Current Affairs

At Least 4 Dead in Texas Flooding
The Associated Press

By RASHA MADKOUR

October 16, 2006

Heavy thunderstorms brought torrential rains, flooding and tornadoes to Southeast Texas Monday, killing four people, ripping roofs off mobile homes, and trapping rush-hour drivers on flooded, tangled freeways.

A Houston mother and daughter were found dead in a sport utility vehicle in floodwaters at least 8 feet deep in Houston, apparently of drowning, the Harris County Medical Examiners Office said.

Houston Police Sgt. P.E. Ogden III said the floodwaters exert such pressure on submerged cars, 'Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't get out.'

Two people died in Brazoria County. One person was found dead in a submerged vehicle and a 54-year-old woman died in a two-vehicle collision on a rain-slicked highway. No other information was immediately available about the deaths.

Nine members of one family were injured when their sport-utility vehicle skidded off rain-slicked Interstate 10 and hit a guardrail on their way home from a family gathering, said Harris County emergency management spokeswoman Gloria Roemer. None of the injuries was life-threatening, Harris County Sgt. Dana Wolfe said.

As much as 10 inches of rain fell in the Houston-Galveston area overnight.

More rain was expected across Texas on Monday, although floodwaters were receding in parts of the Houston area by late morning.

Parts of interstates 10 and 45 were shut down around Houston, and the University of Houston and several other schools were closed. Twenty bayous overflowed their banks, but county officials said no evacuations were ordered. Some delays were reported at both of Houston's major airports.

A tornado struck east of Houston near the Jefferson County town of China, not far from the Louisiana line, said emergency management spokeswoman Darlene Koch. The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado, and Koch said five mobile homes and two houses were destroyed. No injuries were reported.

Another tornado ripped through northern Newton County on the Texas-Louisiana line, toppling trees and power lines, authorities said. There were no reported injuries.

In the Texas Coastal Bend, as many as 20 homes were damaged as a suspected tornado roared through the small Lavaca Bay community of Magnolia Beach before daybreak Monday, Calhoun County Sheriff B.B. Browning said. The only injury reported in the small community 75 miles northeast of Corpus Christi was a cut thumb a man suffered from flying glass, he said.

Parts of North and West Texas got as much as 4 inches of rain overnight, prompting flash flood warnings. National Weather Service meteorologist Stacie Hanes said the rain in North Texas was expected to dissipate by evening.

In Louisiana, three people were hurt early Monday when strong winds blew through the fishing community of Leeville, 90 miles south of New Orleans, authorities said.

An elderly couple was rescued from an overturned trailer. The woman suffered a broken arm, while her husband was treated for bruises and lacerations, said Larry Weidel, a spokesman for the Lafourche Parish sheriff. Another person was treated for a knee injury, he said. The storm sank at least two boats, as well.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

holy shit!!! [img]rolleyes.gif[/img] you weren't lyin when you said there was a hell of a storm on the way.... *shudders*.... [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

Priest denies sexual relationship with Foley
Report: Cleric describes several encounters, massages, skinny-dipping

SARASOTA, Fla. - A priest acknowledged Thursday that he used to go naked in saunas with Mark Foley decades ago when the former congressman was a boy in Florida, but denied that the two had sex.

The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 72, speaking by telephone from his home on the Maltese island of Gozo, said a report in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune about their relationship was ?exaggerated.?

?We were friends and trusted each other as brothers and loved each other as brothers,? Mercieca said. Asked if their relationship was sexual in nature, the priest replied: ?it wasn?t.?

A Roman Catholic priest said he had an inappropriate two-year relationship with former Rep. Mark Foley in the 1960s that included massaging the boy in the nude, but he did not specifically remember having sex, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported described several encounters that he said Foley might perceive as sexually inappropriate. They include massaging Foley while the boy was naked, skinny-dipping together at a secluded lake in Lake Worth and being nude in the same room on overnight trips.

The paper reported Mercieca said there was one night when he was in a drug-induced stupor and there was an incident but he couldn't clearly remember, the newspaper reported.

'I was taking pills'
"I have to confess, I was going through a nervous breakdown," the newspaper reported Mercieca as saying from his home on the island of Gozo, south of Italy. "I was taking pills - tranquilizers. I used to take them all the time. They affected my mind a little bit."

Mercieca could not immediately be located for comment Thursday by The Associated Press.

Foley resigned from Congress last month after his sexually explicit e-mails to young male pages surfaced.

His lawyer said shortly after his resignation that Foley was an alcoholic, gay and had been molested as a boy by a "clergyman." Foley's civil lawyer, Gerald Richman, said the alleged abuser was a Catholic priest whose name he shared with state prosecutors on Wednesday.

Foley's criminal defense lawyer David Roth declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Roth said "Mark does not blame the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent for his totally inappropriate" e-mails and instant messages. "He continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct."

Taught Foley 'some wrong things'
Mercieca had worked at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth in 1967, according to church records. Foley would have been 13 at the time.

Mercieca, 72, said he and Foley became fast friends when he moved there from Brazil and "loved each other like brothers," the newspaper reported.

Mercieca said he taught Foley "some wrong things" related to sex, though he wouldn't specify what he meant, the newspaper said. It reported the priest said that at the time, he considered the relationship innocent, but he now says he could see how his actions could be called inappropriate.

Mercieca said although Foley plans to "expose him to the world," he still has "great memories of our trips," the newspaper reported.

"I wish him well," Mercieca said. "Let bygones be bygones."

No accusations elsewhere
Mercieca was adamant that his encounter with Foley was an aberration, and that the Catholic Church never had to send him for counseling during his 38 years in the priesthood in Florida, according to the newspaper.

"I have been in many parishes, and I have never been" accused, he said.

A Web site for the Diocese of Gozo lists Mercieca as one of its priests. Joseph Calleja, a priest with the diocese, said Mercieca is still an active priest but that he lives at his own home. Gozo, a Mediterranean island, is part of the Republic of Malta.

Sheriff: Parents, kids killed for drugs, money or both

FORT PIERCE, Florida (CNN) -- Investigators believe the killings of a family of four along Florida's Turnpike this month were premeditated and carried out for "drugs, money or both," St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said Friday.

Four people -- a woman and three men -- are in custody on federal drug charges unrelated to the deaths, Mascara said, and they and the missing brother of one of the victims "all do know each other."

"We do not feel it was a revenge killing," Mascara said at a Friday morning news conference. "We think it was related to either the theft of drugs and money or both." (Watch police explain their theory as to what motivated killings -- 1:57)

The four have been identified as "persons of interest" in connection with the October shooting deaths along Florida's Turnpike, the sheriff said.

Lt. Jerry Rothman, St. Lucie County sheriff's spokesman, said after the news conference, "We feel comfortable the shooter or shooters is one of these people."

But he added, "We are not ready to charge the shooter or shooters yet."

The drug suspects have been identified as Lianna Lopez, 18, of Greenacres, Florida, and West Palm Beach residents Daniel Troya, 23, Danny Varela, 26, and Ricardo Sanchez, 23.

They appeared in court for the first time Friday on the drug charges. They're being detained at the Palm Beach County Jail.

On October 13, a motorist found the bodies of four family members on the turnpike north of Port St. Lucie. The victims were identified as Jose Luis Escobedo Jr., 28; his wife, Yessica Guerrero Escobedo, 25; and the couple's sons, Luis Damian Escobedo, 3, and Luis Julian Escobedo, 4. All four had been shot to death, autopsies showed.

Authorities said the four were kneeling or lying down when shot.

Mascara has said the family had recently moved from Brownsville, Texas, to West Palm Beach, about an hour south of where the bodies were found. A vehicle believed to belong to the family was found a few days after the slayings, which occurred in St. Lucie County.

Mascara said authorities are searching for the husband's younger brother, Jose Manuel Escobedo, who did not show up for a federal work camp in Louisiana after being sentenced on a drug conspiracy charge. He had been involved in a "significant heroin and cocaine distribution organization," the sheriff said.

About 24 hours after the slayings, said Mascara, the Drug Enforcement Administration became involved in the probe. As the result of the DEA investigation, a Palm Beach County residence was searched Wednesday morning.

"I cannot reveal the nature of the evidence recovered in that search," Mascara said. "However, I can tell you that investigators are reviewing any possible connection of that evidence to the Escobedo murders."

He added, "Despite the crime's initial appearance as a possible random act of violence on a family traveling on the Florida turnpike, our investigation quickly led us to believe this was a deliberate act of premeditated murder on the family for drugs, money or both."

Thursday night, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office issued a nationwide bulletin for a 1999 red Dodge conversion van. It was found and is being processed, Mascara said.

However, the registered owner of that van, who was initially called a "person of interest" in the case, has been interviewed and cleared, police said later Friday.

Michael Naujalis, 24, met with detectives Friday and explained to them that he had sold the van to Varela in August. Varela never completed the transfer of title and ownership out of Naujalis' name, according to a sheriff's statement, and Naujalis' tag was still affixed to the van.

"Detectives are satisfied that Naujalis was not involved in the Escobedo family homicides and is no longer considered a person of interest," the statement said.

Fox Laughs Off Criticism of Ads

Michael J. Fox laughed off criticism of his appearance in recent political ads in support of embryonic stem cell research, but said his mother was not as amused.

"She was not happy," Fox said during an interview aired Sunday's on ABC's "This Week."

Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, said his mother, Phyllis, was with him when he shot the ads and knew that he "was struggling to stay still. Because I truly wanted to stay still. It's more comfortable. It's not comfortable to be moving around."

Fox, who supports embryonic stem cell research as a possible cure for Parkinson's, drew some conservative criticism after a Missouri ad began running during the World Series. It showed Fox visibly shaking while urging viewers to vote yes for stem-cell research and for a Democratic Senate candidate over the Republican incumbent.

Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh criticized him, claiming that Fox was "either off his medication or acting." Limbaugh, who apologized later in his broadcast, called Fox "really shameless" in his effort to stir up sympathy.

Fox said he was neither acting nor off his medication.

"I'm experienced enough and mature enough to take my licks," said Fox, who was shaking during the interview aired Sunday. "But I know the community was really hurt by it. And it really brings up the specter of, 'go away, shut the window, shut the doors, close the curtains and suffer, and don't let us know,' because it's a fearful response."

Fox, 45, who starred on TV's "Family Ties" and "Spin City" as well as the "Back to the Future" films, was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991 and revealed his condition publicly in 1998. In 2000, he quit full-time acting because of his symptoms and founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which has raised millions of dollars.

ok... this is just total bullshit, now... LOL... i watched the ads... anyone who has worked with parkinson's patients knows the mannerisms and has seen the uncontrolled movements... some days they are better, and some days they are worse... with or without medication... Common sense should tell you as well that of COURSE medication for the tremors works better when you first start taking it... He's been on it for a long time now, of course it's becoming less effective while the parkinson's symptoms are progressing to more severe.... the ONLY reason anyone had anything to say about this was the fact that it was an ad supporting a political candidate. He also hit the nail on the head when he said people don't want to see that sort of thing... they want people affected to hide in their homes and treat it like a dirty secret, not publicize what a truly disabling disease it is and make them feel guilty for not helping to do something about it. Rush Limbaugh WOULD have something to say about it... but i won't start on that, or i'll have to move this to the political thread that no one ever posts on... *L* it's partially political, partially medical, so i split the difference and made it a current event.... [img]wink.gif[/img]

*hops down off the soapbox and leaves*....

MySpace 'to block illegal files'

A web browser views the front page of MySpace.com
MySpace will now scan music files on its site
Social networking site MySpace is to block users from uploading copyrighted music to its pages. It will use a file-filtering application to scan old and new content to weed out any unauthorised material. Illegal files, the company said, would be removed and persistent offenders would be banned from the site. Online sites are coming under increasing pressure from the music industry to stop copyright infringment on their pages. Last week Google, new owners of video-sharing site YouTube, vowed the company would not tolerate any copyright violations.

Selling downloads

MySpace, which reportedly has over 90 million users, is to use technology from a company called Gracenote to review and identify copyright files on its site. MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe said: "MySpace is staunchly committed to protecting artists' rights, whether those artists are on major labels or are independent acts. "This is another important step we're taking to ensure artists control the content they create." MySpace will also soon be allowing unsigned musicians to sell music downloads from their pages. It eventually aims to begin selling copyright-protected songs from major record labels.


gonna be alot of MySpace pages without music soon im thinkin... [img]wink.gif[/img]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! bastards.... i don't have a myspace account, but fkn booooooooo anyway!!!! musicians deserve their money and all, but dayum!!! what's the harm in sharing for a myspace page or a board....

<font size="6">Stomach ache? Actually, you've had a baby boy</font>

26-year-old woman unexpectedly gives birth after gaining 30 pounds

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Amanda Brisendine attributed the 30 pounds she gained in the past year to an abandoned smoking habit and rich food. So when she went to the hospital with sharp stomach pain, she wasn?t expecting to leave with a newborn son.

?I don?t know how I didn?t know. I just didn?t know,? Brisendine said Tuesday from her bed at Overlake Medical Center?s Birthing Center, where she delivered Alexander Joseph Britt by Caesarean section.

George Macones, chairman of the OB/GYN department at Washington University in St. Louis, said he?s seen about a dozen cases in his nearly 20-year career in which a woman didn?t know she was pregnant.

The pregnancy isn?t always obvious when a woman is overweight, or a woman will have spotting or bleeding during the pregnancy and mistake it for menstruation, said Macones, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

The 26-year-old Renton woman went to Group Health Cooperative?s Eastside campus last Saturday after experiencing several days of abdominal pain so intense that she called in sick from work.

Doctors examined her and performed a pregnancy test that showed she was nine months pregnant.

?I was so shocked. I was nauseous,? said Brisendine, whose boyfriend Jason Britt didn?t believe her at first.

?I thought she was lying,? said Britt, 33.
Already mother to a 14-month-old daughter, Melodies, Brisendine said she didn?t experience typical pregnancy symptoms, like a missed menstruation, morning sickness, fatigue or food cravings. ?Everything was normal as far as I knew,? she said.

Ultrasounds showed low amniotic fluid in the placenta and the baby wasn?t moving properly, said Brisendine?s doctor, Danica Bloomquist.

?From our assessment, the baby wasn?t doing well in utero,? Bloomquist said. ?He needed to come out.?

After an emergency C-section Sunday, Brisendine delivered 7-pound, 5-ounce Alexander.

?We?re in for a really, really big adventure,? Brisendine said.

Canadian Nabbed in Live Web Sex Assault
By BETH DUFF-BROWN (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
November 03, 2006 12:37 AM EST

TORONTO - A man who was sexually abusing a young girl in his home was arrested after he transmitted images of the assault via the Internet to an undercover detective, police said Thursday.

The girl, a preschooler, was rescued two hours later in what Toronto police's child exploitation unit said was its first case of observing a live assault.

"My first reaction was that I wanted to reach through the monitor and grab the child," said Detective Paul Krawczyk, the undercover officer who witnessed the alleged assault Sunday.

He alerted police in St. Thomas, a city in southwestern Ontario where police believed the man lived, and they were able to track him down in two hours.

"To see this child and look that child in the eyes and realize that the child was live somewhere, being abused, we had to save the child right then," Krawczyk said at a news conference. "The minute we realized what was happening, we went as fast as we could."

Krawczyk belongs to Toronto's Child Exploitation Section, acclaimed for its work tracking down child pornographers on the Internet. Microsoft Corp. teamed with the detectives last year to launch a software program designed to help police forces around the world hunt down child porn Internet traffickers.

"The message to all pedophiles, and people who want to sexually exploit children on the Internet is that we are on the Internet 24/7, we know where you are and we will find you," Krawczyk said.

Krawczyk, who was posing as an online pedophile, said he established a relationship with the man in an Internet chat room for pedophiles in January.

After the detective gained his trust, the suspect on Sunday sent still images recorded on a Web cam, which were transmitted in "real time" to a private site, which Krawczyk declined to disclose.

"I can't get into exactly what the program is," Krawczyk told The Associated Press. "But you see the images immediately. I was talking with him and, I can't get into the details of what were in the pictures, but I knew that it was happening live."

He said the identity of the 34-year-old man was not being released to protect the girl. He declined to say whether the suspect was related to her.

Krawczyk said the girl was safe with family members and getting medical care.

The man's bail hearing was set for Tuesday and he faces 10 charges of sexual assault and the production, possession and distribution of child pornography.

Krawczyk said that although he had established a relationship with the suspect last January, it was not until Sunday, when he observed the live assault, that police had cause to arrest him. He would not say how he tracked the suspect down to St. Thomas.

The Child Exploitation unit is credited with helping Florida police locate a young girl who had appeared in a series of sexually explicit photographs taken at a Walt Disney World hotel.

fuckin perverted child molesters... they should put them all on an island and then blow that fucker up.... *sighs*... i know, i know... but.... [img]frown.gif[/img]