Ya meet the weirdest people on busses...
BRANDON, Man. -- Thirty-six passengers of a Greyhound bus travelling from Edmonton to Winnipeg Wednesday night watched in horror as a fellow passenger reportedly stabbed another man sleeping next to him, eventually decapitating him and waving the man's severed head. Eeww...
"He didn't do anything to provoke the guy. They guy just took a knife out and stabbed him, started stabbing him like crazy and cut his head off," said Garnet Caton, 36, a passenger.
#2
Nobody tried to do anything to impede the murderer, like throw their I-pods at him? Or the hammer and the metal bar? It seems to me that while one can stab quickly and suddenly, cutting off a head would take a bit of time and concentration, giving time to the rest of the passengers to actually, you know, do something.
Or perhaps the passengers were all sheep, with only the one wolf and nary a sheepdog among them.
#3
"Aboriginal" is canuck PC speak for injun, am I right? Can't blame the passengers here, IMHO they were more than adequate in confronting the murderer and preventing him from escaping, even from the numbing comfort of my PC screen, I can see it took some guts. As for rushing the guy and preventing him from killing and mutilating the victim, one would have had to be on the spot and experiment the situation to see if he could even had done it - I know and like the image, but humans are not sheepdogs, sheepdogs fall back on their instinct and breeding, humans have to deal with their mortality, and must rise to their training and experience.
#5
Yup, shooting him in the process could have prevented the killing - way more doable than rushing a big guy with a knife, and do it so bate-handed (or even with an hammer or a metal bar)...
Double Oscar-winning actress, Elizabeth Taylor was put on a life support machine after suffering congestive heart failure, it was reported on Thursday.
The condition of the 76-year-old actress was said to have deteriorated after being diagnosed with pneumonia. Congestive heart failure is the medical condition when the heart becomes too weak to pump blood around the body.
Various newspapers quoted the US magazine National Enquirer as saying that Taylor's children were called to her bedside and told she might not survive.
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Posted by: john frum ||
07/31/2008 17:43 ||
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#1
A pic of the young and lovely Liz on the front page of the Defender/Scimitar would be a fine thing.
#2
Where's friend MICHAEL JACKSON in all this? IMB "LIZ" has steadfastly remained Amer's favorite actresses of yore - in terms of OLDER HOLLYWOOD ELITES = "ROYALTY", THIS IS THE HOLLYW EQUIVALENT OF THE POTENT QUEEN, OR QUEEN MOTHER, OF ENGLAND OR FRANCE SUDDENLY COLLAPSING.
California S&L Floats Military Bereavement Checks For Two Weeks
He gave his life serving this country in the war zone of Afghanistan. But a local bank has refused to cash the government check to pay for his burial. Now his family is fighting back.
Navy Corpsman Marc Retmier was the 500th Californian to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had dreams of coming home to Hemet to become a doctor. But now his family says a controversy involving a bank and his bereavement check is adding an insult to their tragedy.
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#2
Downey Savings offered to release the funds immediately upon verification of the funds. This was explained in detail to the family. Mr. Retmier's family declined the Bank's offer.
If that statement is true, I don't see the problem with a bank demanding verification of funds. How hard is it for someone to print a check on their laser printer? Not very hard.
Do we not want our banks to prevent thiefs from printing fraudulent bereavement checks and then demanding they be cashed instantly because the family is bereaved?
Besides, if Gloria Allred is involved, shouldn't that cause ALL RED (pun intended) flags to go up that a fleece is on the way.
#3
Do we not want our banks to prevent thiefs from printing fraudulent bereavement checks and then demanding they be cashed instantly because the family is bereaved?
Nice strawman, Bugs! The issue is the two week hold the bank wanted to put on the checks. Two weeks for a check to clear? Yeah, maybe if they sent it off to the Federal Reserve via mule train.
#4
Since when is cash up front a requirement for a funeral?
I'm sorry, but I don't understand how anyone could be surprised that a bank wouldn't simply cash $100,000 worth of checks on the spot.
I'm sorry this family is suffering from the loss of their loved one but I think this is being blown way out of proportion.
Posted by: andrew ||
07/31/2008 14:38 Comments ||
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#5
In follow-up --
1) no one would fault a bank for wanting to make sure a check is legitimate before cashing it.
2) while I'm not mil/ex-mil, I'm comfortably certain that the military has a procedure for handling these checks, and that the letter accompanying the check would (should) have phone numbers that a banker could call for verification.
3) a sensitive, customer-oriented banker, upon hearing the bad news and seeing the check, would extend himself/herself to do the verification, and not just tell the customer to get the check verified.
4) I do wonder why a funeral home wouldn't go ahead and make arrangements knowing that they'd get paid eventually. Then again, I'm not a funeral director/ex-director.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/31/2008 15:02 Comments ||
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#6
There's enough stupid in here to float a battleship.
If you want to see what the actual rules are, go the Federal Reserve's site and look for "Regulation CC" -- it's easy to find. There are two things in play here: US Treasury checks can be available the next business day after deposit, BUT any bank can have a policy that allows them to hold a noncash amount over $5000 for up to nine business days.
So: they could have had $10K the next business day, and the rest eight business days later, in the very worst case. Why did they need $100K immediately for a funeral? And why get an attorney involved for something that isn't illegal, or even contrary to Federal regulations? Waah, waah, give me attention for no apparent reason.
Truth be told, the S&L probably would hold the value of the money in an investment for 12 to 13 days drawing accrued interest for the S&L. It's business baby, nothing personal.
#8
I also agree that the bank probably did the best that it could in light of the situation. With Gloria Allred's involvement, you are almost certainly going to have the details completely blown out of proportion. Everyone is so quick to criticize the bank, but we only know half of the story. This looks like a small bank who probably know their customers well. I'm sure there is more to this than meets the eye. I bet the customers were a little over-demanding and unreasonable.
#9
I don't know. I am kind of upset with banks.
Last one that tried some weird fees on me with a checking account I said "Isn't the purpose of a bank account that it protects YOUR money and is safer than putting it under your mattress?"
Guy started screaming at me.... banks have kind of lost the thread... witness SubPrime hell....
and no shame about bail-outs but not for their customers...
I have no sympathy for the current banks in the USA. They have burned all their bridges.
#10
Downey Savings has to abide by the Policy and Procedure as submitted to the OTS. It was not a choice that on that day that they could just ignore their P&P and NOT put a hold on the check pending verification of funds. Granted, a federal check has a shorter holding period but there still would have been one. The OTS should back Downey on their decision to avoid an OTS fine and follow their P&P. Gloria is going to make a case built on heartstrings and not facts. It does not seem right to cause any inconvenience to this family in any way but I do not see how it could have been avoided since Downey is a federally insured bank and must follow the OTS rules. Oh, and the credit union they did get the funds from supposedly only released a small portion of the funds and held the rest upon verification...
Very interesting title, but the article is so long. If anyone happens across the answer in the article below please post it in the comments. Thanks in advance.
Have you ever wondered why you can't get off the couch and exercise -- despite paying for an expensive gym membership, despite your New Year's resolutions, even despite the doctor's scolding at your last checkup? Turns out that your inertia may be coded right into your genes.
Based on some intriguing preliminary studies in animals, J. Timothy Lightfoot, a kinesiologist, and his team at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, suggest that genetics may indeed predispose some of us to sloth. Using mice specially bred and selected according to their activity levels, Lightfoot identified 20 different genomic locations that work in tandem to influence their activity levels -- specifically, how far the animals will run. Lightfoot's team is the first to identify these genetic areas and the first to figure out that they function in concert. The researchers say the areas they found on the mouse genome may have analogs in humans, and the UNC team is now gearing up to conduct a similar study in men and women. "We have put forward a fairly complete genomic map of the areas that are associated with regulation of physical activity," says Lightfoot, whose study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Heredity.
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Stay off beer, potato chips and remote controls. Get off your ass, walk, bike, run, or swim 6 hours a day, 3 times a week. Eat yoghurt, spinach and tofu. While viewing Rantburg do 500 ab crunches and then 250 chinups between commenting.
But if you have the same gene as the mouse - you are SOOL.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/31/2008 3:23 Comments ||
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#2
gorb, there certainly is a gene for laziness. I'm using gene here loosely, as most predispositions result from multiple genes.
Essentially all organisms are genetically programmed to expend the minimum amount of energy to survive and reproduce.
The mystery is why some people exercise. An argument could be made that it is reproductive strategy for men, but there's more to it and it's more difficult to explain for women.
Otherwise while we are all genetically programmed to be lazy, we will not be all programmed to the same degree of laziness. A population always maintains some variability in characteristics that in different circumstances will affect survival. Your predisposition to get fat is an example.
In an environment where plenty of food alternates with shortages, getting fat has clear advantages. However it has clear disadvantages if your primary food source comes from hunting on foot.
#3
Whenever I feel lazy , I always put on my jeans . Kick back with a nice beer and enjoy Sunday . The rest of the week my Laziness jeans just disappear .
#4
I think there's a big future in laziness. After all, if it weren't for lazy people, we'd still be chopping wood with an ax, hitching up the horses to go to town, and buying blocks of ice to put in the Ice Box to cool our beer.
#9
I believe such a gene would have been wiped out long ago as the lazy would be unable to provide.
It reverts to a dormant state under duress. You can detect its reemergence in more tolerant environments within populations by the appearance and multiplication of aristocrats, bureaucrats, and welfare recipients.
#10
Obviously, there must be. I know I have it, but I'm too lazy to look for it right now.
Laziness is a serious medical ailment in writers. I think we should be compensated by the government for possessing laziness which is obviously a disease of the first magnitude. I'm obviously disabled and should be supported solely on the taxpayer dole.
Thirteen illegal immigrants suffocated in an overcrowded truck container and their bodies were dumped on Wednesday in a field in Istanbul's outskirts, officials and media reports said. They were among 80 people from Pakistan and Myanmar who were crammed into the vehicle in the eastern province of Van for a 1,650-kilometre clandestine journey to Istanbul, Anatolia news agency quoted Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler as saying. "When the sweltering truck became unbearable, they began punching the driver's cabin and he stopped. It was determined that 13 people were dead, four were unconscious and 63 were alive," Guler said, relaying the accounts of passengers. "This is a tragic example of people smuggling," he said. The trafficking ring had sneaked the group to Van from neighbouring Iran, Guler said. Most of the dead were believed to be Pakistanis, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on its website. Police were looking for the driver, who fled after dropping off the bodies as well as the surviving immigrants in a field in the Kucukcekmece district. The security forces sealed off the area, launching an operation to hunt down the immigrants who ran away, and a helicopter was helping in the search. About 50 migrants were rounded up and 10 of them were taken to hospital suffering from severe exhaustion and dehydration, reports said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Why are they breaking their sack to get into Turkey. Many Turks are trying to get into Europe.
#3
#1 Why are they breaking their sack to get into Turkey. Many Turks are trying to get into Europe.
Probably not heading for Turkey, but for central Europe. Once you get to Istanbul, it's a clear shot up a super-highway to Italy, Austria, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, etc. Get in, get a job, and wait for the next "amnesty".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/31/2008 20:12 Comments ||
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#4
#1 Why are they breaking their sack to get into Turkey. Many Turks are trying to get into Europe.
Probably not heading for Turkey, but for central Europe. Once you get to Istanbul, it's a clear shot up a super-highway to Italy, Austria, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, etc. Get in, get a job, and wait for the next "amnesty".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/31/2008 20:12 Comments ||
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The director of a Saudi-funded Islamic school in northern Virginia accused of promoting religious hatred has pleaded guilty to failing to report suspected child abuse.
Abdalla Al-Shabnan, director of the Islamic Saudi Academy, was fined $500 after pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor count alleging that he failed to inform authorities about suspected sexual abuse of a 5-year-old girl who attended the school. Prosecutors dropped an obstruction of justice charge.
A federal commission reported last month that the school's textbooks promote intolerance and teach that it is permissible for Muslims to kill adulterers and those who convert from Islam. The school denies the allegations.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2008 00:00 ||
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A federal commission reported last month that the school's textbooks promote intolerance and teach that it is permissible for Muslims to kill adulterers and those who convert from Islam. The school denies the allegations.
If the school's textbooks include the Koran then the case is closes.
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.
