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Jolie Rouge

10-08-2003, 11:22 AM

Could You Do This 10,000 Times a Day?

If you could manage to take 10,000 steps a day--and you're most likely taking 5,000 steps already--you will lower your blood pressure and significantly improve your overall health. That's the word from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who claim that sedentary people who make a concerted effort to walk more will reap huge health benefits, reports Reuters. Most sedentary people who work in an office already walk about 4,000 to 6,000 steps a day. To increase that to 10,000 steps is the same as walking an extra two miles.

The study: Over an eight-week period, 18 overweight, inactive women agreed to wear pedometers daily and walk 10,000 steps a day. All of the women were at a high risk for diabetes. None of the women dieted during the study.

The results: While no one lost weight, all the women experienced improvements in glucose tolerance. Impaired glucose tolerance precedes the development of diabetes, notes Reuters. But even the researchers were surprised when the participants also had a significant drop in resting blood pressure.

Study leader Dr. Ann M. Swartz said the research team was "pleasantly surprised" at how well the women responded to the concrete goal of walking 10,000 steps daily. "They really enjoyed having a goal to work towards each day, and they were very encouraged by how well they felt after just a few weeks of increased activity," she told Reuters. Still, adding as many as 6,000 extra steps to your day isn't easy. "It was a lifestyle change for many of them. However, many of the women did not realize that doing little things like parking further away or getting up to talk with your colleague down the hall instead of e-mailing him or her could result in better health," Swartz told Reuters. "Many of these women thought they needed to sweat for 30 minutes to gain any benefit from activity." Instead, all they need to do was walk. The study results were published in the journal Preventive Medicine.

Jolie Rouge

10-08-2003, 08:37 PM

Convicted Sex Offender Arrested Again

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031008%2F211668280.htm&sc=1110

COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. (AP) - The first man released from a state program meant to ease convicted sex predators back into the community after they've served their sentences was arrested for allegedly using his computer to access pornography.

Joseph Aqui, 51, was arrested at his home Tuesday and returned to the Special Commitment Center at McNeil Island, where sexual predators receive mental health treatment if deemed likely to re-offend after serving prison terms.

The state's civil commitment law, enacted in 1990, was the first in the country, according to the Department of Social and Health Services.

Aqui served 20 years in prison for 15 rapes and seven attempted rapes before he was sent to the commitment center in 1993. He was released in 1997 with a tracking device and other restrictions, including a ban on accessing pornography on the Internet.

A hearing for Aqui has not been scheduled, department spokesman Steve Williams said.

Aqui was released not because he successfully completed the program, but because a judge ruled that sex offenders were not getting the basic treatment they needed to earn eventual release.

Aqui is one of six former commitment center residents who were placed on less restrictive status by the court before the department began efforts to upgrade the program.

10/08/03 21:16

{{surprise, surprise, surprise ... :rolleyes: }}

Jolie Rouge

10-08-2003, 08:46 PM

Books You Read Impact How You Dream

And you thought it was the red hot chili peppers that gave you those nightmares. It could have been your choice in books. Researchers from the University of Wales surveyed more than 10,000 adult and child library patrons and their choice in reading material and concluded there is a link between the type of books we read and the dreams we have, reports the BBC News.

Some of the interesting findings:

--Adults who read fiction have stranger dreams than adults who read nonfiction, and they are more likely to remember them upon waking.

--Those who read fantasy novels have more nightmares and "lucid" dreams, which are dreams in which we are aware we're dreaming.

--Love romance novels? Your dreams are emotionally intense.

--Children who read scary books are three times more likely to have nightmares than kids who don't read these books.

Study author Dr. Mark Blagrove told the BBC, "Reading affects children's dreams more, the younger they are." Here's the good news: The older we get the fewer nightmares we have.

Jolie Rouge

10-08-2003, 08:56 PM

Startling News For Babies Born In 2000

One in three babies born in the year 2000 is likely develop diabetes in his or her lifetime, with females and minorities facing the highest risk, according to new calculations by the Centers for Disease Control. While the report focused on millennium babies, the reality is that this should be a wake-up call for everyone.

The CDC report is the first time researchers have attempted to predict Americans' lifetime risk for acquiring type 2 diabetes. The findings are startling. By the year 2050, the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes will increase a staggering 165 percent from the 17 million, or 7 percent of the population, that now have the disease. The No. 1 cause? Obesity. Getting diabetes at age 40 will cut about 15 years from your life.

Those of Hispanic descent face the greatest risk with nearly 53 percent of girls and 45 percent of boys born in 2000 will likely develop diabetes. In addition, about 40 percent of all black babies born in 2000 are expected to develop the disease. One in three while females and one in four white males will develop it at some point in their lives. To prevent diabetes, all you need to do is lose that extra weight, exercise about 30 minutes a day most days of the week, and eat healthy foods.

Jolie Rouge

10-09-2003, 08:39 PM

Best Drive-Thru Restaurant In America

For the second year in a row, Chick-Fil-A is No. 1 in a ranking of the best drive-through restaurants in the United States, according to an annual survey of 25 fast food chains conducted by QSR. While Chick-Fil-A retained the crown for filling orders correctly and quickly, McDonald's tumbled from 4th place last year to 12th place this year for service and plummeted to 19th place for order accuracy.

Fast food is about choices--and making the right ones. Find out how you can actually lose weight eating nothing but fast food from McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Subway, and more.

The top 10 best drive-through restaurants in America are:

1. Chick-fil-A
2. Taco Bell
3. Wendy's
4. Burger King
5. El Pollo Loco
5. Jack In The Box
7. Taco John's
8. Arby's
9. KFC
10. Checkers Drive-In Restaurants

Although Wendy's is the king of speed taking an average of just one minute, 56 seconds to fill orders, it didn't do much better than McDonald's when it came to getting those orders right. It was in 17th place for order accuracy. Still, Wendy's speed is impressive. AP notes that it's new time is 30 seconds faster than its nearest competitor and nearly 11 seconds under its average time last year.

Jolie Rouge

10-09-2003, 08:42 PM

If Aliens Exist, They're Near This Star

If extraterrestrial life exists anywhere out there, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull of the University of Arizona in Tucson thinks it's near a star named 37 Gem. This middle-aged star in the constellation of Gemini is at the top of a shortlist of 30 possible planets and stars that may be host to life, reports New Scientist magazine.

"This stable, middle-aged star is just a bit hotter and brighter than our sun. And if alien life is anywhere, it's likely to be there," reports New Scientist. Turnbull's list will be used by a NASA project called the Terrestrial Planet Finder, a space telescope that will be launched about 10 years from now to search for habitable planets.

Turnbull chose the neighborhood of 37 Gem as a likely place to host life because of two things: its age and the amount of heavy metal present when the star was formed. She also said it's the 37th brightest star in the constellation of Gemini (hence, the name) and looks most like our sun than any other star. "The closer we look, the more we realize how other stars are different from the sun," Turnbull explained to New Scientist.

Jolie Rouge

10-09-2003, 08:46 PM

In May 2003, three people driving at night in rural Georgia had a close encounter of the second kind. Click to read their spooky story--that some investigators are taking quite seriously.

Spooky UFO Encounter In Rural Georgia
UFO investigators are checking out what may someday be called the Mystery at Booger Bottom. That's the unlikely name of a town in Georgia where there was a close encounter of the second kind.

In early May, a 50-year-old man, his brother, and his 73-year-old sister-in-law were driving in an SUV through Booger Bottom on their way home to Warm Springs, Georgia. While the car was moving, a red swirling object appeared outside the SUV on the driver's side. Then about 50 round, red objects, all solid lights that were the size of silver dollars, appeared inside the vehicle and scanned the three occupants, reports The Associated Press and The Atlanta Journal Constitution. The lights then vanished. The woman called the police. She called the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. They didn't want to hear her tale.

But Olivia Newton and Jim Clifford, UFO investigators with the Mutual UFO Network of Georgia, agreed to listen. AP is quick to point out that the two have seen enough pranks and publicity seekers in their time to be able to discern the difference between a joke and the real thing. This one got their attention. As AP says, "They listen to the stories no one else will hear and then they try to find an explanation."

Speaking of the trio that saw these mysterious red lights in their SUV, Newton told AP, "They all said it was not of this world. They felt it was intelligent. They felt they had sought them out for the sole purpose of scanning them. Scan. That was the word they used."

While Newton may be the first to admit she believes in UFOs, she is also the first to say that many extraordinary experiences actually have a reasonable cause. Exhibit A: Many people look up in the night sky and mistake the planet Venus for a spaceship. But this Booger Bottom story was unique. And the three witnesses all seemed quite reputable; there was no reason to doubt their account.

Newton told AP that the woman was quite concerned whatever it was would come back. "She said, 'I've got to know what this is. Are they coming back after us? What if they cart us off?"' Newton said. "We watch for body language, any discrepancies. They looked at us right in the eye and were very forthright. They said, 'Surely you have heard of this before.'" Uh, no.

And Newton and Clifford still don't know what it was. There was nothing in the vicinity that might have reflected the light--trains, airplanes, nearby houses. Since the SUV was traveling about 35 mph when the incident occurred, pranksters flashing red pointer lights have also been ruled out.

IS there something going on out there? UFO researcher George Filer told Wireless Flash that while the number of UFO sightings nationwide has been fairly consistent for several months, some most unusual encounters were reported in May:

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/atplay/package.jsp?name=fte/ufoencounter/ufoencounter&floc=wn-nn

Winnebago, Wisconsin: Residents reported seeing what looked like three flying Spaghettios hovering over Lake Winnebago on May 15 and May 20.

Northridge, California: A trio of flying green cigars was spotted running amuck on May 7.

Rural Ohio: A group of 30 stick figures, each about 3-feet-tall, broke up a wild party.

Jolie Rouge

10-09-2003, 08:51 PM

Tricks Telemarketers Can Use to Call You

Don't think that by listing your phone number with the national Do Not Call Registry, you'll really stop those annoying telemarketing calls. They've got some tricks--all legal--that will allow them keep the phones ringing, reports The Wall Street Journal.

--By signing up for sweepstakes, rebates, or product giveaways you will also waive your do-not-call rights. Look out for such offers at malls and festivals. One ploy: Fill out a survey for your chance to win $25,000. You complete the form, and the sweepstakes company can call you. Put your glasses on and check the fine print. It's all there.

--If a company already has an existing business relationship with you, it can call you for up to 18 months after the start of that relationship.

--If you call a company and make an inquiry, that company has the right to call you for up to three months.

--Political organizations, charities, and telephone pollsters who are not selling a product are exempt from the do-not-call list and call all they want.

One expert, Jason Catlett, president of Junk Busters, a privacy advocacy firm, told the Journal he estimates the new rules will only stop about 80 percent of unwanted calls.

Jolie Rouge

10-09-2003, 08:59 PM

Did You See What Arnold Did to Leno?

California Gov.-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger definitely has a sense of humor. On Wednesday evening, he paid a surprise visit to "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," where he poked fun at Leno for appearing bored during the new governor's election victory speech, reports The Associated Press.

This is what happened: Soon after Leno introduced Schwarzenegger on Tuesday night to a crowd of cheering supporters before he made his victory speech, Leno was caught on camera unashamedly looked at his watch while the new governor was talking. "You looked at your watch. I cannot believe it," Schwarzenegger exclaimed on "The Tonight Show." A very surprised Leno tried to come up with an excuse. But then Arnold warned him, "Just remember, never call me, and I'm going to check right away your tax returns when I get up to Sacramento."

But it's not all grins and giggles. Leno is taking some heat for being so blatantly involved in Schwarzenegger's victory announcement. The Washington Post called it "a small moment, perhaps, but one that did not go unnoticed." What exactly was Leno's role? NBC Entertainment spokeswoman Rebecca Marks told Post reporter Sharon Waxman that the victory speech introduction "was something he agreed to do with Arnold as a friend. He was not in any way endorsing him politically. It was a personal appearance." More pointedly, she told the Post that Leno's appearance was not an endorsement of Schwarzenegger's politics. "He was very careful not to make any political comments. Personally I don't even know if Jay is a Republican or Democrat," said Marks. "You will continue to see him doing Arnold Schwarzenegger jokes. And now that he's governor-elect there will be a lot more jokes. There will be no reprieve for Arnold because of their friendship."

Jolie Rouge

10-10-2003, 03:06 PM

Report: Cell phone explodes in trousers
By Ben Charny CNET News.com
October 8, 2003, 12:38 PM PT
http://msn.com.com/2100-1103_2-5088434.html?part=msn&subj=ns_5088434&tag=msn_home

Nokia said Tuesday that it's investigating two recent reports of its cell phones "exploding" and causing injuries.

Last Thursday, a supermarket employee in the Netherlands burned his legs when a Nokia handheld exploded in his pants pocket, according to Juliette Oolders of the Dutch consumer group Consumentenbond. Oolders said she believes the phone was one of Nokia's newer models, but could not be more specific. In August, a 33-year-old Dutch woman was injured when her Nokia phone exploded in her hands.

A Nokia representative said the company is investigating both incidents but would not comment further.

Reports about exploding phones could add to the general unrest among some cell phone owners about the safety of the devices. Aside from occasional reports of melting phones, some scientists are debating whether radiation from certain models might cause cancer.

Nokia issued a warning in February against using badly made or counterfeit replacement batteries in Nokia phones, which apparently was the cause of the August incident, according to the company.

But Oolders pointed out that the phone in Thursday's incident was still using its original battery.

"It's not a good situation," she said.

{{{ Should the healine read : "Is that a Nokia in your pocket or ... OMG !"}}}

bbjoan

10-10-2003, 03:25 PM

I LOVED THIS POST KEEP THEM COMEING

the fugative

10-10-2003, 09:42 PM

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird

Published October 9, 2003

Hurricane Isabel roared through Virginia Beach, Va., in September, inflicting serious property damage, despite public calls for prayer to keep it away by prominent resident the Rev. Pat Robertson, whose Christian Broadcasting Network is headquartered there. In 1998, Robertson condemned the city of Orlando, Fla., for sponsoring a Gay Days festival, and warned that the city could be torn up during the subsequent hurricane season, as God punishes those who promote homosexuality. Instead, Bonnie, the first hurricane of that season, made a direct hit on Virginia Beach.

• Alongside recent weight-loss and body-part-growth mass e-mails have been messages from Robert Todino, 22, of Woburn, Mass., who uses the spam (100 million messages so far) to locate time-travel hardware to buy because of his need to revisit his childhood, during which he believes a woman drugged him and implanted a device to give her followers the ability to monitor his every move. According to an August Wired magazine story, Todino has earnestly been seeking an "Acme 5X24 series time transducing capacitor with built-in temporal displacement" and an "AMD Dimensional Warp Generator module containing the GRC79 induction motor," among other gadgets, but that "the conspiracy" has subverted his attempts to acquire them.

Our civilization in decline

• The school district in Elgin, Ill., decided in August that although four new schools that cost $40 million were ready to be occupied, the district has no money to operate them and that they will thus stay locked up for at least the school year. A September General Accounting Office report described (based on undercover work in seven states) the customer-friendliness that motor vehicle offices display when people try to obtain driver's licenses fraudulently; clerks routinely give "applicants" back their bogus papers (instead of confiscating them) and cheerfully instruct them exactly how to "correct" the applications to assure that they'll get that license on the next attempt.

• A July Wall Street Journal report revealed that some women's clothing stores in Tehran, Iran, do a brisk backroom business in tight, colorful, sheer, form-fitting robes that are severely frowned upon by the conservative Islamic government, which prescribes the formless hijab robe. One clerk showed one that was actually a "paper-thin beige tunic made of stretchy material with two slits on each side," "with a matching tank top." Other popular robes make strategic use of zippers for women who have to convert their flashy clothing into something conservative in a hurry.

• In September, religious fundamentalists brawled in Brooklyn when the locally dominant Satmar sect of ultra-Orthodox Jews moved aggressively against slightly less-ultra-Orthodox Jews who were using a loophole to be able to push baby strollers and wheelchairs around during the Sabbath, when such activity is prohibited in public. "The [Satmar]) were like animals," said a security guard who witnessed the incident. (The "eruv" loophole allows such labor inside a symbolic wall, which the more liberal ultras had constructed with sticks and string.)

• State and local law-enforcement officials met in Salt Lake City in August to discuss the growing and seemingly intractable problem of the radical, Mormon-based polygamist community that reaches from Hildale, Utah, to Colorado City, Ariz., and which has been denounced by mainstream Mormons. Issues included not just religious freedom and forced marriage for young girls, but the $5 million annually in federal benefits that go to polygamist wives who say they are "single" mothers on their welfare applications.

• In August, bookstores began selling Revolve, a glossy, 392-page softcover title that directs a thought-by-thought rendition of the New Testament to its target audience of teenage girls, alongside text on typical teen-magazine subject matter such as beauty, fashion secrets and dating. (For example, proper etiquette, according to Revolve founder Laurie Whaley, requires the boy to initiate a relationship: "There's no indication from Scripture that Mary Magdalene ever [called] Christ.")

Least competent criminals

• Florida wildlife officials, suspecting that Israel A. Cervantes was illegally shooting at deer from his car in the Ocala National Forest in August, asked to inspect his home freezer for stored meat, and, professing innocence, Cervantes agreed. There was no deer meat, but apparently Cervantes forgot about the pound of marijuana in the freezer, and he was arrested.

• William Penny was arrested in Greenwood, Ind., in August, putting a halt to his alleged identity-theft business. He was caught because, three times in a three-day period, he had aroused suspicion of several people in a neighborhood by approaching a certain ATM on foot, carrying a motorcycle helmet, donning the helmet as he neared the ATM's camera, making a withdrawal (with someone else's ID, allegedly), walking away, and then removing the helmet.

Latest alarming headlines

• "Man With Ear Ache Gets Vasectomy" (an August Reuters dispatch from Rio de Janeiro about a patient who answered the wrong doctor's call at a clinic and endured the procedure because he thought the ear inflammation had deep roots). "Groups Fight Over Fate of Feral Chihuahuas" (an August Reuters report on 170 wild Chihuahuas taken from a breeder in Acton, Calif., and ultimately given to one animal rescue outfit rather than another). "Woman With No Baby Given Caesarean" (a September Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun report on an overweight woman who went into cardiac arrest at a hospital after telling doctors she was pregnant, motivating them to try to deliver the baby in case they couldn't save her. She survived; the baby never existed.

• The Danish beer company Carlsberg announced it was relocating a plant from Stockholm, Sweden, to Gothenburg because there was too much uranium in the spring it uses near Stockholm. The interior minister of the Netherlands, citing public concern, proposed to ban police officers from coffee shops that also legally sell marijuana. Authorities in Putnam County, W.Va., announced that someone had broken into a sheriff's deputy's home while he was away on vacation and set up a methamphetamine lab.

Out of control in Boston

• Furious at a rush-hour accident that blocked traffic in the Boston suburb of Weymouth, motorist (and software engineer) Anna Gitlin, 25, went ballistic at a police officer and then allegedly bumped him with her car, screaming, "I don't care who [expletive deleted by the Boston Globe] died. I'm more important!" (June). Joseph DiGirolamo, 43, distraught over domestic problems, allegedly barricaded himself inside an ex-girlfriend's home in Boston and hurled household items (TV set, room air conditioner, broomstick, a pot of boiling water) at police officers, threatening to kill them, before he was subdued (May).

• A 20-year-old man was killed in Denver during afternoon rush hour on Sept. 1 when he jumped from a car going about 40 miles per hour. According to friends, he had been planning a nonfatal jump for a while because he wanted to endure some trauma in order to muster the courage to get a tattoo. A 15-year-old boy in Maryland Heights, Mo., who had been demonstrating his pain tolerance by clobbering himself on the head with his skateboard, invited a pal to take a shot, too; the first blow knocked him out, and he died four days later.

• In the past month: A 47-year-old man was arrested for allegedly trying to steal a woman's backpack, his 177th arrest (Boulder, Colo.). A 36-year-old man was captured by a SWAT team after holding off police for 10 hours in a hotel room, an incident that began when he threatened to kill hotel workers because there was no ice (Houston). Because of a mixup over polling places, no one voted in a school board election in Mississippi County, Ark., on Sept. 16, not even Carl Miner, the only person on the ballot.

:p

Jolie Rouge

10-14-2003, 01:33 PM

Wayward Deer Enters N.J. Clothing Store

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031014%2F142333048.htm&sc=1120

LINDEN, N.J. (AP) - A wayward deer entered a clothing store through the front door and wandered around for more than an hour Monday, knocking down shelves and trampling clothes, before it was shot with tranquilizer darts by a New York City Police Department team.

The full-grown, antlered buck walked into the Planet Kidz store between noon and 1 p.m. A few customers were inside, but they quickly left and no one was hurt, said head manager Joseph Velelis.

He said he tried to calm the deer down by talking to it, but the animal panicked and charged toward the back of the store.

At one point, the deer, which weighed between 160 and 180 pounds, approached a full-length mirror and apparently thinking its reflection was another deer, jumped into the mirror front hooves first.

Linden authorities contacted the closest emergency unit with a tranquilizer gun, a Staten Island-based NYPD team. Team members fired three tranquilizer darts, and the officers were able to subdue the animal and carry it out.

The deer was taken to the Linden animal shelter and was expected to be returned to the woods once the tranquilizers wore off.

The 10,000-square-foot Planet Kidz store is in a shopping center near a 26-acre forest. A Union County wildlife official said deer often get confused during this time of year, which is the height of mating season.

``They kind of get disoriented at this time of year and act irrationally,'' Karen Invillo, assistant director of the county's Trailside Nature Science Center, told The Star-Ledger of Newark. ``Something also might have spooked him, and he just got disoriented and ended up in a strange location.''

10/14/03 14:23

Jolie Rouge

10-14-2003, 01:36 PM

You Won't Believe Who Has a Tattoo!

Fully 16 percent of all Americans have a tattoo. That's the word from Harris Interactive, which conducted a nationwide poll of 2,215 randomly selected adults to find out how many of us have body art. In the 25 to 39 age group, the number is even higher at nearly 30 percent sporting a tat, reports Wireless Flash.

Who has a tattoo?

--31 percent of gays and lesbians
--18 percent of Democrats
--14 percent of Republicans

How does a tat make you feel? Those with tattoos say:
--34 percent say it makes them feel sexier.
--29 percent say it makes them more rebellious.
--20 percent say it makes them feel more spiritual.
--5 percent say it makes them more intelligent.
--3 percent say it makes them feel more athletic.

Any regrets?

Fully 83 percent have no regrets, although regret was highest among tattooed Republicans. Among those who did acknowledge the tattoo was a mistake, the reason most often cited was "because of the person's name in the tattoo." Among those who did acknowledge having made a mistake, the reason cited most often was "because of the person's name in the tattoo."

Jolie Rouge

10-15-2003, 12:52 PM

Boy, 4, Attacked With Boiling Hot Fries

When a 4-year-old boy accidentally smeared ice cream on the sleeve of an 18-year-old woman who was nine months pregnant, she retaliated by chasing him through the McDonald's restaurant located in a Wal-Mart in Germantown, Maryland, pinning him in a headlock, and rubbing hot, greasy french fries in his eyes. The incident occurred last May, and on Tuesday the woman, Milikia Hayes, was sentenced to four days in jail and ordered to attend anger management and parenting classes, reports The Washington Post.

Hayes and the child did not know each other. When the ice cream touched her sleeve, she started screaming at the small boy, whom The Post describes as "terrified." State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said Hayes smeared "boiling hot, greasy french fries" on his face. "The boy was scared to death," Gansler said. "It is incomprehensible to think that an adult would attack a child of any age in such a manner." The child's eyes were swollen after the attack, but he suffered no serious physical harm.

Hayes' excuse for her actions?

She was on her way to a baby shower and was wearing one of her nicest shirts. She pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. However, a Circuit Court judge sentenced her to 18 months in jail, with all but four days suspended, and ordered her to attend the classes, reports The Post. "Clearly, her own behavior was inappropriate and egregious for any adult, much less someone about to have her own child," Gansler told The Post. "In getting this type of sentence, we hope it will ensure that she's learned a valuable lesson and will help her in raising her own child."

Jolie Rouge

10-15-2003, 01:11 PM

Bell May Identify Ship Lost with Up to $180 Million

MIAMI (Reuters) - A bell recovered off Georgia's coast could be proof that a Florida treasure salvage company has found a ship that sank almost 140 years ago with a cargo of up to $180 million in gold, the company said on Tuesday.

The bronze bell bears the inscribed letters "SSEE." The paddlewheel steamship, called the S.S. Republic when it sank, was originally named the S.S. Tennessee and ship's bells typically would carry the ship's original name, Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. said.

The Tampa, Florida-based firm said the rest of the inscription on the bell, found near the bow of the wreck, would not be visible until it was cleaned.

Odyssey announced in August that it believed it had found the Republic, which sank in a hurricane on Oct. 25, 1865, off Savannah, Georgia, reportedly with a cargo of 20,000 or more gold coins destined to pay for the reconstruction of the U.S. South following the Civil War.

The company's underwater robot found the wreck in 1,700 feet of water about 100 miles southeast of Savannah. The starboard side-wheel is visible but partially buried in sediment and the wreck site is littered with bottles and personal items.

The double-decked, 210-foot (64-meter) ship, en route from New York to New Orleans when it went down, was believed to carry gold coins then worth $400,000, Odyssey said.

The company said a coin expert has estimated the coins' retail value today could be $120 million to $180 million.

Odyssey said it began salvage work at the wreck site in early October using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.

"Detailed exploration of the site has begun and we are simply amazed at the cornucopia of well-preserved artifacts lying down there," Odyssey co-founder Greg Stemm said in a statement.

The Republic was launched as the S.S. Tennessee in August 1853, according to the company's research. During the U.S. Civil War, it served as a Confederate blockade runner.

Investors later bought the ship, renamed her the S.S. Republic and assigned her to the New York-New Orleans route.

10/15/03 09:00

the fugative

10-16-2003, 02:22 PM

News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published October 16, 2003

Correction: In a July column, I incorrectly referred to two 22-month-old girls' "parents" as taking part in a standoff as to whose turn it was to take care of them, with both driving off, leaving the girls in the street. Christy Leann Radacy is indeed the mother, but the man, Sari Muhanna, is Radacy's boyfriend, not the girls' father. He was indicted, with Radacy, in September.

• Renewing a debate, Czech scientist Jaroslav Flegr reported in September that human infection by Taxoplasma gondii (to which cat owners are vulnerable as they clean litter boxes) tends to make women "reckless" and "friendly" and men "jealous" and "morose." Although any mammal could pass along the toxins, cats that handle dead birds, bugs or mice rather easily pass it in their stools, although only for a few days after their first infection. (A 2001 report by researchers from Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland had suggested that such infections might even cause schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.)

People different from us

• For a September report, an LA Weekly writer hung out with Benji Breitbart, 20, Doug Marsh, and several other "Disneyana enthusiasts (DEs)," who spend hours nearly every single day at Disneyland, have almost total recall of the park's history and culture, rabidly collect memorabilia and preach with intensity on which aspects of today's park Walt Disney would not have approved. DEs usually wear Disney-themed clothes, use the pronoun "we" as if the park were theirs and are dismissive of the obsessives of "Star Trek." ("Trekkies are devoted to some stupid pop-culture fad," said Marsh, but "Disney fans believe in the magic.") Why, Breitbart was asked, was Disney such a central force in his life? "I tried to figure that out. I just ended up with no answers."

• In June, a judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced Bernard Johnson to 12 years in prison for shooting D.C. Police Detective Anthony McGee three times. However, the judge immediately suspended five of the years, and of the remaining seven, five were mandatory for merely carrying a firearm during the crime, leaving the add-on punishment for actually shooting the cop to two years.

• The July amateur wrestling match in Tbilisi (former Soviet republic of Georgia), between Dzhambulat Khotokhov (123 pounds, from Russia) and Georgy Bibilauri (112 pounds, from Georgia) ended in a draw, and both wrestlers broke training afterward for ice cream and cake to celebrate Bibilauri's birthday. Georgy is now 5 years old; Dzhambulat is 4.

Inexplicable

• A man fled the motor vehicles office in Leesburg, Va., after a September incident in which he, silently and calmly, presented a DMV employee with a postcard photograph of a banana being hit by a bullet, and the legend "banana DMV." The man then hurried out, and when several employees got to the parking lot in pursuit, there were bananas strewn around the lot but no one in sight.

• After a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge, FBI agent James Hanson III paid a $105 fine and $12,000 in restitution to the Barbary Coast hotel in Las Vegas for a May incident in which he fired two shots from his service weapon at a lobster in a walk-in cooler. It was a late-night incident, with no one in the vicinity, but Hanson was captured on a surveillance tape. Hanson was in Las Vegas for an accounting seminar.

• In August, around the time that the Ten Commandments monument was moved out of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery because of a federal judge's ruling that it was too much of a religious statement for government property, resident Blanca Castillo petitioned county commissioners in Fort Worth, Texas, to remove a statue in front of the county's administrative building because it was insulting to religion. The offending statue, of a sleeping panther, struck Castillo as too paganistically feline, and therefore "sinister," and she recommended a statue of something else, such as a steer.

• Kevin French, 46, pleaded guilty of using an air rifle to shoot his neighbor in the head because he mowed his lawn too often (Elmira, N.Y., April). An inmate (unnamed in an internal report by a psychiatric prison) went into a violent rage and took a therapist hostage after fellow prisoners laughed at his drawing of "toilet paper" in a game of Pictionary (Abbotsford, British Columbia, July). Walter Travis, 68, was arrested for shooting a neighbor several times after the neighbor's dog defecated on his lawn (Indianapolis, August). Danny Ginn, 46, was arrested for commandeering a garbage truck at gunpoint because he was tired of the truck's driver using Ginn's driveway to turn around (Bedford, Ky., August).

• A 26-year-old man will be hospitalized "for months" in Illawarra, Australia, after an August accident that authorities speculate might have been inspired by the film "Jackass." The man was apparently walking across a room with a lighted firecracker between his posterior cheeks when he slipped and fell backward to the floor. The explosion resulted in a fractured pelvis, severe genital burns, hemorrhaging from the buttocks and ruptured urethra, leaving him incontinent and sexually dysfunctional.

• The Arizona Daily Star reported on an 18-year-old man who was having four modified deep-sea (8-gauge) fishing hooks threaded into his back so that he could be suspended for 20 minutes of what the man said was the worst pain he'd ever felt (for the privilege of which he paid $150). Said the piercing shop's Chris Glunt, "For some it's like a spiritual thing. I've suspended to clear my head. You can focus and concentrate on where you stand in life."

Good news for rodents

• (1) Japanese scientists (Yokohama City University) said in September that they had created tumor-suppressing nerve stem cells that reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rats. (2) Wake Forest University researchers said in April that they had created a 700-mouse colony that could survive any number of direct cancer-cell injections. (3) University of Pittsburgh researchers said in April that they had developed a gene therapy in rats to restore surgery-damaged nerves needed for erections. None of the therapies has yet been successful with humans.

• Also, in the past month: Canadian military police seized 983 marijuana plants being grown by squatters on an active 17-square-mile artillery range (Nicolet, Quebec).

:p

the fugative

10-16-2003, 08:29 PM

Brain implant lets monkeys move objects with their thoughts
Rick Weiss, Washington Post

Published October 13, 2003

Scientists in North Carolina have built a brain implant that lets monkeys control a robotic arm with their thoughts, marking the first time that mental intentions have been harnessed to move a mechanical object.

The technology could someday allow people with paralyzing spinal cord injuries to operate machines or tools with their thoughts as naturally as others do with their hands.

In the new experiments, monkeys with wires running from their brains to a robotic arm were able to use their thoughts to make the arm perform tasks.

The experiments -- led by Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University in Durham, N.C., and published today in the inaugural issue of the Public Library of Science -- are the latest in a progression of increasingly science fiction-like studies in which animals -- and in a few cases people -- have learned to use the brain's subtle electrical signals to operate simple devices.

The new work is the first in which any animal has learned to use its brain to move a robotic device in all directions in space and to perform a mixture of interrelated movements -- such as reaching toward an object, grasping it and adjusting the grip strength.

The monkeys first learned to move the robotic arm with a joystick. The large arm was kept in a separate room, but the monkeys could track their progress by watching a schematic representation on a video screen.

The monkeys quickly learned how to use the joystick to make the arm reach and grasp for objects, and how to adjust their grip on the joystick to vary the robotic hand's grip strength. They were rewarded with sips of juice.

Then the researchers unplugged the joystick so the robotic arm's movements depended completely on brain activity. In effect, the computer that had been studying the monkey's neural firing patterns was now decoding the brain signals according to what it had learned from the joystick games and sending the appropriate instructions to the mechanical arm.

At first, Nicolelis said, the monkey kept moving the joystick. Then, he said, an amazing thing happened. "We're looking, and she stops moving her arm," he said, "but the cursor keeps playing the game and the robot arm is moving around." The animal was controlling the robot with its thoughts.

Initially, the animals' performance declined compared to the sessions on the joystick. But after just a day or so, the control was so smooth it seemed the animals had accepted the mechanical arm as their own.

:p

Jolie Rouge

10-16-2003, 09:17 PM

Found Alive: Dinosaur-Era Purple Frog
A genetic analysis of the creature has shown that it is like no other frog alive today, so scientists have placed it in a new frog family. The 4,800 known species of frogs are grouped into 29 families, the last of which was discovered in 1926. "I have no idea how many are left in the world," Frank Bossuyt with the Free University of Brussels told CNN. "It will be important to find that out in the near future." The frog's closest relative can be found in the Seychelles Archipelago, near Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. India and The Seychelles were once part of the same land mass, but separated 65 million years ago.

It hopped with the dinosaurs. A 3-inch long frog that is brilliant purple with a small head, tiny eyes, short limbs, a pointed snout, and a body that looks like a jelly donut has been discovered in the Western Ghats Mountains of Southern India. CNN reports that the Indian and Belgian scientists who discovered the rare frog have concluded it's been on this Earth since the days of the dinosaurs.

The purple frog is called a "living fossil" because it allows scientists to study the entire animal and learn better how amphibians developed and evolved over time. The research findings on this new frog family were published in the journal Nature.

Jolie Rouge

10-16-2003, 09:20 PM

Foul Ball Cubs Fan Offered Asylum In...

...Florida.

Gov. Jeb Bush has offered the 26-year-old Cubs fan who deflected a critical foul ball in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night a way to escape his police-guarded Chicago home and live a normal life: Move to Florida. They love him there.

After all, the Florida Marlins won that game and Game 7 and will now be in the World Series--for the second time in its 10 year history. The man, whose identity is not being revealed by several news outlets as a way to protect him from irate Chicago baseball fans who blame him for the Cubs' loss and the World Series that slipped away from them, would also be given free airfare and a free three-month stay provided by the Holiday Inn Oceanside Pompano Beach, reports The Associated Press. "People are compassionate in South Florida and people are talking about the unfortunate circumstances he must be facing today," Chuck Malkus, a spokesman for the property, told AP.

The guy would also get free steak dinners, free martinis, and a free water taxi ride. No word on whether he would get free Florida Marlins merchandise. "[It's] the least we could do for the fan that saved our season," Phil Goldfarb, president of the Holiday Inn Pompano Beach, told AP. "As dedicated Marlins fans, it is our honor to return the favor." Ouch.

See up-close photos of that fateful foul ball action.
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/photosearch.jsp?cap=chicago+cubs+foul+ball&x=0&y=0&searchType=photos&floc=wn-nn

Jolie Rouge

10-16-2003, 09:23 PM

New Actor Chosen For Ritter's '8 Rules'

Hollywood veteran James Garner will do a guest star arc in four episodes of ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" with the sole purpose of transitioning the sitcom through the tricky plot line of the death of John Ritter's character. Ritter died suddenly on September 11 from a rare heart ailment

The Hollywood Reporter says that Garner will play the father of Katey Sagal's character, the widowed Cate Hennessy, "who comes to support his daughter and three teenage grandchildren as they grapple with grief and the harsh realities of becoming a single-parent family." Production on the series, which has been halted since Ritter's death, begins Monday even though the details of the story line are still being worked out. It is expected to air in early November and will run one hour.

Ritter's final three episodes of "8 Simple Rules" scored huge ratings for ABC--much higher than the show had ever gotten.

Jolie Rouge

10-17-2003, 08:56 PM

Rock Carvings Baffle Experts

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/rockcarvings/rockcarvings

Stonehenge isn't the only ancient mystery in Great Britain. Inexplicable rock carvings have been found by a farmhand in Northern England near the Scottish border, and experts are scratching their heads trying to figure out what they are and who could have made them.

Science Daily reports that the mysterious markings were found hewn into one, isolated sandstone boulder and include a group of deep, concave spherical shapes that are about 20 centimeters in diameter. They resemble elliptical borings in the rock--not just scratches on the surface. One of the shapes looks like an adult footprint, while another appears to be a stylized heart. There are also several deep scores. The rock carvings were found in Northumberland in northeast England, an area that is rich in such treasures and is widely regarded as possessing the finest collection of prehistoric rock art in the country.

But who created them? And what do they mean?

Aron Mazel and Stan Beckensall, two archaeologists from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom who between them have more than 60 years of experience studying rock art, are totally baffled. And they aren't the only ones. Experts from English Heritage and The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland are just as confused. No one has ever seen anything like it before. They do know this: The markings could not have been made in recent times.

Here are some theories:

The carvings were created when the rock was used to sharpen tools.

The carvings were made by early medieval monks and hermits who lived in Northumberland.

The carvings were made during the last 3,000 years.

Since the carvings are sharp, metal tools must have been used.
"As far as I know, these markings are unique and nothing like them exists anywhere else in Northumberland or in the British Isles," Beckensall told Science Daily.

The mystery continues.

Jolie Rouge

10-17-2003, 09:00 PM

Hey, Kids: Try Telling the Teacher This!

Dear Teacher,

Please excuse me from all morning classes so I can sleep in every day. I'm doing this so I can learn better. You see, scientists have proven that sleeping fosters learning. I'm sure you'll agree this is an excellent use of my time.

Signed, Every Student

Sleeping does help us to learn better. Researchers from the University of Chicago have shown that sleep consolidates our memories and protects them from later interference or decay, reports Reuters. Sleep can also restore or recover lost memories.

The study: Led by Daniel Margoliash, the team tested the ability of three groups of college students to understand words that were generated from a voice synthesizer that was very hard to understand. Then the researchers measured the students' ability to recognize the words and trained them how to understand the synthesizer's sounds.

The results: The first group of students was trained in the morning and tested 12 hours later. Only 10 percent did better in the evening test than they had done in the morning. The second group was trained in the evening and then tested the next morning after they slept all night. Their performance improved by 19 percent. That's not all. Reuters notes that when students who had been trained in the morning were tested again after they slept, their scores also improved.

"If performance is reduced by interference, sleep might strengthen relevant associations and weaken irrelevant associations, improving access to relevant memories," the researchers said. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

Jolie Rouge

10-17-2003, 09:01 PM

Uh Oh. Don't Use the Microwave For...

...vegetables.

:confused:

Microwaving vegetables may be the fast and easy way to cook them, but it also zaps away many of the best nutrients. Exhibit A: Broccoli, which may be the most perfect food on Earth for its nutrient value, loses as much as 97 percent of its cancer-fighting antioxidants when it is cooked in the microwave, reports HealthDayNews of new research published in the November issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

And microwaving isn't the only cooking process that's prone to do this. Boiling causes broccoli to lose 66 percent of its cancer-fighting power, while a pressure cooker eliminates 47 percent. Blanching vegetables before freezing, a common processing technique, can remove up to one-third of the antioxidants. Freezing also causes some loss, but not as much. If you want the most cancer-fighting benefit from your veggies, it's best to eat them raw. But if you really want to cook them, steaming reduces the antioxidants by just 11 percent. It works so well because hot water is not in direct contact with the vegetable.

But do remember this: Even if vegetables lose a bit of their protective nutrients in cooking, they still retain some of them. And you reap the benefits when you eat them. "You're still getting plenty of healthy compounds as well as fiber, so there's absolutely no reason not to eat vegetables-- although, of course, the fresher the better," Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Center, told HealthDayNews. "If people are willing to have vegetables anyway, shape or form, even if they are going to nuke then, I'd rather have them do that."

Jolie Rouge

10-17-2003, 09:13 PM

{{ Very WEIRD News, indeed ...}}

Death on Airplane Remains a Mystery
By TOM HAYS

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031017%2F163951830.htm&sc=1110

NEW YORK (AP) - Alexander Siess was on a recent flight from Mexico City to Paris when, authorities say, he became so unruly the pilot made an emergency landing at Kennedy International Airport.

Minutes after the 767 jet touched down, the 25-year-old Austrian was dead.

The circumstances of the little-noticed death last weekend - which may have involved alcohol and a violent struggle - remain murky.

An autopsy on Siess was inconclusive; toxicology and other tests were pending.

``We've been told it's an open investigation and we should wait for the outcome,'' said Gregor Csorsz, spokesman for the Austrian consulate in Manhattan, which notified Siess' parents about his death.

Csorsz said Siess was a student from St. Anton, but knew nothing else about his background.

Calls to the parents' home in Austria on Friday went unanswered. The Austrian Foreign Ministry said the family was en route to the United States, but the consulate in Manhattan had no immediate information on their whereabouts.

Contacted this week, authorities and airline officials offered only fragmented accounts of what happened Oct. 11 on AeroMexico Flight 5.

Sometime after departing Mexico City, the pilot sought permission to land in New York ``for the safety of the passengers and the plane,'' AeroMexico spokesman Mario Maraboto said.

Siess, who apparently was traveling alone and toting a bottle of whiskey, grew drunk and belligerent, Maraboto said. A male flight attendant confined him to his seat while the plane landed, the spokesman added.

Three U.S. law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, described a more dire situation. They said they were told Siess reportedly ``freaked out'' and ``charged the cockpit.'' As many as 12 other passengers joined in a struggle to subdue him, then tied him up with belts and stockings, the officials said.

One of the law enforcement officials said a physician on the flight may have injected Siess with a sedative as well - part of an initial report that prompted the FBI and other federal agents to respond to Kennedy.

The Port Authority Police Department, which took over the ongoing investigation, declined comment on the reports.

By the time the plane reached the gate, Siess was in cardiac arrest, Port Authority police said. An ambulance took him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 9 p.m.

Authorities grounded the plane long enough to question the crew and passengers. Then, shortly after 1 a.m., the plane was allowed to take off again for Paris.

On Friday, Siess's body sat in a Queens morgue, unclaimed.

10/17/03 16:39

Jolie Rouge

10-17-2003, 09:22 PM

NY Post Editorial Says Yankees Lost

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031017%2F150749166.htm&sc=1110&photoid=20030606NY171

NEW YORK (AP) - The curse of the Bambino struck the New York Post, too.

On the morning after the New York Yankees vanquished the Boston Red Sox to win the American League pennant, some editions of the Post carried an editorial bemoaning a loss for the Bronx Bombers.

``The Yankees couldn't get the job done,'' read the editorial. ``The hitting fell short and the bullpen simply didn't deliver. It's a crying shame that Roger Clemens' career had to end on a losing note.''

Clemens, the Yankees' 41-year-old pitcher, has said he will retire at the end of the season. He will now pitch for the Yankees in the World Series against the Florida Marlins.

Post Editor in Chief Col Allan blamed the foul-up on a simple production error.

``We had prepared two editorials, one in the event of the Yankees winning, one with the Yankees losing,'' he said. ``When we transmitted the pages to our printing facility, the wrong button was struck and the wrong editorial sent.''

The mistake was caught and corrected in later editions. But City Council Speaker Gifford Miller - the target of another editorial in Friday's paper - waved an oversized copy of the Post gaffe at a Yankees pep rally at City Hall.

Its headline: ``A Curse of Their Own?''

10/17/03 15:06

Jolie Rouge

10-19-2003, 09:22 PM

Pamela Anderson urges KFC boycott

actress seeks more humane treatment of chickens

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 — Actress Pamela Anderson joined an animal rights campaign against fast-food chain KFC Thursday, urging a consumer boycott of the franchise until it ensures better treatment of its chickens.

“IF PEOPLE KNEW how KFC treats chickens, they’d never eat another drumstick,” the Canadian-born former “Baywatch” beauty wrote in an open letter circulated by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The letter was addressed to John Bitove, chairman of the Toronto-based company Priszm Brandz, which owns the Canadian franchise to KFC, a division of Yum Brands Inc.

“What KFC does to 750 million chickens each year is not civilized or acceptable,” she wrote. “I am calling for a boycott of all KFC restaurants until my friends at PETA tell me that you have agreed to be kinder in your practices.”

A Priszm Brandz spokeswoman, Alessandra Saccal, dismissed claims that the chickens sold in its KFC outlets are mistreated. “We purchase our chickens from the same place that grocery stores and other restaurants purchase their chickens from, and the chicken farmers of Canada are very responsible and take the welfare of animals very seriously,” she said.

In July, PETA filed suit against KFC, accusing the company of making misleading statements on its Web site regarding how the chickens it sells are treated. PETA contends that the chickens KFC buys from suppliers are abused through drugging, feeding and slaughter practices.

Anderson is not the first celebrity to join PETA’s cause against Louisville, Kentucky-based KFC. Former Beatle Paul McCartney appealed to the fast-food chain in July to ensure better treatment of its chickens in a PETA ad.

:rolleyes:

Jolie Rouge

10-19-2003, 09:25 PM

Amelia Earhart's Gravesite Found?

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/earhartsgrave/earhartsgrave

It is one of the most enduring mysteries of the past century: What happened to Amelia Earhart, the daring young aviator who disappeared with her navigator, Fred Noonan, on July 2, 1937 as they attempted to fly around the world? They last radioed that they were about 100 miles from Howland Island, which is a tiny atoll southwest of Hawaii. Many expeditions to find the bodies, the plane, or even the slightest clues have proven fruitless.

Saint John Naftel says he knows the answer. Naftel is an 81-year-old World War II veteran from Alabama, who says he has identified a site in Tinian, one of the islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, that may contain the graves of Earhart and Noonan, reports Pacific Daily News. The Mariana Islands are the southern most islands of the U.S. Territory of Guam.

Local researchers and historians are taking the new information seriously, actively investigating Naftel's claim even though they think it's a long shot. What makes his story different from dozens of others all purporting to know what happened to Earhart is that Naftel insists he knows exactly where she and Noonan are buried.

Naftel was stationed on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1944 as a gunman for the Marines. In an interview with Pacific Daily News reporter Katie Worth, he recalled that soon after he arrived in Tinian, he was approached by a Hawaiian man who said that in 1937 he had taken part in burying a white woman and a white man both dressed in aviator's suits. The man was part of a group who was hired first by the Japanese and later by the U.S. military to build up the military and commercial infrastructure in the Mariana Islands. A Japanese guard told the Hawaiian that if he ever mentioned the burial to anyone he would be buried alive, Naftel explained to Pacific Daily News. Despite the threat, the man showed Naftel where the graves were located.

Because he was fighting a war at the time, Naftel didn't mention any of this to his superiors, but later did try to tell his story to archaeologists and historians. He was dismissed repeatedly. Six months ago, a friend of Naftel's wrote to Guam's governor telling this incredible story. Naftel provided enough landmarks that researchers were able to use decades-old maps to identify the approximate location of the graves. The team even paid to have Naftel flown to Tinian where he pointed out the exact burial site. The area is now cordoned off by police until the archaeologists can begin the dig.

Dirk Ballendorf, a professor at the University of Guam and the leader of the archaeology team, admits Naftel's theory is farfetched, but not impossible. "I suppose I would say it's doubtful," he told Pacific Daily News. "I doubt that Amelia Earhart was anywhere near the Marianas. But if I'm proven wrong, I would be the first one to sing the praises of the discovery."

Jolie Rouge

10-19-2003, 09:31 PM

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1103&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031019%2F171171284.htm&sc=1103&photoid=20031019LON819

Blaine Leaves Box Suspended Over London
By HANNAH BERGMAN

LONDON (AP) - Severely weakened by 44 days of self-imposed starvation, American magician David Blaine on Sunday left the clear plastic box that has been his home - and a major London tourist attraction.

Thousands of spectators watched the 30-year-old Blaine exit the box, which was suspended by a crane near Tower Bridge, after it was lowered to the banks of the Thames River. After living on only water since Sept. 5, Blaine was taken to a hospital for examination.

Londoners spent the first few weeks of Blaine's incarceration taunting the New York illusionist, pelting his box with eggs or zapping him with laser pens. One man was arrested for firing paint-filled balloons at the box, which measures 7 feet-by-7 feet-by-3 feet, and another was fined for trying to damage the water supply.

But in recent weeks ridicule has turned to respect, prompting large crowds of well-wishers to gather by the river and watch Blaine grow thinner, hairier and more disheveled.

Sky TV estimated that 250,000 spectators visited the site since the stunt started, and traffic in surrounding streets has been snarled for weeks due to the large numbers of people driving through the area to catch a glimpse.

10/19/03 17:10

Jolie Rouge

10-19-2003, 09:33 PM

Look What They Found In a Missouri Cave

No one knew the cave was even there until construction workers blasting dynamite into limestone for a new road in southwest Missouri near Springfield found it quite by accident. Even the paleontologist called in to investigate didn't think it would reveal any great mysteries. In fact, he was expecting to find a trash pit. Instead of trash, paleontologist Matt Forir of the Missouri Speleological Survey made the find of a lifetime: an Ice Age time capsule.

Among other things, Forir has found proof that short-faced bears who weighed in at a whopping 1,400 pounds roamed the Ozarks during the Ice Age, reports The Associated Press. What's more, he was able to discern that these bears, whom he dubs the T-Rex of the Ice Age, struggled with arthritis and gout. A trio of extinct tortoises is embedded in a wall. Turtle shells have been found deep inside the cave. Forir calls the cave a picture to the past that holds infinite research possibilities. AP notes that he and other researchers are also investigating the possibility that herds of peccary, which are pig-like animals, once sought shelter in the caves thousands of years ago, as opposed to being dragged in by predators for food. "Everywhere you look in here, you find something significant," he acknowledged.

Even the stalactites, flowstone, and soda straws that were created over the centuries drop-by-drop from water laden with minerals could yield valuable information for scientists, possibly allowing them to date the age of the cave which they now place in the Pleistocene Era. That would make it as young as 13,000 years old or as ancient as 1.8 million years. The animal tracks and dung tell scientists that animals sought refuge in the cave since most of them are not the kind of animals that normally live in caves. "It certainly indicates that maybe they were using these caves in a social sense, where herds of them were going in to get out of bad weather," Greg McDonald, a peccary expert and paleontological project coordinator for National Park Service in Denver, explained to AP. "It raises all kinds of interesting questions as far as what the importance of caves was in the natural history of these animals."

Jolie Rouge

10-19-2003, 09:36 PM

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/foundinvermont/foundinvermont&floc=wn-nn

Before they dug up a farm for a highway offramp, University of Vermont archaeologists made a fascinating find--the only thing of its kind in the state.

Place: Off the beaten path along a small ravine on a farm in Colchester, Vermont that was being dug up for a highway off-ramp.

Found: Evidence of an ancient Native American settlement that dates back some 10,000 years, the first of its kind ever found in Vermont and one of only a few known to exist in the eastern United States.

University of Vermont archaeologists are thrilled with their astounding find. Preliminary analysis suggests the site was a hunting camp where Native Americans removed and replaced spear points broken during hunts. They also found other tools that indicate the people butchered animals and prepared their hides at the site. They have christened it the Mazza site, named for landowner Sam Mazza.

The fragments of parallel-flaked spear point bases they found are known as Agate Basin points and were only used during the Late Paleoindian period, not only in Vermont, but also by people who roamed areas from the High Plains to the Mississippi Valley and beyond, reports Science Daily. Because of these point bases the experts can unequivocally date the site.

"The general lack of Late Paleoindian sites once caused archaeologists to hypothesize that people left what is now Vermont for roughly 1,000 years between the end of the Early Paleoindian Period [10,000 B.P.] and the beginning of the Early Archaic period [9,000-7,500 B.P.]," John G. Crock, director of the University of Vermont's consulting archaeology program and research assistant professor of anthropology, explained in a news release announcing the find. "The Mazza site and its artifacts indicate not only that people were in Vermont during this period, but also that they shared unifying cultural traits with other groups across North America."

The archaeologists determined that the stone material that has been recovered came from Mount Jasper in what is now Berlin, New Hampshire, which suggests trade or direct travel across the Green Mountains and the White Mountains--much like what is now U.S. Route 2.

Here's something to think about: These ancient Native American treasures were only found due to the construction of the Chittenden County Circumferential Highway. Before the road is built, archaeologists have been given a chance to dig so they can identify, evaluate, and develop management plans for prehistoric and historic sites that may be affected by the construction. WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vermont reports that ironically, the highway has probably led to more archeological discoveries in the state than any other single factor--so far 79 and counting.

Jolie Rouge

10-19-2003, 09:38 PM

Hunt for Killer Leads to Ex-FBI Agent
By KELLY KURT

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031019%2F165869489.htm&sc=1110&photoid=20031017MH101

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The sun had yet to rise over Miami Shores, Fla., but the Oklahoma lawman at H. Paul Rico's front door wasn't waiting any longer. After 22 years, it felt good to interrupt the retired FBI agent's sleep with a knock.

``I'm Sgt. Mike Huff,'' the detective told Rico before informing him he was under arrest for the 1981 murder of a Tulsa businessman.

After decades of pursuit, neither one needed the introduction.

Huff's mustache had gone salt-and-pepper since he was first assigned the case and his marriage had buckled under the strain. But the tangle of false leads, wrecked vacations and outside efforts to thwart him had finally come undone that day in early October.

If it hadn't been him, Huff says, some other Tulsa police detective would have trailed Roger Wheeler's murder into the depths of the Boston underworld and its cozy relationship with the FBI.

Huff's tenacity, however, has stood out, even as mobsters and corruption stood in the way.

``Mike was a bulldog,'' said Robert Fitzpatrick, a former assistant chief of the FBI's Boston bureau. ``He never let this go.''

Tulsa Police Chief Dave Been believes Huff and the threat of Oklahoma's death row helped break mob kingpin Stephen ``The Rifleman'' Flemmi, who pleaded guilty last week in 10 murders, including that of Wheeler.

``Sgt. Huff just kept the pressure and kept the pressure,'' Been said. ``I think that's what made Flemmi roll over.''

Spared the possibility of lethal injection, Flemmi is cooperating with investigators and has told them Rico and others wanted Wheeler killed. A confessed triggerman said Rico, who denies any involvement in Wheeler's death, aided the hit by providing information about Wheeler.

On May 27, 1981, kids in the pool at a Tulsa country club heard the shot from the parking lot. Wheeler, the 55-year-old chairman of Telex Corp. and owner of Miami, Fla.-based World Jai Alai, had been shot in the head after playing a round of golf.

Huff was 25 and undaunted when his supervisor told him the investigation into that afternoon's murder likely would change everything he'd thought about police work.

``Damn, I wish I hadn't been on duty that day,'' Huff would later say, after the case had consumed his life.

The investigation Huff led went cold at the start. Investigators eventually focused on Wheeler's suspicions that money was being skimmed from World Jai Alai. Rico, who retired from the FBI in 1975, was the company's chief of security.

In 1982, a member of Boston's Winter Hill Gang was gunned down after reportedly telling the FBI that he'd rejected an offer to kill Wheeler. Another person of interest to Huff, World Jai Alai executive John Callahan, was found dead in the trunk of a car.

``We were chasing leads all over the place,'' Huff said. ``We very naively thought that as far as the Jai Alai angle, the FBI would bring us into the loop.''

A year after Wheeler's murder, though, Huff's naivety was wearing off. He began to suspect Rico, who had cultivated Flemmi as an informant in 1965 when Rico was a rising star in the Boston FBI's war on the Mafia.

As the investigation went on, federal agents accused Huff of jumping to conclusions, he said. Tulsa detectives were led on wild goose chases when Boston FBI reports validated false leads, Huff later learned.

Former Boston FBI Agent John Connolly was convicted last year of protecting gangster informants, including James ``Whitey'' Bulger, a fugitive since being tipped off to his pending indictment in 1995.

Huff delivered 60 pounds of documents in 1995 to East Coast authorities investigating the Winter Hill Gang, warning them they were ``stumbling into a load of corruption.''

Five years later, he named Flemmi, Bulger, confessed triggerman John Martorano and Rico in an affidavit in Tulsa County. District Attorney Tim Harris brought murder charges against all but Rico, wanting more evidence to take to court.

``When you see somebody who is clearly in your sights, it's very nagging,'' Huff said of his frustration. ``But in retrospect, the case (against Rico) is much better with Flemmi.''

Huff interrupted vacations to chase leads. He called Wheeler's son, David, sometimes in the early morning hours. His dedication gave Wheeler's family hope that someone would eventually be brought to justice.

``He defines the word `relentless,''' David Wheeler said.

Meanwhile, Huff led a homicide division in making arrests in more than 90 percent of Tulsa murder cases, a figure that compares with 62 percent nationwide.

Still, the stress of the unsolved Wheeler case wrapped tighter around him, and Huff's marriage fell apart.

When the 78-year-old Rico opened the door in his undershorts Oct. 9, Huff found the moment bittersweet.

``What I was really thinking,'' he said, ``was `Can I get past this and reclaim some normalcy?

' ``

Rico and Huff, who'd met face to face many times over the years, exchanged words, but Huff won't say what they were.

Even with Flemmi's plea and Rico's arrest on a charge of first-degree murder, the Wheeler murder investigation isn't over. Bulger remains at large, and the detective says without elaborating that Flemmi's confession ``has opened a can of worms.''

Rico, meanwhile, is being held in Florida and faces an extradition hearing Tuesday. No trial date has been set in Oklahoma.

``It always comes down to the last man standing,'' said David Wheeler. ``Rest assured, Mike Huff will always be the last man standing.''

10/19/03 16:58

Jolie Rouge

10-19-2003, 09:40 PM

Louisiana Jail Escapee Caught; Other at Large

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031019%2F183284818.htm&sc=1110

LIVINGSTON, La. (AP) - One of two men who escaped from jail by slipping under a chain-link fence and then scaling a ladder over razor wire was captured Sunday after a motorist spotted him walking along a highway. The second escaped inmate remained at large.

The two men, accused in separate killings, broke out of jail Saturday while they were out of their cells for an hour of exercise, Sheriff Willie Graves said.

Gerald Bordelon was captured by Livingston Parish sheriff's deputies and Louisiana State Police less than a mile from the prison, said sheriff's Det. Stan Carpenter.

``They got the bloodhounds in on him, and with the helicopters on him they just went in and picked him up,'' Carpenter said.

Bordelon awaits trial on murder and kidnapping charges in the death of his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

John Priest, who was still at large Sunday morning, was convicted Thursday night of manslaughter and obstruction of justice for killing a man and burning his house. Priest has said he killed Ralph Noland Jr. in self-defense.

Police continued their search for Priest in the woods around Interstate 12 and along railroad tracks where Priest's black-and-white prison shirt was found discarded.

Graves said Priest is considered dangerous, and police told residents to lock their cars and their homes.

10/19/03 18:32

Jolie Rouge

10-20-2003, 10:46 AM

Boy finds two-headed snake
Friday, October 17, 2003 Posted: 10:17 AM EDT

www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/10/17/offbeat.twoheaded.snake.ap/index.html

CENTERTOWN, Kentucky (AP) -- Hunter York was afraid of snakes, but he couldn't resist the two-headed reptile he found.

The 10-year-old said he picked up the black king snake with a stick, then noticed it grabbed the stick with two heads.

"I ran in the house and said, 'Dad, this snake has two heads.' And he said, 'What?"' Hunter said. It "kind of freaked me out a little bit."

The 81/2-inch female reptile hasn't eaten since Hunter found it October 4.

Hunter's father, Rodney York, loaned the snake Tuesday to snake hobbyist Scott Petty to see whether he could induce it to eat.

"We couldn't force-feed it, because we don't know which head eats," York said.

York said he jokingly named the snake Mary-Kate and Ashley, after the teenage TV and movie stars, the Olsen twins.

York says he's considering a brief stint in show business for the snake once he learns more about it.

"If they're that rare, I'm going to hit up [talk-show hosts David] Letterman, [Jay] Leno and everybody I can think of," he said. "I'm going to milk it for all it's worth."

Ed Zimmerer, a Murray State University biology professor and herpetologist, estimated the occurrence of a two-headed snake at 1 in 10,000. "They usually don't live too long," he said.

The snake might be unable to determine which is the dominant head or have some internal problems that interfere with eating, Zimmerer said.

Jolie Rouge

10-20-2003, 01:12 PM

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/celebrity/whisper.jsp?floc=ce-main-1-l1&current=19Prince Spreads the News

The eccentric musician has been surprising citizens of his home state Minnesota by knocking on doors as a mission of his Jehovah's Witness religion. In 2001 the singer released "Rainbow Children" as a mix of biblical references and sensual grooves. Imagine the surprise if you opened the door to Prince with a Watchtower in hand.

Princes' Bio http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bio.asp?oid=377&cf=377Prince

Prince is, without a doubt one of the most influential figures in modern rock history. His unparalleled ability to fuse funk, pop and rock helped redefine the boundaries of musical genres. As a songwriter, Prince has certainly earned his tenure, penning countless hits--trashy, eloquent, fragile and blustering--for himself and many other musicians.

Prince's first two albums, For You (1978) and Dirty Mind (1979), though impressive efforts for an unknown Midwestern teenager, failed to foreshadow his impending brilliance. "I Feel For You," off the second release is perhaps the best track of the lot. The song is both delicate and sleazy with a funky pop melody--a combination Prince honed in his two next releases, Dirty Mind (1980) and Controversy (1981).

1999, released in 1982 made Prince a star. The album, which sold over 3 million copies, was a whirlwind of sexual fantasy, catchy lyrics and electronic funk. From the anthemic "Free" to the mantra in D.M.S.R. ("Dance, Music Sex...") to the perfect pop sounds in "Delirious" and "Little Red Corvette," 1999 quickly sped to the top of the stacks of wax.

If 1999 made Prince a star, then Purple Rain made him a king. Recorded, in part, with his band The Revolution, this album sold over 10 million copies and spent twenty weeks at the top of the charts. "When Doves Cry," "I Would Die 4 U" and "Purple Rain" were defining moments in '80s music.

After the bounding success of Purple Rain Prince took a bizarre turn down the path of pop-psychedelia with Around The World in a Day (1985). "Raspberry Beret" and "Pop Life" were brilliant, if unsettling, and definitely ahead of their time.

After releasing the marginal Parade and roosting permanently in Minneapolis with his own record label (Paisley Park), Prince came out with his second masterpiece of the decade. Sign O' the Times. At once sexy and messy, tight, forlorn and ecstatic, Sign O' the Times came together both as a complete work and as a series of great singles. "I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man", a heartwrenching score, the wistful, electronic "If I Was Your Girlfriend" and the cocksure "U Got The Look" are all winners. "Starfish and Coffee" is perhaps the unsung hero of this 1987 collection.

In lieu of the hastily shelved Black Album (unreleased until 1994, either due to Prince's dissatisfaction or the controversy-wary label), Prince followed up Sign O' the Times with the stripped down and relatively serene Lovesexy. While it was a cathartic break from the emotional buildup of his last three albums, Prince's spark on Lovesexy was noticeably missing.

After a contrived Batman soundtrack and the gospel-tinged Graffiti Bridge, where he wrote all, but only sang about half of the songs, Prince teamed up with the New Power Generation. Conceived as a return to urban R&B, Prince and the NPG released two albums, each of which contained flashes of brilliance but ultimately failed to live up to the larger body of work. After the second one, marked by the "The Symbol," Prince had his name officially changed to "The Symbol."

While the NPG continued to perform on the remaining Prince albums, its name was dropped from the main titles. Come was essentially a rehash of earlier sounds, and released under the old "Prince" name. 1994 saw the official release of The Black Album as well as a three-disc "greatest hits" set.

Gold Experience and Chaos & Disorder were released in 1995 and 1996, respectively. These two albums ended Prince's long-standing relationship with Warner Bros. Records. In spite of the bitter quarrels between artist and label, the albums feel fresh and new--a renaissance of creativity for Prince.

Emancipation, released in late 1996 on EMI is another three disc set--this time comprising a bevy of new music. The album is well composed and stylistically diverse. Though not as wild as his earlier releases, it stands on its own right, proving that Prince, a.k.a "The Symbol," a.k.a. "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" can mature gracefully.

In the spring of 1998, the Artist released Crystal Ball, a four-CD set comprising three discs of previously unreleased tracks and a fourth disc, subtitled "The Truth," containing a collection of acoustic ballads.

The vexing question of what to call a man whose name is an unpronouncable symbol came to an official end in May 2000, when The Artist Formerly Known As Prince announced that since his Warner/Chappell publishing contract expired on Dec. 31, 1999 he would formally be taking back the name Prince.

Jolie Rouge

10-21-2003, 09:14 PM

Politicians Love This ZIP Code the Most

The one ZIP code politicians love the most--no matter their party affiliation--is 10021. New York City. Just north of Bloomingdale's on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It even has a nickname among all the presidential wannabes: Piggybank Central.

Citing a new analysis of campaign donations, The New York Post reports that residents and businesses in this posh area, which include the designer shop Giorgio Armani, The Carlyle and The Regency hotels, and the townhouse residence of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have given more cash to re-elect President Bush than any other ZIP code in the United States. Bush's take from 10021--so far-- is $712,505.

But 10021 is not a Republican stronghold. That same small area is also the top donor to all six Democratic candidates: Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Rep. Dick Gephardt, Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Joe Lieberman, and Sen. John Edwards. The only one who hasn't done well in 10021 is the Rev. Al Sharpton, who raised a measly $500 from a single donor in this ZIP. Kerry has gotten the most bucks from 10021 of any Democrat: $322,125.

Jolie Rouge

10-21-2003, 09:18 PM

Sci-Fi channel may sue NASA for UFO documents
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Posted: 12:25 PM EDT

www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/21/ufo.records.reut/index.html

NEW YORK(Reuters) -- The truth is out there, and the Sci-Fi Channel is determined to find it, even if that means suing NASA, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army and Air Force for documents related to unidentified flying objects.

Sci-Fi, a cable channel that airs fictional programming such as Battlestar Galactica, as well as documentaries that explore the line between fact and science fiction, is part of a group pressuring the federal government to de-classify UFO information.

Last year Sci-Fi joined forces with an investigative journalist, a Washington, DC law firm, and former President Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, to gain release of documents relating to an incident it calls "the new Roswell," a UFO sighting in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania in 1965.

"Now, one year later, despite serious effort to uncover the facts, NASA and the Department of Defense are still maintaining their wall of silence," said Sci-Fi Channel president Bonnie Hammer. "Whether or not this has anything to do with UFOs the public has the right to know."

Now the Sci-Fi Channel is supporting what could turn into a series of lawsuits, first against NASA and then against the Department of Defense, the Army and Air Force, to get classified documents released to the public.

The group said it expects to file the suit against NASA within a week. Representatives from NASA and the Department of Defense were not immediately available for comment.

NASA was chosen as the first agency to be sued because Sci-Fi and the groups' attorney, Lee Helfrich of the Washington, DC-based firm, Lobel, Novins and Lamont, believe that they've fully exhausted their administrative options with the agency, a prerequisite for a judge to agree to hear the case.

While news organizations routinely pursue Freedom of Information Act requests with the government, it's relatively rare for a cable channel, especially one focused on fantasy, not the gathering of news, to pursue such a course of action.

But Hammer sees a great deal of programming potential in pursuing government documents related to UFO sightings, part of the channel's effort to "find the line between science fiction and science fact."

"As we grow the channel, this will become more and more important," Hammer said.

In December 1965, residents of Kecksburg, Pennsylvania watched a fireball descend into a heavily-forested area 40 miles from Pittsburgh. That night the area was cordoned off by the military, trucks and helicopters came and went, and the town was briefly placed under martial law.

The next day, headlines in the Greensburg, Pennsylvania Tribune-Review read "Unidentified Flying Object Falls Near Kecksburg" and "Army Ropes Off Area," but residents of Kecksburg were never told why the military cordoned off the area and what, if anything, was found.

The results of Sci-Fi's new investigation into the incident will air Friday in a documentary hosted by Bryant Gumbel called "The New Roswell: Kecksburg Exposed."

In Kecksburg it hired a forestry expert from West Virginia University who discovered growth patterns and core damage to trees there that support a "traumatic event" in 1965.

Sci-Fi, a unit of Vivendi Universal, is among the assets recently sold to General Electric Co.'s NBC. Hammer sees the integration with a network news operation as a potential boon for Sci-Fi's newsgathering efforts.

"If it's something that seems credible, absolutely," said Hammer on the potential of working with NBC journalists. "But we're not going to do it just to create buzz."

Jolie Rouge

10-21-2003, 09:19 PM

Drink Up! Coffee's Surprising Benefit

Coffee may be the new health drink. Researchers from the University of Munster in Germany have shown that coffee--even decaffeinated and instant coffee--may prevent colon cancer.

HealthDayNews reports that the magic ingredient is a highly active compound called methylpyridinium. This potent antioxidant seems to increase the activity of phase II enzymes, which are believed to protect against colon cancer. This is the first study to identify a specific, highly active anticancer compound in coffee. Methylpyridinium, which is found almost exclusively in coffee and coffee products, is formed when the coffee beans are roasted. It is most prevalent in espresso.

"Until human studies are done, no one knows exactly how much coffee is needed to have a protective effect against colon cancer," study co-leader Thomas Hofman, professor and head of the Institute for Food Chemistry at the University of Munster, said in a prepared statement. "However, our studies suggest that drinking coffee may offer some protection, especially if it's strong." The study findings have been published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Jolie Rouge

10-21-2003, 09:26 PM

Corn Cobs Solve Ancient Indian Mystery

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/indianmystery/indianmystery

In the desolate Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico there is abundant evidence that as many as 6,000 to 10,000 ancient native Americans lived and worshiped there at one time. The remains of elaborate buildings--some as high as four stories and containing 800 rooms--indicate the location was used for rituals and ceremonies. Extensive villages were also built nearby.

Why is this of special interest to historians? Because the land is so barren it's virtually uninhabitable. How did the people eat? How did they survive?

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey have solved the mystery. Call it the ultimate take-out food. After analyzing the chemical isotopic ratios of ancient corn cobs found on the site and the soil of fields at the foot of the Chuska Mountains 50 miles to the west and the San Juan River flood plain 56 miles to the north, scientists realized that these ancestral Pueblo people who lived between 850 and 1250 A.D. carried food on their backs for about 50 miles in the hot sun, navigating treacherous trails and even scaling cliffs. A network of roads and trails has been detected in aerial surveys to back up the claim, reports The Associated Press.

This was long before Christopher Columbus arrived and brought the return of the horse to North America. "They had to haul it in on their backs," lead researcher Larry Benson told AP. He suspects that some food was produced in the canyon, but rainfall would have been sparse and the agricultural season so short that growing enough food to sustain that many people would have been impossible. "We suspect that during major construction, food had to be imported in order to support the laborers," Linda S. Cordell, director of the University of Colorado Museum in Boulder and a study co-author, told AP. The chemical analysis of the corn cobs confirms this theory as fact.

The ancient people most likely carried corn meal, rather than the entire cob, because it would have been lighter. Good thing because they had to save their strength to also carry timber that was 10 to 20 feet long, as well as pottery a full 50 miles. "They were carrying trees all that way," Benson marveled to AP.

There is one mystery that still remains unanswered:

Why did they choose Chaco as a place for such elaborate construction? "It looks like that in whatever organization existed then, the place had some kind of power," Cordell speculated to AP. "It became an important place and subsequently an important ritual area."

The research findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jolie Rouge

10-21-2003, 09:31 PM

'Dilbert' Award: No. 1 Weasel Is WHO?

George W. Bush may be the president of the United States, the leader of the free world, and the most powerful man on Earth. But he's also a weasel. And he's getting an award for it. Our president has been voted the "Weaseliest Individual" in the 2003 Dilbert Weasel Awards poll. He won by a landslide of 13,959 votes, more than the second and third place vote-getters Michael Moore and Yasser Arafat received combined.

What's a weasel?"

A weasel is someone who is trying to get away with something," Scott Adams explained to CNN on Tuesday. In his new book, "Dilbert and The Way of the Weasel," he goes even further, describing a weasel as someone who is manipulative, scheming, misleading, cheating, and blame-shifting. Ouch. .....

The 2003 Dilbert Weasel Awards Poll also names the following weasels:

Weaseliest Organization: Recording Industry Association of America

Weaseliest Country: France

Weaseliest Company: Microsoft

Weaseliest Profession: Politician

Weaseliest Behavior: Blaming fast food restaurants for making you fat

Jolie Rouge

10-22-2003, 09:10 PM

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story /0001%2F20031022%2F081992457.htm&sc=1120

Cat Burglar Actually Steals Cats

HUMMELS WHARF, Pa. (AP) - Talk about a cat burglar! Police in Synder County, Pennsylvania, are looking for someone who's stealing cats.

Police aren't pussy-footing around. They say the cat-snatcher took seven felines from a shelter in Monroe Township.

The cat burglar apparently struck early Saturday morning. Authorities hope someone will call with information so they can scratch-up some evidence about the thief.

10/22/03 08:19

Jolie Rouge

10-22-2003, 09:11 PM

Pilots, Police Spot UFO In Durham, N.C.

This is not the usual list of suspects. Several people of some authority and great respect have all said they saw the same thing flashing across the night sky of Durham, N.C., on Monday night: a UFO that looked like a shooting star trailing a tail of green streaks.

One of the eyewitnesses was Durham Police Lt. Morris Taylor who told the Durham Herald-Sun newspaper that UFO was different from any shooting star he has ever seen. Describing it as "humongous," he added, "It was pretty wild looking. It looked comparable to the size of the moon in the sky." Taylor's colleague, Durham County Sheriff's Deputy Brad O'Briant, told the paper that he was out checking property when he saw the flying object near Interstate 40. He explained that it was moving too fast to tell the color, but the tail had a distinctive greenish-white hue. "It just went across the sky and disappeared as it got toward the horizon area," he told the Herald-Sun. "It was a lot larger than a shooting star would be. It was almost like a firework going to the ground or something." Adding to the mystery: Even though both police officers said it looked like it was heading straight into the ground, there were no reports of any crashes.

Those two officers weren't the only ones who saw it. At least six people called the police dispatcher with the same UFO report at around 8:45 p.m. on Monday, and one resident even flagged down a police cruiser to make the report. Also, several pilots contacted air traffic controllers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport telling them about the object, but air traffic controllers did not pick it up on their radar.

In May 2003, three people driving at night in rural Georgia had a close encounter of the second kind. Read their spooky story--that some investigators are taking quite seriously.
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/atplay/package.jsp?name=fte/ufoencounter/ ufoencounter&floc=wn-nn

Jolie Rouge

10-22-2003, 09:12 PM

Bad Attitude Can Kill You. Find Out How

Young adults who are hostile and impatient high achievers with the classic "Type A" personality have a much higher risk of developing high blood pressure by their early 40s than others, reports Reuters of new research from Northwestern University.

Led by Dr. Lijing L. Yan, the research team examined 3,308 black and white men who were originally recruited for the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study in 1985 and 1986 when all were between the ages of 18 and 30 and all had normal blood pressure. At the end of the 15-year study period, 15 percent of the participants developed high blood pressure. But those who had been identified with certain Type A personality characteristics--time urgency, impatience, achievement striving, competitiveness, and hostility--had a whopping 84 percent higher risk of developing hypertension between the ages of 33 and 45 than people who didn't have these personality characteristics. Reuters notes that people who are Type A personalities also are tense and aggressive and often suffer from stress-related symptoms of insomnia and indigestion.

What made this study unique is that the researchers zeroed in on the specific personality traits that increased the risk of high blood pressure: time urgency, impatience, and hostility. Just being competitive and high-achieving did NOT up the danger of hypertension. "The notion that a 'Type A' behavior pattern is 'bad' for your health has been around for many years," Barbara Alving, acting director of the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute which funded the study, told Reuters. "This study helps us understand which aspects of that behavior pattern may be unhealthy." High blood pressure is often called the silent killer. It can lead to heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. The research findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Jolie Rouge

10-22-2003, 09:13 PM

Caroline Kennedy: Odd Secrets Revealed

Caroline Kennedy may jealously guard her privacy from those intent on invading it, but an unauthorized biography published this week goes far to reveal some of the secrets of her life. "Sweet Caroline" by Christopher Andersen asserts that Caroline smoked pot as a teenager, took prescription diet pills forced on her by her mother, and had a brush with death by a terrorist.

According to Andersen, Jackie Kennedy made Caroline take diet pills in her teenage years when she thought her daughter was too pudgy. He dished to Entertainment Tonight: "When she was a teenager, Caroline went through the usual period of adolescent rebellion. She smoked cigarettes and pot, she drank beer and unfortunately she was the daughter of the most glamorous and svelte woman in the world. Her mother was very weight-conscious and actually starved herself to stay thin. When Caroline was going through a slightly pudgy phase in her early teenage years, Jackie...had a doctor prescribe diet pills for Caroline at the age of 16."

But scariest of all was the time that the Kennedy family was almost murdered by a terrorist--just after her father was elected president but before he took the oath of office. "Her father was president-elect and a suicide bomber waited to drive his car into the family to blow them up," Andersen told Entertainment Tonight. "He was just about to put his foot on the gas pedal when the sight of Caroline with her infant brother, John, tore him up and he couldn't go through with the plan."

Jolie Rouge

10-22-2003, 09:14 PM

$1.5M From Heist Rotting in Ala. Marsh

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story /0001%2F20031021%2F185575286.htm&sc=1110

FAIRFIELD, Ala. (AP) - The mystery of what happened to $1.5 million in cash missing since a 1995 armored car robbery was solved over the weekend in a swamp.

Sheriff's deputies acting on a tip unearthed what was left of the loot - rotted, threadlike pieces of bills and money wrappers, two canvas duffel bags and a few plastic trash bags.

The money was so badly deteriorated it was worthless, said sheriff's spokesman Randy Christian.

``It looks like a shredded mess. It's just a mass of green goo,'' he said.

Christian said authorities are trying to determine whether new charges are possible since the robbery happened eight years ago and the money appeared to have been in the ground at least five years.

Two Wells Fargo employees were sent to prison for stealing $1.7 million from their own armored truck and making it look as if they were the victims of a robbery. The two men were found tied up and blindfolded.

They told police they planned the robbery with two other men, but no one else was ever charged.

A year after the heist, authorities recovered $200,000 of the loot from homes in Alabama. But $1.5 million remained missing.

Deputies said they were tipped late Sunday night and found what they believed to be the rest of the money buried about 6 inches deep in a marsh off a heavily traveled road near a U.S. Steel plant in Fairfield.

``It was right where they said it would be,'' Christian said.

10/21/03 18:55

Jolie Rouge

10-22-2003, 09:15 PM

Scientists Identify Eye Disease Gene
By WILLIAM McCALL

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story /0001%2F20031022%2F143504975.htm&sc=1501

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - In what may be an important step toward preventing blindness in old age, scientists have identified a gene believed to be responsible for a degenerative eye disease that could strike millions of baby boomers as they grow older.

The gene is suspected of being the main cause of some cases of age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, a complex disease triggered by various factors. It typically affects people 65 and older.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University were able to pinpoint the gene by tracking it through a large extended family with a history of the disease.

``We were really lucky to get a single family that large with 10 affected members,'' said Dennis Schultz, an Oregon Health & Science University biochemist who led the research at the university's Casey Eye Institute.

In age-related macular degeneration, the most sensitive area of the retina breaks down, robbing a person of the fine vision needed to read a book or recognize a face. In severe cases, it can lead to almost total blindness.

About 6 million Americans suffer from AMD, a number that is predicted to double by the year 2030 as the baby boomer generation ages. There are treatments for the disease, but the goal is prevention.

Dr. Johanna Seddon, a Harvard researcher, said more studies will have to be done to establish whether the gene is the single source of some cases of AMD. If the gene proves to be the source, it is possible gene therapy could be used to delay or even prevent the disease, she said.

``But I think that's still quite a way off,'' Seddon said.

The study was published Tuesday in the online version of the journal Human Molecular Genetics and will appear in print in the December issue.

Genes that play a role in forms of macular degeneration that affect younger people have been identified. But this is the first solid evidence of a genetic cause for the age-related form, researchers said.

``I think it's really exciting,'' said Dr. Michael Gorin, a University of Pittsburgh eye specialist and leading AMD researcher. ``This is an important step along the long and arduous path toward understanding the complexity of this disease.''

But he warned there are many other factors that contribute to age-related macular degeneration, including other genes, as well as environmental factors, such as smoking.

In a related study announced Monday, a University of Kentucky researcher said he has created for the first time genetically modified mice that have virtually all the important features of AMD. That could advance research on the disease.

The study by Jayakrishna Ambati and his team will be published in the November issue of Nature Medicine.

On the Net:

Human Molecular Genetics: http://www.hmg.oupjournals.org

Foundation for Fighting Blindness: http:www.blindness.org

10/22/03 14:34

Jolie Rouge

10-23-2003, 11:57 AM

Tricycle-riding gunman tries to hijack car, police say
Thursday, October 23, 2003 Posted: 1:34 PM EDT

SALEM, Oregon (AP) -- A gunman who allegedly tried to hijack a car was apparently no better at driving it than he was at maneuvering his original vehicle: a tricycle.

He also wasn't very handy with the gun.

Oswaldo Valenciano, 24, was arrested Tuesday and will be booked at the Marion County Jail on felony charges, Lt. Dan Cary said.

Police were called after receiving reports that a man on a tricycle had been firing gunshots and had slammed into a car, Cary said.

"The tricycle pilot picked himself up and demanded to be taken to the hospital," Cary said. But the driver of the car, Marion Rodriguez, tried to persuade Valenciano to call 911, Cary said.

"At this point, Valenciano opens the rear car door and hops into the back seat of Mr. Rodriguez's car, demanding to be taken to the hospital," Cary said.

"Mr. Rodriguez gets out of his car and starts asking people to call 911. Valenciano then gets out, mounts his trike -- and promptly falls over."

At that point, a police car arrived, prompting Valenciano to abandon his tricycle and get into the front seat of Rodriguez's car, still armed with his handgun, according to police reports.

"Officers saw the weapon and ordered Valenciano out of the car," Cary said. "Instead he puts the car in gear and tosses a handgun out. He fails to notice that the emergency brake is still set."

Valenciano eventually hit a street sign, lost control of the car and tried to hide in a nearby sports utility vehicle, police said

Valenciano was treated at Salem Hospital for a leg injury and a gunshot wound to his left foot.

{{Some of these stories are so bizarre I just have to add the links so that ya'll won't think I made it up ! }}

www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/10/23/offbeat.car.hijack.ap/index.html

the fugative

10-25-2003, 09:31 PM

Man jailed for smuggling snakes in pants
Associated Press

Published October 22, 2003

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A Swedish tourist who tried to smuggle eight baby snakes into Australia in his trousers to fund a vacation will spend the rest of his visit here behind bars, a court ordered Wednesday.

Per Johan Adolfsson, 28, was sentenced in Sydney's Central Local Court to two months' jail for importing an endangered species and making a false and misleading statement.

Adolfsson was searched by customs officers at Sydney Airport on Sept. 22, after arriving from Bangkok on a Thai Airways flight.

They found four venomous baby king cobras and four baby emerald tree boas strapped to his legs in homemade pouches. The cobras had died during the nine-hour flight, but the boas survived.

Adolfsson's lawyer, Michael Priddis, said his client had bought the snakes for 1,500 Australian dollars (US$1,000) from a professional breeder. It was not clear whether the snakes were bought in Thailand or Sweden.

"It was a very haphazard, small-scale, and amateurish operation," said Priddis. "He is not part of a smuggling ring."

Priddis said Adolfsson, a glass worker and window fitter, had been suffering depression and alcohol abuse following an injury at work in Sweden.

He had planned to sell the snakes in Australia for A$5,000 (US3,500) to fund an eight-day holiday and lift his spirits.

"It is a bizarre way to have a holiday," Priddis told the court.

Magistrate Paul Macmahon said the court took such offenses seriously because exotic animals could bring into Australia sickness that could devastate local wildlife.

As Adolfsson had already spent one month in custody, he will remain in prison until Nov. 21 and then be sent home.

:p

the fugative

10-26-2003, 10:26 AM

News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published October 23, 2003

According to a September BBC report, police in South Korea are investigating some of the 22,000 complaints made already this year by computer gamers that characters and property that they have acquired in such all-consuming games as "EverQuest" and "Ultima Online" have been stolen by hackers and sold to other gamers to make their own playing more successful. Experts say such theft of "intangibles" should be punishable by law, but the value of the stolen property might be inconsequential, except to those players whose entire lives revolve around a game and for whom the acquisition of a character or property might have involved hundreds of hours of playing.

• In September in Pinson, Ala., Joseph Logan, 46, was arrested for assault just after watching Alabama's 34-31 football loss to Arkansas on TV, which Logan took pretty hard. He started ranting, slamming doors, and throwing dishes into the sink, and it was at this point that his son, Seth, 20, chose to ask Dad innocently if he would help him buy a car, at which point Dad grabbed a gun, put Seth in a headlock, and fired a bullet near Seth's ear. Said a sheriff's deputy, "I know we take football serious in the South, but that's crossing the line."

U.S. Customs is on the job!

• In August, U.S. Customs confiscated an SUV being used to smuggle Mexican immigrants into the country, but later admitted that their thorough search of it had overlooked a 13-year-old girl hiding inside; she was discovered 42 hours later. In July, Adrian Rodriguez was imprisoned (but released by an appeals court a month later) because Mexican authorities found 33 pounds of marijuana that U.S. Customs had failed to find in a vehicle it had just sold to him at auction. That was the third time recently that someone had bought a vehicle from U.S. Customs that contained overlooked marijuana and for which the purchaser spent at least some time in prison (in one case, one year) before things were straightened out.

• Former Ball State University student Andrew Bourne, 23, and his parents sued the school and the manufacturer of its aluminum football goalposts in September. Bourne broke a leg and vertebrae when, during a raucous endzone celebration after a 2001 victory over the University of Toledo, students pulled down the goalposts, hitting Bourne.

• John Clayton III was awarded $1.5 million by a jury in Greensboro, N.C., in September based on injuries he suffered as a passenger in a car whose driver had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. The car Clayton was a passenger in was a police car; he was being taken to the station on an outstanding arrest warrant when the officer driving hit the brakes. Clayton claimed the sudden stop caused him "back problems."

• Kevin Presland was awarded the equivalent of about $150,000 by a judge in Sydney, Australia, in August because the Hunter Area Health Service psychiatric hospital released him too soon in 1995, after which he killed his brother's fiancée. This was not a lawsuit by the victim's family against the hospital; this was a direct payout to Presland, whose injury was that he was made to suffer temporary prison conditions after his arrest (he was acquitted because of his psychosis), whereas if he had never been released, he would have experienced only psychiatric-hospital conditions.

• Former Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa in September sued a fan who attacked him during a September 2002 baseball game in Chicago, and also sued the ballpark's (U.S. Cellular Field's) security firm and its concessionaire. (Several days after the initial attack, Gamboa had told the Associated Press, "The fault is with the two people [the fan and his minor son] who did it. I'm not one who looks to [spread] blame. It's nobody's fault but the two idiots who did it.")

Recent highway truck spills

• A trailer full of toilet bowls accidentally came unhooked and overturned on Interstate Hwy. 88 near Colesville, N.Y. (June). A trailer full of compressed paper and sex toys (including whips, plastic breasts and blow-up dolls) spilled onto the northbound M6 highway near Castle Bromwich, England (June). Two tractor-trailers full of honeybees (80 million on Interstate Hwy. 95 near Titusville, Fla., spilled in April, and another measured at 500 beehives of "thousands of bees each" on Interstate Hwy. 435 spilled near Claycomo, Mo., in June). (Most of the bees were recovered by using smoke to put them temporarily to sleep.)

• In an August story about the driving record of U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow of South Dakota (who had just killed a motorcyclist in a collision), the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported that Janklow's defense (that he had to swerve to avoid another vehicle) was the same one he had used for each of three previous collisions (one swerve was for an animal, not a vehicle), and that in none of the four instances was there any corroborating evidence of the other vehicle or animal.

• News of the Weird reported in December that Inga Kosak had won the first World Extreme Ironing Championship in Munich in September, based on running a course through several stations (e.g., up in trees, in the middle of streams) and ironing a designated garment. An October Wall Street Journal story shows the "sport" as growing in prominence. South African Anton Van De Venter, 27, broke the high-altitude record in August by ironing his national flag at the 20,000-foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, while nude, in freezing temperatures (quote: "I came, I saw, I pressed a crease"), and British diver Ian Mitchell sawed through ice in Wisconsin in March and submitted photos of himself in a wet suit "ironing" (with a Black & Decker Quick 'n' Easy) a shirt that was braced against the underside of the ice.

Ewwww, gross! ;)

• A deep-sea research voyage in June, jointly run by Australia and New Zealand scientists, discovered what the Age newspaper called a 1,800-species "freak show" of bizarre creatures (their condition caused in part by the extreme water pressure, which may be hundreds of times greater than at the surface). Examples include: the fangtooth (teeth, longer than its head, would puncture its brain if not for special tooth sockets); the viperfish (whose head is on a hinge); the coffinfish (with a glowing "sign" on its head to attract prey and the ability to swallow large quantities of water to avoid predators); a squid with one big eye (for offense) and one small one (for defense); and the snotthead, which was not described.

• A 17-year-old boy, after receiving a free Krispy Kreme doughnut at an Erie, Pa., store promotion, stepped back in line for another but was refused. According to the Erie Times-News, he returned a few minutes later with a McDonald's sack over his head and asked for a doughnut but was again refused. Then he fell to the floor and flailed his arms and legs, demanding another free doughnut, and was cited by police for disorderly conduct.

• In Edmonton, Alberta, in July, Bill Sokolik pleaded guilty to a 2002 robbery that went down this way: He had wrapped his head in gauze, covered his face with silicon putty and rouge (and oversized glasses), grabbed a samurai sword, walked into a Jehovah's Witnesses hall, and screamed, "I am the evil that you have read about! This is the face of evil!" He was in the middle of collecting cash and credit cards from everyone when the police arrived. (A psychiatrist had testified that Sokolik had run out of medication several days before.)

• Also, in the past month: The Oklahoma treasurer released a list of unclaimed property that included the refundable $100 utilities deposit paid by accused terrorist conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui when he lived in the state to attend flight school. A delay on a London underground train was caused when an apprentice driver fainted while listening to his instructor describe vasectomy surgery that had developed complications. Family Christian Stores, the largest Christian retail goods chain in the U.S., announced it would begin opening on Sundays.

:p

Jolie Rouge

10-27-2003, 03:01 PM

Gator Gets Loose in Airliner Compartment
By STEVE STRUNSKY

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031027%2F133860775.htm&sc=1120

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - No, it wasn't just an alligator bag. Rather, a live alligator was captured inside the baggage hold of an airliner on Monday after it escaped from a crate of four gators being shipped from Miami, officials said.

The alligator was a juvenile, 4-5 feet long and weighing as little as 10 pounds, and remained inside a burlap bag with its mouth bound shut, said Tim Wagner, an American Airlines spokesman.

No one was reported hurt, and the alligator was placed back in its crate and claimed by its owners, Wagner said.

Authorities were looking into how the reptile got out of the box.

The gators flew into Newark Liberty International Airport on American Flight 776 from Miami, a Boeing 767, which arrived at 10:28 a.m.

``Upon arrival at Newark, when the cargo hold was opened, one of the alligators was outside of the crate,'' said Wagner. ``Still in the burlap bag, still with his mouth bound properly. So they called the Port Authority, put the alligator back in the crate with its companions, and it has now been reunited with its owners.''

``These were juvenile alligators, small alligators,'' Wagner added.

Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the Port Authority Police emergency services unit was called in. Officers did not wrestle the alligator or use a tranquilizer gun, he said, but rather used a closing-loop device to capture it.

Officers from the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife were called in, but were not needed, Ciavolella said.

Wagner would not release the owners' names. Neither he nor Ciavolella knew why the alligators were being transported. Their health certificates and other paperwork were in order, Wagner said.

10/27/03 13:38

Jolie Rouge

10-27-2003, 03:18 PM

Heir Says He Can't Recall Dismemberment
By JUAN A. LOZANO

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031027%2F163265752.htm&sc=1110

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - Pressed by prosecutors, New York real estate heir Robert Durst testified Monday that he could not remember specifics of how he cut up the body of a neighbor he is accused of murdering.

The millionaire said he did not know how long it took or what part of Morris Black's body he cut first. Durst said he used two saws and an ax that belonged to Black after drinking a fifth of Jack Daniels.

``You were drunk while cutting up Morris Black?'' prosecutor Kurt Sistrunk asked.

``I hope so, yes, sir,'' Durst responded.

It was Durst's third day of testimony in his murder trial in the 2001 slaying. Durst, who lived in squalor despite his millions, testified earlier that his neighbor was killed accidentally in a scuffled over a gun. He said he cut up Black in a panic, fearing police would not believe his story, and dumped the body parts in Galveston Bay.

``Did you cry when you were cutting up your best friend?'' Sistrunk said. ``Do you remember anything about cutting up Morris Black?''

Durst answered: ``No, sir.''

Durst, who sometimes posed as a mute woman while living on Galveston Island, said earlier that he and Black became good friends but had a falling out. The deadly scuffle, he said, occurred after Durst found Black in his apartment with a gun.

Durst, 60, said Monday that he tried getting help for Black, who was 71, from an upstairs neighbor but knocked on the wrong door.

``It's just another self-serving lie that you knocked on the (wrong) door,'' Sistrunk said.

``It's not a lie,'' Durst responded.

During his questioning, Sistrunk asked Durst to describe specifically how he and Black struggled for the gun, asking for details about how close the two men were, where his hand was on the gun and how they fell down.

At one point, Sistrunk and fellow prosecutor Joel Bennett got up and had Durst guide them through a demonstration of the shooting. Defense attorneys objected but prosecutors were allowed to proceed.

``The two of you look like spaghetti,'' Durst told the two prosecutors. ``This is a bad demonstration like my attorneys have been telling you.''

Durst, whose family runs The Durst Organization, a privately held $ billion New York company, faces five to 99 years in prison if convicted.

10/27/03 16:32

if ???

:eek:

Jolie Rouge

10-27-2003, 03:20 PM

Ill. Pediatrician Faces Child Porn Charge
By MIKE ROBINSON

CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago pediatrician was arrested after thousands of images of child pornography were found on his computers, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Dr. H. Marc Watzman, 37, also had a hidden panel in his car that contained drugs such as morphine, compounds used to induce unconsciousness and a substance used to induce temporary muscular paralysis.

Watzman was taken into custody Saturday after agents searched his Chicago apartment.

He was charged with possession of child pornography. He has not been accused of trying to use the drugs on anyone.

A bail hearing was scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Agents said they found a desktop computer in Watzman's apartment with about 40 images of child pornography and more than 200,000 erased images. They also seized a laptop containing 3,000 to 5,000 images of sexually explicit pictures of children, authorities said.

Watzman worked at Edward Hospital in Naperville. A resume discovered by investigators indicated that Watzman also has worked at hospitals in Peoria, Rockford, Wichita, Kan., Philadelphia and Maryland, authorities said.

10/27/03 16:45

Jolie Rouge

10-27-2003, 03:22 PM

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031027%2F153063889.htm&sc=1120

Toronto Man Is Rock-Paper-Scissors Champ
By COLIN McCLELLAND

TORONTO (AP) - The cavernous club was filled with hundreds of fierce competitors. Striped-shirted referees kept order during the grueling hand-to-hand combat.

In the end, it came down to two men and three ``weapons'' - rock, paper and scissors.

Rob Krueger, 31, of Toronto, was the winner - hands down - of the second International World Rock Paper Scissors Championship on Saturday night, taking home the $3,750 first prize.

Krueger, sporting a wild wig and wraparound shades, triumphed by throwing ``paper'' to finalist Marc Rigaux's ``rock.''

The timeless method, which is used to solve everyday disputes, involves two players making one of three possible simultaneous hand gestures, called ``throws.'' They are ``rock'' (closed fist); ``paper'' (hand flat); and ``scissors'' (index and middle fingers extended. Rock defeats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper wins over rock.

Many of the competitors were dressed in wild costumes, such as Peter Watson's billowing suit cut from Britain's Union Jack flag, with beer the obvious beverage of choice.

``Let the opponent make mistakes,'' stressed Benjamin Stein, 25, of New York, wearing a Stars and Stripes bandanna. When he eventually fell, he blamed a failure to follow his own advice.

``I tried hot-dogging it to get the crowd behind me. I lost to a chump,'' Stein said, using the culture's lingo for a slow thrower.

Other terms include ``cloaking,'' the trick of holding back a throw until the last possible moment, and ``paper clipping,'' a similar attempt to dupe an opponent into a false move.

``It's a big joke for 364 days of the year,'' said Rigaux, a 26-year-old software salesman in Toronto, where the World Rock Paper Scissors Society is based. ``When you get here, it's totally serious.''

Competitions also take place in Sonoma, Calif., and at the Burning Man cultural event in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, he said.

The society claims RPS is known as Jenken or Jen Ken Pon in Japan, Shnik Shnak Shnuk in Germany, Ching Chong Chow in South Africa and Farggling or Roshambo in different parts of the United States.

On the Net: www.worldrps.com

10/27/03 15:29

Jolie Rouge

10-27-2003, 10:35 PM

THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Margaret Murie.

A writer and conservationist, Murie championed preserving the wilds of Alaska. "Mardy", as she was known, grew up in a log cabin in Alaska, and was the first woman to graduate from the University of Alaska. She and her husband Olaus, who was a biologist for the U.S. Biological Survey (the forerunner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), worked together doing biological surveys in Alaska, and pressed to preserve vast tracts there. Their efforts resulted in President Dwight D. Eisenhower creating the eight million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1960, which President Jimmy Carter expanded in 1980. The Muries also campaigned to preserve wild lands nationwide. After her husband's death in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson invited Murie to the White House to attend the signing of the Wilderness Act. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. Murie died October 19 at her Wyoming ranch. She was 101.

Jolie Rouge

10-27-2003, 10:36 PM

Enron Goes Hip-Hop with Ex-Employee's Rap Record

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former Enron honchos Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling are about to take the rap for the company's failure.

On a rap record, that is.

A former Enron pipeline engineer going by the name NRun is releasing a rap album, "Corporate America," that chastises his former bosses by name.

NRun, whose real name is David Tonsall, lost his job after Enron's collapse into a record bankruptcy in 2001.

Tonsall said he is angry that the Enron criminal investigation is taking years and has yet to name anyone higher up the corporate ladder than former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow.

Tonsall decided to vent his frustration through the rap album, which has so far cost him $15,000 to make.

"I know you can't go postal. That ends up putting you in jail," said Tonsall, who now runs his own engineering firm, Synergistic Techneering.

He jokes that he went "from pocket protector to hard-core rapper," in a sly reference to the plastic shirt-pocket liners that are the bling-bling of the engineering set.

Neither Lay nor Skilling, both of whom are under investigation by federal prosecutors, has been charged with a crime. Lay, who was Enron's chairman, and Skilling, its ex-CEO, have both denied any wrongdoing.

The title track takes Lay to task, saying Enron's failure under his watch made a mockery of the values of respect, integrity, communication and excellence that he espoused.

NRun turns up the heat on Skilling in another song:

"Skilling, going to find you rain, sleet, or snow. When justice comes around, you're going to get hit."

The record is due out on Dec. 3, the two-year anniversary of the massive layoffs that followed Enron's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

10/27/03 10:09

Jamie67

10-28-2003, 12:06 AM

Weird News Thread ....very much so

Jolie Rouge

10-28-2003, 02:41 PM

Jamie67 : Weird News Thread ....very much so

We aim to please.

Buh-bye

Jolie Rouge

10-28-2003, 10:57 PM

'Irrefutable' Proof of JFK's Assassin

After an exhaustive investigation of the Kennedy assassination, including a computer-generated reconstruction of that tragic day in Dallas in 1963, ABC News has irrefutably confirmed that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, reports The Associated Press. "It leaves no room for doubt," declared Tom Yellin, executive producer of an ABC News special that will air on November 20, two days before the 40th anniversary of the assassination. He described the study as "enormously powerful. It's irrefutable."

News isn't the first to come to the conclusion that Oswald was the lone shooter. That was exactly the ruling made by the Warren Commission, the official government investigation into the killing. But conspiracy theories have abounded for four decades and even now a significant number of people believe there was more than one assassin.

The computer-generated reconstruction of the shooting that ABC News created was based on maps, blueprints, physical measurements, and more than 500 photographs, films, and autopsy reports. It allows us to view the scene from a variety of perspectives, including what Oswald saw from the sixth floor of the former Texas school book depository. "When you do that, it's chillingly clear what happened," Yellin told AP. "I think it's very hard for people to accept the fact that the most powerful man in the world can be murdered by a disaffected person whose life had been a series of failures up to that point."

Jolie Rouge

10-28-2003, 11:07 PM

Need Help Waking Up? Try This -- Naked

The latest product to help you wake up in the morning is...caffeinated soap. It's called Shower Shock, and the manufacturer swears just washing with it in the shower will give you a jolt that's the equivalent of a two cups of coffee--about 200 milligrams of caffeine.

WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C. reports that the caffeine supposedly gets into your skin and gives you a little lift, though no independent testing has proved that. ThinkGeek, the manufacturer, says Shower Shock is a vegetable-based glycerine soap which does not contain any harsh ingredients and is scented with peppermint oil and infused with caffeine anhydrous. "No, we're not kidding, and no you don't eat it. The caffeine is absorbed through the skin," reads an ad on the company's Web site.

Here's another jolt: Each four-ounce bar of soap costs a whopping $6.99 and will reportedly last for about 12 showers. It might be cheaper to move the coffeemaker into the bathroom.

Jolie Rouge

10-28-2003, 11:10 PM

School cooks win $95 million in Powerball
Tuesday, October 28, 2003 Posted: 9:32 AM EST

ROSEVILLE, Minnesota (AP) -- They waited until the students got their lunch, then 15 school cooks and one janitor who each put a quarter into a lottery pool came forward Monday night as the holders of a Powerball ticket worth more than $95 million.

The women started their first Monday as millionaires back on the school lunch line where they fed the students in the tiny Holdingford School District before hopping a bus to the state lottery headquarters to claim their prize.

"It was really tough to be concentrating on the meal," said winner Karen Overman. "I know there's a need for news conferences in the morning, but we've got breakfast to put out."

The school workers bought one of two winning tickets for the $190.9 million Powerball jackpot. No one has claimed a second ticket that was sold in a small southwestern Indiana town.

Each paycheck, the Minnesota women would put a quarter toward four Powerball tickets -- a routine they have followed since 1990.

At a news conference Monday night, the smiling women said they still had not decided whether to choose the cash option, which would amount to $2.1 million apiece after taxes.

Some in the group said they didn't plan on giving up their school lunch jobs just yet.

"The kids come first," Overman said of the tiny school district outside of St. Cloud, in central Minnesota.

The winning numbers were 6-17-45-47-48 and Powerball 4.

The winners can take $95.45 million worth of annual payments over 30 years or $49.8 million in cash before taxes.

Jolie Rouge

10-30-2003, 01:18 PM

The No. 1 Halloween Sweet Treat

Wonder what the neighbors are passing out this Halloween? Chances are, it's chocolate. Hershey Foods Corporation, which admittedly has a huge financial stake in trick-or-treating, commissioned a telephone survey of 1,034 adults to find out everything you ever wondered about the spookiest holiday of the year, including the fact that 73 percent of American households will give chocolate to the little goblins. Rounding out the top five treats are lollipops, hard candy, bubble gum, and gummy candy.

Other fun facts unwrapped by Hershey:

--87 percent will participate in Halloween festivities.
--81 percent of parents will take their kids trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods.
--16 percent will visit a mall for trick-or-treating.
--46 percent of all homes will carve a pumpkin.
--44 percent will decorate their homes.
--25 percent of adults will dress up in a costume.
--21 percent will visit a haunted attraction.
--20 percent will attend a Halloween party.

And here's a good trick!

Fully 75 percent of Americans will buy candy treats for Halloween,

but only 68 percent will actually give them to the kids.

Thinking we've found Halloween's real monsters in that greedy 7 percent!

Jolie Rouge

10-30-2003, 01:35 PM

Bombshell: Diana's Butler Faked Quotes

Royal butler Paul Burrell's tell-all book about his boss, Princess Diana, has now come under fire after he admitted making up quotes that supposedly came from several of her personal letters, reports The New York Post. The shocking confession came during a BBC Radio interview on Tuesday when Burrell was asked about a note in "A Royal Duty" in which he quoted from Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, that accused the princess of instability. He admitted to the BBC, "I don't have these letters. I took a mental note or a note in my journal that these things happened." The New York Post says, "Burrell's bombshell confession casts doubt about many of the scandalous claims he makes in the tell-all."

Meanwhile, Burrell insisted he meant the gossipy book to be "a loving tribute" to the princess and not an act of revenge against the royal family. But in interview after interview to promote the book, Burrell has admitted he is still angry at the snubs he received from the royal family, and he wrote the book to give his side of the story, reports Australia's Herald-Sun. "My name has been trashed, my family has been put through hell, and I have been to the brink of suicide," he said.

The most shocking revelation in "A Royal Duty" is a letter written by Diana 10 months before she died in which she predicted her own death in a car crash. According to Burrell, she wrote the secret letter and asked him to keep it for insurance. The letter includes the name of someone Diana thought was plotting her death, but for legal reasons that name is not being revealed. The princess did die in a car crash that was driven by chauffeur Henri Paul. Her lover, Dodi al Fayed, also died.

Jolie Rouge

10-30-2003, 01:40 PM

THIS Is What the Big Bang Sounded Like

It wasn't an explosive bang at all.

The Big Bang sounded like a deep hum, according to an analysis of the radiation left over from the cataclysm, reports New Scientist. "The sound is rather like a large jet plane flying 100 feet above your house in the middle of the night," said the man who figured it out, University of Washington physicist John Cramer.

It all started when an 11-year-old boy asked Cramer what sound the Big Bang made. He wanted to know for a school project. That got the physicist thinking, and he set out to recreate the racket that was last heard some 13.7 billion years ago. First, Cramer knew that right after the Big Bang happened, giant sound waves spread through the blazing hot matter that filled the Universe. As it heated and cooled, sound waves left their imprint as temperature variations on the afterglow of the Big Bang fireball, the so-called cosmic microwave background, reports New Scientist.

So Cramer grabbed data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which has measured the intricate differences in the temperature between various parts of the sky. Using the temperature information, he calculated the frequencies of the sound waves that flooded the Universe in its first 760,000 years. One problem: At that time, they were too low to be audible, so Cramer had to scale the frequencies 100,000 billion billion times to recreate the sound. But he did it! And the result is a 100-second sound file that can be played on a PC that imitates the loudness and pitch of the sound waves in the early Universe. "It becomes more of a bass instrument," says Cramer.

Hear it for yourself!

Click to listen to the 100-second sound file of what Cramer believes the Big Bang sounded like. www.npl.washington.edu/AV/BigBangSound_2.wav

janelle

10-30-2003, 01:52 PM

Ok, but I want to know what caused the big bang. Something had to cause it so who or what was here before the big bang to cause the big bang? LOL:confused: :rolleyes: :p

Jolie Rouge

10-30-2003, 04:01 PM

AHA - Now *THAT* ]b]IS[/b] THE Question .....

Jolie Rouge

10-30-2003, 04:04 PM

Kobe Accuser Outed In Provocative Photo

Anyone who stands in a grocery store checkout line this week will get to see a photograph of the young woman who is accusing NBA superstar Kobe Bryant of raping her in a Colorado hotel on June 30. The supermarket tabloid The Globe is doing something no other media outlet has dared to do: It is publishing the name of the accuser and splashing across its cover a provocative photo of the 19-year-old blonde. The New York Post reports that the photo shows the Colorado teenager lifting her high school prom dress to expose her garter. The accompanying story calls the woman "bold," quotes friends who describe her as "sexy," and--in case anyone wasn't paying close attention--points out that the prom dress highlights "her bosom."

That ploy--gutsy by some standards, contemptible by others--may sell newspapers, but it's also sparking outrage from rape victims and their advocates. Jamie Zuieback, spokeswoman for the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network, didn't mince words. She told the Post, "Maybe sales were down. I don't know what other purpose it serves." Cynthia Stone, spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said, "We're thoroughly disgusted. This is just a way for this magazine to try to make money off of someone's horrific tragedy."

Globe co-editor Candace Trunzo explained the paper's actions this way: The girl has made an enormous amount of allegations, and we felt it was time to let the public know exactly who she was."

:mad: :mad:

the fugative

10-31-2003, 09:27 PM

Judge throws out felony animal abuse charge and returns dog to owner
The Associated Press

WEST BEND, Wis. - A Washington County judge has thrown out a felony animal abuse charge against the dog's owner and ordered the chocolate Labrador be returned to the man.

Gary Klink, 42, of the Town of Addison initially was charged with intentional cruelty to an animal, a felony, on an accusation of tying Buster to the back of a pickup truck in an attempt to get the animal home.

Had he been convicted of that charge, Klink could have faced 3 1/2 years in prison.

But after listening to testimony Monday from two veterinarians who said Buster was not permanently damaged and inspecting the dog himself, Circuit Judge Andrew Gonring took the rare step of changing the charge to a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of nine months in the county jail.

Gonring also rebuffed the prosecutor, who wanted Buster to remain at the Washington County Humane Society, where the dog has been kept since the Sept. 18 incident.

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jolie Rouge

11-01-2003, 07:37 PM

New York Times September 28, 2003

The Whitest Black Girl on TV
By BAZ DREISINGER

ELIZABETH REGEN isn't a black woman, but she plays one on TV.

Well, almost: she actually plays the role of a white person who plays the role of a black person — on "Whoopi," NBC's new sitcom starring Whoopi Goldberg. Despite blond hair and rosy skin, her character, Rita Nash, wears snug denim minis and hefty gold earrings, talks "sister to sister" with black co-stars, and makes it known that the correct pronunciation is "gangstas, not gangsters."

The casting call sought "a white girl who talks, moves and acts like a sister," recalls Ms. Regen, curling her fingers to set that last word in quotation marks. "That's s-i-s-t-a-h. So I guess I assume that means a black woman." Marching into the audition armed with all the attitude she could muster, she landed the part, and became Whoopi's sidekick, a woman euphemistically described by producers as "extroverted and culturally confused."

During a recent rehearsal at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, Regen — as Rita — struts onstage and jealously informs her character's African-American boyfriend that he's been "blinded by the booty" of another. "How you gonna try and play me?" she demands, hands on hips. Then she rehearses another zinger, first in Elizabeth Regen's voice: "Get out my man's grill." Then with pursed lips, a head roll, and plenty of Rita-esque indignation: "Get out my man's grill!" Laughter erupts on set.

On a break between scenes, Ms. Regen, 28, who in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt projects a style that might be deemed racially generic,
explains her character's thinking. "I don't want Rita to be mistaken for having been seriously influenced by the African-American culture," she says. "She's influenced by hip-hop culture," which Ms. Regen sees as "made up of music and language and art and ethnicities all mixed together. So anybody of any race can identify with it."

Call it what you will — nouveau blackface, hip-hop-face, or simply an "act black" routine — the white-as-black character that Ms. Regen has perfected is fast becoming an American comedic staple. In four recent films — "Malibu's Most Wanted," starring Jamie Kennedy; "Bringing Down the House," with Steve Martin; Chris Rock's "Head of State"; and the jailhouse rap sequence in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" — ultra-white people earn laughs by using phrases like "fo' shizzle," boogieing down to gangsta rap and wearing extra-large basketball jerseys. For a sketch on his new MTV show "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle," Snoop Dogg deprogrammed a "wigger" —
that now-acceptable term for a white boy armed with hip-hop slang and low-riding pants — and returned him to his white self (a Lacoste-wearing racquetball player). One of several satirical Web sites devoted to "wiggers" offers a run-down of their uniform, which includes "T-shirt, bearing logo of clothing company that doesn't want the wigger wearing its clothes" and tattoos that "will be hard to explain to the grandkids (`grandpa — what's `thug life'?)." Last month's MTV Video Music Awards show bubbled over with Rita Nash moments: Adam Sandler and Snoop Dogg out-shizzled each other.
Meanwhile Chris Rock teased Justin Timberlake for getting "real white all of a sudden" when told he was broke; when the news turned out to be a prank, Mr. Rock continued, "then Justin gets all black again and says: `Aw, yeah. You got me, dawg. Yeah, dawg. Salaam aleikum, dawg.' "

So what's so funny here? Why does Rita Nash — and the white-boy-dropping-slang routine — have America, to cite Eugene Levy in "Bringing Down the House," straight trippin', boo? It depends on who's asking the question, and when.

In the 1920's, adventurous white Manhattanites got a thrill by visiting Harlem nightclubs. In his famous 1957 essay, "The White Negro," Norman Mailer codified the phenomenon in hyperbolic language.. The 1976 comedy "Silver Streak" featured Gene Wilder disguised with black shoe polish, a Rastafarian-style knit hat and an arsenal of stilted slang; it played for laughs, but it was funny because it was so unlikely. His Jewish Afro notwithstanding, Mr. Wilder seemed about as far from African-American culture, or even from African-American caricature, as could possibly be.

Since that time, however, the immense cross-racial popularity of hip-hop has turned the hilarious improbability of white people who experiment with blackness into a perfectly familiar, everyday fact of American life; today, Eminem is one of the biggest rap stars alive, making it hard to tell where one culture ends and another's appropriation of it begins.

Whoopi Goldberg, who created the character of Rita, explains that racial elision of that variety is increasingly the norm in American youth culture. "Eminem is a viable, strong, male character who is white and black," she says. "There's no right or wrong of it, no judgment of it, but it is what's happening in our culture."

So Rita and the rest of the "wiggers" populating recent comedy are funny not because they're unlikely, but precisely because they are so very likely. They're walking, rapping embodiments of a new racial frontier that shaped American culture and especially American music — the frontier that optimists call racial hybridity and pessimists call cultural theft.

Some, of course, still call it an abomination. One of the earliest mainstream uses of the term "wigger" came in 1993, when two white hip-hop fans in Indiana faced school suspension and even death threats because their style was deemed too "black." (They lived to tell their tale on "Oprah.")

That residual discomfort is the other half of the joke. Without the lingering sense that racial categories ought not be quite as fluid as
dress styles, the character of the "wigger" would become a punch line with no punch, the uncontroversial equivalent of the shy librarian, the burly cop, the crooked politician. Part of the fun of "Da Ali G Show," on HBO, is the chance to watch white bureaucrats and politicians respond politely to outrageous provocations by the jive-slinging b-boy host. You get the strong impression that they just don't want to be seen criticizing a black person; the fact that the character is actually played by a white comic only makes their discomfort that much funnier.

These comedies may not use identical formulas — some mock the white wanna-bes, others poke fun at hip-hop posturing itself, while thers, like Ali G, play a joke on us for buying into the whole routine — but all share the attitude that the racial amalgam is a fact of contemporary life. If you can't beat it, parody it.

Rita Nash — like Regen herself — is a product of New York City. "Growing up here, riding the trains every day and being exposed to so many different cultures, you acquire a gift to adapt," explains Ms. Regen, who earned both a bachelor's and a master's of fine arts from New York University. "My friends growing up were Japanese, Puerto Rican, African-American. I was in all these different households, eating all these different foods, hearing all these different languages. You internalize that — and I think that's what makes this character." She adds: "This is not disrespectful. It's who Rita is; it's not an affectation." Rita, in other words, is a new breed: authentically inauthentic.

On "Whoopi," Rita's boyfriend is Courtney Rae, an African-American who uses words like "ebullient" and "joie de vivre" and watches "The O'Reilly Factor." On the pilot episode he says he fell for Rita "because she's introduced me to hip-hop, rap, and a whole world I've never known." In case anyone's missing the point, Ms. Goldberg quips, "So she's teaching you to be black." Acting black and acting white are portrayed as just that — acting. If Rita can be "black," then her black boyfriend can be "white."

BLACKS who make audiences laugh by "featuring" whiteness are not quite the flip side of the "wigger" act, of course. In real life, white people who are deemed to act too black might face some ribbing — or, like Ali G, might offend some viewers — but the punishments for black people who flout racial categories have, historically, been far more serious. And in a famous skit from "Saturday Night Live," Eddie Murphy went undercover and learned that white people enjoy generous bank loans, good service and the
presumption of innocence. He was kidding, sort of.

But back on the "Whoopi" set, no one's conducting any pious seminar on racial consciousness. Instead, people are thinking about how to make Americans take race a little less seriously. As the director, Terry Hughes, coaches Ms. Regen on a line, the words "boo" and "booty" emerge from his very white, very British mouth, and cast and crew are doubled over in laughter. Mr. Hughes throws up his hands in mock frustration. "Hey," he says, laughing along. "I'm blacker than you know!"

Baz Dreisinger, a freelance writer, teaches American studies at Queens College.

the fugative

11-01-2003, 09:28 PM

News of The Weird

Published October 30, 2003 WEIR30

The Federal Communications Commission ruled in October that the "F word," used as an adjective with the "ing" ending by U2 singer Bono during the live telecast of the Golden Globe awards ceremony in January, is not obscene language because Bono was not using it sexually but rather to enhance the word "brilliant." And two weeks later, Texas' Third Court of Appeals ruled that making the well-known middle-finger gesture is not illegal because it is not so provocative these days as to incite immediate violence.

• Brandon Kivi, 15, was suspended from Caney Creek High (Conroe, Texas) in October after he possibly saved the life of his girlfriend (a fellow classmate) by lending her his asthma inhaler after she had misplaced hers; that was delivery of a dangerous drug. And Raylee Montgomery, 13, was suspended from school in Duncanville, Texas, in September when her shirttail became untucked, a violation of the dress code (raising the number of dress-code suspensions in her 3,500-student school to more than 700 in just five weeks).

Questionable judgments

• In April, community activists and other volunteers established a "safe injection site" in Vancouver, British Columbia, so that addicts can bring their heroin, crystal meth or cocaine, and prepare and inject it with clean equipment and in an environment free of hassling by police, who have been reluctant to close the site. Often, there is a volunteer registered nurse on duty to provide advice on injection technique.

• Marion, Ohio, inmate Willie Chapman got permission to delay his scheduled parole by one day until Aug. 12 so he could attend a prison meeting of the religious/personal-responsibility organization Promise Keepers. Chapman's inspirational decision made the newspapers, alerting his manslaughter victim's family, who complained to the Ohio Parole Board that Chapman should not be free at all. Consequently, the board reconsidered Chapman's parole and delayed it 991 days, until May 1, 2006.

Police blotter

• In Knoxville, Tenn., in September, Thomas Martin McGouey, 51, apparently set on committing suicide, left a note and painted a bull's-eye on his body before arranging a standoff in which he pointed a gun at police officers so they would kill him in self-defense. McGouey's scheme failed because Knox County sheriff's deputies, who fired 28 shots at him, missed with 27 and only grazed his shoulder with the other.

• NYPD officers Paul Damore and Farrell Conroy were briefly suspended without pay in July for their conduct in the 45th Precinct station house in the Bronx, when they got into a fistfight over which one would get to be the driver of their patrol car.

Unclear on the concept

• In widely publicized criticism in August, the Arab League (22 nations, all of which are governed by monarchies, clerics or military dictatorships) charged that the new U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council was illegitimate because it was not freely elected but consisted only of appointed representatives from various interest groups. The league's secretary general announced that Iraq's former seat in the Arab League would therefore remain vacant until the country has an elected government (which would then make it the league's only elected government).

• Thailand's leading massage-parlor/prostitution entrepreneur, Chuwit Kamolvisit, reacted with outrage when he was charged this summer in connection with two criminal cases because, he said, he has paid police the equivalent of $2.5 million in bribes to get immunity. Chuwit called a series of news conferences in July, at which he released information on whom he had been bribing and who some of his customers were, and in September, he announced he would form a new political party to put an end to Thailand's culture of official corruption.

• In August, the city of Edmonton, Alberta, ordered the owners of Keep It Simple, a nonalcoholic "bar" catering to recovering alcoholics by creating the ambience of a tavern without the temptations, to enforce the city's no-smoking law for businesses. However, smoking is a popular crutch for recovering alcoholics, and the owners sought an exemption from the law in order to retain their customers, but the city said the only legal exemption on the books is for establishments that serve alcoholic beverages. (In September, Keep It Simple applied for a liquor license but said it would still not serve alcohol.)

Recent alarming headlines

• (1) "Flying Bowling Ball Breaks Bone in Woman's Leg" (a July Greensboro, Ga., Herald-Journal story about a driver running over a bowling ball, pinching it out from under a tire with great force and hitting a woman walking to her mailbox); (2) "Bible Study Group Captures Murder Suspect" (a September Arizona Republic story about six men dropping their Bibles to rush to their host's garage to stop a fugitive trying to steal a car); (3) "Flies Are Like Us: Scientists" (a July News Limited story on discoveries by the Neurosciences Institute of San Diego that fruit flies show human-like anticipation of alarm, among various learning, memory and perception traits).

• Kids who commandeered family vehicles and drove off: Taccara King's 2-year-old son (crashed a pickup truck into the B Line Transport office, Vero Beach, Fla., July). Rex Davis, 2 (crashed a car into a room at a Red Roof Inn, Tampa, Fla., September). A 5-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother (crashed car into a McDonald's, Edmonton, Alberta, September). A 6-year-old boy (drove his baby sitter's car 30 miles, looking for his mother, hitting only three cars along the way, Luling, Texas, July). A 7-year-old boy, assisted by a 3-year-old girl holding down the gas pedal (crashed into a tree, Hannibal, N.Y., July).

:p

Jolie Rouge

11-02-2003, 09:09 PM

Did Jesus Really Have a Wife and Child?

It's a theological minefield that can deeply offend, as well as intrigue. But, hey, it's sweeps month so ABC News is boldly featuring a one-hour special on Monday night that explores whether Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and together they had a baby, reports The Associated Press. The Bible portrays Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. Titled "Jesus, Mary and DaVinci," the ABC News special is based on the novel, "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown, which itself is loosely based on historical facts. The book portrays Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus and asserts that she fled Jerusalem with his child after he was crucified. The book goes on to theorize that this story was passed on for centuries by a secret society that included the painter Leonardo DaVinci, who supposedly inserted clues about it in his art--hence, the book's title. The book has sparked a heated controversy, even though it is fiction.

So ABC News is getting into the fray by examining the various theories and points of view of several theologians, some of whom discount the story entirely and others of whom admit it is possible. Vargas disclosed to AP that ABC found no proof that Jesus had a wife, but couldn't completely discount it, either. AP reporter David Bauder, who previewed the ABC special, wrote, "The show unravels like a mystery perpetuated by secondhand gossip."

Still, Vargas says she learned a lot doing the show, especially concerning the power struggles and political intrigue that have always been part of the Roman Catholic church. "For me, it's made religion more real and, ironically, much more interesting, which is what we're hoping to do for our viewers," she said. The Catholic League has criticized the show, saying it is not sufficiently balanced.

Jolie Rouge

11-02-2003, 09:28 PM

What Simon Cowell Thinks of Britney

Tart-tongued Simon Cowell still has the ability to surprise us. Here's the background: Britney Spears, whom some might say is all body and no voice, recently slammed the host of the popular "American Idol" TV show by saying this to Britain's ITV television on Monday night, "I would take his advice and whatever he said and tell him to shove it."

A dig like that just begs for a response. But instead of hissing at Britney, Simon told TV's "Extra" on Thursday night: "I've got to be honest with you, the fact that she said that, I sort of like her more. It makes her more interesting. Britney is now a woman, not a girl. I like that." Whoa, baby! Simon likes Britney.

Ooh la la! You won't believe this waxwork of Britney unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London. She's wrapped around a pole, and her bosom actually heaves to the beat of one of her songs.

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/bigpic.jsp?photoid=20031021LON809.jpg&this=3&searchpage=photosearch.jsp&cap=britney+spears&w=ap+or+reuters&max=8&first=&fs=&floc=wn-nn

In other bizarre Britney news, Us magazine is reporting that Brit may have a new man. Emphasis on the "may." It's John Cusack! Word has it that when Britney was in New York City promoting her new CD "In the Zone," she spent some time with Mr. Cusack. No one will say if they are actually, officially, let's-call-the-parents dating, but a source dished to Us, "There is something there."

See a gorgeous gallery of Britney's sexiest pix.

Jolie Rouge

11-02-2003, 09:31 PM

Students Expelled for Making Sex Video

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20031101/094043620.htm

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Three high school students were expelled for making a sexually explicit video that was distributed around their private school.

The video was made last spring by a sophomore girl and two junior boys, who were not identified by officials with Milken Community High School. Two of the three students involved thought the video was recorded only for a small group of friends, said school head Rennie Wrubel.

``They thought they were just doing it for fun,'' Wrubel said. ``And then it showed up in school.''

The video was discovered by parents and the school when a boy who watched it told his parents last month. Wrubel said all known copies have since been destroyed.

The school in the Santa Monica Mountains in northwestern Los Angeles, affiliated with the Stephen S. Wise Temple, planned to invite counselors and experts to campus to talk with students about sex and relationships.

11/01/03 09:40

Jolie Rouge

11-02-2003, 10:11 PM

Internet Littered With Dead Web Sites

NEW YORK (AP) - Despite the Internet's ability to deliver information quickly and frequently, the World Wide Web is littered with deadwood - sites abandoned and woefully out of date.

After Ajay Powell quit smoking and decided to run the Honolulu Marathon in 2001, she created a Web site to track her progress, updating it weekly with photographs and tallies of her training miles.

Powell updated it again the following year when she entered a seven-day, 585-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. But the site has nothing on her results in that ride or any other endurance events Powell has since tackled.

Her site remains frozen in time.

Like many others who enthusiastically start Web sites and Web journals known as blogs, Powell lost interest. The Internet's novelty wore off.

``It was 100 percent the first two or three months of my training for the marathon, then I started to get resentful at having to put these pictures up,'' said Powell, who lives in Stockton, Calif. ``It got increasingly tedious to keep up. I just let that thing go to pot.''

One study of 3,634 blogs found that two-thirds had not been updated for at least two months and a quarter not since Day One.

``Some would say, `I'm going to be too busy but I'll get back to it,' but never did,'' said Jeffrey Henning, chief technology officer with Perseus Development Corp., the research company that did the study. ``Most just kind of stopped.''

Other sites die because an event came and went - political campaigns end, the new millennium arrived without computer-generated catastrophe.

The Year 2000 site for Massachusetts still urges citizens to stock up on supplies and withdraw money in case cash machines and credit cards fail. Igor Sidorkin's personal collection of Y2K software fixes gets 30 or so visitors daily - mostly to download patches they should have installed four years ago.

Cliff Kurtzman kept his Year2000.com site up for two years past the turnover, with a note acknowledging that the information could be old. But even abandoned sites deserve a burial at some point.

``There was so much on it that was out of date, and links that didn't work and everything,'' he said. ``It looked bad to have things up there with so many things not working or making sense anymore.''

Kurtzman, who uses the site now to promote a newsletter on business and innovation, knows the troubles abandoned sites like his can pose. He'll find a site he likes, only to learn later the information is old.

``Having extra junk out there just makes the process of searching for good stuff even harder,'' Kurtzman said.

But just as libraries wouldn't think of dumping musty, out-of-print books, Web designers shouldn't rush to remove yesteryear's castoffs, said Steve Jones, a communications professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

``I do hear pretty frequently not so much that there's deadwood, but that sites go away without a trace,'' Jones said.

Many sites cost money to maintain. Unless they use a free service like Geocities or have a friend willing to lend space, developers of Web sites must pay fees for Web hosting and domain names.

Few are like Alan Porter and Anand Ranganathan, willing to pay $14 a year to keep the domain name Votexchange2000.com, which in 2000 let users in one state trade their vote for president to someone in another state. The site runs off a computer under Ranganathan's desk at work.

Porter said they are keeping it around as a historical artifact, though that can't last forever as technology changes. Parts of the site, for instance, won't work with newer browsers.

But neglect is a more common reason that sites linger past their prime.

The mayor of Seaside, Ore., Don Larson, remains a candidate on his campaign Web site, though he won last year's election. The site's designers hadn't gotten around to updating it, though after being contacted by The Associated Press, ``please vote'' was quietly removed.

Management of the Computer Coalition for Responsible Exports changed hands early this year and updating the Web site remains on the new organizers' ``to do'' list. In the meantime, you can view press releases through March 7, 2002.

A fan site for the TV show ``Melrose Place'' also remains static. Though the site promises ``new additions'' beyond the final episode, its home page proudly announces, ``News Last Updated 05/24/99'' - the date of the finale.

And a site recording Debbie Busler's six-continent, 26-country tour last year has yet to leave the Americas. Though she returned home 13 months ago, she remains at country No. 4 online.

Her brother and webmaster, Marty, ran into time-consuming technical troubles and vows to finish the job - one day.

``She had a lot of tips that were pretty good for people traveling around the world, even specific hotels, what to do, what she would have skipped,'' he said. ``I would love to finish it.''

But he added, ``I've also got a full-time job and a part-time job and I like to sleep.''

11/02/03 13:04

the fugative

11-03-2003, 10:15 PM

Zoo visitor injured when she tries to feed bear
Associated Press

Published November 3, 2003

WANTAGE, N.J. -- A woman's visit to a New Jersey zoo ended with a trip to the hospital.

Gail Stern was throwing apples to two 1,300-pound Alaskan Kodiak bears at the Space Farms Zoo and Museum on Sunday when one of the apples bounced off the cage.

The 54-year-old woman scaled a 4-foot chainlink fence, which is designed to keep visitors away from the cage, and retrieved the apple. She then tried to put it in the cage. But one of the bears, known as Buddy, swiped at the apple -- leaving Stern with severe cuts in her right hand.

She was taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and later released. State police investigated, but no charges have been filed.

:rolleyes:

the fugative

11-03-2003, 10:16 PM

Australian woman attacks crocodile, saves nephew
Associated Press

Published November 3, 2003

DARWIN, AUSTRALIA -- There's nothing like a good punch in the nose to discourage a hungry crocodile. An Australian man can vouch for that.

The 19-year-old said he was loading wild geese into his small tin boat at a creek in the Outback on Saturday when a ten-foot crocodile lunged at his leg and pulled him in.

That's when his 53-year-old aunt came running to the rescue.

She told the Northern Territory News she hit the crocodile with her fist on its snout, and yelled ``Help! In the name of Jesus!''

The crocodile let her nephew go. He's recovering following surgery for some deep cuts on his leg.

:eek:

the fugative

11-04-2003, 08:56 PM

Monkey roundup is a wet job for zookeepers
Associated Press

Published November 3, 2003

OMAHA, Neb. -- It was the zoo equivalent of a cattle drive: Monkeys rounded up to be taken inside for the winter.

Only it wasn't a dry and dusty job Saturday for workers at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo because the 17 monkeys live on islands in an outdoor lagoon.

Human and primate alike got wet.

Several monkeys climbed an artificial tree that covers much of the main island. As three workers climbed the tree, the monkeys went even higher and moved onto the tips of the branches.

``It's a good environment for them, except on capture day,'' said veterinarian Doug Armstrong. ``There are a lot of places for them to hide.''

Zoo workers gently prodded one monkey to lower branches, but the creature quickly grabbed a rope to reach another island. Two zookeepers jumped into the lagoon and picked up the monkey from behind, just as another zookeeper in a rowboat closed in.

The monkey was placed in a pet carrier and quickly became quiet.

Monkeys may seem uncooperative on moving day, Armstrong said, but they do accept their capture.

``Almost all of them have been through this before,'' he said.

:p

Jolie Rouge

11-04-2003, 10:18 PM

Report Urges Major New Study of Oceans
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?oldflok=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031104%2F140138366.htm&sc=1501&floc=NW_5-L8

WASHINGTON (AP) - Undiscovered foods, useful chemicals and drugs, and potential sources of energy may lie in wait in the least explored portion of Earth - the oceans.

A new effort to seek out those resources was recommended Tuesday in a report by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

``A new program of ocean exploration is necessary ... improved knowledge of our oceans represents more than an academic interest,'' said John Orcutt, deputy director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.

Orcutt, chairman of the committee that prepared the report, said vast portions of the oceans have not been examined for geochemical and biological resources, particularly in the southern hemisphere.

In its report the committee said: ``It is difficult to predict what discoveries are still to come ... but ``it is clear that ocean exploration will improve the accuracy of our predictions of global climate change'' and ``produce new products that will benefit humanity.''

Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Pa., who pushed for the report, welcomed the findings.

The reasons for loss of coral, the impact of pollution and the potential damage from intense fishing all are poorly understood, Greenwood said. ``The fact remains that the research that is most important in terms of our survival as species is understanding the ocean,'' he said.

Greenwood said he hopes the White House will call a major conference on the oceans. Meanwhile, he said, the next step is to begin working on getting funding through Congress.

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., said there is a need ``to put the oceans on the political agenda. ...the ocean is never given the type of attention that has been given to space.''

A large-scale effort would require an initial investment of about $270 million, calling for a dedicated research ship and a ``modest'' fleet of underwater vessels. Annual operating costs for the program would be about $110 million, according to the report.

More than 1,500 people have climbed Mount Everest, some 300 have journeyed into space, 12 have walked on the moon but only two - Jacques Piccard and Donald Walsh - have ever visited the deepest part of the ocean, noted the panel that prepared the study.

``The bottom of the ocean is the Earth's least explored frontier, and currently available submersibles - whether manned, remotely operated, or autonomous - cannot reach the deepest parts of the sea,'' said Shirley A. Pomponi, director of research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, Fla. and vice chairwoman of the committee that prepared the report.

Even without a major research program, new discoveries in ocean sciences are made every year, noted the report ``Exploration of the Seas: Voyage Into the Unknown.''

Recent finds include previously unknown species, such as organisms that consume methane seeping through the sea floor, converting it to energy for themselves and leaving hydrogen and carbon dioxide as byproducts. The hydrogen could perhaps someday be harnessed for fuel cells.

During one recent expedition off Australia and New Zealand, scientists exploring deep-sea volcanic mountains and abyssal plains collected 100 previously unidentified fish species and up to 300 new species of invertebrates.

The United States should lead the new program but bring in foreign researchers and funding to create an international effort, the panel urged. It suggested the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the logical government focus for the effort.

``The United States should lead by example,'' said Orcutt.

The report said key areas to focus on are:

The diversity of life forms in the oceans.

The Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica.

The influence of deep ocean water on climate change.

Deep sea archaeology.

The panel said the program should be operated by an outside contractor that can receive funding from a variety of agencies and outside sources.

11/04/03 14:01

Jolie Rouge

11-05-2003, 09:23 PM

Dog shoots man

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0002/20031105/113868432.htm

PARIS, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A French hunter was shot by his dog after he left a loaded shotgun in the boot of his car with two dogs and one of the animals accidentally stepped on the trigger, police said on Wednesday.

The man, from the village of Espelette in the Basque region, was admitted to hospital in the nearby town of Bayonne on Monday with leadshot injuries to the hip.

"As he was driving along, one of his dogs accidentally set off the gun," said a police official.

Jolie Rouge

11-05-2003, 09:25 PM

Bear Breaks Into College Building in N.C.

BOONE, N.C. (AP) - It wasn't an average breaking-and-entering report this week to the Appalachian State University police department.

The dispatcher listened Monday night as students described the scene outside their apartment window. The suspect, they said, was knocking in a door at the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone.

When officers arrived, they saw a brown bear had pushed the glass out of a ground-level door and was making its way down a hallway. The bear then turned a head out, said ASU Police Chief Gunther Doerr.

The bear fled across campus and ran headfirst into an office building, Thomas Hall, where it bloodied its nose on a window. Then it took off into nearby woods, the chief said.

Officers searched for about an hour for 150 to 200 pound animal but didn't find it.

No one else was injured in the incident, said Doerr, who estimated at $150 to $200.

The convocation center, used for sporting and other events, has concession stands on the second floor, but no other food to speak of, Doerr said.

11/05/03 11:18

Jolie Rouge

11-05-2003, 09:28 PM

Child Hands Out Heroin 'Candy' to Classmates

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20031104%2F071325893.htm&sc=reodd

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A five-year-old Dutch girl handed out "sweets" to classmates that turned out to be ecstasy, cocaine and heroin pills, police said on Monday.

The drugs were confiscated by a suspicious teacher before any were consumed at the primary school in Hilversum, southeast of Amsterdam. Police arrested the girl's older brothers aged 21, 19 and 16 and her 43-year-old mother.

Large quantities of soft drugs and hard drugs were found in the car of the eldest brother. The brothers were in custody, but their mother was set free after questioning.

11/04/03 07:13

Jolie Rouge

11-05-2003, 09:29 PM

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20031104%2F071425915.htm&sc=reodd

[b]Elderly Couple Shared Apartment with 150 Cats

LONDON (Reuters) - A British animal welfare charity has rescued 150 cats from the flat of an elderly couple who were unable to control the animals' breeding.

The cats occupied all three bedrooms of the apartment, leaving the couple to sleep on the living room floor between tins of cat food and litter trays.

"They were absolutely swamped," said Caroline Yates of London's Mayhew Animal Home. The couple took in four unneutered strays in 1989 and things snowballed from there.

The elderly pair, who have not been named, were facing eviction from their London home after neighbors complained of the stench. They contacted the charity last month because of its pledge never to put down a healthy animal. The smell of cat urine was overpowering, particularly because the couple kept their windows closed, said Lisa Guiney, a supervisor at the Mayhew, who was the first to visit the flat. She found kittens of a few weeks old alongside 18-year old cats.

The cats were very nervous as they had never been outside, or seen any other people, Guiney told Reuters. Many had bad teeth and some were very emaciated, as the stronger ones always reached the food first, she added.

The charity, which took in all the animals and promised the couple to find them new homes is now facing a massive bill.

11/04/03 07:14

Jolie Rouge

11-05-2003, 09:31 PM

Are Video Games Addictive?

UTRECHT (Reuters) - Computer game fanatics should not be labeled addicts, although many players say they are hooked on a hobby that is affecting their social lives, scientists said.

Some evidence exists that games stimulate the same areas in the brain as alcohol and other drugs, psychologists, sociologists and others were told at a conference.

But unlike the addictive substances, there was no medicine to deal with compulsive gaming behavior, they heard.

"Is (the popular online game) Everquest addictive? Well, it's no more addictive than school or work. The time invested in those also make them addictive," said Florence Chee, a research student at Simon Fraser University in Canada.

Scientific interest in the multi-billion dollar computer games industry has mushroomed in recent years, after teenagers in several countries killed themselves and others after playing violent games. Various governments have put pressure on the industry to add a health warning to games packages.

11/05/03 10:47

the fugative

11-05-2003, 09:32 PM

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird

Published November 6, 2003

As of mid-October (six months after the so-called fall of Baghdad), nearly one-fourth of U.S. troops in Iraq still had not been issued life-saving Interceptor ceramic body armor and were using comparatively porous Vietnam-era flak jackets, according to an Associated Press report quoting congressional sources. A few days later, responding to an alarming United Press International report, the government abruptly stepped up money for medical treatment of Army reservists and National Guardsmen who had been wounded in Iraq but were being warehoused at Fort Stewart, Ga., sometimes for months, because, allegedly, preference was being given to active-duty soldiers.

• German law requires a divorcing couple to equalize pensions, and thus it is common for an ex-husband to pay part of his pension to the wife. Not only do the payments continue if she remarries, but in September, administrative judge Bernhard Wanwitz ruled that if she dies, the ex-husband has to continue the pension payments to her widower (Mainz, Germany). It was not until September that the German government ended a longtime loophole that allowed citizens to continue to collect welfare benefits while living abroad, as in the case of "Rolf J.," 64, who lives in Miami Beach because he said living in Germany fueled his clinical depression.

• In September, Australia's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre identified a problem that was serious enough that it felt it had to issue a warning, mainly for partygoers in the "club" scene: There is no physiological benefit, the Centre said (and maybe a great harm), in trying to revive drug-overdosers by administering ice-cube enemas.

• In a recent government raid on a Colombian rebel compound, authorities recovered a videotape apparently made at a Christmas party of the violent National Liberation Army (ELN) and released it to TV stations in September. Among the scenes on the tape was a mock beauty pageant featuring giddy male rebel soldiers, in bikini bottoms and with sashes across their chests, strutting along a makeshift catwalk, with tongue-in-cheek narration by a ski-masked emcee who playfully chides the contestants. Interspersed, however, were non-humorous scenes of kidnapped Colombians being held for ransom.

• In September, Ohio's state medical board charged family practitioner Dr. William J. Stefanich, 78, with negligence after investigations of two patient complaints, including one by a female hemorrhoid-surgery patient who was later told in an emergency room visit that a wide area of her anal canal had been removed and her anal opening sutured closed. Stefanich disputed the diagnosis.

• Alleged Gambino family strongman Thomas (Huck) Carbonaro was convicted in October in New York City of plotting to kill turncoat Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano, evidence of which included reference to Carbonaro's tattoos: (on his stomach) "Death Before Dishonor" and the three-monkeyed "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" and (on his lower back) "Rats Get Fat While Good Men Die."

• John Edward Knowles II, 45, was convicted in October of the attempted murder of two Shasta County, Calif., sheriff's deputies, based in part on a surreptitious jailhouse audio recording, in which he admitted the crimes and lamented his failure to achieve a longtime dream. Knowles, who, after the shooting, had stolen his sister's car (which made it easier to catch him), said on the tape: "I always wanted to be on the FBI's top 10 Most Wanted list. I would have made it if [my sister] hadn't woke up and reported the car stolen."

Drive a conservative nuts

• In Sparks City, Nev., during the summer, City Attorney Chet Adams, perhaps influenced by the legal challenges to the Alabama courthouse monument displaying the Ten Commandments, ordered an employee to scissor out "God" from the town's Sept. 11 "God Bless America" signs around City Hall. (Mayor Tony Armstrong, among the many baffled by the newly anonymous blessing, immediately bought more "God Bless America" signs and posted them himself.)

• In September, a British government-funded charity, Family Planning Association, distributed a cartoon booklet teaching the joys of masturbation to a target audience of 9-to 11-year-old girls. Also in September, the British teen community-service organization Connexions distributed a primer on marijuana smoking printed on a poster resembling a package of rolling papers. The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor this semester offered another edition of its sociology course, "How to be gay: male homosexuality and initiation" (but its creator said "initiation" is a sociological term and does not refer to initiation of straight students).

• People who recently failed to get out of the line of their own fire: Jonathan Rodriguez, 17, Newark, Del. (a home-invasion suspect who batted on a door with the butt of his handgun, which fired into his groin; July). Joshua Michael Short, 18, of Houston (got up from a table at Memorial City Mall food court and bumped the gun that was in his waistband, firing a round into his buttocks; July). Detroit police officer Michael Allen, 22 (tried to cram his gun under the front seat of his car at a Canadian border crossing, but it discharged into his leg; July).

Cries for help

• Raymond Garfield Gordon, 23, who was scheduled to be a contestant on the "Canadian Idol" TV show, was arrested in August. He was alleged to have indulged in a public-masturbation spree, during which at least once while nude, he followed a woman and implored her, "Look at me. Please look at me." Police in Barcelona, Spain, arrested a man in August whom they thought was the serial mugger (19 victims) whose modus operandi included, most of the time, telling the victims that he knew what he was doing was bad and that they should spit on him (and, according to an officer, several did).

• A San Francisco Giants fan was killed at Pacific Bell Park on Sept. 17 after his sunglasses fell to the ground during a game and he hit his head after falling from a light pole trying to retrieve them. A 17-year-old girl accidentally fell to her death after sitting on a 15th-floor ledge, to which she had retreated to get away from cigarette smoke during a party (Strathclyde, England, May). In October, the family of a 61-year-old man had their lawsuit reinstated for his May 2000 wrongful death, which occurred when he fell on a defective stairway into the basement of the Wells Funeral Home (Stanton, Ky.).

Also, in the past month: The Colorado prisons' inspector general's office said that because of the state's new no-smoking law, inmates can make profits of 450 times costs on contraband tobacco, vs. typical profits of eight times costs on contraband cocaine. The chief of a remote Fiji mountain village agreed to apologize for his ancestors, who killed and ate British missionary Thomas Baker in 1867 after Baker innocently pulled a comb out of the then-chief's hair. And 750 students in two Paris high schools went on strike after their principals decided to strictly enforce French law banning smoking in the schools.

Correction: In News of the Weird two weeks ago, the alleged robber of people at a Jehovah's Witnesses hall in Edmonton, Alberta, was misidentified. The man charged with the crime is Anthony Alan Burton.

:p

Jolie Rouge

11-05-2003, 09:45 PM

Spacecraft reaches edge of solar system
By Kate Tobin CNN
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/11/05/voyager.solar.boundary/index.html

(CNN) -- The Voyager 1 spacecraft has arrived at the boundary of the solar system and is flying into a region of space that has never been explored before, NASA announced Wednesday.

"This is a very exciting time, said Voyager project scientist Edward Stone. "Voyager is beginning to explore the final frontier of the solar system."

Scientists analyzing data from Voyager 1 disagree as to whether the probe has yet crossed over the critical boundary that marks the transition from our solar system into interstellar space. But even dissenters agree that if it has not crossed that boundary, called terminal shock, it is very close.

"We're in the neighborhood. This is sort of a Lewis and Clark space expedition: We're in the foothills, and we'll soon be getting to the mountains, in our view," said Frank McDonald, a research scientist at the University of Maryland.

Voyager 1's journey marks a major scientific milestone: For the first time, a man-made object has traveled 8.4 billion miles (13.5 billion kilometers), about 90 times the distance between the Earth and sun. Ahead lies the journey to the star next door. Traveling at its predicted speed, Voyager 1 will get there in about 40,000 years.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were the first space probes to explore the outer planets of our solar system. Voyager 1's primary mission ended in 1980 when it completed its observations of Saturn. Since then, it has been headed into deep space. In 1998, it passed the Pioneer 10 space probe and became the most distant man-made object from Earth.

'First taste' of the beyond

Now, scientists from the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory and colleagues believe Voyager 1 crossed into the area marking the edge of the solar system.

"Voyager 1 is giving us our first taste of interstellar space," said Tom Krimigis, of the Applied Physics Laboratory, in a written statement. "This is our first look at the incredibly dynamic activity in the solar system's outer limits."

Contrary to popular belief, space is not an empty void. Rather, our solar system is awash in the solar wind, the charged gases that flow off our sun at supersonic speed. At the termination shock boundary, the solar wind dissipates and begins to give way to the interstellar medium -- the gases that float in the void between stars.

Instruments aboard Voyager 1 are able to measure the speed of the solar wind, and the Applied Physics Lab's analysis of that data suggests the spacecraft has hit the terminal shock boundary. The findings are published in the November 6 edition of the journal Nature.

A different view
A second article in Nature offers a more conservative analysis. The University of Maryland team interprets additional data from Voyager 1 to mean the spacecraft is approaching the termination shock boundary, but has yet to hit it.

Voyager's greeting to the universe is a phonograph record.
"What we see, the observations agree very well with what Tom has described," said McDonald with the University of Maryland. "We just interpret them differently. That we're in the neighborhood of the termination shock, and we haven't crossed it."

Whichever the case, scientists are particularly excited as the 26-year-old probe still has operating scientific instruments. NASA says Voyager 1 still has enough power to beam back data through about the year 2020.

By that time, experts hope to also monitor the spacecraft's journey through something called the heliopause, the outer boundary delineating the edge of interstellar space. As these outer reaches of the solar system have never been explored, it is unclear exactly where these boundaries lie.

Voyager 1 and 2 both carry a so-called "golden record" -- a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk that is actually a phonograph record. The disk carries greetings and an overview of our culture to extraterrestrials that may one day stumble across one of these man-made craft.

The record includes samples of music; nature sounds such as thunder, waves crashing, bird songs; and greetings in multiple languages, including from then President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. Pictographs on the disk explain how it should be played. A phonograph needle is included.

Jolie Rouge

11-06-2003, 02:00 PM

30% of Toddlers Enjoy This Adult Luxury

Nearly one in three American children who are 3 years old have a television set in their bedrooms and by the age of 4, fully 43 percent have their own TV. That's the surprising word from a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in the first publicly released national study of media use among the very youngest children, ages 6 months to 6 years old. "It's not just teenagers who are wired up and tuned in, it's babies in diapers as well," Vicky Rideout, the lead author of the Kaiser Family Foundation study, said in a news release announcing the results. Not that anyone listens to them, but the American Academy for Pediatrics advises that children under age 2 should never watch television.

Here are some of the facts and figures uncovered by Kaiser:

--68 percent of children ages 6 months to 6 years spend on average two hours a day in front of a screen, be it a television or a computer.

--Children ages 6 months to 6 years are read to on average 39 minutes a day.

--59 percent of parents admitted their 4- to 6-year-old boys imitate aggressive behavior they see on TV, compared with 35 percent of girls.

--By age 6, nearly half of all children have used a computer and 7 percent have their own computer.

--65 percent of American homes leave the TV on all the time, even when no one is watching it.

"When children have TVs and other media in their bedrooms, it's more difficult for parents to monitor what they're doing," said the study's co-author, Elizabeth Vandewater, who is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Kids who have a TV in their bedroom spend less time reading and playing outside, compared to children who don't enjoy this grown-up luxury. "These findings definitely raise a red flag about the impact of TV on children's reading," said Rideout.

Jolie Rouge

11-06-2003, 02:03 PM

Gross! WHAT Happens When You Flush?

If this doesn't make you buy a new toothbrush, nothing will. If you flush the toilet without first closing the lid, germy droplets of bacteria from the toilet are released into the air and will likely land on your toothbrush--and just about everything else in the bathroom. "The water aerosolizes 20 feet from the center of the flush," Dr. Philip Tierno from New York University Medical Center told Albany, New York's Capital News 9 TV. Nicknamed Dr. Germ because he's the author of "The Secret Life of Germs," he advises shutting the lid before you flush and rinsing your toothbrush with mouthwash or peroxide every single day.

But your bathroom isn't the dirtiest room in the house

Your kitchen gets that award. Tierno insists your kitchen sponge or dishrag is filled with far more bacteria than the toilet bowl or garbage can. How can that be? "It's worse than the bathroom 'cause here's where you have all your roadkill, you have chickens, steaks," he told Capital News 9. A new study sponsored by Brillo puts it in perspective: Almost half the people questioned admitted they use the same sponge to wipe the cutting board, the counters, and the dishes. Tierno advises changing the sponge every week or two and disinfecting it every day in a solution of one ounce of bleach mixed with a quart of water. You can also clean it in the dishwasher.

And one more thing: the vacuum cleaner. Tierno recommends emptying the vacuum cleaner bag once a month so the motor doesn't spew out icky debris.

:eek:

Jolie Rouge

11-06-2003, 02:05 PM

Convicted Murderer Freed on Technicality

By DENISE LAVOIE

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031106%2F152510786.htm&sc=1110

BOSTON (AP) - Fourteen years after he went to prison for the murder of a 12-year-old girl whose slaying became a symbol of random gang violence in Boston, Shawn Drumgold walked out of court a free man Thursday, his conviction overturned at prosecutors' request.

Prosecutors cited new evidence and flaws in the original case against Drumgold, and said they would not seek a new trial.

Suffolk County's chief homicide prosecutor, David E. Meier, who filed the request, said the move had no bearing on Drumgold's guilt or innocence; it was only an acknowledgment that he did not receive a fair trial.

``Most of all, it is Tiffany Moore and her family that the criminal justice system failed,'' Meier said.

He said the state would not apologize to Drumgold.

Drumgold was 22 and a drug dealer when he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the 1988 slaying of Darlene Tiffany Moore, who was shot as she sat on a mailbox in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. Authorities said she had been caught in the crossfire between rival gang members.

Drumgold maintained he was nowhere near the scene.

On Thursday, Drumgold, 37, was mobbed by friends and relatives as he left the courthouse, his arm around his smiling 14-year-old daughter.

``I'm overwhelmed,'' he said. ``I hoped for this. I always hoped for this,'' he said.

His mother, Juanda Drumgold, said: ``It's fantastic. I think justice was done today. My son's coming home.''

In requesting that Drumgold's conviction be thrown out, prosecutors said they had failed to disclose some evidence and possible wrongdoing by officials during the original investigation and prosecution.

Meier acknowledged that prosecutors did not tell the defense during Drumgold's trial that they had given a witness free meals and housing before and during the trial.

Also, some witnesses recanted, and one claimed he was coerced by authorities into testifying against Drumgold. Another key witness, who said she saw Drumgold leaving the scene of the shooting, had a form of brain cancer than can affect perception and memory, but the cancer was not revealed to the defense or the jury.

In throwing out the conviction, Judge Barbara J. Rouse said that Drumgold's release was not a decision on his guilt or innocence but that it reflected the system's failure to afford him his rights.

``I hope, sir, that ... you can make something positive out of this and that you will lead a successful and productive life,'' she said.

11/06/03 15:25

Jolie Rouge

11-06-2003, 02:07 PM

Man Is Slain With Sword in N.M.

LOS LUNAS, N.M. (AP) - A man was slain with a sword at his mobile home, and deputies arrested a weapons collector who was found in a pickup with a bloody sword, sheriff's deputies said Thursday.

Police said Porfirio Cordova apparently killed Jerome Salazar in retaliation for a burglary at the home of Cordova's father.

Salazar, 44, was slain Wednesday, and a neighbor told deputies he had seen a man with a sword beside a pickup truck outside Salazar's home.

Deputies stopped a truck matching the description, and the bloody sword was found inside, investigators said.

Cordova, who turned 39 on Thursday, was being held on an open count of murder, assault with intent to murder and tampering with evidence.

Cordova keeps a collection of swords and knives, Detective Joe Portillo said.

Cordova was found with his girlfriend and his son, who were both ruled out as suspects, Portillo said.

11/06/03 15:29

Jolie Rouge

11-06-2003, 02:16 PM

Patient Dies After Stomach-Staple Surgery

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031105%2F183780594.htm&sc=1110

BOSTON (AP) - Brigham and Women's Hospital has stopped performing a type of stomach-stapling surgery after a staple gun apparently misfired during an operation and the patient died, officials said Wednesday.

Chief medical officer Andy Whittemore said the hospital is reviewing all factors that may have contributed to the death last month of Ann Marie Simonelli, including the staple gun.

``In the meantime, there are few words available to define our sorrow,'' Whittemore said in a statement.

Simonelli, 38, died at the hospital Oct. 23, two days after trying to combat obesity by having her stomach stapled in a laparoscopic procedure, which involves a small incision and a scope that lets the surgeon look inside. The procedure differs from open gastric bypass, which requires a large incision.

Hospital spokesman Vincent Petrini said laparoscopic procedures would be halted during the review. The misfiring equipment was reported to the Food and Drug Administration, Petrini said.

Dr. David Lautz, who performed the operation, has not been disciplined. He did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

Brigham and Women's performs 100 to 200 gastric bypass surgeries a year, according to the state.

11/05/03 18:37

Jolie Rouge

11-06-2003, 02:20 PM

New Orleans Mayor's Gay Panel Quits
By BRETT MARTEL

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031106%2F160011555.htm&sc=1110

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - All seven members of Mayor Ray Nagin's advisory committee on gay issues resigned Thursday after the mayor endorsed conservative Republican Bobby Jindal for governor.

The Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues called Monday's endorsement ``unconscionable and incomprehensible.''

``Mr. Jindal has ignored numerous requests over the last three months to meet with representatives of our community to discuss issues, including economic development and civil rights,'' the panel's chairman, Randal M. Beach, said in a letter.

The committee, appointed by the mayor, advises the mayor on how proposed city and state legislation would affect gays.

Jindal, who faces a Nov. 15 runoff against Democrat Kathleen Blanco, has said he supports equal rights for homosexuals. He said the statewide homosexual group Louisiana League for Equality is among dozens, even hundreds, of special interest groups with whom he has not had time to meet.

Blanco has met with the Louisiana League for Equality.

Both Blanco and Jindal have said they oppose discrimination against gays but do not believe a new anti-bias law is necessary.

Patrick Evans, a spokesman for the Democratic mayor, said in an e-mail that the resignations were accepted with regret. He said Nagin will ``have a new stronger body in place to assist with moving our city forward very soon.''

New Orleans has long been a haven for gay Southerners and is home of a gay festival called Southern Decadence. Nagin's predecessor granted such benefits as health care coverage to partners of gay city employees.

On the Net:

www.new-orleans.la.us/home

11/06/03 15:59

Jolie Rouge

11-06-2003, 09:10 PM

Campaign Starts Against Some 'Pop Up' Ads
By TED BRIDIS

WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators disclosed a new legal campaign Thursday against an annoying method for delivering unwanted ``pop-up'' Internet advertisements, accusing a California company of ``high-tech extortion'' in its offers for software to block the very ads it was sending.

The courtroom effort by the Federal Trade Commission could dampen some of the most irritating practices by Internet marketers, who have learned ways to display intrusive messages on computer screens using a technology built into most versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software.

``This is a shot across the bow,'' said Mark Rasch, an expert on technology law and former head of the Justice Department cyber-crimes division

The FTC obtained a temporary restraining order against D-Squared Solutions LLC of San Diego from a U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The FTC's legal papers accuse D-Squared of unlawfully exploiting Microsoft's ``Windows Messenger Service'' feature by sending unwanted ads to Internet users as frequently as once every 10 minutes.

The director for the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, Howard Beales, said company executives were ``creating a problem and trying to charge customers for the solution.'' He called that ``high-tech extortion'' and ``a fundamentally unfair business model.''

The FTC asked the judge to block D-Squared from sending any more advertisements or selling its ad-blocking software. It also wants D-Squared to repay consumers who bought its software, which Beales said represents ``hundreds of thousands'' of dollars.

The head of D-Squared Solutions, Anish Dhingra, declined to comment on the government's accusations. His lawyer, Jacob C. Reinbolt, did not return repeated telephone calls to his office from The Associated Press.

Windows Messenger Service - unrelated to Microsoft's instant-messaging software that uses the same name - commonly allows network administrators to display messages on a user's computer screen, such as a warning that a company's Internet connection might be having problems.

But some Internet marketers have seized upon the technology to display ads for software and pornography, unless computer users manually turn it off or use firewall software to block out unwanted messages. It takes seven mouse clicks to disable the messenger service; the FTC said typical consumers don't know how to do this.

``It seemed like they were appearing every 10 minutes. It completely disabled my computer,'' said Karen McKechnie of Annandale, Va., who complained to the FTC about pop-up advertisements. ``People who are sending these messages are infringing on my rights and everyone's rights to use my computer.''

The FTC's legal papers allege the advertisements caused ``substantial injury'' to consumers, citing lost data, crashed computers, frustration, annoyance and harassment. But Beales distinguished D-Squared's computer messages from other forms of Internet advertising that many computer users find just as nettlesome, such as unsolicited e-mails, unwanted instant-messages and pop-up ads on Web sites.

Last month, Microsoft separately warned customers about a security vulnerability in Windows Messenger that could allow hackers to seize control of a computer running most versions of Windows.

It urged computer users to download and install a free repairing patch from its Web site, and it said users should consider disabling the Messenger service immediately unless they need to use it. Hackers already are distributing tools to break into computers using the vulnerability.

On the Net:

FTC: www.ftc.gov

Microsoft: www.microsoft.com

11/06/03 21:11

Jolie Rouge

11-07-2003, 10:18 PM

[b]WTF is this world coming too ?![/]

Teen Killed in Motel, Dumped From Plane
By RANDALL CHASE

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/crime/story.jsp?oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031107%2F142542411.htm&sc=1110&floc=NW_1-T

DOVER, Del. (AP) - A teenage girl was suffocated in a motel room, bound with duct tape and chains and dumped from an airplane into the Atlantic Ocean, police said Friday.

The details emerged as Delaware State Police released the results of the investigation into the death of Kimberly Holton, 16.

Investigators believe Holton was lured to the Dover motel Sept. 30 and killed by Jacob Jones, 20, and Michael Keyser, 23. Police say Jones and another man were later seen at a home improvement store buying two cinder blocks, five locks and 15 feet of chain.

When Holton's body was discovered Oct. 8 floating about off Cape May, N.J., chains were wrapped around her legs, police said. Investigators said the body was dumped from a plane that Jones chartered.

After being interviewed last month by police, Jones killed himself. Keyser also attempted suicide after he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Detectives believe the two men killed Holton because the girl and her foster stepsister, whom Jones was dating, disliked each other and that the foster stepsister did not like Holton being around. They also said Jones disliked Holton because she teased him in front of the stepsister.

11/07/03 14:24

Jolie Rouge

11-07-2003, 11:15 PM

Three Guaranteed Steps for Better Sex with Your Mate
By Abby Shank

We've all stood in the grocery line, or clicked on internet article titles seeking fresh ideas to incorporate into our sex lives. We know women want foreplay. We're told men want women to be more aggressive. The guaranteed steps for better sex contained in this article are different than the last article you've read on the subject. Many times the guarantees for better sex begin long before that entrance into the bedroom.

Alleviate Your Partner's Insecurities

Many people, females especially, are often sexually inhibited due to negative body self-images. Some may feel they're fat, worry about breast size, etc. Insecurities like these often reveal themselves in sexual situations. One step to guarantee better sex is to help your mate overcome these negative feelings. For starters, if you notice something attractive about your partner, tell her! Basic compliments like, "You have the most beautiful eyes," will work wonders to make her feel better about herself. Another way to shift your partner's negative focus about her body is to compliment her on her sexual performance. Encourage her with statements like, "I must be the luckiest man in the world," or, "You were absolutely awesome!" Assuring your mate that you desire her, are turned on and pleased completely by her, is a guaranteed step to less inhibited and ultimately better sex.

Communication In and Outside of the Bedroom

Communication is a very important element to guarantee better sex with your partner. Speak openly about what things you find exciting during lovemaking. Tell one another what turns you on. Share with your mate your body's specific "hot spots." Talk about positions you'd like to try, etc. These talks will increase your partner's ability to please you, and the open and honest conversations themselves can tighten a couple's emotional bond. Communication during sex is also important. Express yourself when you are turned on. Let your lover know through subtle moans or spoken words that you like what they are doing. Knowing you are turned on will excite your partner, which then serves to guarantee a more intense and exciting lovemaking experience.

Surprises and Spontaneity

Unexpected and spontaneous acts and references to sex are additional routes toward better sex with your partner. Make a phone call, send an email, or leave a voice message during the day and share a sexy, unexpected secret with him/her. A short, sweet email from you at work saying, "I was thinking about you today, and I couldn't help but to touch myself. Thanks for making me feel so good," will instantaneously turn them on and consume their thoughts for the remainder of the day.

Another way to impose a shock-effect statement about sex is to do it at an inappropriate and unsuspecting time or place. Imagine your lover's surprise if during Thanksgiving dinner you quietly whisper into his/her ear, "I'd love to be _______ you right now!" Or, "I can't wait for this conference to be over because right now I just want to _______ your eyes out!" With little effort and a few short words, the shock-effect of sharing unexpected sexual thoughts with your mate is another guaranteed step to creating a better sex life.

the fugative

11-09-2003, 10:03 AM

Police dog drops chase, gulps down candy
Associated Press

Published November 6, 2003

OSLO, Norway (AP) - When Varg the police dog was sent into a candy factory to track down two intruders, his sense of taste got the better of his sense of duty. The German Shepherd nearly ate himself sick.

Leif Berglund, of the police in the central Norway city of Trondheim, on Thursday said police were called to the Nidar candy factory after seven 13 -to 15-year-olds were found helping themselves to candy after they broke in.

Five surrendered at once, but two ran away. So police sent Varg to follow their trail. What he found was the trail of candy they left behind, as well as more candy in the building.

"He helped himself greedily," said Berglund. He said he was so full of candy "that we had to immediately transfer him to a more urgent assignment" on the lawn outside the building.

The two children remained at large.

"He is fine now. He is one tough gentleman," said Berglund, after Varg's dereliction of duty.

At 9.5 years, Varg is set for retirement, so wouldn't face any disciplinary action, Berglund said.

:p

Jolie Rouge

11-09-2003, 10:32 PM

Workers Discover Body Parts in FedEx Box

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20031108/223080296.htm

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (AP) - FedEx workers discovered a shipment of two human legs and an arm when one of the boxes was found leaking at a company depot, police said.

A Las Vegas donor research company sent the limbs to a man who sells body parts to doctors for use in research projects, Kirkwood police spokeswoman Diane Scanga said. The FBI, state agencies and local police determined no laws were broken, she said.

The shipment was discovered Wednesday when one of the boxes was found leaking at a FedEx depot in nearby St. Louis. Workers learned each package contained a limb, wrapped in dry ice.

Police refused to identify the man, who was issued a warning for apparently operating an unlicensed home business.

It is against FedEx policy to ship body parts, said Howard Clabo, a spokesman for the Memphis-based company.

11/08/03 22:30

Jolie Rouge

11-09-2003, 10:38 PM

Best and Worst Haircuts of All Time

When you think of great hair, who instantly comes to mind? Chances are, it's Jennifer Aniston. A decade ago, she made the "Rachel cut" a must-have for anyone lucky enough to have the right kind of hair. She's still making hair headlines. Just recently the Web site handbag.com polled its members to find which celebrity had the best haircut. Aniston won by a landslide, getting nearly half the votes for her latest hairstyle that allows her to be "surfer chic by day and sleek and sexy by night."

Here's the haircut that's surfer chic by day and sleek and sexy by night.
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/celebrity/gallery_fr.jsp?gname=aniston&floc=wn-nn
Surfer chic by day. Sexy by night.

That's everyone's dream come true. And to think it can all be done with a good haircut! Do YOU have the right cut? Shockwaves surveyed more than 2,000 people to find out which were the best and worst hairstyles of all time for both men and women, and the surprising results have been published on handbag.com.

The BEST haircuts of all time and the celebrities who sport them:

1. The Afro
It's funky, cutting-edge, and retro--all at the same time. Donning it are style icons Beyonce Knowles, Lauren Hill, and Macy Gray.

2. Short Back and Sides
For men, this is the classic sex symbol look. Exhibits A, B, and C are Affleck, Brosnan, and Cruise.

3. The Bob
The big selling points: It's adaptable and never goes out of fashion. Just ask "Sex and the City" stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon.

The WORST haircuts of all time and the celebrities who sport them:

1. The Mullet
Short on the top and the sides and long in the back, the mullet is a part of the '70s that's best forgotten. The problem is that too many people remember the way Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, and Billy Ray Cyrus looked and think it's cool to copy it now. Take our advice: It's not cool!

2. Curtains
Parted in the middle with the hair just falling around the face curtain-style is not the way to win over the ladies. Yes, we're talking about you Keanu Reeves.

3. Feathered
Putting a razor through your hair is usually a regrettable move. Handbag.com says Pink deserves an award for the worst feathered haircut.

Jolie Rouge

11-09-2003, 10:40 PM

Premature baby for the UK Royals
Countess of Wessex Gives Birth to A Baby Girl

LONDON (AP) - The Countess of Wessex, wife of the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, has given birth to a baby girl by emergency Caesarean section, Buckingham Palace said Sunday.

The palace said the baby, who was born just before midnight, several weeks prematurely, weighed 4 lbs 9 oz. Doctors at Frimley Park Hospital south of London said both mother and daughter were ``stable.''

The former Sophie Rhys-Jones, 38, married Prince Edward, the queen's fourth and youngest child, in 1999. The couple's first baby is eighth in line to the throne.

The palace said the baby had been moved from the hospital, near Edward and Sophie's rural home, to the neonatal unit of St. George's Hospital in London as a precaution. The Countess would be staying in hospital ``for the foreseeable future,'' the palace said.

It said Prince Edward, 39, was flying home from an official visit to Mauritius to see his wife and daughter.

Edward's older brother Prince Charles said he was delighted at the news.

``I'm thrilled to hear that my sister-in-law has given birth to a baby girl. I know how much this means to both her and my brother and I could not be more delighted,'' the prince said during an official visit to Oman.

Sophie suffered a miscarriage in December 2001 after doctors diagnosed an ectopic, or tubal, pregnancy, a potentially dangerous condition where the fetus develops outside the uterus.

11/09/03 06:57

Jolie Rouge

11-10-2003, 12:34 PM

Woman Told to Move Clutter from Son's Grave
By Greg Frost

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20031107%2F080231953.htm&sc=reodd

BOSTON (Reuters) - A grieving mother said on Thursday she plans to fight after her town set a deadline for her to remove decorations on the grave of her 9-year-old son or have his remains moved to a different cemetery.

Lisa Armstrong said she is still racked with guilt over the loss of her only child, Christopher, who died in her arms at her Brewster, Massachusetts, home in August after a lifelong battle with epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Armstrong decided to bury the boy in a nearby public cemetery but found it to be "cold and raw" -- and so she covered the grave with mulch, white stones, fencing, plants, toys, Halloween decorations, solar-powered lighting, prayer cards and other objects.

"If it was my choice I would have kept him in his bedroom or put him in my parents' back yard, but by law you have to cremate them or bury them -- and I'm certainly not about to burn my son's body," Armstrong said in a telephone interview.

But at least two families with loved ones buried in the same cemetery have since complained to the town, citing rules that give graveyard managers the right to remove items deemed "hazardous, unsightly or otherwise inappropriate."

Armstrong has so far refused to remove the objects, and the town has given her until Jan. 15 to decide whether to comply with the rules or move Christopher's remains to a different cemetery -- one that will allow such displays.

In a letter, town officials offered to pay all costs related to the exhumation, transportation and reburial.

"We in no way wish to imply that this is a preferred solution," the letter said. "It is our greatest hope you will be satisfied to keep Christopher's grave right where it is and to continue to tend and adorn it in a manner that is consistent with the ... rules and regulations."

But Armstrong, 30, said she will not give an inch.

"How do they think that will make me feel to see my son dug up and moved? My son is supposed to be resting in peace," she said.

Armstrong said the decorations -- especially the lights -- provide comfort not just to her son but also to her.

"I cannot sleep unless I go into that cemetery at night and sing him songs and kiss him goodnight," she said, sobbing. "Otherwise I cannot sleep, I can't sleep."

Town officials were not immediately available for comment, and Janine Trainor, one of those who complained to town officials about the decorations, declined to comment.

11/07/03 08:02

:( :(

Jolie Rouge

11-10-2003, 12:36 PM

McDonald's Mad at New Dictionary Word

One of the newest words in the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is "McJob," which means "low paying and dead-end work." That has McDonald's steaming. Reuters reports that McDonald's CEO Jim Cantalupo wrote an open letter to Merriam-Webster, insisting the term is "an inaccurate description of restaurant employment" and "a slap in the face to the 12 million men and women" who work in the restaurant industry. He further noted that "more than 1,000 of the men and women who own and operate McDonald's restaurants today got their start by serving customers behind the counter."

That's not the only beef McDonald's has with the esteemed dictionary. The word "McJob" closely resembles McJOBS, which is McDonald's training program for mentally and physically challenged people. It's trademarked, and McDonald's considers it a legal violation to use the word any other way.

The term McJob first appeared in the 1991 novel "Generation X" by Douglas Coupland to describe a "low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector." Merriam-Webster has not yet commented on the McFiasco.

Jolie Rouge

11-10-2003, 12:39 PM

Winter Weather: Ominous Forecast

The winter weather predictions from the nation's professional forecasters vary, but they agree on one thing: The weather will be volatile. So volatile that U.S. energy suppliers have been warned to brace for dramatic shifts in demand for heating fuel from month to month, and even week to week, reports Reuters. Consumers beware, too. Cold snaps can lead to energy supply problems, which in turn can lead to price spikes.

While four of the six forecasters predict a winter that is not as cold as last year, they all seem to agree that there will be wild swings in temperature and precipitation with periods of extreme cold followed by unseasonable warmth. And it could change as frequently as one week to the next. Why? There is no strong El Nino or La Nina in the Pacific Ocean. (El Nino is an abnormal warming of the waters in the equatorial Pacific, which leads to a mild winter in the United States. La Nina is the opposite.)

Reuters compiled the six main weather forecasters' predictions:

AccuWeather: Slightly warmer than last year with wild swings in temperatures. The East will be biased cold, the West will be biased warm. December could be coldest month.

EarthSat: Volatility in temperature and precipitation likely. December could be coldest month compared to average.

Meteorlogix: Cold will begin in the Northwest and interior states at start of winter and then will shift eastward following snow patterns, giving cold weather to Northeast later in the season.

Freese-Notis: November will be colder than normal in the West and warmer than normal in the East.

Harris-Mann: Northern half of U.S. is likely to average colder and snowier than normal, with heavy snows migrating eastward. Volatility is expected in the East in February and March.

NOAA: Uncertainty prevails. Extreme volatility possible in the Northeast.

Jolie Rouge

11-10-2003, 03:00 PM

Fla. Man Kills Wife in Divorce Dispute

:eek:

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A businessman shot his estranged wife to death Monday and wounded her brother during an argument over their divorce settlement, investigators said. The brother-in-law then returned fire.

Both men were taken to the hospital with wounds that authorities said did not appear life-threatening.

The three were meeting at the husband's office to discuss how to divide assets.

The husband shot his wife, then turned his gun on the woman's brother, police said. The brother was shot but managed to wrestle the weapon away and return fire, police said.

The family members' names were not immediately released.

11/10/03 15:48

Jolie Rouge

11-10-2003, 03:01 PM

Teens Suspected in Pa. Counselor's Death

GROVE CITY, Pa. (AP) - Two teenagers are suspected of killing their counselor at a private juvenile detention and treatment center early Monday and escaping in the man's pickup truck, state police said.

Another youth at the center called 911 shortly after midnight to reported that counselor Wayne Lamont Urey Jr., 43, had been attacked at George Junior Republic, about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh.

At about the same time, Anthony Machicote, 17, of Pittsburgh, and Jeremy Melvin, 16, of McKeesport, are believed to have fled the facility in Urey's truck, police said.

Troopers were searching the area near the center for the two missing boys and also alerted law enforcement in their home counties.

``The suspects are wanted for escape, and the homicide is believed to be interrelated,'' said Trooper Robert Lagoon. He said prosecutors planned to file charges of homicide, robbery, escape, auto theft, and criminal conspiracy against Machicote and Melvin.

Authorities declined to say how Urey died. George Junior's executive director, Rick Losasso, said only that Urey was physically assaulted.

Urey was a supervisor in charge of Machicote and Melvin and other youths. Losasso would not say why Machicote and Melvin were at the center. The Associated Press could not immediately locate home telephone numbers for their families.

Because George Junior Republic is private, the residential school and treatment center screens juveniles and rejects those it believes it cannot help, Losasso said. The youths' parents or government agencies pay a tuition of up to $120 per day.

George Junior Republic was founded in 1909 as a home for wayward boys by philanthropist William Ruben George. About 480 students attend the 450-acre campus, which is not walled or fenced, Losasso said. It has equestrian facilities, a gymnasium, vocational training facilities and an indoor swimming pool, according to its Web site.

11/10/03 13:49

Jolie Rouge

11-10-2003, 03:05 PM

:rolleyes:

White La. Judge Draws Fire for Costume
By DOUG SIMPSON

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A white judge is under fire for going to a Halloween party costumed in blackface makeup, an afro wig and a prison jumpsuit with shackles around his wrists and ankles.

State District Judge Timothy C. Ellender's costume stereotyped blacks as criminals and convicts, said Jerome Boykin, president of the NAACP's branch in southern Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish, where Ellender's court is located.

``For a judge to take the time to paint his face black with shoe polish, put on an afro wig, a prison jumpsuit and shackles ... and walk around in public, I feel he ain't fit to be a judge,'' Boykin said Monday.

Ellender acknowledged that he wore the costume but said it was a harmless joke.

``It's a tempest in a teapot,'' he told The Courier of Houma.

Ellender did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

The judge agreed to meet with black activists, elected officials and clergy this week to discuss the costume, which he wore to a restaurant in Houma, about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, Boykin said.

The black leaders will decide after the meeting whether to file a complaint with Louisiana's Judiciary Commission, which can censure and dismiss judges who violate the state's judicial code of conduct.

Ellender has been criticized in the past for keeping a shotgun in his courtroom and giving out unusual sentences.

He sentenced a man convicted of accidentally killing his best friend to regularly place flowers at the victim's grave. He sentenced a youngster with chronic speeding violations to clean up trash from a bayou using the judge's boat.

11/10/03 16:39

Jolie Rouge

11-11-2003, 01:34 PM

Workers Start Rounding Up Tigers in N.J.
By WAYNE PARRY

JACKSON, N.J. (AP) - Animal welfare workers were rounding up 24 Bengal tigers from a private sanctuary early Tuesday, culminating a battle that began after a 430-pound tiger was found roaming the suburbs.

New Jersey officials got a court order to remove the animals after it determined they were being poorly cared for at the 12-acre Tigers Only Preservation Society, which is owned by Joan Byron-Marasek. The tigers were being transferred to a Texas animal shelter.

The saga began in January 1999, when authorities shot and killed a loose tiger wandering around a residential subdivision near Byron-Marasek's property. Authorities had tried unsuccessfully to tranquilize it.

State officials never proved the tiger belonged to Byron-Marasek, known as ``The Tiger Lady,'' but they criticized conditions at her facility and refused to renew her permit to keep the animals.

After a lengthy court battle, her appeals were exhausted in November 2001, and a judge authorized a plan to move the animals to the Texas sanctuary.

The first of four large tractor-trailers entered the compound around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, and crews worked to lure the tigers into individual cages.

Chris Cutter, a spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said he did not expect much difficulty in getting the tigers to enter the transfer cages from the pen where they were being held. ``They're pretty anxious to get out,'' said Cutter, whose group is assisting with the move.

Animal welfare officers injected the most aggressive tiger with a tranquilizer dart and may do the same for three other tigers, Cutter said.

The truck convoy was expected to leave New Jersey on Tuesday night for an 1,800-mile, 30-hour trip to the Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio. The tigers should be at their new home by Wednesday night.

A federal court hearing was scheduled for Wednesday on Byron-Marasek's request for some sort of relief for the loss, said Marty McHugh, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish, Game & Wildlife. Her most recent attorney, Darren Gelber, did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.

Byron-Marasek was at the compound when the workers arrived, but she left around 7 a.m. She did not comment, and crouched down in the departing taxi so photographers could not take her picture.

New Jersey is providing $120,000 toward the cost of the move and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which is campaigning to end private ownership of big cats, is contributing another $120,000. McHugh said the state plans to move in court to recoup its costs from Byron-Marasek.

On the Net:

Wild Animal Orphanage: www.wildanimalorphanage.org/home.html

11/11/03 14:34

Jolie Rouge

11-11-2003, 01:43 PM

The Best Guy Movie of All Time Is...

..."Dirty Harry." [/i]

Or so says Men's Journal, which has chosen the top 10 best guy movies of all time. Ever. Almost all of them have this in common: scoundrel cops, homicidal gangsters, blood and guts galore, nonstop action, things that go boom, politically incorrect dialogue, and gross-out humor. And this much is guaranteed: You won't need a hankie to wipe away your tears at the end.

What makes a guy movie great?

Men's Journal editor Mark Horowitz analyzed it for The New York Post, saying, "True guy movies don't like to hit you over the head with their message. They just like to hit you over the head." Top actors in guy flicks are Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, and Paul Newman.

Men's Journal's 10 Best Guy Movies of all time:

1. "Dirty Harry"
2. "The Godfather"
3. "Scarface"
4. "Die Hard"
5. "The Terminator"
6. "The Road Warrior"
7. "The Dirty Dozen"
8. "The Matrix"
9. "Caddyshack"
10. "Rocky"

Jolie Rouge

11-11-2003, 01:48 PM

More good news for the guys :

Beer Will NOT Make You Fat

You know that beer belly you're carrying around? Beer didn't cause it. Bacon, brownies, and burgers were more likely to blame. Reuters reports that new research from Dr. Martin Bobak of University College London concludes that heavy beer drinkers are no more likely to have a fat tummy than non-beer

The study: Fully 1,141 men and 1,212 women who lived in the Czech Republic completed questionnaires about the amount of alcohol they typically drank in a week. Beer is the most popular drink in the Czech Republic and is typically consumed with most meals. The participants' height and weight were measured, as well as the size of their waist and hips. Of all the volunteers, 891 men and 1,098 women drank only beer (and no wine or spirits) or drank no alcohol at all. Beer drinkers typically had 1 to 7 liters a week.

The results: After the influence of such factors as physical activity and education were removed, the researchers concluded that people who were heavy beer drinkers were no more likely to have large stomachs or to be overweight than people who drank less or no beer, reports Reuters. The study findings were published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Jolie Rouge

11-11-2003, 01:51 PM

Flynt Says He Won't Use Nude Lynch Photos
By SARA KUGLER

NEW YORK (AP) - Pornographer Larry Flynt claims he bought nude photos of Pfc. Jessica Lynch last month to publish in Hustler magazine, but changed his mind because she is a ``good kid ... and a victim of the Bush administration.''

The photos, which Flynt's publicist says show the undressed Army supply clerk posing with male soldiers, were sold to Flynt last month, according to a statement from Flynt that was read to The Associated Press on Tuesday by his publicist.

The publicist, who would not give her name, said Flynt ``has no plans to use the photos.''

``Jessica Lynch is a good kid, she's not a hypocrite or out to fool anyone,'' Flynt's statement said. ``She's just a victim of the Bush administration, who is using her to justify the war in Iraq and force-feed us a Joan of Arc.''

In an interview with the AP on Tuesday, Lynch declined to comment on any aspect of the matter, including whether such photos exist.

The interview was scheduled to publicize her biography, ``I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story,'' which was released Tuesday. It covers the days between March 23, when her 507th Maintenance Company convoy was ambushed in Nasiriyah, Iraq, and April 1, when she was evacuated from a hospital by U.S. commandos.

After her rescue, the young soldier from Palestine, W.Va., was celebrated as a hero prisoner of war.

Published reports Tuesday said the photos showed Lynch topless, but Flynt's publicist claimed the former soldier is nude in the pictures.

``At this point Mr. Flynt has no comment as to the content of the photographs except to say Jessica Lynch is not wearing any clothes in them,'' she said.

Flynt's publicist would not say how much the publisher paid for the pictures, or who sold them.

Flynt has been in a wheelchair since an assassination attempt in 1978. His magazine won a landmark Supreme Court decision in 1988 that held that even pornographic spoofs enjoy First Amendment protection.

11/11/03 14:57

Jolie Rouge

11-12-2003, 03:14 PM

Senate Sleep-Over ?

Senate Set for an All-Night Debate
By JESSE J. HOLLAND

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20031112/155386045.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate headed into 30 hours of uninterrupted debate through the night Wednesday on President Bush's blocked judicial nominees, readying cots just outside the chamber and scheduling overnight shifts for Democrats and Republicans to confront one another.

Republicans say Democrats are improperly blocking four of the president's choices. The all-night debate was a way to give the GOP a chance to take its case to the American people in a highly publicized way.

``This is a constitutional disaster waiting to happen,'' Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a preview of the debate.

Democrats have refused to allow Republicans to confirm four U.S. Appeals Court nominees: Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, Texas judge Priscilla Owen, Mississippi judge Charles Pickering and lawyer Miguel Estrada.

Republicans have not been able to get the 60 votes to force the confirmations in a Senate split with 51 GOP senators, 48 Democrats and one independent. Frustrated at the delays, Estrada withdrew his nomination in September.

Not since 1992 has the Senate been in session past 4 a.m.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, said 12 to 15 senators have asked for cots to be set up so they can nap near the Senate floor.

Advocates of civil and abortion rights that have led the opposition against the four Bush nominees distributed to Senate offices care packages that included coffee, analgesics and breath mints.

Republicans scheduled the 30-hour debate.

``If they need help filibustering themselves, we'll be glad to pitch in,'' said Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

He said members of his party will spend their 15 hours talking about the economy and lost jobs as well as their record on Bush's judicial nominees. Democrats also scheduled a candlelight vigil outside the Capitol in support of their efforts.

The Senate has confirmed 168 federal trial and appeals judges since Bush took office.

A senator from each party will be on the floor at all times until at least midnight Thursday. For example, a Republican will talk from 3 a.m. to 3:30 a.m., while a Democrat watches. They will switch roles for the next 30 minutes and then head home to bed, replaced by two others for the next shift lasting as little as one hour.

Freshman Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas could end up pulling the most duty after agreeing to carry the Democrats' case by himself from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Republicans have talked about several ideas for ending the Democratic filibusters, including changing Senate rules, suing the Senate and calling on the Senate parliamentarian to declare the Democrats' tactics unconstitutional.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the talkathon ``is the beginning of a new offensive in the effort to push these judges forward.''

11/12/03 15:53

Jolie Rouge

11-12-2003, 03:18 PM

PETA -versus - Girl Scouts

Gruesome Girl Scout Activity Denounced

The 13 girls ages 10 to 12 years old in Girl Scout Troop 34 in Fairbanks, Alaska are killing beavers--learning how to find the animals' dens, laying lethal traps to snare them, and then skinning them--as part of a state flood-management program, reports The Associated Press. That has incensed the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, whose spokeswoman decried the activity, insisting Girl Scouts should be "stewards of wildlife, not abusers. The Girl Scouts don't see it that way.

The troop participated in the flood-management program at the invitation of Alaska's Department of Fish and Game; such activities are commonplace in Alaska. The state-run program is designed for kids as young as 7 years old. It even has a name: Take a Kid Trapping. The goal is to control flooding and other damage caused by an increasing number of beavers along the lower Chena River in Fairbanks. AP reports that the troop had the pelts tanned, and the girls plan to make hats and mittens once a dozen hides are collected. They're also interested in cooking the beaver meat.

Trapping has a long history and heritage in the state, so Girl Scout leaders insist this is a "non-issue." "Trapping may not be pretty, but the girls understand the seriousness and huge responsibility of taking a life," Troop 34 leader Dona Boylan told AP. "They understand that when humans impact their environment, they become ultimately responsible for maintaining a healthy population of the animals they have to coexist with in these urban centers."

Jolie Rouge

11-12-2003, 03:20 PM

Bush Jokes About an Unusual Topic

It's a well known fact that President Bush had some wild drinking times in his younger days, and after his 40th birthday just stopped drinking alcohol cold turkey. When he discusses his drinking days, it's typically done in a serious and even confessional way with a lesson of morals thrown in at the end for good measure. But on Tuesday, Bush veered from the usual script and laughed about his beer drinking while meeting with workers and suppliers from a BMW vehicle factory in Greer, South Carolina, reports Reuters.

Joke No. 1: Spartanburg Steel Products President Stephen Thies bragged a bit about his company, telling Bush that his firm had an affiliate that was the only American maker of beer kegs. To which Bush replied, "I quit drinking in '86, but I bet some of the people out here use the product. I'm not going to point out which ones." Theis shot back, "Well, we did notice a dip in demand at a point in time. Probably no relationship." That made everyone laugh, including the president, who said, "Pretty observant fellow, aren't you?"

Joke No. 2: Later in the day, BMW worker Archie Gist told Bush about a training trip he made to Germany, corporate headquarters for BMW. Reuters reports that Gist said to the president, "We learned about the glockenspiel and lederhosen, and beer...German beer. And let me tell you, if you all think things are big in Texas, you ought to see the beer in Germany."

Jolie Rouge

11-12-2003, 03:30 PM

Paris Hilton's Video Lover Cries Foul

Don't blame the guy. That's the word from actor/producer Rick Solomon, the man who is featured in the raunchy sex video starring Paris Hilton. He says he's been wrongly accused of releasing it and will sue the Hilton family for defamation, reports The New York Post. "I won't discuss the amount, but we are suing Paris, her parents, and [publicist] Siri Garber for defamation," Solomon's lawyer, Marty Singer, told the Post. "They made it appear that my client engaged in criminal conduct with Paris and wanted the tape out there. He has suffered substantial damage."

Singer maintains that it was one of Solomon's friends who stole the tape. "The person responsible for the theft [is] not Rick Solomon," Singer told the Post. "[It] was a friend of Rick's [who] at some point in time was in the house and took the tape." Solomon has even filed a police report describing the theft.

The much-discussed X-rated video was shot in 2000 with Paris' consent. An anonymous person circulated 3-1/2 minute snippets of the 45-minute tape to members of the media, titling the tape "Paris Hilton Sex Tape Samplers." A representative for Paris issued this statement, which was reported by Reuters: "This was something she did with Rick while they were dating after he was no longer with Shannen [Doherty, his estranged wife], and it was something that was intended for their own personal use. This tape was never intended to be viewed by the public, and it is in poor taste that someone has decided to release it."

The sex video was released in an attempt to ruin Paris Hilton, but it could have the opposite effect. Find out why. http://channels.netscape.com/ns/celebrity/celebgossip.jsp?column=/becksmith_jsp/content/cel20031111.htm&floc=wn-nn

Jolie Rouge

11-12-2003, 03:31 PM

5 Things You're Not Supposed to Know

Pope Pius II, who led the Roman Catholic church in the 1400s, wasn't so pious. He wrote an erotic novel featuring some very impure passages. That's the word from Russ Kick, author of the new book, "50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know."

He claims to blow the lids off secrets that have been kept hush-hush--some as long as hundreds of years, reports Wireless Flash. The book has documented proof for each of the claims, five of which follow here.

1. After September 11, the Pentagon tried to incite terrorists to act, in hopes of catching them in the act.

2. The Bayer Company may be best known for aspirin, but they also developed another wonder drug: Heroin.

3. You can send a letter without postage by simply listing the recipient on the return address instead of yourself. The post office will then "return" the letter for lack of postage.

4. Hitler's blood relatives are living in the U.S.

5. The United States planned to explode an atomic bomb on the moon.

Get it from Amazon.com: "50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0971394288/aol-nscp-gen03-20/102-8451416-0205756

Jolie Rouge

11-12-2003, 09:47 PM

C. Man Finds Alligator in His Garage

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) - A man had an uninvited house guest this week - a 3-foot alligator. Michael Hunt found the alligator in his garage Monday afternoon.

``He stood up on all fours, opened his mouth and growled,'' Hunt said. ``I hit the button to close the garage door to keep him in there.''

Hunt rushed into his house and called 911. Orangeburg County Animal Control and Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officers removed the reptile. It was relocated in one of the county swamps, Hunt said.

It's not clear how or why the juvenile reptile made its way into the garage.

Hunt said he was most concerned about the safety of children who could have stumbled across the alligator.

The average adult alligator is capable of reaching more than 13 feet in length and can weigh in excess of 600 pounds. Mature alligators have a crushing power of 3,000 pounds per square inch in their jaws.

11/12/03 09:59

Jolie Rouge

11-12-2003, 09:52 PM

Ark. Child Chained to Bed Dies in Fire
By DOUGLAS PILS

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/crime/story.jsp?floc=NW_1-T&oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031112%2F162586990.htm&sc=1110

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. (AP) - A 10-year-old girl who authorities say had been chained to a bed by her ankles was killed in a house fire, and her parents were arrested on manslaughter charges.

Sheriff Wesley Kendrick said investigators believe the blaze early Monday was accidental. Four people made it out of the house - the parents and their two other children - before it burned to the ground.

The body of Molly Holt was found by firefighters in her bedroom under debris where the roof had collapsed, said Chief Deputy Jerry Dorney. Investigators also found a chain and padlock that they determined had secured the girl to her bed, Dorney said.

Dorney would not say what the parents told investigators when asked why their daughter was chained to the bed.

Lloyd Holt, 32, and Teresa Dick, 31, were arrested and jailed on $100,000 bail each.

Dorney said that when authorities arrived at the home, the father said he was not able to get the girl out.

11/12/03 16:25

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:37 PM

Ancient Lost City Found In the Jungle

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/ancientcity/ancientcity

Call it lost in plain sight. A team of British and American explorers has located in the jungles of Peru an Incan city that has been lost for centuries, reports Reuters. Amazingly, it is within sight of a key religious center at Machu Picchu.

Briton Hugh Thomson and American Gary Zeigler knew Llactapata was there. Somewhere. It was first mentioned in 1912 by explorer Hiram Bingham, the discoverer of Machu Picchu. But since his description of the location was very vague, the ruins of Llactapata were never found by anyone else.

Fast forward 90 years. Using infrared aerial photography to penetrate the dense forest canopy, Thomson and Zeigler were able to pinpoint the location of the lost city. The high-tech help ended there, though. They still had to climb 9,000 feet up the side of a mountain using machetes to hack their way through the jungle.

It was worth it. When they finally arrived in Llactapata, they found stone buildings, including a solar temple and houses covering several square miles. Here's the most interesting part: The buildings are located in the same alignment with the Pleiades star cluster and the June solstice sunrise as Machu Picchu, which was a sacred center.

"This is a very important discovery. It is very close to Machu Picchu and aligned with it. This adds significantly to our knowledge about Machu Picchu," Thomson told Reuters. "Llactapata adds to its significance."

One thing archaeologists know for sure: There are more lost Incan cities just waiting to be found. After the Spanish Conquistadors captured and executed the last Incan leader, Tupac Amaru, in 1572, the Incans deserted their cities and towns and beat a hasty retreat. Reuters notes that while some of the cities have been rediscovered, many more are believed to lie hidden in the dense jungle. The only way they will ever be found is with new technology or dumb luck. And machetes.

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:39 PM

Britney Spews a Really Crude Comment

:rolleyes:

"She probably needs to get laid." That is what Britney Spears told Entertainment Weekly when asked about the comment Maryland First Lady Kendel Ehrlich made about her a month ago. Speaking before a conference focusing on domestic violence, Mrs. Ehrlich lamented the raunchy dress and behavior of pop stars, specifically Britney Spears. She then said that if she had a chance, she would shoot Britney. Not the best choice of words for a domestic violence conference, to be sure. The media pounced. Now Britney has pounced.

The Associated Press asked Mrs. Ehrlich's office to comment on Britney's jab. "It's ironic, considering she's five months pregnant," spokeswoman Meghann Siwinski, told AP about the first lady. Gov. and Mrs. Ehrlich are the parents of a 4-year-old boy and are expecting their second child in March.

Soon after Mrs. Ehrlich made her remark about wanting to shoot Britney, she apologized, explaining that she was trying to make a larger point about popular culture and its effect on children. She believes that Britney's provocative image makes it harder to bring up confident young women who will stand up against domestic violence. To that, Britney told EW: "These parents, they think I'm a role model for their kids. But it's the parents' job to make sure their kids don't turn out that shallow. It's the parents who should be teaching their kids how to behave. That's not my responsibility. I'm not responsible for your kid."

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:43 PM

Madonna Got Letterman to Say WHAT?

My, how times have changed. Madonna--she would be the one whose daughter was fathered by a man she did not marry--nagged David Letterman endlessly on Tuesday evening when she was a guest on "The Late Show." She thinks Dave should waste no time marrying his longtime girlfriend, Regina Lasko, who is the mother of his new baby boy, Harry. After much haranguing, she finally got the 57-year-old late night host to say this about a wedding: "It's coming. You'll read all about it. It's unfair I think, to the child. You don't want the child to be raised a bastard!"

The New York Post reports the dialogue the two exchanged when Madonna brought up the subject:

LETTERMAN: "I'll take care of it. It's just that my first marriage--and God bless my first wife--it ended in such a..."

MADONNA: "Acrimonious way?"

LETTERMAN: "It was contentious, but it was all me, it was all my fault."

MADONNA: "You haven't grown since then?"

LETTERMAN: "Well, I've had a child, that's progress don't you think?"

MADONNA: "It depends what you do with him."

And then finally he said the wedding was "coming" so the child wouldn't be "raised a bastard."

Madonna was on a roll Tuesday night.

She told Letterman WHY she kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the MTV Awards. She said she was being ironic. She said she was playing the groom to their brides. She said the kisses were like passing the baton to the next generation. Dave said the irony was lost on him. We're thinking he isn't alone.

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:45 PM

Golfer Bitten in Head by Rattlesnake

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - When Roy Williamson hit a tee shot off the fairway, the lie turned out to be much rougher than he thought.

Williamson, 60, was bitten in the head by a rattlesnake when he went to retrieve his ball from some wetlands.

``I saw my ball pretty much in plain view,'' Williamson said Thursday, a week after the encounter. ``Unfortunately, it was being tended to by a rattlesnake that I didn't see.''

He said he picked up the ball and felt something scratch at his right temple as he stood up, slapping at what he thought was a briar. He saw blood - and then the rattler, ``a good 6{ or 7 feet long.''

The men Williamson was playing with - his son, brother and brother-in-law - came running in response to his screams. He remembers reaching the clubhouse, but the next thing he knew, it was three days later.

Doctors determined that the snake bit him twice, and the venom quickly spread throughout his body.

Alan Cale, general manager of Henderson Golf Club, said his employees roped off the area and posted warning signs. Professional snake handlers were called to assist in rounding up any snakes at the course.

``It's an unfortunate accident, but on a golf course - out in nature - you're going to have wildlife,'' Cale said.

Scott Courdin, wildlife curator at Georgia Southern University, said golf courses can be deceptive because they are so well kept.

``Golf courses may be in the middle of a neighborhood or surrounded by development, but that doesn't mean there's not going to be snakes there,'' Courdin said.

He said rattlers, water moccasins, copperheads and coral snakes are plentiful in Georgia.

Williamson said he will play golf again but will be much more careful.

``If I go out now and hit a ball off of the fairway in any fashion or form, I will not go after it,'' he said.

11/14/03 07:59

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:46 PM

Jacko Makes a Startling Announcement

Michael Jackson, the man whose career was almost derailed because of child-molestation accusations, told Los Angeles radio host Rick Dees that he wants more children. Specifically, he wants to adopt at least seven more. Jackson already has three children, and created quite the controversy one year ago when he dangled his baby boy from the fourth floor balcony of a Berlin hotel to show him off to fans below.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Jackson told Dees this, "I want a big family. More and more children." He said he wants to have more than the nine children his own father had.

Meanwhile, one of Jackson's representatives told MSNBC.com's The Scoop, "It's not like he has a specific strategy or he's in touch with adoption agencies about this. If indeed he did say that, he was just speaking about his love of children."

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:49 PM

The Real Secret to Being the Best Mom

The more social a woman is and the larger her network of friends, the more likely she is to be a good mother. The Associated Press reports that new research from Duke University concludes that among baboons, moms with lots of female friends are the most successful parents. While the study was done with baboons, scientists are confident the results apply to human beings as well.

The study:

For 16 years, Duke researchers Joan B. Silk, Susan C. Alberts, and Jeanne Altmann analyzed how 108 females in two wild groups of baboon tribes near the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya spent their time and how this could affect their mothering abilities.

The results:

The baboons who had formed networks of female friends were about 33 percent more successful at raising their baby baboons to one year of age than were baboon moms who spent more time alone or isolated. (Most deaths among baboons occur in the first year of life.) Being social meant staying close together, grooming each other's fur for as much as 10 percent of each day, and forming tight coalitions against outside predators and other bands of baboons. "We don't know how sociability helps females, but we do know that social females do better at raising their young," study co-author Susan C. Alberts told AP. "It suggests that social bonds are an important part of being primates."

Silk explained to AP that the finding is the first in lower primates to demonstrate that a big investment in building social contacts can significantly improve child-rearing success. "There is a parallel in humans that is intriguing," she said. "We know that in humans having a social network has a very positive health outcome." Silk theorizes that evolution favored primates who are sociable and work together cooperatively. The study results were published in the journal Science.

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:51 PM

:eek:

Hanging Corpse Admired as Sculpture on Campus

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Police on Friday removed the corpse of a man believed to have hanged himself at least a year ago after builders and students at Budapest's University of Arts had initially mistaken it for a modern sculpture.

The body hung for a whole day in a garden building that had been re-opened for repairs before onlookers realized what it was and called the police, local media said.

The building, in campus grounds crowded with different types of sculpture, had been closed five years ago pending reconstruction work.

11/14/03 13:52

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 10:57 PM

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?id=200311131910000127000&dt=20031113191000&w=APO&coview=

SUV Slams Into Gettysburg Park Monument

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A sport utility vehicle veered onto Gettysburg National Military Park, overturned and slammed into a 115-year-old Civil War monument, officials said Thursday. The granite sculpture broke into three pieces.

The driver, Laura M. Staub, said she did not know what caused her to lose control of the SUV on Wednesday night.

``All I remember is putting my brakes on, and the next thing I remember I was on my side,'' Staub said. She wasn't seriously hurt.

The SUV hit the 74th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument, which was dedicated in 1888, a park spokeswoman said. The life-sized granite sculpture depicts a color bearer holding a regimental flag.

Cost of repairs was estimated at $15,000 to $20,000, officials said. Staub was fined $25 for failing to maintain control of a vehicle.

Last month, a car crashed into a century-old cannon carriage at the park, destroying the carriage. The original 1863 cannon atop the carriage was not damaged.

11/13/2003 19:10

Jolie Rouge

11-14-2003, 11:00 PM

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031114%2F131880902.htm&sc=1110

Buildings Evacuated in Del. Due to Crack

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Thousands of workers were evacuated Friday from three downtown buildings after a long, narrow crack was discovered in an office tower, city officials said.

The crack was discovered in the 17-story Bank One building, said John Rago, a spokesman for Mayor James Baker.

About 1,200 people were evacuated from that building, an additional 3,500 from the New Castle County Courthouse across the street and about 500 from another nearby building owned by Bank One, Rago said.

Engineers were working with the management and owners of the building where the crack appeared, looking at blueprints to determine what the problem was, Rago said.

``Preliminary indications are that we are looking at a possible facade problem,'' Rago said.

Lt. Rick Yancey of the city fire marshal's office said the crack ran from the ninth to 17th floors. He didn't know how wide it was but described it as small.

11/14/03 13:18

the fugative

11-16-2003, 08:32 PM

Clever crocodile outwits croc hunter
Associated Press

Published November 14, 2003

HONG KONG (AP) - An Australian crocodile expert failed on his first night Friday to catch a rouge croc that has outwitted Hong Kong officials for almost two weeks.

Croc hunter John Lever told reporters he caught glimpses of the 4-foot reptile from his small boat and even touched it with his hand before the beast disappeared in a murky creek.

The Australian spent more than three hours sitting in the boat and scouring the creek with a light before deciding to give it up for the night.

The crocodile has become a local media sensation after Hong Kong officials tried in vain to capture it for nearly two weeks.

Saying earlier that catching a crocodile is never a "piece of cake," Lever said he will resume the hunt Saturday.

Lever had been quoted before arriving in Hong Kong as offering a simple croc-catching strategy: "I would just walk in and grab it."

But after taking a look at the creek that the croc calls home, Lever devised a more complex plan, putting chicken heads on the end of sturdy fishing lines in the hope that the croc would take the bait.

The croc expert from Queensland state then wants to capture the beast with his hands.

Lever said Hong Kong conservation officers had been "unlucky, very unlucky actually" when the croc walked into traps that had been baited with chicken but then walked back out.

Hong Kong also deployed teams of officers armed with tranquilizer darts, but as they approached in small boats the croc slid into the water and got away.

Hong Kong has no native crocodile species and officials believe this one might be a former pet that had been kept here illegally or an escapee from a mainland Chinese farm.

Locals have suggested naming the croc after famous designer handbags - Gucci - or after local tycoons.
:p

the fugative

11-16-2003, 08:35 PM

Off-the-fairway shot knocks golfer for three-day loop
Associated Press

Published November 14, 2003

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- When Roy Williamson hit a tee shot off the fairway, the lie turned out to be rougher than he thought.

Williamson, 60, was bitten in the head by a rattlesnake when he went to retrieve his ball from some wetlands.

``I saw my ball pretty much in plain view,'' Williamson said Thursday, a week after the encounter. ``Unfortunately, it was being tended to by a rattlesnake that I didn't see.''

He said he picked up the ball and felt something scratch at his right temple as he stood up, slapping at what he thought was a briar. He saw blood, then the rattler - ``a good 6 1/2 or 7 feet long.''

The men Williamson was playing with - his son, brother and brother-in-law - came running in response to his screams. He remembers reaching the clubhouse, but the next thing he knew, it was three days later.

Doctors determined that the snake bit him twice, and the venom quickly spread throughout his body.

Alan Cale, general manager of Henderson Golf Club, said his employees roped off the area and posted warning signs. Professional snake handlers were called to assist in rounding up any snakes at the course.

``It's an unfortunate accident, but on a golf course - out in nature - you're going to have wildlife,'' Cale said.

Williamson said he will play golf again but will be much more careful.

``If I go out now and hit a ball off of the fairway in any fashion or form, I will not go after it,'' he said.

:p

Jolie Rouge

11-16-2003, 10:30 PM

Originally posted by the fugative

Clever crocodile outwits croc hunter

This was featured on tonights local news

Jolie Rouge

11-17-2003, 10:56 PM

Bride Gets Best Wedding Gift Ever

Grab a tissue. This story is going to bring a tear to your eye.

On Saturday in Lehi, Utah, Tessa Flitton married Brandon McClellan.

Just as she was about to walk down the aisle, escorted by her uncle since her father is a Utah National Guard member stationed in Iraq, who shows up? Her daddy. The Associated Press reports that David Flitton, dressed in a dark green class A uniform with a white shirt, and a black bow tie, stepped up to his only daughter's side and told his brother Lawrence, "I think I'll take it from here."

Tessa was astonished to say the least. AP reports that she put her hand to her mouth to stifle a scream and then promptly started sobbing. The two hugged and then just stood there. "Take your dad's arm," her mom, Renee Flitton, coaxed, trying to keep things moving. "It was the last thing I ever thought would happen. I wanted him here so bad," the bride told AP. She cried all the way to the altar.

It was Renee, along with friends and co-workers, who pulled off the amazing feat of getting her husband home from Iraq for the big day. And then she kept him hidden from their daughter for four days so he could surprise her just as the wedding began. "He needed to be here for his one and only daughter," Renee told AP.

Jolie Rouge

11-17-2003, 10:59 PM

Favorite '60s TV Cartoon Voice Dies

The woman who was the voice of Jane Jetson in the 1960s cartoon "The Jetsons" has died at age 95. Penny Singleton, who also played Blondie in more than two dozen films from 1938 to 1950, died last Wednesday in Los Angeles two weeks after suffering a stroke, reports The Associated Press.

The 28 Blondie films were based on the popular cartoon strip and included "Blondie Meets the Boss," "Blondie Plays Cupid," and "Blondie Knows Best." In her 1973 book, "Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou," Singleton said she was proud and grateful to play Blondie. "She was dumb and shrewish sometimes," Singleton wrote. "But she was real and sympathetic and warm, a real woman, a human being. And that's how I tried to play her." No one else ever played the role besides Singleton.

A decade after the Blondie films ended, Singleton became the voice of Jane Jetson in the popular, futuristic cartoon "The Jetsons." It ran in primetime for one year (1962-63) and was then widely seen in reruns after that. Hanna-Barbera created it as a 21st-century foil to the Stone Age setting of "The Flintstones." Cars that fly and robots that clean were some of the more intriguing notions of life in the future.

Jolie Rouge

11-17-2003, 11:01 PM

Actress Liv Tyler Given Strict Ultimatum

Liv Tyler, who played the heroine Arwen in "The Lord of the Rings," has been told in no uncertain terms she must lose weight or risk losing top roles in movies.

The Washington Post reports that the 26-year-old actress, whose father is Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, dropped to a skinny 125 pounds for her role in the "Rings" trilogy, but as soon as shooting wrapped on the three movies, she gained 28 pounds.

But Liv has a some words for those Hollywood suits. She says she's happy with her weight, thank you very much, and has no intention of dieting. "I've been told that if I lose weight I'd have more work, but to the rest of the world I am slim and I like the way I am," she said. Is that cheering we hear coming from women everywhere?

Jolie Rouge

11-19-2003, 12:33 PM

True or False

Can you guess which of the following are true or false?

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the
morning.

2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a bellybutton.

3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 yrs.

4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a lot more.

5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop even your heart!

6. Only seven (7) per cent of the population are lefties.

7. 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.

8. Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until they are 2-6 years old.

9. The average person over fifty will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.

10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.

11. The average housefly lives for one month.

12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.

14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than the rest of the day.

16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search for water.

18. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.

19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Tootsie".

20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State anthem.

21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same airplane together in case there is a crash.

23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor.

24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are reused in vein transplant surgery.

25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.

26. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

Scroll down.......

And the answers are:

They are all true

Jolie Rouge

11-19-2003, 12:45 PM

Originally posted by Jolie Rouge
Britney Spews a Really Crude Comment

:rolleyes:

Soon after Mrs. Ehrlich made her remark about wanting to shoot Britney, she apologized, explaining that she was trying to make a larger point about popular culture and its effect on children. She believes that Britney's provocative image makes it harder to bring up confident young women who will stand up against domestic violence. To that, Britney told EW: "These parents, they think I'm a role model for their kids. But it's the parents' job to make sure their kids don't turn out that shallow. It's the parents who should be teaching their kids how to behave. That's not my responsibility. I'm not responsible for your kid."

** whiplash alert **

Britney: I'm a Role Model

Nov 17, 7:21 AM EST

Associated Press

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=140781

Britney Spears insists she is a role model for young girls despite recent revealing magazine covers and her new album with sexually explicit lyrics, the British Broadcasting Corp. said Sunday.

In a radio interview to be broadcast Monday, the 21-year-old pop star said parents should not be worried if their children want to copy her.

"I probably have more older fans than the younger ones, but I think the reason why everyone talks about the younger fans so much is because the parents are concerned," Spears was quoted as saying. "And in the end they shouldn't be concerned because they should trust their kids and believe in their kids."

The BBC said Spears defended recent magazine photos, saying, "I've just recently done some covers that are a little bit explicit and sexy. And a lot of people do think this is very over-explicit, but that's their opinion."

Spears, who kissed Madonna at the MTV Video Music Awards, also talked about her relationship with the singer, saying there was a special connection between them.

"She's like my godmother in a way. I don't listen to that many people, I'm a very stubborn person. When someone tells me not to do something, I do it, that's just my rebellious nature," Spears said.

The star, criticized for drinking and smoking in public, urged people to be realistic. "If you go out and have red wine with your dinner it's like, 'Oh my gosh, she's drinking, Britney was caught smoking.' You know, people have to realize you're human just like anyone else and people have to give you a break a little," she said.

Princess4J

11-21-2003, 12:57 PM

Woman Partially Swallowed By Python

POSTED: 11:53 a.m. EST November 21, 2003

RANGAMATI, Bangladesh -- Police in Bangladesh say villagers beat a huge python to death after the snake half-swallowed and killed a woman.

An official says a 38-year-old-woman was collecting wood in a southeastern forest when the python attacked her. The nearly 10-foot snake wrapped itself around the woman, crushing her. She had been swallowed up to the waist, head first.

A mob of villagers killed the snake with iron rods and sticks before retrieving the woman's body.

the fugative

11-23-2003, 10:35 PM

New record: 9 snake tails in man's mouth
Associated Press

Published November 19, 2003

WHISKEY FLATS, Texas -- A man stuffed the tails of nine live rattlesnakes in his mouth Tuesday, besting his record of eight.

``I have to break my own records. Heck, there's nobody else who can do it,'' Jackie Bibby told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for its online edition Tuesday. ``I think I could do 12 or 13, but probably no more. My mouth is only so big.''

Bibby holds the world record for sitting in a bathtub with the most live snakes - 75 Western Diamondbacks, according to Guinness World Records. He planned to break that record Tuesday by sitting in a tub with more than 81 snakes, but the snakes wouldn't cooperate and Bibby had to quit after only about 40 were dumped on him.

Bibby, 52, has performed snake stunts for television shows and other events. This time it was for the 50th anniversary of the Guinness World Records book, which is due out in September and sent a photographer to record the Tuesday event.

In a field behind his mobile home in Whiskey Flats, a community about 25 miles southwest of Fort Worth, Bibby banded nine snakes together by their rattles and wedged the tails into his mouth. He leaned forward from the waist and held still for 10 seconds, the snakes dangling down.

For the record to be official, Bibby said, each snake has to be at least 26 or 27 inches long. Each weighs at least 1.5 pounds.

Bibby, who works in marketing for a drug treatment center, said he has been bitten six times in 34 years of snake handling.

:D

Court considers tail of the dog
Associated Press

Published November 18, 2003

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York's top court will tackle the tale - and the tail - of a purebred dog and whether the pooch is being discriminated against by hidebound and cruel dog show standards.

Jon H. Hammer has been trying since 2001 to get the American Kennel Club and the American Brittany Club to stop taking points away from dogs like his, a Brittany named Ms. Dale's Spooner, because he doesn't have a docked, or clipped, tail.

Breed standards at dog shows state that any Brittany with a tail ``substantially'' longer than four inches shall be ``severely penalized'' by show judges.

Hammer, a Manhattan lawyer, says docking a dog's tail violates state laws prohibiting cruel treatment of animals. The American Kennel Club counters that Brittanies were bred to hunt and that docking the tails prevents injury while the dogs are in the field.

The six members of the state's Court of Appeals were to hear cases starting Tuesday.

:eek:

Lost Dog Comes Home 4 Months Later
Associated Press

Published November 18, 2003

WESTERNPORT, Md. (AP) - A little dog named Nick has come home, four months after he disappeared during a family trip to West Virginia.

The sheltie went missing July 4 while owners Mike and Debbie Hartman and their three young sons were swimming at a private campground near Romney, W.Va., about 30 miles southeast of the family's Westernport home, Debbie Hartman said.

"We looked and looked; Mike even floated down the river the next day looking for him," she told The Cumberland Times-News on Monday. "He was just nowhere to be found."

She said they placed ads in local newspapers and notified area animal shelters, but as the days and weeks passed, they came to believe someone had taken Nick home and kept him, despite the telephone number stitched on his collar.

"We had all but given up hope," Hartman said.

Then, on Nov. 7, a day-care center operator in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., 50 miles east of Romney, called to say Nick had turned up. The caller said "she had opened the door and in walked this dog," Hartman said. "She saw his name and our phone number embroidered on the collar and called us."

She said Nick's foot pads were cracked and worn, and he was bruised in spots, but a veterinarian has given him a clean bill of health.

:D

Jolie Rouge

11-24-2003, 01:49 PM

Sold to Restaurant as Dog Meat

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20031124%2F095898393.htm&sc=reodd

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese drug addicts kidnapped a mute teenager, bundled him in a sack and sold him to a dog-meat eatery as a stray canine, state media said on Saturday.

The Gia Dinh Xa Hoi (Family and Society) newspaper said the two addicts grabbed the homeless 13-year-old from a busy market in Halong city.

Halong, around 90 miles from the capital, Hanoi, attracts hordes of tourists to its spectacular bay and rock formations, a United Nations heritage site.

The kidnappers tied up the boy, bundled him into a sack and sold him to the restaurant for $19, the newspaper said.

The restaurateur, shocked to find the boy, fed him and released him.

Police were investigating the case but had made no arrests, said the newspaper, mouthpiece of the state Population, Family and Children Committee.

Dog meat is a delicacy in parts of China and in some other Asian countries such as Korea, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos. In Vietnam, eating specifically farmed breeds is believed to bring health benefits and is seen as auspicious.

Early in November, Thai police rescued more than 800 dogs from smugglers who were taking the animals to Vietnam to sell for meat.

11/24/03 09:57

the fugative

11-24-2003, 09:19 PM

News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published November 13, 2003

In October, West Point, Ky., hosted 12,000 visitors for the weekend Knob Creek Gun Range Machine Gun Shoot, billed as the nation's largest, with a separate competition for flamethrowers. Especially coveted is "The Line," where 60 people (waiting list is 10 years) get to fire machine guns into a field of cars and boats, and during which a shooter might run through $10,000 in ammunition. Among the champions: Samantha Sawyer, 16, the top women's submachine gunner for the past four years.

• A senior Vatican spokesman, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, told a BBC Radio audience in October that condoms are useless in preventing the spread of HIV (because, he said, the virus penetrates the porous latex) and therefore should not be used, even in Africa, where as much as 20 percent of the population reportedly is infected. The World Health Organization denounced Trujillo's claim but said it had heard similar Catholic church messages in Asia and Latin America.

More things to worry about

• In September, customs officials in Amsterdam stopped a Nigerian man trying to enter the Netherlands with a suitcase containing 1,500 to 2,000 baboon noses (which some people use in traditional healing, but which were in an advanced state of putridness).

• In July, the state of Kentucky sent a check to the state's American Civil Liberties Union chapter for $121,000 as costs awarded in a 2000 lawsuit in which the state was forced by a court to remove a Ten Commandments monument from State Capitol grounds. According to a Louisville Courier-Journal report, that brings to nearly $700,000 that the state has been forced to pay the ACLU in the past 10 years as costs for challenging various moves by the state.

Fetishes on parade

• Police officer James Marriner, 43, appeared at a hearing in Brisbane, Australia, in September on 15 counts related to sexual harassment of members of the Bible-based community he lived in near Ipswich, Queensland. Among the accusations: Marriner had requested nude photos, confidential sexual histories, and pubic-hair samples from well-meaning community members who had conscientiously agreed to help the local police crack a "pedophile ring" (which apparently existed only in Marriner's mind). Reportedly, being a police officer in such a sheltered community was a high-status job that gave him unusual powers of persuasion.

• For a September story in the Daily Nebraskan, University of Nebraska junior Dustin Rewinkel proudly and patiently explained to a reporter the secrets of his success in stealing street signs in the city of Lincoln (bragging that with basic tools, he could grab a sign in minutes and in fact had "more than a dozen" already). Not surprisingly, Lincoln police read the article, got a search warrant for Rewinkel's apartment, recovered 13 signs and charged him on suspicion of possessing stolen property.

• In Easton, Pa., in July, Robert M. Peters Sr., 47, was acquitted of indecent exposure by persuading a jury that his penis is too small to have been seen by the complaining witness. A woman testified that she had seen "3 inches" of erect penis beyond the bottom of his shorts while he was working in her home, but via photographs and a brief trouser-dropping in the courtroom, Peters convinced the jury that he is very modestly endowed and that she must have seen something else, such as a fold of fat on his 312-pound body.

• In September in East Finchley, England, Daniel Wade, 37, his wife, Eti, and their two sons began a project "to challenge or confirm notions of the middle-class family and domestic space": They opened their home to about 50 strangers every Sunday so people could walk through their house and observe their typical behavior (eating, arguing, sleeping, watching TV). According to Wade, this would help the visitors contemplate the modern family.

Bodily plumbing in the news

• In April, according to Uganda's prison service, 15 inmates escaped near Kampala after allegedly having weakened the jail's walls and cell bars by months of urinating on them. Also in April, the New York Times reported that a pest-control professional in Stockton, Calif., had developed a new termite-detection method that relies on locating concentrations of methane gas that are expelled because of termites' high-fiber (i.e., wood) diet. And in October, a tipsy undersecretary in the Philippine government apologized after inadvertently urinating in the rear of President Arroyo's plane during flight, in an area he mistook for a restroom.

• Also, in the past month: A 39-year-old man was arrested for bank robbery 10 days after making a successful escape on an oversized tricycle (Woodbury, N.J.). And a 24-year-old gun-toting man was arrested after smashing his tricycle into a car, being knocked to the ground, and then stealing the car (Salem, Ore.).

:p

Jolie Rouge

11-25-2003, 10:11 PM

Scholars say Jesus box may be genuine
Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Posted: 10:26 AM EST

www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/11/25/jesus.box.ap/index.html

Scientists say that this box dates from A.D. 63.

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A purported first-century inscription naming Jesus may or may not be the real thing, but Israel's labeling of the find as a fake is premature, scientists and scholars said at a panel discussion.

At issue is a limestone burial box, or ossuary, with the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," that emerged on Israel's antiquities market last year.

If authentic, the ossuary would offer a rare physical link to the life of Jesus, but Israel's Antiquities Authority declared the inscription a fraud in June.

Panelists, speaking in Atlanta at the annual joint conference of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature on Sunday, said authorities should examine the box more closely before passing judgment.

"I don't know for sure whether this is a forged inscription, and I'm sort of cast as a defender of the inscription. I'm not," said moderator Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archeology Review, which published the initial findings. "What I do know is, Israeli authorities have badly managed the affair."

The antiquities authority, which has yet to release a full report on its findings, said the ossuary itself is ancient but oxygen isotope analysis suggested the words on it were inscribed in modern times.

The hard, brown patina that covers the box could not be found on the inscription, where a soft, grayish chalk-and-water paste had been applied instead to imitate weathering, the authority said.

James Harrell, a geologist at the University of Toledo and member of the Association for the Study of Marble and Other Stones in Antiquity, said his analysis of the inscription suggests the missing patina could simply be the result of overcleaning -- not forgery.

Shanks said experts from the antiquities authority declined to speak at the forum.

Oded Golan, the collector who came forward with the ossuary in October 2002 and has since been accused of being the forger, said it had been "undoubtedly cleaned" while in his family's possession but did not know how.

Panelists said that while oxygen isotope analysis found most of the inscription showed some sort of modern influence, the last part of it was consistent with the ancient patina -- specifically the part that names Jesus.

The ossuary had been valued at up to $2 million because of the claimed link with Jesus. According to biblical accounts, Jesus' brother James led the early church in Jerusalem and was stoned to death as a Jewish heretic in A.D. 62.

The oldest confirmed surviving artifact that mentions Jesus is a fragment of chapter 18 in John's Gospel from a manuscript dating to A.D. 125.

the fugative

11-27-2003, 09:49 AM

5-legged dog winds up one short
Associated Press

Published November 25, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A five-legged dog discovered near a North Carolina state park has undergone successful surgery to remove two of her legs.

Veterinarians say the dog named ``Popcorn'' suffered from an extremely rare genetic anomaly.

Vets removed the dog's back two left legs. The extra leg was removed because it was hampering the dog's movement. The more fully developed leg was also removed because it was rotated at a 90-degree angle, rendering it useless.

Donations totaling $3,000 poured in from across the country to help the dog. The surgery cost about $1,200.

Popcorn is expected to return to her adoptive home today and should make a full recovery.

:p

Jolie Rouge

12-01-2003, 02:28 PM

Body Is Found Inside U.N. Headquarters

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031201%2F143319492.htm&sc=1110&floc=NW_5-L1

NEW YORK (AP) - A body was found inside United Nations headquarters on Monday, a U.N. spokesman said. U.N. security and the New York police department are investigating the matter.

The U.N. spokesman said the person had been shot, and that the body was discovered inside the building's third-floor lounge at about 11:30 a.m. He declined to give any details on the deceased person pending notification of the family.

The spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the world body considered the shooting an ``isolated incident.''

12/01/03 14:33

{{I wonder when this will show up in a Law & Order" episode ?}}

Jolie Rouge

12-01-2003, 09:37 PM

Scary Forecast: Monster Storms Threaten

If you live on the East Coast, beware! A leading hurricane forecaster is predicting deadly and damaging storms will slam into the Atlantic states in the coming years. "North Carolina and Virginia were not lucky this year, but the rest of the East Coast was," Bill Gray, a hurricane forecaster at Colorado State University, told The Associated Press. "It's inevitable, I think, that we're going to have some major hits."

The 2003 hurricane season officially ended on Sunday with seven hurricanes. Three of these were major storms with sustained wind speeds of at least 111 mph. One of those was Hurricane Isabel, which made landfall near Ocracoke Island, N.C., on Sept. 18, killing 40 people and causing $2 billion in damage as it plowed over the Mid-Atlantic states. The other two major storms were Fabian, which hit Bermuda, and Kate, which never threatened land.

Amazingly, the United States has only been hit by three of the more than 30 major Atlantic hurricanes that have formed since 1995, something that baffles the forecasters. "This can't keep going," Gray warned AP. "Climatology will eventually right itself and we're going to see more storms, but it's going to be very different. We're going to see hurricane damage like you've never seen it." Specifically, he expects more storms to hit the United States--as soon as next year. Ominously, Gray says the storms could cause significant damage in coastal areas where the population has boomed.

The 10 deadliest hurricanes to ever slam into the United States ? www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/hurricanes/interactive/hurricanes.topten/frameset.exclude.html

Jolie Rouge

12-02-2003, 09:46 PM

Woman Killed in Attack by Pit Bull Dogs
By ROBERT WELLER

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?oldflok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031202%2F110945973.htm&sc=1110

DENVER (AP) - A woman was killed in a gruesome attack by a pack of pit bull dogs that residents say had been a roaming menace for months. Another man was injured but escaped after his son shot at the dogs.

Authorities began weighing charges Monday against the owners of the dogs.

Jennifer Brooke, 40, was killed early Sunday when she went to a barn to care for her horses, officials said. A friend worried about her, Bjorn Osmunsen, 24, was attacked when he went to look for her.

``It's a gruesome thing; it's kind of hard to deal with,'' Elbert County Undersheriff James Underwood said of Brooke's injuries. ``Even the fire department and the rescue personnel were having a hard time dealing with some of it.''

One dog had allegedly mauled a neighbor earlier this year, and officials said the dogs were well known in the rolling ranch land near Kiowa, southeast of Denver.

``The people in the area had their own sort of emergency phone network to warn each other if the dogs were loose before they would go out,'' Rattlesnake Fire District Chief Dale Goetz said.

After fatally mauling Brooke, the dogs moved on to a nearby home and attacked Lynn Baker when he stepped outside.

``One was leaping for my throat as one was dragging me down by my hand,'' Baker said.

He said he jumped into the bed of his pickup truck and screamed for family members to call authorities, and for his 16-year-old son, Cody, to grab a gun.

Cody Baker fired at the dogs with a shotgun, blinding one, knocking one down and disorienting the third. The distraction allowed his father to climb into the cab of the pickup and drive close enough to his house to scurry inside.

``I came out and shot the big one twice but it hardly slowed him down,'' said Baker, whose son also was attacked but was not injured.

``They were monsters. And they don't run away. They come at you, even when you are shooting at them,'' Baker said in a telephone interview. The dogs were eventually killed by Cody Baker and a deputy. Both Lynn Baker and Osmunsen were treated for their injuries and released.

The dogs' owners, one of whom was identified as Jacqueline McCuen, could face charges ranging from a misdemeanor to negligent homicide, said Mike Knight, spokesman for the district attorney.

There was no comment from McCuen; her telephone number is listed as disconnected.

Resident Tom Nichols said his wife, Diana, was mauled by one of the dogs in April. He said she suffered several bite wounds, including a bone-deep gash that took two months to heal.

After that attack, one dog was impounded and McCuen was issued a summons for having a vicious animal. The case was dismissed because there appeared to be no applicable ordinance, but the case has been reopened, District Attorney Jim Peters said Monday.

Grover Henderson said the dogs chased his wife, Linda, into their home on Oct. 4. ``A few weeks earlier, they had come to our house and bared their teeth at me, and I called McCuen and told her I would shoot them if they came back,'' he said.

12/02/03 11:09

{i]Should be an ordinance for irresponsible dog owners...[/i]

Jolie Rouge

12-02-2003, 09:55 PM

Polygamist invokes ruling on gay sex
Tuesday, December 2, 2003 Posted: 9:30 PM EST

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- A lawyer for a Utah man with five wives argued Monday that his bigamy convictions should be thrown out following a Supreme Court decision decriminalizing gay sex.

The nation's high court in June struck down a Texas sodomy law, ruling that what gay men and women do in the privacy of their homes is no business of government.

It's no different for polygamists, argued Tom Green's attorney, John Bucher, to the Utah Supreme Court.

"It doesn't bother anyone, [and with] no compelling state interest in what you do in your own home with consenting adults, you should be allowed to do so," Bucher said.

The state said the court should reject the appeal because Green failed to raise the issue during his trial more than two years ago or anywhere else along the judicial path since then.

Green, who is not affiliated with any church, was convicted of four counts of bigamy and one count of criminal nonsupport of his 30 children in August 2001.

Besides his five-year sentence, he faces up to life in prison after being convicted of child rape for having sex with one of his five wives when she was 13.

"He preys on young girls," assistant Utah Attorney General Laura Dupaix said. "This case is about a man who marries young girls and calls it religion."

Polygamy was renounced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1890 as part of a deal to grant Utah statehood, and the church now excommunicates those members who practice or advocate it. Polygamy has an estimated 30,000 practitioners in the West.

the fugative

12-06-2003, 10:53 PM

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published November 20, 2003

Just three days after a report published this month that lawyers were about to collect $350 million on the settlement for the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 explosion (with another $480 million to come, under certain conditions), two Massachusetts law firms sued the state over the 1998 tobacco settlement, claiming that the $775 million in fees they were awarded by an arbitration panel was not enough. The firms say they are due $1.3 billion more under their original contract, although other law firms in the 46-state settlement so far have accepted the arbitrators' awards. A Massachusetts official said a $775 million fee works out to about $6,300 per lawyer-hour and a $2.075 billion fee to about $17,000 per lawyer-hour.

• According to a September safety hearing, British brain surgeon Donald Campbell, 54, crashed his twin-engine plane into a house (he survived, with head injuries) when he ran out of fuel because he miscalculated when converting gallons to liters (Shoreham, England). Internationally renowned neuroscientist Patricia Goldman-Rakic, 66, was fatally run over in August while jaywalking (and police said the driver was not at fault) (Hamden, Conn.).

Long shot

• In July, a judge relented and allowed Richard Quinton Gunn to act as his own attorney in his aggravated-murder appeal, following his conviction earlier in the year in Ogden, Utah, by a jury that deliberated just two hours. Gunn had confessed, saying he killed his tenant using a crowbar, a butcher knife, a handsaw, a fireplace poker, a 12-inch bolt, a straight-edge razor, an ax, walking canes, a pool cue and a large salad fork.

• In October, U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger, 76, R-N.C., told the Charlotte Observer that a large part of the stress that ended his 50-year marriage was the entry into the couple's Washington, D.C., neighborhood of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, to a building just across the street from the couple's townhouse, which is three blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Ballenger called CAIR a fund-raising arm of the terrorist group Hezbollah and said he and his wife were terrified at seeing women "wearing hoods" (perhaps meaning headscarves), moving boxes into the building: "They could blow [the Capitol] up."

• Ten days after Jonathon Russell killed three people and himself in a highly publicized workplace-rage incident in Jefferson City, Mo., in July, his mother, Nina Tichelkamp-Russell, filed a worker compensation claim on his behalf, seeking death benefits. Her version of the cause of death, according to what she wrote on the claim, was "by gunfire while on the company clock." (The employer and its insurance company rejected the claim.)

• Demon babies: LaFayre Marie Banks, 32, was charged with assault and child abuse in Port Huron, Mich., in May after her 7-month-old baby fell from Banks' second-story bathroom window, suffering severe head injuries. Banks told a police officer that she was bathing the child when "it reared up and went through the window." In Wetumpka, Ala., in August, Melissa Wright, 27, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for putting her 18-month-old daughter in a hot oven. Wright's version was that the child slipped from her arms, fell to the floor, and rolled into the oven, and then the door closed.

• Denver Garrett, charged with cocaine possession in Monterey, Tenn., in October, told police he bought it only to keep it off the streets and away from children. James Howle, 61, and Kevin Williams, 41, stabbed each other in Pomona, Calif., in October in an argument over which of their two unidentified alcoholic beverages tastes better.

Alternate reality

• Medicare, facing a precarious financial future, decided for the first time this year that seniors who need motorized wheelchairs (typical price, $5,500) will have to get an in-person doctor's prescription. Medicare paid $289 million for motorized wheelchairs in 1999, but this year, before the rule change, the estimated expense was $1.2 billion. Medicare also revealed that it is spending $600,000 this year to put its 800 telephone number on a blimp that flies over sporting events.

• The New York Times reported in October that Nabors Industries (operator of oil-well drilling rigs), which in 2001 moved its legal headquarters from the U.S. to Barbados (corporate income tax: 1 percent) and its tax headquarters to a mail drop in Bermuda (no corporate income tax), is now insisting that it receive favored U.S. legal status. Nabors wants to be treated as an American-owned company to get a competitive advantage under the 80-year-old Jones Act that bars non-U.S. companies from working on ships involved in domestic trade.

Undignified deaths

• A 29-year-old, 300-pound man was discovered dead (asphyxiation), stuck in a small bathroom window of his home after apparently trying to climb in late at night when he realized he had forgotten his house key (Paterson, N.J., September). A 36-year-old, 250-pound man (suspected of being a burglar) was discovered dead (asphyxiation), stuck in a small kitchen window, discovered by a woman who had just gotten up to fix breakfast (Elgin, Ill., October).

• Adding to the list of stories that were formerly weird but which now occur with such frequency that they must be retired from circulation: The usually elderly, momentarily confused driver who intends to stop but mistakenly slams on the gas pedal, often resulting in major destruction, such as the 82-year-old Rochester, N.Y., woman who plowed into nine new cars at a Hyundai dealership in September. And the marijuana entrepreneur, with plants and grow equipment throughout his house, who nonetheless calls police in to report a relatively minor crime against him, such as the Victoria, British Columbia, man who in August insisted police come see the video he made of a break-in of his car but was oblivious of his home's powerful marijuana smell.

Readers' choice

• On Oct. 29, thousands of rush-hour riders had to be rerouted on New York City commuter trains as firefighters tried to free Edwin Gallart, 41, whose arm got stuck in one train's toilet when he reached in to retrieve his fallen cell phone. (Ultimately, the toilet had to be ripped out.) The next day in South Philadelphia, a 25-year-old man who had apparently been indecently exposing himself to girls and women in the neighborhood for several weeks, tried it one time too many and was chased by "20 to 30" girls from St. Maria Goretti High School, caught, roughed up and held for police.

• Also, in the past month: Catholic priest Antonio Caetano apologized for hitting a parishioner on the head when she would not leave after her daughter was denied a place in Sunday school because she registered too late (Souto Redondo, Portugal). The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, installed 10 surveillance cameras to help combat pilferage at a municipal dump. Vegetable grower A. Duda & Sons introduced a product 15 years in the making, to delight Bloody Mary fans: celery stalks that are hollow in the center (Oviedo, Fla.).

:p

the fugative

12-07-2003, 10:28 AM

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published November 27, 2003 WEIR27

For 23 years, Dennis Hope, 55, of Gardnerville, Nev., has operated a business selling people "official" title to land on the moon, Mars and Venus for about $20 an acre. Although others are in the same business, Hope told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in September that he has earned $6.5 million during that period (an average of $270,000 a year). He says his idea was based on something he actually learned in school: that the international Outer Space Treaty of 1967 prohibited nations from owning celestial bodies but was silent about individual ownership. Hope says he wrote to the United Nations, explained his plan, and asked if they had a problem with it (and no one wrote back).

• While recent drastic budget cuts (and the governor's failure to get a tax increase from the Legislature) have limited Alabama's Department of Public Safety to placing only five or six troopers on nighttime highway patrol for the entire state, as many as 17 troopers spend all day each Saturday during football season providing security for the state's 10 college teams. The schools agreed in principle to reimburse the troopers' expenses, according to an October Associated Press report, but their policies vary, and the Department has been lax in collecting.

Weird science

• Carl Hanson of St. Paul obtained a U.S. patent (No. 6,457,474) in 2002 for what he described as a new method for treating heart-related chest pain (as reported in August 2003 by Scientific American). Hanson's unique invention: He drinks limeade from concentrate. His patent application said that it worked for him, and he wrote out the required details about the structure of the invention, specifically, to purchase cans of concentrate, add water, stir and introduce the juice into the body through the mouth (although Hanson wrote that his patent would also cover intravenous administration).

• Researchers at Panasonic's Nanotechnology Research Laboratory near Kyoto, Japan, said in August that they have begun to generate electricity from blood, which they say may eventually yield enough power to produce a human "battery" to run various implanted devices, such as pacemakers. Power is produced by stripping blood glucose of its electrons.

The entrepreneurial spirit

• In September, the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, daily newspaper Al-Watan reported that the father of a prospective bride (whose future husband had not yet met her) had established a new dowry-collection strategy by demanding that the prospective husband pay the equivalent of $300 just to take a pre-wedding glance at the bride (fully clothed, of course).

• Among the themed funeral settings available for families recently at U.S. mortuaries (at $1,000 to $3,000, according to a September Associated Press report): bales of hay, wagon wheels, cacti, a cowboy boot and a plastic horse (for the loved one who was rodeo-oriented, at the Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas), and "Big Mama's Kitchen," with Crisco, Wonder Bread and fried chicken (for the loved one who was a fan of lavish feasts).

Crises in the workplace

• In August, computer technician Goran Andervass received the equivalent of $100,000 as settlement of his wrongful-firing lawsuit against Riksbanken, the Swedish national bank, over a 2001 incident that began when a colleague, meeting with him in his Stockholm office, ostentatiously passed gas. Andervass became very upset and started shouting at the man. Supervisors cautioned Andervass, who began a downward emotional spiral and began to take abundant sick leave, leading to further sanctions and eventual dismissal.

• Among the 15 "worst" actual jobs in science (from the October issue of Popular Science): (15) counting fish (one by one, for hours) that swim by dams in the Pacific Northwest; (11) the only two government bureaucrats whose job is to convince Americans of the merits of the metric system; (7) researchers who reach into a cow's rumen to pull out and analyze the stomach contents; (4) mosquito catchers who endure up to 15 bites a minute on three-hour shifts and hope not to get malaria; (3) researchers who extract sperm from animals for study or artificial insemination (and extracting from a pig is much preferable to extracting from a bull); and (1) "flatus odor judges" working for gastroenterologist Michael Levitt, who feeds subjects pinto beans, then gathers gases in plastic collection tubes direct from the source, and then has judges sniff as many as 100 samples, rating them for strength.

Least competent criminals

• Cyril Kendall was convicted in August in New York City for swindling the American Red Cross and another organization out of $160,000 for family grief counseling over a "son" who "died" in the World Trade Center attack. There are no official records that the son ever existed, although Kendall presented some documents that government experts termed poor forgeries. The grief counseling ($425 an hour) was spent entirely at a "company" that did not exist but of which Kendall admitted that he was the sole employee (thus paying himself to counsel himself and his family).

• In September, a committee of the Milwaukee City Council approved the application of a strip joint (Club Paradise Gentlemen's Club) to also become a "center for visual and performing arts" (the same designation as the Milwaukee Art Museum) by the simple act of placing several pieces of upscale artwork on its walls. Such a classification would allow liberalization of the club's alcohol permit. (By the time the matter came to the full council, however, the public had heard about it, and the club withdrew the application.)

Recurring themes

• Daniel Smith, 45, written up for traffic violations after a minor accident in Independence, Mo., in November, became the latest person to take seriously the idea that he could assert a "copyright" over his name and expect the police (i.e., the taxpayers) to pay him $500,000 per use for writing his name on the traffic tickets (plus $1 million as a late fee if the government didn't pay in 10 days). Smith refused to take his license back from the officer until he was issued a "receipt," which he pointed out earned him another $500,000.

• The Moscow State Circus, touring Britain in July, told reporters that its insurance companies had instructed trapeze artists to wear hard hats during their performances, to comply with European Union safety rules. Beaufort County, S.C., adopted a policy in August that for two-semester high school courses, a student who fails the first semester would automatically receive an encouraging "62," no matter how low his actual score.

Compelling explanations

• The unsuccessful explanation that Michael Schoop, 53, gave the judge for having child pornography on his computer was that he inadvertently downloaded the images while searching the Internet for asparagus recipes (Oakland, Calif., October). The explanation of the mother of a Brainerd (Minn.) High School cheerleader (who was suspended for allegedly offering $50 to have another cheerleader beaten up): "They don't like each other. [The other girl] is a snot, and my daughter can be a snot, too" (October).

• Also, in the past month: Lawyer Christian Gauthier was referred for disciplinary investigation because while defending a client accused of killing a police officer, he was overheard singing the Bob Marley song "I Shot the Sheriff" during a courtroom break (Montreal). A 15-year-old burglary suspect in lockup was also charged with theft for ordering $42 worth of adult movies on the jail's cable television hookup (Woodstock, Ill.). The eventual winner of the race for president of the city council in Marietta, Ohio, was arrested on the morning of the election on a misdemeanor delinquent-taxes warrant.

:p

Jolie Rouge

12-08-2003, 01:05 PM

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{{ still miss widg :( }}

Jolie Rouge

12-08-2003, 01:07 PM

[b]Woman gets 10 years in mayo spat

Texas McDonald’s customer ran over manager in parking lot

HOUSTON, Dec. 4 — A Texas woman was sentenced to 10 years in jail Thursday for running over the manager of a McDonald’s with her car because she wanted mayonnaise on her cheeseburger.

THE WOMAN, Waynetta Nolan, 37, showed no emotion as the sentence was read in court after a trial in which the McDonald’s manager, Sherry Jenkins, said that even though she gave Nolan the mayonnaise she requested, the woman flew into a rage anyway.
“I gave her everything she asked for — mayonnaise, no mustard, onions — everything I could possibly do for this lady. Mayo, mayo, mayo, and it’s still not good enough,” Jenkins told reporters outside the courtroom.
Nolan, who was convicted of aggravated assault for the April 23 incident, became so angry when a McDonald’s employee told her that she could not get mayonnaise that she threw her cheeseburger into the drive-through window, witnesses said.
Jenkins tried to placate her by offering a cheeseburger with mayonnaise, but Nolan continued to make demands until Jenkins finally called police.
When she went outside to write down Nolan’s license plate number,Nolan ran her over, breaking her pelvis.

Nolan testified that she was putting ketchup on her cheeseburger when she accidentally struck Jenkins.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/1001502.asp

Jolie Rouge

12-10-2003, 09:41 PM

Santa Claus Lawsuit

CHICAGO - The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that
it was bringing a lawsuit against Santa Claus for violations of
the civil rights of children. An ACLU spokesman, Mr. E. Scrooge,
stated that, "Mr. Claus has been violating children's right to
privacy and has been putting that information in a vast database.
The information is then used by the law enforcement arm of Mr.
Claus' organization to determine which children are considered
naughty or nice.

It is obvious Mr. Claus has violated the children's rights, as we
have alleged in our suit, because of the memos and other company
information we have obtained. In addition, we believe Mr. Claus
has been engaging in mind control experiments designed to prevent
the free expression of beliefs."

Among the documents presented to the courts today was a memo which
reads, in part:

You better watch out.
You better not cry.
You better not pout.
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town.

He sees you when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake,
He knows when you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness' sake.

Mr. Scrooge claimed the document, was obtained from a worker in
the distribution department of Mr. Claus' organization, "Clearly
shows a concerted attempt to restrict the rights of children to
free expression and free thought. In addition, there are concerns
about the security of the information. What would be the result of
such a database being made available to other law enforcement
agencies around the world?"

Lawyers at the Justice also confirmed today that they were
investigating the possibility that Mr. Claus was at the core of a
vast conspiracy against children. Anonymous sources from inside
the Justice Department stated that, "We believe a large number of
parents, ministers, and teachers are involved in this business and
we expect several of them will testify for the State in return for
a lighter sentence." In addition, the same sources indicated a
parallel investigation by the Department and the FBI on possible
charges of smuggling on the part of Mr. Claus, "Our records do not
show Mr. Claus, or any one else, paying any import duties or taxes
on any items he has delivered. Since Mr. Claus has representatives
in all of the States of the Union, we believe he should have to
pay state and local taxes on all of the goods he delivers."

Lawyers for Mr. Claus stated, "The charges of the ACLU are absurd.
Mr. Claus is a well-known and highly-respected figure. His
supporters are from around the world and his message of love and
respect can, in no way, be taken as a for of "mind control" or a
violation of the "civil rights of children."

The lawsuit is complicated by the fact that Mr. Claus is not a
resident of the United States or any country with which the United
States currently has an extradition treaty. It is unknown where
Mr. Claus is at the moment, but it is believed he is hiding out at
his North Pole estate.

In a brief statement, read by his lawyer, Mr. Claus said, "I find
the charges of the ACLU absurd and am confident they will be
rejected by the courts. As for any criminal charges, I believe
the Justice Department will discover they have no basis."

Experts are uncertain what possible effect the suit or possible
pending charges might have on Mr. Claus' Christmas travels this
year.

(Author Unknown)

the fugative

12-17-2003, 10:46 PM

Coffee buyer finds peanut butter in Maxwell House can
Associated Press

Published December 17, 2003

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- One choosy mom didn't choose Jif.

When Mary Rickard opened a can labeled Maxwell House coffee Tuesday, the container was full of creamy peanut butter instead of coffee granules. Her son then examined the 34.5-ounce coffee container and found a 4-pound Jif jar wedged inside the otherwise empty coffee can.

``I tasted it to make sure, and I said `Yep, that's Jif peanut butter,'' Rickard said.

Officials of both Jif and Kraft Foods, which owns the Maxwell House brand, are investigating the mix-up.

``This is very unusual, and we don't know at this point what happened,'' said Kraft spokesman Abbe Serphos. ``Nothing like this has ever happened before, certainly in regards to peanut butter.''

Kraft does not manufacture any brands of peanut butter. Jif produces peanut butter only in Lexington, Ky., and Kraft has no operations center in that city.

``It sounds very funny to me,'' said Sheryl Seitz, a spokeswoman for Jif, Smuckers and Crisco.

Rickard said she will continue to brew Maxwell House each morning.

``Maxwell House is still my favorite,'' she said. ``It's just a weird thing.''

:D

Jolie Rouge

12-22-2003, 12:04 PM

Ghostly image at Britain's Hampton Court
Surveillance footage shows spooky figure shutting doors

A costumed figure stands in a doorway at Hampton Court Palace in southwest London in this image caught on closed circuit television and released by the Palace Friday. ww.msnbc.msn.com/id/3760119

The Associated Press
Updated: 2:03 p.m. ET Dec. 19, 2003LONDON - Are there ghostly goings-on at Henry VIII’s palace, or is that hazy image of a fellow in fancy robes just a bit of Christmas cheer?

Closed-circuit security cameras at Hampton Court Palace, the huge Tudor castle outside London, seem to have snagged an ethereal visitor. Could it be a ghost?

“We’re baffled too — it’s not a joke, we haven’t manufactured it,” said Vikki Wood, a Hampton Court spokeswoman, when asked if the photo the palace released was a Christmas hoax. “We genuinely don’t know who it is or what it is.”

Wood said security guards had seen the figure in closed-circuit television footage after checking it to see who kept leaving open one of the palace’s fire doors.

In the still photograph, the figure of a man in a robelike garment is shown stepping from the shadowy doorway, one arm reaching out for the door handle.

The area around the man is somewhat blurred, and his face appears unnaturally white compared with his outstretched hand.

“It was incredibly spooky because the face just didn’t look human,” said James Faukes, one of the palace security guards.

“My first reaction was that someone was having a laugh, so I asked my colleagues to take a look. We spoke to our costumed guides, but they don’t own a costume like that worn by the figure. It is actually quite unnerving,” Faukes said.

Popular tourist attraction
The palace, built in 1525 on the River Thames 10 miles west of central London, is a popular tourist attraction and some of the guides wear costumes of the Tudor period.

Wood said she was hoping people would come forward with similar stories and try to explain the figure.

The palace has been the scene of many dramatic royal events, and already is supposed to have a few ghosts.

King Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, died there giving birth to a son, and her ghost is said to walk through one of the cobbled courtyards carrying a candle.

Her son, Edward, had a nurse called Sibell Penn who was buried in the palace grounds in 1562. In 1829 her tomb was disturbed by building work, and around the same time an odd whirring noise began to be heard in the southwest wing of the palace. When workmen traced the strange sounds to a brick wall, they uncovered a small forgotten room containing an old spinning wheel, just like the one Penn used to use.

Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, condemned for adultery, was held at the palace under house arrest before her execution at the Tower of London. An 1897 book about the palace says she was reportedly seen, dressed in white and floating down one of the galleries uttering unearthly shrieks.

The palace was once a prison for King Charles I, who later was beheaded, and then home to his nemesis Oliver Cromwell, who briefly ruled when Britain was for a short time a republic.

the fugative

12-28-2003, 05:51 AM

News of the Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published December 18, 2003

Enraged that his computer was virtually disabled by e-mail spam, Charles Booher, 44, of Sunnyvale, Calif., allegedly repeatedly threatened employees of the spammer with torture (castration with a power drill and an ice pick) and murder (using a gun and anthrax spores). He was arrested in November and admitted to the Reuters news agency that he had "sort of lost [his] cool" at the bombardment of penis-lengthening ads from DM Contact Management. DM's president blamed a rival company for stealing DM's e-mail address and said such companies give a bad name to the penis-enlargement business.

• "Patrol car hit by flying outhouse" (an October Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story about Wisconsin trooper Rich Vanko's squad car being smashed when a truck carrying portable toilets lost one along Interstate Hwy. 90); (2) "Shatner frozen horse-semen suit dismissed" (a July Lexington, Ky., Herald-Leader story about William Shatner's ex-wife's accusation that she was being denied divorce-settlement-mandated access to a breeding stallion for her own farm).

• Prof. Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University said recently that, hoaxes aside, there is enough legitimate evidence of Bigfoot to warrant a comprehensive scientific investigation of its existence, once and for all. (National Geographic reported in October that a Texas fingerprint expert, as well as noted chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall, have said they are certain of Bigfoot's existence.) And explorer Steve Currey of Provo, Utah, is organizing a July 2005 expedition to the North Pole (cost: $21,000 per person) to find the so-called polar "opening" to the hollow center of the Earth, supposedly the kingdom of God where the biblical 10 Lost Tribes reside.

Our litigeous society

• A scheduled guest on the Dr. Phil TV program sued in November, claiming it was the show's producers' fault that she had an anxiety attack in her quarters right before the show and tried to climb out a second-story window. She fell and shattered her leg so badly that it had to be amputated. "Wheel of Fortune" contestant Will Wright, 38, Pat Sajak in October for hurting Wright's back by jumping onto and bear-hugging him to celebrate Wright's having just won $48,000 during a 2000 show.

• Gary Moses and Rannon Fletcher, both 17-year-old inmates at the Iberia Parish (La.) jail, sued jail officials in October for $1.5 million and $650,000, respectively, because they were allowed to buy cigarettes at the commissary even though they are underage.

• Former Australian inmate Craig Ballard won a settlement of his lawsuit in September for about $70,000 against the Grafton Correctional Centre in New South Wales for head injuries that occurred when he fell out of a bunk bed. Ballard was in prison for a vicious assault against a woman.

• Fear of Lawyers: The Dollywood amusement park in Tennessee announced the end of free passes for the blind and the crippled after someone complained of discrimination against people with other disabilities, who still had to pay (October). The town of Mosgiel, New Zealand, barred children from sitting on Santa's knee this year because of the risk of future molestation complaints. The Royal British Legion announced it will no longer give out poppy pins to donors on Remembrance Day (for military veterans) because of fear that people might stick themselves and sue. (November).

Criminal-friendly judges

• In November, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Susan Winfield ordered no jail time (just drug treatment and probation) to a 25-year-old man who has 33 burglary arrests and seven convictions, including a gun count, plus previous failed probations and failed drug rehabs. In Melfort, Saskatchewan, Dean Edmondson, 26, a white man, was sentenced to only house arrest in September after a conviction for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old aboriginal girl, whom Justice Fred Kovach found was perhaps "the aggressor."

• In August, residents learned that the county librarian in Concrete, Wash., offered her spare-time services as the S&M dominatrix Lady Jane Grey in nearby Bellingham. Despite her credentials and passion as a librarian, her contract was not renewed in November. In August, Shannon Williams, 37, a teacher for the Berkeley (Calif.) Unified School District, was arrested for misdemeanor prostitution. Williams, who was previously scheduled to be on a leave of absence this school year, said in September she would challenge the prostitution law as unconstitutional.

Recurring themes

• Just as the towns of Kennesaw, Ga., and Virgin, Utah, had done, the 50-home village of Geuda Springs, Kan., through its town council, voted in November to require every household to own a working firearm, for "emergency management." (Later, the mayor vetoed the ordinance, but it will be reconsidered in February.) For the second time in 12 months, news broke in November that a python had crushed and swallowed a human. (Unlike the devouring of a small boy in Lamontville, South Africa, in 2002, the body of 38-year-old Basanti Tripura, of the Rangaman district in Bangladesh, was downed only to the waist before villagers killed the snake.)

• Officials in Lakeville, Ind., weren't certain, but it appeared that a cause of a fatal Oct. 10 car crash on Hwy. 31 might have been that Dale Brenon, 50 (a private detective who survived in critical condition), was working on his laptop computer while driving. (The driver of the other car was killed.) A police spokesman said the computer was thrown clear of the collision but was turned on, and a program was running.

• In October, former Massachusetts day-care center proprietor Gerald Amirault, who is believed to be the last person still imprisoned on the basis of now widely discredited, fantastical, heavily coached, child-sex-abuse testimony from the 1980s, finally won parole and will be freed in April. Officials have long refused to cut him slack because of his defiant, 18-year insistence that he never molested a single child. He noted that his sociology textbook for an in-prison college course mentioned his own case as an example of that era's hysteria-driven prosecutions of accused child molesters.

• As part of a hazing ritual for a new Ku Klux Klan member near Johnson City, Tenn., in November, several Klansmen would shoot the man with paintball guns while another simultaneously rapid-fired a 9mm pistol overhead to make the pledge believe he was being shot with a real gun. According to police, one of the bullets, fired straight up in the air by Klansman Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, came down through the skull of Klansman Jeffery S. Murr, 24, who was hospitalized in critical condition. Freeman was arrested.

Also, in the past month: A 19-year-old intoxicated backseat passenger was convicted of drunken driving because he reached to adjust a stereo control and accidentally bumped the idling car's gearshift into "drive" (with a police officer watching nearby) (Tinn, Norway). An 18-year-old woman, wielding a putty knife, allegedly robbed a neighbor while she was awaiting trial for robbing a convenience store wielding an ice-cream scoop (Harrisburg, Pa.). Jeweler H. Stern introduced luxury Brazilian flip-flops adorned with diamonds and gold, at about $22,000 (Sao Paulo).

:p

the fugative

12-28-2003, 10:00 PM

Fishermen dress lobster as Barbie
Associated Press

MOUNT DESERT ISLAND, Maine - Practical jokers Jim Bright and Chris Costello never imagined that their idea of dressing a female lobster in a Barbie outfit - accessorized with pink high heels - would save her from the steam pot.

But it did - at least 10 times.

As a gag, the fishermen clad the crustacean and placed her in a friend's trap last September.

"It's a monotony hauling traps day after day," said Costello, "and we just wanted to break it up a little bit. It totally worked."

Barbie Lobster, as she has come to be known, has been hauled up - and thrown back - at least 10 times. The radios used by lobstermen buzzed with chatter and laughter each time a new sighting of Barbie was reported.

Costello made a special trip to Wal-Mart to buy the blue blouse, red- and white-checkered skirt and shoes.

The men had wanted to dress up a jumbo lobster, but it was too fat to fit into a Barbie ensemble. Instead, they chose a svelte 1 1/2-pound model.

"They slipped right on, just like Cinderella," Bright said of the footwear.

Costello disagreed, saying it was a challenge to put the high heels on the little lobster legs. There are four legs on each side so the men attached them to the two in the center.

"You try squeezing Barbie shoes on a lobster," he said. "That was the most time-consuming thing."

Barbie hasn't been seen since early December and apparently was unkempt and nearly naked, except for her shoes.

If she survives a few more months, she may be home free for another season, Costello said.

"We have our spring fashions all ready to go," he said.

:p

the fugative

12-28-2003, 10:04 PM

Dog survives euthanization
Associated Press

PERTH AMBOY, N.J. - The animal control officer accused in the botched euthanization of a dog that survived a garbage truck ride to a landfill has been suspended and charged with animal cruelty.

Michael Iovine, an animal cruelty investigator with the Middlesex County SPCA, said William Paul apparently has not properly followed euthanasia procedures for years. The organization on Friday charged Paul, 45, an animal control officer in Perth Amboy for 18 years, with criminal and civil charges of torturing and inflicting cruelty on a living creature.

City officials on Friday said they have suspended Paul from his $38,652-a-year job and plan to dismiss him.

The criminal charges carry a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine; the civil have a maximum fine of $250.

"It's evident that he didn't use sufficient drugs to put the animal down, and it's evident that he did not properly listen for a heartbeat in a quiet environment," Joseph Biermann of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the Home News Tribune of East Brunswick.

Biermann also said that before an animal is euthanized, it must be weighed to determine the needed dosage of a lethal drug, yet there is no scale in the Perth Amboy animal shelter.

"He has estimated the weight of any animal he put down," Biermann said

Attempts by the newspaper to contact Paul were unsuccessful, and no telephone listing for him could be found.

Biermann said Paul tranquilized the dog, injected a lethal drug, then listened for a heartbeat - in a noisy room with other animals present. Investigators plan to check whether Paul's stethoscope worked properly, as well as the strength of the drug used.

The dog, a 5-year-old shepherd-Labrador mix, was brought to the shelter Dec. 3 by a woman wanting it euthanized because she was moving to a place that did not allow pets, according to Iovine.

Paul, believing he had killed the dog, dumped it in garbage at the city trash transfer station, where it was compacted with other trash on a garbage truck. As it was being dumped at the county landfill in East Brunswick the next day, the dog poked its head out at the truck's rear just before it would have fallen into the landfill.

A worker spotted it and an East Brunswick animal control officer rescued the dog and took it to a local kennel. Dozens of people have already called there hoping to adopt the dog.

:eek:

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:37 PM

Unexpected! Nodding Your Head Means...

...you are influencing your own attitudes about important issues.

When you nod your head in affirmation or shake it in disapproval, that action not only sends a message to others, but also influences how you feel and think about the subject at hand, reports Science Daily of new research from The Ohio State University.

Led by psychology professor Richard Petty, the Ohio State researchers also found that other body movements, such as writing with a non-dominant hand, can affect our self-esteem. What's important about these findings is that body movements can exert their influence even when we're not aware it's happening. "We think of nodding or shaking our head as something that communicates to other people, but it turns out that it is also communicating to ourselves," Petty said in a news release announcing the study findings. He calls the nodding or shaking head a type of "self-validation" that confirms to us how we feel about our own thoughts. "If we are nodding our heads up and down, we gain confidence in what we are thinking. But when we shake our heads from side to side, we lose confidence in our own thoughts."

Nodding your head up and down is a way to tell yourself that you have confidence in your own thoughts--whether those thoughts are positive or negative. Shaking your head does the opposite, giving you less confidence in your own thoughts. Nodding your head even when you disagree with what is being said actually strengthens your disapproval. "Nodding your head doesn't mean you'll agree with whatever you hear. One of the most surprising things we found is that if you're thinking negative thoughts while you're nodding, this actually strengthens your disapproval," Petty said. "What the head nodding is doing is making you more confident in your negative thoughts. In contrast, when the thoughts were mostly positive, then nodding increased confidence in these thoughts and thereby increased persuasion." The research was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

/

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:41 PM

Who Knew Eating Fish Had This Effect?

Eat fish and you're less likely to die from a sudden heart attack.

People who dine on fish regularly have lower heart rates and that helps prevent sudden death from a heart attack, according to new research from the Institut Pasteur de Lille in France reported by the Ivanhoe Newswire. Sudden death or cardiac arrest happens when the heart stops unexpectedly. The secret heart-healthy ingredient is omega-3 fatty acids, which is found in abundance in cold-water fish, such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and tuna.

The study: More than 9,700 men, who ranged in age between 50 and 59 and had no signs of heart disease, participated in the French study. The researchers followed them from 1991 to 1993, keeping records of their heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol. The men also completed questionnaires about their use of tobacco and alcohol, as well as exercise and diet, including how often they ate fish. A subgroup of 407 men also got blood tests to assess fatty acid levels.

The results: The men who ate fish twice a week or more had the lowest heart rates, averaging 65.5 beats per minute. This compares to 67.5 beats per minute for men who ate fish less than once a week. Why does heart rate matter? Lead researcher Jean Dallongeville says even small reductions in heart rate can make a big difference in the risk for sudden heart death. "These findings are particularly important because sudden death most often occurs in men without a known history of coronary heart disease," Dallongeville told Ivanhoe Newswire.

But there is a puzzler in all this: How the fatty acids reduce heart problems isn't clear. Dallongeville theorizes that the fatty acids stabilize the electrical activity of the heart's cells, which in turn lowers the heart rate. They may also assist with pumping action and blood pressure. The fish eaters had lower triglycerides, lower blood pressure, and higher levels of the "good" cholesterol. The study findings were published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:44 PM

How You Can Become a Metrosexual

There is no one hipper than a metrosexual. A who you say? A metrosexual is a straight, urban male who is eager to embrace and even show off his feminine side. That means he gets expensive haircuts, wears designer suits, and uses $40 face cream. And thanks to a certain type of male celebrity, it's now cool for a man to own 43 pairs of Bruno Magli shoes, wear moisturizer, and paint his nails. You're not born a metrosexual. You become one by learning and living by basic rules of fashion, culture, and etiquette. Some say the metrosexual is the new male ideal. (Not to put any pressure on you.) If you're at a loss as to how to do that, you can read all about it in the first-ever guidebook, "The Metrosexual Guide To Style: A Handbook For the Modern Man" by Michael Flocker.

Metrosexuals DO This:
Invest lots of money in nice accessories, such as watches, designer sunglasses, and money clips.
Clothes should conform to your body. Get tailored suits.
Your belt and shoes must always match. (Black on black works best.)
A silver, stainless steel watchband is a must-have.

Metrosexuals DON'T Ever Wear This:
Plaid flannel
Pirate shirts
Pleated pants
Mullets
Sport watches
High school or college class rings

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:48 PM

College Major=How Long You Live?

Can't decide on a college major? Choose science, engineering, or medicine. According to research from Ireland's Queens University in Belfast, students who major in these subjects live the longest. The study, which was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, examined the medical records and death rates of 8,367 male students at Scotland's Glasgow University who matriculated between 1948 and 1968. It is believed to be the first study to examine the association between university degree subjects and mortality, reports the Financial Times of London. Why there is any correlation at all between field of study and longevity is still not known, and lead researcher Dr. Peter McCarron cautioned that the conclusions in the study are speculative at best.

Here are the highlights by major field of study:

Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Sciences: Medical students lived the longest of all, but they were the most likely to suffer an alcohol-related death. This was also the third most likely field--after law and divinity--to die from an accident, suicide, or violence. Although medical students were the second heaviest smokers while in college, they kicked the habit once they graduated since their death rates from lung cancer were so low.

Science and Engineering: Since these students were least likely to smoke, they had similar mortality rates as the medical students. They also had the lowest heart disease rates overall.

Theology: Although divinity school students had the lowest blood pressure and were the least likely to drink alcohol, they were twice as likely to die from respiratory diseases later in life. Overall, they had a 10 percent greater risk of death than the medical students. Oddly, theology scholars were the most likely of all to succumb to a fatal accident, suicide, or violent death.

Law: Students of the law died the earliest of all majors except liberal arts and social sciences with a 30 percent higher risk of death than the medical students. Their untimely demise can be explained by this: They were the heaviest smokers.

Liberal Arts and Social Sciences: These students, like their friends who studied law, died the earliest, but they were only half as likely as medical students to die by suicide or an accident. However, they were twice as likely as medical students to die of lung cancer due to their propensity to smoke. Overall, their risk of death was 42 percent higher than the medical students.

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:51 PM

How Comfort Food Stops Stress Cold

When you're stressed, what do you do to assuage it?

a. Take a hot bubble bath
b. Eat a big bowl of ice cream
c. Take a long walk

If you chose "b," there's a good reason. It works. When we eat high-fat, high-carbohydrate comfort foods, it really does stop what can be an out-of-control hormonal cascade caused by stress, USA Today reports of new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. There's just one little problem: Do this too often and you'll get fat.

[This is how it works, according to USA Today. When you experience short-term stress, it ignites your body's "fight or flight" reaction. That boosts your adrenalin, speeds up your heart, and opens up your lungs. Your immune system is primed. When the danger has passed, your body secretes steroid hormones that bring your immune system back to normal, while other steroids are secreted to stop the hormones that kicked into gear during the stressful period. All this is normal. What's not normal is when those steroid levels become elevated during chronic, ongoing stress and don't switch off. In fact, they increase.

The result? Your immune system is overloaded and that makes you more vulnerable to infections, anxiety, depression, obesity, and coronary disease.

Eating, especially indulging in comfort foods, sends a signal to your body that all is well again. ''It's your body telling your brain, 'Things are getting better. Calm down,'" study co-author Norman Pecoraro told USA Today. While scientists recognize that a candy bar can stop the stress, what they don't know is how it works. What is the specific metabolic signal that calms the stress and soothes the soul? Because they don't know the answer to that question, they also don't know if you can inadvertently do something else that might negate the effects of comfort food. For example, if you eat a candy bar and then go for a jog, will the candy still stop the hormones your body is producing in response to chronic stress? It's a no-brainer to realize that if you curb the stress with cookies and candy too often, you'll get fat--possibly even obese. And that can lead to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even stroke.

So the takeaway is this: Go ahead and eat a candy bar to calm the occasional stress, but don't make it a daily habit.

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:54 PM

Part of the Old Testament Proven True

Read 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30 in the Old Testament and you'll find a reference to a tunnel that was built in 700 B.C. by order of King Hezekiah to protect Jerusalem's water supply against an Assyrian siege. Long considered an engineering feat for that day and age, the serpentine tunnel ran 1,750 feet long and moved water from the Gihon spring across the entire city of ancient Jerusalem to the pool of Siloam.

Fast forward to modern-day Jerusalem. The Siloam Tunnel in that city matches the biblical description of King Hezekiah's tunnel. But is it really the same one? That question has stumped scholars for years, many of whom insisted the Siloam Tunnel was built centuries later than the Bible suggested in Kings and Chronicles. The only clue that survived for more than 2,700 years is an inscription discovered in 1880 on a tunnel wall that supported the link to King Hezekiah, although it did not name him specifically, reports The Associated Press. Now geologists from the Cave Research Center at Hebrew University in Jerusalem think they have solved the mystery. By using radiocarbon testing to analyze the age of stalactite samples from the ceiling of the Siloam Tunnel and plant material recovered from its plaster floor, the biblical record and the tunnel's age have been confirmed, the researchers wrote in the journal Nature. The Siloam Tunnel is the one built by King Hezekiah.

This is also significant because it is the first time that a well-identified biblical structure has been subjected to extensive radiocarbon dating. Even with all our modern-day technology and scientific knowledge, very little testing of biblical structures has been done to prove or disprove their age or authenticity. Why? The experts told AP such testing is difficult because it's often hard to identify such structures, they may be poorly preserved, or they may be restricted for various political or religious reasons.

The Siloam Tunnel is different. It's long been a tourist attraction. Anyone can wander in it and see the pick marks the original builders made in the walls to adjust their course so the tunnel would meet with a second team of workers who were heading toward them from the opposite end of the city. AP notes that those pick marks tell us how difficult it was to connect the two ends of the tunnel. "The tunnel is extraordinary, but these guys didn't know where they were going a lot of the time," Hershel Shanks, an expert on the history of Jerusalem who writes for the Biblical Archaeology Review, told AP. Still, he added, "It's nice to have scientific confirmation for what the vast majority of biblical scholars and archaeologists believe."

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:57 PM

Beer-flavored ice cream? Cheers

Britain welcomes the marriage of two great tastes that work great together.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/06/12/news/funny/beer_flavored_icecream/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Homer Simpson, make room in your freezer. Beer-flavored ice cream has arrived.

Scottish Courage, the big U.K. brewer, last week began selling to British consumers ice cream that tastes like Newcastle Brown Ale, one of the company's flagship brands. The product is made via a joint venture with Doddington Dairies, which, like the beermaker, is located in Northeast England.

Doddington, an award-winning dairy, is making the superpremium ice cream. It will sell initially at supermarkets in Northumberland and Newcastle, and only during the summer months.

Linda Bain, a spokeswoman for Scottish Courage, confirmed the launch, and noted that it's already attracting local attention. "I was driving home last night, and they were conducting a taste test on the radio," she said.

The ice cream's taste is said to reflect the nutty, caramel flavors of the namesake ale.

The two companies have agreed to a six-month licensing arrangement, in which the product is to be test marketed to gauge its popularity. According to a report by the market research firm Datamonitor, sales of the ice cream may fare best in Northeast England, where both companies have strong brand appeal to consumers.

It should be noted that while publicity may create a buzz, the product itself will not. The ice cream contains less than 1 percent alcohol.

Jolie Rouge

12-28-2003, 10:59 PM

Sign From Heaven? Meteor Changed History

A team of Swedish geologists has found what it believes is the crater made by a meteor that streaked across the sky and crashed into the Earth in 312 AD. If they're right--and carbon dating has already backed them up on it--this is a meteor whose presence may have changed the history of the world, asserts the BBC News Online.

The scene: Central Italy in the year 312 AD.
The main character: Constantine, who was preparing to invade Italy in a battle with Maximinus Daia for control of Rome.
The plot: A celestial vision that changed history.

Before the battle, Constantine looked heavenward and saw a blazing light streaking through the sky. He interpreted the shocking sight to mean only one thing: It was a message from the Christian God, a kind of celestial vision. Constantine immediately converted to Christianity. He ordered his soldiers to paint the "Chi-Ro" symbol of Christ on their shields.

Eusebius, who was one of the Christian Church's early historians, wrote about the conversion of Constantine. He described the vision as a "most marvelous sign" and "a trophy of a cross of light in the heavens above the Sun, and bearing the inscription 'conquer by this.'"

The battle for Rome was very lopsided. Maximinus' troops defending the city were four times as strong in number as Constantine's troops. But Constantine was the victor, and he became the Roman emperor. He ordered that persecution of Christians cease and gave Christianity official status--a big boost for a fledgling religion.

Fast forward to 2003: The Swedish geologists, led by Jens Ormo, located the crater that they say was formed by the impact of a meteor as it slammed into the Earth. Radiocarbon dating places it around the year 312 AD.

Ormo speculates that Constantine's celestial vision was actually that meteor. Such meteors occur only once every few thousand years, but Constantine had no way of knowing this. Ormo told the BBC News that the meteor would have smashed into the Earth with the force of a small nuclear bomb and would have been accompanied by a mushroom cloud and shockwaves.

And here is where the BBC News ponders this fascinating question: What if the meteor hadn't streaked through the sky above Italy on that day just before that decisive battle?

Constantine might have lost the battle without the divine inspiration he used to his advantage to become the victor.

If Constantine did not become emperor, Christianity would not have received state patronage.

The establishment of the papacy in Rome may never ever happened.

the fugative

12-29-2003, 03:45 PM

Family's missing cat found on other side of U.S.
Associated Press

Published December 26, 2003

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. -- The O'Connor family has its own Christmas miracle: Its cat that had been missing for two months was found clear across the country.

Jefferson, a 5-year-old orange tabby, somehow escaped from his carrier as he was being loaded on a Delta Air Lines flight at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The cat was flying with his kin, McKinley, to the East Coast, while the O'Connors were driving.

Delta crews and the family spent four nights scouring the airport. Later, workers checked animal hospitals and shelters, distributed fliers and took out newspaper ads.

Around mid-October, a woman spotted Jefferson in a tree near the airport, but the cat's collar came off when she tried to grab him.

About a month later, the family had gotten desperate. Kelly O'Connor decided to fly back to the Seattle area to look for the cat. She posted brightly colored, laminated fliers offering a $200 reward.

``A lot of friends, frankly, thought we were crazy,'' Will O'Connor said.

Finally, on Dec. 15, a daughter of a Delta Air Cargo manager told the O'Connors that Jefferson had turned up in a house basement near the airport. A veterinarian confirmed the cat's identity through an implanted microchip. Delta flew him to Rhode Island.

Jefferson had lost about 40 percent of his 13-pound body weight when he arrived, Will O'Connor said.

``He kind of stunk a little bit,'' Will O'Connor said.

The normally adventurous feline is slowly regaining his desire to go outdoors, perching himself on the window sill.

``He's starting to turn into his old self,'' Will O'Connor said
:p

Cat rides 150 miles in car's engine, OK
Associated Press

Published December 23, 2003 1223AP-TRAVELING-CAT

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) - For Tracker, the car ride from the Kalamazoo area to Rochester Hills was long, and could have cost him a life or two.

The long-haired gray cat rode unseen in the engine compartment of a female college student's car as she drove home for the holidays. Officials at Pontiac's Michigan Animal Rescue League, the feline's current home, say he probably survived the 150 mile-trip in the Chevrolet Tracker because the woman did not stop.

"He was very lucky," Patricia Verduin, the league's board president told The Daily Oakland Press of Pontiac.

Verduin said when the woman, who declined to give her name to the league, reached home "she heard this intense kitty-crying."

"She thought she'd run over a cat," Verduin said.

The woman and her family searched around the car. When they finally lifted the hood, they found a cat sitting on top of the engine.

"He was sitting very still," Verduin said. "It was like he didn't know what to do."

Tracker, a Russian Blue-angora mixed breed who emerged from his experience unscathed, may have slipped into the engine compartment to keep warm.

With a house full of pets, the woman turned Tracker over to the Michigan Animal Rescue League, where he is waiting to be adopted, shelter officials said.

"He's a very friendly cat," said Kayla Allen, the shelter's manager, who believes Tracker still is quite young. "He's a healthy eater, loves to play and interacts well with other animals."

Shelter officials are eager to find him a home as their facilities, like those around the state, are operating at capacity as a result of an increase in the number of homeless pets this year.

"It's been a bigger year for kittens and cats particularly," Verduin said as she pointed to a sign on one of the shelter's walls stating that one cat and its offspring can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.

:p

the fugative

12-29-2003, 03:55 PM

125-year-old fruitcake to appear on TV with Jay Leno
Associated Press

Published December 22, 2003

TECUMSEH, Mich. -- A fruitcake that is an estimated 125 years old - an artifact of holiday cheer - is expected to make a tasty debut of sorts when it's introduced on national TV.

Morgan Ford, 83, of Tecumseh, is taking his great-grandmother Fidelia Bates' fruitcake to Burbank, Calif., to share a piece with Jay Leno on Tuesday's ``The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.''

The cake rests in a glass bowl, covered by a glass top. A large raisin and what might be a clove are visible among the brown mass - Ford says it's fossilized - that emits a pleasant odor of spices.

Its baker died in Berkey, Ohio, in 1879 and the cake remained untouched for 85 years.

Not much is known about the origin of the cake; even the recipe is lost.

``I don't think my dad knew anything more about it than I do now,'' Ford said.

Ford intends to pass along the fruitcake to his son, James Ford, of Tecumseh.

``I guess I don't have anything else that's a family heirloom,'' James Ford said. ``It's history. I think my dad gets a little more fun out of it than I do.''

:eek:

Jay Leno samples 125-year-old fruitcake on the air
Associated Press

Published December 24, 2003

DETROIT -- Jay Leno was warned he may need a doctor, but went through with eating a 125-year-old fruitcake anyway.

``Is it crystalized,'' Leno said before eating a small bite pried from the cake with a pocketknife.

``It needs more time,'' he said after a deliberate chew.

Morgan Ford, 83, of Tecumseh, was Leno's guest on ``The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.'' He brought his great-grandmother Fidelia Bates' fruitcake to Burbank, Calif., to share a piece with Leno for Tuesday's night's show.

Ford is the caretaker of the fruitcake, which has been handed down through generations.

Ford's daughter, Julie Ruttinger, of Tecumseh, e-mailed ``The Tonight Show'' recently about her family's antique fruitcake after seeing ``The Fruitcake Lady'' on the show. She wanted to tell them ``we've got the real fruitcake.''

:eek: :eek:

Jolie Rouge

12-30-2003, 01:34 PM

Man Trapped Under Books, Papers Rescued

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031230%2F084173669.htm&sc=1110

NEW YORK (AP) - A man who says he sells books and magazines on the street was rescued after being trapped for two days under a mountain of reading material in his apartment.

Patrice Moore, 43, had apparently been standing up when the books, catalogs, mail and newspapers swamped him on Saturday. Firefighters and neighbors rescued Moore on Monday afternoon and he was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday morning with leg injuries.

``I didn't think I was gonna get out,'' Moore told the New York Post, adding that he called for help repeatedly.

His landlord discovered him Monday after coming to the apartment to give Moore a small loan and heard a strange voice inside. The landlord pried the door open with a crowbar, found Moore trapped and alerted the fire department.

The apartment was stuffed from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with stacks of paper.

Emergency workers and neighbors dug through the debris to reach Moore, filling 50 garbage bags with paper. He was freed about a half hour later, said Fire Department spokesman Paul Iannizzotto.

Moore, a former mailroom clerk now receiving public assistance, said he collected books and magazines for more than 10 years and earned money by selling them on the street.

The incident recalled the legendary case of the Collyer brothers, who in 1947 were discovered dead in their house in Harlem after one of them became trapped under a pile of papers and the other died of starvation.

Jolie Rouge

12-31-2003, 02:33 PM

:eek:

Man's Body Found in Plane's Wheel Well

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031231%2F120407617.htm&sc=1110

NEW YORK (AP) - The body of a man was found in the wheel well of a plane that landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport from London's Heathrow Airport, authorities said.

The medical examiner planned to perform an autopsy Wednesday.

Port Authority police found the body on the plane after British Airways Flight 177 landed at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

No identification was found on the man, believed to be in his 30s. John Lampl, a British Airways spokesman, said Wednesday that company was awaiting the autopsy results to help determine if the man boarded the plane in London or at an earlier stop.

Last week, the body of a man in his 20s was found in the wheel well of a plane at JFK after a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica.

12/31/03 12:03

{{{ is that "Bond" music I am hearing ?? }}}

Jolie Rouge

12-31-2003, 02:37 PM

The 'Mr. Right' Almost All Women Want

Let's cut to the chase. When it comes to men, there are basically two types: Cads and Dads.

The cad is the classic bad boy. Dominating, powerful, and promiscuous, he is great for sex, flings, and brief, exciting affairs. But when it comes to long-term relationships, marriage, and parenthood, almost all women seek a dad type, a man who is compassionate, sensitive, and monogamous. Reuters reports that's the word from researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who determined that 60 percent of women said they would prefer to have sex with a cad-like character, but only 13 percent said they would want him engaged to their daughters.

Who is a cad?

Only a small minority of men fall into this category. They are men who hold high-level positions of power and leadership in business, education, or government. They are dominant, rebellious, strong, passionate, and highly successful. But they are also vulgar and promiscuous. "Not every guy can be a successful cad," lead researcher Daniel Kruger told Reuters. "You're not going to get a lot of matings by acting like a jerk." A dad-like character is someone who is domestic, peaceable, bookish, gentle, and compassionate. He is also moral, frank, and even shy. Above all, he is faithful.

In the study, 257 female undergraduates were given passages from 17th and 18th century British literature that described the cad and dad characters. Once they had familiarized themselves with the personality characteristics of these two types of men, the women were asked which of the two they would prefer in different situations. They tended to prefer having a dad type as a spouse or son-in-law, as well as a formal date or a companion on a three-week road trip. But when it came to having a sexual affair, the women went wholeheartedly for the cad. There's nothing groundbreaking in these results. For centuries, women have felt this way about men. Kruger told Reuters that women likely prefer to settle down with dad types because they will stick around and help them raise a family. "You can think of these guys as dads because they'll be around to be fathers and father figures," he said. What's particularly interesting is that feminist women of the 21st century STILL feel this way. "This shows us that this is something that is ingrained in us," he said. The study findings were published in the journal Human Nature.

Jolie Rouge

01-01-2004, 10:13 PM

Injured Biker Proposes at Crash Site

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031231%2F124108348.htm&sc=1120&photoid=20031230NCWIN601

PILOT MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) - As soon as a group of fellow bikers pulled the handlebars out of his abdomen after his motorcycle crash, Brian Shipwash wanted to do one more thing in case he died.

So he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, broken and blood-spattered, with a ring inside and asked Shandra Miller to marry him.

She said yes.

``I said, 'Shandra, the reason we were going to Pilot Mountain today was so I could propose,''' Shipwash said Monday while recovering in his room at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

``I said something like, 'I know this is not the best time in the world, but will you marry me?'''

Shipwash, 32, of Lexington, was riding his Harley-Davidson up Pilot Mountain on Sunday afternoon with Miller hugging his back.

As they came to a curve, Shipwash lost control, crossed the center lane and slammed into the side of a pickup. The collision sent the couple flying. The handlebars on Shipwash's motorcycle stuck 6 inches into his abdomen.

``I was crying at the time because of the wreck,'' Miller said. ``But when I saw it (the ring), I just started crying even more.''

Among those who stopped to help were about 10 bikers on Harley-Davidsons who pulled the motorcycle off Shipwash.

Shipwash suffered no injuries to any major organs, breaking his left hand and right leg. He was in good condition Tuesday. Miller, 29, also of Lexington, said she suffered only a sore knee.

Neither the pickup driver nor his four passengers were injured. No tickets were issued.

12/31/03 12:40

the fugative

01-02-2004, 07:16 AM

Dog Rides Train From Greenwich to Harlem
Associated Press

GREENWICH, Conn. - Animal control officials are looking for the owner of a dog who rode a commuter train from Greenwich to Harlem on Christmas Eve.

The trouble is, officials are unsure whether the dog's holiday trip began in Greenwich or somewhere farther up the Metro North line, which runs as far north as Waterbury.

"He doesn't seem like he's been gone long," Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm told The Greenwich Time.

"He's a sweet little dog," Halm said. "It's hard to understand how it got on the train."

The dog, a neutered 35-pound male spaniel-retriever mix that officials believe is between 4 and 7 years old, was spotted at the Old Greenwich station Wednesday morning. But when officer Vincent Pennatto arrived, the dog was gone.

He also got calls that the dog was at the Riverside station, one stop south toward New York. Again, the dog was gone when Pennatto arrived.

Commuter Helen Faith of Greenwich was on her way to work in Manhattan when she saw the dog walk off the train at the 125th Street station in Harlem, Pennatto said.

Faith caught the dog, returned to Greenwich and drove to the pound.

"She went out of her way to help him," Pennatto said.

Officials will run an advertisement in The Time this week looking for the owner. After a week, the dog will be put up for adoption, Halm said.

:p

the fugative

01-02-2004, 07:18 AM

Woman Wins N.Y. Fruitcake-Eating Contest
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. - A 105-pound woman was crowned Fruitcake Champion after swallowing nearly five pounds of the treat in 10 minutes, beating her closest rival - a man almost four times her weight - by a single bite.

"My jaw is very tired right now," Sonya Thomas said Tuesday after out-eating 405-pound Eric Booker of Long Island by one-eighth of an ounce.

The contest, believed to be a first, was sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating and kicked off Buffalo's New Year's festivities.

Despite her size, Thomas, 36, is no lightweight on the professional eating circuit.

She's eaten 43 tacos in 11 minutes to claim victory in the World Champion Chicken Taco Eating Contest. She also holds the female world record for eating 24 hot dogs in 12 minutes and for eating 68 hard-boiled eggs in 8 minutes.

Booker, of Long Island, who holds title to pea-eating and corned beef hash-eating contests, said there were no hard feelings after his close second.

"There is no agony of defeat in this sport," he said.

:p

chort1313

01-02-2004, 08:16 AM

'Scuse me if this is a repeat!

Updated Nov. 24, 2003, 10:20 a.m. ET

Smuggler caught with 756 pounds of Mexican bologna

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Border agents last week landed a meaty bust, seizing 756 pounds of bologna arranged into the shape of a car seat and covered with blankets in a man's pickup.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized 81 rolls of Mexican bologna Friday at the Paso Del Norte bridge as the pickup entered the United States.

"It puts the ultimate consumer at risk," said customs spokesman Roger Maier. "Who knows how long these products have gone without refrigeration or without proper handling?"

Children were sitting on top of the illegal load before it was discovered, Maier said. The rear seat had been removed from the extended-cab pickup and the bologna was put in its place.

He said the agency plans to pursue civil penalties against the Mexican man driving the truck. Maier said the agency won't release the man's name until the case goes to trial.

Maier said the bologna goes for about $1 a roll in Juarez. When it is sold to a customer in the United States, it can go for between $5 and $10 a roll , he said.

chort1313

01-02-2004, 09:09 AM

...And this one has to be posted here!

German accused of cannibalism on trial

KASSEL, Germany (AP) — A computer expert accused of killing, dismembering and eating another man who allegedly agreed to the arrangement over the Internet went on trial for murder Wednesday at a court in central Germany.

Prosecutors in the city of Kassel accuse Armin Meiwes of killing a 43-year-old from Berlin, identified only as Bernd Juergen B., in March 2001, by stabbing him in the throat at his home in the town of Rotenburg.

Prosecutors say the killing was carried out with the victim's consent. But they classified it as murder, not - as the defense argues would be appropriate - a form of mercy killing, arguing that the evidence indicated it was carried out at the suspect's initiative.

Meiwes, 42, who has confessed to the killing, could face a life prison sentence if convicted of murder. Prosecutors say the killing was sexually motivated.

Dressed in a dark suit, Meiwes appeared relaxed as he sat down next to his lawyer at the Kassel state court Wednesday.

The suspect allegedly chopped the body into pieces, deep-froze parts of it and buried the rest, capturing the crime on a videotape which is being used as evidence. Police who searched his home found human flesh and bones.

Police tracked down and arrested Meiwes in December last year after a student in Austria alerted them to an advertisement the suspect allegedly placed on the Internet seeking a man willing to be killed and eaten.

A verdict from the court, which is scheduled to hear 38 witnesses, is expected in February.

Jolie Rouge

01-02-2004, 09:17 PM

U.S. Spacecraft Survives Close Encounter with Comet

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-romta&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040102%2F165256462.htm&sc=romta&photoid=20040102NY110

PASADENA, Calif. (Reuters) - A U.S. spacecraft survived a wild ride inside the tail of a comet on Friday, catching stardust from the streaking chunk of rock and ice that could give clues to how the solar system, and even life on Earth, began.

The stardust, or particles from the tail of the comet, Wild 2, will be returned to Earth in 2006 for study by scientists.

The control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena erupted in cheers and clapping at 11:40 a.m. PST (2:40 p.m. EST) as monitors showed an uninterrupted flow of data from the Stardust spacecraft during its closest encounter point with the comet.

"We've flown through the worst of it and we're still in contact with our spacecraft." JPL project manager Tom Duxbury said moments after the encounter. "We're still exuberant. What a deal."

Duxbury said the bookcase-sized spacecraft performed flawlessly during the intense, eight-minute hailstorm of particles inside Wild 2's coma, or tail.

The historic "fly-by" happened 242 million miles from Earth after a five-year journey when Stardust passed within 188 miles of Wild 2.

Initial data from the encounter showed that the spacecraft's systems functioned as planned -- snapping pictures of the comet's nucleus and scooping up dust particles destined to be the first cometary samples returned to Earth for study.

A capsule carrying the samples will ultimately separate from the spacecraft and reenter Earth's atmosphere for a landing in the Utah desert in January 2006, while Stardust veers back into space.

Scientists say the dust samples, containing particles gathered by the comet since its formation at the dawn of the solar system and during its own ancient interplanetary wanderings, may hold clues to how the solar system, and even life on Earth, began.

01/02/04 16:52

Jolie Rouge

01-02-2004, 09:20 PM

I'm Sorry.

(Why That Sounds Good!)

Receiving an apology when you've been wronged does a body good.

It not only makes you feel better emotionally, it impacts how you feel physically. Or so say researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond who have scientific proof to back up their claims. "The data suggest that apologies and restitution can have an immediate, positive impact on physiological and subjective responses to transgressions," VCU's Dr. Everett L. Worthington Jr. told Reuters.

Sixty-one undergraduate male and female college students were told to imagine they had been robbed. Each was then told one of the following: the robber had afterwards apologized; restored to them the things that had been stolen; apologized and made restitution; or did none of these. When it was imagined that the robber gave a strong, guilt-ridden apology and made restitution for the stolen items, the students experienced lower heart rates, showed less muscle tension in their face, less stress, and lower blood pressures.

The apology also made the students feel more forgiveness, gratitude, and empathy, as well as less anger, fear, and sadness. The apology also gave the students a greater feeling of control. "If someone apologizes, it makes it easier to give some measure of forgiveness because it reduces the gap of injustice," Worthington told Reuters. "Justice can only take you so far, but if you forgive--that can take you all the way to closure." The findings were presented at the Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Jolie Rouge

01-02-2004, 09:36 PM

THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Tung-Yen Lin.

Born in Shanghai, Lin trained as an engineer. His passion was bridges, and to make them better he used prestressed concrete, which uses steel cables to allow more economical and better-looking building techniques. During his career, he oversaw the constructions of thousands of bridges, including a thousand in China alone.

His ideas spread when he turned to teaching: he was a professor at the University of California in Berkeley from 1946 to 1976 -- his alma mater (he got a graduate degree there in 1933). He also designed an elevated roadway into San Francisco International Airport. When President Ronald Reagan presented Lin the National Medal of Science in 1986, he shocked the President by presenting him with a design for an "Intercontinental Peace Bridge" across the Bering Strait, linking the U.S. with the USSR. "You spend money on bombs, and in 10 years they're out of date," he said later. "But you build bridges, they last forever."

He died November 15 at home in El Cerrito, Calif. He was 91.

IF YOU LIKE TRUE's HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE, see http://www.HeroicStories.com
for TRUE's sister publication, an H.U. spinoff about cool people that
*don't* have to die to get their stories told!

Jolie Rouge

01-02-2004, 09:51 PM

Study: These Men Have High Heart Risk

It may be a lot easier now to quickly and accurately identify men who have the highest risk of developing heart disease and diabetes thanks to new research from the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland. Reuters reports that the Scottish doctors have created a system involving five easy-to-get measurements:

1. Unhealthy fat, which can be assessed by simply measuring the waist circumference
2. High triglycerides, which is a component of cholesterol
3. Low levels of HDL or "good" cholesterol
4. High glucose
5. High blood pressure

Taken together, these five measurements can be used to define metabolic syndrome or "syndrome x," which can tell primary care physicians who is most in danger of heart disease and is most in need of drugs, weight loss, and exercise.

Led by Dr. Naveed Sattar, the Scottish researchers examined data from 6,447 men taking part in a larger study of heart disease in the Glasgow area and determined that 26 percent of them had metabolic syndrome. Over a five-year period, the men who had four or five features of metabolic syndrome had 3.7 times the risk of coronary heart disease and 24.5 times the risk of diabetes compared to those with normal blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin levels, reports Reuters. This study is significant because it is the first to show a simpler formula for determining metabolic syndrome and the first to offer a way to calculate diabetes risk. The study findings were published in this week's issue of the journal Circulation.

the fugative

01-02-2004, 11:48 PM

Dead Man's Dangling Legs Greet Couple

SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) - A New Mexico couple returned home from a week-long vacation to find the legs of a dead man dangling from their ceiling, police said.

The man was identified as Carl Smith, 81, and he was the former husband of the woman who lived in the home, said Trish Ahrensfield, a spokeswoman for the Albuquerque police.

"He was stuck in an air conditioner duct," Ahrensfield said, adding a cause of death has not yet been determined.

Police said it appears the man was trying to break into the home from the roof and died while attempting to get in through the air conditioner duct.

The couple, who were not identified, said their home was cold when they returned on Tuesday and they went to the bathroom to see if the heater had been shut off. When they looked up, they saw the legs hanging from the ceiling.

:eek:

Weird and Wacky Reigned Supreme in 2003

LONDON (Reuters) - From the Polish undertaker caught smuggling cigarettes in a hearse to a pair of one-legged Brazilian prisoners skipping jail, the weird and wacky reigned supreme around the world in 2003.

Oddball tales abounded with Canadian prisoners being offered fruit-flavored condoms, Cambodians being urged to eat more dogs and China axing hemorrhoid TV ads during meal times.

Tales of love gone sour were plentiful. A Filipino housewife wreaked revenge on her hapless spouse by cutting off his "root" while he slept, after she discovered text messages from another woman on his mobile phone.

Not to be outdone, an Italian pensioner beat her husband to death with a scrubbing brush because the couple had never had children.

Vasectomies caused some truly weird headlines.

In London, a vasectomy brought train services grinding to a halt. A trainee driver fell out of his cab after fainting over fellow workers' graphic descriptions of the operation.

A Brazilian man who went to a clinic to have an aching ear checked ended up having a vasectomy after mistakenly believing that the doctor had called his name.

In Tanzania, a man cut off his genitals in an attempt to win sympathy from friends and relatives after squandering the money they lent him on prostitutes and alcohol.

POSSUMS ON A POWER TRIP

The animal kingdom invariably raises a smile and 2003 was no exception.

Possums on a power trip in New Zealand sparked a blaze when they climbed a pole and short-circuited the electricity line.

Queen bees now have to slum it under new European Union rules which only allow a retinue of 20 bees to accompany the queen on her voyage.

A French hunter was shot by his dog after he left a loaded shotgun in the boot of his car with two dogs, and one accidentally stepped on the trigger.

Cambodian canines had to run for cover after people in Phnom Penh were urged to eat more dogs as part of a crackdown on stray mutts wandering around the capital.

A German man who taught his dog Adolf to give a Hitler salute by raising his right paw was charged with violating Germany's anti-Nazi laws.

German humor was once thought to be as scarce as tasty British food, charming French waiters and punctual Italian trains, but a new generation of Germans have developed a taste for the offbeat.

A priest in Duisburg used an old washing machine to brew beer, a stumbling bank robber in Giessen forgot to cut open eye slits in his mask and 937 Germans set a mass yodeling record.

But no corner of the earth was off-limits for the bizarre.

Fijians apologized to descendants of a British missionary killed and eaten by their ancestors more than 130 years ago.

Moscow's Bolshoi Theater sacked an ice-cream-loving prima ballerina, saying she was too heavy and too tall for most of her dance partners to lift.

Six British schoolboys were rushed to hospital after taking the erection-enhancing drug Viagra at lunchtime for a dare.

But at least they were spared the constant embarrassment of a British couple who were forced to change houses because of the shame caused by the name of their street -- Butt Hole Road.

:p

chort1313

01-03-2004, 08:37 AM

(Truly weird, but I guess it's from the $$$$ he has.)

GALVESTON, Texas — Lawyers for Robert Durst could not have been facing a steeper hill when they began picking jurors Aug. 25 for the eccentric millionaire's murder trial. Somehow, however, they made it to the top and down the other side.

On the defense: Robert Durst, right, flanked by his lawyers Michael Ramsey, far left, and Dick DeGuerin, left, as the verdict is read

Durst, 60, carelessly left a trail of evidentiary crumbs in his wake after he dismembered the body of his 71-year-old neighbor, threw the pieces in Galveston Bay and fled this Gulf Coast community with $600,000 to finance his brief life as a fugitive.

So how did the defense prevail? How was Robert Durst, the defendant whose own lawyer says he is working with a compass that "doesn't point north," able to be declared not guilty?

Seven of the 12 jurors who deliberated Durst's fate for 26 hours provided some of the answers when they spoke to reporters after the verdict. They dodged questions about whether they thought Durst actually murdered Morris Black but spoke in perfect harmony when they opined that prosecutors did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Juror Chris Lovell: "We know that Morris Black didn't wipe the fingerprints off that gun."

"Based on the evidence, it wasn't there. We cannot convict him based on our thoughts and beliefs," said juror Joanne Gongora.

But that's only part of the answer.

Durst's acquittal can be credited to a high-powered defense team that picked a risky legal strategy, after eliminating others, and then stuck with it faithfully.

If Durst was to have any chance of being acquitted, defense lawyers believed, they had to select jurors who said they could understand how a person like Durst could be panicked enough to do something as horrible as cutting up a body.

Juror Joanne Gongora: "Based on the evidence that was presented to us there was reasonable doubt."

Lead defense attorney Dick DeGuerin, one of Texas' top criminal defense lawyers, must have stressed three dozen times during the trial that Durst was not on trial for dismembering Morris Black or jumping bail after he was charged. Reporters from Durst's native New York smiled every time DeGuerin argued that position, but jurors took it to heart.

"This jury was able to put in proper perspective the evidence they had," DeGuerin said. "These people all told us during jury selection that they could separate the issues and they kept them separate. I congratulate them."

One juror, Chris Lovell, gave the defense credit for sticking to one story from the very beginning of the case and not wavering, as prosecutors did. Lovell noted that, during testimony, prosecutors tried to show that Durst shot Black from close range but later asserted in closing arguments that he shot Black from a distance.

"They gave us two different stories," Lovell said, describing it as a situation of "we're going to find Robert Durst guilty, you pick the reason."

Juror Robbie Clarac: "We looked at the flight thing, but flight is something Durst has done his entire life."

Galveston District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk spoke with jurors privately but, graciously, did not bicker with the verdict later. "We are not the jury. We remain disappointed, but we accept the verdict," Sistrunk said. "We've done our job."

Though it is generally considered risky to put a defendant on the stand, Durst had no choice but to testify if he was going to convince the jury of self-defense. And he testified without apparent emotion, often claiming he could not remember the events following Black's death.

Interestingly, jurors said they largely discounted his testimony because of inconsistencies and past lies. Regarding Durst's claim that he never cleaned the gun, for example, juror Lovell said dubiously, "We know Morris Black didn't wipe those fingerprints off that gun."

However, jurors consistently said that they believed Durst's story that he panicked when he decided to cut up the body. And ultimately, a lack of evidence presented by the prosecution seems to be what swayed them, rather than anything Durst did or didn't say.

Juror Deborah Warren: "I didn't think you could have a case without the head. I thought you needed the whole body."

Finally, Durst clearly benefited from his millions. He was able to hire some of the brightest lawyers around and pay them $1.2 million, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars on experts and expenses.

It would not be right, as one reporter suggested during the post-verdict press conference, if Durst could buy a not guilty verdict in light of the evidence against him.

"Bob Durst didn't buy his way to freedom It wasn't money that influenced this jury. It was the facts, or lack of the facts," DeGuerin replied.

But one has to wonder if Durst would be going through orientation at a Texas super-max prison now if he had been a cab driver from the Bronx, instead of a multimillionaire heir to a Manhattan real estate empire.

chort1313

01-03-2004, 09:06 AM

Gunpowder accident injures Colonia man

Published in the Home News Tribune 1/02/04
By MARY ANN BOURBEAU
STAFF WRITER
WOODBRIDGE: A 28-year-old Colonia resident was badly burned as he ignited gunpowder on his lawn early yesterday.

Police said Paul Ciesla dug a pit in front of his Continental Avenue home at about 1:30 a.m. and filled it with gunpowder. He then leaned over the pit and proceeded to light the substance with a lighter. It blew up in his face, knocking him back on the ground and setting him on fire.

The Colonia and Avenel First Aid squads responded to the scene, along with paramedics from Rahway. Ciesla was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Rahway and was later transported to the burn unit at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. His condition was not available yesterday.

Police said Ciesla received second- and third-degree burns to the upper half of his body, with burns on his face, hands, arms and chest. The Colonia Fire Marshal and Fire Inspector are investigating the incident.

chort1313

01-05-2004, 06:18 AM

After Norm and Darlene Scott's Montana farm burned in 1996,
they collected $75,000 from Mountain West Farm Bureau
insurance but weren't satisfied and demanded more, finally getting
another $52,500 in 1999. However, they wanted still more money
and sued the company, claiming it was dealing with them in bad
faith. In November 2003, a jury in Helena not only rejected the
claim for more money but found that it was the Scotts who had
started the fire (a finding that probably never would have been
made had the Scotts quietly accepted the first $127,500). (The
statute of limitations prevents criminal charges against them, but the
insurance company will sue to get its money back.)

chort1313

01-06-2004, 08:49 AM

James Perry, with four DUI arrests in Florida, feared rejection if
he tried to get a driver's license in his new home state of
Connecticut and so pretended to be Robert Kowalski (the name of
his neighbor in Florida), but a routine computer check revealed
"Robert Kowalski" to be a Michigan sex offender, unregistered in
Connecticut (Clinton, Conn., September). And Mr. Chance Copp,
15, who was on probation for arson and who feared testing positive
for marijuana, submitted the urine of a relative, instead, only to find
out later that that urine tested positive for cocaine (Chillicothe,
Ohio, November).

the fugative

01-07-2004, 09:35 PM

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd
Published January 8, 2004
In December, the 200 employees at SAS Shoemakers in Pittsfield, Mass., and the 270 workers at Stine Seed Co. in Adel, Iowa, were each given Christmas bonuses of $1,000 for every year of service to the company. In other bonus news, Tower Automotive of Traverse City, Mich., gave employees $15 Thanksgiving grocery gift cards, but then withheld $5.51 of that as federal and state income tax, and Air Canada gave coupons to 100 of its best-performing customer-service personnel, redeemable at restaurants owned by its in-flight food service contractor, worth $5.

• In December, Putnam County, N.Y., adopted a law to further the aims of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act by permitting shoppers in wheelchairs to bring their service monkeys into stores to fetch items from shelves. (Legislator Sam Oliverio said he didn't know of any service monkeys in use but wanted to be ready.) In July, a ranch owner in San Diego County, Calif., was found not guilty of cruelty for disposing of 30,000 live, "nonproductive" hens by dumping them into a wood chipper, pointing out in defense that it was basically a "standard industry practice" endorsed by a member of the animal welfare committee of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Bright ideas

• Toronto police arrested Walter Nowakowski, 35, in November on several pornography counts as well as theft of services after an officer spotted him driving the wrong way on a one-way street at 5 a.m. According to police, Nowakowski was pantsless, with a laptop computer running in the front seat, as he drove slowly down streets in search of wireless Internet signals that he could use to download pornography.

• In October, in the ongoing trial of 22 members of the South African white separatist movement Boeremag, a police informant testified that the group's plans included enlisting 8,000 rebels to stage a coup, seize military bases, assassinate ex-president Nelson Mandela, and force all the country's blacks to march across the border to Zimbabwe. (there are 35 million blacks in South Africa).

Oops!

• In October at the UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Oakland, Pa., a 35-year-old man having a kidney transplanted from his mother awoke prematurely from his anesthesia and bolted upright, which caused the just-sewn-in kidney to thrust up with such force that it ripped an artery and protruded from his abdomen. The kidney could no longer be used and was removed the next day.

• Motorcyclist Steve Dass withdrew 72 $100 bills in October to take to his mother to pay for her new furniture, but he apparently forgot to zip up his jacket pocket, and all the money blew out along Hwy. 4 in Pittsburg, Calif. (A few finders returned the money.) In Kalispell, Mont., in November, two men turned in a sack containing $14,600 they found in a bank parking lot; it was a pickup from Wal-Mart that had been dropped by Security Armored Express (which earlier this year was named as the best armored carrier in the country by Wal-Mart executives).

• Pro football punter Chris Hanson played only one-third of the season this year because of a self-inflicted leg injury. His Jacksonville Jaguars coach had put a log and an ax in the locker room as a motivational symbol that the team needed to work hard in order to succeed. Hanson took a swing at the log, missed, and banged his leg so badly that he needed emergency surgery.

• A two-week series of five customer holdups in front of ATMs in Cambridge, Mass., came to an end in November with the arrest of Richard McCabe, 38. In four of the five robberies, bank security cameras photographed the perpetrator, and McCabe was apparently so disliked by so many that when police released the photos, more than 100 people called up to rat him out. Said a detective, "Many . . . people knew him personally from dealing with him in the past."

Recent names in the news

• Delegates of French "villages of lyric or burlesque names" formed an association in October as sort of a promotional and support group made necessary because so many visitors laugh at the towns' names. Among them are villages whose names, translated into English, are "beautiful mad," "cuckold hill," "filthy pig," "my bottom" and "eat onions."

• Texas' anti-marital-aid law, previously mentioned in News of the Weird, remains in force. In November, the county attorney in Burleson, Texas, filed a misdemeanor charge against Joanne Webb for selling two vibrators, which are illegal if they are intended for "stimulation." Although many adult stores in Texas keep the police away by posting signs calling the inventory merely "novelties," an officer in Burleson said Webb's are certainly "obscene" because he can tell that just by looking. Mere possession of vibrators is not illegal unless a person has six or more. Webb sells the vibrators by staging sales parties ("Passion Parties") in private homes.

Alternate universe

• In December, Vice President Cheney led a "hunting" party to the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, Pa., to shoot pheasants, which had been specially bred to be killed by the club's members and guests. Cheney reportedly bagged 70 ringneck pheasants plus some captive mallard ducks, and his party killed 417 of the approximately 500 pheasants released. A Humane Society executive deplored the shoot, suggesting that clay-target shooting would be just as challenging: "This wasn't a hunting ground. It was an open-air abattoir."

• Also in the news in the past month: A man implicated in the 1992 crime that moved activists to push for California's "three strikes" law was arrested for theft, which would be his third strike (Fresno). A 4-foot-high, half-ton snowball fell on an 11-year-old boy on a school playground, pinning him until several teachers lifted it off (St. Catharines, Ontario). To ease pressure on the judicial system, the Netherlands government announced it would no longer prosecute airport drug smugglers with less than three kilos of cocaine.

:p

Jolie Rouge

01-07-2004, 10:43 PM

Hillary Clinton Regrets Gandhi Joke

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1153&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040106%2F200597241.htm&sc=1153

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was ``a lame attempt at humor.''

The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser Saturday. During an event here for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Clinton introduced a quote from Gandhi by saying, ``He ran a gas station down in St. Louis.''

After laughter from many in the crowd of at least 200 subsided, the former first lady continued, ``No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century.'' In a nod to Farmer's underdog status against Republican Sen. Kit Bond, Clinton quoted the Indian independence leader as saying: ``First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.''

The director of a U.S. center devoted to Gandhi's teachings said the remarks amounted to stereotyping and were insensitive.

After being approached by The Associated Press to clarify the remarks, Clinton suggested in a statement late Monday that she never meant to fuel the stereotype - often used as a comedic punch line - that certain ethnic groups run America's gas stations.

On Tuesday, she told reporters in Albuquerque, N.M.: ``It was a lame attempt at humor and I am very sorry that it might have been interpreted in a way that causes stress to anyone. I have the highest regard for Mahatma Gandhi and have been a longtime admirer of his life.''

Michelle Naef, administrator of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, a Memphis, Tenn.-based organization founded in 1991 by a Gandhi grandson, credited Clinton and her husband, former President Clinton, with long having ``supported the Gandhi message.'' But she said Saturday's remarks ``could be incredibly harmful.''

``I don't think she was, in any way, trying to demean Mahatma Gandhi,'' Naef said. ``To be generous to her, I would say it was a poor attempt at humor. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but I find it offensive when people use stereotypes in that way.''

Safir Ahmed, a spokesman for Farmer, said no one should be upset about ``just a little flip remark.''

``As an Indian-American myself, I was not offended by what Senator Clinton said,'' Ahmed said. ``It (the quote) was clearly something Senator Clinton loved, and she referred to Mahatma Gandhi as one of the greatest leaders.

``I don't understand why anyone would take any offense or remotely think Senator Clinton harbors anything against Indian-Americans.''

Senate Republicans criticized Farmer for not apologizing herself.

``Nancy Farmer should apologize for the remarks that were made at her fund-raiser,'' said Dan Allen, spokesman for Senate Republicans' campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

On the Net:

M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence : www.gandhiinstitute.org

01/06/04 20:05

Jolie Rouge

01-07-2004, 10:50 PM

Coroner: Diana Not Pregnant at Death
By ROBERT BARR

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1103&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040107%2F034605463.htm&sc=1103

LONDON (AP) - Princess Diana was not pregnant when she died, a former royal coroner says, apparently ruling out one of the rumors which has swirled around her death in a car crash six years ago.

Dr. John Burton, who was the royal coroner at the time, said he was present at a post-mortem examination after her body was returned from Paris, The Times newspaper reported in Wednesday's editions.

``I was actually present when she was examined. She wasn't pregnant. I know she wasn't pregnant,'' the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Burton spoke on the same day that the present royal coroner, Michael Burgess, opened formal inquests into the deaths of Diana, 36, and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, 42. They died when their chauffeur-driven car crashed in an underpass in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.

A French judge laid responsibility for the crash on the driver, Henri Paul, who was found to have been intoxicated and driving at high speed. He was also killed.

Burgess announced Tuesday that he had asked police to look into theories that the princess was the victim of a conspiracy, variously attributed to the royal family and intelligence agencies.

``I'm aware that there is speculation that these deaths were not the result of a sad but relatively straightforward road traffic accident in Paris,'' Burgess said.

``I have asked the Metropolitan Police Commissioner (Sir John Stevens) to make inquiries. The results of these inquiries will help me to decide whether such matters will fall within the scope of the investigation carried out at the inquests,'' he said.

Fayed's father, Mohammed Al Fayed, has claimed that Diana may have been pregnant when she died. He has also accused Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, of masterminding a conspiracy.

The Daily Mirror newspaper on Tuesday published a letter apparently written by Diana to her butler, in which she claimed that her ex-husband, Prince Charles, was plotting to kill her in an auto accident.

The Daily Mirror itself described the idea as ``utterly preposterous to many people'' and said there was no evidence to support the claim.

Burgess adjourned both inquests at least until early next year, to give him time to collect evidence, read the French police reports and to give British police time to complete their investigations.

01/07/04 03:46

Jolie Rouge

01-10-2004, 03:24 PM

'Spongebob' Toy Balloon Flies 800 Miles

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040109%2F140829986.htm&sc=1120

ROSENBERG, Texas (AP) - A Spongebob Squarepants balloon with a holiday wish attached traveled hundreds of miles from Central Mexico to southeast Texas, where a landowner found it in some bushes.

``I could see it moving in the breeze off in the distance, and I couldn't make it out,'' Shirley Kennelly of Richmond told The Herald Coaster in Rosenberg.

Kennelly was just returning from a hunting trip Sunday when he saw the balloon. Attached was a a green envelope with the words ``Para Los 3 Reyes. Magos,'' meaning ``For the Three Magic Kings,'' in the left corner.

Inside the balloon was a piece of paper with photocopied pictures of toys the sender wanted for Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, which is celebrated in many Hispanic cultures on the 12th day after Christmas each year.

The Christmas season continues in Mexico through Epiphany. Children throughout Mexico wake up Jan. 6 to find toys and gifts left by the Reyes Magos, or Magi.

The balloon was sent from Xalapa, Veracruz, on Jan. 2. Although dated 2003, the excellent condition of the envelope and balloon, which still had helium, led Kennelly to believe the sender ``just wasn't used to writing '2004,' yet.''

In the center of the envelope were the words: ``De: Yanina M. Lopez. Lajoa con mucho cario,'' naming the sender and sending her wishes of, ``For you, with much affection.''

Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management Staff Meteorologist Ron Stagno said it's possible the balloon made the 700- to 800-mile journey to Fort Bend County in two days.

``The balloon probably got up top about 10,000 feet or so,'' he said. ``At that height, traveling about 40 miles per hour, it was transported northeast to the upper Texas Coast.''

Rosenberg is about 30 miles southwest of Houston.

01/09/04 14:08

chort1313

01-10-2004, 06:27 PM

Reported by Roxanne Lerma

JANUARY 7, 2004 - An unthinkable crime happened in the city of Alton. Officers say a man was in a rage and cut off part of his penis. He then walked over a mile for help.

Virgilio Maldonado found the body part.

He says as soon as he set foot on his job site, off of 6 Mile Line and Conway, he spotted a long trail of blood leading inside.

"It was a shock when we found the bloody machete and the man's penis next to it on a bag of concrete."

At first Maldonado couldn't or didn't want to believe what he had found.

"I thought maybe it was people hunting and that it was part of a rabbit. Then my son saw it and said no...that it was part of a man," he said.

Around the same time, Oscar Hernandez stumbled into the Alton Police Department pleading for help. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital bleeding heavily from his groin.

It wasn't until a half hour later that officers realized that Hernandez had cut himself - when doctors contacted them saying they were in dire need of the missing piece.

They launched a search, but luckily, Maldonado was already flagging down a patrolman to report the bizarre find.

"We told the police what we had discovered and he placed it in a bag with some ice."

A day later, Maldonado says he still can't believe Hernandez survived after severing his genitals.

"I thought maybe this was a jealous rage or a wife upset. I never thought that a man could do this to himself at least not one in his right mind."

Police now say Hernandez was not in his right mind. They claim he is mentally unstable and may have been off of his medication at the time.

He is now in stable condition at a McAllen hospital. Doctors were successfully able to re-attach the organ.

Jolie Rouge

01-10-2004, 09:07 PM

OW !

Jolie Rouge

01-10-2004, 09:15 PM

Friend Plays the Ultimate Practical Joke

When Chris Kirk, 33, went out of town last weekend and let his good buddy Luke Trerice, 26, stay in his Olympia, Washington apartment. Mistake. Trerice covered everything--and we mean everything--in the place in aluminum foil, reports The Associated Press. Everything except one book that was titled, "Cruel Tricks For Dear Friends." by Penn Jillette.

And what a cruel trick it was.

Still, you have to give Trerice credit. He covered items in foil, including the coffeemaker, in such a way they could still be used without unwrapping them. "He's known for large-scale strangeness," Kirk explained to the local newspaper, The Olympian. The stunt required about 4,000 square feet of aluminum foil at a cost of $100. Trerice said he thought of the idea on New Year's Eve. "It was just a spur of the moment thing," he told The Olympian. "I really don't even consider it art. I consider it a psychology project." And his friend? "He seems to be upbeat, so I consider this a success," Trerice pronounced.

Consider for one minute what "everything" means. The toilet paper was unrolled, wrapped in foil, and then re-rolled. Every CD and book were covered, but in such a way that the CD cases and books could be opened and shut. Every coin was covered in foil. And for an added touch, Trerice sprinkled Hershey's Kisses around the apartment. "The toilet was hard. The molding around the doorways took a very long time," Trerice admitted. The biggest question of all? Will Trerice be allowed to stay in the apartment again? "I don't know," said Kirk. "We'll see."

{{I know what I want for my birthday !}}

Jolie Rouge

01-10-2004, 09:35 PM

The Grossest School 'Show & Tell' Ever

This falls into the category: What was he thinking?

Dr. Michael Horowitz, a neurosurgeon whose child attends Fairview Elementary School in the upscale community of Fox Chapel, Pa., brought a human cadaver arm to the school as visual aid for a f
fifth-grade discussion about the 1875 Thomas Eakins painting "The Gross Clinic."

The Associated Press notes that the painting shows a medical school's doctor removing diseased bone from a patient's thigh, which a 19th century art critic graphically described as "a picture that even strong men find it difficult to look at long, if they can look at it at all."

Apparently the cadaver arm was just as bad for the kids at Fairview Elementary, especially when Dr. Horowitz opened up the arm and showed the students the nerves and other parts. One fainted and several felt ill. Parents complained. School officials are investigating. And Dr. Horowitz is confused. Apparently, he's brought body parts to show and tell before, including ears, eyes, and a brain, and no one ever bothered about it until now.

f you dare, click on the link below for a site that has images of the painting, "The Gross Clinic." :eek:
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/E/eakins/gross_clinic.jpg.html

Jolie Rouge

01-10-2004, 09:38 PM

THE Most Popular Movie Star Is...
...Mel Gibson.

That's the word from a new Harris Poll of 1,102 adults conducted annually to determine which movie star is tops in fans' hearts. Gibson, who has both enthralled and enraged Christian and Jewish leaders with his "Passion of Christ" movie that depicts in graphic detail the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, has been in this Harris Poll top four every year since 1994.

The top 10 favorite movie stars:

1. Mel Gibson

2. Julia Roberts

3. Sean Connery

4. Tom Hanks

5. Harrison Ford (tie)

5. Tom Cruise (tie)

7. John Wayne

8. Clint Eastwood

9. Denzel Washington

10. Johnny Depp

Some notable facts:

--Nine of the 10 movie stars also made the top 10 last year. The only change? Johnny Depp knocked Sandra Bullock off the list.

--Who's missing? Most notably the box office comedians: Adam Sandler, Steve Martin, Mike Meyers, and Jim Carrey.

--John Wayne died in 1979. No other dead movie star has ever made it into the top 10.

--The two most popular stars among men are John Wayne and Tom Hanks.

--Mel Gibson is No. 1 among women.

--Julia Roberts is preferred by people aged 18 to 29.

--Mel Gibson is a favorite among whites. Denzel Washington is No. 1 with African Americans, and Hispanics choose Robert DeNiro as their top star.

--When the replies are analyzed by party affiliation, Republicans and Democrats agree on Mel Gibson as their No. 1. Among Independents however, Julia Roberts and John Wayne tie for first place.

Jolie Rouge

01-10-2004, 09:53 PM

People Who Eat This Weigh Less

People, especially children, who frequently eat cold cereal for breakfast, are less likely to be overweight, according to new research from the University of Toronto. Cereal-eaters not only have a lower body mass index than their non-cereal eating friends, but also have a higher intake of important nutrients, including vitamins A, B6, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, calcium, iron, and zinc.

The study: The researchers examined food diaries that were kept by 2,000 households in the United States over a two-week period. Included in these households were 603 children who ranged in age from 4 years to 12 years. The kids were divided into three groups based on how much cereal they ate over the two weeks: eight or more servings, four to seven servings, and three or fewer servings.

The results: The children--no matter how old they were--who consumed eight or more servings of ready-to-eat cereal over a two-week period had the least body fat. According to the Business Wire news release announcing the study results, four out of five of these children who ate the most cereal had a BMI measurement that was age-appropriate. But only about half of the kids who ate very little cereal had a healthy BMI. Similar findings in previous research have been reported for adults. The study's co-author G. Harvey Anderson says that's a big difference. "For an average 10-year-old boy, that can equate to about a 12-pound difference," he said in the news release. In the United States, almost one in three kids is at risk for being overweight or is already overweight. For the first time ever, obesity is a major health concern for school-age kids.

Why does cereal do this? There are several reasons. First, cereal is an easy breakfast to make, especially when the morning rush leaves parents and kids harried. Kids who eat cereal are more likely to eat breakfast than other kids. Cereal is packed with protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Also, the milk in cereal also provides important nutrients. The research, which was financed in part by cereal-maker General Mills, was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

chort1313

01-11-2004, 08:11 AM

I wish we could see pictures of the apt while covered in foil!!!!!! I wonder if it's still that way?

the fugative

01-11-2004, 01:00 PM

Prankster using drive-through speaker
Associated Press

Published January 9, 2004

TROY, Mich. (AP) - Some drive-through customers at a Burger King are getting more with their meals than they expected.

Police in the north Detroit suburb are looking for someone who is using a device to broadcast on the same frequency as a Burger King drive-through speaker, The Detroit News reported Thursday.

The person has interrupted business transactions three times, most recently Tuesday, with obscene remarks to startled customers.

When the 41-year-old manager went outside to apologize to customers and look for the source of the mischief, a voice boomed out of the outdoor speaker: "There's nothing you or the police can do about this, so get ... back inside and take your goons with you," Troy Police Lt. Gerry Scherlinck said.

Police suspect the calls are being made by a radio transmitter or walkie-talkie near the restaurant. The person could be charged with a misdemeanor if caught.

Kevin Barnes, a spokesman for Michigan Multi King, which owns the restaurant, said his company wants to keep the incidents low-key.

"It's rare, but I've heard this has happened at other businesses," he said.

:p

the fugative

01-11-2004, 01:05 PM

The Governator, a 'Strong' Beer for California
Fri Jan 9,10:18 AM ET

SEATTLE (Reuters) - For Californians who can't get enough of bodybuilder turned film star turned governor Arnold Schwarzenegger , a brewery in the neighboring state of Oregon is offering a new full-bodied beer labeled "The Governator."

Portland-based MacTarnahan's Brewing Co., which brews a popular regional beer of the same name, came up with the idea for the strong brew just before the holidays last year and has seen brisk demand for the ESB, or extra special bitter ale.

Called "The Governator Ale," the label features a man flexing his muscles beneath a logo of the state of California with the words "Pumpin Iron Brewing" superimposed on top.

"The big surprise is that The Governator, behind its novelty packaging, is actually top-notch," MacTarnahan's chief executive Jerome Chicvara said in a statement issued when the beer went on sale. "We're hoping this is a sign of things to come in Sacramento."

The beer, which is also higher in alcohol content, comes in oversized 22-ounce (625-ml) bottles that retail for about $2.99 each. It is available in California but, so far, distributors in the states of Oregon and Washington aren't interested, said company spokeswoman Renee Daniels.

:p

the fugative

01-11-2004, 01:08 PM

Serb Spy Agency Moves from Shadows to Cyberspace
Fri Jan 9,10:29 AM ET

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A feared and shadowy organization during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic , Serbia's secret police agency has taken a recent drive for openness to new lengths -- it has launched its own Web site.

The site introduces the organization, its activities and budget, and comes complete with an illustrated history of spying in Serbia since medieval times.

It even reveals its street address -- once a well-kept secret -- and boasts a virtual tour of its premises.

And aspiring secret agents can apply online for a job with the Security and Information Agency (BIA), as it is now called.

Under Milosevic, secret police agents were widely suspected of involvement in the killing and abduction of the former Yugoslav president's political opponents. After his ouster in 2000, reformists began attempts to overhaul the service.

"This Web site presents our contribution to the effort to bring security affairs closer to all citizens of Serbia, and to offer a way of establishing mutual communication and a relationship of trust," the Web page says.

In return, the agency asks anyone with information about serious crimes under its jurisdiction to get in touch via e-mail.

The site, www.bia.sr.gov.yu , also has an English version and attempts to answer readers' questions -- in its own way.

"How can citizens recognize members of the BIA?" was one frequently asked question.

"Members of the BIA have official identity cards with the Security and Information Agency emblem, an identification number and photo," the site answers, displaying a few IDs.

"As if BIA agents go around showing their IDs in public," one local newspaper commented dryly.

:p

the fugative

01-11-2004, 01:16 PM

'Honey, Feel Like Saving a Little Water?'
Sun Jan 11,10:14 AM ET

MANILA (Reuters) - Couples in the Philippine capital have been asked to start sharing the tub at bath time as part of a conservation drive.

"Start sharing baths with your partner to conserve water," the environment department advised the parched capital's 12 million residents.

Unseasonably dry weather has depleted water levels in the main reservoirs supplying the metropolis and officials were meeting on Friday to consider rationing and other measures.

Environment Secretary Elisea Gozun warned things could get worse before the monsoon season begins in May and said officials were "sounding the alarm early to avoid a water shortage."

As a haze of pollution masked blue skies over Manila on Friday, the weather bureau said fewer typhoons than normal at the end of last year caused water levels to drop and that the city could not expect a rainy reprieve for several months.

To hurry things along, officials plan to start cloud-seeding to raise water levels in the reservoir.

:p

Jolie Rouge

01-11-2004, 09:58 PM

Poll: Alternative News Gaining Influence
By WILL LESTER

WASHINGTON (AP) - People are turning increasingly to alternatives such as the Internet for news about the presidential campaign, shifting away from traditional outlets such as the nightly network news and newspapers, a poll found.

Young adults were leading the shift, with one-fifth of them considering the Internet a top source of campaign news for them, said the poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. About the same number of young adults said they regularly learn about the campaign from comedy shows like ``The Daily Show'' and ``Saturday Night Live.''

News-only cable networks are second only to local television news when people are asked to name where they regularly learn something about the campaign. More than four in 10, 42 percent, said they regularly learn something from local television news, while 38 percent said cable news networks, a slight increase from four years ago.

Nightly network news was named as a regular source of campaign news by 35 percent, down from 45 percent four years ago, and newspapers by 31 percent, down from 40 percent.

``Cable news and the Internet are looming larger as sources of campaign information as fewer people say they're getting news from traditional sources such as newspapers and broadcast television,'' said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.

Four in five said they were most likely to get campaign news from television. Those who cited television as a top source of campaign news most often mentioned CNN (22 percent) and Fox News (20 percent) as the leading source of information.

The public is increasingly concerned about bias in campaign coverage by the media generally. About the same number, 39 percent, say there is bias in campaign coverage as the number that says there is no bias, 38 percent.

The number who feel coverage is biased has grown steadily since 1988, when 62 percent said coverage was not biased.

While Republicans continue to be more likely to say coverage is biased in favor of Democrats, 42 percent, the number of Democrats who feel news coverage is biased has grown significantly. In 2000, 19 percent of Democrats felt coverage was tilted toward Republicans, while 29 percent feel that way now.

The number of people who say the Internet is a top source of campaign news was 13 percent, double the number who said that at the same stage of the 2000 campaign.

The number of people who say they regularly or sometimes get campaign news from the Internet increased to 33 percent from 24 percent.

The changing habits of young adults are leading the shift of sources for campaign news.

Four years ago, young people were far more likely to have said they learned about the campaign from nightly network news, 39 percent, than the Internet or comedy programs. Now, all three are cited about equally as sources of campaign news.

Those over age 50 were twice as likely as adults age 18-29 to say they regularly learn something about the campaign from local news shows, nightly network news and newspapers.

Young adults were far more likely than those over age 50 to say they regularly learned something from comedy TV shows - by 21 percent to 3 percent.

In general, Americans are poorly informed on specific information about the campaign. Those who regularly learn about the campaigns from entertainment shows were even less informed.

Comedy shows like ``The Daily Show'' ``are making fun of what they see as the insufficiency of news programs, especially those on cable,'' said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. He said that highlights the need for more traditional news shows to learn how to appeal to younger adults.

The poll of 1,506 adults was taken Dec. 19-Jan. 4 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, larger for subgroups.

On the Net:

Pew Research Center: www.people-press.org

01/11/04 16:01

Jolie Rouge

01-12-2004, 09:45 PM

OOPSIE !

:eek:

US jet accidentally drops unarmed bomb in Britain

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0002/20040112/130476498.htm&photoid=20031215KIL04D_KIL04D

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The United States Air Force is investigating how one of its fighter jets dropped an unarmed bomb onto the countryside in northern England last week, a spokesman said on Monday.

There were no injuries and only "limited property damage" in the incident, which happened near the town of Market Weighton in Yorkshire at around 1715 GMT on Thursday, the air force spokesman said.

The 25 lb (11 kg) practice bomb was dropped by a F-15E Strike Eagle on a routine training run from a base in eastern England.

"Trained and experienced base personnel including Ministry of Defence, and local constabulary authorities responded to the scene and an investigation team is determining the cause the incident," the spokesman said.

01/12/04 13:04

Jolie Rouge

01-12-2004, 09:46 PM

Michael Jackson's Surprising News

Michael Jackson is living in a rental, making good on his promise to leave his Neverland Ranch for good. But don't worry about him downsizing too much. He and his three children are staying in a $20 million estate near Los Angeles that he's renting for a staggering $70,000 a month. PEOPLE magazine reports: "The 37,000-square-foot estate is a rental. Jackson is said to be serious about staying away from Neverland for good."

No word on what he'll charge prospective Neverland tenants for monthly rent, but the 2,600-acre ranch in Santa Maria, Calif., has a Ferris wheel, amusement rides, and a small zoo--not to mention a lot of notoriety. PEOPLE reports that Jackson's new rented abode was allegedly secured for him by Leonard Muhammad, the advisor of the Nation of Islam. In addition to nine bedroom suites and 10 baths, it includes a movie theater, tennis court, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and overlooks a children's park. The Jackson family lawyer, Bryan Oxman, told the magazine, "He can now be closer to his family. This whole thing has brought the family together. Jackson's parents have a home in the San Fernando Valley, just minutes from his rented house."

On Dec. 28, Jackson also told CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" that he didn't want to live at Neverland again. "I won't live there ever again," Jackson told the CBS newsmag. "I'll visit Neverland. It's a house now. It's not a home anymore. I'll only visit there." This apparently stems from the November 18 raid on the ranch by Santa Barbara County officials. Jackson claims they took knives and cut open the mattresses. "Just cut everything open," he told "60 Minutes." Jackson, who is free on $3 million bail, is scheduled to be arraigned this week on seven counts of child molestation that allegedly occurred at Neverland. He has said the accusations are "a big lie."

Jolie Rouge

01-12-2004, 09:47 PM

Mind-Blowing Incentive to Exercise

If you need some incentive to hit the treadmill or pavement, here's the perfect motivator. You'll get a buzz. The same family of chemicals that produces a buzz in marijuana smokers may be responsible for the so-called "runner's high," reports Reuters of new research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, Irvine.

When 24 young men who participated in the study ran or cycled at a moderate rate for about an hour, their bodies naturally produced high levels of anandamide, a cannabinoid that is known to produce euphoric sensations that are similar to those of THC, the psychoactive property in marijuana. If this study is correct, it refutes those who believe the runner's high is caused by the release of brain chemicals called endorphins.

Why does the body release anandamide? Principal investigator Arne Dietrich says he thinks the body releases cannabinoids to help it cope with the prolonged stress and pain of moderate or intense exercise. "No other study has ever considered this possibility, which is why the results are so significant," Dietrich explained to Reuters, adding that there were no indications that cannabinoids caused any harm when naturally released during intense exercise. The study findings were published in the journal NeuroReport.

Jolie Rouge

01-12-2004, 09:50 PM

Homeless Squatter on Golf Course Evicted

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040112%2F180084610.htm&sc=1120

MIAMI (AP) - A man who lived on a golf course for 40 years was told to leave because some golfers complained that he scared them.

Other golfers, however, said Kenny Bethel is harmless and should be allowed to stay at the Palmetto Golf Course.

Bethel, 55, first showed up at the county-owned course after he ran away from home in 1963. He collected and resold stray golf balls, used the club's showers and toilets at night and slept in a sheltered area that housed the showers.

``This course became my job and, later, my home,'' he said.

For the last nine years, he had been joined by his wife Francis, 43. They have since relocated to a space under a nearby bridge.

``What have I done to deserve this?'' Bethel asked.

Bethel now gets chased away by the staff when he tries to collect balls. And the restrooms are locked at night.

``It's a huge dilemma,'' said Carlos McKeon, manager of Miami-Dade County Golf Operations. ``We used to cast a benign eye on Kenny.''

Bethel turned down a job in course maintenance because he wanted to be self-employed, McKeon said.

Aimee Artiles, a county spokeswoman, said complaints about Bethel's presence picked up in recent months, particularly from female golfers who said they were nervous about using the bathrooms while he was nearby.

In addition, Artiles said other homeless people have begun following Bethel's example.

``This is a golf course. It's not a public housing project,'' she said.

Golfers who had become accustomed to seeing Bethel on the course were surprised by his banishment.

``It seems a shame that someone who is an institution on the course can't be grandfathered in,'' golfer Jim Adamson said.

``He's a nice guy,'' agreed golfer Mario Deif. ``You have to admire someone who has debunked modern life and lives off the land.''

01/12/04 18:00

Jolie Rouge

01-12-2004, 09:54 PM

Group Points Out Wacky Warning Labels

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040112%2F082168252.htm&sc=1120

NOVI, Mich. (AP) - It is a warning label that may seem perfectly logical - to fish: A 5-inch fishing lure with three nasty steel hooks advises that it is ``Harmful if swallowed.''

If only carp could read.

The label took fourth place in the seventh annual Wacky Warning Label Contest. But organizers of the contest, the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, say it highlights the lengths to which manufacturers will go in order to avoid lawsuits stemming from misuse of consumer products.

``Wacky warning labels are a sign of our lawsuit-plagued times,'' said Robert B. Dorigo Jones, president of the nonprofit group working to raise public awareness of how the explosion in litigation is harming the country.

``It used to be that if someone spilled coffee in their lap, they simply called themselves clumsy. Today, too many people are calling themselves an attorney.''

Taking first prize last week was a warning found on a bottle of drain cleaner. The label reads: ``If you do not understand, or cannot read, all directions, cautions and warnings, do not use this product.''

The $250 second prize went to a Virginia man who sent in a label on a snow sled that advises users: ``Beware: sled may develop high speed under certain snow conditions.''

01/12/04 08:21

Jolie Rouge

01-13-2004, 03:20 PM

Man Sentenced for Stuffing Toddler in Bag

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040113%2F142313291.htm&sc=1110

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - A man who stuffed his ex-girlfriend's toddler sister into a plastic trash bag and left her in a sweltering attic was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Samuel Uriah King, 27, pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree kidnapping and assault. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a charge of attempted murder.

``If somebody had put my 3-year-old daughter in the attic, I probably would have flipped,'' King said at a court hearing. ``I am truly sorry.''

With credit for good behavior, King could be eligible for release in nine years.

Kiana Dumas, 3, initially was unconscious when deputies found her in April 2002, but she recovered when the clear plastic bag was opened. She had spent 20 minutes in the bag with duct tape over her mouth.

Police said temperatures were in the 90s that day and estimated it was at least 115 degrees in the attic at the time she was there.

Prosecutors said King had broken into the home of ex-girlfriend Diane Williams, Kiana's 17-year-old half sister. They had separated about a month earlier. King doused Williams with pepper spray, punched her in the face and demanded to have sex, prosecutor Mitchell Garrell said.

Williams ran next door to call police, leaving behind Kiana.

King said he taped the child's mouth shut when she began crying and put her in a closet. When she continued to cry, King said he ``got a trash bag and put her in the attic and left for good.''

Bruce Dumas, father of both Williams and Kiana, testified that King's action ``was just total betrayal.''

``We fed him,'' he said. ``We treated him like family. For him to do that to the baby was terrible.''

01/13/04 14:23

Jolie Rouge

01-13-2004, 03:23 PM

Killer Taunts Victim's Family on Internet
By JAY REEVES

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040113%2F143313591.htm&sc=1110

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Mary Kate Gach thought she had heard the last of Jack Trawick when he went to death row for murdering her daughter in 1992.

Instead, Trawick's twisted writings about how he beat, strangled and stabbed Stephanie Gach and killed other women are available to anyone who wants to read them on the Internet. Many of the writings were put there by a one-time pen pal and admirer of Trawick's.

The killer even taunts Mary Kate Gach by name.

``I'm mad as hell,'' she said. ``Those people don't even have a right to speak my name or my child's name. There's got to be a way to keep them from funneling this stuff out of prisons.''

Around the country, dozens of U.S. death row inmates have gotten their letters and artwork posted on the Internet, a practice that torments the victims' grieving friends and relatives.

``It's going on all over,'' said Nancy Ruhe, executive director of Parents of Murdered Children in Cincinnati. ``People say to me all the time, `When are these (victims) going to get over it?' They can't.''

Experts say little can be done about Web sites featuring the writings of killers.

``It's the First Amendment,'' Ruhe acknowledged.

Typically, material from inmates makes it onto the Internet through an intermediary. Prisoners send letters to people or companies on the outside, where it is then posted online.

Alabama prison officials say it appears Trawick stopped sending out new stories about murder after Gach's mother and others complained last year. But Trawick's old writings are still on the Web, along with gruesome drawings of murdered women.

In one letter posted on the Internet, Trawick reveled in the Gach slaying.

``I would do the whole thing again knowing death row was waiting for me,'' Trawick, 56, wrote from Holman Prison.

Trawick confessed to kidnapping Gach, 21, from a Birmingham-area shopping mall in 1992. He took her to an isolated area where he beat her with a hammer, strangled her and stabbed her through the heart.

Gach's body was thrown off an embankment, where it was found the next day. Trawick was convicted in 1994, and he was convicted the next year in the slaying of Aileen Pruitt, 27, killed about four months before Gach.

Trawick has yet to exhaust his appeals, and no date for his execution has been set.

Gach's mother avoids listening to anything about Trawick. But it hurts her to know Trawick has a worldwide platform for his sadistic prose.

Free-speech protections prevent prison officials from blocking inmates' outgoing mail unless it presents a security risk or involves a crime in progress, said Amy Fettig, an attorney in Washington with the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project.

``Certainly I would understand victims being upset, and prison officials have a right to read mail,'' she said. But ``just saying nasty things or having bad opinions is not a crime.''

In one test of inmates' rights, a federal judge in May struck down as unconstitutional an Arizona law that made it illegal for state inmates to send out material to be posted on Web sites. The judge ruled the law was not ``rationally related to legitimate penological objectives.''

In Alabama, Gach and other victims' relatives met with the state prisoner commissioner last year to protest inmate Web sites. Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said Trawick's mail was screened extra closely for a time, but his writings have reappeared in new postings in recent weeks.

``I'm in shock. I feel like I have been here before,'' said Stephanie Gach's mother.

01/13/04 14:33

Jolie Rouge

01-13-2004, 03:25 PM

Mammoth Skull Discovered Near Gulf Coast of Texas

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040113%2F155815568.htm&sc=1501

CLUTE, Texas (AP) - The skull of a woolly mammoth unearthed here has been tentatively dated to an age of 38,000 years, paleontologists say.

The remains were unearthed in a sand pit by Texas A&M University students and the Brazosport Archaeological Society. No mammoths had earlier been discovered on the Texas Gulf Coast, Brian Miles, paleontology curator at the Brazosport Museum of Natural Science, told The Brazosport Facts in Tuesday's online edition.

Digging that began Friday had by the weekend produced about 40 strands of clumped hair, presumably from the mammoth, said lead researcher Robson Bonnichsen, director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M.

``It's highly unusual for this to be preserved,'' he told the Houston Chronicle.

Such samples would allow scientists to collect DNA from a Columbian mammoth for the first time, said Bonnichsen, and determine how closely it is related to the woolly mammoth. Other DNA samples were collected from the woolly, and some Texas A&M researchers have even talked of cloning the mammal.

A backhoe operator, Joe Kimble, said he was working in the pit in November 2003 when he came across a tusk, said Kenny Vernor, president of Vernor Material and Equipment Co. Kimble, 46, ran into a single tusk, but the scientific community had little interest in the discovery, said Vernor.

But he found a pair of tusks a short distance away about a week later. Researchers were down the next day, Vernor said.

Miles said part of the skull and miscellaneous bones were also found in addition to the tusks. The Columbian mammoth is a warmer climate cousin of the woolly mammoth.

The sand pit's owners have allowed archaeologists to cordon off an area of interest with a 50-by-50-foot fence, where they will dig for at least three or four more weekends, said Bonnichsen. Researchers plan to place the bones - or at least a cast of the bones - in the nearby Brazosport Museum of Natural Science.

Officials of ConocoPhillips are partnering with Vernor Material on the excavation.

01/13/04 15:58

Jolie Rouge

01-13-2004, 09:37 PM

Is This Vitamin Dangerous For Men?

Men: Beware of vitamin D. Men who have too little vitamin D in their bodies have a 50 percent higher risk of prostate cancer than men whose blood contains an average amount of the vitamin. In addition, men who have too much vitamin D have a 70 percent greater chance of getting the disease than men who have an average amount, reports Reuters of new research from the University of Tampere in Finland.

Still, lead study author of Dr. Pentti Tuohimaa assures men that vitamin D is linked to a numerous health benefits, making a deficiency dangerous. The trick is getting just the right amount. Previous research has also linked prostate cancer to a lack of vitamin D, but this is one of the first to show that too much can be equally dangerous.

The study: The amount of vitamin D was measured in blood samples from 622 men who had prostate cancer and 1,451 men who did not.

The results: In general, men who had high or low levels of vitamin D in their blood were more likely to have prostate cancer than men who had an average amount of vitamin D in their bodies, reports Reuters. It is not yet known if vitamin D is actually affecting the growth and development of cancer or if it's exerting its effects via calcium and phosphate, which are known risk factors for prostate cancer that interact with vitamin D, the authors note. The study results were published in the International Journal of Cancer.

In a different study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, it was found that women who take multivitamins containing vitamin D are 40 percent less likely to develop multiple sclerosis than women who do not take supplements. The study findings were published in the journal Neurology.

Jolie Rouge

01-13-2004, 09:40 PM

Britney's video: A take on Timberlake?
'Toxic' debuts Tuesday on MTV
Tuesday, January 13, 2004 Posted: 10:52 AM EST

NEW YORK (Billboard) -- With her wedding/annulment imbroglio behind her, Britney Spears is getting back into showbiz high gear.

Her new video, "Toxic," will have its debut on Tuesday's "Making the Video" on MTV, and the singer is readying a North American tour.
The video apparently takes a swipe at ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake and his "Cry Me a River" video. According to an article on MTV.com, "Spears plays a femme fatale who'll do just about anything to procure a poisonous potion so she can kill her cheating ex, played by actor Martin Henderson."

Among the video's images: Spears in flight attendant garb picking up a man for a "bathroom interrogation"; Spears in a catsuit; and Spears wearing "nothing but pasted-on diamonds," according to MTV.com.

The video was directed by Joseph Kahn, who has helmed videos by the Backstreet Boys, Eminem, Garbage, Hole, Moby and U2. His feature film debut, "Torque," opens Friday.

The tour has been dubbed the Onyx Hotel Tour, and will feature a stage resembling a magical hotel that grants the wishes and fantasies of those who enter.

The Onyx Hotel is "a vibrant, whimsical place where wondrous dreams are realized, and the darkest of secrets are revealed," according to a statement from Spears' label, Jive Records.

Kelis has been tapped to open shows on the tour's North American leg, which will kick off March 2 in San Diego. The run will wrap April 10 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Spears' official Web site (http://britneyspears.com/) is hosting auctions for seats in the first five rows at 16 shows on the tour. Proceeds from those seats and portion of regular ticket sales will benefit the Britney Spears Foundation.

Spears' tour comes in support of her latest studio album, "In the Zone." The Jive set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 1.6 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Spears has had the run of the tabloids as of late, thanks to a January 3 Las Vegas wedding to longtime friend Jason Alexander. The nuptials, annulled two days later, were officially described as a joke taken too far.

Jolie Rouge

01-13-2004, 09:47 PM

SCHWARZENEGGER ORDERS BREAST IMPLANT INSPECTIONS

Names Self Inspector-in-Chief

www.borowitzreport.com/

Calling silicone breast implants “the biggest problem facing California today,” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today ordered mandatory silicone breast implant inspections for every woman in California.

“The time has come to say ‘hasta la vista’ to fake breasts,” Governor Schwarzenegger said, introducing a bill calling for silicone inspection teams to fan out across the state.

With a towering budget deficit plaguing California, many observers in Sacramento were surprised that Mr. Schwarzenegger would name fake breasts the most worrisome problem on his agenda.

But the Governor today declared his commitment to cracking down on what he called California’s “fake breast epidemic,” naming himself California’s “breast inspector-in-chief.”

Mr. Schwarzenegger then led a team of breast inspectors through southern California’s San Fernando Valley, which the Governor has derided as “Silicone Valley” in recent speeches.

Wearing a baseball cap reading, “Fake Breast Inspector #1,” Governor Schwarzenegger pounded on doors, shouting, “This is your Governor! Show me your breasts!,” causing many residents to bolt their doors and phone the authorities.

While opposition groups howled that the fake-breast-implant-inspection regime was improper and might even be unconstitutional, the Governor remained undaunted.

“We just need more time,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said. “The inspections are working.”

In other news, 'GOVERNOR ARNOLD: A Photodiary of His First 100 Days in Office' arrives in bookstores TODAY!

The critics are raving about this latest hit book from the The Borowitz Report, chronicling Governor Schwarzenegger’s first 100 days in doctored photos and even faker captions. Go to www.amazon.com and buy GOVERNOR ARNOLD today for only $9.95!

“No-holds-barred – and I mean NONE.” -- Daily Variety
“Hot Book Pick.” – US Weekly

Jolie Rouge

01-13-2004, 09:51 PM

BorowitzReport Archives

“QUEER EYE” SPOKESMAN QUESTIONS RIDGE’S CHOICE OF ORANGE

Unflattering Color, Warns Fab Five’s Carson

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=766

Carson Kressley, the fashion savant of the hit series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” today questioned Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge’s choice of orange for the current terror alert, calling the color “wildly unflattering.”

“I don’t know too many men who can pull off orange,” Mr. Kressley said. “And if I were a big husky boy like Tom Ridge, I would definitely avoid it like the plague.”

By issuing an orange alert, Mr. Kressley argued, Mr. Ridge was putting the nation “at a greater fashion risk than ever before.”

“We’re all running around worrying about al Qaeda, but that doesn’t mean we should have to worry about looking bad, too,” Mr. Kressley said.

But even as he attacked Mr. Ridge’s choice of orange, Mr. Kressley did not recommend that the government step back down to a yellow alert, pronouncing that color “yucky beyond Thunderdome.”

For his part, Mr. Kressley unveiled a new “Queer Eye” terror alert chart, featuring such colors as raspberry sherbet, scarlet and blizzard.

As for the ominous terror signals reported by Secretary Ridge in his press briefing on Sunday, Mr. Kressley attributed the “increased chatter” to the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations a few days earlier.

“I know I was on my cell talking nonstop with my friends the minute Uma stepped up to the podium,” Mr. Kressley said. “There’s always more chatter around awards time.”

In other news, the retailer Victoria’s Secret reported today that sales of lingerie items to people who will not look good in them accounted for 100% of its revenue this holiday season.

Jolie Rouge

01-14-2004, 01:14 PM

The Biggest Secret On the 'Friends' Set ??

The biggest secret on the set of "Friends" is the plot of the last storyline. How will the 10-year show finally end? It is so secret that key portions of the episode will be shot on Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Television lot in Burbank without a studio audience and without some of the personnel who typically work behind the scenes, reports The New York Post. "We'll just have essential personnel on the set for those [important scenes]," co-creator and executive producer Marta Kauffman told TV critics who gathered on Tuesday on the set of "Friends."

The producers did make this promise: Unlike the spoof on "Saturday Night Live" where outrageous and even tragic endings were portrayed, the ultimate episode will not radically depart from a typical "Friends" storyline as each character's life is neatly wrapped up. "We didn't want to take the show out of the world we know," Crane explained. "Hopefully it'll be a really good episode of 'Friends,' but an episode of 'Friends.'"

The cast read the script just this week. The Post reports that actor David Schwimmer hinted that his long-suffering character Ross, will live happily ever after. He called his character's resolution "exactly what I had hoped for." Wonder if it involves Rachel?

Meanwhile, NBC Entertainment chief Jeff Zucker, told TV critics there was no fact to the rumor he would offer each cast member $2 million to do a reunion show next fall. "I am here to offer them $4 million a piece," he said.

Cute, Jeff.

Jolie Rouge

01-14-2004, 09:21 PM

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040114%2F211800603.htm&sc=1501&photoid=20040114SAW104

Bush Outlines Plan for 2015 Moon Landing
By PAUL RECER

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, envisioning ``new journeys to the worlds beyond our own,'' unveiled a plan Wednesday to send astronauts to the moon, Mars and beyond on missions sure to cost hundreds of billions of dollars and stretch the bounds of technology. He called for a manned lunar landing as early as 2015.

Bush's election-year initiative represents the boldest space goals since John F. Kennedy laid the groundwork for the Apollo program that landed Americans on the moon in 1969.

Intended to inject new life into a space program shattered by last year's loss of the Columbia shuttle and its crew of seven, Bush's proposal faces tough questions in Congress. Many Democrats say the administration should take care of problems at home before setting its sights on costly space initiatives, particularly in the face of budget deficits of about $500 billion.

Some scientists say it would be more efficient and less expensive to use robotic spacecraft instead of manned missions. Bush's father proposed a Mars mission in 1989, but it collapsed when cost estimates hit $400 billion to $500 billion.

In a speech at NASA's headquarters, Bush laid out a timetable for robotic missions to the moon no later than 2008, the first manned flight of a new spacecraft by 2014 and a manned lunar mission as early as 2015 and no later than 2020.

The president did not set a deadline for reaching Mars, and NASA Director Sean O'Keefe, briefing reporters later, said the timing of the mission would depend on the results of studies on the effects of space travel on humans.

Bush said the moon, with a gravity pull one-sixth that of Earth, could be the launching pad for ``human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond.'' He said his goal was to ``extend a human presence across our solar system.''

Bush's speech put him in the political spotlight in the run-up to Monday's Iowa caucus battle among Democrats who want his job. It was the president's second headline-grabbing announcement in recent days, after his immigration proposal last week.

In vivid terms, Bush portrayed the nation's space program - with its three shuttles grounded by the Columbia accident - as at a standstill. ``In the past 30 years, no human being has set foot on another world or ventured farther up into space than 386 miles, roughly the distance from Washington, D.C., to Boston, Mass.,'' Bush said.

``It is time for America to take the next steps,'' he said.

In terms of the cost, Bush gave an estimate only for the initial downpayment on his space plan. He said it would cost $12 billion over the next five years, but only $1 billion in new funds. The remainder would come from money reallocated under NASA's five-year budget. Thus, it would be for Bush's successors to figure out how to finance the costliest part of the plan.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who flew on a space shuttle in 1986, questioned whether $1 billion in extra funding would be enough. ``You can't go to the moon by 2014 with that,'' Nelson said.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's plan faces strong scrutiny. ``As we go forward with any initiative we have to examine our priorities,'' she said. ``We have serious challenges here on Earth.''

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., chairman of the House Science Committee's Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, praised the plan.

``America is not going to remain at peace, and we're not going to remain the most prosperous nation, and we're not going to remain a free nation, unless we remain the technological leader of the world,'' he said. ``And we will not remain the technological leader of the world unless we are the leaders in space.''

In his speech, Bush got a high-tech introduction from a beamed video image of astronaut Michael Foale, aboard the International Space Station 240 miles above the Earth.

``I know that I'm just one chapter in an ongoing story of discovery,'' said Foale, making his sixth trip into space. In the NASA audience sat Eugene A. Cernan, commander of the last Apollo mission to the moon in December 1972, the last man to leave his footprint on the lunar surface.

Bush brushed aside arguments that robotic exploration should replace human missions.

``The human thirst for knowledge ultimately cannot be satisfied by even the most vivid pictures or the most detailed measurements,'' Bush said. ``We need to see and examine and touch for ourselves.''

An AP-Ipsos poll out Monday found the public evenly split on Bush's plan to build a long-term base on the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars. That's similar to the way Americans felt more than 35 years ago about the first efforts to land men on the moon.

The poll found that just over half said it would be better to spend the money on programs like education and health care rather than on space research.

``Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn to unknown lands and across the open sea,'' Bush said ``We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives and lifts our national spirit. So let us continue the journey.''

Under Bush's plan, the shuttle fleet would be retired by the end of the decade.

NASA would develop and build a new ``crew exploration vehicle'' to ferry people first to the space station after the shuttles were retired, and then to the moon.

Defending his priorities, Bush said the space program has brought tangible benefits with advances in weather forecasting, communications, computers, search and rescue technology, robotics and electronics.

To carry out his program, Bush formed a new panel, the Commission on the Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, to advise NASA. Pete Aldridge, a former Air Force secretary, was named to lead the effort.

Bush spoke as NASA engineers in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California were maneuvering the Mars rover toward its first touch of the soil of the red planet. It was supposed to roll off its landing platform early Thursday.

01/14/04 21:18

Jolie Rouge

01-14-2004, 09:28 PM

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/01/14/lion.mummy.ap/index.html

First lion mummy found in tomb near King Tut
Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Posted: 3:14 PM EST

The skeleton of the once-mummified lion was found in a tomb south of Cairo, Egypt.

(AP) -- For the first time, archaeologists have discovered a preserved lion skeleton in an ancient Egyptian tomb, demonstrating the exalted reputation enjoyed by the king of beasts more than 3,000 years ago.

A research team led by French archaeologist Alain Zivie found the lion's remains in 2001 as they excavated the tomb of Maia, wet nurse to Tutankhamun, the "boy king" popular with museum visitors today for his opulent gold funeral relics. He ruled for 10 years and died around 1323 B.C.

"It confirms the status of the lion as a sacred animal," Zivie reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Inscriptions in ancient Egypt mention the breeding and burial of lions, but no lion remains previously had been found, said Zivie, who is with the French Archaeological Mission of the Bubasteion.

The tombs associated with King Tut are situated in a burial ground south of Cairo, across the Nile River from Memphis, ancient Egypt's first capital. Zivie found Maia's elaborate tomb in 1996.

The complete and undisturbed lion skeleton was found in an area of the tomb dedicated to the cat goddess Bastet. The section also contained vast quantities of bones of humans and animals, including many cats.

The lion's bones were not wrapped in linen bandages familiar to human mummies. But the bones' position, along with their coloration and mineral deposits on their surface, are similar to those of other mummified cats discovered elsewhere at the burial ground.

Zivie said the worn condition of the bones and teeth suggest it lived to an old age and was kept in captivity. The lion is not believed to have belonged to Maia.

The lion may have been considered an incarnation of the god Mahes, the son of Bastet, Zivie said.

Hunters nearly exterminated regional lion populations by 1100 B.C. Commemorative artwork has been found telling of how the pharaoh Amenhotep III killed more than 100 lions during a single hunt. Ramses the Great had a pet lion named Slayer of his Foes.

An Egyptologist who did not work on the specimen said the discovery is an important addition to knowledge of ancient ritual.

Archaeologists previously have found vast cemeteries for baboons, ibis, fish, smaller cats, dogs and crocodiles. Mummifying a large animal like a lion would have been an expensive and elaborate task.

"This is not any old lion. It's an important lion," said Emily Teeter, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago.

Other researchers said Zivie's report leaves several questions unanswered.

Robert Pickering, a forensic anthropologist with the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, said the bones' discoloration is irrelevant because they would have been affected by the tomb's environment over thousands of years. The lack of linen wrapping and soft tissue preservation also does not support mummification, he said.

"It seems to be treated different from other animals that were entombed as part of ritual," Pickering said. "Maybe this lion's importance is as a family pet rather than as a representative of a god. The context doesn't seem to fit."

Jolie Rouge

01-14-2004, 09:42 PM

Frito-Lay introduces low-carb chips

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0002/20040114/141247891.htm

NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Snack foods company Frito-Lay said Wednesday it is introducing two new types of chips to capitalize on the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets.

The two new products, called Doritos Edge and Tostitos Edge, will cut out 60 percent of the carbohydrates that are in regular Doritos and Tostitos.

Frito-Lay, a unit of PepsiCo Inc. , has already eliminated trans fats from its brands. Trans fats, which give products a longer shelf life, have been linked to heart disease.

The new chips will use soy proteins and fiber as substitute ingredients, the company said in a statement. Both Tostitos Edge and Doritos Edge will have six net carbohydrates, 10 grams of protein, and three grams of fiber.

The low-carb craze, popularized by the high-protein Atkins diet, has food companies rolling out new products to jump on the bandwagon.

Anglo-Dutch food group Unilever said on Wednesday it has launched a variety of low-carb products in the U.S. markets under existing brand names such as Ragu, Wish-Bone, Skippy, Lipton and Lawry's.

Fast food chains McDonald's Corp. and Burger King revamped their menus to cater to customers counting their carbs.

The alcohol industry is also taking notice. Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.'s low-carb Michelob Ultra beer has been a big profit driver for the past year and Adolph Coors Co. is rolling out Aspen Edge beer to take a part of the health-conscious market.

Spirits companies such as Diageo Plc. are using their advertising to point out that many of their drinks have always been low carbohydrate offerings.

Doritos Edge is currently being tested in Phoenix, and both products
will be available across the United States in May.

01/14/04 14:11

Jolie Rouge

01-15-2004, 09:20 PM

Top 10 Spam E-Mail Subject Lines

If you have e-mail, chances are you have e-mail spam. Did you get any of these? America Online has released the top 10 list of spam e-mail subject lines of 2003:

No. 10: As Seen on Oprah
No. 9: Hot XXX Action
No. 8: Work From Home
No. 7: Lowest Insurance Rates
No. 6: Lowest Mortgage Rates
No. 5: Online Degree
No. 4: Get Bigger
No. 3: Get Out of Debt
No. 2: Online Pharmacy
And the No. 1 spam e-mail subject line:

No. 1: Viagra Online

There is hope! Last month, Virginia authorities announced felony charges against two men accused of violating the state's new anti-spam law. They described the indictments as the first of their kind.

And here's a real statement on our times. Opening on Thursday in New York City's Spaceworks at the Tank is a museum-type show that attempts to transform spam e-mail into a collection of rare artifacts. What would happen if archeologists from the future tried to reconstruct early 21st century life based only on the information they learned from spam? Wired News reports that it looks like this: "Suitcases packed with pornography, bottles of penis-enlargement pills, bank statements detailing the failures of work-at-home schemes, pseudo love letters and dioramas of deposed dictators--this is just some of the art on display at Reimagining the Ordovician Gothic: Fossils From the Golden Age of Spam." The show's curator, Jesse Jarnow, told Wired News the point of the show if to "turn mundane junk mail into something mysterious and strange by examining the true weirdness that lies at the heart of it."

Jolie Rouge

01-15-2004, 09:26 PM

7-Foot Boa Fights Porcupine, Loses

Big Boa Fights Porcupine, Seeks Sanctuary

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040115%2F1615128804.htm&sc=1120&photoid=20031228WXS104

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Eight firefighters removed a seven-foot-long boa constrictor from the back yard of a house in the hills above this city Thursday. The snake had apparently been fighting with a porcupine and came to the house for sanctuary.

It took the firefighters nearly two hours to remove the snake from the backyard of the house on the edge of the city's Tijuca forest, said Sub-Lt. Armando Viana of the Rio de Janeiro fire department.

Viana said he believed the snake had entered the yard after fighting with a porcupine because it had large black spines in its head. Firefighters removed the spines and treated the snake's wounds.

Viana said another smaller boa constrictor had also been found near another Rio residence later in day.

``I think what's happening is that there's a lack of food in the forest which is forcing the snakes to descend to the urban areas where some residents keep chickens and ducks,'' he said.

Rio de Janeiro is home to world's largest urban rainforest with lush green jungle covering many of the city's hills.

Monkeys, tree sloths and anteaters are all common in the area.

Firefighters planned to release the snake back into the forest but would not say when or where because boas are valued here for their meat and leathery green and yellow skin.

01/15/04 16:15

Jolie Rouge

01-15-2004, 09:31 PM

Kids Learn Vocabulary by Talking Dirty

:eek:

Hey, kids! Want to learn lots of new words and get a higher SAT verbal score in the process?

SAT prep coach Renee Mazer has discovered a unique way to do this that intrigues word-weary teens and amazingly doesn't annoy their parents. She has them talk dirty. The only catch: The words are a lot longer than four letters. Call it the va-va-va-voom vocabulary method.

Mazer's logic is hard to beat. She figures teens are more likely to remember a word in a racy context so she tells them stories about her dates, like the lifeguard who stripped naked and "wasn't diminutive if you know what I mean," reports Wireless Flash.

And the parents' reaction to her taking perfectly respectable words and teaching them in a less-than-respectable context? When moms and dads see SAT scores that jump by 82 points, they're thrilled. Her unusual vocabulary method is outlined in a CD or audio cassette title "Not Too Scary Vocabulary! for the Sat & Other Standardized Tests." Other tricks for learning the 500 words are silly poems and songs.

Jolie Rouge

01-15-2004, 09:42 PM

Imam Convicted for Advice on How to Beat Wives

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040115%2F0847115772.htm&sc=reodd

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court sentenced an imam to 15 months in prison Wednesday for writing a book instructing husbands how to beat their wives without leaving bruises.

A lawyer for the Egyptian-born imam, Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, 44, vowed to appeal, telling state radio the ruling was unjust.

The Barcelona court found Mustafa guilty of provoking violence on the basis of gender in his book "Women in Islam," published in 2000.

The book recommends that in the case of a "rebellious woman" a husband should attempt "serene dialogue" and if that fails, refuse to sleep in the same bed.

If rebellion persists, the woman should be struck in a "symbolic" way and "without excesses," the court order cited the book as saying.

"If one needs to use blows, they should be administered to specific parts of the body like the feet and hands, using a light and thin stick so it will not leave scars or bruising on the body," read an excerpt from the book quoted in the ruling.

In the trial Mustafa argued that much of his advice was based on the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

But the court said today's society was "not the Arabian desert of 14 centuries ago," and ruled that some passages violated the penal code and women's constitutional rights, partly because Mustafa was a prayer leader with influence over people at his mosque near Malaga, on the southern coast.

Spanish media reported that Mustafa would not go to jail because first time offenders in Spain who receive terms of less than 28 months usually have their sentences suspended.

The court also fined Mustafa 2,160 euros ($2,742) and ordered copies of the book to be confiscated, according to the written court order.

The court said parts of the book addressing menstruation, childbirth, makeup and clothing promoted sexual discrimination that was "intolerable and criminally reproachable."

01/15/04 08:47

the fugative

01-18-2004, 09:45 PM

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird
Chuck Shepherd

Published January 15, 2004

Jonathan Cantu, 39, and Charles J. Kern, 50, each feeling slighted by the other's Christmas gift, smacked each other over the head with flowerpots and were hospitalized (San Rafael, Calif.). Brandi Nicole Nason, 20, also dissatisfied with a gift, allegedly tossed a Molotov cocktail into her ex-mother-in-law's house, causing $200,000 in damage (Hermosa Beach, Calif.). A woman was arrested for beating a man with a Christmas tree after he complained that the gifts he was carrying were heavier than the tree that she was carrying (Victoria, British Columbia). And after Donna Simmons-Groover won her apartment complex's Christmas-lights competition, a losing neighbor ripped out part of her display in a rage (Jensen Beach, Fla.).

• Noah Donell Brown, 24, running from police after allegedly robbing a Subway sandwich shop, was caught after being slowed by his baggy pants, which caught on a fence post (Hendersonville, N.C., October).

Least competent criminals

• Kenneth Martin, 44, and Earle Sharpe III, 30, were arrested for kidnapping in Providence, R.I., in December after abducting a 24-year-old man who supposedly owed Martin money. According to police, after taking the man to an apartment, Martin pointed his gun at him but then realized the magazine had fallen out. Martin and Sharpe went outside to retrace their steps in search of the magazine after giving the victim a stern warning not to leave. However, he did leave and called police.

• The Singapore government decided in December to list its high-tech sewage-water conversion plant as a major tourist attraction; Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong drank a bottle of the purified waste to demonstrate that it is not only safe but tasty. And sanitation officials in Oslo, Norway, said they will soon create an adventure park within the city's sewer system, including rafting, theater performances, artwork on the walls, and an area for weddings and parties.

Recent alarming headlines

• (1) "Westchester Ordered to Pay $2,500 to Pedophile Clown" (an August New York Times story about clown Richard Hobbs winning a lawsuit against a county that had tried to keep him out of a public park). (2) "Champion Liar Accused of Cheating" (a November London Evening Standard report that this year's winner of the World's Biggest Liar contest in Cumbria, England, read from a script instead of extemporaneously lying).

• As New Yorkers frolicked in fresh snow from the city's Dec. 7 blizzard, Gilberto Triplett, 28, set up a street-corner kiosk to sell snowballs for $1 each. According to the New York Daily News, he sold six, then created a fresh inventory, and moved four more before calling it a day.

• Questionable new products: Triumph International, the Swiss maker of unmentionables, presented a prototype of an anti-smoking brassiere containing perfumes (including lavender and jasmine) that are turned unpleasant by tobacco smoke. • For New Year's, the Japanese department store Mitsukoshi Ltd. offered traditional "bento box" meals, but expressly for dogs (at least, dogs whose owners were willing to pay about $175 each). The ornate, two-layered container housed 30 delicacies, including pork dumplings, black beans, strawberry mousse and green tea, and was a bold attempt by the store to pitch to Japan's growing upscale pet market.

Weird science

• A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that a woman who conceived three sons with her husband was not the biological mother of two of them. Doctors posited that the woman herself was part of a nonidentical-twin pair that fused at an early stage of her mother's pregnancy and that only her blood cells are hers, alone, while cells from her eggs and other tissues may have come from her sister's fetus.

• Free-lance writer Jean Lund (her pen name), 51, disclosed to the Boston Globe for a November story that she suffers from Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome (perpetually on the verge of orgasm) and hopes that her revelation will help people understand how uncomfortable the condition is. According to Lund and others, the arousal is much different than sexual desire and in fact is not satiated by orgasm. Suspected causes are chemical imbalances, seizures and irregular blood flow. "It's just a horror," said a 71-year-old sufferer; it "never stops, it never lets up."

• News of the Weird reported in 1996 that Virldeen Redmon, then 67, had just been sentenced to 9 1/2 years in an Indiana prison on three drunken-driving-related counts, the latest of his nearly 400 alcohol-related arrests since 1947. He was released from prison for health reasons in 2001, but has been arrested several times since then on similar charges (running his total to more than 400), and in December was sentenced on three new counts to 17 years in prison. His driver's license was revoked in 1977.

• Also, in the past month: A 21-year-old woman was charged with public nudity for being naked in a downtown bar, even though the only evidence the police had was a photograph of her, naked, in the bar, that she had posted on the Internet (Lincoln, Neb.). Two armed robbers who kicked in a door and threatened a terrified woman backed off after she told them she had epilepsy; one of the men said his cousin is similarly afflicted, and he persuaded his partner to call off the robbery (Wichita, Kan.). A 36-year-old woman was arrested for stealing 50 antique glass eyeballs from a hospital display case (Owensboro, Ky.).

:p

Jolie Rouge

01-18-2004, 10:10 PM

2004/01/19/nyregion/19MEMO.html?ex=1075784400&en=286446f66c331365&ei=5004&partner=UNTD

The 9/11 Memorial: How Pluribus Became Unum
By GLENN COLLINS and DAVID W. DUNLAP

Published: January 19, 2004

Above all else, it was a jury.

It was sequestered, for six months, from those who would intrude. Its members were trapped in deliberation until consensus could be established. It called for expert testimony, then called for it again. It quarreled. It soul-searched. It schmoozed and, yes, it laughed.

Sometimes it despaired of reaching a verdict. And it worked as hard as if lives depended on it, which, in a broad sense, they did.

For its verdict was the World Trade Center memorial, commemorating 2,982 lives lost in the attacks of 2001 and 1993. The 13 jurors faced the formidable task of winnowing 5,201 submissions ranging from the sublime to something else. Big Apples. Towers inspired by Lego blocks. Clocks fixed at 9:11.

Assuming that the memorial motivates enough private donors to build it — the preliminary cost estimate is $175 million — the jurors' choice, "Reflecting Absence," by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, could be the most important public memorial in decades.

The 12 jurors and other officials who discussed their experiences with The New York Times opened the curtain on cloak-and-dagger moments — secret locations, two sets of entry keys and even anthrax screening. They bristled when they recalled some of the harsh criticism they could not help hearing. They proudly told of ignoring the footsteps of the powerful outside their jury rooms. And if they clashed during their 11th-hour bargaining at Gracie Mansion, they also fondly remembered its tranquillity, and the comfort food that fueled their struggle.

Almost from the start of the largest such competition in history, the jury bonded strongly. Maya Lin, one of the jurors, recalled being asked how they could go through 5,201 entries without feeling that they missed one.

"Many of us said, spontaneously: `I don't think of myself as one pair of eyes,' " she said. " `I think of myself as 13.' "

If the task was daunting, it was also inspiring. "The first time that I saw those hundreds of boards, my knees buckled," recalled Paula Grant Berry, a juror whose husband, David S. Berry, died in the south tower. "I was overwhelmed that so many people cared — and wanted to share our grief."

In an interview after the design was unveiled on Wednesday, Gov. George E. Pataki said, "Having a jury that was insulated and allowed to function — with the freedom to think and be involved and the freedom to have the time necessary to ultimately come up with what they thought was right — was absolutely essential."

"You can't," he continued, "have a memorial designed by politicians."

Overseeing the memorial, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation sought a jury largely of arts and cultural professionals, said the organization's president, Kevin M. Rampe. The belief was that it would lead to the best memorial and have the greatest chance of public acceptance.

The corporation also knew that to attract jurors of the highest caliber, they would have to be given the sole authority to make the final choice. Jurors were not paid.

The names of prospective jurors were discussed by Patricia E. Harris, the deputy mayor for administration, who ended up serving as a juror; Diana Taylor, the governor's deputy secretary for finance and housing; Louis R. Tomson, who was then president of the development corporation; John C. Whitehead, the corporation chairman; Anita F. Contini, director of the corporation's memorial program; and three corporation board members.

Vartan Gregorian, the president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and ultimately the jury chairman, was recruited by Mr. Whitehead. "He told me it would take a couple of weeks," Dr. Gregorian commented, with a laugh.

Michael McKeon, Governor Pataki's former communications director, allowed that he was seen at first as an outright political appointee. The jurors learned that Mr. McKeon, now a public relations consultant, had been working on the scene at ground zero for months, starting Sept. 11, 2001. He said he had signed onto the jury because "this was a way for me to finish the job."

As for Mr. McKeon being his eyes and ears on the panel, Governor Pataki said, "He was very silent."

Similarly, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that Deputy Mayor Harris, who oversaw the city's two Sept. 11 memorial ceremonies, "never shared with me the deliberations."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/nyregion/19MEMO.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5004&en=286446f66c331365&ex=1075784400&partner=UNTD

The question of including a juror who was related to a victim prompted a two-week discussion. There were fears that family members might be too close to their grief to work effectively with a jury and, on the other hand, that their opinions might be given inordinate weight.

In the end, the corporation realized that politically, it needed a family member. Ms. Berry, who is on the corporation's family advisory council, was asked to join.

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"I agonized quite a bit," she said. "I needed reassurance that they didn't want someone to represent the families — because it is such a diverse group. But I hoped I could look at the process with the families' heart."

Ms. Lin, acutely conscious of her celebrated role as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was also not easily persuaded. "She's a little uncomfortable about being Miss Memorial," another juror said. "She was conscious of checking her ego."

Ms. Lin and James E. Young of the University of Massachusetts, an expert in international memorial design, each agreed to serve if the other would. "I almost felt I needed to help, needed to be on the jury," Ms. Lin said, "that that was where I could help, where I could give back."

Nancy Rosen, a public art consultant, felt that being a juror meant facing a kind of quarantine: "We were like astronauts asked to go to some strange planet."

Jolie Rouge

01-18-2004, 10:14 PM

continuing ....

Setting the Rules

As submissions arrived at a warehouse on West 36th Street, the jury met with many groups and with the governor, the mayor and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. "All of them promised to affirm our autonomy and authority," Dr. Gregorian said.

For their part, jurors signed confidentiality statements restricting their public comments. But their silence during the process also reflected their respect for one another. "You did not leave a meeting and read about it the next day," Ms. Harris said.

Almost immediately, the jury challenged the master site plan by Studio Daniel Libeskind, which called for the entire memorial area to be depressed 30 feet below street level. "Most of us felt that an at-grade solution was preferable," said Julie Menin, a juror and president of Wall Street Rising, a nonprofit group set up after 9/11 to encourage the neighborhood's recovery.

Choosing the memorial was as much an urban planning exercise as an artistic commission. "It was the memorial site competition," said Susan K. Freedman, a juror and president of the Public Art Fund. "How many artists are given four and a half acres?"

Although there were two consultant firms to guide the process, it did not take long for the jurors to make their own rules, including a quorum of 100 percent for deliberations. "If somebody had to leave to get on an airplane, the meeting ended — period," said Ms. Harris. The jury also decided that the magic number for consensus would be 10 votes. And it wrangled with its stewards.

"There was constant friction with this group of jurors who hate authority," one official said. "They're a difficult group, but great jurors."

State officials were not the only ones to feel the jury's heat. Members debated among themselves — sometimes to the point of raised voices and stamping feet — how the memorial would feel to those who visited it. Jurors with a historical bent fought with those more concerned with the memorial's emotional and tactile impact.

Many jurors credited Ms. Contini, a former first vice president for sponsorships and events marketing at Merrill Lynch, for smoothing disagreements among them.

"I wanted to be sure that each juror always had the opportunity to have a voice," Ms. Contini said.

Narrowing the Field

With 5,201 entries to consider, the original strategy was for the submissions to be divided among three groups of jurors. The jury decided, though, that every juror would look at every board, including some 400 that had been disqualified on technicalities.

They did so in a 20,000-square-foot office on the 30th floor of the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway. When they gazed out the window, exhausted from viewing submissions, jurors saw ground zero.

www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/nyregion/19MEMO.html?pagewanted=3&ei=5004&en=286446f66c331365&ex=1075784400&partner=UNTD

private investigation firm run by Bo Dietl, a former New York police detective, examined each submission for explosive devices or contamination by anthrax. The 30- by 40-inch entries were placed on hundreds of easels in rooms protected by a double-key system. Jurors' notebooks never left the office.

Mr. McKeon recalled the vista of easel after easel. "There was so much, and I didn't want to miss anything," he said. "It was an awesome responsibility. I didn't want to screw it up."

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Throughout the process, jurors were permitted "passion votes" — designs that could be brought to the next stage of the judging by only one juror. One was cast by the architect Enrique Norten for "Passages of Light: the Memorial Cloud." "So few of the entries were unexpected, and this one was," he said. "I thought it was truly beautiful."

The daunting task of winnowing the submissions was accomplished in a succession of dogged seven- and eight-hour days. Jurors studied every presentation, identified only by six-digit codes. ("Reflecting Absence" was No. 790532.)

To be eliminated, a submission had to be signed by all the jurors. Votes were tabulated and retabulated as jurors asked to visit the nearly 600 easels again and again.

Jurors were appalled at the tastelessness of some entries, which conjured airplanes striking buildings and Las Vegas-style observatory towers. Other entrants had obviously studied the works of the jurors and attempted to win favor by adopting their design vocabulary.

"We resisted the idea of the literal," Dr. Young said, "that's why you don't get any Big Apples in our designs, or representations of airplanes, attacks, death, blood." The jury commissioned a survey of existing parks and grew certain that the memorial should offer residents green space. They asked engineers to explain how wind velocities would affect various tree species. They took into account predictions that the memorial would draw 10 million visitors a year.

The jurors shared thoughts on the phone, by e-mail, over drinks and dinner. "We liked to be together," Mr. McKeon said, but their shared responsibility "weighed heavier and heavier as it went on."

Discussion was heated at times, said Martin Puryear, a sculptor and jury member, "but nothing that could be called a meltdown."

Together, they clocked in thousands of hours. The jurors walked ground zero several times, pacing off the footprints to gauge the feasibility of the finalists.

They narrowed the selection to 250, then 50, then 25, then 11, then 9. A proposal called "Twin Piers" was eliminated when it was learned that its designer had submitted another entry, in violation of the rules. That left eight.

Despairing and Refining

Those finalists were given two months and up to $130,000 each to turn their original presentations into professional renderings, models and computer animations. The weekend before the first unveiling, on Nov. 19, the full jury met with the eight design teams and learned their identities.

Before the refined proposals went on public view, they were shown privately in a gallery at the World Financial Center in Battery Park City. Jurors, seeing the revisions for the first time, were underwhelmed.

"We knew a lot of these schemes didn't deliver the promise of what was on the stage-one boards," said Michael R. Van Valkenburgh, a juror who is a landscape architect. "It was a very heartbreaking time for the process."

Tensions rose as some jurors balked at a public display of the finalists. Other jurors countered that it was essential. Because the development corporation was committed to the presentation, the models were revealed.

Public and critical response was not encouraging. "Bland" and "generic" were two of the kindest characterizations. And, it turns out, Governor Pataki shared some of the frustrations.

"I — like I think most New Yorkers — didn't see one that just jumped out and struck me as the perfect, appropriate memorial," Mr. Pataki said. "So as you go through those discouraging moments, you think, `Hey, throw it out and start all over again.' But that's why we created a process where we had jurors who were insulated from those pressures."

Jolie Rouge

01-18-2004, 10:18 PM

www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/nyregion/19MEMO.html?pagewanted=4&ei=5004&en=286446f66c331365&ex=1075784400&partner=UNTD

[i]The 9/11 Memorial: How Pluribus Became Unum

Published: January 19, 2004

(Page 4 of 4)

Jurors read that victims' family groups were advocating the preservation of the original tower footprints and artifacts. They also read an article in The Times on Dec. 7 titled, "Ground Zero's Only Hope: Elitism," by Michael Kimmelman, the newspaper's chief art critic. He contrasted populism with democracy and suggested that the competition be started over and limited "to participants of the jury's expert choosing."

Jurors, including Mr. Puryear, were incensed. "Elitism was something I was absolutely opposed to," he recalled. "It smacks of smug cultural superiority, the opposite of the inclusive process we signed onto."

Matthew Higgins, the chief operating officer of the development corporation, sought a meeting with the editorial board of The Times. On Dec. 13, an editorial praised both "Garden of Lights" and "Memorial Cloud." They turned out to be two of the jurors' three favorites.

[b]Picking a Winner

After working with the finalists to improve their designs, jurors gathered on Jan. 5 at Gracie Mansion. They were feeling the pressure. "I don't know that we were going to get out unless we had a decision," Mr. McKeon said.

With breaks for breakfast and lunch prepared by the in-house chef, the jurors heard the three remaining design teams make their final pitch.

Before the day began, "Reflecting Absence" was regarded as a dark horse, though it had been transformed from Mr. Arad's stark original, losing a slablike cultural building that state officials derided as "Motel 6."

There is a resemblance between "Reflecting Absence" and a sketchbook of memorial ideas by Ms. Lin that was published in The New York Times Magazine on Sept. 8, 2002.

In the end Ms. Lin said approvingly that "Reflecting Absence" "made something positive out of the void." Mr. Arad said he had been contemplating his memorial design long before he knew Ms. Lin would review his work in a competition.

Jurors dismissed the notion that Ms. Lin — or anyone else — could have commandeered the proceedings. "Otherwise the deliberations would not have lasted 12 hours," Dr. Gregorian said.

Instead, what swayed the jury was that the "Reflecting Absence" team was joined by Peter Walker, a well-known landscape architect in Berkeley, Calif., who had also submitted a plan to the competition.

"Without Walker, there would not be Arad," Dr. Gregorian said.

"Garden of Lights" had a lot of support, a juror said, but the support evaporated after a "very unfortunate last presentation" in which the design team failed to satisfy requests for refinements. Jurors who favored the "Garden" plan moved to "Reflecting Absence."

In their arguments, opponents of the cloud — as everyone called the "Memorial Cloud" design — focused on the very quality its advocates admired: its distinctive architecture called attention to itself rather than the tragedy. "Its spectacle was so eye-absorbing," Dr. Young said, "that it took us out of ourselves, at a memorial that should encourage us to contemplate inwardly."

Ballot after ballot was taken: 8 to 5, 6 to 7, 7 to 6, 9 to 4. There was still no consensus when the jurors broke for a dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, served with expensive bottles of Long Island estate merlot from the Gracie Mansion cellar. "The comfort food was important," Dr. Young recalled. "That break really helped."

Shortly before 11 p.m., faced with the prospect of adjourning and reconvening the next evening, Mr. Van Valkenburgh said he told his weary fellow jurors, "Somebody is going to have to change their vote."

"And somebody did," he said, without identifying that person. Ultimately 10 jurors voted for the Arad-Walker plan. Those who did not vote for it decided to support it. "Some left disappointed but not angry," Dr. Gregorian said.

A Beginning

The jurors did not reconvene until Wednesday's unveiling of the design in Federal Hall National Memorial. They blinked uncomfortably in the brilliant camera lights. Some reported a sad feeling of withdrawal. But none seemed to regret the powerful experience.

"After having a child," Ms. Freedman said, "there is nothing I have ever felt a greater responsibility for."

In a sense, it is just the beginning of a process that could further transform the memorial. Some jurors vowed that the voice of the jury would continue to be heard. "We intend," Ms. Berry said, "to see it to the end."

Jolie Rouge

01-20-2004, 12:13 PM

This was sent to me by a friend you says it came from a Fraud Newsletter... I just cannot imagine any computer store believing the customer bought a new computer filled with potatoess. But then the stupit thief has to try it a second time. Gee how stupit cqn you get.

-------------------------

12 Jan 2004 18:11

German police investigate potato-computer scam

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police are investigating after an angry man returned a computer he had just bought saying it was packed with small potatoes instead of computer parts.

The store replaced the computer free of charge but became suspicious when he returned a short time later with another potato-filled computer casing, police in the western city of Kaiserslautern said on Monday.

"The second time he said he didn't need a computer any more and asked for his money back in cash," a police spokesman said.

Police are now investigating the man for fraud.

Jolie Rouge

01-20-2004, 12:16 PM

Actual Email I recieved today :

From : Charlie Wise
Subject : riddance alexandra dummy defecate requisi...

How fast can you hit delete ?

Jolie Rouge

01-21-2004, 09:06 PM

Am I the only one who gets these completely bizarre emails ??

From : Rosella Donnelly
Subject : admonition ape latinate euphemist

????????????

Jolie Rouge

01-21-2004, 09:11 PM

This is brought to us by our roving corospondant "Tina"

Thanks I would have missed this one :)

Russian army rescues kegs of beer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3414593.stm

Russian troops have retrieved 10 tonnes of beer trapped under the Siberian ice after a week-long operation.
A lorry carrying the beer was lost while crossing the frozen River Irtysh, near the city of Omsk, about 2,200 kilometres (1400 miles) from Moscow.

The driver managed to jump out after the ice gave way, but the lorry and its cargo sank.

Six divers, 10 men with electric saws and a tank pulled the beer kegs - but not the truck - to safety.

Beer going cheap

With temperatures reaching -27C, the rescue mission was fraught with problems.

Russia's Tass news agency reported that the recovery team eventually managed to pull the vehicle through a hole in the ice.

They retrieved the kegs of beer but the rope snapped and the truck slipped back under the water.

The Rosar brewery in Omsk said the freezing temperatures probably kept the quality of the beer from deteriorating and said it will still take the delivery.

It plans to sell the beer at a discount.

Jolie Rouge

01-21-2004, 09:19 PM

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/01/21/mars.rover.ap/index.html

Mars rover gets to work
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 Posted: 10:11 AM EST

PASADENA, California (AP) -- Scientists awaited data from the Spirit rover after it started probing the mineral composition of a large martian rock dubbed Adirondack.

The six-wheeled robot broke out its "Swiss army knife" of gadgets this week to examine some of the red planet's soil and on Tuesday turned its attention to the rock, NASA scientists said.

Mission members had not decided whether to use a tool to drill past the surface of the sharply angled rock to get measurements from its core. The data could help reveal how the rock, located in Mars' Gusev Crater, was formed and offer clues to Mars' geologic past.

"Mars is not going to give up her secrets easily but the key is, we have the tools to unlock it," the mission's principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University, told reporters.

Earlier in the week, the rover used its entire tool kit for the first time to complete an analysis of the martian soil to determine its mineral composition.

Scientists said the results of the probe -- which included the first-ever analysis by a Mossbauer spectrometer outside Earth -- raised as many questions as answers.

"We have now a number of hypotheses about what's going on in the martian soil," Squyres said. "We don't know that this soil came from the Gusev Crater. The stuff could have come from somewhere else. It's going to be very interesting to dig some holes and see if it looks the same" deeper down.

The German-made Mossbauer spectrometer, a small metal box attached to the rover's robotic arm, told scientists of a mix of minerals in the soil, including olivine and iron.

Squyres said scientists were surprised to find olivine, a mineral usually associated with volcanic eruptions. Mission members now believe the soil could be a layer of finely ground lava, he said.

"That would be a surprise to me," he said. "I think we're going to learn wonderful things by using the (rover) wheels to scrape and push" the soil away to see what's underneath.

Another tool noted iron, argon, sulfur, chlorine, nickel and zinc in the soil, said Dr. Johannes Brueckner of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.

Most of the minerals have been noted by previous Mars expeditions, including those of Pathfinder and Viking, but this marks the first time scientists have detected nickel and zinc, he said.

Scientists think the sulfur and chlorine might be a clue to what is holding the soil in minuscule clumps a few tenths of a millimeter in diameter. The clumps didn't break up under pressure from the spectrometer's contact plate, as scientists expected, indicating a fairly strong bond, Squyres said.

Spirit was doing remarkably well Tuesday transmitting an "incredible amount of data," said Jennifer Trosper, mission manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"It's like we got an Internet upgrade overnight," Trosper said.

Meanwhile, Spirit's twin, Opportunity, remains on track to land Saturday on Mars. NASA is targeting Opportunity to land in Meridiani Planum, which lies halfway around the planet from Spirit's January 3 landing site in Gusev Crater.

NASA dispatched the two robots to look for geologic evidence that Mars once was a warmer, wetter world capable of supporting life.

Jolie Rouge

01-21-2004, 10:27 PM

Triple hit-and-run victim killed
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 Posted: 6:56 PM EST

www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/01/21/triple.hit.run.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- The black car hit her first, striking Natalie Guzman as she tried to cross a Queens street to buy a bag of potato chips. The 18-year-old managed to get to her feet before she was hit again, by a white car.

About four minutes later, her friends dove for cover as a black sport utility vehicle hurtled through the 30 mph zone at an estimated 80 mph. Guzman, who could not move, was killed instantly.

Police searched for the three hit-and-run drivers Wednesday in the kind of crime that tends to reinforce New Yorkers' reputation as a cold-hearted lot.

City Councilman Eric Gioia said the case reminded him of that of Kitty Genovese, who was killed on a Queens street in 1964 while dozens of people watched from their windows and did nothing.

"It shocks the conscience that three separate people would be so callous as to mow someone down and just keep on going," Gioia said.

Guzman's family contended that she was intentionally killed, saying she had feared for her life since a bar fight two weeks earlier.

"The family thinks her death may have something to do with that fight," said neighbor Olimpia Urena, who acted as a translator for Guzman's mother and aunt. The family came from the Dominican Republic.

Police said only that they are still investigating all possibilities and looking into whether the drivers even knew they had hit someone.

Guzman's life ended Sunday morning, shortly after she left Los Primos Tournament Billiards on Roosevelt Avenue in Corona, Queens, a heavily Hispanic neighborhood about two blocks from the one-bedroom apartment she shared with her 15-month-old daughter, Laritza, and her mother, Miriam Toribio. This stretch of Roosevelt Avenue is home to several bars and social clubs.

Urena said Guzman dropped out of high school after becoming pregnant but had recently decided to get her life back on track.

"She said she wanted to make her life normal, she wanted to do something with her life," Urena said. "She was studying to get her GED and after that, she planned to go to LaGuardia Community College."

Guzman even had a job interview to sell cosmetics lined up this week, Urena added.

"She was a very friendly girl, very helpful," Urena said. "If she saw me with my shopping bags, she would always help me. She didn't deserve what happened to her."

A witness told police that Guzman had left the pool hall to go to a bodega across the street.

The first car, traveling at about 60 to 70 mph, struck Guzman as she attempted to cross the two-lane street, which runs underneath the elevated subway tracks and has cars parked along the sides of the road, the witness said.

The second car was also going about 60 to 70 mph, the witness said.

As Guzman lay in the street, her friends discovered her and tried to help. They told police they believed she was still breathing. Then the SUV came barreling toward them.

Urena said Guzman's family finds it hard to believe that three people could run over her, and none of them would stop.

Jolie Rouge

01-26-2004, 01:54 PM

Slave reparations case dismissed
Judge protects right to amend, refile claim
Monday, January 26, 2004 Posted: 3:47 PM EST (2047 GMT)

www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/01/26/slave.reparations.ap/index.html

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A federal judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by descendants of slaves against corporations they say profited from slavery, saying the plaintiffs had established no clear link to the companies they targeted.

The court still left the door open for further litigation.

"Plaintiffs' attempt to bring these claims more than a century after the end of the Civil War and the formal abolition of slavery fails," U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle said.

He said the plaintiffs' claims "are beyond the constitutional authority of this court." And he said the suit alleged no specific connection between the plaintiffs and the companies named as defendants. But the ruling dismissed the case "without prejudice," meaning the slave descendants seeking reparations from U.S. companies are allowed to file an amended complaint.

Lionel Jean-Baptiste, a lawyer representing two women who are descendants of slaves, said he expected to do exactly that.

"I had an expectation that this would happen," Jean-Baptiste said after Norgle released his 75-page opinion.

The lawsuit was first filed in U.S. District Court in New York in 2002 and later moved to Chicago.

The suit names companies such as the Lehman Brothers brokerage firm, Aetna Insurance and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, saying they or their corporate ancestors benefited from slavery.

Lawsuits filed around the country seeking reparations for slavery have been combined into a single court action.

In his opinion, Norgle acknowledged "the historic injustices and the immorality of the institution of human chattel slavery in the United States."

But he said longstanding doctrine in matters involving political questions "bars the court from deciding the issue of slavery reparations, an issue that has been historically and constitutionally committed to the legislative and executive branches of our government."

As for the timing, he said the plaintiffs had failed to show how the wrongs cited in the lawsuit fall within the statute of limitations.

"Some may view this ruling as a condonation of ancient wrongs," Norgle said. "That view is wrong. To suggest that the lions have won again and that the court is impervious to the human suffering at the core of this case would be absurd."

Jean-Baptiste had said that if the plaintiffs won their lawsuit, they would set up a trust fund to help the black community support social programs.

Jolie Rouge

01-27-2004, 10:00 PM

The worst cars of all time
A look at the lemons before the automaking revolution

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4063790/

Ford Motors / www.forbes.com

Safety problems that plagued Ford Motor Company's Pinto were enough
to land it on Forbes.com's list of worst cars of all time.

By Dan Lienert

Updated: 10:46 a.m. ET Jan. 27, 2004The current lucky generation of automotive customers has no real understanding of how truly awful a car can be.

Even entry-level vehicles and subcompacts these days are surprisingly well made, thanks to a revolution started mainly by Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda Motor. Honda's first-generation Accord came out in the days when Detroit was producing real stinkers like General Motors' Chevy Vega and Ford Motor's Pinto. Between that time and today, the Japanese proved to the world that just because a car was cheap, it didn't mean it also couldn't be a well-built, value-laden automobile that looked and drove well.

FACT FILE Worst vehicles of all time

The model years listed here do not always represent the full manufacturing run of the vehicle. All dates are for model years, not calendar years.

AMC Pacer (1975-80)

Chevrolet Vega (1970-74)

Citroen SM (1970-72)

Fiat Strada (1978-88)

Ford Bronco II (1983-89)

Ford Edsel (1957-59)

Ford Pinto (1971-80)

Honda Accord hatchback (1978)

Mazda RX-2 (1971)

Oldsmobile Delta 88 (1979-84)

Pontiac Fiero (1984)

Renault Dauphine (1956-68)

Sachsenring Trabant (1957-62)

Yugo GV (1981-91)

Source: Forbes.com • Printable version

Now, it's hard to find poorly made cars at all. True, nascent auto industries in places like Sri Lanka, Vietnam and other developing nations are a long way from turning out flawless automobiles. But even here the general quality is ensured, because most of the manufacturers have joint ventures with Japanese and Western carmakers.

The Japanese influence has rippled across the auto business, from inexpensive vehicles to high-quality sports and luxury cars. Early in his career, Porsche's current president, Wendelin Wiedeking, shook up the company's inefficient, crowded factories by consulting Japanese manufacturing experts. The experts reorganized Porsche's plants, forging lean assembly lines that have made a once-reeling company highly profitable.

Amc / www.forbes.com
Originally, the AMC Pacer was supposed to be fitted with a rotary engine. However, problems that arose in the later stages of development stopped that from happening. The Pacer did, however, boast an unusual sense of styling.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modern cars, cheap or pricey, are expected to run all of the time. The days of seeing late-model cars on the side of the freeway in the summertime, smoke billowing from their hoods due to overheating, are over. Cars may be more complex now, but they can no longer be mediocre, and they must be cost-competitive.

While the rules of the game may be that simple to explain, their violation can be enough to kill an entire brand. All of the mainstream French and Italian automakers — and plenty of British ones — were, one by one, forced to abandon the U.S. because they neglected issues of quality, engineering and design. If you are expecting to read about a certain vehicle from Yugoslavia, you have come to the right place. (Yugo, by the way, could make a comeback in the U.S. if one-time and potentially future importer Malcolm Bricklin, who was also the first person to bring Subaru to the U.S., gets his wish.)

So how bad does a car have to be to make it on to our list?

Www.forbes.com
Constant complaints of engine problems cemented the Yugo GV's spot on Forbes.com's list of worst cars of all time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It depends on your definition," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Auto Safety. "People pick on a vehicle like the Yugo, which was just a generic lemon. The Ford Pinto was a safety lemon. The Chevrolet Vega was an engineering lemon. The Edsel was a styling lemon."

You will read about all of these cars here, mostly because we considered a variety of criteria when forming our list. The ideal candidates were, simply, lousy cars that didn't run, but we had other rules that were central to the endeavor:

We had to limit the scope to cars made after World War II. Yes, the pool of automotive manufacturers that operate in the U.S. has thinned considerably since then as inferior makers have died. But we couldn't even begin to cover the hordes of rickety startups that failed in the early days of cars — companies that built the automotive equivalent of bathtub gin.

We sought cars that fit certain descriptions: unsafe, poorly styled, poorly engineered, poorly considered, poorly marketed, were public relations disasters — or a combination of any of the above.
We wanted a variety of vehicles from around the world, but also a colorful portrait of some of the most memorably bad vehicles in history. We could have picked on manufacturers that just built one bad car after another — there was more than one Yugo, after all — but then we would have ended up with a list of Russian Ladas and so forth.

One-shot deals like the Rocket Car were not considered.
Knowing in advance that we would consider at least some of our finds to be, actually, somewhat lovable vehicles, we gave special consideration to cars that were potentially noble ideas, but mismanaged. Pontiac's Fiero and Honda's Accord, both of which are on the list, started badly but got much better over time. Citroen's hydro-pneumatic suspension was an idea decades ahead of its time when it appeared on the 1954 Traction 15 Six H — and has grown over time into the hydractive suspension on modern Citroens. Unfortunately, as you will read, great ideas are not always executed well; early air or water suspensions were dubious, and Citroen's SM used both.
The result of our inquiry, you will find, is a tour de force of how cars can go wrong. The best we can say is that the days when these 14 vehicles you are about to see were made are, we hope, behind us.

© 2004 Forbes.com

Jolie Rouge

01-28-2004, 11:49 AM

Minn. Lottery Director Found Dead

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The longtime director of the Minnesota State Lottery apparently committed suicide Tuesday, a day after meeting with legislative auditors examining the lottery's operations, officials said.

George R. Andersen, 53, had a wound that appeared to be from a knife, said Cmdr. Scott Malinosky of the Washington County sheriff's office. He said a note was recovered, but declined to describe it.

Malinosky said authorities were called by Andersen's family about 7 a.m. after they found him outside their home northeast of St. Paul. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Legislative Auditor James Nobles said in a statement that he met with Andersen on Monday to discuss a report on the lottery due late next month.

``We had a cordial and productive meeting, and when I left I thought George had handled the meeting well and he seemed in good health,'' Nobles said.

The audit was meant to look at how the lottery was run as opposed to a review of its accounting. Nobles declined to discuss the content of the audit or elaborate on the meeting.

The audit was requested by state Sen. Ann Rest, who spoke with the auditor about the review Tuesday. She would not provide details, but said it would recommend ways ``to improve the performance of the lottery.''

Rest said she became concerned last year when the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy studied the lottery and concluded that it costs far more in Minnesota than in comparable states.

In response, lawmakers placed stricter limits on operating expenses, which resulted in 34 layoffs in October.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he was not aware of any financial irregularities in the lottery office nor was his administration investigating Andersen.

The governor called Andersen ``a tireless advocate for Minnesota.'' In the 2002 budget year, the lottery contributed more than $43 million to the state's environmental efforts, according to the lottery's Web site.

Andersen, who had been director of the lottery since it began in 1990, was married with two grown children, according to a statement from the lottery.

01/27/04 19:52

Jolie Rouge

01-28-2004, 11:57 AM

Cereal Launches Whodunit to Lure Kids
By Michele Gershberg

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-reodd&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040128%2F1048598511.htm&sc=reodd

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trying to sell product to a 10-year-old?

It takes a lot more these days than the prize hidden in the Cracker Jack popcorn or the maze on back of the breakfast cereal box.

In one of its most in-depth campaigns targeting youth, No.1 U.S. breakfast cereal maker Kellogg Co changed the shape of Apple Jacks cereal in a whodunit mystery beginning this week.

The strategy follows a number of companies who changed the stripes and spots of time-tested products and turned the eating experience into a game to attract media-savvy kids. Other recent gambits include Heinz's green tomato ketchup and a new promotion transforming brightly-colored M&Ms chocolate candies into black and white.

Mark Baynes, vice president of marketing at Kellogg, said such tactics were needed to make sure kids notice products amid a barrage of advertising and to help grow market share.

For Kellogg, putting more money into youth marketing is part of its strategy in a close race with No. 2 cereal maker General Mills, the maker of Cheerios and Wheaties. Kellogg last year conducted a mystery campaign to "find" the stolen colors of its Froot Loops cereal and has in the past changed the flavor of Apple Jacks.

In December, the Battle Creek, Michigan-based company raised its earnings forecast for fiscal 2003 and said it would use fourth-quarter tax savings to increase brand building investments.

Kellogg had already increased ad spending on its ready-to-eat cereal products from $216 million in 2002 to $227 million in the first 10 months of 2003, with children's marketing nearly one-quarter of the budget.

NEW GAMES, STORYLINES FOR PRODUCTS

Rachel Geller, chief strategic officer at youth marketing firm Geppetto Group, said more advertisers were adopting techniques of popular children's games that have several layers of reference and storylines, like the Pokemon trading cards and video games.

But she cautioned against crossing the line of a product's identity to the point it becomes unrecognizable, citing a cinnamon crunch twist on Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

"If you always stay the same, you're going to get smaller and smaller. It's important to bring news to kids all the time ... and still make the product feel like it's familiar," Geller said. "But adding a chocolate flavor would be beyond the pale for Cheerios."

The new Apple Jacks commercials invite pint-sized consumers to find which scheming employee changed the cereal, first introduced in 1965, into X-shaped jacks. They can follow the trail of clues, from fingerprints to voicemail copies, on the Internet for the next few months.

"Apple Jacks is a weird concept ... because they don't taste like apples or look like jacks," Baynes said. "It's the kind of paradox kids love -- they like to get one up on the adults." The ads show a team of youths on the hunt for the perpetrators and probing the chemical properties of the new jacks. Publicis'

Leo Burnett agency created the campaign, which recalls hit criminal forensics shows like "CSI."

Rachel Weiner, account director at Leo Burnett, said many kid-oriented marketers were looking at ad strategies using several layers of interaction.

"This type of interaction may not make sense for every brand ... but it is really important for a lot of the established brands," she said.

01/28/04 10:48

Jolie Rouge

01-28-2004, 12:00 PM

Judge Shoots Boy for Throwing Snowballs

:eek:

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German judge took the law into his own hands and peppered a teen-ager with lead shot when snowballs went astray and hit the wall of his house, a court in the northern town of Lueneburg said Wednesday.

"Two 16-year-olds were having a snowball fight, and the judge's house got hit. Then the light went on, the door opened, and a shotgun fired off two rounds," said court spokesman Juergen Wigger. "The judge was alone at home."

He said one of the boys' mothers saw her son had been shot in the arm and called the police who arrested the 55-year-old judge and confiscated the firearm. Investigations were continuing.

01/28/04 10:46

Jolie Rouge

01-28-2004, 09:16 PM

SUV Thieves Stealing This One Part

Attention sport utility vehicle owners: Thieves want your third-row seat. Why? Police are clueless, but it's a growing trend that has a lot of folks scratching their heads. Calling it a "bizarre crime," The Miami Herald reports that some thieves are breaking into SUVs and stealing ONLY the third-row seat--while leaving radios and CD players untouched. Most of the thefts involve Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators.

Because police do not keep separate records on what is stolen, it's not known how often the crime takes place, but the Herald says cops in Florida's Miami-Dade and Broward counties get dozens of reports of SUV third-row seat thefts each week. The seats appear to be simple to steal, primarily because they are designed to be removed quickly. Police estimate that once the thief has the car open, the seat can be stolen in less than one minute.

Still, the big question remains: Why are they being stolen?

Police speculate the crooks are selling them on the street or a crime ring in the United States or another country wants them. The thefts could also be part of an insurance scam. The optional third-row SUV seats are expensive, ranging in price from $600 to $900 when the car is purchased; buying one later to replace a stolen one can run as high as $2,000. What can you do? Police detectives advise SUV owners to remove the third-row seat and keep it inside their homes when they are not using it.

Jolie Rouge

01-28-2004, 09:18 PM

Student's Jeep Stolen Twice in Three Days

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040127%2F2229580710.htm&sc=1120&floc=wn-ns

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Tulane University student's sport utility vehicle was stolen twice in three days, once while she waited for police officers to arrive so she could fill out a report.

``I was crying because my car was gone, but eventually I had to laugh because it was all so unbelievable,'' said Maggie Ardolino, a senior.

Ardolino and five friends left a restaurant on Jan. 17 and found that her 1998 Jeep Cherokee was gone. Ardolino called the New Orleans Police Department to report the theft, her parents filled out insurance paperwork, and she was resigned to believing the vehicle, her high school graduation gift, was history.

Three days later, a Tulane security officer called Ardolino and said her car had been found in the parking lot of a furniture store far from campus. The store's manager had notified Tulane after noticing the Jeep's parking sticker, Ardolino said.

``I thought I was pretty lucky,'' she said. ``It was like a miracle.''

Ardolino got a ride to the store, where she found her Jeep next to a loading dock. The front end was wrecked, the interior had been ransacked and the CD player was gone.

``First, I called my parents. Then I called the police, who said they would send somebody out,'' Ardolino said.

She waited three hours for police to show up, and it grew dark in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Ardolino and her friend were frightened when they spotted two men walking in their direction, so they drove around the block.

When they returned a few minutes later, the Jeep was gone.

Ardolino went to a nearby police station and had to report the entire chain of events, because officers couldn't find a report of the original theft.

``It's unfortunate, and it's certainly not a scenario that happens very often,'' police spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said. ``We understand the inconvenience. In this case, a double inconvenience.''

Ardolino said she'll get around on foot and by hitching rides with friends until she graduates in May. In future cars, she says, ``I know I'm going to have an anti-theft system from now on.''

01/27/04 22:29

Jolie Rouge

01-28-2004, 09:23 PM

Bush Divorce: Eye-Popping Revelations

The high-profile and very messy divorce of the president's brother, Neil Bush, and his wife of 23 years, Sharon, has proven to be an embarrassment to the extended Bush family and the White House as explicit revelations come to light in official court depositions.

The Associated Press, which reviewed one of the depositions, published the following information contained in the deposition about Neil Bush's activities:

--He had sex with women he did not know who showed up uninvited at various hotel rooms in which he stayed in Asia. No money was requested or given. It is not known who sent the women to Bush's hotel rooms.

--Sharon Bush accuses Neil of fathering a child out of wedlock. DNA testing has been requested to determine the paternity of the child, who was born to Maria Andrews, the woman Bush plans to marry when his divorce from Sharon is final. Her former husband has filed a defamation lawsuit.

--Neil Bush is in a position to make millions of dollars from businesses in which he has little expertise, including a computer-chip company managed in part by the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Despite it all, Neil is moving on with his life. Bush proposed last month in France to Andrews. They met when she was a volunteer for former first lady Barbara Bush. Neil and Sharon have three children, Lauren, 19; Pierce, 17; and Ashley, 14.

Find out how Neil Bush made almost $800,000 in just three stock trades--including $171,370 in a single day.
www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/01/elec04.neil.bush.ap/index.html

Jolie Rouge

01-29-2004, 01:23 PM

Did missing fingertip do the walking?

Irish hospital staff hunt for digit that vanished before operation

Updated: 9:49 a.m. ET Jan. 28, 2004

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4085576/

DUBLIN - Staff members at two Irish hospitals are hunting for a severed fingertip that vanished hours before it was due to be sewn on to a man’s finger, newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The man lost the top of his right middle finger when it became trapped in a door. He was rushed to his local hospital and later transferred him to a bigger hospital in Galway, western Ireland.

The fingertip accompanied him in an ice bag.

“That bag was on the trolley beside me but I don’t know what happened to it after that,” the Irish Times quoted the man, who has not been named, as saying. “All I know is that when I arrived in Galway it was nowhere to be found.”

Surgeons did their best to mend the finger without the missing tip.

The local health board has launched an investigation.

Jolie Rouge

01-29-2004, 01:29 PM

When your interviewer is a freak

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Custom/MSN/CareerAdvice/IV_WhenYourInterviewerIsAFreak.htm?siteid=CBMSN406 4&sc_extcmp=JS_iv07_jan04_home1&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=02129f91d6974197b1e2c28802683bd6-128706017-x5-2

Not everyone marches to the same drummer. This includes interviewers. While many who interview job applicants ask some predictable questions and have a certain sense of decorum, not all follow the same style or fit the typical mold. The truth is that if you participate in more than a few interviews, you are likely to run into many kinds of personalities.

What do you do if you end up seated across the desk from an eccentric person? You may feel a bit uncomfortable with his or her unorthodox approach.

While your first instinct is to think that you don't want the job if this person is representative of the company, give the firm the benefit of the doubt and focus on yourself, not the interviewer. Just be yourself and say what you came to say.

If you have core messages prepared and rehearsed in advance you should be able to cope with any of the following interview types:

The mute.
This is the person who doesn't seem to know what to ask you. He or she looks at your resume and can't formulate any questions or reach any conclusions. You get very short responses to any questions you ask. It's clear that you are going to have to help this person through the interview. Break the silence by saying "Why don't I start by giving you an overview of my experience?" Then head into your core messages.

The chatterbox.
This person runs on and on, busily talking about what she does, what the company does, the corporate climate, his life history, blah, blah, blah. The good news is that you are learning some things about the company and the work environment; the bad news is that the person is learning nothing about you. While it's best to let this person blab on, when he or she takes a breath, be prepared to inject your key messages. You might say, "This is great information, I see where my experience as a brand manager at XYZ can help the company reposition its product. For instance…" Now, you can become the chatterbox.

The quirky questioner.
This person goes beyond the expected questions such as: tell me about yourself, what are your strengths and weaknesses, where do you see yourself in five years. He or she may ask something out of left field - "Did you buy that suit just for this interview?" "Do you like clowns?" "What do you think about Bush's chances in '04?" "Do you think women make good managers?" "If you were a cloud, what kind would you be?" If you think the recruiter is just odd but harmless, dodge the question with a laugh and bridge to a point you want to make about yourself. You could say, "That's an interesting question, when I think of clouds it reminds me of dealing with corporate change. In my previous position I spearheaded a task force to …" If the question is simply inappropriate, it's OK to say so.

The close talker.
Straight out of Seinfeld, this person has a different idea of how much space to leave between the two of you. If it's making you crazy, fake a cough and back up your chair. Try to find an excuse to adjust your seat by dropping your pencil or getting up for a minute to look for something in your briefcase. When you return, re-adjust your chair. If this isn't possible, try leaning into the interviewer's space. Sometimes this will cause the person to back away. If you can't create a buffer zone, don't let it bother you, consider the closeness as intense interest in you and stay focused on your key messages.

Whatever screwball behavior you encounter, take charge of the interview. Put the question you want to answer on the table then answer it. You came to talk about yourself. If you can relate at least one interesting example of how you solved a problem, achieved a goal or contributed to a team, you may actually engage the interviewer in a dialog about you. After the interview, follow up with a brief thank-you letter that re-states the key messages your intergalactic interviewer may or may not have heard.

Jolie Rouge

01-30-2004, 11:04 AM

Thar she blows! Dead whale explodes

Taiwanese street, shops showered after gases built up inside

Blood and guts litter this street in Tainan, Taiwan, after decomposing organs in the sperm whale in background caused it to explode.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4096586/
MSNBC staff and news service reports

TAIPEI - Residents of Tainan learned a lesson in whale biology after the decomposing remains of a 60-ton sperm whale exploded on a busy street, showering nearby cars and shops with blood and organs and stopping traffic for hours.

56-foot-long whale had been on a truck headed for a necropsy by tesearchers, when gases from internal decay caused its entrails to explode in the southern city of Tainan.

Residents and shop owners wore masks while trying to clean up the spilt blood and entrails.

"What a stinking mess. This blood and other stuff that blew out on the road is disgusting, and the smell is really awful," a BBC News report quoted one Tainan resident as saying.

The whale had died on Jan. 17 after it beached itself on the southwestern coast of the island.

Researchers at the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan said enough of the whale remained to allow for an examination by marine biologists.

Once moved to a nearby nature preserve, the male specimen -- the largest whale ever recorded in Taiwan -- drew the attention of locals because of its large penis, measured at some five feet, the Taipei Times reported.

"More than 100 Tainan city residents, mostly men, have reportedly gone to see the corpse to 'experience' the size of its penis," the newspaper reported

Jolie Rouge

01-31-2004, 09:56 PM

Fish OK After Extinguishing Fire

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1120&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040131%2F1116785780.htm&sc=1120&photoid=20030731NY116

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) - A smoke alarm summoned firefighters to a school in the middle of the night, but when they arrived the flames already had been put out. Dory took care of it.

Dory is a fish, a Betta kept in a vase on a desk in a third-grade classroom at Trinity Lone Oak Lutheran School.

A forgotten candle started a small fire on the desk on Jan. 24, setting off the smoke alarm and shattering the fish bowl, spilling enough water to put out the flames.

Firefighters found a few embers still glowing on the desk - and Dory still alive in a puddle.

``It was certainly looking distinctly unhappy,'' firefighter Al Taylor said of the little fish.

Firefighters put Dory in a new container, and now the children in the class are excited about their little hero, said teacher Linda Krienke.

``Each of them wrote a story from the fish's point of view, how his Friday night went. He saw the fire, and then he got real hot and then his vase broke and he fell on the floor and the fireman came in and saved him.''

The room was heavily damaged by smoke, so the students and their little mascot were moved to the school music room.

Dory, named for the sidekick who helps find a kidnapped fish in the movie ``Finding Nemo,'' is ``quite a survivor,'' Krienke said.

01/31/04 11:16

Jolie Rouge

01-31-2004, 09:59 PM

Who Knew? Never Do THIS In Church

Attention Christians who are looking for love: Don't try to find a date in church. That's the word from Michelle McKinney Hammond, who co-founded a Christian ministry and is the author of "In Search of the Proverbs 31 Man: The One God Approves and a Woman Wants." You may ask: Why is church the wrong place to hook up with a date? According to Hammond, if the relationship doesn't work, there could be ugly repercussions on Sunday morning--every Sunday morning week after week. After all, you still have to see the person in church, and it's hard to hide in a pew.

So if church is off limits, where DO you go to find a date? Wireless Flash says Hammond's best advice for people looking for mates with similar spiritual beliefs is to pursue hobbies outside their religion, such as theater or art. In her words, "Singles want someone who knows more than just Jesus."

Hammond also says bookstores and coffee shops are good places for pick-ups, but bars should be avoided at all costs. And now you know.

Jolie Rouge

01-31-2004, 10:05 PM

Look What Was Unearthed In Maryland!

When Hurricane Isabel pounded the cliffs that line the St. Mary's River in Maryland last September, it caused heavy erosion that uncovered the five-and-a-half foot fossilized skull, as well as vertebrae, a neck bone, a fin, and a shoulder blade, of a whale that swam in the area eight million years ago. The find is important because it may help scientists fill in a gap in their knowledge of the evolution of Atlantic Ocean whales during the warm Miocene epoch millions of years ago, reports The Associated Press.

The fossil was found by Maryland resident Jeff DiMeglio, who was looking for prehistoric shark teeth six days after Isabel swept through the Mid-Atlantic. This is a favorite hunting ground for fossil aficionados. The cliffs of Southern Maryland have long been a rich source of marine fossils, including prehistoric shark teeth and whale bones that are uncovered by erosion. But finding a fossilized skull is unique. Stephen Godfrey, curator of paleontology for the Calvert Marine Museum, explained to AP that it is from a 3-million-year block of time in which very little is known about whales.

Godfrey told AP that he thinks the fossil was once an 18-foot long baleen whale that could gulp water and then force it out across hairy plates in its mouth, which would conveniently trap food. It lived during a time when the area was bathed in warm temperatures. The water in which it was swimming would have been quite shallow and very different from the deep water sediments where most whale fossils are found in the region.

Jolie Rouge

02-01-2004, 09:51 PM

Noticed It? Big Change On the Radio

The new definition of "oldies" music: tunes from the '60s and '70s. In the not-so-distant past, oldies radio stations played music from the 1950s and 1960s with a few tunes from the '70s thrown in for good measure. Now many of them have ditched the '50s for the '70s, replacing Chuck Berry for disco, a change that has gradually occurred over the past three years.

"Radio is an ever-changing thing, especially an oldies station," Jeff Gold, a 44-year-old D.J. known as "Goldy" on Washington D.C.'s biggest oldies station, told The Associated Press. "As the years go by, newer songs become oldies. That's just the nature of the beast." Blame it on advertisers. They want to reach the lucrative 25-to-54 age group, which prefers the '60s and '70s music, while the folks who like 1950s music are, um..., old. They're pushing 60. Too old for advertisers' tastes. Say goodbye to Elvis.

"This is Marketing 101," Dick Bartley, who hosts two nationally syndicated oldies programs, "Rock & Roll's Greatest Hits" and "American Gold," told AP. "The oldies format is doing what every business has to do--follow your demographic." Every major city has a full-time oldies station for the simple reason that we like to listen to the music we heard when we were teenagers. Just think, some day Pink, Shakira, and Coldplay will be considered oldies.

The other day I heard Billy Idol and Metallica played on an "Oldies" station ... :eek:

Jolie Rouge

02-01-2004, 09:53 PM

Teens' Peculiar Source For Sex Education

Parents may be surprised to learn that their teenage sons and daughters are learning the finer points of safe sex from "Friends." As in the hit NBC TV show. The Associated Press reports that a new study by Rand Corp. has determined that teens who watch the show with an adult or talk about the episode with an adult are twice as likely to remember the safe sex information correctly.

As part of the Rand's Television and Adolescent Sexuality study, the researchers examined the role TV plays in teenagers' development of sexual attitudes and behavior. Five hundred teenagers were interviewed six months after the October 2001 episode of "Friends" in which the character Rachel finds out she is pregnant after condom failure during sex with her ex-boyfriend Ross. Ross expresses surprise, noting that he'd used a condom. Twice during the episode, characters say that condoms are "only 97 percent effective," notes AP. Nielsen Media Research reported that the episode was watched by 1.67 million teens ages 12 to 17.

Rand's survey showed that most of the teenagers interviewed remembered that the show included information on condom effectiveness, but it was the teens who watched the show with an adult or later talked to an adult about it who were more likely to remember the information correctly. "When parents and kids watch television together, a program may present an opportunity to discuss issues the children might not raise on their own," lead study author Rebecca Collins told AP. The study findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.

Jolie Rouge

02-05-2004, 03:48 PM

Crafty whales let humans fish for them
Alaskan sperm whales make use of big brains. Researchers are looking into how sperm whales learned to pluck their meals from commercial fishing lines.
The Associated Press
Updated: 6:20 p.m. ET Feb. 03, 2004

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4154615

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sperm whales have the largest brain of any animal and some in the Gulf of Alaska are proving it at mealtimes: letting humans do all the work.

Researchers are now investigating what commercial fisherman have long noticed, that the whales have learned to pluck sablefish off hooks attached to their long fishing lines.
"They somehow just pick them off like grapes," said fisherman Dick Curran, who has fished the gulf’s deep waters for decades. "I don’t know how they do it."

No one knows how the whales have come to target sablefish, also called black cod, whose oily, rich flesh has become a lucrative product in Japanese markets. So a coalition of commercial fishermen and biologists has begun to investigate with about $200,000 from the North Pacific Research Board. "We don’t want the fishermen to have an economic loss. Plus it’s a biological loss, because we don’t know how many sablefish are being taken," said whale specialist Jan Straley, a lead investigator in the project. "My interest is biological, and I really want to understand what these whales are doing."

To harvest black cod, fishermen sink a 2-mile-long line with baited hooks every 3 to 6 feet. Each end is anchored to the sea floor along the continental slope and buoyed at the surface. After an 8- to 12-hour "soak," fishermen haul the line, sometimes harvesting hundreds of sablefish in a single set.

Over the past few decades, some of the gulf sperm whales apparently realized that fishermen were bringing this deep food source to the surface, and learned to remove a 20- to 30-inch fish from hooks. "No one likes to get fewer fish, but take one look at those big whales and you realize you’re out of your league," said longliner Dan Falvey, who, along with Curran, is one of 10 fishermen working with Straley.

Sperm whales find prey with their extraordinary hearing, able to perceive their environment with echoed clicks and other sounds. The whales have yet to get seriously hurt or entangled in the sablefish gear, according to fishery managers and whale biologists.

Straley and her partners have found after one season suggests that male sperm whales may patrol the edge of the continental shelf, where the water is 1,200 to 3,000 feet deep, and wait for fishing boats. "For sure they know the sound of hydraulics engaging. ... It’s like ringing the dinner bell for them," said Linda Behnken, director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, which is coordinating the study.

"Everyone knows whales are smart, and they’re proving it," she added.

the fugative

02-05-2004, 10:21 PM

Chuck Shepherd: News of The Weird

Chuck Shepherd

Published January 22, 2004

Happy New Year: Once again, authorities in the Hillbrow district of Johannesburg, South Africa, were unable to stop the traditional midnight celebrations, in which residents of high-rises toss refrigerators, ovens, beds, trash cans and other furniture off their balconies, and police, wearing crash helmets, try to dodge the fusillade. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals pressured officials of Brasstown, N.C., out of the traditional New Year's Eve "possum drop" (lowering a caged opossum at the stroke of midnight, a la Times Square), causing the town to substitute a piece of roadkill. Henry Earl was arrested in Lexington, Ky., on New Year's Eve for being drunk and disorderly -- his 11th such arrest that month and number 804 since 1992.

• Scientists on the cutting edge have recently developed cholesterol-free mice (by Quark Biotech), bisexual butterflies (by Butterfly Park in Singapore), and the "perfect" slice of buttered toast (by Arla Foods, Leeds, England). A team of mathematicians using 200,000 computers found the largest "Mersenne prime" number ever, which is 6.3 million digits long; said a Michigan State grad student who worked on the project, "It's a neat accomplishment, but it really doesn't have any applicability." New York University professor Steven Brams and colleagues developed a nuanced political-economic theory for efficiently dividing a cake among dessert lovers who insist on getting their fair shares.

Cultural diversity

• Over a two-month period in the Miskito community of northern Nicaragua, about 150 people contracted a hysteria whose symptoms included wandering naked in public, becoming severely violent, fighting imaginary enemies, and, later, lapsing into comalike states. Nicaraguan officials regard the illness, "grisi siknis," as culture-bound, with traditional healers more effective at treating it than medical doctors.

• As an example of the stunning heritage of honesty of the Japanese, the Tokyo police Lost and Found Center reported that $23 million in cash found by strangers was turned in in 2002 (and almost $17 million eventually made it back to the rightful owners). Also, reported The New York Times in January, 330,000 umbrellas were turned in (but fewer than 1,000 were claimed).

Latest religious messages

• Televangelist Joyce Meyer has risen from the pack of TV ministers (and from the ordinariness of her pre-preaching life) by her uninhibited pursuit of donations ($95 million in 2003), according to a December St. Louis Post-Dispatch profile. "Make your checks payable to Joyce Meyer Ministries," she shouted, "and million is spelled m-i-l-l-i-o-n." Of once receiving $1 million in stocks from a worshipper, she said, "I didn't have that [gift] for five minutes and I said, 'OK, God, next I'll take $5 million.' " "Fear," she reminds her parishioners, as in their fear of making sacrifices in order to have more money to give her, "is the work of the devil."

• The Los Angeles Kabbalah Centre is enjoying soaring income due to the Jewish mysticism's recent embrace by pop celebrities (e.g., Madonna, Britney Spears), according to a December New York Times report. Kabbalah bottled water (which has supposedly absorbed the energy of the Torah by osmosis from being in the same room with it and which "changes you on a molecular level," said a Centre employee) costs $3.50, and red string bracelets, which supposedly ward off negative spirits (which Jewish traditionalists say is an appalling oversimplification of their purpose) cost $26 to $36.

God, the micromanager

• Ten months before election day, God has handicapped the 2004 presidential race as a "blowout" victory for President Bush, according to Pat Robertson on his Christian Broadcasting Network program "700 Club" (January). Connecticut's besieged governor, John Rowland, who is in deep trouble for having taken favors from contractors and then (as he later admitted) lying about it, said he can't resign because God spoke to him directly and ordered him to hang in and defend himself (December).

• Recurring News of the Weird themes: In Clearwater, Fla., Mary Denise Flowers was arrested for stealing a $20,000 ring from Littman Jewelers, with the key prosecution evidence emerging only several days later when Flowers, whose modus operandi was to swallow the ring at the scene of the crime, finally "passed" it at a local hospital, where it was mined from her feces (December). A house in San Diego was completely demolished when a pilot light ignited the 19 bug bombs the homeowner had set; one canister would have been plenty lethal for the small area, but 19 yielded a bomb 28 times more powerful than necessary (December).

• Recent extreme body piercings (no fatalities!): Joy Wiggins, accidentally shot herself in the heart with a nail gun but was saved by doctors at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital, Beaumont, Texas, October; Jed Bryant, 21, accidentally shot by co-worker's nail gun, 3 1/2 inches into his skull, Rapid City, S.D., January; Roxanne Kirtley absentmindedly stood up, forcing her head against a protruding nail that went 2 inches into her skull, Dallas, August, and a 34-year-old laborer fell and landed seat-first on a rebar rod that, impaled him through the buttocks, Toronto, Ontario, September.

• While his dad was busy with a phone call three feet away, Timmy Novotny, 7, climbed through the 8-by 10-inch release door of a stuffed animal game machine at the Piggly Wiggly supermarket in Sheboygan, Wis., in January and couldn't get out. He spent an hour among the elephants and rabbits until firefighters dismantled the machine.

• Also, in the past month: New York City Port Authority police officer Russell Bass pleaded guilty to having illegally videotaped an 11-year-old girl in a shower two years ago and blamed it on the stress he was under for helping with the 9/11 rescue at the World Trade Center. North Little Rock, Ark., police arrested two alleged Internet-trolling pedophiles, one of whom had flown in from Arizona and the other all the way from South Korea, to meet teenyboppers, who were, of course, police officers running a sting.

:p

Jolie Rouge

02-05-2004, 10:55 PM

Hubble Shows New Images of 'Black Eye' Galaxy

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-RTO-romta&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20040205%2F1656029414.htm&sc=romta&photoid=20040205WAS50

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a new image of the "Black Eye" galaxy, so named because an ancient cosmic smashup produced a dark ring and a roiling, conflicted interior.

What looks like a black eye in the Hubble picture is actually a dark band of dust that stands out vividly in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus, Hubble scientists said in a statement on Thursday.

The galaxy is officially known as M64, but astronomers have nicknamed it the "Black Eye" or "Evil Eye" galaxy.

In some earlier images, the "Black Eye" appears to be a fairly normal spiral galaxy. And as happens in most galaxies, all the stars in M64 are rotating in the same direction.

But detailed studies in the 1990s found that while all the stars are heading the same way, interstellar gas at the outer reaches of the galaxy is rotating in the opposite direction.

At the point where the stars and gas shear against each other, the gases collide and get smashed together, creating a region of active star formation, the scientists said.

The new image shows an area where hot blue stars have just formed, along with pink clouds of hydrogen gas that glow when exposed to ultraviolet light from the infant stars.

Astronomers believe M64's internal conflict arose when the "Black Eye" absorbed a satellite galaxy that collided with it, perhaps more than a billion years ago.

Most visible traces of this smaller galaxy have been obliterated, but signs of the collision persist in the backward motion of the outer edge of M64.

Long known to amateur astronomers because it can be seen with small telescopes, the "Black Eye" galaxy is about 17 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair).

A light-year is about 6 trillion miles, the distance light travels in a year.

More information and images are available online at http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/04 and http://heritage.stsci.edu/2004/04.

02/05/04 16:56

Jolie Rouge

02-06-2004, 09:33 PM

wwwwooooooo hhhooooooo !!

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Jolie Rouge

02-06-2004, 09:35 PM

Store Worker Finds Box of Human Skulls

:eek:

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040206%2F1759065532.htm&sc=1110&photoid=20040206NY123

BROOK PARK, Ohio (AP) - Human skulls encased in ceramic have been found among clay pots, baseballs and other items purchased at auction by an Ohio discount store chain.

The trail of the 12 skulls has led to Florida and Peru.

A warehouse employee of the Marc's chain found them while looking through a box purchased at auction Jan. 15 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A figurine fell and broke, disclosing a skull enshrouded in ceramic.

The box was among items that had been abandoned at a customs inspection point. It was shipped by air last May from Lima, Peru, to someone in Miami, apparently meant as a gift, according to Cherise Miles, a spokeswoman for the customs agency.

The name of the intended recipient was being withheld pending the investigation.

As for the sender, ``We don't know if the person actually knew there were skulls,'' Miles said. That was under investigation, along with other unanswered questions about the origin of the skulls.

None had any sign of violence or injuries, according to assistant Cuyahoga County Coroner Heather Raaf, and some may have been buried at some point.

At the time of the Jan. 30 discovery, the ceramic items were at least one week away from making the shelves at Marc's, a northeast Ohio chain of discount stores where closeouts and low prices are favored over shopper comforts.

Marc's regularly stocks items purchased at auction, including those attended by owner Marc Glassman, said Debbie List, administrative assistant at the chain. ``He attends auctions all the time, everywhere,'' she said.

Finding a ceramic item shaped like a head might not prompt a second glance at Marc's, where you can find men's underwear at the end of the frozen foods, flea collars hanging next to California wines and a chest-high display of unwrapped dog chews. Over in the corner, tropical birds squawk from a room-sized cage.

Police in Brook Park, a working-class Cleveland suburb, released photos of one of the ceramic-encased skulls. It resembled a head with a biker's tightly fitting helmet and wide purple bands down the sides of the face, lips pursed closed.

The skulls include at least one of a child and showed evidence of bindings, according to Raaf. The dried-out look indicated the skulls were aged, possibly for many years.

Investigators wouldn't say whether they were looking into possession of the skulls as a crime.

The coroner asked an anthropologist, Bruce Latimer of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, to inspect the skulls. He was directed by authorities to withhold public comment, museum spokeswoman Gail Takacs said Friday.

The Peruvian embassy in Washington, D.C., didn't respond to a request for comment on the discovery.

02/06/04 17:58