"To kill someone for stealing from you can sometimes be justified," Zhu Huimin told reporters outside a Bejjing courtroom, "but to kill them for stealing something imaginary from you is ridiculous, as well as moraly wrong. My son had only stolen a cyber-sword in an internet game, yet as a result, Qui Chengwei broke into his house and stabbed him to death. Life imprisonment is not enough. We want Qui to die, and die immediately."
Earlier, the Bejjiing court had passed a suspended death sentence (effectively life imprisonment) on a forty-one-year-old Qui Chengwei for the murder of twenty-six-year-old Zhu Caoyuan. Qui and Zhu used to play a popular online game called Legend of Mir 3," the prosecuter explained, "and Qui had won a cyber-sword called the 'Dragon sabre'. Zhu persuaded Qui to lend the virtual weapon to him by transfering it to his computer, but he then refused to give it back, and sold it to another competitor for 7,200 yuan. Qui complained to the police, but they told him there was nothing they could do, because the sword did not really exist, and there is no law in China to protect virtual property. So in frustration , Qui attacked Zhu at his home, stabbing him in the chest with great force and killing him."
Later, law professpor Wang Zongyu of Renmin Universaity called for a change in the law, saying "the armour and swords won in online games should be deemed private property, because players have to spend time and money to obtain them." But a lawyer for a Shanghai based games company urged caution, arguing that "these cyber-weapons are just data created by games providers. They don't really exist at all." (China Daily 2005)
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* "Foreign customers are often surprised to see a line of customers outside our showroom, each holding a live chicken under their arm," the owner of a car showroom in Bahrain told reporters, "but to locals the sight is perfectly normal. Most people in Bahrain believe in evil spirits, so they always slaughter a chicken and splash the bonnet and badge of their new car with its blood, to allay the evil eye before they drive the new car away. We allow them to do this, as part of our customer service, and in honour of the new customer. We even clean up afterwards. The problem is not so much with the blood from the chicken while they are performing this rite, because we can hose that away afterwards, although the windscren wipers can be a bit tricky. No, the real problem is when the chicken escapes, and the whole showroom is turned upside down as we try to catch it and kill it in front of the car. There's blood everywhere, and you don't want that in a showroom." (Alwasatnews 2005)
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"You were one of a group of men involved in drug smuggling," Lord Justice Hooper told Joseph Augustine in the Court of Criminal Appeal in London, "and you helped to set up a safe house in St Peter Street in Bedford. The purpose of this flat was to allow drug mules from the West Indies to hide out after travelling to Britain, until the drugs they had swollowed had passsed through their system.
In Spetember 2003, you were looking after a drug mule, who had swallowed a kilogram of cocain before leaving Trinidad. When the �50,000 payload you were expecting did not appear, you and your gang became impatient, and began force feeding the smuggler with prune juice. You then resorted to what has been termed 'extreme measures,' such as inserting a broom handle and a carving knife into his anus, in an attempt to extract the drugs, although these attempts also failed.
The man later escaped from the flat, and was found by neighbours, crawling in the street with various objects protruding from his anus. The cocain was subsequently removed from his belly by surgeons in hospital. Police then raided the falt, and found what has been described as 'a fully greased-up Hoover,' with which you had tried to suck the drugs out of the mules bottom. They also found several electrical taosters which you have admitted were also part of the unsuccessful extraction proccess, although it remains unclear what use they would have been. You were subsequently convicted of smuggling cocain at Luton Crown Court, and Jailed for five years.
You are now seeking leave to appeal on the grounds that the jury acquitted you of possession of the drugs, and that this was inconsistent with their guilty verdict on the smuggling charge. However, we see no reason why the two verdicts should be regarded as logically inconsistent and therefore dismiss your application for permission to appeal against conviction." (Bedfordshire on Sunday 2005)
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"You have been found guilty of theft," a judge told Ms Albena Mihajilova in a Sofia courtroom, "and by rights you should be sentenced to three years in jail. However, it has been brought to the courts attention that you were a man when this case began, that you underwent a sex change while on bail awaiting trial, and you have now been living as a woman for several months. Under Bulgarian law, this means you are no longer the same person who was originaly charged with theft, and despite the clear evidence of your guilt, the authorities are therefore left with no option but to drop all charges against you."
Later, Ms Mihajilova (formerly kown as Mr Sretko Ickov) gave an interview to Bulgarian television in her home town of Dragor, "I felt unhappy as a man ever since my aunt gave me a transgender Barbie doll as a ppresent for my tenth birthday, and i think my stealing was a manifestatin of that unhappiness. While i was on bail, i confided in my solicitor that i was thinking of having a sex change, and he encouraged me to do it quickly, because he knew a woman cannot be imprisond for a crime committed by a man. Now that i am free, i plan to start a new crime-free life as a woman and am looking forward to getting married." (Ero magazine [Holland] 2005)
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"Basically his colon was ruptured along with his lower organs," Police Commander Eric Sortland told reporters in Enumclaw, Washington state, "and he bled to death after suffering massive trauma from extensive internal injuries. When we first arrived at the ranch, the other men there said they had no idea how it had happened, but then we found hundreds of hours of videotaped man-on-beast sex sessions, hidden in a barn, and realised we were dealing with a bestiality ring. These people were very diligent in filming their activities, and eventually we found what we were looking for: actual footage of the man being thoroughly sodomised to death by a stallion.
"Odd as it may seem, sex with animals is not barred by law in Washington state, so men have been coming to this ranch from all over the US to take part. The videotapes showed us everything they got up to, with horses, goats, sheep, dogs, chickens, squirels, even a fish. From the medical examiner's office to the sheriff to the police detectives, we have never seen anything remotely close to what we've been watching over the past two weeks. No arrests have been made, because no clear crime has been committed. But we're reviewing all the tapes to see if any of the smaller animals suffered, because even though bestiality isn't a crime in this state, animal cruelty is. (Bangkok Post 2005)
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"This is the first human-poultry interaction system ever developed for the internet," Professor Adrian David Cheok of the Natinal University told reporters in Singapore, "and we've been working on it for two years . We understand the perceived eccentricity of developing a system for the humans to interact with chickens remotely. But this is just the beginning, and before long our work will have a much wider significance."
Earlier, Professor Cheok had demonstrated his revolutionary Touchy Internet system, which enables people to stroke a chicken remotely via cyberspace, "Users touch this chicken shape doll, which duplicates the actions of a real chicken through a webcam link. It's fitted with touch sensors which send tactile information over the internet to another computer, near a real live chicken. This second computer triggers tiny vibration motors in a lightweight jacket worn by the chicken, so the bird feels the user's touch in the exact same places that the doll was stroked. At present we're only working with poultry, but we plan to develop a system so that people who are allergic to cats and dogs will be able to caress their pets remotely. Used in zoos, it will even be possible to pat a lion or scratch a bear. And who knows? In the future, it may be possible for people to hug each other via the internet. Perhaps they might even have sex remotely." (IT World 2005)
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�Yes, we all know what our town�s name means in English,� Mayor Siegfried Hauppl told reporters in his Austrian village near Salzburg, �but we didn�t give it a second thought until tourists started stealing the road signs. So many signs have been stolen recently that we even had a vote last year on whether to rename the town, but eventually decided to keep it as it is. After all, ****ing has existed for 800 years, and will probably exist for another 800, but only if British tourists stop stealing our ****ing signs.�
�The village probably got its name in the twelfth century, Philip Thompson illustrationwhen a Mr **** or the **** family moved into the area, and the �ing� was added as a word for settlement. We have a butcher called Herr **** working here to this day. Residents first found out about the English meaning of the word at the end of World War II, when British and American soldiers were stationed in the area, and at first we didn�t mind the jokes. A lot of tourists come here to pose for photos in front of the signs, and if they spend some money in the area, we�re happy to see them. But we�re fed up with having to replace the signs again and again, because thoughtless people keep ripping them down and taking them home as souvenirs.�
Franz Duernsteiner, an expert on Austrian village names, added that �the residents of ****ing are actually very conservative people. Most of them can speak English, and when someone asks them where they come from, they are often a little ashamed to pronounce the word. Residents of two other Austrian communities, Windpassing and Wank on the Lake, suffer a similar reluctance.� (Cape Argus)
Posts: 6749 | Location: here again | Registered: 12 November 2004
Most of them can speak English, and when someone asks them where they come from, they are often a little ashamed to pronounce the word. Residents of two other Austrian communities, Windpassing and Wank on the Lake, suffer a similar reluctance.
So ... what's the German word? I bet there's a picture somewhere, out there?
Never mind, lol, I found it.
quote:
*****ing, Austria will not change its name despite sniggering Brits making off with its roadsigns ...
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
A dirty spot today can be a tourist attraction tomorrow," Councillor Lam Kit-sing told a government committee meeting in Hong Kong, "but only if we have imaginatin. Cheung Chau has an unsavoury reputation as a suicide spot, and people don't want to visit th island, becasue they regard it as a bad place, haunted by evil spirits. But what would happen if we think in an innovative way? We could turn that notoriety into a unique selling point, by boasting about its reputatin for self-inflicted death, and opening the worlds first suicide theme park there."
Warming to his theme, Lam added that "next month sees the opening of Hong Kongs Disneyland, which will attract millions of people to the main island. Just suppose we tht we created a similar attraction on Cheung Chau, a macabre ghost-town theme park based around the theme of suicide. We could dare peopleto spend the night in a haunted appartment, and take them on tours showing them different ways of committing suicide, from simpe methods like jumping off a cliff or taking pills, to more exotic methods, like hanging or ritual disembowelling. We could reproduce famous suicide in history, and even sell lottery tickets, betting on the number of people who will kill themsleves on the island over the next month. It may sound morbid, but Cheung Chau needs to capitalise on its grisly reputation, and be proud that it is the island of choice for Chinese people who want to end it all."
After a brief discussion, Lam's proposal was voted down by the council. (The Borneo Post )
Posts: 6749 | Location: here again | Registered: 12 November 2004
General chatter message board, covering just about anything (except "adult content") which you would like to share or read. Pull up a chair, pour another cup of coffee - and jump right in !
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
I was wondering about whether the picture was removed here or by remote control from the blog.
As to the rules here, i had wondered about that too, and glanced at the top of the page here before posting
quote:
Click here for more info on Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight and Thom's related writings Click here for Thom's newest book about democracy - an illustrated (cartoon!) book suitable for adults!
I only read the last few words and figured here would be ok.
That's my defence.
And as Saddam would say. "I'm innocent and i'll gas anyone who says i'm not."
*insert picture of evil looking Saddam*
Posts: 6749 | Location: here again | Registered: 12 November 2004
Here is a composite of news for the week, left or right? I was looking for an example to challenge bias assertions from either side and came across this.. http://www.harpers.org/ There's quite a bit more, but in trying to decide..after the tears in my eyes cleared I just entered this.
quote: A German woman named Petra Ficker threw her husband, Frank Ficker, out of the house after her parrot cried out the name of Mr. Ficker's mistress, Uta. �It's just me and my parrot now,� said Petra.[All Headline News] A new nasal spray made women want sex.[Local6.com] In Australia, bestiality charges were dropped against financier Brendan Francis McMahon, because prosecutors were unable to prove that his penis penetrated any rabbits. McMahon, who told a psychiatrist named Steven Allnutt that he could �communicate with animals through a third eye,� was still charged with mutilating 17 rabbits and one guinea pig.[The Sydney Morning Herald] Former FEMA Director Michael Brown announced that he was starting a disaster-preparedness company. �My parents,� noted Brown, �are still proud of me.�[CNN.com] Former Canadian Minister of Defense Paul Hellyer called on Canadian Parliament to hold hearings on the best way to deal with extraterrestrials. �I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war,� said Hellyer, �that I just think I had to say something.� [PRWeb] A Nevada man was arrested for stealing $200,000 worth of Legos,[MSNBC/AP]
Blaise Pascal Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. Pensees
Posts: 2917 | Location: Sverige | Registered: 21 June 2005
Ten Ways You'd Act If You Were the Republican-Led Congress: (In honor of our hardworking members of the legislative branch)
1. If your pipes were leaking to the point that your basement was flooded and your foundation was going to crumble, you'd order out for pizza and argue with the delivery guy over whether or not you wanted anchovies on the pie. You wouldn't tip.
2. If your computer hard drive crashed, taking with it all the digital photos of your kids and your vacations, you'd write an angry letter to Ronald McDonald, demanding to know if the McDLT is ever coming back. You like hot and cold separate.
3. If a garbage truck ran over your foot, you'd go shopping for a new hat. A jaunty summer beret, perhaps.
4. If five men with clubs killed your sister's dog and then raped her, you'd reorganize your copies of People magazine alphabetically by cover celebrity rather than by date. You'd argue with your spouse over using first or last names.
5. If your credit cards were maxed out and your debit card was used to empty your bank account by someone who stole the numbers and you didn't have anything left to cover the cost of formula for your baby, you'd go sing Christmas carols at the Alzheimer's wing of the nursing home. Even though it's July.
6. If your car was on fire at a gas station with your three children unconscious inside, you'd play Tetris on your cell phone. You'd curse Jesus whenever you missed the chance to make three rows disappear.
7. If you caught your husband cheating on you with the 15-year old boy who mows your lawn, you'd buy flowers for Barbaro, the horse with a hoof healing. Even though Barbaro just eats every daisy he can.
8. If your doctor told you that you had inoperable breast cancer that had spread to your lungs and wrapped itself around your heart, you'd write a dirty limerick about two lesbian midgets that rhymed the words "dykey" and "psyche." You'd be upset that very few funny or dirty things rhyme with "midget."
9. If your parents committed double suicide with razors and left a note in blood declaring that they were doing so because they couldn't stand the agony of watching you die from your horrible disease, you'd hire a fat clown to do pratfalls for all the Korean ladies at the local nail salon. They need a good laugh.
10. If you were on your deathbed, all alone, everyone you know dead or gone, you'd watch infomercials until the final mortal pain gripped you. You'd die thinking you should have done more to clear up the blemishes on your skin.
// posted by Rude One @ 9:53 AM
Blaise Pascal Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. Pensees
Posts: 2917 | Location: Sverige | Registered: 21 June 2005
So ... what's the German word? I bet there's a picture somewhere, out there?
uhuh.