A plan to smuggle a highly radioactive helicopter from the site of the world's worst nuclear accident and turn it into a cafe has been foiled in Ukraine, police said Friday. Suspects were detained on Thursday carrying scrap 20-30 times the legal radiation level from the 30-kilometer (18-mile) exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power station, which exploded in 1986, police said in a statement.
The criminals "tried to take an Mi-8 helicopter out of exclusion zone to use it as an original coffee shop in one of Ukraine's cities," read the statement from the elite SBU special services. A workhorse of the Soviet armed forces, the Mi-8 helicopter is capable of carrying up to 28 people in its normal configuration, although it's not clear how many customers the gang had been hoping to seat. I'd say about 12-15? Anyway, neat part is, the food would have cooked all by itself.
Morningside Elementary kindergarten teacher Wendy Portillo told Port St. Lucie police she wanted 5-year-old Alex Barton to hear how his behavior was affecting his classmates. After students shared their view, she had them vote, but said the vote was only to keep him out of class for the day, not for good. Oh, that makes it OK. Musta forgotten to mention it to the kids. One day or forever, the damage is done, bi+ch.
"Portillo said she did this as she felt that if (Alex) heard from his classmates how his behavior affected them that it would make a bigger difference to him, rather than just hearing it from adults," according to a report released Thursday morning from the Port St. Lucie Police Department. Oh, how rational and balanced. I defy you to try it again.
Alex's mother filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer about the May 21 incident, saying her child told her he had been voted out of class at the encouragement of the teacher. She told the officer that after she talked with Portillo about the voting, Portillo "blocked the door for about five minutes to prevent me from leaving the classroom with my child, who was visibly shaken by the abuse." Another sign of how rational this teacher is. False arrest? Kidnapping?
Alex was in the process of being tested for Asperger's Syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism, at the time of the incident. His mother, Melissa Barton, said a private psychologist officially diagnosed him Tuesday with an autism-spectrum disorder and attention deficit disorder.
Portillo and children in the class said Alex was pushing a table up with his feet while he was under the table. She got the school resource officer to remove Alex from the classroom. It was the second discipline referral for Alex that day, the report said. Oh, how horrible.
When Alex returned to the class, Portillo said she and the class were not ready for him to return. Yeah, a kindergartner pushing his desk with his feet can really be traumatic to his classmates, who are probably knocking over other kids toys, falling on their faces, screeching, crying and picking their noses.
Portillo told the officer she asked Alex to join her at the front of the class. Careful, Portillo. You have 16 kids to act as witnesses.
"She said she then asked him to listen to what the children didn't like about the things he did, and she asked him how it made him feel," the report said. "She said at this time, 'We polled the class' to see how his peers felt about his return at that time." All according to standard procedures developed and administered by a certified educator, of course.
Alex was voted out, 14 to 2.
Alex told the officer Portillo called his classmates' names out and they said "disgusting" things about him. "I asked (Alex) what the students said, and he said the students said he eats paper, picks boogers and eats them on top of the table and bites his shoelaces," the report said. "He told me Mrs. Portillo said, 'I hate you right now. I don't like you today.'" It's part of the procedure, so it's OK. Notice the clinical language the professional educator uses when she describes the technique she exercised on the FIVE YEAR OLD?
The officer asked Alex how the incident made him feel. "He said it made him feel sad," Alex said according to the report. Yep. In an age of esteem is king, this fits right in with accepted procedure.
Alex also told the officer that Portillo scratched him, stepped on his shoelaces, grabbed his leg and pulled his shirt collar, but the report said Portillo and other children in the class refuted those allegations. Where? In class or on the way to the principal's office?
Portillo told the officer after he left with Alex that day, she talked with the other children. I'll bet she did. Probably the only receptive audience she's going to find aside from the teacher's union.
"Portillo said she explained to them that the students in class were all her priority and she would protect them like a 'bear defending her cubs,'" the report said. Including Alex. But heaven forbid she should tell them to have some compassion for him. My what a pickle she was in.
Alex hasn't been back at Morningside since the incident.
The state attorney's office and Port St. Lucie Police Department concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed. And the teacher gets transferred. Hopefully to a madrassah in a tribal region of Pakistan where she belongs. Wearing a tattoo on her forehead that says Allan Sucks.
#3
Yet another case of an out of control child and his (likely) enabling / willfully blind parent out to teach a lesson to an educator who had the audacity to question his behavior. Happens every day in every school in the nation. Move along, nothing to see here except the trumped-up lawsuit the parent is angling for.
#4
AzCat, you aren't more right today than you were yesterday. How many other kindergarten children do any of those things, plus shouting out of turn and getting up and running around because boys sometimes must be boys? Would you ever treat an employee like that, even one you were in the process of firing?
As for the teacher's statement: Uh huh. And is that how the children understood it, or did they understand it the way little Alex did? If the boy was in the process of being diagnosed for Asperger's Syndrome, this likely falls under Federal Disability Protection statutes. She may have been trying to get rid of him before she had to comply with writing and fulfilling a formal Individual Education Plan, with all the legal problems -- for the teacher and the school -- that entails. As for the mother bear thing: that sets up the other children with her against whatever Alex might do, regardless of truth or falsehood. A teacher's responsibility is supposed to be to all the children in her classroom, not just the ones she likes best.
#6
AzCat, I'm w/you in principle but I saw this kid on a vid the other day - he definitely looked to me to have more going on then just a behavioral issue - facial ticks and the whole lot - a lot like my nephew w/aspergers. Trust me, I'm a corporal punishment type of dude, no problem w/spanking those that deserve it. I think this kid was in the wrong classroom. Let's see what happens before throwing judgements either way.
I have a son with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Luckily his ped caught the early signs when he was about 2 and referred us to Children's Hospital for an eval and even then it was difficult to diagnose because of his age.
He would act up - either out of simply not knowing it was wrong or in frustration. Still does sometimes. Its very hard to communicate with him when he's on a roll. Heck its hard to communicate with him at the best of times.
We were able to get him into an early education school when he was 2 and now he's in early development with the school district. He has improved greatly - we can hold a simple conversation with him now. When he gets to kindergarten age he will either be mainstreamed or place in a smaller classroom until he can adjust.
If a teacher were to treat my son like that (even if he were normal or not) I would be very pissed off - at both the teacher and school district for placing my child with such a cruel teacher.
You *dont* treat kids like that. If he's disruptive you send him out and you find a solution to the problem - talk to his parents, transfer him to another class.
If your going to punish the kid you don't have the other kids do it by, in effect, telling the kid he's nothing and nobody likes him and he should just go away and never come back. What kind of lession did it teach the other kids? Who's going to be their next target?
When Alex returned to the class, Portillo said she and the class were not ready for him to return.
Oh they were ready all right. Seems to be she already had them primed to eat one of her 'cubs'.
Morningside parent Terrence Moore, whose daughter Jessica is in the kindergarten class and was interviewed by the resource officer, said Portillo is an exceptional teacher.
Shes top notch. Shes a very caring teacher, Moore said.
Until it's your child she decides she doesn't like that week.
#8
AzCat, questioning kid's behavior's fine. Using utterly immature and stupid methods of "punishment" is really not that desirable. The field of education is populated by all sort of characters (or induhviduals) as a result of the deficient education in the firt place tha have no biz being there.
It's curious that AssHat AzCat has his trolling motor in overdrive about a five-year-old boy who will have to live with being the odd fellow out his whole life. A boy who is no doubt smart and wants desperately to make friends, but is unable to understand subtlties in facial expression and language -- and therefore doesn't interact as naturally as the other kids. A boy whose attempts at conversation will often be off topic or seem to consist of nonsequiturs. And yet, this boy can probably communicate brilliantly if he uses another medium like singing, acting or writing. But normal children have little or no patience for difference and, unfortunately, most of this boy's youth (and perhaps his adulthood) will be spent alone or with immediate family members who love him and understand where he's coming from -- or trying to come from and he just says it funny.
So what is it with you AssHat AzCat?Projection? Transference? Maybe it was tough times for you at your alma mater, Lord of the Flies Elementary?
Never mind, it's a rhetorical question. Your meanness and zero-sum personality are obviously more important to you than any child whose a lil different and just trying to find his way.
#10
An Individual Education Plan is not that big a deal if everybody has the kid's best interest at heart.
If they don't mainstream this kid, he will not see classmates with normal behavior. How is he supposed to learn acceptable behavior if he doesn't see it.
Kindergarten is not basic training and the teacher is not a drill instructor. Fire the bitch.
#11
Look, I am willing to admit the boy may not have been ready for school. But first, the end of May is much too late to make that decision, and second, there are proper procedures for communicating that. If the teacher felt so keenly about this, she should have consulted her principal and the district psychologist; then the principal should have called a meeting with the parents, the private therapist who made the diagnosis, the district psychologist and the teacher to discuss reasons for recommending that the boy be withdrawn until he was capable of handling the strictures of a school classroom. Requiring the boy's classmates to participate in a public shaming is harmful to all involved. The other children will forever be marked by participating in a classic bully attack on the weakest member of the class.
The statistics are one out of 175 people has an autism spectrum disorder, three quarters of whom are high functioning autism or Asperger's Syndrome, at least in the U.S. and Britain.
AzCat (aka friend of idiot Potillo): You've just been voted off of Rantburg by the society of classic posters for your rude and inhumane expressions of ignorance. WE DON'T LIKE YOU. WE DON'T LIKE YOU AT ALL. You have no understanding of disorders, you are backing a teacher who is sub-standard, and you obviously can't understand kindergarten--special needs or otherwise. SO GO AWAY. YOU SUCK. DON'T POST HERE ANYMORE. NO ONE WANTS TO READ YOUR STUPID POSTS ON ANY SUBJECT WHATSOEVER.
The immediate reaction of some readers was "Whoa! maybe that's a bit too strong of a reaction."
I think ex-lib was just trying to get AzCat to see what it might feel like to a little boy to get jumped on for being different. You know, experience is often the best teacher.
Now, today, AzCat again defends an abusive teacher and suggests the parent is just angling for some trumped up lawsuit. Well, I'll wager a guess that AzCat is a lawyer (maybe even a trial lawyer -- but the civil defense kind). And, AzCat is probably just thinking what he has to think (day in and day out) to live and work as a civil defense type lawyer: "All plaintiffs are greedy liars . . . The only good lawsuit is a dismissed lawsuit . . ."
The transactions, occurrences, and events underlying this story most certainly merit a lawsuit under the The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. If this case doesn't merit this kind of a lawsuit, then it appears to me that no set of facts would ever qualify. And, what use would a lawsuit be? Well, let's see: 1) Money to pay for psych treatment for an very young and immature kid who will forever bear the scar of being shunned by his peers when he lacks any social skills to mitigate that trauma; 2) Injunctive relief in terms of an Order of the court requiring the school district to stop this kind of BS; 3) Money to pay lawyers and litigation costs (because, believe it or not, lawyers also have bills to pay and expert witnesses won't testify for free); and 4) maybe even enough additional money to serve as a warning to the school district to make sure this kind of stuff stops.
Of course, the school district could grow brains and immediately sue for peace with the parents -- i.e., just agree to do the right things now, and save everybody money. But, I bet some lawyer like AzCat will advise them to fight this to the bitter end, and deny all allegations, and demand strict proof thereof, and engage in scorched earth defense litigation, and stand on their rights and defenses, AND CHARGE BY THE HOUR THE WHOLE TIME THEY CHURN THE HECK OUT OF THIS CASE.
#13
I cry guilty to the "Whoa!" comment. It hurt me just to read it, and it wasn't even aimed at me -- definitely a teachable moment. Thank you for your expertise, cingold. Mr. Wife had made a general comment to that effect last night which guided my own thoughts up-thread, but his expertise does not lie in the law (nor, obviously, does mine).
I'm going to assume that you are young and have no kids. If/when that day comes, you may find yourself in the situation one day that this mother is in. You'd better slow down and ask someone who has a special needs kid how this goes. The kids are simply not equipped to see things or react like more typical kids. It's not the kid's fault any more than someone who was born with another kind of deformity. He just doesn't know and isn't equipped to figure it out. But often what they do know is raw emotions because he doesn't enjoy the filters that you may come with and seem to only too-gladly take for granted given the immaturity of the remarks you have backed up today even in the face of the free lessons from those who have forgotten more than you will hopefully ever be forced to know. It's not the kid's fault. It's the responsiblity of the teacher to account for this situation. She's been at this long enough to recognize that the kids simply doesn't belong where he is, and she has to deal with him until they can get him placed. Often the school system is slow to properly place these kids in order to "save" a few bucks - at the expense of often creating a burden to society when they grow up instead of a contributor.
Do you think the teacher's treatment of this child will help? It will not. The kid does not come equipped to deal in a typical manner with treatment like you are advocating for. For example, pain does not work. Often these kids learn to seek it out if it happens often enough. they dwell in a realm that is defined by repetetive sensory feedback. You get to them better through rewards, not punishments. The kind of treatment this child suffered will often make one of these kids regress for months. How do you feel? Is this right in this case? Would you do it? Is it right in any case? This teacher obviously isn't qualified to make these decisions, so she should have insisted on a full-time aid or just learned to control herself until the kid can be placed properly.
Go look up autism spectrum disorder. Look up Aspergers syndrome. Talk to some friends. Listen to the free advice you are getting here. You obviously know nothing about it other than what you have conjured up in your own mind. There are many people out there with multiple degrees who have been working on this their entire lives that offer their understanding to you for free on the web. There are many parents out there who have started out with your ideas in mind but I promise you that every one of them changes their tune very quickly when reality comes home to roost.
And make sure to keep a mirror handy when you're checking this out. One problem with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the inability to see through the eyes of others. Like not being able to see through the eyes of an innocent five-year-old who doesn't even know he is a problem and hasn't learned passive resistance yet. Another is the inability to realize when they have gone too far, and think that everyone including the experts around them are on the wrong track. Another is perseverance of behavior, like this five year old spinning in class or perhaps you might know someone who won't give up on an opinion despite the logical flaws being pointed out by people who obviously know more.
A kid is not a piece of metal that you just beat into shape with a hammer.
I would like to add that this treatment most likely did not have the effect the teacher expects.
In all probability the boy simply does not comprehend the cause -> effect.
(Almost as bad Paleos in that regard)
To him all he see is simply 'my peers hate me and so does my teacher - I am bad.' and not (as the teacher expects) 'I should not disrupt the class because my classmates don't like it and it bothers them'. He simply isn't equipped to think at that level. Not his fault.
#16
On the bright side for the kid, a number of dot com millionaires (and supposedly Bill Gates himself) likely have a low-level of Asperger's Syndrome. It makes for a sense of focus that is excellent in engineering. Yeah I'd rather be one of the kids without Asperger's Syndrome but you know...
#18
g(r)omgoru, obviously the other kids have rights, too. The people here are not saying the teacher should have done nothing about the boy's behavior. They are saying (based on experience and training in some cases) that there are much better ways to handle the problem. Making a five year old feel like he is bad and that his classmates hate him (when it is mostly the teacher who hates him) is probably the worst way to handle it.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
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#19
What Gorb, Darrell, and Cussworth said . . . !
AssCrap: go pick on someone your own size.
The "teacher" was abusive on the face of it. And she led the other children into abusing a fellow classmate by holding him up to ridicule instead of, for instance, allowing the children to say what they liked about Alex--which would have gone a lot farther in molding his behavior.
Using a mock group contingency was nothing more than "ganging up" on Alex. As I said yesterday--no doubt Portillo is "feeling the love power" of Obama's "YES WE CAN" idiocy. "Yes She Did." Wow, I'm SO impressed (not). I expect more of this if Obama becomes POTUS. The empowerment of mediocre minds.
Any teacher that employs the psychological cudgel this type of group-hate scenario and manipulation of 5-year-olds produces--because she can't handle her own classroom effectively--should be barred from teaching.
And, hey--I used to "eat paper, pick my boogers and eat them, and bites my shoelaces" too, when I was five. Big deal. Good for the two kids that said he should stay.
ex-lib
M.A. Elementary Education - Early Childhood
#20
Oh--and can you imagine the effect this kind of "modeling" on the part of an authority will have on these kids--it's okay to be a bully--even the teacher said so.
British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been charged with a string of offences after allegedly assaulting a police officer at London's Heathrow airport, her lawyer said Thursday.
Campbell, 37, was taken off a British Airways plane by officers on April 3 after she boarded a flight to Los Angeles in the US and was told that one of her bags was missing. She is charged with five offences -- three counts of assaulting a constable, one of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress and one of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour to cabin crew.
The star will appear at in court in west London on June 20, her lawyer Simon Nicholls said, after she answered bail at Heathrow's police station.
"Miss Campbell is bitterly disappointed that the prosecutors have advised her she is to be prosecuted for various offences," Nicholls said in a statement read out on her behalf outside the police station. She'll never grow up.
"She respects that decision and she hopes this matter is dealt with expeditiously."
The incident took place as Campbell was travelling through the airport's new Terminal 5 building, whose high-profile opening in March was marred by serious problems with the baggage handling system.
Last year, the supermodel was ordered to spend a week mopping floors at a New York City warehouse for hitting her maid with a mobile phone. She was sentenced in January 2007 after pleading guilty to reckless assault, and also ordered to attend a two-day anger management course and cover her victim's medical expenses. Well, I guess they didn't require that she actually get a passing grade or something.
#1
Well, I guess they didn't require that she actually get a passing grade or something.
No gorb, it's all about self esteem these days, not about actual achievement. Demonstrating the ability to alter one's behavior that Ms. Campbell has shown, I'm sure they're sprucing up the Martha Stewart guest suite as we write for her return engagement in the US.
A Palm Beach Gardens man and his mother, a middle school science teacher, are permanently barred from owning or possessing animals, a judge ruled Thursday after watching a short film of the man having sex in his bedroom with a German shepherd.
Palm Beach County Judge Frank Castor also ordered that the county be given custody of the woman's pets two German shepherds and two cats and ruled that she and her son, 18, jointly pay the county $1,848 in boarding costs and other fees.
The man, who was 17 at the time of the recorded activity, did not appear in court. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not identifying him because he was a juvenile at the time of the activity.
His mother, whose residence is where the sexual activity occurred, teaches at a public school. She testified at Thursday's hearing, insisting repeatedly that she was unaware of her son's sexual acts with her male German shepherd. She said she found the behavior reprehensible and out of character for her son, whom she said is a recently graduated high school honors student. Thursday's hearing included graphic details of the man's sexual acts, including descriptions of the film that Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators found stored on his personal computer in his bedroom. "Err, Mom, I'm in trouble with the police."
"If you were speeding again, I'm gonna be very upset!"
"Whew! I was worried you'd be upset about me doing Fido!"
Testimony was provided by a detective, county Animal Care and Control officials, including a chief veterinarian, and an expert animal trainer who said the videotape indicates the dog showed signs of submission and pain.
The woman urged the judge not to take away her dogs, and said not allowing her to have future pets "is punishing the mother for the sins of a son."
She told the judge, "I have not done anything wrong or have hurt these animals in any way. I was mortified to find this was going on."
The county intends to put the animals up for adoption.
#1
So Mom is a teacher; wonder if she is going to have Junior voted out of the county like AssCat's Friend from an above post.
wonder what kind of steamy thoughts went through mom's head as she watched Lassie Come (home)
Did you buy a digital frame or other device that connects to your USB in the last year or two? If you plug that cool new digital frame (or whatever cool new USB device you just bought) into your computer, you may well have just been had. Seems as thought more and more these devices are a trojan horse used to sneak a virus onto your computer that might have installed a back door depending on which variant you purchased.
Of course, that means to me that the virus is built into the original equipment. By the company who sells them? By some hacker that the company unwittingly hired who had ulterior motives? Seems to me it shouldn't be too hard to find someone to lynch, but many of these companies are Chinese. (Sorry about the use of your pirated word, Al Sharpton!)
An insidious computer virus recently discovered on digital photo frames has been identified as a powerful new Trojan Horse from China that collects passwords for online games - and its designers might have larger targets in mind.
Continued on Page 49
#1
An insidious plot by the heathen Chinee to impurify our precious bodily fluids...er, jpegs or simply lame-ass quality control and system management. In either case, it's a great way to build your own bot-net.
Earle Harry Hagen (July 9, 1919 May 26, 2008) was an American composer who created much music for movies and television and is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, and "Harlem Nocturne", later used as the theme to Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. He also co-wrote the theme song to Tim Conway's Western comedy Rango.
Also: the theme music to I Spy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gomer Pyle - USMC, That Girl, Eight Is Enough, and The Mod Squad, to name just a few.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/30/2008 06:23 ||
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#1
Many of which I still hum or whistle today - when I was little, me + school or neighborhood kids would have contests to see whom could best whistle themes from fav shows. WINNER(S) WOULD GET A BUNCH OF ASSORTED FAV TREATS OR STUFF IN TRADE - Gum(s), Caramels, Sugar Daddies, Cracker Jack, Soft Drinks or extra swallows of same, OTC Toys, etc.
comedic genius with Carol Burnett, Tim Conway (*), and Mel Brooks.
* - this skit was one of his funniest. Experienced as a child, I still remember my Dad literally crying tears of laughter, and how good that made me feel. RIP, Harvey
#4
Here's Tim Conway's story about the elephant on the Carol Burnett Show. It doesn't have Harvey Korman, but it'll still have you in stitches. The rest of the cast was so close to laughter couldn't say anything for five minutes!
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/30/2008 7:48 Comments ||
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#6
I'm so glad we had this time together,
Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.
Seems we just get started and before you know it
Comes the time we have to say, So long".
The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice was in the Swedish capital Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out concert to play Friday.
"I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff.
Rice, a classically trained pianist, said she has eclectic musical tastes ranging from Beethoven to Bruce Springsteen.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/30/2008 13:13 ||
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#1
I don't care what anyone says...I dig her for this...Shout it out loud Condi!!
It's easy for someone to have drug interactions when they are taking a lot of meds.
Like, wow, man! Check the drug inneactions!
Check out this CNN article with some links you might find useful to find out if some drugs are bad for seniors, or which drugs don't play well with others.
Heh heh! And some play just fabberlous!
One of many possible schenarios is that you might confuse some of these interactions with dementia and make some choices you wouldn't make otherwise.
"Honest, yer honor! It wuz the drug inneractions! Otherwise I'da never stole her bikini top!"
Of course, as always, do your due diligence, consider and implement any change very carefully, and seek professional advice, monitoring, and second opinions. And if anyone asks, I had nothing to do with this! ;-)
#1
From the article: any new symptom in an older person should be considered a drug side effect until proven otherwise. I applied this principle to any of my patients on medications, just so that I would think of the possibility first.
Britney Spears is not yet fit to participate in court proceedings in her conservatorship case, her lawyer told a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Thursday.
Samuel Ingham, Spears' court-appointed attorney, and attorneys for the pop star's father and conservator, James Spears, spent 90 minutes in Commissioner Reva Goetz' chambers.
Ingham told the court afterward that Spears' medical condition is "fluid" because her treatment is changing. i.e.: We've just decided the last pills may not be working as some other pills might.
Spears' probate case is scheduled to go to trial July 31, but Ingham said it could be "harmful" for her to participate. Goetz agreed and said Spears' diagnosis is not complete. How long does it take to diagnose serious post-partem depression? I guess it depends on how much all the stakeholders can milk it for.
The 26-year-old singer and her estate have been under the conservatorship of her father for four months.
MANAMA, Bahrain - Bahrain's king has appointed a Jewish woman as its envoy to Washington - the first Jew in the Arab world to become an ambassador. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa named lawmaker Houda Nonoo, a 43-year-old mother of two boys, as an ambassador on Wednesday, the official Bahrain News Agency reported Thursday.
The decree did not say where she would be posted. But Nonoo confirmed she will be U.S. ambassador for the tiny Gulf nation. She was widely tipped earlier this year by Bahraini media as next envoy to Washington.
It is a great honor to have been appointed as the first female ambassador to the United States of America and I am looking forward to meeting this new challenge," Nonoo told The Associated Press by telephone. She said she was proud to serve her country first of all as a Bahraini," adding she was not chosen for the post because of her religion. Nonoo has served as legislator in Bahrain's all-appointed 40-member Shura Council for three years.
Bahrain - a pro-Western island nation with Sunni rulers and a Shia majority - is a close U.S. ally and hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. It has about 50 Jewish citizens among a population of some half a million.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Surprise, surprise, as Gomer used to say. Hey, did anyone notice Satan ice-skating to work today?
A police support officer who was beaten up by a gang of 70 youths says they were like sharks in a feeding frenzy. PCSO Tim Quiterio, 26, was saved from serious injury by his stab vest after being surrounded by the mob and pelted with bottles in a park at Plymstock, Plymouth.
He was left with cuts and bruises after being set on, pulled to the ground, kicked and punched by the boys and girls aged 15 to 20. He says they kept coming back to attack him like sharks in a feeding frenzy until backup arrived from regular patrols. They needed to use gas spray to break up the group which consisted largely of 15-year-olds who had finished school just hours earlier and then started drinking in the park.
The PCSO, who was unarmed and working with woman support officer Po Yung, was set on after asking a large group of youths to stop drinking and disperse. Most were aged around 15 and were drinking under age and acting anti-socially, shouting and swearing and frightening others trying to use the public open space in Radford Park, Plymstock.
Mr Quiterio said: 'I was right in the middle of the group trying to calm the situation when it erupted around me.
'I was completely surrounded and people kept joining in. It was like sharks in a feeding frenzy and it got out of control very quickly.
'I was pushed to the floor, kicked and had bottles thrown at me and subjected to continuous verbal abuse.
'We are not armed and all we have is our defence skills which enabled me to block and push people away. I was grateful when police officers arrived as I felt in danger for my own safety.'
His colleague, Po Yung said: 'It was frightening. We were trying to manage the situation as professionally as we could and trying to calm people down.
'Anything could have happened in those few minutes. We were lucky it did not get worse.'
Detective Sergeant Matt Lawrence said: 'The PCSO was doping his best to divide the young people when he was knocked to the ground.
'Luckily he was wearing his stab vest which took the brunt of the blows.
'There were aggravating factors which escalated the problem such as the numbers involved, the fact they had been drinking, and the darkness of the area.
'We now want to identify the people involved and show we are doing something about it to put the public's mind at ease.'
Nine people have been arrested and bailed and police say they hope to interview at least 17 more.
#1
This is just pathetic. Perhaps they need to load the stabvest up with enough volts that any metal cutting into it would cause the stabber to fly back fifty feet. Yeah, they'd go for the neck at the next attack . I guess we're back to full armor...
#1
it's like watching an overheard view of "apocalypto", I think it's quite amazing that they don't know anything about our messy modern world or it's history.
#3
One fellow on the right in one of the pics looks like he has a bamboo bazooka. I would not like to suffer a turbine flameout in the helicopter above these folks. They might not be too accommodating on the ground.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/30/2008 11:48 Comments ||
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#4
Good pics, interesting story, terminally tedious PC "noble savage" crap by the individuals quoted.
I wonder how many of the latter day Rousseaus quoted are vegetarians. But they tolerate people living in Stone Age conditions who almost certainly have a diet which is 75% or more meat.
Hypocrites.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/30/2008 12:01 Comments ||
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#5
What's with the one in the gorilla suit?
And how long before the liberals rush to "rescue" them from their poverty and provide them with "free" medical care?
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
05/30/2008 15:56 Comments ||
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#8
The uncontacted tribes... all have one thing in common - they want to be left alone.And for good reason. The history of contact, between indigenous tribes and the outside world, has always been an unhappy one.
Um, if they're uncontacted, how would they know the 'history'? Or is it another PC-projection?
#10
Imagine trying to explain some of the subjects we bruit about here to those folks..... um, like why half the people here go into projectile vomiting when McCain's name comes up.
#11
I dunno - for an alleged "uncontacted" = lost? tribe, THEIR PHOTOS ON CNN > looks like two of 'em may be wearing modern shirt tops + one wid a brimmed hat + 2-3 shiny thingys = Pots/Wares? on the ground???
At least the PHOTO-TAKERS of the so-called TASADAY tribe/people in the Philipines [early 1970's - later charged to be a hoax?] MADE ABSOLUT SURE THEIR "DISCOVERY" PICS DIDN'T SHOW THE TASADAY USING OR WEARING ANY CONTEMPORARY DRESS, WARES, ETC.
SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE NOS.**** > OWG-NWO/SWO NOW, D *** NG IT, THE CROOKS + HOAXERS AREN'T EVEN TRYING TO LOOK AUTHENTIC ANYMORE.
You're gonna want to click the link anyway to see what all the fuss is about, so I'm not going to bother with all the complicated cut-n-paste work! Click the congressman's face and you'll find a gallery of some of his other interests, too! ;-)
A madrassa teacher on Thursday allegedly tortured a seven-year-old blind student to death for not learning his lessons. Qari Ziauddin, who teaches at the madrassah owned by Qari Abdul Latif, tortured Muhammad Atif, the son of Fayyaz Ahmad, by hanging him from the ceiling fan upside down. The blind child was unfastened after he fainted. Instead to taking him to a hospital, the teacher allegedly kept Atif in his (teachers) room until he died.
Vehari Sadar Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Muhammad Akram Niazi, on receiving the information, sent the body of the student to a mortuary for an autopsy, and sent police teams to arrest the fugitive killer. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered an inquiry into Atifs death.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
I guess, by comparison, the idiot teacher from Florida who had a special needs kid voted out of class wasn't so bad after all...
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/30/2008 0:25 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.