They don't call it Black Friday for no reason.
PALM DESERT, Calif. -- The shooting occurred in a crowded toy store on the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, but authorities say it wasn't related to the bargain-hunting frenzy. Instead, two men pulled guns and killed each other after the women with them erupted into a bloody brawl, witnesses said.
Authorities released few details about the mayhem that broke out at the Toys "R" Us store around 11:30 a.m. Friday, sending scared shoppers fleeing. Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said the fight was not over a toy and that handguns were found by the men's bodies. He refused to say whether the shooting was gang-related.
Because it was so obvious? ...
The victims were identified as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs, and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City. No one else was hurt.
Witnesses Scott and Joan Barrick said they were checking out of the store when the brawl began between two women, each with a man. The women were near the checkout area, but the Barricks did not think the women had purchases. One woman suddenly started punching the other woman, who fought back as blood flowed from her nose, said Scott Barrick, 41. The man who was with the woman being punched pulled a gun halfway out of his pocket, then shoved it back in, he said.
"He pulled his gun right next to me. I turned to look for my wife, and she was already hiding," Scott Barrick said. "I was scared," said Joan Barrick, 40. "I didn't want to die today. I really didn't want to die today, and I think that's what we were all thinking."
The other man pulled a gun and pointed it at the first man but forgot to cock it, Scott Barrick said. The first man tried to run but was blocked by the line of people, then ran back toward the store's electronics section as the other man fired his gun, he said.
The first man reached a dead-end in electronics, turned around and ran toward an exit, pulling his gun and firing back, Scott Barrick said. "He went up to the cash register, he went to put his hand on the thing and he just went phoomp," he said, indicating the man fell. He said he did not see what happened to the other man.
Palm Desert Councilman Jim Ferguson said police told him two men with handguns shot and killed each other. Saved the taxpayers a whole lot of money. Thanks for thinking of us in these trying economic times.
"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper." I believe term is Power Shopper
Ray Turner, 20, said he was two aisles away when two women began shouting and screaming at each other and he had a clear view of the fight until a crowd clustered around them. Both women had children Jeebus, he said.
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2008 09:00 ||
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TEHRAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A man who blinded a woman with acid after she spurned his marriage proposals will also be blinded with acid under Iran's Islamic law, a newspaper said on Thursday. An Iranian court made the ruling on Wednesday based on the system of "qisas" or fair retribution, Etemad-e Melli reported.
The man identified as Majid proposed several times but was spurned by the woman, identified as Ameneh, the daily reported. In revenge, he threw acid in her face as she left her work in 2004, it added.
She travelled to Spain for surgery to reconstruct her face but efforts to restore her sight failed. On return from Spain, she asked the court for retribution, the newspaper said. "Ever since I was subject to acid being thrown on my face, I have a constant feeling of being in danger," she said, adding that Majid had also threatened to kill her in the past.
The newspaper published pictures of Ameneh's face before the attack and, still disfigured, after reconstructive surgery.
Majid was quoted as saying he did not regret his action but added: "I threw acid on her face so that she would be mine forever ... I did not know that acid could have such an effect on her face."
At the end of the court session, the judges "unanimously decided to sentence the accused to 'qisas' of his body part, blinding by acid" and to pay compensation, the report said. Judiciary officials could not be reached for comment.
The concept of "qisas" also holds in other cases in Iran, such as murder. A victim's family can demand the death of a convicted murderer or commute the sentence in return for financial compensation from the culprit.
The newspaper did not give details about how or when the sentence would be carried out. Court rulings can be appealed.
Researchers have discovered the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb near the desert city of Turpan in northwestern China.
Dewd! It is, like, well-aged by now!
According to a research paper published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, the 2,700-year-old cannabis cache was 'cultivated for psychoactive purposes'.
The dried cannabis was buried with a 45-year-old, light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, who seems to be a shaman of the Gushi culture, The Canadian Press reported.
The dry weather and alkaline soil have preserved the stash, which despite having lost its distinctive odor, still looks green. The cache was found in a leather basket in a wooden bowl, giving rise to the assumption that it was intended for the shaman to use in the afterlife. "It was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife. No hemp or seeds were provided for fabric or food. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied," said American neurologist and head of the research team Dr. Ethan B. Russo.
Some 18 researchers most of them based in China, conducted carbon dating tests and applied genetic analysis to the cannabis. Studies showed that the marijuana had a relatively high THC content, the main active ingredient in cannabis.
The team also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, but failed. Since no pipes were found in the shaman's tomb, scientists could not determine whether the cannabis was smoked or ingested.
Two of the 500 Gushi tombs in northwestern China have yielded cannabis so far, which indicates that the substance was either used by a few individuals or was administered as medicine by shamans, Russo said. The Xinjiang region of China, where the tomb is located, is known as an original source of numerous types of cannabis.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Great pic Fred. "... it was intended for the shaman to use in the afterlife" The shaman dewd must have had some experience with the weed in the fore life. Must have been good some $hit to want to light it up in the after life.
BEKASI: Bekasi Police said Thursday they suspected the headless body found inside a suitcase was a businessman from a well-off family from outside Muara Gembong, Bekasi. On Wednesday morning, local fisherman at Muara Bendera Beach in Muara Gembong found a suitcase containing the body of a man. The body had no head, hands or feet.
"Possibly, he was a businessman from out of town, and he was not a Muslim because he was not circumcised," a police officer was quoted as saying by kompas.com.
Police moved the body to Muara Gembong Police on Wednesday afternoon. Bekasi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Herry Wibowo said they would need to conduct an autopsy to get more clues.
From the police examination, it is likely the victim was discarded two or three days before it was found. The victim was estimated to be between 30 to 40 years old with a height of 165 centimeters. is that with or without head and feet?
Seven people, including two policemen, were injured in clashes on Thursday between security forces and pro-opposition supporters protesting parliamentary polls next year, police and the opposition said. Police fired warning shots and beat up protesters, injuring five demonstrators and arresting 18, sources from the opposition said.
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11/29/2008 00:00 ||
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By documenting the lingerie culture of Syria, the book 'The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design' reveals a previously unknown side of Arabic design, fashion and sexuality. The most outrageous and exuberant lingerie in the world comes from a place yoùd probably never expect: Syria. Adorned with everything from faux fur, artificial flowers, and feathered birds to plastic toy cell phones, these intimates flash lights, play music, even vibrate. In Damascus and Aleppo, approximately 200 lingerie companies vie for a highly competitive domestic market, where styles change from season to season.
#1
The most outrageous and exuberant lingerie in the world...Adorned with everything from faux fur, artificial flowers, and feathered birds to plastic toy cell phones, these intimates flash lights, play music, even vibrate
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.
TEHRAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A man who blinded a woman with acid after she spurned his marriage proposals will also be blinded with acid under Iran's Islamic law, a newspaper said on Thursday. An Iranian court made the ruling on Wednesday based on the system of "qisas" or fair retribution, Etemad-e Melli reported.
Researchers have discovered the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb near the desert city of Turpan in northwestern China. 
Seven people, including two policemen, were injured in clashes on Thursday between security forces and pro-opposition supporters protesting parliamentary polls next year, police and the opposition said. Police fired warning shots and beat up protesters, injuring five demonstrators and arresting 18, sources from the opposition said.
By documenting the lingerie culture of Syria, the book 'The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design' reveals a previously unknown side of Arabic design, fashion and sexuality. The most outrageous and exuberant lingerie in the world comes from a place yoùd probably never expect: Syria. Adorned with everything from faux fur, artificial flowers, and feathered birds to plastic toy cell phones, these intimates flash lights, play music, even vibrate. In Damascus and Aleppo, approximately 200 lingerie companies vie for a highly competitive domestic market, where styles change from season to season.
