An Idaho woman face charges that she had sex with a 14-year-old boy that she was hired to watch in August 2007.

KXLY-TV reported Tuesday that 28-year-old Summer Nelson, of Post Falls, was charged Monday with four counts of lewd conduct with a child.

Court records say Nelson was a friend of the boy’s mother. Police say the abuse was reported in December 2008, after the boy’s mother grew suspicious of Nelson’s attention Nelson toward the boy.

Investigators say Nelson told the boy’s siblings that she was in love with their brother. Detectives say Nelson and the boy had at least four sexual encounters.

What was she thinking?  How the hell can a 28 year old woman possibly fall “in love” with a boy.

via Idaho Babysitter Accused of Having Sex With 14-Year-Old – Local News | News Articles | National News | US News – FOXNews.com.

After taking multibillion-dollar bailouts from the federal government, some of the nation’s biggest banks are declining to lend a hand with a different financial mess: the California budget stalemate.

The banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. and some regional banks, are trying to pressure lawmakers to end the impasse by warning that, after Friday, they won’t accept IOUs issued by the state. The move would leave many businesses and families with pieces of paper and fewer options for getting their money immediately.

IOUs?  What the hell is California thinking?

via Banks draw line over accepting Calif. IOUs – U.S. business- msnbc.com.

Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and several other human rights activists remained in an Israeli prison Thursday after refusing to sign a deportation form that they claim is self-incriminating.

In a press release from the Green Party, McKinney said the form states that the Spirit of Humanity, a Greek-flagged relief boat carrying 21 activists, medical supplies, cement, olive trees and children’s toys en route to Gaza, was violating the Israeli blockade and trespassing the country’s territorial waters.

“We were in international waters on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to people in Gaza when the Israeli Navy ships surrounded us and illegally threatened us, dismantled our navigation equipment, boarded and confiscated the ship,” she said in a statement, adding that they were immediately taken into custody.

“Immigration officials in Israel said they did not want to keep us, but we remain imprisoned,” she said.

They can keep her!  Good riddance!

link:  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/02/cynthia-mckinney-remains-imprisoned-israel-gaza-bound-boat-seized/?test=latestnews

In today’s Science Times, health reporter Donald McNeil writes about a new flu virus circulating in dogs. Mr. McNeil writes:

While fears of a flu pandemic among humans have shifted from the lethal H5N1 avian flu to the relatively mild H1N1 swine flu, the H3N8 canine flu has been a quiet undercurrent in the United States, rarely discussed except among veterinarians and dog owners in the few areas where it has struck hard: Florida, New York City’s northern suburbs, Philadelphia and Denver.

DESCRIPTION Dr. Cynda Crawford, co-discoverer of the dog flu virus.

This week, Dr. Cynda Crawford, one of the discoverers of the virus and a veterinarian at the University of Florida veterinary school, joins the Consults blog to answers readers’ questions about the dog flu and the first vaccine approved for it.

Read Mr. McNeil’s full story, “New Flu Vaccine Approved — for Dogs.”

Do you have a question about canine flu? Post your questions for Dr. Crawford in the “Add your comments” box below. We will be posting Dr. Crawford’s responses in the coming week. Check back for regular updates.

I hope this doesn’t transfer to humans!

via The Dog Flu Virus: Are You or Your Pet at Risk? – Consults Blog – NYTimes.com.

A member of Howard Stern’s “wack pack” was cited yesterday for violating federal court rules by recording the sentencing hearing of swindler Bernard Madoff. Ivy Silberstein, who is known as “Ivy Supersonic,” was caught recording the U.S. District Court proceeding by Federal Protective Service officers, according to an order signed by Judge Denny Chin. The order, a copy of which you’ll find below, does not indicate why Silberstein was recording the Madoff sentencing. Chin ordered the return of the 42-year-old Silberstein’s “recording device,” but directed that the Madoff recording be deleted first. Federal court rules bar reporters (or audience members) from recording court proceedings. Additionally, anyone entering a federal courthouse is required to check their cellphones with security guards. It is unclear whether Silberstein was in Chin’s courtroom or in one of two “overflow” rooms where the Madoff sentencing was simulcast. Silberstein, whose web site describes her as a “hat designer to the stars,” did not respond this morning to a message left on her voicemail. She was issued a summons for violating court rules, Chin reported.

Damn!  The fed is serious about this!  What are they hiding?  Congress needs to know about this!

via Stern “Wack Packer” Nabbed In Madoff Taping – June 30, 2009.