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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Crazies in the News - From Tragic to Hilarious

Low IQ teen who used student loan to fund journey to Islamic State jailed for 5 yrs

© Yaser Al-Khodor / Reuters

A teenager who used his student loan money to travel to the Middle East in a bid join Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) earlier this year has been sentenced to five years behind bars.

Yahya Rashid, 19, of north London, used forged papers to gain acceptance to Middlesex University. The teen, who has an IQ of between 65 and 70, then used the grant and loan money accorded to him to transport himself and four friends to the Turkey-Syria border in February. 

Rashid’s friends continued on to Syria, while he changed his mind and returned first to Istanbul and eventually to the UK after numerous appeals from his family, the court heard. He was detained at Luton Airport in March while attempting to reenter Britain.

Rashid was obviously manipulated by one or more of his friends in order to raise the money to get to Syria. One can't help feeling sorry for him, but on the other hand, he showed no remorse for fraudulently gaining entrance to university or using student loan money to further terrorism.



Man in Joker mask threatens to kill ‘1 Arab a week’ in Canada, gets arrested

© The Real Strategy / YouTube

A man wearing a mask of Batman's arch enemy the Joker was arrested in Montreal, Canada, after threatening to kill one Muslim every week in an online video. Canada has seen an escalation of anti-Muslim sentiment in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks.

Const. André Leclerc said the man, who was arrested in the borough of Montreal North on Tuesday night, is in custody and meeting with investigators, CBC News reported.

It is not yet clear what charges may be brought against him.

The video was posted Tuesday on YouTube, but has since been taken down. In it a man speaking in a Quebecois-sounding accent said that starting next week he would kill an Arab or a Muslim each week all across the province.


He was brandishing what appeared to be a handgun and said he had like-minded people on board who would help him to carry out the threat, reported the National Post.



British woman behind 400k petition to ‘close UK borders’… lives in Spain


The British woman who started a popular petition to stop all immigration and close UK borders is currently residing in Spain, she revealed during an interview with RT.

After the interview with RT UK on Tuesday, in which a caption showed her location as Jaen, Spain, Reeves confirmed she divides her time between the UK and Spain in a series of tweets with HuffPoUK.

Twitter users were quick to point out the irony of Reeve’s petition, when she herself spends half of her time in Spain as an immigrant.

Her petition to ‘stop all immigration and close UK borders’ until Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) is defeated has amassed more than 400,000 signatures.



‘Enslaved’: S. Carolina employer sued over treatment of mentally-handicapped black man

Conway, South Carolina. © Wikipedia
South Carolina restaurant owners are being sued for practically enslaving a mentally-handicapped black employee for years, with regular beatings, almost no pay and sub-human living conditions. The lawsuit follows charges that are still pending.

Last year brought to light the harrowing ordeal of the restaurant worker, beaten, abused and underpaid for years by the two white owners. The victim’s attorneys have just filed a new federal lawsuit.

The defendants are two brothers in Horry County, South Carolina.

They are accused of holding the mentally-handicapped worker in conditions of “slavery,” with a particularly hideous period lasting from 2010 to 2014. In all that time the victim would not have been able to put up much resistance.

Christopher Smith had been working at J&J Cafeteria in Conway from a young age.

The lawsuit filed by Smith’s attorneys with the US District Court lists 14 charges against brothers Ernest J. and Bobby Paul Edwards, including false imprisonment, exploitative labor practices and discrimination, according to the Post and Courier.

It wasn’t until last October that social workers got an anonymous tip and rescued Smith from the pair. Although the victim had worked at the cafĂ© for 23 years, it was when Bobby Edwards became manager in 2010 that things got much worse. Everything from casual racist slurs to battery, bodily harm with belt buckles, frying pans and hot tongs. Smith was also allegedly working 18 hours a day, six days a week, and a further 11 hours on Sunday. Authorities estimated his total wages in a year to be a miserable $2,842.

He was living in a ramshackle, cockroach-infested apartment owned by the restaurant, in conditions described by his attorneys as “subhuman.”

In November 2014, Bobby Edwards was arrested, but charges of second-degree assault and battery are still pending.

When social services investigated the complaints and coordinated with Conway police, they found scars on Smith’s back. Asked later why he never reported the clearly slave-like treatment, Smith said he had been afraid for his safety and life.

It is no secret that South Carolina is dealing with a reputation of one of the most racist states in the US. There is no shortage of anti-black sentiment, which includes both routine abuse, as well as trouble with the police force.

Late October saw a white officer under investigation for an extremely physical incident at a high school. A black female student had allegedly refused to leave the classroom when instructed to do so, which resulted in the officer grabbing the girl by the neck, flipping her desk with her behind it, tossing her to the floor backwards, then forwards before handcuffing her. The officer has since been suspended without pay.



Wet your whistle: Hardy Yorkshire drinkers defy rising floodwaters to enjoy pint

Two barmy Brits refused to let the stormy weather battering the north of England stop them from enjoying a civilized pint of beer at their usual haunt… even if it meant sitting waist deep in rising floodwaters.

The beer garden, which sits a few meters from the scenic River Aire in the South Yorkshire city of Leeds, was inundated when heavy rain hit the area on Sunday.

The rain fell so fast there wasn’t even time to protect the garden from the rapidly rising river. When the banks burst, the garden was completely submerged.

Rather than sit in the warm and dry of the Kirkstall Bridge Inn, however, the defiant manager and pub owner decided to brave the muddy waters together and enjoy their drinks outside.

Manager John Kelly told the BBC of his failed efforts to stop the rising waters.

“I stood and shouted at the water but it didn’t seem to do much,” he said.

Unable to turn the tide and accepting their fate, Kelly and pub owner Steve Holt embraced their new water feature. They poured themselves a pint and settled down at a table completely submerged by the water.

“It was remarkably cold. The first 15 minutes were a little bit uncomfortable but once we settled down it was surprisingly therapeutic, to sit not just by the river but in the river,” Kelly said.



Mongolian trade unionist burns himself alive in a shocking act of protest 

© SCAUSETER / YouTube

Shocking footage shows a trade union leader setting himself alight to protest the looming sale of Mongolian coal mines to Chinese companies. The act of defiance took place at a press conference called to describe the hardships faced by the country’s miners.

In the footage posted by the Daily Mail, the union leader is seen taking a seat and at the press conference surrounded by fellow union members. He then makes a short public statement: “The government no longer supports our company, families of the workers are forced to starve, this is why I will burn myself for the people of Mongolia and our children.”

A split second later, the speaker appears to burst into flame. In the terrifying moment that follows, screams can be heard as his companions rip off their jackets and immediately start beating the engulfing flames from the man, who has fallen, agonizing, to the floor. The blaze was finally suppressed with a fire extinguisher.

Unfortunately the article doesn't tell us whether he survived the self-immolation.



15yo boy charged over airline bomb hoaxes, cyber-attacks

© Benoit Tessier / Reuters

A teenage boy has been charged with offences relating to cyber-attacks and bomb hoaxes on airlines in the UK and US, it has emerged.

The 15-year-old suspect from Plymouth, UK has been charged with three offences under Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act.

The attacks are believed to have been carried out on websites in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

The youth was charged following an investigation by officers from the regional cybercrime unit.
Devon and Cornwall Police said the alleged offender was charged with two offences under the Criminal Law Act.

“This relates to bomb hoaxes placed with airlines in North America via social media,” a spokesperson for the force said in a statement. The offences were allegedly committed within the past 12 months, they added.

The youngster has been released on police bail. He will appear before Plymouth Youth Court on December 18.

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