PALERMO, Sicily (AP) - Palermo general manager Rino Foschi received a surprise in the mail for Christmas - the severed head of a young goat, covered in blood. Foschi said he received the package on Dec. 22, put it underneath his Christmas tree and his wife opened it on Christmas Eve. Foschi was in Cesena but the package was sent from Palermo, according to news reports. "It was a sour Christmas, especially for my family," Foschi told the ANSA news agency Saturday. "My wife was shocked when she opened the package, but I think it was a joke and I'm sleeping peacefully. Let's not make a film out of this."
Palermo is third in the Italian league standings and having one of its best ever seasons. But Foschi didn't think the head was from the mafia. "I don't have anything to do with that stuff, those are things you see in films," Foschi said. "I've lived in Palermo for five years and I've never received any threats. I feel safe in Palermo. I don't have anything to fear. "I really don't have any explanation. I don't have any suspects to signal. Maybe some idiot wanted to make an ugly Christmas joke ... Maybe I'm disliked for some soccer market moves."
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/31/2006 7:11 Comments ||
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#3
As long as it's not a horse's head, and he doesn't wake up with it in his bed, it's nothing to worry about.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/31/2006 8:26 Comments ||
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#4
And for two days, nobody wondered what the funny smell was? A blood-soaked head sat under the tree for two days and nobody notice the odour? Mind you, I've received cheese like that. Perhaps they thought it was cheese? Charcuterie?
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has rejected calls for the release of six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting children with HIV/Aids. Those who committed crimes must accept the consequences, he said.
Libya has been under increasing pressure because of international doubts over the fairness of the trial. Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor have been tried and found guilty twice of deliberately infecting more than 400 children with HIV. Colonel Gaddafi stressed the "the independence of the Libyan judicial system", and he rejected what he called "Western intervention and pressure in this affair".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2006 17:24 ||
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perhaps a shutoff of all oil export/air travel/aid/food
back to the good old times, asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2006 18:41 Comments ||
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Moroccan police retrieved the bodies of nine sub-Saharan illegal migrants from the waters off Western Sahara on Saturday after their boat capsized on its way to Spain's Canary Islands, state news agency MAP said. Another makeshift vessel with 59 people on board was intercepted and its passengers taken to a centre in Laayoune, the principle town in the desert territory, MAP cited local officials as saying. On Friday, Moroccan police foiled an attempt by 111 migrants to set off for the Canaries from Akhfennir, 170 kilometres (105 miles) north of Laayoune, the agency added.
Tens of thousands of Africans have tried to reach the Canary Islands this year packed into wooden fishing boats and almost one in six died in the attempt, Spanish officials said last week. The treacherous ocean route has become increasingly popular after passage from Morocco's northern coast to the Spanish mainland was made almost impossible by new radar systems and more regular coastal patrols. But the sea journey of more than 1,000 km (625 miles) to the Canaries sees many of the migrants die by drowning or from hunger, thirst and exhaustion.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Yemen has issued a tsunami alert for areas located on its south-eastern coast after a powerful earthquake struck in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday. The alert was issued as a precautionary move and that the possibility of a tsunami was small, officials said.
An earthquake with magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the Gulf of Aden Saturday, off the coast of southeast Yemen. There were no reports of casualties or damage as Sunni Muslims celebrated the first day of the most important holiday on the Islamic calendar. The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers, at 11:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT), but it was not felt by people in Aden, Yemen's southern port city. Earthquakes are rarely felt in Yemen, however a temblor in 1982 caused serious damage.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Earthquakes are rarely felt in Yemen
Because they rarely occur or because the geology absorbs the shaking? Was this one felt in Yemen?
Well, what can you expect from a Sofia newspaper?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/31/2006 7:09 Comments ||
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we should be spreading the word: this is Allan's punishment for letting UIC guys in from Somalia
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2006 8:43 Comments ||
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Frank,
My apologies but we should be spreading the word that a new fish with an inscription from the Koran has been found on the sea shore....
Happy New Year!
Posted by: DanNY ||
12/31/2006 18:40 Comments ||
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More than two million Muslim pilgrims on the ritual journey known as Hajj are Saturday performing a ritual stoning ceremony in Mina, Saudi Arabia. We'll keep you up to date on this year's stampede korpse kount as the figures come in...
Millions of people crowded into the holy site to throw small stones at walls called jamarat, as part of a ritual representing the symbolic stoning of the devil. "Take that, Satan!... Ow!... Is he allowed to throw back?"
More than 360 worshippers died in a stampede during the stoning ritual a year ago. About an average year. The average is 352 per year, if I recall correctly...
Saudi authorities have spent more than $1 billion renovating the site to make it safe. And will milk that amount out of the rubes several times over...
The Hajj began Thursday under heavy security. The grueling ritual is a duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to make the trip. Each year pilgrims wearing white robes, symbolizing equality, converge on cheap motels at inflated rates Islamic holy sites in Saudi Arabia for five days of rituals, face-making, hollering, 3-card monte games, prayer and communion with fellow Muslims.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Despite the inflated prices at cheap hotels, the Hajj is a money loser for Saudi Arabia.
The visitors typically don't buy very much in the way of trinkets because Wahabi rules prohibit artistically embellished items. Of course the main problem is building infrastructure for a one time a year event.
#3
Despite the inflated prices at cheap hotels, the Hajj is a money loser for Saudi Arabia.
Oh no. EVERYTHING is inflated. In fact even now with oil at near record levels the Saudis keep a close watch money they collect throgh the Hadj.
Piss poor countries like Bangla desh are fattenning the Saudis. Remember the 500 million $ who were given to Afganistan for reconstruction after the libertaion of Kabul? A
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's navy on Saturday denied a report that Japan and the United States held a drill simulating a Chinese invasion of disputed islands during recent joint naval exercises. The U.S. and Japan sent a flotilla of warships - including the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its battle group - off Japan's southern coast for a week of war games in mid-November called Annualex 18G, their largest joint naval exercise of the year.
One of the drills addressed a hypothetical Chinese military invasion of a group of uninhabited islands called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese that both Tokyo and Beijing claim, Kyodo News agency said, citing unidentified Japanese and U.S. officials.
The drill was carried out using colors rather than names to designate the countries involved to avoid giving the impression that a specific country was being viewed as the enemy, Kyodo reported. China was designated as "orange", Japan as "blue" and the U.S. as "green," it said.
Maritime Self Defense Forces spokesman Hiromitsu Hanada denied the report, saying the Annualex exercises were not directed at defending against any specific country or threat.
Japan claimed the islands in 1895 when it colonized Taiwan, but the United States controlled them after World War II and returned them to Japan in 1972. Taiwan also claims the islands as its territory.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2006 00:00 ||
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This is interesting. Shows how importantly Japanese regard this territory. These seemingly small things to us...kidnapping Japanese citizens, encroachment of Japanese territory, drilling for oil in areas the Japanese claim to control,..are the most likely initiators of conflict in the region. This is why the Japanese will amend their constitution and why they will proceed to to obtain the big boomers. The WWII generation who opposed these acts is disappearing as rapidly in Japan as our WWII heroes are here.
'Bout friggin time! RTWT. I'll spare Sherry the usual graphic. Just this once
Hundreds of San Diego County jail inmates are being targeted for deportation every month now that federal authorities have posted immigration agents in local lockups.
In January, when the program began, agents identified 59 illegal immigrants among local inmates. In November, that number ballooned to 845.
That same month, 579 local inmates were transferred to federal officials for removal from the United States, according to federal statistics.
We can just nab them right there and get them into deportation and remove them immediately, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Before January, agents in charge of screening inmates were focused on investigations rather than deportation, Mack said.
Those agents mostly tried to identify illegal immigrants by poring over booking logs, an imprecise method at best. Now, agents trained in deportation interview the inmates as well.
The goal is to better determine the immigration status of everyone accused of a crime.
San Diego, because of its proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border, has become among the most efficient at expelling illegal immigrants who break the law since the changes almost a year ago, Mack said.
Felons in the country illegally, including rapists, burglars and armed robbers, long have faced deportation after they have served their sentences. The increased screening means illegal immigrants arrested on charges that ordinarily don't carry jail time, such as public drunkenness or driving under the influence, also face deportation why hasn't this been going on everywhere along the border?? Cripes!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2006 12:59 ||
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or Al Anbar, heck, there are about 6,000 words in arabic that translate to espanol......since english is too hard for so many of them to grasp apparently.
#3
Frank - cheap non-union labor for duplicitous employers and a potential voting block for dem tranzi scum. It is about friggin' time. Anybody illegal caught in the commission of a crime should be tossed out of the country, I don't care if it's jay-walking.
#4
I agree, and as a So Cal Republican, I'd like to see more ICE raids with the knowing execs who hired the cheap labor perp walked to prison. Cut off the jobs and they won't come. Build the fence and they can't come (easily). Two tactics that work in tandem
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2006 14:07 Comments ||
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Concur, wish our politicos had the balls to face this problem head on. The senate was consistently out to lunch on this. The Feds should've also pulled any funding to "sanctuary cities."
HT Drudge - late Friday press release a la Clinton - Dems circle wagons to protect this POS
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) has "accepted responsibility" for possibly violating House rules by requiring his official staff to perform campaign-related work, according to a statement quietly released by the House ethics committee late Friday evening.
The top Republican and Democratic members on the ethics panel, Reps. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), said in a statement that Conyers acknowledged a "lack of clarity" in communicating what was expected of his official staff and that he accepted responsibility for his actions. as in "we don't want to pin this on him, he was 'unclear'"
[Conyers] agreed to take a number of additional, significant steps to ensure that his office complies with all rules and standards regarding campaign and
personal work by congressional staff," they stated. "We have concluded that this matter should be resolved through the issuance of this public statement."
The finding by the ethics panel could spark debate, and perhaps eclipse, the first week of the incoming-Democratic majoritys plans to change the House ethics rules, as well as raise questions about Conyers standing to chair the Judiciary Committee. what about the Turkeys
#3
NOW, now, now, these are DEMOCRATS! They DO NOT HAVE A CULTURE OF CORRUPTION!
They have an alternative lifestyle of corruption. Only a bigoted neo-con would be agaisnt someone with an alternative lifestyle.
Posted by: bruce ||
12/31/2006 7:23 Comments ||
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Please don't cause disruptions for Conyers now. He's very, very busy drawing up writs of impeachment for both Bush & Cheney. If he would be successful in this high task, we'd have Pres. Pelosi. (Now you know why she's been practising with that whip.)
#6
Oh, he "accepted responsibility." Which means, what? Nothing. Accepting responsibility would also mean accepting responsibility to make things right, by, say, pleading guilty in court and resigning his seat.
According to the Russian federal nuclear power agency 148 out of 197 decommissioned Soviet-era nuclear submarines have been dismantled, RIA Novosti news agency reported December 28.
Russia has signed cooperation agreements on the disposal of decommissioned nuclear submarines with the US, Britain, Canada, Japan, Italy and Norway.
An official said Russia dismantles 18 nuclear submarines annually noticing that it costs about $7 million to dismantle one nuclear submarine.
We will scrap all decommissioned nuclear submarines by 2010, Sergei Kiriyenko, who heads Russias nuclear agency, said in November.
EFL
Communications facilities damaged by Tuesday's earthquake off Taiwan are gradually being repaired, but it will likely be at least a few weeks before communications can return to normal, according to Renesys, an Internet and communications traffic-monitoring firm.
"This isn't going to get fixed quickly," said Todd Underwood in an interview Thursday. "At least six major cable systems are still out, so we're not seeing a lot of recovery."
The earthquake recorded a magnitude of 6.7 and its epicenter was pinpointed in the ocean off Taiwan. Almost immediately communications among several Asian and Pacific nations were disrupted -- in some cases knocking out connections entirely, and in other instances slowing traffic to a crawl.
Cable service providers quickly pressed backup systems and approaches into service. Noting that special repair ships must fix the damaged cables, Underwood said it could take a week to fix each cable. "It's not like there are six [repair] boats ready to act," he said.
I'm glad the Rantburg server is here in the U.S., otherwise I'd be having withdrawl symtoms.
#1
Good for you Chuck. In M'sia one has to do the "World Wide Wait", as things crawl - even when using a proxy server either from Ozzieland or India.
Looking at the submarine cables layout in the Pacific: almost all of them go through Japan - Taiwan - then China before South east Asia. One reason being apparently that it is the shortest besides. biz-wise. the "hottest" route. Not really an efficient "Net", when it isn't spread out.
#3
FWIW I helped load some of those (fiber) cable systems onto boats when I was at UNH in the mid 80's (Simplex / Tyco Labs, Newington, NH; three for the Atlantic, one for the Pacific.
Unloading the older creosote soaked ones, not so pleasant.
Do the stars find themselves as fascinating as their fans do? Yes, says a forthcoming psychological study of Hollywoods celebrity class. It is not just money or career that makes them seem different: it is their extreme levels of self love and their compulsive need for public attention.
Some stars have long been aware of Hollywood vanity. Beyoncé Knowles, the pop singer and actress, said recently: Its scary that you rarely meet celebrities that are normal. They live on their own diva planets.
Two Los Angeles psychologists have produced the first scientific evidence that many celebrities sincerely believe that they are better than the rest of us. The psychologists forthcoming book suggests that many pop culture icons are heading for disaster.
The evidence for that has been clear and indisputable for a looong time. This musta been a grant thingy.
Mark Young and Drew Pinsky used a mathematical formula to measure the traits, including exhibitionism and vanity, that make up narcissism. Psychologists believe that in general men are both bossier than women and show off more. However, in the celebrity class women are far more narcissistic than men and up to a third are more manipulative and vain about their appearance than the typical woman in the street, according to the psychologists from the University of Southern California.
Young and Pinsky have had rare access: celebrities queue up to appear on Loveline, Pinskys nationally syndicated radio show, where he has been compared to Professor Anthony Clare, the BBC psychiatrist, for his revealing interviewing style.
They asked 200 celebrities who appeared on the programme to fill out a standard questionnaire called the Narcissism Personality Inventory. They were asked how they felt about themselves, including whether they felt they deserved compliments or were embarrassed by them and whether they insisted on being respected at all times.
Participants remain anonymous but interviewees featured on Pinskys website include Renée Zellweger, Jessica Simpson, Jim Carrey and members of Duran Duran, the British pop band. It was people like that actors, comedians, musicians and reality TV contestants who emerged as the most narcissistic of all, said Pinsky. The fewer real-life skills they had, the louder they tend to be in their attempts to hold on to attention.
Fictional examples of narcissists are David Brent of The Office and Miss Piggy from The Muppets. Closer to real life, Courtney Love, the exuberant rock star, once described herself as over-excitable narcissist.
Pinsky said: Vanity is only part of it. They crave attention, are over-confident of their abilities, lack empathy and can behave erratically. But they are often admired and well liked, especially on a first meeting, and perform well in public.
Knowles said she had noticed a desperate hunger around her when she first started making films in Hollywood: I hope Im past needing it, as I dont want to feel the void I see in a lot of celebrities the unhappiness underneath the smile.
Young said he suspected that many of todays Hollywood fast set, such as Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, were in danger of stumbling over the line between fun and malady.
"In danger"? That's just hysterical.
I have spoken with Nicole Richie, Hiltons on-off best friend, and she is very polite in private. But she has had a troubled past, her adoptive father [Lionel Richie, the pop star] had admitted he was not a very good parent, and now we see it all coming out in the attention-generating headlines about alleged eating disorders, Young said.
They are going further and further. One of these Hollywood party girls is going to be dead in five years time.
Promise? Oh wait, that was bad. My bad. I'm purdy sorry.
We are seeing a new type of celebrity who is famous just for being famous, without a foundation of skills, and this puts the pressure on them to perform ever more outrageously to feed their need for attention. Like Britney being photographed without underwear.
He added: We have also found striking differences between the celebrities and their jobs the more real-life skills they have, such as musicians, the less narcissistic they are.
We've noticed that skilled people aren't demented assholes, too. Go figure, huh?
In Hollywood they may have found a place that rewards their need for attention.
Pencil me in! Bring the Limo around! Louis, prepare my table! Points. I get points... and a guarantee, of course. That trailer won't do. Think double-wide, k?
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.
PALERMO, Sicily (AP) - Palermo general manager Rino Foschi received a surprise in the mail for Christmas - the severed head of a young goat, covered in blood. Foschi said he received the package on Dec. 22, put it underneath his Christmas tree and his wife opened it on Christmas Eve. Foschi was in Cesena but the package was sent from Palermo, according to news reports. "It was a sour Christmas, especially for my family," Foschi told the ANSA news agency Saturday. "My wife was shocked when she opened the package, but I think it was a joke and I'm sleeping peacefully. Let's not make a film out of this."
Moroccan police retrieved the bodies of nine sub-Saharan illegal migrants from the waters off Western Sahara on Saturday after their boat capsized on its way to Spain's Canary Islands, state news agency MAP said. Another makeshift vessel with 59 people on board was intercepted and its passengers taken to a centre in Laayoune, the principle town in the desert territory, MAP cited local officials as saying. On Friday, Moroccan police foiled an attempt by 111 migrants to set off for the Canaries from Akhfennir, 170 kilometres (105 miles) north of Laayoune, the agency added.
Yemen has issued a tsunami alert for areas located on its south-eastern coast after a powerful earthquake struck in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday. The alert was issued as a precautionary move and that the possibility of a tsunami was small, officials said.
More than two million Muslim pilgrims on the ritual journey known as Hajj are Saturday performing a ritual stoning ceremony in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
Fictional examples of narcissists are David Brent of The Office and Miss Piggy from The Muppets. Closer to real life, Courtney Love, the exuberant rock star, once described herself as over-excitable narcissist. 
