Samurai saves the day, disappears

masioka.jpgPolice in the UK are trying to find the mystery samurai who protected the men responding to a call for help.

A samurai sword wielding vigilante has come to the rescue of two Police officers when they were attacked by an armed gang in South Shields, England.

A group of men had forced their way into a house and were ransacking the place when passing plain-clothes officers were alerted by a woman inside screaming.

The criminals outnumbered them and were armed with a hammer, knives and chains and attacked the Police officers.

As one of them stabbed at a Policeman with his knife, a mysterious do-gooder appeared from nowhere and attacked him with a samurai sword.

One of the burglars began running away but was stopped by the stranger who struck him on the arm with the sword.

Two of the criminals were arrested, but in true hero style the samurai disappeared before police could speak to him.

Now I don’t know who the mystery man is, but I have a suspicion who it isn’t.


[tags]Mystery samurai saves UK police, Heroes hero not hero – who is?[/tags]

The challenge of selecting a jury for the “Scooter” Libby trial

With the trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby a few days underway now, lawyers for the defense are having a problem I hadn’t even considered – finding a jury with which they have a chance of getting Libby a not-guilty verdict or a hung jury. What little I’ve even considered the trial, I was focusing on the stories in the press over the initial leak, how Libby is perceived by potential jurors, and how much potential jurors knew about the story. A real problem for the defense comes down to finding jurors who are likely to believe Vice President Cheney if he is called as a witness.

“I am completely without objectivity. There is nothing you can say that would make me feel positively about President Bush.”*

Thus spake the eighth of nine prospective jurors reviewed by Judge Reggie Walton, Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and defense attorneys Ted Wells and William Jeffress today. She had indicated on her juror form she had some strong opinions about the Bush administration, and, queried in her turn by Judge Walton, she cast her eye over all assembled in the courtroom and declared herself.

“So, you are saying you do not believe you could render a fair and impartial verdict in this case, based on the evidence and according to my instructions to the jury prior to deliberations?,” Judge Walton followed.

“That’s right,” she responded, whereupon she was immediately excused from jury duty.

I hadn’t even thought about how the Bush/Cheney approval numbers would play into that. I know that’s mighty naïve of me, but I hadn’t given it much thought.

Continue reading “The challenge of selecting a jury for the “Scooter” Libby trial”

After lung cancer treatment, over 1/3 smokers go back to smoking

With a headline like that, there really isn’t much mystery to what the story is going to say, is there?

More than a third of smokers who had surgery to remove early stage lung cancer were smoking again within a year, a new study finds.

The study involved patients who were forced to quit smoking for surgery. Many were puffing away within two months of the surgery, and nearly half eventually resumed the habit.

[tags]Many smokers get lung cancer treatment – go back to smoking, Smoke/get treatment/start smoking again?[/tags]