Daily Rotten Archives January 22, 2004 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 Senate staffers caught perpetrating computer crimes Boston Globe | Submitted by: Gamble "Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe. From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without a password. Trolling through hundreds of memos, they were able to read talking points and accounts of private meetings discussing which judicial nominees Democrats would fight - and with what tactics... the scandal highlights GOP dirty tricks that could result in ethics complaints to the Senate and the Washington Bar - or even criminal charges under computer intrusion laws." Read article... Stepdad fails to create 10-year-old Manchurian candidate Washington County Observer-Reporter | Submitted by: Linda Goodwin "Chartiers Township police Chief James Horvath said he couldn't believe what he was hearing: an audio recording of a man encouraging his 10-year-old stepson to kill his 4-year-old brother. David Winniewicz, 36, of 130 Poplar Court, Houston, was arrested Wednesday on charges including criminal solicitation to commit homicide for making the audiotape and playing it as the 10-year-old slept, in an apparent attempt to plant a subliminal message in the boy's mind... In the tape, Winniewicz allegedly tells the older boy to put a pillow over his brother's face or put his hands around the younger boy's neck." [When will mankind learn to use hypnopedia only for good, and never for evil?] Read article... The term "Jewish lobby" now officially anti-semitic Independent | Submitted by: Son of AIPAC "A senior US diplomat in London has ruffled feathers in Britain's foreign policy establishment by publicly implying that a reference to the 'Jewish lobby' in the United States is an anti-Semitic remark. [Um, what?] The incident happened yesterday at a Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) lecture on US foreign policy given by David Johnson, who is the second in command at the American embassy in London... he was asked: 'Will the US ever be willing to impose an equitable peace settlement in the Middle East, or is it perhaps that the Jewish lobby in America is too strong to make that feasible?' Mr Johnson responded indignantly, saying: 'I am highly resentful of the last part of your remarks, just because of its ethnic slur.'" Read article... South African suspended for self-promotion KETV-TV 7 Omaha | Submitted by: Kat "Four Westside High School students are suspended for promoting a white student for an African-American award. More than 150 flyers were distributed throughout the school Monday. They featured junior Trevor Richards, a South African native who moved to the United States in 1997. Westside officials say the flyers were were quickly removed because they were inappropriate and insensitive to black students. Trevor said he is as African as anyone else... Richards was suspended for two days." Read article... AOL unwilling to narq out queer users Wired | Submitted by: Frr "While men looking for hookups can find them on sites with names such as Adam4Adam and Men4SexNow, America Online's old-fashioned chat rooms are far from forgotten. At one point late Monday evening, the number of member-created chat rooms topped 500, with almost all geared toward gay men, or 'M4M' in AOL-speak... According to a report released last month, 44 percent of recently diagnosed syphilis cases in San Francisco were linked to the Internet, compared with just 13 percent in 2000." Read article... Janklow gets 100 whole days for manslaughter Rapid City Journal | Submitted by: dain bramage "Former Congressman Bill Janklow was sentenced in Flandreau Thursday to 100 days in jail, three years probation and ordered to pay more than $5,000 in fines for his manslaughter conviction in the Aug. 16 accident that killed a Minnesota man... Janklow also must pay $50 a day during his incarceration. He will have his driving privileges suspended for three years. But after three years probation, Janklow may have his record cleared of the crime." [Where are those mandatory minimum sentences when you need one?] Read article... Hospital warns former patients about HIV-positive surgeon Canadian Broadcasting | Submitted by: Mean Gene "Montreal's Sainte-Justine children's hospital is sending letters to more than 2,600 former patients and their parents warning them that one of its surgeons was HIV positive when she performed surgery. The doctor, 48-year-old Maria Di Lorenzo, died last August. A general surgeon, she operated on patients between 1990 to 2003. Officials say Di Lorenzo revealed her HIV status to her supervisor in 1991 and a committee determined what surgeries she could perform. But the hospital administration was only told about her condition two weeks ago when a colleague came forward out of a sense of moral obligation." Read article... Evil clown sent up the river Palm Beach Post | Submitted by: deluxe "David Deyo already was facing a lengthy prison term after the former clown and Sunday school teacher pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in October. But on Wednesday, prosecutors requested, and got, a longer sentence for Deyo by arguing that he not only took pictures of juvenile girls, but molested them. Deyo, formerly known as 'Noodles the Clown' and a one-time volunteer at First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach, listened as prosecutors laid out his routine. At least twice, they argued, Deyo befriended a single mother, gained her confidence and then molested her daughter." Read article... Accused babykiller taken into custody Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | Submitted by: Captain Prozac "A Farmington woman today was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the discovery of the remains of an infant entombed in a 30-gallon plastic storage container filled with concrete, in her basement... Stacy A. DeBeer, 30, of 6150 Doe Haven Drive in Farmington, also is expected to be charged in connection with the death of a second infant. That child was killed five years ago, police said. Remains of the second child are believed to be entombed in a 5-gallon plastic bucket recovered by investigators from a second residence." Read article... Swazi king making monarchy look bad BBC | Submitted by: FUCK CORPORATE RADIO - listen to kexp 90.3 seattle "Schools were supposed to reopen on Tuesday but King Mswati ordered that they stay closed for an extra week. The weeding of the 10 vast royal fields is due to come to an end on Friday, before the king makes a public speech. Some 30,000 children were affected by the order but not the king's children who are in private schools. Some parents complained about the short notice of the royal order, which was issued by the king the day before schools were supposed to reopen... King Mswati III is Africa's last absolute monarch. Earlier this month, he asked the government of the drought-hit country for $15m to build new palaces for his 11 wives." Read article... Conviction ruined by overly-handsome undercover cop South Florida Sun-Sentinel | Submitted by: LucrezaBorgia "Fort Lauderdale Detective Mike Nahum's handsome appearance lost him a criminal case, but there is a consolation prize. He may be the only guy in the world with a court order declaring he is a 'very attractive man.' Nahum is so cute that a Broward Circuit Court judge threw out a criminal charge against a West Palm Beach man charged with selling drugs to Nahum during an undercover sting at a gay nightclub in Fort Lauderdale. Judge Susan Lebow ruled the defendant, Julio Blanco, was lured by the police officer into committing a crime in hopes he would be rewarded with sex... Diligent efforts to get a photograph of Nahum so that readers could judge for themselves proved fruitless. Fort Lauderdale Detective Andy Pallen said Nahum could not be photographed because he is still working undercover." Read article... Priest nailed for grow room Akron Beacon Journal | Submitted by: Fatback Polumbo "Norton police have arrested a Roman Catholic priest on drug charges after they searched the living quarters of Prince of Peace Church, 1263 Shannon Ave., and found a marijuana growing system in a spare bedroom. Police said they confiscated about 35 potted marijuana plants ranging from 6 inches to 4 feet tall, along with grow lights, electric transformers, air purifiers and instruction books for growing marijuana. The church pastor, the Rev. Richard A. Arko, 40, was charged with illegal cultivation of marijuana, a fifth-degree felony." Read article... Two-headed baby not long for this world Indianapolis Star | Submitted by: deluxe "Conjoined twins born Tuesday at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis were still in critical condition this morning and aren't expected to survive much longer, one of their doctors said. The girls' parents, Fort Wayne teenagers, directed doctors not to provide aggressive care... Their breathing was labored, and they had difficulty circulating blood but had not been placed on machines to aid them... The twins, named Stephanie Nicole and Rebecca Marie, were born joined at the torso but have separate heads. Each has a heart, but they share all other organs, Jansen said. That makes it surgically impossible to separate them." Read article...