All in the family

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Father of Philip Lawrence's killer on trial for murdering his ex-girlfriend
Chindamo, 55, is accused of ignoring a restraining order to stalk ex-lover Maria Elena Pedraza and stab her to death outside a Red Cross centre in a fit of jealousy after she ended their brief fling. Venezuelan Maria Elena died shortly after reaching hospital. She had been stabbed repeatedly on the steps of the building on the sunshine island of Gran Canaria in front of dozens of horrified passers-by.

The murder took place in May 2006 on the eve of her 44th birthday just a few weeks after she ended her relationship with Chindamo and reported him to police for threatening her. Chindamo, nicknamed the Acid Man after serving 15 years for throwing sulphuric acid over a former lover, was arrested shortly after her death after allegedly going on the run and hiding out in caves.
He had this to say about his son Learco Chindamo, who, at 15, murdered headteacher Philip Lawrence in 1995 and is seeking parole this spring:

"Everything important in life he learned from me. He looks up to me and respects me."

God help him.

Salt of the earth

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Woman's Hour -Jus Kidz
Cathy Manley's fourth child, Christopher, was born with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus which made it very difficult for him to have a social life. She couldn't find any facilities in Knowsley where she lived, so three years ago she started a Saturday club called Jus Kidz. It not only welcomes children with a disability, but their brothers, sisters and parents as well. Judy Merry went to meet Cathy and some of the clubs enthusiastic users.
A clip from this morning's Woman's Hour. Knowsley has wonderful, strong, dedicated, visionary women like these and we end up with women like Jaqcui Smith, Patricia Hewitt and Harriet Harman. Sheesh!



Jacqui Smith kebabed

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'It's not safe to walk the streets after dark', admits Home Secretary

In an attempt to undo the damage she did by admitting that she wouldn't feel safe walking the streets of Hackney at night the Home Secretary declared that she had indeed once ventured onto the deadly streets of London, to buy a kebab. Unfortunately for her the kebab shop owner pointed out that she had in fact popped in at teatime (not late at night) and was accompanied by a 'burly minder'. Ms Smith has 24 hour police protection. Shish!


Yeah, right, just call me an anti-Semite and get it over with...

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So Many Tragedies in So Little Time


Where to start…, what to talk about…? The crippling electricity shortages, affecting hospitals as well as civilians? The air strikes & on-going, daily bombings by the Israeli army, their indiscriminate targeting of civilians and police stations…? Israel ’s non-accidental, enforced starvation of 1.5 million people by closing off ALL borders and not allowing in even UN aid, let alone basic medicinal, food, and construction needs…?

Shortages of fuel have re-surfaced in Gaza : most of Gaza has no electricity and even more importantly, the shortage of medicine in Palestinian hospitals continues to increase, with the Ministry of Health reporting a looming humanitarian catastrophe.

Or should I begin with the bomb which just hit a wedding close to the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza City , with 15 apartment buildings within the bomb’s target range? One woman was killed and 47 others were injured –mostly children and women who had been inside their homes or playing on the street!! Scenes of children injured, bleeding and crying just moments after they had been enjoying a wedding celebration in a Gaza wedding hall…a horrific sight likely to go without mention of that in most news sources.
Image via JSF

(Crystal) Balls

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TomDispatch
Let's see. They were wrong on Hillary Clinton, essentially nominating her for the presidency months before a primary was held. In Iowa, they were wrong on Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, John Edwards and Clinton (again). In New Hampshire, wrong on Obama, Clinton (yet again), and -- at least earlier in the campaign season -- John McCain. In Michigan, wrong on McCain (again) and Mitt Romney. Just remind me, in this strange presidential nomination season in which each obscure primary is treated as if it were the night of the presidential election, when have they been right?


$49 MacHeist - Last Few Days

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Just three and a half days to go until the latest $49  Mac Heist Bundle closes shop.

So far over 22,000 bundles have been sold and almost a quarter of a million dollars raised for charity. In addition to the ten listed below (all now unlocked) MacHeist has also included the best dowload manager for Mac, Speed Download, as part of the deal. Two great Freeverse games, including Magic Tiki Mini Golf and the Apple Design Award runner up, WingNuts 2 have been added, bringing the $49 bundle value to over $400 and the deal to an unprecedented 90% off!  This is the second bundle I've bought and it's such a great deal it's hard to see any reason not to go for it, unless you don't use a Mac or you already have all the apps!



UPDATE: 21/01/2008

MacHeist are adding VectorDesigner to the bundle if they hit the $300,000 charity target (which looks very likely at this point). (UPDATE: 22/01 am -  they've done it and Vector Design is now unlocked!) This app alone is worth $70 and you'll get 11 others plus 2 games.
With the latest version of Adobe Illustrator costing $600, it's no surprise that the Mac community has been clamoring for a powerful, fast, and easy to use program for creating vector art that doesn't break the bank.

Say hello to VectorDesigner. Though relatively new, VectorDesigner features an impressive feature list, including Bezier lines, vector shapes, iSight, QuickLook, and scanner integration, and a conversion tool for turning non-vector images into vector.

In need of some photos? VectorDesigner not only integrates with your iPhoto library, but offers Flickr search as well. Instantly search for images on the popular photo sharing site by name or even color... a feature that must be seen to be believed.

Though only a few days old, VectorDesigner has already established itself as one of the best design apps in the market, winning Macworld's Best of Show award at this year's expo.

VectorDesigner will be unlocked for all past and future customers when we reach our goal of $300,000 raised for charities.




Hillary, wife of 'the first black president'.

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Alexander Cockburn: The Campaign in Black and White
The Clintons' relationship with African-Americans has always been starkly instrumental. When he was in trouble with white voters in New Hampshire in 1992 Governor Bill sprinted back to Little Rock to preside over the execution of a mentally retarded black man. To ensure her husband's victory in his reelection race in 1996 Hillary insisted Bill chop poor mothers--a good slice of them black--off the welfare rolls. Nonetheless many blacks rooted for Bill, absurdly dubbed by Toni Morrison "the first black president" and in the impeachment crisis over Monica Lewinsky they were his most steadfast friends, as Bill recognized when he summoned the Rev Jesse Jackson into the White House to help him pray for forgiveness and redemption.

Other well known landmarks in the Clintons' relations with blacks include Bill Clinton's set-up of Sister Souljah and his disgusting treatment of Lani Guinier and Jocelyn Elders. The Clintons reach out when they have no alternative and stab you in the back when it seems marginally to their advantage. They are without doubt among the most unprincipled duos ever to have operated in the upper tiers of American political life.


Visiting the Statue of Liberty (post 9/11)

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The Statue of Security
During my visit, a group of elderly World War II vets festooned with embroidered patches reading “POW” and “Combat Wounded Veteran” were struggling to get through a secondary screening in a tent outside the statue. “No exceptions to the secondary security screening,” a burly officer growled as the EntryScan 3 puffed in the background. If these men want to visit the emblem of what they bled for on some godforsaken battlefield, the hats, belts, jackets, canes, and insignia pins all need to be removed and examined…again.

Two weary veterans demurred and were given a single stool to share between them while their comrades made the tour. Honoring veterans, U.S. Park Police style. It seemed ludicrously disrespectful, but perhaps Homeland Security had received a tip about a recently activated Al Qaeda sleeper cell recruited at Guadalcanal in ’42. Maybe someone saw something/said something. You don’t want some modern Fifth Column to blow off Lady Liberty’s arm, do you?