INNOCENT: "I Murdered Them." Girl Cleared.

Schoolgirl who filmed herself ‘trying to kill her parents’ is cleared of attempted murder

A troubled schoolgirl who filmed herself as she tried to strangle her mother and then stab her father was today cleared of attempted murder.

After the jury delievered its verdict Judge Gareth Hawkesworth told the 16-year-old he will do everything in his power to help her.

The girl was convicted of a charge of attempting to choke, suffocate and strangle her mother and attempting to unlawfully wound her father. Scroll down for more…
camera lens

The girl ‘filmed herself in her bedroom explaining what she planned to do before switching to the downstairs living room’
Adjourning the case for reports the judge at Cambridge crown court told the jury it had been an “extraordinary and difficult case”.

Addressing the eight men and four women but making sure his words could be heard by the girl, he said: “This court recognises that this young lady is in need of help and support and this court is going to do all in its power to bring that about”

He added: “This is not a case in my judgement where the only issue is punishment.”

The girl was remanded to a secure psychiatric unit for teenagers until her sentence.

Before leaving court she was hugged by her mother and father who had been in the public gallery and who during the trial had given evidence against her.

It was following an argument with her father last February that the girl, then 15, came into the living room from her bedroom at the family’s home.

She had with her a video recorder which she set up on the arm of a chair so that it was trained on her mum who was sitting at a computer.

The girl, described as highly intelligent and theatrical, with a keen interest in film making, drama and writing, had dressed herself especially for the occasion.

She was wearing a seductive strappy silk nightdress for what the prosecution was to describe in court as “the performance of her life.”

She had brushed out her long brown hair and applied make up to make herself look glamorous film star.

The girl had with her a noose made from two dressing gown cords with which to strangle her mother and a pair of scissors to stab her father.

The chilling video was played to the jury at the start of the trial when she pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempting to murder her parents, both IT workers.

She also denied a charge of attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle her mother with intent and attempting to unlawfully wound her father with intent.

She has admitted two counts of common assault on her parents.

In the video, which the jury saw, the girl first delivered a chilling speech to the camera in her bedroom in which which she discussed her plan to kill her parents.

Shortly before there had been a blazing row between her and her dad about her habit of eating food from a small child’s plastic bowl.

She had ended up in tears and gone to her bedroom.

She says on the video “I made this film so that no one could day it was only manslaughter, or self defense or anything else.

“I want full credit for this. I murdered them.”

The teenager then took the camera downstairs to the living room and set it up so that it was pointing at her mother sitting at the computer unaware of what was about to happen.

In the film, the commentary from a televised rugby match could be heard and her father was laying on a sofa nearby watching the Saturday night Six Nations game between England and Wales.

As the film continued, the girl walked up to her mother, and standing directly behind her looped a length of dressing gown cord around her neck.

At first, the mother said: “What are you doing? That is not very funny.”

The teenager replied: “It’s not meant to be funny.” As the film continued, the girl pulled the cord tight.

Moments later, the mother said “Then stop doing it, let go.”

Her daughter replied: “No I am not going to let go.”

By now, the mother had swivelled around in her chair to face the daughter, who still had the cord tight around her neck.

The mother then said to the girl “You are strangling me” and calling her husband’s name to tell him: “She is strangling me.”

The figure of the father appeared in view as he made his way towards his wife and daughter with his back to the camera…

7 Habits of Highly Effective…

SPACE CAPTAINS.

f you want to learn good organization skills, look no further than some of the best leaders in the universe: the captains of spaceships. They may be fictional, but they have skills that translate into the real world. After all, you’d follow Admiral Adama into battle, and trust Malcolm Reynolds to have your back. Now you can learn the seven greatest leadership lessons we gleaned from watching shows like Futurama and Firefly.

1. The Prime Directive is just a suggestion. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise wasn’t as swashbuckling as he predecessor Captain James T. Kirk, simply because he actually wrestled with breaking the Prime Directive instead of ignoring it entirely. The Prime Directive states that humans shouldn’t involve themselves in the affairs of less developed planets, for fear of messing up their cultures with ultra-advanced tech. While Picard often considers the importance of the Prime Directive in his decision-making, he refuses to be bound by it. Lesson learned? Rules are made to be broken.

2. Always shoot first. Every good leader should be willing to do what he or she asks of her team. One of the reasons for the loyalty of the ragtag crew of Serenity, the ship Malcolm Reynolds captains in Firefly, is that Mal will throw himself into battle to protect his team. Whenever he has a crazy scheme or rescue mission in mind, he takes the first plunge. Lesson learned? Show your crew that you’re willing to take a bullet for them, and they’ll do the same for you.

3. Don’t be afraid to hook up with a cute spaceman. We love Leela on Futurama not just because she’s the only person on her ship with any kind of sense, but because she also lets her long, purple hair down once in a while. She’s always tangling with spacemen and getting mixed up with strange alien pets. And that’s one good reason why her goofy crew would follow her to the ends of the galaxy — well, if she had enough beer. Lesson learned? A good leader has to get laid once in a while, and she shouldn’t be ashamed of it.

4. When you’re about to go genocidal, get a second opinion. Admiral William Adama from the new Battlestar Galactica is one of the best leaders we’ve ever seen. He’s gotten a group of a few thousand humans halfway across the galaxy, despite the fact that they’re being pursuit by a group of homicidal, erotically obsessed cyborgs. He’s had to deal with incredible loss and sheer terror, and he always keeps his head. He is also truly humane. How does he keep it together without going all Admiral Cain on everybody’s ass? By sharing his power with President Roslyn as well as his circle of trusted officers and advisers. Without their guidance, the Galactica and its fleet might have turned into a bloodthirsty military fleet, instead of what it is: a mostly-civilian group with a (sort of) free press and even elections. Lesson learned? True leaders do not ever make decisions alone.

5. Just because you have a crappy ship doesn’t mean you’re a loser. Everyone knows that Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, is piloting a souped-up bucket. And yet his seemingly-crappy ship is probably the very best thing for helping out a group of covert resistance fighters like Obi Wan and Luke. Plus, he knows his ship so well that he can totally slam those Stormtroopers in their McFighters. Lesson learned? Every crappy PC is a lean, mean Linux box waiting to be born. Oh, and in case that didn’t make sense: It’s not the tools; it’s what you do with them.

6. Freedom fighters make good teammates. Say what you will about Captain Janeway on Voyager, but she made a smart decision early on to integrate her Federation team with a group of subversive Maquis who got stuck with them out in the Delta Quadrant. Another captain might have kept the Maquis separate from the Federation types, but Janeway integrated them and gave them Federation ranks — much to her good fortune. She got a great Chief Engineer and First Officer out of the deal. Lesson learned? A little subversion goes a long way.

7. There is always somebody out there who can bend spacetime better than you can. In Iain M. Banks’ novel Excession, the Ship Sleeper Service (which is an AI that captains itself, thank you very much) discovers that its amazing, human-dwarfing brain is nothing compared to the “excession,” a phenomenon that none of the Ships can understand. The excession exists in subspace, and looks like a giant something that could be a gateway to another dimension, perhaps, or a ship from the edges of the universe. Meeting the excession, for the Ships, is a very humbling experience. They realize that they are not as omnipotent as they realized, that that there are intelligences out there far more profound than their own. Lesson learned? No matter how in control you are, always be ready for something for which you’re completely unprepared.

If God is out there, bring me TMNT IV.

Cassie Jones + TMNT II: Secret of the ooze would be the best sequel to this stellar movie dynasty. If there is a God in heaven, I will convert to whatever if Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out with another sequel to the live-action movies. not this TMNT computer animated crap. I want to see Cassie Jones and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles save April from the Shredder or someone even cooler – like a robot ninja zombie with 4 arms – while in the process losing Master Splinter in a climax that won’t stop. (sexual reference intended) also, April will find a boyfriend, but he dies too. he’s a jerk anyways, so don’t be too sad. He was all “I have my job and you should be mothering my children” and she was all “I have a job too, don’t you care about my dreams?” he was all “what dreams? you better be dreamin of getting me a beer, woman” SMACK.
Did you know there was a TMNT Concert tour? Check it:
To further add to the Turtles’ popularity, a concert tour was held in 1990, premiering at Radio City Music Hall. The “Coming Out of Their Shells” tour featured live-action turtles (in costumes similar to the films) playing music as a band (Donatello; keyboards, Leonardo; bass guitar, Raphael; drums & sax, Michelangelo; guitar) on stage around a familiar plotline: April O’Neil is kidnapped by the Shredder, the turtle guys have to rescue her. The story had a very Bill-n’-Ted-esque feel, with its theme of the power of rock n’ roll literally defeating the enemy, in the form of the Shredder (who only rapped, about how he hates music) trying to eliminate all music (Interestingly, the first two films featured rap in their soundtracks). A pay-per-view special highlighting the concert was shown, and a studio album was also released. The track listing is as follows:

1. Coming Out of Our Shells!
2. Sing About It
3. Tubin’
4. Skipping Stones
5. Pizza Power
6. Walk Straight
7. No Treaties
8. Cowabunga
9. April Ballad
10. Count on Us

Who’s Next?!

Cheney to go quail hunting at Armstrong ranch
Caller-Times: LINK

Vice President Dick Cheney will be at the Armstrong Ranch this weekend quail hunting and visiting longtime friend, former U.S. ambassador to Great Britain Anne Armstrong and her family, Mrs. Armstrong said Thursday afternoon.

It was Feb. 11, 2006 that Cheney (accidentally) shot lawyer Harry Whittington at the Armstrong Ranch.

Laugh or be frightened, I can’t pick.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffDPTKn7HiY&rel=1">

Amazing Strangers!

Thank God I looked up “scenester” on my hunt for kids in hoodies, because look at this! A site devoted to pictures of random people and…this classic interpretation of a scenester:

Fuck Terrorists, War on Teenagers.

The Observer: LINK

BREAK IT UP, YOU TWO, OR ELSE. >>>>>

High-pitched whine of Mosquito alarm, used to deter teenagers from loitering in groups, ‘infringes their human rights’

A controversial weapon in the war against antisocial behaviour should be banned, the children’s commissioner will warn this week in a move that threatens a new Whitehall battle over ‘hoodies’ rights’.

The row centres on the so-called Mosquito, a £500 device that emits a high-pitched whine loud enough to drive away teenagers in the vicinity. Marketed as the ‘ultrasonic teenage deterrent’, it is increasingly being adopted by shopkeepers, local councils and even private homeowners to disperse gangs of young people because it operates on a frequency that can be detected only by under-25s, whose hearing is more acute.

Al Aynsley-Green, who was appointed by the government to champion children’s interests, will argue the Mosquito infringes their human rights and penalises innocent children. Parents have also questioned its long-term effects on children’s hearing.

Aynsley-Green will launch a campaign this week calling on businesses to abandon the tactic, and encouraging children to report instances of its being used against them. He is understood to be prepared to bring a test case in the courts if necessary.

However, a Home Office source said the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, backed the use of the Mosquito as a way of combating yob culture, adding: ‘We would always put ourselves on the side of the law-abiding minority rather than on the side of gangs of hoodies.’

Gordon Brown last week cited teenage lawlessness and gang violence as a key priority for his government and the clash over the Mosquito marks an early test. The Prime Minister had signalled a change of tack in his early months by disbanding the Respect Taskforce set up by Tony Blair to tackle yob culture, putting its staff under the control of the Department for Children and Families, which was seen as a signal that he would offer more carrot and less stick to disaffected teenagers.

That approach has come under pressure, however, with the Tories attacking the government over levels of street violence and teenage offending.

Thousands of Mosquitos have been bought by police forces, retailers, housing associations, train companies and private individuals who want to get rid of teenagers loitering near their homes. The device consists of a black box that emits a pulsing noise several times a second over a 15m radius, loud enough to force children to leave the area within minutes. It is advertised to stores on the grounds that unruly teenagers might discourage ‘genuine shoppers’ prepared to spend money…

Your Daughter might be Eff’d up if…

Read this Declaration by Lynne Spears (Britney Spears’ Mommy)

Read more at The Smoking Gun: LINK

How to Survive an Encounter With an Ostrich

This will come in handy when I lose my car.
LINK

A male and female ostrich on a farm. The powerful legs and sharp nails can deliver a fatal blow.
A male and female ostrich on a farm. The powerful legs and sharp nails can deliver a fatal blow.
Anyone who’s seen Hitchcock’s classic film The Birds may feel a little uneasy around pointy beaks and razor-sharp talons. An ostrich attack, however, is straight out of Jurassic Park. Like that movie’s velociraptors, ostriches are fast–they can run at up to 45 mph–and they have a sharp nail on each of their feet that is capable of slicing a person open with one kick. Unlike velociraptors, however, an ostrich can reach more than nine feet tall and 350 pounds.

The best defense? Stay at least 50-100 yards away from ostriches. If, however, you end up face to face with one of these birds, follow these tips.

Steps

1. Get to safety. When hiking or working near ostriches, you should always be aware of your surroundings and the nearest place you can run to safety. Remember, you won’t be able to outrun an ostrich over any distance, but if you’ve got a good head start you should be able to get someplace safe if it’s close enough. Head for a building, a car, or a high fence or tree that you can scale (ostriches can’t fly). In the wild, go into a thorn bush if you have to; you’ll get scratched up pretty good, but an ostrich won’t pursue you into thorns.
2. Put something between you and the ostrich. If you can’t make it to safety, grab a long pole and hold it in front of you. Since you don’t want to have to find something like this while you’re being attacked, it’s best to carry an implement with you when there’s a chance of an ostrich encounter. A strong branch with a forked end or a rake are good options, as you can hold the crook or the broader end against the ostrich’s neck or chest. A broom or catching hook might be available when working with captive ostriches. A branch from a thorn tree, such as an acacia, is particularly effective in warding off an ostrich. Keep in mind, however, that whatever pole, tool, or branch you choose must be strong and long enough to keep the bird’s legs from reaching you.

* Holding the ostrich at bay works well in situations in which the ostrich is in captivity and handlers (it’s best to have at least four when trying to handle a large ostrich) can come at the ostrich from the side or, preferably, the rear and subdue it by placing a hood over its neck and/or bending its neck down to the ground so that it cannot kick.
* If your life is in danger and you have a stout stick, a hard blow to the ostrich’s neck will usually break its neck and kill the animal. A well placed shot into the center of the main body (“center mass”) from a large caliber handgun (.44 or .45 caliber) will stop the ostrich. A machete blow to the neck will also kill the bird. Naturally, killing the animal should be a last resort only.
3. Play dead. In a 1918 article in The Atlantic magazine, former President Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “If, when assailed by the ostrich, the man stands erect, he is in great danger. But by the simple expedient of lying down, he escapes all danger.” The experience of ostrich farmers, naturalists, and adventurers has largely confirmed Roosevelt’s observation. Since ostriches kick forward and downward, the chance of injury is much lower if you lie face down on the ground and cover your head and neck with your arms. Your back will still be exposed, but this is much safer than if your front were open to attack. Additionally, the ostrich is not able to kick very effectively at an object on the ground, and eventually it will lose interest if you play dead. The bird will still likely stand on you–it’s been described as dancing by some who’ve gone through the experience–and it may even sit on you for a while, but it will most likely not rip you open if you do this equivalent of burying your head in the sand.
Tips

* Ostriches love man-made objects, especially shiny ones, so before you go out on safari or onto an ostrich farm remove all jewelry, and avoid displaying shiny or dangling objects when near ostriches. Even the most mild mannered of ostriches practice investigative pecking, and a peck at an earring or your eyeglasses – or your eyes, for instance, could result in serious injury.
* Ostriches can only kick forward[1], and rarely, to the side, so if you’re behind or to the side of an ostrich you’re pretty safe. Ostriches can maneuver quite deftly, however, so you’re only safe temporarily.
* Ostriches are usually very skittish and will run if given the chance. If you don’t try to corner an ostrich, then, you’ll usually have no problems. Males ready for breeding, however, tend to be very territorial and may become aggressive. You can spot these by the red flush on the front of their legs. Hopefully, however, you won’t get close enough to see this without binoculars.
* Ostriches don’t really bury their heads in the sand, as is often thought. They sometimes put their heads to the ground if they sense danger in the distance, and when they do so their bodies can look like mounds of earth. They do this so well, in fact, that it’s sometimes possible for you to come very close to an ostrich before you see it.
* In the wild, it’s pretty easy to stay out of an ostrich’s way if you keep your distance. On ostrich farms, however, injuries and deaths are more common–in fact the late country singer Johnny Cash received serious injuries from an ostrich attack on his farm. Never try to handle an ostrich without proper training and backup.
*
Close-up of an ostrich foot and nail.
Close-up of an ostrich foot and nail.
Professional handlers and ostrich farmers sometimes hold a board of thick plywood with arm holes in front of them to protect themselves from the ostrich’s nails. The ostrich’s kick, however, which can exert more than 500 pounds of pressure per square inch, can still cause serious injury even if the nail doesn’t penetrate the board.

Warnings

* Because of ostriches’ skittishness, and because of their ability to inflict injury, these animals have not been particularly well studied. As with any wild, potentially dangerous animals, ostriches can be unpredictable, and while these techniques have saved lives in the past, they are no guarantee against injury or death.
* Ostriches on farms are not tame. Treat them with the respect and caution that wild animals merit.

Things You’ll Need

* Stick or other large pointed objects to keep ostrich at bay

Rap Kills.

Sean Paul’s songs sparked woman’s seizures
Post-brain surgery, the 25-year-old can safely listen to her favorite artist

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Now that surgeons have operated on Stacey Gayle’s brain, her favorite musician no longer makes her ill. Four years after being diagnosed with epilepsy, Gayle recently underwent brain surgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center to cure a rare condition known as musicogenic epilepsy.

Gayle, a 25-year-old customer service employee at a bank in Alberta, Canada, was suffering as many as 10 grand mal seizures a day, despite being treated with medications designed to control them. The condition became so bad she eventually had to quit her job and leave the church choir where she sang.

Eighteen months ago, she began to suspect that music by reggae and hip-hop artist Sean Paul was triggering some of her seizures. She recalled being at a barbecue and collapsing when the Jamaican rapper’s music started playing, and then remembered having a previous seizure when she heard his music.
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Her suspicions were confirmed on a visit to the Long Island medical center last February, when she played Paul’s hit “Temperature” on her iPod for doctors. Soon after, she suffered three seizures.

“Being that the seizures could be triggered by the music, this was a very interesting opportunity to study Stacey’s brain,” said Dr. Ashesh Mehta, the hospital’s director of epilepsy surgery.

During the first surgery, doctors implanted more than 100 electrodes in the right side of her brain to pinpoint the abnormal area of her brain.

The surgeons followed that procedure with a second surgery to remove the electrodes, along with parts of her brain suspected of causing the seizures.

“We used the latest techniques, including image guidance, to pinpoint the areas of abnormality, and the operating microscope to perform the procedure during a four-hour operation,” Mehta said.

Within three days, the woman was released from the hospital and has not experienced a seizure since.

“I always live each day like it’s my last,” she said. “I want to show others that life does not end at epilepsy. I know I have what it takes to succeed.”