The Off Topic Topic

[Syt]

A 16 year old girl in Vienna goes to jail for 4 years because she stabbed her best friend to death. Last year she and her friend, both with a long history of drug abuse and from poor/uneducated  families were staying at a 36 year old acquaintance's place. The girl was apparently jealous of her best friend who had become close with the killer's ex-boyfriend. The victim went to sleep and the girl talked with the apartment owner through the night, saying how she would love to kill the other girl. In the morning, the guy left to go to the doctor's. The girl took a kitchen knife and stabbed her friend in the chest. 13 cm of the 16 cm blade went in, piercing the heart.

The judges ruled 4-4 that it was not a murder, but deadly assault (basically meaning that she intended to hurt but not kill). Also, there was some leniency because she didn't have a criminal record before, because she had a blood alcohol level of between .12 and .2, plus she was under the influence of drugs, plus has a history of drug abuse and parental neglect.

[Barrister]

A 16 year old girl in Vienna goes to jail for 4 years because she stabbed her best friend to death. Last year she and her friend, both with a long history of drug abuse and from poor/uneducated  families were staying at a 36 year old acquaintance's place. The girl was apparently jealous of her best friend who had become close with the killer's ex-boyfriend. The victim went to sleep and the girl talked with the apartment owner through the night, saying how she would love to kill the other girl. In the morning, the guy left to go to the doctor's. The girl took a kitchen knife and stabbed her friend in the chest. 13 cm of the 16 cm blade went in, piercing the heart.

The judges ruled 4-4 that it was not a murder, but deadly assault (basically meaning that she intended to hurt but not kill). Also, there was some leniency because she didn't have a criminal record before, because she had a blood alcohol level of between .12 and .2, plus she was under the influence of drugs, plus has a history of drug abuse and parental neglect.

That's longer than the 16 year old I prosecuted for murder got. (as second chair).

Sentencing for youths is tough.  The whole undeveloped frontal cortex and all.

[Syt]

Well, the tipping point here was that due to her upbringing and drug abuse she had poor impulse control to begin with and that while she intended to hurt her friend she didn't intend to kill her and appeared to be very distraught by the fact. At the same time the brutality (it takes a lot of force from a petite girl to plunge a knife so deep) weighed against her. The murder sentence for youths in Austria is between 1 and 10 years.

The prosecution will appeal the decision, though.

[Syt]

A colleague of mine was flying Vienna => Zürich and back. She forgot her passport at home. Yet Swiss Air let her on board with boarding pass alone each time and she had no troubles at all. In Switzerland the customs guys were just waving people through, and the same in Vienna. Switzerland is part of Schengen, but still ...

[Syt]

A small overview of Europe.

[Liep]

The Socialist Party is near dismantling itself over a sale of the state energy company to Goldman Sachs. They'll likely leave the government and we'll have to go through another election.

They called it quits and left the government, luckily for them their incompetent leader also quitted. Our PM's response so far have been to ignore them and carry on as usual. Maybe there won't be a new election after all.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-29/goldman-1-5-billion-bid-imperils-danish-government-re-election.html

[Malthus]

They're ok. Besides, I was being charitable. I could have instead pointed out that Canada gave us Nickelback, Justin Bieber and Celine Dion. 

... you are welcome to keep them. 

We'll keep Rush, thank you very much. 

[Syt]

[Ed Anger]

Sulu playing with a dol......err nevermind.

[CountDeMoney]

Why does Spock have erect nipples on his abdomen?

[Ed Anger]

I like his Zubaz pants.

[PDH]

Why is there no dead Redshirt?

[CountDeMoney]

Why is there no dead Redshirt?

Probably a repeat, but...

[Razgovory]

Is George Takei playing with a doll supposed to be right or wrong?

[MadBurgerMaker]

I just applied for a job in Alabama... 

You will be asked which football program you support. The answer is either 'Alabama' or 'Auburn'. Soccer answers will get you lynched.

So will 'Clemson' or 'Florida'.  Probably 'Florida State' right now, too.

You gotta go with something neutral in a place like that.  Just say Montana.  They don't know shit about Montana.