Car dealers’ murders: ‘Even Satan will be horrified’

Image Source: Abs-cbnnews.com

 “Even Satan will be horrified to see what they have done.”

Thus did a tearful Arsenio Evangelista confirm Tuesday that the charred body found by a farmer in the remote barangay of Buliran on Friday was that of his missing son, car dealer Venson Evangelista.

Also last week, the charred bodies of car dealer Emerson Lozano and his driver, Ernane Sensil, were found in Porac, Pampanga, and La Paz, Tarlac, respectively.

“There seems to be a relationship between the [Lozano and Evangelista] cases. That’s why we are readying a joint case conference. I suggested maybe we can merge the two cases,” said Chief Supt. Benjardi Mantele, the Quezon City Police District director.

Supt. Eliseo Cruz, Cabanatuan police chief, said a farmer found Evangelista’s body, with a deep wound in the nape and packaging tape covering the face, near an irrigation canal in Purok 1 in Buliran.

The body had been burned with the use of a rubber tire, Cruz said.

The father said he had found it difficult to match his son’s features—“Steven Seagal-type” hair, height of 5 feet 9 inches—with the burned corpse that appeared to be shorter. Read More...

Source: Inquirer.net


Jan. 19, 2011 Update on Investigation: Probers identify suspects in Lozano, Evangelista killings

Journalists Made to Undress

Israel Apologizes for Making Journalists Take Off All Their Clothes

Journalists invited to a party hosted by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were forced to undergo an intensive strip search Thursday, taking off pants, shirts and bras. Now the Israeli Press office says sorry for the stripping.

The controversy was dubbed "bra-gate" by the Israeli press, owing to the fact that Al Jazeera reporter Najwan Simri Diab (above) was turned away from the party after she refused to remove her bra for security. (Apparently, Israel also "-Gates"?) The incident prompted the Foreign Press Association to issue a statement, after a number of journalists were given the TSA-from-hell treatment:

While we appreciate the need for security, it is not remotely acceptable to invite people for cocktails at a five-star hotel and then make them undress at the door.

Several members were forced to remove their underwear, waiting for as long as 20 minutes in this humiliating situation while security checked their documents. Others, including the bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, were strip-searched and forced to take off their pants. A number of members walked out of the event in disgust following this despicable treatment.

And Sharine Tadros had a good burn in a blog post:

As female journalists working in this region we constantly find ourselves putting clothes on to please Hamas and taking them off to please the Israelis.

We have to say, this does seem very strange. At American media parties all the stripping happens after the party, at the bar next door. [New York Times]

Send an email to Adrian Chen, the author of this post, at adrian@gawker.com.

Source: Gawker.com

Snow in 49 states

Thanks to unusual weather patterns, there's snow on the ground in 49 out of 50 US states, including Hawaii.

Source: csmonitor.com

Get out the toboggans and winter gloves: There's snow on the ground in 49 out of 50 U.S. states – including Hawaii.

The only state that isn't at least partially a winter wonderland today is Florida, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The agency estimates that 70.9 percent of the country is currently covered by snow. [Read: What Are the Chances of a White Christmas Everywhere?]

"It's not typical," NWS public affairs officer James Peronto told LiveScience. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center, which tracks snowfall, doesn't keep statistics on the average snow cover, Peronto said. However, in December, an average of 35 percent of the United States had snow on the ground.