a letter in which it is requesting big money from the actor to prevent foreclosure. In a move resembling a homeless guy accosting you for money at a gas station, the letter reads in part, “Our proposal to you, Mr. Gibson, is since you have been cited as an Anti-Semitic, and have denied those allegations, what better way to prove to all your fans and the nay Sayers — than to endorse and help raise funds for our cause — SOS, Save Our Synagogue.” When you think about all the rich Jews that there are in Hollywood it is weird that these Jews would turn to an "anti-Semite" like Mel Gibson. Could it be that rich Jews are too cheap to help out their fellow Jews in a time of need?

Thanks to Obama's policies, the United States is missing about $1.8 trillion in GDP — or roughly $5,760 for every man, woman and child

The economy would be a lot better off today than it is if it weren't for Obama's incompetence.

If the size of the U.S. labor force as a share of the total population was the same as it was when Barack Obama took office the unemployment rate would be 11%

Most of the shift of the past year is due not to the improvement in the labor market, but the continued drop in participation in the labor force.

Fraud and the Holocaust

For years Rabbi Menachem Youlus, a self-described “Jewish Indiana Jones,” received plaudits from those captivated by his stories of traveling to Eastern Europe and beyond to search for historic Torahs that were lost or hidden during the Holocaust. But now, Rabbi Youlus standing inside the federal courthouse in Manhattan has confessed that he had made up those tales of daring. “Between 2004 and 2010, I falsely represented that I had personally obtained vintage Torah scrolls — in particular ways, in particular locations — in Europe and Israel,” he told Judge Colleen McMahon of Federal District Court. “I know what I did was wrong, and I deeply regret my conduct.” The rabbi, 50, then pleaded guilty to mail fraud and wire fraud, admitting that he had used the United States Postal Service and e-mails to further a scheme to steal money while claiming to be saving and restoring historic Torahs. Rabbi Youlus could receive up to 20 years in prison on each of the two counts when he is sentenced on June 21, 2012 but sentencing guidelines recommend terms of 51 to 63 months. Prosecutors said that he sold fake Torahs over a period of six years, and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars through Save a Torah, a nonprofit organization he helped found in 2004. The scheme took several forms, according to a complaint filed by the United States attorney’s office. Prosecutors said that Rabbi Youlus solicited more than $1 million from Save a Torah, asking that the money be paid to a bookstore he owned in Maryland, called the Jewish Bookstore, and explaining that the money was payment for restoring old and damaged scrolls. Rabbi Youlus was also accused of writing $344,000 in checks to himself from the bookstore’s account, charging about $200,000 in personal expenses to a credit card issued to the bookstore and using $90,000 in the bookstore’s money to pay private school tuition for his children and his relatives’ children. In addition, prosecutors said, Rabbi Youlus took $145,000 that donors tried to give to Save a Torah and diverted it to his own bank account. Some of those donors were motivated by Rabbi Youlus’s colorful stories. He claimed that he had traveled through Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine in search of old Torahs and recovered some from the sites of former concentration camps like Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. While traveling, he said, he had been beaten and imprisoned, and on more than one occasion he referred to himself as “the Jewish Indiana Jones.” An investigation revealed that he had never been to any of the faraway places he spoke of and that the Torahs he sold to wealthy supporters did not have the provenance that he had claimed.

According to the Household Survey, 847,000 jobs were added in January 2012 - 96% of those jobs went to Hispanics although they are only 15% of the workforce

In January 2012, Hispanic employment grew 131 times faster than non-Hispanic employment. The brutal explanation: Hispanics, immigrant and native-born, are systematically more willing to work for less money. An analysis of the Household Survey indicates that 414,000, or 49%, of January 2012’s new jobs went to immigrants. That is more than three times their share of the labor force (16%). At this rate, immigrant employment will double in just 39 months, while native-born employment will take 196 months to double. That’s 16 years. Since Obama took office immigrant employment rose by 6.6% while native-born employment declined by 1.7%

An immigrant from Uzbekistan who was helped to relocate to Colorado by the United States and the United Nations is now facing a terrorism charge

Jamshid Muhtorov, fled his country at night disguised as a woman ion 2007, and settled with his family in Aurora, a Denver suburb. The 35-year-old had opposed Uzbekistan's dictator following a 2005 massacre, endured severe beatings during a brutal detention, and saw his sister arrested on a false murder charge. But he's now accused of providing material support and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union. The violent group opposes the Uzbek government and has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. Authorities arrested Muhtorov in Chicago on January 21, 2012. Federal authorities say that the Islamic Jihad Union has claimed responsibility for attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, including a March 2008 suicide attack on a U.S. base. The group is also blamed for carrying out simultaneous suicide bombings of the U.S. and Israeli embassies and a prosecutor's office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

A mother threw her 18-month-old son to safety just moments before she was set on fire by the child's black father

Tiffany Lawson, 31, from Ohio, has been sprayed with lighter fluid while holding on to her toddler son. Drenched in the flammable liquid she raced to an open second floor window closely followed by her African-American boyfriend Kevin Ford Jr. Police said that Lawson yelled out to a neighbor below who had heard her arguing with Ford and dropped her son to the ground. Seconds later she was set on fire by Ford. Ford Jr fled the scene was later arrested and is expected to be charged with attempted murder.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Hispanic mother of a five-year-old girl could be facing murder charges after the child was found dead in her home with cuts and bruises from her head to her feet

Candy Flores was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived at her tiny southwest Houston apartment complex, where she lived with 14 others. Her mother, Rosa Gonzalez, 41, told police she sustained the injuries while falling off the toilet. Someone in the home called 911 and officers found the five-year-old on the floor of the only bedroom in the house. She had a contusion on her face and a cut on her nose. Paramedics tried to revive her but to no avail. A medical examiner said that Candy's injuries did not match up with what her mother told detectives as he found many injuries, some of which were fresh and some in different processes of healing. During questioning, Houston Police say that Rosa later admitted that her daughter was being abused for some time. HPD homicide investigator Kevin Carr said that Candy had bruises and scratches from her head to the bottom of her feet and injuries on her face, arms, chest and legs. Gonzalez is currently charged with felony injury to a child but this is expected to change once an autopsy is complete. Candy was also severely malnourished and had the body of a three-year-old rather than a five-year-old. Her rib cage was visible, her face shallow and she had dark circles around her eyes. Gonzalez had nine other children - two adult daughters and seven minors, who range in age from 21 to two months old. All but the woman's 20-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son lived in the 500 square foot apartment. Gonzalez's 21-year-old daughter was also living in the apartment with her four children, ranging in age from ten months to five years old, Carr said. CPS took the nine children into custody. They are interviewing them about their home life and trying to determine if they will stay with relatives for the time being.

Monogamy reduces crime rates, including rape, murder, assault, robbery and fraud

In general, monogamous societies are better than polygamous ones.

Hispanic children are more likely than those from other racial and ethnic backgrounds to be diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and are more likely to die of their disease

Researchers studying a gene called ARID5B linked eight common variants of the gene to an increased risk of not only developing pediatric ALL but of having the cancer return after treatment. Two more ARID5B variants were tied to higher odds of developing the disease. Investigators found that Hispanic children were up to twice as likely as their white counterparts to inherit a high risk-version of ARID5B. Each year ALL is found in about 3,000 U.S. children, making it the most common childhood cancer. The incidence varies by self-declared race and ethnicity with rates for Hispanic individuals 50 percent higher than for non-Hispanic white individuals. For this study, researchers used genetic variations rather than individual self-report to define ancestry. White children were defined as having greater than 95% European ancestry and Hispanics children as having greater than 10% Native American ancestry. Hispanic children are less likely than children from other racial or ethnic backgrounds to be alive five years after diagnosis. Although the high-risk versions of ARID5B were found in both white and Hispanic patients, those variants were 1.5 to two times more common in Hispanic children than in white children.