Live, Late-Breaking, Investigative (Now with Super-Doppler) New News Thread

[FreddyKnuckles]

yeah its rough because, really, the number of bullets isn't really relevant to the legal standard.  Its pretty hard to convict a civilian in a self-defense case (all that matters is the state-of-mind of the shooter, not whether the other person was actually armed), throw in the fact that these fellers were coppers, and you've got an even stricter standard. 

[jebreject]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Jude,_Jr.

just to show that, you know, the cops don't always get away

[Doctor Bob]

A 73-year-old Austrian is under arrest on suspicion of hiding his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathering seven children with her.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/28/austria.internationalcrime?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

This is longer than many of you have been alive.

Just... holy fuck.

[alex]

That whole story has been messing with my mind pretty badly since I first read of it yesterday. So incredibly fucked up. He has apparently admitted it (or at least the gist of it) in the meantime, too.

What's also fucked up is the helpful news snippets in Austrian newspapers about cases of and legislation regarding incest in other countries, as if there was any connection whatsoever between, say, two related adults consensually getting involved with each other and a dude continually raping his daughter, locking her up for a few decades, and cutting off these children from any access to health care, education, sunlight, social contacts outside of their prison, while (as seems to be the case, though of course none of this is entirely confirmed) making his own wife and other grandchildren believe that God knows what has happened to their daughter/mother.

[alistarr*]

yeah, that's a horrible story and i can't really stop trying to get my head around it.

[Doctor Bob]

That whole story has been messing with my mind pretty badly since I first read of it yesterday. So incredibly fucked up.

Likewise.  The details are just beyond comprehension.

You think, after the Natascha Kampusch story, that you've heard it all (and even that one seems to be getting murkier too).  But this?  Coming out of the ground after 20 years of your whole world being that hole?

When the Birmingham 6 and Guildford 4 were released, I remember being quite surprised by one of them saying he'd never seen sugarcubes before, and other modern inventions.  But sunlight?  Trees?  Other people?

Just... holy fuck.

[Maaik]

And all of a sudden to be bombarded with the sensory overload of a modern hospital.  I simply do not have the capacity to comprehend the ramifications of what these people have gone through.

And what happens to the 72 year old?

[girl]

Yeah, I saw that story. I can't even begin to get my head around any of it.

[FreddyKnuckles]

How do the mental professionals even begin to try to help these people?  I like how the police report describes her as "physically and mentally disturbed".  you think?

[FreddyKnuckles]

funny how well that works
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/28/btsc.iraqprison/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[Andrew_TSKS]

i'm glad to hear about that and all but it doesn't increase my confidence in the necessity or value of our continued presence in iraq. it's good to hear that treating people in jail like human beings can be proven to work better than torturing them (although i'm still disappointed that it took our army years to figure that out), but i think things in iraq would improve still more if we got the fuck out.

[elpollodiablo]

Ja zur Armee--aber ohne mich!

[andronicus]

Ever see a headline like, "40-lb. Hunk of Metal Hits Driver in Face" and think, "Gee I'd love to get that on a t-shirt!"  Well, now you can!

Seriously you guys, this is perhaps the most inspired thing I've seen on the internets.  And I've seen a lot of internets.

[girl]

[jebreject]

fuck the world

[jebreject]

this is pretty cool though

[girl]

fuck the world

I'll admit that I didn't really get what was funny about fuckbook, but this made me laugh out loud.

[jebreject]

fuck the world

I'll admit that I didn't really get what was funny about fuckbook

me neither

[santaclaustral]

Italy posts everybody's tax details online

Kind of awesome and, definitely, that information should be available because tax evasion here is ridiculous and political transparency non-existent.

But probably not such a good idea to allow anybody to anonymously access that data just cos they're bored and surfing the Internet. I am so careful to keep my real name offline that to have the government publish that for anyone to access online, plus apparently my address and salary, without my consent is just lame.

It's especially, y'know, not such a good idea in a country that is famous for having a serious problem with organised extortion.

I do admire the balls of the outgoing government in doing it though, cos they must have known what the reaction would be. It's like somebody who's just been fired screwing with the company's database or whatever, but on a national scale. Incredible.

[Andrew_TSKS]

Chrysler guarantees new car purchasers cheap gas

this blows my mind.

[coldforge]

I would say I hope that gas fucking skyrockets and Chrysler goes bankrupt and the auto industry burns to the ground, but I know that the govt would just bail them out

[Ignatius]

It doesn't look like they'd stand to lose much money on this no matter how it plays out...  Based on some totally crappy arithmetic, it smells like bad eggs. Average gas price is 3.61 per gallon right now... And that Dodge pickup gets 13/17 mpg. 12,000 miles/15 mpg = 800 gallons...  800 * .62 = 496 dollars saved, if gas prices don't go up... And the rebate figure at the bottom says you'd give up 2500 dollars on your rebate to be in this program?  In order for you to break even, gas prices would have to go up to around 6.10/gallon.  And remember that if you go above your 12,000 mile limit, you bought a car that gets really poor gas mileage.

What's worse is that this program rewards you more for buying a car with poorer fuel economy.  The more gallons of gas it takes you to reach 12,000 miles, the more you "save."  Looks like they're just trying to encourage you to buy more trucks.

edit: I'm an idiot... I just assumed they'd only give you these benefits for a year, but the article says nothing of the sort.  My bad.

[Andrew_TSKS]

you're still kinda right, though, because the program's gotta stop at some point.

[C of heartbreak]

I don't know how Chrysler can afford to do this, I thought they were in shambles. I had a job interview with them in a dirty back room on the side of a garage in New Jersey. They told me--these are the exact words coming out of the interviewer's mouth--that the pay sucks. Then he lamented that they hadn't found anybody to fill the position in 6 months. I was like, guess you'll have to keep trying buddy.

[El_Josharino]

Hey guys, here's another reason my city is awesome. This guy lives here:

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/05/08/news/nebraska/doc482387f43b679053651777.txt