Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

ChristianMingle date rape victims sought by California cops


A suspected rapist accused of sexually assaulting a woman he met on ChristianMingle.com may have used the dating site to prey on women while he traveled across the country, California police said today.

Sean Patrick Banks, 37, a former Navy sailor, used a fake name to contact a woman who he allegedly raped in November, cops in La Mesa, Calif., said. Investigators believe that he used additional aliases to contact other women on the popular website and police hope that if there are additional victims they will recognize Banks.

Banks lives in Del Mar, Calif., and is currently unemployed but previously "travelled frequently around various spots in the U.S." for work, widening the search for potential victims from Southern California to across the country, said La Mesa Police spokesman Lt. Matt Nicholass.

Horse

Nestle finds horsemeat in beef pasta meals

Nestle
© Reuters/Joao VieriaA Nestle logo is pictured on a factory in Orbe April 20, 2012.
London - Nestle (NESN.VX), the world's biggest food company, has removed beef pasta meals from sale in Italy and Spain after finding traces of horse DNA.

The discovery of horsemeat in products labeled as beef has spread across Europe since last month, prompting product withdrawals, consumer anger and government investigations into the continent's complex food-processing chains.

Swiss-based Nestle, which just last week said its products had not been affected by the scandal, said its tests had found more than 1 percent horse DNA in two products.

"We have informed the authorities accordingly," Nestle said in a statement on Monday. "There is no food safety issue."

Nestle withdrew two chilled pasta products, Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini, in Italy and Spain,

Pistol

Men accused of robbing friend at gunpoint for $1

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© HPDLeonardo Taveras, 24 (L) and Randy Dike, 25,(R) are accused of aggravated robbery for a Feb. 10 incident.
Texas - Two men are accused of beating up a friend, robbing him at gunpoint and walking away with only a dollar found in the man's pocket.

Randy Chinonso Dike, 25, and Leonardo Taveras, 24, were arrested last Thursday for aggravated robbery after the incident on Feb. 10 at the 12700 block of Bryant Rock, court records show.

A Houston man told investigators he received a call from Taveras, whom he knew by name, sight and voice, asking him to meet with him to help with his vehicle.

When he arrived, Taveras and Dike accused the man of burglarizing an apartment several months before, he told police. The man denied to investigators that he stole from Taveras' home.

Dike charged at the man and punched the man in the torso several times, court records show. Taveras then opened the trunk and took a shotgun out of his car parked at the scene and pointed it at the man, records show.

With a shotgun pointed at him, the man told investigators Dike went through his pockets and took a one-dollar bill.

Both are in custody with $50,000 bond.

Stormtrooper

Israeli sniper posts pic of child in crosshairs

Sniper Posts Pic of Child in Crosshairs
© ABC NewsSniper Posts Pic of Child in Crosshairs
Jerusalem - A photo posted online by an Israeli soldier showing a child in the crosshairs of a rifle scope has created a firestorm on the internet, drawing widespread criticism.

The photo was reportedly posted on Jan. 25 by Mor Ostrovski, 20, a member of an Israeli sniper unit. It shows crosshairs zeroed in on the back of the head of what appears to be a Palestinian boy in a village. The photo has since been taken down and Ostrovski's account has been deactivated.

"There are no other images to suggest that the photographer actually fired at the person in the image in this case," wrote Palestinian activist Ali Abuminah who runs the site Electronic Intifada and drew much of the attention to the photo. "The image is simply tasteless and dehumanizing. It embodies the idea that Palestinian children are targets."

Before the account was taken down, Abuminah posted other photos from Ostrovski's account that showed him in his olive green uniform holding a variety of weapons, including a sniper rifle.

Black Cat 2

Drunk executive who slapped toddler on plane gets slapped with pink slip

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© ABC NewsJoe Rickey Hundley from Idaho, shown in a photo from a previous arrest, has been charged with assaulting a minor.
An Idaho executive charged with slapping a toddler on a Delta Airlines flight has been slapped with a pink slip, his former employer says.

Joe Rickey Hundley, 60, is no longer employed by AGC Aerospace and Defense, Composites Group.

AGC's President and CEO Al Hasse said Sunday that reports of recent behavior by one of his unit executives is "offensive and disturbing."

"We have taken this matter very seriously and worked diligently to examine it since learning of the matter on Friday afternoon. As of Sunday, the executive is no longer employed with the company," Hasse said.

Hasse went on to say that such behavior is contradictory to the company's values. He said it was "embarrassing and does not in any way reflect the patriotic character of the men and women of diverse backgrounds who work tirelessly in our business."

AGC spokesman Daniel Keeney of DPK Public Relations told ABC News, "Since this is a personnel matter, we can't describe further the specifics of Mr. Hundley's departure from the company."

Black Cat

Woman awakens from meditation to find gym employee masturbating next to her

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A New York woman is suing her gym after she reportedly awoke from meditating to find a maintenance worker masturbating next to her, according to court documents.

Keiko Herskovitz, 55, of New York City, was lying down with her eyes closed in a studio room at Equinox's Pure Yoga West following her yoga class when an employee came in to clean the room. But when she opened her eyes, she allegedly saw "a maintenance associate, about two feet away, masturbating," court documents said.

After Herskovitz realized what he was doing, the employee "quickly covered himself with a yoga blanket and ran out of the room," according to court documents.

The suit alleges that Herskovitz, who takes classes at the studio about four times a week, alerted the studio's manager on duty. But the manager reportedly did not believe her.

Dollars

Wealthy widow who adopted and rejected Chinese child owes her part of $250M estate

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© Getty Images
A New York appeals court has found in favor of a Chinese teen who was adopted by a wealthy couple and then given up for adoption again, ruling that she is entitled to a portion of her first family's $250 million estate.

In 1996, John and Christine Svenningsen of Westchester, N.Y, adopted a baby girl from China, whom they named Emily Fuqui Svenningsen. Before finalizing the adoption, the couple, who already had four biological children, had one more biological child. Around that same time, John Svenningsen, a party goods magnate, was diagnosed with cancer, according to court documents.

On May 6, 1996, the Svenningsens signed an adoption agreement stating that they would not abandon Emily or "transfer or have [her] re-adopted," and that she would be deemed "a biological child," according to court papers in the case. The agreement also stated that Emily had the right to inherit the estate of her adopted parents, who had established a pair of trusts for their children, as well as one meant solely for Emily.

John Svenningsen died in May, 1997.

In December 2003, Christine brought Emily to The Devereux Glenholme School in Washington, Conn., a boarding school for children with special-needs. According to court papers, her lawyers talked to school administrators about putting Emily up for adoption; the school's assistant executive director, Maryann Campbell, and her husband, Fred Cass, expressed interest in adopting Emily.

On December 16, 2004, Christine voluntarily surrendered custody of Emily to Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children, an adoption agency in New York. On May 18, 2006, Campbell and Cass formally adopted Emily.

Yoda

Best of the Web: From cheerleader to enemy of the state

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The long, flouncy curls from Judy Davis's cheerleader days are gone. Her straight blonde hair is now cut short. Large blue eyes stand out in a face pale without makeup. Her soft Southern drawl has an undertone of determination. "It's taken me awhile, but now I'm glad to be considered an "unsuitable influence". That was how the school board justified my firing. That and "deviating from the curriculum. It's like they were implying I was a deviant. And according to their norms, I am."

The twenty-nine-year-old was fired for teaching her high school students how US foreign policy has provoked terrorism. This struggle with her school board turned her from a Republican into a revolutionary for peace.

Stock Down

Wal-Mart Says February Sales "Total Disaster", Worst Monthly Start Since 2006; Stock Drops

Wal-Mart
© The Economic Collpase
Wal-Mart shares are plunging as the firm reports a 'total disaster' in its February sales. Bloomberg obtained internal emails that note:
"In case you haven't seen a sales report these days, February MTD sales are a total disaster," Jerry Murray, Wal-Mart's vice president of finance and logistics, said in a Feb. 12 e-mail to other executives, referring to month-to-date sales. "The worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company.... That points to our competitive landscape, which means everyone is suffering and probably worse than we are"
It gets better:
"We have to fight against the tougher economic environment to earn a bigger share of a smaller consumer spending pie"
Obviously in WMT speak, "tougher" is what Obama would call "much better and rapidly improving."

Things must not be serious over in Bentonville for this much truth to suddenly hit the tape.

One senior executive summed it up perfectly - "Well, we just had one of those weeks here at Walmart U.S. Where are all the customers? And where's their money?" The company notes the end of the payroll tax cut by Obama and asks "We need to stop the stupid."

Black Magic

Human skull, bones found in backyard altar in Los Angeles

Human Bones
© KSEE24 News
Los Angeles County Coroner's officials on Sunday were examining a human skull and bones found at a burned makeshift backyard altar at the home of a woman who police said practices Santería.

The discovery was made Sunday before 1 p.m. when the Pasadena Police Department responded to a report of a possible trespasser in the 800 block of North Oakland Avenue, police said.