Daily Rotten Archives January 3, 2005 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 US troops outnumbered in Iraq Wire Services | Submitted by: A. P. Palled "'I think the resistance is bigger than the US military in Iraq. I think the resistance is more than 200,000 people,' Iraqi intelligence service director General Mohamed Abdullah Shahwani said in an interview... the number includes at least 40,000 hardcore fighters but rises to more than 200,000 members counting part-time fighters and volunteers who provide rebels everything from intelligence and logistics to shelter. The numbers far exceed any figure presented by the US military in Iraq, which has struggled to get a handle on the size of the resistance since toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003... Asked if the insurgents were winning, Shahwani answered: 'I would say they aren't losing.'" Read article... German coroners working in Thailand Deutsche Welle | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "Since Dec. 29, the German identification commission has been deployed to Thailand where they are working around the clock to determine the identity of drowning victims, many of whom have been mutilated and dismembered by the torrential floods and distorted beyond recognition as their corpses begin to deteriorate in the tropical heat... The most difficult work for the criminologists will be in the tourist resorts of Phuket and Khao Lak, where a Buddhist temple has been converted into a makeshift morgue. More than 300 corpses are stacked in the temple awaiting identification. Some 20% are estimated to be those of foreigners... forensic scientists acknowledged that it would take weeks or even years before all the victims could be identified." Read article... Murder/suicide 50% successful Trinidad Express | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "Siridath Narinedath gave his wife and son-in-law an invitation to witness the murder. The 59-year-old father forced his 'adopted' daughter to drink poison and then hanged himself on New Year's Day. The woman, 28-year-old Dianne Stella Seepersad, survived and is now in stable condition at hospital... [she] said Narinedath, who was like a 'father' to her, was depressed over persistent rumours that they were having an affair. Police have unconfirmed reports that Narinedath was also depressed over the news that Seepersad was sharing a close relationship with a male companion... Police found Seepersad lying in the front yard, frothing at the mouth and Narinedath hanging from a rafter in the garage at the back of the house... There were visible blisters on her lips and mouth from the poison." Read article... Suicide victim kills bystander Mainichi Daily News | Submitted by: Demoness "A man has died in bizarre circumstances after a suicidal woman jumped from a 12-story building and landed on top of him, killing them both, police said. Koichi Sato, 54, was walking past the 12-story apartment on the last day of 2004 when the woman jumped... Police said they do not believe the woman deliberately landed on Sato." Read article... Subway tunnel too small for man + train New York Newsday | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "Police continued to investigate the gruesome death of a Bronx man who was struck by a train in Manhattan Saturday night, possibly fleeing from two men. The victim, Leonard Hodge, 32, jumped onto the tracks of the No. 1 train at 145th Street and Broadway Saturday in Washington Heights, a little after 4:30 p.m., with two men chasing him, according to an account given to police by witnesses in the station. He sprinted northbound into a southbound tunnel as a train approached the station. Hodge pressed himself against the tunnel wall in an effort to avoid the train, but miscalculated, police said. The train struck and killed him." Read article... Circumcision nurse beaten to death Melbourne Herald Sun | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "A group of young South African men taking part in coming of age rituals due to include circumcision turned on their male nurse and killed him, an official said today. Sizwe Kupelo of the Eastern Cape provincial health department said the men aged 18 to 25 beat the man to death with sticks at the site of their initiation ceremonies... 'He was attacked by about 20 initiates who assaulted him, and he later died,' Mr Kupelo said. He said the attack followed complaints by the men that they were not being properly looked after during their initiation ceremonies, but did not elaborate. The nurse had been in charge of caring for the men ahead of their circumcision." Read article... Survival camper drowns, counselor convicted AZ Central | Submitted by: Sgt. York "Charles Long, founder of a summer desert survival camp near Buckeye, was found guilty of reckless manslaughter today in the 2001 death of a 14-year-old camp participant. The jury, which began deliberations on Dec. 14, also convicted him of aggravated assault for threatening another camper with a knife; they were hung on eight counts of child abuse... [Anthony Haynes], who attended the [Buffalo Soldiers Re-Enactors Association] camp, was sitting in a disciplinary line in the July heat when he began acting erratically, eating dirt and possibly hallucinating. A counselor and several youths took him to a hotel and placed him, unconscious, in a shower bath, where he inhaled water. Then rather than call for medical help, they took him back to the camp, where he died." Read article... Juvenile hall inmates allege guard rapes Sacramento Bee | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "Four current and former inmates from the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility claim that a veteran guard pressured them into performing sexual acts, rewarding them with TVs, cell phones and other contraband items... The suit also claims that [James Shelby] arranged for two inmates to receive beatings from other prisoners when they refused his demands. Shelby has denied the allegations in court papers and is currently on paid administrative leave... Last month, a former inmate reported being assaulted in 2003 and 2004 by guards at the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility, which houses girls." Read article... Teen loses leg to flesh-eating bacteria WKMG-TV 6 Orlando | Submitted by: Rio "[Nathan Dooley, 19] recently received a cut on his leg after falling from his dirt bike during a ride at his new home in Oregon. The cut quickly became infected with what is known as flesh-eating bacteria and began to spread... 'This is the worst I have ever seen. I have never seen anyone lose a limb over it - that's how bad this one was,' Oregon Health and Science University's Dr. Yale Popowich said... Dooley did not have medical insurance, according to KOIN-TV. If he had lost both legs instead of one, he would have qualified for coverage under the Oregon Health Plan." [Maybe they should have waited a little longer.] Read article... Thieves steal mind control gadget BBC | Submitted by: Little Red "A medical device which allows a woman to sleep by switching off an implant in her brain has been stolen. Rita Carlisle, 53, from Knaphill, Surrey, suffers from a condition called essential tremor. The stolen remote control gadget sends out pulses to calm the condition and can be switched off so she can rest. Ms Carlisle, who now struggles to sleep, was carrying the device and £600 cash in a handbag which was stolen... Carlisle says she is hopeful, but not certain, that the hospital caring for her - the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in central London - will be able to replace the device." Read article...