Aussie judge jails 'pair of fools' for bungled robbery
Two Australian thieves were labelled "a pair of fools" by a judge on Tuesday as he jailed them over a bungled restaurant robbery in which one shot his female accomplice in the buttocks. Donna Hayes was shot by her former boyfriend, Benjamin Jorgensen, during an attempt to rob the Cuckoo Restaurant in Melbourne on April Fool's Day last year, the Victorian County Court heard.
The pair, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery, fled with a bag of bread rolls in the belief it was the day's takings of about $26 000, the national AAP news agency reported. But the mistakes did not end there. Jorgensen (38) made for the wrong getaway car before accidentally shooting Hayes (36) in the buttocks.
"I've heard of the Keystone Kops -- this is Keystone Robbers," Judge Roland Williams told the court as the evidence was presented. He jailed Hayes for eight years and Jorgensen for seven.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/22/2008 11:57 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Man, I wish I was a feared BBC interviewer. I have issues with the declining quality of women's undies, but if I complain, nobody's going to give a damn. If I were a Media! Star!, though, I could get some results.
Another Great Moment in the History of White Trash...
"The thing that really makes me feel much better about this is they died doing what they loved to do they were drinking, they were going fast and they were together," Lorie Flaherty said. "It gives me comfort, it does, to know those three things." Rest at the link. Worth the trip just to examine the gene pool implications...
This action was at Rorke's Drift, Wednesday 22- Thursday 23 January, 1879, when some 150 soldiers defended a supply station against some 4000 Zulus, aided by the Martini-Henry rifle 'with some guts behind it'.
Since the Victoria Cross was instigated by Queen Victoria in 1856, only 1357 have been awarded. At Rorke's Drift, eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded. Seven to the 2nd Battalion, 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, one to the Army Medical Department, one to the Royal Engineers, one to the Commissariat and Transport Department and one to the Natal Native Contingent. . . .
Much information, including a comparison of the film Zulu with real life, at the link.
War, disease and malnutrition are killing 45 000 Congolese every month in a conflict-driven humanitarian crisis that has claimed 5,4-million victims in nearly a decade, a survey released on Tuesday said.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which carried out the study with Australia's Burnet Institute, said Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) 1998 to 2003 war and its aftermath had caused more deaths than any other conflict since World War II. "Congo's loss is equivalent to the entire population of Denmark or the state of Colorado perishing within a decade," George Rupp, president of the aid group, said in a statement.
The findings were published on the day the DRC's government and warring eastern rebel and militia factions were due to sign a ceasefire in the hope of halting fighting in the east which has raged on since the nominal end of the war.
Rupp said that although the DRC's war formally ended five years ago, "ongoing strife and poverty continue to take a staggering toll". "The conflict and its aftermath, in terms of fatalities, surpass any other since World War II," he added.
Malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition, aggravated by conflict, were the top killers in the country, the survey said. "Most of the deaths are due to easily treatable and preventable diseases through the collapse of health systems and the disruption of livelihoods," said Richard Brennan, IRC director of global health programmes and one of the survey's authors.
The study was conducted between January 2006 and April 2007 in 14 000 households in all the country's 11 provinces. It updated previous mortality surveys which estimated the toll from the war at around four million. The IRC said an estimated 727 000 people died in excess of normal mortality during the latest survey period. Children under the age of five were the hardest hit, accounting for nearly half of all deaths despite making up 19% of the population.
Before the latest survey, humanitarian workers had been estimating that at least 1 000 people a day were dying in the DRC. "Since our last study in 2004, there's been no change in the national rate, which is nearly 60% higher than the sub-Saharan average," Brennan said.
The vast former Belgian colony's war sucked in its neighbours, as foreign armies and rebel groups vied for control of the country's rich natural resources. The conflict wrecked infrastructure already weakened by decades of neglect and corrupt leadership, and forced millions to flee their homes. Though a peace agreement led to the creation of a transitional government in 2003 and to democratic elections in 2006, conflict has continued in the eastern borderlands and the effects are felt nationwide.
Two years ago, a knock on Fatima and Mansour al-Timani's door shattered the life they had built together. It was the police, delivering news that a judge had annulled their marriage in absentia after some of Fatima's relatives sought the divorce on grounds she had married beneath her.
That was just the beginning of an ordeal for a couple who under Saudi Arabia's strict segregation rules can no longer live together. They sued to reverse the ruling, publicized their story and sought help from a Saudi human rights group.
But the two remain apart and Fatima said she is considering suicide if her recent appeal to King Abdullah does not reunite her with her husband.
She said her father knew that Mansour came from a less prominent tribe than hers, but that he did not mind because he "cared about the man himself."
Posted by: ed ||
01/22/2008 08:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
Kuwait's only female politician survived an attempt to oust her Tuesday by conservative lawmakers who accused her of mismanagement and endangering traditional religious values.
Hundreds of female supporters applauded and ululated from the galleries as parliament voted 27-19, with two abstentions, against the impeachment of Education Minister Nouria al-Subeih, a pioneer in this small oil-rich Gulf state where women were only allowed to participate in political life in 2005.
"We're so happy we can fly," said Mona Hassan, a 52-year-old school principal, as she left the gallery. "This is a victory for Kuwaiti women. Allow (the other) half of society to work and watch the results."
Clad in a black pantsuit, al-Subeih, who doesn't wear the Muslim headscarf unlike nearly all women in this overwhelmingly conservative society, stood up and waved to the crowds, while lawmakers shook her hand.
Al-Subeih is a political independent who has wide support among Westernized liberals who have dubbed her Kuwait's "Iron Lady" because she stands up to conservatives.
Many female activists believe al-Subeih's opponents simply want to remove the only female Cabinet member in a country that still does not totally accept women in politics. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
01/22/2008 08:29 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
CROWSNEST PASS, Alberta (AP) - A paramedic who's used to saving the lives of others found himself having to eat rotting beaver meat and fend off snarling animals to ensure his own survival while trapped for 96 hours in Alberta bush country.
Ken Hildebrand of Fort McMurray was riding his all-terrain vehicle as he collected animal traps north about 80 miles southwest of Calgary, on Jan. 8 when the ATV rolled after hitting a rock and trapped him underneath.
Hildebrand, who has a weak leg due to polio, ended up face down on the snowy ground with his machine pinning his strong leg.
"He was stuck there for four days and three nightsalmost 96 hours straight," said Troy Linderman, director of Crowsnest Pass emergency medical services said.
Hildebrand's injuries aren't described as life-threatening, but there is a chance his right foot might have to be amputated.
Hildebrand, who wouldn't give his age, said he kept himself alivealbeit sickby eating the rotting meat of the animals he had collected.
He said he faced constant harassment from coyotes who were growling and fighting each other a few feet away, but was able to keep them at bay by constantly blowing a whistle he had with him.
"It was time to get ready for survival mode," Hildebrand said.
As a paramedic, he knew people start losing heat quickly from their upper body so he took a beaver carcass and set it by his groin to help keep his body warm. He used another beaver as a bit of a windbreak and part of its skin as a makeshift pillow.
With no water or food with him, no snow close by and nothing but dirt around him, he quickly became dehydrated. He pulled some surveyor's tape through his teeth to get a little bit of the dew that dropped onto it.
"I ate a lot of dirt to get a little moisture," he said.
By the second night he was so hungry he started to pick at the beaver bones an hour after the sun went down.
"I tried to eat pieces of that, but it made me sick and I threw up," Hildebrand said.
Hildebrand made several attempts to get out from under the ATV, including using an ax to pry it off, but he didn't have enough leverage to free his leg.
As Hildebrand was entering his fourth day of being trapped, he began to accept the fact he might not be found before the cold, malnourishment or animals claimed him. His saving grace came when a hiker and a dog from Pincher Creek found him.
"He was hiking and he came there because he told me he had this funny intuition and urge to go hiking there even though he'd never been there before," Hildebrand said.
After spending a night in the Crowsnest Pass hospital, he was transferred to Lethbridge, where he has undergone several operations to treat frostbite and injuries to his legs.
"It's amazing that he's alive. I can't believe it," Linderman said. "Ken's as tough as nails."
Despite hypothermia, frostbite, dehydration and leg injuries, Hildebrand's only concern after being rescued was not being able to make his next paramedic shift, Linderman said.
Hildebrand, who works teaching first aid and heavy equipment at Keyano College in Fort McMurray, said he still has property in the Crowsnest Pass and was there seeing if he could help ranchers with the problem of wolves preying on cattle.
Yes, Billy Jack is back, er, I mean Tom Laughlin is back and running for President! Yep, it's true, together with his sidekick Jean and lots and lots of your money, Billy Jack is going to save the world! Yup.
How can he do that, you ask? Well, in case you didn't know, Billy Jack is imminently qualified to save America and the rest of the World based upon his bad acting in a low-budget cult movie from 30-some years ago. Yes, because that's how Hollywood works. It's true! Just ask Barbra Streisand or Sean Penn. . . .
Much more on the Laughlin '08 campaign at the link.
For reviews of the Billy Jack films and background on the hippie fascism undergirding the screenplays, see this long, but entertaining, essay:
Back while I was writing the initial portion of this piece, President Ronald Reagan passed away. It was impossible not to be struck by the profound difference in how Reagan and Billy Jack portrayer Tom Laughlin viewed America. To Reagan, America was the oft-cited shining city on the hill, a glowing lantern of liberty offering hope and inspiration in a dark world. To Laughlin, America was an evil, racist country, one so hopelessly corrupt that, in the end, its overthrow was the only hope for world peace and progressive human enlightenment.
Motivated by his beliefs, Tom Laughlin made a handful of films, and many millions of dollars. To his credit, he reinvested his money in his pictures, hoping to convince others of the validity of his beliefs. The result was that he lost much of his fortune when his moment passed. His vision of America lost favor with even the majority of those who once shared it, and his final film was barely released at all.
Motivated by his beliefs, Ronald Reagan was twice elected President of the United States. His successes were many. The one that overshadows all others, however, was his aggressive prosecution of the Cold War against an enemy that he rightly named an Evil Empire. In the end, his policies were instrumental in triggering the collapse of the Soviet Union. One result was perhaps the single most inspiring event of the 20th century. A few years after Reagan left office, the peoples of a divided Germany rose up and, as Reagan had once demanded, tore down a wall that had stood as one of historys starkest symbols of tyranny.
Final score: Ronald Reagan 10, Billy Jack 0
Posted by: Mike ||
01/22/2008 10:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
YEAH, that's the ticket. Tom Laughlin and Cindy Sheehan running for the land's two highest offices as the Moonbat Party candidates.
#3
Laughlin is a 5 foot 2 twirp who was a hanger on in beach movies, like "Gidget" until he came up with "Billy Jack." In that panderage, the counter-culture has their backs against the wall, in face of "oppression" by businessmen and cops, who are 100% corrupt and brutal. Druggies loved the lawbreaking-is-okay message, and the movie was a hit among the welfare class. The fact that Laughlin probably couldn't get a hand on anyone who wears greater than size 5 shoes didn't phase audiences, who were spared perspective shots, which would have exposed Laughlin's pipsqueak size. Cheech and Chong's drug comedies soon followed.
Posted by: Phaiting Scourge of the Swedes8356 ||
01/22/2008 17:54 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Listen children to a story that was written long ago ....
GO AHEAD AND HATE YOUR NEIGHBOR, GO AHEAD AND CHEAT A FRIEND, DO IT IN THE NAME OF HEAVEN YOU'LL BE JUSTIFIED IN THE END... COME THE JUDGEMENT DAY, ON THE BLOODY MORNING AFTER.
PEACE ON EARTH WAS ALL THEY HAD.
PEACE ON EARTH WAS WHAT THEY SHARED.
PEACE ON EARTH WAS WHAT WE KILLED.
ONE TIN SOLDIER RIDES AWAY...
"INTO THE LITTLE BIG HORN, AND GLOOOORRRYYYYY".
NOSTRADAMUS - "NONE SHALL SEE THE POWERS OF ASIA DESTROYED, UNTIL SEVEN/SEVENTH HOLDS THE LINE".
1960's and Oliver Stone's PLATOON > FEED YOUR HEAD. A future young soldier from Guam named FRANCIS.
Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle.
Mr. Clinton is negotiating to end his relationship with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. as part of a broader effort to protect the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, from potential conflicts of interest. Details of Mr. Clinton's involvement in Yucaipa and his efforts to unwind it come from documents and interviews with people familiar with the matter.
The former president has had links to Yucaipa since early 2002, when Mr. Burkle -- a longtime friend and political contributor -- offered him a role there. Mr. Clinton's association with the firm began at a time when he was looking to earn large amounts of money, partly to pay heavy legal bills accumulated to defend himself and Mrs. Clinton from several investigations during his presidency.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Mr. Clinton is negotiating to end his relationship with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. as part of a broader effort to protect the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, from potential conflicts of interest.
Really? I thought having a former president actively campaign for a candidate was already over the line.
Ara (Bihar) (PTI): Armed CPI (Maoist) activists torched four tractors and a machine of a private firm engaged in the construction of the building of Piro railway station in Bihar's Bhojpur district, police said on Tuesday.
The naxalites raided the camp office of the private firm and set the tractors and machine on fire late last night, P Umesh Kumar said, adding no injuries were reported in the attack.
Non-payment of money demanded by the naxalites from the firm management was stated to be reason behind the attack, he said.
Raids were being carried out to apprehend those involved in the attack, Kumar added.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/22/2008 18:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
Malaysia's only state run by the Islamic opposition party will get stricter about enforcing separate lines for men and women at supermarkets, an official said Tuesday. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
01/22/2008 08:45 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
Aussie judge jails 'pair of fools' for bungled robbery
This action was at Rorke's Drift, Wednesday 22- Thursday 23 January, 1879, when some 150 soldiers defended a supply station against some 4000 Zulus, aided by the Martini-Henry rifle 'with some guts behind it'.
Two years ago, a knock on Fatima and Mansour al-Timani's door shattered the life they had built together. It was the police, delivering news that a judge had annulled their marriage in absentia after some of Fatima's relatives sought the divorce on grounds she had married beneath her.
CROWSNEST PASS, Alberta (AP) - A paramedic who's used to saving the lives of others found himself having to eat rotting beaver meat and fend off snarling animals to ensure his own survival while trapped for 96 hours in Alberta bush country. 
