#2
Angle Grinder Man is fairly well known, and actually provides an interesting, um, service, basically daring the law to pile on a few more regs. and ordinances when less would do.
A cannibal who killed and ate his flatmate was seen howling at the Moon on all fours before the murder. Robert Ackermann was naked when he squatted down 'like a werewolf' and bayed at the night sky, neighbours said. Weeks later, he beat 49-year-old Josef Schweiger to death and dined on his body for two days before being discovered. The 19-year-old killer was arrested with his victim's flesh and blood drooling from his mouth. 'The proof was spattered all over his face,' said police, who described the teenager as 'mentally confused'.
"Ummm... Inspector? Define 'mentally confused', please."
"Crazy as a loon!"
German-born Ackermann moved into the flat, part of a homeless hostel in Vienna, with Mr Schweiger last month.
"Hi, there, sweetie! Wanna share my room at the homeless hostel?"
"Bawooooo!"
Soon after, neighbours began witnessing strange goings-on.
"Whoa! Now that is strange!"
Nadica Drikic, who lived next door, said: "We were watching the television one night when we realised there was a sort of howling coming from outside.
"Bawooooo! Hrowf! Hrowf!"
"We looked and saw him squatted down on all fours howling at the Moon.
"Honey, that man is baying at the moon!"
"Really? I wonder what's on channel 4..."
"I am sure he was not wearing anything.
"And he's nekkid."
"It was really freaky."
"Yes, dear. Come see what's on channel 6!"
Another neighbour said he saw the cannibal pour blood from a window.
"Fritz! The man next door is pouring blood from the window!"
"Again?"
Ackermann battered Schweiger to death with dumbbells, butchered him and ate parts of his brain, other organs and arms.
"Cerebral cortex! My favorite! Now, where'd I put that onion?... Bawoooo!"
The murder was discovered when a cleaning woman found the body two days later.
"Ach! Anozzer body! Zey neffer clean up after demselves!"
The German confessed to police and is now being held in Vienna.
"Bawoooo!"
"Heinrich, what does 'bawooo!' mean?"
"I think it means 'I confess!', Rudiger!"
Princess Diana's family gathered Friday to solemnly mark the 10th anniversary of her death, while admirers tied scores of bouquets, poems and pictures to the gates of her former home.
It was a day for broadcasting video snippets of one wedding and funeral, for rehashing the rights and wrongs of the failed marriage of Diana and Prince Charles.
It was one more day for dredging up questions about how she came to die in a car crash in Paris with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, and for the Daily Telegraph to publish an essay which explained "why we were right to weep for Diana." I hadn't seen the picture lately, so found this article an appropriate venue. If you really do want to read more, it's there at the link.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/31/2007 06:27 ||
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#3
Mother Theresa will be dead for ten years next week. Will she be getting the same glitzy treatment or are gnomish looking elderly nuns not showbiz enough?
#4
It is likely that Diana, Princess of Wales single greatest contribution to our world was the infusion of non-mutant blood into the British royal family's genetic line.
#6
I seem to vaguely recall learning that we fought a little war a few years back so that we wouldn't have to pay any attention to the British royal family. Did we lose?
Posted by: James ||
08/31/2007 19:17 Comments ||
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#7
Assumptions, Zenster, assumptions.
Hey, the kids don't have jug handles on their heads so some progress was made.
#8
#3 - tu3031, ten years ago, when I went in to work after Princess Diana had died, a co-worker asked if I had heard about it. My reply was that yes, but Mother Teresa had also died, and in the cosmic scheme of things, that was much more important (as Mother Teresa was much more important than Princess Diana)
Historian Jana Bachová fingers a table-size binder of yellowing posters. Some are scrawled on paper bakery bags, others carefully lettered in tri-colored ink, bearing the stamps of illegal printing presses. Their messages channel a spectrum of emotions, ranging from derogatory anti-Russian slurs and revolutionary slogans to humorist rhymes and sentimental poetry. As a whole, they embody the colloquial creativity of a resistant nation, Bachová says. Its an appellation to the people, urging them not to give up, telling them that all will end well.
On Aug. 20, the Military History Institute in Prague revealed the 128 posters, which provide the latest example of the publics spontaneous resistance against Warsaw Pact troops following the Aug. 21, 1968, invasion of Czechoslovakia. The event marked the beginning of 20 years of Soviet control.
A librarian discovered the collection two years ago hidden within the institutes archive of old military maps. According to Bachová, they had been salvaged by an unknown collector on the night of Aug. 26, five days into the occupation. The posters were found completely by accident during a reorganization of the archives, Bachová says. They were stashed away with the maps, where no one thought to poke around for quite some time.
The back of each poster contains a handwritten label indicating the time it was found and the place it was taken from. According to these labels, the posters were gathered at around 2:30 a.m. from the upper part of Wenceslas Square, between the Hvězda arcade and the former House of Fashion (Dům módy). Dodging patrols, the unknown collector retrieved the crumpled, tire-marked banners before they could be destroyed by Soviet soldiers. Im sure the occupants would not have been pleased to see what [the collector] was doing, Bachová says, pointing at a torn sign. You can tell he was in a hurry.
The identity of the collector remains a mystery. Nobody has any idea who hid them here, she says. It was probably a former employee who had to leave the institute after 1968. Chronologically classified by typewritten labels, the collection bears the marks of hasty yet diligent organization. The handwritten additions are taped in the place of torn or missing fragments. Whoever it was, this person had the skills of a historian or librarian, Bachová says.
While its possible that similar posters exist in smaller private collections, Bachová says the size and organization of the Military History Institutes assemblage is unique. Its exceptional that these posters survived, and in such a big number, she says.
The posters will be on display at the Military History Museum next year as part of an exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Soviet occupation. Historians hope the exhibit will reveal the identity of the unknown collector.
A vessel of the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) apprehended a huge quantity of foreign liquor on a boat named Al-Alla-Madat on Thursday, within the territorial waters of Pakistan. According to a press release by the MSA, five crewmembers of the boat have been arrested. The boat was carrying around 7,000 bottles of foreign branded liquor that was being smuggled from Dubai. The liquor and the boat, along with its crewmembers, have been handed over to customs authorities for legal action.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) apprehended a huge quantity of foreign liquor on a boat named Al-Alla-Madat
Shipping booze on a boat with "Alla" in its name? That's a beatin'!
Khasi tribes people in the Indian state of Meghalaya have decided to honour former US Vice President Al Gore for promoting awareness on climate change. They say changes in the weather are devastating the picturesque hill state.
Easier than blaming themselves for despoiling the place ...
Traditional chiefs of the tribe will confer the Grassroot Democracy awards on Al Gore for his campaign for measures to stop global warming. A spokeswoman for Mr Gore said he was "humbled" to hear of the award, but was unsure if he could attend the ceremony.
"How many trees do we have to plant if we fly there, Tipper?"
The tribes people say that they also want to honour him for his award-winning 2006 documentary, An Unbelievable Inconvenient Truth, which they say dramatically highlights changes to the environment because of global warming.
The award will be handed over at the second Dorbar Ri (People's Parliament) on 6 October near a sacred forest at the village of Mawphlang, which has been preserved untouched for more than 700 years. The award will consist of traditional gifts including local handicrafts and a "small amount of money".
"We now have fuel to taxi to the runway, Mr. Gorp."
"We hope Mr Gore would be able to bring global attention to what we are facing in our part of the world," Meghalaya parliament member Robert Kharshing said. "This whole thing called climate change is affecting us the most."
Meghalaya - literally "Abode of the Clouds" - is home to the towns of Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, which vie for the title of wettest place on earth. But rampant deforestation and global warming mean these areas are getting less rain, while the soil is not able to hold water that does arrive, environmentalists say.
Remind us all who cut down all the trees?
They say that this is not only affecting the livelihoods of hill farmers who depend on sub-soil water, but has even resulted in shortages of drinking water, particularly during winter months. "Meghalaya will lose the very meaning of its name because of drastic climate change caused by global warming," said Peter Lyngdoh, a local environmentalist.
The tribes people say that they are also at risk from a greater influx of migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, where global warming has increased the demand for living space because large coastal regions have become submerged. "Such huge influxes will reduce us to foreigners in our own land," says local politician Paul Lyngdoh.
Such fears have prompted the authorities to launch what critics say are absurd measures to reward tribal mothers with cash if they give birth to more than 15 children.
[insert current running joke here]
"Again?"
"Baby, you know how many of them there are! You wanna live in New Bangaladesh?"
"But I wanna get some sleep!"
Posted by: john frum ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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Peter Lyngdoh, a local environmentalist
local politician Paul Lyngdoh
I think we've found our culprits, as I think the average Khasi tribesman wouldn't know Al Gore if he ran one of them over in his SUV...
Indian border guards are photographing cows in villages in the eastern state of West Bengal and issuing them with identity cards, officials say.
"There they go again, Bessie, taking our picture."
"Could be worse, least they don't have a hot iron in their hands."
Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman GK Sharma said the move was meant to stop smuggling of cattle from India to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Mr Sharma said thousands of cows were smuggled every day from West Bengal. India prohibits cattle exports, as beef consumption is frowned upon by the country's majority Hindu population.
Thousands of villagers in the state's Murshidabad district bordering Bangladesh are queuing up outside photo studios to have their cows photographed for the identity cards. Some cattle identity cards have already been issued in the district's border villages. BSF officials in Calcutta say if the pilot project works well in Murshidabad, where cattle smuggling is at its highest, the scheme could be extended to other border districts.
Local estimates say that between 20,000 and 30,000 cows are smuggled into Bangladesh every day from India, mostly through the state of West Bengal. The smuggling is at its highest during Muslim festivals. Traffickers bring the cows by truck to West Bengal from as far as Haryana and Punjab in northern India.
"The traffickers have a strong network in the border villages, where the cattle are kept in transit, before being sent across the border," said BSF official in Murshidabad, Surinder Singh. "Locals are paid for that, so they have a vested interest in the smuggling. These ID cards can help us easily identify the cattle brought for smuggling."
People in border villages say having their cattle photographed is a problem because it requires them to take time off work. But they have agreed to the identity cards to avoid harassment by the BSF and police who often raid villages in search of cattle waiting to be smuggled to Bangladesh slaughterhouses.
Authorities say crime syndicates find it easy to tamper with branding or tattooing of the cattle - hence the idea for photo identity cards which should be difficult to falsify. Valid for two years, each laminated cattle ID card displays the picture of the animal and its owner. It also carries vital information about the animal, such as its colour, height, sex and length of horns. It carries the owner's name and address and sometimes other details about the animal - like one "horn missing" or "half tail lost".
Posted by: john frum ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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So an Indian farmer loses his cow pastes fliers all around 'Cow with left horn lost, half a tail missing,blind in both eyes,walks with a limp,is malnourished,parasite ridden, and answers to the name "lucky".
Singer Rebecca Soejati falls afoul of Islamic law in Aceh.
Singer Rebecca Soejati Reijman, who is from the Netherlands, was performing on stage in Banda Aceh on 26th August in front of 4,000 people in support of the Jakarta-based band Nidji when the head covering that she was obliged to wear in the sharia-law province got caught in the wind and fell off, revealing her head, and the hair on top of it. Because of this she had to leave the stage and the concert ended abruptly.
Although she is not Muslim Rebecca said she didnt mind covering herself up in order that her Aceh-based fans could see her live but apparently some people were not happy with the effort that she had made, even before the headwear fell off. What was covering her upper body did not extend all the way and left her hands visible, causing some people to mutter in disapproval, it is said.
#4
Wardrobe Malfunction II. Only this time there will probably be a body count instead of people calling a network and complaining. I guess we're weak.
#6
bet they don't suspect it was all lipsync'd? How would they know? Spice Girls, Brittney, et al,....here ya go! Bring back Milli-Vanilli! Er.....belay that...
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/31/2007 20:27 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Princess Diana's family gathered Friday to solemnly mark the 10th anniversary of her death, while admirers tied scores of bouquets, poems and pictures to the gates of her former home.
A vessel of the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) apprehended a huge quantity of foreign liquor on a boat named Al-Alla-Madat on Thursday, within the territorial waters of Pakistan. According to a press release by the MSA, five crewmembers of the boat have been arrested. The boat was carrying around 7,000 bottles of foreign branded liquor that was being smuggled from Dubai. The liquor and the boat, along with its crewmembers, have been handed over to customs authorities for legal action.
