NEWS OF THE WORLD - Current Events (May Be Disturbing, No Politics Please)

[long live kong]

I'm a new father myself, I have a ten month old daughter, and it's amazing how now I am even more repulsed by paedophilia (I even hate typing the word). Don't get me wrong, it disgusted me before but now I am a father it hits a whole other nerve. I honestly believe that if - God forbid - anything ever happened to my daughter I would never mentally recover from it. There really are some truly evil people in this world.

On a cheerier note Opera Ghost congrats on your newly extended family and here's to fatherhood !

[Opera Ghost]

I'm a new father myself, I have a ten month old daughter, and it's amazing how now I am even more repulsed by paedophilia (I even hate typing the word). Don't get me wrong, it disgusted me before but now I am a father it hits a whole other nerve. I honestly believe that if - God forbid - anything ever happened to my daughter I would never mentally recover from it. There really are some truly evil people in this world.

On a cheerier note Opera Ghost congrats on your newly extended family and here's to fatherhood !

Congrats back atcha Kong. Our Little man is nearly 2 1/2 years now.

[Halloween Jeff]

Scatter -

I'd disagree that there is a lack of clinical data regarding pedophilia.  There are certainly all sorts of tests that measure recidivism rates, and other factors.  Robert Hare, who developed the Hare PCL-R, is used with this population, and it has good rates of reliability.


Bizarro Jeff

[long live kong]

Even if true rehabilitation is possible, I wonder if it is worth the risk.

[Scatter]

Don't know if ya'll caught wind of this, but a couple of weeks ago, CBS News reported in the late news about a Pedophile Circle, I believe somewhere in SoCal, which was infiltrated by a reporter, revealling lude discussions and planned meetings in public areas for the purposes of watching youngsters. Moreso now, as a relatively new Father, I cannot begin to tell you how furious and sick at the same time I was over the existence of such a thing.

I know the feeling OG.....

[Wicked Lester]

MANBA-basically man and boy association. Been going on for years. Motto-Get em by 8 or it's too late. Most of the members were victimized themselves. If the psychological rehab doesn't work a 45 cal does. Sorry but I have NO problem with gays or lesbians at all. NONE. There are a few in my family. But when it is forced on kids you need to regroup your thinking or suck dirt. Period. 

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

TIME TO PAY THE DEVIL..HIS DUES......................

Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, long the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of a U.S. teen in Aruba, has confessed to killing a young Peruvian woman in his Lima hotel room, a police spokesman said.

Peru's chief police spokesman, Col. Abel Gamarra, told The Associated Press that Van der Sloot admitted under questioning Monday that he killed 21-year-old Stephany Flores on May 30.

Several Peruvian media reported that Van der Sloot killed Flores in a rage after learning she had looked up information about his past on his laptop without his permission. They did not name their sources for the information.

The newspaper La Republica said that he tearfully confessed, in the presence of a prosecutor and a state-appointed attorney, to grabbing Flores by the neck and hitting her because she had viewed photos and videos about the Aruba case on his computer while he was out buying coffee.

Gamarra would not provide details of the confession. Nor would the chief of Peru's criminal police, Gen. Cesar Guardia, when the AP reached him by telephone. Guardia said only police director Gen. Miguel Hidalgo could authorize the information to be divulged. Hidalgo's cell phone rang unanswered.

Asked about the Van der Sloot confession, a brother of the victim, Enrique Flores, told the AP "we are not going to make any comment. This is in the hands of the police, of the justice system."

Van der Sloot's confession came on his third full day in Peruvian police custody, on the eve of a planned trip to the hotel in which he was to participate in a reconstruction of the events leading to Flores' slaying, Gamarra said.

Flores, a business student, was found beaten to death, her neck broken, in the 22-year-old Dutchman's hotel room. Police said the two met playing poker at a casino.

Video from hotel security cameras shows the two entering Van der Sloot's hotel room together at 5 a.m. Saturday and Van der Sloot leaving alone four hours later with his bags. Police say Van der Sloot also left the hotel briefly at 8:10 a.m. and returned with two cups of coffee and bread purchased across the street at a supermarket.

Gamarra said the case would now be turned over to prosecutors to present formal charges and Van der Sloot will be assigned to a prison while he awaits trial. Murder convictions carry a maximum of 35 years in prison in Peru and it was not immediately clear if a confession could lead to a reduced sentence.

Van der Sloot remains the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, then 18, on the Caribbean resort island of Aruba while she was celebrating her high school graduation.

He was arrested twice in the case _ and gave a number of conflicting confessions, some in TV interviews _ but was freed for lack of evidence.

Holloway's father told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that Van der Sloot should tell all he knows about the disappearance of his daughter.

"He confessed to this one ... I would like for him to tell everyone what happened" in the earlier case, Dave Holloway said. "Hopefully this is his last victim."

A fixture on true crime shows and in tabloids after Holloway's disappearance, he gained a reputation for lying _ even admitting a penchant for it _ and also exhibited a volatile temper. In one Dutch television interview he threw a glass of wine in a reporter's eyes. In another, he smashed a glass of water against a wall in a fury.

The 6-foot-3 (191-centimeter) -tall Van der Sloot had been held at Peruvian criminal police headquarters since arriving Saturday in a police convoy from Chile, where he was captured on Thursday.

He had crossed into Chile on Monday, nearly a day after leaving the Lima hotel _ five years to the day after Holloway's disappearance.

Lima's deputy medical investigator, Victor Tejada, told the AP that Flores was killed by blows with a blunt object, probably the tennis racket found in the hotel room.

Guardia told the AP her body was found face down and clothed with no indication of sexual assault.

In video taken of the Dutchman that was broadcast by a TV channel, Peruvian police were seen searching Van der Sloot's belongings in his presence, pulling a laptop, a business-card holder and 15 bills in foreign currency from his backpack.

Chilean police who questioned Van der Sloot earlier said he declared himself innocent of the Lima slaying but acknowledged knowing Flores.

Van der Sloot was represented by a state-appointed lawyer during Saturday's questioning and both a Dutch Embassy official and his U.S.-based attorney told the AP on Sunday that he was seeking to hire his own counsel.

The suspect's father, a former judge and attorney on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, died in February. Van der Sloot has two brothers.

There were indications Van der Sloot may have been traveling on money gained through extortion.

The day of his arrest in Chile, Van der Sloot was charged in the United States with trying to extort $250,000 from Holloway's family in exchange for disclosing the location of her body and describing how she died.

U.S. prosecutors say $15,000 was transferred to a Dutch bank account in his name on May 10. He arrived in Peru four days later, his visit coinciding with the runup to a June 2-5 Latin America Poker Tour tournament with a $930,000 prize pool.

Tournament organizers said Van der Sloot did not sign up to participate in the event.

Van der Sloot is an avid gambler and was known to frequent Aruba's casino hotels, one of which was lodging Natalee Holloway.

In a lengthy 2006 interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, Van der Sloot described drinking shots of rum with Holloway, whom he said he met while playing poker at an Aruba casino, then taking her to a beach and leaving her there around 3:30 a.m.

Two years later, a Dutch television crime reporter captured hidden-camera footage of Van der Sloot saying that after Holloway, drunk, collapsed on the beach while the two were kissing he asked a friend to dump her body in the sea.

"I would never murder a girl," he said.

That interview prompted authorities in Aruba to reopen the case, but Van der Sloot later said he made up the whole story and he was not charged.

The crime reporter, Peter de Vries _ the victim of the wine-throwing incident _ reported later in 2008 that Van der Sloot was recruiting Thai women in Bangkok for sex work in the Netherlands.

[ChattyLMS]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37621453/?gt1=43001

I hope this doesn't spark too much controversy and Terry iif it does please shut it down.

I would NEVER have let either of my children do this.  What were the parents thinking?

[zombiehorror]

Me personally, nope, no way!  Neither the 17 year old boy, nor the 16 year old girl would have been setting foot in a boat for a solo journey.  Maybe across a lake but not across an ocean!!  When you are 18, and out of my house, then you can put your life at risk but until then it ain't happening.  As the article states sometimes a kid can do some crazy stuff like this and set a record other times it ends in tragedy.  In my opinion the success isn't worth the risk in the first place!

[Opera Ghost]

I agree, but perhaps In the Cemetery might be a little too soon?

[ChattyLMS]

Opera Ghost,
I didn't mean it that literally.  I was trying to put it into a place that fit a little better.  I guess it's not a good fit.  I hope they find her alive and that her parents get a big wake up call.

[Opera Ghost]

I'm sure we all hope for the best possible outcome

[CreepysFan]

  16 yr. old Abby Sunderland has been found safe and alive, floundering in the Indian ocean. She had lost mast and rigging in heavy seas. Her mother should seek psychiatric councilling for allowing a minor to attempt such a dangerous stunt.

[Wolf Man]

At the risk of starting something I would respectfully disagree. 

This girl has probably been sailing a long time and it is an awesome feat just getting to where she reached while fighting 30 foot waves in a storm and even though her mast broke she was alive and well.  That speaks volumes about the girls skill and ability.  With courage, determination and fortitude like that she could end up a very successful CEO one day or pretty much do whatever she wants. 

There are kids who can't cross a street without almost getting hit by a car so yes, there are some so underdeveloped (saying that as nice as I can) that should not be allowed to drive a car to the corner market but in this girls case her parents knew her skill level and abilities.  Plus, I might add, when she ran into difficulties she pulled into port and sought repairs so she showed caution and restraint by not trying to push her luck too much in search of a record. 

I am trained in water rescue but I most likely would not even try sailing a boat from Virginia to Florida so I applaud this girls courage.  Good for her.  We should have more women with that kind of motivation for success. 

Although sometimes tragedy strikes and accidents happen, like the girl's Mother said, she could get hurt or killed driving to school so what is risk for the sake of adventure. 

Just my take on it. 

[ChattyLMS]

I'm glad to hear your position on this Wolfie!  We need to be able to have discussions like this, pros and cons, without everybody getting mad.


IMHO I think that the parents weren't thinking responsibly.  Yes, she could get killed driving to school or crossing the street, but the odds are greatly higher that she could die at sea.  I think that they should have waited until she was legally an adult.  Yes, this is good training to be a CEO, however, that's not necessarily the goal for everybody.  I think that life long happiness is a better goal, but a decision as dangerous as this should be made by an adult.  I'm so glad that she's safe!  If I were her parents I'd get her home as fast as possible and let her try again when she's an adult.