That was what Linda Smith (a pseudonym) was thinking after two thugs broke into her Oklahoma apartment. One was holding a weapon (she initially thought it was a knife but it turned out to be a screwdriver) at her throat, and the other was pacing back and forth while holding her purse and demanding her money and valuables. She screamed, and was told if she screamed again, she'd be dead.
She was doing as police recommend in robberies – comply with a robber's demands. But her Lady Smith & Wesson .38 special, which she carries by permit, was hidden in her purse – and the purse was being held by one of the attackers.
Then the situation, suddenly, got much, much worse: One of the robbers demanded that she take off her clothes.
"Come on, what are you waiting for," he told her as he started to yank on her sweatpants, trying to take them off.
Smith pleaded for her safety and distracted the attackers by telling them she would get her money, which was "in my purse."
The robbers inexplicably allowed her to drop to her knees and crawl across the floor to her purse, which the second attacker had dropped.
She reached inside, and the first shot was clear of the muzzle and into the torso of one of the attackers before she even pulled the weapon clear of the purse. Four more shots followed shortly and, in the end, one of the attackers was dead and the second was hospitalized facing a murder rap for having participated in a felony in which someone died.
Smith, in an exclusive interview with WND, explained she comes from a family that believes in self-reliance and courage.
"I choose to carry a concealed firearm, because even though I am immensely grateful for the protection from our police departments, I realize they're not God, so they can't be everywhere at once.
"Deadly situations can happen in the blink of an eye," she said. "If you are not proactive Â… you are a vulnerable target."
Smith, an Endowment member of the National Rifle Association, said she's carried a gun for almost half a decade, but never dreamed she'd be in a situation where she'd have to use it to defend her life. But she's glad the training she's had over the years kicked in at a time when it saved her from injury, or possibly much worse.
"Ironically, I thought I was really prepared," she told WND. "I remember that night and saw my life flash before my eyes. Darreon Carter, the man who was attempting to rape me, had me pinned down to my couch, with a knife at my throat. I knew I didn't have access to my gun. I thought to myself, I really need to have a firearm for my home, and directly on my person.
According to records, the attack happened early on the morning of July 15, and one of the intruders, Darreon Carter, 18, died hours later in a hospital in Tulsa. The other, Daniel Holman, 23, was facing charges while still in critical condition.
Capt. Travis Yates of the Tulsa Police Department told the Tulsa newspaper it seemed to be an "opportunity crime."
"Somebody saw a woman walking up to an apartment, and they decided to commit a crime, and here we are," he said.
The attack developed only about 24 hours after another home invasion was reported in the area – and that one left a resident dead.
Smith told WND she had come into her apartment after a late-night run for errands – she keeps unusual hours because of shift work at a hospital. She had one more item to fetch from outside but never got the chance because, within 20 seconds of her entering, the suspects followed.
She recalled with clarity the five shots, including those in which she picked out the attackers even though her boyfriend, black like the attackers, was struggling with them. He had been visiting and came in from the next room after the shots rang out.
He reported to Smith later that one of the attackers actually had a headlock on him when she fired, knocking the assailant off of him.
He had jumped into Smith's defense as both attackers were beating Smith's face and head, trying to knock her out to break her "death grip" on the weapon.
"We need to stand up and we don't have to be victims," Smith told WND. "We don't have to passively stand by and allow criminals to overtake us." Armed robbers like this are why we need to bring back hanging.
#2
At times when rapists have you captive you really need to call the ACLU. Because that person is violating your civil liberties. They will send someone to help you right after they have that pesky cross removed from the church steeple. /snark
#3
Considering the 85/15 rule of criminal behavior (85% of the crimes are committed by 15% of the criminals) having one of these guys out of the crime scene permanently will likely serve the community in Oklahoma in two ways.
1. The individual's crime spree has ended and so many future people will be spared the trauma of this guy's exploits.
2. The community will not ever have to pay for expensive trials and jailing of him over the course of his life.
That woman has saved the citizens of Oklahoma a lot of money and grief. The community owes her a debt of gratitude.
[Iran Press TV Latest] An Indian man is attempting to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for a second time for having the longest ear hair in the world.
The 55-year-old Radhakant Bajpai, a resident of Kanpur city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, is trying to break his own world record for growing the longest ear hair in the world.
He had set the record five years ago, in 2005, with 13.5 centimeters.
Now the length of Bajpai's ear hair has grown to 28 centimeters long.
Considered by Bajpai to be a symbol of luck and prosperity, his incredible ear hair has been growing since he was 18 and more importantly has never been cut.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2010 00:00 ||
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This guy is a piker. I saw an auto-rickshaw driver in New Delhi with ear hair much longer than this chap.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
07/25/2010 6:33 Comments ||
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#2
Like Samson, his strength and manhood are in his hair?
A popular Saudi cleric said Saturday it is permissible for Muslim women to reveal their faces in countries where the Islamic veil is banned to avoid harassment, while deploring the effort to outlaw the garment in France.
Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is one of the few Muslim countries where women are forced by custom to cover their hair with head scarves and their bodies with cloaks called abayas in most parts of the country. It is also common to see Saudi women wearing full-face veils.
So Sheik Aedh al-Garni's religious advice, delivered in response to a question from a Saudi woman in France, generated some opposition from those less compromising. One cleric said it was better for Muslim women to avoid traveling to such countries unless absolutely necessary.
"We should not confront people in their countries or elsewhere," al-Garni was quoted as saying in the Saudi-owned daily Al-Hayat. "In case a ban is enforced against a Muslim woman there -- and as a consequence there is a reaction or negative implications or harassment or harm -- it is better for the Muslim woman to reveal her face."
Not all Islamic clerics agree that the face veil is an obligation, with some calling it a tradition. But most clerics agree a head scarf is a religious requirement.
Beyond Saudi Arabia, the face veil is quietly spreading in other Arab countries. Some governments, like Egypt and Syria, have taken measures to limit its spread, such as barring it in universities and academic institutions.
Al-Garni's religious guidance, or fatwa, is an advisory opinion and not a law. It is significant because it comes from a Saudi cleric whose writings are widely read. But other clerics in the kingdom did not see eye-to-eye with al-Garni.
Mohammed al-Nujemi, a Saudi professor at the Institute of Judicial and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, said it is best to avoid countries were the ban is enforced.
"The Saudi woman should not go on tourism to non-Muslim countries," he told the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television network. "Going to a non-Muslim country without a necessity is not permissible according to the sharia," he said, referring to Islamic law. "Now you get your *ss back in the kitchen and make me some pah!"
Israeli tennis player Shahar Pe'er was permitted to play in the Barclay's Dubai Tennis Championships in February with help from women's professional tour star Venus Williams. After Pe'er was denied entrance to the United Arab Emirates for the 2009 championship, Williams spoke out, saying that she would not participate in the following year's Dubai competition if Pe'er were denied entrance again. The Anti-Defamation League subsequently honored Williams for her efforts.
This year, Dubai officials granted Pe'er a visa, allowing her to compete. Nevertheless, the Israeli was separated completely from the other Women's Tennis Association competitors and, for security reasons, allowed movement only from her hotel room to the tennis courts. Pe'er also was the only player to not appear on the center court for a match.
Ironically, Williams defeated Pe'er 6-1, 6-4 in a semi-finals match . But Williams again spoke up for Pe'er, saying, "She's just brave. She's got so much character. I can't imagine being in her shoes." The seven-time Grand Slam winner continued, "I can't imagine playing so well with these kinds of circumstances. I just have to give her congratulations and props. She's courageous. I don't think anyone else on the WTA Tour could do what she's doing."
Despite being competitors on the court, the two tennis stars had only kind words for each other. "I told her I really appreciate her support this week and last year," Pe'er said at the time of Williams.
Antisemitism is fashionable these days. Good for Ms Williams for fighting the trend.
Snip, duplicate. Bobby is right. Please folks, always check for duplicates, particularly if the post is long. AoS.
Posted by: Beavis in Cape Cod ||
07/25/2010 10:26 ||
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#1
I think I just read this yesterday. But I didn't get to comment.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/25/2010 12:46 Comments ||
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#2
All they are really doing so far, no matter what they call it, is firing the hundreds of thousands of government employees that Labour hired as a way to buy their votes.
#4
#2: All they are really doing so far, no matter what they call it, is firing the hundreds of thousands of government employees that Labour hired as a way to buy their votes.
Posted by: Anonymoose|
And showing the United States what lies ahead for us if we don't repeal, or at least do a major overhaul, of Ostumblecare.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/25/2010 17:22 Comments ||
Top||
All right. Let me try this...
CARACAS, Venezuela – Paranoid Venezuelan commie dictator Hugo Chavez threatened Sunday to halt oil sales to the United States and hide under his bed if Venezuela is attacked by its U.S.-allied neighbor Colombia. Chavez said during a speech to thousands of dupes that if there were an "armed aggression against Venezuela" from Colombia backed by the U.S., "we would suspend shipments of oil...and go broke."
Chavez said "we wouldn't send one more drop" of crappy, unrefinable oil to the United States, which is the top buyer of oil from the South American worker's paradise.
The paranoid Venezuelan commie dictator cut off diplomatic relations with Colombia on Thursday after outgoing President Alvaro Uribe's government presented photos, videos and maps of what it said were Colombian rebel camps inside Venezuela. The paranoid fat man called it "Lies! All lies!!" intended to smear his government and has said the Uribe could be trying to lay the groundwork for an armed conflict.
The Colombian government denies seeking a conflict. It says it went to the Organization of American States with its evidence about the rebels' alleged presence in Venezuela last week because Chavez's government had not taken steps to address the situation. Apparently, neither has the OAS.
Chavez said Sunday he is canceling a trip to Cuba to kiss fellow commie dictator emeritus Fidel Castro's ass due to the tensions with Colombia.
He said separately in a newspaper column, however, that he will wait to see if Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos, who takes office next month, expresses willingness to ease the diplomatic conflict. If not, he will throw yet another temper tantrum and make lots of noise.
"We have to receive clear and unequivocal signals that there is a real political will in the new Colombian government to kiss my fat ass, without tricks," Chavez wrote.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
07/25/2010 17:53 Comments ||
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#2
would him not sendind us oil really hurt us ?
Posted by: chris ||
07/25/2010 18:32 Comments ||
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#3
Probably would; for a while the US business plan has been built around borrowing money from China to buy oil from Venezuela and places like it.
Imagine him doing this the same week some events in the Middle East cut off oil from there. And, of course, us waking up to all of that _and_ finding out that lots of the Canadian oil that wasn't good enough for us earlier is under long-term contract to countries like China.
I think all of this is coming, and it's going to be coordinated; for lack of a better term, I'm calling it "the dogpile."
They're probably postponing it until all the rigs are finally gone from the Gulf, which is a goal that's suddenly within sight.
[Pak Daily Times] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday dismissed Colombian charges that he harboured leftist Colombian rebels as 'a hoax' and pretext for a possible US-backed invasion of his oil-producing country.
A day after abruptly severing relations with US ally Colombia over the accusations, the socialist Venezuelan leader condemned the government of outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as 'an instrument of (US) imperialism'.
Leftist Chavez's breaking of ties with Bogota has ratcheted up tensions between OPEC member Venezuela and US-supported Colombia in a volatile Andean region plagued by clashing ideologies, guerrilla armies and drug-trafficking. Addressing a meeting in Caracas of trade unionists from the Americas, Chavez said the United States was targeting his revolutionary rule over top South American crude producer Venezuela, which remains a leading US oil supplier.
'Now Colombia is a great big Yankee base', he said, referring to a deal last year that allows US forces the use of Colombian military bases, a pact Chavez says poses a direct threat to his country. He survived a brief coup in 2002 and frequently denounces assassination plots he says are hatched by domestic enemies and supported by the US government.
The Venezuelan leader repeated his government's rejection of photos, videos and maps presented by Colombia to the Organization of American States to back its charges that Colombian guerrillas operate from camps inside Venezuela.
'All this hoax that here in Venezuela there are I don't know how many thousands of terrorists ... this lie is a perfect excuse to attempt an invasion of Venezuela', he said. Such an attack would trigger 'a 100-year war', Chavez said, adding: "May God protect us from such a war".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Great, let this madman rant and rave. Each time he does, a thousand Latinos figure out what a POS he is. The US has no need to "invade" Venezuela. The entire country would go belly up if we just quit trading with them. Their oil is a major pain in the kiester to refine. The stuff being siphoned up from the surface of the Gulf is easier to handle. Let Chavez learn to drink oil - I'm sure it'll end his "indisposition".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/25/2010 17:27 Comments ||
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RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has revealed he met and even sang patriotic Soviet songs with the group of Russian spies deported from the US in the biggest espionage swap since the Cold War.
Mr Putin, who served as a KGB agent in the ex-East Germany in the dying years of the Soviet Union, said the group included Anna Chapman, the Russian woman whose glamorous looks turned her into a tabloid star worldwide.
"I met with them. We talked about life. We sang. It was not karaoke but live music," Mr Putin told Russian reporters on a visit to Ukraine, according to a transcript posted today on a Government website.
"We sang 'From Where the Motherland Begins', a hugely popular 1960s song made famous in a USSR film about a Soviet spy working in Nazi Germany," he said.
"I'm not joking, I am serious. And other songs with a similar content."
The 10 spies, many of whom had been working for years undercover in the US as sleeper agents, returned to Russia earlier this month in a swap in which Moscow sent four Russian convicts to the West.
The Kremlin agents had been arrested in an FBI swoop that initially threatened to derail a rapid improvement in Russia-US relations championed by President Dmitry Medvedev.
Mr Putin hinted the agents' cover had been blown as a result of "treason" and that he knew the names of those responsible.
"This was the result of treason and traitors always end badly. They finish up as drunks, addicts, on the street," Mr Putin said.
Many former KGB spies have gone on the record blasting the shoddy and apparently antiquated spycraft of the 10, who were working for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
But Mr Putin indicated the deported spooks would not be left without employment.
"They will work, I am sure, they will work in worthy places. I do not doubt that they will have an interesting, bright life."
He did not give further details on his encounter with Ms Chapman, saying only that she had been present at the meeting. He did not say when or where the meeting had taken place.
Mix of conservative values (vs. promiscuity, drugs, egoism) and concern for national security. Inward turning anti-Western movements happen periodically in Russian history, but this one might just be the patriarch looking for political cred/clout.
#1
Great, now we're dependent on Russian and Chinese spacecraft to get astronauts to the ISS. And now that NASA's official mission is improving Muslim self-esteem, don't expect a shuttle replacement any time soon. Thanks a heap Barry.
Currently: nearly 300,000 / year, mainly from Afghanistan & Sri Lanka
Proposed: 1700,000 / year
Proposal called racist. Right wing candidate attacks Muslim religion of his opponent, dropped by the party.
#1
This could well be an election winner for the Liberals who are currently trailing in the polls.
There is a general feeling here that immigration, especially third world immigration levels are far to high.
It's not particularly a race issue, although the media portray it that way. Pacific Islanders, East and South East Asians are generally well accepted because they are productive and generally law abiding (and frequently Christian).
Most of the hostility is towards Afghans, Arabs, Africans and to a lesser extent South Asians.
Most people would welcome more European skilled immigration.
#2
Gotta wonder how long it will be afore the AUSSIES = OZ-LANDERS/OZZIES scream for
"SSSHHHHAAAAAARRRRRROOONN"!
versus
* NEWSKERALA > HAN CHINESE MIGRANTS CAUSING UNREST IN TIBET. Beijing officially refuses to give STATS on how many Han Chinese have come into Tibet.
DITTO on UIGHURS = XINJIANG > Local Uighurs + WORLD UIGHUR CONGRESS complaining about Beijing's [anti-Uighur?]internal migration policies despite overall improvements to Xinjiang's = West China's economy.
#3
There's not much incentive not to flee Wall Street here also. Large institutional investors can somewhat game the market but small investors beware.
A top military official at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been relieved of duty and charged with knowingly falsifying his personnel records.
Command Sgt. Maj. Stoney Crump, the senior enlisted officer for the Medical Center Brigade, had the "intent to deceive" when he submitted a false official record incorrectly stating that he had attended several military educational courses, according to the Army charge sheet.
Among the courses he is alleged to have attended were Reconnaissance School, Sniper School, Drill Sergeant Course, U.S. Army Ranger School and several Special Forces schools and courses, the Army charge sheet says.
Crump is also charged with falsely stating in a biography he was a registered nurse. Other charges say he knowingly wore up to fifteen service ribbons and awards he was not entitled to wear, including a Marine Corps Combat Action ribbon and a Presidential Unit Citation, which is awarded for an extremely meritorious or heroic act, usually in the face of an armed enemy.
In 13 separate counts, Crump is charged under two different sections of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This opens the door to a possible court martial proceeding.
The alleged falsification of his records and biography date back to 2007 when Crump was stationed in Germany and has continued until April of this year, according to the charge sheet.
As the top enlisted soldier assigned to the Walter Reed medical brigade, Crump would have had continuous contact with wounded troops at the hospital who have won numerous medals and awards in the combat zone.
#3
Hey, wait! I thought that the courts have held that it is a First Amendment right to lie about your medals.
Of course, he did this in an official record, rather than bragging so he could pick up chicks.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/25/2010 9:43 Comments ||
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#4
It is indicative of the current culture ... "I want whatever awards/promotions/recognition/money/etc. others have whether or not I have earned them" ...
#9
Last week it was the Command Chief at the Naval Academy spending way too much money on entertainment and friends...... Is it possible that the Senior NCO ranks are certainly not what they once were, bastions of integrity and commitment?
#10
The time line of the CSM's self awards might make an interesting study. I can't imagine he woke up one day in 2007 after decades of honorable service, and just decided to make a raid on the PX badges and decorations section. As far as UCMJ action, I'd bet he'll be unceremoniously retired at the rank of E9 within 30 days.
#11
The Air Force is taking down their highest ranking NCO for sexual abuse charges as well.
As far as I'm concerned Charlie Danials had it right- Find a tall tree and a short rope. For all three of them.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/25/2010 14:31 Comments ||
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#12
49Pan -
Are you referring to the USAF Chief - who was a potential CMSAF candidate - who was relieved for sexual harassment? That was a few months ago, but it's certainly in context here.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/25/2010 17:36 Comments ||
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#13
I can't imagine he woke up one day in 2007 after decades of honorable service, and just decided to make a raid on the PX badges and decorations section.
No. When was he up for Sergeant Major?
As far as UCMJ action, I'd bet he'll be unceremoniously retired at the rank of E9 within 30 days.
Plans to detail disappearance, misuse of anti-terror funds by his predecessor Gloria Arroyo
Phillipine politicos blame predecessors for corruption? That's sorta like American politicos vowing to clean up the waste of the previous administration ...
Give him time - he's only been in office a couple weeks.
nicely done. Anything one of these Lib tools writes is NOT journalism - it's partisan hackery I got three words: Hardee har har!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/25/2010 11:43 ||
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All...Legends in Their Own Minds.
Aren't these the folks threatening to throw people through plate glass windows and fucking up people in bar fights? Well, most of them look like they'd have problems fighting off a litter of kittens.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The District of Columbia schools chancellor has dismissed 241 teachers who had formerly received poor appraisals under a new evaluation system.
"Every child in a District of Columbia public school has a right to a highly effective teacher; in every classroom, of every school, of every neighborhood, of every ward, in this city," Michelle Rhee said on Friday. "That is our commitment."
Under the new evaluation system, the performance of every adult is carefully monitored and measured by multiple yardsticks. For teachers, that includes evidence their students meet or exceed predicted rates of growth on standardized tests -- a metric known as "value-added."
Rhee also noted that an additional 737 employees were put on notice and warned that they could be fired next year if they don't shape up and improve their performance.
Since taking up her post as chancellor of Washington D.C. public schools in June 2007, the forward-looking Rhee has been making earnest attempts to control how educators are managed, paid, and even sacked.
The teachers dismissed due to low ratings make up about 5 percent of the district's total. Only about 16 percent of the school district's 4,000 classroom teachers, who were evaluated on test-score growth, could fall into the "highly effective" category.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Only about 16 percent of the school district's 4,000 classroom teachers, who were evaluated on test-score growth, could fall into the "highly effective" category.
Only? That's about what you'd expect under the Pareto principle.
#5
Besides, yesterday's WaPo culled this from Iran Press - or maybe the other way around? No matter, it's not likely the Iranians will come looking for us for copyright violations.
Right?
It's considerabley shorter than the WaPo piece,too.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/25/2010 14:00 Comments ||
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#6
We live in strange times, folks, when the Iran Press is more believable than the WaPo. It's like one has fallen into a wabbit hole.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/25/2010 14:53 Comments ||
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#7
The District of Columbia schools chancellor has dismissed 241 teachers who had formerly received poor appraisals under a new evaluation system.
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.
[Pak Daily Times] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday dismissed Colombian charges that he harboured leftist Colombian rebels as 'a hoax' and pretext for a possible US-backed invasion of his oil-producing country. 
