Okkayyy.
TOKYO (Rooters) - A male Japanese air force major caught naked while shopping for women's underwear has been suspended from his duties for 10 days, a spokeswoman at his base said on Friday. The man, on his way home from a late-night farewell party for a colleague in early September, stripped off his clothes behind a convenience store before going in and buying panties and pantyhose.
"He had just his wallet and his shoes on him," said the spokeswoman from the Matsushima air base in Miyagi, northern Japan. "He thought it would be funny if he went into the store stark naked, that it would surprise people."
There was no one else in the store but the store clerk, who called the police shortly after the man left the store. Papers were filed against him on suspicion of indecent exposure.
The incident follows a series of scandals for Japan's military. The air force's top general was sacked last week for saying Japan was not an aggressor in World War Two, angering China and South Korea where bitter memories remain over Tokyo's past military aggression.
And so it begins...
At least five people were arrested across the city after Barack Obama's rally in Grant Park, including a woman who slapped a Chicago police officer, saying police couldn't arrest her anymore, prosecutors said today. ...and she get's her gas and mortgage for free too, honky pig.
Celita Hart, 19, stood silently in court today when she appeared for a bond hearing. Prosecutors said Hart, who is black, yelled " 'White [expletive], [expletive] McCain--you white police can't do nothing anymore.'" With that, she reached through the window of a squad car and slapped a white male officer in the face, according to Assistant State's Atty. Lorraine Scaduto. Testing her theory, no doubt...
The incident occurred after police responded to a crowd of people celebrating Obama's win on the corner of 69th Street and Western Avenue. Hart, of the 7100 block of South Rockwell Street, was charged with aggravated battery of a police officer and was ordered her held in lieu of $10,000 bail. I wonder if she thinks Barry's gonna bail her out? ...and gun sex comes to Chicago.
Most of the others celebrated the historic occasion with gunfire. Others who appeared before Circuit Judge Israel Desierto included Andre Murph, 37, of Aurora, who was arrested after police saw him shooting a handgun into the ground on the Southwest Side. Scaduto said he told the officers he was "shooting to celebrate Obama as president." Guess he didn't have any fireworks. They're illegal you know...
Narada Thomas, 23, of the 1200 North Central Avenue, allegedly gave a similar explanation after he was arrested with a handgun near his home. "He said he had the gun because he wanted to celebrate Obama becoming the first black president," Scaduto said. In wonder what his excuse was the night before? Had to procure the liquor for the celebration ...
Kenneth Smith, 24, of the 6700 block of South Ada Street, was arrested after he allegedly fired a handgun outside his home. Smith, who is on parole for a previous weapons conviction, told authorities that "the police only arrested him because a black man won for president," Scaduto said. Well, they gotta hurry up. They only got until January 20th to oppress you.
Robert Morgan, 54, of the 5700 South Lowe Avenue, appeared to have simply been caught up in the excitement. When officers arrested him for allegedly firing a handgun into the air from his back porch, "He told the officers, 'Everyone else is shooting off their guns--I figured, why not?'" Scaduto said. Sure, why not? Them bullets'll just go into orbit...
#1
Guns are easier for a person to find and purchase in Chicago than fireworks (at least the 'good stuff'). The local 'nanny state' has determined that even sparklers might hurt you and therefor should be regulated.
Incidentally, this celebratory use of firearms may put fuel into Mayor Daley's efforts to ban all guns in Chicago (at least for the law-abiding few).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/10/2008 16:59 Comments ||
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#2
Give them all the hand grenades they can carry. Let them celebrate in style!
#6
I'm sure they were all just hoping to be part of that change that's coming, and wanted to be good citizens by taking their guns to the drop off points and disposing of excess ammo.
POLICE in a small eastern Arizona community are investigating the possibility that a boy, eight, who is charged with killing his father and another man with a rifle had been abused. The boy, who faces two counts of premeditated murder, did not act on the spur of the moment, Police Chief Roy Melnick said yesterday.
"I'm not accusing anybody of anything at this point," he said. "But we're certainly going to look at the abuse part of this. He's eight years old. He just doesn't decide one day that he's going to shoot his father and shoot his father's friend for no reason. Something led up to this."
A judge said there was probable cause to show the boy fatally shot his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, with a .22-calibre rifle. Under Arizona law, charges can be filed against anyone eight or older.
The judge ordered a psychological evaluation of the boy. The boy was charged as a juvenile, but authorities were pushing to have him tried as an adult, Chief Melnick said.
That's absurd. The lad is eight years old. Unless he's a monster he has no adult understanding of what he did. And if he is a monster he'll need to be kept away from adult prison.
Why have a "juvenile justice" system if you're going to try obvious juveniles as adults? They're juveniles because they're assumed not have an adult level of understanding.
If convicted as a minor, the boy could be sent to juvenile detention until he turns 18.
Police had responded to calls of domestic violence at the Romero home in the past, but authorities were searching records to determine when those calls were placed, Chief Melnick said. "We're going to use every avenue of the law that's available to us, but we're also looking at the human side," he said.
Chief Melnick said officers arrived at Mr Romero's home within minutes of the shooting on Wednesday in St Johns, which has a population of about 4000 and is 275km northeast of Phoenix. They found one victim just outside the front door and the other man dead in an upstairs room.
Mr Romans had been renting a room at the Romero house, prosecutors said. Both men were employees of a construction company working at a power plant near St Johns.
The boy went to a neighbour's house and said he "believed that his father was dead", said Apache County attorney Brad Carlyon.
Chief Melnick said police had a confession, but the boy's lawyer, Benjamin Brewer, said police overreached in questioning the boy without representation from a parent or lawyer and did not advise him of his rights. "They became very accusing early on in the interview," Mr Brewer said. "Two officers with guns at their side. It's very scary for anybody, for sure an eight-year-old kid."
Prosecutors were not sure where the case was headed, Mr Carlyon said. "There's a ton of factors to be considered and weighed, including the juvenile's age," he said. "The counterbalance against that, the acts that he apparently committed."
Mr Carlyon said the boy had no record of complaints with Arizona Child Protective Services. "He had no record of any kind, not even a disciplinary record at school," he said. "He has never been in trouble before."
FBI statistics show instances of children younger than 11 committing homicides are very rare.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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7:10 PM - Radio transmission between the Anderson and the Fitzgerald. The Fitzgerald is still being followed by the Arthur M. Anderson. They are about 10 miles behind the Fitzgerald.
Anderson: "Fitzgerald, this is the Anderson. Have you checked down?"
Fitzgerald: "Yes we have."
Anderson: "Fitzgerald, we are about 10 miles behind you, and gaining about 1 1/2 miles per hour. Fitzgerald, there is a target 19 miles ahead of us. So the target would be 9 miles on ahead of you."
Fitzgerald: "Well, am I going to clear?"
Anderson: "Yes. He is going to pass to the west of you."
Fitzgerald: "Well, fine."
Anderson: "By the way, Fitzgerald, how are you making out with your problem?"
Fitzgerald: "We are holding our own."
Anderson: "Okay, fine. I'll be talking to you later."
They never did speak later...The 29 men onboard the Fitzgerald will never again speak with anyone outside of the ship.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/10/2008 06:45 ||
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#1
R.I.P., Allen G. Kalmon, Second Cook.
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
11/10/2008 8:59 Comments ||
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#2
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
From Gordon Lightfoot's song about the Edmund Fitzgerald
#3
As someone who went to sea, that song always made me feel uneasy. The book "The Perfect Storm" was absolutely frightening. What they've found out through satellite analysis about "killer" hundred-foot waves in the North Atlantic is that they not only exist, there are a lot more of them than anyone ever thought there would be.
All those "old sea stories" talking about huge waves were considered bogus for a long time. Turns out a lot of them were quite probably true.
The 79-foot Andrea Gail probably got pitchpoled by a 100+ foot wave. Ships don't recover from that.
U.S., French and Haitian firefighters used sonar, cameras and dogs Monday in the search for victims at a collapsed Haitian school, but hopes dimmed for finding any more survivors, and the stench of death grew from beneath the rubble. Three days after the school collapsed during a children's party, killing at least 94 students and adults and severely injuring 150 more, the scene at College La Promesse was grim.
"We have not abandoned the search. We are continuing searching and we are taking a lot of precautions," civil protection coordinator Nadia Lochard told The Associated Press.
Several bodies were pulled out Monday, caked in concrete dust. But there have been no indications of survivors since four children were pulled from the wreckage Saturday morning, said Daniel Vigee, head of a Martinique-based French rescue team.
Rescuers were probing spots where neighbors claimed to have heard voices or received cell phone calls from trapped survivors, without success. Finally, before dawn Monday, they opened up new areas to search by tearing down a two-story high concrete slab that had been hanging precariously since the collapse.
Firefighters flown in from Fairfax County, Virginia by the U.S. Agency for International Development had previously warned that removing the wall could be too dangerous to rescuers and any potential survivors, but as hopes dimmed that people below were still alive, they removed it anyway using hand-held power tools.
An eight-person military team from the U.S. Southern Command also helped the rescue effort.
It was unclear how many people were in the building when it collapsed, though the school is believed to have had about 500 students. Haitian officials said some had time to escape when it began to fall, and it was not known how many were pulled out unharmed on Friday.
Some students weren't at the school during the collapse because La Promesse was holding a party requiring a donation of about 50 cents that poorer families could not afford, said Deputy Steven Benoit, who represents the area in the Chamber of Deputies. "A lot of students had their lives saved because they couldn't get in," Benoit said.
The tragedy at the school--built along a ravine in a slum below a relatively wealthy enclave near Port-au-Prince--has brought more attention to chronic poverty in Haiti, where neighborhoods rise up in chaotic jigsaws and building codes are widely ignored.
President Rene Preval has made several visits to the disaster site, blaming the collapse on constant government turnover and a general disrespect for the law. "There is a code already, but they don't follow it. What we need is political stability," Preval told the AP.
More than 1.8 million of Haiti's 9 million people, according to one lawmaker's estimate, live in ramshackle slums that blanket mountainsides with squalid homes, shabby churches and poorly constructed schools like the one that tumbled down Friday.
Anger and frustration over the painstakingly slow pace of the rescue effort has boiled over. On Sunday, about 100 people rushed the wreckage and began trying to pull down the massive concrete slab. Thousands of onlookers cheered them before Haitian police and U.N. peacekeepers drove them back with batons and riot shields.
The school's owner and builder, Protestant preacher Fortin Augustin, turned himself in to authorities Saturday on charges of involuntary manslaughter, police spokesman Garry Desrosier said. Minister of Justice and Public Security Jean Joseph Exume said the case was still being investigated but the owner could face up to life in prison.
Neighbors said they have long complained that the three-story school building was unsafe, and people living nearby have been trying to sell their homes since part of it collapsed eight years ago. "You can see that some sections just have one iron (reinforcing) bar. That's not enough to hold it," said 55-year-old Notez Pierre-Louis, who pulled her children out and sent them to a less expensive school.
A Saudi poet was arrested at his workplace and taken to the religious police headquarters for allegedly writing "heretic" poetry containing "sorcery symbols."
Four officers from the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice stormed the office of Saudi poet Rushdi al-Dawsari in a Dammam company on Tuesday morning.
After a verbal dispute that ended with punches, Dawsari was forced to go to the commission headquarters for publishing a poem that alleged contained sorcery. "While I was at work I got a phone call from the security at the company telling me that some people are waiting for me. When I did not go down, they came up to my office," the award-winning poet told AlArabiya.net.
Three bearded, well-built men entered his office, while a fourth waited in the unmarked car, Dawsari recounted. They were not accompanied by a police officer as is customary. "One of them grabbed my arm and said, 'come with us, you licentious heretic.' One of them punched me, and I punched him back."
Dawasri added that he was worried about his image at work, so he had to go with them to the commission's headquarters, , where officers showed him some of his poems on the internet and charged him with promoting sorcery. "I told them these texts require aesthetic, and not religious, analysis and that those who quote heresy are not heretics," he explained to AlArabiya.net
Dawasri received the Contemporary Literature Award for Poetry in Warsaw for his poem Shahadet Sareer (A Bed Testimony) and has taken part in several poetry readings inside and outside Saudi Arabia.
In his poem "Poetic Sorcery," Dawasri used a paragraph from the sorcery book Shams al-Maaref (The Sun of Knowledge) by Aboul Abbas al-Bouni.
Sorcery is against the law in Saudi Arabia and carries a heavy penalty, including death.
Dawasri was detained for eight hours and was not allowed to use the phone. He said those who detained him did not have badges and he assumed they were waiting to turn him in to someone, but this someone did not show up. "Looks like they disagreed about me," he said.
The officers then forced him to write a pledge vowing to stop writing "heretic and sorcery poetry" and to stop publishing poems on the internet. They also warned him not to mention the incident. "I had to sign to get out of this crisis," Dawasri said.
The following day Dawasri filed a complaint at the police station and said he is awaiting a response from the authorities.
The Saudi Interior Ministry imposed restrictions on the Commission regarding detentions and interrogations after officers committed violations including illegal detention. According to the new rules, the Commission's role ends as soon as it hands an alleged offender over to the police. Commission officers are also not allowed to detain anyone at their headquarters.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"None of us could read his high-falutin' words, but he had a piture, so we seen it was sorcery!"
Yemeni honey, famed for its regenerative and healing properties, is under threat after floods destroyed thousands of beehives in the southeast, threatening the production of what is commonly known as "natural Viagra."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Great sex drive. Bad teeth. Works for me.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/10/2008 5:56 Comments ||
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#2
Floods might be caused by global warming. We better send Al Gore over there to investigate. Keep him out from under the O man's feet.
#3
IIRC, wasn't/isn't yemeni honey one of al quaida money sources? Yemen, the happy arabia, where men are men but have cavities, women are wimmen, and goats are worried.
The largest broadcaster in the Middle East will forgo millions in advertising revenue by refusing to air a series of tobacco commercials in conjunction with an anti-smoking initiative spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, the Saudi health minister announced.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Four suspected robbers were beaten to death by a mob at Hatbaria village of Santhia upazila in Pabna early yesterday. The four were identified as Ebadat alias Ebad, 35, regional leader of outlawed PBCP 'Janajuddha' faction and son of Moylal of Vulbaria village, Robiul Islam Robi, 30, son of Mojai, Lal Pramanik, 32, son of Ahmed Pramanik of Bhabanipur village, and Shamim, 28, son of Shahed of Tebaria village in the upazila.
Police said locals rushed to the spot after hearing cries when a gang of 10 to 12 robbers stormed into the house of Abdul Aleem at about 1:00am. They caught four robbers and beat them up, leaving them dead on the spot. But most of the robbers managed to flee, police said.
On information, police rushed to the spot and sent the bodies to Pabna General Hospital morgue for autopsy.
Police also arrested another alleged robber Hablu alias Habu and recovered a local-made gun, a shutter gun and one bullet.
M Moniruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Santhia police station, told The Daily Star that they were investigating the matter as the arrested robber gave them important clues. The alleged robbers are also outlawed 'Janajuddha' operatives and engaged in looting, extortion and such type of criminal acts, he said. Three separate cases were filed with Santhia police station in this regard.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Silly thieves, you need to have the cover of an election to steal and get away with it. You get the pol to do it for you. It's call 'redistributing the wealth'.
Nine doctors of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) yesterday told the Supreme Court registrar the medical reports on former BNP lawmaker Mosaddek Ali Falu's health were not made by a medical board but were individual examination reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Thousands of people from a liberal Muslim sect, the Alevis, took to the streets here on Sunday, denouncing the Islamist-rooted government and calling for equal religious rights. About 50,000 people, arriving from all parts of the country, gathered in downtown Ankara, chanting slogans against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and dancing traditional Alevi dances.
Protestors carried Turkish flags and portraits of Turkey's secularist founder Ataturk and placards with slogans such as: "End discrimination" and "Turkey is secular, it will remain secular."
"The AK Party ignores the rights of 20 million Alevis in this country. This shows that they are not honest with their talk of religious freedoms," said Suleyman Erseven, a 48-year old demonstrator.
The main Alevi demands include an end to Sunni dominance in the religious affairs directorate, the government agency regulating Muslim affairs; the abolition of compulsory religion classes in schools; and the recognition of Alevi temples as places of worship.
Turkey's sizeable Alevi sect is a distant relative of Shiite Islam, known for its traditionally leftist and secularist leanings. It has long been suppressed by the Sunni majority. The Alevi faith, closely related to Sufism and Anatolian folk culture, is the specifically Turkish version of Alawism, prominent also in Syria.
They say that despite its advocacy of broader religious freedoms, the AKP government has done little on promises for reconciliation with the Alevis, who account for 15 to 20 million of Turkey's 70-million population.
Many Alevis tend to support secularist parties because they fear Islamists will put further restrictions on their faith. They say the AK Party strives to expand freedoms for Sunni Muslims, while ignoring the demands of Alevis.
Some protesters called for abolishing the Religious Affairs Directorate, which they say is defending Sunni Islam. The directorate tightly regulates Turkey's thousands of mosques, appoints imams, pays their salaries and approve sermons for Friday prayers. Alevi representatives also said the government should stop building mosques in Alevi villages. Most Alevis do not attend mosques but prefer gathering in houses of prayer, called Cemevi, where women and men pray together.
The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, has also urged Ankara to expand Alevi rights.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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In a drafty warehouse in northeast Minneapolis, Dave Nelson spent his Friday afternoon doing the political equivalent of watching paint dry. "I've got to tell you, this is different," he said, taking a break from reading "Sagitarius Command," a sci-fi novel.
A dozen miles away, on the third floor of St. Louis Park City Hall, Sharon Shaffer was doing pretty much the same thing from lunchtime until the 4:30 p.m. closing time. "This is new territory for me -- I've never done anything quite like this," she said.
Very few Minnesotans, it turns out, have ever done what Nelson, Shaffer and at least two dozen other supporters of Sen. Norm Coleman have been doing since the Senate race ended: They're standing watch over 2,885,399 ballots in the Senate race. They're on the lookout for monkey business.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Who's guarding the guards? I suggest the entire storage and counting process be done in full public view - maybe a storefront or such with a big, thick window onto a public place.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/10/2008 10:57 Comments ||
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#3
Probably, but not good enough, Mitch. It's politics - bribery and threats can be effectively used against specific people, but not against the population as a whole.
MUSCAT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday conceded that economic growth may slow down somewhat next year but said the fundamentals of the economy were strong and the banking system was safe and sound.
Addressing the Indian diaspora and the business community at two functions on the second day of his two-nation tour, the Prime Minister maintained that despite the shadow of a slight fall in the growth rate, India would continue to train its sights on investing $500 billion in the economic and social infrastructure over the next five years.
Due to the current international economic and financial situation, our growth rate may come down somewhat next year. However, we still hope to achieve a growth rate of seven to seven-and-a-half per cent next year. The fundamentals of our economy are strong. Our banking system and financial institutions are well capitalised and secure, he said. The high-level committee appointed by him to monitor the situation would suggest short and long-term measures to accelerate growth.
The Prime Ministers observation means that this would be the first time India faces a dip in economic growth after averaging nine per cent over the last four years.
Dwelling on the macro-economic fundamentals, he pointed out that the domestic savings rate remained at a healthy 35 per cent and was hopeful of the young demographic profile leading to a further increase in the rates of savings and investment over the coming years.
Turning to the Indian diaspora in Oman, estimated at roughly five lakh, he observed that their annual remittance of over $780 million is a reflection of your ties with the motherland and your confidence in India.
The India-Oman Memorandum of Understanding signed on Saturday for setting up a joint investment fund would open the door for greater investment.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/10/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
A Saudi poet was arrested at his workplace and taken to the religious police headquarters for allegedly writing "heretic" poetry containing "sorcery symbols."
Yemeni honey, famed for its regenerative and healing properties, is under threat after floods destroyed thousands of beehives in the southeast, threatening the production of what is commonly known as "natural Viagra."
The largest broadcaster in the Middle East will forgo millions in advertising revenue by refusing to air a series of tobacco commercials in conjunction with an anti-smoking initiative spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, the Saudi health minister announced.
