The Noodleman Group: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

MOVIE REMAKES 9,027

1998 QE2

* Special thanks to "Google Images", "moviefhone.com" and NASA.

by Felicity Blaze Noodleman

If you are one of the readers who has been with the Noodleman Group for a while now you may have noticed we travel the web far and wide compiling information from a number of sources to validate our topic for the week. You could say these sources are a part of the Noodleman Group along with you our readers. We are like a box of fine assorted chocolates for your intellectual enjoyment. Well; this week is no different! We are doing our usual thing, writing what we want. This week we are examining some of the summer movies.

With the summer movie season now in full swing we have a wide selection of new entertainment to choose from at the box office of our favorite theaters. Of special note this year are the remakes rolling out of the studios for the summer of 2013. This phenomenon is nothing new for Hollywood. It would almost be impossible to count all the titles that have been remade over the years and that is not counting all of the sequels made to what are called a “Franchise” such as the “Star Wars” films or the “Batman” series. Action heroes almost always have a continuation to the original film!

Motion picture remakes are almost as old as the movies themselves. Studios love proven winners and any story which has done well in the past is prime fodder for a new treatment and is a studio executives dream for a “Blockbuster” at the box office. I mean think about it: why should the studio take a chance on a new unknown property when they have a “Golden Goose” sitting in the vaults?

Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this drama focuses on mysterious man of wealth Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his love for the beautiful -- and married -- Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan). Baz Luhrmann directs the film in 3D, with Isla Fisher,Tobey Maguire, and Joel Edgerton rounding out the starring cast.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-great-gatsby/10059239/synopsis

This years two remakes, “The Great Gatsby” and “Oz, The Great and Powerful” are sure to do well at the box office. Movie titles don’t come much better than these. Both titles have been remade a number of times and always have been a hit. Both were popular novels in their day and made the transition to the big screen to delight every generation of their day. Casting always fills the gap and the story bridges the gap into a new and younger audience.

When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot--fame and fortune are his for the taking--that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity--and even a bit of wizardry--Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/oz-the-great-and-powerful-3d/60080/synopsis

“The Wizard of Oz” was published in 1900 by L. Frank Baum. It was a popular children’s book and has endured Thur the years. Baum went on to write two sequels of the fantasy land of OZ. The 1939 motion picture production was a big budget production, $2,000,000, for the MGM studios and was produced in the new “Technicolor” process. Since the 1939 primer the film has more than earned back the original investment.

Both of these films were so great that even the older versions are still very entertaining even today, especially “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). It has been going strong every since its original release staring Judy Garland and has made the transition to release on television and video. This film was one of the first titles available on DVD when that medium was making its debut! Now also consider this: The film had been remade three times prior to the 1939 “Wizard”. In 1910, again in 1925 and then again in 1933.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the remake of “Gatsby” but in my opinion pales in comparison to Robert Redford. Redford was and still is an exceptionally good looking man – if not one of the most handsome looking actors of all time. I can recall only one actor who comes even close to his charming pulchritudinous and robust appearance and that would be the legendary Clark Gable. Sorry Leo, maybe next time!

Marvel's 'Iron Man 3' pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, Marvel's 'Iron Man 3' is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black and is based on Marvel's iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of "Tales of Suspense" (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with "The Invincible Iron Man" (#1) in May of 1968.

'Iron Man 3' is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and DMG Entertainment. Marvel Studios' President Kevin Feige is producing and Jon Favreau, Louis D'Esposito, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard, Alan Fine, Stan Lee and Dan Mintz are executive producers. The film releases May 3, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/iron-man-3/52353/synopsis

The next two films in the remake mode being offered by Hollywood this summer are "Iron Man 3" and "The Man of Steel". Now is this ironic or what?. Iron man is the third installment of the Robert Downey Jr.'s super hero character who needs a special suit to become super human while Man of steel is a new treatment and casting of the DC Action super hero "Superman". The Iron Man films have done very well at the box office to become one of the highest grossing films of all time. Both characters are sure to thrill those of all ages who enjoy (and I think there are quite a few of us) this kind of thrilling entertainment!

Superman flies back onto the big screen in this Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures production directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen), produced by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), and featuring a screenplay by David Goyer (Blade, The Dark Knight). Born on the alien planet of Krypton, Kal-El is sent by his parents to live on planet Earth, where he is given the name Clark by kindly farmer Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) and his wife, Martha (Diane Lane), who raise him as if he were their own son. As a young boy,Clark displays incredible superpowers that instill him with a profound sense of personal responsibility. Later, the amiable Clark (Henry Cavill) becomes a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper "The Daily Planet," and strikes up a friendship with crackerjack journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams). But when his new world is attacked by a force that humans are powerless to defend themselves against, Clark assumes the identity of Superman and fights to protect the entire human race. Academy Award-nominated actor Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, Boardwalk Empire) co-stars as General Zod and Laurence Fishburne steps into the role of "Daily Planet" editor-in-chief Perry White. Russell Crowe and Christopher Meloni co-star.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/man-of-steel/52239/synopsis

"Fast and Furious" is returning for the sixth time this summer. These car chasing, road raging high speed adventure films have excited theater fans for decades and every generation brings a new theme and treatment of the chase film to those who love cars and high speed adventure.

Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian's (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin's empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete.

Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/fast--and--furious-6/54333/synopsis

Now we get down to the above average in the category of remakes for those of who enjoy science fiction which is both realistic and entertaining. That's right I'm writing about the Star Trek franchise. with a new cast and story Trekies or Trekers, which ever you prefer, will have some new fodder to add to their trivia discussions and debates over "who was better - best of all" between the Original cast, the Next Generation cast and now the "Into Darkness" cast.

With "Star Trek Into Darkness" at the top of the box office right now, die-hard Trekkies have only one thing on their minds: What's next?!

J.J. Abrams's revamped take on the space-exploring franchise has introduced Kirk, Spock, and Bones to a whole new generation of viewers -- but with the director's plan to take on a new episode of "Star Wars," where does it leave the brainchild of Gene Roddenberry?

Obviously, we haven't seen the last of "Star Trek," but what form will its next adventure take? Which characters will make their presence felt? And when will we get to see it?

As we boldly step into uncharted new territory, Moviefone asked a panel of leading "Star Trek" experts for their insights into the future of the series. With a little bit of detective work, their theories shed the first light on what will happen next on-screen and off.

http://news.moviefone.com/2013/05/22/star-trek-13-movie_n_3320912.html

One thing is for sure this summer, there will be something for everyone at the movies. A way to escape the heat, a reason to buy a ticket and take a seat with our favorite soda and theater treat be it popcorn, candy or other goodies and enjoy the presentation. I'm Felicity and I'll see you at the movies!

http://www.davegranlund.com/cartoons/2010/12/22/true-grit-remake/

ASTEROID WATCH

First radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 were obtained when the asteroid was about 3.75 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Earth. The small white dot at lower right is the moon, or satellite, orbiting asteroid 1998 QE2. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR

NASA.com

PASADENA, Calif. -- A sequence of radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 was obtained on the evening of May 29, 2013, by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., when the asteroid was about 3.75 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Earth, which is 15.6 lunar distances.

The radar imagery revealed that 1998 QE2 is a binary asteroid. In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters) or larger are binary or triple systems. Radar images suggest that the main body, or primary, is approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) in diameter and has a rotation period of less than four hours. Also revealed in the radar imagery of 1998 QE2 are several dark surface features that suggest large concavities. The preliminary estimate for the size of the asteroid's satellite, or moon, is approximately 2,000 feet (600 meters) wide. The radar collage covers a little bit more than two hours.

The radar observations were led by scientist Marina Brozovic of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The closest approach of the asteroid occurs on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. Pacific (4:59 p.m. Eastern / 20:59 UTC), when the asteroid will get no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. This is the closest approach the asteroid will make to Earth for at least the next two centuries. Asteroid 1998 QE2 was discovered on Aug. 19, 1998, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program near Socorro, N.M.

The resolution of these initial images of 1998 QE2 is approximately 250 feet (75 meters) per pixel. Resolution is expected to increase in the coming days as more data become available. Between May 30 and June 9, radar astronomers using NASA's 230-foot-wide (70 meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, will perform an extensive campaign of observations on asteroid 1998 QE2. The two telescopes have complementary imaging capabilities that will enable astronomers to learn as much as possible about the asteroid during its brief visit near Earth.

Radar is a powerful technique for studying an asteroid's size, shape, rotation state, surface features and surface roughness, and for improving the calculation of asteroid orbits. Radar measurements of asteroid distances and velocities often enable computation of asteroid orbits much further into the future than if radar observations weren't available.

NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. In fact, the United States has the most robust and productive survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects. To date, U.S. assets have discovered more than 98 percent of the known Near-Earth Objects.

In 2012, the Near-Earth Object budget was increased from $6 million to $20 million. Literally dozens of people are involved with some aspect of near-Earth object research across NASA and its centers. Moreover, there are many more people involved in researching and understanding the nature of asteroids and comets, including those objects that come close to Earth, plus those who are trying to find and track them in the first place.

In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it also partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers, and space science institutes across the country that are working to track and better understand these objects, often with grants, interagency transfers and other contracts from NASA.

NASA's Near-Earth Object Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, manages and funds the search, study, and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them close to Earth. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

In 2016, NASA will launch a robotic probe to one of the most potentially hazardous of the known Near-Earth Objects. The OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid (101955) Bennu will be a pathfinder for future spacecraft designed to perform reconnaissance on any newly-discovered threatening objects. Aside from monitoring potential threats, the study of asteroids and comets enables a valuable opportunity to learn more about the origins of our solar system, the source of water on Earth, and even the origin of organic molecules that lead to the development of life.

NASA recently announced development of a first-ever mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid for human exploration. Using game-changing technologies this mission would mark an unprecedented technological achievement that raises the bar of what humans can do in space. Capturing and redirecting an asteroid will integrate the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draw on the innovation of America's brightest scientists and engineers.

NASA.com

http://fbnoodleman.blogspot.com/

Tell your friends and associates about us!

It's easy! Just copy and paste me into your email!

* “The Noodleman Group” is pleased to announce that we are now carrying a link to the “USA Today” news site.We installed the “widget/gadget” August 20, and it will be carried as a regular feature on our site.Now you can read“Noodleman” and then check in to “USA Today” for all the up to date News, Weather, Sports and more!Just scroll all the way down to the bottom of our site and hit the “USA Today” hyperlinks.Enjoy!

The Noodleman Group is on Google "Blogger"!

Friday, May 24, 2013

DEATH 8,793

LONDONS

NEW RIPPER ?

DEATH

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN DISTURBING IMAGES
FOR SOME READERS

This is the most famous symbol for death. It has been around for eons and

never seems to die!

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/micketo/images/24363227/title/lord-death-photo

* Special thanks to "Google images", "The Telegraph", "CNN",
"Wikipedia" and "dicitonary.com"

by Felicity Blaze Noodleman

Death

noun

1. the act of dying; the end of life; the total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions of an organism. Compare brain death.

2. an instance of this: a death in the family; letters published after his death.

3. the state of being dead: to lie still in death.

4. extinction; destruction: It will mean the death of our hopes.

5. manner of dying: a hero's death.

"dictionary.com"

We all must keep one appointment in life. Some say this appointment was made from the moment we were conceived. No one is exempt. It is a door we all must pass through. It might come at any time and yet we have no plan for it. Young, middle aged or elderly it waits for us all. The famous and not so famous. The grate and near grate.

After assembling most of this article, I am reluctant to post it because it is just too disturbing. I had trouble sleeping the first night after working on it. I confided with another woman about it asking, how could I post this; it’s just too startling. Maybe it was because I had looked at so many photos of the dead which gave me this feeling. I don’t know.

She told me, Felicity you have got to post it. She was very interested in what I was telling her about the dead celebrities I had uncovered on “Google”. I have to confess that I have never seen some of these photos and I remember when some of these people passed away. It is with some reluctance that I have continued with this peace! At any rate, I’ve tried to select only photos which are not excessively gruesome. I also have tried to select only older examples of those who have passed on and not used the latest headliners just to keep some distance between the present and the past.

We all have a morbid curiosity about death and the dead. It is in our entertainment both in motion picture and in our literature. Writer like Edger Allen Poe and Stephen King made death a central theme in their stories and actors such as Vincent Price and Peter Cushing have appeared in a number of horror pictures. Vincent Price who is probably the King in this genera made 101 films of this type.

I will pass along an unusual experience I had when working in the one-hour photo business in the early 1980’s. One day while I was sorting the pictures I had just printed, I was shocked to see the photographs this customer had taken of a dead relative in the casket. I quickly learned this was not unusual for this store. Many Latinos take these kinds of photos when there is a death in the family. I was just hoping these people would not ask me to give their corpses more color or make them look more lifelike!

In past centuries up into the early 1900’s it was customary to hold a “Wake” as part of the funeral ceremony. A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing. It is often a social rite which highlights the idea that the loss is one of a social group and affects that group as a whole. The medical science of these times was not as accurate when it came to death.

Artist depiction of a “Wake”. We see the coffin at the right with a candle while those in attendance

are morning and drinking.

http://askville.amazon.com/picture-funeral/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=10517613

Sometimes the physical state of “Comma” could render a person to appear death like but in fact still might be alive. Fearing the burial of a live loved one could be averted by holding a Wake would allow more time for the deceased to come around was a preferable alternative to burying them alive. Wakes were usually associated with the consumption of beer, whiskey, tobacco and sometimes with bread and cake. Frequently those in attendance at a wake would drink to excess with such instances of mortality before their eyes. This was looked upon as an act of devotion to the deceased.

Life Insurance Salesmen are always ready to talk about death. Have you made plans for your death? Are you ready, they might ask. Talk about the “Grim Reaper”! When I think about my own death I would prefer it to be painless and preferably in my sleep. I’ve heard the pain associated with death is the separation of the mortal soul and the physical body unless there is some other deciding factor such as a knife or bullet wound or a fatal fall.

During the nineteenth century a grief stricken father holds his infant child who has passed. http://www.documentingreality.com/forum/f226/37-momento-mori-pictures-33946/

President John F. Kennedy Autopsy Photo.

http://pinterest.com/karshrimp/famous-post-mortems/

Marilyn Monroe in coffin.

http://pinterest.com/karshrimp/famous-post-mortems/

"Machine Gun" Jack McGurn

Born Vincenzo Antonio Gibaldi, McGurn got his start on the Chicago mob scene by ruthlessly murdering the three mobsters who killed his father. He became an integral part of Al Capone's Chicago Outfit; he was implicated in the planning of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, but was never tried. In 1930, McGurn's name appeared fourth on a list of top 28 public enemies, issued by the Chicago Crime Commission. This made McGurn a liability to the Outfit. On February 16, 1936, McGurn, who by then had become estranged from the mob, was killed by three men with machine guns at a bowling alley.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/photogallery/mob-hits.html?curPhoto=3

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel

A poor Jewish boy who later rose to power through his involvement with the Genovese Crime Family, Bugsy Siegel was a brutal killer and a smart businessman. He headed several bootlegging and racketeering operations, and became a key participant in the development of Las Vegas. On June 20, 1947, Siegel was killed while at the Beverly Hills home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill. He was shot through the window with a .30-caliber military M1 carbine. His killer was never positively identified and no one was charged with the murder.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/photogallery/mob-hits.html?curPhoto=4

Albert Anastasia

A quintessential mobster, Albert Anastasia headed Murder, Inc. and later became boss of the Gambino Family. Anastasia had a knack for evading the law by making witnesses disappear, and sustained a long an illustrious Mafia career from the 1920s all the way until his death in 1957. On October 25, 1957, Anastasia reclined in a barbershop chair, his face covered in warm towels, while his bodyguard parked the car. Two men, their faces covered, entered the shop and opened fire on Anastasia, who in his confusion tried to shoot back but fired at his assailants' reflections in the mirror. There are several theories on who killed Anastasia, but no one was ever charged. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/photogallery/mob-hits.html?curPhoto=8

This is the most famous of execution photographs. At a minute after 11 p.m. on January 12, 1928, Ruth Snyder was led into the death chamber. Sentenced to death for the murder of her husband in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison, New York. When she saw the electric chair, she broke down, and had to be assisted by prison matrons into the chair.

Jesus, have mercy on me, for I have sinned, she sobbed. She prayed, and as the mask went over her face, she said, Jesus, have mercy. Elliott threw the switch, and two minutes later, she was pronounced dead. At the very moment that the current ran through Ruth Snyder, a photographer, with a camera strapped to his leg, photographed her. It is a dramatic, horrifying photograph, and has become famous over the years. Its impact was so great that for all future executions at Sing Sing, witnesses were searched before being allowed into the Death Chamber. (Photo N.Y. Daily News)
http://machinalau.tumblr.com/ and “Wikipedia”

Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) describes alleged cases of the burning of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition. While there have been about 200 cited cases worldwide over a period of around 300 years, most of the alleged cases are characterized by the lack of a thorough investigation, or rely heavily on hearsay and oral testimony. In many of the more recent cases, where photographic evidence is available, it is alleged that there was an external source of heat present (often cigarettes), and nothing occurred “spontaneously.”

Many hypotheses attempt explanations for the various cases of human spontaneous combustion. These generally fall into three groups: Paranormal explanations (e.g., a ghost or divine intervention)

Natural explanations based on an unknown and otherwise unobserved phenomenon (e.g., production of abnormally concentrated gas or raised levels of blood alcohol cause spontaneous ignition)

Natural explanations that involve an external source of ignition (e.g., the victim dropped a cigarette)

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/spontaneous%20human%20combustion?language=ja_JP

DEATH MASKS

Abraham Lincoln.

http://www.zootpatrol.com/index.php/2010/06/death-masks-of-famous-people/

John Dillinger.
http://www.zootpatrol.com/index.php/2010/06/death-masks-of-famous-people/

Napoleon Bonaparte.
http://www.zootpatrol.com/index.php/2010/06/death-masks-of-famous-people/

Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary's death on the execution block, at the hand of Queen Elizabeth was characterised by her dignity, bearing and composure. It was common to strike a mask from the severed head as soon as possible after death. The original appearance of the mask would be white and unembellished. This example, which was found by the late Dr Charles Hepburn of Glasgow, in Peterborough where Mary was first buried, has been hand-painted. http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/Castles/MaryHouse.htm

As we conclude our fora' through the subject of death hopefully we will be better prepared for it's next arrival; or should I say departure. Maybe after viewing these examples of the dead we will feel empowered to live our own lives to the fullest. Perhaps we will be less likely to become ensnared in deaths clutches before it is our time. As the actor Vincent Price might have said in one of his movies, "Sleep well my friends and don't forget to lock your doors tonight"! This has been Felicity for the Noodleman Group.

Rest in peace our dear friend.

http://www.thesocialfirm.com/blog/social-media/deal-death-google-reader/

Below we have one of the most bazaar stories I have ever seen. Do you remember the Congressional debates over automatic weapons earlier this year after the tragedy at "Sandy Hook Elementary"? Is the issue guns or killing itself? This was just one of the dynamics which came to mind as I began to on cover this story. The second is terrorism itself and the religion that has spawned it.

Mum Talked Down Woolwich Terrorists Who Told Her: 'We Want To Start a War In London Tonight'

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett confronts one of the attackers (@dannymckiernan)

Exclusive: A cub scout leader confronted terrorists just seconds after they had beheaded a soldier asking them to hand over their weapons and warning them: "It is only you versus many people, you are going to lose."

“The Telegraph”

By Claire Duffin

9:55PM BST 22 May 2013

A mother-of-two described tonight how she put her own life on the line by trying to persuade the soldier’s murderers to hand over their weapons. Cub scout leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett selflessly engaged the terrorists in conversation and kept her nerve as one of them told her: “We want to start a war in London tonight.”

Mrs Loyau-Kennett, 48, from Cornwall, was one of the first people on the scene after the two Islamic extremists butchered a soldier in Woolwich, south east London. She was photographed by onlookers confronting one of the attackers who was holding a bloodied knife.

Mrs Loyau-Kennett was a passenger on a number 53 bus which was travelling past the scene, and jumped off to check the soldier’s pulse. “Being a cub leader I have my first aid so when I saw this guy on the floor I thought it was an accident then I saw the guy was dead and I could not feel any pulse. “And then when I went up there was this black guy with a revolver and a kitchen knife, he had what looked like butcher’s tools and he had a little axe, to cut the bones, and two large knives and he said 'move off the body’.

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett

“So I thought 'OK, I don’t know what is going on here’ and he was covered with blood. I thought I had better start talking to him before he starts attacking somebody else. I thought these people usually have a message so I said 'what do you want?’ “I asked him if he did it and he said yes and I said why? And he said because he has killed Muslim people in Muslim countries, he said he was a British soldier and I said really and he said 'I killed him because he killed Muslims and I am fed up with people killing Muslims in Afghanistan they have nothing to do there.”

Moments earlier, the killers had hacked at the soldier “like a piece of meat”, and when Mrs Loyau-Kennett arrived on the scene they were roaming John Wilson Street waiting for police to arrive so they could stage a final confrontation.

She said: “I started to talk to him and I started to notice more weapons and the guy behind him with more weapons as well. By then, people had started to gather around. So I thought OK, I should keep him talking to me before he noticed everything around him.

“He was not high, he was not on drugs, he was not an alcoholic or drunk, he was just distressed, upset. He was in full control of his decisions and ready to everything he wanted to do. I said 'right now it is only you versus many people, you are going to lose, what would you like to do?’ and he said I would like to stay and fight.”

The suspect in the black hat then went to speak to someone else and Mrs Loyau-Kennett tried to engage with the other man in the light coat. She said: “The other one was much shier and I went to him and I said 'well, what about you? Would you like to give me what you have in your hands?’ I did not want to say weapons but I thought it was better having them aimed on one person like me rather than everybody there, children were starting to leave school as well.

Mrs Loyau-Kennett was not the only woman to show extraordinary courage. Others shielded the soldier’s body as the killers stood over them. MPs praised the “extraordinary bravery” of the women and raised concerns about why it took armed police 20 minutes to arrive at the scene while people’s lives were at risk.

According to a security source the delay in the armed police response is “particularly surprising” because there is a heavily armed police presence at Woolwich Crown Court, which is just two and a half miles away.

Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, said: “We are all grateful for the local people who responded so quickly.

“I do want to pay tribute to them [members of the public] – I think what they have done is extraordinarily brave and courageous. “It shows the spirit of London that people are just not prepared to allow an attack of this kind. I pay tribute to what they have done.”

Patrick Mercer MP, a former army officer and former shadow counter terrorism minister, paid tribute to the people who shielded the body of the soldier. He said: “This is courage of the highest order, it sounds as if these members of the public are not soldiers, not policemen, not people whose duties demand this, they are extremely courageous people and that courage deserves to be recognised at the highest level.”

Robert Buckland, a Conservative member of the justice select committee, said: “If it is the case [that police took 20 minutes to arrive] it is very worrying. If there was any unwarranted delay then that that needs to be investigated.”

“The Telegraph”

Who is Michael Adebolajo?

By CNN.com staff

May 24, 2013 -- Updated 1706 GMT (0106 HKT)

MI5 will be quizzed in Parliament about what they knew about Michael Adebolajo, a recent Muslim

convert, and his co-attacker.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/woolwich-attack/53188/woolwich-attack-london-terror-david-cameron-military-murder-Michael-Adebolajo

(CNN) -- British police have arrested four people in relation to the brutal killing of British soldier Lee Rigby in southeast London on Wednesday. The two men suspected of hitting the 25-year-old machine gunner with a car and then hacking him to death in broad daylight were later shot by police and are being treated for gunshot wounds at separate hospitals. Another man is being held on "suspicion of conspiracy to murder."

But much of the world's attention has been focused on the suspect who approached a camera brandishing a bloody meat cleaver after the attack and declared: "This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Friends, acquaintances and British media identified him as 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo, a British national of Nigerian descent. According to British media reports, Adebolajo was born in Lambeth, London, and grew up in Romford, in the nearby county of Essex.

The Guardian newspaper reported that he had attended Marshalls Park School, Havering Sixth Form College and then Greenwich University.

Adebolajo is understood to have converted to Islam in about 2003. His friend of some seven years, Abu Barra said Adebolajo became passionate about his new faith. The friends shared an extremist philosophy fueled by perceived injustice in Iraq and Afghanistan, Barra told CNN's Dan Rivers.

Barra described his friend as a "very caring" man who "just wanted to help everybody." He was also "very vocal" about his feelings that Muslims were being oppressed -- injustices he pinned, in part, on the British government.

"I wasn't surprised that it happened," Barra said of Wednesday's attack. "... Britain is only responsible, the government. And I believe all of us, as a public, we are responsible. We should condemn ourselves, why we did not do enough to stop these wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan."

British Muslim radical leader Anjem Choudary told CNN that he also knew Adebolajo, who he said had attended demonstrations and a few lectures organized by his group Al-Muhajiroun.

An ITN video from April 2007 shows Adebolajo standing behind Choudary at a rally protesting the arrest of men who allegedly made inflammatory speeches inside a mosque. Al-Muhajiroun's founder Omar Bakri Mohammed told CNN in an interview from Lebanon that he had also been acquainted with Adebolajo, knowing him by his Muslim name "Muhahid." Bakri said that although they did not have many interactions, Adebolajo stood out because he was a new convert to the religion.

Adebolajo had attended several talks and rallies in London between 2003 and 2004, Bakri said, and had asked several questions about Islam. "It was on why we don't sit with non-Muslims and how to perform prayer and so on," Bakri told CNN. He said Adebolajo had also raised questions relating to the purpose of life and appeared to feel Islam provided "fundamental answers."

As a Nigerian convert, Adebolajo had been particularly impressed that Islam was a brotherhood between all races "whites, black and Arabs," Bakri said. He described Adebolajo as "quiet and shy" and highly respectful of him.

All young men in the meetings were angered by the Iraq war and that would have included Adebolajo, Bakri said. He said his view was that Adebolajo's method of attack showed "he really believed he was attacking a military target."

However, a former girlfriend told the Independent Adebolajo had been "really friendly and really polite and there was never anything to suggest he would be caught up with anything like this. "CNN understands spies at the British security service MI5 were aware of Adebolajo and his alleged accomplice while investigating other terrorist plots, but that there was nothing to indicate either men were about to strike.

"CNN"