Saturday, April 11, 2009

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Melissa Huckaby, Calif. Sunday School Teacher, Booked In Child Death Top
TRACY, Calif. — Police said Saturday after arresting a Sunday school teacher that they still didn't know the motive for the killing of an 8-year-old girl whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in an irrigation pond. Melissa Huckaby, 28, was arrested late Friday about five hours after she drove herself to the local police station at the request of officers, said police Sgt. Tony Sheneman. She was being held without bail in connection with the death of Sandra Cantu, the San Joaquin County sheriff's office said. Sandra disappeared on March 27 and hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials turned out to search for her. On April 6, farmworkers draining an irrigation pond found the suitcase. Huckaby walked into the police station Friday and started a conversation with officers, Sheneman said at a news conference. "She was calm, cool and collected, then she became very emotional .... She went back and forth from being calm to emotional." Eventually, she became "resigned," Sheneman said. "I couldn't begin to even theorize what her motive was," he said. Sheneman had earlier told The Associated Press that interviews with Huckaby in The Tracy Press had revealed inconsistencies that prompted further inquiries from investigators. "I want to know why she did it, if she did it," the slain girl's aunt, Angie Chavez, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press early Saturday. She said she had no indication earlier that Huckaby could be a suspect. Huckaby's family had been questioned at length during the investigation, and their home and vehicles had been searched, Sheneman said. Sheneman said investigators hadn't expected that the suspect would turn out to be a woman. "It's unusual for it to be a woman statistically and according to the FBI," he said at the news conference. Discovering it was a woman and a member of the tight knit Tracy community who knew the family was "a double blow," he said. "Today's going to be a very difficult day for everyone to digest that," Sheneman said. "This was an anomaly in the murder of a child." "There's still a lot of work to be done in the next several weeks to ensure that Miss Huckaby pays for what's she's done," Sheneman said. "There are no other suspects in this case. We do not anticipate any other arrests in this case." Earlier Saturday, Police Chief Janet Thiessen said investigators had worked on the case tirelessly but that they probably were too late to save Sandra. "We have information that Sandra, by the time she was reported missing to us, that she probably had already been murdered," said Thiessen. Neighbor Barbara Sokoloski, whose home is behind Sandra's, described Sandra on Saturday as "a friendly sweet little girl who always went around trying to find somebody to play with." "It's too bad that kids these days can't go out and play like we did when I was a little girl," said Sokoloski, 69. Huckaby had told The Tracy Press that Sandra visited her home on the day of her disappearance to play with her 5-year-old daughter. But Huckaby said she'd turned Sandra away because her daughter needed to pick up her toys and Sandra went to another friend's home. Huckaby also said she had left her suitcase in the driveway that day, and that it was missing. The Tracy Press reported that Huckaby was released Thursday from Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, where she spent several days in intensive care for what she described as "internal bleeding." Huckaby is a granddaughter of Pastor Clifford Lawless, whose Clover Road Baptist Church was the subject of a police search. Huckaby taught Sunday school at the church and lived with Lawless in the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park that also was Sandra's home. Lawless did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Saturday. Huckaby was scheduled to appear in court on April 17 to check in with a county mental health program as part of a three-year probation sentence for a petty theft she pleaded no contest to. She told the newspaper on Friday that someone else by the same name was facing charges for the attempted November theft from a Target store.
 
Bloomberg Will Run As Republican In Bid For Third Term Top
Mayor Bloomberg will run for reelection as a Republican this fall, the Daily News has learned, after successfully courting the party to let him back on its ballot line two years after he left it. "Mayor Bloomberg and I have had healthy disagreements over issues at times, but I know he is the right person to lead this city forward," said Jay Savino, chairman of the Bronx GOP, who followed his Brooklyn and Staten Island counterparts to become the third county chairman to back the mayor.
 
Wayne Besen: Jamaica: A Killer Vacation For Gays Top
This week, I joined San Francisco organizer Michael Petrelis and Box Turtle Bulletin editor Jim Burroway in launching an international boycott against Jamaica ( www.boycottJamaica.org ). While the island appears laid back, gays are under attack. Forget business as usual. Instead, we should stop doing business with a country that is proud of its persecution against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Our goal is to turn Jamaica into a pariah state, as long as GLBT people live in a state of terror. This means no more subsidizing the anti-gay slaughter by drinking Myers Rum and Red Stripe Beer. It requires skipping that Carnival Cruise to Jamaica - so your money won't support murder. If Jamaica were anymore homophobic, it would change the name of its signature music, reggae, to "ray-straight." The national song would be, "Wasting the Gays Again in Murderitaville." Why boycott? Because Jamaica is on a downward spiral and suffers from collective cultural dementia on this issue. There is clearly a pathological panic and homo-hysteria that has infected this nation at its core. Consider that the Jamaica Cancer Society has raised concerns that the fear of being labeled gay is causing some Jamaican men to avoid prostate examinations, causing one of the highest prostate cancer rates in the world. The second reason to boycott is because traditional activism has failed. I first read about Jamaica's horrific violence against gay people in a 2004 New York Times editorial , "Hated to Death in Jamaica." In 2006, Time magazine had an article about the island headlined, "The Most Homophobic Place On Earth." One would think that such chilling headlines would have spurred worldwide action against Jamaica. Instead, the climate has only deteriorated, with a 2008 New York Times article titled, "Attacks Show Easygoing Jamaica Is Dire Place for Gays." A scathing State Department report on Jamaica's treatment of homosexuals reads like a horror novel: "The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG) continued to report human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, mob attacks, stabbings, harassment of homosexual patients by hospital and prison staff, and targeted shootings of homosexuals." Questioned by the BBC, Jamaica's Prime Minister Bruce Golding said that he would not allow gay people to serve in his Cabinet. In March 2009 he added, "We are not going to yield to the pressure, whether that pressure comes from individual organizations, individuals, whether that pressure comes from foreign governments or groups of countries, to liberalize the laws as it relates to buggery." A third reason for a boycott is because we can have an impact in Jamaica. The tropical island earned $2.1 billion from tourism in 2006, with 1,025,000 arrivals from the United States. Clearly, Jamaica is uniquely vulnerable to economic pressure and thus every effort should be made to push for change. A fourth reason to boycott is that a message needs to be sent throughout the world: "Gay people will no longer sit by passively while our people are brutalized and killed." If we do not stop the hate in the one place we can - Jamaica - it will continue to be open season against gays across the world. There must be consequences for state sanctioned gay bashing. Such countries will not change on their own - so economic carrots and sticks must be applied. The current, failed strategy is "treadmill diplomacy", where we send off a few letters to embassies and hope things will magically improve. It may feel like we are advancing, but we are really, at best, running in place. This explains why the news headlines about Jamaica's treatment of gay people in 2004, look remarkably like the terrifying ones in 2009. The choice is ours, we can be meek in the face of madness - or we can take action. Finally, Jamaica is an island of self-righteous hypocrites. The Bible is used to rationalize brutality, and vigilante violence is justified with talk of virtues and values. But, the island is quite comfortable with ganja and gratuitous sex for heterosexuals. Jamaica's new motto should be, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (Unless you're gay). If you are a bar owner, please take Jamaican products out of your establishment. Consider a "rum dump", where Myers' rum is poured down the sewer. If you care about gay people, tell everyone you know about the dismal human rights record of Jamaica. And, if a friend has booked a trip - express your disapproval and send him or her accurate information. It is truly a crime if you spend another dime in this homophobic hellhole. If you have gay family members, neighbors, coworkers or friends, book a holiday where it is okay to be gay. As for Jamaica, don't play, don't pay, don't stay. ACTION: On Wednesday, April 15, 6:30 PM, we are launching the East Coast portion of the campaign with a historic "rum dump" at the famed Stonewall Inn - the birthplace of the GLBT movement. We hope you will join our action and participate in the 'rum dump'
 
Evangelical Leaders Stunned By Warren's Apparent Turnaround On Gay Marriage Top
Evangelical leaders say they are bewildered and stunned by the Rev. Rick Warren's apparent turnaround on gay marriage after the famous California pastor said earlier this week that he was not a proponent of California's Proposition 8. Mr. Warren told CNN's Larry King on Monday that he "never once even gave an endorsement" of the proposition, which said marriage in the state could only involve one man and one woman. The measure won at the polls last November by a close margin, in effect negating an earlier California Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriages. More on Gay Marriage
 
Glenn Beck Radio Show: Rick Sanchez Can't Say Beck Responsible For Murder Because Of DUI (AUDIO) Top
Earlier this week, CNN's Rick Sanchez accused Fox News — namely Glenn Beck — of creating an environment of fear and distrust that has led to a surge in gun violence, in particular tying last week's Pittsburgh shooting to "Fox News and right wing radio." Watch that clip and read Jason Linkins' take on it here. On Beck's radio show Thursday, Beck and staff lashed out against Sanchez, calling Sanchez "the one guy who shouldn't accuse other people of being responsible for murder" over his 1990 drunk driving incident, in which Sanchez struck a pedestrian who would be paralyzed and later die from injuries sustained in the accident. "Maybe if you're one of the very few people in our society that has actually been responsible for killing someone," Beck's producer Stu Burguiere ranted, "maybe you should be the one guy who shouldn't accuse other people of being responsible for murders." Beck attempted to slow Stu down but he continued: "Maybe you should be the one human being on earth who should not be attacking another personality for killing people, because of the fact that before you worked at CNN, you worked in Miami, and you ran over a person, and that person died. Maybe YOU should consider that before speaking on every occasion. Every time you let words out of your moth, you should make sure you remember that day." "Who hasn't gotten drunk, got into a car, and ran over someone?" Beck asked. "That happens all the time!" Listen: Sanchez was charged with and pleaded no contest to the DUI in 1991.
 
Jennifer Perry: Entertainment Industry Acts for Children Top
With an art opening reception for Cole Sternberg -- to benefit the Children's Action Network (CAN) -- taking place on Saturday, April 11, at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, now seems like a perfect time to let people know that there are children's issues out there -- from adoption to immunization to hunger -- that need to be addressed, and that there is an organization like CAN addressing them. More than 15 years ago, a group of people in the entertainment industry, including couples Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, Lorraine and Sid Sheinberg and Stacey and Henry Winkler, recognized a need to improve the lives of children in the United States. So they got a few other friends involved -- Nancy Daly, Lezlie and Mark Johnson, Robert A. Daly, and Diana Meehan and Gary Goldberg -- and founded the Children's Action Network. Other supporters, including Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Melanie Griffith, and Robert Zemeckis, to name a few, have since become part of the "Family of Friends" which has adopted the National Adoption Campaign as its main program. The National Adoption Campaign is committed to raising awareness about the joys of adoption and finding nurturing safe homes for children who don't have one. More than 129,000 children are in foster care in the U.S. waiting to be adopted, and CAN's goal is to find loving and adoptive families for each and every one of them. Through extensive public education campaigns, community-based programs and policy initiatives, CAN mobilizes the power of the entertainment community to increase awareness about children's issues and to make them a top priority in everyday life. Through CAN's annual CBS special A Home for the Holidays , National Adoption Day (NAD), This is Me and the Los Angeles Adoption Initiative, CAN enlists the public in improving outcomes for all children in foster care. NAD is a national effort to celebrate adoption that takes place in 240 communities across all 50 states. More than 24,000 children have been adopted from foster care on NAD since 2002. In This is Me, a series of short films of children in foster care waiting to be adopted, the children are introduced to a broader audience, connected with mentors and adoptive families. The signature element of the Los Angeles Adoption Initiative is a specially retrofitted mobile unit that travels across Los Angeles to recruit adoptive parents at the community level. But that's not all. CAN also uses its clout in the entertainment industry to address other issues impacting children. In the early 90s, alongside the American Academy of Pediatrics, CAN worked with the media to help the government and pharmaceutical companies inform parents about the importance of immunization for children under the age of 2. As a result, 200,000 children were immunized against childhood diseases. In November 1996, CAN turned to helping the children living in poverty in Los Angeles. Along with Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, CAN launched Kids Café, providing children with hot meals as well as a reading program, homework help and other activities. The partnership has provided more than 90,000 meals to children. And, after the FCC in 1997 mandated TV networks to have three hours of educational programming a week, CAN helped develop the guidelines -- Building Blocks: A Resource Guide for Creating Children's Educational Television -- that are now used by professionals in the creative community and station broadcasters. Children's Action Network plans to keep speaking out on behalf of children until every waiting child finds a loving family. In the nonprofit world your voice should never be silent and your hands should always be out, hopefully filling those little hands with a future. So back to the art event in support of CAN that I mentioned at the top of this post. The art and design communities have a long history of getting involved with charitable causes. On Saturday, April 11, 4-7 pm, contemporary artist Cole Sternberg teams up with Fred Segal for Nirvana + Stained Glass, a one-of-a-kind fusion of fine art, fashion and charity at Fred Segal Man in Santa Monica. Fashionistas, contemporary art collectors and celebrities will mix among Sternberg's frenetic oil, watercolor, ink and spray paint works. Along with Sternberg's array of paintings, this exhibition event will feature handmade shirts and jackets created by Sternberg in partnership with designer clothing brand, Nice Collective . Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Children's Action Network.
 
Suicide Bomber Kills 9 Sunni Fighters In Iraq Top
BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt Saturday among U.S.-allied Sunni paramilitaries collecting their salaries at an army base, killing nine and wounding about 30, Iraqi officials said. The attack in the town of Jbala, about 35 miles (50 kilometers) south of Baghdad, follows a bloody week of bombings that killed more than 50 people in the capital. Five U.S. soldiers died Friday in a bombing in Mosul _ the deadliest attack against American troops in more than a year. Those attacks have raised concern about the capability of Iraqi forces to control security after U.S. soldiers withdraw from Baghdad and other Iraqi cities by June 30. About 250 members of Sunni paramilitaries known as Awakening Councils or Sons of Iraq were mingling around the Jbala base about 11 a.m. when the bomber struck. One of the wounded, Riad Hassan al-Janabi, said Iraqi soldiers refused to allow them to wait inside the compound behind protective blast walls. Instead, guards allowed only a few small groups inside at a time, leaving most of them unprotected. "I couldn't see anything as dust covered the area," said al-Janabi, who was hurled to the ground by the blast and wounded by shrapnel. "There were only voices of people around us and the smell of gunpowder." Police spokesman Maj. Muthana Khalid and Dr. Nahidh Mohammed al-Maamouri of the nearby Iskandariyah General Hospital gave the casualty figures. Awakening Council members are mostly Sunnis who joined forces with the Americans to drive al-Qaida and other insurgent groups from their communities. U.S. officials credit the councils with helping curb violence, which has fallen dramatically since the U.S. troop surge of 2007. They have been frequently targeted by Sunni insurgents. Last October, the Iraqi government agreed to assume responsibility for paying the paramilitaries from the Americans. However, salaries were delayed for months because of bureaucratic red tape, and Iraqi authorities only resumed payments this week. The Shiite-led government has never fully trusted the councils because their ranks include former insurgents. The pay delay served to heighten mistrust among the paramilitaries, who fear the government wants to disband them. Tensions between the government and the councils boiled over last month when a local group in central Baghdad launched a two-day uprising after the arrest of their leader. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said the arrest followed a six-month investigation that tied the commander to criminal activity and was not part of a crackdown on the Awakening movement. A Shiite lawmaker said he was confident that Iraqi police and soldiers can maintain security despite recent attacks and that the country "will not face a grave security deterioration." "Yet we must admit that there have been isolated security breaches and gaps and that the terrorists are making use of this fact," said Abbas al-Bayati, chairman of the parliament security committee. "We believe that some real work needs to be done to fill the gaps in security." The U.S.-Iraq security agreement that took effect this year requires the U.S. to pull combat troops out of Baghdad and other cities by June 30. President Barack Obama plans to withdraw combat troops from the country by September 2010 and bring home the last of the force by the end of 2011. During an interview this week with The Times of London, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, said American forces may have to remain in Mosul and Baqouba, where Sunni insurgents still operate, after the June 30 deadline but the final decision is up to the Iraqis. ___ Associated Press Writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report. More on Iraq
 
Where's Tiger? Woods Struggles Through First Two Rounds At Masters Top
AUGUSTA, Ga. — If Tiger Woods is wondering what it will take for him to win a fifth green jacket this weekend, he might look at what Sandy Lyle managed to do to Augusta National on Friday. Five birdies in a row isn't too shabby for a 51-year-old, especially one who hasn't won a tournament of any kind in 17 years. Better yet, he could have stolen a glance during his own round and watched teen sensation Rory McIlroy just behind him. No fear beneath that unruly mop of hair, even when things didn't always work out as planned. Actually, there wasn't a whole lot to fear in the second round of the Masters, something the greatest player in the world couldn't seem to figure out. The tees were up, the greens were soft, and even some swirling winds weren't enough to protect the course from a renewed assault on par. Yes, the greens were still tricky enough to keep things from getting too far out of hand. But at the end of the day Anthony Kim had made a staggering 11 birdies in 18 holes, two players were tied for the midway lead at 9-under, and Augusta National had given up a record 17 eagles. All the while, Woods was playing as though he were in the U.S. Open. For a second day in a row, Woods preached patience and played conservatively. For a second day in a row, he did little but watch as players passed him by. The Tiger of 1997 would have had this guy for breakfast. If he doesn't watch it, the new Tigers of 2009 will eat his lunch. He's still got an outside chance to win the Masters because he is Tiger Woods. But the guy in the blue shirt walking the fairways Friday didn't look a whole lot like him and there wasn't a fist pump in sight. "Conditions were tough," a tight-lipped Woods explained after signing for an even-par 72. "It was just tough all around." It didn't seem that tough to Kenny Perry, the 48-year-old who kept pulling his driver out of the bag and banging it down the middle on his way to a 5-under 67. And it certainly wasn't tough for Kim, who decided after reading the story of the tragic death of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart that he wasn't going to get too despondent about a missed putt or two. "You have to live every moment of every day like it's your last," Kim said after shooting his 65. "I don't want to go out whining about a three-putt." No one, of course, can accuse Woods of not living the life he wants. And it's hard to argue with an approach to major championships that has paid off with 14 victories, including a thrilling win in last year's U.S. Open. But this isn't the Open. It's not the Masters of the last few years where grinding took precedence over charging. This is more like 1997, when Woods shot 65 in the second round to begin his rout of the field, or 1986 when Nicklaus shot 30 on the back nine for perhaps the most memorable Masters win ever. This is a course waiting to be attacked, and ready to reward those who do. But Woods doesn't seem to get it. He walked out of the scoring hut off the 18th green clearly unhappy with his round, and even more upset that it ended for a second straight day with a bogey on the 18th hole. He paused briefly for questions, but for the most part offered only one- or two-word answers. None of them had anything to do with why he tossed away at least a stroke, maybe two, by hitting a 5-wood off the 13th tee instead of something stronger. None of them touched on why he kept shooting away from pins instead of attacking them. He's seven shots back heading into the weekend, but he's not going to make up the margin by standing still. There are too many players between him and the lead, and too many opportunities still to be had. It's possible that Woods had that in mind as he walked quickly through the clubhouse after his round and headed straight for the driving range. Once there, he emptied a bag of balls, stuck a tee in the ground and began banging drives halfway up into the huge net that protects the end of the range. After hitting about 30 of them he put down the driver and picked up a pair of tennis shoes. A small crowd that gathered to watch applauded, and he gave them a quick wave before walking off. The weekend awaits, and with it comes the usual questions. Among them would be, is Chad Campbell for real, can Kenny Perry do it at his age, and will the pressure of the Masters get to Anthony Kim? The biggest one, though, may be this: Will the real Tiger Woods show up? ____ Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org More on Sports
 
Stanton Peele: Shiksas in Film Top
The advent of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen has placed at the forefront of modern American cinema Jewish male-gentile female (Shiksa) relationships - although this angle is often not explicitly (or is only tangentially) acknowledged in their films . In the current Greg Mottola film, Adventureland , however, relationships between Jewish men and non-Jewish women are often the focus. And this presentation is bigoted and unattractive. Shiksas are pictured as unlettered - stupid really - superficial, and prejudiced. The film's protagonist, played by Jesse Eisenberg (although for some reason he is given a gentile name, James Brennan, in the movie), is depicted as Jewish, along with his best friend at the amusement park (Joel Schiffman, played by Martin Starr) where they both have dead-end jobs unbefitting their intellects and educations. Both are seen to be slumming in this environment, where they encounter a brutish employer, a philandering repairman, and bullies who beat them up and chase them. In one subplot, Jesse's friend from youth works at the same park, and he regularly punches James in the scrotum, urinates publicly, drunkenly vomits, ogles James' dates, and generally acts the Neanderthal. Best friend Joel hooks up with a woman during one drunken evening, but when he tries to further the relationship (by presenting her with his favorite Gogol novel, which she ignores), she reveals her Catholic family won't permit them to date. On a date with Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), who is likewise explicitly identified as being Catholic, James quickly sees that he has to suppress his intellectual yearnings and accept her trivial thoughts in order to make out with her. Another female character is the running mate of the park's manager (the aforementioned brutish employer), whose stupid non-sequiturs and malapropisms are a recurring source of humor in the film. James' true love, his intellectual equal, is working at the park on a summer break from NYU (just as James is treading water before going to grad school). And - unlike the dumb Shiksas - she is also Jewish. Em Lewin is played by Kristen Stewart (like Joel, and the exact reversal of James-Jesse, she is given a Jewish name for her film's character). Em is a troubled girl. Her father met her deceased mother's replacement - who represents the stereotype of the Jewish parvenu and social climber - at Temple. Who wouldn't go crazy under those circumstances? If these stereotypes of Shiksas were reversed, and Em, James, and Joel were not presented sympathetically, there would be an uproar among New York critics and audiences. Instead, the movie was a Critics' Pick in the Times, where A.O. Scott noted it's "sweetness and intelligence." How far we have come?
 

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