Hi there, !
Today Sat 07/05/2008 Fri 07/04/2008 Thu 07/03/2008 Wed 07/02/2008 Tue 07/01/2008 Mon 06/30/2008 Sun 06/29/2008 Archives
Rantburg
533595 articles and 1861723 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 122 articles and 408 comments as of 15:55.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion       
Many hurt, 7 killed in Jerusalem bulldozer attack
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
1 00:00 Homer Simpson [2] 
8 00:00 DarthVader [8] 
12 00:00 OldSpook [5] 
0 [1] 
0 [3] 
3 00:00 USN,Ret. [2] 
2 00:00 swksvolFF [2] 
7 00:00 Deacon Blues [6] 
1 00:00 Besoeker [3] 
5 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [2] 
4 00:00 Hellfish [1] 
12 00:00 Pappy [6] 
0 [3] 
2 00:00 Besoeker [1] 
5 00:00 Scooter McGruder [1] 
0 [3] 
1 00:00 ryuge [2] 
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [2] 
11 00:00 Capsu78 [2] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
16 00:00 DarthVader [2]
4 00:00 .5MT [1]
0 [5]
0 [1]
7 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [3]
0 [4]
24 00:00 JosephMendiola [6]
4 00:00 .5MT [3]
8 00:00 AlanC [1]
0 [1]
2 00:00 swksvolFF [4]
4 00:00 .5MT [4]
0 [6]
0 [7]
0 [8]
0 [6]
0 [5]
3 00:00 swksvolFF [7]
0 [7]
0 [4]
0 [1]
0 [1]
0 [2]
0 [5]
8 00:00 trailing wife [3]
0 [5]
0 [6]
0 [5]
0 []
0 [1]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [2]
5 00:00 SteveS [5]
Page 2: WoT Background
2 00:00 Richard of Oregon [2]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [2]
5 00:00 CrazyFool [1]
0 [1]
1 00:00 Rambler in California [3]
1 00:00 rjschwarz [3]
2 00:00 trailing wife [4]
3 00:00 49 Pan [2]
29 00:00 Pappy [4]
3 00:00 Old Patriot [7]
0 [3]
0 [2]
1 00:00 Frozen Al [2]
0 [3]
0 [9]
4 00:00 swksvolFF [3]
1 00:00 tu3031 [4]
0 [1]
0 [3]
0 []
0 [1]
0 [6]
0 [1]
0 [5]
13 00:00 KBK [4]
0 []
2 00:00 .5MT [1]
0 [1]
3 00:00 Old Patriot [1]
1 00:00 Old Patriot [3]
3 00:00 Besoeker [5]
Page 3: Non-WoT
5 00:00 M. Murcek [2]
16 00:00 Keystone [7]
4 00:00 Alaska Paul [3]
7 00:00 JosephMendiola []
7 00:00 Besoeker [4]
0 [3]
2 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [3]
2 00:00 anonymous5089 [3]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [3]
1 00:00 Anonymoose [5]
12 00:00 OldSpook [4]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [2]
0 [1]
1 00:00 McZoid []
8 00:00 Old Patriot [1]
0 [3]
3 00:00 Alaska Paul [1]
4 00:00 Old Patriot [2]
16 00:00 Pappy [6]
9 00:00 liberalhawk [2]
2 00:00 DarthVader []
5 00:00 swksvolFF [3]
0 [3]
8 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [1]
0 [6]
0 [2]
0 []
1 00:00 mojo [1]
3 00:00 Old Patriot [4]
5 00:00 Besoeker [6]
Page 4: Opinion
4 00:00 Pappy [7]
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [2]
1 00:00 swksvolFF []
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [3]
8 00:00 49 Pan [8]
2 00:00 swksvolFF [2]
23 00:00 Glase Stalin3977 [2]
3 00:00 g(r)omgoru [5]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Dumb Criminals Watch: Florida
Hey, check out the big brain on Branden!

Man sells stolen items near home that was robbed

OCALA, Fla. — Police say an Ocala man was selling stolen property at a yard sale in the same neighborhood as the home he robbed.

Fred and Betty McAteers, who live in Ocklawaha, arrived at a home they own in Ocala on Monday to find that it had been burglarized. They returned Tuesday and walked around the neighborhood to see if anyone knew anything about the theft. During their walk, they saw their dresser sitting on the front lawn of an apartment building.

They called the police, who charged 22-year-old Branden Mitchell Gardiner with residential burglary and dealing in stolen property. He was being held on a $4,000 bond.
Posted by: mojo || 07/02/2008 11:32 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Drunk Swede stole boat to row home
Snip, duplicate. We have 113 articles today. Please check for duplicates.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 09:45 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Big quetion is: Did he sound like a speech synthesizer?

/inside joke
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/02/2008 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  On yesterday, but I guess of only 1 of your oars is working I'm not surprised see him again :)
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/02/2008 12:10 Comments || Top||


Domesticated chimp is missing in California forest
IIRC, the article about the attack by the two other chimps in 2005 was posted here. Pic of the owner at link. I think that couple should qualify as Honorary Idiots of the Day, after that earlier chimp attack (see details, pretty gruesome, hard to trust chimps anymore after some snack on your face and testicles, I'd say), and how moe bit off that broad's finger.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 06:36 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "He meant the world to us," said St. James Davis. "He was the best man at my wedding."
I agree.
Posted by: Spot || 07/02/2008 8:32 Comments || Top||

#2  If California was half as progressive as Spain then that Chimp would not have to go hide from persecution and home servitude to speciest humans. In fact, little Zira is already qualified for a driver's license, unemployment benefits, and a free trip to the more suitable climate of Hondoras.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/02/2008 8:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe he moved to Spain.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/02/2008 9:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Forty two years old and he finally left home, Good job!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 07/02/2008 9:55 Comments || Top||

#5  "Look out, I'm a CHIMP ON THE EDGE!"
Posted by: mojo || 07/02/2008 11:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Life imitates Warren Zevon:

Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place
Posted by: Mike || 07/02/2008 11:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Well, seeing how "Moe" likes to rip off faces and eat testicles, I think I might shoot the bastard on sight.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/02/2008 13:18 Comments || Top||

#8  No, tu, the testicles-foot-face-buttocks-chewing apes were two of his pals who were jealous not being given a piece of cake at his birthday party while he was... Moe only bit off the finger of a wimman, he's such a quiet fellow.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 13:48 Comments || Top||

#9  Well, seeing how "Moe" likes to rip off faces and eat testicles, I think I might shoot the bastard on sight.

I might be inclined to agree with you on this one. He sounds like a damned menace to testicles everywhere.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/02/2008 14:13 Comments || Top||

#10  Okay, I'll bite, will someone please ask the Dept of the Army + PENN STATE INTEL-PYWAR + MAFIAS, etc. WTFH does a LOST FINICKY CHIMP has to do wid the WOT???

TREES + TESTICLES are very nice or a funny touch but thats besides the point.

Even MADONNA FANS are duly entitled to be PERPLEXED every now and then.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/02/2008 19:21 Comments || Top||

#11  ROFLMAO, #1 Spot!

That's gonna leave a mark. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/02/2008 19:31 Comments || Top||

#12  Rantburg does animal stories as well, Joe.

We. Like. Them.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/02/2008 23:38 Comments || Top||


Woman who 'murdered mother-to-be and cut her full-term baby alive from her womb'
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 06:23 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Ex-con suspected in deaths of 8 captured in Ill.
Pic at link, looks like a real nice guy, I'm sure you'd feel safe being jailed in the same cell...
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 06:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  maybe he should be cellmates with Sisouvanh Synhavong, i mean they have so much in common.
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 07/02/2008 16:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Public records show Sheley has multiple convictions for robbery, drugs and weapons charges and has spent three years in prison.

'Multiple convictions' but only served 3 years? Appears our criminal justice system has once again failed us.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/02/2008 21:51 Comments || Top||


He Was So Mean, He Once Shot A Man For Giving Him A Wedgie
The Utah Supreme Court today threw out the manslaughter conviction of Erik Kurtis Low, who killed a Park City man after the victim gave him a 'wedgie.'

Low, now 40, claimed in his 2005 trial he was defending himself when he shot 38-year-old Michael Jon Hirschey following a night of drinking, drug use and horseplay.

In reversing the conviction, the high court ruled the trial judge shouldn't have granted a prosecution request to instruct jurors they could convict Low on the lesser offense of extreme emotional distress manslaughter. The justices also ruled prosecutors are barred from retrying Low for murder, extreme emotional distress manslaughter, or imperfect self-defense manslaughter. The state could retry Low for other forms of manslaughter or lesser offenses.

Court records say Hirschey teased, manhandled and threatened Low while they and two other men were ingesting cocaine at his apartment. Finally, in the early morning hours of May 8, 2003, Hirschey grabbed Low's underwear and yanked upward hard enough to pull him off his feet. About 15 seconds later, Low shot Hirschey in the shoulder and the head, according to court records.

Low was charged with murder; a 3rd District Court jury deadlocked in February 2005. At a second trial a few months later, Summit County prosecutors asked for jury instructions on extreme emotional distress manslaughter. The defense objected, saying the jury would confuse the instruction with Low's self-defense claim, but was overruled.

Jurors acquitted Low of first-degree murder but convicted him of manslaughter. He was sentenced by Judge Bruce Lubeck to up to 16 years in prison.

Low's attorney on appeal, Elizabeth Hunt argued that the choice of whether to assert a defense of extreme emotional distress manslaughter is up to the defendant, not the prosecutor.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tom Wesley Hardin [for too loud Snorin']???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/02/2008 19:10 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
What happens when you answer all your spam e-mails
For Tracy Mooney, a married mother of three in Naperville, Ill., the decision to abandon cyber-sense and invite e-mail spam into her life for a month by participating in a McAfee experiment was a bit of a lark.

The idea of the Spammed Persistently All Month (S.P.A.M.) experiment — which fittingly started on April Fool's Day — was to have 50 volunteers from around the world answer every spam message and pop-up ad on their PC. What would be the experience in 10 countries when everyday people, armed with a PC and e-mail account McAfee provided for the Global S.P.A.M. Diaries project, clicked through the spam and chronicled the results?

Mooney — who had observed the family's PC crippled just before Christmas by a virus — was game, especially because McAfee was giving a free PC to all participants. She was selected to be among the 50 volunteers picked by McAfee out of 2,000 people who applied to be part of the adventure. By the time it was all over, after every bank-account phishing scam, Nigerian bank scheme, and offer for medication, adult content and just plain free stuff had been pursued. . . .

In her guise as Penelope Retch, Mooney answered the e-mail that came into her account. "I'd see an interactive spam, open it, click on it and asked to be removed. That would only make it worse," she says. "They'd say 'no.'"

Whether trying to win an iPod online, get free travel brochures, weight-loss tea or Maybelline eyeliner, the effect of entering a home address was extreme. Immediately, a deluge of mail landed at her doorstep, directed to the attention of Penelope Retch. "One of the mail offers I got was a $7,500 credit card for Penelope Retch," Mooney says, noting that the sudden upsurge in junk mail left the neighborhood postman somewhat aghast. "It grew exponentially, so I stopped giving out my home address," she says, adding, "I am concerned about the environment." . . .

You can read MacAfee's official report of the experiment, and the participants' blogs, here.
Posted by: Mike || 07/02/2008 08:14 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I almost never get spam, yet, I'm trying, I'm really trying, I leave my email address everywhere behind me, I fill forms everywhere, I post on fetish forums, I suscribe to mailing lists of all stripes, I email randoms guys in nigeria... but, I never get any spam. I guess even spammers find me to lame to email me. That's so unfair.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 10:05 Comments || Top||

#2  I get a little, but on a regular basis. I guess they are looking for a better class of rube nowadays.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/02/2008 11:29 Comments || Top||

#3  I quit getting it when I sent Muck4Doo's responses to Nigerian scammers to them.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/02/2008 11:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Box Trapper is my friend.
Posted by: Iblis || 07/02/2008 12:25 Comments || Top||

#5  I quit getting it when I sent Muck4Doo's responses to Nigerian scammers to them.

Ima shockr! >:)
Posted by: RD || 07/02/2008 12:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Deacon, perhaps you should post it here for others to use,
Posted by: lotp || 07/02/2008 13:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Here's one.
Friends Are Great friendship@wepraisehim2.com wrote:
Good Day Friend, I send one last greeting to you. Truly in hope you will always remain well. Take Care. Sincerely, You Friend.
hi girlfren!
thanx for riten. :)
ima always like haverin nonymus frens. itn make for no supersecrets broken. ima not kno you an you in not kno me but we a big hapy family. :)
ima like makerin rhymes an inspire to be tomorow nex fity cent. *booh buh buh buh boomp buh pee choo* you like em blogs? ima makerd em blog an am need make sum post. we are like doerin animal nyoos and nyoos of em weerd. you like animals? you like weerd? my fren deacon is gotsa weerd animals an hes a deecon. him goose jus underwent sex change and layerd eggs! can you beleeve that? an im have em fren cb who is very nice but likesta pick her nose from what she is say. and half is goin get rich with him nyoo salty snack nyoos an investin advice an kory can tell ya all about jet settin aroun em nashen and giver good advice an freekwent flier miles. we also got drogon fly but not seen him in while. come visitor us at http://meatismurder.blogspot.com/
an joyen the fun. :)
you pal
muckford doo
And another
howdy naphti!
ima soryn heer about the plite you sufferer. the spain is gots no moral rites to do that to you. curse the spain! and curse mugabe and him stupid mustashe! im live in the texas and am thinkerin mebbe im can help out. spekin south africas you got any dimond mines? also ima likin them gold coins with em purdy deers on em. you got any those? im am kinda comcern about combining chemicals and farm equipments. you in shuld realy go to organic farmin. itn save moneys and is protec the ecosystem. jus grow things in em greenhouse and set the bees free! ima know the africanize bees can be in concern but you can buyer some good ole americans ones born in the usa and purchases online. ifn you want ima can seel em to ya. cheep to. and ima get you "organic" bees even beter than regular bee and helthier for you cous cous. then you can haver organic vegetals and honey for you tea. :) jus send me a chek and ima get you all the bees you can dreem of. also ima mite sendn you some speshal seeds for growin organic ganja. you can grower thisn purdy litle flowers and send me sum once in a wile. plese write back and let me know ifn we has a deels and then ima helper you that money. llokin forward doin bizniss with you.
allahu ackbar
muckford doo
I usually get replies that say they can't understand what I wrote.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/02/2008 16:11 Comments || Top||


Every day is the 4th of July for EOD: You load 100 tons and what do you get?
November 26, 2007
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) featuring 100-tonnes of high explosives. PLUS: incredible SLOW-MOTION of the blast!


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/02/2008 01:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Raw Sewage, Storm Runoff, and Creamy Ranch Dressing
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/02/2008 13:35 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mmmmmm, creamy ranch dressing.
Posted by: Homer Simpson || 07/02/2008 14:04 Comments || Top||


Stand by for a new gold rush as a glittering lode worth £450m is found under tiny Irish village
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 06:51 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somewhere in Ireland, a leprechaun is weeping. "Me pot o'gold," he wails, "'tis gone! Gone!"
Posted by: Mike || 07/02/2008 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like all you'd have to do is turn the entire valley into a strip pit 600 ft deep to get to it.


Equitable.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/02/2008 14:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Typically, whether or not there is gold, the deposit is *always* upside down pyramid shaped. That is, more and better ore is higher up.

However, it is almost *always* pitched with the idea that it is pyramid shaped. That is, more and better ore, the deeper you go. Aka "The Mother Lode".

When whoever is trying to sell the mine, usually a played out mine, to suckers, they often support this delusion by "salting" the mine with good quality ore at its bottom. A very illegal practice, usually in collusion with a corrupt assayer, but one that always works.

If you've ever met anyone with a full blown case of gold fever, they are as gullible as a middle aged divorcee who believes Bill Clinton when he says he is going to leave Hillary and marry her.

"My name is Jamie!"

"Sure it is, honey. Now hand me a cigar, and let me sell you a deed to this here once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to old a gold mine."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/02/2008 14:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Gotta diamond drill the deposit first to map out its extents and grade of ore. Once you find that, then you work out a scenario to mine it. Subtract the mining cost from the value, making allowances for the price of fuel and of gold, and it's a done deal, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/02/2008 21:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Gee, AP - what makes you an expert?

It's not like there's any gold in Alaska or anything.... ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/02/2008 21:22 Comments || Top||


Britain
Patient dies on the floor of a hospital waiting room as staff ignored her for over an HOUR
Which could explain this :

Every NHS patient to be given right to go abroad for FREE treatment
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 06:52 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You want good quality oats healthcare, you pay a premium price. If you want oats free healthcare, that have already been through the horse.... they it will come a bit cheaper.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/02/2008 20:50 Comments || Top||


Woman stabbed to death by female knife attacker in latest London killing
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 06:50 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somebody needs to tell that gang that knives are against the law and that was very naughty behavior.

Me thinks there is a better way to reduce crime than raiding 20,000 some times for 500 odd knives. Maybe could have increased their efficiency and gathered sporks as well, or they could concentrate on the real problems...
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/02/2008 13:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I should think there would be a market for umbrellas with very sharp tips as well as Rosa Klebb shoe-knives.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/02/2008 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  When viewed etymologically from its Okinawan roots, nun comes from the word for twin, and chaku from shaku, a unit of measurement. The popular belief is that the nunchaku was originally a short flail used to thresh rice or soybeans (that is, separate the grain from the husk). It is also possible that the weapon was developed in response to the moratorium on edged weaponry under the Satsuma daimyo after invading Okinawa in the 17th century, and that the weapon was most likely conceived and used exclusively for that end, as the configuration of actual flails and bits are unwieldy for use as a weapon. Also, peasant farmers were forbidden conventional weaponry such as arrows or blades so they improvised using only what they had available, farm tools such as the sickle. The modern weapon would be an effective flail.

One example of how a 'ban the weapon' policy has never kept people from killing people.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/02/2008 14:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Gonna have to ban knives now.

Make sure you cook your food real well.
Posted by: Hellfish || 07/02/2008 17:01 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Police guilty of killing activists
A COURT in Honduras has found four policemen guilty in the 2006 killings of two environmentalists.

Environmental groups have long demanded justice in the case of activists Heraldo Zuniga and Roger Ivan Murillo Cartagena. The two were fatally shot on December 20, 2006, in Olancho province, where they led opposition to widespread logging.

A provincial tribunal declared the four officers guilty of having shot the two activists to death.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 09:46 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Activists are annoying.
They never know when to give it up.
Posted by: asdfdff || 07/02/2008 14:08 Comments || Top||

#2  If you oppose logging you should create a group dedicated to buying up land and ensuring it is not logged. Go to the UN and try to get them to give some kind of ribbons cash and prizes, for nations that put aside vast tracts of land for environmental reasons.

The system is Capitalism, don't fight it, use it.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/02/2008 14:09 Comments || Top||

#3  what were they guilty of? exceeding the daily bag limit?
perhaps they were accessories in that they failed to shut off the chain saw: as in " Be Stihl, my no-more- beating heart."
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 07/02/2008 17:07 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
6th police officer dies after Shanghai knife attack
A sixth police officer has died of his wounds after a man with a knife ran amok at a police station in Shanghai on Tuesday morning, state media reported Wednesday.
The five other officers were killed during the attack or died soon after from their wounds, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The man was arrested at the scene and was said to be seeking revenge after he was questioned at the police station last year for allegedly stealing bicycles, according to a report in the China Daily, quoting comments he made to the police. The suspect, Yang Jia, 28, is unemployed and originally comes from Beijing, Xinhua said.

A security guard was stabbed outside the police station before the man ran inside and stabbed nine police officers, state media have reported. Two of the police officers who died Tuesday were named as Fang Fuxin, 47, and Zhang Jianping, 48.

The China Daily says the inquiry is looking into how the man managed to kill so many officers inside a police station before he was finally subdued.
'My kung fu is stronger than your kung fu'.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 06:06 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Evahbody was kung fu fighting...this mofo was fast as lightnin...cops found he was really into knifin...dude could do some bad-ass spiking

Oh wo wo wo.
Posted by: Lumpy Spusoth6394 || 07/02/2008 6:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Lots and lots of bike thieves in China. And I can completely see the cognitive dissonance that allows one to be a bike thief and simultaneously be angry that the police call you a bike thief.
Posted by: gromky || 07/02/2008 11:25 Comments || Top||

#3  The ghosts of William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes must be shaking their heads in disgust.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 07/02/2008 12:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Its simple. Ban knives, works in the UK.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/02/2008 14:03 Comments || Top||

#5  That's EXACTLY what I thought, Canuckistan Sniper! Shanghai police without a single decent knife-fighter? Sad.... The Commies obviously purged ALL British influence.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 07/02/2008 17:26 Comments || Top||


Europe
Italy: Pakistani girl 'leaps from balcony after refusing arranged marriage'
A 15-year-old Pakistani girl was hospitalised after reportedly jumping from a balcony in the northern Italian town of Alessandria. She had refused an arranged marriage with a 16-year-old Pakistani.

'My parents had already been in touch with his and told me I would be marrying him. I have nothing against him but I do not love him,' Turin-based La Stampa daily quoted the girl as telling police from her hospital bed on Wednesday. La Stampa called the girl 'Piccola' and said medics had operated on fractures to her legs sustained after falling from the family's balcony onto a roof below.

Piccola, who has grown up in Italy, is said to be well integrated here. She wears western-style clothes and has Italian schoolfriends. 'I told my parents that I didn't love the boy and why should I live with him?' Piccola reportedly told the police. Piccola said she did not reproach her parents for their choice, but said she had felt desperate to escape the fate they had chosen for her.

Neighbours described Piccola and her family as 'good, really polite people, all of them.' The neighbourhood of Alessandria the family lives in, Cristo, is respectable and is home to generations of immigrants, La Stampa reported.

The previous centre-left Italian government issued a 'charter of values' for immigrants after the tragic case of another young Pakistani girl, Hina Saleem who was murdered by male relatives in August 2006. Hina's father Mohammed, confessed to slitting 20-year-old Hina's throat for 'dishonouring the family' because she lived with an Italian man, wore jeans and worked in a pizzeria.

Mohammed and two male relatives were each sentenced last year to 30 years in jail for Hina's murder. A blue-collar worker, Mohammed had been living in Italy as a legal immigrant for decades and was in the process of applying for Italian citizenship.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/02/2008 09:52 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Olde Tyme Religion
30,000 Koran's left on doorsteps like phonebooks
Residents Angered by Group's Distribution of Korans

HOUSTON -- The distribution of Qurans in a southwest Houston neighborhood has some residents worried about the motives of the group who dispersed the Islamic book.

An English translation of the Quran began appearing two weeks ago on the doorsteps of hundred of homes in the BraesTimbers neighborhood. The books came in plastic bags with a note attached from the ‘Book of Signs Foundation’ asking recipients to accept the Quran as a gift from the Muslim community.

But some residents, like Greg and Sue Ann Pieri, said they feared the group is imposing its beliefs on non-Muslims and found the gesture offensive. “If we went into a Muslim country and left a bible, we would be in prison and then decapitated a few years later,” said Sue Ann Pieri, who chose not to destroy the book like other neighbors did.

However, Houston's Council on American-Islamic Relations President Tarick Hussein said although his organization did not partake in distributing the books, he believes that the Muslims behind the distribution only wanted to educate non-Muslims about the religion.

The Book of Signs Foundation claims to have distributed 30,000 Qurans in Houston, targeting neighborhoods believed to be most receptive of the Quran or in need of a better understanding of Islam.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/02/2008 12:06 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Free toilet paper.
Posted by: Iblis || 07/02/2008 12:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Free doormat.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/02/2008 12:26 Comments || Top||

#3  The doorstep, where I wipe my feet - the distributers are desicrating the book hey cair, isn't that a hate crime? You know what I do with those phonebooks?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/02/2008 12:35 Comments || Top||

#4  So if the thing ends up in the trash, where most of them are probably headed, isn't the Book of Signs Foundation guilty of exposing the Koran to abuse?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/02/2008 12:38 Comments || Top||

#5  You'd think the last thing they'd want us doing is reading their squalid little death diary. That would only confirm our suspicions and prove our point. Maybe it is a toned down version for western infidel-dog consumption.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/02/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||

#6  big Jim, you'd think that wouldn't you? But, I'd have to see what the translation said.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was full of all sweetness and light and nary a sign of "Kill the Jews".

I think they should all be returned with foot prints on them and wrapped in bacon.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/02/2008 14:24 Comments || Top||

#7  If this is a "moderate" organization, they have a good idea, but need some work on their execution.

That is, instead of leaving Korans, they should have used non-threatening door flyers with a "If you would like a free copy of the Koran, detach this postage paid postcard and be sure to include a return address, and one will be mailed to you.

We will also include "An Introduction to the Koran", written by Albert A. Whiteguy, which is a step by step pamphlet guide to reading the Koran, and our new DVD about "What it means to be a Muslim".

And granted, about 90% of the flyers would go right into the trash, this is typical for that type of advertising. Those who would send in the card might actually look at some of the material mailed to them.

It's called effective marketing.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/02/2008 14:39 Comments || Top||

#8  I wonder how quickly people would be crying "Hate crime!" if someone placed bibles on doorsteps in Muslim areas in Houston? Or better yet books like Robert Spencer's "Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam".
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/02/2008 14:45 Comments || Top||

#9  How about mass mailing DVD copies of Wilder's Fitna
to erveryone in Detroit.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/02/2008 15:37 Comments || Top||

#10  "And the truth shall set you free." I'd read it, just to see what's in it, just as I read part of the Book of Mormon when they gave me one, and the New Testament someone gave me back at university. If it didn't match what I've been led to expect, one can always ask why.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/02/2008 16:23 Comments || Top||

#11  "Free toilet paper"

I have more respect for my ass than that, Iblis.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/02/2008 19:35 Comments || Top||

#12  Kindling for this winter.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/02/2008 22:46 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Video: AL'QUEDY BUNCH
Posted by: 3dc || 07/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  LOL!
Posted by: ryuge || 07/02/2008 23:39 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
I HONESTLY DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM
I see a growing separatist element in more than one group lately, here's just one tasteless example.
DENVER - Mayor John Hickenlooper's annual State of the City address may get more attention for what wasn't included than what was. At the start of the event Tuesday morning, City Council President Michael Hancock introduced singer Rene Marie to perform the national anthem.

Instead, she performed the song 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing,' which is also known as the 'black national anthem.' When she finished, the audience responded with mild applause. The national anthem was never performed.
Im surprised it didn't get a standing ovation.
Marie told 9NEWS she kept her plans to switch songs quiet until the very last moment. She says only she, her husband and a friend knew she was going to sing something other than the 'Star-Spangled Banner.'
Um, yeah.
She says she wanted to express her love of her country by mixing the lyrics of 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' with the melody of the 'Star-Spangled Banner.'
It prolly looked much better on paper.
'When I decided to sing my version, what was going on in my head was: 'I want to express how I feel about living in the United States, as a black woman, as a black person,'' said Marie.
I think we get the message Marie, loud and clear.
Hickenlooper's staff picked Marie to sing the national anthem. The mayor says he believes Marie did not intend to offend anyone or make a political statement.
Huh?!?
When asked if he was offended, Hickenlooper said, 'You know I was more confused and I think I was more — what I was, was disappointed and confused and that's why I wanted to talk to her.'

'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' was written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson in 1899 and set to music by his brother in 1900.

City Councilman Charlie Brown took to talk radio Tuesday afternoon to criticize the absence of the national anthem at the State of the City proceedings. 'There is no substitute for the national anthem, period,' Brown said. 'And that's what really bothered me. You know when we fly the flag, the American flag, it's always the highest flag, as it should be. And that didn't come across today, that didn't happen today.'

In hindsight, both Brown and Hickenlooper say they should have stopped Marie or began singing themselves. Marie says if she had the benefit of doing it over, she would sing the same song. When asked if she would apologize for what happened she said, 'No I do not.'
Thats cause victims never have to apologize
Marie has been singing professionally for 10 years.

Brown says he doesn't have a problem with people expressing their views, but he says Marie chose the wrong venue.
Go to the link for lyrics if you really want to.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/02/2008 12:32 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just as Sinaed O'Conner has not been on network TV since her bit on SNL I imagine the days of Marie singing at any kind of official function are over.

She'll be spending to much time singing for the DNC and the NAACP and others who will raise her up as a hero for risking her very life and freedom with such a bold non-political statement against the man.

Self righteous fool.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/02/2008 14:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Just pushed random on the ol karaoke machine huh? DNC gonna be awesome - poached marmot for all!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/02/2008 14:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Is this Marie getting paid? Maybe fined for not delivering?
I'm embarassed that this happened in Denver.
Posted by: Jan || 07/02/2008 14:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Just wait till the convention, they're gonna do things that make you want to crawl under the table.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/02/2008 14:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Real easy solution. When she sings it, sit down. Which is what hip, cool "black activists" used to do when they played the national anthem back in the 70's and probably still do.
Two can play at that game.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/02/2008 14:54 Comments || Top||

#6  "I want to express how I feel about living in the United States, as a black woman, as a black person," said Marie.

I seems she identifies as Black first, American second (if at all).
100% racist bitch.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 07/02/2008 16:26 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm starting to get fed up with this race and religion before American BS.

Are these people sure they want to provoke real American this way? Because when push comes to shove they aren't going to like the outcome.
Posted by: Hellfish || 07/02/2008 16:59 Comments || Top||

#8 

I thought this was the black nationalist anthem.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/02/2008 22:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US
SEATTLE -- Starbucks Corp. said Tuesday it will close 600 company-operated stores in the next year, up dramatically from its previous plan for 100 closures, a sign the coffee shop operator is still feeling the pain from the faltering U.S. economy.

Starbucks said in a statement that 70 percent of the stores to be closed were opened after the start of 2006. The locations set to close include ones that 'were not profitable and not projected to provide acceptable returns in the foreseeable future,' it said. Starbucks also cut the number of company-operated stores it will open in fiscal 2009 in half, to fewer than 200. The company did not adjust its plan to open fewer than 400 stores in 2010 and 2011.
They made the same mistake TCBY made: in the end, whether it's frozen yogurt or coffee, you don't need to go to a 'special' store to make and enjoy the stuff.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well Starbucks is basically a scam preying on the gulit feelings of rich white kids (the kind who vote democrat). They give ten cents more to the producer and communicate about the fair trade. Then they charge it two dollars more to the rich white kid and he is glad to pay them because of the fair trade thingie.

BTW: Fair trasde means that people are subsidized to produce coffee instead of converting to say, producing tomatoes or even abandonning agriculture and take an industrial job. Also those coffee producers who are being kept in businesss thanks to the fair trade BS contribute to lower prices for the others.



While we are at it let's debunk the leftist mantra about the producer being paid 1 cent, the costumer paying ten and the eeeeeeeeevil middle men pocketing the difference on almentary products.


To begin with siome costs don't multiply but add. ie they have no realtion to the value of teh initial product It transporting 1kg gold and 1 kg tomatoes costs the same. Let's tell it is three dollars (we are trsnaporting them to Alaska). On a kg gold it does not matter on a kg tomatioes who was paid 1 dollar to the producer the price has already multiplied by four just for the gas, the vehicle's wear and tear nad drivers's salary but without the transport company making a cent.

Also gold doesn't rot, tomatoes do. Let's imagine that either because they are roughly handled or because they aren't sold in time one half of them have to be scrapped off. That puts the kilo tomatoes at 4*2 = 8$. And nobody has mde a cent.

Now there is thing we could call divisive costs: ie any business has some costs who don't depend on the volume sold and must be charged on the product. Let's imagine that I have a pa and ma shopp who pays 1000$ rent and that I have assigned myself a salary of 1000$ a month (I raise every morning to 4 am and for oine thousand filthy bucks a month). I sell 500 kg tomatoes a month. That mensa that I have to charge 4 additional dollars a kg. Ie the final price is 12$ a kilo when it was paid 1$ to the producer. That with a transport company who hasn't made a cent and a retailer who is making just one thousand dollars a month.

Posted by: JFM || 07/02/2008 9:12 Comments || Top||

#2  600 you say?

That should almost clear them out of Vancouver, but what about the rest of the country?

(A few months ago, a gas explosion in downtown Vancouver destroyed a Starbuck's. Some wag commented that it must not have been a very big explosion if it only destroyed one Starbuck's)
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 07/02/2008 9:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Heck, I used to temp at USAA in San Antonio, in their humongous main building - which, BTW is one vast cubicle farm, three stories tall and about half a mile long, from end to end. There are two Starbucks within it, one at each end!
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 07/02/2008 10:20 Comments || Top||

#4  There's a place in Houston where a Starbucks is right across the street form a Starbucks.

Talk about saturating the market!

That and people are becoming more well educated about coffee, and realizing the ashtray burnt crap Starbucks sells is not nearly as good as a local roaster and coffee shop who likely sells good coffee for a lower price and leaves the pretentiousness at the doorstep.

I know I have. When I came to Denver, I found Dazbog coffee which was started by a couple of Russian refugee brothers from Leningrad, Soviet Union. They make some VERY good roasts, and a couple of local coffee shops carry and serve special blends made just for them by DazBog.


And the marketing approach is a hoot -with faux "Soviet" slogans and designs, like the logo below for their newsletter.



I mean really, what old spook could turn down a fresh roasted cup of "KGBlend" coffee?
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/02/2008 10:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Heck here in Seattle - in the Wells Fargo building there is a Sarbucks on the '3rd floor' near the 3rd ave entrance and another on the 2nd floor just on the other side. Same building, maybe 200ft apart.

Starbucks coffee sucks anyway. I prefer Tully's.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/02/2008 11:12 Comments || Top||

#6  OldSpook I beat you hands: I have a russian T-shirt who reads "I work for the KGB and you?" while at the back there is KGB's coat of arms.
Posted by: JFM || 07/02/2008 11:32 Comments || Top||

#7  I've never been in a Starbuck's. One opened near here a few months ago but it ain't doin too well. Rednecks just don't have 4 or 5 bucks for a cup of coffee.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/02/2008 11:51 Comments || Top||

#8  A marketing expert once told an audience how he missed a chance to make millions. Somebody had him try coffee from a coffee place in Seattle. The marketing expert said the coffee wasn't particularly good, and didn't sign on. Thus he missed a chance to get in on the Starbuck's empire.

Starbucks is the default coffee shop for me when I can't get to the local favorite. So far they haven't messed up a mocha.
Posted by: mom || 07/02/2008 12:52 Comments || Top||

#9  I went into a Starbucks once with a friend that couldn't believe I hadn't been in one, just wanted a cup of coffee, didn't know how to order. I wasn't interested in spending 10 minutes looking at a menu when all I wanted was a cup of coffee, pretty disgusting that they think this product is so worthy, no wonder our youth is getting so fat with all of the sugary sweet additives for coffee.
Never went back, couldn't justify the cost, I usually brew my own and fill two travellers for my commute down the hill anyway.
Posted by: Jan || 07/02/2008 14:06 Comments || Top||

#10  My feeling is that the economy is killing them. Consumers have a choice - fill up at Starbucks or fill up at the gasoline pump. Most are choosing the gasoline pump.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/02/2008 17:05 Comments || Top||

#11  As I told Skippy that last time, 3 years ago, I was in a Starbucks:

Skippy: May I have your order?

Me: Yes, I would like an .25 cent cup of Joe, served by a waitress named Flo, with endless refills... which one is that up on the menu board?

Skippy: Dude...What?
Posted by: Capsu78 || 07/02/2008 19:15 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
84[untagged]
11Taliban
4Lashkar-e-Islami
3Hamas
3Iraqi Insurgency
3Islamic Courts
2Govt of Pakistan
2al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda
1Hezbollah
1Abu Sayyaf
1Global Jihad
1Islamic Jihad
1al-Aqsa Martyrs
1Moro Islamic Liberation Front
1al-Qaeda in Europe
1TNSM
1Govt of Iran

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2008-07-02
  Many hurt, 7 killed in Jerusalem bulldozer attack
Tue 2008-07-01
  'MMA no more an electoral alliance'
Mon 2008-06-30
  Ahmadinejad target of 'Rome X-ray plot', diplomat says
Sun 2008-06-29
  Afghan, U.S. troops kill 32 Taliban
Sat 2008-06-28
  N. Korea destroys nuclear reactor tower
Fri 2008-06-27
  Muslim anger at sniffer dogs at station
Thu 2008-06-26
  Israel shuts Gaza crossings after rocket attacks
Wed 2008-06-25
  Attempted coup splits Hamas military wing in two
Tue 2008-06-24
  US Special Forces: 1 Al Qaeda's emir in Mosul: 0
Mon 2008-06-23
  Israel opens Gaza crossing points
Sun 2008-06-22
  25 Christians kidnapped in Peshawar
Sat 2008-06-21
  Sadrists collapse in Missan
Fri 2008-06-20
  Israel-Hamas truce begins
Thu 2008-06-19
  Talibs flee Arghandab for their lives
Wed 2008-06-18
  Talibs destroy bridges in preparation for Arghandab battle


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.
3.145.74.54
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (32)    WoT Background (31)    Non-WoT (32)    Opinion (8)    (0)