A divorcee has been found guilty of plotting to murder her multi-millionaire partner after she hired an "assassin" on a website called www.Hitman.us.com. Sharon Collins, 45, a divorced mother-of-two, is said to have hatched a conspiracy with a man from the site, an Egyptian poker player who called himself Tony Luciano, to murder PJ Howard, a property tycoon worth £10 million and his two sons.
But the hitman, real name Essam Eid, tried to hatch a separate deal with Howard and his sons, telling them they had a contract out on their heads and demanding £70,000 to terminate it. The move led to the Howards reporting the incident to the police and the bizarre plot unravelling.
Yesterday Collins was found guilty of conspiring to hire a hitman at Dublin central Criminal Court and Eid of demanding money. The court heard that Collins, who has been seeing Howard for five years, came up with the plan after the tycoon, who she said frequented prostitutes and swingers clubs, made unreasonable demands on her including that she become involved in "stranger sex".
She suggested he should meet an accident but Eid suggested poisoning.
But the plot unravelled when Eid flew to Ireland in September 6 and burgled computers from the Howard family business and then offered them back for a reward. It was during these negotiations that he told them there was a contract on their heads and the police became involved. Collins and Eid were both arrested and the conspiracy uncovered.
Collins, who with Eid is due to be sentenced on Oct 8, told the court she was writing a book about the incident.
Tony Snow, a conservative writer and commentator who cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President Bush's press secretary, died Saturday of colon cancer. He was 53.
"America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character," President Bush said in a statement from Camp David, where he was spending the weekend. "It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day. He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work."
Snow died at 2 a.m. at Georgetown University Hospital, according to former employer Fox News.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/12/2008 14:26 ||
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What the president said. Not enough of us can go to our deaths knowing we've made a difference in the world. May his memory bring comfort to those he left behind.
The pastor of a Kentucky church that handles snakes in religious rites was among 10 people arrested by wildlife officers in a crackdown on the venomous snake trade.
More than 100 snakes, many of them deadly, were confiscated in the undercover sting after Thursday's arrests, said Col. Bob Milligan, director of law enforcement for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
Most were taken from the Middlesboro home of Gregory James Coots, including 42 copperheads, 11 timber rattlesnakes, three cottonmouth water moccasins, a western diamondback rattlesnake, two cobras and a puff adder.
Handling snakes is practiced in a handful of fundamentalist churches across Appalachia, based on the interpretation of Bible verses saying true believers can take up serpents without being harmed. The practice is illegal in most states, including Kentucky.
Coots, 36, is pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, where a Tennessee woman died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service in 1995. Her husband died three years later when he was bitten by a snake in northeastern Alabama.
Coots was charged Thursday with buying, selling and possessing illegal reptiles. He had no listed telephone number and couldn't be reached for comment. There was no phone listing for the church.
"It is disturbing to me that individuals would keep such dangerous wildlife in their homes and in neighborhoods where they put their families, visitors and neighbors at such high risk," Milligan said.
The snakes, plus one alligator, were turned over to the nonprofit Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade. Most appeared to have been captured from the wild, with some imported from Asia and Africa.
Zoo Director Jim Harrison said some of the animals would likely have become exotic pets had they not been seized.
"There's been a large trade in exotics for years," he said. "Some people are just fascinated with them."
Undercover officers purchased more than 200 illegal reptiles during the investigation, some of which were advertised for sale on Web sites. One such Web site lists copperheads for $50 each and cobras for $450.
"You can purchase anything off the Internet except common sense," Harrison said. "A venomous snake isn't a pet. You don't play with it. If you do, you're an idiot."
#2
Handling snakes is practiced in a handful of fundamentalist churches across Appalachia, based on the interpretation of Bible verses saying true believers can take up serpents without being harmed. The practice is illegal in most states, including Kentucky.
I don't know why it's illegal. It has a certain Darwinian appeal to me.
#4
They've been pissing their pants over these idiots for a couple of years now. Personally, I think the problem would have taken care of itself.
I can't believe that Kentucky's law enforcement community doesn't have more pressing issues to deal with (pot growing all through the hills). Picking the low lying fruit first I guess.
#5
There's good money in snake busts. Grab the beasts, then sell them off to licensed collectors for tens of thousands. The ASPCA is big into this racket too. If you bust pot growers you can't sell the siezed property.
#6
Let 'em have all the copperheads, rattlers and water moccasins they want. But puff adders and cobras are non-native species and it would be very bad news if they got loose.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 ||
07/12/2008 12:08 Comments ||
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#7
I truly believe they should leave these people alone. There's an enormous "illegal" problem in this nation and it ain't snakes...
#8
Way back when I was 9 or 10 a Traveling Tent Revival came to town. Turned out they were snake handlers. Me and 2 other guys wanted to see the snakes so we snuck out behind the tent and opened the cooler the snakes were in. There were snakes there all right but they were on ice so when the "Preacher" took out a snake it was cold and very lethargic. One of the guys ran home and came back with some turpemtine and poured it on the snakes. Boy-howdy were they pissed. Later on in the service when the Preacher reached in and got a snake it was still mad and bit him. Thank the Lord nobody ever found out who put the turpentine on the snakes. The Revival packed up and left the next morning.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/12/2008 16:20 Comments ||
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#9
In the early 1900's a Germany speaking preacher came from Kentucky to a Lutheran Church in Alma Nebraska. The people respected him and his family. Come spring it was time for the people to pitch in and do a spring cleaning on the church. Well, the altar rattled...rattled pretty bad...
After a quick peek inside they had an impromptu Church meeting.
They TARED AND FEATHERED the Pastor and tied him in that state to the cow catcher of the next train out of town!
Turned out the wife and kids were scared to death of him. They gave them title to the parsonage. It ended well!
#10
Snake handling has always been a scam. They force the reptiles to inhale heavy smoke before they are handled, thus leaving them lethargic while they detoxify. Still backwoods types are often bitten by the creatures. They get no sympathy from me.
I'll bet the Puff Adder is strictly for show. They are one of the most dangerous beasts on earth. Only a moron would risk passing them to another yahoo.
Harvard researchers have discovered half a dozen new genes involved in autism that suggest the disorder strikes in a brain that can't properly form new connections.
The findings also may help explain why intense education programs do help some autistic children -- because certain genes that respond to experience weren't missing, they were just stuck in the "off" position.
"The circuits are there but you have to give it an extra push," said Dr. Gary Goldstein of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which wasn't involved in the gene hunt but is well-known for its autism behavioral therapy.
Continued on Page 49
#1
I wonder if there are some different genetic 'defects' that are responsible for the mind of the successful modern politician. Something that generates that inability to tell the truth (or perhaps even to know the truth) and and egotism that defines what they say as inerently being the truth. (And I am actually being partly serious about this, and not just making a snide comment.)
#3
I have a 15year old son with Azbergers. It is a "mild" condition only in comparison to full blown autism. OCD is part and parcel of the condition - as is the inate selfishness (lack of empathy) found in autistic spectrum children. They are also fond of compulsive touching - an issue frought with legal perils in our (often)over-sensitive society. There is no cure - one tries to gradualy edge the child into the mores of the societal mainstream - but this can be a glacier like process. Many of these kids, by necessity, will live in adult group homes upon reaching legal age.
#4
It depends on the depth of the Asperger's Syndrome, borgboy. Some Aspies, as they apparently call themselves, are capable of being taught the behaviours and skills -- and even too some extent empathy -- necessary to function as well as Normals, and of discovering the joys of loving and being loved. Others, sadly, are as you say, but better is still better than nothing. For full-blown autistics as well.
In my limited experience, only 20% of therapists recognize and know how to handle Asperger's. Milder cases usually get diagnosed, medicated, and therapied as ADHD, which is unhelpful. Finding a knowledgeable therapist is critical. Anti-anxiety medication and therapy helps, too, but the anxiety will persist and increase until the Asperger's is addressed. A good contact, surprisingly, is the Disability Services office at the nearest big university. They should be accustomed to what is necessary to accommodate Aspies, and will know who in the area is qualified to work with them.
For those who are curious, here is the Wikipedia article on Asperger's.
#5
In those who lack empathy, often it is effective for them to learn to affect empathy. "When they do X, then you do Y" is a good substitute, and like learning manners. Men hold open the door for women "because".
The plus side of Aspergers is that it often enhances the attention span. If this is used to study, it gives an advantage in learning. So this should be cultivated. That is, learning to ignore everything else until a subject has been mastered.
I saw a good example of this in a man with Aspergers, who spent the better part of four days intensely studying the study manual for the Microsoft Certified Engineer Exam (MSCE), one of the hardest tests around. He just refused to be distracted by anything, and did not get bored. Of course he had breaks to eat, sleep and shower, etc. But otherwise he had no distractions.
He then took the test and passed it, an amazing accomplishment, almost guaranteeing a high paying job at that time.
In support of this, a strict daily routine would also be good to cultivate. A strong element of order will in the long run make their life much easier.
These are the never-before-seen last known photos of Sen. John McCain's Hoa Lo prison cell, images that prove that even after being cleaned up for an American historical filmmaker, the terror of the Hanoi Hilton is real. Debra Watkins, who took the pictures and video in 1993 and 1994 before this and other areas of the century-old prison were destroyed, provided them to Whispers as part of a story that appears in the Washington Whispers column. Watkins did volumes of research before traveling to Hanoi, sparked by reports the government planned to rip down most of the facility.
She was able to find McCain's cell which she says is pictured in the above photos. The first shows an official opening the cell. You can clearly see old locks used presumably to hold leg irons and other torture implements on the inside. The second shot shows the inside of McCain's cell and the leg iron contraption Watkins believes he was tortured with. Amazingly, in her 31 hours of video she also has an interview with McCain, seen in the third photo, as she shows him her pictures of the cell he lived in solitary for two years. She recalls that he "was emotional not teary." He even laughed at some of the shots. We haven't seen these images before because while she planned to produce a film or documentary long ago, it got pushed aside as she dealt with some family illnesses. She is now offering it to cable news companies because she has heard of reports of people questioning McCains POW experience. Asked how she felt leaving the prison years ago, Watkins focused on McCain's efforts at the time to forgive and forget and open relations with Vietnam. "I don't know if I could forgive and forget," she told me. Nonetheless, it is a tourist destination now, one even McCain visited in 2000.
#1
The video was funny. I expected something else after all the maps in Rainbow 6 Vegas that were built for training and that are crawling with terrorists you know.
Could be classified WoT, year 500+
Morocco continued to press its claims over the disputed Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla during Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's visit this week, Spanish newspapers reported Saturday.
El Mundo said Morocco had hardened its position over the two enclaves on Morocco's northern coast, which have been a source of friction between the two countries. It cited a senior Spanish diplomatic source as saying the subject was raised during Friday's talks between Zapatero and his Moroccan counterpart Abbas El Fassi. "We have the right to get Ceuta and Melilla back and I told Mr Zapatero that," El Mundo and another newspaper, ABC, quoted El Fassi as telling the Moroccan media.
Rabat considers Ceuta and Melilla, held by Spain since 1580 and 1496, to be "occupied." Madrid refuses any discussion on the subject. Don't forget al-Andalus. Kufr occupied since 1492.
Parts of it were Christian long before 1492; parts of it never fell to the Moors.
Moroccan-Spanish relations have thawed since Zapatero's Socialist Party came to power, following an end to eight years of rule by the conservative Popular Party government led by Jose Maria Aznar. Chances of a Re-Reconquista looking up!
A low point in Spanish-Moroccan relations was a dispute in 2002 when Spanish troops expelled a group of Moroccan soldiers from the disputed Mediterranean island of Perjil. Tensions simmered again in November 2007 when Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia visited Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco recalled its ambassador to Spain in protest after the royal visit was announced. The ambassador returned to his post in January. Spain is Morocco's most important trading partner after France.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2008 18:54 ||
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The nation of Spain existed well before the concept of Morocco... so how can they have a claim?
CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, July 11 (AFP) Four members of one family were trampled to death early Friday after a herd of wild elephants strayed into a remote village in southeastern Bangladesh, police said. The incident happened in Banderbon district, around 140 kilometres south of the port city Chittagong, the area's deputy police chief Syed Tariqul Hasan told AFP.
Hasan said a farmer, his wife, their 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter were killed when the elephants destroyed their home while they were sleeping.
Never forget. Never forget. And remember the role of the Dutch ...
SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Hercegovina, July 11 (AFP) Some 30,000 Muslims from across Bosnia gathered Friday to remember the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and bury the remains of more than 300 newly identified victims. The sombre funeral ceremony for the 308 Muslims, who were among 8,000 killed in Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, was held at a memorial site just outside the eastern town. The remains of the victims, aged between 15 and 84, were exhumed from mass graves after the end of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war and identified by DNA analysis. Thousands more are yet to be exhumed and identified in the area, where some 70 mass graves have been uncovered.
In Belgrade, President Boris Tadic vowed Serbia's new government would do its utmost to “arrest” former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, still wanted on genocide charges in relation to the massacre. Mladic and the other main accused, his former political leader Radovan Karadzic, remain at large and are thought to be hiding in Serb-run parts of the Balkans.
Srebrenica remains a part of the Serb-run entity of Republika Srpska, which along with the Muslim-Croat Federation makes up post-war Bosnia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2008 12:41 ||
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Search "Srebrenica" on youtube. That is the worst scam going. Serb ethnic cleansing of Muslims followed Muslim cleansing of other nationalities. In fact, to this day it is unlawful to either build a Christian church in Bosnia. Permits to renovate of even repair are rarely given.
Contrast Euro treatment of the remnant savages of Ottoman imperialism, with Muslim attitudes to Jews and Christians in the Middle East. Since 1958, no American President has said a single word about the oppression of Christians in the Levant. In fact, tens of billions of dollars have been hand delivered to the oppressors.
France has denied citizenship to a veiled Moroccan woman on the grounds that her "radical" practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes, a legal ruling showed on Friday. Le Monde newspaper said it was the first time a Muslim applicant had been rejected for reasons to do with personal religious practice. "She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes," said a ruling by the Council of State handed down last month and sent to Reuters on Friday to confirm a report in Le Monde. Married to a French national, the woman arrived in France in 2000, speaks good French and has three children born in France.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
good, now "get out"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2008 0:08 Comments ||
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OK, the lab version works---now get it into mass production.
Textile mills and other industries in Faisalabad were closed down on Friday in protest against high power and gas tariffs, forcing thousands of labourers into unemployment.
At least one million labourers have been affected with the closure of 2,600 textile and power looms and sizing units in the industrial capital of Pakistan.
Wake-up call: Textile Exporters Joint Action Committee Chairman Asim Khursheed says the closure is only the "first phase" of the protest. "Industries have been closed for five days. The protesting industrialists will meet again on July 15 and choose to close their units for an indefinite period if the government does not issue its proposed package of subsidies." He demanded that the government withdraw 31 percent increase in gas prices, assure the industrialists that it will not increase power tariffs, bring down the interest rate and again issue the research and development fund.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Reasonable strikes move against the entity that is causing something negative, that strikers can change. Textile mills?
#2
"The protesting industrialists will meet again on July 15 and choose to close their units for an indefinite period if the government does not issue its proposed package of subsidies."
*Snort*
That's a leeetle bit different from the way "strikes" are done here. Wonder if it will catch on? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/12/2008 18:38 Comments ||
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HANOI, Vietnam, July 11 (AP) Five people, including three children, died in central Vietnam when 30-year-old unexploded ordnance left behind from the Vietnam War exploded, police and state media reported Friday. Three boys, aged 12 to 14, were killed in an explosion Thursday in the Hai Lang district of Quang Tri province, said a district police officer. The boys discovered four unexploded bombs in bushes and the explosives went off when they examined them, he said.
On Tuesday, two men were killed in the central highlands province of Kon Tum when an artillery shell they were cutting up for scrap metal exploded, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2008 12:37 ||
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I don't recall any bombs being dropped south of the DMZ. They probably were not artillery from the Dong Ha base. Perhaps they were dropped by NVA rocketeers being pursued by Marines or nailed by the 1/40th 105 battery.
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.
A divorcee has been found guilty of plotting to murder her multi-millionaire partner after she hired an "assassin" on a website called www.Hitman.us.com. Sharon Collins, 45, a divorced mother-of-two, is said to have hatched a conspiracy with a man from the site, an Egyptian poker player who called himself Tony Luciano, to murder PJ Howard, a property tycoon worth £10 million and his two sons.
CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, July 11 (AFP) Four members of one family were trampled to death early Friday after a herd of wild elephants strayed into a remote village in southeastern Bangladesh, police said. The incident happened in Banderbon district, around 140 kilometres south of the port city Chittagong, the area's deputy police chief Syed Tariqul Hasan told AFP. 
HANOI, Vietnam, July 11 (AP) Five people, including three children, died in central Vietnam when 30-year-old unexploded ordnance left behind from the Vietnam War exploded, police and state media reported Friday. Three boys, aged 12 to 14, were killed in an explosion Thursday in the Hai Lang district of Quang Tri province, said a district police officer. The boys discovered four unexploded bombs in bushes and the explosives went off when they examined them, he said. 
