Jamie Pandaram
The mother of an American man who was strangled to death by his pet snake has refused to consider putting the animal down because her son wouldn't want it harmed. Elaine Dres's only son Ted died yesterday after he slipped while entering the cage he built to house his four-metre boa constrictor at his home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sensing its owner was dazed, the python wrapped itself around Mr Dres's neck and choked the life out of him. When officers arrived, the snake had to be pried off by three people.
Mrs Dres, who lost her husband two years ago in December, told smh.com.au Ted had loved snakes since he was a little boy. "I still can't believe Ted is gone, I have to stop myself from thinking he is going to call me - I just can't even comprehend what has happened,'' Mrs Dres, 76, said. "Ever since he was about 14 he has had snakes. I think a friend of his in grade school had one and so he got a snake, he could find you a snake in the woods in five minutes.
"I couldn't have the snake put down, Ted wouldn't want that. Even though it killed him, Ted wouldn't want it harmed.
"It's now at the SPCA, I couldn't take it.''
Mr Dres's funeral will be held on Thursday (US time) with the burial to be done the following day. "He didn't have any children, he wasn't married,'' Mrs Dres said. "He had loads of friends. And one big snake.
"I have five children, Ted was the only boy. His sisters aren't doing too well over this.''
Mr Dres had owned this particular snake for about 11 years but it is not known if he had given his pet a name. "He had a special cage built for his python. He was going into the cage and I don't know if he slipped or what, but he fell as he was reaching for the snake,'' Mrs Dres said. "The snake sensed that Ted was dazed and wrapped itself around him. Like any loving pet would do.
"If Ted hadn't fallen this wouldn't have happened.''
Ted's cousin James Dres found out about the death through a television report and said he was shocked and distressed.
#4
Sounds like the snake may need an ASCLU lawyer (Amercian Snakes' Civil Liberties Union). He should sue Teddy's estate for stressing the poor snake to the point it committed murder. It's Teddy's fault, you know. The snake is a victim.
Police Inspector Gunnar Larsen of Oslo's Vice, Robbery and Violent crime division says the statistics are surprising - the rising number of rape cases and the link to ethnic background are both clear trends. But Larsen does not want to speculate on the reasons behind the worrying developments. He might get sued or beaten. After all, he's only a police Inspector
Regards the pic you chose, KBK, it's a certainty they're not trunks, lol.
I thought the guy in the middle was great on the Benny Hill Show, though...
With a memory like that, I'll bet you're a trunk, lol.
[blame the victims - the perps have no option but to rape etc]
"The worldview of Oslo Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Unni Wikan, is perfect in representing leftist feminists' stand on Muslim rape and Islamic gender apartheid. Wikan's solution for the high incidence of Muslims raping Norwegian women stresses neither the punishment of the perpetrators nor the repudiation of the Islamic theology that legitimizes such abuse of women. Instead, Wikan recommends that Norwegian women veil themselves. This is because, in Wikan's view, Western women must take their share of responsibility for the rapes, since they are not dressing and behaving according to Muslim understanding."
#5
Instead, Wikan recommends that Norwegian women veil themselves. This is because, in Wikan's view, Western women must take their share of responsibility for the rapes, since they are not dressing and behaving according to Muslim understanding.
All right, this is quite enough. I know this is happening in Norway, but if anyone here in America ever tries to spout this sort of unmitigated bullshit, I'm down with .com on CWII.
#6
Dunno who talked about CW-II first. Doesn't matter. Dave D has said more, far more clearly, far more eloquently, in far fewer words than I'll ever hope to manage. Pure envy here.
And, IMHO, CW-II has already begun. A Perfect Storm thingy. It's just not a domestic shooting war, yet.
#8
Cluck, cluck, cluck. You chickens keep clucking if you want your society destroyed. Otherwise, introduce your daughters to the life work of Samuel Colt.
#9
Fck the feminists, we know it has degenerated into an ideology of uselessness. What I want to know is what happened to the menfolk? God help those bastards should one of them try to lay a finger on a woman who matters to me.
The word "macaca," used by outgoing Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia to describe a Democratic activist of Indian descent who was trailing his campaign, was named the most politically incorrect word of the year on Friday by Global Language Monitor, a nonprofit group that studies word usage. As opposed to Fumbucker, Futhermucker, or any other words I can think of ways to alter, as this is a family site.
"The word might have changed the political balance of the U.S. Senate, since Allen's utterance (an offensive slang term for Indians from the Sub-continent) surely impacted his election bid," said the group's head, Paul JJ Payback Payack.
Allen narrowly lost to Democrat James Webb in November, helping make it possible for the Democrats to capture control of the Senate. It was the word!! THE WORD!!!
In second place on this year's list was "Global Warming Denier," for someone who believes that climate change has moved from scientific theory to dogma. Oh please... on the one hand, you have mass graves, gas chambers, witness testimony... on the other, you have computer generated hockey sticks.
"There are now proposals that 'global warming deniers' be treated the same as 'Holocaust deniers: professional ostracism, belittlement, ridicule and, even, jail," Payack said. Because they have found evidence of global warming on THE MOON? Eeek! Save the polar bears!
In third was "Herstory" substituting for "History." Payack said there are nearly 900,000 Google citations for "Herstory," all based on a mistaken assumption that "history" is a sexist word. Maybe we should have 'theirstory' (for the losers) and 'ourstory' (for the ass-kickers.)
"When Herodotus wrote the first history, the word meant simply an 'inquiry,'" he said. How modest...
Vatican City, 18 Dec. (AKI) - The Vatican could soon have a top football team, the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has said. "I am not ruling out that the Vatican could in the future have a soccer team of great value able to compete with (Italian top Serie A league teams) Roma, Inter, Genoa and Sampdoria," Bertone, the Vatican's equivalent of a prime minister said on Sunday. The cardinal, a staunch supporter of fallen Serie A giants Juventus - which was relegated to Serie B this season following a match-fixing scandal - is a football expert who used to comment soccer matches for a local television when he was archbishop of the port city of Genoa from 2003 until his appointment as secretary of state this year.
Bertone had already hinted a few weeks ago at the Vatican's football ambitions.
"If, for example, we were to recruit Brazilian players from our pontifical universities we could set up a great team," Bertone was quoted as saying by Rome daily La Repubblica. The cardinal added that the Vatican could also discover young talents in parish teams saying that "in the 1990 World Cup I noticed that 42 players from different national teams originally came from parish recreation centres."
Bertone is not the only soccer enthusiast at the Vatican. Another cardinal, Fiorenzo Angelini, a supporter of Serie A team Roma, is a commentator of premier league matches for Vatican Radio and Sat2000, the TV network of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI). The Papal Bulls!
#4
The Pope has plenty once they are called up. All it takes is the courage to do so and a situation dire enough. (I'd be one of the first if not already busy aiding my country).
#5
I'm old enuff to remember priests playing ball sports wid students andor amongst themselves wearing their heavy frocks - on occasion, even a few nuns.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/18/2006 16:06 Comments ||
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#4
And Russia, and most of the Baltic states, and Greenland, and much evidence suggests the east coast of America (or at least Nova Scotia), possibly even western Africa, and beyond.
(PTI): A rogue elephant nicknamed "Laden", which had been at large for three years and was blamed for killing 14 people, has been hunted down in Assam's Sonitpur district. "Ever'body run fer yer lives! Laden's comin', an' he's pissed!"
Deputy Forest Officer Chandan Bora on Sunday said, hunter Dwipen Ram Phukan shot the elephant at Behali Tea Estate in the district with the help of villagers. "Awright, Laden! It's the end o' the road fer you! Go fer yer guns!"
[KERBLAM!... KERBLAM!]
"Aaaarrr! Y'got me, copper!"
The elephant nicknamed after Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden had unleashed a reign of terror in Sonitpur, killing 14 people since 2003 in Monabari, Lhorijan, Gadhonibari and Biswanath Chariali villages. "Hrarrr! Must... trample... infidels!"
Death warrants were issued against the rogue thrice in 2003, 2004 and 2006, but it had proved as elusive as its namesake. "Laden? Izzat you?"
"Yeah, it's me, Mumbles!"
"Cheeze! I almost din't recognize yez with that moustache!"
The tuskless male aged between 45 and 50 years was about ten feet in height. "Aye, lads. He wuz a big 'un, all right!"
The villagers helped in locating and identifying the elusive rogue, whose footprints confirmed that it was the "most wanted" elephant, Bora said. "There he is, officer!"
"Ummm... You sure that's him? That elephant's got a moustache and the one on the wanted poster..."
"Shoot, you fool! Shoot! He's heeled!"
While the villagers heaved a sigh of relief, several conservationists were up in arms against the killing, saying there was no way to ascertain whether the dead elephant was the rogue. They expressed an apprehension that an innocent elephant may have been the hunter's victim.
CSI: Assam had the footprints. No two are the same. Case closed. Free shoes, belts, and wallets for the villagers!
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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(PTI): Prince Charles plans to build a six-bedroom classical mansion for his son William in an isolated valley on the Welsh border, fuelling speculation about the latter's marriage.
Rumours that William will soon propose to Kate Middleton, his girlfriend of three years, were fuelled by her appearance at his graduation from Sandhurst, the British military academy, on Friday. Kate and her parents were accompanied by Jamie Lawther-Pinkerton, the private secretary to princes William and Harry. The passing out parade marked the first time when William's girlfriend was invited at a high-profile event attended by the Queen. So, um, will it have stables? Camilla might wanna visit.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
So, um, will it have stables? Camilla might wanna visit.
That's just a gratuitously mean and over the top insult, dot. You owe an apology to the horses.
#4
Maybe Jimmy Carter could build it for them personally and stay in the Welsh hinterlands forever a few years.
Snarkiness aside, I like Kate Middleton. She's pretty, smart, and seems to know how to keep her frillies on when the cameras are around and she is careful in her public persona. I also like Price William; if she's the girl for him I wish them both all blessings.
#6
William and Middleton have maintained an incredible amount of dignity when it comes to the Royals IMO.
Of course, since he's been the heir, and a graduate of Sandhurst, it's been expected, same as it was for Charlie.
It's surprising, but Sandhurst and the Royal Military tends to show the Royal heir absolutely _zero_ mercy, restraint, or consideration. The heir is expected to excel, but he must excel on his own and _earn_ his way - little or no favoritism is granted according to what I know.
Mile-high hopes are dimming that Denver will secure the 2008 Democratic convention. Democrats posted against-the-odds victories in several statewide elections last month in the West, making Denver an attractive choice for a party looking to expand on recent gains in the Republican-leaning region. But even once-optimistic Colorado boosters are lowering their odds to 50-50 that Denver will beat out New York City for the convention.
Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar said this week that in private conversations Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean had expressed legitimate concerns about whether Denver can raise the necessary $55 million and put on a seamless convention. So the host city has to come up with $55 million on top of providing space? Who's running the DNC, Kofi Annan? And the "seamless convention" part seems rather unfair, since no one else has done so.
Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak said Friday that whether Democrats will pick Denver "comes down to the practicality of (Denver) being able to do this."
"There probably is some sentimental favoritism toward Denver because the West is the new Democratic ground, and Colorado did so well in the last election," Waak said. "But everything I've heard is that this costs a lot of money to do and obviously New York is a much bigger city with a much bigger corporate base to raise money from." The Benedict Arnold corporations, as J. Forbes Kerry would say.
#2
Here's what they've got to look forward to. Boston 2004. I remember it well:
In addition to the events such as a planned Tall Ships visit cancelled by the city, widely announced rapid transit and road closures provoked thousands of area businesses (even outside the city) to shut down for the duration, and tourists who would normally have visited Boston at that time stayed away in droves. Furthermore, the anticipated gain in business in the restaurant trades never materialized, as security and other considerations kept the delegates to restricted venues. The Boston Globe estimated the economic loss to the city inflicted by the convention to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
The plan was to basically shut down all access to the city between 3PM and midnight. And when even the Globe admits it was a fiasco, it was a fiasco...
(Except the hysterical pointing and laughing by everybody else.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/18/2006 15:27 Comments ||
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#5
The original figure was 80 mil but since then Howlin' Howard has learned that Coloradoans expect their politicians to be graft-lite so he lowered the price.
#6
Oh nooooooo... not ANOTHER convention circus. I live in Manhattan, and these things f* us 8 ways from Tuesday.
Prediction: If New York gets the convention, LOTS of NYPD will be putting in early vacation requests.
That said, they did a fantastic job for the 2004 convention, and us 'normal' New Yorkers deeply appreciate it.
Shoulda sent her him shopping on a budget and timer.
An Indian runner who won a silver medal in the women's 800 meters in the Asian Games this month has failed a gender test and is expected to be stripped of the medal, according to reports Monday.
Santhi Soudarajan took the gender test in Doha, Qatar, after the victory.
The test reports sent to the Indian Olympic Association on Sunday said Soudarajan "does not possess the sexual characteristics of a woman," The Times of India reported. The test was administered by a medical commission set up by the games' organizers.
There are no compulsory gender tests during events sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federation, but athletes can be asked to take a gender test. The medical evaluation panel usually includes a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, and an internal medicine specialist.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, chairman of the medical commission of the Indian Olympic Association told the Indian Express newspaper that the Olympic Council of Asia had been informed of the results of Soudarajan's gender test.
Sports officials in the athlete's home state of Tamil Nadu said that they have no information on her whereabouts.
"If the reports are true, then it is very sad and extremely disappointing," her coach, P. Nagarajan, told the Indian Express.
#1
A lot of people say, "What's that?" It's Pat!
A lot of people ask, "Who's he? Or she?"
A ma'am or a sir, accept him or her
or whatever it might be.
It's time for androgyny.
Here comes Pat!
Posted by: Mike ||
12/18/2006 6:42 Comments ||
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#2
Uh, they needed four experts to figure this out? Isn't that overkill?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/18/2006 9:57 Comments ||
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#3
Pardon me if I come across as simple, but, uh, wouldn't you just need to check one area, maybe two? How hard can a "gender test" be?
Posted by: The Doctor ||
12/18/2006 10:08 Comments ||
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#5
If a guy had sexual reassignment surgery then by first glimps would pass as a woman. There wouldn't be the "twigs and berries". Testosterone would be lower and supplemented female hormones would be difficult to suggest he was prev a man. Closer exam by GYN would see a reconstructed 'mangina' and augmented breasts. No female plumbing. etc
#8
But if the doctors have noticed a genetic problem, like the old tests they used at the Olympics, the doctors should just shut up. Typically, "XY females" have normal female musculature, and are athletically indistinguishable from ordinary females. In fact, one of the causes, the "androgen insensitivity syndromes", makes affected people to be immune to the effects of anabolic steroids.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/18/2006 17:11 Comments ||
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Police in Pakistan say at least 22 women and children have been killed and more than 30 injured after a fire broke out in a tent at a wedding party. They say the deaths occurred at a village in eastern Pakistan, about 120 kilometres from the city of Multan, when a wall collapsed after the blaze triggered a stampede. The fire was caused by a high-powered electric light in the large canvas tent where the guests were celebrating. The bride was among those killed. And doesn't that ruin the festivities?
The male wedding guests were in a separate tent that was not damaged.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Imagine that, by one of lifes more serious vicissitudes, you had to serve as someones dog. Cheer up: you would do better than you think, at least at what might seem the hardest part of the job, tracking a scent.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that people can follow a scent surprisingly well, as long as they do not mind abandoning all dignity, putting their nose right to the ground and crawling along with their bottoms in the air.
But the achievement, as Samuel Johnson remarked in another context, is like a dogs walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Its a GUY THINGY that many men do but don't want to admit they do. SAS, Army Ranger or SEAL, etc, you do what needs to be done to find an enemy, or to find food.
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.
Jamie Pandaram
Vatican City, 18 Dec. (AKI) - The Vatican could soon have a top football team, the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has said. "I am not ruling out that the Vatican could in the future have a soccer team of great value able to compete with (Italian top Serie A league teams) Roma, Inter, Genoa and Sampdoria," Bertone, the Vatican's equivalent of a prime minister said on Sunday. The cardinal, a staunch supporter of fallen Serie A giants Juventus - which was relegated to Serie B this season following a match-fixing scandal - is a football expert who used to comment soccer matches for a local television when he was archbishop of the port city of Genoa from 2003 until his appointment as secretary of state this year.
(PTI): A rogue elephant nicknamed "Laden", which had been at large for three years and was blamed for killing 14 people, has been hunted down in Assam's Sonitpur district. 
(PTI): Prince Charles plans to build a six-bedroom classical mansion for his son William in an isolated valley on the Welsh border, fuelling speculation about the latter's marriage. 
Police in Pakistan say at least 22 women and children have been killed and more than 30 injured after a fire broke out in a tent at a wedding party. They say the deaths occurred at a village in eastern Pakistan, about 120 kilometres from the city of Multan, when a wall collapsed after the blaze triggered a stampede. The fire was caused by a high-powered electric light in the large canvas tent where the guests were celebrating. The bride was among those killed. 
Imagine that, by one of lifes more serious vicissitudes, you had to serve as someones dog. Cheer up: you would do better than you think, at least at what might seem the hardest part of the job, tracking a scent.
