Swiss political party launches provocative anti-immigration campaign

A Right-wing political party in Switzerland has produced a provocative anti-immigration campaign in which a photograph of naked young models wading into Lake Zurich is contrasted with an image of headscarf-wearing Muslim women bathing in filthy water. The campaign is meant to warn the Swiss of what could happen to the country if it allows greater immigration. It comes as the Alpine nation prepares to vote on whether immigrants who commit serious crimes should be automatically expelled.

The first image shows a rear view of four young women holding hands and standing in the shallows of Lake Zurich. The second shows a group of elderly women, possibly Albanians or Bosnians, wearing headscarves and smoking as they immerse themselves in muddy water. It is supposed to represent a vision of Switzerland 20 years from now.

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JOKE: the Mail Order Bride

One day, Robert ran into an old friend at the small town cafe. Tom, an eighty-year-old rancher, had lost his wife a year or so earlier and rumor had it that he intended to marry a "mail order" bride. As a friend, Robert asked Tom if the rumor was true.

"Yep," Tom assured him.

"How old is your new bride?"

"She'll be twenty-one, come November."

Robert, being a wise man, knew that the sexual appetites of such a young woman could never be satisfied by an eighty-year-old man. So, wanting his friend's golden years to be happy ones, Robert tactfully suggested that Tom consider getting a hired hand to help out around the ranch, knowing full well that nature would take its own course.

"That's a good idea. I'll start looking this afternoon." A few months passed before Robert ran into Tom again.

"How's the new wife?" he asked.

"Pregnant!" Tom said proudly.

Pleased that his wisdom had worked out, Robert asked, "And how's the new hired hand?"

Without hesitating, Tom beamed, "She's pregnant too!"

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S.C. Man flees on lawn mower after stick-up

An Aiken man trying to flee from deputies on a riding lawn mower didn't get very far and was quickly detained on allegations he used a stick during what deputies are dubbing a "stick-up" at a local convenience store.

Ricky New, 45, of the 2000 block of Edgefield Highway, is charged with first-degree assault and battery and armed robbery.

This is not local law enforcement's first run-in with New, but it appears that it is the first time he has been accused of holding up a store with a stick. His face was partially covered with a white towel, but when they detained him, they knew who he was from crimes in the past, officials said.

This time, New is accused of walking into the Kent's Korner at 1925 Edgefield Highway where he ordered the clerks to "give me your damn money."

He began to strike one of the clerks with a stick that he brought into the store, said Capt. Elwell, a sheriff's office spokesperson.

She threw her arm up to protect herself from the attack and was struck on the arm several times.

"She was bruised, but she is OK," Elwell explained.

"He received an undisclosed amount of money and fled the scene on his getaway vehicle - a Craftsman riding lawn mower," Elwell said.

The suspect was detained a short time later. He is being held at the Aiken County detention center.

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JOKE: Becky and Jake

Becky was dying. Her husband, Jake, standing vigil at her side, held her fragile hand, the tears running down his face. Becky roused slightly. She looked up and said, "My darling Jake..." she started.

"Hush, Becky," he said. "Just rest, don't talk."

She insisted. "Jake," she said weakly, "I... I have something I must confess...."

"No need, Becky," replied Jake, "Everything is all right now. Just go to sleep."

"No, Jake, no. I want to pass in peace. Jake, I slept with your brother, and his best friend, and your best friend, your uncle, and even your father!"

"I know," Jake whispered. "Why do you think I poisoned you?"

Another Female Teacher Convicted of Sexual Assault on Students

Former Clinton High School teacher Megan Baumann talks with her attorney, Mike Farley, on Monday in Anderson County Criminal Court.

CLINTON - She had sex with one of her male students, fondled a second student and twice sent nude photos of herself to students by cell phone.

Megan Baumann, 28, former social studies teacher at Clinton High School, admitted to those accusations in a plea deal Monday in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Her confessions netted Baumann three years in prison and three years on probation.

She also must register for life as a sex offender, surrender her teacher's license and undergo therapy.

Baumann, who fought back tears as she responded to Judge Don Elledge's questions, reports to prison Jan. 10. She has to serve 30 percent of her sentence before she's eligible for parole.

"It's not an agreement that she's happy with," said Baumann's attorney, Mike Farley. "She feels the punishment is very harsh."

"I believe this is a just sentence," Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said. It sends a message, he said: "Adults having sexual contact with children will be aggressively prosecuted.''

Farley said Baumann's feelings about her sentence are based on "a number of similar-type cases."

"People have been charged with the same type of crimes and received probation, received diversion, received no jail time and weren't forced to be placed on the sexual offender's registry for life,'' he said.

Baumann's pleas involving three male students younger than 18 but older than 13:

n One count of statutory rape by an authority figure for a Jan. 29 episode.

n One count of sexual battery by an authority figure, involving touching a student's clothing covering "intimate parts" in December 2009.

n Two counts of displaying sexually explicit material to minors in December and January. One count involved the same student in the statutory rape case.

Clark declined to say where the sexual episodes occurred.

Baumann received three years in prison for the statutory rape conviction and two 11-month, 29-day jail sentences for sending the nude photos. Those sentences will be served at the same time.

A three-year probation term for sexual battery will follow Baumann's prison sentence.

Word of Baumann's sexual encounter with the student spread quickly through the 1,100-student school last winter. Less than a week later the educator, a Powell resident at the time, was suspended without pay.

Investigations by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Clinton police followed.

In mid-February, Anderson County Schools Director Larry Foster sent Baumann notice he wanted to fire her, calling her behavior "flagrant, egregious and reprehensible.''

Baumann originally planned to appeal Foster's dismissal bid, and a hearing was set. It was canceled after school officials learned the plea deal was in the works.

Baumann was a nontenured teacher who interned at Clinton High in 2007-08 while she was a University of Tennessee student. She started teaching at Clinton High in August 2008.

Farley said Baumann "went through a very difficult emotional time last year" in her personal life. Heretofore, he said, "She has lived an exemplary life."