Man Convicted of Capitol Murder After Horrifying Burned Child Case

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Photo Credit: Chron From the moment he was doused with gasoline and set on fire until his last breath in 2011, Robert Middleton spent every day fighting — for life, for health, for respite from pain, for a return of the happiness and carefree attitude that was his by nature. But the one thing he never got to do was fight back.

On Monday, a jury in Galveston stepped forward in his absence and convicted Don Willburn Collins of capital murder, almost 17 years after the attack that horrified the community of Splendora and all but defied the legal system to do anything about it.

Collins, whose trial now moves into the punishment phase, faces a maximum of 40 years imprisonment because he was only 13 at the time of the assault, not old enough for the full range of adult punishment. For Middleton’s parents, however, the conviction was satisfaction enough. They never knew if Collins would be forced to answer for the inexplicable assault on a wooded path behind their home, just hours after Robert was to celebrate his 8th birthday with cake, presents and a sleepover.

“We wanted to make sure people knew what kind of person he was,” Colleen Middleton said. “I didn’t think we’d see this day, really” . . .

The Middletons won a victory in civil court in 2011, but there was no criminal prosecution until a new state law and a new Montgomery County district attorney changed the landscape. Previous prosecutors had told them that “contradictions” in various stories made the case too shaky to take to court. (Read more about the conviction of capitol murder from the burned child case HERE)

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Charged as a Man, Convicted as a Woman: Curious Criminal Case in Miami

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Photo Credit: Miami Herald Nearly a decade ago, Harold Seymore was charged with sexually assaulting a female tourist on South Beach. Last week, Seymore was finally convicted of the crime — but as a woman.

Seymore’s story is a complicated one, an unusually long grind through both the criminal justice and mental health systems, all while struggling with gender identification issues. Born intersex, with functioning male and female reproductive organs, she has slowly transitioned to a woman.

For the first time in her life, Seymore donned a dress last week as she sat in a Miami-Dade courtroom to face jurors.

Her change in appearance from the 2005 arrest never took center stage but surfaced in subtle ways over four days of trial. Witnesses described a tall lanky man behind the assault. But defense attorneys, despite occasional slip-ups, made sure to call Seymore “she” while prosecutors used a neutral “the defendant” . . .

It took jurors just an hour to convict Seymore. On Friday, Pooler sentenced her to 15 years in prison, plus 10 years of probation. Because of her long criminal history, Seymore was designated a habitual violent offender. (Read more about the criminal case in Miami HERE)

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7 Week Old Baby Survives Abortion Pill After Mother ‘Reverses’ It

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Photo Credit: Live Action News By Nancy Flanders. Since 2012, 77 children have survived abortion attempts on their lives from RU-486 — also called “the abortion pill” — thanks to AbortionPillReversal.com and their network of 226 pro-life OBGYNs . . .

One such woman, “Jen,” visited Assure Pregnancy Center after Planned Parenthood gave her RU-486 and she took the first pill. It was Memorial Day weekend. The staff at the clinic was looking forward to the three-day weekend, but when Jen walked in, they quickly got to work to save a little life.

Jen, as reported by Pregnancy Help News, was a married college student with a toddler. Despite the fact that her husband and family were excited about her pregnancy, Jen felt that she should abort in order to keep her college and career plans on track. She set up an appointment at Planned Parenthood (PP).

While at PP, Jen wasn’t allowed to hear the heartbeat of her baby, which was the one thing giving her doubts about aborting. After she took that first pill, all she could think about was the heartbeat that the pills would be ending. She realized she had made a mistake, and she headed to Assure. (Read more about the baby surviving the abortion pill HERE)

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New York Abortion Clinics Inspected Less Than Pizzerias

By Carl Campanile. Abortion clinics should be inspected at least as frequently as pizzerias, tanning salons and movie theaters, according to new radio ads decrying the sanitary conditions at some of New York’s facilities.

The 30-second and 60-second spots paid for by the pro-life Chiaroscuro Group quote what the organization claims are scathing reviews culled from social-media Web sites and penned by horrified patients who visited some of the clinics.

A sample of the reviews: “Avoid at all costs”; “The Waiting Room is dirty and smelled of dried urine”; “DO NOT EVER GO HERE”; “Filthy Medical Equipment looks like it’s from the 1970s”; and “She Balanced Her Tool Tray on a Garbage Can.”

The narrator says: “New York inspects everything: pizzerias, nail and tanning salons, movie theaters. But for more than a dozen years, it’s failed to inspect women’s clinics around the state.”

The Post reported last year that eight of New York’s 25 abortion clinics had not been inspected at all between 2000 and 2012, and five others were inspected only once in a dozen years. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Amazing: Mother in Coma For Two Months Gives Birth to Healthy Baby Girl

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By Fox News. When a young, expectant mother was hit by a train, her unborn child was thankfully unharmed. Two months later, the healthy baby girl was delivered as her mother lay still in a coma, Central European News (CEN) reported.

Shortly before Christmas, Maria Kudrina, 31, was standing on a station platform waiting for a train in Moscow, Russia. Kudrina stumbled and fell because the large number of people waiting, and was struck in the head at least twice as the train cars passed by. Her husband, Vladimr Kudrina, 33, rushed to pull her back on the platform, but was unable to help.

The young mother’s survival seemed unlikely, but she was placed in intensive care, where she’s remained in a coma.

The newborn, named Maria after her mother, was delivered by caesarean section weighing 1 pound, 1.6 ounces and measuring 15 inches long. Doctors say she is doing well and remains in an incubator, but is expected to survive without problems. (Read more about the mother in coma for two months HERE)

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Boy in Coma Starts Breathing After Doctors Insist He Was Brain Dead

By Kirsten Anderson. A 12-year-old Texas boy who slipped into a coma after suffering a severe asthma attack has begun breathing on his own – just hours after hospital officials fought to take him off life support because they believed he was legally “brain dead.” Now, his family has obtained a court order requiring the hospital to provide nourishment to the boy via a feeding tube, and hope to have him transferred to another facility within the week.

Joey Cronin has been at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi since January 14, when he suffered cardiac arrest as a result of an asthma attack. In an interview last week with LifeSiteNews, Joey’s father George Cronin said that hospital staff were pessimistic about his chances of recovery from the very start, even though early on, Joey was showing signs of awareness – opening his eyes, gripping his parents’ hands, and responding to external stimuli.

“They were very negative,” Cronin told LifeSiteNews last week. “On the night he came in, they told me it could be a matter of hours before they would have to [remove Joey from life support].” However, the testing the hospital did to prove Joey was brain dead showed he was responsive, so they were forced to honor the Cronins’ wishes to keep the boy on his ventilator. But they refused to install a feeding tube so that he could receive nutrition.

When Joey slipped into a coma several days later, the hospital became more aggressive in its push to have the boy declared brain dead – the legal threshold for issuing a death certificate in Texas. With a death certificate, the hospital could remove Joey from life support against his parents’ wishes. Under advice from a local attorney, the Cronins refused to give consent for any further testing. They then sought help from Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal defense group. Their only goal was to force the hospital to keep Joey alive until he could be transferred safely to another hospital – one that would give him lifesaving treatment without giving up on him.

At least one facility in Houston had already agreed to take Joey in, and another in New Jersey was open to the possibility. But the biggest question in the Cronins’ mind was whether Driscoll Children’s would give Joey the care he needed to stay strong enough for transfer. They reached out via news and social media, begging people to contact the hospital to urge them not to give up on Joey’s care. (Read more from this story HERE)

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‘It’s Me or the Baby’: Man Chooses Son With Down Syndrome After Wife After She Abandons the Baby

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Photo Credit: KTLABy Tracy Bloom. A New Zealand father whose wife abandoned their infant son because he was born with Down syndrome has decided to raise the child as a single dad, according to a report and a fundraising page.

Leo Forrest was born in Armenia on Jan. 21, 2015, much to the delight of his father, Samuel Forrest. He stated that regardless of the genetic condition, he considered his son to be “perfect.”

“They took me in (to) see him and I looked at this guy and I said, ‘he’s beautiful — he’s perfect and I’m absolutely keeping him,’” he said upon seeing his child for the first time, according to Boston television station WCVB.

His wife, however, had “refused to even look at or touch the newborn,” a GoFundMe fundraising page set up to support Forrest and his baby stated. The Armenian woman was afraid “of getting attached in a society where defects are not accepted, often bringing shame on the family involved,” according to the page.

A short time after Leo’s birth, the mother and her family abandoned the baby. What’s more, they told him he would be no longer welcome in their home if he decided to keep the baby. (Read more about the man choosing his son with Down Syndrome HERE)

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Head of Tampa Down Syndrome Charity Embezzled $100,000 For Personal Use

By Mike Brassfield. Every October for 10 years, the Down Syndrome Network of Tampa Bay held a “Buddy Walk,” a fundraiser in a local park featuring a mile-long walk, games, clowns, giveaways, food and raffles. It raised tens of thousands of dollars — purportedly to fund programs for children with Down syndrome.

But last October, the Buddy Walk was canceled.

“We have had a problem with our nonprofit status,” the charity’s website announced. “This event is near and dear to our hearts, but is not possible this year.”

The unspoken reason: The charity’s founder and president was being investigated by police and was facing hard questions from some of the group’s members.

On Friday, she was arrested on charges that she embezzled more than $100,000 in charitable donations for her own use. Shirley Lawyer, 53, of Largo was charged with grand theft and was booked into the Pinellas County Jail. (Read more from this story HERE)

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LGBT Group Sues, Says New Mexico Denny’s Refused to Serve Them

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By Chris Ramirez. There is a claim of discrimination coming from a group of gay, lesbian and transgender people who visited Denny’s after a Gay Pride celebration in Deming, New Mexico in July 2014 . . .

According to Carlos’s accounts and legal documents, the group intended to grab a bite to eat after a Pride pageant. Many in the group were dressed in formal pageant wear, including some of the men and transgender people at the table . . .

Legal documents state the waitress told them she would not serve the group because, in her words, they were “fags and faggots.” Pioquinto and Carlos also say the server referred to a transgender person as a “boy with tits.”

When they complained to the manager, they said the manager sided with his server and asked the group to leave . . .

Pioquinto, Carlos and five other people in the Deming group filed a discrimination charge with the New Mexico WorkForce Solutions Department. The group wants a public apology and they want Denny’s to pay $20,000 to Deming Pride. (Read more about LGBT group filing charges HERE)

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100 Letters Supporting Homosexuals Temporarily Shut Down Oklahoma Capitol

By Dallas Franklin. An all-clear was given to the Oklahoma Capitol after it was shut down for several suspicious letters . . .

In all, 100 letters supporting gay and lesbian lifestyles were dropped off at the Oklahoma State Capitol on Wednesday.

Rep. Justin Wood, who received one of the letters in question, confirms they are from the Dakhma of Angra Mainyu church, a local Satanic group.

Dastur Adam Daniels said the letters were to show the church’s opposition to Oklahoma House Bill 1125. (Read more from this story HERE)

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The Horrifying Truth Behind Dismemberment Abortions

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Photo Credit: Life News By Andrew Bair. Not long ago, Americans from both sides of the aisle came together to protect unborn children from the unspeakable cruelty of partial-birth abortion. Many are still unable to forget the conscience-stirring images and diagrams showing an unborn child being partially delivered and then killed before fully emerging from the birth canal. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that partial-birth abortion was incompatible with our nation’s character and upheld a ban on the procedure.

But partial-birth abortion is not the only method of abortion that should shock us and give rise to action. Particularly gruesome are dismemberment abortions of living unborn children, a common and brutal form of dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion.

A key component of the Right to Life Movement’s legislative agenda in 2015 is the “Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act,” recently introduced in Kansas. The accounts of abortionists themselves give a glimpse into the true horror of dismemberment abortions and why they must be stopped . . .

In testimony before a Congressional committee, former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino described performing a D&E abortion:

“A second trimester D&E abortion is a blind procedure. The baby can be in any orientation or position inside the uterus. Picture yourself reaching in with the Sopher clamp and grasping anything you can. At twenty weeks gestation, the uterus is thin and soft so be careful not to perforate or puncture the walls. Once you have grasped something inside, squeeze on the clamp to set the jaws and pull hard – really hard. You feel something let go and out pops a fully formed leg about 4 to 5 inches long. Reach in again and grasp whatever you can. Set the jaw and pull really hard once again and out pops an arm about the same length. Reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart and lungs.” (Read more about dismemberment abortions HERE)

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Shocking: This is What Abortion Clinic Workers Do to Make Sure the Abortion is Finished

By Sarah Terzo. In a Facebook post last month, former abortion clinic administrator Abby Johnson gave a horrific description of one of her duties at Planned Parenthood. She described piecing together the bodies of babies who had been aborted. The Planned Parenthood clinic used jargon common in abortion clinics. Staffers described the babies as “Products of Conception.”

Johnson says:

When I worked at Planned Parenthood, I was trained to be a POC technician. POC stands for “Products of Conception.” Sometimes, if the staff were feeling funny, we would say that it stood for “Pieces of Children.”

Inside every abortion clinic across the country, someone is tasked to be the POC technician. Their job is to take everything suctioned out of the uterus during an abortion and reassemble the parts of the baby. We did this to ensure that the uterus was empty of all fetal parts. If something was left, it could create a potentially fatal infection for the woman.

Some pro-choicers may doubt Johnson’s claim. It sounds so gruesome, so disturbing, that pro-choice people may not want to believe it. It is easier for people who support abortion to think of the baby as a formless collection of cells or piece of tissue — anything but a miniature person. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Death of the 1st Amendment: Oregon Bakers Who Refused to Bake Homosexual Wedding Cake Found Guilty

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Photo Credit: Family Research Council Make them bake cake! That’s the verdict of an administrative judge in the case of Oregon bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein. The couple, who became the brave face of America’s religious liberty clash, were informed yesterday by the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries that in the battle over marriage, their First Amendment rights no longer counted.

In the first of what will almost certainly be several rulings, the Kleins were found guilty of violating state law for politely declining an order for a same-sex “wedding” cake. As part of his 52-page order, Judge Alan McCullough claims that “requiring them to provide a wedding cake for Complainants does not constitute compelled speech.” Aaron Klein disagrees. “First Amendment, Constitution. Freedom of religion. I’m free to exercise my religion however I see fit. If I’m told to make a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage, I feel that I’m violating my beliefs. I don’t think I should have to do that.”

Unfortunately for the parents of five, wedding vendors like them may soon have no choice. In the free market, the courts no longer seem to recognize the right to believe what you want. Owners of small businesses like Sweet Cakes by Melissa, Arlene’s Flowers, Simply Elegant Wedding Planning, Hands On Originals, and others are seen as nothing more than tools of the government to think and believe as the state sees fit. If they refuse, as Aaron and Melissa have done, Oregon is threatening to bring the full weight of the government to bear.

A hearing on March 10 will decide exactly how much the Kleins’ courage will cost them. As much as $200,000 could be at stake for a family who’s already been forced to close their shop and scrape together the money they need to make up for that lost income. Anna Harmon, one of the Kleins’ three attorneys, said that although the judge tossed out every claim but one, it’s still a tough loss. “Americans should not have to choose between adhering to their faith or closing their business, but that is what this decision means… The judge ruled wrongly that the Kleins’ right not to design and create a work of art celebrating an event which violates the tenets of their religion is not protected by the Oregon or Federal Constitutions. This is a dangerous result for religious liberty and rights of conscience in Oregon…” (Read more about the suit about the Oregon bakers HERE)

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Parents Furious After Biology Quiz Question on Abortion

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A local biology teacher’s multiple choice question about abortion is upsetting students’ parents.

Edmond Santa Fe High School officials confirmed Tuesday several biology teachers at the school gave their students a “non graded exercise” – a discussion starter – on human genetic disorders.

“You’ve found out that the child you (or your wife) carries has the gene for dwarfism. A new therapy exists that may repair this gene before the child is born. What do you do?” the first question on the exercise asks.

A. Allow the child to be born with the gene, and we will accept the child as is.
B. Attempt the new therapy to repair the gene.
C. Terminate Pregnancy . . .

“This is not a subject I want my child discussing in class,” one person said. “Ethics and beliefs are for home, not school.” (Read more about the disgusting biology quiz question HERE)

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The Bruce Jenner Story That Went From Gossip to News

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For the last few years, there have been rumors and anonymously sourced tabloid items suggesting that Bruce Jenner, the former Olympic champion and somewhat comically befuddled patriarchal figure on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” was transitioning from male to female.

The various clues — the growing of his hair into ponytail length, the apparent shaving down of his Adam’s apple, the brightly colored polish on his fingernails — were gleefully reported by gossip websites and some of the more fact-challenged tabloid magazines. One of them, In Touch, even went so far as to superimpose a picture of Mr. Jenner’s head onto the body of the actress Stephanie Beacham, adding red lipstick to his mouth in an attempt to feminize his appearance and better reflect the headline, “Bruce’s Story: My Life as a Woman.”

But, for the most part, the so-called mainstream press has steered clear of this story . . .

Last week, US Weekly put the Jenner news on its cover, with the headline, “Finally, the Truth,” and People magazine is now reaching newsstands with a cover article on Mr. Jenner, headlined, “He Is Finally Happy.” Meanwhile, reports have surfaced that Diane Sawyer of ABC News has lined up an interview with Mr. Jenner for May, shortly before a documentary series about the former athlete’s transformational process is expected to start airing . . .

Mr. Jenner’s mother gave an interview to The National Enquirer this week, saying that she could not be prouder of her son. Kim Kardashian, on “Entertainment Tonight” last week to promote her T-Mobile Super Bowl ad, was thrown a curveball when interviewers asked about what was going on with Bruce. She said that he was the “happiest” she has ever seen him. (Read more about the Bruce Jenner story HERE)

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