EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - A man was convicted of murder after witnesses testified that he relied on his cat's behavior to decide the victim deserved to die. A jury Wednesday deliberated for about three hours before convicting 40-year-old Clayton Edward Butsch of shooting Chad J. Vavricka in 2004 as the man slept in a folding chair in Butsch's trailer. Vavricka, 30, was shot twice in the head. Prosecution witnesses, many of them drug users with criminal records, testified that Butsch said he relied on his cat, Sam, to determine who was good and who deserved to die.
Yeah, those are good witnesses
When Sam refused to go near the sleeping Vavricka, Butsch shot him, they said.
"What's that, Sam? He smells funny? Well, that's good enough for me." KAPOW!
Butsch's lawyer argued that the witnesses framed Butsch and made up the cat story.
And the jury convicted him? Must have been under the control of their cats.
He faces 38 to 50 years in prison at sentencing Tuesday.
Honestly, we wouldn't even try to make this stuff up
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 15:36 ||
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Right after the judge handed down a 38 to 50 years prison sentence, Clayton Edward Butsch was last heard caterwauling as the guards hauled him away.
Posted by: god awful ||
11/03/2005 20:13 Comments ||
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Reminiscent of David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" Killer, who claimed he was directed to kill by his neighbor's dog, Sam. It's a classic...
The youngster was lucky that his mother had come along to open and raise the toilet seat. The startled woman found a carnivorous teju, or tegus, a large black and yellow South American lizard, lurking there newspaper Bergensavisen reports. "Not a nice experience," is the father's summary. He came running when he heard the sound of screaming from the family toilet.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Coming, Honey"
The Akvariet (aquarium) in Bergen was called, and reptile expert Remi Andersen paid a house call. He confirmed that the animal in the apartment in the Nordnes district of Bergen was a 1.5 kilo (3.3 lb) teju.
"Now there's something you don't see everyday"
The teju is capable of holding its breath for half an hour, which probably explains how it managed to navigate its way through the sewer and up into the family toilet. The family is lucky they looked, rather than sat, first.
"The chances are greater that the lizard would have taken a bite out of someone's 'ham', than that it wouldn't have," Akvariet director Kees Ekeli told Bergensavisen.
Ham? So that's what they call it in Norway. Thought it would be more like "Kielbasa"
It is illegal to import or own such reptiles in Norway, but the Akvariet has been allowed to keep the beast.
Carnivorous Toilet Lizards, why do they hate us?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 13:42 ||
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The teju is capable of holding its breath for half an hour, which probably explains how it managed to navigate its way through the sewer and up into the family toilet.
And could tolerate staying there!
Ah, well. At least it wasn't a piece of pie.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/03/2005 14:23 Comments ||
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Comeon - even a toilet lizard deserves a nice piece of ass once in awhile....
#2
(Sorry here is the article)
Riots engulf Paris suburbs
Thursday 03 November 2005, 12:25 Makka Time, 9:25 GMT
At least one school and a shopping centre were damaged
Hundreds of youths have fought with police in Parisian suburbs in a seventh night of riots, piling pressure on Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's government to quickly restore order.
Youths went on the rampage in nine areas in poor suburbs on Thursday ringing the French capital to the north and the east, setting alight about 40 cars, two buses, and dustbins, as well as damaging at least one school and a shopping centre.
Angry youths in hooded tops threw stones at police in riot gear. Media said shots were fired in a northern suburb.
Three firemen were lightly injured during the night, a spokesman said, adding fire brigade had received over a hundred calls for burning cars and dustbins in the suburbs.
Local officials said they would provide information on any further injured and possible arrests later on Thursday.
Hundreds of police were deployed to control the disturbances, with some units diverted from a soccer match.
'Civil war'
One trade union representing policemen described the unrest as a "civil war" and called on Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to impose a curfew in areas affected by the violence to ensure it did not spiral out of control.
The unrest in the northern and eastern suburbs, heavily populated by North African and black African minorities, has been fuelled by frustration among youths over their failure to get jobs and recognition in French society.
The disturbances have highlighted the bitter rivalry between Villepin and Sarkozy ahead of presidential elections in 2007, particularly after Sarkozy called the protesting youths "scum".
Dozens of vehicles were set
ablaze as part of street fighting
Equal Opportunities Minister Azouz Begag openly criticised Sarkozy while Villepin took a calculated swipe on Wednesday at the strong language used by the interior minister when he stressed the need to avoid stigmatising such areas.
Social Cohesion Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the French should not develop a one-sided image of the suburbs.
"One must not think for one second that this is the life of these neighbourhoods," Borloo told France 2 television.
"They are an integral part of our country. It is in these neighbourhoods that most companies are being founded."
Unrest first broke out in Clichy-sous-Bois last week after two teenagers were electrocuted while apparently fleeing police during a local disturbance, and it has since spread to other areas in the Parisian suburbs.
BOULDER, Colo. - Hardware retailer Home Depot has found itself in a sticky situation, defending a lawsuit filed by a man who said the chain's Louisville, Colo., store ignored his cries for help after he fell victim to a prank - and was glued to a toilet seat.
Seems to be a lot of that going around
Bob Dougherty, 57, of Nederland, Colo., said he became stuck to a bathroom toilet seat on which somebody had smeared glue on Oct. 30, 2003 and felt "tremendous panic" when he realized he was stuck.
"Oh man, somebody didn't wipe the....uh oh.."
"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told the (Boulder) Daily Camera newspaper. "They just let me rot."
His lawsuit, filed Friday said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery at the time and thought he was having a heart attack.
"Here I sit, broken hearted. Came to...."
A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk via radio
"Clean up, Stall four!"
but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.
"Yeah, right, somebody's ass got glued to a toilet seat. Tell me another one"
Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit said after about 15 minutes, store officials called for an ambulance.
15 minutes? Is that all?
Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat and while wheeling a "frightened and humiliated" Dougherty out of the store, he passed out.
They put him on one of the little orange carts?
The lawsuit said the toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.
I'll bet
"This is not Home Depot's fault," he said. "But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."
He said "letting me hang", heh, heh..
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 11:16 ||
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Why didn't anyone at HD get a paint scraper or a putty knife? I'd use a number 7 myself. With an extra-long handle.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/03/2005 13:43 Comments ||
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a little MEK or Acetone soaking should release him, sans pants
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/03/2005 14:25 Comments ||
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If they had tried to remove him themselves, they'd have been facing an even larger -- and sadly, stronger -- suit. As it is, he has to convince a jury that HD is required to check their bathrooms more often than every 15 minutes.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/03/2005 14:33 Comments ||
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Wasn't yesterday's in Colorado also? Must be upset about end of TABOR.
#10
The word acetone always brings to mind a line from Gentlemen Prefer Blonds. Cary Grant is caught examining Marilyn Monroe's leg, because she's wearing some experimental synthetic stockings. Grant says, "Miss Lois was just showing me her acetates."
A red panda which went missing from a Birmingham nature park has been found in a tree in a leafy suburb. Babu, one of a pair of pandas at the reserve in Cannon Hill Park, was spotted by a passer-by in Moseley after four days on the loose. The panda was coaxed down from his tree and is now back at the nature reserve.
A spokesman said he had not travelled far from his home: "He was very clever and stayed away from the roads and kept near the berries." Babu was spotted by Sandra Mack-Williams. Her mother, Faye Williams, said her father had given her tips on how to spot him. "She told her father she was going out too look for the panda. "He said to look for crows - if you see a lot of crows and they are making a lot of noise look up the tree and you might find him. "Apparently the crows would make a lot of noise, they would be having a go at him."
Keepers at the reserve realised the male panda was missing on Sunday morning. A spokesman said they were puzzled as to how he escaped as new security measures had just been put in place to secure his pen. Red pandas are similar to racoons and tend to live high up in trees, feeding on bamboo. At this time of year they should be able to survive on fruit and berries. They are a rare breed and there are only 70 in the country.
A man in a black bear costume tracked Prince Charles at every stop on his capital tour Wednesday, urging him to replace the tall bearskin hats worn by England's palace guards with fake fur. "Hopefully, he'll talk to his mom and tell her to stop putting bears on her palace guards' heads," said Matt Rice, 30, a campaign coordinator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the in-your-face fur foes. "The palace guards would look the same with hippy hair faux fur, without the cruelty to bears," Rice said.
Matt Huff, 29, who played the bear, put down his "God Save the Bears" sign, doffed his bear mask and said of his hot role: "It's worth the price if he changes his mind."
Rice and Huff, an office administrator at PETA's Norfolk, Va., headquarters, were well out of range of Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, as the royals lunched on watercress soup and lemon sole at the White House on Wednesday.
The prince's hecklers had better luck later in the day when the royal couple toured a local charter school. "We were about 10 feet from him when he drove by in a limousine," Rice said. "I think he saw our sign. We're getting our message out."
The palace guards' bear pelt hats commemorate England's 1815 victory over Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo, a contest in which some elite French combatants wore bearskins to look more fearsome. Some in England's military contend that there's no substitute for bear fur when it comes to repelling rain and keeping guards warm on their four-hour shifts.
Keith Warnke, a big-game specialist for the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin, where bear-hunting season ended last month Can we extend it just a little longer? , was unimpressed by the animal rights group's effort. "For thousands of years people have used animal parts," he said. After all, parts is parts.
The PETA pair, who've beared badgered dogged Charles and Camilla since their arrival in New York on Tuesday, plan to follow the couple to San Francisco, the last stop on the royals' U.S. visit.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. -- Gail O'Toole was convicted of simple assault and sentenced to six months probation for acts she committed against her ex-lover. On Wednesday, the civil suit went to court, where O'Toole's ex-boyfriend claimed her "outrageous" and "inhumane" acts are worth thousands in damages.
"Maybe millions!"
Ken Slaby said he was in love with O'Toole five years ago.
"Oh, baby! I looooooove you!"
He even admitted he was devastated when O'Toole broke it off.
"I'm so depressed! I think I'll kill myself... Oh, wait! Who's that? She's kinda cute!"
So, when O'Toole invited him over to her Murrysville home for a night of hot sex to rekindle a friendship, he said he agreed.
"Yeah, baby!"
Slaby said O'Toole even went to his house in Pittsburgh to pick him up. But according to Slaby, the night took a turn when O'Toole got angry about Slaby's new love.
That seems to have been after the whoopee machine wore out...
Slaby said O'Toole waited until he fell asleep and glued his penis to his stomach, glued his testicle to his leg and glued the cheeks of his buttocks together.
That was after she fed him a nice chili dinner...
Then came the nail polish. Slaby claimed O'Toole dumped it all over his head.
Did she buy it by the keg or something?
When he woke up, Slaby said O'Toole threw him out.
"Beat it, lover boy!"
He didn't have a car, so he was forced to walk one mile down Route 22 to call 911 and Murrysville police, Slaby said.
"Hello, police? Somebody glued my butt cheeks together..."
When asked if in his 23 years as a police officer he had seen anything like this, Patrolman Joseph Malone of the Murrysville Police Department said, "No, I can't say I have."
"We don't get many ass cheek gluings around here. It's a pretty nice town..."
At the hospital, oils did little to remove the glue. Nurses actually had to peel it off.
"Hand me the pliers, wouldja, Gertie?"
"Ummm... That's my testicle..."
Slaby underwent treatment from a dermatologist several times afterward.
"Whoa! Don't see many of these cases! Hey, Doctor Bob! Have a look at this, wouldja?"
O'Toole's attorney said this was part of routine sexual activity between the couple -- acts that he agreed to -- incidents that should have stayed in the bedroom.
Creamed corn, whipped cream, or chocolate syrup don't have nearly as many side effects. Steamed clams do, though. Why once... ummm... forget it.
But Slaby said O'Toole told him she planned the acts since the break up.
"Yeah. I dunnit. I used to have fantasies about gluing his scrotum to the top of his head, but I could never quite get him positioned right..."
According to Slaby, O'Toole came up with script and followed it to the letter because she was angry that he had moved on.
"You been seein' that brazen hussy, ain't you?"
"Now, honey!... Whoa! Put that down!"
Slaby said his injuries included severe burning on parts of his body, impingement of normal bodily functions
That's because she glued his bunghole shut...
and discoloration of his hair.
"Wow, man! That's a weird-lookin' bleach job!"
"It was nail polish remover."
The 10 men and two women on the jury can award Slaby $30,000 or more. Their decision is expected late on Thursday.
It'll take them at least that long to stop cackling...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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IIRC quite some years ago I read the story of a cuckholded brazilian husband who, under the threat of a gun, glued the penis of a rival he surprized "in action" to the hands of his wife; tough thing is, he used industrial glue, which went into the bloodstream of the lover through the higly vascularized skin of the glued part, and the guy died.
On that particular case, the b*tch tried to mutilate her boyfriend, this could really have ended bad, and the sentence is not severe enough IMHO (but then again, I'd be very, very p*ssed off if one ex glued my already tiny, shriveled genitalia to my fat body).
When asked if in his 23 years as a police officer he had seen anything like this, Patrolman Joseph Malone of the Murrysville Police Department said,...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/03/2005 9:55 Comments ||
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#11
Here's another story about fun with Super Glue. You thought there were only 101 uses? Now it's 102!
Posted by: Dar ||
11/03/2005 12:53 Comments ||
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#12
Just your everyday abdominal-foreskin and femoral-testes attachment procedure with an ass-spackling and some Revlon highlights to spice things up. Feeding the guy a laxative would have been the real coup-de-grace.
A group of Israeli rabbis has put together a list of names they say should be off-limits to Jewish children â including Ariel and Omri, the given names of Israel's prime minister and his eldest son.
Got a lot of time on their hands, do they?
Uttering the name Ariel is problematic because it could beckon an angel namesake instead, drawing down his wrath, they caution.
That happened with my first son. I named him Ariel, and the first time I tried calling him he was carried off by demons. Just ruined my day. Didn't do much for his, either, I guess. I often wonder what happened to him...
Omri â the name of an evil biblical king â should be taboo because of the highly negative connotation.
You probably shouldn't name your child Richard III, either...
And naming children after dismantled Gaza settlements, like Katif, is another bad idea, they say, because of the controversy involved. Jewish settlers, who are predominantly religious, unsuccessfully opposed the withdrawal.
How about "Yonkers"? There are still people there, some of them Jews...
The rabbis' list, presented on an Internet site, http://www.moriya.org.il, also offers preferred names.
First on the list: "Rabbi", a fine, manly name for a boy...
Rabbis said they compiled the list in response to a flood of requests from parents concerned they may accidentally give their children names that could shame them for life. The rabbis have a significant following among Jews of Middle Eastern descent, who make up about half the Israeli population.
Those'd be the ones who're used to being told what to do, I guess...
What other names raise rabbinical ire? All those that sound non-Jewish â such as Donna, Barr and Shirley. So do typically male names given to girls â like Roni and Danielle â as well as names that include the suffix or prefix "el," which means God in Hebrew.
I guess "Christopher" is out, too, huh? Though "Elmer" and "Elwood" are a small enough loss...
But parents should be careful. Only those names with a very negative connotation, like Omri, should be changed so as not to risk traumatizing the children. Instead, parents can slightly alter their children's names to Hebraicize them, for example, changing Susie to Shoshi, which means "Rosie."
Or "Robert" to "Rabbi."
Concerned parents' questions also appear on the Web site. "When my daughter was born, we called her Roni, but I was never comfortable with the name," wrote a woman who gave her name only as Liat.
Well, that's an unfortunate name. It means "blood" in Thai, so she should probably change it...
"Afterward I had a dream that it was not good to call her Roni. What should I do?"
I think I'd drink more. That way you'll sleep better, except for when you have to get up to go to the bathroom...
"Change it," was the reply.
You don't have to go to the courthouse to have a drink or two...
According to Judaism, names are very important and each person's soul has a designated name, the Web site explains. The names follow people into their afterlife and, while waiting at the gates of heaven, people must give their names.
You mean they don't know before you get there? What happens if you lie and say your name's "Cletus" or "Sven"?
Israel's Interior Ministry has barred the names God, Hitler and Bin Laden from being registered in its population files, said Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Census Bureau.
"Sabine"? You mean like the Sabine ladies who were carried off by the Romans and raped? She should change that.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
11/03/2005 2:31 Comments ||
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Stupid, but you can bet they won't be beheading those who ignore their declaration.
Israel's Interior Ministry has barred the names God, Hitler and Bin Laden from being registered in its population files, said Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Census Bureau.
I don't have a problem with that. I wouldn't have a problem if they added Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc. to the list, too.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/03/2005 8:06 Comments ||
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Names are of course important assertions of identity. Traditional Jews favored the names of biblical heroes - patriarchs, prophets, good kings, etc and for girls matriarchs, and other positive role models like Deborah and Hannah. Secular Israeli Jews often give secular names - Arieh means lion, Shoshanah means rose (from whence Susan) etc - a custom that has spread to the Diaspora.
More militanty secularist Jews in ISrael picked names that no religious Jew would consider acceptable - like Amnon - a son of David who rebels against his father and rapes his sister. giving your kid a name like Amnon says - "im nationally Jewish - see i picked an ancient Hebrew name - but Im totally NOT in synch with the jewish religion"
The business of confusion with archangels is a new one on me - Ive certainly known of plenty of Orthodox Jews named Michael, for ex.
Omri is the father of Ahab and a "bad" king.
Sharon was raised on Kibbutz, so its no surprise hed have a secular name. I guess his son was born before he reached political prominence.
Interesting difference between Jews and Christians in use of matriarchal names. Christians seldom give the name Leah - whereas its one of the commonest names for Jewish girls. Contrast Rebecca, her sister - a common name in BOTH traditions. Leah, to Christians is the unloved wife of Jacob - whod want to name your daughter after HER? To Jews, Leah is the mother of Judah, and thus the "mother" of King David, and thus the "mother" of the Moshiach. One of the most honorable names one could have.
Health authorities in northern Brazil are dealing with a wave of vampire bat attacks that are infecting humans with the deadly rabies virus. In the last two months, 23 people have contracted rabies from bat bites and have subsequently died. Brazilian authorities say this latest outbreak is unusually serious, blaming deforestation in the Amazon region for the attacks. Health authorities have treated more than 1,300 people for rabies. The vampire bat attacks almost always occur at night, in homes. In the affected areas, people have been trying to fill gaps in the walls of their huts with banana leaves to stop the bats from getting in...
#1
Well it was deforestation first, the tapir as the main source of red blood cells was replaced by cattle. Sure, there was some economic consequence, but from the bat's view, everything was peachy. The problem is now reforestation and diminishing supply of cattle snack carriers. What you do when you are hungry, being a bat... you go for the smelly biped, if there's nothing else to sink your canines into.
Not sure about the banana leaves, they probably don't work. Now garlic...
When China is hailing the success of its Shenzhou VI manned space mission, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi once again visited Yasukuni War Shrine. This outraged all the Asian nations and its economic fallout is spreading. Get used to it, bub. I don't think he's going to stop going.
Together with the perennial conflicts between China and Japan on issues like the oil and gas exploitation on the East China Sea and the history textbook controversies, this thoughtless act of Koizumi has undoubtedly strained the already tensed-up relationship. Sino-Japanese economic ties are experiencing a political freeze. This surely undermines both economies. Like China's maps with the inset portion that include the Spratly Islands?
Although in 2004, Japan, once China's leading trade partner, yielded its position to the EU and the US, it remains among the troika that claims importance to China's foreign trade. With its economy and foreign trade growing by 9% and 16% annually, China has become a typical export-driven economy, its export trade being one of the major engines that fuel its GDP growth.
Another thing that merits notice is that foreign-funded businesses account for half of the foreign traders. Up to the end of 2003, Japanese-funded businesses were estimated at 28,000, 6% of the total number of foreign investments in China. Their presence in China's export trade is definitely something to be reckoned with. As predicted by some experts, during this gloomy spell of Sino-Japanese trade, China's GDP growth may be briefly upset, or drop by 2%. Be it true or not, the detrimental effect of the political freeze remains a fact. Damn our people's jobs! We've got to use this situation to make waves.
The aggravating Sino-Japanese relationship will inevitably injure the interest of Japanese-funded businesses in China. Meanwhile, it may also produce a negative impact on China's job market and intellectual property rights utilization. So, get ready for red tape in customs and taxi drivers who won't pick you up if you're Japanese.
Without doubt, China's economic development could still stand well without Japan. However, should the breakup of the two economies, which are mutually inclusive, truly happen due to political divergence, it would indeed be a sorrowful sight to both sides. It's weird seeing this kind of temper tantrum published as official government propaganda.
#1
Japan (and the US) should disinvest in China and invest in India. Democracy and and distance in case they get whacky. And they speak English and don't have the baggage the Chinese carry around with them all the time.
#4
China also doesn't have an actively hostile, nuclear-armed neighbor who is on the brink of being taken over by religious zealots, whom are absolutely convinced they will get even more virgins in heaven if they only irradiate their heathen cousins.
#5
That is a very good point, but when you look over at Chinas neighbors like North Korea which acts as the nuclear armed pit bull for China from time to time and their facination with Taiwan which is likely to lead to a war as well.
A MUMMY's curse has cast its shadow over the death of a Brisbane scientist who worked to unlock the secrets of a 5300-year-old man frozen in the Italian Alps.
A memorial service will be held on Monday for molecular archaeologist Tom Loy, who was found dead in his home a fortnight ago as he finalised his book on the world's oldest mummy, dubbed Oetzi.
Dr Loy, 63, director of the Archaeological Sciences Laboratories at the University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience, became the seventh person to have died after coming into close contact with the iceman since his discovery in 1991.
"He didn't believe in the curse," a colleague said yesterday. "It was just superstition. People die."
The California-born scientist had been suffering from a blood-related condition for about 12 years, according to his family, that was diagnosed shortly after he became involved with the Oetzi analysis.
His brother Gareth, in Australia to attend the memorial service, told The Australian the autopsy results were inconclusive, apart from ruling out any suspicious circumstances over the death of Dr Loy, whose body lay undiscovered in his Brisbane home for several days.
"We have been told he died of natural causes or an accident, or a combination of both," he said.
"But Tom was in poor health - he had a blood deficiency that made him subject to blood clots."
Asked when his brother had contracted the condition, Mr Loy said he believed it was "about 12 years ago", when he telephoned his brother to tell him he should be checked for the hereditary condition.
But Mr Loy said his brother, who found his first fossil as a young child - an extinct horse in land being excavated for a road near their Californian home - never mentioned the curse.
"Tom never spoke about it - all I can say is that eventually death comes for everyone," he said.
Rumours of a Tutankhamen-style curse started a year ago when the man who discovered the mummy, Helmut Simon, 67, fell to his death during a freak blizzard while hiking near the spot where he found Oetzi protruding from the ice.
Within an hour of Mr Simon's funeral, the head of the mountain rescue team sent to find him, Dieter Warnecke, 45, died of a heart attack.
Other deaths of the team involved in Oetzi's discovery and analysis are:
* Archaeologist Konrad Spindler, 55 - the leading expert on Oetzi, who first inspected the prehistoric corpse - died in April of complications from multiple sclerosis.
* The head of the forensic team examining Oetzi, Rainer Henn, 64 - who put the frozen corpse in a body bag with his bare hands - died in a car crash on the way to give a lecture about the iceman.
* The mountaineer who led Dr Henn to the iceman's body, Kurt Fritz, 52, died in an avalanche, the only one of his party to be hit by the snow-slide.
* The man who filmed Oetzi's removal from his icy mountain grave, celebrated Austrian journalist Rainer Hoelzl, 47 - died of a brain tumour.
An affable and enthusiastic scientist who inspired his students, Dr Loy won worldwide renown in the archaeological community for his discovery of human blood on Oetzi the Iceman's clothing and weapons.
His work - the subject of a National Geographic documentary in 2002 - debunked the theory that Oetzi died alone in the mountains after a hunting accident.
By revealing four different types of human blood on Oetzi's clothing, he surmised that the Stone Age man was hunting with a companion when the pair got into a territorial skirmish.
Fatally wounded, Oetzi appears to have leaned against his companion for support.
One of Dr Loy's research assistants, Gail Robertson, said he was finalising work on his book about Oetzi when he died.
"Tom had been working on it for some time," she said. "It was about the tools of the iceman and his interpretation of what the tools meant and the life the hunter may have led. He was just finishing the final DNA tests, which he wanted for the book.
"Tom is such a loss - he was passionate, widely read and a born teacher."
Mr Loy said the family wanted to publish his brother's book but had, so far, been unable to locate the manuscript.
"I have his laptop, but I have not yet been able to find the file for his book," he said.
Dr Loy, an American, completed his PhD in prehistory at the Australian National University before joining the University of Queensland a decade ago.
Posted by: God Save The World AKA Oztralian ||
11/03/2005 18:22 ||
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"I don't own a single share of stock!" filmmaker Michael Moore proudly proclaimed.
He's right. He doesn't own a single share. He owns tens of thousands of shares â including nearly 2,000 shares of Boeing, nearly 1,000 of Sonoco, more than 4,000 of Best Foods, more than 3,000 of Eli Lilly, more than 8,000 of Bank One and more than 2,000 of Halliburton, the company most vilified by Moore in "Fahrenheit 9/11."
If you want to see Moore's own signed Schedule D declaring his capital gains and losses where his stock ownership is listed, it's emblazoned on the cover of Peter Schweizer's new book, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy."
#4
Of course the reason a pro-PITA might have stock is to get all those "management opposes" motions put forward at the stockholder meetings. Divest in this country, chickens have rights, free mumia, etc.
Posted by: bruce ||
11/03/2005 12:35 Comments ||
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#5
The fat bastard should own more Best Foods stock--it'd be like getting a rebate for stuffing his face whenever he gets his dividends.
Posted by: Dar ||
11/03/2005 12:56 Comments ||
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#6
Is that you Barn?
Posted by: Andy ||
11/03/2005 17:00 Comments ||
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#7
Not surprising, I guess, as hypocrisy seems to be the perfect fit summation of the Left. anonymous5089 should receive a commission for posting this - I've sent the link out to almost a hundred people and I'm sure it will sell several copies of the book. Thank you!
Surprise meter = Blutarsky's GPA = 0.0
In a new poll, CBS has discovered that the President's approval rating has fallen to 35 percent. Examining the data, Dartmouth's Joe Malchow has in turn announced that the CBS poll is virtually worthless. How come? Whereas 25 percent of the respondents were Republicans, 35 percent were Democrats. A oversight, a bureaucratic snafu, I'm sure...
Memo to Sean McManus, new president of CBS News: If this is the way you intend to re-establish your network's credibility, save yourself a lot of trouble and simply re-hire Dan Rather. CBS, at a minimum, simply does not care in the slightest about objective reporting; there's no 'mistake' that could explain it away.
#3
When viewing such 'approval' ratings one should remember that disapproval comes from all directions. For instance, the data do NOT necessarily demonstrate that the Liberals' perspective has a 65% approval rating. More likely what is shown is that the population is polarized, with the 'middle' getting ever smaller. The President is trying to govern the 'whole' country, which means he has to be somewhere in the middle, with lots of both sides against him. (It sure would help if his PR machine was better.)
If they even refused to identify themselves by their political party, which is downright weird, then what credibility do they have in a poll? That's just way too flaky.
#7
Not everyone identifies themselves with a party, Moose. Voters are very much in three equal camps, Rep, Dem, and Ind. CBS fudged the numbers to drop the representation of Republicans from about 33% to 23%.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/03/2005 21:53 Comments ||
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Two days after U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay won a fight to get a new judge in his case, prosecutors on Thursday succeeded in ousting the Republican jurist responsible for selecting the new judge.
Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub recused himself after District Attorney Ronnie Earle filed a motion asking for his removal from the case.
Schraub said he will ask the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court name a judge to preside over DeLay's conspiracy and money laundering trial.
State district Judge Bob Perkins, a Democrat, was removed from DeLay's case Tuesday after DeLay's legal team cast doubt on Perkins' ability to judge the case fairly because of more than $5,000 in contributions he's made to Democrats.
Earle said in his motion filed Thursday that Schraub has made more than $5,000 in contributions to Republican candidates, including to Gov. Rick Perry, a DeLay ally, which calls into question Schraub's impartiality in the case.
Prosecutors had asked for Schraub to recuse himself or appoint another judge to take his place. The motion said that Schraub could ask Perry to appoint the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to assign a judge to conduct a hearing on the motion.
DeLay, 58, and two associates have been accused of funneling corporate donations from a DeLay-founded political committee in Texas to the Republican National Committee, which sent the money back to GOP legislative candidates in Texas. Texas law forbids the direct use of corporate money for campaigning.
The alleged scheme was part of a plan DeLay helped set in motion in 2001 to help Republicans win control of the Texas House in the 2002 elections. The Republican Legislature then adopted a new congressional voting district map that DeLay crafted to put more Republicans in Congress in 2004.
In coordination with DeLay, Perry called lawmakers back for three special sessions to tackle the contentious redistricting map, despite vehement opposition from Democrats, who staged two out-of-state walkouts to halt progress.
In the end, it was DeLay who brokered a redistricting agreement, visiting the state Capitol and shuttling back and forth between the House, Senate and Perry's office.
"Governor Perry was a major figure in the redistricting effort that the (DeLay) successfully argued," Earle said in his motion. "Because Judge Schraub has donated to Governor Perry, he has disclosed through this free speech that he agrees in principle with Perry's agenda regarding Tom DeLay's redistricting map."
Prosecutors also suggest an appearance of Schraub's political indebtedness to Perry, who appointed him as administrative judge and has authority to reappoint him again in January.
Still, Earle wrote that prosecutors believe Schraub to be "completely fair and impartial, with a sterling reputation of honesty and integrity.
"However, as the recusal of Judge Perkins reflected, such is unfortunately no longer the standard in our state for the judiciary," he said.
Schraub, 76, also has contributed money to the Republican campaigns of George W. Bush for Texas governor and president. He has more than 40 years of judicial experience, including the last 15 as administrative judge. He also spent 20 years as state district judge for the region.
AUSTIN, Texas â Just days after U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay won a fight to get a new judge in his case, prosecutors on Thursday sought the ouster of a Republican jurist responsible for selecting the new judge. The legal wrangling comes as administrative Judge B.B. Schraub was expected to name a new judge for DeLay's money laundering and conspiracy case, possibly as early as Friday. State district Judge Bob Perkins, a Democrat, was removed from DeLay's case Tuesday after DeLay's legal team cast doubt on Perkins' ability to judge the case fairly because of his multiple contributions to Democrats.
Prosecutors said in their motion filed Thursday that Schraub has made several contributions to Republican candidates, including to Gov. Rick Perry, a DeLay ally, which calls into question Schraub's impartiality in the case. Prosecutors said Schraub should either recuse himself or appoint another judge to take his place.
"How are we supposed to hang Delay if we can't git our own judge? By the evidence?"
DeLay, 58, and two associates have been accused of funneling corporate donations going to a DeLay-founded political committee in Texas to the Republican National Committee, which sent the money back to GOP legislative candidates in Texas. Texas law forbids the direct use of corporate money for campaigning.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 12:00 ||
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NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert told Leakgate probers that he had no idea Joe Wilson's wife Valerie Plame was a CIA employee before her name surfaced in Robert Novak's fateful July 14, 2003 column, and that he was stunned upon learning that Lewis "Scooter" Libby claimed he got that information from him. But an account by senior NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell raises questions about whether Mr. Russert may have known about Plame's employment well before the Novak column.
On Oct. 3, 2003, Mitchell was a guest on CNBC's now-defunct "Capital Report," where she was asked by host Alan Murray:
"Do we have any idea how widely known it was in Washington that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the CIA?"
Mitchell replied:
"It was widely known among those of us who cover the intelligence community and who were actively engaged in trying to track down who among the foreign service community was the envoy to Niger. So a number of us began to pick up on that."
Mitchell's "widely known" characterization flatly contradicts assertions last Friday by Leakgate Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who repeatedly insisted that Plame's association with the CIA "was not widely known." But perhaps more importantly, if Plame's work was an open secret in media circles [according to Mitchell], how is it that her boss, Mr. Russert, who - as NBC Washington bureau chief was presumably monitoring developments in "the intelligence community" as they related to the Wilson story - would have been oblivious to this same "widely known" information?
In fact, according to the text of Fitzgerald's indictment, Libby's version of events more closely matches Mitchell's on the subject of who knew about Plame's employment.
Fitzgerald said Libby claimed:
"During a conversation with Tim Russert of NBC News on July 10 or 11, 2003, Russert asked LIBBY if LIBBY was aware that Wilsonâs wife worked for the CIA. LIBBY responded to Russert that he did not know that, and Russert replied that all the reporters knew it." [Page 11 of Libby's Indictment]
None of this means that Mr. Libby actually told the truth and that Fitzgerald's star witness against him, Tim Russert, perhaps didn't. But Mr. Russert might want to clear the air and explain how he managed to stay in the dark about key information in a case that was the talk of the town in early July 2003 - while the same information was "widely known," according a senior reporter who worked under him.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 11:41 ||
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#3
IMHO, this whole Plamegate affair damages the MSM press more than Rathergate and all of the gates combined.
Who would have thought that the children of the 60's, who cut their teeth on blaming the CIA for dirty tricks abroad would assist, embrace and cover up for the CIA performing domestic dirty tricks at home.
These reporters make ol' Tricky Dick look like a naive babe in the woods, they do.
#5
Recall that the MSM, in their amicus brief to the USSC on Judy Miller's petition to stay out of the slammer, stated clearly that they thought no crime had been committed.
The moonbats can't seem to recall that.
I think Libby will be the only indictment, and that one's justified if he lied to the prosecutor. I'm just happy the Dems finally agree that perjury is a crime -- they sure didn't in 1997.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/03/2005 13:41 Comments ||
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#6
I'm still waitning to find out what Sandy Berger put in his socks by mistake. I'll be watchin' 60 Minutes this week. What are the chances they'll interview Sandy?
It is going to be a very interesting trial, because it seems to be a he said, she said case. I'm not at all sure Mr. Russert will be looking forward to the cross-examination, or even discovery.
TENGJIAYING, China -- Chickens were dropping dead by the dozens at Qin Zhijun's farm one morning, most while feeding in their squat, brick coops.
"They died instantly," said Qin, a breeder in China's northern Inner Mongolia region, which reported the first of the country's three bird flu epidemics in poultry last month. "I've never seen a disease like this."
Within 15 hours of the Oct. 14 outbreak, he says, up to 2,000 of his birds had died of the H5N1 virus and 7,000 others were destroyed by health officials.
The prevention measures extended for a two-mile radius from Qin's farm, with more than 93,000 birds slaughtered and tens of thousands more vaccinated.
Now authorities are eager to assure the public and the world that the government is taking its anti-bird flu work very seriously... Try to extrapolate a response like this to people.
The International Energy Agency, the oil sector monitoring body, on Wednesday said that oil prices by 2030 would be 50 per cent higher than today if Saudi Arabia did not muster the political will to invest billions of dollars in new production.
Fatih Birol, the group's chief economist, said in an interview with the Financial Times that Saudi Arabia, the most important oil producer, might not make the investment needed to ensure production met the strong demand growth in China and India.
âIt is not a problem of availability of reserves or capital. We need to be sure that the increase in production will be high enough and a sustained production capacity increase policy is in place. That will need sustained political will,â he said. Saudi Arabia has plans to invest $14bn to raise output capacity from 11m barrels a day to 12.5m b/d by 2009, according to a report by Samba Financial Group, a Riyadh-based bank.
The IEA said Saudi Arabia would need almost to double current output of 10m b/d to meet the expectations of demand in 2030. But Mr Birol said the kingdom might muster the long-term political will only to produce just over half the extra barrels deemed necessary.
Iran and Iraq are also vital to ensuring adequate oil and natural gas supplies in the next 25 years. But both face political hurdles to achieving the necessary investment. Many Middle East countries fear that investing heavily in new oil supplies will deplete fields too quickly and cut revenues by depressing oil prices.
Mr Birol said: âWe may end up with much less oil from the Middle East than we demand. There is substantial risk of substantially high oil prices if current investment in the Middle East is not stepped up substantially. âSuch high oil prices would be an additional trigger for major consuming nations to introduce policies to save oil and look for alternative sources. If they don't, the global economy but mainly the economies of the consuming nations will suffer.â
The agency's price forecast, which is often conservative, forms the benchmark for many other forecasts, including those made by central banks, oil companies and big oil producers.
The agency's near-term forecasts are below crude oil's current price range of about $60 a barrel because the IEA, which releases its World Energy Outlook next week, expects new supplies of oil and investment in platforms, pipelines and refineries to ease the current crunch.
Oil demand is expected to more than double by 2030. Much of the increase will have to be met by countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Meanwhile, natural gas demand will grow at a faster rate, with Qatar, Algeria and Iran as its biggest producers.
#3
Gromgoru, you miss the implications of the article.
In the past OPEC has been able to keep its cartel by always threatening to lower prices and supress production in other countries.
If places like Saudi Arabia and (and to mention another example, Venezuela) aren't going to make the investments necessary to even make the threat, oil drilling in places like Canada and the US suddenly becomes much more viable. As do oil sands, oil shale, thermal depolymerization, etc... the result of all this is a short-term price rise, but a long term reduction in imports.
The big question is, how much of this reduced investment is real, and how much scare noises put out by the countries in question to keep prices high.
#4
AS, High oil prices do not work in favor of Saudi Arabia for the reasons you cite in your third paragraph. Saudi is loosing its position as the sole swing producer. This may also be happening becasue they simply don't have the reserves to develop, but regardless of the reason, they are not investing in oil production facilities and this will lead to the exploitation of new energy resources. And the long run result will be cheaper energy, just as oil was cheaper than coal, coal cheaper than wood. So the Saudis may be at the apex of their income stream from oil. It sure would be nice if they could go back to being camel jockeys by 2030. I'd be willing to pay $4.00 per gallon to make that happen.
Another bulletin from the ever-so-scholarly Journal for Busybodies and People Who Need to Get a Life:
The gay-oriented Houston Voice has "outed" CNN's Anderson Cooper and Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith, charging that they "choose to hide and deceive -- and to protect their incomes and images -- at the expense of contributing important weight and star power to the gay civil rights movement." Managing Editor Kevin Naff claims in an editorial appearing in the current edition of the Voice that Smith once tried to pick him up in a gay piano bar in New York City and that Cooper dodged a question about his sexual orientation in a recent New York Magazine interview by saying, ""The whole thing about being a reporter is that you're supposed to be an observer and to be able to adapt with any group you're in ... and I don't want to do anything that threatens that." Commented Naff: "Does he believe that female and African-American reporters lack credibility to cover stories since their minority status is showing?"
#6
I think the Gays do their own cause a disservice by this 'outing' bit. It just makes the Gays look creepy for trying to expose some of their own, or as trying to bait hetros with the claim.
I actually think Coopers answer is the proper one, straight or gay, doesn't matter. The reporter should not be part of the story.
#12
I think it's pretty clear that Smith and Cooper were either going to be hairdressers or anchors, unlike Rather who didn't know what to do with his hair.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he is very concerned about reports that Ethiopia and Eritrea have moved troops closer to their common border. Mr Annan called on both sides to exercise maximum restraint.
There, that'll do it. What's for lunch?
Last month, Eritrea banned UN peacekeeping helicopters from its air space and restricted troop movements. UN peacekeepers patrol the border under the terms of a 2000 peace agreement that followed a two-year border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Mr Annan called on both sides to immediately stop any action that could be misinterpreted or could jeopardise security arrangements agreed in their peace plan.
Since Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights, the activities of UN peacekeepers have been severely constrained, and they have been forced to abandon many of their posts.
Can't get good fois gras without helicopters.
The head of UN peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno, said the mission had to be allowed to function. He said UN Security Council members saw the gravity of the situation, and the engagement of member states was now essential.
Last week, Eritrea's president, Isaias Afewerki, said in a letter to the Security Council that it had lost credibility by failing to force Ethiopia from the border town of Badme. The town was given to Eritrea by a boundary commission set up under the peace deal.
Congolese troops rescued four electoral workers from their militia captors in a raid that set off a battle that killed dozens of militiamen and one soldier, officials said Wednesday. Mayi-Mayi fighters had kidnapped the officials Oct. 23 at Burondo in North Kivu province in northeastern Congo, and the army freed them late Sunday, military spokesman Jean-Willy Mutombo told The Associated Press. "Some 40 Mayi-Mayi militiamen were killed by the army," Mutombo said.
"They were delicious!"
"One soldier was killed and three others injured." A spokesman for a United Nations peacekeeping force, Col. Thierry Provendier, confirmed the rescue. An extensive campaign is under way to register voters for Congo's first presidential election in 45 years. It is due to be held by next June under a peace accord that ended a ruinous 1998-2002 civil war that killed an estimated 4 million people.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Rescued after whole week?! They must have been really skinny when kidnapped... that is probably why Myum-Myum militiamen waiter for them to gain few pounds.
I remember when being young, I thought that cartoons of Africans standing around a big boiling pot with an ample supply of vegetables, and waiting for another human being to be "prepared", were cultural stereotypes. In a way, they were, the big pot was really unnecessary.
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.
BOULDER, Colo. - Hardware retailer Home Depot has found itself in a sticky situation, defending a lawsuit filed by a man who said the chain's Louisville, Colo., store ignored his cries for help after he fell victim to a prank - and was glued to a toilet seat. 
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. -- Gail O'Toole was convicted of simple assault and sentenced to six months probation for acts she committed against her ex-lover. On Wednesday, the civil suit went to court, where O'Toole's ex-boyfriend claimed her "outrageous" and "inhumane" acts are worth thousands in damages.
Health authorities in northern Brazil are dealing with a wave of vampire bat attacks that are infecting humans with the deadly rabies virus. In the last two months, 23 people have contracted rabies from bat bites and have subsequently died. Brazilian authorities say this latest outbreak is unusually serious, blaming deforestation in the Amazon region for the attacks. Health authorities have treated more than 1,300 people for rabies. The vampire bat attacks almost always occur at night, in homes. In the affected areas, people have been trying to fill gaps in the walls of their huts with banana leaves to stop the bats from getting in...
> 
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he is very concerned about reports that Ethiopia and Eritrea have moved troops closer to their common border. Mr Annan called on both sides to exercise maximum restraint.
Congolese troops rescued four electoral workers from their militia captors in a raid that set off a battle that killed dozens of militiamen and one soldier, officials said Wednesday. Mayi-Mayi fighters had kidnapped the officials Oct. 23 at Burondo in North Kivu province in northeastern Congo, and the army freed them late Sunday, military spokesman Jean-Willy Mutombo told The Associated Press. "Some 40 Mayi-Mayi militiamen were killed by the army," Mutombo said. 
