Abneris Santiago admits in court that she did nothing to stop her boyfriend, Alfred Santiago, from sexually assaulting her 11 year old daughter & starving her two sons.

How could any mother sit by and watch her children being malnourished and her daughter sexually assaulted by her boyfriend? I can't fathom how anyone could sit idly by and watch such atrocities being unleashed on her children. According to the Dallas Morning News, Abneris Santiago did just that. She admitted in court Friday morning that she did nothing to stop her boyfriend, Alfred Santiago, from sexually abusing her 11 year old daughter and slowly starving her three children over several months in a filthy motel bathroom, the Dallas Morning News said.

Abneris Santiago’s guilty plea came in the middle of her trial in a Dallas County courtroom. Asked by the judge whether she was pleading guilty because she was guilty, Santiago sighed deeply and paused before answering yes. Before the trial, prosecutors offered her a sentence of 50 years, but she rejected it. That offer was withdrawn, and no deal is in place. She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison in the punishment phase of her trial, which began immediately after her plea.

Earlier this week in the same courtroom, the boyfriend, Alfred Santiago, was convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison. He and Abneris Santiago had one child together, a 1-year-old who was found healthy in their room at the Budget Suites motel near Dallas Love Field. The other children — an 11-year-old girl and two boys, ages 5 and 10 — were rescued from the bathroom last July when an uncle visiting from out of town found them.

I can't begin to imagine the traumatic experience these children have lived through in the months leading up to their rescue. As for the daughter, I pray that she will get the help she needs to get over these horrific acts against her. I wouldn't blame the children one bit if they cut all ties with their mother. No decent woman would ever let anyone hurt her children and not take some type of action. I will say, the only thing Abneris Santiago ever did right is admitting her guilt in the crimes against her children. With any luck, she will look like the Holocaust survivor her children was labeled by witnesses as comparable to.

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Robert Freeman, 13, murdered in crime plagued Far South Side Chicago neighborhood in a case of mistaken identity, suspects still at large.

How could anyone murder a 13 year old child? Chicago police are seeking the person who killed 13 year old Robert Freeman Wednesday night on the Far South Side of the city. What makes this more tragic is the fact that the gunman reportedly shot the wrong kid, police sources said. Freeman died after being shot multiple times. Another innocent life taken so senselessly.

Dozens of youths were hanging out in the street at 8 p.m. Wednesday when the killers snuck through a thicket of overgrown weeds in an empty lot and opened fire, relatives said. Robert, who moved to West Pullman a few months earlier, had quickly established himself as a friendly face on the block, mowing lawns for pocket money and riding his bicycle with an infectious smile, neighbors said. He attended Oglesby Elementary School, but when his family moved he transferred him out of the Chicago school system in May. Source: Sun Times

Not to speak ill of the dead, but this wasn't Freeman's first brush with trouble, a police source said, according to the Chicago Sun Times. He was arrested fro allegedly throwing bricks at car windows earlier this summer. This doesn't justify why he was killed and as of Friday morning, no suspects are in police custody.It also doesn't help that the area in which the shooting occurred has been plagued with crime. According to the Sun Times, in the past two years there have been two other killings within a block of where Robert was killed. It is time the law enforcement bring Martial Law to the crime-ridden areas of Chicago. There are far too many innocent people, many children, losing their lives at the hands of a handful of thugs.

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President Obama to appear on "The View" in an effort to appeal to "soccer mom" demographic as his poll numbers continue to slip.

To all the haters, including Gov. Rendell (D-PA), as much as you don't like the fact that President Obama will appear on "The View," is a calculated move that serves a purpose in his mind, at least. We know Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg will lob soft questions his way and it will be all laughs and a really homey atmosphere aimed at soccer moms, a demographic that he is slowly losing right now. Obama has made history, in a roundabout way. He will become the first president to appear on a daytime television chat show. Hardly a major feat, but one you can understand to some degree.

Here's an excerpt from the Financial Times that pretty much sums up why the President decided to appear on "The View:"

Mr Obama’s administration, facing dismal marks even from friendly pollsters, is making a new push to talk to Middle America, trying to recapture some of his old campaign magic before November’s midterm Congressional elections. And all without having to go through the pesky medium of the White House press corps.

Certainly, the president needs all the positive exposure he can get. Polls regularly put his approval rating below 50 per cent, and a new Quinnipiac University survey found that US voters thought – by a margin of 48 to 40 per cent – that he did not deserve to be re-elected in 2012.

This makes alarming reading in Mr Obama’s Washington, where Democrats could lose control of the House and even the Senate. If the president thinks it’s tough to get legislation passed now, just imagine how difficult life will be in a Republican-dominated Congress.

Hence the new drive to present Mr Obama as a regular guy, sitting on a couch talking about his daughters with a bunch of moms. Before heading to the studio for the show’s taping on Wednesday he visited the Tastee Sub Shop in New Jersey, another high-calorie photo opp for a president once derided for his penchant for arugula (rocket).

Though I am not thrilled with the president appearing to yuk it up on day-time television, I understand his goal nonetheless. For all the haters out there who criticized him for not attending the Boy Scout anniversary ceremony, big deal. That certainly can help his poll numbers.

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Preston Smith, Georgia GOP attorney general candidate, admits in divorce records to extramarital affair with female staffer in 2003 and 2004.

To echo Queen's famous song, another one bites the dust. Yes, another political career could come to a screeching halt. Georgia State Sen. Preston Smith, 37, who is a Republican candidate for attorney general, has admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman whom he hired to work in his Senate office in 2003 and 2004, according to transcripts of Smith’s testimony in his 2009 divorce, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The woman also worked on his Senate election campaigns.

Copies of depositions from the divorce, in which Smith discussed his infidelity, marital acrimony and the couple’s financial problems, have been sent to media outlets in recent days after Smith came in second in the race for Republican attorney general in the July 20 primary. Former Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens came in first. The runoff election is set for Aug. 10. Source

Well, this revelation couldn't come at a better time for his opponent, Sam Olens, who he faces in a run-off. He said, in an e-mail to the AJC, that "I fell short in my personal life by getting a divorce and people have the right to make a moral judgment on that it they chose." Heck yes, people will make a moral judgment on that and other things in his life. How can he be trusted to be a good attorney general if he can't get basic things in his life right?

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Yolanda Beck, a 37-year old black grandmother, charged with one count of misdemeanor after her toddler grandson injested traces of PCP and cocaine left behind on wrappers in her Chicago home.

Yolanda Beck, a 37-year old grandmother is facing one misdemeanor count of endangering the life and health of a child, after her one-year old grandson injested traces of PCP and cocaine left behind on aluminum foil wrappers in their West Side home, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

Beck has a history of drug arrests, so exactly why is she just facing one misdemeanor count? According to the Sun Times, the toddler was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital early Sunday when family members noticed he was lethargic. The doctors then determined the boy had PCP and cocaine in his system, police said. Beck reportedly admitted to smoking the drugs the same day of the incident and said she left the wrappers behind where they were easily accessible to the child. The toddler was released from the hospital on Tuesday and is in the care of a relative.

Beck was arrested at least four times for drug possession -- most recently in February and dating back to 2003 -- but was never convicted on those charges, police said. She pleaded guilty to two separate misdemeanor counts of prostitution in July 2008 and was sentenced to three months court supervision, according to court records. Beck was ordered held in lieu of $7,500 bail on the child endangerment charge on Tuesday. Source

Good parenting skills were obviously missing from Yolanda Beck's home, specifically in light of the fact that she is a grandmother at 37. Unless, of course, given her history, she may have given birth to her own child during her teenage years. I hope the judge will throw the book at this woman and keep her locked up for a long time. If she has a drug addiction, then she should have been forced into rehab. How many more offenses will this woman commit and be given a slap on the wrist by the courts? She will only graduate to more heinous offenses if she is allowed to roam the streets.

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Bodies of missing American servicemen in eastern Afghanistan found and men identified as Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove and Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley.

The Hinterland Gazette wishes to express its deepest sympathies to the families of Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove and Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley. Both sailors went missing in an extremely dangerous part of eastern Afghanistan. Jarod Newlove was recently found dead and his body recovered, according Fox News. McNeley's body was recovered earlier.

The family of Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, a 25-year-old from the Seattle area, had been notified of his death, the U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

Newlove and Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley went missing last Friday in Logar province. NATO recovered the body of McNeley — a 30-year-old father of two from Wheatridge, Colorado — in the area Sunday.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Kabul on Thursday that two days ago the Taliban left the "body of a dead American soldier for the U.S. forces" to recover. The Taliban said McNeley was killed in a firefight and insurgents had captured Newlove. Mujahid offered no explanation for Newlove's death. Source

I am wondering why the servicemen were in such a dangerous part of the country by themselves. Nonetheless it is a tragedy and it seems as though this war isn't showing any signs of ending. At least with the United States being victors.

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Rose Somma Tennent: "You can't vote for [Obama] and be a Christian. ... You're going to be held accountable for this vote." So, what does voting for John McCain mean?

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Three NJ teens, Khayri Williams-Clark, Nigel Dumas & unidentified male, charged with manslaughter in beating death of Salvadorean immigrant Abelino Mazaniego.

What's wrong with some of our children, why the are prone to violence? Salvadorean immigrant Abelino Mazaniego was brutally beaten on July 17, by three New Jersey teens. According to media reports, as he sat on a bench in an upscale New York suburb after finishing his restaurant shift, he was approached by a group of teenagers, including one with a cellphone camera aimed and ready for action. He later died. Khayri Williams-Clark, 18, and an unidentified 17 year old teen, both of Summit, were arrested Wednesday on manslaughter charges. Nigel Dumas, 19, of Morristown was also charged with manslaughter, according to the Burlington County Times.

According to media reports, the police said the group of teens beat Mazaniego unconscious, with the camera rolling. The video was reportedly circulated among teenagers in Summit, N.J., days after the brutal attack on the father of four. A fourth teenager believed to have videotaped the attack, but he hasn't been charged and investigators aren't releasing any information on his involvement in this heinous act.

The 17-year-old is being held in the Union County juvenile detention center, while Williams-Clark is being held at the Union County jail on $100,000 bail, prosecutors said. Bail for Dumas, at the same jail, has been set at $250,000. Authorities wouldn't say how many teens were in the group or whether there would be more charges. They also weren't discussing theories on the motive for the beating — whether it was Mazaniego's background, a thrill killing or some other reason. Source

I can picture the parents of these teenagers extolling the phantom virtues of their children, who can be considered a menace to society. I hope they try them all as adults and throw the book at them. To think that these teenagers could be so cruel as to beat this man into unconsciousness and his eventual demise, is unconscionable and shocking at the same time.

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U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocks key provisions in the controversial Arizona illegal immigration bill many fear would lead to racial profiling.

BREAKING: U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton has blocked key provisions in the controversial Arizona illegal immigration law that will take effect on Thursday. Provisions such as the requirement of police officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws has been put on hold. Further, the judge also put on hold a part of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places. These provisions have been put on hold until the courts resolve the issues.

I have never felt comfortable with people being forced to walk around with their papers. This is akin to the black South Africans being forced to carry passbooks during Apartheid. So, before all the conservatives throw this judge under a bus, you have Republican Sen. Jon Kyl to thank for recommending her to President Bill Clinton and, I might add, she was unanimously confirmed. That means many Republicans voted for along with Democrats. So, she isn't as liberal as all the critics think. CLICK HERE to read more about Judge Bolton and the judicial rulings she has made.

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Rebecca Himes of Reistertown, Md., reportedly gave birth to baby and threw newborn out second floor window in plastic bag like garbage.

There are some really sick people out there. Rebecca Himes, 21, allegedly threw her newborn baby out of a second floor window in her Baltimore County home. According to WBAL, Himes gave birth to the baby in the bathroom of her home, put the newborn in a plastic bag and tossed the baby out the window like garbage.

It happened Thursday in Reisterstown. A 911 caller said a baby in a bag had been found in bushes behind the home. Lt. Rob McCullough, a police spokesman, said 21-year-old Rebecca Himes, the daughter of the 911 caller, had given birth in the bathroom and thrown the infant out of the window. McCullough says the baby apparently landed in the bushes and was found by Himes' younger sister. Himes and the infant were taken to a hospital, and Himes has been released. The baby is in the custody of the Department of Social Services. Source

Himes should be behind bars right now on suspicion of attempted murder of the baby. There are so many people who would love to have a baby and this POS had one and threw the precious baby threw the window. This is one lady who should be sterilized to prevent her from ever having more children.

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