What The?!....How Does A JUROR Get A Book Deal!!......

Seriously - someone is going to have to explain this one to me.

I will now apologise for my potential overuse of the phrase "here's the thing"........

I haven't commented on the Trayvon Martin trial for one very good reason - there are better informed, far more intelligent people already doing so.  But this whole JUROR WITH A FUCKING BOOK DEAL SHIT has me completely flummoxed.

I am mystified as to how a Juror is legally allowed to profit from a murder trial?!?!?!?  Because here's the thing... for any NORMAL person it would be ethically, morally and socially ABHORRENT to profit from a murder trial - let alone a trial that dealt with the murder of a teenager and the subsequent racial issues that have rightly polarised a nation.

Now - and I could be wrong - but here in Australia I think it is illegal for jurors to profit from a trial in such a way.  How is it not illegal in America??  Surely Jurors and Judges should be above that sort of thing? And if not - why the hell aren't they !!??  Where are the standards people?

Not only that..the stupid woman has gone on CNN (albeit 'anonymously') and talked about it!

If for ONE moment this individual is under the impression that she will stay anonymous, then she really is brain impaired, or, she has a squad of people around her who are working very hard to convince her that they have her "best interests at heart" and have taken every step to maintain her privacy.

Really Rose??   Really!?

Because here's the thing ... there is going to be someone at this publishing house who WILL find out who she is.  It will more than likely be someone on the lower rung of the business, and they will be more than happy to sell the info to the New York Times, the Wallstreet Journal and USA Today.  Now, when this happens, it will be open season on this jackass and she will find that no amount of money will be worth the hell that she will undoubtedly bring down upon herself.

I am STUNNED that this is not only permitted, but clearly ENCOURAGED in America.  How the hell can a society permit the profiteering from a murder?!  I am hardly naive.  I understand the economic pull of a good story - especially a true story - but wouldn't you have to realise at SOME point that maybe, just maybe, this could be a very bad idea that in the long run is going to have SERIOUSLY shitty consequences for you??  Especially when you're whoring a book deal only 48 hours after the verdict?!

Here's the thing.  This trial made a complete farce of the American justice system.  And now this woman is going to make a complete farce of the aftermath by cashing in on the unjustified killing of a young man.

I am sickened by this.

I love my 2nd Homeland.  But this side of it is disgustingly inhuman.

D
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........ Enormous Earthquake Hits Japan - Tsunamis & Aftershocks Follow......

.............. My heart goes out to all affected - so dreadful and sad.........















.

...Good News Story... But With Sad Ending.....

IT TAKES a brave soul to race to the rescue of a stranded great white shark.
There are those teeth for one thing - large and sharp enough to take off a man's helping hand, even out of the water.

But Andrew Eckersley didn't think twice last Friday morning when he spotted one of the fearsome predators washed up on a beach on the Mid-North Coast in New South Wales.
Mr Eckersley and a lone surfer rushed to the 3m shark's aid, treating it with the kind of care and compassion usually reserved for beached whales.

"It was pretty scary at first. This guy in a wetsuit was sort of baling water on to its back by hand and digging out a hole for it on the ocean side," Mr Eckersley said yesterday.

"It was pretty big. I wouldn't have been able to put my fingers together if I was giving it a cuddle."




Using logs they found on the beach, the pair tried levering the shark out of the sand to get it into deeper water.

"There was the thought while we were getting the logs under it that I might pinch it or something and it would lunge at me," he said.
Thankfully, it didn't, but the logs failed to free it from the sand, so the pair tried gently pulling the beast out to sea, "inch-by-inch".

"We got it out to about mid-thigh depth and it was starting to perk up again, which was exciting," Mr Eckersley said.
"I think the other guy started to get his confidence up a bit when he realised it wasn't going to bite our legs off, so he took it out a bit further."

Photographer Ruth Fahey, who captured the remarkable rescue on Hungry Head beach, said she first thought the maneater was a stranded dolphin. "Then I got closer and saw it was this huge shark and just thought, 'Holy crap!'," she said.

Once it got to deeper water the shark slowly started to recover and disappeared beneath the breakers, heading out to sea. But sadly, it was discovered dead on the same beach the following day.

Its jaws had been hacked out by someone as a souvenir, an illegal practice in NSW.

Sydney Aquarium aquatic biologist Sebastian Schmid said it was "very unusual" for a live great white to wash up on a beach and suggested it was already sick when it first came ashore.

reprinted from here.. http://www.news.com.au/great-white-shark-rescue-anyone-here-know-mouth-to-mouth/story-e6frfkor-1225901349878

Shalom

Damien

........................Strongman Contest on the Gold Coast Australia...............

.................pics from the No Neck Brigade AKA The Strongman Contest. Pulling trucks and such stuff.......










- altho the cub with the pierced nipples............ I'd tap that.



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.... My Muslim Cousins......................................WTF????? ............

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Amateur club Creteil Bebel has been excluded from the French amateur league after refusing to play a football match against a gay team.

Last week, Paris Foot Gay said its members were victims of homophobia when Creteil, a team of Muslim players, refused to play them earlier this month.

The French amateur league said it excluded Creteil for "refusing the match on discriminatory grounds."

Just when you think we have taken 2 steps forward.................. we take three steps back :(

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................... Shooting At GLBT Youth Meeting .....................

An attack on a Gay & Lesbian Youth Centre in Tel Aviv.

First article by the BBC - Second by CNN - interesting differences.

Meanwhile - our blessings and prayers to those hurt and their families. Our deepest sorrow for the two young people killed and the grief now being visited on their families.

***UPDATE*** - a third victim has died in hospital. So sad.


BBC

City councillor Yaniv Weizman: 'It's a big shock in Tel Aviv, one of the most liberal and free cities'

A lone gunman has killed two people and wounded at least 10 at a gay support centre in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv before escaping.

Most of the victims were gay teenagers, who were meeting at the centre on Nachmani street when the gunman entered and started firing indiscriminately.

The black-clad man is still at large and police have ordered the temporary closure of all gay clubs in the city.

Gay leaders say it is Israel's worst-ever hate crime against the community.

That's actually the surprising issue, there is not at all any homophobic activity in Tel Aviv Yaron Arad Tel Aviv hotel worker

Witnesses said the gunman fired in all directions with a handgun.

At one point, three deaths were being reported but later accounts spoke only of two fatalities - that of a young man and a young woman.

The shootings took place at the headquarters of the local lesbian and gay rights association.

Shock

Hundreds of lesbian and gay Israelis held a rally in Tel Aviv in protest at the shooting, and candles were lit at the scene.

A rally was held in support of the city's gay community after the attack

One woman said she was "terrified, shocked, surprised, amazed" by the attack "because it was so unexpected".

Yaron Arad, who works at a nearby hotel, said the gay community was part of the city.

"We know that Tel Aviv has a very lively gay community with plenty of activities going around," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"That's actually the surprising issue, there is not at all any homophobic activity in Tel Aviv.

"Jerusalem does not naturally accept the gay community but here in Tel Aviv it's different, totally different story. A lot of parties, a lot of gay people having fun here. That's why it's so shocking what's happened here tonight."

'Inside knowledge'

Annual gay pride marches are often met with violent protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem.

The head of Israel's youth Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association, Yaniv Weisman, told the BBC the gunman must have intended to attack the centre.

"We still don't know who is behind this attack, but someone that knew this place because it's not a place you can see outside," he said.

He said the gay community was demanding to know why it had been targeted.

"There is a big anger and if we will know that behind this action it's a religious movement, we will punish the people behind it," he said.

"The gay community here is very strong, and there will be a reaction from the gay community and the people in the government will be the first one to give us answers."

Tel Aviv has in the past been targeted in attacks by Palestinian militants but there was no suggestion that Saturday's attack had Palestinian involvement.

A police spokesman described the attack as "criminal rather than nationalistic".

_______________________________________________________________

CNN

(CNN) — At least two people were killed and 11 others wounded in a shooting at a Tel Aviv club Saturday night, Israeli police said.

The shooting occured at a “gay club,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN.

Rosenfeld said the incident did not appear to be a terrorist act.

No other details were immediately available.

_______________________________________________________________

Yup - heaven forbid the good ol' US media reports on gay & lesbian youth being killed.

As we all know - that sort of reporting makes your kids gay.

Shameful.

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......................*HOW is this news? .....................

I mean good on Dan for having a diversity of friends and not being afraid to show it - but how is this news? How does this rate front page - admittedly below the fold - mention? And big bold type mention on e-news?

Daniel Radcliffe has been spotted out and about with a drag queen.
The 'Harry Potter' star has been spotted enjoying several dinners with Our Lady J, a transvestite Dolly Parton impersonator he met in New York last year.
The pair were photographed walking arm-in-arm in the US city on Sunday and the 19-year-old actor is believed to have formed a close bond with his new pal.
A close friend of Our Lady J told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Daniel is fascinated by the drag culture and is always asking questions. He went to a few shows and was made to feel very welcome.
"He's a lovely guy and he and Our Lady J got on like a house on fire. They have eaten out together and been to parties. They have become quite close."
Our Lady J - who makes a living performing songs by Dolly, Alanis Morissette and the Nine Inch Nails - has boasted about his latest meeting with Daniel on his Twitter account.
He wrote: "Just had delish meal w/Dan Radcliffe."
The pair met when Daniel was performing in a production of 'Equus' last February in New York's Broadway theatre district.

Someone needs to reconsider what is and is not news..... methinks ................