http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/31/veteran.r...

ATLANTA - A former Marine used a pocket knife to fend off a group of would-be robbers, killing one and wounding another, police said.

Thomas Autry, who authorities said will not be charged, had been walking home from his job waiting tables Monday night when four people got out of a car and chased him, Atlanta police detective Danny Stephens said.

One of the attackers had a shotgun and another had a pistol, Stephens said.

The suspects caught up with Autry, who yelled for help and pulled a knife out of his backpack. He kicked the shotgun out of one of the attacker's hands and stabbed both a 17-year-old girl who jumped on him and a man who also attacked him.

The suspects fled in their car but police found them later at a hospital where the girl was pronounced dead. The man stabbed in the incident was in critical condition, Stephens said.

Autry's attackers will face robbery and aggravated assault charges and are suspected in other robberies over the past week, Stephen said.

Stephens credited Autry's military training with helping him fend off the group.

"I would say he had to do what he had to do to stop the threat," Stephens said. "You can tell his training kicked in and he knew what to do."

Autry, 36, suffered a cut to his hand and a bruise on his chest, Stephens said.

Horrible to think this tough-guy Marine would actually try to defend himself against those poor kids. I mean, the article doesn't say that they intended to rob him. He was probably just another one of those killer robots who lashed out just because people approached him with a shotgun and a pistol...

It terrifies me to think that there are still people out there that do this sort of thing instead of just giving up or calling the police. ANYTHING is worse that fighting back. I mean, stabbing a girl!

The horror the horror...

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=560...

Actor's death sparks violence in India's tech city
BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - An icon of south Indian cinema and star of more than 200 films, Rajkumar, died on Wednesday, sparking widespread violence as distraught fans torched buses and ripped hoardings in the country's hi-tech hub.

The revered actor, who gained nationwide fame in 2000 when he was kidnapped by notorious forest bandit Veerappan, died at his home in Bangalore in the southern state of Karnataka after a heart attack, his doctor said. He was 77.

His death effectively closed down much of the city, witnesses said, with major businesses -- including cinema halls -- downing shutters out of respect but also in fear of violent mobs that swept through the city as news of the actor's passing spread.

A Microsoft research institute in the city centre was stoned, the company said, and many of India's leading technology companies concerned over safety sent workers home early.

Television reports showed huge crowds laying siege to an ambulance bearing the actor's body and trying to climb in through the vehicle's smashed windows.

A Reuters photographer saw a police car overturned and other vehicles set on fire.

"He was a cult figure," said fellow actor Anant Nag. "Everybody is at a loss."

Actors in the southern Indian film industry are often revered with as much intensity as the gods they regularly portray on screen. Many people include icons of their favourite star in their household shrine, alongside portrayals of the more usual Hindu pantheon.

Rajkumar, sometimes called the John Wayne of the regional Kannada-language film industry, was kidnapped in 2000 along with four members of his family in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

The kidnap sparked violent protests as fans demanded his release, and police feared a backlash against the state's Tamil minority in Karnataka.

He spent 108 days in the jungle bordering the two states before police negotiated his release. Veerappan was shot dead in 2004.

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Bangalore is THE center for employees outsourced from major U.S. corporations. I don't know what it's like anywhere else, but I work for one of the largest, and people are panicky. Our entire Bangalore site has been shut down and we are being asked to work overtime.

Personally, I find it fascinating: effects of a cultural nature, rather than something like a bombing or tsunami, is causing our office to go to our Emergency Continuation of Business Plan.

Anything happening anywhere else? We are usually the backup for Bangalore, a lot of companies don't even have a Stateside backup plan.

When a company outsources their jobs, I wonder if they take into account the differences between cultures and peoples half a world away.

L
EDIT: I wanted to get this out there for discussion. This post is subject to further editing when I think of more stuff to say.

The most sacred oath he could take:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

And what could be more severe than that?

Both Korea and Vietnam were "police actions"; in Korea we were actually under the auspices of the UN, IIRC. If you believe the Goverment, North Vietnam actually did "attack" us--Remember the Gulf of Tonkin? Wait. Suddenly the right are saying we DIDN'T belong in VietNam? WTF?

Germany and Japan, along with Italy, were the Axis powers. By declaring war on one, we had to declare war on the others. Plus, Germany would have taken us on eventually. Wait. Now the Right says we shouldn't have been in WWII? WTF? Are they saying we should have left the Nazis alone?

If you support Genocide in Europe, I guess that's your own business.

The word is not final on North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and who called Hussein a terrorist?

Ad Homenim attacks re: Clinton, Reno and Kennedy just make you look silly.

Who says that we've "taken" Iraq? What will determine victory? If we are done, and have "taken" Iraq, then why isn't my sister-in-law back home at her job instead of in Iraq? Incidentally, military morale ISN'T that high. Frankly, it never is no matter what's going on.

You've also taken some liberties with this email: John Glenn never said ANY of the things that you attribute to him in the first half and the exchange with Sen Metzenbaum has NOTHING to do with any of the above statements and wasn't impromptu by a long shot. Do your research.

Okay, anybody else want to help?

I'm a devotee of Mata Amritanandamayi Math (aka "Amma"), she donated millions of dollars to victims of the tsunami last year and helped to build thousands of homes and provide relief. Naturally, when Katrina struck I thought "Wow, I wonder if Amma will get involved." When I brought up the question in an internet forum, other devotees stated flatly that they were afraid that any donation would get tied up in red tape or lost to corruption.

Amma's organization donated $1 million, probably the largest from any foreign, non-government entity.

I wonder where the money went.

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"The United States' lack of experience as a recipient of huge amounts of aid from others."
"Without a plan for dealing with such a large-scale influx, legal restrictions kicked in that required almost half the cash to be held in accounts that paid no interest, resulting in a loss of almost $1 million and diminished buying power for eventual hurricane relief."

This is the biggest, bitter laugh of all. Like the US goverment is not used to getting big bills and didn't know what to do with them.

RRRRRrrrrrrggh!!