Weird News Thread ....

[Jolie Rouge]

Fate of Storm-Damaged Trees in Ky. Unknown
By ROGER ALFORD

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...37.htm&sc=1501

MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service and environmentalists may be moving closer to a conflict on whether logging should be permitted in the northern portion of the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Federal officials gave guided tours of the forest near Morehead on Friday to explain why they believe the logging is necessary. They say it would improve the overall quality of the Daniel Boone. Environmentalists, who have practiced tree-sitting drills, are opposed to cutting the trees. ``The forest has taken care of itself for millions of years,'' said Sarah Mincey, a member of the environmental group Kentucky Heartwood. ``To say that we need to log thousands of acres of forest goes too far.''

Mincey, one of about 30 people who toured a section of forest damaged by a recent storm, said that an army of environmentalists have already trained to sit in trees to prevent loggers from cutting them. ``The forest is an entity that can't speak for itself,'' she said. ``We are willing to stand up for it.''


District Forester Dave Manner said the Forest Service has proposed cutting the most severely damaged trees on 12,570 acres. Manner said cutting the trees will help the Daniel Boone recover from the storm and make it less susceptible to droughts and insect infestations. The proposal calls for commercial logging on about 4,845 acres of the forest and the noncommercial cutting of trees on about 7,725 additional acres, he said.


The ice storm, which occurred on Feb. 15, 2003, deposited up to 2 inches of ice on tree limbs causing many of them to break off and fall to the ground. The result, some 18 months later, is mountainsides covered with odd-shaped trees with dense foliage. Manner said that many of the damaged trees might die because they could not withstand damage from drought and disease.


Bob Bauer, head of the Kentucky Forest Industries Association, said the Daniel Boone National Forest has suffered from a lack of management. He said that attacks by environmentalists have tied the hands of federal foresters, who have tried to implement initiatives to benefit the forest. ``We're just in favor of management that will keep the forest healthy,'' said Bauer, who represents lumber companies across the state.


Bauer said that he hopes the damaged trees can be salvaged before they decay and lose their value. Manner said the proposal to cut the trees must survive a period of public comment before it will be considered for approval. That public comment period is now under way. Manner said the proposal could be changed, based on objections and alternatives offered by the public.


Forester Paul Finke said cutting the trees would help the forest to recover so that future generations can enjoy the Daniel Boone. Finke said if action isn't taken, the forest could lose a large percentage of its oak trees. That's critical, he said, because acorns from the oak trees are a major food source for animals living in the forest.


Manner said he hopes all sides in the dispute will agree on what should be done to improve the forest so that environmentalists don't have to resort to sitting in trees. He said it would be a law enforcement issue if that happens.
``Hopefully,'' Manner said, ``it will not come to that.''



05/17/04 16:02

[Jolie Rouge]

Hurt Climber Rescued on Mt. Rainier DiesEnroute To Hospital

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...0545334863.htm



TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - A climber injured in a fall on Mount Rainier was plucked from high on the north slope by a rescue helicopter, but died before reaching a hospital, authorities said. Peter Cooley, 39, had been rescued from the 12,300-foot level of the 14,410-foot mountain southeast of here.



Cooley fell 30 feet early Saturday on Liberty Ridge - one of the most difficult routes up the mountain. His climbing partner, Scott Richards, 42, was able to reach him, set up a tent and call for help on a cell phone.

When the clouds parted briefly Monday evening, an Oregon Army National Guard Chinook helicopter swept and winched the injured climber aboard. ``Although we were able to get him off the mountain late this afternoon he did die en route'' to Madigan Army Medical Center, Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Lee Taylor said Monday night.


After Cooley's fall, the two men, both from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, were stranded on a 45-degree slope with steep and rocky terrain above and below them. Temperatures dipped below zero in whiteout conditions. ``There couldn't be a worse place on the mountain to try to do a rescue; it's very extreme terrain,'' Taylor said before the attempt.


Ranger Stefan Lofgren, who was involved in the rescue, praised Richards' efforts in caring for his friend. ``In that environment, if you can imagine taking care of somebody - digging a flat spot, boiling water, trying to ration your food, ration your water, keep yourself warm - he did an amazing job.''


Cooley had been reported in stable condition Monday afternoon but was exhibiting signs of a life-threatening head injury and also appeared to have some sort of shoulder and leg injuries, park spokeswoman Patti Wold said. He was in and out of consciousness, incoherent and agitated.


Earlier Monday, two park rangers had reached the climbers by foot but park officials said then it did not appear rescue was likely until Tuesday because of the steep terrain. Then the clouds rolled way long enough for the helicopter rescue.


Cooley and Richards were described as experienced climbers who had scaled Rainier before. In 2001, they tried to climb Liberty Ridge, but bad weather forced them to take an easier route.


Cooley's aunt, Kristi Witker, of New York City, earlier described him as ``an excellent mountain climber'' but added that ``in my last conversation with him, I said, 'Please give up mountain climbing. You're just getting to that point where you've been so lucky and nothing's ever happened, but luck runs out.


' ``


On the Net:

Mount Rainier National Park: www.nps.gov/mora



05/18/04 05:45

[Jolie Rouge]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/18/te....ap/index.html

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 Posted: 11:15 AM EDT (1515 GMT)

LLICOTT CITY, Maryland (AP) -- A teenager has been convicted of first-degree murder for spiking a romantic rival's soda with cyanide. Ryan Furlough, 19, faces a maximum penalty of life without parole. Jurors deliberated about 2 1/2 hours before returning the verdict Monday.

Benjamin Vassiliev, 17, died January 8, 2003, five days after he had a seizure at Furlough's suburban Baltimore home, where the two had been playing video games in the basement, prosecutors said. Furlough laced his friend's drink with the poison because he was in love with Vassiliev's girlfriend, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Joe Murtha said Furlough was taking an "excessive dosage" of Effexor, an anti-depressant that some experts say can increase suicidal thinking in adolescents.

"Something happened to Ryan Furlough that altered his ability to appreciate his own actions," Murtha said.

Vassiliev's father, Walter, said the verdict was just. "I think this whole case was about good versus evil. ... (Benjamin) was the personification and embodiment of everything that is good," he said.

Furlough was scheduled to be sentenced July 20.

[Jolie Rouge]

N.Y. Among Finalists for 2012 Olympics

By STEPHEN WILSON


LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - New York and four European capitals - London, Madrid, Moscow and Paris - were selected as finalists Tuesday in the race to host the 2012 Olympics. Four cities failed to make the cut: Havana; Istanbul, Turkey; Leipzig, Germany, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The field was trimmed by the International Olympic Committee executive board based on a report assessing the technical capabilities of the nine cities.

The unanimous decision, announced by IOC president Jacques Rogge, kicks off a 14-month race culminating with the selection of the host city by the full IOC assembly in Singapore in July 2005.

Four cities - Paris, London, Madrid and New York - were considered virtually certain of making the list. Moscow was the wild card, benefiting from its experience as host of the 1980 Olympics.


Paris came out on top in the IOC report based on an overall weighting of 11 technical criteria, ranging from infrastructure to security. Madrid was a close second, followed by London, New York and Moscow. Then came Leipzig, Rio, Istanbul and Havana.


The IOC report expressed ``a high level of confidence'' that Paris, New York, London and Madrid can host the games, but said it was ``less certain'' about Moscow's credentials. The other four, it said, ``do not have the requisite level of capability at this time.''


Geography favors a European city for 2012 after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Asia (Beijing) and 2010 Winter Games in North America (Vancouver, British Columbia).


New York, which has never held the Olympics, has to contend with anti-American sentiment fueled by the invasion of Iraq, as well as the geographical disadvantage of the 2010 games in Canada. The IOC is often reluctant to award consecutive Olympics to the same continent.


``Our 10-year Olympic dream has today taken a critical step forward,'' New York bid leader Dan Doctoroff said.


Asked about the geographical issues, he said, ``The conventional wisdom is frequently wrong. We're just happy to be where we are right now.''


Paris, which hosted the Olympics in 1900 and 1924, is viewed as the front-runner. The French capital successfully hosted soccer's World Cup in 1998 and the world track and field championships in 2003, and is seen by IOC members as having paid its dues after failed bids for the 1992 and 2008 Olympics.


``Our experience with previous bids has taught us a great deal about the needs and aspirations of the IOC,'' Paris bid chief Philippe Baudillon said. ``We firmly believe that Paris will meet those needs.''


London, which staged the games in 1908 and 1948, is considered a main challenger with a bid featuring several famous sports venues and tourist landmarks - including tennis at Wimbledon and triathlon in Hyde Park.


``I am not surprised we have cleared this important first hurdle,'' British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London. ``A huge amount of work has gone into ensuring London's bid will deliver a memorable games.''


Madrid is the only major European capital that has never hosted the Olympics, though Barcelona staged the 1992 games.


``We have been placed on the same level as major cities,'' Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon said. ``From now on we are going to have to be more demanding with ourselves.''


Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said the Russian capital is a ``risk-free choice for 2012.''


There were no major surprises in the elimination of four cities.


Leipzig was at a disadvantage because of its small size and shortage of hotel accommodations. Istanbul, making a fourth straight bid, didn't make much of an impact.


Rio, hoping to become the first city in South America to host the Olympics, has a major crime problem. In addition, Brazil is likely to be awarded soccer's 2014 World Cup - it would be a major challenge to host both events so close to each other.


``If we could not take up the candidates of Turkey, Cuba, Germany or Brazil, it was absolutely not an indication we do not trust these countries,'' Rogge said. ``It's just that their file at this time was not considered good enough.''


The nine bidders had been listed as ``applicant cities.'' Those accepted became official candidate cities. Each finalist must pay the IOC $500,000 to help cover the cost of the remaining judging and selection process.


An IOC evaluation commission will compile a thorough report on the bids before the Singapore meeting. Since the Salt Lake City bid scandal, IOC members are banned from visiting bid cities.


Immediately after Tuesday's announcement, British bookmaker William Hill installed Paris as the favorite at odds of 11-10, followed by London 5-4, Madrid 7-1, New York 8-1 and Moscow 20-1.



05/18/04 13:10

[Jolie Rouge]

Britney Cheated. And Now She Has to Pay

When you take another woman's man--especially a woman who is seven months pregnant--look out! As previously reported in What's New, Britney Spears has been going out with one of her dancers, 27-year-old Kevin Federline, whose girlfriend is former "Moesha" star Shar Jackson. Shar and Kevin, who have a 2-year-old daughter named Kori, are expecting a son in July. Now Shar is striking back--publicly.

In a candid interview, Shar told Us Weekly that Britney and Kevin deserve each other because they both smoke, drink, and cheated. Federline, who is a Justin Timberlake look-alike, did more than smoke, drink, and cheat. He also lied to Shar, telling her he was going to Japan to shoot a Coke commercial when he was really following Britney to London when she kicked off her European tour. When the pregnant Shar found out the truth, she landed in a hospital with stress-induced weight loss, reports Us Weekly.

"She can't wreck a home by herself, but if you're a real woman and you find out someone you're seeing has extra baggage, you say, 'Go home and take care of your business.' If she and Kevin want to be a couple, then that's fine with me. But there are two little kids she better be prepared to baby-sit," she told Us Weekly. "They might be perfect for each other. You both smoke, you both drink, and you both cheated on significant others after three years. You guys are made for each other. Have a good life." Burn.

[Jolie Rouge]

What Birds See That We Humans Can't

How do birds have such an accurate sense of direction during their migratory flights? Scientists from Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg and the University of California, Irvine concluded that they may be able to see the Earth's magnetic lines as patterns of color or light intensity superimposed on their visual surroundings--a kind of avian magnetic compass.

In a news release announcing the findings, co-author John B. Phillips of Virginia Tech noted that any effect of the Earth's magnetic field on a photoreceptor's response to light is expected to be extraordinarily weak--so weak that the possibility of such effects have been largely ignored until now. But animals have developed specialized visual systems. "Some animals can see ultraviolet light. Some animals can see polarized light," Phillips said.

Phillips' research over two decades has shown that some animals' magnetic "compass" sense involves a light-dependent mechanism. Writing in the journal Nature, he reports evidence that the Earth's magnetic field is sensed by light-absorbing molecules in the retina of a bird's' eye. These changes in the response to light may depend on the alignment of the Earth's magnetic field relative to the photopigment molecules in the eye, producing a "visual" pattern that could be used to obtain directional ("compass") information from the magnetic field, he said.

[Jolie Rouge]

'Saturday Night Live' Star Actor Quits

Jimmy Fallon has bid farewell to "Saturday Night Live" to do what almost every other "SNL" player does when he or she walks off that stage: Go to Hollywood and become a movie star.

At the end of Saturday's "Weekend Update" segment with Tina Fey, Fallon announced that he was leaving the comedy show. "I'm Jimmy Fallon," he said on the show. "I might as well say thanks; this is my last show. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow." Now 29, Fallon joined the "SNL" troupe in 1998 and soon emerged as the show's breakout star. "Being a cast member on 'Saturday Night Live' was a childhood dream come true," Fallon told The New York Post.

Fallon will co-star with Queen Latifah and Gisele Bundchen in "Taxi," which premieres on Oct. 9. It tells the story of a rookie cop who tries to solve a string of bank robberies. He's also scheduled to be a presenter at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, which will air June 10.

[Jolie Rouge]

Low-Carb or Low-Fat? Surprising Info

If you want to lose weight fast, go on a low-carbohydrate diet, but depriving yourself of bread, potatoes, and pasta will work no better for the long haul than a low-fat diet, reports Reuters of two new studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Both studies showed that low-carb dieters lost more weight in the first six months, but after 12 months, both low-carb and low-fat dieters shed about the same amount of pounds--11 to 19 pounds for the low-carb group and 7 to 19 pounds for the low-fat group.

The takeaway: Any diet that cuts calories will work.

"Americans are overweight because we're eating too much food and ingesting too many calories," said Dr. Linda Stern, the leader of the study team at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia that followed 132 obese adults who were randomly assigned to either a low-carb diet or a low-fat diet.

In the second study at Duke University, 120 overweight people on low-carb and low-fat diets were followed for six months. Those on the low-carb diet lost an average of 26 pounds, compared with 14 pounds for those on a low-fat diet. "We can no longer dismiss very-low-carbohydrate diets," Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health wrote in a commentary in the Annals of Internal Medicine. More research is needed to determine if low-carb diets are safe in the long term.

Each diet offers a distinct health advantage beyond weight loss. Low-carb dieters who had diabetes were better able to control their blood sugar levels, while low-fat dieters lowered their cholesterol levels, which reduces the risk of heart disease.

[Jolie Rouge]

News in the Nude

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...d&idq=/ff/stor y/0002%2F20040518%2F1003343080.htm&sc=reodd

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian producer is poised to unveil Spanish versions of its Internet and cable television news show, in which anchors deliver the day's top stories in the buff, this week, company officials say.

Naked Broadcasting Network Inc., which has produced "Naked News" in English since 1999, teamed up with Florida-based APA International Film Distributors Inc. for two versions of "Noticias al Desnudo," or Naked News, executive producer David Warga said Monday. "One version is a fully nude Naked News program dubbed into Spanish," Warga said. "The second version is the exact same but with the pubic area pixilated out for more conservative markets."

Warga said he hopes to attract Spanish-speaking viewers on the Internet and on cable throughout the United States and Latin America. Portuguese and French editions are expected soon, Naked News said.



05/18/04 10:03

[Jolie Rouge]

Boy Punches Alligator and Escapes

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...=20040408SA101




DELTONA, Fla. (AP) - An alligator dragged a 12-year-old swimmer underwater in a lake, but the boy punched the reptile and swam safely to shore. Malcolm Locke was treated for cuts and scrapes that were not considered life threatening.

He was bit while swimming Wednesday in Lake Diana, near his grandmother's house just north of Orlando. He saw the alligator's tail first, he said. ``It was coming right at me,'' he told NBC's ``Today'' show Thursday.


Malcolm, who is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, tried to swim away, but the alligator, which was 4 to 6 feet long, attacked his head and pulled him under water, officials said. ``It took a bite out of my head and a big chunk out of my ear,'' Malcolm said.


He punched the alligator, and ``it just squirmed away,'' he said. He swam to shore, and a neighbor drove him to a hospital. A trapper was sent to the lake to remove the alligator. The boy's mother, Misty Warren, said the family has seen alligators in the area before, but none had ever bothered them.


The best thing to do during an alligator attack is struggle, make noise and create confusion, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. ``Malcolm did the right thing,'' Hill said. ``He fought the alligator and it let him go.''



05/20/04 10:03

[Jolie Rouge]

Jail Imposes Dress Code for Visitors

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...40.htm&sc=1120

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Guards at the St. Joseph County Jail are doing double duty as fashion police, enforcing new regulations that prohibit visitors from wearing scanty attire.

The new rules are on a sign posted at the jail entrance, the South Bend Tribune reported Tuesday. See-through tops, mini skirts and short shorts are out, and underwear is required to remain invisible. Hats also are banned, since they can be used to smuggle items into the jail or may be a gang emblem. ``A lot of people have gotten away with inappropriate clothing in the past. Hopefully this will prevent it,'' said Keith Rininger, director of inmate services at the jail.

Warm weather brings out more bare skin, but sometimes visitors bare even more, officials say. ``We've had women flash the men they come in to see,'' Rininger said.

In the confines of a jail, such behavior can cause problems, he said. ``I don't know how to put it delicately, but when men are locked up for a long time and they see their girlfriend, or their wife, or someone else's girlfriend, it can cause tension. That's not a good thing in this kind of environment,'' he said.



05/19/04 07:34