Tyler Dasher, an one-year-old missing toddler from Affton, Missouri has been found dead in the woods just few hours he was reported vanished from his home.
One person has been arrested in connection with the death of Tyler Dasher.
The boy was discovered by dog walkers at 3:30 p.m. yesterday, one mile from his St Louis suburban home in Affton, and 100 ft from a busy main road.
It followed a frantic four-hour emergency services search for the child.
Toddler’s mother Shelby Dasher, 20, said she had put him to bed at 10:30 p.m. on Monday night.
Tyler Dasher, an one-year-old missing toddler from Affton, Missouri has been found dead in the woods just few hours he was reported vanished from his home
Shelby Dasher told police she had then overslept, and when she awoke at 11:00 a.m. found the boy was missing.
At 5:42 this morning, St Louis County police issued a news release saying that a person had been taken into custody. They would not release any more details or say if it was a man or a woman.
STLToday.com reported that at 6:30 a.m., police escorted someone who appeared to be a woman to where the body was found and then to Tyler Dasher’s home.
Detectives conducted interviews through the night as they investigated Tyler Dasher’s death. Among those being interviewing were Tyler Dasher’s mother, father and grandmother.
A witness reported seeing an adult in a dark sweatshirt walking down the street, carrying a child wrapped in a blanket in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
But there was no signs of forced entry into the home where the child was sleeping.
St Louis Country Police chief said a medical examiner did not immediately determine the cause of death.
He told STLToday.com: “Anyone that would take a child into a wooded area like this needs to be dealt with severely by the criminal justice system.”
Police chief called for anyone involved in Tyler Dasher’s death to be brought to justice, but said that there were no immediate suspects.
Officer Rick Eckhard, of St Louis County Police Department, said: “There is no way to explain how this child got out of his crib, out of his room and out of the house.”
Yesterday an area near the cemetery was cordoned off with yellow police tape as force dogs sniffed the ground. A cluster of young adults cried and hugged as they looked on.
KSDK reported that mother Shelby Dasher filed a restraining order against Tyler Dasher’s dad Joseph Ellington in the fall of 2010. The order was cancelled one month later.
A local St Louis news outlet also reported that in March of this year, Joseph Ellington’s parents attempted to be named his legal guardians, claiming he is disabled.
Apple has decided to recall the first generation of iPod Nano due to a defect of batteries.
The company has warned that the batteries on the iPod Nano can catch fire – but only on the very oldest models.
The defect discovered in the batteries appears to get worse over time.
Apple announced that is offering a replacement, new iPod Nano – a serious technological upgrade which adds a touchscreen, an FM radio and a pedometer to the rather basic Nano that late Apple CEO Steve Jobs launched six years ago.
It’s not clear what incident sparked the current recal. There have been unconfirmed and highly isolated reports of batteries overheating around the world, including incidents where overheating batteries set fire to users’ clothes. But it’s not exactly an epidemic.
Apple has decided to recall the first generation of iPod Nano due to a defect of batteries
In a statement, the company said:
“Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006.”
“‘This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages.
“Apple recommends that you stop using your iPod nano (1st gen) and follow the process noted below to order a replacement unit, free of charge.”
Apple says serial numbers will be checked to ensure the units are affected – you can check via their website.
iPod Nano replacements will be issued within six weeks.
A teacher at Batesburg-Leesville Primary School, South Carolina, has been accused by first graders parents of picking out students in her class to rub her feet.
The teacher, who has not been named, was disciplined, but still has her job teaching six and seven-year-olds, leaving the community troubled.
The allegations came out when one of the teacher’s students told her grandmother she didn’t want to give any more foot massages.
The grandmother, Brends Norris, told WISTV in Columbia, South Carolina, Tuesday:
“She admitted to the children rubbing her feet. Just the thought of it.”
“They immediately sent her home, but she’s back there today.”
When Brends Norris took to Facebook to talk about the teacher, she found at least six other parents whose children reported the same thing, she said.
The six-year-old girl told her grandmother her teacher wore flip-flops to school so she could simply slip them off for her pupils to rub her feet.
Brends Norris suggested the school district would need to do more to win back her trust and repair that trauma her granddaughter is experiencing
Brends Norris said she taught her granddaughter to tell her if anyone every touched her inappropriately.
“She told me, <<Grandma, you didn’t tell me if I touch someone else, to tell you>>. That broke my heart,” Brends Norris said.
Brends Norris said being forced to rub her teacher’s feet has caused her granddaughter to have nightmares.
“She said <<I have three wishes, grandma. One of them was not to go to school today>>” Brends Norris said.
Officials at Lexington County School District Three said they investigated the allegations, took action and corrected the problem – but would not give specifics.
The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and police are both investigating. A community meeting is also planned.
Brends Norris suggested the school district would need to do more to win back her trust and repair that trauma her granddaughter is experiencing.
“I don’t trust the system at all now. I can’t trust the system. I’m afraid for her to go to school,” the grandmother said.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took a picture pretending to give Yevgeny Savchenko, Governor of Belgorod, an oral hygiene check at a dentistry center during a campaign visit.
Vladimir Putin, 59, was in the region glad-handing as part of his campaign for a third term as president in 2012.
Russian PM also visited a municipal district ambulance, a local hospital, a school of arts and a community centre.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took a picture pretending to give Yevgeny Savchenko, Governor of Belgorod, an oral hygiene check at a dentistry center during a campaign visit
It was an auspicious day for Vladimir Putin, who was also announced today as China’s Peacemaker of the Year.
The unlikely recipient of the Beijing’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize.
A panel of 16 academics chose Vladimir Putin ahead of other candidates, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist.
The tipping point appeared to be Vladimir Putin’s role in Libya, where he opposed NATO’s involvement in trying to topple the Gaddafi regime. Critics say Vladimir Putin’s stand had no bearing on the outcome of the north African conflict.
“This April or May, Putin was against NATO’s idea to bomb Libya and he appeared to the world in a peaceful manner,” said Qiao Damo, one of the organizers.
The “Confucius Peace Prize” is as controversial as its choice of honouree.
It was only launched last year, just two days after jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel prize to Beijing’s anger.
The thinly-veiled attempt to upstage the Nobel ended in farce when last year’s winner, Taiwan’s former vice president Lien Chan, failed to show up and the $15,000 award was collected for him by a schoolgirl.
It was unclear last night whether Vladimir Putin was even aware that he had won the award, but organizers are planning to hold the presentation on December 9, the day before the Nobel prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
Even the Chinese government was uncomfortable at the transparency of the attempt to undermine the long established peace award. The Culture Ministry ordered organizers to scrap the award in September, saying they were not given official permission to go ahead.
But the panel defied the decision, arguing it was “unreasonable” to cancel the prize at such late notice. Nine of the 16 judges voted for Vladimir Putin.
“I feel the Nobel Peace Prize has gone too far away from peace and their standard has gone too far away from the essence of peace,” said Qiao Damo.
“Western values are not perfect and need an alternative to balkance them out,” he added.
Ashlynn Conner, a 10-year-old girl from Ridge Farm, Illinois, who was a cheerleader and honour student at her school, killed herself after a torment of bullies.
Ashlynn Conner’s mother, Stacy, said she knew about the bullying, but never thought it would drive her daughter to kill herself.
Stacy Conner, said she had planned to meet with the school principal this week after Ashlynn complained she was being taunted by schoolmates who called her fat, ugly and worse.
The mother told WCIA-TV: “They’d call her a slut. Ashlynn’s ugly. She’s fat.”
“I thought my kids are strong kids, and that my words for them for guidance and advice was going to have more weight than what these kids could be saying.”
On Thursday, Ashlynn Conner pleaded with her mother to allow her to be home schooled to escape Ridge Farm Elementary – and the mother refused.
Ashlynn Conner, a 10-year-old girl from Ridge Farm, Illinois, who was a cheerleader and honour student at her school, killed herself after a torment of bullies
On Friday, Ashlynn Conner was dead, having hanged herself. She was found in a closet, hanging by a scarf. Her teenaged sister made the grim discovery.
Now, Ashlynn Conner’s grief-stricken family hopes that her story will make a difference in the lives of other children who are bullied.
Grief counselors, social workers and school psychologists spoke with Ashlynn’s classmates at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary School in Georgetown, Ill.
“We’ve had death before due to accidents and illness but nothing like this,” said Kevin Tate, interim superintendent of Georgetown-Ridge Farm Schools.
Kevin Tate is also a neighbor, who lives two houses away from Ashlynn’s family. He is one of many in this small town trying to cope with the news. “She had just come over last week. She seemed like a happy-go-lucky, good-natured girl. I just can’t get a handle on it.”
Ashlynn Conner’s aunt, Kim Wright, told ABC News: “If she just saves one child from being bullied, if one bully gets this message and thinks about it and says, I’m not going to make another kid feel that way … she did it.”
Ashlynn Conner’s death is the latest in a startling trend.
Two months ago, Jamey Rodemeyer, a bullied teen from Buffalo, New York, was found dead outside his home.
The 14-year-old was a big fan of Lady Gaga and sent her a message on Twitter saying: “Bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever,” before he killed himself.
Moved by his death, Lady Gaga performed her song “Hair” a few days after Jamey Rodemeyer’s death and dedicated it to him.
Eight-year-old Tori Blair Wilson hanged herself from a tree in May just 80 yards from her home in Palestine, Texas. Investigators believe she was bullied at school but failed to find specific culprits.
In March, Chevonea Kendall-Bryan, 13, fell 60 feet to her death in London after being hounded by other girls outside of school.
Perhaps the most high-profile cyber-bullying related death was that of Tyler Clementi last year. The 18-year-old Rutgers student from New Jersey plunged to his death from New York’s George Washington Bridge after his gay sex session was allegedly filmed by his roommate.
Joe Amendola, Jerry Sandusky’s defense attorney, got a teenage girl pregnant when she was 17 and he was 49, according to a report.
Joe Amendola, now 63, is said to have later married Mary Lavasile.
According to The Daily newspaper, which quoted from documents of State College, Pennsylvania, Joe Amendola represented Mary Lavasile in an emancipation hearing in 1996 just weeks before her 17th birthday.
At about the same time, Mary Lavasile became pregnant with Joe Amendola’s child, her mother, Janet, told The Daily.
The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16.
Janet Lavasile said she thought Joe Amendola was a “mentor” figure to her daughter and did not realize the extent of their relationship.
“She met him through the school district; she was interested in the law,” said Janet Lavasile.
Joe Amendola is said to have married Mary Lavasile in February, 2003, but they split after having two children together
Joe Amendola is said to have married Mary Lavasile in February, 2003, but they split after having two children together.
Joe Amendola’s estranged wife, now aged 32, kept his name. Mary Amendola hasn’t commented on the report.
“Joe is a very good father and has loved his two children very much, and that’s the most important thing for me right now,” said Janet Lavasile.
Joe Amendola has gone on the offensive for Jerry Sandusky to claim the one-time heir apparent to Joe Paterno was just “horsing aroun”’ with young boys and wasn’t guilty of sexual abuse.
The lawyer apparently gave his blessing to his client to agree to a phone interview with NBC sports presenter Bob Costas on Monday night when Jerry Sandusky acknowledge he did engage in inappropriate behavior with boys, including taking showers with them.
Jerry Sandusky insisted, however, that he was not sexually attracted to children.
When Bob Costas asked Joe Amendola if he would leave his children alone with Jerry Sandusky, the lawyer answered: “Yes, without hesitation.”
On her Facebook page afterwards, Mary Amendola wrote: “OMG. Did Joe just say that he would allow my kids to be alone with Jerry Sandusky?”
Mohammad Shafia, a Muslim father from Ontario, Canada, was charged with murdering his three daughters in apparent honour killings has said he would do it again – even if they came back to life 100 times.
Mohammad Shafia, 58, cursed his daughters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, saying they were “treacherous” as he likened them to prostitutes during a conversation that was recorded by police.
The father is on trial for his daughters’ murders after they were found dead in the family car along with his first wife, Rona Amir, 50, in the Rideau Canal, located in the Kingston area of Ontario in Canada in 2009.
Initially police thought the family had been involved in an accident and Mohammad Shafia told them during an interview that he didn’t know where they were.
However, Mohammad Shafia version of accounts did not add up and he was arrested and charged with their murder.
Mohammad Shafia, a Muslim father from Ontario, Canada, was charged with murdering his three daughters in apparent honour killings has said he would do it again - even if they came back to life 100 times
Mohammad Shafia, who moved to Canada from Afghanistan with his family, is polygamous and after his arrest was heard telling his second wife, Tooba Yahya, that their daughters had brought shame on the family.
Mohammad Shafia said one day after his arrest: “Even if, God forbid, they hoist us on to the gallows… we accept it wholeheartedly.“
The court heard the recordings in which Mohammad Shafia talks about his daughters and the fact that they were dating while ranting about the family’s honour.
Zainab had married her boyfriend – a Pakistani man – angering her father and causing family turmoil.
After Tooba Yahya said that she knew Zainab was “already done” but wished “the two others” weren’t, Mohammad Shafia responded saying: “No Tooba, they were treacherous.”
Tooba Yahya, 41, and their son, Hamed, 20, are both on trial with him facing charges of first-degree murder. Hamed has denied even being at the death scene. All three have pleaded not guilty to murder.
Speaking about pictures of his daughter Mohammad Shafia said he was consoled adding:
“No Tooba, they were treacherous. When I tell you to be patient, you tell me that it is hard.
“It isn’t harder than watching them every hour with (boyfriends). For this reason whenever I see those pictures, I am consoled.
“I say to myself, <<You did well. Would they come back to life a hundred times, for you to do the same again>>.”
Mohammad Shafia also says that the family had been violated in the worst possible way.
“May the devil…(defecate) on their graves. Is that what a daughter should be? Would (a daughter) be such a whore?”
The jury has also seen graphic underwater video in which a pair of legs can be seen in the murky water.
One of the victims’ heads can be seen facing down with hair obscuring her face, according to the Canadian Press, while blankets, a yellow bag, a body and victim’s hand are visible on the passenger side.
There was nobody sat in the driver’s seat.
Mohammad Shaifa’s first wife Rona and Sahar were seen on the back seat, their heads touching.
One of the windows was open on the car, but it appears that no attempts had been made by any of the victims to escape from the vehicle.
The family was returning from a trip to Niagara Falls when it ended up in the canal and all the victims were found to have drowned.
However, prosecutors don’t know if it was in the canal or elsewhere. Three of them had bruising to the back of their heads.
Mohammad Shafia and Tooba Yahya had seven children in total. The three not involved in the court case were placed in care after their parents were arrested. The trial continues.
Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux’ love has been ongoing ambiguity over when exactly their relationship started and when he split from 14-year-long love Heidi Bivens.
In a bid to set the record straight, Jennifer Aniston had an emotional meeting with Heidi Bivens, 35, at the Mercer Hotel in a New York hotel last week.
Upset at being portrayed as a “homewrecker”, Jennifer Aniston assured the costume designer she never got together with Justin Theroux until he was single, according to this week’s Grazia magazine.
A source told Grazia magazine: “Jen has always been sympathetic to Heidi because he’s heard from Justin just how devastated she is about their break-up.
“But Jen has always been adamant that their relationships did not cross over.”
Jennifer Aniston and Heidi Bivens reportedly met at the Mercer Hotel on November 6, and talked over a glass of wine.
The source said: “Jen told Heidi that she understands what a painful time she has been going through and explained that she wanted her to know, hand on heart, that she would never steal another woman’s man.
“Heidi apparently got quite tearful during the meeting, as it was understandably a lot of take in.”
Jennifer Aniston, 42, and Justin Theroux, 40, met on the set of new film "Wanderlust" last autumn, but weren't romantically linked until late May this year
Jennifer Aniston, 42, and Justin Theroux, 40, met on the set of new film “Wanderlust” last autumn, but weren’t romantically linked until late May this year.
Heidi Bivens confirmed in a statement via her publicist in mid-June that she had “just moved out of their home last week” after 14 years with Justin Theroux.
Heidi Bivens moved out of the couple’s New York home a week after Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux were first photographed together at the MTV Movie Awards after-party.
Heidi Bivens confirmed in a statement via her publicist in mid-June that she had "just moved out of their home last week" after 14 years with Justin Theroux
In recent months, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux have become inseparable and are living together in a $6 million New York apartment.
In a press conference three weeks ago, Jennifer Aniston shot down reports she was pregnant or engaged.
“Rumour number one: I am not planning to get married any time soon. I’ve been married once, and I don’t know if I’ll get married again.
“But I can tell you that as of this very moment, I have no plan to get married. Got that?
“And rumour number two: no, we’re not pregnant. It’s just I quit smoking, so I’ve gained a couple of pounds.”
A Canadian study published in British Medical Journal Open says that increasing use of the contraceptive pill is being linked with the rise of prostate cancer in men.
According to researchers, the Pill has soared in popularity over the past 40 years, and at the same time prostate cancer has become the most common form of the disease in men.
There is a statistical relationship between the two trends, possibly driven by men’s greater exposure to the oestrogen hormone contained in the Pill.
Widespread use of the Pill has led to more of the hormone finding its way into the water supply and food chain, with implications for human health, says the study in BMJ Open.
A Canadian study published in British Medical Journal Open says that increasing use of the contraceptive pill is being linked with the rise of prostate cancer in men
Using data from 87 countries, researchers found that where the proportion of women using the contraceptive pill is higher, rates of prostate cancer are higher.
Other contraceptives such as intrauterine devices or condoms were not linked to a higher incidence of prostate cancer.
A team of researchers from Canada used two sets of data to pinpoint rates of prostate cancer and associated deaths and the proportion of women using common methods of contraception for 2007.
Use of the contraceptive pill was significantly associated with the number of new cases of prostate cancer around the world, in findings which were not affected by a nation’s wealth and therefore probably not influenced by better detection through screening and health services.
“The research is speculative and definitive conclusions cannot be drawn,” said research leader Dr. David Margel, of the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto University.
Excess exposure to oestrogen is known to cause cancer and the study suggests that widespread use of the Pill has resulted in by-products called endocrine disruptors being deposited in the environment.
These do not break down easily in the body so can be passed into urine and end up in the water supply or the food chain, thus exposing the general population.
Dr. Kate Holmes, of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: “This study does not present a strong evidence case for an association between the use of the contraceptive pill and prostate cancer, nor does it intend to.
“It is intended to explore the possibility that release of endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDCs) into the environment, a process which is not unique to the Pill, might impact on the incidence of the disease.
“However, for all of the 87 countries in the study, there is no information on the level of these chemicals in the environment, with the focus on the contraceptive pill as the sole source, which we know is not the case.”
Jordan Landon, a 9-year-old girl from North Carolina was trapped in a car for two days, being stuck by a seatbelt and lay next to the body of her dead father who was killed in the crash.
Police believe the accident happened at around 10:00 p.m. on Friday night in rural Craven County, North Carolina after the father, Douglas Landon, 39, and daughter left a gas station just a few miles from their home.
Jordan Landon survived in freezing temperatures by eating Pop-Tarts and drinking Gatorade.
Girl’s mother and Douglas Landon’s girlfriend of 20 years, Claudette Leohmann went looking for them when they didn’t return home and reported them missing to the police.
It was only on Sunday evening that Jordan Landon was rescued after a man walking along the road spotted the overturned 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the ten-foot ditch and called police.
Jordan Landon, a 9-year-old girl from North Carolina was trapped in a car for two days, being stuck by a seatbelt and lay next to the body of her dead father who was killed in the crash
At first, the emergency services believed both father and daughter were dead until Jordan Landon made a small whimper.
It took three fire and rescue teams more than an hour to free her from the car using hydraulic equipment
Sergeant David Clifton told ABC News: “For a nine-year-old to do that it’s pretty heroic. She was able to keep herself calm.
“The family member next to her is obviously deceased so that’s a lot to deal with, plus being dark at night.”
Authorities believe the car had been travelling at more than 100 mph when it ran off the road, down a steep bank and flipped when it hit a cluster of trees. It could not be seen from the road where it landed.
Over the weekend, temperatures dropped below 30 F at night.
Jordan Landon escaped the crash with non-life threatening injuries but was airlifted to Pitt County Memorial Hospital where she is being kept for observation. The girl is expected to make a full recovery.
Authorities believe that speed was a factor in the crash after discovering a speedometer that had jammed at 110 mph. They do not believe alcohol was involved.
Beauty Pays, a new book by economics professor Daniel S. Hamermesh at the University of Texas-Austin, reveals what the world of advertising has known for decades – that beauty sells.
Professor Daniel S. Hamermesh also shows that being attractive pays – with good looking employees enjoying more perks and higher pay packets than their plainer colleagues.
He has studied what he refers to as the economics of beauty for about 20 years.
Beauty Pays, a new book by economics professor Daniel S. Hamermesh at the University of Texas-Austin, reveals what the world of advertising has known for decades - that beauty sells
In his book Beauty Pays, published by Princeton University Press, Professor Daniel S. Hamermesh claims good looking people enjoyed perks beyond their pay – such as party invites, business travel and office privileges – while less attractive workers are overlooked and can often be victims of discrimination.
Attractive people are more likely to be happier, earn more money, get a bank loan (with a lower interest rate) and marry equally good looking partners.
As a result, attractive employees are more productive, leading to higher sales and potentially higher profit for themselves or the company they work for.
Professor Daniel S. Hamermesh points to a few subconscious factors – such as the symmetry of the face, facial expression and popularity factors (if the person looks like someone popular or famous).
In his book, he estimated that attractive people earned on average about $222,000 more in a lifetime than those with below-average looks.
A beautiful woman would earn 4% more, and handsome men 3% more, than their plain counterparts.
When his research became widely known in the early 1990s, Professor Daniel S. Hamermesh came in for some criticism – namely from comedian Jay Leno, who asked why someone like Dallas businessman and presidential candidate Ross Perot earned more than someone like actor Rob Lowe?
But Professor Daniel S. Hamermesh brushed this off, being quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying: “We don’t talk about individuals; we talk about the average good-looking person and the average bad-looking person. There are always outliers.”
Education and work experience were important factors in earnings, but Professor Daniel S. Hamermesh said his new book, based on his research, showed that a person’s looks were impossible to ignore.
Ilya Zhitomirskiy, the social networking pioneer and Internet privacy advocate who dared to challenge Facebook and Google, died on Saturday in San Francisco.
Ilya Zhitomirskiy, 22, died Saturday after San Francisco police were summoned for a reported suicide, police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said.
Ilya Zhitomirskiy was one of the founders Diaspora*, a new social networking service meant to give users more control of their information online, and sought to lure people away from bigger sites like Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Police would not release other details of his death and a medical examiner’s report could take weeks before it becomes public.
Ilya Zhitomirskiy, the social networking pioneer and Internet privacy advocate who dared to challenge Facebook and Google, died on Saturday in San Francisco
Ilya Zhitomirskiy and three friends, Daniel Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg, and Raphael Sofaer, launched a trial run of Diaspora* in 2010, which attracted the attention of The New York Times and National Public Radio and left the tech world buzzing.
The four friends were all students at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Ilya Zhitomirskiy described himself on his Twitter account as a “free culture and open web enthusiast. Now one of the four Diaspora* bros.”
Despite their desire to compete with Facebook, the company’s founder Mark Zuckerberg praised the group, telling Wired last year: “I think it is cool people are trying to do it.
“I see a little of myself in them. It’s just their approach that the world could be better and saying, <<We should try to do it.>>”
Friends and fans of Ilya Zhitomirskiy have written tributes on Twitter after hearing of his death, with one posting: “Death of a young entrepreneur is a great loss to the community.”
The four friends announced their software programme in April 2010 and raised more than $200,000 for the project through the online fundraising system Kickstarter.
The project even inspired Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to donate money to the project.
In November 2010 the four students released a consumer alpha version of the programme, while still making further developments.
Diaspora* is based around privacy concerns related to centralized social networks by allowing users to set up their own servers to host content and then interact with others by sharing status updates, photographs and other data – much like Facebook.
But Diaspora* is different because sites like Facebook and Google store user data within their own networks and own whatever data users upload.
Ilya Zhitomirskiy was a hardcore computer programmer, obsessed with Internet security and maintaining privacy online.
But since he began working on Diaspora*, Ilya Zhitomirskiy began focusing on user interfaces and started thinking about how to lure “normal” users away from Facebook.
“We want to move people from websites that are not healthy to websites that are more healthy, because they’re transparent,” Ilya Zhitomirskiy told New York magazine last year.
“Even though a nontechnical person may not understand it, they’ll know there’s a community that has said, this is okay.”
Co-founder Raphael Sofaer told the New York Times last year: “In our real lives, we talk to each other.
“We don’t need to hand our messages to a hub. What Facebook gives you as a user isn’t that hard to do.
“All the little games, the little walls, the little chat, aren’t really rare things. The technology already exists.”
A man from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died on Sunday after accidentally shooting himself in the hip while trying to unbuckle his seatbelt.
The man, a father-of-four who has not been named, was in a minivan with his children outside a grocery store when the incident occurred.
WTVR.com reports the incident occurred outside of the Giant Food Store in Harrison Crossing.
The 45-year-old’s wife told police she was returning a DVD when she heard a loud pop and ran back to the vehicle, when her husband told her he had shot himself.
WTVR.com reports the incident occurred outside of the Giant Food Store in Harrison Crossing
A family friend told WTVR.com the the couple has four children under the age of 12, including an infant.
Captain Elizabeth Scott of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said the initial investigation indicated when the man tried to unbuckle his seat belt, “he hit the trigger of his .40 calibre glock and shot himself in the hip”.
Deputies arrived to the scene, where she said the man’s wife and others in the parking lot were trying to revive the man.
Captain Scott said the man had suffered significant blood loss and was later pronounced dead at Mary Washington Hospital.
It was unclear at press time whether the man carried the gun in a holster or in his pocket.
The man’s wife told investigators her husband occasionally carried a gun on his person, although it was not known if he was a licensed gun owner.
Spotsylvania police are investigating the shooting to determine if there are any signs of foul play.
The 13-year-old boy who assaulted a five-year-old girl at a McDonald’s Playland in Anderson Township, Ohio, is to be charged with rape after his parents handed him over to police.
The parents recognized their son wearing a jacket, jeans and trainers in security camera footage and took him into the sheriff’s office.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied assaulting the little girl following the incident on October 22 in Anderson Township in a court hearing in Cincinnati on Saturday.
But authorities claim the teenager touched the girl before making her touch him in an inappropriate way and then walked out of the McDonald’s as the victim burst into tears and went to her grandmother.
After the incident the little girl went to her grandmother nearby “with the look on her face as if something was wrong”. Police said he climbed into the play area specifically to molest her.
The girl was inside the indoor play area on her own at around 9:00 p.m. when she was approached. The boy left moments before she reported the assault.
The woman who called 911 told police: “There was an incident in the play area with an older child and a younger child which may have involved some sexual contact.”
Police revealed that their suspect was wearing a University of Cincinnati jacket, was around 5’3” high and weighed around 125lbs. He was captured on CCTV inside the McDonald’s as he entered and left.
Hours later teeenager’s parents brought him in where he admitted to the crime, police said.
The teenager is now in juvenile detention center awaiting a trial which will begin next Tuesday.
Jerry Sandusky admitted he showered with young boys but said he is not a paedophile during a phone interview last night on MSNBC.
In his first interview since the child sex scandal broke, Jerry Sandusky said: “I say that I am innocent of those charges.
“I have horsed around with kids, I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact.”
When asked directly by Bob Costas from MSNBC: “Are you a paedophile?”, Jerry Sandusky replied: “No.”
The former Penn State coach denied inappropriate sexual contact with children.
Jerry Sandusky admitted he showered with young boys but said he is not a paedophile during a phone interview last night on MSNBC
When asked by the interviewer about the allegations made by Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary – that Jerry Sandusky had raped a young boy in the locker room showers – responded: “I would say that’s false.”
When asked about Mike McQueary’s motivation for making such claims, Jerry Sandusky said: “You would have to ask him.”
With the allegations surrounding him, Jerry Sandusky was asked if he had felt “persecuted”. The former coach replied: “I don’t know what to say. These have not been the best days of my life.’
Jerry Sandusky also said that Joe Paterno, Penn’s State’s legendary head coach who was fired in the wake of the scandal, did not ever speak to him directly about his behaviour.
He said he felt “horrible” about the effect the sex abuse scandal has had on the university and its football program, adding: “I don’t think it’s my fault but I played a part in this.”
When asked by Bob Costas what he wished he had done differently, Jerry Sandusky said: “I wish I hadn’t showered with those kids.”
Jerry Sandusky also denied that he was sexually attracted to children, saying: “I enjoy young people…I love to be around them.”
Then, Jerry Sandusky, who is charged with 40 counts of sexual assault, was asked if he was a “monster’.
The former coach said: “I don’t know what I could say that would make anyone feel any different.
“If people could hang on until my attorney has a chance to fight for my innocence. Obviously, it is a huge challenge.”
Jery Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola also defended his client saying that he believes in his innocence and would “absolutely” allow his children to be around the former coach.
Jerry Sandusky was seen yesterday for the first time since his arrest last weekend. He was sitting in La Guardia domestic airport in New York City, eating from Dunkin’ Donuts and ignoring taunts from passers-by.
More than 70 protesters have been arrested early this morning as police mounted a raid on the Occupy Wall Street camp at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, New York.
Up to 1,000 police officers moved in to evict the protesters – some of whom have been there since it was set up in mid-September when the protests began.
Occupy Wall Street protesters have been told that once the park is cleaned, they can return but will not be allowed to take their tents with them.
But even that wasn’t enough to end the demonstration because once they had been cleared from Zuccotti Park, around 200 regrouped a mile away at Foley Square.
The protesters were swiftly followed by police who formed a cordon, but most officers later left the scene.
One of the NYPD buses carrying arrested protesters drove by Foley Square and was met with cheers from the group that had gathered.
Protesters were also seen pouring milk into the eyes of people who had been targeted by police with pepper spray.
More than 70 protesters have been arrested early this morning as police mounted a raid on the Occupy Wall Street camp at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, New York
As the morning progressed and New York woke up to news that the protest had moved, more people gathered at Foley Square.
It was also spurred on by a group that joined them having initially moved to the corner of Broadway and Pine Street.
In the early hours of this morning, helicopters swept the streets around Zuccotti Park while around 400 people were penned in on a corner around two blocks along Broadway.
They had been cordoned in by two lines of police, shoulder to shoulder with visors, helmets and brandishing batons.
As the initial clearance of Zuccotti Park got under way, an improvised barricade made of tables and pieces of scrap wood had been set up in the kitchen area.
Demonstrators held their hands above their heads while chanting “We are the 99 per cent” and “peaceful protest”.
At one point they tried to breach the police line, but they were quickly pushed back.
Metal barriers had been set up on every corner as crowds dispersed with small protests reported at City Hall, Foley Square and at Grand/Lafayette.
On the streets surrounding the park, police were moving people on and bystanders were urged to move beyond the metal barriers.
Police offered little information as to what was going on inside the park but one officer said they had been assigned to police lines surrounding the camp until they were relieved by the next shift.
Some protesters claimed their tents were ripped up as the the eviction got under way while a police official said there had been 40 arrests.
At about 1:00 a.m. this morning, police handed out notices from the park’s owner, Brookfield Office Properties, and the city saying that the park had to be cleared because it had become unsanitary and hazardous.
The protesters were told they could return in several hours, but they would not be allowed to bring with them their sleeping bags, tarpaulins or tents.
The mayor’s office tweeted that the protesters saying: “Occupants of Zuccotti should temporarily leave and remove tents and tarps. Protesters can return after the Park is cleared.”
Police were indiscriminate in the people they evicted from the park and also moved reporters and photographers away from the the area.
Paul Browne, a spokesman for the New York Police Department, said most people began filing out of the park once they received the notices.
The spokesman added that the park was not heavily populated on Tuesday morning as the clearance got under way.
In an interview with NBC news in 1987, Jerry Sandusky showed a disturbing look into the earlier mind of the man now charged with 40 counts of sexual assault after sexually abusing at least eight young boys.
Jerry Sandusky was at the height of his career when he was interviewed by NBC news, talking about The Second Mile charity he formed to help underprivileged youth.
In light of the scandal that broke last Saturday, it is confirmed that Jerry Sandusky used that same charity as a way to pick his victims.
“I enjoy being around children,” Jerry Sandusky said, smiling.
“I enjoy their enthusiasm. I just have a good time with them.”
Jerry Sandusky created The Second Mile as a charity to help underprivileged Pennsylvania youth, often in need of foster homes.
The court report filed against Jerry Sandusky says the self-described mission of the charity was to “help children who need additional support and would benefit from positive human interaction”.
Jerry Sandusky during NBC news interview in 1987
Jerry Sandusky was very much the head of the program until he retired last year, and was the emotional leader of the organization, respected and admired by the children as a fatherly figure both because of his charity and because of his position in the Penn State football program.
“One of the biggest things would be the trust that would developed,” Jerry Sandusky said of his goals for the program.
“What we’re trying to be is, what we think to be of, is a true friend.
“Everybody needs people to care for them.”
Jerry Sandusky alludes to his role as a disciplinarian as well, which has an underlying message after having read the court reports which describe his sexual interactions with unwilling young boys.
“Sometimes they don’t want it, sometimes they don’t understand what you’re trying to do but they want to be disciplined,” he said.
“Kids are growing up awfully fast today.”
The damage of the allegations continues to spread as the charity announced Sunday that Dr. Jack Raykovitz, who has served as the CEO of The Second Mile for the past 28 years, resigned, saying that he and the board of directors felt it was in “the best interest” of the organization.
This old interview and the removal of Dr. Jack Raykovitz from The Second Mile comes just as one of Jerry Sandusky’s victims hired an attorney to pursue a civil suit against anyone who potentially knew about the abuse and did nothing.
The lawyer, Ben Andreozzi, represents one of the unnamed victims and would not give any clues as to which one, but said that his client is “torn up” about the entire situation.
“It’s important to understand that these folks were involved in the Penn State football community,” Ben Andreozzi said in an interview with the Today Show.
“They were on the sidelines of football games, they were spending significant amounts of time travelling with the team and or in the locker room with the team and getting to know members of that football team. to say that he’s torn apart would be an emotion would really explain where he’s at right now,” he continued.
Because of the victims close ties to Penn State, and really the town of State College as a whole, the ripple effects of the scandal are hard for Ben Andreozzi’s client to handle.
“The general public may think that an abuse victim in his position would automatically have feelings of negativity towards the university and while I think he’s very disappointed in the way that members of the University community handled his situation or the situation involving the cove rup, it’s a complex issue and we need to understand that he has a variety of thoughts going through his head right now,” Ben Andreozzi said.
The civil suit is the first of its kind in this scandal, as so far Jerry Sandusky and two other university administrators have only been criminally charged.
Marius Els, a South African farmer has been killed by his pet hippo he raised from the age of five months, and which he once described as being “like a son” to him.
Humphrey the Hippo gouged the farmer to death by repeatedly biting him in a vicious attack on Saturday night.
Marius Els’ mutilated body was discovered submerged in a river running through his 400-acre farm in rural South Africa.
Only earlier this year Marius Els, 41, who was married, was pictured happily riding on his 1,200kg pet bull hippo’s back.
“Humphrey’s like a son to me, he’s just like a human,” Marius Els said at the time.
“There’s a relationship between me and Humphrey and that’s what some people don’t understand.
“They think you can only have a relationship with dogs, cats and domestic animals.
“But I have a relationship with the most dangerous animal in Africa.”
Marius Els, a South African farmer has been killed by his pet hippo he raised from the age of five months, and which he once described as being "like a son" to him
Marius Els kept 20 different species of exotic animals, including giraffe and rhino, on his farm near Klerksdorp in South Africa’s north west.
The farmer developed a special fondness for Humphrey, whom he bought aged just five months and for whom he even built a special lake.
Humphrey was aged six and weighed more than a metric tonne when he attacked Marius Els.
While Marius Els appeared to revel in his status as the man who had tamed a hippo, he did recognize his pet’s power and danger.
“If he decides to get me off his back, then he throws me over like a horse,” Marius Els told an interviewer before his death.
“My friends won’t even go near him,” he added.
Humphrey’s dangerous side was displayed in March this year when he tried to attack two canoeists as they made their way down the Vaal river.
A 52-year-old man and his seven-year-old grandson were forced to scramble out of their canoe and climb a tree when they were approached by Humphrey.
They screamed and clapped in an attempt to drive the animal away from the tree – but Humphrey refused to move.
Marius Els eventually managed to lure the hippo away with an apple, explaining that he had only approached the pair because he was hungry.
Yesterday, a spokesman for one of South Africa’s private ambulance services revealed that his staff were called to Marius Els’ farm late on Saturday evening.
“Paramedics responded to the scene to find that the man had been bitten several times by the animal and had also been immersed in the river for an unknown period,” Jeffrey Wicks said.
Jeffrey Wicks explained that the farmer was declared dead at the scene, but added it was not know for how long he had lain undiscovered.
Hippos kill hundreds of humans each year.
Hippos are considered one of the world’s most dangerous animals.
They are, by nature, very aggressive – especially when young calves are present.
They commonly attack humans with no apparent provocation, usually using their enormous canine teeth to gouge their victims.
It is estimated hippos kill more than 300 people each year.
Despite their stocky shape and short legs, hippos can easily outrun humans, reaching speeds of 30km/h over short distances.
There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, but they are threatened by poachers and loss of habitat.
Emmett Rauch, a 2-year-old toddler from Arizona who swallowed a tiny battery, has undergone multiple surgeries as doctors struggle to save his life.
Emmett Rauch swallowed a lithium battery from a remote control and has since had 18 surgeries in the past year at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Arizona.
Toddler’s mother, Karla Rauch, said no one saw he swallow the battery and the first symptoms he had were similar to a cold.
The mother said: “Batteries start burning in the oesophagus within two hours and it was in him we think about three days.”
Emmett Rauch, a 2-year-old toddler from Arizona who swallowed a tiny battery, has undergone multiple surgeries as doctors struggle to save his life
Emmett Rauch has had four inches of his oesophagus removed after the acid from the battery burned two holes through it.
The toddler has also suffered multiple cases of collapsed lung and had close to 200 X-rays. He has spent more than 19 weeks of his young life in the pediatric ICU.
The batteries are so dangerous because they don’t have as much casing as an AA battery.
A nurse who cares for Emmett Rauch, Michelle Chacon, said she has seen several cases of children swallowing batteries and that more should be done to make families aware of the household danger.
Michelle Chacon has helped the Rauch family set up a charity to raise awareness about the tiny batteries which are used in everyday objects like clocks, cameras and calculators.
She said: “You talk about childproofing your home and covering your outlets, and this needs to be a part of that.”
According to the National Capital Poison Center, each year in the U.S. more than 3,500 people swallow miniature disc or button batteries.
The charity called Emmett’s Fight aims to inform about the dangers of button battery ingestion.
The symptoms are similar to the common cold or the flu – fever, lack of appetite, coughing and increase of mucus production.
Taylor Garrett, the gay “A-List Dallas” star claims he has been attacked for the second time in six weeks due mostly to his friendship with conservative pundit Ann Coulter.
Taylor Garrett is a 27-year-old Republican consultant who appears on the Logo network’s “A-List Dallas”.
The reality star said Saturday that he was at a party with some friends when he was accosted by an unknown male, who had scrawled “F*ck Coulter” on his car, and when he asked what he was doing, the person attacked him.
Taylor Garrett said he was hit in the left eye and suffered scrapes on his body before the attacker ran away.
The Daily Caller was shown pictures of the attack by Taylor Garrett, which reportedly show his bloody ear and t-shirt.
Taylor Garrett claimed he’s a victim of Democratic ideals.
The reality star told the Daily Caller: “The Democrats want me to live on their plantation as their slave, because I’m a gay person. And I refuse to do that.“
Taylor Garrett, the gay "A-List Dallas" star claims he has been attacked for the second time in six weeks due mostly to his friendship with conservative pundit Ann Coulter
Taylor Garrett said it’s not the first time he’s been targeted since news of his lunch with Ann Coulter was in Los Angeles for the show.
In October, shortly after the Ann Coulter cameo was announced, Taylor Garrett told the Huffington Post that someone had written a threatening note on a rock that was thrown through his apartment window.
But critics have claimed that Taylor Garrett staged the incident in an attempt to collect media attention.
Taylor Garrett told the Daily Caller:
“I would’ve thought people would have been a little more tolerant considering that our community advocates for tolerance, but it has been nothing but mean spirited attacks, especially after the Ann Coulter scene.”
The reality star said he did the show to prove the point that “just because you don’t support gay marriage doesn’t make you a bigot, doesn’t mean you hate gay people.
Torry Johnson, an Icelandair passenger was arrested as he left a flight after being accused of stealing $300 from the purse of a flight attendant.
Torry Johnson was flying back from a holiday in Iceland when airline staff claimed he stole foreign currency from the attendant’s purse.
The passenger, who was heading to Boston, Massachusetts, was confronted by angry Icelandair staff while the plane was in the air over Greenland.
Police said Torry Johnson returned the foreign currency, before locking himself in the aircraft’s bathroom, where it is thought he flushed the remaining missing cash down the toilet.
Officials believe the currency Torry Johnson flushed down the plane’s toilet was U.S. dollars.
Torry Johnson, an Icelandair passenger was arrested as he left a flight after being accused of stealing $300 from the purse of a flight attendant
Massachusetts State Police said they arrested Torry Johnson after he disembarked from Icelandair Flight 631 at Logan International Airport on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
Ground staff at the airport were still trying to retrieve the missing money from the flight’s storage tanks, police said.
Torry Johnson was released from police custody on Sunday evening.
Amy Ahearn, an English professor at Saddleback College in Orange County, California, who has been missing since August was found alive Friday night.
Amy Ahearn vanished in a suburban city of Los Angeles on August 17th before being located by Los Angeles Police nearly four months later.
Feared of suffering from Huntington’s Disease, which is a delusional disorder, she was being evaluated Friday night.
Amy Ahearn, 40, was reported missing after not showing up for classes on August 22nd.
The professor reappeared temporarily in mid-September when a family saw her outside her home in Norwalk around midnight and were able to coax her to come inside theirs.
Amy Ahearn had told the family that she was out there “waiting for a ride from a friend”, Ana Ruvalcaba, who found her, told the Los Cerritos community news.
Amy Ahearn, an English professor at Saddleback College in Orange County, California, who has been missing since August was found alive Friday night
Ana Ruvalcaba says they took Amy Ahearn to a local Motel 6 so she could get warm and have a place to stay, but she wondered off to a nearby parking lot and disappeared again until November.
Ana Ruvalcaba said they had called a “Helpline Hotline” for assistance after Amy Ahearn wondered off but were told there was “little they could do” for her.
Hearing the news of Amy Ahearn’s second disappearance, her sister, Marjorie Ahearn who lives near Chicago told LCCN that she was “beyond disbelief”.
“How could this happen?” Amy Ahearn’ sister asked, dumfounded.
Hearing the news of her final reappearance, family said they were “overjoyed” at hearing the news, writing on a missing Facebook page for Amy Ahearn their thanks to investigators hired who “never gave up on her quest to find Amy”.
“I have cognitive and physical limitations due to my HD but [Kathie Allen from Allen Morris Investigations] kept working with me patiently to get the word out about Amy and to locate her,” her sister wrote.
The Community news learned that Amy Ahearn was going through a divorce at the time of her disappearance.
US media reports revealed that Judge Leslie Dutchcot, who requested Jerry Sandusky be freed on $100,000 unsecured bail, undertook volunteer work for the The Second Mile charity.
District Judge Leslie Dutchcot ruled that Jerry Sandusky be freed without posting any bail money unless he doesn’t arrive for court.
Leslie Dutchcot’s decision overruled a bid by prosecutors, who requested a $500,000 bail be set for Jerry Sandusky and for him to be fitted with a leg monitor, after being charged with 21 felony counts for alleged sexual abuse.
A Grand Jury indictment alleges Jerry Sandusky, 67, sexually abused eight boys, some as young as seven, over a 15-year period. Jerry Sandusky denies the charges.
US media reports said that Judge Leslie Dutchcot, who requested Jerry Sandusky be freed on $100,000 unsecured bail, undertook volunteer work for the The Second Mile charity
Reports that Judge Leslie Dutchcot worked for the charity came as it was also revealed Jerry Sandusky was still being paid out large monthly pension cheques from Pennsylvania State University from his retirement deal, according to The Patriot-News.
Jerry Sandusky founded non-profit organization The Second Mile in the late 1970s to help disadvantaged children (and allegedly picked his victims from it) and it is listed as one of the various charities Judge Leslie Dutchcot has volunteered for throughout her career.
The information was spotted on website centrelaw.com, which is the site for Goodall and Yurchak’s law firm that Judge Leslie Dutchcot is counsel to.
Jerry Sandusky, who retired from his position as assistant coach in 1999, continued to have access to the university’s facilities and maintained his coach “emeritus” status, according to Fox News.
The former Penn State coach originally received a $148,271 cheque from the State Employees’ Retirement System.
Since 1999, Jerry Sandusky has also apparently continued to receive the remainder of his pension paid out in monthly sums that equate to $58,898 per year.
The Penn State University’s former Vice President Gary Schultz, who has been charged with perjury and failing to report the alleged child abuse, has also been receiving monthly pension payments, according to The Patriot-News.
Gary Schultz retired from Penn State in 2009 and was paid a lump sum of $421,847 followed by monthly payments of $27,558 – equating to almost $331,000 annually.
Despite retiring, Gary Schultz returned to Penn State in September on a temporary basis.
The Penn State university’s former athletic director, Tim Curley, has also been charged with perjury and failing to report the alleged abuse, and has not received state pension payments.
Both Tim Curley and Gary Shultz left their positions at the university when they were indicted but plead not guilty to the charges.
Jerry Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola, also said his client rejects all the allegations set forth in a 23-page indictment.
Jill Jones, ex-Penn State coach’s former daughter-in-law has obtained a legal order barring Jerry Sandusky’ from seeing three of his grandchildren.
Jill Jones, who was once married to Matt Sandusky, one of the six adopted children of Jerry Sandusky, went to court to stop the accused paedophile from having access to their two daughters, aged 9 and 7, and one son, aged 5, according to documents.
A Grand Jury indictment alleges Jerry Sandusky, 67, sexually abused eight boys, some as young as seven, over a 15-year period and after hearing the horrific charges on November 5 and Jill Jones urged her ex-husband to keep the children away from their grandfather.
Later that day Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dorothy, sent Jill Jones a text message informing her that Matt had taken the children to her State College, Pennsylvania home, but the former coach was not present.
Dorothy Sandusky also phoned Jill Jones to try to persuade her that the children would be safe around her husband, the documents said, according to The Daily.
Jill Jones, ex-Penn State coach's former daughter-in-law has obtained a legal order barring Jerry Sandusky' from seeing three of his grandchildren
Jill Jones was unwavering, though, and successfully obtained a restraining order forbidding the children from sleeping over at their grandparents’ home and banning Jerry Sandusky from seeing them unsupervised.
Although there is no record that Jill Jones ever accused her ex-father-in-law of abusing her children, there is a “fundamental disagreement over the validity of the charges against Jerry Sandusky and the risk he poses to children,” the court documents said, according to The Daily.
Jerry Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola says his client rejects all the allegations set forth in the 23-page indictment.
The news came as it emerged that Matt Sandusky, one of six now adult children Sandusky family adopted during the course of the lengthy marriage, attempted suicide just four months after first going to live with the couple.
Matt Sandusky, now 33, came into their home through The Second Mile in 1995, after having a troubled childhood in which he had burnt down a barn.
Children and Youth Services placed him with the family at Jerry Sandusky’s request.
The probation officer, Terry Trude, became concerned about Matt Sandusky’s well-being and mental health and together with his biological mother Debra Long, wrote a letter to Centre County Judge David Grine asking for his living situation to be reviewed, the Patriot-News reported.
However, contemporary court records include a letter written by Matt Sandusky in which he implores the judge to allow him to stay with the family.
“I would like to be placed back with the Sanduskys. I feel that they have supported me even when I have messed up. They are a loving caring group of people. I love both my biological family and the Sandusky family,” Matt Sandusky wrote at the time.
Matt Sandusky is not one of the eight victims in the Grand Jury indictment, but he did testify before the investigative panel at the attorney general’s office in the Strawberry Square complex, Harrisburg, the Patriot-News reported.
Debra Long said she also testified to the Grand Jury panel, and told them of her son’s change in behaviour after he went to live with Jerry Sandusky, according to the Patriot-News.
Joe Amendola countered, saying Debra Long “never liked Jerry because she saw Jerry as a person who was involved in removing her child from the home”.
Two of Matt Sandusky’s adopted siblings followed their father into the world of football: Edward Joel, 41, a former Nittany Lions player, and now a football coach at West Chester University and Jon, who is Director of Player Personnel for the Cleveland Browns.
On Monday, Jon Sandusky went on a leave of absence from the NFL club as the scandal involving his father exploded into the public domain. He and his wife, Kia, have an infant son.
Jon Sandusky is Director of Player Personnel for the Cleveland Browns
Over the years the Sanduskys also became the parents to Ray, now 46, a photographer and woodturner living in Brentwood, Tennesee, Kara, 38, a Penn State graduate, and Jeff, 35, a former Marine.
In Jerry Sandusky’s 2000 memoir titled “Touched”, Kara, named Sandusky Werner, wrote in the introduction: “We were always proud of the things he did for kids.”
Edward Joel Sandusky, 41, a former Nittany Lions player, is now a football coach at West Chester University
On his website, Ray Sandusky writes: “I have always been creative and constructive. I can recall painting meaningful images as a child in kindergarten, throwing clay vessels on a wheel in junior high school and performing all manner of assembly and repairs around the house.”
This week has seen people who believed they knew Jerry Sandusky come forward to express their shock at the allegations.
“A lot of people look at him as a monster now,” Kip Richeal, who co-authored Touched, told ESPN.
“I would’ve never, ever thought something like this about him. And how long did it go on? It never happened with me. When I met him, though, I was 18. I wasn’t a little boy.
“If this is all true, and it looks like it’s really stacking up, something took over his personality. Something changed, and it’s not the Jerry I know.”
Meanwhile ex-NFL player Jon Ritchie, who knew Jerry Sandusky since he was a 14-year-old, said on ESPN: “I thought he was the most compassionate, altruistic, selfless man on the face of the planet.
“There were always kids around, Second Mile kids (the charity Sandusky set up and allegedly picked his victims from).
“And these tragedies that are coming out now have brought sports, have brought everyone, to the darkest place. I can’t fathom sports right now. I don’t even care about sports right now. Because this picture of what I thought was good has exploded.”
Actress Piper Laurie, one of the former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s lover claimed that he was a rude, insensitive show-off in matter of heart.
Piper Laurie said that when she slept with Ronald Reagan, he bragged to her afterwards about his staying power.
When the actress complained she was unsatisfied he replied she should see a doctor – because he definitely knew how to make a woman happy.
In her memoir Piper Laurie said that she met Ronald Reagan after he was no longer married to actress Jane Wyman but had not yet begun dating his second wife, Nancy Davis.
In her memoir, Piper Laurie said that she met Ronald Reagan after he was no longer married to actress Jane Wyman but had not yet begun dating his second wife, Nancy Davis
Piper Laurie was just 18 at the time and a virgin – and Ronald Reagan was her first love.
Ronald Reagan was 39 and was actually playing her father in the 1950 drama “Louisa”, which is how they got to know each other.
In her book, “Learning to Live Out Loud”, Piper Laurie writes that to begin with Ronald Reagan was the perfect gentleman and asked her mother for permission to take her out on a date.
But instead of doing so he took her to his home where he made hamburgers for them both.
Things went downhill from there and when they moved into the bedroom where Ronald Reagan turned into a “show-off” who had sex “without grace”.
Ronald Reagan was 39 and was playing Piper Laurie's father in the 1950 drama "Louisa", which is how they got to know each other
Piper Laurie, now 79, writes: “He made sure I was aware of the length of time he had been <<ardent>>. It was 40 minutes.”
Piper Laurie adds that when she complained she was not satisfied, she got rather short shrift indeed.
Ronald Reagan told her: “There’s something wrong with you. You should have had many orgasms by now – after all this time. You’ve got to see a doctor.”
On top of that, Ronald Reagan also disclosed the amount he had paid for the condom, in a crass attempt to prove his point.
In her memoir Piper Laurie also tells how she found her voice through acting and once tore up a lucrative contract as it only allowed her to play dull roles as a “perky starlet”.
But despite ups and down Piper Laurie eventually achieved the respect of her peers and the critics.
Gregory Peck, her co-star in “Other People’s Money” in 1991, even described one of her performances as “a series of revelations moving and true”.
Piper Laurie was nominated for Oscars for her roles in the 1961 pool drama “The Hustler” opposite Paul Newman.
The actress was also nominated for the award for her parts in the 1976 horror “Carrie” and the 1986 romantic drama “Children of a Lesser God”.
Ronald Reagan’s acting career lasted for nearly three decades but he quit Hollywood for politics and was elected as governor of California in 1967.
Ronald Reagan served as U.S. President between 1981 and 1989 and died in 2004.
