Weird News Thread ....

[Jolie Rouge]

Hospital Covers Image of Virgin Mary

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...1.htm&sc=reodd

BOSTON (Reuters) - Faced with a rush of pilgrims, a Massachusetts hospital on Thursday said it would cover a shimmering image of the Virgin Mary in the window of an office building for most of the day to avoid further disruption.

On Wednesday evening hospital staffers lowered a weighted tarp from the roof over the window where believers say the mother of Jesus Christ gazes down on them. The image was first seen last week.

"We asked people to visit the window only between 5:30 and 8:30 in the evening so that the crowds won't interfere with hospital activities. But that wasn't working and so we made the decision to uncover the window only during those hours," said Susan Schepici, a spokeswoman at Milton Hospital.

Still people are flocking to the community hospital at all hours, Schepici said, counting about 30 people staring at the covered window this morning.


"It doesn't seem to matter if it is covered or not. We have had a steady stream of between 50 and 100 people during the last few days and the crowd grows to about 200 at night. People bring flashlights to see the image," she said.


The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that hospital officials say the image is made by a chemical deposit inside the window, but Schepici said the hospital has "no official position with respect to the issue of an apparition."


Last weekend after the image was first discovered, roughly 25,000 visited the hospital, 10 miles south of Boston and hospital staffers expected another flood of visitors this weekend.



06/23/03 09:37


{{ I have a picture of this from my local paper -- I have to say, I don't see a "Madonna". In fact - it looks more like a Reaper image than anything. If anyone can locate & post this; I would like some other opinions.****

[Jolie Rouge]

Pamela Anderson's Anime Alter Ego: 'Stripperella'
By Steve Gorman

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...5.htm&sc=reodd

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former "Baywatch" beauty Pamela Anderson is making her animation debut as a superhero who dances in a strip club, but she demanded and received a no-nudity clause for her cartoon alter ego.

As a result, the upcoming cable series "Stripperella" features lots of cartoon cleavage and sexual innuendo -- she is after all "Secret Agent 69" -- but Anderson insists the show could be rated PG.

"It's harmless. It's only a cartoon," the actress told Reuters in a recent interview to promote the series, created by Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee, the man who beefed up the Hulk and had Spider-Man climbing walls.

"We came up with a concept, and we just kind of made it really, really silly, and we both can't believe it's going to be on the air."


The series is due to premiere June 26 on TNN, the Viacom Inc.-owned cable channel planning -- despite a legal challenge -- to relaunch itself this month as Spike TV, with a new slate of programming tailored to men.


The show's concept is pretty simple. It centers on buxom exotic dancer Erotica Jones, an Anderson-esque character voiced by the actress who leads a double life as the masked superhero Stripperella. She's a stripper by night, a crime fighter by later at night and the cartoon character even has the same tatoos as the real-life Anderson.


BUXOM CRIME FIGHTER


Using her sex appeal to cloud the minds of male crooks, she comes equipped with special gadgets, such as her lipstick laser and wall-climbing stiletto heels. Her breasts are natural lie detectors and her legs are powerful weapons she wraps around the heads of her foes in a move she calls the "scissor-ella."



"I'm very proud of Stripperella," Anderson says. "She's my alter ego -- strong, smart and sexy and, let's face it, a bit of a slut."


In the premiere episode, Stripperella battles the evil plastic surgeon Dr. Cesarian, who is deliberately ruining the figures of supermodels and has "booby-trapped" his latest victim with an exploding breast implant.


Still, Anderson said the series is far from pornographic and at her insistence contains no nudity -- employing cartoon pixilation and other devices to keep the body parts blurred and the animation tasteful.


For example, "I do a dance in a martini glass, and the bubbles are strategically placed," she said.


A number of celebrities lend their voices to some of the recurring characters, including Mark Hamill of "Star Wars" fame and Anderson's boyfriend Kid Rock, who also wrote and performs the theme song.


Canadian-born Anderson, 35, sprang to world fame as lifeguard CJ Parker on the TV series "Baywatch" and went on to produce and star in the syndicated TV series "V.I.P.," playing a beautiful celebrity bodyguard.


LICENSING IMAGE


This week, she signed a partnership agreement with United Licensing Group to develop brand merchandise such as lingerie, jewelry, swimsuits and jeans that will carry a Pamela Anderson designer label, according to her manager, Hedda Moye.


Moye said the licensing deal and a new Web site are part of Anderson's plan to develop business ventures that allow her to cash in on her celebrity while spending more time at home with her two young sons, Brandon, 7, and Dylan, 5.


Anderson said her kids have seen early clips from her cartoon series but take it all in stride, with Brandon comparing her unfavorably to "Rugrats" character Angelica Pickles. "He said, 'Angelica is a very good actor, a very good character, and she's much more famous than you, Mom,"' Anderson recalled with a laugh.


TNN officials said on Thursday they will proceed with plans to roll out new programming this month despite a court injunction, sparked by a lawsuit from filmmaker Spike Lee, barring the network name change to Spike TV.



06/23/03 12:36



{{ I wonder if we can find Fugie a "Stripperella" action figure ?****

[Jolie Rouge]

Kenyan Masai Warriors Kill Marauding Lions


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan Masai warriors have speared to death nine lions in Nairobi's national park since May in revenge for killing their livestock, government officials said on Friday.

The nomadic Masai tribesmen, who live and graze their livestock near the boundaries of the park killed the lions after losing six cows, seven goats, seven sheep and a donkey.

"Security is on the ground investigating. The Kenya Wildlife Service has stepped up patrols in the area," Newton Kulundu, environment and natural resources minister, told Reuters.

Wildlife conservationists accuse the Masai of cutting up the lions and pocketing their manes, tails, claws and teeth for trophies or for sale.


Kulundu said Masai and wild animals have come into increasing contact in the past few years as the tribe has grown and moved to areas populated by wild animals.


The minister said during the rainy season, wild herbivores move out of the parks in search of fresh pastures, leading the carnivores behind.


"At this time of the year there is normally an overgrowth of grass because of the rains. Herbivores don't eat the lush grass and move away to drier areas and the lions follow them," he said.



06/23/03 09:29

nomadic Masai tribesmen, who live and graze their livestock near the boundaries of the park killed the lions after losing six cows, seven goats, seven sheep and a donkey.

Wildlife conservationists accuse the Masai of cutting up the lions and pocketing their manes, tails, claws and teeth for trophies or for sale.

Do you blame them ? The lions ate their livestock -- a large amount of $$'s worth at that. So the Masai eat the lions and sale the reast to purchase replacement stock. {{hums "The Circle of Life...****

[janelle]

I didn't know anything about it but for me it would just be interesting unless it did something like talk or have blood coming from it. I have an image on my closet door that looks like ET. The grain of the wood came out that way. It's just interesting unless it started pointing it's finger. Yikes.

If some people take solice from these things I guess it doesn't hurt but no one should make a profit from it.

[Jolie Rouge]

'Forgetful' U.S. Hiker Caught in Child Custody Ruse


KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - An elderly man found hiking in rugged parkland who claimed he had been robbed and didn't know his name has been identified, and park rangers said he acknowledged he was actually hiding from child welfare authorities.

Jack Bowles, 76, was identified on Friday after a chest X-ray revealed the serial number on his pacemaker, a week after he was discovered by other hikers struggling up a muddy embankment clutching a sleeping bag and a pillow in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee.

Nancy Gray, a spokeswoman for the park, said he had not been charged with any crime, but a charge of providing authorities with false information could apply.

Gray said Bowles' wife, Mary, admitted she dropped him off at the park's Chimney Tops trail for a week-long stay to avoid child welfare authorities in their home state of West Virginia, where they were caring for a relative's two young children.


"The couple thought if (welfare authorities) believed he no longer lived in the home, that Mrs. Bowles could continue to have custody of the two children," Gray said after talking to the couple. It was unclear why the couple felt he should hide from welfare authorities.


Bowles told park rangers that he suffered from amnesia after being kidnapped by two men, robbed and left in the park, Gray said, adding he was fortunate to have been found because he lacked food and proper clothing.

"The plan that she would come back in a week, honk the horn, and they would be reunited, is just not quite understandable," Gray said.



06/23/03 09:29

[Jolie Rouge]

NY Bar Owners Unplug Lottery to Protest Smoking Ban

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - Still steamed over a looming smoking ban, some New York bar and restaurant owners hit the state where it hurts -- in the pocketbook.

They unplugged the lottery machines in their establishments.

This week's coordinated cutting off of Quick Draw Lottery machines is costing the state $1 million in lost revenues, according to Scott Wexler, head of the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association which represents more than 3,000 bars and eateries across the state.

Wexler predicted that about 10 percent of bar and restaurant owners will ultimately be forced to close because of lost business due to the anti-smoking law, which is considered one of the most restrictive in the nation.


State lottery officials, however, countered that only $49,233 has been lost in the boycott, according to spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman.


Lottery machines were also turned off in protest by many restaurant and bar owners in May when the statewide law was passed. Game sales dropped by 18 percent.


The Quick Draw lottery game is a popular bar and restaurant game in which numbers are played and picked every 10 minutes.


The game brings in $475 million a year in revenues for the state Lottery Division, said Hapeman, adding this week's protest was losing momentum and that less than 100 machines were now off-line.


In a last-ditch lobbying effort, restaurant and tavern owners are trying to convince state lawmakers to allow smoking in their establishments if separate rooms are provided.


New York City banned smoking in all restaurants and bars on March 30.



06/23/03 09:29

[Jolie Rouge]

I didn't know anything about it but for me it would just be interesting unless it did something like talk or have blood coming from it. I have an image on my closet door that looks like ET. The grain of the wood came out that way. It's just interesting unless it started pointing it's finger. Yikes.

If some people take solice from these things I guess it doesn't hurt but no one should make a profit from it.

Janelle -- we are talking about the "Madonna" image, right ?

I agree with you -- I am a devoted Catholic, and I don't think I would be crowding over there eigther. At least the hospital isn't trying to sell tickets are some such nonsense; I think they have the right idea : make it available but in such a way as it doesn't disrupt regular business & traffic.

[Jolie Rouge]

California Woman Helps Bring Funerals to the Home
By Michael Kahn

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...3.htm&sc=reodd

SEBASTOPOL, Calif. (Reuters) - Want to know how to keep a corpse fresh during a do-it-yourself funeral? Wondering how to build a coffin for a dearly departed loved one?

Jerri Lyons has answers to these and other questions for people looking to conduct home funerals. She dispenses to-die-for advice ranging from the legalities of getting a body home from the morgue to the basics of bathing a corpse.

In running seminars on how people can care for their own dead, Lyons, 55, and her nonprofit group Final Passages have become leaders in a small but burgeoning movement that seeks to provide a more compassionate and cheaper alternative to mainstream funeral practices.

"We prepare for other rites of passage like weddings and births," Lyons told a group of about a dozen people who gathered in her northern California home recently to learn more about home funerals. "Not a lot of people prepare for death."


On a recent sunny morning Lyons started the meeting of mostly women attendees by asking why they wanted to spend the day talking about death and dying. The courses cost $35 to $375 depending on length.


A self-described psychic said she talks with angels and simply wanted more information while another woman asked whether it is legal to build a funeral pyre on private property as she prepared for the eventual death of an older lover.


"I want to be buried in the land I've been taking care of," said another participant named Pam. "There is more spirituality when I do it myself."


Others said they wanted to make sure they don't burden surviving loved ones. A lawyer serving a rural community wanted to pick up information for an increasing number of clients who inquire about home funerals and burials.


A middle-aged woman named Cheryl said funeral homes are a big rip-off and that she wants to make sure people remember her life rather than her death. "I want to plan the way I go out," she said. "I just want my life to be celebrated."


ICE OFTEN CRUCIAL


The day-long seminar covers everything from wading through the complexities of taking a body from the morgue or hospital to properly placing ice on a corpse to keep it fresh.


For less than 24 hours, ice may not be needed but families usually need to cool a body if it is exposed longer, Lyons told the group. Ice is also crucial for longer vigils to ensure liquids do not come out through the mouth, although she adds it is always possible to improvise.


"I've had a number of people use frozen vegetables," Lyons said and warned the group about other pitfalls. For example, she said one family put too much padding in a coffin and were unable to close it when they loaded the body inside.


There are also slide shows and videos showing families painting caskets, preparing bodies for memorials and eventually loading them into a car for the final trip to the crematorium.


Lyons turned to her current career after the 1994 death of a close friend whose will instructed that her body not be taken to a mortuary and instead be cared for at home.


This first experience with a home funeral showed Lyons that carrying out intimate acts such as bathing and dressing her deceased friend actually made it easier to deal with the loss.


"It helped us with our mourning and grieving," Lyons said. "It made it more meaningful because we were the ones touching her body instead of turning her over to some strangers she didn't know."


DO-IT-YOURSELF FOR LESS


With a mortuary funeral costing an estimated $5,000 compared to a do-it-yourself home version that can run as low as a few hundred dollars, Lyons' supporters say it is easy to see why more people are looking at home funerals.


Joshua Slocum, a director of Funeral Consumers Alliance, said he has no figures for how many Americans conduct home funerals each year but predicts the numbers are growing.


"We are getting more calls all the time," said Slocum, who noted it is legal to bring a body home in 45 out of 50 U.S. states. "Some people are growing disenchanted with the cost of funerals and the anonymity and sterility of releasing a loved one to a sterile, commercial environment."


The home funeral movement, however, is not likely to drive a stake into the well-established death-care industry, according to analyst William Burns of Johnson Rice in New Orleans, who follows publicly traded funeral home companies.


Instead, the biggest problem facing the nation's 23,000 funeral homes is what he called a soft mortality rate due in part to a weak flu season the past few years.



06/23/03 09:28

[Jolie Rouge]

After reading the next article, the one preceding doesn't sound as bad .....


Ohio Funeral Home to Close Amid Probe

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...17.htm&sc=1110

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - The operator of a funeral home where eight decomposing bodies were found agreed to temporarily shut down the business, the mayor's office said Monday.

Sherrill-Harden Funeral Home will close Wednesday. Mayor Jack Ford asked owner Henry Harden to stop operating while investigators look into what happened, said Megan Vahey, the mayor's spokeswoman.

The eight embalmed bodies apparently had been left in the funeral home's garage and back room over the past few months, and some had been mauled by rodents, officials said.

DNA tests were planned to determine the identities of the bodies.


The funeral home was searched Friday after authorities received at least two anonymous tips, including one from someone who identified himself or herself as a funeral home employee, according to Ford.


Harden had not returned any of several messages seeking comment Monday.


No charges have been filed.



06/23/03 22:44

[Jolie Rouge]

63% of Americans Can't Do It.

Can You?


Nearly two-thirds of all Americans cannot name just one Supreme Court justice, according to a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by www.FindLaw.com.

Before you scroll and find out the names of all nine justices, try to name one of them. Less than 1 percent of Americans can name all nine.

Of the 35 percent who were able to name one of these powerful judges
-- after all, they did determine the outcome of the 2000 election -- these are the justices they most frequently identified in descending order:

Sandra Day O'Connor: 25 percent

Clarence Thomas: 21 percent

William Rehnquist: 10 percent

Antonin Scalia: 9 percent

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: 9 percent

David Souter: 4 percent

Anthony Kennedy: 4 percent

Stephen Breyer: 2 percent

John Paul Stevens: 1 percent


"The results of the survey are disappointing, but not surprising," Stephen Presser, a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law, told FindLaw.com. "I suspect that the American public generally believes that it doesn't really matter much who serves on the Supreme Court, because they believe the Court is objectively applying the Constitution and laws when it makes a decision. The truth of the matter is, it makes an enormous amount of difference who serves on the Court. Our political parties are very much divided over whether judges should passively follow the law or legislate from the bench, with President Bush committed to appointing judges who will promise not to legislate from the bench, and Senate Democrats committed to opposing his nominees. This is an issue that ought to be of great concern to the public, but really hasn't attracted much attention."




The Supreme Court has ruled that telemarketers can be prosecuted for fraud when they do THIS. Click to find out what it is.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/05/sc...ers/index.html

[Jolie Rouge]

Man Charged With Tossing Baby Out Window


PEEKSKILL, N.Y. (AP) - A man was arrested Monday and charged with tossing his baby daughter out a seventh-floor apartment window, police said.

The 10-month-old girl survived the 80-foot fall, crashing through several tree branches before landing on the ground. She suffered only cuts and bruises.

Police said Willie Williams barged into his ex-girlfriend's apartment late Saturday in a bid to persuade her to get back together with him.

Police said they argued and Williams dangled the baby out a window. The mother called 911 and Williams dropped the girl, police said.

``Oh, my God!'' police quoted the mother as telling the 911 operator. ``He killed my baby.''


Williams then left the apartment, grabbed the baby and drove her to a nearby hospital.


Williams was charged with attempted murder, assault and unlawful imprisonment. He was in jail awaiting arraignment late Monday. It was unclear whether he had retained a lawyer.



06/23/03 21:47