Most News Speak readers will be familiar with the Disco infused songs 'That's the Way (I like it)' 'Get Down Tonight' and Shake your Booty' by the US group KC and the Sunshine Band, though News Speak wonders how many were aware of Bassist Richard Finch's arrest in March 2010 for getting down with teenage boys. The highly acclaimed music producer has now been given a prison sentence and News Speak is sure that the term 'Boogie Man' will take on a whole new meaning in the slammer.
Click here to read.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Plain anger for 'Dancing with the stars'.
Celebrities, politics and Reality TV - what a mix! This combination can evoke many emotion and each person has their own views.NewsSpeak belongs to the train of thought that there are too many reality shows on our screens, yet understands it is a very populist choice.
Most of us who dislike such shows have the choice of switching over to the other side; others who enjoy this type of television can channel their joy or displeasure through various means. Some like to take this to the extreme. Some people get so wind-up that they do what NewsSpeak believes many of us would like to do; pull out a gun and fire off some rounds into the TV set.
Enjoy the following story; it features TV, guns, a famous daugther of a leading Tea-Party figure, the Police and all set in small-town America.
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Steven N. Cowan takes dancing very seriously.
The 66-year old Wisconsin man was arrested after he allegedly became so angrey watching Bristol Palin on 'Dancing with the Stars' that he fired off his shotgun at his television, leading to a 15-hour standoff with state police.
According to the criminal complaint, posted by The Smoking Gun, Cowan and his wife, Janice, were watching the show Monday evening when Cowan jumped and swore as the former vice-presidential candidate's daughter shimmied across the stage.
He said something to the effect of 'the ----ing politics'.
The complaint added, 'Steven was upset that a political figure's daughter was dancing on this particular show when Steven did not think she was a good dancer'.
Cowan, who lives in the small town of Vermont, then went upstairs for 20 minutes and returned with a signle-shot shotgun, which he loaded and fired into the television. His wife told cops that her husband had been drinking but she did not think he was drunk.
Scared, his wife fled the house and called 911. Police remained outside the home until 11 a.m Tuesday when he surrendered without incident, sheriff's spokeswoman Elise Schaffer told the Wisconsin State Journal.
The complaint said Cowan had been stressed out because of his financial situation and was currently receiving treatment for mental health issues.
It is unclear if Cowan is aware that Palin advanced to the next week's inals of the competition on Tuseday night.
http://www.nydailynews.com/index.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/index.html
Thursday, 16 September 2010
FaceBook Paedophile Case
Online social sites play an increasing part in our daily lives and the likes of Facebook are constantly changing the online environment in a positive way. However, some users experience issues that can cause ‘distress’ and users face such problems as hacking.Here are two stories from Australia which demonstrate the effect of cyber staking and the ‘distress’ it can cause to minors. The first part highlights the fear that a Mother has for her children being staked online by a potential paedophile. Not a massive news story in itself, however, when you read both stories, it puts ‘online scares’ into perspective.
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PART ONE - 'A Mother's worst nightmare'
A Sydney mother-of-three, her daughter and daughter's friends have been subjected to a two-week ordeal at the hands of a Facebook stalker and they have been unable to get the social networking company to intervene.
The mother, who wished to remain anonymous due to a police investigation, said she, her 12-year old daughter and her daughter's friend had been stalked, harassed and sent pornographic images.
"Our daughters are so scared," the mother said.
The abuse began last month when someone hacked into the daughter's Facebook profile. Since then, the stalker has used the account to try to lure the adolescent's friends to divulge information about her.
The person has had online chats with people and knows where the family live, the mother said. The stalker has also used the 12-year-old's account to post vulgar and threatening messages on the mother's profile.
"f----ng give me your daughters they love me and i love them, you know you cant keep me away from them forever! i am going to be with them they are the mother of my children (sic)," reads one message posted by the hacked account on her profile.
"i will find ur girls (sic)," reads another.
While out at a work conference, the mother said she received a call from her daughter who was being looked after by a babysitter.
"My daughter rings me in tears, saying: 'He knows what street I live in mum, friends told me,'" the mother said.
She said this was because the stalker was talking to her friends.
"She was in tears, saying: 'I’m scared, they say he’s going to get me and stuff,'" the mother recalls her daughter telling her.
Having heard this, she raced home. Ever since then, she has not been able to leave her daughter alone.
The mother said she found out about the matter after her daughter was asked by school friends about things said on the site that seemed odd.
"We tried reporting [the account] on Facebook," she said.
"We got all her friends to report it on Facebook. Facebook won't reply. They don't want to contact us. They don't want to know about it, basically. You cannot ring Facebook."
Initially neither the mother nor the daughter could see what was occurring as the stalker was using Facebook's chat function to carry out their fact-finding mission using the daughter's account.
Facebook's chat function, by default, does not save a transcript of what has been written for users to check when they next log in.
The mother said that she did not know how the stalker gained access to her daughter's account.
Facebook does not have an Australian office, but a Sydney public relations firm that works for it directed this website to its usage policy, which states that users should be 13 years or older.
In a statement, it said: "Facebook co-operates with Australian law-enforcement agencies to help ensure that Facebook remains a safe place for our users to connect with friends and family.
"We have a dedicated resource for the Australian [Attorney-General's Deparment] and AFP [Australian Federal Police] to contact, as well as a 24-hour hotline to enable them to reach the company directly for help in cases of emergency, as well as for assistance in investigations and prosecutions," it said.
"Nothing is more important to Facebook than the safety of the people who use our site. On Facebook there are a variety of measures people can use to protect themselves from unwanted contact and we strongly encourage their use."
After trying and failing to shut down the profile, the mother contacted police.
She said they told her they could shut down the account, but two hours later informed her that would not be possible.
"They said Facebook won't co-operate with the police," she said.
NSW Police declined to comment on a continuing investigation, other than to say that they had "commenced inquiries".
They urged young people to be extra vigilant when using social networking sites.
Facebook has been criticised in the past for failing to address the privacy and safety concerns held by its 500 million users.
This website revealed last week that Facebook management failed to reveal the activity of an international child pornography syndicate operating on the site and ignored admissions by one of the ring's Australian members.
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PART TWO - 'Facebook stalker a 12-year-old girl'
A mother's fear that her 12-year-old daughter was being stalked by a paedophile on Facebook sparked an in-depth, almost month-long investigation involving the Australian Federal Police.
But police have been left dumbfounded by the discovery that the person who harassed and sent pornographic images to the girl via the site was another 12-year-old girl.
Earlier this month this website reported that a Sydney mother of three, her daughter and daughter’s friends had been subjected to a two-week ordeal at the hands of a Facebook stalker, but had been unable to get the social networking company to act.
The mother reported the matter to police.
The case was dropped this week by police after finding the stalker was another girl.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Missing Iranian scientist turns up at embassy
We are all aware all the tense relationship between the US and Iran, which is currently fuelled by Iran’s instance that it is allowed to produce nuclear energy and whereby most Western and Middle Eastern countries insist that the aim is to produce nuclear weapons. In March a story emerged of an Iranian Nuclear Scientist named Shahram Amiri who went missing when on a pilgrimage last year, with Tehran saying he was kidnapped by the CIA and the US rejecting this and hinting he had defected.
Since then, numerous videos have appeared purporting to show he was kidnapped, with others stating he was living in the US freely on his own accord.
Well, there is now another twist to the story; Shahram Amiri has taken refuge in the Iran section of Pakistan’s US embassy. He is reported to want to go back to Iran and due to the fact it is a foreign embassy, the US authorities can not enter.
On first appearance this news seems to back-up Tehran’s view, however, News Speak knows all too well about the double bluffs and games intelligence agencies play and this could be an elaborate ploy by the CIA to get Shahram back to Iran and use him as a double agent. Or, it could just be that Shahram did defect and now wants to return and has fabricated this story to ensure no repercussions back home. Another version, could be that he was ‘recaptured’ by Iranian forces.
Whatever the truth is, this is just one episode that will ensure that the cat and mouse game between Iran and the US continues for a long time to come.
This version of the story is taken from the ‘The New York Times’
--------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In the latest twist in a murky tale, Pakistan said on Tuesday that an Iranian nuclear scientist whom Tehran says was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency has taken refuge in the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.
Iranian officials were “making arrangements for his repatriation,” said Abdul Basit, a spokesman at the Pakistan Foreign Ministry. It was not clear how or when the scientist would leave the country.
The scientist, Shahram Amiri, 32, vanished during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009. He had worked at Iran’s Malek Ashtar University, which is linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guards.
The United States government has never acknowledged Mr. Amiri’s existence, or admitted to a role in his disappearance.
“He is not in the Pakistani Embassy, per se,” Mr. Basit said. “He is at the Iranian interests section, which is manned by Iranian nationals.”
He added: “We understand that they are making arrangements for his repatriation.”
He declined to comment on how the Iranian scientist entered the mission section and denied that the incident could strain relations between Iran and Pakistan.
Earlier on Tuesday, Press TV, an Iranian state-run broadcaster, said Mr. Amiri had “reportedly taken refuge in Iran’s interest section in Washington, urging an immediate return to the country.”
Iran’s interest section is linked to the Pakistani Embassy, just as the United States maintains a similar status at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties after the 1979 revolution.
The development was the latest in a series of confusing statements concerning the scientist.
In June, Iran publicized what it called a videotaped statement from Mr. Amiri purportedly proving its claim about the scientist’s disappearance. But a second videotape posted on the Internet showed a man who identified himself as the scientist claiming to be studying in the United States.
If the Iranian version is true, it is not clear how the man escaped his alleged captors to reach the Pakistani Embassy. If the second version is accurate, it is not clear why he would want to escape, or whether he had been taken under duress.
In the first video in June, Press TV said on Tuesday, Mr. Amiri said that he was abducted “in a joint operation by terror and kidnap teams from the U.S. intelligence service, C.I.A.” and from Saudi intelligence.
Press TV said the Iranian Foreign Ministry had handed over to Swiss diplomats in Tehran “new documents related to the abduction of the Iranian national by the C.I.A.” and called for Mr. Amiri’s “swift and unconditional release.”
The broadcaster quoted an “audio message obtained by Iran’s intelligence sources” as saying he had been offered $10 million “to appear on CNN and announce that he had willingly defected to the United States.” Iranian media have also said that a former Iranian deputy defense minister, Alireza Asgari, was abducted during a trip to Turkey in 2007. The two videos released in June served to deepen the mystery.
The first blurry Iranian video showed a man identified as the scientist, wearing a T-shirt and talking in Farsi through a computer phone connection, who said he was captured, taken to a house in Saudi Arabia and given an injection. He awoke on a plane bound for the United States.
The second video, released shortly afterward on YouTube, showed a young man in a suit who said he was Mr. Amiri, insisting that he was free and safe in the United States, working on a Ph.D. He said he had no interest in politics or experience in nuclear weapons programs.
Since then, numerous videos have appeared purporting to show he was kidnapped, with others stating he was living in the US freely on his own accord.
Well, there is now another twist to the story; Shahram Amiri has taken refuge in the Iran section of Pakistan’s US embassy. He is reported to want to go back to Iran and due to the fact it is a foreign embassy, the US authorities can not enter.
On first appearance this news seems to back-up Tehran’s view, however, News Speak knows all too well about the double bluffs and games intelligence agencies play and this could be an elaborate ploy by the CIA to get Shahram back to Iran and use him as a double agent. Or, it could just be that Shahram did defect and now wants to return and has fabricated this story to ensure no repercussions back home. Another version, could be that he was ‘recaptured’ by Iranian forces.
Whatever the truth is, this is just one episode that will ensure that the cat and mouse game between Iran and the US continues for a long time to come.
This version of the story is taken from the ‘The New York Times’
--------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In the latest twist in a murky tale, Pakistan said on Tuesday that an Iranian nuclear scientist whom Tehran says was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency has taken refuge in the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.
Iranian officials were “making arrangements for his repatriation,” said Abdul Basit, a spokesman at the Pakistan Foreign Ministry. It was not clear how or when the scientist would leave the country.
The scientist, Shahram Amiri, 32, vanished during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009. He had worked at Iran’s Malek Ashtar University, which is linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guards.
The United States government has never acknowledged Mr. Amiri’s existence, or admitted to a role in his disappearance.
“He is not in the Pakistani Embassy, per se,” Mr. Basit said. “He is at the Iranian interests section, which is manned by Iranian nationals.”
He added: “We understand that they are making arrangements for his repatriation.”
He declined to comment on how the Iranian scientist entered the mission section and denied that the incident could strain relations between Iran and Pakistan.
Earlier on Tuesday, Press TV, an Iranian state-run broadcaster, said Mr. Amiri had “reportedly taken refuge in Iran’s interest section in Washington, urging an immediate return to the country.”
Iran’s interest section is linked to the Pakistani Embassy, just as the United States maintains a similar status at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties after the 1979 revolution.
The development was the latest in a series of confusing statements concerning the scientist.
In June, Iran publicized what it called a videotaped statement from Mr. Amiri purportedly proving its claim about the scientist’s disappearance. But a second videotape posted on the Internet showed a man who identified himself as the scientist claiming to be studying in the United States.
If the Iranian version is true, it is not clear how the man escaped his alleged captors to reach the Pakistani Embassy. If the second version is accurate, it is not clear why he would want to escape, or whether he had been taken under duress.
In the first video in June, Press TV said on Tuesday, Mr. Amiri said that he was abducted “in a joint operation by terror and kidnap teams from the U.S. intelligence service, C.I.A.” and from Saudi intelligence.
Press TV said the Iranian Foreign Ministry had handed over to Swiss diplomats in Tehran “new documents related to the abduction of the Iranian national by the C.I.A.” and called for Mr. Amiri’s “swift and unconditional release.”
The broadcaster quoted an “audio message obtained by Iran’s intelligence sources” as saying he had been offered $10 million “to appear on CNN and announce that he had willingly defected to the United States.” Iranian media have also said that a former Iranian deputy defense minister, Alireza Asgari, was abducted during a trip to Turkey in 2007. The two videos released in June served to deepen the mystery.
The first blurry Iranian video showed a man identified as the scientist, wearing a T-shirt and talking in Farsi through a computer phone connection, who said he was captured, taken to a house in Saudi Arabia and given an injection. He awoke on a plane bound for the United States.
The second video, released shortly afterward on YouTube, showed a young man in a suit who said he was Mr. Amiri, insisting that he was free and safe in the United States, working on a Ph.D. He said he had no interest in politics or experience in nuclear weapons programs.
Friday, 11 June 2010
MP PORN
News Speak readers will be familiar with the ongoing UK parliamentary abuse of taxpayers’ money whereby MPs claimed for extravagant purchases and some MPS are facing the dock over expenses fraud. One scalp claimed over this affair was Jacqui Smith (previous Home Secretary) who faced criticism after it emerged her husband watched a porn channel and charged the cost to the taxpayer!Well, it seems that the MPs of past colonies also feel that there is no problem with watching something blue and charging it to the public. In New Zealand several MPs have been caught out over the misuse of public funds and, just like in the UK, journalists are making sure that the public are aware of their MPs viewing habits!
This story is taken from www.abc.net.au/news/stories
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Several mortified New Zealand politicians have come forward to explain their misuse of public money after thousands of pages of taxpayer-funded credit card statements were released to journalists.
The most notable - the former building and construction minister Shane Jones - had to say sorry for charging 19 pornographic movies to taxpayers.
And he is not the only politician caught up in what the New Zealand media is calling the "spending revelations".
Others have been caught buying golf clubs, a bicycle and spa treatments, but unfortunately for Mr Jones, his viewing habits have attracted the most attention.
Political journalists in Wellington have been wading through cartons of ministerial spending documents dating all the way back to 2003 - all in the name of greater accountability.
Mr Jones, once tipped as a future Labour leader, has admitted he frequently watched pornography in his hotel room and charged it to his taxpayer-funded credit card.
"The reality is I am admitting that I was wrong. I am guilty of these egregious lapses. I am a pretty open kind of guy. I am fairly robust. I made a mistake," he said.
The self professed film buff is now facing up to what he calls "Shane's Day of Shame".
Not for personal use
Ministers have been warned since 2006 that their government credit cards are not to be used for personal expenses and that ignorance is no excuse.
However, Mr Jones nevertheless charged not only pornographic movies but a chartered plane trip, wine, breakfast for his family, sporting gear and CDs totalling about $5,000 to his ministerial credit card.
"I can't account for what electrical storm was going through my mind. It was wrong. I don't want to pretend it is anything other than that," he said.
"To suggest that I haven't been either humbled, humiliated and deeply embarrassed by my own potentially self-destructive act is an understatement."
Mr Jones says he has paid back the money, but documents released today say it was only after he received warnings.
"It obviously has injured my reputation and it has pummelled by creditability and I have got one or two options; to leave this kind of lifestyle, go back and earn more money and have virtually no scrutiny or admit that I have been found wanting and then plot a trajectory as to how I can redeem myself in the political world," he said.
"Only time will tell whether that proves to be the case."
Friday, 28 May 2010
Mystery surrounding disappearance of Thundercats writer.
This story is major news amongst the comic world and fits in perfectly with News Speak format. It refers to Stephen Perry, who played a major part in developing the much-loved Thundercats and writing many episodes.
Stephen Perry has struggled recently with cancer and financial problems and based on the news story below; his life may have met a grisly end. Story taken from http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/.
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Police in Florida are searching for ailing ThunderCats writer Stephen Perry, who disappeared from his Zephyrhills home under suspicious, and possibly ghastly, circumstances.
His van was found Sunday abandoned in a motel parking lot. Nearby, FOX 13 reports, was a man's severed arm. More remains were discovered at a gas-station dumpster two miles away from Perry's home, which had been ransacked.
His van was found Sunday abandoned in a motel parking lot. Nearby, FOX 13 reports, was a man's severed arm. More remains were discovered at a gas-station dumpster two miles away from Perry's home, which had been ransacked.
On Friday authorities arrested Perry's two roommates, Roxanne D. Davis, 49, and James W. Davis, 46, who had been missing since Sunday. The St. Petersburg Times reports that James Davis is charged with trafficking of controlled substances, possession of paraphernalia, possession of controlled substances and two warrants for failure to appear in court. Roxanne Davis is charged with violation of parole, grand theft and burglary.
Police have avoided publicly referring to the case as a homicide investigation, but signs obviously point to that. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement told The Tampa Tribune the agency had been called in to assist with an apparent homicide, but wouldn't say whether it was related to the missing persons investigation. However, Zephyrhills Mayor Cliff McDuffie said, "I assume it is the same investigation. I assume it is a homicide."
Perry, 56, is best known for his work on the mid-1980s animated series ThunderCats and SilverHawks, both developed by Rankin/Bass. However, he also wrote comics like Timespirits and Psi-Force for Marvel and Wally Wood's THUNDER Agents for Deluxe.
His struggles with bladder cancer and dwindling finances were publicized in recent months by the likes of Steve Bissette and the Hero Initiative, an organization that he credited with saving his "very life with its good will, generosity and kindness."
"They allowed me to seek some medical help and enabled me and my son to put a roof over our heads -- I was homeless with that little boy in my van last year," Perry wrote in mid-March on the charity's blog. "The Initiative gave me the breathing room to get some Medicaid and food stamps, and while we are always in danger of losing our home, electricity and belongings at any moment, I will always be grateful from the depths of my heart for the past six months of fairly solid home life I have had with my little boy."
Perry talked more about Hero Initiative in a video posted just last week at Comic Book Resources.
Update: The St. Petersburg Times reports that Pasco County court records show Perry and his 5-year-old son Leo filed for a protective order against a woman late last month. However, the request was dismissed when Perry didn't appear at a hearing on May 13, three days before the discovery of his abandoned van and ransacked house.
According to Zephyrhills police Capt. Robert McKinney, Leo is safe and with his mother. McKinney also acknowledged that Roxanne Davis and James Davis are people of interest in a "possible homicide."
Monday, 10 May 2010
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Eggs, smoke bombs and fists…just an average day in the life of an Ukrainian MP
This video has been doing the rounds across all the major news outlets, but News Speak loves this so much it deserves to be shown again…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6UXyCIx0Js
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6UXyCIx0Js
Martial Law?
The following article is an editorial from the ‘Chicago Tribune’ and focuses on two politician’s call for the National Guard to be deployed in Chicago to deal with the threat of gun crime. Most of us are aware of the high levels of gun crime in the US and subsequently that there is a direct correlation between this and the fact that the US has the highest murder rate within the Western world.
However, it is also common knowledge that the murder rate has dropped significantly within the last 20 years with New York being a prime example; attributed to a range of factors including the NYPD’s focus on cutting minor crime, CompStat and the direction from Mayors David Dinkins, Giuliani and Bloomberg.
However, the murder rate in Chicago is extremely high with at least 117 murders this year alone, and yet the Chicago Police adopt many of the community based incentives that the NYPD use. The article does not attempt to explore and analyze the numerous reasons regarding the issue, instead it provides a back-drop and highlights why bringing the National Guard onto the streets on America to deal with crime is not the way forward.
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State Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford have called for the governor to send in the Illinois National Guard to help quell violence in Chicago. It's tempting to dismiss the Chicago Democrats' proposal as political grandstanding — and it is — but let's also recognize a sincere cry for help.
Chicago's homicide rate is roughly double that of Los Angeles and triple that of New York. Nearly 1,000 Chicagoans were slain over the last two years, including 129 before their 18th birthday. 2010 is shaping up as another deadly year, with 113 victims as of Monday morning, 16 of them children. The homicide rate here has been trending downward during this decade, and crime experts point out that it's far from the worst in the U.S. But to say it was worse before, or worse elsewhere, does not excuse the violence here and now.
City and community leaders are fighting to stop the bleeding. Under Superintendent Jody Weis, the Chicago Police Department, a pioneer of community policing principles in the 1990s, is improving its information systems to target resources in the most dangerous neighborhoods. Likewise, Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman is using data analysis to identify those youths most at risk of violence — as victim or perpetrator.
"These two initiatives make a lot of sense," says Jens Ludwig, director of the Crime Lab policy institute at the University of Chicago, "based on what the research tells us about what's promising." Time and again, criminologists have found that resources are best used when targeted at the highest-risk people and places.
But in a budget crisis, those resources are stretched thin. That makes a federally funded option like the National Guard appealing to local lawmakers. Harold Pollack, a colleague of Ludwig's at the Crime Lab, gets that. But a better solution, he says, would be another shot in the arm for local police forces, through boosted federal COPS grants to put more officers on streets. Research suggests that every dollar spent putting police on the street returns $4 to $8 in benefits to the public.
As for the National Guard? No serious public safety expert has backed that idea. (Gov. Rod Blagojevich suggested something similar in 2008 — but we did say "serious public safety expert.") The Guard plays vital and heroic roles in natural disasters and, recently, in overseas wars. Its record suppressing civil unrest ranges from spotty to — quoting Supt. Weis — "disastrous." And it is not a police force whose members are trained in the fine points of constitutional law as they play out in street settings.
Let us assume that Fritchey, a former assistant attorney general, and Ford, once a social studies teacher, know that the Guard is not the solution. Still, their brash proposal grabbed headlines and — for a moment, at least — shined a national spotlight on Chicago's failure to protect its own.
However, it is also common knowledge that the murder rate has dropped significantly within the last 20 years with New York being a prime example; attributed to a range of factors including the NYPD’s focus on cutting minor crime, CompStat and the direction from Mayors David Dinkins, Giuliani and Bloomberg.
However, the murder rate in Chicago is extremely high with at least 117 murders this year alone, and yet the Chicago Police adopt many of the community based incentives that the NYPD use. The article does not attempt to explore and analyze the numerous reasons regarding the issue, instead it provides a back-drop and highlights why bringing the National Guard onto the streets on America to deal with crime is not the way forward.
---------
State Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford have called for the governor to send in the Illinois National Guard to help quell violence in Chicago. It's tempting to dismiss the Chicago Democrats' proposal as political grandstanding — and it is — but let's also recognize a sincere cry for help.
Chicago's homicide rate is roughly double that of Los Angeles and triple that of New York. Nearly 1,000 Chicagoans were slain over the last two years, including 129 before their 18th birthday. 2010 is shaping up as another deadly year, with 113 victims as of Monday morning, 16 of them children. The homicide rate here has been trending downward during this decade, and crime experts point out that it's far from the worst in the U.S. But to say it was worse before, or worse elsewhere, does not excuse the violence here and now.
City and community leaders are fighting to stop the bleeding. Under Superintendent Jody Weis, the Chicago Police Department, a pioneer of community policing principles in the 1990s, is improving its information systems to target resources in the most dangerous neighborhoods. Likewise, Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman is using data analysis to identify those youths most at risk of violence — as victim or perpetrator.
"These two initiatives make a lot of sense," says Jens Ludwig, director of the Crime Lab policy institute at the University of Chicago, "based on what the research tells us about what's promising." Time and again, criminologists have found that resources are best used when targeted at the highest-risk people and places.
But in a budget crisis, those resources are stretched thin. That makes a federally funded option like the National Guard appealing to local lawmakers. Harold Pollack, a colleague of Ludwig's at the Crime Lab, gets that. But a better solution, he says, would be another shot in the arm for local police forces, through boosted federal COPS grants to put more officers on streets. Research suggests that every dollar spent putting police on the street returns $4 to $8 in benefits to the public.
As for the National Guard? No serious public safety expert has backed that idea. (Gov. Rod Blagojevich suggested something similar in 2008 — but we did say "serious public safety expert.") The Guard plays vital and heroic roles in natural disasters and, recently, in overseas wars. Its record suppressing civil unrest ranges from spotty to — quoting Supt. Weis — "disastrous." And it is not a police force whose members are trained in the fine points of constitutional law as they play out in street settings.
Let us assume that Fritchey, a former assistant attorney general, and Ford, once a social studies teacher, know that the Guard is not the solution. Still, their brash proposal grabbed headlines and — for a moment, at least — shined a national spotlight on Chicago's failure to protect its own.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Man, I'll snake you!
A man and his snake have a close relationship. And by all accounts a snake will act as its master’s protector, fending off people who dare pass judgement. News Speak is of course taking a flippant view of the following story taken from the Herald. Serious or not, it’s still a damn good read!------
A man “deathly afraid” of reptiles was attacked by a snake-wielding man using the six-foot long python as a weapon, police say.
Tony Smith, 29, of 1920 Corwin Drive, Rock Hill was charged with assault and battery after an altercation at the Executive Inn on North Anderson Road Tuesday night, according to a Rock Hill police report.
Smith is accused of hitting Jeffery Culp, 47, in the head with the snake on the balcony of the motel, police said.
“I almost had a heart attack,” Culp said. “I dropped to my knees and actually crawled back into my room.”
Culp, who has been staying at the inn until his housing comes open, said he had contact with Smith and the snake earlier in his stay.
“He was out there running up and down the sidewalk with it,” Culp said. “I told him I don’t do snakes. I’m deathly afraid of them.”
But that didn’t stop Smith from tapping Culp on the shoulder and putting the python in his face, he said.
Culp said he asked the man with the snake to turn down music around 9 p.m. Smith was with others racing down the hallway in chairs, Culp said, and he had to work the next day.
A couple hours later, Culp went out for a smoke with his wife and a neighbor when he says Smith tapped him on the shoulder.
“And he said, ‘here look at this,’” Culp said. “He had the snake’s head squeezed so its mouth was open. He ran it across my face and it tried to crawl in my mouth.”
The snake grabbed him on the upper lip, and Culp has a few scratches from the encounter. Culp said he didn’t need medical treatment.
That night, Culp said he took a three-hour shower and couldn’t sleep.
Culp said animals shouldn’t be used to hurt or scare others.
“I have a dog. Some people are afraid of dogs,” he said. “I keep my dog away from them. I don’t use the dog as a weapon.”
Culp said he didn’t know Smith’s name until he saw the police report.
Based on Culp’s description, officers found Smith on the second-floor balcony of the inn with the python in his arms, the report said. He was arrested, and the snake was released to a family member.
Smith was released Wednesday afternoon on a $1,092 bond. Read more:
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Stepsister sold for sex.
At times, News Speak will feature stories that highlight the extreme perverted nature of human behaviour. This is one such story. It is hard to provide any real insight into this story. We can make assumptions regarding the social and family make-up of the subjects and to the extent to which it could have been prevented by the authorities, but past that, this is a disturbing account of what can happen in this world.
The article is from the Toronto Sun; however, the location of the story is New Jersey.
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It started with a party invitation to a 15-year-old girl from some men she knew. She took her 7-year-old stepsister to an apartment down the street from their home near the Statehouse, where the girls had been hanging around outside on a Sunday afternoon.
For the younger girl, police say it quickly descended into a horrifying ordeal in which she was gang-raped by as many as seven men as her sister not only watched but got paid by those who did it. Their parents, none the wiser, thought maybe they had run away.
"We're talking about a kid who told her sister to go into an apartment and let people rape her," said Trenton police Capt. Joseph Juniak. "It's unfathomable."
The teen has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other crimes. Her name was not released because of her age, but the county prosecutor plans to ask the court to try her as an adult. In the meantime, she is being held at the Mercer County Youth Detention Center.
The 7-year-old had wanted to tag along because she was worried about the 15-year-old's safety, Mayor Doug Palmer said.
When the girls didn't return home by 4:30 Sunday afternoon, their parents called police, believing the older one had run away from home and taken her younger sister with her.
In fact, they were down the street inside a 13th-floor apartment at Rowan Towers, a high-rise complex so dangerous that police are hired as security guards at night.
"They keep it clean on the outside, but it's what's on the inside that you have to worry about," said neighbour William Johnson, who says police are coming out of the building all the time.
Inside apartment 13-C, police said, the 7-year-old was soon left alone as her sister headed to a back bedroom to sell sex to several men. When she came out into the living room, she handed her 7-year-old sister money and encouraged her to let the men touch her.
"It went from touching to straight out assault and rape," Juniak said. "They threatened to kill her if she screamed or told anyone."
Afterward, the child put on her clothes and left. Her sister stayed behind with the men.
Two women found the child crying outside the apartment and walked her home, where police were waiting.
The child told them what happened and was treated at a hospital. When police located the 15-year-old later that night, she also told them what happened and was arrested.
Palmer said the crimes are among the worst he's seen in 20 years as mayor.
"It's sickening," he said. "The police are taking this personal. I know there's a place in hell for all the people that participated in this and I'm sure they will get there."
"Personally, as a father with a 7-year-old daughter, I can't imagine the horror," Palmer added.
Lauren Kidd, a spokeswoman for New Jersey's Children and Families department, said state and federal confidentiality laws prohibit the agency from commenting about possible prior involvement with the family. But Juniak indicated the department may have had previous contact with the older girl.
Police are now scouring video surveillance from lobby and elevator cameras to try to identify everyone at the party. They believe there were about a dozen people in the apartment, mostly teenage boys and men who police say likely broke in -- a fairly common occurrence in the crime-plagued neighbourhood that sits in the shadow of the Statehouse's golden dome.
Last week, police responded to a home invasion there and a shooting just outside the lobby.
Police Director Irving Bradley Jr. said the building's management company, Interstate Realty Management Co., has been working with police to curb the violence.
"This is incredibly disturbing," said Laura Zaner, a spokeswoman for IRM.
Two private security guards man the lobby doors during the day. At 5 p.m., two police officers take over.
Bradley said the company is installing more cameras and had just hired a third officer to work the night shift to allow two officers to do hourly hallway patrols. He said Sunday may have been the first day they were supposed to have started the patrols.
Chalia Johnkins, who lives around the corner from the Towers, said gatherings of men are commonplace and police should have known something unsavoury was happening.
"The police who were supposed to be on patrol should be held responsible," she said. "They could have prevented this. These weren't regular guards. They were police and they still didn't see the baby crying?"
Annette Lartique, the city councilwoman who represents the area where the crime occurred, said the community would expect nothing less than the prosecution of everyone involved to the fullest extent of the law.
"I know we are going to send a message on this one," she said. "Everybody will pay a price -- from the person who opened the door to the person who pushed the elevator button."
The article is from the Toronto Sun; however, the location of the story is New Jersey.
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It started with a party invitation to a 15-year-old girl from some men she knew. She took her 7-year-old stepsister to an apartment down the street from their home near the Statehouse, where the girls had been hanging around outside on a Sunday afternoon.
For the younger girl, police say it quickly descended into a horrifying ordeal in which she was gang-raped by as many as seven men as her sister not only watched but got paid by those who did it. Their parents, none the wiser, thought maybe they had run away.
"We're talking about a kid who told her sister to go into an apartment and let people rape her," said Trenton police Capt. Joseph Juniak. "It's unfathomable."
The teen has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other crimes. Her name was not released because of her age, but the county prosecutor plans to ask the court to try her as an adult. In the meantime, she is being held at the Mercer County Youth Detention Center.
The 7-year-old had wanted to tag along because she was worried about the 15-year-old's safety, Mayor Doug Palmer said.
When the girls didn't return home by 4:30 Sunday afternoon, their parents called police, believing the older one had run away from home and taken her younger sister with her.
In fact, they were down the street inside a 13th-floor apartment at Rowan Towers, a high-rise complex so dangerous that police are hired as security guards at night.
"They keep it clean on the outside, but it's what's on the inside that you have to worry about," said neighbour William Johnson, who says police are coming out of the building all the time.
Inside apartment 13-C, police said, the 7-year-old was soon left alone as her sister headed to a back bedroom to sell sex to several men. When she came out into the living room, she handed her 7-year-old sister money and encouraged her to let the men touch her.
"It went from touching to straight out assault and rape," Juniak said. "They threatened to kill her if she screamed or told anyone."
Afterward, the child put on her clothes and left. Her sister stayed behind with the men.
Two women found the child crying outside the apartment and walked her home, where police were waiting.
The child told them what happened and was treated at a hospital. When police located the 15-year-old later that night, she also told them what happened and was arrested.
Palmer said the crimes are among the worst he's seen in 20 years as mayor.
"It's sickening," he said. "The police are taking this personal. I know there's a place in hell for all the people that participated in this and I'm sure they will get there."
"Personally, as a father with a 7-year-old daughter, I can't imagine the horror," Palmer added.
Lauren Kidd, a spokeswoman for New Jersey's Children and Families department, said state and federal confidentiality laws prohibit the agency from commenting about possible prior involvement with the family. But Juniak indicated the department may have had previous contact with the older girl.
Police are now scouring video surveillance from lobby and elevator cameras to try to identify everyone at the party. They believe there were about a dozen people in the apartment, mostly teenage boys and men who police say likely broke in -- a fairly common occurrence in the crime-plagued neighbourhood that sits in the shadow of the Statehouse's golden dome.
Last week, police responded to a home invasion there and a shooting just outside the lobby.
Police Director Irving Bradley Jr. said the building's management company, Interstate Realty Management Co., has been working with police to curb the violence.
"This is incredibly disturbing," said Laura Zaner, a spokeswoman for IRM.
Two private security guards man the lobby doors during the day. At 5 p.m., two police officers take over.
Bradley said the company is installing more cameras and had just hired a third officer to work the night shift to allow two officers to do hourly hallway patrols. He said Sunday may have been the first day they were supposed to have started the patrols.
Chalia Johnkins, who lives around the corner from the Towers, said gatherings of men are commonplace and police should have known something unsavoury was happening.
"The police who were supposed to be on patrol should be held responsible," she said. "They could have prevented this. These weren't regular guards. They were police and they still didn't see the baby crying?"
Annette Lartique, the city councilwoman who represents the area where the crime occurred, said the community would expect nothing less than the prosecution of everyone involved to the fullest extent of the law.
"I know we are going to send a message on this one," she said. "Everybody will pay a price -- from the person who opened the door to the person who pushed the elevator button."
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Taking counterfeiting to whole new level.
You sometimes have to admire the audacity of some people. For example the subject in the following story features a man in Dubai who forged a $1 million bank note in order to sell it. Although not in the same league as Victor Lustig, this is still an interesting insight into the world of con-artists.
Furthermore; it is important to point out that the media source highlights the ethnicity of the man in question. NS believes this demonstrates the fact that most indigenous Dubai residents are concerned about the high level of foreign residents within the Gulf state.
Furthermore; it is important to point out that the media source highlights the ethnicity of the man in question. NS believes this demonstrates the fact that most indigenous Dubai residents are concerned about the high level of foreign residents within the Gulf state.
Major Saleh Bin Osuba, Director of Combating Economic Crimes Department at Dubai Police, said they received information that the suspect was looking for a buyer of the bank note, which are usually available from central banks as a form of investment. Holders may cash the note provided it is genuine.
Aside from the note, police also seized fake authenticity certificates which the suspect allegedly uses to trick prospective buyers into believing that the bogus commercial instrument is genuine.
According to Major Osuba, the bank note as well as the certificates, and documents were all fake.
Undercover Officers of the investigative unit who went undercover posed as potential buyers and lured the suspect in meeting them at a hotel in Al Garhoud.
The suspect was immediately arrested after handing over the fake bank note and documents.
"He informed the undercover agents that he had more bank notes and due to urgency to collect money he is selling them the note for only Dh450,000 but the other notes will be sold for $500,000," Major Osuba said.
In a follow-up operation, police searched the suspect's apartment and found equipment he used to create the fake bank note and documents, he said.
The case has been referred to public prosecution.
No laughing matter…
At News Speak we enjoy a good giggle and accept that once you enter a comedy club, sensitivity is something you need to leave at the door. This story, supplied by Albion Gray, is an example of comedy leading to tragedy.
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Court proceedings have begun for a comedian accused of breaching a heckler’s human rights for branding her a ‘dyke’.
Lorna Pardy took action against Canadian funnyman Guy Earle, pictured, after an aggressive stand-off two years ago, in which the comic allegedly made explicit suggestions about her sexual practices because he thought she was being disruptive.
But Earle’s lawyer says a comedian putting down a heckler is different from someone ‘slinging hamburgers at McDonald’s’, so shouldn’t be subject to the same rules.
The lawyer, James Millar, walked out of the British Columbia human rights tribunal on its first day yesterday in protest at the way it was being conducted. His move could force the case to go up to the province’s supreme court.
Pardy claims Earle’s comments about her sexual orientation were discriminatory under a section of local human rights legislation covering service in businesses.
She took action after a set-to with Earle at an open mic night at Zesty's restaurant in Vancouver three years ago. The restaurant’s owner is also named in the action as an employer responsible for Earle, even though he wasn’t paid.
‘Shocked and embarrassed’ Pardy, 32, has been suffering post-traumatic stress following the incident, according to her lawyer.
The row started when the meteorological technician, her girlfriend and another woman moved into the room where the comedy was being performed midway through the show.
Earle is said to have considered them disruptive and told the audience: ‘Don't mind the inconsiderate dyke table that just walked in’
Pardy denies that her group were heckling, and said that things escalated when her group told Earle he was being ignorant. He allegedly leaned over Pardy in a threatening manner, so she threw a glass of water in his face.
She said: ‘I was humiliated... I felt like I’d been assaulted.’
Passions ran high throughout the night, according to the Canadian Press, with another glass of water being thrown in Earle’s face, and the comic whipping the sunglasses from Pardy’s head and breaking them.
Read more: http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/03/30/10762/heckle_putdown_winds_up_in_court#ixzz0jkIiThIn
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Court proceedings have begun for a comedian accused of breaching a heckler’s human rights for branding her a ‘dyke’.
Lorna Pardy took action against Canadian funnyman Guy Earle, pictured, after an aggressive stand-off two years ago, in which the comic allegedly made explicit suggestions about her sexual practices because he thought she was being disruptive.
But Earle’s lawyer says a comedian putting down a heckler is different from someone ‘slinging hamburgers at McDonald’s’, so shouldn’t be subject to the same rules.
The lawyer, James Millar, walked out of the British Columbia human rights tribunal on its first day yesterday in protest at the way it was being conducted. His move could force the case to go up to the province’s supreme court.
Pardy claims Earle’s comments about her sexual orientation were discriminatory under a section of local human rights legislation covering service in businesses.
She took action after a set-to with Earle at an open mic night at Zesty's restaurant in Vancouver three years ago. The restaurant’s owner is also named in the action as an employer responsible for Earle, even though he wasn’t paid.
‘Shocked and embarrassed’ Pardy, 32, has been suffering post-traumatic stress following the incident, according to her lawyer.
The row started when the meteorological technician, her girlfriend and another woman moved into the room where the comedy was being performed midway through the show.
Earle is said to have considered them disruptive and told the audience: ‘Don't mind the inconsiderate dyke table that just walked in’
Pardy denies that her group were heckling, and said that things escalated when her group told Earle he was being ignorant. He allegedly leaned over Pardy in a threatening manner, so she threw a glass of water in his face.
She said: ‘I was humiliated... I felt like I’d been assaulted.’
Passions ran high throughout the night, according to the Canadian Press, with another glass of water being thrown in Earle’s face, and the comic whipping the sunglasses from Pardy’s head and breaking them.
Read more: http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/03/30/10762/heckle_putdown_winds_up_in_court#ixzz0jkIiThIn
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Seven years sentence for holding a banner.
This article taken from http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ highlights how Turkey’s justice system seems to convey the wrong message for a Country that wants to join the EU.The ruling party’ AKP is currently (see related articles on site) in a struggle with the judiciary to implement changes that aim for a fairer and transparent system, leading to reducing tensions amongst certain EU members about developing further links with Turkey. The AKP is also pushing this battle to limit the power of the judiciary whom it views as anti-AKP.
The judiciary are very anxious about the AKP's past Islamic links.
The following article really puts Turkey's laws into perspective.
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Vesile Tadik, a 49-year-old illiterate woman, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for carrying a banner in favor of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK.
The banner was about Abdullah Öcalan, the convicted leader of PKK. It said: “Approaching Öcalan is approaching peace.” Tadik said in court that she is illiterate and did not know what was written on the banner.
The now-closed Democratic Society Party, or DTP, made a press statement in the Kurtalan district of Siirt province on Dec. 6 regarding Öcalan’s worsening prison conditions. Tadik, recently widowed and mother of six, was among the demonstrators during the statement’s reading and held the banner someone else handed her. Tadik was recorded on a police camera during the demonstration and a criminal case was filed against her on charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “committing a crime in the name of a terrorist organization while not being a member of it.”
Tadik was tried without arrest at the Diyarbakır Court for Serious Crimes where she gave her defense in Kurdish because she is not able to speak Turkish. Her testimony was given to the court through a translator. “I was among the group of ladies at the reading of the press statement. They gave me a banner. I cannot read or write. I held the banner without knowing what was written on it. I am innocent. I demand to be acquitted.”
Even though the indictment demanded that Tadik be sentenced for “committing a crime in the name of a terrorist organization while not being a member of it,” the prosecutor said the defendant’s age, gender and illiteracy should be accounted as a whole and requested that she be sentenced only for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”
The court sentenced Tadik to 10 months for the propaganda charge, but then went much further and gave her seven years and six months in prison for “being a member of a terrorist organization.” After evaluating the good behavior of the defendant in court that sentence was reduced to six years and three months.
I'll be the judge of that!
A Judge is generally regarded as a high-standing pillar within society, a monument of truth and justice who acts in the best interests of others. Well, it seems that a Judge can also be a regular mean tempered guy who becomes irritated when someone blocks the access to his drive. This is a story about a court case that is taking place in NZ and it is the Judge who is in the dock!
The Judge is now using his social status against a witness and calling into question his integrity…will keep you posted on the outcome of this one!
The Judge is now using his social status against a witness and calling into question his integrity…will keep you posted on the outcome of this one!
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A prominent former judge accused of gouging a car 20 times with a key as it blocked his driveway challenged the integrity of the man who claimed he witnessed it, a court heard yesterday.
Police allege Michael Lance,73, used the key to intentionally damage a Volkswagen Golf as it blocked the entrance to his $1 million Browns Bay apartment a year ago.
Owner Richard Cummins said $4000 worth of damage was done and he had to pay the $400 insurance excess.
Owner Richard Cummins said $4000 worth of damage was done and he had to pay the $400 insurance excess.
Yesterday at a defended hearing in the North Shore District Court, Constable Lyndon Large said a diner from a nearby restaurant, David Burn, told him he watched Lance "key" the car.
But when Mr Large told Lance that was a stupid and immature thing to do, the judge denied damaging the car.
But when Mr Large told Lance that was a stupid and immature thing to do, the judge denied damaging the car.
"He said, 'I didn't do that.' He said, 'I'm a judge. I wouldn't do that and my integrity would outdo that man's."
Lance's lawyer, John Haigh, QC, said his client "completely denied" Mr Burn's version of events, but agreed he had run his hand over the scratches.
Mr Large, when asked, said he had not taken the key away for examination, and told Mr Haigh he had "decided [he] believed" Mr Burn's account.
Mr Burn told the court Mr Large was speaking with a tow-truck driver when he saw Lance scratch the car with his keys.
Tow-truck driver Brendon Price told the court all of the scratches appeared to have come from the same key.
He said that while he was not a panelbeater, he considered himself knowledgeable in the field as his parents had owned a panel-beating business for 30 years.
Mr Price said he had heard Mr Burn tell police he had watched Lance scratch the car.
"He [Lance] stood back and said 'I wouldn't do that'," the tow-truck driver told the court. "He definitely stood back with an almost shocked look on his face."
Mr Price said he had noticed Lance hanging around at the back of the Volkswagen and found that unusual. "I do this quite a lot but I have never had anyone so inquisitive or hanging around the car."
"He [Lance] stood back and said 'I wouldn't do that'," the tow-truck driver told the court. "He definitely stood back with an almost shocked look on his face."
Mr Price said he had noticed Lance hanging around at the back of the Volkswagen and found that unusual. "I do this quite a lot but I have never had anyone so inquisitive or hanging around the car."
Mr Price told police prosecutor Sergeant Mike Morgan that the scratches were fresh.
"I ran a finger along the scratch and when I lifted it, I could see dust on either side and where the scratch was there was no dust."
"I ran a finger along the scratch and when I lifted it, I could see dust on either side and where the scratch was there was no dust."
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Ponzi banker' use of prostitutes is caught out with a little help from Ponzi king’ Bernie Madoff!
This story taken from’ The Sydney Morning Herald is a great example of greed and how television can deliver justice to those who think they are invincible.
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A New Zealand investment banker who spent millions of stolen dollars on prostitutes was caught after one of his clients watched a documentary on US fraudster Bernie Madoff, an Auckland court was told yesterday.
Stephen Versalko, 51, was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing nearly $NZ18 million ($13.92 million) over nine years from 2000, from his employer, ASB Bank
Two prostitutes received $NZ3.4 million ($2.63 million) from Versalko and much of the rest went on wine, property and making interest payments to clients to keep the scam running, the Auckland District Court was told.
Versalko's lawyers said $NZ1.2 million ($928,000) out of a total of $NZ2.6 million ($2.01 million) that went to one of the prostitutes was paid as a result of her blackmailing him.
Prosecutor Patrick McCann called Versalko's fraud - the biggest employee theft in New Zealand history - a classic "Ponzi" scheme, in which investors receive interest payments from their own capital or from newer investors.
Versalko was exposed when one of the 30 wealthy victims of his fraud saw a television documentary on Wall Street Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff and became suspicious.
New York-based Madoff last year started a 150-year prison sentence after admitting running a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi swindle over several decades.
Versalko will have to spend at least four years in jail for his fraud, which he admitted immediately after the suspicious client approached the bank.
He later told investigators that he had felt he was "Mr Invincible".
About $NZ4 million ($3.09 million) of the stolen money was recovered by selling Versalko's properties.
The fraud began in 2000, when Versalko had a credit card debt of about $NZ30,000 ($23,204).
He told clients, mainly elderly women living outside of New Zealand, that he had investments available with higher than normal interest rates, no tax or fees and a long-term government guarantee.
ASB Bank, which had to repay $NZ16.5 million ($12.76 million) to the fraud victims, said it had strengthened its security to ensure a similar fraud could not happen again.
Where the stolen money went
$4.7m - Paying fake interest to his clients to maintain the pretence his investment scheme was real
$3.9m - Buying up property
$3.4m - Prostitutes
$2.2m - Paying off credit cards on which he racked up various expenses, including wine
$1m - Paid into his private bank accounts
$600,000 - Lawyers
$500,000 - Withdrawn as cash
$500,000 - Unspecified
$300,000 - On vehicles, including $30,000 on a Buccaneer boat
$200,000 - On more unspecified personal expenses
$200,000 - Trading on the online CMC markets, where he made a further $150,000
$200,000 - Paid to family trusts
$100,000 - On education for his three children.
Sex workers organisation taken aback by huge spending
Stephen Versalko's money would have been a great source of intrigue for the working girls he spent it on, Prostitutes Collective president Catherine Healy says.
Sex workers were "usually incredibly discreet" but there was sometimes "chat" about well-heeled regular clients.
"The chat around them is how is this happening? How are they sustaining this amount of spending? Usually when clients become regulars people get to know a bit about their circumstances. Sometimes people would think, `This doesn't feel right – is this guy embezzling?"'
It was very rare for prostitutes to become tangled up in legal cases, but she warned sex industry workers to be on their guard.
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A New Zealand investment banker who spent millions of stolen dollars on prostitutes was caught after one of his clients watched a documentary on US fraudster Bernie Madoff, an Auckland court was told yesterday.
Stephen Versalko, 51, was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing nearly $NZ18 million ($13.92 million) over nine years from 2000, from his employer, ASB Bank
Two prostitutes received $NZ3.4 million ($2.63 million) from Versalko and much of the rest went on wine, property and making interest payments to clients to keep the scam running, the Auckland District Court was told.
Versalko's lawyers said $NZ1.2 million ($928,000) out of a total of $NZ2.6 million ($2.01 million) that went to one of the prostitutes was paid as a result of her blackmailing him.
Prosecutor Patrick McCann called Versalko's fraud - the biggest employee theft in New Zealand history - a classic "Ponzi" scheme, in which investors receive interest payments from their own capital or from newer investors.
Versalko was exposed when one of the 30 wealthy victims of his fraud saw a television documentary on Wall Street Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff and became suspicious.
New York-based Madoff last year started a 150-year prison sentence after admitting running a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi swindle over several decades.
Versalko will have to spend at least four years in jail for his fraud, which he admitted immediately after the suspicious client approached the bank.
He later told investigators that he had felt he was "Mr Invincible".
About $NZ4 million ($3.09 million) of the stolen money was recovered by selling Versalko's properties.
The fraud began in 2000, when Versalko had a credit card debt of about $NZ30,000 ($23,204).
He told clients, mainly elderly women living outside of New Zealand, that he had investments available with higher than normal interest rates, no tax or fees and a long-term government guarantee.
ASB Bank, which had to repay $NZ16.5 million ($12.76 million) to the fraud victims, said it had strengthened its security to ensure a similar fraud could not happen again.
Where the stolen money went
$4.7m - Paying fake interest to his clients to maintain the pretence his investment scheme was real
$3.9m - Buying up property
$3.4m - Prostitutes
$2.2m - Paying off credit cards on which he racked up various expenses, including wine
$1m - Paid into his private bank accounts
$600,000 - Lawyers
$500,000 - Withdrawn as cash
$500,000 - Unspecified
$300,000 - On vehicles, including $30,000 on a Buccaneer boat
$200,000 - On more unspecified personal expenses
$200,000 - Trading on the online CMC markets, where he made a further $150,000
$200,000 - Paid to family trusts
$100,000 - On education for his three children.
Sex workers organisation taken aback by huge spending
Stephen Versalko's money would have been a great source of intrigue for the working girls he spent it on, Prostitutes Collective president Catherine Healy says.
Sex workers were "usually incredibly discreet" but there was sometimes "chat" about well-heeled regular clients.
"The chat around them is how is this happening? How are they sustaining this amount of spending? Usually when clients become regulars people get to know a bit about their circumstances. Sometimes people would think, `This doesn't feel right – is this guy embezzling?"'
It was very rare for prostitutes to become tangled up in legal cases, but she warned sex industry workers to be on their guard.
Try This On For Size
This article comes from NBC Washington and features a story about a burglar with a very unusual fetish...
Delaware police are trying to determine if hundreds of shoes thrown into an Elkton, Md., creek is the work of a burglar with a fetish for men’s shoes.
A man walking near Big Elk Creek in Elkton discovered the shoes on Sunday morning.
Hundreds of work boots, shoes and sneakers were stuffed in large garbage bags and tossed into the creek, according to investigators.
In December, a burglar broke into several Newark, Del., homes, stealing only male shoes and photos of men, according to police.
No pictures, however, were found in the creek.
Rebecca Flanagan’s house was broken into around the same time. She said the burglar only stole her photos with men in them while she and her roommate were on winter break.
“I am really surprised, this is great,” Flanagan said after hearing about the odd discovery. “I’d be really curious to see if they were the same shoes that were stolen.”
A man walking near Big Elk Creek in Elkton discovered the shoes on Sunday morning.
Hundreds of work boots, shoes and sneakers were stuffed in large garbage bags and tossed into the creek, according to investigators.
In December, a burglar broke into several Newark, Del., homes, stealing only male shoes and photos of men, according to police.
No pictures, however, were found in the creek.
Rebecca Flanagan’s house was broken into around the same time. She said the burglar only stole her photos with men in them while she and her roommate were on winter break.
“I am really surprised, this is great,” Flanagan said after hearing about the odd discovery. “I’d be really curious to see if they were the same shoes that were stolen.”
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