Wednesday - January 07, 2009

Still No Kim

There’s this hole in the blogosphere left by Mr. DuToit’s retirement. Not just the full throated opinions or the guns, but the uses of both. You can find your own B&W pictures of old women to look at. I like the younger ones better, and in color.

Reader Guitar Teacher (I think that’s what the acronym means) sends this one in. I guess we can establish a dead goblin count here too, though I was thinking of some more subtle name ... tax saving iteration? ... IQ raiser? ... gene pool filter? Help me out. Regardless of a name, our count now stands at 2. That’s the same number of tours of duty that Guitar Teacher did in the Army, back in ‘66 and ‘70. Thanks for going over GT, twice, and thanks for coming back.

Man fatally shot in gun battle

[Cincinnati Ohio] COLERAIN TWP. - One of two men who broke into an apartment was shot and killed in a gun battle with the homeowner, the Hamilton County sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

The sheriff’s office said two armed men forced their way into an apartment in the Burgundy Court Apartments in the 3200 block of Rocker Drive about 11:19 p.m. Tuesday. The homeowner and suspects got into a gun fight with several shots fired.

One of the suspects was shot several times. He was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. The other man ran away and is believed to have been shot and may try to get medical help.

The homeowner was not injured during the gun battle, the sheriff’s office said.

The name of the person shot and killed has not been released. There is little information about the other suspect, other than he is a male black who may have gunshot wounds.

No charges have been filed.

Of course they weren’t. What, you think this is London or something? Puh-leaz.

Now, the thought provoking part of this article is that this home defense situation occurred in an apartment complex. I live in a condo park; if I ever had to use a gun inside here, it would go right through my walls, through my neighbor’s walls, through her neighbor’s walls, and maybe even through his. Plus whatever else might be in the way. That leaves too much to chance. I don’t know if it’s what I’d call a fully responsible action. Obviously, you save your own life and your family first. But ... what kind of weapon can do the job and not go too far? Soft lead low velocity wadcutters? .79 caliber lead musket balls in a little blackpowder derringer? Forget bow and arrow, spears, machette, swords, axes. We are talking some kind of gun here. I’d say shotguns, maybe, but there is that website ... whazzit called again? ... oh yeah, Box o’ Truth ... where some guy tests various ammunition against drywall and water jugs and stuff. [his webpage is dangerous. It will pull you in and suck an hour of your life away before you even notice] And so far, all he has found was ammo that was either not enough, or way too much. So there is no right answer right now ... but I did notice that Mr. Box O’ Truth there only tested scatterguns with #8 shot and 00 Buck, and there are lots of shot sizes in between. Like #4 and #2. And he never tries low velocity rounds either. So maybe ...

   Tuesday - January 06, 2009

Natural Born Redneck

Four-year-old boy shoots babysitter

An angry 4-year-old boy in Ohio grabbed a gun from a closet and shot his babysitter, police said.

Eighteen-year-old Nathan Beavers was admitted to the hospital on Sunday with minor wounds to his arm and side after the shotgun attack. Police said another teenager was also injured.

Witnesses told police the child was angry because Mr Beavers accidentally stepped on his foot. Mr Beavers was watching the child at a mobile home in Jackson with several other teenagers and several other children. The Jackson County Sheriff, John Shashteen, said authorities were investigating. The child has not been charged.

Mr Beavers was being treated at Ohio State University Medical Centre in Columbus for gunshot wounds to his arm and side according to The Columbus Dispatch.

“He [the boy] didn’t say much,” Chief Deputy Jim Ephlin said of the suspect, the paper reported. “He said he was mad at Nathan. He said, ‘I’m going to go get a gun.’ The others thought he was kidding and was going to get a toy gun.”

The boy is in the custody of his parents “until we see what the prosecutor wants to do,” Mr Ephlin said. The parents of the injured youth told deputies they did not want any legal action taken against the boy, he added, the paper said.

   Friday - January 02, 2009

Not Everything Is In Recession

News From Fwance: Car Burnings Up 30%

[late breaking update] The French press reported that the Interior Ministry released a final “verified” count of 1,147 vehicles burned in France over New Year’s Eve. The number is up 30.64% from last year’s total, 878.

[early version of story] REUTERS - At least 445 cars were torched over the night of New Year’s Eve in France, a 20 percent rise on last year, but there were relatively few clashes with police, the Interior Ministry and police said on Thursday.

Car burnings are regular occurrences in France but the registering the New Year’s Eve total has become something of a tradition since they achieved symbolic status in the violent rioting that shook many of the country’s poor suburbs in 2005.

With riots in Athens heightening worries that the economic crisis might spark a resurgence of the violence seen in the run-down “banlieues” then, 35,000 police were mobilised on New Year’s Eve, some 7,000 more than last year.

Officials were also on guard against possible attacks after five sticks of dynamite were left in a Paris department store just before Christmas by a so-far unidentified group demanding a withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan.

An Interior Ministry official said that as of 6:00 a.m. (0500 GMT), 445 car burnings had been registered, against 372 at the same time a year before and police had made 288 arrests, compared with 259 on Dec. 31, 2007.

“There were few ‘contacts’ with police, gendarmes and fire services but an increase in the number of burnings for which we don’t have an explanation at the moment,” the official said.

There were around 50 burnings in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where police made 17 arrests, including four people caught while setting fire to cars.

In the southern city of Toulouse, 12 cars were burned in areas at the edge of the city limits, while in Nantes, around 10 cars were torched although police in the western city said New Year’s Eve had been “pretty calm”.

I have no idea if this means that there are more “disaffected youths” in the country, or that the lower price of gas has made this hobby easier for more folks to enjoy. But if I was a fwench car insurance company, I’d write all my policies in Germany.


Time seems to think car burning there is now a “new tradition” practiced as “a regular form of expression for disenfranchised suburban youths” along with a bit of insurance scamming. And besides, this isn’t such a big deal; over 40,000 cars per year get the match up. Merde!

Interesting article for the gun fans among us…

New technique lifts fingerprints from cleaned guns - gizmag.com

Wiping the gun clean has long been considered best practice for villains but may soon become a quaint custom as researchers have developed a way to ‘visualise fingerprints’ even after the print itself has been removed by measuring the corrosion of the surface by deposits from the fingerprints. The technique can enhance – after firing– a fingerprint that has been deposited on a small calibre metal cartridge case before it is fired. The technique promises the ability to reopen many cases and solve cold cases around the world because the “underlying print never disappears” according to the scientists.

The Forensic Research Centre at the University of Leicester (UK) develops new ways of taking evidence from a crime scene http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_scene . Already world-leading in such areas as using X-Rays or electrically charging metal surfaces for fingerprint enhancement , they have now developed an entirely new way of detecting fingerprints – great fodder for Crime Scene Investigation fans … and one that could realistically result in thousands of cold cases being reopened around the world.

Forensic scientists at the University of Leicester, working with Northamptonshire Police, have announced a major breakthrough in crime detection which could lead to hundreds of cold cases being reopened.

Dr John Bond, Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester and Scientific Support Manager at Northamptonshire Police said: “For the first time we can get prints from people who handled a cartridge before it was fired.”

“Wiping it down, washing it in hot soapy water makes no difference - and the heat of the shot helps the process we use.

“The procedure works by applying an electric charge to a metal - say a gun or bullet - which has been coated in a fine conducting powder, similar to that used in photocopiers.

“Even if the fingerprint has been washed off, it leaves a slight corrosion on the metal and this attracts the powder when the charge is applied, so showing up a residual fingerprint.

“The technique works on everything from bullet casings to machine guns. Even if heat vaporises normal clues, police will be able to prove who handled a particular gun.”

A bit more at the link. Stumbled across this as it was posted at FreeRepublic and wanted to share this interesting article with the BMEWS gun fans. 

   Friday - December 26, 2008

Thousands of foreign prisoners freed early – with compensation !!!!!!!!!  What? No Kisses and

Dear BMEWS Diary,

Today is the day after Christmas, Dec.26th. 
I was a reasonably good boy yesterday and did not swear and cuss once or use lord’s name in vain the whoooooole day.
Well, not within the hearing of the grownups I didn’t.
I did overeat however.  I committed gluttony but it wasn’t my fault. I was not responsible for my piggish behavior. It was the cook’s fault. And the turkey for allowing itself to become a meal. I think I may sue the farmer from whence that dumb turkey originated.

I wasn’t feeling too well last night.  I kept hearing this gobble noise in the middle of the night.

But today is Monday, whoops. I mean Friday and the start of brand new day.
And dear Bmews Diary, we know what that means.  Don’t we?

I AM SEEING RED AGAIN! If this lunacy is happening here, then it has to be the same in my homeland.

Here I was minding my own own business and that of my sore tummy which thank you was improved after breakfast.
I made a nice calming cup of tea as suggested by my nurse/wife/psychiatrist, opened the morning paper and came upon this on the other side of the first page.

Thousands of foreign prisoners have been released from jail before the end of their sentence and given cash to compensate for the loss of food and board.


By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent
Last Updated: 8:04AM GMT 26 Dec 2008

Figures released by the Conservatives show that 2,196 foreign offenders have been invited to take part in the early release scheme, called End of Custody Licence, since its introduction 15 months ago in response to prison overcrowding.

As well as walking free having served less than half of their sentence, each released prisoner is entitled to around £7 a day in compensation to make up for missing out on the state-provided food and lodging they would have received had they remained in jail.

Offenders released on End of Custody Licence receive an initial discharge payment of £46, followed by the subsistence allowance of £47.12 a week, up to a cap of £168.24.

If all those eligible received the full allowance, the taxpayer would by now have paid out £369,455 in compensation to foreign prisoners who had been released early.

The disclosure, in a written Parliamentary answer from the Ministry of Justice, follows recent pledges by Gordon Brown that foreign nationals who commit crimes in Britain “will be deported” and “will pay the price”.

Nick Herbert, the shadow justice secretary, said that for every three foreign prisoners the Home Office was now removing from the UK, two more were allowed to go free and six entered the prison system.

He added: “The Government want to create the impression that they’re successfully deporting foreign national criminals, but the truth is that for every three prisoners they remove, two more are released onto the streets.

“Far from paying the price as Gordon Brown promised, foreign national offenders are being rewarded by serving less than half of their jail sentence and with taxpayers’ cash in their back pockets.”

There are now around a thousand more foreign prisoners in British jails than in 2006 when Charles Clarke was forced to resign as Home Secretary amid accusations that the Home Office had failed to deport overseas offenders.

The number of foreigners in prison currently stands at 11,168, up 11 per cent since Mr Clarke’s departure, with offenders from Vietnam and Poland accounting for more than half of the increase. There are 460 Vietnamese in UK jails along with 452 Poles.

Such is the scale of offending by foreigners that there are now three jails reserved exclusively for prisoners from overseas: Canterbury in Kent, Bullwood Hall in Essex and Morton Hall in Lincoln. The equivalent of one more prison is taken up by offenders who have served their sentence and are awaiting deportation, at an average annual cost of £40,000 each – a total of £22 million.

It is possible to deport an offender only if an agreement exists with their country of origin to take them.

The Tories say that Government pledges to sign agreements with Jamaica, China and Nigeria have yet to be fulfilled.

David Hanson, the Justice Minister, said that the early release scheme would end as soon as work was completed to expand the number of prison places.

He added: “All prisoners are provided with basic subsistence to enable them to pay for accommodation, food and essentials following release.”

Meanwhile, separately the Home Office announced that a record number of foreign prisoners had been deported in the last 12 months.

The UK Border Agency sent 5,000 foreign offenders back to their country of origin, exceeding last year’s total of 4,200.

They included 50 killers and attempted killers, more than 200 sex offenders and more than 1,500 convicted of drug offenses.

Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister, said: “Britain will not tolerate those that come here and break our rules.”

(YEAH, LIKE ANYONE BUYS INTO THAT. BAD GUYS DON’T)

TELEGRAPH

   Wednesday - December 17, 2008

WTH News

Life-size Al Capone statue stolen

A life-size statue of Al Capone has been stolen from a garden in Kent.  Owner Pauline McCook, who discovered the glass fibre figure was missing from her Isle of Sheppey home on Wednesday, said it was like “part of the family”.

The grandmother, who likes to decorate the statue for Christmas, only discovered the theft when she went outside with tinsel to drape over it.  Her family is offering a reward for the return of the statue, which was taken between 1 and 10 December.

Kent Police said it was “an extremely unusual item to steal”.  Officers said the statue had been attached to a wrought-iron chair in the garden in Minster, near Sheerness. The “extremely heavy” statue would have been moved by more than one person and transported in a vehicle, the force added.

The amount of reward on offer has not been specified.

Now I’m wondering ... do these folks have a whole garden full of painted statues of famous people? Or do they just have an Al Capone fixation? Either way, pretty strange. I haven’t the slightest idea who would steal such a thing - other than frat boys - or where this post is going, so here’s a picture of Fernanda Motta in a swimsuit. All better now? No. Ok, fine, then try this one.

h/t to reader Lee, fellow explorer in the bizarro world of high end audio equipment.

   Monday - December 15, 2008

Teenage thug jailed for killing good Samaritan as he gave first aid to attacker’s drunken friend.

It has been a number of days since I posted any sort of crime stories here.  There are so many I think I could easily do a minimum of two a day. Probably more.
I don’t for obvious reasons.  This isn’t an online version of the tabloid press.  But there are things out there that are so damn upsetting and defy any kind of logic that make me want to share.

This isn’t a new story. It’s just a new victim of the same old kind of violence that has this country in it’s grip.

No need for guns here.  The thugs seems quite happy to cause death by beating and stomping and then tell friends all about their manly deed.  If not by foot then by knife. 

The police often look like the Keystone Cops, and the courts belong in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.  I wish they would stop calling the system a Criminal ‘Justice’ System when there hasn’t been any real justice in anyone’s memory.  Just like the USA, the system looks to be geared to protect the rights of the killers and muggers and rapists etc.

Any lawyer who could in good conscience defend this worthless piece of useless crap, should be lynched.  That’s what I believe and I’ll not move from that position.

So .... just how much is a life worth? Apparently not much when it’s the victim.

Good Samaritan Killed Trying To Give Aid

By Luke Salkeld
Last updated at 6:27 PM on 15th December 2008

Joseph Thomas 18, has been jailed after beating to death a father who gave first aid to his friend.

A father was beaten to death as he tried to give first aid to an unconscious youth - by a teenager who police had failed to apprehend over a previous attack.

Nick Baty, 48, was kicked and stamped on after he went to help a young man who was unconscious in the street.

Now it has emerged that his killer, Joseph Thomas, had been involved in another vicious assault which was not properly investigated by the police.

Officers did not arrest the 18-year-old after he carried out the earlier attack just two months before Mr Baty, a father of one, died.

They did not even make a record of the incident for four months, by which time Mr Baty had been fatally injured.

Today, after Thomas was jailed for the killing, and sentenced to a total of ten years for the two attacks, it was revealed that two police officers have received official warnings for failing to arrest him.

Mr Baty’s family said the devoted father might still be alive if the initial case has been dealt with properly.

His former partner Lyn Pembury, mother of Mr Baty’s 13-year-old daughter Katy, said: ‘If they had followed the correct procedures and done their job properly Nick might be here today and my daughter might still have her daddy.’

She added: ‘The police have to be aware of their mistake. They have to bear some responsibility for what happened.’

Commenting on Thomas’ punishment, she said: ‘It’s not even a disruption to his life. He’ll be out in five years - he can have a career and a family.

‘He should have had 15 years or 10 without parole. Nick is dead and his daughter has lost her father.

‘He attacked Nick and then bragged about it. How can someone like that be allowed back on the streets so quickly?’

Mr Baty had rushed to the aid of a boy who collapsed after drinking with other teenagers in a shopping centre car park.

But when he did so, Thomas knocked him to the ground where he repeatedly kicked him and left him in a pool of blood.

Mr Baty went into a coma and died a month later when his life support machine was switched off.

Prosecutor Roger Thomas QC told a court: ‘This was a vicious attack. Mr Baty was only concerned about the welfare of the teenager unconscious on the floor.

‘Mr Baty moved towards the unconscious teenager when, suddenly and without warning, Thomas ran at him from behind shouting: “Leave him alone”.

‘He grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him to ground. Mr Baty’s head struck the ground with a thud but Thomas didn’t leave him - he attacked him as he lay defenceless on the ground.’

The court heard Thomas later boasted to a friend about what he had done.

Nick Baty went into a coma after being brutally attacked. His daughter Katy, right, suffers from nightmares as a result of his death

Thomas, of Bridgend, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter at Cardiff Crown Court and sentenced to eight years in prison.

He was also sentenced to two years for the earlier remarkably similar attack which took place near the same shopping centre car park.

In that unprovoked assault 20-year-old Mark Bridgeman was left with fractures to both sides of his jaw and had to have three metal plates and 12 screws inserted into his skull.

Mr Thomas said: ‘Mr Bridgeman was the victim of an unprovoked, unnecessary and quite vicious attack by Thomas. He was repeatedly punched and kicked to the face - and hit while still on the ground.’

He continued: ‘One witness saw the attack. Thomas ran towards Mr Bridgeman, punched him to the face and then wrestled him to the ground.

‘The witness could hear the man screaming and hear the impact of the kicks to the head. He simply couldn’t believe the violence taking place before him.’

The court heard Thomas and another attacker were not arrested immediately by South Wales Police after the attack on Mr Bridgeman.

Mr Thomas said: ‘Unfortunately, the police investigation did not proceed in the manner it should have and is now the subject of an investigation by the Police Complaints Commission.’

The results of that investigation were released after the court was told Mr Baty’s death could have been avoided if Thomas had been arrested earlier.

John Charles Rees QC, defending, said: ‘It may be the offence of manslaughter may not have been committed if Thomas had been arrested when he should have been for the first attack.’

A subsequent inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission led to two police officers being given ‘written warnings for failing to properly deal with this crime’.

It said that the first crime in November 2007 was not recorded until March 2008.

An IPCC spokesman said: ‘The investigating officer concluded that if more positive action had been taken it would have identified the assailants in the November assault much earlier.

‘But the failings identified would not necessarily have had any impact on the subsequent assault upon Mr Baty in January 2008.

South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft said: ‘The investigation into an assault in November 2007 fell short of the standard that the force would expect.’

PHOTOS HERE

   Thursday - December 11, 2008

Yeah, what she said

Huge noise on the TV last night and this morning over the Illinois governor mess. Funny thing though; at least a third of the noise was the talking heads swearing up and down that Obama didn’t know a thing about it, and another third was more talking heads going on and on about how Jesse Jackson Jr, aka Candidate #5 (not to be confused with Client #9), didn’t know a thing about it either.

Uh huh. Riiiiight.

Debbie Schlussel writes what we all figured out and didn’t say out loud:

Look for Son of Jesse to get away with it, just like daddy always does. Justice isn’t blind at all. Our federal justice system sees things through very tinted, politically correct glasses.

Commenter C at her site states another fact the media can’t be bothered to mention

[U.S. attorney] Fitzgerald is the same guy who politicized the Libby affair, and didn’t go after the real culprits, Powell & Armitage.

So did the FBI swoop in and make the bust when they did - the morning after Blagojevich met with Jesse Jr - to save Jr’s reputation or to haul him into the net too eventually? The affidavit was made out on Sunday, Jr interviewed on Monday, Blago was busted Tuesday morning. So if they had a real-time wiretap, anything recorded on Jr isn’t part of the original indictment. Got to protect the icons ya know. Even the Sons of Icons. Or Jesse Jackson Jr could actually have no part whatsoever in any of this mess, and be an entirely honest politician, as he has apparently been for the past 12 years. In Chicago. Hey, it could happen.

This is one big mess that might take months to pan out. Expect more arrests. Also expect the MSM to give scant coverage to this story starting Friday. By January 20th it will be down the memory hole.

Oh, and Fitzgerald is going to need a bigger cap. His current one is getting rather full of feathers in it.

It’s unusual for a federal prosecutor to have on his resume two such politically sensitive investigations in different parts of the country. And that’s not all. In an extraordinarily productive seven-year tenure, Fitzgerald also won the conviction of the previous Illinois governor, Republican George Ryan, who is in prison for racketeering.

All of which raises the question: What’s [or Who’s] next for the 47-year-old Fitzgerald?

Ordinarily, an incoming president chooses new U.S. attorneys, but Obama has pledged to keep Fitzgerald on the job, so the latest corruption case is not likely to be Fitzgerald’s swan song.

“I think he has been aggressive in putting the city on notice and the state on notice that he takes issues of public corruption seriously,” Obama told the Chicago Tribune in March.

Fitzgerald was appointed by a Republican president, George W. Bush, but Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said last week he will recommend another term for the prosecutor if he wants to stay.

   Tuesday - December 09, 2008

Illinois Governor BUSTED

FBI takes Illinois Governor Blagojevich into custody

Corrupt-o-rama: Governor tried to sell the Senate seat Obama is vacating

This isn’t the Chicago Way we had in mind!

Gov. Rod Blagojevich (DEMOCRAT)and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a “staggering” level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois’ top office.

Blagojevich is accused of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy, including alleged attempts by the governor to try to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for financial benefits for the governor and his wife. Blagojevich also is accused of obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning--one day shy of his 52nd birthday.

Horry Clap!

Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to the FBI. They were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago. Blagojevich is slated to appear at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan today, according to Randall Samborn of the U.S. attorney’s office.

On the issue of the U.S. Senate seat that Obama resigned Nov. 16, federal prosecutors said they had numerous recorded conversations of Blagojevich discussing the merits of potential candidates, including their abilities to benefit the people of Illinois as well as the financial and political benefits he and his wife, First Lady Patricia Blagojevich, could receive.

And it gets worse ...

The charges include historical allegations that Blagojevich and Harris schemed with others – including previously convicted defendants Antoin Rezko, Stuart Levine, Ali Ata and others – since becoming governor in 2002 to obtain and attempt to obtain financial benefits for himself, his family and third parties, including his campaign committee, Friends of Blagojevich, in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts and access to state funds. A portion of the affidavit recounts the testimony of various witnesses at Rezko’s trial earlier this year.

Hoo ooh ... you know what I’m thinking? Let’s see how long it takes to pull Daley into the net. And then ... nah, that’s as far as it will go. EVER. No stain will touch the sandals of The One.

Much more over at Michelle Malkin’s blog.

Horry Clap!!

   Friday - December 05, 2008

Bypass grandfather fights off Samurai sword post office raiders. Another battling Brit, in civvies

Take a look at this.

Hey people, what do you hear in this video that shows how vulnerable they are here?

CCTV: Bypass grandfather fights off Samurai sword post office raiders
A grandfather who survived a triple heart by-pass fought off two hooded raiders when they attacked him with a Samurai sword in his country post office.

Alan Garratt was slashed with the three-foot long weapon when he refused to give in to the raiders’ demands.

Despite his injuries, the 68 year-old put up such a fight the attackers fled empty handed.

“I don’t think they thought anyone would tackle them, but I did,” he said.

The raid, which lasted 40 seconds, was captured on a CCTV camera only installed 24 hours earlier following another raid on the premises last week.

The images show two men wearing balaclavas and holding the weapons aloft, ready to strike before deciding to make a run for it.

In a final act of defiance, Mr Garratt, hurled a bottle of sherry at the raiders as they fled.

The terror began when one of the men vaulted the counter, apparently thinking Mr Garratt’s wife, Erica, 69, was alone in the shop in Knipton in Leicestershire’s Vale of Belvoir.

Alerted by his wife’s cries for help, Mr Garratt rushed from the back of the shop, forcing the raider to jump back over the counter.

One of the raiders swung the sword down on the pensioner’s left arm and hand, causing deep wounds.

Both men took turns slashing at him, while he searched for something to defend himself with.

The robbers fled empty-handed as he began to tackle them once more.

He needed eight stitches in his arm following the attack on Monday.

He said: “It was all over in 40 seconds. You can see they’re proper Samurai swords on the CCTV footage.

“I didn’t really feel it when I was cut on the arm and hand until afterwards. There was blood everywhere.

“The only thing I could find to arm myself with was a bottle of sherry.”

Despite their ordeal, the couple insist they have no plans to be forced out of their livelihood.

A family friend said: “It’s shaken them up quite a bit, but they have said they don’t want to be driven away.”

ONE BRAVE SENIOR CITIZEN

   Sunday - November 30, 2008

TERROR ATTACK IN INDIA, A YEAR IN THE PLANNING.  ONE TERRORIST IN CUSTODY AND TALKING.

NOT MENTIONED IN THIS PARTICULAR ARTICLE, THE MURDER OF A 6 YEAR OLD BOY WHILE PARENTS HAD TO WATCH.
NICE GROUP OF GUYS AND I’M GLAD THEY ALL BELONG TO A RELIGION OF PEACE.  ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE THAT?
YES IN FACT. LIKE THE LOONY TUNE GWEEN PARTY SPOKESWOMAN WHO INSISTS WE CAN TALK TO THESE MONSTERS.

I’m certain you guys are getting your fill of this outrage in the states. Must also be in papers as well as TV and the pix will be the same. Not sure how the reporting will be though or what they will edit.  I tend to think we’ll get more of it here due to the ties between England and India.

Some very interesting editorials on the subject this morning.

The audacious attack which took a year to plan
The attack was planned with military precision.

By Rahul Bedi in Bombay and Sean Rayment, Security correspondent
Last Updated: 10:44PM GMT 29 Nov 2008
Gunman at Mumbai’s Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station
Preparations for the atrocity may have began a year ago in a remote mountain camp in Kashmir.

Ten terrorists dedicated to fighting for an independent Kashmir were selected for an operation from which they were likely never to return.

The tactics were relatively simple: to strike at multiple targets while simultaneously slaughtering as many civilians as possible before going “static” in three of the locations within the city.

But such a plan would require a year of planning, reconnaissance, the covert acquisition of ships and speed boats as well as the forward basing of weapons and ammunition secretly hidden inside at least one hotel.

Nothing would be left to chance. Even the times of the tides were checked and rechecked to ensure that the terrorists would be able to arrive when their first target, the Café Leopold, was full of unsuspecting tourists enjoying the balmy Bombay (Mumbai) evening.

The preparations for the atrocity began a year earlier in a remote mountain camp in Muzaffarabad, in Pakistan- administered Kashmir, according to the interrogation of a 19-year-old believed to be the only member of the terrorist unit to be captured alive.

The Sunday Telegraph has been shown details of the interrogation which provide the first clues to the identity of the terrorists and the amount of detail which went into the planning of the operation.

Kamal has revealed to his interrogators that most of the volunteers spoke his native Punjabi and that all of them were given false names and were discouraged from interacting with each other beyond what was barely necessary.

During the months of training they were taught the use of explosives and close quarter combat. It was ingrained upon every man that ammunition would be in short supply and therefore every bullet should count.

The terrorists were also taught marine commando techniques such as beach landings at another camp at the Mangla Dam, located on the border between Pakistan-administered Kashmir and India’s Punjab province.

Kamal revealed that once their training was complete, his team of four travelled to the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where they were joined by another six terrorists, who had been trained at other camps close by.

It was in Rawalpindi that the 10-man team were briefed in detail with digitised images of their prospective targets – the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Hotels, the Jewish Centre and the Victoria Terminus railway station. Each member of the team memorised street names and routes to each location. Kamal told his interrogators that most of the targeting information came from a reconnaissance team which had selected the targets earlier in the year.

From Rawalpindi, the team then moved to the eastern port of Karachi where they chartered the merchant ship MV Alpha and headed for Bombay.

It was during this crucial phase, as the cargo ship headed into the Arabian Sea, that the terrorists appeared to almost lose their nerve. The Indian navy, Kamal revealed, were very active, boarding foreign vessels and searching their holds. The terrorists thought their plan might be compromised so on the night of 15th/16th November, the teams used their inflatable speed boats to hijack a local fishing boat, the Kuber.

Kamal also admitted to his interrogators that three of the Kuber’s four crew were immediately murdered, while the ship’s captain was ordered to sail for the Indian coast. When the Kuber was within five miles of the coast, the terrorists slit the captain’s throat and transferred back into their inflatable speed boats and headed for the lights of Bombay.

On landing the 10-man team, stripped off their orange wind breakers and began hoisting large heavy packs onto their shoulders.

Kashinath Patil, the 72-year-old harbour master, who spotted the boats moor alongside the harbour wall was immediately suspicious and asked them what they were doing. “I said: ‘Where are you going? What’s in your bags?’” Mr Patil recalled. “They said: ‘We don’t want any attention. Don’t bother us.”

The terrorists then split into two-man teams and launched their attacks.

Major General RK Hooda, the senior Indian commander, acknowledged the group, the Deccan Mujadeen, were better equipped and had a better knowledge of the battleground than India’s soldiers.

After the battle, one member of India’s National Security Guard, who led one of the assault groups against the terrorists occupying the Taj Mahal hotel, said they were the “best fighters” he had ever encountered.

He said: “They were obviously trained by professionals in urban guerrilla fighting. They used their environment and situation brilliantly, leading us (the NSG) on a dangerous chase through various tiers of the hotel which they obviously knew well. Their fire discipline too was excellent and they used their ammunition judiciously, mostly to draw us out.

“It was amply clear they came to kill a large number of people and to eventually perish in their horrific endeavour,” he said. “Negotiating with the Indian authorities or escaping was not an option for them.”

INDIA

   Saturday - November 22, 2008

Darn those immigrants!!

Looks like the UK has let in a new crop of former Nigerian princes ... the actual ISOC is not amused.

You will be paid asap..!!!

21/11/2008

Dear Recipient,

Are you the owner of this email address?

Then Congratulations! We wish to duly notify you that the Internet Society (ISOC) in Geneva, Switzerland has named you among 5 other internet users as Prize Winner of their “FAN-OF-THE-WEB” Promotion. Your Prize is GBPЈ1,000,000.00 (One Million Great Britain Pounds Sterling). Your Unique Email Reference No is [ISOC-08-6754489-3].

________________

FULL NAMES......
STREET ADDRESS..
CITY NAME.......
ZIP CODE........
STATE NAME......
COUNTRY NAME....
TELEPHONE NO....
OCCUPATION......
SEX.............
DATE OF BIRTH…
________________

Please complete the above form and submit immediately to the Global Events Manager below for immediate verification and payment.

THE EVENT MANAGER
MR.ROLAND SCHIMEK
EMAIL:  roland.schimek@hotmail.co.uk
CELL :  +44-704-570-5496
FAX NO: +44-870-133-3927

Congratulations again!!!

From Global Team,
ISOC Promotions Dept.
Office: +44-871-263-7341

Don’t be a sucker.

   Thursday - November 20, 2008

Where’s My Indictment?

Vice President Cheney, former AG Gonzales, Indicted in Texas



WTF? Are we seeing the beginning of the Show Trials, or has the prosecutor down in Texas lost his marbles?

Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor.

The indictment returned Monday has not yet been signed by the presiding judge, and no action can be taken until that happens.

The seven indictments made public in Willacy County on Tuesday included one naming state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and some targeting public officials connected to District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra’s own legal battles.

Regarding the indictments targeting the public officials, Guerra said, “the grand jury is the one that made those decisions, not me.”

Guerra himself was under indictment for more than a year and half until a judge dismissed the indictments last month. Guerra’s tenure ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March.

Guerra said the prison-related charges against Cheney and Gonzales are a national issue and experts from across the country testified to the grand jury.

Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president’s investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

One indictment charges Cheney and Gonzales with engaging in organized criminal activity. It alleges that the men neglected federal prisoners and are responsible for assaults in the facilities.

The grand jury accused Cheney of a conflict of interest because of his influence over the county’s federal immigrant detention center and his substantial holdings in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies.

So why is the Vice President being charged? Because he has money in an index fund (yes, it’s that Vanguard Group), and one of the companies in the fund is a prison management company, and some of the prisoners complained that the prison guards employed by that company abused them. Therefore it’s Cheny’s fault. Gonzales’s too, but the news didn’t say whether he had shares in the fund or not.

Well, gosh-a-roonie, Vanguard holds my 401K. Guess I’d better be on the lookout for the police.

h/t to the CNN TV news ticker, and a little help from PoliPundit.

   Tuesday - November 18, 2008

FATHER ARRESTED ON WORD OF WITNESS DEEMED “NOT FIT” TO MAKE STATEMENT. HUH?

And according to the keystone kops, the witless witness wasn’t in any condition to what ?  Not “fit to make a statement that night?”

I’m all for nailing adults who abuse kids to the wall and leave em there as a warning to others but this case is ridiculous. Or so it seems here anyway.

It this a case of guilty till proved otherwise? 

Father locked up in cell for smacking son
A father was arrested and locked in a police cell overnight for smacking his son’s bottom.

By Richard Savill
Last Updated: 12:48PM GMT 18 Nov 2008

Mark Frearson, a co-director of a parcel company, said he told off his son Harry because the seven-year-old walked away from him alone after dark while they were shopping together at a local store.

Mr Frearson, 47, found him in a nearby park 10 minutes later. “I called him to me and smacked his bottom for leaving me, telling him never to do it again,” he said.

But a witness called police and, three hours later, four officers and a specialist child support officer arrived at his house.

They told him that a child had been assaulted, and Mr Frearson replied that he had smacked his son once on the bottom.

“They asked my son what had happened and he said ‘Dad smacked me for being outside the shop’. The police then examined my son for any marks and there were none.”

The officers took Harry in a police car to his mother’s home. They arrested Mr Frearson on suspicion of assault, and took him to the police station.

“I was horrified and bewildered at the course of action being taken on some stranger’s action,” he said.

After about an hour, he claimed, officers told him they could not carry out an interview as the witness “was not fit to make a statement that night”.

Mr Frearson spent the night in a “freezing” cell with two blankets and was released the next day at 10am.

He said: “The first words said to me were ‘The witness has changed his statement’. The ‘witness’ had originally alleged I was kicking my son to the floor.

“I can understand the concerns of the police but they seemed far too ready to presume me guilty and then cause distress to my son by taking him from me.

“My ex-wife (the boy’s mother) told them the allegation was ridiculous but they proceeded regardless with what I considered their over-the-top reaction.”

Mr Frearson has made a formal complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

He said the police reaction was “massively over-the-top” and the experience was traumatic for his son.

Mr Frearson, from Plymouth, in Devon, said: “I find it shocking how easy it is to have someone arrested. To think that all this happened on the back of one allegation. I want an apology.

“I am still angered and bewildered at the events of that night. Why was I not allowed to stay in my own home until statements could be made in the morning? It seemed a knee jerk reaction.”

Mr Frearson said he wanted to know what state the witness was in, if he was unable to make a statement that night. “Whether he was drunk or drugged, I don’t know. Why has he not been arrested for wasting police time, and mine, come to that?”

Mr Frearson said the incident happened at about 6pm on October 28, while Harry, who lives with his mother, Kate, 33, from whom Mr Frearson is divorced, was staying with him during half term.

He said: “I can hardly ever remember smacking my children. I have two older children. I don’t smack a child to hurt them, but to show they have done wrong. There is a difference between smacking and hitting.”

Devon and Cornwall police said it could not comment as a formal complaint had been made.

http://tinyurl.com/6fvb39

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