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Pastor Offers To Be Sex Coach For Minor Girls

Lake Orion pastor to plead guilty to seeking to be sex coach for minors

 

 

11:42 AM, Mar. 11, 2011  | 

 

  William Bendert

William Bendert / U.S. Marshals Service

TRESA BALDAS
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

A Lutheran pastor who allegedly offered to be a sex coach for minor girls over the Internet is scheduled to plead guilty March 24 to his role in an online sex scheme, according to a filing today in U.S. District Court.

William Bendert, 51, the head pastor of King of Kings Lutheran Church in Lake Orion, is charged with using the Internet to entice an 11-year-old girl for sex. If convicted, he faces 10 years in prison.

According to court documents, Bendert used the screen name “Billthebear99” to contact who he thought were mothers of young daughters online, and asked them if they were interested in having him sexually train the girls. The mothers were really undercover FBI agents, records show.

In one chat room, Bendert typed: "I have taught girls before … always together with their moms … you would have to be present with us, " according to an FBI affidavit.

Federal agents arrested Bendert in September as he walked to a room at a Red Roof Inn near I-75 and Rochester Road, where he had arranged to meet who he thought was an 11-year-old girl, according to court records.

Federal agents seized two condoms and sex toys from the trunk of his car, including handcuffs and a rope, and sex-related books, including the Kama Sutra, from his church, court records show. After his arrest, records show, Bendert admitted to being Billthebear; to paying for the hotel room and that “what he was doing was wrong.”

“He had thoughts in (his) head that he did not want someone to do this to his daughter, and denied that he had ever trained any other girls,” U.S. Magistrate Virginia Morgan wrote in her order requiring that Bendert be detained. “ … given nature of the offense, there is concern about safety of children with whom he may have contact.”

According to court documents, Bendert is on administrative leave from the church as a result of the criminal complaint. He has no prior criminal record. His wife is supporting him, records show.

At his detention hearing in September, Bendert's lawyer, David Burgess, stressed that Bendert has no prior criminal record, no history of drug abuse, and that he is a college-educated family man whose wife is standing by him. He also noted that, so far, no evidence of child pornography has been found on any of Bendert's computers.

"He's never been in any trouble, and he's never shown any kind of this behavior before, " Burgess said at a court hearing in September.

 

Entry #4,136

Man On Breathing Machine Sets House On Fire While Smoking

Man On Breathing Machine Sets House On Fire While Smoking

 

Melissa Moon 1:28 p.m. CDT, March 14, 2011 

FAST FACTS:
  • A man apparently smoking in bed set his house on fire
  • The man, who was also using a breathing machine, had oxygen tanks in the next room
  • Neighbors saw the fire and alerted firefighters

(Memphis 3/14/2011) The sign on the front door of an East Memphis home says "oxygen in use no smoking."

Still, neighbors in the 1600 block of Watson say that didn't stop the man who lives there and uses a breathing machine from lighting up and catching his bed on fire.

"I noticed the smoke coming out of the door when I went out to get the paper," said Chuck Stewart.

Chuck Stewart, who lives just across the street and has been caring for his 67-year-old neighbor, ran over to help while his wife and another neighbor called 911.

"He had a hospital bed, it was blazing good when I went over there this morning," said Stewart.

He says his neighbor was already in his doorway when got he there, but in a daze and he had to be carried out by firefighters.

Firefighters later removed the charred mattress and other items destroyed by the fire.

Stewart says his neighbor is fortunate he made it out alive.

"Even all the electrical cords to everything are all burnt he's lucky that oxygen didn't blow up," said Stewart.

Neighbors who watched firefighters put out the fire say the man is also lucky he had some good neighbors looking out for him.

"I mean to be on a breathing machine and smoke and catch his bed on fire. He's not able to move around very much from what I understand and he's very lucky," said Scott Williams.

Fire officials say the man didn't have a working smoke detector.

He was transported to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. He didn't suffer any burns.

The Memphis fire department encourages everyone to have a working smoke detector.
LINK TO VIDEO:
Entry #4,135

Snake bites model during photo shoot snake dies of silicone poisoning

Snake bites model Orit Fox's breast during photo shoot, reportedly dies of silicone poisoning

Jaime Uribarri
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, March 14th 2011, 1:26 PM

Orit Fox screams in pain as a snake bites her left breast during a photo shoot.

Orit Fox screams in pain as a snake bites her left breast during a photo shoot.

A busty model and an angry snake together for a photo shoot – what could possibly go wrong?

Orit Fox's attempt at seductive posing with a massive boa took a bizarre turn when the snake bit one of the Israeli B-Lister's surgically enhanced breasts in the middle of a shoot for a Tel Aviv radio station, ABC of Spain reported.

All was going well for the silicone-addicted Fox until she tried to ramp up the sex factor by licking the snake. The move proved costly as she loosened her grip on the reptile, which went straight for the model's left breast implant and latched onto it for several seconds before being pulled off by an assistant.

Fox was rushed to a local hospital, where she was given a tetanus shot.

According to several media sources, the snake wasn't so lucky and died of silicone poisoning.

With News Wire Services

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2011/03/14/2011-03-14_snake_bites_model_orit_fox_in_the_breast_during_photo_shoot_reportedly_dies_of_s.html

Entry #4,134

Company allows you to drink as much beer as you like at work

Bar's open 24/7 as startup culture revives

 

Ryan Flinn

Bloomberg News

March 13, 2011 04:00 AM

 

At Yelp Inc.'s San Francisco headquarters, a keg refrigerator provides a never-ending supply of beer to employees, letting them drink as much as they like.

They just have to be comfortable with full disclosure: Workers badge in to an iPad application attached to the keg that records every ounce they drink.

"If you're at the top of the leaderboard consistently, I don't know if that's a place that you'd want to be," said Eric Singley, director of Yelp consumer and mobile products. "Luckily, that hasn't really even been an issue."

Call it the 2011 version of "Mad Men." As a rebound in technology funding revives startup culture, many dot-coms are embracing the idea of drinking at work. That means keeping bars stocked at all hours, installing kegerators and letting programmers tip back a few while they code. It also raises questions about the effect of alcohol on productivity and the safety of employees.

"Alcohol is sort of a slippery slope, because obviously you'd think it might impair their performance," said Dalton Conley, social sciences dean and professor at New York University. "Many people can work after one beer, but I doubt many people can do serious knowledge work very productively after four or five."

While office parties and Friday night beer busts are nothing new, the all-hours nature of startups means more employees blend their nightlife with work time. Drinking is an extension of that, said Joe Beninato, chief executive officer of Tello Inc., an app developer in Palo Alto.

"When you're working at a startup, you're working 24/7 and it takes over your life," he said. "It's not like it's a wild fraternity party or something like that - we're all adults."

A morning toast

When Tello's iPhone app for rating customer service made it into Apple Inc.'s online store in February, the five-person company decided to celebrate. No matter that it was before noon.

"We got out the whiskey, and everybody had a shot," Beninato said.

Workers have a similar outlook at CrowdFlower, said Lukas Biewald, CEO of the San Francisco-based employment company.

"We do have a fridge full of beer; people do work late and drink out of it," Biewald said. "When we first started, our office was like our home - we had leftovers in the fridge - and I think it's an extension of that."

It's typical to see employees with a beer on a Friday afternoon, when the company lets workers demonstrate new projects, he said. CrowdFlower also occasionally gets kegs for gatherings it hosts for its community of developers and users.

"We had a customer from a bank come, around 11 a.m., and I was really embarrassed by the fact that we had a keg up," Biewald said. "But he actually poured himself a drink."

Twitter Inc., also based in San Francisco, has wine and beer in its fridge, along with nonalcoholic drinks.

"We treat employees as adults, and they act accordingly," said Jodi Olson, a spokeswoman for the company.

Potential problems

Even so, the age-old problems of workplace drinking haven't disappeared, said Robert Sutton, a professor in Stanford University's management science and engineering department. Some employees can't drink in moderation or control themselves after imbibing, he said.

"I've been involved in workplaces that can be pretty dysfunctional, where people will start drinking a little too much at lunch," Sutton said. "There's like a bazillion studies that show when people drink, their performance is impaired, and there's problems with absenteeism."

Another danger: Women are at greater risk of sexual harassment at offices where heavy drinking is the norm, according to a 2004 Cornell University study. The report, sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, found harassment incidents increased more than twofold for each additional alcoholic beverage consumed by male co-workers.

The long hours may be what sets technology workers apart from the boozing executives on "Mad Men," a show set in the 1960s, said New York University's Conley.

"The folks drank a lot more alcohol back then and had three-martini lunches, but they weren't staying until midnight finishing projects," he said.

At Yelp, an online reviews site, the keg is meant as an after-hours activity, said Singley, who has worked for the startup more than three years.

"That's when it gets the most use," he said. Still, the definition of a workday can depend on the employee.

"Engineers in particular are night owls," he said. "A little ramen noodles at 9 p.m., and then after that, winding down your day, you might stop by the keg. People work here really late."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/12/BUP11I8SF3.DTL#ixzz1GcB3A2D7

Entry #4,131

Mom sues $19K/yr. preschool for damaging 4-year-old daughter's Ivy League chances

Manhattan mom sues $19K/yr. preschool for damaging 4-year-old daughter's Ivy League chances

Jose Martinez
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, March 14th 2011, 1:13 PM

 Did a Manhattan preschool fail to adequately prepare a four-year-old girl for Harvard? The girl's mom charges that the York Avenue Preschool hurt her child's chances in a lawsuit filed Monday.

Getty

Did a Manhattan preschool fail to adequately prepare a four-year-old girl for Harvard? The girl's mom charges that the York Avenue Preschool hurt her child's chances in a lawsuit filed Monday.

A Manhattan mom is suing a $19,000-a-year preschool, claiming it jeopardized her daughter's chances of getting into an elite private school because she had to slum with younger kids.

Court papers filed by Nicole Imprescia suggest the York Avenue Preschool may have doomed 4-year-old Lucia's chances of getting into an Ivy League college.

"At age four, [York Avenue Preschool] was still teaching [Imprescia's] daughter about shapes and colors - a two year old's learning environment," the suit says.

"Like many parents living in Manhattan, [Imprescia] places a priority on her child's preschool education," the papers add.

The suit quotes from an article that identifies elite preschools as the first step for getting children into the best schools "and on to the Ivy League."

An impressive sales pitch from the York Ave. school in the fall of 2009 convinced Imprescia to enroll Lucia - and pay $19,000 up front.

The goal, the suit says, was to prepare Lucia for the ERB standardized test - which the top private elementary schools use in making admission decisions.

"[York Avenue Preschool] boasted to [Imprescia] that it had a high success rate in getting its students into high caliber schools, both public and private," the suit says.

Those claims are "a complete fraud," the mom charges, going on to blast the York Avenue's educational environment and lack of age-specific classrooms.

"Indeed, the school proved not to be a school at all, but just one big playroom," the suit says.

The school's owner, Michael Branciforte, did not return a call seeking comment.

On its website, York Avenue Preschool touts its music and physical education programs, weekly library trips and French classes for four-year-olds.

"Our goal is to reach each child and work with them towards their 'next steps,'" the site says.

Imprescia is seeking a $19,000 tuition refund and wants to launch a class-action case on behalf of similarly wronged toddlers.

Imprescia and her lawyer declined comment.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/03/14/2011-03-14_manhattan_mom_sues_19kyr_preschool_for_damaging_4yearold_daughters_ivy_league_ch.html#ixzz1Gb7voemq

Entry #4,130

Outrage Over Prayer Service Held Before School Tests

Prayer service at city school called improper

Prayers sought success on statewide tests

Prayer service flier             Prayer service flier

 

Erica L. Green, The Baltimore Sun 9:20 p.m. EDT, March 13, 2011

A Baltimore principal's decision to use prayer in preparation for recent statewide tests is drawing criticism as improperly mixing religion and public education.

For two years, prayer services have been held at Northeast Baltimore's Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School as the Maryland School Assessments, a standardized test for third through eighth grades, neared. Fliers promoted the most recent event, on March 5, as a way to "come together, as one, in prayer and ask God to bless our school to pass the MSA."

Asked about the event, city school officials said they would investigate. In a prepared statement, the school system said that, "while we as a district understand that prayer plays an important role for many in our school communities … it is not appropriate for public institutions of education to promote any particular religious practice."

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, called the event a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits organized prayer in public school settings.

"It's not even a close call," ACLU attorney David Rocah said. "The whole flier is clearly conveying a religious message, overtly proselytizing, and somebody should have known better."

Jimmy Gittings, president of the city principals' union, said he supported Principal Jael Yon, "an exceptional principal trying to do what's best for our children in the Baltimore City school system."

Gittings added, "The only individuals I hold accountable for these injustices for Ms. Yon are the narrow-minded politicians from some 50 years ago, for removing prayer from our schools. Once prayer was removed from our schools, the respect for our teachers and administrators has been increasingly out of control."

Dating back to the 1960s, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled prayer in public schools unconstitutional. Two landmark cases, in 1962 and 1963, established the current prohibition on state-sponsored prayer in schools. Moreover state-run schools cannot promote or inhibit religion, or hold prayers that are sectarian in nature. The only prayer that is constitutional is private, voluntary student prayer that does not interfere with the school's educational mission.

The 30-minute, voluntary prayer service this month at Tench Tilghman, in the 600 block of N. Patterson Park Ave., marked a culmination of Saturday classes the school has held to provide additional preparation for the Maryland School Assessments. The flier, which included images of praying hands and cited common Christian Bible verses, was distributed to staff to circulate to the school's 400 students and their families.

Yon was asked by parents at the school to hold the Saturday classes, as well as the prayer service, according to Gittings. He said Yon "was doing what she thought was right."

Yon, who is in her second year at the school, declined to comment. Gittings said he was speaking on her behalf.

Gittings, a proponent of prayer in schools, said he fully supported Yon's actions. He said he was aware that it wasn't constitutional, but he still believed in the message.

Local officials said they will use the incident as an opportunity to emphasize to school leaders appropriate school-sponsored events. The school system declined to comment on whether Yon received any disciplinary action, citing its policy of declining to address personnel matters.

After seeing the flier, Rocah said the event violated constitutional provisions that prohibit organized prayer in public school settings and the promotion of an individual religion. He said some phrases were clear indicators of Christian beliefs: "He will do it again" and "All things are possible."

"The implication is: believe in God, and you'll succeed," Rocah added. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who believe that, but I would hope that teachers and administration would be focused on teaching the students the necessary material. There's no substitute for that."

According to some Tench Tilghman parents, Yon did not lead the communal prayer service, but prayed with the group. They defended the event, saying a gathering of parents and school administrators who care about students is the only tool they have to instill confidence in students.

Glenda Shepperson, a parent of three Tench Tilghman graduates and a fourth grader at the school, said the prayer service was identified by the school and the community as the best way to encourage students. She attended last year's service also.

Shepperson said she, her son, grandson and nephew joined about 25 other students and 30 parents in praying for health and peace of mind on the standardized tests. She said the group prayed for "our children for testing, the families, and to make sure that everyone stayed healthy and kept their minds focused."

She added, "We really want to embrace our kids, and let them know that we need to pray together and stay together to make them successful. If this is what makes our children serene and peaceful, and in a healthy environment, then so be it."

LaTonya Greene, a parent volunteer at the school and mother of four students, said, "A lot of our kids have a lot of problems, and sometimes the school is their safe haven. I see what they go through every day, and sometimes you need to just pray about it."

Other city schools have held special events to prepare for the Maryland School Assessments.

At George Washington Elementary School, for example, students and faculty created a rap video called "My Pencil." More than 17,000 people had viewed the video last week on YouTube.

George Washington's principal, Amanda Rice, said finding creative ways to lift spirits and blow off steam makes a difference as students near the test. She said the staff, parent-teacher organization and family council begin brainstorming for appropriate motivational strategies at the beginning of the school year.

"It's very important," Rice said. "The stakes are higher; our kids are exposed to more and we have to meet them where their interest is currently at — pizza parties and stickers are not enough."

Jessica Shiller, education policy director for Advocates for Children and Youth, a nonprofit organization that monitors Baltimore schools, said all the special test preparations speak to a larger issue: an over-emphasis on standardized testing.

"The issue for me isn't the religion at all," Shiller said. "It's that there's so much pressure on schools to get their scores up for fear of punitive consequences, that there are these lengths people at schools feel that they need to go to in order to get their kids pumped up to do well on the test, because the test has become the end-all, be-all for learning.

"Whether it's prayer or the video, or the pep rallies, it's the mass hysteria because they're all scared."
 
LINK TO VIDEO:
 

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/03/14/many-outraged-over-prayer-sevice-held-before-tests/

Entry #4,127

Obama's Social Security Hoax

March 11, 2011 12:00 A.M.

Obama’s Social Security Hoax

Charles Krauthammer

National Review Online

 
The president will demagogue Social Security as his ticket to reelection.

Everyone knows that the U.S. budget is being devoured by entitlements. Everyone also knows that of the Big Three — Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security — Social Security is the most solvable.

Back-of-an-envelope solvable: Raise the retirement age, tweak the indexing formula (from wage inflation to price inflation), and means-test so that Warren Buffett’s check gets redirected to a senior in need.

The relative ease of the fix is what makes the Obama administration’s Social Security strategy so shocking. The new line from the White House is: no need to fix it because there is no problem. As Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Jack Lew wrote in USA Today just a few weeks ago, the trust fund is solvent until 2037. Therefore, Social Security is now off the table in debt-reduction talks. 

This claim is a breathtaking fraud.

The pretense is that a flush trust fund will pay retirees for the next 26 years. Lovely, except for one thing: The Social Security trust fund is a fiction.

If you don’t believe me, listen to the OMB’s own explanation (in the Clinton administration budget for fiscal year 2000 under then-director Jack Lew, the very same). The OMB explained that these trust-fund “balances” are nothing more than a “bookkeeping” device. “They do not consist of real economic assets that can be drawn down in the future to fund benefits.”

In other words, the Social Security trust fund contains — nothing.

Here’s why. When your FICA tax is taken out of your paycheck, it does not get squirreled away in some lockbox in West Virginia where it’s kept until you and your contemporaries retire. Most goes out immediately to pay current retirees, and the rest (say, $100) goes to the U.S. Treasury — and is spent. On roads, bridges, national defense, public television, whatever — spent, gone.

In return for that $100, the Treasury sends the Social Security Administration a piece of paper that says: IOU $100. There are countless such pieces of paper in the lockbox. They are called “special issue” bonds.

Special they are: They are worthless. As the OMB explained, they are nothing more than “claims on the Treasury [i.e., promises] that, when redeemed [when you retire and are awaiting your check], will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits or other expenditures.” That’s what it means to have a so-called trust fund with no “real economic assets.” When you retire, the “trust fund” will have to go to the Treasury for the money for your Social Security check.

Bottom line? The OMB again: “The existence of large trust fund balances, therefore, does not, by itself, have any impact on the government’s ability to pay benefits.” No impact: The lockbox, the balances, the little pieces of paper, amount to nothing.

So when Jack Lew tells you that there are trillions in this lockbox that keep the system solvent until 2037, he is perpetrating a fiction certified as such by his own OMB. What happens when you retire? Your Social Security will come out of the taxes and borrowing of that fiscal year.

Why is this a problem? Because as of 2010, the pay-as-you-go Social Security system is in the red. For decades it had been in the black, taking in more in FICA taxes than it sent out in Social Security benefits. The surplus, scooped up by the Treasury, reduced the federal debt by tens of billions. But demography is destiny. The ratio of workers to retirees is shrinking year by year. Instead of Social Security producing annual surpluses that reduce the federal deficit, it is now producing shortfalls that increase the federal deficit — $37 billion in 2010. It will only get worse as the baby boomers retire.

That’s what makes this administration’s claim that Social Security is solvent so cynical. The Republicans have said that their April budget will contain real entitlement reform. President Obama is preparing the ground to demagogue Social Security right through the 2012 elections. The ad writes itself: Those heartless Republicans don’t just want to throw granny in the snow, they want to throw granny in the snow to solve a problem that doesn’t even exist! Vote Obama.

On Tuesday, Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia denounced Obama for lack of leadership on the debt. It’s worse than that. Obama is showing leadership. With Lew’s preposterous claim that Social Security is solvent for 26 years, Obama is preparing to lead the charge against entitlement reform as his ticket to reelection.

—  Charles Krauthammer is a nationally syndicated columnist.

Entry #4,126

How the highly effective habits of millionaires could help you

How the highly effective habits of millionaires could help you

 

Cindy Perman

CNBC

March 12, 2011

Millionaires are more optimistic about the economy but unlike the rest of us, they don't blow their whole paycheck on videogames and Little Debbie snack cakes.

Getty Images

Instead, they keep their eye on the prize: Keeping their money — and making more.A recent survey of wealthy Americans revealed what millionaires plan to do with their money this year.

Their priorities are still to pay down debt and save money:  The average millionaire household saved over $39,000 last year, and plans to save the same or more this year, according to a recent survey by Spectrem Group.  But they're also ready to increase their bets on the recovery:  Forty-five percent plan on increasing the amount they have invested in the stock market, the survey showed.   The biggest area they plan to invest in is technology (58 percent), followed by the pharmaceutical industry (48 percent) and health care (47 percent).And the gold rush isn't over:  Forty-one percent said they plan to invest in gold and 24% were considering other precious metals. 

They may be poising themselves to cash in as the economy grows but they maintain the discipline of monks:  Eight-one percent said they don't believe the recession is over and just two percent consider themselves "aggressive" investors.  That discipline not only applies to how they spend their money but how they live their life and how they navigate business. 

Millionaires only have 24 hours in a day, just like the rest of us.   What separates them from us is time management.   While the rest of us go home and flop on the couch in front of the TV, the wealthy are reading and doing things that contribute to their success. 

As a teenager in Seattle, Bill Gates used to sneak out of his house at night and on the weekends to go down to the computer lab.   He was doing real-time computer programming by eighth grade.   He didn't spend his high school years watching television and dreaming of studying computer science in college, he spent it actually working on computers.   Knowing that, it makes more sense that he dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft— he was just a guy ahead of schedule!

Apple founder Steve Jobs, in his commencement address to Stanford University in 2005, explained his daily ritual to make sure there isn't any grass growing under his feet:  "When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like:   'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.'   It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself:   'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'   And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. 

Another highly effective habit of the wealthy is that they are decisive.  One of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett's business tenets is "Never Suck Your Thumb."   That means that, at a certain point, you've got to stop thinking — and start acting.    In his 1989 annual report, Buffett explained how he learned the thumb-sucking lesson the hard way: "It's no sin to miss a great opportunity outside one's area of competence.   But I have passed on a couple of really big purchases that were served up to me on a platter and that I was fully capable of understanding.   For Berkshire's shareholders, myself included, the cost of this thumb-sucking has been huge."At a certain point, you just have to ask yourself:   How's that couch working out for you?

 

LINK TO STORY:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/basics/2011-03-12-cnbc-millionaire-habits_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip#

Entry #4,125

Middle School Teacher Arrested For Public Indecency

Middle School Teacher Arrested For Public Indecency

 Daniel Mer

 6:46 p.m. EDT, March 13, 2011

 

VERNON —

Police arrested a man on Saturday who they say exposed himself to a passing woman while performing a sexual act on himself earlier that day.

Police said that the man, Daniel Mer, 31, of 117 Delmont St., Manchester, is a teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in New Britain. He is also listed in the school staff directory.

New Britain schools spokesperson Helen Yung said that at this time, the school has no comment.

Mer was charged with public indecency and breach of peace. Police say the woman was walking on Lake Street, near the Lake Street School, when Mer passed her in a car and then pulled onto Rosewood Drive, where he stopped. He parked in such a way that the woman was forced to walk around his car and as she did so he opened the driver's door and stuck his left leg out of the car. As the woman passed, she saw he was naked from the waist down and performing a sexual act on himself as he looked at her, police said.

Mer then drove up Rosewood Drive, which is a dead end, and the female was able to get the license plate number and a description of the vehicle. Police followed up on this information and spoke with Mer. He was released after posting a $2,500 bond and is due in court on March 22.

Entry #4,124

Burger King CEO Calls British Women Ugly

Burger King boss insults British women and food

 

The chief executive of Burger King has described British women as ugly and English food as “terrible”, in a gaffe likely to enrage his customers in this country.

 

Burger King boss insults British
Bernardo Hees' gaffe came only six months after taking the helm at Burger King 
Photo: REUTERS
Nick Britten 4:44PM GMT 13 Mar 2011 
 

Bernardo Hees, 40, told a group of students in Chicago that “here the food is good and you are known for your good-looking women”.

Comparing the city to his student days at the University of Warwick, where he studied for an MBA, he recalled of his time in England: “The food is terrible and the women are not very attractive."

His gaffe came only six months after taking the helm at the chain, which has 11,500 outlets worldwide, and unsurprisingly were not welcomed in Coventry, where Warwick University is based.

Charli Fritzner, women’s campaigns officer at the University’s student union, said: “If he views women as potential distractions in academia, I wonder how he views them in the workplace?

“It doesn’t make Burger King an attractive employer for women.”

Marcus Wareing, a Michelin-starred chef at London’s Berkeley Hotel, who specialises in English produce, said his comments were an “insult to British gastronomy”, especially given what the Burger King menu contains.

After Mr Hees’ comments, which were made in an unguarded moment, were picked up and reported in America, a spokesman for the company said he regretted them, adding: “Mr Hees apologises if his comment has offended anyone. It …. was intended as a humorous anecdote to connect with his audience.”

One way for British women to make themselves more attractive might be to avoid a visit to one of Mr Hees’ fast food outlets.

Boasting 950 calories, a Burger King Double Whopper with cheese accounts for half of a woman’s recommended daily calorie intake of 1940 calories.

The burger has twice the calorie count and, with 22g of saturated fat, more than double the saturated fat count than its comparable rival, the McDonald’s Big Mac.

Entry #4,123
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