Dog Brothers Public Forum
DBMA Martial Arts Forum => Martial Arts Topics => Topic started by: Crafty_Dog on June 24, 2003, 06:29:43 PM
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This thread is for the weird:
Crafty
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Tomorrow's headlines, today. Better not allow the prisoner internet access to some of our more wacky song sites. Like this lovely database of horrible, uneasy listening. I recommend "My
Bathroom is My Special Place."
http://www.miserablemelodies.com/index.php
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Man killed for singing Sinatra off-key
June 25 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/24/1056449243426.html
A 25-year-old Filipino man has been stabbed dead for singing a Frank Sinatra classic out of tune during a birthday party. Police officer Noel Albis said the victim, Casimiro Lagugad, was asked to sing Sinatra's popular song My Way during the party in the Manila suburban city of Caloocan on Sunday.
"Witnesses said the suspect, Julio Tugas, 48, one of the guests and a neighbour of the victim, got irked because Lagugad was singing out of tune," Officer Albis said.
"Tugas suddenly attacked the victim and stabbed him in the neck," he added.
Guests rushed Mr Lagugad to the hospital, but he died while being treated.
Tugas later surrendered to village security officials, who turned him over to authorities. Police are preparing homicide charges against the suspect, who apparently admitted to the crime.
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he must have sung awfully!
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Pinoys take their karaoke seriously!
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Man With Sword Kills 2 at Grocery
Three are wounded before police kill the attacker, a bagger at the Irvine supermarket. People grabbed items off the shelves to beat back the assailant.
Attacker Had a Long History of Demons
June 30, 2003
by Jack Leonard, Jennifer Mena and Dave McKibben, Times Staff Writers
A man wielding a samurai-style sword killed two people and wounded three others at an Irvine supermarket Sunday before his bloody rampage ended with a fatal volley of police gunfire.
The deadly attack occurred about 9:35 a.m. inside the Albertsons at Culver Drive and Irvine Boulevard, when Joseph Parker, a 30-year-old bagger known for erratic behavior, entered the market where he worked and began slashing employees and customers, witnesses said. Wearing a green beret and a long, dark coat, the Santa Ana man pulled out a sword with a 3-foot blade and calmly attacked in silence, almost beheading one of his victims. As he roamed the store, employees armed with barbecue utensils, mayonnaise jars and trashcan lids tried to corner him.
"There were trails of blood everywhere. People were running. A lady was screaming," said Javier Ascencio, 38, of Irvine, who was returning a gallon of spoiled milk. "I was yelling for everyone to get out. Things just happened so fast."
Scores of customers, including the wounded, fled from the market in Northwood, an affluent part of one of the state's safest big cities. On Sunday morning, the store and adjacent retail center were filled with shoppers, people walking dogs and boys in baseball uniforms. Forty to 50 people were in the Albertsons.
"It was mass hysteria" outside the store, said Terry Fowler, a nurse who helped staff an impromptu triage center. "Everybody was in shock."
The supermarket "is like my extended family," said Linda Kouri, 65, of Tustin Ranch. "I know everybody, and they know me and my grandson. It is so sad. I just get the chills thinking about what happened here."
Police said two longtime Albertsons employees, Judith Fleming, 55, and John G. Nutting, 60, were killed. Two customers and another employee suffered moderate to serious slash and stab wounds. They were taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where they were scheduled for surgery. Nutting, who worked five days at a Newport Beach Albertsons and one day a week at the store in Irvine, was about two months from retirement. Co-workers said he had worked in the supermarket business since 1960 and had managed several stores in Orange County.
About 10 minutes after the attack began, Irvine police shot Parker, who was taken to the same hospital as his victims. Doctors pronounced him dead of his wounds.
"The officer was confronted by the suspect, and the officer fired his weapon," said Police Lt. Jeff Love.
Police declined to speculate on a motive for the attack, but store employees and customers who were acquainted with Parker said that he acted distant, talked about religion and often behaved erratically. They said he would talk to himself in gibberish as he walked along the row of checkout counters or smoked outside the store.
"I have always told people that he was going to do something crazy someday," said Karl Wieduwilt, a young bagger at the store, who worked with Parker for more than two years.
Others said Parker was unpleasant to be around and was not the type of person they would want working for them, although some workers said they got along well with him.
"He was a pretty scary-looking dude," said Dave Wessler of Irvine, a regular customer. "I could not believe this guy worked at this store. They were good about hiring handicapped people, but he was a little too over the edge."
A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Parker had been detained at least twice by police for mental health reasons in the last few years. The last, the official said, was Jan. 15 at another store in the same shopping center. According to an employee and the law enforcement official, Parker had not shown up to work for a few days. He reportedly approached the store manager Sunday, said that a friend had recently died and asked for some time off. It was unclear what the manager's response was. After walking away from the manager, they said, Parker drew the sword from a sheath beneath his coat. Witnesses said Parker cornered Nutting near the front of the store and stabbed him in the torso. He slashed Fleming across the throat, nearly beheading her. Employees then chased Parker around the store, helped by workers from nearby retailers. They armed themselves with items from the store's aisles, including trashcan lids and items from the barbecue section.
"I was yelling at the top of my lungs for everyone to get out of the store," said shopper Ascencio, who armed himself with a metal chair and followed Parker from aisle to aisle. "It looked like he was going after employees and anyone who tried to help the employees."
The hysteria spilled into the parking lot, where nurse Fowler and a doctor treated the wounded, using shirts and belts from passersby as tourniquets and bandages. The victims suffered deep lacerations to their arms, and one was cut on the back and across the forehead. Fowler, 45, director of ambulatory care at UCI Medical Center in Orange, was in the toothpaste aisle when she heard a woman screaming that a man had killed one of the workers.
"She was holding her arm and she was bleeding," Fowler said. "I looked up and down the aisle, and I saw a man with a trench coat on and a sword holding it above his head It was just enough for me to say, 'Where's the nearest exit? I need to get out of here.' "
Meanwhile, witnesses said three officers entered the store about nine minutes after the first 911 call. Police reportedly confronted Parker and ordered him to drop his sword. Parker refused, they said, and one officer opened fire with an AR-15, the civilian version of the military's M-16 assault rifle.
"He's a hero," one law enforcement source said of the officer. "He saved a lot of lives today."
That afternoon, the news about Fleming's and Nutting's deaths saddened customers, fellow employees and neighbors. They eulogized them as hard-working, generous people, who were willing to help co-workers.
"If you needed a hand, you could always count on him," said Ralph Hoekstra, a neighbor of the Nutting family on Queen's Park Lane in Huntington Beach. "He liked woodworking. He rebuilt bicycles and motor scooters. He liked garage sales. All I would have to tell him was what I was looking for, and within a month he'd show up with the stuff."
Erik Flores, 23, a produce clerk at the store, learned of Fleming's death when he reported to work at 2 p.m.
"She was always in a good mood. She went out of her way to help you out," Flores said. "[She] loved her job. I would never hear her complain about anything. It is going to take a while to recover from this."
In the aftermath, police took employees and customers to department headquarters for questioning. Officers led groups of hugging, crying witnesses from the store to a a restaurant, where they boarded a bus.
Outside the Police Department, Adrian Elizondo, 28, of Santa Ana waited anxiously to be questioned. He said his wife took a job at the store's deli counter about three months ago and he was nervous about her going back to work on Tuesday.
"I don't want her to go back," he said. "Two people just passed away and there is no security in the front of the store."
Earlier at the shopping center, Melissa Shobe, 49, of Irvine was in the middle of a pedicure and a manicure at a nearby day spa when the attack began.
"A kid once called this place 'the Bubble' because it was so safe," she said. "This is a rude awakening. I guess the bubble burst today. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere."
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Saudi jail inmate tells of pain and humiliation
July 1 2003
By Martin Daly
Hospital worker Robert Thomas saw six men taken from their cell to be shot during a horrific jail term in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Thomas, 56, said he was handcuffed, shackled, and survived largely on biscuits. He also said he saw fellow prisoners go insane. Mr Thomas was imprisoned on June 20 last year for a crime he said he did not commit.
His only bedding was a blanket near a hole in the ground. The hole was a toilet for 20 men.
He barely slept and was afraid of the violence he saw throughout his time in the prison.
Mr Thomas, now recovering at the home of his daughter, Sarah Munro, in Lynbrook, near Cranbourne in Melbourne's south-east, was sentenced by a Saudi court to 16 months' jail and 300 lashes, along with his wife and two others, for the alleged theft of hospital equipment.
His flogging was described at the time by Prime Minister John Howard as "appallingly inhumane" and "cruelly disproportionate punishment according to the values and understandings of Australia..."
Mr Thomas has given details of the prison conditions in an interview in Woman's Day magazine.
He was held in Al-Arm prison in the village of Bishah in south-western Saudi Arabia and was given 50 lashes every fortnight.
"It was overcrowded, we slept on the floor and the food was inedible. The heat was stifling, day in day out," he told Woman's Day. "Whenever I went anywhere, I was handcuffed and shackled. It was a feeling of humiliation I had never experienced... but I never let them see it.
"I would walk tall - a weak Westerner would be an easy target." At one stage, during a delay in his deportation, he thought he would never get out of cells in Jeddah where he had been transferred. "I thought I was a dead man," he said.
Mr Thomas said in the interview that his marriage of nine years to his Philippine wife Lorna was over after she allegedly failed to confess to the theft of equipment worth $100,000, for which he was sentenced.
Mr Thomas had been working in Saudi Arabia for 10 years before his arrest - at the time the anaesthetic technician was chief of department at the Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Hospital of Bishah. Earlier he had worked at the Alfred Hospital and Cotham Private Hospital in Kew.
Mr Thomas said that he was sentenced under sharia law because, as Lorna's husband, he was judged by the court as guilty. The court said that as her husband he should have known what Lorna, who was chief nurse in the hospital's operating theatre, was doing.
His wife received a similar sentence and was also released early. She has returned to the Philippines.
The magazine said Mr Thomas would have been freed had his wife confessed, but she repeatedly denied the charges.
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A-hed
To Have and to Hold: The Key
To Wife Carrying Is Upside Down
By ROGER THUROW
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
VAIKE-MAARJA, Estonia -- Take it from a world champion: The best way for a man to carry a woman is to dangle her upside down over his back, with her thighs squeezing his neck and her arms around his torso.
"That way, your arms are free to help with balance. It's more stable. There's less shifting of the weight," says Margo Uusorg. He has just carried Egle Soll, her pigtails flapping against his back, around a 278-yard oval track that includes a 3-foot-deep water trough and two hurdles of wooden logs. In just over one minute, they won the Estonian championship here, and qualified for this coming weekend's Wife Carrying World Championship in Sonkajarvi, Finland, where Mr. Uusorg is a heavy favorite to win his third world crown.
"When you carry this way," he says, "it's much easier."
Ms. Soll, upright again and flushed by the experience, if not the victory, says, "It's not so bad. But you don't see much."
Estonian men turned up in this little farming village lugging their women upside down five years ago, and the sport of wife carrying hasn't been the same since. Suddenly, gone were the glory days of the piggyback carry, the fireman's carry, the wrap-around-the-shoulders carry. The "Estonian carry," as it was dubbed, was in. And Estonians have won five straight wife-carrying world championships. (Actually, "wife carrying" is a misnomer, for the rules in the freestyle competition allow the man to carry any woman older than 17, his wife or not.)
Margo Uusorg carries his 'wife,' Egle Soll, to the starting line.
This Estonian dominance doesn't sit well with the Finns, who have been wife-carrying since the late 1800s, when marauding gangs would make off with women from neighboring villages. According to legend, a notorious brigand of the time named Rosvo-Ronkainen recruited only men who had first proved their worth by carrying heavy weight on a challenging track.
Now, it is the neighboring Estonians who are getting the spoils of victory. And a frosty Baltic Sea rivalry is getting fiercer.
"Every year," says Taisto Miettinen, "the newspaper headlines say, 'Once again, Finnish guy doesn't win.'&" That would be him. For the past two years, Mr. Miettinen has finished second at the world championships.
"The Finnish wife carriers are like the Boston Red Sox," says Michael Toohey, a Maine house painter who captured sixth place in last year's world championship after winning the North American Wife Carrying Championship in Sunday River, Maine. "People root for them, but they sort of know they won't win." He figured his own chances were slim when he awoke the day of the race and saw one of his Estonian opponents warming up with an early morning work out. "I saw that and I said, 'Wow, they're serious.'&"
The Finns, on the other hand, apparently just want to have fun. One of their world championship rules, in addition to the one imposing a 15-second penalty for dropping a wife, stipulates that "All the participants must have fun." In past competitions, Finns have awarded winners the woman's weight in beer. The Estonians, at their national championships here on June 21, gave winners the woman's weight in mineral water.
"We take too many things seriously," concedes Indrek Keskyla, the mayor of Vaike-Maarja. He blames the communists who ran this Baltic nation. "In the old Soviet Union days, we had to be serious, gray people," he says. Under communist rule, the village pushed to be the best farm cooperative in Estonia. Now, it produces the best wife carriers.
The mayor himself produced a lot of laughs when, leading off for the municipal team in the wife-carrying relay competition, he stumbled in the water hazard, drenching himself and his "wife," a woman who works for the city. But next year, he knows, it might not be so funny. "My wife wants to do it next year," he says. "I said if we do it, we do it for fun. But she says, 'No, we must be serious, we must train.'&"
There were some other laughs. A man dressed as Santa Claus carried Mrs. Claus. Robin Hood carried Maid Marian. And the several hundred spectators gasped when a woman dressed in a nun's habit assumed the Estonian carry position over the shoulders of a man dressed as a monk.
Despite the rather intimate carrying style, there were no jealous wives or partners fuming at trackside. "I'm happy that he won," says Kaia Laas, Mr. Uusorg's girlfriend. "He was already carrying other women when I met him. So I can't complain."
Tell me a story
Read related excerpts from the anthology "Floating Off the Page: The Best of The Wall Street Journal's 'Middle Column.' "
Besides, says Mr. Uusorg, "she's too heavy. Wait, that sounds bad. She's not fat, she's just too heavy for the competition." His girlfriend is nearly six feet tall and weighs about 127 pounds. Ms. Soll, his carrying partner, is barely five feet tall and weighs just 101 pounds.
Which brings us to the touchiest wife-carrying subject of all: weight. As if the Estonian's new carrying method wasn't enough to upset the Finns, they then started showing up in Sonkajarvi with lighter and lighter women. Mr. Uusorg, a 23-year-old administrative officer at the Estonian embassy in Sweden, arrived in 2000 carrying Birgit Ulrich, a college student weighing about 80 pounds. They won in the record time of 55.5 seconds. Then they won again in 2001.
The Sonkajarvi organizers, seeking to slow the Estonians, in 2002 set a weight limit, but not arbitrarily. Forty-nine kilograms, or 108 pounds, is the least a woman can weigh, "the weight of Armi Kuusela more than 50 years ago when she was crowned Miss Universe," the organizers explain.
But even carrying the heftier, 21-year-old Ms. Soll, who wears a weighted vest to bring her up to the weight limit, Mr. Uusorg looks tough to beat. He is tall, muscular and a regular runner. After winning the Estonian title last month in a time of one minute and 34/100ths of second, he said, "That was pretty easy."
Across the Gulf of Finland, in Helsinki, Mr. Miettinen, 38, and nursing a sore back, winced when he heard the time. It is better than his best.
For six years now, he has been trying to catch the Estonians. When the Estonians introduced the upside-down carry, he adopted it the next year, abandoning his old across-the-shoulders method. He improved from fifth place to third.
When the Estonians came with lighter women, he went in search of lighter women, too. In 2001, he found one who weighed 80 pounds. He improved to second place.
With the new weight limit, he has been looking again. Earlier this year, he sized up a co-worker at Finnvera, a corporate financing company. What's your weight, he asked.
"About 48 kilograms," said Eija Stenberg. He asked her to be his "wife." She thought about it overnight and accepted the proposal.
Write to Roger Thurow at roger.thurow@wsj.com
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Man with knife is arrested after hijacking bus in Redondo
By Larry Altman
DAILY BREEZE
A delusional man hijacked a bus in Redondo Beach, ordered the driver to speed through red lights and called 911, telling a dispatcher someone was going to kill him, officers said Tuesday.
Police learned about the hijacking at 5:30 a.m. Sunday when someone called the police to report an MTA bus near the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach displaying ?CALL THE POLICE? on its destination sign.
No passengers were on the bus.
The driver also had tried to signal the caller to call the police, Redondo Beach police Capt. Joe Leonardi said. The caller lost sight of the bus when it ran a red light, turning onto 182nd Street heading toward Grant Avenue. Moments later, Redondo Beach police dispatchers received a cellular telephone call from the hijacker.
?He was armed with a knife and he had hijacked MTA bus No. 5484,? Leonardi said. ?The suspect told Communications that he needed the police because someone was trying to kill him.?
Dispatchers kept the man on the line, sometimes speaking with the driver.
?The driver was totally terrified,? Redondo Beach police Sgt. Phil Keenan said.
The hijacker forced the bus operator to run red lights and would not allow him to open the doors. Dispatchers kept the hijacker on the phone, updating sheriff?s deputies and other police agencies of the location of the bus and its direction. Sheriff?s deputies caught up to the bus on Vermont Avenue at 245th Street.
?The dispatcher talked to the suspect and said, ?If you need help, you have to pull over,? ? Keenan said.
The hijacker agreed when he noticed a liquor store and said he needed a drink, Keenan said.
Deputies arrested the man on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping.
?Dispatch did a great job keeping the suspect on the cell phone,? Keenan said.
The suspect?s name was not available.
Publish Date:July 2, 2003
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Saudi jail inmate tells of pain and humiliation
July 1 2003
By Martin Daly
Hospital worker Robert Thomas saw six men taken from their cell to be shot during a horrific jail term in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Thomas, 56, said he was handcuffed, shackled, and survived largely on biscuits. He also said he saw fellow prisoners go insane. Mr Thomas was imprisoned on June 20 last year for a crime he said he did not commit.
His only bedding was a blanket near a hole in the ground. The hole was a toilet for 20 men.
He barely slept and was afraid of the violence he saw throughout his time in the prison.
[more desciption of prison life deleted]
Aren't these the kinds of conditions conservatives want to see in US prisons? They're always claiming our prisons aren't tough enough.
I wonder if there's a Saudi Arabian Tossed Salad Man and is the choice still jelly vs. syrup over there...
-milt
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What caught my attention in the piece was the notion of the guy going to prison for what his wife did. No wonder they want to keep their women locked up! :lol:
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The Associated Press
Thursday, July 10, 2003; 8:23 AM
PHOENIX - Jenny Lopez's home is a pile of rubble after a demolition crew mistakenly tore down the wrong house.
The house that was supposed to be demolished Wednesday was across the street from Lopez's, where she had lived for 30 years. Although the home was vacant, the family stored household items there and had hoped to sell it.
House numbers in the southwest Phoenix neighborhood are not well-marked and all the mailboxes sit on one side of the street, making identification difficult.
Foresight Investment Group of Phoenix hired contractors to tear down the house across the street from Lopez's. It was vacant, boarded up and fenced in.
"We were either going to sell the property or build a new house," said Joe Uruquart, one of the company's owners.
One of Lopez's old neighbors spotted the heavy construction equipment in her yard and alerted family members. But when they arrived, the house had already been torn down.
Demolition man David Gomez declined to comment about the incident but told a television station that he would probably lose his job.
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'Game' of punches kills S.J. boy, 16
FRIEND JAILED IN INVOLUNTARY-MANSLAUGHTER PROBE
By Lisa M. Krieger
Mercury News
Mon, Jul. 28, 2003
A test of manhood between friends turned tragic early Sunday morning
when a blow to the chest killed Jacob Salas, 16, at his home in San Jose.
Jacob and Richard Jimenez, 19, were playing what youths and police say
is a popular game among some teens called ``open chest,'' in which
friends take turns exchanging blows to each other's chest to see who is
toughest.
``It's viewed as a test of manhood,'' said San Jose police Sgt. Steve
Dixon. ``It's assumed that nobody will get hurt.''
A punch felled Jacob, who instantly lost consciousness. Jimenez and
friends tried to revive him, without success.
``He stopped breathing and his pulse stopped,'' said Jacob's 14-year-old
sister, Anita. ``Then his pulse came back a couple seconds, then went
away. Then he turned blue. We were yelling at him, `Jacob! We love you!
We love you, don't do this!' ''
Jimenez, of San Jose, became frightened and fled before paramedics
arrived. He sought refuge at the family home of his girlfriend, Alma
Barragan, 16, of East San Jose.
``I woke up and heard him wailing in our bathroom, just crying and
crying,'' said Eliza Barragan, Alma's mother. ``He was hyperventilating
and couldn't talk, couldn't tell me what was the matter. I prayed with
him and he calmed down. He was so scared.''
Police found Jimenez at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, hiding in a closet. He was
booked into Santa Clara County Jail for investigation of involuntary
manslaughter and is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail. He is expected
to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
Heart rhythm
Sudden death from a blunt blow to the chest is rare, but not unheard of,
according to research by pediatric cardiologist Steven M. Yabek of
Pediatric Cardiology Associates of New Mexico. Although no cause of
death has yet been declared for Jacob, similar symptoms are linked to a
condition called ``commotio cordis.'' It most commonly involves impact
to the chest wall from a baseball, hockey puck, softball, lacrosse ball
or karate chop, according to Yabek.
Although the injury is not well-understood, it is thought that a strong
impact to the chest causes the heart to lose rhythm.
Jacob, the family's eldest child, had just completed summer school at
Andrew Hill High School and had plans for a career as a rap musician,
said his father, also named Jacob.
``He had CDs of all kinds with a lot of beat,'' said the father, who is
a musician.
The teenager's mother, Rebecca Salas, said her son had been placed on
probation for fighting in school last year, spent some time in juvenile
hall and was taking court-ordered classes on anger management. She said he spent time with older men whom she called ``a bad influence'' on her son; sometimes, she said, they supplied him with cigarettes.
But things were looking up, Rebecca Salas said. ``He had goals. He
wanted to change. He was ready to change.''
His friend's life also seemed to be taking a turn for the better, said
Eliza Barragan of Jimenez.
``I can't say a single bad thing about Richard,'' said Barragan. ``He
helps us vacuum, wash dishes, clean the rooms. I'm like a second mother
to him because he has nobody.'' She said Jimenez's father is in prison,
and his mother has not been located since the incident.
Jimenez suffered a severe head injury at age 2, Barragan said, and has
some mental disability. She said he did not graduate from high school
and works intermittently at a Cupertino moving company.
Jail spokesman Mark Cursi said Jimenez was interviewed by medical
personnel at the jail and they decided to place him in the mental health
unit with orders for someone to check on him every 15 minutes.
It was not an angry fight that killed her brother, said Anita Salas.
Around midnight, the two young men were home alone with a handful of
friends at the Salas' tidy Senter Road home. They were drinking beer.
Jacob's father, who works two jobs to support the family, was playing
bass guitar with his band Grupo Fuerza Unida at a nearby nightclub.
Rebecca Salas, divorced from Jacob's father, lives and works in Merced
County.
``They said, `Want to go out and do `body shots?' '' recalled his
sister. The game ``body shots,'' like ``open chest,'' involves youths
taking turns punching each other.
Physically, the two friends were a good match. Jacob, who stood 5 feet 3
inches tall and weighed 150 pounds, was strong and healthy, said his
sister. Jimenez, she said, is about the same size.
Second punch
Out in the front yard, Jacob and Jimenez exchanged at least one blow
each. Jimenez told Barragan that Jacob collapsed after being struck in
the chest the second time.
``He was saying, `I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Jacob, don't do this,' '' said
Anita Salas of the scene she witnessed. ``They were friends.''
Jacob's girlfriend, Angelina Alcala, 17, knows cardiopulmonary resuscitation and tried to revive him. Anita Salas called 911, then her father.
``They put him on a stretcher,'' said Anita Salas. ``But I knew it was
bad because they didn't put the siren on.''
By the time the victim's father arrived home, his son already had been
taken to Santa Teresa Kaiser Hospital, where he was declared dead.
Jacob's teenage friends aren't mad at Jimenez.
``It was a `homie' game,'' said Bernadette Alcala, 14, of San Jose.
```We were friends. We all kicked back together. We miss them. There's
nothing worse than losing a homie.''
But they want him to apologize to Jacob's parents.
``He needs to say he's sorry,'' said Bernadette.
Said a grieving Anita Salas: ``People should think before they act. Be
careful. Think about it.''
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Bacon mask is a concept too far for thief
David Ward
Tuesday August 19, 2003
Morrison: 'It's obviously a very macabre piece of work, but I never expected it to get this reaction.' Photo: PA
If only an artist with a video camera had been labouring in Liverpool at the time, the result could have turned up in Tate Modern as a conceptual work about a conceptual work inspired by conceptual work.
The video might have been hailed as a biting comment on the attitude of authority to art.
Or, more likely, as one of the dottiest records of police activity since the Keystone Kops.
It would have shown a posse of Merseyside's finest officers armed with a warrant and bursting into the Wavertree flat of local artist Richard Morrison, who is a fan of Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst and describes himself as a naive conceptualist.
They had been alerted by a public-spirited burglar who, after breaking into Mr Morrison's flat and stealing hundreds of pounds' worth of electronic items, had fled in terror when he stumbled on what he thought was a human head floating in a large jar.
He was so frightened that he ran home to confess all his crimes to his mother.
When later picked up on another matter, the burglar confided his fears to detectives, who sent the boys round to kick Mr Morrison's front door down. Again.
There they found the evidence that had sent shivers down the spine of the intruder: a large jar with a head in it.
But not a human head; more of a mask - a wire frame moulded on Mr Morrison's own face.
And covered in bacon. And dunked in formaldehyde.
"It's obviously a very macabre piece of work, but I never expected it to get this reaction," said Mr Morrison yesterday.
"I made the mask when I was on an art foundation course two years ago. It just seemed like an interesting concept. I was quite proud of the result, although it's sagging a bit now."
The piece was intended to be a comment on the folly of consumerism.
Merseyside police said they had to act on what was clearly "a very serious allegation" but have now apologised to Mr Morrison and arranged to give him a new front door.
"It would have been a dereliction of duty if we had not followed up this allegation," said Chief Inspector Stephen Naylor. "It was vitally important that we investigated."
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Infuriating game.
http://www.davidope.hu/33/33.html
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Jackass warning after horrific firecracker accident
Doctors in Australia have urged people to not to attempt Jackass style stunts after a man burnt his genitals in a firecracker accident.
The 26-year-old Australian man suffered a fractured pelvis and severe burns when a firecracker exploded between the cheeks of his buttocks.
The incident has left the man, from Illawarra, New South Wales, incontinent and unable to have sex and he is expected to remain in hospital for several months.
Dr Robert McCurdie, who operated on the man when he was taken to Wollongong Hospital, likened the man's condition to "a war injury".
Dr McCurdie said he believed the man had stumbled while the firecracker was in his buttocks, and fell down on it.
"By virtue of the fact that the explosion was confined in an upward direction, it went up into his pelvis, blasted a great hole in the pelvis, ruptured the urethra, injured muscles in the floor of the pelvis which rendered him incontinent. His pelvis was also fractured."
It is not known whether the man was imitating the cult prankster film Jackass in which men place firecrackers in their buttocks and shoot them into the air.
Acting Senior Sergeant John Klepczarek said the danger with movies like Jackass was that some people were tempted to try the stunts at home.
"They're putting themselves at risk, and other people. We do caution people strongly against following these acts," he said.
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Exclusive: Saudi Govt Bans "Jewish" Barbie Dolls
by SIA News
(Washington) September 8, 2003 - SIA News The Saudi government has announced that Barbie dolls are Jewish tools promoting the lewd behavior of what it calls the perverted Western world, according to a government poster distributed to Saudi schools, mosques and hospitals which has been obtained and translated by SIA news.
The poster, titled "The Jewish Doll", is printed and distributed by the powerful Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, otherwise known as the religious police. This is a government agency headed by a Wahhabi cleric with ministerial rank appointed by King Fahd.
The poster includes photos of Barbie dolls that have been confiscated by religious police from local retail outlets, displayed in a special exhibition of goods which are deemed to have violated official religious teachings.
The Permanent Exhibition for Religious Contraventions is located at the headquarters of the religious police in Madina. It displays confiscated goods such as photographs, perfumes, and dolls among other confiscated items.
Saudi spokesman in Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir, refused to comment when SIA news asked him about the poster and the official propagation of religious hatred against Jews, Christians, Hindus and non-Wahhabi Muslims by government agencies and officials.
The power of the religious police emanates from the support of King Fahd and the powerful Interior Minister Prince Naif, who fund it generously.
In addition to their large annual budget, the religious police receive millions of dollars from the king in form of cash infusions, and new SUV?s, on annual bases.
On June 30, 2002 Al-Riyadh newspaper reported that King Fahd donated $1.25 million from his private covers to support the religious police?s work.
On May 18, Naif reiterated his support for the religious police in a press conference attended by western reporters. ?The religious police are part of the government and are here to stay,? said Naif, who was angered by a Saudi journalist?s question regarding the possibility of it being dismantled.
The Barbie doll and similar posters are distributed to school children, worshipers at mosques, and hospital patients.
The agency's official website uses 'gov' net extension displays the government seal also found on the poster. To access the poster from the government website: http://www.hesbah.gov.sa/images/wrongdone/m04.jpg
Other confiscated items can be seen at: http://www.hesbah.gov.sa/contravention.asp
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Updated: 10-06-2003 12:39:05 PM
Backfire Ignites Dog, Dog Sets Grass Fire in Idaho
CULDESAC, Idaho (AP) -- This dog was having a bad fur day. The dog, whose coat caught fire when the owner's vehicle backfired, ignited a grass fire just off U.S. Highway 95.
Firefighters doused the grass fire and reported the dog was unhurt, only smelling of burnt hair.
``I have been in firefighting for many years, but I have never seen anything like this happen,'' Culdesac Fire Chief Gary Gilliam said.
It happened Saturday when a motorist who ran out of fuel put gas in the tank and then primed the carburetor. On restarting, the van backfired, throwing sparks into the cab and igniting the dog's fur.
A passenger let the dog out, and it rolled in dry grass, putting out the flames on its coat but setting the grass afire.
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This thread is for the weird:
Crafty
--------------------------
Tomorrow's headlines, today. Better not allow the prisoner internet access to some of our more wacky song sites. Like this lovely database of horrible, uneasy listening. I recommend "My
Bathroom is My Special Place."
http://www.miserablemelodies.com/index.php
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Man killed for singing Sinatra off-key
June 25 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/24/1056449243426.html
A 25-year-old Filipino man has been stabbed dead for singing a Frank Sinatra classic out of tune during a birthday party. Police officer Noel Albis said the victim, Casimiro Lagugad, was asked to sing Sinatra's popular song My Way during the party in the Manila suburban city of Caloocan on Sunday.
"Witnesses said the suspect, Julio Tugas, 48, one of the guests and a neighbour of the victim, got irked because Lagugad was singing out of tune," Officer Albis said.
"Tugas suddenly attacked the victim and stabbed him in the neck," he added.
Guests rushed Mr Lagugad to the hospital, but he died while being treated.
Tugas later surrendered to village security officials, who turned him over to authorities. Police are preparing homicide charges against the suspect, who apparently admitted to the crime.
If you ever need a good laugh I sugest Leonard Nimoy's, Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. It's kooky in a disturbing way. (pure gold)
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http://www.legeros.com/art/men-and-talk.pdf
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http://www.legeros.com/art/men-and-talk.pdf
One of those simple mind boggles? Hmmmmmm.
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LAW OF THE LAND
Court flips middle-finger verdict
Man found guilty for 'shooting the bird' has conviction overturned
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Posted: October 16, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
? 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
A Texas man feels like he's No. 1 now that his conviction for "shooting the bird" has been flipped.
Robert Coggin, 34, had been found guilty of disorderly conduct for making an obscene gesture with his middle finger in a road-rage style incident in the town of Lockhart two years ago.
But an appeals court has overturned the verdict, saying while the gesture may be rude, it does not necessarily rise to the level of disorderly conduct.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Coggin flashed his lights to pass a slow-moving vehicle driven by John Pastrano, a Caldwell County jailer.
Thinking he was being pulled over by a police officer, Pastrano moved to the right lane. As Coggin then passed Pastrano, he allegedly used the finger gesture many consider obscene.
Pastrano called 9-1-1, and Coggin was subsequently issued a citation for a Class C misdemeanor.
The Chronicle reports Coggin was charged under an obscure law that says "a person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly makes an offensive gesture or display in a public place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace."
Coggin denied he ever flipped the bird, but was fined $250 upon his conviction. He also spent $15,000 fighting the charge.
The 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin not only ordered Coggin's acquittal, but it offered some historical context, quoting a Merriam-Webster definition of the "bird" as "an obscene gesture of contempt made by pointing the middle finger up while keeping the other fingers down."
According to the Chronicle, jurists further explained that "the middle finger jerk was so popular among the Romans that they even gave a special name to the middle digit, calling it the impudent finger: digitus impudicus.
"It was also known as the obscene finger, or the infamous finger, and there are a number of references to its use in the writings of classical authors. ... " the jurists continued. "The middle-finger jerk has survived for over 2,000 years and is still current in many parts of the world, especially in the United States."
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Man Burns Life Savings, Fails Suicide Bid
Tue December 2, 2003 10:31 AM ET
PARIS (Reuters) - A Frenchman who burned his life savings to a cinder before swallowing two bottles of pills is facing life with an empty bank account after neighbors foiled his suicide attempt.
The man, in his 40s, has been recovering in a psychiatric hospital since late October when neighbors in the southwestern town of Bordeaux saw smoke coming from his house and called the emergency services, the daily Liberation reported on Tuesday.
The man, who lived alone, had cleared out his bank balance of 240,000 euros ($288,500) and set fire to the pile of 500 euro notes in his bath before swallowing the pills, hoping to leave nothing behind after his death.
However, he was now eager to start a new life, his lawyer Dominique Remy told the newspaper. "He is not dangerous. It's just that he's destroyed all his worth," he said.
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Cannibal Confesses in Shocking Trial
Wed Dec 3, 3:06 PM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By David Crossland
KASSEL, Germany (Reuters) - A German confessed on Wednesday to killing and eating a willing victim in a case that could make legal history, telling a shocked courtroom the experience was "like taking communion" in a religious service.
At the start of his murder trial in Kassel, central Germany, Armin Meiwes, 42, offered a full account of the killing that has gained him worldwide notoriety as "The Cannibal of Rotenburg" after the town where he lived.
Meiwes said there were "hundreds, thousands" of people seeking to fulfil their desires to eat humans or be eaten via Internet advertisements in forums called "Cannibal Cafe," "Guy Cannibals" and "Torturenet."
In testimony so frank it drew gasps from the public gallery, Meiwes said he had kept his victim's skull and plastic bags of flesh in his freezer. He ate about 44 pounds of the flesh, defrosting it bit by bit.
"With every piece of flesh I ate I remembered him," Meiwes, a self-assured and well-spoken computer repair man, told the judge. "It was like taking communion."
The killing took place in March 2001. Meiwes was arrested in December 2002 after police received a tip-off from someone who had seen one of his Internet adverts seeking a slaughter victim.
The trial is expected to last until the end of January and some 40 witnesses will be called, including some of Meiwes's Internet contacts.
The gaunt, bespectacled defendant said that during his upbringing alone with a dominant mother he had longed for a little brother he could make "part of me."
He told how he made contact online with a 43-year-old Berlin computer specialist identified only as Bernd-Juergen B.
He invited him to his elegant half-timbered home near Kassel and killed him with a kitchen knife in a "slaughtering room" he had built containing meat hooks, a cage and a butcher's table.
"He told me he had had the desire since he was a child to be slaughtered and eaten," Meiwes said. "He was very intelligent and I didn't see any sign that he was disturbed." Meiwes filmed the killing and the video tape may be shown to the court.
Defense lawyers have said the film shows Meiwes cutting off the victim's penis at the latter's request.
"It was important to him that his member be cut off and that he witness it," Meiwes said.
"He screamed terribly and jumped around the table but after a while he said he was surprised it didn't hurt and was very pleased that the wound bled so strongly," he added.
"It gave him pleasure."
MURDER OR EUTHANASIA?
Eventually the victim lost consciousness and Meiwes killed him with a knife. He hung up the corpse and cut it up, filming the process.
Prosecutors, who charged Meiwes with murder after a psychiatrist declared him fit to stand trial, are seeking a life sentence.
They concede the victim wanted to be killed but argue he was incapable of rational thought.
Meiwes's lawyer has pleaded for him to be convicted of "killing on request," a form of illegal euthanasia which carries a maximum five years sentence.
Legal experts say the charge of full murder may not stick given that the video film shows the victim to be willing. The case could reach the Federal Constitutional Court, Arthur Kreuzer of Giessen University's Institute for Criminology said this week.
Meiwes said he became obsessed with wanting a younger brother -- "someone to be part of me."
Using the pseudonym "Franky," he posted Internet ads saying: "If you are 18-25 you are my boy" or "Come to me I'll eat your delicious flesh."
Some 430 people responded to his e-mails within a year.
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Dog robs gas station
A hungry bull terrier with a sweet tooth left his home to make a night raid on a gas station. The Statoil outlet's security cameras recorded the dog's stealthy hunt for his favorite type of chocolate, and a security guard busted the pooch without incident, newspaper Adressavisen reports.
Conan arrives around dawn, looking for something to satisfy his habit.
PHOTO: Adresseavisen
Conan makes a thorough search - he won't settle for just anything.
PHOTO: Adresseavisen
Is that the chocolate covered rice crisp?
PHOTO: Adresseavisen
Terrier Conan, aged 7, ended up behind bars and according to his owner the dog is a repeat offender.
"He is incredibly fond of food in general and sweets in particular. He has run off a few times before, and he always heads for food stores," owner Liss-Hege Jeremiassen told Adresseavisen.
Conan sneaked out the door Wednesday night and headed straight for only place open, a nearby Statoil station. The cameras picked him up sniffing around the candy shelves, poking his nose into the containers of sweets sold by loose weight, and snubbing all of these treats in search of his personal favorite, chocolate covered rice crisp. Here he stopped and devoured the contents of the container.
"When he was finished he let out this enormous burp," said Elisabeth Roel, who had the night shift at the station.
She tried to chase Conan out but the dog growled at this attempt to interrupt his chocolate raid. Roel then called the police, who turned the job over to Falken security.
"He's really a nice dog, but he doesn't have looks on his side. He spent the night next to a pit bull, but that went well. He's calm and friendly," said security guard Otto Olsen, who apprehended the hound.
Roel said she wouldn't have been worried if she had recognized Conan, but since he had escaped without his collar, she wasn't sure and wasn't about to take chances.
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The challenge of the 'cannibal consensus'
By Clare Murphy
Armin Meiwes is, on the surface of things, an attractive, well-dressed, and seemingly amiable 42-year-old German.
He is also, by his own admission, a cannibal, who three years ago ate an engineer he had found through the internet. On Friday, a court will decide whether Mr Meiwes should spend just a couple of months behind bars or much of the rest of his life for this.
At stake is whether a person can be tried and imprisoned for murder when his victim had consented to be slaughtered.
'No death wish'
In March 2001, Bernd-Jurgen Brandes, 43, answered an advert Mr Meiwes had posted on the internet for a well-built male who was prepared to be slaughtered and then consumed. They met, and Mr Meiwes allegedly took Mr Brandes back to his home in Rotenburg, where the victim agreed to the removal of his penis, which Mr Meiwes then flamb?ed and served up to eat together.
Mr Brandes was then killed, cut up, and put in the freezer.
The act of cannibalism is not in itself a crime in Germany, meaning that particular legal avenue was closed to prosecutors. Instead they opted for a charge of sexually-driven murder, combined with a charge of "disturbing the peace of the dead" - despite the apparently consensual nature of the act. They are seeking a life sentence for the cannibal, whom they argue poses a danger to society.
The defence, for its part, says Mr Meiwes is guilty of nothing more than "killing by request" - an offence which carries a maximum sentence of five years incarceration. The defence team has sought to prove to the court that not one of the men who met the cannibal was made to go through with anything they were uncertain about.
London-based hotel worker Dirk Moller - one of dozens who allegedly replied to Mr Meiwes' adverts - was called to testify that he had even got as far as being chained to the bed and marked out for butchery before changing his mind and being released. The prosecution has conceded that Mr Brandes was an apparently willing victim. But they insist he was not of a sound mind when he accepted the offer, and moreover, they allege, Mr Meiwes was aware of this.
Mr Brandes' boyfriend has told the court that Mr Brandes, with whom he said he enjoyed a normal sex life, had no apparent desire to die.
Time for contracts
German experts say that while there may be hundreds of people with "cannibalistic tendencies" in Germany, only a tiny proportion of those would be willing to see their fantasies through to their fatal conclusion as Mr Brandes apparently did.
The kind of internet message boards where Mr Meiwes placed his own request still exist, but the real cannibals on these sites appear to be hard to find. Messages which request people for slaughter are often written off as jokes by other participants, many of whom are keen to stress that their interest in cannibalism is only a fantasy.
While Mr Meiwes received dozens of responses to his postings, he is believed to have only met four other men beside Mr Brandes, none of whom went through with the act. There are fears that should the court punish Mr Meiwes lightly in Friday's ruling, they will unwittingly encourage real cannibals. Yet if Mr Meiwes is put away for life after Friday's ruling, his defence lawyer has argued, the true horror of murder will be belittled.
Harald Ermel has said that murder "always happens against somebody's will". Should his client be convicted of little more than killing on request, Mr Ermel advises those planning similar forays into the world of cannibalism to ensure both parties draw up a contract before the act takes place.
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Marshal leaves gun in airport bathroom
In Cleveland, passenger discovers what a forgetful air marshal left behind.
April 13, 2004: 8:36 AM EDT
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A federal air marshal accidentally left her gun in a restroom beyond the security checkpoints at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, officials say.
The weapon was discovered by a passenger who alerted an airline employee.
The marshal remained on the job after Thursday's incident when she visited an airport restroom and inadvertently left her gun behind, Dave Adams, spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service in Washington, said Saturday.
The restroom was beyond security checkpoints, airport spokeswoman Pat Smith said. So the risk was that someone could have discovered the gun and taken it on a flight.
"Right now we're still doing the investigation," Adams said. "It will determine what disciplinary action will be appropriate."
He declined to identify the marshal for security reasons, but said her work in the past had been "outstanding."
The United States deploys armed air marshals disguised as passengers on thousands of flights each week as part of security measures implemented after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks that killed about 3,000 people.
Smith said the incident occurred about 4 p.m. on Thursday when the air marshal went to the restroom. While washing her hands, she placed her gun on a shelf, but forgot to take it with her when she left the room.
Soon afterward, a passenger found the gun and informed an airline employee, who removed it and told police. The gun later was returned to the marshal.
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PRIMER FOR EXPAT DRIVERS IN JAKARTA
One of the first and most interesting things noted by new arrivals is that Indonesian drivers are often to be found travelling on the wrong side of the street. There is no need to be alarmed. It is quite normal. In fact, every square inch of the street surface is considered useable, including the sidewalks, in any direction. The painted lines are considered basically as attractive municipal decorations, nice to have, but of no real importance.
If you wish to plunge into the mechanical maelstrom that constitutes traffic in Jakarta, you must adopt the simple and elegant Indonesian philosophy that "Mine is the only car on the road, and I am the only driver". Operating a vehicle under this philosophy is simplicity itself. One simply proceeds as if the streets were deserted, looking neither left nor right and CERTAINLY not in the rear view mirror.
The screeching of brakes and blaring of horns are not your concern. They relate entirely to some other dimension. If, on occasion, the Jakarta driver is forced to acknowledge the presence of others, for instance, while immobilised in the Indonesian version of a Mexican stand-off, then the second phase of the Traffic Philosophy comes into play: "I am a person of consequence, therefore, I shall go first".
It should always be remembered that for a Jakarta driver the only other traffic that exists anywhere on the planet is that directly ahead of the driver's peripheral vision. If it cannot be seen, it cannot possibly exist. Obviously, one strives to see as little as possible. This leads to the next most obvious characteristic of the Battle of Batavia, or, brinkmanship Jakarta style. The key is to convince the other driver that you don't see him, while he tries equally hard to convince you that he can't see you either. Both vehicles leap for the same opening, both carefully ignoring the other. The first to give way is clearly the lesser man and has lost face entirely.
Never drive a new car in Jakarta. The normal decadent Western compulsion to avoid dents will fatally weaken your driving technique, leaving you trembling in terror at intersections, waiting for a tiny break in the traffic so you can go home. The break - if it occurs at all - will come at about 4.30 in the morning, between the end of the evening rush and the beginning of the morning rush, which starts around 4.31. The wisest course is to buy a large, heavy, ugly old bomb, do up the engine and put in a nice interior with stereo and air conditioning, but do nothing to the exterior, unless it is to roughen up any remaining smooth spots with a sledge hammer.
Do not mess with Metro Minis or larger buses. They are in a completely different league to the rest of us and serve the same purpose as sharks in the sea, that is to ravage the slow, weak and hesitant. The drivers of these battle wagons are the "black belts" of the street, as verified by the physical condition of their vehicles. Just watch the effortless ease of such a bus, if you can see it through its own smoke, casually turning without the slightest warning straight across four lanes of fast moving traffic. Always remember that any such manouvre however insane is considered completely legal provided that the conductor is hanging out of the left-hand door and waving his arm downwards.
Concentration is critical. On main streets such as Jalan Sudirman, you will encounter twenty thousand assorted vehicles happily travelling no more than half a metre apart, at not less than 80km an hour. A lapse in concentration of any more than a microsecond will have you wedged completely off the road by a Kijang diving into the space between you and the vehicle ahead, even if that space not quite big enough. To avoid this, disregard everything you learned in driving school and always tailgate the car in front. An allowance of more than half a metre is viewed by local drivers as a fatal weakness and exploited without mercy.
During rush hour, there are policemen directing traffic - in much the same manner as one channels a stampede of wild buffalo between outriders. It is extremely hazardous duty, and while it may appear that they are co-ordinating their operations via walkie-talkie, in truth they are comforting and consoling each other with the hope that some day they may get a safer assignment, perhaps on the Bomb Squad.
It is important to pay close attention to the roadworthiness of your vehicle. Where you come from this would mean the brakes, tyres, the stoplights and so on. In Indonesia it means that your horn must work. Without it, don't even THINK of taking the vehicle on the road. Horn technique, too is all-important. One doesn't "toot" the horn in Jakarta. Apart from the fact that it would be lost in the din, timidity in motor-horn management is seen by all levels of Indonesian society as a sign of sexual inadequacy.
Take hold of the horn ring in your fist, place the weight of your upper body behind the thrust, now BLOW the horn! A full-on, truly authoritative blast! Really accomplished horn blowers can vaporise whole lines of cars with a single blast. If your car is a new one, (one strike against you already, see above) one fingered operation of the little horn buttons on the steering wheel is regarded as a toot. One uses the entire palm of the hand against the button, and the arm and shoulder as well. The result is not as satisfying as a horn ring, but it is acceptable.
The Indonesian Government, as part of its commitment to population control, encourages motorcycle usage. Motorcycles may be treated as moving targets in traffic with a possible score of 100 points upon taking one out without actual physical contact. This is not difficult, as most riders are instinctively suicidal. A creative imagination can produce really spectacular results. For instance, while stopped in bumper to bumper traffic, you will notice bikes zooming between the cars at speeds approaching mach 3.
Simply opening a car door at the appropriate time will produce highly satisfactory results, as the rider, eyes bulging, mouth agape, attempts to fly his Honda. Slamming the door closed at the last possible moment maintains your eligibility for the 100 points, as no physical contact was made. The rider, with any luck, will go on to make a fresh dent in a Metro Mini, and become a statistic. Collect 100 points and pass Go. It is considered good form to tip the driver of the Metro Mini 10 points.
On many of the newer highways the Government has thoughtfully provided clearly marked 'right turn' lanes. Expats new to Jakarta often mistake these for right turn lanes, which is extremely dangerous. Their proper function in Jakarta is to allow enterprising drivers to get ahead of the through traffic. With correct timing, they can sneak up to the head of the waiting traffic column and on the green light leap out ahead of them, cutting back to the left lane in what looks like the start of a LeMans race. This manoeuvre is always executed by three or four cars moving nose to tail at full throttle and is normally quite successful except in the rare cases where some fool tries to use the lane to turn right. This takes everybody completely by surprise, since they naturally expect right turns to be initiated in the usual way, from the far left lane.
Hand-carts, like motorcycles, are moving targets. The vegetable salesman, the breadman, the bakso man, all are most often encountered attempting to wedge an overloaded cart across six lanes of traffic at the height of the morning rush. Mind you, this is six lanes of traffic travelling at warp speed on a road intended for three lanes. The breadman, with a bike-mounted cart, is considerably more mobile and is usually encountered in your lane on the freeway, late at night, going the wrong way. Without reflectors, and, of course, wearing black clothing.
As you flash by, perilously balanced on two wheels, he glares at you in contempt muttering under his breath about the damn stupid bulehs on the road at this hour of the night.
In the same vein, any Jakarta resident considers it perfectly normal to load his Vespa with his wife, three children, four grandchildren, grandmother, two chickens (live, with their feet tied together and hooked over the rear-view mirror bracket) and two large plastic shopping baskets of vegetables, and set out at four o'clock in the morning in the pouring rain. He sees nothing remotely odd about parking broadside in the centre lane of Jalan Sudirman, debating the advisability of continuing on to grandmother's. Naturally the engine and the lights are switched off to save fuel, everyone will be wearing dark clothing and the Vespa, of course, will be painted dark blue.
On the subject of night driving, prudence dictates that all the lights on the vehicle be functioning. Correct? No! Your foreign preconceptions are showing again. Headlights, commonly used in the West to illuminate the road ahead, have a quite different function in Indonesia. At night the high beam does the same job as the horn does in the daytime.
It is imperative to remember this. After dark, high beam is used as a high-powered laser beam death-ray, capable of evaporating whole lines of slow, incompetent drivers who have the audacity to be ahead of you. Accomplished light-flashers can produce the same results as their daytime compatriots, completely dissolving several vehicles at a time.
Many late-model cars have a high-beam flasher switch developed specifically for Indonesian drivers. Properly handled, it produces an effect not unlike the muzzle flash of a 30mm cannon. The overall impression received from the rear view mirror (if you forget yourself and look) is that some kind of WWII fighter has descended to an altitude of two feet above the road surface behind you, and has the gun button pushed down hard . The only defence against such an attack is hard acceleration, whilst weaving in and out of the traffic, in order to place some other hapless victim between you and the enemy, or hard braking while swerving sharply to one side, hoping the enemy will over-run, in which case you fly in behind him under full throttle, flashing YOUR lights.
In all cases, the message is the same; "I am a person of consequence, therefore I should go first". If in doubt, get out of his way, unless you are successful with the evasion tactics mentioned, in which case he is supposed to get out of yours.
Not that he will, of course. Foreigners are expected to weaken first, having neither the hardened nerves nor the simple faith of the local drivers. Also, most of us know a little about Indonesian hospitals.
For those wishing to go further the Advanced Driver Bulletin is also available. This deals with driving outside Jakarta and includes the following essential sections:
- Intercity Buses: multiple overtaking habits on blind corners
- Angkots: what they are and why they do it so often
- Children, Buffaloes, and lesser domestic animals: which one to hit if you have a choice
- Traffic Policemen: how to meet them and what they cost
- Navigation: navigating from mosque to mosque by the noise they make
- Brain Death: its relation to Indonesian Truck Drivers
- High Beams: how to keep oncoming traffic blind and guessing.
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Hate to admit it but it's definitely the same in the Philippines (if not worse)! Nice article!
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http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/catchfish.asp
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And in a separate matter, I move over "Danny Boy's post to here:
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Judge suspected of masturbating in court
June 25, 2004
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - An Oklahoma state judge frequently masturbated and used a device for enhancing erections while his court was in session, charges a petition by the state's attorney general seeking his removal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson filed the petition on Wednesday with state judicial authorities seeking the ouster of Sapulpa District Judge Donald Thompson, 57, for "conduct constituting an offense involving moral turpitude in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution," Edmondson's spokesman said on Thursday.
The judge flatly denies the charges made in the petition, his lawyer, Clark Brewster, said on Thursday. He said the judge received a penis pump for his 50th birthday as a gag gift, which became a source of a running joke in the courthouse.
"The allegations are bizarre and preposterous," Brewster said. "Recently, some members of local law enforcement that are upset with a number of his rulings, used this situation to embarrass and attack him."
The judge, who was first elected to the bench more than 20 years ago in the state's nonpartisan judicial elections, is based about 80 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
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Bear guzzles 36 beers, passes out at campground
Thursday, August 19, 2004 Posted: 9:32 AM EDT (1332 GMT)
The bear used his claws and teeth to open the beer cans.
SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday.
"We noticed a bear sleeping on the common lawn and wondered what was going on until we discovered that there were a lot of beer cans lying around," said Lisa Broxson, a worker at the Baker Lake Resort, 80 miles (129 kilometers) northeast of Seattle.
The hard-drinking bear, estimated to be about two years old, broke into campers' coolers and, using his claws and teeth to open the cans, swilled down the suds.
It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge.
Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the next day, said Broxson.
They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was captured for relocation.
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Dog Bites Off N.M. Man's Genitals
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A man whose genitals were bitten
off by a pit bull remained in serious condition
Tuesday, and the dog remained on the loose.
The man, who has not been identified, was attacked
Monday while walking the dog. When police arrived to
help, the man appeared disoriented and fled on foot
but police tracked him to a nearby park, said
Detective Jeff Arbogast of the Albuquerque Police
Department.
The man was naked when found at the park, but it was
unclear at what point he had taken off his clothes.
Neighbors had seen him playing with the dog earlier
in the day.
Arbogast said investigators do not know why the man
was naked, and remain uncertain about some
circumstances surrounding the attack.
The brown pit bull remained missing Tuesday, and
police warned people who see it to stay away and
call animal control.
A nearby elementary school was locked down following
the incident and parents were called to pick up
students who usually walk home.
Shortly after the attack Monday, Gov. Bill
Richardson released a statement saying he would proposed
legislation next year aimed at holding owners of
dangerous dogs accountable for their pets.
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Haha!
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Newark, NJ:
A father's attempt to teach his daughter a lesson about drinking backfired when the teen led police to a stash of drugs and weapons inside their home.
KW, 46, called police at 0205 Friday after his 16 year old daughter came home drunk and unruly. When police arrived however, the girl told them she fear for her safety because her father stored drugs and weapons in the home.
The girl led officers to a crawl space above the ceiling where they found four semi-auto guns and more than 600 vials of crack.
The father was charged with numerous weapons charges and the daughter placed in the custody of a relative.
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Tue Dec 7, 5:50 PM ET
Strange News - AP
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - A Virginia man admitted Monday to smearing 14 jars of petroleum jelly all over an upstate New York motel room.
Robert F. Chamberlain, 45, of McLean, gave no reason for his actions when he appeared in court to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.
A Broome County judge sentenced Chamberlain to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $3,886 in damages to the Motel 6 in Chenango.
Authorities said Chamberlain coated every object of the motel room with petroleum jelly in May. A cleaning crew discovered the mess after he checked out, and he was arrested at another motel covered in the greasy stuff.
Chamberlain declined comment after the proceedings.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&ncid=816&e=10&u=/ap/20041207/ap_on_fe_st/brf_vaseline_vandalism
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Good one Buz- now try this!
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The names/religion of the 2 men have been withheld...This is how holy wars start..
Two men tie up cow, rape, stab it
ROHIT WADHWANEY
INDIATIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2004 03:28:18 PM ]
NEW DELHI: In a bizarre incident that smacks of sheer desperation and sadism, two men in south Delhi's Tughlaqabad area allegedly raped a cow early on Tuesday morning.
If that wasn't enough, the two also repeatedly stabbed the cow - an animal considered holy in the country - after the assault.
One of the accused has been arrested, says Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Praveer Ranjan, while the other is absconding.
"The one who has been arrested owned an STD phone booth in the area and the other was his employee," Ranjan told Timesofindia.com.
The incident occurred at about 4 am on Tuesday, when the two accused, in inebriated state, were walking back home.
The two reportedly tied the cow's legs to a tractor. They also tied up its snout and after sexually assaulting the animal, stabbed it repeatedly.
About an hour later, Amar Singh, the owner of the cow, saw the animal tied up and bleeding profusely. He immediately raised an alarm.
The whole neighbourhood awoke to the shocking scene, and in anger began disrupting traffic on the highway nearby.
Singh went to the police station, but he says the police were hesitant initially to lodge a complaint. It was only when the crowd turned violent they registered a complaint.
The cow was rushed to a veterinary hospital and is said to be in a "critical condition".
The police fear an "outburst among the people" and aren't disclosing the names of the offenders.
In 2002, angry mob lynched 5 dalit youth in Haryana after they tried to skin a dead cow for its hide.
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This doesn't quite rise to the level of bovine bondage, but is pretty silly nonetheless:
Festive cheer and goodwill was in short supply in Newtown when people dressed as Santa were involved in a mass street brawl, say police.
Officers used CS spray and batons to break up trouble amongst up to 30 people, following Newtown's annual charity Santa run.
There were five arrests hours after around 4,000 Santas finished racing.
Race organisers said if any official participants had been involved in the trouble, they would be banned in 2005.
Those arrested have all been released on police bail while further inquiries are carried out, Dyfed-Powys Police said on Thursday.
A number of others have been interviewed about their alleged involvement in the incident in the town's Severn Street on Sunday, which happened shortly after 2230 GMT.
There's no way people can link the Santa run to the drunkenness and violence that ensued after the race,
AM Mick Bates
Four officers suffered minor injuries during the scuffle and a total of eight were used to quell the disturbance, said police.
Pc Gareth Slaymaker, community safety officer for north Powys, confirmed that many of those involved in the alleged brawl were still wearing their Santa outfits.
"This is the sort of behaviour that gives a well-organised event a bad name, leading to the belief that it is just becoming a beer festival as mentioned in the press a few weeks ago," he said.
"Behaviour like this justifies the reluctance by the police to extend the licensing hours for public houses and bars for this type of event."
Dougie Bancroft, spokesman for the festive run's organisers Dial-a-Ride, said: "The trouble occurred seven hours after the Santa Run and I understand some people involved were dressed as Santa.
"But I'm not sure if they actually took part in the race because Santa suits were left by many in the town's park.
"If we find that people connected with the run, be it marshals, stewards or anyone else, were involved in the incident we will not tolerate them and they will not be involved in the race next year.
"We don't want anything to tarnish the reputation of the event or the charities which benefit from the Santa Run. We support the police in their action."
Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates, who took part in the run, denied claims that it was turning into a beer festival.
"There's no way people can link the Santa run to the drunkenness and violence that ensued after the race," he said.
"I understand 200 charities will benefit from this year's run and the organisers do a wonderful job planning the event to make sure Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Dial-a-Ride and the charities get the most out of it.
"The problem with excessive drinking is not the responsibility of the Santa run but of pub landlords and individuals."
Last year, runners raised ?80,000 for charities and it is hoped the 2004 total will be higher.
Organisers are still waiting to hear if they have broken the world record for having the most number of Santas in the same place.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/wales/mid/4081415.stm
Published: 2004/12/09 12:56:35 GMT
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Jokester in Bin Laden Mask Shot
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Usama bin Laden (search <http://search.foxnews.com/info.foxnws/redirs_all.htm?pgtarg=wbsdogpile&qcat=web&qkw=Usama%20bin%20Laden> ) take note: You wouldn't be safe in Costa Rica. A startled taxi driver shot and wounded a jokester wearing a plastic mask of the Al Qaeda (search <http://search.foxnews.com/info.foxnws/redirs_all.htm?pgtarg=wbsdogpile&qcat=web&qkw=Al%20Qaeda> ) leader, police said Tuesday.
Leonel Arias, 47, told police he was playing a practical joke by donning the Bin Laden mask, toting his pellet rifle and jumping out to scare drivers on a narrow street in his hometown, Carrizal de Alajuela (search <http://search.foxnews.com/info.foxnws/redirs_all.htm?pgtarg=wbsdogpile&qcat=web&qkw=Carrizal%20de%20Alajuela> ), about 20 miles north of San Jose.
Arias had startled several drivers that way on Monday afternoon. But when he jumped out in front of taxi driver Juan Pablo Sandoval, the motorist reached for a gun and shot him twice in the stomach. He was hospitalized in stable condition.
"For me and I think for anybody else at a time like that one thinks the worst and so I fired my gun," Sandoval told Channel 7 television.
Police declined to detain Sandoval, saying he had believed he was acting in self-defense.
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http://tennessean.com/local/archives/04/11/61338680.shtml?Element_ID=61338680
COLUMBIA - Maury County Jail officials certainly don't want to incur the wrath of the Vatican, especially over fingernails.
But they were standing on firm ground religiously and legally when they confined a female inmate to her cell for not cutting her long, claw-like fingernails, which they say could be used as a weapon.
The inmate's mother says her daughter's refusal may be due to her Catholic upbringing.
''Her mother called us and said that she was raised by her grandmother, who said you're not supposed to cut your toenails or fingernails on Sunday,'' Sheriff's Lt. Brenda Thomason said.
Church leaders rolled their eyes at that.
''She's more devout than I am,'' chuckled the Rev. Patrick Conner of Columbia's St. Catherine's Catholic Church. ''There are no such mandates.''
Rick Musacchio, spokesman for the Nashville Diocese of the Catholic Church, agreed.
''I've never heard of anything like that,'' he said. ''Catholics aren't prohibited from working or anything on Sundays.
''In fact, although it's over now, our Catholic cross-country meets were held on Sunday afternoons.''
''It's just an excuse,'' Maury Chief Deputy Ashley Brown said. ''She was asked to cut those nails on Friday, and she refused, then again on Saturday. We can't have her in the jail with those long nails,'' Brown said. ''They use them as a weapon.''
So Nadean Swarthout, 37, of Williamsport, who is in jail on a string of charges, including facilitating an aggravated burglary, is confined to her cell, with only a 15-minute-a-day shower break, until she cuts her nails.
Because of that, she was unavailable for comment
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EL PASO, TX. - Five people are arrested in connection with a shooting in Socorro (TX)?-- including the alleged shooter's mother. Socorro Police say 18-year-old Daniel Villela fired a shotgun at two people in a car on Sunday night.
They believe?Daniel's mother, 46-year old Socorro Villela was driving. Three other men were also arrested because they were riding in the same vehcile. They are 18-year old Luis Rosales, 18-year old Jesus Yescas and 18-year old Robert Murillo.
All five are charged with 2 counts of Criminal Attempted Murder and one count of Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity. Socorro Police believe the shooting was gang-related.?
No one was hit by gunfire, but the passenger of the car was slighly injured by flying glass.?
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Something about this story resists analysis. . . .
Robber's gun a deductible expense
By David Rennie in Brussels
(Filed: 26/01/2005)
A bank robber has been allowed to claim the ?1,400 cost of the gun he used as a legitimate business expense.
The 46-year-old criminal was able to set the price of the pistol against his gross proceeds of ?4,700, which he stole in the southern Dutch town of Chaam.
Jailing him for four years, the judge at Breda criminal court reduced his fine by that amount.
The Dutch prosecutors' service said yesterday that the judge had followed sound legal precedents.
Leendert De Lange, a spokesman, said: "You can compare criminal acts to normal business activities, where you must invest to make profits, and thus you have costs."
Therefore drug dealers would be within their rights to claim the cost of a car used to ferry the drugs around, he said.
However, Mr De Lange scoffed at the hypothetical example of a drugs dealer claiming his Ferrari against the proceeds of his crimes.
"No, he would have to prove that he needed the car to transport the drugs and I hardly think he would transport them in a Ferrari."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/26/wexp26.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/26/ixnewstop.html
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Not eligible for the Darwin awards. LOL
Ananova:
Man peed way out of avalanche
A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.
Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.
He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.
But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.
He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.
He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."
Parts of Europe have this week been hit by the heaviest snowfalls since 1941, with some places registering more than ten feet of snow in 24 hours.
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Looks like it's time to ban enema bags. . . .
Police: Woman kills husband with Sherry Enema
KHOU - Houston ^ | February 2, 2005 | 11 News Staff Reports
Police: Woman kills husband with sherry enema
12:54 PM CST on Wednesday, February 2, 2005
From 11 News Staff Reports
LAKE JACKSON -- A Lake Jackson woman has been charged with criminally negligent homicide in the bizarre death of her husband.
Michael Warner, 58, died last May but his wife wasn't indicted until last week.
Tammy Jean Warner, 42, turned herself in to Lake Jackson police on Monday.
Police say Warner gave her husband a sherry enema before his death. An autopsy showed he had a blood alcohol level of .47 percent.
Neighbors say Michael Warner had been seriously ill with liver problems and wasn't supposed to have alcohol.
Relatives say the victim had been told that even small amounts of alcohol could kill him.
His widow is also charged with fraudulent destruction of a document. She's accused of burning her husband's will a month before his death.
Warner was released from jail Monday after posting a $30,000 bond.
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Thu Feb 10, 9:56 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman was sentenced to two and a half years in jail Thursday for ripping off her ex-lover's testicle with her bare hands during a drunken brawl after he refused her sex.
Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage in May last year after Geoffrey Jones, 37, who had ended their long-term relationship, rejected her advances.
She grabbed him by the genitals, tearing off his left testicle, then hid it in her mouth before a friend of Jones handed it back to him saying "that's yours."
Monti, of Birkenhead, near Liverpool, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding at an earlier hearing.
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Thu Feb 10, 9:56 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman was sentenced to two and a half years in jail Thursday for ripping off her ex-lover's testicle with her bare hands during a drunken brawl after he refused her sex.
Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage in May last year after Geoffrey Jones, 37, who had ended their long-term relationship, rejected her advances.
She grabbed him by the genitals, tearing off his left testicle, then hid it in her mouth before a friend of Jones handed it back to him saying "that's yours."
Monti, of Birkenhead, near Liverpool, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding at an earlier hearing.
That's gonna hurt in the morning
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Ummm. I have no words to describe this.
http://www.topsecrettraining.com/index1.html
"The Shocking Story of How The
U.S. Military, The Feds, and Every Martial Art School On The Planet Is Trying To Prevent You From Getting This
Elite Combat Training."
How would you like to be able to master any fighting style or martial art in only 3 weeks, instead of 30 years?and be fully qualified to teach it to others- just like our Green Berets train foreign freedom fighters?
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POSTED: 5:35 pm EST February 7, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Four sniper rifles, scopes and ammunition were stolen from an FBI SWAT van parked outside a Baymeadows Road hotel before dawn Sunday.
The FBI said the guns belonged to a team from Atlanta in Jacksonville to provide extra security for the Super Bowl.
A spokesman for the FBI said authorities are concerned these weapons are out on the street and are doing everything possible to try and find whoever took them.
Four high-powered rifles with scopes and 80 rounds of 308 ammunition were taken from the unmarked, locked van parked outside the Holiday Inn at Baymeadows and Interstate 95. An agent parked the van at 3:45 a.m. and discovered a few hours later the padlock cut and van burglarized.
An internal investigation is under way.
The FBI asks anyone with information that could help recover the rifles to call their Jacksonville office at (904) 721-1211.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/4173456/detail.html
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Ummm. I have no words to describe this.
http://www.topsecrettraining.com/index1.html
"The Shocking Story of How The
U.S. Military, The Feds, and Every Martial Art School On The Planet Is Trying To Prevent You From Getting This
Elite Combat Training."
How would you like to be able to master any fighting style or martial art in only 3 weeks, instead of 30 years?and be fully qualified to teach it to others- just like our Green Berets train foreign freedom fighters?
It?s called creative marketing. People will do anything to make a buck these days. Check out the newest one I have found:
http://savetoby.com/
Gruhn
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In a related vein I encountered this link the other day. For reasons I haven't fully identified it had me belly laughing at the computer. Check out some of the t-shirts.
http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm
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In a related vein I encountered this link the other day. For reasons I haven't fully identified it had me belly laughing at the computer. Check out some of the t-shirts.
http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm
Haha!
I have had a couple people tell me about this site and its great to finaly see it! Ninjas are sweet! :lol:
Gruhn
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Sheesh . . . when will the folly associated with Tony Martin's ordeal ever end?
March 04, 2005
BBC attacked for paying burglar shot by Martin
By Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter
CRITICISM was mounting on the BBC last night when it was revealed that a burglar was being paid ?4,500 for speaking on a television documentary about the fatal 1999 break-in at the farmhouse of Tony Martin.
Brendon Fearon, who has convictions for burglary and drug offences, was wounded by Mr Martin in the raid on Bleak House, in Norfolk. His accom- plice, Fred Barras, 16, was shot dead.
BBC One was attacked the day after the BBC was told to improve its public service performance in return for renewal of the licence fee. Its guidelines state that convicted criminals should not be paid unless they offer a ?contribution of remarkable importance with a clear public interest that could not be obtained without payment?.
Friends of the farmer said that he had refused to take part in the programme after learning that the producers intended to engineer an on-camera confrontation with Mr Fearon.
Mr Martin was jailed for murdering the teenage intruder but his conviction was later reduced to one of manslaughter.
Mr Fearon was given ?5,000 to sue the 57-year-old farmer but backed down from taking legal action.
Malcolm Starr, a friend of Mr Martin, said that Channel 4 had pulled out of making a similar documentary because the farmer refused to participate.
He said: ?Tony Martin refused any money or to meet his tormentor in a face-to face confrontation. It is utterly disgraceful that the BBC is handing over our hard-earned money to someone who has been in and out of prison his whole life.?
BBC Television said that it planned to go ahead with the documentary next month. A spokesman insisted that the Fearon interview met the strict criteria on payment to criminals. ?It is extremely important that the public hears the fullest possible account of the event that led to the death of a 16-year-old boy and the imprisonment of Tony Martin,? he said.
?Mr Fearon is the only person, apart from Tony Martin, who is alive and a witness to what happened. There is public controversy about householders? rights to protect their homes from intruders.? Mr Fearon?s contribution would ensure that the programme was balanced, the spokesman said.
The BBC has promised to inform viewers when any interviewee has been paid more than ?10,000 for a contribution. Although the sum is less, viewers will be told during the documentary that Mr Fearon had been paid.
Peter Horrocks, the BBC?s head of current affairs, promised last year that the corporation would withdraw from ?chequebook journalism?. He said the BBC had made errors when offering large sums to celebrities such as George Best, who was paid ?25,000 to talk about his alcoholism.
Henry Bellingham, the Tory MP for North West Norfolk, described the BBC?s explanation as ?the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard?.
He added: ?It is grossly insensitive for an organisation that is meant to show complete balance.?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1510372,00.html
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I'm trying to figure out if this story should make me laugh or groan:
Hell is other people removing your cigarette
By Henry Samuel in Paris
(Filed: 10/03/2005)
France's National Library has airbrushed Jean-Paul Sartre's trademark cigarette out of a poster of the chain-smoking philosopher to avoid prosecution under an anti-tobacco law.
"Smoking," the Left-wing existentialist wrote, is "the symbolic equivalent of destructively appropriating the entire world."
And yet in its poster for an exhibition to mark the hundredth anniversary of Sartre's birth the Biblioth?que Nationale de France decided, destructively or not, to edit out the philosopher's Gauloise.
The library's president, Jean-No?l Jeanneney, confirmed that the cigarette had been discreetly smudged to comply with the 1991 loi Evin - a law banning tobacco advertising - but also so as not to frighten away potential sponsors from the exhibition, which opened yesterday.
Sartre's love of tobacco is well documented: he reportedly smoked his way through two packets and several pipes a day.
Indeed, all the best-known photographs of the author of La Naus?e, such as his portrait by Henri Cartier-Bresson on the Pont des Arts in Paris, depict him with a cigarette or pipe in hand.
So organisers homed in on a photo taken by the artist Lipnitzki in 1946 during a rehearsal of Sartre's play La Putain Respectueuse, (The Respectful Prostitute), from which Sartre's cigarette could easily be removed.
The doctoring of the photo was first spotted by Lib?ration, fittingly enough the Left-wing newspaper founded by Sartre.
The exhibition, which runs until Aug 21, shows previously unseen letters and manuscripts by the prolific writer and author of the immortal line: "Hell is other people."
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'Bush Rage' Driver Charged in Florida
Thursday, March 10, 2005
STORIES
?Man Charged in Rep. Harris Camp Assault?Man Charged With Trying to Mow Down Katherine Harris
TAMPA, Fla. ? A man apparently enraged by a Bush-Cheney sticker (search) on a woman's sport utility vehicle chased her for miles and tried to run her off the road while holding up an anti-Bush sign, police said.
"He told our officers that he just got mad at her, so he went after her," said police spokesman Joe Durkin.
Nathan Alan Winkler (search), 31, was freed on $2,000 bail early Wednesday on a charge of aggravated stalking (search), which carries up to five years in prison.
No one answered the telephone Thursday at Winkler's home, but his father, John Winkler, said: "I know that he's very anti-Bush. But I don't see him doing anything like that. He's the least aggressive person I know."
Winkler told police he got upset with the woman, 35-year-old Michelle Fernandez, after she made an obscene gesture, Durkin said. Fernandez was taking her 10-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter to a ball field Tuesday when the incident occurred.
"Whatever gestures I made, I made them because I was trying to figure out why he was honking at me and pointing at his sign," Fernandez said.
Police said that as Winkler chased the woman's vehicle, he held up a small sign that read: "Never Forget Bush's Illegal War Murdered Thousands in Iraq."
Fernandez found a police officer and described the car and license number. Within an hour, police arrested Winkler at his home.
Fernandez said she is a registered Democrat who voted for President Bush in 2004.
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Former Dentist Accused Of Squirting Semen Into Mouths Of Patients
POSTED: 7:02 am EST March 15, 2005
UPDATED: 11:43 am EST March 15, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A former North Carolina dentist accused of using syringes to squirt semen into the mouths of female patients was charged Monday with multiple misdemeanor counts of assault on a female.
A Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted Dr. John Hall on seven counts of assault on a female. He was charged with assaulting six patients, including one of them twice, over an eight-month period in 2003.
Hall, 44, who practiced in nearby Cornelius, is expected to turn himself in at the Mecklenburg County jail on Wednesday. He faces up to 120 days in jail if convicted on all the charges.
Hall could not be reached for comment. In the past, he has denied the allegations, calling them "bizarre and sensational."
Assistant District Attorney David Maloney, who sought Monday's indictments against Hall, would not comment on the charges.
"We knew these indictments were coming," said defense attorney George Laughrun. "This is just the first step in the process. My client is anxious for the process to get started and get this behind him for himself and his family."
The North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners revoked Hall's license in August after six former patients testified in Raleigh that the dentist made them swallow what they now believe was his semen.
In testimony before the dental board last summer, Hall denied the allegations.
"I have never injected semen in any patient's mouth," he said. "I never would. I've got a 10-year-old daughter. That whole concept is so beyond me."
Police searched Hall's office and confiscated syringes after several employees said they were suspicious of the dentist's behavior. DNA tests on the syringes later showed they contained Hall's semen.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press
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Well, this feels weird in a good way to me , , ,
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6955331422&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1
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http://www.dogjudo.co.uk/
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Just in case this applies to anyone on the list. . . .
Viagra ruled 'kosher for Passover'
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, THE JERUSALEM POST
Apr. 13, 2005
Rabbis have risen to the occasion and found a way for men who want to enjoy their Passover to take the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra without violating the laws about consuming hametz (leaven) leaven during the holiday.
Four years ago, The Jerusalem Post revealed in a widely quoted story that taking Viagra during Passover was forbidden by Jewish law because its coating was made with hametz.
Rabbi Menahem Rosenberg, the rabbi of Clalit Health Services, then confirmed that Viagra (sildenafil citrate) was not kosher for Passover because of the coating.
He noted that all drugs taken for life-threatening conditions, even if they contain leaven, can - and must - be taken during the holiday. Since impotence can hardly be considered a life-threatening condition, few rabbis approved its use during the holiday.
But now former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu has issued a ruling after receiving a query from Rabbi Menahem Burstein, a rabbinical expert in the field of fertility and head of the the Puah Institute for Fertility and Medicine According to Halacha in Jerusalem.
Burstein received queries from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals-Israel and religious men on whether the drug can be taken on Passover.
Eliahu replied that men who need Viagra can do so if they purchase before the holiday special empty capsules made from kosher gelatin, insert the blue pill into the capsule and swallow it. The company explained that since the capsule is not in direct contact with the body, it is permissible to swallow it on Passover.
First unveiled by Pfizer International in 1998, Viagra has been prescribed more than 120 million times for problems of erectile dysfunction. Since then, at least two competing drugs, Cialis and Levitra, have been put on the market. In Israel, a three-pill prescription for Viagra is issued every minute on average; the health funds do not provide these at nominal cost, as such medications are not included in the basket of health services, but they do offer a discount.
There was no information about whether Cialis and Levitra have leaven as well and if so, whether the glycerin capsule technique would be a solution for them as well.
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Grandma stops intruder with garden gnome
LONDON (AP) -- A grandmother stopped an intruder from entering her home by lobbing a heavy garden gnome at him, police said Friday. Jean Collop was woken early on Tuesday morning by the sound of an intruder on the roof of her home in Wadebridge, southwest England.
"I grabbed the first thing that came to hand - one of my garden gnomes - and hurled it at him, and hit him," she recalled.
"He lay there and I began to scream. I went back into the kitchen and found a rolling pin in case he came down. I didn't want to break another gnome."
A neighbor alerted police who arrived shortly afterward and arrested the intruder.
He added: "Our usual advice would be not to get involved, but to contact the police straight away," said a spokesman for the Devon and Cornwall Police.
"We do appreciate that in the heat of the moment people react to that situation, and if it results in a happy outcome that's great."
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Beware of flying frozen sausages.
An Englishman learned that the hard way Monday afternoon, according to British wire services.
"He was driving his car when the offending item came through his open window and hit him on the nose," an ambulance-service spokesman told reporters.
The unnamed man, 46, had left work and was heading home to South Woodham Ferrers, Essex (search), east of London, when the meat missile entered his vehicle.
Despite having broken his nose, and losing a lot of blood, the driver declined to be taken to the hospital.
"It must have been an incredibly lucky, or unlucky, shot to get the sausage through a moving car window," commented the spokesman. "I have never seen or heard of anything like this before."
Police said they were looking into the incident
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Thursday, May 5, 2005
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BENTON HARBOR -- A pop culture controversy that has simmered for decades came to a head when a middle school marching band was told not to perform "Louie Louie."
Benton Harbor Superintendent Paula Dawning cited the song's allegedly raunchy lyrics in ordering the McCord Middle School band not to perform it in Saturday's Grand Floral Parade, held as part of the Blossomtime Festival.
In a letter sent home with McCord students, Dawning said "Louie Louie" was not appropriate for Benton Harbor students to play while representing the district -- even though the marching band wasn't going to sing it.
Band members and parents complained to the Board of Education at its Tuesday meeting that it was too late to learn another song, The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph reported.
"It's very stressful for us to try to come up with new songs for the band," eighth-grader Laurice Martin told the board. "We're trying to learn the songs from last year, but some of us weren't in the band last year."
Dawning said that if a majority of parents supports their children playing the song, she will reconsider her decision.
"It was not that I knew at the beginning and said nothing," Dawning said. "I normally count on the staff to make reliable decisions. I found out because a parent called, concerned about the song being played."
"Louie Louie," written by Richard Berry in 1956, is one of the most recorded songs in history. The best-known, most notorious version was a hit in 1963 for the Kingsmen; the FBI spent two years investigating the lyrics before declaring they not only were not obscene but also were "unintelligible at any speed."
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Let's not forget the finest version of "Louie, Louie". Seattle garage rock pioneers The Sonics rocked a really heavy "ahead of it's time" version. Alas they never broke through into nationwide success. Maybe this was due to their penchant for referring to the Ford Mustang as a "Boss Hoss" in song.
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As a parent all I can be is astounded:
Blind Couple Allowed To Open Day Care
Colorado Judge Says Denial Violated ADA
POSTED: 7:55 am PDT May 12, 2005
DENVER -- A blind couple has won the right to open a day-care center in Colorado.
The couple was given permission after a judge said the state's refusal to issue them a license violated the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The couple's attorney said they will apparently be the first blind couple to operate a day care in Colorado, which is one of only a few states where courts have allowed blind people to run day cares.
The attorney, who also is blind, called the judge's ruling "yet another victory in a long string of victories for blind and disabled people."
Christine Hutchinson said she and her husband, Thomas, will move ahead with plans to open a facility, although they are worried they will be hounded by inspectors looking for problems.
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http://www.martialartsmart.net/prjt001.html
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Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight
An African Lion much like this is responsible for the death of 28 Cambodian Midgets
Spectators cheered as entire Cambodian Midget Fighting League squared off against African Lion
Tickets had been sold-out three weeks before the much anticipated fight, which took place in the city of K?mp?ng Chhn?ng.
The fight was slated when an angry fan contested Yang Sihamoni, President of the CMFL, claiming that one lion could defeat his entire league of 42 fighters.
Sihamoni takes great pride in the league he helped create, as was conveyed in his recent advertising campaign for the CMFL that stated his midgets will "... take on anything; man, beast, or machine."
This campaign is believed to be what sparked the undisclosed fan to challenge the entire league to fight a lion; a challenge that Sihamoni readily accepted.
An African Lion (Panthera Leo) was shipped to centrally located K?mp?ng Chhn?ng especially for the event, which took place last Saturday, April 30, 2005 in the city?s coliseum.
The Cambodian Government allowed the fight to take place, under the condition that they receive a 50% commission on each ticket sold, and that no cameras would be allowed in the arena.
The fight was called in only 12 minutes, after which 28 fighters were declared dead, while the other 14 suffered severe injuries including broken bones and lost limbs, rendering them unable to fight back.
Sihamoni was quoted before the fight stating that he felt since his fighters out-numbered the lion 42 to 1, that they ?? could out-wit and out-muscle [it].?
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
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Maybe the lady who dropped a finger in some chili and then sued Wendy's could use one of these.
Protester who chopped off finger tip selling guillotine on Internet
Associated Press
Published May 22 2005
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Joel Gonzalez is bringing cutting edge equipment to the Internet. Literally.
Gonzalez, who cut off the tip of his finger outside the state Capitol in 1994 to protest efforts by the gun lobby to scuttle tougher firearms laws, is selling the homemade guillotine and hammer used in the severance on eBay. The bidding begins at $50,000.
"When I did it, people said I was crazy," said Gonzalez, a former Bridgeport city councilman. "I wonder what they are saying now."
Gonzalez told the Connecticut Post that he wants to sell the items to raise money needed to continue his activism in causes including bringing prayer back into schools, finding more money for education, abolishing the death penalty and, of course, strengthening gun control laws.
If he gets a $50,000 bid or more, he promised to give half to the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport.
No one has bid on the two items, but 391 people have looked at the eBay listing.
The guillotine is 8 inches tall. The 2-pound hammer was used to drive the guillotine blade into left index finger. Both items include state police evidence tags.
State Capitol police threatened to arrest Gonzalez but never did. But they did arrest his friend, who was filming in the incident, and seized the videotape.
Gonzalez was taken with his finger tip to Hartford Hospital, where he elected not to have it reattached. Hospital staff sewed up the injured finger with 13 stitches and never returned the severed part.
Gonzalez believes there should be a harsh penalty for people who commit crimes with guns.
"States must consider amputating the trigger fingers of anyone who uses a firearm to commit a premeditated crime," he said.
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Can tree limbs be far behind?
Doctors' kitchen knives ban call
A&E doctors are calling for a ban on long pointed kitchen knives to reduce deaths from stabbing.
A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase - and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.
They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon.
The research is published in the British Medical Journal.
The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.
They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen.
None of the chefs felt such knives were essential, since the point of a short blade was just as useful when a sharp end was needed.
The researchers said a short pointed knife may cause a substantial superficial wound if used in an assault - but is unlikely to penetrate to inner organs.
In contrast, a pointed long blade pierces the body like "cutting into a ripe melon".
The use of knives is particularly worrying amongst adolescents, say the researchers, reporting that 24% of 16-year-olds have been shown to carry weapons, primarily knives.
The study found links between easy access to domestic knives and violent assault are long established.
French laws in the 17th century decreed that the tips of table and street knives be ground smooth.
A century later, forks and blunt-ended table knives were introduced in the UK in an effort to reduce injuries during arguments in public eating houses.
The researchers say legislation to ban the sale of long pointed knives would be a key step in the fight against violent crime.
"The Home Office is looking for ways to reduce knife crime.
"We suggest that banning the sale of long pointed knives is a sensible and practical measure that would have this effect."
Government response
Home Office spokesperson said there were already extensive restrictions in place to control the sale and possession of knives.
"The law already prohibits the possession of offensive weapons in a public place, and the possession of knives in public without good reason or lawful authority, with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade not exceeding three inches.
"Offensive weapons are defined as any weapon designed or adapted to cause injury, or intended by the person possessing them to do so.
"An individual has to demonstrate that he had good reason to possess a knife, for example for fishing, other sporting purposes or as part of his profession (e.g. a chef) in a public place.
"The manufacture, sale and importation of 17 bladed, pointed and other offensive weapons have been banned, in addition to flick knives and gravity knives."
A spokesperson for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: "ACPO supports any move to reduce the number of knife related incidents, however, it is important to consider the practicalities of enforcing such changes."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/4581871.stm
Published: 2005/05/26 23:48:35 GMT
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The British Medical Journal article that got the ball rolling:
Reducing knife crime
We need to ban the sale of long pointed kitchen knives
"Britain in the grip of knives terror?third of murder victims are now stabbed to death." Daily Express, 31 January 2005
"Stabbing rampage kills one, injures five?a large kitchen knife was found." Independent, 24 December 2004
Violent crime in the United Kingdom is increasing; figures from London show a 17.9% increase from 2003 to 2004,1 and one easily accessible weapon used in many incidents is the kitchen knife. Unfortunately, no data seem to have been collected to indicate how often kitchen knives are used in stabbings, but our own experience and that of police officers and pathologists we have spoken to indicates that they are used in at least half of all cases. UK government statistics show that 24% of 16 year old boys report carrying knives or other weapons and 19% admitting attacking someone with the intent to harm.2 Although other weapons?such as baseball bats, screwdrivers, and chains?are also carried, by far the most common weapons are knives.3 In the United Kingdom in the first two weeks of 2005 alone, 15 murders were attributed to stabbings and 16 other non-fatal attacks.4
To tackle this increasing problem, various measures are being considered by the government, particularly targeting the adolescent age group. These include raising the minimum age for purchasing a knife from 16 to 18 years and allowing head teachers the power to search pupils for knives.5 However, not all crimes are committed with newly purchased knives, and every household and home economics department in schools contains a plethora of readily available weapons. The modern stainless steel kitchen knife has a high quality blade that makes it unnecessary to look further for another lethal weapon.
Most domestic kitchen knives are based on two designs, the dagger variety with a pointed tip?for example, vegetable knife or carving knife?and the blunt round nose variety?for example, bread knife. When using a knife to harm, a blunt nosed knife is unlikely to cause serious injury, as penetrating clothing and skin is difficult with it. Similarly an assault with a knife with a short blade such as a craft knife may cause a dramatic superficial wound but is unlikely to reach deep structures and cause death. A dagger type knife, however, can penetrate deeply. Once resistance from clothing and skin is overcome, little extra force is required to injure vital organs, increasing the chance of a fatality (likened to cutting into a ripe melon).6
As knives are so readily available, does a culinary reason exist for so many domestic knives to be of the dagger variety, or are we just sticking to tradition? Knives as we recognise them were made first from copper and bronze between 3000 and 700 bc, and some are very similar in design to those used today. Personal eating knives were first used in Britain in the 14th century and became commonplace during the 1800s when manufacturing processes improved.7
Knives were used to spear meat, lifting it from plate to mouth, so pointed tips were vital for this function. Also, with repeated sharpening of a flat blade, a pointed tip inevitably develops. However, now domestic knives do not need sharpening, and numerous other kitchen utensils can be used to spear food. The current practice of eating with forks and blunt ended table knives was introduced in the 18th century to reduce the injuries resulting from arguments in public eating houses. In 1669, King Louis XIV of France noted the association between pointed domestic knives and violence and passed a law demanding that the tips of all table and street knives be ground smooth.8 Today many households have a block of kitchen knives of which several will be of the long pointed variety.
Perhaps the pointed kitchen knife has a culinary purpose that we have failed to appreciate? We contacted 10 chefs in the UK who are well known from their media activities and chefs working in the kitchens of five leading London restaurants. Some commented that a point is useful in the fine preparation of some meat and vegetables, but that this could be done with a short pointed knife (less than 5 cm in length). None gave a reason why the long pointed knife was essential. Domestic knife manufacturers (Harrison-Fisher Knife Company, England, personal communication, 2005) admit that their designs are based on traditional shapes and could give no functional reason why long pointed knives are needed. The average life of a kitchen knife is estimated to be about 10 years.
Many assaults are impulsive, often triggered by alcohol or misuse of other drugs, and the long pointed kitchen knife is an easily available potentially lethal weapon particularly in the domestic setting. Government action to ban the sale of such knives would drastically reduce their availability over the course of a few years. In addition, such legislation would make it harder to justify carrying such knives and prosecution easier.
The Home Office is looking for ways to reduce knife crime. We suggest that banning the sale of long pointed knives is a sensible and practical measure that would have this effect.
Emma Hern, specialist registrar in emergency medicine, Will Glazebrook, specialist registrar in emergency medicine Mike Beckett, consultant in emergency medicine
West Middlesex University Hospital, London TW7 6AF (emmah@doctors.org.uk)
Competing interests: None declared.
References
Metropolitan Police Service. Latest crime figures for London. www.met.police.uk/crimefigures/(accessed 20 Jan 2005).
Beinart S, Anderson B, Lee S, Utting D: Youth at risk? A national survey of risk factors, protective factors and problem behaviour among young people in England, Scotland and Wales. London, Communities that Care, 2002, JRF Findings 432.
Townsend M, Barnett A. Children of five who carry knives in class. Observer 2003, November 23. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1091441,00.html (accessed 21 Apr 2005)
BBC News Online (manual search). http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgibin/search/results.pl?scope=newsukfs&tab=news&q=stabbings (accessed 20 Jan 2005).
Home Office. Off the streets and out of schools: Home Secretary's fight against knives. Press Release 389/2004. 15 December 2004. www.homeoffice.gov.uk/n_story.asp?item_id=1188 (accessed 30 Mar 2005).
Sadler D. Injuries of medico-legal importance. Lecture notes for LLB in Forensic Medicine, University of Dundee. www.Dundee.ac.uk/forensicmedicine/llb/woundsdws.htm#stabs (accessed 20 Jan 05).
The Sheffield cutlery industry. http://freespace.virgin.net/a.data/The%20History%20of%20Cutlery.htm (accessed 20 Jan 2005).
Knives. http://www.eat-online.net/english/education/utensils/knives.htm (accessed 20 Jan 2005).
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http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=yougotownedwmv
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Suspect in killing entered United States with bloody chainsaw
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
By Michael Kunzelman
Copyright ? 2005 AP Wire
BOSTON -- On the morning of April 25, Gregory Despres hitchhiked to the Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained by what appeared to be blood.
Customs officials confiscated the cache of weapons and fingerprinted Despres, but allowed him to enter the United States -- not knowing the gruesome scene about to unfold in the hitchhiker's hometown.
The following day, in the village of Minto, New Brunswick, the decapitated body of a well-known country musician named Frederick Fulton was discovered on his kitchen floor. Police found the 74-year-old man's head in a pillow case under a kitchen table and the body of his common-law wife, Veronica Decarie, stabbed to death in a bedroom.
A history of violence between Despres and his neighbors immediately made him a suspect in the murders, and the 22-year-old was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway, wearing a sweatshirt with red and brown stains.
Despres, now held at a jail in Plymouth on first-degree murder charges, is scheduled to return to a Boston federal court on July 21 for an extradition hearing.
While authorities on the Canadian side of the border await his return, a question for customs officials lingers: At a time when the U.S. is tightening its borders, how could a man toting a bloody chain saw be allowed to enter the country?
Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres couldn't be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and wasn't wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.
Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. In the interim, he added, customs agents employed "every conceivable method" to check for warrants or see if Despres broke any laws in trying to re-enter the country.
"Nobody asked us to detain him," Anthony said. "Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up... We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations."
Anthony conceded it "sounds stupid" that a man wielding a bloody chain saw couldn't be detained.
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"MARCH 25--Richard Simmons was arrested yesterday and charged with assaulting a Harley Davidson salesman during a confrontation at a Phoenix airport. No, that is not a joke. The 54-year-old fitness guru (5' 7", 155 pounds) laid the smackdown on one Chris Farney, a 23-year-old Mesa man (6' 1" and 255 pounds) who happens to cage wrestle in his spare time. According to the below Phoenix Police Department report, when Farney spotted Simmons (whose real first name is Milton) walking through the Sky Harbor International Airport, he said, "Look, Richard Simmons. Drop your bags, let's rock to the 50's." Farney told cops he was referring to an old Simmons workout tape. The diminutive star responded by walking over to the strapping Farney and saying, "It's not nice to make fun of people with issues." He then slapped Farney's face. The motorcycle salesman, who was not injured, called cops, who cited an "emotional" and repentant Simmons for assault. "
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Arundel digest: Area news briefs
Man burned when he tries to siphon gas
An 82-year old Glen Burnie man was transported to the Bayview Burn Center in Baltimore this morning after trying to siphon gas from his car with a vacuum cleaner while the engine was running.
Hospital officials refused to release a status report, but fire officials said he suffered first- and second-degree burns to 20 percent of his body, primarily to the left side of his abdomen, chest, hands and face.
"The vacuum not withstanding, it's not advisable to siphon gas while the car is running," said Lt. Russ Davies, spokesman for the county fire department.
He added that the fire could have spread to the gas tank, blowing up the entire vehicle. "It certainly would have been possible," he said.
According to Lt. Davies, the man had locked his keys inside the vehicle last night while it was still running. Unable to get them out, the man left the car running in his driveway at 212 Benmere Road and went to bed only to find the vehicle still idling when he awoke this morning.
Determined to stop the car, the man pulled out an electric vacuum cleaner around 7:30 a.m.
Lt. Davies explained the vacuum cleaner's electric motor caused a spark and ignited the gas.
"You have to wonder what type of judgment was being used there," said Lt. Davies.
Police said the man lives with his son and daughter-in-law.
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Man uses pet iguana as weapon
POLICE called to a domestic disturbance in Bishop's Stortford found themselves threatened by a man wielding a 5ft long iguana.
Officers were dispatched to a house in Urban Road on Wednesday last week following a call from a mother who said her son had become violent and was smashing up their property. When the police arrived, they were confronted by an agitated man who was destroying the contents of his bedroom.
Herts police confirmed that he threatened to kill the officers and ran at them with a carving knife. He then retreated back into the house and came out with a pellet gun which he pointed at the surrounding policemen, who had cordoned off the area.
He was initially able to escape from the officers by running through a back entrance to the house, but was soon spotted with a 5ft (1.5m) long iguana draped over his shoulder.
A spokeswoman for Herts police said: "He was followed and contained in a nearby off-licence by local officers. The man became very aggressive and threatened to utilise the iguana's tail and claws to slash the police. After a violent struggle, he was finally overcome through the use of tactical equipment.
"The iguana was successfully retrieved by an officer who had experience with the Victoria State Police in Australia and was fortunately familiar with exotic reptiles. The RSPCA were also informed of the incident."
She then revealed that a subsequent search of the man's home resulted in the recovery of two ball-bearing guns, a big carving knife and a large bag of cannabis.
A 34-year-old warehouse worker was arrested and charged with intentional harassment, threats to kill, possessing a controlled drug and criminal damage. He was due to appear at Hertford Magistrates Court yesterday (Wednesday, 15 June).
golda@hertsessexnews.co.uk
16 June 2005
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http://x302.putfile.com/videos/b7-16600445046.wmv
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Women bare all to save their men
SONALI DAS, INDIA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005 10:10:44 AM ]
Surf 'N' Earn -Sign innow
RANCHI: It is common knowledge that eunuchs strip to extract money from frightened passersby.
But the reason behind the "striptease" of the women living in and around the forests of Chakulia in west Singbhum is different?they perform the act to save their menfolk from being punished after being caught felling trees.
Embarrassed forest guards often allow the illegal fellers to leave when the village women gather around them and start shedding their clothes.
That the women come fully prepared for the act is clear, for, they organise themselves in groups and start stripping, giving time for the offenders to escape.
"As the women start stripping, the foresters beat a hasty retreat fearing that the villagers may accuse them of rape and assault," said K K Chatterjee, conservator, Kolhan south circle.
Remarking that they had not come across such escape routes in any forest area, he said, "We fear that others may follow suit."
Last week, a group of villagers had...
... entered the Sunsuniya forest in Chakulia block when forest guards found out and tried to nab them.
But their efforts went in vain as the women members of the group began undressing , forcing the guards to run while the offenders stood.
Chatterjee said although the modus operandi was common in the forest areas of Rajabasa, Chatradobha and Jorisa, the divisional forest officer (DFO) concerned was still to submit a report in this regard.
According to forest officials, villagers living in the area have always been dependent on the woods for a livelihood?sometimes taking to rampant felling of trees.
However, they are not connected with the timber mafia but sell the timber in the open market at throwaway prices.
Although the forest management committees comprising villagers have launched several initiatives to ensure the protection of the forests, the latest tactic by the village women have left even them stunned.
Surf 'N' Earn -Sign innow
?Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...enya_leopard_dc
Grandfather kills leopard with his hands
Wed Jun 22,11:42 AM ET
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A 73-year-old Kenyan grandfather reached into the mouth of an attacking leopard and tore out its tongue to kill it, authorities said Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Peasant farmer Daniel M'Mburugu was tending to his potato and bean crops in a rural area near Mount Kenya when the leopard charged out of the long grass and leapt on him.
M'Mburugu had a machete in one hand but dropped that to thrust his fist down the leopard's mouth. He gradually managed to pull out the animal's tongue, leaving it in its death-throes.
"It let out a blood-curdling snarl that made the birds stop chirping," he told the daily Standard newspaper of how the leopard came at him and knocked him over.
The leopard sank its teeth into the farmer's wrist and mauled him with its claws. "A voice, which must have come from God, whispered to me to drop the panga (machete) and thrust my hand in its wide open mouth. I obeyed," M'Mburugu said.
As the leopard was dying, a neighbor heard the screams and arrived to finish it off with a machete.
M'Mburugu was toasted as a hero in his village Kihato after the incident earlier this month. He was also given free hospital treatment by astonished local authorities.
"This guy is very lucky to be alive," Kenya Wildlife Service official Connie Maina told Reuters, confirming details of the incident.
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Cooling cabbages banned from Korean baseball
22/06/2005 20:09
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea?s baseball players have been banned from putting frozen cabbage leaves under their caps to beat the summer heat.
The Korea Baseball Organisation (KBO) took action after Doosan Bears pitcher Park Myung-hwan?s cap fell off during a game last weekend, revealing his secret cooling agent.
After an emergency meeting, KBO officials ruled that cabbage leaves are a distraction and cannot be considered part of the baseball uniform.
"Park has been using frozen cabbage to cool down since last summer, but we didn?t know until now," KBO chief of referees Heo Koo-youn told Reuters on Wednesday.
"We had to act because imagine if it happened in the World Series. If something drops out of the pitcher?s cap, it could put the batter off. Does the umpire call strike or ball?"
Park, who twice dropped leaves on the mound during last Sunday?s game with the Hanhwa Eagles, said he was disappointed with the ruling but would not appeal.
"I?m sensitive to the heat and my wife recommended I put frozen cabbage leaves under my cap to cool my head," he said.
"I will respect the KBO?s decision. Even without the cabbage, my pitching won?t be affected."
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No beer? No lunch!
Email this Story
Jun 30, 9:13 AM (ET)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A lunch meeting between a leading parliamentarian in Belgium and counterparts from Iran has been canceled because the beer-loving Belgian could not stomach a ban on alcohol.
"Even for the tolerant Herman De Croo, that was a bridge too far," De Croo, a Dutch-speaking Liberal, told De Standaard daily Thursday.
De Croo, president of parliament's lower house, had been due to entertain the speaker and members of the Iranian parliament Friday during their visit to Belgium -- famous for its diversity of beer brands.
But he said lunch had been canceled because the Iranians, who as Muslims do not drink alcohol, wanted their hosts to do the same.
"I did not receive such demands in writing. But ... I was indirectly asked not to serve alcohol," said De Croo.
The visit ran into further trouble after Iran's parliament speaker Gholamali Haddadadel insisted he would not shake hands with the female president of Belgium's Senate.
Anne-Marie Lizin, a Socialist, then canceled their meeting. She said in a statement that Iranians should respect local customs in Belgium, just as Belgians should in Iran.
http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/posting.php?mode=reply&t=74
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In the wake of the Supreme Court's Takings ruling the following has been making the rounds:
Urge A Hooters at Souters!
Just sent to hooters via email
hooterspr@hooters.com
Dear Hooters:
I understand that a developer, Mr. Logan Clements, has started the process with the Weare, New Hampshire Selectmen to discuss taking the property on 34 Cilley Hill Road in order to build a theme hotel there. I have been talking about taking a vacation to New Hampshire for years and I would certainly be interested in staying in such an interesting and pertinent theme hotel as Mr. Clements proposes. I hope Hooters would give due consideration to his plan and consider opening a Hooters there, perhaps calling it Hooters at Souters. I'm sure it would be an asset to the area and a great way for Hooters to get a myraid of FREE international attention by enjoining this endeavor.
Yours sincerely,
xxx
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Talk of brainstorming 'may offend epileptics'
By Liz Lightfoot
The term "brainstorming" has become the latest target of political correctness, according to a charity.
Trainee teachers are being told to avoid the word for fear of offending pupils with epilepsy. Instead they are being advised to use "word storm" or "thought shower".
However, charities working with epilepsy say "brainstorming" is not offensive. "We had several inquiries from teachers about it so we did a survey of our residential home," said Gemma Baxter from the National Society for Epilepsy.
"We also contacted people with epilepsy in the community and the overwhelming response was that 'brainstorming' implies no offence to people with epilepsy, and that any implication that the word is offensive to people with the condition is taking political correctness too far."
People found it more offensive that the question was being asked of them, she said.
The Teacher Training Agency said it was not responsible for the suggestion that students avoid the word.
"We are responsible for overseeing the general quality of the courses provided by universities and colleges and we don't get involved in the minutiae of what they teach."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/26/nedu126.xml
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YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - A man led officers on a highway chase that ended when he ditched the car and ran into the Clay County Courthouse - where he was already scheduled to appear.
An officer Wednesday was pursuing a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run when the suspect stopped the truck in the middle of the street and backed into the courthouse retaining wall, said Clay County Sheriff Andy Howe.
Then he ran into the courthouse and headed upstairs to the courtroom. The judge in his case had just dismissed the jury as suspect Jada Coover burst in, Howe said.
"It seemed to just get more and more strange," Howe said. "Typically the pursuits don't come right to us as this one did. Officers actually left the sheriff's office and the police department to go assist with the pursuit, only to find themselves right back here."
Officers cleared the hallways and asked people to leave the building.
"He attempted to barricade himself in by holding the door shut, but officers were able to get in and take him into custody," Howe said.
Coover was arrested on charges including failure to appear, felony eluding, driving under the influence and disorderly conduct. He also was wanted on outstanding warrants for possession of meth and burglary tools.
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Census taker accused of badgering
Man alleges he was called at 10:19 p.m., hit by worker's car
By Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News
July 26, 2005
The people who take surveys for the Census Bureau say they're trained to be "pleasantly persistent" in getting citizens to answer their questions.
Thomas Martinez says one of them went way beyond that.
Now, he's working with prosecutors, hoping a court will find that a Census Bureau field representative relentlessly hounded him.
The case, outlined during a hearing in federal court Monday, raises questions about how far the government should go in its pursuit for accurate and consistent information.
"Doesn't a citizen at some point have a right to say 'Get off my back?' " Colorado U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham asked. "If a citizen chooses not to cooperate for whatever reason, isn't that the end of it?"
Martinez alleges that Census Bureau field representative Susan Dyck chased him around his rental duplex in Wheat Ridge, copied his cell phone number from his "For Rent" sign, telephoned him at 10:19 p.m. when he was at home in bed, visited his property a second time and finally hit him with her car as she drove away after he told her he was calling the police.
"She kind of gave off this air of being that of police authority, you know, like, 'You're going to answer these questions,' " Martinez testified Monday.
"I didn't like that."
Dyck, 53, has been charged in Jefferson County Court with misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor harassment and two traffic offenses - careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury.
Before those issues can be resolved, Nottingham will have to decide whether the case should be handled in state or federal court. Dyck was a federal employee, on the job, when the incidents allegedly occurred.
Martinez said his encounters with Dyck started in November 2004 when she and a colleague walked into the living room of his rental house as he was standing on a ladder, painting.
Dyck was a field representative, contacting people at randomly assigned addresses to ask a series of questions known as the Current Population Survey.
Census Bureau Regional Coordinator Paul McAllister testified that the Current Population Survey involves contacting people at the same addresses once a month for four months. The most important information gathered in the survey is the unemployment rate, he said.
McAllister said survey takers must speak with people at the assigned addresses face-to-face the first month, but can telephone them for subsequent contact. Survey takers are expected to get answers from 88 to 90 percent of the people.
When people won't cooperate, he said, survey takers are supposed to explain the survey, send a letter with more information, contact the residents again and, as a last resort, try to get the information from someone else - a rental agent or building manager, for instance.
Martinez said he agreed, after some coaxing, to spend five or 10 minutes answering questions.
"I had to get back to work," Martinez said. "I said I didn't have time for this right now, just send me something . . ."
McAllister said survey takers aren't allowed to send the questions to people in the mail.
Martinez said he received a phone call from someone with the Census Bureau a few months later, and again said he was too busy.
Then, on the night of Feb. 13, he said Dyck phoned him at 10:19 p.m.
"I just came unglued," Martinez said. "I advised her that I will be notifying the authorities. She says . . . 'Oh, well, it's not that late.' "
A Denver police officer came to Martinez's home and stood by while he left a phone message for Dyck, telling her not to call him or return to his property.
But Dyck, who has said she didn't get the message before visiting Martinez's duplex again, returned the next afternoon. She did not have her Census Bureau credentials and said later that she had stopped by after a medical appointment.
Martinez, furious, went to the end of his driveway to flag down a Wheat Ridge police officer. He said he told Dyck to stay where she was, but she got in her car and backed down the driveway.
McAllister testified that survey takers are told to leave if they feel endangered.
Martinez, turning and seeing that Dyck's car was backing toward him, put out his left hand to stop her.
"She hit me," he testified.
He banged on her car with his fist to let her know he was there, he said.
"She kind of stopped, then pushed me out in the middle of 29th (Avenue). I almost got hit by (an oncoming) car," Martinez testified. "She wanted out of there."
Dyck's lawyer, Barrett Weisz, accused Martinez on Monday of seeking a criminal conviction to bolster a future lawsuit. Martinez has hired a personal injury lawyer.
Weisz said Dyck was conducting herself as the Census Bureau had trained her to do. He acknowledged that telephoning Martinez at 10:19 p.m. was a mistake, and that going to his property without her Census Bureau credentials was a mistake.
But, he said, the law requires a decision on whether Dyck's conduct as a federal employee was "necessary and proper," not whether it was right or wrong.
Nottingham plans to issue a written ruling about where the case should proceed.
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Man forgets wife at gas station
Monday, August 8, 2005; Posted: 10:36 a.m. EDT (14:36 GMT)
Offbeat
Italy ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- A Macedonian man left his wife at an Italian service station and only realized he had driven off without her six hours later, news agency Ansa said.
The couple, who were travelling with their 4-year-old daughter, pulled over for petrol in the coastal city of Pesaro as they were heading back to their home to Germany.
After filling the tank, the husband drove away -- without noticing that his 30-year-old wife, originally from Georgia, had got out of the car to go to the toilet.
The woman, who had no money or documents with her, contacted the police who eventually traced her husband to Milan, some 340 km (210 miles) north of Pesaro, Ansa said.
The husband told police he had not missed his wife because she always sat in the back of the car with their daughter.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Brits steal carloads of F**king Austrian roadsigns
By Lester Haines
Published Monday 15th August 2005 13:06 GMT
An Austrian village called F**king will not change its name despite sniggering Brits making off with its roadsigns.
Mayor Siegfried Hauppl has asked visitors to lay off the signs which began to attract outside attention after British and US soldiers passing through in 1945 illuminated the locals as to the English meaning of F**king, Ananova reports.
Hauppl explained: "We had a vote last year on whether to rename the town, but decided to keep it as it is. After all, F**king has existed for 800 years, probably when a Mr F**k or the F**k family moved into the area. The 'ing' was added as a word for settlement."
We reckon that F**king has been around a lot longer than 800 years, otherwise there wouldn't have been any F**ks to lend their name to the village in the first place, would there?
Be that as it may, the disappointing news is that the residents of F**king are - according to Franz Duernsteiner, an expert on preposterous Austrian village names - very "conservative" people. He said: "Most of them can speak English, and when someone asks them where they come from they are a little ashamed to say it."
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93-year-old Lithuanian woman floors robber with killer grip
Wed Aug 17, 8:33 AM ET
VILNIUS (AFP) - Two thieves who tried to rob two elderly women in the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda, thinking they were easy prey, got more than they bargained for when the older of the two victims, aged 93, valiantly defended herself.
The two would-be thieves rang the doorbell where Zoja Popova, 93, lives with an 85-year-old woman, and attacked the two elderly women as soon as they opened the door.
But Popova showed courage and great presence of mind, and brought one of the robbers to his knees.
"I did what I could," Popova told Lithuanian daily Lietuvos Rytas.
'What she could' involved grabbing the thief -- who at 25 was almost one-quarter her age -- by the family jewels and squeezing as hard as she could.
"I pressed as hard as I could and he squealed like an animal," said Popova, who in her younger years worked as a washer-up in the canteen of a military hospital.
The other robber abandoned his attempt to tie up Popova's friend and rushed to help his accomplice, but was confronted by Popova's neighbours who came to find out what all the shouting was about.
Both robbers tried to escape through a window but were caught by private security guards and handed over to the police.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050817/od_afp/lithuaniacrimeoffbeat_050817123312
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Article published Aug 25, 2005
Man armed with fork subdued by clerk with baseball bat
The Associated Press
A man armed with a fork found out the hard way it's not a good instrument for a robbery.
The man approached a clerk at a convenience store after spending 40 minutes in their bathroom.
"He stuck his hand under his shirt and said, `This is a robbery. I got a gun,'" Shreveport police Detective Russell Ross said.
The clerk told the man she knew it wasn't a gun, sparking a brief argument before the man went around the counter, Ross said.
"They scuffled. And during the scuffle, she felt something sharp poke her," he said. "She reached over and grabbed a baseball bat she had behind the counter and started waling on him when she realized what he had under his shirt was a fork ... which was no match for a baseball bat."
The clerk chased him out of the store and continued to hit him with the bat.
"A customer saw what was going on, took a pistol from his vehicle, came over and fired his pistol into the ground," Ross said.
Then, both the fork and the bat were dropped, Ross said.
Derrick Dwayne Franklin, 24, address unknown, was booked at Shreveport City Jail on one count of attempted armed robbery.
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Interesting,
Looking at these weapons as different range tools it would be hard to pick between a bat and a fork. Personally, closing the distance on the bat yielding person might lead to a domination by the person with a fork.
Gruhn
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'Bright spark' thieves destroy car
From correspondents in Wellington
29-08-2005
From: Reuters
THREE men trying to steal fuel from a New Zealand farm today ended up setting fire to their own car.
Police said the trio had siphoned diesel into a petrol-driven vehicle. When their car would not start, they examined the fuel pipe using a cigarette lighter.
One click, a boom and the car burst into flames.
"It wasn't a major whodunit," senior sergeant Ross Gilbert told Reuters, from the small North Island town of Waipukurau, about 230km northeast of Wellington.
"Fortunately for them, there is no criminal charge for stupidity."
The men, aged 18 to 19, escaped injury but were charged with theft.
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Huge toenail bill prompts lawsuit
Patient challenges $1,133 hospital charge to check for fungus
Updated: 3:38 p.m. ET Sept. 9, 2005
SEATTLE - A lawsuit challenging a hospital?s $1,133 bill to clip a toenail and run tests has been certified as a class action that could include other patients charged similar fees by the hospital.
Lori Mill is challenging a $418 fee included in the bill for ?miscellaneous hospital charges? because she had her toenail clipped to check for fungus at Virginia Mason Medical Center?s downtown complex rather than at one of its other clinics.
The hospital has not yet provided how many patients were assessed such a fee, Mill?s lawyer, John Phillips said Friday.
Story continues below ?
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Virginia Mason Medical Center says its downtown complex is authorized by Medicare to charge higher fees because it is licensed as a hospital. It maintains that such charges are standard practice elsewhere.
Judge Gregory P. Canova said the main question is whether those charges were properly disclosed, or were unfair or deceptive.
If Virginia Mason loses, the state Consumer Protection Act allows triple damages of up to $10,000 per patient who provides documentation of such a billing.
Phillips has obtained internal e-mails showing Virginia Mason doctors and staff have complained about the charges, court filings show.
One unidentified doctor who had a procedure on his own toe at the downtown complex e-mailed Virginia Mason chief executive Dr. Gary Kaplan last year after being billed $1,200, including a facilities charge of $1,138.
?I call it obscene,? the doctor fumed. ?There has to be some sense of appropriateness/fairness/reasonableness to our charges.?
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I hear the group "hookers for chastity" will next be joining this picket line.
The strange business of protesting jobs that may be better than yours
By Stacy J. Willis
The shade from the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market sign is minimal around noon; still, six picketers squeeze their thermoses and Dasani bottles onto the dirt below, trying to keep their water cool. They're walking five-hour shifts on this corner at Stephanie Street and American Pacific Drive in Henderson?anti-Wal-Mart signs propped lazily on their shoulders, deep suntans on their faces and arms?with two 15-minute breaks to run across the street and use the washroom at a gas station.
Periodically one of them will sit down in a slightly larger slice of shade under a giant electricity pole in the intersection. Four lanes of traffic rush by, some drivers honk in support, more than once someone has yelled, "assholes!" but mostly, they're ignored.
They're not union members; they're temp workers employed through Allied Forces/Labor Express by the union?United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). They're making $6 an hour, with no benefits; it's 104 F, and they're protesting the working conditions inside the new Wal-Mart grocery store.
"It don't make no sense, does it?" says James Greer, the line foreman and the only one who pulls down $8 an hour, as he ambles down the sidewalk, picket sign on shoulder, sweaty hat over sweaty gray hair, spitting sunflower seeds. "We're sacrificing for the people who work in there, and they don't even know it."
The union accuses Wal-Mart of dragging down wages and working conditions for other grocery-store workers across the nation. "Whether you work or shop at Wal-Mart, the giant retailer's employment practices affect your wages. Wal-Mart leads the race to the bottom in wages and health-care," says the UFCW's website. "As the largest corporation in the world, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to the people who built it. Wal-Mart jobs offer low pay, inadequate and unaffordable healthcare, and off the clock work."
But standing with a union-supplied sign on his shoulder that reads, Don't Shop WalMart: Below Area Standards, picketer and former Wal-Mart employee Sal Rivera says about the notorious working conditions of his former big-box employer: "I can't complain. It wasn't bad. They started paying me at $6.75, and after three months I was already getting $7, then I got Employee of the Month, and by the time I left (in less than one year), I was making $8.63 an hour." Rivera worked in maintenance and quit four years ago for personal reasons, he says. He would consider reapplying.
Rivera is one of few picketers here who have ever worked for Wal-Mart?it's strictly coincidental that he was once in their employ. Most of the picketers were just looking for work through the temp agency.
While Rivera's words for Wal-Mart seem less than harsh, he does add, "I did not want to get insurance from them because it was too expensive."
That, says UCFW organizer Bill Hornbrook, who drove workers to the site one morning last week, is one of the reasons the union wants these protestors here.
"Wal-Mart has no benefits at an affordable rate. The (Wal-Mart) workers can't afford the insurance with the wage they're making. We'd like to see them improve their working conditions," Hornbrook said. "The Neighborhood Markets are the same as a supermarket like Albertson's or Safeway. Some supermarkets start (pay) at $7 an hour, but they do get benefits. These people (employees at Wal-Mart) have to pay for theirs," Hornbrook said. So the UCFW is protesting each of the five new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets in the Vegas area; this one in Henderson opened June 29.
Wal-Mart is infamous for its labor and consumer battles?more than 40 cases alleging the company prevented workers from receiving adequate wage and overtime pay are being considered by courts for class-action status. Additionally, six current and former female employees are pursuing a class-action lawsuit charging that Wal-Mart discriminates against women in its promotion practices.
"We're just trying to help the women that get discriminated against in Wal-Mart," says Greer. "We're out here suffering a lot for these people." He pauses, moves his sign so that it blocks the scorching sun on his leathery face, and considers the working conditions of his colleagues out here working for the union.
"We had one gal out here in her 40s, and she had a heat stroke. I kept making her sit down, I noticed she was stepping (staggering), and I made her sit in the shade," Greer said. She went home sick after her shift and didn't ever return to work.
Another woman, Greer said, had huge blisters on her feet and he took her inside to the Wal-Mart pharmacy. The pharmacist recommended some balm, and Greer bought it for her. Since then, he said, other picketers have purchased the balm for their blisters inside the Wal-Mart they are protesting.
The group has no transportation to go elsewhere?they are dropped off by a union van and picked up later. On weekends, they have to find their own transportation, Greer said.
Inside, the store manager at the Stephanie Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market says he's perfectly happy with his job, and that his insurance is fine.
"The average rate of pay for Nevada Wal-Mart workers is $10.17 an hour. We have a good insurance program, and every associate?even part-timers?are eligible for the 401k," says Mark Dyson. "There's actually different levels of insurance, dental and medical?I have a $500 deductible, but there's no cap on it. Some other companies' plans have a $1 million cap, but here there's no cap. For example, not long ago we had an associate whose husband needed a liver transplant, and that alone was $600,000; but they didn't have to worry about a cap."
For the least comprehensive medical coverage, Wal-Mart workers pay from $17.50 for individual coverage and $70.50 for family coverage biweekly, according to the company website.
"And we are actively promoting and developing women in the workforce," Dyson says. "I think every company has gone through an issue like this, but you should hire the best workers regardless of gender or race or anything else."
In Dyson's market, the air-conditioning is cool, business on this day seems brisk, and the employees seem not so miserable; two checkers chat it up as they ring up customers.
This is not lost on the picketers outside.
Rivera removes his watch to show the dark tan his arm has gotten working in the sun; he talks about how he takes three buses to get to this work site on weekends; it takes two hours to get there and two hours to get home?a nine-hour day including that transportation for a gross pay of $35.
"I asked him (union organizer Hornbrook), I said, 'How come we're working here for $6 an hour? I need you to help us find a better job. I want information on the union,'" Rivera said.
He was told, he says, to secure his own job with a grocery store, and then the union would help him to be sure the store paid him appropriate wages.
"This is an informational picket line only," Hornbrook said. "We're paying these people. They were out of work before (joining their picket lines). This is an in-between-jobs stop. Picketing isn't a career. But we did hire one of the picketers, she's now working for us for $11 an hour (as a driver) and we pay for gasoline."
The UFCW's website concludes, "Every person working hard for a living earns the right to a decent wage, affordable health care and a voice on the job. But Wal-Mart's greed provides other companies a license to chip away at the rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working conditions."
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2005/09/08/awsi1.html
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... be sure to bring your sea lion... :)
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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif (Reuters) - They have broken windows, sunk a boat and their barking keeps Newport Beach harbor residents awake all night.
But the more than 40 sea lions that have made southern California's ritzy Newport Beach their home have the law on their side. As a protected species under a 1972 U.S. federal law, they cannot be killed, harmed, or even harassed.
In an effort to find the ultimate place to sun themselves, the sea lions have taken up residence in yachts, sailboats and fishing vessels in the small harbor that boasts multimillion dollar houses on one side and quaint beach shops on the other.
"Last week, so many of them piled on a sailboat that it sank. The Harbor Patrol was out here trying to use water to get them off, but it didn't work," said Doug Turin, owner of Newport Harbor Boat Rentals.
"During this time of year they congregate more than other months but I've never seen them in these large numbers," Turin said.
Residents say their barking reaches such a crescendo that it can be heard blocks away. Boat owners have laid down carpet tacks and strung up chairs across the swim steps in a vain efforts to deter them.
Dozens of residents complaining of sleepless nights and commandeered vessels attended a Harbor Commission meeting on Wednesday when it was suggested hiring someone to walk around the docks all day banging a stick to scare off the sea lions.
The Newport Beach Harbor Commission decided the best course of action was to ask the City Council to pass a law forbidding anyone from feeding the creatures or disposing of fish waste in the harbor -- and just hope that hunger will eventually drive the sea lions elsewhere.
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China Names Condom for Bill Clinton
A Chinese company is honoring ex-president Bill Clinton by naming a new line of condoms after him - along with a companion line of condoms that will be named after his ex-girlfriend, Monica Lewinsky.
Reports Britain's Sky News: The Guangzhou Haokian Bio-science company has registered their names as trademarks for the contraceptives.
The condoms will display Chinese spellings: Kelitun and Laiwensiji.
A 12-pack of Clintons is expected to cost $5.00, with Lewinskys selling at a discounted price of just over $3.00.
The manufacturer's general manager, Liu Wenhua, told Sky News that naming his condoms for Clinton was perfectly legal, explaining that "trademarks of two foreign surnames and can't be seen as a violation of rights."
Clinton is the only U.S. president to be honored with his own condom brand line.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was unavailable to comment on her husband's latest achievement.
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Man burned while checking fuel tank
MICHAEL FRAZIER
September 24, 2005
An East Patchogue man accidentally lit himself on fire while using a cigarette lighter to peek inside the fuel tank of his dump truck in Lynbrook, Nassau police said Friday.
Scott Allen, 38, suffered second-degree burns to his face, chest and right arm when he and his 2001 Volvo dump truck caught fire Thursday shortly before 1 a.m. at the intersection of Peninsula Boulevard and Merrick Road, police said.
He was in critical but stable condition Friday at Nassau University Medical Center's burn unit, a hospital official said.
The truck, owned by Hawkeye Construction of Hauppauge, had a fuel gauge problem that made it difficult to know how much fuel was in the truck, police said.
Allen tried to check the fuel level by using his lighter to look into the tank, but the lighter ignited the fumes, police said.
"For whatever reason he couldn't find a flashlight so he used a cigarette lighter," said Det. Raymond Thomas of the Arson/Bomb Squad. "The vapors caught fire and lit him on fire."
"We are investigating what happened, but we cannot further discuss the incident," said Jim Foley, a spokesman for the construction company.
Foley declined to comment about Allen, citing company policy. But he did say, "Our prayers are with him and his family."
Allen's relatives could not be reached Friday for comment.
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An editorial note: the perp was using a pump, not a siphon. You can't siphon from a low tank into a high container. Annoys me when reporters can't get the simple stuff right.
Ind. Man Falls Asleep While Siphoning Gas
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) -- A man was charged with theft after authorities said he fell asleep while siphoning gasoline into a 55-gallon tank.
The gas station manager called police after noticing the man's white van Tuesday.
Officers found him asleep inside the van next to a 55-gallon tank and a battery-operated pump. A hose from the pump led to the gas station's underground tank.
"That's a lot of gas," Police Chief Joe Winkle said. "I'm sure he felt like this would be a pretty good heist for himself."
Winkle said investigators were working to confirm the man's identity.
With regular unleaded at the station selling for $2.67, the tank would have held nearly $150 worth of fuel.
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Man Found Driving Ambulance With Dead Deer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- A man reported missing from a Florida hospital was found in North Carolina dressed like a doctor and driving a stolen ambulance with a dead deer wedged in the back, authorities said.
Leon Holliman Jr., 37, was reported missing from a River Region Human Services facility in Jacksonville last month.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol found him driving the ambulance with the deer on Sunday.
"I don't know how the man got it up in there," said Sgt. Robert Pearson. "It was a six point buck."
It wasn't known where Holliman got the deer, which had been dead for some time, Pearson said.
Holliman was admitted to a North Carolina hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Police said they would decide whether to charge Holliman after that evaluation is complete.
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I about started a "Cogitive Dissonance" thread after reading this. It left me at a loss for words.
The Times September 30, 2005
Lotto-win rapist goes into hiding as cover is blown
By Lewis Smith
A ?7 MILLION lottery-winning rapist was taken to a new bolthole last night after his publicly-funded hiding place was identified by a newspaper.
Iorworth Hoare was moved to a new home yesterday when The Sun newspaper discovered that he was living in a ?150,000 rented home in Sunderland.
Mr Hoare, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989, was released on licence in March and was given Home Office protection. The operation to house him and provide a team of police, probation officers and psychiatrists to protect him and to keep him from reoffending, costs up to ?10,000 a month.
The cost provoked anger among MPs and the public who were mystified that Mr Hoare had not had to pay a penny towards his care despite earning several thousand pounds of interest each week despite winning ?7 million in the National Lottery in August last year. Neighbours of the ?100-a-week property in Sunderland where he was living until yesterday were astonished to discover that he was a convicted rapist.
He had been living there under the assumed name Edward Thomas, according to The Sun, and had recently spent more than ?9,000 on an artwork featuring a human figure with a bloody crotch.
Mr Hoare was sentenced to life for the attempted rape of a 59-year-old former teacher. He had previously been convicted of one rape, a second attempted rape and two indecent assaults. The judge who jailed him for life told him: ?For every second you are at liberty a woman is at risk.?
He won the lottery jackpot last year while being held in Shepton Mallet open prison, having bought a ticket during weekend leave at a hostel in Middlesbrough.
The win by a convicted rapist serving a life sentence caused a national outcry which was compounded when the Government revealed that he would not have to pay any of his new-found wealth to his victims.
Since his release the cost to the public purse of protecting Mr Hoare is about ?10,000 a month. In an editorial in today?s newspaper The Sun justified its publication of Mr Hoare?s new identity and a picture of his home, and called upon Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, to force Mr Hoare to pay for his own protection.
The editorial said: ?Hoare is an evil and disgusting serial predator who has destroyed the lives of many women. Why should we all pay for him to live in cosy anonymity??
The Home Office refused to answer questions last night about the public money that is spent in caring for Mr Hoare since his release. Instead, it issued a statement in which a spokeswoman said: ?We don?t comment on individual cases or discuss the whereabouts of those being managed in the community. Offenders who are life licensed in the community are managed robustly by the multi-agency protection arrangements.?
Mr Hoare, 52, married Irene Harrison in prison. He has since begun divorce proceedings and is said to have offered his wife ?250,000 as a settlement. Mr Hoare, who has spent 33 years in prison with sex offence convictions dating back to 1973, was said to have carried out ?ferocious and terrifying? attacks on women.
He was sentenced to life at Leeds Crown Court. His victims are unable to sue him because a six-year deadline for beginning legal action has passed. One victim who was attacked in 1982 was left disabled. Another victim, who was attacked in 1982 and is now in her sixties, received ?3,000 for her trauma and injuries, which left her disabled.
The Government had promised to put a clause into the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill that would enable victims to get compensation, should their attackers receive a windfall, at a later date. When the Bill went through Parliament the clause was omitted.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1805257,00.html
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Muslims win toy pigs ban
NOVELTY pig calendars and toys have been banned from a council office ? in case they offend Muslim staff.
Workers in the benefits department at Dudley Council, West Midlands, were told to remove or cover up all pig-related items, including toys, porcelain figures, calendars and even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.
Bosses acted after a Muslim complained about pig-shaped stress relievers delivered to the council in the run-up to the Islamic festival of Ramadan.
Muslims are barred from eating pork in the Koran and consider pigs unclean.
Councillor Mahbubur Rahman, a practising Muslim, backed the ban. He said: ?It?s a tolerance of people?s beliefs.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005450600,00.html
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Welcome to the killing fields cafe...
Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:03 PM ET
By Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A new Cambodian cafe is offering diners a slice of life under the Khmer Rouge, with a menu featuring rice-water and leaves, and waitresses dressed in the black fatigues worn by Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist guerrillas.
Newly opened across the road from Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng "S-21" Khmer Rouge interrogation and torture center, the cafe is meant to remind Cambodians of the 1975-1979 genocide in which an estimated 1.7 million people died.
But the set "theme menu" of salted rice-water, followed by corn mixed with water and leaves, and dove eggs and tea at $6 a time is proving too much to swallow for many visitors.
"Our grandfather and other relatives lost their lives under Pol Pot's regime," said 17-year-old manager Hakpry Agnchealy, whose brother owns the business. "This is more than just a restaurant. It is to remind us of those who died."
"We opened two weeks ago, but have only had two Europeans coming here to eat. We don't know how much longer we can go," she said.
Faithful to the Khmer Rouge era, when many victims starved to death after a disastrous attempt to transform the country into a peasant utopia, the waitresses are barefoot and clad in the black pajamas and red-white scarves of the guerrillas.
Speakers blare out tunes celebrating the 1975 toppling of U.S.-backed president General Lon Nol and the walls are adorned with the baskets, hoes and spades Pol Pot hoped would power his jungle-clad south-east Asian homeland to communist prosperity.
Recognizing that many tourists might not be able to stomach such a close brush with the Killing Fields, the "Khmer Rouge Experience Cafe" is also promoting itself to those wishing to shed a few pounds.
"It's good for me to slim down," said Tan, a 40-year-old Malaysian visitor.
For some who survived Pol Pot's rule, the cafe served up too many chilling reminders of one of 20th century history's darkest chapters.
"My mother visited me here once, saw the Khmer Rouge style and has never come back again," Hakpry Agnchealy said.
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Robber Leaves Car Near Police Dog Compound
POSTED: 6:16 am EDT September 29, 2005
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A pack of police dogs in training passed a vital test when they tracked down a bank robber in southwestern Sweden who had unwittingly dumped his car next to their canine compound.
Police said the 42-year-old man, who was not identified, had robbed a bank Tuesday and made off with a small amount of cash. He abandoned the car in the nearby town of Jonsered and took off running, apparently unaware that he had parked near the police dog compound.
As soon as police found the stolen car, they released a canine unit that quickly tracked down the suspect.
"He definitely picked the wrong place" to leave the car, police spokesman Jan Strannegard said.
There were about 70 dogs in the training ground at the time, police said. It was not known how many of them were used in the hunt.
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Squirrels go nuts on crack
Squirrels ... digging up stashes
By VIRGINIA WHEELER
SQUIRRELS are getting hooked on crack cocaine ? hidden by addicts in gardens.
They are digging up the stashes and eating the mega-addictive drug, which comes in small chunks.
Several have been spotted behaving bizarrely in Brixton, South London, since a police blitz against pushers and users.
One resident said: ?My neighbour said dealers had used my garden to hide crack.
?Just an hour earlier I?d seen a squirrel digging in the flower-beds.
?It was ill-looking and its eyes looked bloodshot, but it kept on desperately digging. It seems a strange thing to say, but it seemed to know what it was looking for.?
Other residents have seen squirrels become unusually aggressive.
The RSPCA said: ?These animals are big foragers. They are attracted by smell and will dig up what they fancy.
?If a squirrel did open a bag of crack and start consuming it there is no doubt it would die pretty quickly.?
Crack squirrels are a recognised problem in America. They are common in parks used by addicts in New York and Washington DC.
They have been known to attack park visitors in their search for a fix.
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Sperm donor to pay child support
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Stockholm, Sweden
October 13, 2005
A SWEDISH man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple must pay child support for the three children he fathered, Sweden's Supreme Court ruled today.
The man, now 39, donated his sperm to the couple in the early 1990s. Three sons were born during the years 1992-1996, according to Swedish news agency TT which reported the ruling.
The man told the court that he and the women had agreed that he would play no role in the boys' child rearing and that the two women would be their parents.
Nonetheless, the man signed a document confirming that he was the biological father of the children.
Shortly after he signed the document, the two women separated and the biological mother demanded that the man pay child support.
The man took the case to court, but lost in the district and appeals courts.
The Supreme Court upheld those rulings today, saying that as the biological father he is required to pay for the children's upbringing.
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Trespassing charged in horse-sex case
By Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporter
An Enumclaw-area man who authorities say helped run a farm where people had sex with animals ? and where a Seattle man died doing so with a horse ? was charged with a misdemeanor yesterday.
Police began investigating James Tait, 54, and another man who lived at the rural Southeast King County farm after the Seattle man died of injuries suffered during intercourse with a horse in the summer, Enumclaw police said.
The criminal-trespassing charge stems from a July 2 bestiality session involving Tait, the 45-year-old Seattle man and a horse in a neighbor's barn, charging papers say. According to the King County Medical Examiner's Office, the Seattle man died of acute peritonitis due to perforation of the colon.
Attempts to contact Tait yesterday were unsuccessful.
King County prosecutors say it's the most-severe charge they could file; Washington is one of more than a dozen states that does not outlaw bestiality.
"There is no evidence of injury to the animal to support animal-cruelty charges," said Dan Satterberg, the county prosecutor's chief of staff. "This is the only crime we can charge."
When interviewed by The Seattle Times July 15, the horse's owners said they had known their neighbors for years. The couple, who asked to have their names withheld to protect their privacy, said they were shocked when police showed them a home video of the July 2 incident that investigators seized from their neighbor's home. The couple identified their barn and their horse.
According to the King County Sheriff's Office, which also investigated, the farm was known in Internet chat rooms as a destination for people who want to have sex with livestock. Authorities didn't learn about the farm until July 2, when a man drove to Enumclaw Community Hospital seeking medical assistance for a companion. Medics wheeled the Seattle man into an examination room and realized he was dead. When hospital workers looked for the man who had dropped him off, he was gone, Enumclaw police said.
Using the dead man's driver's license to track down relatives and acquaintances, investigators were led to the Enumclaw farm.
Because the other man who lived at the farm wasn't there the night the Seattle man died, he wasn't charged with trespassing, Satterberg said. Tait will be arraigned Oct. 27; he faces up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted.
The Seattle man isn't being identified because his family asked that his name not be released.
The man's brother said he understands that prosecutors can't file a felony charge but remains disappointed that Tait wouldn't face more than a year behind bars.
In the wake of the man's death, State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, has said she plans to draft legislation making bestiality illegal in Washington.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002569751_horsesex19m.html
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Article published Oct 21, 2005
Police: Rapist arrested after he has victim write him a check
The Associated Press
A rapist who attacked a woman at gunpoint was captured when he forced his victim to write him a check in his own name and then tried to cash it, police said.
Officers said they arrested Anthony R. Roberts, 25, of Hialeah, on Wednesday night, minutes after he left the woman's apartment as he tried to cash the $1,400 check. He had told the victim to write in the memo line that the check was for electrical work.
"I don't know what the guy was thinking," said Davie police spokesman Lt. Bill Bamford. "I don't know if he thought that he put her in that much fear, ... (but) to walk into a check-cashing store like nothing happened, like she paid him for a job. That's one of the lowest forms of life."
Police said Roberts had stolen a BMW earlier in the evening in North Miami and driven to Davie, where he followed the victim to her third-floor apartment, pointed a gun at her head and forced her inside.
He pushed the victim to her knees, bound her with tape and asked if she had a checkbook or credit cards, police said. He then ordered her to write him a check, retaped her, covered her head with a pillowcase and raped her, police said.
He told the victim not to call police or he would come back and rape her again, police said.
When the victim freed herself, she called 911. Officers rushed to her apartment and as they talked to her, a suspicious clerk at a nearby check cashing store called the woman to ask about the check.
Police surrounded the store and arrested Roberts after a short foot chase.
Roberts confessed to robbing the woman, but denied raping her, police said.
He was being held without bail Friday on numerous charges, including sexual battery with a weapon, kidnapping, home invasion and aggravated assault.
The name of Roberts' private attorney could not immediately be learned Friday.
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2 drivers ram robber; suspect shoots self
Surely this wasn't how the stickup was supposed to go down.
After making off with some cash, the robber was struck five times by two vehicles - first by someone police think was the suspect's own getaway driver and four more times by another driver who appears to have been trying to intervene.
Toward the end of the strange scene, the beleaguered bandit accidentally shot himself in the leg - then got hit a fourth time by the second driver, a woman who apparently knew the victim.
Here is the scene, as painted by police Inspector Vince Flores:
At 2:45 a.m. Sunday, a 33-year-old man was standing in a parking lot near N. 14th and W. Center streets. A 29-year-old man rushed up to him, pulled a handgun and demanded cash, which the victim handed over.
Meanwhile, a pickup truck - which police think was the robber's getaway ride - screeched up in reverse, but instead of spiriting the robber away, hit both the suspect and the victim, apparently by accident.
Then the pickup bolted, leaving the robber to limp away with the cash.
That's when the woman, behind the wheel of a Lexus, put the suspect in her sights, Flores said.
The woman rammed the robber with the front of her car.
Then backed up and hit him again. And again.
After the third hit, the man reached into his pocket to pull his gun, but shot himself in the leg. That's when the woman hit the robber with her car a fourth time.
Police showed up and arrested the suspected robber, who was not identified, and sent him to the hospital.
They also nabbed another man, who may have had nothing to do with the melee but was spotted running from the scene.
The suspect was listed in critical condition Monday at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital.
The robbery victim was listed in satisfactory condition, also at Froedtert, a hospital representative said.
The woman driving the Lexus is being sought.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct05/365458.asp
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Man Sues After Using Glue-Covered Toilet Thu Nov 3,12:32 PM ET
BOULDER, Colo. - Home Depot was sued by a shopper who claims he got stuck to a restroom toilet seat because a prankster had smeared it with glue.
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Bob Dougherty, 57, accused employees of ignoring his cries for help for about 15 minutes because they thought he was kidding.
"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told The (Boulder) Daily Camera. "They just let me rot."
The lawsuit, filed Friday, said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery and thought he was having a heart attack when he got stuck at the Louisville store on the day before Halloween 2003. A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk by radio, but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.
Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit said store officials called for an ambulance after about 15 minutes. Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, and as they wheeled the "frightened and humiliated" Dougherty out of the store, he passed out.
The lawsuit said the toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.
"This is not Home Depot's fault," he said. "But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."
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This actually happened about 15 miles from where I live... :)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051102/ap_on_fe_st/deerly_departed
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - For 40 exhausting minutes, Wayne Goldsberry battled a buck with his bare hands in his daughter's bedroom.
Goldsberry finally subdued the five-point whitetail deer that crashed through a bedroom window at his daughter's home Friday. When it was over, blood splattered the walls and the deer lay dead on the bedroom floor, its neck broken.
Goldsberry was at his daughter's home when he heard glass breaking. He went back to check on the noise and found the deer.
"I was standing about like this peeking around the corner when the deer came out of the bedroom," said Goldsberry. The deer ran down the hall and into the master bedroom ? "jumping back and forth across the bed."
Goldsberry, about 6-feet-1 and 200 pounds, entered the bedroom to confront the deer and, after a brief struggle, emerged to tell his wife to call police. After returning to the bedroom, the fight continued. Goldsberry finally was able to grip the animal and twist its neck, killing it.
Goldsberry, sore from the struggle, dragged the dead animal out of the house.
"He got kicked several times. He was walking bowlegged for a while," Deputy Doug Gay said.
At this time of year, a buck that sees its reflection in a window often charges, believing it is fighting off a rival, Gay said.
Goldsberry had the deer butchered.
"He's in the freezer," the man said before walking to the kitchen and showing off pounds of freshly wrapped venison.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051104/ap_on_sp_ho_ne/hockey_player_comp
Court: Workers' Comp Covers Hockey Player
By SONJA BARISIC, Associated Press WriterThu Nov 3, 8:04 PM ET
A former minor-league hockey player who injured his shoulder in a fight he claimed his coach told him to start is entitled to workers' compensation, a Virginia appeals court ruled.
The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld a Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission finding that "fighting is an integral part of the game of hockey" and that Ty A. Jones' injury arose in the course of his employment as an "enforcer."
Jones' former team, the Norfolk Admirals, had argued that the fight amounted to willful misconduct and that he was not entitled to workers' compensation.
L. Steven Emmert, a leading Virginia appellate attorney and hockey fan with no connection to the case, suggested the finding Tuesday was so obvious that it does not amount to much as a legal precedent.
"This court finds that fighting is an integral part of hockey," Emmert said. "Thirty million Canadians could have told you that." But he added: "Maybe clubs will be a little more careful about sending a goon ? an enforcer ? out to thunk somebody in the head."
Jones, a right-wing power forward with the Admirals, instigated a fight with an opposing player during a game in 2002. Jones said the coach told him to "go get" the player.
Jones got hurt, and an orthopedic surgeon later put six screws in his right shoulder. The athlete wore a sling for almost six months.
In 2004, Jones was awarded workers' compensation for the seven months he underwent rehabilitation. The ruling did not give a dollar amount.
Jones played for the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks in the 1998-99 season and, after leaving the Admirals, for the Florida Panthers in 2003-04. A Panthers spokesman did not immediately return a call inquiring about Jones' whereabouts.
Admirals spokesman Alan May declined to comment. The coach at the time of Jones' injury, Trent Yawney, now coaches the Blackhawks.
"No Blackhawk coach would ever intentionally send a player out to fight with someone," said Blackhawks spokesman Jim DeMaria.
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Police: Smoke killed suspected burglar
By LANCE BENZEL
Of The Gazette Staff
A 23-year-old man found dead in a West End home Friday likely died of smoke inhalation after setting a pair of fires in the house to conceal a burglary, police said.
Wayland Deputee Jr., of Billings, had "distinctive coins" belonging to the homeowner in his pockets when emergency crews pulled his body from the burning house at 1732 Ave. E, according to Billings Police Detective Capt. Dave Hinkel.
Police also found two bags containing "household items" in the alley, suggesting Deputee stashed the possessions before returning to light the fires, Hinkel said.
"That's the assumption we're operating under," Hinkel said.
Police had previously indicated there were signs of forced entry at the back door.
Investigators determined that Deputee started fires in the kitchen and bedroom in an apparent effort to cover his tracks. Overwhelmed by smoke, he later collapsed in a dining room. Crew crews found him there, Hinkel said.
Fire crews responded at 12:30 a.m. Friday when a neighbor spotted the flames. After firefighters tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate Deputee, he was pronounced dead.
Police said they considered the possibility that others could have been involved in the break-in but found no evidence to support that possibility.
"We leave that door open in the initial stages of an investigation," Hinkel said.
Hinkel said police are still awaiting toxicology reports from the autopsy, due in two to three weeks. They are expected to support a coroner's initial finding that smoke inhalation was the likely cause of death, Hinkel said.
Deputee, a 2001 graduate of Lodge Grass High School, had no history of felony convictions in Montana. Relatives could not be reached for comment.
The homeowner, Phil Glaspey, was on vacation in Las Vegas at the time of the fire. Attempts to reach him through family members have been unsuccessful.
News that Deputee likely acted alone came as a relief to some on the block.
"I've been on pins and needles since this happened," said Steve Geist, who lives next door on Avenue E. "When something like that happens so close, it gets to a guy."
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Dr. Fuller Torrey a research psychiatrist and leading authority on schizophrenia, has put forth a theory that an infection, Toxoplasma gondii, is a contributing cause for schizophrenia. T. gondii is transmitted to humans solely by cats.
Until the nineteenth century, most people in Europe and the U.S. thought of cats as tools of the devil. In the second half of the nineteenth century a cat craze took hold and house cats grew in number. Within twenty years of this change, the number of people admitted to psychiatric hospitals for insanity in England and the U.S. nearly tripled.
Dr. Torrey thinks that some people have faulty DNA coding that allows the T. gondii infection to act like a slow virus, like Mad Cow Disease. :shock:
WOOF P.C.
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Tin foil hat empirical data:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/
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MAN DATES GAL ON INTERNET FOR SIX MONTHS -- AND IT TURNS OUT SHE'S HIS MOTHER!
Friday December 9, 2005
By Grace Green
MARSEILLES, France -- Skirt-chasing playboy Daniel Anceneaux spent weeks talking with a sensual woman on the Internet before arranging a romantic rendezvous at a remote beach -- and discovering that his on-line sweetie of six months was his own mother!
"I walked out on that dark beach thinking I was going to hook up with the girl of my dreams," the rattled bachelor later admitted. "And there she was, wearing white shorts and a pink tank top, just like she'd said she would.
"But when I got close, she turned around -- and we both got the shock of our lives. I mean, I didn't know what to say. All I could think was, 'Oh my God! it's Mama!' "
But the worst was yet to come. Just as the mortified mother and son realized the error of their ways, a patrolman passed by and cited them for visiting a restricted beach after dark.
"Danny and I were so flustered, we blurted out the whole story to the cop," recalled matronly mom Nicole, 52. "The policeman wrote a report, a local TV station got hold of it -- and the next thing we knew, our picture and our story was all over the 6 o'clock news. "People started pointing and laughing at us on the street -- and they haven't stopped laughing since."
The girl-crazy X-ray technician said he began flirting with normally straitlaced Nicole -- who lives six miles away in a Marseilles suburb -- while scouring the Internet for young ladies to put a little pizzazz in his life.
"Mom called herself Sweet Juliette and I called myself The Prince of Pleasure, and unfortunately, neither one of us had any idea who the other was," said flabbergasted Daniel.
"The conversations even got a little racy a couple of times.
"But I really started to fall for her, because there seemed to be a sensitive side that you don't see in many girls.
"She sent me poems she had written and told me about her dreams and desires, and it was really very romantic.
"The truth is, I got to see a side of my mom I'd never seen before. I'm grateful for that."
When starry-eyed Daniel asked Sweet Juliette to send him a picture, Nicole e-mailed him a photo of a curvy, half-clad cutie she'd scanned from a men's magazine.
"The girl in the picture was so beautiful, I begged Juliette to meet me on the beach -- and Mom said yes," he recalled. "Mom says she was falling for me, too, and she just wanted to meet me, even though she knew I'd be disappointed when I saw her.
"As for me, I figured I was going to find the girl of my dreams.
"I guess that's about as wrong as I've ever been."
Daniel admits he and his mother could do little but stammer and stutter around each other for days after their cyberspace exploits came to light. And his father Paul -- Nicole's husband of 27 years -- wasn't too happy when the story hit the news and his beer-drinking buddies made him the butt of their jokes.
"Dad was ticked for a while and he forbid Mom to talk to anybody on the Internet ever again," said embarrassed Daniel.
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Don't know that this is true, and I'm not sure whether to laugh or groan.
The following directive was issued by the commanding officer of a naval installation somewhere in the Middle East, and it was obviously directed at the Marines.
To: All Commands
Subject: Inappropriate T-Shirts
Ref: ComMidEastFor Inst 16134//24 K
All commanders promulgate upon receipt.
The following T-shirts are no longer to be worn on or off base by any military or civilian personnel serving in the Middle East:
"Eat Pork Or Die" [both English and Arabic versions]
"Shrine Busters" [Various. Show burning minarets or bomb/artillery shells impacting Islamic shrines. Some with unit logos.]
"Napalm, Sticks Like Crazy" [Both English and Arabic versions]
"Goat - it isn't just for breakfast any more." [Both English and Arabic versions]
"The road to Paradise begins with me." [Mostly Arabic versions but some in English. Some show sniper scope cross-hairs]
"Guns don't kill people. I kill people." [Both Arabic and English versions]
"Pork. The other white meat." [Arabic version]
"Infidel" [English, Arabic and other coalition force languages.]
The above T-shirts are to be removed from Post Exchanges upon receipt of this directive.
The following signs are to be removed upon receipt of this message:
"Islamic Religious Services Will Be Held at the Firing Range At 0800 Daily."
"Do we really need 'smart bombs' to drop on these dumb bastards?"
All commands are instructed to implement sensitivity training upon receipt.
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Naked-marriage-sex ban
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Cairo
January 11, 2006
AN Egyptian cleric's controversial fatwa claiming that nudity during sexual intercourse invalidates a marriage has uncovered a rift among Islamic scholars.
According to the religious edict issued by Rashad Hassan Khalil, a former dean of Al-Azhar University's faculty of Sharia (or Islamic law), "being completely naked during the act of coitus annuls the marriage".
The religious decree sparked a hot debate on the private satellite network Dream's popular religious talk show and on the front page of Al-Masri Al-Yom, Egypt's leading independent daily newspaper.
Suad Saleh, who heads the women's department of Al-Azhar's Islamic studies faculty, pleaded for "anything that can bring spouses closer to each other" and rejected the claim that nudity during intercourse could invalidate a union.
During the live televised debate, Islamic scholar Abdel Muti dismissed the fatwa: "Nothing is prohibited during marital sex, except of course sodomy."
For his part, Al-Azhar's fatwa committee chairman Abdullah Megawar argued that married couples could see each other naked but should not look at each other's genitalia and suggested they cover up with a blanket during sex.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17789981-13762,00.html
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Solo's Errant Spell-Check Causes 'Sea Sponge' Invasion
Maybe the attorney could have blamed his document's 'sea sponge' invasion on his oceanside locale -- or on SpongeBob?
Mike McKee
The Recorder
03-02-2006
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Spell-checking on his computer is never going to be the same for Santa Cruz solo practitioner Arthur Dudley.
In an opening brief to San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal, a search-and-replace command by Dudley inexplicably inserted the words "sea sponge" instead of the legal term "sua sponte," which is Latin for "on its own motion."
"Spell check did not have sua sponte in it," said Dudley, who, not noticing the error, shipped the brief to court.
That left the justices reading -- and probably laughing at -- such classic statements as: "An appropriate instruction limiting the judge's criminal liability in such a prosecution must be given sea sponge explaining that certain acts or omissions by themselves are not sufficient to support a conviction."
And: "It is well settled that a trial court must instruct sea sponge on any defense, including a mistake of fact defense."
The sneaky "sea sponge" popped up at least five times.
Dudley said he didn't notice the mistake in People v. Danser, A107853, until his client -- William Danser, a former Santa Clara County Superior Court judge seeking reversal of his conviction for fixing traffic tickets -- called for an explanation.
Dudley corrected the error in his reply brief, telling the court that a "glitch" caused the weird wording and instructing that "where the phrase 'sea sponge' is found, this court should insert the phrase 'sua sponte.'"
The faux pas has made Dudley the butt of some mild ribbing around Santa Cruz. Local attorneys, he said, have started calling his unique defense the "sea sponge duty to instruct."
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Freezer failure ends couple's hopes of life after death
? Son discovers parents' bodies starting to thaw
? Cremation brings battle with courts to a halt
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Friday March 17, 2006
The Guardian
Raymond Martinot and his wife were the toast of the world cryonics movement. For years they were France's best preserved corpses, lying in a freezer in a chateau in the Loire valley, in the hope that modern science could one day bring them back to life.
But the French couple's journey into the future ended prematurely when, 22 years after his mother's body was put into cold storage, their son discovered the freezer unit had broken down and they had started to thaw.
The couple's bodies were removed from their faulty freezer and cremated this week. Under French law a corpse must be buried, cremated or formally donated to science. But the couple's son had vowed to go to the European court of human rights to be allowed to keep his frozen parents in his cellar. If he failed, supporters in Nederland, near Denver, Colorado, had offered to take them in.
Yesterday R?my Martinot said he had no choice but to cremate his parents' bodies after the technical fault had seen their temperatures rise above the constant level required of -65C (-85F).
"I realised in February that after a technical incident their temperature had risen to -20C probably for several days. The alert system [on the freezer] had not worked and I decided at that point that it was not reasonable to continue," he told Agence France Presse. "I don't feel any more bereaved today than I did when my parents died, I had already done my grieving. But I feel bitter that I could not respect my father's last wishes. Maybe the future would have shown that my father was right and that he was a pioneer."
Raymond Martinot, a doctor who once taught medicine in Paris, spent decades preparing for his demise in the belief that if he was frozen and preserved scientists would be able to bring him back to life by 2050. In the 1970s he bought a chateau near Samur in the Loire valley and began preparing a freezer unit for himself. But his wife, Monique Leroy, died first, of ovarian cancer, in 1984, and was the first to enter the intricate stainless steel freezer unit in the chateau's vaulted cellars.
She remained in the freezer for almost 20 years while Dr Martinot met his high refrigeration bills by allowing paying visitors to visit the cellar. He once told reporters that ideally he would like to open his wife's freezer every day and tell her "Hello, I'm so glad to see you", but that it was better it stayed shut. He said he opened it to check it every five years. The freezer was rigged up to a generator with an alarm to alert Dr Martinot to changes in temperature or anyone opening it.
In 2002 Dr Martinot died of a stroke, aged 84, and his son followed his orders to inject him with the same anti-coagulants and store him alongside. The French courts authorised the removal and burial of the bodies. But the couple's son held firm and the bodies remained in his freezer while he continued a legal battle in France's highest court, threatening to go to the court of human rights in Strasbourg.
Many European countries have legislation restricting the preservation of dead bodies by freezing them, so cryonics enthusiasts often turn to companies in the US where it is permitted in several states.
Ben Best, president of the Cryonics Institute in Michigan, told the Guardian he was saddened and disappointed that the Martinots' freezer had malfunctioned. "The Martinot case was extremely important for us," he said. "We think cryopreservation should not be treated as a crime. France seems to be one of the worst countries for intolerance of the different ways of dealing with people who are legally dead."
His organisation had recently taken in two preserved French corpses, including the mother of a French cryonics specialist, to get around the French legal system.
David Pegg, who runs the medical cryobiology unit at the University of York, said a temperature rise to -20C would have been "disastrous" for the Martinots' corpses. "I would say even -65C was far too high," he added.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1732947,00.html?gusrc=rss
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By DAN HERBECK, Buffalo News
News Staff Reporter
3/21/2006 Click to view larger picture
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Injured in Iraq, Army Sgt. Jason R. Lyon, a National Guardsman from Hamburg, has been declared eligible for return to combat but not qualified to deliver the mail stateside.
Click to view larger picture
While Sgt. Jason R. Lyon was serving with the Army in Iraq, he suffered a sprained ankle when he jumped off a Humvee. He also nearly had his head blown off by a roadside bomb that killed three of his friends.
After extensive medical treatment and physical therapy, military doctors have certified the Hamburg serviceman physically fit to return to combat duty in Iraq.
But the U.S. Postal Service says he is physically unfit to deliver mail.
"To me, it really seems unfair," said the National Guardsman, who was recently turned down for a postal carrier job because of the ankle injury he suffered in Baghdad in July 2004.
"The military says I can go to combat. I can march, run, fight in a war and do anything else a soldier can do. But the Postal Service says I'm not fit to deliver letters."
A frustrated Lyon, 28, spoke about his dilemma in his home Monday, showing a Buffalo News reporter his Purple Heart for wounds suffered later and a thick stack of medical reports from the Army, declaring him fully fit for military duty.
"Currently no limitations of military or civilian activity," a National Guard medical officer wrote in a report on Lyon last month.
A doctor for the Postal Service saw it differently, ruling that Lyon's ankle injury makes him unfit to be hired as a mail carrier. A physician for the Postal Service called the injury a "physical impairment" that would make it difficult for Lyon to walk or stand for long periods of time.
The decision is not meant as a personal slap at Lyon, said Karen L. Mazurkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the Western New York district of the Postal Service.
Mazurkiewicz said Lyon, who is currently unemployed, still could pursue a position as a mail clerk or custodian, and she noted that veterans do receive hiring preference.
"We have a rich history of hiring veterans, but we have to look at each candidate and make an assessment of how they would handle the physical requirements of the job," Mazurkiewicz said. "There is a lot of bending, twisting, lifting and walking on uneven surfaces for a mail carrier. . . . It is a very strenuous job."
Perhaps so, said Lyon, but no more strenuous than anything he has dealt with in 10 years with the military.
He noted that he has also worked part time for United Parcel Service, on and off, for the last five years, performing similar duties to those of a mail carrier.
Lyon, a graduate of Frontier Central High School, joined the Army in 1996. After three years on active duty, he joined the New York National Guard. He now is a member of the 101st Cavalry Reconnaissance Unit, based at the Masten Avenue Armory. He was called to duty in Iraq from December 2003 until January 2005 with the Army's 108th Infantry.
In Iraq, he suffered a minor injury that is now hurting his employment chances and a major injury that he never expects to forget.
"I twisted my ankle in Baghdad, when I jumped off a Humvee in the dark and landed in a tire rut," he said. "The Army put my ankle in a cast, and two weeks later, I was back on combat patrols. I never left the war theater. I went back to all my duties as an infantryman."
That was in July 2004. Six months later, tragedy struck the squad Lyon was leading as it drove back to its base after a long night on combat patrol in northern Baghdad.
"It had been a long night. I was just telling the guys they could put a CD in the CD player," Lyon recalled. "Then the explosion hit."
A roadside bomb tore through the heavily armored Humvee that Lyon and four other soldiers were riding in. Three of the soldiers - good friends of Lyon - were killed instantly.
"It was a professionally made explosive. It tore through the Humvee like it was a tin can," Lyon said. "I heard the explosion. The next thing I knew, I was on fire and I had blood all over me. My right ear was almost torn off. I felt terror and helplessness, but I was the sergeant, and I had to take control of the situation."
Lyon was shipped out of Iraq to Germany, and then to the United States, for months of treatment for his burns and wounds. He is now back with his National Guard unit in Buffalo. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but that was not a factor cited by the Postal Service for turning down his application for postal carrier.
"Sometimes, when I am alone, I'm looking over my shoulder and feeling hyper alert," Lyon said. "But when I'm with other people, I'm fine."
The office of Rep. Brian M. Higgins, D-Buffalo, has been trying to help Lyon in his dispute but without results. On March 11, Lyon got a letter from the Postal Service, saying a doctor for the service had refused to change her medical assessment.
"It's ridiculous," said the sergeant's wife, Sarah Lyon. "He's served his country in Iraq. He's worked for UPS for years, and he's been certified to go to Iraq again, if they need him. I have absolutely no doubt he can do the job of a mail carrier."
Lyon said he wants to work as a mail carrier, rather than a clerk or custodian. He said that a mail carrier earns higher pay - about $17.80 an hour for the job he was seeking - and gets to be out in the community, working with the public.
"This is Buffalo, and there are not a lot of good jobs like that one available," Lyon said. "I'm willing to work hard, and I want a good job."
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IRAN: TEXT MESSAGE TELLS PRESIDENT HE SHOULD WASH MORE
Tehran, 14 April (AKI) - Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has apparently been incensed by an anonymous text message suggesting he does not wash enough. Ahmadinejad has taken legal action over the offending text, has fired the president of a phone company and has had four people arrested and accused of colluding with the Israeli foreign intelligence service, Mossad, the anti-government website Rooz Online reports.
Poking fun at the president, the regime's senior figures and its policies, has reportedly become a national pastime in Iran. The Iranian authorities are paying particular attention to jokes comparing Iran's nuclear programme with sex. Several people are widely believed to have received court summonses for sending nuclear-related jokes, according to Rooz Online.
"While the outcome of the recent arrests in connection with SMS messaging is not clear yet, what is certain is that SMS jokes have already put some people into serious trouble," wrote Rooz Online.
The clampdown is in line with the authorities' uncompromising stance on Internet bloggers. Large numbers of the nation's estimated 70,000 to 100,000 bloggers have faced harassment or imprisonment. The regime has acknowledged monitoring text message traffic. This apparently began in the run-up to the presidential election last June.
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Brothel made to remove Saudi, Iran flags
Mon Apr 24, 2:50 PM ET
A brothel in Cologne was forced to black out the flags of Saudi Arabia and Iran from a huge World Cup soccer-themed advertising banner after angry Muslims complained and threatened violence.
The 24-metre-high by 8-metre-wide (78 by 26 ft) banner displayed on the side of the building features a scantily-clad woman and the slogan: "The world as a guest of female friends," a variation on the World Cup slogan: "The world as a guest of friends."
The flags of the 32 nations taking part in the month-long soccer tournament which kicks off in June are shown below.
Those of Saudi Arabia and Iran have been covered with black paint, according to a worker at the brothel who would only give his name as Peter.
"Some people turned up and demanded that we remove the flags," Peter told Reuters. "First they were sensible but then they became threatening. The management here decided to do it so that we didn't get any more trouble."
"They didn't want these two flags to be associated with this go-go girl on the banner as it's a brothel and it offended their religious feelings," said a spokeswoman for the Cologne police.
"The owner removed the flags even though he wasn't legally obliged to as no crime had been committed."
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Public Advocate: 'Kennedy Sobriety Checkpoint' Big Success; Video Posted of Actions; Footage and Photos Available
Mon May 29, 11:00 AM ET
To: National Desk, Political Reporter
Contact: Jesse R. Binnall, 703-582-7924, or Eugene Delgaudio, 703-901-2247; Office 703-845-1808, both of Public Advocate; Web: http://publicadvocateusa.org/
WASHINGTON, May 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today, a non-profit group, Public Advocate, announced their "Kennedy Sobriety Checkpoint" has been a success. Checkpoints on Capitol Hill in Washington to protect citizens against Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-Ma.) or Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) resulted in no impaired drivers named Congressman or Senator Kennedy being stopped this weekend.
"Citizen volunteers have responded to the call and we have erected checkpoints at several intersections to prevent any Kennedy from driving in an impaired manner on Capitol Hill. We selected the long Memorial Day weekend due to the increased potential for a repeat of earlier car accidents," said Eugene Delgaudio who is also President of the group.
Volunteers patrolling in front of the U.S. Capitol and in front of the Supreme Court are attempting to prevent a repeat of Kennedy-related car accidents in Washington. Due to the nature of the problem, the checkpoints are mobile units comprised of two dozen people alternating positions around the Capitol.
Volunteers wear bright orange or yellow vests, yellow construction hats, and carry traffic cones, and traffic directional signs (stop, slow down, go) and posters that identify them as the "Kennedy Sobriety Checkpoint" and with a message that states "If your name is Kennedy, Get out of the Car."
Public Advocate designed the checkpoints to raise public awareness and to discourage impaired driving by Senator Ted Kennedy or Congressman Patrick Kennedy. The ultimate goal is to ensure the roads are safe for all motorists by achieving voluntary compliance of the drinking and driving laws by all Kennedys in Congress. That was accomplished this weekend.
"Our future goal is to continue with random Kennedy Sobriety Checkpoints to continue the success we have had," said Delgaudio.
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NOTE:
Special free video footage and photographs of the Kennedy Sobriety Checkpoint in action are posted at http://publicadvocateusa.org/
Permission granted in advance to use photographs or video for any news-related or other public service or educational purpose
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Public Advocate has been fighting for the American family for over 25 years. It is has used political street theater to dramatize or otherwise convey public policy issues over 100 times in Washington. It is exempt from federal taxation under IRC section 501(c)4. Contributions for gifts to Public Advocate are not tax-deductible. For more information contact Jesse R. Binnall at 703-845-1808.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060529/pl_usnw/public_advocate___kennedy_sobriety_checkpoint__big_success__video_posted_of_actions__footage_and_photos_available107_xml
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Verdict Coming For "Penis Pump" Judge
Closing arguments today in exposure trial of ex-Oklahoma jurist
JUNE 29--Closing arguments are scheduled today in the trial of the former Oklahoma judge charged with indecent exposure for using a penis pump (among other really gross acts) while on the bench. Donald Thompson, 59, is facing felony counts for his alleged lewd behavior while a Creek County District Court jurist (Thompson resigned from the bench in 2004). According to a yucky probable cause affidavit, a copy of which you'll find below, Thompson exposed himself during three separate 2003 cases (two of which were murder trials). For example, on May 13, while he was presiding over State v. Kurt Arnold Vomberg (who was accused of killing his girlfriend's 21-month-old daughter), Thompson loudly pumped himself up. Two court employees told investigators that they saw Thompson (pictured in the mug shot at right) attach the suction device to his penis, while five jurors reported hearing whooshing sounds, which they thought were coming from either a bicycle pump, blood pressure cuff, or an air cushion on the judge's chair. After a search of Thompson's former courtroom and chambers yielded items that tested positive for seminal fluid, investigators secured a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample from the ex-jurist. Thompson's demise was triggered by a complaint filed against him by the Oklahoma Attorney General, who sought to oust the jurist for a variety of illicit behavior. Along with using the penis pump, Thompson also allegedly shaved and oiled his private parts, according to accounts given to state investigators by court employees. If convicted of the indecent exposure counts, Thompson could face a maximum of 10 years in prison on each charge. (7 pages)
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0121051judge1.html
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Too successful: the hospitals forced to introduce minimum waiting times
(Filed: 07/08/2006)
Hospitals across the country are imposing minimum waiting times - delaying the treatment of thousands of patients.
Blessing given: Patricia Hewitt
After years of Government targets pushing them to cut waiting lists, staff are now being warned against "over-performing" by treating patients too quickly. The Sunday Telegraph has learned that at least six trusts have imposed the minimum times.
In March, Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, offered her apparent blessing for the minimum waiting times by announcing they would be "appropriate" in some cases. Amid fears about ?1.27 billion of NHS debts, she expressed concern that some hospitals were so productive "they actually got ahead of what the NHS could afford".
The minimum waiting times, however, dismayed Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, who said last night: "This all stems from bad financial planning and management. No wonder there is a crisis. If staff are available for an operation, they should be utilised."
Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, added that the minimum waiting times shed new light on the Government's target that patients should wait no longer than six months. "It is outrageous that the purpose of the Government's targets is not so much to drive down waiting times, as to impose a six-month wait."
The measures also seem certain to add to the anger that erupted last week after Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk admitted it had forfeited ?2.4 million because it treated patients too quickly, having already agreed a 122-day minimum waiting time with East Suffolk Primary Care Trust (PCT), its funding body. The hospital finished the last financial year ?16.7 million in the red.
Douglas Seaton, 60, a consultant physician who worked with the restraints of the minimum waiting times before retiring from Ipswich Hospital in June, said: "In the last year, we have seen disastrous strains. The senior managers are following political instructions. The Government is holding the reins and it is not working."
A spokesman for the hospital and the PCT insisted that no one was denied urgent treatment, adding: "This is a local issue. It doesn't have national significance."
The Sunday Telegraph has learned of five further minimum-waiting-time directives. In May, Staffordshire Moorlands PCT, which funds services at two hospitals and is more than ?5 million in the red, introduced a 19-week minimum wait for in-patients and 10 weeks for out-patients. A spokesman said: "These were the least worst cuts we could make." In March, Eastbourne Downs PCT, expected to overspend by ?7 million this year, ordered a six-month minimum wait for non-urgent operations. Also in March, it was revealed that Medway PCT, with a deficit of ?12.4 million, brought in a nine-week wait for out-patient appointments and 20 weeks for non-urgent operations.
Doctors are also resigning. One gyn?cologist said that he spent more time doing sudoku puzzles than treating patients because of the measures. Since January, West Hertfordshire NHS Trust, with a deficit of ?41 million, has used a 10-week minimum wait for routine GP referrals to hospital. Watford and Three Rivers PCT, ?13.2 million in the red, has introduced "demand management": no in-patient or day case is admitted before five months.
There is no evidence that in any of these cases, emergency treatment or cancer care was delayed.
Elsewhere, serious financial tensions are emerging between hospitals and the PCTs paying them.
In June, the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust claimed it might have to send patients back to their GPs because of insufficient funding from Bournemouth Teaching PCT. The dispute was resolved, but not before the PCT told the Health Service Journal that it was "disappointed that the Foundation Trust refused to slow the pace of its work. Much of this overperformance could have been avoided."
Sue Slipman, the director of the Foundation Trust Network, which represents all 32 existing foundation trusts and 10 trusts preparing for foundation status, warned of nine similar disputes over funding worth a total of ?28 million.
Michael Dixon, the chairman of the NHS Alliance, representing PCTs, blamed the inflexibility of the Government's Payment by Results system. "PCTs are operating with one arm tied behind their back. Whereas hospitals are able to do more operations, PCTs are unable to negotiate the rate they'll pay for the extra work because it's fixed."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=P8&xml=/health/2006/08/07/nhealth06.xml
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No, that's not a penis pump, Mom. Really
Wed Aug 23, 4:12 PM ET
CHICAGO - Cook County prosecutors say a 29-year-old man traveling with his mother desperately didn't want her to know he'd packed a sexual aid for their trip to Turkey. So he told security it was a bomb, officials said.
Madin Azad Amin was stopped by officials on Aug. 16 after guards found an object in his baggage that resembled a grenade, prosecutors said.
When officers asked him to identify it, Amin said it was a bomb, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto.
He later told officials he'd lied about the item because his mother was nearby and he didn't want her to hear that it was part of a penis pump, Scaduto said.
He's been charged with felony disorderly conduct, said Andrew Conklin, a spokesman with the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Amin faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
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The Times September 20, 2006
Animal activists free 15,000 farmed fish to their deaths
By Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor
POLICE have warned fish farmers to increase their security after 15,000 halibut were released from their cages in an attack believed to have been carried out by animal rights activists.
Thousands of dead fish are being washed up along the west coast of Scotland after the raid at Kames Marine Fish Farm, near Oban. The perpetrators are thought to have attacked last week. Detectives believe that the attack could be linked to a spate of other farm attacks throughout the country. The letters ALF (Animal Liberation Front) were spray-painted near by.
The loss is estimated to have cost the fish farm at least ?500,000 as boats, cranes and offices were also vandalised. The halibut died from starvation or getting caught in seaweed. They were also being eaten by herring gulls and otters.
The fish farmer, who did not wish to be identified, said: ?They claim they liberated them into the sea but sadly, as we all know, farmed animals, whether they are fish or any animals, don?t survive unless they are looked after.
The fish farmer added: ?We farm them in a sustainable way. The welfare of the fish is at the forefront of our minds. Isn?t it better to have farmed fish than to be pillaging the seas where stocks are declining dramatically??
Fish farms in Scotland, Kent and the South West have been attacked in the past year.
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Today: October 04, 2006 at 11:10:13 PDT
DNA May Implicate Malibu Stars' Toilets
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - Just whose waste is fouling the most star-studded stretch of the Southern California coast?
Los Angeles County officials intend to find out, and if the evidence leads back to the toilets of some of Hollywood's rich and famous, the sewage could really hit the fan.
"This is going to get messy," predicts Mark Pestrella, the public works official assigned to the project.
Environmentalists and health officials suspect Malibu homeowners' leaky septic tanks are allowing what gets flushed down the toilet to flow down the hills and into the Pacific Ocean. To identify the offenders, authorities intend to use DNA testing and, if necessary, get court warrants to inspect septic tanks. And that includes tanks buried in the backyards of Hollywood celebrities.
Malibu, whose spectacular seaside cliffs, canyons and beaches have attracted numerous environmentally minded celebrities over the years, including Sting and Tom Hanks, was incorporated in 1991 specifically to stop construction of a sewer line. There are an estimated 2,400 septic tanks in this city of multimillion-dollar homes strung along 25 miles of coast.
Malibu residents fiercely guard their privacy and their right to use septic tanks, and many deny their septic systems are the source of dangerous ocean bacteria levels that rise sharply after heavy rains.
Under pressure from Southern California regulators, investigators over the next few months will begin testing sea water. If DNA shows the waste is human and not from, say, raccoons or coyote, they will follow the trail up creeks that traverse neighborhoods in Malibu, where clean-water advocates such as Pierce Brosnan and Ted Danson live.
Where the tests show a concentration of human waste, inspectors will sleuth out the source. Though they will not request DNA samples from residents to match waste with its human source, they may ask a judge for authority to inspect tanks of property owners who bar them from taking samples.
"It is a big deal that the county is now saying, `We're willing to go on to properties to see what the source of fecal contamination is,'" says Mark Gold, executive director of the local environmental group Heal the Bay.
Malibu leaders have argued that the pollution comes from a wastewater treatment plant, storm runoff and bird droppings. Malibu actress and animal-rights activist Pamela Anderson contends the real polluter is animal agriculture, such as chicken farms.
"When the results of these tests come back, I'll bet that once again we'll find that it's people's meat addiction, not their septic tanks, is causing this pollution," Anderson wrote in an e-mail. "The best thing any of us can do to fight pollution is to adopt a vegetarian diet."
County officials initially will focus on properties with heavier toilet use, such as restaurants and Barbra Streisand's old estate.
In 1993, the singer donated her property to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which has held weddings, conferences and public tours at the 22-acre estate. Conservancy spokeswoman Dash Stolarz said the site has a sophisticated septic system and has not hosted a wedding in two years.
If county officials find suspect systems, they will inform the Los Angeles Water Quality Board. The board could fine homeowners or require them to upgrade their systems at an estimated cost of $30,000.
Board president H. David Nahai says he is optimistic residents will comply with the investigation. "The very cachet of Malibu and the high property values they enjoy are dependent upon a clean ocean," he says.
Most contamination happens during the winter, when heavy rains overload storm drain and sewage systems, washing waste directly into the sea. Swimming in bacterial-laden waters can cause gastrointestinal, respiratory and other illnesses.
In 1985, 12 miles of coast were closed for more than two months because of sewage. Some of the area's most famous spots, including legendary Surfrider Beach, have repeatedly received poor grades in Heal the Bay's annual beach report card.
Water quality has improved through programs mandated by the Clean Water Act and the efforts of conservation groups. A major boost came in September, when the water board announced it would fine Los Angeles County and municipalities surrounding Santa Monica Bay up to $10,000 a day if they did not meet clean water standards.
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LET ME BASH BABES: TYSON
Post Wire Services
October 17, 2006 -- STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - Mike Tyson says he wants to get paid for beating up women.
The 40-year-old former world heavyweight champ and convicted rapist has proposed a bout against dominant female middleweight boxer Ann Wolfe, who has won 17 of her 18 professional fights, 12 by knockout.
The gender and weight mismatch could be part of "Mike Tyson's World Tour," which the washed-up pug launched last week, Tyson said.
But Russ Young, a promoter for Wolfe, said the bout will never happen.
"No state would sanction that," he said.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10172006/news/nationalnews/let_me_bash_babes__tyson_nationalnews_.htm
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http://www.zyped.com/media.php?file=Self_Defense_Commercial.wmv
Gruhn
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Trivia: I am a green belt in June Rhee TKD-- after I finished school and went to DC, I went to his schools because my Fu Jow Pai teacher Sifu Paul Vizzio recommended that I work my legs and that the JR people had good legs. FWIW, JR maintains himself in truly exemplary condition.
The ad of course is to barf , , ,
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Man found trapped in hotel air-conditioning duct
BY TIM CHAPMAN AND ERIKA BERAS
tchapman@MiamiHerald.com
TIM CHAPMAN/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
TRAPPED: Miami Beach fire-rescue personnel treat Morris Winter, 40, who was found trapped today in an air-conditioning duct at the Shore Club.
It took an hour and a half for fire-rescue workers to cut through three layers of drywall to get to the man, who was, according to police, clad in a bathing suit.
Hal Lloyd Winter, 40, a Miami Beach resident, climbed up onto the roof and began crawling through the vents. He fell 30 to 40 feet and got caught on screws holding the ductwork in place, authorities said.
Hotel employees told authorities they heard his screams from the inner walls.
Miami Beach police said Winter, identified as a lawyer in the official report on the incident, claimed to have been trapped in the duct for three days, but they expressed doubts about that claim.
According to Shore Club personnel, Winter was neither a hotel employee nor a guest.
The opulent hotel last made headlines when hip-hop mogul Suge Knight was shot there at a party in 2005.
Winter was taken to the trauma center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He suffered serious injuries to his ankles and back.
He was charged with trespassing and giving a false name.
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http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/061018/K101802U.html
Massachusetts school bans playing tag at recess over fears of injuries, lawsuits
10:32:25 EDT Oct 18, 2006
Canadian Press
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) - Tag, you're out!
Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.
Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.
While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.
Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.
"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 65 kilometres south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid."
Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.
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Might as well start putting your kids in bubble suits or send them to school with a helmet and protective gear.. geez.
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A real invisibility cloak is in our grasp: scientists
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/sc_afp/ussciencephysicsinvisibility;_ylt=Aqwsl05bhMJ.Q5j9DGKlUM4PLBIF
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE_MJIzG-O0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fprofile%2Emyspace%2Ecom%2Findex%2Ecfm%3Ffuseaction%3Duser%2Eviewprofile%26friendid%3D5118862
I thought this video was pretty funny. Plus the kid at 45 seconds is doing kali (:
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Cranewings et al:
Please include a brief statement of the contents of the URL and why you are posting it.
Thank you.
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Creepy-crawly pets eat owner
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By staff writers | August 29, 2007
A GERMAN man who lived with over 200 black widow spiders was fatally bitten by one and then eaten by his other pet creepy-crawlies.
Police found Mark Voegel, 30, in his apartment partially eaten by his pet spiders, several snakes, lizards and thousands of termites, Sun.co.uk reported.
Neighbours called police after becoming worried about the smell coming from Voegel's apartment.
Police were met by an unforgettably gruesome scene.
“It was like a horror movie. His corpse was over the sofa," a police spokesman said.
“Giant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth.
“There was everything there one could imagine in the world of reptiles.
“Larger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders.”
Voegel, who never invited people back to his small apartment, lived in the German city of Dortmund, Sun.co.uk reported.
Spider expert and animal cruelty officer Gabi Bayer said he kept creatures “that should never be allowed in a private home”.
“He had spiders so aggressive they are the equivalent of a pit-bull in the animal world,” she said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22327399-1702,00.html
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http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2016/05/george-zimmerman-to-sell-gun-used-to-kill-trayvon-martin-help-fund-anti-clinton-effort.html/