Monday, May 22, 2006
Secret Drug Vault Contains Drugs Worth $150 Million
This is only one of 67 known vaults in the U.S.
It's got about 80 tons of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, ketamine, date rape drugs, steroids, etc.
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It's got about 80 tons of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, ketamine, date rape drugs, steroids, etc.
http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=563387897
Thursday, May 18, 2006
More Ripping Off of Genitals
Where the hell is it?
Wife Charged With Attacking Husband
TIOGA-NICETOWN - May 17, 2006 - A Philadelphia man is recovering from an attack, allegedly at the hands of his wife. The assault on his private parts has become public knowledge. In an interview with Action News after his release from, the 52-year-old victim spoke of his terrifying ordeal.
The 52-year-old Tioga-Nicetown man, who we are identifying only by his first name of Howard, arrived home late Wednesday, hours after his wife allegedly tore off two parts of his genitalia with her bare hands. Surgeons at Einstein successfully managed to repair the damage.
Howard/Tioga-Nicetown: "Doctors did a beautiful job in E.R. and the paramedics did a wonderful job, they only took 4 minutes to get here."Howard says his 40-year-old wife Monica, who he says is bi-polar, somehow conceived the notion that he was cheating on her. So while he was asleep last night, she attacked him.
Police outside the home in Tioga-Nicetown following the domestic incident early Tuesday morning.
Howard: "I mean she just grabbed me all down there and yanking and yanking and tearing me up with those fingernails."Police and paramedics rushed to the man's row home in the 3800 block of Pulaski where they found him bleeding profusely. He was rushed to Einstein where doctors first labeled his condition critical. He was later upgraded to stable after having reattachment surgery and a few doses of morphine. Howard still cannot believe his wife of 11 years would allegedly do this him.
Howard: "I can see doing something like that to a rapist, or mugger but not a husband, not something like..."
Dann: "She thought that you were cheating on her?"
Howard: "I wasn't cheating on nobody, I'm home in bed at 8' 0 clock every night, I mean I'm not out there messing around."
Brian Lawson/neighbor: "I mean men cringing when they hear the story, I mean uh, I'm just cringing thinking about it."
Antoinette Fortune/Neighbor: "Who would wanna do something like that?"
Unidentified Neighbor: "That's kinda nasty. That's drastic isn't it? He's lucky to be alive."Some neighbors say Howard's had problems with his wife before and has thrown her out only to let her back in. They worry what'll happen next.
Dann Cuellar: "Howard, you're not gonna let her back in here are you?"
Howard: "Oh no, no, no. She's in jail where she belongs."At one point, Howard's wife Monica was facing attempted murder charges but now, the D.A.'s office has asked that a psychiatric evaluation be performed before any charges are filed.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Black Belt Grannies
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
His Buddy Tasted Just Like Chicken
http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=373767193
Man gets life sentence for killing, eating acquaintance
Defendant: 'I wanted to eat him -- I didn't want to kill him'
Armin Meiwes gave a detailed confession of his grisly activities.
FRANKFURT, Germany -- A cannibal whose killing and eating of a willing victim shocked Germany has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison after a court overturned a previous manslaughter conviction.
Judge Klaus Drescher rejected the defense team's argument that Armin Meiwes, 44, should be convicted only of the lesser offense of "killing on demand," because he was just following his victim's wishes.
Announcing the verdict at the Frankfurt state court on Tuesday, Drescher said the killing was "a particularly perverse murder."
"He acted out of self-seeking motives and has shown that, to this day, he does not regret his actions," Drescher said, according to The Associated Press. Meiwes watched calmly as the verdict was read out.
Meiwes, a former computer technician from Rotenburg-an-der-fuld in central Germany, had corresponded with 400 people over the Internet to find a willing victim.
Bernd-Juergen Brandes, a high-ranking IT manager with German firm Siemens, agreed and traveled by train to meet Meiwes.
The defense showed a videotape of the March 2001 incident, in which the victim made no attempt to escape and was a willing participant.
Meiwes cut off the victim's penis before the pair ate it together, authorities have said. He then cut up the victim, stored his body in a freezer and ate it over the following months.
"The next one must be young but not so fat," Drescher quoted Meiwes as saying after the killing.
Meiwes was arrested in December 2002 after a student in Austria showed police an advertisement Meiwes had placed on the Internet, seeking another man willing to be killed and eaten.
The judge described Meiwes as psychologically sick but aware of what he was doing. "The defendant was fully conscious of his actions and could control them," Drescher told the court on Tuesday.
"This is not killing on request," he said. "He killed him because he wanted to slaughter and eat his flesh. He had achieved the biggest kick of his life."
A court-appointed psychiatric expert, Georg Stolpmann, told the trial he believed there was a high risk that Meiwes could offend again.
The defendant had claimed he had hesitated before going through with the act. "I wanted to eat him -- I didn't want to kill him," he told the court.
Meiwes was standing trial for the second time after Germany's top criminal court ruled his 2004 conviction for manslaughter and eight-year jail sentence was too lenient.
Under German law Meiwes could be freed after 15 years. The court rejected a request by prosecutors to deny his right to early release, saying his victim had volunteered to be killed and eaten. Meiwes was also convicted of disturbing the peace of the dead.
It is not known if Meiwes will appeal Tuesday's ruling.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Finally... a test to determine whether you're straight or homosexual
Lesbians' brains respond like straight men
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lesbians' brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women, new research indicates.
That's in line with an earlier study that had indicated gay men's brain responses were different from straight men -- though the difference for men was more pronounced than has now been found in women.
Lesbians' brains reacted somewhat, though not completely, like those of heterosexual men, a team of Swedish researchers said in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A year ago, the same group reported findings for gay men that showed their brain response to hormones was similar to that of heterosexual women.
In both cases the findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior.
"It shows sexual orientation may very well have a different basis between men and women ... this is not just a mirror image situation," said Sandra Witelson, an expert on brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
"The important thing is to be open to the likely situation that there are biological factors that contribute to sexual orientation," added Witelson, who was not part of the research team.
The research team led by Ivanka Savic at the Stockholm Brain Institute had volunteers sniff chemicals derived from male and female sex hormones. These chemicals are thought to be pheromones -- molecules known to trigger responses such as defense and sex in many animals.
Whether humans respond to pheromones has been debated, although in 2000 American researchers reported finding a gene that they believe directs a human pheromone receptor in the nose.
The same team reported last year on a comparison of the response of male homosexuals to heterosexual men and women. They found that the brains of gay men reacted more like those of women than of straight men.
The new study shows a similar, but weaker, relationship between the response of lesbians and straight men.
Heterosexual women found the male and female pheromones about equally pleasant, while straight men and lesbians liked the female pheromone more than the male one. Men and lesbians also found the male hormone more irritating than the female one, while straight women were more likely to be irritated by the female hormone than the male one.
All three groups rated the male hormone more familiar than the female one. Straight women found both hormones about equal in intensity, while lesbians and straight men found the male hormone more intense than the female one.
The brains of all three groups were scanned when sniffing male and female hormones and a set of four ordinary odors. Ordinary odors were processed in the brain circuits associated with smell in all the volunteers.
In heterosexual males the male hormone was processed in the scent area but the female hormone was processed in the hypothalamus, which is related to sexual stimulation. In straight women the sexual area of the brain responded to the male hormone while the female hormone was perceived by the scent area.
In lesbians, both male and female hormones were processed the same, in the basic odor processing circuits, Savic and her team reported.
Each of the three groups of subjects included 12 healthy, unmedicated, right-handed and HIV-negative individuals.
The research was funded by the Swedish Medical Research Council, Karolinska Institute and the Wallenberg Foundation.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lesbians' brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women, new research indicates.
That's in line with an earlier study that had indicated gay men's brain responses were different from straight men -- though the difference for men was more pronounced than has now been found in women.
Lesbians' brains reacted somewhat, though not completely, like those of heterosexual men, a team of Swedish researchers said in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A year ago, the same group reported findings for gay men that showed their brain response to hormones was similar to that of heterosexual women.
In both cases the findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior.
"It shows sexual orientation may very well have a different basis between men and women ... this is not just a mirror image situation," said Sandra Witelson, an expert on brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
"The important thing is to be open to the likely situation that there are biological factors that contribute to sexual orientation," added Witelson, who was not part of the research team.
The research team led by Ivanka Savic at the Stockholm Brain Institute had volunteers sniff chemicals derived from male and female sex hormones. These chemicals are thought to be pheromones -- molecules known to trigger responses such as defense and sex in many animals.
Whether humans respond to pheromones has been debated, although in 2000 American researchers reported finding a gene that they believe directs a human pheromone receptor in the nose.
The same team reported last year on a comparison of the response of male homosexuals to heterosexual men and women. They found that the brains of gay men reacted more like those of women than of straight men.
The new study shows a similar, but weaker, relationship between the response of lesbians and straight men.
Heterosexual women found the male and female pheromones about equally pleasant, while straight men and lesbians liked the female pheromone more than the male one. Men and lesbians also found the male hormone more irritating than the female one, while straight women were more likely to be irritated by the female hormone than the male one.
All three groups rated the male hormone more familiar than the female one. Straight women found both hormones about equal in intensity, while lesbians and straight men found the male hormone more intense than the female one.
The brains of all three groups were scanned when sniffing male and female hormones and a set of four ordinary odors. Ordinary odors were processed in the brain circuits associated with smell in all the volunteers.
In heterosexual males the male hormone was processed in the scent area but the female hormone was processed in the hypothalamus, which is related to sexual stimulation. In straight women the sexual area of the brain responded to the male hormone while the female hormone was perceived by the scent area.
In lesbians, both male and female hormones were processed the same, in the basic odor processing circuits, Savic and her team reported.
Each of the three groups of subjects included 12 healthy, unmedicated, right-handed and HIV-negative individuals.
The research was funded by the Swedish Medical Research Council, Karolinska Institute and the Wallenberg Foundation.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
If You've Ever Thought About Selling Your Sperm...
More kids revealed from mystery sperm donor
Lois Romano Washington Post May. 1, 2006 10:22 AM
WASHINGTON - Really good news on the sperm front: Donor 401 - an unusually popular man who tans well and remains a mystery - lives on.
When the Washington Post in February reported on 11 women who delivered (or are parents of) 14 of his children, the parents were just getting to know one another online. They had connected on a donor Web site a couple of years ago, and shared pictures and baby allergies from afar.But after the Post story, the women were instantly thrust into the national media spotlight and then met for the first time in New York when NBC's "Today" show brought them together. Eight more families with "401" babes came forward.
One married mother of three from New York was listening to "Today" - something she rarely does - when she heard talk of "401" and sperm donors. She bolted for the TV. "I knew nothing - I never knew there was this Web site or that these people were out there," said the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "I freaked out when I saw the kids (on the show). I mean, they looked like my kids."
Caroline George, of Oklahoma, mother of a son fathered by 401, called the attention "a whirlwind."
Comedian Stephen Colbert declared on his Comedy Central show that he was donor 401 and offered to sell his sperm online.
The women made an appearance on "The View" and chatted with Meredith Vieira. CNN aired a segment on them. An enterprising Web site now sells "401" T-shirts.
When NBC flew the women to New York with children in tow for the "Today" appearance, they checked out family resemblances for the first time. They all gathered in one of the hotel rooms after the show to talk.
"It was really weird how easy it was just for us to accept - 'OK, this is like a whole family we have,' " said Carla Schouten, of California, who came to New York with her son. "Now that we've met, we can share our experiences on a deeper level."
Probably the most significant development to come from the national attention was contact from a woman in California who had 17 previously unknown vials of 401 sperm, a hot commodity at the Fairfax Cryobank. She offered the samples to the families - now 18 of them with 25 children - to divvy up among those who still want children.
Poor guy must be stunned. And it's not over.Donor 401, who sold his stuff to the Virginia sperm bank at least seven years ago, retired from the sperm business a couple of years ago. His oldest known offspring is 6. Women seeking to have children selected his anonymous profile for a variety of reasons, including his German heritage and his professed warm relationship with his mother.For quite a while not a drop of his DNA was available in Fairfax for those who wished to have a second child - and there was a long waiting list. The woman who had the extra sperm told the mothers that she had purchased the vials from Fairfax, but then didn't need it. The vials sell for at least $175 each.
"It's just incredibly generous," said Leann Mischel, the mother of two 401 babies, who is thinking about a third.
The mothers say that though they are curious about 401, he's not a big part of their lives - and they would never seek him out. They are just grateful they found one another. "We all have a very valuable database of medical history - it's a benefit to the kids," George said."I have a terrific support network with my family, but no one really knows what you're going through - that's why this connection is important," said Cheri Poulos, of Illinois. "Obviously the kids will ask questions someday, and having this connection will help."
The families initially met through DonorSiblingRegistry.com, started by a woman who was trying to locate her donor for her son's benefit.The women said that the publicity generated very little negative reaction, which they braced for, given some of their nontraditional lifestyles."
At first I had mixed feelings when a big group started developing - but everyone is turning out to be very like-minded," said Lisa Weix, a Californian with 401 twins. "Now we have dads in the group. It's neat to have a full spectrum of people who use this type of conception - straight couples and gay couples, single moms."
Meanwhile, no word from 401. Unless he's been out of the country or in a tunnel, he must know what he's created. Still, he's silent.
Recently, sperm banks have been offering historically anonymous donors an option of allowing their identity to be revealed to the children at age 18.
Drop a dime on us, 401. We'd love to hear from you.
Lois Romano Washington Post May. 1, 2006 10:22 AM
WASHINGTON - Really good news on the sperm front: Donor 401 - an unusually popular man who tans well and remains a mystery - lives on.
When the Washington Post in February reported on 11 women who delivered (or are parents of) 14 of his children, the parents were just getting to know one another online. They had connected on a donor Web site a couple of years ago, and shared pictures and baby allergies from afar.But after the Post story, the women were instantly thrust into the national media spotlight and then met for the first time in New York when NBC's "Today" show brought them together. Eight more families with "401" babes came forward.
One married mother of three from New York was listening to "Today" - something she rarely does - when she heard talk of "401" and sperm donors. She bolted for the TV. "I knew nothing - I never knew there was this Web site or that these people were out there," said the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "I freaked out when I saw the kids (on the show). I mean, they looked like my kids."
Caroline George, of Oklahoma, mother of a son fathered by 401, called the attention "a whirlwind."
Comedian Stephen Colbert declared on his Comedy Central show that he was donor 401 and offered to sell his sperm online.
The women made an appearance on "The View" and chatted with Meredith Vieira. CNN aired a segment on them. An enterprising Web site now sells "401" T-shirts.
When NBC flew the women to New York with children in tow for the "Today" appearance, they checked out family resemblances for the first time. They all gathered in one of the hotel rooms after the show to talk.
"It was really weird how easy it was just for us to accept - 'OK, this is like a whole family we have,' " said Carla Schouten, of California, who came to New York with her son. "Now that we've met, we can share our experiences on a deeper level."
Probably the most significant development to come from the national attention was contact from a woman in California who had 17 previously unknown vials of 401 sperm, a hot commodity at the Fairfax Cryobank. She offered the samples to the families - now 18 of them with 25 children - to divvy up among those who still want children.
Poor guy must be stunned. And it's not over.Donor 401, who sold his stuff to the Virginia sperm bank at least seven years ago, retired from the sperm business a couple of years ago. His oldest known offspring is 6. Women seeking to have children selected his anonymous profile for a variety of reasons, including his German heritage and his professed warm relationship with his mother.For quite a while not a drop of his DNA was available in Fairfax for those who wished to have a second child - and there was a long waiting list. The woman who had the extra sperm told the mothers that she had purchased the vials from Fairfax, but then didn't need it. The vials sell for at least $175 each.
"It's just incredibly generous," said Leann Mischel, the mother of two 401 babies, who is thinking about a third.
The mothers say that though they are curious about 401, he's not a big part of their lives - and they would never seek him out. They are just grateful they found one another. "We all have a very valuable database of medical history - it's a benefit to the kids," George said."I have a terrific support network with my family, but no one really knows what you're going through - that's why this connection is important," said Cheri Poulos, of Illinois. "Obviously the kids will ask questions someday, and having this connection will help."
The families initially met through DonorSiblingRegistry.com, started by a woman who was trying to locate her donor for her son's benefit.The women said that the publicity generated very little negative reaction, which they braced for, given some of their nontraditional lifestyles."
At first I had mixed feelings when a big group started developing - but everyone is turning out to be very like-minded," said Lisa Weix, a Californian with 401 twins. "Now we have dads in the group. It's neat to have a full spectrum of people who use this type of conception - straight couples and gay couples, single moms."
Meanwhile, no word from 401. Unless he's been out of the country or in a tunnel, he must know what he's created. Still, he's silent.
Recently, sperm banks have been offering historically anonymous donors an option of allowing their identity to be revealed to the children at age 18.
Drop a dime on us, 401. We'd love to hear from you.
Grandma's Got Skills But...Shoot Me If I Ever Get That Old
Woman, 104, takes man, 33, as husband No. 21
Muhamad Noor Che Musa and his new bride Wook Kundor.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- A 33-year-old man in northern Malaysia has married a 104-year-old woman, saying mutual respect and friendship had turned to love, a news report said Tuesday.
It was Muhamad Noor Che Musa's first marriage and his wife's 21st, according to The Star newspaper, which cited a report in the Malay-language Harian Metro tabloid.
Muhamad, an ex-army serviceman, said he found peace and a sense of belonging after meeting Wook Kundor, whom he said he initially sympathized with because she was childless, old and alone, the report said.
"I am not after her money, as she is poor," Muhamad reportedly said. "Before meeting Wook, I never stayed in one place for long."
He said he hoped to help his new bride to master Roman script while she taught him Islamic religious knowledge.
The report did not say if any of Wook's previous 20 husbands are still alive.
Malaysian Muslim men are allowed by their religion to take up to four wives at a time, but reports of women who marry more than once are rare. Muslim women do not practice polygamy.
Malaysia's 26 million population comprises about 60 percent Muslims, almost all ethnic Malays. Large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities are Buddhists, Hindus or Christians.
Muhamad Noor Che Musa and his new bride Wook Kundor.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- A 33-year-old man in northern Malaysia has married a 104-year-old woman, saying mutual respect and friendship had turned to love, a news report said Tuesday.
It was Muhamad Noor Che Musa's first marriage and his wife's 21st, according to The Star newspaper, which cited a report in the Malay-language Harian Metro tabloid.
Muhamad, an ex-army serviceman, said he found peace and a sense of belonging after meeting Wook Kundor, whom he said he initially sympathized with because she was childless, old and alone, the report said.
"I am not after her money, as she is poor," Muhamad reportedly said. "Before meeting Wook, I never stayed in one place for long."
He said he hoped to help his new bride to master Roman script while she taught him Islamic religious knowledge.
The report did not say if any of Wook's previous 20 husbands are still alive.
Malaysian Muslim men are allowed by their religion to take up to four wives at a time, but reports of women who marry more than once are rare. Muslim women do not practice polygamy.
Malaysia's 26 million population comprises about 60 percent Muslims, almost all ethnic Malays. Large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities are Buddhists, Hindus or Christians.
Festival of Asses
Mexico celebrates the day of the donkey (May 3)
http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1892100310
http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1892100310
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
I See Dwarfs
Fortune-telling judge couldn't see it coming
Wed May 3, 9:10 AM ET
MANILA (Reuters) - A Philippine judge who claimed he could see into the future and admitted consulting imaginary mystic dwarfs has asked for his job back after being fired by the country's Supreme Court.
"They should not have dismissed me for what I believed," Florentino Floro, a trial judge in the capital's Malabon northern suburb, told reporters after filing his appeal.
Floro was sacked last month and fined 40,000 pesos ($780) after a three-year investigation found he was incompetent, had shown bias in a case he was trying and had criticized court procedure, a ruling showed.
He told investigators that three mystic dwarfs -- Armand, Luis and Angel -- helped him carry out healing sessions during breaks in his chambers.
The Supreme Court said it was not within its expertise to conclude that Floro was insane, but agreed with the court clinic's finding that he was suffering from psychosis.
Fake Gynecologist Busted
This is just sad...
NEW YORK (AP) - May 3, 2006 - He's not a real doctor, just playing one with job applicants.
Alan Psaty has pleaded guilty to posing as a gynecologist.
Prosecutors in Queens, New York, charged Psaty with conducting fake job interviews for office staff at two motels.
DA Richard Brown says Psaty asked a female undercover police officer posing as a job seeker to strip and submit to a pap smear. Brown says Psaty also wanted the officer to perform a sex act on him.
The fake doc has been sentenced to six months in jail and ten years probation. He's also been ordered to register as a sex offender.
NEW YORK (AP) - May 3, 2006 - He's not a real doctor, just playing one with job applicants.
Alan Psaty has pleaded guilty to posing as a gynecologist.
Prosecutors in Queens, New York, charged Psaty with conducting fake job interviews for office staff at two motels.
DA Richard Brown says Psaty asked a female undercover police officer posing as a job seeker to strip and submit to a pap smear. Brown says Psaty also wanted the officer to perform a sex act on him.
The fake doc has been sentenced to six months in jail and ten years probation. He's also been ordered to register as a sex offender.
Embezzling to Pay Dominatrix Bill
I've been thinking of changing careers...
NEW YORK (AP) - May 3, 2006 - Abraham Alexander will be taking a legal whipping for embezzling heart-disease research funds to pay a dominatrix.
He's been sentenced to serve two to six years in prison, after pleading guilty to grand larceny.
Alexander admitted stealing more than $237,000 from the New York-based Cardiovascular Research Foundation. He was the charity's accountant.
Alexander said he used at least $11,000 of the loot to pay dominatrix Lady Sage for beatings.
Her Web site says Lady Sage charges $250 dollars an hour, or $1,500 for eight hours of pain, plus expenses if she has to travel.
NEW YORK (AP) - May 3, 2006 - Abraham Alexander will be taking a legal whipping for embezzling heart-disease research funds to pay a dominatrix.
He's been sentenced to serve two to six years in prison, after pleading guilty to grand larceny.
Alexander admitted stealing more than $237,000 from the New York-based Cardiovascular Research Foundation. He was the charity's accountant.
Alexander said he used at least $11,000 of the loot to pay dominatrix Lady Sage for beatings.
Her Web site says Lady Sage charges $250 dollars an hour, or $1,500 for eight hours of pain, plus expenses if she has to travel.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Anyone Want to Spank Me?
Jury awards $1.7 million to spanked employee
Alarm company says it was part of a team-building exercise
FRESNO, California (AP) -- A jury awarded $1.7 million Friday to a woman who was spanked in front of her colleagues in what her employer called a camaraderie-building exercise.
The jury of six men and six women found that Janet Orlando, 53, was subjected to sexual harassment and sexual battery when she was paddled on the rear end two years ago at Alarm One Inc., a home security company in Fresno. The jury said Orlando did not suffer from sexual assault, as she had alleged.
Jurors awarded Orlando $10,000 for economic loss, $40,000 for future medical costs and $450,000 for emotional distress, pain and suffering. They awarded her an additional $1.2 million in punitive damages.
Orlando's attorney, Nicholas "Butch" Wagner, did not immediately return calls for comment.
K. Poncho Baker, an attorney for Alarm One, said it was excessive.
"I think the jury was so upset at Alarm One that they went overboard," Baker said. "Not to say that what Alarm One did was right, but this allows her to manipulate the system."
Orlando quit in 2004, less than a year after she was hired, saying she was humiliated during the company's camaraderie-building exercises.
Sales teams were encouraged to compete, and the losers were made fun of, forced to eat baby food, required to wear diapers and spanked with a rival company's yard signs, according to court documents.
Lawyers for the company said Orlando and others took part in the exercises willingly. The company has since abandoned the practice.
During the trial, company attorneys revealed that Orlando had sued a previous employer, also claiming that she had been sexually harassed.
Alarm company says it was part of a team-building exercise
FRESNO, California (AP) -- A jury awarded $1.7 million Friday to a woman who was spanked in front of her colleagues in what her employer called a camaraderie-building exercise.
The jury of six men and six women found that Janet Orlando, 53, was subjected to sexual harassment and sexual battery when she was paddled on the rear end two years ago at Alarm One Inc., a home security company in Fresno. The jury said Orlando did not suffer from sexual assault, as she had alleged.
Jurors awarded Orlando $10,000 for economic loss, $40,000 for future medical costs and $450,000 for emotional distress, pain and suffering. They awarded her an additional $1.2 million in punitive damages.
Orlando's attorney, Nicholas "Butch" Wagner, did not immediately return calls for comment.
K. Poncho Baker, an attorney for Alarm One, said it was excessive.
"I think the jury was so upset at Alarm One that they went overboard," Baker said. "Not to say that what Alarm One did was right, but this allows her to manipulate the system."
Orlando quit in 2004, less than a year after she was hired, saying she was humiliated during the company's camaraderie-building exercises.
Sales teams were encouraged to compete, and the losers were made fun of, forced to eat baby food, required to wear diapers and spanked with a rival company's yard signs, according to court documents.
Lawyers for the company said Orlando and others took part in the exercises willingly. The company has since abandoned the practice.
During the trial, company attorneys revealed that Orlando had sued a previous employer, also claiming that she had been sexually harassed.
PMS as a Defense
PMS is accepted in Great Britain as a cause for dimished responsiblity in a charge of murder and as a mitigating factor in other criminal and civil crimes (R. v. Craddock: R. v. English: R. v. Owen).
Premenstrual Syndrome goes to Court
by Dr. Katharina Dalton
Peter Andrew Publishing Company Limited
Price: £19.95
This authoritative book draws on the author's forty years of experience, study and treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome.
The author fully covers the role of premenstrual syndrome as a mitigation for crimes committed. Particular attention is paid to the importance of establishing correct diagnosis. A mix of science and case histories is used throughout the text.
The text is invaluable to the legal profession, doctors, probation officers, police officers, social workers and other health professionals.
A Japanese translation is published through Japan UNI Agency, Inc. Tokyo.
Title: Premenstrual Syndrome goes to Court
Author: Dr. Katharina Dalton
Price: £19.95
ISBN: 0 946796 42 4
