Vicious Reece Kent, 19, repeatedly punched Ken Oliver in the head before kicking him on the floor because he mistakenly thought he was the father of a girl he knew.
Cancer sufferer Ken, who has been given just three months to live, was left in a pool of blood on his doorstep with these horrific injuries.
Reece, 19, admitted carrying out the unprovoked attack -- which was filmed on a mobile phone -- and pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm.
But grandfather-of-three Ken, of Broxbourne, Herts., watched in disbelief as his attacker walked free from court last week with a six-month suspended sentence.
Clockwork Orange was a documentary, folks ...
Today he stormed: "I would love to have seen him go away for a long, long time. I could quite easily have died. I was expecting him to go to jail. I am gutted. Before I knew what was going on I was being punched and kicked. My head was used as a football and the whole attack was recorded on a mobile phone.
"I am appalled at the sentence. They were swearing and laughing in my face. He should have been locked up for what he did. His barrister said he feels remorse but when he turned up in court he just sneered at me. I hope he is ashamed for the rest of his life."
St Albans Crown Court heard that Kent and two friends began banging on his door at 3.30am on October 23 asking for someone called Molly.
As Kent launched a vicious attack on Ken, his friends filmed the assault with a mobile phone in front of his wife Pauline, 64, and his three-year-old granddaughter. The pensioner had undergone surgery to remove a third of his lung just five weeks earlier.
He suffered a cracked left cheekbone, extensive bruising round his left eye and face and a dislocated toe. Ken spent a week in intensive care at Queen's Hospital, Romford, Essex, and a CT scan revealed bleeding in the brain and left temple.
Recorder Peter Digney told him: "The man you kicked was a man who had enough problems without you adding to them."
He had decided by the "slightest margin" not to send him to jail.
#5
Very off topic: Alan Cramer, your British friend can get Skippy peanut butter in England at Panzer's Deli in St. John's Wood, or Sainsbury's... or google '"American food" Britain "Skippy peanut butter"' to find a shop/website that is closer or better suited to their taste. Replacing Britain with Scotland or Manchester modifies the results interestingly.
#6
#3 Scooter:
that "look through the peephole" action puts you at risk because the criminals can know you're right behind the door and could be knocked off-balance if they kick it in.
that's why I just fire a couple .44 jacketed rounds through the door before I look through the peephole. It's just smart practice.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2010 8:19 Comments ||
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#7
I have no fear of answering my door. Of course I do have a peephole and several guns.
Me too Scooter. Two Pistols and a Rifle, and plenty of ammo. (I reload)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/30/2010 9:47 Comments ||
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#8
Thank you TW I'll will pass on this info after they finish their showers.
They have made a pilgrimage every couple of years to stock up on things that they loved when they lived here (Cheerios, Swiss Miss with mini marshmallows, etc.)
They live near Norwich & Oxford we'll see what they say.
Cheers,
AlanC
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
10/30/2010 10:04 Comments ||
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#9
g(r)omgoru is absolutely correct...it's liberal policies that have enabled and emboldened anti-social behavior. Just wait until California has legalized marijuana...you will then see the Munchhausen Syndrome or Rope-a-Dope at work; i.e., the government will sanction poisoning you, then offer you taxpayer remedies to get you back to health or shake off indolence.
#10
I have no fear of answering my door. Of course I do have a peephole and several guns.
-----
I just fire a couple .44 jacketed rounds through the door before I look through the peephole.
It's way, way easier to simply stop answering the door. Saves on ammo.
#11
This UK incident is bizarre: Man killed for urinating in mail slot
29 Oct 2010 A British householder who stabbed a man he caught urinating through the mail slot in his apartment was jailed for five years Friday after admitting manslaughter.
Michael Williams, 53, from Rochdale, northern England, just flipped in April this year after he caught father-of-one Anthony Kershaw, 25, defiling his property while high on alcohol and drugs.
Williams, who lived alone and was described by neighbors as pleasant, friendly and keeps himself to himself, told police that he went to investigate a bang on his front door and saw urine pouring through the mail slot.
Angry, he went to his kitchen, grabbed a knife with a seven-inch blade and as Kershaw urinated, swung open the door and in a momentary intention stabbed his victim in the stomach.
Kershaw died the next day in the hospital from the knife wound.
#12
Hell, peep-hole? Observe from enfilade and always have your sawed-off badgers off-safety.
Rutagaga!
Posted by: Goldies Every Damn Where ||
10/30/2010 14:38 Comments ||
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#13
AH, he should have just stuck the knife through the mail slot. Hilarity would have ensued.
("I saw a stream of liquid coming through the mail slot, yer honour, and thought someone was trying to set my home on fire. I reacted out of fear for my life and the lives of my family.")
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/30/2010 14:54 Comments ||
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#14
Local suppliers will be net cheaper than the airplane ticket, AlanC, if not as much fun. I well know the search for ingredients -- the difference between single acting baking powder and double acting is drastic when baking, and all-purpose flour in Germany has a different protein content, which meant a good deal of experimentation to discover the 1/4 cup difference that needed to be added/subtracted to/from recipes in Germany/Belgium. I used to stock up on chocolate chips and tinned salmon going over, mayonnaise and mustard coming back. And shoes -- lots and lots of little girls' shoes in three sizes each, given the 4:1 price up-charge. On Mr. Wife's salary I couldn't afford to shoe the trailing daughters properly and have dinner parties, not to mention they absolutely did not have German feet; nor did I, but my shopping time on this side of the pond was limited in those days. I may not be good at spotting sales, but by God I could strip a shopping mall of everything useful in eight hours with two toddlers in tow. ;-)
#15
TW -- even more off-topic, but I recommend avoiding Skippy peanut butter in favor of ANY other brand. I refuse to buy Skippy. JIF makes good peanut butter.
Why boycott a brand of peanut butter? Good question. Short answer: a greedy food company stole the name, and destroyed a talented and successful man's family and his life.
#16
Stranded Brit rail passengers make a break for it - Laggards are locked in by coppers A British commuter train stalled out at 5 pm Friday just short of a station.As time wore on - and the passengers were left in darkness due to the lack of power - anger grew and some of those on board forced open the train's electrically-operated doors.
About 15 people then climbed down from the carriage and walked the distance of about 500 metres to Foxton station. The remaining passengers were then locked on board by a rail official and warned they faced being arrested if they left.
#18
Scooter, I hadn't heard that story. I guess I'm glad I never developed a taste for peanut butter.
Nb: Jif used to be made by Procter & Gamble, but now it's produced by Smuckers, the jam/preserves people. In case anyone is interested in such details.
[Geo TV] Fluffy the Python Snake who was the longest living snake lives no more
The Columbus, Ohio Zoo and Aquarium has pronounced their prized python dead. The snake, which was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest living snake, had apparently died of a tumor.
Nicknamed Fluffy, the snake was 24 feet long and was nearly as thick as a telephone pole. That's nearly as long as a moving van. Fluffy had drawn large crowds to the zoo since she was brought there in the year 2007. She was 18 years old.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Snakes can't go titzup. Or toes up. It's in their genes. Belly-up is ok.
(KUNA) -- The death toll of Indonesia's recent tsunami rose to 394.
Statistics of the disaster risk reduction body said that 267 others were seriously injured in the quake that hit Mentawi region off the western coast of Sumatra on Monday night after a powerful earthquake rocked the area earlier in the day.
In addition, 142 other people suffer from minor injuries and 412 other are still missing, it added. Over 442 had major injuries, while 200 others had minor wounds because of the tsunami, it pointed out.
Rescue teams were facing difficulties in evacuating the victims due to shortage in speedboats and equipment, and bad weather conditions, it said.
The body said that there were 12,865 refugees in four areas.
The earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, jolted Mentawai islands on Monday, causing three-meter-high waves that destroyed at least ten villages.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
On a personal note, shade of GUAM's coming KAMALEN EVENT.
(KUNA) -- The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, expressed his concern regarding the sentencing to prison of two Panamanian journalists, who had been absolved in the first instance, for slander and libel. According to the information received, they were also prohibited from carrying out activities related to their profession for a year.
"This judicial decision represents a worrying precedent for the efforts being made to decriminalize such incidents, especially in cases such as this, wherein the act which led to the punishment relates to information about the actions of public officials," La Rue stressed.
Although the sentence was commuted to a fine, and faced with the possibility of a pardon being granted to the journalists for the same crime, the UN independent expert reiterated his position concerning the importance of the right of citizens to be fully informed about the activities of public officials.
"Despite the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights*," said La Rue, "States frequently limit or restrict freedom of expression arbitrarily, even resorting to criminal laws or civil actions, in order to silence dissent or criticism."
The Special Rapporteur urged the State to take account of international instruments related to the exercise of this right, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Frank La Rue was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in August 2008 by the UN Human Rights Council. As Special Rapporteur, he is independent from any Government or organization and serves in his individual capacity. The UN first decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur to examine questions relevant to the right to freedom of opinion and expression in 1993. The mandate, since reviewed and extended in 2008, involves reporting annually to the Human Rights Council on issues related to freedom of opinion and expression.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
I'm sure that this group is all over the Geert Wilders case in the Netherlands. All Mr. Wilders did was to speak the truth about Islam. He was prosecuted, although the charges were later dropped.
What's that you say? They really don't give a rat's behind? I am SO surprised.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/30/2010 13:29 Comments ||
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#4
although the charges were later dropped.
Last I heard, the decision was to restart MP Wilders' trial at some future date with a new set of judges, despite the prosecution's recommendation to drop the charges as there was no evidence to support them.
MOSCOW - Russia successfully carried out a new test of an intercontinental missile on Friday that Moscow hopes to make the cornerstone of its nuclear missile programme. The military said the 12-metre long Bulava, or Mace, fired from a submarine near Russias border with Finland, successfully hit its target some 6,000 km (3,370 miles) away in the peninsula of Kamchatka in Russias far east.
Today at 5:10 a.m. (the missile) was launched from the submarine Dmitry Donskoi, said Igor Konoshenkov, press officer of the Defence Ministry. The launch, from an underwater location, was carried out normally and everything was up to standard, he told Reuters by telephone.
Military analysts saw Fridays test of the Bulava, which had failed seven of 13 previous trials, as a crucial hurdle in proving the reliability of the missile as a mainstay of the Russian army.
In some previous tests the missile self-destructed, causing concerns over the reliability of the missile itself. Further failures of the missile were expected to prompt fundamental changes to the costly project.
The Bulava missiles, which weigh 36.8 tonnes and can travel a distance of 8,000 km, are designed to be fitted on the Russian Borei class of submarines. One missile can hold 6-10 nuclear warheads.
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told RIA news agency six more successful tests of the rocket were needed before it would be ready for use in the navy.
The next test of the ballistic missile is expected to be carried out at the beginning of December, a high-ranking source in Russias military industry commission told state-news agency Itar-Tass.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Oh where oh where to begin today on RUSSIA...
To wit,
* EINNEWS > CHECHNYA MORE VIOLENT THAN IS BEING REPORTED [Moscow hiding the true scale of Militant Violence-Threat]???
* ION TOPIX > ISLAMIST MILITANTS ESCALATE WAR AGZ RUSSIA IN THE CAUCASUS.
* SAME > [Jordanian]ARAB MILITANTS EMERGE IN CAUCASUS WAR.
ARTIC = Jordanian Hard Boyz inspired by ABU MUSAB ZARQHAWI. ZARK is their bona-fide ideo HERO, INSPIRATION TO STRIKE AT THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM; CAUCAUSUS MILITANTS SUPPORT EVOLUTION FROM "NATIONALIST STRUGGLE" TO GLOBAL JIHAD.
* SAME > IRAN: ARMENIA CAN BECOME THE BRIDGE CONNECTING IRAN WID CIS STATES [SOuth Caucasus + Central Asia]
* SAME > AHMADINEJAD: ARMENIA'S DEVELOPMENT [national = full-scale] IS "IRAN'S DEVELOPMENT".
#2
Y'all will notice the article says nothing about the missile actually coming back down the way it's supposed to.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/30/2010 10:23 Comments ||
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#3
More important, all this does is get them back to square one. They have to have several successful tests in a row before they can deploy it, and they've had several failures in a row.
Now, with a successful test, they can start the count again.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/30/2010 12:49 Comments ||
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#4
This is 2 goes in a row. The virus is dormant until December.
Posted by: Goldies Every Damn Where ||
10/30/2010 14:45 Comments ||
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HT to WeaselZippers! President's wife wears hijab. Army brass not amused. Purges and coups coming?
Purges already happening -- a number of top military people are already jailed for supposedly planning a coup attempt, another several just picked up for talking to Mossad or something...
The army's top brass were conspicuous by their absence late yesterday, at a banquet thrown by President Abbdullah Gul to commemorate the creation of the modern, secular Turkey in 1923.
The military organised a separate reception at the same time to give the Generals an excuse not to accept the President's invitation, the reports said. The secularist main Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) also declined Gul's invitation.
Turkey's First Lady has worn the hijab, which covers the head and neck, since adolescence. The boycott was criticised by Prime Minister Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose wife also wears the headscarf.
The army's Generals, who see themselves as custodians of the Turkish republic, regard the headscarf as a threat to the state's secular traditions and are against any relaxation of the ban on wearing them in schools and government buildings.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2010 16:09 ||
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Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear will take place today between noontime and three o'clock on the National Mall in Washington. The satirical rally is being held as the counter-measure to Glenn Beck's very successful 8/28 Restoring Honor event. About 60,000 or so folks are expected to be in attendance.
Democratic organizations are hoping this will launch young voters back into the political fray on Tuesday, but after Barack Obama's awful appearance with Jon Stewart on Wednesday, and the fact that most of these Stewart/Colbert fans are already from liberal precincts. Then considering the Independent Conservative voter will decide who receives control on Election Day, Democrats will be heart broken by the pathetic results of today's rally.
The bad news: the liberals are having a rally that will get all sorts of press.
The good news: all the attendees are there instead of working their precincts on the last weekend before the mid-term election.
[Arab News] More than 100,000 flood victims in Pakistain are likely to spend winter in camps because many villages in the country's south remain under stagnant water, the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society refugee agency said on Friday.
The Jews drained the swamps in the Galilee in the early part of the 20th century by digging drainage ditches by hand. Surely Pakistan can manage something similar -- goodness knows they have the spare manpower, at the moment sitting around in tents. Of course, that would take a certain amount of organization and initiative.
Failure to deliver aid and compensation to millions of Paks made homeless by the floods could lead to social unrest, especially as cold temperatures bite in the south Asian nation at the heart of US efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.
The southern Pakistain provinces of Sindh and Balochistan, still reeling from the record floods which began in late July, will take months to recover, according to the front man for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"Local authorities are looking into how stagnant water can be pumped from villages, but this will be a massive undertaking and is likely to take time," Adrian Edwards told a news briefing.
In Sindh, more than 1 million people were in some 3,200 camps or makeshift sites at the time of a UNHCR survey two weeks ago, but the numbers have fallen since, according to the agency. A further 60,000 displaced were in camps in Balochistan.
The floods, which rolled from north to south in an unprecedented tide of destruction, destroyed or damaged more than 1.7 million homes, official figures show.
Some 7 million people have shelter needs, including many who have returned to homes lacking a roof or electricity, said the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an aid agency playing a central role in the flood response.
"The immense scale of the disaster continues to pose a huge challenge to the government and aid agencies. We are still a long way from providing shelter to every flood victim," said IOM regional representative Abdel Moneim Mostafa.
A United Nations appeal for $1.9 billion for Pakistain is only 39 percent funded, spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said.
"We still have a long way to go. The food security, health and camp management sectors are really under-funded," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
100,000 flood victims in Pakistain are likely to spend winter in camps
An opportunity: "Palestinian Nation" was started with less.
#2
Anyone want to bet that these "camps" will still be operational in 50 years?
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
10/30/2010 12:55 Comments ||
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#3
"More than 100,000 flood victims in Pakistain are likely to spend winter in camps"
Whatchoo bitchin' about? I'm sure it's just Allen's will.
Everything is, isn't it?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/30/2010 14:58 Comments ||
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#4
The comment about having MANY idle men to dig dranage canals?
No way in hell, that's work, a four letter word around there, if slaves or women(I know, same thing)Can't do it, then the Able bodied men REFUSE, and that, in a nutshell, is the whole description of why they're a failed People.
If I have something I need done, I DO IT, or hire it done, they sit and bitch that it's not done for them.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/30/2010 16:38 Comments ||
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#5
Besides, if they actually fixed the problem - well there goes a revenue-stream.
[Arab News] Less than a kilometer from the sprawling residential complex of Pakistain's prime minister, villagers have to scrabble for firewood in the dirt if they want a cooked meal.
Noor Pur Shahan is typical of many villages in the country, where supplies of cooking gas, clean water, electricity, classrooms, and also hope for the future, are hard to come by.
Improving government services for millions of increasingly frustrated Paks is critical for bringing economic and political stability to a country the United States sees as an indispensable ally in its global war on militancy.
Many say the current system of governance only benefits Pakistain's political elite and the wealthy. And it's one that drives disaffected young men to join Mohammedan thug groups violently opposed to the government, analysts say.
The administration of President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari, like many before it, is accused of being too corrupt and inept to ease widespread hardship. It denies the allegations.
But in Noor Pur Shahan, where goats roam on winding roads beneath lush mountains about 8 km northeast of the capital, these denials ring hollow. "The government only looks after the rich people," said Mohammad Aleem, an elderly man with a long white beard, as he clutched his cane.
Conditions are unlikely to improve anytime soon. The cash-strapped government slashed development spending after summer floods caused nearly $10 billion in damages.
Securing reconstruction funds may not be possible unless Pakistain persuades Western donors spending will be transparent and accounted for.
The International Monetary Fund, which has kept the economy afloat since 2008, wants Pakistain to implement politically sensitive economic reforms such as imposing new taxes and eliminating electricity subsidies.
Washington has pumped billions of dollars into Pakistain since the country joined the US war on militancy after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Little seems to have trickled down to the poor.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2010 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Vicious Reece Kent, 19, repeatedly punched Ken Oliver in the head before kicking him on the floor because he mistakenly thought he was the father of a girl he knew.
MOSCOW - Russia successfully carried out a new test of an intercontinental missile on Friday that Moscow hopes to make the cornerstone of its nuclear missile programme. The military said the 12-metre long Bulava, or Mace, fired from a submarine near Russias border with Finland, successfully hit its target some 6,000 km (3,370 miles) away in the peninsula of Kamchatka in Russias far east.
Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear will take place today between noontime and three o'clock on the National Mall in Washington. The satirical rally is being held as the counter-measure to Glenn Beck's very successful 8/28 Restoring Honor event. About 60,000 or so folks are expected to be in attendance.
