Prom night is one of the most exciting things that happen during school years and is a night that many hard-working students take very seriously. The fancy clothes, the limo, the anticipation; Some students even prepare for prom months in advance.

When Jackson’s prom came around he couldn’t be more excited about the night ahead. When his so-called friends dumped him and left him high and dry without a prom to go to, Jackson was devastated, even if he had learned a valuable life lesson…

Pre Prom

Jackson was so excited that it was finally prom night, he didn’t know what to do with himself. All that anticipation, a new custom-tailored suit and a bunch of nerves had Jackson feeling so high on life, his mother Sheila even needed to calm him down.

Prom Night

Months of organization had gone into this night as well as a few hundred dollars in new clothes and shoes. It was Jackson’s first prom and that’s what made the prospect of it so tantalizing for him. Jackson awoke bright and early that day, his mind filled with fantasies of how his first prom would actually go down.

The Band

Jackson, being the talented musical type, was in a band and he had gotten close with some of his fellow band members, or so he thought. They told him they would call him in the afternoon that day to tell him where to meet them for the traditional pre-prom photo shoot. When he hadn’t heard from them all day, Jackson and his mom started to grow concerned.

Still Waiting

By the time 6 pm came around Jackson was more or less in a state of panic. He was getting the vibe that he had been dumped by his buddies, and now he might not be going to prom after all. “He waited, and he waited, and he waited,” his mom Sheila said, “No one responded to his texts or picked up his calls. His younger brother and sister and I watched him as he started to realize that he was being ditched.”

Feeling The Pain

It was becoming clearer by the minute; poor Jackson had been dumped by his alleged friends on the most important night of his adult life so far. “I have to tell you that in my 18 yrs of parenting I have never felt so much pain. It was mixed with an indescribable amount of rage. This was… painful. Then, after he changed out of his suit, he saw all of their pre-prom pictures on Facebook, and he all but collapsed in the kitchen.” recalled Sheila.

Not Surprised

Even though Jackson was upset, devastated in fact, he wasn’t in the least bit surprised. He had always felt like a third wheel when it came to social settings, and this was just more proof that he was an “invisible, throwaway loser,” as he put it…

Always Struggling

According to Jackson’s mom, her son has always struggled hard to fit in socially, “He’s always been on the fringe and really wanted to be part of a group.” said Sheila, “It wasn’t until high school band where we thought, ‘Oh, great! There’s going to be band kids!'”

Band Kids

Despite Sheila’s high hopes, these band kids were bad news. Not only did they take to mocking Jackson on a regular basis, but they also left him out of a recent trip they took to Disney World as well as just about every other trip they planned and went on without him. Sheila’s dreams of her son fitting in more easily were dashed…

Blames Himself

As is sadly so often the case with introvert social types, Jackson said he blames himself for the fact his alleged band buddies treated him badly, “I’ve been kind of blind about it,” Jackson said, adding, “I kind of showed them how to treat me.” The band members never gave Jackson priority nor made him feel good about himself.

In the Back

Jackson also spoke about what it felt like to be in such an awkward situation, “I was like, They can do whatever they want, I’m all right. I can be in the back.’ But I never really liked it. … It really hurts me when it’s almost every time that I’m just in the back, tagging along, and barely anyone is talking to me.”

Text Message

That same night Sophie, one of the girls in the Junior band, texted Sheila telling her to sneak Jackson’s suit into the trunk of his car without his knowledge. She told her to do it in time for the following Monday, which just happened to be Memorial Day.

Blowing Off Steam

Jackson had hardly slept since the prom disaster. He was livid, upset, hurt and so many other things. He awoke early on Memorial Day and headed over to the gym to do some CrossFit in order to blow off steam. When he got a text from Sophie inviting him over to her house to hangout he felt a little better, but couldn’t get missing the prom out of his mind…

Happy Fake Prom!

As soon as Jackson arrived at Sophie’s house he was totally stunned when he was greeted at the front door by all the other Junior band members, dressed in their formalwear, all screaming in unison as he approached, “Happy fake prom!”

Shed A Tear

Jackson fondly recalled the moment when he was ushered into Sophie’s bathroom to change into his suit, “I was flabbergasted.” he said, “I didn’t know how to respond. I’m in the bathroom changing [into my suit] and I kind of shed a tear a little bit.”

Heart Touched

All of Jackson’s angst and upset dissipated in seconds as it suddenly dawned on him what the term good friends really meant, “because no one has ever done this for me, really ever. … This is what it means to receive a gift from friends who are doing something, particularly for me,” said Jackson as he beamed with a broad smile from ear to ear.

Lame Excuses

That fake prom sure did get the attention of the Senior band members who had dumped Jackson in the first place. Soon after they saw the fake prom cake on Facebook they reached back out to Jackson with a half-hearted apology and lame excuses about how they were just “disorganized” on prom night…

Life Lesson

Jackson’s first prom experience may have been more of a baptism of fire than anything else. For his part, Jackson feels he has learned an invaluable life lesson, even if it was a painful one at a relatively young age. Nevertheless, the lad is now a “little wiser” about what true friends are and are not.

Offering Advice

As a fully-fledged friendship expert Jackson spoke his mind, offering advice to other people who might find themselves in a similar situation, “You may feel like you belong in a place and you’re in a great group of friends, but make sure that they’re taking care of you as well,” he said; Pretty solid advice in the opinion of this writer…

Gut Feeling

“Listen to your gut. If you feel pissed off about something and feel like they’re not treating you well, then you’re probably right. It took me a long time to figure that out.” Jackson said, adding, “You’re going to find plenty of people that will find you interesting and will actually care about you in the end.”

Happy Ending

Despite the trials and tribulations that Jackson went through the same out on top and feel like a winner. He also became somewhat of a philosopher along the way, and waxed lyrical about what he has learned, “There are 7 or 8 billion people; at the same time, we feel like we’re isolated with these few groups of people, and if they’re gone or you decide not to be friends, then you’re alone. But there are plenty of people out there. Even outside of our country.”

Senior Ditched By ‘Friends’ On Prom Night Walks Away a Winner is an article from: LifeDaily

Some people are just born to live a life of controversy, and those people are often activists who will stop at nothing to see their dreams to fruition. After all, when people are very passionate about a cause, they will often see their agenda carried out eventually.

When Catherine was growing up she knew she would be famous one day. She may not have known at that time exactly how famous she would become in later life or for what, But she never expected to be honored by the Queen of England in such a meaningful way…

Growing Up

Catherine was born and raised in Eastbourne, a picturesque suburb located in the Lower Hutt city in the southern North Island of New Zealand. With a modest population of under 5,000 people, Eastbourne was an ideal place to grow up. Along with her three siblings, all in all, Catherine’s former years could be described as perfect.

Liberal Parents

Having been born during an era where the civil rights movement was in full swing, Catherine was raised by very left-leaning, liberal parents. The whole vibe at home was one of freedom and liberty, and Catherine and her sisters were raised to have an opinion, and a strong one at that…

Career Woman

Catherine had part-time jobs as a kid and was always interested in making some extra cash and bettering her lot in life. When she left college, she enrolled in a teacher’s course and before long had secured a position as a primary school teacher, a job she loved and thrived in.

Extra Curricular

Not satisfied with the relatively meager salary she was getting from her teaching job, Catherine decided she needed to find some extra work in order to save enough money to be able to go traveling around the world. It was her dream for as long as she could remember to visit far-off lands, having been raised in the relative seclusion of New Zealand…

Massage Parlor

It may come as little surprise that due to her liberal upbringing Catherine had no issue when she was offered a job at a massage parlor to make some extra cash. She probably knew when she took the job that she would be giving “extras” but she had no problem with that. Besides, the money was too good to be sniffed at.

Job Promotion

The title of this slide is a little bit tongue in cheek as Catherine didn’t technically get a promotion at the massage parlor. She did, however, branch out and began selling herself at well-known brothels around New Zealand. She had no moral issue with it and the money was fantastic, even if she was breaking the law…

Rights Activism

Catherine Alice Healy soon became a sex workers’ rights activist, the first in New Zealand to gain such popularity. With her years of working as a prostitute, Catherine was well placed to fight for the rights of sex workers, both in New Zealand and around the world.

Workers Collective

NZCP stands for the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective, an organization which Catherine founded by herself. Her main objective was to fight for the decriminalization of prostitution and generally for the improvement of conditions for workers within the sex industry profession. And to that end, Catherine was just about to make the first big notch on her bedpost…

Decriminalizing Prostitution

Catherine’s years of hard work and campaigning finally paid off when, in 2003, prostitution was finally decriminalized in New Zealand following the implementation of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003. From there, Catherine Healy’s fame went from strength to strength.

Huge Honors

Before long, Catherine had earned herself a name and a reputation. She was loved by as many people as she was hated by but that didn’t bother her in the slightest. When she was invited to address the Oxford Union at the University of Oxford on a discussion about decriminalizing prostitution, she became only the second New Zealander after David Lange to be afforded such an honor…

Government Level

Catherine’s reputation grew over the coming years exponentially as she gained membership on various boards and committees. She was invited to speak at the House of Commons in the UK and then went on to act as an advisory on issues related to prostitution at a government level.

Humble Beginnings

This activist never thought she would receive such acclaim and honor in her life, especially when she thought back to the old days in the 80s when she was arrested and put in a prison cell for working at a brothel. Years later and Catherine Healy was about be honored by the Queen of England…

Dame Companion

Catherine shed more than a few bittersweet tears when Queen Elizabeth honored her personally on her birthday this year. She was thrilled to be appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the rights of sex workers; something she has worked all of her life towards.

Impossible Becomes Possible

“It could have never happened in our minds,” Catherine told reporters, adding, “It couldn’t have happened in my mind even a couple of weeks ago.” She never thought the stigma surrounding sex workers would be muted during her lifetime and was ecstatic that she was able to play such a major role in helping sex workers and improving their conditions…

Fitting In

“I was very daunted and found it very hard to believe,” Healy said, “You look around and there are many people I admire and you kind of figure out where you fit in society. I did not ever think this was a possibility.” She added, “Back then, I remember reading stories that spoke about us, but journalists never spoke to us. It was just so disrespectful.”

Times Changed

While Catherine couldn’t wait for the day to come when her more liberal views would become mainstream and even the norm, she spoke about how times have changed since the 1980s, “It’s different to think about it today where we are sitting around table as equals with the police and plotting how to make sex work safer and allowing workers to report sexual violence.” she said.

Proper Treatment

The cause was a righteous one and Catherine had no doubt about that at all. As well as helping sex workers she also campaigned for HIV awareness and spoke about the treatment she felt she and others deserved, “As well as the feeling that we belong in society and we didn’t feel abnormal,” she said. “We didn’t want to be treated the way we were being treated.”

Deeply Moved

It’s not every day that a person receives an honor from the Queen of England, and Catherine said she was deeply moved by the experience, “I burst into tears,” she said about the moment she was told of the honor. “It was completely unexpected. It doesn’t happen to me, this stuff. A grand dame.”

You Guys Matter!

For Catherine, the Dame honor was a way of gaining acceptance that had eluded her for many decades. She spoke passionately about the recognition, saying, “I just feel like it’s recognition for us all. It’s like: ‘You guys matter. You can come into the fold’.” That was a powerful message for a woman who had dedicated her life to the sex industry.

Transforming Lives

Catherine Healy is truly a remarkable person, whether or not you agree with her particular standpoint. The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 literally transformed the lives of sex workers, giving them security as well as better pay. Healy’s proudest moment was when she watched from the Parliament gallery as the act scraped through by one vote. She described that as a “magnificent, incredible moment.”

Controversial Activist Receives Prestigious Birthday Honor From Queen Of England is an article from: LifeDaily

Some people just love the idea of being in love. They enjoy the chase, the courtship, the honeymoon period, but rarely, the actual relationship. Indeed, people like this don’t usually stick around for long. Before you can say Jack Robinson, they’re back on the prowl for their next fix of new love.

Drew was one of these such people. He was a man perpetually in love, but also one who was, in retrospect, incapable of it. This would, of course, become painfully obvious only once his relationships had run their course…

Problems from the Start

Kathleen and Drew were having problems long before this moment. Drew’s wandering eye and abusive nature had become apparent soon after the honeymoon and the “amicable” divorce had left a sour taste in both their mouths. The couple had been divorced for a year and he had moved down the street with his new girlfriend, but he was still in their son’s lives.

Struggle in Court

It had been a year of financial struggle and near-constant aggravation for Kathleen, but it was all coming to an end. At last, it seemed they were going to finalize their financial arrangements and it was looking like more than half of Drew’s assets were going to go to her and the kids. The day they were supposed to meet to discuss it in court however, Kathleen never showed…

No One Home

Drew was trying to do the right thing, for once in his life, so he reached out to Kathleen to see what might have happened. She wasn’t answering his calls and never came to the door when he came to drop off their sons. Given his less-than-stellar track record as a husband, Drew decided to enlist a neighbor’s help in breaking into the house to see if she was alright.

Found Dead

He and the neighbor searched the house top to bottom and made a grim discovery in their upstairs bathtub. Kathleen was curled up dead in the tub. It was ruled an accidental drowning at first, mostly because her hair was dry when they found her. The tub, however, was dry and it appeared as though she had blunt force trauma to her skull. She could have fallen, but it was unlikely…

Suspicions Arise

Many of Kathleen’s family members believed that she had been murdered, and many of them actually believed that suddenly concerned father, Drew was the culprit. Of course, there was little chance that they’d be able to prove it. Drew was a respected police officer and even with his track record, he seemed to be above such suspicions.

A Steady Starter

To understand Drew Peterson, you’d have to understand the type of person he was and where he came from. He and his high school sweetheart, Carol Hamilton dated for a few years until he decided to make things official and marry her. Despite their young ages, both their parents approved of the union and the cross-country star turned soldier, soon became a married man for the first, but not the last…

Army Man to Policeman

Peterson served as a military police officer in the U.S. Army in the early 70s and eventually left to become a police officer with the local department in his hometown of Bolingbrook, Illinois. He eventually moved up the ranks and joined the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad, eventually receiving a “Police Officer of the Year” award for his service.

An Amicable Change

Carol and Drew had two sons together but weren’t happy. Three years into the marriage, the two decided to call it quits. By all accounts, the divorce was amicable, but it would be the only one of its kind in Peterson’s long line failed relationships. Soon after that, he met a young woman named Kyle Piry and the cycle of “love” began in earnest…

New Love

After four months together, Kyle Piry decided to end the relationship. Drew was abusive and controlling, and it wasn’t the type of love she was looking for. But Peterson was not the type of man to let anyone else call the shots, let alone a woman. He abused his position as a police officer to harass her. After that moment, he and his cop buddies made sure that Carol’s life would be a living Hell.

All the Power

Peterson and his cop buddies assigned her dozens of traffic tickets, all of which she was completely unaware of and therefore couldn’t pay. When she did finally find out about them, it was because Drew and a fellow officer had shown up to arrest her at her workplace. She was acquitted but the message was received. Unfortunately, Peterson’s new wife would be unaware of this behavior or what it meant for her…

Beautiful Vicki

Soon after, Peterson began dating the stunningly beautiful Vicki Connolly. She was in the middle of a divorce at the time and didn’t seem to want to enter into a relationship, but Peterson’s charm soon won her over. The couple launched into a whirlwind marriage and helped one another raise their children from previous relationships. They even ran a bar together.

Controlling

Things were wonderful for a time, and then suddenly they weren’t. Peterson was as controlling, abusive, and unfaithful as he had ever been. He would sleep around, staying out at all hours, but would need to know where Vicki was at all times. He even bugged their home so that he could keep track of her. One night when he hit her and she called the police, Peterson’s cop friend showed up and made it seem like it was Vicki’s fault. Things had to change…

Sabotage the Brakes

Most of the time, Vicki was forced to work at the bar they owned, but one night Peterson came in to “relieve her” from her shift. She was suspicious, mainly because he had been so distant and unhelpful in that regard before. She drove home, but her car swerved and she lost control, slamming into a tree. Someone had cut her brakes. Vicki Connolly barely survived with her life and face intact.

New Wife, New Life

In 1992, Peterson and Connolly’s marriage succumbed to his infidelities and they parted ways. He began a new affair with Kathleen Savio and divorced Vicki soon after. Afraid that he was the one who cut her brakes, Vicki Connolly sold him her half of the bar and gave him everything he wanted in the divorce. Kathleen and Drew married soon after and even had two sons, Thomas and Kristopher.

Unhappily Married

Drew and Kathleen’s marriage was not happy. He abused and controlled her just as he had with all the others, perhaps even worse than that. Eventually, Kathleen even had to get an order of protection against him. Soon enough, Peterson began dating 17-year-old Stacy Cales: he was 30 years her senior at the time.

Younger Woman

Peterson and Cales had been having an affair while he was still married to Kathleen Savio and it was whilst the divorce was going on that he and Stacy got married. Drew and his estranged wife tried to resolve their issues in court, but it was only once she was found dead that their long-standing animosity finally came to an abrupt end. As for Drew’s new, much younger wife…

Stacy Peterson

Drew and Stacey had two children together, but like all of Drew’s former relationships, things went from blissful to bad real fast. In October of 2007, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson, Drew Peterson’s fourth and final wife, disappeared. She had gone to her sister’s place to help do some painting but never showed. It was unlike her.

Leaving Drew

There were rumors of course; whispers that Stacey had been planning to leave Drew for another man for some time. Drew told police that he’d received a call from her the very night she’d left. She was eventually reported missing by her family, who swore up and down that she’d never have abandoned her kids. Authorities and volunteers came together to search for her but found no trace of Stacy…

Callous

Drew, meanwhile, seemed unconcerned, even flippant about his wife’s sudden disappearance. He even joked about it with the media during interviews, saying things like: “I’m not trying to be funny here, but Stacy Peterson would ask me for a divorce on a regular basis, and it was based on her menstrual cycle.” Based on this and many other factors, police had no choice but to look more closely at Drew Peterson.

Homicide

Stacy’s disappearance and Drew’s past relationships, misconduct at his job as a narcotics officer, and general history of abuse and manipulation led investigators to revisit Kathleen Savio’s death. They exhumed her body and re-examined it for any further clues that might point to Peterson. In February 2008, they declared it a homicide and Peterson was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in the death of his third wife…

Easy to Guess

Given his track record, it was easy to surmise that Drew Peterson was most likely responsible for Kathleen Savio’s death and Stacy Peterson’s disappearance. He was taken into custody and remained behind bars for a long while before his trial. On September 6, 2012, Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Kathleen Savio and sentenced to 38 years in prison. He was 58 at the time.

Sentenced

Peterson pleaded in court that he had not killed Kathleen, but his pleas of not guilty fell on deaf ears. In the courtroom, his many gathered wives and girlfriends, those who had survived their brief time as his paramour, felt vindicated. As did Kathleen’s family. Stacy’s family hoped the conviction would lead to new evidence in the search for their missing daughter, but it never occurred. To this day, Stacy has never been found. She is presumed dead.

Evidence Of Foul Play Lead To Investigation Into “Love Addicted” Illinois Police Officer is an article from: LifeDaily

Animals, being much less intelligent than us for the most part, don’t always think things through. Any of you readers who have ever owned a dog can attest to this. Those adorable mongrels may steal your heart and your slippers, but most of them are little dummies.

Kai and his two canine companions, Hot Dog and Pippa, had a good thing going. They were pretty smart and well-trained animals. But they were still dogs after all, and that meant that sometimes, they did some pretty stupid stuff…

Escape the World

Kai Hansen was sick and tired of city life and he wanted to get as far away from the hustle and bustle of it all as he could. He decided the best way to do this was to head somewhere that most people wouldn’t want to follow him. He chose Goat island, an island that just so happened to sit in the middle of the crocodile infested Adelaide River.

Goat Island Lodge

Kai spent the next 15 years on that island, running the Goat Island Lodge, a tourist destination that allowed him to have some human contact, but otherwise meant he could be left alone. On Goat Island, Kai lived amongst his pet dogs, the birds of the island, and of course, Saltwater crocodiles: Australia’s most fearsome predator…

Salties

Saltwater Crocodiles, as many of you will undoubtedly be aware by now, are perhaps one of the most feared predators in the world. These massive, carnivorous reptiles are voracious predators that hunt by ambushing their prey near waterways. Despite these less-than-savory characteristics, however, many have come to appreciate their “charms.”

Unusual Pets

People who knew Kai knew several things about him. First, he was a guy that, while appreciating his privacy, still liked to share time with people on his own terms. And second, he had a great appreciation for God’s creatures: great and small. He even became fairly friendly with an 11-foot killing machine whom he would eventually name Casey…

Man’s Best Friend

It took some time for Casey to accept Kai’s place on the island, him being a crocodile and all. In time, and barring a few “close calls” while trying to feed the croc, Kai was able to earn the animal’s trust. Even his pet dogs, Hot Dog and Pippa, seemed to be fitting in on their new island home.

Gathering Guests

His dogs had so much personality and became such mainstays on the island that guests often gathered to watch the two of them do tricks. Hot Dog was famous for barking along to tunes on his master’s harmonic, while Pippa, who Kai also called Dumb Blonde, quickly became known for her, much more daring feats of bravery…

The Chase is On

Pippa and Casey were not what one would call “friends” by any metric. This was mostly Pippa’s fault because the scruffy terrier would often run at the crocodile as he basked on the bank, barking as loud and angrily as she could. Surprisingly, Pippa’s intimidation methods usually worked.

Unbelievable

Pippa would scare the ferocious crocodile, an animal more than 100 times her weight, back to the water with a mere show of force. Pippa’s bravery became a real selling point for his patrons and even made it onto the internet more than once. What’s more, the dog and crocodile show continued on Goat Island for nearly a decade…

Went on Years

For years, Pippa the terrier would bark and snap in order to chase Casey the saltwater crocodile back into the Adelaide River. Tourists who attended Goat Island Lodge were amazed and Pippa’s popularity and self-confidence grew. But the dog wasn’t getting any younger, and luck can only take one so far…

What Crocs Do

It happened on a day when the audience was full, the tourists and Kai sat and watched Pippa doing what she did best. Pippa had been teasing the giant reptile for over a decade when Casey decided that he had just about enough of the yapping nuisance. Pippa ran straight at the crocodile’s head and Casey did what crocs do best…

Bound to Happen

Pippa had made a fatal mistake, she’d gotten right up next to the reptile’s waiting mouth, a hair’s breadth away what would have been considered “too close for comfort” and then SNAP! Casey’s jaws closed around the formerly fearless pup. It was little more than a reflex for the croc and it was an event that was a long time coming.

Caught on Video

As if the situation weren’t painful enough for Kai Hansen and his onlookers, a video of Pippa being dragged into the Adelaide River was captured during the whole event. As can happen with such things, the gruesome scene made its way onto the internet, and in no time at all, people were up in arms about what should be done with the crocodilian offender…

Backlash

Many on social media lashed out at Kai Hansen himself, saying that he was to blame for encouraging the “helpless” little dog to run up to the reptile and scare it away. Others thought that Casey’s voracious, predatory behavior indicated a danger to the tourists that visit Goat Island each year. They suggested destroying the animal.

Just a Taste

Crocodile expert Adam Britton weighed in on the whole ordeal. It was his opinion that the crocodile was just doing what a crocodile does and that Casey should not be destroyed for eating the dog. Especially since it was the dog who had provoked the reptile in the first place. In fact, small animals like Pippa were the croc’s preferred prey anyway. Now, if the croc had attacked a person…

Larger Prey

Britton explained that if Casey had attacked a human, something that was not his normal prey, it would be a completely different situation because such a thing would have indicated that the animal had learned to attack “large prey items” and might be more inclined to do so again. Luckily for Casey, he hadn’t.

Bleak Warning

“Going near water where there’s crocodiles is a really dangerous thing to do and we always encourage people to stay away from the water just in general,” explained Adam Britton. “But if you’ve got a dog with you-you’re just compounding that risk.” This all goes back to the idea that small dogs are much more “on the menu” for crocs than your average human.

No Blame

As for Kai Hansen, while he was very upset about Pippa’s death he didn’t blame the crocodile for eating her. As far as he was concerned, Pippa was on borrowed time anyway. What he is glad about though, is that this incident has done much to highlight the danger that surrounds the Goat Island Lodge and serves as a warning…

Part of her Nature

Mr. Hansen spoke to reporters about Pippa and his feelings on her demise. “A little terrier should not do things like that. But should I stop her? I don’t know, she got away with it for 10 years,” he said. He isn’t wrong either, terriers like Pippa are actually pretty well-known for behaving that way, to their detriment…

Terrier Facts

Pippa’s behavior is actually pretty common when it comes to terriers. A recent statistic indicates that terriers, more than any other breed of dog, tend to die from unnatural causes. This means that most of them die while chasing cars, not watching where they’re going, or as in Pippa’s cace, fighting animals bigger than themselves.

New Dog

Kai Hansen is planning on getting a new dog soon, but will definitely be stopping it from chasing any crocodiles. He has also taken to throwing food down to Casey the croc…just in case. “It’s such a sad story and I’m feeling terrible about it still, but it’s not something I ever trained Dumb Blonde to do…she did things her way,” he said in conclusion.

Brave Pup Living On Crocodile-Infested Island Defies The Odds For More Than A Decade is an article from: LifeDaily

In recent years, drones have been used all over the world for both commercial and personal use. But besides capturing that epic aerial view shot, drones serve an actual purpose. The application of drones in agriculture, business, and the military have helped to increase work efficiency, improve accuracy, and resolve security issues.

Today, we can add another life-changing method to the list: To address the concern of lack of information about aquatic wildlife, scientists have begun using drones to perform a whole new health checkup on whales. Everybody loves whales, but not many people know much about them. That was until now…

Here’s Why The Health Of Aquatic Mammals Is Important

Every second breath we take is from the ocean. If our oceans die, life on earth will not be the same. The health of the aquatic animals directly correlates with the health of the ecosystem and with our health.

How Much Of Our Oxygen Comes From The Ocean?

Scientists agree that there is oxygen from ocean plants in every breath we take, as much as 50-85%. This is why learning about the health of mammals like whales is so important. But how can we learn about aquatic mammals, if getting to them presents a unique set of challenges?

Who Can Go Near These Whales?

It’s pretty dangerous to get close to a killer whale; In fact, approaching within less than 100 yards from a whale may only be attempted by people authorized under permit by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program.

The Danger Zone

“When you get close to a whale that size, you are moving into a danger zone,” says Ed Lyman, NOAA large whale entanglement response coordinator. So little has been known about viruses in aquatic mammals, since getting a sample was difficult. That was, until now…

Solving A Major Problem

In response to this dilemma, the ocean advocacy Parley has teamed up with Intel and developed a drone equipped with Petri dishes that fly through whale spray. The drone, called the Parley SnotBot, collects whatever samples it can get and brings them back to a research vessel for analysis.

SnotBot

Every time the whales’ breach and sprout, they not only spray sea water into the air but also a large amount of whale mucus, (also known as snot). With the SnotBot, researchers no longer have to get too close to the whales and they can collect more samples. They’re finally peeking in the whales in a non-invasive manner and in doing so, they’re seeing things and collecting data that they never had before…

The Experiment Worked

During the first flight of the SnotBot, when the device came back, it was dripping with snot. While this sounds pretty disgusting, it’s also great news because it means the experiment worked. Scientists have also begun using drones to perform new health checkups on whales.

Drones Detecting Viruses In Whales

A study was conducted off the coast of Sydney, Australia during the winter of 2017. This is the first time that drones were used to sample viruses in 19 whales. Despite the relatively small number of animals surveyed in the initial study, researchers identified six novel virus species from five viral families. So, what does this mean?

Aircraft Piloted By Remote Control Or Onboard Computers

The work done demonstrates that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is successful in helping identify disease, diversity, and evolution in aquatic animals. The SnotBot, in combination with Intel’s data analysis software, allows investigators to examine the whales’ hormonal makeup, the level of contaminants like mercury in their systems, and whether they have borne young.

Fluke Prints

The machine learning and modified facial recognition software that Intel provides also allows the drone to recognize a particular whale’s fluke print, a pattern of nicks and other imperfections in a tail fin that are just as personal as a human’s fingerprint. These prints provide us new insights into whale population counts and migration roots. Why is this so important?

Humans Are A Visual Species

Being that humans are such a visual species, animals that we can see are animals that we care about even more. “Tigers, pandas, eagles, and gorillas, have always had an edge over other endangered animals,” says Jordan Lerma, a marine scientist and drone pilot living in Hawaii.

Putting Whales On Our Radar

When it comes to whales, drones and the people who pilot and operate them are providing us with a clearer vision that we didn’t have before. Not only that, but federal rescue teams in Hawaii are now using small DJI drones to help free humpback whales caught in tangles of debris. The drones are already helping save lives…

Pollution

Every Autumn, humpback whales swim towards the warmer waters of Hawaii. While making the journey, they come into contact with man-made hazards, such as plastic trash. Oftentimes, these hazards can tangle up whales and prevent them from coming up to the surface for air.

Freeing Whales Trapped In Debris

As one can imagine, this can ultimately kill the poor whales. Specialists from NOAA work with local volunteers during the fall to help as many whales as possible using a combination of small boats and a whole lot of determination. But untangling a 40-ton whale is no easy feat. The reality is that it’s dangerous for everyone involved. But now…

Situational Awareness

Aerial imagery from the drones provide details on the entangled whales that ultimately improve responders’ situational awareness as they proceed with the rescue. In the past, specialists from NOAA have worked with local volunteers, using knives on long poles to cut whales free. This is also pretty dangerous.

Gives Responders An Assessment

ED Lyman from NOAA says, “So what we are doing is, the drone gives us the assessment, tells us what we need, and then when we do make an approach, we’re making it to cut the animal free. [The drone is] very efficient and a very good tool to have in a toolbox.” Not to mention, it makes the procedure safer. In the past, this process was not so efficient…

Cutting Down The Process To One Step

Previously, rescue teams had to get close to the whales at least three separate times. “Once to figure out where the animal was entangled, once to cut them free and once to make sure the job was done right and nothing was left behind,” said NOAA sanctuary manager Matt Pickett. But with the drones, the team can cut the process down to one step.

Much More Effective

Using small, remote-controlled quadcopters with powerful cameras, the team can do an initial assessment and final check. It makes the entire process much safer for both the humans and the whales. But, an important question remains, are the drones harmful to the whales?

Are Drones Harmful To Whales?

Not as long as they fly no lower than 100 feet. Doing so reduces the likelihood that the whales will be disturbed or alarmed by the buzzing overhead. Video recordings conducted by the U.S. government, as well as other places in the world, seem to establish that marine animals don’t notice drone noise.

Drones Can Now Make An Impact In The Moment

For a long time, drones were used over the ocean for gathering data for a macro view. The brilliant thing about these drones is that now is that they can make an impact in the moment. Many people see the power in the science the SnotBot has to offer, from saving whales, to gathering information about them that could ultimately help us.

Drones Are Providing Life-Saving Methods For Whales That Have Never Been Used Before is an article from: LifeDaily

As much as we don’t like to think about it, death is a part of life. This is especially true in times of war. Over the ages, countless young people have laid down their lives in the name of one cause or another, often leaving behind grieving family members.

The best those family members can hope for is a proper burial for their loved one, and that their sacrifice will be remembered favorably by history. But far too often, victims of war are never returned home for one reason or another. When one man lost his life in the line of duty, his family would fight much longer than most to bring back his remains…

Old Tennessean

Jim was an 85 year old man who’d lived his whole life in Nashville, Tennessee. Like most folks in the twilight years of life, he spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on the past. All in all, he’d lived a good life and really only had one major regret.

One Regret

The only major thing he wished was different is that his older brother Harold could have been around to share that life. Jim didn’t talk much about his brother, who was long gone. He figured most people wouldn’t be interested in stories about him. But that doesn’t mean Harold wasn’t an important part of his life…

Close Brothers

The two of them grew up on the acres of farmland that had been in his family’s possession since the revolutionary war. “We were pretty close,” Jim said. “Just 8 years apart. Eight years in the country is different than city life.”

Typical Big Brother

The brothers would spend their time riding wild horses and wandering across “great big fields and we were just talking, just him and me,” he said. “He had a spotted pony, a big pony, and one day he told me to get the gate open. I was barefoot and he shot me in the foot with a BB gun. He thought it was funny. He was just a regular big brother. He was my big brother.”…

Taking Part In History

But their relationship would be interrupted by a major moment in history, WW2. When the war began, Harold joined the Navy and eventually becoming a pilot. Jim was too young to enlist, just on the cusp of becoming a teenager at the time. It was difficult having his brother and best friend away from home, especially knowing the danger he would face.

Tragic Crash

The fears of losing his brother would become a dark reality when, in the summer of 1945, Harold’s plane would crash into a remote outcrop on Oahu during a night-flight training mission. When a search party found the crash site 3 days later, they buried his remains. Weeks later, another group returned and recited the Lord’s Prayer over the 21-year-old’s shallow grave…

After The War

Because the war was still on-going, the Navy was unable to devote the resources to returning Harold’s remains to his family. His bereaved parents and brother would have to wait until after the war to give Harold a proper goodbye. But at that time, they couldn’t possibly have known how long they would have to wait.

Not Far

Though Harold DeMoss’ plane had crashed less than 40 miles from the Navy headquarters in Honolulu, it had come down in a remote area, separated from the nearest road by at least 7 miles of thick vegetation on rugged, steep terrain that was home to wild pigs. Immediately after the war, it took attempts by 2 separate search parties to find him…

Missing Dead

But of the 400,000 Americans who died during WW2, 79,000 were unaccounted for at the end of the war. That was a lot of soldiers to track down and return and, in the time before Harold’s turn came, the charts and maps documenting the location of his remains were lost.

Years Passing

At first, the DeMoss family waited patiently, knowing that finding the bodies of so many lost service members was a daunting and difficult task. But as the ‘40s became the ‘50s, and then the ‘60s, their patience wore thin…

Request Denied

Over those years, they sent the occasional letter and placed the occasional phone call asking for updates on the state of the recovery without ever getting a useful response. Then in 1968, Harold’s mother Zora asked the military for an escort to the crash site. They rejected her request and instead offered a commemorative lithograph of Harold’s name on a wall of remembrance.

Decades Of Grief

Zora took that rejection hard, putting some of her feelings into the form of poetry such as “It would be sad but I’d like to see/ The grave where dear Harold lies/ And cover it with flowers/ Beneath Hawaiian skies.” “We never had anywhere to go,” Jim said. “That was the hardest part. It was hard for my mom. She didn’t have any place to go.”…

An Old Hillbilly

Zora and her husband would pass on before their son’s remains came back to them. By that point, “I’d given up,” Jim said. “I didn’t believe we’d ever get him back. They had him in their hands 2 days after the crash and they didn’t see fit to get him back to us. I figured nobody cared much for an old hillbilly who got killed in the war.”

Never Give Up

But Jim’s daughter Judy kept up the fight, despite how frustrating it could be interacting with the Department of Defense officials and congressional representatives. “One office offered to get us a flag,” she said. “I remember thinking we don’t want the friggin’ flag. That’s not what we’re after.” Searching for anyone who could help, she would find support from some people outside of government…

Amazing Volunteers

In 2011, Judy got in contact with the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society, a volunteer historical group. They looked over the accident reports Judy had uncovered in her research, pinpointed a likely area and made a promise to her that they would find her uncle’s remains. They then started a series of excursions into the rugged hillside to find the crash site.

Found But Not Recovered

It would take them 9 attempts until they stumbled across a plane tire and some scraps of metal they believed belonged to Harold’s aircraft. They immediately sent the coordinates of their discovery to military officials but the Department of Defense would sit on that information for 7 years before taking action…

Mixed Messages

In 2013, the Department of Defense told Judy they had to do an environmental impact study before they could retrieve Harold’s remains, which would be done in 2014. Two years later, after hearing nothing, Judy contacted their senator and state representative. One told them the study would be done in 2 months.

Finally Retrieved

It wasn’t until a story about the DeMoss’ struggle to get Harold’s remains was published in The Tennessean that any action took place. Finally, in August of 2016, a team was brought to the site by helicopter where they excavated and retrieved what was left of Harold’s bones, his Navy Pilot Wings, and the wedding ring from his brief wartime marriage…

Long Awaited News

When Judy got the news, she immediately called her father. “She said, you better sit down,” Jim said. “She said I got some good news. I just said, ‘Well. I didn’t think it would ever happen.’” A full 73 years after his death, Harold DeMoss was finally coming home.

Among Family

The military offered a burial at Arlington National Cemetery but the DeMoss family declined. Instead, Harold would be buried in the family’s private cemetery, alongside men who served in every major US war since the Revolutionary War. “I’d be glad to have him and drive by,” Jim said while waiting for the remains to be shipped. “I can come by and maybe put flowers on his grave.”

3 Generations Of Family Fight To Bring Remains Of Loved One Home From War is an article from: LifeDaily

Since polygamy is rare in many states in the U.S., most people merely regard it as something curious. But for some people, polygamy is their reality. It’s the way they were raised and they’ve grown up to view this lifestyle as “normal.”

The hit television series, “Sister Wives” drew an unexpected amount of attention to the polygamist lifestyle. This was disruptive to the state of Utah, which operates under unique laws. Here’s what really went down and how the family fought back…

What is Polygamy?

Simply put, a polygamist is “a person who has more than one wife or husband at the same time.” Polygamists are also known to conceive multiple children which each of their respective wives/husbands.

“The More The Merrier”

While most would think one spouse is more than enough, in the polygamist lifestyle, multiple marriages are embraced. In the case of the man in the following story, he didn’t grow up in a family of polygamy, but when he was 20, his dad converted to a faith that embraced it…

Polygamist Kody Brown

“I’m a polygamist. But not the polygamist you think you know,” says Kody Brown. “I like marriage…and I’m a repeat offender.” Kody is “married” to four different women, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn, (in that order of sequence) and he has a total of 18 kids.

Four Wives

Kody married Meri, Janelle, and Christine, before any of the women became pregnant. This meant that the three women helped raise all of their respective children. They all share the same father, but different mothers. Kody believes that love should be multiplied and not divided and it’s this unique way of life that inspired TLC’s hit show, “Sister Wives.” So, what’s the main focus of the show?

What Is “Sister Wives”

Premiering on TLC in 2010, “Sister Wives” has been one of the network’s most controversial shows. The series follows the polygamist family, the Browns. Each of the wives lives in a separate apartment in one big house, which is connected on the inside. The home was actually built by a polygamist family who understands this sort of lifestyle.

The Family Functions As A Whole

“The family functions as a whole, but we all have our own autonomy,” Kody’s second wife, Janelle explains. Before the show, Kody worked in advertising trying to support his big family, but it’s rumored he filed for bankruptcy before the show aired. Now that the money is flowing in, he should be able to support his wives and children, right? Not quite…

Separate Relationships

As the wives keep having more children, it’s becoming harder to pay the bills. The way this polygamist family operates is that each of the women has four separate sexual relationships with Kody, none of which cross boundaries. Meaning, the women are not intimate with each other. If you’re wondering where Kody sleeps, he rotates on a schedule, so that he could stay with each one of his wives and everyone has time with him.

What’s Date Night Like?

Date night operates the same way and Kody tries to spend as much time with his children as possible. However, it seems like the women play the most active role in each other’s lives, caring for each other and all of the children together. At the end of the day, each seems to really value the relationship Kody has with the other wives. But here’s where this candid polygamist family has gotten in trouble…

Polygamy Is Illegal

Being that polygamy is illegal in all 50 states in the U.S., the cast of the show has been under a lot of scrutinies. In Utah, it is considered a felony to marry or cohabitate with more than one person. When “Sister Wives” premiered in 2010, the Browns were living in Utah. However, a police investigation was opened against them charging them with polygamy.

Drawing Attention To Themselves

The case, filed after the show’s popularity, prompted a criminal investigation into whether Kody was illegally married to four women. It drew international attention and raised questions about whether the state could prohibit consenting adults from living together as a family…

Utah’s Laws

In reality, Kody is only legally married to one of his wives and “spiritually” married to the others. But what makes Utah’s law unique is that a person can be found guilty not just for having two legal marriage licenses, but also for cohabitating with another adult in a marriage-like relationship while already legally married to someone else.

Moving To Nevada

In response, the family had to move to Nevada, a state with much more lenient laws. Although they live in Nevada, the Browns were still members of the Apostolic United Brethren Church in Utah. But this didn’t last long…

Forced Out Of Their Church

After getting word of Meri’s rumored catfish affair on the internet, the family was kicked out of the church. Apparently, this was a long time coming for the church who felt the family was way too public for their liking.

Brown v. Buhman

In 2011, the Brown family attempted to change the laws by filing the Brown v. Buhman lawsuit. They sued the state of Utah claiming “The state’s bigamy statute violated their constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, free exercise of religion, free speech and freedom of association.” The Browns felt like they were victims of bigotry…

Victims Of Bigotry

Meri and the rest of the sister wives feel like they are the victims of bigotry and they feel that they are being targeted by the government. They feel they’re being treated unfairly because polygamy has a bad reputation of being a community where there have been many cases of sexual abuse, child abuse, and pedophilia. It seems they are being targeted by the law and punished for their fellow polygamists’ inexcusable actions.

Fighting Back

Sadly for them, the case was dismissed, but they were determined to fight back. The Browns spoke out saying they were disappointed in the ruling but they remain committed to fighting for the protection of religion, speech, and privacy in Utah. Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn decided to take to the streets to rally at a march in order to legalize polygamy. They risked the chance of getting arrested…

Risking Their Freedom

By attending the march, they would publicly out themselves as polygamists and they risked being charged with a felony that comes with a 5-year prison sentence. “I feel like we could be thrown in jail. There’s a chance it could happen, but I don’t wanna back down because I’m scared,” Meri Brown said.

Exploitation

The family has been under additional scrutiny for exploitation and many people claim that Kody’s main goal is to keep the series going and to make money. In fact, Kody isn’t done bringing new wives into the household…

Requirements For His 5th Wife

Being that the show is now the family’s primary source of income, they are going to milk it for as long as they can. It’s reported that Kody has been looking for a wife for more than a year. And not just any wife, he wants someone really young, like 19 or 20 years old.

What’s Next For “Sister Wives”?

She also has to be attractive and thin, as Kody knows that teasing the intro of a hot new wife at the end of the season would give people a reason to tune in and for the network to renew the series.

Court Restores Utah’s Polygamy Law When “Sister Wives” Fight For Their Freedom To Live A Polygamist Lifestyle is an article from: LifeDaily

When people become teachers they undertake an unspoken responsibility to ensure the welfare and safety of the students in their charge. But when that trust is broken, it can lead to devastating consequences

Rachel had always wanted to be an educator. Having been a straight A-grade student when she was at school, she was always in awe of the people who taught her when she was a child and wanted to pay it forward. However, Rachel had some other issues which did not bode well for the future…

Elementary School

Rachel may not have had decades of teaching experience under her belt, but she considered herself to be a darn good teacher. Having held a few teaching positions across various schools in Pennsylvania, Rachel was more or less settled at the Elementary school where she worked (which cannot be named for legal reasons) and had developed some solid relationships with her colleagues and students at the school.

English Lover

Although she was able to teach a variety of subjects at elementary level, Rachel’s number one love was English. She looked forward to English classes and always made them both engaging and entertaining for her students. They might not have loved learning English quite as much as Rachel loved teaching it but they still looked forward to her classes…

Dedicated Teacher

33-year-old Rachel DelTondo was the type of educator who wanted to always be accessible to her students – she was dedicated to her career. With her bubbly personality and warm disposition, Rachel would often stay back after class, even after school hours, to help students with homework and even personal problems.

After Hours

Despite the fact that Rachel was engaged to Frank, a successful and wealthy businessman who was well known in the city, she sometimes wouldn’t arrive home to the grand apartment she shared with her fiance until the late hours. Frank wasn’t suspicious though, he knew his girl was only late because she’d been helping her students. That turned out to be only half true…

Almost Above Board

Sure, Rachel was attractive for a teacher, if one can put it that way. And many of her almost 18-year-old students took a fancy to her. She kept things above board for the most part but seemed to have some kind of special rapport with one of her students called Sheldon Jeter.

Complete Shocker

Everyone was shocked when the police caught Rachel in her car with Jeter. It wouldn’t have been so bad but they were caught at night, with the engine off on the grounds of the old Aliquippa hospital. The windows were all steamed up and the two were definitely not catching up on outstanding homework assignments…

Likely Story

The police report noted that Jeter, a basketball and football star, was sitting in a reclined position in the vehicle, and had to open the window before the attending officers could even speak to him due to the steamed up windows. When asked what the two were doing there, Rachel said she was counseling the boy. The cops may not have believed her but had no reason to charge, simply driving Jeter home in their patrol car.

Report Leaked

Unluckily for DelTondo, who was already not in the best of spirits having called off her engagement to her fiance, that police report was leaked somehow to the media and to Rachel’s employer, PA Cyber Charter School. They had no choice but to suspend her with pay, but everyone concerned had a lot of egg on their face…

Ice Cream Time

Many months passed and in May of this year, Rachel decided to go with two friends to eat ice cream at a local store. The three friends chatted while they ate ice cream for about two hours before Rachel was dropped back at her mother’s house at around midnight. What happened next was out of the blue and utterly shocking.

Bang Bang

As if out of nowhere more than a dozen shots were fired at Rachel as she walked up her mother’s driveway to enter the house. She was killed instantly as police rushed to the scene but there had been no credible eyewitnesses and the shooter had gotten away…

Investigation Underway

Having cordoned off the scene and investigated the evidence, detectives took Rachel’s cell phone for forensic testing and to unlock data and texts. As Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier said at the time, “We’re investigating everyone that was driving in Aliquippa that night that was anywhere near this young lady’s house. We’re working with every resource we have.”

Search Warrant

As the police didn’t have a whole lot to go on they immediately obtained a search warrant for Jeter’s home, wanting to take a closer look at his text message communication with DelTondo. Despite the fact that the two had an on/off relationship, they were supposed to still be friends…

Another Suspect

While still holding Jeter, the police hauled in another likely suspect in the murder; Frank Catroppa, Rachel’s ex-fiance. Not surprisingly Catroppa’s attorney told reporters that video surveillance from the complex near Catroppa’s home confirms his innocence, “We wanted to be absolutely clear that Frank Catroppa had absolutely nothing to do with what happened,” he said.

Leak Unrelated

DA David Lozier told reporters following a closed-door meeting with local law enforcement that to his mind the murder of Rachel DelTondo was as a result of some “personal vendetta.” He also said that there was no doubt that this was a “crime of passion” but added that the initial police department leak about the car incident was unrelated to the murder, “To the best of my knowledge there was no active investigation arising from any information she had regarding anything in Aliquippa,” he said…

Living In Fear

In many ways, Rachel saw this coming, despite how disturbing that might sound. Reporter John Pau, who knew DelTondo personally, said that she had told him that she had received death threats in the past, one of which promising that she wouldn’t live to see the end of 2018.

Filing a Report

Rachel was concerned enough about the threats, which most likely came from someone she knew well, to contact the Aliquippa Police to file a report. When asked if Paul really thought that Rachel was in fear for her life he replied, “at times, certainly I think she was.”

Death Threats

“Similar death threats were left on her parents’ answering machine. DelTondo contacted authorities to make a complaint. She said it took four days for an officer to contact her back to make a report,” Paul added. That meant that this brutal murder was likely a crime of passion and a serious one.

Taking Time

While Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier said, “We are doggedly pursuing the evidence,” he also noted that “Forensics take time,” which may explain why there is no suspect as yet in this case. Lozier commented that DNA, fingerprints and ballistic analysis can take up to nine months and that all concerned will need to just sit tight and be patient for now.

Further Assistance

Lozier also spoke about the need for extra support in order to crack this disturbing case, “sometimes we need the assistance of other agencies because some phones are hard to unlock; some phones have information that has been deleted. There are other agencies that have better software than I have.” He said…

Unsolved Mystery

The brutal slaying of Rachel DelTondo may be fresh in the minds and hearts of so many people, having only happened in the past few weeks. However, investigators are stopping at nothing to try and solve the mystery of who killed Rachel. No doubt, when forensic results are forthcoming some light might be shed on who killed this innocent school teacher.

Police Search For Leads In Mysterious “Crime Of Passion” is an article from: LifeDaily

The brave men and women who join the armed forces, do so because they have an overwhelming desire to serve their country. Yet, when they are forced to hang up their uniforms and transition back into civilian life, that desire to serve doesn’t just go away.

So when a community in Arizona was left devastated after a camper’s negligence destroyed everything they had worked their entire lives for, a group of veterans came together to rebuilt the community’s hope while also finding new purpose…

The First Sighting

Just before noon on April 27, 2018, someone in the Coconino National Forest, a 1.856-million acre U.S. national forest in northern Arizona, spotted what looked like flames spreading rapidly from 1 of the tower lookouts in the forest.

Perfect Conditions

Forest rangers and fire officials were immediately sent out to investigate the fire and try to contain it as quickly as possible since they knew the dry weather conditions were unfortunately perfect for a forest fire. When they got there, officials were horrified by what they saw…

The Abandoned Campfire

When officials arrived at the source of the flames, they found evidence of an abandoned illegal campfire, which a careless camper had left behind. Not only is it negligent to abandon a fire in the middle of a forest, but stage 1 fire restrictions had actually been put in place that prohibited building a fire at all.

Stage 1 Fire Restriction

According to forest officials, a stage 1 fire restriction, which is when “building, maintaining, attending, or using a fire” anywhere other than developed campsites and picnic areas, had been put in place because the dry weather conditions drastically increased the potential for a fire…

Reckless And Illegal

“Any time we enter restrictions or have even closed the forest, we still continue to find abandoned and illegal campfires,” said Andy Pederson, an official from the US Forest Service. “This shows extreme lack of care for public safety and our natural resources when people would have an illegal campfire, much less abandon an illegal campfire.”

A Perfect Storm

Unfortunately, the conditions were just right when the camper recklessly decided to leave behind their still burning, illegal campfire. By the time fire and forest officials arrived at the source to inspect it, it was already spreading too fast to contain…

The Tinder Fire

Over the next few days and weeks, the fire rapidly spread and was fed by dry grass and undergrowth. Firefighters fought as hard as they could to contain the spread, but it didn’t work. Soon enough, the fire, which is being called the Tinder Fire, spread through the forest and into residential communities.

The Evacuation

Since the fire couldn’t be stopped, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office ordered several communities in the area to evacuate as the fire was unpredictable and showed no signs of stopping. Knowing it was too dangerous to stay, residents had no choice but to leave almost everything they owned behind…

A Losing Battle

While residents in northern Arizona were forced to flee their homes with as much of their belongings as they could fit in their cars, the fire was consuming everything in its path. Ultimately, the campfire burned through more than 16,000 acres.

The Destruction

According to officials, 87 structures have been completely destroyed in the fire, including 33 primary residences and 54 minor structures. After tirelessly fighting to contain the fire, firefighters have been able to contain about 95 percent of the flames…

Returning Home

Residents have since been allowed back to their homes, or what’s left of them, and many have been left devastated by what they found upon their return. “It’s just so much to lose,” said Cindy Kenniger, whose home was decimated by the fire.

Grasping Their Loss

“You leave thinking you’re going to be back, so you don’t take everything that really means a lot to you and you don’t have room for,” said Cindy, who managed to grab some photos and important documents when she was forced to flee her home. Yet there is a lot Cindy didn’t get to take with her, and she and her husband, Jerry, are still struggling to grasp everything…

Uncharted Territory

“Usually when you move, you have a reason for moving,” Jerry said. “You have a job or whatever, you know? You have a destination, something in mind. When this happens, I didn’t plan on moving. Now I have to, basically. And that’s kind of weird. I’ve never been in that situation.”

Team Rubicon

While many local residents have been left completely crushed and hopeless about the situation, volunteers from Team Rubicon, an International non-government organization founded by U.S. Marines William McNulty and Jacob Wood, decided to rebuild some of that hope for them…

Their Mission

According to Team Rubicon, their goal is to provide much-needed aid to areas affected by disasters, since traditional disaster response is often slow to respond and inadequate, while also giving veterans, who comprise about 70 percent of volunteers, a way to continue to serve their country while also reintegrating into civilian life.

A New Way To Serve

“As some veterans transition from military to civilian life, it can be difficult to regain the purpose, community, and identity that is apparent in the military. Continued service through disaster response allows many veterans to regain that sense of mission-focus, that feeling of being a part of something larger than oneself,” Team Rubicon explained. “At our core, Team Rubicon is about neighbors helping neighbors. When crisis strikes our communities, we come together to help others on their darkest day. Why do we serve? Because it’s what we do…”

Rebuilding Hope

In the weeks after the Tinder Fire was contained, members of Team Rubicon in Arizona have been sent out to help residents clean up the debris so they can start rebuilding their lives. “We’re just the brute muscle,” said Magdy Zakhary, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Healing Through Service

“You don’t really ever get used to seeing someone so crushed, so devastated,” said Zakhary, 1 of about 40 volunteers from Team Rubicon who has been sent out to help people affected by the wildfire. According to Zakhary, his efforts with Team Rubicon is not only rebuilding hope for disaster survivors, but it’s also helped him get his own life back on track…

A Dark Moment

After getting injured, going on disability, and losing his home, Zakhary was so lost and hopeless that he was ready to end his own life. “Right as I’m putting the gun to my head, I hear the door squeal. I immediately stopped, and I knew my daughter was coming out of the room,” said Zakhary.

Spreading The Light

The next day, Zakhary saw a story in the news about Team Rubicon and knew he was meant to join the team. “It’s the light at the end of the tunnel. That sunshine you need when you’re going through something really dark.” Now, Zakhary is hard at work in Arizona shining light on Tinder fire survivors. So far, he and his fellow volunteers have worked 2,448 hours and have helped save more than $70,000 in costs.

Veterans Rebuild Community’s Hope After Careless Camper Single-Handedly Destroyed It is an article from: LifeDaily

Even today, despite the fact that the entirety of the map has been filled in, our daring archaeologists still manage to seek answers to life’s mysteries in the one place in our world that hasn’t yet been completely examined: the past.

Recently, a team of explorers discovered what they believe to be the remains of a deadly and dangerous character, a famous pirate who was once thought to be lost at sea. With the help of modern technology, they hope to discern the truth about this lingering mystery and what really happened to the man who went down with his ship…

Sunken and Trapped

The team had located something buried beneath the ocean. At first, it looked as though it was simply a chunk of sunken concrete, an undersea object known as a “concretion.” It was only once they began delving into it, chipping away at the hardened sand, that they discovered artifacts trapped within the formerly solid block of earth.

A Special Case

What they found inside of the block, along with a number of artifacts from what they believed to be a famous sunken pirate ship, was a human bone. Now, it must be understood that over 200 concretions like this have been located near the wreck over the years, but this one, and this bone; they were special…

Captain Bellamy

Captain Samuel Bellamy, otherwise known as “Black Sam” was an 18th century English pirate who operated out of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Bellamy had earned a reputation as the “Prince of Pirates.” He also likened himself to Robin Hood because he stole from the wealthy to give back to poor folks like him and his crew.

Seizing Ships

His vessel, the Whydah, was an impressive vessel that allowed him to plunder what amounts to $120 million worth of treasure in a little over a year. In just over two years of full-time pirating, Bellamy had seized 54 ships. This made him the wealthiest pirate in history and it was why when the Whydah went down, people went looking for it…

Wealth Beyond Modern Measure

The Whydah sank in a storm in 1717 and 102 men lost their lives on that day, including Samuel Bellamy. Many believe that on the day the storm hit, the Whydah was laden with stolen treasure. The ship and its crew remained missing for many years, until 1984, when a group of divers discovered the original wreck off the coast of Cape Cod.

Coins and Souls a’ Plenty

Since that discovery, some 20,000 coins, estimated to be worth upwards of $400 million, have been recovered from the ocean floor, but so much more still remains lost. Many of its sunken crew were found as well. But 40 of those souls were never located, one of them was Captain Black Sam Bellamy. That may have just changed, however…

A Find

The Whydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth, Massachusetts was given the discovered bone, thought to be a piece of a femur, and displayed it with what they believe to be Bellamy’s pistol. Yet, before they could officially label it as Bellamy’s remains, they wanted to prove it was his.

DNA Analysis

For that, they needed to use modern technology. The museum contacted the University of New Haven to see if they could find a way to extract DNA from the 300-year-old bone and see if they could match it to any existing DNA they might have for Bellamy. As it happened, they did have a sample to compare it to…

Forensic Experts

Enlisting the forensic scientists at the University of New Haven turned out to be a good idea. The museum was able to contact one of his living descendants and ask them for a DNA sample, which they happily provided. I mean, who wouldn’t want to find out what really happened to one’s famous pirate ancestor?

Patiently Waiting

DNA testing and extraction is not an easy or quick process, however. It is expected that the full process would take about a month, maybe more: especially if they want a mostly definitive answer. Still, the ship sank in 1717, waiting a bit longer to find out what happened to the Whydah’s daring captain wouldn’t be so bad…

Who is He?

Barry Clifford, the man who discovered the wreck and founded the Whydah Pirate Museum, was very excited about receiving the results of the DNA Testing, though he was aware that the bone might belong to someone else. “Who is this pirate, who is this lost pirate?” he said during a press conference “Is he Sam Bellamy? Is he African? Is he from Scotland? Ireland? England? Native American? We don’t know yet.”

Ethnic Diversity

The reason that he mentioned so many nationalities is because there was known to be a great deal of ethnic diversity among the Whydah’s crew. Of the 180 pirates on the ship, at least a third were of African origin and were likely former slaves. But Europeans and even Native Americans may have been amongst them as well. So who then did this femur belong to?

Be Very Careful

The forensic science team explained that they had to use a Dremel tool to drill carefully into the bone to retrieve the DNA sample. Normally, DNA extraction involves “pulverizing” the bone, which sounds like it would do more harm than good when trying to preserve remains. The Dremel was deemed to be the most non-invasive method.

Not Every Day

“This really is an exciting opportunity for us,” explained Claire Glynn, the assistant professor in the University of New Haven’s Forensic Science Department. “It’s not every day that we get to work on a case that’s 300 years old.” Professor Glynn is amongst the team responsible for the lineage coding of the DNA search…

No Dice

Unfortunately, the excitement of the discovery proved to be for naught. It was with a heavy heart that the Whydah Museum made the announcement that the DNA test proved without a doubt that whoever’s bone it was, it was not from the infamous pirate Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy.

Some Male

The comparative analysis indicated that the bone was not linked to Captain Bellamy’s living relative, however, they did determine that the femur belonged to a male with general ties to the Eastern Mediterranean area. Based on its location, this may be one of the 40 missing crewmen on the Whydah. It’s bittersweet news, but it means that there’s much more down there left to find…

American Tomb

The Whydah still has plenty of secrets to reveal and that’s a good thing because it means that the search for truth and mystery in our world continues. Author and Whydah research team member Casey Sherman said it best at the press conference. “What the Whydah really represents here in America – it’s America’s version of King Tut’s tomb.”

Mother Lode

Since its discovery in 1984, some 20,000 coins have been recovered from the Whydah’s watery grave. But with so much of its treasure still laying upon the ocean floor, it means the true mother lode of treasure has yet to be found. A true treasure trove is still there somewhere, and with it most likely, is what’s left of Captain Bellamy…

More to Come

Experts still believe that they may have found the location of the true “mother lode” and will be conducting more research at the wreck site in the summer of 2018. There is a presumably tremendous amount of treasure at the site and if they can find it, the museum may end up being able to expand over the coming years.

Recent Discoveries

Pirate-related archaeological finds continue to be a source of fascination for people around the world. Many millions in gold and goods were stolen in those days, and many of the people who stole it have gone down to Davy Jones since that time. As more and more of these wrecks are discovered, we continue to learn more about the fascinating men and women of the golden age of piracy.

Divers Discover Sunken Wreck And Human Bone, Enlist Science To Reveal Its Secrets is an article from: LifeDaily

There is a certain romanticism that surrounds the idea of living fast and dying young. The idea is that, if you live with reckless abandon, you’ll have a better life packing all the excitement you can into a few short years than playing it safe and living a long, typical life.

But things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes, people will live fast then… keep on living. When that happened to one former rock star, he would have to deal with the consequences of the poor choices he made in his youth…

Thinking Of Retirement

In November of 2017, Christian Etelin, one of France’s most well known criminal lawyers, was sitting at his desk late one night, considering retiring. After a long and accomplished career, the 74-year-old didn’t have much left in law that interested him.

Undeniable Opportunity

That’s when he got a phone call offering him a chance to represent a client in a case he just couldn’t pass up. Any thoughts of retirement went out the window when he found out who he was talking to…

Old Punk

On the other end of the phone was Gilles, the famous former singer of a punk rock group called Camera Silens that had a significant following in the ‘80s. Camera Silens was to France what the Sex Pistols were to Britain.

Dead Man Calling

Etelin’s interest in the client wasn’t due to being starstruck, however. The first thing that intrigued him was that Gilles had been declared dead nearly a decade ago and the second was why he wanted legal representation — for a robbery that had taken place nearly 30 years ago…

No Tomorrow

In the late ‘80s, Camera Silens was an iconic band with a considerable following but, despite their success, the members of the group were all destitute, addicted to heroin, and several of them had become infected with HIV through the use of contaminated needles. Needless to say, they didn’t have an optimistic view of the future.

Out With A Bang

Figuring they didn’t have much longer to live, they decided that they wanted to go out with a bang by mounting a massive armed robbery, then to blow all the cash before they died. So for over a year, Gilles and the members of his band meticulously planned a heist…

Simple Disguise

In order to gain access to their target, a Brink’s depot in Toulouse, the first step was passing themselves off as policemen. “For disguises, we bought two old uniforms at the Saint-Ouen flea market [near Paris] and we painted them blue,” Gilles Bertin said. With those disguises, they were able to kidnap 3 of the Brink’s employees.

Without A Hitch

The next day, they forced one of the employees to disable the security system, then made off with nearly 12 million francs (worth roughly $3.5 million today) without anyone being injured. The heist was so well executed that police thought they were dealing with a gang of hardened professionals — that is until the punk rockers called the local newspaper to brag about their coup…

Rounded Up

Within a year, everyone involved in the heist was caught with the exception of Gilles Bertin. Hardly any of the money was retrieved and some of the robbers, already deteriorating from AIDS-related symptoms passed away. The rest spent some years behind bars, then returned to relative obscurity, working ordinary jobs.

On The Lam

But Bertin, on the other hand, had made for the border almost immediately after the heist, hoping to bring his girlfriend and young son with him. But the police were too close on his tail so,  literally carrying bags of cash, he fled to Portugal, where he used his ill-gotten money to open a record store…

Paranoid Life

Living under the name Didier Ballet, he spent the next few years running the store and looking over his shoulder for the police, always nervous when he saw a French license plate or heard someone speaking his native tongue. But after 10 years, he thought the authorities were on his tail so he moved to Barcelona with his Spanish girlfriend.

Without A Past

He worked there for years in the bar that her family ran and the two of them had a son together. Only his girlfriend knew about his background and, to everyone else, he was just a man without a past…

Not Like The Movies

Bertin said that there was nothing romantic about the robbery or living on the lam. He was unable to keep in contact with anyone from his past, including his sister and his former girlfriend and his first son. “In hiding, unable to talk about yourself or to people from your past […] constantly on the lookout in case the authorities find you – and on top of that I was seriously ill,” he said.

Near Death Experience

Bertin was suffering from hepatitis — which had left him blind in one eye — as a result of his former drug use. He chanced going to the hospital one day where his life was saved by the hospital staff in Barcelona. They charged him nothing and asked him no questions because he had no documents. After his life was saved, he decided he needed to pay back society for the wrong he’d done…

Coming Clean

“I realized I had to tell the truth and come clean about my past,” Bertin said. That’s how he came to be on the phone with Christian Etelin, working out how he could come back to France and face justice.

Facing Justice

Shortly after that call, he took the train to Toulouse and, with his lawyer, turned himself in at police headquarters. He hadn’t packed much because he expected to be thrown in jail immediately but, to his surprise, he was able to remain free until his trial, where he intended to plead guilty to the robbery that took place 28 years prior…

He Didn’t Have To

During his trial, Etelin said that Bertin could have “calmly waited for his case to pass the statute of limitations (in 2024)” since he’d already been declared dead and no one was looking for him anymore. “But to lie about his story had become unbearable for him. He came to forget his past and find a future.”

Still A Criminal

But regardless of the person he’d become since, the fact of the matter was that Bertin had committed a serious crime. The prosecutor called for a 5-year sentence, saying that he was “astonished to hear that the seriousness of the charges should be washed away by time or the redemption of the accused.”…

Free Man

The judge had a different opinion on the matter. He did hand Bertin a 5-year sentence, but a suspended one, meaning he was guilty but could walk free to continue the life he’d built, this time without fear. The verdict was met by applause from supporters of the former rock star.

A Different Man

Now, Gilles Bertin was able to reunite with his sister and his 31-year-old son, though both his parents had died while he was on the run. “I made mistakes but I am not that same person now,” he said, looking back. “At 57, I am more mature and have nothing to do with that period in my life. Hopefully, I will be able to explain to my son the choices that I made back then.” He said.

Former Punk Rocker Comes ‘Back From The Dead’ To Turn Himself In After 30 Years is an article from: LifeDaily

Despite our best efforts to police what our children do on the Internet, most parents remain woefully ignorant of how much trouble kids can actually get into when we’re not monitoring their web browsing: not to mention how dangerous the Internet can be.

This is a cautionary tale. It is a story that all people, but especially those with children, should take heed of. It begins with one young man playing a seemingly innocuous online game…

Video Games

Kids these days are pretty obsessed with video games. If you’d like proof of this, take a look at your local Toys R’ Us and the “Closing: Everything Must Go” signs now adorning its once whimsical windows. The truth of the matter is that we live in a digital age, and our children would rather play with tablets than bouncy balls.

XBox Chat

14-year-old John, whose name has been withheld to protect he and his family’s privacy, was like most teenagers his age in that he loved playing video games. His game system of choice was Xbox, and he would spend hours on the console playing and chatting with fellow gamers over Xbox Live. One of these people, in particular, turned out to want more than just a friendly game…

My Friends

35-year-old Kriste was, like John, obsessed with playing video games. For her though, it was less about the games and more about making meaningful connections, forging friendships with other players. Of course, Kriste ultimately wanted more than just friendship with her fellow gamers.

Explicit Pictures

John and Kriste began talking one night over Xbox as they played together. Yet, the longer the conversation went on, the more overtly sexual it became. John, being a 14-year-old teenage boy, was understandably smitten with the older and far more sexually-competent woman. Before long, the two were exchanging explicit pictures…

Illicit Exchange

It seemed that John’s age was not a hurdle that Kriste was afraid of knocking past. Indeed, the pictures made it seem like she wanted to do much more than simply play at Xbox with him. She decided to just go for it and told her newly-addled young friend that she “wanted to have sex with him,” in no uncertain terms.

Planning to Meet

Kriste also added that she lived only 30 minutes away from John’s house, so she could be there to meet up at a moment’s notice if need be. John was all too happy to agree to an in-person meeting. Little did he know that it wasn’t just one fleeting moment of forbidden lovemaking that awaited him…

Taking a Chance

John wasn’t stupid, he was just young. He knew he was taking a chance by meeting someone on the internet. Kriste, as nice as she seemed over the web, could have been a crazy person of some sort. He may have been making the worst mistake of his life. But he took the chance anyway.

Another Lady

John snuck out of the house and got into Kriste’s car, but was more than a little surprised to see that there was another woman sitting there with her. 29-year-old Melissa Goelz was one of Kriste’s friends. Had she brought her along to keep herself safe? No, Melissa’s place in the grand scheme was much more sinister…

Never to Return

The three “friends” drove off. They began some small talk at first and refraining from mentioning anything sexual in the first few minutes. It wasn’t until the trio was some ways down the road that the two women turned and told John that they were taking him to New Mexico and that he’d never be coming back home.

Where is He?

Back at John’s home, his parents were wondering why they hadn’t heard from him for a few hours. They assumed it was because he was still knee-deep in his video games. When he didn’t come down for dinner though and they went up to investigate, they realized that their son was nowhere to be found…

Alarm Raised

John’s parents called the sheriff’s office who were dispatched to the scene to investigate what happened. They had a very small window of opportunity to find John. Statistically, if a missing child isn’t found in 24 hours, the chances of them being found deceased increases exponentially.

Checking History

“It was very alarming. We knew it was going to be a bad situation if we didn’t act fast and get the boy located,” said Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris. The Oklahoma authorities soon learned that John’s favorite pastime involved a fair amount of speaking to strangers online. Their next step was to look at his online history…

The Culprits

The police were able to link the account to Kriste Aragon and Melissa Goelz, both of whom lived many states away. They didn’t have any sort of criminal record, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t doing something to harm the boy. For all they knew, the women were going to kill John and hide his remains. Of course, they could have also just driven off to spend a weekend with a friend…

Hours of Assault

Meanwhile, John, Kriste, and Melissa were on their way to New Mexico. It was a 13-hour drive there and during the course of those long hours, the two much older woman sexually assaulted the young boy multiple times. He was nude, trapped in the car, and being abused, and he had no way of escaping…

Threats

The woman also told him that the only way he was ever going to get home was if they left him on the side of the road in his birthday suit. John was beside himself with embarrassment, shame, and fear, he wasn’t about to let them do that to him too. Luckily for him, his Xbox chats had helped the sheriff’s office narrow down the guilty parties.

Tracked Back

The Oklahoma police were able to track the phone number linked to Kriste Aragon’s Xbox account back to her candy business in New Mexico. When Kriste Aragon and Melissa Goelz finally arrived at her home, the police were there waiting for. Despite making a terrible decision, John had been rescued…

Rare Crime

Special Agent Jay Ratliff, who works with the New Mexico Attorney General’s office, has spoken out about the unusual nature of this crime. Most readers are probably aware of that by now though. While a crime like this does happen pretty frequently, it’s rare for the culprits to be female.

Safe and Sorry

Aragon and Goelz, who will be extradited back to Oklahoma in the next few weeks to await trial, wanted to use their kidnapped 14-year-old captive as a sort of living sex toy. Thankfully, their plans were thwarted and John is back home safe and sound. The same cannot be said for the two criminals…

Lengthy Sentence

Though they will both undoubtedly face jail time for their parts in the kidnapping, it is Kriste Aragon, the purported mastermind, who faces the worse of the two sentences. She faces up to 30 years in prison and Melissa Goelz faces 10, so long as they are found guilty of kidnap and other state line charges.

Lessons to Learn

The lessons learned in this story are obvious and no one learned more than John, who I’m certain will be much more careful in regards to strangers in the future. I doubt it’ll stop him from playing Xbox Live, but then again, there’s not much that can tear a kid away from his video games.

Teen Meets New Friends On Xbox Live, Ends Up Making Life-Altering Decision is an article from: LifeDaily

Discrimination still exists in the world and it is unlikely that it will ever go away. While this can be saddening news, it also presents an opportunity for those discriminated against to speak up and fight for their rights. This includes citizens in the L.G.B.T. community.

The reality is that same-sex couples don’t have the same rights as heterosexual couples do and up until recently, the term “spouse” has not been clearly defined. But one couple fighting for their rights was able to make a big difference that was a long time coming…

The Couple Behind The Ruling

Adrian Coman, a dual U.S.-Romanian citizen met his partner Clairbourn Hamilton, a U.S. citizen in June 2002. The couple met in New York and lived there together from 2005-2009.

Taking A Job In Brussels

Back in 2009, Coman moved to Brussels to work at the European Parliament as a parliamentary assistant while Hamilton stayed behind in New York. Still, Hamilton couldn’t go long without seeing his partner and they made their relationship official in 2010…

His Employment Ended

The men wed in Brussels and lived happily in marriage for two years. But in December 2012, when Coman’s employment in Brussels ended, they thought of moving to Coman’s other place of residence- Romania.

Moving To Romania

Coman and Hamilton took the necessary steps to make this move happen by contacting Romanian authorities. They had to find out how Hamilton could obtain the right to work and reside lawfully in Romania for more than three months as a member of Coman’s family…

Obtaining A Residency Permit

They knew that under the European Union’s right to free movement, non-EU spouses married to EU citizens may join their partner in a member state where the European national resides. So they went about getting a residency permit for Hamilton based on the right to free movement. But that’s when they hit a roadblock.

Heartbreaking News

The couple was hit with the disparaging news that Hamilton could not be classified as a spouse of an EU citizen in Romania because the marriage between persons of the same sex is not recognized there. They were outraged by this decision and immediately took action…

Taking Legal Action

Coman and Hamilton sought a declaration of discrimination based on sexual orientation from Romanian courts. In response, Romania’s Constitutional Court asked the Court of Justice to determine if Hamilton should be considered a spouse of an EU citizen with the same right to permanent residency.

Clarifying The Term “Spouse”

The court ruled in their favor saying that the term “spouse” does include same-sex partners and member states must treat them the same as any other spouse. In fact, to refuse residency to an EU citizen’s spouse may interfere with that citizen’s right to move freely. The court emphasized…

The Ruling

The court determined that recognizing same-sex marriages performed in another member state “does not require that Member State to provide, in its national law, for the institution of homosexual marriage.” It also does not “undermine the national identity or pose a threat to the public policy of the Member State concerned.”

The First Of Its Kind

Advocacy groups have hailed the court’s ruling as the first of its kind to include same-sex couples in the definition of spouse for the purpose of free movement. Yet, despite the fact that the ruling still leaves the state of same-sex marriage in Romania in limbo, Coman and Hamilton call it a win. They said in a statement…

Feeling Victorious And Making An Impact

“We can now look in the eyes of any public official in Romania and across the EU with certainty that our relationship is equally valuable and equally relevant, for the purpose of free movement within the EU.” They continued…

The Decision Still Comes As A Win

“We are grateful to the EU Court and to the many people and institutions who have supported us, and through us, other same-sex couples in a similar situation.” “It is human dignity that wins today,” Coman said. But not necessarily for other gay couples…

American Baker

Other couples who have fought for their rights as gay individuals did not have the same victory. The ruling highlighted that member states are free to decide whether or not they want to allow same-sex marriage within their borders.

Different, Yet Similar

It came just one day after the United States Supreme Court ruled that a baker could refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Although the two cases are in many ways different, the judges in both cases didn’t treat them as being about gay rights. The American case was decided on procedural grounds and the baker’s religious belief. Whereas the European court based its ruling on the free movement of people…

Freedom Of Movement

For L.G.B.T. rights groups, the Coman/Hamilton verdict was a long time coming. “In 2004, when the freedom of movement directive was adopted, the term spouse was deliberately left vague,” said Katrin Hugendubel, the advocacy director at ILGA-Europe, a Brussels-based group that promotes gay and transgender rights.

“Legal Limbo”

She continued, “Since [2004], same-sex couples have been left in a legal limbo…in uncertainty.” But now, in this case, she added, that the court has clarified that all European Union Member States need to recognize marriages carried out in other member states and that all European citizens and their spouses have “full freedom of movement, which is one of the four fundamentals of the European Union.” As far as the other states of the European Union…

European Unions 28 Member States

Thirteen of the European Union’s 28 member states currently allow same-sex marriage, while a further nine allow civil unions or something similar. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Slovakia have neither.

Puts Pressure On Other Member States

Many experts in human rights law hope that the principle that “spouses” include same-sex partners will be binding for all courts and for those that join the European Union later. However, it can put pressure on the six member states without legal recognition to reconsider their legislation…

The Couple’s Lawyer Shares Her Views

All in all, the verdict, in this case, was unexpected, yet celebrated. The couple’s lawyer, Iustina Ionescu, described the case as “not just about same-sex marriage but about what the EU stands for- dignity, equality, respect for basic freedoms for all of us.”

Words From Coman

Ionescu believes that the verdict suggests that any future case brought by a couple married outside the bloc would be successful. Coman added in an interview that he had dreamed about this moment for a long time, saying, “I can barely believe it.”

New Court Ruling Is In Favor Of Same-Sex Couples Living In Europe is an article from: LifeDaily

Mother’s Day is supposed to be a day of showing your appreciation for mothers in society. Whether it’s your own mother, or any maternal bond or motherly influence you’ve had in your life, the day is a great chance to give something back.

But one homeless man living on New York City streets couldn’t acknowledge, appreciate, or respect what the day was supposed to be about. He took his anger out on two women who didn’t deserve it…

The Homeless In New York City

If you live in a rural community, you may not be used to seeing too many homeless people. But in big cities like New York City, the homeless population is climbing. In fact, it’s reported that there are more homeless people living in New York than in any other city in the country.

Worse Than Anywhere Else

More than 60,000 homeless people live in New York City and that number increases every year. Being that New York City is one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation, it’s not hard for people to fall on hard times. In fact…

Everyone’s Fighting To Stay Afloat

It seems that millions of Americans are just one paycheck away from being homeless. One unexpected expense like a large medical bill can deplete your savings and if you don’t have anyone to turn to for help, then you’re faced with a tough reality.

The Concrete Jungle

While it’s uncertain how the man in the following story became homeless, he allowed the “streets” to get the best of him. The concrete jungle quite literally turned him into a monster and his prey was two elderly women. Here’s what happened…

Minding Their Own Business

On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13, 2018, two elderly women were casually walking along Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. The women, aged 77, and 79 were of Asian descent and were shopping for groceries.

Surveillance Video

Although they were minding their own business, they were completely caught off guard. Surveillance cameras outside of a Shoppers World on Pitkin Avenue captured the frightening moment the two elderly women were attacked…

Out Of Nowhere

They never saw what was coming and in an instant, a homeless man approached the women. He shoved one of the women who was holding a shopping cart to the ground and her head smashed into the building. He then punched the other woman right behind her.

No Time To React

Before either of the women had time to react, the homeless man knocked them down to the ground with his fierce blows. It would have probably only taken one more hit to severely injure or even kill them. But what the attacker wasn’t considering…

The Homeless Hero

The homeless attacker had no idea there was an unexpected hero lurking right down the block. He was a homeless man himself and he had watched the coward attack these women with his own eyes.

Quick Decision Making

It bothered him so much that two innocent ladies were being unfairly harmed and he couldn’t bear the sight of it. He made a quick decision in the moment and jumped into action and presented himself in front of the homeless man, exacting revenge…

On Mother’s Day Nonetheless

The good Samaritan came out of nowhere and said to the homeless man, “Come on man, it’s Mother’s Day. Really?” He tackled the crazed attacker to the ground and held him there until a witness was able to call the police.

Witness

The witness, Jacaira Baez Mercedes was working in the store at the time and saw the end of the attack. She said, “I saw two men wrestling on the corner, and I was like they’re probably play fighting.” But they clearly weren’t…

What She Saw

“It was bad. [One of the women] was bleeding from her head and we had to give her tissues,” Mercedes said. “He risked it all…We should have more people like him in the neighborhood…He [even] held the man down until the police came.”

The Charges

The attacker was arrested by police, taken in for a psychiatric evaluation and later charged with two counts of felony and one misdemeanor. He was identified as Andres Flores, a 45-year-old homeless man. What’s interesting, however, is that, while one homeless man was very disturbed and dangerous, another was kind and empathetic. What’s the discrepancy?

Two Men From Different Sides Of The Block

Despite sleeping on nearby streets, both homeless men were fundamentally different. While it’s just a hypothesis, it’s likely that the homeless attacker did not have any friends or family of his own on the streets. As research shows, compared to homeless families, homeless single adults have much higher rates of severe mental illness, addiction, and other serious health problems.

Treatable Injuries

But thanks to the efforts of the good homeless man, both women survived the attack and were transported to Brookdale Hospital. They were later released after their injuries were treated. While the outcome wasn’t too bad in this situation, it could have been a lot worse. Here’s how…

Growing Homeless Population

Every night, thousands of unsheltered homeless people sleep on New York City streets or in subway stations. Being that the number of homeless New Yorkers sleeping each night in shelters is 83% higher than it was 10 years ago, it’s apparent that homelessness is a big problem.

Mental Illness

In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest it’s been since the Great Depression of the 1930s. A large majority of the homeless are people living with mental illness or other severe health problems. While you may think there’s nothing you can do to help, there is…

Acknowledge Them

Homelessness brings a sense of loneliness that really breaks a person’s spirit. When you see a homeless person, a simple smile or a word of kindness can make a big difference to their day. By acknowledging them in the street, or saying a simple ‘Hello’ can give them a great sense of self-worth.

Other Ways To Help The Homeless

If you’re too afraid to acknowledge or engage with a homeless person, then donating something like food or clothing to them can go a long way. If you are hesitant to donate money, in fear that it might feed an existing drug addiction, then even handing them a MetroCard with a few prepaid rides on it can be just what they need and it can go a long way. Check local websites to see how you can help the homeless in your area.

Frightening Attack On Elderly Women On Mother’s Day Could Have Ended Terribly is an article from: LifeDaily

Once upon a time, when a baby was abandoned or snatched at birth, there was almost no recourse for that child to find out who they really were later in life. However, with the advent of modern DNA testing for genealogy, that’s now a thing of the past.

A Texas woman called Sally loved her adoptive family passionately, but she always wondered who her biological parents were and whether or not she had any siblings. One special day then came and everything changed for Sally…

23andMe

23andme, for those who aren’t familiar, is a genealogy website, in the business of genomics and biotechnology, based in California. Basically, as with other websites, members of the public can send off a saliva specimen and find out a bunch of information about their DNA and ancestry.

Always Wondering

Even though Sally was raised well by the kind folks who adopted her, wanting for nothing in her childhood, she still always had a nagging voice in the back of her head. Where did she really come from? What was her ethnic background? So many unanswered questions were on Sally’s busy mind for so many years…

No Roots

The only thing Sally knew about her roots was that she had been abandoned as a newborn in a Virginia hospital bathroom. While Sally was sad that that was all she knew about her roots, she needed to know more and that nagging voice in her head was getting louder and louder as she grew older.

Moving Home

For the first 13 years of her life, Sally was raised by her new parents in Virginia where they had adopted her from. When Sally hit 13, her folks moved to North Texas, and Sally was raised as an only child. It was soon after she hit her teen years that Sally decided to do something about that voice in the back of her head…

Saliva Sample

Enough was enough, Sally Armstrong decided she was going to buy one of those DNA kits from 23andME and send off a saliva sample. “I grew up knowing that I was adopted and wondering, ‘Would I walk past them on the street and not know?'” she said, popping the sample in the mail and sending it to the website’s head office.

Living In Hope

Sally had always felt a little lonely. She was a happy enough person in general but she was simply unhappy a lot of the time. There was a pervading feeling of loneliness in Sally, as she waited, almost with bated breath for the DNA results from 23andMe. Maybe she had some distant family, or even some brothers and sisters…

Months Later

It would be a few months before Sally was to receive the shock of her life. Having sent her sample to the website in February, in May, she received a relative match notification from 23andME. Sally could hardly believe her eyes and rushed to open the notification on her computer.

It’s a Match!

Sally was shocked, but in a very good way when she read the notification which informed her that she had a sister in Pennsylvania. “Finding a relative was the farthest thing from my mind,” Sally said, but when her half-sister, Sterling Crawford, sent her a message soon after the initial notification, Sally was beaming…

Phone Call

Only two hours passed before the women were engaged in an exciting phone call with each other. The women chatted, almost as strangers would, but with a special difference. Both women said they felt a strong connection when they spoke, and then Sterling revealed another shocker to her new-found sister.

More Siblings

While Sally was just about getting over the shock of meeting her long-lost half-sister, Sterling told her some more amazing news: That she had another three half-siblings from the same mother! “I woke up this morning an only child,” Sally recalled, “Now, I’m going to bed the second youngest of five.”

Uncanny Resemblance

When Kevin Overton met his half-sister Sally for the first time he was bowled over. Having seen a lot in his career as a decorated police officer, Overton was in total shock and left speechless when he first laid eyes on Sally, “We all thought there has to be something wrong with that [kit]. But there’s no denying it. She looks just like us,” he said.

The Reunion

The first reunion between Sally and her half-siblings was an emotional one, to say the least. All those years apart made the whole encounter that much more special as Sally finally connected with her real roots for the first time. It was a remarkable feeling for everyone concerned, but especially for Sally who cried her heart out as she hugged her siblings for the first time…

Almost Delayed

To think that Sally was about to wait until her 30th birthday in September to make the cross-country trip for the reunion; it seemed so silly now. Sally finally felt at home, loved and in the company of people who not only looked like her but also sounded like her. Her husband who went on the trip with Sally was bursting with joy for his wife.

Same Smile

Even though Sally and her siblings only shared a mother, there were more similarities between her and her brothers and sisters than she had anticipated. Sally’s older brother Kevin’s smile was almost as big as hers, and she also looked like some of her other siblings in other ways…

Green Eyes

Sally had always been famous amongst her friends for her piercing green eyes. According to her, she almost fainted when she saw her brother Dorein’s eyes for the first time. They were the exact same shade of green as her own eyes, and equally as stunning, but that wasn’t all.

Same Voice

It may sound strange but when Sally received that first phone call from her sister Sterling all those months ago, she had felt at the time like she was talking to herself. All of the siblings found it remarkable that Sally and Sterling sounded just the same, even if their accents were different…

Emotional Outpouring

“I just wanted to give her a hug. I wanted to let her know that she has a big brother now and as long as I’m around, you’re going to be all right,” Overton said. Sally was so into the hugs with her big brother, she squeezed tight and never wanted to let go. But the experience was even more special than that for the newly reunited family.

Humbling Experience

“It was humbling. You think you know what’s going on in life and then it throws a curve ball,” Overton added. As the champagne bottles were popped and the siblings celebrated life together as a family for the first time, there were more than a few people who were touch by the experience. There was also reportedly not a dry eye in the room…

Best Weekend

Sally and her husband were pleased that they’d accepted the invitation from Kevin, and stayed at his family home for the weekend. During the weekend Sally got to know each of her siblings individually and felt she had an amazing click with all of them. It wasn’t enough to make up for the past 30 years but it was a start.

Staying In Touch

That amazing reunion weekend at Kevin’s place was just the start of things to come. As Sally said her tearful goodbyes to her siblings, her big brother hugged her tighter than ever before and assured her he would see her again soon. “When I was sitting in the airport. My eyes were burning,” Sally said, concluding, I love these people so much and I just met them.”

DNA Test Kit Leads Abandoned Woman To Long Lost Siblings is an article from: LifeDaily

A mother’s first pregnancy is equal parts thrilling and terrifying since everything is new and unknown. The second time around, however, is supposed to be easier on the nerves since a mother knows what to expect.

When a Hawaiian mother found out she was going to be a mother for the second time, she was thrilled and thought she knew exactly what to expect. Yet a few weeks later, she was left blindsided by a heart-breaking discovery that left her with an impossible choice to make. Thankfully, a cutting-edge treatment offered her another way out…

Joyous News

In 2017, Nichelle Obar and her husband, Chris Constantino, discovered they were pregnant with their second child and the couple from Kauai, Hawaii, were thrilled that their 3-year-old son, Gabriel, would have a little brother or sister to play with.

The Expectations

40-year-old Nichelle had a smooth pregnancy the first time around, so she expected her second pregnancy would be the same. At first, everything seemed to be going to plan, however, doctors noticed something unusual at their 18-week checkup…

The 18-Week Checkup

Nichelle and Chris had previously been told that they were going to have a baby girl, so when they went in for another ultrasound at 18-weeks, they expected to see their healthy baby girl growing bigger and stronger. Sadly, that wasn’t what they saw.

The Ultrasound

During the ultrasound, doctors explained that their baby girl’s heart was twice the size it should have been at that point in the pregnancy. According to the doctors, there was fluid building up around her lungs and other organs…

A Deadly Blood Disorder

Doctors performed some tests, which confirmed that Nichelle and Chris were both carriers of thalassemia, a blood disorder where abnormal red blood cells can’t carry oxygen throughout the body. Doctors explained that although they are both healthy and unaffected by the condition, their children are at risk of inheriting it from them.

Alpha Thalassemia Major

According to the doctors, since Nichelle and Chris are both carriers, any child they conceive has a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting the disease. Their first son was thankfully healthy, but their unborn daughter seemed to have inherited alpha Thalassemia major, the most severe type…

A Bad Sign

Doctors and a genetic counselor sat down with Nichelle and Chris and explained that their baby girl, who they already named Elianna, was showing signs of severe anemia as the blood flow in her brain was much faster than normal.

The Prognosis

Elianna had survived to the second trimester, but the genetic counselor told the devastated parents that she had little to no working hemoglobin, which would normally be carrying oxygen throughout the body. Elianna was literally suffocating and she wouldn’t last much longer…

On The Verge Of Heart Failure

“Her heart was working so hard,” said Nichelle, who was heartbroken that she would most likely lose her daughter. As the team of doctors explained, babies with thalassemia usually don’t survive the pregnancy and die from heart failure.

Mirror Syndrome

Nichelle was also warned that her own life was in danger. As the baby’s condition worsens, a mother can experience mirror syndrome where she becomes sick with extremely high blood pressure and other complications that can be deadly…

Overwhelming Risks

And if the baby does somehow survive until full term, they are often born with severe brain damage from not getting enough oxygen throughout the past 9 months. For those reasons, most mothers carrying a child with thalassemia are told to terminate the pregnancy.

A Heartbreaking Choice

“Everyone now is told to abort,” says Dr. Elliott Vichinsky, the founder of the Northern California Comprehensive Thalassaemia Centre at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Dr. Vichinsky is now working with Dr. Tippi MacKenzie, a pediatric and fetal surgeon, on a study looking at new treatment options for babies with thalassemia…

The Choices

According to Vichinsky, many doctors tell parents that there are no treatment options available and suggest terminating the pregnancy, but that isn’t true. “We understand families should make that decision if that’s right for them. We’re just saying they should be given the information that there are other options.” 1 option is performing blood transfusions throughout the pregnancy into the umbilical cord to save the baby and prevent brain damage. After birth, the child will need regular transfusions or can receive a bone-marrow transplant.

The Right To Know

According to Vichinsky, many doctors fail to mention these options because they can be expensive, are not guaranteed to work, and come with a variety of complications. “These are not unwanted pregnancies,” Dr. MacKenzie says. “We’re as pro-choice as you get. These are wanted pregnancies for whom therapy could be offered. And you can have a choice to terminate or you can have a choice to have therapy, but the bottom line is you have to be given those choices. And we recognize that’s a very personal choice, but we as doctors need to be providing you with those choices…”

A Well-Informed Decision

Thankfully, Nichelle and Chris were told those options. They were aware of all the risks but decided to proceed with the pregnancy. The couple’s genetic counselor also told the couple about the study that Dr. MacKenzie was leading at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, where they were experimenting with performing bone-marrow transplants in the womb.

The Study

According to the study, performing a bone-marrow transplant before birth can minimize the effects of thalassemia. By using the mother’s bone-marrow, there is also a smaller chance it will get rejected since the baby’s immune system isn’t fully developed…

An Experimental Treatment

In the normal treatment route, babies are given transfusions until birth and then undergo the bone-marrow transplant. By that point, their immune systems are stronger and they need chemotherapy to destroy their immune systems, which is dangerous especially when there’s still a chance the transplant will be rejected. Even though the study was still experimental, Nichelle and Chris decided to go ahead with the cutting-edge procedure.

A Cutting-Edge Procedure

When baby Elianna was 21 weeks along, she underwent her first blood transfusion and immediately showed signs of improvement. After that, stem cells from Nichelle’s bone marrow was injected into a vein in the umbilical cord, and she had 4 more blood transfusions…

The Birth

Elianna was born on February 1, 2018, but still needs blood transfusions every 3 weeks. “It is too early to say how effective the stem cell transplantation will be, but we are encouraged by how well she and her mother have tolerated the treatment,” Dr. Mackenzie said. So far, Nichelle’s stem cells have been found in Elianna’s blood. Only time will tell if they will cure her disease, or if she will need to undergo a traditional bone-marrow transplant.

Endless Possibilities

“I’m thrilled that it was safe and it was feasible,” Dr. MacKenzie added. If the treatment does cure Elianna, the same non-invasive treatment could potentially be used to cure hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, and other hereditary disorders previously thought to be incurable.

Unborn Baby Receives Breakthrough Treatment Saving Mom From Impossible Choice is an article from: LifeDaily

People born with disorders and special needs not only face a lifetime of health complications but, sadly, they can also face a lifetime of bullying just because they’re a little different.

After being born with a rare genetic disorder that affected his face and development, a California man has spent his life overcoming a variety of health obstacles. Because of the way he looks, it has also made him a target for bullying. However, after a recent attack left him terrified, his favorite team found a way to show him he’s never alone…

Difficult News

When Sylvia and Joe Cadena met their newborn son 27 years ago, they instantly fell in love with their perfect baby boy, who they named Michael. However, after his birth, doctors had some difficult news to break to the new parents.

Apert Syndrome

Doctors explained to the California couple that their newborn had been born with a rare genetic disorder called Apert syndrome. As a result of the genetic disorder, bones in Michael’s skull had fused prematurely, which stops the skull from growing normally…

The Health Complications

Because bones in Michael’s skull were already fused, it affected the shape of his head and face. Over the years, Michael has faced a variety of health complications caused by the genetic disorder and has had to undergo several surgeries.

A Target For Bullies

However, health complications aren’t the only thing Michael has had to overcome as he’s grown up. Because Apert syndrome affects the shape of the head and face, Michael looks different and has been a target for bullies his entire life…

Standing Up Against The Bullies

As a child, Michael’s parents taught him to never let bullies push him around because he’s different and to always stand up for himself. “We told him, ‘Don’t be a bully and don’t be bullied,’” Joe Cadena said about the mentality they taught Michael to have.

Still A Target

Even though Michael’s development was delayed during adolescence, he decided he wanted to get a job as an adult at a local thrift store, Savers, in Riverside, California. Even though he was now an adult, Joe and Sylvia warned him that he may still face bullies while out in public on his own…

Staying Safe

“We’ve taught Michael to be careful out there, not to talk to strangers,” said Sylvia, who is supportive of anything her son wants to do but also wants to make sure he is safe. Then 1 day in April 2018, Michael saw for himself what his parents had warned him about.

A Trip To Target

On April 12, Michael took a bus and then rode his scooter to work. However, when he arrived in the area earlier than his shift started, he decided to stop at the Target nearby. Unfortunately, he didn’t even make it inside the store before someone started harassing him…

Looks Like Trouble

While walking up to the entrance, Michael saw a couple of men loitering outside and he immediately knew they were going to be trouble for him. “He knew they were up to no good,” Sylvia explained. As Michael got closer to the entrance, he tried to make it past them but 1 of the men stepped out in front of him.

Standing His Ground

Michael is a diehard Los Angeles Dodgers fan and had been wearing his favorite Dodgers baseball hat, which he wears everywhere he goes. “One guy approached and said, ‘Give me your hat,’ and Michael said, ‘No’,” Sylvia said…

The Attack

The man told Michael to hand over his hat once again, so Michael made his way into the store to get help from an employee. But the man followed Michael inside, and before he could get help, the man pushed him, grabbed the hat, and walked out.

Filing A Report

“I was scared and nervous and frightened,” Michael said. “My heart was pounding. They shoved me.” Even though Michael was afraid, he went to the store’s security to tell them what happened. They immediately called the police and Michael filed a reported for a robbery when they arrived at the scene…

Speaking His Mind

“He did the right thing,” Joe said after the incident. “He knows what to do. I’m really proud that that day he went into the store and asked for help,” Sylvia added. “Proud for speaking up and saying what was in his heart and mind.”

Turning To Social Media

Police opened up an investigation into the robbery and Sylvia posted about the incident online in the hopes that it would help the investigation and lead to the thief. The post quickly spread around the community, however, and the response left the entire family speechless…

An Unexpected Response

After people heard what happened to Michael, people around Riverside started sending Michael new LA Dodgers hats. In addition to hats, someone even gave the family tickets to see the Dodgers play the Miami Marlins, who they beat 2-1.

A Dream Come True

Soon enough, the Dodgers heard about what happened to their devoted fan. Not only did they give Michael and his family free tickets to a home game against the Philadelphia Phillies, but they also invited him to throw the ceremonial first pitch…

Overcoming Yet Another Obstacle

For Michael, this was a dream come true. Even though he had never actually thrown a ball because some of his fingers are fused together, another symptom of Apert syndrome, he immediately went out to the backyard and started practicing with his dad.

A Life-Changing Experience

“He’s the kind of kid if you tell him he can’t do something, he will,” Michael’s sister, Christina Archibald, said. On the day of the game, Michael got to meet his favorite players and hang out on the field before throwing out the first pitch of the game to his favorite player, Cody Bellinger…

The Opening Pitch

“I had told him to go from a distance of about 40 feet, but for whatever reason, he went to the top of the mound. I’m proud of him. He did well,” Joe said. “He made out like a champ. He’s on cloud 9 right now. He’s beyond words,” Joe added after the game.

Bad Things Leading To Good

“It’s unfortunate that this happened, for someone to target someone so innocent and vulnerable. But lots of love has come out of this. We’re really grateful for the community, grateful for the support,” Sylvia said. “We’re very excited to host him,” said Naomi Rodriguez, vice president of external affairs and community relations for the Dodgers. “We really wanted to tell him that we love him, and he’s not alone.”

Team Rallies Behind Special Needs Fan After Bullies Stole Favorite Dodgers Cap is an article from: LifeDaily

When a little girl went to live with her father, the family imagined they’d be so close and she’d grow up to be “daddy’s little girl.” But one anonymous phone call to the cops proved that this was not the case.

The call opened a can of worms on what was really going on in the family’s home. Yet, with all the evidence right in front of their faces, child protective services failed to see what was really going on. They soon learned it was one of worst decisions they ever made…

A Preemie

When baby Andie first came into the world, she was born prematurely. As many preemie babies have to, Andie had to receive nourishment through feeding tubes in her nose and stomach.

Finding a Suitable Home

Besides having a rough start in life, little Andie’s mom was not equipped to care for her. She was a drug addict in and out of rehab and Andie’s best bet was to go live with her dad and his former beauty pageant wife…

Going to Live With Dad

Christopher, 23, lived with his girlfriend, Guadalupe, 23, who was previously crowned Miss Clackamas County. She competed to represent Oregon in the Miss America Pageant, but when she failed to win, she stopped competing.

Something was Wrong

In the pageant’s program, Guadalupe wrote, “Never stop dreaming, dreams really do come true.” At first, when Andie went to live with the couple, things seemed to be going well. But, after some time, Marrian Turner, Andie’s grandmother had a bad feeling about the arrangement…

Suspicious Call

Someone outside the family also became suspicious when they noticed that Andie wasn’t gaining any weight. Despite her premature birth, Andie should have been healthy and thriving.

Getting Information

The concerned neighbor decided to call child protective services on the family and they reported to the home in January 2009. The child welfare worker visited Andie and her parents and also spoke with Andie’s preschool teachers…

“Unfounded”

She determined the child did not show any signs of physical injury and doctors at this time were also overseeing Andie’s weight and health issues. The allegations against Christopher and Guadalupe were determined to be “unfounded” and the child abuse case was closed the following month.

Failure to Gather Information

However, the caseworker failed to do one very important thing. She didn’t see Andie away from her parents. Doing so could have given her a glimpse into something that they were trying to cover up. Then, Andie’s parents pulled her out of daycare…

The School Failed the Family

It was only a short time after the state investigation closed and this should have raised numerous red flags. Except it didn’t. Child protective services didn’t bat an eyelid and Andie’s preschool failed to report anything as well.

April 2010

Welfare officials didn’t have any contact with the family again until April 13, 2010, when medics were called to Andie’s home. When they arrived, they found the child unconscious and not breathing and she was rushed to an Oregon emergency room…

Untimely Demise

Andie, who was now 5-years-old weighed only 28 pounds, about 12 pounds below what a healthy girl her age should weigh. Despite medical professionals best efforts, they were unable to save Andie and she wound up dying shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Evidence of Abuse

On her body, doctors found five broken ribs, a leg that had been broken more than once, and other scrapes and scars. Gresham police and Multnomah County child abuse investigators have called the case one of the worst they’ve seen in 20 years…

Worst Case Scenario

After Andie’s death, other neighbors spoke out saying that the child was so fragile, they often saw her walking around with a feeding tube. Additionally, Melanie Quintero, Guadalupe’s mother, who helped care for Andie when the couple lived with them, later told police she was afraid to tell authorities what was really going on.

Witheld Abuse

Melanie said she saw Andie’s dad, Christopher Rosillo, shove hot peppers down Andie’s throat and he forced her to eat her own feces after she went to the bathroom in her pants. Other relatives also recalled disturbing things that Rosillo did to Andie saying they warned him that he shouldn’t be treating his daughter this way…

They Warned Rosillo

Relatives recounted that Rosillo would order his daughter to kneel in a corner for extended lengths of time and one relative told police he saw Rosillo pick Andie up by the neck with one hand. But, many wondered why the entire family would keep quiet about Rosillo’s despicable treatment towards his daughter.

Afraid to Speak Up

Nathan Vasquez, a Multnomah County deputy district attorney said it’s not completely uncommon for families and close friends to keep their knowledge or suspicion to themselves. Katharine Cahn, a faculty member at Portland’s State University’s School of social work, says that people are often afraid to speak out against a bully. But, Rosillo’s parents were not afraid. In fact, they were so concerned that they took Andie into their home for three months…

Horrific Treatment

There, she gained weight, grew talkative, and adored adult attention. But Rosillo wanted his daughter back and the grandparents had no grounds to resist. After she was back in her father’s home, Rosillo’s stepfather, Frank Turner, said she appeared to lose weight again.

Additional Evidence

He also noted that the child always had abuses and other marks. At one point he even made an anonymous phone call to a national child abuse hotline, but welfare and law enforcement officials said they couldn’t find any evidence of a call. Then, in late 2007, Turner took photos of Andie’s bruises and other injuries, and he finally gave them to police who were investigating her death…

Life in Prison

“He abused that little girl,” Melanie Quintero said. “And I’m so sorry I didn’t say anything.” All of the evidence police accumulated in addition to the autopsy report was more than enough to convict Rosillo. He’s since pleaded guilty to murder by abuse and he’s been sentenced to life in prison.

Unsettling Curse

His girlfriend Guadalupe also pleaded guilty to manslaughter and three counts of criminal mistreatment and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The entire case was unsettling due to the family failing to report abuse and the Oregon Department of Human Services clumsy follow-through. The couple’s two other children, a 3-year-old and an 11-month-old were taken into protective custody upon the parents’ arrests.

Police Uncover Sadistic Father’s Web Of Lies After Unsettling Discovery is an article from: LifeDaily

60 years after the abolition of slavery, an anthropologist made a remarkable discovery: She located the LAST surviving slave on the last ship to bring Africans to the United States.

In his own words, a heartbreaking story of a young African man who had been kidnapped from his home, crammed into a boat for months, and sent off to America to be sold as a slave…

The Lost Interview

In the 1930s, Zora, an anthropologist, conducted many interviews with the last survivor. But, she had struggled to find someone who would publish her findings a book. Black emancipation was the last thing people were interested in reading about. In fact, they are only now being released to the public in a book…

Stolen Dreams

Zora’s book tells the story of Cudjo, who was born in what is now the West African country of Benin. He was only 19 years old when members of the neighboring Dahomian tribe beat him, captured him, and took him to the coast to be sold off.

Tried To Avoid His Capture

A significant time in Cudjo’s life, he was a young man who had dreamt of marrying his childhood love and starting his own family. He had known of friends and family who had been kidnapped by slave traders and sent off to unknown lands, but he had tried his best to evade them and was hopeful he would be one of the lucky ones, but he was wrong…

A Night That Would Shatter Lives

Like most nights, after an evening meal with his parents and sisters, they would often exchange tribal folklore until the spell of sleep took over. But, this night would be very different than the others. This night would shatter lives….

Unwanted Visitors

Cudjo and his family had finished their nightly tradition and were in the midst of sleeping when numerous men with swords barged into their home. Startled and terrified, Cudjo and his family asked them what they had wanted and demanded they leave. But, there was no chance they would not leave until they got what they had come for…

Last Time To See Them

The men from the neighboring Dahomian tribe beat Cudjo and told him to say his goodbyes. There was no room or time for questions or objections. His family had been helpless to the merciless intruders. Cudjo looked at his family, especially his mama, knowing it would be the last time he would ever see them again…

The Clotilda Ship

When Cudjo had been brought to the shore, as he looked around, men like himself stood on platforms, helplessly waiting to be sold. Within a few minutes, but what had seemed like days, Cudjo and about 120 others were sold into slavery and crammed onto the Clotilda, the last slave ship to reach the continental United States…

Around The Law

The Clotilda brought its captives to Alabama in 1860. Even though slavery was legal at that time in America, the international slave trade was not. America had outlawed the practice in 1807, but Cudjo Lewis’ journey is an example of how slave traders went around the law to continue bringing over human cargo.

Snuck Into The Night

To avoid detection from authorities, Cudjo’s captors snuck him and the other survivors into Alabama at night. They were forced to hide in a swamp for several days. They sat quietly, in the darkness and cold, awaiting their unknown fate…

Lucky To Survive

At this point, it had been several days that the fearful captives had battled hunger and thirst, but even then, they were still lucky to survive. Due to hunger, physical abuse, and filthy conditions, countless captives had died on their voyages…

A Ship Set On Fire

To hide the evidence of their crime, the 86-foot sailboat was then set ablaze on the banks of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta (its remains have been uncovered in January 2018). This would guarantee destroying any possible trace of human cargo entering the country.

The Grim Reality

Cudjo’s narrative provides a first-hand account of the devastating trauma of slavery. His interview gave the world a magnified lens into the grim reality of the process of slavery, and the forgotten horror of the voyages to unknown places. 

Friendship In The Midst Of Tragedy

The captives spent several months crammed together during the treacherous passage to the United States. But, they still were able to form friendships in the midst of their tragedy, only to be separated in Alabama to go to different plantations.

Like Family

After months crammed together in filthy conditions, there was still light to be found. In his own words, Cudjo describes dealing with the separation from the other captives who had become like his family.  “We very sorry to be parted from one ’nother,” Cudjo told Zora. “We seventy days cross de water from de Affica soil, and now dey part us from one ’nother. Derefore we cry.”

Dreamt Of HIs Mom

But, Cudjo’s anguish is reflected the most when he speaks about his mom. During the interview with Zora, Cudjo could barely find the words to describe the emotions he has felt throughout his life when he thinks of her. He often stops the interview to cry: “My grief so heavy I cain stand it. I think maybe I die in my sleep when I dream about my mama.”

White Man’s Property

When Cudjo finally arrived to the slave plantation, no one spoke his language, nor could they explain to him where he was or what was going on. He only knew one thing, something that didn’t require any language whatsoever. He knew he was a white man’s property and forever enslaved to him…

The War In The Background

But while Cudjo worked for years as a slave, something radical was happening in America that would forever change the course of its’ history. Cudjo had no idea that the the Civil War had begun. But part-way through, he began to hear that the North had started a war to free enslaved people like him. He dismissed the thought, thinking that day would never come. He had lost all that was important to him, including his dignity, there was no room for hope in his mind.

Words He Thought He Would Never Hear

A few days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered in April 1865. One day, when Cudjo and other enslaved people were working on a boat, union soldiers walked by and told them something Cudjo never thought he would ever hear…you’re free…

Where Do I Go?

Not sure where to go or simply, what to do next, in a country which had been nothing but terrible to him. He didn’t have a dollar in his pocket nor a place to sleep. Cudjo expected to receive some sort of compensation for being kidnapped and forced into slavery, and was frustrated to discover that emancipation didn’t come with the promise of “forty acres and a mule.”

Did He Find A Home?

Frustrated by the refusal of the government to provide him with land to live on after stealing him away from his homeland, he and a group of 31 other free people saved up money to buy land near the state capital of Mobile, which they called Africatown. Cudjo would never see his family again but dreamt about his mama until the day he died. 

The Last Slave Ship Survivor Gave an Interview in the 1930s That Surfaced Almost Ninety Years Later is an article from: LifeDaily

When someone is in the public eye, we feel like we know them. Despite the fact that we may never meet this person, we see so much of them that it can feel just like they’re a friend of ours. But regardless of how much of their public life we see, that person has a private life that is completely separate and usually hidden from our eyes.

We can assume that most famous people are more-or-less just like everyone else in their private time. But just like ordinary folks, that means they can have the same kinds of problems as you or me…

Bit By The Wrestling Bug

As a young man, Chuck Williams loved professional wrestling. There was something about the showmanship and physicality of sport that was somehow irresistible to him. So he sought out the mentorship of 2 legends of the sport, Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton, better known as the tag team duo “The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express.”

Rockin’ Protege

Under their tutelage, Chuck made his professional wrestling debut in December of 1988 for the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance under the name “Rockin’ Rebel.” Fighting for the Philadelphia-based organization, he would have a great deal of success both as an independent wrestler and as part of a tag team duo…

International Success

Over the next couple of decades, Chuck would work for a number of different organizations, smaller ones like ECW, as well as the “pepsi and coke” of the wrestling world at the time, WCW and WWF (now WWE). His work would take him around the country and around the world to places like Japan and Korea. It was the kind of career a young wrestler would dream of.

Meeting The One

Along the way, he accomplished something arguably greater than a stellar wrestling career: finding the love of his life, a woman named Stephanie. The two of them fell for each other and got married, eventually settling down in West Goshen, PA…

Let’s Have A Baby

As Chuck and Stephanie reached middle age and the Rockin’ Rebel’s career began to wane, they decided to try for a child. They were ecstatic when they found out that instead of just one child, they’d been blessed with fraternal twins, a boy and a girl who they named Colton and Maddison.

Settling Down

As the bright lights of the wrestling ring began to dim, Chuck started working for more small-time, local promotions while Stephanie ran a small daycare business out of their home. But though there was exposure, glitz, and glamor for him, it’s not to say the Rockin Rebel wasn’t without a loyal fanbase…

Positive Messages

Chuck, now in his early 50s, would still communicate with his fans through his Facebook page, posting positive messages like “Wake up every day and smile, it’s a new day and a fresh start…” or “Days of spending time with the ones who love you and you love them are far and few, make them count…” But behind the positive messages, not everything was great in his life.

There’s Always Problems

According to Chuck and Stephanie’s neighbors, it wasn’t uncommon for there to be some sort of domestic altercation at their home. “They were quiet, they kept to themselves,” said one neighbor, a woman named Stephanie Seiple. “There were always problems over there. The police were there a lot.” …

Waking Up

We don’t know exactly how long the domestic issues had been going on but we do know with absolute certainty when they ended. One morning in early June of 2018, Colton woke up in the morning just as he would on any other day. The first thing the 10-year-old did was go to see his parents.

Scarring Scene

But when he got to his parents room, he saw something that no kid should ever have to see. Colton was witness to a terrible scene with both his parents lying cold on the floor, blood pooling beneath them, and in his father’s hand was a pistol…

Mommy And Daddy

“Colton only being 10 years old found both his mommy and daddy,” said Stephanie’s brother, Chad. “He took their pulse and then ran upstairs to get his sister and had to tell her what happened.”

Cool-Headed Colton

“They both had to pass their mother and father again on the way out,” Chad continued, “while Colton also retrieved their dog Appolo.” Despite his young age, Colton handled the situation in a remarkably responsible fashion…

No More Hurt

After getting his sister Maddison and their dog out of the house, Colton told her to wait outside in the driveway. He then “went back to the house to call 911 where he then found the gun that was used and moved it from his father’s hand so no one else could be hurt,” Chad said.

Gone

When first responders arrived on the scene, they confirmed what Colton already knew: both his parents were dead. By the time Stephanie’s brother arrived on the scene, there was already a working theory about what had happened…

Awful Tragedy

When Chad arrived, Colton told him that “his Daddy shot Mommy and then himself.” Apparently, during the night there had been an altercation between Chuck and Stephanie like the many that had happened before. But this time, things had gone beyond the point of no return.

‘Absolute Shock’

That Chuck would do such a thing came as a massive surprise and devastating shock to the Rockin’ Rebel’s fans and former colleagues. “I have known him for over 30 years and I am in absolute shock,” said his promoter, Rob Feinstein…

Rembering The Good

“I have not talked to him in a long time but he was legit one of the funniest guys I have ever been around,” Rob added. “I never had any issues with him ever as he was always a barrel of laughs. God, I have so many stories and memories and I just want to remember him for who he was, not the past 24 hours.”

‘Crazy Society’

“We live in a crazy society and this is just tragic as I feel bad for their kids,” Rob continued. It was unclear at that point what would happen to Colton and Maddison, though 2 things are sure. First, they will surely be scarred for life by their parents’ deaths. Second, their extended family will step in to help the now parentless twins…

She Was Many Things

Chad set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the unexpected funeral costs where he described her as “the first born leader, the glue, the best friend, the heart of gold, the crafty one, the brain, and most importantly the best mother those children could ever have.” Within a short period of time, they had surpassed the $20,000 goal set.

There Is Help For You

If you are currently experiencing domestic violence, know that you’re not alone and there are people who will help you, whatever your situation. Please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1 800 799 7233 or, if you’re sure that your internet usage is not being monitored, go to www.thehotline.org. If you are concerned that a friend or loved one may be in a domestic abuse situation, please visit http://www.thehotline.org/help/help-for-friends-and-family/.

Police Search For Motive After Pro-Wrestler’s Son Makes Traumatic Discovery is an article from: LifeDaily