Chicago-area Muslim student fabricates anti-Muslim "hate crime"

PC cops profile and crank up security measures in order to protect this faux victim of "islamophobia" but won't do a damn thing to protect their charges from the real threat.

Shame on them.

All to further the cause of the Ummah! Must prove "rising Islamophobia" at all costs. Even if we have to make it up.

Not that she shouldn't face legal repercussions, but I feel sorry for this troubled girl as I would any young person who evidences such an unhealthy need for attention.

Though off-topic somewhat, I so wish the United Church of Christ would remove "Christ" from their name. Whatever can be said to unite their congregations it is not Jesus.

@ Sojourner

Honestly, I hope they make an example out of her so that no one else gets any idea like this. I hope she gets the whole 3 years

I wonder if Elmhurst College will expell her.

Slightly OT, but relevant. I am working with my state legislators to develop legislation to identify sharia law as incompatible with our state Constitution and prevent any implementation of sharia in our state. I would also hope to include language that allows the recognition of crimes as jihad in nature. I do not like so called "hate crime" laws, but if they are here to stay then any jihad act should be able to be labeled as such. We need to be able to see the patterns in crime that law enforcement side steps now. Anyway, we are just starting out in this and I would welcome any advice, insight or examples. I will review the full text of Rep. Tancredo's Jihad Prevention Act. Perhaps we can create a model law for others to follow.

Congratulations to Robert on his tour of our prestigious universities.

The likeliness of here story was suspicious from the git-go given the chain of events.

This Muslim student worked herself up into a lather prior to developing her ridiculously and unlikely fabricated story to gather is much sympathy as she could muster, never once giving thought to the negative consequences of her actions.

She had yet to develop her skills as a good taquiya practitioner , Bye Bye Elmhurst, bye bye credibility.

Will CAIR come to her defense?

Is there any more info on this silly little girl? Is she a citizen? Native-born or nautralized? I see she's from Oak Brook -- that's one of the best-heeled suburbs of Chicago. What do her parents do?

Are those students who marched off to that rally in solidarity aware of how many times this kind of thing has been pulled? Might they start to do a little investigating? And then, might they do a little investigating to find out what happens to Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan, Christians in the Moluccas (Indonesia), or southern Sudan, or parts of Nigeria? Might they find out what happens to Buddhists in southern Thailand, at the hands of local Muslims? Might they find out why, in many cities in Western Europe, Jews are told not to go out wearing kippahs or other identifying marks, in order not to be attacked -- not by Nazis, but by Muslims?

Perhaps a little research, done in the tranquillity of the library, or the dorm room, is now in order, as a way, the very best way, of making up for allowing oneself to be fooled and manipulated, as so many -- right up to our rulers in Washington -- have allowed themselves to be, when it comes to Islam.

A little study, a little reflection, and a lot of realism, might save everyone all kinds of whipped-up baseless indignation, when there is all kinds of real indignation that needs to be expressed -- starting, let's say, with the beating to death of Hindus by Muslims inspired by particularly fiery sermons, or the beating (but not yet to death) of Dutch homosexuals on the formerly-easygoing streets of Amsterdam, or the murders by decapitation of Christians, and the threats to murder so many others, all over the lands where Muslims rule, from Indonesia (those beheaded schoolgirls, younger than the Muslim college girl who staged the stunt above, and who no doubt would defend to your death the right of Muslims to do what they want, to do what they do, all over the world) and Bangladesh and the Philippines, to Iraq (look at what happens when the forces of Islam, no longer held in check by the iron fist of Saddam Hussein, are free to act against the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the last to remain in a country which, long ago, was entirely peopled by Christians (and Jews).

Look, study, don't be dopes. There are far too many dopes already, so easily manipulated by smiling, plausible, propagandists -- perhaps you have such a roommate -- for Islam, which is not merely or mainly a religion, but a politics and a geopolitics. Find out, but not from that smiling roommate who wants you to share the Iftar dinner, who tells you how wonderful Islam is, who wants you to find out all about Islam -- except of course, all of the parts he doesn't want you to find out, and that means almost all of Islam outside of the Five Pillars.

So many dopes. Please. Don't add to their number.

Civilus Defendus:

Keep us appraised of the efforts to prevent Sharia in your state, the first inroads of sharia will most likely deal with Muslim families domestic issues.

As part of her sentencing she should be required to scrub the entire bathroom from where this faux crime occured and to clean it in her prison get up - and without that "look at me I'm a Muslim" scarf on her head.

One hopes the girl will be given a large fine and a prison sentence. This kind of thing has to stop. The entire campus was shut down and searched. The expense, in money and in time and in disruption of learning, is an expense ultimately borne by the students. They should understand that. They are the victims of a one-woman Muslim plot. They are the ones who have suffered, and what's more, been cynically mocked and manipulated. They should be not indignant at some imagined anti-Muslim "hate-criminals," but at the Muslimah who committed the crime and caused the expensive and time-consuming brouhaha, and they also might ask themselves how many of her fellow Muslims on campus knew or strongly suspected it was all a put-up job (as with the pepper-spray-in-the-mosque farce), but were happy to go along, happy to express, in exaggerated form, their feigned indignation and baseless "worry") worry), in order to create a rally-round-the-Muslim-victims atmosphere.

Rally around the victims alright -- the victims of Jihad, violent and otherwise, all over the world. Start with those who are definitely non-Western -- blacks in the southern Sudan, two million of whom have been killed by Arab Muslims, and others enslaved, or Hindus persecuted and humiliated, and murdered, in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Yes, start there, and let that indignatio, aimed rightly, become just as Swiftily saeva as you please.

She is a pious Muslimah, remember "War is deceit".

With you, undaunted.

Busted.

Nothing will happen to her. She will look contrite and get a slap on the wrist. The University will censor her but not expell and all will be forgiven.

After all. We cannot harm in any way a Muslim. It might hurt her self-esteem. And one cannot ever hurt their self-esteem.

I called this one as soon as I heard it last week. Meanwhile, the "moderates" over at Muslim Matters jumped on this story and proclaimed it a hate crime. Now faced with the truth about the hoax, they offer no apology.

http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/12/muslim-student-attacked-held-at-gun-point-in-elmhurst-il/#comment-28759

Amad, a major contributor there, and resident anti-Semite, puts his foot in his mouth regularly. He believes all stories about anti-Muslim bias are true, that all non-Muslims are guilty until proven innocent (and then, still guilty), and he never met a terrorist that he didn't like, all under the banner of free speech protected for him in the US.

These sites supposedly represent anti-terrorist "moderate" Muslims. It is beguiling how this ruse about Islam is allowed to perpetuate.

Here in Alaska, we had a business that was hit after 9/11. Some guy from some Crapistan or another, I bleeb he was a Muslim, had his business vandalized, complete with Graffiti.
The reaction from the folks up here was immediate. A group was formed...Not in My Town I believe was what it was called.

Turns out he was in financial straights and this was his way out. He trashed his own business, got a lot of sympathy and help rebuilding his business...til the truth came out.

I don't think he lives here anymore. Wotta scumbag.

Islam is a lie and truth is killing it.

sojourner said:
but I feel sorry for this troubled girl as I would any young person who evidences such an unhealthy need for attention.

You are looking at this through the prism of the West/Christian values.

This girl is just doing what her religion asked her to do, anything to advance Islam is legal.

People in the West need to understand that a lot Islamic values are totally the different from Christian values.

When these people enter the US they should be asked this question:

Do you uphold the US constitution above all others, including the sharia?

If they don't, then they shouldn't be allowed to enter.

But I can just hear the outcry from the left if the Government were to ask that of everybody who wants to come to the US. I'm sure there'll be accusations of racism, etc. (even though Islam is not a race). The left are willfully blind to the Islamists intention of submitting the world under Shariah.

Civilus Defendus, all the power to you. It couldn't be soon enough!

Hope it will pass in your state and please do bring it to Congress for we all are in dire need of a legislation that recognizes crimes by Muslims based on their Koran as what it is, which is criminal acts.

"The entire campus was shut down and searched. The expense, in money and in time and in disruption of learning, is an expense ultimately borne by the students."
by Hugh

But why should it be? Why shouldn't this woman have to pay the price, quite literally, for what she did? And if this woman is destitute, then those who supported her should chip in.

No sympathy here. What if people had been hurt, lives lost, property damaged (over and above the graffiti) because this woman was engaging in her own jihad? It was more than a cry for attention.

Instead of the Koran, the Muslims need a copy of Aesop's fables. Let them read the story of the boy who cried wolf. Someday one of them WILL be hurt and the rest of us will automatically assume it's a hoax.

The left are willfully blind to the Islamists intention of submitting the world under Shariah.

Posted by: jasmine

And they'll pay for it in the end. They'll get exactly what they deserve: dhimmitude or a life of Islamic religiosity.
No sympathy for any of them or for this young woman. None of them appreciate the gift they have been given. They don't deserve to keep it.

I think she'll be covering her face after that stunt. What a shame to hide all that beauty.

I hope they give her the maximum punishment and prohibit her from attending any college in the US. I don't buy her age as an excuse either. What she did evidences a deviousness that she is not likely to "grow out of;" on the contrary, her deviousness is likely to mature and morph inot something worse. If she isn't a citizen - kick her out of the country.

Wanna bet that she gets off without as much as a slap on the wrist?

Here's a vid of her compatriots pathetic performance:

http://sheikyermami.com/2008/10/18/islamic-grievance-theater-manufacturing-anti-muslim-hate-crimes-a-new-kind-of-jihad/

Another moderate muslim listen folks this is not an isolated event this is part of the disruption of america i would like to believe shes naive but im afraid not from all the evidence since 911.
remember the fake gas in the mosque the little girl who had no signs of anything on her face saying she had a chemical sprayed on her face lie to the dhimmi to forward islam hit them every way you can this is not a young girl shes an adult as for jasmine wake up its not a new event every fake one you hear about a thousand more go unreported.

Civilus Defendus;

You da man. I'd like to be kept up to speed on your efforts, methods, and advice, too.

This is an honorable trail you're blazing and perhaps all of us can find a way to follow it... or cut our own.

shiek ya mama i watched this video so i will repeat myself here muslims are only part of the problem i wonder how the christian bimbo feels today we are a naive culture we teach our kids to trust i teach my children not to trust as we all should simplely because we are at war with 1.5 billon muslims not a few extremeists there are those that fight those that undermine from within other cultures and those that support smile and say my friend as they overpopu7late the world to help islams conquest of the world i ewad where they predict by 2050 islam will be half the worlds population.
I have no answers but one from islam fight them isolate from them and deport them there are no innocents of the unholy quran or the child molesting prophet.

Yes, what undaunted said to Civilus defendus...
Every state should have someone working on anti-Sharia legislation...

Maybe shiek since your good with computers which i am not you can create a dhimmi of the month poster with the dumb well you know christian girl in a burka poster or something .

Thank you all for your words. I'm technically trained, but outreach, public information and drafting or reviewing legislation has always been part of my work.

One of my legislators has an Algerian muslimah for a niece-in-law. She says family get-togethers can be volatile affairs. The N-in-L once stormed off in the car with the kids during a dinner. Uhm.

Anyway, to anyone who can, gauge the interest in your local legislators. So many have a vague uneasiness re Islam/sharia, but are overwhelmed by other issues and not well informed. Enlighten them however possible. I have chosen to focus on sharia rather than Islam/Muslims at this point. I am their designated 'point person' on Islam. Geez, I'm no expert, but am gaining everyday and hope to rely on the learned and insightful from the big names to all of you posters. This canary is not going down without a fight!

The initial report of the attack triggered a lockdown at the college while police searched the campus and prompted hundreds of students to rally again the following day to protest the incident.

Officials at the 3,300-student private college -- which has about 30 Muslim students -- denounced the attack and promised to increase security on campus, including offers of rides for Muslim students to and from classes.

I often quip that my fellow Americans are stupid. For this, I must apologise.

Stupid persons would never fall for such nonsense the way Americans do -- as they did at Elmhust college.

This kind of raging lunacy is uniquely American; the kind of dumbness evident at this "institution of higher learning" is beyond words.

The initial report of the attack triggered a lockdown at the college while police searched the campus and prompted hundreds of students to rally again the following day to protest the incident.

Officials at the 3,300-student private college -- which has about 30 Muslim students -- denounced the attack and promised to increase security on campus, including offers of rides for Muslim students to and from classes.

I often quip that my fellow Americans are stupid. For this, I must apologise.

Stupid persons would never fall for such nonsense the way Americans do -- as they did at Elmhust college.

This kind of raging lunacy is uniquely American; the kind of dumbness evident at this "institution of higher learning" is beyond words.

Civilus defence well buddy unfortunately i live in nyc you could get legislation here to feed christians to the lions but never any thing resembleing any anti american material the only free speech here is to stop free speech.

Civilus Defendus:

Sharia is the most serious issue of all, it is clearly the big stealth elephant in the room with its archaic, and pagonistic impositions that severely abuse half the human race under its Islamic pervue.

Isn't that just cute. I was accosted by a Muslim who was waiting for me outside a restroom who then told me he would continue to terrorize me indefinitely and when I told nine individuals in six different offices they all called me a bigot and bent over backward to enable him. This was the fifth stalking incident on the part of this monster. This girl makes up a story, has no witnesses, and police rally to protect her and students protest on her behalf. Disgusting.

Margaret Thatcher spoke of freedom being on the offensive... "a peaceful offensive the world over... " and that's what we must all commit to, for we will either fight aggressively for our freedom or let evil take and crush it.

CD, what you're doing is tactically sound ~ a wise and courageous stroke of the sword we must all be willing and ready to raise.

spcbat, perhaps you should start in Albany.

jdamn;

Each and every time he threatens you, make written notes. Contemporaneous notes are part of a good, legal harassment complaint since, "if it ain't on paper, it didn't happen."

Maybe it's time to make a harassment complaint to those who must listen to you, such as HR or Corporate Investigations, if those are available to you.

Keep your stick on the ice.

jdamn,
Next time say you are assaulted by some Christian lunatic... law enforcement will then take your full report, including words, deeds and dress. The recall, Oh, I think he said he was a Muslim…

Good luck. Anyone who speaks out could be/will be/ are targeted. I know in time threats may/will come. Words from history and Robert, however, come to mind:

“It isn’t as if I am not going to die if I don’t do this. Have you ever heard of the adage, “Give me liberty or give me death”? Have you ever heard that the signers of the American Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to their cause? Have you ever heard that Dr. Martin Luther King stated that if you have nothing for which you are willing to die, you have no reason to live?”

Yea, what he said.

I dealt with everyone relevant at the university. I went to the police, who were actually really cool. I applied for a estraining order but was denied one because I never slept with him and because blatant intimidation does not constitute an explicit threat. He's a malignant narcissist, so he will never explicitly threaten me. He will do it a veiled way so as to delude himself into thinking that he's having one over on me in order to make himself feel intelligent to compensate for his lack of a soul. He says things like 'I wish I could have joined the Egyptian Army [to kill Jews with impunity],' and 'the 9/11 hijackers were wrong because they didn't handle the women and children in the WTC according to proper Islamic protocols.' He's that kind of sicko. The ICRC is investigating. IU filed for an extension and had to have their stuff in on 10/03 and as far as I know they didn't. I wrote the lady on Friday and probably won't hear back until Monday. I think they're giving the ICRC the 'jdamn treatment.' The Gender Incidents Team ignored me for 41 days until I wrote the head of Student Ethics and cc'ed 6 other people in order to confer a certain degree of accountability. All the offices passed the buck to the GIT, who only offered to chat with him. SO he can do this to me indefinitely under the threat of nothing more than chats. I told them no thanks. I want legal action. Chatting with a mentally ill jihadist who thinks that killing my Jewish, American, feminist, Islam-hating, guitar-playing, dog-loving, Libertarian, truth-spewing ass is the single most pious thing he can do is not a solution, but thanks for offering to get me killed, Gender Incidents Team.

Ha--the muslim girl who cried wolf. Or is she just a victim in her own mind...like a lot of other muslims?

What about a good old-fashioned sucker-punch?

Though off-topic somewhat, I so wish the United Church of Christ would remove "Christ" from their name. Whatever can be said to unite their congregations it is not Jesus.

Posted by: Sojourner at October 18, 2008 11:50 AM

How do you know? On what criteria do you base that comment?

No sympathy whatsoever - whatsoever - for this lying female Mohammedan. Hope she gets every minute of the jail time she deserves.

Jewish, American, feminist, Islam-hating, guitar-playing, dog-loving, Libertarian, truth-spewing ass

hmm you sound almost like my 1/4jewish wife jdamm
ecept she still thinks we are muslim bashing when we tell the truth about islam as for your pervert get a conceled weapons permit and next time he bothers you just brush your coat back to show your aemed and watch him run btw what type of music do you play? grizly

Civilius

I applaud your project.

Suggestion... A method Islamic stealth jihadist lawyers in the U.S. are using to cleverly encourage acceptance of Sharia law is to include arbitration clauses in private contracts or settlement agreements. For example, if 2 muslims are divorcing, their muslim lawyers will include a provision in a settlement contract that says in the event of some future dispute between the parties ( e.g. a child support issue) the matter will be resolved by arbitration using Sharia rules. An ignorant, or Dhimmified judge, glad to rid himself of another bothersome case, will gleefully approve of the resolution or dismissal of another case from his docket (less cases = more time on the golf course). It is a way for Sharia law mediation panels to stealthily obtain legitimacy and a ground base of Sharia minded lawyers. In your project you should specifically target this method of sharia law infiltration. "NO court shall give express or tacit approval any agreement, settlement, or dismissal upon representation that further resolution between the parties shall be a private matter to be resolved by Sharia laws".

If you'd like to discuss further ideas on this, please private email at USorThemblog@aol.com

ISLAMISNOTFORME, you can't carry a firemarm on campus even with a concealed carry permit. I don't know how many Virgina Techs it will take before they change that asinine law. People can see my taser. They may not know what it is, but it does look tough having it on my belt. I actually like the idea of macing a psychopath. My mace has UV dye that does not wash off easily. He's actually stayed away from me this semester. I think my filing with the ICRC caused someone to talk to him. I still don't feel safe and I still throw up whenever I have to go to campus, but if I ever see him again I'll just mace him, after seeing how well IU has my back. No jury would put me away for assaulting him. His presence does constitute a malicious threat upon my safety and security. The really scary thing is that when I applied for the restraining order the lawyer who helped me was at the local women's shelter, Middle Way House, which does amazing work, and she told me that IU sucks at enforcing restraining orders even against rapists.

Here's the article from the Chicago Trib:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-elmhurst-charges-18-oct18,0,3135639.story

Good stuff, USorThem. I'll contact you at a later time. We only need fifty such efforts... or a few with very good networking. Anyone else game?

jdamn, you wouldn't be assaulting him, you would be defending yourself. I thumped an attacker in college; just needed a tetanus booster.

jdamn,

This sounds very serious and scary. Just thinking about being stalked (I never have been) gives me the creeps.

Are you packing heat--as in pepper spray? I'm never without it. You can even get it in a special container that will stand up to the summer heat in your car.

Stun guns are supposed to be great, but I've yet to get one that actually worked. By that, I mean I press the button, and there's no arc between the electrodes (sigh). I carry a spring baton, too, although I don't know if I could get it out of my bag fast enough to beat the sh*t out of some deserving moron. I've been harassed before, though never stalked.

Anyway, get some protection, of some kind--we don't want to see you become a statistic.

Stupid punks. Enjoy your 1-3. You've earned it.

Islamophobia my a**.

He's only stalked me on campus. He doesn't leave campus or even have a car. Most Muslim students don't. They live on campus, they go to class, they go to their MSU-HAMAS meetings, and they congregate with each other. They can't hang with us, so since they're all on campus they all stay there, even if they're 40 and it's really creepy. Graduate housing is almost entirely filled with international students, most of them Muslim, since the East Asians can't stand the Muslims and don't stay there long and generally assimilate and become adults.

I have 12.5% capsicum mace and a good, million-volt taser. Abscedere, you can't practice too much with tasers because for some reason they die of you shoot them for more than a second without touching anything. He's not going to kill me or anything. He just wants to make my life suck, which he's accomplished at school. I would never hesitate to take out anyone who threatened my safety, don't worry. I even installed a remote starter on my car just to be safe. I'm good with guns too, not that that helps me on campus. I used to shoot cans and crabapples with my grandpa as a kid and them I shot skeet and trap with my dad as a teenager.

Civilus Defendus, bless your heart for working on your project, I wouldn't know how to do anything about that at the local level but I find any effort toward that end to be incredibly noble. I'm not even sure which senators to vote for because I hate the Democrats and Lugar is probably the second most anti-Israel senator behind Hagel. Please keep us updated on your efforts.

Time and time again I hear of this person or that person not willing to do what Americans have done for decades due to the fact that they are afraid of hurting the feelings of the Islamic people. It has gotten so bad that the constitution has been changed to keep from hurting the feelings of Islamic people. Now this? I would like very much to tell all Islamic people what I think of their false religion and who it is they're really worshiping, and I don't care about their stupid feelings. However, the Lord Jesus Christ is probably upset that I have said what I have already said and I will beg His forgiveness before I lay my head down tonight. So let me say just this; One day soon, we will find out who was right and who was wrong. Somebody is going to wind up cast alive into a lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. When that happens, my feelings definitely, will not be hurt!

jdamn,
Wear sturdy shoes with strong toes. One good kick in the 'nads is all it takes. A jab with the knee also works well.

filing a false report is a crime. Also, its quite obvious she did this in order to propagate a false, negative stereotype about a particular religous group (the non-muslims). She should be prosecuted and her sentence should include whatever hate-crimes addendum is available.

Jdamn...I don't know about where you live, but around here for about $100.00 you can get a really large, mean man, to 'reason', with unreasonable people...stay safe...

I have good-for-nothing-else goomba cousins for that, duh_swami! If only he didn't live on campus where there are lots of cameras.

This was not a fake hate crime. It was a real hate crime, committed by a Muslim, against non-Muslims. It was an attempt to slander non-Muslims and glorify a Muslim "victim." All based on a lie fueled by Islamic hate.

Now hold on just one pea-pickin' moment here. From this story,

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78437

She identified her alleged assailant as "a 5-foot, 8-inch, white male attacker" and that she was "clubbed with a gun by a masked assailant". If we're going to address these incidents as Muslims do, then I demand an immediate apology and outright condemnation from all Muslims, CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, Louis Farrakhan, Al-Qaeda, Hizbollah and Iran to all 5' 8" white males with guns wearing masks! Enough is enough! I'm sick and tired of this historically slandered group being used as the whipping-post poster-child for Islamic extremists! Where's the sit-in to be held at Elmhurst College for these poor innocent fellows? NOWHERE!!!

Until society is ready to stand on the side of wrongly-accused, much-maligned, frequently-blamed, 5' 8" white males with guns wearing masks our nation can never be called truly free.

/remove tongue from cheek/

Shalom,
Theosebes

I checked out the student newspaper, "The Leader", on line, and also read a statement from the President of Elmhurst College, Alan Ray. It's really sad. Even after the sham has been exposed, they are all still bloviating about supporting this little girl, reaching out to the muslim brothers and sisters, not tolerating hate crimes, etc. Amazing that a tiny minority (30 muslim students out of something like 3300 at this private college) can basically shut down a college, shift focus entirely away from the education that I'm sure the parents of these kids are paying dearly for, and nobody sees the problem. It's so great to have such morally superior, magnanimous sensibilities! I wrote a comment to "The Leader" asking if a false accusation of a hate crime is in itself a hate crime (as several previous posts here have noted), but I doubt that that will be posted, much less responded to.

She'll get hers, the second she moves back to whatever hellhole she was born in and has to live as a Muslim.

Just how stupid do you have to be to come here, taste freedom, and then willingly promote a system that will enslave you? Like I've said many times before, Muslim just don't seem to be very bright.

Let's say she succeeds, convinces all the useful idiots on campus that Muslims are victims and helps to usher in the Ummah? She will still have to marry toothless grandpa when she gets home 'cuz her dad says so. She'll be bagged and forced to stay inside. (Uh, why does she need and education again?) Her daughters will grow up in the same cycle of abuse and exploitation that she has.

Somebody please tell me, just what is this girl getting out of it?

jdamn:

Carry a gun on campus and shoot him anyway. You'd be surprised how many students "pack heat".
You shouldn't have to take this abuse. Why not file a lawssuit? Hit him where it hurts - in the wallet.

jdamn...

There are some exceedingly small firearms on the market today, that would require a strip search to find.
If the fecal matter comes in contact with the air impeller, it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by six. Dead men tell no tales and all that. Mace first? Yeah OK...but have options.

I mean...which one of you should live? The attacker or the attackee? (Yes, I know that's not a word.)

Wal-Mart has a tiny HD video camera that will fit in a shirt pocket. No reason not to have it on you at all times. Few people realize that it's a video camera at all. Cheap as hell, records on an SD card. ???

jdamn - just curious - you've introduced me to a new word (usually only Mr Fitzgerald does that) - 'goomba', in the phrase "good-for-nothing-else goomba cousins". What exactly does it mean?

DDA, you asked about "goomba". As everybody might define the term a bit differently, I realize it would be best if Jdamn answered this query, but I'll take a crack at it in case she doesn't get back to you.

"Goomba" is an American slang term for a low-level thug, gangster, or Mafioso. Sometimes it is used seriously, but, more often, rather tongue-in-cheek. I imagine that's how Jdamn was using it.

It gives the image of a not-too-bright guy, always up for getting in a fight or giving somebody a good knocking around--not many virtues, but big on family loyalty.

If you watch enough American gangster movies, or even American television, you will evenually run into the term. Oddly, I'm recording Turner Classic Movies "Warner Bros. Gangster Movie night" for my husband even as I type this.