Eight people arrested by police in Devon and Cornwall investigating alleged slavery offences and people trafficking have been charged.

Police arrested the eight – five women and three men aged aged between 25 and 37 – during four raids in Plymouth and one in Bodmin earlier this week.

Officers said they had been charged with offences related to conspiracy over labour exploitation and money laundering.

They are due before magistrates later.

Those charged include:

Lenka Cmejlova, 32, of Union Street, PlymouthNela Dzurkova, 26, of Ford Park Road, PlymouthKaterina Kuriova, 35, of Saltash Road, Keyham, PlymouthJiri Sebelik, 37, of Union Street, PlymouthMartin Tancos, 35, of Saltash Road, PlymouthPetr Tancos, 35, of Ford Park Road, PlymouthSandra Tancosova, 25, of Flora Court, PlymouthRuzena Tancosova, 34, of Union Street, Plymouth

The suspects, all originally from eastern Europe, were arrested in raids which were part of Operation Triage, which was launched in March.

They were…

Yesterday, I wrote a post that it never occurred to me to become a photographer, although I felt that nature photographers have the BEST job in the world. I find nature photography: exciting and meditative and rejuvenating and healthy and joyful…. and yet I never pursued it as a career. Today, I wonder why anyone would pursue a career unless it was exciting and meditative and rejuvenating and healthy and joyful…?

As I look back at the  past half-century I found some clues what took me so long:

Family Storytime

Family storytime involves important sentences like this:

“Hon, how was your day?”

I’m talking important at a level higher than that you took the time to acknowledge your spouse. Your kids are listening to the answer to this question.

Are they hearing statements like:

The boss is a jerk.

I can’t wait for the weekend.

Only 3,663 days to retirement.

I…

Schools Stockpile Grenade Launchers, M16 Rifles, Armored Vehicles And Other Military Equipment

” Nearly two dozen legal, civil rights, and education advocacy organizations recently sent a letter to the U.S. departments of Defense, Justice and Education to plead with federal officials to stop sending military equipment, weapons and armored vehicles to public schools.

  The move comes as an increasing number of school districts across the country take part in the Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program, commonly known as the 1033 program. The Huffington Post reports that at least 20 schools have taken in military-grade equipment, from grenade launchers to laptops, since the program started in 1997.

  The equipment is given to schools, public university police forces and local police agencies free of charge, but is considered to be on indefinite loan from the government.

“ The recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, demonstrate the tensions that invariably…

DHS Forced To Admit To Terrorists Caught At Texas Border

” During the House Homeland Security Committee hearing yesterday, Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) caught Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson off-guard when he began questioning Johnson about the situation at our southern border.

  That’s when Congressman Chaffetz dropped the bomb.  Not only did he explain to the Secretary of DHS that there were in fact reports of FOUR individuals with ties to terrorist organizations that were apprehended at two separate locations on the Texas border, but he also had information from an internal DHS document containing statistics on immigration activities.

  According to that document, during the 351 days of fiscal year 2014, there were 466,000 apprehensions of illegals, also 157,012 illegals that “got away,” and 142,630 individuals that were reported “turn backs”. The compilation of apprehensions represented people from 143 different countries. Additionally, the sensors that…