Awesome news stories

[ImaGuyGeek]

Awesome (yet insensitive) news story #1

http://www.fmft.net/archives/BBC_NEWS.htm

Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight

An African Lion much like this is responsible for the death of 28 Cambodian Midgets

Spectators cheered as entire Cambodian Midget Fighting League squared off against African Lion Tickets had been sold-out three weeks before the much anticipated fight, which took place in the city of Kâmpóng Chhnãng.
The fight was slated when an angry fan contested Yang Sihamoni, President of the CMFL, claiming that one lion could defeat his entire league of 42 fighters.
Sihamoni takes great pride in the league he helped create, as was conveyed in his recent advertising campaign for the CMFL that stated his midgets will "... take on anything; man, beast, or machine."
This campaign is believed to be what sparked the undisclosed fan to challenge the entire league to fight a lion; a challenge that Sihamoni readily accepted.
An African Lion (Panthera Leo) was shipped to centrally located Kâmpóng Chhnãng especially for the event, which took place last Saturday, April 30, 2005 in the city’s coliseum.
The Cambodian Government allowed the fight to take place, under the condition that they receive a 50% commission on each ticket sold, and that no cameras would be allowed in the arena.
The fight was called in only 12 minutes, after which 28 fighters were declared dead, while the other 14 suffered severe injuries including broken bones and lost limbs, rendering them unable to fight back.
Sihamoni was quoted before the fight stating that he felt since his fighters out-numbered the lion 42 to 1, that they “… could out-wit and out-muscle [it].”
Unfortunately, he was wrong.

[Darbex]

My friend and I talked about this a while ago. Funny but at the same time sad. My friend is Cambodian, we were like this is what you guys call entertainment?

[marauder_77868]

I want to make a comment but I think I'm on overload...

[Fire_chair]

Sadly, that is fake. The story has been around for awhile.

[jeebus]

Sadly, that is fake. The story has been around for awhile.

http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/lionmidget.asp

[ImaGuyGeek]

http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/lionmidget.asp

Still funny and super awesome to visualize

[ImaGuyGeek]

I know some of you have stories to add to this thread. Bring em people

[Mzungu]

Do they have to be real?

Edit: Never mind...sigh. I found a few, but am too chicken to post them.

[sunrise]

If my dog is faster than me and the tom cat down the street is faster than my dog, what is a human going to do to a lion without a firearm or weapon? This story does not make sense as stated above. sunrise

[Fire_chair]

Still funny and super awesome to visualize

I never wanted anything to be real as badly as I wanted to be. A little piece of me died the day I found out this was fake.

[ImaGuyGeek]

Do they have to be real?

Edit: Never mind...sigh. I found a few, but am too chicken to post them.

CHICKEN! You Scared!

[ImaGuyGeek]

I never wanted anything to be real as badly as I wanted to be. A little piece of me died the day I found out this was fake.

Me too, I had to devote an entire session to this with my Therapist

[ImaGuyGeek]

Dumb A$$es

I love Texas. You steal, you may get shot!

HPD: Taco Truck Owner Kills Tip Jar Thief

Benito Pantoja Dies At Ben Taub Hospital

POSTED: Tuesday, June 8, 2010
UPDATED: 1:02 pm CDT June 8, 2010
HOUSTON -- A taco truck owner fatally shot a man who stole his tip jar, police told KPRC Local 2.Houston police said Benito Pantoja, 24, stole the taco truck's tip jar at about 2:45 a.m. Saturday.The taco truck owner chased Pantoja to the 8300 block of La Porte Road.Investigators said the taco truck owner confronted Pantoja and shot him. Pantoja was taken to Ben Taub Hospital with a wound to the left shoulder and later died.The case will be referred to a Harris County grand jury.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/23832353/detail.html

[ImaGuyGeek]

Are you F'ing kidding me???

Detainees will be able to have visitors stay as long as they like within a 12-hour window. The facilities will increase attorney visitation space, add un-monitored phone lines and give detainees email and free, Internet-based calling. A unit manager will be available to take complaints directly from detainees. • Daily life: Detainees will be allowed to wear regular clothing, will have at least four hours of recreation daily, and will be offered cooking, art and dance classes.
Source: ICE e-mail dated May 27

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7043040.html

ICE to make detention centers more humane



Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are preparing to roll out a series of changes at several privately owned immigration detention centers, including relaxing some security measures for low-risk detainees and offering art classes, bingo and continental breakfast on the weekends.
The changes, detailed in an internal ICE e-mail obtained by the Houston Chronicle, were welcomed by immigrant advocates who have been waiting for the Obama administration to deliver on a promise made in August to overhaul the nation's immigration detention system.
The 28 changes identified in the e-mail range from the superficial to the substantive. In addition to “softening the look of the facility” with hanging plants and offering fresh carrot sticks, ICE will allow for the “free movement” of low-risk detainees, expand visiting hours and provide unmonitored phone lines.
ICE officials said the changes are part of broader efforts to make the immigration detention system less penal and more humane.
But the plans are prompting protests by ICE's union leaders, who say they will jeopardize the safety of agents, guards and detainees and increase the bottom line for taxpayers. Tre Rebstock, president for Local 3332, the ICE union in Houston, likened the changes to creating “an all-inclusive resort” for immigration detainees.
“Our biggest concern is that someone is going to get hurt,” he said, taking particular issue with plans to relax restrictions on the movement of low-risk detainees and efforts to reduce and eliminate pat-down searches.
The changes outlined in the ICE e-mail are planned for nine detention centers owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America, including the 900-bed Houston Contract Detention Facility on the city's north side.
Some of the changes will be implemented within 30 days; others may take up to six months, said Beth Gibson, ICE's senior counselor to Assistant Secretary John Morton and a leader of the detention reform effort.
Other major changes include:
• Eliminating lockdowns and lights-out for low-risk detainees.
• Allowing visitors to stay as long as they like in a 12-hour period.
• Providing a unit manger so detainees have someone to report problems to other than the guard.
• Allowing low-risk detainees to wear their own clothing or other non-penal attire.
• Providing e-mail access and Internet-based free phone service.
Not about punishment

Gibson said the improvements are part of ICE's efforts to detain immigrants in the least restrictive manner possible while ensuring they leave the country if ordered to do so.
“When people come to our custody, we're detaining them to effect their removal,” Gibson said. “It's about deportation. It's not about punishing people for a crime they committed.”
ICE officials have faced pressure from immigrant advocates and some members of Congress to improve the detention conditions for the roughly 400,000 immigrants it houses annually. The agency has relied on a hodgepodge of more than 250 government-run detention centers, private prisons and local jails to accommodate its growing population — with roughly one in four detainees held in Texas.
At the CCA facilities that have agreed to ICE's changes, detainees will see more variety in their dining hall menus and have self-serve beverage and fresh vegetable bars.
CCA also plans to offer movie nights, bingo, arts and crafts, dance and cooking classes, tutoring and computer training, the e-mail states.
Detainees also will be allowed four hours or more of recreation “in a natural setting, allowing for robust aerobic exercise.”
CCA also committed to improving the look of the facilities, such as requiring plants, fresh paint and new bedding in lower-risk units.
Advocates pleased

Some of the improvements offered at the CCA facilities counted as hard-fought victories for immigrant advocates, including plans to improve visitor and attorney access.
“A lot of these measures are what we've been advocating for,” said Lory Rosenberg, policy and advocacy director for Refugee and Migrants' Rights for Amnesty International.
“Many of these points are very important to changing the system from a penal system, which is inappropriate in an immigration context, to a civil detention system.”
Union members said they have concerns about the plans, primarily focusing on safety.
Rebstocksaid some detainees may be classified as low-risk because they have no serious criminal history but still may be gang members that “haven't been caught doing anything wrong yet.”
He also said eliminating lockdowns will make it more difficult to protect detainees from one another.
He said reducing or eliminating pat-down searches could allow contraband into the facilities, including weapons.
Gibson, with ICE, said the agency is developing a sophisticated classification system and will make sure “that our detainees are still safe and sound.”
“As a general matter, it will be the non-criminals who don't present a danger to anyone else who are benefitting from the lowest level of custody,” Gibson said.
‘On the taxpayers' dime'

Rebstock also questioned the cost to taxpayers for the changes.
“My grandparents would have loved to have bingo night and a dance class at the retirement home they were in when they passed away, but that was something we would have had to pay for,” he said. “And yet these guys are getting it on the taxpayers' dime.”
Gibson said CCA is making the improvements at no additional cost to ICE. The agency's contract with CCA for the Houston detention center requires that ICE pay $99 per bed daily for each detainee, slightly lower than the $102 average daily rate ICE pays nationally .
Rosenberg said some of the changes, like new flower baskets, may seem small, but they will combine with the bigger changes to make a difference in the daily lives of detainees.
“Taken together they will go some way to making this system less penal,” she said.

[Mzungu]

Why can't THAT one be fake?!?

Ugh. That's just...terrible. Wow.

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